Monday, September 30, 2013

4 Movies To Watch After The Collection

I reviewed The Collection here, and it sparked an interesting thought process for me, one that I am going to expound upon here. The movie is very much in the same profile as many others that have come out in the past. For those that are looking for horror movies similar to The Collection, here are 5 films that you want to take a look at, as they may impress you more. At the very least, you will enjoy the stories, as they are similar in tone.

Cube – Strangers found in a strange locale is not new to the horror genre, but when you go with a minimal budget and throw in the idea of a maze that is very much isolated to a structure that is geometrically shaped, you have a movie that hits you like a punch to the jejunum. It isolates the fear and suspense in a minimalist way, without relying on parlor tricks to get you to squeal. By the time the main character figures out just what is going on, it’s just the beginning. This one stands up amongst similar movies in this genre.

Hostel – A party turned into a disaster? Well, no movie does it quite as well as Eli Roth’s follow up to “Cabin Fever”. I hate the term notion of “torture porn” as I do not feel that it’s worthy of the use of either term. I found it to be very much a scary pitch into what many students experience on a regular basis. Just as Amanda Knox whether or not this gives her nightmares. Sometimes fiction and reality come crashing in a deluge of emotion, and this is one that can do a lot of damage to you if you’re afraid of traveling abroad.

House of 1,000 Corpses – When Rob Zombie decided to make a horror movie that would showcase his love for the genre, few people imagined he would go the route that he did. Some called it a clone, I call it a tribute, as it certainly had elements of many of my favorites. An up and coming Chris Hardwick and Rainn Wilson are two of the main actors in this movie, and it really is like The Collection in tone, if not more isolated gore and nudity. There are a lot of layers here, so pay close attention to the tributes.

Saw – The mother of the genre, in many people’s minds, still holds up today. It does so in a way that most people still want to call “porn” but I don’t feel that way. When I first saw it, it blew me away. It still holds up because of the way it’s all played out. It is very subtle in the way it approaches the subject matter, and then uses brutality as a way of redemption. It works. The sequels don’t, but the original does quite well overall.

These 4 movies are similar in tone to The Collection, but overall they stand on their own for a variety of reasons. If you’re a horror movie fan, you’ve probably already seen the aforementioned so this exercise in repetition will not necessarily be something out of the ordinary. If you haven’t picked up these movies, purchase them today and see how they measure up to the latter.

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Sunday, September 29, 2013

The Collection Review

The Collection on Blu Ray
Last night I was feeling great, I had taken a shake in for a try. It had hemp in it, and I made my classic “I’m getting high” joke. For those that aren’t familiar with hemp, it’s a derivative of marijuana, but has no thc. It does however have a high protein content, and is gluten free, soy free, and safe for those that have hypothyroidism. I don’t have it, but I like making hemp jokes, even if I am the only one that finds them funny at this juncture. After said shake, I decided to watch The Collection. I’ve been putting off watching a lot of horror movies because I have been depressed for some time, and it’s just been difficult overall. I’m feeling a tad bit better, so today, we will explore this film.

Another Saw Clone?

The Collection is in the same line as the movie that came out in 2009 called The Collector. I reviewed that movie, to no fanfare on August 10, 2009. That was when I was still living in Seattle, Washington and working for Snowboard Connection. I sometimes wish I still worked for them, I loved the action sports industry, but alas, here I am watching and writing this review.

This movie turns up the ultra-violence fast. It has possibly one of the most gore-filled scenes in movie history, and even though it’s all computer graphics, it still hits hard. The idea of a mass slaughter is not a good concept to me, but it’s effective in presenting how villainous the main character is. Once again, I have a hard time deciding who’s really to praise here, as we see a great deal of dichotomies formed from the start.

Following the plot is simple, we have our same victim from the first film, being rescued, but commissioned to return to the hell house to try and save a girl. We get a sliver of a back story and then we are thrust into a film that is very much like “Saw”. If you like a lot of gore, traps, and mazes, here is another great one. Although, the main character is not like Jigsaw in any way. He’s instead a masked villain that never shows his face.

A Different Movie At The End

In the final act, this movie really took on a whole new life. The visuals were very much like a Stallone movie from the 1980s. As the camera panned on our pseudo-hero, he looked very much like Sly with biceps bulging, and sweat dripping off of him in an inferno that he surely would die from. I just about had it with the movie at this point and was going to walk away unsatisfied with the whole thing, and then something grand happened.

I won’t spoil the ending, but holy crap, the last 10 minutes or so impressed the hell out of me. Visually, this portion is a masterpiece. The way it’s shot, the noises, the plot twist, and the way everything just became an art film, was just impressive. It is a payoff that I didn’t see coming, even though the credits ruined the whole thing. Classic slasher twists and turns, with a gore edge, which is worth a look. Is it my favorite? No. However, there’s enough here to get jaded horror movie fans to at least pay attention, and the film makers did a good job recreating the elements that made the first film worthwhile for me at the time. Check out The Collection on blu ray or dvd by clicking here.

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Friday, September 20, 2013

Fashion Trends, Advice and More With a Liveperson

Recently, I ran into something quite interesting, a website by the name of Liveperson.com, in which you can talk to a real person and get real world advice about anything, really. You see, the concept found here is quite compelling, especially if you take into consideration the fact that you will not be sending your information to a robot or anything along those lines. Instead, you’re going to be moving forward with speaking with a professional that is friendly, and knows what they are talking about.

Let’s remember, when you call someone today, you usually end up getting connected with a call center, and that’s not exactly compelling at all. That’s not the case with this service, and recently I rant into quite the interesting person that you can speak with about a whole slew of options. Whether you need advice, consulting on fashion trends, make up tips, fashion, merchandising or even interior design, you can get help from a real expert here.

When you contact Stephanie via Liveperson – Fashion Trends 101, you are greeted with a friendly voice and a real expert. She has over 10 years of experience in the industry and is one of the reasons why this service is going to take off greatly.

If you read the reviews she has already, you will definitely be thrilled with a unique, and friendly person that is aiming to get you the best possible advice. You won’t have any second guesses or anything when speaking with her. Oh, and let’s say you don’t want to talk via the phone, or anything along those lines, you can chat with her in real time. If she’s not available at the moment of your need, than you can always email her and ask questions. You have to check out Fashion Trends 101 – via Liveperson.com, and speak with Stephanie, even if it’s just for a little advice, it’s worthwhile.




Monday, September 16, 2013

Halloween Costumes You Should Buy

With the month of October settling in, it’s important to look into the wide world of Halloween costumes. You will find that the stores are starting to stock all sorts of things and they are starting to sell through them at a record pace. I for one visited a Spirit Store recently and was impressed with just how much stuff they have. However, they are not always up to snuff with my favorites, and that’s why I wanted to talk about a few favorite iconic ideas that you may want to look into when it comes to dressing up this October 31.

Freddy or Jason

If you are a lazy person, and I know you are out there, try one of these two iconic horror maestros. Last year I was Freddy, and I threw a party in which no one came at all. I invited all my friends, family and my girlfriend invited a lot of people too, and guess what? I was there getting drunk with only myself, my cats and at least a couple. I just remember that Wonder Woman’s boobs were hanging out and I wanted to see them, my girlfriend said I could, but she wasn’t having it. They just seemed to good…and…well I’m a perv. Jason works well too, easy to get a hockey mask and fake machete, right? Notice I am on the left here smiling. That was before I drank myself silly and asked for a woman to show me her boobs. I had way too much to drink and way too much food, all because no one bothered to show up, well except for two people, I don't remember much.

Halloween Costumes

Michael Meyers may be one of the scariest things on film, especially when put into the hands of a seasoned horror rocker like Rob Zombie, but dressing up like him doesn’t necessarily have to be daunting. In fact, it’s as easy as getting a latex mask and a dickies jumpsuit. Then put on some boots and walk slowly. It’s that easy to dress up like one of the iconic killers from yesterday and today.

John Wayne Gacy

If you want to stun everyone, why not dress up like Pogo the Clown himself. You’ll have to put on a little chubby suit, and then waltz around scaring the living daylights out of people, but when they ask you what you are, make sure that you say Gacy. They will either run for cover, laugh, or just look at you like an idiot. I for one would love it, but I’m too brown to pull off this one.

Drake

You want a cool costume idea? Dress up like the rapper Drake. No, don’t dress up like him right now, put on a black polo shirt, wear some dickies and some regular sneakers, and get into a wheelchair. That’s right, that idiot was in a wheelchair during Degrassi, and that’s what you should dress up as. Why not? People would laugh and you could even rap like him, I mean it doesn’t take much to win a Grammy anymore, does it? What he hasn’t won? Who cares.

Ok so my attempt at writing a new post ended up in a rant or diatribe, but hey, that’s me in a nutshell these days. If you’re going to shop online for Halloween costumes, click here and save a bundle, otherwise don’t, I don’t care. This will be a post that will have to hold you over until I start exploding with reviews that you may or may not want to read. Starting in the coming weeks, I'm going to just plow through all the movies I've seen or haven't seen, who knows. The point is that I need to start writing more here and hopefully someone out there will click on links buy something and get me out of this dreaded rut of lackluster writing. Seriously, 800 reviews and not one sale? That's harsh.