Nightmares In Red White and Blue

No other movie genre in the world is more persecuted or misunderstood than the Horror genre.  Horror films are often blamed for violence in the youth of America, and are often held responsible for everything else that goes wrong (cop-out for either bad friends or bad parenting).  By interviewing some of the biggest names in the genre and scanning their movies, this documentary shows how the Horror film has evolved in America, and how those Horror films are closely tied to all kinds of Terror that befall the country.

The Good:
Some people like the smell of Folders in their cup (Product placement anyone?), some like "the smell of napalm in the morning", and then people (like me) love the smell of zombies enjoying a meal, while ghosts and killers continually terrorify the normal middle-class man trying to live the American dream.  okay, so I don't really smell that in the morning, I mean how would I finish my eggo waffles with the smell of rotting corpses?  It's not that I'm a naturally dark person, unless I'm standing in the dark, in that case you can barely see me, ga-der!  I'm a naturally happy person who has the hyperactivity of a squirrel with rabies, but I'm also a person who loves the unsettling/fearful feeling one gets from Horror films.  But this morbid genre isn't just to scare people, this documentary shows that each Horror film has a message it's trying to get across.  An Example would be the movie "Drag Me To Hell", because beneath the awesome B-Story it gives, it preaches there are bad consequences for bad choices you make.  So because she was selfish and shamed the gypsy, she got a whole butt-load of crohns coming her way.

The Bad:
I thought it was awesome to see how each horror film applied to something people were afraid of historically in their time, and it was very insightful to see how the genre has an ultimately positive effect on people psychologically.  There was a lot of talk on the psychological part of Horror, and personally I thought that was more interesting than the Historical aspect, but that's just me, so they should have included more.

The Ugly:
If you are a person who's skeptical about this morbid genre, or if you're already a fan, then I urge you to see this film.  I've always loved Horror films because they help me to face some of my own fears head-on, so little by little I live a more fearless life like Taylor Swift, but this documentary taught me more about the historical-importance these films hold.  This doesn't mean I'll watch any Horror film coming my way, because there are some films that cross lines that shouldn't be crossed, but the documentary did show me that beneath all the terror is a message that is worth being heard.

4 out of 5

Grizzly Man

Overview:  Timothy Treadwell is quite the (oblivious) happy camper, with his grizzly bears in a remote area of Alaska.  After living with the bears for 13 summers (Holy Heck!) Timothy and his girlfriend are surprisingly mauled to death, and thus ended his job of protecting the bears... They didn't even give him two weeks notice!  It was his goal not only to protect the bears, but to also help people understand the good nature of the grizzlies, alas he proved himself wrong when he was killed; as it turns out grizzlies aren't stuffed with fluff like Winnie the Pooh, instead they're filled with blood n' guts, and a murderous rage that will come to all red heads within their grasps.

The Good:  Director Werner Herzog (Nosferatu the Vampyre) is one of the most original filmmakers in history, and apparently he is very skilled at documentaries.  Even though this Timothy Treadwell is a nut-job, who has no doubt been watching "Winnie the Pooh" and "Will and Grace" too much, he also did what many consider to be impossible.  This non-gay wildlife preservationist ( he makes it very clear he's straight in the movie) becomes a very lovable person who led a pretty remarkable life.  By far the best part of this movie is the ending with that song I like, I don't know what it's called, but it's about as catchy as a katty Perry song... err, Metallica?

The Bad: It's not that I don't love bears, it's just I think their bloodthirsty demon animals that either belong in an Anthony Hopkins movie, or as a rug on my kitchen floor... preferably polar bear because I hear their fur feels quite comfy on human toes, but I digress.  There are parts of this movie that feel less like a documentary, and feel more like an incredibly BORING episode of Animal Planet.  The worst part of this movie is Timothy Treadwell's accent, which sounds like a gay pirate who was raised in a Albanian orphanage since birth. Sounds pretty bad eh?

The Ugly:  This is a pretty good documentary, and I'm not the biggest fan of them unless they're about zombies, Paris Hilton, or Metallica; you know, the things that matter.  Even though Timothy was most likely dropped down the stairs one too many times as a child, he is still the kind of person you look up to.  Great movie by a great Director.

2 1/2 out of 5

Catfish

Overview:  In this shocking sequel to “Social Network” Nev Schulman joins the rest of the nieve-online-idiots wholive their lives on facebook.  He befriends the perfect family over the internet, and becomes digitally twitterpated with one of the daughters (Megan).  After the cyber-love grows to a certain level of disgusting intimacy, and they’ve poked each other enough times, Nev decides to track Megan and her family down so he can confess his undying 2-week love to her.  Documented by his brother and friend, the three begin their giddy car-ride down.

The Good:  There is only so much I can say about this movie without giving the ending away, and that would be a bad thing because the ending is one of the most shocking I’ve ever seen on film. We live in a world now where people are obsessed with “The Facebook”, and I’m not going to pretend I’m not one of them, but there are some people who are SO obsessed with checking their “life” it’s pathetic… like an awkward homeless person.  I love this film because it’s a huge wake-up call to people who live their exclusively on the internet; it persuades them to actually try talking and dating to people IN PERSON, just like what our ancestors used to do in pioneer times (aka less than a decade ago). 

The Bad:  The main character in this movie thinks he’s someone he’s not.  Nev spends a lot of time on camera with his shirt off, as if that’s what the audience wants to see!  Yuk!  That mans chest is so hairy it not only rivals Austin Power’s chest, but I at one time thought I saw an endangered condor fly out of it.  Matthew McConaughey and the “Twilight” cast would be ashamed.

The Ugly:  This is a realistic thriller that has unsettling suspense all throughout, almost as much as “INSIDIOUS”.  If you are a staunch computer nerd, then it’s about time you got your finger out of your nose, threw all the Hot-Pockets out, and sit your glutious maximus on the couch to view this movie.  “Catfish” is a harsh reality check that everyone in this day and age should see.

3 ½ out of 5