2013's Top Picks!

As always, those in bold indicate an absolute must see!  Release dates may change so check your local listings prior to heading out.

Zero Dark Thirty:  JAN. 11

Mama:  JAN. 18

Hansel and Gretel Witch Hunters:  JAN. 25

John Dies at the End:  A (opens theatrically 1-25)

Warm Bodies:  FEB. 1

A Good Day to Die Hard:  FEB. 15

Dark Skies:  FEB. 22

The ABC's of Death:  MAR. 8

Carrie:  MAR. 15

The Heat:  APR. 5

Oblivion:  APR. 19

Iron Man 3:  MAY 3

Star Trek Into Darkness:  MAY 17

World War Z:  JUN. 21

Kick-Ass 2:  JUN. 28

Pacific Rim:  JUL. 12

R.I.P.D.:  JUL. 19

Red 2:  AUG. 2

Elysium:  AUG. 9

We're the Millers:  AUG. 9

Machete Kills:  SEP. 13

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For:  OCT. 4

The Worlds End:  OCT. 25

Ender's Game:  NOV. 1

Thor: The Dark World:  NOV. 8

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire:  NOV. 22

2012 in review

Missed out on lots of things this year, didn't keep the top picks updated as required, was slow on reviews....2012 was a bad year at the Ace38 compound.  2013 will be better, and we'll start later tonight with 2013's top picks!

Mini Review: "John Dies at the End"

A return to the wacky brilliance of director Don Coscarelli.  May have to watch it again to make sure I caught everything.

A

Mini Review: "This is 40"

This is crap

F

2012's Best!!!

10 BEST FILMS OF 2012

For the first time ever, I make this list with a bit of a caveat.  Due to time restrictions I haven’t seen Lincoln yet, nor have I seen Django Unchained.   Due to lack of screening options I haven’t seen Silver Linings Playbook either, and all are films I think would merit a spot on this list.  However, here we present the standing 10 best films of the year.

10.  Chronicle:  A surprisingly well done and smartly written look at what happens when the bullied can become the bully.

9.  The Divide:  What happens if you survive a nuclear blast?   What happens if there are others?  Were the dead really the lucky ones?

8.  V/H/S:  A vicious, no-holds-barred “found footage” horror film that brought true terror to the multiplexes.

7.  Looper:  A clever little sci-fi film that was just clever enough to not alienate audiences.

6.  Cosmopolis:  Cronenberg manages to squeeze a real performance from Pattinson, a polarizing film that wrapped me in its world.

5.  Argo:  Puts you back into the Iranian hostage crisis, director Affleck had his stuff right with this one.

4.  The Dark Knight Rises:  Took a hit after the Aurora nightmare, sadly overshadowed a brilliant end.

3.  Hitchcock:  A look at the legend as he makes his masterpiece, never loses focus and feels deeply real. 

2.  The Avengers:  The best time I’ve had at the theater this entire year, with a great cast and smart story backing it up.

1.  The Perks of Being a Wallflower:  Not as good as The Breakfast Club, but damn close.  A brilliant coming of age tale for this generation.

Mini Review: "Jack Reacher"

Feels like Cruise channeling a more intense version of Ethan Hunt, but still a fun and enjoyable watch.  Nice cameo from Robert Duvall as well.

B

Mini Reviews!

Cloud Atlas:  A stunningly ambitious film based on the 2004 novel of the same name, and while very clever and the type of avant garde cinema we need more of, this film is quite dull.   D

Looper:  Another outside the box sci-fi thriller, another daring type film that we need more of yet unlike the previous film this one is oustanding and an good watch.  A-

You wanted the worst, you got the worst! 10 Worst Films of 2012!

WORST MOVIES OF 2012

10.  Ted – Just not funny, maybe it was the hype it didn’t live up to, but I felt like I was watching a bad homage to a Cheech and Chong movie.

9.  Casa de me Padre – More proof of what I’ve been saying for decades….Will Ferrell is not funny.

8.  The Cabin in the Woods – You know youre in a bad movie when the scripts highlight is the pretty college blonde making out with the moosehead on the wall.

7.  Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter – More proof that good geek fiction never translates to good film.

6.  Total Recall – You have to have an imagination to do a re-imagining.

5.  Battleship – Or, as its known overseas, Americans needing a paycheck.

4.  Snow White and the Huntsmen – See, Kristin Stewart can’t act in anything.

3.  That’s My Boy – Another Adam Sandler movie on the worst list…its almost a tradition by now..

2.  This Means War – Reese Witherspoon?  Really?  Going to war over Reese Witherspoon?  Was ebola spoken for?

1.  Rock of Ages – Say what you will about 80s rock, the fact its survived all the jabs thrown means it’ll outlive this auto-tuned, glee-ifed, diarrhea inducing attempt at film. 

Mini Review: "Hitchcock"

What a great performance from Anthony Hopkins, leading the way as he became the legendary director, nice turns from Johansson and Biel as well, and I think the always wonderful Helen Mirren rounded out this magnificent film.

A+

Mini Review: "The Perks of Being a Wallflower"

Based on the book, this look into a troubled young man's freshman year of high school is tender and compassionate.  A brilliant performance by Emma Watson as well as most of the cast nails down a top notch film.

A+

Mini Review: "Trouble With The Curve"

A nice, friendly, predictable film that was so cozy and familiar to the actors, they were able to relax and do what they do best.  Not great by any stretch, but enjoyable and its always nice to see Clint.

B

Non Film Post: Here they go again....

You can gain some perspective on some statements made here from my Aurora post found here:  http://ace38film.blogspot.com/2012/07/non-film-post-actual-difference-or.html.

I wish to thank my friend, published writer Michelle Macfarlane for her assistance in the editing and wording of this post.  Without her assistance, you wouldnt' be reading this right now.  

I grieve and ache for the families who have suffered one of the most horrific acts I have seen in my lifetime, but there are ways to honor their memories and try to prevent this from happening again without making scapegoats and pushing personal political agendas.  More laws wont stop this, it will only inconvenience those of us who follow them.  

My love to the people of Newtown, Connecticut.  You'll Never Walk Alone.  The nation is with you.

27 lives needlessly lost, 20 of them belonged to beautiful children between the age of 5-7.  Innocence at its most pure, a moment of pure evil ending their purity and scarring many others for life.

Almost immediately,  the left began screaming for gun control laws.  Connecticut has some of the most stringent gun laws in the nation, and yet this act occurred.  We’re going to look at cold, hard facts here, not emotion.  Emotion is the response of the weak and it takes thought and strength to deal with issues to find real solutions.

FACT:  CONNECTICUT HAS VERY DEMANDING GUN LAWS.  All these weapons were legally owned and registered to the shooters mother.  We do not know how she stored them, but as the madman was her own son, we can safely assume that they were lying around or under lock and key. He knew what to do to attain them.  None of us knew how they were stored in that house and it’s foolish to assume we do.

FACT:  ADDITIONAL LAWS WOULD NOT HAVE PREVENTED THIS CRIME.  The shooter committed the following offenses:

1.       Murder:  (his mother, 6 adults in the school, 20 children in the school)

2.       Attempted murder: (anyone wounded in the assault who survived)

3.       Breaking and entering: (he bypassed the school security system by breaking a window to gain access)

4.       Theft: (his mothers weapons and her vehicle)

5.       Bringing a gun onto school campus

6.       Shooting with intent to kill

7.       Using a firearm in the commission of a felony

8.       Damage to public property

And possibly others that they could find, perhaps murder of a government employee among others, and yet none of these laws were of any concern to the shooter, nor were they in previous shootings at Portland, Littleton, Ft. Gibson, etc.

FACT:  SHOOTER ATTEMPTED TO BUY A RIFLE IN THE DAYS LEADING TO THE SHOOTING.  It is my belief that this shooter simply wanted to avenge some perceived wrong at the school with this attempt.  The murder of his mother was simply because the laws already in the books prevented him from attaining his own weapon and he needed them to do this cowardly act.  The laws you pushed for worked and he did it anyway.

FACT:  THE SECOND AMENDMENT IS TO PROVIDE THE CITIZENRY ACCESS TO WEAPONS TO PROTECT THEMSELVES FROM THE GOVERNMENT.  That is why there is no specifics on what we can and cannot have access to.  Those laws came in later and have been upheld as reasonable.  Many on the left scream “Well they didn’t mean high powered assault weapons, they meant muskets.”  Show me where it says that.  It doesn’t- it means with whatever weapons are available.  In an age of swords and shields, bows and arrows, the muskets were the “high powered assault weapon” of their day.  You’d be a fool to think they weren’t anticipating the future technology as well.   You don’t see “unless it’s a really fast gun we cant even conceive of”.  They said the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. 

“But what about our right to liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiivvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvve??” the liberals scream:  Well, you have no right to live.  Not in today’s America.  Why do I say that?  We live in a nation where you can terminate human life in the name of choice.  Regardless of how you feel about it (and I don’t give a damn, so keep it to yourself), the fact is abortion occurs on a fertilized egg.  Whether you feel life begins at conception or at some future point (and again, I DON’T CARE), the fact is that is a life being stopped from continuing.  It’s not like condoms, IUD’s, spermicides and the like which prevents fertilization.  The plain and simple medical fact is that a life is being terminated.  Furthermore, no matter what type of contraception is used, or if you use none at all, there is no guarantee the woman will not become pregnant .  So what do we do?  Choice…..you argue in favor of it every day, so the extension of the argument is logical.  

Furthermore, a right is something you have, not something that’s given.  If the government starts making our choices regarding the Second Amendment, how long until someone decides he doesn’t like political dissent and starts coming up with laws to prevent that?   “Well, the First Amendment protects such speech” the liberals respond.  And they make my point perfectly.  First Amendment protects our political speech, Second Amendment protects our individual security.  You willingly gave up your right to live in the name of choice.  You don’t even realize you’re giving up your First Amendment rights in the name of hate crime laws.  Sure, those who abuse others due to race are ignorant and pitiful, but are their biases really a crime?  It’s now a crime to be stupid? 

“Well, these high powered rifles are only to kill….they’re for the military…..they just kill people”…..No, they  don’t.  People kill.  The gun is merely a tool.  I can kill you with a hammer just as easily.  22 kids and an elderly woman were stabbed in a China school the same day the Newtown horror occurred.  Not to mention the .223 Remington round fired by commercially available AR-15 rifles (and its extended family) is a somewhat different round than the military 5.56MM when actual powder charges and ballistics are taken into account.  You can safely fire .223 in a rifle chambered for 5.56MM NATO (which the .223 is a lower power round), but firing 5.56MM NATO could likely damage a .223 rifle and possibly the shooter.  The .223 gained popularity as a varmint round.  Only a dangerous and deranged person would see innocent babies as varmints.

“Well, if guns don’t kill then neither does nuclear weapons, chemical weapons…so on and so forth.”  Yup, you’re right..those are the tools.  Every bit as lethal as a firearm but just sitting in their containers, they’re not killing anyone are they?  Once a person turns that key, or arms that warhead, the tool becomes lethal.  Notice in both cases, you need a human being to activate the tools lethal side.  Tools can be corrupted by those with evil intent, regardless of their perceived original intent.

Including the two events this week, you’re blaming a tool used in a whopping 6 mass acts of insanity since 1950.  Yes, I agree, 6 is too many…but when taken into context, it’s a tiny number.  Sure, there may have been more we didn’t hear about with gangs or some guy shoots his family in a fit of lunacy, but spree shootings are what we’re focused on right now.  As I said after Aurora, maybe 200 total out of how many weapons?  Compared to handgun offenses, replica weapons account for even less carnage. 

“Well, why don’t we reinstate the assault weapons ban now?  Keep it from happening again?? “ Because most of these events occur with handguns, because even during the ban you could buy weapons of this nature, and because as we already know, it means nothing to the criminals.  Well, then lower capacity magazines...that’ll stop it cause they wont have 30 rounds to shoot.  Yeah, you’re right…after all, they don’t need that much weight on the weapon.  Eric Harris killed and wounded quite a few people using liberal approved 10 round magazines at Columbine, in a regular everyday rifle.  He didn’t even need that type of firepower huh?    To further end the firepower debate, lets take the Virginia Tech shooter, who used handguns to commit his evil deed, killing enough people to take a horrific second place ribbon, directly behind the Bath School Massacre in the 1920’s.

Those who give up their rights in the name of safety have neither.  The Second Amendment is not intended for hunting or shooting tin cans.  It’s to keep the Government in check.  Fine, disassemble the Second Amendment but when the Government comes for your First Amendment rights…….and they will…………you will come crying to those of us who went underground, in violation of the law.  And you will beg us for help.  And we’ll say No, we won’t protect you from yourselves. 

Hitler, Stalin and countless others knew that the way to commit atrocities freely was to disarm the people at home first.  As far as I’m concerned, anyone pushing for such things here is every bit as dangerous as these lethal dictators.

Movie Review: "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, 2012.  Starring Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage and Ken Stott.  Rated PG-13, Running time 169 minutes. Directed by Peter Jackson.

Taking on the novel that started it all, The Hobbit is a visually spellbinding film.  The new 48 frames per second 3D translation is nothing short of incredible and in fact is the only way the film should be screened.  However, while Jackson turned the Lord of the Rings trilogy into a series of legend, this film falls flat on its face in the story department.

Plotline is this:  Young Bilbo Baggins (Freeman) relaxes one morning at his home in the shire when the wizard Gandolf the Grey (McKellen) shows up.  After asking Bilbo a series of questions, he leaves a mark on Bilbo's door, leading to several groups of dwarves arriving unexpectedly at his home.

These groups include Thorin (Armitage), the rightful King of the dwarves.......if he had a kingdom to rule.  Many years before, a fearsome dragon had taken over the kingdom, and Thorin intends to lead a pack of dwarves; assisted by Gandolf and a reluctant Bilbo to reclaim his homeland.

Along the way, they are perused by a pack of orcs seeking vengeance, assisted by the elves of Rivendell and Bilbo has an encounter with a strange man like creature named Smeagol, or better known as Gollum, where he comes into the possession of a strange powerful ring.

However, as magnificent as the cast is, as spectacular as the visuals are...I was bored through a great deal of the film.  The padding necessary to stretch a single book to three films rivals that used on a Kardashian sister.      Add to that the fact that a great deal of it felt more like a comic book than a classic of literature and my disappointment was compounded.  Director Jackson didn't feel the need to stretch the much longer texts of the Rings trilogy into multiple films, why would he do it for the smallest book of the bunch?

Well, we all know the answer to that one....cash.

There is no question the film is a masterstroke of design and performance, it simply cannot be faulted there.  But, story does matter, and that is the true weakness of this Hobbit.

C-

Connecticut Horror

Thoughts and prayers go out from my family to those lives lost today at Sandy Hook Elementary school today, especially the 20 innocent children who perished.

There will be NO review of "The Hobbit" until Sunday at the earliest.

3 movie mini reviews!!!!!

I know, its been awhile but expect much in the coming weeks!  There will be a same day review of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" as well as several film reviews including these three!

The Day:  This post-apocalyptic film is an apocalypse of its own.  The title refers to how long the first 30 minutes felt like.  F

The Bay:  A heavy handed anti-pollution or anti-poultry industry (not sure which) posing as a horror film-film.  Yet, still a decent enough watch and suitably creepy at times. C

Pitch Perfect:  After the first hour and about 15 minutes, the film takes on a massive charm and sucks you in, but the only things that got me through that first 75 minutes was a good performance from the wonderful Anna Kendrick and especially a magnificent take from Rebel Wilson's "Fat Amy".  B