Goosebumps -The Haunted Mask (1995) Review

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(More customer reviews)Well, i figured it would be much eaiser to use the kids reviw-less time spent, more wrighting! A message to everyone who has not seen this movie - Your missing out on a classic. The move is about a girl named carly beth ( Wich in itself is creepy) who is allways getting picked on. Chuck and Steve,two classmates, are allways playing jokes on her, trying to scare her. Which by the way allways works. Carly Beth Wants to get eternal revenge on them for thier crule tricks, so, she goes out to find a scary mask. One day she stumbles into a novelty shop and basicly steals a mask. By the way, allthough this movie was made from smaller childeren, I found the mask scary. The artsits did a great job. It really looks real! Im a teenager and i was scared! Well, slightly anyhow. The rest of the plot developes into a halloween night of revenge and the creepy thruth about the mask at the end.
I rememeber seeing this episode when i was small, and it was hard to follow the plot twards the ending at a young age. The part when the store keeper ( wich by the way is a pretty good actor) explains how the masked got to be, didnt make sence to me untill i saw it recently, and its still a bit fuzzy. I recamend this to anyone. Unless they are like 4 and get sacred by anything like I was. However, I have never read Further than the first chapter in this book, wich is written wonderfly. I have heard that twards the end it tends to run off course a bit.
Carly Beth and her friend are pertrayed perfectly, as are Chuck, Steve, and all the other characters.
A Few Complaints:
1. The Acting is overall OK. I understand this was made for Tv and they are child actors, but they coudl have brushed up a bit. ( espacially in the scene where carly beth in studdering uncontrolably to the store keeper)
2. Just a little something that bothered me- The canadian acent. Personaly, I think the Canadian acent is an awsome acsent within itself, but in the movie it was a bit odd. Ex. " TELL CARLY BETH YOUR SORRY(SOOWREY)" in the grave yard sene, but hey it wasnt anything big!
3. The graphics are halariouse! THE PART WHEN THE HEADS ARE FLOATING IS JUST TOO MUCH! but hey it add to the feel.
Over all the message is this - YOU NEED TO OWN THIS EPIC PEICE OF ART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEY REALLY DIDI A GREAT JOB ON KEEPING EVERYTHING CREEPY!!!!

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Carly Beth is quiet and shy -- easily scared and overly trusting.She's never seen such a great Halloween mask -- really scary, really creepy, and really life-like.She has to have it -- to scare those boys who tease and humiliate her all the time!And when she does get it, the mask is every bit as weirdly spooky as she had hoped it would be. But wearing the mask seems to be causing strange things to happen to her and other people.Can the mask -- the symbol of her revenge -- be the cause of it all?What strange powers could a Halloween mask have?Unwilling to give up the mask, or to believe that it could be evil, she keeps on wearing it -- only to discover one day that she can't take the mask off.Carly Beth and the mask have become one.

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Ticking Clock (2010) Review

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(More customer reviews)Oscar-winner Cuba Gooding, Jr. has had one of the strangest acting careers in a long time. Ever since he won at the Academy for his performance as Rod Tidwell in 'Jerry Maguire,' he has been caught in a sort of downward spiral. This has sent the once-promising actor deep into the realm of straight-to-video nonsense, like his previous films 'The Devil's Tomb' and 'The Way of War.' Why he's been doing this is a mystery. No talent agent is bad enough to actually think these scripts are worth while or think they're anything more than a guaranteed failure. Maybe it's bad luck, maybe it's laziness, maybe Cuba just doesn't want the spotlight he deserves.
Whatever the reason for his failing success, it has led him straight to 'Ticking Clock.' In it, he plays Lewis Hicks, a journalist who gets put on the trail of a sadistic serial killer after his own girlfriend is viciously murdered. With the killer's journal in hand, Lewis must race against time to rescue the murderer's next victims. As the path begins to weave its way around and to a young orphan boy, Lewis begins to discover a deeper mystery surrounding the murders.
In the crime-thriller subgenre, there are really only a few good ways to go about writing a story. One maintains consant mystery, concealing the identity of the killer until a final reveal that should be a shock to the audience. The other is to reveal the killer from the start and use his intentions and motivation as the mystery. With 'Ticking Clock,' however, both approaches are mostly thrown out, revealing the killer's identity, his motive, and everything else pretty much immediately. This is a problem because the mystery is what is usually keeps a viewer watching in a film like this. If you don't have it, the audience just won't care. Here, the writers knew what they wanted to accomplish with an interesting (though ridiculous) twist, but didn't give enough reason to stick with it in the first two acts. By the third act, the audience is fairly apathetic with the story & characters and will most likely not even care about the twist, which the entire film revolves around.
This major flaw is not the only problem with the film. No, a more detrimental issue to its success comes from the extremely amateurish direction by Ernie Barbarash, a man very familiar with mediocre straight-to-video thrillers with his work on 'Cube Zero' and 'Stir of Echoes: The Homecoming.' If you look at a film like 'Se7en' (which, by the way, 'Ticking Clock' actually compares itself to on its DVD sleeve along with 'Silence of the Lambs'), you will see a perfect a example of how to craft a stunning & dark crime thriller. With 'Se7en,' David Fincher used the gritty city setting as almost another character, having the actors play off the direction in a way that added a deep realism to the film. Barbarash, with 'Ticking Clock,' blows his opportunity to do this by squandering the Baton Rouge & Las Vegas settings he had at his disposal, instead limiting the entire film to a few boring settings like living rooms & back alleys. Add this to the rather annoying cinematography by Phil Parmet and 'Ticking Clock' is just all around unpleasant to watch.
Unfortunately, there isn't much else to cling onto to try to save the film from being a total disappointment. The script is boring & contrived, providing nothing much that hasn't been done better many times before. The lack of mystery & thrills for the first two acts gives no real drive to continue watching for anyone but completionists who don't like to leave a film unfinished. Even the ridiculous, supernatural twist isn't original, and ends up hurting the film anyway due to the number of plot holes it creates. For being so crucial to the film's success, one would think the filmmakers would be willing to do what they can to seal plot holes (like a simple case of incorrect eye colour, for example). Even the once-talented Cuba Gooding, Jr. has nothing much to offer thanks to how poorly his character was written. Let's face it, an actor can only do so much with what they're given. Take De Niro & Pacino as examples in supremely disappointing 'Righteous Kill' from a couple years back. Add in some shoddy gore FX, CGI that looks like it should be in a mid-90s sci-fi flick, and a mundane cast of supporting actors, and you have nothing more than a sad excuse for a crime thriller here.
Overall, 'Ticking Clock' is just one of those films that will be stuck on the Blockbuster® shelvse for a few months trying to bait renters into biting onto the former star power of Cuba Gooding, Jr. Sadly, it will do nothing but disappoint with its unoriginal & unthrilling story and amteurish filmmaking.
Final Verdict: 3.5/10. Hopefully Cuba will get another chance in the spotlight some day.
-AP3-

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Louis hicks is an investigative crime reporter who must stop a brutal serial killer before time runs out.Studio: Sony Pictures Home EntRelease Date: 01/04/2011Starring: Cuba Gooding JrRun time: 101 minutesRating: R

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The Exorcist - The Complete Anthology (The Exorcist/ The Exorcist- Unrated/ The Exorcist II: The Heretic/ The Exorcist III/ The Exorcist: The Beginning/ The Exorcist: Dominion) (1977) Review

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(More customer reviews)You can find this set for around $25 and for that price it's definitely worth it. True, the first one is the best (I prefer the original over the "Version You've Never Seen", but they're still both very good), but the third one isn't that bad (in fact, I think it's pretty good) And neither version of the prequel is good, but it is sort of neat to have two VERY different versions of the same film, and in this context, for comparing the power of editing and the how the perspective of a director can affect a movie, these discs are interesting. True, the second one has no merit, but what can you do? But I won't complain. It's good for a laugh.
Just so people know, this set does contain all the extras the other releases had. So that even sweetens the deal more!
Disc 1: The Exorcist
This is the same flipper disc from the original Special Edition release
Side A:
Intro and commentary by William Friedkin
Commentary by William Peter Blatty and Special Sound Effects Tests
Side B:
The Fear of God: The Making of the Exorcist
Interviews, Storyboards, Production Sketches
Original Ending
Theatrical Trailer
TV Spots
Disc 2: The Exorcist "The Version You've Never Seen"
Commentary by William Peter Blatty
Trailer, TV Spots and Raidio Spots
Disc 3: Exorcist II: The Heretic
Alternate Opening Sequence
Theatrical Trailer
Disc 4: Exorcist III
Theatrical Trailer
Disc 5: Exorcist: The Beginning
Commentary by Renny Harlin
Behind-the-scenes Featurette
Theatrical Trailer
Disc 6: Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist
Commentary by Paul Schrader
Additional Scenes
Stills Gallery
And there you have it. Everything is there. True, you could get just get the original for cheaper, but I still think this is a solid set and a great deal at that!

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Here it is. The scream of the crop. The fear is here. And so is the hope. Because at their center are intrepid souls who dare to look evil in the eye and vanquish it. From The Exorcist (presented in its Original Theatrical Version and the 2000 Version You've Never Seen) to the shocks and surprise of Exorcist II: The Heretic and The Exorcist III to the two versions (by two different directors) of Dominion/The Beginning, this DVD set comprises the scariest and most fascinating collection of movies in modern horror.

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Gremlins Review

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(More customer reviews)Inventor Randy Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) has bought a special gift for his son Billy (Zack Gallaghan) and it's a furry Chinese creature called a Mogwai (voiced by Howie Mandall). But there are three important rules that must be followed if he wants to keep the creature such as number 1 which means to keep him away from bright light especially sunlight cause it will kill him, number 2 is to never get him wet and number 3 which is the most important rule of them all which is never feed them after midnight. But Billy does what he can but he accidently gets him wet one day and it makes him mutiply other Mogwaii like him and he accidently feed the Mogwaii except Gizmo after midnight as it makes them into ghastly reptilian ghouls that cause havok in the town of Kingston Falls.
Brilliant and highly original Horror fantasy comedy from executive producer Steven Spielburg, director Joe Dante ("The Howling") and writer Chris Columbus. This movie became one of the biggest box-office hits of 1984 and of all time, this movie has a great sense of charm and of course black humor thrown into it with gruesomeness. The film co-stars Corey Feldman, Phoebe Cates and Dick Miller and special appearences by Robby the Robot and Chuck Jones, this movie did caused some controversy when it came out because parents thought it was too violent for small children even around the same time "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" came out. So the MPAA created the "PG-13" rating was created that year, i love how make-up artist Chris Walas did the lovable furballs and the hideous beasts and made them some of the most memorable creatures to hit the screen. The film has often been imitated much with films like "Critters 1 & 2" (Which are great movies in their own rights), "Ghoulies", "Munchies", "Beasites", "Elves", "Evil Toons", "Troll" and the worst one of them all "Hobgoblins", this one is a true must see even around the holidays.
This special edition DVD has excellent sound and picture with nice extras like deleted scenes, Trailers, 2 audio commentaries, behind the scenes featurette, photo and storyboard gallery and filmmaker and cast highlights.
Also recommended: "Gremlins 2 : The New Batch", "Black Christmas (1974)", "Small Soldiers", "Critters", "Critters 2", "C.H.U.D.", "The Pit", "Evil Dead II", "It's a Wonderful Life", "Grindhouse", "Silent Night Deadly Night", "E.T.", "Troll", "Dead Alive (a.k.a. Braindead)", "The Witches of Eastwick", "Cat's Eye" and "Monsters Inc."

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The White Ribbon (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)Or it should - for Best Foreign Film. The best way to describe it is to think of Bergman's "The Virgin Spring" updated to a small German Protestant town immediately before World War I. The film's is shot in austere black and white. One image might be the raw intense power of two candles burning...this will change...to a mob burning down a barn later in the movie. It is all very unsettling and that is the raw power of the film.
Ostensibly the film is a story of accidents, deaths, suicides happening without explanation in this insulated religious village. Some can be accounted for by revenge and despair but others appear to have no explanation at all except that a cancer of distrust, hatred, repression, and (even)meanness is descending on the town. As we know (historically) this is the core group of people - who twenty years later - will be turning to National Socialism (Hitler) for answers. Yes, twenty years later the same persons will switch from white ribbons (totalitarian symbols of innocence) to black ribbons (totalitarian symbols of loyalty). Sociology and psychology still disappoint in providing reasons why humans act so cruelly to one another. The director Michael Haneke seizes upon that reality. He makes the film deliberately ambiguous as we watch a society disintegrate because the bonds of spiritual love and tolerance were never there in the first place.
This is a thinking person's film that seems to be directed more to the subconscious than the conscious. The return to black and white cinematography is integral and "very" effective. That technique allowed the film to move in waves of moods - in the way that Bergman's "The Seventh Seal" does.

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Fallen (Snap Case) (1998) Review

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(More customer reviews)Fallen is underrated, as I felt it wasn't nowhere near as bad as some critics said it to be. It's a very interesting mix of The Exorcist and The Silence of the Lambs and Seven. The result is one of the best thrillers of the decade. It's not quite up there with Lambs or Seven but it's as good as Arlington Road and is significantly superior to The Bone Collector and Kiss the Girls.
The plot is about Detective John Hobbes (Denzel Washington), who has just captured serial killer Edgar Reese (Elias Koteas). Before Reese is executed, he speaks to Hobbes in a strange language and tells him a riddle, asking him why there's a space between Lyons and Spakowsky. Hobbes doesn't think much of this and watches silently as Reese is executed in the gas chamber.
The next day, another murder occurs, and Hobbes and his partner Jonesy (John Goodman) check it out. To his shock, Hobbes finds the same riddle Reese told him scrawled on the wall of the victim's apartment. Unraveling the clue and with the help of an intelligent woman named Gretta Milano (Embeth Davidtz), he discovers that a demon called Azazel had inhibited the body of Reese and can switch from one human host another with a simple touch.
The premise itself is chilling, yet I was a bit hesitant to watch this film. The critics' reviews were mixed but all of them seemed to agree that the film was a bit slow moving. The truth is, Fallen is a bit slow for the first forty or so minutes, but the last eighty minutes are full of intriguing ideas that are well explored along with plenty of extremely suspenseful scenes, especially the ending, which, by the way, has a great twist.
Regarding the suspenseful moments of the film, they can truly be described as edge of your seat. One of the most harrowing sequences in this film is an original chase scene that involves the domino effect, where the demon chases after Davidtz by passing from one human host to another. There's also the chilling scenes where Washington has to try and keep up with who Azazel has just possessed.
Fallen's greatest aspect, despite all those truly thrilling and very suspenseful scenes, is its ending. It first involves a very clever plan being unfolded by one of the characters and ends with a great and unpredictable plot twist. This is truly one of the most unpredictable endings I have seen. It might not have as much of the shock power as the edgy (and twisty) climaxes of Seven and Arlington Road (or for that matter, The Sixth Sense), but it's just as surprising if not more.
The performances in this film are solid. Denzel Washington is fine as the detective who is much more clever than Azazel thinks. John Goodman is his usual solid self as Hobbes' partner, and he excels in this role, proving he has a lot of range ever since his show Roseanne was cancelled. Embeth Davidtz's performance is okay though her character is slightly underwritten. The real scene stealer, though, is Elias Koteas. Though he's in the film for five minutes his Edgar Reese character is scary and actually a bit fun to watch. Most of the characters are well-developed and this helps us care for Hobbes and his family.
The script by Nicholas Kazan is well-written and the twist in the end makes it better to appreciate and Gregory Hoblit's use of a dark, edgy atmosphere and mood is undeniably effective.

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THE THRILLS KEEP COMING. THE PLOT KEEPS TWISTING. THE SUSPENSEKEEPS GROWING. HOMICIDE DETECTIVE JOHN HOBBES HUNTS A SATANIC FORCE THAT SHIFTS FROM ONE HUMAN HOST TO ANOTHER IN THIS TAUT,TERRIFIC SUPERNATURAL THRILLER.

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Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)'Wal Mart, The High Cost Of Low Price' is filled with first hand testimonials and some hard-fact figures that will help in validating your hatred of this greedy giant, and visually exposes those in other countries who are ruthlessly used as slaves to produce the cheap products you purchase when you patronize this monolith.
These "jobs" provided to the labor forces of India, China, Bangladesh, and Mexico are not 'good wage' jobs even for third world standards. The people are overworked, underpaid, and forced to work in sub-human conditions. These human beings make 13 to 17 cents and hour, and work 10 to 18 hour days without breaks, all so you can have that $1.49 blouse.
Exposed in this film are the squalid, rent controlled apartments in China, provided by the company, that put to shame the most rancid ghetto house in your hometown. And if the employee chooses not to live in these rat-infested housing developments, the rent is still deducted from their wages. Wal-Mart has managed to lower the work standards set for these hard-pressed, low wage, third-world countries that other companies are going to follow, sucking down the standards of working all across the world.
The manager of the Mexico factories went on a tour to make sure that working conditions were humane. He was fired when he reported that the conditions were intolerably inhumane. In his own words, he didn't think retaliation would be brought against him for doing his job.
If you think it was a good thing that America abolished slavery, then think again before you go into a Wal-Mart. Just because the US is no longer "importing" slaves, doesn't make it right to continue to use slavery in other countries to produce high profits for personal gain. Wal-Mart's practices are no different than bringing slaves over from Africa to pick our cotton, it's still a cheap way for the rich to get richer at the expense of human blood and sweat.
Intermittently inserted in the film is a speech made by Lee Scott to the high-end employees and stockholders of Wal-Mart, which sounds very much like an Amway pep-talk. Lee Scott's earnings for 2005 were $27,207,799.00. The average Wal-Mart hourly employee's was $13,861.00.
Interesting facts: After 9/11, the Walton's built themselves an underground bunker in case of another terrorist attack, costing millions of dollars that should have went into paying back the Government for having to subsidize their employee's un-affordable medical benefits.
The Walton family gave less than 1% of their wealth to charity. Bill Gates, not even a nice man himself, gave 58%.
The "Critical Need" fund, set up to assist Wal-Mart employees in emergencies, received five million dollars from Wal-Mart employees (making $13,861.00 annually) and only $6,000.00 from the Walton family, who made, collectively, 102 billion.
Wal-Mart actually had a commercial campaign about "buying American" while all their products come from sweatshops overseas.
Wal-Mart has refused to address crime statistics that show an upswing of violent crime in their large, remote, under-lit and un-protected parking lots, putting their customers in danger and taxing the local law enforcement. The State of California alone paid out 80 Million dollars in medical benefits to poverty-level Wal-Mart employees because the 102 Billion Dollar Walton family does not want to give their "associates" fair medical benefits.
There are many ways to hate Wal-Mart and its ilk, and many books out on the subject, but I recommend watching this DVD so you can actually see the slave workers and conditions overseas that these selfish billionaires exploit without passing down their profit to the "small people" who helped build their empire. The presentation could have used a little more snappiness, and the DVD starts out very slow, but keep watching and you will eventually see the monster peeking out from behind your curtain.
Stop shopping at Wal-Mart. Just stop. You don't need their cheap goods that fall apart two days after you bring them home, and it feels good to know that you make a difference by not supporting slavery. Enjoy!

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Everyone has seen Wal-Mart's lavish television commercials, but have you ever wondered why Wal-Mart spends so much money trying to convince you it cares about your family, your community, and even its own employees? What is it hiding?WAL-MART: The High Cost of Low Price takes you behind the glitz and into the real lives of workers and their families, business owners and their communities, in an extraordinary journey that will challenge the way you think, feel... and shop.

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