Law Abiding Citizen

Release Date: October 16th, 2009

Click here for the Law Abiding Citizen Trailer.

When two men break into his house, kill his little girl, and rape and murder his wife, Clyde Shelton(Gerard Butler) is positive that the justice system will put both men behind bars and essentially on death row. However, when the police botch the forensics on the case, suddenly the evidence isn't conclusive. Clyde pleads with his attorney Nick Ross(Jamie Foxx) who has a 96% conviction rate to make things right but instead, Rice makes a deal with one of the criminals, Clarence Darby, who actually was responsible for the rape and murder. Darby agrees to testify against his partner who receives the death penalty while Darby gets off in three years.

Ten years later Rupert Ames, Darby's partner, is facing his penalty of death by lethal injection. Before he is injected, Ames states that he did not kill anybody and that the wrong man was dying that day. As Ames is lowered down, the chemicals are systematically injected into his body. Due to changes in the chemicals, Ames dies a horrific and painful death. Police discover that on one of the chemical bottles is etched "You can't escape fate", a phrase Darby said to Clyde when he was in his home and the same thing he said to Ross during his trial. Police find out where Darby lives and move into arrest him.

Darby escapes the police thanks to a mysterious phone call from a stranger who tells Darby to find a cop car with an officer inside that the stranger has incapacitated. Darby is then told to go to an abandoned warehouse. Once there, the police officer reveals himself to be Clyde who, through a clever device in his phony police gun, injects Darby with a toxin which paralyzes his whole body yet still allows him to feel pain. Clyde then straps Darby to a table and begins to slowly dismember him while he videotapes the act. The police find Darby, who had been cut into 25 pieces, in the warehouse which they discover belongs to Clyde. The police immediately go to Clyde's house and find him in his study naked and surrounded by books on engineering and law.

Rice comes to the prison where they are holding Clyde and interrogates him after complimenting him on taking care of Darby. Rice thinks he has a confession from Clyde until Clyde points out that none of what he said was a confession at all, at least not a confession that can be proven in court. While Rice is interrogating Clyde, the DVD of Clyde murdering Darby is sent to Rice's house. Rice's daughter Denise, thinking the DVD is the one of her Cello recital, watches the horrific murder. Clyde does, however, agree to making a real confession under the condition that an expensive, special mattress be put in his cell. After being ordered to do so, Rice agrees to have the mattress put in Clyde's room. When Clyde is in court the following day, he begins to throw multiple, obscure legal precedents at the judge, the same one who oversaw Clyde's case for his family, trying to get his confession and refusal for bail thrown out. As the judge is about to set bail, Clyde goes on a rant about how the judge was about to let him go, just like she did for Darby.

When Rice meets with Clyde the next day, Clyde confesses to killing Darby, even going into the gruesome detail of what tools he used. When Rice begins to leave again, Clyde begins to confess to another murder, the murder of Bill Reynolds, the attorney for Darby in his case.Clyde informs Rice that Reynolds is alive and that he will tell them where he is in exchange for an expensive steak dinner delivered at precisely 1:00 pm along with his iPod so he can listen to music. Despite his demand, the Warden of the prison intentionally lingers, giving Clyde his dinner at 1:08 pm. Clyde gives Rice a set of longitudes and latitudes and after a 15 minuet helicopter ride Rice lands in a field with Reynolds' briefcase. Rice and Detective Dunnigan(Colm Meaney) begin to dig finding a steel case with Reynolds inside, dead. Reynolds was hooked up to oxygen tanks which expired at precisely 1:15 pm. Reynolds would have survived had the warden been on time. While everybody is gone looking for Reynolds, Clyde takes the t-bone from his steak and stabs his cell mate in the neck multiple times, killing him, and placing Clyde in solitary confinement.

Rice, along with District Attorney Cantrell(Bruce McGill), meet a CIA operative who informs the two men that Clyde is a "brain" with the CIA. Clyde creates complex tools and gadgets and figures out ways of killing high profile and untouchable targets without even being near them. The operative tells Rice and Cantrell that if Clyde wants them dead then they are already dead and the only way to stop him is to walk into his cell right now and put a bullet in his head. When Rice confronts Clyde again, he tells him that this isn't about revenge, but that it is about the failure of the justice system and Rice's personal failure at keeping his word. While still behind bars, Clyde manages to keep killing people associated with his family's trial, including the judge who Clyde killed with her own cell phone. Clyde tells Rice that if he isn't set free with all charges dropped by 6:00 am then he is going to kill everybody in the DA's office.

All of the office workers congregate at the prison, intensely awaiting for 6:00 am to come. When the time comes and goes, everybody begins to leave thinking it was all a hoax. While in the parking lot, multiple car bombs explode killing most of the DA office workers, including Rice's assistant Sarah Lowell(Leslie Bibb). Puzzled about how Clyde is still committing murders from behind bars, Rice suggests that Clyde has an accomplice. While leaving the funeral of Sarah and the other staff members, a remote army drone armed with anti-tank weaponry opens fire on the SUV carrying DA Cantrell. Shot multiple times and bleeding, Cantrell is still alive until the drone fires a rocket at the car, blowing it up and killing Cantrell.

After the funeral and the attack on DA Cantrell, Rice receives an e-mail from a friend of Sarah. The e-mail reveals the location of a piece of property Clyde owns which is right next to the prison where he is being held. Rice and Dunnigan investigate the building and find that there is a tunnel system dug under the prison to each of the solitary confinement cells, including the one Clyde is in, revealing that the murder of his cell mate was not random at all and that Clyde wanted to be in solitary. Rice discovers that Clyde didn't have an accomplice at all, but that he could leave the prison anytime he wanted to. Rice and Dunnigan discover that Clyde, dressed as a janitor, has placed a bomb under city hall and plans on blowing up the mayor and senior officers of the police force.

After planting the bomb, Clyde returns to his cell fining Rice waiting for him. Clyde offers Rice one final deal, which he refuses. Clyde congratulates him telling him that was one of the main points of his actions. Rice calmly tells Shelton that if he detonates the bomb that he will have to live with the consequences. After considering it for a while, Clyde decides to detonate the bomb at which point Rice runs out and locks Clyde's cell door while Dunnigan blocks his escape route. Shelton then realizes that the bomb is under his bed and he is engulfed in flames as he looks at a bracelet his daughter made for him the night she was killed.

Psychological thrillers can be hard to do, especially if the bad guy and his ways are not creative or unique. To make a truly good psychological thriller, you have to keep the audience guessing the entire move and that is exactly what Law Abiding Citizen did. How do you catch a murderer when he is already in jail?

Gerard Butler brings out one of his best performances since 300 playing the distraught father and husband who has been cheated by the system of justice. Butler does what any father would do if his family was destroyed and the man who did it went free, he seeks revenge. The best part about this movie was the fact that Butler was killing the people essentially responsible for letting the man who killed his daughter go free from inside his prison cell. And the way he killed them was also very entertaining. Everything from changing the chemicals in a lethal injection machine to bullets in cell phones is what truly made this psychological thriller stand out from the rest.

Butler gave a very powerful performance and I really loved how he transitioned from loving father and husband to intense and psycho-killer. I also liked the way he played his role. He was so much smarter than everybody and it seemed like he didn't care about what he was doing. The scene where he captures and tortures Darby was truly intense and chilling. I also liked how the film pointed out some monumental flaws in how our justice system works and how easy it is for some people to get away with some of the things they do. Jamie Foxx gave a pretty good performance as the power hungry attorney that let the murderer nearly go free. Foxx, who has been won many many awards and been nominated for countless more almost always steps up and gives a strong performance. There was also a nice supporting cast in this film including Leslie Bibb, Colm Meaney and Bruce McGill, all of which gave good performances.

This movie truly did make you think the entire time. That is one thing I enjoy about movies, if they make you think. If you can watch a movie and figure out the end 10 minuets into it then you've wasted your time and money. This film never gave you enough to put the pieces together until the very end. It blended suspense, action, creativity and drama all together in a film that is very good. Another great thing about this movie was the direction in which it was made. A lot of films these days try too hard to tailor make themselves perfect for the crowd. This film did what it did according to how it wanted to do it. It seemed like it was made they way the director wanted to make it and if audiences like it then they like it but it wasn't going to water down any part of the film to be like the critics and other people wanted it to be. I like that aspect in films, making them how they want to be made and not how everybody else wants them to be.

This movie is going to fly under the radar for some of you people out there and you may not pick this film up until it comes out on DVD, but I suggest that you go see it now because it is definitely a different film and one that will surely please that inner psycho in us all. If you like movies that are creative, slightly gruesome and ones that make you think and keep you guessing then you should definitely give Law Abiding Citizen a shot.

I give Law Abiding Citizen 9 deadly steak bones out of 10

Zombieland

Release Date: October 2nd, 2009

Click here for the Zombieland Trailer.

Columbus(Jesse Eisenberg) is a college student living in Austin, Texas when the world is suddenly turned into a post-apocalyptic, zombie infested wasteland due a virulent form of human adapted mad cow disease. Columbus isn't the bravest person and typically spent his time alone in his apartment playing World of Warcraft. He has stayed alive in what he calls "Zombieland" because of his lack of friends and attachments as well as not having a close relationship with his parents. Columbus has also stayed alive thanks to a set list of rules he created for survival. Columbus is trying to make his way back to Columbus, Ohio where his parents live, hoping to find them still alive. On his way there he runs into Tallahassee(Woody Harrelson). Tallahassee is a renegade outlaw searching the country for the last remaining Twinkies in the world. Tallahassee, like Columbus, doesn't like to form attachments and insists that the two call each other by their home town names, Tallahassee and Columbus, instead of their actual names.

Tallahassee dislikes Columbus almost instantly, finding his safety and list of rules ridiculous and annoying. The two make their way to a grocery store so Tallahassee can look for Twinkies. While in the store they find three very obese zombies which they quickly dispose of. Tallahassee becomes angered when he can not find any Twinkies and decides to check in the back store room. While back there he finds two sisters, Wichita(Emma Stone) and Little Rock(Abigail Breslin). Wichita tells Tallahassee and Columbus that her little sister Little Rock was bitten by a zombie and that they have decided to put her out of her misery. Wichita asks Tallahassee to do it but decides that she wants to do it herself. When Tallahassee gives her his gun, she turns it on him and Columbus revealing that her and Little Rock were conning them. They take Tallahassee's car and all of their guns and supplies and leave.

Columbus and Tallahassee leave the grocery store and soon find a Hummer H2 loaded with automatic weapons, shotguns and loads of ammunition. They take the truck and go after Wichita and Little Rock hoping to get back their things. The two spot their stolen car broken down on the road but end up getting conned again by the two girls who this time take Columbus and Tallahassee prisoner. Tallahassee manages to grab his gun back from Little Rock and after an intense stand-off with Wichita, Columbus manages to convince the group that it would be better if they all worked together to survive.

Wichita and Little Rock are on their way to an amusement park in California called Pacific Playland. According to rumor, the place is supposed to be zombie free and safe to go to. During the drive, Wichita informs Columbus that Columbus, Ohio has been completely overrun and destroyed by zombies. Wichita sees that Columbus is upset and gives him a chance to leave and make his way to wherever he wants to go, but Columbus starts to fall for Wichita, essentially one of the last females on earth, and decides to stay with the group. As they make their way to Pacific Playland, the group decides to pass through Hollywood and look at the mansions of all the celebrities. Looking for a place to stay, Tallahassee takes the group to the mansion of his favorite actor, Bill Murray. While staying in the house, Tallahassee teaches Little Rock how to shoot better while Columbus and Wichita share a bottle of wine and begin to express feeling for one another. Realizing this, Wichita leaves with Little Rock for Pacific Playland, going back to their old way of not trusting anybody but each other as a means of survival.

Columbus, realizing he loves Wichita, decides to go after the two girls, convincing Tallahassee to go with him. When they arrive at the amusement park, Wichita and Little Rock turn on all the rides and lights which unintentionally attracts the attention of every nearby zombie. Wichita and Little Rock try to flee the park but have to jump out of their car which had been overrun by zombies. They make their way to a drop tower ride which temporarily keeps them out of harms way. Their ammunition is running low and zombies have begun climbing onto the ride. Columbus and Tallahassee and Columbus arrive and Tallahassee manages to lure almost all of the zombies towards him as Columbus goes after Wichita and Little Rock. As Columbus arrives at the drop tower he is faced with his worst fear of all time, a zombie clown. Realizing the sister's lives are at stake, Columbus overcomes his fears and kills the clown, saving Wichita and Little Rock. In the meantime, Tallahassee had locked himself in a small game booth and single-handedly taken out the remaining zombies.

After the battle, Tallahassee and Columbus scour a fried Twinkie stand for Tallahassee's last joy in life, a Twinkie. As the two scour the stand they hear a noise behind a door and the two blast the door to see two rats run out. While investigating the store room Tallahassee realizes that they had shot the last box of Twinkies and filled the treats with buck shots. Tallahassee grows furious and the two leave the store when Wichita and Little Rock drive up. Little Rock pops out of the car's sunroof and tosses a Twinkie at Tallahassee, who gets teary-eyed and smiles at Little Rock. After this. Columbus realizes that this is the only family he needs and the four leave Pacific Playland together.

If you know anything about me, you know that I absolutely love zombie movies, games and basically anything that has to do with zombies. So naturally, when I saw that a new zombie movie was coming out I was naturally excited. I have seen zombie movies take different paths over the years, some going for the traditional horror feel like George A Romero's Dawn of the Dead or by going the way of comedy zombie films like Edgar Wright's Shaun of the Dead. Making a good zombie movie, whether it be funny or scary, can be a tricky business. It is very hard to scare audiences today and it is equally hard to make them genuinely laugh with the film instead of at it. But Zombieland is one of those rare gems that is a truly unique and enjoyable film.

There were so many aspects of the film to enjoy that it is hard to begin. Probably one of the funniest things about the film was the list of survival rules created by the character of Columbus. It wasn't just the rules themselves that were funny, it was how they were incorporated into the movie. The rules were narrated by Columbus but also appeared in the background either on the ground or on the backs of truck beds etc... Along with the rules was the actual character of Columbus. Jesse Eisenberg did a fantastic job in the role. His character actually made you stop and think "how in the world did a kid like this survive?". And just when you start to wonder that, one of his survival rules, that actually makes sense, comes into play and shows you how he has survived. But I really liked the character of Columbus. I found him to be an unorthodox hero which was actually quite refreshing in the zombie apocalypse.

Then we come to Tallahassee. Tallahassee was, without a doubt, the key funny man in this movie. Woody Harrelson hasn't done a real big movie in a while and he definitely picked a good one to comeback with. This is probably his best work since Natural Born Killers. He was nearly flawless in his presentation and truly made a character that everybody will love. He was practically a mirror opposite of Columbus, which made their exploits together that much more funny. I loved his carefree attitude, like it was nothing that the world was overrun with flesh eating zombies. Wichita, played by the ever gorgeous Emma Stone, was a character I had trouble liking at first. It was definitely they way the character was written and not about the acting. Stone did a terrific job in her role as well. Her character, at first, was annoying and I actually hated her for what she did to Columbus and Tallahassee. But I grew more attached to her as the movie went on. The same goes for Little Rock, played by Abigail Breslin. She was the innocence of the film although she wasn't very innocent living in a zombie apocalypse. However, she did show how she has matured in her acting career from films like Signs and Raising Helen which she did at a much younger age.

The plot was interesting, although there wasn't much to it. Basically just a group of people doing their best to survive. But it was the little things that made the movie as good as it was. It is first and foremost a comedy but it did a nice job of adding in parts that startled you or made you jump a little bit. It was almost like the perfect blend. This movie could have gone the opposite way and been a complete disaster however it put all the right pieces into place and turned out to be one fantastic move. Seeing this will definitely be a very fun and enjoyable time at the cinema. The acting was fantastic, the plot was original and the movie was just overall a big, laugh out loud, gory funfest.

If you like comedies, zombies, action, gore, post-apocalyptic scenarios and just all around fun movies, then you can not go without seeing this film. It truly is one of the best films of the year so "its time to nut up or shut up" and go see this film. I give Zombieland 10 Epic Quests for Twinkies out of 10.

Halloween 2

Release Date: August 28th, 2009

Click here for the Halloween 2 Trailer.

Following the Halloween massacre in Haddonfield, Sheriff Brackett(Brad Dourif) finds Laurie Strode(Scout Taylor-Compton) walking down the street covered in blood and in a state of shock after having shot the crazed murderer Michael Myers(Tyler Mane). Sheriff Brackett takes Laurie to the hospital along with her friend Annie Brackett(Danielle Harris) and Dr. Loomis(Malcolm McDowell), both of which suffered terrible injuries from Michael. Michael's presumably dead body is loaded into a coroner's van and begins to be transported to a nearby morgue. While in transition, the van hits a cow, destroying the vehicle and waking up Michael, who escapes the van and kills one of the coroners. Michael then has a vision of his dead mother, Deborah Myers(Sheri Moon Zombie), who tells him that it is time to bring his sister home, and Michael sets out for Haddonfield.

While in the hospital, Laurie wakes up confused and goes to find Annie. A nurse finds her and leads her to her room. Laurie goes looking for the nurse later who comes out with a large cut in her face. Michael then appears behind her and brutally stabs her in the back multiple times before going after Laurie. Laurie attempts to escape the hospital, passing by the mass of bodies and blood Michael has left in his wake. Laurie makes her way to a guards station outside and hides only for Michael to find her and begin breaking down the walls with an ax. As Michael reaches out to grab Laurie, she abruptly wakes up, realizing that it was all a dream.

It is one year after the murders in Haddonfield and Laurie is living with Annie and her dad, Sheriff Brackett. Dr. Loomis, another survivor of the last year's events, has taken the tragedy of what Michael did and turned it into a book while going on tour to promote it. Michael's body has been missing since the night of the crash but is still presumed to be dead by everybody. Laurie hasn't been the same, attending therapy to deal with her nightmares and lack of sleep. As Michael makes his way back to her, Laurie begins having visions of Michael's murders, placing herself in his position and substituting his victims with close friends of her own. Aside from the murders, Laurie also begins having visions of Deborah Myers and a young Michael that mirror Michael's own visions.

While out touring his book, Dr. Loomis has been taking hits from the public who are accusing him of exploiting the deaths of all the people Michael killed and even going as far as blaming Loomis for their deaths. Upon release of his book, Laurie discovers a grim truth that she never knew before. Laurie finds out that she isn't actually Laurie Strode, but is instead Angel Myers, Michael Myers' younger sister. After finding out the truth about her past, Laurie decides that she wants to go to a party with her friends, Mya(Brea Grant) and Harley(Angela Trimbur), and get drunk to forget about what she just learned. While at the party, Michael shows up and finds Harley in the back of a van and kills her and the boy she was with. Michael then leaves and goes to Annie's house, killing the police officer out front and then finding Annie and brutally stabbing her multiple times.

Laurie then returns home to Annie's house with Mya. When the two go inside, they see the destruction in the house and rush upstairs to find Annie lying on the bathroom floor dying. Laurie tells Mya to go outside and call the police. As she does, Michael murders her and then heads upstairs to find Laurie. Laurie escapes Michael once again and flags down a passing motorist who stops to help her. In doing so Michael throws the man through the windshield of the car, killing him and then flips the car over, knocking Laurie unconscious. Sheriff Brackett hears about the call to the police from his house and rushes over there to find Mya and Annie both dead. He then gets a tip about a person seeing Michael carrying Laurie's unconscious body to an abandoned barn where he has been holding up.

Sheriff Brackett, along with the police force surround the barn and try to get Michael to give up. When nothing is working Dr. Loomis shows up and runs into the barn in hopes of convincing Michael to let Laurie go. Laurie believes that the younger Michael is holding her down when in reality there is nobody there. As Dr. Loomis tries to reason with Michael, Michael grabs Loomis and begins slashing his face and stabbing him in the chest repeatedly. As he steps in front of the window with Loomis' body in hand, Sheriff Brackett shoots Michael twice who falls over onto some old farming equipment impaling himself through the chest. Laurie, now released by her vision, crawls over to Michael and tells him she loves him before taking his knife and stabbing him multiple times in the chest and once in the face. Laurie then runs out of the barn wearing Michael's mask. The scene then transitions to Laurie sitting in a psychiatric ward, grinning at a vision of Deborah, dressed in white with a white horse, the same vision Michael used to have.

Where do you begin when a movie is as bad as this one? I'm all for doing a remake of a cult classic like Halloween but when you take pretty much everything that was good about the original and completely screw it up the tail pipe then we have a problem. Rob Zombie makes his 4th directorial debut with this sequel to his 2007 remake of Halloween. With a list of negatives as big as mine is for this movie, it's kind of hard to know where to begin.

My first problem with this movie was the depiction of Michael Myers himself. Tyler Mane reprises his role as the iconic killer and he definitely had the potential of being a truly epic Myers. Mane, who towers at 6ft 9in tall and weighs roughly 275lbs, was definitely an intimidating and and truly scary looking Myers.......in the first movie that is. The way he was portrayed in this film was less than stellar. First off, he forgoes the traditional blue jumpsuit, which became iconic in the original films, for an old, dirty jacket and hoodie combo. Mane was also seen sprouting a rather large viking-like beard which protruded from underneath his mask. The mask was another problem I had with the movie. In the originals, Myers never, under any circumstances, took off his mask. The whole concept of wondering what his face looked like was one of the key factors that made him terrifying. However, Zombie decided it would be a good idea to only have Myers putting on his mask when he was ready to kill somebody and then leaving it off the rest of the time. This completely ruins the effect of Michael Myers. By showing his face, though it is blurred by the massive beard, you humanize the character and thus, make him less terrifying.

There is also the fact that Michael Myers decided to make noises when he killed people. Aside from the mask, the other particularly scary thing about the character was his complete silence. No sounds were ever heard from him except for the occasional breathing. But alas, Zombie decided to change that aspect of Myers as well, having him grunt and growl while stabbing and murdering his victims. The silence was truly scary and the noises Zombie decided to have Myers make again, deterred away from the scariness of the character. And then there is the character of young Laurie Strode, played by Scout Taylor-Compton. In the first film, Laurie was this sweet, pretty, innocent girl who everybody liked. The kind of girl "you can bring home to mom". But Zombie decided to screw her up as well. In this film, Laurie changed from the good girl everybody loved to a grungy, punky, dread locked dirty-looking girl who was the complete opposite of everything she was in the first film. I can see where Zombie was trying to go, making her seem really messed up by the events, but it didn't seem to work.

Then there was the cursing. I don't care if a movie has cursing in it. I believe that in a lot of cases it actually sets the tone and is essentially to the overall feel. But there is, in any case, a line where it goes from sensible to just down right ridiculous and unnecessary and Zombie didn't just cross the line, he leaped over it in a fit of joy. One of the most prevalent scenes with over-used cursing was when the coroner's van hit the cow. The driver was killed instantly but the other man survived. He survived and then preceded to drop the "f-bomb" probably in excess of 40 times in a row with no other dialogue in between. The whole movie was filled with unnecessary cursing which made the experience feel stupid and childish.

As the list grows, another problem I had was the weird visions of his mother that Michael experienced. The visions seemed like they would best fit in some of the other Zombie flicks like House of 1000 Corpses or The Devil's Rejects. But in this movie they seemed very out of place and kind of dumb. There is also the fact that Laurie's character experienced some of the same visions. They just didn't fit in a Michael Myers film.

The gore was immense and the violence intense but neither were enough to save this film. It's surprising because Zombie's first remake of the original Halloween was truly a great movie. It was different but not to the extent of destroying everything that was great about the originals. This sequel seemed like it sought out to do just that, destroy everything we loved about Michael Myers. I would recommend you stay away from this movie. The only possible way I could justify spending money on this is if you got it from one of the Red Box things, at least then you only wasted a dollar on it. But this movie is bad. That is why it is getting the lowest rating I have ever given on Zack's Movie Reel.

I give Halloween 2 3 Crazy, Murdering Uncles out of 10.

Jennifer's Body

Release Date: September 18th, 2009

Click here for the Jennifer's Body Trailer.

Jennifer Check(Megan Fox) is the typical "popular Girl". Everybody knows who she is, all the girls want to be her and all the guys want her. Anita "Needy" Lesnicki(Amanda Seyfried) is your shy, nerdy, unpopular girl who, strangely enough, has been best friends with Jennifer since the "sandbox days". Needy does everything with Jennifer and does anything Jennifer says. one night, Jennifer drags Needy to a local bar so they can see the Indie band Low Shoulder. Jennifer has her eye on bedding the lead singer, Nikolai Wolf(Adam Brody). Jennifer goes to the bar when Needy hears the band talking about Jennifer. Needy lies and tells the group that Jennifer is a virgin in hopes they will leave her alone.

During the show, the bar mysteriously catches fire and burns down, killing multiple people. Needy and Jennifer escape as well as Low Shoulder, who approach the girls afterward. Nikolai takes Jennifer, who is slightly intoxicated and in shock, to his van where they drive off and leave Needy. Later that night, Needy is home alone and Jennifer shows up bloody and beaten. Needy tries to help Jennifer when Jennifer lets out a monstrous howl and then vomits up black, ferromagnetic fluid. Needy panics and runs to call her boyfriend Chip Dove(Johnny Simmons) when Jennifer grabs her and throws her into the wall before leaving.

The next day at school, Jennifer arrives and appears to be fine with no memory of the night before. While the school mourns the loss of some students and parents in the fire, Jennifer remains unsympathetic. The next day at school, Jennifer finds the schools football captain, who is in mourning over loosing his best friend in the fire. Jennifer tells him that his friend wanted him and Jennifer to hook up so she takes him into the woods behind the school. While seducing him, Jennifer throws him against a tree and brutally massacres him.

A month after the incident, Jennifer begins to look pale and sickly. When a Colin Gray(Kyle Gallner), one of the school's outcasts asks Jennifer out, she initially denies him. But later accepts and tells Colin to meet her at a house. When Colin arrives, he sees that the house is abandoned and finds Jennifer in the attic. Jennifer begins to seduce Colin and then ends up brutally slaying and eating him as well. While Jennifer is killing Colin, Needy, who is in Chip's room having sex with him, begins to experience images of Jennifer and her deeds. Needy rushes home from Chip's house and almost hits Jennifer in the road who is covered in blood.

When Needy returns home, she finds Jennifer in her bed, completely normal. When Needy asks what is going on, Jennifer tells her that when she left the bar with Low Shoulder, Nikolai and his band took her to the lake and revealed that they began worshiping Satan in hopes that they will become famous. They told Jennifer that they needed a virgin sacrifice to offer in exchange for their fame. But, since Jennifer wasn't a virgin, the demon remained in her body, forcing her to feed off of people to remain strong. Needy freaks out and tells Jennifer to leave, who jumps out of the second story window of Needy's room and disappears.

When Needy begins to believe that Chip may be Jennifer's next victim, she realizes that she has to stop her. Needy tells Chip that Jennifer is a succubus and is killing people to survive but Chip doesn't believe her. She then tells Chip not to go to the school dance because she fears for his life and breaks up with him in hopes he won't go. Chip decides to go anyways and is met on the way there by Jennifer who lies to him and says that Needy and Colin were sleeping together. Jennifer then lies again and said she has always had feelings for Chip and takes him to an abandoned indoor swimming pool. Jennifer begins to attack Chip throwing him into the water. Needy arrives moments later to find Jennifer feeding on Chip's neck. Needy jumps into the pool and pulls Jennifer off of Chip. Needy tries to drown Jennifer who then begins hovering 10 feet above the pool. Needy pulls Chip out of the water and Jennifer begins to attack Needy. As the two fight, Chip stabs Jennifer in the stomach with a pool skimmer. Jennifer bleed a little and then escapes through the window. Needy holds Chip and he dies in her arms as they both proclaim their love for one another.

Later on, Needy breaks into Jennifer's room and begins to fight with her. As they struggle, Jennifer begins to hover, along with Needy, above her bed. Needy rips off the "BFF" necklace she gave Jennifer and then stabs her in the heart with a box cutter killing Jennifer and releasing the demon from her body. Jennifer's mom, who heard the struggle, comes into Jennifer's room to find Needy onto of her daughter's dead body. Needy is committed to an Insane Asylum. Needy was bitten by Jennifer during the fight, obtaining some of her power and murderous instinct. Using her powers, Needy escapes from the asylum. While walking along the road, Needy finds the knife that Nikolai and his band used to kill Jennifer. Needy finds out where the band is and breaks into their hotel room where she brutally murders all of them.

Horror movies are a hard thing to pull off for many film makers. Diablo Cody, who is best known for her film Juno takes a stab at one of the most difficult genres of film to create. However, Cody doesn't just aim for a straight and terrifying horror flick but instead aims at making a film that is both creepy, thrilling and scary but at the same time funny and appealing to fans of multiple genres. Although Juno won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, I don't think Jennifer's Body will be up for any awards.......ever.

Upon initially hearing about this movie and seeing trailers for it, I was not impressed. For me it looked like a cheap slasher flick that would focus more on how gory and brutal they could make the killings, focusing less on actual acting skills, plot and substance. However, I was surprised to find out that while not a fantastic move, it was better than I had originally planned it to be. While the violence was gruesome and disturbing, it didn't cross the line of horrid and disgusting as some movies tend to do.

Casting, to me, is a big part of a film. You can have a great movie, with a fantastic plot, script etc... and put a bad actor in the mix and completely ruin the whole thing. Jennifer's Body had a cast that, for the most part, played their roles very well. Megan Fox takes on her first lead role as the demon possessed Jennifer. Fox seemed custom made for this role. The pretty, popular, eye candy of the school seems tailor made for her. But what was really entertaining was how genuinely scary Fox was. When under the influence of the demon, Fox was one of the creepiest characters and definitely made you turn in your seat. Amanda Seyfried portrayed the dorky "plain Jane" perfectly. She made you truly feel for the predicament her character was in and allowed you to feel her struggle and fear.

The supporting actors in this film were also good. Adam Brody was a perfect Indie rocker/devil worshiping psycho. He was also creepy in the way he humorously murdered Fox's character without a second thought. I was surprised to see J.K. Simmons, who played the role of Mr. Wroblewski, one of the school's teachers. J.K. Simmons is always funny and he added an awkward sense of humor in this film.

As for the plot, it was fairly original. A girl who gets sacrificed to the devil but instead becomes possessed and goes on a bloody, murderous rampage to stay strong isn't something you see typically. What I think saved this film is the addition of a comedy aspect. If Cody had tried to go completely horror and attempted to only try and scare audiences then it would have completely failed miserably, however, it only failed a little bit.

This movie wasn't a complete and utter failure, but it wasn't an outstanding, must see film. It was mainly just mediocre. There were good performances from the actors/actresses and the plot was pretty original but the delivery of the film was just o.k. If you like funny, teen horror movies or semi-gruesome demonic possession flicks then you will probably like this movie. If you are looking for some way to pass a few hours out of your day and don't mind dropping $10 for a movie ticket, then you should go see this movie, but don't expect to leave feeling like this was a fantastic movie. It was good, but not great. Oh and for all you male readers out there, if you are going to go see this movie in hopes of seeing a part of Megan Fox you have never seen before, then stop where you are because it doesn't happen in this movie.

Overall, better than expected but still fairly mediocre. I give Jennifer's Body 5 Demon Possessed Cheerleaders out of 10.

9

Release Date: September 9th, 2009

Click here for the 9 Trailer

When he awakens, 9(Elijah Wood), a small stitchpunk rag-doll, has no idea where he is or what is going on. He finds himself in a half destroyed home with a dead scientist on the floor and without the ability to speak. While looking around, 9 finds a strange talisman which he takes. 9 goes to the window and opens it to find the world before him completely destroyed and void of all life. Looking out on the wasteland before him 9 sees something moving down below, another stitchpunk dragging some old junk. 9 tries to call out but is unable to speak so he runs down to the ground to look for him. While down there 9 accidentally hits the other stitchpunk in the face with a bolt knocking him over. The other stitchpunk gets up and says its o.k. and that he is a friend.

The other stitchpunk introduces himself to be 2(Martin Landau) and tells 9 that there are others like him. 2 is an inventor and as such fixes 9's voicebox, allowing him to speak. While talking about what happened, a machine known as the Cat Beast bursts in and grabs 2 and the talisman and ribs 9's arm before running off towards a towering factory. 9 is found passed out by 5(John C. Riley), part of the remaining group of stitchpunks. 5 takes 9 and mends his torn arm. When 9 awakens he is approached by 1(Christopher Plummer), the self-proclaimed leader of the stitchpunks, and his bodyguard 8(Fred Tatasciore), a giant, mean brute stitchpunk that follows 1 without question. 1 questions 9 about where he came from and what happened. 9 tells him about 2 and insists on saving him but 1 refuses to jeopardize the safety of himself and the others. 1 forces 9 and 5 to go into the watch tower and stay on lookout. While in the tower, 9 sees the factory the Cat Beast took 2 to and tells 5 that they need to help him because that is what 2 would have done for them. 9 and 5 grab a map of the area and head off into the wasteland to find 2.

9 and 5 make their way to the factory and make it inside to find 5 locked in a cage. As the two go to save him, they notice the Cat Beast trying to insert the talisman into an object with a similar shaped socket. The Cat Beast sees 9 and 5 trying to save 2 and attacks them, throwing 2's cage around. The Cat Beast corners 9 and 5 and moves in for the kill when another anonymous stitchpunk swoops down and decapitates the machine. The anonymous stitchpunk removes her mask and is revealed by 2 and 5 to be 7(Jennifer Connelly). 7 has been away from the group for a long time, outcasting herself after 1 took leadership, being unable to deal with his rules and fear. While 2, 5 and 7 talk, 9 takes the talisman and puts it into the machine the Cat Beast was trying to. The machine awakens and is revealed to be a large fabrication device which attempts to kill 9 but 2 pushes him out of the way. The machine grabs 2 and uses the talisman to steal 2's soul and seal it away, leaving 2 lifeless. The machine continues to attack while 5, 7 and 9 flee.

9 wants answers on the machine and the talisman so 7 takes him and 5 to an old library where she has been hiding out with two more stitchpunks, the twins 3 and 4. 3 and 4 are unable to speak but talk to each other flashing their eyes like Morse code. If they need to talk to someone else, they turn their eyes into projectors and play something. 3 and 4 play a movie for 9 detailing that the dead scientist created a super B.R.A.I.N which was seized by the government and used to make robots for peace. The robots then turned on humanity, killing every living person. 9 asks 3 and 4 about the talisman which they know nothing about. 5 then realizes that the markings on the talisman are the same ones 6(Crispin Glover) are always drawing and that he might have answers. 6 tells the group that they must return to the source. When 9 asks what that means he is interrupted by 1 who berates him on waking the fabrication machine and how he is going to bring more trouble to them.

While discussing what to do, a winged machine, created by the fabrication machine, attacks the hideout. The beast almost kills 1 and 8 but eventually is brought down, but not before the hideout is burned to the ground forcing the stitchpunks to relocate. While looking for a new hideout, the group is attacked by the Seamstress, a hybrid of machine parts and 2's lifeless body. The Seamstress kidnaps 7 and 8 and takes them back to the factory. After this, 1 is convinced by the others to strike back against the machines. While at the factory, 9 infiltrates it to save 7 and 8 while 1, 3, 4, 5 and 6 put a barrel of gas at the doorway as a trap. The fabrication machine steals 8's soul but 9 is able to rescue 7. 9 and 7 are also able to destroy the Seamstress and as they are escaping, the others light the barrel of cas and push it down a ramp into the factory which explodes.

Thinking thy have destroyed the fabrication machine the group begins to celebrate until the machine comes out of the debris and attacks them yet again. As the machine attacks it steals 5's soul and chases the others over a bridge which collapses and traps the machine temporarily. 6 tells that group that they can not destroy it because the souls of the others are still trapped inside before the machine steals his soul as well. Despite his warnings, 1, 3, 4 and 7 decide that they should still destroy the machine. 9 heeds 6's advice and returns to the house he awoke in believing it to be "the source". While there 9 finds a box in the hands of the dead scientist which has 9's name on it. 9 opens it and a holographic projection of the scientist appears revealing to 9 that each stitchpunk is a different piece of his sole and that he created them in hopes of preserving humanity's legacy. He tells 9 that the fabrication machine can be destroyed by pushing a certain sequence on the talisman and 9 sets off to end it all.

9 intends to bait himself so the others can get the talisman but 1 intervenes and sacrifices himself. While the machine is taking 1's soul, 9 takes the talisman and uses the sequence to free the soles and destroy the machine. 9, 7, 3 and 4 set up a burial and memorial for 1, 2, 5, 6 and 8. 9 opens the talisman and releases the souls which scatter into the sky bringing life back into the world.

I was really looking forward to this movie from the first time I saw a preview. It looked like nothing I had ever seen before and appeared to be a fantastic movie. First of all, the animation in this film was spectacular. Probably the best looking animated movie to date. The sound effects were also incredible. Good sound effects in an animated movie really help put you in the film and gives you a greater sense of realism and 9 had amazing sound.

The voice acting was also very well done. The cast was filled with top notch actors who all did a great job bringing their respective character to life. Each individual actor is as different to each other as their stitchpunk counterparts are. Good voice acting is also another key in great animated films. But there are some let downs with this movie.

In any movie, animated or not, plot is a big deal. The plot is one of the key factors that decides whether your movie will succeed or fail. In 9 the plot, sadly, was lacking. This movie is based on a short film, the ones you typically see before a movie at the drive-in, and may have been better served as a short film. The plot required a fair amount of thinking and wasn't represented clearly. The way things made sense came from two or three scenes that were made to just give you all the answers without you figuring them out on your own. I also felt that this movie was a bit incomplete. It just seemed like things are missing and that there is so much more that needed to be added.

This is 9's biggest flaw. The incomplete plot puts a downer on the film. However, the action sequences in 9 help to make this more than your typical cartoon. This movie gained a PG-13 rating which is rare for typical animated films these days. The action is intense and can sometimes be startling or even scary (for younger viewers). This is what sets 9 apart from other animated films, its more mature theme it has about it. The mature theme will bring in a more mature audience while the animated style will still bring in the younger crowds.

A great film with excellent voice acting, incredible animations and audio and intense action combined with an o.k. yet semi-incomplete story makes 9 an interesting film. This is definitely worth your time. If you like animated films or interesting concepts for movies or just something to pass the time, then go check out 9 because it is definitely something different. I give 9 8 World-Ending Machines That Completely Kill Everybody out of 10.

Taking Woodstock

Release Date: August 28th, 2009

Click here for the Taking Woodstock Trailer.

Elliot Tiber(Demetri Martin) is a young, aspiring interior designer living in Greenwich Village, New York. In the summer of 1969, Elliot moves back to upstate New York to help his parents, Sonia Teichberg(Imelda Staunton) and Jack Teichberg(Henry Goodman), run their dilapidated Catskills motel called The El Monaco. Things are not going good for the El Monaco. The bank wants to foreclose, Elliot's father wants to burn the place down but can't because he hasn't paid the insurance and Elliot is caught in the middle.

Elliot hears that a neighboring town has pulled the permit for a music festival and that people are outraged and looking for a place to hold the festival. Elliot calls the producers of the show, hoping to bring in some much needed business to the motel. The producers come in and inspect the area but refuse when it is discovered that the field behind the motel is nothing more than a swamp. Elliot then takes the producers to his neighbor, Max Yasgur's(Eugene Levey) farm. Max and his wife have always been fans of the music festival Elliot puts on every year and agree to hold the concert on their farm for a small amount of $5,000.

Producer of Woodstock Michael Lang(Jonathan Groff) begins preparations for the concert and decides to use Elliot's motel as the head base of operations, paying Elliot cash in advance for all the rooms they need. Elliot and his parents begin selling tickets for the event from their motel which brings in more guests and visitors and untold revenue to the motel. While getting everything ready for the event, Michael decides that Elliot should be the official town representative for the event and that he needs to do a press conference to discuss the show. Elliot is extremely nervous before the interview and begins talking with Michael's assistant(Mamie Gummer) who gives Elliot marijuana to calm him down. During the interview Elliot, in his stoned stupor, begins talking about freedom which makes people think Woodstock is now a free concert. After the interview, a half million people begin making their way to The El Monaco hotel and Max Yasgur's farm.

As more and more people begin coming to the motel, the Teichberg's begin quadrupling up rooms, which the "hippies" coming to the concert don't seem to mind. But things begin to get crazy with the sheer amount of people coming. When things seem like they are getting out of hand, Vilma(Liev Schreiber), a transvestite prostitute sent to Elliot by a "friend", steps to help out Elliot's parents with security forming a close friendship with Elliot's father. As more and more people arrive at Woodstock and Elliot's motel, the crazier and more stressful things get for him, including trying to keep his friend Billy(Emile Hirsch), a recently returned Vietnam vet from flipping out and trying to keep the theater troupe in his barn from taking their clothes off. Vilma finally sits Elliot down and shows him that even his parents, who have been miserable for the last couple of years, are coming around and having a great time. Vilma and Elliot's father then force Elliot to actually go to the concert he has worked so hard to help happen. Elliot traverses the 500,000 people in his attempt to make it to the show. Along the way he meets a couple who gives him acid at which point he stays in their van for the night.

As Woodstock comes to a close, Elliot finally realizes the point to Woodstock and everything going on around him. he sees how happy his parents are and how happy all the people around him are. His parents are accepting of him and have found true happiness in life and overall the festival was a huge success and Elliot is finally at peace.

I frequently enjoy seeing movies that aren't the huge blockbusters that everybody is raving about. It gives me a refreshing and relaxing time at the cinema that I enjoy very much. Taking Woodstock is one such experience. This film wasn't set to top anything like Transformers or Star Trek. It wasn't made to bring in huge crowds and tons of money. It was made for the sole reason to entertain, which I think is something missing in many recent films.

stand-up comedian Demetri Martin takes to the big screen for the first time in this Ang Lee adaptation of the biggest concert event in history. The plot itself is simple enough to follow. Woodstock's first choice of venue gets canceled because of the hippie hatred of the town and a man looking for some extra cash steps in and has the concert in his town. You won't find huge names like Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt in this film, though the cast is one of the best I have seen. Demetri Martin's character was slightly dull and boring, being very soft spoken and calm for a majority of the movie. But what Martin lacked in pizazz was made up by the performances of Imelda Staunton and Henry Goodman, who played Elliot's parents. Staunton and Goodman played and elderly Jewish couple who speak broken English and who don't put up with crap from anybody. These two performers brought the energy to the movie. Most of the time the two were arguing with somebody or chasing them away with baseball bats.

There were also good performances from Liev Schreiber, who played a very large and muscular transvestite and from Jonathan Groff, who played the part of Woodstock Producer Michael Lang. Groff's character was probably my favorite character to watch. His performance made his character seem unreal. I was always waiting for him to float away or ascend into the heavens, especially after he randomly rode in on a white horse which came out of nowhere. He was calm and cool through the whole film which in fact relaxed me when I watched it. Eugene Levey and Emile Hirsch played their respective roles well, adding to the great cast.

I also enjoyed the plot for the most part. It was a very interesting take on how Woodstock came to be how we know it. Based off of the book by the real Elliot Tiber, this film was something different. However there were a few things I didn't like about the film.

One of the main things I didn't like about the film was how they incorporated Elliot's homosexuality. Now I'm not in any way against a character in a movie being gay, even if it is the main character. However, I felt that the way they added Elliot being gay in the film, even though he was in real life, was pointless. It seemed like they put it in just because. To me it didn't really have anything to do with the plot of the film and didn't do anything to further the movie. I also expected more from Demetri Martin himself. Martin is a brilliant stand-up comedian and I expected him to be pouring out the laughs but I didn't really see any of that from him. Ang Lee put a stand-up comedian in the main role of a comedy movie but made the main character the more serious role. For me it didn't seem to fit right.

But overall this wasn't a bad movie. It was a refreshing film to watch amongst the multi-billion dollar, CGI infested box office mega movies. A good cast which delivered stellar performances along with a compelling story makes this film worth your while. While it won't be topping off the box office or being raved about by everybody and their mother, you should still take the time to sit down and enjoy this refreshing film. I give Taking Woodstock 7.5 Crazy Theater Troupes out of 10.

Inglourious Basterds

Release Date: August 21st, 2009

Click here foe the Inglourious Basterds Trailer.

In 1941 Nazi-Occupied France, Perrier LaPadite(Denis Menochet), a French dairy farmer, is approached by a group of Nazi soldiers under the leadership of Colonel Hans "The Jew Hunter" Landa(Christopher Waltz) of the Waffen-SS and SD. Landa's main job is to go to all the farms in France and find all the Jewish families there. Landa has heard rumors of LaPadite hiding Jewish people in his house. Landa asks for some milk from LaPadite's daughters and then proceeds to question LaPadite about the Jewish families. Through the interrogation, Landa is able to get LaPadite to reveal the whereabouts of the family, who is hiding under the floor of LaPadite's home. Landa orders his men into the house and tells them to shoot the floor to kill the Jews hiding under it. All of the family members die except for the teenage daughter Shoshanna Dreyfus(Melanie Laurent) who escapes into the fields.

Three years later, Shoshanna is the owner of a small movie theater in Paris, going under the alias of "Emmanuelle Mimuex". While changing the headline on her theater one night, Shoshanna is approached by Fredrick Zoller(Daniel Bruhl), a German marksman in the Third Reich. Shoshanna, hating every German soldier for what they did to her family three years ago, wants nothing to do with Zoller. Zoller takes the int that Shoshanna doesn't like him and leaves. The next day while in a restaurant, Shoshanna is again approached by Zoller, only this time, many German people are approaching him, giving him compliments and treating him like a celebrity. Zoller reveals that he single handedly killed hundreds of American soldiers in Italy, a feat which has been turned into a movie made by Joseph Goebbels(Sylvester Groth) and starring Zoller as himself.

After Shoshanna brushes him off for a second time, Zoller attempts to convince Goebbles to hold the Paris Premiere of his movie, entitled Stoltz der Nation, or A Nation's Pride, at Shoshanna's theater. Shoshanna is approached by some German soldiers who put her in a car and take her to a restaurant where she meets Goebbles and Zoller. While discussing the premier, Landa arrives, informing the tabel that he is head of security for the event. Shoshanna, remembering Landa as the man who killed her family, is terrified that he will remember her and attack her. After some convincing from Zoller, Gobbels agrees to have the premiere at her theater. Zoller and Goebbles depart, leaving Shoshanna and Landa at the table alone. Landa asks Shoshanna a few questions about her theater while they both have dessert. After Landa leaves, Shoshanna breaks down and cries at the table.

Off in the forests of France, eight American paratroopers from the Office of Strategic Services are working their way through the German ranks, killing any soldier they come across. Led by 1st Lieutenant Aldo Raine(Brad Pitt), known as "Aldo the Apache" to the Germans, the group is made up of all Jewish-American soldiers with one German soldier, Hugo Stiglitz(Til Schweiger). Stiglitz was a soldier in the German ranks who became disgusted with what the army had become and killed 13 Gestapo majors single handedly. Raine and his men have captured a platoon of German soldiers and are interrogating them. They have only left three of the soldiers alive including the commanding officer, having killed and scalped the rest of the soldiers. Raine knows about a group of German soldiers hiding in a particular region of France around an orchard. Raine wants to know their exact location, exactly how many there are and exactly what kinds of weapons they have. Raine asks the officer if he knows who he is and who is men are. The Officer reveals that he does know and then tells them some stories the German troops say about them.

The officer declines to tell Raine what he wants to know. From a tunnel behind Raine, the sound of a baseball bat is heard being beaten on the walls. Raine asks if the officer knows who is in the there. Raine tells him that it is Staff Sergeant Donny Donowitz(Eli Roth). The officer reveals that he has heard of Donny and that the Germans call him "The Bear Jew". Raine asks the officer if he knows what Donny's specialty is to which the officer says he beats people with a club. Raine clarifies telling the officer it is a baseball bat. He gives the officer one more chance telling him he is going to get killed if he doesn't tell hiom what he wnats to know. Again the officer declines at which point Donny comes out and bashes in the head of the officer, killing him. The other two soldiers, who were being held at gunpoint, became terrified as soon as they heard Donny coming. One soldier got up and ran for it being instantly shot down by one of the Basterds. Raine orders his man to bring the last remaining soldier to him alive. The terrified soldier is given the same opportunity as the officer and immediately reveals everything that Raine wants to know. Raine then carves a swastika in the soldiers head so that everybody will forever know what he did.

Back in her theater, Shoshanna and her projectionist boyfriend Marcel(Jacky Ido) hear that Hitler himself, along with many of his top officials will be attending the premiere. Shoshanna and Marcel devise a plan to burn down the theater and everybody in it, essentially killing Hitler, his officers, and any other German attending. The British army has also heard of Hitler's plans on attending the premier. General Ed Fenech(Mike Myers) dispatches British officer and former movie critic Lt. Archie Hicox(Michael Fassbender) to Paris to go undercover as a German movie critic and to meet with the Basterds so they can devise a plan to take out Hitler. The group meets with a German double agent, Bridget von Hammersmark(Diane Kruger) a famous German actress. Hammersmark arranges to meet Hicox and the Basterds in the basement of a French tavern much to the dismay of Raine who believes it is the worst possible spot. During the meeting, a group of German soldiers are in the tavern celebrating the birth of one of the soldier's son. The intoxicated soldiers realize that Hicox's accent is off putting but Hicox plays his rank card and gets them to quiet down until a suspicious SS officer(August Diehl) joins the groups table. The officer becomes aware of the deception when Hicox orders three drinks, holding up his index finger, middle finger and ring finger in stead of using his thumb, index and middle finger as the Germans do it. The only people in the basement are the bartender and his waitress along with Hammersmark, Hicox, Stiglitz and another Basterd as well as the German soldiers and officer. A firefight breaks out killing every single person in the basement except for Hammersmark, who has been shot in the leg, and the soldier who just had the son. A Mexican standoff takes place between Raine and the soldier. The two make a deal where Raine and one of his men will come down unarmed to get Hammersmark and the soldier can go home to his son. As the soldier begins to leave, Hammersmark shoots him several times in the back killing him.

Raine takes Hammersmark to the animal doctor who is attempting to get the bullet out of her leg. Raine halts the procedure and puts his finger on the wound demanding that Hammersmark tell him what the plan was. She tells him that Hicox was to escort her to the premier as a director and the other two soldiers were to be a cameraman and his assistant. Raine agrees to go with that plan but decides to change it to them being Italian men instead of German on account that none of them can speak German. Raine takes Donny and Private First Class Omar Ulmer(Omar Doom) with him to infiltrate the theater. In the meantime, Landa arrives at the bar and begins to investigate. He finds a woman's shoe, belonging to Hammersmark and a note she wrote to the soldier for his son. At the premiere, Landa questions Hammersmark in his office and pulls out her shoe, which fits perfectly on her foot. Landa then lunges across at Hammersmark and strangles her to death. He then orders the arrest of Raine and also captures Private First Class Smithson Utivich(B.J. Novak).

While watching the premiere of the film, Zoller dismisses himself, not wishing to relive the scene where he killed everybody. Zoller goes up to the projectionists room to meet with Shoshanna who lets him in being unable to get him to leave. When she dismisses his advances again, Zoller becomes angry at which point Shoshanna shoots him several times. Felling pity for him Shoshanna goes over to his body at which point the barely alive soldier shoots Shoshanna top death before succumbing to his own wounds. Donny finds out where Hitler is sitting and him and Omar go up there in hopes of killing Hitler. While the two Basterds make there way up to Hitler's opera box, an edited version of the film appears with Shoshanna's face on it telling everybody that she is a Jew and that they are all going to die. Marcel sets a large pile of nitrate film on fire which quickly begins to engulf the theater. Donny and Omar bust into Hitler's box and obliterate him and Gobbels and then proceed to randomly fire into the crowd who is stuck behind the doors that Marcel had locked. As the fire burns and Donny and Omar continue to fire on the crowd, the dynamite placed by the Basterds explodes killing everybody inside the theater.

Back at his headquarters, Landa interrogates Raine and Utivich. He gets on the phone with Raine's superior officer and says that he will let the German leaders die, ending the war as long as he is not punished for his war crimes, him and the Basterds all receive the Medal of Honor and he gets a big house on Nantucket Island. Raine's superior agrees and Landa takes Raine and Utivich to the border of the American occupation where he relinquishes his gun and dagger in a symbol of surrender. Raine then handcuffs Landa saying he likes the theatrics and then kills Landa's driver. Landa is shocked, thinking Raine is going back on the deal. Raine says that the worst thing that is going to happen is that he will get chewed out, and he's been chewed out before. Raine then carves a deep swastika into Landa's forehead declaring that it just may be his masterpiece.

Quentin Tarantino is by far one of the most eccentric and different directors in modern film making. His movies have a tendency to be shocking, violent and nothing like anything you have ever seen and Inglourious Basterds is no different. Tarantino has become a widely known name for his movies like Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill: Vol 1, and Kill Bill: Vol 2 but Inglourious Basterds proves to be his best work yet. This film comes with a style only Tarantino can deliver.

There are pros and cons to every movie so let us start with the pros. Brad Pitt was amazing as the revengeful backwoods Lieutenant. He seemed to really have fun and creativity with his character which is one of the mos important things to do when developing a role. I was surprised at how good Eli Roth did as his character. Roth is known as a director more than he is an actor. But Roth also shares a same twisted sort of view as Tarantino which made him perfectly cast for this film. Out of all the Basterds, those two were the only ones with main speaking parts, but the supporting Basterds all did fantastic in their roles as well. One of the greatest performances in the film goes to Christopher Waltz and his portrayal of Hans Landa. His character was written to be a creepy, sadistic, Jew hunting soldier and Waltz does an incredible job of actually making you be afraid of him. The two main female roles of Shoshanna and Hammersmark played by Melanie Laurent and Diane Kruger, respectively, were also done especially well.

This movie has a strong emphasis on action and Tarantino has always tried to make the fights and deaths in his films appear as real as possible. The action in this film is definitely brutal and gory. It is so realistic at times that it almost makes you want to turn away. But this is where the cons take over. The trailers for this film make it out to be all about Brad Pitt and his men going around killing Nazis. But that is only a very minor part of the film. The trailers also make it out to be a big action movie which isn't entirely the case either. The plot of this movie mainly focuses on the killing of Hitler and his men in the theater which is seen through the perception of Brad Pitt's character and Diane Kruger's character. Also, there is entirely too much talking in this movie. Watching the trailer makes you think there is going to be deaths and firefights and action out the wazoo but all of it is extremely slowed down by three or four very long scenes. In this film, where you think a normal scene would end, Tarantino adds on another 10 to 15 minutes of dialogue. Now some of these long scenes are not too bad. For example, the opening scene is one of these particularly long ones. However, it is portrayed in a way that leaves you in nervous suspense the entire time. The whole scene you are cringing, waiting for something bad to happen. I think this was Tarantino's goal with all of the long scenes but really only the first one accomplishes its goal.

Aside from the long and drawn out scenes, a large majority of the movie is spoken in either French or German giving you many subtitles to read. Granted it adds to the realism of the situation but it gets distracting when you are trying to watch a particularly interesting or important scene but you are distracted by subtitles. This makes watching the film sort of boring at points when all you are doing is watching subtitles.

The trailers will bring a crowd into the movie with them expecting to see a funny and action packed World War II movie but they will not get exactly what they were expecting. But I must give credit where credit is due. This is definitely Tranatino's best film to date. Although some of the scenes were way too long and half of the movie was in subtitles, that doesn't dismiss the fact that this film is unique, extremely well made, and extremely well acted. While the movie may have been better if Tarantino had just focused on Brad Pitt and his men killing Nazi's, the plot line that did take place was one that will not be easily forgotten. Definitely one of the best films of the summer and maybe even the whole year. If you haven't seen it yet then get off of your butt and go see it. I give Inglourious Basterds 9 Nazi Scalps out of 10.