I thought since I checked out the new sci-fi sensation Arrival yesterday that I would check out a real sci-fi classic for today. A friend suggested that I watch Close Encounters Of The Third Kind which was directed by Steven Spielberg (E.T.the Extra-Terrestrial) and it so happens to be today’s film. Everything is normal around the country until planes that went missing in the 1950’s mysteriously show up looking like they were brand new. It sets off a chain reaction of events where people around Indiana and other parts of the country come in contact or experience an encounter with UFO’s. One man named Roy (Richard Dreyfuss) and Jillian (Melinda Dillon) whose son was kidnapped want answers as to what it was they saw and why the government is lying about the events. They may just get the answer, but it might be more than they were looking for. The film also stars François Truffaut (Shoot The Piano Player) as Lacombe, Teri Garr (Young Frankenstein) as Ronnie Neary, Bob Balaban (The Grand Budapest Hotel) as David Laughlin, J. Patrick McNamara (Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure) as Project Leader, Lance Henriksen (The Terminator) as Robert, George DiCenzo (She-Ra: Princess Of Power) as Major Benchley, and Carl Weathers (Rocky) as Soldier.
One thing that I will say is that the soundtrack to this film is absolutely amazing and we shouldn’t be surprised by that considering John Williams (Star Wars) composed the whole thing. The score did exactly what it was supposed to do and that it is it helped move the film and it complimented it. Now as far as the film was concerned, this is actually an amazing motion picture especially for it’s time. Of course the film was overshadowed by Star Wars: A New Hope, but it deserves some mention and merit because the special effects were great for 1977. The aliens that you see in the film were kind of weird looking and OK, but it does the trick for the time. The shots of the spaceship are awesome and it’s incredible looking. The acting in the film was great especially from Richard Dreyfuss and Melinda Dillon who stole the show. Carl Weathers has a cool cameo as a soldier in the film who threatens Drefuss’s character and a lot of 80’s greats are in this film like Lance Henriksen, etc. Just like in the Arrival, they too have to learn the language of the aliens in order to communicate with them, but this was a better film. The end kind of made sense because you understood why and such. It wasn’t a huge build up to be let down by what the end result was. If you’re a fan of cinema then definitely give this one a watch because I loved it. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.
There are few things in this life that truly freak me out and one of those things happens to be a Ouija board and the other is evil spirits. So, what happens when you combine those two things into one film, well hopefully a good horror film. For today’s film, I decided to check out the prequel to the 2014 film Ouija in Ouija: Origin Of Evil. For Alice Zander (Elizabeth Reaser), life hasn’t been easy for her and her girls since the death of her husband. She relies heavily on scamming people during seances to get some extra cash. One day she brings home a Ouija board to add a little something extra to the seances, but what she doesn’t realize is the impact it’ll have when an evil spirit possesses her daughter Doris (Lulu Wilson) as a result of it. Now they’ll have to battle the demon inside her in order to save her.The film also stars Annalise Basso (Oculus) as Lina Zander, Henry Thomas (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) as Father Tom, Parker Mack (The Darkness) as Mikey, Doug Jones (Hellboy II: The Golden Army) as Ghoul Marcus, Chelsea Gonzalez (Criminal Minds) as Gloria, Michael Weaver (Super Troopers) as Roger Zander, and the film was directed by Mike Flanagan (Hush). To see the rest of the review, please click 
Haven’t you ever wondered if there was life in other planets or galaxies? What if I was to tell you that 1000 plus years into the future that Earth has mastered the art of deep space travel and that we have interacted with several different species. Your mind would be blown and that is the case for the film Titan A.E.. For Cale (Matt Damon) life is a little different because his father had been working on a project called Project Titan. When a certain alien race known as the Drej caught wind of this, they destroyed the planet Earth. Fast forward fifteen years into the future, Cale is working on a scavenger ship when he is told that he may hold the key to finding Project Titan which could potentially save the human race from the evil Drej. So, he takes on the mission which will prove to be far from easy. The film also stars Bill Pullman (Independence Day) as Captain Joseph Korso, Drew Barrymore (E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial) as Akima, John Leguizamo (Ice Age) as Gune, Nathan Lane (The Birdcage) as Preed, Janeane Garofalo (Mystery Men) as Stith, Tone Loc (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective) as Tek, Ron Pearlman (Hellboy) as Professor Sam Tucker, and the film was directed by Don Bluth, Gary Goldman, and Art Vitello.
Spoiler Alert: Before you continue to read on, please be advised that this paragraph may contain spoilers. Proceed with caution. I love these kinds of animated films because it reminds me a lot of Heavy Metal and many others like it. While it could be predictable at times, Titan A.E. was actually a very fun film to watch with a very good story. That was my favorite part of the whole film was the fact that I loved the story. Imagine that the key to saving the human race is in a ring that some kid has been carrying for a while and had no idea his father put it on his finger. The only reason why I said that the film could be predictable at times was because you could tell right from the start that Cale and Akima were going to be a thing in the film. You knew that they were going to be double crossed at some point in the film and that happened twice. Like I said, that didn’t deter me from continuing on. The key to great acting in an animated film is making sure that they convey the proper emotions and you do it right. I would like to think that all of them did a great job throughout the film especially comedian Jim Breuer who plays a cook in the film (I didn’t know he did). I did love the enemy alien race who are made of energy. The one thing that kind of caught my attention about them was the fact that they are treated like they are the enemy, but I believe someone int he film mentioned something vital. They mentioned that they destroyed Earth because they were afraid that the humans were creating something dangerous. That doesn’t make what they did OK, but fear is the mind killer. If you’re a fan of science fiction based action adventure animated films, then I would definitely suggest checking this one out. I am going to give the film an A- for final grade.
We are once again continuing our theme of Shark Week here on our blog and we are proud to bring you a review of a classic. For today’s film, we are exploring the godfather of all shark movies, the one that made sharks a big hit, the film Jaws. It’s just another summer on the tourist summer island of Amity, but this one isn’t exactly like the rest of the ones in the past as the town is about to find out. One night, a girl is eaten by a shark and the new sheriff in town Brody (Roy Scheider) wants to close down the beach before it gets too out of hand. The only problem is that the mayor of the town doesn’t want to close the beach cause they’ll lose money, but too many deaths and close class leave them no choice but to hire the shark hunter Quint (Robert Shaw). The film also stars Richard Dreyfuss (Mr. Holland’s Opus) as Hooper, Lorraine Gary (1941) as Ellen Brody, Murray Hamilton (The Graduate) as Vaughn, Carl Gottlieb (The Jerk) as Meadows, Jeffrey Kramer (Halloween II) as Hendricks, Susan Backlinie (The Great Muppet Caper) as Chrissie, and the film was directed by Stephen Spielberg (E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial).
It was crazy to watch this movie and realize that I had never really seen this film because I didn’t recognize a lot of it. Then again, it was back in the 80’s, I was a little kid, and probably didn’t pay attention to most of it. I can definitely see why people hold this film in such high regard because it is that awesome of a film. Even though for most of the film, the robotic shark they had didn’t work it didn’t take away from the film because the suspense is amazing. You’re kind of seeing the action like a beach goer would and what I mean by that is you don’t see the shark, but you see people go under and lots of blood. That would scare the crap out of anyone not being able to see what is going on. The film has some iconic scenes in it like the sequence where the dog goes missing to the scene where Brody is dumping the chum and the shark pops out of nowhere, but my favorite is the scene where they’re sitting around. They’re getting drunk and they are telling war stories to each other, showing off each other’s scars too. The thing I love about the scene is that it seems so natural that it doesn’t look fake or rehearsed. It just seems natural to see these guys finally bond while on the hunt. Robert Shaw to me is an absolute highlight of the film, he is the bad ass shark hunter who kind of laughs at the town when they finally come to him. The battle sequence alone between the three and the shark alone is worth watching the film so I suggest checking this one out for sure. I am going to give the film an A+ for a final grade.
Haven’t you ever wondered what Dinosaurs were really like millions of years ago? For quite some time, we haven’t really known anything substantial about them, we can only really speculate as to how they were by studying their bones. What if you were given the chance to see how they act in certain environments or how they feed daily? Wouldn’t you love the chance and ability to see that for yourself? In the film Jurassic Park, Mr. Hammond (
I have to be honest in saying that I have no idea why it took me 23 years to see Jurassic Park. Well, I am lying with that statement because to be honest when I was 11, Dinosaurs didn’t really interest me enough like they do know. The film is another brilliant look in why man should never play God for anything! I don’t care what it is or what idea we come up with, but we should never play God. If the movies have taught us anything is that it usually ends in disaster. Which is evident with the film I watched today which is simply brilliant. I only have one question for all of you out there and that is am I evil for wanting Lex to get eaten by the T-Rex in one my favorite scenes of the whole entire film? She does everything you are not supposed to do when a T-Rex is approaching your vehicle and that is do not make noise and do not flash a light in it’s face. The film has everything from a Dilophosaurus to a Velociraptor and those sequences alone with those creatures are worth seeing. The action sequences are amazing, the dinosaurs themselves are amazing, but the CGI is totally obvious in the beginning part of when they first arrive at Jurassic Park when Grant sees the Brachiosaurus. The cinematography is amazing with all the shots of the island and the dinosaurs that inhabit it, but other than the CGI thing, the film was absolutely amazing and enjoyable. I cannot wait to see the rest of the series in the coming future. I am going to give Jurassic Park and A for a final grade.
For today’s film, I chose a film that I have only seen bits and pieces of either to not having the time to watch or other things had come up. I also decided on the film Suicide Kings because of the mere fact that Christopher Walken (The Dead Zone) starred in the film and he’s one of my favorite film personalities. The film follows five friends who decide to kidnap a mobster by the name of Carlo Bartolucci (Walken). You see the five friends are hoping to squeeze some money out of Carlo in hopes of getting enough to pay a ransom note on one of the friends kidnapped sister. The only problem is that Carlo decides to play mind games with all of them in hopes of turning them against themselves. The film also stars Denis Leary (Rescue Me) as Lono Veccio, Nina Siemaszko (Airheads) as Jennifer, Henry Thomas (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) as Avery Chasten, Sean Patrick Flanery (The Boondock Saints) as Max, Jay Mohr (Pay It Forward) as Brett Campbell, Jeremy Sisto (Clueless) as T.K., 
This was a pretty interesting film to say the least, but it’s a Christopher Walken film where he plays a mobster. What more can you ask for from a film like this one? The idea of he kidnapping is actually pretty solid and when you find out a detail that the abduction of the sister was an inside job, you begin to try and figure out who did it. All I will say to you is that I should have gone with my first choice personally cause I would have been right. That is the beauty of films with a little mystery thrown in there is that they make you try to guess to the who-dunnit scenario. I really like Johnny Galecki, but his character really annoyed me a little bit, but then again he did his job right. The acting in the film for the most part was really good from everyone even Denis Leary who plays a cool driver/hitman kind of guy. This is actually a pretty good film despite getting a 34% on 
365moviesin365dayschallenge 