3:10 to Yuma (1957) 7/10

A farmer is tasked to get the leader of a murderous gang to Yuma to face justice.
One of those few movies where the original didn't vastly outshine the remake. Both were very good.
Glenn Ford is the standout as Ben Wade. He could have been smoother, but it wouldn't have been easy. Van Helfin did a great job as the reluctant hero, thrust into a position he didn't want to be, but forced to in order to try and save his farm.
Great story that really didn't need to have a lot of action. The best scenes were between Ford and Helfin in the hotel room.

Ninja Cheerleaders (2008) 6/10

Three cheerleaders need to rescue their sensei after he was kidnapped, all while stripping to pay their college tuition.
Why this only has a 3.3 on IMDB I do not know. It was fun, funny, had decent acting, and three hot girls (though we don't get to see them strip down).
Plus it has George Takei.

Zombi 3!

It's been years since I watched this, so I felt a need to dust off the dvd, and I'm glad I did. This movie was a blast. Basically the culmination of Italian zombie movies. It's as if Fulci actually understood the genre for a change, and he understood it perfectly!

This movie wastes no time getting started. We have an outbreak after a sabateur steals a military virus, spreads the love at a nearby resort, and bam! Zombies galore.

What surprised me is how competent this movie was. Some of the scenes were pretty intense. Freaky even, like the gas station zombie in the beginning and how fast he was moving while swinging a machete at the girl. The zombies in this movie aren't predictable. Some shamble, some flail about, and some of them give us good fight scenes and nice kills made even better by the movie's groovy score.

Those fight scenes were pretty great actually. Our protagonists include a few military guys who have scenes where they alone must survive and escape the horde, and since they're not complete dumbasses, you might actually find yourself rooting for them. And even then, they sometimes get overrun, because the zombies in this movie are some volatile bastards.

Not only is this movie action packed, but there's loads of fog and atmosphere. The plot isn't original at this point, but it pulls from all the best sources: Romero's Dead trilogy, The Crazies, Nightmare City, and Return of the Living Dead. There was a good effort in getting the right vibes for some of these scenes, and that struck such a chord with me that, dare I say, this is top-10 zombie material, better than Zombi 2, and probably Fulci's most entertaining movie ever.

#Review

Playing for Keeps (2012) 5/10

A former soccer star tries to get back into his ex-wife and son's life.
Pretty star-studded flick. Gerard Butler, Jessica Biel, Uma Thurman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Dennis Quaid, Judy Greer.
Pretty average movie in this genre. A few touching father/son scenes, and the ever present misunderstanding. And Uma Thurman in her underwear.

Dead Men Walk (1943) 4/10

A doctor is shocked to discover his brother is a vampire.
There wasn't really anything in this movie that did anything for me. It just existed, and will quickly fall into one of those movies that I will have no idea if I've seen or not.
Basic plot, some pretty bad acting, cheap sets, and a vampire without fangs.

Pitch Perfect (2012) 7/10

The world of a cappella on college campuses. I went in not knowing much about it, but the one thing I did know is that I probably wasn't going to enjoy it. I ended up with a stack of DVDs, and this was next in the pile.
This was a surprisingly strong movie. The singing was really good (as it would have to be), had a lot of great humor also, and one of those "What the fuck?" moments where I had to rewind and make sure I heard what I thought I did.
If a couple of the humor scenes didn't fall completely flat, I would have seriously considered giving it an 8.
Most surprisingly liked FTV in probably three years.

The Duchess (2008) 7/10

This is a period piece chronicling the life of Georgiana Spencer, the Duchess of Devonshire.
I really enjoyed it. But then, I do like period piece movies and biographical films, of which this was both.
Keira Knightley was really good in this. There were scenes where she didn't have to say a word,, it was all expressed through the eyes. And when she was on the platform as Charles Grey gave his first speech? Yowzaaa...
Ralph Fiennes was very good as The Duke. Played it very stodgy, as I'm sure a lot of the English upper crust were.

The Fatal Hour (1940) 5/10

A police captain's friend is murdered, and he and the famous Detective Wong investigate and end up surrounded by murders.
Nothing really stands out in this film, but it is very derivative of the Torchy Blane films from the mid to late 30s.

John Travolta is The Fanatic

Yes, this is the movie directed by Fred Durst, and it's surprisingly competent. I wont say it's great, but John Travolta is great as the obsessive and almost child-like fan. A boy in a grown man's body who is obsessed with Hunter Dunbar (Devon Sawa) and plots some incriminating ways to get an autograph after he misses out on a book-signing opportunity.

Devon Sawa is also good. After watching this and Escape Plan 3, I wonder why we don't see more of him. Still, this is mostly a story about Hollywood's shallow front and more importantly, it's psychotic fans. Being a movie about movie fandom, you'll see a fair amount of nods and homages.

IMDB Trivia:

Inspired by a real-life fan who pursued Limp Bizkit's frontman Fred Durst many years ago.

Moose is John Travolta's favourite character he has ever played.

John Travolta took the role of Moose as a tribute to his autistic son Jett who passed away in 2009.

I Have a Mask Stalker at Work

Would have been cooler if it was a MASKED stalker.

There's a guy at work who has decided to make it his job to ensure I am wearing a mask.
I was in his office area where 3 of the 8 people wear masks, and I wasn't. He asked me to put one on, I said "Sure" and went about my business. Bear in mind I have been in that office area maybe ten times in the past year.
In the past two days he found me in the lunchroom and twice on the plant floor, and asked me to wear a mask.
But he passes right by other people not wearing masks to get to me.
I'm about ready to tell him he needs a new hobby.
I'm gone in 2.5 weeks anyway. Heading back out to California to hike the Pacific Crest Trail again, and do the whole thing instead of just to mile 580 or so.