Cirque du Freak: Vampires Assistant - B+


I instantly was interested in this movie after seeing the previews. I knew nothing of a book series attached to this story, just that John C. Reilly playing a vampire would be awesome. I was right. While this is not "riveting" in any way, I really liked this film.

Here we have 2 high school boys who visit the Cirque Du Freak show while it was touring their town. After a mishap, one boy (Massoglia) has to become the head vampires assistant in order to save the life of his friend. From there, the young boy must become a half-vampire & carry out the wishes of his new master (Reilly).

It is very interesting and original in the idea that we get a detailed look at the inner workings of a true side show attraction. We see monkey girls, bearded ladies, giant dancing spiders, giant brained men & even a lady who can regenerate body parts. The mood is very dark yet the plot opens up just enough to entertain your senses. At times I was gripping my chair, at other times I was lost in the concept and characters & other times I would lend out a laugh. While the tone is a bit dark, this movie is great for vampire movie fans roughly aged 14-26. The younger crowd might not be interested in the cast while older vamp fans might call this movie campy. To me, it falls right in the middle of each realm.

The book series is readily available online and I plan on reading each of the 12 in the series. While this movie is critically panned & the box office intake has not been wonderful, I hope to see this franchise continue to watch where it goes from here.



Read my reviews of all my movies on my blog.
http://bullysblowbyblow.blogspot.com/

Shoot Em Up----7/10

Decent action flick. Plot was kind of lame but the action/gun sequences were pretty good

Crank 2: 7/10

Some fucked up shit in this.

Transformers 2: 6/10

meh, it was ok I guess. You could tell they really didn't put much effort into the storyline here. The new Autobots were really dull.


GI Joe: 8./10

I thought this was pretty good. The First hour seemed a little rushed like there was not really much going on with the plot other then things blowing up. But they did slow it down and showed some good flashbacks and built towars the ending. I really liked the last half hour with the two villians eventually becoming Cobra Commander and Destro. I was hoping to see my favorite GI Joe when they were in the snow. The guy with the skis. I forget his name now. But all in all, good first movie

I LOVE YOU, BETH COOPER



This movie brings back so much to my memory. This movie easily fits in the same vein as The Breakfast Club, Pretty In Pink & 16 Candles. We have the underdog with the quirky sidekick trying to win the love and affection of the cool girl in school. Much like John Hughes' films of the 80's, the plot is paper thin but what makes the movies work so well is the character development & the need to see the plucky nobody succeed.

Christopher Columbus directs Hayden Pannetierre & & Paul Rust as the squirmy Denis Cooverman & the insatiable Beth Cooper. At graduation, Rust delivers a rousing speech to his fellow classmates that is definately character defining & the most important part of this film. From there he berates the class bitch, the dumb jock, the dim witted bully among others.

His world changes forever when the love of his life, Beth Cooper, shows up at his house with a few girlfriends for a graduation party. From there we have cheeky car chases, wet towel battles & several prat falls leading to the moment where Beth & Denis get to the heart of the matter....Why does he love a girl he has never even talked to!?

The sub characters in this film are pretty great. I didn't expect much from the female counterparts as the focus was on Beth, but all sub-characters brought necessary humor & counterpoint to the film. I especially dug Denis' best friend played by Jack Carpenter. He was funny in the same vein that Adam Brody was funny on The OC.


All in all this movie was pretty cool. Not amazing, not a real standout, but if your ever feeling nostalgic for a vintage John Hughes flick, this is a modern take on his genius.


RATING: B or 6.5/10

B out of 10?

Paul Blart: Mall Cop 6/10

How is a B a 6.5 out of 10? That's 65%, or a D.

Paranormal Activity: 9.175 out of 10.
Christmas Carol: 7.41 out of 10
Where the Wild Things Are: 7.23 out of 10
Men Who Stare At Goats: 8.256 out of 10

Say Anything 9/10

Max & Mary. An Australian clay-mation stop motion picture. 3.5/5

Year One - 7/10

Network - 9/10

Seriously loved this movie

Matrix Revolution - 6/10

Horrible

Machine Girl: 9/10

Fun. Violent, over the top. Plot was kind of bleh, but I wasn't watching for the plot. I was watching for hilariously brutal kills.

The Calbe Guy - 8/10.

First time I've seen this in a while....hilarious and physco at the same time.

Hunger - Really haunting movie about Billy Sands hunger strike. Amazing directing by a guy named Steve Mcqueen, apparently he's a "video artist" so I was expecting the movie to be like some gay music video or something, but he had a unique and interesting vision. Michael Fassbender was incredible as well, the amount of weight he lost was really disturbing... definetly rivals Bale's weight loss in The Machinest 8/10

Bro the Orphan has the worst twist of any movie I have ever seen.

Mission Impossible - 8/10.

Yeah, my first time seeing this. It kind of lost me, but it was great.

I disagree.

That would be Sixth sense cause I called that shit 45 mins into the movie :rant:

Taking of Pelham 123

8.5/10. I had a personal like for it because it took place in NY and I thought it was a good story. It was weird seeing Chris Partlow from the Wire in it and he was a good guy.



The movie with Katherine Hiegal and Gerard Butler: 6/10. My wife wanted to watch this one. It was decent I guess. Some funny parts, especially Gerard's character. He has some great lines about what guys are thinking when they meet girls. It's a great date movie for all you single people out there.


Trick 'R Treat: 9/10: Cool film. It went direct to DVD and you may of seen commercials for it. It's a movie that has 5 stories woven together and it all comes together at the end. If you like horror films, I recomend this one. It reminded me of Tales from the Crypt.

The Strangers - 6.5/10

Triangle - 7.5/10

I found both of these films hard to rate. Probably felt a little short-changed as neither film has a conclusive ending.

LC, you should check out the original Taking of Pelham 123, especially if you liked the remake due to the NY feel. The original does a much better job of making the city itself a character. Plus it has Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw.

2012 - 6/10

Not as bad as I thought it was gonna be. Pretty good popcorn flick

2012

Story's pretty empty but I wasn't surprised. The CGI pieces are absolutely beautiful. By the end I was really hoping for more people to get wiped out.

6.5/10

Pirate Radio

7/10

Good film. Hoffman & the supporting cast (including half of shaun of the deads supporting cast) & Rhys Darby made this film awesome. Possibly the best ensemble of characters so far this year.

Whatever Works 3/5

Saw 5 2.5/5

Paranormal Activity 3.5/5

Surf's Up 3/5

Couple's Retreat 3.5/5

I thought it was better than what people are saying.

The Proposal 3/5

The Invention of Lying 3.5/5

Wow you watched those movies really fast

Invention of Lying was a letdown & I agree about Couples Retreat. I dug it throughout.

max and mary-8.5/10 too short
synechdone ny- 9/10

Smart People 2.5/5

Just watched New Moon. Not too bad. kinda cheesy.

Yeah, I saw Twilight with my gf, I thought of of the scenes were as cringe-worthy you would find in the UK version of The Office.

max and mary was pretty great. I agree with your rating.


S/NY I attempted to watch but had to quit after he pissed the blood. Maybe I'll finish this one as I loooove me some Hofffman.


Good taste in movies lad.