skeletonman13

I'm an avid horror fan. Lately I've been thinking there isn't much that can scare me (though Sinister got under my skin). I appreciate James Wan's films, I love the first Saw, Insidious was a damn good modern ghost story, but like all reviews have stated for it, the movie kinda loses it's momentum in the final act.

The Conjuring is better, scarier, and more tense than Insidious. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it's one of the best horror movies of the last 5 or 10 years. It goes back to the classic rule of horror film making, never show the bad guy fully to your audience. Plus this movie knows suspense, I tell you, I almost threw a water bottle at the screen from sheer terror once the scare finally happened. There are no fake jump scares, the movie earned an R rating without any blood, sex, or profanity, it's all from the terror that this movie builds upon.

Not only is the movie scary, but as a film itself, it's almost a masterpiece. The script, acting, direction, style, tone, etc were all simply top notch. Wan's camera-work here is by far his best out of any of his movies. The choice to set the movie in the 70s was a stroke of genius as it feels so authentic and all the more real. If this story were set in the present, it simply wouldn't be as a effective or scary. The 70s style film making, costuming, and hair styling are a great throwback to likes of The Exorcist & The Amityville Horror.

Though there are a few (extremely minor) flaws, such are length, repetitiveness, and a resolution that happens way too fast. I don't care, every horror movie (or movie in general) has it's flaws. There will never be a perfect horror movie, if there is one, I haven't seen it yet. But all I know is James Wan's The Conjuring is one of the best horror movies I've seen in a long time, and it's been a really long time that a movie has scared me this badly.

10/10 Don't miss this one, it's an amazing theater viewing experience.

Season 1 of American Horror Story was absolutely fantastic. It was the perfect mix of horror, drama, suspense, and even dark comedy. Though the plot come slowly at first and was confusing at times, it hooked me. The confusing nature of the show adds to the addicting factor of the show. The more confusing it got with it's genius plot twists and turns the more I wanted to watch it. I loved everything about the first season, it illustrated perfectly a modern haunted house story.

Then came season 2.

Oh man... Season 2. 'Asylum' This season is a whole new monster to reckoned with. It blows everything that season 1 did out of the water. You think that what Tate did to the Harmon's was crazy? Well wait till meet some of the staff at Briarcliff. This season is so much more twisted and dark that I actually find myself getting somewhat scared watching certain episodes.

'Asylum' is even better than 'Murder House'. On a plot level, it feels much more original. 'Murder House' felt like a send-up of all the classic haunted house/ghost movies. While this one is completely different all it's own. Never have I seen a horror movie that packs in serial killers, Nazis, demonic possession, mad doctors, and better yet... the implication of alien invasion. I find myself thinking "am I insane!?" while I watch the show. The acting is up to par with 'Murder House' namely Sarah Paulson, Lily Rabe, Zachary Qunito, and of course the fantastic Jessica Lange.

Not only is the acting this season just fantastic, so is the spectacle. The sets of this asylum are dark, dreary, grim, and creepy. Even the costumes are so spot on for 1964. The editing may be weird, but it's supposed to be, it's of putting and makes the audience feel on edge. The cinematography is even better this season. The show feels so cinematic that I forget I'm watching a TV show.

I know we're not even half-way through this season yet, but I find myself dreading waiting a whole week for the next episode. I don't even know where the next episode is going to take us, but I truly cannot wait to see how this season ends up. Because so far, it's near-perfect.

The Dark Knight Rises was one most stunning films I have ever seen. One of the emotional viewing experiences I have ever been through too. That's not a bad thing at all, this movie made me feel. It did everything a movie is supposed to do, it made me laugh, it made me angry, it made me happy, it made me cry. Yes, it made me cry. The Dark Knight Rises is the best of the series, with one of the most beautiful endings I've ever seen on film, and dare I say it… is equal to or maybe ever a little bit better than The Dark Knight.

The Dark Knight Rises exceeded all of my expectations, in terms of acting, action, dialogue, plot, etc…etc… Though running at almost 3 hours long, this movie never feels boring, never did I look at my watch, I was glued the screen all 164 minutes. The first hour was definitely slower than the rest of the movie, but it wasn't boring. Christopher Nolan did a fantastic job at setting up all the major plot points and introducing the new characters.

Christian Bale delivers his best performance as Batman, he is wonderful the whole series, but this time around he goes to place where we've never seen Batman go and he rocks it. Michael Caine should be up for an Oscar for his powerful performance, absolutely fantastic. Anne Hathaway was a definite surprise as the sexy Selina Kyle (never referred to as Catwoman in the movie at all! Hah!), she stole every scene she was in with her quick, dry humor. Other standouts were Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman, who all play wonderfully in their supporting parts. This brings me to Tom Hardy. His performance as Bane scared the crap out of me at times, he was terrifying. Very different from The Joker, there's no comparing the two as they are completely different villains. Extremely well done.

From a technical standpoint, this movie is gorgeous. It looks beautiful, sounds beautiful, and flows beautifully. The cinematography, editing, score, and visual effects topped those all seen/heard in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. Namely the soundtrack, this is Hanz Zimmer's best Batman score. Nolan's action sequences are better than ever, they are extremely brutal and very engrossing.

A few critics have criticized the film for not being "fun", well I don't know what movie they were watching because there are plenty of those witty chuckle lines throughout and the majority of the film's sense of humor comes from Catwoman.

Though this movie is without not flaws, there are minor ones including random time jumps toward the end of the movie, small logic questions, and other little knit picky things, but overall the movie flows and goes with grace that throws twists at you that will leave you floored, and then cumulates to one of the most beautiful endings I've ever seen.

I wouldn't be surprised if this movie were up for quite a bit of Oscars this year; I'm thinking a few in the acting department, many in tech, and maybe even Best Picture & Best Director? We'll just have to see! The Dark Knight Rises is the movie event of year, and perhaps the best film of 2012 thus far. Go see it, and prepare to be wowed!! 10/10