Shadow of The Vampire (2000) - A Taylor The Latte Boy Review

See, I can watch horror movies....well, kinda horror movies.

Shadow of the Vampire stars John Malkovich and Willem DaFoe as director F.W. Murnau and the star of his movie Max Schreck, respectively. Murnau is making an "homage" to Dracula (because the family of Bram Stoker won't sell him the rights to the book) and, wanting authenticity, he hires an actual vampire, played by DaFoe. Things go...awry when Shreck demands the lead actress of the film be his payment following the production.

Sometimes very funny, I thought the concept was original enough to keep my attention. The film never felt obvious or generic to me in where the story was going. I thought the supporting cast, including Catherine McCormack as Greta, and Eddie Izzard (yes, THAT Eddie Izzard, Ness) as Gustav, actors in the film within a film were great. Malkovich played...well, every other character Malkovich always plays. If I were to have one complaint about the film, it would be that it was dark. Real dark. I get that the film is supposed to take place at night, but for the most part I wouldn't call the movie as suspense-filled film. Babaloo and I watched this movie in the dark at night and I still had a hard time making out what was going on sometimes. Had we watched this film during the day, or in a well lit room, I don't know how we would have seen anything.

The standout here is DaFoe. It is clear why he was nominated for an Academy Award for his role as the vampire Schreck/Nosferatu. Ghoulish, he chews up the scenery in a way that is compelling, sometimes very funny (on purpose), and with wild abandon. You can see that he really dove head first into this role, and you can see the beginnings of his portrayal of the Green Goblin in the Spider Man movies here. Even if you don't like horror movies (which I can barely count this one as), then you should see Shadow of the Vampire for Dafoe's performance alone.

I'm giving Shadow of the Vampire 3 stars and half a bag of popcorn.

Ok, So The Next Cute Guy From A Pugs And Popcorn Movie Is....

I know he's a cartoon, but come ON! Dark hair, blue eyes muscles for days and he'll always show up to save your ass when you need it! Of COURSE he gets a nomination for Mr. Pugs and Popcorn!

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies (2009)

Taylor: Now THIS is some nerd porn!

Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is the latest direct to DVD animated feature released by DC Comics (now called DC Entertainment, I do believe.) The story, based on the first six issues of Superman/Batman comics, has the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel combating...well, just about everyone after President Lex Luthor (you heard me) declared a 1 billion dollar bounty on the Superman's head. While every villain comes out of the woodwork to claim the bounty, the World's Finest work together to not only clear Supes' name, but also prevent Earth's destruction via a Kryptonite meteor.

I was impressed with how close the writers stayed to the original source material. I have found that in the past the DCU films take an idea, boil it down to it's basic core and create a story that can be told in a 75 to 80 minute movie. S/B:PE didn't do that. It found a way to stay close to the story and only trimmed a minimal amount of fat, and reworked the story in a way that makes sense and could keep the viewer's interest. I loved seeing some of the panels from the comic almost seem to take life on the screen. I also loved that so many other characters from the DC Universe were able to play such pivotal roles. Many times in these movies, other characters appear in the background as easter eggs for fanboys like myself to notice and point out to our less interested friends. But here, each of the other heroes in the film, including Black Lightning, Power Girl and Captain Atom, all received a moment to shine.

Speaking of shining, can we talk about the animation? The art style of the film was beautiful, looking about as close to original story artist Ed McGuinness' as is possible! I've been a fan of McGuinness's style in the past, and while it would have been easy for the art team to ape him, or take his stocky anime style to an extreme, the characters were well drawn with clear lines and beautifully colored. so many of the original voice actors from the various series were on hand here, and as a fan of Batman: The Animated Series from back in college, I find it hard to hear anyone but Kevin Conroy as Batman, so when Conroy growls his first line in the film, you can't help but smile.

With a minimal amount of plot holes and some slight sense of disbelief (what happens when all the debris getting thrown around in metropolis hits the ground?), Superman/Batman: Public Enemies is a great film not only for comic book fans like myself, but fans of animation and well crafted storytelling.

Taylor gives this film five pugs.

Babaloo: Yes comic book porn galore indeed.
I have never read the DC comics of Superman, Batman or any DC comic for that matter, and that was OK. The film was so entertaining I did not have to have read books from the series to understand. The story was fast paced and exciting enough to keep me interested. The animation was superb great style and wonderful drawn characters. Even though it had plenty of DC characters that would make any fan boy scream with glee. The writers seemed to still make the story solid.
My favorite part of the film was the fight scenes with all the vilians they could jam in there from the DC Universe. Then it happens....Taylor says "This is fucking cool!" I think I loved him a little more. :)
I give it 5 pugs out of 5

Zombieland (2009) and other Halloween Favorites a Babaloo Review.

Happy Halloween from Pugs and Popcorn.

As Taylor does not enjoy the horror movies like I do. It is with great pleasure for me to recommend a few new and old favorites. Weather your staying at home or you out on the town tonight here are my picks.

I like to start off with my new favorite zombie movie, Zombieland. All I can say is…..Yes, Yes and Yes!!! This horror film has just the right mixture of gore, scares and laughs that make you enjoy the movie and love the characters. The movie was creative in many ways, from making rules on surviving and killing zombies to silly moments like visiting Bill Murray Mansion….yes that’s right and an obsession with Twinkies

Let’s start of by one of the zombie survival rules “never get attached” in which the characters name themselves by what city they are going or from. So our main character is called Columbus (as in Columbus Ohio) played by Jesse Eisenberg is an antisocial college student that has survived the zombie apocalypse by being well…antisocial. He also comes up with rules that he lives by in order to survive….We see rule number 1 in the first few minutes of the film, Cardio. The most interesting moments of the film is the rules and how they become part of the scene. Then we meet Columbus opposite, Tallahassee (you see the pattern here) played by Woody Harrelson, who is way of surviving the zombie apocalypse is brute force and an undeniable sense of glee. He teaches Columbus one of his important rules…”Enjoy the little things”. A while looking for Tallahassee obsession for finding Twinkies at a grocery store, we find two more survivors a young woman named Wichita (Emma Stone) and her pre-teen sister Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) who con the boys a couple of times during the movie and keep everyone at a distance. At the end, their relationship as a family come together in a California amusement park which is a great way of killing zombies and being trapped by one.

The only flaw was the film was very only 82 minutes long. I think they could have stretched a little more but in all the movie was a fast paced roller coaster riot. One of the other good things I did enjoy about this movie is that all the main characters were not killed, no need to show a typical scene like that which was a plus in my book.

I give it 5 pugs out of 5.

My other Halloween picks.

Twilight (2008)

If you have teenage girls…well how about Twilight….yes Twilight. What can I say….it teenage girl soft porn. Alas, I was entertained. I had to know what the hoopla was about. So I had to watch. Sew me.

Anyway, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) an antisocial girl (I’m dark and different kind of annoying way) moves to Forks Washington to live with her Dad. As she starts her first day in High School is immediately welcomed by many of the trendy teenage friends. But is more intrigued by one of the Cullen boys in the clan. Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) finds her intriguing cause he can’t “read her mind”. They fall in love and are welcomed into his clan. But other visiting vampires come to town and one of them wants to “eat Bella”. So it my Vampire in shining armor or skin to come rescue me against another shiny Vampire.

Ok I’m a big fan of Vampires and High School shows/movie…hence TV shows like Buffy or the new Vamp show “The Vampire Diaries”…compared to Twilight I do not see the attraction. Bella was well annoying and whinny. Edward should know better than to date someone as annoying, he is like 100 years old…It just seemed lazy….Maybe New Moon will be better. Who knows….The best part of this film were the Vampires playing baseball under a thunder storm…That was the most fun parts or the film.

I give it 3 pugs out of 5.

Night Watch (2005)

You want some action with horror, try the Russian film Night Watch. It’s been compared to a horror version of Lord of the Rings.

The forces of Light and Dark have existed for in a delicate balance of many years….They have a truce that the Light and Dark police each other so not to disturb the balance. But Even as the Night Watch polices the Dark others - among them Vampires, witches, shape-shifters and the such - chain of mysterious events trigger a prophecy that could save or destroy the world.

This was based on a famous Russian novel trilogy that is based on there mythologies and legends.

This movie is a big wow for me….very stylized and exciting to watch.

I give it 5 out of 5 pugs.

Nightmare before Christmas (1993)

For the Kiddies - Nightmare before Christmas

A critically acclaimed movie milestone that has enchanted kids and adults everywhere.

The story of the Pumpkin king of Halloween town bored with the same stuff. Stumbles into Christmas town and kidnaps Santa Claus to find himself and become the new Santa. At the end he finds that he can not fill the big shows of Claus and decides to just be himself.

This is a great Disney Halloween classic musical with a lot of heart.

5 out of 5 pugs.

Poltergeist (1982)

Want a classic 80’s Spielberg movie….Try Poltergeist.

This movie was mad about 30 years ago and it still freaks me out.

Great acting by Craig Nelson, Jo-Beth Williams and the late Heather O’Rourke. The story of a Haunted House buried under a Cemetery that kidnaps a young girl Carol Anne to show they the way to the light.

STAY AWAY FROM THE LIGHT!

4 pugs out of 5.



I have plenty of other films I would love to recommend but the top were a few of my favorites.

Enjoy and HAPPY HALLOWEEN.

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Taylor - I never really fancied myself a fan of Quentin Tarantino. I mean, everyone back when I was just out of college throught that Pulp Fiction was the second coming, and while I enjoyed Jackie Brown, and appreciated him bringing Pam Grier to a new generation of film watchers, I could have lived my life without seeing it and been ok.
Then I saw the trailer for Kill Bill, vol. 1.
Holy shit! This is a super hero movie, Tarantino style!
Rodan and I went opening night to see the first volume (with, if memory serves, Rodan) and it did not disappoint. Action sequences, a out of sync story that was surprisingly easy to follow along with, and an amazing cast, I could not WAIT to see Volume 2 a few months later. (Unfortunately, I had to wait to see it til the DVD came out, but it was worth the wait.) Tarantino followed up the KB movies with Death Proof, his half of a horribly fun film, Grindhouse. The film captures some of the best car chase and crash sequences ever filmed and does a better job that Planet Terror (Robert Rodriguez's half) of creating that feel of a film from the 70's, filmed out in the California mountains. I became a fan through those movies, and as such, was looking forward to Inglourious Basterds.
I was not disappointed.
The film "stars" Brad Pitt as the head of a secret group of Jewish American soldiers with the sole intension of killing Nazis. I say stars in quotes because Pitt isn't in the film for what I would consider to be a majority of it. A lot of the film is about the soldiers in Pitt's crew, and a side storyline involving a Jewish girl on the run, and how those two stories come together in an explosive (literally) conclusion. Tarantino continues his "there are no rules" style of storytelling, using long drawn out talking scenes with characters who may suddenly be taken out from the story with little to no warning. The director's main device used in the film is tension. You find yourself at times on the edge of your seat, whether it's the opening scene involving an interrigation of a French dairy farmer (I could feel myself wanting to yell, "They're in the cellar!" at the screen), to the simple act of The main muscle of the soldiers, The Bear Jew, (Eli Roth, looking nice and swarthy) simply banging his baseball bat along the walls of a tunnel prior to emerging from the shadows to bash in a Nazi's head.
Everything in the film, from costumes to (especially) music to the acting was pretty damn good. (I especially enjoyed the acting of the two main female actresses - Melanie Laurent and Diane Kruger as the Jewish girl and a German Actress, respectively.) Also amzingly evil was Chistoph Waltz as Col. Hans Landa, aka The Jew Hunter. You couldn't believe how you could find someone so evil so charming at times.
Not as gory as it could have been, nor Historically correct (at all!), Inglourious Basterds is a fun way to spend an afternoon on a rainy day, and is strongly recommended to fans of non-traditional film making.
I give Inglourious Basterds five pugs.

Babaloo - Quintin Tarantino has never failed to entertain me from Reservoir Dogs to Pulp Fiction to his cheese Zombie flick Grindhouse. Inglorious Basterds has got to be his best yet.

Inglorious Basterds, directed and written by Quintin Tarantino, set in an Alternate history/universe in Nazi-Occupied France during World War 2. “The Bastards” are a group of rough housing soldiers (mostly Jewish) lead by Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt). There mission is to assassinate the entire Nazi command during a Nazi propaganda film premiere in Paris> With the help of a dashingly handsome British soldier Archie Hicox (Michael Fassbender). At the same time, the beautiful young woman (Melanie Laurent) who runs the theatre in Paris is planning on revenge for the death for her family.

That is only a snippet of what the movie is about.

The film is filled with amazing action sequences but the best parts are those tense conversational moments. Mostly by Christoph Waltz who plays Col. Hans Landa, sort of a Jewish Bounty Hunter. He has that creepy nice cop but I’m still going to kill you with charm and a smile, that you just love to hate. The film really doesn’t have that much action. What it does have is amazing dialogue between all the characters that puts you on the edge of your seat.

Another great part of the film is the acting. The Bastards like Brad Pitt and Eli Roth brought a lot of humor to the film. Til Schweiger as the crazy Sgt, Hugo Stiglitz was fun to watch especially his back story. There are so many great actors from other countries in this film that made it just more enjoyable. As mentioned before Christoph Waltz, from Austria, was the best of all with his creep snake like charm. Melanie Laurent as Shosanna Drefus, from Paris, played the French girl that runs the theatre. The annoyingly creepy Daniel Bruhl from Spain, played the German Nazi soldier that the film is documented about. Just to name a few.

The film had a lot of great character scenes, back story and even little stories going constantly back and forth, that I almost wondered how in the world is he going to put it all together. But alas he does. How dare I question Tarantino. The ending of the film has got to be the best ending I have ever seen in a Tarantino Film. He used the same formula as has always done in previous films and again made something fresh and new. All the stories finally coming together to make a huge dramatic ending.

I bow to you master.

I gave it 5 pugs out of 5.

Ok, So A New Pugs and Popcorn Segment!

A new segment here at the Pugs and Popcorn. Either Babaloo or myself (or both of us) is going to nominate a guy from a movie we've seen as and are reviewing here at the site. We've recently seen Inglourious Basterds (see our review!) and I am nominating Eli Roth. While not the best actor in the bunch, he was more than easy enough on the eyes.

We'll add each guy to our nomination list with each movie, and once we get to ten, we'll have a poll as to which guy is the official Pugs and Popcorn mascot or something....like I said, details need to be hammered out. You know, like Roth did with that Nazi guy's head.

Green Lantern (2009)

Taylor: Listners of PiMC know that I have become a big fan of the Green Lantern comic books over the last few months. Current storylines in the book focus on not only the character of Green Lantern Hal Jordan, but a large supporting cast of characters that each bring their own unique personality to wearing the ring. I was excited to see that there was a GL moving coming out, and after taking back What's Up, Doc? at the local Blockbuster, decided to give this one a try.

Similar to the last DCU feature, Wonder Woman, this one had its ups and downs. The film had some great action sequences, and it cohesively told the origin story of Jordan, who recieves his energy ring from a dying Green Lantern who crash lands on Earth. The problem is the origin is told WAY too quickly. He gets the ring, and suddenly, he's on another planet surrounded by other members of the Green Lantern Corp, with little explanation of exploration of feelings, motivation. The story has some SERIOUS plot holes in it. (The whole film takes place in a week!? He knows how to make a Green Bluetooth handfree phone AND make it operational?), but that can be nitpicking and fanboy-ish, so we'll leave it alone.

One thing that I CAN'T leave alone is the art style of the film. I felt it was a little too anime for my liking (One or two of the characters look like they were pulled right out of a Dragonball Z cartoon, and I'm sorry, but throwing moving lines behind something as it is "transforming" is not animation - it's sloppy.) I will say there is some great voiceover work, including Chris Meloni as Jordan/Green Lantern, and Victor Garber as Sinestro.

The film was definitely middle of the road for me, but it was a nice way to spend 75 minutes on the couch on a gloomy Staurday afternoon. 2 pugs and half a bag of popcorn.

Babaloo : A dying alien, Abin Sur, crashes to Earth and tells the ring to find the next lantern to take his place. The ring finds Hal Jordan a US air force test pilot. The moment Jordan accepts the ring he is transported to a Intergalactic police force that tries to stop alien mobsters, murders and thieves etc. The Guardians of the Universe (which look like little Orko’s from He-Man) are not quite convinced of Hal’s abilities to take on the ring, let alone any human. Sinestro convinces the Guardians of the Universe to take him under his wing and train him. However, Sinestro has other plans, he believes the Guardians are week and can do better job of cleaning the universe. So Sinestro finds a way to make is own ring by finding the yellow element that will make him powerful as any Green Lantern. Hal Jordan has stop him before he destroys the green lanterns corps.

I loved the film. It was good cop vs. bad cop in space. It had it’s Jedi feel to it, without the space opera. With some great action fight and chase scenes. Great story, which flowed smoothly, it did not feel rushed nor dumbed down . The animation is my favorite, it had a sense of Japanese anime which I am a huge fan of, for a straight to video movie it was well produced animation. It had a great voice cast of great actors….Christopher Meloni as Green Lantern, Victor Barber as Sinestro, Michael Madsen as Kilwog and many more. This film is not quite for the young children (hence the PG-13 rating). It did have some scenes of extreme violence; there was scenes of alien’s doing drugs and lots of blood and graphic death scenes. Which was my only bad thing I could say about this film.

I give it 4 pugs and a popcorn.