Rambo 5 Coming Soon

In case you didn't get enough of a past-his-prime Stallone in Rocky Balboa and the fourth Rambo movie, you'll be thrilled to know Rambo 5 is greenlit and ready to go into production early next year.


Sylvester Stallone in Rambo: First Blood Part II

Call me crazy but I actually liked that latest Rambo movie. A bit too short really, but much better than First Blood II (I haven't seen III so I can't compare). Not a big enough Rambo fan to see this in the theatre, but I'd rent this newest installment for sure.


So what's the plot slated for Rambo 5? Well, according to Variety, "The upcoming project's storyline revolves around Rambo fighting his way through human traffickers and drug lords to rescue a young girl abducted near the U.S.-Mexico border." Nice!! We're all pissed at South of the Border drug lords and illegal Mexican immigrants so let's send Sly down here to San Diego and have him slip across to Tijuana. There will be blood!!!

Dog Soldiers - A Fun Monster Movie

This is my first movie review post and so I find it so totally appropriate that I'm going to review Neil Marshall's sophomore effort from 2002, Dog Soldiers, which centers around a bunch of armed lads duking it out with werewolves somewhere in the highlands of Scotland. I truly enjoyed it, I'll just say that. A lot of bloody fun, really.


We meet these hungry and constantly pissed off werewolves after just about 15 minutes into the movie, so I'm not giving anything away by telling you that they are the mystery creatures of the film. Quickly, the plot works like this: army soldiers dropped into the woods for field exercises. Find werewolves. Try to kill them, unsuccessfully. Saved by a pretty field scientist stationed in the woods. Hole up in a cottage. Try to kill werewolves again. Werewolves try to kill army guys. And on like that for a while. Like I said, bloody good fun.



A bunch of Scottish army blokes about to be dog food

I picked up this movie because Neil Marshall also wrote and directed The Descent, which I absolutely loved. And I was pleasantly surprised to see that one of the leads in Dog Soldiers was none other than Kevin McKidd, who I was reintroduced to through the miniseries Rome a couple years ago. He played Lucius Vorenus, a loyal Roman soldier employed to do Antony and Augustus Caesar's dirty work. I first saw him in Trainspotting as Tommy, and when I first started watching Rome I couldn't believe it was the same guy.



Kevin McKidd as Cooper in Dog Soldiers



Kevin McKidd as Tommy in Trainspotting (second from right)

So there are a few different plot twists in Dogs which work pretty well. Especially when you realize that they have somewhat of a vampire like ability in that if they bite or scratch you, sooner or later you'll change into one of them. And we learn early on that these werewolves are somewhat intelligent (they open the zipper of a tent in the beginning instead of just tearing it to shreds, unfortunately for a naughty couple inside who are into some heavy petting) and they taunt some of the soldiers with the body parts of their friends.


I think Dog Soldiers succeeds, too, in not taking itself too seriously. Sure, the script could've used a bit more humor, but it's a difficult task to make the audience actually care about the soldiers by setting up their backstories, and then have all hell break loose with limbs flying everywhere and big wolf creatures tearing everything all up. Marshall keeps it nice and even. The various characters aren't just one dimensional caricatures or cliches. The Descent worked that way too. Sooner or later we know a lot of the characters are gonna bite the big one, but Marshall invests plenty of time up front so we really get to know these ill-fated people.




The creatures themselves are scary enough...More full on wolf or dog head attached to about a 7 foot humanoid frame. Yeah, scary enough to not ever want to see one when you're walking through the woods. For my money, though, still not as scary as the gollum-like creatures living deep within The Descent's Appalachian caves. So, Dog Soldiers definitely gets my recommendation. You know, in some ways this movie is the anti-Twilight take on our traditional monsters...these particular werewolves here aren't trying to score with girls at the local highschool or trying to integrate into society. They're living out in the woods, they're hungry, and they love the flesh of Scottish people.


One of the cave crawlers from The Descent

Nice!

Yo! This is the best! Well done Matty, or should I say Stiles.
I'm too stupid to figure out how to create my own identity, but I'm totally calling dibs on Louis. Or is it Lewis? Either way, the shy nerdy kid... that's me.

Welcome to Sons of Teen Wolf

...a place where we can talk about movies. All movies, not just TW! I want to start by saying this blog is not meant to be a polished, scholarly work of film reviews...it's really just letting a bunch of us speak our mind about cinema stuff. The only qualification for a movie to be commented or featured upon here is that it has to be a movie. In other words, it doesn't matter if it's Schindler's List or Killer Klowns from Outer Space, as long as it's a movie, it belongs here!!



Orson Welles as Harry Lime in "The Third Man"

I feel a bit of trepidation in starting this blog and writing again; it's been quite some time since I've seriously maintained a blog. But as one of my professors once said "you should write everyday. It doesn't matter what you write, so long as you're writing" and I'm going to take that advice. Since eventually I need to write a thesis in an unrelated field, this blog may serve a purpose by keeping the juices flowing.



Steve Martin as Neal Page and John Candy as Del Griffith in "Planes, Trains & Automobiles"

So that being said I want to mention that many of my reviews and comments will not be polished, i.e. when I'm writing papers for class I am so very anal in making sure it's perfect; I go over it again and again. This blog will serve a different purpose. The writings will be more relaxed, perhaps flow of consciousness, perhaps right from the gut. I may get on a soapbox about Michael Bay and blast him all to hell for being a hack so be prepared for some venom too. I may also, on occasion, just be flat out wrong or in the minority about a movie and I hope you will give it to me when warranted. Like I may give Wall-E only 2 stars out of 5, and well if that's my opinion then that's what I'll write and it's a free country so you have every right to agree or disagree with me.



Robert DeNiro as Travis Bickle in "Taxi Driver"

Finally, one of the catalysts for finally starting this blog is my recent purchase of some entertainment wares which have made me a very, very happy man. I bought a 42" Panasonic plasma, a nice tv stand which lifts it up a bit, and a ps3 for Blu-Ray capability. Combine that with the surround system I already had, and the fact that my apartment can get very dark in a moment's notice, and let's just say I'm in cinematic heaven. So I have an ideal place to watch movies, and since I'm being furloughed by my job every so often, I just may have the time to write about it!! Ok, that's about it...happy blogging and welcome to Sons of Teen Wolf!



Michael J. Fox as Teen Wolf in "Teen Wolf"