Ken's Review: Speed Racer - A Wonderful Experience of Visual Overload

When I first heard that the Wachowski Brothers were directing Speed Racer, I was extremely disappointed. Unlike most people, I loved all of the Matrix films and I desperately wanted to see them make more movies along those same lines. The best way to describe it is like when your favorite band releases the most amazing album, then after waiting a year to hear their next one, hoping it will be even better, they decide to totally change their sound and it sucks. That is what I thought would happen with Speed Racer. Thankfully the Wachowskis didn't exactly change their style and their newest work turned out to be quite good.

Five Movies to Get You in the Mood for (More) GTA IV!

Grand Theft Auto IV is finally here! Today officially marks the release of one of the most highly anticipated video games of the year. Where are you on this historic occasion? Are you at work counting the hours until you are released to race home and spend the next 12 hours glued to the tube, basking in the glow of GTA IV? Perhaps you are one of the millions of employees who used a precious vacation day so that you could be there at midnight to buy it, take it home and play non-stop for the next 24+ hours? Or are you one of the unfortunate ones who can't afford it yet and are going to have to hear from your friends about all of the enormous amounts of fun they're having? No matter who you are, we here at FS.net want to give you a little gift to help you survive this landmark in video game history.

Ken's Review: Baby Mama - Don't Be Scared Guys, It's Actually Funny

There are some movies that just don't appeal to guys at first. Movies like Pride and Prejudice, Little Women, 13 Going On 30, and Ever After are a few examples of those types of films. I'll admit that after a few forced viewings by my wife, I can actually enjoy watching Pride and Prejudice. However, I despise 13 Going on 30 because I just don't get it. It was a film made with girl humor in mind, which we men completely don't understand. This was the exact type of film that I thought Baby Mama was going to be. Now after seeing it, I must proclaim to every man that was dreading being dragged to it by their significant other, it was actually funny and within our realm of understanding.

Ken's Review: The Forbidden Kingdom - A Remake of Last Action Hero?

After a 45 minute drive through a snow storm to make it to a screening of The Forbidden Kingdom, the last thing I expected was to be transported back to 1993. Nevertheless, there I was, sitting in a theater with the overwhelming feeling that I had already seen this movie a long time ago… then it hit me. I had seen this film already back in 1993 but it had a different name - Last Action Hero. I know it's a bit of a jump to relate the two films, but that was the overwhelming feeling I got while I watched it. If Last Action Hero is the movie I thought of while watching Forbidden Kingdom, you probably have a good idea where this review is going. And, well, you're probably right.

R-Rated Movies: How Young Is Too Young?

There is something very wrong going on at our local theaters across the nation. However, the theater is where this problem is cultivated and not where it begins. The origin of this atrocity starts in our homes, the moment a decision to go see a certain film is made; when parents make the choice to see an R-rated movie in the theater and bring their underage child. Over the last two years I have seen a major increase of underage children in R-rated films and I can't keep quiet any longer. This issue must be addressed.

Ken's Review: Smart People - One of the Best Films of the Year

There are some movies that take me a bit to really think about and ponder over. That was the case with There Will Be Blood. It wasn't until the morning after that it had really sunk in and made its impact. Then there are the films that grab me and excite me the second the credits start rolling. That's my favorite feeling. The feeling of loving a film so much the moment it is over that you want to stay for the next showing because you don't want the feeling to end. I felt that once already this year after watching In Bruges. Thankfully I didn't have to wait too long to feel it again - this time with Smart People.

Ken's Review: Street Kings - Blurring the Line Between Good Cop and Bad Cop

As I was driving to the screening of Street Kings, I couldn't help but hope for one thing - this would at least be as good as Narc. For me Narc was a solid and intriguing cop movie from the last few years that I really enjoyed. It's a bit hard to come up with a good original cop film in today's time in the shadow of all the great ones from the 70's and 80's. I'll tell you now though, I actually kind of liked Street Kings and it's definitely worth checking out.

80's Movies: Remakes, Sequels and Forgotten Films

Lately I have been obsessed with two things: 80's movies and anime. I won't be talking about anime now, but hopefully when we hear more about the Ninja Assassin film being made, it will give me a chance to go into the exciting world of anime. For now I want to talk about the films from the 1980's and how extremely rad most of them are.

Until recently if someone had asked me my opinion of the 80's it wouldn't have been a positive response. I would even go as far as to say that until a few weeks ago, I hated everything about that decade. I guess I hadn't given it that much thought and was basing my opinion solely on the music and clothing styles. I will never forgive my mom for making me wear bright neon yellow shirts and shorts with knee socks rolled down to my Velcro shoes. It turns out that the 80's actually produced the best cartoons and toys ever! But what originally sparked my interest in reevaluating the 80's was a conversation I had in Austin during SXSW and the realization that most of my favorite films and series found their beginning in the 80's.

Ken's Review: Leatherheads - About Much More Than Just Football

There are some movies that just make me smile. These are the movies that you walk out of feeling like every complication in life isn't as big of a deal as when you had walked in the theater. Leatherheads is a film that made me feel this way. This is a story about overcoming everything so that you can do what you want to do. It's about fighting for your dreams and doing whatever it takes to see those dreams realized. It's about trying to keep that thing you love the same when everyone else wants to change it. It might not be a perfect film, but its one I'm definitely going to see again.

SXSW Review: Chuck Palahniuk's Choke

Chuck Palahniuk is definitely one creative and crazy writer. I haven't had the pleasure of reading any of his books, but a few of my friends have and they really enjoyed them. If you don't know who Palahniuk is, then perhaps you have heard of a movie called Fight Club. That's right, he also wrote that. Choke, his newest book turned into film, is set to be released sometime in August this year. I had the pleasure of seeing it at SXSW and walked out torn between the offensive content and extremely enjoyable and creative story.

SXSW Review: Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son about His Father

I have to admit that I did not initially want to see Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son about His Father. It was our last day of the SXSW festival and I had had my fill of documentaries. This wasn't even on my list of films to see and I hadn't heard anything about it. Alex had brought up that he wanted to see it the night before and he told me the title of the film. He didn't tell me what it was about or the basic premise, just the title. Realizing there weren't any other movies I wanted to watch, I reluctantly agreed to go thinking at the very least I would be able to eat at the Alamo Drafthouse one last time. After finally watching it, I'm ashamed that there was ever a part of me that didn't want to give it a chance.

SXSW Review: Not Your Typical Bigfoot Movie

Not Your Typical Bigfoot Movie definitely wasn't a film that was high on my list of movies to see at SXSW. Actually, I wasn't even planning on watching it until I heard people randomly talking about it in line for some of the movies. It turned out that there was a midnight showing, so I thought I would check it out since it wouldn't interfere with seeing something else I really wanted to watch. Unfortunately, there is now 62 minutes of my life completely lost that I wish I could get back.

Ken's SXSW Film Fest Update - The Finale

It's over! The 2008 SXSW Film Festival has officially ended and thankfully it turned out amazingly. We came, we partied, and we watched a ton of movies. Mostly solid films with a few duds mixed in, but overall I enjoyed the majority of the movies. This festival became more and more an experience instead of being about just sitting in theaters and going from movie to movie. It was about meeting new friends, checking out Austin, and enjoying the festivities, though the great films were the framework for it all.

SXSW Review: Stop Loss

My expectations were pretty low going into this one and the movie didn't even meet those expectations. To me nothing was appealing in the trailer or plot synopsis that I read heading into Stop Loss. I'm not a Ryan Phillippe or Channing Tatum fan, so other then Joseph Gordon-Levitt, I was almost dreading sitting through this. Turns out that this was exactly what I thought it would be - an uninteresting look at army soldiers who have come back from Iraq war.

SXSW Review: Assassination of a High School President

Coming to SXSW, I was excited to see that one film that I would blow my mind and become my clear favorite of the festival. The Promotion was great but I didn't walk out of it loving it right away. Until last night I hadn't found that movie yet and was pretty discouraged that there wouldn't be one. Thankfully, Assassination of a High School President turned out to be absolutely amazing and one of my favorite films of the year so far.

SXSW Review: Bananaz

Not all documentaries at SXSW can be good and last Wednesday night I saw one of those docs - Bananaz. During the course of this week the other film buffs and I have discussed documentaries and what makes them good. From what I have gathered after the discussions it really comes down to structure, purpose and some kind of connection with the subject of the film. I realize that there are those documentaries that are 90% information for learning purposes, but even those would benefit from adding a bit of fun to their films.

Ken's SXSW Film Fest Update - Part 2!

Folks, it has been a pretty crazy week so far. Only a couple days left in the SXSW Film Festival but there are still plenty of films to watch. However, it is now 100 times more difficult to navigate the streets of Austin now that the SXSW Music Festival has started. The infamous 6th Street now gets shut down from traffic around noon and the bands take up residency in every bar and restaurant wherever you look. The party intensity has risen so much that it makes me wish I was staying for the music fest but alas I must head back to Colorado on Sunday. Until then, the coverage will keep coming.

SXSW Review: FrontRunners

Well, this is the third film set in a school I have seen after first watching American Teen and Some Assembly Required here at SXSW. I was hesitant to see this one because I thought I might be getting a bit tired of the school scene. It turns out that I could handle another film like the others and actually quite liked it. FrontRunners turned out to have a bit of heart come through that made it worthwhile, although it was my least favorite of the three school documentaries.

SXSW Review: Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry

Not only did I already want to see this but my wife actually threatened to kill me if I didn't. Although I don't have any tattoos myself, I married someone that has a deep appreciation and respect for the art. Because of that I have learned a lot about the history and world of tattooing and otherwise might not have seen Hori Smoku Sailor Jerry. This is defiantly one documentary that I'm glad I didn't miss.

SXSW Review: Blip Festival: Reformat the Planet

I find it funny that there are all of these movements going on around us with huge followings and yet we often times don't even know they are there. It's like there is another world hidden underneath this one that we never get to see. I realized this after seeing We Are Wizards and now Blip Festival: Reformat the Planet. Getting to see all of the Harry Potter fans that are part of bands or clubs coming together with one purpose, and now seeing the fans of chip tunes and how many there are out there is just mind blowing.