Don’t Breath, movie review By Justin Hopkins

​ Going into the movie, Don’t Breath, actually got to enjoy the fact that i didn’t know much about it. Having only seen part of one trailer. A feat not easily achieved in today‘s age of information swirling around online. Turned out to not really matter since this movie changed who you should be pulling for, in a rather disturbing twist.

 After opening to a brief scene of things to come. They take you back a few days. Showing a successful robbery from three cliche theives. Rocky, leading lady who wants to get her and her little sister away from her terrible family, to the surfs of California. Money, the boyfriend that you kind of want to see die, who acutally dies honorable. Not giving up the fact Rocky was there. Then you had Alex. Guy who loves Rocky, and willing to do anything for her. Targeting the lone man in a ghost part of Detroit. Who is a blind military vetarn, who made his fortune in a settlement from the death of his Daughter, in a car crash. Living in a locked, secured house, only companion is his Rottweiller.

 You want to feel bad for Rocky. Wanting to see her get away from her Mother and Mom’s Boyfriend, but feel so bad for the Veteran. All ready lost so much. Unable to really tell what’s going on, if they don’t make any noises. Only to swing back to Rocky when they discover a woman, chained into a harness, teethered to a ceiling in the basement. The woman who killed his daughter in the crash, and this is

 where things begin to get weird. When he accidentally shots her instead of them. Instead of not caring. He becomes even angrier. When he finally catches Rocky. You learn that he got the woman pregant through in vitro. Since she is gone. He now wants to force Rocky to have his new baby.

 This movie has more swerves then is probably necessary, but it was fascinating how feelings changed based off the events that occur throughout. Steller performances, especially from Jane Levy (Rocky) and Stephen Lang ( Blind Man) They deliver a compelling, suspenseful, horror movie. That keeps you off balance from the start of the Home Invasion, to the finale. In a original tale, that is definitely worth a watch.

Remakes By Justin Hopkins

​Remakes have gotten an especially bad reputation and alot of vocal dislike for the general rumor when one is being contemplated (The crow) Due to a string of bad ones, lack of originality, or the nostalgia factor; that makes it rather difficult to accept someone new stepping into a classic role. Hopefully, by this end of this, hoping you walk away with seconds, because they do offer alot that are overlooked.

 While the base idea may not be original. A remake gives it a new spin. Dusting off the characters or concept and showing them in a new form. Whether it shows a backstory to Michael Myers or people trapped in the mall swarmed by zombies, in Dawn of the Dead. Shows a classic can always show more.

 Nostalgia is probably the biggest reason will turn on a remake before shooting has begun. Jackie Earle Haley, may have failed to bring Freddy Krueger to life the way Robert Englund did, but how many people actually thought he would. Dismissing the idea and not liking it because he couldn’t fill the massive shadow left behind. Not to mention how hectic people can get over the rumor of The Crow being remade.

 Still hold on to your beloved memories these movies gave. Robert Englund did a legendary performance as Freddy Krueger. Brandon Lee made you care so much for his journey to avenge his lost love, but these characters have so many more stories to tell, and people who will care enough to do them justice. 

 Sure some remakes are terrible. Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes was a disaster. The Omen and Poltergeist failed to impress. For each of those, you have Dawn of the Dead, Evil Dead, and even the cult classic The Thing.

 I’ll end this with one in filming now. Potentiallly a huge remake being done. With new versions of Stephen King’s It filming. Pictures of the new Penneywise surfaces. Hold on and cheerish how scared Tim Curry made you feel, but be excited for this. King gave over a thousand pages of information to use, and more then enough room for a second telling.

Poor Reviews Don’t always matter By Paul Anthony

Suicide Squad movie remains number one at the box and the summer season of blockbusters or lack there of is now over. We now move on to season where it is highly acclaim films and so forth. After seeing Suicide Squad remain number one I decided to think about why some movies become hits even after poor reviews and here is what I came up with.

Fan Base, that is right the first thing i am going to talk about is the fan base. Critics often to not don’t pay attention tot the source materials and don’t pay attention to the excitement that fans have when they see a character that they love come to the big screen. Suicide Squad had a lot of film debuts, people I have spoken to were very excited to see Harley Quinn make her film debut. Fans don’t care if the joke are funny or not, or even the acting is good. Fans don’t focus on the script and how the well were they written and if they do most likely they are English majors and even so i am sure most of them don’t care.

Actors and Actresses play big part besides the acting, they bring in the fans, If a film was highly reviewed but you didn’t know a person in it, the chances are high that your not going to go see it, regardless a critic does. The actors alone can bring in the fan base, just look at  The Bourne  Legacy, Matt Damon left the series and Jeremy Renner came in, which is a fine actor but the Matt Damon fans left when he did. His fan base will go where ever he goes and their cash goes with him.

Entertainment is a big important factor even if it over the top and very pointless, I am looking at you The Fast and Furious franchise. The things that they do are nearly unrealistic as they come but yet they make money, Why? because it is fun seeing  people fight and drive cars flying down to the ground. Or even the Transformer films where they stop paying attention to the story but on the fact that large robots are fighting.

Finally at last the budget, Often the lower the budget the more in return profit will be higher. Example if a film’s budget is 10 million and it grosses 100 million the profit is 90 million which makes it a success and then the sequels happen.

Now you know that poor reviews don’t make the movie a flop these four things will determine if it flops or not.

Sacrifice for the better

​

When it comes to the DC Universe; there is alot to be excited about. Especially, after introducing an entertaining cast of characters in Suicide Squad. Could write about how exciting it would be to see a sequel where they bring in new member into the fold. A Deadshot movie. Can talk for days about who I would like to see in Harley’s spin-off ( Poison Ivy). Even getting more curious to see a new Flash. All of this rattling around when i saw an article. Fans upset over the lack of Joker scenes. Even wanting to sue for false advertising. Based on how much he was advertised and then barely apart of it. So here I am, about to make internet fans upset… They did the right move, and here is why.

 First, the thought of suing is kind of ridiculous. He was in the movie. Parts were subtle, but did help move the plot along. Really only needed to be there for Harley’s origin. When the first trailers were coming out. They held him back, and the fans demanded more. Wanting to see what Joker they were getting. They gave you what you wanted and then some. Never what his role would be.

 My blog on the movie states that I don’t have an opinion of Jared’s performance. That still stands. Found it kind of strange to see him obsessed over getting her free. After all these years of his number one priority being take down Batman, and I’ll forget, for the sake of this blog, that she ended up in jail when he left her to die in the river, and gave us a sweet ending between the two. About that though, could have been different. 

 During an interview, Jared spoke of most of his scenes being cut. How him and Margot really pushed the abuse committed. Leaving it in, would have changed the narrative and made you feel horrible seeing their warm embrace. 

 Lastly, this is the movie of the Suicide Squad. By them cutting his time, they gave us more time to be introduced to new characters new to the limelight. We will see plenty

more Jared Leto’s Joker down the road. This was their turn to shine bright.

Suicide Squad Movie Review By Paul Anthony

Weeks even Months ago there was so much hype surrounding this movie, the fans were going crazy when the trailer leaked then it was officially and fans went crazy, the hype was there. D.C got by with the Man  of Steel, then they decided to rush everything and force the film Batman V Superman, which turned out to be a disaster, the rumor was out that it needed to make a billion to break even with all the investors, to this date it hasn’t reach a billion. then there was Suicide Squad, the savior of D.C  Extended Universe, I am reporting that the DCEU still needs that savior.

I had high hopes for this film but the main problem is and has been DC trying to rush and play catch up to Marvel. First issue lack of back story, Sure we get a few moments of some of the characters past, Harley Quinn gets the most attention in this department, a Dr drove insane from loving the Joker. However  Will Smith got the attention the most with Deadshot. Will Smith is a great actor and he has proven that over and over again.

He delivered a well performance  and with his amount of screen time it was clear the pressure was on him to carry the film.. The sad part of this is though is not all the characters got a good amount of screen time, which hurt the character development, since most of these characters were making their screen debuts. Even the main villain had very little screen time and gave us no true backstory.

Now the big question was Jared Leto’s Joker. No doubt Leto had big shoes to fill and Heath Ledger Joker performance will go and have gone down in history as one of the best performances. Leto might not have lived up to that but he did all he could with what he was given. Joker screen time couldn’t have been more than ten minutes and showed us a joker that hasn’t been seen before, he could have been a true highlight if he was given more screen time, no doubt i hope he is given a bigger role, maybe in the Batman solo film.

I believe doing a all villain film where the bad guys are good may actually hurt when these villains come across the good guys. DC missed again but the film was a improvement over Batman V Superman. Don’t get me wrong you should see this film and tell me what you think.

 

 

Suicide Squad Movie Review By Justin Hopkins

   With Suicide Squad finally opening, to more then enough pressure then it already had. Dodging the slew of critc reviews, since i want to go into this movie with an open mind, because it gives you alot to look forward to.

 From a good amount of villains being potrayed for the first time. See how Jared Leto will branch the joker away from the shadow Heath Ledger left behind, and what i am looking forward to the most; Margot Robbies performance as Harley Quinn. 

 D.C has a tremendous cast of strong and exciting group of female characters and story lines they can bring onto the big screen, from Birds of prey to Gotham City Sirens. That can all get kicked off with Margots introduction. 

Despite D.C current run of underachieving films. I’m expecting Suicide Squad to be a wildly, fun success. Opening the door for great spin-offs to come Suicide Squad finally opening, to more then enough pressure then it already had. Dodging the slew of critc reviews, since i want to go into this movie with an open mind, because it gives you alot to look forward to.

 From a good amount of villains being potrayed for the first time. See how Jared Leto will branch the joker away from the shadow Heath Ledger left behind, and what I am looking forward to the most; Margot Robbies performance as Harley Quinn. 

 D.C has a tremendous cast of strong and exciting group of female characters and story lines they can bring onto the big screen, from Birds of prey to Gotham City Sirens. That can all get kicked off with Margots introduction. 

Despite D.C current run of underachieving films. I’m expecting Suicide Squad to be a wildly, fun success. Opening the door for great spin-offs to come.

… and now that I have sat through the movie Suicide Squad, a movie that did have a little bit of problems, and one issue that I’ll get into later. Turned into a fun, great movie that i strongly suggest you go and see at the theaters.

 Starting with the one that got me interested in the movie in the first place, and that was Margot Robbie’s portrayal of Harley Quinn. Who brought her to life on the big screen in a delightful, fascinating way. Anytime she was on the screen, in the main focus or not, made you wait in anticpation, because she was never just around. Always on the verge of delivering in a big way. Seamlessly, bringing out her unhinged side, and showing she still had humanity inside. 

 While, Jay Hernandez’s Diablo, Jai Courtney’s Boomerang, and everyone else kept pace right along with her, and made you feel for their characters and introduced themselves in a big way.  Getting you behind them even though they were villains.

 One of the characters i was concerned about most, was Will Smith playing Deadshot. Concerns that were gone after his first appearance in the film. Really turning the character into his own. Playing his hitman driven villain to a T, and making you feel that his daughter is his entire world, but as the movie moves along. Grows to care about the members of his team.

 Up to this point, may have picked up on me not bringing up Leto’s Joker. Not saying i didn’t like it. Was a unique charatcter, but they just didn’t show me enough to formulate on him. Would like to see more before i say anthing, and that is what i am excited for most.

 Unlike how i felt leaving Batman vs Superman. Am very excited to see where this will head next

Unlike when I left Batman vs Superman. I am ecstatic to see where they plan on taking these characters. Whether it be spin-offs, like Margot wants to do with Harley Quinn, or another sequel. Suicide Squad, is a great starting point of a group of charismatic characters that  I strongly suggest you see for yourself.