Mirrors

Mirrors, with Kiefer Sutherland, was an okay horror movie.  Not great, as the idea wasn't new, and Sutherland had some unrealistic moments, but not bad either.  Worth renting.  And the ending was pretty good, although the fight scene was a bit unrealistic (Sutherland is more durable than I would have expected).

The best "evil mirrors" story ever, in my opinion, is the novella  "The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag" by Robert A. Heinlein.

3 out of 5 stars.

Plot Summary:
This creepy supernatural thriller from director Alexandre Aja stars Kiefer Sutherland as troubled security guard Ben Carson, a man who discovers malevolent spirits living within the mirrors of a fire-ravaged department store. When their murderous nature comes to light, Ben turns to his estranged wife (Paula Patton) to help him save their family -- and himself. The supporting cast includes Amy Smart and Jason Flemyng.

Zombieland

A nice take on the saturated zombie genre. It's end of the world with a dark sense of humor. But it's more about the time after the zombies first appear to ravage the world. It's a bad of misfits who are trying to survive in an impossible situation. It has a great cameo about halfway through, and the zombies aren't the shambling kind, but the much worse running at you kind.

Although it doesn't exactly do anything new, it does it in a fun way, and if you're a zombie fan, you should like this one as well. It's pretty gruesome, but that's part of the charm. It does have a few tender moments, but they enhance the movie rather than slow it down.

Enjoy, and remember your double tap!


3.5 out of 5 stars

Plot Summary:
An easily spooked guy, Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), joins forces with wild man Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson) to fight for survival in a world virtually taken over by freakish zombies. As they destroy scores of the undead, they meet up with two other survivors, Little Rock (Abigail Breslin) and Wichita (Emma Stone), and journey to a supposedly safe abandoned amusement park. Ruben Fleischer directs this horror romp.

13 Ghosts - or Mr. Monk Goes to Hell

Normally I don't like remakes. But this one was cool. Don't go expecting too much storyline here, as it's still a spook-slasher, but I found it very entertaining. A bit of a departure for Shalhoub, who's now best known as Monk. But for an actor of his skill, it was probably something he could phone in.

The entertainment value of the movie rests heavily on the directing and cinematography. It's a hectic and disjointed style that shows you just enough to get scared (and sometimes a wee bit more), but not enough for you to adapt.

This movie isn't for everyone, and it's definitely a limited genre, but if you like bloody ghost flicks, then give this one a look.

I give it 3.9 our of 5 stars.

Dead Like Me

I discovered this series completely by accident.  There was a free online video of the pilot episode, so I gave it a watch.  After all, the incarnation of Death has always been cool.

I loved it.  The premise was a humorous take on the whole personification of death, but they managed to get some good stories and emotions going.  The short of it is that some souls, for whatever reason, don't move one.  Instead they get recruited to assist in the whole dying process, by manually retrieving souls before the actual body dies, thereby saving the bodies a bunch of discomfort.  The series focus on the group that handles accidental deaths (including murder) and the problems a bunch of lost souls encounter trying to do their jobs without a help manual.

I give it 4 out of 5 stars.