Obsessed (movie trailer)

This looks darn interesting. Definitely a type of movie I'm interested in and I usually talk to my friends about how you never see black leading actors in roles like this where their race isn't a factor. Starring Idris Elba, and man... it must be something to have both Beyonce and Ali Larter fighting over you!

Friends' Shoot

Well, friends of mine had a film assignment and I thought it'd be awesome to help out if they needed an actor. Originally they had a different story but it got changed to me now being a victim tied up and tortured by a loving husband and wife (who are married in real life and is the parents of one of my friends, ha!) But yeah, I had SO much damn fun and we do a lil' more shooting on Sunday. Here are a few pics from the dad's cam.

Oh, The Horror! #24: Coraline

Henry Selick, the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas, teams up with book wizard Neil Gaiman to bring us the magical world of Coraline. This stop-motion 3D film will simply blow you away. The simple word "brilliant" comes to when I think back of this movie. Coraline is about an 11 year old girl (voiced by Dakota Fanning) who moves into a new home with her parents who are less than attentive to her. She meets a strange boy by the name of Wybie and a black cat that seems to pop in and out whenever it pleases. She also meets her neighbors, Miss Forcible and Miss Spink, a pair of retired actors with lovely jumpy dogs and maybe dozens of them dead and stuffed on their walls, and Mr. Bobinsky, a blue-skinned acrobat who's also a circus ringmaster of jumping mice. As Coraline gets bored in the new house in which her parents always being busy never helps, jumping mice begin playing around in her room late at night which eventually leads her to discover a door to another world. Another world where her mother is a good cook and is happy to see her and her father is a chipper pianist who has helpful hands coming out of the piano and gardener who makes a garden resemble Coraline. One strange setback: they have buttons for eyes. Yeesh. At first Coraline is skeptical about this world and goes to sleep after being treated with delicious food and wakes up back into her world. Confused but at the same time excited, she later visits the world again and greets her other parents and this magical world with open arms. But previously before, she was warned by many that she is in grave danger. But of course, she isn't going to listen. Where's the fun in that?

Now I'll admit the story is a little slow at first. But once the story picks up, holy goodness does it pick up! There comes to a point where Coraline visits the world again where it's time for her to be a part of it. This leads to the happy and chipper Other Mother, voiced delightfully by Teri Hatcher, to bring Coraline her own pair of buttons to sew into her eyes. This is when everything gets flipped out and even more bizarre than it already was, especially when Coraline sees that she can't wake up back in her real world. Now Coraline must battle her Other Mother while trying to find her way out of this world and at the same time release the souls of kids who the Other Mother had trapped previously along with her guide, the black cat voiced by awesome-that-is Keith David. An absolute joyride is this modern Alice in Wonderland and you will have a blast watching this. My little sister was asking me to see it when she first saw the commercial and I was excited myself given that I love "Gaiman films" (still need to finish reading a lot of his books I started and never finished!) and I love stop-motion animation more than straight CGI. There's just something about stop-motion animation that seems a bit more raw and fascinating than straight CGI. And when you see this movie you'll be amazed of just how much stop-motion has advanced to get what we have today for this movie. The visuals were just amazing and enough to keep you hooked. Besides to magical story is wonderful eye-candy. This is a movie for everyone and their grandmother. Heck, even the music was catchy as all heck and kept you happy and joyful while watching. The song the Other Father played Coraline is still stuck in my head after two days and I loved the bouncy music that was played when Coraline visited the other Mr. Bobinsky and his jumping mice. And once again, Hatcher as the Other Mother was superb. For me she definitely stole the show and added to the creepiness of this story. I can definitely see kids being frightened of her but not too scared that they want to leave the theaters. I think it's great that we can have such movies like this with so much heart and magic and still be a horror movie for the whole family. It put a smile on my face when the movie ended and I took off my 3D glasses with my baby sister and she said to me with glee, "Now that was a horror movie!"

Oh, The Horror! #23: Jaws

Yes, Jaws! Can you believe a few nights ago was the very first time I've seen this movie? And holy nuts was this just beyond awesome. Definitely one of the top horror flicks I've seen and it deserves all the hype it gets since the 30 plus years it's been out. Directed by Stephen Spielberg, this is a movie that just has you on edge and it's damn chilling and creepy. The beginning with the girl on the beach just vanishing into the water was definitely one of the best and creepiest intros to a movie I've seen. Starring late Roy Scheider as police chief Martin Brody, he has to team up with scientist Matt Hooper played by Richard Dreyfuss and shark hunter Quint played by Robert Shaw to protect beach-goers in a town in New England from a killer Great White Shark that spans to 25 feet. There's some complications due to the money hungry town mayor who refuses to shut the beach down due to losing tourists who come to celebrate the 4th of July. The characters are well done throughout the whole movie. You cheer them on and fear for life for them as Jaws just attacks whoever he deems suitable for a snack. And Jaws is terrifying. Definitely one of the scariest movie villains in history and the damn music by John Williams doesn't help alter that belief. Once that music plays, you get tense thinking, "Oh no! Get the f'k out of the water!" And every time I see a shot of the water I get scared. That's fantastic horror for you. And I cannot get into my head how this got a PG rating. Although not too gory except for one specific scene, this movie would be too frightening for kids and I can understand why many people at the time this movie came out refused to go to the beach again after this because I really don't know if I want to step into a beach again. And I love beaches. Damn you, Spielburg! I also have to mention how much I loved that scene of when Brody was dropping meat in the water and Jaws just peers up for a slight second and Brody just jolts up, face stiff and in fear. Amazing scene, one of my all time favorites now. Ha! "We're gonna need a bigger boat."



If you have not seen this movie yet, do so asap! It's a horror classic that has been praised continually for years and a few days ago I finally knew why. One of the best films I've seen and one that is generally damn scary.