Escape to the Movies: Fright Night

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Zaverexus

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Jul 5, 2010
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I go into every one of these reviews thinking "there's a movie I don't care about" and end up seeing that you review some of the only movies I care about. The nerdy ones. Thanks Bob.
(that was a lie, I love lots of movies, but nerdy ones are up there)
King Toasty said:
I'm seriously considering watching Fright Night, and not because I'm a big Whovian.

Well, not only because I'm a big Whovian. I like vampires, too. Real ones.
Really? I just want to see David Tennant again.
 

King Toasty

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Oct 2, 2010
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Zaverexus said:
I go into every one of these reviews thinking "there's a movie I don't care about" and end up seeing that you review some of the only movies I care about. The nerdy ones. Thanks Bob.
(that was a lie, I love lots of movies, but nerdy ones are up there)
King Toasty said:
I'm seriously considering watching Fright Night, and not because I'm a big Whovian.

Well, not only because I'm a big Whovian. I like vampires, too. Real ones.
Really? I just want to see David Tennant again.
David Tennant shirtless. In tight leather pa-

NOT GAY.
 

spartan773

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Nov 18, 2009
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finally, a vampire movie that goes beyond being pretty boys! =D

too bad i spent most of my movie budget on snack foods for Captain America.
 

Zaverexus

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King Toasty said:
Zaverexus said:
I go into every one of these reviews thinking "there's a movie I don't care about" and end up seeing that you review some of the only movies I care about. The nerdy ones. Thanks Bob.
(that was a lie, I love lots of movies, but nerdy ones are up there)
King Toasty said:
I'm seriously considering watching Fright Night, and not because I'm a big Whovian.

Well, not only because I'm a big Whovian. I like vampires, too. Real ones.
Really? I just want to see David Tennant again.
David Tennant shirtless. In tight leather pa-

NOT GAY.
Just a little gay but he's David Tennant, no one blames you
 
Jan 27, 2011
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Wait...What was that at 2:15 ?!

...."How to pick a lock?!" What? HE JUST WENT ON THE INTERNET AND LEARNED HOW TO PICK A LOCK RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE DOOR?!

...The wonders of modern technology. XD
 

Nomanslander

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Feb 21, 2009
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Ummmmm?

I still want my Conan review thank you.

Don't chicken out now...:p

(Well I guess that leaves Spoony and Cinema Snob, so it ain't yet a total lose...:D)
 

BehattedWanderer

Fell off the Alligator.
Jun 24, 2009
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Can't speak to the rest of them, but Alyson Hannigan is doing quite well. How I Met Your Mother rocks my socks, man. Though, really, another American Pie? Well...at least they were kinda funny. Maybe it will be good, who knows. Can't wait to see the revamp, loved the old Fright Night, glad to hear this one holds up.
 

ZeoAssassin

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Sep 16, 2009
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just came back from seeing it.. i liked it and i LOVED Tennant in it.

also for Doctor WHo fans i am pretty sure they reference Doctor Who in this movie

the scene where Tennant runs away to his panic room and shuts the door, resulting in the McLoven-vampire losing his arm from the door (or Tennant chopping it off actually) and staying in the panic room with Tennant.

which is from the start of Tennant's Who run when he loses his hand in the first Tennant episode of course

if anyone else caught anything go ahead and share it.
 

NezumiiroKitsune

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Mar 29, 2008
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Let's be fair. While most of the American Pie cast careers plateued / bombed, while others stagnated in a generic role (Stifler), Alyson Hannigan has made a largely successful career of acting with at least two very successful television roles for long running and extremely well received shows. Don't so much count Angel, but I suppose it did well enough in it's own right.

Big screen career not as much, I concede, but she will be having to take time from Season 7 of HIMYM for this.

I might go see this then, if it does abide to classical vampire rules, and doesn't portray the vampire as anything other than the monster. It's been a while. I don't much mind a modern setting with a modern vampire, as long as it's still a vampire.
 

Zing

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Oct 22, 2009
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Well that's a thumbs-down on Conan from Ebert and MovieBob.. that seals it for me. :(

And it looked pretty good from the trailers. oh well.

edit: Both Alyson Hannigan and Sean William Scott are doing quite well post-American Pie.
 

camazotz

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Jul 23, 2009
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Couldn't care less about Fright Night, but I did see Conan just now and it was a lot of fun....gory, bloody fun, great set pieces, bad 3D, and the new Conan does the role some justice. As an old Howard fan, I liked that this movie at least felt like a pastiche that didn't break much from Howard's original tales, and it managed to keep my wife and myself entertained all the way through, pretty much. Solid B movie fun...but once again I need to remind myself that whatever Movie Bob's using as criteria for Good and Bad is not quite on my same spectrum (though he was spot on with X-Men First Class).
 

camazotz

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HyenaThePirate said:
I saw Conan.

It was a great movie with amazing action sequences that doesn't spend time pissing around trying to pretend that it is something it is not. For someone who goes to bat for Zack Snyder's hits and misses raving for their visual style and originality, to then turn around and dismiss a movie that mimics that exact same visual direction and intellectual honesty in its subject matter is quite frankly discrediting Bob.

But I'm not surprised. I knew before this even went pre-production that it could be filmed by Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg with Edgar Wright's help and a reincarnated soul of Stanley Kubrick and STILL people would poo poo it. Why? Because the nostalgia factor was too great. I've seen people today actually say that Conan wasn't BULKY enough, or that the ROCK should have played him... WHAT?! Really?! That's the criticism? That Conan could actually put his ARMS DOWN?! Conan wasn't a body builder, he was a grim, strong, product of his harsh, unforgiving environment with Iron thews and a stoic sense of truncated morality.

Anybody who doesn't think THIS movie is better than at the very LEAST, Conan the Destroyer (and quite frankly better than Conan the Barbarian) is living in "Nothing can be the Original"-ville and loses all credibility with me. If you haven't read any of Robert Howard (or at least L. Sprague's) original Conan works, go do yourself a favor and go do that. Or buy the Savage Sword graphic novel collection. READ that, THEN watch this version of Conan again. I CHALLENGE you to say it is not closer to the source material and FAR more entertaining than the previous two outings. This movie is unashamed of what it is... a cult classic in the making, with decent CGI married with REAL BODY work, a filming technique FEW people seem capable of appreciating these days after watching people interact with the air in other big CGI eye-candy festivals this summer. It's a nice touch you appreciate, and the movie doesn't weigh itself down trying to be a pretentious art-house piece. It knows its identity and swaggers in with all the self-awareness of a Cimmerian boy seeking his first female conquest. The pacing is such that there isn't more than 5 minutes between something action-y going on, and even that time is split between sexy hot boobs and dudes making preparations to die.

Look, I entreat everyone here to for once cast aside your beliefs and thoughts and hang-ups about films, grab some popcorn, and go see this movie. If you can get past the "It's cool to hate stuff" thing long enough, you'll walk out realizing that the movie was pretty damn fun and worth your time and money.

Or hey, just go see the SMURFS because apparently that's the stuff HOllywood thinks we need more of.

As for you, Bob, thank you for reminding me why we shouldn't put too much (or ANY) faith reviewers. It is all too easy to forget that we are taking the advice of people who revel in the belief that they are the imminent experts on all things fun in a subject. And more often than not, they are sodden with nostalgia or soused in their own arrogance, or just plain way too jaded, to enjoy something us regular folk would find outstanding.
That's probably the best thing you taught anyone today. Congratulations.
Count me on this bandwagon, I totally support your statement 100%!
 

King Toasty

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Oct 2, 2010
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Zaverexus said:
King Toasty said:
Zaverexus said:
I go into every one of these reviews thinking "there's a movie I don't care about" and end up seeing that you review some of the only movies I care about. The nerdy ones. Thanks Bob.
(that was a lie, I love lots of movies, but nerdy ones are up there)
King Toasty said:
I'm seriously considering watching Fright Night, and not because I'm a big Whovian.

Well, not only because I'm a big Whovian. I like vampires, too. Real ones.
Really? I just want to see David Tennant again.
David Tennant shirtless. In tight leather pa-

NOT GAY.
Just a little gay but he's David Tennant, no one blames you
Oh OK. Smith is still my favorite, though.

Can't wait to see this movie.
 

brinvixen

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Mar 3, 2011
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Not sure if it's been said before, but I just wanted to pop in and say that I really enjoyed the prologue, where you give us the dish about the other movies that came out during the week. If its not too much trouble (and you're already seeing the movies) I'd really look forward to you doing that every week. It's like, I can watch the main review, and still get your opinion on what else is good (or bad) that week. Just a thought!
 

sporkaganza

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Apr 17, 2011
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Even though this actually did look pretty good, I probably wouldn't have gone to see it if he hadn't said the magic words: "David Tennant".

So, yeah. Probably will see it eventually, then.

I'm a straight male BTW. I just think he's a "righteous dude", in the language of Bill and Ted.

...Well, okay, I might have kind of a man-crush. Can you blame me? It's David Tennant!
 

HyenaThePirate

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Jan 8, 2009
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MovieBob said:
HyenaThePirate said:
I'm reasonably certain that I've read through the majority of Howard's original "Conan" stories, and here and there of the "official" ones by other authors. Whatever else the new film may be, it's NOT any closer to the source material than the older one. It borrows the "you killed my people"/"I want my father's sword" revenge angle which was invented for the first one, and the rest of it's story is a hodgepodge of sword & sorcery cliches - peppering a screenplay with name-drops to places and events from the Howard stories does not a faithful adaptation make.
Really? How is it NOT like Howard's work?

Tough, grizzled Barbarian youth who still towers over other men twice his age with a grim face and smouldering eyes? - Check

"Man of few words" hero who prefers to punch faces and gut suckas for disrespecting him? - Check!

Women dressed in barely anything at all waiting for a wild-thing of a human being who bucks all civilizations trappings with his own gruff moral code? - Check!

Evil warlord/sorcerer who makes the mistake of crossing Conan and then dismisses him as a mere annoyance, barely noticing that a revenge-driven, murder machine in a loin cloth is slowly carving a gory path towards a final showdown until he's practically standing in his throne-room? - Check!

Hero speaks little, mumbles tough, direct phrases that get to the point and lack "tact" or "politeness" when speaking with pompous men from "high society?" - Check!

Ancient evil horror monster unleashed upon a mortal world sent back screaming into the abyss from which it arose by a man who only puts his trust in himself and his ability to slay things really really well? - Check!

Basic plot of a story which basically consists of "wizard/swordsman wrongs Conan... Conan lives to make wizard/swordsman rue the day he ever set foot anywhere near Conan's life.. Conan brutally pwns wizard/swordsman in awesomely bloody revenge? - Check!

Conan taking punishment in stride that would kill a lesser man even just thinking about enduring such punishment? - Check!

Conan bedding hizzos left and right and pretty much being the poster boy for every man's secret fantasy of a life unrestrained by modern civilized convention? - Check!

Yup... just about everything is there. Hyboria looks remniscent of what I could accept in a Conan novel, and the only things really missing are his over the top misogynistic/chauvinistic attitudes towards female folk and the questionably racist elements that were products of the times Howard himself lived in (and neither of which would have been received well whatosever by today's fickle, easily offended audiences), what was it missing that WASN'T lifted part and parcel from Howard's books? Hell that movie could have been a short story from Howard's tales of the Cimmerian as simplistic as it was. Howard's Conan stories weren't deep or fundamental except in that NOBODY else was writing like that at the time. It was the WAY he told the story that caught on in style, much as Tolkien didn't invent Dwarves but everyone thinks of Fantasy Dwarves as being stubby little miners of ore thanks to Tolkien's stories.

But even ignoring all that, and if someone wasn't a fan of Howard at all, the movie is great. It definitely ranks up there with the BETTER offerings this summer and stood head and shoulders far and away better than Transformers 3 to me and MOONS over Green Lantern.

I only hope that we see a NUMBER of Jason Momoa sequels for Conan. Heck, if Clash of the Titans can get a sequel so should Conan. I just hope the next time out they say, "screw it, we're going full bore on this one" and make him even more surly and more like his literary counterpart.
 

Fearzone

Boyz! Boyz! Boyz!
Dec 3, 2008
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Fine, do Fright Night, but Conan needs more than to be dismissed as a piece of awfulness. I agree this new one was never in danger of matching the original, but at the same time, for 80% of the movie I found myself enjoying it. I could forgive that the story wasn't as good, and was warming up to Jason Mamoa as Conan. But when the female lead became a presence, then "Conan the Destroyer" started coming to mind, and then the ending unravelled. By the time the credits rolled, "this is it?" were the words that came to mind.

Anyway, I didn't think it was the unmitigated disaster that Clash of the Titans was, I even found a lot to like about it, and would recommend a Conan fan to go ahead and check it out, but sadly I don't see it as anything I'll be watching a second time. But it was so close to being reasonably good. Anyway.
 

Sonicron

Do the buttwalk!
Mar 11, 2009
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Too bad us folks in Germany can't enjoy this movie right now. Why? Because it's not out here until motherfucking Christmas.
 

MovieBob

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Dec 31, 2008
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HyenaThePirate said:
Really? How is it NOT like Howard's work?

Tough, grizzled Barbarian youth who still towers over other men twice his age with a grim face and smouldering eyes? - Check

"Man of few words" hero who prefers to punch faces and gut suckas for disrespecting him? - Check!

Women dressed in barely anything at all waiting for a wild-thing of a human being who bucks all civilizations trappings with his own gruff moral code? - Check!

Evil warlord/sorcerer who makes the mistake of crossing Conan and then dismisses him as a mere annoyance, barely noticing that a revenge-driven, murder machine in a loin cloth is slowly carving a gory path towards a final showdown until he's practically standing in his throne-room? - Check!

Hero speaks little, mumbles tough, direct phrases that get to the point and lack "tact" or "politeness" when speaking with pompous men from "high society?" - Check!

Ancient evil horror monster unleashed upon a mortal world sent back screaming into the abyss from which it arose by a man who only puts his trust in himself and his ability to slay things really really well? - Check!

Basic plot of a story which basically consists of "wizard/swordsman wrongs Conan... Conan lives to make wizard/swordsman rue the day he ever set foot anywhere near Conan's life.. Conan brutally pwns wizard/swordsman in awesomely bloody revenge? - Check!

Conan taking punishment in stride that would kill a lesser man even just thinking about enduring such punishment? - Check!

Conan bedding hizzos left and right and pretty much being the poster boy for every man's secret fantasy of a life unrestrained by modern civilized convention? - Check!
I'm racking my brain to find ONE of those things that wasn't also true, to say nothing of better-executed, in the original film... and I'm coming up blank.