Alphas (Season 1) [2011]

An interesting fresh spin on genetic mutation. Seems to borrow from X-Men in some aspects. Cool characters and stories. Laughs scattered throughout. It suffers from situations cleaning up and returning to normal too frequently and easily. Still enjoyable.

7.3/10

 

Interstellar (2014)

The story just did not do it for me. Strong characters. I cried and got chills a couple times. Nothing spectacular from the direction, not visually unique or appealing to our geometry loving brains; with the exception of a few scenarios. The 70mm IMAX screening was also not impressive. Samsara did 70mm right. Also the IMAX seats became very uncomfortable to sit in for so long. It's been too long to remember the last time I was in an IMAX, and I think this will probably be my last. Definitely not worth the price tag, nor is the 70mm screening. I could not even tell a difference in quality.

5.5/10

Samsara (2011)

Samsara is a marriage between the visual and sonic realms. A beautiful contrast between the very diverse ways of life that humans have developed on Earth. I just wish my tv was larger than it's measly 32" so I could truly view this film in all it's glory. Would love to see this in an IMAX.

10/10 

Bernie (2011)

[SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!]

Wow, I did not even realize this was based on a true story until the end! Richard Linklater loves to use real people instead of 'actors' in his films and I love it. The tale of Bernie Tiede is very unique indeed. In fact this is currently big news in Austin Texas, as Bernie Tiede was released after 18 years. There has been some controversy. 

8/10

Mood Indigo (2013)

2 hours and 11 minutes of a steady downward spike. Started off very strange and interesting. Extremely quirky directing, but I quickly lost interest in our lead characters. Right about the time Colin met Chloe actually.

3/10

Speed Racer (2008)

A stylistic envisioning and original adaptation of Speed Racer.

8/10

Spaceballs (1987)

Hahaha! Still holds up in 2014. May the Schwartz be with you!

9/10

The Hustler (1961)

Wow. A most excellent film. Powerful, surprising, and raw.

9.7/10

Slacker (1991)

I stumbled across this experimental gem from Richard Linklater about 7 years ago and finally gave it a rewatch. A very creative direction to connect unconnected stories. Like 'Clerks' this a great example of the power of writing with low budget film making. Very interesting characters.

10/10

Demolition Man (1993)

A video posted by King Hebes (@kinghebes) on Oct 10, 2014 at 10:59pm PDT

The action is too ridiculous and over the top. Sylvester Stallone's head bounces off the concrete from a speeding vehicle multiple times. Somehow dodges every bullet. And is able to break through steele bars by jumping at them.. It has it's moments though.

4.5/10

Bound (1996)

A beautiful directorial debut from the Wachowskis! Lovely scenes/editing mixed with a solid screenplay and great acting.

8/10

Star Wars Episodes I-VI

SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!

I didn't believe how easily Anakin converted to the dark side. He didn't even question the council or Obi, whom he has known and trusted nearly his entire life. This was also part of my issue in Return of the Jedi, Vader just blindly follows Darth Sidious with no real reasoning other than, "It is pointless to resist..." And Samuel L. Jackson is the only one with a purple light saber? Just lol. He claims it has "Bad Mother Fucker" engraved on it! lolol.....

Star Wars Episode I: 4.5/10
Star Wars Episode II: 7/10
Star Wars Episode III: 7/10
Star Wars Episode IV: 7/10
Star Wars Episode V: 7.3/10
Star Wars Episode VI: 6.8/10
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Der heilige Berg (1926) aka The Holy Mountain

I rarely turn movies off without watching them all the way to the end. I stopped this one about an hour in from boredom. I find it strange that 2 movies named The Holy Mountain are both practically silent films.

3/10

Gravity (2013)

ANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYANXIETYSERIOUSLYNEEDXANAXTOWATCHTHIS. Funny how one of the first few lines is, "anxiety is bad for the heart."

5/10

NEW FEATURE! MOVIES BY RANK!

Be sure to check out the new Movies By Rank Page which was added some months ago for a quick glance at movies you should and should not watch! ;)

The Fifth Element (1997)

#TheFifthElement. It's #PrettyAwesome so far.

A video posted by King Hebes (@kinghebes) on Aug 8, 2014 at 12:56am PDT

Funny, serious, silly, cool and splattered with spots of beauty. I can see some influence here from The Incal, most likely due to Moebius being involved in the design.

7.8/10

#WeirdScene

A video posted by King Hebes (@kinghebes) on Aug 8, 2014 at 10:56pm PDT

300: Rise of an Empire

"You fight harder than you fuck." Rise of an empire started off with some potential but became a tangled embarrassing continuation of a great film. Not many films are able to become progressively worse as you watch them. ROAE pulls off this feat with ease. May Zeus blast every copy of this film into Poseidon's bowels.

3/10
 

X-Men: Days of Future Past

I was hoping Days of Future Past would patch up the direction that The Last Stand and First Class had taken. And to my satisfaction, it did. One of my main issues with TLS and FC along with formulaic story/screenplay was the directionless acting. It's as if the actors did not know what to do with the direction the films were taking. Michael Fassbender makes a much better magneto here than in FC. It's not that his acting was bad in FC, it's that the magneto character's direction was lost (along with most characters, with the exceptions of Xavier and Mystique). Perhaps it's the fact that Bryan Singer is back on board, but all of the characters personas and acting seem to be back on point which they (coincidentally?) were in the Bryan Singer Directed original X-men. The age of Apocalypse is nigh.

7.5/10

Enter the Void (2009)

Another artistic flop. There are some handfuls of really cool and beautiful scenes, but it is just sooooo boring. The acting is pretty bad all around. And I was not into the POV style of the film.  Had it been groomed down to 1.5 hours or less, instead of 2.66, it may have been more enjoyable.

5/10

VERDICT: FOR ART HOUSE/PSYCHEDELIC FANS ONLY

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

I caught a re-screening of this tonight in my city. Beautiful cinematography. Stunning sets. I loved the noise and silence contrasted between and through Stanley Kubricks unusual and very geometric scenes. I just don't get it, as with most of his work. Perhaps it was a shocking idea back in 1968.

6.8/10

The World's End (2013)

Definitely original. I was really sucked into the quick pace of the introduction. I thought I knew where the movie was going, then all of a sudden it's like WTF. If there is a WTF comedy genre this belongs there. A bit too ridiculous for my taste but there was lots of potential throughout. The culmination of it all was a grand idea, perhaps too grand for this film to handle though.

4.7/10

The Secret of the Grain (La graine et le mulet) (2007)

The Secret of the Grain is like pushing a snowball around your yard. It starts off slow, but slowly builds bigger and bigger until there is no more snow on your yard and you have one big snowball rolled up. Then the sun comes out. Abdellatif Kechiche's style is very unformulaic and fresh. A true modern marvel. His movies tend to move at a slower pace, but the characters are so real that it is enjoyable. It feels like you are actually hanging out with the characters instead of watching them. These same feelings were true in his more recent Blue Is The Warmest Color. If I had to watch a 10 hour movie, I would hope that Abdellatif Kechiche was the one who created it. In fact, I hope his next feature IS 10 hours long ^_^

8/10

VERDICT: WATCH ALL OF ABDELL'S

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Weird. Funny. Pretty. Quirky. Very stylish. :) Dug the 2001: A Space Odyssey shoutout.

8/10

Mars Attacks! (1996)

The martians are silly fucks and Jack Nicholson is cool. Rad female fashion courtesy of Colleen Atwood. Special effects are dated, but I love Tim Burtons organic prop style.

5.5/10

VERDICT: WORTH A WATCH

Man Of Steel (2013)

[SPOILER] [SPOILER] [SPOILER] [SPOILER]

A fantastic modern adaptation of Superman. Some mild unrealistic scenes, like Lois being rescued unscathed out of the space pod.. There was so much debris and exploding.. This is a pretty common flaw in most super hero movies. The CG seemed video gamey at times, which is not good in cinema. And there seemed to be some Metal Gear Solid influence in the design of the Kryptonian spacesuits, which is not a bad thing. It felt like a cross between Dragon Ball Z, Metal Gear Solid 4, and The Matrix at times; so fitting that Laurence Fishburne has a role. The story is awesome. Supreme logic is a term I first used to describe the mindstates of Kevin Smith's characters in Clerks. Again there is a form of supreme logic being followed by Superman and the other Kryptonians. I am definitely hungry for more back and future story of this universe.

8/10

VERDICT: WATCH IT

The Last Of US (2013)

Video games are evolving and breaking out of their elementary shell. This is a prime example of the transition from video game to interactive experience. The writing is on par with a movie. And the voice acting is excellent. This could actually make for a good video game/movie spin-off. This is easily the most unpredictable, shocking, and emotionally powerful video game I have played. The Naughty Dog development team has journeyed into uncharted territory with this new video game series. The darkest, realest story I have seen in a video game. I will say I did not like how the game ends. Hopefully the next installment will redeem the direction the story has taken. Though they may decide to do some prequels.

10/10

Jersey Girl (2004)

[SPOILER! SPOILER! SPOILER!]

Kevin Smith delivers a new batch of awesome characters in this emotional tale. The level of genuine realness, matched with intelligence, is Smith's prominent style of writing; which is dominant in all his characters here. This is a heavily emotional film, so much so that I don't want to watch it again. I immediately fell in love with the characters so when tragedy struck I was just as devastated as Ben Affleck. And it doesn't let up too often. Kevin Smith will tap into your emotional grid and hit the sad button repeatedly and unexpectedly. The story is pretty formulaic, but when a master handles the formula, magic happens. I love that I loved the movie, yet don't want to go through that experience again, though it would be interesting to see if it is as powerful on a second watch, as the first.

10/10

VERDICT: WATCH IT!