Sticking with the music theme this week, only these aren't musicals in the strictest sense.
Once is a beautiful love story that isn't a love story. Two people meet on the street, one a street performer, the other a immigrant from somewhere, I don't remember. Did I mention this take place in Ireland. The two form a bond over his music and they both end up helping each other through their problems. Great music and a great story, you should see this with your significant other.
Across the Universe is an interesting way of taking beautiful music, putting a story to it and making a sweeping film that makes your heart soar. The story is simple. Several friends trying to live and survive through the turbulent sixties. The twist comes that the story is told with the help of Beatles songs. Not only do they break out in song but the dialogue is rife with lyrics from their songs. A beautiful movie with a great story. Again, see this with your sweetie.
Alright, next week I will try to get back into some gore and mayhem. Until then... go, watch, enjoy!
Friday, January 20, 2012
Friday, January 6, 2012
Weekend Recommendations!!!
Thought I start doing these from here, maybe get a little more in-depth with what I recommend. Actually this week was a little hard for me. I couldn't think of a theme. God bless The Child. (For those of you who don't know, The Child is my 14-years-old daughter.) She recommended Musicals as the theme. She even gave me one to recommend; Newsies. It is one of the only musicals that Disney produced that didn't make any money. Enjoy!
I, on the other hand, would like to recommend Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Not your typical musical, instead of breaking into song during a scene, they break into fights. Video Game-style fighting to be exact. Don't get me wrong, there is some great music in the film, they just don't spontaneously burst into song.
Newsies and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World; Go, watch, enjoy.
I, on the other hand, would like to recommend Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Not your typical musical, instead of breaking into song during a scene, they break into fights. Video Game-style fighting to be exact. Don't get me wrong, there is some great music in the film, they just don't spontaneously burst into song.
Newsies and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World; Go, watch, enjoy.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
2011 Oscar Reviews
The Oscar season is heating up, so I thought you, Faithful Reader, would want to read my reviews of last year's Oscar nominated best pictures. Enjoy!
Toy Story 3- Pixar hit it out the park again. Beautiful movie, beautiful story, this one deserves an Oscar nod, just not a best picture nod. The Academy has a category for this one already; it is called Best Animated Feature. It is the same with foreign films. There is a category for that as well. Anyway, TS3 has us following the toys on a new adventure when Andy has grown up and no longer plays with them. I think Kevin Smith puts it best as describing it as Schindler’s Toy Box. If you don’t tear up at the end, you are dead inside. A must see.
127 hours- Danny Boyle is amazing. He takes a story of a young man who gets trapped in a ravine for 5 days and makes it into the most interesting character study I have seen in a long time. James Franco is good as the hiker, Aron Ralston, and deserves his nomination as best actor. The movie never gets boring and is actually quite harrowing throughout. If you like stories about struggles between man and nature as well as man within, then you need to see this movie.
The Kids Are Alright- Ok, I didn’t go into this one as something I really wanted to see, so maybe that skewed my opinion. I don’t know, maybe I just don’t get lesbians. A lesbian couple has two children by the same sperm donor and the boy child is curious about the father, you could feel he needed a man in his life. The boy and his sister contact the donor and hilarity ensues… not really. The story goes places that felt weren’t genuine and maybe they were and that is why I say I don’t get lesbians. Everyone in the cast was great and the writing was good. I just couldn’t get behind the story nor the ending. They were so many more deserving movies that could’ve been nominated. Why this one.
True Grit- I can’t help it, I have to say it, this movie is much grittier than the original. With that said, The Coen brothers didn’t bring anything new to the film. I love Joel and Ethan Coen. They have made some of the best movies over the last 20 years, bringing freshness to many different genres. I want to say something negative here, but it is hard because the film is good. They were able to get wonderful performance out of the lead characters, which is great considering one is Matt Damon. I just had a problem with the storytelling. This is an adaptation of a book and we were told it was to be a true adaptation of the book, which tells me that the original movie wasn’t a true adaptation of the book. So, if this is true, why are the two movies extremely similar? I’m just saying. See it if you like westerns, Coen brothers films, and/or remakes.
The Fighter- Based on a true story. I love that saying. It means that although it is a Hollywood movie, there is a nugget of truth in the story somewhere. That being said, this turned out to be a pretty typical “Hollywood” story. Don’t get me wrong, it is a good movie, in spite of Mark Wahlberg, it just ends up being a typical “man triumphs over all odds” movie. The shining point in this movie is Christian Bale. He again transforms himself and puts on a performance worthy of an Oscar, not just the nomination. There are other good performances in this and the movie is put together beautifully. The story was way too typical for me to get into.
That is it for now, so far nothing Oscar worthy. I am seeing the rest of the nominees today and should have my reviews up before the show Sunday night. Let me know what you think about the movies and who you think deserves the win. Until next time, enjoy yourself, just don’t make yourself sore.
Toy Story 3- Pixar hit it out the park again. Beautiful movie, beautiful story, this one deserves an Oscar nod, just not a best picture nod. The Academy has a category for this one already; it is called Best Animated Feature. It is the same with foreign films. There is a category for that as well. Anyway, TS3 has us following the toys on a new adventure when Andy has grown up and no longer plays with them. I think Kevin Smith puts it best as describing it as Schindler’s Toy Box. If you don’t tear up at the end, you are dead inside. A must see.
127 hours- Danny Boyle is amazing. He takes a story of a young man who gets trapped in a ravine for 5 days and makes it into the most interesting character study I have seen in a long time. James Franco is good as the hiker, Aron Ralston, and deserves his nomination as best actor. The movie never gets boring and is actually quite harrowing throughout. If you like stories about struggles between man and nature as well as man within, then you need to see this movie.
The Kids Are Alright- Ok, I didn’t go into this one as something I really wanted to see, so maybe that skewed my opinion. I don’t know, maybe I just don’t get lesbians. A lesbian couple has two children by the same sperm donor and the boy child is curious about the father, you could feel he needed a man in his life. The boy and his sister contact the donor and hilarity ensues… not really. The story goes places that felt weren’t genuine and maybe they were and that is why I say I don’t get lesbians. Everyone in the cast was great and the writing was good. I just couldn’t get behind the story nor the ending. They were so many more deserving movies that could’ve been nominated. Why this one.
True Grit- I can’t help it, I have to say it, this movie is much grittier than the original. With that said, The Coen brothers didn’t bring anything new to the film. I love Joel and Ethan Coen. They have made some of the best movies over the last 20 years, bringing freshness to many different genres. I want to say something negative here, but it is hard because the film is good. They were able to get wonderful performance out of the lead characters, which is great considering one is Matt Damon. I just had a problem with the storytelling. This is an adaptation of a book and we were told it was to be a true adaptation of the book, which tells me that the original movie wasn’t a true adaptation of the book. So, if this is true, why are the two movies extremely similar? I’m just saying. See it if you like westerns, Coen brothers films, and/or remakes.
The Fighter- Based on a true story. I love that saying. It means that although it is a Hollywood movie, there is a nugget of truth in the story somewhere. That being said, this turned out to be a pretty typical “Hollywood” story. Don’t get me wrong, it is a good movie, in spite of Mark Wahlberg, it just ends up being a typical “man triumphs over all odds” movie. The shining point in this movie is Christian Bale. He again transforms himself and puts on a performance worthy of an Oscar, not just the nomination. There are other good performances in this and the movie is put together beautifully. The story was way too typical for me to get into.
That is it for now, so far nothing Oscar worthy. I am seeing the rest of the nominees today and should have my reviews up before the show Sunday night. Let me know what you think about the movies and who you think deserves the win. Until next time, enjoy yourself, just don’t make yourself sore.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
The End of The Beginning
Welcome to the end of the world... well at least the end of 2011. The Sideburns have been busy, but not busy enough. We, Bryan and Chris, are commited to bring not only informative and hilarious podcast to you next year, but also have them come out in a timely manner. Also, our viral videos will become more prominate in the new year. We have several ideas for some funny short films. Stay tuned here for more movie reviews, more in-depth than anything on our Facebook page. Keep a look out for more of the excellent video reviews about video games. Plus, we have some surprises in store for all our fans.
All in all, This is going to be the year The Sideburns Review breaks out. Happy New Year Sideburners. Enjoy yourselves.
All in all, This is going to be the year The Sideburns Review breaks out. Happy New Year Sideburners. Enjoy yourselves.
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Best. Movie. Ever. "From Dusk Til Dawn"
I am here today to pour love all over my favorite film of all-time; “From Dusk til Dawn”. This movie is a masterpiece in genre movie-making. At the time of making this film you had two of the biggest young directors in Hollywood come together as writer (Quentin Tarantino) and director (Robert Rodriguez). The genius behind this film is the plot. Two brothers, on the run from the law, hijack a family in a winnebago, who in turn help the brothers smuggle themselves across the Mexican border. Now all they have to do, the family and the brothers, is survive the night in a sleazy Mexican bar that isn’t quite what it seems. The last part of the last sentence, “survive the night in a sleazy Mexican bar...”, is where the genius comes in. Apparently, the bar’s proprietors are vampires.
What starts off as a highly entertaining crime picture turns into this grotesque horror film that keeps right on entertaining. Robert has his on unique way of shooting a film and it fits perfectly here. The dialogue is superb, like any Tarantino film has, but is the way that Robert plays with reactions to the dialogue that makes this film great. Also, There is a no-holds-barred on the violence throughout the whole film, from the opening shoot-out sequence right to the crazy bar fight with the vamps at the end. This movie grabs hold of you and does not let you go.
The cast is fantastic. The one you will look at and say “WTF” about is Quentin Tarantino playing Richard Gecko, brother to Seth, George Clooney’s character. Believe me, it works. Quentin may not be the best actor, but he wrote this character for himself and so the acting was just second nature. You can see in George Clooney’s eyes that he was ready to be a movie star and Robert made sure of it here. Even when Clooney isn’t talking he makes his presence know on the screen. Both of these men had to act there asses off against the legend that is Harvey Keitel. Harvey was able to take all that energy he brings to a role and covers it just below the surface as the quiet, reserved, faith-in-crisis, Jacob. Juliet Lewis is at her best in a role that was not very big, but when she was on screen she made every minute count. I think that the secondary characters are what truly make this a dream of a movie. Cheech Marin plays three different parts in this that works beautifully within the film. Horror icon Tom Savini is perfect in his role as Sex Machine along with Blaxpliotation star Fred Williamson. But the coolest character as well as actor was Texas Ranger Earl McGraw played by Michael Parks. I had never seen this veteran actor in anything before and when he shows up at the beginning of the film you almost hope the movie is about him, he is that good. Michael goes on to play the same role in several other Tarantino films.(Kill Bill and Deathproof as well as Robert’s Planet Terror). Jesus, I almost forgot Salma Hayek. Her role as Satanico Pandemonium is one of the sexiest she has ever done. If you don’t like woman built like Salma, you have something seriously wrong with you.
This is one of the most goriest, over the top action/horror movies I have ever seen. The story is perfect. The execution is perfect and the cast is divine. You will watch this one with the smile on your face. It is that good. Now go and watch! You will thank me later.
What starts off as a highly entertaining crime picture turns into this grotesque horror film that keeps right on entertaining. Robert has his on unique way of shooting a film and it fits perfectly here. The dialogue is superb, like any Tarantino film has, but is the way that Robert plays with reactions to the dialogue that makes this film great. Also, There is a no-holds-barred on the violence throughout the whole film, from the opening shoot-out sequence right to the crazy bar fight with the vamps at the end. This movie grabs hold of you and does not let you go.
The cast is fantastic. The one you will look at and say “WTF” about is Quentin Tarantino playing Richard Gecko, brother to Seth, George Clooney’s character. Believe me, it works. Quentin may not be the best actor, but he wrote this character for himself and so the acting was just second nature. You can see in George Clooney’s eyes that he was ready to be a movie star and Robert made sure of it here. Even when Clooney isn’t talking he makes his presence know on the screen. Both of these men had to act there asses off against the legend that is Harvey Keitel. Harvey was able to take all that energy he brings to a role and covers it just below the surface as the quiet, reserved, faith-in-crisis, Jacob. Juliet Lewis is at her best in a role that was not very big, but when she was on screen she made every minute count. I think that the secondary characters are what truly make this a dream of a movie. Cheech Marin plays three different parts in this that works beautifully within the film. Horror icon Tom Savini is perfect in his role as Sex Machine along with Blaxpliotation star Fred Williamson. But the coolest character as well as actor was Texas Ranger Earl McGraw played by Michael Parks. I had never seen this veteran actor in anything before and when he shows up at the beginning of the film you almost hope the movie is about him, he is that good. Michael goes on to play the same role in several other Tarantino films.(Kill Bill and Deathproof as well as Robert’s Planet Terror). Jesus, I almost forgot Salma Hayek. Her role as Satanico Pandemonium is one of the sexiest she has ever done. If you don’t like woman built like Salma, you have something seriously wrong with you.
This is one of the most goriest, over the top action/horror movies I have ever seen. The story is perfect. The execution is perfect and the cast is divine. You will watch this one with the smile on your face. It is that good. Now go and watch! You will thank me later.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Hello there!
Why... hello there. My name is Bryan Trusty. I'm the better half of The Sideburns Review (no homo). I'm here to contribute the retro video game portion of this... um... show? Anyway i thought it would be appropriate to give a short introduction. Uhhh Uhhhh..... so there you go im going to "attempt" to write and review some retro games.Check back often for updates about obscure movies and retro video game (especially the retro video games) just kidding... no really check them out. But really its all good. just check out the retro games... and i guess the movie stuff too.Enjoy!!!
Saturday, October 29, 2011
In The Beginning... We created The Review...
Welcome to The Sideburns Review blogspot. Hopefully Bryan and I will be giving you some reviews, insights, and general stupidity about Obscure movies, retro video games, new movies, new games, TV, music, and anything else we can think about.
Also look for us to post links to our podcasts, viral videos and other such stuff right here.
Check out our videos at www.youtube.com/thesideburnsreview
Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@sideburnsreview
You can also like us on Facebook.
Enjoy your day and have a pleasant tomorrow!
Also look for us to post links to our podcasts, viral videos and other such stuff right here.
Check out our videos at www.youtube.com/thesideburnsreview
Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/@sideburnsreview
You can also like us on Facebook.
Enjoy your day and have a pleasant tomorrow!
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