Chad Sides (Darth Preacher)

I expected "Vacancy" to be more of a slasher thanks to seeing part 2 first (I don't make a habit of seeing sequels/prequels first, but this was a case of mistaken identity). It's actually more of a survive-the-invasion/stalker type suspense/thriller not unlike "Strangers" though I like this one a great deal more than the other. A husband and wife check into a remote motel for the night where they are terrorized by people who want to film their deaths for fun and profit. The two fight back with minor successes and failures that make the struggle exciting giving us hope that they might make it while thinking that maybe they won't survive. I think what I like most about this movie is Luke Wilson as the protagonist. He's smarter than the typical slasher movie teenager but not a specially-trained ex-Navy Seal or some such. He's just a regular guy highly motivated to get out of a dangerous situation. It makes him more relatable to me than many other characters in similar movies. Kate Beckinsale doesn't let Luke steal the show, though. Thanks to the actors, the thrill of the struggle, and the exciting pacing I enjoyed this movie more than I thought I would. It does suffer from some awkwardly presented backstory and some logistical issues that bother me (such as an antagonist being able to enter and exit a trapdoor swiftly without making the slightest sound), but while those do affect my opinion I don't dwell on them enough to spoil the fun of the movie. If you're the type to get hung up on such things then be aware! Questionable Content: Violence is relatively infrequent since the cast is small, but we do get some bloody moments, not to mention that the bulk of the movie is one group of people terrorizing another with the clear intent of murder. One of the previously recorded attacks features a little nudity, but it's brief and unclear. Sexuality is little more than a comment on porn. Strong language is heavy. Spiritual Content: I didn't pick up on anything specifically spiritual or religious here. This is a tale of evil that one human can inflict on another. Perhaps even scarier than that is the notion that this isn't even an example of the worst we can do to each other. Luke and Kate's characters are imperfect, but they appear to be basically decent people who will put the good of the other before themselves when faced with a lethal situation. As is all too common with people in general, they have let negative feelings drive a wedge between them until they could finally see past their own internal pain. How often do we take sarcastic stabs at each other without desiring any real harm on the other person? It's easy to think that we're justified in our biting remarks or that we aren't doing any real harm. Don't wait until disaster strikes before you put away bitterness. DVD: I got the standard DVD edition and intend to post some thoughts on it when I have the chance to go through it all. Off the cuff I'd say that the presentation quality is fine, and the list of extras has me looking forward to checking them out. I don't know that I would have bought "Vacancy" on DVD if I hadn't found a good deal on it, but I definitely enjoyed watching it and will certainly revisit it sooner or later since I now own it.

This is pure Godzilla fan service. It is not a good movie in virtually any way, but it is fun and therefore worth seeing if you are, indeed, a fan. Godzilla tears through a roster of his most famous monster pals. I enjoyed the mission to release him, the aliens that made turning to Godzilla necessary for the human race, and the "what have we gotten ourselves into" reaction from the villains. Unfortunately, Godzilla occupies a small portion of the story with the bulk of it being human mutants vs. humanoid aliens which gets dragged out too long with terrible acting and worse fight choreography. This movie BEGS for a Mystery Science Theater style commentary. Questionable Content: Violence and strong language are present but mild. Sexuality is absent. Spiritual Content: I've been reading some articles that make the case of Godzilla being a pagan deity, but to me, even if that's true, he feels more like an unstable superhero/vigilante here. Humanity needs him to come save them, and they anticipate having to cage him again once he's finished in order to keep him from his own destructive rampage. I suppose I could attach spiritual connotations to that if I thought about it long enough, but it's not anything that is obvious (at least to my western and Christian mindset), nor do I think that this movie was intended to be that deep. I do think that many people have clashing views about God being benevolent and wrathful which can be hard to reconcile - a concept I can see represented here to some degree. DVD: I watched a friend's DVD and so won't have the opportunity to explore the release like I do the ones I buy. Presentation quality was acceptable. There are a few extras including a look at filming some of the scenes which I got to see only a part of. It was fun to see a human-sized Godzilla in action. I wouldn't want to watch it again, but I was entertained by this movie. Flaming Mothra is a must-see.

This murder mystery/thriller captured my attention quickly with strong character and situation setups. What really sets this story apart is a rather massive plot twist that completely changes the viewer's perception of the events. Some feel that this makes the movie more interesting, some feel that it destroys what had been a hitherto great narrative. I took it for what it was and enjoyed it as something different and interesting. Performances range from good to fantastic with some fun cameos/bit parts by faces I consider notable such as Alfred Molina and Carmen Argenziano, production quality is high, and even though I knew the big twist I still enjoyed seeing it a second time. Questionable Content: It can be brutal at times, but most of the violence happens off-screen leaving us to imagine the actual murder. We do see some gruesome aftermath such as a severed head and a mangled corpse. Sexuality is mild. Strong language is heavy. Spiritual Content: There is little to nothing spiritual or religious here. It's primarily psychological with the intention of telling a thrilling story. You could see it as something of a cautionary tale of what abuse can potentially do to a person (taken to a cinematic extreme, of course). DVD: I have the Special Edition DVD. I plan to get around to writing up a better evaluation of it when I have a chance to explore it (I have a sizable stack waiting on me to get to them all). Off the cuff I'd say that the presentation quality is pretty good. The surround sound got my attention most notably when out in the rain. Theatrical and unrated cuts are available on a single disc. While I wouldn't rank this as high as a favorite I liked it enough to buy the DVD after seeing it and look forward to exploring the DVD contents.

This is a pretty good take on the Godzilla concept. It's altered and more modern than the original, but it has a strong social context (knowing about it ahead of time increased my appreciation of the movie so I recommend reading about it before watching) which makes it feel like it has real depth. It falls into some overused tropes like the very young, very gorgeous, single, young woman in a high ranking position to offset the similarly big-screen handsome, single male hero. It does not, however, become a story of two people falling in love as they single-handedly save the world. There's more to it than that. The changes to Godzilla may bug some long-time fans, but there is purpose behind his design. He looks good and feels dangerous. Questionable Content: This is pretty tame with mild violence (high body count but on a scale that doesn't show the gory effects of the carnage), mild and infrequent strong language, and no sexuality. Spiritual Content: The spiritual connotations here are not necessarily overt, but a line explaining Godzilla''s name casts a little bit of light on the undercurrent depending on how much weight you as the viewer choose to give it. Godzilla is called "god incarnate." Does that mean he's literally a god-in-flesh being in the same way Christ is, or does it simply mean that Godzilla's power level is so far above humans' that it's nearly impossible to resist him? I saw it more as the latter, but at least a few people seem to take the former stance. I've read that Godzilla and his ilk are intended to be modern pagan deities that need to be appeased in the proper way lest they be angered and thus wreak havoc on humanity, so that does actually fit with the god-in-flesh interpretation. I've always viewed Godzilla more in line with the Blue Oyster Cult line - he's a force of nature born of human folly, but then I've never been heavily involved with kaiju fandom despite enjoying a good giant monster movie from time to time. So I suppose to some degree the amount of spiritual weight you give any Godzilla movie will depend on your view of the nature of his existence. I think the focus of "Shin Godzilla" is more on the political commentary. DVD: I watched a friend's DVD and so won't have the opportunity to look through all it has to offer. I thought the presentation was quite good, but I wasn't impressed with the acting in the English dub. The DVD I saw didn't have a lot to offer as far as extras go. I didn't like "Shin Godzilla" enough that I plan to buy my own DVD; I feel like one viewing is plenty. However, I did appreciate the opportunity to see it and will most likely see part 2 if it gets made.