Double Dare (2005)

Number Rolled: 89

Movie Name/Year: Double Dare (2005)

Genre: Documentary

Length: 81 minutes

Rating: NR

Director: Amanda Micheli

Writer: N/A

Actors: Jeannie Epper, Zoe Bell, Lynda Carter, Lucy Lawless, Eurlyne Epper, Ken Howard, Terry Leonard, Quentin Tarantino, Steven Spielberg

I’m not really all that big on documentaries. I find they have three possible outcomes: Interesting, boring or bad. They can have a mix of any of the three (oddly enough I’ve seen ones that I would categorize as interesting and bad). This one would be interesting in my eyes.

Though it claims to be about a few different stunt-woman, they really mostly follow Zoe Bell around. It followed her from her days as stunting for Lucy Lawless on the set of Xena to more recently when she was the stunt girl for Uma Thurman in Kill Bill. It was interesting to note the struggles of female stunt people in a predominately male occupation. Not to mention interesting to see what happened to at least one of the people from behind the scenes of one of my all-time favorite TV series when I was younger (Xena!).

Honestly, if you curious about the subject, it’s a good movie to watch. Not really re-watchable in my eyes but, then again, few documentaries are.

Overall Opinion – 3/5

The Fifth Element (1997)

Number Rolled: 24

Movie Name/Year: The Fifth Element (1997)

Genre: Action Sci-Fi & Fantasy

Length: 126 minutes

Rating: PG-13

Director: Luc Besson

Writer: Luc Besson, Robert Mark Kamen

Actors: Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm, Milla Jovovich, Chris Tucker, Luke Perry, Brion James, Lee Evans, Tricky, John Neville, John Bluthal, Mathieu Kassovitz, Christopher Fairbank

You know what? The first thing I have to say here is that whomever wrote Netflix’s little blurb about what the movie was about was obviously daydreaming instead of watching the movie. Where the hell do street gangs come in? Granted you’ve got this weird little hate triangle going on, but it has nothing to do with street gangs. You’ve got a corrupt business man, mercenaries and the good guys. This is not some weird futuristic version of “Gangs of New York” like the description might have you believe. Damn Netflix, shape the hell up.

As for the movie itself, I love it. I have loved it every other time I’ve seen it and I continue loving it now. I recognize that it has its flaws though. Although Chris Tucker acted incredibly well, his character is one of the single most annoying thoughts every brought to life by art. He makes me want to drill a spork into my brain. The character is there for comedic effect, and it works to a point, but I often wonder if they could have obtained the same final product using a different type of character.

This was the first movie I had seen Milla Jovovich in and it made me love her acting. I believed that she was Leeloo. And some of those lines that she delivered are classics that wind up being quoted on a day to day basis around here. Sure, she didn’t write the script, but had she delivered them differently they may not be quoted as much today.

This also happens to be one of those movies you need to watch if you’re involved in the geek community at all. Not as up there as Star Wars, but still a must see.

Overall Opinion – 4/5

Altered (2006)

Number Rolled: 10

Movie Name/Year: Altered (2006)

Genre: Psychological Thriller (According to Netflix...)

Length: 87 minutes

Rating: R

Director: Eduardo Sanchez

Writer: Eduardo Sanchez, Jamie Nash

Actors: James Gammon, Brad William Henke, Adam Kaufman, Joe Unger, Michael C. Williams, Catherine Mangan, Paul McCarthy-Boyington, Misty Rosas, John William Wright

First and foremost, this was NOT a psychological thriller. I don’t know who over at Netflix is setting these genres but I think someone was high when they set this one. This was, at most, a B (or D) alien horror flick; one that was possibly written by someone with serious mental issues.

This movie is all about a group of friends who were abducted and seek revenge. You never really get to know anything about the original abduction, only the revenge part. You get told a story here or there but, let’s face it, that’s not nearly as good as seeing it. The alien looked like a buff ten year old painted green, the main characters were completely unrealistic and the picture itself was shoddy. “Hey, didn’t he have a flamethrower in his hand?” “Wait… when did that happen?” I think maybe some cuts were made that they didn’t realize they really needed for the movie. However, I’m ok with that, because I could NOT sit through any more of that crap.

All in all? That’s 87 minutes of my life I’m never going to get back.

Overall Opinion – 1/5