REVIEW: The Counselor

MOVIE
The Counselor

CAST
Michael Fassbender,
Cameron Diaz

RATING
R

RELEASE
October 25, 2013

DIRECTOR
Ridley Scott

STUDIO
20th Century Fox

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 57 minutes





STARS
(no stars)









REVIEW:

Throughout this year in film, I have witnessed some remarkable and awe-inspiring movies, and then I watched films that ranged from mediocre to total abominations.  That's why it baffled me that, while watching Ridley Scott's new film "The Counselor," I had the strong urge to either fall asleep or give up and walk out on the film entirely.  At first I thought that it was because I was still mad over the fact that my father chose to see this over "Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa" and "12 Years A Slave," and the process to get in to the theater was grueling and exhausting due to me being underage.  Apparently it was actually the quality of the film that was causing my eagerness to leave, as everyone in my theater left in confusion, and some were even booing.  If you ever wanted to see a movie where nothing remotely interesting happens in its 2 hour entirety, then get a look at this flick.  "The Counselor" might have a star-studded cast attached to it, as well as Academy Award Winning director Ridley Scott at the helm, but it doesn't only fail at being an intelligent, clever, and entertaining noir-film, but it also fails at being a linear story that makes sense and engages its audience.

Normally this is the part of the review where I paraphrase the plot of the film, but frankly there is barely a plot present at all.  All that is present is a bunch of random situations that are poorly pieced together to make a "narrative" of sorts.  Unlike most films, "The Counselor" offers nothing to its audience and instead has the majority of the people who paid $10 to be entertained scratching their heads and asking questions throughout, including but not limited to "Why is he called "The Counselor?"," "What is The Counselor's real name?", and most importantly, "What the hell is going on?"  I have never been more confused watching a film in a very long time, and this is coming from someone who understood everything that was going on in "Inception."  If the film's script was at least good, then the confusing story might have been forgiven a little bit.  Unfortunately, Cormac McCarthy's script is the thing that drags this film down into the pits.

The best way to describe Cormac's first original screenplay is "pretentious."  What McCarthy does with this film is assume that he is an awesome writer, and with an A-list ensemble cast, can make his work something so incredible that it will have the Oscar voters on their knees bowing down to his all-mightiness.  Unfortunately for him, the script and his writing come off as being snooty, pompous, and a bit self-obsessed.  He tries so hard to have a complex and flowing narrative with some witty and clever dialogue, yet fails at doing so in a miserable fashion.  If the characters were more interesting, the dialogue wasn't so hammy and cocky, and the story actually made sense, then maybe, MAYBE, this film would have been good.

To be honest, I feel bad for the actors in this movie, because they were really trying their best with the material they were given.  Michael Fassbender I believe has proven himself to be a true modern movie star, so to see him in something like this is a shame because his talent could have been used better elsewhere. Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz have won Oscars for crying out loud, so seeing them waste their acting chops in a movie like this is awful to see especially considering that they gave decent performances.  Brad Pitt even sneaks in there to try to give the film some quality, but fails just like his co-stars.  The only person in this movie who seems to be really devoted to her role is Cameron Diaz, and in her subtlety delivers an overall stupid and bad performance that has no extra dimension to it.  Despite their efforts, and believe me they were as strong as efforts can get, no actor in this movie could give any substance to this awful piece of filmmaking.

To be honest, it's a shame that this movie is as convoluted and absurd as it is, because it really could have been at least a decent flick.  Sure it might not have been anything special, per say, but considering that a fantastic director like Ridley Scott and a superb cast including the likes of Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem were behind this production and were seeking out to make a quality movie, it should have been a lot better.  This is Cormac McCarthy's first foray into the screenwriting business, and hopefully it's either his last screenplay, or he goes to school and learns how to write a good script.  "The Counselor" is a movie for a very small audience, and for those who expect an entertaining drug thriller starring some of Hollywood's biggest A-listers, prepare to be very disappointed.





PREVIEWS YOU MAY SEE:

Homefront

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

Thor: The Dark World

Lone Survivor

American Hustle

The Book Thief

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

MINI-REVIEW: Mr. Nobody

MOVIE
Mr. Nobody

CAST
Jared Leto, Sarah Polley

RATING
R

RELEASE
September 26, 2013 (VOD)
November 1, 2013 (LIMITED)

DIRECTOR
Jaco Van Dormael

STUDIO
Magnolia Pictures

RUNNING TIME
2 hours 19 minutes






STARS
****








REVIEW:

Before he went on to "retire" from acting and focus on his music career with the band 30 Seconds To Mars, Jared Leto made a film that premiered back in 2009 called "Mr. Nobody."  Upon its premiere, the overall consensus was positive, but many viewers were left scratching their heads and wondering "What the hell was that?"  I don't blame them, because that's exactly how I was after watching this 139 minute opus.  The plot of this movie is so multi-layered and complex that it would take multiple paragraphs to explain it all.  But really, the film is about one thing and one thing only: choice.

"Mr. Nobody" is, at its core, a movie about the possible outcomes of any choice one makes in their particular lives, whether it's something as complicated as staying with you mother or father after a divorce or choosing which vegetable to have as a side.  This movie requires deep thinking after it, as well as the use of your own imagination and philosophies.  If you're up for something like that, then give "Mr. Nobody" a chance.  America might be late to the game releasing this flick, but I have a strong feeling that over time, this could become a classic among future movie-lovers everywhere.

The acting is fantastic, with Jared Leto playing his character at multiple ages.  The visuals are superb and mesmerizing, almost going up against "Gravity" and "Life of Pi" as the best use of special effects this decade.  Finally the script, while confusing, is fascinating and really well thought out.  "Mr. Nobody" is like the weird combination of "Inception" and "Elysium," (to an extent) that overall forms into an amazing movie.  If the idea of "Inception" and "Elysium" mixed together didn't peak your interest, then this is not the movie for you to see.  If it did interest you, though, then you are in for one hell of a confusing but rewarding ride.

REWIND REVIEW: The Bling Ring

MOVIE
The Bling Ring

CAST
Israel Broussard, Katie Chang

RATING
R

RELEASE
June 14, 2013

DIRECTOR
Sofia Coppola

STUDIO
A24

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 31 minutes





STARS
***1/4









REVIEW:

Almost every teenager in their lives, regardless of their age, gender, or ethnicity, has wanted to live the life of their celebrity idol.  In Sofia Coppola's telling of the true story of the "Hollywood Burglars," "The Bling Ring," the five teens in this movie took things to the extreme and decided to break into celebrities' houses and stole their valuables in order to emulate the life of a star.  If you know the overall outcome of what happened to these teens, then you can get why it's not such a good thing to steal things and pretend to be a celebrity.  Unlike films like "Pain & Gain" and "Jobs," where the main characters are just jerks and unlikable for no reason, "The Bling Ring" makes them somewhat relatable because every kid and teen wants to be like a celebrity.  The main character Mark, played by up and comer Israel Broussard, is the weight that tries to hold down the craziness and criminal sides of the other four main characters, played by Katie Chang, Emma Watson, Tassia Farmiga, and Claire Pfister.

This is a movie that people between the ages of 14 and 27 will really enjoy, not just for the relatable factor, but also because it features some great modern music, an interesting story, and some crazy but fun performances from the five leads.  The movie doesn't even take itself seriously, and in a way is aware of how crazy these characters and this story is.  Hell, the movie ends with Emma Watson's character looking straight at the camera and promoting a website of hers to "find out the truth."  Not only was that just odd in general, but I personally started laughing as soon as that scene went to black and the credits began rolling.  If you can enjoy a self aware, absurd, yet insanely entertaining movie based on true events, then "The Bling Ring" is the film for you.  "The Bling Ring" might have unlikable characters and be a bit slow at times, but as a whole it is a wacky, over-exaggerated, and fun little movie that features great performances, a good story, and a charm to it that makes us like these crude characters for the same reason audiences enjoyed Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg in "The Social Network."

MINI-REVIEW: Escape From Tomorrow

MOVIE
Escape From Tomorrow

CAST
Roy Abramsohn,
Elena Schuber

RATING
NR

RELEASE
October 11, 2013

DIRECTOR
Randy Moore

STUDIO
FilmBuff

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 30 minutes






STARS
***






REVIEW:

Of all of the movies I have seen this year, "Escape From Tomorrow" is without a doubt the strangest of them all.  This is a movie that has been widely talked about since its Sundance premiere back in January because of one tiny little gimmick: the entire movie was shot in secrecy, or in the proper term "guerrilla" style, at both of the Disney parks without the studio having a single idea that it was happening.  While this would normally sound like a gimmick with any other movie, "Escape From Tomorrow" uses these parks as anything but.  Director Randy Moore manages to make what is known as "The Happiest Place On Earth" and turns it into a disturbing nightmare of fake turkey, princesses being sold off as prostitutes, and more unlike anything you've ever seen stamped to the Disney corporation.

The acting might not be the best, and the special effects may look pretty fake and unrealistic, but the purpose of this movie is to tell a story, and let me tell you, it tells a complex and fascinating story.  I've seen this film twice and have only liked it more upon repeated viewings, as well as talking about my theories on what the hell was going on.  This is a trippy and confusing movie, but a polarizing and good film as well.  It's nothing that I'll rush to watch again, but it is definitely something that cannot be forgotten.  For a film that delves into the psychosis of a man who has just been fired on his last day of vacation, it really delivers.  And to those who were wondering, this will not make you dislike or look at Disney in a different light; it just shows how crazy families can become in the happiest place on Earth.  That shouldn't deter from your overall opinion of the movie, but regardless of whether you hate or love this movie after you're done watching, this is still a film you have to see to believe.

REVIEW: Gravity: The IMAX 3D Experience

MOVIE
Gravity

CAST
Sandra Bullock,
George Clooney

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
October 4, 2013

DIRECTOR
Alfonso Cuarón

STUDIO
Warner Bros. Pictures

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 31 minutes






STARS
****







REVIEW:

From the film's 17 minute opening shot to its epic and intense 20 minute finale, "Gravity" pulls you into its clutches and never lets go in the slightest for the entire 91 minute ride.  This film comes from acclaimed director Alonso Cuarón, who is known for such films as "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" and "Children of Men," the latter of which got major love in the awards circuit back in 2006.  It stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as two astronauts, one who is on his last mission to space and the other on her first.  Just when things could be running smoothly, the two get into serious trouble when satellite debris starts killing off their other crew members and starts making their options to get back home and survive scarcer by the minute.  What ensues from this basic plot is something you have to see to believe.  Seriously, find the biggest 3D screen playing this movie around you, preferably an IMAX screen, and just watch in awe.  "Gravity" is a technical marvel, a moving character drama, and quite possibly the best space movie ever put on the big screen.

"Gravity" may very well have the best visual effects I have ever seen put on a movie screen.  Every single shot in this movie makes you feel like you are actually in space and further immerses you into the tension that's going on between the debris flying and Bullock's struggle to get back to Earth.  The 3D is also stellar and is the best use of the format since last year's "Life of Pi." Every shot looks stellar and the big screen experience only adds to that.  If you can, see this movie in IMAX 3D, because this movie is something I believe you should see on the biggest screen available in your area.  I give props to Alfonso Cuarón's direction for keeping the audience invested and stunned while watching this thrilling space story unfold.  The opening of the film is a continuous shot that lasts around 20 minutes, and the effort put into that particular scene is just mesmerizing, showing how much of a genius he is behind the camera.  He is a man who understands how to tell a trilling story without exploiting the special effects to the highest degree.

Luckily with this movie, there is just as much substance as there is style, allowing the viewers to get invested with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney's characters while staring at awe at the visuals of space.  Bullock has really come to prove that she is one hell of an actress, with her role as Ryan Stone in this film arguably being her best work to date.  Without spoiling the details, let's just say that Sandra Bullock has to work alone throughout a good majority of this movie, and boy does she make the film her own.  There's one particular scene involving a family on Earth that really pulls at the heartstrings and makes you really sympathize with Bullock's character.  As for George Clooney, he is also great in this movie, but for the most part, he's playing his usual charming suave self, so it's nothing you haven't seen from him before. Overall though, both performances are great, with Bullock really proving that she's a force not to mess with.

"Gravity" is the type of movie that can just about please anybody who goes to see it.  There are so many comparisons to make to this movie that it's hard to name all of them at once.  I mean, it could be compared to "Jaws" in how it can affect its audience and the way they look at the ocean, or in this case space.  It can also be compared to "2001: A Space Odyssey" in the way of how it takes us on an extraordinary trip into the horrors of space travel.  Finally, it can be compared to "The Wizard of Oz" in the way the story of how one person must find their way home is told.  The acting in this film is fantastic, particularly from Sandra Bullock.  The script, while not perfect, manages to get us invested with these astronauts and sympathize with them when something awful happens.

Director Alfonso Cuarón has proven himself to be the next Kubrick or Spielberg with this movie, in the way where it's all about the telling of the story and the imagination behind it rather than the nice special effects or the added 3D gimmick.  Speaking of 3D, there is absolutely no other way to see "Gravity."  If you see this film in 2D, you are truly missing out on one hell of an experience.  "Gravity" is a tour-de-force of filmmaking, with great acting, fantastic direction, and is overall one of the best movies of the decade thus far.






PREVIEWS YOU MAY SEE:

Out of the Furnace

Thor: The Dark World


August: Osage County

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Captain Phillips

Ender's Game

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

REWIND REVIEW: Movie 43

MOVIE
Movie 43

CAST
Too Many Actors To List

RATING
R

RELEASE
January 25, 2013

DIRECTOR(S)
Too Many Directors To List

STUDIO
Relativity Media

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 34 minutes






STARS
**









REVIEW:

Whenever Dennis Quaid has an idea for a movie, it's probably best to stay as far away from it as possible.  That is, unless he holds you at gunpoint, in which you totally lie to him and give him a fake check for his movie.  That is what Greg Kinear's character should have done in one of the many painful shorts in the terrible raunch-fest that is "Movie 43."  Here is a movie that takes all of these big celebrities, ranging from Academy Award Winners like Kate Winslet and Halle Berry to annoying actors like Kate Bosworth and Sean William-Scott, and puts them in a series of unfunny shorts that try incredibly hard to be as raunchy and as crude as humanly possible.  Aside from the opening skit featuring Kate Winslet and Hugh Jackman on a blind date, which I will admit I laughed pretty hard at, the film is overall pretty bad.

The jokes are tasteless, the stories are stupid, and the movie tries way to hard to be edgy and as R rated as possible.  I mean seriously, if they wanted to make a funny segment about a girl getting her first period or an iPod ripoff in the form of a life-size, naked woman (guess where the fan is), they would have gotten a better writer and done something creative with it.  Comedy these days, while there are some exceptions, seems like it's trying to rehash the same old crap that audiences pay top bill over every weekend, so to see celebrities, well-regarded celebrities even, doing something as awful as this, it just further shows that they want money.  I will give the filmmakers credit though: at least Adam Sandler or Tyler Perry didn't have any sort of role here.  Then again, they were probably shooting "Temptation" and "Grown Ups 2" when this was filming, so I guess it all evens out.

MINI-REVIEW: Captain Phillips

MOVIE
Captain Phillips

CAST
Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
October 11, 2013

DIRECTOR
Paul Greengrass

STUDIO
Columbia Pictures

RUNNING TIME
2 hours 14 minutes





STARS
***1/2








REVIEW:

While I was watching the new Tom Hanks movie "Captain Phillips," I couldn't help but feel like I've seen this type of movie before.  That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it just felt like I've been on this type of "true story" journey countless times before.  That is, until the film's final 15 minutes happened, and then my jaw was finally on the ground in awe and amazement.  Without spoiling anything, what I will say that, without those last 15 minutes being the way they were, "Captain Phillips" would have just been a good movie, nothing more and nothing less.  However thanks to its intense and emotional finale, the film for me went from being good to being great.  As a whole, "Captain Phillips" is like a lot of thrillers that come out around this type of year, but thanks to the stellar performances from Tom Hanks and Barkhad Abdi, a flowing narrative, and a very intense vibe gushing throughout it, this is a movie well worth your time and kind of like this year's "Zero Dark Thirty," despite the latter being the better of the two.

Tom Hanks for the most part gives off a very safe and good performance, but his greatness doesn't truly shine until the film's epic climatic finale where he once again proves that he's one of the best actors in movie history.  I can't even go on to explain why he's so good because it spoils the end of the movie, so I would just suggest going to see the film and judge for yourself.  As for the actors playing the Somali Pirates, they are all fantastic, particularly the lead pirate played by Barkhad Abdi.  For first time actors, they give off very strong, powerful, and impressive performances that make you believe they are actual Pirates in real life.  Everyone else in the film is too small to tell whether they're good or not, but Hanks and the actors playing the pirates are fantastic here.

As a whole, "Captain Phillips" is a very good movie that happens to have one of the best finales to a film all year.  Tom Hanks gives a strong performance, as do the men playing the Somali Pirates.  Director Paul Greengrass definitely has a good craft at making movies, but he does like shaky-cam a bit too much, despite working for this film pretty well.  I felt that, until the final 10 minutes, the movie played itself safe and like any typical true-story thriller, which disappointed me considering what I had heard from friends who had seen this before me.  Also, the Pirates tended to repeat their dialogue a lot, which personally annoyed me, yet I still understood why the script made these Pirates do that.  The film as a whole feels repetitive, but still, this is definitely a film to see on the big screen for the story and Hanks' performance alone.  It's not as exhilarating as "Zero Dark Thirty" or "Argo," but it is still a solid thriller well worth your time,

REVIEW: All The Boys Love Mandy Lane

MOVIE
All The Boys Love
Mandy Lane

CAST
Amber Hard, Michael Welch

RATING
R

RELEASE
September 6, 2013 (VOD)
October 11, 2013 (LIMITED)

DIRECTOR
Jonathan Levine

STUDIO
Radius-TWC

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 31 minutes





STARS
**








REVIEW:

Before "50/50" and "Warm Bodies" were made, director Jonathan Levine had a smaller horror film under his belt called "All The Boys Love Mandy Lane."  This film premiered back in 2006 at the Toronto International Film Festival to a very positive reaction and was actually bought by Harvey Weinstein as a gift for his brother's distribution company Dimension Films.  Unfortunately, Bob Weinstein didn't like his brother's gift, and thus the film was sold off to another smaller studio, which eventually shut down almost immediately after buying this film.  Now it's 2013, over 7 years since the film first had its world premiere, and now The Weinstein Company's Video On Demand company Radius picked this film up to finally be released.  Unfortunately with all of the buzz that has surrounded this movie for so long, the actual product had something to live up to.  Sadly though, the film isn't really that good overall.  It clearly shows potential throughout and has a good twist at the end, but the overall movie is just the typical horror film with some uninteresting characters and a lot of gore.

Mandy Lane is the type of girl that every guy in school wants to get with.  She's not the most popular girl, but she is the most beautiful and sexiest of them all.  So when she says yes to an invitation to go to a ranch with five of her classmates in the middle of nowhere, the boys will stop at nothing to be the one who will pop her cherry.  As the weekend progresses, the kids start getting picked off one by one by a mysterious party crasher and the body count starts to increase more than usual.  Who will die next, and who will be left standing in the end?  Either way, this is a weekend they won't soon be forgetting.

My main problem with the film is how the characters are written.  None of them, not even Mandy, come off as particularly likable or relatable, rather just teens who want to get some dirty action.  While this makes sense for any typical horror movie, this film seemed to be something more unique and original judging by the buzz behind it and from the good things I've personally heard from friends.  I mean, it's not the fault of the performances, which aren't that bad for a standard horror movie, it's just that they're written so one dimensional that the filmmakers don't give us any way to relate or care for them when they meet their demise.  Screenwriter Jacob Forman never went on to write any other films after this movie's premiere, and I can kind of see why unfortunately.

I'm glad to see that Jonathan Levine went on to do other, better work after this movie's premiere back in 2006.  With this film, he showed the potential that has luckily been liven up to over the past few years, but he didn't fully have the technique locked down.  If you want to see prime examples at how talented Levine is, then check out "50/50" and "Warm Bodies" if you haven't already.  "All The Boys Love Mandy Lane" as a whole is an uneven, formulaic, and somewhat unoriginal horror movie that never had me fully terrified and just left me shrugging as it ended.  I can see why people would enjoy the movie, as Amber Heard is very good as the title character, but other than that, this is a film that you can easily skip with no regrets.

REWIND REVIEW: World War Z

MOVIE
World War Z

CAST
Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos

RATING
PG-13

RELEASE
June 21, 2013

DIRECTOR
Marc Forster

STUDIO
Paramount Pictures

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 55 minutes








STARS
***1/4








REVIEW:

It's pretty safe to say that Zombies are the big craze in media these days.  Films like "Zombieland" had us laughing our heads off at the zombie apocalypse, while shows like "The Walking Dead" have us glued to out TV sets every Sunday night, having us pray that one of our favorite characters won't die in this particular episode.  "World War Z" is somewhere in between those two, with the entire movie trying to be intense and smart, which it does succeed at being for the most part, however it's filled with moments that are either easy to make fun of or are unintentionally hilarious.  Brad Pitt plays a pretty strong character who says he's a normal guy, but in reality he has a lot of military expertise on his record.  What results almost immediately after the opening credits end is a non-stop action thriller that grabs you by the horns and doesn't let go until you're already invested in the story and where Brad Pitt's character is going to head next.  While formulaic and unintentionally hilarious at times, "World War Z" is a very fun movie to watch from start to finish, and it has a lot of potential for a series to bloom out of it.

REWIND REVIEW: The Kings of Summer

MOVIE
The Kings of Summer

CAST
Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso,
Moises Arias

RATING
R

RELEASE
May 31, 2013

DIRECTOR
Jordan Vogt-Roberts

STUDIO
CBS Films

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 35 minutes






STARS
****








REVIEW:

If you've been reading me for a while now, then you should be fully aware at the fact that I'm a sucker for coming-of-age movies.  It could just be because I'm currently in high school, but I'm just head over heals in love with this particular sub-genre of film.  This year alone has given us some memorable ones, from a boy and the unlikely friendship he makes with the manager of a water park in "The Way, Way Back," to a bunch of 11 year olds playing imaginary war in the woods in "I Declare War."  "The Kings of Summer," which made a huge splash at Sundance this year, is a tale about three boys who build a house in the woods to get away from their crazy and irritating parents.  Once a girl gets in their way, though, the friendship that they all share might come crumbling down a lot quicker than they expected it to.

I'm just gonna come out and say this with no buildup whatsoever: I am head over heels in love with this movie.  As someone who was gaga for "The Way, Way Back," I gotta say that not only is this movie funnier, by the way this might very well be the funniest movie I've seen all year, but it also really hit me for different reasons than how any other film this year did.  This is a movie about first loves, teenage angst, and the friendship between two people, and what that resulted in was a smart, hilarious, and touching movie that takes the kid-chemistry from "Super 8" and incorporate it with the foulness of a Seth Rogen comedy.  All of the acting is fantastic, the story flows in a very linear fashion, the script is fresh and witty, and overall this movie just feels like a soon-to-be classic for teenagers.  Plus, I have a feeling that even if you don't particularly care for the movie, you'll at least enjoy the randomness and strange being that is in the form of Biaggio, the third boy who tags along in the group.  Just watch the film, and see what I mean.

MINI-REVIEW: Bad Milo!

MOVIE
Bad Milo!

CAST
Ken Marino, Gillian Jacobs

RATING
R

RELEASE
August 29, 2013 (VOD)
October 4, 2013 (LIMITED)

DIRECTOR
Jacob Vaughan

STUDIO
Magnet Releasing

RUNNING TIME
1 hour 24 minutes






STARS
***









REVIEW:

I love when filmmakers take specific genres and put a new spin to them in order to make them fresh and new again.  Director Jacob Vaughan did this with the new monster horror-comedy entitled "Bad Milo!"  It's one thing to have a monster haunting and killing people you know, but what this film does is have the monster literally be a part of the main character, more specifically living up the butt of the protagonist Duncan, played by "Children's Hospital's" Ken Marino.  What ensues after he discovers his "junk" in the trunk is a fun, flawed, but entertaining horror-comedy that is neither groundbreaking nor awful by any means.  Some of the jokes fall flat and the film sometimes drags on without really making up for the excess time, but for the most part, "Bad Milo" is a fun, gory, and silly movie that is sure to get a cult status as the year's go on.  It has all the elements of a fun B-horror film combined with the 80s classic "Gremlins."