Safe sizzles from the very first scene with chills, spills and thrills and of course, Jason Statham. Suspend disbelief and hop on the roller coaster, Safe is a good one. Statham is at his absolute best, beating the hell out of Russians mobsters, Chinese gangsters and crooked cops, while quipping his way throughout. Here’s where Safe deviates: the film uses all the typical action clichés but feels real.

Director Boaz Yakim introduces Mei (Catherine Chan), an 11 year old prodigy with legendary memorization skills and attitude. She’s been given the codes to the Chinese mob’s entire system. Han Jaio (James Hong) doesn’t believe in technology. This has made the Chinese vulnerable to the Russian mob and the New York police. Both are hunting her before the Chinese can find her. Mei also holds the key to Luke Wright’s (Statham) redemption.

Wright, former cop and now failed cage fighter, has fallen on truly hard times. His past haunts him. His life is in shambles. And not until he meets Mei does he find away to reconcile it. In the New York subway Wright sees Mei hiding from Russian mobsters and saves her. He further takes it upon himself to keep her from both mobs and the police. When crooked cops get involved the body count begins and Wright goes into high gear. The rest of the Safe is classic: car chases, explosions, violence and flying bullets (a few of my favorite things).

In Safe Wright seems more like a modern day “man with no name” than a cop turned avenger. Pitting the mobs against each other and the cops against both is a fun revisit to 1965’s For a Few Dollars More. Statham is great in the Eastwood style role and, as always, he kicks some serious ass. He also manages to deliver the expected one liners without making it seem too cliché.

Safe is a classic action hero flick with some great twists and much less of the, “I’ve seen this before,” feeling. The villains are cliché, the plot predictable, the acting melodramatic and over the top, but none of that matters. Safe is a great flick, with incredible action and phenomenal fight scenes, a good, if implausible, story and a tight, fast pace. I loved the film and want to see more. Look for Luke Wright to be back again.

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5!

Its time sit back, relax and crack a cold one! As the guys reminisce about their favorite party movies.  Whats your favorite party movie or your best party story? Leave a comment here or on our Facebook page or call the voice mail # (260)-573-0015

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The Movie Maniac Craig and Tom put in a marathon of movie viewing this weekend! Listen in and find out which one rose above the pack. Don’t forget visit our Facebook page and leave your reviews!

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Being big kids at heart we all love gadgets and gizmos! And some of the best are in movies. So join us as we  have a little fun reminiscing about our favorites. Leave your list in our comments section or on our Facebook page.

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Creepy cults and the disintegration of humanity are on the agenda for this edition of What I’ve Been Watching…

MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE (2011) Subtle terror best describes this brooding thriller. The movie opens with a young girl calmly walking through a home, quietly so she doesn’t disturb the others. Once she’s outside, she begins running. Through sound design and camera work, you know this girl is running to escape. A dread immediately falls over the story. The girl is Martha played to perfection by newcomer Elizabeth Olsen. Martha contacts her sister and brother-in-law and they both take her in. There’s a distance between them and they are curious as to what Martha has been up to for the past couple of years. Martha is haunted by dreams…memories which we see in flashback. These flashbacks reveal her life as Marcy May and living with a cult run by the ultra-creepy Patrick (John Hawkes). As the movie progresses we learn more about the cult and their philosophies and that’s when the terror creeps in. Elizabeth Olsen is fantastic. John Hawkes’ performance is chilling; a kind and gentle person one minute, a seriously scary dude the next. I saw him last in “Winter’s Bone” and he was great in that movie, too. Martha Marcy May Marlene is filled with a tension and terror that runs below the surface, keeping you uneasy. This is not in-your-face terror, just quiet moments that are very creepy and unsettling. I loved a lot of the cinematography in the movie. Some scenes and their color schemes look like they leapt right out of a 70’s flick. I bet after one viewing of this you’ll be locking your doors at night for sure.

THE DIVIDE (2011) Starring Michael Biehn, Milo Ventimiglia, Lauren German, Rosanna Arquette, Michael Eklund. “The lucky ones died in the blast.” The movie opens with a bang as nuclear warheads shower down onto Manhattan. The camera slowly dives down an apartment stairwell as groups of people flee the building in panic. Nine people barricade themselves into a basement that’s been turned into a bunker by the superintendent. Are they the lucky ones to escape the fiery blast? I think not, because The Divide shows us the slow disintegration of humanity as the trapped people lose their hope and sanity, become sick and evolve into sexual deviants and violent savages. The director Xavier Gens takes the bleak material and creates visually stunning imagery, all within the claustrophobic confines of the bunker. The whole cast turns in brave performances, going deep into dark places. Michael Eklund made my skin crawl. The music is made up of beautiful pieces of piano that evoke feelings of sadness. There are a few twists that I won’t reveal that take the story down a different path than you’d expect. There were parts that made me angry and there were parts that saddened me as I watched the characters fall apart. This movie delivers some intense moments.

Check this out:
Xavier Gens also directed “Frontier(s)” (2007) which is an awesome French horror movie. It’s an insane and gory masterpiece that should not be missed by any horror fiend.

I met Michael Biehn at a movie convention and he was one cool dude. He was real friendly and gave me a signed Planet Terror lobby card for free. He’s a class act!

Besides the strange and bizarre movies I like to watch, I have caught a few other movies that are must sees for movie fans: Hugo, Cowboys and Aliens, and Immortals. I loved all three of them, especially Hugo which was brilliant! Till next time…

It was a slow week at the theaters but The Movie Maniac has  found you a pleasant surprise in Think Like A Man. Also Tom chimes in on Cabin In The Woods. Leave us a comment or post your review on our Facebook page.

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Brilliant dialogue, excellent direction and some incredible story elements make The Cabin in the Woods one of the best horror films in decades. Packed with some pretty good action scenes, there’s also plenty of entertainment value. The Cabin in the Woods is a nearly unique blend of the supernatural, technology, violence and humor.

Deep in the woods is a secluded cabin. The cabin is wired, big time, and part of a technological nightmare world full of weird creatures, pheromones and geeks with white shirts and black ties. Rather like Best Buy on a Saturday afternoon. Enter five college students taking a weekend off their studies, only to find serious danger at a cabin owned by one of their cousins. What happens next is classic slasher film, literally. All hell breaks loose. The students are attacked and brutalized and must fight or flee. That’s where the film takes a demented turn, but you’ll have to go see it for that.

I strongly suggest that you do. The Cabin in the Woods is startlingly good! The writing is superb, the acting surprisingly excellent and the plot, though simple, incredibly engaging. I couldn’t wait to see what Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard, the writers, would come up with next. It’s seldom that I’ve seen a film that almost completely surprised me, but Cabin sure did.

Whedon and Goddard managed to turn film clichés into original, if often disturbing, scenes, particularly the ones in the tech center. Speaking of the tech center, Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford as Sitterson and Hadley, the leaders, gave masterful performances. And the teenagers much the same: Chris Hemsworth, Kristen Conolly and Fran Kranz were managed to make fairly extreme characters likeable and believable. Anna Hutchison too was quite good, if less extreme.

I have to give real credit to director Drew Goddard for putting it all together. Cabin in the Woods flows beautifully, it’s logical in a sick twisted way and sells the plot nicely. All in all it’s one of my favorite films this year and one of the best horror films I’ve ever seen.

Rating 4.5 starts out of 5.

In this episode the guys discuss some of their favorite classic and not so classic vampire movies. Did we miss your favorite? If so leave a comment here or on our facebook page! The more feedback the better!

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This review has little bit of everything! From horror to action sci-fi we even have some slapstick. One of these is an instant classic! And one we have very different opinions on. You’ll have to listen in to find out! Remember to leave a comment or review here on our facebook page

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Ok, Andrew Garfield is the new Amazing Spider-man. I’m reserving judgement… I’ve got to say though, Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, wow! The trailer, for me, is a bit underwhelming, but I love Spider-man so here’s hoping. Check out the trailer and I’ll see you at the front of the theater, I promise, on opening night. The release date is July 3, 2012.