Bad Movie Night

I wanted to clear this up before I posted my review of Cloverfield.

Over the past few years, The Machete and I have been avid moviegoers. Unlike many of our friends, we have different "criteria" for what makes a movie good. We don't base our enjoyment solely on things like character development, plot, setting, how much it changed your life or made you think, etc... No, we like to include gunfights, car chases, profane humor, and general ridiculousness. Our friends' opinions of our movie choices has led us to label our cinema-going as "Bad Movie Night."

Past greats (in our book anyway) include such gems as Sin City and 300. These movies are no-holds-barred in-your-face ass-kicking cinematic masterpieces (to us). You get out of the theater and just want to punch someone square in the temple and/or talk about how well it was written, how you truly appreciated the actor's portrayal of the character, how much the stunning visuals or the soundtrack added to the experience, etc... Movies like these remind me of the subtle nuances experienced while drinking a fine glass of red wine with a bloody 24 ounce ribeye.

Films like these and the LoTR trilogy don't come along that often, however. Some movies are highly entertaining but, well, not that great for their blatant use of the "plot stick"*** (The Matrix, 28 Days Later). Some are mindless entertainment (Hitman, Live Free or Die Hard, I'm sure Rambo). Some had potential but are actually too much and you end up leaving the theater feeling terrible about yourself (Hostel). Some are really funny (Knocked Up). Some really make you think (Donnie Darko, Sunshine). Some just purely suck (Dragon Wars).

So remember, when reading our reviews, don't take them even slightly seriously.

*** The "Plot Stick" is the worst of the cinematic tools a director or writer will use when guiding moviegoers. In a nutshell, it's when they assume the audience is stupid and, in a Deus Ex Machina maneuver, have a character come in and explain the entire damn movie. AKA "hitting the audience over the head with the Plot Stick."