Concert Review: Between The Buried and Me, Boston, MA October 30th, 2011

Last night was a magical evening at the House Of Blues in Boston. The Saints and Sinners Tour with Between The Buried and Me, Animals As Leaders, and TesseracT was in town. To make things even better, it was a special Halloween show that also featured Cave In and The Red Chord on top of the regular tour lineup. Putting it simply, the show was fucking amazing.

A few of my friends and I arrived at the House Of Blues around 5:45. After getting in, I browsed the merch. Between The Buried and Animals As Leaders shirts were $20 for those interested and I didn't look at TesseracT merch. I ended up purchasing an Animals As Leaders shirt with a picture of Tosin Abasi on it with "Tobama" written under it (the shirt featured the color scheme that are on the Obama shirts/posters). After I purchased my shirt, we were able to get extremely close to the stage. I have actually never been that close at the House Of Blues, which made this show that much better.

TesseracT kicked off the festivities for the evening. I was very curious to see what the band would sound like with their new vocalist, Elliot Coleman. Let me just say if you're a TesseracT fan, don't fret about Elliot's vocals, he did a great job. I actually preferred his vocals over their previous singer Dan's. Elliot's cleans and screams (his screams are vastly superior to Dan's) were great. Their material sounded better and heavier live. I think Elliot has injected new life into the band and made them all-around better. I was very pleasantly surprised by TesseracT's performance.

The first of the two special guests on the evening, the pride of Revere, Massachusetts, The Red Chord, was up next. When The Red Chord got added to the bill, I was completely stoked. They have been one of my favorite bands for a few years now and they always bring it live. This go-round was no exception. This was their first show in 6 months, but you couldn't tell by the way they played. They did not show any signs of rust and they dominated the stage like they always do. The setlist was really solid. "Birdbath" and "Hymns and Crippled Anthems" were really awesome surprises. Charn from Job For A Cowboy did a fantastic job filling in on drums. There is a rumor going around that he will be their new drummer. If that's true (I honestly don't see that happening), he would be a good fit for The Red Chord.  I really want The Red Chord to make another album soon. It's been too long since their mad genius since has released new material.

Animals As Leaders hit the stage next. Basically all I can say about their performance is that Tosin Abasi is a beast. Watching him play for 45 minutes had me in complete awe. The crowd was going ballistic the entire set. People fucking worship this guy ( at one point,some dude screamed "Tosin, I want take you home with me". Tosin was laughing so hard, he had to delay the intro to "Song Of Solomon" for a few seconds). Animals As Leaders is my favorite instrumental band of all time and it's always a treat seeing them live.

The second special guest of the evening, Cave In, was up next on the bill. Despite being from Methuen, Cave In rarely plays shows, ever around the Massachusetts area. I had only heard 1 or 2 Cave In songs prior to last night, but after their performance, I will definitely be examining their music further. They have a very dynamic sound. It was part Converge/Dillinger Escape Plan, part Thursday/Touche Amore. The crowd wasn't entirely into them, but it wasn't completely dead either. A polarizing reaction like is to be expected due to the radical shifts in tone from song to song. I am glad Cave In was on the bill last night, they put on a damn good show and they for sure gained a new fan in me.

Finally, Between The Buried and Me, hit the stage. This was my 6th(!) time seeing them and as always, they were beyond amazing. They are pretty much in a league of their own when it comes to live bands. They absolutely command the stage every time they play. Their musical precision is out of this world. It impresses each and every time I see them how they can all pull of their music off live to perfection given how complex it is. The setlist was good. Alot of great setlist staples such as "Disease, Injury, Madness" and "White Walls", as well as a really cool medley of some older songs off of the first three albums. Blake Richardson did an excellent drum solo in a break during "Specular Reflection". It was also cool to see them play "Mordecai" for the first time (I am surprised it took me until the sixth seeing them to hear it live). I can't wait for the next Between The Buried and Me tour to roll through Massachusetts.

The show was amazing. Every band killed and the presence of The Red Chord and Cave In made this even better. This tour is hitting up pretty much everywhere in the country, so if this is coming to your city go. Boston lucked out and got two more kick-ass bands on top of the rest of the lineup and I am really fortunate that happened.

Scores
TesseracT 8/10
The Red Chord 9/10
Animals As Leaders 8.5/10
Cave In 8/10
Between The Buried and Me 10/10

Setlists
TesseracT
Intro
Concealing Fate Part Two-Deception
Concealing Fate Part Three-The Impossible
Concealing Fate Part Four-Perfection
Concealing Fate Part Five-Epiphany
Concealing Fate Part Six-Origin
April
Concealing Fate Part One-Acceptance


The Red Chord
Demoralizer
Black Santa
Hymns and Crippled Anthems
Nihilist
Hour Of Rats
Birdbath
Clients
Pray For Eyes
Antman
Dreaming In Dog Years


Animals As Leaders:
An Infinite Regression
Tempting Time
Song Of Solomon
Point To Point
Isolated Incidents
Thoroughly At Home
Wave Of Babies
Cylindrical Sea
CAFO

Cave In(jacked for setlist.fm, the only songs I knew were Vicious Circles and Centered, which were announced):
Serpents
Halo Of Flies
Vicious Circles
Air Escapes
Centered
Summit Fever
Sing My Loves
Moral Eclipse
Juggernaut

Between The Buried and Me:
Mirrors
Obfuscation
Augment Of Rebirth
Foam Born B: Decade Of Statues
Disease, Injury, Madness
Specular Reflection/Drum Solo
Medley (included Alaska, All Bodies, Shavnel Cut A Flip, Arsonist,Fire For A Dry Mouth, Lost Perfection: Anablephobia, and 1 other from the s/t that I am forgetting)
Viridian
White Walls

Encore:
Mordecai

Album Review: Megadeth-TH1RT3N

After hearing what their fellow Big 4 members Metallica did with the disaster Lulu, I was excited to see hear what Megadeth's new album would be like. Megadeth was coming off Endgame, which I thought was their best release since Countdown To Extinction. Naturally, I had very high expectations for TH1RT3EN after the greatness of Endgame. The bad news is THIRT3N doesn't hold a candle to Endgame. The good news is that THIRT3N is still a solid release.

Considering that THIRT3N feels rushed (4 of the 13 songs had already appeared on other Megadeth releases), it's still a pretty good record. It maintains the sound that has been found on Megadeth's albums since they reunited in 2002. Dave Mustaine still has it vocally and Chris Broderick is still the best guitarist Megadeth has had since Marty Friedman left. It was also cool to hear Dave Ellefson back in the band. I don't know much his presence contributed to the album, but it's always good to see a founding member come back into the fold. Ironically, the songs that Megadeth had already released are better than most of the material was written for this album. "Black Swan" is a classic Megadeth rager that has a lot more energy and focus than the rest of the album. "Sudden Death", which was originally written for Guitar Hero, is a damn good song as well. Broderick and Mustaine trade off manic solos, which is not done enough on the rest of the album. When it comes to the material that was written for this album there is one problem, it's good, but it rarely reaches great. The songs just never really reach the next level (with the exception of "Fast Lane"). The flare and brilliance of Endgame isn't really present here unfortunately.

THIRT3N is a good, but not great record. It's definitely thrown together, but thankfully Megadeth is such an amazing a band that it's still quality music. It's on par with most of the 2000's-era Megadeth, so fans of albums like The System Has Failed! and United Abominations should enjoy this. At the very least, Dave Mustaine can take pride in the fact that he didn't stoop to Metallica's level on their new album. It's a shame that Megadeth couldn't follow up Endgame with a better album, but THIRT3N is still a respectable release from Megadeth.

3.5/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.Black Swan
2.Sudden Death
3.Fast Lane

Movie Review: Captain America: The First Avenger (Film Number 25 In My Goal For 2011 Films)

Captain America: The First Avenger was probably the worst-looking superhero of all time in my opinion. Based on the trailers, I was really not looking forward to see it. After it was released, there was a lot of really good feedback on it from critics and audiences. The positive reception definitely increased my interest in seeing it. After finally watching it yesterday, I can now say that it's neither really good or really bad, it's just decent. There is nothing horribly wrong with the film, it's just too plain and standard to be anything special. The acting, script, and action sequences are all serviceable. Chris Evans makes a pretty good Captain America. He has always been a solid, likable actor and that really helps with this role. The villain, Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), is probably the biggest reason this film doesn't get to the next level. He has to be one of the lamest villains in comic book history. There is nothing wrong with Weaving's portrayal, it's just the character itself is pretty stupid. On the whole, Captain America: The First Avenger, is entertaining enough to warrant a mild recommendation, but nothing more. I enjoyed this year's other Marvel comic adaptions Thor and (especially) X-Men: First Class a lot more than this. Captain America didn't live up to the very good reception, but at least it wasn't the awful film I expected it to be.

3/5 Stars

Album Review: Lou Reed/Metallica-Lulu

I have never been a big fan of collaboration albums. They just tend to be a bad idea and they rarely work (the Nas/Damian Marley album from last year is the only recent example of a completely successful collaboration album I can think). On paper, the combination of Lou Reed and Metallica doesn't make sense. Once you hear the album, you'll wish it never happened. You would have to try really hard to make music as bad as the material on Lulu.

I really don't know where to start with my criticisms of Lulu. Everything that could possibly go wrong, goes wrong. Lulu is so bad that it's almost impressive. It reaches levels of unholy shit that were previously unfathomable to the human mind. I really don't know how anyone involved thought this was good and should be released for the public to hear. The album sounds like Lou Reed is a crazed war veteran telling his incoherent stories while Metallica is practicing rhythm riffs in another room. Honestly Lou, if you wanted to read your awful poetry, go to a fucking open mic night. Don't call up Metallica and ask them to play boring riffs while you go on monotonous,incoherent ramblings. You know when album starts off with the lyrics "I would cut my legs and tits off when I think of Boris Karloff and Kinski in the dark of the moon" that there is some serious problems ahead. Why I didn't turn this album off after that is beyond me. The next 60 minutes or so of this monumental turd just got more and more painful.

"The View" is one of the worst songs on here and it starts the theme of Reed repeating the same words over and over again in almost every song. Just when don't think the song can get any worse, James Hetfield joins in on the party and repeatedly screams the lyrics "I am the table!". I am honestly shocked my head didn't explode after I heard the man that was responsible for masterpieces like Ride The Lightning and Master Of Puppets screaming about how he is a fucking table. Just when I didn't think the album could get any fucking worse, "Pumping Blood" came on. The idiotic lyrics reach new lows when Reed's crusty, emotionless ass proclaims "If I waggle my ass like a dark prostitute, would you think less of me?" and even better this gem "I will swallow your sharpest cutter, like a colored man's dick".  Torture porn was used as a term to describe horror films like Hostel and Saw, I would like to bring back the term an apply to this album after hearing this song. After hearing that song, I wanted to track Lou Reed down and demand him for compensation for exposing me to this fucking abomination. Keep in mind, I was only three songs in at this point in time. The first disc of this feces-ridden double album continues with a failed attempt of capturing Metallica's sound on a track with the confusing thrashy sections of "Mistress Dread" which is the "best" song on the album and "Iced Honey" which I have pretty no comment on. The first disc closes out with the worst song of the bunch, "Cheat On Me". I thought "The View" and "Pumping Blood" were pretty much unmatched in the pure, unadulterated shit department, let's just say I fucked up. "Cheat On Me" is an 11-minute long tidal wave of shit. After 3 minutes of dull ambiance, Reed comes in and starts whining and repeating the phrase "Why did you cheat on me?". This is pretty much all the happens for the next 8 minutes. The 11-minute duration seems to go on for so long you feel like just watched the entire Lord Of The Rings franchise by the time it's over.

The second disc is just as painful. All of the songs are extremely long, which only adds to the pain of this album. There really isn't much to say except that it's at the same level of shit as the rest of the albm After yet another 11-minute snore/crapfest "Dragon", I threw in the towel. There was only one song left the 19-minute long "Junior Dad", I couldn't bring myself to listen to yet another one of Reed's fucking retarded, perverted old-man ramblings for almost 20 minutes. The first 60+ minutes gave me an enough of idea of how fucking awful this album is. This is the first album in a very, very long time that could not complete listening to. Normally, I will finish an album no matter what, but I just could not do that with Lulu.

Lulu is easily the worst album of 2011 (I listened to the new Emmure this year... didn't think it could be topped in the shit department) and one of the worst album I have ever heard. The idea was bad and the execution was even worse. Lou Reed's various spoken-word ramblings are grating, awful, and just plain cringe-inducing. On top of Reed's awful presence and vision for this album, Metallica doesn't do anything to help this out either. Kirk Hammett is reduced to playing generic, simple riffs and Lars Ulrich's drumming has never sounded worse (the drums on this album sounded like they were recorded in outer fucking space.) Shooting heroin, robbing a bank, sleeping with a hooker, are all better choices than listening to Lulu. I beg everyone to not listen this album. It's such a landmark failure on every level. Both acts should be absolutely ashamed of themselves for releasing this album and expecting their fans to pay for money this garbage.

0/5 Stars

Update

Howdy people. I have been busy studying for a major test on Thursday, so I haven't been writing and I won't be until I'm done taking it. After Thursday, things will get back to normal. Expect a few reviews before the end of the week and a review of the Between The Buried and Me show on Monday. Thanks for reading my blog and stay tuned for more posts later this week!

Chris Maitland

Concert Review: OFWGKTA, Boston, MA, October 21st, 2011

Last night marked the first time in my life that I attended a rap show. Despite primarily being a metalhead, this year I've been to a few non-metal concerts (3 so far, easily the most of any other year in my life.) There were really few acts that could have possibly introduced me to the world of rap concerts than OFWGKTA.

Plain and simple, this was a great fucking show. I could tell from the second I arrived that the energy was going to be off the charts. Syd (Odd Future's DJ for those who don't know) did her 15 minute DJ set. The crow broke into a frenzy when she played "Drop" by Earl Sweatshirt. Soon after, Odd Future came out and gave it 110% with a high-energy, fun set. The whole group had a great stage presence and were completely hilarious between songs. They had a stuffed wizard named Harold on stage that Tyler and Hodgy kept throwing out into the crowd and it eventually just got destroyed (I was near the back of the venue and my shoes were still covered in stuffing from it). Not only that, but the interactions they had with the crowd were priceless. At one point in time, someones shoe got on stage. Tyler was trying to give it back to the kid, but another kid was claiming it was his. Tyler proceeded to yell at the kid about being a liar and asked if his parents beat him as a kid. The setlist was pretty fucking good, aside from the lack of material from Bastard. "Orange Juice" was easily the highlight for me, that song is probably my favorite in the extensive OFWGKTA catalogue. The crowd was decent. A shitload of hipsters and a few assholes (like the fucking kid who kept grabbing me during "Sandwitches" and screaming the lyrics into my ear), but it was fine for the most part. The crowd was going apeshit almost the entire time, but the crowd reached it's peak during "Orange Juice", "French!" and "Yonkers" (obviously). The energy during those songs were beyond explosive. It felt like the floor was going to collapse due to the vast amount of movement. This was my first time at the Royale and it was a pretty good venue. Really, really upscale place that kind of looks like a fancy dungeon. The only downside is that's it's a nightclub and the floor is elevated. I got knocked off the floor about 15-20 times because of the moshing and overall crowd movement. Normally, this would be completely straight with me, but getting knocked off an elevated dancefloor got pretty goddamn annoying after awhile. A metal show at this venue (which is very, very rare and I can see why after going there) must be complete fucking chaos.

Overall, this was a great time. OFWGKTA puts on a damn good performance. Their shows are more like rock/metal in terms of atmosphere and the way they perform, which I think is a really cool way to approach a rap show. Although I don't see myself starting to go to rap shows on a regular basis, OFWGKTA was a great act to pop my rap show cherry with.

OFWGKTA 8.5/10
Setlist (This is my best attempt at remembering it. The order of the songs could be off and it's not a complete setlist).
64
Transylvania
Rolling Papers
Tron Cat
? (first time being played in some time,Domo forgot the lyrics)
?(first time being played in some time,Tyler forgot the lyrics)
Timeless
?
igotagun
Splatter
TANGGOLF
Orange Juice
Seven
Turnt Down
Cool
Yonkers
?
French!
Benediction
Bitch Suck Dick
Double Cheeseburger
Sandwitches
Fuck The Police
Radicals
Earl (outro)

Album Review: Warbringer-Worlds Torn Asunder

The resurgence of thrash metal that past few years has given birth to a good number of quality bands. Although my favorite bands from the new wave of thrash (Revocation and Skeletonwitch) blend thrash and other styles of metal, Warbringer is at the top of the heap when it comes to new straight, old-school thrash. Their new record, Worlds Torn Asunder, adds another fast, ass-kicking record to their arsenal.

Worlds Torn Asunder isn't necessarily anything new for Warbringer, but it's their most focused effort to date. It's faster, heavier, and full of better songwriting. The faster, heavier Warbringer worked wonders for me. Every track is approached with the raw ferocity that we've come to expect from Warbringer, it's just elevated up a few notches.There is even some interesting slow parts on tracks like "Echoes From The Void" and "Demonic Ecstasy" that give the listener a brief and well-placed break from the utter fucking madness of the rest of the record. Vocalist John Kevil sounds better than ever. He has been my personal favorite new thrash vocalist and he sounds even better than usual. New drummer Carlos Cruz rips shit up on drums. He definitely is a more skilled drummer than former drummer Nic Ritter. His drumming gives Warbringer yet another leg up from their previous material and (most) other bands in the new thrash movement.

Worlds Torn Asunder is the most furious, frenzied, and most importantly, best Warbringer album to date. It takes the sound that Warbringer is known for and just improves on it every way. It's refreshing to have a straight-up thrash band in the new thrash genre that doesn't suck hard or has slowed down or sold out over the years. Good old-school straight thrash is hard to come-by these days, but Warbringer delivers the good once again on Worlds Torn Asunder.

4/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.Echoes From The Void
2.Enemies of The State
3.Demonic Ecstasy

Album Review: Five Finger Death Punch-American Capitalist

Five Finger Death Punch is a band that has absolutely exploded in the past few years. With that increase in popularity, has come a decrease in the quality of their music. Not to say I've ever been a big fan of their music, but The Way Of The Fist isn't too bad and War Is The Answer has some decent songs. American Capitalist doesn't really have much to like and is easily their weakest release to date.

The problem with American Capitalist is that Five Finger Death Punch have gotten so full of themselves it's almost sickening. Their faux-tough guy attitude has reached sky-high levels. You can hear their inflated ego in almost all of the album. Not to say that their older material wasn't written with the same attitude, but now it just seems like their entire sound is aimed at meathead UFC fans. The biggest examples of this are in the lead single "Under and Over It" and "The Pride" (which features Ivan Moody rapping...no joke). Pretty much all of the lyrics on American Capitalist are completely laughable. These songs are so filled with cheesy, macho attitude that it's incredibly hilarious that they take themselves so fucking seriously.

American Capitalist is a pretty bad album. There is no denying that Ivan Moody can sing and Jason Hook isn't a bad guitar player, but when the lyrics are this bad and the music is this generic, it's all null and void.This is music for faux-tough guys and UFC bros and pretty much no one else. Five Finger Death Punch has been going downhill and I think they will continue to do so as they get more popular

2/5 Stars

Movie Review: Real Steel (Film Number 24 In My Goal For 2011 Films)

I am going to be completely honest, I did not want to see Real Steel in the least bit. The concept of a robot boxing movie was mind-numbingly stupid to me. I ended up seeing it last night for free (I love having one of my best friends work at a movie theater, it has saved me a TON of money on tickets) out of pure boredom and much to my surprise, it wasn't a bad movie.

Real Steel is a simple and straightforward film, but it managed to entertain me for me two hours. Sometimes that's really all you need in a film and Real Steel is a perfect example of just that. My previous statement about this being Rock'Em Sock Em' Robots meets Rocky reigned true, but it's not even close to as stupid as I expected it to be. It's definitely not without it's corny moments, but I expected this to be an onslaught of full-on dumb throughout and thankfully, it wasn't. What surprised me the most about this film was how well choreographed the action scenes were. It captured the robot boxing atmosphere in a really interesting that made it seem almost exactly like traditional boxing. The camera work during the fight scenes was well done as well. It remained fluid throughout and captured the fights from every possible angle, making them a lot more thrilling for the viewer. Another surprising feat about this film, was the serviceable acting from the entire cast. I was expecting this film to be terribly acted, but everyone involved turn in pretty decent performances.

Real Steel is far from perfect, but it's shockingly a decent film. It's able to provide a light, harmless piece of entertainment that should appeal to a lot of audiences. This is the definition of a crowd-pleaser film, I am sure the masses will like this film a whole hell of a lot more than I did. Real Steel is pretty entertaining and much than better expected and that's good enough for me to give it a mild recommendation.

3/5 Stars

Movie Review: The Adjustment Bureau (Film Number 23 In My Goal For 2011 Films)

The Adjustment Bureau was a film I thought looked horrible. The trailer made the concept look stupid and the film look ridiculous. The Adjustment Bureau is one of the rare occasions where false advertising ended up being for the better. The plot is actually the strong point of the film. It's a highly original concept that ends up working pretty effectively. Sc-Fi/thriller love stories is a genre that doesn't seem like it would work, but this film is able to balance the two without becoming muddled or stupid. The film also benefits from strong performances from both of it's leads. There is an undeniable chemistry between Matt Damon and Emily Blunt. They are a pleasure to watch together and they couldn't have possibly gotten a better pair in those roles. The downside to this film is the third act. It kind of unravels and becomes a little bit annoying. The ending is pretty lame and tops off the flawed third end act in a disappointing fashion. The film is able to overcome it's issues with the ending due to it's strong acting and plot. The Adjustment Bureau was a much stronger film than I anticipated and I am happy to admit I was completely wrong with my judgements prior to watching this film.

3.5/5 Stars

Album Review: Skeletonwitch-Forever Abomination

Ohio blackened thrash outfit Skeletonwitch shot up to my list of favorite bands with their completely fucking awesome second album, 2007's Beyond The Permafrost. Since then Skeletonwitch has continued tearing shit up with amazing consistency. Their newest release, Forever Abomination, continues their hot streak and might even be their strongest release so far.

I have always dubbed Skeletonwitch as "80's Metallica with Satan as a vocalist". While this is still true for the most part, Skeletonwitch has embraced a more melodic sound on Forever Abomination. From the acoustic guitar sections on "This Horrifying Force (The Desire To Kill)" to the melodic black/death metal inspired soloing on "Cleaver Of Souls", Skeletonwitch is able to work melodic influences in with their frenzied thrash attack effortlessly. The new-found melody makes Skeletonwitch sound more refined and varied and makes for some of the best material Skeletonwitch has ever crafted. While there is still plenty of straight-up thrash on this album, I found myself enjoying the melodic tracks (especially the aforementioned "This Horrifying Force" and "Cleaver Of Souls") more than the fast, raging ones. This new style has given guitarist Nate Garnette even more of a chance to shine. He has been one of the best guitarists in metal for a while, but he really stepped his game up on this record. He lays down great riffs and fret-ripping solos like they are going out of style. His brother, vocalist Chance Garnette, still delivers his trademark demonic vocals in top-form. His screams are amongst the most sinister and bad-ass in all of metal. It's a shame he doesn't get more recognition for what he does vocally.

Forever Abomination is a furious and fast yet melodic record. It's the classic Skeletonwitch sound with more of a melodic vibe and it works on every possible level. It takes their sound to new heights and explores a lot of previously uncharted territory for the band. The riffs, vocals, solos, and production are top-notch as always. It's going to take a few more listens, but this record might be better than Beyond The Permafrost. Forever Abomination is yet another gem of a record from Skeletonwitch and will be placing very highly on my year-end list.

4.5/5 Stars
Standout Tracks
1.Cleaver Of Souls
2.This Horrifying Force (The Desire To Kill)
3.Of Ash And Torment

Movie Review: 50/50

Every since I have started watching movies, I have noticed that every year has had at least one film that sticks with you. That you want to watch over and over again and makes a lasting impression on you. Up to this point, 2011 has been lacking that. Don't get we wrong, there has some excellent films released this year (Fast Five, Super 8, Source Code, Moneyball, some others), but none that made a vast impact on me. That all changed, when I saw 50/50. 50/50 is a film that I already want to revisit and plan on revisting many times in the future.

50/50 tells the story of Adam Lerner (Joesph Gordon-Levitt), a young man who is diagnosed with a rare form of spinal cancer. Adam as well as the people in his life react to the news in various ways. Adam's best friend Kyle (Seth Rogen) puts a positive spin on it and reassures him he is going to be ok. His girlfriend, Rachel (Bryce Dallas Howard) doesn't really know how to react and ends up distancing herself from Adam. Adam's mother (Angelica Houston) becomes hysterical and worries Adam is going to die. With all the stress surrounding him, Adam begins to see a therapist (Anna Kendrick). With the therapy sessions and every thing else going on around him, Adam goes through a roller-coaster ride of emotions as he tries to beat cancer.

50/50 is the best film I have the had pleasure of seeing in 2011 so far. It covers the entire spectrum of film flawlessly. The shifts in tone are very impressive. It goes from emotional to hilarious to heartfelt on a whim. I commend Will Reiser's script for being able to pull off this incredibly hard task. This approach was innovative to say the least. No film about cancer has ever been done like this before. I really identified with all of the characters and the level of realism achieved. You can tell that Reiser's first-hand experience with having cancer gave him an insight that most people don't have. He knows what the heartbreak and trauma of cancer feels like. Even with that awful experience, he is able to find humor in it. That is completely remarkable to me.

On top of the excellent script, the cast is fantastic. Joesph-Gordon Levitt nails the role of Adam. He is such an amazing actor and it was great to see him in a film like this. He gives Adam this incredible depth. His character goes through every emotion and he gives it his all with his emotionally-invested performance. Seth Rogen does just as good or better than Joesph Gordon-Levitt. You can tell his experience has Will Reiser's real-life best friend make a big impact on the film. He lived this and that's evident in his performance. Rogen is his typical, hilarious self, but with more of emotional side at times. Angelica Houston and Anna Kendrick also shine in supporting roles. Their characters help Adam along in his recovery process and are a vital part of the film.

50/50 is a must-see. This film has a big heart, big laughs, spectacular acting, and real emotion. This film stuck with me instantly and made a gigantic impact on me. I already want to see it again and I just saw it yesterday. I really can't say enough good things about this film. I really hope it can get some Oscar nominations this year (If it only gets one, please let it be for Will Reiser's screenplay). This is the best film of 2011 so far and I really don't see anything topping it.

4.5/5 Stars 

Movie Review: Scream 4 (Film Number 22 In My Goal For 2011 Films)

It's feel like 1996 all over again. It's been over a decade since the last Scream film came out and 15 years since the iconic original was released. In 2011, Scream 4 successfully manages to bring the Scream formula into a new decade. Even after all these years, these films have not lost their edge. Scream 4 maintains the self-aware, comic tone that the past films in the franchise have had. Sure it's not as innovative of an approach as it was in 1996, but it still makes for a fun and often quite funny film. Scream 4 reminded me of the fun of the original, just updated for current times. The spoofing of remakes was an interesting and funny touch. Horror remakes are the most common remakes and often the worst out of all remakes. I was glad that these films were able to get a good bashing in the typical, satirical Scream fashion. Scream 4 isn't groundbreaking by any means, but it's solid, amusing slasher film that provides two hours of gory fun.

3.5/5 Stars  

Movie Review: The Eagle (Film Number 21 In My Goal For 2011 Films)

I am going to be completely honest, I don't have much to say about The Eagle. I'm completely indifferent on the film as a whole. It's a rarity that a film is this average. I almost want to say it's impressive in the levels of mediocrity it hits. During it's near-two hour runtime, not once did I have any feeling positive or negative towards this film. I kept expecting it become good or bad, it did neither. Normally even average movies have their up's and down's, The Eagle is just completely average all-around throughout the film. When the film was over the only thought I had was "Wow, that was mediocre", The Eagle is one of the most subpar films I've ever seen and I don't see that changing any time soon.

2.5/5 Stars

Movie Review: Season Of The Witch (Film Number 20 In My Goal For 2011 Films)

Well I finally was able to completely finish watching all the films that were released in a given month. Unfortunately, I closed out watching the films released in January with the dud that was Season Of The Witch. Season Of The Witch just proves that Nicolas Cage will be in anything. I will say it's not Cage, Ron Perlman, or any of the actors fault this movies sucks, they did the best they could with the rotten material they were given. Season Of The Witch is a ridiculous, boring, and just flat-out dumb (not in a good way). The whole movie drags along at a snail's pace with stupid event after stupid event occurring. I really don't get how the writers thought this film could be taken seriously with the amount of sheer stupidity running rampant throughout this film. Just when I didn't think it could get any dumber, the ending happened. The ending had me laughing my head off, though I don't think that was the intended point. Season Of The Witch is one of the worst films I have been subjected so far this year. It's a slow, lifeless, and beyond dumb action/fantasy film that probably won't even please fans of the genre.

1.5/5 Stars

Movie Review: Moneyball

I am going to be completely honest, I am a sucker for sports dramas. I don't know what it is specifically about them, but I find myself loving just about every sports drama I see. Even with my slightly bias love for sports dramas, I can safely say that Moneyball is the best sports drama I have seen in years.

Moneyball weaves the tale of Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) during the 2002 season. After the 2001 season, three of the A's biggest players (Jason Giambi, Johnny Damon, and Jason Isringhausen) left for bigger market teams. Beane was struggling for answers with a low payroll and scouts that didn't see the bigger picture of building a championship team. Beane's solution is bringing in Yale graduate Peter Brandt (Jonah Hill) as his assistant general manager. Brandt brought in a unorthodox tatic to sign undervalued players that were overlooked by other teams for cheaper money. The tatic is know as "moneyball". The system had a lot of critics, but the critics were silenced once the approach turned into wins for the A's.

Moneyball is a near-perfect sports film. It's brilliantly acted, written, and directed. Brad Pitt is in top-form as Billy Beane. He makes Beane a multi-dimensional character that the audience really wants to see succeed. Even (normally) comedic actors like Jonah Hill and Chris Pratt do a great job in their respective roles. This was a nice change of pace for both of them and showed off that their acting skills translated to serious roles. The strongest part of Moneyball though is the script. It gets very in-depth to not only the A's season, but Beane's failed playing career and his relationship with his daughter. It was a fascinating approach and really made this film very well-rounded.

Moneyball is a winner. It paints the entire picture of the 2002 Oakland A's with a sense of authenticity while remaining highly entertaining. When it comes to sports drama, this in the top-tier. It's very well-made and acted from all points. Moneyball is a film that I won't be forgetting about at the end of the year and is almost a lock for my year-end top 10.

4.5/5 Stars

October In Film

This October might be a new low. I don't want to see a single film coming out this month! There are a quite a few films that I am unsure of, but not a single one that I want to see. Despite that spoiler, here are my thoughts on this month's crop of new films.

Films I Am Not Sure Of
The Ides Of March (10/7)-Looks to be a pretty standard political thriller. The excellent cast boosts it's potential, but I still don't see this film being anything special.

The Thing(10/14)-The trailer is actually alright looking and considering The Thing has a good reputation this could be pretty good. Only issues are the mediocre cast and unproven writer.

The Three Musketeers(10/21)-Could be a kind of fun action film, but I have feeling like it will end up being mind-numbingly average.

In Time(10/28)-I think this has the most potential out of any October film due to it's pretty cool concept and great cast. The only issue is that with a concept like this it's either going to hit or miss horribly.

Film I Have No Interest In (but am going to see anyways due to my goal to see as many 2011 films as possible)
Real Steel (10/7)- This looks like Rock Em' Sock Em' Robots meets Rocky. Or in other words, this film is probably going to suck massively. The trailer is completely laughable and I am assuming the film will be too.

Dirty Girl(10/7)-I can just tell from the nauseating trailer that I am going to hate this film.

The Big Year (10/14)-How can 3 great comedic actors reduce themselves to a film about bird watching? The PG rating hurts it's chances of being funny even more.

Footloose(10/14)-I was stunned that a brilliant director like Craig Brewer was directing this remake. This has to be one of the stupidest remakes to date. It looks completely awful and looks like they made into a Step Up ripoff with increased melodrama.

Paranormal Activity 3(10/21)-Can they please stop with these movies? They aren't scary, they aren't suspenseful, and most of all, they aren't even close to good. Really not looking forward to seeing this one.

Anonymous(10/28)-I really don't care if Shakespeare was a fraud.

Johnny English Reborn(10/28)-The first one was ok when I was 11, now not so much....