11/29/11

MOVIE REVIEW: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) (R)

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

WARNING: CONTAINS DISTURBING IMAGERY, VIOLENCE AND PROFANITY.

STORY:
A group of teenager have a sleep-over at their friend Tina while trying to calm her down after her nightmares, but what they don't know is that the monster from their nightmares are following them.

POSITIVE ELEMENTS:
Even though she's terrified of Freddy, Nancy tries to fight Freddy and stop him from killing people from inside their dreams. And the teens go on the trip to the cabin, to try to calm each other after all of them have pretty much the same nightmare.

SPIRITUAL ELEMENTS:
nothing

SEXUAL CONTENT:
Nancy is having a bubble bath, covered up with bubbles so you can't see anything, but Freddy's hand comes up between her legs and pulls her down into the drain. And after Freddy kills Nancy's boyfriend, he calls her and says; "I'm your boyfriend now, Nancy!" and his tongue pops out of the receiver and she throws the phone on the ground and stomps on it. During the trip, Tina and her boyfriend Rod sleep together, and you can hear moaning coming from the room over, but you don't see anything.

VIOLENT CONTENT:
After Tina and Rod finish sleeping together, they're lying together when scratches start happening on Tina's body as she is dragged across the wall and ceiling. In one of her dreams, Nancy sees a figure wrapping Rod's jail cell bedsheets around his neck. And they rush over to stop the figure, but when they finally get there; they're too late and find Rod hung. Nancy has another dream where Freddy slashes her arm, and she wakes up with slashes on her arm bleeding.

We find out that Freddy was originally a child murderer, until Nancy's mother and a group of other parents go and set him on fire. Glen is lying on his bed when his Freddy pulls him down into his bed and launches him out as a gory mass of blood. A dead girl drenched in her own gore and wrapped in a clear plastic body bag shows up in Nancy's dreams. Nancy sets Freddy on fire, but then witness him Krueger smothering Nancy's mother with his flaming body, and disappearing to leave her corpse to sink into the bed.

PROFANITY:
There's about 5-6 uses of f--k, a half-dozen uses of s--t, as well as "b‑‑-h" and "b‑‑---d.

OTHER NEGATIVE ELEMENTS:
Nancy's mother is shown as always smoking cigarettes, and at one point drinking so much that she turns up as drunk. Nancy and her boyfriend have a sleep-over at Tina's without asking for their parent's permission.

CONCLUSION:
This is a very dark movie with loads of stabbings, gore and creepy things going on. But if you love classic horror movies, then you will definitely enjoy this movie. I give it a 2 out of 5 stars.

11/28/11

MOVIE REVIEW: The Muppets (PG)

STORY:
The biggest Muppet fan; Walter, his brother Gary and his girlfriend Mary, go the Muppet Studios and they find out about a diabolical plan. And they convince Kermit decides to get the gang together for one more show.

POSITIVE ELEMENTS:
With the old Muppet Studios in danger, Kermit (encouraged by Walter) decides to try to get the gang back together for one last show—a telethon to raise the money to save the place. But all the other Muppets are all over the world, but since they're a big family and they care about each other. In the end, we're told it doesn't really matter that much whether the old building survives: It's about the people—or rather, the Muppets—and the fact that the crisis brought them back together.

And both brothers, Walter and Gary care deeply about the other, and they've been practically inseparable since birth. Clearly; though, Gary can't be with Walter forever, and both realize that have their own lives to live.

SPIRITUAL ELEMENTS:
When Walter first sets eyes on Kermit, the diminutive frog is bathed in a halo-like light bolstered by what sounds like an angelic chorus. Turns out though, the "angels" are merely a busload of choir members practicing.

SEXUAL CONTENT:
Miss Piggy (of course) gives a shower of kisses to Kermit, and when she sees him for the first time in a while, she flings herself on top of him and both crash on the floor. And there a couple of dancers that show up a few times; with pretty short dresses on.

VIOLENT CONTENT:
There is quite a bit of slapstick in the movie, but none of it is up there with the wackiness from The Muppet Show.

Walter pleads with Gary to throw him over a fence, Gary finally agrees and folds Walter's legs up to make him more aerodynamic. (The folds are accompanied by breaking sounds.) He then hurls him straight into the electrified fence, leaving poor Walter to spark for several moments before falling to the ground a little charred.

One of the Muppets start a huge fight during a self-control class. A celebrity has his head shrunk. A large bear is slightly injured several times in a fencing match. A car runs into an electrical pole. Kermit gets slammed into a door. A head hits a desk. A face hits a TV. Muppets fall down. A man falls off a building (but survives, apparently unhurt) and is smacked in the gut with a bowling ball. Piggy lays down a karate chop on a rival. Gonzo literally blows up his toilet business. A refrigerator full of moldy (talking) food is destroyed.

PROFANITY:
One Muppet (a bad version of Fozzy) says; "What the wocka?!" A group of chickens sing Cee Lo Green's F**k You, but it's sung in gibberish chickenese, so you can't understand it. We hear a use of both "heck" and "butt" as well as a couple misuses of god's name.

OTHER NEGATIVE ELEMENTS:
The Muppets kidnap a celebrity, and at one point Fozzie wears "fart shoes". Characters are invited to sit on toilets during one of Gonzo's business meetings. The Muppets knock on a celebritie's door, and he yells; "I don't have my balls on!" The balls on his motion capture suit that is.

CONCLUSION:
I'm a little biased to review this movie; since I grew up with The Muppet Show. But if you can look past the more odd moments in the film; and if you love the old Muppet movies, you will definitely enjoy this movie. I give it a 5 out of 5 stars.