Starring: Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O, Bam Margera, Chris Pontius, Wee Man
Director: Jeff Tremaine
I'm pretty sure that when James Cameron invented his state of the art 3-D technology for Avatar he never imagined that a Na'vi would pee on the audience. Luckily for us, Johnny Knoxville and Co. did. Completing the epic trilogy, Jackass 3-D finally sees Wee Man drop the one ring into Mount Doom, while Bam and Steve-O fight to take down the Empire with the help of the ewoks, lead by Pontius.
Sure Jackass 3-D doesn't feature any of that stuff (it would be even BETTER if it did though), it does feature the crew doing the exact same stuff that you've seen on both the show and the previous two movies. However, the funny thing is that Jackass 3-D is hands down the best use of the 3-D gimmick since Avatar was released. While the amount of "stuff popping out at you" is kept to a minimum, the use of the 3-D cameras makes you feel as if you are actually with Mr. Knoxville watching Steve-O get flung into the air inside of a porta potty. Or watching Bam freak out when he's thrown into a pit of snakes (again).
The entire Jackass franchise is a "love it or hate it" affair for many people, and guess what? I love it. The sheer amount of pain and uncomfort that these guys go through for the sake of both comedy and entertainment is amazing to me, and I always love to see a good prank. If you haven't seen this yet and you're a fan you are seriously missing out on not only a great time at the movies, but also a 3-D experience that is for once worth the $14 admission price.
5 "yeeeaaahhhh dudes" out of 5
Starring: Scoot McNairy, Whitney Able
Director: Gareth Edwards
Writer/director/producer/special effects lead Gareth Edwards' Monsters was a movie I had heard about on both Joblo.com as well as in Empire magazine, and it seemed like it would be right up my alley. Monsters is a smart sci-fi movie that can be viewed in many ways as a companion to last year's District 9, which is one of my all time favorite movies.
The plot of the movie is a typical "voyage home" type of movie, with a very interesting twist. Set in Mexico six years after a mysterious alien invasion, a photojournalist agrees to escort an American woman through the "infected" area in order to reach the US border.
Much like Jaws, one of the movie's strengths is that we don't see the monsters fully until the very end of the movie. Even then they are seen in the dead of night, so we don't get a clear image of them. The only way they can be described is that they are a crab-squid hybrid that communicate through both whale sounds and light patterns. Seeing these creatures in motion is very cool, and the effects are very impressive for this kind of movie. There were times where I would have liked to have had some more action in the movie, but overall I was very impressed, and fans of District 9, Cloverfield, and old school Godzilla movies should definitely check out this film, as I have a feeling that we'll be seeing more from Gareth Edwards.
4 Squidbillies out of 5
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