Double Feature Review: Percy Jackson and The Wolfman

For someone who loves genre movies, I tend to average about one a month. This weekend I actually made it out to two films, something I haven't done in quite a while and had a pretty good time at both of them. So for what it's worth here are my opinions of the two films I saw.

On Saturday I saw the The Wolfman with my mother and 16-year-old brother. As a big fan of the original 1941 film, I had pretty high hopes for this movie, and for the most part wasn't disappointed. The actors were all quite good, the settings were dark and spooky and the makeup/CGI effects for the monster were quite good. Knowing the story already there weren't too many surprises, the violence level was a little shocking (it was at about the same level as a zombie movie), and the fact that the main character spends some time in a horrible asylum was a nice twist. Overall it was fun, I don't think I'll buy the DVD, but I had a fun afternoon.

Earlier today I took my 12-year-old daughter and a friend of hers to see Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. The movie was a lot of fun, it was aimed at kids and kept a consistent tone throughout, I liked all of the nods to classic myth and the actors did their jobs well. The effects were spectacular - this was definitely a big-screen movie and it will get added to my DVD shelf when it becomes available. My only complaint was the fact that the movie skipped over a lot of the book - but to be fair the Harry Potter films are guilty of the same crime as well. As an Ancient Greece buff, I had a good time and hope that a sequel will follow someday.

Bookmonkey's top 5 Genre Films to see before Summer 2010

Knowing that I'll be seeing a lot of films this summer (starting with Iron Man 2 in May), I decided that I should try to cut back on the number of genre films I'll see between now and April. The problem is, there are a lot of films I'd like to see in the next couple of months.

Luckily, as a parent, I'll likely end up taking my kids to see Alice in Wonderland as well as Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, so those two can kind of be considered family outings.

5. The Lovely Bones

This one is pretty simple: a) I loved the book, and b) Peter Jackson is directing. The visuals for this movie look pretty amazing and the novel really got to me, so yeah, I'll be seeing this one.

4. The Book of Eli

As anyone who reads my blog is aware, I'm a big lover of post-apocalyptic films. Add to that the fact that it is an original screenplay, and its brought to us by the guys who directed From Hell, and I am definitely on board.

3. Clash of the Titans

All right, I'll admit it. A big part of why I want to see this is the funky trailer which appears to have used a modified version of the song The Bird and the Worm, by the Used as background music. I loved the original version of this film, and am basically looking forward to a fun Saturday afternoon popcorn movie.

2. Hot Tub Time Machine

A comedic Science Fiction film wherein four guys travel back to the '80s in a Hot Tub time machine. This will either be extremely awesome, or extremely stupid. The presence of John Cusack definitely raises the bar for me, and the fact that it's being made by the director of Grosse Point Blank and High Fidelity also deserves notice.

1. The Wolfman

About five years ago my youngest daughter went through a classic monster movie phase, and one of the stand out titles for me was The Wolf Man. A man who is in effect both the good guy and the bad guy in the film seemed very cool to me at the time. In an age where virtually every film is being remade, I can say that I am actually really looking forward to this one.