You may remember Joe Kirkish from the Lode, from the gazette, or from the Michigan Tech Department of Humanities. Now he's on the alumni Web page with his no-pulled-punches movie reviews. Email Joe at joek@mtu.edu.
2009 Movie Reviews
Paranormal Activity (B-)
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Michael Jackson's This is It Movie Review (A-)
(Rated PG for some provocative action): Despite all the hype over the pop star's life & death, this was my first exposure to his routines - and what an amazing reaction it was!
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SAW VI (F)
(R for profanity, sequences of grisly, bloody violence & torture): Don't expect me to review this pornographic series that for some perverted reason continues to satisfy a particular audience. I'm not that perverse or masochistic.
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CIRQUE DU FREAK: THE VAMPIRE'S ASSISTANT (C+)
(PG-13 for some profanity, disturbing images, scenes of intense supernatural violence & action): After an exceptionally clever opening animated sequence with introductory credits (Have you noticed, by the way, that Hollywood has finally realized that the lengthy, detailed credits at the end play to an empty house, so now they've finally returned to the old idea of presenting the most important ones before the film begins?), we find ourselves at a burial, with our hero's voice narrating, "That's me - in the coffin." The story backs up as we meet him, 14-year-old Darren (Chris Massoglia), a nice family kid who favors spiders and who is controlled by a less than nice buddy, Steve (Josh Hutcherson) who happens to freak out over vampire legends.
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Astro Boy (B+)
(PG for mild profanity, some perilous action): What a delightful film for both children and adults, another animation that rises head & shoulders above the dismal live fare. Summit Entertainment matches successes with DreamWorks' MONSTERS & ALIENS, Pixar's UP & others of their remarkable ilk. One reason: they must adhere to scripted dialog, while the other films permit plenty of improv - and you know thef-in' sh-tty limitations that f-in' arise there, like, um, f- y'know?
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