By Graham "GSM" Matthews Having been a fan of Mick Foley's for several years now, I'll support anything he's involved in. I love his writing style, his credentials in wrestling and his opinion on a lot of things, but most of all, his love for Christmas. As a major "mark" for Christmas myself, I'm a sucker for a good Christmas movie. And yes, even the crappy ones (I'm still contemplating whether I should review "Jingle All the Way 2" at some point). But don't get me wrong! "I Am Santa Claus" was by no means crappy. In fact, it was actually quite great. Foley is excellent at promotion and marketing. He was smart in wearing Santa-themed attire all year round in an attempt to peak interest in his new documentary, "I Am Santa Claus." And it worked. It definitely got me interested in what it was all about, even though I probably would have checked it out anyway. As the release date of the documentary grew closer, I saw Foley doing more and more interviews advertising it, calling it "a movie that will make you cry" and completely exaggerating its emotion. I can't say it was the emotional thing I've ever seen, but Foley was right: there definitely were parts of the movie that made me "feel" inside, and I'm sure you'd feel the same way if you saw it. By Graham "GSM" Matthews This was one of the first wrestling documentaries I ever got. I received it as a Christmas gift in 2009 despite never being a fan of his (but my brother was, so that's probably why). It's not that I hated Hardy, I was just never a fan of his during his WWE tenure. The three-disc DVD set was released in late 2009, mere months removed from Hardy's departure from the company. I wasted no time in watching it and remember thoroughly enjoying it. I also remember WWE hyping it all over their weekly programming, including at that year's Slammy Awards by his old rival CM Punk. He'd show up on TNA TV a little less than a month later, and out of nowhere, they stopped promoting him. Whoops! I've watched the DVD a handful of times over the last five years, but it was just recently I watched it again with a fresh set of eyes. As a disclaimer, let me say that it is nothing like what the WWE documentaries are today. Remember, this was released in 2009, long before they started going in-depth with their documentaries (look at CM Punk's, Chris Jericho's and Edge's as examples). That's not to say Jeff Hardy's documentary was bad, but it certainly wasn't among the best ones I've seen. Now, let's go into a bit more detail. By Graham "GSM" Matthews For me, there are only two times during the course of the year that require movie marathons: Halloween and Christmas. I've spent the entire month of October watching all kinds of classic Halloween horror flicks, from "Friday the 13th" to "Nightmare on Elm Street", but my movie marathon wouldn't be complete without "Halloweentown." Growing up on Disney Channel, "Halloweentown" was the one movie I looked forward to watching every October along with "The Phantom of the Megaplex," "Hocus Pocus," and "My Mom's Dating a Vampire." Remember, this was long before the days of DVR, so if you missed it, that was it! My mother would allow me to stay up past my bedtime just to watch the end of "Halloweentown" even if I had already seen it a million times over. If you didn't grow up on Disney Channel, then you'll probably watch this movie and cringe. Was it the best produced film? No. Did it win any awards? No. But it's a cult classic for the sole reason of it bringing back memories of people's childhood. It clocks in at about an hour and 20 minutes, so if you're one of those people who's always busy and doesn't have time to sit down and watch a movie more often than not (like me), this won't take much time out of your schedule. And if enjoyed watching this movie as a kid as much as I did, it's well worth it! By Graham "GSM" Matthews If it wasn't already apparent from my review of "Guardians of the Galaxy", I am by no means an avid comic book reader, so please keep that in mind while reading the following. Rather, I'm big fan of the Marvel movies, or the "Marvel Cinematic Universe" as it's been known to be called in recent years. I will not be making any comparisons between the movie and the comics since I know nothing about the latter, so don't expect any expertise in this review regarding the background of the characters (aside from the prior installment). Writing simply as a "casual viewer" so to speak, I'll be discussing my overall enjoyment of the film and why you, too, should give a watch. As is the case with any sequel, the most common question I'm asked whenever I rave about "Captain America: The Winter Solider" is, "Don't I have to watch the first film beforehand?" Technically, yes, but it isn't mandatory. You may not get some of the swerves/references that are made in the second film if you don't watch the predecessor, so to enhance your viewing experience of the sequel, I'd recommend watching the inaugural installment of the franchise first. Keep in mind, however, that the second one is far more entertaining and isn't as cut and dry. More often than not, the first film is better than the second, but that wasn't the case with Captain America, or at least in my opinion. By Graham "GSM" Matthews Please keep in mind before reading this that I am no "hardcore" comic book fan, or a comic book an at all for that matter. I am merely one of those people who only know of superheroes such as Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and others from the Marvel movies. I'm a fan of the movies, but not the comics (kind of like Harry Potter and the books, right?). That said, I didn't have the slightest clue what the Guardians of the Galaxy movie was going to be about when I first heard about it earlier this year, and I'm certain I wasn't the only one who felt that way. I believe the sole reason I heard about it in the first place was because of Dave Bautista's (aka WWE's Batista) involvement. More often than not, I'll watch a movie just because it stars a wrestler I know of, even if it's complete crap. I'm more inclined to see the film if said wrestler is among my favorites. I've been a fan of Batista dating back to 2009, so I punched my ticket (no pun intended) to see Guardians of the Galaxy long before most people knew what it would be about. As the release date of August 1 came closer, I heard more and more people talk about on various outlets how the movie was going to "bomb". Even though, it was a Marvel film, which almost always perform well, a lot of people didn't think the movie would find much success because it'd be an overproduced flop. Heck, even my manager at work (I work at a local movie theater) thought Guardians of the Galaxy wouldn't fare well. She knows movies like the back of her hand, so that's when I grew weary of the film's success. I'm one of those people that'll be disappointed if people, especially my peers, don't like something that I want to see do well. I grew nervous about the pending premiere date, but I didn't let others' opinions of the film alter my excitement for it. |
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