COOP COOPER is an independently syndicated film critic with a split personality. His “Southern Side” prints mainstream reviews that appear in various print publications across the mid-south. His “Dark Side” from Los Angeles befouls the site with reviews of horror and grindhouse flicks. Welcome to the site where COOP’s two halves (and his contributors) review and debate the latest film/DVD releases…

Tis’ the season to see folly.

It never fails. Every year about this time movie studios all along the San Andreas are clamoring to unload their homogenized, “release delayed”, unscreened, should’a-gone-straight-to-DVD dreck onto a movie going public so starved for any semblance of post-tryptophanian entertainment that it doesn’t seem to mind plopping down ten bucks a pop for the cinematic equivalent of a Zippy the Pinhead comic. B-movie sequels, RomCom bomb-athons and shameless hyperfad exploitationals clog our collective movie-going consciousness, leaving us longing for the unrivaled artistry and emotive tour de force of “Dracula vs. Billy the Kid”…

“Up in the Air” first received a limited release in November to overwhelming critical acclaim. Soon after, it racked up multiple award nominations, including 6 potential Golden Globes. On Christmas Day it released wide to audiences with very little advertising or fanfare, but after finally getting an opportunity to see this film, I can confirm the hype is grossly understated.

Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) lives out of a suitcase 322 days out of the year. He travels around the country firing people for a living and…

“Zombieland” is an R-rated “Ghostbusters” for the new millennium. This crowd-pleasing film has won over jaded audiences and critics from coast to coast, taking most of its inspiration from a source I did not anticipate… blockbuster comedies from the 1980’s. It has elements that put it in the same category as “Vacation” and “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” resurrecting a tone and atmosphere I thought was long gone from the films of today. For this reason, I’m giving it my highest recommendation, not only to horror fans, but to those who miss the heyday of actors like Chevy Chase and Bill Murray.

Set months after the destruction of the world, neurotic college student Columbus (Jessie Eisenberg) has survived the zombie apocalypse by following his own set of obsessive/compulsive rules…

I didn’t laugh until about 40 minutes into this artsy, awkwardly-styled independent film. There, if that didn’t scare you off, then you might enjoy this light and quirky story by Steven Soderbergh. You won’t be rolling in the aisles, but if you can wait for the tension to build, the laughs will come. It’s too bad Soderbergh couldn’t kick the humor off to an early start because a less patient audience would either fall asleep or walk out…

(NOTE: I’m delaying the next installment of HAIR METAL MOVIE MADNESS #11 for another week. Partially due to this week’s technical difficulties but also so I can save up some of the good horror ones for the month of October. Plus, this news was too juicy and I had to jump on it ASAP…)

My love for Boondock Saints (5 out of 5 stars!) has no bounds. Which is why with a heavy heart I still feel that a sequel should’ve never been made. Why? Because writer/director Troy Duffy didn’t deserve one. For those of you unfamiliar with the story, Saints involve a pair of illegal immigrant Irish twins, the McManus brothers (Sean Patrick Flannery and Norman Reedus) who get in a scrap with some local Russian mobsters in a Boston slum. After killing the mobsters in self defense, the brothers simultaneously get a divine vision instructing them to…

Possibly the first “smutty” movie I ever saw, Reform School Girls (1986) is not a movie to be taken seriously. At all. I didn’t understand that when I first saw it. I thought all R-rated movies were serious and therefore this was serious. I figured reform schools were evil places filled with bad, naked women… something that scared yet intrigued me. Kinda made me feel like “bad girls” new secrets and things that normal people weren’t supposed to know about. Mystery and danger.

Thus started my obsession of…

Ever since I saw the first trailer for MYSTERY TEAM, it’s been high on my must-see list. The idea of three Scooby-Doo, Hardy Boys wannabes still acting like their 10 while in high-school is funny enough, but throw them in to real-world crime and adult situations and you have a recipe for genius. For Comic-Con the “Derrick Comedy” group put together a short film titled “The Case of the Haunted Hotel” and it’s got some perfectly hilarious moments where innocence meets extremely uncomfortable situations…

First and foremost, “Funny People” is not a comedy so don’t let the ad campaign fool you. It’s actually a drama about comedians. Judd Apatow has crossed the border from his usual raucous and raunchy laugh-fests into more sincere territory. With an all-star cast including Adam Sandler, Seth Rogan, Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman, Eric Bana, Leslie Mann and Aziz Ansari; audiences will no doubt find plenty to laugh at, but…

I’ve always hated Scooby Doo. Even when I was a kid I watched it and I just didn’t get it. Four nitwits and a talking dog against corrupt real estate scam artists (but no real monsters) really bugged the hell out of me. When the Venture Bros. made fun of Scooby Doo by turning the characters into deranged, over the hill degenerates, I couldn’t have been more amused. It appears the creators behind Mystery Team aim to accomplish a similar feat by taking a Hardy Boys-like team of youthful sleuths, letting them grow into adulthood and having them take on a adult-level caper with all of the vile, lurid elements that go along with real-life crime.

Got the heads up on this one from the fellas over at C.H.U.D.

This is nuttier than a fruitcake or a burlap sack full of squirrels.

Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong have entertained us with their pot-fueled antics since 1978’s “Up in Smoke.” It’s hard to believe the two have kept their schtick (and their liver/brains) alive since then. Now they’ve done something I’m not sure what to make of…

Yesterday a female friend of mine asked me if I’d seen the Jennifer’s Body trailer yet. I said, sure I have… I keep up with those things you know. She then asked why I hadn’t posted anything about it on the website. I responded that I didn’t find it particularly interesting.

Her jaw hit the floor.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with the project, it involves Megan Fox as a shallow high school cheerleader named Jennifer who somehow becomes possessed…

For shame, I never saw “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure” in the theater. I ended up seeing it on VHS at summer camp after all the other campers endorsed it with one word… “Awesome.” At the time, “awesome” was a step above “radical,” “gnarly” and “wicked.” When that counselor with the creepy lazy eye put that tape in, I knew I was in for something special. One Large Marge and an Amazing Larry later, I knew I was destined to see this one again and again…

This movie came out in 2003. I think we all missed it because it went direct to DVD with zero publicity and as you can guess, there’s a good reason why. It’s a wannabe politically correct comedy disguised as an very un-PC comedy that comes across as so mean-spirited that it fails both comedically and dramatically. Wow. Trainwreck doesn’t even begin to describe this fascinating oddity of a film…

Both of these deserve your intense scrutiny. They involve real-life controversial (anti-heroes, if you will) figures who set out to impact the world and did so in their unique way. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they sure are interesting:

Here’s a no-brainer concept. A party-animal teacher (Bradley Cooper) and a henpecked dentist (Ed Helms) take their soon-to-be-married buddy (Justin Bartha) on a bachelor party romp for one night in Vegas with the bride’s weird brother (Zack Galifianakis) in tow. After a round of Jägermeister shots, the group blacks out. They awaken to find their villa trashed, a Bengal tiger in the bathroom, a crying baby in the closet and the bridegroom missing. With the wedding in Los Angeles fast approaching, the trio must…

I declare this one a must-see. Some dude named Joe Nicolosi apparently asked an air-headed friend (girlfriend, maybe) Amanda to explain the original “Star Wars” trilogy even though she has NEVER SEEN any of the films. Correction: She’s seen bits and pieces and knows the characters’ names, but Joe tapes the entire explanation and adds animation for comedic effect. The result: A hilarious work of genius…

“Paul Blart: Mall Cop.” Did you see it? I didn’t. Looked insulting, idiotic and – dare I say – stupid. Kevin James doesn’t amuse me in the slightest and I couldn’t imagine anyone liking it… but by May of 2009 it had made $145 million domestically. It scored a mere 33% on RottenTomatoes.com (meaning only 33% of movie critics gave it a positive review)! How could this happen? Let me explain…

I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this one, but know that it’s not just for kids. “Up” strikes exactly the right balance between kid-friendly and adult-friendly. It manages to entertain on all levels and it does it all in 3-D. I was amazed how it could wrench at your heart one minute, then get you laughing again in the next. I might even go so far as to say…

Jake West, director of the comedic almost goodgore film “Evil Aliens” has a new horror film releasing June 12 (supposedly only the in UK) called “Doghouse.” The synopsis: Six friends, all going through various stages of female problems, get together for a booze-filled weekend retreat. They pick the wrong town to look for a party. Instead of willing women, they get a town full of…

Here lies Sam Raimi’s worst horror movie ever. Now that I’ve said that, would you believe I recommend this one to both horror fans and mainstream audiences alike? The master of kinetic filmmaking raised the bar pretty high with his “Evil Dead” trilogy (which includes “Army of Darkness” in case you didn’t know). While I’m pleased as Halloween-party punch Raimi has decided to go back to horror after a long stint with the “Spider-Man” movies, I would’ve preferred…