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…

(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…

Just saw the documentary This Film is Not Yet Rated (3 out of 5 stars) about how how the Motion Picture Association of America has one of the most powerful, secretive and arbitrarily unchecked bureaucratic systems in the U.S. When you can hand down a rating for a movie (G, PG, PG-13, R, NC-17) and not have to give a reason, nor reveal who made the decision, you’ve got an abuse of power there, sir! While I usually don’t have too many qualms with their system – because frankly…

Finally we get to see what David Lynch has been up to since the bafflingly boring “Inland Empire.” Despite the failure of “Empire” (I’m gonna play naïve and blame it all on his going ape with a digital camera that he wasn’t used to working with), most of his films are considered…

I’m notoriously down on documentaries. They’re usually preachy, partisan and have an agenda that rubs me the wrong way. Then there’s “Love the Beast.” I had no idea Eric Bana was obsessed with cars to a point where he had kept his 25 year-old Ford GT Falcon Coupe in pristine working condition since the day he bought it new. If you’re never heard of this car then you must be an American. They never released the Falcon over in the states. However, it is the car used in the first two “Mad Max” films and…

Most pro-Christian films usually only get an audience of the most devout within the religion. Even with celebrities like Kirk Cameron championing the cause, very few quality Christian productions make it to the mass audiences. I remember as a kid being encouraged by the faculty at our (churched-based) elementary school to go see a film titled “Joni” (1980) in the theaters. It was a Christian inspirational story about a real-life woman (Joni Eareckson) who learned to paint with her mouth after becoming a parapalegic. I remember seeing it a couple of times, but it didn’t distract me much from my “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” kick. Flash forward to 2009: A Christian film has finally caught my attention with a terrific trailer. “The Cross” is a documentary about…

I came for a rock show… I ended up reviewing a movie.
The local Clarksdale, Mississippi newspaper said some guy named Dex Romweber, a 80’s rockabilly and alternative icon was going to play on St. Patrick’s Day evening at 7:30 at the old, Delta/Tyson single-screen movie theater downtown.
“Say wha?” I said.
The seats [...]

I’m very happy to hear this. I saw “Anvil!” back in June 2008 and thus ensued one of the most fun movie-going experiences I’ve ever had (go here to read my ANVIL! review). Like a documentary/mini-concert hybrid, the film tells the story of a band who influenced 99% of the heavy metal and thrash bands [...]

I hate documentaries. They have an agenda, they’re preachy and too damn… based in reality. Can’t a man go to the cinema anymore and watch aliens blast the hell out of New York only to have Snake Plissken kick their butts and send them cryin’ back home to mama? (Damn, somebody make that movie and [...]