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…

Like any other venerable, once-popular property, Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes was bound to get a Hollywood redo sooner or later. Since I never much cared for the stuffy, British “Sherlock” films of the past, I welcomed the idea of a more stylized, updated version of the eccentric detective. Despite my usual dislike of the overrated English director, Guy Ritchie (better known as Madonna’s ex-husband), I felt his modern panache would mix well with the Victorian Era mystery genre. While all the right ingredients seemed present, the end result…

The most highly anticipated film of the year, “Avatar” marks director James Cameron’s first feature film since 1997’s “Titanic.” The notoriously meticulous filmmaker has painstakingly prepared this film, utilizing the largest motion picture budget to date. An estimated $300 million went into the making of this science fiction epic which boasts revolutionary 3-D imagery and supposedly “photo-real” special effects. Given Cameron’s exceptional track record for delivering some of the most successful mega-budget blockbusters of all time, “Avatar” has a lot to live up to…

It’s a sad weekend when your best new release choice is another lousy horror remake. I strongly disliked director Rob Zombie’s first “Halloween” remake in execution and in principle. It made a mint, but was so poorly received by critics and fans of the original classic, the indignant Zombie swore to not do a sequel. Two years later he broke that promise with a sequel even poorer than his first. Methinks dollar signs and ego played a part in his decision to beat a dead horse and I sincerely doubt after this stinker, anyone would want to see a third…

Recycling is all the rage these days. In my neighborhood up in the Pacific Northwest, it’s almost a religion. In Michigan it’s actually mandatory – but at 10¢ a can, who’s complaining? Yep, taking a discarded resource and reshaping it into a usable commodity for a fraction of the cost of producing new materials is nothing new. In fact Hollywood has been doing just that for decades…

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…

Just when I think my home state was finally getting some decent movies portraying the state in a positive light (like The Blind Side which releases on Thanksgiving), the goons who thought it was a good idea to remake Straw Dogs decided it should take place in Mississippi instead of England this time.

Cue the inbred, violent, Southern redneck stereotypes…

While cruising the Ain’t It Cool News website, I came across the trailer for a new NZ film starring Sam Neill titled “Under the Mountain.” Supposedly it’s a very famous tale that all Kiwi kids grew up with, but how they heck would I know anything about it? Probably another generic kiddie fantasy like “The Last Mimzy” or something lame like that, but I figured but I checked it out anyway… SHOCK!!! I know this story and it’s pretty freakin’ awesome!…

One of the greatest horror gems of 1988 wasn’t a Freddy or Jason movie. It was a remake. One of the best sci-fi/horror remakes of all time actually, and it rarely gets any love. That’s right, I’m talking about “The Blob.” Pshaw, you say? Who’s afraid of Jell-O? Steve McQueen certainly wasn’t in the original 1958 “Blob.” That’s cuz that kiddie movie didn’t have the amazingly inventive/disgusting kills and the rockin’ 80’s feel of its far superior remake…

Apparently Werner Herzog had a brain aneurism and in his limited faculties suddenly thought remaking this film starring an increasingly looney Nic Cage and setting it in New Orleans to make use of southern stereotypes was a fantastic idea. While it sounded goofy to me, nothing prepared me for the hilarious awfulness that awaited me when I saw this first promo trailer…

Yep, it’s another (sigh) remake. But I actually don’t mind if they update this one since the old 1985 TV miniseries/short-lived series doesn’t hold up well these days. In case you don’t remember, were stil in diapers or sitting around in the guff waiting to be born, “V” begins with a bunch of city-sized spacecraft that appear over every major city in the world (yep, “Independence Day” kinda ripped that part off). Turns out they look exactly like us with the exception of their robot-sounding, metallic voice. Instead of attacking, the aliens announce they are happy to find us and would like to share their technology in exchange for some raw materials such as…

With “Terminator Salvation” coming out this weekend, predictably the studio is ramping up its marketing campaign which incidentally shows more and more of the film (as is the usual M.O.). I’ve read all the rumors about the big twist at the end, which many have spoken out against, but I think is kind of brilliant from the standpoint that the original Terminator mythology still has a few shocks to reveal in its cataclysmic bible. I won’t discuss the twist here (mentioning spoilers is unofficially against my policy), but rather something else that’s bothering me from the trailer…

When I learned of the existence of this franchise reboot, I was fraught with a wide range of emotions. At first I hated the idea of a new “Star Trek” retreading old territory with a new cast. Finally after some outstanding trailers and overwhelmingly positive advanced word, I started getting my hopes up. After viewing it, I have mixed feelings about the end result. While it makes for a terrific summer action flick…

Seriously, before anyone starts claiming that Neill Blomkamp and Producer Peter Jackson have an original idea here, I want the world to know that they don’t. As a fan of the original film “Alien Nation” (a.k.a. “Outer Heat,” “Future Tense”), I’ll find it hard to swallow if Blomkamp doesn’t cite the original material which spawned a popular sci-fi TV show AND five made for TV movies. C’mon, Neill… we know where you got this from…

It’s a shame that people have gotten so down on the “Ju-on” series of films and remakes. Strike that, I mean the first one. Umm… actually I have no idea which one I saw. Believe it or not there are eight films in this franchise. Apparently the first two films were remade in Japan first, then remade again for American audiences (I seemed to have missed one in there, but I digress). My point is that whichever Japanese version I actually saw was one of the scariest movies I’ve ever seen. Flash forward to present day…

I imagine a lot of people are going to get excited about this… A big new international trailer was just released on the nets showing G.I. Joe and Cobra in action. Looks ULTRA CORNY, but very comic book-like and kinetic. Big explosions, lots of impossible tech, Starship Troopers-like mech suits, green ooze that eats metal, black on white ninja action… It’s all here and it shows a LOT more than the previous teaser…

Sometimes a comment hits the nail square on the head and it gets me talking. I wrote an article awhile back about how “Fighting” looks a rip-off or remake of the Jean Claude Van Damme action film “Lionheart.” Imagine my shock when I suddenly got no less than 15 profane and obscene comments from dudes who flat out hate Channing Tatum. None of them were constructive opinions, merely rage-filled ramblings of malcontents. While I didn’t appreciate their inappropriate remarks (I deleted the comments for decency’s sake), I can identify with their anger…

With his “H2″ coming out at the end of August, Zombie looks poised to make some additional enemies and solidify the ones he made two years ago. It’s a nice trailer. Very tense and cut together well. It’s also NOT “Halloween.” Here we have “Hobo with a knife” Michael terrorizing Laurie Strode again, but this time not on Halloween…

YES!!! It’s been confirmed over at Ain’t It Cool News. That awesome-sounding script from the 90’s that Rodriguez wrote about Schwarzenegger’s character getting kidnapped by the Predators and put into some sort of zoo or prison and he has to team up with other alien species to escape… Yeah, I always liked that idea. Now Rodriguez gets another chance with the franchise and this time, it’s really moving forward. He’s saying it’s going to be a “reboot,” but no one knows whether that will include…

This has been out for a bit, but after coming across it again I heard the ghostly voice of Deforest Kelly telling me to post it. I swear I don’t know what Carl Urban is smoking but for the first time in his career, he’s finally impressed me. If this clip is any indication, he’s got Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy nailed better than Kelly himself. I’ll know for sure once I hear him say a “Dammit Jim! I’m a doctor, not a ________!” line. Here’s a clip that shows…

I’m mostly agree with Sebastian’s review on this one, but it did not excite me as much as other efforts like “The Insider” and 70’s political thrillers like “The Conversation.” There were some extremely clever (but sometimes confusing) twists and turns. I didn’t feel that the final twist and resolution made for a completely logical or compelling moment, but I appreciated the level of depth the filmmakers managed to achieve. What “State of Play” does add to the table is some pretty insightful thoughts on issues…