The Zachtastic Movie Blog

So as you all know, I am a Mormon, so I have made a personal effort to not watch R-rated films in the theater. However, it's a different case at home. This is so because I have a Clearplay DVD player which is run by a service that allows one to filter any content they want, so technically I could make an R-rated film on the same level as a PG-13 release. Typically I don't filter out violence and drug content, but otherwise language and sexuality is cut out. Instead of a full review like I write for new releases in theaters, these will just be mini reviews consisting of one or two paragraphs. This is so because the general opinion of critics and audiences have already been set in stone, so I am just going to throw in my own quick opinion on new R-rated releases on DVD. Without further ado, here is my fourth Clearplay Review, in which I will talk about The Place Beyond the Pines ! Ever since I heard the buzz about this film that came out of the 2012 Toronto Intern...

Biopics have not done so well this year - although Lee Daniels’ The Butler has made a significant amount of money at the box office, it had only a modest critical reception while Jobs has been an utter failure on all accounts. This is why I turn to The Grandmaster in high hopes, first and foremost because of the prestigious talent involved - Wong Kar-Wai, the esteemed Chinese filmmaker behind Chungking Express and In the Mood for Love , is the writer and director here. Not only that, this film chronicles the life story of Ip Man - the kung fu grandmaster who trained Bruce Lee - so this film represents a stark myriad of the biopic and martial arts genres. In that sense, can The Grandmaster excel where other biopics have fallen short this year? It is the early 1930s, and the threat of invasion from the Japanese Empire is looming over China. At this time, Gong Yutian ( Wang Qingxiang) - the martial arts grandmaster from the North - has announced that he has retired from h...

In light of me getting my mission call this past Sunday , I thought that now is the appropriate for me to divulge on a certain topic that may interest all of you fine folks - my top 5 favorite Mormon films. Yes, I have seen a fair number of them; what I mean by Mormon cinema though is that a film may not just be a story prominently about the lives of members, but characters whose lifestyles may reflect those of our faith or they were simply made by LDS filmmakers. For the sake of how large their filmographies are though, I have decided to exclude animated films made by LDS filmmakers, which include the great Don Bluth ( The Land Before Time , An American Tail and Anastasia ) and Richard Rich ( The Fox and the Hound ) who is also well-known for the multiple animated scripture and historical figures short film series from Nest Entertainment. Anyway, so here are my picks, starting with this one that you might be familiar with: #5 - Napoleon Dynamite (2004) A film th...

So, this post is going to be a departure from what I normally write on here because some things just need to be talked about if they are important enough. And this certainly is. ...I have been called to serve a mission!!!! After a few weeks of anxiously waiting following the submission of my mission paperwork, it arrived on Saturday, September 7, 2013. I was working at the time, though, so I did not know it had come in the mail until I got home at 5 that afternoon. However, once I saw it resting against my pillow, I lifted my hands up in the air and shouted “whoo-hoo!!” If you need better clarification as to what I looked like, the picture below should help. I decided to wait another day to open my call though so that I would have the opportunity to let as many people as possible that I would be opening it. That day was already pretty great considering that I received the Melchizedek Priesthood that morning after stake conference; I was very humbled and happy to fina...

So as you all know, I am a Mormon, so I have made a personal effort to not watch R-rated films in the theater. However, it's a different case at home. This is so because I have a Clearplay DVD player which is run by a service that allows one to filter any content they want, so technically I could make an R-rated film on the same level as a PG-13 release. Typically I don't filter out violence and drug content, but otherwise language and sexuality is cut out. Instead of a full review like I write for new releases in theaters, these will just be mini reviews consisting of one or two paragraphs. This is so because the general opinion of critics and audiences have already been set in stone, so I am just going to throw in my own quick opinion on new R-rated releases on DVD. Without further ado, here is my second Clearplay Review, in which I will talk about Silver Linings Playbook ! Yes, I know that this is a review for a 2012 release; however, the way I see it is that...

So as you all know, I am a Mormon, so I have made a personal effort to not watch R-rated films in the theater. However, it's a different case at home. This is so because I have a Clearplay DVD player which is run by a service that allows one to filter any content they want, so technically I could make an R-rated film on the same level as a PG-13 release. Typically I don't filter out violence and drug content, but otherwise language and sexual content is cut out. This is my second Clearplay review after having written about Stoker , Korean director Park Chan-wook’s English language debut. Instead of a full review like I write for new releases in theaters, these will just be mini reviews consisting of one or two paragraphs. This is so because the general opinion of critics and audiences have already been set in stone, so I am just going to throw in my own quick opinion on new R-rated releases on DVD. Without further ado, here is my second Clearplay Review, in which I will ...