Movie Review--Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day

****Warning: This review contains spoilers.****

Ok, so after months of waiting, actually more like agonizing, to see this movie I finally, FINALLY, got the privilege of seeing it today. And let me just say...Holy. Shit.

This movie, well it was a lot better than I was expecting. Not that I thought it'd be bad in any way shape or form, but I was hearing a lot of mixed reviews from people who supposedly "loved" the first one. But I usually take those reviews with a grain of salt. The only thing I was worried about with BDS2 was that it wouldn't live up to the hype that came with being the sequel to one of the greatest cult-classics in history. And to say I was pleasantly surprised was an understatement.

The movie starts off with...Rocco! Yes, David Della Rocco, in da flesh! He just kinda does this cool little walking around the empty streets of Boston while a voice over plays of him talking about, well basically what the Saints are all about.

Cut to Ireland, where we find the brothers MacManus in a situation reminiscent of Brokeback Mountain...NOT like that you sickos (they would never actually SHOW that on camera *cough*)! I'm just saying they're watching sheep, in a valley, on horseback. Oh and they look like a couple of homeless guys. Obviously, the point is, they're living a new life now. Until they get word that a priest was murdered back in Boston at the hands of Yakavetta. A new one. Obviously. And just like that...BAM! Cue the badass music and Conner and Murphy are back in business MothaFuckers!!!

And of course what would a Boondock movie be without the three stooges themselves: Detectives Dolly, Duffy and last but certainly not least, Greenly. This new Saint "copy-cat" has stirred up some shit, ripped the skeletons right out of their closets. And they're fucking scared. Especially now that Special Agent Eunice Bloom is on the case.

We find out that she was Smecker's protégé, and she is just like him. I was a little worried when I found out that a chick was stepping into the man's world of Boondock. That she was just basically going to be replacement for Smecker...or even worse. A love interest.

But replacement she was not and love interest she was definitely not. Well, unless you count Greenly desperately wanting to get in her pants. But I really couldn't blame him, 'cause well, it's Greenly. Not to mention, Agent Bloom was a total badass.

So, while Greenly and the gang have conniptions about possibly getting found out, we join Conner and Murphy on a boat on their way to the states. There they meet their new sidekick, Romeo. Who's kind of stupid, but also pretty badass.

And, I just need to say this, Murphy tattooing Conner... while they talk about what they should've done with their hair for a disguise. Murphy suggests they dye their hair and Conner giggles. And then Murphy says he'd dye his hair blond, and Conner calls him a gay surfer dude, and just omg it's amazing.

But that's enough squee about that. So, they get to the States and they want to send Yakavetta a "Hey we're here!" message, so they kill some of his Asian drug runners. Now, he AND the Boston police know they're here.

Then the brothers and Romeo pay a visit to good 'ole Doc down at McGinty's and they get shit-faced. And it's good times. Then at one point, Conn and Murph go visit Rocco, laugh about how they used his mug shot. Kill some more people. Meet Eunice, figure out she's on their side and that she has no intention of turning the detectives in (she's just making 'em sweat a little).

Conner and Murphy are reunited with Dolly, Greenly and Duffy, and they help take down Yakavetta. And that's when shit starts to hit the fan.

During the investigation, some other Suit comes in an tells Eunice that she's off the case, and that's no good 'cause this guy is NOT on the Saints' side. And to make matters worse, Yakavetta was just a pawn, and that there's someone bigger behind this. Codename: The Old Man. Or the Roman. Or something. All you need to know that he was the one who got ll Duce doing what he was doing. He's also the one that sold him out and landed him behind bars for 25 to life.

So of course, our boys need to do something about it.

So how does it end? Greenly and Da are dead. Conner, Murphy, Romeo are in prison and people are outraged saying that they should "Free the Saints". Eunice goes into hiding only to find out that Smecker hasn't faked his own death and now plan to break them out.

And, to pass the time until then, Conner and Murphy have plans of their own. Not to escape, but to kill every last one of the scumbags that reside in Hoag Maximum Security Prison.

Any questions? No? Good. Now, I'm going to move on to critiquing the film. Mostly from a technical aspect but there were some other issues I had as well. Nothing major though.

Ok, so the mobsters this time around, I don't know. I wasn't really feeling the new Yakavetta and his gang. Well, most of his gang. Also, I loved Eunice, but Julie Benz wasn't very constant with the southern accent of the character. Sometimes it would be too thick, and other times it was normal. So that's really just the actress's fault. But I think she did a fabulous job other wise.

One of the biggest complaints I saw was that it didn't really FEEL like Boondock Saints. Which, I have to agree with that in some ways. The lighting was weird in this movie, and it sort of took away the gritty, raw, feel that the original Boondock had. Also, the pacing felt a little rushed in some places, and a lot of things seemed like they were happening quicker than they should have.

Also, the film seemed to jump around at times and the editing of some scenes looked a little, uhm, thrown together? I don't know if that was what Troy Duffy was going for or not, I think some of the editing choices didn't really read well.

But enough of that bad stuff. Because it really was an awesome movie that had my attention the entire time. However, it seemed to be a little more light hearted than the original, especially in the beginning. My favorite scene though had to be the dream sequence towards the end, which reunited Rocco, Conner and Murphy and the awesome opening song from Boondock 1. And Greenly! He was there too! It was just...beyond epic.

Another thing I loved was that All Saints Day incorporated quite a bit of the soundtrack from the original. Not so much in the beginning though, which is why I think a lot of people said that it didn't feel like a Boondock movie. Something was definitely off at the start, though I couldn't put my finger on it until I heard those familiar tunes from the first one. Then I was like YES! Now it's Boondock Saints!

And, I guess the only thing that's left to say is this: BRING ON BOONDOCK SAINTS 3!!!

Oh and, as always, Catch you on the flip side ;)

~Allie

My Top 10....Favorite Movies of ALL Time.

Because I am bored and currently have nothing else to do, I've decided now would be as good a time as any to start my "Top 10" series. And obviously I'm going to start things off with my favorite movies. This list has been a long time coming. I always say 'Oh this movie is in my top 10 fer shure!' but I've always wanted to know...is it really? So basically this is what I came up with. The list goes from 10 to 1, with 10 being my "least" favorite and 1 being my "most" favorite. How I decided which films would make the list is basically I went through my favorite movies on my facebook and asked myself which 10 out of how ever many are on there do I never say no to watching? And then I picked the order from there. I'll also include a brief list of Honorable Mentions at the end, because I really didn't want to leave any out, but having like a 6-way tie for number 10 would have just been excessive. So, without any further adieu...

#10:

The Emperor's New Groove

Yes. I'm very well aware that this is a kids movie but do I care? Obviously not if it made my Top 10. The reason why it's on here is because no matter how old I get, I will always laugh at this movie. Also, when I was younger and I first rented this movie, I literally watched it like 2-3 times a day until we had to return it (Oh the good ole' days of Blockbuster...) and every time they played it on Disney channel, I'd be watching it as well. Then I finally decided to ask for it for Christmas, like 3 years ago. To me it's just a fun movie that's kind of off the beaten path from all the other Disney movies. It's also a very quotable movie, which to me is important, cuz I love sticking random movie quotes in normal conversation. But then again, who doesn't?

#9

The Wedding Singer

I first saw this movie not too long ago (I'd say maybe 3 years ago...) but I fell in love with it instantly. It's a romantic comedy but they manage to not make it cheesy which I can appreciate because that's the reason why I hate most Rom-Coms. Again, another hilarious movie with great music ("Somebody Kill Me" and "Grow Old With You"? Can you say classics?). You can't not have a smile on your face when you're watching this movie.

#8

The Patriot

As soon as I saw this movie in my 11th grade US History class, I was hooked. I know there's a lot of criticisms about how it basically turned the American Revolution into a melodrama, but I don't really care. Historically accurate or not, it's a great movie. I know my previous 2 picks were comedies, but I'd take a blood and guts war movie over a Rom-Com any day. Also, Heath Ledger is sexy (may he RIP *tear*). And I've always loved colonial times and history, so there ya go.

#7

Troy

Ok so, sexy men with slashy undertones? This is my kind of movie. Also, blood and guts and war has something to do with it too. Again, this is another instance where my love of this movie involved watching it every day for a period of time. But that eventually had to stop because this movie is just ridiculously long. And yes I know this movie deviates from the Trojan myth, but again, I don't care. It's a well made film and the way they went about making it (I've watched the bonus feature multiple times) is amazing. Or maybe I'm just a dork when it comes to that kind of stuff. *shrug*

#6

Anchorman

One of the funniest movies off all time, in my opinion. Also one of the most quotable. I do have to say though, I didn't love it the first time I saw it. But after the second time I watched, it was a lot funnier than I remembered. And, like I said, this movie is quoted by everyone, so if you haven't seen it, you should deff get on that. Unless you don't like keeping up with pop culture.

#5

The Departed

No matter how many times you watch this movie, it never gets old. And the cast, omg. It should be illegal to have that many awesome and sexy people in one movie. While this is a film that you kind of have to see more than once to really get the full effect, you definitely won't be disappointed after you watch it the first time. Also, I'm a sucker for any movie that has people with accents and Irish overtones.

#4

National Treasure

Slash and conspiracy theories. Two things that I can't get enough of. And when they're in the same movie, forget it. Damn near perfection. Action, humor, mystery and of course, slashy subtext, this movie has it all. The only thing I don't like about it is Abigail, which is a shame because she was a pretty cool character until they had to go and be all cliche and pair her with Ben. But then again, this is a Disney movie, so cliche is to be expected. And Riley's so adorable that it's pretty easy to get past the cheesy elements. And it also helps that in the second movie Ben and Abigail are broken up throughout most of it. Plus, the fanfictions in this fandom are pretty strong as well.

#3

Star Trek:2009

Sexy men, super cool special effects, space (the final frontier) and slash. All the ingredients for a great movie, and Star Trek does not disappoint. Now, going into this movie, I knew little about the Trek universe. Basically I knew Spock, Kirk, and Scotty and not to wear red or else you will die. But even though I knew the bare minimum, that didn't stop me from throughly enjoying this movie. And then in that long long wait for it to come out on DVD, I acquainted myself with TOS and all it's wonder, before watching the movie twice online and once at a movie night at my school. This is the type of movie that the more times you watch it, the better and better it gets. Not to mention the hilarious gag reel and awesome DVD commentary. Again the only flawed thing about this movie was pairing Uhura, a female character that was totally badass, with Spock, a move that I think was very out of character for both of them. Luckily though, true Trekkies can tell the they have Zero chemistry. And hopefully they avoid the romance factor in the sequel. Unless of course it's Kirk/Spock. ;)

#2

Die Hard

So, Die Hard's probably a little mad at me right now because up until about a month ago, it was the undisputed leader of my favorite movies (and then two sexy Irish twins with guns came along...). It has all the makings of a perfect movie, action, humor, suspense...everywhere you look. I was literally on the edge of my seat, yelling at the TV for almost the entire movie. And Hans Gruber is definitely one of the best movie villains of all time, and without a doubt the best out of all four Die Hard movies. And Bruce Willis in the 80s? Sexy!!!

And now for #1:

The Boondock Saints

I don't think there are words on this planet to describe how perfect this movie is. And when I say that it's basically my obsession, you don't even know the half of it. The characters are perfect, a normally over done premise is done in a completely new and original way and uhm sexy Irish brothers that may or may not be doing it anyone? If you don't like this movie, either you didn't watch it with your undivided attention or the concept just completely went over your head. And yes, I've heard that the director Troy Duffy's an asshole, but I really don't give a shit. He made an amazing movie with a shitty budget and limited filming time. Not to mention it was blacklisted from being shown in theaters and yet STILL managed to gain cult status. And, like I said, I am obsessed. I've read the script, I've watched the deleted scenes and the gag reel and the actual movie more times than any healthy person should. The soundtrack is on my ipod as well as the prayer and the court room speech at the end....both of which I am proud to say I have memorized. I don't even know why I love it so much, but I do, and that's never going to change.

And last but not least:

Honorable Mentions: I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, Night at the Museum 1&2, Brokeback Mountain, Office Space, Batman Begins, Blades of Glory, Over the Hedge, Hercules.

Catch you on the Flip Side!!!

~Allie

Things I Hate About Slash---Part 1

I bet you were a little confused when you saw the title of this post. Well, here's my explanation for it: Slash isn't perfect. In fact it's far from it, just like everything else in the world. Now, don't get me wrong, I've come across some pretty flawless fics in my time, and in some fandoms finding one may be harder than others, but it's not impossible. Every fandom has fics that are basically perfection, you just have to be prepared to weed through a lot different fics to get to it. It's an exhausting process and on the quest to find the perfect fic you'll come across stories that actually aren't that bad, in fact some are pretty damn good. But with the pretty damn good and halfway decent comes the fics that were better off staying in the author's head. And, unfortunately, those fics are a lot more common than they should be.

Now, there are a lot of factors that could make a fic, well, bad for lack of a better word. Maybe the idea was good but the author fell short of the hype that idea entailed. Or maybe the author just didn't have a good enough grasp of the characters. Really, the list is endless, but you get the idea.

So, in this "Things I Hate About Slash" series, I will be highlighting some of the most common things from the aforementioned endless list. Now, bear in mind that most of this is based on my own (and a few others) personal preferences and opinions. But then again, this is a blog so I'm allowed to give my own opinion because, hello, I'm writing it. So, if you're not comfortable with that (the basic idea of blogging, basically), well you can go back to refreshing your Facebook page every 2 and half minutes.

With that out of the way, let us begin.

Pet Names and Nicknames: When they work and When they just fail.

When you write slash, more likely than not you're writing about a couple. Or a potential couple or whatever. And everybody who's ever been in a relationship knows that cheesy little pet names come with the territory, that's just how life is. However, fanfiction kind of defies laws of real life, so even if the characters are a couple in a long established relationship, pet names just tend to make things a little too cheesy.

But then again it all depends on how you use them and the pairing etc. As a general rule of thumb, here are some pet names that you should try to avoid using in slash fics:

Baby/babe(unless during sex)

Sweetie/Sweetheart

Darling

Dear

Hunny/Hun

Love (This one's a grey area. It can be sexy if used sparingly, and it also depends on the pairing. And if one of the guys are British or Australian)

These are just some of the basics. And the reason I say you should avoid them is they have a tendency to make the characters sound a little too gay. The problem with that is, usually the characters you're portraying in your fics aren't that gay. Most people would argue that they're not even gay at all. So it really just comes down to an in character/out of character issue.

Now on to nicknames. I don't have as much of a problem with nicknames as I do with petnames, but only if the characters actually use nicknames a lot in canon. Let me explain what I mean...

Take Jack and Daniel from the show Stargate SG-1. There are fics out there where Jack will refer to Daniel as "Danny" the entire time. Now, yes, Jack does call Daniel "Danny" maybe twice throughout the entire series, but I wouldn't consider that part of canon. Same goes for Dannyboy and Spacemonkey. Jack doesn't use it enough in the real series, so it wouldn't make sense for him to use it a lot in the fic.

But if you look at something like Lost on the other hand and the pairing of Jack and Sawyer, nicknames would be ok, because Sawyer uses them multiple times in the series. In fact, he rarely ever calls Jack by his real name.

This is also acceptable in RPS (real person slash) cases. Examples would be, Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus. Sean calls Norm "Normy" so that would be ok to put in a fic. Or Michael Johns calling David Cook "Dave" or "Davey" or "Cookie" (also if Dave calls Mike "Mikey") because it actually happened in real life.

RPS though is a whole different can of worms than regular fanfiction because now you're writing about real people as apposed to characters so the lines are a bit blurrier.

Like I said before, this is based on my personal preferences when it all comes down to it. So, if I insulted you in any way, my bad. I'm just trying to do my part to make the slash world a better place.

Catch You on the Flip Side!

~Allie

Things I Would Do if Fiction Were Real

(Because being impromptu is kinda fun. 'Specially when you got nothing else to do.)

1) Join the Air Force and work at the SGC.

2) Join Star Fleet.

3) Own a Zat Gun, a Hand Device and a Staff Weapon and have them on my person at all times.

4) Ghost Powers. I would so have ghost powers.

5) Go on missions with SG-Awesome.

6) Have Daniel teach me all the languages he knows.

7) Go shopping and clubbing with Vala.

8) Conner and Murphy MacManus would be my best friends. With benefits of course.

9) Solve cases with Neal and Peter. Or maybe just con people with Neal and Mozzie, cuz I have the perfect outfit for that.

10) Have a house on the planet in Space Race because that place is so freakin' cool.

11) Go to a hockey game with Jack and Teal'c.

12) Adopt baby Spock cuz he's so adorable!

13) Visit the Lair...even though I'm not a male or a vampire. I don't care.

14) Have Ba'al give me rides in his mothership.

15) Hijack Prometheus and use it for my own purposes.

16) Watch the science channel with Sam.

17) Watch Die Hard with Teal'c and Cam.

18) Marry Major Davis, cuz well he doesn't really have a choice. If he's real, he's mine. And so is all his cool swag.

19) Hang out with Shawn and Gus, like, all the time.

20) Tell the Asgard to fix my laptop. Cuz it's all their fault.

21) Throw a party, and invite everyone.

22) Go on a road trip with Sam, Vala, MSD, Cam, Jack, Daniel, Teal'c and Jonas.

23) Have Dr. Frasier and Bones have a competition to see who is in fact the better doctor.

24) Go to the tournaments in Camelot with Arthur and Lancelot and Leon and Merlin.

25)Not write fanfiction because, well, I wouldn't have to. I'd be living it.

26) Video tape JxD doing it. (And various others. They know who they are. *pointed glare*)

27) Go to Applebees with the gang!

I'll probably add to this as I see fit aka when I'm bored.

Fanfiction: A few things you should know...

Fanfiction is probably one of the most important aspects of the Slash community seeing as Canon doesn't give us a lot of what we want to see in the show or movie or book etc. Sure, it gives us the pairing and a decent amount of innuendos and other various situations to work with, but as Slashers, it's our job to take what's given to us and expand on it by writing what we think shoulda, coulda, woulda happened.

However, there are certain rules and regulations when it comes to slash, or any fanfiction rather. Even though what it all comes down to is basically the pet peeves of all the people reading. And different fandoms have different preferences. That's just how it goes, so it's your job to kinda scout out the lay of the land before you go diving into a certain fandom.

But, all that aside, here are some general rules that I (and a few others) think all fanfic writers, newbies and veterans alike, should take care to follow. And, they're not so much rules and they are guidelines, but I just figured I should put them out there anyway.

1)Try to Only Write for Fandoms that You Know like the Back of your Hand. That way, you know the characters and you know the story. Writing for something you've only seen once can be cause for a lot of "Out of Character"(OOC) moments, which is probably the most irritating thing in the world. Since you're basically playing in someone else's sandbox with someone else's creations, it's important that you get everything right. I'm not saying you have to be perfect on your first fic, because hello no one is. Get a Beta reader or read how other writers in the fandom portray and write the characters in their stories first. And if after that you're still unsure, post the fic anyway and ask for constructive criticism. People will be more than happy to lend you a hand at improving your writing.

2) Know Your Limits. When it comes to fanfiction, it's important to know yourself as a writer too. Understand what you can and can't pull off in a fic, like a sex scene for example. Because, no one wants to read a poorly executed erotic moment. If you know you can't write two men doing it and doing it convincingly, then sometimes it's best to just steer clear and write what you know you can pull off.

The same thing goes for different fandoms as well. For example, I know I could never pull of writing a convincing Star Trek fic or even a Merlin one, so I don't write them. Simple as that. I'm not saying you shouldn't try, but if after you've read some fics and you're still not convinced you can pull it off, sometimes it's best to know when to say no.

3) Have a Strong Summary. I can't stress how much a well written summary matters in the fic world. You want to keep it concise and to the point and, while not giving away too much, giving the reader an idea of what your fic is going to entail. A summary that reads like "Ok, so I suck at summaries, but this is a really good story anyway and you should just read it" is one that you should try to avoid. I know personally that if I see a story with a summary like that, i skip right over it. Because, if you can't write a convincing summary for this so called "amazing" fic, how am I supposed to buy into the fact that you're a good writer?

Also, take care to put the pairing in the summary as well. Or at least if it's going to be Het or Slash or Gen or whatever. I can't tell you how many times I've been reading a fic I thought was slash and then turned out to be het. I was not a happy camper. Tricking your readers is not the way to establish a good fan base for your writing.

4) PROOF READ. Please!!! Or get someone to do it for you. Typos ruin the mood of a story. Like I said before, it doesn't have to be perfect and some typos such as "our" instead of "out" can usually be glossed right over, but if you all of a sudden decide you want to write in third person, instead of first person, please make sure you've replace all the "I's" and remnants of that former POV before you publish. Otherwise, your readers will think you wrote it hopped up on crack.

5) Format. Make sure you have breaks in between paragraphs and dialog, not just skipping to the next line but actually hitting "Enter" so there's space between different lines of dialog and paragraphs. It makes it a lot easier to read.

Ok, well, I think I covered everything I wanted to in this segment. I'll go into more detail on a few of these issues at a later date in my "Things I Hate About Slash" series.

Writing and reading fanfiction should be an enjoyable experience to all, so please don't ruin it by being an inconsiderate douchebag. Lol I'm kidding. (Sorta)

Catch you on the flip side!!!

~Allie