Movie of the Week: Jack Frost

   

 

    Movie of the Week (12/22/13-12/28/13): Christmas is pretty much here already so lets have a movie to watch this week about Christmas. We all wish we could make things better with somebody or our family members. But, most of the time that thought doesn't cross our minds until the most cheerful season comes around. That is what happens in this film, except something terrible happens when a child's father dies in a car crash and then a year later he gets a second chance when he comes back as a snowman. He then gets a second chance at being the father he should have been. This is Jack Frost.
    Michael Keaton plays Jack Frost, yes that's his real name, as a man with a family, but also loves his life as a musician. It is this where he must do things which makes him keep breaking his promises and not being with his family, mainly his son. From the short time he is actually on the screen, and not voicing the snowman, he does a pretty good job, although it is not his best performance. But, the fact that he signed on last minute probably had something to do with it. Kelly Preston plays Gabby, his wife, and we get a decent performance for her as well. Joseph Cross plays Charlie, his son, who he comes back to spend time with, and the majority of the time we get a good to mediocre performance from him, but he does his job when it counts. Mark Addy, from Game of Thrones, plays Mac, a close friend of the Frost family and is there to help Charlie through the ordeal from time to time.
    The story here is pretty clear as is the message which we pick up on pretty quick, which also comes up clearly in the end as well. So, the story is fairly basic, but that doesn't mean it won't be good to watch at times. Although we get several cheesy moments throughout, there is still enough seriousness floating around to make you keep watching, and yes even with a talking snowman. That being said the effects were pretty decent on the snowman, but you can also tell that they used a lot of the money on the snowman because a couple other scenes where effects were needed were a little dull. Also, at times at the family home you can clearly tell that they are in a studio just by looking in the background.
    Again, this is not a big time movie and does not have a great story that will blow your socks off, but it has a meaningful story. And that aspect, along with the family friendly atmosphere, is what kept this movie from being a total wreck. Now, we get a good performance from Michael Keaton, good visuals on the snowman, and we get a good mix of comedy and seriousness because by the end of the movie we get a serious scene that might make you shed a tear of two. This is a good family movie that you can sit down and enjoy, it gives a good message, and has a feel good feeling to go along with it. But, its lack of direction, great story telling, and acting by some of the younger actors hurts it in the end. Nevertheless, Merry Christmas!
2/4 Stars 

Movie of the Week: The Wild Bunch

   

 

    Movie of the Week (12/15/13-12/21/13): Well, it's time to pull an oldie again, but not just any oldie, an oldie from my favorite genre in film. The western genre is probably the oldest of all genres and its heyday lasted a good forty years. There were so many westerns made between 1930 and 1970 that it is impossible to count them all. However, that is a good thing because there were so many different stories to be told that many of them were original stories and turned into classics. This film here is a classic but not as big of a classic as some others, but that was because it was apart of the groundbreaking graphic westerns in the late 1960's. This is The Wild Bunch.
    The title tells you that this could be a graphic story and from the opening sequence that proves to be true. It opens with a prolonged bank robbery by the main characters and from there on it is one fun ride. The film follows a group of older outlaws who want to do one last job before the officially retire. Once they escape the bloody shootout a bounty hunter is on to them and then they run into more trouble as one of them is captured. As the time around them is changing and the west is no longer wild, it is now 1913, they stick with their old habits in a new era and attempt one last rescue mission of their captured friend. The film then ends as it began, in a bloody and gory shootout that you must see to believe.

     The film has a great cast and the best being the late great Ernest Borgnine as Dutch along with William Holden as Pike, Robert Ryan as Deke, Edmond O'Brien as Freddie, Warren Oates as Lyle Gorch, Jaime Sanchez as Angel, and Ben Johnson as Tector Gorch. This cast is really fantastic and one to forever remember and unfortunately all of them have now passed. But, at the time this came out in 1969, they were all at the top of their game. They all deliver us great and heart pounding performances and as the movie goes it they only get better. By the end they become a wild bunch that we come to love but ultimately know their demise just by watching their actions throughout and it is a group of performances to remember.
     The very first thing that we notice about this film, because it is use so much and so well, is the editing. From the opening violent sequence the editing essentially becomes a character on its own because it adds so much to the shootouts. The editing is intense during specific scenes and helps shows multiple things at once, which is quite cool and impressive to see considering the time this came out. We also have great writing here, the screenplay is written very well because it digs us deeper into each character as the movie goes on, we learn more about each character, some through flashbacks, which is why we end up liking each one.
    We also have great direction as Sam Peckinpah adds to his resume of graphic films. He is known for his graphic and bloody films, especially during a time where that had just not come around yet. He was pushing the limits and changing film with this graphic picture as he does a fantastic job yet again. You can tell that each and every scene has his personal touch. Along with his touch is a haunting score that drives the film further. This is not just a violent western as the reign of that genre came to end, it is about a group of older, out of date per se, outlaws who continue to stick with their old ways as times change and the Wild West came to an end. From opening to close we are given a great story with an even better cast along with some fantastic gory shootouts that helped changed film and turn it into what we know it as today.
3.5/4 Stars.

Movie of the Week: Running Scared

   

 

    Movie of the Week (12/8/13-12/14/13): Hey, gang! I know I am very late this week, but the heavy snow and ice this past weekend caused us to have no Internet for a few days. But, I'm back now bringing you all the movie of the week, which I know you were anxiously waiting for! This week we are going to steer away from the Christmas movies. As all of you know we lost Paul Walker about a week and half ago, so young at that, and I thought we could honor his memory this week by watching a movie in which was underrated and a movie where he gave us his best and most powerful performance. That movie is Running Scared.
    This 2006 film was not very well known by the national audience upon its release into theaters, it wasn't until it reached home video that it gained popularity. But, once it did more and more people began raving about Paul's performance. The film focuses on a thug who, after a drug deal gone wrong, is suppose to get rid of the gun used to kill a dirty cop in the drug deal. But, things take a drastic turn when his neighbor's kid finds and takes it to shoot his abusive father. The gun then takes a trip through the night ending up in the wrong hands as Joey, Paul Walker, races to find it before everything goes terribly wrong. He runs into several events throughout the night and by the end of the movie he reveals a big secret.

Paul Walker displaying his talent in a scene of rage. 

    As I said, the film stars the late Paul Walker as Joey Gazelle who is a low time thug trying to make a living, or so we think. Walker delivers us the best performance of his career and it is a powerful one, one that probably should have had Oscar consideration. As things get worse in the film he gets better and better, this film is driven by him and the amount of talent he showed in this film showed us what he was really capable of. The supporting cast is pretty good here too, although there are not too many well known actors. We have Chazz Palminteri as a corrupt cop, Vera Farmiga as Joey's wife, Cameron Bright as Oleg, the kid who took the gun, Alex Neuberger as Joey's and Teresa's son, Johnny Messner as a young mob thug, Michael Cudlitz as another mobster thug, and Bruce Altman and Elizabeth Mitchell as Dez and Edele respectively as a frightening couple that we come across in the film's events.
    The other really good thing to say about this film is that it was written very well. It is an interesting story that takes place all in one night and the scenes where written very well, even if some of them are disturbing. It was written by the director, Wayne Kramer, who is virtually unknown but did a very good job at directing this dark movie. There are several scenes that are frightening, not scary, to watch because they were written and directed so well. One scene in particular, which is the best in the film, is the scene at the hockey rink, towards the end, it is so well written, directed, acted, and edited that it gave me chills when I watched it. Kramer is not a well known director but he did a great job with this picture.
    The film also has good editing, but at times the editing is a little to extreme, it seems they got slap happy with it every now and then and I think that was a weakness in the film. With the film taking place at night and in not very well lit places it can be hard to see sometimes, but the majority of the time you can tell what it going on perfectly and that made the film have great cinematography and lighting at times when it needed it, for example, the hockey rink scene. Overall this is a well written and powerfully acted film with a few hiccups every now and then. But, this film is graphic at times and that means the violence, language, and sexual content. It is so graphic in fact that the director thought it would get an NC-17 rating when he submitted it, but it got an R rating, nevertheless he was disappointed that it did not. This is a very good film because the late Paul Walker put everything he had into this film and it will be one of his to remember for years to come. Rest easy Paul.
3/4 Stars

Movie of the Week: Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas

   

 

    Movie of the Week (12/1/13-12/7/13): Well, December is finally here and the Christmas season is upon us and I'm sure most of you reading this already have your Christmas trees up. But, you best keep an eye on your trees along with all of your decorations unless you want some green thing to take them away. That's right, lets kick off Christmas this year with a movie adapted from the classic children's book. This is one of my favorite Christmas movies to watch this time of year because it brings a smile to my face and makes me laugh. This is Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
    This film is quite simple to follow, it doesn't have any special plot points to it until the very end and it was adapted well. It is about a fantasy land inside a snowflake that houses Whos who love the Christmas season, some might say too much. But, nevertheless they make an interesting story about one of them who hates the season of Christmas and is set on stopping it from coming by stealing all of their decorations and gifts. That person is called The Grinch.
    That Grinch character is played by non other than Jim Carrey, it's almost hard to tell that that's him under all that makeup, but it is. Jim Carrey does such a great job in this film that you can't tell it's him because of how he changes his voice and once he does that he literally is The Grinch.  He gives us such a funny performance that I laughed out loud several times throughout the movie. Without Carrey in this role I can't imagine who else could had done it and it certainly wouldn't have been the good movie it is without him. The film has a decent supporting cast with Taylor Momsen as Cindy Lou Who, Jeffery Tambor as Mayor Augustus Maywho, Christine Baranski as Martha May Whovier, Molly Shannon as Betty Lou Who, and Clint Howard as Whobris. The supporting cast here is decent not great, but The Grinch runs the show in this film, even though they give us funny performances overall.
    Now, there are two things that really make this movie stand out much further than others from when it came out and even today. Those two things are makeup and set design. The makeup on all of the characters is absolutely phenomenal. Every actor does not look like themselves as they are covered in special makeup to look like Whos. The Grinch's make and costume took hours to put on, put it was worth it as it won the Oscar for Makeup. The sets were also beautifully crafted as they helped bring to life a new place of oddly shaped houses, landscape, cars, and many other items that brought Whoville to the screen. Another great aspect of the film that got nominated for an Oscar.
    We also have very good costume designs in this film as very creative minds give each character distinguished clothing, also nominated for an Oscar. The films director, Ron Howard, also did a very good job as he gave us a very colorful and family friendly comedy, with some crude humor every now and then, that has a heartwarming premise by the film's end. Even though it's not his best work, it is one to remember for the holidays. From start to finish you will be amazed at how the film looks, how the beautiful sets look, how well crafted the makeup is, and how perfect the character costumes are. Not to mention a lot of laughs and the catchy score and great theme song.
3/4 Stars

Movie of the Week: The Kennedys

   

 

    Movie of the Week (11/24/13-11/30/13): As the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination comes to a close we end it on a nicer note with a very good miniseries. This was suppose to come on the History channel back in 2011, but it got turned away because of how controversial it was. The Kennedy family didn't like it because it was accurate to history and showed some of the bad doing in the Kennedy family dating back to the 1920's. Imagine that, History Channel not showing something that is accurate! So, Reelz Channel picked it up and aired it for all of us to see. This is The Kennedys.
    This week we step away from the assassination and the conspiracies around it, this week we have a biography. But, this is not a biography of JFK it is a biography of his whole family. It opens on election eve of 1960 and then from there it goes forward and backward by ways of flashbacks. But, every flashback is triggered by something that happens in the present. So, the flashbacks work great in this long movie. The flashbacks span several decades and goes into great detail about the lives of the Kennedy family and we find ourselves questioning the acts of the family several times, yet we still like them.
    I think one of the main reasons we do continue to like them is because of the cast. The cast here is absolutely wonderful, I can't really think of any other actors that would have been better for the roles. First we have Greg Kinnear as John F. Kennedy, although you will hear him being called Jack a lot through out the miniseries. But, Kinnear does a great job at becoming Kennedy and his development from his younger years to 1963 is great, but his accent does slip in and out and several times. But, that is not enough to detour us. Next, we have Barry Pepper as Robert F. Kennedy, who is really the best in the miniseries, he fits Robert perfectly with how he researched the role and how he moved and talked like him. You will think that Robert is on screen and not Barry.
    The next best actor in this series is Tom Wilkinson who plays the father of the Kennedys, Joe Kennedy Sr. And he too gives us a power house performance as the character's urge to win office seemed to drive Wilkinson to make this role his own. Another truly wonderful performance here. The last main character that the show focuses on is Jackie Kennedy, who is played by Katie Holmes. Now, Katie isn't the best actress out there, but in this particular role she actually does a great job. Not only does she look like Jackie she did a good job at becoming her and making us believe we were watching Jackie. The rest of the supporting cast is almost unknown, but they also are fantastic in their characters.
    What makes this miniseries great is the writing. As I said the show drives on flashbacks that are keyed by some kind of event that has happened in the present. Because they did that the pacing is not hurt at all, in fact it helps it. We have great writing here that leads into each scene with perfect flow. Along with that the editing is great because of the flow and the flashbacks. The writing helped it but the editing is still top notch here and adds to the story. As does the cinematography, depending on the time period a scene takes place, it looks different to add to the feel of the time. The twenties look darker than the fifties and sixties. It helps with the feel of the series which gives it a more realistic feel.
    One thing that is rare about a miniseries is a director directing the whole thing all the way through, I think it only happened one other time, maybe, with Tom Hooper directing all of the miniseries John Adams. But, Jon Cassar directed this whole miniseries and does a great job. He took on a large task with this and brought to life critical events in America's history with great drama, from integration to the Cuban Missile Crises and all the mini-crises that the Kennedys go through. A fantastic job by a mostly unknown T.V. director.
    We also have great costumes here with each and every piece being recreated from history, from Jackie Kennedys popular dresses, to JFK's good looking suits and his hidden brace that he secretly wore, to even Marilyn Monroe's short appearance dresses that she could barely walk in. A good and accurate to history design team for the costumes. Set designs were also right on the money since they recreated several historical places from the Kennedys lifetime. The Oval office looks perfect and just like it was in the early 1960's down to the smallest detail on JFK's desk. The bringing back to life of the Kennedys home and the 1920's was also very well done.
    Now, this miniseries is no Band of Brothers or John Adams, but it is a good one because of the cast and good drama that we get. It has eight episodes that are each about forty five minutes long, so you can easily watch the entire miniseries in a week. But, remember this is biography of one of the riches families in American history and tells you things that most people might not want to know about one of our greatest presidents. The secret lives of the Kennedys are brought out in this miniseries in very good detail and adds to the drama. This is a good biography with good writing, great acting, and great direction that makes for great entertainment.
3.5/4 Stars.

Movie of the Week: JFK

   

 

    Movie of the Week (11/16/13-11/23/13): This coming Friday is the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. So, this week I'd figure I would pick my favorite movie about the assassination and the conspiracies surrounding it. This is the movie that should have won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1992 and among the other awards it was nominated for. This is a movie that brought in all of the conspiracies in one film and made for a wonderful drama that is one of the most controversial movies of all time. This is JFK.
    Even though it is called JFK the movie doesn't not follow Kennedy, in fact it takes place three to five years after the assassination. It follows the District Attorney of New Orleans, Jim Garrison, as he and his crew investigate the Warren Report, interview witnesses, and interview other suspicious men around the New Orleans area that they believe had something to do with Oswald. They fear that a much larger conspiracy was part of the assassination than what the government had told the American people. They finally go to trial to try and prove that Lee Harvey Oswald did not act alone in the shooting.
    This is a very large movie and with that we have a very large cast. Kevin Costner plays Jim Garrison and gives us one of his best performances because emotions take over several times. Gary Oldman plays Lee Harvey Oswald who also gives us a fantastic character performance because he literally becomes Oswald. Joe Pesci plays David Ferrie as a man who is associated with the communist regime and who is scared for his life. Tommy Lee Jones plays Clay Shaw in a fantastic Oscar nominated performance, who is believed to be at the head of the conspiracy. Kevin Bacon plays Willie O'Keefe, a witness to Shaw, Oswald, and Ferrie. And Sissy Spacek plays Liz Garrison, Jim's wife. There is also Jay O. Sanders, Ed Asner, Jack Lemmon, Brian Doyle-Murray, Wayne Knight, Michael Rooker, Laurie Metcalf, Gary Grubbs, Walter Matthau, John Candy, Dale Dye, and Donald Sutherland in one of the best supporting cast in a film.
    One thing that stands out the most about this film, after the cast, is the editing. The editing in this film has to one of the best ever. The film opens with a seven minute archival montage of footage describing what Kennedy had been through in his presidency before ending with a mix of archival and actual movie footage about a women screaming about how somebody is going to kill Kennedy. Then the assassination takes place. The editing doesn't end there as the film is full of flashbacks as very long monologues describe what is going on. Most of the flashback footage is in black and white. One scene about two hours into the movie, which is my favorite scene, features a man named Mr. X explaining to Garrison what the Government did before, during, and after the assassination. That scene is beautifully edited as is the last scene of the movie which is a moving, yet long, monologue by Costner.
    Oliver Stone is the mind behind this beautifully made film, he directed it, which is probably his best job, and he also wrote it. The screenplay is absolutely phenomenal, the scenes were written perfectly and the dialogues were written perfectly. I've already mentioned the two monologues that are probably the best on film. Stone researched this film from top to bottom hiring several historians to read books, watch film, and study pictures on how the conspiracies came about. Using all those resources, true or not, he brought it all into one fantastic screenplay that should have won an Oscar. Stone also read about twenty books himself to contribute to the script. This is one of the best writing jobs I've ever seen.
    Not only is this film written perfectly, it also looks beautiful. The cinematography is also among the best in film because of how they made certain parts look like archival footage in the flashbacks and how it looks in the recreation of the assassination. It was just beautifully mixed into this epic picture. One final thing that completes this film is the haunting, exciting, and moving score. John Williams did a wonderful job and gave this film the perfect score that gives it an eerie feeling and then turns into a moving score. This is the perfect score.
    If you are into all the conspiracies about the JFK assassination and you haven't seen this film then you must see this film! Even if it is not true, it will make you think and sweat all at once and you will love it. At the same time this film is set in 1966-1968 and is based on information that they knew back then, so some of it might be wrong now, but that doesn't mean that you can't sit and enjoy this controversial drama. When you watch it, watch the Director's Cut, it is about twenty minutes longer and clocks in at 3 hours and 25 minutes, but trust me, it is worth it! This is a film that raised eyebrows in 1991 and still does today.
4/4 Stars

Enjoy the trailer below!

Movie of the Week: Parkland

 

 

    Movie of the Week (11/10/13-11/16/13): As I'm sure most of you all know we are approaching the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. So, expect a lot of posts in the next few weeks of movies, shows, and even a book or two about him and the assassination. Since I'm a history buff this is a very interesting subject and event in American history to me because it has been told over and over again. The assassination has been looked at and investigated who knows how many times and there have been books written about it and films made about it, both documentaries and Hollywood films. You also know that there have been several conspiracy theories built up around it, but this film here does not focus on any of those, this film focuses what happened after the assassination in Dallas, Texas. This is Parkland.
    This film came out just a couple months ago in a limited release run in theaters because it was produced by the private studio, The American Film Company. They are still a new film company that produces historically accurate films with there first being The Conspirator, which focused on the Lincoln assassination. Parkland is the studio's second film. This film focuses on what happened after the assassination on its main focus is on Parkland Memorial Hospital, which was where Kennedy was taken after he was shot. It does not center around one or two characters it centers around several characters from the doctors who tried to save Kennedy, the secret service, the FBI, Abraham Zapruder, and the Oswald family.
    This film has a very good cast and all of who do a really good job at their parts because they all researched their characters very well. We have Paul Giamatti as Abraham Zapruder, Zac Efron as Dr. Charles Carrico, Marcia Gay Harden as Nurse Doris Nelson, Ron Livingston as James Hosty, James Badge Dale as Robert Oswald, Billy Bob Thornton as Forrest Sorrels, Tom Welling as the controversial Secret Service Agent Roy Kellerman, Colin Hanks as Dr. Malcolm Perry, Jackie Earle Haley as Father Oscar Huber, and Jackie Weaver as Marguerite Oswald. The cast is really great here, we have veteran actors and younger actors working together. Two that stand out are Paul Giamatti and Billy Bob Thornton, who both do a fantastic job, despite how many other actors they are with, whenever they are on screen, they own it. We have a very good cast and performances here.
    This film was written and directed by first time director Peter Landesman, although he adapted the screenplay from Vincent Bugliosi's book. His direction is very good by giving it a very realistic, intense, and at times frightening look. His writing is okay, but at times it was a little bland, and by that I mean I felt like there could have been some more details to the characters themselves. However we do get very good and authentic details about what went on in the trauma room, Air Force One, and how they were able to look at the Zapruder film. That was really the only complaint I had about the film, there needed to be a more detail to some of the characters to add to the movie. They could have done that because the movie is only 93 minutes long.
    The film is also intense and keeps you on the edge at times, we can thank the actors for that especially Billy Bob Thornton in a couple scenes that you can't miss. This is also an authentic film when it comes to the costumes and props, they fit the time period perfectly and look great. What also looks great is the cinematography, the film looks great and was filmed very well and it really is beautiful to look at because it brings 1963 back to life very well. One final thing is the editing; this is a fast paced film at times and the editing adds to that as it brings intensity, but it is not the best.
    I did like this film and liked that it didn't bring up any of the conspiracy theories, that's for next week, it just focused on what people went through on that terrible day. The actions of everybody are not explained, just shown, and that makes the film more believable. The only problem I had was that it was too short and too bland at times. But, if you like history and enjoy a good drama with a great cast, you should give this film a watch, you might like it! There is more to come in the next couple weeks on films and books about JFK, but for now enjoy this film this week!
3/4 Stars.

Enjoy the trailer below!

Movie of the Week: Happy Gilmore

   

 

    Movie of the Week (11/3/13-11/9/13): I know I am way late this week, but I have been pretty busy with some other stuff. But, last week was Halloween and everybody got their scare on so why don't we take it back a notch this week. Lets lighten the mood with a comedy this week and not just any comedy, but a very popular comedy for my generation. This movie is one of Adam Sandler's better movies, but that's not saying much now, and it is a funny one! This is Happy Gilmore.
    Now, the movie doesn't have much of a plot, but then again many Adam Sandler movies don't, but we don't watch these kind of movies for the plot. But, nevertheless the film focuses on a man whose desire in life is the play hockey, but keeps getting rejected. He is then discovered that he has a nasty swing of the club by a golf trainer. He then joins the tour to play, but only to get enough money to pay off his grandmothers house before she loses it.
    The film is called Happy Gilmore because the main character's name is Happy Gilmore, who is played by Adam Sandler, but of course you already knew that. And believe it or not this is probably his second best performance of his career, just behind Click, and he does give us a funny performance. But, Christopher McDonald gives us probably the best performance in the movie as Shooter McGavin, who I'm sure you all know well too. He made me laugh more than Sandler did at times, but we get a good mix of comedy and seriousness form his character. We've all used the point and shoot gesture that McGavin made popular once in our life. We also have Carl Weathers as Chubbs, the guy who found Happy, and gives us funny performance too, but not his best.
    There is not much to say about this film because everything about it is average, the directing, the editing, the cinematography, the sound, and the music. This is not a movie to stand and cheer for at the end. It is a movie that you sit and laugh at with a bunch of your friends. And you will get quite a few laughs out of it. Every now and then they try and sneak in some seriousness but it just doesn't work well with the film. However, there are several moments that are pretty funny, but there are also several stupid funny moments. Those are the kinds that hurt this film because they went to far and it just became stupid at times. I mean it's no Wedding Crashers or The Hangover.    
    As I said I laughed at almost everything that Shooter did or said because his character is just great and it is the best part of the film. We also get a few good cameos from some funny celebrities, the Bob Barker one is one to remember. Ben Stiller's is quite funny too. Again, you will get your laughs out of this movie, but that is it, there is no message that it sends it is just a comedy that comes up just short of being too stupid. Overall though I liked it and I still think it is one of Adam Sandler's better films. But, again nothing special here with most everything being mediocre.
2.5/4 Stars

Movie of the Week: The Exorcist

   

 

    Movie of the Week (10/27/13-11/2/13): Well, Halloween is this week and even though there are all kinds of classic 'slasher' films out there that have people getting killed left and right just for the fun of it, I decided to go a different direction. I decided to go with the best horror film of all time, also known as the scariest movie of all time. And I've only seen this film one time all the way through and for good reason, it scared the living crap out of me and continues to do so. Ever since then I have only caught bits and pieces of it on T.V. That film is The Exorcist.
    I'm sure most of you have heard of or have even see this film, however some of you might not want to see it or haven't seen it, which is alright because it is truly scary and grotesque. And what makes it more scary is that it is based on a true story of a little boy in 1949, but it is much exaggerated, of course. It focuses on a little 12-year old girl who plays with a Ouija Board and soon starts expressing odd and bad behavior. Once doctors and medicine don't do the trick her mother suspects more. The mother calls for a priest and it is soon discovered that her daughter is possessed by a demon and from that moment on all hell breaks lose, literally.
    The film is quite terrifying, and disturbing, to watch because of its subject and because of the grotesque things that happen. But first things first, it wouldn't be the iconic film it is if it wasn't for the fantastic cast. First, we have Linda Blair as Regan MacNeil who gives a terrifying performance and will scare you to death once her character gets possessed, there's no question that she deserved the Oscar nomination that she got. We also have Ellen Burstyn as Chris MacNeil, Regan's mother, who was also terrific as she gives us a performance that would be hard to do because she displays all kinds of terror as the movie goes on. She also deserved her Oscar nomination. Next is Jason Miller, in his first ever movie role, as Father Damian Karras who again gives us a chilling performance as he shows us that he can play almost two characters, a son who just lost his mother and a priest that is tested. Again, another worthy Oscar nomination here for him. Max von Sydow rounds it out as Father Merrin, who also gives a commanding performance.
     The cast is great, but this movie, for 1973, probably wouldn't have been as good as it is if it wasn't for the visual effects. There are several iconic scenes from this film that had to require some state-of-the-art effects. Whether it be the levitation scene, the head turning scene, or the vomiting scene the effects were a character all on their own because they made the film that much more disturbing. I should have mentioned the spider walk scene but that was done by a contortionist with no effects except for the blood, but still a very hard scene to watch and not cringe. And some scenes didn't even require effects, the cold breath coming from the actors in the room set was because they filmed it in a refrigerator, which was clever working from the director.
    The director, William Friedkin, also did a fantastic job on this film by giving it a very eerie and just down right disturbing atmosphere, just a fantastic job at scaring the audience. The writing is also wonderful thanks to a screenplay written by William Peter Blatty, which was also based off of his novel. Finally, the sound and editing are both top notch, which was why they got nominated for Oscar's as well. The sound is great as they mix all kinds of noises to make the voice, the bed moving, and the objects flying around the room to make for a more terrifying viewing. The editing adds to that as well. Now, if you haven't seen this film you probably should because it is the only horror film to be nominated for as many Oscar's as it was, including Best Picture. But it is a disturbing film to watch, I myself have only seen it once and probably will only see it once. It's not called the scariest movie of all time for nothing. After watching this movie, try to fall asleep! Happy Halloween!
4/4 Stars.

 

Movie of the Week: Tremors

   

 

    Movie of the Week (10/20/13-10/26/13): Since it is October I guess I should keep the horror movies coming and this one is special to me. I first saw this movie when I was very young, I don't remember the exact age, but I remembered I loved it! I wanted to watch it again right when I got finished. And I first saw it on a recorded VHS, now moving on to Blu-ray and I still love it! This film eventually turned into a Cult classic because there are quite a few people that enjoy it, however people who like this movie are probably the only ones to like its direct to video sequels and yes, I'm one of them. This is Tremors.
    When you first hear the name Tremors you probably think of earthquakes, well you would be wrong! This film features giant pre-historic worms with snake like creatures as their tongues that all of a sudden show up in the small town of Perfection, Nevada. Soon these creatures began killing animals around the town including the townspeople sheep and cattle and eventually they start going after the people. Oh, and they come out of the ground, in case you didn't know, hence Tremors.
    Now, this film has a very good cast and I honestly couldn't picture anybody else playing these characters because they did such a great job at what they had. We have Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Finn Carter, and unknown and still is, Michael Gross, Reba McEntire, Robert Jayne, Ariana Richards, the little girl from Jurassic Park, and Victor Wong. Some of these people you might not know, but don't let that discourage you, I was impressed with all of them and they all deliver great performances. The most known person in this film is, of course, Kevin Bacon, who gives a great combination of a funny, serious, and scared-to-death performance. Fred Ward does the same and since the film does center around these two it was good that they had such good chemistry together, it made the film work.
    One of the best things of the film was the special effects, since the film is focused on giant worms coming out of the ground and killing people, it is important for having a good budget to give the audience good effects. We get that in this film, sometimes in grotesque form, but it does the film justice because it adds so much to the creatures themselves. The effects give the creatures character along with the prosthetics that were used to create the monsters or the people at times. The creatures, who soon becomes known as "Graboids," are really the main characters in the film and that becomes possible with the wonderful special effects.
    Other great things about this film are the editing, sound mixing, cinematography, and directing. There is good editing in a few of the scenes that are key points in the film, along with some interesting camera movement. The sound mixing is great because of how the creatures sound, that mixed in with all the commotion going on and the music, it makes for a good sounding movie. The cinematography and the directing are also pretty decent, not great, but I like how it looks and how it was filmed although the director, Ron Underwood, I felt could have done a little more at times to make it better overall. But, this is still a fun film to watch, although it soon turns into a horror with some corny moments, it is driven by the chemistry between Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward and very good visual effects.
3/4 Stars     

Movie of the Week: World War Z

   

    Movie of the Week (10/13/13-10/19/13): I posted this review earlier this summer when I saw this film in theaters. But, since The Walking Dead returns tonight I figured this would be good, also this was just released on Blu-ray a couple weeks ago with an Unrated Cut, which is much better. By this time I'm sure a lot of you have already feasted your eyes on this film about "Zombies." Yes, we have another movie about "Zombies." You might be wondering why I used quotation marks around the word "Zombie." Well, that is because in the film they are never really termed "Zombies," although the word is used, and are more likely infected with some kind of disease that doesn't technically kill them. So, now that we have cleared that up early on let's take a look at this Brad Pitt picture that was among the list of most anticipated movies of the year, World War Z.
    If you have seen any trailer for this film then you know how it opens, Brad Pitt's character, Gerry Lane and his family have breakfast and are getting ready to go on vacation. Next, they are stuck in a traffic jam where, you guessed it, the city and the world are all of a sudden attacked by people who have somehow attracted a disease that make them attack humans. In the Unrated Cut there are plenty of extra scenes in this sequence that make it much more fun to watch, of course if they were in the theatrical cut the film would have been rated R. These "Zombies" are not the slow moving kind you see in The Walking Dead, no, they are the kind that move fast and can climb on top of each other very fast in order to get somewhere. Which makes the movie that much more thrilling.
    This was a good movie, not great, but good and let me tell you why. First thing I thought needed to be fixed was the opening, although I liked how it was done, only told from the family's point of view, it was too short! Once the attack sequence begins there is not much destruction, a lot of aerial views of it , but not much up close and personal views that would have made the film more shocking to watch, of course it is PG-13. That being said the Unrated Cut is a little longer, as I said above, and has more detail to it, but it could still have been longer. The other thing that I was a little disappointed in was the ending, the climax was good, although not quite what I thought it would be, it was a little slow, but still very intense because Gerry is trying to get something in a lab full of these creatures. But, the end was a little of a let down because we don't get much of an explanation about what has happened, although we get some, but not enough for me. Of course it sets it up perfectly for the sequel, which is already in the works.
    Now, that was what bothered me about it, although it didn't bother me very much because the sequel will answer more questions, here is what I loved about the movie. The first thing was Brad Pitt's performance. Simply put, he was great in it! It might not be his best, but it is definitely up there, I mean it has to compete with Seven, Moneyball, Inglourious Basterds. But nevertheless, he was great in it, I loved what he did with his character, the way he interacted with his wife and daughters and how he turned back into the old Gerry Lane when he needed to go out facing the "Zombies." He was almost two different characters and a I loved it.
    The other thing I loved about the movie was the visual effects, which were great as well, from seeing the destruction of cities, to the "Zombies" running fast in the aerial views, to a walled in safe zone being overrun, and an airplane being attacked. Thanks to the visual effects, and editing, they made the movie more exciting and thrilling to watch. There were several scenes that were very nerve racking and I loved it, that is what a movie is suppose to do to you. My favorite scenes were the safe zone being overrun and the airplane scene, which were both just nerve-racking. Brad Pitt was also great in those scenes. The climax was pretty intense too, especially by the end because you were hoping what Gerry did worked.
    World War Z is not a great movie, but it will certainly make you hold on to you armrest for dear life in certain scenes, which is why it is a good movie. We get another great performance from Brad Pitt and the visuals are great, along with the editing. Marc Forster gave us a great thriller to keep us on the edge of our seat at times. The ending may be a let down for some people because it doesn't explain very much and they (Spoiler alert!) don't find a cure for the disease, but find another way to survive for now, which sets up the sequel perfectly. And I'm excited for that! I don't know if it does the book justice because I haven't read it, I simply watched it as a movie, but I hear that some fans of the book might not like it. I couldn't tell you! But, if you want to see a good thriller with great acting, visuals, and intense scenes, go see this movie! And again, the Unrated Cut has about ten minutes of extra footage which essentially turns it into an R rated movie, but it is worth every second.
3/4 Stars

Movie of the Week: Red River

   

 

    Movie of the Week (10/6/13-10/12/13): Late, again this week, but I had to go to a wedding out of town, so that sounds like a good excuse to me! But, as usual, we do have a movie of the week this week and it is one that most people don't know of, especially of my generation. I decided to go way back this week and pick a movie that a lot of people hadn't heard of, but a movie that has a major star in it. This film came out in 1948, a good few years before I was even heard of, but it is known as one of the best Westerns of all time, which is one of my favorite genres. The movie is "Red River."
    We have a classic Western here that follows a man named Thomas Dunson, played by John Wayne, who plans to move his cattle from Texas to Red River in Missouri. He is accompanied by his adopted son Matt Garth, played by Montgomery Cliff, and many other men who decide to travel with them to the new land to start over and sell the cattle. Along the way they encounter several obstacles, including Indians, but no bigger obstacle than Dunson himself, who uses brutal ways to treat his men when they have done wrong. Soon Matt, his adopted son, takes his cattle away from him and leaves him behind in disgrace. Dunson, fueled by vengeance, then pursues them.
   Like I said this has one star that everybody knows, John Wayne, who in my opinion give his best performance in this film. It is probably my favorite of his, if it is not his best movie then it is his second best, behind either The Searchers or True Grit. But, it definitely is his best black and white Western. Next we have Montgomery Cliff, who I'm sure none of you know, but hey, it's okay I didn't know him until I saw this movie. That is probably expected since he only did 18 movies and died in 1966. But, nevertheless his performance was fantastic in this, although I don't have anything else to compare it too because I haven't seen his other films, but I was impressed with him in this picture. The rest of the cast was unknown to me, but they all contributed very well and made the film more interesting.
    Even though this film is in black and white the cinematography is still at its best and it was shot beautifully with the landscape. With it being 1948 we get some classic long shots and some interesting angles that bring us into the west, which is why it got nominated for an Oscar. The direction was also fantastic with Howard Hawks at his finest giving us beautifully filmed dialog scenes and fight scenes, although it is 1948 so some might look a little cheesy, but that is alright. One scene in particular near the beginning when they are deciding on whether or not to go on the journey was particularly well done. The writing was also great because it told us a great story about family, trust, and revenge along with well written dialog.
    One final aspect that made this an adventure was the editing and, again, for 1948 was very well done. It gave the film some very good pacing from start to finish and I was not bored once while watching it. This film is an underrated Western in history and probably should have gotten more Oscar nominations, and wins, than it did. To me it is one of John Wayne's best performances of his career, his performance alone is what made the movie worth while. He carried the film and with his attitude towards it, we love him and we hate him all at once. This is truly a great picture that most people do not know about, and they should. If you can, watch it soon!
4/4 Stars   

Movie of the Week: Paranormal Activity

   

 

    Movie of the Week (9/29/13-10/5/13): This week marks the first week of October and we all know what that means, Halloween is coming! This time of the year is when we all like to be scared because we like it, it gives us a rush that we enjoy, so I figured why not get an early start. This film is one of the most recent horror pictures that is actually scary, along with its sequels, and not just a gore fest. I've become a fan of this franchise because it is one of the few horror franchises that will legitimately scare you. And by "scare you" I mean you will grip your armrest until your hands hurt and you will more than likely let out a terrifying scream or two and annoy the person you are watching it with, but that's okay because this is Paranormal Activity.    
    This is a fairly simple film to follow because it really only has two characters that it focuses on along with a couple other people who only have a short amount of screen time. The film follows two people in their home who began to think something is wrong with their home. They then decide to set up cameras and record the home, mainly their bedroom, at night. Well, soon things begin to take a turn for the worse as crazy and freaky things start to happen. Symbols pop up, noises are heard, things move as they rush to research what it is.
    This is shot in the 'found footage' genre which makes it much more creepy and scary to watch. That also means that the actors have to do that much better of a job because they are forced to act while they are holding the camera and at times have to talk to the camera. So, they almost have to act like normal people instead of acting, but that can be hard to do because of the multiple tasks they are asked to do. With that being said we get two solid performances from the two leads here, who use their real first names in the movie, Katie and Micah. We watch them interact with each other as a couple and then watch their reactions as things begin happening and they do a great job. We believe they are a couple that becomes terrified.
    The 'found footage' genre is good and bad at the same time because it brings multiple things to the table. One of the bad things about this movie are the angles, to put it simple there really aren't any because of one camera being used. That limits what we can see and what they can do as a movie, however that is the point, but some people don't like it. The good things here are what the filmmakers put on that one shot that grabs your attention and make you start to shake. That is what we have in this movie, the one angle can sit there but still make us tremble because we have no idea what is going to pop up next. There also has to be great editing in a film like this and we get just that with the changing of the scenes and pacing.
    Directing a movie like this would have to be hard too since the camera barely moves and a lot of the scenes are long cuts, which means a lot of preparation had to take place before filming each scene. The director, Oren Peli, deserves a lot of credit here because of his skill to direct such complicated long uncut scenes. In the end this is a very well done horror movie that brought back the 'found footage' genre since it was lost for a while after the Blair Witch Project. It was an original film that terrified people and continues to do so with its sequels. So, as we prepare for Halloween pop this in the player this week and start the month off right.
3/4 Stars

Movie of the Week: Apocalypse Now Redux

   

 

    Movie of the Week (9/22/13-9/28/13): You may remember this review of this movie when I first saw it for the first time back in March. But, I felt that it deserved a slot in the Movie of the Week list sooner rather than later. When I finally had the privilege to see the highly acclaimed Vietnam War movie I was very excited and had high expectations for it and they were fulfilled. But, I saw the newer version of it, the version that Francis Ford Coppola, the director, wanted to produce back in 1979. That being said, this version is 49 minutes longer putting the film at a 3 hour and 20 minute epic, so it is easy to see why he chose to cut the film down and make it shorter. However, this version is the only version I have seen, as of right now. I guess this version was just so fantastically edited that I didn't feel like watching the original version, although some day I might.
    This is a review of Apocalypse Now Redux, which came out in 2001. This film is a very dark and disturbing account of the Vietnam War and is a character driven film. It is about a Captain who is sent on a classified mission into Cambodia to kill a Colonel who has gone insane, made himself a god among the local tribes, and works through brutal tactics. The mission seems quite simple, take a boat up river and kill him, but it is not. What goes on in the film is not just about that, it is also about the many different events they encounter along the way.
    But, like I said this is a movie driven by amazing characters and the actors who play them. First, we have Martin Sheen playing Captain Benjamin Willard on the mission. Right off the bat, in the opening scene, we see what the horrors of war does to men by seeing his character lose himself without any dialog. As great as that scene is, it gets better as his reactions to different events grow stronger and darker. He delivers probably the best performance of his career as a Captain, of little words at times, who tells the background of the Colonel through voice over and you can hear the stress in his voice, which makes the film more chilling.

    The next character is Lieutenant Colonel Bill Kilgore, played by Robert Duvall who was nominated for an Oscar. His part is small in the movie compared to the length of it, but an important character, he is one of the men Willard meets on his mission. Duvall's whole character centers around him and his men clearing out a village via helicopter attack for Willard and his crew. This scene is very disturbing and graphically depicted with Robert Duvall taking complete control and does a fantastic job.

    Our last character is the mission himself, Colonel Walter Kurtz, played by the great Marlon Brando. We do not even see this character, even though he was top billed, until about 35 minutes remaining in the film. But, once we do meet him the tone of the film changes very fast, it goes from dark to darker and just plain disturbing. This is possible by the performance of Brando, he gives the audience a truly haunting and disturbed character to read. We finally see what is wrong with him once we meet him and find out why the army wants him dead. The movie is truly worth seeing because of his scenes alone even if they are the shortest in the film.
    Although this is a character driven film, there are also several other aspects that make this one of the greatest war movies of all time. The director, Francis Ford Coppola, digs deep into the terror of the Vietnam War in the physical and mental aspects and puts it on the screen in a great haunting fashion through the characters. We also have beautiful Oscar winning cinematography that brings out the likes of the jungle and the graphic depiction of war. Many other aspects like the editing, which is top notch, sound mixing, and the score, which makes the film feel that much more haunting, all make the film worth the watch and the experience of it.
    This is one of the greatest war movies ever made, it might not seem that way as the way I have been describing it as a haunting and disturbing film. However, it is that way because of the wonderful dark performances by the actors, especially Marlon Brando, whose performance is truly fantastic and adds more to the Redux version. A great, well acted, well directed, and long movie that you must see. I will watch the theatrical version soon, hopefully, and compare the two to see which version is better, but for now the Redux version is the version that should be seen and by the end of it you too will be saying, "the horror, the horror." 
4/4 Stars  

Movie of the Week: Reservoir Dogs

   

    Movie of the Week (9/15/13-9/21/13): What do you get when you have the mind of Quentin Tarantino? His first movie he wrote, directed, and starred in? The mob genre? And a fantastic cast to add to it? You get a great heist movie that will keep you on the edge of your seat in the last ten minutes or so. I say last ten minutes, but the entire movie is pretty intense but we are not revealed anything, that the characters don't know, until the last few minutes when we have a bunch of people shooting each other. What we have here is classic Tarantino work in Reservoir Dogs.
    This is obviously a crime drama because Quentin Tarantino wrote it and it involves a heist of some diamonds. Six criminals, who don't know each other, are hired by a mob boss to steal some diamonds for him, but things go terribly wrong when the police show up right away. A shootout ensues and the ones that survive meet up at a warehouse where they begin to suspect that one of them is possibly an undercover cop. From there on we are told a story that is not in chronological order and are given clues to the identity of each man that concludes in a gut-wrenching fashion at the end.
    The first thing that makes this movie great is the wonderful casting, I mean I don't think they could have found better actors to portray these characters, some of whom are never given a real name. We have Harvey Keitel as Mr. White, Tim Roth as Mr. Orange, Michael Madsen as Mr. Blonde, Steve Buscemi as Mr. Pink, Edward Butler as Mr. Blue, and Quentin Tarantino himself as Mr. Brown. All of these great actors play the criminals hired to pull off the heist and all deliver groundbreaking performances as each and every one of them control the movie. There is also Lawrence Tierney as Joe Cabot, the man who hired them, and Chris Penn as Eddie Cabot, his son. Both of whom also deliver us powerful performances. This is a great multi-character drama.
    The best thing about this film is the writing, which was obviously done by Quentin Tarantino. He gives us a fairly simple story, but provides a twist to it by telling it in non-chronological order. We also get great dialogue from the script, as you'll see from the opening scene and scenes where they are trying to figure out who the "rat" is. Tarantino closes this film with a great torture and confrontation scene that might have you churning in your seat along with some sweat added in as the "rat" is revealed and we hear noises off screen as the movie come to a screeching halt. Along with his fantastic other writing credits, this one deserved an Oscar nomination as well, but did not get it.
    Since the film is not in chronological order it has some great editing that probably should have been nominated for an Oscar as well, but was not. But nevertheless the editing is Oscar worthy. Tarantino also directed this film, in which he did another wonderful job, if you're a Tarantino fan you know the work he is capable of and this is another list to add to the top. Although it doesn't quite top Pulp Fiction or Django Unchained, it is his third best film and one that will be remembered for it's acting, writing, editing, and direction from a master of the pen that should be doing more films than he does. If you haven't feasted your eyes on this film, I would advise you to do so!
3.5/4 Stars    

Movie of the Week: Act of Valor

   

 

    Movie of the Week (9/8/13-9/14/13): You can thank the kickoff of the NFL season for me being late this week, I think it's a good excuse! But, just because I'm late again doesn't mean we have no certain movie to watch this week and judge for ourselves. I had a hard time picking out one this week so I decided to go with one that had some high expectations but in the end bombed. However, they had good intentions when they made this movie and that was to honor Navy Seals and other military men and women who have died since 9/11. We have had a few other films to honor them but none like this, no, this one is different because it uses real active Navy Seals, and that was where they went wrong. This is Act of Valor.  
    This film follows a group of Seals who are called upon to rescue a kidnapped CIA agent and in the process they uncover a terror plot on the United States. From there on it is filled with action sequences and some drama with the bad guys and families of the Seals. But that's about it! Let's face it, the plot to this film was very thin and was really nothing we haven't seen before. Good guys figure something out, bad guy tries to get away with it, good guy stops them at the last second. Yeah, it was that kind of movie and, I'll just go on and say it, it wasn't very good. But, don't worry I'll go into more detail about why it just wasn't what it should have been.
    First and foremost it had absolutely terrible acting in it and we know why! It was because the film makers decided to use real active duty Seals and it was just a huge mistake. They should have used real actors, the only real actor is Roselyn Sanchez, to make the movie more believable and exciting to watch. But, don't get me wrong I understand why they decided use real active Seals, to give the film more emotion. But, it back fired completely, I mean the bad guys were the best part of the movie, and that should not happen in a movie like this. On top of the bad acting we have absolutely no character development from our leads, we never really get to know them, just a couple short scenes with their families at the beginning and end. Nothing to make us care about the characters like we should and we can blame the writers for that.
    We can also blame something else on the writers and that is the cliches. The writers must have sat down and watched every single war movie ever made and decided to put every single cliche known to man in this one movie. Now, I can't go into details about them because some contain spoilers but I have never seen a movie so filled with cliches. There were points during the movie where I rolled my eyes because another cliche popped up. The writers either struggled to add in their own ideas or they just didn't care and thought that is what the people wanted, the same old thing! Well they were wrong!
    The only good aspect about this film is the tactics that are used by the Seals and the action sequences. We get very good fight scenes and shootouts that provide a lot of explosions and chases, which, I am sad to say, are the best parts of the film. I say that because war movies need drama and we didn't get that from this film. Another good thing were the tactics that were used by the Seals, those were interesting to watch, but it just wasn't enough to make this movie a good war film with a good mix of drama and action. This is a dissapointment because it was suppose to be a tribute to the fallen in our special forces but it was let down by ways of terrible writting, terrible acting, too many cliches, no character development, and a sub-par plot. You are better off watching Black Hawk Down!                                                                     
1.5/4 Stars.

Movie of the Week: Boogie Nights

   

 

    Movie of the Week (9/1/13-9/7/13): This film has been known to be a little controversial because of its theme and that theme is the porn industry in the late 1970's and early 1980's. This theme might turn a lot of people away from even wanting to see it and give it a chance. But, this film doesn't support the industry or praise it either because it tells a great story of the people involved in it and how it affects their lives, which is mainly in bad ways. And as the film goes on we began to care for the characters, which is a good thing because that means it has good writing, because of everything they go through. This is one of the very good films that came out in 1997, this is Boogie Nights.
    The film follows a young man who is looking for a way out of his troubled life, or so he thinks, that he caused himself. Once his mother calls him out on it he splits and meets an Adult film producer and director by the name of Jack Horner. From there on we are brought into a fantastic story with several characters involved. That is what makes this movie so great, there are so many characters in this film and each one has their problems and some of the problems and very serious ones, which are the problems that bring out the drama in this picture. Now, there is so much going on in this story that I can't get into every detail, but if I do some spoilers might come out, so that's okay.
    But, what I will discuss is that cast who all do a fantastic job especially three of them, Mark Wahlberg, Burt Reynolds, and Julianne Moore. Mark Wahlberg plays the lead in this film, he has two names, Eddie Adams, his real name and Dirk Diggler, his stage name. This film was probably his breakout film because he delivers such an electrified performance from beginning to end, although some of the scenes had to be awkward to film. Burt Reynolds plays the Adult film director, Jack Horner, who discovers the new found sensation. Reynolds really controls the movie the majority of the time, every time he is on screen with anybody he controls it, which probably got him nominated for an Oscar. Julianne Moore plays Amber Waves, an actress in the industry, and she too delivers in every scene because she has several scenes that involve mixed emotions. She too was nominated for an Oscar. The rest of the all-star cast consist of Luis Guzman, John C. Reilly, Don Cheadle, Heather Graham, William H. Macy, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Thomas Jane, Philip Baker Hall, and Alfred Molina. Not all of these are big parts, but they affect the film in some way and each and every actor gives us everything they got in their performances and they help the film flow well.
    The big thing that makes this movie so great is the writing by director Paul Thomas Anderson, who wrote one fantastic screenplay. This film is actually based on a short film of his he made back in 1988, he just did a great job on expanding it. There is a lot of perfectly written dialog in the film and he intentionally makes some of it awkward, which is what we would expect in some of the scenes. The drama that he brought to the screen is also wonderful and he does this with a lot of long cuts, which are great! The opening of the film is a near four minutes long without a single cut, along with two other scenes in particular that were shot the same way, one in particular involves William H. Macy's character about halfway through the movie. A great and dramatic scene! There is also one sequence about two hours in that is very intense.
    The film also looks great with beautiful cinematography and, in my opinion, Oscar worthy editing, but it didn't get nominated. The last thing that makes this film a great film, and the second best film of 1997 behind Titanic and just in front of Good Will Hunting, is the character development. Every character in this film evolves in someway, they rise and fall or start from the top and fall and have to start all over for one reason or another. This is a film that is not well known to many because of the subject matter, but I assure you it tells a great story that will have you hooked from the opening shot. Characters rise from the bottom or they fall from top because of captivating performances, wonderful writing, fantastic directing, and interesting editing with long uncut scenes. If you haven't seen it I urge you to.             
4/4 Stars

Movie of the Week: We Are Marshall

   

 

    Movie of the Week (8/25/13-8/31/13): With the football season kicking off this week, I thought it only logical to pick a football movie. However, this football movie will not really get you pumped up like most other football movies because it tells a sad true story. This film isn't about an underdog overcoming all of the hardships, it doesn't focus on a select number of players on a team that is good or bad, and it is not about one single player trying to play for a team. No, this is an emotional film about a football program having to start from scratch because a horrific and tragic event struck the town at the end of the previous season. This is We Are Marshall.
    The film opens with the teams last game before the accident of the 1970 season and then shows the tragic plane crash very briefly that killed seventy-five members of the Marshall football team including several other people. We then see the aftermath and the story takes off. The President of Marshall University plans on not having the 1971 season but a couple players, who were not on the plane, and the students persuade him and the board otherwise. They then begin to search for a new coaching staff who then has to find new players. While all of this is going on the President tries to persuade the NCAA to let freshman play and family and friends of the people who died continue to cope with their losses. The season finally comes around as the new football team tries their best to replace what was once there.
    The first thing that makes this a good movie is the cast and it is a fantastic cast all of who did wonderful jobs. We have Matthew McConaughey as Jack Lengyel, Matthew Fox as Red Dawson, Anthony Mackie as Nate Ruffin, David Strathairn as President Dedmon, Ian McShane as Paul Griffen, Kate Mara as Annie Cantrell, January Jones as Carole Dawson, Kimberly Williams-Paisley as Sandy Lengyel, and Brian Geraghty as Tom Bogdan. I know that's a lot, but I'm not going to go through each one. But, I will say that Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Fox, and Ian McShane all give us fantastic performances. McConaughey probably gave us his best performance of his career, but the recently released Mud surpassed that. David Strathairn and Anthony Mackie also give us great performances.
    One thing that surprised me about this movie was the direction that we get from McG, or Joseph McGinty Nichol, who does a very good job when it comes to the football scenes and emotional scenes. There are many scenes that are emotional to watch and he did a great job at directing the actors through these difficult scenes. He also did a great job at directing the football scenes which are very realistic and look great, they almost match that of Friday Night Lights. With those shots comes good cinematography, not great, which is what we have and it helps bring that 1970's feel come to life. And of course it makes the football scenes great!
    But, we don't really watch this film for the football scenes because that is not what this movie is about. This is about the drama that occurred the year after the accident and that is what makes this a great movie. It is a great drama that is a sports movie, there are only a few of those that we watch for the drama of the situation and not the sports scenes. One last thing that makes this a good movie is the score, if you don't shed a tear or two in some of the scenes with no music, you will once the music begins. The emotional score adds so much to the movie, especially at the end, that it is hard not to shed a tear. This is a good underrated film and McG's best film to date because of a good screenplay, great performances, and an emotional score. This film will not get you pumped up for the football season, but it will certainly inspire you!
3/4 Stars    
          

Movie of the Week: Patton

   

 

    Movie of the Week (8/18/13-8/24/13): One of the most famous generals of World War II was also one of the most hated by his men, by civilians, and even by the Supreme Commander of all the Allied forces during the war, Dwight Eisenhower. But, you know what? He did not care at all because he never kept his mouth shut, or his hands to himself. That man had a mind of his own that most people did not like, he wanted to do things his own way or no way at all and a lot of the time he expressed himself through physical means, which earned him the nickname "Old Blood and Guts." That man was General George S. Patton and the film Patton shows exactly what he was like and in great fashion.
    The film is a biography, but not of his life just of his exploits as a General during World War II, which we get a great detail of. It starts off with him and his army in Africa fighting tank battles, which were well done. Then he has his personal problems, including the infamous incident of slapping a soldier and his attitude toward his friends and his superior officers. Finally, we work our way towards Germany with a couple more exciting tank battles and the famous rescuing of the 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne.
    With an epic historical picture like this you need a good cast and a wonderful lead actor to take on the role of Patton himself, but the trouble with this film is that there are not many actors in it that are known today. There are really only two actors that most people know and those two play the two leading roles in the film. The first is obviously George C. Scott who plays Patton and gives us a captivating performance that will have you hooked on the movie the moment he steps on that stage in the opening scene. Words almost can't describe how much I loved this movie because of his acting, they truly couldn't have found anybody better for his Oscar winning performance. The other actor is Karl Malden who plays Patton's closest friend in General Omar N. Bradley. He too delivers us another unforgettable performance and the two of them were a great pairing for the movie.
    One of the best things about this film, besides Scott's performance, was the writing. The screenplay was such wonderfully written because it has powerful dialogue, in which many of the words spoken were taken from Patton's speeches or memoirs. The man behind the Godfather films wrote the screenplay, Francis Ford Coppola, who as we all know did a fantastic job with those and on this film. It was mixed with such great and even pacing throughout the film that I simply couldn't stop watching it. There is plenty of powerful drama to go around and there is a lot of fighting, although most of it is tank battles, but they are so well filmed and choreographed that it adds to the excitement of the film. It is not just a biography film filled with words, but when the words are spoken they pull you in deeper because of the tension in each scene.
    The last few things that make this a great film from 1970 is the direction, cinematography, and musical score. Franklin J. Schaffner, who is known by older audiences because of films like this one, Planet of the Apes, and Papillon, but not younger ones did a fantastic job because he worked with such a great cast and screenplay. He really kept the tension going with Patton and filmed wonderful tank battle sequences. With the filming comes the cinematography which is simply beautiful, but that is mainly because they had such beautiful landscapes to work with. Finally, we have a fantastic score by Jerry Goldsmith, although there is not much music throughout the film, but when it is used it makes the film that much better, again adding either tension or excitement. This is one biography film to remember because of a great performance from its lead actor and a wonderful screenplay. There is no questioning why this epic was nominated for ten Oscars and won seven of them including Best Picture!                                          
4/4 Stars.     

Movie of the Week: The Mummy (1999)

   

 

    Movie of the Week (8/11/13-8/17/13): In 1932 a classic horror picture known as The Mummy was released to the world and frightened many people. Of course that was a different time period and different movie because in 1999 the remake of that movie was released. However, this picture was not near as dark as the original in fact they turned it into more of an action adventure film from director Stephen Sommers, which it is. But, that does not mean that this new take is a terrible film because it is quite fun to watch, although it does have its flaws, like any film.
    The film focuses on an American who helps a librarian on a dig at the ancient city of Hamunaptra, along with her brother and a couple other folks who are interested in the gold there. There, they run into another group of people who are also looking to dig in the city. Eventually they each end up causing trouble and read from a book that they shouldn't have and wake a mummy from the dead. From there on chaos is unleashed and they rush to put the mummy, Imhotep, back to where he came from, although Imhotep has other plans.
    The first thing I would like to discuss would be the cast, of course, which really was not that bad and overall I liked the casting. Brendan Fraser stars as Rick O'Connell, the American escort, and gives us probably his best performance, followed by the sequel, although not so much in the third unfortunately. So, I liked him in this movie and this role, I thought he was a good pick. Next is Rachel Weisz who plays the librarian, Evy Carnahan, who mainly gives us a funny performance early on, but by the end turns very serious. So, I liked her development. John Hannah plays her brother Jonathan, who is there for the comedic relief. We also have Arnold Vosloo who plays Imhotep, who gives us an "okay" performance at times, for some reason, I felt he wasn't always into his character, but other times he was great, I was mixed on him. One of my favorite characters in the film was Rick's sidekick, if you would, Ardeth Bay played by Oded Fehr. For some reason, I liked his character and we get a good performance from Bay.
    What set the film apart and what made it good and worth the watch is the visual effects, editing, and sound editing. Visually this film is great, we get all kinds of effects when it comes to the mummy scenes especially towards the end. A giant wall of sand with a face in it sets it apart along with the effects on the half dead Imhotep. The film also sounded great, you'll know the scenes I'm talking about when you see them, they are mainly the fight scenes and the scenes when the mummy uses his powers to do some weird stuff. With that weird stuff comes some very interesting sounds that got it nominated for an Oscar.
    Finally, what hurt the film a little was the screenplay, at times it felt thin and I wasn't interested in a couple of the characters because there wasn't much on them. And one is rather annoying, trust me, you'll know when you see him. Although they were minor characters when they died, I didn't care for them that much. I just felt that a little more background and development on some of the characters would have helped. But, the film was thrilling at times and we get enough development with the two main characters that it works fine overall. So, this is a good remake with good lead acting, visual effects, sound editing, and at times a weak script, but overall good development between the two leads. This is a good, not great, film!                                                                                                   3/4 Stars