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