Movie of the Week: Hoosiers

    

    Movie of the Week (3/16/13-3/22/14): Well, there is no doubt about it that I am very late this week, my apologies to those of you in dying need of a movie to watch this week. But, we still have something to watch even if it is late. With the NCAA Basketball Tournament starting this week I thought it was right to have a basketball movie this week. That being said this was much harder than I thought because there are not very many good basketball movies out there. So, I simply narrowed it down to probably the best basketball movie of all time, Hoosiers. 

    First of all it is not about Indiana University, thank God, it is about an Indiana high school giving a coach who has had a rough past a second chance at doing what he knows best, coaching. He takes over a high school basketball team that is not very good and turns them into winners. In the process he gives the town drunk a second chance at coaching because he sees something in him. It is a true story set in 1954 with some changes to history but it is still a very good true underdog story. 

    There is really not much of a cast here, most people today would only know two of them and they are Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper. We have Barbara Hershey in a very good supporting role, but not very many people know who she is, but nevertheless she still does a very good job. But, we have Gene Hackman, as Coach Norman Dale, who is great here and delivers us another fine "Gene Hackman" performance. We also have Dennis Hopper as Shooter, the town drunk who also gets a second chance, and he too is phenomenal as he went on to be nominated of an Oscar. You can tell that he prepared for his role very well as he convinced the audience that he was truly the town drunk who struggled at getting his life together. 

    There are a few things that make this a good film, the first is the direction. This was directed by David Anspaugh, the same guy who directed Rudy, and he gave this film the classic feel to it as he used very little effects and classical camera work. That being said the cinematography is great here as it sets the perfect mood of the Midwest and the feel of high school basketball in the 1950's. The score here is also very moving and inspiring. We can thank Jerry Goldsmith for that because he knew exactly how to score this film, he was nominated for an Oscar as well, and give it the final boost of inspiration it needed. He was also the man that gave us the Rudy score. What this film is really about is second chances and that the underdog can really win and in the end it will inspire you and leave a smile on your face.

3/4 Stars.

Movie of the Week: Tombstone

   

    Movie of the Week (3/10/14-3/15/14): Most of us know the legend of Wyatt Earp and how he was a legendary lawmen and that we was never grazed by a single bullet. You probably also know that there have been several movies made about his life. Some you know and some you don't. The two most popular are Wyatt Earp, which had Kevin Costner in the role, and this film here, Tombstone, which had Kurt Russell embracing the role of Wyatt Earp. Now the funny thing is, is that these two films came out in back to back years and were being filmed on different lots right next to each other. Most people like this film more, but that is probably because it is pretty much and action movie where Wyatt Earp is more of a biography and action movie mixed. I like them both, but when it comes to accuracy, neither one is very accurate.
    Tombstone is not a biography film about Wyatt Earp, it is more so just about what happens when the Earp brothers arrive in Tombstone, Arizona. If you want more details on his life, you can watch Wyatt Earp, which is a very good and underrated film. Now, this film here focuses more on the Earp brothers' feud with a group called "The Cowboys," who didn't where red sashes by the way, and how all of the lawlessness leads up to the shootout at the O.K. Corral and afterwards. And, just so we are clear, the shootout didn't actually happen at the O.K. Corral, it happened just down the street in an empty lot, but the name stuck. Also, Virgil and Morgan Earp were not shot just after the shootout. The shootout occurred on October 26, 1881, Virgil was shot on December 28th and Morgan was shot and killed on March 18, 1882.
    However, Kurt Russell plays Wyatt Earp in this movie and he is my favorite actor to play Earp, even over Kevin Costner, because he looks the most like him. He also did a great job, there are several scenes where he displays wonderful emotion and outrage that just fuel the film. Val Kilmer plays Doc Holliday and he too gives us a powerful performance, possibly his best, plus his chemistry with Russell is great. Sam Elliott plays the older Earp brother, Virgil, and does a great job with his commanding deep voice. We have Bill Paxton as Morgan Earp, Powers Boothe as Curly Bill Brocius, Michael Biehn as Johnny Ringo, Stephen Lang as Ike Clanton, Thomas Haden Church as Billy Clanton, Michael Rooker as Sherman McMasters, and even Charlton Heston has a nice cameo. So, as you can see we have a wonderful veteran cast here and I have no complaints.
    What made this film good was that it was written well, though not accurate, but it kept the audience stuck to the screen. It had great mix of drama and action throughout as Wyatt begins to fall for Josephine yet trying to balance it with all of the death happening around him. Although, in real life it was much more spaced out and did not happen as quickly as it did in the movie, but it was done right to keep the audience involved. That was also helped by the the director, George P. Cosmatos, who stepped in at the last minute. I say that because he was known for directing action films, which is why this is more of an action picture with less drama like most westerns have. But, you still like his style a little, even if it might have been a bit much for a film like this at times.
    Nevertheless it was shot very well and looks great throughout, especially during the shootouts. That being said the editing also takes over during the shootouts and was done very well, particularly during the O.K. Corral shootout. We also have a very intense and fast paced score here, which is rare for a western, but it works since the film is more of an action film anyways. Now, this is a good movie and a good western, it is not a great movie or great western, I can think of several off the top of my head that are better. Plus, the several goofs that are clearly visible along with the historical inaccuracies also helps it stay at good movie status instead of higher. But, there are enough high points like the great cast, the well shot shootouts, and good direction, since it is an action movie, that it has enough to keep you drawn in from start to finish.
3/4 Stars  

Movie of the Week: Crimson Tide

   

    Movie of the Week (3/2/14-3/8/14): There are many submarine movies out there that keep you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end. But, of course that is why they were made, to put several men in life threatening situations in a very small and claustrophobic space. Some of those movies have other ships or submarines shooting back at them or dropping depth charges on them. But this film here took a different approach to it as we have fighting and mutiny, allegedly that is, aboard the USS Alabama in, Crimson Tide.
    On the brink of nuclear war a young officer boards the USS Alabama for the first time as the nuclear submarine is sent out to help with the situation. On board the ship on the journey, the crew get to know each other and their new X.O. But, the new X.O. doesn't become too fond of the Captain after he orders a drill to take place without warning, something happens and the X.O. and Captain begin going down hill. Soon the sub receives an order to fire a nuclear warhead, but their communications equipment becomes damaged, therefore they can't confirm the order. So, the Captain insist on firing anyway, but the new X.O. does not agree which then begins a mutiny and an intense ride of crew vs. crew.
    This movie does have a great cast and is probably one of the most testosterone filled movies ever! We have Denzel Washington as Lt. Commander Ron Hunter as the man the leads the mutiny, Gene Hackman in an outstanding role as Captain Frank Ramsey, Matt Craven as Lt. Roy Zimmer, George Dzundza as Chief of the Boat, Viggo Mortensen as Lt. Peter Ince, the late James Gandolfini as Lt. Bobby Dougherty, Michael Milhoan as Chief of Watch Hunsicker, Danny Nucci as Petty Officer First Class Danny Rivetti, and Steve Zahn as William Barns. There you have it, a lot of great actors here along with a few not well known actors who are very good at playing small character roles.
    Probably the best thing about this movie is the editing. As soon as they get on the submarine the editing becomes a major part of the film, it had to be used carefully as they filmed scenes in a very tight set and the editing gave it much more intensity. The movie also sounds great, but of course it has too with everything going on and the intense editing gave it a huge edge. The sound editing was very good as well, I mean from the minute the crew goes against each other the movie was edited wonderfully with the sound and all the commotion that is taking place. Both sound editing and picture editing are top notch here.
    This is probably director Tony Scott's best movie because of the close attention he paid to the specifics of the film and how he shot it. This film has great detail to it and Scott himself even shot many of the scenes while in tight places and directing at the same time. He particularly did a great job with the actors as well, especially Gene Hackman, who was outstanding here and I think that had a lot to with Tony Scott. We also have a great and intense score here from Hans Zimmer, it adds to the film and the intensity of the plot perfectly. This is a powerfully acted, well directed, wonderfully edited, and perfectly scored film that might leave you sweating as much as the actors are during the movie. However, I felt it could have been a little longer with a little more story from outside after everything is over added in.
3/4 Stars

My Oscar Predictions... And who I want to win!

My Predictions

Best Visual Effects- Gravity

Best Adapted Screenplay- 12 Years a Slave

Best Original Screenplay- Her

Best Sound Editing- Captain Phillips

Best Sound Mixing- Gravity

Best Original Song- "Let it Go" from Frozen

Best Production Design- 12 Years a Slave

Best Makeup and Hairstyling- Dallas Buyers Club

Best Original Score- Gravity

Best Film Editing- Gravity

Best Cinematography- Gravity

Best Costume Design- 12 Years a Slave

Best Directing- Alfonso Cuaron

Best Animated Film- Frozen

Best Actress in a Supporting Role- Jennifer Lawrence

Best Actor in a Supporting Role- Jared Leto

Best Actress in a Leading Role- Cate Blanchett

Best Actor in a Leading Role- Matthew McConaughey

Best Picture of the Year- 12 Years a Slave

Who I Want to Win

Best Visual Effects- Gravity

Best Adapted Screenplay- The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Original Screenplay- Her

Best Sound Editing- Captain Phillips

Best Sound Mixing- Captain Phillips

Best Original Song- "Let it Go" from Frozen

Best Production Design- 12 Years a Slave

Best Makeup and Hairstyling- Dallas Buyers Club

Best Original Score- Gravity

Best Film Editing- Captain Phillips

Best Cinematography- Prisoners

Best Costume Design- American Hustle

Best Directing- Martin Scorsese

Best Animated Film- Frozen

Best Actress in a Supporting Role- Jennifer Lawrence

Best Actor in a Supporting Role- Jonah Hill

Best Actress in a Leading Role- Sandra Bullock

Best Actor in a Leading Role- Leonardo DiCaprio

Best Picture of the Year- Captain Phillips

Movie of the Week: The Departed

   

    Movie of the Week (2/23/14-3/1/14): Well, it is Oscar week ladies and gentlemen, one of my favorite weeks of the year, and I figured we would jump back to a Best Picture winner in history this week. Now, we're not going that far back, but that's okay because this movie is pretty much a classic already. I haven't met one person who did not like this movie and I imagine it would be hard to find someone who does. I mean this has a fantastic cast, a wonderful director, amazing editing, and of course fun bloody shootouts to go with it. That's right, this is The Departed.
    The plot might be a little hard to follow because it has so many components going into it, but nevertheless let's give it a try. It centers around the police trying to take down the mob and in doing so they send in an undercover to try and catch them in the act of doing something. Now, the mob has their own plans, they have a mole in the police department who is telling them everything that the cops do to try and catch them. So, sometimes things get a little messy, and both of these cops are new to the force and have their own problems. Soon they become involved with the same girl and find out stuff about each other that could get each one of them killed in their own way.
    The cast in this movie is absolutely phenomenal and each one did such a great job that they could all have won an Oscar in my book, but only one got nominated. Leonardo DiCaprio is Billy Costigan, the undercover cop in the mob, Matt Damon is Collin Sullivan as the mob mole in the police department, Jack Nicholson is the main man here, Frank Castello, as the man the cops are after, Mark Wahlberg is Dignam, Martin Sheen is Queenan, Ray Winstone as Mr. French, Vera Farmiga is Madolyn, Alec Baldwin as Ellerby, and David O'Hara as Fitzy. As you can see, that is a great cast. Now, some of them are cops some of them are mob members and one of them is stuck in the middle. But, all of them probably do their best work here, although it is close for Leo. Mark Wahlberg is great as he was the only one nominated for an Oscar.
    First things first, this film was directed by the great Martin Scorsese and it is hard to say if this is his best work, but it is certainly up there. He gave us an absolutely wonderful movie and it was all because of him and his great direction. And, believe it or not, this is the only movie in which he won an Oscar for directing, but he no doubt deserved it. We also have great editing here, as we have with all of Scorsese's movies, the editing is pretty much a character itself because it controls the pace of the movie sometimes. There are several long dialogue scenes in this movie and the quick editing helps make those scenes fun to watch because it gives it tension.
    Whiles we are on that subject, the cinematography is also at its best here as Michael Ballhaus shot us a beautiful movie to look at with some fancy camera work in several scenes and some classic camera work mixed in. Some of the classic would be during the shootouts when we have a nice wide shot going and everything can be seen. The score is also very creative here as it is mostly electric guitars giving each scene its own tone. Everything in this film is put together so well, that I'm surprised that it didn't get nominated for more Oscar's. It only got nominated for five but won four, directing, adapted screenplay, editing, and Best Picture. But it should have gotten many more nominations. Nevertheless this is a new American Classic and will probably be the last good mob movie for a long while. Stay tuned for later this week when I post my Oscar predictions and who I want to win.
4/4 Stars      

Movie of the Week: Miracle

   

    Movie of the Week (2/16/14-2/22/14): "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!" That is what happened at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York, a miracle, when the United States men hockey team defeated the heavy favorite and talented Soviet Union on February 22. But, that wasn't even the game that won them the gold medal. They then defeated Finland to complete that miracle and give hope to the United States during the troubling times of the Cold War. So, with the Winter Olympics going on right now, why not have this movie as the movie of the week. This is Miracle.
       Well, you all know the story, I'm sure, of that hockey team and their run in the Olympic Games. But, most people don't know the story behind the team and their coach, Herb Brooks. This is what the film focuses on. We get to see how Brooks brought his team together and turned them into a winning team that was full of amateur players and college players. We also see what he goes through as a coach at home and on the ice with having to make hard decisions when it came to cutting players or to punish his team when they did not play to his expectations. Although some of those decisions weren't hard. We end the movie with the "Miracle on Ice" game that will have you standing up and cheering.
    Kurt Russell is Herb Brooks and from pictures that I have seen of the real Herb Brooks, this was a perfect casting. Tragically the real Herb Brooks was killed in a single car crash the year before this movie was released. But, Kurt Russell is the reason we watch this movie because it is all about his character and what he does with it. This is probably his best performance because he nails it, especially near the end with his reaction to the Miracle. We also have Noah Emmerich as Craig Patrick, an assistant coach, and he is also great here as he is in everything he does. I really like Noah, to me he is an underrated actor who doesn't get enough recognition for the great roles he plays. Most everybody else in the film, mainly the players, are unknown actors but they all really do a great job and should be recognized as well with taking on an important film about one of the biggest sport moments in history.
    Another person that we should recognize is the director, Gavin O'Connor, who hasn't done very many movies yet. In fact he has only done three that you may know, this, Pride and Glory, and Warrior, all of which are fantastic films and if you haven't seen them you need to. His direction is similar to that of Michael Mann's, and what I mean by that is he does films that have a very realistic feel to them. He doesn't do too much fancy camera work with them and the way they are shot makes it feel like you are in the room with the actors. We can also think Dan Stoloff for that because he was the cinematographer for this film and he shot great scenes with great shots that gave them a different effect and feel. So, scenes that were meant to be uplifting were shot differently than scenes that were suppose to be sad or serious, and each shot worked perfectly.
    I believe the next big factor in this film was the score, I mean you can't have an inspirational movie without an inspirational score, right? Well, we get that thanks to composer, Mark Isham, who wrote a very inspirational score for the film and it works perfectly especially, of course, at the end. Finally, to me a good sports movie needs to have good editing because so much is going on that they can easily miss something and put it in the film where it is not suppose to be. That has happened a lot, just watch the scoreboards in sports movies, it will read a different score than it's suppose too. But, here we have good editing overall, with the exception of the missed scoreboard, once I believe during the main game. But, the rest of the editing is done very well and gives the film some extra inspiration to it as the cuts get faster during the Miracle game. This is a very good movie of a very important event that has great acting, direction, editing, and score. By the end you yourself might just be standing up and cheering!
3.5/4 Stars

Movie of the Week: Hitch

   

    Movie of the Week (2/9/14-2/15/14): I hear tell love is in the air this week, and if you want some of you can just swat it away or spray it with a can of air-freshener, or you can embrace it. That's right, this Friday is Valentines Day, or as I like to call it "Single Awareness Day," and naturally we need a movie that celebrates this holiday, at least I guess we do. However, Valentines Day is the last thing on the minds of the people in the movie this week because it is about getting people together for the first time. But, the people in this movie need the help of a man known as "The Date Doctor." This is Hitch.
    This film is a touching film as it is about a man who helps men who have a hard time talking to women, sounds like something I need, and gets them on a date. Alex Hitchens is "The Date Doctor" and he specializes in getting men on dates with women who they think they have no chance with or can't talk to. He has these principles that he and his clients go by that says otherwise. Throughout the film he focuses on one client, a guy named Albert, who wants to go on a date with the beautiful Allegra Cole. At the same time Hitch begins a relationship with a gossip columnist, Sara, who doesn't know who he is but is assigned to write about Allegra. Soon she gets some information, wrong information mind you, about Hitch from a potential client who wanted to use Hitch for something that he does not do.
    Will Smith plays Hitch and like most of his roles he is enjoyable to watch in this one. This is probably one of his most moving performances as several times he delivers great and emotional monologues. My favorite comes near the end at a speed dating scene when some things get revealed. Kevin James plays Albert Brenneman and this is probably his best performance in a movie, he is funny and serious in several scenes and it really mixed well. These are the kinds of roles that he needs to be doing more often. Eva Mendez is Sara Melas and she too delivers a charming performance as a lost girl when it comes to love, plus the chemistry between her and Will is very good. Amber Valletta finishes off the main cast as Allegra and she too, like the rest, delivers a very nice performance.
    This is the kind of movie where special effects are pretty much obsolete because it is about great story and great dialogue. This film has a very well written screenplay with some great scenes that contain wonderful monologues that are very moving. All in all it is also a very good story about love and what is the best way to peoples hearts, we can think Kevin Bisch for that. The film also has very good direction from Andy Tennant as it has a very nice flow from beginning to end along with several well directed scenes, that are funny and serious at the same time. He might be the reason Kevin James did such a good job. Now that being said this is probably Tennant's best movie because some of the others he has done are just trying to be romantic comedies, whereas this one is.
    Like I said this is a romantic comedy that is actually good. Throughout the whole film we get stuff about romance and love, yes, but we also get several funny scenes that are spaced out very well. Plus we get a good original story that is touching and not the same thing that we see in every other romantic comedy out there. This film is a well written, acted, directed, and scored film that will make you laugh, give a crooked smile, maybe tear up a little, and make you think at times. This is one of those rare romantic comedies that could actually teach us a thing or two about love this Valentines Days.
3/4 Stars.