Welcome back ladies and germs. It's another addition in this ongoing project, and it's a pretty good week. There's an annoying low point, but theres a 30 year old high point, a really interesting experiment, and a surprisingly decent reboot. Wildly varying genres and tones dominate the proceedings, so there should be something for everyone. So sit back and enjoy everybody. I'll see ya'll soon.
Harlem Nights (August 31st, 2014)
Director: Eddie Murphy
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Richard Pryor, Redd Foxx, and Danny Aiello
I really like this cast. That's what I told myself when I decided to watch this. I've heard it wasn't very good, but fuck it. Pryor, Murphy and Foxx? There's gotta be some entertainment. Nope. There was not. It was very surprising. The only surprising thing in the whole damn movie, a completely mediocre, run of the mill movie with no effort put into it. This is the height of self indulgence for Murphy, taking complete control but just assuming everything will be great. But it isn't. It's so half assed it's wild. Pryor puts no effort into this movie, seemingly bored and well aware that it's shit. It doesn't help that everyone is completely miscast. It's like a bunch of wimps trying to play tough and cool, and it doesn't work. Murphy did good work in Beverly Hills Cop, but he wasn't playing the baddest dude in the land like he is in this. The plot itself is also just really stupid and so derivative of The Sting, a movie it is so desperately trying to be the black version of. It's just not worth anybodies time, a complete miss.
Rating: 4/10
Master and Commander: The Far Side Of The World (August 31st, 2014)
Director: Peter Weir
Starring: Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, Billy Boyd, and James D'Arcy
This is an interesting movie for me to talk about. It was a very good, thrilling movie with fantastic naval battles and really good performances by Crowe and Bettany. It looks good and the plot is a really good tale of obsession. But there is so much about the life on the seas and in the Royal Navy that seems so inside, they never really stop and exposition everything so it seems like we really are outsiders looking in on this certain situation. Which in itself works, fitting the narrative. But it could leave some viewers a little confused and have a hard time finishing it. I know I had a hard time, yet it wasn't actually that confusing looking back. I'll just say it's a good movie, and if you like Crowe it's a damn fine showing of his skills before he entered his fat Marlon Brando phase of his career.
Rating: 8.5/10
Ghostbusters (September 1st, 2014)
Director: Ivan Reitman
Starring: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Sigourney Weaver
Rereleased in theaters on it's 30th anniversary is the eminently perfect Ghostbusters. We all know what Ghostbusters is, so we'll skip any perfunctory recaps. This movie is still hilarious, but watching it now is eye opening. The humor is not played broadly, nor does the movie stop to actually make the jokes to let the audience know to laugh. That, and the movie is still packed with jokes that I never noticed before. The wildest thing is that the movie was sort of duct taped together into the masterpiece we see today. The big montage after they bust Slimer was all subplots and scenes they had to cut out to keep the run time down and make the narrative cleaner. Not to mention almost all the dialogue is just improved, as if it was like the original This Is The End, a big effects heavy comedy. And aside from being a comedy, this movie may actually work better as a supernatural action mystery. We have never seen a movie this well put together in the comedy landscape since, a movie that just dances in different genres and is perfect the whole time. Staying so popular for 30 years isn't that crazy with a finished product like this.
Rating: 10/10
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (September 2nd, 2014)
Director: Jonathan Liebesman
Starring: Megan Fox, William Fichtner, Will Arnett, and Johnny Knoxville
This movie shouldn't work. We've seen what anything Michael Bay has his hands in with 80s kids products turn out like. And hell, it could be argued it doesn't work. I kinda can't even argue with that. The narrative is a mess, with a villainous plot that makes no kind of sense to a villain with no personality despite him wearing a suit made of knives. The villain is another big problem, orginally being Fichtner but then being changed because Shredder can't be a white guy. So we get a bland asian man with no personality or reason to be in the movie. That and the movies real main character is April O'Neill, played by Megan Fox. She's alright, but does nothing other than look really perplexed the whole time. And her backstory is hilarious, because we see her father die in a fire, but then Fichtner says he shot him. Obvious reshoots peaking in. But despite the mess of the whole thing, they got right what needed to be right. The Turtles personalities. Holy shit are these guys amazing. Visually they are a bit off putting, but in action you forget it. You just see and hear the turtles, and it's great. Really sort of mindblowing, since Bay really doesn't do the actual Transformers justice. It all culminates with a tiny scene with the turtles in an elevator, just beat boxing. So we are lucky they're not bad, let alone really good. Also, the action is really good. The best scene being a chase down a snowy mountain. And coming from Liebesman, it's surprising that it's all shot so clearly because he's used shaky cam crap before. Now, with a sequel being announced one can only hope that they do some narrative work in a way to make Shredder a better character and focus more on the Turtles. Also, add Krang. Cause holy shit do I wanna see that little bastard on screen.
Rating: 7.5/10
Locke (August 5th, 2014)
Director: Steven Knight
Starring: Tom Hardy
This is the most experimental movie of the week, and in a long while. The movie is about a man driving to a location to deal with a mistake he made because he is all about his principles. And all he does is talk on the phone. And because Tom Hardy is playing that man, Ivan Locke, it's all riveting. It doesn't hurt that Knight gives him something to really chew on. Hardy is so good we know this man completely, despite only knowing the bare minimum. He never leaves the car, so it's all in his voice and body language and his eyes. It's an absolutely immersive performance and another notch in the impressive filmography of Hardy. Knight also directs the hell out of this, being limited to the car. It is shot like a fever dream version of a Michael Mann movie, really neon looking lights at night. Its really kind of beautiful. I won't say much, cause it's best to go in cold on this. I'll just say that Ivan's issues all really speak to me, as they probably speak to every man. A tour de force for Hardy and just a really interesting movie.
Rating: 9/10
Best Movies
1. Ghostbusters
2. Locke
3. Master and Commander: The Far Side Of The World
4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
5. Harlem Nights
Top 5 Performances
1. Tom Hardy - Locke
2. Bill Murray - Ghostbusters
3. Russell Crowe - Master and Commander
4. Noel Fisher - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
5. Harold Ramis - Ghostbusters
Top 5 Moments
1. What Did You Do Ray? - Ghostbusters
2. Turtles In The Elevator - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
3. The Final Battle - Master and Commander
4. I Think He Can Here You Ray - Ghostbusters
5. Are You A God? - Ghostbusters
Master and Commander: The Far Side Of The World (August 31st, 2014)
Director: Peter Weir
Starring: Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, Billy Boyd, and James D'Arcy
This is an interesting movie for me to talk about. It was a very good, thrilling movie with fantastic naval battles and really good performances by Crowe and Bettany. It looks good and the plot is a really good tale of obsession. But there is so much about the life on the seas and in the Royal Navy that seems so inside, they never really stop and exposition everything so it seems like we really are outsiders looking in on this certain situation. Which in itself works, fitting the narrative. But it could leave some viewers a little confused and have a hard time finishing it. I know I had a hard time, yet it wasn't actually that confusing looking back. I'll just say it's a good movie, and if you like Crowe it's a damn fine showing of his skills before he entered his fat Marlon Brando phase of his career.
Ghostbusters (September 1st, 2014)
Director: Ivan Reitman
Starring: Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, and Sigourney Weaver
Rereleased in theaters on it's 30th anniversary is the eminently perfect Ghostbusters. We all know what Ghostbusters is, so we'll skip any perfunctory recaps. This movie is still hilarious, but watching it now is eye opening. The humor is not played broadly, nor does the movie stop to actually make the jokes to let the audience know to laugh. That, and the movie is still packed with jokes that I never noticed before. The wildest thing is that the movie was sort of duct taped together into the masterpiece we see today. The big montage after they bust Slimer was all subplots and scenes they had to cut out to keep the run time down and make the narrative cleaner. Not to mention almost all the dialogue is just improved, as if it was like the original This Is The End, a big effects heavy comedy. And aside from being a comedy, this movie may actually work better as a supernatural action mystery. We have never seen a movie this well put together in the comedy landscape since, a movie that just dances in different genres and is perfect the whole time. Staying so popular for 30 years isn't that crazy with a finished product like this.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (September 2nd, 2014)
Director: Jonathan Liebesman
Starring: Megan Fox, William Fichtner, Will Arnett, and Johnny Knoxville
This movie shouldn't work. We've seen what anything Michael Bay has his hands in with 80s kids products turn out like. And hell, it could be argued it doesn't work. I kinda can't even argue with that. The narrative is a mess, with a villainous plot that makes no kind of sense to a villain with no personality despite him wearing a suit made of knives. The villain is another big problem, orginally being Fichtner but then being changed because Shredder can't be a white guy. So we get a bland asian man with no personality or reason to be in the movie. That and the movies real main character is April O'Neill, played by Megan Fox. She's alright, but does nothing other than look really perplexed the whole time. And her backstory is hilarious, because we see her father die in a fire, but then Fichtner says he shot him. Obvious reshoots peaking in. But despite the mess of the whole thing, they got right what needed to be right. The Turtles personalities. Holy shit are these guys amazing. Visually they are a bit off putting, but in action you forget it. You just see and hear the turtles, and it's great. Really sort of mindblowing, since Bay really doesn't do the actual Transformers justice. It all culminates with a tiny scene with the turtles in an elevator, just beat boxing. So we are lucky they're not bad, let alone really good. Also, the action is really good. The best scene being a chase down a snowy mountain. And coming from Liebesman, it's surprising that it's all shot so clearly because he's used shaky cam crap before. Now, with a sequel being announced one can only hope that they do some narrative work in a way to make Shredder a better character and focus more on the Turtles. Also, add Krang. Cause holy shit do I wanna see that little bastard on screen.
Locke (August 5th, 2014)
Director: Steven Knight
Starring: Tom Hardy
This is the most experimental movie of the week, and in a long while. The movie is about a man driving to a location to deal with a mistake he made because he is all about his principles. And all he does is talk on the phone. And because Tom Hardy is playing that man, Ivan Locke, it's all riveting. It doesn't hurt that Knight gives him something to really chew on. Hardy is so good we know this man completely, despite only knowing the bare minimum. He never leaves the car, so it's all in his voice and body language and his eyes. It's an absolutely immersive performance and another notch in the impressive filmography of Hardy. Knight also directs the hell out of this, being limited to the car. It is shot like a fever dream version of a Michael Mann movie, really neon looking lights at night. Its really kind of beautiful. I won't say much, cause it's best to go in cold on this. I'll just say that Ivan's issues all really speak to me, as they probably speak to every man. A tour de force for Hardy and just a really interesting movie.
Best Movies
1. Ghostbusters
2. Locke
3. Master and Commander: The Far Side Of The World
4. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
5. Harlem Nights
Top 5 Performances
1. Tom Hardy - Locke
2. Bill Murray - Ghostbusters
3. Russell Crowe - Master and Commander
4. Noel Fisher - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
5. Harold Ramis - Ghostbusters
Top 5 Moments
1. What Did You Do Ray? - Ghostbusters
2. Turtles In The Elevator - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
3. The Final Battle - Master and Commander
4. I Think He Can Here You Ray - Ghostbusters
5. Are You A God? - Ghostbusters
- Tom Lorenzo
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