Hello everybody, we’re back and bringing the hotness. Some real interesting movies here, some great pieces of work and a disappointing if interesting sequel. All I know if you goofy bastards should watch them all (save the sequel, watch the prior entries first) and enrich your lives with good movies. And with the last movie of the week here, I never wanna hear the critique that I only like gritty movies again. So enjoy and thanks for visiting yet again.
Blackthorn (April 19th, 2015)
Director: Mateo Gil
Starring: Sam Shephard, Eduardo Noriega, Stephen Rea, and Nikolai Coster Waldeau
Man, it’s always a pleasure to see a really good western, especially one made in recent times. They always have the potential to be gorgeous looking movies and have worlds where shooting first badasses fit right in. Good westerns are rare nowadays, with only a handful having come out since the new millennium dawned. So it’s with great enjoyment to say that this is a great western, and a bit of a revisionist history western. This is a movie that posits a world where Butch Cassidy didn’t die down in Bolivia and has reached old age. Than in and of itself is interesting enough, so adding Sam Shephard playing Butch is a masterstroke. Because to have reached old age in the west as a badass means you have to REALLY be a badass. And Sam Shephard playing a crotchety old bastard is a great sight. And the story itself is great, flashing back in time to show his friendship with Sundance and compare it to his burgeoning friendship with Noriega and how they are fundamentally different. It’s kind of like The Godfather Part II to Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid. I won’t ruin the surprises, even though it isn’t a twist kind of movie, but it’s a movie that is great to just experience fresh. The portrayal of Butch in this is as an old man who has changed from the wild cad he was in the day. He has land and is content with his existence. But he can still bring out his old tricks of the trade when need be. Aside from some little pacing issues, this is fantastic. Shephard is brilliant, the visuals are gorgeous and the story is surprisingly poignant. Highly recommended.
Rating: 9.5/10
Life Of Crime (April 23rd, 2015)
Director: Daniel Schechter
Starring: John Hawkes, Yasiin Bey, Jennifer Aniston, and Tim Robbins
Elmore Leonard, for the most part, makes some pretty enjoyable movies. Sure, there’s the occasional The Big Bounce. Usually though, we can expect a good time at the very least from an adaptation of the mans work. And that’s what we get here, a modest but enjoyable adaption of one of his books. It’s a bit of an odd one too, since it focuses on two characters who appeared in Jackie Brown, Ordell Robie and Louis Garra, despite not being set in that same world. Where Sam Jackson and Robert DeNiro played the two, respectively, in Jackie Brown, we got Yasiin Bey and John Hawkes this time out. It’s set in the 70s and the two have a plan to kidnap Jennifer Anniston, who is married to thieving land dealer Tim Robbins, for a ransom. But things, as usual in Leonard stories, don’t go to plan. But unlike most other of his stories, this one doesn’t end in blood. It’s low key and charming, with nothing really special to stand out. Where properties like Jackie Brown and Justified manage to feel like his Leonard, they also elevate them for the form and give them some flair. But this feels more like a straight, reverent adaptation. Which is fine, but not classic status. The direction is decent enough, but it’s the cast that makes this work. Hawkes is the standout, really making Louis feel like a lovable doofus we all know. Bey channels some Sam Jackson in the role and makes it work. Anniston is decent enough in her role as the sad house wife. It’s filled with Leonard characters which will always be more interesting than the vast majority than most crime flicks. Fun enough, but nothing to beat the door down for.
Rating: 8/10
Psycho III (April 25th, 2015)
Director: Anthony Perkins
Starring: Anthony Perkins, Diana Scarwid, Jeff Fahey, and Roberta Maxwell
Psycho II was a lot better than it had any right to be. It could have been cheap cash crab to capitalize on the 80s slasher boom, but it really stood out as a real character study of Norman Bates trying to stay sane. It felt like Hitch and a worthy follow up to the original. Or in Tarantinos mind, better than the original. And with the ending it had, it wasn’t a surprise to see a sequel. But sadly, I have to report that it isn’t very good. It’s not bad or a trainwreck or anything. But it feels very repetitive and half assed. It has some low key, slasher movie charms to it but it doesn’t really work very well. Perkins isn’t as good this time out as Bates, only really coming to play fully in fleeting moments. And as a director, he leaves a little to be desired. Some flat visuals and uninspired kill scenes don’t amp up the energy. There’s some good stuff here, mainly in the reworking of some of the retconning from the last one. And there’s some interesting stuff with Scarwid’s character, who reminds him of Marion Crane from the original. And it has Jeff Fahey, who is always a pleasure to watch, even though his character doesn’t really work. The ending is great though, a fitting end to the Bates legacy. I’d say see it just to see Norman one last time, chronologically. But don’t get your hopes up.
Rating: 5/10
Stardust (April 25th, 2015)
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Starring: Charlie Cox, Claire Danes, Michelle Pfeifer, and Robert DeNiro
Matthew Vaughn really hasn’t made a bad movie. It’s really crazy to look at his career, a man who worked with Guy Ritchie for a while and then broke off on his own with a solid Ritchie esque movie in Layer Cake. Since then, he’s been doing comic book movies, essentially origin stories, and has been getting better each time (with a minor slip with Kick-Ass). And most people would kill to have this on the their filmography, because it would be their best flick. But for him, this is his third best and that’s nuts. This is a really great movie. It’s like his version of a more comic booky The Princess Bride. Funny and thrilling and wholly original, this is a wild ride. And being based off a Neil Gaiman book, that’s totally fitting. He gets great stuff from his cast, discovering future Daredevil Charlie Cox, bringing Claire Danes back to the public with a charming performance, and a hilariously fey performance by DeNiro as a gay pirate. The romance at play here is actually very effective and is due in most part to Danes and Cox. Despite some rough CGI and effects work, on a whole it’s a gorgeous looking movie. But most of all, it’s funny. And while it’s laugh out loud the whole time, it does have stakes and is very effecting. Great flick and another example of Vaughns work as a master popcorn filmmaker.
Rating: 9.5/10
Top Movies
1. Stardust
2. Blackthorn
3. Life Of Crime
4. Psycho III
- Tom Lorenzo
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