Movie I Love #2

Smokin' Aces
I'll come out and say it, this is a bad movie. I acknowledge that, and I love it. I'm one of those people that has trouble sitting down to watch a bad movie and still like it. Everyone has one of those guilty pleasures where they know it’s bad like 300 or Transformers but they can still enjoy it. That's what Smokin' Aces is for me. The movie is about a magician named Buddy Israel he gets involved with the mob and gets too big for his britches. He essentially tries to take over the operation, but once bodies start dropping he gets out. He goes to the FBI and will be put in witness protection in return of testifying against members of the mob. But before the deal goes through he has to stay at a hotel by Lake Tahoe, soon after sh*t hits the fan. A mob boss puts a hit out on Israel for 1 million dollars, and at that point every violent sociopath in the known universe starts gunning for him. And on top of that there are a couple of bounty hunters who plan on taking him in and turning him over to the LVPD. But the FBI plan to go through hell or high water to protect their witness, then craziness ensues. Smokin' Aces is an over the top action movie and nothing more, it tries to be like a Tarantino film but doesn't even come close. The writing is less than impressive, it tries to be fast and slick but comes off much less. The acting is subpar across the board, but I'll say they managed to get some big stars for it. This isn't one of those movies you watch for a deep and compelling story, you watch it to see every one shoot each other. And by the end that's exactly what you get. The movie is no Godfather, but if you can turn your brain off and be happy with some mindless violence this is a very enjoyable movie.

Movies I Love #1

L.A. Confidential
Released in 1997, L.A. Confidential is a Neo-Noir crime thriller based off the novel of the same name. Upon its release it was praised by critics and would win several awards (nominated for nine Oscars, winning two), and the film was also a commercial success grossing over 120 million dollars (more than three times its budget). Now I want to explain what a Neo-Noir film would be. A Noir film was a term used to describe Hollywood crime dramas usually taking place in a 40's or 50's backdrop (traditionally they were in black and white) and became very popular in the 50's and 60's. They were also known for unique camera techniques involving light and shadows, emphasis on mystery, and many of them where very sexually charged. A Neo-Noir film is essentially a modern day take on the genre usually adding more action, fast paced dialog, and more up to date themes. Some examples of Neo-Noir would be L.A. confidential, Dark City, and the video game L.A. Noir (which draws heavy influence from L.A. confidential). The story of L.A. Confidential revolves around three police officers in 1953, about 2 years after the arrest of the biggest mob boss in the city Mickey Cohen. Now the city is open for the taking, and the LAPD will do anything to stop it. The big case that happens in the film is the Night Owl killings, three men with shotguns enter a dinner late at night and execute the six people inside (including a cop). A young and very smart officer who sold out some other cops for a promotion broke the case and discovered three black men who were believed to have committed the crime. But after further investigation things don't add up, and the cops discover a conspiracy they could never have imagined. Noir is one of my favorite genres, and few modern films do it as well as L.A. Confidential. Classic Noir movies tend to get a little cheesy with the dialog, but the writing in this movie is top notch (it won the Oscar for best adapted screenplay). All the actors give a fiery and passionate performance, especially from Russell Crowe (who plays one of the cops). The 50's may be my favorite setting and cinema and L.A. Confidential drops me right into the golden age of Hollywood. If I had seen this when I did my list of the 20 best movies of my lifetime I definitely would have put this film fairly high up. L.A. Confidential is a spectacular movie and one of the best crime thrillers in years. If you ask me this movie should have won best picture, unfortunately a little movie called Titanic came out that year. This has quickly become one of my favorite movies; after I saw it I went straight to Amazon and bought the Blu-ray. If you haven't seen it, take two hours out of your day and watch it; you won't regret it.

The Master Review

The Master is a drama film that was released back in late 2012. I was actually super excited for this movie going into 2012, and I was not disappointed. I meant to see it upon its release but it was in theaters for less than a month and I missed it. I then planned it on seeing it in the dollar theater but it was there for only three weeks and I missed it again. I've spent the last couple of months trying to find it online but I only found a good quality version recently. The film is directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, his previous film was There Will be Blood (which I put as the third best movie of the 21'st century). The Master stars the returning Joaquin Phoenix who plays an alcoholic sex attic war veteran named Freddie Quell. The movie starts off at the end of World War 2 when Freddie is still in the navy. After the war is over Freddie has some trouble adjusting to regular life. His first job back is taking high quality photos at a mall. He is fired after assaulting a customer. He then finds himself working on a cabbage farm where he is chased away after the other workers believe that he poisoned someone with his home made moonshine. Down on his luck he ends up walking by the bay where he sees a docked boat with a party going on, he jumps on and joins in the fun. The next day he is taken to the captain Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Lancaster is an odd one; he's a writer who claims to be a doctor, a theoretical physicist, and a philosopher. Lancaster likes Freddie and takes him under his wing. Freddie soon learns many things about Lancaster, many of them he's not sure on. Lancaster has started what appears to be his own religion where he believes in reincarnation, time travel, and evolution of the human mind by elevating our psyche. And for many years Freddie follows Lancaster for many years but always asking himself what's real and what is being made up as he goes. The Master is a brilliant film; I place it as the 12'th best film of 2012. The most interesting aspect of this movie is the subject matter. While the director never said it, the religion in the movie seems to be based off Scientology  The similarities between Lancaster and the founder of Scientology also seem related. What really elevates this movie is the stupendous acting. Joaquin Phoenix puts on the performance of his life and one of the best of the year. To be honest Joaquin is crazy in real life so that probably help with his character that is also kind of a nut. If it weren't for one Mr. Daniel Day-Lewis, he'd have a good shot at the Oscar. Philip Seymour Hoffman is a fantastic actor; he even won an Oscar a couple years back. And being nominated again this year I'd say you can't look past him. The film is also beautifying shot; Paul Thomas Anderson always manages to find great cinematographers for his movies. I only have two problems with this movie; the first is that it is confusing. Even at the end you're not sure what you just watched. The other problem is that it gets very slow in places, it almost comes to a crawl in some scenes. Compared to There Will be Blood, the Master isn't as interesting or gripping. Those two problems aside I do believe this is a great movie. This is one of those love it or hate it movies, personally I loved it but I see why others wouldn't. I'd suggest others watch it just for the experience. 4/5

A Good Day to Die Hard Review

Die Hard was released in 1988 and became an overnight success, it even spawned four sequels. The newest installation into the franchise is A Good Day to Die Hard and it's...average. The movie opens up in Russia where John McClane's son Jack is arrested for killing to man. John heads over to the former Soviet Republic to see if he can do anything. And like every other Die Hard, sh*t hits the fan pretty quickly. While on trial an explosion goes off freeing Jack and another political prisoner being tried. The men behind the explosion are there for him. You learn Jack is actually CIA who's job is to extract this man because he is believed to have evidence that a high ranking government official was behind the meltdown at Chernobyl. With some unwanted help from John, Jack is able to get out of there. Now the father son duo has to work together to get a file with the evidence in it. But being a Die Hard movie, it's never that simple. A Good Day to Die Hard isn't the worst movie in the series, but it's a long ways from the best. The problem with it is that it doesn't feel like a real Die Hard movie, it's just a perfectly forgettable action movie. The series has never been know for outstanding writing, but there are some stupid lines in this movie. John and Jack had no chemistry as father and son, Jack spent half the movie complaining that his dad was never there for him when he was a kid; all he does is whine. The acting in this movie is sub par, other than Willis (John) no one gives a decent performance. John McClane use to be a regular guy in sticky situations, but like the forth movie they just turn him into a super hero which is wrong for his character. Another problem would be that there is no central villain, each Die Hard movie has one main villain and his henchman. In this movie there's like four and none are very good. The story is also kind of confusing, it's just all over the place and a lot of things happen they don't really explain. The movie also seems to defy logic and physics in several places, a lot of things just don't add up. And the amount of green screen in this movie is pretty ridiculous, and they just throw explosions at us for no reason hoping it entertains us. I like Die Hard, I have the entire series on DVD; but this movie is a disappointment. If you want to go see a movie this weekend I'd suggest going to see some of the Oscar nominees, A Good Day to Die Hard is just a sub par action movie. If you really want to see it just wait until it's in the dollar theater. 2/5

Great movies people haven't seen #11

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
The most famous movie people haven't seen. This is one of those movies that everyone has heard of, everyone knows what it is, but few have actually sat down to watch it. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is a spaghetti western directed by Sergio Leone, now before we start I should explain what a spaghetti western is. A SW is a sub genre of westerner that started to pop up in Italy during the 60's, the main difference between a SW and a traditional western is that SW's are a lot more over the top and ridiculous. They almost take place in a fantasy world where everything defy's logic. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is actually the final film in the Dollars trilogy (the first two being a Fistful of dollars and For a few more dollars). The western has always been an American genre, but Sergio Leone actually did westerns better than anyone else. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly takes place during the civil war in the southern US. Two con artists, Tuco and Clint Eastwood's character (who's name isn't given but is refereed to as Blonde), pull a scam where Tuco poses as a wanted man and Blonde collects the award money. Before Tuco is to be hung Blonde shoots the rope with a well placed shot freeing him. After one of these jobs goes bad Blonde decides to leave Tuco about 25 miles in the dessert. Tuco seeks revenge and kidnaps Blonde at gunpoint and plans on returning the favor. He makes Blonde walk across a desert, if he makes it he lives but if he refuses he'll be shot. After about 2 days of walking they come upon a wagon containing a bunch of dead confederate soldiers. One of them is still alive and tells Tuco of two thousand dollars in confederate gold buried in a graveyard. He tells Tuco what cemetery it's at but before he says what grave it's in he asks for water. Tuco goes to get some but when he comes back he sees Blonde talking to him, but when Tuco gets over there the soldier is dead. So Tuco knows what cemetery and Blonde knows what grave, as much as they hate each other they decide to use each other to get the gold. I consider The Good, the Bad and the Ugly to one of the only truly perfect movies, I consider it to be one of the top five films of all time. It's one of those movies that follows the same road as Lawrence of Arabia and 2001: A Space odyssey, actions speak louder than words. There isn't much talking in this movie, especially from Eastwood. It lets the setting and style tell the story. And no movie does it better than this one. While this may be the final film in a trilogy you don't need to watch the others to know what happens in this. The others are great but they aren't even on the same playing field as The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Of all the movies I've talked about, of all the movies I've recommended, I can honestly say none of them are as good as this movie. And while it may not be for everyone, of any of the suggestions I've made up to this point please give The Good, the Bad and the Ugly a try.