Thirty Year Anniversary of The Lion King

 

                                     If there was that one movie I can remember from my childhood and say no question was my first movie I saw in the movie theaters as well as my first Disney movie that later became my first love it would most certainly be the Lion King, and sure there were other Disney movies I can remember watching on VHS but in all honesty there were majority of those movies that I liked because my sister loved them so in all fairness they were my sister's films. But no doubt the Lion King was the first Disney movie I saw in the movie theater and a movie I loved from start to finish. If you remember you first time going to the theater you have that strange experience of going into a dark room and then that epic score by Hans Zimmer playing in the background, that's really this was my first Hans Zimmer movie at the time I never understood movie scores as well as my first introduction of the late great James Earl Jones, and thirty years now this film was still stands the test of time and still one of my favorite Disney movies of all time.

                                     You take the story elements of Hamlet as well as Disney animations. You have a great story of a young lion cub destined to be king of the pride lands by his father, but when the young cub’s father dies at the hands of his younger brother. It sets him on a journey of self-discovery as he must find his true purpose and avenge his father's killer.

                                     There are always those certain movies that bring a smile to your face though you’re not sure if those movies would turn out like you remember but somehow, they give you a sense of joy that you most certainly never expect but most importantly need. Granted I wasn't sure if the Lion King would be as great or memorable as I'd remember, but once Hans Zimmer's score burst on the screen it's just given me a sense of joy more importantly it brought back a time for me when Disney was still a company that brought joy to kids as well as being able to create new and original stories to tell instead of now being unoriginal and recreating live action cartoons and sure it's fine like every kid has that one Disney movie that still brings them joy even if your part of the Gen Z or millennial, hell every time I talk about Disney movies I know how Sid the Kid feels about these up and comers in the NHL, it's like yeah I most certainly hear you Crosby. The funny thing as well as a fun fact about the music behind the Lion King is that Elton John wrote the songs to Lion King along with Tim Rice, and the creators and directors of the film hired Hans Zimmer to compose the music and originally they had a different intro for the film, until the listen Zimmer's epic score for the movie all of them where just like okay we need to make new adjustments because we liked this much better and even Hans in his own words though I don't remember but he even says that he wasn't sure if his music would be acceptable when in fact they loved it and hell even I loved the music because really, that's pretty much as close to Africa as I'm ever going to get in terms of actually going there because let’s face it, getting rich is never easy in this lifetime so thankfully I have Hans Zimmer's music to the Lion King to give me company. As much of a first this movie was that introduced me to the late great James Earl Jones but was also a first introduction to Jeremy Irons and even, he does such a fantastic job playing the ultimate Disney antagonist whose despicable but also has that heartless ability that you just must hate him, and it's true Brits makes such great villains there's no question. I used to think that Wargames was my only Matthew Broderick I can sit and enjoy but now watching the Lion King it's like holy crap I have another movie I can enjoy and even he does a great job playing the hero who isn't sure but knows he must overthrow his uncle. Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella does a great job playing the comedic duo of Timon and Pumba (the vegetarians of the movie), but Cheech Marin and Whoopi Goldberg does a great job playing the comedic antagonists that were on Scar's side aka Jeremy Irons and this was a time when Whoopi had a brain, now along with the witches on the View she's now the dumbest person on the planet, and Cheech was still funny even though I wasn't young enough to know Cheech's earlier work. Toy Story's one and two are great films no question about it but really the Lion King has that feel of happiness that I never quite experienced in a long time especially when it comes to a Disney movie and really the Lion King is most certainly that greatest animated film that still stands the test of time and most certainly on my list of greatest movies ever made, and the fact that it's been thirty years since the film’s release, time well tested for the Lion King. Now, I'm looking forward to the Lion King 2: Simba's Pride because that's another movie I remembered watching growing up.

     

I Married a Witch

 

                                  The election is finally gone though it's been gone for a few weeks ago, but deep-down what’s great about the election being over is that we don't have to watch or hear any of those awful smear campaign ads. But through the course of this year’s election, I begin to have a theory that most of the politicians who run for politics sell their soul to Satan, and this latest film I watched pretty much sum up my theory on politicians of today. I married a Witch is a story about a Governor running for office who mysteriously falls in love with a witch. For which come on it makes more sense because look at Jimmy Carter the man sold his soul to Satan and in return, he's cursed to live forever but in old age. Furthermore, this was my first introduction to Veronica Lake and though she's been dead for quite some time that woman is gorgeous, like if this woman came into my life, I would say thank you lord.

                                  Just as she is about to be burned at the stake for witchcraft, 17th century witch Jennifer (Veronica Lake) cast a curse on the family of her accuser, dooming all the men of future generations to marry the wrong woman. Freed from her ethereal prison some 250 years later, Jennifer decides to make the most recent descendant of her accuser (Fredric March) even more miserably by using a love potion on him that makes him fall in love with her, a plan that has unexpected results.

                                  The movie was on my radar for quite some time, and I never knew which month to use this film for either in October or the election for many reasons they both have the themes of politics and Halloween but as faith would happen its best use for post-election. A fun fact about I married a Witch is that the film itself was one of the many inspirations television creator Sol Saks used for his TV hit Bewitched and even though the movie and show were owned by different movie studios, Saks himself didn't feel worried about being sued. For a film that was made in early forties I have to admit that the visual effects we're impressive especially when these types of effects were either a hit or a miss and some of the effects where Lake is sliding back up a stair case I felt like I was jumping out of my body like a bad acid effect just feeling a bit to tripe if you catch my meaning. Now I'll say it again that this was my first experience watching a Veronica Lake movie and I had no idea how beautiful she looks on screen especially when she's sitting on a chair with a fur coat and her hair out it's like "damn" I mean if I was Fredric March I would simply be like hello love of my life and call up my fiancée and simply tell her to f off and express how annoyed and miserable I feel when she's being a bitch, and yet the funny think is the actor has no spine through the course of the movie until the third act and I'm no expert at love but guys if you find a woman whose eyeing you, you go for that girl no matter if you’re in a relationship that's making you miserable. Granted if I was rewriting this movie, I will simply have the woman tell the dude if he loves her and if he's still refusing show the victim of the last man she's been with and then give him a realization "I guess I can love a beautiful woman like you especially if it's Veronica Lake. The interesting thing is Veronica Lake's iconic hair style of having her right eye covered, many women copied the style which caused problems because most women were working in war plants and their hair kept getting caught in the machinery. Now granted this was the fab back then but I would simply tell the ladies in just using that hair style when you go out, because after this news got out Lake was asked her style until after the war is over but then it was too late because she was out of a job as well as her popularity. For a movie that I found at Max I have to say that this was a nice piece of hidden treasure to find and the plot speaks for itself of being an intriguing movie to watch. So, no question I would recommend watching this movie especially when you can find the film on both Max and YouTube. Though I want to share one piece of advice to anyone wanting to get into politics never marry a witch or sell your soul to Satan you don't want to be like Joe Biden or Nancy Pelosi, hell I'm still in the belief that Pelosi is a bad witch for a long time and not even the good kinds of witches that looks more beautiful than Veronica Lake and this is the same woman who took her mask of during Covid and blamed a worker for it so again, one of the worst witches ever, don't believe me look at her and Hilary Clinton because they both use their own marriages to get what they want in life so there's no secret they're both witches.

         

45th Anniversary of Alien

 

                                       I knew the day would come when I would have to talk about Ridley Scott's Sci-Fi/horror masterpiece Alien, it's just a matter of when I would find that opportunity. Ironically enough with the release of Alien: Romulus back in August as well as the reminder of Ridley Scott's second film now officially turning 45 years of age, also it's Halloween I figured well now the time has come. Alien to me is most certainly one of Ridley Scott's greatest movies of all time, up there with films like Blade Runner, Gladiator, Kingdom of Heaven and the Martian. Though this was the first and original of the Alien movie franchises I would most certainly say it's still the scariest movie of the golden age of cinema considering that it was originally intended to be a typical B-movie slog that now one would expect to be what it is today.

                                       In deep space, the crew of the commercial starship Nostromo is awakened from their cryo-sleep capsules halfway through their journey home to investigate a distress call from an alien vessel. The terror begins when the crew encounters a nest of eggs inside the alien ship. An organism from inside the egg leaps out and attaches itself to one of the crew, causing him to fall into a coma. 

                                       A lot of people don't know that this iconic Alien creature, was nearly close to just being a typical b-movie monster nothing special and 20th Century Fox wasn't all interested in giving it a bigger budget for obvious reasons science fiction wasn't big in the early seventies this was long before Star Wars changed everything and once Star Wars changed the game Sci-Fi was becoming the go too genre for movies, now than 20th Century Fox had to make Alien it's next feature film to make. Ridley Scott surprisingly wasn't the first director to be approached for the movie through the course of financing the film, they tried to hire directors like John Boorman, Jack Clayton, Robert Aldrich, and Robert Altman for which sure some of them have good movies I like well, Aldrich and maybe Altman? But deep down I would never in a million years accept those directors to direct a horror film like this and because Ridley has great attention to detail furthermore reads the script, so you know you have a great director when you have someone who reads the script and has a great eye for the visuals. Now I can go on for hours and hours of Ridley being a great director but I have to give all those people who don't get a whole lot of credit and really there's two one is H.R. Giger and Jerry Goldsmith, first person we're going to talk about is most certainly H.R. Giger whose responsible for creating the iconic look of the Xenomorph design, and back then when you’re trying to create a something new and original nothing to the extent of making a bad B-movie monster Giger's design of creating both the facehugger, the chestburster and finally the Xenomorph is extraordinary and so terrifying that no wonder this man won in Oscar for Visual Effects along with his fellow collaborators. Jerry Goldsmith on the other hand (who also did another of my favorite films the Mummy) does a fantastic job with creating a deep space unknown feel to the film and transitions to a suspenseful horror that even this man deserves a ton of credit even though I wished this guy got more Oscar nod for Alien than the first Star Trek film but deep down, you can't get what you want in life. There’s a grand total of seven main cast members in the movie and only one in the Alien suit but if I had to pick out one of the main cast members who really does an excellent job in the movie, it would most certainly be the late Ian Holm who when you watch the first time you see him as in ally and learns what a manipulator he is and when you watch this movie a bunch of times like I have the was a true manipulator all along. Ridley Scott is a great visual director but he's also a master of WTF moments and Alien was most certainly the Godfather of WTF moments I mean sure I've seen John Hurts giving birth scene so many times that sure you wouldn't be so scared but even the scenes when Tom Skeritt is in the ventilation shaft and it's so cramp and crawling to find the creature even I at times just want to cringe because if I was in there I would most certainly run for my life and even the jump scare seals it for me, but getting to the point this film yes is 45 years old but it's still incredible with its jump scares to the visuals and even the WTF moments I mean hell it's the reason why I haven't sat down and played Alien: Isolation which deep down I do know I need to face my fears and play that game because I love the Alien film. If you want a good lesson on how to sell a movie watch the original Alien trailer and you can find it on YouTube because anything good and easy to find is most certainly on YouTube and watch how they don't show anything not the creature just some out of focus and shocking things that would keep you on the edge of your seat and then cut to the Nostromo space ship and the famous line "In Space no one can hear you scream" and just end there, and really is the greatest trailer ever created because it draws you into something that is both terrifying and sou suspenseful that you have to watch it so, hopefully you all go on YouTube right now and watch that trailer. My niece I would imagine would not be all interested in the first Alien film but would most certainly love Alien: Romulus, but for all of you millennial's or Generation X out there I would highly recommend watching the very first Alien film and luckily is on Hulu, it’s a true horror classic from start to finish I’ll say again a godfather of WTF moments but more importantly if you’re a fan of the Alien films like I am it’s sort of a relatable movie considering that all the films have corporations that literally don’t care for us human beings and that’s kind of what we’re living in right now so, in a strange sense all the Alein films are relatable in a bizarre sense. Though their separate versions of the film, both the 1979 version and the Directors Cut so, whichever version you watch just note that for sure you need to watch both films but are also incredible just like both versions of the original Star Wars.

              

October Recommendation: The Thing

 

                                          My brother and I had our typical movie nights, and our choice of film was the Fog, which to make a long story short it was one of the most boring things we've ever witnessed. And my brother kept mentioning John Carpenter's the Thing and I though well long day at work recently purchased a subscription to Peacock, I figured might as well give this movie a watch. And I've never in a million years seen the movie I never quite seen the monster in terms of oh that's what the monster looks like and to be truthfully honest I never good a full frame of reference, in what this monster is I always figured it's something! Though I did catch some references that gave me a chuckle the infamous one is an episode of South Park where all the kids are giving samples of blood to see who has head lice, which now watching the film I was smiling a little. 

                                           In a remote Antarctica, a group of American research scientists are disturbed at their base camp by a helicopter shooting at a sled dog. When they take in the dog, it brutally attacks both humans and canines in the camp and they discover that the beast can assume the shape of its victims. A resourceful helicopter pilot (Kurt Russell) and the camp doctor (Richard Dysart) lead the camp crew in a desperate, gory battle against the vicious creature before it picks them off, one by one. 

                                           John Carpenter was told by Stephan King "the cliché's in Hollywood are that you never see the monster, you always keep the devil in the shadows, however if you can come up with something outstanding on screen you'll hit a home run out of the ball park and the audience will never forget it" For which leads us to how the Thing was developed. Like I said before I have never this movie never seen what the monster looks like so, just to make sure that everyone reading this review knows I've never seen this movie nor seen what the monster looks like which really I was watching this with open eyes, and this goes to when watching the first opening scene a helicopter is shooting at a sled Dog and I'm like why are these guys being such monsters in shooting a innocent dog and then slowly I become to realize oh, there's more to what is going on and I'm not going to give any detail's away because I want everyone to watch this film because it's excellent probably up there between Halloween and They Live as the best John Carpenter films I've seen. Unlike the Fog which after the first twenty minutes is pure boredom, the Thing does a fantastic job in incorporating a lot of paranoia throughout the movie to the point where your locked in with a bunch of people and you’re not sure who is who is just pure genius especially when their trying to figure out who is infected via taking samples of blood in order to see who is who while creating a ton of tension which again is just pure greatness, the other thing in what I love about the movie is that it takes a lot of inspiration from Ridley Scott's Alien where it only focuses on just these group of people out in the middle of nowhere and they build a horror movie around it. Furthermore what makes this movie great is that it ends the film in a way where you don't need a sequel where you can tell how this was going to end and you feel satisfied by the final frame, and the fact that back in 2011 they made a prequel about the film it's just well I have no interest in wanting to watch that film at all even if it star's Joel Edgerton, and really the Thing deserves a ton credit for its satisfying ending of you don't need any more Thing sequels so, deep down you all can just forget that there was a prequel this amazing treasure. I've never seen a whole lot of Kurt Russell's films from when he was a young buck and it's nothing out of disrespect I just never got around to seeing them but this film I have to say Kurt Russell does a great job being a bada**  and Keith David whose had a bad rap of playing "that guy does a great job with this movie as well that hopefully everyone after seeing the Thing you should also check out They Live which is another great movie he's in also be sure to check out Rick and Morty because he does play the President as well. I would say that this movie not doing well at the box office in America is a crime against humanity though sure it was going up against a ton of films like E.T. and Poltergeist but come on people have a heart this is like the crown jewel of scary movies done right hell can't be worse than watching the Fog. I'm going to cut myself off in terms of talking about how good the Thing is because granted I talk to much but if you’re looking for a scary movie to watch in the Halloween seasons or in the final days of October I would highly recommend watching the Thing, for many reasons it has a great list of actors, great suspense and John Carpenter creating something new with alien monsters that is almost a breath of fresh air.

          

50th Anniversary of Young Frankenstein

 

                                                

                                          Well, we've talked about the greatest comedy in Blazing Saddles for which has turned 50 years of age. Now where I am going to talk about the greatest and perfect Halloween comedy that is Young Frankenstein, who has well turned 50 years of age. This is movie I declare as one of Gene Wilder's greatest performances of all time, though will get to him later. The film was the third collaboration with both Gene Wilder as well as the legendary comedic director Mel Brooks, Brooks himself stated in 2014 the year of its 40th Anniversary of its release, that Young Frankenstein was by far his finest work (although not his funniest) though I beg to differ as do many people who love the film including my own parents. Though how about we take a step back in time and talk about how great a year it was for Mel Brooks in terms of making two of the greatest comedies of all time including Young Frankenstein for which you can watch repeatedly this Halloween season.

                                          Respected medical lecturer Dr. Fredrick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) learns that he has inherited his infamous great grandfather's estate in Transylvania. Arriving at the castle, Dr. Frankenstein soon begins to recreate his grandfather's experiments with the help of servants Igor (Marty Feldman), Inga (Teri Garr) and the fearsome Frau Blucher (Cloris Leachman). After he creates his own monster (Peter Boyle), new complications are ensured with the arrival of the Doctor's fiancée (Madeline Kahn).    

                                          The way the film came about was during the final few weeks of shooting Blazing Saddles, both Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks we're sharing a cup of coffee and Wilder decided to pitch the idea to Brooks of doing another Frankenstein movie, and Brooks in his own words says "Not another! We've had son of, the cousin of, the brother-in-law. We don't need another Frankenstein" and Wilder simplified his pitch and told Brooks "what if the grandson of Dr. Frankenstein wanted nothing to do with the family whatsoever. He was ashamed of those wackos" and Brooks claims that it sounds funny. Both Gene Wilder and Mel Brooks co-wrote the script together and wrote a good portion of the funny things that makes this film great, thought like most co-writers, the two men even went into blows over the infamous musical sequence, Brooks personally felt it was too silly to have a monster sing and dance, but eventually yielded to Gene's arguments, and what I remember while watching a making off featurette Brooks was basically testing him in if Gene himself truly would fight for this music number as well as wanting to believe it to be right and by the end of the argument each men got what they wanted. The crazy thing while researching the movie was that the principal production shoot started in February 19th, of 1974 and ended around May 3rd of 1974 for which makes a lot of sense consisting that majority of the film was shot on what I presume is sound stage with very little outdoor shooting which deep down is really cool for many reasons both Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein came out the same year of 74, and I could imagine while doing post production of Blazing Saddles, both Mel and Gene began writing out the script in 73, and then while they finished Blazing Saddles, financed Young Frankenstein and in February they began production, because the movie itself was released in December of 74. I will state that both Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein are both Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder's best works together and we can always state that Blazing Saddles will be the greatest comedy spoof but I still have to say as a performance alone Young Frankenstein is Gene Wilder's greatest performance just because he does such a great job playing a character that's a bit crazy but has a lot of anger issues and I could probably talk so much about which scene that he shines in but the problem is he shines in just about everything but even from his slight craziness to realizing he put in a Abby normal brain which is hilarious as well as pure genius in terms of how to be funny and deep down everyone if you want to be a comedic actor Young Frankenstein is a great example of that. Speaking learning to be funny! Ladies, do you want to know how to be funny? watch Madeline Kahn's performance as well as Terri Garr and Cloris Leachman's performances in Young Frankenstein don't watch any of Melissa McCarthy, Amy Schumer hell even Sarah Silverman just watch this movie that includes three great female performances because both Kahn, Garr and Leachman are also the best part of the movie and I can go to great length on why they're so hilarious in the movie but my last review was close to three pages so to make the sentence short to the point each of them have a great comedic spin when it comes to delivering a great performance and both of them our excellent. Marty Feldman does a great comedic portrayal of Igor with his crazy eyes for which his real-life portraits those are real eyes to all the youngsters who haven't seen Young Frankenstein those are his real eyes but also, he does a great job playing innocent especially when he's being asked about his hump. Peter Boyle, a lot of people don't know, and this is going to the youngsters is Raymond's Dad in Everybody Loves Raymond and he does a fantastic job playing the monster in the movie but though the course of the movie has great reactions especially with scenes with Wilder and Hackman. Speaking of one surprising guest star Gene Hackman plays a small role in the movie as a blind man who all he wants is a friend and has Boyle's character who can't speak and his one scene is just pure greatness that four years into the future he would play Lex Luther in Superman: The Movie, fun fact Hackman and Wilder were tennis buddies and he offered him to play a small role in this Frankenstein spoof. Both Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein are very different in terms of comedy especially when it comes to the theme as well as the genre moreover Blazing Saddles was rated R and Young Frankenstein is PG. Though what makes this movie fantastic is that they hide a lot of the comedic sexual content without even using any vulgar language and to me I always like that concept of hiding some bad languages and disguising them with different languages throughout the course of the story. Having watched so many so called scary movies and suspense films this month, Young Frankenstein is most certainly a perfect Halloween comedy to watch in the month of October for one reason only when you’re trying to watch something that's a great refresher for when you feeling for something nostalgia or something that has great comedy and I haven't seen Young Frankenstein in a while and now that I purchased it on Blu-Ray, this will most certainly be my go to movie for when I'm tired of watching different scary films like the Shelly Duvall's Sleepy Hollow and Young Frankenstein will probably be my go to movies to watch in the month of October, but really if you want to rank what makes a great movie to watch for the Halloween season it's perfect for its ability to have great comedy as well as some serious acting because if you watch the film carefully Leachman is crying while acting out her reveal and it's just great. So, in celebrating its 50 years of existence I would highly recommend watching Mel Brooks Young Frankenstein and witness Gene Wilder's greatest performance to date through the remanding days of the Halloween season. 

                

40th Anniversary of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

 

                                      You know you’re feeling old when one of the darkest Indiana Jones sequel/prequel has turned 40 years old. Believe it or not ladies and gentlemen Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom has just turned 40 years of age, the one film that inspired the PG-13 rating, the one movie that parents all over the world would not let their own kids watch after witnessing this movie INCLUDING MINE. I honestly don't remember when the first time I watched the movie in all honesty the first time I watched the film was on TV and I never expected anything like it especially when a character is experiencing darkness. I was one of the many kids that my parents wouldn't let me watch this movie. I was only allowed to watch Raiders of the Lost Ark and Last Crusade and to be honest I can't blame my parents for not letting me watch the movie till I was either watching it with them or I was a proper age.

                                      Intrepid archaeologist Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), on the trail of fortune and glory in old Shanghai, is ricocheted into a dangerous adventure in India. With his faithful companion Short Round (Ke Huy Quan) and nightclub singer Willie Scott (Kate Capshaw), Indy goes in search of the magical Sankara stone and uncovers an ancient evil which threatens all who encounters it. 

                                      After the success Raiders of the Lost Ark, though this was before Raiders George Lucas told Steven Spielberg that if he was going to direct the first Indy film he was going to direct two more films because he had two stories in mind, unfortunately George didn't have the stories figured out yet so after Raiders crushed the box office they had to come up with the second film though really a prequal of the Indy story. I'm not sure a lot of people know this but the real reason why this film turned into a much darker film was simply because of the personal break ups with girlfriends and wife's though the wife is on George's side so we can separate the two so, yeah the real reason why this film is so dark was because the greatest men in cinema had bad break ups, though let's be honest it's horrible but ladies this is what happens when you break up us guys were going to be in this dark phase where we may or may not think about total domination of the world or just make an exciting adventure film with a ton of dark moments. For years I never quite understood why this sequel was set in 1935 and yet Raiders was set in 1936-37 and really I never quite understood why they made a prequel until I did my research and Lucas states that the reason why Temple of Doom was set in 1935 was because they wanted new villains besides Nazi's, and really makes a lot of sense when you think about it because having the same villains kind of loses it flair in some ways and really cultists who practice dark magic that's most certainly a nice touch. Harrison Ford really does a fantastic job in the movie as he always does but this is a movie where he becomes evil for a little while and I swear evil Indy is so terrifying when you re watch this film again, and even when he's being tortured with voodoo magic that's really hard to watch and even some of the fights with the infamous big man Pat Roach who was the Big Nazi in Raiders, he punches him so hard it felt like he's in so much pain that you feel for Ford and as a matter of fact he did break his back on set and they had to use his stunt double to film some of the wide shots so, really this was one of the few action films Ford does where he's really put to the test and he does a great job at that. Ke Huy Quan who plays Short Round in the movie does a great job in this movie as well and this was his first film and his acting abilities were just incredible through the course of the movie as well as his chemistry with him and Harrison Ford together is so special that after Quan won the Oscar for best supporting actor as well as his film getting Best Picture award you finally have the nice reunion between him and Ford at the Oscars for which I always thought was the most special thing to witness on TV and reliving these two in this movie they both do a great job being the best companions. Sure Harrison Ford is the perfect Protagonist but with Temple of Doom I truly believe he met his match with Mola Ram aka Amrish Puri, and really I've always watched a ton of Harrison Ford's movies through the years and I don't think any antagonist can hold up to the way Puri did with the Temple of Doom I mean this guy really dived deep into his character I mean you talk about a bad guy that would haunt your nightmares from your childhood I think he really does a fantastic job, I mean this guy literally forced Indy to drink blood, almost close to ripping his heart (thought you can only do that once) and really of all the antagonist Ford fought, Mola Ram was most certainly his best match-up. And let’s not forget Mola Ram gave us the PG-13 rating so in all fairness the character of Mola Ram that George Lucas and the writers of Temple of Doom created is almost close to being a hero like Thanos wiping out all the hypocritical people of the world, though that's a theory for another time. The set design is hands down one of the greatest set pieces especially the Temple of Doom set for many reasons it has this beauty and yet haunting feel to it especially when you get to that scene and you experience your heart pounding like a sledgehammer and another legendary man who deserves a ton of credit goes to John Williams, a side from his iconic Indiana Jones theme music he also creates a just haunting music to go with the Temple of Doom scenes especially when they have the scenes of Mola Ram ripping the heart, and really when you look at that film carefully it's like then film a random person just going all in and just tearing the heart although it's just focuses on the body and the hand even though it's a disturbing feel it's also fascinating of how they were able to film it. Sure, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom is everyone's least favorite movie and now question every parent in the eighties and nineties especially my parents and really, I can't blame them because really if I'm showing this to my kids, I don't want them to have nightmares or watch this late at night then going to bed with the nightmare of being sacrificed. And let’s not forget that this was Steven Spielberg least favorite Indy film and Lawrence Kasdan wasn't interested to write this film claiming that this film was clearly a chaotic period in both Lucas and Spielberg's life. Now that being said from everyone's opinion and having reliving this great film I truly think that people need to come back and re-watch the film mainly because it was just trying to capture something new and different from Raiders not just recycling the same bad guys or the same tropes of Indy always being okay but also seeing that the character is venerable and isn't sure if he's going to make it out alive or be a slave for the rest of his life which is a huge risk but is also a great risk to have for a character whose also scared for himself but also the people he's close to. But more importantly without this movie we wouldn't have the PG-13 rating, furthermore this is something of fate reaching to both Lucas and Spielberg of pushing the boundary as well as coming up with new dangers for a heroic character like Indiana Jones. So, I would highly suggest to all parents and fans of the Indiana Jones films to re-watch Temple of Doom and give it a chance and hopefully see that this is an important movie in terms of the rating system in movies now. And hopefully everyone looks at this as a fun, dark yet exciting film to watch on Halloween, hell Ghostbusters has some scary moments and nobody every talk about those scenes where Sigourney Weaver is being sucked into a closet, though to be fair nobody's heart was ripped out in that movie despite the fact that Dan Aykroyd does make a surprising cameo appearance in Temple of Doom though that’s for me to know where you can spot him and for the rest of you, you’ll have to figure that out and watch the movie.

         

The Lighthouse

 

                                     Continuing with taking a leap of faith in finding those films I wouldn't touch but need to expand my horizons, unfortunately this was one of those movies where I don't know if this was intended to be a comedy or psychological horror movie? The Lighthouse the best way I would describe the movie as a fore warning that 2020 was going to be the worst year of our lives, and this movie came out in 2019 and this was foreshadowing that two week of being in quarantined in your own home, once exposed to Covid will sure be madness. In fact, I believe Fauci's advisors told him to watch this movie, and he was like "nah, the people will be fine". Also, if you're living with a guy who says that he wants a rare steak so bad that he would have intercourse with the steak it's probably best you'd find a way out of the house or sleep somewhere else.

                                      Two lighthouse keepers try to maintain their sanity while living on a remote and mysterious New England Island in the 1890's.

                                      The Lighthouse is directed by American filmmaker Robert Eggers, and the best way to describe Robert Eggers work is it has a lot to do with folkloric and mythological elements with a kiss of historical elements as well and I've recently reviewed another one of his films in The Northman which is a Viking story mixed with elements of Hamlet. Although I dig the Northman for many reasons it has Vikings moreover it does have that bizarre element but, in all fairness, I've binged four and a half seasons of the TV series Vikings and really when it comes to Norse Mythology, they clearly have a ton of weird pagan rituals. Although Northman I can get by on the Lighthouse is a whole, another level of bizarre and weirdness that I can't even explain. I've heard of this movie five years ago but like most of these psychological horror/artsy films I decided in my own personal reasons to pass on it, that is until now when I saw this Lighthouse dub with both Mickey Mouse, Goofy and Donald Duck voices and showed one scene that I knew I need to see this movie and it was Robert Pattinson budging a Sea Gull and it’s in a sort of funny way because I can't go with the idea of some human being able to grab any bird because I tried to catch birds when I was a young kid and I could never be able to catch them either way this was one of those films I figured I might as well give it a try. Sadly, this film is defiantly one of those movies that could be funny but then just becomes boring from start to finish. Now, I get that this film has it's complex elements of character study and cabin fever, but the main problem is both men are crazy though William Dafoe is pre-crazy, Edward is at the start of the movie not crazy just a typical man who is putting up with Dafoe's frequent farts and his strict orders of not going up to the light and then by the end of the movie he's clearly becomes crazy and is fed up with him for which in fairness it's normal because if I was living with any of my relatives for two weeks of covid quarantine I would most certainly lose my mind though I don't remember my Dad farting constantly. The other think in what turns me off this film is when you make a psychological Horror film you must keep your audience on the edge of your seat as well as make your audience scarred from seeing the film. The thing that makes this film not so scary at all is that I personally feel like it was trying to be funny like the bizarre ax chase scene between Goblin and Edward and it's filmed like these two don't know how to run or hold an ax, to these guys getting sh**t faced as well as dancing with each other to getting into a brawl and then Pattinson jerking his boner with a mermaid doll and cuts to him literally having sex with a mermaid which I don't believe is impossible, but really that's just the problem with this movie is that you're not quite sure if this movie was intended to be funny or scary kind of like the Happening where it wasn't marketed right and was revealed to be a failed comedy, and really you can look up logs of lighthouse workers on what they did and I don't quite believed Eggers really did any research on lighthouse workers and yet again people praise this movie as a great movie. For which really I can't believe if the critics of the world really watched the movie whole and just watched the trailer furthermore how can any sane person look at this movie and say that this is scary really just like the Shining where Jack Nicholson is bonkers through the beginning and end of the movie and people say it's the greatest thing ever, it's just one of those things that I don't quite understand but in the end I'm one of the few who don't understand it. If you're into artsy, bizarre horror movies? Go nuts buddy, as for me I just can't recommend it to anyone because it feels like another movie like, the Happening where it's funny but then gets boring through the course of the movie because it's just two actors going insane through the course of the final frame of the film. Now, having watched the movie I do wish they dubbed this entire movie with just Mickey, Goofy and Donald Ducks voice then I would consider this a great comedy for the ages. 

   

                                        

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

 

                                         This Halloween themed movie is another one of those films that I myself want to expand my horizons and find those certain movies I haven't touched, turns out both Invasion of the Body Snatchers are another one of those films that I have not seen and my brother selected the 1978 version of the film, and I haven't seen any of the original movie or 78 version so you have to start somewhere and might as well start out a Phillip Kaufman movie that is somewhat of a letdown in all aspects of a movie about aliens taking over your own body. The film stars Donald Sutherland, Lenard Nimoy and Jeff Goldblum in a role for which I can describe as that person whose the absolute worst and sucks the fun out of life. After watching the movie, I will say that I have officially acquired a Jeff Goldblum accent so now I can go out and help sell apartments to people in a definite fraud way possible.

                                          Matthew Bennell (Donald Sutherland) assumes that when a friend (Brooke Adams) complains of her husband's strange mood, it's a marital issue. However, he begins to worry as more people report similar observations. His concern is confirmed when writer Jack Bellicec (Jeff Goldblum) and his wife (Veronica Cartwright) discover a mutated corpse. Besieged by an invisible enemy, Bennell must work quickly before the city is consumed.

                                          Now, I've heard about these movies in a strange sense I picked up the alien duplication idea and rules from watching an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and they do whole segments of pod aliens taking over human beings. And just to let everyone know I still haven't seen the original movie so watching this movie was something new but also a big letdown in terms of this film being one of the greatest horror movies of all time. And to be fair I know what happens at the end judging by the many gifs I've seen on social media, but I never watched the whole movie, and this was the first time I slowly began to realize how boring and not so impressed in how the movie turned out. This was the first Phillip Kaufman movie I witnessed and a lot of people don't know is that he actually helped with George Lucas in developing the story for Raiders of the Lost Ark although Lucas developed Indiana Jones it was Kaufman who came up with pursuing the Ark of the Covenant and after watching this movie I will state that the man gets a quarter credit of Indiana Jones like about 25 cents worth. What I find depressing about the movie is that there's a lot of unanswered questions in terms of how the aliens begin to adapt to the humans or how there able to consume in just a few days really Mr. Spock is the leader of the consumed aliens and he's perfectly adapted to human cultures and it's not even explained, even more of editing that's a bit of a blur because at the end of the movie the aliens took over earth but it's not explained as how Donald Sutherland is consumed because he trying to hide from everyone and we see a guy looking through a hole with a flashlight and we cut to Donald Sutherland going back to his normal routine and then when he stumbles upon Veronica Cartwright it's revealed he's a Pod Person for which it would me more realistic if you'd just show him being surrounded by pod people and he screams and then we cut to normal, I mean something to make the horror more real than just automatically cutting to being chased and going back to normal. What really ruined the movie for me is Jeff Goldblum's performance in the movie, and sure it's typical everyday Goldblum role but it just him being an annoying f**k and through the course of the movie I'm just telling him through the television to shut the f**k up and go back to sell apartments, hell I prefer 90's Goldblum than late seventies Goldblum. I will say the hilarious part of the movie is Donald Sutherland and his girlfriend take speed in order to stay awake and later they’re captured and forced to take sedatives which is hilarious because it reminds me of Dewy Cox where he takes pills uppers and downers, and it reminds me so much of that joke. I will say that a movie all by itself I would highly recommend staying away from this movie for a gillion reasons it's boring and lame and the cheap visual effects just turned me off of from this whole experience but then that's basically the whole nature of the beast you have to watch these movies that could or may not be a hit and hopefully it's a success but then it's not a great success just like picturing Phillip Kaufman being a cool guy and not a weird f**k in adding a human face on a dogs body and yes this film actually has a dog with a man’s face I'm not sorry for spoiling it just telling you to avoid the movie. 

           

Dracula (1931)

 

                                          Well, having watched two Boris Karloff films, one being not so scary and the other being iconic in its own way. I figured the only way to concluded this epic monster mash trilogy I figured well I have to watch the one true monster movie that started it all the one movie in which everyone would be so creep out after participating in a staring contest with one Hungarian actor and stomp on you and make you feel like your innocence's has been taking from you, and trust me I never felt so uncomfortable after seeing everyone's eyes in this movie. The movie I'm referring to is the Bela Lugosi classic Dracula, a film that sadly was his only great success because as we should all learn that Hollywood personally sucks for many reasons, they cursed actors in being type-cast but in the end, Bela did get the last laugh in wanting to be buried with one of his Dracula capes.

                                           The Dashing, mysterious Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi), after hypnotizing a British salesman, Renfield (Dwight Frye), into his mindless slave, travels to London and takes up residence in an old castle. Soon Dracula begins to wreak havoc, sucking the blood of young women and turning them into vampires. When he set sights on Mina (Helen Chandler), the daughter of a prominent doctor, vampire-hunter Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) is enlisted to put a stop to the counts never-ending bloodlust.

                                           The film itself is most certainly based on Bram Stoker's novel but it's also based on the 1924 stage play of Dracula for which Bela Lugosi starred in around 1927 just a couple of years before the development of Dracula began at Universal Studio's. Although Bela Lugosi did star in the Broadway production of Dracula, he wasn't the first choice in the eyes of Universal Studio's and it took countless actors to find the right choice, they even went so far to cast John Carradine for which I don't think I can take him seriously since watching Stagecoach and a Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode of The Unearthly. Director Tod Browning decided to cast Bela Lugosi in the title role though Lugosi was paid a salary of only 3,500 dollars since, he had too eagerly accepted the role though at the time not a whole lot of money but still better to be paid than living through the Great Depression with nothing. The interesting aspect when you put both The Mummy, Frankenstein and Dracula in a row only one of the three are a true monster not Imhotep for many reasons he was just a tragic character because all he wants is to be with the love of his life and will stop at nothing to bring his lost love back even if it means doing terrible things, Frankenstein's monster is on the outside a monster but on the inside is a victim for which he was never asked to be brought to world we live in now he doesn't understand the nature of the laws of men. Dracula is the true monster because all he wants is to prey on women or men and enslave them to do their bidding and has no remorse and with that type of monster who has no remorse is a true monster and Bela Lugosi did an exception job at creating that monster though this was only success and was typecast for the rest of his life. Now again I doubt people today will not be scared of the monster movies in the golden age but the one thing that's so terrifying in the entire film is the eyes and the one actor in the movie who deserves a lot of that uneasiness is Dwight Frye who plays Renfield in the movie, and holy crap the way he plays crazy is just visually stunning but also terrifying especially in on scene where they discover the ship Dracula killed the crew and he's under the brig and shows his uneasy smile it's just so great but also creepy at the same time and even one scene in which Mina starts to attack her lover and her eyes are just terrifying that you’re not sure if she's going to attack him or rape him though let’s be honest if she was intending to rape her lover he wouldn't mind it would most certainly be "oh no, please no, okay honey have your way with me" so, there's no question that everyone's eyes are the uneasy part of the entire movie in fact if I was in a staring contest I wouldn't last and would curl up in the fettle position. Now granted kids today won't be scared by these monster films of the early 30's but the positive aspect of the movie is not just the actors doing a great job but it's 73 minutes so that's always a positive aspect because that's what all scary movies should be in terms of length as well as ninety minutes and two hours but anything above two and a half hours is just way too much. As a film buff, I would most certainly recommend it for anyone to watch old school scary movies, though now I plan to go off and find real scary movies to watch.

    

                                                   

                                                  

Frankenstein (1931)

 

                                            After watching the Mummy, furthermore, feeling a bit mixed on the emotions I decided to watch another one of Boris Karloff's films that made him a monster movie legend and really the greatest one of all the classic monsters movies, Frankenstein. Now, everyone has that one movie that introduced them into the world of Frankenstein and sadly it wasn't the original Frankenstein it was actually Young Frankenstein from Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder, and I can remember watching the original film and realizing wow a lot of references and to keep this short will get to Young Frankenstein in a little bit because it's marked a 50th Anniversary of the release of the film so, for right now let’s get Boris Karloff's greatest performance.

                                            The film follows the obsessed scientist, Dr. Henry Frankenstein, as he attempts to create life by assembling a creature from body parts of the deceased. Aided by his loyal misshapen assistant, Fritz, Frankenstein succeeds in animating his monster, but it escapes into the countryside and begins to wreak havoc. Frankenstein searches for the elusive being and eventually must confront his tormented creation.

                                            During the midst of 1930, Universal Studio's lost 2.2 million dollars in revenues and with the successes of Dracula things really started to change in Universal gained more of their money back in around 48 hours. So, there's no question Frankenstein really became the next chapter in Universals success through the thirties. Now if I had to pick in terms of which is the best of Boris Karloff's performances between Frankenstein's monster or The Mummy it would most certainly be Frankenstein's monster for many reasons it's really him combined with the great makeup as well as his acting and to me his performance alone is what makes the movie, and really is yes a monster but not necessarily a monster the way he's able to portray the monster as a victim and gentle giant you feel more for his character as a misunderstood monster and yet the real monster is his creator Henry Frankenstein who made him out of wanting to feel like God but through the course of the movie realizes his mistake for which sure you can tweak with the script in order to fix that mistake but let’s face it if you did then we wouldn't have Mel Brook's Young Frankenstein. Karloff is most certainly the star of the movie but the supporting cast is also great as well for which includes Colin Clive playing Henry Frankenstein, and the opening part of that whole movie where he's beginning to assemble his creation is just outstanding especially close ups of him being totally delirious moreover insane about wanting to bring life in the world and when I first watch the iconic scene of him delivering the line "it's alive" I just had full goosebumps like it’s just the feel of wanting to watch the scene over and over again and the way Clive delivers that line is so great that it puts a smile on my face just thinking about it while I'm writing this review and more importantly his performance in the first act of the film should be an important example of finding that way to crazy madman performance if you're in actor finding a role. Like all of the classic monster movies from the 1930's for sure their great and excellent but there's always the flaws and plot holes and to be honest I think what confuses me is when the creature begins to wreak havoc everyone is not blaming Henry Frankenstein furthermore not having moments of his own father shaming him for creating this monster and yet he realizes his mistake and helps the crowd search for the monster and again he doesn't get any blame for this but then again there many reasons why they went with this story but then again the more you think about it the more you begin to lose your own mind and reality. No question I would rank the original Frankenstein as one of the greatest monster movies and yet I feel the need to watch Bela Lugosi's Dracula but will most certainly leave that for another time. Like, the Mummy I would highly recommend watching Frankenstein though you can try having your kids watch these movies to test their attention span but, I'm not sure they can go though it but then again, these movies are 73 minutes long so, it could be worth a try.

        

                                                    

The Mummy (1932)

 

                                         Well, it's Halloween season everyone to all of you fall nut jobs that are obsessed with Pumpkin Spice everything I just want to tell you from the bottom of my heart that it's just CINNAMON! Okay, that being said let's get to some Halloween themed movies, from being obsessed with the 1999 version of the Mummy and I've been familiar with a tone of the classic monster movies from the 1930's and I've seen a good well, maybe a few of them more popular ones are Dracula and Frankenstein as well as the Bride of Frankenstein and really I did watch Boris Karloff's the Mummy but then it was one of those films that I'd forgot at a young age. And re-watching the film for the first time is one of those films that you are not sure what to say.

                                         A team of British archaeologists led by Sir Joseph Whemple (Arthur Byron) discover the mummified remains of the ancient Egyptian prince Imhotep (Boris Karloff), along with the legendary scroll of Thoth. When one of the archaeologists recites the scroll aloud, Imhotep returns to life but escapes and starts a journey of bringing back the love of his life.

                                         I think the interesting thing about the classic monster movies from the 30's is that they belong to a study aspect of horror because in all honesty if I had my young niece who loves the horror movie genre she would be bored out of her mind, for which really I can't blame her because when I got serious in watching Dracula or Frankenstein even I realized that these movies where not scary. For which really that basically the reason why they belong in the golden age of Horror and really if we had a target audience between kids now and kids from the thirties it would most certainly be a different debate on what is scary. The surprising thing about the movie is the budget was 196,000 dollars for which really it's the Great Depression of course you'd not have a whole lot of money to do what you can do but really the fact that they we're able to accomplish great scenes in the movie is just outstanding and really cool I mean sure you can do that now with that kind of money but you're not sure if the movie is either a snuff film or an independent sensation. I will admit that the movie is fascination to watch but I still can't turn off that button of where is the scary parts and really that's probably the toughest part especially when it comes to these kinds of films because everyone praises these films and The Mummy is one of those films that came out of the thirties and re-watching the film I feel like it's not as good as I remembered it. Though in all fairness this is a movie from the thirties when we get older, we watch horror films that we loved as a kid and then we slowly see how not so scary it was. Now that being said I don't quite understand as to why we have a Boris Karloff in a mummified mummy that's back from the dead but still looks like a mummy I mean it's a great makeup look and great for some of those iconic close ups but wouldn't it be more convenient to have a regenerated Boris Karloff and still look terrifying? either way you can ask yourself that question and slowly begin to lose your mind. Now I'm a nineties kid and I will argue and say that the 1999 version of the Mummy is the greatest and better than the 32 version now that being said, I'd still watch the movie over and over again because it's one of those films that needs to be understood as a movie that people from the great depression looked at and can escape from their lives during that era of lows in America and I think all of these monsters back in the thirties really helped with that depression and personally that's something you should look for in terms of what good it brought hell even the films poster is in the top five for the most money paid for a movie poster and if you look at the poster on this review it's a great piece of art that most certainly should be cherished. I would highly recommend watching the 1932 version of the Mummy but not have your own kids watch it, not because it's scary or anything like that because of course it's not but in truth they wouldn't be ready for these kinds of movies and maybe when they slowly get older and love watching the horror genre then you can turn it on and watch them with your kids then. 

             

Twenty Year Anniversary of Kill Bill: Volume 1

 

                                 You may find this hard to believe but Kill Bill: Volume 1 was my first film of Quentin Tarantino. Though at the time I never really heard of him as well as I was never truly introduced to his work even though I see the preview of Pulp Fiction and yet I didn't know that was his film. Really it was around the time Once Upon a Time in Mexico was release directed by Robert Rodriguez and he mentioned him being a friend though again I had no clue that he's a famous writer and director. And the fact that Kill Bill 1 is twenty years old, I figured well now's the time to go back and watch this great revenge movie. Since this is a Quentin Tarantino movie, I'm going to keep my David Carradine jokes to a minimum because any movie Quentin Tarantino's done has always been amazing well except for Death Proof. Oh, did you know David Carradine died from auto-erotic asphyxiation?

                                 A former assassin, known simply as The Bride (Uma Thurman), wakes from a coma four years after her jealous ex-lover Bill (David Carradine) attempts to murder her on her wedding day. Fueled by an inhabitable desire for revenge, she vows to get even with every person who contributed to the loss of her unborn child, her entire wedding party, and four years of her life. After devising a hit list, The Bride sets off on her quest, enduring unspeakable injury and unscrupulous enemies. 

                                To really understand Quentin Tarantino is to understand a man whose watched a lot of movies growing up upon which he did, even worked at a movie rental place which housed a tone of movies and to make a long story short he watched pretty much all of them and yet the man is pretty much one of the greatest filmmakers of all time and he's only made nine movies so, important lesson if your wanting to make movies yes pick up a camera and do it but most importantly when it comes to writing and finding your genre or choice of movie, basically watch any movie you can muster from every classic movie to every b-movie and any recent movies that come out. The development of the Kill Bill goes back during the production of Pulp Fiction for which was the first movie with Uma Thurman was in, during the course of shooting Uma's scenes both Quentin and Uma we're talking about wanting to make a revenge movie with the style of a Kung-Fu movie and the collaboration went on and on though through the course of life Tarantino went on to Jackie Brown then wanted to make a WWII movie. Then through the course of 2000-2001 Tarantino reunite with Thurman who at the time became a mother for which inspired him to write that into Thurman's character. At the time when I was a young naive kid, I never quite understood the movie in terms the style of the movie or a kung-fu sense of a movie in which the movie is based on and if you haven't seen a ton of seventies style of martial arts films this was pretty much a love letter to that genre. The interesting fact is that this movie is indeed one whole story once you watch volume 1 and 2, though at the time the movie was a whole four hours so you really couldn't release this movie whole, so you'd have separate the films and luckily both films were released six months prior to the first films release. The thing that makes Quentin Tarantino such a great director is that he's able to take actors don't have in a sense much of a film career and will get to David Carradine in the second movie because he's in a good portion of the second movie but Vivica A. Fox and Lucy Liu whose been in a few movies I like but when it comes to Fox this movie is the only one I can watch, okay getting back on track, what Tarantino does such a great job in is that he's able to cast actress like Fox and Liu with the ability that they can act in the way where they can be iconic I mean sure Liu at the time was infamous for Charlies Angles but when it comes to this movie she really shines in playing a villainous Yakuza boss who will kill without mercy and Tarantino has that unique ability to get these actors to act out these complex characters and will dive into that when we get to Kill Bill Volume 2 later. The fact that the movie is only one hour and fifty-two minutes not once did I touch my phone while the movie was going granted I had to stop the film to go take a piss or research something on my phone but through the course of the whole movie I was focused on Thurman's character arc through the final frame of the movie and looking forward to re-watching the second part of the film. If I had to pick a film or two that you would most certainly watch from Quentin Tarantino's filmography it would most certainly be Kill Bill films and Pulp Fiction but then again all of his films are great (except for Death Proof) so it's like picking his favorite kid you can't really answer that question, I can't find it anywhere in terms of streaming the movie for free but if you have the money I would highly recommend ordering the Kill Bill films on Blu-Ray or DVD which ever player you have and I promise you when saying this that it will be worth your time especially if you like streams of blood going everywhere in a ridiculous fashion.

  

                                   

                  

Movies I haven't seen in a while: Apollo 13

 

                                        Typical weekend nothing better to do with my time because let’s face it I'm a boring f**k. And so, I think it was my mom that decided to stream Apollo 13 for which I was like absolutely for obvious reasons it' another film I haven't seen in a long, long time hence Movies I haven't seen in a while. Apollo 13 was another one of those films from my childhood that I would watch constantly either watching it at my late grandpa's house or renting the film at the library moreover it was one of those films where I was fascinated with the space stuff more than the story itself though more importantly this movie introduced me to a ton of great and exceptional actors from the ever talented Tom Hanks, the late Bill Paxton and Ed Harris to Kevin Bacon and Gary Sinise whose acting career's where I would say okay at times but at least decent.

                                        This Hollywood drama is based on the events of the Apollo 13 lunar mission, astronauts Jim Lowell (Tom Hanks), Fred Haise (Bill Paxton) and Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon) find everything going according to plan after leaving Earth's orbit. However, when an oxygen tank explodes, the scheduled moon landing is called off. Subsequent tensions within the crew and numerous technical problems threaten both the astronauts' survival and their safe return to Earth. 

                                         The movie itself based on the book by real life Jim Lowell titled Lost Moon for which the movie rights were shopped around to potential buyers long before the book was written. Jim Lowell himself stated his first reaction was that Kevin Costner would be a good choice to play him, you heard that right when I say this long before any of these great actors that you see on the movie poster the casting was shopped around with actors like John Travolta, John Cusack and even Brad Pitt which take no disrespect because they're great actors but I would never in a million years see Travolta, Cusack and Pitt be the three main astronaut characters. Director Ron Howard through the course of production went to great lengths to create a technically accurate movie, employing NASA's assistance in astronaut and flight-controller training for his cast and obtaining permission to film scenes aboard a reduced-gravity aircraft for realistic depiction of the weightlessness experienced by the astronauts in space. Comparing this movie from childhood years to now I'll still say that this is the most exciting and suspenseful movie of all time, though granted I wasn't paying all much attention to the story it was more of going to space and what they we're doing up in space, either way when you’re a kid you're biggest concern was the space stuff since the film is all about NASA going to the moon. Now watching the film from start to finish you'd become more intrigued with the fact that this is the late sixties to early seventies of NASA, meaning this was the golden age of going to the moon where everything can go wrong and there's a good chance that if something does happen you can die in space and no one will be able to rescue you or find your body and really that's the more fascinating thing about the movie. And really the two actors who make the film great and believable is both Tom Hanks who plays Jim Lowell and Kathleen Quinlan, though yes Tom Hanks is an exceptional actor anyone on the planet knows that though I got to say that one of my favorite scenes with him in the movie is when he's talking to his son about the space mission and is son asks him about the fire in the first Apollo mission and his character knows those people and instead of not responding to his question he just give him a simple calm and simple answer as to all the things that went wrong and assures him they've fixed the problem and it's that great acting from Hanks knowing his kid is a smart one giving him a good answer it’s just those types of little details you see and say that's great acting. Kathleen Quinlan deserves a ton of recognition because she plays the wife of an astronaut well in a sense that she's a stay-at-home mom and must care for three kids and then fearing that once his husband goes to the moon, she's never sure if he will ever come back and her to show those emotions on screen is most certainly great to see. Surprisingly while looking up the film, Ron Howard even cast his own parents in the movie Jean Speegle Howard plays Tom Hanks is mom while Ron's father Rance Howard plays the Minister in the movie for which is cool and personally if I begin my film-making career I'm most certainly going to repay my parents in casting them in small roles. Even Ron's mom has the best scene of the movie to where she's calming her grandchild and assuring her that his son will make it back to Earth. I would hate myself if I didn't give an special salute of approval or recognition to music composer James Horner who compose the music for Apollo 13 as well as compose a lot of Ron Howard's films as well as James Cameron's films too, and really he's the best part of Apollo 13 for many reasons his music of the launch sequence and going to back to Earth is so memorable and iconic that you just can't help but want to listen to that theme over and over again, especially when you have the launch and the two astronauts wife watching it furthermore seeing on the look on their faces it's like seeing the impossible and what Horner does great is creating a movie set in the seventies with the hope and possibilities of exploration that you couldn't capture in a space movie. Looking back on the NASA program to now yes, they've developed and accomplished a lot of things but I actually do wish that they will one day return to the moon because there's always that possibility of exploring accomplishing new things that I wish even the Earths governments can back up on the idea though I strongly doubt I'll be alive to witness NASA returning to moon. I'd say both Apollo 13 and the Martian ranks as one of the greatest NASA movies of all time, moreover I would rank this as Ron Howard's greatest movie of all time, in fact I believe Apollo 13 story is hands down the best story you’re ever going to tell when it comes to the Apollo missions granted sure you can tell the story of Apollo 11 but the only spoiler that everyone knows about it is that they land on the moon while Apollo 13 is a movie about against all odds bringing three astronauts back to Earth with a little bit of not being able to reach your dreams for which I believe anyone can relate too. So, if you’re ever wanting to watch a classic Tom Hanks film or Ron Howard's greatest film, Apollo 13 is on Hulu so I would highly recommend watching this great space movie.

           

September Recommendation: The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings

 

                                     With the passing of the most iconic actor of our era, James Earl Jones. I've been going through a mourning stage, meaning James Earl Jones really has without a doubt been a huge part of my childhood like this was Darth Vader, Terrance Mann, the Blind man from the Sandlot. And to hear that this voice of God, this legendary actor has passed the gates of Saint Peter, is so sad to hear and to be honest I knew I need to pay tribute to this masterful actor though the question is how and what way you should pay tribute to this iconic actor? Well thankfully after talking to my brother about this, he recommended a movie that I had no clue was a movie more importantly we also talked about that if you are going to pay tribute to James Earl Jones you have to start at before he was cast as the voice of Darth Vader, and the Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings upon which is a mouth full of words if you plan to say that title ten times, hell almost long as the Assassination of Jessie James by the Coward Robert Ford.

                                     Top baseball pitcher Bingo Long (Billy Dee Williams) is fed up with how his Negro League team owner treats him, so he forms his own lineup, recruiting big-hitting Leon Carter (James Earl Jones) and Charlie Snow (Richard Pryor), who dreams of playing in the majors. Boycotted by black teams, Long's outfit plays minor league white teams, earning more attention as entertainers than as players. However, their success wins them a chance to play again in the Negro League, this time as equals.

                                      The movie itself is a fictional story furthermore was based on the book of the same name by William Brashler, and he incorporates a lot of the characters with real life ballplayers like legendary ballplayers like Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson and if you're not a big baseball fan like me in terms of playing baseball video games you'd probably played a lot of the Negro League levels on the latest MLB the Show games, they've been telling stories of these great players like Paige and Gibson and some of the stuff of Paige's career I was reminded by in this movie. The film itself I imaged was filmed in where the Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama because that's where we had the latest Negro League tribute as well as the passing of Willie Mays but really was filmed in Macon, Georgia as well as the historic field Luther Williams Field for which was also used for films like 42 and Trouble with the Curve as well as the television show from Hank Azaria, Brockmire. And interesting fact, some ballplayers were played by actual former athletes, including former members of the Indianapolis Clowns, who performed various stunts shown in the film. Now we reach to the focus of the film, and that's James Earl Jones and Billy Dee Williams. This was 1976 when this film came out furthermore was a year before Star Wars dominated the box office and when you’re in actor you have to take any gig  in order to pay the bills and take care of your family and really James Earl Jones was an Academy Award nominee actor so deep down he had the respect so flood gates are open for a guy like Jones, even Williams who came out of the success of Brian Song portraying the real life Bears legend Gale Sayers and really when you are co-starring with a great presence as well as veteran actor in James Earl Jones, man you talk about a great balance of acting talent. It is strange and ironic that both actors appear in this movie and then four years later both appear, though not on opposite sides of the screen but in Empire Strikes Back so, real fate usually reaches out to extend its hand. What I like most about the movie honestly is that it hold a ton of themes especially when it comes to players and owners in baseball and that discussion of more money and having this incorporated to the Negro Leagues I especially like mainly because it adds more layers of the debate discussion, the other thing I liked and found fascinating is that watching Williams and Jones new team almost reminds me of the Harlem Globetrotters where they would set up a game and develop their team as an entertainment group circa the Globetrotters and interestingly enough the Globetrotters were founded in the mid-twenties so there is kind of that great inspiration between a film like this and the book. In a world that's thrown into chaos and only the good people are taken from us, I'd say it's always a good and refreshing way to express mourning and tribute to legendary actors like James Earl Jones, and to be truth full I don't know how I'll feel when Morgan Freeman is gone or Denzel Washington or even Samuel L. Jackson. So, if you’re like me who’s still reeling on the fact that an iconic actor like James Earl Jones being gone from this world, then I would highly recommend watching this surprising great film upon which is worthy of a monthly recommendation in my eyes. Furthermore, I would highly recommend everyone a fan of movies to just sit down and watch any film that includes your favorite James Earl Jones role from Star Wars trilogy to Field of Dreams and even the Lion King because deep down there will never be a voice so memorable and iconic voice, as James Earl Jones.