F1

 

             

        Well believe it friends, the impossible has happened, for I finally took the time to go down to a local movie theater and finally watch a recent movie that's just been released. And this is one of those films that I can watch and know that there's not a whole lot to expect but there's something worth seeing without having the feeling of "okay I've obviously seen this movie before. Staring Brad's Pitts, playing a sort of John Wayne figure that goes from town-to-town racing and then just goes off into the sunset. Which is a typical racing movie or any sports movie where it's always about the underdog, no one expects you to win but in the end it's directed by Top Gun: Maverick and a writer who written all of the worst Transformers movies as well as Top Gun: Maverick so, can't be worse than the overrated Vampire movie and Mission Impossible 1,000.

        In the 1990's Sonny Hays (Brad's Pitts) was Formula 1's most promising driver until his accident on the track nearly ended his career. Thirty years later, the owner of a struggling Formula 1 team convinces Sonny to return to racing and become the best in the world. Driving alongside the team’s hotshot rookie, Sonny soon learns that the road to redemption is not something you can travel alone.

        Now, for sure I can go on and on about "oh, how bad movies are these days" and for sure that true, for many reasons when you see so many movies like I have, you feel like you seen them all and I'm not saying that Sinners is a pretty good movie, I'm just saying that vampires are just a boring movie monster, like who wants to live forever? Especially when the world is getting more screwed up. And the same goes with Mission Impossible 1,000 hell, I stopped watching the Mission Impossible films after the third film came out in 2006 and the only reasons, I saw the fifth film without seeing the fourth film was because I was bored and had nothing better to like any other recovering alcoholic with epilepsy. But the biggest reasons why I don't go to a whole lot a recent movies now especially when it comes to the movie theaters (for which is sad to say) is because I feel like Hollywood is insulting my intelligence and coming out with movies that I feel like I've seen over and over again moreover some of these movies they are quote, unquote Oscar contenders, are really forgettable movies and hell I even saw a movie trailer where Hollywood is coming out with a musical version of Romeo and Juliet titled Juliet and Romeo and all I can say is I feel like I've already seen it despite the fact that I know what happens but it's also a musical, hopefully I rest my case on why I don't go to so many recent movies now. But with F1 this is something where I can watch and yes it's a combination of a Rocky movie but with racing mixed in with a spoon full of Tom Gun: Maverick mixed in, though with the presence of Brad Pitt and Javier Bardem in the mix I also feel like things can be smoothed over when these guys do what they do best. Ehren Kruger who wrote the screenplay to F1, has really made a living writing nothing but bad movies to films that are just passable if we can separate Top Gun: Maverick, and his filmography speaks for itself with Transformers 3, 4 and 5, Reindeer Games and Dumbo. Now Scream 3, I can look at as a passible movie but yet for some reasons guys like him are capable to fail upwards in life and yes the movies he's written are passible at least, but they're forgettable and the only time I remember them is when I look the up and all of a sudden I begin to cringe if you catch my drift. Even though the story itself is over the top crazy and stupid at times but really what saves this movie is the action and no doubt director Joseph Kosinski does a fantastic job in putting the audience on the edge of their seats especially in scenes where you almost believe that Brad Pitt was going to die and deep down I loved the way it turned out in the end. There were a few actors and actresses I did recognized through the course of the movie even actor Tobias Menzies who I looked at his face and thought that he looked familiar as well as seeing him in something else and that was after looking him up and I found out he was Caitlyn Starks brother in Game of Thrones Edmure Tully, which explains why he would play a Benedict Arnold type character hell, he through his own uncle under the bus in Game of Thrones Ooh, did I spoil something to viewers who haven't watched Game of Thrones? Oh, geese, that's terrible! Even Kerry Condon I recognized while watching the movie especially when you can't hide from that beautiful Irish accent furthermore understood why he left Ireland in Banshee's of Inisherin he wanted to hook up with Brad's Pitts. F1 is most certain a movie to go see in the movie theaters and granted I don't say that a whole lot to the recent movies that come out this year but this one is a movie I would recommend watching at your local movie theater, though I'm probably not going to watch this film again till the next ten years but if you love movies about car racing than F1 would certainly be that racing film for you. 

     

                

Ten Year Anniversary of Mad Max: Fury Road

 

             After watching the original Mad Max, I realized that this year marks the tenth anniversary of the fourth and epic Mad Max movie in the Mad Max universe. Mad Max: Fury Road was the first movie I indulged myself into the Mad Max Universe, and at first when I watched this movie, I never quite understood the movie the first time I watched it. Then my brother sat me down and watched the original Mad Max film and watched Fury Road the second time around, I began to realize how tremendously great this movie was in 2015, to the actors involved as well as great action sequences that you'll probably never see now since well, every movie out now is completely useless garbage.

             Years after the collapse of civilization, the tyrannical Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Bryne) enslaves apocalypse survivors inside the desert fortress the Citadel. When the warrior Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theoron) leads the despot's five wives in a daring escape, she forges an alliance with Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy). Fortified in the massive, armored truck the War Rig, they try to outrun the ruthless warlord and his henchmen in a deadly high-speed chase through the wasteland. 

             Around 1987, George Miller had the idea of developing a fourth installment that was "almost a continuous chase". Although Miller developed a lot of the story along with working with Storyboards artists and a lot of them were in the film as you see it on screen, unfortunately 1987 to 1998, the film itself was in a lengthy gestation period or a better word, development hell. Through the course of the 2000's Miller was still thinking about Mad Max 4 but only this time without Mel Gibson, and so, to make a long story short after years of going through constant development crisis and potential actors to play Max, well let’s just say somewhere between 2010 or 2013, Mad Max: Fury Road finally commenced into production let’s just leave it at that. Ten years after the film’s release and I still consider this a perfect action movie of the ages, from the great actors to the story and even the visual effects as well as the action sequences you see when watching this great movie it's just perfect from every part moreover even the greatest action film of the 2010's era, moreover if you want to find statistics on what makes this a great and perfect action film this movie has it all. Now granted I've never seen Mad Max 2 or Beyond the Thunderdome, but I truly believe if you separate this film from those last three films this movie is without a doubt a perfect action movie from beginning to end. Charlize Theoron is without a doubt a great actress for these kinds of action films I mean Atomic Blonde is a great example of that though I would look at her in this film as a pure definition of an action heroine. But there's something about Tom Hardy's performance in this movie that just screams how talented he was in this movie as well as the perfect Mad Max, and even before accepting the role Hardy had lunch with Mel Gibson and Gibson himself gave him his blessing, moreover, said in his own words that Hardy reminded him of his sons. Through the course of the whole movie Hardy starts off as this animalistic anti-hero who barely says anything till like thirty minutes into the movie and although he does speak but you barely hear him on what he's saying but when he finally speaks it's like he's trying to find his words and it's almost like the way when your all by yourself having no one to talk too it would make sense that you barely speak through your time in a hell hole like a Post-Apocalyptic Australia. But really what makes Hardy's performance so great is his body language through the course of the film where you see him as a caged animal and through the course of the first and second act you slowly shreds the animal instinct and becomes a reliable ally but more importantly you see he cares for these wives as well as Charlize Theoron, and even though his lines are only 52 words the greatest acting you can really do is express emotions through the face as well as the body and that's always what makes a great actor. Hugh Keays-Byrne was one of the original villains in the very first Mad Max film, and at the time I didn't know about that fact but years later into Fury Road he does a fantastic job as the main antagonist to both Hardy and Theoron's character, furthermore if you think of just great and memorable villains from Darth Vader to Hannibal Lector Keays-Byrne's portrayal of Immortan Joe is most certainly up there in the best villains category. But what separates Immortan Joe from the other's is simply that is that he stands out with that cool respirator to even his presence on screen, especially scenes when he slowly realizes he's wives have been taken it such a great shot and it explains more words than the voice, speaking of the voice, hell I don't know if that was his voice or not but the way he says his lines are even more greater especially when he tells the crowd "Do not become addicted to water!", now theoretically that's foul in terms of logical sense, but deep down it's a great and memorable line from Byrne's and doesn't have that one line he has a tone of great lines which makes him great in the movie, and that's kind of the reasons why I haven't seen the Furiosa film mainly because Byrne died in 2020, and they had to use a different actor moreover wasn't legendary as Hugh Keays-Byrne was in this movie so, really he stands out as one of the best antagonist in the Mad Max universe. Even the Wives and Nicholas Hoult who plays Nux in the movie are fantastic as well as the other henchmen, and even the War Boys in the movie are fantastic for many reasons they are defiantly committed, and they don't show that they're just in extra no they took their job seriously till the very end. As great of a director George Miller was in bringing his lost franchise back to life, his composer Junkie XL aka Tom Holkenborg does a fantastic job in composing the music and there something about playing heavy metal music combined with epic movie composing is so chilling as well as epic in terms of sitting on the edge of your seat till the final frame is just pure gold as well as great to listen to while you’re driving to work. Ten years ago, I never quite understood or knew what to expect when watching this movie for the very first time, but I still say that this was for certain a perfect action film of the 2010's era and I would highly recommend watching this movie a million times even if you haven't seen any of the original Mad Max films, though I'm looking forward in seeing the other two Mad Max films this year. 

                

June Recommendation: Mad Max

 

                

           With May we covered deep into the summer movie season with the Western Genre. Now in the month of June I have decided to dive deep into the Post Apocalyptic genre but with fast moving cars. Long before Fast and Furious films were slowly destroying the race car trend or Tom Cruise trying to bring the need for speed in NASCAR in Road of Thunder. One Australian filmmaker broke all the rules and created a shocking and nerve wrecking action movie for the ages but, more importantly launched the career of Mel Gibson who would later in life have a tremendous film career with the big ups and massive lows in life that would later prove that Mel is always unbreakable with the grace of God. 

           In a not-too-distant dystopian future, when man's most precious resource -- oil -- has been depleted and the world plunged into war, famine and financial chaos, the last vestiges of the law in Australia attempt to retrain a vicious biker gang. Max (Mel Gibson), an officer with the Main Force Patrol, launches a personal vendetta against the gang when his wife and child are hunted down and murdered, leaving him with nothing but instincts for survival and retribution.

           To really give a good history and the story behind the world of Mad Max you really must go back to the beginning between two up and coming filmmakers that would change the game for the post-Apocalyptic genre, both Byron Kennedy and George Miller. George Miller attended a film workshop at Melbourne University around 1971 where he met fellow students and future partner and crime, Byron Kennedy. During 1972, Miller completed his residency at Sydney's St. Vincent's Hospital and became a surgeon to pay the bills, and during his off time would do a ton of experimental films with Kennedy and would later form their own movie corporation. During Miller's time as a medical doctor, working in the hospital’s emergency room, he saw a lot of injuries and deaths depicted in what you see in the movie. Moreover, witnessed many car accidents growing up in rural Queensland and some of those accidents happened to three of his friends as teenagers. During the process of movie forward with the idea of making Mad Max happened, a side from the fact that each man had very limited experience in script writing, they knew they had to bring another writer into the process of making the story a reality, and James McCausland came in to flesh out the story a bit more. McCausland brought a lot more to the small budget action film and inspired us to use elements of a recent oil crisis in 1973. McCausland in an article circa 2006 from the Courier-Mail states in his own words "A couple of oil strikes that hit many pumps revealed the ferocity with which Australians would defend their right to fill their tank. Long queues formed at the stations with petrol -- and anyone who tried to sneak ahead in the queue met raw violence ... George and I wrote [Mad Max] script based on the thesis that people would do almost anything to keep vehicles moving and the assumption that nations would not consider the huge costs of providing infrastructure for alternative energy until it was too late", furthermore it shows that finding some events that occurred in your own country will help you come with a script that will be promising with up and coming director. The film was shot in twelve weeks with the budget of 350,000 upon with both Byron and George financed with their jobs, but George Miller described the movie as "guerrilla filmmaking" (which a ton of filmmakers use for low budget B-movies) and majority of the action sequences, all of the crew would close the roads without permits, not even use any walkie-talkies for many reasons they had to avoid a ton of the Police hearing in on their conversations so, a ton of those sequences you see on screen, they had to plan all of this without distant conversations and yet they created something magical when you watch the movie. Furthermore, what makes Australia great to film though I'm not sure now, but majority of the extras used in the movie were all paid in beer. Which reminds me of a fantastic joke on the Simpsons where the family is in Australia and Marge is ordering a coffee and the natives only have beer because that's what they all drink so, if you ever filming in Australia and trying to find a cheap way to pay extras, paying them in beer would probably be your best bet. I've seen the original Mad Max almost ten years ago prior to just watching the fourth Mad Max film, and even still to this day this movie is still shocking to watch with some of the scenes that would put you on the edge of your seat, but still for a movie that's budget is 350,000 dollars to make is still incredible and it goes a lot from such great films like George Romero's original Night of the Living Dead which was around 125,000 dollars to make, to even Robert Rodriguez and Christopher Nolan's first films that both were made around 6,000 and 7,000 dollars, and hearing stuff like this just brings out inspiration as well as giving these up and coming directors to get up from your couch and really make something out of it. Even to do action movies now it's almost impossible to do with this economy, but George Miller and his crew were able to pull off some of the most incredible action sequences and were able to make something unique and great to watch at the same time and sometimes Guerrilla filmmaking is always your best choice to make something special but it has to be in the hands of someone whose smart and talented and no dummy and George Miller was no dummy. Mel Gibson was a drama student when he got the part of Max Rockatansky and was only paid for 10,000 dollars and he show how great and promising actor he could be even when he lost his mind with a crazy lady, but it's not just how he was able to acted in an action movie it was more of his emotions and eyes that did a ton of the acting for him because even in scenes when you see him get drained our from his job, as well as reaching his breaking point it's his eyes that tell the story on how he's feeling on screen and Gibson does a fantastic job at that. Now I haven't seen Mad Max 2 yet and the same goes with Mad Max: Beyond the Thunderdome but I can honestly say that those movies are a billion no, a trillion times better than any of the Fast & Furious films as well as the later Mission Impossible films for obvious reasons, Miller of all people would say that this is how you do an action film the right way possible and never overdo it with ridicules and over the top action scenes that makes you feel like you’re in a cringe worthy family reunion. Of course I would recommend watching the original Mad Max film it's great and shocking and the action sequences are still fresh to watch from beginning to the final frame but more importantly, as shocking of a movie it was the film still follows the one rule that every director should follow in life and that's "show don't tell" and Mad Max is a great example of that one rule. So, if the movies out now are making you feel depressed, Mad Max is a great film to rejuvenate your love of film. 

                           

60th Anniversary of For A Few Dollars More

 

           Well, I at least picked a good time to watch A Fistful of Dollars, not only was it a worthy May Recommendation, but it also reminded me that its predecessor had reached its sixtieth birthday. For A Few Dollars More, the second installment in Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy, just so happens to be my favorite among the Dollars films. Sure, A Fistful of Dollars was an amazing Western, for a million reasons it invented the term Spaghetti Western and The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly was the definition of iconic Spaghetti Western, but for me, For A Few Dollars More was a fantastic Spaghetti Western that has a great list of actors that you root for from beginning to final frame but you also have a fantastic villain that you just love to hate and despise. But most importantly you also have a fantastic story that I just love out of all the Dollars storylines.

           In the Wild West, a murderous outlaw known as El Indio (Gian Maria Volonte) and his gang are terrorizing and robbing the citizens of the region. With a bounty on El Indio's head, two bounty hunters, Monco (Clint Eastwood) and Col. Douglas Mortimer (Lee Van Cleef), come to collect the prize. Upon their first meeting, the two men view each other as rivals, but they eventually agree to become partners in their mutual pursuit of the vicious criminal.

           What I love about the movie is simply that it's about two bounty hunters tracking down a notorious killer moreover it's a simple concept that I can get by with a mix of Clint Eastwood's iconic performance but more importantly Lee Van Cleef's stellar performance and his motive as to why he's on a revenge mission against, El Indio played by Gian Maria Volonte who previously was the main antagonist in A Fistful of Dollars. After the success of the first Dollars film, Leone and his partner Alberto Grimaldi wanted to begin production for a sequel. Although Eastwood wasn't ready to sign on for a sequel, Leone and his crew had to rush in get an Italian-language version of the film out for him to see. Even though Eastwood couldn't understand the language, it was the style and action that convinced Clint to sign on for another film. With Clint Eastwood back on board, Leone had to find his co-star that could rival Eastwood's character, at first Leone wanted to cast Henry Fonda as Mortimer, but Fonda turned him down so, Sergio went in search for Charles Bronson for the second time but turned him down as well, and yet the surprising factor is both Ford and Bronson would later star in one of Leone's classic western's Once Upon a Time in the West. Lee Marvin was the next candidate though turned down because he was in the Jane Fonda film Cat Ballou, and so the Leone finally offered the role of Mortimer to Lee Van Cleef (The Man who Shot Liberty Vallance) who wasn't getting a whole line of movie work after the filming How the West was Won, though was doing some decent work in Television. Lee Van Cleef was also grateful to Leone, even though he thought at first that he was just there for a couple of scenes but later was astounded when he finally realized that he was co-staring alongside Eastwood. But Cleef was grateful for Leone because he was going through hard times due to his heavy drinking, and this film marked a resurgence in his career, for which Cleef would later star in The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Gian Maria Volonte who played the previous antagonist Ramon Rojo in A Fistful of Dollars moreover does a fantastic job playing the sadistic outlaw El Indio in For A Few Dollars More, during filming was becoming angry at Leone, because Leone felt he was being a bit theatrical, used a lot of takes on Volonte, for which he was massively angry and tired, upon which Volonte stormed off set but came back anyway due to not finding a ride in the desert. Which in all honesty, that's nothing new considering Michael Mann drove Al Pacino mad when doing the scene in Heat, in which he's talking about a**'s. Like it's last film, Leone does break a lot of rules at that time in the sixties with a lot of graphic scenes including killing a horse and as well as shooting a wife and child (despite you don't see it) and although those scenes were tamed now, back then it was shockingly graphic to see on screen. Leone delivers at every level and the same goes with both duo of Eastwood and Cleef, though Ennio Morricone the composer behind majority of Sergio Leone's films does a fantastic job reinventing what movie composing as well as giving working movie composers a household name. Moreover gives a new definition to epic movie soundtracks that we can all listen to and love over and over again, and Morricone explains that he himself had to write the score during production, unlike scoring the entire movie when it's all said and done, because Morricone in his own words states that Leone wanted the music to be in important part of the movie furthermore kept some of the movie scenes longer because he didn't want the music to stop. For which leads me to the real reason why I love the film so, much is its final climax in which Cleef is squaring off with Volonte's character, which Volonte gets the drop on Cleef and has his famous pocket watch duel and you see Cleef having no shot at Indio, and feeling that he let himself down and when the music ends it soon begins and both men see Eastwood making his entrance with Cleef's identical pocket watch, and you soon realize Eastwood comes to save Mortimer and once he says "Now we Start" you have this satisfaction of Indio going to meet his end. Which to me is a well-directed scene with a tone of emotions, not knowing what is going to happen but then is relieved with the combination of Morricone's epic score, it just shows how amazing a well-directed film that I always watch numerous times because of how great the climax is. Now, granted it's been a long time since I sat down and watched The Good, The Bad and The Ugly but for now I still look at For a Few Dollars More and see that there's absolutely nothing I would change in that movie and would continue to watch that film from start to finish. Now, if you’re a big fan of Western's I would highly recommend watching For A Few Dollars More for its greatness as well as breaking all the rules in terms of what it great Western should be and at the time in the sixties when John Wayne was ruling the Western genre with his greatness, Sergio's A Fistful of Dollars and For A Few Dollars More to me brings a breath of fresh air of not always relying on the iconic hero theme in what westerns were always approaching in America cinema back then, but more importantly makes me realize that we need more of the Anti-Hero's in a lot of the Western genre because those are great ways to tell stories in the Wild West, because it wasn't a pretty place to live in and sometimes you always need another kind of evil to cheer for. Now yet again Tubi is bringing the house down in terms of movie watching experience so, if you have a Tubi account or not I would highly recommend watching this great film on Tubi as well as Amazon Prime, just in case you’re suffering from PTSD of so many commercials.

              

Father's Day Recommendation: Animal House

 

                           

           Father’s Day is coming everyone, and it's always the time to find the right movie your father loved watching, sit down and watch it together and experience why the love the film and what makes this funny to watch. And this ladies and gentleman, without a doubt one of the most outstanding and hilarious comedies I've ever seen in my whole life and granted this was my first experience watching the film, but I've taken notes through the years of watching the cult TV show, Blue Mountain State. Animal House has always been that one movie my dad has always loved though he would never allow us kids to watch (for very good reasons) the same as my mother but through the years, I just never had the right time to watch this amazing comedy until now. Furthermore, after watching Animal House, I can now say that this was a better John Landis movie than the “Blues Brothers”. 

           When they arrive at college, socially inept freshman Larry (Thomas Hulce) and Kent (Stephan Furst) attempt to pledge the snooty Omega Theta Pi House but are summarily rejected. Lowering their standards, they try at the notoriously rowdy Delta Tau Chi House, and get in. The trouble is that the college dean (John Vernon) has it in for the Deltas. And will do whatever it takes to expel the Deltas, once and for all.

            To give a unique history on how Animal House got made you got to start on the trademark that is National Lampoon. National Lampoon was one of the most popular humor magazines on college campuses in the mid-1970's. The periodical specialized in satirizing politics and popular culture. One of the main founders of National Lampoon, Doug Kenny at the time was getting tired of the deadlines as well as stories and publications and told fellow colleagues as well as producer Matty Simmons, that he was preparing to quit and Matty, being a true friend, knew how great of talent Kenny had told him that we're going to make a movie. For which assembled two fellow Lampoon writers Chris Miller and talented comedic writer, the Late great Harold Ramis. And together they both drafted the scripted together and all three men have attended a Frat house in their own Colleges and each of them shared their experience in fraternity houses and typed it out, and to all of those up and coming comedy writers if you’re looking for inspirations I would highly recommend using that technique because it will help you develop characters as you progress. The funniest fact about the writing process of Animal House as well as inspirational, was fellow producer Ivan Reitman bought each of the writers paperback screenplays of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, as a story structure and for obvious reasons both Kenny, Ramis and Miller never written a screenplay before nor went to film school so, kids if you love movies but don't have the money to go to California and study film school, one of the few or two lessons you need to follow if you want to make a movie on your own movie, is watching a ton of the greatest movies of all time moreover any movie skip the bad ones or weird movies unless it's necessary. Read a tone of screenplays so you can get a clear idea on how to write your movie, but more importantly always know how the camera works even if it means playing around with your own video camera from an old piece of junk to a new and advanced camera because you never know what you can afford, and most importantly have fun with it. Now the facts and history of Animal House let's get on with what makes Animal House fantastic, whenever you find that one perfect comedy that gives you a great breath of fresh air and the need to watch it over and over again, Animal House is most certainly that fantastic comedy that never gets old and you'd have a great time watching these characters go crazy through the course of the film. Basically, like a fine wine no matter how old the movie is or how long it's been since this movie got made the comedic humor just refreshes itself repeatedly just like Caddyshack, Ghostbusters, Stripes and hell, even the Naked Gun movies. Though what makes all of these comedic films great is that their sense of humor just has that feel and essence that you can relate too, as well as smile or laugh at the first time seeing it but also gives you that shock of how funny that joke was especially in one of my favorite scenes is when Pinto is about to bone the mayors daughter played by Sarah Holcomb (who was Danny's love interest in Caddyshack, aka Irish girl) tells him it's her first time because she's thirteen and you can see Pinto's reaction of "OH S**T" and then when she introduces him to her parents and adds "the one who molested me a week ago, we need to get married", upon which open my mouth as well as laughter because to me was shocking but also funny at the same time and it's like you cannot get away with that joke now, especially when Karen Allen tells her boyfriend that she's in love with retard it's just great. But it has that style of comedy that you tend to forget because you're disillusioned by all the bad comedies that are coming out now and something like Animal House comes around it's just fantastic, but more importantly I was born in 86 and a millennial like I am, these comedies after the Gen Z were always the crown jewel of comedy moreover it still feels great watching these raunchy comedies that was a pioneer of some of these other college comedies that never really hold up, not like Animal House. Both my father and mother have always showed great movies to us growing up from a comedy to a musical or science fiction/fantasy and Christian themed movies or television and through the course of finding that one movie to recommend on either Mother's Day or Father's day, I have to ask my mom on what was her favorite movie growing up, which is no crime it's always nice to ask my own mother on what her favorite movie is because there times where I don't remember or curious on her favorite movie is because she has a taste that is on the Christian themed movie and at times finding the classic movies she loved. Though when it comes to my Dad, I can really pick a movie out of his collection or my collection and he would have a tremendous time with the movie, whether it's Beerfest, the Super Troopers films, Major League or a beloved baseball film like Field of Dreams or even all John Wayne's filmography, and even a Quentin Tarantino film, though that's another story for another time but I'm not lying when I'm telling you that he does love some Quentin Tarantino movies. Though whenever it comes to finding a movie out of my mom's collection or my dad's collection it a great treat, for many reasons you never know what hidden treasure you’re going to find, but more importantly showing your Dad your collection of favorite movies (as a return the favor moment) as thank you for introducing me to his collection of favorite movies, he grew up watching. Animal House is without a doubt a fantastic College movie as well as the perfect raunchy comedy that still stands the test of time and seeing the talents of Doug Kenny and John Belushi at the peak of their comedic talent's is always a sad thing to see because both men died at the age of just 33, furthermore it's always that notion of long can guys like those two me can still make great comedic work, though in all fairness both Animal House and Caddyshack proves that these two men are immortal. And the good news is the film is streaming on Amazon Prime so, if you’re looking for that one movie to watch with your dad or haven't seen it, then I would highly recommend asking your dad in wanting to watch Animal House, this Father's Day weekend. 

                 

Tombstone

 

                  

         Well, ladies and gentlemen, this was the movie that inspired me to watch, A Fistful of Dollars for my May Recommendation. Originally Tombstone was going to be my May Recommendation because the film stars the late great Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday. And to be fair this was my first time watching the movie, but everyone I know through the years has told me that this was Val Kilmer's best movie performance. And I'm trying to find some movies to explore, moreover films that I have never seen or watched before. So, I figured why not check out this one film that everyone considers Val Kilmer's best on screen performance. Although Val Kilmer is the best part of this whole movie, it's everything else that I feel isn't right.

          Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) and his brothers, Virgil and Morgan (Sam Elliot and Bill Paxton) have left their gunslinger ways behind them to settle down and start a business in the town of Tombstone, Arizona. While they aren't looking to find trouble, trouble soon finds them when they become targets of a ruthless gang of outlaws. Now, together with Wyatt's best friend Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer), the brothers pick up their guns once more to restore order to a lawless land.

          I should add to this misconception of a plot everything is true though the problem is everything continues after the events at the O.K. Corral which in all honesty that's one of the few problems I had with the movie because I figured this would end in a shootout at the Corral. But after the shootout the movie continues on and it's like well, I would of much preferred if this movie ended in the Corral shootout but it doesn't which feels like they tricked us almost the way Nolan tricked us in The Dark Knight when the truck and Bat Pod was the final standoff, though the only difference is Nolan did it much better, than the Tombstone directors. Speaking of Directors, the film consists of two directors despite the fact the film is credited with just one credited director and one writer. The story goes is the screenwriter of the film Kevin Jarre, who was going to be directing the film as his first directorial debut. Unfortunately, through the course of the film he was overwhelmed with the idea of directing that the producers fired him and replaced him with another director in George P. Cosmatos a literally unknown director who made Rambo 2 and Cobra to take over the reins. Granted the film has that one positive notion and that's of course, the late great Val Kilmer, and through the course of making the movie he practiced constantly on his quick draw as well as handling a gun and the unique tricks, but more importantly gave his character that southern accent charm you see in the movie for which in all fairness, hell there's nothing to say about Val Kilmer, his performance speaks for itself from his broken down persona of being truly sick and being able to fight back is just great to watch and you continue to root for him until he's on his death bed and so, if this movie was solely about him and Kurt Russell is just a side character I would of root of loved the movie from beginning to end. But then everything else is just no good, now I love Kurt Russell to me he will always be Herb Brooks in my mind, but there were times, where he was just chewing to much of the scenery at times especially when one of his brothers die, but then again, he's cheating on his wife with another woman? Now I don't know if this was fact because all the characters are of course real-life characters but, when you meet Dana Delany and he slowly starts to fall in love with her, I'm just like wait are you married to the woman from the movie Fletch. And I'm not judging on the fact that the movie gets crazy on the lawmen just killing all the outlaws and then reading their rights, but it feels like everything in this movie, especially with the story just goes a little on the crazy side and doesn't take it self-serious at times, and I'd wish that we focused more on Wyatt's aspect on just focusing on retirement and hanging around with Doc Holliday, and then he slowly begins to break down on how Tombstone is just getting way out of control and then when we get to the second and third act, he finally takes matters and gets back to being a Sheriff or a Marshall, and he finally cleans up Tombstone and then we set in motion of the O.K. Corral shootout and that's would be how I would make this movie work, though this movie to me feels like at times a TV soap opera, kind of like Doctor Quinn Medicine woman. In my final verdict, I have mixed emotions about the movie and really if Val Kilmer was the star of the film I would love the movie even more but I personally think this movie was just written and directed by guys who have never seen a western in their entire life and just found bits and pieces of a western movie and thought we can do that. If you love Tombstone, go nuts and watch the movie, hell it's on Hulu but I just appreciate Val Kilmer's performance as Doc Holliday because he's literally the best part of the entire movie. 

             

The Killing

 

           Oh, what's this? Oh, hey look everyone, I found another Stanley Kubrick movie, that's so far, close to number two ahead of Full Metal Jacket in the best Stanley Kubrick movie, so far. The Killing is Stanley Kubrick's third film he made in the mid to late fifties but was also his final movie he made in the United States. Though more importantly this was Kubrick's attempts of making a great crime/film noir, and was done in almost the best and creative ways possible furthermore is also made under 330,000 dollars, and although you may not think of this to be awesome, I personally think it's amazing just because there's always some inspiration as well as hope that I can look to in terms of films and know that I can always make a low-budget movie and feel like I can make it, in life.

           Career criminal Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) recruits a sharpshooter (Timothy Carey), a crooked police officer (Ted de Corsia), a bartender (Joe Sawyer) and a betting teller named George (Elisha Cook Jr.), among others, for one last job before he goes straight and marries his fiancée, Fay (Coleen Gray). But when George tells his restless wife, Sherry (Marie Windsor), about the scheme to steal millions from the racetrack where he works, she hatches a plot of her own. 

           The genre of the Film Noir universe always have to be refreshing, but always have to follow the important elements on what makes a film nor, they always have to have either a anti-hero or a flawed protagonist because there's not perfect hero when you dive into the dark alleys of film noir as well as having a femme fatale whose always the love interest at times or a manipulator to the anti-hero or flawed hero, but what they all have in common is that there's always a crime involved whether it's a fixed boxing match, murder or bank robbery and yet by the end of the movie all of the characters don't have that happy ending where everyone walks away and that's always what makes film noir's such a great genre if you’re looking for influence. Although neo noir has become the new thing for these stories to tell now, film noir was the base for what crime movies can be and I still believe it's still there, but I wish the cinematography was still there, or maybe it is still there I could be wrong, and I don't always claim myself to be right. Few similar actors I did spot in the movie actors like Elisha Cook Jr. whose been in a tone of fifties movies, like House on Haunted Hill with Vincent Price and my another film noir masterpiece Don't Bother to Knock and he does a great job playing the typical criminal who has a selfish wife whose cheating on him for which creates more tension to the entire story, and Colleen Gray who plays the love interest to the main character is in the movie who appeared in the original Nightmare Alley with Tyrone Power. Although this film is low budget and I can't falter it because there moments where they have to use the best they can with what they had, there is a funny moments that do give a laugh out loud moments like the guy who's bribed to start a fight and for some reason he shirt is torn off by the officers and it looks like a pre-golden age Hulk, long before the Incredible Hulk show was made and I'm guessing this was the idea though just spewing out theories. And another scene where the sniper is supposed to shoot the horse and yet for some reason doesn't have a scope on his rifle and between edits, looks like he's short of distance and I'd assume that he's miles away, furthermore yes these are just things that Kubrick and the editors had to make with what they had in terms of budget wise, for which I'm not going to faulter that but does become humorous when you see it. I'm not going to spoil anything else because I want everyone to check this movie out mainly because it's directed by Stanley Kubrick but more importantly is another great film out of his filmography other than Full Metal Jacket which is a huge plus for me, because the least favorite of Kubrick's films that I don't have a need to watch the most are The Shining and 2001: A Space Odyssey, just because Shining is a usual Jack Nicholson performance where he's always looking crazy and 2001 I respect the film for its visual effects but the ending just lost me in the black hole. And so, the movie is on Tubi so, I would highly recommend downloading the app on your phone because Tubi has a tone of great treasures from classic movies, hidden gems as well as entertaining B-movies to watch and it's all free, and I stopped watching Netflix because some of the stuff they have I can at times watch but some of the movies they have are usually meh. So, if you ever have the time, I highly recommend checking out this great film noir by Stanley Kubrick himself. 

Some Like It Hot

 

        Continuing my search for great cinema, I decided to tackle more of Billy Wilder's filmography, which leads us to Some Like It Hot. When you think the mid or late fifties were a different time for comedy, especially when you have a bunch of dudes dressing up in women's clothes and then years later when the world is first introduced to RuPaul and everyone doesn't in a sense understand RuPaul at the time but yet it was the introduction of the Drag Queen trend but, again I don't know these are just bizarre theories I'm providing though there not actually theory's but I hell, I don't know maybe Some Like It Hot was probably the golden age or the birth of Drag Queen's, which explains it because when you get to late sixties and seventies things do get a little weird and by weird I mean 70's New York and 70's Los Angeles now again I'm not offending everyone I'm just throwing out interesting aspects but enough talk lets dive deep into the world of Some Like It Hot.

        After witnessing a mafia murder, slick saxophone player Joe (Tony Curtis) and his long-suffering buddy, Jerry (Jack Lemmon), improvising a quick plan to escape from Chicago with their lives. Discussing themselves as women, they join an all-female jazz band and hop on a train bound for sunny Florida, (spoilers this movie is set in Prohibition time). While Joe pretends to be a millionaire to win the bands sexy singer, Sugar (Marylyn Monroe), Jerry finds himself pursued by a real millionaire (Joe E. Brown) as things heat up and the mobsters close in. 

        For sure this movie is a slap stick comedy as well as a buddy comedy, and that's really what gives this movie its charm and for sure that's what makes the film great. And mainly a ton of that credit goes to both Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon, which the two of them does a great job in terms of comedy chemistry as two men who never learn from their lessons as well as each of them are annoyed in terms of having to do one or the others bad schemes and they do it so well together moreover if you’re looking for that type of comedy, if your trying to write a buddy comedy with slapstick humor this movie as well as dumb and dumber would be one of those films I would recommend, that is if you’re looking to make a buddy comedy. It is a strange thing seeing Jack Lemmon at a young age because throughout my childhood I remembered watching Grumpy Old Men, with him and Walter Matthau for which this is without a doubt the most saddest thing because I haven't at all dived into a lot of Jack Lemmon's movies and I need to make a point in that but then again watching Some Like It Hot is a great start so, now on to hopefully find more Jack Lemmon's films. Although I do have a memory of watching The Great Race with him and Tony Curtis along with Natalie Wood, I have bad memory of the entire movie, so I'll probably need to rewatch the movie but it's always good to start off your first movie with a bang. Marilyn Monroe again proves why she's a great actress and yet a tragedy of how and what she could of been if she lasted for so long, although I still say her best movie is Don't Bother to Knock (and if you haven't seen Don't Bother to Knock, you need to check that movie out) where she plays a terrifying crazy lady and with this movie she plays that pin up girl that our main protagonists are trying to hook up with, and really her transition from her last film I watched which was Don't Bother to Knock and then honing her comedy skills it's like she always been this natural at acting and it feels like no matter what movie she does, she always kicks it out of the park. Monroe is another actress that I need to continuing in watching her filmography and in fact I found other movies that going to plan on watching in the near future but really thinking back on Marylin Monroe, everyone remembers her being a pin up model who poses on the first cover of Playboy, and yet I truly want everyone to remember her for her acting skills because she was a fantastic actress in her time. Watching a movie like this, brings back memories of watching the Disney channel when the TV movie Mr. Headmistress would appear on cable channel all the time, in fact watching Some Like It Hot does remind me of movies, though some I haven't seen, Mr. Headmistress was the one of those movies that I watch at times on the Disney Channel for which I already said staring Harland Williams who stared in another movie where he's going full drag, Sorority Boys alongside Smallville Lex Luthor, Michael Rosenbaum and yet another movie reminds me of this movie is Juwanna Mannn, in which the premise is about a banded NBA player playing in the WNBA, yes I'm not joking when I tell you that premise and if you don't believe me check it out on Google. And again, one out of three of these films I mentioned I haven't seen but they reminded me so much of this bizarre topic, and yet I sadly forgot not seeing all of Mrs. Doubtfire with Robin Williams, ugh, so much shame I placed on myself. I would for sure recommending Some Like It Hot for many reasons because of its great list of actors and great comedy, but more importantly it's directed by Billy Wilder a legendary filmmaker up there with John Ford and Alfred Hitchcock, but more importantly in a lot of his film's he always deliver on his A-game, no matter if it's Stalag 17, or Some Like it Hot and more importantly another tremendously great film The Lost Weekend, Wilder is always such a great filmmaker from the past that no matter what film of his you haven't seen, he always deliver. So far, the movie is on Tubi and it's free, for which really if you’re tired of Netflix I would highly recommend saving your money and spending some time on Tubi for many reasons it has everything you need although, you do have to deal with a lot of commercials but still at least have some hidden treasures.

            

                        

20th Anniversary of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

 

                

            Well, everyone the time has come, we've talked about the greatness behind Episode I, talked about the underappreciative aspects towards Episode II. Now we can finally dive into the Twentieth Anniversary of Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. 2005, for me was a excellent time for movies some I will mention in futures to come, but if you want to talk about the one movie that was the most anticipated movie to see twenty years ago Revenge of the Sith was defiantly that one film on every Star Wars fans minds even better anticipation than the JJ Abrams Star Trek movies. And really when you look at the gap between 1999 to 2005 being a Star Wars fan was so much fun, especially back then when all the action figures came out in a full lot for the video games as well as the release of the DVDs. Man, I wish I can go back to when movies were fresh and new at least.

           Three years after the events of Attack of the Clones, the Clone Wars are coming to an end. As the Jedi plan to put an end to General Grievous. Anakin (Hayden Christiansen) becomes tempted by the Dark Side from Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) who slowly reveals himself as the Sith Lord, Darth Sidious who's been pulling the strings of the Republic. 

            What I remember most about the anticipation as well as preparing to see the greatest conclusion to any Star Wars trilogy can ever have been the sad realization that it's all coming to a complete end. Meaning it's all over no more Jedi no more lightsaber fights as well as the characters that you've come to know and loved especially characters like Natalie Portman playing Anakin's wife and even Mace Windu played by the ever great and legendary Samuel L. Jackson and this was my first time ever seeing Sam Jackson dying and seeing him being executed by Darth Sidious, just kicks you in the massive gut and even he in Attack of the Clones had some of the best fights especially his great entrance when confronting Count Dooku it was just amazing, and don't get me wrong he goes out with a bang especially when fighting Ian McDiarmid but it was just hard to watching him die off camera and it's not like Django Unchained when you can tell the Jackson gets what's coming to him, but this was just sad and the same with all of these other Jedi as well including Padme who you know is not going to make it in the end but you really don't want to see that because again you loved these characters through the course of Episodes I and II furthermore you just can't bear their ending. But then again that's the beauty behind George Lucas's writing is that you grow and love these characters and when the end comes you feel for them towards the very end, even if as Harrison Ford said it best "George, you can type this sh*t, but you can't say it". If there was one actor that doesn't get a lot of credit, especially in all six films of the Star Wars Saga and that's Ian McDiarmid playing the ever evil Darth Sidious/Emperor Palpatine, for MANY reasons is that he is the Syfy/Fantasy's version of Lucifer aka the Devil, because the way he's able to manipulate Anakin by telling him the Jedi are lying to you and I can save the one's you love is almost reminisce to the Devil tempting Eve into eating the forbidden fruit. More importantly even watching McDiarmid evolving on screen through the Prequel trilogy is just pure brilliance even when he's playing his disguised good guy role of Palpatine to even his shady role of Darth Sidious is like if Julies Caesar was disguised as the Devil to the point of even acknowledging his own apprentices and then throws them under the bus, and a great example of that is when Anakin defeats Dooku, and Palpatine just instructs him to kill him like he's now no use to me is just so great especially when Christopher Lee looks at him like "oh you sack of sh*t" just shows how cold and unremorseful Palpatine/Sidious is and it’s just great and I truly believe being able to witness Ian McDiarmid finally getting his time to shine as the real antagonist has always been for me a great thing to see as well as truly a treat to watch, because out of all of the characters in Star Wars he deserves a lot of the credit of playing a legendary evil, puppet master. And hell, I almost picture Lucas through the making of Episodes I and II telling Ian "look Ian you're most certainly the bad guy but we need to tone it down just a smidge" and then when the begin production of Revenge of the Sith, George gives Ian a phone call and told him "Ian it's time", then when McDiarmid came on set he was caring a paintball gun and came up to Jackson and said "Samuel how you been", then shots him with paintball, then replies "Great, I'm back and your fired". Back when this Star Wars was still a thing, I always question in my teenage mind as to why Anakin claims that the Jedi we're evil furthermore just didn't make sense to me, but then I slowly began to see that yes the Jedi weren't trusting Anakin moreover not believing he was the chosen one for which explained why they were doing a lot of talking behind his back but more importantly we're doing things that where outside of the Jedi code, but more importantly Palpatine was clouding the Jedi's mind as well as being a puppet master in all of the Clone Wars though what I'm trying to explain is while watching Tales of the Jedi through Dooku's eyes as well as Anakin's eyes I begin to see that the Jedi's sense of code and honor where a bit of shady as well as their ways were not comprehensible when it comes to defeating their enemies and that's the more interesting aspect I learned while watching Episode III. The Prequel Trilogy of Star Wars will always be the best movie trilogy of my era and always will be with the fact that the Original Trilogy of Star Wars is still the greatest, but the Prequel Trilogy will always be that go to movie series that I can sit down and enjoy from start to finish moreover Revenge of the Sith is the greatest conclusion to what the Star Wars saga can dream of and yes I'm not counting the Sequel trilogy because those don't exist. I now look back on all the trolls who were trashing on how awful the Prequels Trilogy and realized how full of sh*t they all were and if it were me, I would round them all up, strap them to a chair and force them to watch the Holiday Special every hour and the hour Clockwork Orange style. So, be warned trolls because I'm coming for you and it won't be pretty. 

 

May Recommendation: A Fistful of Dollars

 

              For the month of May I decided to dive into the Western genre since the summer movie season, releases at times a lot of Cowboy films long before Superhero films at times were great but sometimes get annoying, though not that I'm complaining because if I was born in the fifties and lived through a lot of Western's, I'll admit I would be annoyed so, I guess generations speak for themselves I guess. Before I chose A Fistful of Dollars, I originally picked Tombstone since it was another film from Late Val Kilmer that everyone remembers. Unfortunately, I had a bit of mixed emotions not because of Val Kilmer in fact Val Kilmer was the best part of the whole movie, it was everything else. But don't you all worry, I'll be getting to Tombstone soon. For now, let’s get to a great Western that was always a good back up almost like watching the original Vacation hatting it so much and then using Caddyshack as a backup for me getting to sleep.

              A wandering Gunfighter (Clint Eastwood) arrives in the Mexican village of San Miguel during a power struggle among Sheriff John Baxter and the tree Rojo Brothers. When a regiment of Mexican soldiers bearing gold is waylaid by the Rojo brothers, the mysterious gunfighter is hired by Esteban to join the gang, but he plays one side against the another.

              Two years ago I had this dilemma of watching a movie for the first time and then having a mixed emotions, that was watching the original Vacation with Harold Ramis and Chevy Chase in the starring role and I slowly realized how much I F**KING hated the movie with such fire and passion that I couldn't sleep as for which I decided to watch another Harold Ramis movie Caddyshack. Two years now, I didn't expect to reach this same dilemma and although Tombstone wasn't all bad mainly because Val Kilmer was the best part there was the rest of the movie where I had a mixed of emotions but, granted will get to Tombstone later I promise you. For now, let’s talk about the first installment that made Clint Eastwood a household name. In all honesty I never quite remembered the last time or first time I sat down and watched a Fistful of Dollars other than I heard that this was the first installment in the Man with No Name trilogy and so, back when cable TV was a thing, I would record movies that I haven't seen and A Fistful of Dollars was one of those movies that was on my radar and so, the rest became history. The interesting thing when you look at A Fistful of Dollars, is that yes this film was the first of many to start off the Spaghetti/Western genre moreover was the launching stardom to Clint Eastwood's success as well as the first leading role, but in strange but yet understandable reasons was that this movie was originally a American/Italian remake to a 1961 Samurai classic, Yojimbo directed by legendary Japanese director, Akira Kurosawa and if you look at both films, they do in fact share the same plot furthermore Kurosawa did in fact respectfully complimented Sergio Leone on his film but still told him that it was his film so, the two men settled out of court and Kurosawa and his production company got 15 percent of the movies revenue, and if you haven't seen Yojimbo I would highly recommend watching the film it's a great watch if your big on Japanese animation or films. Granted, even though A Fistful of Dollars it is, in a sense a remake to Yojimbo, moreover shares the same story premise, but the film is still incredible to watch from start to finish. But most importantly it started off a new kind of Western genre that at time we've never seen before mainly when you look at some of the western's from the forties and fifties they were always the hero's getting the girl or being an example to the American youth some of which came from the Television shows and sure John Wayne in some of his films he wasn't an all perfect hero especially when you watch The Searchers. But A Fistful of Dollars was one of those films where they introduced the Antihero but more importantly grounded down the Western genre in a sense of the Old West not being a grand place to live and you really had to protect yourself to survive. A surprising factor was that Clint Eastwood at first wasn't' the first choice to play the lead, it took actor Richard Harrison to convince Leone to cast Eastwood, upon which would be his first big break. At the time though Clint was still working on the TV show Rawhide and his contract with the show prohibited him from doing any movies in the United States. Though Eastwood had to go Europe to film the movie and surprisingly they didn't have any trailers or portable bathrooms for which they had to go out beyond the bushes, Clint even states that he was kind of tired, of playing the conventional white hat hero, who kisses the girl moreover said it was refreshing to play the antihero in a movie for once. Now, don't get me wrong I can go on and on about how great the movie is from Clint Eastwood, to Sergio Leone's direction to even Ennio Morricone's grand music score the film itself became a pioneer for the Spaghetti Western genre moreover had every up and coming filmmaker from either US or Europe, to say that you can go to parts of Spain or Italy or even Mexico and make a movie with whatever budget you have and literally make it work even if the movie was good or bad. So, for the beginning of the summer movie season I would highly recommend watching A Fistful of Dollars even if you’re getting tired of one-to-many Superhero movies or Disney just making one too many crappy movies. 

 

A Star Wars Celebration: Star Wars Episode II Attack of the Clones

 

           With the Twentieth Anniversary release of Star Wars Episode III, I figured since I since I didn't get the good chance to go back and review the second and most underappreciative sequel in the Star Wars Prequel trilogy. Attack of the Clones when it first came out I always remember how corny the whole love story between Anakin and Padme was and me who was more wanting to see Anakin become Darth Vader well, we had to get the best of what we can with this movie but granted when you think about it when you’re a teenager as well as a Star Wars fan, Natalie Portman gave you a real reason to love girls when you think about it because revisiting her with some of her outfits, there's no doubt I began to realize she would be my teenage crush. But more importantly revisiting Attack of the Clones gave me a whole realization that this was a great sequel to the Prequal trilogy and needs to be seen in a better light.

           Set Ten years after the events of "The Phantom Menace" the Republic continues to be mired in strife and chaos. A separatist movement encompassing hundreds of planets and powerful corporate alliances poses new threats to the galaxy that even the Jedi cannot stem. Though with the beginning of the Clone Wars, love evolves between Senator Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman) and Jedi Padawan Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christianson).

            I'll admit I was a bit weary into diving into Attack of the Clones mainly because it's been quite a long time since I watched the movie constantly and the last time, I watched the movie was back in 2011 when they finally released the movie on Blu-Ray. And for sure, I could of just dive into Revenge of the Sith but, it would be wrong and unfair. Sure the acting at times gets a bit corny and awkward especially when this was Hayden Christianson's first big role but through the course of the movie I began to realize that he was perfect for the role of older Anakin Skywalker, and sure you all are going to look at me crazy but he actually does a fantastic job playing Anakin as a young promising Jedi, who also begins to have anger issues but more importantly is torn between his feelings for Padme and reliving this movie I began to see that Hayden in this movie is every teenager whose torn between purpose and love. And what I like about Hayden's performance is that he does a fantastic job at playing a teenage Anakin, who wishes to be taken seriously but Obi-Wan is this dispended Jedi who of course lives by the Jedi code keeps telling him to not let his personal feelings get in the way, and I slowly see (and granted this is me watching this at 38 years of age) why Qui-Gon's death was the twist of fate, moreover you begin to realize that Qui-Gon should of taught Anakin to be a Jedi not Obi-Wan because Qui-Gon would of taught Anakin a better approach of being a better Jedi. While doing some research of the movie I began to see some actors that auditioned for the role of Anakin and with further hop will make you all realize that Hayden Christianson was the perfect choice for Anakin, one actor I would image to be an equal candidate was Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy) and then they're were actors that I wouldn't cast and that's Chris Klein and James Van Der Beek, but the one that shocked me the most was Mac from It's Always Sunny for which made me cringe at the even thought of that moreover I bet when George Lucas peaked through his TV and watched It's Always Sunny he realized that Hayden was always the first choice from the beginning, and there other actors I could mention but I'm going to let you all have fun in looking at the cut list, on who auditioned for Anakin Skywalker. And even seeing this with fresh eyes as well as watching the movie between the lines or scenes you slowly begin to see that the Jedi's way, was slowly beginning to be outdated, moreover in a sense corrupt because of their emotions as well as how they approached politics in general and this was coming from watching Tales of the Jedi moreover following through the perspective of Count Dooku and even rewatching the scene between Dooku and Obi-Wan, where he tells Obi-Wan about the Sith controlling the Republic and Obi-Wan just throws that belief a side, not even hesitating to ponder this thought furthermore that scene alone just explains the Jedi through the Prequels as being blinded by Palpatine throughout the movies. Speaking of Count Dooku, played by the late and legendary actor Christopher Lee, Tales of the Jedi and Attack of the Clones, gave me a clear and great respect for the character that for me at a young age wasn't all fascinating like Darth Maul or Darth Vader or even Darth Sidious. But more importantly with both films like Phantom Menace and Attack of the Clones, each antagonist is representation of Anakin Skywalker falling to the Dark Side of the Force, of course Darth Maul represents Anakin's anger, but it's Count Dooku who represents Anakin distrust with the Jedi but also represents their breaking point or what I like to say, one bad day. Dooku after the events of Phantom Menace as well as  the loss of his apprentice Qui-Gon Jinn it was his breaking point in betraying everything he stood for and although he was questioning everything in what the Jedi were supposed to be it was his greatest student, who was like a son to him that brought him to the edge of selling his soul to Sidious, and like Anakin witnessing the death of his mother as well as fearing the loss of his mother through nightmares as well as his visions were his beginning of his breaking point as we slowly see in Episode III and I think watching Tales of the Jedi and then watching Attack of the Clones I begin to understand what Count Dooku represents through the course of the Prequels trilogy. Furthermore, these were a lot of things that I began to slowly see after twenty-three years of seeing the movie and re-watching this movie all together I really misunderstood Count Dooku as a character. Going back to Hayden Christianson's performance in the movie sure it was at times hard to watch (which explains why he never got any work after the Prequels) as I remember, but the way he's able to have a hard time expressing emotions as well as not being sure on why the Jedi Council ideals are I truly believe is perfect especially after bringing his mother back from the Sand People and he breaks down with so much emotions as well as confessing to killing the sand people it's both great to watch and I don't think of any other way to direct that scene mainly because it's Hayden expressing anger but knowing it's not the Jedi way, and yet Natalie gives the greatest line through the whole movie "To be angry is to be human" because that line represents being angry at something isn't all bad as the Jedi would think or teach, and to be truthfully honest Hayden to me has always been the perfect actor to play Anakin Skywalker as well as Darth Vader no matter what the trolls say. I do remember before the film came out, about Yoda being digital and not a puppet anymore for which at the time I never understood why they would do that all because I was use to puppet Yoda, but until I heard that he was going to bring out his own lightsaber and duel Dooku, I'll admit was excited about this concept and when I first watched this epic fight scene I remember laughing through the screening almost like a crazy person laughing at anything and yet reliving this great fight scene always brings a smile, all because it's just great on so many levels. Attack of the Clones was great to relive from the young adult love story to Sam Jackson's great action sequence to even a short lived but great Jango Fett aka Boba's father, and I truly hope every Star Wars fan goes back to this movie and appreciate it as a great sequel in the Prequels trilogy because let’s face it the Prequels Trilogy is a billion times better than the Disney Trilogy. 

            

Mother's Day Recommendation: The Trouble with Angels

 

         

              Well, everyone, it's that time of day to celebrate our own mothers who bore us into this mad, mad world. And their times where my own mother drives me bonkers at times, but then again I drive her bonkers so in a fair sense it's always typical driving one another to the point of madness. But all jokes a side my mom has always been a kind and caring mom who has always had a mind on faith and God. So, what better way to pick out a movie worthy for this Mother's Day Recommendation. The Trouble with Angles has been on my radar long before I look in my mom’s collection of favorite films. Furthermore, it occurred to me that this was another one of those films from my childhood but more importantly a movie I haven't seen in a long, long time.

              Mary (Haley Mills), and her friend Rachel (June Harding), are new students at St. Francis Academy, a boarding school run by an iron fist of Mother Superior (Rosaland Russell). The immature teens grow bored and begin playing pranks on both the unsuspecting nuns and their unpleasant classmates, becoming a constant thorn in Mother Superior's side. However, as the years pass, Mary and Rachel slowly mature and begin to see the nuns in a different light.

              The surprising factor I found about the movie is that the film itself is based on the novel by Jane Trahey, who actually based her novel on her own high school years at a Catholic school near Chicago and many of the incidents that you see in the movie were actually based on Jane's best friend who later in life became a nun herself so, when you think about it's amazing how God works in mysterious ways. After Trahey's successful book launch in 1962, Hollywood took notice in the book and under the producers of both Ken Donnellon and Jacqueline Babbin who knew Jane Trahey begin talks about wanting to make the film. Sadly, Trahey's story didn't become full force until two years after the books release by Columbia Pictures that the story would finally reach a green light signal, though before I go any further, you'd be amazed on the list of actresses you'd never expect would play any of the nuns from Barbara Stanwyck to even Loretta Young. The surprising thing I found about the movie is a lot of talents behind the film that I didn't realize I've seen their work, Ida Lupino who directs the Trouble with Angles was widely known for directing a lot of movies through the years but what I found surprising most was that she was the first female director to ever direct a film noir film aka The Hitch-Hiker, for which I remember watching on YouTube and thought it was a great movie from start to finish but then again I had no idea Lupino actually directed the movie. Even though she had a successful career as a director through he forties and early fifties she later was on was basically stuck in doing a lot of television episodes or shows like Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Fugitive until she was hired by Columbia to direct what was her final movie, in a fair comparison she's the Patty Jenkins before Patty Jenkins launched her career with Monster and Wonder Woman. To be honest, it's kind of a strange mystery as to how I was hooked onto this movie mainly because this film was in a sense marketed to young girls with barely any boys involved. Though I may assume that my mom went to a Catholic school growing up as well as her own sisters so, I would imagine that when this film came out this was up their alley in terms of movies they can relate to. Moreover all I remember about this movie is the two girls getting into constant trouble with some of the pranks being funny to watch especially with the bubbles in the tea, and watching the movie now it does have great comedic value to it as well as seeing a lighter side to all nuns in general, because we've all seen movies about nuns in the horror section there always portrayed as either demons or abusive monsters to kids, then of course we all remember seeing Dana Carvey's Church Chat on SNL were he brings his real life experiences into one Church lady even though his character wasn't a nun but almost the same thing, right? But 'more importantly what I like about the movie is that it brings out both characters of Mother Superior and Mary played by Haley Mills where each of them are so, different but through the course of the movie you begin to see a mutual respect with one another, especially when Mother Superior is almost close to expelling the girls and begins to see Mary's bad influence of her uncle and his many secretaries she begins to have a change of heart and wants to be a positive role model for her. Watching the movie through I have to admit that with the right story idea you can probably remake this movie for a new generation even though this is very sixties, you can for sure have some comedic moments like the girls listening to Arianna Grande or Meagan thee Stallion hell even Sabrina Carpenter furthermore have a contest of the girls doing a raunchy dance for a completion contest because once I saw the outfits for the marching band I had a huge laugh that they would allow it but in a warm heart you begin to see character development. For certain this was a movie worth seeing moreover re-watching a beloved classic that I haven't touched since childhood and now doubt I would recommend watching this movie with your mother's on this Mother's Day weekend, for many reasons the film has everything from great comedic writing, great acting moreover great directing but more importantly a great story about one rebellious teen needing a positive role model to guide her into the light, just like Johnathan Roumie being a positive role model for his apostles. And thank the good Lord that we have a cheap streaming service like Tubi to guide us into finding some of these great as well as underappreciative treasures because without Tubi I don't think we would survive in a crazy world without some great hidden gems that Tubi has in their collection.  

     

A Star Wars Celebration: Tales of the Jedi

 

                I've been trying for years to do my own little celebration of the greatest movie franchise of all time and there were multiple times I wanted to celebrate Star Wars on my own terms by doing a review on May 4th. Unfortunately, time and life have been a pain in my own a**, so A Star Wars Celebration of my own design will just have to do. And to be fair I haven't been getting a whole lot into the newest Star Wars so I'm picking classic and recent Star Wars movies and shows that intrigue me personally. And Tales of the Jedi was one of those shows on Disney + that defiantly intrigued me especially when we explore a backstory behind an underappreciative character.

               Basically, a collection of shorts featuring parables built around Jedi from the Prequel era; the lives of two distinctively different Jedi: Ahsoka Tano and Count Dooku; each will be put to the test as they make choices that will define their destinies.

                Of course the one character that intrigued me into watching this show and of course it was Count Dooku, for many reasons ever since his appearance, portrayed by the late great Christopher Lee, he's always been a character that interesting but not as interesting Darth Maul or Darth Vader and really what makes him great now especially after binging on Tales of the Jedi, was that Dooku when you first see him going on his first mission with his young padawan Qui-Gon and slowly learns how badly corrupt politicians are throughout the Galaxy furthermore when he is partnering up with Mace Windu and you see Mace in a different light that you blindly see from the movie or the cartoon shows and you begin to side more with Dooku until he makes a decision that would change everything, mainly selling his soul to Satan if you catch my meaning. And I always been interesting with Ahsoka Tano ever since her first appearance in Star Wars, the Clone Wars movie and you can all say what you want about Anakin as a Jedi or you know what, I'm going to say Master so, SUCK IT! But even Anakin shows how great of a teacher he is especially when realizing the flaws behind the typical Jedi training and takes the training to the next level for which really is the more interesting part about this small show because even stuff like this was the main reason why Ahsoka survived when another Jedi didn't. Now I can go on and on about how great this show is but in all honesty I to spoil the entire show and closing if you’re a Star Wars fan and don't know which good Star Wars show or movie to watch this is most certainly a show worth watching. 

Heavy Metal

 

         Through the years we've all had our versions of what adult animation is. From The Simpsons to Family Guy to even Archer and so far as Rick and Morty. Well, this one film I truly believe is the granddaddy of all adult animation, and I mean ADULT animation. To fully explain Heavy Metal, if you haven't watched South Park there's an episode where the boys discover cat urine can get you high then they Kenny is obsessed with a woman with huge knockers. Well Heavy Metal is basically that inspiration behind that episode, and to be truthfully honest I never heard much about the magazine it was based on, nor saw this movie until now moreover for good reasons because this was beyond anything I can expect.

          Short stories set in deep space or in futuristic New York. All of them have in common a strange object that has psychedelic powers that can destroy or rule the World.

           Again, if you haven't seen the episode of South Park from season twelve, where the boys discover how to get high off cat urine and Kenny becomes addicted to it, both creators used that. Moreover, I believe in an interview from Zach Snyder talking about his mom purchasing Heavy Metal comics from his youth, which makes total sense as to why he made Sucker Punch. Anyway getting back to topic, usually I would find some interesting facts or story developments behind the thought of wanting to make this movie happen and in all honesty, I really couldn't find anything to explain as to why this movie became a movie and why this would even be great idea to even make this movie happen other than Ivan Reitman himself gained a deal with Columbia Pictures to create an animated film and asked Gerard Potterton to oversee it, furthermore interesting fact I learned while looking up Potterton bio, he helped create the infamous Beatles movie Yellow Submarine, though I believe he was one of the animators but I'm just assuming that he was asked by Reitman to do this and he accepted because he made probably one weird animation so why not make another one. Unlike Archer where there's a mix of partial nudity and some nudeness, there is full frontal nudity with a lot of big busty chicks and full on animated whoopee and I can honestly there were no female animators involved with this and the guys who animated this film along with Potterton they were obviously have perverted minds and not that I'm complaining because let’s be honest we're all perverted when we look at women, dudes or even dudes disguised as women and you slowly recognized their voices. I mean it brings back a Dead or Alive fighting game where all the creators in Japan decide to make a beach party video game where you dress these female fighters to the skimpiest outfits to barely anything at all and yet the laws of physics don't matter, almost a secret sick world where you can be Harvey Weinstein in your personal room, and that's almost close to what Heavy Metal is really. I'd say watch this movie to discover how weird this movie is but you also need to come up with a good reasonable lie just in case your mom or your wife, hell even your girlfriend in case you forget to lock your door.