Cradle 2 the Grave

 

         

         I haven't really done a randomized movie watching in a while, mostly consisting of finding some hidden treasures on Tubi, and a Jet Li classic, Cradle 2 the Grave caught my eye moreover thought what the hell. Like many martial arts actors that turned into action stars, Jet Li was another breed of martial arts/action stars that came from a long line of infamous Asian martial artist like Jackie Chan, Gordon Liu, as well as Michelle Yeoh and Legendary Bruce Lee. 

         Master thief Anthony Fait (late DMX) pulls off a major jewel heist and somehow manages to escape. A Taiwanese Agent Su (Jet Li) is on Fait's tail because the stones Fait stolen is not what they appear to be. But when Fait's daughter is kidnapped by a rival criminal and Su's ex-partner (Mark Dacascos aka Iron Chef), Su must work with Fait to save his daughter and get his revenge in the process. 

         Here's the interesting thing about this movie, Jet Li in this movie knows in his own mind that he's awesome and can take on anyone, for which I like about this movie, while watching a Jean Claude Van Damme movie like Time Cop or Double Team where they create the lame suspense of not saving someone is just the worst. And with Jet Li you can watch this movie as well as enjoy because he knows furthermore and is confident that he can take on his fellow opponents. A lot of the action sequences are actually awesome in the movie especially the cage fight between Jet Li and almost everyone especially a little man and sure some of the comedic elements are at times lame but Jet Li fighting is still awesome and the final showdown between him and Mark Dacascos is flat out amazing especially when they're in a ring of fire duking it out is both visually amazing as well as awesome. There are some comedic especially coming from Tom Arnold who’s infamous from the Best Damn Sports Show and Anthony Anderson who’s at times annoying kind of like Adam Sandler but in this movie, he at least is getting bullied and forced to do sh*t he doesn't want to do so it's at least mildly amusing. Gabrielle Union deserves a lot of credit in the movie and granted it's amusing that she's in a fight scene with fellow actress Kelly Hu (aka Lady Deathstrike) but I love watching Gabrielle Union I respect her a lot as an actress and learning about she was shocked that the producers wanted her to do a topless strip dance but after that, she's an actual devoted Catholic, she went to confession to confess the incident, for which sure she should of known but tell that to Cindy Morgan from Caddyshack though this proves why producers are at times pervy dudes hence Harvey Weinstein only this time it's produced by Joel Silver who produced the Matrix films. But having learned about that fact I now, respect Union a lot for being a Catholic but more importantly she's a Nebraska native and that's a rare thing to come by these days, I mean there's Johnny Carson, Marlon Brando and there's Gabrielle Union. If you’re looking for a mindless entertaining action movie, then Cradle 2 the Grave is a great movie to watch in times of boredom, moreover has the late great DMX and who doesn't miss that legendary rapper? I will still say that these Jet Li films like Cradle 2 the Grave is way better than watching JCVD's Time Cop or Double Team, just because I grew annoyed of Van Damme getting beat up and not saving his loved ones when he could single handily win those fights, but with Jet Li, they at least cut the BS and at least kicks everyone's a** and I would rather watch that than Van Damme being helpless at times, for which gets annoying sorry not sorry if I'm rambling, but look the point is if you don't have Tubi I would highly recommend subscribing to Tubi because their the king of hidden treasures. 

      

Stand By Me

 

            Continuing with movies I need to see on my brother’s list of movies I need to see. We pay tribute to the late Rob Reiner who recently passed, though technically was murdered by his own son. Though we're not going into any details nor going to dive deep into that fork in the road because it's more tragic than David Carradine. Stand By Me, is a eighties classic directed by Rob Reiner as well as staring Wil Wheaton, the late River Phoenix, child actor legend Corey Feldman and Jerry O'Connell long before he married Rebecca Romjin.

            After learning that a stranger had been accidently killed near their rural homes, four Oregon boys (Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman and Jerry O'Connell) decide to go see the body. Along the way the four boys have a life-changing experience that re-shapes their lives as well as their future. 

            I'm not sure the last time I dived into a kids staring movie I think it was going back in time when the Sandlot was this awesome movie and then watching that movie I felt a little on the cringe side just because Smalls was not knowing baseball and his throwing arm may have been on the cringe side either way just not knowing baseball was just meh, either way it's been a long time and I may need to re-watch the movie sometime. Though with this movie this certainly does feel like a breath of fresh air, moreover does have that comedic feel to it but more importantly you actually feel for four characters and you actually relate to them in a strange way, though my Dad and Mom always loved me and my brother as well as my sister but the way both of these boys actually share their pain on screen is really good acting on the boys part and that's some great direction from Rob Reiner if you ask me. The film is based on Stephan King's short stories or novella which ever that word means, for which is surprising now because I watched the first IT movie in 2017 and thought that was a billion times better than Tim Curry as well as loving the Shawshank Redemption moreover the surprising factor is that some of the non-scary films adapted by Stephan King is much better than the scary ones which I guess is not surprising considering a lot of Stephan King's movies are consisted with him directed a lot of his books. And yet a surprising factor Rob Reiner actually show King the movie in a private screening and King was so, shaken by the film and later King told Rob that this was the greatest adaption of his work he's ever seen, furthermore this maybe the second time I'd agree with Stephan King on, (the other will get to that later) for many great reasons is that this film provides a lot of great coming of age themes as well as great drama through the course of the film that is both refreshing and great at the same time. I would highly recommend watching Stand By Me, because as I said earlier you relate to these four boys and their personal struggles and almost like Good Will Hunting, it has that good and personal drama where we can relate to these characters and their struggles and to me that's what makes good drama in movies not like the Nicholas Sparks crap or any Soap Opera's or Telenovelas' that all the women in planet Earth enjoy. So, if you have a copy of this movie or feel like renting something on your phone than I would highly recommend watching Stand By Me, and hell you can also have your kids sit down and enjoy because I would claim this to be a kid friendly and sure their some swear word or cussing involved but all you got to do is tell your kid not to say those words till they get older and decide whether to shout out the F word in public, which I think all of us millennials have learned in life if you ask me. 

Fear and Desire

 

            The Stanley Kubrick watching experience continues and this time like Killer's Kiss this was the shortest Stanley Kubrick film I've ever seen, though in all fairness this is Stanley Kubrick's first ever movie and like Killer's Kiss this is Kubrick's first ever project where he's blooming int the filmmaker we all come to know and love. Though it was way before he may have kept the Korova milk bar statues and the phallic statue in A Clockwork Orange, boy I'd feel bad for the people who visited his house if you know what I mean.

            After their aero plane crashes behind enemy lines, four soldiers must survive and try to find a way back to their battalion. However, when they come across a local peasant girl the horrors of war become apparent. 

             Now you can look at this film compared to Kubrick's other films, and I would say that this at least is better than Eyes Wide Shut, MAYBE? Better than The Shining or 2001: A Space Odyssey though I'm going to pass that bridge later this year before I decide on which is better than. And so in order to judge a movie like this I have to take out the perfectness that people tend to criticize as well as the quality of the movie, and for a first time director this is actually not bad considering in terms of what limited resources he had to work with, furthermore Kubrick would later on denounce this film from his filmography, for which sure, you can do that I mean it's your own right but you really shouldn't criticize your own first-two films and appreciate them for what they were and watching this movie all the way through I can see what story he was trying to tell with the limited budget he had to work with and the way he was able to accomplish that is pretty cool and more importantly exploring the debts of war and horror moreover what that does to a soldier fighting in World War II and I like the way he shot the film with what he had. And sure some of the acting is a bit strange and a little over the top but you have to see that one of the soldiers are crazy and that's the best craziness he can portray, either way I believe this film is the best first film genre since Robert Rodriguez's El Mariachi, and watching Kubrick develop more into a filmmaker is pretty cool to watch as a film fan. Now, there ways to watch this film and you can watch the film on Tubi, though I would vote against it because the film on Tubi is in color and the color version is just awful to even watch and my first attempt to watch the film was pretty bad though I tried to ignore the ugliness to but fifteen minutes in I just couldn't do it anymore. But luckily I found the B&W version on YouTube so, I would HIGHLY, recommend watching Fear and Desire on YouTube and not on Tubi and I think that's one of the many reasons why I would never watch films like It's a Wonderful Life on color because it's just flat out disgusting and I doubt the color is accurate to what they were actually wearing behind the scenes, though there people out there that don't like B&W so people have their own ways in watching classic films I guess. Defiantly better than Eyes Wide Shut, though I would choose Killer's Kiss over Fear and Desire but I think both of them are really good films in showing Kubrick developing himself into a legendary filmmaker and showing why he's such a great cinematographer as well, and for a first time film I would still recommend watching this for anyone trying to develop a movie from scratch. 

  

Presence

 

        A typical Wednesday night, just having one of those days where I must make sure, I have a place to live and more importantly not overreacting about having to research other new things in this decade, because holy crap apps at fast food places drive me bonkers. Anyway, getting back to the point and the point is having spent a stress filled day, and my brother propose to watch a movie directed by Steven Soderbergh (Ocean's Eleven and Haywire) moreover written by David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Spider-Man), for which after watching this film, I praise the film for its experimental shots as well as an intriguing story.

        A family becomes convinced they are not alone after moving into their new home in the suburbs. Moreover, the family has a massive dysfunctionality written all over their faces though let’s face it makes for a great story. 

        I've already seen this movie twice now and granted this film came out two years ago, but yet at the same time this is hands down one of the greatest movies I've ever seen, and yet what sticks to me more is the fact that Steven Soderbergh all he did was use just regular mirrorless or DSLR camera's that local videographer's use for their wedding's or news coverages as well as a stabilizer for these camera's and really made something out of it almost the same as using wide angle lenses for the fight scenes in Haywire another great movie out of Soderbergh's filmography that I actually like but these film together in what they have in common, is that they're both experimental in their own way but exceptionally great though doubt anyone is going to appreciate them for what they are. The other amazing thing and this is coming from me, is that Soderbergh actually used nylon rubber slippers for the staircase scenes and I always wondered after my first two times viewing the film never understood how he was able to pull those off without any foot sounds and now having heard about this fact I actually want to buy me some rubber slippers just to try it out. Sure this film cost a grand total of 2 million dollars to make but in all fairness majority of that money went to Lucy Liu, who actually does a great job in the movie playing the difficult mother, but a lot of the credit goes to Callina Liang who does a superb job playing the outsider in the family that's a bit of rebellious but also relatable, moreover does an excellent job playing the main protagonist that begins to sense things through the rest of the movie. Now for sure this film does have all the elements of a typical Poltergeist movie or The Haunting, where you have a typical dysfunctional family always bickering, two out of the two members don't believe in the supernatural and deep down you'll have the feeling of when you see one Haunted movie you've seen them all, but with this movie it has the refreshing feel of something new and different that I love about the film. I'm not going to spoil any details about the film because again this is hands down one of the greatest movies I've seen in this entire decade so, far and I would highly recommend anyone watching this film because again this is a limited budget and experimental in every way that has a great feel that just makes this film great in my opinion. Either way this film is amazing, and I love every minute of it, and look at if you have Hulu or Disney Plus bundle then I would tell you all, to STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING RIGHT NOW AND JUST SIT DOWN AND WATCH PRESENCE RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE! And there is all I have to say before I go on and on about how great this film is.  

       

        

A Bridge Too Far

 

          

            Well, it's like this I'm still going on a massive quest in becoming the ultimate cinema fan, kind of like spending majority of my time on Dungeons and Dragons. For which I've done a fairly good job in watching a ton of Kubrick's movies as well as some Japanese films and Samurai movies. Though I haven't necessarily found the ultimate hidden treasures and with the help from my brother by providing me with a list of films to watch, I now can begin my quest of watching the right movies to watch as well as enjoying more appreciative films. Starting with a World War II movie that to me is most certainly in the top five best World War II movies ever made.

            Late in 1944, the Allies seem to have the upper hand in the European land war. A combined British and American paratrooper force, led by American General Gavin (Ryan O’Neal) and British General Urquhart (Sean Connery), plans to take a highway leading from the Netherlands into Germany, so that the British ground troops led by Lieutenant General Horrocks (Edward Fox) and Lieutenant Colonel Vandeleur (Michael Caine) can enter enemy territory. But the Allies soon learn that they may be overconfident. 

            In one of the rare few times in life, I'm glad to have forgotten a lot of my history lessons in High School, and watching something like this, where you’re on the edge of your seat as well as watching the Allies trying to conquer Germany but then turns of events hit and your like, "Really?" Now, I'm going to stop right there for the sake of the review just because I don't want to spoil any details about this great movie, A Bridge Too Far is a World War II movie based on the events of an Operation gone wrong (Operation Market Garden), almost like the events of Dunkirk in fact I'm told from listening to a book by William Goldman that these two events, England actually celebrate which is weird but I guess in a fair sense we celebrate the Great Depression at times? Although the States are always in debt so, they were secretly celebrating the Great depression. If you were raised with The Princess Bride, than you need to thank the late William Goldman for making your childhood worthwhile, and a surprising factor is that Goldman started off as a Novelist (aka Author), he actually had no interest in wanting to be a screenwriter, and so, he started off writing books as well as short stories and poetry then later when on to do works in the theater in New York furthermore with twists of fate, went on to Hollywood and written some underappreciative classics. Like a ton of Robert Redford's films, but more importantly written the classic novel The Princess Bride as well as helping the late Rob Reiner bring “The Princess Bride” to the big screen. Richard Attenborough is another great example of if you don't know this guy well I will give you the infamous line that ever came from Attenborough's mouth "Welcome, to Jurassic Park" and the surprising factor is that he's directed a ton of movies, as well as winning two Academy Awards for his direction on the film Gandhi in 1983, for which Sir Ben Kingsley won for Best Actor. So, deep down Richard Attenborough has been this almost forgotten filmmaker and after watching this I now need to watch all his movies, well, maybe one at a time you can never trust some of these filmmakers because let's be fair Steven Spielberg lost his mind after 2015. Now, if I had to pick a shot that I found was the best and needs to bring back into filmmaking now, is the entire paratrooper army landing on the Netherlands and Attenborough knew he had only one chance to pull it off and so, to ensure he had the coverage he wanted he used a grand total of 19 cameras rolling during the paratrooper drop and the way he did it is flat out awesome almost the same way Coppola shot the Valkyrie scene in Apocalypse Now. Moreover, the tone of the battle sequences looks so legit especially when you see the battle on the bridge sequences it's almost like you’re transported into the battle itself and either way I love the way it turns out and would stamp in approval, considering this as the best battle sequences in any WWII movie. What's great about this movie is that you even have a huge list of A-list actors in this movie from Sean Connery just six years after is time as James Bond, as well as Academy Award winners Michael Caine and Sir Anthony Hopkins it's almost like an Avengers for British actors ready to destroy the Nazi's. And the same goes with Robert Redford as well as Elliot Gould and to those who've never heard of Elliot Gould, he was one of the main financiers for George Clooney and Brad Pitt on the Ocean's Eleven trilogy back in 2001. But you also got James Caan delivering a great performance in helping a brother in arms, as well as Gene Hackman though he's not playing an American in this movie but also delivers a great performance as well. When you think of World War II movies in general you'd always know that the Allies of course win the war and it's really a matter of how, you as writer or even a filmmaker can give the audience a refresher in terms of how to make a epic war movie new and different, more importantly what story you can tell that we as an audience member don't know about. And with this movie this is a grand and epic battle where the odds tend to shift and your worry for each of these characters in if they become victorious or not, and both Goldman and Attenborough really do a fantastic job in bringing this film to life. Now if you’re looking for an epic War movie, I would highly recommend watching A Bridge Too Far, this was an epic movie with a great ensemble of tremendous actors who don't have a ton of on-screen time but deliver in the best way possible. Now, keep in mind that this film is three hours long so, if you’re having a hard time paying attention to the movie just take constant breaks in between the film. And although I've seen this film on Amazon Prime the film is also on Tubi so, if you have both streaming services then this will be the film for you to watch in January.

                

January Recommendation: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective

 

        I believe after watching Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls I knew that the movie that started it all for Jim Carrey besides the Dumb and Dumber and The Mask, also I looked back at my passed movie reviews and I was shocked to realize that I haven't reviewed Ace Ventura: Pet Detective for which really I was shocked but then again I haven't reviewed The Mask yet, so, in all fairness I'm very lazy. Although all these films are great, moreover, Jim Carrey success beyond measure as well as making him a household name as well as the best comedic actor of the 90's. 

        When the Miami Dolphins, Mascot is abducted, Ace Ventura (Jim Carrey), a zany private investigator who specializes in finding missing animals, investigates the case. Soon Miami's star QB Dan Marino is kidnapped as well, making Ace's sleuth work even more pressing. Working with representative Melissa Robinson (Courteney Cox), Ace closes in on the culprits, but not before many ridiculous misadventures.

        Chairmen and CEO of Morgan Creek Productions, James G. Robinson, in the early 90's, sought to produce a comedy that would have a wide appeal. Gag writer at the time Tom Shadyac pitched a rewrite script to Robinson and was hired as a director for what would be Shadyac's directorial debut. Robinson later recognized Jim Carrey after watching In Living Color (a Sketch Comedy) furthermore found him perfect for the title role as Ace Ventura. At first, Ace Ventura was supposed to be a bumbling idiot, until Jim Carrey was cast, he made some conditions in terms of the character, and that his character would be zany as physically possible, but the more important condition for his character despite his quirks and eccentricity, should be good at what he does. And personally I think that's what makes Ace Ventura such a watchable movie especially the second film is yeah, not matter how crazy this guy is, the guy does know what he's doing and I almost rank him up there with Sam Spade from the Maltese Falcon, Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe's characters in The Nice Guys and Ace Ventura as the greatest PI's in movie history. Even with Jim Carrey in the title role, you also have a great list of supporting actors and actresses as well as the young and beautiful, Courteney Cox who does and excellent job being the love interest as well as being a trustworthy alley for Ace, even Sean Young does a great job playing the over the top police chief who doesn't take Ace seriously but later has a dark secret. Though more importantly Dan Marino does a great job in the movie just playing Dan Marino moreover is excellent on screen but could also act with Jim Carrey and especially in some of my favorite scenes where Jim is trying to get Dan to the game and both are complimenting each other on their personalities. Tony Shadyac deserves a lot of credit in his directorial debut, for good reasons he shows great trust and allowing Jim Carrey to develop the character further and to see what works and what doesn't work and personally that shows a lot about how directors and comedic actors should trust one another in terms what's good and what's not good and at times maybe taking the ego out to the trash but that's just referring to the breakup of Bill Murray and Harold Ramis. Though, more importantly both men worked on the script for the film as well as collaborating again on "Liar Liar" for which did extremely well, and for being a gag writer as well as finding some promise in the script that shows that taking a leap of faith does pay off at times, moreover trusting your up and coming, comedic talent to make this film a success. In the month of January, I've slowly began to realize that January is hands down the worst month of the year simply because, Christmas comes to an end and everyone is absolute Scrooges, by already taking down their decorations and believe me I live in a town of Nebraska where they have the entire business section of town entirely in Christmas lights and you don't want to escape that great view of the section of town, but then when New Years Day ends all the decorations are taken down then you feel gloom and depressed because having to go back to reality and every normal person would know that reality sucks. More importantly January takes way to long and we all have to do sh*t that we don't want to do in life, and the point that I'm trying to make here is that when it comes to the month of January where we all become miserable in our own personal lives, a really good comedy is always the best thing to watch in the month of January and having watched both of the Ace Ventura films and appreciating them for what they are. And the first Ace Ventura is a perfect example, have a great time and laugh at the obscure and ridicules comedies and if you’re a fan of Jim Carrey's earlier comedies then I would highly recommend watching not only Ace Ventura: Pet Detective as well as Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls. But more importantly if you’re dealing with a lot of BS in your personal life during January, it's never too late to have a comedic refresher and watching comedies are always the cure to a terrible month like January. 

          

Anaconda

 

 

        You remember the song from Sir-Mix-a-Lot, Baby Got Back? As well as the lyric "my anaconda don't want none unless you got buns, hun"? Well six years prior to the release of that classic song I never thought they would come out with a movie titled Anaconda. And no, it's not about a man's polish sausage. It's all about a huge ass, computer generated Anaconda, and the fact that they promote this movie to be a scary, type of a film is funny to watch even after all those years.

        Filmmaker Terri Flores (Jennifer Lopez) is traveling deep the amazon jungle looking for a forgotten tribe. Terri and her crew, which includes an anthropologist (Eric Stoltz) and a cameraman (Ice Cube), come across Paul (Jon Voight), who is stranded on the riverbank. He offers to help but secretly puts the entire crew in danger by hunting a very big snake.

        I was aware of this movie by the time of its release as well as seeing the film on cable TV couple of times but, again was one of those films that I never in a million years had the interest in wanting to watch the movie, until now when I saw the film on a local streaming service I figured "what the hell" like I had nothing better to do. Not a whole lot of development info I could find in terms of the film, other than the CGI for the Anacondas cost roughly 100,000 dollars per second, for which sh*t I don't know how they were able to accomplish that though it was piss poor job since the snake looks so, bad that you can look how fake it is to even seen almost like a Sharknado type of bad. As much as I want to make jokes about Jennifer Lopez role choices but sadly this movie along with Selena, was her big break before she became the crazy woman that divorces more men than the Dallas Cowboys not trying to win a Super Bowl. The same goes with Ice Cube because that man was only in certain movie like Boyz in the Hood or Friday because he's kind of like a Daniel Day Lewis type of actor that only picks the certain movies despite them not being that great. Although the one Actor in this entire movie I can make fun of is Jon Voight because his character of course is a shady character who only cares about himself and yet they decide to bring him on, furthermore has a strange accent that I don't know if it's supposed to be a Spanish type of an accent or he's just doing his best impression of Al Pacino's Tony Montana from Scarface, I'm certain that he's supposed to be a South African poacher but doesn't really matter considering every time he's on screen, I'm still confused on his choice of accent moreover hoping if he's going to say to the snake "SAY HELLO, TO MY LITTLE FRIEND". Now having watched the movie, I'm a little curious on how the people who are terrified of snakes would react to watching a computer generated snake, though sure they would refuse to watch this movie of course, but when you tell them it’s a fake snake not the best looking snake I would love to see if they try and watch the movie, either way it would be funny to make them watch this movie only to be scared by a computer generated snake because the snakes in Raiders of the Lost Ark were a hundred percent real than the fake Anaconda. This is defiantly one movie I wouldn't recommend in fact this would explain why this kind of movie would be released in the springtime for 97, just to fill the gap of mediocre movies that would later come out, but then again it shows that Hollywood still hasn't changed a thing. And yet the sad thing is that this movie isn't even close to being a funny bad movie, furthermore, would prove why I wouldn't recommend anyone in wanting to watch this movie. 

  

Renfield

 

        

        I know it's not the perfect timing in terms of wanting to watch a scary-ish movie. But if there's anything I've learned when it comes to streaming services it's that you only get a once in a lifetime chance, to watch some of these movies and I had to make an opportunity in watching this entertaining movie from Nic Cage. Renfield is an interesting take on the Bram Stoker's, Dracula lore, where this time we focus on the side character of Renfield, a side character that was according to Stoker is described to be an insane person that eats bugs or any insects all because the man is clearly insane as well as loyal to Dracula and with this movie you see a unique spin to the character.

        Renfield (Nicholas Hoult), the tortured aide to his narcissistic boss, Dracula (Nic Cage), is forced to procure his master's prey and do his every bidding. However, after centuries of servitude, he's ready to see if there's life outside the shadow of the Prince of Darkness.

        I have to say at the time of this film’s release I was a little intrigued with the idea of focusing on a side character from Bram Stoker's novel as well as making him a bit of an anti-hero through the course of the movie. What I like most about the movie is that you do have a sort of tribute to the original Dracula and re-create some of the legendary shots from the original film which is cool because I doubt anyone remembers the early thirties Dracula and with this movie it's more of a re-introduction to the world of Dracula. After years of bad monster movie re-imagine, it was after the Tom Cruise Mummy where screenwriter Robert Kirkman, took inspiration and focused more on the character Renfield as the central part of the story. Granted this movie isn't up to par with Nic Cage playing Nic Cage in the Unbearable Weight of Massive talent, because again, we as fans would usually expect Nic Cage chewing the scenery thought deep down it's interesting to see him playing a savage villain but then again it's not up to the spasms and over the top acting you'd usually get from Nic Cage and when watching the trailer for the first time I was expecting to have an over the top impression of Bela Lugosi's Dracula but with this movie sure I like that Cage is playing a villain but, it was "well I was hoping for an over the top Dracula", though you can't win them all I guess. Hoult did a good job playing the title character of Renfield and as well as playing a tragic character and I truly see that, especially after watching The Menu when you see him being obsessive to his idol chef then later has his heart broken. Moreover, I did a great job with some of the violent action scenes for which I was pretty impressed by the action sequences myself moreover that's something I'd never expect when watching a movie like this. Though then again when you see some scenes where Hoult is trying to improve himself as well as movie into an apartment or hitting on the lead female detective it soon becomes a bit cringe at times. Either way this film is entertaining has some great and entertaining moments but at times it becomes a bit on the cringe side and loses some flair and especially wants Nic Cage to chew the scenery. If you’re looking for a movie to pass the time for sure, I would recommend watching this movie, while still streaming on Peacock but when you’re done watching it whether you love it or not it's a good once over type of film.  

    

Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls

 

        I've slowly begun to realize that January is the month of comedies in my opinion. Just because Christmas season is over you must go back to reality, and of course nothing is going your way in life, more important you lose a sense of inspiration. Luckily Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls was the only Ace Ventura movie I haven't seen and with Jim Carrey back at the helm, I knew this movie was going to be amazing. And yet the most puzzling thing I can't solve about these films is that we didn't even get a third installment of an Ace Ventura franchise though in all fairness it's best to quit while you’re ahead of the game. 

        Legendary Ace Ventura (Jim Carrey) returns for another adventure when he's coerced out of retirement while on a soul-searching retreat in the Himalayas. He must now retrieve an endangered white bat from a village located in Africa. 

        For sure I've seen the first movie in fact there many times I've seen the movie but never watched it whole, but for sure I've watched the first film all the way through. And, I may have seen this movie all the way through, though I doubt I personally remembered watching the movie. Of course Jim Carrey is excellent in the movie despite the fact that he really didn't want to do the movie, but the man is a master of being this cartoonish goof ball that you really can't help but laugh at him and really this movie is one of the many reasons as to why he was a talented comedic actor in the nineties. But the best part of the whole movie is the entire actors in the entire movie, and even though Jim Carrey is great in the movie the supporting cast where excellent as well as the Himalayans monks who through the course of the first act don't show the distain for Ace but, the head monk hears about the news in Ace taking on a case, desperately wants him to leave even giving him a special medal just so, that he can leave and the fact that we see all the monks celebrating, you can see all of the Monks were annoyed by him and desperately wanted him gone and it's just fantastic furthermore the funniest thing I've seen in the movie. Even actor, Ian McNeice does an excellent job in the movie as Ace's aid who at times is extremely patient with Ace especially when they’re about to leave Ace wants to play with a slinky and I just love how he's either patient or somewhat bewildered on the man's craziness, for which either way his performance is fantastic and the same with Simon Callow who plays the main antagonist in the movie and the most interesting thing is both McNeice and Callow where in episodes of Doctor Who back when Doctor Who was an excellent show for which is awesome to see their filmography. After watching the movie I never quite understood why they didn't make arrangements for a third installment and doing some research I believe it had a lot to do with Jim Carrey not wanting to do despite having to do with the contracts dispute, moreover coming to blows with producers as well as the director of the film which I think that was one of the main reasons but props to the guy for at least giving out a great comedic performance. This film was entertaining from start to finish and seeing critics bashing the movie it proves time and time again that movie critics are nothing but trolls because if you want something new from this movie then you’re expecting way too much from a goofy comedy and should just shut up and accept the film for what it is. If you're feeling down and needing something refreshing, the Ace Ventura films are an excellent way of finding a perfect comedy to laugh at as well as having a great time, along the way.  

  

Killer's Kiss

 

        Found another Stanley Kubrick movie! And this is one of those films, Rosie Perez most infamous for White Man can't Jump. Talks about this film as a great film of course but was made on a very low budget out of the creation of Stanley Kubrick. Directed by Kubrick, this film is in fact his second film he's made two years after developing his first film Fear and Desire. I think out of all the earlier Kubrick films I've seen besides Dr. Strangelove, I got to say that this film is probably in my top five or six favorite Stanley Kubrick movies because of the very limited resources he had to work with. 

        Davey Gordon (Jaime Smith), a New York City boxer aging out of his profession, meets dancer Gloria Price (Irene Kane), and they begin a romance. However, their budding relationship is interrupted by Gloria's violent boss, Vincent Rapallo (Frank Silvera).

        Now this film is, in fact, an independent movie to the point where there was no money involved so, if you’re expecting a great Stanley Kubrick movie, this is technically a twenty-six-year-old learning how to make movies. What I like most about the movie, is that this has absolutely no budget, though it was a 75,000 dollar budget that really goes to camera as well as actors, but Kubrick while making the movie had no permits to shoot at any section of New York City and had to be unnoticed through the course of filming and when you watch the film your surprised at how he was able to pull off some of these shots as well as the boxing match because they look so realistic, and your curious as to how he was able to stage a boxing match with tons of extra's it's just astounding to see. And even some of the action/chase scenes are on top of roof buildings in the lowest part of New York City, and all the guy used hand-held cameras. Moreover when you think about it, the film was shot entirely in NYC, nobody would care what you were shooting because it's a huge a** city that I doubt any cop s would come by and say "you can't film here", and I think if you can shoot a film now in the Big Apple maybe you'd get caught making a movie without a permit but back in the fifties I would imagine you'd get away with anything, though I could be wrong but granted this is New York and crime could happen anywhere so, plus riot's happening as well as cops not doing the best at their own jobs. Kubrick did in fact have to fund the movie with the help of relatives and friends, but even with some of the great photography that he uses, he had a hard time with filming the dialogue as well as having to fire a veteran sound guy so, Kubrick had to post-sync a lot of the dialogue to make it work. The film is in fact on Tubi, for which time and time again, Tubi is proving why it's a great streaming service for some of these lost and underappreciative movies and even though you have to watch commercials, but it's also free to watch and you'll never know what underrated classics you'll find but also some crazy and weird movies that you'll never expect to relive in terms of watching. Still, Killer's Kiss is one of those films that's extremely great as well as another one of those films that has a very limited budget with no permits and basically using very limited resources furthermore making it work, and again I might say this is up there in the top five of Kubrick's best films in my list so, this film says a lot on how great this film is just like On the Waterfront for which both films came out the close to the same year so, both films say a lot of great movies with limited resources.  

     

80th Anniversary of The Lost Weekend

 

          

        Well, Happy New Year everyone, we've all made it to the year of our Lord, 2026. And holy crap I'm going to apologize for absolutely none of my actions this year so, if you hear me trashing about the latest movies or Academy Award nominations, well as the great Shoresy once said, "Give your Balls a tug, T*tF**ker". Well, I'm sure these past couple of days got you drinking to the point of a hangover and so, I thought what better way than celebrating a 80th Anniversary about alcoholism, well a movie that explores alcoholism hence Billy Wilder's Best Picture classic, The Lost Weekend. Now, if you have anyone whose experienced this disease before just keep an open mind that this movie will make you feel empty inside.

        Writer Don Birnam (Ray Milland) is on the wagon. Sober for only a few days, Don is supposed to be spending the weekend with his brother, Wick (Phillip Terry), but, eager for a drink, Don convinces his girlfriend (Jane Wyman) to take Wick to a show. Don, meanwhile, heads to his local bar and misses a train out of town. After recounting to the bartender (Howard da Silva) how he developed a drinking problem, Don goes on a weekend-long bender that just might prove to be his last. 

        It's been five years since I sat down and watched this film and I thought to myself, that it's a Billy Wilder movie of course it's going to be a good movie, and through the course of the film I felt horrified on the films premise for which is about alcoholism but usually when you see movies like this you tend to have a sarcasm in joking about how desperately this man goes to finding booze but this, this film makes you feel horrified as well as watching a trainwreck in fact this was almost the same type of horrific feeling I had when watching A Clockwork Orange. So, really, I'm not sure which film is the most horrific, moreover giving you a panic attack, The Lost Weekend or A Clockwork Orange, I mean both films are disturbingly f**ked up, but they also have interesting topics furthermore were way ahead of their times in terms of the film’s release. When you look at the movie Harvey starring Jimmy Stewart you think of him as a loveable goof who at times drinks, moreover, enjoys life and sees an imaginary bunny almost like a PG-rated version of Edward Norton in Fight Club. This film really dives deep into the disease of alcoholism and the way Billy Wilder tells the story is both serious and scary at the same time, but more importantly you have an excellent performance out of Ray Milland, who through the course of the movie, you have this complexity of hating this guy because of manipulating everyone around him then of course you feel a little or more pity due to the guy just being pathetic as well as a drunk, and Milland does an excellent job at making you hate this guy for what he's doing to other people but then you slowly remind yourself that he's going through a disease and alcoholism is a serious disease in terms of addiction that everyone and the whole, entire globe of earth suffer through all the time. And both Jane Wyman as well as Phillip Terry give excellent performances as the supporters to Milland's character moreover each of them share a great dilemma of helping him no matter what or just letting him hit rock bottom because he doesn't want help. What's more, that's the same dilemma we all have dealt with when it comes to any kind of disease, I mean my own father help is own brother whose "down syndrome" as well as having Alzheimer's so bad that he doesn't remember anything (sadly he passed away years ago) and there we times of helping him was such a madness in its own that you're close to having homicidal thoughts and granted if I was Ray Milland's brother I would set up a contraption like A Clockwork Orange and force him to watch drunks in the psychiatric ward, who are going through withdraws and seeing things in their mind, just to make him stop. In fact, this would have worked for both famous baseball legends Billy Martin and Mickey Mantle because both of those guys were massively drunk and nobody told them to get some help (though Mickey went to get help), now granted that it would be a bad idea BUT, could at least help? Though thankfully I'm glad I'm not a problem solver because my ideas would be the worst ideas ever. Even after the film’s release, people in the forties and going into the fifties, sixties and even the seventies, all of them ignored the problem of alcoholism and granted all beer corporations and hard liquor corporations hands out money just to ignore it, it's almost the same as the cigarette companies as well, but sure people back in the late forties who've seen the movie were obviously horrified but then, hell I would at least think they would take a glimpse on their drinking life but then again it's always the biggest problem is never solving the problem just ignoring the problem and blaming it on somebody else. It's crazy that movies like this are crossing the threshold and anyone who hasn't seen this on either Turner Classic Movies, though I doubt I've seen it on TCM, but still this is a movie that everyone needs to see especially when any relative or best friend is suffering from alcohol addiction, for great reasons this is one of the few films out there that dives deep into the darkness of booze and too much of it is in fact dangerous. Now fair warning you’re not going to find it on your local streaming service (convenient), you'll have to rent the movie or buy it. But this film is an excellent film from start to finish and the fact that this film is 80 years old is simply outstanding, moreover it is relevant to the subject of booze addiction and to the people who suffer through it.  

     

Eyes Wide Shut

 

        Going to finish my final days of 2025 in the best way possible well, sort of. So, this year I've pretty much watched a grand total of five or six, of legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick. And this one, I have mixed feelings in terms of story, though truth be told this was Kubrick's final film furthermore passed away shortly before the film's postproduction. Staring starring former husband and wife Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, moreover I remember this film’s release as well as looking at a VHS copy of the film and making a long story short this was a movie I remember seeing previews of but never watched because I was a kid. 

        After Dr. Bill Hartford's (Tom Cruise) wife, Alice (Nicole Kidman), admits to having sexual fantasies about a man she met, Bill becomes obsessed with having sexual encounter. He discovers an underground sexual group (nothing to do with Epstein, quote, unquote) and attends one of their meetings -- and quickly discovers that he's in over his head.

        I will admit when I say this that I do in fact remember seeing numerous previews of this movie growing up and they continue to talk about this being Kubrick's final work, that was pretty much it, as well as this being marketed to be an erotic thriller with Chris Isaak's "Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing" in the background. And really this was one of those movies I knew I was never going to watch but more importantly this was the first time I ever heard of Stanley Kubrick, much to less didn't know he made such iconic movies through the years. The idea of Eyes Wide Shut came around Kubrick was finishing 2001: A Space Odyssey, and after buying the rights to a book titled a Dream Story (which was published during 68), Kubrick declared this to be his next project. Although through the course of the decade it' was stacked on the shelf to gather dust until the early nineties. Having finally watched this film all the way through I still have mixed feelings about the movie though it has a lot to do with the story as well as the post-production part of the film, mainly the film was already done but again Kubrick passed away during midst of the postproduction of Eyes Wide Shut. Surprising factor is that the film was shot around October of 1996 to February of 1997, and while in principal photography Kubrick was still in the editing process around December of 1996, moreover while this film was being made a year ago in 1995, Cruise man was still working on the first Mission Impossible so, there's some good explanations in terms of that year Tom being extremely busy. Getting back to the topic at hand, which is Kubrick's passing and the fate of Eyes Wide Shut's completion, there could be some assumptions that this film was indeed not completed to the liking of either side and that goes to both Kubrick and Warner Brothers as well as Tom Cruise himself moreover Kubrick may or may not of had some fights brewing with both parties, for which to me makes a lot of sense considering there's a ton of the story's elements that just feels out of place like where was this secret society that could of been formed by Jeffery Epstein quote, unquote what are their intent or WHAT their purpose is, and I have no clue in that factor other than Tom Cruise hears about his real life wife's fantasy and drives him to an obsession wanting to plow another female encounter, either way this film feels out of place because we don't have a whole lot of explanation or common sense, and some of that has to do with the secret society being shrouded in mystery when we don't get any of the answers of what they are essentially. Garret Brown, the inventor of the actual Steadicam expresses Eyes Wide Shut being an unfinished film, stating in his own words "I think Eyes Wide Shut was snatched up by the studio when Stanley died and they just grabbed the highest number Avid edit and ran off as if that was the movie. But it was three months before the movie was released. I don't think there's a chance that it was the movie he had in mind, or the music track and a lot of other things. It's a great shame because you know it's out there, but it doesn't feel to me as if it's really his film". Even R. Lee Ermey who previously worked with Kubrick on Full Metal Jacket stated he phoned him two weeks before his passing, according to Ermey in a Radar Magazine during the phone call Kubrick "He told me it was a piece of shit, and was disgusted with it and that the critics were going to 'have him for lunch'. He said Cruise and Kidman had their way with him -- exactly his words used". So, deep down this film alone which was supposed to be his final bow turned into a nightmare which this film is a bad case of that especially when this should of been Kubrick's final bow but it turned to be out of control and even when you pick fights with both the Studio heads and Tom Cruise, who we all know is a huge control freak. As much as I want to say this film is better than 2001 and the Shinning, I would even consider my own words to be not true moreover it's not the worst thing I've seen out of Kubrick's filmography, in fact I would rate this film as a six out of ten, for which is pretty good but defiantly not his finest works. In terms of recommendation I would certainly recommend watching this movie just because it's one of those films that you need to experience as a cinema fan, and more importantly this is one of these films that turned out to be a tragedy film in terms of this being the death of Kubrick and never really, had the chance to express his vision of the film if he hold on just a little bit more. Though somewhere in the afterlife Kubrick is up there still editing Eyes Wide Shut, or he may be in Hell and is repeating the cycle repeatedly, for which I doubt will ever know. 

     

25th Anniversary of How the Grinch Stole Christmas

 

        Well, I hope you all had a great and exciting Christmas this year, me I personally had a great time surrounded by some cherished Christmas films including DIE HARD. Though it can't be a excellent Christmas if we don't talk about the Jim Carrey Classic, as well as its 25th Anniversary of the film’s release, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Luckily, this found itself on the Peacock subscription app, so if you have it or not this is certain Christmas film worth watching. Though this is for certain one of Jim Carrey's finest and granddaddy of a comedic performance before he lost his mind until twenty years before his comedic comeback with Sonic the Hedgehog. Though in all fairness I don't have a clue if they’re good or not, moreover I don't feel the need. 

        In this live action of the beloved children's tale by Dr. Seuss, the reclusive green Grinch (Jim Carrey) decides to ruin Christmas for the cheery citizens of Whoville. Reluctantly joined by a hapless dog, Max, the Grinch comes down from his mountaintop home and sneaks into town to swipe everything holiday-related from Whos. However, the bitter grump finds a hitch in his plans when he encounters the endearing Cindy Lou Who (Taylor Momsen) 

        Long before Dr. Seuss aka Theodor Seuss Geisel passed away in 1991, Dr. Seuss pledged that he would never sell the film rights to his books. For which in all fairness, I would understand his viewpoints because let’s be honest three years later after this film’s release, Universal Studios released a live action movie of The Cat in the Hat staring Mike Myers and well, look if you see photos of the movie on Google, you'll understand why it looks awful hell, even I as a freshman in high school thought it was awful. Now getting back to topic, after the great doctor's passing his widow Audrey Geisel began entertaining several merchandising deals, including clothing lines, accessories, and CDs. To make a long story short, major studios had a knife fight (figuratively) to negotiate the rights for all of Dr. Seuss's book. Luckily Brain Grazer, who was representing Universal, with the help of Ron Howard made the widow an offer she couldn't refuse and with Jim Carrey at the starring helm, the rest became history. I actually remembered watching this great film especially when at the time Jim Carrey was still a thing after making so, many films in the 90's so, in all fairness they're a reason why this film was going to be a thing moreover came out on my birthday and when we went to the film at our local theater, outside was already turning into the snowy blizzard and not the Dairy Queen kind if you catch my drift. Even twenty-five years since the film’s release it's still incredible especially when you have Jim Carrey playing the title character, and I think the beauty of the film is Ron Howard trusted Carrey with his comedic talents that I would imagine he told Carrey "look just do you're thing and will follow along", and it's one of those comedic talents that I don't think you can even mimic or use as inspiration for when you want to be a comedian like sure it may be outdated but his performance in this movie you can see how creative he is when creating the Grinch it feels like he's this crazy person that's always had the opposite view of Christmas but has been deranged because of spending his entire life in a cave, for which ether way Jim Carrey is excellent no matter, how you want to analyze his performance in the movie. And it's not just Carrey's performance that's great it's also his supporting cast in the movie as well, especially Molly Shannon who does a great job playing Cindy Lou's Mom, who does a great comedic job playing a mom being obsessed with the Christmas decorating and is always competing with Christine Baranski playing Martha May whose oversexualized in this movie and she's great as well, just because the adult content she's able to get away with in this movie is funny as well as amazing because when I saw this as a young age I didn't care much about her other than she was in love with the Grinch and yet the surprising factor is that Christine Baranski later in life played Leonard's mom in The Big Bang Theory, for which I find shocking because if I met Leonard now I would later tell him his mom was kind of a hottie back in the day, just so he can be traumatized. Jeffery Tambor who has been in certain things though you'll have to look up his filmography does a great job playing the antagonist in the movie as the mayor who always judges the Grinch but he's the mayor because he always gets what he wants which again that's a reason why he does a great job in this movie. Talking about adult content in the movie besides Christine Baranski, a lot of surprising adult content is shocking as well as funny especially when you first see the Baby Grinch and he lands in the middle of a Christmas key party (basically you put your keys in a bowl and whose keys you draw you get to bang that person with the keys just something from the 40's-70's) and rewatching this movie now, I'm shocked but yet find it funny because even kids like me back then didn't get that, for which I'm surprised what other adult content you can find in other family movies, gratefully they keep it a secret because the last thing you'd want to see is porno content in a family movie. This is defiantly a great Christmas movie to watch on the Holiday season granted Christmas is sort of over. But you can defiantly watch this movie a dozen times and feel entertained from start to finish but more importantly has great messages and themes about Christmas not being about gift giving or parties and treats it's all about being with friends and loved ones, moreover is appropriate for the kids to watch because if I at a young age can ignore the adult content I'm sure kids today can't tell the adult content in this movie besides Christine Baranski. Another great Christmas movie to put in my list of best Christmas films of all time, and Jim Carrey is perfect for the role as the Grinch furthermore Ron Howard deserves a lot of credit for this movie getting made because he at least has a sense of humor of letting Carrey impersonate him in one of the scenes. So, Merry Christmas everyone hopefully you're still having a great Christmas and still having a great Christmas moving into the weekend and if you went to a Sporting event on Christmas Day, I'd want to say I feel sorry for you, though it depends on which team you we're rooting for.  

           

Ghost of Yotei

 

         Now we may be counting down the days of Christmas but for me it's never too late to publish my thoughts on the greatest video game of 2025. You've may or may not have been waiting for my thoughts on the Ghost of Yotei ever since I've been unleashing my Japanese samurai films weeks or months ago, maybe weeks. Now, for warn if you’re looking for a last minute gift for you loved one be warned that this game will be crack to you for the rest of your life moreover will take countess hours of your life, but by end of it all is worth every bit of your money you spend on buying this game unless you’re buying a PS5 then I still say it's worth your weight in gold.

         Sixteen years of wandering Japan, Atsu a full-fledged mercenary return to her home in Ezo and seeks revenge on six individuals called the Yotei Six, who were responsible for the massacre of her family, through the course of this journey Atsu learns more about vengeance, forgiveness as well as finding closure in a new family. 

         Granted I spent countless hours beating Doom: The Dark Ages so, that I can move on and play Ghost of Yotei, and holy crap I didn't expect the countless hours of WANTING TO PLAY, this game through and through and I would think about playing other sports games but this game just sucked me in and never let me go. Granted this is an open-world video game where you can go around the globe and do whatever you want or as Westworld would put it, "In this world, you can be whatever you want" though with this game you have the biggest open-world that combines Red Dead Redemption and Ghost of Tsushima and yet, I CAN'T STOP PLAYING IT. I mean it's both spectacular as well as unleashing a great storyline of revenge moreover gets you hooked through the course of every level as well as every upgrade of a weapon you acquire and learning that there's a HUGE version of a Katana that exists out there in the real world called the Odachi either way just granting a ton of cool looking weapons as well as wanting to learn more is also fun to play even though this game to me is like craving for crack. Now learning that you can carry a matchlock rifle is even cool but more importantly reminded me of a documentary about a Samurai series on Netflix where the Samurai used Matchlock rifles to battle is cool moreover reminded me of that series and yet was rewatching the series while being sick with the flu. I'm not going to spoil anymore details because of how amazing and probably one of the greatest video games I've ever played. I would highly recommend making this your last minute Christmas present for this year as well as state and prove that PlayStation is still a hundred times better than XBOX all because XBOX only great video games are Halo and Gears of War and haven't made a great video game since while PlayStation still stands tall with classic video games like God of War, Uncharted, and all the Ghost of Tsushima and Yotei games. Though I'm just saying this game will consume you in terms of wanting to play even more because even after beating the game I now want to replay the game again especially when you can play the game in the format of every legendary Japanese filmmaker. So, like I said before I’m not buying any video game this 2026 because I declare Ghost of Yotei, the greatest video game ever. 

   

December Recommendation: The Polar Express

 

        After multiple recommendations of two Disney versions of A Christmas Carol I decided to spice things up a bit for this upcoming Christmas. The Polar Express was one of those films since its release I in my own view avoided, mainly because back then I was a high school teen, who didn't know a whole lot about anything and so, I didn't feel the need to watch this great Christmas film. Well, as fate would have it my parents asked me to join them in watching The Polar Express and I was immediately hooked. Granted this was one of the many films that director Robert Zemeckis did for which is exceptionally great, though some of his films in my opinion are at times hit and misses.

        A young boy, who has grown skeptical of Santa Claus is shocked to see a train stop outside his window on Christmas Eve, destined for the North Pole. When he accepts the invitation from the conductor to climb on board, he embarks on a white-knuckle ride to Santa's Headquarters, where he makes fast friends and learns the invaluable lesson about the true spirit of Christmas.

        Having loved the book by Chris Van Allsburg, Tom Hanks in 1999 optioned the movie rights with the hope of both the Conductor and Santa Clause, Allsburg at first wasn't all in on selling the film rights but later agreed on the hearing of Hank's involvement. With the help of both Robert Zemeckis and screenwriter William Broyles Jr. who surprisingly wrote two past Tom Hanks classics, the rest became history. Surprisingly enough this was the first ever animated film that's not produced by Disney and Pixar, hence Warner Brothers was the true hero in making this great Christmas, for which really if you’re making a Christmas movie like this Disney and Pixar would obviously make this worse though in all fairness this was way before Disney turned into a complete monster. Long before James Cameron came along with Avatar, the Polar Express was the first movie to use motion capture animation to bring this great world of Polar Express to life, so, in all fairness this movie was the first to accomplish this, moreover was listed in the 2006 Guinness Book of world records as the "first all-digital capture" film, so deep down Cameron is NOT the first to accomplish motion capture, thus SUCK IT CAMERON. Anyway getting back to the movie, what really makes the film special is that this is every kid who gets to that age and is skeptic about the belief of Santa Clause and that's always a dishearten thing because you should never lose your faith in Saint Nick, I mean if you’re going to lose faith in one mystical character you should lose your faith on the Easter Bunny because the bunny has no connection to Jesus furthermore was in roots of paganism so, yeah St. Nick is the inspiration to Santa and Easter Bunny should be mocked about having nothing to do with Jesus dying for our sins. Okay enough blabbering, with this movie you follow and care for these characters from beginning to the very end, and even watching the film for the second time I know what's going to happen but still on the edge of my seat when something drastic happens and yet by the end of it all your still over joyed on these kids being okay by the end of it. Furthermore this movie also shows off the great acting in Tom Hanks who plays close to every character in the movie, I mean obviously you know he's playing the Conductor, and yet you slowly see that he's also playing Santa Clause and the way he plays St. Nick is just awesome and more of a believable performance of Santa that I've honestly never seen in past Christmas films, mainly because you can see his presence on screen and see, how gentle he is as well as being calm when talking to the kids and the way Hanks portrays all of his characters is outstanding. Even after twenty years, since the film’s release and seeing the films rating on Rotten Tomatoes for which is at a fifty-five percent rating, in which is not bad but deep down should be at least a 99 percent moreover I still after living thirty-nine years of my life, I truly believe that critics today are nothing but trolls and have been trolls ever since the formation of movie critics and even watching this film twice I'm just bewildering on the critics, criticism and want to ask them politely "WHAT DO YOU WANT YOU P*ICKS?" I mean it’s an animated Christmas movie, what do you want? Either way, this is a lesson to never listen to movie critics for a gillion reasons, they don't know what the hell they’re talking about. Now I know that this is terrible taste, because it's a family film, but through the course of the train sequences especially when it comes to serving the kids hot chocolate, in the back of my mind all I'm thinking about is if there another dimension of some sorts where a Bill Cosby train is coming to your neighborhood, it's probably best that you don't go on that train especially when it comes to either kids or any young women getting lost on Christmas, because you never know what he puts in the pudding or jiggle Jell-O, jigglers and even I would not want to know what's in them, and even at a young age, fi you’re not sure on whether to go on the train or not the brain on the young child or woman's head should be shouting "RUN, RUN FOR DEAR LIFE", or in Dave Chappelle's words of wisdom "RUN B*TCH, RUN". So all jokes aside sorry not sorry on the Bill Cosby joke, for this Christmas week I would highly recommend watching The Polar Express, this was a great treat to watch and after living through a year with some ups and massive downs especially when it came to watching sports, The Polar Express give's the greatest gift of having more faith in Santa Clause though I'm personally have believed Santa was real, but also has the great theme of belief still having the belief in Santa no matter how bad the world is getting and not going great, the month of Christmas should always be a cherish time of believing as well as sharing love and care for one another especially those who don't have the belief or going through rough times. Now I've seen many Christmas movies in my time but if I had to make a list of my top five greatest Christmas films, I got to say that it's a close tie between The Polar Express and George C. Scott's, A Christmas Carol and in all fairness they're both in a close tie all because of their great performance in the lead actors who portray each of their characters. So, in the limited time we have before Christmas, I give you a salute and say, MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! 

        

Silent Night

 

         Spent a whole week getting sick with the flu and I was so, awful that I literally didn't feel like wanting to watch anything considering I was literally wanting to rush and get better before Christmas, and I don't know how you all try and get better but locking yourself as well as turning your space heater up to max is a nightmare. Anyway, I got my bearings back just in the nick of time to celebrate Christmas and I figured what better way to celebrate Christmas than watching an entertaining action film by John Woo, infamous for movies like Face/Off and Mission Impossible 2 as well as Paycheck. 

         On Christmas Eve, a man (Joel Kinnaman) witnesses the death of his young son when the boy gets caught in crossfire between waring gangs. Recovering from a wound that cost him his voice, he soon embarks on a bloody and grueling quest to punish those responsible.

         Around October of 2021, Silent Night was going to be directed by John Woo and staring Joel Kinnaman in the starring role. And if you don't know who Joel Kinnaman is, basically starred in the PG-13 version of Robocop where Michael Keaton wanted to give Robocop a black shade of armor, furthermore, starred in the lesser Suicide Squad as Colonel Flagg, as well as reprising his role in James Gunn's version. Now at the time I remember seeing a trailer to this movie, I'll admit I was intrigued with the concept of the idea basically making a silent movie but without the typical silent movie cliches from the Charlie Chaplin years. And even John Woo explained in his own words how the entire film is relying on no dialogue, for which gave the opportunity to rely on the visuals to tell the story as well. And the way he's able to accomplish that with the very limited budget, it was fun to watch moreover I thought this film from beginning to the very end was both great and I didn't need anything to understand the story when the actors were showing it for me. Now if you haven't seen a John Woo film, I truly believe you have no worries, you can enjoy this movie all the way through. That being said, if you've seen a John Woo film, you'll probably see many duster's whooshing and many dudes with guns and holding two guns at the same time, I mean this movie is all there and at first watching the first, like twenty or thirty minutes I figured "oh this is a new kind of Woo film" but then when you get to like act three, then you obviously see the many trademarks Woo does when making action movies, though on the plus side I didn't mind it at all because I was drawn into the story and the rampage Colonel Flagg goes on. In most Christmas films, there is a point where, at times I get mildly annoyed with popular Christmas movies that everyone loves, and I'll be sure to give you the many reasons why I hate Christmas Vacation and Mariah Carey's "All I want for Christmas". But when it comes to movies like Silent Night it's like a breath of fresh air where I can have a great time to watch something from beginning to end, and more importantly it doesn't over stay it's welcome in terms of the studios being money hungry and wanting to make a sequel to this movie and that's always a great plus to these, underappreciative action films. I would highly recommend watching this great film on Christmas break or Christmas Day, especially if you’re all by yourself and all alone. Moreover, if you find this at your local Walmart, I promise you this film will be worth your money.  Either way, if your tired watching the same Christmas movies or just had a bad Christmas dinner with your family, Silent Night would definitely give you the Christmas spirit of entertainment. 

            

20th Anniversary of Kingdom of Heaven (Directors Cut)

 

          This my friends is a movie review in the making getting close to eight or ten months prior to the movies release. This was one of the first Ridley Scott films I actually watched in the movie theaters and through the course of the film’s release to DVD and Blu-Ray I was obsessed with the world and it's story for a long, long, long time and still consider this one of Ridley Scott's greatest accomplishments and Orlando Bloom's greatest performances on screen. Kingdom of Heaven is a hero's journey set in the years of the Crusades, moreover, it has magnificent storytelling about one man's struggle with faith, that which anyone can relate to and hopefully by end of this review everyone should watch this and enjoy it.

           Still in grief over his wife's sudden death, village blacksmith Balian (Orlando Bloom) joins his long-estranged father, Baron Godfrey (Liam Neeson), as a crusader on the road to Jerusalem. After a perilous journey to the holy city, the valiant young man enters to retinue of the leprous King Baldwin IV (Edward Norton), which is rifle with dissent led by the treacherous Guy de Lusignan (Martin Csokas), who wishes to wage war against the Muslims for his own political and personal gain. 

           At the time of the film’s release on may sixth of 2005, there was a theatrical cut of the film which was the first time I watched the movie and really at the time I didn't think much of the fact that there wasn't a lot of detail that needed between scenes me, loving Gladiator as well as Black Hawk Down, I didn't think much of the less of details, I was loving a lot of the scenery and the battle sequences and more importantly the world that Sir Ridley Scott build around Kingdom of Heaven. And through the course of maybe two years since the film’s release Scott, released a Director’s Cut for which still stands as the true version of the movie itself, and there were a ton of scenes that made a lot more scenes as well as scenes I wished they included with the theatrical cut of the film moreover never understood at the time why they cut a big chunk of the film alone. And what made sense was that the producers of 20th Century Fox pressured Sir Ridley in making the film a decent two and a half hours and it's been a long time since I've seen the theatrical cut but I've seen it a bunch of times to remember a lot of scenes that they didn't included but needed to be included especially the duel between Balian and Guy by the end of the film, and even a storyline between Princess Sibylla and her son as well as her struggle with her horrible husband Guy. And most importantly we wouldn't have a surprisingly underappreciative performances in David Thewlis who plays a Hospitaller Knight who guides a tortured man in Balian through the course of his journey in what Christianity is all about as well as being a sort of guardian angel to Orlando Bloom's character, moreover I think these are one of the many things that makes the Directors Cut of Kingdom of Heaven the truer version Scott indented to be and will hopefully stand the test of time. I always said this and I will continue to say it again that this movie was and always will be Orlando Bloom's greatest performance, and after hearing him state that he wipes his performance of Troy out of his mind, I still consider him the greatest man to walk the earth. But what I love about his performance is that he's a tragic hero, a man whose tortured by the loss of his wife as well as doubting his faith in God, somehow through the course of his time in the Holy Lands rise up to be a great hero amongst the people, he protected, and like most tragic hero you also relate to his character because in all honesty, we all have a sense of loss in our faith we are at times doubting our religion as well as understanding God's will and I love the way Sir Ridley, molds his hero through the course of the movie. At the time of the movie’s release, I always had a huge crush on Natalie Portman through Star Wars films, and I remember watching Kingdom of Heaven how stunningly beautiful, Eva Green who plays the princess of Jerusalem. Moreover when you think about the chemistry from great legendary actors and actresses through the years, Bloom and Green's chemistry in the movie was one of my favorite on-screen couples, because when these two meet for the first time it's almost like a love at first sight, only it's through Eva Green's eyes and Bloom is all but being humble never expecting this woman would save this Lord of Ibelin, and when she tells him that Sibylla calls, the many times I see that scene I feel like the wish to be like Bloom, in the middle ages because even I would love to be with Sibylla during that time as well. The most shocking fact about the film as well as a underappreciative performance was Edward Norton's portrayal as King Baldwin IV, and even after the film’s release I was surprised in hearing that was Edward Norton and sure I would pegged it, to be him considering hearing his voice but at the time I didn't know it, and even Edward Norton himself didn't want to be credited through the theatrical cut of the movie, because he wanted his performance to be a mystery to the audience and now I can hear his voice and know it's Edward Norton, and what I love about his performance is that he's a gentle king that is a man of honor, moreover can be ruthless when he has too, but more importantly he gives great wisdom to Bloom's character and telling him that we never know our end, but when you stand before God you stand tall and say that your soul is in your keeping alone, and I think that's great advice that we all should use in life especially when we as mortals don't know what will happen to us, till the very end of our lives. When this film came out people criticized about the movie being inaccurate, as well as not being historically accurate, and for me I don't think that should be an actual thing to follow when it comes to telling a story especially with this one, it's not about being historically accurate it's always about telling a story as well as going on a journey with these characters to a whole new world we've never experienced as an audience, and that to me is what going to the movies is all about, and if we wanted a historically accurate movie we might as well take a history course about the crusades. Sir Ridley Scott claims that he's an atheist, and the funny thing even after this film being made was that he intended to make a movie about a hero that questions his religion and by the end of his movie found a purpose as well as gaining his faith or ah, hell I don't know there so, many questions in terms of why Scott wanted to make a movie about the crusades despite the man being a sort of atheist? Either way I'm assuming that the man wanted to make a movie that brings a realism to what the crusades were all about furthermore show how radical or fanaticism becomes a danger, especially when a massive army is coming to your doorstep, but more importantly being respectable to people of all faiths, even though you have different beliefs in terms of religion doesn't mean you should be respectful you your fellow man, and the way I see it, all men are equal in God's eyes. Which again this is one of those films like Exodus: Gods and Kings too, where even I don't know why Scott works on story's that include religion, but then again I would imagine he's always love telling stories about these epic medieval films as well as going back to the age of Gladiators furthermore when you have a great formula in story telling that Scott loves to do, you shouldn't judge a man on what he loves and what he's good at. Out of all of Sir Ridley Scott's greatest films, this is one of the many films I would recommend to anyone who’s a fan of epics to sit down and watch from beginning to the final frame. It's one of those great epics that has a great story as well as a classic hero's journey as well as epic battles that you can sit down and enjoy. I don' know if you can find the Director's Cut on any streaming service they may have it I'm not sure or haven't done a lot of research but if it does have the Directors cut on streaming then I would highly recommend watching the Director's Cut of the film and granted this film is on all streaming services but I doubt they don't have the Director's Cut. So, if you really want to watch this movie then I would highly recommend buying the movie on Blu-Ray or 4K, moreover I promise you the purchase of the film will be worthwhile as well as your purchase will be worth the wait as well. And sure, this film doesn't seem Christmas themed, but deep down if we're saying Happy Holiday's then I declare Kingdom of Heaven to be a Christmas movie to watch on this Holiday season. GOD WILLS IT!