Birds of Prey

                         Already broke my new year’s resolution in getting these reviews out quicker. My PlayStation four calls to me as I am typing this right now.  But I going to resist the temptation and talk about Birds of Prey. Got to say as a comic book fan my expectations were kind of low there was no Batgirl going into this and Warner Brothers have a history of never giving us the charters we want to see on screen.  But maybe it was my low expectations, but his movie wasn’t that bad. Now I will put the warnings here I probably won’t see it again and it’s no worth a movie ticket. It was fun seeing Ewan McGregor chewing up the scenery in every scene he is in.
                         Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) has finally decided to quit the Joker. Though when it comes to being the love of an insane clown, attention does come faster in Gotham. Especially pissing off a gangster known as Black Mask (Ewan McGregor). Now Quinn and a few reluctant screw ups must work together to put a stop to Black Mask.
                        Now I got to give it to Margot Robbie, she gives a very good performance channeling Arleen Sorkin from the batman animated series.  Her supporting cast does a good job with my favorite being Rosie Perez and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. What’s good in this movie is to me the girls have great chemistry on screen. Chris Messina the best part of the movie devil plays a good Victor Zasaz. What’s bad is the action is lacking in lots of ways with lots of quick cuts that you never really see. For example, being Harley takes up roller derby at the beginning you see maybe a min of what might have been a good action sequence. Also, the R rating wasn’t really taken advantage of theirs blood they say the f-word quite a few times otherwise that’s it.  It’s a letdown because the dialogue is lacking a bit and you can take any kids under the age of 15. Really if you’re a comic book fan this movie will fall flat in that they don’t really use the new charters very well.  Ewan McGregor while doing a good job is still a little wasted. What is sad is James Gunn will probably use Margot Robbie better than this movie did. So, in closing, this is probably not a movie you need to see in the theaters or buy on Blu-Ray and 4K.  If you have a Netflix subscription or show time and the kids are in bed, it’s worth a watch, that way but really I wouldn't want to flush a twenty dollar bill down the bathroom stall. All and all, when it comes to these DC heroes always half ass when it comes to going to the theater.   

February Recommendation: The Lost Weekend

                        The only Billy Wilder movie I can ever think of watching as a kid was Stalog 17, that's it. But now I declare this man as one of my top ten favorite directors of all time. For many reasons is after watching this latest recommendation I'm still not sure whether to laugh or feel disturbed. This month's recommendation I'm referring to is The Lost Weekend, a dark, dark take on alcoholism and granted this was in old movie but this really took me back with some of the disturbed images while watching it. Yet strangely it was kind of funny in the main characters desperate need for booze. Based on the novel by Charles R. Jackson, the film takes a look at one man's binge on booze and realizing how serious it takes you from being good to worse, moreover showing a different side to your personality. When you think of it, almost like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde when you think about it. But will get to that concept later, but let's talk about this film, in order to give more description on what I'm talking about.
                        Writer Don Birnam (Ray Miland) is planning to take a trip with his brother Wick (Phillip Terry) in order to cure him of his desperate need of alcohol. Unfortunately, Don found some cash Wick's been hiding him, and decides to ditch his brother to buy some booze. Despite his brother giving up and leaving him, Don goes on a roller coaster ride of madness to see how far the bottle goes. The only person that can save Don's life is Helen (Jane Wyman) but can she be able to convince Don that the life of booze is not worth it? Or will Don able to accept the help he needs.
                         Now granted that this was made in the forties but mother of God this took me back in ways even I couldn't imagine. I mean sure when I use to drink I always drink as a way of getting through the day and that's basically beer, but the character of Don drinks so much hard liquor in this film, and I'm still not sure whether to laugh or be in horror of how far one man can go to get more booze, I guess hard booze can make you do crazy things. Actor Ray Milland deserves every bit of praise for this film I mean this guy goes to great lengths to show the audience how bad and how terrifying alcoholism really is, like if you have a friend or love one who's got a drinking problem just sit him down and let him see how Milland portrays alcoholism and see if that doesn't scare him out of it. When you come to think of it I don't know whether to consider this film to be in the horror genre for its scary portrayal of booze, so I'm just going to consider this great film as modern tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hide story. For many reasons why, is because it’s really about how one good person whose trying to stop his shadow side of him but can't stop embracing the shadow side so he continues to gorge himself in the special drink. After watching this film and another film I've seen of his, though I can't say, I now declare him as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, up there with Alfred Hitchcock and John Ford for going to all great lengths to show how dark and how serious alcoholism is as a disease and Wilder does it in the best way possible. Even one of my favorite scenes is when Don is at a hospital for alcoholics and you see people like Don but in the worst condition that Don is, than when he comes back home he starts to see things that are all in his head, I mean if that doesn't take you back than I don't know what does because even I felt shocked and disturbed. So if you’re looking for something different to watch or have someone in your life that is affected by alcoholism, than I would check this movie out like right now. And don't forget to check your own liver.