Nightcrawler

                 


                            

                                   Found another intriguing film noir, out of Netflix. I was familiar with this film out of Jake Gyllenhaal, a few years back but personally I didn't know what to make of it at that time. Now having seen it on streaming services I got to say this was a real fascinating look into the underbelly of capturing crime in the city that never sleeps, for local news stations and how desperate you need to be to survive while living LA. Furthermore, when you add those concepts together well you my friend got yourself a very interesting idea for a movie. Now I'm not say that all of Jake Gyllenhaal's movies are great I just look at some of his work as a bit on the meh side of things, but this one I must admit I'll at least make in exception. So, let's talk about this latest film noir epic.

                                  Petty thief Lou Bloom tries to make ends meet by scavenging whatever he can find in the streets of LA, but everything soon changes when he stumbles into a career of freelance photojournalists, guys who can get coverage of major crimes around the streets and sell them to the highest TV network in town. Unfortunately finding the good footage of a crime is a real fight to the finish when your living in Los Angeles. As competitors keep looming in on Bloom's action and getting the perfect crime footage is on the line, Bloom will do whatever it takes to stay on top of the game.

                                  Here's a few reason's as to why this film alone is considered a film noir, one you always have a anti-hero whether or not you like him or not he's not all goodie, goodie when it comes to the hero and Jake Gyllenhaal's character really is that anti-hero whose a bit of a nut-job but will do whatever it takes to survive and Gyllenhaal does a great job at that. The second film noir reason you got to at least have in shadowy places where crime is consumed everywhere you go moreover must at least be in night time for majority of the film. And since this film is set in LA where you have to be extremely careful otherwise you’re going to be dead or robbed no matter what the reason is, moreover writer/director Dan Gilroy (related to Tony Gilroy whose famous for the Bourne movies) does a tremendous job in embodying the darkness crime ridden alleys of LA. Lastly there's never any happy endings when it comes to film noir, moreover you better keep that in mind when you indulge yourself into the world of film noir because this film defiantly has one of those bad endings where you are in a severe state of shock.  So all and all, this was one of those good film noir's that I would recommend watching now is this film in my top ten of best film noir's, well to be truly honest no because Gyllenhaal is a good actor but I still have bad memoires of him in the Prince of Persia film where he tries to be a awesome action star but really is not, though he does a good job in this film I'll give him that and that's the truth. Now is this one of the best modern day film noir's well it's kind of hard to say because really the Coen brothers are the kings of film noir's with films like Fargo and Blood Simple and this film alone doesn't go up to par with those two movie greats, but if I can find more modern day film noirs so far for now this one does rank up in the top five best film noirs. So, if you’re looking for something to watch during this chaotic world/year we are living in, then I would defiantly check this film out.   

September Recommendation: Hoosiers

                                   I tried hard to not watch a sports movie because of how miserable of a year 2020 was. Well, my breaking point has reached to defcon 1. But luckily, I found this amazing basketball movie on YouTube for free, and to be honest it was worth seeing after quite some time, the film I'm referring to is Hoosiers staring Gene Hackman and Dennis Hopper. Honestly the first time I ever watched this film was on VHS, so technically my childhood years my Mom and Dad use to have these family home movies back in the day and I would constantly watch this film so many times, furthermore this film alone was a reason I wanted to play basketball although after a year of elementary school basketball I realized I don't have the skills to play basketball. But now going back to this well-crafted movie I got to say this was a pleasure to come back and re-watching this exceptional movie from start to finish. Though I must say that this film alone, I myself is suspecting that this, is truly the original basketball version to Friday Night Lights, a side from the fact that the story it was based on was basically Friday Night Lights before we've been exposed to the obsession's Texas Football.

                                 Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) moves to Hickory, Indiana to start a new life moreover escape a troubled past he left behind. Dale's old friend and principal offers him a job to become a head coach of the small-town basketball team where the towns citizen's consider basketball a way of life. Although, towns people don't think Dale's coaching ways are acceptable to their ways, the town and players begin to trust his tactics more in hopes of going all the way. With the help of an old has been drunk who's happened to be the father of one of the players, Dale begins to give the team and town confidence in hopes of going all the way to a State Championship.

                                 Now I'm a sports fan at heart, my father raised me to be a Nebraska Cornhuskers fan and a St. Louis Cardinals fan, though in return I got my Dad into loving the St. Louis Blues. And yet, there are some people out there in the world that really aren't a sports fan furthermore don't quite understand it. For which I truly understand, but the way I see sports no matter what it is I always see it as an escape from everyday life, you have a bad day or feel miserable every time you’re at work. But you have a sense of hope to go home and watch your favorite sport or listen to it on the radio and then you feel better and calm while waiting for the that sporting event. Furthermore, no matter how bad politics are affecting the game you love everyone is still watching no matter how different you are, plus your making friends outside of sports even if they have a different team, and that right there is what makes America great. Okay, so getting back to what I meant the comparison's to Friday Night Lights, in case you all decide to give me dirty looks, what I really mean to say is that Hoosiers is really the original Friday Night Lights before Friday Night Lights became the sensation we all know and love, meaning Indiana is in fact the basketball state of America and Texas we all know is the football state of America so that's my who scenario I see when it comes to Hoosiers. This was actually the first ever Gene Hackman movie I ever been introduced to and deep down I consider this one of his grandest performances even though I haven't seen a lot of his films but this one to me is one of his finest works because it's a great story about a man who did wrong in his life and tries to redeem himself by coaching a team that helps him give a new beginning, and truly I think that's the most simple story you can tell when it comes to a movie like this. Dennis Hopper does a great job playing the has been drunk who is seen potential in the eyes of Gene Hackman's character plus you see a redeeming side to Hopper's character in trying to make amends with his estrange son. So listen, if your reaching a breaking point with this year and believe me I'm at that point as well I would highly recommend this film and also just sit down and watch a sports film if you’re a fan of any sport or not because at the end of the day you'll at least feel better moreover get your mind off of everything that's happening in the miserable screwed up world we live in today.

    

Tenet

                          Now I have a confession to make I had to travel through time to my first viewing of Christopher Nolan's explosive new film because I was lost, but now that I was able to travel through time in order to pick up the elements I was lost on I have to say that Nolan his another hole in one with his latest science fiction film that blends both the spy genre with a unique twist of time travel. Starting Denzel’s new and ever so talented son John David Washington and I know this sounds crazy when you say this but a new and improved Robert Pattinson, and its true everyone that man has come back to the realm of reality and is now reborn into a new man. And to be honest after watching him in this great film, I'm now excited to watch Pattinson's version of Batman. Okay now let's talk about how every movie Chris Nolan makes is awesome.

                      There are some doors the open the right path and then there are some that don't. In which an unknown CIA agent (John David Washington) is tasked with finding an arms dealer (Kenneth Branagh) who has the way to communicate to the future and bringing back weapons that can invert through time. And yet, time is not the problem when preventing a World War III moreover getting out alive that's, the real problem.

                       Hand's down one of the best films of 2020 though granted there's really three including this great film that came out this year but if I had to make a list it would defiantly be up there in my top three best films of 2020. And yes, you can all look at me as a Christopher Nolan super-fan but let's be real here. Nolan is the only director out there that can come out with a movie that will be amazing and intriguing till the very end. And granted their times you feel lost in the story but that's why there always a second time to watch the movie even if the confusion appears to be small in the end. Furthermore, it's not just Chris Nolan's intriguing idea's that make him amazing but it’s his ability to make the stories fascinating and so when you look at it on screen your amazed of what just happens and what if this can happen in the real world. Moreover, the fact that he uses IMAX camera's really makes the movie amazing because once you take your seat in the theater you begin blown away with everything that's happening around you, and that the kind of experience I always want to have when it comes to an action/suspense film. Also Nolan is the only director out there that is able to push this film out long enough for a theatrical release into your local theater, now if you can't respect a man who cares about pushing his own film to a theater so you can enjoy it on the big screen you are hands down un-American. What also makes this film amazing is that 90% of the film was real, meaning majority of the sets are real, the fight sequences are real even the action sequences/stunts are real as well, and the other thing that makes Nolan's movies great to watch is the fact that he shoots majority of his films in real places and real sets not just some backstage lot in Hollywood with a green screen. He's willing to use, those handy IMAX cameras’ he's able to transport you to those worlds he creates and make you feel like your experiencing these dangerous situations the characters are enduring. I also loved some of the fight sequences mainly because with Nolan's ability to make the sequences real but adding a little visual effects spin to it is cool to see on screen. John David Washington does an amazing job in this film, and it’s not because his fathers are an iconic actor Denzel Washington, although he truly inherited a lot from him. But really when it comes to a dense and complicated movie like this, he truly does in amazing job playing a character that's shrouded in mystery. Robert Pattinson finally emerges out of the shadows of Twilight years and my god the man really shines through out this film and I'm really looking forward to his version of Batman. Now everyone is in talks about is this one of Nolan's greatest or mediocre films and to be honest it’s not really a fair way to describe that parse because when you look at all of Nolan's films, to me their mostly ranked best form 10 to 7 (10 being best 7 being good) now this film alone this was really fun and entertaining to watch from start to finish and personally up there with 1917 and The Invisible Man as one of top three best films of 2020, but there were moments I do have to admit were a little bit confusing at times, though these are minor confusion's because the story itself makes sense to me, just some of the aspects of time travel didn't make sense to me, mainly when you for some reason die but yet come back to life I wasn't quite sure of. But to be honest time travel through cinema has been confusing since Doctor Who debut in 1963. Now will I say were does it rank in Nolan's best I will say this film alone is up there in the top ten best but not so much in the top five best of Christopher Nolan's best. So listen I still consider Christopher Nolan as one of the best and influential filmmakers of this generation sure you can call me out on that but name me a director that always comes out with a movie that doesn't intrigue you or cares about releasing your own film in theaters so we as in audience can enjoy them through this monstrosity of 2020 than sitting at home watching them. So, look, if you have time on your hands and I'm sure you do, I would highly recommend spending your money on this film, and I promise you it will be worth spending.