No Time To Die

 

                       Well after a year of delay during the year that should not be named. I finally got around to watching Daniel Craig's final appearance as the iconic British Spy James Bond. Now I myself have No Time to Die, but I must say that this was a real tearjerker the fact that this film alone played with my emotions makes it clear that Daniel Craig is the greatest James Bond of all time. Returning are his fellow allies like Jeffery Wright, Ralph Fiennes, and Naomie Harris as well as Lea Seydoux as Bonds love interest. So, let’s go ahead and dive deep into Daniel Craig's final curtain call.

                        James Bond (Daniel Craig) is enjoying life in Jamaica after leaving acting service. However, his peace is short lived as his old friend Felix Leiter (Jeffery Wright), shows up and asks for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond on the trail of a mysterious villain who's armed with a dangerous technology.

                       Now, say all you want, but to me Daniel Craig is hands down the greatest 007 of all time, the close second would of course be Sean Connery moreover a tie between Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan, and well let’s face it Roger More is the worst of them all. What I loved most about Daniel Craig's Bond is that he's a spy that's suffering through childhood trauma, along with having PTSD furthermore through the course of his journey you get to understand the character more and really, Craig's Bond has more character development then any of this predecessors, though I can say sure that George Lazenbys Bond gives a little more of character development with his version of Bond despite the fact that his was short lived and we never get to see more of that because through the course of each film era the main actor always regenerate into a new different Bond. So, again you can say all you want on Craig's performance of Bond, but I truly look at him as one of the best Bonds ever, moreover, confirming I'm probably never going to watch anymore 007 films because there's no one in the whole world that can do a better job than Craig did when portraying the greatest spy in British cinema. For a first big budget movie, director Cary Joji Fukunaga does an exceptional job with this movie, defiantly from working with the actors of course but also when it came to the action sequences, and they were so exciting to watch that I felt I was on the edge of my seat throughout the two hours and forty-six minutes of the film. Rami Malek does an okay job as the antagonist in the film although there really isn't a whole competition when it comes to Bond villain's, mainly because all of the villains through the years were deep down predictable although I do like Christoph Waltz's version of Blofeld for many reasons he's the only one that can psychological break Bonds will, also it's Christoph Waltz he does a great job playing a bad guy, I mean if you don't believe me watch the very movie that made him big, Inglorious Bastards. A side from the predictability of this being Craig's last ride as 007, there were a lot of elements that I didn't expect would happen in this film and really Casino Royale was my first Bond film I watched in the theaters and I always like Craig's performance for being a mean and gritty Bond as what Ian Fleming created in the books, and this was one of those films I felt that I was going to cry. So, as of now I can't watch anymore Bond films other than Craig's films because in all honesty no one even the successors can ever top Daniel Craig's version of 007. And closing if you’re not a traditional Bond fan I would highly recommend all of Daniel Craig's 007 films and especially No Time to Die.           

Mystery, Alaska

 

                         

                                       This years NHL Winter Classic set a new record for the most coldest game ever played though wasn't strong enough to beat out the Ice Bowl in 1967. But with this years Classic marked as one of the coldest with a minus 10 degree weather, it kind of sparked a movie to go back on moreover go back and re-watch. And that movie is Mystery, Alaska, a hockey film that has so many flaws when it comes to creating drama but yet is enjoyable to watch all the way through. The film itself is loosely based off of a 1905 Stanley Cup game where the Ottawa Senators played a unknown team at the time, though I believe that this was based off of a 1910 exhibition game where the Montreal Canadiens played a Chicoutimi Hockey Club, for which a great goaltender by the name of Georges Vezina (whose named is on a certain Trophy given out to the top Goalie). Now getting back to the movie, it was written by David E. Kelly whose most famous for The Practice and Ally McBeal which makes sense that its written by a guy who has written a lot of soap opera's. Although it also had a partner in Sean O'Bryne whom I'm guessing is the real writer behind it because he at least came on a NHL Network special to talk about the film with fellow actors. Even though the film itself does have drama/storylines that are a bit comical and no need for it but the film is enjoyable to watch from start to finish. 

                                      Set in a Small Town of Alaska, excitement brews when, as part of a publicity stunt, the professional stars of the New York Rangers come to Alaska to face off against the local amateur team in a televised match.

                                      I've seen this movie probably 4 times now and every year I sit and watch it. There seems to be missing things I didn't realize were there which are so somewhat amazing. I will admit and say that this movie isn't as great of a movie like Miracle or Slap Shot, or even The Rocket but its an enjoyable movie with some great Hockey play and unusual moments of drama that doesn't really need to be used but is overpowered by Russell Crowe and Burt Reynolds who in all honesty are the real anchors of this movie along with a surprising cameo of Bruins legend Phil Esposito. The film is considered a drama/comedy which is I guess it is but in all honesty the drama in this movie is a bit comical for many reasons its co-written by a man who has done a lot of soap opera's in his spare time moreover being married to Michelle Pfeiffer. I'll sum the drama in this movie in a top three overly dramatized moments the first one to start this off is probably the teenage romance of the young up and coming youngster who wants to play in the daily pond hockey game but is also dating Burt Reynolds daughter in the movie for a billion reasons nobody is really big into teenage romances for starters but through the course of the movie she's so desperately wants to have sex with the rookie because she believe he might leave her when he clearly state that he loves her twice and she never says that she loves him back, for which I guess her only excuse is wanting to bang at a young age. The second comedic/drama storyline is Burt Reynolds son is somewhat jealous of him all because he didn't play in the Saturday game (Pond Hockey) even though Burt Reynolds character actually played College Hockey and knows the rules better, furthermore thinks that Reynolds looks upon him as a disappointment, which really the way it was portrayed I believe Burt should of took his own kids a side and really tell him how big of a disappointment and also tell his son that the Saturday game was for Cissy's or something I'm trying to make this review a bit PG-13, though granted what I'm proposing is silly but lets not forget this is written by a soap opera writer. And now the final and most ridiculous drama/comic storyline is the love triangle between Russell Crowe, Hank Azaria and Crowe's wife in the movie and in all honesty I don't understand why a Crowe would be intimidated by a man who voices a tone of Simpsons characters, and I'm still reliving that thinking why would this be necessary to have because really what man who has such great hair and good looks would feel like he'd be challenged by a Simpsons actor who doesn't do much live action work I mean if he's doing his Moe voice and I can understand that some women would be turned on by that voice or maybe Comic Book Guy, now if that's the case then I would understand why women would be interested in wanting to date Hank Azaria. If I had to pick apart one plot hole it's probably that we don't quite understand why Burt Reynolds character doesn't want to coach the semi-pro team and we never had in answer for that during the first and second act of the film which is a bigger mystery than the Black Dahlia case, my thought is that he's probably so miserable about the place of Mystery and the people that he doesn't want to teach people how to skate because he thinks pond hockey's for Cissy's. Maybe the other plot hole is that everyone enjoys the Saturday game but the team consists of just the ones who are the right age and who ever is to old for the game is kicked out or forced into early retirement, now if they were playing teams from distant towns I get understand that, but there just playing for fun and are separated in two groups so I don't understand why just let them play for fun or take this game serious if your not competing with teams from distant towns, in which now I'm not making any sense because again I'm wanting to fix this movie despite the fact that it's already made. The last thing I'm going to say before closing this review is that there's no recognizable Ranger players on the New York Rangers there just a fictional roster with no sight of the most popular Rangers at the time, and this movie came out in October of 1999 and famous Rangers like Brian Leetch and Mike Richter who were still playing at that time moreover won the Stanley Cup, now sure you can't cast all of the Ranger roster but at least make in attempt to hire Leetch and Richter to be in this movie at least. A side from Burt Reynolds, I was actually impressed with Crowe in the film especially that he's playing Hockey and he's more of a Rugby guy since he's from Australia and according from a source he says he began to fall in love with the game of Hockey moreover wanting to wear number 10 in tribute to Ron Francis who was a Hockey player for the Hartford Whalers and part of the Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins, so props to Crowe at least for getting into the role. So, in closing this film has some really fun moments. The dramatization is a bit, well, way too overrated but it's still an enjoyable Hockey film to watch from start to finish and maybe good to watch once a year.

       

January Recommendation: The Duellists

 

                                  To start off the new year of 2022, I'm recommending a film, which brought Sir Ridley Scott into the spotlight. To me Ridley Scott saved movies for me last year, for many reasons that past two years where a bit of a s**t show especially when it came to movies that contain nothing but superhero films, remakes and nothing but mindless crap. And along comes Ridley Scott, to bring us such great films like The Last Duel and House of Gucci for which were amazing to watch in the movie theaters furthermore worth every bit of penny. So there's no other reasons in explaining as to why Scott is worth recommendation, starting in the month of January not to mention going to recommend a huge some of his great work this year as well so, don't feel it’s a coincidence in me review some of Ridley Scott's work. So let’s get the New Year started with The Duellists.

                                  The films centers on two French soldiers under Napoleon, Armand d'Hubert (Keith Carradine) and Gabriel Feraud (Harvey Keitel). Both men have a distinct hatred for each other and proceeded to challenge one another to a duel through the course of Napoleon's reign. Now both men are Generals and Napoleon's reign is coming to an end, the two men challenge each other to one final duel that will change the fate of each man's life on earth.

                                   For a movie that has a budget of $900,000 dollars in the works along with absolutely no battle sequences furthermore no presence of Napoleon, I have to say that Scott made everything work to his advantage when it came to the story, casting and locations. Yes, the film is set during Napoleon's reign in France, but the story itself is about two men who have such different aspects to life but yet so how find themselves being challenged to a duel during their Emperor's reign, Carradine's character is a soldier who has no coral with Harvey Keitel's character but yet always has to fight him to withhold his own honor but also fight to stay alive. And that's what makes both of these actors so amazing to watch is that Carradine is trying so desperately to stay away but knows he has to be ready to face Keitel no matter what, while I have to say Harvey Keitel is more interesting for many reasons is that his character has that obsession to almost duel anyone whom he crosses and its fascinating as to why a man has such a grudge over one man through the course of almost sixteen years and its why you even want to duel someone with the possible chance that you may die but yet still want to duel it out for which I still find fascinating. With such great actors in Keith Carradine and Harvey Keitel, I sadly have to talk more about more about Ridley Scott because well this was his first movie at the age of 41 and yet he's still making movies so in all honesty I consider him a hero of some sorts. Whenever I hear about a filmmaker making their first film for a little amount of money and still make in amazing movie out of it I always think back at movies like Robert Rodriguez's El Mariachi for 7,000 dollars and George Romero's original Night of the Living dead for 125,000 dollars for which now looking at that I don't believe that but I'll take Wikipedia's word for it. Now 900 grand now sure that's nothing but doing that back in 1977 when this film was made that was very little money when you’re doing a period piece like this and the fact that Scott was able to shoot the film with such very little of what he had to work with was truly awesome, I mean with 900 grand he didn't just make a small budget film but made a one of a kind masterpiece  and the fact that we never needed any huge battle sequences and just let the visuals speak for themselves is incredible moreover the fact that you see different locations and Scott whose great at visual storytelling you honestly don't need any of the battle sequences and just use the settings, the environments and backgrounds as the centerpiece for the whole movie there really no need for it at all. I love the fact that they take the time to make these sword fights as real as possible moreover when you watch them it really looks like they were trying to make these fights as serious and staying true to the sword fighting style of fencing where it's not always about charging at your opponents it’s more like a game of chess you have to see what your opponent does before you make your move and if there's one slight misstep then no more soup for you, if you catch my drift. If I had to pick my favorite duel in the movie is when both men charge on horseback and we have a sequence of Carradine getting ready to charge but he begins to have this slight glimpse of fear that he might not make it and the way Ridley did it is just amazing on so many levels. So, like I said before what better way to start off the new year of 2022 than saying thank you to Ridley Scott who gave us such great films last year furthermore saved the movies at least from one to many superhero movies and also remakes as well. In closing I would highly recommend this terrific and beautiful movie to watch, from start to finish.

                

10 Year Anniversary of Sucker Punch

 

                                     Ladies and gentlemen, this was one of the two films that I remember seeing in the theaters back in 2011 and this was one of the many movies I was avoiding talking about for the last 12 months. And now after finally finishing the second half of the movie I guess it finally time to talk about the movie I declare as one of the worst movies I've ever seen in my entire life, although the other one is Gone with the Wind. But, well I will need to talk about that movie because it’s been so long, I need to talk about it through blog review, because in all honesty I kind of look at all of you who read my review as people who'd understand. Okay so, back to this garbage I can honestly remember seeing the trailer to 300 and remembering how awesome this film was then getting to know Zack Snyder via the interviews he was promoting moreover hearing that Star Wars changed his life, which me I was like "finally someone I can see as a down to earth guy", then along came Watchman, for which I thought was again amazing. And then came the year where I began to question the creativity behind Zack Snyder and that movie was Sucker Punch. I do admit when this film was released, I was a little on the intrigued, but didn't want to have that level of doubt though when going to the movie in the theater I will confirm that I was confused and didn't know what to think. Now watching the movie, I will say that this was just pure garbage that included a cast that's in their early to mid-twenty's wearing nothing but skimpy clothes along with a 45-year-old director at the time directing them. It's almost as if the late Hugh Hefner was directing his first ever playboy movie only, they're in their playboy bunny outfits. So, enough talk let try and explain this disastrous film, or if we can really call it that.

                                    Basic premise of what the film is about or if you can call it a basic premise. Is that the film is basically a Alice in Wonderland knock off but with girls with machine guns also a mixture of Moulin Rouge.

                                     What's really the hardest part was really having to sit through the movie knowing how bad it is and yet not wanting to except that reality, through the course of the film I just wanted to scream so badly in terms of what was going on or what is happening especially when it comes to the acting where it just hurts in so many levels. I even had to stop watching it because of how much pain I was enduring moreover feeling the cringe of young adults trying to seduce older men, that's how much it was killing me inside. Here's the hardest truth there really wasn't a story to begin with it, the whole film was nothing but concepts and ideas that's it, no story, or any type of character arc that we as in audience member can understand nor relate with the character. The more baffling thing that even I can find out to this day is how was Snyder able to convince Warner Brothers when it came to pitching this idea, because I would imagine that all those producers and head of studio would most certainly be brain dead when it came to green lighting the movie. Of all actors I feel bad for was Jon Hamm and he's barely in the movie furthermore feel so bad for the poor guy for many reasons, he never gets a brake when it comes to work and yet in this movie, he gets to reprise his role as Don Draper. Speaking of actors and actresses everyone in this garbage packed movie (except for Hamm because he at least gets in out of jail free card) is just downright horrible Emily Browning, all I can say for her is that she was in one movie with Tom Hardy for which I liked, and that was pretty much it. Vanessa Hudgens I can't really say anything positive because she's in so much crap and let’s not forget she plays a girl named Blondie despite the fact that her character isn't blonde Jamie Chung is famous for being in the MTV reality show, The Real World so I don't know how, but honestly there is hope that some MTV'ers can transition to being an actress I guess, though in all honesty I don't care because I do recall another Real World star now being a professional wrestler (fingers crossed behind my back). Jena Malone, uh well I guess the Hunger Games sequels so I'm going to at least stop there. Abbie Cornish who’s in the film is not great, but at least she has some success now, besides the other three main girls via being in both of Martin McDonagh's films and playing the love interest to John Krasinski in the Amazon show Jack Ryan (which reminds me I need to get back into that show), so on the positive side I'm glad she at least has success now after having been in this film. A guy I know once told me that when you watch it just turn the volume down, which I know what he meant, but in all honestly, I don't believe that can ever help this movie for many reasons once you watch this film all the way through with the volume on there's no escaping the cringes of this movie, there's just no going back. So, to all the dudes out there, I'm only going to say this once and please heed my words, just stay away from this movie, just don't make any attempt in seeing this and walk away. 

          

Ghostbusters The Video Game: Replay Review

 

                            I told people all over the world in my last review of Ghostbusters Afterlife that I would be playing the 2009 hit video game, Ghostbusters: The Video Game and this was an amazing decision I've ever made as a Ghostbusters fan. In a fair retrospect, this was technically the third installment to the Ghostbusters series, for many reasons its set two years after the events of the second film. When I first heard about the game it was watching the trailer on YouTube and after finishing the trailer, I was like say know more here's my money and take it. I'm sure there's been a lot of Ghostbuster video games throughout the years, but I can honestly say that this is and still is the greatest Ghostbusters video game of all time. For many reasons it’s a sequel base to the first two original films and it has the original greats voicing these beloved characters such as Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, and the late Harold Ramis. For which makes the game even better. So, let start talking more about what makes this game so great.

                            Set two years after the events of Ghostbusters 2 the Ghostbusters gang hire a new blood to help with Ghostbusters operations, unfortunately happens at the worst times when a PSI pulse emanates from the Gozer exhibits at the Museum of Natural History. For which spawns a vast number of Ghosts, including the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man. Learning that this has something to do with Gozer or the spirit of Ivo Shandor. With time running out of control they begin upgrade to new proton packs and kicks some ghost butts from kingdoms come.

                            What really makes this game amazing and I'll say it again to confirm it, but what makes this game amazing to play is that you’re playing this new blood type character furthermore having the original cast of Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson and the late great Harold Ramis, for which makes it amazing because you get to live out your childhood dream catching ghosts with the original Ghostbusters gang, for which makes it even better especially when making that happen in the video game world. And what makes it even better is that both Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis writing the script for the game, which you really don't see that when it comes to games having Hollywood actors write scripts for video games. What also makes the game great is that they do a lot of things that they really couldn't do in the movies especially when it comes to the Proton Pack where they upgrade a lot of things to it like the Slime system that they used in Ghostbusters 2 and especially the slow/frozen stream to catch ghosts with. I do wish they included Sigourney Weaver in the game, for many reasons she was Bill's love interest and it makes a lot sense than Alyssa Milano (who was in Charmed) but I guess it is what it is, can't always get what you want. Even the ghost I thought were fantastic especially when some of them were a different kind of ghost where you can fight with or capture it at the same time. There were some scary moments in the game as well especially one sequence where I'm investigating a spider-woman like killer with Egon and it just felt too terrifying that I wanted desperately to not play that level but had no choice, now replaying it I have to admit it wasn't all scary but I did jump out of my skin a couple of times. I have to say replaying this game brought back some great memories where I did nothing but replay this great game so many times, now I'm probably going to do that again unfortunately I have other video games to work on playing but I'll still work the time in playing a level or two. I've said it before and will say it again, the Ghostbusters video game is the greatest game of all time in terms of Ghostbusters games it’s easy to play and you'll spend all day and all night playing it. So, if you have a PS4 because there probably no question anyone has PS3 by now I would highly recommend playing this great game if you’re a Ghostbusters fan.  

  

Don't Bother to Knock

 

                                Happy New Year everyone, it’s that time of year to defecate on 2021 and piss on 2020's grave until there's no plants will ever grow. So, for better for worse let’s all hope that 2022 is going to be a s**t show as the last two years were, speaking of hope I've just watched a great film that envigored my hope for greatness in films. But more importantly made me realized what a great actress Marilyn Monroe was, but will get to that later. Watching this film, I must admit I didn't know what I was going to be expecting holy crap this film alone put me on the edge of my couch until the final frame. So hopefully to start off this New Year while watching the St. Louis Blues beat the Minnesota Wild in the NHL Winter Classic, let’s talk about Don't Bother to Knock for which I hope this is a lesson to all guys out there don't get mixed up with beautiful women, because you don't know how crazy they can become especially if that beautiful woman was Marilyn Monroe.

                                 Pilot Jed Towers (Richard Widmark) encounters the beautiful Nell Forbes (Marilyn Monroe) while staying at a hotel in New York City. Jed pursues Nell, initially thinking she's a woman of means, but comes to learn that she's a babysitter when her child charge, Bunny Jones (Donna Corcoran), interrupts a conversation between the two. Soon Jed becomes worried about Nell's mental stability when it appears the woman is physically threatening Bunny.

                                 I found this on Hulu technically, but the channel Turner Classic Movies released a Guillermo del Toro picks to promote his latest thriller Nightmare Ally. And some of the films he picked were of course film noir type films furthermore one's I was familiar with, Laura for example and also Niagara another film the Marilyn Monroe was it but this film Don't Bother to Knock I was like "well why not give this movie a chance, can't hurt". Now after watching this great film I totally forgot how great of an actress Marilyn Monroe was, and sure all of America publicized her as this drop-dead gorgeous blond that every guy wanted to be with including Yankee great Joe DiMaggio and JFK. But deep down this woman knows how to act and does a tremendous job playing that femme fatale that's beautiful but also scary at the same time, and I'm not kidding when I say it that yes I wish I was Richard Widmark but I also didn't want to be, because of how terrifying Monroe was. Speaking of Richard Widmark, I thought as an actor he did a great job playing the anti-hero of the film who really doesn't care much, has in anger problem but begins to care when there's a kid involved via being taken care of by a crazy person. Because as we all know when it comes to film noir genre there's no such thing as a hero only the anti-hero's, moreover that's why I'm starting to have a great love for this genre for many reasons I love the fact that there's no hero involved and there's no happy ending and in all honesty if your trying to find something new to write film noir's are always a great thing to watch if your ever in a writer's block. So, to start of this hopefully good year of 2022 I would highly recommend watching Don't Bother to Knock because this is a great suspense film from start to finish and it also reminds you how great of an actress Marilyn Monroe was back then.