Being the Ricardos

 

                         Since we're in the final days of February, for which means the end of love, well into some degree either way you know what I mean. Anyway, I figured I check out this movie that tells the story of America's original sweethearts in the 1950's, Being the Ricardo’s, written and directed by Aaron Sorkin the man most responsible for great works like A Few Good Men and The West Wing, and a personal favorite The Newsroom. This is somewhat of a classic tale of America's Sweethearts of their behind-the-scenes life, while shooting one of their latest episodes of I Love Lucy. I would argue that Aaron Sorkin is an exceptional writer when it comes to stories and politics in general and he know doubt has some great works to back it up I have now arguments there. But when it comes to his latest film I honestly don't know where he was trying to go with in terms of storytelling and history we already know. So, let's talk about the behind the scenes of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. 

                         In 1952, Hollywood power couple Lucille Ball (Nicole Kidman) and Desi Arnaz (Javier Bardem) face personal and professional obstacles that threaten their careers, their relationship, and their hit television show.

                         I've seen a ton of Sorkin's films and the best way I can describe the many Sorkin Tropes are, in all of his films they always feel like a live play production where they’re very limited in terms of the outdoors and after every beginning or ending to an Act we have a special narration almost like a interview portion or telling a story in the style of just setting it in some kind of special event. And this film has almost all of Sorkin's Tropes when it comes to writing a story, which is fine if you’re doing it in your earlier work but this movie you can tell that he's using almost every sample of storytelling and editing technique from his past movies and to be truthful it just feels lazy a little on the boring side, for many reasons I didn't know anything about Molly Bloom's story until I saw the trailer to Molly's game and watched the movie and I defiantly looked at that movie and thought that it was fresh and interesting at the same time furthermore amazing, but with this movie I already knew about Lucy and Desi Arnaz in terms of there off screen persona moreover the real reasons why their show got cancelled was because Desi was obviously cheating on his wife that he never got fresh work ever again and I'll admit I didn't know about Lucy was branded a communist at the time but who didn't get branded with red tape during the Joseph McCarty era, but even if I didn't know that the way Sorkin directed the film and used the main topics of Lucy being a communist or is Desi cheating on her then solving these two problems all in one week just didn't set me back in surprise in all honesty. The most positive thing I can say about the movie was Nicole Kidman's performance as Lucille Ball, mainly because we've all know how she is on the TV show of I Love Lucy, but this movie we're giving a chance to see her behind the scenes and how committed she is when it comes to getting the comedic work right and I thought Kidman did a great job in not just getting the accent down but also giving her a humanized feel to the character, the other actors where okay but they weren't anything special. A side from Nicole Kidman's performance the whole movie just felt useless to watch all together moreover I can probably count the many times I was looking at my Fitbit or phone and I didn't pick up anything knew or anything different throughout the entire film. In fairness I wouldn't recommend watching this movie from the way I tried to hold on to the entire film, and really the movie would have been more interesting if the film was set after the events of the final show run then proceed to the divorce of America's Sweethearts because deep down that would of been more interesting storytelling than discovering if Lucy was a Communist or was Desi cheating on his wife, that's all I'm saying. 

     

The 355

 

                         I was at my brother's house waiting for trick or treaters and I saw the trailer scrolling through YouTube.  My girl Jessica Chastain (I have tried to see every one of her movies, she is my new Johnny Depp) starts off by giving a monolog to the winter soldier about George Washington not giving a female spy her due. I stopped the trailer only 30 seconds knowing I was sold and already going to see this movie.  Sadly I was unable to get to the theaters and had to settle for 19.99 on Amazon.  I can hear you in my head as I type this and you're saying that's just too much, says the reader.  Your right dear reader for the normal person it is too much, but if you meet me you know I am a lover of all types of bad action movies, and combine them with Jessica Chastain who is the best with condescending lectures in movies. 

                         Ok is it worth it? No, not even so bad it's a good action movie. Jessica’s performances are more and more over the top and this one I just rolled my eyes. The plot centers around Jessica trying to buy a computer virus or something. My Eyes rolled in my head when I heard that.  I started thinking about how this was similar to Under Siege 2 where the bad guy is taking over some satellite and he will RULE THE WORLD. In this, it's pretty much the same with the virus able to shut off the world.  The difference is the movie takes itself too seriously. From the trailer, you could tell they were going for a James Bond or Jason Bourne spy movie with female leads. I would like to point out that nothing would make me happier to see Jessica sleeping on a park bench to guys trying to get her to move and she goes ninja on to unexpecting cops. Or have her go full Stallone and use a fifty-caliber machine gun and waste a whole army.  

                         Look as it is, the action sequences don't go far enough.  It feels like the actress didn't want to get into shape to do the kicks or the pouches to make any of the sequences look cool. To tell you the truth it sucks. The action feels so flat because I loved Atomic Blond, Haywire, Mad Max fury road. But Charlize Theron was most likely ever invested in those roles and it showed. But instead of getting actresses who are n invested in the roles, we get very accommodating stuntmen who fall over very easily. Plots that feel like they come right out of a Bruce Willes geezer movie. By the end I was so bored it took me about a week to write this review. So here's the thing don't see this movie even when it's free it's a 1/10 okay a 0/10. PS it's also one of the biggest booms in box office history with an opening week of 5 million.  That's bad lol.

The Book of Boba Fett

 

                One of the most iconic bounty hunters in the Star Wars universe has finally got his own TV series and it’s about damn time, as you've probably notice I finally finished the first season of The Book of Boba Fett, and I must say this was worth the wait. Staring Temuera Morrison as Boba Fett and Ming-Na Wen as the bad ass Fennec Shand. When I was a kid worshiping Star Wars in my spare time there were two characters I always thought were the coolest, the first was obviously Darth Vader and the other was Boba Fett, and sure why Boba Fett was so cool was that you didn't know anything about the guy other than the fact that he looked like a space cowboy with a lot of cool gadgets and whenever I go to a toy store if I couldn't get a Darth Vader action figure, a Boba Fett action figure would be on my list. And when Episode II came out along with a short backstory to Boba Fett's past, I thought it was cool and very excited at the same time also back when PlayStation 2 was a thing Star Wars Bounty Hunter was my go-to game, that I couldn't stop playing for months. Then along with the hit TV series of The Mandalorian came out bringing Boba Fett back plus Temurera Morrison reprising his role of that character I was just overjoyed on was season 2 had to offer, then along came The Book of Boba Fett for which I wanted to watch so badly until now. So, there's no surprise that I'm one of those Star Wars fans that loved Boba Fett so let’s dive deep into the show.

               Left for Dead on the sands of Tatooine Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) becomes reeducated by the Tusken Raiders on how to survive on learns new means to life. The show itself takes place between the events of how Boba Fett escapes the Scarlacc Pitt too after the conclusion of The Mandalorian season 2, where Boba is now the new Daimyo of Jabba's Palace on Tatooine were starting out as the new boss is one thing being a respectful ruler, you must fight to reclaim what is rightfully yours.

              As a fan of Boba Fett, I didn't need a whole lot of convincing in terms of wanting to watch this show, I always thought he was the coolest especially when I first saw Temuera Morrison re don the Boba Fett costume and saw what he brought to the table in season 2 of The Mandalorian was just amazing especially when the new Mando becomes allies with Boba is even cooler. What makes this show great is that, there's a lot of questions that seemed a mystery for quite a long time and now we get answered for obvious example Fett escaping the Pitt, but most importantly what has he been doing after the events of Return of the Jedi and during the seasons of The Mandalorian, for which as a fan that gives some great closure though sure I'll admit I've read some of the books that included Boba Fett, but this is the television there's many differences in looking for answer's in writing then on the screen and I liked the way both Favreau and Dave Filoni were able to bring Fett's new adventures to life. I always liked Temuera Morrison as Jango Fett in Attack of the Clones when I was first introduced to him along with Star Wars Bounty Hunter, but now as a fan he will always be Boba Fett and sure the late Jeromy Bulloch will always be the catalyst of the creation for the legendary bounty hunter, but Morrison is really what give Fett is identity and what he truly is and what he incorporates from his own heritage into Boba Fett's character is even more awesome moreover love the fact that we get to see a more viscous Fett then we've been seeing in the Original Trilogy. Ming-Na Wen is also amazing as Fennec Shand, the fact that her character started off as just a simple character that got killed off in the first season then brought back in season two is even special and what Wen brings to the table is even more special, and I know this is my Star Wars nerdish talking but I like her better as Shand then her other character in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Speaking of Ming-Na Wen I now have the craving to go back and re watch Street Fighter for some reason. There not a whole lot to say about Jon Favreau other than I trust him more to run Star Wars than Kathleen Kennedy and the same goes to Dave Filoni so I'll just leave it at that, but I can't leave this review without giving some recognition to some great talents like Robert Rodriguez who is also a big fan of Boba Fett but really was one of the few people that understood the greatness to the former bounty hunter. Also, I'm a big fan of some of his films he did so a lot of respect goes to Rodriguez, Bryce Dallas Howard I'm starting to respect more as a director for many reasons she really shines more in working with the actors and shooting the action sequences. Ludwig Goransson I have to give shout out because his score for the show is simply outstanding, Goransson is most famous for his work in The Mandalorian and did some music work for Tenet, anyway what he does with Boba Fett's theme I can't stop listening to it I just love how he blends with a lot of western music but also with some medieval music as well and this guy is up there with both Han Zimmer and the legendary composer John Williams and I hope he continues with his career in the distant future. I've said it before if you’re a Star Wars fan, Disney + is hands down the only reasons to purchase the app itself, besides the other stuff it includes I would always use the app for Star Wars use only the other stuff I'm not always interested, so if you loved the character of Boba Fett I would highly recommend watching the show, though some people might tell you differently I still love the show because I get more stories of the former legendary Bounty Hunter.

            
 

One of the many Boba Fett action 
figures I have over the years.

February Recommendation: The Cutting Edge

 

                                     

                                   Oh what's this? It's Valentine’s Day and the Winter Olympic Games has begun (technically still in progress)? Well what a great time to day to recommend my monthly recommendation to all lovers and married couples out there, also let’s not forget the singles out there I mean sure it may not be your kind of Holiday but this movie will at least give you hope that you'll one day find the love of your life right? The film I'm recommending for the month of February is the figure skating classic The Cutting Edge. This movie is a, well for starters is a rare gem of a classic that was loved by my parents and of course my older sister and they would rent this movie quite a lot and maybe this film was also on TV I'm not sure but I'm just assuming, and of course this would be one of those films that we would always watch for many reasons my parents love the movie and also my sister would always call dibs on the TV remote. I will admit that it's been quite a long time since I watched this movie for which makes it perfect since, where in the month of St. Valentine also the Olympics are going on. Though I have to be admitting there were some little elements that even I did not expect and will get those I promise you because my mind was almost close to atomic explosion, but let’s talk about The Cutting Edge.

                                   Stuck-up figure skating whiz Kate Moseley (Moira Kelly) is denied a gold medal at the 1988 Olympics after a fall. As Kate drives off partner after partner, her coach Anton (Roy Dotrice), must quickly find her a new one in order to be ready for the next Olympics. Enter arrogant former Olympic hockey player Doug Dorsey (D.B. Sweeney). Reluctantly teaming up, Kate and Doug's icy rapport begins to thaw, resulting in chemistry both in and out of the rink.

                                   Now I'm not going to lie when I said before about how long it’s been since I watched this film and really all I can say is that it’s probably between 1995-96ish, maybe when I was in the third grade maybe fourth hell I don't know all I can say it’s been almost way to long since I've watched it since, but all I can remember is that this was my parents favorite movie and my sister worship the film as well. And judging by the years it’s been since I now watched the movie, oh how I can tell you truthfully I was not expecting any of the missing surprises I found in this great classic. But let’s just start off with some of the small steps first before we get to the mind explosion first, firstly this film was written by Tony Gilroy and your probably asking yourself who is Tony Gilroy? Well let’s just say he written a certain action packed spy drama which stared MATT DAMON, yeah that's write this guy single handily written the Jason Bourne films that turned Matt Damon's career into not just a star but a super star. So there no reason to question how great of a romantic comedy Gilroy has created especially since it was his first movie and I have to admit that I was a bit worried that this movie wasn't going to be as good as I remembered it before although it’s been ages so what do I know, but I got to say that Gilroy actually nailed this scripted from start to finish and sure writing dialogue in making the characters fall in love at the end is one thing but really taking the time and effort to research the sport of figure skating and how hard it really is from performing the moves and the training it takes, all while writing it on what maybe a type writer or an original Macintosh is simply outstanding so props to Gilroy in a romantic comedy with figure skating to go along with it, because really as we all know when it comes to writing a romantic comedy it takes just the right ingredients in making the story worthwhile and I got to say he deserves all four stars for that. Okay so, this may not be a huge mind blown experience but the director of the movie Paul Michael Glaser, well he's surprisingly known for his role in the vintage TV series Starsky & Hutch (he was Ben Stiller's character in case you were wondering) for which I was surprised myself, guessing he wanted to make movies so can't really deny a man to follow his dream, but all jokes a side I actually believe he did a great job as well bringing this great story to life, I mean he showed a lot of great camera shots which I thought were cool moreover did a great job in showing a lot of the training side to figure skating and also finding the right actors to bring the story to life as well. All right everyone now were nearly close to the mind blown part but you have to wait, just wait and it will come to you, I promise. Now I knew who D.B. Sweeney was due to the fact that I watched him portray Shoeless Joe Jackson in Eight Men Out and I kind of knew who Moira Kelly was? Although I had to look up her Wikipedia page to see that she was the voice of Nala from the original Lion King. Now, these two are what made this film possible in fact these two are the real reasons why this film was so amazing, I mean they both have the best chemistry together moreover provided great comedic work as well as some of the dramatic moments in the film too, and with all that these two made me believe that they fallen madly in love for each other in the end. Now I'm skipping past Terry O'Quinn because let’s face it the guy was good as always playing the dad furthermore he played a fictionalized version of Howard Hughes in The Rocketeer and he was also in Lost, So Okay moving on to the biggest mind blown experience I've ever had in my whole life was the ex-fiancée Moira Kelly's character, actor Dwier Brown? Well this man just so happens to be John Kinsella from the greatest Baseball movie ever Field of Dreams, yes that's right he was in Field of Dreams playing Kevin Costner's Dad and I got to tell you, I did not see that coming from a mile away and I'm serious when I say this, when I first sat down and watched the movie and his face showed up I was like "wow that man looks familiar", and so I paused the movie of course looked up the movie for which his name was on there and it took one picture of him in his baseball costume for me have a critical mind blown experience I've never had before in my life, I swear I felt like Terry Crews in the old spice commercial when his brain came out of his head and exploded right in front of him, moreover it took me quite a while to shake that feeling out of myself in order to write this recommendation. This film is without a doubt the GOAT of all figure skating movies, and they've never been able to top it for years and I remember the sequel ABC Family did where Kim Possible aka Christy Carlson Romano was the star of the movie and judging by the many bits and pieces I've seen of the movie it wasn't all that great. Though hands down this film is the GOAT of figure skating movies and also officially in my top five greatest Romantic Comedies of all time, it was funny and had great chemistry with both lead actors and actress of D.B. Sweeney and Moira Kelly just hands down one of the best, also now that I'm thinking about it I'm probably going to have to take the time and figure out my top five best Romantic Comedies are and I do have a collection it’s just a matter of ranking them. So, to all the love birds out there when you take the time in watching this great chick flick, just remember to thank Jason Bourne writer Tony Gilroy. Happy Valentine's Day to all love birds out there.

   

God of War: Ascension Replay Review

 

                              

                                Decided to go back to in amazing game created by PlayStation, this was one of the first of many games, that I can point at and name as one of the greatest games ever. Way back in 2007, 300 became one of the most amazing movies about Greek Mythology that I couldn't believe would be toped in futures to come. I now admit when I say that I was wrong moreover talking out of my own ass because after discovering God of War during the time the third installment, I now understand that all the Greek Mythology films that were coming big during the mid and late 2000's, those have nothing compared the God of War game series. Luckily, I like to start game series from the very beginning with the prequels of all prequels God of War: Ascension.

                                The game basically sets after Kratos breaks his oath with the God of War, now captured by a group of Furies who are Guardians of Honor. Now the Ghost of Sparta must fight his way out of his blood oath in hopes of breaking free from the God of War.

                                There's really not a whole lot to say but other than, if you grew up with a PS2 and played the very first God of War is of course would defiantly be the game for you and sure even those this of course following the trend where they create a successful game and then finishing them in three chapters but want to go back and create more stories for which I always find weird because why can't you think of this before but in all fairness I would be nitpicking so deep down WHO CARES! The gameplay is always amazing when it comes to the God of War games and it still is to this day because it’s nothing, but hack and slash then do a few puzzles to complete your quest and sure it’s different since they've reinvented the franchise with a different mythology, but I always loved stepping back into the world of Ancient Greece. I will admit I was really off my game when playing Ascension which is weird because when I play the other versions I knew how to work all the puzzle's and combo moves from the past games and it was a piece of cake but with this game I was completely off my game by dying all the time and not remembering some of the puzzles and it wasn't all pretty for which took me a long time to finish it, but in all fairness I haven't played this game in quite a while so that explains why I was off my game with this one. Now after finishing this game, I have to say it does feel sad that the Greek Mythology is officially a thing of the past, but in all honesty, this was worth the time going back and playing this great PlayStation series. 

     

Gone With The Wind

 

                             Since we're literally in the month of February and we all know that that means ladies and gentlemen, and if you don't then its best you don't. It’s of course the day of Cupid crushing hopes and dreams which I'm about to do with one movie I consider in my book as one of the worst movies of ALL TIIIIIIIIIIIIIME. And yes, you can say that this movie has its ups, a side from the beautiful scenery and directing along with some great actors with Clark Gable and Hattie McDaniel being the first African American to win the Oscar. Now, I myself can accept those accomplishments, BUUUUUUUUUT, it doesn't change the fact that this film has one of the worst characters/actresses in Vivien Leigh playing the biggest B***H in the history of cinema, that just made me not love this film at all, and let’s not forget that I must sit through her B***h tantrum FOR 4 F**KING HOURS. And what really pisses me off is that I still have this piece of s**t of a Blu-ray in my house even though I didn't know how this movie was going to go but, I must keep this movie as a reminder of my mistake.  

                            Basically, set in the Confederacy of America aka the South. Where the midst of the Civil War is about to break, Scarlett O'Hara spoiled her whole life treats people like dirt through the course of her life tries to be redeemable but still treats people like s**t.

                            To start off this psychological abuse towards this film I need to state that this movie poster should be consider fraud because that's not how this film goes if you think that these love birds live happily ever after, both Gable and Leigh start off by hating each other then she tries to save him then the sort of fall in love then Gable comes to realize horrible of a human being Scarlet was. Now I'm not taking away from the fact that this was a perfectly directed film along with some great actors out of Clark Gable and Hattie McDaniel being the first African American actress to win the Oscar, moreover, let’s not forget that this was 1939 so that's something special. BUUUUUUUUUUUUUT, it still doesn't change the fact that this abomination consists of two things one, Vivien Leigh's acting whom I still to this day think of her as the worst part of this movie furthermore her and her character who through the course of the entire film just wanted Ashely Wilkes baby, though he has tremendous sense to say no your crazy I don't want you to have my baby, but then she marries his brother instead just to despite him. Now granted I stopped 2hrs and 41 minutes of this trash of a movie because I couldn't stand Scarlet's bewailing and whining throughout the movie, but what really makes me mad about this movie is that she doesn't have a come to Jesus moment, ever like she believes she learned her lesson but she in all honesty she never truly did, but again this was a four hour movie and I stopped watching because I was tired of Scarlett's s**t. The other thing I don't like about this movie is the fact that this movie was set in the confederacy's point of view, the very people who were supporting slavery at that time, and if your think that I would follow a these characters that support the worst thing in American history, your dreaming I mean it’s like trying to create a love story set in Nazi Germany during WW2 and there trying to make me feel for those characters despite the fact that they were responsible for the Holocaust. Now deep down I'm not taking away from the groundbreaking achievements but in the end, Vivien Leigh destroys this movie for her character being such a horrible person in movie history, and the fact that no one not even some of my parents or aunts can explain to me what makes this film amazing just makes it even worst. So, since where living in a cancel culture I personally demand that this film needs to be banned from American Cinema well maybe revised it and cut Scarlett out whichever comes first would be better for me.