Assassin's Creed Revelations: Replay Review

 

                          Finally finished the final chapter in Ezio's journey, were it combines all three stories of the Assassin's Creed series from the first game to Brotherhood and like all endings they always must have an undecided conclusion. Unfortunately, we get to see what it's like to live in Constantinople during the rise of the Ottoman Empire well even though it's still the same of gameplay as the Brotherhood game, but you still get to do some fun things. Despite not getting more story of Altair's life as an Assassin I thought it was cool to get a backstory of how Desmond past storyline but with a much complexity walkthrough. A side from not a whole lot to explain I guess where going to make this short and sweet.

                           Desmond Miles now in a induce coma must find a way to the linked memories between Ezio's final days as an Assassin and him finding clues to Altair's past and what he left behind.

                            In all honesty there's really not a whole lot to talk about the final installment to the Ezio trilogy other than, it a unique and enjoyable conclusion to the most popular Assassin throughout the Assassin's Creed series moreover I also love the fact that throughout the story that he keeps talking about living a life outside of the Creed and being more mature about the lives he tries not to bring in to his struggle, although we have very short missions with Altair I do wish we had more storylines of his continuation after the first Assassin's Creed because I still hold to him as a fascinating character and I kind of wanted to know more about what he did after the first game more of his adventures with the love of his life and well just more continuations of Altair in all truthfulness. A side from the gameplay it’s not a whole lot to say still is fun and exciting just like the Brotherhood game, I do love the fact that they have ziplines throughout the city of Constantinople and you must kill the enemies who are tearing them down which is nice but at least you don't have to worry about riding your horse into tiny space streets that's for sure. The one side mission I did take some time to play was Desmond's journey and it’s a strange puzzle game where you have to journey through the course of different dream like coma's kind of like a first person Inception, and through that time you get to understand why Desmond left and all of the events that happened that lead to him being captured in the first Assassin's Creed game and I like the fact that we get to take some good time in understanding why he did what he did. Now that I got a new PlayStation, I now can finish this review, and a side from nothing new, it was still a great story and final chapter in the Ezio journey of how a man now making peace with himself in the end of a long journey.  

  

                            

                           

The Silence of the Lambs

 

                               One of those nights of pure boredom mourning the loss of a 2006 PlayStation 3 I've had over the years, though to be truthful it wasn't a huge loss, but it was one of those things were you're like "oh god why in your finally letting go, oh well I guess I'll have to go to eBay and buy a sort of new one-ish". See it wasn't a big loss but still felt empty inside, okay now we're moving on literally, nothing better to do so then I realized that this great piece horror was going to be pulled from Amazon Prime in about ten days so I thought well I haven't seen this film so I might as well use this time to sit down and watching this modern day horror classic for the ages, The Silence of the Lambs. Now before you shame me I should point out that I lived a very sheltered life though to be fair I have seen Hannibal in 2001, I remember I was maybe in eighth grade, maybe seventh and I can remember my brother waking me up and telling me he rented Hannibal on VHS (You'll remember VHS?) and we both sat down in the dark and watched the whole movie and in all honesty the only memory I can really remember being mesmerized by Sir Anthony Hopkins portrayal of Hannibal Lector. Though granted it’s been a long time since I've seen that movie and maybe going back to that movie in October but now having watched this amazing movie it's just so great and terrifying that I can't stop thinking about it. 

                               Jodie Foster stars as Clarice Starling, a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lector (Sir Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant psychiatrist who's also a violent psychopath, serving a life sentence for various acts of murder and cannibalisms. Crawford believes that Lector may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, maybe just the bait to draw him out.

                               Of course, this was one of the greatest Horror movies of all time no question about, and to be honest I didn't expect how intense this film was going to be moreover how you can't look away from some of the most horrific moments in the film. The other thing on what makes this movie amazing is there is hardly any gashes of blood when it comes to the film well in all fairness during like the second and third act but they really do is push more of the psychological horror to the audience and a lot of that comes from the many close ups of the actors giving their dialogue and more importantly giving out moments that even make you chill the very bone in your body. And Johnathan Demme did a fantastic job in creating a disturbing world for the audience to feel especially with so much intensity at every turn, moreover, doing a great job in making you as an audience member feel uncomfortable especially when we have some of these great dialogue scenes. Now of course Jodie Foster is a fantastic actress, and her resume proves that dating back to Taxi Driver and what she does in this movie is even greater while playing an FBI trainee whose being dropped into this world of darkness, insanity and most importantly psychological trauma she must endure in finding this killer. Sir Anthony Hopkins of course is amazing as Hannibal Lector, I mean just his posture and close ups whenever he's on screen it's just so disturbing and chilling at the same time but, you can't take your eyes off him at all and what makes him so great he takes a full step into the realm of evil and you just can't stop and witness the whole madness behind his eyes. Now each of them have done an amazing/fantastic job furthermore all three deserved their Oscar wins but they wouldn't have been great without their supporting main antagonists both Ted Levine as Buffalo Bill and Anthony Heald as Dr. Chilton, yes Hannibal Lector is a monster but both Levine and Heald's characters are even bigger monsters through the course of the movie and especially Levine's character of Buffalo Bill who so vicious and really scary when it came to abusing the poor girl in the well that you feel no pity for Ted's character at all and the way he treats his victim that you sometimes even feel sorry for the poor dog as well, and when it comes to Heald's portrayal as Dr. Chilton who's somewhat of an overbearing egotist who thinks the world revolves around him that he would do anything to be the big man on campus especially when it comes to being disrespectful to his prized possession Dr. Lecter. So, in all honesty you really wouldn't have the performances moreover caring for the characters in Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter without hating both Buffalo Bill and Dr. Chilton, for which I do say that both Ted Levine and Anthony Heald who I think were great antagonists of the film and deserver more praise for their work. The Silence of the Lambs is defiantly one of the top five Horror movies of all time and defiantly one of the very few films the Academy Awards got right when it comes to the Best Picture, Best Actor and Actress and Best Director furthermore I think the mid-nineties were the great years when it came for the Academy Awards when it came for appreciating the best films. So, if your ever in the mood to take a walk on the crazy/scary side of cinema I would highly recommend watch The Silence of the Lambs its creepy and menacingly scary and most importantly keep you on the edge of your seat until the final credits begin to roll. 

       

                                  

March Recommendation: Gangs of New York

 

                                     What a perfect time to pick the March Recommendation with the 20th Anniversary release of Martin Scorsese's period epic Gangs of New York, for which when I realized that the film came out in 2002 I was like well I have to recommend this movie in the month of March as well as St. Patrick's Day. This was the first of much collaboration with Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, though this was one of the two movies that defined DiCaprio as an actor. But deep down the real actor that took this movie and stole the movie like it was the perfect crime was the great Daniel Day-Lewis as Bill the Butcher, but will get to him later. I will say this now, and granted that this is kind of off topic in some ways, but I will put my foot down and state that this is a far superior story than West Side Story just saying because in all honesty I'm trying to throw more jabs at Steven Spielberg sorry not sorry. 

                                     Amsterdam Vallon (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a young Irish Immigrant released from prison. He returns to the Five Points seeking revenge against his father’s killer, William Cutting (Daniel Day-Lewis), a powerful anti-immigrant gang leader. He knows that revenge can only be attained by infiltrating Cutting's inner circle. Amsterdam's journey becomes a fight for personal survival and to find a place for the Irish people in 1860's New York.

                                     I would argue that this would most defiantly be in Scorsese's top ten best films I don't think top five but it’s a close in the range of top ten best when it comes to Scorsese's work. Sure this film follows the same story format in past Scorsese films but what I like about this film is that it focuses more on two men's goals of making 19th century New York in their own image when in doubt it's still much of a lost cause. To be honest, if there was ever a time when Mr. Scorsese was ever going to make a period piece, he sure picked the perfect story to make a movie out of it. What’s also great about the movie was that Martin wanted to make this film a long time, since the mid 1970's unfortunately there were a lot of bumps in the road to get to that point and oddly enough he finally made this movie happen. And the other thing about what makes this film still amazing to watch is that it’s one of those films that not even your school teachers would teach you, sure they teach you all there was to know about the Civil War and that North was against slavery and South was all for it, but they never teach you about some of the minor historic elements for example of how worse 19th century New York was and that it wasn't a great place to live in furthermore you had to really survive in that living environment and Scorsese does a fantastic job showing you the entire curl world of the Five Points. If there was any sense of getting you pumped up for a movie like this, the opening battle sequence was hands down the best opening to a battle sequence I've ever seen especially when you have two great actors out of Liam Neeson and Daniel Day-Lewis waging war against each other and both men screaming at the top of their longs and charging at each other. All right now I can't hold it in anymore, we're now going to go ahead and talk about the real hero that is responsible for making this film amazing and that's the king of actors, Daniel Day-Lewis, what's really sad now is that most people don't know a whole lot when it comes to Daniel Day-Lewis and in all honesty if I had the best way to describe him is that he's a modern day Marlon Brando but without the ego, for example he's very picky when it comes to finding a role and he doesn't have the famous actor life he's really all about finding the right role and then taking enough days to break away from the roles he chooses because when it comes to him, he's a very devoted actor when it comes to the character and that he won't just act he will transform himself into that character and speaking in truth if you want more example's Gangs of New York is a great one but also There will be Blood is another great example when it comes to his acting chops. Yes, Day-Lewis is in a supporting role but he's really the greatness behind this film, he is so mesmerizing to watch on film that you can't look away and there's a scene where he beats Leo to a bloody pulp he head butts him so many times that I'm confident that he literally did that. Sure Leonardo DiCaprio was around at a young age and was a heartthrob in the late 90's but I believe 2002 was a great year for him, moreover was his climb to fame in becoming a serious actor and sure his accent I'll admit was a bit off to me but I didn't care all that much because of the supporting cast he was surrounded by also Brendan Gleeson who plays Leo's mentor was in the movie so he could of at least spend numerous time with him so he can improve it more. Now when it comes to Cameron Diaz, all I can say is that this is the only movie I can point at in her filmography and say that this was her best movie. Brendan Gleeson was another actor I thought was amazing in the movie in that of all the members in Liam Neeson's gang he was the one who really showed DiCaprio's character in what it means to make a way for the Irish Immigrants that were coming to America at that time. Now I will argue with any Musical fanatic and say that this was a much better story than West Side Story for one good example is that it didn't borrow any story elements from William Shakespeare and that it was focusing more on the topics at hand then re-using story elements from Romeo and Juliet, so in case you're all looking for a movie to watch about rival Gangs pick a movie like this one that really has a much better story than a musical. Now if you're ever interested in looking into Daniel Day-Lewis's filmography I would highly recommend watching Gangs of New York and there will be Blood. Other than that I would highly recommend watching this great period epic on St. Patrick's Day, so to everyone I'd say Happy St. Patty's Day, drive safe and make good choices. 

 

The Batman

 

                                 One of the Greatest Superheroes of all Time is back on the big screen, as he always should be. Only this time it’s a different take on Batman, that's right no more Batffleck and this choice is one of those choices you've never believed would work but for some reasons does for which I'm referring Robert Pattinson and to be honest I now have full respect for the man because he does a great job playing Bruce Wayne/Batman. I know that you all find me being sarcastic, but I thought he did a great job with his take as Batman, hell I even loved Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman. I'll even go so far as saying that the whole story line is great and works in the best possible way I can even go so far and say the entire casting works as well especially Colin Farrell as Penguin, though I think what really hurt the film the most was defiantly the length of the movie but will get to that latter.

                                  Batman (Robert Pattinson) ventures into Gotham City's underworld when a sadistic killer leaves behind a trail of cryptic clues. As evidence begins to lead closer to home and the scale of the perpetrator's plans become clear, Batman must forge new relationships, unmask the culprit and bring justice to the abuse of power and corruption that has long plagued the metropolis.

                                   I will admit there was a lot of things they did right with this film for which I was surprised with and will start off with the cast. In all honesty, I truly thought Robert Pattinson did a fantastic playing Batman/Bruce Wayne, and as we've all learned through the course of the years in order accept an actor whose taking over the mantle of the movie or TV role of Batman, they must at least create their own unique spin on the character that's never been done before. And I like the fact that Pattinson's Batman is more secluded and is using the Batman persona as a coping mechanism to escape his trauma, moreover I love the fact that director Matt Reeves shows Bruce taking off his cowl and we get to see him using eye liner instead of just hiding like the past Batman films have done, furthermore it’s kind of nice to just except the fact that Batman has to wear eyeliner when he goes out to fight crime, also makes for good close ups for a guy whose fighting with his own past trauma. Like I said before the entire cast works, I love that the Riddler is basically the Zodiac Killer when it comes to Batman's world and again the story itself and the entire setting works it’s just one problem I have with the film. It’s just too  damn long, now most superhero films are like two hours and fifteen minutes max, this film is like three hours long and sure Avengers: Endgame was three hours long but that was in action movie this was basically a detective movie, Batman was really doing enough kicking butt, now sure you can make this film three hours, but have the film balance between Batman being a detective and fighting crime and I didn't feel he wasn't beating enough bad guys in the film. Now I will argue and say that Pattinsons Batman is a hell of a lot better than Batffleck furthermore he's earned my respect in being called by his name and not being referred to by his Twilight past, in which now I'm confident he's escaped the hellish prison and now looking to find better work elsewhere. Now would I rank this up with the Dark Knight Trilogy um, I wouldn't think it’s close, but I give a good sense to watch this movie if you’re up for a three-hour long movie, as for me I don't know if I can really go back and re-watch it again it might be a while before I'm ready to go back. 

                                     

Pam & Tommy

 

                          

                         I'm defiantly going to make this review short and somewhat sweet, if there were any mistakes I made when it comes to binge watching TV its most certainly watching Pam & Tommy. If you were alive in the mid 90's Pamela Anderson was defiantly the Babe of the century though the problem was, she was not making the best choices possible when it comes to life and one of the most horrible choices, she made was marrying Tommy Lee. For which spawned the story of the nineties, of these two crash test dummies filming themselves banging each other to death. And yet pissing off certain people that they stole certain belonging and got it out on the pre-historic world wide web. And yet for some reason this was turned into a TV series for which I still think is a horrible idea, although I admit I thought this would be somewhat intriguing but unfortunately it just failed miserably in the last three episodes.

                         I told you that this was going to be short and sweet, now before I dive deep into this was of story time my only positive comment, I can say about this show was Lily James portrayal as Pamela Anderson, for which I thought she did a great job transforming into the Baywatch Star moreover I also didn't recognize her at first. Now that being said I figured that this would be a revenge type story, but it has always didn't turn out then I'd expect, which I should of saw it coming but didn't see the crash burn coming from a mile away. In all honesty the whole show is about people who are horrible in every sense of the word but yet don't look at themselves in the mirror, and though the course of the show I was hoping for Tommy Lee getting his due but of course I never get to see that happen and yes Pamela in real life didn't make the best choices and you can say all you want but I feel like the woman put a target on her back, though I'm just going to leave it at that, but that's just my two cents. I kind of wished they stop casting Seth Rogen in movies because he's not suited for the revenge type guy he just never was to begin with. This show was really a waste of storytelling, and I could go on talking about this but sadly I desperately want to get the taste out of my mouth. 

  

The Righteous Gemstones: Season 2

 

                             Finally finished season 2 of The Righteous Gemstones everybody, praise the Lord though in the right way possible. Danny McBride's surprisingly entertaining Show about the Megachurch family who are dysfunctional on one side but all heart on the other. And of course, I was excited for season 2 and really it didn't hold any disappointments well, maybe a few moments but will get those in a little later. This season I will admit they begin to explore more into Eli Gemstones past and how he became the Walt Disney of Televangelist. But most importantly we also get more Walter Goggins playing Baby Billy who I believe is always the best part of the whole show, but were going to have to leave it there, for now let’s explore more into the second chapter in the Righteous Gemstones.

                            Set two years after the first season everything is going swell, until a mysterious stranger (Eric Roberts) appears in Eli's life as well as a journalist (Jason Schwartzman) who’s on a quest to bring down Televangelists group. Jessie and his wife Amber decide to go in business with a televangelists couple from Texas, but things become complicated as dark forces begin to emerge and so secrets are beginning reveal themselves.

                            A side from the same format that's been used in the first season I like how this time we get to see more of Eli's backstory and how he first started out on different terms and then slowly rising to a Christian man moreover I like how we slowly get to see how he started out and not know the whole story behind his rise to fame. I will admit, I find it amusing how each of the three kids don't learn any lesson from which they've learned in their last season furthermore come up with more ways of doing something outlandish and stupid at time from which comes some great comedic work from Danny McBride. If there was one thing I would have to complain about the second season, is way too many d**k jokes which is funny for like the first season but if you keep doing it more it just loses it touch and even I was predicting one of those jokes in the last couple of episodes and I was thinking to myself "I f**king knew it" which is like I get most grown men like d**k jokes because of size but 95% of the men population don't want to have that image stuck with them forever. In all honesty there's not a whole lot to say about the latest season because everything works in the best way possible the children have a great chemistry throughout the season and Walter Goggins does a great job as always playing a southern hillbilly, for which I feel bad for him because that's honestly the only thing he can do better or a short way to describe it he’s as always typecast. I would highly recommend this show though I would only have to watch this show once because this is one of these shows were I can say enough is enough.

  

Dog

 

                              I never thought in a million years I would ever again express so much emotion, especially when it's a Channing Tatum movie for which he co-directs as well as stars in the movie along with a very cute Dog. I can say and understand that sure women can get emotional when watching the movie Titanic or any Nicholas Sparks movie, well me it’s usually films about Dogs and I've had my fair share of crying when it came to Where the Red Fern Grows and Marley and Me and I've said to myself I would never want to experience that kind of pain ever again, because in fairness I'm a Dog lover and who isn't right? Well, unfortunately my loving and adoring parents wanted me to experience this movie for which I warned them about the last time this happened but with good graces my Mom told me that the Dog doesn't die. And I'll admit I rejoiced to that and I should let you all know that no Dogs died on screen nor in the story, so in case your all worried about that, but I can honestly say that I never expected what the story had for which made it amazing and again made me express all of my emotions via crying, so this may be difficult for me to type this review so let’s talk about Channing Tatum's hands down best movie ever.

                              U.S. Army Ranger Briggs (Channing Tatum) is tasked with bringing Lulu, a Belgian Malinois Military working Dog, down to the Pacific Coast from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington to Nogales, Arizona in time to attend her handler's funeral. Along the way, Briggs has to come to terms with his post-traumatic stress disorder as well as his difficulty with making emotional connections.

                              Now before I begin this review I will give a shout out to my Mother for wanting me to go see this, and also my Dad too, because in all honesty they're really the main reason of my love for different kinds of movies. I will say that this was one of the best movies and best performances by Channing Tatum, for which I find weird in finally saying something of that when it comes to Tatum's career, because really when it comes to Tatum's filmography is really, well let’s just say that the man doesn't make good choices in life but yet for some he's still to this day not making good choices because he's in a upcoming film with Sandra Bullock. But I guess sometimes fate would upmost show the best in people and goes to Tatum who co-directs this great movie as long as stars in the movie, really does a fantastic job playing a character that's suffering from PTSD moreover doesn't really know how to express emotions as well as getting along with people, and yet along comes this cute Dog whose also suffering from PTSD as well and yet the two of them share great chemistry as well as some pain and suffering they've endured through their times in the Army and through the course of the movie I've begin to understand these characters moreover did my heavy share of crying near the end of the film because, well I don't suffer from PTSD but I can honestly say I began to relate to them in a sense that even I as well have a hard time expressing my emotions as well as having a hard time getting along with people and this movie really moved me in saying that there is still love in the word as well as nurturing the hope for humanity even though it’s hard to find. And the way Tatum and his fellow director Reid Carolin are able to do, is introduce two unique characters who have the same mental disorder from their time in the Army and through the course of the story tell this story of friendship and trying to find love in happiness in a time when there is not a whole lot to find in the world. Moreover in a way when things that are happening today with all of the war and Invasion that's going on as well as the end to the pandemic, it’s nice to watch film that shows us all that there is still a hope for humanity after all, you just have to find it in the most strangest ways possible. I will put a stamp of approval and say that Dog is without a doubt, one of the best movies I've seen this year and Channing Tatum's best performances/movies he's ever done in his whole career. I would highly recommend watching this amazing movie but I would also recommend bringing a box of tissues to the theater.