December Recommendation: Mickey's Christmas Carol

 

                                       There are a lot of times in the month of December, where I must find that one Christmas movie that would be that perfect one where you can watch it repeatedly that kind of like Die Hard, George C. Scott's A Christmas Carol, or of course It's A Wonderful Life. And deep down there must be one film that can keep the Christmas spirit going, moreover can put a smile on your face just like Die Hard or It's a Wonderful Life. But deep down there just must be that one film you can look back on your life especially your childhood and just realize how perfect the film is from start to finish, also is thirty minutes. Yeah, sure you can say that's it's not the right length to be considered a Christmas film but trust me when I say this that Mickey's Christmas Carol was that one movie in my childhood, I would consider the many greats from Disney.

                                       Basically, A Christmas Carol staring Scrooge McDuck as Ebeneezer Scrooge as well as Mickey Mouse as Bob Cratchit and Goofy as Jacob Marley. Moreover, taking all the elements of the story to A Christmas Carol but with the magic of Disney you basically get a tremendous masterpiece.

                                       Pretty much of all Disney cartoons Mickey's Christmas Carol was that one film I can watch on Christmas and was always a blast to watch from start to finish, and really it was a time when we really couldn't afford to buy movies and since we had certain TV channels if I remember correctly a good portion of Christmas movies especially Disney airing on ABC, and we had a lot of blank tapes we decided to recording some of these specials on TV and that way we can watch them over and over again. And there where not much of a lot of movies I remember owning though there defiantly a lot of those from Disney movies, some Christian cartoon films, to lot of films that my mom and dad loved and granted that's out of memory as I recall, and I could be wrong but again your memories you remember could deceive you. Now the last maybe two Christmas's I do remember my brother sitting down with his kids watching Mickey's Christmas Carol on Disney + and just sat down and did absolutely nothing because it truly was that ultimate Disney Christmas film that is just beloved as well as comedic in every way. For many reasons why I choose this beloved classic as my December Recommendation is really simple, I just needed that breath of fresh air furthermore that one film that can keep me in the spirit of Christmas because even as December winds down and work becomes a pain in the a**, it's really hard to keep that Holiday spirit up and really I can't watch Christmas Vacation anymore because well it brings back bad memories and Scrooged gave me that level of not wanting to be reminded of work since I do work at a TV station. So, Mickey's Christmas Carol is really that perfect movie where you can round up the statistics of what makes a great Christmas film and this film alone is just perfect because it really doesn't overdo it but gets to the point, especially when I recognize a lot of Disney characters that make ton of cameo's especially the 1973 Disney classic Robin Hood which is funny moreover when you think about it the creators do over the years re-issue the same character and style of dancing through the years, and really there sequences that I truly see in my nightmares when it comes to Disney cartoons in the past. Without a doubt Mickey's Christmas Carol is officially that one truly great Christmas film that I will watch over and over again it's really amazing from the voices to the characters themselves and I feel truly blessed to finally sit down and watch it over the years moreover consider it a great sense of pure enjoyment that I can sit down and watch all over again this Christmas, so without further ado I truly say to all of you Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

     

                                             

Scrooged

 

                                      Scrooged is another one of those films in my past where I've seen bits and pieces of the film, though never got around to watching the whole movie all together. And since we're in the Christmas spirit I figured well since I'm watching my brother's client I'd watch some Christmas films. Starring Bill Murray in one of his many 80's comedy classics although re-watching Scrooged I really can't see this as one of his best and granted this is coming from me because I'm the guy who watched the original Vacation moreover realized how much I hated that movie, furthermore I don't see this as bad moreover would kind of give this movie a good once over type of a film.

                                     Basically a modern take on the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol, where the modernized version of Scrooge is taking a real life look back on his life showing how he's been a horrible human being and how he can change himself.

                                     I think the best way I would describe the film itself is like the way I viewed the original Vacation, where it just reminded me bad times of family vacations I had over the years and with Scrooged the similarities are there only this time it's you're days at work especially when it's Christmas time and your Christmas bonus is somewhat of either a raise which is a fifty/to a hundred chance or basically a gift card with some goodies which is just one of those moments where you want to forget and in all fairness when I see that they only things you can get is a VCR or a towel in the movie, yeah the similarities are there. Now I'm not saying that Bill Murray is a terrible choice to play this scrooge like character because he does in excellent job playing the a**hole of the group so him playing a horrible boss is there as well as playing a man whose redeemed but again some of the jokes for me at times failed for me moreover was hoping more of him getting his ass kicked, and Carol Kane who plays the ghost of Christmas present does a great job at that but really wished there was more especially from the other spirits as well. The main problem I have with the movie is basically that the story is the same as you've heard when it comes to the story of a Christmas Carol, you know what happens from start to finish and really doesn't do anything in terms of creativity, like I would at least have the writers and filmmakers maybe at least tweek with the story maybe make some certain changes, just something new and different that I'd never expect in a modern telling of a Christmas Carol. Like, if I was doing this movie now I would make the scrooge character as the President of the United States and he's just a horrible human being to everyone makes all of his staff work on Christmas and he raises taxes all over the country and his mentor tells him he will be visited by three spirits and if you don't listen to them riots will happen and all of America will come for his head and by the end of the movie it does but then he says he's sorry then wakes up one day on Christmas morning and goes on a rampage of forgiving everyone and telling everyone to go home then holds a press conference that he's resigning from his presidency, just stuff like this will make it more entertaining and more satisfactions when your making a modern telling of Scrooge. Now from my standpoint I look at this movie as a good once over movie where I can watch this another ten years at least, moreover not saying that the film is watchable because everyone has their Christmas film to watch this season so if you're a fan of Scrooged then I won't hold you back in terms of watching the film this Christmas, though for me this is one of those films that doesn't fit my expectations it terms of a great film or something as good as I remembered. 

 

                                       

Holiday Affair

 

                                               

                                           After watching Scrooged, I decided to watch another Christmas film, not so much in terms of comedy but more of a romantic comedy like a good chunk of Christmas films are when it comes to the theme. Holiday Affair I kind of took maybe on a different perspective more like I read the plot of the movie much differently then, until I re-read the plot again. Mainly visioned this movie was about a married woman having to choose between a boring man and a ne'er do well kind of guy. Unfortunately when re-reading the plot it's more about a widow who must choose between these good looking men, which really was a bit of a bummer for me personally especially since this is a classic film in the late forties. But then again I somewhat have to watch because I got nothing better to do so, Holiday Affair became my next movie after Scrooged.

                                          Charming seasonal clerk Steve Mason (Robert Mitchum) catches beautiful Connie Ennis (Janet Leigh) in a fraudulent shopping scheme during the busy Christmas rush. But when he discovers that Connie is a war widow and single mother, Mason takes pity on her and can't bring himself to turn her in. His supervisor takes notice and fires him on the spot. Mason befriends Connie and her younger son, Timmy (Gordon Gebert), and may complicate her plans to marry boring nice guy Carl Davis (Wendell Corey).

                                          The interesting thing I've learned about the movie itself is that this was Robert Mitchum's very first romantic comedy in his career in film, and mainly he was remembered more as this guy who portrait a lot of tough guy roles from all of his film noir pictures and westerns he starred in as well as War films in the 40's era, and Holiday Affair became that one film that really challenged him to do something unique in terms of acting in a romantic comedy. The film itself has that decent pleasantness in terms of being that one Romantic comedy set on Christmas time. And really I have nothing against the movie in fact I thought this was a decent movie to watch on the month of Christmas, I guess in fairness I was going off watch another movie after Scrooged, though deep down this is a typical chick flick where it always has to be the typical woman choosing over two men for which you as a viewer feels like you've seen that same story all over again. But the other thing to look at when it comes to this film alone is really, you'd never see Robert Mitchum perform in a different and unexpected film you'd never thought he would ever do, and through out a good chunk of his career he was always portrait as the antihero roles and film noir appearances so, really this was in interesting thing to look at a guy like Robert Mitchum and see him bond with a little boy as well as fall in love with Janet Leigh. Now if you're a fan of Romantic Comedies than this would be a go to Christmas film to watch this year, moreover I would highly recommend watching this film to anyone who's a big fan of Mitchum's films and like to see a much different light than what Robert Mitchum's was usually in, instead of the typical film noir or westerns. So, there's no doubt I'll watch this movie on Christmas Day with my Mom and Dad, more of an experiment and a second viewing as well. 

         

40th Anniversary of Return of the Jedi

 

                             

                               I know as a Star Wars fan that I've failed miserably when it comes to reviewing the greatest Trilogy in movie history. 2017, I was personally trying to establish what my movie blog could be as a fan of film, moreover was indulging in a lot of shit especially movies that were coming out of that year. 2020, well there really is nothing to say we as a society were locked down by the real life Galactic Empire aka the stupidity of that is American politics but more importantly Covid 19, so really it was a matter of keeping my sanity and getting through those years I wish to forget. So, now that we're in the final days of 2023 I knew deep down celebrating the third installment in the Original Star Wars Trilogy, Return of the Jedi that I was not going to pass up. And going back to the third installment it brings a huge smile on my face as well as picking up new things that I've never recognized while watching the film again, more like a study lesson of film, but enough talk let's begin our celebration with Return of the Jedi.

                             Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamil) battles horrible Jabba the Hutt and cruel Darth Vader to save his comrades in the Rebel Alliance and triumph over the Galactic Empire. Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) reaffirm their love and team with Chewbacca, Lando Calrission (Billy Dee Williams), the Ewoks and the androids C-3P0 and R2-D2 to aid in the disruption of the Dark Side and the defeat of the evil Emperor.

                             I do have some memories of watching Empire Strikes Back as my first encounter of Star Wars but they were just mere memories, but really it all started watching Return of the Jedi that my father checked out at our local library and we watched from start to finish, and what I remember most is was the Star Wars preview and all of the Star Wars films were presented from the first installment to the final installment even seeing the terrifying Emperor electrocuting Luke Skywalker moreover being a little scared. But then at the very end I'm not going to lie when I say that I was literally crying when Darth Vader died at the end of the movie it was really one of the most saddest things of a villain saving his own son suddenly redeemed and deep down I knew that Darth Vader would be my favorite Star Wars villain of all time along with the Emperor and Darth Maul. And after Return of the Jedi I begun watching the very first Star Wars aka A New Hope, and make a long story short thus became my love affair of Star Wars, which deep down The Original Trilogy is still to this day the greatest movie Trilogy of all time, but let's continue are sole celebration of Return of the Jedi. People say if I recall saying that Jedi is the lesser of the Original Trilogy which I beg to differ, now having seen it twice I begin to see more of it as an equal to both A New Hope and Empire, like there is so much of the film that when I watched it and really I watched the Blu-Ray, I begun to see a lot of scenes that you can see a lot of meaning to it, great example of that is Darth Vader and Luke reuniting after their battle on Cloud City and they have this one conversation and Vader examines Luke's new lightsaber and it really shows just a pride moment of a father almost being proud of his own son in what he became and at the end of the scene Vader has that moment of silence where he's not sure if what he's doing is right and props to David Prowse with doing such a fantastic job in acting with a mask because the most difficult thing is really expressing emotion through a mask that has no emotion and Prowse does such a great job at that. Even with Vader, Luke and the Emperor are in the throne room and Hamil is being tempted to kill Palpatine and the Emperor who is the great example of Lucifer is tempting Luke and you can see Hamill feeling that rage, is just excellent and the great thing about the movie is that you can really see great emotion acting through each of the actors. Speaking of Emperor Palpatine, if I have to give one actor such praise and don't get me wrong everyone is spectacular in the movie from Hamill, Ford and Fisher but really the true scene master of the entire movie is Ian McDiarmid who does a fantastic job playing the real villain in the Star Wars universe, Palpatine aka Darth Sidious whom like Vader I was just so fascinating with in fact I dressed up as Palpatine in my grade school years for Halloween, but really what struck me most about Palpatine as a Star Wars fan is that he's a clear representation of the Devil and you can see great examples of his performances in both Episodes III and VI where he's tempting both Anakin and Luke into the Dark Side just showing him what he can do to lure them moreover promising and yet destroying their lives at the same time, and with Jedi is a great example of Lucifer tempting Jesus whose wondering in the desert but simply failing and the same praise goes to Mark Hamill as well because even he does such a great job playing the true hero of Star Wars but also being the opposite of his father where he does feels tempted but begins to see what he's doing and by the end tells the Emperor "no" and knowing how the Emperor has met his match to defy him and it's just perfect action from both Hamill and McDiarmid do such a great job in that battle of Good vs Evil. Jedi is also famous for the return of Harrison Ford, because it's been said about a certain killing off Han Solo which is surprising when you think about because Ford wasn't really going to sign for the third and final installment but out a series of conversations and convincing with both Howard Kazanjian and George Lucas that Ford would Return for Jedi. Now this is just me saying this and mostly a conversation with my brother that Lucas saw Blade Runner and thought that this would damage Ford's career and so both him and Kazanjian told Ford that he had to return after that slump of Blade Runner. I've seen pretty much every version of the Original Star Wars Trilogy from the original version to the Special Edition to the really the Blu-Ray versions of the Original Star Wars films, and my thought of Lucas completing his films to the way he envisioned it, has always been more supportive moreover don't care upon which version is better, because really when Lucas created Star Wars he had to make the movie with the tools he only can use to bring his vision to life moreover had to overcome obstacles from both producers and the crew around him and going back, redoing some scenes that he wanted to make better it's him re-envisioning his franchise into the trilogy that he was seeing ever since 1977, and sure seeing Hayden Christensen in the ending of Return of the Jedi in 2004 when the DVD trilogy came out, did seem weird but deep down when you think about it, if I was Luke seeing my fellow mentors as well as the young version of my father, I would imagine that to be my father deep down, not being confused if that was my father or not. I will say till the day I die that the Original Star Wars Trilogy is the Greatest Movie Trilogy of all time, and Return of the Jedi was without a doubt the greatest conclusion to how Star Wars as a movie franchise should really end. So, if you're a Star Wars fan as I am, I would highly recommend celebrating Return of the Jedi's 40th Anniversary by binge watching the Original Star Wars Trilogy, even on Christmas time if you feel bored in watching Christmas movies.

         

                                           

Star Wars: Jedi Survivor

   

                                     Now my other video game recommendation that I've lately finished and continuing to play again because one it's Star Wars and two I'm sorta but mostly denying myself from Spider-Man 2 but I've now decided to play it so yeah it's going to take some time. And judging by the amount of expanded Galaxy I've recently explored in Star Wars Jedi Survivor I'm definitely confident in saying that Spider-Man 2 is going to take some time, and by time I mean a really long time. But, the point that I'm making is that this is Christmas time your loved ones are shopping for presents so like Mortal Kombat 1, Jedi Survivor is another video game I would highly recommend for the loved one in your life who's a huge Star Wars fan but also loves video games as well.

                                  The game takes place five years after the first game where fully fledged Jedi Knight Cal Kestis continues the fight in taking down the Empire, though through the course of the journey begin to see what it truly means to be a Jedi.

                                   In a strange way when it comes to both Jedi Fallen Order and Jedi Survivor there is that theme if you look at it closely, a huge them of both religion aspects and Star Wars that you never quite expect to find but with these games I begin to see a lot of those things while playing each of those game combine how much religion you can find in both of those games and really getting into my old age I truly begin to see myself being more of a Jedi than a Sith, and don't get me wrong I always loved Darth Vader he was one my all time favorite Star Wars character in fact when I was young I always loved both Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine because of there pure evil and just mesmerizing presence on screen together. And really as a kid you just loved those bad guys because they had red lightsabers, and I can say the same when I talk about Darth Maul too because when I saw him on screen he was just flat out awesome with his Double-bladed lightsaber. Now in my old age you begin to see the kid in me wanting to be a Sith and now slowly choosing to walk the path of a Jedi for what each of them stands for. Moreover going on this journey of Cal Kestis I truly begin to appreciate more of what he's taught me more of really not embracing the anger inside of you but more embracing the fact you as a person are not invincible, you as a man needs help sometimes even with the power of the force because even embracing the Dark Side you have to live with what you've done for a long time and that's really worse than death. The game-play alone is fantastic I mean like the first game, the creators begin to take it up a huge notch from like 50 to like 5,000 where you don't rely on single or double bladed lightsaber but you discover more unique styles of sword play you can play around with, which is both amazing to play moreover getting a better sense of how to take down your enemy but also overwhelming because while gaining more skilled points you want to unlock all of the fighting styles even though your one button of choice is square and triangle. But what the creators do much better is uncover more parts of the systems you explore and see what other adventures you can unlock while playing the game, and really without a doubt YouTube has become a severe nesting spot of troll's unleashing spoilers but really once I heard that Boba Fett makes in appearance moreover unlocking the bounty hunting missions that really became my sole objective was to track down all of the bounty hunters even though I had to play the main mission in order to met Boba Fett. I believe if I had to make a list of the best Star Wars games out there both Jedi Fallen Order and Survivor would most certainly be in the top spot of the best Star Wars games ever created even up there with the Battlefront game and the Force Unleashed games as well. And really showed me a lot of what it means to be a Jedi and these games alone give me a full appreciation and also uncovering a lot of religious aspects that even I never suspect seeing in a Star Wars game. So, if your having a hard time finding a gift for your loved one then I would suggest getting them Star Wars Jedi Survivor even if they don't have a Playstation 5 or XBOX because let's be honest everything is expensive so they can take care buying their choice of gaming console and that way they can play Jedi Survivor first and have fun with it that way. 

    

Mortal Kombat 1

 

                                     Well ladies and gentlemen, it's officially in the Christmas season and I'm confident that there are a lot of us that haven't got Christmas shopping done. How I know I just know because let's be honest there's a ton of those a**holes out there that are shopping at Wal-Mart, Target or any other store on Christmas Eve still shopping and if that's not being lazy then no wonder the United States is screwed. But the point I'm trying to make here is that there are a lot of gamer's out there that are looking for the right video game for either recommendation or to buy for their fellow counterparts. And I figured why not recommend two video games I've recently played that are both entertaining and amazing to play over and over again. Also, you all know I'm going to play anything Mortal Kombat related so yeah there's no surprise I'm recommending Mortal Kombat 1.

                                    After becoming the Keeper of Time, Liu Kang set a new era in his own image, a world filled with peace and prosperity. Unfortunately there is someone out there that is disrupting the peace and prosperity, now Liu Kang must assemble a team of champions to stop this threat that is disrupting the peace that Liu Kang has created.

                                    I wasn't going to lie when I heard that they were reinventing the Mortal Kombat universe, I really wasn't quite sure in terms of what I as a fan to expect because this was a process of three games they made and I personally felt it's a little to early to reinvent the franchise despite the fact that MK 11 was left in this 2001: A Space Odyssey like ending that I was curious of what they were going to do for the next game. Then hearing some of the changes they made I was a little uneasy but through the course of playing the game moreover the story mode and really became intrigued of what they were doing in terms of story they were telling. And really a lot of the changes became more and more intriguing although I wasn't quite sure with the dilemma of both Sub-Zero and Scorpion changed but when I finished with one of the towers as Smoke I began to see what they were creating for the next game and felt more relief. Even some of the other characters story I was really excited especially the character of Reptile, who I remember through the course of the PS2 games and Mortal Kombat 9 he was always this reptilian like man that didn't look appealing to me and really when I saw a preview of him being both human and reptilian at the same time I was definitely feeling the intrigued even more because I love the old school Reptile because that looked like a perfect fit for the character because I loved the mysterious behind this character and when he uses his acid spit or his fighting style that's what I like most about the character and him becoming his true self I was really excited to both play and see at the same time. The game-play alone was just fantastic to play as well and again I wasn't quite sure their new game-play with the main fighter and the Kameo fighter along with the game-play it was a both of intrigued and not sure but again through the course of the game it was like a breath of fresh air where each of the game-play was show a unique style of play that you begin to see through the course of each game from the past to present. Now having played the game a number of times I'm definitely looking forward to the next game because the ending to the story I truly began to see that they were doing their own take on the Marvel's Multiverse of Madness and seeing every single character mixed as if it was a different bowl of soup is both funny and yet OMG this is overwhelming for many reasons it's so bizarre in terms of what your fighting against and can't get over the fact that one is combined with Sindel and Reptile, both Sonya and Kano combined as one moreover  Sho Kahn and Sub-Zero is just crazy to see. Now, I'm sure to all of you who read my reviews of anything related to Mortal Kombat, I'm a big fan of the video games themselves there the definition of good vs evil moreover the blood and gore is always amazing from start to finish and if you're counterpart is a fanatic of the Mortal Kombat Universe, then Mortal Kombat 1 is the right game to get for your loved ones this Christmas. 

                   

The Star Wars Holiday Special

 

                                        Well, this is the first and hopefully that last, I ever attempt with fate. I personally felt that the time has come in the month of December to explain my full thoughts on this one true real life Holiday Special of Star Wars. I've seen this a good number of times mostly I spaced them out in terms of years but now with 2023 becoming s**ty enough as it is I figured the time is now to talk about the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special. Through the course of my young years, I'll admit I've heard of it, but mostly through interviews especially when they did an Attack of the Clones Webisodes series most notably talking about Boba Fett since they were diving deep into his origin, but in all fairness, I never thought much of it other than hearing that Boba's first appearance was not in Empire but the Holiday Special. But again, I was so young I didn't care much about it, though thanks to the internet, mostly YouTube, the Star Wars Holiday Special is officially out now, all ninety minutes and more baffling than ever.

                                        The Star Wars Holiday Special is a 1978 American television special that originally aired on November 17th, 1978, on CBS. It is set in the universe of the sci-fi based Star Wars media franchise.

                                         Now, you're probably asking as to why this long-lost Star Wars film is so infamous moreover why you can't find this anywhere except YouTube, well to give you that answer in a nutshell this special was so bad that even George Lucas had to buy all the master copies to make sure it was never broadcast ever again it's that bad. And sure, you can say well it can't be that bad right, well in worst but entertaining movies go the best way to give these movies credit and great to watch is that they must be unintentionally funny. Though the problem with the Holiday Special is that it's a 90 minute movie but not even close to being funny at all, the story is set primarily on Chewbacca's home world where it could possibly set around Chewie's family and all there really doing is just being a normal family but you can't understand them because there's no subtitles so you can follow the story as it goes along, it's kind of like Star Wars Seven, Eight and Nine where they follow new characters like Rey, Finn and Poe and you're favorite characters Luke, Han and Leia are just side characters and you want more of Luke, Han and Leia, that's basically what the Holiday Special is but you don't understand a single word on what Chewie's family is saying, and it's not being rude in all but it really should be wise to follow a family that you can understand rather than being bored out of your mind on Wookie's just growling at each other. A lot of fun facts I've learned about the Holiday Special for which I think is pretty funny when you think about it especially when you learn that George Lucas actually gave a copy of the Holiday Special to late Carrie Fisher as a gift for recording A New Hopes DVD commentary and She claims that she only plays the special at parties when she wants her guests to leave, which to me is just pure genius because now I am going to play the Holiday Special every time I have to attend a family reunion. A lot of facts about the special made a ton of sense because while watching it I began to question why Mark Hamill looks weird and apparently, he was involved in a nasty car accident for which cause some serious injury's upon his face but yet for some reason he was able to film this as well as Empire which I don't really know how they were able to pull that off. Even watching the Special all by itself sure it's not bad in terms of length wise cause 90 minutes is not bad when it comes to something bad but when you watch it whole you begin to have this severe headache while watching the movie because you are so bored out of your mind and your also not understanding why this special happened and why would even George Lucas himself would even make this happen, but yet it's made and still exists. I would never in a million years want to make anyone watch the Star Wars Holiday Special to anyone I loved or make my enemies watch it. That’s the truth even if you don't believe me or not. Though that being said to all of the Star Wars fans out there who use to hate the prequals or the new sequels of the Star Wars Saga, I would strongly suggest watching this on YouTube to understand what is truly bad, and I've thirty-six years old and I've seen numerous debates in terms of which trilogy is bad moreover I can say I have my personal reasons but now that I'm old and tired of this debate in terms of which is bad and I personally believe that the Star Wars Holiday Special is that one Star Wars film that needs to be seen by everyone.

         

The Shift

 

                                So, one of my usual Friday's becomes a sort of peer pressure or well to all fairness it's mostly a request of my parents to go to a movie with them and The Shift was on my mom's radar mainly because it contains Christian actors in the movie but more importantly it's fronted by Angel Studio's the same Studios who brought you Sound of Freedom and the GOAT of all Christian shows The Chosen. And sure, I'll admit I didn't feel like wanting to go to a movie mainly out of sense of not wanting to watch a movie I didn't even expect was going to be what it was, and so like most people would do I looked up the trailer and started to look intrigued. And so, I decided to go and man I never really expected it to be what it was.

                                After a tense encounter with a mysterious stranger who has otherworldly powers, a man gets banished to a parallel Earth where he fights to get back to the woman he loves.          

                                Having seen people give negative reviews about this surprising hit, moreover, feel like they don't understand what the whole point of the movie is supposed to be I'm officially going to tell you what really the basis behind the Shift is. The Shift is literally a retelling of the Book of Job, and to all of those who don't know the Book of Job here is an overview to all of those who are not Christian or never heard of the story. The Devil made a wager with God calling him out that he protects Job because of his devotion, and so God agrees to take his protection away from Job to prove that he won't curse God so, through the course of the story Job's life becomes a living nightmare and the Devil attempts to persuade Job into cursing God but he still refused. And that's basically what the Shift is only in a science fiction story with Christian elements that go along with it, and I myself discovered what the really this film was truly about although it did take a little while to figure it out but once a scene where our protagonist was telling the story of Job, then it became clear that writer and director Brock Healsley made this surprise hit as a combination of both Sci-Fi and book Job for which even I was having a light bulb moment going off in my head which deep down it's pure genius on Healsley's part but more importantly, finally cracked the code in terms of how to tell that story of Job for many reasons logically when it comes to making a movie it seems a little on the impossible side of how you can tell that story to an audience of this generation but all praise to Brock Healsley because of all filmmakers out there this guy did a fantastic job in not just cracking the code of Job but telling a story that's both beautiful and suspenseful at the same time. A lot of the cast in the movie deserves some huge praise especially Elizabeth Tabish (whose Mary in The Chosen) who does such a great job being the hope and center of the protagonist’s journey and the same with the star of the movie Kristoffer Polaha, but the real star of the whole movie aka the scene stealer belongs to Neal McDonough who’s infamous for playing bad guys like Justified and Yellowstone. Moreover, McDonough does such a great job playing a character that's a clear representation of the Devil and through the course of the movie he makes you feel like how much power he has over Polaha's character which is terrifying to watch on screen. The other thing I found surprising in Neal McDonough is the guy is a real devout Catholic, for which blew me away for obvious reasons I just never expect to see a lot of recognizable actors or actresses devoting themselves to Christianity, but more importantly the main reasons why he chooses to play the antagonist is because of his faith it's not god to kiss other women especially when you're married, which in all fairness that's a great reason why because you should never quit you're day job, but this is just me when I say this, wouldn't it be more convenient to also be a director as well, that way you don't have to act all the time and more importantly make movies that you want to make? Which again is just me talking so whatever he does is his business not me. So far this year Angel Studio's has been a big surprise studio company when it comes to releasing some of these sleeper hits like Sound of Freedom for example as well as the Shift. And if I had to pick, I have to go with the Shift because it's one of those films that I never expected any writer/director to tie Book of Job into a science fiction movie and judging with the limited budget they had with making the film I have to say they did a fantastic job in making what they had work. As for the Shift alone, I have to give thanks to my Mom and Dad for taking me to this great film but also recommend this for everyone to see, and hopefully it's still out in theaters so I take your kids out or your loved ones out to the movies and see this great surprise of a film.

       

Slap Shot

 

                                    A usual and sometimes unexpected movie nights I have with my dad, where he usually just tells me to pick out something to watch and times it becomes random, but I truly believe Slap Shot was a right choice to watch with my father even though this is a film that he's never seen even though it's a movie starring Paul Newman. Slap Shot is a classic Hockey movie where you can throw a rock in every in every part of North America and every NHL player or NHL Network expresses their love of this movie. As for me I kind of found this movie by accident mainly working on a failed attempt of ranking the best Hockey movies, and suddenly Slap Shot came along and it's up there with some of the few best Hockey films I've seen. 

                                    In a small New England (maybe Pittsburgh, or Philly) town of Charlestown, the local mill is about to lay off 10,000 workers. The town's minor league hockey team, the Charlestown Chiefs, is doing no better. After years of failure, this will be the team's last season. Exasperated player and coach Reggie Dunlop (Paul Newman) lets the club's recent acquisitions, the Hanson Brothers, play. The brothers' activity violent and thuggish style of play excites the fans. Dunlop retools the team, using violence to draw big crowds.

                                    I think when I first watched Slap Shot for the very first time, I viewed this as the Semi-Pro movie before Will Ferrell made Semi-Pro, with a lot of vulgar language as well as lessons that never learned well, let's be honest I don't believe there really was a lesson to be learned especially when it comes to character development. The development of the screenplay is both interesting moreover awesome because this vulgar language/never can be made again screenplay was written by a woman so to all those a**holes who don't have a sense of humor, when you thought women can't write those kinds of movies well jokes on you lame a**es. The movie no joke, is written by an actual female screenwriter named Nancy Dowd who based the scrip primarily on her brother Ned Dowd whose an actual real life Hockey player who also makes a cameo in the final act of the film, but back to bases the movie was based on Nancy's brother's experiences playing minor-league hockey in the U.S. during the 70's decade. At that time, violence, especially in low minors of Hockey, was a selling point of the game. Nancy Dowd who was living in LA, got a call from her brother, who was a member of a minor league team called the Johnstown Jets. Told her the bad news that the team was for sale, and so as most writers have that flash bulb of ideas decided to write the movie Slap Shot about a team that's up for sale. The movie came out in 1977 right before Star Wars demolished the Box Office as well as changed cinema and science fiction/fantasy forever, I guess the interesting thing is that this came out in February, and this is considered a cult following? Mainly yes, the movie does have interesting questions in terms of character development but deep down I think if I was going to recommend this film to anyone you just have to watch it for what it is, just a hockey film starring Paul Newman with a lot of bad language as well as vulgar language that you really can't make a film like this ever again. Speaking of Paul Newman, it's a bit of surprising as well as awesome that the filmmakers where able to cast Paul Newman in this film, especially when the language is something you'd never expect from Paul Newman, in fact Newman claimed that he swore very little in real life before making Slap Shot, moreover, said in a Time magazine interview in 1984 "There's a hangover from characters sometimes. There are things that stick. Since Slap Shot, my language is right out of the locker room!" For which Newman did state that he had the most fun he ever had made a movie was Slap Shot, moreover, said that his character is his most favorite character he's ever played. The interesting fact is that the film alone was released two years ago when the Philadelphia Flyer's won back to back Stanley Cups but got branded the name Broad Street Bullies for their fighting in every game they played in the early seventies so, really when you get a movie like this and NHL was big on fighting in the seventies then this movie came around that's best way to market movies like this. If there was one complaint I have about the movie alone it would most certainly be the piss poor ice conditions that the actors/hockey players we're skating on, I mean it's like every time they start to film the hockey scenes they just don't pay attention or get a Zamboni to clean the ice after every game, which I guess yeah you'd have to shoot those scenes in a hurray maybe get the entire sequences done and out of the way but you can at least clean the ice after a cut or a face off because it literally looks like they haven't even cared to make the ice in the Chiefs home arena look pretty. Having seen this four or five times I have to say that without a doubt this film does have that great comedic value especially when the film contains vulgar language and now comedy is just too safe to write for which makes comedy so boring when you're living in this decade of pure crap so deep down it's a blessing when you watch a film like Slap Shot and you get a breath of fresh air, even when you have a sense of humor like me. I would rank this in the top ten best guy movies of all time, but when it comes to recommendations, I would highly recommend it to anyone who still has a sense of humor, especially a movie you can't make these days as well as this decade. Moreover, my dad thought this movie was dumb and when my dad says this movie is dumb means he obviously loves the movie it's just like when we watch Reno 911, he looks at it as a dumb show but deep down he loves watching the show from start to finish.