Full Metal Jacket

 

                       Well believe it ladies and gentlemen, the impossible has happened because I found my first ever favorite Stanley Kubrick movie. Years ago, I watched The Shining long ago and I don't remember how long it's been but what I do remember is Jack Nicholson playing Jack Nicholson in a Kubrick movie, to make a long story short I f**king hate the movie for a gillion reasons not just because of Nicholson not being scary. Granted I do remember watching 2001: A Space Odyssey though granted it's been quite a long time since I watched that movie and I'm not sure I want to dive deep into that movie until I get Kubrick's other movies done besides Eyes Wide Shut. Which leads to my official Stanley Kubrick movie, Full Metal Jacket, a movie for me has surprisingly been on my radar for quite some time. I just never got around to watching the movie but thanks to my brother, I finally sat down and watched the movie from start to finish. 

                       Stanley Kubrick's take on Vietnam War follows smart a** Private Davis (Matthew Modine), quickly christened "Joker" by his foul-mouthed drill sergeant (R. Lee Ermey), and pudgy Private Lawrence (Vincent D'Onofrio), nicknamed "Gomer Pyle," as they endure the rigors of basic training. Though Pyle takes a frightening detour, Joker graduates to the Marine Corps and is sent to Vietnam as a journalist, covering -- and eventually participating in -- the bloody Battle of Hue.

                       I don't think we can talk about the greatness of this film other than yes, this film is directed by Stanley Kubrick himself furthermore this was a huge improvement than The Shinning, but like I said a second ago I don't believe that we can talk about this film without talking about the genius acting that is R. Lee Ermey (who was in fact served in the United States Marine Corp, as well as fought in the Vietnam War) as the scene stealer and reason why I love the film, Gunnery Sergeant Hartman. To give a short background, R. Lee Ermey did in fact a Vietnam Vet, and served with the Marine Corps, served eleven years in the Corps including going to Vietnam during the Vietnam War, in 2002 just thirty years after his retirement, Ermey received an honorary promotion to Gunnery Sergeant (E-7) by Commandment of the Marine Corps General James L. Jones. During the casting of the film R. Lee Ermey was hired to be a technical advisor, though Ermey asked Kubrick himself if he could auditioned for the role of Drill Instructor Hartman and at first Kubrick wasn't too sure furthermore didn't feel he would be ready so, Ermey during the audition for the main character roles as for the privates in the first act of the film would improvise the lines with the actors who are auditioning for the privates as well as him being in the camera during the audition tapes. Reviewing the tapes Kubrick in his own twisted mind decided that Ermey would be perfect for the role of Sergeant Hartman and so with that set in mind, a lot of the script had to be rewritten in a sense with Lee in mind for the role, thus Kubrick punched a tape recorder and Lee would improvise a lot of the lines that you would see on screen until he ran out of things to say, then would take it to the production secretary and would transcribe it for them as thereupon both Kubrick and Ermey would pick the best lines that would fit for the entire movie. Now, I can imagine that a ton of Liberals and Democrats even ABC or NBC hell even the View, would look at a film like Full Metal Jacket and say that this is unacceptable to train are fellow troops. Though you must understand that this was the late sixties at the height of the Vietnam War and America had to grab enough troops to train and send over to Vietnam, and so a lot of the Drill Sergeants had a lot on their plate to train a ton of these recruits moreover the Marine Corps didn't ton for any of these tactics. Though coming to the point, what drill instructors a supposed to train these kids to survive and kill almost like a Football or any sports coach chewing out their own players because their trying to get the best out of them and want to win. Moreover, that's basically what drill instructors are supposed to be is this mean monster phytologically convincing them to quite the army while making them be the meanest soldier to and kill their fellow enemy. Therefore, Ermey's performance in the movie when you watch it, it's single handed the most realistic part of the movie from the hilarious insults to the abuse he brings upon his recruits including Kingpin aka Vincent D'Onofrio. Speaking of Vincent D'Onofrio, he does a great job playing the weakest link in the chain who slowly begins to have a mental breakdown for which he does a great job even when his first interactions with Ermey he continues to crack up and can't stop, which really is the realistic for me because even if I'm in the army I'm not sure if I can keep a straight face with my drill instructor. Kubrick himself does a tremendous job, directing the film as well as not sugar coating what like in the Marine Corps is like and even fighting in Vietnam War. Granted I've not seen all of Stanley Kubrick's movies mainly because of The Shinning but now watching Full Metal Jacket I'm going to find some of his films I haven't seen and watch them through. I've said it earlier Full Metal Jacket stands tall as my all-time favorite Kubrick movie and the Shinning is my least favorite movie, that is until I watch all his other films. So, if you haven't seen any of Stanley Kubrick's movies I would highly recommend watching Full Metal Jacket and just avoid watching the Shining maybe a onetime thing, in order to see if it scares you or not 2001 on the other hand I may have to go back and watch the movie but all I remember is the ending doesn't make any sense. 

                  

Red Dead Redemption 2: Replay Review

 

                  

           Most times I tend to find a game that I want to go back and play most times when I try and play a video game, I tend to get bored or the game play isn't all interesting so, like most gamers I would assume would do, I play a Rockstar game which produced two of the greatest western games ever made. Usually yes, I'd play the original Red Dead Redemption game but this time I decided to play the Prequel to Red Dead Redemption though it's a sequel to the original? Either way, it's mostly the same thing that George Lucas and Steven Spielberg did when they made Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

           Set in 1899 just twelve years after the first Red Dead Redemption game, where the Dutch Van Der Linde Gang is on the run from the Law. All the characters you remember from the first game come into play, especially John Marston. This time you play into the reigns of Arthur Morgan one of the founding members of Dutch's gang. Through the course of the game, you begin to witness the decline of the Wild West, as well as fellow gang members picking sides before the Pinkertons pick them off one by one.

            It's always kind of an interesting thing when you play Rockstar's heavy hitters like Red Dead and the Last Grand Theft Auto, which is that you see a massive difference between each of the games. Grand Theft Auto Five you're free to go crazy and do all terrible things that you can't do in the real world, basically channeling your inner Trevor. First Red Dead game has the same meaning you can make choices but sometimes those choices have consequences. With this game you do have to make tough choices but then you kind of feel badly as a person, and through the course of the story I tend to be more concerning with myself in at least being a decent person rather than shooting up a town. When I first played the game, I do remember maybe making some bad choices, but I think with this game I knew what my choices were going to be especially after finishing the story the first time around. Having gone back and replayed this great game I am grateful that we haven't gone to the Westworld steps yet hopefully when I’m not around that’s for sure. Mainly because if I was in Westworld upon which I may of said this a bunch of times if I did all the horrible shit in that world I don't think I would ever forgive myself, also I quit drinking so I wouldn't be any fun, that's why when replaying Red Dead 2 once I found my cigarettes and cigars I just smoked them constantly and became a heavy drinker. Though more importantly this is one of those few games that gives you as a gamer to really feal for the main protagonist as he struggles between doing the right thing or the wrong thing and at times can be mean but has a good heart when it comes to caring for the people around him and it shows when you play the final part of the chapter six mission where you have to make a choice, I always choose helping Marston because sure I would love to take an eye away from Micah Bell for what he's done but to me it just didn't seem right to leave Marston and go for the money and I believe if I played that level a hundred times I would always choose helping John just because to me as a human being it's the right thing to do, that shows how years of CCD catholic teachings can really improve your humanity. For going back and replaying the game I did try and make in improvement by searching for all side missions through the course of the story as well as the epilogue for many reasons, the first time I played the game through I was more concerned with the story as well as going out and hunting and through the course of the game I do remember playing the game constantly and it taking a huge tole on me in desperately wanting to finish the game then hearing you have to complete the epilogue I was just "ugh". And so, playing the game the second time I made a goal to myself that I would make a point and finish a good chunk of the side missions and I believe the first important lesson I've learned is when you improve the camp site for your gang you can get access to a fast travel so instead of counting down hours you've been on a horse almost like driving your car for a three hour drive or being stuck in a traffic jam, you can just use the fast travel to limit the minutes or hours on your horse, unfortunately when I was in the search for some dinosaur fossils I couldn't be able to use the fast travel on the waypoint. Unfortunately I didn't finish all of the side missions because yet again I was still in this burnt out phase where I just wanted to finish the game, but more importantly when I talked about finding fossils well, there down in places like Armadillo and I have to cover that ground for which really that's just to me felt like a real pain so, I decided to press on and give the game a rest. I'm still not sure about wanting to replay the first Red Dead game mainly because I love the times you play as John and his family for which some of those memories reminisce with Arthur and his lost love and it would seem sad to replay the first game know what's going to happen in the end. And even though I didn't finish at a hundred percent completion for this amazing western game for the ages I will come back to this game for certain in the near future, for a gillion reasons it has the best human story that keeps you caring for these characters and as well as gives you reasons to hate the antagonist for the original game when you next meet them. There's a ton of amazing great Western's in the cinema land, but no doubt both Red Dead Redemption games still stand the test of time as being one of the greatest video games of all time.

              

March Recommendation: Unforgiven

 

            In my latest monthly recommendation I decided to choose a movie that I have not got around in seeing and granted there's a lot of movies I haven't got around in seeing, for which really there's no point in explaining because I got a huge scolding from my own brother, and he dedicated this year of movies I most certainly need to see. Unforgiven is Clint Eastwood's epic and final western masterpiece that's infamous for winning best picture at the Academy Awards but more importantly winning best director for Clint Eastwood. Eastwood through the course of his career has always been doing Westerns in fact the Western gerne was a big part of his career and his best directed movie was basically a way of not giving the epic gunfighter the honorable notion but show more of the cruel environment, 19th Century America was.

            When a prostitute is disfigured by a pair of Cowboys in Big Whiskey, Wyoming, fellow brothel workers post a reward for their murder, much to the displeasure of the sheriff (Gene Hackman), who doesn't allow vigilantism in his town. William Munny (Clint Eastwood), an aging gunfighter having problems with his own farm, decides to take on the reward along with his former partner (Morgan Freeman), comes to town and collects the reward only to have a final showdown with the cruel Sheriff.

            Through the course of cinema, you truly begin to see the Western genre evolving with certain directors like John Ford making the great landscapes with heroic characters as well as great action sequences and Sergio Leone showing the heroic actors as well but also bringing a gritty side to the genre. And Eastwood wanted to show more of a black and white side to the whole Western genre where the outlaws are not always the grand heroes you'd always see, neither the Sherriff as well. So, Eastwood decided to create a Western where all of the gunfighters are not so brave but more evil especially Gene Hackman's character which will get to that later, when seeing this movie twice I begin to see that Clint Eastwood's character represents more of the anti-hero aspect of the movie where he's trying to put a side his past but when he here's the story of the cruelty to a prostitute and decides to take this offer despite the fact that he's way past his prime but he does it anyway just because his farm is not prospering and he needs to provide a future for his own kids. Gene Hackman's character is the definition of evil for many reasons, he claims to be on the right of everything and wants to be the only man carrying a gun, moreover, abuses his power in beating any gunfighters to a pulp whenever they don't follow his rules. Though what shows Hackman's character being evil is that he could have avoided all the chaos by hanging the cowboys that cut up the hooker but instead gives them a slap on the wrist because he looks down on the hookers. And sure, hookers are all righteous, but they were doing what normal women do to survive in a cruel world that is 19th Century America. So, in all honesty what makes Unforgiven such a great movie is that it shows more of a realistic tone to the Western genre and that nobody is pure, and in the final showdown Clint's character hearing about his friend, decides in his own way to put in end of the Sheriff's antics, but even if the Hackman's character didn't kill Munnys friend he could of left and go back to his kids but it's that one thing that Eastwoods character in which pushes him back into the realm of violence. Eastwood is excellent in the starring role as well as directing role I mean the guy received an Oscar for his directing so there's no question how great he was in the movie in fact I would prefer to watch this movie more than Gran Torino. But it's both Morgan Freeman and Gene Hackman's acting is what makes this film a hundred times great. Morgan Freeman who plays Eastwood's partner in crime does a great job playing a character who did bad things but just can't muster the energy in killing again and as great and iconic Freeman is as an actor you feel for him through the course of the movie. I forgot to mention that this was another Gene Hackman movie that I'm continuing to honor him by watching even though this is another film in his filmography I haven't seen. But during the development Gene Hackman at the time pledged to not do another violent movie and I'm confident this was after filming Mississippi Burning, moreover both Eastwood and Hackman knew each other through the years and yet never made a movie together convinced Hackman to do this role because this was a different kind of western, for which Hackman gave it another read and decided to accept the role and even him does an excellent job playing the purest of evil in the entire movie, hell even one his second Oscar so what else is there to say about Hackman in this movie other than three years later he went on to film the Quick and the Dead. The film has a tone of great analogies that I can discuss for a long time as well as a ton of great actors lead by a great actor and director. Unforgiven proves the test of time in being the all-time greatest in the Western genre of film as well as deserves my praise to be on my list, in the top five Greatest Westerns of all time.

                

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

 

          Since the release of the latest live action remake, to Snow White and look I know your probably asking if I see it to give you a straight answer, no. And it's not because of the controversies that are occurring since the film’s release, nor the casting choices, it's basically because I'm thirty-eight years old, I don't feel the need to go see this by myself in the theaters moreover the last time I tried that was ten years ago when Cinderella came out and I went to the theaters and I'm lying to you when I say this but it felt really weird when there's a lot of young kids. So, yeah maybe when I'm bored and need to clean the house I may watch it just because everyone hates the movie so much and it's fascinating to see that everyone wants to get out of this toxic mess that we all put ourselves into. And until that time, I'm just going to stick with watching the original film that set the next stage of Walt Disney's success since Mickey Mouse.

          Based on the fairy tale by the Grimm's Brothers. Jealous of Snow White's beauty (like most women are) The Evil Queen devises plan to eliminate her so she can be the fairest in the land. Unfortunately, they all failed, and as most infamous mottos go "can't rely on anyone these days, you got to do everything yourself".

          I've said many times that I don't always have the best memory, but I do remember watching Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs a bunch of times mostly renting the movie from the public Library, and then when I'm not watching the movie I'm usually listening the cartoon an audio cassette tape that I believe? My parents collected or bought for us over the years it was almost the same as my step-grandmother buying me the cassette tape and reading along with 101 Dalmatians. Anyway, the Original Snow White is another one of the many movies I remember seeing moreover another collection in my cousin aka "The Evil Queen" Disney tapes. Though this was one of the many Disney films that I haven't seen in a coon's age, and all I can say in a honest opinion I feel like Snow White's voice sounds a lot like the old Bettie Boop cartoons from the thirties, and I found some clips of Bettie Boop and I paired them with Snow White's voice and they sound similar despite the fact that both characters are voiced by different actresses, for which I may be talking crazy but through the course of the movie that's all I keep thinking about is Snow White sounding a lot like the old Bettie Boop cartoons, even though no one in this generation of Z doesn't even know what I'm talking about. This movie really shows why Walt Disney was hands down a great family movie producer mainly because when getting his studio of cartoon shorts up and running, he knew that he had to be ahead of the game develop his business a step further by starting to make animated movies. Furthermore when the word got out that Disney was making a feature length animated cartoon everyone thought he was crazy because lot of reasons of colored cartoons would do something to your eyes when you look at it long enough a lot of unrealistic reasons, but more importantly this move alone was costing him a lot of money and Disney made a huge gamble in making this the most important animated films ever made. I said earlier about Sleeping Beauty filming live action scenes as inspiration for the characters well, Snow White was the first of Disney films that filmed actors to get that inspiration for the human characters because it was getting to be a difficult process to draw these human characters and sure drawing the Dwarfs or animals we're not a difficult process because you can make them big, small or stretch them out but, with human characters it was a different kind of animal as characters like Prince Charming was cut back a lot mainly because it was difficult to draw the man. And Disney again like Sleeping Beauty had to film actors so the animators can get inspiration for movement as well as how they can storyboard each sequence, so Disney when you think about was the Godfather of animation. The interesting thing I found out while watching the movie, is the Evil Queen breaking the fourth wall and this was while she was creating the poison apple and through the course is talking to herself as well as looking at us through the screen and all I can think of is Deadpool not being the first character to break the fourth wall it was the Evil Queen, for which I'm surprised Ryan Reynolds never made reference in Deadpool and Wolverine. Like most Disney animated films, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is most certainly a great film as well as an important film for the ages furthermore a movie for any parent who has kids to have their own younglings watch and have a great time. If you’re not comfortable having your kids watch the latest Snow White, then I would highly recommend watching the original film on Disney Plus mainly because any of Walt Disney's earlier films are always a great nostalgia to watch from beginning to the very end.

       

Epic Mickey Rebrushed: Replay Review

 

                  This was one of the few games on the Nintendo Wii, at the time of its release that I wanted to play because I loved the idea of what Disney games was bringing to the story, but more importantly it was the first time, I ever learned the story of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Epic Mickey at the time of its release was one of those games where you take the idea of a Mickey Mouse story where he's mysteriously sucked into a world of lost creations and forgotten worlds. Though this game itself was a long and forgotten game it suddenly resurfaced into the PlayStation hands as well as Xbox hands and improved the gameplay a bit. And so, when I heard they were re-releasing the game I figured why not go back and finish what I started.

                  This beautiful remake sends Mickey into a fantastic world where you use paint and thinner to shape your adventure and the fate of this alternate world. Every stroke of your brush matters!

                   It's true in case anyone who isn't familiar with Walt Disney himself, was that his first creation was Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, long before he became infamous with Mickey Mouse. During his career his creation of Oswald became lost through copyrights by the time he formed his own company and created the legendary Mickey Mouse. In 2003, Disney's video game company had the idea of Mickey and Oswald meeting together for the first time unfortunately at the time it couldn't work all because Oswald was owned by NBC, for which leads us to the greatest non-sports trade in television history, ABC (Disney's broadcast station) traded Al Michaels (who wanted a change as well as, felt the interest to work at NBC) to NBC and Disney would retain the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. Now I don't always calm myself to always have the greatest memory, especially at times remembering my childhood, but twenty years ago I had a good memory of going to Disneyland for the first time for which I most certainly enjoyed as well as having a great time. Then upon Epic Mickey's release I was told that they used forgotten creations as well as rides from past Disneyland rides, and at the time that part fascinated me. So, during the games release my parents bought a Nintendo Wii mainly because of some of the interactive exercise games they were developing, which of course I was using a lot mainly because I was still fat and wanted to get in shape.  As for purchasing the game, moreover, playing the game, I'll admit it wasn't like any games that I can continue playing again mainly because I wasn't all used to using the Wii controllers, where you can wave it around as a wand or just point the stick to a different part of the screen. Now, playing the game on PlayStation I have to admit that it makes the gameplay simple but more importantly gives a new aspect of making choices, and the Wii has been decommissioned for a long time but I think the problem was games through the course of the Wii's run became way to complicated, for which I believe was the true problem as to why it didn't last unless other gamers still play on the Wii as well as taken care of it. I will later talk about the choice you make in life with another game later on, but with this game, yeah you have a choice to paint these characters to be good or thin them to be evil or destroy them and I can imagine that at a young age I would always make the bad choices, maybe not but with playing the game now I would always make the choice of being good and I think it's just because I was raised by good people, I don't know what it is, but maybe it's because of human nature and even when you finish the game you have those endings where you didn't finish the side quests and some of the characters look miserable, and this was because I made a search on YouTube, and yet again this was one of those things where, when it comes to a Disney movie or game I absolutely didn't want to be an a**hole so, of course I had to make the choice of having a good ending, though I forgot one side quest. As a kid growing up with some nostalgia cartoons especially Disney cartoons, this was most certainly the Disney game worth playing from start to finish and underappreciative Disney game of all time. Moreover I actually had a blast replaying the game even though this was a remake but then again this was trying to go back to a game and finish what I was trying to start with other games I tend to just throw away and forget but with this one, this was one of those games that I had to come back to and re-finish as well as feel closure in at least beating the game. So, now that I finished the game months ago, I would most certainly recommend playing the game to all those Disney fans who love everything Disney but more importantly love the games as well. 

  

 

Letterkenny

 

                During my binge of Shoresy, I've taken the liberty of watching the Canadian sensation that launched underappreciated actor Jared Keeso into stardom. I never know what the best way Letterkenny other than if you've ever lived in a small town area of the mid-west part of the United States country or any small town of anywhere in the word then this is most certainly a TV show you can have a great time watching and gives you a good memory of living in small town community.

                This comedy series showcases the antics of the residents of Letterkenny, a small rural community in Canada. Letterkenny began its life as a YouTube series called Letterkenny Problems.

                 After watching the first, two episodes of the first season I slowly become to realize that "holy crap" this reminds me of living the life in central Nebraska and sure, there's a tone of differences between small community in Canada, I would most certainly imagine. But the similarities between both cultures are almost similar its crazy, and sure you can deny that aspect, but I find the similarities there in a portrait at an art gallery. Like, I can remember times in high school where you most certainly can have your bros or jocks, and then you have those weird people who are all about goth or when Hot Topic was a thing back in 2003. And now, after all the years in TV you most certainly see a ton of these crazy people around the central parts of Nebraska so, when watching Letterkenny, yeah it does almost feel like you’re watching yourself on streaming TV. Even with a six episode season it does feel like you can always sit down shut your brain whenever you are so tired from life and then you just play episodes of Letterkenny it always kind of breath of fresh air. Though I will admit there are times where I had to take a break because bringing all twelve episodes of the show tense to get tiring as well as you feel like you hear the same joke repeatedly. There a lot about Jared Keeso as a actor and creator I respect a lot, though I doubt I can do the same comedic ways he did but I respect him as a visionary from both Letterkenny and Shoresy for many reasons is that he's born in Canada, he played Hockey throughout his childhood and I could imagine that he lived out in the small community of Canada then tried to breakout into acting for which was finding it tiring on how the Hollywood aspect was, then decided to take his talents on YouTube, and personally I look at Keeso's filmography and say from the bottom of my heart that he's for certain the most underappreciated comedic talent out there. So, if you’re a Midwesterner living out somewhere in the north or south parts of the Midwest, I would most certainly recommend watching Letterkenny or Shoresy and you'll enjoy it from beginning to the very end of the final season since the show is officially over. And yet thank Hulu, they purchase both of Keeso's shows so you can watch them repeatedly, but then again, I would still recommend pacing yourself in watching each season. 

  

48hrs

 

                  In the next of many films, I'm trying to find and watch for the first time, is a cop movie that has the unlikely of people you'd never expect to be cop buddies. 48hrs is a cop movie in the early eighties that consisted of Nick Nolte before he was a star, and surprising fact was a model? And an up-and-coming comedic talent in Eddie Murphy who’s fresh off his time in SNL. Also staring on the side is a young Annette O'Toole who I personally remember from watching Smallville in my teenage years as Superman's mom. And if you don't remember a small movie called Predator and a buff man who tried to challenge the Predator but failed miserably at it, well then, you'll be in a big surprise when you sit down and watch the whole movie through like I did. 

                  Renegade cop Jack Cates (Nick Nolte) pulls bank robber Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy) from federal prison on 48-hour leave to help him capture Hammond's old partner, Albert Ganz (James Ramar). Having escaped from prison work crew, Ganz is on a killing spree around San Francisco, on the trail of half a million dollars that went missing after one of his robberies. The cocky Reggie knows where the money is, but spars with the hotheaded Jack as he enjoys his temporary freedom. 

                  The original concept of the film had a different premise with a Governor's daughter being kidnapped attached to a bomb and will be blown up if no ransom in 48hrs, hence the title. The script itself got moved around from Columbia to Paramount and the original actors to portray these unlikely duo was Clint Eastwood par from his success with the Dirty Harry and his partner would be played by the late great Richard Pryor, for which really after hearing that via researching the development of the film yeah hands down I would pay to watch as well as watch the movie twenty times because that's great casting. Unfortunately, Eastwood was signed to Escape from Alcatraz during the process of developing 48hrs, but I'd still watch that alternate reality version of 48hrs if it consists of Eastwood and Pryor for a gillion reasons it's great casting as well as the unlikeliest of people you'd ever expect to solve a crime. Nick Nolte of course was great I mean he does fit the portion of a renegade cop always going outside the law or being the crazy loose cannon whose causing more property damage then the criminals. Though witnessing Eddie Murphy's first debut performance is really what makes the film watchable, for which is weird because he was almost close of being fired for not being funny, and yet once you watch this guy do is thing it brings you back to when you'd though the Nutty Professor films or Norbit and you think to yourself, how the hell did this guy fall off the deep end of his career. Though then you realized he had Shrek films in his back pocket to get his house payments done and out of the way but still him going from movies like 48hrs and Beverly Hills Cop and then he makes these films like Nutty Professor which really when you watch this film now you'd slowly realize that film isn't as good as you remember. And now when you watch 48hrs you begin to see that even with the Saturday Night Live stardom you slowly begin to see the rise of a comedic talent furthermore witnessing something special about his earlier films though let’s be honest you can watch 48hrs, Beverly Hills Cop and just stick with that unless you love the musical Dreamgirls then sure you can watch that if you want. A fascinating little fact about this film, is actor James Remar who plays the main antagonist in the film, went without sleep before shooting scenes to give his character a more washed-out, psychotic look. For which, truly the man does give it his all I will admit that, though to all up and coming actors who want to play a bad guy in a buddy cop movie, and want to go full Daniel Day-Lewis for your character I would say maybe take baby steps don't do anything extreme in going full two days without sleep because that's not a great idea to go four hours of sleep every other day, believe me because when I was in morning news TV there were days I turned psycho and wanted to kill every toxic person out there. As a buddy cop movie, I will give this film a ton of great points, it has a simple premise, great chemistry between Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy as well as a good antagonist. So, if you're in the market to watch a buddy cop movie that you see or haven't seen I would highly recommend watching 48hrs, and really it always makes me feel good whenever I see a west or east coast city upon which gives me a good reminder of never wanting to live in that specific city. Moreover, the film is still on Hulu or Paramount +, so, if you have any of those subscriptions it’s never too late to have a movie night for yourself instead of wasting your money on other crappy movies coming out in theaters.  

   

Mississippi Burning

 

               With the passing of legendary actor Gene Hackman, I decided to pick out some Gene Hackman films that I failed miserably in taking the time to sit down and watch. For any Generation Z, or now, if you grew up in my time of the millennial’s era, your parents would have you watch the only kid friendly movie in Gene Hackman's filmography titled Hoosiers. For which, my parents had a VHS copy of it from the publisher of Feature Films for Families, and literally that was my first introduction to Gene Hackman moreover was my only film of his I ever watched besides Superman, The French Connection and The Quick and the Dead, on cable TV.  And this latest film of Hackman's career is most certainly one of those films that puts a lot of hate in your heart but also gives you a lot of reasons to root for Gene Hackman's character.

                When a group of civil rights workers goes missing in a small Mississippi town, FBI agents Alan Ward (William Dafoe) and Rupert Anderson (Gene Hackman) are sent to investigate. Local authorities refuse to cooperate with them, and the African American community is afraid to, precipitating a clash between the two agents over strategy.

                Around 1985, screenwriter Chris Gerolmo discovered an article that excerpted a chapter from the book Inside Hoover's F.B.I., which chronicled the FBI's investigation into the murders of Channey, Goodman and Schwerner. And while drafting the first script, Gerolmo brought it to producer Fredrick Zollo, who worked on a previous movie, helped him develop the original script before they sold the script to Orion Pictures. Of all the Gene Hackman movies I've seen and sadly there a small few, this one know doubt is the most intense movie I've seen to date. And sure it's a story about racism in the worst part of America, Mississippi and we've all seen a ton of movies like Remember the Titans or 42, but this was one of those films that if your kid is wanting to go to college and go to the University of Mississippi then you'd better have him/her watch this movie and just make sure what you’re getting into because as Johnny Depp said "I have absolute nothing I want to do in Mississippi". In all mystery style films I've seen you always have to have that cop relationship where one man is above the book and one who knows that lands and wants to do things to bend the rules, and at times you'll shout about William Dafoe's character being such a stickler always feeling like he's not doing is job, but then you come to realization that you have to have that drama between Dafoe and Hackman because that's how you set up the drama in what the best way to approach things especially when it comes to the KKK. And I truly believe when you have a guy like Hackman as the veteran officer at your side, I would defiantly like to have his assist, because he was the main reason why he's such a tremendous actor because he does lend the compassionate side but also can be a scary SOB when you cross him and once we get to like the third act of the film it just feels satisfying when they bring the fear of God into the KKK, and I just loved every minute of it. As great of an actor Gene Hackman was in the movie, the antagonists in the movie are even great, actors like Michael Rooker who played Chick Gandil in the movie Eight Men Out, as well as the infamous Yondu in the first, two Guardians of the Galaxy films, furthermore it takes a lot of courage to play a racist scumbag whose filled with a lot of hate in your heart and really that's something even I'm not sure I can channel that because it’s just something that you have to hate yourself doing on set and I always give actors who play a hard hating southern hillbilly a ton of credit because that's always a hard thing to do, mainly because you have to be that guy you despise a lot on the actors who play the white clan do a great job at that. For the first time even watching this movie it does take a lot of effort re-watching this movie again and I'm not sure I can a side from the fact that yes it's most certainly a great film and I would highly recommend watching the film, but this was most certainly recommend watching the film but it's one of those films that puts a lot of hate in your heart and it's not like 42 or Remember the Titans where you get some satisfaction but with this movie I don't know if I can but maybe in the near future. The film itself is still on Tubi, and I would most certainly suggest not watching this with your kids but assure people to not just treat people equally but most importantly never make race or religion or any different aspect of a person you see a big deal because the only way we can address these issues of today is to treat your fellow man respect and understanding.