Big Trouble in Little China

 

           Trying to find some random movies to watch with the consist length of around 90ish minutes and so, Big Trouble in Little China came on my radar. Moreover, as usual nights would go, I figured I give this movie a try and surprisingly enough is the third in terms of John Carpenter movies that I've not seen besides Halloween. Furthermore, this is the first time I'm annoyed by Kurt Russell, in any movie for which is crazy. 

            Kurt Russell plays a hard-boiled truck driver Jack Burton, who gets caught in a bizarre conflict within, and underneath, San Francisco's Chinatown. An ancient Chinese prince and Chinatown crime lord has kidnapped a beautiful green-eyed woman, who is the fiancée to Jack's best friend. Jack must help his friend rescue the girl before the evil Lo Pan (James Hong) uses her to break the ancient curse that keeps him a fleshless and immortal spirit. 

              Surprising factor to those who do not know this but this film was inspired by the creators of Mortal Kombat, co-creator Ed Boon says in certain interviews that the inspiration for the Thunder God, Raiden was from the three assassins with straw hats as well as the main antagonist that James Hong plays was drawn for the creation for Shang Tsung in the original Mortal Kombat game, and if you read or watch some of the interview they talk a lot about 80's action films like Bloodsport, Predator as well as Enter the Dragon even though that film came in the early seventies. The movie itself has that great open world feel where you have this sort of Humphry Bogart character To Have and Have Not or Casablanca where he's trying not to get involved with another war or cause, and just make that for a world where a Ancient Chinese rival gangs have been raging for a thousand years and blend that into Big Trouble in Little China. Though I will say I have a minor gripe about the movie is Kurt Russell was a bit annoying through the course of the movie and sure you need a main star, in order to make this movie possible but all I can think of while watching the movie was "dude, Kurt why are you so annoying", and I'm not going to lie it just felt like he was talking so, much and was just almost felt the need to pay him in order for him to shut up. Though other than that the martial arts action, and the story as well as a ninety-minute-long movie, this was hands down a perfectly entertaining movie. Now, I slowly realized while browsing through Carpenter's filmography I've actually watched a good portion of Carpenter's films and if I had to rank the top five best Carpenter's films it would most certainly be Escape from New York at number five, Big Trouble in Little China at number four, then They Live at the number three mainly because of the amazing fight scene then of course at number two it's The Thing because it just is a classic Science Fiction/Horror classic that's something new and different. Then the winner of best Carpenter film of all time is Halloween just because it's a simplified Horror/Stalker film that doesn't have a whole lot of blood also one of the greatest music scores in horror film history. And more importantly you have Donald Pleasance's best performance ever and this is the most I'm ever going to give Pleasance for many reasons his later years he's been paid in booze money. And so, if you’re looking for a mindless action movie then I would highly recommend watching Big Trouble in Little China on Tubi more importantly if you a big fan of the Mortal Kombat franchise then I would most certainly recommend watching this Carpenter classic.

       

June Recommendation: M*A*S*H

 

            We're nearing the end of June, and I necessarily didn't pick a good June film this for this month. Usually, it would be more about summer films, but I would say in a sense the film that inspired one of the greatest TV sitcoms about War as well as Army Doctors. I have to admit I don't remember a whole lot of the movie version to Mash other than remembering the football scene where they're literally drugging a football player, though in all honesty this film was on my radar for quite some time and now that the film is on Amazon Prime I figured why not give this movie a watch. 

             Irreverent black comedy following the exploits of a host of offbeat characters at a medical unit during the Korean War, including surgeons Hawkeye Pierce (Donald Sutherland) and Trapper John McIntyre (Elliot Gould) who create havoc with their martini parties and practical jokes while the war rages around them. The film spawned a successful television series and won an Oscar for best Screenplay.

             Mash without a doubt was a huge part of my life and I don't need to speak a whole lot about why, other than, I was raised by great parents who watched great television back in their adult years. More importantly by the time I was in elementary school this show would be on constantly in terms of reruns for your typical Nebraska TV shows that would air either early morning on ABC or late nights, and I was literally watching some of these episodes because my Dad would watch the show before he went to work and I was a block from my school and I would literally watch some of these episodes by 8 a.m. then would head down to school because school didn't start till 8:15 a.m. I think around two maybe three years into my TV Job years I found the show on Netflix, furthermore decided to binge on the show and for reasons I can't explain or you may understand the way I explain it is well, mostly the work environment I began to relate to the most besides the war I mean sure this is a story about Doctors patching up soldier's day and nights with very little to do in the spare time, but at its core doctors would most certainly have to put up with people they find incompetent and sometimes narcissists as well as sticklers who always go by the book. And really that's what we all can relate to as regular people, right? I mean we have jobs that we always hate, must deal with people who are at times annoying and toxic furthermore Mash is defiantly one of those movies as well as shows that I personally relate in terms of everyday work environments. The challenge personally for me when coming on to watch Mash for the very first time was taking the great actors of Alan Alda, Wayne Rogers, Gary Burghoff and the late great Loretta Swift. And surprisingly enough it really wasn't that hard, granted the movie alone is a R rating and so, what you do in the movie you can't do on the TV show, furthermore the actors as well as the direction of the movie was really good, in addition what makes the film amazing is director Robert Altman, allowed his actors to improvise with the dialog and let them go crazy through the course of the shoot. The other shocking thing was that all of these amazing great actors you have assemble from Donald Sutherland to Robert Duvall, this was in fact their very first big role, take Sutherland for example by 1969, he was literally out of work and couldn't afford a cup of coffee, even the same goes to Elliot Gould who I remembered the guy as Ruben from the Ocean's Eleven films. The important thing in Robert Altman's direction was of course allowing improvisation but more importantly using quick zoom techniques so, he wouldn't have to move the camera, even using creativity and cunning to get some of the shots right, especially some of the mild nudity scenes Rada aka Gary Burghoff and Altman would drop their pants in order to capture "movie" Hot Lips with the right timing as well as the right shot. Ring Lardner Jr. (whose father was Ring Lardner who in fact exposed the Black Sox Scandal) infamous for Steve McQueen classic "The Cincinnati Kid", was very upset with the change of dialog that he even told Altman that he ruined his film, unfortunately he was in the minority and yet, he got an Oscar for his writing so, deep down I would assume both men each made peace with one another, though I would imagine Lardner felt bad when telling that Altman ruined the film. I will say that Mash to me is most certainly one of those great movies as well as shows that still stands the test of time of exploring the human spirit as well as showing a rebel side in all of us, plus the film and show also shows us that no matter how good you are at your job in your everyday life you can still have a great time and live a little, more importantly is to be a humble, human being and not your typical narcissist or incompetent a-hole. And now living into my mid-to final years of 30's I give a ton of thanks to Mash for showing that you can always have a little fun in your everyday work life, as well as being a humble person to your own profession and I personally hope that everyone whose grown up with Mash as a show or movie would have the opportunity this June to finally watch and enjoy more importantly Mash is and always will be a personal inspiration for me in terms of comedy as well as having to express comedy, though despite not doing the crazy things Hawkeye and Trapper would of done I at heart, was one of those guys. Also, this film is on Amazon Prime so, if you’re always having free time on your hands, I would highly recommend watching the original Mash that started off one of the greatest TV sitcoms of all time.

Fathers Day Recommendation: The Man Who Knew Too Much

 

          Father's Day is upon us and through the last couple do of days I asked my Dad what were his favorite movies of all time because I was literally running out of comedies that he loved watching, to make a long story short I just couldn't find anything to recommend for father's day and I think The Man who knew too much came into the conversation and I was like, well I haven't seen this movie yet so now is a good time to take the time and watch the film and I got to say this maybe in the top five of Alfred Hitchcock's greatest films, as well as a much realistic kidnaping than Taken. 

          Dr. Ben McKenna (James Stewart) is on vacation with his wife (Doris Day) and son in Morocco when a chance encounter with a stranger sets their trip, and their lives, on a drastically different course. The stranger, killed in front of the family in the marketplace, reveals an assassination plot to the Americans. The couple’s son is abducted to ensure the plot is kept secret, and suddenly the mother and father, with no help from the police, must figure out a way to get their child back. 

           While watching this classic, it did in fact remind me a lot of the movie Taken staring Liam Neeson, back in 2008 and both films for sure have similar plot although both of them are different to the sense that, one's completely fantasy and convenient while The Man who knew too much, is much more realistic. And sure, Taken does have that realistic tone of in fact being scared but through the course of the movie you realize that all those abductors are F**KED because of course Liam Neeson is going to kill everyone. While the man who knew too much, is indeed scary because when you’re on a vacation and your own kid is being abducted and that's the same with Taken in fact each of those films share the similarities but both James Stewart and Doris Day are playing real people involved in one of the worst days to ever happen in a parent moreover they don't have any CIA or spy training and also Stewart didn't call, John Wayne to help him in this situation for which I am kind of curious, what would a movie be like if Alfred Hitchcock directed John Wayne I mean that would be fascinating to watch. Anyway, getting back to the topic, Alfred Hitchcock back in 1934 made an original version of the Man who Knew Too Much, back in 1934. Sometime later in his career Hitch wanted to make an American version of his original creation although it took until 1956, for many reasons Hitch was in contract with Paramount at the time and so, he decided to pitch a remake to them just to full fill his contract, and deep down when your running out of ideas, just remake your earlier works. This was in fact my first time watching this movie and I swear to you from the second act to the final act I was literally on the edge of my seat and probably the best suspenseful scene that Hitchcock created is the assassination attempt and the way he keeps the suspense going through each of the sequences was so scary and frightful that I was literally shouting "DO SOMETHING" because it was that great and more importantly I was feeling for the parents when things start hitting the fan, I mean there are times where I watch a Hitchcock movie and I always know what is going to happen granted I've seen some of Hitch's popular films so many times that I've already know what's going to happen granted To Catch a Thief was like a romantic thriller but once the real happened, I did react in not seeing that coming in terms of watching the reveal for the first time. But this movie this was one of those films where you feel for the parents but once you feel like they’re going to find their kid something else happens as well as being held at gun point and I was like "oh F**K SAKE" like that time of suspense and this movie for me literally kept me on the edge of my seat. I've pretty much seen all of Hitchcock and Stewarts collaborations together and I got to say this one is the best one like there's not a whole lot to say when it comes to both working together, but out of the four of their movies together this one hand down is the best one. I would hands down recommend watching this movie if you haven't seen any of Hitchcock's films, and my Dad actually got me started earlier with Rear Window for which was in fact my first Hitchcock film growing up and I think with this movie I will in fact re-watch this with my Dad on Father's Day. Now, again I haven't seen all of Hitch's movies but I honestly got to say that this may be the greatest Hitchcock movie I've ever seen and granted I'll have to go on a Hitchcock adventure after my Kubrick adventure but that's probably going to be for another time because Hitch did in fact made a tone of them so, baby steps is how I'm going to approach Hitch's filmography.

    

Movies I haven't seen in a while: McLintock!

 

          Moving forward with more John Wayne films to watch on John Wayne month, I decided in my own right as well as reliving another classic Duke film that my Dad loved moreover would watch constantly when I was young and surprisingly another film I haven't seen in a long while but is also an enjoyable movie despite some flaws that are a bit mixed at times. McLintock! A movie that stands the test of time as John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara best comedic film together and surprisingly is hilarious because this type of dysfunctional couple still exists even to this day.

          Aging rancher George Washington McLintock (John Wayne), a wealthy self-made man, is forced to deal with numerous personal and professional problems. Seemingly everyone wants a piece of his enormous farmstead, including high-ranking government men. As McLintock tries to juggle his various adversaries, his wife (Maureen O'Hara), who left him two years previously, suddenly returns. But she isn't interested in her husband--she wants full custody of their daughter (Stefanie Powers).

          Again, this was one of those films like The Sons of Katie Elder, or Big Jake that we would watch constantly and with McLintock! It was one of those films that's just funny in terms of the slap stick humor from various characters as well as Wayne and O'Hara. And Wayne through the years always said that Maureen O'Hara was his favorite leading lady moreover this movie shows why their such a great duo together, and the fact that they’re both a dysfunctional couple almost becomes hilarious because it's a typical relationship that everyone can almost relate to because you obviously have that wife who looks at the West as a barbaric country and prefers to live in a high society/rich and famous type of people, and yet Wayne is a manly man who wouldn't give her an inch and yet for some reasons you can relate to the poor man's pain in terms of having to put up with her yelling and by end of the movie we have the greatest climax where Wayne finally stands up to her for which really is why Wayne is such a manly man although sure you may or may not be able to do this now, though if it were me I would use a ton of sarcasm and if I hit the breaking point I would most certainly spank my wife with a coal shovel in front of everybody if I ever get the chance in this life time, the same way I would teach my kids to learn their manners if they sarcastically call me "Daddy".  McLintock! Became a personal note written by Wayne in terms of the way Indians or Native American's are treated in today’s films as well as bashing the Democrats back in the 1960's, specifically spoofing Liberal Senator Hubert H. Humphrey whom Wayne disliked and in fact Wayne was annoyed during the promotional events because JFK's assassination happened just a couple of days prior to the film’s release moreover Kennedy was another politician that Wayne didn't like because Bay of Pigs incident back in 61. For which in all fairness when you have all the money and power like the Duke it's perfectly normal to make a movie on how awful the Democrats were back in the sixties and really I think Wayne is the only person who can do that and get away with it while Hollywood stars now, are just the worst because they literally don't know what they’re talking about and should just shut up and act in movies and do less political talk, hell it's a reason as to why actors should be treated like cattle. The movie still holds up in terms of comedy as well as John Wayne being a bada** especially when it comes to the mud brawl for which everyone gets into a fight as well as falling into a mudhole, furthermore when Wayne gets up the hill and if you freeze frame the movie you can see that theirs a man with sunglasses wearing a sixties suit for which is surprisingly funny and yet WTF, like why would you even have that in the shot. With all the numerous actors involved with Wayne's movie I'm surprised that Jerry Van Dyke aka Dick Van Dyke's little brother aka Luthor from Coach. Is the son of McLintock's rival, who’s also trying to woo his daughter and like Sterling Hayden playing the cop in the Godfather this is one of those little things that even at my old age becomes a huge surprise and yet funny at the same time. This isn't Wayne's greatest films ever made but it's most certainly one of his most enjoyable films, where you can just sit down and have a great time laughing at Wayne getting up the stairs while being plastered although I still love Lee Marvin's drunkenness in Donovan's Reef, but Wayne pressuring Yvonne De Carlo into drinking whiskey. And overall it's one of those films where if you have a great time laughing as well as looking for a film to turn your brain off McLintock is most certainly one of those films that keeps you entertained even to this day and hopefully to all the married couples out there, I hope this is one of those films you can laugh and relate to when it comes to Wayne and O'Hara's dysfunctional and comedic duo, hell even I look at this movie and look at my parents as Wayne and O'Hara in terms of comparisons and that's the honest truth.

    

Backrooms

 

        Well, it's like this my brother and I, were having thoughts on going to see the latest He-Man movie because we were both fascinated in terms of why MGM would even promote this because the film is clearly nostalgia and my nephew said it best, that he wasn't ready for that kind of movie. And so, my niece is a big horror fan and told us about this small film that's been getting some huge vibes on YouTube, furthermore, is directed by a twenty-year-old.

         A strange doorway appears in the basement of a furniture showroom, leading to an endless network of interconnected rooms where time bends and the only thing scarier than getting lost is the sense that something is lying in the wait. 

         All I know about this movie is that the director Kane Parsons uploaded an anthological series of videos titled Backrooms and the way I look at it is it's almost like a stage where you’re in purgatory and you can't get out. Granted I'm going to keep this movie review short, but more importantly Parsons drew inspiration from the Portal video game, the Mr. Robot series and some psychological documentaries that even I may look and watch. Now in most horror films you must find something new and something different, because then you'd be like a mirror image of films like Scream and a year later came out with I know what you did last summer for which is almost close to being the same as Scream. But with this film I swear there's something about the movie where it actually looks good and works as well, because it has a blend of characters that are traumatized and one that can't accept that he's literally failed at life but through the course of the movie you see these characters evolves in the twisted way possible and leaves it in the bleakest of endings moreover it doesn't need another movie and the fact that they end it in the best way possible, I can accept how this movie ends and you don't need another movie. Again, I'm trying my best not to spoil any details, but I think the whole basis of the movie is that it's almost like being stranded in purgatory and you can't leave it or you’re lost from eternity. The film defiantly has that creepy environment for which makes it special but again I would highly recommend seeing this at your local theater, and sure this film doesn't explain enough about the world but again there something special about the movie that really works and draws you in, also I don't have to look at my phone because everything about the movie is very fascinating from beginning to the final frame. Either way I believe this is a new and different kind of horror film that everyone should experience as well as enjoy. Also don't worry about He-Man I'll probably watch both original and new versions probably when January hits because it's obviously going to be better to watch those kinds of films in a month where everyone is being all scrooges and taking down their Christmas decorations. 

   

The Big Trail

 

             Finally getting right back on the trail for my John Wayne month. Speaking of trails, I've explored the depths of John Wayne's first starring role in Raoul Walsh's The Big Trail. This ladies and gentlemen, is the movie that I explained last month where, John Ford recommended Wayne to Walsh for his movie although it wasn't a big success at the box office in 1930, I was kind of curious as to why this film wasn't a big sensation and then I watched the movie and thought to myself "well I understand why the audience didn't go to this movie, now?

             Upstart Fur-Trapper Breck Coleman (John Wayne) agrees to lead and protect a group of pioneers trying to make their way on the treacherous Oregon Trail. Amid a harrowing series of trials, including an Indian raid, blizzards, scorching dessert sands and nearly unnavigable woods, Breck attempts to begin a romance with frontier woman Ruth Cameron (Marguerite Churchill). Meanwhile, he searches for the men who killed his mentor--and who may be members of another wagon trail, traveling westward. 

             Now personally I can bypass the duke being a little too young for the role because in all fairness all the leading men we're all too young for the starring role hell, Errol Flynn was 28 when he first played Robin Hood, although sure five-year difference but still in a sense too young. Although the thing that I can slowly realize when watching the movie was that it was a two hour long movie for which in retrospect is not bad in terms of a movie like this but it was really going off on a slow start like there were excitements when an Indian raid hit the pioneers but then we go back to drama around the group, then continuing on the Orgon Trail as well as men trying to kill Wayne's character but then we went right back into the harsh environments. And sure, my ADHD was kicking moreover there were times where I was thinking maybe they needed to cut this film down, because if this is going to be nothing but the Oregon Trail, with minor drama points as well as very little gun fights then we may have some problems as to why it should stay for two hours. Now begs the question since this film was made during the Great Depression, did any of the audience members complain about this film being bored at some of the long and unnecessary scenes.  Granted theirs a million questions as to what the audience members thought about the movie, unfortunately none of them are alive at this point. To the films credit it does show the ways of how and what it was like to be on the Oregon Trail, more importantly showing how the wagons were able to go to point A, to point B as well as finally arriving to point C, and especially watching scenes we're they're lowering the wagons down to a high cliff as well as the people and even the cargo such as large sums of cattle, for which in all honesty is pretty fascinating to me personally because I never knew much about the Oregon Trail other than school though school has been a long time and I don't remember much in terms of the history lessons. In grandness of it all the film to me has some mixed emotions, like I wished there was more action sequences and less of the drama as well as cutting down major scenes or maybe trim the film up to like an hour and thirty minute marker and the film wasn't all bad for a movie made in the 30's it was a decent made movie exploring how dangerous the Orgon Trail was and that's the best part but deep down I wished they blend both drama as well as action into one story. So, if you’re looking to watch the duke’s earlier films, I would recommend watching the film on Tubi and if you have a different opinion, I'd be happy to hear your opinion on whether the film was boring at times or was the best you've ever seen. And granted it's not the best Wayne movie I've seen but it's also a fascinating movie to watch and experience. 

    

The Asphalt Jungle

 

 

              

           Continuing with my brother’s list of movies I need to see. A film noir classic that long story short had to see again just because I personally felt I need to watch twice because I felt I missed something and my second viewing of it made me realized that this is a important film noir classic, because it brings a more humanized version to the convicts as well as introducing us to the ever beautiful Marylin Monroe. 

            Recently released from prison, Doc Erwin Riedenschneider (Sam Jaffie) concocts a plan to steal one million dollars in jewels. Doc gathers a team of small-time crooks, including tough guy Dix Handley (Sterling Hayden), a safecracker as well as a getaway driver and a lawyer, while the success of the heist becomes a go until a stray bullet kills one of the men. As they scramble to pick up the pieces after the theft, the men let their greed get the best of them while entangling themselves in webs of deceit, treachery and murder. 

            Whenever I watch the film noir genre, I always watch films that have a blend of both private detectives at the wrong side of the law, murder and sometimes foreseeable fate. The Asphalt Jungle is one of those film noirs where they blend both of humanizing criminals who are always down on their luck and wants to succeed, but the film takes it back to that foot in reality where crime doesn't pay and this isn't like the Ocean's 11 films where they just get away with it in the end, or you root for them because their fighting the system or you know any times when we watch films about Jessie James or Robin Hood. And sure you get that with actors like Sterling Hayden and Sam Jaffie but, if you take a realization pill and notice that in life nobody gets away with crime, and fate always comes back to bite you in the a**, and that's what John Huston does great with Asphalt Jungle, is making these characters relatable and you want them to succeed in the end but life or crossing the line of crime, fate will always come in the way or the better explanation is that crime never pays, hell, that's one of the many reasons why I wouldn't commit a crime because I'd find it to be extremely hard furthermore you'll never succeed in the end I mean it's not like Grand Theft Auto where you can win all the time especially when you beat the game. The other thing in what makes the film great is that Huston shows that even when you pull a perfect crime, greed always gets in the way especially when you have criminals around you for which that's what makes films like these more realistic, because sure you can get away with robberies back then, but now it's almost impossible to pull off a robbery. I still say Marilyn Monroe's best performance was Don't Bother to Knock, though this film you slowly realize that Monroe was going to be a growing superstar, and the fact that Huston saw something in Monroe, showed that even John Huston can see future movie stars for obvious reasons she does a fantastic job playing a femme fatale, and a seductress. Actor Sterling Hayden, needs to be deserved a lot of credit as an actor mainly because he's been in a few films most notably in two of Stanley Kubrick's films like The Killing and Dr. Strangelove and now the Asphalt Jungle, and while watching this film I had this feeling that I've seen him in something and I couldn't find where I've seen him in, until I looked him up and I was surprised that he was the cop that got shot by Al Pacino in the Godfather. For which in all honesty it's awesome especially because it's always the little things, though granted there's a ton of movies that I haven't seen and moreover will have that feeling again when I watch more classic films. I would highly recommend watching The Asphalt Jungle, for great reasons this was one of the first heist films where you see the criminals as everyday people not always horrible people but trying to find ways to survive in a crime-filled environment. So, if you have Turner Classic Movies on your favorite cable channel then I would highly recommend searching for it or you can always use the TCM app too.

             

Paths of Glory

 

         

         Coming back to Stanley Kubrick's filmography after taking a long or very long cold shower after watching Lolita as well as rethinking my life choices I decided to shift gears and pick an Anti-War film that was in fact Kubrick and Kurt Douglas's first collaboration together for which led to Kurt hiring Kubrick to direct Spartacus. Paths of Glory, like most of Kubrick's films, you most certainly must watch twice to see what Kubrick was preaching and this film no doubt has that special meaning where war is for certainly bad, but using your own foot soldiers has pawns to save your own skin is much worse.

          During World War I, commanding officer General Broulard (Adolphe Menjou) orders his subordinate, General Mireau (George Macready), to attack a German trench position, offering a promotion as an incentive. Though the mission is foolhardy to the point of suicide, Mireau commands his own subordinate, Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas), to plan the attack. When it ends in a disaster, General Mireau demands the court-martial of three random soldiers to save face. 

           If you take the idea of Anti-War film out of the equation the film itself is about two men, whose both ideals of leadership are put to the test. And Stanley Kubrick in my opinion puts an interesting spin on the equation, General Mireau is a military man or politician that will do anything in this great war to achieve glory even it it means putting his own soldiers’ lives at risk as well as saving his own, and even when the attack goes disarray he wants to throw his own soldiers under the bus, just to clean his own hands of his own incompetence, for which is something I can relate to in a sense because I worked around people who have more power and yet they'll blame the lower class of co-workers because of their incompetence or egotism. While Colonel Dax on the other hand is a great example of what it means to be a true leader, by means of he's willing to go up in the attack against all odds with his own troops even if it means being gun downed, and even in the face of his own men being put to trial against cowardice he still stands tall in helping his own men, to prove his own innocence. Though through the course of the movie you can see Mireau turns the trial into a kangaroo court or another good word, is a farce, but even in the midst of the trial Douglas's character says the best line in the entire movie "there are times when I'm ashamed to be a member of the human race and this one is such occasion" moreover that line hits home because there are times how where I feel ashamed to be part of the human race as of what's happening in the world today though the difference is I try to look for the hope in humanity, just the same way Dax does with his troops. There are no right answers or theories as to why this movie is truly amazing, but in the way I see this movie, that this great epic really shows that even in the higher ups, you can't look down your troops as undiscipline children or animals that will do anything for that generals glory or expect loyalty for you own troops you have to earn their respect the same way your fellow commander has earned the respect from you as a person, more importantly you have to treat soldiers as human beings and not just cattle for personal sacrifices. Now if you’re telling a movie about higher generals treating foot soldiers like cattle then you need to set this movie in a realistic way as possible and setting this story in World War I is most certainly the best way to tell a story like Paths of Glory, for a gillion reasons the Great War was not a great war in the sense that there were more horrific deaths than World War II, to the certain extent that No Man's Land, when you set foot on that battlefield whether your friend or foe you are gunned down and your body is literally left for the crows and nobody is going to come to give you a proper burial for good reasons, your fellow ally or friend will be gunned down as well, for which explains what the terrain was called No Man's Land because no army could possibly crossed on each other's side of the terrain for which gives the best reason why crossing each other's side was suicidal. Paths of Glory is a great film that shows how men will stop at nothing to achieve their own Glory even if it means sacrificing their own troops to protect their own reputation but more importantly shows what it means to be a true leader as well as even against all odds you have to see the positive sides of humanity no matter how people would treat their fellow man to protect their own ego or treating people as lesser people to tell themselves that their not the problem. Kubrick again shows great themes to all of his movies and this one is defiantly an exception to his greatness as an artist, furthermore this film alone shows that even Kubrick can make a grand epic because without this movie we wouldn't have the second collaboration of him and Kirk Douglas together as well as through the course of his life, both this movie and Spartacus showed that Kubrick can make a great epic for the audience and explore themes of humanity. I would highly recommend watching Paths of Glory moreover will argue and say between this movie and Spartacus that this was Kirk Douglas best performance when it comes to working with Stanley Kubrick. Now, with great luck, this film is available for free on YouTube as well as Pluto TV and the best part is that you can watch the movie on Amazon Prime if you have a subscription. Now and hopefully with great luck, I will be able to continue this month with Barry Lyndon for which will be my final Kubrick movie to watch, and then movie to Kubrick films that I haven't seen in a long time.

            

                 

The King of Comedy

 

            Crossing off another film in my brother’s movie list is a Martin Scorsese movie that shamefully is not particularly on any popular streaming service, but I was luckily able to find one and especially on YouTube. To those who've seen the Joker with Joaquin Phoenix quote, unquote Oscar worthy performance. Well to make a long story short if you haven't seen Taxi Driver or The King of Comedy but you bizarrely love Joker then you should most certainly not see the Scorsese classics I just mentioned. 

           Rupert Pupkin (Robert De Niro) is a failure in life but a celebrity in his own mind, hosting an imaginary talk show in his mother's basement. When he meets an actual talk show host Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis), he's convinced it will provide his big break, but Langford isn't interested in the would-be comedian. Undaunted Pupkin effectively stalks Langford -- and when that doesn't work, he kidnaps him, offering him his release in exchange for a guest spot on Langford's show. 

           I swear going into like ten to fifteen minutes of the movie itself, I slowly realized that director Todd Phillips basically used the same story structure in the King of Comedy, for his Joker film and basically Robert De Niro is an inspiring comedian who wants to be famous though he pretends in his mind that he's actually famous almost like we all do in our personal lives and it's the same thing with Joker where everyone loves him but when reality kicks in and everyone thinks he's a joke, furthermore that's basically what this film is and Phillips just basically used this entire story structure for Joker moreover I personally said in my mind "son of a B***H", and this is one of the many reasons why I now believe the Academy Awards is a popularity contest and they don't really care a whole lot about film in general they just pick whose the most popular performance and give that an Oscar for which is convenient and fine because lets be frank all of Hollywood is all woke/liberal so, you'd imagine the Awards would be that way but then again it shows that's the Award shows are nothing but laziness and unoriginal. Now that my daily rant is done and out of the way, we can now talk about the King of Comedy, I will say this is defiantly one of Scorsese's great films as well as top ten or five of best movies he's ever made, but more importantly and besides Joker, that this is one of the few times where we almost relate to De Niro's character in a strange way, mainly because we all in our personal lives want to imagine we're famous as well as being friends with famous people although that's the only part of that character aspect where we can relate to De Niro the most but once he's like caring out this unhealthy obsession of wanting to be famous as well as stalking his favorite TV talk show host played by Jerry Lewis (strangely enough is the original Nutty Professor) then that just hits the point of no return and Scorsese and De Niro together, do a great job in bringing that to life as well as showing it all happening in New York City. Though what makes this film great is that it shows the unhealthy obsession of either wanting to be famous right away as well as stalking people which is of course a horrible way to live especially when it comes to Television and Scorsese does a fantastic job expressing these unhealthy aspects, and sure it's never a bad thing dream big, you just have start at the bottom and learn as you go for which I'm literally learning that hard lesson and yet I'm still standing and yet I still haven't lost my mind for which in all fairness that's always a good thing plus, I'm also taking anti-depressants as well as keeping up with my sense of humor and when I tell you this never let anyone question you strange sense of humor because in a chaotic world that we live in our sense of humor is all we got. This film no doubt is a fantastic movie no question and if I had to put a rank of genre in terms of Martin Scorsese filmography it would most certainly be gangster movie, Goodfellas, crime/vigilante or Neo-noir Taxi Driver, sports movie no doubt would be Raging Bull and dark comedy, The King of Comedy. Though, YOU CAN'T FIND THIS MOVIE ANYWHERE, ON A STREAMING SERIVCE! I mean sure you can't find a whole lot of hidden gems on anything and since this film was produced by 20th Century Fox, Disney made clear to bury this movie away so, thanks Disney, thanks for being the worst in terms of movie making and originality. Granted you can find this movie on Plex as well as finding it on YouTube but those are the only ways you can find these types of films on any kind of streaming in a world where Blu-Ray and DVDs are slowly becoming extinct. Aside from this film being a hard movie to find, this is without a doubt in my mind one of Scorsese's best films as well as a perfect movie that needs to be seen to a wider audience and more importantly needs to be seen so that everyone can forget Joker even happened because watching this film now gives me another reasons why I despise Joker, although I hated the film long before its release but why would you even feel sorry for the Joker? Anyway, this film is great and if you have a Blu-Ray player or YouTube you can find it for a good price between twenty dollars and best price FREE on YouTube. Although my huge tip when finding movies on YouTube is to keep it a secret (because YouTube always removes good stuff) and continue to watch these kinds of films because they don't hold back on glorifying creepers or obsessive psycho's and for me personally is why The King of Comedy is a great watch. 

     

Big Jake

 

         My Dad's Birthday was a week ago and of all the actors that my Dad loved, cherished as well as consider him a personal hero, John Wayne, without a doubt would certainly be one of those actors, my Dad would most certainly say was his favorite actor as well as one of his personal hero's close to pitching legend Bob Gibson. So, starting June 10th through July 10th, I'm for the first time ever going to be doing a John Wayne month each day or week I'm going to be reviewing a John Wayne classic first to start off is Big Jake, a gritty Wayne and more importantly the last film with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara together. 

         The avenging head of the McCandle clan returns to his estranged family and leads the search for his estranged kidnapped grandson. Big Jake (John Wayne) sets off, his sons (Patrick Wayne and Christopher Mitchum) in tow, to deliver the ransom to the kidnappers, but has little intention of handing it over without a fight. 

         Here is the strange and funny thing, of all the John Wayne films that are classic and iconic, from his young and middle age years and with Big Jake, rewatching this for the first time it's surprisingly one of the most shockingly violent films of all of John Wayne's films, and sure you can look at some of his earlier films that were shockingly violent, but you necessarily don't see what happens and sure you don't see some extreme violent scenes but it gets shocking with the blend of the music into the action sequences, moreover has that holy crap, and I guess it's due to the seventies where I would imagine the audience is wanting more extreme violence and maybe that's the case when you think about it and it goes from some films like Psycho or any classic film from the sixties where they're pushing the envelope. The most interesting aspect of the film is of course the Duke working with obviously his sons, like his youngest son Ethan Wayne playing his grandson but more importantly Patrick Wayne playing his eldest son for which was the tenth time each father and son shared the screen together, though more importantly each share the greatest scene where Patrick Wayne mock Duke's character by calling him "Daddy" for which proceeds with Duke putting Patrick in his place, furthermore a fun fact Pat as asked by a audience member if he truly calls his Dad, "Daddy" and to Pat's words "You Know, all my life, I called him Daddy". Though strangely with this film particularly this film besides another film, where Patrick Wayne shares a big role, along with his father and I'd say this is Pat's best role in my mind. Both Wayne and actor Richard Boone do a great job playing the opposite of each other in terms of Protagonist and antagonist where each of them respects one another then Boone becomes threatening, and then later on Wayne turns the tables for which really is spectacular acting from each of the them though in a strange way I don't know many of Richard Boones other films besides Big Jake. A surprising factor about the film is both director George Sherman and John Wayne where close friends since Republic Pictures were a thing in the thirties. And so, by the time of this films production Sherman was in bad health to the point where there were days he was unable to direct the film, furthermore Wayne volunteered to help with the films direction when Sherman was unavailable and once the films complete Wayne insisted that Sherman be the sole director for Big Jake, for which in all fairness shows how a good friend Wayne is when it comes to his best bros. I got to say this is one of the many John Wayne films I remember watching growing up and just loved Wayne in the movie and this film alone shows how great a presence Wayne is and more importantly why he's the best American out there. More importantly, rewatching this again I can understand why my dad always loved John Wayne as an actor. I would highly recommend watching Big Jake for many reasons it's his more grittier performance and is defiantly a fantastic action and Western epic from beginning to the final frame, plus 1971, marked the final year as well as era where the Duke reigned as the highest paid actor and later on in life was almost like a passing of the torch as well as an end of a fantastic career for John Wayne. And so, I hope you all get excited for John Wayne month because I'm playing to look up films I haven't seen in a while as well as films I have not seen.