Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind

 

                                 As I've said a million times, yes, I'm a huge fan of the Mortal Kombat video game franchise and its films and of course with a latest ninety-minute animated movie already out on streaming and Blu-Ray I had to check it out. Moreover, with the way live action movies aren't respecting sources and doubly believing I'll ever witness a great Mortal Kombat film in my lifetime. Also, with these animated films I figured there at least a fun thing to watch where I don't expect a whole lot, furthermore, not looking for perfection but also have a good time watching this as well. Though when the trailer first popped up on the web, I was a bit on the unsure side of what the direction was going, in terms of seeing a blend of both Kung Fu style of storytelling with a mix of Mad Max. For which I have no argument, so I guess will just have to find out.

                                 Set in a Mad Max environment for which I'm thinking is still in Asia. The vicious, Kano is determined to take over Earthrealm, one soul at a time. Kenshi who was once an overconfident warrior now blinded by pride, is helped by Kuai Liang aka Sub-Zero into becoming a better warrior. Kuai Liang who has also lost his ways decided to help his new protégé into ridding Kano once and for all even if it means breaking an oath.

                                  I will admit I'm always intrigued in creating new storylines because like Star Wars, Mortal Kombat has a vast links of stories where you can come up with and still make it interesting another great example is of Batman, in somehow Mortal Kombat has always contracted some good writers into developing more and unique storylines to play with, in the world of Mortal Kombat and Warner Bros. Animation has done a great job at that. I do like that we have a new Earthrealm hero in the mix of a new storyline moreover love the bond between the teacher and student that is both Sub-Zero and Kenshi, speaking of Kenshi I was well aware of the blind swordsman ever since his debut in in the PlayStation 2/X-Box era and to be honest I've never thought his popularity would ever be as big as it is now and granted I've always played him in Mortal Kombat just because he had a sword and whenever you're getting beat you can always use the sword to hack and slash, so now that he becomes the sole hero to this latest movie I think it's awesome even when you’re creating a new storyline. In all honesty everything in this movie works although the problem I have with the movie, is that yes by the end of the second movie it felt that all the evil was defeated, so in all fairness what happened to everyone after that? I mean we have a glimpse of what happened to Sub-Zero before it becomes a Mad Max world, but I don't know what happens to Liu Kang, Kitana, Sonya Blade, Johnny Cage and Jax, for which are the most important characters and Snow Blind is supposed to be the third installment, so I think it's fair we at least get to know what happened to those characters at least. Deep down the movie itself is fun to watch especially ninety minutes of showtime, though it's not as great as the first two. But as a movie all by itself and not a sequel to the first two MK Legends movies I'd still recommend watching this movie even if you’re not a Mortal Kombat fan. And really, I would even have my own nephew watching this and I'd believe he would have a great time watching these films from start to finish.

   

                                    

Pony Excess

 

                  I'm trying to review some Football documentaries since there's not a whole lot of great once a side from Rudy, but since Disney + is bringing along some of 30 for 30 films I though this one about the SMU football program who was the first ever to be given the death penalty was an interesting story to talk about especially since Running back legend Eric Dickerson went to school at SMU, moreover this was the first time ever that I've heard about Universities or sports programs actually paying high school prospects to come play for their schools even paying for their own families to come to whatever state near the school.

                  If you ever want a great example of the story behind the 1980's SMU Mustangs football team, think of it like There will be Blood of greed only it's trying to buy wins by any means necessary, moreover if you've ever heard the say that football in Texas is religion, well even in Texans can take the craziness of football to the next level, I mean first it was the Dallas Carter High school football team robbing people after winning state title and hearing about this story I'm just curious what other skeletons Texas can carry even when it comes to football. The fact that SMU is such a small school compared to other powerhouse schools in Texas and the people of Dallas does have its Dallas Cowboys to cheer for but for some odd reason it's just not enough in terms of winning a simple game of football, so the boosters of SMU decide to pay the players to come play for their school is just beyond my understanding of reasoning. Now that they have moved on from their death penalty sentence, I still consider this a fascinating story of so much greed leading to a down fall where no one is innocent and yet the kids during the year of 87 were thrown under the bus. So, listen if you’re feeling bored and don't want to watch Star Wars or not in the mood and don't really want to watch anything Marvel nor watch Disney cartoons then I would highly recommend watching the Pony Excess.

     

10 Year Anniversary: Promethious

 

                           During the month of September, I slowly began to realize that I'm way behind on movies I wanted to review that mark their 10-year anniversary, but luckily, I've just in the nick of time brought out and watched a film by Ridley Scott (still doing the Ridley Scott tribute for last year) that's I somewhat consider both science fiction and horror at the same time? Ah screw it the movie is Prometheus that is a misunderstood prequal to the Alien Franchise but there is no Alien's involved for some reason. Back in 2012 I was excited for this movie to come out because it was Ridley Scott and at the time, I figured he couldn't do anything wrong especially since this was his first time coming back to Science Fiction genre since Blade Runner. Now watching this film, I feel like there a lot of unanswered questions that I'm defiantly confident I will ever get the answers.

                        The discovery of a clue to mankind's origins on Earth leads a team of explorers to the darkest parts of the universe. Two brilliant young scientists lead the expedition. Shaw (Noomi Rapace) hopes that they will meet a race of benevolent, godlike beings who will in some way verify her religious beliefs, while Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) is out to debunk any spiritual notions. However, neither the scientists nor their shipmates are prepared for the unimaginable terrors that await them.

                        I will say now having watched this movie, I must strongly admit that this wasn't as good as I remembered. For many reasons this was supposed to be a prequal to the original Alien but yet the story sourly focuses on Gods from outer space creating humanity on Earth, for which I have so many questions one of them basically what does that have to do with the Alien's aka Xenomorph's, the second is why would you start off using set design's from the original Alien movie and use that as a metaphor that unknown alien Gods where responsible for humanity and it's  convenient that Ridley Scott of course would say that this would be in the direction it would go since he claims to be an ashiest which is wow, SHOCKER. And sure, you can do all these things when developing the story AS LONG AS WE GET TO SEE THE ALIEN'S, but of course we don't see them all we see are these weird buff pale duds that are supposed to be Humanities makers, for which in all honesty they don't look that scary at all, hell not even close. Though to the film's credit it does have some great what the f**k moments and Scott is the king of doing what the f**k moments when it comes to making movies and there is a lot of them especially the more memorable one is when Noomi Rapace is about to give birth to a alien baby and tries to decontaminate it, now let's be clear I'm a full blooded Catholic I believe there is a God and Jesus was our savior and sorry not sorry but I'm also against abortion because and a lot of people don't get it at all once you’re giving birth do a baby that's three to six months in, THAT'S BASICALLY KILLING A LIVE HUMAN BEING. But if you’re having intercourse with someone that's may have been roofied into drinking something alien liquid for which may give birth to a vicious alien creature that may want to kill you, yeah that's when you need to decontaminate it. The other thing in what makes the movie positive is it's cast or the scene stealers like Michael Fassbender who plays the android David, and Fassbender's portrayal of David is so excellent you don't know whether to trust him with your life or is he going to kill you and I still love the fact that in the beginning of the movie where we're first introduce to him he's monitoring the ship all by himself and it's so mesmerizing you can't stop watching him play basketball while riding a bike, now if it were me monitoring the ship after suffering being in prison lockdown from the pandemic I would lose my mind and then destroy the ship. With obvious great acting from Noomi Rapace, Charlize Theron and surprising old man look of Guy Pierce but deep-down Michael Fassbender was the scene stealer throughout the whole film. Deep down this is a decent made movie with its WTF jump scares and great set design and great direction, but I would rank this in Ridley Scott's top ten best films, hell in all honesty it's more in the honorable mentions but all in all it's a decent movie to watch whenever I want to pop in something I haven't seen in a while but I wouldn't want to watch the second time although I'm defiantly going to watch it again with audio commentary because I need some questions answered desperately if you catch my meaning.

    

                              

October Recommendation: Hush

 

                              About two maybe three months I wasn't sure if I was going to have a movie worth recommending for the month of October. Until I saw this cleverly drawn horror story of cat and mouse, I now have something worth watching for the month of October. Now I'll say that yes, I do search for great unknown Horror movies for the month of October because well, October is the month of Halloween it's supposed to be scary and that's what most people crave upon October. And granted good horror movies are hard to find, though luckily with the help of my brother I sat down and watched this great movie called Hush, which is set simply in the forests of the unknown where a killer is stalked by a deaf/mute author, who is defiantly worth the watch in my case.

                            A deaf writer (Kate Siegel) who retreated into the woods to live a solitary life must fight for her life in silence when a masked killer appears in her window. 

                            I should quickly add that this film was made on Netflix so you can defiantly watch this great horror film any time you want. The thing that makes Horror films great to watch, in my view point is that they have to be a specific thing on what scares us the most, like in alien species that goes to three stages of hosting inside your body and bursting out of your chest then using you as a breeding ground for more eggs to grow or give birth, or a wealthy family that's a satanic cult willing to sacrifice a new member of the family, or a killer stalking you via using a voice changer moreover knowing your every move. What makes Hush great is that it uses the unexpected type of fear, silence furthermore the kind of silence that you as a person can't hear especially when your being stalked by a killer. The director of the film Mike Flanagan and his wife Kate Siegel who just so happens to be the star of the film, both have written the screenplay for which of them both have done a fantastic job in bringing this great story to life, the other thing I've found out is that Mike Flanagan has created another creepy horror show called the Haunting of Hill House, for which is also on Netflix and which both Mike and Kate Siegel have met and fall in love, which is beautiful if you ask me. Anyway, getting back to topic Flanagan even stats that he wanted to main character to be a deaf mute he wanted to direct a film without dialogue. For which yeah when you’re doing a slasher film like Hush yeah that's what I call making silence very scary, another fun fact via production in order to represent Kate Siegel's characters world, various ambient sounds were used, such as sound of ultrasound machines. Flanagan did not want to use pure silence for these scenes, as he still felt it would make viewers even more aware of their surrounding and take them out of the experience.  Now, both Flanagan and Siegel give a tremendous amount of credit in making this film work, for Flanagan giving the film so much tension that even during my second viewing I was on the edge of my seat the whole way through without looking at my phone. Kate Siegal does a great job playing a woman whose both deaf/mute but also balances the venerable aspects when it comes to horror and the brave aspect when she finally stands up to the killer in the movie. Speaking of killers, John Gallagher Jr. does an outstanding job playing the killer stalking Siegel's character, now for those who don't know who this actor is, well if you haven't seen Aaron Sorkin's tv show The Newsroom Gallagher was Jim Harper for which I've seen midst of season one but, when I researched some of the movie and stumbled upon his name I was a bit surprised especially the fact that Gallagher in the movie doesn't look a thing like what he was in the Newsroom, so back to the movie he does a great job playing a psychopath who will stop at nothing to get in and kill his victim moreover Gallagher does a great job just playing so menacing with no remorse and not wanting to be rooted for which is what I always want to look for when watching a suspenseful horror movie. One of the very few films I found this year that deserves a recommendation in the month of October that is worth seeing from start to finish and is under ninety minutes, so if you’re in for a suspenseful, scary thrill ride in the month of Halloween I would highly recommend watching Hush.

          

House on Haunted Hill

 

                            In the double feature of past movies I remember seeing at times, the remake to House on Haunted Hill appeared on TUBI, though granted I've only seen previews of it on cable network when on demand movies were a thing back in the nineties, but I will at least say that I have a great memory in terms of movie posters I remember seeing growing up and the remake to House on Haunted Hill was one of those posters I remember. I'll give you a quick recap on the original House on Haunted Hill, basically one of those films Vincent Price did in 1959 where he was always known for as the eerie creepy guy that always had the evil laugh as if he was the devil himself, which in all honesty he was. For which lead us to this remake where I can honestly say they used all the storylines from the original movie but upgraded with a tone of freaky Marylin Manson s**t. For which I honesty have no clue if that is a good thing or a bad thing but all I can say is that having watched this film now, I can purposely say that this was one of those remakes you should never ever try to do if you’re a movie director.

                           A millionaire with theatrical tendencies Stephan Price (Geoffrey Rush), invites several people to stay in a vast creepy building that used to be an insane asylum. Accompanied by his bitter wife Evelyn (Famke Janssen), offers a million dollars to anyone who can stay the whole night without leaving out of fear. When Stephan and Evelyn become trapped with their guests, they quickly realize that the house really is haunted -- and the spirits dwelling within are very angry.

                          The original movie of House on Haunted Hill if some of you haven't seen or haven't checked out my review, the film was, as I would describe it as bit of a camp fill horror furthermore like a B-Movie type of scary where you can predict where the scariness will come. Also, its Vincent Price trying to sound terrifying throughout the film which is when you get to a certain age you realize that it's not that scary. This movie it feels like they really wanted to push the horror up to a hundred percent, by adding a lot of freaky Marylin Manson shit though in fairness he had nothing to do with it other than rewriting one of the cover songs but all the scenes including the opening feels like a Marylin Manson or Godsmack video. Even the director himself, William Malone says that he's a huge fan of the original movie but in all fairness I honestly don't quite understand what he was trying to go with in terms of either making this film really scary or keeping the camp as tribute from the original movie and in all honesty if that's what he's really trying to do then he really didn't do anything interesting, because in all honesty if I wanted to watch a remake of this with the same premise and same concept only making it more scary, then I'd rather watch the original movie. Alike the original you can defiantly point out whose playing who in the remake, like Geoffrey Rush is obviously playing the Vincent Price part, and doesn't really do anything new furthermore believe he was just cashing in for a paycheck which is fine because the man worked from the early seventies. Also, Famke Janssen is defiantly playing Rush's wife who strangely do a great job playing a toxic married couple who I would never want to be around so, if there's any complement, I can give for this movie it's both those two playing the worst people ever. Chris Kattan plays the guy who doesn't want to be in the house aka Elisha Cook Jr. part, and Peter Gallagher aka Eyebrow Man plays the man who’s helping Janssen's character murder Rush though fails miserably so, deep down if you watch this all the way through you can point out whose playing who and how it's going to play out. That is if you've seen the original film and if not then you'll be, okay? Either way I can describe you all the wrongs of how not to do when remaking a movie and this movie is a great example of what not to do, moreover if I had a choice to watch either Jason X or the remake to House on Haunted Hill I'd rather just watch Jason X mainly because it's unintentionally funny and this is way too much of a mess that I wouldn't want to re-watch this film ever again. I'd give this movie credit for trying but, in all honesty, I don't believe the filmmakers and writers wherever trying to make this film better. So, if you’re having thought on wanting to give this movie a chance I would step away from this movie and just watch the original movie. The fact that this movie still exists and is on streaming services is somewhat fascinating and I have to say remember seeing previews to this movie and then finally watching it I'm glad I decided not to watching back in 1999. 

   

                               

Jason X

 

                                  Happy Halloween everyone, that's right it's time to pop in some good old fashion scary movies to watch. Though to be fair, being terrified does have its staleness at times furthermore you need to see some movies that you haven't seen that are promoted to be scary but just seem too good to take serious at times. Luckily for me I've discovered two quotes on quote scary films that are disguised as comedies, one of them just so happens to be Jason X, a movie where they decided to take the legendary movie monster Jason Voorhees in space, just like putting James Bond inside a rocket ship and shooting him up into space. Shamefully of all the Friday the 13th movies I've seen this was in all honesty the very first Jason movie I've seen as a teenager, and to be truthfully honest I really didn't care much about the teens or adults in the movie dying, nor after watching the film did, I care now, because I was just watching the rampage Jason was causing. 

                                  The film is set in the year 2455, the Pandemic has consumed all of Earth and future scientist scrooge the earth for more artifacts, luckily, they stumbled upon Jason Voorhees (Kane Hodder) body along with another survivor who as fate would seem trapped in a freezing chamber. Now Jason is unfrozen and as every hunter's would say "It's Hunting Season".

                                   As convenient as most of making movies would go Jason X, had a lot of rewrites, the director of the movie wanted to be scary and weirder, while the writer of the movie wanted the comedy come through with the action, and producer Sean S. Cunningham the man behind the first Friday the 13th claimed to not have anything to do with the movies creation just writing the paychecks, though he proceeded to have rewrites done way into the rehearsal time, so you know that this movie was going to be bad when the director, writer and producer are having different ideas moreover not wanting to split the difference. Now as a movie by itself, in all honesty it's not all bad, and granted you can ask me why? Well, the thing of it is, is that we all know what a bad movie is when it comes to watching movies go and we all have our differences, but with Jason X it's really like I know what you did last summer and its sequel what makes them of course entertaining is that their unintentionally funny.  From Jason being the only smartest killer in the entire movie to all the teenagers dressing up like slut's (sorry to all the women out there) and let’s not forget the dumb male scientists not listening to the only smartest woman scientist? In the entire movie, oh I almost forgot the army soldiers not accepting the fact that Jason is a zombie furthermore can never die. Yes, the movie isn't at all scary and to be honest I think the producers and filmmakers from Nightmare on Elm Street sequels to the Jason Movie sequels weren't at all caring about the survivors they just wanted to see more of these killers going on a rampage and to be fair where all looking for that but isn't the sole purpose is to not root for the bad guy and root for the survivors to win? Ah hell deep down who cares I guess what I'm trying to say is that Jason X is a movie that it is what it is, and in all honesty, I rank this in one of my top ten best B-Movies to watch whenever you don't want to do anything or think. Now having re-watched Jason X, the question remains on whether I'd watch all of the Friday the 13th movies and to be truthfully honest no mainly because I've seen just this one Jason movie and seen the original Nightmare on Elm Street movie, the one that Wes Craven made and have seen Freddy vs Jason so to be honest I really have no desire to watch all of these movies in chronological order for many reasons there all bad so Jason X is the go to bad movie I'd rather watch whole along with Freddy vs Jason. Now before closing I do need to give a small award to Peter Mensah who plays the army Sargent in the movie whose also full-blown John Rambo-ish because in all honesty he's really the best actor in the entire film moreover has some bad ass moments. I will rank this is up there in the best B-movies of all time for the most obvious reasons it’s a great laugh and it was also made in Canada for which I honestly don't know what good movie has come out of Canada in the thirty-five years of my life, but if you’re bored of watching all scary movies or not finding something to watch on Halloween, then I would highly recommend watching Jason X, though I'd make your decision soon because TUBI does remove its stuff in quick times, but if you don't feel like watching this movie I totally understand your reasons.

   

                                           

Movies I haven't seen in a while: To Kill a Mockingbird

 

                                         This ladies and gentlemen is a movie I defiantly haven't seen in a long, long, time. And that film is To Kill a Mockingbird, it was a usual Saturday night the IMAX at town in which I grew up played To Kill a Mockingbird and if you’re thinking how could the get a film reel of that? Well, here's the coolest thing, they've installed a Blu-Ray player inside the IMAX projector, and as a movie goer that's one of the most awesome things ever especially for a film like this. Anyway, back to topic this was obviously a movie I haven't seen in a long time, so I figured why not give this movie a chance to watch since I have nothing better to do. And to be honest I have vague memory on seeing this movie though I do remember seeing bits and pieces of the movie I haven't really seen it all the way through just like reading the book. And to be honest watching this film now was even greater than I can imagine.

                                         Scout Finch (Mary Badham), 6, and her older Jem (Phillip Alford), live in sleepy Maycomb, Alabama. Spending much of their time with friend Dill (John Megna) and spying on their reclusive and mysterious neighbor. When Atticus (Gregory Peck), their widowed father and respected lawyer, defends a black man named Tom Robinson (Brook Peters) against fabricated rape charges, the trial and tangent events expose the children to evils of racism and stereotyping. 

                                         Now the last time I've ever seen this movie was when I was a kid and all I remember was the brother and sisters with their crazy shenanigans like the rolling inside a tire and the final scene of the movie where scout is wearing weird box of some kind, also thinking if the brother really died, moreover I do remember reading the book in high school but that's pretty much it. So now having watched the movie I will say that it's more great to watch it at an older age, mainly because say if I'd watch this when I was a kid I wouldn't take it much seriously with the subject matter, also with my kid like mind I would be bored and want to watch any action movie or a John Wayne movie, but being thirty-five years old now, I can be more serious in what the story portrays and appreciate the great performance of Gregory Peck. There's really nothing much to say about Gregory Peck's performance, I mean his acting moreover his voice speaks for itself, and his presence on screen is just so great to see as he stands tall as a bold man that you truly want to have on your side when it comes defending your rights as well as someone you can trust as a human being. Now again if you haven't seen To Kill a Mockingbird I really don't need to give you much details as to how great Gregory Peck was, all because the man won in Oscar for his performance, so right this instant I'm going to push onto the kids both Mary Badham and Phillip Alford, both of them together does such a fantastic job playing the brother and sister relationship so well that you can instant relate to them throughout the story even in times when their annoyed with one another and at times when both of them rely on each other even in the scary times, especially in the best scene when both Scout and Jem try and protect their Dad from in angry mob and it's Scout who recognized one of the members of the mob, Walter Cunningham and tries to strike a conversation with him, but quickly becomes too distraught at what he was trying to do and decides to forfeit the mobs plans, which shows a simplicities with killing someone with kindness, so both the kids does a great job as well as the actor who plays Cunningham Crahan Denton does a great job in that scene alone to, so he as an actor does deserve some credit. James Anderson deserves some credit too playing the antagonist of the movie who really portrays the creepy southern hillbilly who looks at Peck as a threat, I'm also giving a special credit to Robert Duvall though I'm not going to tell you who he plays because I was a bit surprise myself when I first saw him on screen. A surprising fact I've learned was that James Stewart turned down the role of Atticus Finch, concerned that the story was too controversial, in which to be fair I'm not quite sure if Stewart would have been a good fit for the role of Atticus Finch. Some of the sets were made in a backlot in Universal Studio's a lot of Harper Lee's hometown changed via 1920 to early 60's so a lot of the scenes and sets that you see in the movie where all shot in a backlot in Hollywood Studio's. I'm glad to of re-seen this classic and fully appreciate it as one of the best films I've ever seen. Fully rank this as one of the most important films to watch in American history and say to take your time in having your kids watch this film mainly because deep down, they might view this the same way I was when I was a kid, or I can be wrong, and I don't claim to be right all the time.

             

                                       

Do Revenge

 

                                I can't honestly tell you my choices on what lead me to this bizarre but good movie, and God's truth I really can't explain it to you I'm not joking around when I say that I can't honestly explain how this movie came into my watchlist. Though I'll do the best I can at explaining it because, well it's my job per say. I guess the best way I can describe me finding this movie I was probably binging on YouTube of House of the Dragon and for some reasons search related stuff of Sophie Turner aka Sansa Stark showed up where she overacts about cocaine and for some bizarre sense of reason I had, I simply couldn't stop watching this I wanted to study this. For which lead me all the way to Netflix, Do Revenge is what I like to call as the stepsister to Promising Young Woman combined with Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train and with a kiss of Clueless. I will say, I was a little iffy on whether to continue watching this movie through, mainly because this was a teen movie and anything teen related wasn't my forte great example trying to get through Friday Night Lights show then desperately erasing it from my mind. But there was something about this movie that impress me in ways I couldn't imagine. Oh, and Sarah Michelle Gellar is in this movie too.

                                Popular Drea (Camila Mendes) wants revenge on her boyfriend for publishing her sex tape, and exchange student Eleanor (Maya Hawke, whose parents just so happen to be Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke) is haunted by a rumor. The two teenagers team up to act against their tormentors.

                                I will tell you the truth on why majority of teen films or shows are officially not my cup of tea. Sure, as a teenager I was huge into watching Smallville secretly watching parts of Bring It On, or watching Varsity Blues because of Ali Larter, but now being 35 years of age and looking at movies like Friday Night Lights or even the show itself I've began to realize that none of these so called teen movies are as good as I want's remembered and moreover felt like their a high school reunion and after years of being away realizing how awful being a teen was moreover for seeing how stupid people can be, now granted I didn't mention Mean Girls, but let’s be honest that movie has Lindsey Lohan before she went super crazy. Though it also had a lot to do with illogic scenarios of decision making like when James Van Der Beek never punching his dad in the face all because he's not taking football seriously, or the insanely dumb love triangle in Friday Night Lights show, where the Cheerleader cheats on her QB boyfriend for the rebellious Fullback friend then when the QB gets back with his cheerleader girlfriend cheats on her with another girl. And I'm not joking just these types of issues alone and I know this sounds insanely dark, but it makes me want to go back in time and shoot up my old high school, sorry not sorry. In god's honest truth, when I go into a movie like this I got to see what the writer and director brings to the game, moreover with a teen movie like this that has some dark comedy you really need to bring your A-game to the table, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson does in outstanding job in creating a twisted world where all of these prep school snobs can get away with so much murder than Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump, what research I found of Ms. Robinson was that she started off her writing career creating a show for MTV call Sweet/Vicious about two college students becoming vigilantes on sexual abusers, so I can see where the subject matter comes in her work. Here's the funny thing, the entire cast is all in their mid-twenties to early thirties and for some bizarre way they all look like teens in this movie well, most of them because once you see Sophie Turner in the movie then it becomes a little funny that she's trying to be so young despite that she's thirty-five. Now, I should point out to everyone before you think about maybe wanting to watch this movie after reading my review I should point out that this film is one hundred percent fantasy, because in fair I may not have rich parents nor went to prep schools but I can tell that there is no way in hell that all of these high school kids can do God knows how much drug use or spreading more STD's than Magic Johnson had during Basketball career, though granted I thought it was humorous moreover liked the idea of spoiled teens trying to look at themselves in the mirror then some refusing too. For which I've kind of like the idea of one popular student who’s at the top of being popular in high school then suddenly turning into in outcast, then having the obsessions of revenge then realizing how low you've gone in terms of being a human. And to be fair when I was browsing through the plot on Wikipedia because I became weary of this being like Strangers on a Train, but once I've seen all of the twist and turns and most importantly the final act of the movie that's when I've started to like the film more because this whole movie is deep down a look in the mirror of one's soul and realize how much you don't see yourself or how much you wanted to build this perfect life then seeing it was all a lie, and the two important characters experience that moreover some of the supporting cast but the main antagonist is the one that doesn't nor refuse to see himself in the mirror, for which that's when I've began to see a lot of similarities with Do Revenge and Promising Young Woman the only difference is that this movie I really like the how the main villain got what he deserved at the end, and seeing how everything turns out in the end for the two important characters. I will say that this was a great movie find, moreover a great movie to watch and granted movies about teens in High School aren't my cup of tea, but there's something about this film that made me impressed in terms of the writing and the direction moreover the vision of these types of movies, hell I hope there's other movies out there that can impress me more. As for a recommendation I would highly recommend it but if you as the audience don't want to watch it on NetFlix, I can understand your reason.

Brian and the Boz

 

                        Well, we're during Football season and usually I'd hand out some football movies to recommend but there not like Baseball movies because let's be real the most famous football movies like Varsity Blues are ones, I can't stand so I'm going to try and limit the amount of football movies I can find but thankfully ESPN's 30 for 30 is a good place to look at some football movies to watch. And the story of Brian Bosworth is a quintessential and relatable story about having both a good side and a bad side when it comes to being a college football star. Also, this is a great modern-day story of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.

                       For those who don't know who Brian Bosworth is, well a great example is he plays the sheriff on the Dr. Pepper commercials on the fictional world of Fansville. But he also was well known as an Oklahoma football legend who was excellent at his position as a middle linebacker but through the course of his three seasons in College Football, he let his mouth get the better of him for which led to the dismissal of him playing College Football then playing NFL. Though the more interesting aspect when it comes to Bosworth is that it wasn't the drugs (well a side from the steroid use) that lead to his downfall like Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden, it was mostly his mouth plus his mullet that became most of his self-destructive behavior, moreover, throwing his entire teammates as well as his coach Barry Switzer under the bus by publishing his autobiography.  And in all honesty, I kind of look at his entire football career as a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type persona where the man Brian Bosworth is clearly the Dr. Jekyll and the alter ego The Boz is without a doubt Mr. Hyde, and in all honesty that's really something you don't see every day of course but if this was ever made into a movie it would defiantly be like a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde type movie mixed with the Wolf of Wall Street. Though the other thing on what makes this a great story is you've kind of in a sense relate because he had in overbearing father that was proud of him but didn't show it in a very sensitive sense, so that's something in a sense that both Bosworth and Strawberry have in common that they both had terrible fathers, though that's something you shouldn't be proud of. But in the end, each of them found a way to get themselves out of the darkest moments. Now that Disney + has been putting more of the 30 for 30 into their category of sports related category? I'd defiantly give this a must see for your football needs and granted this is just my sense of humor kicking in, have your kids watching this because let’s be fair when they get to that age of puberty this is going to be a documentary for them when their ego will be more uncontrollably for anyone to contain. 

 

The Natural

 

                                      I know it's way too late to talk about Baseball since we're near the end of the season coming up on Baseball playoffs moreover everyone caring more about Football season. Though the big problem for me is that my two Football teams suck (Nebraska Football and Dallas Cowboys), also this year marks the final years end for St. Louis Cardinals legends Albert Pujols, Yadier Molina and Adam Wainwright furthermore in order to tell why I chose to watch The Natural now, I might as well go back to March. It was during the week of St. Patty’s Day and my week was like a train wreck from hell firstly my car was having problems moreover going to cost be big in terms of repairs also putting up with people at work, and the Academy Awards came along and as usual I had to sit through this mockery due to working at a TV station, and after work I heard what was the greatest news of my life. Albert Pujols was coming back to play for the Cardinals one final time and boy I never felt so happy in my entire life. For which to my time of sitting down and watching The Natural, for which now beginning to realize it know I began to see similarities with Roy Hobbs and both Pujols, Molina and Wainwright.   

                                      On the way to a tryout with the Chicago Cubs, young Roy Hobbs (Robert Redford) is shot by an unstable woman (Barbara Hershey). After 16 years, Hobbs returns to pro baseball as a rookie for a last place New York Knights. Despite early arguments with his manager Pop Fisher (Wilford Brimley, who may or may not have diabetes), Hobbs becomes one of the best players in the league, and the Knights start winning. But this upsets the owner (Robert Prosky), who wants Hobbs to lose games, not win. 

                                      In a very short summary review, there's really nothing much to say in my mind The Natural is defiantly in the top ten best of Baseball movies and as far as Robert Redford, this is defiantly one of his top-notch performances behind Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President's men and the Sting too. A little fun fact Robert Redford is a big time Ted Williams and during the making of the film he insisted on wearing number 9 and batting third because that's where Williams batted, along with his catch phrase "there goes Roy Hobbs the best that ever was", though granted Redford had to take the Ted Williams part out but deep down you can see the resemblance. I will say yeah there's a lot of questions in terms of logic like Michael Madsen running into the outfield and dying which, I'd guess it was because he angered Wonder Boy? Though director Barry Levison did state that the film in a sense is fantasy so we can defiantly scratch that part but through the years he told Bob Costas “Through the years, these outlandish things actually happened, like Kirk Gibson hitting a home run and limping around the bases, Curt Schilling with the blood on the sock in the World Series". While writing this review I began to realize that "oh dude" both Pujols, Molina and Wainwright both share in interesting comparison with the character of Roy Hobbs via memories I cherish. And the best way to start off those cherish memories is basically starting off with Adam Wainwright, in the first scene or flashback scene we see Roy Hobbs striking out Joe Don Baker whose supposed to be this Babe Ruth type character, well that scene just reminded me alone of the 2006 NLCS, when he faced off with the Mets power hitter Carlos Beltran and since Izzy (Jason Isringhousen) wasn't able to close, rookie pitcher Adam Wainwright came up in the crucial moments and struck out Beltran to send the Cardinals to the World Series. The best way I can compare both Roy Hobbs and Yadier Molina is they're both clutch hitters, and yes I'm referring to in the final game of the movie where Roy Hobbs hits the game winning home run to win the game, but one great example is of course the NLCS against the Mets in 06, and of all rookie's besides Wainwright, catching sensation Yadier Molina steps up in the crucial moments and give the Cardinals a chance to win over the Mets, and in all honesty that wasn't the only clutch moment Yadi did as I remember watching him in 2016 against the Reds in a crucial moment when the bases where fully loaded with Cardinals and all it took was a hit by a pitch to win the game, furthermore that's why I depict him as one of the Greatest Catchers of All Time because no matter what when it comes to those crucial moments Molina delivers and if you don't believe me I'll give you another great memory, and that's when he hit a sack fly in the 2019 NLDS to advance us to game 5 against the Braves, man was I ever jumping for joy just like he was when he threw his bat and helmet. Albert Pujols was easy in terms of comparing him to Hobbs, Albert to me is single handily one of the greatest hitters the Cardinals has ever produced, and I can back it up with the walk of homer in 2005 against the Astro's in NLCS, blasting a home run off of Verlander in game 1 of the 2006 World Series I mean the list goes on, I mean I could also talk about the most memorable moment is when he came back to St. Louis as an Angel in game 2 of the series and he hits a home run and everyone in Busch Stadium was just going nuts including my family and nephew. And granted the list goes on and on including my brother having me watch him hit number 3,000 and Albert reaching the goal of 700 home runs, so in fairness there's a lot of ways to compare Albert to Roy Hobbs but the only difference Pujols doesn't need a special bat to become the greatest hitter of all time. Now, with all portraying three Cardinals greats I consider heroes of mine especially when it comes to Baseball, I do consider The Natural in the category of go to Baseball films to watch, despite it being a while since I've watched it, the film really lifts you up inside in a very strange way even I can't explain moreover I'd rank this in the top ten greatest Baseball films of all time.

        

September Recommendation: The Princess

 

                                      I'm aware that this film came out about two months ago but granted when I saw the trailer for this movie (which is on Hulu as seen on the poster) I kind of looked at this film as nothing special, nor anything exciting. Unfortunately, it was a night where I couldn't find a movie to watch, though I did find an original Solaris film that was re-made by George Clooney a long time ago, sadly though it was all spoken in Russian, and I really didn't have the strength nor energy to watch it full so luckily The Princess won for a chance to exceed my low expectations. Even though that this was something of a mindless action film, I honestly did not expect the way it was going, and the way it was constructed moreover the way it was in terms of length of the film that's when I was thinking to myself that we have a winner for the best mindless action film of 2022 and worthy of my recommendation for the month of September.

                                      The Princess is a 2022 American period action film directed by Le-Van Kiet. The film stars Joey King, Dominic Cooper, Olga Kurylenko, and Veronica Ngo. The Princess was released as an original Hulu film, July 1 of 2022.

                                       Now, I'll say before I really had no interest in wanting to watch this movie the day it came out for many reasons that first seeing the trailer it looked like a predictable mindless action film where I can tell where it obviously was going to turn out. So, while watching the first act of the film I slowly begin to realize why this film is awesome, see the first part of the movie the Princess is locked away she wakes up noticing she's in chains then begins to realize that her father's kingdom is taken hostage. That's when the light bulb popped on top of my head and realized that this is a DIE HARD! That's right they literally combined one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time with a period piece, for which I have to give props to writers Ben Lustig and Jake Thornton for combining these two ingenious ideas, moreover I almost picture them sitting around a couch either watching Game of Thrones on TV during Christmas time, then switching it over to Die Hard then maybe watching the 90's Mortal Kombat, they both called each other on the phone and said that we should combine Period piece meets Die Hard, and they both have a mind blown experience and each other say's it's going to be awesome mostly five times and then the other says "wait dude, dude, DUDE!", "we should also incorporate some martial arts fight sequences too", then they both just go full throttle, over joyed on how awesome there idea is turning out to be. What even makes this movie awesome is the fact it doesn't mess around with the storyline it just goes from point A to point B and C very quickly and so this movie lone is a great example of what makes a great mindless action movie is the fact that it's ninety-four minutes long which in real standards that's a perfect length for a typical mindless action film is moreover it also doesn't overstay it's welcome and for a film that's completely and utterly ridiculous, well let's just say that's a perfect length for what it is. The newcomer Joey King does a great job playing the title role, but Dominic Cooper really does in excellent job playing the villain in the movie too, although I'd wish he had a better send off, not as good as Alan Rickman's send off. A side from its many, many flaws The Princess is a perfect B-Action movie of 2022, for a movie that doesn't overstay it's welcome gets straight to the point deserves my recommendation for the month of September. 

         

Vengeance

 

                                     To all fans of the Office, Ryan Howard has made his directorial debut. also known as B.J. Novak, has finally come out of the shadows of Steve Carrell, Brad Pitt, John Krasinski, and Quentin Tarantino furthermore has officially made a movie for himself. And to make a crime drama/comedy are always a dime of dozen when it comes to making your big leap into the director’s chair. Vengeance is basic Black Comedy with a spin of both a detective story and in all out revenge but trying to make big story turned into a podcast phenomenon. As always stars B.J. Novak, Boyd Holbrook who is in a lot of things some are basic crime stories, and Ashton Kutcher who plays the unlikely character I've never in a million years would have thought he'd pulled off in the best way possible.

                                     An up-and-coming Podcaster/Journalist (B.J. Novak) goes to a funeral in Texas to mourn a loss of a woman he only had a one-night stand. But is suddenly pulled into this revenge quest of evidence that has no lead, though doesn't stop him from making this no lead story into a Podcast sensation.

                                     For a lot of people who don't know who, B.J. Novak is, though technically for Office fans, he's Ryan Howard, though he also was one of the original writers of the show that both writes and is one of the main cast of characters on the show, he stared in some supporting roles like Inglorious Bastards, Saving Mr. Banks and The Founder. When watching the trailer for the first time my first thoughts were aw cool, he's finally going into the spotlight then my second thought was of course this movie was intriguing because I love the fact that it's a New York Journalist whose kind of on the Blue Statesman and he travels to the Red State of Texas to investigate a murder that's in obvious open and shut case, but suddenly becomes more than what you can possible believe. And Novak does a fantastic job doing the research on the state of Texas and its people, but most importantly doing a great job in turning this into a original detective story as well. I've never really, well ever in my years of criticizing pop culture along with movies and TV shows have I ever given any compliments to the success of Ashton Kutcher because let’s face it Punk'd was an entertaining show for when I was still a teenager, and all his movies are just pure crap, so bottom line what I'm trying to say is that he's only remembered for was Kelso in That 70's Show. But this is probably the first time ever I watch in on TV and say that he does a great job playing a mysterious fellow that has some skeletons in his closest, and this is me completely forgetting that he was in the trailer. Without giving any details this is a movie worth seeing from start to finish, the movie does have a great sense of humor as well as the family of the movie being relatable as towards your real-life family in general. B.J. Novak does in excellent job in his directorial debut as well as the writer and star of the movie, and I hope he does more movies in futures to come.

          

Robin and the 7 Hoods

 

                                So, this is a long story I'm not sure I can reasonably explain in the best way possible. So, my brother told me about this song Mr. Booze, that both Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr, may have written? Anyway, and what I found funny and yet interesting about the song other than it was also used on an episode of Family Guy, was that it’s a bit on the modern side and you can also think about other ways to make this song work in the new generation, for which leads to this movie, Robin and the 7 Hoods, which is a Musical from which I've accepted that no matter what when it comes to Musical's don't accept logic. Although yes, I did give this movie a shot but, in all fairness, I never quite expect how bizarre and in all out confused on what the purpose this film was supposed to be, or in a most honest way of explaining things not a great movie I'd recommend.

                                 Robin and the 7 Hoods is a 1964 American Musical film directed by Gordon Douglas and staring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr, and Bing Crosby. The Picture features Peter Faulk, Barbara Rush, and an uncredited Edward G. Robinson.

                                  Throughout my years of watching movies, I've begun to understand when it comes to logic in Musicals, there's basically no such thing, which explains why both The Wizard of Oz, Meet Me in St. Louis and Jesus Christ Superstar are my only three favorite musicals’ because they at least have logic. This was one of the many few musicals I can point at and say I don't ever want to watch this film ever again. At first the film seemed promising but through the course of the songs, all I just wanted to see was the Mr. Booze singing. Even watching this movie whole, I still didn't understand what this film was marketed for though in fairness this was supposed to be a spoof of gangster movies, but this just seemed bad on so many levels. And this movie came out in 1964 just two years after Sinatra's best performance in The Manchurian Canidae, for which I still and while writing this review don't understand why he would make something that's so bad. Although in researching this movie I've heard that production was kind of hell for him due to that his close friend President John F. Kennedy being killed, and Frank's son being kidnapped and held for ransom only weeks later, in which yeah I can understand that the man was going through some rough times while making a movie but, this is just me saying this you can always close down production and take couple of months off but again that's just my opinion. What really bothered me about the movie was that this was in fact a spoof of gangster films while using a Robin Hood spin on the story but this doesn't really follow in a Robin Hood story would tell, for example the female character of maid Marriam wants revenge on her father but she never found her killer nor even cared and Sinatra's character is supposed to be this Robin Hood type figure but he's also a horrible person who didn't want the money Marriam gave him so he threw it to in orphanage and that somehow makes him a hero? And at the end of the movie, they basically don't find any justice for the Big Jim character who’s supposed to be this father figure to Frank Sinatra's character. Either way this was one of the many movies I can look at and say that this is just bad on so many levels, and what's disappointing is that I purchased this movie on my phone and now I must live with it. So, listen if you’re thinking about wanting to watch this film I would strongly suggest running away and save yourself, this film is not worth seeing. 

     

Black Widow

 

                                Just another day, well technically nighttime I had nothing better to do other than having to sort out my Baseball cards morally putting them back in my card book. Although with all that sorting I had to find something to ignore and mostly try watching. Well thankfully Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow on Disney +, like watching Eternals this was another movie on my Disney + account that was on the continue watching list while sorting out my baseball card collection. Although I had no interest in seeing this movie while back mainly because this came out a year before Avengers: Endgame's release and in all honesty, I found less interest in watching a movie that was set after the events of Captain America: Civil War, so in fairness you can catch my reason as to why I didn't have a full interest in wanting to watch this movie prior to the film’s release. But, as fate would have it moreover needing to put my baseball card collection back in order, I decided to put this movie on.

                                Again, the film is set after the events of Captain America: Civil War, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) goes into hiding but is stalked by a mysterious assassin with ties to her past. Black Widow soon learns that she needs to go back to the past she left behind and burn it all to the ground.

                                Out of all the Avengers characters from the MCU, Black Widow was indeed one of those characters I cared about, but part of the problem was no doubt that the film was released a year before Avengers: Endgame was released and seeing that her character was killed off, I really didn't have in interest in wanting to watch a movie in which she finally gets her debut movie furthermore knowing her fate. Granted if this film came out during the Phase Three era, I would think differently but, it's already happened so now I can't really say much about the film. I will not say much about Johansson's performance because there's really nothing to say she's a natural and there really no one in a million years that can play the original Black Widow. But what I kind of find laughable is her ability the take her character as a female Jason Bourne where she literally doesn't have any broken bones or legs or the arms, and yes I'm talking about the action sequence in Budapest where she and her sister is outrunning the other Black Widow's and she fell and didn't broke any other bones, granted that wasn't the only one we can also talk about the sequence where she blew up the Black Widow base and she was doing her best Superman flying while outsmarting the Taskmaster. And to be fair my complements I can give to this films credit is the action sequences that were unintentionally funny and especially when you watch something where the Action sequences are just to ridicules moreover doesn't look at all realistic that's when you must chuckle on its utter nonsense. The other problem I also have with the movie as well is that they were using characters from the Marvel Universe that were a complete waste, give you a great example both Red Guardian and Taskmaster, and hearing that there was a Russian Super Soldier is just such disappointing because this would of been a great villain or rival towards Captain America that they could of at least use in the Captain America movies, I mean it would of been awesome if the two of them worked together and fought Red Skull, but know they didn't use him nor had a thought of using him so now this probably the only time will ever see a Russian Super Soldier in any of the upcoming MCU films, so again just a wasted opportunity. And the same goes with Taskmaster, whose supposed to be the assassin that basically fighting a mirror version of the hero's self and this character was as I felt, a wasted opportunity because again he would of made an excellent criminal mastermind where he tries to manipulate the Avengers and the only ones who can stop them where Thor, Hulk and Iron Man, but again I can say so many things on to what would be better to use these characters but in the end there's really no use because the more your brain wants to fix these movies, the more you go insane and that's not healthy. A side from the laughable action sequences and Scarlett Johansson being the only Black Widow in the movie with an English accent and her fellow supporting cast has Russian accents for which again I'm keeping my distance because again if you can fix what's broken, insanity kicks in. But back to topic this is one of those films that it's fine to watch once while you’re keeping your place clean or doing laundry but in all honesty, I don't think I would ever want to watch this film ever again. 

       

A League of their Own: TV series

 

                              Okay, so it was like this I found out Amazon was doing a League of their Own TV show, granted I wasn't really all that interested but my mom was somewhat interested and asked me to sit down and watch the first episode with her. And of course, I did, mainly because I didn't have anything better to do, and this might not be that bad. Unfortunately, after watching the first episode Mom and I called it good, reasons why we both in a sense called a lesbian love story in the works for which makes sense because the co-creator was Bi-Sexual and one of the directors also directed Lesbian films. But the main reason I picked up throughout this show is mostly this was really nothing anything original especially when they made the same scenes from the original film. The other reasons, they crammed so many characters in this show, and I'm assuming they did that because they were not going to be renewed for a second season. And will get to that later. 

                               The show itself is set in 1943, for which begun the formation of the All-Girls Baseball League, almost like the movie, where some of the story line centers on whether this league would last long or not, or will America accept this as Baseball or not, with a bit of a coming out love story if you know what I mean.

                                 Now as a first time viewing a show like this, I didn't mind the whole Lesbian love story for which is where a married woman falls for another woman on the team. And I can tell you the honesty truth it didn't bug me much other than I kind of predicted that would happen because let's be real when you’re in an all-girls baseball league there would be times when you find out you like girls. Okay, enough of my lame comedic jokes (or whatever) as the creator's should do because it's new generations when you can take these kinds of risks, though on the other hand my mom didn't like that for which I understand her reasons because she was a sixties-seventies gal with religious background so in fairness I get where she's coming from. The real problem I have with the show is that they crammed way to man characters in this show for starters they introduced the black female ballplayer way to early and this was 1943, for which yeah I'm pretty sure some of them wanted to try out but the problem is, that we've seen that and really if your planning on doing more seasons wouldn't it make a lot more sense to use that character concept for when they reach the 1947 season when Jackie Robinson broke the Color barrier? I'm just saying if you’re expanding the story of the girl’s baseball league you should at least save that story line or set it in 1947. The other problem I have with it is that the recreate scenes that where just out of the original film, for which sure nobody ever remembers the original movie but I can count at least two scenes where they recreate scenes from the original movie, for which is fine and all because again I'd bet nobody has seen the original movie but in all fairness you should really separate yourself from the original movie and stay more focus in making this your own show. I'm confident that the show alone will be loved by millions in fact it's showing great promise by everyone, but as a show itself I believe that this a lecture for all men who didn't appreciate the women of today nor the women who appreciated the women's baseball. But in all honesty, I'm a man who believes God created men and women equal and so if I really want a lecture I'd go to church and hear what God has to say. So, in closing if you’re in for a show like this I would avoid it but if you loved the original movie, I'd say go crazy.

   

The Harder They Fall

 

                                       This is the second time in my life where I screamed at the TV and said F**K YOU, while watching a movie. Though granted this was by accident. The Harder They Fall is one of those films that has promise of greatness and looks to be intriguing when you watch the trailer and see Idris Elba's face on screen, moreover the Netflix main menu screen. But then you begin to see that this film is not what you think it is and you slowly see that it's not all promising and at times, boring. Now, I'm a huge Western's fan been one my whole life started off with the Great John Wayne classic’s and loved watching any modern-day Western's like 3:10 to Yuma and Django Unchained. But, with this film it seems like the director James Samuel aka The Bullitts has never seen a Western and if he had, he obviously doesn't know what the audience wants when it comes to making a Western movie.

                                       When an outlaw discovers his enemy is being released from prison, he reunites his gang to seek revenge.

                                        It's a real complicated thing to talk about when you’re making a genre that has been around for a long time and is very traditional. I guess what I'm trying to explain is when you make a western you must follow certain laws of what makes a western movie or show work, and one of those examples is to tell the harshness of what makes westerns work, the theme. Westerns often stress the harshness and isolation of the wilderness, and frequently set the action in an arid, desolate landscape. Western films generally have specific settings, such as isolated ranches, Native American villages or small frontier towns with a saloon. Now granted this film has all of these aspects when it comes to making a western story it has revenge story, it provides constant small towns with a saloon's and it has some real life outlaws for which I've never heard of for which I give compliments, but the thing that throws me off about the film is that it’s more of a talking western than it is a traditional western, and sure you can say Quentin Tarantino changed some laws of Western genre but he was a student to Western films he took constant notes on what makes them great. This film is an example of more talk and less action, will lose some of your audience. Though granted there is some action in the film but very few of it, and I didn't realize it until I finally got to the maybe second act (I couldn't tell in all truthfulness) and there was about forty minutes to go, then I started to feel bored with the movie. And it really wasn't just the length of the film, it was also more of the characters making not so smart decisions in situations in which you'd get caught or taken hostage, and that's one of the rare few times I began to question in the films potential. And sure there are some action sequences but there were times I can look at an action sequence and tell that its predictable and the final shootout was a clear example of predictable and this was Outlaw against Outlaw, there shouldn't been any honorable motives among another outlaw there really should be no mercy especially one scene were both gals unload their guns and duke it out, in all honesty I was kind of hoping they would out least just unload their gun on their challenger when they realized they just lost. Now, I'm sorry if I am spoiling details in the ending of the movie but this was one of those twists that threw me out of it, just like Batman: Gotham by Gaslight, where the twist ending seemed stupid on so many levels. So, in the final confrontation of the movie, you'd think there would be a quick draw duel between our protagonist and Idris Elba, but of course we didn't get that, no we just have Elba in a monologue talking about his past and his father, AND THEN he reveals that him and the protagonist of the movie ARE BROTHERS! Which I was like OH HELL NO, moreover screaming F**K YOU, and I'm sorry but it's one of those things I couldn't accept because for starters it was way too late in the movie to address they both had the same father also when you have a final confrontation between the good guy and bad guy you have to have a quick draw duel, that's just simple as that we have to root for the protagonist till the very end but really when it came to this movie I just lost interest in every one of the characters in the movie. I give James Samuel some credit at least he had some good ideas made a good soundtrack, but when it comes to directing and telling a story in the old west, you must have a lot of action sequences and story motives to follow your good guys till the very end, and most importantly "show, don't tell" that’s really one of the golden rules to follow when you’re making a movie like this. I can't say that this was the worst movie I've seen because in all honesty I've seen far worst movies than this, but I would consider this one of the most boring films I've seen, deep down this film has some interesting ideas I like the fact that they have in all-star African American cast but the story itself just falls flat on itself after the first twenty minutes of the movie till the very end.  

      

August Recommendation: Hangmen also Die!

 

                             Well ladies and gentlemen I've finally come back from a long and needed vacation, not just saying it was a well needed day off all the madness around the world, but it was most needed. Though as luck would have it, I've finally took some time in finding some contenders for my August Recommendation, it went down with a horror film about being all by yourself and a World War II film noir, set in Czechoslovakia. Though it was my mom and Dad that got me into this great film noir set in World War II Czech. My Mom through her parents’ history came from a Czech background, with a lot of memories growing up through the years including WWII. So, like every movie guy would do I decided to finally take the time and watch this surprisingly great movie, directed by Fritz Lang, who I need to investigate tells the story of a real-life assassination on a Nazi officer who was an architect on the Holocaust, for which goes to great lengths of one Nazi death but trying to save countless lives of Czech citizens in retaliation.

                            During the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia, insurgent Franticek Svoboda (Brian Donlevy) assassinates the brutal German leader Reinhard Heydrich (Hans Heinrich von Twardowski). Svoboda escapes with the aid of a History Professor Stephan Novotny (Walter Brennan), but Novotny is then captured, along with 400 other Czechs, through the machinations of Nazi sympathizer Emil Czaka (Gene Lockhart). The Czech prisoners are then told that if Svoboda does not surrender, they will be executed.

                            One of the many films that blends perfectly with both World War II genre of film and the darkest worlds of film noir. What makes this film amazing and cleverly drawn, is that there's no good guy in this whole movie though granted the Czech Resistance is the good guy but there using extreme measures in terms of keeping their resistance a secret, moreover Hangmen also Die is more of a survivalist story of fighting a Nazi Regime while hiding in the shadows. To give a little brief history of the film, the movie is loosely based on the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich who was a number two man in the SS, moreover, was the chief mastermind behind the Holocaust though in real life he was assassinated Czech Resistance fighters who parachuted from a British plane in Operation Anthropoid. What also gives this film credit is that it was made during the wake of Heydrich's death during World War II, moreover, is a hand full of movies that show Hollywood not being afraid during that era to tell stories that happened in WW II. Fritz Lang director of the film was born in Vienna, Austria-Hungary around 1890, and lived majority of his life in the waking horrors of what Germany did during most of his life. When he arrived in Hollywood, Lang had been involved in the creation of the Hollywood Anti-Nazi League, for which he made four Anti-Nazi themed films including Hangmen also Die! And with this film Lang does such a great job establishing the world of Occupied Czechoslovakia where there is no reasoning with the Nazi's and even if you go to them, they will make your lives worse than they can possibly make it, during that time. Furthermore, Lang does a good job in not holding back any of the punches when it comes to the Nazi's brutalities in the film moreover does a great job with the third act in a way, I don't want to spoil it for anyone, though all I can say now I'm glad to of watch on of the first of many Fritz Lang's work and now in the hunt for finding more films he's made. I don't want to spoil anymore details about this great film, but it's an amazing gripping tale about having to make huge sacrifices in order to fight a regime that almost seemed unbeatable, and I would highly recommend watching this great film to anyone who’s big in both film noir and World War II films.