Five Nights at Freddy's

 

                                         

                                          The final scary movie to watch in the month of October and what a great way to review a movie I recently watched with the kiddo's at the movie theaters, and I'm not going to lie when I say this, but this movie I've seen with the kiddos, was a billion times better than the Meg 2, though that's not saying a whole lot about Meg 2 because anything I've seen in 2023 was better than Meg 2. Five Night's at Freddy's is based on a video game titled, Five Night's at Freddy's for which was a big surprised because I had no idea that it was before I was tasked by my brother to take the kid's to see this movie and from the words of my little niece whose a big fan of scary movies tells me that one of her friends plays the game at school, which to me is funny because I guess now you can get away with anything at school. Either way she tells me that her friend plays the game and wants to see the film so she can brag to her friend that she's seen it.

                                          A troubled security guard (Josh Hutcherson) begins working at Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria. While spending his first night on the job, he realizes the late shift at Freddy's won't be easy to make it through. 

                                          The game alone how I can describe it in a nutshell, it's basically a horror game (not like the Last of Us) where you basically sit in a security room making sure nothing happens to you with very little power, getting more to the point don't let the costume creatures get you. And I've done my homework and it's terrifying for there's no way in hell I'm wanting to play this game because I'm thirty-six and I got to worry about my health. Had I'd not known that the movie itself was co-written by the developer of the game Scott Cawthon, I'd probably be intrigued to see the movie because having the creator help write the screenplay brings a much special thing when adapting a video game like this, hell it would have been better if co-creator Ed Boon wrote the screenplay to 2021's Mortal Kombat. I do feel it's a little unfair that the film is receiving negative reviews because the film alone is not bad in fact I looked at the film as a surprising hidden gem that I never thought would be this good, I mean sure the acting alone is a bit ridiculous mainly coming from the evil aunt furthermore the scumbags being hired to trash the place which seems a bit over doing it especially when it comes to creating a creepy horror movie, for many reasons why would you go in a place like this. And sure the acting on that side is chewing the scenery but at the core of the movie it's also a sweet brother and sister story with the big brother with a troubled backstory trying in the best of his abilities to take care of his sister and I personally relate to that because I too worry about my own nieces and nephews at times moreover I got my own personal worries along the way, so really the story alone is relatable, and the way Josh Hutcherson was able to portray the character is without a doubt the best acting I've seen him do. But more importantly the film itself has a great mystery story to it as well along with a perfect twist to the reveal of the end. So, deep down I look at the film as a good movie that Alfred Hitchcock would have directed if he had the resources and this movie alone needs to be an important example of you want to create a suspenseful/creepy film, this was a great example. I was surprised by this movie's story and looked at it as one of the best hidden treasures I've seen in 2023, and with Halloween season ending I would highly recommend watching this, and you will most certainly not be disappointed.  

     

October Recommendation: Sleepy Hollow

 

                                  I had other October Recommendations to see when it came for a Halloween themed film. Though really it became clear after finishing childhood Sleepy Hollow films and TV that Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow would no doubt be my recommendation for the month of October. Sure there was The Adventures of Ichabod Crane and Mr. Toad via 1949 but no debate the greatest movie adaption has always been Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow, staring Johnny Depp and Christina Ricci (who I was surprised was 19 when staring in the film) along with an incredible list of supporting actors from Michael Gambon aka Harry Potter, Christopher Lee aka Christopher Lee, Ian McDiarmid aka Emperor Palpatine, along with Michael Gough aka Alfred from the first two Batman films Burton directed and Christopher Walken as well as the ever talented, underappreciated Stunt man Ray Park.

                                  Set in 1799, "Sleepy Hollow" is based on Washington Irving's classic tale "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." Faithful to the dreamy custom-bound world that Irving paints in his story, the film mixes horror, fantasy and romance and features an extraordinary cast of characters that dabble in the supernatural. 

                                   Granted it's been quite a long time since I watched this Tim Burton classic but no doubt this is the greatest and only faithful adaption to Sleepy Hollow I've ever seen, and this is it's only film about Irving's classic tale so there's no mystery that none of the film producers out there today would ever touch this film and try to remake it, and even if they did how can you really capture the magic and the story Tim Burton himself created in the first place? And to sum up that answer you really can't for many reasons, you'd try to do something different and it would never work. Why it wouldn't work mainly because writer Andrew Kevin Walker really sat down and created a version of Sleepy Hollow that makes the most sense of any story but more importantly stayed true to the source material as well. The way the film itself was developed started around 1993, Kevin Yagher, a make-up designer who had turned to directing with Tales from the Crypt, had the notion to adapt Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow into a feature film. Through his agent, Yagher was introduced to Andrew Kevin Walker; they spent a few months working on the film's treatment that transformed Ichabod Crane from a schoolmaster from Connecticut to a banished New York City detective. And really the idea of making Crane a detective is the most genius idea moreover making the film alone as a mystery film that that blends both horror and the supernatural in the best way possible. Also, it makes the perfect sense of creating a story into film because if you made this guy the same as he was in the short story it wouldn't be interesting to watch on film I mean sure it would work on Shelley Duvall's Tall Tale and Legends show, but on film it would be a disaster. Now, the way I was introduced to the movie was of course through Dish on Demand previews furthermore notice the R rating on the preview and thought to myself "well of course I wasn't going to see it" though through the course of like a year I ended up seeing it mainly because my brother said it wasn't scary moreover not gory so in the end I got around to watching it back then and was obsessed with the movie, I mean it was one of the many few movies that came out in 1999 that I though was great and amazing at the same time and also learned that Ray Park was the Headless Horseman so that was a bigger plus because he was one of the greatest villain's in the Star Wars Universe hence Darth Maul. Surprisingly, this was the first movie I was introduced to Johnny Depp though to be fair there maybe a few in terms of Dish On Demand previews though in all fairness those don't count so Sleepy Hollow was my first Johnny Depp film, moreover I would defiantly rank this in his top five best performances for many reasons, I love the fact that is portrayal of Crane is yes true to the character in terms of his being afraid but is also brave as well as really smart when it comes to solving murders. But most importantly he's also got a great list of supporting actors including the late great Michael Gambon whose most remembered for Dumbledore, but his greatness in the film was him telling the story of the Headless Horseman, and really him telling that origin story I kind of wished he was narrating more books. Though the Late Christopher Lee's performance in the movie is very slim he also does a great job in the first act of the movie sending Depp's character to Sleepy Hollow and the same goes to Ian McDiarmid does a great job despite his role being small as well. Which leads us finally to the Horseman himself or two of them, Christopher Walken and Ray Park starting first with Christopher Walken, I honestly don't know how Burton decided to cast Walken as the Horseman but really was genius for many reasons mainly is that he gives Walken chompers along with the wig and tells him "look Chris this is a small role so all I want you to do is just roar and I'm afraid to be the bear of bad news but that's your only lines", now that's just an assumption but it makes perfect sense, for which leads us to Ray Park aka Darth Maul, now yes Walken plays the Horseman with a head but I have to believe that Ray Park was the main stunt double for Walken's fight sequences because there's no way he would be able to do all of the sword and ax twirling was done by Park, and really all the praise goes to Park because along with Walken he helped create whole presence of the Headless Horseman moreover brings a lot of character especially when it comes to his fighting style and how he walks and rides, even a great scene where he butchers a family we hear his spur's which brings a extra level of awesome because it's like the grim reaper coming into you're house ready to kill you in you're sleep, and really that's what make Ray Park such a great character actor and stunt man because he is able to transform himself into the character not using words but using appearance as his strong suit on screen. Now granted I had to close all the logic out of my head because yes the movie is a fantasy/horror movie but when it comes to the action sequences it's really amusing how the Headless Horseman is able to craft a scorpion spear without a head. Having watched the film for the first time in quite a while, I have to say this was a great murder mystery film from start to finish it plays out great as a who done it story moreover is a great visual stunning set piece that I believe everyone will enjoy and despite that the film is an R rating I would also tell all the parents out there that this is an appropriate movie for the kids and yes it may sound crazy but I also have a niece that watches scary movies furthermore is in the fourth grade and this movie alone she would say is a great movie to watch on Halloween.                       

Movies I haven't seen in a While: Tower of Terror

 

                                          HEY LOOK! I found a Halloween hidden gem buried deep into the wonders of YouTube, based off one of the greatest Disney rides ever created at Disney World's resort in Orlando Florida. Tower of Terror (the ride) in my mind is without a doubt one of the top five greatest Disney rides of all time and I can say that because I've been to Disney World twice and it's defiantly a great thing going on that ride. I've always said before once you go to any of the Disney Theme parks you will never appreciate any other rides or theme parks out there. And I've never been to the Tower of Terror till like the summer of 2003, and so the only way I can really experience those kinds of things was watching a movie based on the ride. For which I present to you Disney's movie adaptation to Tower of Terror.

                                       A journalist (Steven Guttenberg) and helpers (Kirsten Dunst and Nia Peeples) investigates a 1939 mystery in which five people vanished from a hotel elevator on Halloween. 

                                        Though I'll admit it's been quite a long time since I watched this hidden gem, and yes it does have some bizarre questions in terms of the protagonist's profession of making up stories on a so called newspaper for which in all honesty I remember going to grocery stores all the time and seeing some strange gossip papers that I didn't believe to be true so, deep down there really is or might be a profession out there although I'm not for sure if it's still out there even though I have no clue how they would get away with that such profession. Now the movie itself is a family movie with very slowness in terms of scenes and dialogue but it still has that fun-ish way of telling a story about helping the past find some closure in life moreover trying overcome obstacles in life, but more importantly has a good story about jealousy and forgiveness that I believe the rest of the family can enjoy. But most importantly the film itself does have a fantastic list of actors starting with Scott Guttenberg who’s infamous with the Police Academy films, furthermore does a great job playing this duchy guy but with a good heart. And a side from Guttenberg you also have two recognizable actresses, an up-and-coming in Kirsten Dunst who had a ton of movies under her belt with Interview with a Vampire, Jumanji and Small Soldiers and sure she was a little over the top in terms of accusing people, but she was really the best part about the movie. And most importantly you get the most surprising actress in the movie Melora Hardin aka Jan, for the Office for which was a big surprise because I do remember seeing her in the film while back and this was when the Office was still a big thing and I do believe she as well does a great job in the movie being this strong woman who sympathies with Guttenberg's character although in a strange way but in the end does. Another unappreciative actor that's been in a lot of shows and movies in the 90's is Mike McShane who was in a lot of like family films or shows most notably the side character of the Lawrence Brothers (Joey Lawrence, Matthew Lawrence and Andy Lawrence) show called Brotherly Love and the family movie about Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn titled Tom and Huck,  and along with Tower of Terror but also was in small role in Office Space moreover played Friar Tuck in Kevin Costner's Robin Hood and then, the poor guy just disappeared from the media though I guess he did a lot of voice acting from then on. Even McShane does a great job playing the lovable goof ball that's doesn't want to set foot in the haunted hotel but in the end helps the ghost cross over. The production itself is really a mystery mainly because there's not a whole lot of what I can find, but I assume that some of the film was either shot on California or in Florida and I'm guessing they filmed in Florida because they would film at the ride itself because in all honesty they had to get the exterior shots of the Hotel, but really they did a fantastic job with interior shots of the hotel making more believable just like the ride itself when you're waiting in line itself so major props to the filmmakers and production designers of bringing the whole look of the ride to life. Despite being a TV movie, the film alone is really entertaining until the final frame and more importantly is a great nostalgia movie that brings you back to when Disney was a simple company and not just a money-grubbing whore that would annoy the husband and would take a good chunk of the alimony every year of your life. Though according to Wikipedia, "As of 2023, the film is not available on any streaming service or aired on any television channels for unknown reasons though maybe related to the films production under a dual partnership, MGM is now owned by Amazon, which is in a direct streaming competition with Disney's Disney + service". So, there's a reason why I found this movie on YouTube and another great reason why the film alone has been disappeared just like the main characters to the Tower of Terror ride, although you can find the movie on Amazon as a DVD copy so if you have a DVD player you can defiantly purchase it furthermore it's also under ten bucks. Having relived this silly entertaining ninety-minute movie I would most certainly recommend watching this movie if you want to relive your childhood like me, and I surprisingly go my niece into loving the movie so that's a positive effect to this forgotten hidden gem of a film.

           

Evil Toons

 

                                           One of the many movies, I'm going to look back on and say that I'd rather let the guys at Red Letter Media watch these kinds of movies and make the jokes on their own because to God's truth I couldn't find anything new to say. Evil Toons was another one of those B-movies that Red Letter Media reviewed on one of their Halloween episodes on YouTube, moreover, learning it that it was on Freevee which is basically Amazon's way of subscribing to their streaming service and yet you can have this free service that contains free movies and shows. Now Evil Toons from what I can describe is probably one of the best descriptions of a sleazy director making a film about half naked women running around in almost nothing. But has one of the greatest movies opening with David Carradine and don't you worry will get to that later.

                                         Four Sorority sisters get more than they bargained for when they agree to renovate a haunted mansion.

                                          Now the half-naked women weren’t what sold me to this movie I just want to assure everyone that was not the main reason. And trust me if I'd told you that was the main reason, then it would be insanely sad and moreover pathetic for which that's a lot to say about the movie itself. The real reason of why I wanted to sit down and watch the movie was that it foresaw the foreseeable future of David Carradine's death. And if you don't remember how David Carradine died, the man basically hanged himself while masturbating to what maybe porn or some bizarre deadly sex play though either way the first opening scene of the movie is David Carradine hanging himself for no apparent reason nor explanation and I couldn't help but laughing because it was so unexpected and it looked like he was fully committed to hang himself. And sure yes you can feel bad because yes the man died, but here's the thing the man didn't die of actual suicide because the man was happy with his life and loved doing what he did as an actor but again he basically hanged HIMSELF OF STRANGE EROTIC FANTASY! which it's been a good 14 years since the event took place but come on, if that doesn't give you a good laugh I don't know what does and if you don't have a sense of humor then my friend that's on you. Furthermore that was it with the movie for many reasons it was just flat out dull because again it just a bunch of bimbos half naked running around a mansion trying to be funny moreover breaking a spell to destroy this only cartoon which again I don't understand why this has a cartoon though in all honesty Who Framed Roger Rabbit came out in 1988, so in fairness that was basically Hollywood's attempt to make another one of these kinds of films though this is a porno without the sex. Speaking of director Fred Olen Ray, this guy is defiantly a sleaze ball because when through the course of this guy's filmography he's directed a ton of pornos for which he changed his name in those film credits but once I looked that up, I was like "okay that makes sense of why this movie, is what it is". Although the movie has one of the greatest comedic openings for a movie buff like me for which for saw how David Carradine died but, deep this movie was just dull and lame mostly boring because what again the things that make bad movies funny is that their unintentionally funny and this movie was trying way too hard to be funny and that's the biggest problem with the movie alone. Now seeing this movie I'm now going to just let the guys at Red Letter Media watch these bad films and come up with the jokes.

         

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow through childhood Media

 

                                         With the season of Halloween among us moreover a time for fall, pumpkin spice everything hopefully not everything. I figured why not take a dive back into my childhood of spooky media that I grew up watching. Now, if you were my age you'd grew up with some of these mild-mannered family themed Halloween movies or shows and really one of them was this TV special created by someone I'd never expect, Shelley Duvall and TV-esh show was titled Shelley Duvall presents American Tall Tales & Legends and one of first episodes was the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, for which this was my first introduction to that story of a school teacher whose chased by a mysterious Horseman without a head. And so, now re-watching this hidden gem I got to admit this really wasn't all bad, in fact I was impressed with some of the set designs they were able to do in terms of visuals moreover the look and feel to it that really brought back a nostalgia to it that I never expect to come back. And really, if you we're my age again these were the shows and movies that you'd grew up watching because my parents would never in a million years let me watch A Nightmare on Elm Street or The Shining so, this was one of these things I was allowed to watch. The impressive factor of this version of Sleepy Hollow was that Beverly D'Angelo plays Katrina Van Tassel for which I completely forgot but was impressed with her portrayal mainly because I look back on Vacation looking down on how dumb her husband was is a little on the surreal. Even to the ending of this episode it's still interesting the way they were able to adapt this into TV show about American legends for many reasons if you were wanting to adapt this as its true format I don't think you'd get a better story wise on film then you would TV and thank God for Tim Burton in being able to make it a mystery film. 

                            

                          Another one of those movies/shows that I grew up watching when it comes to the story of Sleepy Hollow, was the Adventures of Ichabod and Mister Toad, which really is not at all true because Mister Toad was an insane Toad that's blowing off his money like a stockbroker blowing his drug money on cocaine. Though let’s be honest it's Walt Disney so he had to of come up with a title that would work in the fifties. Though again if you'd get past the story about Mister Toad, which is really about a Toad who spends so much money on things he doesn't need and for some reason is accused of a crime he didn't commit but any way this is all about Sleepy Hollow so we're skipping Mister Toad and talking about Ichabod Crane. Like, the Tall Tales & Legends version it's basically the same premise where the schoolteacher Crane is trying to win the affections of Katrina for which his rival Brom Bones is trying to do the same for which leads to one night on Halloween, fate occurs when you bring up a spooky legend of the Headless Horseman. Now before I forget anything the Legend of Sleepy Hollow was in fact based on a short story by Washington Irving, and having watched the Tall Tales version and the Disney version I kind of thought in my own point of view that the character of Ichabod Crane is a generous man but is also a superstitious man who is for some reason is afraid of nighttime moreover can't get any sleep at all for which is strange to me because I even I don't know how that makes any sense in terms of how that can be portrait and deep down I think the better portrayal of Crane if I had to compare these two nostalgia themed movies and episodes is definitely Disney's version because in Shelley Duvall's show they kind of over did it in terms of Crane's paranoia with the night time although it's funny but a little confused as to why they would think that was funny. Having relived some of these childhood movies and shows, I’m not going to lie in how fun it was to look back on these media to Sleepy Hollow and now I have the need to re-watch Tim Burton's Sleepy Hollow because I'd truly would say that is probably the best version of Washington Irving's short story, for many reasons if you portrait-ed it the way Irving did, you wouldn't have a better version of Sleepy Hollow. Now, I don't know if I would recommend the kids in wanting to watch these hidden gems, for many reasons kids now a days are just watching everything that there is no way at all they would want to watch these media but if you're a grown man like me who loves reliving the nostalgia with movies and shows I'd highly recommend watching these hidden gems of Sleepy Hollow.     

Repo! The Genetic Opera

 

                                        This ladies and gentleman, is a movie I remember in 2008, and looked at it as a movie that I would never in a million years wanted to watch and this was 2008, the year Dark Knight became a box office success moreover I was 22 years old. Through years of movie watching behind me, furthermore it was on Tubi a streaming service where anyone can use when it comes to free things though must put up with commercials or ads. Repo! The Genetic Opera is one of those movies that I still have no idea of how producers can look at this movie and simply say "yes will defiantly green light this movie".  For many reasons yes, it's a musical and yes has a lot of science fiction elements to the film, but also has this Gothic/heavy metal feel to it, and it's really, really, weird.

                                        In the mid-21st century, an epidemic of organ failures leads to the rise of GenCo., a company providing transplants at a great price. Those who miss their payments become targets of GenCo. mercenaries, who repossess the organs. In a world of drug addiction and legalized murder, a sheltered youth (Alexa Vega) seeks cure for her rare diseases as well as information about her family's mysterious history. Her questions are answered at "The Genetic Opera."

                                        What makes the film weird is how producers can look at a based rock musical, but also a carbon copy of the Rocky Horror Picture Show and sure I've never seen it but I'm confident it has Tim Curry who’s either a man or woman for which either way is unimportant. Yes, I've seen previews moreover images of Rocky Horror Picture Show furthermore can look at a movie like Repo! The Genetic Opera and see how clearly it has the same feel as Rocky Horror Picture Show, but is also a gothic, rock, horror, musical that contains some decent actors one who’s a real singer and one who does not belong in acting nor should of been allowed to sing as well because she's a horrible singer. Now if you’re having trouble on who I'm talking about don't worry it's Paris Hilton whose one of the cast members in the movie, and so if you were me in a teenager or a college man you'd be hearing of the Hilton sisters both Paris and Nicky Hilton (Nicky was mostly a twin sister that didn't have a whole lot of quote on quote fame so she doesn't matter) and they would always appear on the Red Carpet on movie premieres' or Award shows, like these two broads were so rich and famous for being part of the Hilton family of hotels & resorts moreover Paris was at the center of that but like Kim Kardashian she also had a sex tape that made her even more famous plus gave her a bunch of reality shows, came out with her own music album titles Paris, with her only one hit wonder Stars Go Blind for which leads us to Repo! The Genetic Opera because whoever was the casting director heard her album moreover her past acting films where she died in almost every movie. And really when Repo was coming out in 2008, it was her singing that was so cringe and felt like you’re watching a car crash as well as a train wreck that you can't stop but watch, and this was 08, that I was like yeah I'm not going to watch this, until now I figured this wasn't going to hurt me but it does ask me questions of why? Why in God's name would you cast a rich socialite like Paris Hilton with not talent no experience in acting or singing, TO BE IN YOU'RE MOVIE? Either way it doesn't matter when it comes to Paris Hilton because I found a satisfying fact that she won a Golden Raspberry Award for worst performance in a supporting role so, deep down there are good people out there to say that Hilton was the worst choice. The other thing in what makes me question why to green light a movie like Repo, is that this was a gothic Rock musical and you remember all the South Park episodes where they included like four Goth kids and are just like "ah I hate my parents, f*ck life, call me night pain" and I even remember a few kids in my High School class that were all about wearing over dramatic makeup and donning black hoodies which is in sane really in how that memory came out into the open moreover that's basically what this movie really is, in a future we've all tuned into lame Goth people where our favorite store is Hot Topic and thank God that this movie was set in the year 2056 because if I woke up into that world I wouldn't hesitate to jump off the ledge. I do question everyone in the movie sinking because they cast the only Opera singer in the movie Sarah Brightman whose resume dates back to Andrew Lloyd Webber's first Phantom of the Opera does a good job in this movie which really is the only compliment I can really give, but also cast like Paul Sorvino whose best known for Martin Scorsese's Goodfellas for which I'm curious if he really did sing in the movie for many reasons the guy is Italian and all Italian's can sing at an Opera level though really it's not a big deal of a question to ask because I'm not going to watch this film again. There will be times where I am not feeling the need or wanting to watch a movie but when a weird movie comes around 97 minutes long, you can't resist because you never know if you find something that's refreshing moreover can't resist in embracing how strange the film is furthermore can't help in watching the train wreck singing that is Paris Hilton. So, if you're a Goth person who wears nothing but black, has black hair, wears way too much make up, love going to Hot Topic, have a hatred for your parents and life? Well, then this movie is without a doubt your cup of blood tea. 

          

                                             

Piranha

 

                                          Well, we're nearly getting close to Halloween season, and I figured why not talk about a movie that was trying to be the next Jaws franchise but no doubt the most awful yet very sad thing to watch when you look at the movie itself. Piranha in 1978, was supposed to be kind of the next Jaws movie, in that it's about a killer fish that stalks the waters and kills people lurking in the waters, hell I'm surprised we didn't have a movie yet were a killer whale comes out of the water's molests kids and eats them but I guess we live in a safe space of a generations where we can't do that anymore. Either way, Piranha was another one of those B-movie nights with my brother where we both are trying to expand our horizons and, in the end, I'm glad I got to watch the original Piranha before they made remakes of the film back in 2010, for many reasons the real one being I absolutely hate this movie from start to finish.

                                          When thousands of military hybrid piranhas are accidentally released into a children's Holiday camp uses, the race is on to get downstream before the flesh-eating fish do. 

                                          Now the film itself was supposed to be this parody of the classic 1975, Jaws. And yet the main problem I had with the movie was this supposed to be some sort of comedy or a low-budget horror movie? And really if this was supposed to be a comedic parody to Jaws than they really failed miserably at it, especially when it comes to making this funny or unintentionally funny, and if this was supposed to be the next Horror spin from Jaws then they did a mediocre job because a lot of what happens in the movie is so what funny but is like "are you kidding me?" Like there are certain ways to make this scary or funny, I mean maybe the couple who go skinny dipping are drinking some booze then the dude spills some on her girl and she's like "oh well I guess I'm going to have to take my top off", because really this movie is supposed to be a knock off to Jaws so why not just make it more ridiculousness, like a beach party where everyone is playing strip volleyball or an entire plank set on fire and women are trapped on it and they remove their tops to the life guard in order to get attention, and granted those ideas alone would probably make the film worst but it would be better than what the creators were doing with this movie. Sure some of the mistakes in the movie are funny but really when you watch the whole movie you slowly get annoyed about how bad the mistakes continue, a great example of that was when our main protagonists along with a mad scientist (who was responsible of the Piranha's) helps save a kid risking his life and instead of pulling out a half corpse they pulled out a full bodied corpse that looked like it was bitten all over and decided to half ass and not eat half of the corpse, which sure this is a low budget movie but yet you're able to have a full squad of military cast as well as van's and jeeps which is like really, you couldn't just mold a half of a corpse that was devoured by a bunch of piranha's? Which is beyond me to grasp that understanding especially when this is a low budget horror movie. Moreover, the attack on a kid’s camp is just barbaric and find it unnecessary, because really, I would of wished other ways to have that big piranha attack but really not attacking kids, maybe teenagers or college f*ck ups for many reasons one of them they make poor decisions and you feel good inside. A side from this being produced by Roger Corman, it still doesn't change the fact this was one of those cliched, flawed horror movies that wasn't funny at all in terms of how badly made the movie was moreover taking so long in terms of story wise also being super obnoxious of what this movie is supposed to be is one of the many reasons why I would never want to watch this film ever again and more importantly would never recommend to anyone to watch.

                                                          

Where Eagles Dare

 

                                  

                                One of the many films my dad can point at and say that this is his favorite movie furthermore one of his favorite Clint Eastwood movies. Where Eagles Dare is one of those movies, I've seen though has been ages since I've seen it, and granted all I remember is so many plot twists of who is who and not having a good clue of what is going on. Now having watched the movie I'll admit I understand a tiny bit of the movie but still don't have a good idea of the whole concept of who is who, and really has to do with the accents, but it wasn't just that when there was a huge amount of green screen format in terms of if the background is real or not, which really if your restoring a movie to a better format, maybe leave it to a standard format not a high definition format.

                                A team of Allied soldiers stages a daring rescue mission during World War II, a U.S. General is being held captive in an imposing castle fort, high in the Bavarian Alps. The audacious plan calls for Lt. Schaffer (Clint Eastwood), Maj. Smith (Richard Burton) and other operatives to parachute down wearing Nazi disguises. They'll penetrate the mountain outpost while undercover operatives assist them from within. But their mission changes when they discover that there's a traitor in their midst.

                                Richard Burton who was still married to Elizabeth Taylor at the time, said in his own words "I decided to do the picture, because Elizabeth's two sons said they were fed up with me making films they weren’t allowed to see, or in which I get killed. They wanted me to kill a few people instead." So, Burton approached producer Elliot Kastner "and asked him if he had some super-hero stuff where I don't get killed in the end." Now I don't know what the producer told him, but if it were me I would of told Burton that you're way too good to be a super-hero just star in a World War II movie, just like when Steven Spielberg and George Lucas where on vacation in Hawaii together Spielberg told him that he wanted to make a James Bond movie, then Lucas said I got a much better idea for you Steven, which lead to Raiders of the Lost Ark. The film itself to me is still an entertaining war movie from start to finish, like I'll admit I had my thoughts on what this movie was before I watched it, as if the movie was a special operations unit infiltrating a large Castle and the task force have to fight their way out at the end of the movie for which has a great action sequences in the film, though the story itself is somewhat confusing to me moreover maybe just leave a movie to a standard definition and not restore it, to a high definition format, but will get to that later. Like in actual normal sense of telling a war story whether you're in a Great War or WWII setting, you usually have to set in in a simplest of storytelling for which in Where Eagles Dare's simplest storyline, a joint operation is tasked with rescuing a General with time not their sides they have to infiltrate whatever it takes and fight their way out to succeed in the mission that's it well, once we get through the end of the second act to the beginning of the third act it appears that three British operatives are spies or not spies though I'm not going to tell who, but the whole concept of who is a traitor just confuses me mainly because they all sound British and I strongly doubt that any Englishman would ever side with Nazi Germany during World War II, but on the other hand this is a late sixties movie and when it comes to accents it's basically out of the question during those kind of sixties films and yet it would help to understand the story if all the British traitors were disguising their German accents moreover that would make the story more sense to me but the fact that Burton says that everyone is a traitor then says they’re not traitors I just feel like saying "okay Burton you're losing me right now", hell in all honesty the only character I can relate to the most is Clint Eastwood's character because he was more confused about the mission as I was so in all honesty I feel for Eastwood's character through the course of the movie. The other thing that bothers me about the movie is that some of the scenes are shot via green screen and a lot of those scenes are when Eastwood and Burton are riding on the escalator for which we have what maybe the most boring suspense full scene ever, because it feels like it's taking for hours and all their doing is focusing on Eastwood and Burton riding on the escalator and their only half way and I'm having anxiety growing inside me because I feel like I'm about to scream in terms of how bored I'm getting, then we have another scene where he's fighting with two other traitors and it's like the ziplining episode of South Park and I'm Cartman screaming "I'M SO F**KING BORED", and again the fact that they're shot on green screen and we can see that the background shots look fake but again after watching the film again I really can't help but laughing because it wasn't meant to be funny and yet this film was made in the late sixties moreover commencing the new era where Richard Nixon becomes President of the United States. But the important fact I should add is that the scenes featuring the castle and the cable car together were filmed using a scale model, so yeah, I guess I can understand not being able to shoot it for real or well, either way the more I'm talking about the possibilities the more I'm losing my mind so I'm just going to drop it right now. A side from the two flaws I have with the film I still consider it a great action packed war movie, hell even rank this in my top ten best war films, because again some of the action sequences are great to see, moreover I was impressed with their ways of finding ways out of the castle as well as planning their escape route to me that's just genius to see, I mean that would be situations I would be planning if I was a special operative. Both Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood were each of them have the great veteran and young inexperience chemistry is just great for them to portray on screen. So, if you're a war movie fan like I am, I would defiantly recommend watching this epic WWII film, because really, I've seen a lot of war movies and this film I defiantly see as one of the top ten best war films of all time. 

 

                                        

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

 

                                You know you're getting old when you play a first-person shooter like Call of Duty, and it gets way too realistic to the point where even at the easiest of levels you're having a hard time trying to get through the levels. Now, I know that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 came out years ago, but I just finally got my Playstation 5, and one of the few games I wanted to play on the PS5. And granted I never played much of the first reinvented Modern Warfare, but I slowly began to realize that yes, the whole marketing campaign is to make it more realistic just like real Special Ops films would but honesty it becomes tiring when you're playing the game at easy level and you're still trying to snipe the guy without getting caught.

                                If you haven't played the original Modern Warfare 2 game it's basically the same story line as this game with a lot of betrayals, with a blend of stealth and role-playing game, though working on computers without getting caught.

                                Now I know the advancement in technology is booming and we're at the point where we want to see real life things in video games but here's the thing. Nobody wants to live like the Navy Seals in Zero Dark Thirty or the CIA, and sure it's fun to do some of these stealth modes or crafting smoke bombs as a distraction but when you're making the gameplay mode as realistic as possible you just lose the sole purpose of what your bread, and butter is. And sure I'm speaking like in old man but I'm too old to even want to be a skilled gamer when it comes to playing first person shooter's, what I want for video games to be for me is something where I can relax from a rough day at work where I can just fire my assault rifle at anyone I want, basically going on a fake killing rampage, but when you're trying to have me to stealth mode where I have to spend a good hour or two with no weapons or any suppressors to take out my enemies then I'm about thirty seconds of losing my patience moreover wanting to be done with the game as soon as possible. Now I'm not saying the campaign mode is bad in all moreover I actually had fun playing the game moreover thought it was wise to respect a good portion of the characters like Ghost for example to be a mysterious character and not killed off right away, but what the new Modern Warfare games now are missing are a lot of some of the spec ops modes and survival modes where you have to earn stars and have to survive moreover beat the level furthermore that was one of the few things that made the original modern warfare games fun, now it just feels like you have to be a full fledge shooter when it comes to playing Call of Duty. Now I'm not saying that the game is bad actually I look at it as a good game with some clever stealth and interrogation modes that puts you on the edge of your seat in terms of "oh crap, this is serious so I better know what to say and what not to say", another great example of something new and different is the "Alone" mission where you simply have no guns no knives or anything to defend yourself all you have is Ghost guiding you through the level and you have to craft certain things or explosives to get you through the level, speaking of explosives one of the bombs I do have a problem is one where you have to use a mouse trap and plant the bomb as a way to lure you're enemies which what is the whole point of this device when you're trying to avoid your enemy that's tasked to kill you and the "Alone" mission isn't the only one you have to do in terms of stealth by the end of the game you have to avoid your enemies with the same thing of no guns or knives but you also have to disarm nuclear device, and really those are some interesting ways to make the levels on the edge of your seat, for which I do like despite it might be a while before I come back and play Modern Warfare 2. Although I don't look at Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 as a bad game in fact I thought it was an entertaining game a side with the same characters from the original plus the same storyline idea's, but this latest installment of Call of Duty shows that I'm officially getting old playing these newly realistic first person shooter's and granted I may be playing the next installment in Modern Warfare franchise but it will probably be a while when the price of the game itself goes down. Also, don’t get me started on multiplayer. I refuse to play with kids that play games and are way better than me.

  

                                   

September Recommendation: American Graffiti

 

                                        Well, the school year has started for a lot of kids and adult teachers and yeah school should be starting around the first month of September but in Nebraska we usually start around the last week in the month of August, don't ask me why it's basically how it's always been though out my years in Central Nebraska. But I'm not here to talk about school starting or ending when it comes to Central Nebraska. I figured with school commencing in August or September I wanted to recommend a film about high school kids moreover directed by George Lucas who gave us Star Wars. And you're probably surprised that George Lucas, the man who made one of the greatest movie franchises and well when you're trying to be a starting filmmaker George Lucas had to make films like American Graffiti in order to get an audience with producers back then so he can just say "hey I made this aspiring film for all kids I want to make this" moreover this was defiantly one of the better teenage movies I've ever seen because after watching so much crap of Friday Night Lights or remembering watching the O.C. I now must point at this movie and say that this movie is amazing and, it's fifty years old so Happy Anniversary American Graffiti.

                                        On the last day of summer vacation in 1962, friends Curt (Richard Dreyfuss), Steve (Ron Howard), Terry (Charles Martin Smith), and John (Paul Le Mat) cruise the street of small-town California while a mysterious disc jockey (Wolfman Jack) spin classic Rock’n’roll tunes. It's the last night before their grown-up lives begin, and Steve's high school sweetheart, a hot-to-trot trouble, a bratty adolescent and a disappearing angel in a Thunderbird provide all excitement they can handle. 

                                         I know I've been bashing teenage drama's left and right for good moreover real reasons teenage drama's now a days are just God awfully bad and the more you grow up, re-watching some of these movies you use to love you slowly began to realize that these are not as good as they once were, it's like Creed and Matchbox Twenty they use to be my favorite bands growing up now I can't listen to them anymore. Or a better example is Varsity Blues and TV show Felicity starring Kerri Russell, you watched those movies and shows because of the characters and the drama but then you slowly realize that this is just bad. The best way to explain this badness is that they just keep over dramatizing the story, I mean come on Kerri Russell in the last season of Felicity goes back in time for some bizarre reason and a star QB breaks up with his cheerleader girlfriend when she cheated on him, then later gets back together then decides to cheat on her in the last few episodes of the first season of Friday Night Lights, I mean if that's being a little on the over dramatic side of creating drama I don't know what is anymore. And with American Graffiti, this is a great example of keeping that coming-of-age story to a simplest of forms just a bunch of kids spending what maybe their final lives as teenagers until they're to grasp the nature of adult life, with a kiss of some greatest hits from the sixties. Granted this was the first time watching American Graffiti and to be truthfully honest I wished I watched it a lot sooner because you have a great list of actors that would one day become legendary actors in their own right moreover great film makers, you have Richard Dreyfuss who does a great job in the movie moreover two years later would be in Lucas's best friends next film Jaws. Ron Howard who of course was famous for a lot of things as an actor but then would become a great filmmaker with films like Apollo 13, and Rush. And let’s not forget the legendary actor Harrison Ford who at the time was just focusing on a carpentry career and yet fate grasped him with a better purpose in life and in all honesty Harrison Ford's career in film was a lot owed to George Lucas because without Lucas's ideas we would not of had a better Han Solo or a better Indiana Jones. The making of the films is a lot more interesting than I can image, although granted I've heard about them while reading or listening to books. With the inspiration behind American Graffiti, it all started during the production of Lucas's first film THX-1138, producer Francis Ford Coppola really challenged George to write a script that would appeal a mainstream audience, and Lucas really embraced the idea of using his early 1960's teenage experience cruising around in Modesto, California. Lucas in his own words explained "cruising was gone, and I felt compelled to document the whole experience and what my generation used as way of meeting girls", and through the course of developing the story he comprised of the four main characters he really based them all on his high school years and his college years for which really when you think about it that's really a great way of splitting yourself into different characters I'd say is a great way to developing a story especially when you’re making a coming of age story set around a bunch of high school kids. And even with coming into making American Graffiti, Lucas learned a valuable lesson after the financial failure of THX-1138, in what he explains "THX was about real things that were going on and the problems we're faced with. I realized after making THX that those problems are so real that most of us must face those things every day, so we're in a constant state of frustration. That just makes us more depressed than we were before. So I made a film where, we can get rid of some of those frustrations, the feeling that everything seems futile", and really that's a good way when it comes to making movies because some of those deep movies that Martin Scorsese makes I never really quite got into those movie's mainly because I wasn't old enough moreover ready to experience those kind of films and the same with No Country for Old Men, when I first watched the movie never quite understood the movie for many reasons I was always use to the bad guy dying at the end of the movie not getting away with murder. Now I'm not say that some of those deep movies should have those elements, but really as an audience member should wait on those movie's to experience those movies at a right age, and Lucas was really all about was trying to leave our problems outside of the movie theater and experience a film were we can experience a new world, furthermore you really should keep this as an open mind but, the problem with movies now there just coming out with the same movie every year of superhero's, remakes, twenty years in the making sequels that it's really hard to take them seriously and yet the real problem is that writers are just getting way too lazy to come up with things that I'm really starting to think that this whole writers’ strike is really their fault because there not taking their jobs seriously to not just sit down and create something new and different. American Graffiti is a movie that I would highly recommend watching with your kids to experience and enjoy from start to finish, moreover this is a true representation of how you write a coming-of-age story, it's both comedy and drama at the same time furthermore it's a great reason to show people that other teen dramas are just way to much like soap opera's meaning way to annoying. Also, the film itself inspired the show Happy Days so props to George Lucas because without him we wouldn't have Henry Winkler in his finest performance as Fonzie. Though more importantly without American Graffiti we wouldn't be having or love for old cars moreover having old car shows that happens all over America so another reason to thank George Lucas, for Star Wars and giving us are love for old cars.

                 

    

Bloodsport

 

                                        Another classic martial arts film, in preparation of the latest Mortal Kombat game release, is a cult classic that launched the stardom of Jean Claude Van Damme title Bloodsport. Van Damme stars as a real life American martial artist who entered a deadly martial arts tournament in Hong Kong. Like, Enter the Dragon, the creators of MK borrow a lot of elements from Bloodsport, most notably the character of Johnny Cage is purely based purely on Jean Claude Van Damme's character on Bloodsport from his fighting style of play to even his infamous punch to the man's nuts and berries. Bloodsport is defiantly one of those films that's entertaining from start to finish but most notably have the pure 80's action vibes that it contains from every mindless action film from the 80's but will get to that later right now let's dive deep into Bloodsport.

                                        U.S. soldier Frank Dux (Van Damme) has come to Hong Kong to be accepted into the kumite, a highly secret and extremely violent martial arts competition. while trying to gain access into the underground world of clandestine fighters, he also must avoid military officers who consider him to be AWOL. After enduring difficult training and beginning a romance with a journalist, Frank is given the opportunity to fight. But can he survive?

                                         Now there were moments in Enter the Dragon that was a little on the side of being unintentionally funny, this movie the beginning of the film was a hundred percent when it comes to being unintentionally funny, but full-on cringe. And I get it sure, when it comes to martial arts film-making back then you maybe or have to make what you have and granted there's not a whole lot of research I can find in terms of the production behind Bloodsport, But I would think that you would most certainly need a boom mic when it comes to majority of the dialogue and the most infamous part of the film is the origin of Frank Dux or flashback, although it wasn't all of it that was cringe but it was the scenes where Frank was a kid and I don't know if there really was a boom mic in the production but the kids acting was just awful and is just, well honestly there's no way to describe how bad it is. Now, before I dive deep into the movie I should add that yes the movie is shockingly based on the real life Frank Dux who was a real life martial artist moreover was an actual Marine and was involved in a lot of CIA covert missions more importantly, he really studied ninjutsu at a young age under the teachings of Senzo Tanaka, so a lot of those elements in the film were true no doubt unfortunately there were some elements that we're not real, for which yeah it’s a lot of that is Hollywood writing as always and also Dux claims a lot of interesting aspects about him that are interesting that even I never know but thought were interesting, and he claims that he owes a lot of his success being born handicapped and he says "I became accustomed to great pain and adversity at a very young age because my feet went 180 degrees in the wrong direction. To get them forward, I wore braces that moved them a little bit everyday", so for a guy who had struggles at a young age and to become the warrior that he is now is cool. The other interesting thing he points out is that any of us can be a Ninja for which I hardly doubt I can really be a Ninja with the physical shape I am now, but in his own words "Ninja is like a janitor in that it's just a job title. The misconception is, you don't have to do anything special or know how to do anything special to be a ninja" and deep down the way he says it is defiantly interesting when you think about it furthermore would it be fact or fiction? Who knows in all fairness but without a doubt is in interesting concept to think about. Speaking of Frank Dux teacher the Senzo Tanaka, the actor who plays the master is the very same actor who was in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Roy Chiao and here's the interesting thing on how I picked that up I didn't need much info on the guy I only needed a picture to say "holy crap it’s that guy in that one movie", and even the actor Chiao does a great job in the movie moreover playing the master who see's potential in Van Damme's character moreover I hope that's his real voice in the thirty minutes of screen time he's in, which again HOPEFULLY. Without a doubt this is a cult classic but more importantly in entertaining movie, though there a lot of the subplots in the movie that just seem way too confusing to have like Forrest Whitaker and his partner are tasked of bringing back Van Damme back to the U.S. because they didn't want him to get hurt or killed at the Kumite which I don't quite understand why they would be concerned of a guy who is in tip top shape and they're concerned about him getting killed all because he's some sort of Captain America, for which really the United States Government or Covert opts don't give a crap about who lives and who dies though I'm over exaggerating I'll admit but really how would they seriously be so concerned about one man. Which of course the writers are trying to create some drama in the film but really when you write some drama, you need to add some logic to or else it becomes confusing. Bloodsport is an entertaining movie from start to finish, moreover is defiantly one of the best Jean Claude Van Damme movies of all time which doesn't say much of course mainly because if I had to list other movies that I can look at in Van Damme's career it would be Bloodsport, Street Fighter and Universal Soldier, and Expendables 2 because he does a great job playing the bad guy, and all of that a side other 80's action stars beside Stallone and the Governator have a few classics, but really Bloodsport is a movie I would most certainly recommend but I can also point at and say that this was Van Damme's best. 

         

                                              

50th Anniversary of Enter the Dragon

 

                                            My copy of the latest Mortal Kombat game is coming out this week, so I thought what better way to celebrate the thirty years of Mortal Kombat's success is to review a few films that were the inspiration behind Mortal Kombat's success. Moreover, what greater time to talk about a great martial arts movie that's officially fifty years old furthermore that stars one of the greatest iconic martial arts masters, Bruce Lee. Enter the Dragon is a movie that brought Bruce Lee to stardom though sadly was one of the few films he made after is unfortunate death in July of 1973. Furthermore, this was the first ever film to combine martial arts action with spy film elements and the emergence of the blaxploitation genre that became infamous in the 1970's decade. 

                                             Bruce Lee plays a martial-arts-expert determined to help capture the narcotics dealer whose gang was responsible for the death of his sister. Lee enters a Kung Fu competition to fight his way to the dealer’s headquarters with the help of some friends. 

                                             My first time viewing the film, I remember, I didn't take it quite serious from the sense of dubbing moreover Bruce Lee's teachings when it comes to fighting or his concepts for many reasons, I didn't quite understand what he was talking about other than it was awesome but also some of those scenes were to me unintentionally funny. Though granted a few scenes are funny at times but in all retrospect all of Bruce Lee's teachings in martial arts are so deep moreover makes you think in what he talks about especially when it comes to fighting and not fighting. Even if you haven't seen any of Bruce Lee's films, Enter the Dragon is defiantly a movie I would highly recommend if you haven't seen a Bruce Lee film. And even if you have no intention in wanting to watch any of his films you do need to appreciate him because without Enter the Dragon you wouldn't have any of the most important pieces of entertainment today, for this was a movie that started the blaxploitation films with films like Shaft moreover gave us a rising star in Jim Kelly (no not the football player, the actor/martial artist) and Pam Greir, and after the success of the movie Jim Kelly signed a three year deal with Warner Bros. and went on to make several martial arts-themed blaxploitation films in the 1970's. Even Quentin Tarentino cited that Enter the Dragon was a formative influence on his career. The other influence I never expected was MMA fighting for which I never expected realizing to be true, and once I looked back from the first opening shot of the film Lee is fighting with another opponent wearing the same gear as the UFC fighters are wearing today and even UFC hall of fame legend Urijah Faber says, "that was the moment that MMA was born". Even a lot of fighting games were inspired by Enter the Dragon's impact from games like Street fighter and Tekken, but nothing compared to Mortal Kombat which borrowed a lot of the movie's story elements including the 1995 film as well. From start to finish Enter the Dragon is one of the Greatest Martial-arts films of all time and needs to be seen, not just because it's an iconic film but it’s the success of one man who wanted to live the American dream teaching and honing his craft in Martial Arts moreover wanted to express his art on television and films though learned the hard way of the business especially in sixties era where it was all about oppressions and even till his death defied all the odds and created an impactful film for everyone to see, and the sad thing is I often wondered if he lived a bit longer would he of created more influential movies or shows? I guess will never know.

     

Warrior Queen

 

                                            I had another B-movie night where me and my big brother sat down and watched another weird fantasy film that's on Tubi. Though this was one of these movies that the title is a hundred percent wrong, and granted this isn't the first time because I remember in old sixties film called the Viking Queen which takes place in ancient England where the Romans and Ancient Brits are at war with one another and yet I didn't even see a Viking raider anywhere. Warrior Queen is a bizarre movie about Roman society set in Pompeii where a Warrior Queen is coming to liberate the slaves, though again finding the Warrior Queen was like finding Waldo. 

                                           A visit from the Roman emperor's mistress draws attention from the imminent eruption of Mount Vesuvious. Also, Donald Pleasence is in the movie too.

                                           It's one of the most interesting things to think about, for many reasons I look at the past decade ever since I've been writing me on my blog and yeah there's been so many bad movies over the years, but you slowly forget that there's been so much garbage of bad movies for a long time. Though when it comes to movies like this you're surprised of how much of these low budget movies can get away with so much sleazy-ness and yes this is a movie about ancient Rome and you're going to see a lot of nudity but it feels like they show the whole body of women and men as well, though technically more of the women and half of the men because there's a scene of selling slaves they show more of the female body by hanging them up and displaying them then they show one of the males and they show half of them, which really sounds convenient mainly because your audience is basically dudes who want to see the right kind of naked, but don't want to see other dudes who've you see in the locker rooms 24/7, furthermore I began to remember my mom always telling me be careful on what movies you watch because stuff like this will be graved in the back of your mind, and now at my age I really began to understand that so again yes my mom was right with that wisdom but I'm not going to tell her that. The surprising and yet uh/why aspect of the whole movie was that Donald Pleasence is in this movie, whose most famous for being a Bond villain in the 1967 Bond film, You Only Live Twice and the Halloween films, but also starred in a lot of great films from George Lucas's first film THX-1138 moreover a lot of great war movies like The Great Escape. And sure, the man made a lot of great movies but through the course of his career from the eighties and his final days he just made nothing but crap, moreover my first movie I've seen Pleasence in was Pumaman that appeared on Mystery Science Theater 3000 TV show. Though let’s be honest there's no explanation in all fairness because looking at Pleasence Wikipedia there's no explanation as to why he's doing these horrible films I mean my assumption is that he had a drinking problem and that's why he signed on to these movie's like a crack whore and yet the real reason as to why he died was a heart failure so, either way who knows how he died but other than I'm still going to stick with him have a huge alcohol addiction he couldn't get himself out of. No question, this was the most fascinating movie, not as fascinating as the Room but it somewhat up there although I don't want to go down that rabbit hole yet. Nor will I want to recommend anyone to watch this nor am I going to watch this again, but I have to say, right now I absolutely don't miss booze because after watching this movie I don't want to end up like Donald Pleasence.

 

                                          

                                            

Hollywood Homicide

 

                                            Twenty years ago, this was a Harrison Ford movie I was excited to see in the movie theaters, me and my brother went to the movie theater to go see iconic Harrison Ford staring alongside Josh Hartnett as two cops solving a murder mystery. Hollywood Homicide is another Ron Shelton film I watched this year, even though yeah, I didn't expect wanting to watch White Men Can't Jump, though realizing Hollywood Homicide is officially twenty years old. I figured now is the time to go back and re-watch this buddy cop film. Though while watching the movie whole, I slowly began to realize that this really, wasn't as good as I remembered this movie to be, it's like going to your championship high school football team reunion then realizing how everyone of your teammates are such drunken slobs.

                                             After music mogul Antoine Sartain's (Isaiah Washington) rappers are murdered, Sgt. Joe Gavilon (Harrison Ford) and police Detective K.C. Calden (Josh Hartnett) start to investigate. Initially distracted -- Joe by his real estate transactions, Calden by his acting aspirations -- the partners pull together when internal affairs officer Bernie Macko (Bruce Greenwood) starts hounding Joe. The two men prove skilled at police work, but they'll also need help from Joe's psychic girlfriend (Lena Olin). 

                                            Twenty years ago, I'd watched this movie from start to finish because it was one of those simple buddy cop movies where it gets to the point there's a murder and the two men must solve the case. Moreover, the film had one of my heroes at the time Harrison Ford with an up-and-coming actor in Josh Hartnett and really you can't go wrong, can you? Well after years of not watching Hollywood Homicide moreover spending countless years watching movies furthermore studding each one closely and finally watching this film, this was like a slap in the face realizing that this was bad on so many levels. And it wasn't just the story, I mean the story's okay might need some tweaking in my mind, but the editing and translations but more importantly that the two stars in the movie didn't get along one another, I'm not lying when I said that both Ford and Hartnett didn't get along on set and shooting and it was said that neither of them didn't look at one another when it came to some of their dialogue, and really this was surprising when researching some of this moreover watching the film and thinking that these two did a decent job but also remembering that these two were at the MTV Movie Awards, presenting an award and Ford is just reciting his past movie lines but then "ooh, I can see that these two really didn't like each other". Even a lot of the movie transitions from scene to scene really didn't make a whole lot of sense because when you first start off the scene each of these men are at a target practice area and then begins the title sequence of the movie then we move on to the murder for which why was that scene necessary for many reasons it just doesn't fit at all. Even scenes with the Internal Affairs lead by Bruce Greenwood is really confusing because it's explained that Sartain's right hand that Greenwood's character is being paid to find some dirt on the two detectives, but in all honesty they never find anything to arrest the guys, once Greenwood finds out that Ford is boning his ex, that’s the main reason why they arrest Ford and Hartnett and that's not real good evidence in arresting them all their doing is just being childish. Moreover, once the two detectives find out the Greenwood is dirty, they really don't do anything about it until the ending of the film, for which why couldn't they have a scene where Ford blurts out that Greenwood is dirty or something other than Ford dry humping the window when he's being interrogated or something at least? Either way this is one of these movies. I sadly must admit that this was one of the worst movies Harrison Ford has done, and even Ford admits this was his worst film even explained he only did it for the money. Now after watching the Black Dahlia, I believe the real mystery is how the hell is Josh Hartnett able to get all the ladies because he boned Hillary Swank and ScarJo and this movie he bones his entire yoga class, which is beyond me to even understand. One of few movies I must admit the worst of Ford's movies other than the Force Awakens though in all fairness I kind of stop following Ford's career after 1997, because really there were some of those movies like What Lies Beneath where I can't accept him being a villain, oops sorry to spoil another Ford film. Though deep down am not sorry for my actions.