All Eyez on Me OK/G
Tupac Shakur. I can’t
say I truly ever was a fan. I didn’t
dislike him though. Fans might have
gripes on how true-to-life this is (it only received a 16% rating on Rotten
Tomatoes), but I knew nothing other than him being a murdered ‘90’s
rapper. I remember when it happened but thought
nothing of it since I wasn’t a fan.
Since I didn’t know much, everything I saw in this film is what I will
always associate with him as a person. I
felt the beginning rushed through specific times but there was enough to inform
me about this “outspoken” man. Generally,
I had the same casual interest as Notorious,
the Notorious B.I.G. biopic. I did like
some of B.I.G.’s music but also knew little of his life other than being
another rapper murdered around the same time.
Both films educated me enough and, if anything, were decent portrayals
of how ordinary people achieved success in their desired profession. The actor does bear an uncanny resemblance to
the late rapper in the same way I had to keep telling myself Ice Cube’s son in Straight Outta Compton wasn’t actually
Ice Cube himself. This film isn’t as
good as that N.W.A. biopic, but I probably lean more towards G than OK. 9/7/2017
Cop and a Half: New Recruit OK/G
What’s with sequels currently being made 20-some years
later? This technically wasn’t a sequel,
more of a re-imagining I guess. I do
remember liking Cop and a Half when
it came out in 1993, but I would’ve been 11.
I didn’t feel the need to re-watch since this has no correlation and
there’re different characters and actors.
I kinda want to now after being reminded of it. This new one was cliché, corny, charming, fun
and mostly harmless. It was also a hell
of a lot better than that other 20-plus years later sequel, Kindergarten Cop 2. 9/9/2017
The Drowning EH
Bland thriller.
Lawyer is responsible for sending young kid to jail. “Chance encounter” reunites them after kid’s
release. Kid, now grown, begins stalking
lawyer, trying to ruin his life. Or
maybe the lawyer’s just paranoid? Not
much to recommend here. The ambiguous
ending tries but fails to make the movie better, like many other filmmakers
believing a “twist” automatically improves a movie. Sorry, it’s not 1999 anymore. Its implication actually makes it cliché on
top of already being bland. Not exactly
the best combined qualities. 9/15/2017
The Hatred EH
The prologue for this film involving Nazis and ghosts
actually lasts for a decent amount of time before introducing us to four
typical “hot” chicks in the present day, making it feel like two separate
movies. One of those chicks brings along
her friends to the house featured in the prologue hoping to start a new job in
the area. It isn’t long before it
becomes an uninspired supernatural slasher flick with below-average special
effects and an extremely hackneyed conclusion.
One girl watches the original Night
of the Living Dead. The prologue
took place in 1968 and that’s when the George A. Romero movie came out. Oh, how clever! Why does Night
of the Living Dead always seem to be watched by people in movies
(specifically horror) anyway? To hint
it’s much better than what we’re being subjected to? 9/18/2017
It G
I’m tired of bitching about remakes as much as they piss me
off. They’re inevitable and people like
me moaning about them isn’t going to stop them from being made. A meme picturing both Pennywise clowns I saw
recently stated, “Respect the past, Embrace the future.” I say, “Respect the past, Ignore the future
if you want.” Crappy and/or unnecessary
remakes will never erase the originals.
They will always be there and you can simply pretend the new ones don’t
exist. IT does get tiring though when I
have to tack on the original before
the title of a movie I mention I’m a fan of.
This brings us to the newest remake,
It. Did I like IT? Kind of.
I didn’t hate IT, put IT that way.
IT wasn’t a bad movie for what IT was involving young kids growing up
amongst something horrific. Dissimilar
to the 1990 adaptation alternating between the children and their adult selves,
this one (subtitled chapter one) strictly dealt with the youngsters. I’m assuming chapter two will be the adult
segment? That could be an effective
tactic I suppose. Although we get a
two-hour plus film with these kids, I still didn’t feel I fully invested in
each character as much as the original group.
Yes, instinctively most people will always think the original one they
grew up with or saw first will always be better. This remake certainly has ITs moments though;
my personal favorites being the bloody bathroom and the “clown room.” Most of the rest feels too modern and yes,
like most people (or at least me), I can’t help but compare to the one I
already know and love. Also, Tim Curry
wins as Pennywise, sorry not sorry if anyone disagrees. Overall, IT’s a fun movie with some bloody
moments that I’m slightly recommending.
Who knows, maybe I’ll like IT better the next time(s)? 9/10/2017
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword B
Since when did the legend of King Arthur involve
mythological beings? This isn’t quite
like the Antoine Fuqua-helmed feature from 2004. That film wasn’t grand either but it was decent. Quickly hopping from one location to the
next, this was like watching someone else play a video game with horrible
graphics. I liked the giant snake
despite being CGI, but can’t say much for the rest of the movie. 9/13/2017
Mother! VG
Darren Aronofsky is truly one-of-a-kind. His films generally employ recognizable faces
yet defy conventions. I wasn’t much a
fan of his directorial debut, Pi, feeling
it was extremely bizarre and nothing quite worked for me (proof experimental
doesn’t necessarily equal good). I am a
fan of his follow-up, Requiem for a Dream,
which is probably one of the more unsettling films involving drug use. I don’t remember much about The Fountain other than being super-surreal. The
Wrestler was good and takes the prize for being his most straight-forward
entry. I’m also a fan of Black Swan, a dark character study wrapped
in a psychological thriller. I think I
skipped Noah (no interest) and this
brings us to mother!, which I enjoyed. Mainstream audiences and the general
movie-going public will, more likely than not, hate it. Although being easy-to-follow, there’s a
disquieting air to the whole thing and I couldn’t quite think of another
comparable movie. It gradually gets more
maddening and I connected emotionally with the “victimized” heroine played by
Jennifer Lawrence. I felt her
frustration and that, to me, is a convincing and award-worthy performance. This film is poetically dark (and ironically
her husband, played by Javier Bardem, is a famous poet). Although mentioning this being incomparable
to other films, the ending isn’t super fresh but absolutely does not ruin the
film. It’s actually quite clever and I sense
I’m going to see new things each time I revisit this. If you do watch this, make sure you wait
until it’s over to form an opinion. Mr.
Aronofksy, I’m paying attention. 9/18/2017
Phoenix Forgotten OK
Found footage films are dead. Alien invasion films are dead. Found footage films involving alien invasions
are dead. Everything is technically
dead. It’s just a matter of disappearing
for a time before being revived. This
found footage film involves three teenagers (two boys, one girl---hmm, similar
to a certain witch movie?) that vanished in the Arizona desert following
strange lights appearing in the night sky.
As usual, the government doesn’t want any information getting out. As usual, interview subjects (here) ranging
from astronomers to an Apache Indian speculate on their theories surrounding
the phenomenon. As usual, this claims to
be based on a true story. Blah, blah,
blah. Aside from all that, this
particular found footage film wasn’t too
bad; certainly not the worst entry I’ve seen.
It has some eerie nighttime scenes in the desert proving once again the
dark is creepy in itself, and there’s really no mystery to the trio’s fate
(other than where they ended up) since we’re shown everything. If you have a free Redbox code (like I did)
or it’s free on demand and you’re unsure what to watch, go for it. 9/12/2017
Point Break (2015) G
Well, you should know by now (if you know me) I had to see
the remake since I recently saw the original (see last blog). I really should work on my OCD. Anyway, besides bearing a similar plot to the
original, this film is rather quite different in its approach. Surfing doesn’t look so fun in this one, it
actually looks dangerous. All the
extreme sports/activities (and there’s several) presented look dangerous but
some looked fun from my viewpoint. The
cinematography is superb and extremely convincing whether any or all involved
green screen. Since all the extreme
situations are so well-shot, I’d feel cruel not to give this film any credit
for it. There’s no denying how
breath-taking it all is. My stomach
dropped a couple times too. That’s
saying something if I watched it on a 32’ TV.
This is a movie I would actually prefer to see on the big screen, IMAX
even. 9/13/2017
Rock ‘n’ Roll High
School Forever OK
It’s actually not a terrible sequel per se. It’s cheesy fun filled with extremely
outlandish moments, such as when Corey Feldman (this was on a double disc with South Beach Academy, reviewed below) and
his buddies pay to see an old refrigerator in a lady’s house and dance around
it in worship mode, and when Corey fantasizes a rock star visitation. However, it’s missing the one element that
made the first one so great: The Ramones
(other than posters hanging up on walls).
I would love to go back in time to see The Ramones in concert during the
late ‘70’s, and watching Rock ‘n’ Roll
High School is the closest to always making that happen. The only similarity is Mary Woronov reprising
her role as a different vice principal enforcing strict changes for the
“unruly” high school students. I’m not
going to tell you to dismiss this, just turn off your instinctive comparisons
if you want to enjoy it even a little.
The Eradicators (Corey’s band in the film) don’t quite hold a candle to
Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee and Marky. 9/8/2017
South Beach Academy EH
It seems like there’s always another Corey Feldman movie I
don’t know about. Obviously movies like
this aren’t publicized as much, but that shouldn’t stop me from at least
knowing about them. Apparently this came
out in 1996 and I still don’t remember hearing about it? I would’ve sworn it was an ‘80’s movie. It screams ‘80’s from the cheesy opening song
to the cheesy romance to the fact Corey appears as a supporting character. I can’t say I had any fun with this silly,
bland film involving a volleyball game to prevent the titular academy from
being sold. Funny, it never actually
takes place in an academy but predominantly a beach (at least that’s part of
the title too) filled with scantily clad babes, and there’s plenty of exposed boobies
for people into women. The volleyball
game takes place at the end and before that we’re presented with the cheesy
romance mentioned above which ends up being duplicitous (initially) from both
sides. 9/8/2017
---Sean O.
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