I guess it’s fair to say that I never really paid attention to (or rather heard of ) Edward Zwick before seeing Blood Diamond. The reason for that is simple: I hadn’t seen any of his films. Well after seeing Blood Diamond (and immediately buying it on DVD) I made it a point to see what else this extraordinary director/writer/producer had to his credit…and I was not disappointed. The Last Samurai, Glory, Legends of the Fall…wow, how could I have overlooked these films? While I could go on about those great films, I’d like to get started by stating simply that Blood Diamond is one of my favorites. It is an incredibly poignant,…
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Off the Shelf…'Smokin' Aces'
With The A-Team hitting theaters next Frriday, I figured I would take a look at Joe Carnahan‘s previous actioner Smokin’ Aces. In the wake of Guy Ritchie’s Snatch, it seemed like writer/director Joe Carnahan wanted to try his hand at a film involving a huge cast with interweaving plots and laced with criminal stylings. This may have proven to be too ambitious as it just didn’t come to fruition as I had hoped. Along the way Smokin’ Aces did have a fair amount of good things going for it but overall, this was a let down.
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Off the Netflix Queue…'The Brothers Bloom'
In the follow-up to his astounding film Brick, Rian Johnson goes a little less serious for his sophomore feature-length effort but makes a film just as rich and compelling. Johnson attempts to explore the almost ludicrous and funnier side of life that few of us will ever be able to comprehend…the life of a con-artist. The Brothers Bloom is a quirky con-artist flick that is just as witty as Brick but is funny, funny, funny. In most instances where the trailer is more exciting that the movie itself, this is the rare occasion where the polar opposite is true. The trailer below doesn’t do this film the justice it deserves…which is…
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Off the Netflix Queue – ‘The Messenger’
From the compelling trailer, I knew The Messenger was a film I really wanted to see. Unfortunately, like trailers are prone to doing, the movie was not as well put together as I was led to believe. Overall, the film was a weak story but was an impressive character study. Despite having slow missteps and some wooden characters, the high points of the film are narrowed down to two standout elements: Harrelson and Foster. Yet even the amazing performances aren’t enough to give me more than lukewarm feeling. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MEApxjYncI
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Off the Shelf – 'OSS 117: Cairo, Nest of Spies'
It seems these days, a legitimate spoof movie is in very short supply. In the vast abyss of terrible films, I believe that modern audiences seem to have lost all hope. But that was before this little title came along. I’ll just come right out and say it, this is the best spoof movie I have ever seen. Recalling the brilliance that made Airplane! successful and injecting the period look/nostalgic feel that peppered the Austin Powers series, this remarkable film has just revamped, revived and rewritten the playbook on spoof films. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwA6ir86slQ
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Off the Shelf…’Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves’
Due to a very pleasing viewing of the recent Robin Hood film, I thought I’d re-evaluate the previous Mr. Hood, the one whom I’ve held on a pedestal for so long. Comparatively, they are different sotries and given that the newest Ridley Scott film is a production that throws out most convention, looking back it seems more apparent that Costner’s did so as well (just to a lesser degree). Was it a bad thing? No. It, just like Scott’s film, just fit well in the time it was made and like history has shown us, change, sometimes, an inevitable part of storytelling. As far as Kevin Costner’s film, does it stand up? Nostalgia aside, I…
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Off the Shelf…'The Great Muppet Caper'
Personally speaking, it is rare that a film is able to stand up to the ever-changing tastes of the viewer and, nostalgia aside, that film stands the test of time and age groups. While this is no Gone With the Wind or Casablanca, this is a fun movie that I enjoy as much now as I did when I was a child. Few filmmaking studios have consistently made quality films that appeal to all age groups and for different reasons. Jim Henson Studios, a truly crafted troupe of artisans and entertainers, changed the world with high-profile and crowd pleasing ‘puppet theater’. The long running and ever fascinating “Muppet” films capture the imagination…
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Off the Shelf…’Wanted’
Last night I watched Wanted and I forgot how much fun that movie was. Talk about a kick-ass movie that defies physics. This beyond cool movie was a “knock your socks off” actioner and if you blinked even once during the last 15 minutes then you probably missed a lot. Sure it was totally unbelievable but I’d equate it to Equilibrium with its imaginative and borderline genius gun fight sequences. A gun that can shoot around corners…wow, using a dead guy to ‘bullet proof vest’…cool idea (although a little bit of an Arnold rip-off). This movie was brainless fun but at the same time, simply flat-out exciting! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDvP6OpRVu4
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Off the Shelf…’RocknRolla’
Our friend Ruth at FlixChatter recently did a post about the opening sequence to Rocknrolla and after reading it, I thought “man I want to watch that again!”. Also, I just love that intro song by Black Strobe…to me, that whole bit just works. I really enjoyed RocknRolla in the theater and it is such a treat on DVD/Blu-Ray. Sure it’s not quite Snatch part II that fans were expecting, but I think it turned out well. All I can say about this film is that “Guy is back!!”…and now that Madonna is gone, I think we’ll be getting more quality Ritchie films in the near future. RocknRolla was one very…
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Off the Shelf…'Planet Terror'
The write-up of this film comes, in part, because of this weeks release of the Machete trailer. Machete was one of the fake trailers created for this and the Quentin Tarantino Grindhouse “Double Feature”. As fans of Robert Rodriguez know, Double R is a filmmaker in his own category. He’s one part Roger Corman, one part John McTiernan, one part Steven Spielberg, and the rest of the equation is balls out, bad ass filmmaking. Robert Rodriguez is successfully able to combine elements of different genres in a way that, had it been anyone else, the result would result would probably be an utter failure. RR,in the way Tanarntino make his films, goes for…