Saturday, October 12, 2013

Django Unchained

I really liked Django Unchained, or as I like to call it: The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence right through the eyeball and then the bullet continued through about 7 other torsos, shot out from a guy's belly button bringing a plume of intestines with it, ricocheted off someone's jugular vein, then snapped the cord holding up a chandelier causing said chandelier to plummet like a lead balloon, crushing the skulls of various evil varmints and polecats and then plunging into an occupied outhouse where the dynamite was also stored, causing the outhouse to explode in a crimson rain of blood, guts and offal.

But I guess all that wouldn't fit on the poster.

Django has everything you'd want in a movie, action, humor, suspense, drama, and even some romance, all washed down with gallons of blood. Did I mention some beautiful western vistas? it's got those too. And there are plenty of refernces to some of the geat westerns of the past, some of them only visual so pay attention. There is the trade mark Tarantino dialogue as well.

I'm sure other reviewers will talk about racial-political implications and social commentary and such. I'm not that smart. I just thought this was a fast paced and satisfying film for movie fans from beginning to end. Leonardo Di Caprio makes for a great villain, keeping himself just this side of over-the-top. Jamie Fox played Django as quiet waters that ran deep but Christopher Walz steals the show, although Samuel L. Jackson almost beat him to it.

Django Unchained

The Lincoln Lawyer

How far would you go to correct a wrong? After agreeing to take on a case he assumes is an easy win Mickey (McConaughey) soon learns appearances are deceiving. When he finds out the truth and tries to expose it his friends and family are put at risk. I have to admit I actually think McConaughey is very good at playing parts like this. As in "Time To Kill" and "Two For The Money". The smooth man pushed to the edge. Saying almost anything about the movie will give too much info away but I will admit that after being in the "Movie Business" for over 10 years I've seen enough that it's very hard for me to be surprised at a movies ending. The twist at the end of this one had me totally thrown and I love when that happens. I had high expectations for this and it surpassed them all. Watch this movie, you will not regret it. I loved it. As a plus this is a movie that exposes the flaws in the justice system, which will make you mad, and at the same time make you wish more lawyers are like Mickey Haller. I love this movie. I say A+.

Would I watch again? - Absolutely, Im going to buy it!!!

The Lincoln Lawyer

Friday, October 11, 2013

3D Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter

Hovering half-way between being serious and being funny--and enjoying every minute of its crazy balancing act--this is a great movie. A real movie.

Given the rarity of good films made in Hollywood these days, I had no reasonable expectations, statistically, for a good film here. So I went into the cinema and hoped for the best, but expected nothing.

Imagine my surprise when I found that "Abe Lincoln" is 1. a well-acted period film with great sets and costumes, 2. a wildly paced action special effects feast, 3. an effectively witty self-satirical historical rewrite and 4. a gruesomely graphic horror flick! I don't see this as a perfect film--it's got flaws. But the handful of flaws that bother me, I can ignore, because this is a film made with a joyous spirit, and the overall structure works well. I've seen this five times in the theatre at this point. I haven't seen a film that many times theatrically in over twenty years! I had read the book and enjoyed it, but had no idea what the film version might be like. As has been noted elsewhere, the book and the movie are two completely different things: The book delivers a more intellectual experience, and the film delivers a more emotional experience. Writer Seth Grahame-Smith has tailored his book into something simpler and less grim for the screen. I think the decision to make the film a fun action movie was a smart one. It's a wild ride.

History is transformed into mythic fantasy in this yarn detailing the never-before-told story of Lincoln's lifelong battles with supernatural evil. Indeed, the opening words of narration, "History prefers legends to men," express the awareness that events are altered in retrospection, to suit our thirst for myth, for purity of rights and wrongs. Read more ›

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (Blu-ray 3D / Blu-ray / DVD / Digital Copy) (2012)

3D Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter