Rob Roy

The 1995 film Rob Roy is an interesting piece of cinematic history. While not necessarily under-appreciated by those who have seen it (The film holds a fair 6.9/10 on IMDB and a 73% Rotten Tomatoes score), it has been largely forgotten. The movie is a period-piece about a poor Scotsman, who is a leader among his people and fights back against the dishonorable ruling class. Unfortunately for Rob Roy, it happened to come out just a month before another Scotsman vs. Nobility movie; Braveheart.

  In addition to the Best Picture winning Braveheart, 1995 gave us other memorable films like Apollo 13, Se7en, Toy Story, The Usual Suspects, Leaving Las Vegas, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Goldeneye, Get Shorty, Casino, Heat... It was a good year and looking back it's easy to see how this movie got overshadowed.

   For anyone interested in checking this one out, I'm not saying it's great but, it is a half-way decent flick. It's entertaining, well directed, boasts a pretty solid cast including Liam Neeson, John Hurt, Tim Roth, and Jessica Lange. More people should give it a chance.

3.5 out of 5

A Bridge Too Far

I haven't reviewed a war movie in a while, so today's film is 1977's A Bridge Too Far.
The film takes place during WWII and tells the story of a failed Allied mission to break through German lines, and seize several bridges along the way. The plan was to have paratroopers drop in behind enemy lines and secure the bridges, making a path for tanks and heavy artillery to reach the town of Arnhem. Unfortunately, a series of setbacks including problems with radio communication, and underestimating German firepower in the region, doomed the operation. 

This is a well directed film and, even if you're not a big fan of war movies, the cast is amazing. Starring the likes of Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, James Caan, Ryan O'Neal, Elliot Gould, Robert Redford, and Sean Connery this film is worth watching based on cast alone. Now I really like this movie, but if I have nitpick it's the runtime. I have no problem sitting down to a long film, as long as the length is necessary to tell the story. A Bridge Too Far clocks in at just under three hours and it really doesn't feel like needs that much time. 

Overall, I highly recommend this one. It's about 20 mins too long, but it's worth it.
4.5 out of 5

Today's Movie: Paranoia

Paranoia is a 2013 thriller about corporate espionage going on between rival cell-phone companies, and for a film called "Paranoia" there is surprisingly very little tension throughout. I didn't see this one in the theater and chances are you didn't either, because this film bombed hard at the box-office. However, I thought it might have just enough good stuff tucked within to be decent. The movie does boasts a pretty strong cast featuring Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman, Amber Heard, and Richard Dreyfuss. Unfortunately, the lead character Adam Cassidy is played by Liam Hemsworth who was not up to the task of carrying this film.

The plot is pretty straight forward; Adam is a tech-savvy, every-man who is doing his best to take care of his sick dad. Then, one day after being fired, his former boss forces him to steal secrets from a competing company otherwise Adam will be turned over to the police for credit card fraud. Adam agrees, and the next hour is an uninspired, and unoriginal journey to the end credits. Now, I don't know for sure if a better director or different writers or a better lead actor could've taken this story and made something great, but it could've be a lot better.

I give this on a 1 out of 5. 

Don't waste your time.

Fading Gigolo

 John Turturro serves as writer, director, and star of this 2013 comedy and, though the film received mixed reviews, I think he did a decent job at all three. The film is about a florist named Fioravante (played by Turturro) who is convinced by his friend Murray (played by Woody Allen) to become a part-time gigolo. Initially Fiorvante is hesitant, but the money is good so he goes along with it. Eventually, he develops feelings for one of the women and, while they don't end up together, that experience puts ends his gigolo career (at least for now). The plot is a bit predictable and really nothing to write home about but there is a lot to like about this movie.

 The dynamic between Turturro and Allen really worked for me, I found the story engaging, and the runtime is a breezy 90 minutes so when there are some of those slower moments they don't drag on. Also, alongside Turturro and Allen, the film also stars a solid cast consisting of Sharon Stone, Liev Schreiber, Vanessa Paradis, and Sofia Vergara. 

Overall, this is a soft recommend. I enjoyed it and think it's worth a watch, but I wouldn't call it a 'must see'.

3 out of 5

Age of the Dragons

2011's Age of the Dragons is an adaptation of the classic novel Moby Dick, except the white whale is a dragon. While that is a pretty interesting premise, in my opinion, the film fails to be all that entertaining.The acting is inconsistent, with some of the actors giving pretty wooden performances while others (like Danny Glover) are hamming it up. Visually, this one is a bit of a mixed-bag; The cinematography isn't half bad for a low budget film but the CGI dragons do not look good. I think this had the potential to be a decent movie, but they didn't have the budget to make a big fantasy film and they didn't want to go the Syfy channel, dumb monster-movie route either.

Overall, I don't recommend seeking this one out, but if you're curious and you come across it on TV or find it in a bargain bin, it's a bit boring but not unwatchable. 

1.5 out of 5

Shark Night (2011)

There are a ton of shark movies out there but, oddly enough, there's only one good one: Jaws. When it comes to all other shark films they range from terrible to just ok. Now, obviously this isn't a great movie like Jaws, and you shouldn't expect that going in. However, it also lacks the 'so bad it's good' charm of a movie like Ghost Shark.

Shark Night starts out on the right track with a shark attack in the first scene. Unfortunately, it then cuts to a college campus and over the next 20mins nothing interesting happens. We're given the setup; a group of friends are going to a lake house for the weekend -AND- we're introduced to all the complex, nuanced characters, like Hot Girl, Black Guy, Comic Relief, and others. Of course they're not at the lake house long before the first shark attack and, to the film's credit, the pacing is pretty good from this point on. Now you may be wondering 'why is a lake full of vicious sharks?' Well, it's a saltwater lake and the bad guys filled it with several different species of shark so they could film the attacks and make some money off it. 

The plot is dumb, as it is in most shark flicks, and the deaths are predictable. It's a PG-13 movie which is kind of ironic since the villain's plan is to give people real footage of vicious attacks, and yet the movie is pretty tame. 

I'd recommend skipping this one.

1.5 out of 5

A Quick Review of "Shoot 'Em Up"

Well, the movie delivers what the title promised...

When I picked this one up I expected a slightly over the top action flick, but this movie doesn't f*** around. Clive Owen shoves a carrot through a guy's skull and then quips "Eat your vegetables", gets involved in a massive firefight, delivers a baby, and jumps through a window... and all of that is just in the first scene. From there movie never lets up. If you like movies with a bunch cheesy one-liners, tons of way over the top action, and a rockin' soundtrack then I can't recommend this movie enough.

 Is a great film? No, but I liked it and 15 year old me would've loved it. The film does have a plot but it's pretty thin and only serves to move the characters from one bone-breaking, bullet-riddled action set piece to the next. Oh, and Paul Giamatti is in it as the bad guy so that's a plus.

4 out of 5.

Recommended Double Feature: Kill the Irishman & The Iceman

Something I always enjoy doing when spending the night in or enjoying a quiet day off is finding a pair of films that go well together either because of genre, lead actor, or director. With that being said, I'm a big fan of movies about organized crime and these two, Kill the Irishman and The Iceman, make for a solid double feature if you want to spend an afternoon with a couple movies.

Both films are crime-thrillers based on actual people, they were released just two years apart, they largely take place in the 1960's and 70's, and both hold very similar Rotten Tomatoes scores. Also, despite the films having pretty good casts (Kill the Irishman stars Ray Stevenson, Val Kilmer, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Christopher Walken whereas The Iceman stars Michael Shannon, Winona Ryder, Chris Evans and Ray Liotta) they were both box-office disappointments. Quality-wise the movies are very similar; I like the cast of Kill the Irishman a little better and I also think it's just the more interesting movie overall. However, in the hands a more capable director The Iceman could've been the better of the two. Neither film is a top-tier entry in the genre like Goodfellas, The Godfather, or The Untouchables but they're still good entertaining movies.

If you're also fan of the genre then I recommend checking both of these out.

I give Kill the Irishman a 3.5 out of 5 and The Iceman a 3 out of 5.

Today's Movie: Sympathy for Delicious

A recent bargain-bin find, Sympathy for Delicious is a 2010 film with a premise so odd that I couldn't resist picking it up. The film is about homeless, paraplegic, former DJ, who discovers he has Jesus-like healing powers and then joins a rock band as their turntablist/faith-healer. I was sure going in that this would either be really good or really bad, and I was game for either one. Interestingly though, despite the movie has a cast full of well-known actors, including Mark Ruffalo (who also directed the film), Juliette Lewis, and Orlando Bloom, and it only being approximately an hour and a half long, it's a surprisingly boring movie.

The main character Dean O'Dwyer aka DJ Delicious (played by Christopher Thornton) is a selfish, unlikeable jerk for whole movie and his one redeeming moment at the end of the film just wasn't enough for me. Additionally, the characters in the rock band are stereotypical, punk-rockers and they're all pretty forgettable (Heck, I just watched the film and I can't remember any of their names). 

I did think that Ruffalo was pretty good and the story does present an interesting idea or two. However, there just isn't real compelling feature here.

Overall, this isn't a movie recommend. 

 1.5 out of 5

Today's Movie: Just Cause

"If that's a confession, then my ass is a banjo!"

Just Cause is a 1995 crime-thriller that just missed the cut on my '10 Movies That I Like but Everyone Else Seems To Hate' list because, while it wasn't a hit with critics, I have recommended it to friends who have seemed to enjoy it. The film stars Sean Connery, Laurence Fishburne, and a pretty strong supporting cast. It's a fairly standard crime-thriller overall and fans of the genre will likely be able to predict the big plot twist. For those who haven't seen it and don't want this 23 yr old film spoiled for them I'll just give the setup and a few of my opinions.

Sean Connery plays former lawyer and current Harvard Law School professor Paul Armstrong. One night after a debate he is persuaded by an elderly woman to travel to Florida and reexamine the case against Bobby Earl Ferguson who is currently sitting on death row. Soon after arriving in Florida Armstrong learns that the chief detective on the case, Tanny Brown (played by Fishburne) coerced Bobby Earl's confession. Brown is sure that Bobby Earl is guilty and Armstrong is convinced that a botched investigation put the wrong man in prison, so the two are constantly butting heads and suspicious of each other.

As for some of my thoughts on the film; the acting throughout is mostly solid, and the film being set in the Everglades is a nice change from the usual New York, Chicago, or L.A. of so many crime films. Like I stated earlier, the twist is pretty predictable and the plot isn't anything groundbreaking. Also, it's a little bit of a stretch to think a then 65 yr old Connery was the dad to an 11 yr old Scarlett Johansson, but I'll give the movie a pass on that one.

Overall, not one of the top movies on Connery's filmography but not a bad flick either.
I give it a 3.5 out of 5

Christopher Robin

Christopher Robin is the latest in a long line of Disney live-action films about some of their beloved properties. In this movie Christopher Robin (played by Ewan McGregor) isn't the young boy who goes on adventures with his Hundred Acre Wood pals, but instead he's a sad, overworked, WWII vet, who seems to have forgotten what fun is. 

That's the setup and the film pretty much plays out beat-for-beat the way you'd expect. Christopher's wife (played by Hayley Atwell) is growing frustrated with her workaholic husband, there's an important deadline at the office, and Pooh Bear shows up at this hectic time in Christopher's life to show him what's really important. It's one of those movies that goes hard for the heartstrings, and it does a decent job. I watched The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (which ran from 1988-1991) as a kid, so there were a few waves of nostalgia that hit me throughout the movie. Unfortunately, this is both to the benefit and detriment of the film.

  If you are a fan of Winnie the Pooh and his friends, or just have good childhood memories attached to that silly old bear, then this movie is worth checking out. 

 However, if you don't really have an attachment to the characters then you can probably skip it. Without the nostalgic aspect, it's a pretty average movie.

3 out of 5

10 MOVIES THAT I LIKE BUT EVERYONE ELSE SEEMS TO HATE

Call it "bad taste". Call them "guilty pleasures". Whatever the reason, we all have those movies that we enjoy but that bombed with critics, audiences, or both. So, I've complied a list of 10 critical and/or commercial flops that, even though I recognize their faults, I enjoy.

#10 The Haunted World of El Superbeasto (2009)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 40%

IMDB Score: 6.0/10

-This movie completely cracks me up every time I watch it. I'll be the first to admit that its crass, immature, occasionally nonsensical humor is not for everyone. However, anytime I show it to someone that I think may like it, they act like I've lost my mind. 

 #9 Last Action Hero (1993)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 34%

IMDB Score: 6.8/10

-This isn't one of Arnold Schwartzenegger's best movies, but it's not his worst either. I like the concept and think it's a fun movie overall. Plus, the film has an awesome soundtrack.

#8 Chappie (2015)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 32%

IMDB Score: 6.8/10

-I was actually surprised most people didn't like this one. I walked out of the theater pretty pleased with the film and that opinion hasn't changed after multiple viewings. I genuinely like it better than Neil Blomkamp's other, more well-received, films.

#7 Swordfish (2001)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 26%

IMDB Score: 6.5/10

-Boasting a cast of Hugh Jackman, John Travolta, and Halle Berry is enough to make this a worthwhile watch. Yeah, Travolta is hamming it up a bit too much but that kinda adds to the film in my opinion.

#6 Sucker Punch (2011)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 23%

IMDB Score: 6.1/10

-The big criticism I always hear about this film is that it's all style and no substance. That's mostly true, but some of the visuals are pretty cool and sometimes that's all I need. Occasionally while writing this blog, I put Sucker Punch on just as something I can glance over at for a few moments.

#5 Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 20%

IMDB Score: 5.8/10

-It's a big, dumb, cheesy movie and I get a kick out of it. Far too often people try to make serious movie adaptations of video games, but this film knows what it is and embraces it.

#4 City Heat (1984)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 20%

IMDB Score: 5.5/10

-It's a crime-comedy set in the 1930's, starring Clint Eastwood and Burt Reynolds. I don't care if critics hated it, this is right up my alley.

#3 The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 17%

IMDB Score: 5.8/10

- "I'm waiting to be impressed." It's not only a line Sean Connery says in the movie, but also what general audiences were uttering about half way through the film. Sure the plot is thin and the characters are underdeveloped, but I had fun with it.

#2 The Mummy (2017) 

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 15% 

IMDB Score: 5.5/10

-It was supposed to be the first film in a cinematic universe, but instead it doomed the whole thing. The main criticism is that they focused too much on setting up future movies that they forgot to make this one good. However, maybe it's because I like Mummy movies, or because I'm a Tom Cruise fan, or because I'm just an idiot, or perhaps some combination of all those things, but I really like this movie.

#1 RoboCop 3 (1993)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 3%

IMDB Score: 4.0/10

-I can't argue that this is a good movie but, it's not that bad. No, it didn't live up to the previous two films and yes, it was a box office flop. However, there are some positives; Officer Anne Lewis' death is a bit of a gut-punch and an effective, emotional moment. Also, the film does follow up on the events from the previous films and, though it isn't the most compelling story, at least they tried. Plus, there are robot ninjas and Robocop gets a jetpack.

Morning Movie: What Comes Around

What Comes Around is a 1985 film written and directed by Jerry Reed. Plot-wise it's nothing extraordinary and the movie contains a lot of the things you'd expect to see in a Jerry Reed film, like fist fights and a least one car chase. The movie is about a country music star named Joe Hawkins (played by Reed) who is kept on a steady diet of dugs and alcohol by his manger Leon. When Joe's brother Tom sees him collapse backstage during a concert, he takes it upon himself to get his older brother clean. A little while later Tom, with the help of a couple friends, discovers that Leon has been ducking the IRS, using Joe's name on businesses that Joe sees no money from, and has embezzled $8,000,000. After showing this to Joe they decide to confront Leon... and also drive a big rig through the restaurant he owns. Honestly, I wish more problems could be solved this way.

Is What Comes Around a fantastic film? No, but I enjoy it for what it is and if you like movies like Smokey and the Bandit, High-Ballin', and Concrete Cowboys then this is right up your alley.

I give it a 3 out of 5.

Five Minutes to Live

Five Minutes to Live is a 1961 crime film starring Johnny Cash, Donald Woods, Vic Tayback, and Cay Forrester. The plot is pretty simple and straight forward: Johnny Cabot and Fred Dorella (played by Cash and Tayback respectively) hatch a plan to steal $70,000 from a bank, by holding the bank's vice president's wife hostage. 

Fred calmly walks into the bank, asks for the money, and informs the bank's VP Ken Wilson (played by Donald Woods) that if he doesn't get the money and call Johnny within five minutes then Ken's wife will die. Meanwhile, Johnny holds the wife (played by Cay Forrester) at gun point in her home while awaiting the call. 

There is also a subplot about Ken planning to divorce his wife and run off with a woman named Ellen (played by Pamela Mason) but, it could have been cut from the film as it doesn't add much to the story.

While not a great crime film, it's not terrible either. The ticking clock plot device does work to build some tension, and Johnny Cash, though not a great actor, is serviceable in the role. I can't wholeheartedly recommend it but, its only about an hour and twenty minutes long so there's nothing to lose if you're curious and want to check it out.

I give it a 2 out of 5.

Concrete Cowboys

Concrete Cowboys is a 1979 made-for-TV film starring Tom Selleck and Jerry Reed.

The plot involves two friends from Montana named J.D. and Will (played by Reed and Selleck) who quickly hop a train and leave town after card game turns to a fight involving the town sheriff. The two end up in Nashville, where they are mistaken for a couple of detectives and soon find themselves trying to solve the case of a missing/presumed dead armature country singer.

Of course, it's all an intricate blackmail scheme, with various twists and turns, and J.D. and Will narrowly escaping death a few times. 

It's not a great movie. Some of the acting is hit or miss, there are a couple of odd cuts and inconsistencies but, I had fun with it nonetheless. Selleck and Reed play well off each other, and I got a few laughs out of it.

Not a movie I'd highly recommend that you seek out but, if you come across it, give it a watch.

2.5 out of 5