The Thomas Crown Affair

Today's Movie is 1968's The Thomas Crown Affair.

Right off the bat, I really like this movie. I hadn't seen it in probably 7 or 8 years so I was a little worried that it might not be as fun as I remembered. The plot is a little thin and at times it feels a bit like style was prioratized over substance but, it's well paced, and I like characters, the jazzy score and the slick editing. 

The film stars Steve McQueen as weathy businessman Thomas Crown. Early in the film Crown plans a well-orcastrated bank heist to be carried out by five strangers. Unlike a lot of heist films, Crown isn't a career criminal and he isn't desperate for money, he's just doing this for the thrill and so he can leave his current life behind. Once it becomes evident that the police are getting nowhere in their investigation into the robbery, a special insurance investigator named Vicki Anderson (played by Faye Dunaway) is brought in to take a crack at solving the case. Vicki instictively indentifies Thomas Crown as the prime suspect, but there is no evidence to go on. The bulk of the film from there centers around the cat-and-mouse between Vicki and Thomas which becomes even more complicated as they become romantically involved.

Overall, though it's not best movie Steve McQueen ever starred in, I think it's still very entertaining and one I'd recommend to anyone who's a fan of heist films.

4 out of 5

Journey to the Center of the Earth

2008's Journey to the Center of the Earth starring Brendan Fraser is one of several films based on the classic Jules Verne novel, with the 1959 adaptation probably being the most famous.

This comedy/adventure has Professor Trevor Anderson (played by Brendan Fraser) traveling with his nephew Sean to Iceland, to investigate some volcanic activity that was registered on a sensor that Sean's late father had installed. Once there they meet up guide named Hannah (played by Anita Briem) who reveals to them that Sean's dad was part of a small group of people who believed that Jules Verne's books were based on fact rather than works of fiction. The group locates the volcanic sensor, but is quickly forced to seek shelter in a cave during a lightning storm. After a series of exploration mishaps, the three find themselves at the center of the earth exactly as it's described in the Verne novel. The only issue now is getting back.

Overall, this a light and fun, family-friendly, adventure movie. It's fast paced at just about an hour and a half, and pretty entertaining throughout. Some of the acting is a little hammy and not all of the jokes land, but if you have kids this is a perfect 'family movie night' flick. 

3 out of 5.

Stonerville

Today's movie is the 2011 comedy Stonerville.

To be perfectly honest, the only reason I decided to watch this movie is because I'm a huge Leslie Nielsen fan and this was his last film role before he died. Any movie can be good, so despite my low expectations I was hoping for the best... 

The barebones plot centers around a guy named Troy "Slam" Slamsky (played by Patrick Cavanaugh) who makes internet videos. Someone will say something or he'll see something in a scene and then the movie will cut to a comedy sketch which acts as his next video.

This film is just horrible. The acting is bad, the writting is bad, and Leslie Nielson is only in the film for about 2 minutes so it's not even worth watching for that. None of the comedy works in the movie. Slam's sketches are built upon comedy that appeals to the absolute lowest common denominator; it's a lot fart jokes, adolescent sexual humor, 95% of which is presented with no sense of comedic timing.

I honestly can't think of anyone that I'd recommend this movie to. The movie is only about an hour and a half long, and it was still a chore to get through.
0 out of 5

Speed Kills

Based on a true-story, Speed Kills is crime film about a speedboat designer/racer named Ben Aronoff played by John Travolta. Aronoff has ties to a mob boss (played by James Remar) that he owes some money to early on. Ben is portrayed as a man reluctant to get involved in criminal activities and who is more interested in "sexy" boats than a organized crime... and yes, boats are referred to as being "sexy" an odd number of times throughout the movie. Despite Ben's desire to distance himself from some shady dealings and just focus on speedboats, in the end his lack of cooperation leads to his demise.

I like John Travolta and I grew up watching a lot of his films, many of which I still love and revisit from time to time (1998's A Civil Action is criminally underrated and I'll die on that hill). Because of that, I always give his movies the benefit of the doubt. The trailer for this one looked interesting enough, and reminded me a bit of 2017's American Made starring Tom Cruise. However, that's a really good movie and Speed Kills is not.

There are a couple solid actors in the film, but it's poorly written and haphazardly edited. It also happens to be Director Jodi Scurfield's one and only credit on IMDb which won't surprise you after watching the film. There is some family drama sprinkled throughout the first half of the film but none of the family members are given any character development. As a result, when things happen, like Ben's son being paralyzed or Ben and his wife splitting up, there is no weight to the dramatic beats. Additionally, all of the boat racing sequences which could've been interesting, are instead mostly made up of poorly stitched together montages.

This one should've been right up my alley; I'm really into films about organized crime, and I'm a fan of Travolta...

Heck, I even have his autograph hanging in my house.

Ultimately, it's not unwatchable but, I can't recommend this movie.

I give this one a 1.5 out of 5. 


If you are curious though, it is currently available for free on Prime Video for Amazon Prime members.

Today's Movie: The Manchurian Candidate

Based on the 1959 Richard Condon novel, 1962's The Manchurian Candidate is a fantastic suspense film. It boasts a strong cast consisting of Frank Sinatra, Janet Leigh, Laurence Harvey, Angela Lansbury, and James Gregory all of whom are solid in the movie.

The film is about a U.S. Army platoon that is captured during the Korean War and whose members are brainwashed by communists. Once the soldiers return home all of them seem to be strangely speaking quite highly of Sergeant Raymond Shaw (played by Laurence Harvey) a guy they never particularly liked and who, unbeknownst to them and everyone else, has been brainwashed to be an assassin. Frank Sinatra's character, Major Ben Marco, is the one who starts to put the peices together and relizes what happened him and the rest of the platoon. Then it's a race against time to try and stop Shaw from assasinating a prominent political figure.

Overall, this is a classic movie with a compelling story and an ending that I really like. This is one that I definitely recommend. There was a remake in 2004 starring Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, and Liv Schreiber which is a fine movie but, not nearly as good as the original in my opinion.

I give this one a 5 out of 5