Hollywood

I will talk of Marathon Man because I just watched it last night and it is fresh in my memory. Dustin Hoffman plays a graduate history student who comes from a long line of historians.

I love this type of movie because it kept me guessing at what was going on. I wasn’t spoon fed anything. We are thrown directly into a story and into the protagonist’s life. We are just like him and we don’t know why certain things that are happening to him are happening to him. We find out when he finds out what is going on.

Basically, we know that Hoffman’s father was an important historian who killed himself. I’m not sure if we ever find out why he kills himself, I may have missed it. I know that it has something to do with WWII and the fact that they are Jewish. Anyway, Hoffman has a brother who he thinks is a doctor, but we come to find out differently. I don’t want to say too much because I might spoil it, but there is a Nazi that is in hiding (like many of them did after WWII) and he has a bunch of diamonds that he is trying to sell, a brother who is hiding something, a police officer that is trying to help, and a girlfriend that may be the only person that he can count on.

There’s plenty of suspense and action to go around. There were a couple of scenes that were pretty scary, I have to admit. Also, unlike many of the movies that are going around these days, there was a lot of depth to the characters. We find out a lot about our protagonist. He doesn’t really stand up for himself, he keeps the gun that his dad killed himself with, he has his weaknesses that slowly change throughout the movie. We get to see the development which is refreshing because we can relate to a character like that. He’s human, he’s one of us.

Oh yeah, and he likes to run.

Man oh man. I’ve watched a bunch of good movies in the past couple of weeks, like MI3, Ghost Protocol, Contagion, North by Northwest, Fast Five, Little Fockers, I re-watched Apacalypto, 30 Minutes or less, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes, but I am going to talk about the Ides of March because I had mentioned that one before and I do as I say and not as I do.

The Ides of March started out really slow for me. Yeah, we get to see the goings on of a political campaign, but I’ve seen that before. And it was just like, okay, is this how the whole movie is going to be. Then the middle happened. There were twists and turns that in turn, turned my boredom to interest in what was happening and what was going to happen. That was when I was like, okay, something is happening.

Basically Ryan Gosling is the second or third in charge of the campaign of a Presidential hopeful, George Clooney. He makes the small mistake of meeting with the opponents campaign man and that small mistake flips the story on it’s head. There’s love making and death and backstabbing. Pretty much, there’s something for everyone. It’s a nice little, slow-starting but eventual exciting film. I enjoyed it and if our tastes are similar, then you will too!

Limitless has a pretty cool idea, what now, these days, the age of the pill. They’ve made a pill for everything. Finger itch, tiredness, dry hair, we have pills for you! Well in Limitless they have a pill that makes the taker instantly super smart, super focused, and a super winner. Who wouldn’t take it, right. Well our protagonist is not gonna pass up this opportunity, that is until he finds out about all the people that were on it end up dying in the hospital. Oh no wait, that doesn’t stop him, he decides that he’ll slow down his intake of the pills and all will be well. The problem with that is every time he goes off the pill he gets major withdrawals and goes back to being his original slob, loser self. I liked it though, Bradley Cooper does a great job of changing from a good for nothing loser to a high class, hoity toity, upper echelon citizen. Seems like it would be a great part to play and show off a little acting skills and he does a superb job. His believability in both parts shows excellently. Great job Bradly! Oh yeah, and there’s also deaths, and killers, and drug dealers, and gangsters, you know, to keep things interesting.

Let’s see, lately I have watched Lonely are the Brave which has a great cast including, Kurt Douglas, Gena Rowlands, Walter Mathau, George Kennedy, and Carroll O’Connor. I watched Body and Soul, a film noir starring John Garfield and Lilli Palmer. I watched Limitless starring Bradley Cooper, Abby Cornish, and Robert De Niro. And I also watched The Ides of March which starred an awesome cast including Ryan Gossling, George Clooney, P. S. Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, and Marisa Tomei.

Lonely are the Brave (1962) was a great movie about a cowboy during a time when cowboys weren’t around very much anymore because the modern times didn’t care for or need them around anymore. Douglas was that cowboy and decided to get himself locked up in jail so that he and his old partner in crime could break out together. The only thing was that his partner in crime also moved along with the times with a wife, a home, and the works. He didn’t want to break out! He wanted to do his time and live his life not being on the run. So Douglas breaks out on his own and the rest of the movie is about the authorities trying to catch him. Basically, the modern world is trying to put an end to the roaming, devil may care cowboy way of life once and for all. Great movie. Worth checking out.

Body and Soul (1947) was a nice one also. It was about a boxer that started beating everybody, making all kinds of money, and then, in turn, getting too big for his britches. His attitude started affecting his relationships. Everything for him was about money instead of his family and friends. Leading him down this eventual road to misery was his new promoter that promised him everything that he wanted to steal him away from his original longtime friend and promoter. It’s basically a character study of a person that starts making beau-coup bucks and how it effects his life for the worse.

I’ll talk about the other two next post.

What a sweet story. I saw it when I was younger and remember liking it. It’s great. I started watching it the other day and was about to change it to something else, but it kind of sucks you in with it’s story. I wanted to keep watching. Plus, I love the colors that animation used in the 80’s. They’re so warm and inviting. 1986, wow, that’s a while back.

Anyway, we get into the thick of things right away. We’re in a Jewish community in 19th century Russia. We meet the Mousekewitz family, a family of meeces. They’re an adorable little family and the protagonist is the son Fievel. There was a lot going on during that time in Russian history with a lot of Anti-Jewish sentiment. A group of rioters come through and burn down all the houses in town. With the rioters come a lot of cats. So while the citizens of the town knew the rioters were responsible for the destruction, the mices thought it was caused by the cats. (I also like the fact that eventually we meet a good cat, otherwise it would be a complete anti-cat movie, and I like cats.)

The mice from the town don’t have a home anymore so they all climb aboard a vessel that’s headed to America, where supposedly there are no cats. During the trip there is plenty of fun and plenty of sea-sickness. When they get close to America, Fievel goes exploring and with the torrents gets washed out of the boat out to sea. His father sees him gets swept out and there’s nothing he could do. He goes back to his family with his head hanging low.

The family gets to America and checks in through customs, but little do they know that little Fievel hitched a ride in a coke bottle. So the whole movie we follow Fievel through all kinds of adventures, run-ins with the cities bad element, chases, and excitement while he and the friends that he has made, search for his family. The mother and father don’t think that Fievel could have made it but his sister will not give up hope. She believes that he is Soooomewheeere Oooout Theeeeere.

If you’ve seen the movie then you know I mean by that, but if not, by all means, what are you waiting for, go out and watch it. You’ll also learn to, Neveeeeer, Say Neveeeeeeer, Agaaaaain!

I got to see Casablanca on the big screen. Ha ha, I did and you didn’t. Eh, maybe you’ve seen it on the big screen, who knows. But, Casablanca is such a great movie. I put it in my top 3 of favorite movies. I mean Humphrey Bogart, how can one go wrong? He just plays such an awesome character. He’s just so freakin cool, plain and simple. Such a bad mofo.

This is the ultimate, guy gets girl, guy loses girl, guy’s life goes down hill movie. I mean I think that most of us can relate to not getting something we want and seeing others being able to get it easily. That’s what I think is so great about this one. He had the girl. Then he loses her. Then she ends up going, with her husband, to the one place that never in the world would he imagine to see her, Casablanca. He sees that she is with someone else and all his old feelings and questions resurface.

He slowly gets pieces to the puzzle of why she left him, which squeezes every drop of drama and conflict it can out of the situation and it’s makes for very gripping scenes. Why did she leave him? Why is she married? Who is she married to? Do Rick (Bogart) and Ilsa (Bergman) get back together? Well, if you don’t know the answers to these questions, then I guess you’re just going to have to watch the movie.

Just do it. You won’t regret it!

I enjoyed this movie. It was really interesting. Mel Gibson, (who plenty of people dislike for various reasons), Jodie Foster, (a great actress since she was a little girl), and a kind of psychological type plot, made for an entertaining movie.

Walter(Gibson) and Meredith(Foster), husband and wife, have been going through some tough times lately. And most of that is due to Walters gradual decline into chronic depression. It has ruined the entire family dynamic. He’s a kind of absentee father, although it’s not a physical absence but psychological one. Meredith is having to do most things on her own, their eldest son thinks his father is a whack-job, and their youngest son just wishes he could spend more time with his dad.

That all changes when Walter gets totally wasted, puts a beaver puppet on his hand and comes close to killing himself. The beaver starts talking to him which prevents the act from occurring. Walter gets scared, falls over, and gets knocked out. When he wakes up, the puppet is doing all the talking, as a separate person(it’s really Walter talking but in his mind it’s the Beaver), and he’s a hit! Walter gets closer with his family, except the eldest son, who still thinks he crazy, and his toy company starts booming as it once was.

Everything is going great until his wife gets more and more freaked out because Walter never talks, it’s only the Beaver. You’ll have to watch to find out the rest. There’s a subplot with the eldest son and a girl he really likes at school. They also get into a little bit of trouble, but I won’t go into the details.

I think it was an entertaining movie. I like the psychological aspects and the types of mania that probably actually happen to people. When I first read what it was about, I thought it would be a lame movie, but watching it changed my mind. Plus you can’t go wrong with Jodie Foster. She’s awesome. I didn’t even realize she was in it until I started watching. So long suckers! <—That’s from one of her movies.

I really like the Walking Dead. No, I’m not talking about hangover recipients, I’m talking about the t.v. show. The main thing that I like about it, is that it’s in the same vein as post apocalyptic shows or movies. A major portion of the population has either been wiped out by disease or they have turned into a zombie. I guess in a way they combined both genres.

If you’re a few of the hundred or at most thousand people that have survived the outbreak, then to keep things interesting, there has to be a threat, and a zombie threat is as good as any. The fear is not only in not being killed, but mostly in the not wanting to be turned into a soul-less, brains eating monster. Plus you have the human drama factor and how well your group meshes with each other or even better, the lack of meshing. Because with a lack of meshing, we have more conflict. So there’s conflict coming from every direction and it makes for great t.v.

My favorite part of the whole equation, as with post-apocalyptic stories is the survival factor. Having to find food, stay safe, and live in the wild sound so cool to me. Even though it’s probably one of the most difficult things to do, survival always peaks my interest either because I would like to test myself in those kinds of circumstances or it’s inbred in me from my ancestors who didn’t have a choice but to live that way.

Whatever the reason is, I really enjoy the show!

Just re-watched The Monster Squad since Halloween is just around the corner and I realize why I didn’t remember it so well. To me, it’s not a very memorable film. It’s got a higher ranking on IMDB than Flight of the Navigator and Explorers which I think are more memorable and original than this one. And it only has .1 point less than The Karate Kid which I think is a shame because The Karate Kid is by far superior and more memorable.

That’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it…… Unless you can convince me otherwise.

Recently watched the Third Man and I thought it was a great movie. Post WWII Vienna, Austria, an American comes to the city because his friend wrote that he had work for him there. When he gets there, he finds out that his friend had been killed by accident. He allegedly got hit by a truck crossing the street. The friend becomes suspicious and decides to investigate the case himself. He thinks there’s foul play involved.  He talks to the general, Vienna police chief, and gets told that his friend was into racketeering. That just won’t do for our curious protagonist. He won’t believe it and he is going to clear his wrongly accused friend.

We follow him as he questions friends and acquaintances of the dead, and there may even be some love story involved, but I ain’t tellin. You’re gonna watch it for yourself. A great premise and a couple of nice twist makes this one worth the watch. If you’re into noirs, then this one will be right up your alley!