A Fistful of Dollars

A Fistful of Dollars
(1964) [Trailer]
Director: Sergio Leone (IMDB)

This movie is basically a remake of Yojimbo, one of my favorite Akira Kurosawa movies. It's obviously different, in that it's set in the old west, but similar enough for Kurosawa to sue Sergio Leone's ass and win. This resulted in Kurosawa getting a percentage of the film's worldwide gross and distribution rights in Asia. Later Kurosawa said he made more off Fistful than he ever did with Yojimbo. Does that mean it's a better movie? According to capitalism, yes it does.

Two gangs in a small border town in Mexico are at each others throats. Clint Eastwood comes to town and sees an opportunity to play each side against one another and make a fistful of dollars along the way... see what did there? Things heat up, people die, Clint is a badass, end of story.

I LOVE THIS MOVIE. Hopefully if anything stands out in this review, it's that, that's why I made it in all caps. Everything in this is perfect. Morricone's score, as always, is incredible. It's just the best, and the following morning I'm humming it on the way to work. Just like every Sergio Leone movie I've seen so far, it has a unique style that stands on it own. I remember watching this as a kid and thinking Clint Eastwood was the coolest dude on the planet... he is. I've said my piece, go get on it.

The Grey

The Grey
(2012) [Trailer]
Director: Joe Carnahan (IMDB)

We're all gonna die. Each and every one of us. It's just a matter of when and where. Dying scares the shit out of me, and I hope I don't go anytime soon. I also hope I don't go out like any of the dudes in The Grey.

The Grey is about a group of oil miners who crash land in the middle of no where Alaska. After the wreckage Liam Neeson and the rest of the survivors take shelter inside the remains of their plane. They soon realize they're not alone. Turns out they landed right in the middle of a kill zone near the edge of a wolf den. Slowly things turn ugly as they have to fight off the wolves and try to stay alive.

I seriously loved this movie, it was right up my alley. It looks fantastic and is beautifully shot. It's suspenseful as shit, and takes the genre of the survival flick up to the next level. It's a very direct look at facing death, and it harkens back to this metaphor over and over throughout the film. There's so many cool scenes in this movie I want to share, but I don't want to ruin it for you.... okay just one. The plane crash scene, it's so rad, the way they yank Liam from his dream is awesome and packs a hell of a punch. Good stuff, definitely recommend you check this out before it leaves the theaters.

Smiles of a Summer Night

Smiles of a Summer Night
(1955) [Full Movie]
Director: Ingmar Bergman (IMDB)

I love my wife. I'd say we get a long pretty well, and I'm a lucky guy. You sometimes forget that not everyone is in the same boat. According to Ingmar Bergman "love is a loathsome business" and this film basically solidifies that sentiment.

I'm gonna try to explain this the best I can. It's involved so be patient with me, or just skip ahead to the next paragraph... I don't give a shit. Fredrik is married to Anne, he has a son named Henrik (from another marriage), who has the hots for Anne. There's also a maid who Hendrik wants to bang, or doesn't, I'm not 100% on that. Fredrik is also seeing a mistress named Desiree. Desiree is seeing a Count named Magnus. How does one become a Count exactly? Anyways, Magnus is married to Charlotte, who tries to hook up with Fredrik. Basically it's one big shit show.

Besides my wife, I also love Ingmar Bergman, he's in the top ten of my favorite directors of all time. Even though this is one of his earlier movies, it still has the Bergman touch all over it. I found the women in the film to be very forward, especially considering the times, this movie would have never been made in the US back then. This is considered a comedy, and probably one of the only comedies Bergman has done. I wouldn't say it's laugh out loud funny (LOL dude!), but more subtle. Maybe from a man as serious as Bergman, this is as funny as you'll get. It's an awesome movie and the Criterion blu-ray really does it justice. I would recommend it, not my favorite of his, but still worth a watch or two.

The Help

The Help

(2011) [Trailer]
Director: Tate Taylor (IMDB)

If you wanna make a good American racist stew here's the ingredients you'll need.

1/2 Cup Rich White People

A dash of Deep South

2 teaspoons of 1960's

Blend together and let simmer for 146 mins and then you're good.

I'm glad I live in New York City in 2012, and anyone that wishes they grew up in the 50's and 60's, should watch this movie.

The Help centers around a group of maids in Mississippi in the 1960's who work for a bunch of rich assholes (mostly). Skeeter (Emma Stone) comes home from college to find her family's maid, who basically raised her, has been let go. Skeet Skeet gets the idea to interview one of the maids, Aibileen (Viola Davis), who works for her friend, then write a book based on the interview.

People always say "The book is soooo much better than the movie" and I'm afraid in this case they would probably be right. Now to be honest, I haven't read the book, but my wife did and she's the one that agreed with that statement. I like the story, I just didn't like the execution of it. The cinematography and score for this movie are boring. There's a lot of things that the director tried to squeeze in from the book, that didn't work in the film, like Skeeter's love interest. It was pointless and I would have completely removed it and just focused on the important subject matter from the novel. I will say the best thing about this film is Viola Davis, she's awesome, and definitely deserving of the SAG award she just won.

Drive

Drive
(2011) [Trailer]
Director: Nicolas Winding Refn (IMDB)

Ryan Gosling is so hot right now. My wife loves him. Every other girl loves him. Gay men love him. He's a dream boat. I fucking hate him... I'm kidding, I love him too. He's pretty awesome in everything I've seen him in, and when I first saw Drive back in September it secured it's place at #4 in my top ten for 2011. However a lot of people didn't like him in the role of Driver, people complained about him being too quiet. Whatever, people are stupid.

Nicolas Winding Refn directed this thriller about a getaway driver named... Driver. He also works part time for Walter White as a mechanic and also part time as a stunt car driver for the movies. He falls for a girl with a kid, who's husband is in jail (red flag.) The husband gets out and gets caught up owing money to the mob. Driver ends up helping him rob a pawn shop, and that plan goes to shit. Christina Hendricks shows up too. Driver ends up getting in over his head, but not really, because he basically beats the crap out of everyone.

This movie is awesome. I liked it just as much, if not more, then my first viewing. It's soundtrack is the best of 2011. It looks amazing and Nicolas' direction is top notch. I love the Gos in this. I don't understand why people had such an issue with this movie being quiet or there not being enough dialog. That's what the character called for, he was a enigmatic loner and Gosling pulled it off masterfully. If you're looking for Fast and Furious I think you'll be really bummed out on this. It does have it's action moments, but it's more of a character study if anything. I highly recommend this.

The Incredibles

The Incredibles
(2004) [Trailer]
Directors: Brad Bird (IMDB)

If you could be a superhero what power would you choose to have? I would want to be invisible so I could sneak into girls locker rooms and... I'm kidding, I would want to be able to absorb other superheros powers. Knowing my luck though, there would be no other superheros, and I'd just have some shitty useless power.

Mr. Incredible is a retired superhero who's working a 9 to 5 and raising a family in suburbia. The Fam are also all endowed with superpowers and trying their best to fit into society. Mr. Incredible still has an itch to get out there and fight crime. One day he's approached with an offer to get back into the limelight, but the offer isn't what it seems. He's summoned to a remote island where he finds a new nemesis named Syndrome, a mad genius who's created giant robots to take over the world and kill other superheros. Syndrome takes Mr. Incredible hostage and the rest of the family comes to his rescue.

I hadn't seen this movie in awhile and was happy to have picked it up on blu-ray, as blu-ray makes everything better. Just like with every Disney blu-ray I've seen so far, the transfer for this is incredible (pun intended) and the animation is as crisp as you can get. This is a fun movie and action packed, and it's cool to see Disney's take on the superhero genre. The scenes at the island are awesome, especially the chase through the jungle. The music is rad and has a quasi James Bond feel to it. I would recommend if you're in the mood for an animated film, go for this. You're welcome.

Primer

Primer

(2004) [Trailer]
Director: Shane Carruth (IMDB)

I wish I was smart enough to build a time machine. I'm a pretty smart guy I would say, but the guys in Primer make me feel like an idiot and guess what... they build a time machine.

These two guys, Aaron and Abe, are working with these other two guys on some project in their garage. I would try to explain what that project is, but to be honest, I have no idea. I do know it requires a lot of circuit boards, gadgets, and technical terms that are confusing. Well Aaron and Abe stumble onto something pretty significant, basically they figure out how to time travel. They proceed to make a human sized time machine and start creating doubles of themselves. As one would imagine, things get a little hairy.

This movie is confusing as shit. I mean, really fucking confusing. If you've seen this before, and were to tell me you totally understood everything in it, I would say you're a damn liar... or a genius. I feel like I should re-watch it again, and maybe it'd help solidify things for me. I did love the direction on this movie. The angles that a lot of scenes were filmed with were cool, and the score is very pleasing. I liked the acting a lot too, the two main guys are very believable. The source material, albeit confusing, seemed extremely legit. As hard as it is to follow, I would recommend it, as I like challenging films. You can get it through Netflix.

Day of the Dead

Day of the Dead
(1985) [Trailer]
Director: George A. Romero (IMDB)

This is a classic zombie flick, brought to you by the Godfather of zombie flicks, George A Romero. I recently watched Dawn of the Dead, which is my favorite zombie flick ever, and I figured I'd pick up Day of the Dead and continue on with the good Romero times.

Zombies are ruling shit across the land and a small group of scientists/soldiers are hunkered down below ground in a bunker. The scientists are slowly trying to figure out how to cure the zombies of their illness, but the soldiers are dicks and keep getting in the way of progress. Tempers start to boil and the camp falls apart, but not before becoming a value meal for the walking dead.

I liked this movie a lot and had a fun time with it. It's filled with lots of great practical effects and loads of zombies. The story line is interesting and a fresh take on the genre. Romero's choice of cinematography and score were spot on. My only real complaint is some of the acting was spotty at times but other then that I would say this is a solid film.