American Hustle

American Hustle
(2013) [Trailer]
Directer: David O. Russell [IMDB]

David O. Russell is a dick. Besides that fight with Lilly, there are also stories of him and Clooney going at it, as well as other actors too. Yet he always seems to have a lot of reoccurring stars up in his films. Maybe he has cooled down now, maybe it was all hype to sell his movies, either way homeboy delivers some quality titles and I was really excited to check out his newest gem... American Hustle.

Synopsis: A small time con man and his side job get tagged by the Feds and coerced into bringing down bigger fish to fry.

About 30 minutes into this film, something felt really off. I was yawning and checking the time.... basically losing my focus. The story wasn't that incredible, which isn't a huge deal, just unleash those characters and sell me on how interesting they are, right? Wrong. No one was great... not that Cooper, Lawrence, Adams, Bale and Renner weren't great (they all had awesome performances), it's just the characters they were portraying were bland. They also bring in Robert De Niro at one point, set him up as some major threat and then nothing... you never see him again.

There were a decent amount of laughs and some moments that pulled you in here and there. The soundtrack was fantastic, I think it blended in perfectly with the overall aesthetic of the film, which was also well crafted.

American Hustle is a slow burn at first and misfires in a lot of places, ultimately leaving me pretty disappointed. I definitely plan on revisiting this at some point to see if it gets better, but for now, I'm kind of bummed out on it.

Ben-Hur

Ben-Hur
(1959) [Trailer]
Director: William Wyler [IMDB]

When I die I hope I'm remembered for something. I don't know, maybe this website and my words written down here will serve as a gateway into the kind of person I was (if the internet is still around then.) Maybe the music I write or the art I make will inspire someone I knew to create something meaningful to them. I just hope this wasn't all for nothing. I don't know what the hell this has to do with Ben-Hur, I just felt like writing, and this is my platform to do so... deal with it.

Synopsis: Charlton Heston plays a Jew who lives under Roman rule in the time of Jesus. He runs into some problems with an old Roman friend and.... what the hell... this movie is long as shit and it's next to impossible to summarize in the normal one to two sentences that I always use... it's an epic, you get the idea.

Ben-Hur is considered a classic masterpiece and in the AFI's top 100. I'm trying to knock out the 25 films I haven't seen in that list... so here you go.

This film is impressive and besides Gone With the Wind, it's the longest film I've ever sat through.  Unlike Gone With the Wind, I didn't love it. It's fine and something I would recommend you watch once in your life... but that's the thing... I don't think I'd ever watch this again.

I loved all the elements surrounding Ben-Hur and his struggle, but found the injection of the story of Jesus to be pointless and I don't think it helped the film. I think the two stories would work well on their own, but in culmination with one another, they felt unharmonious. There are lots of fantastic films about the life of Jesus, why try to marry it with Ben-Hur's story. I'm sure there are tons of people who would disagree, and that's fine, but for me, if they trimmed Ben-Hur up a little you may have found a better movie in there somewhere. Especially towards the end, it takes a huge dive and I really started to lose interest.

One quick note: The film craftsmanship is insane and the efforts it must have taken to make this thing are mind boggling... I can see why it won so many oscars.

I don't think I could ever make something as grandiose as Ben-Hur and reviewing it seems silly, but I have to keep busy... death is ever present and I'm just trying to forget it's on its way. Blog on.

The Wolf of Wall Street

The Wolf of Wall Street
(2013) [Trailer]
Director: Martin Scorsese [IMDB]

Who doesn't love a good Scorsese flick? I'm sure haters are out there, but screw those people. The man is a legend and for good reason. He directed Taxi Driver, which gets him a pass on anything for the rest of his life, good thing he doesn't need it, because he's still cranking out the hits.

Synopsis: TWOWS focuses on Jordan Belfort, a man who came from modest means then rose to become one of the most wealthy men on Wall Street.

The Wolf of Wall Street is a slam dunk and will absolutely make my top ten for the year. If you are a fan of Goodfellas or Casino, you're going to love this installment into the Scorsese universe. It fits in with those titles, but unlike them, delivers way more comedy than I thought I was going to get. Maybe if Goodfellas and After Hours hooked up and made a film baby, you be somewhere near The Wolf.  It's one of the funniest movies I've seen in awhile, but it's also raunchy and messed up as well. When I say messed up... there is lots of nudity, drugs, profanity and things that would bum your folks out... but it felt fitting for the story and the characters.

Speaking of story and characters, those are the main gears that run this film and both are solid. The story is almost unbelievable and the characters within it seem too insane to be real. Whether or not Scorsese embellished on those things doesn't matter, he sells them in a absurd and entertaining way that kept me buckled up for the whole trip. Leonardo DiCaprio and Jonah Hill gave their best performances of any film I've ever seen them in and there were also a ton of unexpected casting choices that I enjoyed.

The Wolf of Wall Street was a winner in my book and a film I'd love to revisit again. If you're a fan of Scorsese it's a must.

The Lone Ranger

The Lone Ranger
(2013) [Trailer]
Director: Gore Verbinski [IMDB]

I'm not going lie and say I was looking forward to seeing this back in the summer and never got around to it. Fact is, I kind of wanted to see it, but thought it definitely didn't merit the price of admission at the time of its release. I never watched The Lone Ranger as a kid, so this review will be a little unbiased, because who wants to hear some dude bitch about how Disney is ruining the memories of the original.

Synopsis: After his brother is killed, a straight laced lawyer finds his alter ego, The Lone Ranger. He teams up with Tonto, a loner Indian, to set out and find the man responsible for killing his kin.

The Lone Ranger wasn't a bad film, but far from great. I was surprised at how much I actually liked about it, but there were absolutely some elements of the film that didn't work.

I really could have done without the framing device with the old Tonto and kid, I found all of those scenes to be pointless and annoying. The film was extremely long, they could have easily cut out an hour of this thing and still achieved the same result. The action spikes high in the beginning and at the end, but in between there's not a lot of excitement going on.

Tonto, The Lone Ranger and the horse Silver save this film for me. I enjoyed Depp's performance and his banter with The Lone Ranger was interesting and funny at times. Most of the scenes involving Silver got the most laughs from me and the way they utilize him was pretty clever. I also thought Armie made a good Lone Ranger and was a perfect casting choice.

Technically the film is solid... the sets, locations, cinematography, score and costumes were all awesome and Gore Verbinski captured the essence of a great western. I could see myself revisiting this at some point, for me it has some charm that saved it from being completely lame.

Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
(2013) [Trailer]
Director: Peter Jackson [IMDB]

The LOTR/Hobbit films will probably always score a 4 Arnold or higher as long as Peter Jackson is handling them and I will always go out to see them in the theater... why? Because they are awesome, that's why. At this point you're either on board or you are not, so really... it's like preaching to the choir doing this review. Jackson has crafted the art of Hobbit film making and I don't think you can win over anyone who's not already in agreement with me on that.

Synopsis: Bilbo and his posse continue their journey to the Lonely Mountain in order to reclaim Erebor from Smaug... the badass dragon.

This installment is a lot more energetic than An Unexpected Journey (click that link to read my review... do it.) and I found it to be more entertaining. The special effects, especially on Smaug and Sauron were fantastic, some of the best CG work I've ever seen. The action was innovative, including a fight that took place going down a river that was incredible and felt like nothing I'd seen before. Kate from LOST was a new addition to the roster and now I have an elf crush on her... but seriously she was great and perfectly cast. The Lake town of Esgaroth looked insane and to think of the time it must have taken to render that blows my mind.

The film ends on a cliff hanger and it just made me end up wanting more. I can't wait till next year... no... actually I can't wait till 2016, so I can own all of them and have a super Hobbit/LOTR mega marathon.

Before Midnight

Before Midnight
(2013) [Trailer]
Director: Richard Linklater [IMDB]

Back in February I watched and reviewed the two precursors to Before Midnight... which are Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, you can read about them HERE. I love Richard Linklater and those of you that read that review could tell I was a huge fan of both of those films. I knew going into Before Midnight, I was in for a treat... could it be the crème de la crème of the trilogy? Could it make my best of the year list? We'll see.

Synopsis: We drop in, once more, on the lives of Jesse and Celine (Ethan Hawke and Julia Delpy) and find out where the last 10 years has taken them.

Everything that makes the first two films work so well is resurrected in Before Midnight. The characters feel so real and comfortable to you which helps immediately settle you into it. I loved watching where they took the story.... now the couple are older and the love you saw in Sunrise has matured. You see what it's like for them to keep their shit together and to fight with one another. Love isn't easy sometimes, some people can make it work, others cannot... and you'll find out what category these two fall into.

Linklater steers Before Midnight in a perfect direction, an honest direction and one that seemed pretty authentic. My wife said "I feel like a lot of the stuff they are telling each other would have already come up and some point in their relationship." While she may be right, maybe she's wrong, either way the dialogue worked for me and I bought what they were selling.

Obviously, watching the other two films in this trilogy is an absolute must... so go get all of them and enjoy the ride.

Captain Phillips

Captain Phillips
(2013) [Trailer]
Director: Paul Greengrass [IMDB]

Big fan of Paul Greengrass... big fan! When I heard my man was teaming up with Forrest Gump to make a movie about pirates and the high seas, I was sold. I finally got around to watching Cappy Phil last night and here's what I thought.

Synopsis: Tom Hanks is a shipping boat captain who must keep his shit together when his vessel is overrun by Somali pirates.

Captain Phillips is a quality title, and like all Greengrass films I've seen, It builds up pressure and stress in a harmonious way. I thought Tom Hanks was ok throughout and then at the last 10 minutes he cranks out one hell of an oscar worthy moment. The pirates were all pretty believable and from what I understand, were not actors, which is kinda cool. The hand held aesthetic, that Paul Greengrass is so well known for, seemed fitting here and help sell the realness of the situation... it felt like the perfect story for him to direct.

There weren't too many flaws here, that I can think of, maybe the family man dynamic they tried to work in, it felt a little weak and not built up enough. Overall... I really loved this film and will definitely rewatch at some point.