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Johnny English Strikes Again (2018)
Mindless fun
That may seem like a negative title, but it's really not. This is a goofy comedy in the same vein as the original Johnny English. The plot is standard, a lot of the gags are predictable, but it's a fun diversion of a movie. I enjoyed it.
Alpha (2018)
Pleasant surprise
To be honest, I didn't expect much going into the film and it was a spur-of-the-moment decision. While not a complex film or plot, the cinematography is often beautiful and the plot is compelling. The subtitles didn't distract a bit for me, because much of the film isn't about dialog, it's about man and nature. When I left the theater, I felt moved by it, which is not something that happens often for me with modern films.
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Standard '30s gangster plot buoyed by some special performances
I'm not going to go too much into detail on the plot of the Roaring Twenties - it's pretty standard "gangster rises to the top" fare. The things that made this movie special to me were the performances, two in particular.
The most prominent character in the film is Cagney, a streetwise cabbie who's lost his job - and really his place in the world - following World War I. He gets into the bootlegging business more or less by mistake, but then stays in it and determines to make a success of it. It's typical strong Cagney gangster fare.
The first of the special performances to me was Humphrey Bogart's. This is a younger Bogart, not yet the gangster with a heart seen in High Sierra or the world-weary Bogie seen in Casablanca and many subsequent films. No, this younger Bogart is cunning, but is mostly a fearsome gun-toter seething with contempt for the world. I imagine he didn't have to go far to find inspiration. Warner Brothers didn't consider him a leading man at this time and had him in a string of mostly low-budget films, including an awful Western musical flick called Swing Your Lady the year before. Adding that he was in a reputedly wildly tempestuous marriage with Mayo Methot at the time, he had a deep well to draw from for the contempt and fire this role called for.
The second special performance, and my favorite, is that of Gladys George as Panama. Panama is as tough and smart as any male club owner, a streetwise pitchwoman who doesn't flinch when the bullets fly. On the other hand, she's got a tender heart and a torch that quietly burns for Cagney despite his shortcomings and infatuations with other women. It is one of my favorite female roles of the '30s - it seemed that kind of nuance was generally reserved for the male lead. She has some real powerhouse moments in this film.
So, a 9/10 for me - standard '30s gangster plot buoyed by some special performances.
This Is the End (2013)
Funny, but starts to drag
Alas, it is the fate of so many comedies - the first half of the movie is great and funny, the second half is 'meh' as the director tries to figure out how to resolve the story lines. I laughed a lot in the first half of this movie - it's so over-the-top and ridiculous that you can't help but laugh. If I were rating the 1st half, I'd give it about a 9/10.
The second half was a different story. Though it had a handful of funny moments, it seemed to drag and was a predictable mess IMO - maybe a 5/10. The first-half comedy was enough to make up for some of that, so I give it a 7/10 overall.
Public Enemies (2009)
Pretty good summer film, but disappointing
When I first saw on IMDb Johnny Depp cast as John Dillinger in this film, I was thrilled. Dillinger, after all, was a charming, swaggering, cunning, womanizing thief. Remind you of anyone - say Captain Jack Sparrow? I read articles with Depp saying he had studied Dillinger, even wore a pair of Dillinger's dress pants. I was excited at the thought of an actor of his caliber dedicating himself to such a robust, interesting character.
When I left the theater, however, I had mixed emotions. I was glad someone took the time to show what the world of cops and robbers was like in the 1930s. There was some good action, and there were some tense moments in the movie. Billy Crudup was near perfect as J. Edgar Hoover - the man who thought himself God. The acting was very good overall. The major problem I had was that I had no sense that Melvin Purvis and John Dillinger had been brought to life on the screen.
Melvin Purvis was a pencil-neck attorney who had no law enforcement experience previous to the FBI. Christian Bale's character is a polar opposite - a manhunter who can shoot a running man down from 200 yards, a great planner and interrogator. It would be hard to get farther from the truth. Read up on him and take a look at a picture and you'll know what I mean. The worst part was that there was an actor in this film who was a spitting image of Purvis - I believe it was Richard Short.
The most egregious, however, was Dillinger himself. Instead of the larger than life bank robber whose charm could buy him a drink or a date anytime, he is a troubled loner with a violent streak. The real Dillinger was known to rob banks with a smile on his face and sometimes to not even display a weapon. The movie Dillinger busts in with a gang wielding Tommy guns and tries to terrify everyone into submission. Again, as far as bank robbers go, it would be difficult to get further from the truth. I think Johnny Depp acted the part as it was written, and did that well. It's just a shame the part was written so poorly.
There are also some pretty severe historical inaccuracies. Minor ones I don't mind, but killing someone off at the beginning who was actually part of Dillinger's gang for years after is a bit much. If you know the history behind Dillinger, you'll find yourself thinking "wait, that never happened" or similar things.
The filming has been mentioned in other comments, and I will echo that. There are far too many close ups, and a lot of the filming is very fast-panning and unsteady. The '30s were a time of sharp contrasts - abject poverty in some places and some of the most elegant and beautiful architecture and apparel ever seen in other places. This film chose not to show that - whether that be due to budget or just poor film-making, I don't know.
This was overall a pretty good movie, and will keep your attention. It had a chance to be really special, and it didn't make it there. It's a shame to see all that talent and material go to waste.
Cadillac Records (2008)
A hugely disappointing bundle of clichés
When I saw the previews for this film, I was thrilled at the prospect of a film about some very under-appreciated musicians - the blues men and women who set the stage for rock 'n' roll. However, this film may have been the most disappointing ever for me.
This movie was so historically inaccurate that, as I watched it, I started getting angry at the injustice being done. It was full of stereotypes, cardboard cutouts of these larger-than-life musicians. Howlin' Wolf in particular was cut into a hayseed with a love for rusty trucks and bib overalls. Also, almost all of these musicians made it big in Memphis, not Chicago. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that this isn't on the same planet as the truth.
The storyline and writing were no better. The storyline has holes you could park a Cadillac in (excuse the pun) and the writing was laughably clichéd.
I will say that whoever did casting did a good job, and the film was pretty well acted despite the awful dialog.
I love this music and am fascinated by this period in music's history, but this movie did it no justice at all.
No Country for Old Men (2007)
Speechless
I went to see this movie with my girlfriend because I love the Coens' previous tongue-in-cheek humor and engaging plots like Fargo and O Brother Where Art Thou?, and the Texas neo-noir of Blood Simple. I came into the movie expecting something like a mix of the three, but instead was treated to a masterpiece. Tommy Lee Jones plays the role he was born to play, Javier Bardem is utterly fascinating in his role, and everyone else is so incredibly human. The plot is perfectly paced and played out, so that no scene bears down on any other, they each stand as important moments. My girlfriend, who loves raunchy comedies and horror movies, and myself, a classic movie buff and crime movie fan, both left the theater speechless, thinking this movie was one of the greatest movies we'd ever seen.
Black Snake Moan (2006)
The heart of the delta blues
I watched this movie at the first showing available in my area, and it was quite clear that most people didn't get the movie. Even if you don't, it's a good movie with some interesting character development. It is a thoroughly human story about some very imperfect people in a backwoods southern town, and really speaks to the root of the blues. If you don't know what the "Black Snake Moan" is by the time you leave the theater, you didn't get it. And no.. it's not just a song. Christina Ricci does a great job and is thoroughly convincing in her role, as is Samuel L Jackson. I think this is his best performance since his role in Pulp Fiction, and probably his best including that because of the range of his character in BSM. The rest of the cast is solid, with a few shining performances here and there, particularly John Cothran Jr as Reverend R. L.. I'm a very selective movie watcher, and this film honestly rates among my favorites because of its candid look at race, sex, religion and neurosis in a rural southern town, along with its cinematic genius, in my opinion.