Cash on Demand Review


It’s time for a bank heist film that’s actually handled with no real fights here. The thief is a bit of a gentleman after all who wants to win with his cunning and wits as opposed to his fists. It’s definitely a bold approach of course since a whole number of things can go wrong but this is his plan and he’s sticking to it. We’ll have to see how he fares on this mission.

The film starts by introducing us to Fordyce who runs an incredibly tight ship in his bank. A single mess up is enough for him to really lash out at people. He doesn’t attend the Christmas staff parties or anything of that nature. He does his job and then he heads out. Well, one day he is visited by a senior executive from the insurance agency who wants to make sure that the funds are kept secure. Fordyce wants things to go perfectly so he works with the guy, but it turns out that this Gore fellow is actually a thief. Now that he is inside the bank, he intends to make a clean getaway. He won’t need to even fire a shot. As for Fordyce, he can’t make many moves right now because his family is being held hostage and the villains even got his wife on the phone to prove it. What can this guy do?

I should note that Fordyce is fairly old so fighting is probably out of the question. You already know that he wouldn’t be able to knock the guy out too quickly and additionally, he would need to act quickly because fi the accomplices don’t see Gore go to the window at certain intervals for the hand sign, his family will be gone. Another issue here is that Fordyce has no friends on the job so nobody would notice that he is acting irregularly at all. The day didn’t start out great for him either with how he treated his right hand man Pearson. Yes, things are looking particularly bad for the main character.

The film is rather short as it is barely over an hour so as you can expect the plot details come in fast and hard. This works well for the film because you can’t really have this cat and mouse game going on for too long at this point. Either the guy will get away or the cops will catch him but it’s difficult to have anything in between that. I will give the rest of the staff a good thumbs up here because they did end up calling the cops when they saw that Gore’s name was fake. That was good heads up thinking. They maybe could have also done something to quickly secure him before the cops arrived but I know they were trying to also keep things normal. So all in all it was a good move.

I have to dock some points for Fordyce though. I can’t go into details on this because it involves a twist near the end but he made a huge error and the whole plan falls apart if he doesn’t do this. It involves the whole reason that he is humoring these guys which is that they have hostages. I know things can be tough in the heat of the moment but it was a really bad mistake to make. It could have cost everyone at the bank rather dearly.

I’m giving the police some props to for being very proactive here. They did their jobs and they did them well. They weren’t waiting around to see what the characters were saying, they captured the immediate threat and took it from there. It was one of the better portrayals I’ve seen from them so I definitely appreciated that. Pearson was also good for continuing to do his job despite all of the insults. He was a good second in command.

Finally you definitely have to give Gore props for his performance. The guy was basically involved in a very high stakes gamble on himself. If he made any kind of mistake then he would have been taken down. The guy’s plan could have failed in dozens of ways and yet he didn’t let that scare him from continuing to move forward. That’s what makes him a good villain. He’s also a very charismatic fellow and that’s how he was able to easily ace the human engineering part of the plan. If he was acting shady or crooked from the jump then the plan would have failed immediately from there.

It’s like the scam where someone pretends to be a McDonalds manager to get behind the counter. It’s actually worked several times so these plans do have a real track record of succeeding. That said, it still takes a lot of guts. Also, while Gore was using this as an excuse to mess with them, he did have a point that the bank should have some kind of a true plan. They need better security measures since at the time anyone could walk into the bank and see the manager. That doesn’t make much sense and it is certainly a big liability. At least this experience will help them improve.

Overall, Cash on Demand is a fairly simple film but a fun one. You definitely will have a good time here. The writing is very strong as is common for old time films like this. The character cast is also small so most of the film is really about the banter between them. The actual heist is handled really well and I do applaud the fact that the film was able to handle so much tension without having the villain even fire a shot. It shows just how solid the writing was and while one of the twists may not have been the strongest, it is something that you could find believable in real life as well. So definitely hunt this film down as soon as you can and check it out for a classic bank heist experience!

Overall 7/10

Max Dugan Returns Review


All right Max Dugan is finally back! Now this is gonna be a real hype sequel, I can feel it! Wait, this is the original film? Pretty odd title I have to admit. The film is fairly solid but the romance is definitely on the unbelievable side and I also think the main characters tend to make the wrong decisions. I know that nobody likes a handout but sometimes you just gotta say thanks, accept the gift and move on.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Nora who is completely exhausted working as a teacher and trying to make ends meet, as well as her son Michael. He isn’t doing very well in Baseball right now. Their day gets worse when someone steals Nora’s car but her police friend Brian lets her borrow his motorcycle. He has had a crush on her for a long while but never has the guts to ask her out. He’s thinking about changing that. Everyone’s lives are thrown upside down though when a man named Max Dugan shows up. He’s Nora’s father who vanished when she was still a kid and so she holds a massive grudge against the guy. He explains that he is dying with a terminal illness so he has no use for money. Nora doesn’t want things to get any more complicated so she allows Max to stay but he can’t tell Michael his true identity. Will the kid figure it out anyway?

I would call this a slice of life film as its core to be honest. Drama could also work but this is a very low key film. Even the drama we do get isn’t about a lot of characters yelling at each other or anything like that. They all tend to handle things rather calmly but at the end of the day Max is officially a criminal so he really needs to tread lightly. If he makes any moves too quickly then he could get arrested which will interfere with trying to make amends with his family.

It’s definitely nice that he wants to be a good person and spread his wealth. He’s certainly got a lot of it after all and at the end of the day you are free to do with your money whatever you want. If he wants to spoil his grandson and his daughter then so be it. Unfortunately this is where the main two can be rather annoying. He gets them all kinds of cool stuff like a new TV, appliances, a car, etc. Now I will say that getting presents from someone you know is a criminal can be dicey but as long as you know the products themselves are good then there is nothing to really worry about right? Also Max did explain the situation and the casino stole the money first. So he’s not really a crook. Legally he is, but it was his money in the first place.

What Nora could have done was instead of bad mouthing the presents and throwing them away, talk with Max so they could coordinate what would be good gift as opposed to him throwing the items all around. At the end of the day this was all to get Celia’s attention and it did work. At that point Max could have switched up his approach a bit. I do think not being able to tell Michael the truth was a bit annoying though and led to some very avoidable problems. Telling him upfront would have been a good idea and Michael was old enough where I don’t think he would end up turning to a life of crime just over it.

Look, being rich is fun. I’m not gonna front on that, everyone says it is not but I guarantee if I ever became rich it would be a blast. There’s just so much you can do with some good money after all and so long as you don’t forget the things that are important, it will only enhance your lives. Because Nora was fighting this every step of the way they didn’t get as much as they could have. I do want to be clear though that Nora doesn’t have to forgive him on account of the lavish presents. You can’t buy love or forgiveness just like that and if it was ever implied that Max was trying this then it would have backfired completely.

It’s why a lot of people don’t like accepting gifts because they feel like this could all just be a trick to make them owe something. I would say for this you just have to be firm. If they didn’t mention anything at first, they can’t suddenly say that you owe them right afterwards. That’s where you would just have to call them out on that. I shamelessly accept gifts when they’re given to me. That’s the whole point of receiving gifts after all right? Max still did need more tact so he didn’t make them the talk of the town but his heart was in the right place.

He’s a good guy and has changed a lot from his older days. At least for Michael it’s nice to meet Max and of course he never got to know the guy from before he changed which helps him out a lot. For Nora, this is at least a big help since she was struggling so much before. Of course the big thing here is really the romance which doesn’t go well for most of the film. Brian really wants to impress Nora but he is just very low confidence and she’s always super busy. I don’t see how he stayed in love with her when she keeps brushing him off.

She’s never mean about it or anything but it’s not like he knows the context. Then with the situation involving Max, he naturally has to bring the guy in which causes more friction. I thought Nora was a bit unreasonable when she was mad at Brian for doing his job. Ultimately of course he would have to go after this guy because Max seems incredibly shady and has way too much money. What else would you expect the guy to do right? So that was annoying the whole time and another reason why I could not get behind the romance. It’s hard to get past all of these issues that they were having. It’ll just be the beginning considering Brian’s line of work. He has to go and stop the villains each time and can’t worry about who they are or hurting anyone’s feelings. I don’t see how their relationship could survive this as they both said some very hurtful things. It’s not so easy to forget that.

There is a random scene in the movie where one of Nora’s students starts cheating and she is eventually caught. It turns out that she wanted to help her cousin because families stick together. It’s a nice story but cheating is still cheating. It’s not exactly the best reason to engage in this so I remember being rather dubious. I think Nora let her off rather easily. You can’t cheat for a reason like that. Everyone has a reason like that if you look hard enough after all. So yeah just don’t cheat is the real lesson.

Overall, Max Dugan Returns is a fun film. In some ways it reminds me a bit of Mary Poppins but it’s definitely still a bit more serious. I liked the themes and who wouldn’t want to have a super rich grandpa like this right? I can already tell you that I would be accepting all of the gifts real quick. Just The romance with Brian is not all that impressive but fortunately the film is able to get past that. At the end of the day the strength here is that the film is fun. The pacing is on point and I enjoyed the characters well enough. It’s just a peaceful kind of story in a small town. Like I said even the drama isn’t super crazy or anything like that. It works as well as you’d imagine. I’d be game for another Max Dugan film at some point.

Overall 7/10

The Man Who Lived Twice Review


It’s time for a title with an interesting premise. It deals with crimes that took place a long time ago and some incredibly big circumstances that prevent you from just saying that the criminal should be turned in. I’ll hand in my verdict as we go through the movie but I appreciate the dilemma. I would say the whole situation was actually handled rather well so it definitely gets good credit there.

The movie starts off by introducing us to the criminal Slick. As his name would suggest, the guy is fast and always getting out of bad situations. The cops have yet to catch him although they are getting a lot closer now. He has his sidekick Gloves and his girlfriend Peggy stay back and then Slick loses the police by going into a school. There he finds out that there is a way to recover his broken face and along the way he will be transformed into a better person who no longer leads a life of crime. Slick decides to take the deal and it works even better than he ever could have guessed.

Slick is a completely new man with no memory of his past life. He decides to study medicine and after a few years he becomes a full fledged doctor. He quickly gains everyone’s respect for being a man of upstanding character. Slick is a fast learner and his heart’s really into the subject. Unfortunately you can never outrun the ghosts of your past. First his partner Gloves shows up, but fortunately the guy is a super loyal person at heart. He immediately decides to keep the secret of Slick’s old life from the guy and becomes a very reliable chauffeur. Then Peggy shows up and she is the real problem. She wants Slick to go back to his old ways and until he does, she intends to blackmail the guy. It’s a dangerous game that she is playing though because if Slick does go back to his old self…she may be in trouble.

It’s definitely a raw deal for Slick because you’d think the odds of anyone ever finding him is super slim. This was before cameras and all of that after all but that’s just the way that it goes sometimes. Slick was a really solid character in both his good and bad forms so he was a really good main character. As a hero I definitely liked how earnest he is but of course as the villain he could really take charge of a room. In both forms he is written really well and the film definitely had no weaknesses there.

Meanwhile Peggy is a decent side villain but definitely a really short sighted one. She isn’t very smart and doesn’t know when to keep her cards hidden. There are very few advantages to be had in alerting the world about every step that you are going to make. She talks to the cops, Gloves, Slick, etc. She is always talking and this puts her in a really bad spot once everyone start to come together. The ending for her was definitely very avoidable.

I would say that Gloves is definitely the MVP here though. He is a character who is truly loyal through thick and thin. Nothing fazed the guy and he really made the big sacrifice when it counted. I would have liked for him to have had a better ending but it really did show just how far he would go in order to protect his friend. It’s rare to find a true friend like that anywhere so you really have to savor them.

The main heroine in the present is Janet and she’s nice enough. I wouldn’t say her role is huge though or that I remember anything being really unique about her personality. So she fits the role but doesn’t do much beyond that. Then you have the scientist Clifford who is responsible for the change in the first place. Clearly he is a genius for coming up with such a technique and there are seemingly no real side effects. He makes a good pitch for Slick near the end as well.

So in the end, where do I stack up in the case? The court talks about his crimes from years ago and rules on them. First is the debate of memory and on that front, I don’t think it matters. While it sucks to be paying for a crime you don’t remember committing, I would argue that this doesn’t exonerate you from it. For example if you murder someone, then have a really bad fall where you get complete amnesia, you should still go to jail for the crime of murder. So that one’s a non starter for me, memory doesn’t change anything.

The stronger argument you could make here is about the time. Since we’re talking years ago and since then he has been a doctor helping all sorts of patients, then I think it comes down to how severe the crimes were. Anything requiring jail time should still be served out I would say. If we’re talking minor items like fines then I would argue that the good he did as a doctor outweighs the previous crimes. It’s definitely a nuanced debate for sure but that’s how I see it. Either way I was still satisfied with how the movie handled the ending. It was nice enough and Slick really did a lot of good while he was a doctor.

The fact that the whole community was on his side really shows what an upstanding guy he was. I’m sure that victims of any crimes he committed will never forgive him and that’s 100% valid but assuming the technique holds true, he will only continue to help people in the meantime. It would be a waste to have him just rotting away in jail without the ability to help anyone. At least this way he can continue to pay the world back.

Overall, The Man Who Lived Twice is a really fun film. It had a lot of good tension all the way through and I liked the story itself. I’m always mixed about changing someone with a surgery like this but it’s different from mind control or other films where it is forced. The main guy volunteered for it this time so I didn’t have much to say about that. It was his decision to make. So if you are looking for a well written story with a good amount of tension then this is definitely going to be up your alley.

Overall 7/10

Killers from Space Review


It’s time for an alien invasion by creatures with fairly large googly eyes. They’re definitely the kind of fighters that you don’t want to take for granted. Honestly their designs are pretty funny but it’s not like they appear a ton so you’re fine. At its core this is a pretty campy sci-fi film from ages ago on what could happen if aliens showed up. With the right blend of humor and danger, I would say that the film actually ages pretty well. You are unlikely to forget about the aliens at least.

The film starts with Dr. Martin getting into a bad accident and being in a huge crash. He should have been destroyed but he manages to get back up with only one injury. A big scar. So he makes it back home but is starting to act rather odd. He seems to think that aliens are among us and the only way to stop them is by turning off the power which will cause their base to overload and blow up. Of course, doing such a thing across the country is rather drastic and everyone already thinks he is crazy. He will have to find some way to overpower everyone but what if…..what if he really is crazy?

The film is only a little over an hour so it goes by quickly but that’s a solid length for this kind of film. I like to think of it as more of a story prompt than anything else. What if aliens did invade? What if you were the only one who knew about it? Well most likely you would be called a conspiracy theorist at this point and everyone would be taking shots at you. You’d probably never make it to a position where you could stop them. If anything, you might get irritated enough where you root for them to destroy humanity for not heeding your words. I would not rule that possibility out, that’s for sure. Now since this film is from back in the old days that does help since there aren’t cameras and the usual tech out to stop you. Additionally, Martin is already a fairly well regarded scientist who has a lot of access to just about everything so that really gives him a leg up here. If he was just anyone then he would not have gone as far as he could.

I do think Martin does a really bad job of convincing everyone though. He launches into the whole story about being abducted by aliens and everything. Who would believe that though? If he’s honest with himself then he wouldn’t believe them either because there’s just not enough proof. Yes, we see the alien eyes appear randomly throughout the movie and he can see them but nobody else can. So all he is doing here is making himself look crazy and unfortunately he is succeeding.

If he was smart, Martin would have done one of two things. One would be to make something up about the power grid to explain why he had to turn it off for a minute or two. The thing is, it only needs to be turned off for that short amount of time which is not really a big ask. He’s smart enough where he should be able to trick them into this. Alternately, just say you need to see the lab again and while you’re in there, shut it off quickly. In the film we see that the way to do this is by pulling the lever down and is just takes an instant. It would be easy to do this while everyone is shocked.

Instead we do get to see him punch someone out when they attempt to stop him so that was still fun. Ultimately Martin was very driven by his passion to stop the aliens and I can appreciate that. He just made a lot more work for himself over here which seems to happen a lot in these old films. People talk about aliens and monsters without thinking for even an instant that maybe this is a super bad idea because it sounds crazy.

Even the people who knew Martin the best could not defend him. The main heroine buys into the explanation that he is just overworked and everything. Then his best friend also thinks the whole thing is incredible and couldn’t possibly be happening. So yes, Martin had no other real options than to play hero by himself. I would have liked to have had some more screen time with the aliens though.

Why weren’t they prepared for this? We see their eyes at various points and all and it seemed like they could communicate to Martin but maybe they couldn’t hear what was happening? Because otherwise they should have abandoned the base in the time it took Martin to drive over there to shut them down. All of the aliens were connected to the same spot as well? That’s very poor logistical training on their part. You want to scatter and make it so there are lots of targets for the heroes. If you do that, then you are still ready for another round instead of being absolutely dominated the whole time.

Overall, Killers from Space is a pretty fun film. It does feel like the aliens played their part sloppily in order for the humans to have a chance though. Realistically, the humans should have gotten absolutely destroyed here. The villains had invisibility and the element of surprise on their side. After reviving Martin and using him for their own ends, they should have finished him off. Allowing him to make a comeback to save Earth was their big downfall. I suppose it’s a feel good message about not underestimating humanity though. I can respect that. It’s a wholesome ending and all. It just felt like humanity was completely outgunned the whole time. If you’re into sci-fi I would definitely recommend the film though. Even just thinking about the premise is a fun thought exercise.

Overall 7/10

The Invisible Man’s Revenge Review


It’s time for another Invisible Man film. This one definitely switches things up a little bit but the films usually do that anyway. They tend to either switch main characters or take place in a completely new timeline. Either way this one is a good bit of fun although I would also say that it is very campy. Everyone tends to make the worst decisions possible and you either find that funny and endearing or you’ll just get annoyed the whole time.

The film starts off with Robert murdering a bunch of people and heading to the rich Herrick estate. See, he was originally supposed to split the riches 3 ways with that couple but they left him for dead and ran off. Well he’s caught up to them now but the guy isn’t very smart so they poison his food/drink and knock him out. Their big mistake is they decide not to finish him off. Instead they destroy the contract and figure they will just tell everyone that he is crazy. That’s certainly one way to handle the situation but is it the best way? They may wish that they had finished this guy off because soon Robert would become…The Invisible Man.

Yeah there are a ton of bad decisions here so lets go through them. This was the first big mistake. Why would Jasper and Irene let Robert live after all of this? They have to know that he will try to murder them now since they effectively stole all of his money. He’s going from being a rich person to almost being on the streets? Cmon now there’s absolutely no way he would let that stand and I don’t think anybody would. Naturally it does come back to bite them.

So Robert meets up with a guy named Herbert who is nice enough to take care of him. The guy’s poor but does his best. Robert then meets up with Dr. Peter who has an experimental invisibility serum. He gives it to Robert who uses this to blackmail Jasper and Irene some more. Okay fine, he’s got the upper hand once again. He should probably have them mail out a check to him already so he doesn’t have to keep this facade up for too long but then he gets distracted. He wants to marry Jasper’s daughter Julie who is already engaged to Mark. Jasper says he will only agree to this if Robert becomes visible again.

You see the issue right? If Robert becomes visible again, then they’ll either murder him or call in the cops. He is absolutely doomed but he unironically believes Jasper and tries to get visible again. What kind of sucker is this? Cmonnnnnnn that’s never going to work. Dr. Peter isn’t quick on the uptake though and doesn’t want Robert to become visible again. Things don’t go well for the doctor…..maybe don’t talk back to the psychotic murderer without a plan of some kind?

Then good ole Herbert decides to blackmail Robert as well and gets supremely lucky that he isn’t bumped off right away. Why do people keep on trying to poke the beast? That’s just not a good idea at all and it’s just going to land you 6 feet under. All of these characters underestimate just how dangerous a foe can be when he can turn invisible at will. I mean it’s not like pressing a button but the fact that Robert can do this at all is super dangerous.

Ah well so Robert ultimately goes through with this but turning visible is dangerous in itself and then he needs them to bump off a dog that was turned invisible and then visible again. As long as it exists, his secret is in jeopardy. Unfortunately for Robert, the dog is too powerful and ultimately his greed costs him everything. It’s just amazing how many bad decisions happened here. Robert should have easily won once he became invisible and Jasper/Irene should have taken him out as soon as they drugged him.

Both sides had several chances for success. It’s why you really need to keep your eyes on the prize because if you get distracted then it’s all over. Robert got distracted by romance which is something you can’t mess with while Jasper had no real excuse. That is why you want to look at this as a comedy of sorts. Some parts actually are fairly light hearted. I don’t think it was ever intended to be a horror or anything like that. The creators probably didn’t picture it turning out quite as campy as I view it nowadays but this works as a feel good film for that reason.

Even with a body count and a murderer on the loose, the film just ends up being rather fun. They also manage to squeeze in the iconic Invisible Man laugh which was great. It would seem that the serum always causes the villain to go into hysterics at some point which is definitely always nice to see. It just would not be the Invisible Man without all of that. He may not have gotten very far with his revenge in the end but that was the focus of the plot so the title is still on point.

Overall, The Invisible Man’s Revenge is a pretty fun film. It’s the kind of film that you have to laugh along with though because if you take it too seriously then you’ll be shaking your head the whole time. This is not a film to be taken very seriously at all. Just grin along with the Invisible Man and you will be fine. I’d recommend this to anyone who is a fan of the concept and the best part is that you don’t need to watch any of the other films to understand what is happening here. You can just jump right in and you will be all set for action as a true stand alone. Then if you like this one, you can jump into the others which range from being serious to being 100% comedies that take themselves even less seriously than this one.

Overall 7/10

Baby, Take a Bow Review


It’s time for a really old time film about how it can be hard to escape your past at times. In this case it’s because of a private detective who really has a bone to pick with the main guy. it can definitely be rough having someone bring up the past all the time. The film works pretty well even if some of the troubles that come up feel like they could have been avoided with a little more effort from the main characters.

The film starts off with Kay heading over to prison to pick up Eddie who is just being released. Private Detective Welch advises her not to do this as it will be the biggest mistake of her life but she ignores him and the two get married. 6 years later they have a daughter named Shirley and are doing really well for themselves. Unfortunately Welch isn’t thrilled about this. He decides to bust in and try to get some dirt on the guy. He may have been fired from every spot around but he still has enough pull to walk into any office whenever he wants.

Welch is definitely the big villain of the movie but I have to give him some real credit here. The guy is absolutely unrelenting. He just keeps on moving forward and somehow the guy has a whole lot of influence. People tend to believe him and so he is really able to sabotage whoever he wants. For example, he tells Eddie’s boss that the guy is probably a crook and the one responsible for a theft so the guy fires Eddie. Just like that.

It’s definitely a shame since Eddie had been doing really well. He also helped Larry find a job so the two ex cons put their lives of crime behind them. Unfortunately that starts to make them desperate and then you have the current criminal Trigger still around to try and tempt them into the dark side. What a guy. Trigger even has a gun and everything so he definitely makes the climax real serious here. He’s more of a physical threat than Welch even if Welch is the bigger social threat.

Trigger’s your average baddie though while Welch really has charisma and personality. So I would still say that he is a lot more memorable in the end. He’s definitely not someone that you end up forgetting and he helps make the film more entertaining.

Meanwhile Shirley’s role actually isn’t all that big this time. She’s mainly here to help make the situation worse for Eddie as she gets tricked quickly with the gun and gets them into hot water a lot. She’s only a kid so I mean it’s not her fault or anything but yeah without her things would have gone way more smoothly for the main characters.

Eddie and Larry did say no to Trigger’s offer so they get props for that. In other films you see the main character get tempted to get back into the life of crime but in this case when he said no, he meant it. Always a really good idea. The characters were also just generally solid. They had good attitudes and kept their chins up even when things weren’t going well.

Meanwhile Kay was really solid for sticking with Eddie and not letting Welch get to her. Jane has less to do here but was also a very loyal partner to Larry. Stuart gets 0 points because he’s the one who was tricked by Welch into firing two of his best employees. So much for innocent until proven guilty right? This guy folded when it counted and you don’t really forget that kind of thing. Even if he apologies later it just ends up ringing hollow.

The film is very short as it’s barely over an hour so it has to move quickly. I do think that’s enough time for this kind of film though. It’s not like it’s going for some kind of really long and elaborate plot. At its core it’s a simple romance story about characters just trying to have a quiet existence. All they really want is to raise a family and have a good time. For a lot of people that’s really enough and yet they are pulled into a bunch of problems anyway.

If there’s one slight issue here it’s that nothing really happens to Welch. It just feels like he’s going to pull the same thing with a different ex-convict next time. He didn’t learn any lessons or even get harshly reprimanded. He was already fired from every agency before the film started so it’s not like he could be fired again either. Definitely a case where it feels like the film overlooked his role by the end when he should have at least gotten fined or something for misleading the police. I’m not sure what the exact crime would be for something like this but just find something to stick and hit him with it. The guy’s dangerously obsessive so he can’t be let on the loose. I would absolutely watch a spinoff film with him as the main character though because like I said, he was easily the most entertaining character around here.

Overall, The film probably should have been named after the main plot rather than Shirley being in it. She gets her classic dance number and everything but really isn’t a main focus in the film. I guess you could say she helps as motivation for Eddie staying o the straight and narrow but the title should have been something about trying to prove his innocence. Either way, it’s a solid film that’s good harmless fun. You could watch it at any point and it flows over very quickly. It’s also such an old film so it’s always fun to see how a title from the 30s plays out. I’ve seen tons of 50s films but even for me I haven’t seen a ton of 30s. That’s why there’s nothing wrong with it being simple, for all I know this may have been rather ambitious for its day.

Overall 7/10

Escape Room: Tournament of Champions Review


Escape Room 2 immediately makes me think of the second Maze Runner film. Sure the heroes may have survived the room the first time but can they do it a second time? The film does a pretty good job of bringing back the fun elements from the first film and I dare say that it even surpasses the original. There are a lot of great fakeouts here and the stakes definitely go even higher. My only complaint is that some of the characters don’t actually feel like champions.

The basic plot is that Zoey wants to crush the evil organization in charge of the escape rooms once and for all. Ben doesn’t think that this is a good idea but there’s no way he can say no to her so they head on over to NYC. Unfortunately they are mugged almost immediately which leads them to a train. Now if anyone knows the MTA, they know this was a lethal mistake. It’s not sick passengers or train delays that will get the best of them though, the whole car is instead being overloaded with electricity. The other passengers seem upset but not as panicked as they should be. Why? This isn’t their first rodeo! Each character here has won the Escape Room challenge in the past so this time the battle is between champions. Who will win the right to their continued existence this time?

I love the concept of this of course. This time you’re fighting with the cream of the crop and no scrubs allowed. Most of the puzzles are team based challenges so it’s not so much about being left behind but making any mistakes will cost you everything. So everyone should be very strategic since it’s unlikely that someone who was carried the whole time would win. The problem is…in this movie at least two of the characters don’t seem all that smart. So lets talk about the cast real quick.

Of course we know Zoey and Ben from the first film so there’s not much to say about them. They have both proven themselves a lot in the first movie and continue to look good here. I would say Zoey is absolutely smarter than Ben but he can still hold his own and they make for a good team. I wouldn’t say I love their characters or anything but they hold the film rather well. The pressure is more on the newcomers.

First up is Theo who panics a lot right from the jump. He doesn’t want to die here and talks about how unfair the whole thing is but he dies real fast. Now the way he died was a bit unavoidable so I don’t blame him there but he was just way too reckless the whole time. It’s hard to see how he survived the first time when he’s this emotional. You have to keep a cool head at least for a while. Like Zoey has a moment where she panics and grabs a door which activates a trap. That was a huge L but she has the rest of the film as evidence for how she is usually rather smart. (Although the scene did have me convinced that Zoey was a traitor for the rest of the film.)

Theo just didn’t add much. Then we have Brianna who also doesn’t seem ready for this. She doesn’t come up with almost any ideas during the adventure and seems to not have a real plan. She mainly follows the others and does her best there. Brianna’s not bad but again she doesn’t really feel like a champion which is the problem there. She’s not going to be saving anyone.

Nathan is someone who actually does feel like a champion though. He’s confident in his own plans and makes moves as needed. He has his big main character moment where he plunges ahead to solve the puzzle instead of listening to anyone. I actually appreciated that move a lot because it is definitely something that the main character would do if this was his film. He may have been wrong on the conclusion but most of his plan was really solid. He was also ready to jump in and save Rachel when she was in trouble and did so without hesitation. He’s probably the best character in the film I have to say.

Finally there’s Rachel who also has a commanding presence and did well. She has the ability to not feel pain which is pretty cool although in a lot of ways it’s very scary. Not being able to feel what’s happening to you can be a real nightmare depending on the circumstance and she seems to have had a dark past with the first set of Escape Room challenges. She does well in all of the challenges and proves herself as a strong competitor.

So out of the full cast only half of the new fighters live up to the hype. I put that on the film since they just needed to make the challenges a bit harder to show off everyone’s intellect before bumping them off. Kudos for not making anyone too unlikable though. In these films I think it’s important to have the main characters be teaming up instead of fighting with themselves. The puzzles are hard enough without having everyone be duking it out.

Now where the film really shines is the ending. It’s really brilliant all the way with how it ties into the beginning. I didn’t really pick up on any of the clues the first time around which is where I was really impressed. I didn’t read in between the lines and this is probably one of the first times where I didn’t suspect something right away. As the ending starts to play out you do connect the dots but even then, I didn’t to that extent. It’s all really cool and perfectly executed. Sort of like an ending out of Halloween or something but 100X cooler. I’d almost recommend watching the film just for the ending.

In general the whole movie is pretty well balanced though. There are a lot of fun challenges and different backdrops for each of the activities. This makes for a lot of variety and really keeps you on your toes the whole time. Some of the puzzles I do think are a bit much in terms of finding the solution. Like even while the characters are figuring it out you are super skeptical because it doesn’t really make sense. Some of it makes sense to be sure but most of it? Ehhhhhhhh I dunno. It’s Batman’66 levels of logic where he comes to the right answer and in a way it makes sense but it’s such a leap in logic that you’re not really sure how to feel about that.

I still liked all of the concepts and of course there was a NYC level in the game with some acid rain that was really intense. That had to be one of the more painful levels to be sure. Even if you played it perfectly you could expect to be hit by some acid drops. The film mainly avoids things getting too violent though. Some characters get burns and such but it’s actually rather tame. Nothing like the cube movie from a while back where everyone was really getting destroyed. This one lets you just enjoy all of the battles even with the life and death stakes.

Overall, I definitely enjoyed this one. I would recommend checking it out for any fans of thrillers out there. It did a great job of following up on the first one and I liked how strong the continuity was. We got actual flashbacks to the first film and everything. Every scene ends up being important by the end so it really wraps everything up well. I definitely recommend watching this film when you have a chance. It’s definitely a unique title that you won’t be forgetting!

Overall 7/10

The Gunfighter Review


It’s time for a film with a pretty direct name. When you hear the words: “The Gunfighter” you know what’s going to happen right off the bat. This guy’s about to take names and the villains better start hiding. It’s a pretty fun film although I didn’t really care for the ending. I definitely would have fixed that part up a little.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Ringo who is the world’s greatest gunman. He can shoot just about anyone at any range and his speed is so great that nobody can ever beat him to the punch. This is what we call true talent over in the west! Well, he ends up destroying someone in self defense and then heads back to his old town. He wants to meet up with his wife Peggy but Sheriff Mark says she doesn’t want to see him. Ringo doesn’t like this and intends to stay until he can talk with her but he doesn’t have a lot of time. The last guy be bumped off had 3 brothers and they are heading his way. Will Ringo really be able to take these guys down while settling down to be a family man once more?

Ringo has been travelling the world fighting for a very long time so it’s definitely hard to just stop and try to be with the family again. It’s easy to see why Peggy is a bit nervous about meeting him because it would be hard to know if he has really changed or not. It’s certainly been many years and he hasn’t even seen their kid before. It just seems a bit late to try to go through it all again and so she is not really planning to meet him although she is getting pressured by her friends in the town. After all if she doesn’t see him then he won’t be leaving too quickly and the villains will be coming around town.

Ringo is a fun main character though. He doesn’t want to fight but he can certainly end the battles as needed. When someone points a gun at him, Ringo is quickly able o take the guy down. There’s not much you can do about a bullet to the back but in any other kind of scenario, Ringo has this. I do like the running gag of sorts that everybody thinks they can take him though. The guy clearly never gets any peace, there is always some young guy trying to take the title. That’s probably something that would be true for any dangerous profession since everybody would want to get in on the action. All it takes is a lucky shot and you could be famous. Of course then the pressure will be on your head next but none of these characters are really thinking that far along.

It’s the curse of being the strongest after all, you are really on your own. We don’t get a lot of fights here but the film does show us Ringo’s abilities early on. He’s definitely the real deal in a fight. None of the villains are nearly as skilled as he is but this isn’t really that kind of film. All of the villains rely on cheap shots and surprise hits to really hope to stand a chance. They gave up on the battle of skill before it even started.

Meanwhile Mark was a solid supporting character. He was a good friend to Ringo and I would say he was good at his job. It’s easy to see why there was never any trouble in town. He was always running a pretty tight ship. I see a lot of films where the authorities don’t do much of anything in the western so it was a nice change of pace. Like I said, the ending is a bit disappointing though. It doesn’t really feel deserved and while the film was going for a message there, I could have done without it. It’s not a satisfying conclusion after the rest of the adventure, not at all.

Also quick shoutout to the bar owner for being one of the more entertaining characters in the film as well. It’s a dangerous job since everyone is trying to pick fights in your bar and you have to try and be a mediator at times. This guy doesn’t scare easily though and was always pretty involved in the plot. Just a fun character and the world building here was real solid. We got to meet quite a few of the people in town even if their roles were on the smaller side.

Overall, The Gunfighter is a pretty good film all in all. It may have stumbled at the finish but the overall story was very interesting and the cast of characters was solid. In a way it’s not even like a whole lot happened so the film could have easily been boring with the wrong staff. Fortunately they were up to the challenge and the movie went by very quickly. I could definitely recommend it to any wild west fan or anyone just looking for a fun time. The writing and script are both very good here and I would rank it very high up in the genre. It may be low key in terms of action but it still makes the most out of each scene. In the end Ringo’s best plan might have been to show up in town while in a disguise. If nobody suspected that he was some kind of legendary gunfighter then he wouldn’t be getting so many challenges all the time. Before the days of internet and photos I bet it would be really easy to become a different person. Not like you really even had ID in the wild west. Voice would be the toughest part but still not that bad to be honest.

Overall 7/10

Jewel Robbery Review


It’s time for an old school heist film that really goes by quickly. It’s a film that lands the humor over rather well and will keep you entertained all the way through. The main character may be no good since she is a cheat through and through but the main thief here makes for an interesting villain. He’s definitely not someone that you want to underestimate or it will be all over. The surreal nature of the whole thing really does wonders for the story.

The movie starts by introducing us to Teri who is super bored and one of those characters who figures that the grass is always greener. She wants some excitement in her life and to break away from how monotone things usually are for her. Her husband is rich but he got his money the legal way. So she has various affairs and flirts a lot with her husband’s younger associate. This is already pretty bad but what gets worse is when the shop is hijacked by a bunch of thieves. The main thief wins her heart over rather quickly. He’s not just any thief though, he likes to rob places while being a gentleman the whole time. So he makes sure that nobody is harmed and even makes some jokes along the way.

He invites Teri to go along with him and for a while there she is a bit skeptical of this but then she figures it might be a good idea. It won’t be easy though as the cops are hot on the trail. Will she decide to go with the thief or ultimately stand up for what’s right and help get the stolen merchandise back? Only time will tell, this is definitely not an easy decision for her at least.

So like I said the film is mainly played for laughs so you aren’t to take these things too seriously. That said, it is the best case scenario if you are the one being robbed. The villains aren’t hurting anyone and you are fully insured so it’s not like you won’t get anything back. Your business won’t be the same ever again though. The thief uses laughing cigarettes to knock people out and he has a flair for the dramatic. His backup plans have backup plans so it is hard to get one over on him. You figure this guy is almost definitely going to win in the end because nobody seems to be on his level. He’s just too quick witted.

You can’t feel quite as bad for the victims of the robberies as you could either since they’re not the best characters either way. For the younger associate, he is going after a married woman so that’s a massive no no right out of the gate. Then for the husband, he’s really letting himself be made a fool out of by his wife the whole time. I liked the well meaning police officer though. He was talking tough throughout the film about how smart and capable he was. I definitely appreciated that. It may not have turned out all that well for him but the confidence was still good. It’s always better to be confident and fail than to not have had the confidence in the first place.

These are also humor scenes that just worked really well within the film’s context. I’m not saying that it’ll be laugh out loud funny but the scenes and writing in the film are consistently clever. We even get quite a few fake outs that are written really well. You’re always left guessing as to what is going to happen next. It’s really impressive just how much influence the thief has and apparently he has dozens of identities to fall back on as well. That is the hallmark of a true pro.

The main cast is fairly small but this is the kind of film that doesn’t need a whole lot of characters. You really just need the thief to punk everyone, the heroine to fall for him, and then the peanut gallery wondering what is going to happen next. The rest of the film is just executed really well with the fun writing and really fast pacing. There is always something going on and it certainly never drags. At most you may just wish it could go on a bit longer with the thief messing with everyone but the length works well. Sometimes you don’t need a film to carry on for very long.

By default the weakest part of the film here is the romance. After all it’s not like you can root for the heroine to get together with the main villain right? That would be a really bad idea. The ending is a bit happier than you might think but we’ll see if it all works out. Either way I doubt this will be getting a sequel any time soon. It just doesn’t seem like the type of film that would since it’s really a standalone story all the way through.

Overall, Jewel Robbery is a pretty fun film and I dare say it’s better than I would have expected. The opening robbery scene really set the tone right from the start with how easily the thieves broke in and took control. I always like it when villains have an honor code to fall back on as well. Naturally it doesn’t make him any less of a villain or anything like that but at least it does make it so that you don’t mind when he is dominating. The guy wanted his money and figured out the most efficient way to do it with minimal effort. You have to give this guy some props in creativity for pulling all of this off like that. If this sounds like a fun time to you then I recommend checking it out right away. You don’t want to wait and then forget all about this title after all. You can also see what you think of the burglary attempt in general. Should it have worked? (I’d say yeah. It seemed to be well thought out)

Overall 7/10

Heartbreak Ridge Review

This review is of the TV-14 edited version of the film. All thoughts below should be addressed as such as a review of the unedited version would be more negative

It’s time for a classic war film that’s pretty fun. You always like to see the gruff commander show up to get the younger men into shape. He really turns the Z squad into the A squad in a fairly short time. We still get the serious war scenes to be sure but a lot of the film is really spent on the build up to the war so we see how the training goes.

The movie starts off by introducing us to Tom who has served a lot of time in the army and now life is rather boring for him. He gets himself placed into prison a lot for rather mundane reasons. Well, now he has been transferred to what is easily considered the worst division as a punishment. Well, nobody is going to mess with Tom. His toughness does get the team to respect him fairly quick though. Do they finally have a chance at greatness?

You see a lot of war films where the army platoon leaders are super cruel or just corrupt which can be annoying so it’s nice to see a leader who is tough but knows how to balance things out. He’s always in charge and can take care of himself without actually being mean about it. For example he gets his revenge on Stitch who stole his money early on but then from there on it’s all even. He’s not going to be vindictive about it or anything like that. Then when the squad calls in their big hitter Swede, Tom just shows him what’s up and keeps on moving. There’s no time for grudges in the army, he’s just trying to have a winning squad.

He set the tone immediately in the first scene when he beat someone up in prison and never goes back from there. Tom is easily the standout character in the film and all of his scenes are great. I also liked the main villain Malcolm. He could perhaps be a bit over the top but he works well as the foil. He’s corrupt and everything that Tom is not. This is the guy that you absolutely do not want to be your squad leader because he’s going to lead you into every kind of disaster possible. The guy absolutely puts his petty rivalries above the actual mission and he will do that every time. It’s certainly not very becoming for an officer, especially such a high ranking one. He had a bone to pick with Tom right from the start.

It gets worse when you find out that he actively sabotages the main squad so they can always lose to his squad. He sees his group as being the best and so the others don’t matter which is not effective in the slightest. The character who really steps up when it counts is Lt. Ring. At first he is way too inexperienced and reads everything out of textbooks. The guy doesn’t know what to do in a real fight at all. So this is his chance to really step out of his shell. I’d say that he makes the most out of the opportunity. He was annoying at first but was a good character by the end.

As for Stitch and the other soldiers, I wouldn’t say that I ever ended up liking any of them much. Yes, they assembled under Tom’s leadership but it feels like they are all easily swayed. If someone other than Tom had shown up then they would all still be delinquents. Of course their character redemption arc is the whole point of the movie but I just wasn’t as convinced as I could have been. Their scenes still tend to bring a lot of humor though so it’s not like that’s something that would bring the film down. I particularly liked it when Tom would troll them with the different shirts the whole time.

The only plot that wasn’t particularly good involved Tom’s ex wife Aggie. This is the romance subplot where they are trying to get back together but there’s just way too much baggage here. It feels completely unrealistic and at no point do you really believe that they even like each other. It comes across more like they’re both just lonely and desperate which isn’t a great reason to get back together. The romance isn’t a big focus in the movie but it’s still big enough to be mentioned. It’s easily the weakest part of the film.

Of course when you just have one general weak point then you are in a good position. The movie as a whole has really good pacing the whole time. There’s a good amount of action in the climax as well. I would say that the film is at its best in the first half with Tom showing everyone up with a lot of clever dialogue. He’s not exactly a big talker but always knows how to pick the perfect moments to deliver some killer lines. He really keeps the characters on notice there. The writing is really solid here and granted this is the edited version so the script might be a little more intense otherwise but in this version it was good.

Overall, Heartbreak Ridge is a pretty good movie. It is a war movie but most of the film is about the training so it almost feels like as slightly different genre. Maybe army training if that’s a real sub genre. Either way it’s a satisfying watch that feels like there was a lot of effort put into creating this one. It’s a well crafted experience. If you like a solid army film that has a good sense of humor then you should check this one out for sure. Whether you view it as an inspirational title or just a funny one, there are lot of lessons and morals to take away from this. Always bring your best and it’s never too late to improve yourself.

Overall 7/10