Tag Archives: Drama

Fruits Basket: Prelude Review

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It’s time to go back into the world of Fruits Basket. Back in the manga days I was always pretty tough on this one. I remember it being one of my least favorite Shojo titles. The anime helped me like the series more although I would say it still has some key issues that never really went away. This film does a quick abridged version of the movie and then goes into the prequel part. As a result, neither section is quite as long as you might have expected here. It all goes by fairly quick so the pacing is on point. Of course you already know how the story will end so there isn’t a whole lot of suspense in there.

For the recap part, it’s basically the Kyo show as we see him introduced as a lonely kid who was really on his own. Then he met Tohru’s mom Kyoko and finally had someone he could talk to outside of his Dojo master. The two got along well but one day Kyoko was destroyed by incoming traffic and Kyo had the chance to save her but hesitated because of his curse. This curse transforms him into a cat or sometimes a raging monster if he touches a girl and he didn’t want the world to know. I do think if he had more time he would have grabbed her but in the split second he couldn’t react. So this is why he tries to put some distance between him and Tohru.

But this is a romance title so you can probably guess how that went! It’s pretty interesting to see the whole show condensed like this. At the end of the day the core show is about the two of them getting together so this one cuts the fluff and just gets right to it. The way it arranges the scenes can sometimes be a bit odd as it is not trying to be chronological at all. Still it’s not a bad setup. I feel as always that romance dramas are a bit tougher to make elite compared to romance comedies but it works well enough.

Kyo and Tohru just don’ have close to the same level of banter as your average romantic leads. They get a quick minute again at the very end of the film and even there you’re just not ready for a whole show about them. Nothing wrong with their romance, at least from this movie but they just aren’t super interesting. It would really all come down to the main segment.

In the prequel, we see how Kyoko met Katsuya before nature destroyed him. Kyoko was a tough kid who was a super rebel in part due to being around negative influences and her parents not doing a thing to help her. She was in a tough spot at all times. One day the parents have had enough and kick her out and the school is about to do the same when she meets one of the assistant teachers, Katsuya. That begins their romance.

Now the obvious issue from the jump here is there is a fairly big age gap going on. I don’t think the film makes it clear just how big but you can use logical deductions from him being an assistant teacher and her being a student. At the end of the day, my stance has always been that age gaps lower the percentage of the relationship working out and the bigger the gap, the more likely it will fail. I can’t really say I would support this romance at all to be honest and even aside from all that, a teacher and a student is rather messy.

This may sound like it’s my same old speech but it would work so much better as friends. He could just be a nice guy getting her out of a real sticky situation and helping her to appreciate life more. Then after that she would be able to stop being a rebel and really come into her own. That would have been a whole lot better. Well, at the very least he did end up being a nice guy the whole time. He told off her parents who the film shows to be as petty as possible. The fact that they called her just to remind her that she’s disowned after Katsuya died was crazy stuff.

Katsuya dying to a random cold is pretty effective since it makes the whole thing more sudden. What I would have liked to have seen more of was Kyoko once she was happy again though. We know from Tohru’s memories that they had a lot of good times before she passed on but we don’t get to see almost any of them. Instead it’s mostly about how depressed she was for a while there and then the film starts to wrap up. It’s as if the happy moments always have to go on a speed run to the next tragedy to occur.

In a way that’s the Fruits Basket way though. It felt like bad things were constantly happening to the characters and they couldn’t really escape their fate. As soon as they began to move forward and make a difference, something would happen like clockwork. The series could be quite unrelenting like that.

The animation is reasonably good. There’s not really anything for it to show off though so it’s a bit hard to say. I thought the motorcycles looked really sleek the whole time though so that was cool. Meanwhile the soundtrack is more on the subdued side. I can’t think of any tunes that super stuck out here.

At the end of the day, this is more of a low key story that has to stand on its own without many technical elements to help it out. It’s not bad but I also wouldn’t say it’s all that good. There really isn’t any replay value and the best parts are the ones being recapped from the show so you just want to go through that anime again. Yuki for example has some of the best scenes here like when he really takes it to Kyo. You sort of wish he would have been in more of the movie. If you want a lot of drama then this is the film for you but it doesn’t always leave a lot of room for fun.

Overall, Fruits Basket: Prelude is definitely very dramatic. It’s absolutely got the kind of tone that you would think about you picture the series. This doesn’t always work in its favor though. I feel like this movie doesn’t have much of a hook since a lot of it is old footage and as a result the prequel origin doesn’t have a whole lot of time to itself. We could have used the extra time to show the main characters hanging out and having some good times. It could have been more of a break from how everything would always go wrong for Kyoko in the end. So this is an interesting film but unless you are a mega Fruits Basket fan, you can probably skip this one.

Overall 5/10

They All Laughed Review

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It’s time for one of those films that is just hard to watch with how bad everyone is. The writing is not particularly good and all of the characters are downright awful. Mix that in with the fact that the film is fairly long and you have a recipe for disaster. It’s the kind of film that makes you shake your head the whole time because it had no idea what it was doing. This was an absolute mistake of massive proportions. Very unfortunate stuff.

Okay so the film is about a detective agency where they spy on women to find out if they are having affairs or not. There are 3 main field agents here and they each have different talents. They have two ongoing missions right now so they have to keep running around the city to keep track of both women. The problem is that these guys have the willpower of a baked potato and they are no strangers to having loads of affairs as well. With everyone in the city hopping from one person to the next, this is about to get complicated.

The movie plays out like a crazy delusion that someone who is jaded with big city life might have. Someone who figures that in the city, people are hopping from relationship to relationship the way one might might go pizza hopping from place to place. Nobody is trust worthy and they’re all messing round behind each other’s backs yet they also gossip with everyone. So as a result it’s all real convoluted but the simple part is seeing just how bad everyone is. Even the end of the movie has some twisted morals going on.

So right from the gate I can tell you this is an awful film. It will have the occasional funny moment but almost all of its attempts at humor just end up falling flat. Makes me shake my head just thinking about it. For example, Charles is the main character here and you’re supposed to in part feel bad for him when everything’s going badly. He’s constantly in tricky situations but since he’s such a bad guy you’re just rooting against him instead. Instead of the scenes being funny, you’re hoping that he does get hit by the car, that he does get caught so the girl will run off, etc.

Lets take a step back here, cheating is and always has been one of the greatest taboos. For the average person it should typically rank in the top 5, only losing to the most disturbing and evil of crimes. In any situation where there is cheating going on, the person most at fault is the one who is married since that person is the one who made the vow. Closely behind is the other party for still weakening the married person in order to have the affair. The only exception is naturally if that person was deceived into thinking they’re having fun with someone who is single.

So in the main relationship, Charles is less at fault than Dolores but it’s by a very negligible amount. You can tell that there is no loyalty here from either side. Once they are together, Dolores will cheat on him with the next guy and he’ll cheat with her on someone else. That’s just how the cycle is. Especially since Charles is easy to boss around like the singer who had her way with him. This guy can never appreciate the moment and is always looking beyond. It’s easy to see why things have never gone well for him.

Then you have Arthur who has the most confidence but as a result he’s been with the most ladies. He just flies on through all of them and never stops. Definitely not someone that you would want to even be friends with since he would be such a bad example. Fortunately for him, nobody in the city really cares and they all run to be the next in line to be chumped. Sure they get upset afterwards but it’s too late.

Then you have John who falls for Angela during his assignment. It’s basically just like with Charles. He’s only making matters worse and putting his feelings ahead of the mission. Things don’t go very well as you’d expect and the only outcome is that they are both super tainted now. It’s all just a real messy affair and again it makes the big problem here the fact that nobody is likable. Everyone has their moments and all they succeed in doing is dragging the other characters down with them.

In general it’s probably going to be hard to really make any good films about a group that tests out if a husband/wife is cheating. In most cases it’s probably going to happen where the main character falls for one of them. That’s just the easiest way to make a long dramatic story about the subject. After all you’re likely going to need some kind of conflict and peacefully finding out that cheating is or is not going on is a harder story to tell. I’d like to see a writer try and do this justice but it feels like a longshot.

It would have been nice to have at least had one character stay strong but that never happens. Even the cab driver gets involved as well as the secretary. Yeah these are all the kinds of characters where if you saw them on the street you’d want to go the opposite way. No matter how much you may want to think that you are the exception and this time the relationship is real, it’s not. So don’t even fall for that! It’s a massive trap, the trap of all traps you could say. Even within the movie the characters are starting to think this is legit by the end but we all know the truth. It is absolutely game over instead. Hey that’s just how it goes sometimes.

Overall, Like I said this is a tough film to watch because you’re basically just watching a bunch of antagonists messing with each other the whole time. The writing itself is also super suspect at best. The characters have a awkward way of talking where they have to constantly use full names or last names instead of the first one. One character in particular does this as her quirk and then other characters like John talk exclusively in 2 word mini sentences. You wonder why the characters are all so annoying before you stop caring. At the end of the day this is the kind of drama film that goes for a lot of cheap low hanging fruit to try and keep you interested but fails in the attempt. You could find better drama films in the 1 dollar aisle at Blockbuster.

Overall 2/10

Murder in Coweta County

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It’s time for another film based on a true story and this time it’s about a big murder from back in the day. We get to see the importance of the death penalty and how it prevents you from making an escape and also how hard it can be to track down proof for a single murder. In the end law enforcement is a very difficult career and not one for the faint of heart. However, when you can solve the case it definitely feels good.

The film starts off by introducing us to Wallace who is one of the most powerful people in the country. He basically has an unofficial empire by which he can rule the masses and escape any kind of justice. One day, someone tries to steal his livestock as revenge for being chased out of town and Wallace murders him. The murder occurred in the territory of Sheriff Potts though and he is not having any of that. Wallace made a big mistake coming onto this guy’s territory and now Potts is eager to have Wallace destroyed for it. Potts will have to assemble the evidence and fast because if Wallace is let go on any kind of a technicality, he’ll never be caught again. The stakes are high!

Wallace is one of those villains who is quite unremorseful. He really sees himself as the good guy in all of this and believes that his status and power makes all of his decisions absolutely above judgement. It’s definitely a very bold point of view to be sure. That’s what makes him a fun villain though. He heavily overestimates how persuasive he can be in a conversation. Sheriff Potts never even entertains the guy for an instant yet Wallace continues to talk and talk and talk. It’s really quite something. It’s also fun to see how one by one everyone starts to betray them and he realizes that this is actually happening. He absolutely did not count on this happening but at the end of the day most people will look out for themselves when the chips are down. That’s just how it goes.

Meanwhile Potts is a super solid character right from the start. He’s putting everything on the line to solve this case and using all of the resources that he’s got. After all if he can prove the case here he will have shown that nobody is above the law. He will have dealt a great blow to injustice everywhere and that’s just what he did. In the epilogue it’s extremely impressive to see that there were no unsolved cases during his tenure. That is crazy, I doubt very many sheriffs can say the same.

Meanwhile this was a film where there were a lot of other helpful characters as well. You had the two who attested to the murder, you had the deputies questioning everyone, local towngoers who were doing their part, etc. It was nice to really see everyone come together and it was a nice optimistic look at the world. We tend to see the more negative side of things in most cases so I really appreciated this. The movie generally has a good vibe about it. It acknowledges that a lot of bad things tend to happen in Wallace’s kingdom but we don’t see anything more than we have to. The film focuses more on things getting cleaned up than what was there.

We also get a pretty detailed look at the trial proceedings which I always enjoy. I love a good trial and this is definitely the way you’d expect it to be done. It’s all handled very professionally with lots of suspects and exhibits of evidence. Then you have Wallace really shooting himself in the foot even as he tries to prove his own innocence. It’s why you always want the lawyer to speak for you. People often think they can just go in and say what they want, but that’s a good way to make yourself look guilty. Even if you are actually are innocent, often times the last thing you want to do is go in without letting the lawyer represent you. They are professionals at what they do after all and know the ins and outs of the process.

As the film’s storyline is fairly straight forward there’s not a whole lot more to say about this one. At the end of the day it’s a pretty direct story and that’s why I give the film a lot of props for keeping it very interesting and engaging at all times. I imagine it would have been easy for this film to have been boring under the wrong hands. For a film like this you absolutely need good writing and they pulled it off.

Overall, Murder in Coweta County is definitely a good film. We’ve got some strong writing throughout and a good cast of characters. This is one of those old films that has really withstood the test of time in all areas. It’s a movie that has good pacing throughout and a pretty satisfying conclusion. It’s an event that I wasn’t too familiar with from what happened in the real world so it made the film extra fresh the whole time. That definitely adds to the entertainment value big time. I’d recommend watching this if you’re interested in the court proceedings or in seeing some justice being enacted in general. For a film like this it all comes down to the ending of course so I was glad that it really landed without any issues.

The Pride of the Yankees

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It’s time for a Baseball film with a lot of hype but also one that deals with tragedy later on. After all the movie is about Lou Gehrig who was well known for getting quite sick at one point. It definitely put him through a lot but most of the movie happens before that at least. They do a good job of showing Lou to be a really nice guy and the Baseball scenes are fun. So all in all there’s not a whole lot to dislike about the film.

It starts with Lou growing up as a big Baseball fan even though he plans to be an Engineer when he grows up the way that his Mom wants him to. Baseball is just not something you really aim for because so many people end up crashing out early. Well, he’s scouted for the Yankees anyway and ultimately ends up going for it. He becomes one of the best Baseball players out there and gets married to Eleanor. The two of them get to have many good times before he eventually ends up passing.

There’s not really an antagonist in this film at all. Sometimes a film like this may try to at least have a really tough reporter or someone like that to shake Lou up but that doesn’t really happen here. There is one heckler who tends to bet against Lou but it’s never really played in a mean spirited way. The guy struck me as being competitive but not actually nefarious. He was actually pretty entertaining the whole time. Meanwhile Lou’s mother was a tough customer about Baseball and then being jealous of his wife for a while but eventually she got better. I was glad that Lou stuck up for Eleanor there and helped her out.

At the end of the day your wife is supposed to be the head of the household when it comes to decorating, equipment, and any of the rules there. Lou’s mother was nice enough in most instances but even if she was to have been perfectly kind, it’s just not her place anymore. Eleanor ultimately should have been a little more determined and stuck up for herself too though. Allowing herself to be on the backfoot the whole time definitely didn’t help matters. It made her look a bit too timid the whole time. If you’re not able to have an honest conversation with your husband then the relationship doesn’t feel too sound.

That’s where I have to criticize Lou as well though. When he gets sick, he tells everyone not to tell his wife so she won’t worry. I would consider this to be selfish in the highest degree. She absolutely has a right to know, particularly since others already do. To be the only one left out like that is pretty awful. Yeah she figures it out pretty quick but I think he owed it to her to tell her directly rather than her having to confirm with alternate sources.

The writing is pretty solid and the script is always on point. Lou can appear to be a bit naive at times but that’s how it goes sometimes. The film is long and it does feel long so perhaps the pacing isn’t perfect but they did have a whole lot to cover. I would say that by and large they did manage to cover a whole lot of it excluding the Baseball parts which was definitely more on the unfortunate side. We definitely got to see that Lou really had a lot of support among his fans and friends to the very end though. The montage of everyone rooting for him was rough even if he ultimately could not end up beating out the illness. Sometimes you just are not able to overpower it like that. Particularly since this is based on true events it’s not like they could change the ending. So instead I’m glad that the film doesn’t dwell on it for too long.

I feel like a modern movie might try to milk that part a bit more. Letting us see the main character in tears on multiple occasions or something like that. Bringing up the sad music and everything to amp things up to the next level. I definitely prefer the more subtle touch, it’s the way to go since you still feel the sad impact without it absolutely taking over and starting to drown out the happy beginning. After all Lou still got to live a very complete life with a whole lot of highs so I imagine he would still have been pretty satisfied with the end result.

Overall, The Pride of the Yankees is definitely a celebration to Lou and they do a really good job of that. Fans of him should be pretty pleased with his portrayal and of course the Yankee fans will like seeing all of the home runs and the glory days here. I would have liked to have seen more of the actual Baseball action myself considering how long the movie was though. They definitely should have been able to squeeze in at least another 45 minutes or so right? Especially if you play it like an extended montage you could have squeezed many more scenes in. Ultimately this is more about the man than the ballplayer although it hits both to an extent. Either way it’s a film worth checking out.

5 Centimeters per Second Review

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You ever wonder how fast you are moving per second? It’s not something I generally think about all that much but I tend to rock back and forth as I write reviews so I like to think I am moving more than 5 Centimeters per second. This film is a pretty fun romance title either way. Fun may not sound like the right word because it’s going for a twinge of tragedy the whole time but I liked the vibes and the animation was solid. I thought it was a good time and it managed to avoid the usual romance tragedy tropes like someone getting hit by a truck or falling into a coma. This felt more like a natural way for a romance to go tragically.

The movie is divided into three segments. Initially I figured this was going full anthology style and didn’t realize it was the same guy in the second special until around halfway through when he started being on the phone. It’s a pretty interesting look at a relationship through the ages and again I would say it’s handled well. When achieved, a doomed romance plot like this can be super interesting. It’s also just easy to mess up so I wouldn’t generally recommend that a film tries this. Only the elite can make it so the whole thing isn’t overly melodramatic and such.

The first segment introduces us to Takaki and Akari. The two of them have been best friends through school but one day Akari has to move away. They’re both still fairly young at this point and there were no cell phones so it’s hard to find a time to meet up. Still, they make plans for Takaki to visit her. It’s a trip that takes several hours as he is supposed to arrive there by 7 and leaves in the very early afternoon. Unfortunately a snow storm hits which starts causing many delays. Will he still be able to make it in time? Will she still be there when he arrives? The worries and tension begin to add up.

This segment likes to flash back and forth to the past and present a whole lot. It can maybe be slightly overdone at times but it does show how quickly they bonded. The tough part is their age because if they were grown ups Takaki could have just moved over there or something. Instead, they have to rely on letters and that takes up a ton of effort. It’s hard to imagine a relationship staying strong purely over mail like that for such a long period of time. Ultimately you want to be able to see and hear the person. It’s why pen pal relationships are always treated like such a big deal, because they really are rare. At least they did get to meet once though, even if it took a great deal of effort.

The second segment takes place years later as a girl named Kanae falls for Takaki. The problem for her is that he just doesn’t see her in that way. He’s always a little scattered and on his phone. He’s very kind to her but it’s in a professional way. So Kanae wants to work up the courage to ask him out and to do this she will need to improve her surfing abilities. Will she be able to break through Takaki’s generational bond with Akari or will it be game over for her?

It’s a fun follow up and in a way the film does a great job of stacking the deck against Kanae. Not only does she have to face her fears to be with Takaki but at the same time the audience is also rooting against her since most people will be rooting for Akari to get with Takaki. So we have a rare moment of everyone in and out of universe being against her. (Well in universe nobody really cares so it might be more accurate to say that nobody’s really on her side since she doesn’t really tell her family either) It helps to make Kanae’s struggle all the tougher. Ultimately this is a bit more of a generic romance type story compared to the first and last segments though. It’s solid enough but doesn’t really stand out. I guess the strongest part to me is that Takaki is still so dedicated to Akari even though it has been so long.

In the final segment, we see Takaki as a grownup. He finally gave up on waiting to an extent and has a girlfriend now. The problem is that he’s still not over Akari so that’s really not cool. Remember, if you can’t get over someone then you have to solve that on your own. Entering into a relationship to speed this up is called rebounding and it’s not cool. I sort of figured this was Kanae as the girlfriend but the movie never really alluded to this at all so I suppose it probably wasn’t. The special mentions that Takaki and this new girl have texted over 1000 times and are still not very close so that’s rough.

1000 texts can happen rather quickly as it is. You can easily hit 20-30 texts in a day with a friend so I imagine with a girlfriend you’re talking more like 50-100. Still, Takaki not being complete with his feelings was definitely disappointing. Ultimately Akari moved on and got married. She still thinks about Takaki but you don’t get the feeling that it’s in a what if perspective and she’s just hoping that he’s okay. Her wondering if she should have told him about the wedding or not is more for closure on his end I would say. Ultimately, it would have been good if they held out for each other but it’s been years and she had been doing all the work. Without any extra context, I feel like it is Takaki who dropped the ball.

I would even say the final scene symbolizes this a bit when the train appears and the characters turn around. Takaki stays there, hoping to see Akari because he’s still trapped in the past while Akari had kept on going because she would no longer look back. Takaki realizing that she moved on helps him to move on as well but I would say as always Akari was leading the charge here. She was always progressing and you just like to see that. So yeah the ending’s not the happiest one out there but the process of getting over a long love is a story you don’t see very often.

It feels like most films are about just continuing to try until the two characters end up together or finding someone else and getting together. Sometimes your love doesn’t work out and showing people how to move on is important. It was long enough where I would call this a love and not a crush either. Takaki better be sure he has really moved on this time before getting a girlfriend though because he really can’t afford to be making any more mistakes.

The animation is pretty solid here and it’s definitely aged well. I liked a lot of the different shots here like the cherry tree and the night sky. It’s all very smooth and it’s the kind of animation style that will continue to age well throughout the years. I certainly have no doubts about that. The soundtrack is more on the forgettable side, I couldn’t really tell you any of the tracks by memory. I want to say it worked well enough in the scenes though and for the most part this is a quiet film anyway. It’s more about the writing than anything else.

Overall, 5 Centimeters per Second is a pretty good movie. It’s a low key romance film that has a lot of build up the whole time and shows that even a passionate romance may not always stand the test of time. Sometimes the circumstances and situation just weren’t right so it ends up being doomed to fail. This can happen even without either of the characters being malicious in any way. Give me a realistic relationship fail over one of those cheesy rushed romances that makes no sense any day. The movie itself is also super short so it doesn’t take long to go through. I’d definitely recommend checking it out.

Overall 7/10

Machine Gun Kelly

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It’s time for a film about Machine Gun Kelly, or as he’s called near the end, Pop Gun Kelly! That was probably one of the best insults that I’ve heard in a long time. That was absolutely great, I was cracking up there. The cops got to have a good laugh and it was just such a clever line you know? This film does a good job of chronicling the events of what’s going on here and establishing Kelly as an all bark no bite kind of character. I don’t always think what the characters were doing would make any sense though.

Kelly ends up robbing a big bank and showing the world why he is to be feared. He has quite a bit posse of men around him and his girlfriend is particularly impressed with his antics. She likes to flirt with everybody to rile Kelly up and cause some chaos. Definitely one of those really crazy relationships and it only gets worse from the intro. The cops need to grab Kelly but it’s hard to find him. So for now they will wait and ponder their next move. They have all the time in the world while Kelly is bound to make a mistake sooner or later.

It’s honestly pretty easy to see how Kelly and the gang were caught in this movie with how much they were fighting. Someone was constantly getting beaten up and thrown around. Imagine losing your arm to a lion/tiger and not getting revenge right? Kelly definitely underestimated the guy there. I think the main problem with some of their actions is ultimately for moments like this though. Kelly is having a breakdown so his girlfriend starts pulling moves on his friend so he could go and beat Kelly up. The guy does so…and then doesn’t finish Kelly off? So naturally Kelly grabs his machine gun and gets the upper hand.

At several points in the film the characters get beat up and just go back to working for Kelly. Then some have absolutely no situational awareness. One of Kelly’s friends starts laughing and making fun of Kelly for being scared…while Kelly is right there. So obviously the guy is beaten up for a while. Another guy tries to steal some of the money…and so naturally he gets beat up, etc. None of the villains seemed to be any smart and hey sometimes they aren’t but this felt a little extreme at times.

Even the tough girlfriend who was calling the hots and messing with everybody. Laughing as much as she was while getting in Kelly’s face was not a good move. How about the cabal of fighters who threatened to murder Kelly but then they were just gambling in a room so he shot them all? A lot of the events in the film just come across as being rather bizarre so I can see why this is a fairly loose adaption. I imagine things definitely didn’t play out quite like this in a lot of ways. The important thing though was to get across just how scared Kelly was the whole time and I would definitely say they succeeded in that. The guy was extremely afraid of everything death related. Put him next to a skull or anything like that and it was curtains for the guy. He was definitely not coming back from that.

He was also shown to not even be a villain with an honor code. He was very quick to betray his girlfriend for some random ladies and had no real remorse about it. He’s rude to everyone and Kelly is always making a bunch of threats. As tough as his girlfriend was acting near the end, I do think there’s a few times she could have come close to being bumped off. She may claim that Kelly didn’t have the guts but in a fit of rage I definitely wouldn’t take that for granted. This is the kind of guy who could absolutely pull that off if he needed to.

Then you have the little girl who was being held hostage and the caretaker. The whole thing was definitely a rough spot for them. Both of them held themselves together fairly well I’d say. The caretaker went through a lot but I was glad at least in this case Kelly wasn’t about to let things go any further. I’ll take what I can get in terms of moral character. It may not be a whole lot but at least it’s something.

For a film called Machine Gun Kelly, he doesn’t actually use the weapon all that much though. I think it might have been good to see him using the gun a few more times against some random gangsters at least. You can’t do it at the end because it would not match the ending’s message so I get that, but doing it earlier would have been a really good idea. It would make the ending hit all the harder. Honestly Kelly’s rationale also makes a lot of sense. Why fight a battle that you know you can’t win and you would die for rather than surviving another day even if it’s in prison. It’s not quite so simple of course as continued survival can be rough in its own way but yeah dying for no reason is not really a tempting offer to anyone.

Overall, Machine Gun Kelly is an entertaining film. Sometimes perhaps not for the reasons that were originally intended but it will definitely keep your attention the whole way through. The final line alone is really worth the watch but it’s generally a good time either way. The only bad scenes I’d say involve the lion and Kelly really poking fun at him the whole time and teasing him by throwing rocks. I could definitely do without all of that so those were the weakest scenes. When it was the gangsters all fighting and trying to get on each other’s nerves things were way more exciting. The film never forgets to remind you how they’re all villains and I appreciate that. You’re rooting for the cops to take them down the whole time.

House of Usher Review

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It’s time for a film that is sort of trying to be spooky but in a very low key way. It’s less about jump scares and more about wondering why the characters are all acting rather off. What part of the story are you not seeing in the background? Those are the questions you are meant to be asking yourself as the adventure goes on. Some parts definitely haven’t aged super well though, mainly the characters being super weak willed and just going along with what’s being said even when it makes no real sense.

This movie’s actually fairly short so they have to move fast. It starts with Philip heading over to a spooky mansion to see his fiancé Madeline. He is excited to bring her back home to Boston with him but the butler Bristol says that her brother Roderick is refusing anyone entry. Philip insists on being brought in and confronts the guy. Roderick explains that he and Madeline suffer from a rare ailment where their bodies are historically weak. Any light that is too bright or sound that is too loud will cause them to get weak or sick. They could even die from this affliction and it gets worse the older they get. Even eating is a chore since their sense of taste is too strong. Philip suspects thar Roderick is making this up and intends to take Madeline with him anyway. He will do so as soon as the night has passed but will he survive until then?

The house itself tries to bump Philip off on multiple occasions. Whether it is a hot pot slightly moving in the background or the stairs giving way, the building is not holding back. It’s not super powerful though so Philip is usually able to handle himself well enough. Roderick is really the main threat here but it depends on if he is lying or not. After all if he’s telling the truth, Philip could just punch the guy once and the extreme pain would probably knock him out. If Roderick is lying though, then it’s probably game over for him right out of the gate. Philip doesn’t really seem like the fighting type after all, especially with how docile he is.

I always like the old manner of speaking and how polite everyone is but this definitely shows the weakness to that approach. Philip puts up with too much here as Roderick continues to challenge him and forbid Madeline from spending much time with him. The guy will send her off to bed early and everything. Philip absolutely should have been standing up to Roderick here more and ultimately the final events of the film are his fault from this point on. He shouldn’t have left Madeline in any position for Roderick to be with her. Especially not when the plans were already made to leave.

I also have to give Madeline some big criticism here as well. She should have been speaking up for herself as well instead of constantly hiding behind Roderick and letting him dictate her life. Sure she had some half hearted moments where she would try to voice her feelings but then he would shut her down every time and that was the end of that. It’s not exactly something that is awe inspiring. It just shows that she is not being very independent. Also, if Philip had not shown up, was she just not going to ever go and visit him? It sounds like she borderline just vanished one day and I guess she was letting Roderick trap her the whole time. Not her best look.

The butler Bristol isn’t much better than any of the characters either since he is complicit in everything that was going on. The guy could have stepped in to end things at any time but chose not to do so. That was a big error in judgement and definitely held him back quite a bit. So while he may not seem as villainous as Roderick, I can’t really give him any kind of pass here.

The cast is really small as these are the only 4 characters running around. Roderick is by far the toughest of the 4 as he dominates each of the characters with ease. It’s even more embarrassing for Philip when you consider that Roderick spends a lot of his screentime explaining how weak he is and how every element can destroy him. Philip is really letting this guy call the shots the whole time? It’s definitely a real bad look without a doubt.

Once we get to the climax, we finally get to the intense moments as we get a quick fight and lots of destruction. It all just happens way too late for one character so you understand the rage but feel like it should have happened a whole lot sooner. The building gets its last moments in there as well and it makes for an intense, but odd kind of ending. I don’t really know by the end exactly what the building really wanted. Roderick’s character is a bit confusing as well on the exact point of what he was doing. Was he really just a doomer waiting for it to all end? It felt like he could and should have had some kind of grander ambitions at some point.

Overall, House of Usher is a passable film without a doubt. The short length likely helps in this case to help mask the fact that there isn’t a ton of story to be found here. It’s a good movie even if the characters are super annoying. You wish Philip had more of a backbone so things would have gone way differently though. The film avoids most of the usual horror pitfalls and stays interesting so I could recommend it to the average moviegoer. Just don’t go in expecting a really big/epic horror title. This is absolutely more of a subdued adventure with a big payoff at the end but plays more like a drama than a horror most of the time. The house’s feeble attempts at getting Philip like moving the pot around isn’t exactly going to terrify you after all.

Overall 4/10

Air (2023)

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This write up is of the TV-14 edited version. All thoughts below should be addressed as a write up of the uncut version would be more negative

It’s time for a film about how Nike would go on to recruit Michael Jordan. It’s a pretty fun event to go and make a movie about. Give me one of these over one of those events we’ve all seen a million times. There’s a lot of story to tell here after all and it’s handled very well. If you’re not familiar with the events surrounding this moment then this will be a good way to find out about them. In a way, that’s another advantage of making a movie out of lesser known events since the whole thing will feel a lot fresher and be a new experience for most of the viewers.

The film starts off with Sonny being put on the hot seat again for not delivering on results. The guy’s job is to expand Nike’s basketball program and there have not been any real improvements in a very long time. The program has really stagnated though and there don’t seem to be many promising leads. That’s when Sonny decides to go big. He wants to recruit Michael Jordan even though it means they will have to use the entire budget on him. No other players can be added on or anything like that. The line will run through him. Can Sonny convince his bosses of this and more importantly, can he convince Jordan?

It’s pretty interesting to see Nike as the big underdogs at the time of the film at least in the Basketball world since they were always the big shots when I was growing up. Adidas and the other company were looking tough here. My only slight complaint is I would have liked them to have looked a little more intimidating though. Yeah it’s from Nike’s perspective so of course they end up getting rolled when they actually showed up but it should have been a bit more even. I think you could have done this by briefly showing a montage of them stepping in and defeating Nike on several players before Michael Jordan stepped into the picture. That would have been an excellent way to establish them as a true threat the whole way. The competition is part of the fun after all.

It’s why my favorite character was Falk the agent. This guy was on point with looking after his client’s interests and making sure that Sonny couldn’t just do whatever he wanted. Ultimately Falk wants his money so he’s not going to get in the way if it’s a good offer/deal. He gives the film a lot of good banter with Sonny the whole time and is definitely a real highlight. The guy also doesn’t give in to a quick emotional speech the way that the other characters do. It’s just not how he rolls.

Then you have Sonny who is a solid main character the whole time. He’s certainly determined and never gives up. Things look rather bleak for him on several occasions but he always finds a way to push back and so that’s definitely good. I liked the CEO quite a bit. He may not take as many risks as he used to, but when the chips were down he ultimately went back into competitor mode and backed Sonny up. You definitely want a boss like that who is always ready to match the energy.

Meanwhile Michael Jordan himself is hidden for basically the whole film. It was an interesting decision, I guess this way it keeps the focus on Nike or perhaps they couldn’t find anyone they really liked to portray him. Regardless, it meant that his parents got to really have the focus this time around. In particular his mother handled a lot of the negotiations and did a really good job in making sure that he got a good deal. Getting the royalties from the sales was definitely a massive move because that’s how you get the real money in the end. Always make sure that you get that part of the deal if you find yourself on a show like Shark Tank in the future.

The actual shoe also looked really good. I’m curious how the fine situation played out over time and if the rules were changed or eventually Nike was forced to bring the shoe back into regulation. It’s hard to imagine that the NBA would just let this slide. Fines or not, you’d expect them to reign this in after a while.

Air has the right balance of suspense and fun the whole time. I would call it a pretty upbeat movie the whole time and all of the characters were fun enough. The guy who was in charge of making the shoes could be a little annoying at times but that seemed to be intentional. The rest of the characters had a lot of fun conversations and debates in the meantime. For a film like this you need good writing and the title delivered. The pacing is good and so I had no serious issues. It’s the kind of film you could easily watch at any time without any issues and get absorbed into the story. This is definitely the kind of way I would want to see other stories adapted as well, it feels like the right formula.

Overall, Air is a pretty good film. I’d say it feels like they did a good job adapting all of the events and really keeping you engaged. I would have liked to see a little more of the competitors but I suppose they probably didn’t want to go too much into that or it could have quickly transitioned into more of a fictional setting which would hurt the biographical part here. You’ve got to have a lot of restraint. Whether you like Basketball or not, I would say the film is definitely very accessible and enjoyable.

Willow Review

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What if I told you that there was a film out there that was trying to be the next Lord of the Rings? And what if I told you that the film…succeeded? That was definitely the biggest fear imaginable and unfortunately this one pulled off what I didn’t think was possible. This film is 2 hours of nothing as the film desperately tries to bore you out of your mind. The romance, the adventure, the characters, it brought tears to me eyes. It was just so….bad! You’ll be guaranteed to fall asleep while watching this movie and it’s like you just warped ahead 2 hours in time. It’s absolutely crazy.

So the film starts off with one of those opening messages about how there is a prophecy that has scared the ruling class and so all of the babies have to be inspected to make sure they don’t have a special mark. Naturally the villains fumble the bag here so the baby is taken away and found by a group of Dwarves. Most of them are too scared to really do anything and would be quick to abandon her. Even Willow himself is skeptical but he is convinced by his wife to help out. The mage of the land even assigns Willow on a special mission to go and help her out but he has to bring along the classroom bully who would love to get out of there at his first chance. Can they really keep the baby alive?

The film was already at a disadvantage with the whole fantasy setting if we’re being honest here. I already don’t like this kind of old school setting and this is as old as it gets. We’re talking lots of trees and forests and everyone is super poor with no civilization in sight. The magic we’re shown here tends to be rather ordinary stuff and nothing too fancy.

There is nothing fantastic or really interesting about the world. It’s the kind of world that may have a ton of supernatural elements so you never mistake it for the real world and yet it doesn’t do anything exciting with it. For every decent monster design like a two headed worm/dinosaur type thing, you have a bunch of mini humans and talking animals. This is not a film where you will be remembering much and even the strongest beasts tend to go down against normal arrows. When you’re losing to arrows…that is a terrible look. I can’t mince words here, that is a horrible look. You can’t afford to lose to that.

Willow isn’t really much of a great character. For starters he’s not very brave and his magic is no good. Yes, character arcs and such but he needed a stronger beginning for that. The baby is naturally around a whole lot but she’s a baby so it’s not like she can really do anything you know. Then we have the swordsman Madmartigan, who has a cool name but that’s about the only good thing about the guy. He’s absolutely ready to hightail it and run for a while there before eventually coming to the light. He’s the character who is meant to give us the snappy dialogue and bring the comedy up a notch but he doesn’t really have anyone to banter with so that doesn’t work out very well at all.

You definitely see how the film was trying to capitalize on the Hobbit by having the main characters all be like that but it’s just being a copycat without adding anything to the idea. Also, it’s copying a character that I never even liked which doesn’t help matters there. Okay, there still has to be some redeeming quality to the film right? Soundtrack’s out since that was fairly dull but I can at least give a slight thumbs up to the special effects. I liked the skull mask for one of the villains and the two headed monster didn’t look bad. All in all, the effects did their job so I can’t really find any faults with them there.

You’ve got some romance here but even aside from the love potion beginning, it’s just not very strong. Now we do have an extensive climax where the crew are fighting for at least 30 minutes or so. It’s actually a considerable length all the way and we get a lot of action so that’s good…right? I mean it beats the rest of the film but it’s been a while since I’ve seen such a boring action scene either. It goes back to the fantasy element here as even the sword fighting feels very old school. I think it’s because they’re trying to film this like a real sword fight so it comes across like two guys dueling at a tournament. It doesn’t feel very powerful or fast on either end.

That’s a problem and of course the second is that we still don’t really care about any of the characters by this point. Why should we right? They haven’t done anything to show us that we should care about them and that’s a big issue. The villains are also fairly generic as well which is one angle where the film could have tried to take things to the next level but ultimately fell short.

So there really isn’t much to say about the film. The characters aren’t funny and the plot isn’t engaging. You’ll have to really focus to try and stay awake during this title and the long length won’t help matters there. I need a name for this sub genre of fantasy that is going for hyper realism even while having supernatural elements. Because I do like a good fantasy but it has to be bright and vibrant. I want everything to be really smooth, shiny, and just feel like an awesome otherworld. If it’s beat up or too realistic then it just doesn’t have the same impact to it and ultimately ends up falling short.

Overall, Willow is definitely not the film that will change the fantasy genre as we know it. I still think the craziest part of the film is how we have a long action scene for the climax and yet it never manages to be particularly exciting. It’s a lot like Lord of the Rings in that sense so the parallels continue. Ultimately your best bet is to stay far away from this film. It’s one of those fantasy titles that just brings the worst parts of the genre and doesn’t really tackle its strengths. Better luck next time I suppose. I have to assume that the sequel TV show will be at least a little better…I would hope at least.

Overall 2/10

Scrooge Review

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It’s time for one of the original Christmas Carol adaptions. This was definitely a classic and while you can feel its age, it’s always impressive to still see it handle all of the story elements from the newer versions. Sure, it may have to go through some of them rather quickly but you definitely get the point of it. I would probably not put it ahead of any of the other versions that I’ve seen but any fan of the story should definitely get a kick out of this one.

The story starts with Scrooge being rather stingy as always and not even letting his partner Bob put some wood into the fire in peace. Scrooge wants to save every penny and that is how he has built his wealth over the years. A penny saved is a penny earned and all of that. Sure enough, it is a motto that works but he takes it to the extreme. He even declines to go to his nephew’s Christmas dinner and instead heads home. That proves to be a mistake as a ghost shows up and explains that Scrooge is about to be haunted and guilt tripped by 3 ghosts. Scrooge will either be convinced to walk a lighter path by the end of this, or his future will be looking bleak.

Scrooge honestly doesn’t put up a ton of resistance in this one I’d say. I think it’s the way the movie is approaching this where Scrooge is more of a harmless cynic as opposed to being a downright antagonist. Once the ghosts show him the error of his ways and rub his nose in it, Scrooge very quickly sees the light and works on being a better person. It’s a very quick turnaround time but it makes sense when you consider that he isn’t actively resisting the ghosts as much. It’s not like Scrooged where he is as corrupt as possible after all.

Scrooge definitely lost a whole lot over the years in trying to build his riches. It’s not something that comes without a price after all. In the end he blames himself the hardest for Tiny Tim and that’s definitely valid. When you’re rich, it’s not like you suddenly have a huge obligation to take care of everyone in your family. It’s not like I fault him for their being poor completely but at the same time he could have helped out in little ways over the years. Perhaps in running his business a little more fairly. At least the guy had a consistent approach to everyone and wasn’t just picking on a few people.

Keeping all the money was just what he did. The ghosts aren’t as fantastical as they would start to be in later films. They all have a little charisma but the personalities weren’t yet set in stone. In later adaptions the ghost of the future is always absolute horror fodder as he shows up in a crazy cloak and looks more and more demonic as the years go by. In this case he is marginally scarier than the others but it’s not by a great deal or anything like that. Scrooge is probably more scared of all the random people looting his house after death. No respect for the recently departed around here!

The writing is solid as always. Scrooge may not be a nice guy but he’s a well written character as are the others. The heroes try to keep a cheerful face on even when things are hard and so the whole thing comes together well. At its core the Christmas Carol is always a story of optimism and how anybody can be changed. It’s a fun story to watch around Christmas time in all of its different adaptions.

The film is fairly short and direct so there really isn’t a whole lot more to say about the film though. I thought Bob was a solid character who may be a little timid, but he puts up with everything that he can in order to provide for his family. It takes a lot sometimes to not fire back at the boss when he’s being crazy but you know you need the job. Then Fred was definitely a solid character for trying to keep on inviting Scrooge to things long after he has probably been turned down hundreds and hundreds of times in the past. Nobody would have blamed him if he’d given up long before that.

Scrooge was really lucky to be surrounded by so many good people if you think about it. In another setting things could have been tough for him even after the ghosts had rehabilitated the guy. It’s hard to just start fresh when you’ve completely alienated everyone around you after all. It’s not like anyone ever owes you a second chance inherently. You have to have someone willing to talk to you first and so Fred really came in clutch there.

Overall, Scrooge is a pretty good story. Admittedly there is little reason to watch this version over the newer ones since they have consistently improved more and more as the years have gone by. I really liked an animated one that came out in the late 2000s and for live action it’s hard to go away from Scrooged. Still, as this is one of the original ones, it’s playing the story straight without all of the flourishes and new directions. it can be good to remember what the baseline is here as opposed to all of the modern renditions. So if you are really curious how it played out then this is a good film to watch.

Overall 6/10