Tag Archives: Movie Review

Gloria Review

Posted on by
Reply


Gloria is a movie with a solid premise that manages to execute it really well. As a result this is a movie that’s memorable and has a solid cast at the ready. It’s a film that taps into the gangster angle with a different vibe than other similar kind of installments so I would say that Gloria is unique in the end. She also ends up being a very solid main character.

The movie starts off with Gloria’s neighbor dashing home with a lot of groceries. She is in a rush because the mob is now after her. Unfortunately her husband forgot to let her know just how dire things were and they should have run off instead of buying groceries. Now it’s too late to leave the building although making an attempt probably would have been worth it. Gloria shows up right in time though and they get their youngest child Phil to go with her to her apartment. This way he is able to escape the wrath of the gangsters and Phil’s father even gives him the ledger holding all of the information that the gangsters want. The parents are promptly blown to smithereens and now Gloria is on the run. Can she protect Phil from this group and why does she seem to know the gangsters?

This movie really opens up with a whole lot of things happening at once. Everything about the situation feels off as the mother heads off of the bus with the groceries and then you have this random guy banging on the elevators. Throw in the gangsters and how the father is panicking so much and you quickly start to piece everything together. When Gloria shows up you almost think that this is going to change genres and she is going to be some kind of super lawyer to help them out but that’s clearly not quite enough to stop these gangsters and bring everything back to normal.

At least this way she got to save one person though. The rest of the family should have still done a little more though. The daughter and mother basically just gave up and the father didn’t seem to do very well at all. If you’re pretty confident that you’re going to die anyway then I don’t see the harm in making a break for it. Maybe you could somehow make it to the front of the building at least and hope a cop is around. From what we know though, the father really got them all into this mess. Giving out secrets to the government is fine and all but making jokes about it at the bar? That’s a real easy way to put a mark on yourself and the rest of the family by extension. I also agreed with the mother that wasting time and buying groceries was not a good tactical move.

While the rest of the film quickly ramps up the tension as Gloria is always on the run, there is only one thing which holds the film back. That’s Phil. Yes, Phil was in a traumatic situation and all but he’s supremely annoying for the entirety of the movie. When he’s not yelling at Gloria he’s running off to make himself a bigger target. He’s not supportive even when she saves him multiple times and doesn’t even try to act reasonable until the very end. All of his dialogue tends to be downright terrible and if he was written out of the film entirely that would have been for the best. Maybe have Gloria drop him off at an orphanage while she takes out the mobsters and then bring him back at the end.

It would have been tough though since this isn’t that kind of film. It’s not Salt or Taken where the main character grabs an AK-47 and just blows everyone away. Here Gloria is strong and not afraid to go up against any gangster but it’s handles in a much more down to Earth way. She has a gun but she’s not going to mow down 20+ people. She uses it tactically and her knowledge of the city and how the mob works allows her to get far. She is put into a lot of sticky situations where the villains come out on top but then she also gets a lot of wins like in the subway and in the restaurant.

The movie has an ominous vibe in the way you would mainly see in an 80s kind of film like this. Even when there are a lot of people around you don’t feel that Gloria is safe because the mob has so many people working for them. They have enough confidence where they aren’t afraid to kidnap or shoot people in broad daylight after all so the implication is quite clear that they have a whole lot of power behind them. That’s not the kind of power that can be taken lightly at all.

That’s why it’s only more impressive how Gloria is able to stand up to them. She’s easily the best character here. It would be hard to blame her if she ditched Phil after a while with how he kept getting her in trouble and he’s someone she didn’t even really know before the start of the day. How well do you know your neighbor’s kid right? Ultimately her herosim always wins out though and she steps in to help. The film also keeps it vague why she left the gang and how all of that played out. It would make for a fun prequel but in the meantime I definitely don’t mind that her past is kept secretive. It adds an extra layer to her character as the mysterious lead.

I really had no issues with her and she was a lot of fun. If the film was more well known I could definitely see her being placed in the same conversations as Ripley and Sarah Connor as really tough main heroines from back in the day. Most of the gangsters are just your average crooks but the leader Tanzinni was reasonable. Clearly he had a lot of history with Gloria back in the day. While they disagree on how to handle this and Tanzinni makes it clear that he won’t protect her, he doesn’t go out of his way to stop her. For a villain that’s about the best you could ask for since if he wanted her dead then she would have been in short order.

The two sides are able to find a compromise and while the rest of the gang may not agree with it, this puts a little less of a full force against Gloria. Some opportunistic gang members may still go after her but you know Gloria can hold her own at this point so you aren’t worried. The film has a good ending and so ultimately this film just makes for a good experience from start to finish. The pacing and writing are good and you are definitely engaged due to how the film keeps the danger level high at all times.

Again, the only weak point here is Phil. The opening scene could have gone differently but it’s not the kind of thing that impacts your enjoyment. Phil does though and really keeps the film from going to the next level. Every scene with him drags and drags because of how grating he could be. It’s not even that he’s crushed from the experience but it’s just the way he processes even the new information. He makes all the worst decisions at all times and comes across as extremely unlikable.

Overall, Gloria is a very good film. I tend to like the sub genre where the ex-member of a dangerous organization has to help someone when the organization makes a move. Usually the main character is someone who was highly skilled and an upper member so it makes sense that they know how to protect themselves. Jason Bourne and Mission Impossible are good examples of this happening to a degree and there have been quite a few spy and assassin movies like this. Gloria may be more low key as it isn’t a full action thriller but with the constant chase scenes and always being on the run, there is no shortage of exciting moments to be found.

Overall 7/10

Kenny Rogers as The Gambler: The Adventure Continues Review

Posted on by
Reply


The first Gambler film was fun enough and it continues with a solid sequel. This one was quite long which is definitely impressive. It gives the film time to really slow down and go through the motions as the main character builds up a full team to fight the villains. This one plays out more like a classic western in that sense as the characters jump into battle and there is not a lot of actual gambling here. In fact, there’s only one game but it’s fun enough. I wish we got more card games though because I think that would have definitely been a really good move.

The movie starts with Brady and the gang back on the train as they head to San Francisco. At long last they can get there for some final games. Brady tells his friend Billy that it’s time to retire though as Brady is going to be a full time father now. Unfortunately the train is attacked by the McCourt gang who decide to take Brady’s son Jeremiah hostage. They are now aiming to take $1 million dollars from the bank. Fortunately it is several days away. Brady needs to try and get there ahead of them so he can take these fiends out. The reason for this is because the owner of the train is planning to get all of the money out of the train before McCourt arrives. When McCourt finds out that he has been tricked…well it will not go very well for Jeremiah so he has to hurry at top speed. Can he make it?

Now you might wonder how this would last for 3 hours right? Well, the journey being such a long one that takes place over several days is the key reason here. Usually you would just skip ahead a lot but the film uses this as a way to really show how long this journey is. There are lots of scenes of the heroes traveling, the villains traveling, or both groups just taking a break. Brady also has to quickly go and grab some backup because as good as he is, he won’t be able to take the McCourt gang down by himself. Billy’s eager to help but even then it would be 2 against over 10 men.

So the first chunk of the film is about Brady going around and getting some backup. It turns out that he had a lot of connections from back during his war games. Brady has really been around the block, that’s for sure. None of the guys he recruits are super notable though. I don’t think the recruitment phase was as strong as in the other western titles and I can even tell you why. Usually in this phase, each of the characters gets to look really hype so you understand that the lead is building up a team of all stars. Surprisingly this version does not go in that direction. In fact, you could very easily make the case that most of these guys are only decent fighters at best. They just happen to be fighters that Brady knows about.

The only particularly powerful one is a local bounty hunter named Kate. She is the only member that Brady didn’t know about previously but when he finds out about her reputation, he has to quickly go over and recruit her. She’s definitely happy about the money but is she hiding anything from the group? There is always a risk to throwing a wild card into your deck, even if she happens to be a very powerful asset. I can’t say I liked her very much. Sure, she is a fun character but for most of the film she ends up being a big obstacle and while she ends up turning around, it took a while to do so.

She still beats one of Brady’s recruits who was just a painful character. The guy didn’t even know how to be an effective traitor and lets his feelings get the best of him. That guy got off easy if anything. Even his final lines are him trying to be cryptic again instead of being helpful. Perhaps he used to be a solid fighter back in the day but certainly not in the present. The rest of Brady’s men were okay even if they weren’t very remarkable.

Brady is a solid main character as always. He can fight with the best of them and is always ready with his hand on the trigger. He dominates in the poker game in the film although sadly we only get one game that’s rather short. He also takes down the villain when it counts. He’s effectively the perfect main character in a lot of ways as he’s a great fighter, leader, poker player, strategist, and never gives up. The guy is written as someone with no real weaknesses and the only reason the villains last a while is because they are always running.

Sadly Billy doesn’t get much of a role here. He’s around the whole time but just doesn’t get to contribute as much as you’d like. Considering that he saved the day in the first film I would have liked to have seen more of him here. At least he gives a good speech to cheer Brady up at one point. Jeremiah is on the annoying side. I know he’s trying to help Brady by constantly interfering with the villains but only plot armor keeps him alive after the first attempt. Jeremiah takes way too many risks and most of the attempts just never had a chance at succeeding. If you want to escape that’s fine but you have to do it in a smart way or it’s just going to completely backfire.

McCourt was a decent villain though. He did well to attack the train and get the note in writing about the money. He was just a few minutes from succeeding which was impressive. The guy also tries to be a little more lenient on the hostage even if you can hardly call him heroic for that. He just sees Jeremiah as a big safety blanket in case things go south. The guy has a lot of backup plans at all times so I have to give him credit there. The plan was quite sound.

One character I didn’t care for much was the drunk villain. I think he’s meant to be endearing since he’s the only one who cares about Jeremiah and wants to help but I found him more annoying than anything. It seems like he got in with the wrong crowd by drinking a lot and at this point he doesn’t think that he has a way out. All right, that’s rough for him but he’s still sticking around anyway. He may have more of a conscience than some of the other villains but as long as he’s with the crew he can’t really take the moral high ground. Additionally, there are so many opportunities for him to run off with Jeremiah.

The villains leave them alone so may times in the film. Naturally he decides to make a break for it when the characters are all together so he is caught extremely fast. This is similar to Jeremiah as he always picked the worst times to make a fuss so the characters matched up well in that sense. Now why this film succeeds for me is because it’s a very long film that doesn’t feel too long. You’ll be engaged from start to finish on the adventure.

The reason for this is that it feels like something is always happening. Now these may be details that certainly could be skipped to save on the runtime but it’s still interesting enough to see. The writing is good so the characters are reasonable and we get some solid fight scenes here. At this point the film is completely a western adventure as opposed to being a gambling film (Not like I’d call the first film a full gambling experience either) but it’s executed well. There’s a good amount of replay value here as well since there aren’t any strong negatives holding it back. Throw out the one guy Brady recruited who ended up being a creep and this film would be even smoother.

Overall, This film did a good job following up on the first one. With the films getting longer and longer hopefully it can keep this momentum up. If the films ever jump the shark but remain 3+ hours then that could really be a painful experience. I like to think that the films won’t make that mistake though and maybe Brady will finally be able to get to the big championships in San Francisco next time. That could be the chance to finally have the film centered around gambling this time.

Overall 7/10

Gaslight (1944) Review

Posted on by
Reply


Time for the next adaption of Gaslight. I was certainly not all that impressed with the first one and this title is only marginally better. Many of the same negatives from the first film reappear in this one. I’ll give this title credit for having what’s effectively a 30-40 minute prologue added in before we see the first scene of the original film readapted here. It adds some more context but also backfires. More on that later on.

Paula’s aunt was murdered one day which frightened everyone and so Paula was sent away for a while. We cut to the present where she has met up with a guy named Gregory and intends to marry him. It’s all going well until he says that he wants to move to London, the exact area where the aunt was murdered. Paula has done her best to get over this incident for many years and so she figures that she is ready to handle this. Unfortunately things begin to get misplaced and Gregory is always attacking her now that they are married. Will she be able to escape or will she fall for every trick over and over again?

So here’s why the whole extended origin fails here. We actually see how Paula’s life was quite happy and how she met Gregory. Right from the jump she should have said no to moving to the London squares…but fine she says that she’s over it so we can roll with that. Here’s where things get dicey. When she finds the letter with a mysterious name on it, Gregory snaps at her and immediately starts yelling and acting like the main villain. We’re still in the prologue here so the old film hasn’t started yet.

Right away Paula needed to have called him out here. She can’t just take that and let a bad precedence start. Then in the next scene we have Gregory casually mentioning that Paula tends to be a very forgetful person. Paula just accepts this for some reason when she should have quickly said no. The gaslighting here is so obvious and tactless that you’ll be shaking your head the whole time. It all happens so fast and since we’re actually seeing it this time, you have a hard time believing any of it. It just doesn’t make any kind of sense.

Paula isn’t nearly as broken as the first character by this point but it’s like her personality does a 180 as she was so confident and self assured but suddenly becomes extremely timid. It’s disappointing because she could have done so well and is instead faltering immediately. The rest of the movie gets worse and worse for her as Gregory just keeps on manipulating and humiliating her in front of everyone. If only she had signed the documents saying that she keeps all of the money because then she could have dashed out or something.

Regardless it would have been nice if she had gone outside more to talk to people and figure out what is going on. She’s rich to an extent and should easily be able to think of some things that can help. Hire some detectives or do something pro active to find out about the letter and why Gregory has changed so suddenly. She should have helped hire the maids and if anything she should have fired Nancy once she sensed how much antagonism was there.

One of the biggest problems with the film is that Paula’s barely a character. She just stands there and takes everything that Gregory throws at her. You wish she would do anything but instead she always ends up disappointing you. Finally there’s one area where she is worse than in the previous version. It’s near the end of the film when Brian is around to help her but everyone dashes off as Gregory shows up. In the first film she seems to actually think that it might have been a dream and starts to crack. In this one it seems like she panics at the thought of Gregory being against her and so she quickly tried to throw the other maid under the bus. I thought that was an extremely petty moment and it definitely made her look bad. That’s the kind of mistake that you can’t afford to make.

Of course Gregory’s a pretty awful villain too. The guy isn’t exactly subtle with all the noise he makes when trying to find the jewels. I wouldn’t even say that he’s a very smart villain because the whole plan revolves around Paula being easily manipulated and not able to do anything for herself. If Paula had talked to the nice next door neighbor or anyone then this could have all been avoided. Any scene with Gregory in it tends to be annoying for sure.

Nancy is also not a very nice maid. You’d think she would respect Paula as the head mistress more but unfortunately she is quickly able to sense the heroine’s weakness and pounces. The other maid was nice enough though and at least tried to look out for Paula. Then you have Brian who is doing his best to solve this case as soon as possible. The guy is dedicated and I’ll give him points for making a real effort here. In the end the guy took a very long time but he still helped save the day. The result is really what counts here.

The suspense for disbelief is just too much though. I like my main characters to be confident and self assured. Even if you are going to be a wallflower then I expect you to trust your own judgment and step up when the going gets tough. If Paula had gotten tough even once then that would have helped the film a great deal. The extended run time gives her more character but it almost doesn’t matter since it doesn’t change her actions later on. She still falls into all of the same holes so that whole intro may as well have not even happened at all.

Overall, Gaslight is a film that I have to give a full thumbs down too. The character cast isn’t quite interesting enough to counter all of the suspense for disbelief you have to go through. The old lady seemed nice enough but in the end she barely got to appear at all so I’m not even sure what the point of her character was. This adaption certainly added a whole lot of elements but since they didn’t change anything, they may as well have kept it the same. The movie beats the original but as I said earlier, it doesn’t do enough to make this a good movie. It’s still one that I would give a thumbs down to in the end. You’ll want to avoid this one for sure.

Overall 3/10

Gaslight Review

Posted on by
2


Gaslight is one of those movies that would be over extremely early if the main character was stronger and could fight for herself. The whole premise only works if the main character is a complete pushover so right from the start I knew that this was going to be an annoying watch. As a result it ends up dragging quite a bit and you wish a different lead was around to shake things up. Ultimately this is a title that you will want to dodge but the title is fitting for the film.

The movie starts off with an old lady being murdered. The culprit was never found though so we jump forward into the future where two people have finally moved in. Bella and Paul. Right off the bat things don’t seem to be going well as Bella has to tip toe around the place while Paul enjoys humiliating her. He keeps telling her that she’s crazy and moving thing around to keep the act up. Bella slowly starts to believe that she really is losing her mind. Why is Paul doing this to her? Will Bella realize what is going on or will she really go mad?

As the film goes on you get a better idea of why Paul is doing this but you could probably guess for the most part. We know he is the villain from the start so there isn’t a mystery angle here, you’re just waiting for Bella to realize this and fast. Unfortunately she is too busy being tricked the whole time to do much of anything. My main problem with her is that she lets this happen so easily. Every time something goes missing or happens to pop up, she lets Paul throw on the accusations and doesn’t do anything about it. She doesn’t realize that it’s odd how she suddenly stopped getting mail or how her family has never visited.

It feels like misleading her was just way too easy. She’s too passive as a character and it’s why a modern remake of this film would likely play out very differently. Nowadays it’s hard to see this working for more than a few minutes. There’s just no way you would let someone trick you like this and not suspect something. She was also a bit annoying at the end as even once she found out he was a crook, she didn’t want to do anything to stop him because she thought it would be like a betrayal. Keep in mind that this is while he’s cheating on her with someone else.

You feel bad for Bella the whole time but the film didn’t do a good job of giving her any real agency here. If she could have ran out of the house to meet someone or try to do some detective work of her own then it could have worked out a little better. Instead that never happens. Meanwhile Paul is the main villain of course and definitely an annoying guy. The whole time he is messing around and just comes across as being rather insane. He’s also really greedy as he pulls off this plan while also cheating and searching quite loudly upstairs. He doesn’t do anything to be all that discreet and that’s what makes the whole thing even worse.

There’s definitely nothing remotely likable about this guy and even as a villain he just doesn’t work. Meanwhile you’ve got the two maids. Elizabeth was nice enough and at least tried to help Bella. Nancy was more antagonistic from the start and definitely didn’t mind making things tough on Bella as well. It’s clear from the start that Nancy was ambitious and hoping to move up in the world.

Finally you have Rough who is easily the most likable character here. I liked his absolute confidence at all times. The guy knew that he was onto something right from the jump and then never let go of his lead. Without him Bella would have definitely been doomed so it’s good that he made his move. He may not be the best fighter but in this case intelligence was what was mostly needed so that worked out well enough.

The film’s just not a very fun watch in the end which is what hurts it the whole time. It feels very mean spirited the whole time with how absolutely helpless Bella appears to be. If she was talking back or talking tough the whole time then that would have helped but instead she just bows to Paul’s every whim. I’d like to say that it’s completely unrealistic but I suppose there are some people like that. It’s just taken to the absolute extreme here.

Fortunately you can assume that she would be able to quickly rebuild her reputation once the film is over but she certainly went through a lot. I wouldn’t be surprised if she decided to move back to the country permanently instead and just say goodbye to the city life. After an experience like this you certainly couldn’t blame her.

The only positive thing I would say about the film is that the script is good. I wouldn’t say that the writing is because again, I think Bella should have picked up on at least some of the clues or done more to try and talk to peo0ple and see what was up. Defending Paul even near the end was also unfortunate and weakens the moment where she finally turns the tables. The script has that very classic polite feel to it though and works well in the context of the film. I always liked that retro style of dialogue and that certainly doesn’t change here.

Overall, Gaslight is a film I would certainly recommend avoiding. Paul takes up too many scenes and he’s such a bad character that he weakens those moments as a result. Then the film could have used a better main character for sure. Mix all of this in and it makes for a rather painful watch. I do think you could probably execute this premise well but the villain has to be a lot more resourceful and more of a genius because otherwise you can’t convince me that the main character could be tricked into becoming insane so easily. That’s just not how any of this works, not by a longshot!

Overall 2/10

The Lost Valentine Review

Posted on by
2


The Lost Valentine is a very emotional story about how war can certainly turn a romance tragic very quickly. The movie deals with the aftermath of that and makes for a solid emotional story. I wouldn’t say it’s a great one but it should keep your attention from start to finish. There’s also some good detective work at play here so the plot moves quite actively.

The movie starts by introducing us to Caroline whose husband went missing during the war and was presumed dead. Since this wasn’t official, Caroline would go to the train station where they promised they would meet every year on Valentine’s. She would sit there all day and then go home. Rinse and repeat for decades. Well, one channel thinks they can get a good pay day out of this so reporter Susan is put onto the case. Her mission is to get the full story from Caroline. Susan’s not thrilled about this since she finds it boring and has a very bad first impression with Caroline’s grandson as a result. Can she turn this around and get the story or is that game over?

In a lot of ways the film could have been over after the first few minutes when Susan was badmouthing Caroline in front of Lucas. Now, they weren’t direct insults to her but she was criticizing the story and saying that it wasn’t very important. If I’m Lucas I’d shut the whole thing down right there. Hard to forget about insults like that. While of course we learn that Susan ends up finding the whole story very moving and gets into it, if you’re Lucas you would probably have a lot of doubts for a long while. Not until she actually starts doing some detective work would I think that her heart is into this.

Susan’s definitely crafty about how she gets in to get the story though. She basically forces her way into the house and from there it would be awkward for Lucas to throw her out. So you have to give Susan some points there and of course her character arc does end up working out positively. I thought it was a bit iffy how she ran back to her day job once Lucas got upset at her but since she didn’t give up on the assignment, I didn’t dock any major points off of her. Ultimately she may have been judgmental at the beginning but got to be a good character by the end.

As for Lucas, well he’s a solid character as well. He does well in his physical therapy job and even had the time to write a book as well. Unfortunately he is the kind of guy who reads too much into a situation and quickly jumps to the wrong conclusions. A romance drama like this will always have that one big misunderstanding moment, but this one felt very forced. (Okay, most of them feel forced) Lucas decides to be rather rude to her as a result which shows that he wasn’t as cool with being “just friends” as he should have been. Additionally, lets say that it wasn’t a misunderstanding…she had hinted that she was together with someone earlier. Even his parents and grandmother knew that but told him to go over to try and win her over. So what’s with the big personality shift here? I thought he was way off base.

With Susan just coming off another relationship so this was a rebound and Lucas being like this, I can tell you that I was not a big fan of this romance. It just didn’t end up working well for me at all. Since it’s a big focus that does hurt the film to an extent. The romance with Caroline was a lot better as she never rebounded and stayed loyal with visiting the train station all these years. She’s definitely the kind of person you’d want to be friends with. Caroline does a lot of volunteering in her spare time as well and just ends up being a very solid character. Her husband was also great as we see him in the flashbacks saving various characters. There were several times where he could have escaped and saved himself but each time he took the high road and did what he could to keep everyone safe. Now that’s what I call drive and determination!

As always you can count on the friends of the main characters to give the worst possible advice at all times though. This is pretty much a staple for the friends to be bad in romances though. You’ve got Susan’s friends telling her to just marry the guy she’s not super interested in because he’s a good guy. I mean…it’s nice that they’re trying to be supportive but you never want to “settle” on someone just because they’re not bad. I don’t think that’s a good way to build a long term relationship. Then you have Lucas’ parents and Caroline saying it doesn’t matter if Susan already has a boyfriend, just assume he’s not the right one and try to win her over. I suppose the game’s not over until she’s married but if someone’s taken then I’d say 9 times out of 10 it’s time to move on and think about someone else. Or just be okay on your own, you can still be quite content that way.

Overall, The Lost Valentine is a good film. I wasn’t a fan of the main romance but the writing is still good and the characters are reasonable. The movie is fairly short so you have to move through things at a fairly rapid pace. That does mean that the romance doesn’t have a lot of time to develop but at the same time you don’t want things to drag out either. I’d say the balance was good enough and you do feel happy for Caroline to have some closure at the end. She had definitely gone through a lot so this way she got to have some happy memories at the end. The flashbacks were also good to give the story more depth, honestly that may have even made for a stronger film if we had stayed in the past the whole time. Would have been a more tragic ending though.

Overall 6/10

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town Review

Posted on by
3


Mr. Deeds Goes to Town is definitely a really fun film about how a guy is given a lot of money and has to quickly decide how to live his life. It’s always hard to know what to do when you get enough money to last for the rest of your life. My advice is to go by yourself a meal at McDonalds with a cookie and then take that time to think it over. Don’t try to consider everything at once and having a good old fashioned meal will be just the trick to get you in the right frame of mind. With a satisfying ending and a good length to allow for every plot to get a lot of screen time, this film really hits all of the right notes.

The movie starts with Deeds’ rich relative dying so the attorney Cedar and his subordinate Cobb show up to the small town where Deeds lives to let him now what’s up. The opening scenes start off with the right tone as an old man gives them the runaround for a while. Eventually they find Deeds and give him the money but Deeds has to head to New York for it. Once there, everyone wants a piece of his money. You have “relatives” showing up to claim their piece of the pie, random people asking him to join their clubs and pay off debts, etc.

The newspapers want some scandals after him too so the editor sends in his big gun: Louise. If there’s any way to get a story out of Deeds then she can do it. She will have to use a lot of deceptions and wits to get to him. Can she succeed? Deeds better watch out because romance has been the downfall for many main characters in these films and it doesn’t help that Deeds tends to create a lot of attention on his own by picking fights.

The whole situation is tough on Deeds in some respects while easy in others. You may initially expect him to get suckered at every turn but he has a lot of good business sense and puts all of the scams in their place. It was nice to see him talk back to everyone and not just give his money away. Usually it seems like the main character isn’t quite so aware of what is going on so that was a really nice change of pace. I immediately gained a whole lot of respect for that guy. With that out of the way he could actually enjoy his riches a little. Deeds never starts being wasteful or anything like that though.

The tragic part for him is that he does want to help out and make this a better place but everyone he meets tends to be mean and cynical. Even Louise who appears to be nice is stringing him along the whole time even if he doesn’t know it. It takes a while for him to meet really nice people and they are always outnumbered. I was expecting him to start going into charity a little sooner though. It seemed like the natural next step for him so I was surprised when that didn’t happen for a while. You do have to be careful how you give your money away of course but I feel like he didn’t really think about this until the end.

Not that you should be expected to just give your money away but he seemed like someone who would probably be supporting a lot of local charities right from the jump. Perhaps he would have started sooner if he wasn’t kept busy by all of the moochers. By the end he’s certainly doing his best. The only thing I disagreed with him on was staying quiet in court. It’s not just his life on the line there after all, but all of the people he was helping as well. If he were to lose then they all would so I would have liked him to have been a little more firm there.

Ultimately the editor of the magazine comes in clutch near the end. I definitely liked that guy, not saying he’s super heroic or anything but he does seem to have a conscience which is something that the other characters mostly lacked. Even Louise was definitely not the nicest person as she wrote all kinds of mean things about Deeds. It’s hard to say she really turned over a new leaf by the end because she fell for Deeds. Does that not imply that she would have kept on going if she didn’t end up falling in love with him? Because that was my takeaway there. I don’t think that was the film’s implication per say, but she has been in the game for a long time and this was the first time she had any issues with her deceptions so I think it works if you put the pieces together.

As for Cedar, well he’s a sketchy character from the start. Someone who will be a great asset as long as your goals align but he will betray you without a second thought. Cobb was really the standout kind of guy you want on your side because he was actually loyal. He’s not the kind of guy who will betray you and he did his best to help Deeds out. Not always an easy job but he always gets it done. The guy also doesn’t act with any pretenses and just calls it like he sees it.

Now the conclusion was always going to be the deciding factor on just how good this film was. Fortunately it is really good so as a result I would give the whole film a big thumbs up. We have a big court case to end things off where every character gets to appear. It was a nice way to wrap all of the threads in as every scene suddenly became important. The random scene where Deeds got drunk, the people he pushed out of his house, etc. Every act he did, both good and bad would reappear at the end of the film. SO it made the court case feel really grand and I thought the trial was handled really well. The characters were all reasonable and it was fun seeing the evidence pile up as you wondered how Deeds would find a way to make a comeback here.

Overall, This was a fun film. Deeds also makes for a solid main character. I think he did let his guard down a little too easily though like getting super drunk and immediately talking about his past with Louise though. The big rule for conversations like this is to always assume that whatever you tell someone will be public knowledge in a moment. Of course you won’t expect it to quite go into the newspaper but all the same you’d think he would be a little more careful. Things worked out by the end though and it was also a practical look at how you can change so many other lives once you become rich. Whether you choose to do so or not is another matter entirely. The writing is strong throughout and so I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a good story.

Overall 8/10

One Piece The Movie: Episode of Alabasta: The Desert Princess and the Pirates Review

Posted on by
Reply


Alabasta’s definitely one of the most well known One Piece arcs. For those who don’t answer with Arlong Park, this is the arc where people would say One Piece really got good. We got the first big villain group with a ton of memorable fighters and everyone got some action. I do think it’s an arc that has aged well but one that has been long since surpassed by adventures like Water Seven, Marineford, and Wano. Still, it’ a pretty solid adventure although I would say it’s weaker than the show version in just about every way so that’s the version that you would want to watch instead.

The film starts off with Princess Vivi as a child riding Pell throughout the kingdom of Alabasta. Things were really good back then. She then wakes up in the present aboard the Going Merry. She is with a band of pirates known as the Strawhats and a mysterious guy appears who can assume the form of anyone he has shapeshifted into before. He can add new people by touching their face. One of the faces he used was of King Cobra, Vivi’s father. She is worried that Alabasta is in danger so the crew sets a course for the kingdom immediately. She as not wrong, the terrorist known as Crocodile has set his sights on the land. Can the Strawhats stop him?

Now from the jump you’re assuming that the movie can’t possibly adapt a whole arc in one movie so some concessions are going to have to be made. That’s normal but at the same time it feels like the fights are what loses out most of the time. Some of the fights are practically off screen or we just see the end of them. Take the iconic Zoro vs Mr. 1 fight. It’s so short here that you’re barely able to get into it. I think the film could have focused on more of that and instead cut out the Robin flashback and some of the Alabasta flashbacks. If you’re reliving the arc then odds are that you’re doing so for the fights right?

Each fight just feels so short and you wish they could have been extended more. Even the Luffy vs Crocodile fights are pretty short when you really think about it. Of course they do get a bit more length to them compared to the others though. Things move at a very fast pace at least, you certainly can’t say that the story was dragging or anything like that. While I wish the fights were longer, it is still impressive that the movie went all the way to the end though.

There’s just no reason to choose this over actually watching the anime itself unless you desperately need to save a ton of time. In that sense this could be better as a rewatch or refresher for fans but if you’re a big enough fan to be revisiting an arc then you’ll probably just be watching the episodes again. Considering that this is a movie I kind of expected the animation to be better but I wouldn’t even say that is very impressive. Maybe it’s slightly better than the show?….I may not even go that far.

The animation style seems a bit different like it’s going for the more stretchy style like in Naruto vs Pain except that was stretchy so you could have terrifically fast fight scenes with a lot of energy. You didn’t really have that here so then if the fight’s going to be slower you may as well go with a more detailed style and that would be for the best. I did like the sound effects used when punching the sand though. That part did feel grander than usual.

I feel as though the film just wasn’t particularly high budget though. Maybe that’s why they had to rely on some extra CGI shots and a ton of still shots like this was a manga. Unfortunately those are also reused which ends up hurting the visual experience. So….the visuals didn’t quite live up to what this could have been which is what I’m getting at here. The soundtrack is fun enough though, has that classic One Piece feel to it for sure.

For newcomers it is probably less friendly to jump into than films like One Piece Gold or Strong World but I guess you just have to get on board and try to follow along with what’s going on. The story of Alabasta still hits right. It was a smart plan of Crocodile’s to use shapeshifting to get the country to fight amongst themselves. It certainly would have worked really easily if not for Luffy and the gang stepping in. For once I can’t even blame the civilians because the plan was quite thorough even including whole camps and villages being completely wiped out.

Crocodile works as a very solid villain. He’s smart enough to know when someone is trying to betray him and is also powerful enough to put a stop to that right away. Even now he is one of the more impressive fighters and the ability to turn into sand is really good. Of course haki would eventually wipe out that advantage but at this point in the story it really made him someone who could not go down very easily. His fights with Luffy were definitely a blast.

His group really gets no time to develop though. You won’t find any of them to be particularly memorable as they are taken down in short order. Bon Clay has the biggest role by far since he is the one who really jump starts the adventure by showing up and using his shapeshifting. It’s a good ability to have but mostly in non combat scenarios. Once you’re in a fight though then you need to have something else. Fortunately he does have his kicking abilities which are apparently good enough to even give Sanji a run for his money.

As for the crew, well they show up to take names. Zoro even looks like the Captain when the film first starts as he is in the front and all. He looks very capable throughout the movie and wins his fight with dignity so I’m reminded why he is my favorite Strawhat. Sanji definitely takes his share of Ls here like letting Bon Clay manipulate him during the fight but ultimately comes through for the team. Usopp has one of his best roles here since there’s not a lot of time for his comedic moments with how fast everything is moving. As a result he gets to tank one of the more painful looking hits and keeps on going.

You get the feeling that Usopp isn’t quite as powerful as some of the others but he certainly looks brave here. He came through when it counted. Chopper doesn’t get to do much but seems like a nice support. Nami even wins her fight 1 on 1 which was really critical. She’s not usually someone you have on the front lines so that was really impressive. As for Luffy, well he definitely loses quite a bit here even when everyone’s hopes are resting on him but he comes through in the end which is what counts. It was fun to see the film keep cutting away to everyone saying how Luffy was going to win while he was getting absolutely demolished in the fight.

Robin gets some foreshadowing here as we see a bit of her past but the film doesn’t really end up finishing that plot. Of course that’s what happens when your film just adapts one story arc in the middle of an ongoing. To be fair, it wouldn’t feel like a cliffhanger or anything with how the film ends. On that I can at least say that the film does have a true ending here.

Overall, Episode of Alabasta is a good film, but a weak adaption. I don’t think it’s impossible to adapt the arc into a movie effectively but you need to change up the pacing a bit. The fights absolutely needed to be longer to have really done the story justice. I also think that as a movie this film should have looked a lot better. Mainly the film’s only weaknesses are from when you compare it to the show though. If I saw this as a big One Piece movie in a universe where Alabasta did not exist in the manga, that would probably help it. It’s why I still say it’s a pretty good movie. You’ll have fun with it and it’s a nice way to see the adventure from another angle but of course you’re better off watching the show version so you get all the details.

Overall 7/10

Tender Mercies Review

Posted on by
Reply


Tender Mercies is definitely a film that was better than I expected it to be. The drama isn’t overblown, the characters are realistic, and it’s a movie that doesn’t fumble the bag at the end. You’ll be treated to a complete picture here and that’s always good to see. The movie doesn’t make any big mistakes or anything like that and just makes for a consistent ride from start to finish.

The movie starts by introducing us to Rosa who is managing a gas station operation on her own. Her husband died a long time ago and so she raises her son, Sonny on her own. Well, one day a guy by the name of Mac shows up. He’s broke and has nowhere to go so she hires him on as an assistant. He gradually gives up his drinking problem and marries her. Things are going well but then she discovers that he used to be a really big song writer and now his ex-wife and daughter are nearby. Can Mac really stay away from his old career or is he about to get dragged back in?

At first you figure the movie will go through the usual motions. Mac will end up cheating on Rosa, he’ll fall back into his drinking habits, and then only by the end of the film will he realize that he did all of the wrong things. Well, none of that happens in the movie. It ends up being a much more wholesome experience than you might have suspected at first. The whole thing ends up being a lot more on the pleasant side so while it is fairly low key, you have a good time watching it.

That’s not to say Rosa and Mac don’t have their disagreements but things never get ugly. She takes the whole twist about him being a musician really well. Then you have the group of teenage fans who show up to ask Mac for advice. He doesn’t yell at them to go away, they don’t end up turning out to be crooks or anything like that. It’s just a normal exchange between the characters and then they head off. Everyone appears to be rather decent for the most part.

So in the end I liked Mac. I do think the whole romance angle is a bit weak though. Even with all of the quick time skips the whole thing feels too fast. It’s also always a tricky dynamic to marry your employer like that. It all worked out in the end of course but that was the weakest part of the film and you probably could have done without it. Then you have Rosa who did a good job in raising Sonny. She has a good work ethic and never really complains during the movie. She does her best at all times and while she may not care for Mac’s old family all that much, she still acts nice enough in the end when it counts.

As for Sonny, well I’m not a big fan of the kids in these films but he wasn’t too bad. He seemed a little more mature than most at the very least. He was also able to connect with Mac rather quickly which helped him transition into this lifestyle a lot easier than he could have otherwise. Sonny was also ready to take down the bullies when they got too aggressive. Sonny doesn’t play around with that kind of thing.

For Mac’s old family, well you’ve got his ex-wife Dixie who does not look very good here. The only allowance I’ll grant her here is that apparently Mac was pretty bad back in the day as well. Apparently he even tried to murder her once and so she completely despises him. It’s clear that she never ended up forgiving him. Since we don’t see too much into the past it’s hard to really gauge just how bad the whole situation is. So while I didn’t like Dixie, I cut her a bit of slack there.

Then there’s the daughter Sue Ann and she seems nice enough. She ultimately did set out to meet Mac after all these years had passed. Her judgment may not have been the greatest but she seemed like a nice enough person. Too bad things didn’t go very well for her. Finally you have Harry who used to be Mac’s agent but just isn’t super helpful anymore. He’s very dismissive of Mac’s song until he figures that he can get some money out of it. That’s when you see his true colors come out. He makes for an entertaining character but not someone you really want to have in your corner.

Then you have the young band who look to Mac for guidance. They weren’t bad either. I liked their determination here. Apparently they all work multiple jobs in order to have enough time and money to pursue their passion in music. They all give this 100% of their time and it has paid off to an extent. Things start to go well for them here too.

So the main reason why this movie is good is that it’s a rare look at how a lot of people are good. It seems like nowadays the movies always take a very jaded view on humanity where everyone has an angle or is a villain deep down. The characters here may not be saints but for the most part they’re all nice and doing their best to hang in there. Mac certainly had his issues but he overcame them and did the right thing. Rosa works hard in her job and keep a happy personality despite that. The gas station has a lot of visitors but none of them turn out to be thieves or crooks. It’s just a nice change of pace to have everything go fairly well.

The film isn’t without its drama and tragedies though. Bad things do happen to the cast here and they grieve appropriately. It’s not a sad film by any means but there are sad scenes. Still, you never get the feeling that the film is going to be very mean spirited after it’s been on for a while. At first you may suspect that bad things will happen because you’re just so used to it but when the film resists those urges you can’t help but feel like it really ended up being a whole lot better than it could have been.

Overall, Tender Mercies is a good film. You could say that a good reason for this is in what it doesn’t do as opposed to what it does accomplish. Either way, it’s a drama film with a lot of restraint and a film that will leave you feeling good after it’s all over. I certainly enjoyed the music as well. The lyrical songs may not be my thing but the background music is all very fitting the whole time. If you’re up for a rather low key film with a lot of emotional moments then this is the one to check out.

Overall 7/10

The Expendables 3 Review

Posted on by
Reply

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

We have made it to the final Expendables film so far. 3 is a solid title and still beats the first although I wouldn’t say it is quite able to match up to the second film. That one ended up being just a little too good in the end. Still, if you want to see some solid action scenes and a pretty good blend of characters then you have come to the right place. The whole thing feels like it’s over quickly because of how much action is here.

The movie starts with the Expendables going on another mission and clearing it as always. They were able to rescue one of their older members named Doctor Death. Still, it was a tougher one than it would have been and one of their members gets injured. Barney decides to call the whole thing off and tells the Expendables to each go their own way. Age is the official reason for why he calls this off but we know the truth, it’s because the latest villain has him spooked. Conrad is the big bad this time and he used to be one of the most deadly Expendables of all time. Barney knows that the others will be in serious trouble so instead he decides to hire a bunch of newbies. I find it interesting that for the first time the team lives up to the name. These guys all do appear to be truly expendable in Barney’s eyes. Can they really handle this?

Expenedables 3 is definitely not the kind of film that’s going to throw a lot of twists and turns at you. From the moment he starts recruiting you can tell how this is all going to go. It might be because of that but the actual recruitment saga isn’t quite as hype as it usually is. I tend to really enjoy seeing each character get picked up and added to the team but it was hard to take most of them seriously. They just don’t see all that powerful compared to the old guard. I think if you wanted to get this across then you would have had to bring in a bunch of big names for the new team.

Matt Damon, Tom Cruise, Dwayne Johnson, Daniel Craig, etc. If you brought those guys in as the replacement squad then this would have been very interesting. Of course I’m not sure if they would love these roles but then you would have to actually stop and wonder if these guys would end up beating the older fighters. I think it would have taken the film to the next level. Still, I’ll give it props for being a more ambitious plot. It’s almost like you have two different movies here as each team gets their share. Of course if you’re a big fan of Barney’s crew you may be a bit disappointed since they don’t get to do as much here.

Church is gone but now you’ve got a guy named Max instead as the government guy who hands out the missions. He’s not quite as fun as Church but he can still help out in the field as needed. I like how nonchalant he is about the whole thing, Max has a lot of confidence here. Then you also have Trench appearing although his role is also fairly brief here. He gets some good shots in of course but that’s about it. I still like the rivalry dynamic he has but I feel like the end of his plot could have been longer. When Max assembles a team to stop Barney since the guy is going rogue, you expect some fun battles with team against team but they don’t show up until the climax and just end up helping out so it felt like a bait and switch. Yin’s role is also really small once again so he misses out.

One thing this film did better than the last two was in having the best villain though. Conrad is considerably better than the older villains as he has skills on par with the main characters and can hold his own verbally. There’s a nice scene where he complains about how all of the minions teaming up aren’t doing anything so he decides to show them how to change that. He knocks off two of them in the blink of an eye which was effective. He’s got a very sarcastic kind of demeanor too which works well. You can tell that the guy is super confident about everything that he does. It’s also fair to say that he was fairly deranged from the start to turning evil was always going to happen there.

As always Barney is a fun main character but I did disagree with most of his decisions here. Putting together a team just to presumably have them get wiped out didn’t make a whole lot of sense. If your enemy is the strongest one ever then that’s absolutely when you need your old team at the ready. They all really wanted to help too so it’s not like he was going to have to twist any arms. Just accept the help and keep it moving. That would have absolutely been the right thing to do here. When it comes time to fight then Barney is able to do what he does best and take everyone out of course.

For the old characters, they’re about the same as always. They’re always fun characters and Christmas is the guy who really has Barney’s back. He has a rivalry with Doctor Death since they’re both knife throwers. I was glad with how that plot line ended too and it made for a good way to close the film out. Doctor Death may suffer the most from the original team getting sidelined for most of the movie since this would have been his big chance to get a big role. At least we do see that the guy has not lost any of his skills from the action scenes that we do get though.

As to the new team, well there’s not a whole lot of time to get used to them. You’ve got the tough girl who is always saying how she doesn’t like men because they’re all awful. You’ve got the quick talker who can never be silent but comes through when the team is in a pinch. There’s the tech genius who knows how to handle a more modern operation and finally you have the tough guy who seems to be the leader of the group even when Barney’s around. I think this group could absolutely hold their own film but you just can’t compare them against the originals. They lose in just about every category and it’s hard to forget about the original guys since they’re still here. There’s a scene where the originals come in to intimidate the new ones. To their credit, the new guys don’t back down but you can’t help thinking that they would get absolutely destroyed in a fight.

Overall, The Expendables 3 is a pretty good film but it almost tries to tackle too much. The plot itself is also rather basic. If you just tell someone that this is a revenge film then that’s all you need to know. At the end of the day Barney just wants to take this guy out and fast. The actual villain plans and everything are really secondary. I think a better way to do this would be to have had the rest of the team get captured or something and that forces Barney to get a new team but that would be embarrassing for them. Either way the film’s just a lot of fun though and really breezes y.

Overall 7/10

The Expendables 2 Review

Posted on by
Reply

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

Expendables 2 definitely does a good job of taking all the good things from Expendables 1 and then moving that over to the next level. I’d say it’s the better film in just about every area which is really impressive right out of the jump. It’s not every day that you find a film which can do this. The movie is long so everyone has their chance to do something and you won’t have any big complaints by the end.

The movie starts with Barney and the gang pulling off yet another mission with the greatest of ease. These guys are a tough unit to beat after all. Especially now that Gunner’s back with the group and not going crazy. They even have a new member in Billy who has proven to be useful. Billy wants out though and says that the next mission will be his last. He’s not wrong and gets murdered by the new villains on the block. Church effectively forced Barney into this mission so the guy’s upset but he also just wants to avenge Billy no matter what anyone says.

The only lead is the researcher they rescued during this mission, Maggie. She explains that the villains have a box containing a computer with the locations of a bunch of Plutonium. The heroes are going to have to try and find a way to get one step ahead of these guys and then take the win. They’re outnumbered and outgunned, but never out fought so Barney and the gang are ready to win. Can they pull this off?

In the last movie it’s fair to call it the Barney and Christmas show since the rest of the team really didn’t do much of anything until the end. Well, this film makes sure to change that so it feels like a group effort right from the jump. I think that was a good idea because even though I’m a big fan of the main two, I can see how it would be disappointing if you were waiting for the others. The only exception to this is Yin who leaves the team early on and never returns.

The first big improvement here is that Church and Trench actually get onto the front lines here. After all their tough talk, it’s good to see them back it up. If you had any doubts before, you don’t need to have them now because both characters are absolutely locked and loaded here. They aren’t holding back and have a lot of great banter between them. Using each others catchphrases was a fun little thing to do and they really mow down a ton of enemies. One scene even involves dropping a gun under the car they’re driving so the other guy can pick it up. Certainly not something that’s easy to do.

Expendables 2 is very much a film where everyone gets their hype and that works out well. As always Barney makes for a very solid main character as well. He doesn’t back down to anyone and just keeps on fighting. I feel like there was even a Rocky reference with the punch combo he landed on the villain. It was probably the most impressive exchange he had in the whole film. The final fight also lives up to the hype of being the last battle and it’s why you always want to have a strong enemy to go up against.

Lee does well in his role too and takes on the other big villain here. He’s still the best guy Barney’s got on the squad and someone he can always count on. I like his confidence and I dare say Lee has more attitude than the rest of the fighters. That’s saying something since each of the heroes has quite a bit of attitude up their sleeve. Lee just outshines them all when it comes down to it.

I’m still not a big fan of Gunner though. I think it’s just hard to come back from what he did in the first film. Being a full on traitor is not just a simple mistake. It’s a huge deal if you ask me. Can’t really get around that personally. Toll and Hale still don’t do much but they have bigger roles than last time so it’s certainly a start. Then you have the new member Billy but he doesn’t last very long. Also, you seriously know exactly how things are going to go for him the instant that he says this is his final mission. You don’t walk away from that.

As for Maggie, she looks good here. She knows how to defend herself and can fire off the gun as needed so she doesn’t hold the team back. Barney was worried about this as the beginning but she was able to put his fears to rest which is good. Then you have the latest guest star Booker. He gets two scenes here that are both pivotal. The guy is clearly an expert fighter and knows how to defend himself even without a team. The fact that he can do so well solo is really impressive and shows why he is not someone that you want to mess with.

As for the villains, they’re an upgrade over the first film’s guys. Both of the main ones can fight. First you have Hector who is the right hand man of the villain leader. The guy is a good fighter and keeps it close with Christmas. This makes for a satisfying end to the fight and the guy was certainly evil but worked well in the role. Meanwhile the main villain was also fun. He could certainly fight really well and was definitely ruthless the whole time. Not quite on the level where I’d call him a really memorable villain or anything but he’s definitely approaching that point.

Expendables 2 really makes sure that you’re at the edge of your seat throughout the film. The action is nonstop and the writing is really good. Every character here is a big shot and talks tough in every scene. That makes for a lot of good banter and the movie is able to balance it out well so that everyone gets their hype. If you’re a villain then you do not want to mess with any of these guys or you end up paying for it. The movie never deviates from the kind of experience you think you’re going to get here and that’s not a bad thing. This isn’t the kind of film to have a lot of twists and everything but to just give you a lot of great action scenes.

I did have just one issue with this one though. In the first film you have the villains taking people hostage and I was glad when the heroes just fired anyway to take the villains out first. In a hostage situation that is the right response in most situations. You don’t just drop your guns because then the villains can quickly shoot you and then shoot the hostage anyway. I don’t see any scenario where dropping your gun is the right option. In this film they lost that character development and dropped their guns…so the villain murdered the hostage. It reminds you of how futile that whole thing was. So the big lesson here is if someone tells you to drop your gun, you’re better off going out in a blaze of glory than actually dropping it. It’s similar to the whole “Don’t get in the car” when the guy with a gun tells you to or anything like that. The situation will only grow worse and worse if you follow those orders to better to make a break for it and at least have a chance to survive.

Overall, Expendables 2 was definitely great. I’d certainly recommend it. I think it’ll be very hard for any film to top this one with the amount of big name action stars running around and taking names. Even though there is a third film, this is the one that you would want to consider the peak. The others just aren’t quite ready to be at this one’s level just yet. If you like action and want to see a lot of characters sizing each other up and getting ready for battle, then this is the title for you!

Overall 8/10