It's been a busy couple of weeks and I've been putting this off so long that I've piled up a lot
of movies. It's funny, in September I didn't go to the theater much, but
October/November, it's been once or twice a week. So here are the first four. The next set will be up after I've seen the new Hunger Games movie since... let's be honest, I was going to see it anyways.
Dracula Untold - Did you like the Underworld movies?
If yes, you'll probably like this too. It's less horror and more action
oriented. What interested me in the movie was that it was a new take on the
Dracula mythos. I was never a huge fan of the Bram Stoker story, maybe it's
been done to death, I don't know. In Dracula Untold, it bridges the gap between
the real life Vlad Tepes and the highly fictionalized Count Dracula.
I also learned that both Romanians and the Turks spoke
English! Seriously, I love how when Hollywood
needs a foreign language but doesn't want to go the subtitle route, they just
use a British accent. Luke Evans did a good job, not great but given the
material, he was fine. Howard Stark made an interesting Sultan, though I have
got wonder why they couldn't get an actual Middle Eastern or at least Turkish
actor. For that matter, why did they cast Joel Edgerton to play an Egyptian
pharaoh in that upcoming Moses movie? It's just weird. Tywin Lannister made for
a fun, creepy vampire guy though he wasn't in the movie very long... he at
least left an impression, though.
I do have to point out something strategy-wise in the film.
So the Transylvanians are at war with the Turks, but are vastly outnumbered
(hence why Vlad decided to become a powerful vampire). So he and his people
flee to a fortified monastery in the mountains. We see that the Turks have to
walk through a canyon to get to the monastery, yet as they did so, they met no
resistance! Why wouldn't you have had men lining the top of the canyon, firing
down arrows, slinging rocks and pushing down boulders to crash into the Turks?
As Obi Wan would tell you, the Transylvanians had the high ground! Use it! The
Turks would have been sitting ducks! It was just stupid to me.
I enjoyed Dracula Untold for what it was. I knew going into
it what the movie was going to be and it delivered. It was far from cinematic
brilliance, but it was stupid fun. Like I said, if you liked the Underworld
movies, you'll probably like this.
Jonny's Contribution - Jonny refused to see Dracula Untold because "Bela Lugosi is dead and therefore there can be no Dracula."
But if Dracula was already dead, then would Bela Lugosi need to be alive? Now I've just started a Skynet paradox!
Gone Girl - I loved this movie. It was incredibly
twisted both in story and its commentary on love and marriage. Gone Girl fits
well with Fincher's other twisted works Se7en and Fight Club, although it has
little in common with both of those films except weirdos like me will embrace
it as I have the others. The acting (yes, even Ben Affleck's) was great, David
Fincher's directing was masterful and the plot kept me guessing. I don't
really even want to talk about it too much, you just have to experience it for
yourself. Whether you end up liking Gone Girl or not, it is a refreshingly
original film that will definitely leave an impression.
Jonny's Contribution - Wait, I'm confused. Am I still supposed to be hating Ben Affleck or what? Please geniuses of the internet, tell me what to think!
John Wick - I initially wasn't going to bother with
John Wick, but the stars aligned just right and I found myself spending an
evening alone outside of the house. The reviews were surprisingly good, like
really good, especially for a Keanu Reeves action flick without the use of
"bullet time." So, I thought 'What the hell, let's give it a shot.'
I was more than pleasantly surprised. While the plot was
nothing new, it's basically a revenge flick, John Wick was stylized enough to
feel fresh. The action sequences were brutal and awesome... almost to the level
of The Raid movies sans the martial arts.
The story in a nutshell is John Wick, a retired mob hitman,
has just lost his wife to cancer. He ends up getting a puppy from her
posthumously, so that he could have something to love as he grieved. While he
and his dog are out for a drive in his muscle car, they come across Theon
Greyjoy (I don't remember the actor's name, but his character is so similar to
his Game of Thrones counterpart, you won't even notice) and his lackeys. Theon
wants to buy Wick's car, but is turned down. Feeling slighted, Theon and his
goons attack Wick at home that night, beating him unconscious, stealing his car
and killing his dog in the process. Unfortunately, Theon finds out from his
father, John Wick's former employer, that he just pissed off the most skilled
and legendary hitman ever to work for their crime syndicate. So yeah, John Wick
brings the pain.
Keanu Reeves plays the title character well, his subdued
acting style working excellently with a hardened mob hitman of few words. Theon
Greyjoy has made a career of being the characters you love to hate. He is very
good at being the whiny, entitled brat prone to violence to get his way.
Adrianne Palicki was wonderful as a mob hit... woman. She needs to be used
more. I know she's Mockingbird on Agents of SHIELD, but she is still such an
underrated and underutilized actress. Willem Dafoe and Ian McShane have small
roles, nothing spectacular, almost playing their usual screen-selves. They're
fun to have in the film, though.
If you are a fan of shoot 'em up action flicks, I would
definitely give John Wick a watch.
Jonny's Contribution - Really, hasn't Theon Greyjoy been through enough?
Nightcrawler - When I first started watching the
movie, I thought Jake Gyllenhaal's character Lou Bloom was kind of like Travis
Bickle, Robert DeNiro's troubled character from Taxi Driver. Both seemed to
have sleeping problems, were kind of off kilter and had that "orphan of society"
vibe... you know, when a character slips through the cracks and is left without
a place in our modern world. However, as the film progressed, I realized Lou
Bloom was not Travis Bickle. You see, Travis Bickle had good intentions. He saw
a world full of evil and wanted to make a difference. Lou Bloom was out only
for himself, for you see... Lou Bloom was a sociopath.
I have to say, Jake Gyllenhaal did a fantastic job in
Nightcrawler. I've seen him in various movies including one of my favorites
Donnie Darko, the drama/thriller Brothers and last year's thriller Prisoners.
However, I have never seen him like this. I have honestly underrated him as an
actor. For a while there he was doing big budget films like the Prince of
Persia bomb and that time travelling bomb on a train movie whose name escapes
me because I didn't care enough to watch. Gyllenhaal really needs to do more
indie flicks like Nightcrawler and find more juicier roles.
Nightcrawler is a character study, in the same vein as films
like Citizen Kane and There Will Be Blood. We take a good, long, uncompromising
look at Lou Bloom as he finds his place in society at the politely manipulated
expense of those around him. In the film, Lou discovers the world of freelance video
recording for television news... things like shootings, car accidents, fires
and other violent things. Things get pretty dark and messed up toward the end. I don't want to give anything else away, but I
do recommend seeing the movie. It is original with a surprising amount of
action, uncompromising darkly comedic moments and features what may be this
year's most underrated performance.
Jonny's Contribution - Jonny refused to see Nightcrawler as it had nothing to do with the X-man Kurt Wagner.
Now I'm wondering if Bubble Boy could have joined the X-men. Couldn't have been any worse than Xorn.
Part 2 Coming Soon!
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