Movie Reviews

A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

A Fish Called Wanda (1988)

Director:

Charles Crichton

John Cleese

Starring:

Jamie Lee Curtis

John Cleese

Kevin Kline

Michael Palin

Plot:

In London, four very different people team up to commit armed robbery, then try to doublecross each other for the loot.

Review:

I swear I’ve watched this movie before, I know I have, but the only scene I remember was in the game Scene It. I didn’t even remember the ending.

Oh well, Jamie Lee Curtis is awesome in this, not only is she gorgeous but she’s the brains. She’s got all of them wrapped around her finger. I freaking loved the ending.

Four people pull a diamond heist, not a very elegant one, but that’s not the point. They have the diamonds and that’s when things really get started.

The movie is funny, but not often laugh out loud. I was expecting more slapstick and there were moments, but honestly if it wasn’t for Kevin Kline’s character it would have been an entirely different movie. He was deranged and weird, while everyone else was mostly normal.

It’s an older movie and a bit dated when it comes to airport security, but still fun.

3/5

The World’s End (2013)

The World’s End (2013)

Director:

Edgar Wright

Starring:

Simon Pegg

Nick Frost

Martin Freeman

Paddy Considine

Rosamund Pike

Eddie Marsan

Plot:

Five friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from twenty years earlier unwittingly become humanity’s only hope for survival.

Review:

Gary King, Simon Pegg, peaked in high school and he’s unable to move past it. He is stuck and decides to relive his glory days and get the boys back together. They have all moved on with their lives to varying degrees of success, but he’s able to get them all back together because they were bros.

The movie starts out with them doing a pub crawl, the golden mile, 12 pubs. Things quickly go crazy. Aliens, robots, bar brawls, lots of laughs ensue. It’s a hilarious movie, not my favorite of the cornetto trilogy, but it’s still really funny. Nick Frost is easily the best character.

The ending is probably the worst part. For some reason they did an epilogue and showed everyone’s life after the final decision was made and I didn’t like it. It wasn’t funny or fun it was kind of eh. The rest of the movie is great, though.

If you like Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz then you’ve got to see this.

4/5

Black Panther (2018)

Black Panther (2018)

Director:

Ryan Coogler

Starring:

Chadwick Boseman

Michael B. Jordan

Lupita Nyong’o

Danai Gurira

Martin Freeman

Plot:

T’Challa, the King of Wakanda, rises to the throne in the isolated, technologically advanced African nation, but his claim is challenged by a vengeful outsider who was a childhood victim of T’Challa’s father’s mistake.

Review:

There is no way I can do this film justice in my review. I’m just not skilled enough and I’m still surfing on a buzz of awesome, but I’ll try.

T’Challa, Chadwick Boseman, is now not only the Black Panther but he’s king. Well, he will as soon as he completes a traditional ritual that involves fighting anyone that challenges him.

This is an incredibly technologically advanced culture and yet they are still able to honor their traditions, it was really quiet lovely. Embracing one did not, necessarily, take away from the other. However, it did end up causing some problems and they might want to think about a change in the future.

Anyway, as king he makes a vow to finally capture the colonizer that killed so many of their own decades ago. He’s given a chance, but is blindsided by a new player and loses his opportunity. This angers one of his friends and ends up providing an opening to the true villain, Killmonger, Michael B. Jordan.

Marvel is really winning on the villain side of things lately. They had a horrible, lets please forget the movie ever exists, misstep with Age of Ultron but got things right with Thor: Ragnarok and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Doctor Strange. They’re on a real winning streak which has me really looking forward to all the future movies.

Anyway, back to Black Panther. Killmonger could have very easily been not evil enough. He was incredibly empathetic, you could easily see how he’d become what he had become. He’d suffered and seen his people suffering all the while knowing that there was an entire country where they weren’t. Where they advanced beyond anything in the rest of the world. If he had stopped there, pleaded his case to T’Challa and tried the more humanitarian route that Nakia, Lupita Nyong’o, wanted to go then the movie wouldn’t have been as good. He went further and in so doing nearly destroyed what Wakanda stood for, but he also forced T’Challa to really see what life was like for those outside of his country and also see that his father wasn’t perfect.

Villains that make the hero change, to see other perspectives, are the best. Black Panther was a great hero, he was everything I like in a super hero. He was a good man, that strove to do the right things and make the right decisions, even when it wasn’t always the easiest route. Without Killmonger, though, I don’t think the movie would have succeeded so well in my eyes.

The supporting cast in Black Panther was also incredible. I freaking loved General Okoye, Danai Gurira, she was so freaking awesome. That red dress billowing in the breeze while she destroyed shit around her. So cool! Then you’ve got T’Challa’s sister Shuri, Letitia Wright, who was hilarious. It was so much fun to see her interactions with T’Challa. I also enjoyed how Martin Freeman’s character, Everett Ross, was the token white guy. He wasn’t killed in the first few minutes, he was actually given something useful to do so that was nice for him.

Black Panther is my second favorite Marvel movie, it was so good, and I hope that everyone is able to go see it.

5/5

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)

Director:

Jake Kasdan

Starring:

John C. Reilly

Jenna Fischer

David Krumholtz

Kristen Wiig

Plot:

Singer Dewey Cox overcomes adversity to become a musical legend.

Review:

Recently I had the pleasure of a re-watch of Walk Hard. Even after several viewings this movie still makes me laugh.

The film starts with Dewey and his brother playing outside, through constant verbal and physical cues you know the brother is going to end up dying and the movie does not disappoint. He halves himself, a common occurrence on a farm that uses machetes I’m sure, and before he dies he tells Dewey he’ll have to be doubly good for the both of them. No pressure at all.

The movie follows Dewey as he starts in music and evolves as an artist. There are jabs at known musician stereotypes and tons of guest stars that make the whole thing hilarious. It’s also got a surprisingly entertaining sound track.

Seriously, if you haven’t watched Walk Hard by this point I highly recommend it.

5/5

The Accident Man (2018)

The Accident Man (2018)

Director:

Jesse V. Johnson

Starring:

Scott Adkins

Ray Stevenson

Amy Johnston

Michael Jai White

Ray Park

Plot:

Mike Fallon, the Accident Man, is a stone cold killer whose methodical hits baffle the police and delight his clients. He is the best at what he does. But when a loved one is dragged into the London underworld and murdered by his own crew, Fallon is forced to rip apart the life he knew in order to hold those accountable and avenge the one person who actually meant something to him.

Review:

Mike, Scott Adkins, is an assassin and he’s the best at what he does, he is not, however, good at romantic relationships and even though he loves a woman he can’t or won’t change and she leaves him because he’s an asshole.

She’s killed and he’s not happy about it, it doesn’t help that she was pregnant with his baby. Lots of violence and death ensue.

The story was surprisingly good in The Accident Man. The world wasn’t quiet as interesting as a John Wick movie, but there were still several good characters. Mick and Mac, Michael Jai White and Ray Park, were ex-special forces that made killings look like normal violent crimes. Amy Johnston’s character was an expert with a katana and decimated anyone in her way. Mike makes his killings look like normal accidents. It’s all kind of fun.

A surprisingly good story adds to what sets this movie apart from other direct to video action movies, the fact that everyone in this movie is great at fighting. Scott Adkins, Michael Jai White, and Ray Park are incredible on their own but add them all together and it makes things even better. We got several great fights, next to no shaky cam, a bit too many quick cuts considering the level of fighters we had but since I’m sure this was filmed fairly quickly I can understand. Honestly I really enjoyed this movie, definitely one of the best direct to video action movies.

As Mike started his rampage I kept hoping that the characters would live so that we could get more, and there is definite room for another movie in this universe, but I almost wish they’d just make another movie with all these people all over again. I want another fight scene with those three, only this time I want it to be one shot.

The Accident Man was very great and I was very happy with it.

4/5