Sicario

Finally got around to another Denis Villeneuve movie.

Sicario has been on my mind to review for the past few months and I can safely say it didn't disappoint. Following a FBI agent who gets roped into some less than savory or legal operations to deal a severe blow to a mexican drug cartel, I do genuinely have to appreciate how little the movie bullshits about with this premise. Nary a minute is wasted with this 2 hour film and really does show the slightly desensitized and grim meathook realities of governmental operations and the one step above warzone towns of Mexico. This ain't a movie about the righteous and proud U.S. coming to clean house and make the world a safer place, it's some shady ass shit that everyone knows happens even if we don't like talking about it. Emily Blunt is a decent lead and it's very easy to be on her side mainly cause she has to deal with sum' bullllshiet non-friggin'-stop in this movie, I mean my girl needs a several months long vacation at the end of this no doubt. Josh Brolin as the head honcho of the crackdown mission plays this part super well, he's definitely on the rogue spectrum where he's kind of a dick and does some unscrupulous things and yet somehow is slightly humorous and likable, which is impressive on a writting scale and acting scale. Benicio Del Toro is kind of the wild card in the deck, we don't know who he really works for or indeed what his ulterior motives are until the tail end but the man has a presence to him and really does effortlessly play this stoic murdering tool who has his own past demons to struggle with. Also shoutout to my guy Daniel Kaluuya, unfortunately more on the sidelines but I'm always happy to see him! One thing I did notice very early on is the music score is very No Country For Old Men, where more often than not you have no soundtrack of any kind and you're just absorbed in the quiet and yet still anxious riddled ambience of these desert plains and mexican town streets, a very effective choice in my estimation. Huge props as more people often should give to cinematographer Roger Deakins who despite the face that this is a crime drama film still gives a giant sense of scale with these painting-esque shots of the sky and horizon, it was gorgeous stuff to see and definitely was a special treat to have here. Although it does have action to it here and there it leans more towards even then drama and nervous dread I would dare say than heart pumping exuberance at violence. Plua boy howdy is there a jaw dropping moment near the tail end to prove my point. You just can't sugarcoat this stuff, it's bloody, brutal, and often quicker than a flying bullet. It's a sobering film without a shadow of a doubt but that's why I like it so much and can strongly recommend it. 3.5 stars from me, 8/10, and we'll check out the sequel next time.

The Penguin

It is about as good as everyone says.

Admittedly I wasn't all gung-ho on the prospect of a Penguin show, certainly viable potential but nothing to wet my knickers about and from the slight brief buzz I heard it sounded good enough. I heard the "Gotham Sopranos" comparison and frankly if The Sopranos is anything like this I'm watching it! Crime drama ain't my genre but there is an exception to every rule, and this is it crafting a story you can sink your teeth into with plenty of character building and arcs remarkably done in the obsolete 8 episode structure. When I saw the epilogue to The Batman where you see Oz with Bruce's monologue talking about a power vacuum was all I really needed, but having this series and the bridge showing the wild ass trip Oswald has to undertake to be the king of Gotham is pretty solid! It's an interesting comparison if nothing else to the same character and the same journey presented in Gotham, wildly different tones and story telling but I'm a lover of both. So Oz is starting to make moves climbing the ladder before hitting a speed bump by the name of Sofia Falcone, but he has an up and coming protege named Vic who becomes his right hand man in thebstruggle for something better. Bare bones gist but highly worth watching. Colin Farrell undoubtedly makes his stamp on the character, he was good already in the film but there is no denying he is the Penguin showcasing nothing but pure A-game acting across the board and honestly hits emotional marks that I never would have thought we would see in this character. Award winning? Hey, wouldn't it be nice. Shock of all shocks, flippin' mystery to end all mysteries, I...like Sofia Falcone?? Welllll, let me put it to you this way even though she was losing me near the end of the season I still enjoyed her about 10 billion percent more than the Gotham iteration, Cristin Milioti has such an interesting character journey and she milks it for all it's worth once again putting forth quite potentially award winning acting. You can understand why she does what she does, feel the way she feels, and honestly I was rooting for her a bit. Last of our main leads young Vic played by Rhenzy Feliz, taking on a slightly Jason Todd origin of getting caught trying to steal Oz's rims before slowly coming under his wing as he becomes a novice gangster, he plays it with a lot of heart and is very believable in the role with plenty to do than just be a sidekick to Oz. What's great also is we get almost entire bleeding episodes dedicated to each of their backstories making us connect and therefore care more, aceing the balancing act in my opinion between past and current events. Also I have to shoutout Deidre O'Connell as Oz's mom which was a prospect I was leaping for joy upon discovering, injecting an intense dose of realism to such a lavishly ludicrous world and the dynamic and relationship between Oswald and Francis plays the full emotional gambit. Pretty phenomenal. Didn't take long I'll admit for it to hit this is a grown up show for adults, about as many F bombs in an episode I drop in a day, not skimping out on the blood, you flat out see a tiddy in episode one, like they picked a lane and stuck to it! While the plot didn't exactly twist and twirl it has ways to keep your attention and never gets dull for a second, hell I was blowing through the episodes as fast as I could and not just for the purposes of this review either! The production value truthfully wowed me at times, the scope of the street sets, the architecture, the combined drip of Oswald and Sofia makes the seawall collapse look like a spilled glass of water, the interiors, the vehicles, combined with the non-stop stunning skyline of Gotham all gets an A+ from me. I want to say so much but that would ruin the show, you just gotta go see it. Am I expecting a lot of callbacks to it in the second Batman film? Here and there, perhaps very much like the returning actors and callbacks were present in this series, and no I wasn't expecting to see vengeance himself appear, not even as a brief silhouette. I look at this show like the supplemental material from Star Wars, you don't have to watch Andor, you don't have to watch Clone Wars to understand the films but it adds a lot to the experience when you do even as the series stand on their own merits. Do you really need to watch the movie to get this series? I don't think so actually, it's self contained enough and fills whatever gaps need filling without being exposition. It's written well enough and has style and artistic qualities enough to where you can watch it and have a great time. I'm sure it was a trip to watch it weekly and whatever the future may hold for Matt Reeve's Batman world I'm gonna keep my eyes open. I give it 4 stars, 9/10!, and next week more witches and fantasy are in the works.

Tokyo Vice

We're keeping the ball rolling here on Japan.




Again, very similar circumstances brought this show to my attention and I have no problem saying a big draw point to it was Ken Watanabe and seeing Japan set in the 90s. Kinda already burned me first episode that the show takes place at the tail end of the 90s, and really there isn't much evidence throughout to solidify the time period but more on that later. So our story follows american news journalist Jake Adelstein as he gets his first reporting job at a japanese newspaper and fairly quickly gets wind of a loan service connected with several suicides and tries to gather information on that while navigating the workplace environment, the yakuza, and a semi-romantic life. I will say straight up, not a bad premise but I feel even at the end of this season, and a second one has been approved, it does still feel like buildup to the next thing. Nothing big happens except for something one of our main players gets into. It is a show where the first season is setting the board with all the pieces in place before stuff really kicks off. It's also an ensemble cast and while undoubtedly Jake is our main lead, each player has ties to the central conflict of crime bosses in Tokyo. We have Samantha, a direct and no bullshit american who works as a hostess in yakuza controlled businesses. Sato, who is a member of the yakuza and frequently interacts with Jake and Samantha, even forming a kinda sorta love triangle. Katagiri, a Tokyo cop who hasn't ever been bribed and takes Jake under his wing to bust up the crime families and educate him on how the system of law works in Japan. And Eimi, who is Jake's superior and busts his ass frequently to not play detective and simply report but slowly gets involved in the deduction process. So it's this intricately designed web of a story but the good news is it's not difficult to keep up with, each main character has a distinct setting and supporting cast to where you know very quickly who each person is and what aspect of the story is being progressed. And the more I write this out, the more I think it's very Gotham-esque. A first season where things happen here and there but leave the hard hits till the last episode and leaves you more with intrigue than satisfaction for the next season, Katagiri is very much a Jim Gordon character with Jake being a quasi Bruce digging into the seedy underbelly of the city, and each character has a unique setting that further identifies them with many many ties focusing on the center of organized crime families. Cut the ludicrous storylines, case of the week, and budding rogues gallery out of Gotham and you aren't too far off the mark for Tokyo Vice. It didn't grab me as immediately or as strongly as Miss Sherlock but I was willing to see it to the end, it's only 8 episodes each about an hour long, and I thought it was decent. The casting is very solid in my opinion, first thing I've seen of Ansel Elgort since Baby Driver and he is a good lead, and props to the guy for being dedicated enough to learn japanese, which he pulls off effortlessly. Ken is not as prevalent as I would have liked him to be, but the performance is still good though I wish he got more attention in guiding Jake through this minefield of a city and more screentime. Rachel Keller is decent, not at all bashing anybody's acting in this show honestly they are performing everything with a lot of conviction and presence, yet I liked her more when she was a side character and not when she got upgraded to main character status but I blame that more on the plot than the woman herself. Rinko Kikuchi I really liked and while she is the meanest (the smallest that is) player in this ensemble, I really really hope she gets more screentime cause I could tell when I first saw her she was going to be interesting, she was going to have more to her than you think, and we get some of that so I'm looking forward to more of her. Sho Kasamatsu is in my opinion the most interesting in terms of character, he can be very laid back and fun for he is a young man and can be indeed funny, yet he has that anger and violence that would be expected from a gang member but at that same time you can tell it's not quite the life he would want for himself. A familiar character type of a reluctant criminal but done very well. So cast is rock solid, the production values are high but not top of the line which I would expect nothing less of, best intro to a modern series I've seen in a hot minute I mean beautifully styllish and unique, I dig it man. Now onto the time period idiosyncrasies, there isn't a great deal to remind you this show takes place in the 1990s. Now does that necessarily mean I need to see a Pokemon advert in the background, or see someone order a Zima in a bar, or carry around a Walkman on the streets every 5 minutes? Of course not, and you do get bits of 90s tech predominantly more so than any other facet of the decade. You got your mini cassettes, you got your portable phones, you got your VHS tapes, you got your Backstreet Boys and NSYNC, but the show looks like it was made in 2022 for modern times, with that ultra crisp definition of cinematography and admirable production of sets and clothing. Even when it flashes back to 1994 it doesn't do much to illustrate the time period. The show is based on a real reporter and all the shit that went down in his time in Japan in the 90s, but they could have updated the timeframe to present day and it wouldn't have changed a damn thing production wise. There is an art to making things look dated, look legit if it was made in a certain time and place in the world, and I don't get the sense a lot of modern filmmakers know how to achieve such a thing which is a rant for a whole other day. All in all, it's a decent but ultimately average first season, it has some good moments, some intrigue, good characters, but not a lot of story progression just not a whole lot gets accomplished but I figure they can really expand and knock this second season out of the park now that they've got their set up done and squared away to get people settled in this world they are fashioning. 2.5 stars, 7/10, one more show to go and it's not one you would really think to go in tandem with the rest this week.

The Batman

Yes, it did justice to a new Batman and a new film.

So now comes the part where I applaud this movie as the one who tops them all, the best Batman movie since The Dark Knight, a perfect 10/10. No, but I'd be hardpressed to find people who flat out didn't like it. I personally found it to be a damn fine movie and felt certain aspects were done amazingly well while others were just done good. So it's year 3 for the nightly roaming vengeance on Gotham's streets and very quickly his attention shifts from street thugs to a serial killer with a MO of riddles and death traps, nothing too much beyond what you see in the trailers plot wise. However I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, the very realistic but still grand scale fit just right and nothing went beyond what they could feasibly do. Robert Pattinson is on the more down low potrayals of Batman, not saying very much but still able to get through a lot and he embodies the role very very well. Zoe Kravitz I genuinely thought could be at least in terms of live action the best Catwoman we've had, and while the relationship/partnership dynamic was done fine I think she's on the same level with Michelle Pfeiffer. Paul Dano, sweet Jesus man, I think he creeped me out more when he wasn't wearing the mask and it does fully deliver on that zodiac killer influence, I thought he was great. Jeffrey Wright was as good as I thought he would be and I greatly appreciate that you see him investigate stuff with Batman often. Speaking of which, I loved the detective work even though it's not super involved the direction and pieces of the puzzle are really effective, you see the gears turning behind the analytical eyes of Batman, and it's almost police procedure detective work too in just observing the crime scene and figuring it out. I do feel however the vibe of a losse cannon, reckless, pure physical power Batman was not quite the case. He has some anger, he does go out for vengeance, he is pretty straightforward in his tactics, but he is tempered and doesn't go too out there which makes sense because it is his 3rd year of crimefighting, he knows his way a bit around the block. The cinematography and art direction are excellent, giving us a lot of different shots that wouldn't even be found in one of the animated movies, and the style of costumes and sets both fit the modern grit and classic gothic looks. The music score is proper good and I know I have to listen to the full soundtrack once I'm home. It is a solid movie, it is a real good movie, but I feel it will grow on me as time passes and I see it more. The first time I saw The Dark Knight Rises in theaters I liked it but I felt a bit underwhelmed, partially because I just didn't want it to end and partially because it came off the heels of The Dark Knight. However, as years went by I appreciated it a lot more for what it is and I went from liking it to loving it. I did feel somewhat the same walking out of the theater today, so you may notice in about a week's time a Second Viewing reassesment. But for now, a solid 4 stars, 8.5/10!

The Book Of Boba Fett: Season 1

Here at last.

I actually have a fair bit to unpack here and not all of it is friendly but I do bring tidings of good news along with it. The Book Of Boba Fett is a solid series, when I saw the first bits of footage of it I immediately thought, crime drama in space, it had a sort of Godfather-esque tinge to it's Star Wars goodness so it had my attention. I really like how the story unfolds picking up not long after the stinger from season 2 of The Mandalorian with Boba and Fennec Shand slowly setting up their criminal empire from Jabba's stronghold, mixed with a compelling and awesome story of how Boba escaped the Sarlaac and gained the trust of a Tusken tribe. That is really damn good stuff, just seeing him learn their traditions and aiding them to where he's kind of a merit adoptive to their people could be a series all of it's own. And when we get to seeing him build his operations, recruit muscle and followers, even though it's more talky than actiony it never got boring because I was interested where the story was going and how it would end. And all the additions both new and recurring to give us fans that wow factor certainly don't hurt the score by any stretch and it was a marvel to behold at times. It's a show made with the same level of love and appreciation as The Mandalorian, and one I will patiently wait for a continuation. Now here's where I start burning bridges. I knew, for a fact beyond any unreasonable doubt, that people were going to shit on this show. I saw it in my mind's eye so clearly that even Master Yoda would commend my vision. Because it's not as amazing or jaw dropping as The Mandalorian even though they are two seperate shows with two seperate agendas, I knew reviewers were going to flood the YouTubes with titles such as, "Was The Book Of Boba Fett A FAILURE??" and I'm already seeing it saying the show is broken, bland, and boring. Get f***ed and f*** off my lawn. Because if it's not great, amazing, spectacular, showstopping, that means it's garbage right? That's how it goes these days and I am officially tired of it. And I will go one step even further beyond and say I have a bone to pick with The Mandalorian, now don't get me wrong my reviews and ratings still stand as the truth. I love that show, however I do not like how it kinda went back on it's sort of main story point. When The Mandalorian was gearing up the creators stated that it would be a Star Wars story from the street level, no galactic politics, no Jedi, no giant space battles, just a story about a simple man making his way through the galaxy. Which is what it did....at first. When we see Moff Gideon with the Darksaber that was the beginning of the end, and now it's gotten too big. Now do I have faith in Jon and Dave as to why they are introducing these big names for hardcore Star Wars fans? Yes I do. Do I understand The Mandalorian is the flagship show that opens the doors to all other shows in it's wake? Absolutely. But people are getting the wrong impression and standard with Boba Fett, they expect it to be a larger scale show with just as much Star Wars fan highlights as Mando's show, when in actuality it gets back to street level Star Wars but still dips it's toes into the large scale stuff. But I feel it's more reserved here and is more or less for the purposes of setting up season 3 of Mando, and I even understand why they wrote it the way they did. I do not have a problem with it. I do still however have problems with the fan community, and I will fully voice my thoughts on that at another point in time. Bottom line, it's a fine show. The story works and is interesting to watch, the effects are still on top form, the cast is excellent with love abound for the king Temuera and Ming-Na Wen the stunning queen, the fanservice is appreciated and gets me excited for future projects, and I do strongly recommend this show. I give it 3 stars, 8/10, and May needs to hurry the hell up.

Death On The Nile

Only been 5 years since Murder On The Orient Express. Strange how time flies huh?

As a continuation of that movie I feel it honestly was better than I thought it would be, granted my expectations were low as always and I have no true grasp of the literary character Hercule Poirot, so with that in mind let's talk movies. The story I am happy to announce is not as cut and dry as a standard murder mystery, with Poirot in Egypt who is invited to a honeymoon cruise, where whoopsie daisy people start dropping like flies and it's time to put your thinking caps on. Now you know I don't boast my intelligence like a certain Mr. Nygma, but I had the killer identified before the murder began, but honestly it's kind of obvious who did it but like I said it isn't simple and easy either. That's a delicate balance when writing a mystery, and the way the story progresses and the direction shows you things makes for a decent watching experience. You're not meant to do all the thinking but it invites you to think and deduce, which I admire greatly. Speaking of which, you had balls movie and I'll appreciate the use of said balls for doing the thing you did, well done. The only big detriment the movie has for it is the visual effects, they're not terrible but they are at times very obvious and not that great, but hey do you come to a murder mystery for CGI or for the caper? It does look pretty at times and the whole concept of a murder mystery set amidst the ruins of ancient Egypt is a fine backdrop for the events. I'm not certain if they filmed extensively in Egypt but it works nicely. All the actors I feel commit to the roles and do very good work, in particular Branagh and Armie Hammer who I felt brought a lot of emotional power to his role, and Poirot gets a good fair bit of characterization and backstory which while feeling a bit unnecessary wasn't bad stuff. Gal Gadot still has zero right being as pretty as she is and always is a joy. It was also super nice to see Sophie Okonodo again, and her semi-flirtatious attitude with Poirot was great and I didn't actually mind seeing them together. It's a solid movie, about as good as Orient Express I'd say, but not a bad thing to waste an afternoon watching. 3 stars, 7/10, and we're doing something different for Valentine's Day.

Phone Booth

Rest in peace Joel, you gave me some entertainment all through my life.

For a movie damn near 20 years old and in such a severe shifting world, Phone Booth has not lost any of it's suspense or impact. I mean it's such a fascinating concept alone that you could make a short film of it, let alone a feature length movie. And I feel it was made at that right time in the world when cell phones were becoming more common but payphones were still around, although even I must admit I haven't seen a phone booth in person in 25 odd years. The script is excellent, with a PR guy named Stu who takes an anonymous phone call and very quickly finds himself in the center of a hostage situation with a sniper who always is on the line. There's no doubt been many instances in films where elements of this situation takes place, but the way each event flows into the next, mounting the tension and suspense, must be commended. I mean while the film is no doubt very dated in that early 2000s way, with blue tinting to the film because it's digital babyyy, and the weird fast pans and dutch angles, even I can't give shit to Joel because this was how a good portion of films looked until say 2006/2007 when it finally died off. Colin Farrell is a great lead, and you can believe someone as fast talking and bullshit spewing as his character can get in such a situation. This might be sort of strange to say, but I heard more Kevin Spacey over the phone than Keifer Sutherland but really the guy has a great voice, voice acting high quality type of voice that I would be interested to see more of. There were several points I really had to step back and asses the situation which brought moments of laughter from me, though this gets heavy and intense before even the 15 minute mark and the movie is not even 90 minutes but it certainly doesn't waste a second of film. Most of the time I was in suspense because you don't really know when or not the trigger is going to be pulled and I did see the ending coming, but the curve balls it threw at me hit well. This is a great film to while not necessarily think what you would do in that situation, but vicariously try to find a way out of that situation. It's entertaining and gives you a rollercoaster to go on, and I'm truly happy I saw it. 4 stars, 7.5/10, I might even say this is Joel's best directorial efforts more so than The Lost Boys but there's always more to see.

The Satanic Rights Of Dracula

I apologize for this review being late, we had a bit of a crisis at home and let's just say it was busy.

Let me tell you there's a reason this is not only the last Hammer Dracula movie but also this is the only movie to slip into the public domain, that's right Hammer doesn't even want anything to do with it and for good reason. The Satanic Rights Of Dracula is without a doubt the weakest of the series, because it doesn't even focus on Dracula! The whole movie is just boring and they threw in elements of spy movie stuff, occult sacrifices, and crime drama and threw it in with Dracula, with very lengthy talking scenes and very little else. Peter Cushing is in most of it which is great obviously, but he's mainly used for exposition but I can listen to him talk all day so I can kinda let that slide. Dracula is barely in the movie, showing up randomly and having very little to do until the last 20 minutes. In fact the only real reason you should watch the movie is the last 20 or so minutes. The final confrontation between Van Helsing and Dracula is outstanding, with Christopher Lee having a full blown monologue before the fight erupts and it is glorious. I would talk about the plot, but I can't figure it out, it's just a series of incidents and exposition. There's actually one more good scene in the movie but only because it's just odd. So basically Van Helsing is trying to find Dracula, and for some reason he turns up at this building and meets this guy who is so obviously Dracula, but the part that interests me is he kinda talks like Bela Lugosi! His dialect and accent heavily reminds me of Bela Lugosi, and it's just odd to hear Christopher Lee talk in such a way but I strangely find it kinda neat. Bottom line, stay away from this movie, just watch the last 20 minutes or so.

Okay so tomorrow, we look at one more Hammer series and let me tell you, it will be awesome.

The Silence Of The Lambs

It's a psychological thriller! Sorry Academy, I know you don't like to use the 'H' word but this is a horror movie. It's horrifying!

Academy Award winning film, The Silence Of The Lambs and well worthy of those awards! The introduction to one of the most famous movie monsters of all time, this film is still excellent. What can I say that others haven't already? It's a great movie, you should see it if you haven't already! One of the things you notice as you watch it more is the use of editing in this movie, the editing is what makes it a cut above the rest. It almost decieves the audience (and in one scene totally does), because of how they cut this movie. There are many scenes where you think it is just several little tidbits of film spliced together, but it is not! The movie may seem cut but that's the allusion, several scenes are literal long running shots, just edited together for it to be more fluid. Some may complain the film is choppy, I highly disagree. The camera placement works, and it works well. There is a lot of dialogue scenes, almost 90% of the movie is just talking, now you're probably saying that would kill the film for you, but it is so interesting and certainly engaging enough to the point where you don't really care. Also, I have to give props to the camera crew of this movie. I could not stare down Anthony Hopkins for ten seconds, let alone several minutes. You notice that a lot, the camera is settled dead center, close up shot of the character's faces. Now this is an excellent way to convey a mood of uncomfortableness, the sense of pressure, and claustrophobia. Well done camera crew! Story wise, it is very good but the way the movie tells the story makes it so much better. Clarice Starling is an F.B.I. agent sent to question Dr. Hannibal Lecter to try and hunt down serial killer Buffalo Bill. Simple plot, excellent movie. Really it's Jodie Foster that holds this movie together, she does a damn good job in this movie, and this movie was filmed in a time where the F.B.I. was just starting to accept female applicants, so it's great to see that she can put her big boy pants on and kick heinie like one of the boys. Awesome. Anthony Hopkins of course, is a joy to watch. He's more creepy in this movie than threatning like in Red Dragon, but that in no means diminishes his character. Ted Levine...you magnificent son of a mother, you want to talk about a scary performance? Boy, oh boy does he deliver! Excellent, excellent serial killer. Oh, and I may be really sick but I like that scene. You know that scene. Q Lazzarus Goodbye Horses. Don't watch it if you haven't seen the movie cause you may find me crazy. But the best scene in the entire movie, is where the title of the film comes about. Chilling, well paced, well acted, well directed, fantastic. Watch this movie again, it's more than worth it. Great horror movie!

Okay, this is where I could lose a few people but we must touch base on Hannibal, the last Hannibal Lecter movie with Anthony Hopkins. What do I think about it? Until tomorrow.

Sin City

This movie really did surprise me but not in the way you would ever expect.

Sin City is a pretty damn good adaptation based off of Frank Miller's graphic novel and it does a very, very accurate telling of the story. When I say this is a noir film, I mean it's a noir film especially in the visual sense. This is the noir film you could ever hope or wish to see, it's stylistic, dark, bloody, and faithful to the source material. Now the surprising bit I was talking about is the fact that the movie is split up into parts, almost like a compilation of short films done all in the same style. But not like you would expect. In this two hour and twenty minute venture into the dark and gritty world of Sin City, at about the 40 minute mark the end credits start to roll. Yeah, you read correctly. They literally split this movie into four parts, with closing credits and all. Hell, it takes 50 minutes before you see the title of the movie. Damn. That blows my mind, you never see this. Now storywise between all our short films, there really isn't that much connecting them like in Pulp Fiction, some plot points intersect but it is not the case with all the short stories. One follows a cop who took the fall after saving a little girl and his reuniting with her, a brick of a guy on a revenge hunt for the killing of a woman, and a man preventing an all out gang war between different sections of the city. And the I think genius part of it all is, it's played up. It's melodramatic, and almost theatrical in a way which is how old noir crime dramas, and even the pulp magazines which this movie took inspiration from were made. Another thing I found quite interesting is the fact the entire film shot on location here in Austin, although because of it's unique stylish and gritty backdrop most of the movie is computer graphics. And they did a good job with creating the look of this world with one exception. Okay so the entire film is shot in black and white as your typical noir film but there are pieces of color in the movie, usually around an object or a identifying aspect of a character. Like a guy has red shoes on, or a girl has blue eyes, but there is no real consistency with it! You see blood both red but also white, some characters have color on them and some don't, it seems so inconsistent like you think there would be some kind of rhyme or reason why this is red, that is blue, etc. but no! That's really the only bad thing I can say about this movie, everything is fine. I mean it wasn't great but it's not terrible either. Would I suggest it? Well maybe. Depends on if you like crime drama/noir movies or you enjoy seeing comic adaptations (even if it's from Frank Miller.) so I say approach it with caution. You really kind of have to be in a mood to watch this movie. But I thought it was okay so I leave it entirely up to you.

Reservoir Dogs

Yeah...this movie was really good.

That's how you make your first movie! Reservoir Dogs was both written and directed by Quentin Tarantino and son of a mother it's good. The plot follows a group of bank robbers who after a diamond robbery goes wrong they all scramble together in a warehouse to figure out who ratted them out. The one element you might be shocked to see is that there is no heist. There is no footage of the bank robbery, it all deals with the aftermath of the botched robbery. I know! I was expecting some Hardboiled kind of action but no, it all takes place afterwards except for two scenes, one right before the heist and one like immediately after it. Now you may think this would be really boring but it is far from that, it keeps your attention throughout the entire film. As with any Tarantino film, the cast is excellent, the dialogue is both intense and funny sometimes both at the same time, the little action you do see is still well done, it's a very, very good movie. But man, Harvey Keitel is my hero in this movie. Stand up guy if I ever saw one and is just awesome cause well, it's Harvey Keitel that's kinda what he does. The infamous torture scene which is the most talked about part of the movie, is really grueling to watch. It isn't the intense action movie you expect but what it actually holds is still worth checking out. Definitely recommend it.

Okay so that is it for this week. Only two reviews, but we got two more next week still in this sort of genre. So I will see you then.