Sep 15 2012

‘Stand Up Guys’ Trailer Review – January 11, 2013

Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, Alan Arkin, Hector from Breaking Bad who also was the hitman in Scarface and Gianni Moretti in Person Of Interest. How can you go wrong with all of these really cool old guys?

Well, until Righteous Kill came out, I didn’t even know Al Pacino was still alive. Like Pacino said on David Letterman when Righteous Kill came out.

Pacino: “I made Righteous Kill to show people that I’m still alive”

De Niro: “I made Righteous Kill to see if Al Pacino was still alive”

This has an amazing cast and a pretty solid storyline as it seems to be. But for some reason, I do not have the best feeling about this. I have the feeling it will be like Righteous Kill. Righteous Kill was good, I loved it personally, but it was not phenomenal or a classic. This defintely has the potential to be a classic, but I highly doubt it would be, since all of our gangster heroes are old men in this film and probably can’t do much but drive, talk about old times, make jokes about how old they are, and fire a gun.

See ‘Stand Up Guys’ in theaters January 11, 2013.

Aug 27 2012

‘Married To The Mob’ 1988 Review – AMC Mob Week – Movie Monday

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Story: While recording this for when I was at school. My mother watched 5 minutes of this and told me it looked like it was going to be good. But when I saw “The Godfather… on laughing gas” I knew… I KNEW it was going to be crap. I mean come on. Plus, it’s Michelle Pieffer, I’ve never seen a really good film with her in it except Scarface. And she was only decent in that. Her version of Catwoman was lame in Batman Returns and I’ve never made an effort to see anything else with her in it. Well, the story to this sounds good for a night out with the girls, but I don’t think a group of girls would like this anyway. Alec Baldwin literally has 5 minutes of screentime and he was one of the thing I thought wasn’t going to suck about this. I was wrong. And the mob and the cops trying to go after her? They’re all randomly obsessed with her. That wasn’t realistic. Stupid jokes here and there that weren’t funny at all. Lame.

Visuals: A bland look with not so appealing locations. Clothes were lame. The opening credits were absurdly long and unnecessary.

Music: I didn’t here much music in this. But it was alright when I heard it. Nothing special.

Characters: I almost couldn’t stand Michelle Pieffer’s character. She was desperate, didn’t give a crap about her husband’s death and was just annoying. She was a lot like her character in Batman Returns. After just seeing Matthew Modine in The Dark Knight Rises, I thought he was going to be cool. Since after all, this is a mob movie. But no, he was one of those annoying stupid joke guys you want to punch in the face. And all those mob guys… the way I see mobsters is like guys in The Godfather. So I compare all mob characters to the way characters in The Godfather act since they seem to have the most accurate interpretations. Well, let me tell you, Married To The Mob mobsters suck. As a side note, Alex Baldwin had nice hair though.

Rewatch Value: I won’t ever be making an effort to see this again.

Aug 3 2012

‘Donnie Brasco’ 1997 Review – AMC Mob Week – Movie Friday

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Story: I was very impressed by this one. It’s based on a true story and it was very good. Going into this, I was thinking “Hey Johnny Depp is a cool guy, Al Pacino has a goofy overcoat”. That’s all I thought. I really didn’t know what it was about either, except that it had something to do with the mob. But to my suprise, I loved this movie. The ending was a little ehhh, but yeah, you know. They tried to stay to the real story and be as accurate as possible. They even got the real Joseph Pistone to be an advisor to the film to make sure they were staying true to the real story.

Visuals: The cinematography, lighting, and colors of the film were a little bland at parts, but overall, it was good.

Music: I didn’t notice much music really. I even tried paying attention to try and hear music. But I heard very little background music throughout the film. The opening credits music really fit with all the snapshots of Brasco and Lefty though. I even looked up that song after finishing the film.

Characters: Based on a true story, the characters were very interesting. Going into this, I couldn’t really imagine Johnny Depp playing a serious role after seeing films of his such as Pirates Of The Carribean, Willy Wonka, Alice And Wonderland, Edward Scissorhands, etc. As for Al Pacino, I did not like his big, fluffy, goofy coat he wore throughout the film.

Rewatch Value: Moderate. I’ll probably watch it again with my dad and so I can fully understand the story.

Aug 2 2012

‘Scarface’ Review 1983 – AMC Mob Week

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Story: The story follows the tale of Tony Montana, a Cuban immigrant with a criminal past as he rises in the world of drugs. The story of this movie is fantastic. The emotions are felt, and the tale is fantastic. Everything is good about this movie. Oliver Stone did a great job writing the movie, and the dialog comes with some memorable lines such as “This town like a great big p*ssy just waiting to get f*cked” and “Say hello to my little friend!”. Not to mention the “You need people like me” speech. This story is the perfect story of the rise and fall of a man, mentally, and physically

Visuals: The cinematography is great in this film. John A. Alonzo who also did Chinatown. Scene’s are fantastic, ranging from dark and scary, to bright and cheerful. While, it isn’t the perfect example of how to shot a movie, it’s still a good one.

Music: Now the music isn’t very strong in this film. Very eighties, and to be honest, I found it a little annoying after awhile. It isn’t bad, but I felt that it could use more variety in the film score, or at least a stronger soundtrack.

Characters: The Characters is this film are fantastic. Al Pacino does the character of Tony Montana justice. But this isn’t only about the character of Tony Montana. Steven Bauer who plays Manny Ribera also does a great job at playing him. One of the greatest scenes of the movie is when Manny chases the Communist down in freedomtown. Michelle Pfeiffer as Elvira Hancock is also a great character, with the famous quote of “Don’t get high on your own supply”. All the actors do a great job in this movie

Rewatch Value: This movie has a high rewatch value, but like any movie, can get old fast. I would watch this many times more, but maybe only twice at a year. If you stick to once or twice a year, this movie will never get old.