The Hurricane Heist

Where do I begin?  I literally found myself rolling my eyes and searching for something else to do countless times during this movie.  Within the first few minutes I though, wow the acting is terrible for a big budget film, what is going on.  Then I realized, the entire movie is not only horrible acting but also the following:  Incredibly bad dialogue, forced and terrible character development, bad CGI, and to top it off a really stupid and predictable twist.  The premise of this turd is a heist is planned to rob the U.S. Treasury during a hurricane, you know to be used as cover.  The ATF is there, you know, they were the ones who drove the trucks to the Treasury.  From there the battle begins!  It is a typical evil kingpin who gets the nerdy tech couple to hack, the bad ass brothers to muscle, and the inside men, to throw a loop in the situation?  Here is what I learned:  Hurricanes can reach winds of up to 600 mph in Mississippi.  Apparently you can outrun a 600 mph hurricane with a semi (trailer attached).  You can block bullets by holding your arm up in front of your face.  Meteorologists are actually cross-fit and MMA experts.  Everyone can drive like a pro race car driver.  Lastly, the National Weather Control has equipment that cant tell the difference between a hurricane and a thunderstorm.  Watch at your own risk!

FYI:  Remember the 600 MPH winds?  The highest ever recorded on earth during a hurricane is 190 mph.  Jupiter's "Great Red Spot" which is as big as 2 Earths, is a hurricane with 600 mph winds.

*

Bohemian Rhapsody

Ever heard of this band called Queen?  Apparently they had a few hits in the 70's and 80's?  Well the movie is about some flamboyant dude who thinks he is straight, then bi, then full on gay with a capital G!  His band gives him a shot before they get big and before you know it they are performing in front of thousands.  I guess its what they call rock and roll?  Okay, seriously if you haven't seen this movie yet, get to the theater now!  This was one of the greatest rock biopics ever made with incredible and outstanding acting done by all!  Rami Malik brings the amazing Freddie Mercury back to life and should win an Oscar for his performance.  The story of how Queen broke barriers with not only their music but the portrayal of a lead singers sexuality and presentation was spot on.  The back story of the music and who the band was always evolving and seemed to hit on all popular accounts, even if being long before its time.  There were a few faults in the film such as needing a little more backstory of the band itself, and the struggles to become famous but otherwise very well directed.  I left wanting more and feeling overwhelmed with emotion of how awesome everything I just saw was.  The grand finale is "Live Aid" which I remember watching as a kid and a better ending to the film couldn't have been written.

FYI:  Sacha Baron Cohen was almost the part of Freddie!

*****

Papillon

I would say 99% of the time after seeing a remake the first remark is that is isn't as good as the original.  Very few exceptions in my book and unfortunately this one also falls into that category.  Now don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and was extremely happy with the films outcome.  Outstanding performances by all actors with big shoes to fill (Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman), but they held their own.  Another "true story" of a French thief who is framed for murder and sent to what many may call the worst hell of a prison.  He creates an unusual friendship with the runt of the litter in order to gain his money for an escape.  There you have it, a prison break movie, we all love those, right?  I do, and they all have their own similarities with a bit of a twist to each story.  The way this film portrays the actors mind diving into madness and the atmosphere is done with excellence.  The prisoners are authentic creations of who you would think of when imagining a foreign prison.  A great story and will worth the watch.  I would suggest watching the original as well to give yourself a reference of where this all comes from.

FYI:  Papillon means Butterfly-His nickname due to the butterfly tattoo on his chest for thief's.

****

The Outlaw King

Brave WHO?  Step aside Gibson, Captn. Kirk is here as the new king with a greasy mullet to scare off the English!  Oh, you don't know this story?  Nobody does, until now so thank you Netflix!  So you have your basic Scottish outlaw group who is tired of the tyranny from the English king and his army.  So they form a much smaller band of psychopaths and one by one try to take down the English!  This "true" story takes place just after William Wallace has been killed.  Trying to maintain peace throughout the boarder lands, Robert Bruce is titles "King of Scotts" where he is sent away to piddle around on an inadequate piece of land.  Well the fiesty little band of Scotts decide to play dirty and take out each castle until the big battle with the newly appointed king.  Of course he is a weasel and brings on a huge army for the final battle.  The grand finale of a battle was outstanding!  The Battle was certainly Big Screen worthy and the blood was really cool.  Overall I really liked this movie and thought it was very well made with great acting.  There was a bit of "Made for TV" feel to it at times but definitely worth the watch.  Check it out on Netflix now!

FYI:  2 scenes were filmed in the town that Robert the Bruce lived.

***1/2

Terrifier

Not quite Pennywise, or Captain Spaulding, but a different killer clown.  You know, "Art the Clown?"  AKA, the Terrifier!  Backstory as to why I watched this low budget slasher flick; at the last horror movie convention I attended this guy had the longest line and most action of any other booths which included Jason, Robert Englund, Lance Hendrickson, Etc.  Going in knowing how cheesy it would be, I realized I had seen this clown before in another movie called "All Hallows Eve" and I loved every minute of it!  Not much to tell other than the fact this silent creepy clown terrorizes three hot chicks on Halloween (along with anyone else who he happens to see) and its typically in a manner that is about as unpleasant as you can imagine.  Its low budget, gritty, bad acted and no plot but a great horror night selection.  Wait for the cool scene where he manually saws a girl from her crotch to her head, its a really family dinner time moment!

FYI:  Thornton, who plays Art was actually a street mime before getting into acting.

***1/2

Man Vs.

Bear Grylls, you know the "so-called" wilderness survival expert.  Well look at the picture above, see a resemblance?  Good, you should since the whole movie struck me as kind a spoof of the dip shit shows that allegedly have an outdoors man on his own surviving.  This thriller is set up to be a really good flick, it includes elements that make it a real movie and not just your typical slasher in the woods type of film.  TV Personality, wilderness survivor is experiencing some serious ratings failings as well as negative feedback from his producers so he decides to go all in on a lone upper North East survival trip.  He has a few cameras and a backpack with some items but most of all he is on his own.  He begins to experience some weird stuff and finally realizes he is not alone.  Sounds kick ass right?  Well as soon as we discover who else is out there with him, the whole thing turns to cheese with really bad Power Rangers type graphics.  All in all, it was a good movie other than the fact I just couldn't get over how low budget some of the elements were.  I think they would have been better off not showing the entity (no spoilers) rather than try to pull it off.  Good Netflix late nighter if you know what your going into.

FYI:  Oops!  In one scene you can see cars driving in the background.

***

Too Big To Fail

If you still haven't become negative and suspicions about the economic crash of the early 2000's then you arent watching enough movies about it!  This hidden gem was outstanding right along with the others who follow suit such as The Big Short and Margin Call.  This one centers around the potential fall of Lehman Brothers involving back channel negotiating, political fudging, no strings attached bailouts and a lot of lip service to the public.  This gave a very in-depth understanding of just how greedy the industry can be with no repercussions.  This all star cast really shined and gave all of the 10,000 ft view characters some humility.  This is a must watch for anyone who just cant get enough of the crisis situation.

FYI:  4 Oscar nominees star in this film

****1/2