There is only one day left until we do Eddie’s 31 Days Of Halloween so I wanted to check out the newest Peter Berg (Lone Survivor) film. Peter Berg has been doing one film after another that are based on true stories and you can Deepwater Horizon to that list. BP (British Petroleum) has just set up a drilling site in the ocean in the Gulf Coast and it’s time to get it going. Jimmy Harrell (Kurt Russell) doesn’t want to start drilling until all the tests have cleared and have been determined safe. Unfortunately, after a test shows that the rig is safe (even though it’s still questionable), they commence on the drilling and the rig explodes and creates the worst oil spill in US History. The film also stars Mark Wahlberg (Lone Survivor) as Mike Williams, Douglas M. Griffin (10 Cloverfield Lane) as Landry, Gina Rodriguez (Interstate) as Andrea Fleytas, John Malkovich (Being John Malkovich) as Vidrine, Dave Maldonado (Trumbo) as Kuchta, Ethan Suplee (American History X) as Jason Anderson, Dylan O’Brien (The Maze Runner) as Caleb Holloway, James DuMont (Dallas Buyers Club) as O’Bryan, Joe Chrest (22 Jump Street) as Sims, Brad Leland (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) as Kaluza, and Robert Walker Branchaud (Stranger Things) as Doug Brown.
As far as the film is concerned, it’s everything you would expect from a Peter Berg movie where they explain what is going on and then they get right to the meat and potatoes of the film. The build up to the action is a little slow, but that is because they want to inform you about everything that happened from the negligence of BP in every single detail. Mark Wahlberg is Mark Wahlberg so if you saw Lone Survivor then you know what exactly to expect from him in this film. He just goes from a Seal to an engineer for this film. Now I am not an expert on fire, but there were some confusing moments in the film like from a far away shot, the whole rig looks like it’s on fire, but close up the control room looks like there’s no fire near it. Fires could be deceiving from far away so I am willing to let that one go. I have to give the directors props for this film because they built an oil rig just to film the movie. That is a pretty incredible fun fact for all of you out there. Every time I saw Kurt Russell in this film, I kept thinking of Backdraft, but he was amazing in the film for sure. One thing the film does for sure is they make BP exes look lie absolute idiots in this film. They make them look like fools coming up with any excuse possible as to why they should start drilling instead of investigating. If that is what you seek plus some really good acting then check out the film. I just wanted to add that Kate Hudson still looks amazing in this film. I am going to give Deepwater Horizon an B+ for a final grade.
There are some subjects in life that are very serious subjects and you never know the impact that they have on people because we are all wired differently. One of those subjects that is tough to deal with is the topic of divorce which is very commonplace today. Today’s film A.C.O.D. (Adult Children Of Divorce) deals with the subject matter, but in a different way. Carter (Adam Scott) has been dealing with life in his very own way. Carter is a child of a very ugly divorce who has constantly been in the middle. Fats forward and he is an adult who hears that his brother Trey (Clark Duke) is getting married and he wants his parents to attend even though they hate each other. Carter has to figure out how to get them together in one room, but when he does and he finds out that they’ve hooked back up as a result, his life begins to spin out of control. The film also stars Richard Jenkins (Step Brothers) as Hugh, Catherine O’Hara (Home Alone) as Melissa, Amy Poehler (Sisters) as Sondra, Mary Elizabeth Winstead (10 Cloverfield Lane) as Lauren, Ken Howard (The Judge) as Gary, Valerie Tian (Juno) as Kieko, Jessica Alba (Fantastic Four) as Michelle, Jane Lynch (40 Year Old Virgin) as Dr. Judith, and the film was directed by Stu Zicherman (The Americans).
To say the least, this was a very interesting and entertaining film to watch for today. I had actually been putting this one off for a while now and due to some unforeseen circumstances decided to finally see it. I have been becoming a huge fan of Adam Scott, I can definitely appreciate his style of acting and what he brings to the table. It was cool to see him work with some of his familiar co-stars like Richard Jenkins (on Step Brothers) and Clark Duke (on Hot Tub Time Machine 2) because you can see that they possess a chemistry that is established. Jane Lynch is absolutely amazing in the film and very important to the plot. You see Carter discovers that all the years of therapy he thought he was getting was just research for a book that Lynch’s character writes. She then explains to him that she is writing a sequel to the book and that she has called it A.C.O.D. (Adult Children Of Divorce). It’s because of that and the fact that his parents have hooked up again that has thrown his life into chaos. There was just too much to write to put it above so now you have the rest of it. The film is listed as a comedy, but I call it a smart persons comedy cause it’s not a stupid comedy. That is why I enjoyed the film and loved seeing Jessica Alba (loved her look in the film) and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade. It’s available on Netflix right now.
For the 150TH film on the 150TH day of the year, I wanted to watch something special. I have been on an Oscar Isaac (X-Men: Apocalypse) fix since I first saw him in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. A friend of mine has been telling me to catch his film Inside Llewyn Davis and today the film was on so I watched it and its today’s film. Llewyn Davis (Isaac) is a folk singer who is just trying to navigate his way through life with his folk music in Greenwich Village in 1961. You see he is now a solo artist and all he wants is for his music to be heard, but there are things that get in his way from a pregnant friend, a label that isn’t doing anything for him, ignorance against folk music, losing a friend’s cat, and facing the inevitable which is his future possibly without music. The film also stars John Goodman (10 Cloverfield Lane) as Roland Turner, Adam Driver (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) as Al Cody, Carey Mulligan (Never Let Me Go) as Jean, Justin Timberlake (Alpha Dog) as Jim, Max Casella (Ed Wood) as Pappi, Garrett Hedlund (Four Brothers) as Johnny Five, Stark Sands (11:14) as Troy Nelson, and the film was directed by Joel and Ethan Coen.
This film was a perfect example of what happens to artists who try to stay true to who they are and are never willing to compromise. For Llewyn Davis, it’s one setback after another that keeps him away from seeing the big picture or accomplishing the his dreams. He is told over and over again in the film that basically folk music isn’t profitable and that there isn’t any future in it. That doesn’t stop him for a while, but after a certain amount of time he begins to believe the noise. The film is very melancholic in tone where it seems that one thing after another happens to this poor guy who sleeps on friends couches. One of the amazing things about this film of course is the music and the fact that everyone that looked like they were singing on screen in fact were singing the songs. One of my favorite songs in the film is Please Please Mr. Kennedy which is sung by Timbelake, Isaac, and Driver. The reason I love it is because the song is absolutely hilarious. It’s one of the funniest moments in the film that I think everyone should check out. Of course, it helps that the acting was amazing and Isaac’s was a real stud in the film with his performance. Of course having the great John Goodman was a definite added bonus as well as the man of few words in the film Garrett Hedlund. One of my favorite things about this film is the way that it ends. I am not going to give it away, but let’s just say that a young version of a folk legend shows up to play at a club that Llewyn Davis is walking through. The film is airing on The Movie Channel and it’s also available on the Showtime Anywhere App. I am going to give the film an A for a final grade.
It is that time again since march is now in the books that I have to rate what I believed to be the top 25 films of March. To remind you, I will look at all the films I watched and I will rate them from 25 to 1 with one obviously being my favorite film of that particular month. At the end of the year I will rate the top 25 of the year if I make it to that point and hopefully I do. Obviously there are films that are left behind from the list considering some months have 30 and 31 days, we had to leave six films out because of the 3 days in March. The films that were left out were Taken 3, Hot Bot, Hell And Back, Bulworth, Johnny Mnemonic, and Diablo. Here is the top 25 for the month of March:
When Cloverfield came out in 2008, I thought it was one of the coolest films that year. Even though it was a found footage film, it was definitely different and the aliens were cool looking. Fast forward 8 years later and now we have 10 Cloverfield Lane which supposedly takes place around the same time as the first film. Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) is running away from something in the big city when she gets into a car accident in the country side. When she wakes up, she discovers that she is being held inside a bomb shelter by a man named Howard (John Goodman). She is being told that the outside world is gone and that everybody is dead, but there is something about Howard that bothers her. Along with the other captive Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.), they’ll try their best to figure out a way out of there before Howard expects anything. The film also stars Douglas M. Griffin (Dallas Buyers Club) as Driver, Suzanne Cryer (Two Guys, A Girl And A Pizza Place) as the woman, Bradley Cooper (Guardians Of The Galaxy) as Ben, Sumalee Montano (Transformers Prime) as Voice on Radio, and the film was directed by Dan Trachtenberg.
I did not realize that Bradley Cooper was the voice of Ben in this film which came as an absolute shock to me. That is cool of him to do this for J.J. Abrams and company, but it’s not the most important detail of the film. What is important is the fact that John Goodman was absolutely masterful as a paranoid doomsdayer (if that is what you call them). When have you ever seen a film with John Goodman that you can say was never good? I can’t think of many that did suck, but Goodman was the true highlight of the film. I love Mary Elizabeth Winstead so I was happy to see her in the film, but I have to be honest. If it wasn’t for the last 20 minutes of the movie and John Goodman, you are looking at a C player here as far as the film goes. It drags for a little while and it takes a while to build up any good momentum, but once you get to the last 20 minutes or so it gets really good. One thing I can say about this film is that I enjoyed it a heck of a lot more than I did The Witch. I have to be honest, I didn’t know who John Gallagher Jr. was before the film, but he also does a great job. It was essentially a small cast, but they were all A+ players in my book. One thing is for sure, after watching this I am actually hoping for another film. It’s only bound to get a heck of a lot better as long as we get some good writers. I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade. Check it out in theaters everywhere right now!!!
365moviesin365dayschallenge 