There is nothing better in the world then seeing an all star cast in a film, but sometimes it doesn’t always pay off. Sometimes too many big names can be a hindrance for a film, but that isn’t the case with today’s film Sneakers. Robert Redford (All The Presidents Men) plays Marty Bishop, an expert computer hacker who leads a ragtag team that does missions for people. One day, Marty and his guys are tasked with retrieving an item that could be potentially dangerous if it is placed into the wrong hands. Unfortunately, Marty’s past comes back to haunt him and he is screwed out of a deal. In order to clear himself, he and his team will have to steal back the item in order to clear themselves. The film also stars Sidney Poitier (In The Heat Of The Night) as Donald Crease, River Phoenix (Stand By Me) as Carl Arbogast, David Strathairn (The Bourne Ultimatum) as Whistler, Dan Aykroyd (Ghostbusters) as Mother, Timothy Busfield (Revenge Of The Nerds) as Dick Gordon, Eddie Jones (A League Of Their Own) as Buddy Wallace, Mary McDonnell (Dances With Wolves) as Liz, Lee Garlington (Cobra) as Dr. Elena Rhyzkov, Donal Logue (Blade) as Dr. Gunter Janek, and the film was directed by Phil Alden Robinson (Field Of Dreams).
Give me a reason why I shouldn’t have checked out this film especially with the caliber cast they had to work with. The one thing that grabbed my attention and made me want to watch the film today when it aired was the fact that River Phoenix was in the film. He was one of my favorite actors and there will never be another like him. Not to mention, you have Dan Aykroyd playing a crazy conspiracy theorist type on a team that features a former CIA agent and some computer hackers. I am really starting to get into the government espionage kind of films cause that is sort of what this film is like You have a team of guys spying on others in order to gain an advantage to steal what they need. You also have the mystery of who can you trust in this film just like any other espionage/government conspiracy film. The difference with this one is that they add in some comedy to lighten up the mood. I will say that Strathairn, Aykroyd, Phoenix alone made an interesting pair that I would hang out with. It’s hard to pick a scene in the film that I loved more than any other, but there is a moment in the van when they are doing surveillance. It looks like Donal Logue’s character is about to get lucky and they continuously stop River from watching. The scene when the blind man whistler finally drives something is also very memorable to me as well. It’s not the best film in the world, but it’s really good and enjoyable to watch. I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade.
There are some stories in life that are so amazing when they are brought on to the screen which is what the original 1967 Walt Disney animated film The Jungle Book did. Now, what if we take one of the coolest stories combine it with the director that helped put Marvel back on the map in Jon Favreau (Iron Man), and made it a live action film for today’s feature film. For Mowgli (Neel Sethi), the only life he has known since he was a baby was the life and laws of the jungle as he has been taken care of by a pack of wolves and a panther named Bagheera (Ben Kinglsey). That is until one day when he is confronted by an evil Tiger named Shere Khan (Idris Elba) who is intent on killing the child for living in the jungle. So in order to ensure his own safety and the safety of all the animals, Mowgli agrees to leave, but he may have to come back to save them. The film also stars Bill Murray (Ghostbusters) as Baloo, Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years A Slave) as Raksha, Scarlett Johansson (Avengers) as Kaa, Christopher Walken (Dead Zone) as King Louie, Garry Shandling (The Larry Sanders Show) as Ikki, Giancarlo Esposito (The Usual Suspects) as Akela, and Brighton Rose (Mil Mascaras vs. the Aztec Mummy) as Gray.
This was by far one of my favorite movies of the year and it’s ranked up there with Deadpool and any other movie I’ve seen this year so far.This film is non stop fun and adventure from beginning to end and I was so disappointed it was over because I wanted more. All of the characters in the film were absolutely amazing from the acting to the design and the scenes themselves. Bill Murray was an absolute star in this film as everyone’s favorite bear Baloo and believe me Murray delivered. It was such a joy to see him as the bear on the big screen and Neel Sethi did a terrific job as Mowgli too. You were 100% sold that this kid was raised in the jungle and that he communicated with the animals. Now if you are looking forward to seeing Kaa on the big screen, I am going to warn you that you may be a tiny bit disappointed on the amount of screen time she has in the film. Another pleasant surprise for me was hearing Christopher Walken play everyone’s favorite Orangutan King Louie (except he’s a giant one in this film). The story is amazing, the way it came to life on the screen was amazing, and the cinematography was amazing too. Like I said this is definitely one of my favorite films of the month so far and I think everyone should go and check it out in the theaters. A second Jungle Book film has already been announced according to IMDB so I look forward to it. With all of that being said, I am going to proceed and give the film an A+ for a final grade.
While all of us who are fans of comic book movies wait for Ryan Reynolds (Waiting) to star in Deadpool (which comes out in February), I figured I would review the last film he made to date. The name of the film is Self/less and it was directed by Tarsem Singh (Mirror Mirror) and the film looks at a topic that all of us may have wondered about. What if we possessed the ability to take the brilliant men of the world who are old and about to die and transported them into new bodies? It brings up the idea of immortality and man’s ability to play God. That was the question that was raised to New York real estate tycoon Damien (Ben Kingsley) as he was slowly dying of Cancer. He was lead to believe that the bodies that were available were created in a lab and so he makes the jump. Unfortunately as he gets used to his new body (Ryan Reynolds), he begins to discover that maybe these bodies belonged to people who had souls of their own. As soon as he discovers this, he is on the run and he has to protect the family of the man who once occupied the body. The film also stars Natalie Martinez (Death Proof) as Madeline, Matthew Goode (Watchmen) as Albright, Victor Garber (Argo) as Martin, Derek Luke (Captain America: The First Avenger) as Anton, Melora Hardin (Hot Chick) as Judy, and Michelle Dockery (Non-Stop) as Claire.
Ryan Reynolds takes a lot of crap for some of the roles he chooses where people feel he can only play a certain part, but I beg to differ. We know that the film didn’t do as well in the box office as the studio had hoped, but I feel like people should given the film a chance. It was definitely a cool and new concept for a Sci-Fi thriller like this. It gives you an insight into what the possibilities could be and what the side effects can be by taking over a new body. Ben Kinglsey is an amazing actor to begin with and he plays a bitter old man who has always appreciated the money first over the real joys of life. Ryan Reynolds is kind of the coming of age part of the film where he begins to realize that he loved all the wrong things in life and decides to make up for it. I really enjoyed the acting from Matthew Goode, he does an amazing job play a manipulative man hell bent on perfecting his research and will do anything to achieve it. There’s plenty of action, suspense, and mystery to please any fan and I love the special effects in the film. Now I pose this question to all of you. Would you sell your body to save someone you loved even if it meant never seeing them again? Would you take over a body knowing that a real soul once possessed it and is still kind of there? Check out the film and answer that for yourself. I am giving the movie an B+ for a final grade.
365moviesin365dayschallenge 