There are some stories in the world that are just too good to be true, but when you find out that they are based on true stories you just have to see it. That was definitely the case when I saw the trailer to today’s film War Dogs. The film tells the tale of David Packouz (Miles Teller), a down and out massage therapist who seems to have everything going against him when childhood friend Efraim Diveroli (Jonah Hill) shows back up in his life. Efraim gets David involved in some risky business when they become arms dealers for the government. Everything is going great for the gang until they take one deal that may prove to be too much for the duo after all. The film also stars Ana de Armas (Hands Of Stone) as Iz, Kevin Pollak (A Few Good Men) as Ralph Slutzky, Patrick St. Esprit (The Hunger Games: Catching Fire) as Captain Philip Santos, Shaun Toub (Iron Man) as Marlboro, Bradley Cooper (Guardians Of The Galaxy) as Henry Girard, JB Blanc (Breaking Bad) as Bashkim, Gabriel Spahiu (High Tension) as Enver, Julian Sergi (Freaks Of Nature) as Rosen, Eddie Jemison (Ocean’s Eleven) as Hilldale Home Manager, and the film was directed by Todd Phillips (The Hangover).
Spoiler Alert: There may be information contained in this Article that could potentially spoil the plot of the film so continue with caution or do not read any further if you do not want to know. I’m watching this movie and I am wondering how the Government just let all of this happen and if you see the movie, how did these guys fool the government for the big money contract. The movie just kind of makes you feel that the government may seem strong at some aspects, but there are really just way too many holes in the system. There are so many great scenes in this film that it’s just hard too choose because Jonah Hill was just so funny. The way he laughs at first is kind of funny, but after a while it annoyed me. The whole scene when they are driving the arms from Jordan to Iraq is probably one of the best scenes in the whole film and I mean the whole sequence. Now the only scene that I am wondering about is the ending of the film. I read that David and one other associate are still in court with Efraim as they are suing each other. So, that is why I question the ending of the film, but overall I thought this was a great film. The film has plenty of excitement, suspense at times, and the comedy was good too. One thing I wanted to mention too is that Ana de Armas is super hot and she looks like the Spanish version of Tiffany Amber Thiessen, but hotter. This could be a contender for movie of the year, but there is still so much more time to go and a lot of films left to see. I am going to give this film an A- for a final grade.
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!!!
I have been wanting to see this film for quite some time as I am a big fan of Bradley Cooper (American Sniper), Rachel McAdams (About Time), and of course the legendary Bill Murray (Stripes). The film is called Aloha and it stars Cooper as a star military contractor named Brian Gilcrest who returns home to Hawaii which is the home of his greatest truimphs to strike a deal with the locals for his billionaire boss (Murray). Along the way, he runs into his old flame (McAdams), starts a relationship with a gung ho Air Force pilot (Emma Stone) who was sent to watch him, and learns a thing or two about himself along the way. The film was directed by Cameron Crowe (Almost Famous) and it also stars John Krasinski (The Office) as Woody, Alec Baldwin (Outside Providence) as General Dixon, Danny McBride (Pineapple Express) as Fingers, Bill Camp (Birdman) as Bob Largent, Jaeden Lieberher (St. Vincent) as Mitchell, and Danielle Rose Russell (A Walk Among The Tombstones).
Cameron Crowe may have called this his love letter to the isles once in an interview, but I wonder if this type of sentiment really exists in Hawaii. One man who plays the king has the same shirt in the whole film that just reads “American By Force” on one side and “Hawaiian By Birth” on the other. The film is definitely an interesting one as it raises some social issues along inside the love story. The idea of billionaires with lots of money to spend working with the military to develop satellites in lieu of the absence of NASA. Then of course, there is the love story that is attached to this film as we see a man with a lot of issues of holding on finally starting to fall in love with a girl while letting go of the one from his past. One of the things that I will say about the film is that I loved John Krasinski’s character, he’s this tough macho, military guy who has a hard time with expressing himself. He’s too caught up being the man that he just isn’t sensitive enough for his wife until things starting coming into question. I loved the overall cinematography of the film with the beautiful shots of the mountain and beautiful Hawaii, but the 360 degree axis line shot when Rachel first speaks with Cooper’s character was a little sloppy and annoying to me. It was this constant shot of going around in a circle that was done to maintain consistency and fluidity in the shot. The film was definitely interesting at times even though for a while I was trying to figure out what the plot was. I didn’t read what the film was about before I watched it and I kind of forget what it was about anyways. So, I am going to give the film an B for a final grade. It’s airing on Starz as we speak and you can find online or at Redbox (most likely).
365moviesin365dayschallenge 