Two of my favorite comedians from the 1980’s was Chevy Chase (Fletch) and Dan Aykroyd (Ghostbusters) because the two always made great films. For today’s film, I decided to check out their first film together since working on Saturday Night Live in Spies Like Us. Emmett Fitz-Hume (Chase) and Austin Millbarge (Aykroyd) are a couple of bumbling idiots that work for the government. Both of them hear about a test that is being administered that if you pass you can become a spy for the government. After noticing that they are idiots, they are assigned to go to Russia where they think that they are becoming spies, but in reality they are decoys for nuclear war. Will they survive and surprise everyone or will they play out their prophecy? The film also stars Steve Forrest (Mommie Dearest) as General Sline, Donna Dixon (Wayne’s World) as Karen Boyer, Bruce Davison (The Lords Of Salem) as Mr. Ruby, Bernie Casey (Never Say Never Again) as Colonel Rhumbus, William Prince (As The World Turns) as Mr. Keyes, Tom Hatten (I Saw What You Did) as General Miegs, Jim Staahl (Bobby’s World) as Bud Schnelker, James Daughton (Animal House) as Bob Hodges, Charles McKeown (Brazil) as Jerry Hadley, Vanessa Angel (Kingpin) as one of the Russian Rocket Crew, and the film was directed by John Landis (An American Werewolf In London).
I don’t know if this is my favorite film to feature Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase, but it definitely has it’s funny moments. Dan Aykroyd plays a typical Aykroyd character while Chevy plays Chevy. Chevy plays that typical smooth talking hound dog that your surprised isn’t humping women’s legs. It’s his character in Fletch, Caddyshack, etc, but I am not saying that’s a bad thing because there have been a lot of memorable moments. One of my favorite scenes in the film is when they are training after the test. The one moment that I love is the G Force moment with their faces and messed up hair. That is classic Aykroyd/Chase comedy that is very physical. Other than that, it has it’s funny moments like the hey it’s the end of the world so let’s have sex like bunnies cause we are all going to die anyways scene. One of the cool facts about the film is that Aykroyd wrote it as an homage to the Road To… series and Bob Hope makes a cameo in the film. That was very cool of Bob Hope to do that out of his busy USO schedule that he had back then. The other cool fact in the film is that Sir Paul McCartney sings the theme song to the film. I really liked the movie, but it wasn’t my favorite comedy that I have watched so far. The film is available to watch on Netflix and you should give it a shot if you are a fan of Dan Aykroyd or Chevy Chase. I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade.
Earlier in the year, I had seen a movie called The Witch which I thought was going to be a scarier look into the Salem Witch Trials or at least that time period. Coming from Massachusetts, my interest in the subject matter has always been peaked and when I saw that The Crucible was available to watch, I immediately chose it for today’s film. The film follows the actual accounts of the Salem Witch Trials in which Abigail Williams (Winona Ryder) started. Abigail among other girls were caught dancing in the woods with the famous Tituba (Charlayne Woodard). In order to save themselves, they began to start accusing innocent people from the villiage that they had problems with which included the wife of John Proctor (Daniel Day-Lewis). The film features an amazing cast that includes Paul Scofield (A Man For All Seasons) as Judge Thomas Danforth, Joan Allen (The Bourne Supremacy) as Elizabeth Proctor, Bruce Davison (The Lords Of Salem) as Reverend Paris, Rob Campbell (Hedwig and The Angry Inch) as Reverend Hale, Jeffrey Jones (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off) as Thomas Putnam, Peter Vaughan (Brazil) as Giles Corey, Karron Graves (The Good Shepard) as Mary Warren, George Gaynes (Police Academy) as Judge Samuel Sewall, Mary Pat Gleason (Basic Instinct) as Martha Corey, and the film was directed by Nicholas Hytner.
Now as far as The Witch was concerned, it wasn’t as scary as people made it out to be even though it was well acted. This film gave you exactly what you thought you were going to get and that was an account of all the horror that occurred in the town of Salem. The subject is still a sore spot in Salem, but it’s a history they no longer deny. You watch this film and you say how stupid could people have been back in those days and you must understand that this was a puritan society where religion was number one alongside greed and envy. I cannot begin to make you understand how amazing the performances in this film were and I was not lying when I said it was an all star cast. Daniel Day-Lewis is one of the most amazing actors to come out in the 90’s and he has provided us with classic after classic even though I need to catch up on a lot of them. All the performances in the film were absolutely fantastic and you should see it for that and the sets and costumes. The sets were amazing as it made you feel like you were in Salem in 1692 and the costumes enforced those beliefs. I also loved how they stuck the original script that Arthur Miller wrote as they stayed true to that. This was an excellent choice for me for today and if you ever want to learn more about Salem, start here and then travel to Salem for yourselves. It is such an amazing place to be and there is so much history. With that being said, I am going to give the film an A+ for a final grade.
It has been quite some time since the last Ass Whoopin Wednesday post that I did and like I promised it would return. Now the question was what film was I going to choose for the return and Falcon Rising caught my eye on Netflix. Michael Jai White (Tyson) stars as John ‘Falcon’ Chapman, a former Marine who is having a hard time adjusting to life after the military. One day after a visit from his sister Cindy (Laila Ali), he finds out that she was brutally beaten almost to death in Brazil. So, John travels down to Brazil to get to the bottom of it, but he’ll have to deal with the corruption that runs wild in the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The film also stars Neal McDonough (Captain America: The First Avenger) as Manny Ridley, Lateef Crowder (Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice) as Carlo Bororo, Masashi Odate (Letters From Iwo Jima) as Hirimoto, Hazuki Kato (Muppets Most Wanted) as Tomoe, Millie Ruperto (Presumed Dead In Paradise) as Katarina Da’ Silva, Jimmy Navarro (Heroes From Another Land) as Thiago Santo, Daniel Cardona (The Preppie Connection) as Kuka, and the film was directed by Ernie Barbarash (Cube Zero).To see the rest of the review of the film and the stats, please visit my other blog 
For today’s film, I wanted to go international because sometimes foreign films are more gritty and exciting than American films. A friend of mine had told me about the film City Of God and said it was a must see. The film follows two children from the slums of Rio de Janeiro named Rocket and Lil Dice that take two completely different paths in life. For Rocket (Alexandre Rodrigues), all he ever wanted to do was to become a photographer as a hope of getting out of the slums known as the City Of God. For Lil Dice (Leandro Firmino) all he ever wanted to do was to become the crime kingpin of the City Of God. The film follows their every move including the triumphs, setbacks, and tragedies associated with their lifestyle choices. The film also stars Phellipe Haagensen (A Thousand Pardons) as Benny, Jonathan Haagensen (City Of Men) as Shaggy, Matheus Nachtergaele (Shades Of Sin) as Carrot, Seu Jorge (The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou) as Knockout Ted, Alice Braga (Elysium) as Angelica, Maurício Marques (Carandiru) as Melonhead, Darlan Cunha (City Of Men) as Steak And Fries, Karina Falcão as Shorty’s Wife, Gero Camilo (Man On Fire) as Shorty, and the film was directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund.
First things first when it comes to talking about this film and that is if you can stand watching a film with subtitles then by all means go for it. If you can’t then turn around because it goes fast. I loved the style of the movie where it starts as a certain point, then it turns back to the beginning, works it’s way back to that point in the beginning of the film. It’s like it gives you a backstory so that you understand how our protagonist got to that point. The film is very gritty and it shows you the desperation that comes from living in the slums and it kind of wakes you up to the madness that happens in other parts of the world. The film goes to show you how appealing power and money are when you come from nothing and are desperate for something like so many people were. The film from what I read is loosely based off of the true story of the gang wars of the suburb of Rio known as the City Of God which is the other factor that made this film so appealing to me. The acting is great and the sets are really fantastic. You really feel like you are plunged into the heart of the slums with the characters like you are in the thick of it.There is a lot of violence and language so viewer discretion is advised. This is as good as it gets for foreign crime dramas so if you’re a fan check it out because it’s on Netlfix right now. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.
365moviesin365dayschallenge 