I figured since We have been watching all of the Dirty Harry films with the one and the only Clint Eastwood (Sudden Impact) and I figured we’d finish off the series. Do not confuse today’s film The Dead Pool with that hilarious Marvel Comics movie because this one is based off a twisted game. The Dead Pool is a game where they write a list of celebrities that each person believes will die within the year an the person with the most deaths wins the game. It all becomes a little real though when a musician is found dead and his name is on the very list of a director (Liam Neeson). Harry Callahan (Eastwood) is put on the case as more and more celebrities start to turn up dead that are all linked to the director. The film also stars Patricia Clarkson (Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials) as Samantha Walker, Jim Carrey (The Number 23) as Johnny Squares, Evan C. Kim (V) as Al Quan, David Hunt (Jade) as Harlan Rook, Michael Goodwin (Stuck In Love) as Lt. Ackerman, Michael Currie (Sudden Impact) as Captain Donnelly, Anthony Charnota (The Rookie) as Lou Janero, Victoria Bastel (The Video Dead) as Suzanne Dayton, and the film was directed by Buddy Van Horn (Any Which Way You Can). To see the rest of the review, please click here to go to Moshpits and Movies.
Tag: Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
Day 324: Justice League: War (2014)
For today’s film, I was in the mood for some superheroes and there are some films that I haven’t seen yet. Also, with the announcement of Justice League Dark, I figured there was some Justice League films out there I haven’t seen which is why I chose Justice League: War for today. A strange alien lifeform is planting some sort of bomb or device in Gotham, Central City, Metropolis, etc. This raises alarms for the Green Lantern (Justin Kirk) as he travels to Gotham to investigate with Batman (Jason O’Mara). With the help of Cyborg (Shemar Moore) they discover that Darkseid (Steve Blum) has a plan to take over Earth and use up all of it’s resources. They’ll need everyone’s help from the Justice League to defeat Darkseid and prevent him from taking over. The film also stars Sean Astin (Encino Man) as Shazam, Christopher Gorham (Covert Affairs) as The Flash, Michelle Monaghan (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang) as Wonder Woman, Alan Tudyk (Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials) as Superman, Rocky Carroll (Crimson Tide) as Silas Stone, Dee Bradley Baker (Legends Of The Hidden Temple) as Parademon, Ioan Gruffudd (Fantastic Four) as Thomas Morrow, Zach Callison (Steven Universe) as Billy Batson, and the film was directed by Jay Oliva (Deadpool).
I do want to make something clear about the film and that the Justice League isn’t official in this film. They all begin to meet each other as they are forced to band together to fight Darkseid. Darkseid for those who don’t know is basically Marvel’s Apocalypse, but he is an alien life form who can shoot lasers out of his eyes just like Superman. The film had me excited to see that he was the villain of the film because I am a huge fan of Darkseid, but I was also excited to see Shazam in a film as well. I definitely like how they introduced him in the film and even though he looks like an adult, he still acts childish. We also get to see Cyborg’s origin in the film as he is created right before our very eyes. One of the things I enjoyed about the film was the story itself because it was a take on how they came together, but it showed how people were still afraid of them before they could rescue everyone. The film also features some language in it so I would be careful showing it to the kids (or at least use some caution) and there is definitely some violence in the film as well. This definitely isn’t my favorite DC Animated film, but it’s up there. You have to check out Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, but if you want an origin story then check this one out. I am going to give the film an B for a final grade.
Day 120: Jane Got A Gun (2016)
There are times when you have too many movies to watch that you miss one at the cinema every now and again. Today’s film, Jane Got A Gun is certainly an example of a film that didn’t last long at the box office and I missed my chance to see it then. Jane (Natalie Portman) is trying to live her life like any normal woman in post civil war New Mexico with her husband and daughter. Things get very complicated for Jane when her husband returns home with several gunshot wounds from a past that has finally caught up to them. In order to protect her injured husband and make a stand, Jane will enlist the help of an ex-lover (Joel Edgerton) to help against the man bringing all the havoc. The film also stars Ewan McGregor (Trainspotting) as John Bishop, Noah Emmerich (The Truman Show) as Bill Hammond, Boyd Holbrook (A Walk Among The Tombstones) as Vic Owen, Rodrigo Santoro (300: Rise Of An Empire) as Fitchum, James Burnett (Maze Runner: The Scorch Trails) as Cunny Charlie, Sam Quinn (Transcendence) as Slow Jeremiah, Alex Manette (Lee Daniels The Butler) as Buck, Jenny Gabrielle (Employee Of The Month) as Whore, and the film was directed by Gavin O’Connor (Pride And Glory).
I want to start this off by saying that Joel Edgerton is becoming one of my favorite actors in Hollywood. I have yet to be disappointed by anything that he has put out whether it was a film he strictly starred in or had something to do with the story, etc. Joel Edgerton was one of the screenwriters for this film and I have to say that it’s kind of an unorthodox western in which the back story is being told while the story is unfolding. One thing that I thought was cool was that I had no idea that Ewan McGregor was in the film and he is the antagonist of the film. He does such a great job playing the villain in the film and in fact I thought everyone from Portman to even a person with a minor role did a fantastic job. The last western I watched didn’t make the top 25, but this one definitely has a chance because I liked everything about it. The difference between westerns today versus the days of Eastwood and such is that the kills look a lot more realistic with the abilities we have now. The story structures and the subplots are all the same as they were before, but now they get a little more creative. To make the story even more of a happy ending, they throw a little twist at the end that was a little lame (I’ll admit), but it didn’t bother me at all. The film is available at Redbox now so if you love westerns then give this one a chance. I am going to give the film an B for a final grade.
Top 25 Of March
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:
25. Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice
24. Spectre
23. All The Right Moves
22. Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials
21. IP Man: The Final Fight
20. Pee Wee’s Big Holiday
19. Smokin Aces
18. 10 Cloverfield Lane
17. Sucker Punch
16. The Jacket
15. The Night Before
14. The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
13. IP Man
12. IP Man 2
11. Nymphomaniac: Vol. II
10. Nymphomaniac: Vol. I
09. The Big Lebowski
08. Equilibrium
07. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street
06. Midnight Cowboy
05. Bridge Of Spies
04. Room
03. City Of God
02. Zootopia
01. Mystic River
Day 77: Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials (2015)
I usually do not like to watch films that are based off of teen novels, but I broke that rule with the Divergent series and The Maze Runner. The Maze Runner is one of those Teen series that after seeing the first film I was very impressed so for today’s film we checked out Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials. The Scorch Trials once again features our group featuring Thomas (Dylan O’Brien), Minho (Ki Hong Lee), Newt (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), Frypan (Dexter Darden), Winston (Alexander Flores), and Teresa (Kaya Scodelario), but this time around they are rescue and make it to a new facility after escaping the maze. The only problem is that Thomas discovers that there is something wrong with this new facility and he decides to escape and take his chances in the scorch all in search for a group called The Right Arm. The film also stars Jacob Lofland (Mud) as Aris, Rosa Salazar (Insurgent) as Brenda, Giancarlo Esposito (The Usual Suspects) as Jorge, Patricia Clarkson (Shutter Island) as Ava Paige, Aidan Gillen (The Dark Knight Rises) as Janson, Lili Taylor (The Conjuring) as Mary, Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan) as Vince, Katherine McNamara (New Year’s Eve) as Sonya, Nathalie Emmanuel (Furious 7) as Harriet, Alan Tudyk (Wreck-It Ralph) as Blondie, and the film was directed by Wes Ball (The Maze Runner).
One of my issues with the film and it isn’t that big of an issue, but it jumps between genres throughout the whole film. We get a little sci-fi with some alien looking creatures and humans being harvested for their blood before they start to get attacked by zombies. Then its all set in a post apocalyptic world like in Mad Max or The Day After Tomorrow. Even though it may seem like I am complaining about those things, the set design was actually one of my favorite things about the film. The mall buried in sand or the decimated city that they have to navigate through is pretty cool. The film itself has it’s moments of brilliance, but sometimes it has it’s moments of dullness. There are times where the film just feels like it’s dragging and you are wondering when it’s all going to end. The action when it happens can be pretty cool as well and there is plenty of it in this film, but there are some elements of the film that are just predictable. There is one moment in the film that when it happened, I thought to myself that I should have seen it coming. Was the second entry in the series better than the first? To honestly answer that question, I would have to say that I felt the first one was better than this one. They added more as far as visuals are concerned, but there was just too many moments that dragged in my opinion. They are making the next film in the series, so stay tuned for that when it happens. I know I’ll be there to watch it. I am going to give Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials an B+ for a final grade.
365moviesin365dayschallenge 