I have always been a fan of animated films, but sometimes there are just films in the world that for some strange reason, you never get to watch them. The Iron Giant was certainly one of those films, but thanks to this challenge it is today’s film. It’s 1957 Rockwell, Maine where everything is pretty normal and nothing exciting happens until one faithful day. Something huge and gigantic hits the shores of Maine, but no one knows what it is except for one person. For Hogarth Hughes (Eli Marienthal), he is your typical horror movie loving kid who really has no friends until one day when he saves the Iron Giant (Vin Diesel) from electrocuting. Now as the two become close, Hogarth has to hide the Iron Giant from a paranoid government agent before he has the military sent to town to destroy it. The film also stars Jennifer Aniston (We’re The Millers) as Annie Hughes, Harry Connick, Jr. (The Godfather: Part III) as Dean McCoppin, James Gammon (Major League) as Foreman Marv Loach, Cloris Leachman (Castle In The Sky) as Mrs. Tensedge, Christopher McDonald (Requiem For A Dream) as Kent Mansley, John Mahoney (Say Anything…) as General Rogard, and the film was directed by Brad Bird (Tomorrowland).
There are a lot of films that I have viewed for this challenge that I do not know why it took me this long just to see them. I am sometimes baffled by myself and how I have ignored certain movies that are obviously classics like The Iron Giant. What I loved about this film is how they set against cold war America and how it shows you how paranoid people were during those times. There’s a line when Kent is telling Hogarth that they have to find out what it is and where it came from so they can destroy because it’s obviously not American. Meanwhile, Hogarth is having one hell of a time teaching the Iron Giant which I had no idea was voiced by Vin Diesel and that Hogarth’s mom was Jennifer Aniston. I have to agree with Kent, but only on one thing and that is what kind of name is Hogarth? Anyways, I have to admit that I am a sucker for this type of animation cause it’s old school and it was cool for it’s time. He could have gone with the new kind of animation that was around like The Toy Story, but he kicked it old school. Like I said, I loved the animation, but most certainly I loved the story overall. It’s a story that has a meaningful ending where one discovers who they truly are and they make the ultimate sacrifice. The title is available on the HBOGO app and I really suggest that you check out this movie. I am going to give The Iron Giant an A- for a final grade.
I never got the chance back in the day to check out the film Smokin’ Aces which looked like a bad ass movie. That is until today and that is why I am presenting it to you guys as today’s challenge film. Buddy Israel (Jeremy Piven) was a wannabe gangster Las Vegas performer who decides to turn snitch for the FBI against a rival crime family. Now he needs protection because a hit has been put on his life to make sure that he never gets the chance to snitch. The hitmen are coming from everywhere and anywhere to try and collect on it, but the FBI has to get to him to get him out before the hitmen come. The film also stars Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) as Richard Messner, Ray Liotta (Goodfellas) as Donald Carruthers, Joseph Ruskin (The Scorpion King) as Primo Sparazza, Ben Affleck (Dogma) as Jack Dupree, Peter Berg (Collateral) as “Pistol” Pete Deeks, Martin Henderson (The Ring) as Hollis, Common (Run All Night) as Sir Ivy, Andy Garcia (The Godfather Part III) as Stanley Locke, Alicia Keys as Georgia, Taraji P. Henson (Date Night) as Sharice, Chris Pine (Star Trek) as Darwin Tremor, Kevin Durand (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) as Jeeves Tremor, Tommy Flanagan (Sons Of Anarchy) as Lazlo, Joel Edgerton (The Gift) as Hugo, and so many more.
This movie has a wild and crazy collection of a cast that includes a mix of 80’s, 90’s, and the stars of today all rolled into one awesome cast. Matthew Fox plays the head of security of the casino/hotel, Jason Bateman plays a weird lawyer, Curtis Armstrong who played Booger in Revenge Of The Nerds is in this movie as well. Chris Pine plays an insane character who belongs in a Mad Max movie which shows you how over the top insane and awesome this film was. One thing is for certain, you never have to question Jeremy Piven and his performance because he is a top notch actor that delivers. Ryan Reynolds doesn’t really open up in the film until the last half of the film, but when he does he also delivers. He certainly does in this film as a drugged out paranoid wannabe mob boss. The action in the film at one point becomes non stop as double crosses and hots just keep coming. I will say one thing if you have never seen the movie you may think it’s over at one point, but the ending of the film may shock you. There is a lot that is revealed and of course I will not spoil it for any of you. I really liked this movie and I have to be honest and say that I went into it with no expectations and it paid off. It was tough to decide a grade for this film because it lies on the B+/A- border and that’s how I’ll keep it.
365moviesin365dayschallenge 