The Other Guys

Okay, it seems strange that the movies I watch carry a thread for a bit; for instance here, I seem to be on Wahlberg films.  Man, what a surprise!  This was funny!  Wahlberg and Ferrell are the needed "Odd Couple" who are third stringers in their department which is captained by an hilarious Michael Keaton.

Keaton is like Beetlejuice with a badge...just a litte more subdued though.  Actually, he is a cross between Batman and Beetlejuice.  He hasn't been seen in a bit, but as soon as he appears, his movements and mannerisms let you know that, oh yeah, that's Michael Keaton!  Good deal.  Wahlberg is dynamite just waiting for his fuse to get lit and it gets lit often.  Ferrell, geez, he is given the freedom to ad lib and pulls it off big time.  The dialogue goes off as it shoots in the most bizarre and unanticpated directions, but most of all, it is way appreciated.   Wahlberg is in a role I have never seen him in and pulls it off well as he rounds the duo out.  In this film, Ferrell hits the mark that it seems many of his other movie roles have tried to reach. 

Directing is all good, the unexpected weirdness and situations rock, the script/dialogue (whether planned or ad libbed) is great and the cinematography, well, I don't know if it was great or what, but it was done well enough that it didn't obscure anything.

I actually think that I could watch this one again.

North Face

1936: Against the backdrop of the Nazi's advancing dominance over all thing German, a team of Austrian and team of German climbers tackle the Eiger in a race to see who is going to get there first.  The German team is the focus of it and their climb is covered for a Berlin newspaper by the girlfriend of one.

Okay, I am going to ruin it for you....they don't make it and they die.  It is still intense to watch and if climbing is anything like it is portrayed here, count me out.  We have helicopters that will get you there.  Cinematography was great, directing, good, acting good, dialogue...not sure, all in German with subtitles. There you are.  A good watch.

The Town

Good!  Though it took me 4 nights to watch, which usually signifies a "tough to get through" film, this one was great.  The duration or time needed to finish this was due to these demon things called kids that I (what was I thinking) willingly brought into the world.  Kidding, I love them to pieces....they may read this one day and by then, I will need them to push me around when the battery on my scamp dies.  Ben Affleck rocked.  This was the best role I have ever seen him in.  Of course, he directed and did just about everything (including writing I believe) so the character he invented may have been easier to play than one he didn't invent.

Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) was really good as well.  Good film, action and cinematography, writing, acting and the lot!  Okay, so another Boston dealio in which The Town is a part of Boston and a spawning ground for bank robbers.  Affleck's character gets a heart after he be(boy)friends a traumatized victim of one his crew's heists.  As the film progesses, you get the "one last job" formula and the ominous, "is she going to ever find out it was him" angst.  I almost bailed because I didn't want to be insulted with a standard and tired out rerun finish that was simply done in a different setting with different people, but  no faithful readers, I labored on and I am glad that I did.  Watch it!  Ben is at his best.

Valhalla Rising

We are definitely not in Kansas anymore on this one.  I had no idea of what was happening or where we were headed, yet I was still into this movie.  A religious gig throughout with some knarly fight scenes and just down and dirty dirty people.  One Eye (Mads Mikkelsen: Flame and Citron) is evidently a Christian who is captured and used as a gladiator by his chieftain master to win money by besting the the gladiators of other chieftains.   My only clue to his being a Christian is the disdain his "owners" have of him when they mention that he is from a clan that eats the flesh of their god and drinks his blood.  Charming, I would be a bit freaky on someone like that too; but dudes, you don't know the whole story!!!

Okay, so One Eye is really good at what he does but not too into it, so when he has the chance, he breaks his bonds and then the bones and skulls of those who have kept him captive.  The only survivor is a boy whom he takes along with him.  He falls into the company of a group of guys who are Christians and who are on their way to Jerusalem to fight for their God.  One Eye (who never says a word) is like, "Okay, cool, you gotta boat and aren't really into enslaving me?  Yeah, I can hang with you guys."  They embark on a voyage, land somewhere which isn't Jerusalem and where the leader says, "I am sick of the boat and if I can't reach Jerusalem, to heck with it, I will make 'New Jerusalem' and more or less kill anyone who is not with me in the worship of MY lord!"

Cinematography is great!  The script, well, yeah, it's okay, the directing and acting, yeah, but overall, I understood what the heck was going on in this film just about as much as I understrood what was going on in 1968's 2001: A Space Odyssey.

The Boondock Saints

Okay, hmm.  Action, violence and all but the message is lost.  Willem Dafoe is good but a few scenes make you a bit uncomfortable but whatever.   Two Irish brothers from Southie are super firepower bringers of vigilante justice.  What I did not see was their fall into vigilantiism other than a bar fight in which members of a Russian mob threaten the Tourette's afflicted, profanity bursting, proprietor of their favorite bar.  The brothers Conner (Sean Patrick Flanery) and Murphy (Norman Reedus) are too intelligent for the role.  Had they had more of the reasoning of their Italian friend Rocco, yeah, the roles would have been a bit more effective.

This would not be a top rated film for me but it kept me in and it was far from being ushered back into the red envelope prematurely.  The directing is okay, the acting, okay, the script, okay and the cinematography, okay.  If you are low on good items in the queue, do it.

The Caine Mutiny

Classic 1954 film starring the great Humphrey Bogart.  This is one of those films in which you are privvy to how close it was to the transition of actors and directors from the medium of stage to film.  There is a bit of over acting, emotion, gesturing, etc. and a style that is not seen in films today.  There is more subtlety in film today that would never make it on stage because that subtlety on a stage would never have made it past the first few rows of the theater.

Bogart is great as Queeg who portrays the captain of the USS Caine: a mine sweeper in WWII.  He starts to lose it and in a tense moment, his actions put the ship in such danger that he is relieved of command by his crew: mutiny.  The rest of the film is courtroom and he is found to be in the wrong. 

One trait of films of this era is that there is not the action, explosions and all seen today, so the movie moves slowly by today's standards.  In light of that, it is best seen on DVD and not TV where commercials wtih their inherent lengthening and interruptions would make this film too slow moving to be bearable.

The Fighter

GOOD!  Glad I have the red envelope though.  Some movies are big screen and some are not: Star Wars-Yes, this-No.  I don't think I could have handled hair on Mickey's sister any bigger than it was anyway.  Wahlberg, okay, not the best actor but good enough to not be a total slouch but here, thank goodness for Christian Bale, everyone shoulda been a conten...I mean everyone shoulda gotten an Oscar.

Directing, good, script, good, cinematography, good.  Pale white skinned people, God!  Stop it.  The pride of Lowell was Dicky Ward (Bale) for knocking down Sugar Ray Leonard in a bout, but sadly, crack and free basing knocked him down for a hell of a lot longer than Sugar Ray was down and nobody cared.  He finally hits bottom and after doing so, he becomes the trainer his brother (Mickey played by Wahlberg) needed to win and win a title.  Very inspiring but if you look at it from a wider perspective realizing that so many people in these situations see making a huge splash through either the lottery or sports is the only way out, but few, so very few make it, well, enough said on that. 

Good film and very much worth watching.