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jimhurcomb
Reviews
In a Valley of Violence (2016)
A dog-gone waste of time
There's always that great anticipation of firing up your latest Amazon purchase, especially when it comes from one of those "Westerns you must see!" lists on the interweb. I had never heard of "In a Valley of Violence", but with Ethan Hawke and John Travolta on the marquee how bad could it be? Answer: Really bad!
I got a kick out of the retro opening credits with the Leone hommage, and while Hawke is no "Man with no Name", I liked him in The Magnificent Seven, and Travolta can usually pull off the bad-guy roles pretty well. So, what the hell, let's mount up and get to the rodeo partner. Oh, did I mention Hawke (Paul) has a dog with him, his only friend and obviously just a jump away from a career in showbiz. She is a great dog, so cute and full of slapstick tricks like rolling up in a blanket and attacking bad guys on command. Of course getting attached to a movie animal is dangerous. I remember Ol' Yeller and John Wick 1 and what happened to those puppies. I know the director is going to tease a few near deaths for this dog too, but with the blowback from fans of the Wick franchise there is no way they would kill her off. I won't spoil the surprise, but suffice to say, REALLY! That is just lazy film making, and just one reason why I turned the movie off about three quarters of the way through.
The other main irritant to me was the performance of Taissa Farmiga as the "love" interest. Forgetting for a moment that she plays a 16 year old girl/woman and Ethan has got be pushing 60, Farmiga tries way to hard to be a little pepperpot who takes no guff. It's more like a performance you might see in a High School play. My thinking is that they spent so much money on Hawke and Travolta that the budget for a supporting cast was thin, really thin.
I gave this movie about an hour of my time, but after 60 minutes of bad dialogue, missed opportunities and head shaking, I packed it in. I don't really care how the bodies fall in the "bloody climax", or whether "Paul" hooks up with the hotel maid. This misfiring oater should be put out to pasture for good. Don't waste your time.
The Dead Don't Die (2019)
What a Zombie treat!
Saw the DVD in the $5 at Walmart, and being a fan of Zombies, not necessarily the Director, I picked it up. The trailer was intriguing, vut then I read the reviews and was turned off. Plus it's a bad sign when there are no gushy critical endorsements on the CD box. But it was a slow Tuesday night, so why not? I loved it, right off the get-go. What sealed the deal was that amazing reference to the theme music, and then later, the script. The cast is comedy gold, and the Zombie action is pretty good. I loved the inside references sprinkled throughout, especially the shout out to the Canadian country duo The Good Brothers. Iggy Pop was, well, just Iggy, but that's always good enough. Cool movie, but I can see why it wasn't a big hit like "Zombieland". If you like to go deeper with your film-viewing fare give it a try. I will watch this more than once to see what I missed the first time around.
Yesterday (2019)
"I've Just Seen a....Film?"
I looked forward to "Yesterday" with great anticipation, not because I'm a huge Beatles or Danny Boyle fan, but because the British make marvellous "little" films about rock and roll. Witness "Still Crazy", "That's Be the Day / Stardust" and "Sing Street". The premise is interesting, the characters all seemed real and Himesh Patel looked like he could really play the guitar. And that scene in the trailer when he sings "Something" on the Corben Show...oh wait. That wasn't in the movie after all(??). Having just left the theatre to catch a matinee showing, I've got say I am a bit disappointed. The music was great, as expected. I l love the straight covers and the neo-punk version of "Help". But..it's the Beatles after all. The acting is first rate on all levels, and the inside record industry humour hits the mark. So where does "Yesterday" not work? It's the plot, that petty film device that makes celluloid magic seem almost like real life. It's that element that makes super-heroes and super-villains and web-slinging crime fighters seem almost plausible. Maybe ET's really are out there, and what if we could time travel or make ourselves shrink to the size of an ant. I was looking forward to the explanation of how the Beatles, and other things, just never happened. Just some kind of half boiled rubbish about post-concussion syndrome or exploding supernovas would have worked. But really, aside from a throw away one liner early in the film, it was not mentioned. That was a let down. Some plot lines, which I won't give away, were just left hanging, as if someone forgot to roll reel 6.
There was an awesome scene near the end with the return of a legend, but that was really the only scene that might endure as a classic. There were other moments that came close, but most just didn't hit the mark. Still, an entertaining night out, and great memories for Beatles fans. But would I see it again? "Not a Second Time". Yes, you can add that song reference to the others you will see in virtually ever review of "Yesterday".
Goon (2011)
It's all about the "feel"
There is one element that distinguishes a "great" sports movie from a "good" sports movie. It's "the feel". It doesn't matter if the movie is about baseball, basketball, football or hockey. If it doesn't smack of authenticity you might as well flip over to a live game. "The Natural" had the feel of baseball and for hockey "Slapshot" has always been the template for the great hockey movie. I happily add "Goon" to that rarefied space.
As far as movie making goes, it has all the right stuff. The acting is convincing and solid, the jokes are funny and there is lots of on-ice action. But the defining feature of this film is that it feels real. It feels like these are real guys playing a real game in front of real fans. True hockey fans will get the in jokes, wince at the ankle injury, relate to the dressing room banter, and feel tempted to yell "head's up" when the bad guy starts to take a run at the little guy.
The key scene is, of course, the final showdown between "good goon" and "bad goon". We know it's coming, but sometimes we know the NHL fights are inevitable, as the tough guys line up before the face-off and start jabbering. The build-up is just as visceral in "Goon", and when they finally drop the gloves it reminded me of that great final shoot-out scene in "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly", as the guys do the pre-fight strip tease and wait for other to draw first.
I will risk the wrath of my fellow hockey fans who have grown up worshipping at the church of "Slapshot". It was a great movie, although a bit long. I found "Goon" to be more entertaining, as authentic and more believable. Nice work guys!
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007)
Too many to choose just one
Saw this last night on DVD for the first time, and I was in stitches. Maybe because I work in the music business some of the really "in" stuff hit home. Here are the parts I liked best;
1. The Blues scene, where Dewey busts off an authentic blues riff first time out on cutting his brother in half.
2. The way Dewey talks to rock stars, always being sure to use their full names and titles, as if he's helping out the audience. Jack Black as McCartney is classic.
3. When we are introduced to a "fourteen year old" Dewey, who looks an awful to like a 50 year old Dewey, although his band mates are teens. It's another example, like the cars in the Midget scene, where there is no attempt made to make flashbacks authentic.
4. The Brian Wilson "goat session". He had the Wilson beard, man-dress and the over-the-top production of the "Pet Sounds" and "Smile" sessions.
Many more, but in short, this is stands beside "Spinal Tap" as a scathing and hysterical look at the world of rock and roll.