The "Fury" Of War

Fury (2014)

Rated R

Starring Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Michael Pena, Logan Lerman, Jon Bernthal

Written and Directed by David Ayer

The Story:

Army Sergeant "Wardaddy" (Pitt) takes his Sherman tank and his crew deep into the heart of Nazi Germany during the end of World War II on a daring mission.  Everyone dies.

The end.

This is one of the most disappointing war films I've seen in quite some time.

It's bloody.
It's violent.
It's...

boring.

Didn't care for this one in the least.

At least Saving Private Ryan had interesting characters to care about as they were picked off one by one.

This one, you knew they were pretty much all cannon fodder early on, and they just drug it out to the end of the film.

They kill lots and lots of people along the way, but after awhile, even killing Nazis gets old.

That's a sentence that I never imagined typing.

I expected more. Or better. Or something.

Maybe next time.

Final Grade: C-

It Was Worth The Punishment... "No Good Deed"

No Good Deed (2014)

PG-13

Starring Idris Elba, Taraji P. Henson

Directed by Sam Miller

The Story:

Colin (Elba) is a man prone to violence. On his way to prison, he pulls a scene straight out of The Fugitive to get free. Then he winds up on the doorstep of a woman (Henson) who offers him aid from the storm. Things start off just fine, then begin to spiral quickly. There is more to the relationship between these two than meets the eye!

This was a pleasant surprise.

A well written, superbly acted, crisp thriller.

Not to say there aren't any flaws or that this is Best of the Year material.

However, it's an intriguing plot that holds your attention from start to finish.

Can't ask much more than that from any movie.

Elba is a commanding presence on the screen, and makes movies that he is in even better.

See: Pacific Rim.

:)

Henson is also great as the woman-in-peril / strong woman.

The two share a great chemistry onscreen and it keeps the movie intriguing throughout.

Final Grade: B-

Feeling Sorry For Those "Left Behind"

Left Behind (2014)

PG-13

Starring Nicholas Cage, Chad Michael Murray, Lea Thompson, Cassi Thomson

Directed by Vic Armstrong

The Story:

Ray (Cage) is an airline pilot. Sometime during his flight across country, half of the passengers and crew on his plane simply disappear! Meanwhile, across the globe, the same phenomenon is happening, kids are vanishing and so are people. Cars are crashing, planes are crashing. I assume boats crash too.

What's happening?

Duh, it's The Rapture!

Perhaps if the rest of the people had listened to their Christian friends and family, they wouldn't be wandering around in a panic like they are now.

:D

Seriously though, as many atheists that claim they know the Bible backward and forward better than a Christian, it takes an alarming amount of time for the people left behind to actually put 2 and 2 together.

This was a movie back in 2000 starring Kirk Cameron as journalist Buck Williams. His character is now played by Chad Michael Murray, and he gets bumped back to the sidelines for Cage's character.  Based on the best selling book series of the same name, it will be interesting to see if this moves forward as a series.  They had tried before with direct to dvd efforts with less than impressive results.

I was expecting it to be horribly unwatchable, but it was engaging enough to keep my attention.

Cage gives a restrained performance as the pilot, so there's that.

Final Grade: C

This Is Actually A Show? "Fish Tank Kings"

Fish Tank Kings (2012)

TV

The Story:

Living Color is a company in South Florida that builds epic fish tanks.

This is their story.

In scraping the bottom of the barrel in the "we'll give anyone a series" comes this little gem.

I've only watched one episode so far from this National Geographic series, but I think I get the main idea behind the show:

Someone wants the most elaborate fish tank the crew has ever built!

The deadline is tomorrow!
The budget is slashed in half!
The crew has different ideas about how to do it!

In the end, they get it done... Just. In. Time!

The first, and so far, only episode I've watched, the crew was hired by the Marlins to turn the backstop behind home plate into an elaborate aquarium.  So naturally, you have to build a fish tank that can withstand a 90 mph fastball.

The show is almost interesting enough, a bit too much drama (much of it seems forced) to be an occasional viewing.

Definitely not binge-worthy.

However, with a plethora of other fish in the sea, so to speak, to watch, it's unlikely I'll be finishing any more of the 3 seasons that are streaming on Netflix.

Still, it's way better than Cupcake Wars.

:D

Final Grade: C

Because The Internet Demanded One More Review For "Daredevil"

Daredevil (2015)

TV-MA

Starring Charlie Cox, Deborah Ann Woll, Elden Henson, Vincent D'Onofrio,

Created by Drew Goddard

The Story:

Matt Murdock (Cox) was blinded as a youth. Years later, the blind lawyer hopes to make a difference by defending the defenseless in Hell's Kitchen, New York. He does this by day with his lawyer partner, Foggy Nelson (Henson). However by night, Mr. Murdock has a secret. He's the crime-fighting vigilante known as Daredevil.

This is his story.

:: insert Law & Order bomp bomp here::

So a while back, Marvel announced they were partnering with Netflix to bring some of their 2nd or 3rd tier characters to the small screen.

Guardians of the Galaxy hadn't hit yet.

Agents of Shield was doing so-so in the ratings.

Perhaps this was a chance for Marvel to recoup what was looking to be a dismal future?

Hahahhaha....

Hardly.

Instead, it stands as the latest stroke of genius from the House of Ideas.

Those that know me, and my love of Marvel comics, also know that I have no love for Matt Murdock.

Daredevil is a comic that I can read for an issue, maybe 3-4 tops before I simply cringe and throw it away.

He's a preposterous character. 

He's been portrayed as the quippy-jokester... well, that's Spidey's gig.

He's the bad-ass vigilante... Batman's been there, done that.

And really, a blind lawyer? That can only go so far in comics before the reader is bored to tears.

And no, I've never bothered with Frank Miller's take on the comic, I really don't care that much about Daredevil, in print.

So it was with a big fat, "meh", that I approached the launch of Daredevil on Netflix.

Would it be grim? Would it be gritty? Would there be humor? Would I care to finish the first episode, let alone come back for seconds?

I'm happy to report that the answer to all of those questions is, Yes!

It's dark. It's brooding. But there's a light touch of humor laying over the cast which makes the show quite entertaining.

They could have easily left out the naughty language and toned back the violence if they wanted to grab the mainstream superhero audience, but they opted not to.

That could be a genius move on the part of Marvel and Netflix.

Wait, what? Comic movies aren't just for kids?

Nope, these are the Walking Dead-ish Superhero shows for adults who don't want to watch superhero movies.

They walk a nice line between Law & DisOrder. You get Murdock as lawyer, then you'll get a bit of Murdock as vigilante.

It's a nice balance, and they show never stays too much on either, nor do they seemingly shortchange the other part of the story.

All this being said, I've only watched the first episode. I'm not a big fan of binge watching, I like to take my time and enjoy what I'm seeing. I'm in no hurry.

Cox is great in the role. Looking over his roles, I'd have to say this is probably the first time I've ever seen him. He's great, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he brings to the table in future episodes.

Heck, I haven't even seen the villain yet, but you feel the gravitas that they've given D'Onofrio for the role.

Looking forward to the remaining 12 episodes.

All in good time.

Final Grade: A-

The Nic Cage Experience..."Gone In Sixty Seconds"

Gone In Sixty Seconds (2000)

PG-13

Starring Nicolas Cage, Angelina Jolie, Giovanni Ribisi, Will Patton, Delroy Lindo, Timothy Olyphant, Chi McBride, Robert Duvall,

Directed by Dominic Sena

The Story:

"Memphis" Raines (Cage) is an ex-car thief who went straight years ago. When his little brother (Ribisi) gets in over his head in a car-theft deal, it's up to Memphis to save the day, and his brother's life. He reassembles his old crew (McBride, Duvall, Jolie and more!) to get a mountain of cars stolen in one night. Meanwhile, the cops (Lindo, Olyphant) know he's up to something and are out to bust him.

This is just plain, stupid fun.
:)

I have no idea how much of this film is a remake of the 70s film by the same name, and I don't really care.

This is an all-star, popcorn film that doesn't disappoint.

And that says something, because Nicolas Cage is a myriad of disappointment on many of his films.

However, when he's on, and they're fun, there's no stopping how fun it can be!

(See Con-Air for the best example of Nic Cage/All-Star popcorn fun!)

The fact that this is a heist/caper film helps sway my opinion as well.

The movie is fun, dialogue is hilarious and the action stunts are amazing.

So many stars, many in different phases of their career (starting or peaking), but for me, it all works.

This is one of those films that if it's on, I'm watching it.

Which is why this review is coming now (better late than never) because when I had cable, I was surfing and it was on, so I watched.

Still loved it.

Great B movie fun.

In fact..

Final Grade: B+

Dirty Little Secrets... "America Unearthed"

America Unearthed (2012)

How do you write a review based on just one show, for a series that has been going on for over 3 years?

Easy, you watch that show ages ago, and then sit down today and try and remember what you liked and didn't like about it.

That leads us to America Unearthed.

Forensic Geologist Scott Wolter tackles The History Channel's latest foray into exploring our past.

Now, while Forensic Geologist sounds like a nifty name for a CSI spin-off, think of him more like an Indiana Jones who doesn't want to find the treasure so much as he wants to find how the treasures link to other treasures or people.

The first episode (and only so far) that I've watched has him investigating some pyramid like burial mounds in North America that have been deemed off limits to the public, and similar finds south of the border.

Thanks to the use of flying over the airspace, they are able to map the American ruins and compare them to the ones they can actually explore.

Between that, and actual geographic evidence that can be found in America, it appears that there is indeed a link between the two.

And there you have the premise for the show.

Don't get me wrong, I'm more than willing to keep watching, but when you fall behind on viewing the rest of the things that are out there, these hour-long shows (about 43 minutes after commercials are removed) usually only get fit in when it's about an hour before bed.

Netflix currently has one season available. Maybe by the time I finish it, they will add some more!

;)

Final Grade: C+

All Fluff...No Filling. "Cupcake Wars"

Cupcake Wars (2009)

Combing through the archives of stuff I've watched but have never reviewed, I stumbled across Cupcake Wars, now streaming on Netflix.

Now, before I get hostile hate mail about the reality shows that I stream, do remember that I liked quite a few of t hem.

But this offering from the Food Network is...

lame.

Bakers square off to make the best batch of cupcakes and a chance at 10,000 bucks.

The viewer watches and quickly grows bored.

We've seen all these challenges before.

Beat the clock.
Impress the judges.
Move on to the finals.

Except the other shows had other things for the bakers to do besides bake cupcakes.

Anyone with an oven can make cupcakes.

:D

The first, and only, episode I watched showed a bakery from Oregon (I believe) whose claim to fame was that they bake cupcakes using beer in their batter.

Fair enough.

The challenge?

Make something to celebrate the Girl Scouts of America 100th aniversary.

Want to bet what special secret ingredient they used?

Uh-huh, beer.

And those that say beer bakes out must have missed the episode of a much better Food Network show, Good Eats, where Alton Brown debunked that myth, and alcohol does NOT bake out of food, especially within 30 minutes.

Naturally, the bakers were shocked and dismayed that they were sent packing for trying to get little girls all liquored up!

Save your time, there's much better shows to watch or stream.

Final Grade: D+