Get Me To The Church On Time... "Naked"

Naked (2017)

TV-14

Starring Marlon Wayans, Regina Hall, Dennis Haysbert,

Directed by Michael Tiddes

The Story:

Rob (Wayans) is set to marry Megan (Hall). One small problem, on the day of his wedding, he wakes up naked in an elevator with no clue how he got there. He's got to race time to get to the altar in time to get married. Too bad he's not going to make it.  The good news, he's going to wake up again in the elevator and have another shot at it, until he gets it right.

So if you've seen Groundhog Day before, you pretty much know what to expect from this movie.

If you've never seen Groundhog Day, well shame on you, you should definitely go watch it.

I happen to be a big fan of Groundhog Day, and the line of movies that have followed in those same footsteps to bring you the same story, over and over again, of someone trying to figure out what they need to do in the cosmic scheme of things to unlock their day from replaying for the rest of eternity.

Naked follows the formula just fine, the initial trial is just getting Rob back into clothes so he can try and get across town and get married.

Each time he gets ever closer to his bride but repeatedly comes up short.

Along the way he's going to learn some things about himself and his new family that will help to shape and change him into being a better person.

Wayans does a fine job carrying the movie on his shoulders. His character isn't flawed as much as he's immature at the beginning and has to do some growing up to discover what it is he truly wants out of life.

Pretty fun from start to finish, and another enjoyable Netflix Original.

Final Grade: C+

This Time It's Personal..."Dead Rising: End Game"

Dead Rising: EndGame (2016)

Not Rated

Starring Jesse Metcalfe, Dennis Haysbert, Marie Avgeropoulos, Keegan Connor Tracy, Billy Zane, Jessica Harmon

Directed by Pat Williams

The Story:

Chase Carter (Metcalfe) returns to expose the Army and General Lyons (Haysbert) as being behind the zombie outbreak. They've been discredited, but if he can get hard evidence this time, everyone will have to believe him. And when he discovers that Jordan (Tracy) is alive and has been experimented on, Chase puts the entire mission on the line to also save his friend.

If this review sounds vaguely familiar, it was about this time last year that I reviewed Dead Rising: Watchtower.

Welcome to the sequel, and it pretty much picks up shortly after the end of the last installment.

That said, there's a few tonal shifts in this movie.

Gone is Rob Riggle as the comic relief in the news studio.

Instead, they often cut to the various chess pieces that make up the overall story until all the parts can be linked together at the end.

Again, nothing that reinvents the zombie genre, but if you enjoyed the first one, it's definitely on par with that one, minus the comic relief.

I think there were a few more zombie attacks this time around, and some pretty good set pieces with the folks fighting for survival.

Plus a crazed Billy Zane as a mad scientist, so you've also got that to look forward to!

Final Grade: C+

Mandatory Government Vaccination Program Gone Horribly Wrong..."Dead Rising: Watchtower"

Dead Rising: Watchtower (2015)

Not Rated

Starring Jesse Metcalfe, Meghan Ory, Virginia Madsen, Keegan Connor Tracy, Dennis Haysbert, Carrie Genzel, Rob Riggle,

Directed by Zach Lipovsky

The Story:

Chase (Metcalfe), a reporter for Hit Point and his camerawoman Jordan (Tracy) are trying to find a story at a quarantined city in Oregon when they uncover the fact that the government vaccine, Zombrex, isn't working. Chase gets stuck in the city with Crystal (Ory), a woman who has the virus but also has her own supply of Zombrex, and Maggie (Madsen) who just lost her daughter. They have to find a way out of the city before it is blown to bits by the Army under General Lyons (Hasbert) direction.

Video game adaptations are often hit or miss.

Luckily, if you're trying to make a film about killing zombies, the audience will often be very forgiving.

Attach the Dead Rising name to it, and craft a few crazy zombie killing weapons, and you're halfway there.

Provide it a decent script, and you're almost golden.

Thankfully, they managed to do all of that in this film.

It keeps your attention throughout and unlike certain episodes of a certain zombie show, things actually happen. :)

Add to that the hilarious interplay between a reporter (Genzel) and previous survivor (Riggle) as the outbreak drama unfolds. If only the news were allowed to be like that in real life, it would make it worth watching.

I didn't catch it when it was streaming on Crackle.com, but did check out the DVD from Netflix a few months later.  Again, I'm all for any and all of these services offering up alternatives to big studio films.

The more movies, the merrier.

Anyway, if you like zombie movies, you'll probably enjoy this one too.

I did.

Final Grade: C+

The First Time Eastwood Tackled a President and an Empty Chair..."Absolute Power"

Absolute power corrupts absolutely...

The Story:

Luther Whitney (Clint Eastwood, a master thief who is allegedly retired, breaks into a multi-billionaire's home to rob his vault.  His quest for cash is interrupted by a nocturnal visit from the President of the United States (Gene Hackman) and the billionaire's wife. Their drunken affair turns deadly, and Luther witnesses her murder at the hands of the Secret Service (Scott Glenn, Dennis Haysbert).  He escapes, and avoids the Secret Service for a time, while also keeping the police detectives (Ed Harris) at bay.  Luther is ready to leave the country, until the Secret Service start targeting his daughter (Laura Linney).  Now it's personal...

I really enjoyed this one, and hadn't seen it in ages.

Eastwood was crackling in 1997 (!!!!) as both writer and director.

The movie clips along at a great pace, never too slow...never too fast to keep you riveted to the action and wondering what will happen next.

Eastwood surrounded himself with great actors from top to bottom, and they are allowed to develop given their limited screen time in a movie that begs to be told from many different angles.

It all works out in the end as you realize there is really nothing that the White House couldn't cover up if it absolutely had to.

Final Grade: B+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I haven't bought it yet, but it was a nice film to see again after 15 years or so.  Perhaps if I get the Eastwood collection someday?