There Were Holes In Shia LaBeouf? Actually...Yes! "Lawless"

Lawless (2012)
Rated R for Language and violence

Starring Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Jason Clarke, Guy Pearce, Gary Oldman
Directed by John Hillcoat


I'm actually pretty pleased that I was able to use a Pysch reference for today's title.

From there, it's all downhill folks!

:)

The Story:

The Bondurant Boys: Jack (LaBeouf), Forrest (Hardy) and Howard (Clarke) are making a living in depression/prohibition era Virginia by making and selling moonshine.  Ah, but corruption creeps in with a District Attorney and his deputy Charlie Rakes (Pearce) who collect from all the bootleggers.  The boys refuse, and this sets off an escalating war as Rakes tears the countryside apart trying to bring down the thorn in his side.

Sound exciting?

It should have been.

But I found myself pushing the fast forward button on a lot of this because it was just dragging...and dragging.

For almost 2 hours.

The actors do a fine, if unspectacularly convincing me that their story is an important one.

It was mostly a series of one Bondurant doing something stupid, then working together to fix that problem.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

I Can't Believe They Shot Me!

Even Guy Pearce who normally chews up the screen as the malicious bad guy just couldn't pull me in.

Heck, Gary Oldman couldn't even do much, with likely the second most charismatic part in the movie, but very limited screen time.

Perhaps Oldman and Hardy were just happy to be collecting their Bat-checks?

Your mileage may vary, but I was bored.

The movie itself looked great though, so there's that.

:)

Final Grade: C-

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Not even if it was offered as a bribe...

Some Family-Friendly "Bedtime Stories" For The Weekend

Bedtime Stories (2008)
Rated PG

Starring Adam Sandler, Keri Russell, Guy Pearce, Russell Brand, Courteney Cox

Directed by Adam Shankman

The Story:

Skeeter Bronson (Sandler) grew up in the Sunny Vista Motel that was started by his dad and then bought by millionaire, Barry Nottingham (Richard Griffiths).  The promise was made that Skeeter could someday run the hotel, but apparently Barry has forgotten as he has promised when the hotel is remodeled, it will be run by Kendall (Pearce) instead.  On top of that, the new site, unbeknownst to Skeeter, is on the site of the school where his sister (Cox) is the principal.  She needs to head to Arizona to find a job, so she has Skeeter watch her two kids, and her co-worker Jill (Russell) will split time with him.  Skeeter tells the kids some fun bedtime stories when he puts them to bed, and the kids add to his fantastic tales.  But when the stories begin to come true, exactly like they said the night before, Skeeter realizes that he still has a chance to run the hotel, if he can just shape the stories appropriately.

Not your typical Adam Sandler movie, right?

Nope, not when it's released by Disney.

However, this continued  a trend of more family friendly Sandler films that are actually sweet enough, and funny, that they are worth seeing with the entire family.

Is That A Rat on My Head?

Originally seen a few years ago after it had come out, this movie remained on our wish list for years, always hard to justify a $20 price tag on some of those Disney films that just never went down in price.

Ah, but when your local Blockbuster goes out of business, suddenly films that had always been just off the radar come back on, and get picked up for a  bargain price.

Welcome to the library!

Which in the intervening years since 2008, it was checked out about every year by my daughter from the local library so she could watch it.

Now I've saved her a few steps!

Watched again, and yes, it was still as cute and fun as I remember from 2008.

The situations become more absurd with each story, and Skeeter risks ruining the relationship he is building with the kids when he does snap at them in anger when they change the ending to one of his tales.

Have I Not Entertained You?

Brand gives a hysterical performance as Skeeter's best friend.  He livens up all of the scenes that he is in, and he plays a pivotal part in the climax of the film.

Overall this is a very cute movie with a wonderful message about the joys of childhood and the way kids see life.


Final Grade: B+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: I finally got it, and I wouldn't be surprised if this gets a replay at least once a year. :)

Holiday Blockbuster Weekend Concludes: "Iron Man 3"

Not a hoax...not a dream...

This is the review after seeing the movie again at home, even though there is a perfectly suitable review for Iron Man 3 back when it was in theaters:

http://talesfromthequeue.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-tin-man-has-heartiron-man-3.html

Now, on to today's update!



I am Iron Man.

The Story:

Tony Stark (Robery Downey Jr.) returns to end the trilogy of Iron Man films.  This time, he faces the loss of everything he holds dear, including Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and his sanity as he still recovers from the events of New York.  The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) is apparently sending suicide bombers around the globe to punish the American people.  Happy (Jon Favreau) gets caught in the cross-hairs, and sets Tony on a path of revenge.  All of these events conspire in a cyclical tale that flashes back over a decade when Tony ran into Aldich Killian (Guy Pearce) for the first time.  That chance encounter comes back to haunt him at the worst possible time:

Christmas.

Written (partially) and directed by Shane Black, of course it's Christmas!  That's his schtick.  See the Lethal Weapon franchise for further proof.  And that franchise alone will get Shane Black a pass with me on most of what he does for the rest of his career.

That said, Iron Man 3 doesn't need a pass, it's actually that good.

Is it as good as the first one?  Debatable.  It's newer...shinier...
Is it better than the 2nd one?  No question.

I had a blast watching it.  For the critics, many of whom live under my roof, who found holes in the film... well, there are holes everywhere, in every film.

They just didn't bother me so much.

: )

It has been a fun run watching Robert Downey Jr. inhabit the role of Tony Stark to the point where he IS Iron Man, pure and simple.  Someday these Marvel franchises will require rebooting, and while most roles will be easily changed out (see the Hulk...), I do not envy the person that has to pick up where Downey will leave off.

So for now, I'll forget that will happen, and simply soak in the fun and good times that Marvel is giving me with these movies.

Trust me, 10 year old me NEVER thought this day would come, so all in all, this guy is pretty darn happy.

Oh, and the whole outcry about the Mandarin?  Brilliant.  Thought it was absolutely perfect.  Remember kids, these aren't exactly based on the comics, they just contain the same characters.

Plus, these are light years more fun than anything DC is giving us to enjoy.

And finally, do stick around for the end credits, it caps off the movie perfectly.

: )

Final Grade: A (upgraded from A- in the theatrical run)

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Even though a few in my house moaned about some of the plot holes, I'm hoping it's under the tree this Christmas! :)

A Secret Society for "Seeking Justice"

How far would you go for revenge?

The Story:

When Will (Nicolas Cage) finds out that his wife (January Jones) has been assaulted and raped, he makes a deal with Simon (Guy Pearce), a stranger he meets at the hospital, to have the man who did this to his wife killed, in exchange for a favor down the road.  At first he hesitates, then he agrees.  True to his word, the offender winds up dead, and then suddenly Will is being asked to kill another sex offender.  Will isn't a murderer, but Simon and his partners are very persuasive.  The race is on as Will has to try and clear his name, and get out from under Simon's thumb in this thriller set in New Orleans.

This is another film that came out, and didn't last long in theaters, if it even showed in theaters.

It's really not that bad.

I'm not sure which is the worst part of the film: Cage's goatee or Pearce's shaved head.  Both seemed wrong and unnatural to me.

: )

It's a by the numbers thriller with twists that you expect, and maybe some you don't.

Nothing monumental, but nothing that doesn't hold your attention while you watch it, and that's a good thing.

Now streaming on Netflix as of this writing.

Final Grade: C+

Would I Own It: Probably not, but if it was playing, I could watch it again.