Tag Archive for 'Josh Brolin'

Grindhouse: Planet Terror

Published
by
Chalupa
on January 8, 2009
in Action, Cult film, Horror, Sci-fi, Thriller and Uncategorized
. 1 Comment

This is the first of the Grindhouse films I saw.  If you’re not familiar with what I’m talking about, directors Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino decided to make a couple of B-movie flicks.  The first that I saw, Planet Terror, was directed by Rodriguez and is about a biological outbreak of sorts.

I think the coolest thing about these films is the style.  It looks like something out of the 1970s - the scratchy film, the sound, the commercials, the trailers, etc.  I really wish the fake trailers would be made into real movies.  There are even random bits of the films missing due to a missing reel.  Before this whole digital age, films used to arrive in several reels that were loaded and lined up.  If you’ve seen Fight Club, Tyler Durden talks about the “cigarette mark, ” that little circle in the upper right corner, showing when a new reel has started.  This is something I had never even noticed until it was Tyler brought it to my attention.  Anyways, the style is really cool and the films are shot present day, just in this old style.

Planet Terror is about a military group, I assume rogue, has their hands on some biological weapon.  In a botched sale the chemical is released and starts wrecking havoc on the surronding area.  The only people immune are the soldiers who were trying to buy the weapon in the first place.  They have these gas masks of sorts on and are breathing in some type of antidote.

There is of course a group of heros who are trying to fight off the affected/infected people and these crazed soldiers at the same time.  Being true to the B-genre, there are some nifty little elements like Cherry, played by Rose McGowan, loses her leg and ends up with a stump.  A stump with a machine gun attached.  This proves quite useful later on.  While this film is a bit ridiculous, it’s definitely fun and entertaining.  Liz walked in and said, “gross.”  She happened to catch a couple scenes where the effects of the mysterious chemical was being seen on several townsfolk.

If you’ve seen a Rodriguez or Tarantino film before, you’ll probably recognize a lot of the actors.  This is definitely an ensemble cast effort.  If you get bored in the middle, just stick through to the end.  I’m sure you’ll enjoy it at least a little bit.

Rating: ★★★½☆

Milk

Published
by
Chalupa
on January 7, 2009
in Assassination, Based on a true story, Biography, Drama, Ensemble Cast, Government, Politics and Uncategorized
. 0 Comments

Not having any idea who Harvey Milk was, other than what I had learned from the trailer, Milk was a very interesting look at the life of the first openly gay man to be elected to a major public office in the US.  Directed by Gus Van Sant, I knew this had to be at least a little good.  Then I noticed the amazing ensemble cast consisting of Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, James Franco, Alison Pill, and Diego Luna.  Everyone did a great job.  I couldn’t really see a single character carrying the whole film with the exception of maybe Penn, but he was the central character.

Milk was a political activist in the 1970s who tried to rally the gay community on Castro street in San Francisco.  It was around this time that laws were being put into place giving employers, landlords, and communities the right to discriminate based on sexual preference.  This might sound a little crazy to you, but it was only about 50 years ago that the Civil Rights movement started in our nation.  I’ve heard some off-handed comments saying this movie is about “that gay guy.”  That’s only partially true.  I say this film is much more about civil rights than about gay rights.  Milk was someone who was able to rally people together of all races, religions and creeds.  This was even more evident after he was killed.

Don’t get mad cause I just gave the ending away.  This movie is about a real person, remember?  Penn was amazing.  I know there are a lot of you out there that just don’t like the guy, but he had an amazing performance in this one.  When people act, some mimic a person or character and others just melt into the person they are playing.  Sean Penn really melted into this one.  I wouldn’t be surprised to see him nominated for Best Actor on this one.

Also just saw Josh Brolin talking to James Lipton on The Actor’s Studio.  Brolin talked about auditioning for the part and working with Penn.  It was pretty interesting.  You should probably check it out if you get the chance.

Rating: ★★★★☆

W

Published
by
Chalupa
on October 26, 2008
in Biography, Comedy, Drama, Family, Politics and War
. 0 Comments

Last night Liz and I saw Oliver Stone’s latest film, W.  This is probably the most neutral of Stone’s American president flicks.  This also came out not only while George W. Bush is still alive, but he’s also still in office.  While watching, we noticed several couples get up, put their coats on, and walk out during the film.  I guess they were offended?  One woman was even talking to me, in the lobby, before the movie started.  She asked what movie I was seeing and after I said, “W,” she replied with, “I don’t like him!” and that was the end of that conversation.

I think the greatest attribute of this movie is people with different opinions concerning the current president’s performace can watch this movie and come out thinking it backs up their viewpoints.  I was trying to explain this yesterday and wasn’t doing a very good job of it.  I’d be interested to see if anybody agrees with me.

The second greatest attribute would have to be the acting.  I don’t think this film has what they call an “ensemble cast,” but there were definitely a lot of noticeable faces.  We have Josh Brolin playing George W. Bush, Elizabeth Banks playing Laura Bush, James Cromwell and Ellen Burstyn playing George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush, Richard Dreyfuss as Dick Cheney, Scott Glenn as Donald Rumsfeld, Toby Jones as Karl Rove, Bruce McGill playing George Tenet, Thandie Newton playing Condoleeza Rice, Jeffrey Wright as Gen. Colin Powell, and Stacy Keach as Rev. Earle Hudd to name a few.  The only performance I was disappointed with was Condoleeza Rice.  I was able to pick out most cabinet members and key players in this film before their names were ever mentioned.  They played their parts that well.  Newton as Rice just came off as an SNL performance to me.  It seemed as if she was playing the caricature, and not owning the role.  It’s kind of like when a musician plays someone else’s music.  They can play it like a cover band or put their own spin on it.

I was in the 4th grade when Desert Storm happened and watching this movie brought back a lot of memories from then.  I also remembered hearing things like President Bush’s son owned the Texas Rangers.  I’m sure other scenes would be much more meaningful for those who weren’t quite so young at the time.  It’s weird watching movies about “historical” things that have happened during my lifetime.

I wouldn’t say President Bush was painted in a bad light, but I also wouldn’t say he was painted in the best of lights either.  I don’t know for sure, but I assumed any of the public speeches he gave were probably word-for-word.  I’m sure some think the president is a bit of an idiot and I can’t say I wholly agree with them.  He is college educated.  I think he probably surrounded himself with not the best of people.  One thing I was left wondering about was Barbara and George H. W.  I never would have guessed George W. called his father “poppy.”  There was also one scene where H.W. explained the difference in two pronunciations of Saddam.  I thought that really showed an understanding of language and culture.  I also loved the scenes were George W was eating.  I’m pretty sure it showed him eating bologna sandwiches on more than one occasion.  He also seemed to be a fan of Cheetos, the crunchy variety, and he also had an affinity for Dr. Pepper.

To those of you who think this movie is making fun of Bush, I disagree because I wasn’t sitting in the theater laughing throughout the film.  To those of you who think this movie glorifies Bush, I also disagree because he was in no way made out to be the best President ever.  I say you should probably give this movie a chance and see what you think of it for yourself.

Rating: ★★★½☆

No Country for Old Men

Published
by
Chalupa
on February 5, 2008
in Based on a novel, Crime, Drama, Drugs, Graphic Violence, Neo Noir and Thriller
. 2 Comments

First off, I must apologize for not having a review of the latest Coen Brother film. We talked about this so much on the Lebowski Podcast, I just plain forgot to put anything over here. Secondly, if you haven’t seen it already I highly suggest you do. I thought it was going to be my favorite movie for 2007, but then I saw There Will Be Blood, which is probably bumping No Country to #2.

If you’re not already familiar with the Coens, they are a force of nature in the world of writing and directing. Ethan and Joel are brothers who have been working together since the 80s. They write their own scripts, storyboard every scene beforehand, make heavy use of wide-angle lenses and shots, favor melding Film Noir with other genres, reuse many actors in their films, often edit their own films under the fake name Roderick Jaynes, and happen to be my favorite directors.

The Coens usually only make movies from their own scripts. This is true in this film, but it is heavily based of the novel of same name by Cormac McCarthy. This film has both Noir and Western elements and is set in the state of Texas. It starts off with Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) finding the gruesome remains of a drug deal gone wrong and takes off with a briefcase full of money. Naturally, somebody notices $2 million is missing and Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), a psychopathic killer with a strange sense of morals and a strong commitment to standing by his word, is sent after Moss to retrieve the cash.

Trying to understand and discern all this is the local sheriff, Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones), along with his motor-mouthed and somewhat dimwitted Deputy, Wendell (Garret Dillahunt). Llewelyn’s wife, Carla Jean (Kelly Macdonald), and other innocent and not-so-innocent people are also caught in the middle of all this as the story unfolds.

The character of Anton Chigurh is particularly interesting. He’s pretty much the ultimate badass. In fact, at one point two other characters are talking about him and one asks, “just how bad is this guy?” The other responds with, “Compared to what? The bubonic plague?” Anton pretty much kills everybody that bothers him or does something he considers worthy of death. We even find out he plans to kill Llewelyn no matter what. Even if the money is returned, Llewelyn wasted Anton’s time and that’s an offense that warrants death in Chigurh’s mind.

A buddy of mine sent me this link to a blog of sorts in which a couple of friends are discussing the movie. These two guys happen to be big Coen fans and they compare the movie to both The Big Lebowski and Raising Arizona. One of them compares Anton to The Dude saying they are the exact opposites of each other. Something really interesting to think about.

I know I’ve been desensitized big time with all the movies I’ve seen. Yes, there is violence in the film, and no I didn’t find it in any way excessive. This may not be the case for some of you though. Something to keep in mind. I would say the swearing is minimal compared to some of the Coens’ other works and even though the story is quite dark, I still enjoyed it….excessively. This is a must-see for any Coen fan.

Rating: ★★★★★

American Gangster

Published
by
Chalupa
on November 13, 2007
in Based on a true story, Corruption, Crime, Drama, Drugs, Dysfunctional, Family, Investigation, Mob, Racism and Thriller
. 0 Comments

Starring Denzel Washington as Frank Lucas, a real-life American gangster, I feeling like I was watching Training Day, only this movie was much cooler, much classier, and just better all around. According to the film, which was based on claims by Frank Lucas, Frank Lucas was the driver/bodyguard that stepped in after his boss died of a heart attack. What’s different about this mob story is that Frank Lucas is black; he’s not Italian, Sicilian or Russian. He brings in his brothers to help run the business and runs shop like the Italians. He makes sure the public and everyone around him loves him. People even love him when Frank beats the crap out of them for making mistakes.

On one hand, Lucas was kind of like Robin Hood. He took from the rich and gave to the poor. Frank also cut out all the middle-men and worked for himself. He dealt in narcotics and got his good directly from Southeast Asia. He bribed a lot of people to make his operations work and brought a lot of them down with him.

This movie is definite Oscar material. Denzel has been nominated several times for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor. He has won two Oscars already and I wouldn’t be surprised if he won again for this film. Some other talented performances would include Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Josh Brolin, Ruby Dee, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Jon Polito.

I really enjoyed the cinematography. Lately in films we’ve been seeing the wild camera shots and angles. The Bourne series would be an example of this, even though I like it there, and it just wouldn’t work in this film. I didn’t really pay attention to the ASL (average shot length), but it was very easy to follow and the timing and flow of the film went very well.

I think Ridley Scott did quite well directing. You might recognize that name from his previous works such as Alien, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Matchstick Men and who could forget Blade Runner? He’s also produced a long list of movies. One that I’ve been wanting to see in particular would be The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

Even though this is a mob/gangster movie, it also shows a peek into the lives of these people. It’s not just extortion, lies, decent and people getting knocked off in casinos and dark alleys. Definitely a good drama as well as a crime and thriller. I highly recommend this one.