"The Great Budapest Hotel" ****

     The adventures of Gustave H, a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars, and Zero Moustafa, the lobby boy who becomes his most trusted friend.  This movie was directed by Wes Anderson and stars Ralph Fiennes, F. Murray Abraham, Mathiu Amalric and a ton of other great actors and they all deliver.

     This is a film that makes me feel, makes me think and makes me not want to review it.  Wes Anderson is a genius and before I started to review this film I was going to say that only people that are fans of Wes Anderson should watch this film but I have realized that's bullshit.  This film provides a story within a story within a story.  The imagery, the scenery, the acting, the landscapes are fucking amazing.  There is a point in this film where you yield to the story to realize there may be a great life lesson here but then you realize it's to crazy to be real but then you realize it is what you make it.  I think that's what wes Anderson is so successful at presenting a story that is too the point but providing the imagery to enjoy the humor with the displacent landmarks and figures.   

     I totally recommend this film to anyone over the age 17, the acting is amazing and the story will entrance you.  The beers I recommend for this film are the ones I had before I viewed this great film.  I recommend Dogfish Head 90 minute 90 minute IPA and Cigar City Jai Alai IPA.  The Beer Man gives this film a 4 beer cans I highly recommend it but I understand if you don't like this type of film you would be turned off but give it a chance.  I think this film does such a great job of grasping the feelings and emotians we deal with every day and asks the questions of economic, geographical, and educational worth.  This movie is beer man approved.

    

                 

The Beer Man Movie Review-"Inside Llewyn Davis" 2013**1/2

     A week in the life of a young singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961.  This film stars Oscar Issac, Carey Mulligan and John Goodman.  This film was written and directed by Ethan and Joel Coen.  I was very excited about this film.  It enthralls the very like and dislike fascination I have with the Coen brothers.  I dislike "No Country For Old Men", "O Brother Where Art Thou" and "Fargo", but I love "The Hudsucker Proxy", "Raising Arizona" and "The Big Lebowski", which is in my top 5 greatest movies of all time.  "Inside Llewyn Davis" falls between these two categories for me.

     Let me make this statement and no I'm not ashamed of it "I love folk music".  There are a lot of great scenes in this movie of folk music at it's purest.  The songs in this movie are great and the actors/musicians deliver them well.  The movie does a great job of putting you in the music scene at the time.  This film develops some amazing characters which I believe the Coen brothers are experts at pulling off.  This is where my criticisms for this film begin.  I'm so captivated by the music and the characters and just wanting to see where they will all take us.  Well I'm left wandering what happens to so many side stories I'm so amazingly introduced to.  There are amazing twists in the film that I can't disregard but I was left wanting.

     I would not recommend this film for families but for anyone that appreciates how much folk music has influenced musicians over the years and how much they had to sacrifice.  The drink I would recommend for this film would be a white Russian, that's a respectful homage to the Coen Brothers and Walter Sobchack.  I give this film 2 and 1/2 beer cans.  This is not a bad film at all, I was just left wanting more.

“Great” Scott’s Stupendously Great Review of Non-Stop (2014)

“Great” Scott’s Stupendously Great Review of Non-Stop (2014)

Title       

Non-Stop

IMDB Page

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2024469/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

One-Sentence Summary

It’s a who-dunnit in the air as Liam Neeson’s air marshall Bill Marks tries to stop a murderer from killing people on an airplane.

What’s Great About It

Nothing’s particularly great about this move, but there’s a lot that’s very good.

What’s Not-So-Great About It

Some people are going to complain about the political undertones, but, seriously, it’s a Liam Neeson Movie.  Also, at the risk of a MINOR spoiler, part of the ending pushes the needle into the absurd region. 

Rating

GGGg (3.5 out of 5)

Explanation

Let me get this out of the way right out of the gate…this movie will never be mistaken for an Oscar nominee.  It’s not artsy-fartsy and you’ll never mistake it for 12 Years a Slave (except for the odd fact that Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o plays a ridiculously small part) or Philomena.  If you understand these (pretty damned obvious) statements, you’ll be prepared for Non-Stop, which is a very entertaining movie.

The plot’s pretty simple: Liam Neeson plays an air marshal that gets a text from a mystery person who wants 150 million dollars.  That mystery person threatens to kill someone on the plane every 20 minutes if the money isn’t delivered.  The rest of the movie sees Neeson growl at people the way only he can; people who are familiar with law enforcement will probably take some umbrage with some of the tactics Neeson’s Bill Marks employs, and said tactics did make my eyes roll from time to time, but for most of the hour and 45 minutes of this movie, I was entertained.  Neeson does a great job, and just enough of the supporting cast does just enough to make them suspicious and potential threats.

There’s not really much more to say.  Non-Stop was entertaining, but it's a movie I’m likely to forget in a few months.  I enjoyed the time I spent in theater, but I’m not going put it on any top ten lists.  If you enjoy a good suspense movie (or, more specifically, if you liked Liam Neeson in Taken or Unknown), you’ll enjoy Non-Stop.  It merits a rainy day trip to the theater or at the very least a rental.

Mickster Movie Review - "12 Years A Slave" (2013) ****

     On day one of the Best Picture Showcase, AMC saved the best film for last. 12 Years A Slave is one of the front-runners for Best Picture along with Gravity and American Hustle. I can certainly see why now. Slavery is obviously a touchy subject and one that is hard to put into an "entertainment" medium. Lincoln touched on the subject last year, but from the viewpoint of a white man, President Abraham Lincoln. We know how important he was to ending slavery, but the film didn't really go into what slavery was like for black people at that time. 12 Years A Slave shows us up close what that reality was and after witnessing it, I can't imagine going through what slaves went through in this country during that time. I feel like 12 Years A Slave is to slavery what Schindler's List is to the holocaust. Both are brilliant films but unflinching in what the camera sees, they challenge us to forget what we saw. Something that to me seems impossible to do.

     Directed by Steve McQueen, Slave is based on a true story by Solomon Northup, a free black man from upstate New York. Northup lives a quiet life with his wife and kids and is well-respected in the community as he is a talented violinist. On a trip to Washington D.C., Solomon is kidnapped and wakes up chained to a floor. Two white gentlemen come in the room and when he protests his confinement, he is brutally whipped. Solomon slowly comes to the realization that he is now a slave and cannot escape. He is sold to a plantation owner and shipped to New Orleans. Over the next 12 years, Solomon experiences a brutal life filled with beatings, hangings and murder. It is personified by his most violent owner, a man named Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender), who is ruthless to the core. Solomon does all he can to survive, and regain his dignity, never losing hope that one day he will be reunited with his family.

     12 Years A Slave is not an easy movie to watch. I doubt that I will be putting this on the tube on a regular basis. That being said, I think it's a film that every body SHOULD see at least once, just like Schindler's List. While these events are dark times in history, we can't forget they happened. We need to be reminded from time to time how evil humans can be and how precious life is and we should savor our freedom every day. Chiwetel Ejiofor is brilliant in his portrayal of Solomon. I haven't seen all of the other performances yet, and it appears Matthew McConaughey is the odds on favorite to win the Best Actor Oscar, but for now my vote would be for Ejiofor. But he is far from the only strong performance in the film. Lupita Nyong'o is memorable as another slave named Patsey. Brad Pitt and Benedict Cumberbatch play roles as white men who actually respect Northup and do what they can to help him, both are effective in their portrayals. Paul Giamatti, Alfre Woodard and Sarah Paulson are strong, as always, in supporting roles. But the real star is Ejiofor and director McQueen. They've taken a very controversial subject and looked at it with honest eyes. It's hard to watch, but very effective. I give this a very high recommendation but go in knowing that it may be hard to watch in parts.

Mickster

Mickster Movie Review - "The Wolf of Wall Street" (2013) ***1/2

     Well, that was interesting to say the least.  The Wolf of Wall Street has been the talk of theaters for several months, and not all of it in a good way. While the film has received lots of critical praise, it has received it's fair share of criticism due to the profanity, nudity, and drug usage in the film. I can confirm, it has LOTS of all that. Stories of people walking out of theaters and demanding their money back make more sense to me now, but still, it is rated R so I'm not sure all the "shock" is genuine or warranted. While there are a lot of things here that will make a mechanic blush, underneath is actually an interesting story and I can certainly understand where the praise is coming from.

    Wolf is based on the true story of Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio), who rose from nothing to become a big time stockbroker, only to fall and serve time in prison for defrauding investors. Belfort's first day on the job ends up being October 19, 1987, or "Black Monday" as it's better known, when the stock market crashed. He was out of a job before he ever got started. After considering leaving the business he ends up back with a small company who sells penny stocks. He is obviously a better salesman than any of his coworkers and amazes them all by making a huge sale on his first day. He quickly rises back up and figures that he needs to go into business for himself. He befriends Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill), and along with a group of friends, Belfort starts his own company- Stratton Oakmont. Before long the company is making tons of money and Belfort rises up the ranks in the business world. But with success came a party atmosphere loaded with constant drug use, prostitution and unethical business practices, all of which would lead to attention from the FBI, especially agent Patrick Denham (Kyle Chandler). As the FBI closes in, Belfort rubs his fortune in their face. His pride ultimately leads to his downfall.

     Director Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio have become a bit of a sure thing in Hollywood. The two have collaborated on five films now, most notably The Departed, which won Best Picture at the Oscars. I don't think this is their best film together, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. It's not without flaws though. It is very lewd for much of the film and flirts with an NC-17 rating. It's not that I minded that, but there's just SO much of it. After awhile it seemed like there were scenes thrown in just to see how much they could push the envelope. This leads me to my biggest gripe with the film, the running time. This movie is 3 hours looooooong. I don't mind long movies mind you, but sometimes they are just simply unnecessary. This film could have cut a solid hour out of it and you could tell the same story. That's what I mean about the lewd scenes being thrown in, it just seems like Scorsese was trying to get as much in as he could. It's unnecessary though and drags the movie down in the middle parts. Had this movie but much shorter I feel there is 4 1/2 star potential there. But that should not distract you from seeing it, I still give it a solid recommend. Be wary of the content going in, but as long as you are not easily offended, there is a lot of interesting story here. There's just too much of it.

Mickster

Mickster Movie Review - "Dallas Buyers Club" (2013) ***

     Two films that I absolutely love, Philadelphia and And The Band Played On, both are human interest stories revolving around the AIDS epidemic and the struggles people with the disease, or combating it, went through, especially in its earliest days. One of the primary criticisms of the Reagan administration was his failure to acknowledge the seriousness of AIDS and do more to stop it early. Too many people viewed it strictly as a "gay disease" and did not want to be associated with it. We've learned now that while it was prevalent in the gay community, anyone was capable of getting AIDS through several different methods. Ron Woodroof was one such gentleman who contracted the virus, not by being homosexual, but living a life that was irresponsible and risky. He could have passed on and been one of the many victims of AIDS who was able to do nothing, but Woodroof did not accept his diagnosis and set out to fight it any way he could, changing his legacy in the process.

     Ron Woodroof is portrayed by Matthew McConaughey, who continues his career renaissance that started a couple of years ago, and will likely land him an Oscar for his efforts. Woodroof is an electrician and part-time rodeo bull rider, who lives an outgoing life defined by drugs, alcohol and his many different sex partners. He is a racist and homophobe who is about to get the biggest shock of his life. After passing out one night, he is taken to the hospital, where after running blood tests he is told that he has AIDS and only has about 30 days to live. Woodroof does not accept the diagnosis because he believes the disease is strictly a homosexual one. He storms out of the hospital and goes back to living his carefree ways. But the news sits on his mind and he starts doing research, eventually coming to the realization that it is possible for him to have it. He becomes ostracized by his friends and coworkers who pick on him for being queer, an accusation that causes him to confront his friends. When he is placed on an experimental medication called AZT, he learns that the medicine actually does more harm than good and sets out to fight the medical system. He sees a "doctor" in Mexico who introduces him to better medication for AIDS but the drugs are not approved for use in America. Woodroof befriends a transvestite named Rayon (Jared Leto) who has connections in the gay community. Together the two become "drug dealers" to the AIDS community in an effort to combat the medical and political machines who are more interested in profits than curing people.

     Dallas Buyers Club is good but I felt like I wanted a little more from it. McConaughey and Leto have been cleaning up the Acting and Supporting Actor awards in the various awards shows leading up to the Oscars. They are both the favorites to take home the gold statues on March 2nd. Leto plays a very challenging role as a transvestite, but I feel he is getting attention just because of that, not necessarily for the performance which I think is just okay. I understand the praise more for McConaughey but even then, I don't even consider it his best role from this past year. I think his turn in Mud was even better. Jennifer Garner is also decent as a doctor who sympathizes with both Ron and Rayon's situations. I may be coming off a little tough on this movie, but I really thought this was going to be one of the two or three best of all the nominations, and instead I think it will be more towards the bottom. So while it is good, and I do recommend it by all means, I was wanting more and I didn't quite get it. A good movie for sure, but not necessarily a best picture.

Mickster

Mickster Movie Review - "Philomena" (2013) ***1/2

     If you read my previous blog article, every year I attend the AMC Theaters Best Picture Showcase, which shows all the Best Picture Oscar nominees over a 2-day event. This is my sixth year attending the event. Every year there is one movie that sort of scares me. That movie that you know you probably won't like due its subject matter or style. Sometimes those fears become reality (Les Miserables) and other times I have been pleasantly surprised (Winter's Bone). Coming into the 2014 Showcase, the film that worried me the most was Philomena. It was a small, independent, British film with Judi Dench and Steve Coogan...not much there screams "You're going to LOVE this!". But as I do with each and every movie, I approached it with an open mind. It turns out, this one is one of the pleasant surprises.

     Philomena is based on a true story about a woman named Philomena Lee (Judi Dench), who at a young age gets pregnant. She is in a Catholic convent and the sisters do not approve of the baby. Philomena is forced to deliver the baby and give it up for adoption to an American family, which breaks her heart. She is now older but still mourns the day she had to give up her son. Her current daughter sees her crying one day, and Philomena confesses about the situation, something she had never done before. Her daughter approaches former journalist Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan) about writing a story on her mothers situation. At first he is not interested, but once he meets Philomena he agrees to do the story. Philomena and Martin head to America to find her son. They end up finding out about her son, but more importantly, they find out a lot more about themselves and their beliefs.

     I was pleasantly surprised with this film. It clocks in at just over 90 minutes which is perfect for this story. It is a little slow at first, but once we get to America and start putting the pieces of the puzzle together, I was hooked with these two and was genuinely interested in seeing what would happen. You expect the film to go one way, but it does a 180 on you about halfway through and it's at that point where I was on board for good. This movie is a pure drama, but I was surprised at how often I laughed along the way. Dame Judi Dench is a real gem in this film, but Steve Coogan really makes it work. I don't know much about him at all, but I was really impressed here. The films is directed by Stephen Frears and is based on a book written by the real Martin Sixsmith and his account of the events, "The Lost Child of Philomena Lee". After seeing the film, I do want to search out this book and read more about what happened. That's probably the biggest compliment I can give it. If you're up for a good emotional drama that will make you cry and smile at the same time, I give a solid recommendation to Philomena.

A Mickster Take - AMC Theatres Best Picture Showcase

     Since I'm writing this blog, it should be pretty apparent that I love the movies. Because I love the movies, I am a fan of the Oscars. I know a lot of people don't share that love, and I realize it's often not the true reflection of what the "best" pictures are of any given year, but for one night I like to see the movie business be the center of attention and it's a lot of fun usually. For many years, I rarely saw most of the films that were nominated for Best Picture. I didn't want to watch those "dramas", I wanted to see stuff blow up. But as my movie tastes matured over the years I found myself paying more attention to what the Best Picture nominees were, and doing my best to see as many as I could. That was often difficult, assuming you wanted to see those films on the big screen, because a lot of the films wouldn't be playing in theaters during the Oscar season. So you had to wait until they were on video to check them out. That all changed in 2007.

     In 2007, AMC theaters started a new event called the Best Picture Showcase. After the nominees were announced, AMC would show all 5 Best Picture nominees over the course of one day for those who were interested. It proved to be very popular and the event is gaining in popularity each and every year. I attended my first Best Picture Showcase in 2009 and this year will mark 6 straight years of participation. During my second year, the Academy changed the rules and named 10 nominees for Best Picture, which stretched the event to a 2-day event (or 24 hours if you're one of the lucky cities to get that event). Since that change, there have not been less than 9 nominees on any given year, so it's definitely settled into a 2-day event for me. The Best Picture Showcase is one of the highlights of my calendar year. It's not for everybody but I really enjoy sitting in a theater for 10-12 hours watching the "best of the best" in the movie world. I've noticed over the years you see the same people and several of us are on a first name basis, though we only see each other those 2 days of the year. It's neat. It's fun to watch a film and then take a 30 minute or so break and talk about it with those around you. Eventually you start ranking the films and by the end of the event, everyone has THEIR Best Picture.

     The event has served up some of my favorite films that I have seen in the past decade. I'll never forget seeing films like The Social Network, Moneyball, Argo or Silver Linings Playbook for the first time. All personal favorites of mine. There have been some duds too! The Tree of Life, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and District 9, all are critically acclaimed, but I hated them so much. I have also been mesmerized by a few movies that I probably never would have seen had they not been part of the event, films such as Winter's Bone, The Help and this years Philomena. Jennifer Lawrence is my favorite actress these days, but I had never heard of her when I saw her in Winter's Bone. I remember thinking "Who is this girl?" She had so much talent at such a young age, I knew she had a bright future. I think it's safe to say, the rest is history.

     I'm not saying this event is for everyone, but if you are true fan of cinema, especially seeing films IN the theater, I really think you should give this event a try one year. It's a lot of fun, and the good movies generally far outweigh the bad. Those "Oscar films" sometimes get too bad of a rap. There's a reason most of these films are nominated for Best Picture. The Academy misses sometimes, but for the most part they do a good job. I'll be at AMC in Orange Park, FL the next two Saturdays. Maybe I'll see you there during one of those days. If not, maybe I'll see you there one day in the future. Think about giving it a shot. AMC is doing a good thing and I'd like to continue seeing the event grow every year.

“Great” Scott’s Greater than Great DVD Review of Killing Them Softly (2012)

“Great” Scott’s Greater than Great DVD Review of Killing Them Softly (2012)

Title

Killing Them Softly

IMDB Page

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1764234/?ref_=nv_sr_1

One-Sentence Summary

Three morons with no backstory rob a card game run by the mob, so the mob sends Brad Pitt to kill them…softly.

What’s Great About It

The acting is solid…and the soundtrack is good.

What’s Not-So-Great About It

Pretty much everything else is horrible.  Scenes take forever to end; I don’t care about any of the characters; the story is about as bland and “from point A to point B” as it gets; and the director is clearly trying to cram in as many “look what I learned in film school” things as he can. 

Rating

Gg (1.5 out of 5)

Explanation

Boy oh boy, where to begin.  First, let’s get the good out of the way.  Every person in this movie plays their role admirably.  Brad Pitt, as mob enforcer Jackie Cogan, does a great job and you can tell he isn’t even trying.  Ray Liotta plays a sniveling weasel as good as anyone.  James Gandolfini is excellent as a drunken, sex-crazed, not-so-great-anymore hitman.  The two guys who play the lead roles are lesser-known actors, but both do a job of playing idiots really well.

That’s about where things go south.  We get no backstory on either of the two dimwit robbers except that one is currently stealing dogs to make enough money to buy drugs to sell…other than that, there’s really no reason to want to see these guys succeed or fail…I didn’t even NOT like them…I couldn’t have cared less.  The same holds true with Brad Pitt’s character…he seemed like a better guy than the two morons, but I still didn’t really care, in the grand scheme of things.

The worst part of this movie is that scenes went on for evvvvvveeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrr.  Dear Lord, this script must’ve been three million pages long, or the actors were paid to ad lib by the word.  The worst part was that most of these verbose scenes had nothing to do with the plot.  I got that Gandolfini’s character was a sex addict after the first five minutes he talked about it…the next 15 minutes were overkill. 

Lastly, the director of this movie included so many things that just shouted, “Look at what I can do!”  Normally, I don’t spoil movies, but this movie spoiled my evening, so I’m going to return the favor.  One example is when Ray Liotta gets killed; his death is so overblown that I couldn’t help but laugh.  Another scene involves one of the idiot robbers trying to ask his friend some questions while his friend is stoned…the effects used to show the “stonedness” are cool for all of about two minutes…the next five or six minutes of it grate on the nerves.

So, if you’re up for a caper movie, go watch Usual Suspects, even if you’ve seen it already.  Or, watch the one part of Pulp Fiction again, the part where they rob the diner.  Or, if you simply MUST see Brad Pitt in a caper movie, watch any of the Ocean’s movies…even Ocean’s Twelve, which was sorta’ terrible.  Even it was better than this.

Mickster Movie Review - "Lee Daniels' The Butler" (2013) ***

     Forest Whitaker is one of those quiet, under-appreciated actors who is often much better than the movies he stars in. Even when his films don't work, it's usually not because of him. Director Lee Daniels hasn't made too many films and I'm only familiar with two of his works, but I enjoyed both of them: Monster's Ball (Producer) and Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire (Director). This combination should have no trouble turning out a good product, and they have for the most part, but there are some flaws here.

     Lee Daniels' The Butler (named that for legal reasons), stars Whitaker as Cecil Gaines, a young man who grows up in the deep south on a cotton farm, sees his father murdered by the plantation owner, and sets out on a career path that will lead him to become an expert at being a butler. His skills, and reputation, ultimately lead him to a job at the White House where he will serve the President of the US for a period of over 30 years. The film is based on a real-life person named Eugene Allen. Gaines is married to an alcoholic named Gloria (Oprah Winfrey), and has two boys named Louis (David Oyelowo) and Charlie. The story focuses mainly on Cecil and Louis and how they see things differently at a time when blacks were not considered equal to whites. Cecil believes it's best to not get involved and do his best to serve others. Louis goes off to college and becomes involved in the civil rights movement, eventually joining Martin Luther King Jr. and later the Black Panthers. Father and son do not see eye to eye on most matters and this leads to a lot of tension between the two. In the meantime, we see historical events unfold as president after president under Cecil's watch reflect their views on the world.

     I did a lot of reading about this film before and after my viewing and I've learned that much of what I saw is heavily edited for dramatic purposes. That's not at all unusual in movies, but I feel knowing some of what I do distracts from this movie a bit. Apparently a lot of the stuff inside the White House is very accurate, while much of what happens outside of the House is fictionalized or at least stretched quite a bit. What's odd, is that I find the stuff outside more interesting than the realistic stuff. I really like the performances from Whitaker and Oyelowo, as father and son and their conflicting views on the world. On the contrary, I found a lot of these stuff in the White House to be boring and unnecessary in many cases. The biggest miss for me is the selection in actors to play the various Presidents. There are some odd choices to say the least and I almost feel it was done purposely just so we can say, "HEY, look, that's xxxxxx as President xxxxx". This was a mistake as I found myself wondering who was going to be the next President more than I cared about what was going to happen next. The only one of scenes that really works for me is a scene with Lyndon Johnson in the bathroom that had me laughing pretty hard, but overall this idea was really a miss and hurts the film.

    All that being said, there is more good here than bad and I do give it a recommend. Whitaker is solid and many of the performing roles are good, if not spectacular. Terrence Howard, Lenny Kravitz, and Cuba Gooding Jr. are almost always good on screen and that's no exception here. Oprah was getting some Best Supporting Actress love but after seeing this I think that's more for name recognition than anything else. She's really not a major character here, in my opinion at least. The movie has garnered a lot of comparisons to Forrest Gump in the way it focuses on a character over a period of time and how world events are seen through his eyes. I get the comparison but it really is different. I wanted a bit more and was somewhat let down, but still a decent watch. See it for Whitaker's performance if nothing else.

Mickster