Tag Archives: Movies

The Count

5 February 2025 By in Movies Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror: In this 1922 silent film Count Orlok wishes to establish a new outpost in Germany and become acquainted with his real estate agent’s wife. He finds her neck lovely. The film is a fairly close adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but due to objections from the author’s family, the names and places were changed to avoid copyright infringement.

In modern times, this film might seem like a curiosity, but it remains essential viewing for true movie buffs. It stands in the pantheon of early film creators, possibly second only to Georges Méliès’ 1902 classic, Le Voyage dans la Lune (the rocket in the eye of the moon movie).

Both movies pioneered special effects, compelling storytelling, and other cinematic techniques that have been refined through the ages, creating a viewing experience still admired and appreciated today. Nosferatu shocks, sexualizes, and instills suspense to great effect. While it wasn’t the first horror movie (that honor likely goes to The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, released in 1920), it certainly captured the imaginations of viewers back in the roaring ’20s.

Trivia: The word “Nosferatu” originally comes from the Greek nosophoros, meaning “plague carrier.” Old Slavic languages retained this meaning, and it morphed into being synonymous with the undead or vampires in archaic Romanian. In Chapter 18 of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Professor Van Helsing states, “The Nosferatu do not die like the bee when he stings once.”

Genre: Horror

Directed by: F.W. Murnau

Screenplay by: Henrik Galeen

Music by: Hans Erdmann

Cast: Max Schreck, Gustav von Wangenheim, Greta Schroder

Film Location: Baltic Sea, Germany, Slovakia

ElsBob: 8.0/10

IMDb: 7.8/10

Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 97%

Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter: 87%

Metacritic Metascore: 79%

Metacritic User Score: 7.4/10

Theaters: 4 March 1922

Runtime: 65-94 minutes        

Budget: $

Box Office: $

Source: Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, Metacritic. Graphic: Count Orlok, Film Poster, Public Domain. Nosferatu Trailer.

Odysseus Cometh

29 January 2025 By in History, Movies Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

The Return: After 20 years of epic battles and mythical monsters, Odysseus (Ralph Fiennes) finally returns to Ithica—an island that seems more like a foreign land than his home. Time hasn’t been kind to our hero, and he’s got a mountain to climb to reclaim his place. Meanwhile, his devoted wife Penelope (Juliette Binoche) clings to hope, even as suitors swarm like wolves to sheep, eager to force her into an unwanted marriage. She faces a grim ultimatum: choose a new husband, or they’ll choose for her—and her son’s life hangs in the balance.

This film is a masterclass in staying true to the source material, with a fresh twist: Odysseus, the weary warrior, must navigate the perils of explaining his prolonged absence and wrestling with a hometransformed by time and neglect.

While the movie may not be packed with non-stop action, it more than compensates with stellar direction from Paolini and powerful performances from Fiennes and Binoche. One medium sized gripe: Fiennes’s tendency for soap operish dramatic pauses, which he also used in excess in “Conclave,” often exceeds the patience of viewers. When William Shatner’s dramatic word chop fades from memory Fiennes Alzheimer pause memes will pick up from that point forward.

Genre: Drama–Great Books–Suspense

Directed by: Uberto Pasolini

Screenplay by: John Coilee, Edward Bond, Uberto Pasolini

Music by: Rachel Portman

Cast: Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche

Film Location: Greece and Italy

ElsBob: 7.0/10

IMDb: 6.2/10

Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 77%

Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter: 76%

Metacritic Metascore: 67%

Metacritic User Score: 6.2/10

Theaters: 6 December 2024

Runtime: 116 minutes

Budget: $

Box Office: $899,575

Source: Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, Metacritic. Graphic: The Return Poster and Trailer, copyright Bleecker Street.

Iron Lion

22 January 2025 By in Movies Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Kraven the Hunter: Kraven (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) goes on a lion hunt led by his overbearing and unsympathetic widowed father (Russell Crowe). During the hunt, Kraven is fatally mauled by an almost mythic lion but is saved by a potion, mixed with some of the lion’s blood, given to him by a future voodoo priestess, Calypso. The serum grants Kraven superhuman strength, speed, and senses, which he uses to hunt criminals, poachers, and other enhanced baddies.

Kraven could have been a better film. It’s a 95-minute movie crammed into 127 minutes. The most serious flaws are the CGI effects, the ending, and an excess of unnecessary drama. The subpar CGI disrupts the immersion in an action-heavy movie, while the ending focuses too much on setting up sequels and spinoffs, detracting from the action scenes. Resolving his father issues would have served as a fitting end to the movie, but the writers were likely beholden or burdened by the suits on the business end of the studio lot.

Genre: Action—Adventure—Drama–Thriller

Directed by: J.C. Chandor

Screenplay by: Richard Wenk, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway

Music by: Benjamin Wallfisch, Evgueni Galperine, Sacha Galperine

Cast: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ariana DeBose, Russell Crowe

Film Location: Iceland, London, Scotland

ElsBob: 5.5/10

IMDb: 5.4/10

Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 16%

Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter: 74%

Metacritic Metascore: 35%

Metacritic User Score: 4.5/10

Theaters: 13 December 2024

Runtime: 127 minutes

Budget: $110-130 million

Box Office: $59.5 million

Source: Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, Metacritic. Graphic: Kraven the Hunter Trailer, copyright Sony.

Diamonds are Forever

15 January 2025 By in Movies Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Den of Thieves 2: Pantera: Big Nick (Gerard Butler) is tracking Donnie (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) through Europe, eventually catching up with him in Nice, France. There, Donnie and the Panther Mafia are plotting a seemly outrageous style heist at the city’s World Diamond Center. Nick, broke and tired, is eager to get a piece of the action.

Unlike the first Den of Thieves, this movie takes on a lighter, occasionally humorous tone. Big Nick dials down his badass-itude, though not entirely. The film focuses more on the meticulous planning of the heist than the actual event, reminiscent of the Mission: Impossible and Ocean’s film series.

The movie recreates, with creative license, the 2003 Antwerp Diamond Heist (Antwerp is the actual diamond center of the world), where $100 million in diamonds, gold, and other valuables were stolen. The heist was executed by a five-man team, four of whom were captured and imprisoned, but the loot was never recovered. The ringleader, Leonardo Notarbartolo, received a ten-year prison sentence, while his three captured accomplices were each sentenced to five years.

Trivia: The Panther Mafia in Den of Thieves is likely inspired and named after the real-life Pink Panthers, a network of international jewel thieves responsible for some of the world’s most daring and glamorous heists. The Pink Panthers were given their moniker by European police due to the similarities between their crimes and the antics in The Pink Panther film series. Art imitating reality in an unbroken circle.

Genre: Action—Crime—Drama–Thriller

Directed by: Christian Gudegast

Screenplay by: Christian Gudegast

Music by: Kevin Matley

Cast: Gerard Butler, O’Shea Jackson Jr.

Film Location: Canary Islands and United Kingdom

ElsBob: 7.0/10

IMDb: 6.6/10

Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 60%

Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter: 79%

Metacritic Metascore: 60%

Metacritic User Score: 6.8/10

Theaters: 10 January 2025

Runtime: 145 minutes

Budget: $40 million

Box Office: $21 million

Source: Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, Metacritic. Graphic: Den of Thieves 2: Pantera Poster and Trailer, copyright Lionsgate.

Don’t Stop Me Now

8 January 2025 By in Movies Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Venom: The Last Dance: Eddie (Tom Hardy) and Venom (Tom Hardy), together again, possibly for the last time, battle Symbiotes from Venom’s home planet of Klyntar. Supervillain Knull has sent the Symbiotes to collect Eddie and Venom’s Codex. The Codex will free Knull from his prison, originally created by the Symbiotes long ago. Now, they will help to release him. It’s complicated.

Tom Hardy and his symbiotic, parasitic alter-ego, Venom, make the movie worthwhile. Everything else feels like underemployed extras earning points for existing, about as entertaining as toothpaste attempting an exit from a spray bottle, except for Martin (Rhys Ifans). Martin was a fun diversion.

As with the first two movies, it is worthwhile sitting through the credits. Somewhere between the listing of Executive Producers, Producers, Producers of Second Worth, Producers of Wind, and the Second Gaffer from the Last Good Gaffer, there is a hint of what can be, unburdened by what has been—although Hardy has said maybe not never again, so what can be, may have to be burdened by what has been.

Trivia: “Don’t Stop Me Now”by Queen is played while Venom infests a horse and gallops, with Eddie riding on top, at incredible speed, to get to Area 51.

Genre: Action—Adventure–Comedy—Fantasy—Sci-Fi–Thriller

Directed by: Kelly Marcel

Screenplay by: Tom Hardy, Kelly Marcel

Music by: Dan Deacon

Cast: Tom Hardy, Rhys Ifans

Film Location: Cartagena, Spain

ElsBob: 6.0/10

IMDb: 6.0/10

Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 41%

Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter: 81%

Metacritic Metascore: 41%

Metacritic User Score: 5.9/10

Theaters: 21 October 2024

Runtime: 109 minutes

Budget: $120 million

Box Office: $476.4 million

Source: Screen Rant, Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, Metacritic. Graphic: Venom: The Last Dance Trailer, copyright Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures.

Looney Toons–Live Action

2 January 2025 By in Movies Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Kung Fu Hustle: Sing (Stephen Chow), seeking to transcend his timid nature and achieve greatness, attempts to join a 1940s-era criminal gang in Shanghai. Through much pain and failure, he ultimately discovers his true inner self.

The film is a superb achievement in comedy and special effects, referencing, one way or another, dozens of movies and animated features from the past. Looney Tunes takes a central position in the film, along with The Karate Kid, The Shining, Gone with the Wind, The Blues Brothers, The Godfather, The Hulk, countless martial arts movies, and the final scene tips its hat to The Matrix Reloaded with the zillion Agent Smiths attacking Neo-ahh-Sing.

James Gunn, director of the Guardians of the Galaxy series and the upcoming 2025 Superman release, told Allie Capp in 2021, “Although I can, on occasion, be prone to hyperbole, I say without it here: Kung Fu Hustle is the greatest film ever made.”

Genre: Action–Comedy–Crime—Fantasy–Martial Arts

Directed by: Stephen Chow

Screenplay by: Stephen Chow, Huo Xin, Chan Man-keung, Tsang Kan-cheung

Music by: Raymond Wong

Cast: Stephen Chan, Yuen Wah, Yuen Qiu, Eva Huang, Leung Siu-lung

Film Location: Shanghai, China

ElsBob: 8.0/10

IMDb: 7.7/10

Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 91%

Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter: 89%

Metacritic Metascore: 78%

Metacritic User Score: 8.1/10

Theaters: 23 December 2004

Runtime: 98 minutes  

Budget: $20 million

Box Office: $104.9 million

Source: Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, Metacritic. Capps Allie Capp, WGTC, 2021.Graphic: Kung Fu Hustle Trailer, 2004, copyright Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures.

Come and Get Your Love:

30 December 2024 By in Music Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment



In the opening credits of the 2014 Marvel movie Guardians of the Galaxy, Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), pops his Awesome Mix Vol. 1 into his Sony TPS-L2 Walkman, first released in 1979, and begins to dance and lip-sync on Morag, scooping up a lizard to use as a mic while grooving to the words of Redbone’s “Come and Get Your Love.”

In the 2017 sequel, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, during the opening credits, Baby Groot reprises the dancing role while the rest of the Guardians battle a big and nasty monster, with ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky” blasting in the background.

“Come and Get Your Love,” originally titled “Hail” and released in 1974, was Redbone’s most successful song, reaching #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and going Gold in the U.S. and Platinum in the U.K. The song was included on the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack, which reached #1 on the Billboard 200 for 2 weeks in August 2014.

Trivia: Beginning around the 3:15 mark in the video, the phrase “mehohta naa hekotahestotse” is written above a picture of the band members. While I’m not entirely sure of the language and its translation, it appears to be Cheyenne, meaning “I am happy to meet you.”

Source: Come and Get Your Love, RedboneVEVO by Juan E Bedolla, 2019.

Madness

17 December 2024 By in Movies Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Don Q: Little Italy in lower Manhattan needs a new Boss. Skateboarders, incompetent waiters, and macho Chinese boyfriends are everywhere, upsetting the idyllic life of the residents. Don Q (Armand Assante), disavowing his drug-controlled sanity, sets out to reclaim his neighborhood from the incorrigible and unwashed, adopting a mafia persona inspired by his vast library of mobster novels and mafioso crime books.

An almost original movie, it catalogs the great cost of a delusional life, not only to oneself but also for those around him, all on the lighter side without becoming preachy. The film is a masterpiece in storytelling—funny, sad, frustrating, if not downright maddening, which is likely the not-so-subtle point of the plot. And the ending is absolutely Hitchcockian; a finish of ambiguity and unease. Schizophrenic, actually.

“Don Q” and the early 17th-century Spanish comedic novel “Don Quixote” share a commonality of delusion and a desire to protect those they perceive as vulnerable. Don Quixote sees himself as a chivalrous knight on a quest to defend the helpless, while Don Q envisions himself as a powerful mob boss with a mission to control and safeguard his community.

Trivia: Armand Assante, of Italian/Irish descent, played John Gotti, the Gambino crime boss, in the 1996 HBO TV film “Gotti,” winning a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor for his performance. Within the family and the organization, Gotti was referred to as Boss, while to the outside world, he was known as the Godfather.

Genre: Comedy–Crime–Drama

Directed by: Claudio Bellante

Screenplay by: Claudio Bellante, Michael Domino

Music by: Jeremy Adelman

Cast: Armand Assante, Federico Castelluccio, Chuck Zito

Film Location: Little Italy, Manhattan, NYC

ElsBob: 6.0/10

IMDb: 4.7/10

Rotten Tomatoes Critics: –%

Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter: –%

Metacritic Metascore: –%

Metacritic User Score: –/10

Theaters: 1 November 2024

Runtime: 84 minutes  

Budget: —

Box Office: —

Source: Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, Metacritic. Graphic: Don Q Poster and Trailer, copyright Archstone Entertainment.

A Moral Dilemma

11 December 2024 By in Movies Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Juror 2: Justin Kemp (Nicholas Hoult) is chosen as one of twelve jurors to decide the fate of a defendant accused of homicide, only to discover that his thumb-up, thumb-down decision transcends the trial itself; like free will, suffering is woven into the fabric of our existence.

Clint Eastwood’s movies typically deliver entertainment with plots that resolve in the great American tradition of truth, justice, and apple pie. This film is different. It’s a story where past mistakes lead to present agony and future pain.

This is a thought-provoking movie, brilliantly portrayed by Hoult. Very little staging or action is needed to polish it into a complete piece. My only quibble is that the moral predicament would resolve itself if the protagonist were fully aware of his actions when they occurred. But then there would be no plot.

Genre: Crime-Drama-Suspense-Legal Thriller-Psychological Thriller

Directed by: Clint Eastwood

Screenplay by: Jonathan Abrams

Music by: Mark Mancina

Cast: Nicholas Hoult, Toni Collette, J.K. Simmons, Kiefer Sutherland

Film Location: Savannah, Georgia and Los Angeles

ElsBob: 6.5/10

IMDb: 7.1/10

Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 93%

Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter: 91%

Metacritic Metascore: 72%

Metacritic User Score: 7.4/10

Theaters: 1 November 2024

Runtime: 114 minutes

Budget: ~$35 million

Box Office: $18.8 million

Source: Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, Metacritic. Graphic: Juror 2 Poster and Trailer, copyright Warner Bros. Pictures.

Lighter Fare

13 November 2024 By in Movies Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Monster Summer: Martha’s Vineyard of the 90s, a summer haven for kids of all ages having fun until a zombie virus begins to infect Noah’s (Thames) friends, draining their spirits down to their souls. Noah, suspecting foul play, recruits the town’s curmudgeon, Gene (Gibson), a retired detective, to help solve the mystery.

Monster Summer, not far removed from the 2006 animated Monster House, shows that facing one’s fears are better than hiding from the unknown and, in the process, discovering friendships that will last a lifetime.

The movie is a children’s film that requires a kid’s heart and a warm spot for Mel Gibson’s irreverent humor and unfortunate script to fully enjoy, even for the old and grey.

Genre: Adventure—Kids–Suspense

Directed by: David Henri

Screenplay by: Cornelius Uliano, Bryan Schulz

Music by: Frederik Wiedmann

Cast: Mason Thames, Mel Gibson

Film Location: North Carolina, USA

ElsBob: 6.5/10

IMDb: 5.8/10

Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 59%

Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter: 84%

Metacritic Metascore: 53%

Metacritic User Score: -/10

Theaters: 4 October 2024

Runtime: 97 minutes  

Source: Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb, Metacritic.Graphic: Monster Summer Movie Poster, copyright Pastime Pictures.