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SawyerJohson
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Vice (2018)
Could been so easy...
As a "liberal" myself I walked into this movie with high expectations. For the director, McKay's The Big Short was a pretty solid movie... Christian Bale is always exceptional... And don't get me wrong, he's great in this too, but it's all... contorted. Kind of funny to say that for a movie...
For me growing up, there was nothing more sinister than Cheney... He would in turn become to be known as the real life Emperor to our real life Darth Vader... But not so fast... Unlike in Star Wars, Cheney is you know, like a real person... And unlike the Emperor in Star Wars, this movie has to answer... Who is Cheney... In Star Wars we just have to see the bad guy laugh maniacally... and say things like "Good... Good." But in Vice... we have to answer the question, who is Cheeny, and I'm afraid that despite some effort, I didn't feel I knew him any better than before I saw the movie... In fact, despite the films biased efforts... I did actually end up liking him more. Not because the film does much to portray his duality, but because I was so irritated with the actors breaking the fifth wall and telling me how to feel.
It had the opposite effect.
Rockwell playing W. I'm sure there is some truth to it... But W wasn't a bumbling fool, always talking about baseball, always eating chicken wings. Rockwell is fine... He even looks like W and sounds like him. But there's not a lot going on inside that mask.
The movie goes onto to become quite boring. Powell becomes the most interesting character... Rumsfield, too, I've seen Rumsfield in interviews... Correll really knocks it out of the park.
The most interesting part of the movie is also the most complicated and seems out of place. When the United States goes into Iraq, based off of "intelligence" and ends up turning a two bit drug dealer into a martyr for the Middle East... the film gets more interesting for a moment. Now, I was thinking, that's the kind of movie I want to see.
Sure, Vice has its moments... But, just give me an objective film based off of facts but not a costume comedy, which tells me how to feel.
Cheney could have easily been great and just OK
Kid West (2017)
Solid Kids Movie
Good action, fun story, some decent special effects: fire, a truck jump, BMX bikers, sling shots, a variety of characters. Movie kept my attention, not bad for something I just came across by accident!
We watched this on Am Prime
Characters were cute and relatable. Writing was solid, obviously crafted with someone who understands story. The girl who plays the main character, Mary Bair, was really fun, kind of made the whole movie. A lot of other fun little parts. Movie opens with Kid West saving a stolen puppy from bullies. My kid was glued to the TV after that. Movie has some surprising twists as well, with some notable faces, Bruce Bohne, i recognized from all sorts of other huge movies. Overall, highly suggested!
The Fighter (2010)
Revisiting best pictures from the past
After seeing ALL of the nominees for 2019 and being somewhat underwhelmed, in some cases completely perplexed, I decided to go back and take a look at some best pictures of the past...
I guess movies were so much better in 2010, that I took this one fore granted... By 2010 standards it's a 9, maybe 8.5. By 2019 standards, it's an 11.
Based off a remarkable true story, about a once prominent light weight turned crack head, and his down trodden brother, who's lost three fights in a row. The Fighter creates an Irish slum in a forgotten American nowhere...
Now, the family, you know, it's complicated. They stay together, even when they shouldn't... They support each other, even though the patriarch is a crack addict. But I guess when you knock down Sugar Ray Leonard, you can do whatever you want.
Acting is superb, played with gravity. The writing is just right... It's a movie, which feels too brief, that has no small parts. Each character in the family in unique and well played. While watching, I sometimes wish my family could be more like this and then other times, thanked God that my family is nothing like this one...