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This modern day telling of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer starts a little slow but once the wheels start rolling, it has an understated humor I found quite funny. It’s been compared to Wes Anderson films though Id say it’s not that dry. It’s a well developed and clever that works in an entertaining way.

Band of Robbers

“Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn are grown men, still searching for the hidden treasure that has eluded them since childhood.” -IMDB

Cast

Kyle Gallner Huck Finn
Adam Nee Tom Sawyer
Matthew Gray Gubler Joe Harper
Hannibal Buress Ben Rogers

Directed by

Aaron Nee, Adam Nee

Written by

Aaron Nee, Adam Nee

Other Info

Adventure, Comedy, Crime, Thriller
NC16
2015
95min
IMDB Rating: 6.0

Band of Robbers is a crime comedy movie written and directed by brothers Aaron and Adam Nee. In this modern-day retelling, the two iconic rascals are grown up and small-time crooks still searching for the fabled Murrell’s treasure that has eluded them since childhood. The story draws heavily from Twain’s classic novels, including characters, plot twists and even dialogue.

Though it comes off as low budget, the writing is excellent which helped me get into it. One of the coolest features was seeing modern day adaptations of Mark Twain’s characters like Becky Thatcher (a cop) and Injun Joe.

Final Thoughts
If you enjoy Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer, you may really enjoy this silly film. While highly entertaining, I felt the characters were a bit too difficult to relate with. It’s probably because they took the Huck Finn/Tom Sawyer idea very seriously. For that reason, I did enjoy it but it lost some points with me. This film is streaming on Netflix and Amazon Prime. Go watch it them come back and tell me what you think. I’d love to read you take on this film.

6/10

Almost Famous is now streaming on Amazon Prime. There’s a scene at the beginning of this film where the macro lens fixes on a turntable as the needle lowers on the Who’s “Tommy.” It’s so f***ing cool I want to eat pralines and cream ice cream every time I watch it. That just happens to be my favorite flavor, please imagine yours and you’ll probably get what I mean. This film is a breed apart. I can’t criticize much about it. It’s one of the great ones in my collection, what else can I say?

Almost Famous

“A high-school boy is given the chance to write a story for Rolling Stone Magazine about an up-and-coming rock band as he accompanies them on their concert tour.” -IMDB

Cast

Billy Crudup Russell Hammond
Patrick Fugit William Miller
Kate Hudson Penny Lane
Frances McDormand Elaine Miller

Directed by

Cameron Crowe

Written by

Cameron Crowe

Other Info

Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Music
R
Fri 22 Sep 2000 UTC
162min
IMDB Rating: 7.9

Director Cameron Crowe was born in 1957 and went to school in San Diego, California, USA. In the opening sequence you see the young writer William Miller (Patrick Fugit) with his mother (Frances McDormand) in 1969 walking down the streets of San Diego. That little writer is Crowe! At least, that’s what I suspect. Crowe has done so many amazing films, I’ll always see another pinnacle as the indubitable Jerry Macguire. Almost Famous is my favorite work of his to date.

Actor Patrick Fugit does a phenomenal job as an underage kid and writing prodigy basically sneaking on tour in the 70’s with a rock band, Stillwater. It’s a coming of age story about rock and roll and love on tour with a band. How f***ing cool is that? It makes me wonder what it would have been like to go on tour with REM in the 80’s. I’m 12 years younger than Crowe so my musical influences are from a bit later. That reminds me, the late Philip Seymour Hoffman plays a thirty something music critic and his lines are the stuff of pure genius. He contends rock is dead.

The story continues to introduce Kate Hudson as a 16 year old roadie who William takes up with and falls in love. H elearns so much about rock and love from her. She is one of the best actors in the film. There is an older brother type rock hero role played by Billy Crudup. Mostly we find out the decadent stupidity of fame from what he does and says but it’s well played of course. In the end lessons are learned, hearts are broken, stomachs are pumped, and rock marches on.

My favorite scene is when the band and their entourage almost crash in their plane and the things they say thinking they are about to die are side-splitting as well as revealing.

FINAL THOUGHTS
I can’t think of a film like this because it is so thick with music and amazing actors. You really do go on tour with Stillwater. You experience it all. It’s like Pink Floyd’s the wall but with a professional dramatic screenplay of which you can discern the dialogue. I will always worship this film because it’s what I stand for: rock and roll and writing. Oh, one issue I have: too many Elton John songs: they don’t fit. One would be ok but not 4.

10/10

This is a combined 2 podcast audio post. I interviewed the amazing Movierob, fellow blog critic and mentor from a distance :) Here are the interviews back to back. Pour youself a cup of coffee this a two hour show! :)

It’s full of good information and entertaining stuff as well if you’re a move fan or blog fim critic. This is an expecially good episode for blog film critics who are just starting out. Blogging can see like a maze at first. Movierob share valuable insights to help.

Indiana Jones may not care that the Ark is a radio for speaking to God but he sure wants to discover it. All his life as an archaeologist, no find has been as significant as this Ark of the Covenant mentioned in Biblical writ. The trouble is, Hitler wants it too and he’ll stop at nothing to kill anyone who stands in the way of him getting it.

Raiders of the Lost Ark

“Archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis.” -IMDB

Cast

Harrison Ford Indy
Karen Allen Marion Ravenwood
Paul Freeman Dr. René Belloq
John Rhys-Davies Sallah

Directed by

Steven Spielberg

Written by

Lawrence Kasdan, George Lucas

Other Info

Action, Adventure
PG
Fri 12 Jun 1981 UTC
115min
IMDB Rating: 8.5

Steven Spielberg directed this film. If you know E.T. or Close Encounters of the Third Kind, you know his phenomenal talent. If you’re too young to recognize these films, I urge you to go out and see them today along with anything else you can get your hands on by Speilberg.

Raiders of the Lost Ark represents freedom to make a “fun” movie like you dreamed of as a kid. He had the success behind him to make this film and it delighted millions, still does.

In between all the comic book excitement, there is a love story. Karen Allen plays Indy’s love interest and she does a great job. It’s great to see an independent spirit like Indy be bridled by romantic love. It reminds that it gets to the best of us. The stunts are also amazing and those along with the “Oohs and Ahhs” of his archaeological finds make this an incredibly entertaining film. It has its own ride at Disneyland Anaheim but really, all you need is Amazon Prime right now to have the ride of your life.

FINAL THOUGHTS
The famous scene when Indy replaces the gold head artifact with a bag of sand, the rolling ball that nearly decapitates him, the opening of the ark, and so many other visual moments make this film a gem today. Probably the coolest thing is the acting talent of Harrison Ford. He IS Indiana Jones. He lives in the part and it’s attractive to the viewer like moths are attracted to a flame.

This film is now streaming on Amazon Prime. After you like my post and leave me a comment about this film, watch it!

10/10

NOW streaming on Netflix! My review linked below. Check it out, leave me a comment. Thx.