DAMIEN RILEY | World Music | HQ Blog

A beleaguered teacher who becomes a meth dealer, now there’s an idea for a series! At this point, I’m not sure who hasn’t seen Breaking Bad. If you haven’t, I’ll give you quick run-down on why I think it’s a great watch.

[imdblive:id(tt4981636)]

[imdblive:title_nolink]

Cast

[imdblive:cast_nolink]

Directed by

[imdblive:directors_nolink]

Written by

[imdblive:writers_nolink]

Other Info

[imdblive:genres]
[imdblive:certificate]
[imdblive:date]
[imdblive:runtime]min
IMDB Rating: [imdblive:rating]

Walt is nothing like me. I’m a 4th grade teacher, he’s a high school chemistry teacher. He’s unhappy in his married, I’m quite happy. The one thing he has going for him that I identify with is the desire for something better. He wants better healthcare and instead of waiting for the union to come through for him, he takes the situation into his own hands.

Through the course of a few episode he becomes a meth maker and small time distributor. The drama follows that as well as the rapidly deterioration of his marriage. His wife is a total bitch. I can’t really blame him for wanting to get out f the house. She dreams up ideas that he should do and then forces him into them. You get the fleeting notion from time to time there was once something between them but as for the now, the marriage is on its last leg.

Walt partners up with an ex-student Jesse who knows the street smarts of the game. Between the two of them they rake in cash along with mounds of trouble. It seems the more they make, the closer they come to being caught or killed. They have adventures involving local drug rings and you get to see the dark side of all that.

In conclusion, this show has a lot of cool action sequences and certainly some well-written drama. Still, it also has a lot of dry episodes where literally nothing happens except that the cactus grows. If you ca hang in there through these episodes, the story is great and enjoyable up until the final episode. I recommend it as an excellent binge watch.

Nicolas Cage in a comedy based on a true story about a guy who goes to hunt Bin Laden? Hmm, I said to myself when I heard that. This one is about 2 steps removed from reality in the way Nacho Libre is. It’s entertaining because it’s ridiculous.

[imdblive:id(tt4981636)]

[imdblive:title_nolink]

Cast

[imdblive:cast_nolink]

Directed by

[imdblive:directors_nolink]

Written by

[imdblive:writers_nolink]

Other Info

[imdblive:genres]
[imdblive:certificate]
[imdblive:date]
[imdblive:runtime]min
IMDB Rating: [imdblive:rating]

Nicolas Cage plays this guy who has bad kidneys, works as a part-time construction worker, and is obsessed with his mission from God. He needs dialysis a couple of times a week and if he doesn’t get it, he hallucinates. In the film, God is played by Russell Brand which is kind of fitting in the most ironic way possible. I always picture Brand barefoot talk 100 words a second. That’s about what they made him look like as God.

Cage’s love interest, Wendi McLendon-Covey from the Goldbergs and Reno 911, does a great job of falling for him. Their relationship is innocent and she can’t put any expectations on him because he’s just an impulsive freak. Still, there are some touching moments between them. Their relationship is a lot of fun to watch in this film while other parts maybe aren’t so much.

I think the scenes in Pakistan are my favorite. That’s when the movie puts it money where its mouth is. After all, you are now in a different country watching him and everything looks like you really are in Pakistan. The best scene in this setting has to be when he hang-glides down from the mountains in a red white and Blue flag hang glider.

This is a bad movie, make no mistake. I had a chuckle or two because it was an assignment for my podcast discussion group. Having said that, there is something special about directors and movies that just don’t care about appeal. I thought Nacho Libre was in that category. It’s one to laugh at in its incredulity. This is one you will laugh about and share at the thanksgiving table. I only hope for your family’s sake you have no access to play it for anyone.

I love watching a film I know hardly anything about that has mediocre scores on Rotten Tomatoes and that surprises the hell out of me to be on my best films of the year list. Watching the Accountant was like that for me.

The rest of this review may contain spoilers

This is a film of two worlds: 1) a history and upbringing of an autistic boy and 2) The path of adulthood and a career for that boy after becoming a man. As it turns out, high functioning autistic people make ingenious accountants. Ben Affleck is this man and he is so good, many underground crime bosses use him to “uncook” their books. Let me reiterate, he is really good at it.

We are catapulted from stories of his youth where his father mercilessly trains him to fight a exist alone to his life as a criminal accountant who’s cool as a cucumber. If you heard he was doing well and not getting caught year after year, you might think to yourself, “Ok, so what’s the problem. This guy has it made.” Wrong. There are some real issues that would prevent the average person from being happy in his shoes. First, he can’t have relationships. His autism gives him tunnel vision and he is literally unable to walk away from projects. He attempts a relationship with Anna Kendrick but it never really pans out because of his disorder. In more than one way, it gets in the way.

In this film we see what Affleck’s character can do as a result of his father’s horrifying training. He is a machine when it comes to fighting. He is able to see details no one else does and this makes him not only an accounting weapon but also what we might call a para-military soldier and killer.

So, these are just some if the amazingly creative particulars written into this gem of a film. Affleck is at the top of his game. There are many shoot-em-ups from which he generally emerges victorious. I loved every minute of this film. They say people with autism are on a different level than the rest of us. This film shows that shouldn’t be looked down on. Someone with autism, trained in this way, could save the world. Would he be happy though? The jury’s still out.

This Jerry Bruckheimer production truly “brings it.” On the heels of Pirates of the Carribean, this mega-producer was able to produce another highly entertaining Summer swashbuckler for Disney. It is partially based on the popular video game of the same name.

[imdblive:id(tt0473075)]

[imdblive:title_nolink]

Cast

[imdblive:cast_nolink]

Directed by

[imdblive:directors_nolink]

Written by

[imdblive:writers_nolink]

Other Info

[imdblive:genres]
[imdblive:certificate]
[imdblive:date]
[imdblive:runtime]min
IMDB Rating: [imdblive:rating]

Jake Gyllenhaal (Jake from here on out) plays Dastan, a street rat who becomes a prince. Sound familiar? No, actually other than that there are no parallels to Alladin. He obtains a dagger that is able to rewind time one minute in duration. Naturally everyone wants this dagger so he must keep it safe. Gemma Arterton is the beautiful princess who is charged with the task of getting it back from him. Dastan wrongly believes she wants HIM and not the dagger, as every prince probably would, but he is mistaken. Their romantic comedy banter back and forth is some of my favorite stuff from this film.

There are a couple of actor heavyweights in the film as: Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina. They bring a stoic feeling to the film. Both are very physical in the film, along with Jake. They appear to do many of their own stunts including Alfred Molina’s harrowing scene when he kisses an ostrich. I understand these are mean animals and yet, they manage to be ridden in the film without the use of CGI. Quite amazing if you asked me.

The film looks like a sword and sandal epic but feels just short of it at times. It isn’t a bad movie but it’s not as good as The Gods of Egypt or The 300. The story is a bit complex and I think could have been more engaging if it were whittled down and simplified a bit. Despite poor reviews and some stale audience periods, It did gross over 300 million dollars so something definitely is there that kept people swiping their cards and slapping down bills at the box office. I would recommend this film for fans of Jake or possibly the video game (I’ve never played it) but ony after you’ve seen everything else he’s done. I think you’ll find it a lot of fun in a branched off performance for him.

I published four reviews on ‘Riley on Film’ last week. My impressions ranged from “This is a character study in evil” to “why was this made?” You’ll find the posters below. click on each one you want to read my review of. the inly one I can’t recommend is ‘Elvis and Nixon.’ Read why. The other 3 are amazing films and I recommend them.

Starring: Michael Shannon, Kevin Spacey, Alex Pettyfer, Johnny Knoxville, Colin Hanks, Evan Peters, Sky Ferreira, Tracy Letts, Tate Donovan, Ashley Benson
Genres: Comedy, History
Directed By: Liza Johnson
Studio: Bleecker Street Media/Amazon
MPAA Rating
R

I agree it’s out of the ordinary that a rock icon and a President met in the White House Oval Office. I don’t agree it was extraordinary enough to make a feature-length film, Elvis and Nixon, about the meeting. Only the cast is impressive but their talent is wasted on a piss poor script.

On other matters, the casting is not even remotely fitting. Kevin Spacey doesn’t have the demeanor nor the voice of Nixon and Michael Shannon as Elvis is about as arresting as his one Karate move he shares a few times.

This is an Amazon film that many critics are shocked was made at all. It was a ridiculous way to spend a couple of hours but there is nothing clever or shocking to share about it. Can I just ask why was Michael Shannon, one of my favorite actors, playing a supposed based on a true story narrative of Elvis? These guys belong together in a Superman movie but not this.

I really can’t recommend this film. Whatever it set out to do was a mystery so I can’t say it achieved its goal. If this is the quality we are to expect from Amazon films, I’ll be wary of what I select.