Movies, movies, movies

I don’t know if anyone really cares what I think about movies, but I love the damn things and I love sharing my thoughts about them. So since it’s been a while let me recap what I’ve been watching as of late.

Black Caesar (1973) with Fred Williamson. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a fan of 70’s blaxploitation films. I’d wanted to see this one for a while. I was lucky enough to catch it recently on Retroplex (digital cable rules). The movie is a good solid yarn about Tommy Gibbs (Williamson), a Harlem kid who grows up to be Harlem’s big crime boss. The movie is book-ended by two scenes that tie the entire movie together. The opening scene is Tommy as a young boy and helping a hit go down on a local mobster. The closing scene is a wounded Tommy wandering into a rundown portion of Harlem and being confronted by a gang of young boys. The outcome is not happy and makes the impact of the movie that much greater. Check this one out.

The Departed (2006) with Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, etc. This movie has an all-star cast and an all-star director (Martin Scorsese). It’s a remake of the Japanese Infernal Affairs which itself has gotten rave reviews (I’ve yet to see it, but will soon). Damon is a dirty cop who works for the Irish mafia (led by Nicholson) and DiCaprio is the undercover cop sent in to bring Nicholson to justice.

The acting and directing were top notch. I’m a little indecisive on the ending. While I’m willing to spoil some movies that I know most folks won’t see, I’m sure most of you will end up watching this movie. I will say that I’m okay with the way the movie ended, but believe it would have been better without the righteous justice angle.

Also, there was a clue / potential plot device that was left totally unanswered. I’m not sure if it was done on purpose or whether no one really cared that the angle was left unanswered. It doesn’t spoil the movie, but it did leave me wondering why they didn’t return to it.

Regardless the movie was excellent and I heartily recommend it to anyone.

Stealth (2005) with Josh Lucas, Jamie Foxx and Jessica Biel. It’s about a sentient computer fighter plane. Kinda stupid (and that’s putting it nicely). Skip the entire movie except Jessica Biel in a swimsuit. I’ve never been a big fan of hers, but damn that girl can feel out a suit.

Inside Man (2006) with Clive Owen and Denzel Washington, directed by Spike Lee. This movie flat out rocks. Owen plots and executes the perfect bank robbery and Washington is the hostage negotiator who is trying to figure out just what the hell is really going on. This was one of my favorite movies of ’06 and seeing it again on DVD really reminded me how much I loved it. If you get a chance check this out!

A Scanner Darkly (2006) with Keanu Reeves, based on a Philip K. Dick short story. The movie itself looks great, but really didn’t knock me out of my seat. It was worth seeing just for how they filmed it but in the end it was a basic sci-fi flick. If you want to see a better movie based on something Philip K. Dick wrote, check out Blade Runner (based on his novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?). Now, that’s a mind-boggling flick.

Crank (2006) with Jason Statham. First of all, I love (heterosexual fan-boy love, that is) Jason Statham. He is the coolest mo-fo walking through Hollywood in the past 10 years (Clive Owen is the second coolest. Both blokes are British so what does that tell you about Hollywood). Statham was a fuckin’ genius in Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch and The Italian Job. He was a blast in the Transporter and Transporter 2 although the movies are marginal at the best. You can add Crank into the Transporter bunch. I liked it as a mind-numbing wasted of 90 minutes. If you are looking for something deep, go elsewhere.

Employee of the Month (2006) with Dane Cook, Dax Shepard and Jessica Simpson. Another mindless romantic comedy. I did laugh a few times, but will never watch it again.

Okay, enough for today. Later.