Bill & Ted Face The Music (2020)

If there was ever a film that I was looking for a sequel for it was the Bill & Ted Franchise of the late 80's and early 90's. In 1989, we were brought on a time travelling adventure with Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure which featured a young Keanu Reeves (Knock Knock) and a young Alex Winter (The Lost Boys) as two San Dimas, Californians with dreams of making it big as rock stars. They returned in 1991 for the sequel Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey where they had to make it through hell and a game with death to save the world. Well, it's 29 years later and they have returned with Bill & Ted Face The Music which was directed by Dean Parisot (Fun With Dick and Jane). Older and not much wiser, they have been chipping away at trying to fulfill a destiny that was given to them, but with kids and their marriages on the rocks, they are told they don't have much time to save the world with the song that will unite them all. The film also stars Samara Weaving (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) as Thea,  Brigette Lundy-Paine (Downsizing) as Billie, Kristen Schaal (Toy Story 4) as Kelly, William Sadler (Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey) as Death, Anthony Carrigan (Barry) as Dennis Caleb McCoy, Erinn Hayes (Children's Hospital) as Elizabeth, Jayma Mays (Red Eye) as Joanna, Hal Landon Jr. (Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure) as Chief Logan, Amy Stoch (Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey) as Missy, Beck Bennett (Sing) as Deacon, Jillian Bell (22 Jump Street) as Dr. Taylor Wood, and Holland Taylor (Keeping The Faith) as the Great Leader.

One of the things that worked for this film is that they didn't try to mix up the formula or install new humor to try and make it hip, they went with what worked before and they ran with it. I have to say that I absolutely loved this film from the beginning all the way to the end because it was a Bill & Ted movie that delivered with a great message of unity as one no matter what race, sex, or creed that you may be and that is exactly what we need in this day and age with all the madness that is happening. I was actually impressed that the make up department did a great job making Keanu Reeves finally look his age for once because that man does not age whatsoever. I was definitely shocked at the sight of it but tons of kudos to them and for the various looks we received throughout the film. I was definitely impressed with Weaving and Lundy-Paine, but Lundy-Paine was the real star of the show as far as the kids and don't get me wrong cause Weaving was great too, but Lundy fit more the part of one of their kids. I loved the fact that they brought back Chief Logan and Missy, it brought back some nostalgia for us long time fans of the franchise, but this movie would have not been what it was without William Sadler who once again appeared as Death. Everything about his performance was excellent and mix that with Anthony Carrigan and it just gets better. I had so much fun watching this film and I recommend it to anyone that loves comedy or the franchise so therefore I am giving the film an A- for a final grade.

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind (2004)

I was searching through Netflix trying to find something different for today to watch when I came across a film that stars legendary comedian Jim Carrey (Dark Crimes) who for a brief period of time started to branch out into different genres than comedy. The one that I chose for today is a film that I have been meaning to see, but never had the chance to in 2004's Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind which was written and directed by Michel Gondry (Be Kind Rewind). The film stars Carrey as introvert Joel Barish who seems to have it good until he finds out that his girlfriend had her memory erased to try and forget about him. Confused as to why she would do that, he undergoes the procedure just to figure out that maybe things were not as good as they seemed. The film also stars Kate Winslet (Steve Jobs) as Clementine Kruczynski, Elijah Wood (The Lord Of The Rings) as Patrick, Mark Ruffalo (Avengers: Endgame) as Stan, Kirsten Dunst (The Virgin Suicides) as Mary, Tom Wilkinson (The Full Monty) as Dr. Mierzwiak, David Cross (Kung Fu Panda 2) as Rob, Jane Adams (Happiness) as Carrie, Thomas Jay Ryan (The Book Of Life) as Frank, Deirdre O'Connell (St. Vincent) as Hollis, and Gerry Robert Byrne (Gangs Of New York) as Train Conductor. 

I have to be honest in saying that I actually enjoyed this film and while it may not be the best film of all time, it has a lot of good moments and it's a little thought provoking too. I mean think about it for a minute, how many times have we gone through bad break ups to the point that the thought of someone makes you sick and you wonder why you can't forget about the person. This film gives you the idea of what if it was possible to erase someone out of your head forever, would you go through the procedure yourself? I often wonder that very thought myself considering the relationship that I find myself in as well, but the moral of the story is don't do it because every experience is a learning tool. I thought Jim Carrey was great in this film playing the opposite of Winslet's character who was eccentric, but it's when they are in his head that the film gets exciting and the both of them shine all the way through. In fact, I thought everyone in the film did a fantastic job from Frodo playing a creep, getting an early glimpse of Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, and a good performance from Kirsten Dunst. I loved the cinematography and how they played with the frames during the dream sequences so the special effects team deserves some kudos as well. Like I said, this was overall a pretty good film that features a wild concept and some really good acting so you should check it out on Netflix right now. I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade. 

MILF (2018)

The film that I chose for today is one of those examples of not knowing what to watch and because you're so bored you'll click on anything which can go in any direction if you think about it. The film that I chose for today was the exact opposite of what I thought it was going to be as I checked out 2018's foreign film MILF which was directed by and stars Axelle Laffont (Jeanne and the Perfect Guy) as Elise. Three women in their forties decide to go on vacation while one of them closes a long chapter in her life. While on the vacation, they spark up relationships with three younger guys that opens their eyes to what really matters. The film also stars  Marie-Josée Croze (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly) as Sonia, Virginie Ledoyen (The Beach) as Cécile, Waël Sersoub (In The Shadow Of Iris) as Paul, Matthias Dandois as Julian, Victor Meutelet (Alex Hugo) as Markus, Rémi Pedevilla (Escape From Raqqa) as Thomas, Florence Thomassin (A Very Long Engagement) as Christine, Jéromine Chasseriaud (Summer Crush) as Louise, Mitty Hazanavicius (Addict) as Nina, Pauline Bression (Plus belle la vie) as Maya, Claude Attia (A View Of Love) as M. Layrac,  and Anne-Marie Ponsot (The Horseman On The Roof) as Mme Layrac.

As I said above, this film was nothing like what I thought it was going to be. I thought I was going to get some zany sex comedy especially with the title MILF so you can't really blame me there. What do you get is some a romance, drama, and comedy film that looks at a bunch of middle aged women who decided to let their guards down for some young men who made them feel young, but in reality their not really looking for a relationship. Well at least one of them wasn't, but there's nothing really revolutionary about the writing in the film because it played out exactly the way I thought it was going to. I am not saying that this was a bad film, but all I am saying is that it was just quite predictable and that really shouldn't be that surprising with these types of films. It would have been cool for them to throw in a monkey wrench, but sometimes you just have to play it safe. There's not much that I want to say other than what I have. There is some really good cinematography and the scenery is amazing, but whatever you do do not turn on the subtitles because the overdub is saying the opposite of the subtitles and that was annoying. Other than that, I am going to go ahead and give the film an B for a final grade.

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)

Having seen Zac Efron in the film Scoob! yesterday, I wanted to explore more of his catalog because Zac has impressed me over the years with his film choices. There was quite some buzz in 2019 when it was announced that Zac was going to play real life serial killer Ted Bundy and I am finally getting the chance to see the film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile on Netflix for today's film and the film was directed by Joe Berlinger (Metallica: Some Kind Of Monster). The film stars Lily Collins (Okja) as Liz Kendall, the longtime girlfriend of Ted Bundy who for a long time was in denial that her man was a serial killer, but the film chronicles everything through her eyes as she has to eventually come to grips. The film also stars Angela Sarafyan (Westworld) as Joanna, James Hetfield as Officer Bob Hayward, Grace Victoria Cox (Twin Peaks) as Carol Daronch, Jeffrey Donovan (Villains) as Utah Defense Attorney John O'Connell, Alan B. Jones (White Boy Rick) as Utah Judge Stewart Hanson, Dylan Baker (Road To Perdition) as Utah Prosecutor David Yocom, Kaya Scodelario (The Maze Runner) as Carole Ann Boone, Haley Joel Osment (Tusk) as Jerry, John Malkovich (In The Line Of Fire) as Judge Edward D. Cowart, and Brian Geraghty (The Hurt Locker) as Florida Public Defender Dan Dowd.

You could definitely tell from watching this film that director Joe Berlinger came from the documentary world because there were lots of those elements as far as how the story was told. I thought he did an amazing job bringing this film to life and I thought he handled most of it well as far as how much was shown. I thought for the most part they did a great job casting with Zac Efron and all the different looks he had all those times, but Zac made Ted Bundy way too good looking then he actually was. I think that was a problem that a lot of people had with the film, but at the same time they did say that Ted was a real charmer and women liked him so maybe the casting choice wasn't wrong at all. He definitely knocked it out of the park with his acting and a lot of credit also goes to some of the other actors that were in this film and there was way too many to mention in this article. They all did their part in bringing this film to life and Lily Collins did an amazing job playing a woman that really struggled with the idea of whether or not Ted was lying to her or not. You could feel the tension that it created in this film in certain scenes for sure and that was what kept me glued. I definitely think this is a film worth checking out from a historical standpoint because this scumbag was real and the crimes he committed were real as well. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.

Scoob! (2020)

When movie theaters were still a thing in the world before the attack of Covid-19, one of the trailers I remember watching was for a new Scooby Doo film and I have loved Scooby ever since I was a kid. Unfortunately, Covid came and I didn't know when we were going to be able to see this until it landed on demand and Redbox and now for today we are checking out Scoob! which was directed by Tony Cervone (Space Jam). The film touched a little upon how Shaggy and Scooby came to meet and how the team became Mystery Inc., but years later Scooby and the gang are on a greater mission to stop a dastardly villain from releasing the ancient Cerberus while Scooby realizes that he is destined for something greater. The film stars Will Forte (Booksmart) as Shaggy, Gina Rodriguez (Jane The Virgin) as Velma, Zac Efron (High School Musical) as Fred, Amanda Seyfried (Alpha Dog) as Daphne, Frank Welker (The Transformers: The Movie) as Scooby-Doo, Mark Wahlberg (Spencer Confidential) as Blue Falcon, Ken Jeong (The Hangover) as Dynomutt, Kiersey Clemons (Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising) as Dee Dee, Jason Isaacs (Harry Potter and The Chamber Of Secrets) as Dick Dastardly, Tracy Morgan (Top Five) as Captain Caveman, Simon Cowell as Simon Cowell, and Billy West (Space Jam) as Muttley.

I was actually very pleasantly surprised by the overall film to the point that I think I would invite a sequel if that became an option. Better yet, I would be open to a Hanna-Barbera universe if they were to create one because I loved seeing Captain Caveman and many of the other characters that appear in the film as Easter Eggs and some special cameos. I absolutely loved all of the voice acting in the film, I thought everyone did a superb job with their tasks and funny enough I did not know that Zac Efron was Fred the whole entire film until the very end. The only person that I didn't really enjoy to be honest was Mark Wahlberg and it's only because I kept thinking that he was channeling Ryan Reynolds the whole entire film and maybe that is not his fault 100% because the character was very similar to Deadpool as far as the way they interact (and that's all that is similar) to others like being fun loving and carefree of responsibility. So while that may not be all his fault, I thought Ryan Reynolds would have been better in the film. Other than that, I didn't really think there was much wrong with the film, there were some predictable things, but other than that it was really fun. One thing that I thought was funny, but it was risque was Dastardly's interaction with Scooby the first time he tells him his name. I thought it was risque because kids would watch it, but I think it was humor thrown in for the folks. They play homage to the original Scooby Doo series right in the beginning which earned brownie points from me and it's an overall fun movie to watch. I am going to give it an B+ for a final grade.

We Die Young (2019)

After the film that I watched yesterday, it left a very bad taste in my mouth so I needed some redemption for Jean-Claude Van Damme (Knock Off) and So I trusted in him to try out another film on Amazon Prime. The film I decided to watch is very different for Van Damme in 2019's We Die Young which was written and directed by Lior Geller (Hatched). The film stars Elijah Rodriguez (Sicario: Day Of The Soldado) as Lucas, a kid caught up in the streets of Washington DC as a drug runner for the local chapter of MS 13. All Lucas wants is a way out of this hell hole so that his little brother doesn't fall into the same trap, but after a mistake is committed he seeks the help of a combat veteran (Van Damme). The film also stars David Castañeda (The Tax Collector) as Rincon, Nicholas Sean Johnny (Barry) as Miguel, Charlie MacGechan (The Girl From The Song) as Jester, Joana Metrass (The Man From U.N.C.L.E.) as Anna, Robyn Cara (Trying) as Gabriela, Jacob Scipio (Bad Boys For Life) as Tomas, Jim Caesar (The Witcher) as Felix, Kerry Bennett (The Habit Of Beauty) as Brenda, Pablo Scola (The Man From U.N.C.L.E.) as Padre Orelio, Dean John-Wilson (The King and I) as Mousey, and Uriel Emil (The Bourne Ultimatum) as Spider.

As I said before, this film was a very different role for Jean-Claude Van Damme because there was no fancy martial arts scenes or any scenes of charisma in the film because he also had no speaking lines in the whole film. As I said, he played a combat veteran that came back to the states after an IUD went off that left him without a voice and no he works as a mechanic in DC who is just trying to get some pain medicine. Van Damme over the years has been expanding his repertoire and rightfully so after he showed what he could do in the film JCVD which was absolutely amazing. The only thing too is that his role in this film is sort of minor because the film really focuses on Lucas who struggles with the fact that he has to raise his little brother and keep him off the streets. This sounds very familiar because it happens more than you know in the real world where poverty has struck in the inner cities. The story is amazing and some of the action sequences at the end are amazing as well so this is definitely one film that is worth checking out if you want something more dramatic and different from Van Damme. One thing I will also say is that I am a huge fan of David Castañeda who was very good in this film as the head honcho of this MS 13 chapter. He captures everything that you would want from someone the people fear on a daily business plus he has that swagger. Give this one a shot right now on Amazon Prime because you may surprise yourself. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.

Knock Off (1998)

Every once in a while, I get in a kick of checking out films that I hadn't seen from some of my favorites in Hollywood like I did with Zoey Deutch, Robert De Niro, and Jean-Claude Van Damme (Swelter) who happens to be the subject for today's film that I chose. In the late 1990's, he released a lot of films that I just never got around to seeing so I decided that for today I would check out 1998's Knock Off which was directed by Tsui Hark (Once Upon A Time In China). Van Damme plays fashion designer Marcus Ray who just wants his product to be known around the world. Someone though is creating knock off versions of his jeans with bombs in them so he has to team up with a CIA agent to figure out who is behind it before it's too late. The film also stars Rob Schneider (Deuce Bigelow: Male Gigolo) as Tommy Hendricks, Lela Rochon (Any Given Sunday) as Karen Lee, Paul Sorvino (The Rocketeer) as Harry Johanson, Glen Chin (Natural Born Killers) as Skinny, Wyman Wong (12 Golden Ducks) as Eddie Wang, Carman Lee (Forbidden City Cop) as Detective Ling Ho, Michael Wong (Transformers: Age Of Extinction) as Han, Moses Chan (Black Mask) as Officer Fong, and  Ray Nicholas (The Dark Knight Rises) as Karl.

This is probably one of my least favorite Van Damme films that I have ever seen and that is saying something because he has been apart of some bad ones. I felt like this film was trying to be a knock off of a Jackie Chan film and it just didn't work for me at all because it's not what I wanted. I know that Rob Schneider was supposed to be the comedic relief in the film playing alongside the action star, but he was honestly my least favorite thing about the film besides the weird editing choices that went in to it as well. There was not one single scene in the whole film where I was like wow that was funny from Rob and I am surprised because he has been in some great comedies, but he should have stayed away from this one. The story itself is a little whacked out too because you have Russians and CIA all fighting for the same thing and they tried to do the whole double cross agent thing and they failed because it was absolutely stupid. I am a completest because once I start something I have to finish it, but this was honestly one film that I wish I had stopped watching because it sucked. The only cool thing about the film is the final battle/fight sequence that happens at the end where Van Damme is sliding on a slip and slide while his little hand gun shoots bad guys like they were hit by a shotgun. That was the only good thing which means that I am going to give the film an D- for a final grade and I never have given those out before. If an F is 65 that means the film got a 66 just to put it into comparison.

Mean Streets (1973)

I am always looking to catch some classic films to kind of learn where some actors and directors have come from and how they got to be where they are. I had never really seen a lot of Martin Scorcese's (The Irishman) early films so when I saw that Netflix had the 1973 film Mean Streets I had to check it out for today. The film stars Harvey Keitel (Thelma & Louise) as Charlie, an up and coming wannabe mob guy who will do anything to please his Uncle and get himself some street credit. All of that is put to the test for Charlie when things start going south due to friends who can't seem to keep their heads on straight and relationships that he is embarrassed to address in front of anyone. The film also stars Robert De Niro (Hands Of Stone) as Johnny Boy, David Proval (The Shawshank Redemption) as Tony, Amy Robinson (From Hell) as Teresa, Richard Romanus (Point Of No Return) as Michael, Cesare Danova (National Lampoon's Animal House) as Giovanni, Victor Argo (King Of New York) as Mario, George Memmoli (Phantom Of The Paradise) as Joey,  Jeannie Bell (TNT Jackson) as Diane, David Carradine (Kill Bill Vol. 1) as Drunk, and Robert Carradine (Mom Got A Date With A Vampire) as Boy With Gun.

The film felt like it was a journey in the life of low level wannabe gangsters and the shenanigans that they do while trying to build some cred. I have seen Robert De Niro at just about every level of the gangster tier and he definitely does not disappoint as the irresponsible Johnny Boy who likes to borrow money without paying it back to everyone so he puts Charlie in a real bind. It was also a film that I had a real hard time figuring out who was in charge in this film the whole time because it seemed like different guys took charge in different scenes so the hierarchy was a little messed up. Scorcese once again shows his love for The Rolling Stones in this film, but instead of using the usual track, we hear Jumpin Jack Flash in this film which was a nice change from the usual. I'd be interested to see how many Scorcese films actually featuring Rolling Stones tracks, but we could always do that some other time when I actually care enough to keep track. I loved the cinematography because you can sort of see Scorcese's signature all over this film and for the most part the acting was really well done. Keitel was of course very good in the film and David Proval was great as well, but in second place behind De Niro was definitely Richard Romanus who I kept thinking was hi brother Robert Romanus from Fast Times At Ridgemont High. A lot of cool actors seemed to get their start here, but like I said it was a decent film that I think is worth checking out if you are a fan of Scorcese. So, I am going to give the movie an B+ for a final grade.