Spenser Confidential (2020)

There was a lot of buzz recently in the social media/internet super highway about a film that was premiering on Netflix that featured Hip Hop star Post Malone (credited as Austin Post). That film is called Spenser Confidential and it gained some buzz because it marks the fifth time that Mark Wahlberg (The Other Guys) and director Peter Berg (Collateral) have worked together. The film follows Spenser (Wahlberg), a former Boston Police Officer who was sent to prison for beating up his boss. The day he is released from prison, that said boss is murdered and a police officer Spenser knows is framed and killed for the crime. This bothers Spenser so much that he'll team up with his roommate to get to the bottom of what is going on and it gets dirty. The film also stars Alan Arkin (The Rocketeer) as Henry, Winston Duke (Black Panther) as Hawk, Iliza Shlesinger (Instant Family) as Cissy Davis, Michael Gaston (Bridge Of Spies) as Captain Boylan, Bokeem Woodbine (Overlord) as Driscoll, Marc Maron (G.L.O.W.) as Wayne Cosgrove, James DuMont (Dallas Buyers Club) as Bentwood, Post Malone as Squeeb, Hope Olaide Wilson (I Can Do Bad All by Myself) as Letitia, Colleen Camp (Die Hard With A Vengeance) as Betty, and Kip Weeks (The Strangers) as Macklin.

Out of all the films that Wahlberg and Berg have done together (Patriots Day, Lone Survivor, Deepwater Horizon, and Mile 22) this is definitely a different project for them that shows that Wahlberg still has what it takes to be funny. I was pleasantly pleased with him and what he brought to the table because we have enjoyed this side of him in multiple other films. Alan Arkin was Alan Arkin, the man is just amazing in everything he does as I have not seen one bad film with him yet. I was not sold however too much on Winston Duke as I thought his acting int his could have been better. I think he is supposed to be this interesting character that is the opposite of Wahlberg's and he was just flat and uninteresting in my opinion. I thought Post Malone was good for the time that he was in the film which while it wasn't a lot it was definitely effective. Iliza Shlesinger I thought was so over the top that while some may think that is bad, it was perfect because she is supposed to be this unbalanced, but strong confident Boston gal and she did it well. The accent she used was pretty good in my opinion and reminded me of the Hyundai Super Bowl commercial with Chris Evans that's how much I liked it. I thought there was a decent amount of action in the film to go with what was going on, but one thing I will say is that this isn't the best private detective film there is around, but it was entertaining. I actually enjoyed watching this one then I did The French Connection last night and that is saying a lot. In the end I am going to give the film an B for a final grade and while there could always be a sequel, I would be OK without one.

The Rocketeer (1991)

Before the creation of the MCU by Disney, there were not a lot of comic book films that were coming out or at least that were treated seriously by the box office. In the 1990's, various film studios started to take chances on random comic book titles that faithfuls would know like Tank Girl, Judge Dredd, Barb Wire, The Crow, and today's film The Rocketeer which was released in 1991 by Disney and directed by Joe Johnston (Captain America: The First Avenger). The film stars Billy Campbell (Bram Stoker's Dracula) as airplane pilot Cliff in pre-World War II 1938 Los Angeles who just wants to fly a plane in Nationals and marry his girl Jenny (Jennifer Connelly), but an accident with one of the planes sets him back. One day, Billy stumbles on to a prototype of a jet pack that allows him to become a hero, but there are some very bad people after this jet pack. The film also stars Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine) as Peevy, Timothy Dalton (License To Kill) as Neville Sinclair, Paul Sorvino (Goodfellas) as Eddie Valentine, Terry O'Quinn (Primal Fear) as Howard Hughes, Ed Lauter (King Kong) as Fitch, Jon Polito (The Crow) as Bigelow, Tiny Ron (Last Man Standing) as Lothar, and Eddie Jones (Sneakers) as Malcolm.

When I saw that Joe Johnston directed this film, it made a lot of sense to me because it had the same feel and aesthetic as Captain America: First Avenger. It's almost an updated version of The Rocketeer, but this film was actually pretty good that was actually an enjoyable film from beginning to end. The only thing that I would criticize is that Lothar just looked like he was wearing a mask the whole entire film much like the look of Dick Tracy (the film). I thought that Timothy Dalton was actually a really good villain and it makes perfect sense because he's a great actor, but he is a good opposite of what Billy is. Billy is a grease monkey pilot who is blue collar in love with a girl that is out of this world and just happens to be an actress which is what Dalton's character is. It was definitely the perfect set up for a great show down at the end of the film inside of a Zeppelin. I thought the gangsters int he film were a little cheesy, but they actually matched the times and what we thought of how Gangsters were in those Cagney times so it's safe to say that I loved it. All I could think of was Cagney and him saying, "Yeah! tell him the Valentine Gang did it!" The one thing that I absolutely did love about this film was the sets that were used like the Bull Dog Cafe which is so cool looking and in fact Disney has a replica of it in a museum. This isn't the greatest superhero movie ever made because I think that still belongs to The Dark Knight, but this was fun and it's all thanks to DC and Batman 1989 being so popular. I am going to give the film an B- for a final grade.