Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

We once again want to apologize because we are not doing Sunday At The Classics again this week, but we have something great for you all today. I am all about checking out film that have garnered some acclaim due to the fact that it's an original film in a world full of remakes and reboots. That is why I decided for today that we would check out the film Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri because it's originality is the factor that peaked my interest for it’s unique title and for the caliber of the cast contained within the film. Frances McDormand (Isle Of Dogs) plays Mildred, a mother who is not happy whatsoever with the local authorities for not solving her daughters murder case. So to get on their case and get them moving, she decides to take out ads on three billboards outside her town that will challenge the law to get off their behinds and solve case. The film also stars Woody Harrelson (Natural Born Killers) as Chief Willoughby, Sam Rockwell (Vice) as Dixon, Caleb Landry Jones (X-Men: First Class) as Red Wellby, Kerry Condon (Avengers: Age Of Ultron) as Pamela, Darrell Britt-Gibson (Toe To Toe) as Jerome, Abbie Cornish (Limitless) as Anne, Lucas Hedges (Honey Boy) as Robbie, Zeljko Ivanek (Live Free or Die Hard) as Cedric, Peter Dinklage (X-Men: Days of Future Past) as James, Brendan Sexton III (Empire Records) as Crop-Haired Guy, and the film was directed by Martin McDonagh (In Bruges).

This was an excellent film that just had so many emotions to it and just had so many talking points. First of all, the acting was absolutely superb from way too many people to list in this blog, but you already know that you get amazing performances from McDormand, Harrelson, Rockwell, and Dinklage to name a few. Frances McDormand had the uneasy task of balancing out a character who is tough and a bad ass, but she is also vulnerable because all she wants is for them to solve the case. Sam Rockwell does a terrific job playing your typical backwater cop from a small southern-esque town who doesn’t know any better until something (I can’t tell you what) shows him the way. The second thing that was amazing about the film was the writing because this story kicked ass. You think that it’s going the way you would want it to go until it throws you a curve ball that takes the story in a darker place. There were so many glimmers of hope in the film that were just taken to a completely different place that I was amazed that it worked. The third thing that I loved about the film were the dynamic of the characters and the overall themes because each one was so unique to the story in how it progressed into a moral of no matter how dark things get, sometimes the people you are going against can turn out to be the ones you need. That was the constant theme of the film was redemption because it’s a learning experience for sure. The last thing is the cinematography which was just masterful from shot to shot. This is definitely a film worth checking out if you are a fan of great stories, actors, etc. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.

Isle Of Dogs (2018)

There are films that I had wished I was able to see when they were released in theaters, but circumstances in life sometimes get in the way of doing so. The film that I chose for today is one of those films that I wished I had for how amazing of a job that writer and director Wes Anderson (The Royal Tenenbaums) does with his films and so I chose his last film Isle Of Dogs as my film of choice. In the country of Japan, a royal family was sick of how much the dog population had grown in the country so they attempted to eradicate the country of them only to fail. Centuries later, the mayor Kobayashi (Kunichi Nomura) from the same clan that failed is successful as the dog flu runs rampant in Japan so he banishes them to Trash Island where they'll have to fend for themselves. That is until his 12 year old nephew Atari (Koyu Rankin) decides to go looking for his once loyal sidekick Spot. The film also stars Edward Norton (The Illusionist) as Rex, Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) as Chief, Bob Balaban (Gosford Park) as King, Jeff Goldblum (Mortdecai) as Duke, Bill Murray (Ghostbusters) as Boss, Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird) as Tracey Walker, Frances McDormand (Primal Fear) as Interpreter Nelson,  Scarlett Johansson (Jojo Rabbit) as Nutmeg, F. Murray Abraham (Last Action Hero) as Jupiter, Fisher Stevens (Short Circuit) as Scraps, Liev Schreiber (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) as Spots, and Tilda Swinton (Okja) as Oracle.

There are just way too many names to list in this film that helped out like Yoko Ono, Harvey Keitel (The Irishman), Angelica Huston, Ken Watanabe (Inception), and Courtney B. Vance (Dangerous Minds) to name a few that helped make this a great film. It's old school stop motion animation, but they did such a great job with it that you barely notice. This was also a film that featured an all star cast of the whose who of Wes Anderson films of the past and they did an excellent job in the film especially Edward Norton and Bryan Cranston whose interactions were comedy gold as they couldn't agree with each other as to who was leader of the pack. Besides the touching subject matter of never forgetting who man's best friend is, the film had a rather political spin to it or at least you can make it seem that way if you choose to. They alienate a species because of the fat that they develop a virus that is affecting everyone and in a major political move they segregate them to an island to fend for themselves. Nonetheless, it was an excellent film in my opinion as it explored the lost art of stop motion animation that Wes Anderson pulled off for this film and it had all of the suspense that you needed to keep you on your toes. So, I definitely recommend the film to any one that enjoys these types of films and Wes Anderson films. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.

Primal Fear (1996)

Last month I started a segment on this blog called Sheldon's Choice which was a list comprised by a fellow film Connoisseur and our first film was Internal Affairs and now we are back with our second film. The film that I chose for today is one that kept seeing in parts whether it be having the ending spoiled for me or only seeing the beginning. The film I am talking about is 1996's Primal Fear which stars Richard Gere (Internal Affairs) as hot shot defense attorney Martin Vail who may have bitten off more than he could chew when he chooses a high profile case. You see a former altar boy is accused of murdering a Priest, but the truth is going to take a lot of digging to get to. The film also stars Edward Norton (American History X) as Aaron, Laura Linney (Mystic River) as Janet Venable, John Mahoney (Say Anything...) as Shaughnessy, Alfre Woodard (Star Trek: First Contact) as Shoat,  Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) as Molly, Terry O'Quinn (Young Guns) as Yancy, Andre Braugher (Frequency) as Goodman, Steven Bauer (Scarface) as Pinero, Tony Plana (One Eight Seven) as Martinez, Stanley Anderson (Armageddon) as Rushman, Maura Tierney (ER) as Naomi, Jon Seda (Chicago P.D.) as Alex, and the film was directed by Gregory Hoblit (Hill Street Blues).

If you never have seen this film before then you need to mark this one and put it on your list because it was excellent. The film not only features a masterful performance once again by Richard Gere, but it features a masterful performance from Edward Norton who at this time was proving to be a top notch talent in Hollywood. Richard Gere was masterful in playing the cocky big time lawyer who takes no for an answer, but is a master manipulator when it comes to the courtroom. Edward Norton is the true master in this film because he has all of us believing that he's this innocent, dumb witted, stuttering altar boy who couldn't possibly commit these murders, but his other personality certainly can and that is how he fools absolutely everyone. I loved the cinematography of the film even though they were showing the rougher parts of Chicago, there were still some great shots. The story is solid and the courtroom battles are worth watching. The only thing I wish they could have elaborated on more of was the character of Alex who was the second person on the tape as well as maybe addressing the girl, but I also get why they left it out. Time restraints can be a filmmakers worst nightmare, but then again I never read the book so I don't know if it's addressed there. As I said before, this is one film that you want to put on your list because Linney delivers a great performance in the film as the prosecuting attorney who just wants to light her damn cigarette. So with that being said, I am going to give the film an A for a final grade.