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.

Mortdecai (2015)

There was absolutely no rhyme or reason in why I chose the film that I did for today other than who stars in the film. So with that being said, the film that I chose for today was the 2015 comedy Mortdecai. The film stars Johnny Depp (Murder On The Orient Express) as Charlie Mortdecai, an British aristocrat and a shady part time art dealer who lives a certain lavish lifestyle that has gotten him into hot waters with England. You see Charlie owes the government 8 million in back taxes that have not been paid and he agrees to take a job tracking down a once thought to be lost art piece by Goya that could have some information on it that leads it's possessor to millions. The only problem for Charlie is that other people are after this piece too and he'll have to be quick. The film also stars Gwyneth Paltrow (Iron Man 3) as Johanna, Paul Bettany (Avengers: Infinity War) as Jock, Ewan McGregor (Harley Quinn: Birds Of Prey) as Martland, Olivia Munn (X-Men: Apocalypse) as Georgina, Jonny Pasvolsky (Picnic At Hanging Rock) as Emil, Michael Culkin (A Very English Scandal) as Sir Graham, Guy Burnet (The Feed) as Maurice, Jeff Goldblum (Deep Cover) as Krampf, Ulrich Thomsen (The Celebration) as Romanov, Paul Whitehouse (Alice Through The Looking Glass) as Spinoza, and the film was directed by David Koepp (Stir Of Echoes).

I actually thought for the most part that the film was a lot of fun and while that might not make the film brilliant, it was enjoyable to sit through for over an hour. I have always been a huge fan of Johnny's and I always have believed that no matter how bad the film, he has rarely ever given a bad performance. I thought the supporting cast was also very helpful in making it what it was, but I was not a fan whatsoever of McGregor's role in the film. I am not entirely sure if that was the point or if I just hated his role altogether, but this was definitely one of my least favorite roles of his. Paul Bettany deserves some credit in this film as he delivers what is his Ponton to the Clouseau like character that Depp plays as the roles almost mirror each other, but the difference is Bettany's character Jock is more loyal and Depps Mortdecai is a little more spineless and they are not cops. I definitely think that without Bettany and Paltrow, I don't think this film would have been that good in the long run, but the film has some fun action and not enough of Jeff Goldblum. That was definitely one of my biggest complaints was that there was not enough Goldblum in this film who you don't even know is in it till it's almost too late. The film is available right now on HULU and while this was not my first choice for the day, I am not entirely disappointed. I am going to give the film an B-/C+ for a final grade.

Deep Cover (1992)

It's funny to me that 28 years ago, the only reason that I knew that a film called Deep Cover existed was because of a Gangsta Rap track of the same name by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. The other funny thing is that I waited till now to check the film out, but better late than never is what I always say. The film stars Laurence Fishburne (Boyz n the Hood) as Russell Stevens Jr., a cop with a bit of a past. You see when he was a kid, he saw his father rob a liquor store only to be shot in the back and killed before he could get away. Russell swore that he would never lead the same life that his father did and he became a cop. Well one day, he is tasked with going deep undercover as a drug dealer to try and take down a drug dealing ring that is looking to expand it's horizons. The film also stars Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park) as David, Gregory Sierra (The Towering Inferno) as Barbosa, Roger Guenveur Smith (Dope) as Eddie, Clarence Williams III (Tales From The Hood) as Taft, René Assa (Baywatch) as Guzman, Victoria Dillard (Coming To America) as Betty, Charles Martin Smith (The Untouchables) as Carver, Julio Oscar Mechoso (Planet Terror) as Hernandez, and the film was directed by Bill Duke (Commando).

For the most part, it was a decent film in the fact that it kept my attention for the whole film and why not it has Jeff Goldblum as a gangster wannabe drug dealer in it. For the most part, I was just not impressed with the writing in this film because some of it felt rushed and to be honest I could have done without the child angle. We already know that Fishburne's character is a good guy, but I suppose that the kid represents the innocence that he once had before he went deep undercover. I thought Clarence Williams III was his usual brilliant self playing some sort of intense, whacked out character, but the question is did he know that Fishburne was a cop? He would always preach the religion stuff and tell them that they were the same, but in the end I think that Fishburne sort of looked at him like he represented a father figure in some weird way. Other than the writing, I thought that everyone did a fantastic job as far as the acting was concerned, but Fishburne had this moment where it was supposed to be a loss of his moral code. It's that moment when a character in a film has lived to a certain code for a while, but then something happens that he goes against it and that happened to Fishburne's character, but I wish they had expanded on it better. If you love old 90's gangster/undercover cop films then this is one to give a shot to for at least Goldblum's performance which was fantastic. I am going to give the film an C+/B- (somewhere in there) for a final grade.