V For Vendetta (2005)

We are taking a little break from watching Jean-Claude Van Damme films and we are checking out a film that I have been meaning to watch for a while now. Whenever it hits November 5TH on the calendar, my friends are always preaching, "Remember, remember, the fifth of November" which is a reference to the film I chose for today in 2005's V For Vendetta which was directed by James McTeigue (The Raven). It's the future and Great Britain is under tyrannical rule where the government has cut them off from the world, but there is one person who will not stand for it any longer. The mysterious shadowy figure simply known as V (Hugo Weaving) is the one who is challenging the tyranny that is ruining the country and he does it with the help of a young woman named Evey (Natalie Portman). The film also stars Stephen Rea (Interview With The Vampire) as Finch, Stephen Fry (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) as Deitrich, John Hurt (The Black Cauldron) as Adam Sutler, Tim Pigott-Smith (Quantum Of Solace) as Creedy, Eddie Marsan (Concussion) as Etheridge, Rupert Graves (Death At A Funeral) as Dominic, Roger Allam (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) as Lewis Prothero, Ben Miles (Ninja Assassin) as Dascomb, John Standing (The Eagle Has Landed) as Lilliman, and Sinéad Cusack (Wrath Of The Titans) as Delia Surridge.

This was a magnificent film and what a lot of people may not realize is that this is technically a comic book movie that was a win for DC Comics as it's based off of the Alan Moore/David Lloyd comic of the same name. It proved that with a great script and a great team behind it you do need to have a film with superheroes and mutants to have it be an excellent film. All of the actors in the film did a terrific job especially Portman, Weaving, John Hurt, and Stephen Fry who played a closeted gay talk show host in the film. The action scenes are amazing and the fight choreography is pretty top notch as well as Weaving is exciting with all of V's moves and contraptions. The film definitely did not let you down as it kept you intrigued from the moment it started to the minute it ended and that again is due to the excellent writing by Lana and Lilly Wachowski. It's crazy to see how popular this film became and how the Guy Fawkes Mask literally took over revolutionist/anarchist culture especially in the US. That is the sign of a film that truly made an impact and it should tell you again how amazing written, acted, edited, and shot it was. The cinematography in this film is great and they did a great job capturing all of the action. That is why the film is joining the elusive A+ club because that is exactly the grade that it's going to get.

30 Day Movie Challenge: Day 7- The Black Cauldron (1985)

You'll see on this blog that there are a lot of Disney movies that I have not seen even during my childhood and it's not because I was deprived, but I just never cared to. Thanks to the fact that I am doing a 30 day movie challenge and that day seven calls for me to watch an animated film, today was the perfect chance to check out 1985's The Black Cauldron which was directed by Ted Berman (The Fox and The Hound) and Richard Rich (The Swan Princess). For young Taran (Grant Bardsley), life is pretty bland as an assistant pig farmer and all he wants is a chance to be a warrior for the fame and honor that comes with it. He'll get his chance to prove it with a group of misfits he meets along the way when he loses a special pig that could lead the tyrant Horned King to a cauldron that could give him infinite powers. Now it's up to them to stop him from getting it before it's too late. The film also stars John Hurt (Hellboy) as The Horned King, Phil Fondacaro (The Garbage Pail Kids Movie) as Creeper, Susan Sheridan (Agony) as Eilonwy, Freddie Jones (Krull) as Dallben, Nigel Hawthorne (Demolition Man) as Fflewddur Fflam, John Byner (Transylvania 6-5000) as Gurgi, Eda Reiss Merin (Turner & Hooch), Adele Malis-Morey (Critters), and Billie Hayes (H.R. Pufnstuf) as the three witches, Arthur Malet (Hook) as King Eidilleg, and John Huston (Moby Dick) as The Prologue Narrator.

I have to be honest in saying that while I do love where animation has gone over the years because let's face it, it's superior now than it ever was, but there is something to be said about these old 80's animated films. I have always enjoyed this animation style that you see in films like Heavy Metal, Rock and Rule, etc. Plus the imagery when it comes to the Horned King and his castle and the skeleton army is amazing in my opinion especially with me being a heavy metal fan. The animation style is just gritty and well drawn and very imaginative because can someone tell me what in the world is Gurgi? The whole time I was trying to figure it out and I kept asking what animal or creature in the world has a moustache? He is way to hairy and tiny to be a human in this fantasy world that they live in, but I guess that's the beauty of it right? Anything is possible when you put your imagination to it. My only complaint of the film has to do with the actual Black Cauldron itself because I feel like it literally took them no effort or real sacrifice to find it. They just landed in this underwater world and these fairy things were like oh yeah we'll lead you there and there it was. Then the Horned King just easily got the cauldron with no real effort other than his men were following them and they brought it back with no struggle whatsoever. I guess thanks to Lord Of The Rings, I want some psychological struggle to go with it. Other than that, I enjoyed the film a lot and I highly recommend it considering that they are thinking of making it into a live action film. I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade.

Hellboy (2004)

Over the years their have been a lot more comic book movies then you may have realized and a lot of them came out way before the MCU was officially a thing. One of the film franchises that slipped through the cracks for me over the years was the Dark Horse Comics original Hellboy so I thought there was no better time than now to check out the 2004 film that was written and directed by the great Guillermo del Toro (The Shape Of Water). Back towards the end of World War II, the Nazis were on the retreat and about to lose the war when they decided to revert to the dark arts to try and summon a demon from the other world. The only problem is that they summoned a baby demon and the allies won and adopted the baby demon calling him Hellboy (Ron Perlman). Now it's 60 years later and the conjurers are back to finish the job. The film also stars Doug Jones (Ouija: Origin Of Evil) as Abe Sapien, John Hurt (Alien) as Trevor "Broom" Bruttenholm, Selma Blair (Cruel Intentions) as Liz Sherman, Rupert Evans (The Man In The High Castle) as John Myers, Karel Roden (The Bourne Supremacy) as Grigori Rasputin, Jeffrey Tambor (How The Grinch Stole Christmas) as Tom Manning, Ladislav Beran (Blade II) as Karl Ruprecht Kroenen, and Biddy Hodson (Doctor Who) as Ilsa Haupstein.

I have to be completely honest in saying that I don't know what was wrong with this Hellboy film that they had to remake it? I found this to be a very enjoyable film to watch from Ron Perlman as the title character to the bad ass underrated villain KRK (played by Beran) who should have been used more in my opinion. In my opinion, the story was a pretty solid one as Rasputin has returned from the dead once again to try and finish the job, but there is only one problem and that is that he needs Hellboy to complete it so what happens next is a game to sucker him in. Then there is the imagery that is shown in this film from the scene with the beast from the other world to KRK and what he really looks like underneath that mask which is horrifying, but excellent at the same time. Could there have been some improvements to the film? I am sure there could have been with just about any film that comes out now that we look at them years later, but this film was fun. My only criticism is that I thought less could have been done with the whole love angle, but I get why it was included because it did provide some decent laughs at times. Doug Jones is the man as he played Abe Sapien in the film and he does a fantastic job transforming himself into the roles. That is why he is so sought after in Hollywood for what he can bring to the table. I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade.