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.

Natural Born Killers (1994)

For today's film, we have decided to stay in the 1990's for a film that I can't believe took me 26 years to watch even after doing a challenge similar to this one four years ago. Before 1994, Oliver Stone was known for always having an anti-government/conspiracy feel to his films from Platoon all the way to Born On The Fourth Of July. In 1994, he decided to take a story written by Quentin Tarantino and her turned it into the film Natural Born Killers. The film stars Woody Harrelson (Zombieland: Double Tap) as Mickey Knox and Juliette Lewis (From Dusk Till Dawn) as Mallory Knox, two people who came from traumatized childhoods that meet and the universe explodes as they fall in love and go on a crazy psychotic killing spree together across most of America, but how long will it last as they are hunted by hot shot detective Jack Scagnetti (Tom Sizemore)? The film also stars Tommy Lee Jones (The Fugitive) as Warden Dwight McClusky, Rodney Dangerfield (Back To School) as Ed Wilson, Edie McClurg (Fired Up) as Mallory's Mom, Russell Means (Pathfinder) as Old Indian, Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man) as Wayne Gale, Balthazar Getty (Lord Of The Flies) as Gas Station Attendant, Steven Wright (The Emoji Movie) as Dr. Emil Reingold, Jared Harris (The Crown) as London Boy, and Everett Quinton (Pollock) as Deputy Warden Wurlitzer.

First, I can't believe that I didn't know that Tarantino wrote the story, but after watching this film I should have known that. I definitely wonder what it would be like to be tripping while watching this film because it just goes all over the place artistically as it switches from black and white to color and all the footage of monsters and old 50's families like it was a Rob Zombie music video. It was almost like I was on an acid trip and everything was flashing from back and white to color then all of a sudden some cartoons or old footage would come on to almost give some semantics as to what was going on. Rob Zombie did the same thing years later in House Of 1000 Corpses and it's an OK tactic, but I thought it was too much for me in this film. However besides that one element of the film, I actually thought that the strongest point of the film was definitely the acting because Woody Harrelson did a fantastic job in this film that if you didn't believe he was a great actor before, you check this one out and you are sold. One of the funniest things was that while I loved Robert Downey Jr's performance overall in the film as the overly obsessed reporter (a la Geraldo), his Aussie accent kind of was a little weak in my opinion. The film was a giant message to the media who were obsessed with covering serial killers and all of the tropes associated with it that they are what is ruining America. Nonetheless, I am going to give the film an B+ for a final grade because the acting was not enough to boost it to an A- even though Harrelson gets an A+.

Zombieland: Double Tap (2019)

Last week, we talked about waiting a while to do a sequel to a film(s) that are considered sacred to fans of the film and how it can be risky. In 2009, zombie films were pretty standard and we saw countless people try to reinvent the genre because it was getting sort of stagnate. Ruben Fleischer (Venom) decided that he would reinvent the zombie genre by steering it more into the comedy realm with his mega blockbuster Zombieland and the film introduced us to the fab four Tallahassee (Woody Harrelson), Columbus (Jesse Eisenberg), Wichita (Emma Stone), and Little Rock (Abigail Breslin). Ten years later and the gang is back for Zombieland: Double Tap which sees Fleischer back behind the helm. This time around, the gang has been surviving in the White House, but Little Rock is a little bit older now and she wants to find someone for herself so she takes off. The gang has no choice, but to chase her down, but a new threat of zombies has arisen and are deadlier than ever. The film also stars Zoey Deutch (Everybody Wants Some!) as Madison, Avan Jogia (Shaft) as Berkeley, Rosario Dawson (Kids) as Nevada, Luke Wilson (Old School) as Albuquerque, and Thomas Middleditch (Godzilla: King Of The Monsters) as Flagstaff. 

As I said before, it is such a huge risk to take a beloved first film and give it a sequel ten years later especially when fans had been asking for it before. One thing I will say is that I don' think the wait hurt at all because this was actually a really good film. I definitely do not think that it is better than the original, but it had me laughing at a bunch of different moments especially with the scene stealing Zoey Deutch who plays the brainless Madison. The interactions that she has with Woody and Emma are just absolute gold and I could not stop laughing which is the best sign that someone enjoys the film. I definitely liked the fact that they evolved the zombies as well because it only makes sense that they would learn to different things and adapt since it has been ten years since this whole mess started. The introduction of the T-800 zombies, the Hawkings, and the ninja zombie were great and I loved the fact that they would include the zombie kill of the year in the film cause some of those were great. The other great thing was the inevitable which was introducing an alternate universe Tallahassee and Columbus which was Luke Wilson and Thomas Middleditch. That just made for great screen time and I definitely enjoyed it. The whole adventure is awesome and the pay off at the end is amazing and to be honest I wouldn't mind a third film or even a TV series. They could do so much with a television series, but we'll save that for another discussion. Like I said before the first film is the best one, but this one does it's job and does it well. That is why I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.