Drive Angry.

Review #2581: Drive Angry.

Cast: 

Nicolas Cage (John Milton), Amber Heard (Piper Lee), William Fichtner (the Accountant), Billy Burke (Jonah King), David Morse (Webster), Katy Mixon (Norma Jean), Charlotte Ross (Candy), Christa Campbell (Mona Elkins), Pruitt Taylor Vince (Roy), Todd Farmer (Frank Raimi), with Tom Atkins (Captain), and Jack McGee (Lou "Fat Lou") Directed by Patrick Lussier (#2114 - Dracula 2000)

Review: 

Sure, let's pick a movie found on one of those movie-packs*. It's not every day that you see a film with a poster that says "Shot in 3D" as if that somehow was going to be a drawing aspect beyond, say, the Avatar movies (I myself saw a movie in 3D about...three times*). But Patrick Lussier did have some success with My Bloody Valentine 3D two years earlier, so it wasn't a complete stretch (incidentally, Todd Farmer co-wrote both films, with this one being done with Lussier). Nicolas Cage was apparently attracted to the film because of the 3D format and also getting his eye shot out, so there's an endorsement for making choices for the sake of doing so. At any rate, folks arising from Hell to go on a crusade against evildoers, well, you probably saw it before in some way with Spawn (incidentally, the 1997 movie had Alan B. McElroy as a writer; he had written a script about a man going on the run from Hell with bounty hunters after him), but I'm sure you can see the appeal. Lussier also co-edited the film with Devin C. Lussier. Released on a budget of over $45 million, the movie was not a hit at the time with audiences.

You get a movie that starts with a dude wearing a chain wallet that has the (stainless banner version) Confederate* flag on it getting his ass beat by our lead character (get it, "John Milton"? what was their rejected other choice - "I. M. Hell"? "Dante S. Inferno"?). It's basically a movie for those who love over-the-top movies of sex and violence that probably would go well with something such as say, Motorpsycho (1965). I have to say: I did actually like this movie in the face of the quirks that come in: seeing it at home when you can't really feel the "3D" that was in theaters, seeing a film that kind of does just blaze the path of revenge with stiff folks rather than a shoehorned romance for 104 minutes, and lastly: a movie that seems dedicated for the sickos that think they know what "camp" or "cult films" mean. Sure, it has a more methodical performance from Cage than what you might expect (particularly with whatever you want to call that blond hairpiece), but he does carry the film pretty well with some sobering charm that makes you go with the comic book-type of ride. It's a movie with a goofy-ass gun that makes you deader than dead, who's to complain? And then there's Heard along for the ride who basically coasts on kicking some ass without dwelling on too many of the consequences that I can appreciate some of the time. Of course, the gem in the rough of the cast besides Cage is Fichtner, who essentially glides along with the creeping power of being a methodical pest on the hell-level of an IRS agent (or, in his words, one where he just had to "fill in the blanks"). I almost wish it was Fichtner and Cage paired together, going around in a cool car (hey, some folks like cars from the 1950s or 1960s) dealing with folks that try to be nerdy for Satan, but I'll accept the conceit provided in such a fun performance played for Fichtner. Burke is mostly trying to do what can only be described as "Spirit Halloween rendition of Jim Jones" and pretty much succeeds in being detestable within his conviction that you could at least see a few suckers getting into an orgy of delusion and nerd-ing out for what they think is the true power*. There are plenty of oddball moments that'll throw the viewer for a loop, ranging from casual fiancé-on-fiancé violence to a gunfight with a naked woman present or the garden variety plan to, I'm not kidding, drink from a man's skull, but I enjoyed this kind of offbeat movie. It's a film that reaches for keeping your attention (even with a middling soundtrack) with car chases and other blunt instruments that will leave some with a chuckle and others running cold. It's a guilty pleasure type of movie possibly worth checking out for the curiosity factor, at least in my mind. So it goes.

 

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Song of the day!

*Same movie pack that includes such Cage movies as Knowing, Joe, and, I shit you not: Deadfall.

*Star Wars: The Force Awakens (second watch), Godzilla: King of the Monsters (second time), and Avatar: The Way of Water, for the record.

*See you know the dude is going to get his ass kicked because he has a thing with the flag of the biggest losers possible.

*Look, isn't Satanism a bit more of a lame larp than actual religious people? At least agnostic people don't inspire as much cringe as the atheists do from time to time.

Hell or High Water.

Review #1949: Hell or High Water.

Cast: 

Jeff Bridges (Texas Ranger Marcus Hamilton), Chris Pine (Toby Howard), Ben Foster (Tanner Howard), Gil Birmingham (Texas Ranger Alberto Parker), Marin Ireland (Debbie Howard), Katy Mixon (Jenny Ann), Dale Dickey (Elsie), Kevin Rankin (Billy Rayburn), Melanie Papalia (Hooker), Amber Midthunder (Vernon Teller), Taylor Sheridan (Cowboy), and Margaret Bowman (T-Bone Waitress) Directed by David Mackenzie.

Review: 

"I find myself relating to stories that feel like they’re about characters who are struggling to deal with themselves in some way or another, more than I am about necessarily the worlds. In order for a story to kind of hit me, it’s much more about the people than it is of necessarily about the world."

Unsurprisingly, this is a film where more than one voice is crucial to how it came to pass as a memorable film of its time. David Mackenzie became a filmmaker after his study at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design in his native Scotland. He made a couple of short films while being inspired by Danish cinema, specifically the Dogme 95 movement (another time). He made his debut in features with The Last Great Wilderness (2002). His films were either dramas or comedies, which ranged from work such as the erotic drama Young Adam (2003) or the prison feature Starred Up (2013). Hell or High Water is his ninth feature film and second American film. The movie was written by Taylor Sheridan, an actor-turned-writer. Under the working title of "Comancheria", it was his second film script, but it was his first sold. However, it was his first script in Sicario that ended up being made first, which was done in 2015 to general success. These films, alongside his later feature Wind River (2017), which he wrote and directed, is part of what he called a trilogy of "the modern-day American frontier." He has stated that the key influences in his writing were the Coen brothers along with Cormac McCarthy and Larry McMurtry. When Mackenzie was sent the spec script as a spec project, he fell for it right away, admiring the "freewheeling vibe to it that I love in 70s movies"; of course, one would not be surprised to notice touches of the outlaw stories from the 1930s present here.

There is something quite interesting about the desolate eloquence that Mackenzie and Sheridan try to accomplish with such an easygoing crime thriller. It rides most of its strength on interesting characters and actors to inhibit these folks that seem as worthwhile to view that rolls its beat in mannerisms similar to No Country for Old Men (2007), although each film have their own approaches to the chase. Arguably, it outclasses that movie when it comes to overall execution from start to finish to earn its final resting spot that finds a worthy resolution to hang its hat on. It isn't a perfect movie, but it surely makes a captivating case for a suitable neo-Western in the eyes of those familiar with the frontier it reaches in its haunting elegy that has wide landscapes of West Texas and the folks that accompany it. The main drawing point is the dual storylines involves Pine with Foster to go alongside Bridges and Birmingham; no matter how one treats films by how much they need a clear-cut "hero" or "villain", it should work out pretty well regardless of one's patience for material such as this. Pine and Foster share a great rapport with each other as on-screen siblings that never seems inauthentic, with each actor managing to share the stage in terms of highlights. Pine is far more than the perception of low-key that one might think early on from him, mostly because he proves the most endearing figure in the long run. Foster and his volatile charisma prove just as watchable in terms of showing the other side of trying to commit what you might call the "perfect crime": the challenge of not becoming fully absorbed by the thrill of it all. Within the other side of the chase is Bridges, wracked in melancholy and withering strength that makes for quite a pairing with Birmingham, one that sees them insult each other in ways familiar with bonds formed through work (which results in a bit of humor before a sobering climax). There are numerous sequences one can highlight in the film as being effective beyond the heist, such as the opening robbery sequences, which each involve quiet settings being disrupted by sudden action. Or one could highlight a sequence in the diner that sees a makeshift robbery and a small scene of warmth between Pine and Mixon. Of course, the porch sequence in the end of the film is a good one in simmering tension and fateful finishing that works exactly to what Sheridan intended when it comes to endurance, as reflected by the grisly handling of the climax. It is ultimately a movie about how much a bond between people can take them depending on the circumstances, whether that means the bond between a parent to do better for their children, a sibling doing something out of affection for their sibling or more. 

The 102-minute runtime is handled effectively in the elements that matter within its genres of crime drama and neo-Western, utilizing familiar beats within each genre involving characters that seem quite real and useful to the landscape of story and setting. In the end, it is a heist movie, but it is a heist movie with the story of the ones doing it and (eventually) why being at the forefront, which works splendidly. It is a crackerjack type of thriller - the outcome never seems to be drawn out to the point of absurdity nor is it too reliant on complexity to make the proceedings irrelevant. In short, it is a mature kind of thriller, one with grizzled characters that matter to us with enough action and general charm to make it a surefire classic.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

Welcome to New Directors Month: Volume II. January 2022 will attempt to cover ground not covered in January 2022, which spotlighted thirteen directors not covered by Movie Night before, which has featured over 1,000 directors as we enter Season XIII - that January started with Erich von Stroheim and closed with Alejandro Jodorowsky. The next film up will certainly cover new ground...in world cinema.

Four Christmases.

Review #772: Four Christmases.

Cast
Vince Vaughn (Brad McVie), Reese Witherspoon (Kate), Robert Duvall (Howard McVie), Sissy Spacek (Paula McVie), Jon Voight (Creighton), Mary Steenburgen (Marilyn), Kristin Chenoweth (Courtney), Jon Favreau (Denver McVie), Tim McGraw (Dallas McVie), and Katy Mixon (Susan McVie) Directed by Seth Gordon.

Review
This movie is awful. If I wanted to, I could leave it that. But if I did, then someone might wonder why I only said it was awful and watch it for themselves (just go with the idea that people actually use these reviews as an influence). If you watch about 10-20 minutes of the movie, you will start to have a few questions:

1. Why do Vaughn and Witherspoon look really miscast as a couple?
2. Why can't they arrange the four families to meet at one place instead of having to go to all four in one day?
3. Why did I decide to watch this?
4. Are all romantic comedies like this?
5. Have you ever put a spending limit of $10 for each Christmas gift you gave someone?
6. Are there any likable characters in it?

The answers to the questions are as follows: Pass, Pass, Pass, Maybe, No and...Yes (Jon Voight, who is only in the movie for the last 20 (or so) minutes, and manages to be not only the least annoying character, but also the one who has the least screen time. Go figure.). None of the situations that are set up here are really that funny, feeling either standard or just downright odd. Tell me if this sounds like a goldmine of hilarity: Our main character getting tackled and wrestled with by his two other brothers, and this isn't just one time, no it happens (I think, I lost count) twice more. Of course the movie tries (read: tries) to phone in a happy ending, because I guess having the movie end with them not getting back together seemed not "cheery" enough for Christmas. This a movie that manages to be unlikable at times, but more often than not it's just boring. Why should I care about anything that goes on with these people? It fails as a comedy, it fails as a romance (chemistry clocks in at zero), it fails as a drama (read: last half hour), and its greatest failing is that it fails as a Christmas movie. This isn't a movie you watch to be cheerful around the holidays, this is a movie for people who honestly want to find any reason not to visit their relatives, because they very well may just be as crazy this year as the people in this laugh-forsaken movie. That, and apparently being married and having kids is the only way to be happy. I'd advise you to eat fruitcake before watching this over literally any Christmas movie. Except Deck the Halls. (Yes, I would watch Santa Clause Conquers the Martians again. Even Jingle All the Way). Stay away from this garbage.

Overall, I give it 3 out of 10 stars.