Day 244: Lawless

Directed By- John Hillcoat

Written By- Nick Cave; Based off the book- The Wettest County in the World by Matt Bondurant 

Starring Tom Hardy, Shia LaBeouf, Jason Clarke, Guy Pearce, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska, Gary Oldman 

Critics Review- "Bad-ass from start to finish."- Richard Roeper "Richard Roeper.com" 

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 65% Audience- 82%

Out of a possible 5 stars- 5 stars

My Review-

First let me say this, Tom Hardy is a motherfucking bad-ass in this movie. I have always liked these type of movies set in this era, mainly because they always go to wear suits all the time. With this movie being set in this time period made me want to watch and also because it seemed really good, and it was, this probably Shia LaBeouf's best movie too, where he actually good be taken seriously and no robots were trying to kill him. This movie had me hooked from start to finish, and I liked how Shia LaBeouf's character would come in a narrate the story every now and then, made the movie move along well by giving some back story for the audience. Going into the acting, holy good god, Tom Hardy, Guy Pearce and Shia LaBeouf made this movie especially Gary Oldman (SPOILER ALERT) even though his part was small. Also the trailers made Gary Oldman seem like the man antagonist in the movie when he wasn't which was kind of a let down. However with Guy Pearce in the movie he was totally different in this one than he was in Lockout a movie that I reviewed on this list, in this movie he was a bitch and I hated him so much but it just proves that this guy is an amazing actor who needs an Oscar nomination even hopefully Tom Hardy gets one, this is probably in my list of the movies I have seen with Tom Hardy that he was been straight up bad ass and makes the movie what it was. This movie had some comedy every now and then to relieve some of the tension that was building up or that had already happened earlier in the film. I would like to read the book to get a better understanding and to learn more about the Bondurant brothers and their bootlegging business. This one movie that should not be missed since it seems like this one will end the summer movies for this year, and it was well worth it. This movie had everything; amazing acting, violence, great music from Nick Cave finding and creating music from that era, and I agree with Roeper, this movie was bad-ass from start to finish, and it had be at the edge of my seat in some scenes and some scenes that had me going "That did not just happen." This movie should not be missed, and I hope who ever watches it will enjoy it and like it as much as I did.

Day 243: Waking Ned Devine

Directed By- Kirk Jones

Written By- Kirk Jones

Starring- Ian Bannen, David Kelly, Fionnula Flanagan

Critics Review- "The beauty of this film is its simplicity. It's good old-fashioned story-telling, following the increasingly desperate attempts of a group of lovable rogues to fill their pockets."- Jason Korsner "BBC"

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 83%  Audience- 85%

Out of a possible 5 stars- 4 1/2   

My Review- 

This has to probably one of the best films I have watched in awhile, I really liked the story, the acting and of course the accents. It is a simple story about the lottery and what to do with the winnings if they guy who won has died. Throughout this movie we meet the villagers and began to like them except for one old lady in rascal she seems to hate everybody in the village. What also makes this movie really good is that since it is set in Ireland we get to here old folk music and traditional Irish music which was really cool in the movie. When of them sees a vision of Ned the winner of the Lottery the village soon decides to split the winnings among themselves because it is what Ned would have wanted, along the way when we meet the different villagers we get to know more about them and everyone knows everybody since it so small and how everyone cares about each other and looks out for one another. This movie did make me feel really good for some reasons I cannot put why, it was just a happy movie and I really believe that's what the writer was looking for when he wrote the movie, and basically look out for one another. This is one movie that should be watched for the story line since it is really good and the acting from the actors is done well, by everyone. Also this movie did not have big and famous Irish actors in it, they seem like they were actors that came in movies every know and then and this movie was finally the one movie to show how well they could really act. I suggest you find this movie to watch and see if you like it for yourself. I think the only flaw I found with the movie is that it was a little too short just being an hour and 35mins I had hoped it would have been 15-20 minutes longer. 

Day 242: The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

Directed By- Stephan Elliot

Written By- Stephan Elliot

Staring- Hugo Weaving, Guy Pearce, Thomas Stamp, Bill Hunter

Critics Review- "Where else are you going to see General Zod, Agent Smith and the guy from Memento as drag queens stranded in the Australian Outback?"- Kevin Karr "7M Pictures" 

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 93% Audience- 84%

Out of a possible 5 stars- 4 1/2 stars

My Review-

I actually thought this movie was going to be completely different from what it was and I was so wrong. This movie was actually really funny especially from Guy Pearce and Thomas Stamp,and these three really awesome actors playing Drag Queens is one of the funniest things I have seen from them and even though they played completely different characters still afraid of Stamp and Weaving; since they are both iconic actors not being Zod and Agent Smith and they both did this movie really well. This movie being from 1994 seemed ahead of its time or maybe this was going on back then as well, since I was really little when this movie came out I would have not been able to understand what it was about back then as I do now. Since they were Drag Queens they had to deal with the occasional people that gave them shit for it but never took it the wrong way and just moved on. Some of my favorite parts of the movie were when they would break out into song while dancing out of nowhere. This movie was never really boring or drawn out in long scenes, there were just some things here and there I thought could have been a little better; such as Weaving's character actually dealing with the fact that he had a son, since it was told really briefly in a flash back. Other than that this was a really enjoyable movie with three really good actors in Drag what more could you ask for in this type of movie and meeting people who would help or join them along the way. IF you want to see some actors who usually do drama's and want to see them in a comedy than watch this movie, or if you are looking for a funny movie to watch pick this movie up, its a good watch.

Day 241: Death at a Funeral (2010)

Directed By- Neil LaBute

Written By- Dean Craig

Starring- Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Peter Dinklage, Loretta Divine, Tracy Morgan, Zoe Saldana, Columbus Short, Luke Wilson, Danny Glover, James Marsden, Regina Hall, Ron Glass, Kevin Hart, Keith David

Critics Review- "The only death at this funeral was that of a good movie."- Claudia Puig "USA Today" 

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 41% Audience- 47%

Out of a possible 5 stars- 1/2 star 

My Review- 

I loved the original one, and this one of those movies that should not have been touched it was a perfectly good movie, the 2007 version that is. Another thing Shepard from Firefly was in this movie, I want to know why though. He was such a badass before, here he lost some cool points. With Tracy Morgan he was annoying as usual and should not have been in the movie. I did not laugh once throughout this whole movie, I do not even know why I picked this movie. Watch the ORIGINAL ONE from 2007, not this one! The only highlight of this movie was Peter Dinklage who was the only actor to reprise his role from the original one.

Day 240: Atlantis: The Lost Empire

Directed By- Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise

Written By- Tab Murphy

Starring- Michael J. Fox, Cree Summer, James Garner, Corey Burton, Claudia Christian, John Mahoney, Phil Morris, Leonard Nimoy, Jim Varney, Don Novello

Critics Review- "Visually imaginative and even persuasively spiritual, this animated adventure has some unusually complex villains and heroes, and some of the plot and dialogue transcends what's typical in movies intended for a broad youthful audience."- Lisa Alspector "Chicago Reader"

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 49% Audience- 50%

Out of a possible 5 stars- 3 1/2 stars

My Review-

Took me quite a while to finally see this animated feature, about twelve years to be exact. Do not ask me why it took so long, I don't even know the answer too that. I have said once before that I really like the hand drawn animation and 3D animated, but it is good to see an animated movie like this one once in awhile to see some thing like this from Disney and what made them famous in the first place. The voice actors in the movie were freaking amazing, from Michael J. Fox, James Garner to Leonard Nimoy. I believe that's what really made the movie really good, they all fit their characters really well and in my opinion, no one else could have done those characters but them. Some of the best parts were in the climax of the film which I believe were the last 15 minutes of the film, that's when I really started to like it, because most of the film led up that last half of the film. Yes I thought some parts did not need to be used here and there, and some parts could have been told a little better, I would have liked to see a little flashback to when the journal was found by Milo's grandfather. I loved the mixture of traditional animation and the new animation that was becoming popular, I also enjoyed how the music was just right with the movie, not too overpowering. One thing I thought could have been different is maybe showing a montage of some of the characters saying what they wanted to do, opening a flowers shop or their own auto shop, making some of their dreams come true, from the help of Milo and how he changed their perspective on what they were doing. All in all this movie was a good watch with some flaws here and there, and if you have not seen it, it is a good watch if you like Disney movies.

Day 239: Wes Craven's Shocker

Directed By- Wes Craven

Written By- Wes Craven

Starring- Peter Berg, Michael Murphy, Cami Cooper, Mitch Pileggi

Critics Review- "A re-visitation of the director's favorite themes (alternate realities, parent-child dynamics, lunatics spouting one-liners) that pitifully attempts to replicate A Nightmare on Elm Street."- Nick Schager "Lessons of Darkness"

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 8% Audience- 33%

Out of a possible 5 stars- 2 1/2 stars

My Review-

I thought this movie would be a lot better, but it actually has almost the same concept as A Nightmare on Elm Street, well the dreaming part of it. This is considered a cult classic and some area's I can sort of see why. Although it did bug me that there were many similarities to A Nightmare on Elm Street, and that Peter Berg was a horrible actor in this movie. I guess after awhile this movie was okay, the effects were really good for being from 1989 and it was cool too see some actors that are considered some pretty good actors now or on some shows that I watched. if you want to watch this movie go ahead so you can form your own opinion on it. I just thought the movie was okay.

Day 238: History of the World: Part I

Directed By- Mel Brooks

Written By- Mel Brooks

Starring- Mel Brooks, Gregory Hines, Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman,

Critics Review- "The fact that there has been no Part 2 is ample proof that God hates us all."- Widgett Walls "Needcoffee.com"

Rotten Tomatoes Ratings- Critics- 62% Audience- 79%

Out of a possible 5 stars- 4 1/2 stars

My Review-

Only Mel Brooks would do a movie like this, and with his type of humor and comedic timing. This movie was told in five different time periods, and done quite well according to his standards. One of my favorite segments of the movie was the Roman Empire one; because of a few things. Gregory Hines was in the segment and his really hilarious, followed by Dom Deluise playing his version of Caesar, and it was just making fun of the roman empire and everything that went wrong with it. Some of the parts were funny as well, but not as funny as I thought it would be, I did like the musical number though where it was called "The Spanish Inquisition," which was shown as a musical number rather than an actual piece and seeing all the different dance numbers and Mel Brooks singing was just pretty damn awesome. With some of the segments I wish they had been a little funnier than others well some just were just well for me stomach almost hurting funny. Out of most of the Mel Brooks movies I have seen this is in my top 3 of all his films after Spaceballs, and Blazing Saddles though those two are possibly his best ones. This one will have it's place in my collection once it comes out on Blu Ray. I recommend this movie if you have not seen it its very funny and a is a great look at the funny side of our history of the world; from having 15 commandments instead of 10, the cavemen never really got smarted and the Great Dom Deluise is the emperor of Rome could you ask for anymore? oh and one more thing Orson Welles narrated the whole movie which made it like 10x better than it already was after it started.

Day 237: Hit & Run

Directed By- Dax Shepard, David Palmer

Written By- Dax Shepard

Starring- Kristen Bell, Dax Shepard, Bradley Cooper, Tom Arnold, Kristen Chenoweth, Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes 

Critics Review- "On-the-run love story delivers charm despite some unwise detours."- John DeFore "Hollywood Reporter"

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 48%  Audience-  62%

Out of a possible 5 stars- 2 1/2 stars

My Review- 

This movie seems more like a indie drama, then a comedy. However do not get me wrong Dax Shepard is not that bad of a writer, I believe it was how it was acted through his script, some scenes were better than others well other scenes did not need to be in the film. One scene that did not need to be in the film was the full frontal nudity of an old man. Some of the best scenes were just between Bell and Shepard, yes I know they are dating but their love for each other comes out through their characters, some other good scenes were between these two cops who would come in every now and then. One major problem I had with the movie, well two; Tom Arnold as a really annoying as the accident prone U.S. Marshall, to Shepard's character whose in witness protection from Bradley Cooper for testifying against him. Ironically Dax Shepard's name in the movie is Charlie Bronson (named after the famous prisoner who named himself after the famous actor), and Tom Arnold is the most unbelievable U.S. Marshall ever, the other problem was Bradley Cooper in dreadlocks. That has to be the worst wig ever in a movie in my opinion, the dreads were not need and it could have been a little better for his character. There were some things That I liked about this movie; the music was really good when it was used, such as; Aerosmith and a few others that I cannot remember. Once again this movie was not that bad, what made this movie really watchable was the dialogue, and it's usually when the actors are just sitting around talking and not really doing anything. I read somewhere that Dax Shepard did his own driving and if he really did that was some pretty damn good driving. The driving stunts were something out of the old school car chase movies with Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion" playing in the background. The Highlight of this movie was the surprise cameo from Jason Bateman at the end, where when I saw him I started to clap, that's how awesome that man is. This movie is something you wait for to be released on DVD and not to be watched in theaters. This movie could have worked way better as a drama/comedy, and not a comedy with drama sprinkled here and there.

Day 236: An American Tail

Directed By- Don Bluth

Writer(s)- Judy Freudberg, Tony Geiss

Starring- Phillip Glasser, Dom DeLuise, Nehemiah Persoff, Erica Yohn

Critics Review- "Adorable, heartwarming tale of immigrant mouse."- Nell Minow "Common Sense Media" 

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 68%  Audience- 68%

Out of a possible 5 stars- 5 stars

My Review-

After watching this movie I have finally realized why also love animation movies so much, especially the 2D animation movies I used to watch when I was little. With this one I instantly fell in love with it as soon as it started; even more that I found out that Steven Spielberg was behind it with now defunct Amblimation. Even though I love the way that animated movies are done today, it still makes me miss how they used to be made; every character drawn by hand. Since this was an animated musical it had some really great songs sung by the characters especially which is now one of my favorite songs "Somewhere Out There." This also  had one of my favorite voice actors from I "All Dogs Go to Heaven," Dom DeLuise and he was one of my favorite characters from it's sequel, since I did not know this was the original one, and do not ask me why after all these years I did not know there was one made before Fievel Goes West, because I do not know the answer to that either. Back to the topic on hand, this movie was just all kinds of awesome, and I loved every minute of, and it made me love the sequel even more. I suspected that most you have sen this movie unlike me who only watched it today, but if you have not it is a really good animated movie from when animation was done by hand, the music is also always good and not in the movie too much, it only comes in when it is needed. I am really glad that I finally watched this movie when only finding out about it about two days ago. This movie will be definitely added to my DVD/Blu Ray collection.

Day 235: Showgirls

Directed By- Paul Verhoven

Written By- Joe Eszterhas

Starring- Elizabeth Berkley, Gina Gershon, Kyle MacLachlan, Robert Davi, Alan Rachins, William Shockley, Glen Plummer, Patrick Bristow, Gina Ravera,

Critics Review- "A waste of a perfectly good NC-17 rating."- Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times" 

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 12% Audience- 35%

Out of a possible 5 stars- 1/2 star

My Review-

First let me start off my saying, this movie does not need to be over 2 hours, they could have cut like 30 mins of this movie and it would have been fine, but no it dragged on and on in some scenes. This movie was over acted by everyone, I can see why it has been known as one of the worst movies ever made, but I don't see how it got cult status. I was not complaining on the nudity part, but the acting with it was just down right horrible, I can think of a few movies far better than this one. At one point I paused the movie went to go take a nap and when I woke I finally finished. Now I can see why they used this movie as a joke in Scream 2. This movie maybe worth your time, if you want watch it but 2 hours is way too damn long of this. So now that you know what you're getting yourself into, you make the choice to endure this movie or not. Rent it. Watch It. Love it, or Hate it. You make the choice

Day 234: The Raid Redemption

Directed By- Gareth Evans

Written By- Gareth Evans

Starring- Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Donny Alamsyah, Ray Sahetapy, Tegar Satrya 

Critics Review- "The movie gets a little slow when it settles down for some routine dialogue or plot development, but it's never more than a couple of minutes before break time is over and it's back to the insane fighting stunts."- Eric D. Snider "Film.com"

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 84% Audience- 90% 

Out of a possible 5 stars- 4 1/2 stars

My Review- 

This probably has to be one of the best action movies I have ever seen. this movie was slow here and there like the critic said above but then the action start and it was fucking awesome. Some of the fight scenes in the movie had me in awe, especially the fight scene with the machete's and the last fight scene at the end. I really don't have or I cannot find the right words for this movie, I was just in awe the whole entire time. This movie also has a few plot twists that you do not see coming or you will notice and then forget about because you become so invested in the fight scenes that you are watching. This is my first seeing a movie from this director and with this actor Iko Uwais, and I read that this is their second movie together and in my opinion they make a good duo for this kind of movie, even though I have never seen their previous work. I will most likely watch this movie again, it is that awesome, awesome action, awesome fight scenes, blood everything that an action movie should be. There is a good plot twist in the movie that I really did not see coming and I was shocked when I found it out and it was one of those movie that did a good job leading to the reveal of the twist. Also this probably has to be one of the best action movies I have seen so far on this list, that was just hand to hand combat. It will keep you on the edge of your seat waiting to see what happens next and I hope you will not be disappointed, because If you have not seen this movie, then you must see it right away or when you have time too, this one movie that should not be missed. Almost forgot, and the music in the background! omg Mike Shinoda and Joe Trapanese doing the music for this was so freaking amazing kept the tempo of the movie at a really good pace with all the scenes, especially with the fight scenes. I read they are making a sequel and I hope these two return for it, because they did a really good job, and Mike Shinoda should try and do more movie scores. So all in all go watch this movie; rent it. watch it. love it. 

Day 233: The Last Boy Scout

Directed By- Tony Scott

Written By- Shane Black

Starring- Bruce Willis, Damon Waynes, Noble Willingham, Taylor Negron, Danielle Harris, Kim Coates, Halle Berry

Critics Review- "This movie has a lot of laughs, its action sequences are thrilling, its surprises are startling, and it shows a real ingenuity in the ways by which it gets Willis into, and out of, trouble."- Roger Ebert "Chicago Sun-Times"

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 44% Audience- 66%

Out of a possible 5 stars- 3 1/2 stars

My Review-

One of the reasons why I am watching this movie is in memory of Tony Scott's recent death. I have always actually wanted to watch and I guess I was bound to watch it anyways so I chose to watch it today since I have already seen many of his movies and all liked them as I did this one. After watching this movie I realized I may have a new favorite Bruce Willis movie to add to my collection; the first being Die Hard, Look Who's Talking (don't judge me), and the list can go on. For me this movie had the right amount of action and comedy, coming from both actors Willis and Waynes, both of these actors communicated really well with each other, and do make a good duo, even this was the only film they did with each other. It seems like Bruce Willis does action movies really well such as this one, one of the reasons why I enjoyed this film is because he was a smart-ass as always and also he was a man of his word. During the film when some one hit him he would say "hit me again, and I'll kill ya" and he would because they would hit him again. There was a relatively unknown actress in here at the time and she had an extremely small part and that was Halle Berry; who [SPOILER ALERT] ended up dying a very violent death in like almost the first 20 minutes of the movie, in my opinion this should have been her only movie since I think she cannot act for shit. I had hoped it would be a little longer but then I realized if it was too long everything would be stretched out and over done, and I like how they had a very small back story for Willis' character and how he saved the President but knocked out the Senator, I like they way this was done because it gave me a sense that Willis used to be a very dangerous man even though he was just a body guard. This movie is a good watch; if you like gun fire, explosions and comedy it is a very good blend of all of this and I think you would throughly enjoy this movie, it was just one of the many awesome action movies from the early 90s

Day 232: LOL

Directed By- Lisa Azuelos

Writer(s)- Lisa Azuelos, Kamir Ainouz 

Starring- Miley Cyrus, Demi Moore, Ashley Green, Thomas Jane, Douglas Booth, Jay Hernandez, Adam Sevani

Critics Review- "Humdrum all the way."- Jim Lane "Sacramento News & Review" 

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 20% Audience- 52% 

Out of a possible 5 stars- 1/2 star

My Review- 

If I could give this movie zero stars I would. This movie is down right horrible, Miley Cyrus cannot act, the movie is all over the place I was so confused at some points and I really feel like this movie should have never seen the light of day. The Huge problem I had with this movie is that the main character's really name is Lola, but yet her friends call her LOL, its not that fucking hard to call her LOLA. Also she did not narrate the movie every 10 minutes it was really annoying because she did not contribute anything to the film. This movie is too over the top on the drama and acting it takes itself way to seriously. I keep hearing from friends that the French version is way better, and I hope so because this movie is just down right horrible. Best part of this movie was Thomas Jane, he made the movie almost watchable. The best part of this movie is the really short discussion on Oreo cookies with Thomas Jane. STAY FAR AWAY FROM THIS FILM!

Day 231: The Guard

Directed By- John Michael McDonagh

Written By- John Michael McDonagh

Starring- Brendan Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Mark Strong, Liam Cunningham, David Wilmot

Critics Review- "The Guard" is a pleasure. I can't tell if it's really (bleeping) dumb or really (bleeping) smart, but it's pretty (bleeping) good."- Roger Ebert "Chicago Sun-Times)

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 95% Audience- 81%

Out of a possible 5 stars- 4 1/2 stars 

My Review-

I do not even know where to begin with this movie, I think that just might be my new favorite black comedy, and one of the reasons is because of Brendan Gleeson. Gleeson has always been a good actor in the films that he has been in; Harry Potter, In Bruges, and 28 Days Later. In this movie he was fucking brilliant he was the best part of this movie along with the scenes he had with Don Cheadle who was also great in this movie. This had the kind of comedy I like, with some funny scenes that seem like it came straight out of a Guy Ritchie film. This movie had me from when I first saw the trailer I thought it was going to be a great movie because it had Brendon Gleeson and it was going to be a dark comedy which from those types of movie I tend to like more since sometimes they are indie films. I think the only true problem I had with this movie is that I was surprised that Mark Strong was not the main antagonist and he was just a henchman which was weird to see. This movie is really smart in certain ways and can be very, very funny in one scene then really serious in the next. I believe that most of it has to deal with is that they are in Ireland it was really hard to understand what some of them were saying at times, even with subtitles on. I think it's these types of movies that are at times underrated and are not talked about as much when it is released. This movie should be watched if you like these types of movies or if you just want to see Brendan Gleeson as a main role since we have seen him in supporting roles for sometime now. Gleeson makes the film as an unorthodox Irish policeman who has a different way of doing his police business, it's like he does not care or just doesn't care at times. Don Cheadle does a good job as the FBI agent who teams up with Gleeson to stop a drug smuggling gang, which you would think Gleeson would not be a part of but even though he does things unorthodox way he still has some integrity to him which we see in a few scenes. There are also some side characters that come in every so often that just add more comedy to the film, and some of the scenes that they came in were to me really random but just made it funnier. If you have not seen this movie then you should watch it, it is pretty fucking good, just wish it had been a little longer, but other than that I really enjoyed it. And I hope you will too.

Day 230: Tyson

Directed By- James Toback

Written By- James Toback

Starring- Mike Tyson

Critics Review- "Utterly absorbing and fascinating, Tyson captivates viewers for its 90 minutes."- Sonny Bunch "Washington Times"

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 85% Audience- 77%

Out of a possible 5 stars- 4 stars

My Review-

This documentary is mostly just Mike Tyson talking to a camera  for 90 minutes, along with archive footage and photos; and at first you would think it would be kind of boring but it isn't its actually really good. With a few things that picked out here and there. It was a candid sit down of Tyson talking about his life, and how he became a boxer through his ups and downs and leading to his retirement. I believe that this documentary would have not been that good if it was not made the way it was, with certain ways that Toback did the interview him or would lead to the archive footage; most of the footage were of his fights or interviews and with his first wife Robin Givens who was abused at him at the time. I remember the fight with Holyfield when he bit off his ear and watching more I can see why he bit it off, but still it was still no need to do what he did, he lost his temper and he realized that now and says it would have not made him what he was today. It seems like Tyson has learned a lot from his mistakes and has been trying to bring his life back together; by starring in the The Hangover and Hangover Part II, in which my opinion he took the first movie to a whole different level with his small cameo by singing Phil Collins. Also during his interviews we can see that he is not actually a bad person, he just made mistakes here and there and realized that he had to pay for the consequences. After watching this you realize that Tyson is a genuinely humble and respectable person. This documentary made me have more respect for me in some aspects of how he is. This man had a hard life and at one point he says that he did not know if he was going to live up to a certain age. and that was why he lived the life that he did and he realizes that now that he is at the age of what is now 43 he can slow down and enjoy his life. I recommend this documentary on Mike Tyson so you can get a better understanding of him and it is a really good watch for a documentary.

Day 229: Piranha 3DD

Directed By- John Gulager

Writer(s)- Patrick Melton, Marcus Dunstan, Joel Soisson

Starring- Danielle Panabaker, Matt Bush, David Kpechner, Chris Zylka, Katrina Bowden, Gary Busey, Christopher Lloyd, and David Hasselhoff

Critics Review-  "Just remember: it's called Piranha 3DD."- Staci Layne Wilson "Horror.com"

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 14% Audience- 22%

Out of a possible 5 stars- 3 Stars 

My Review- 

In this sequel we see the piranha's return but this time to a water park, and I must say that this one is slightly better than the first one and for many reasons; it has the triumphant return of Ving Rhames, and Christopher Lloyd from the first movie, with some cameos from Gary Busey and David Hasselhoff, who was by far probably the best part of this movie. Even though it is less gory than the first one it is still a major bloodbath once the piranha's start attacking. While there is not as much nudity in this one as there is in the first one, there is still a fair amount, I still think it would have been a lot funnier in 3D then watching it regular 2D I think I would have been laughing even more at how ridiculous it would have been. Even though the movie was really funny to begin with I thought The Hoff made it even better especially when he started running to the Baywatch music playing in the background. The movie had serious moments that were in turn actually really funny and I could not help myself from laughing really hard, one person I was really excited to see was Christopher Lloyd and Ving Rhames since they returned from the first movie and Ving Rhames was the best even when he had Shotgun legs, and was afraid of the kiddie pool. Movies that are over the top like this one I think end up being the most underrated, and it seems like they will make a sequel and if they do I hope David Hasselhoff returns along with some other characters that made the movie colorful. If you're looking for a good laugh check this out, you won't be disappointed I know I wasn't. 

Day 228: Hot Shots

Directed By- Jim Abrahams

Writer(s)- Jim Abrahams, Pat Proft

Starring- Charlie Sheen, Carey Elwes, Valeria Golino, Lloyd Bridges, Jon Cryer, Kevin Dunn, Bill Irwin

Critics Review-  "Sheen is very good at the deadpan humor that makes these films fly."- Jeffery M. Anderson "San Francisco Examiner"

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 83%  Audience- 63% 

Out of  a possible 5 stars- 3 1/2 stars 

My Review- 

This was quite a funny movie, since it was a parody of other movies before this one was released and mostly spoofing famous scenes from those films; it was called "Top Gun meets Airplane!" and Airplane being one of my favorite comedies it was almost as funny as Airplane!  Even though in some parts I thought it was a little over the top, it still was satisfying throughout the whole movie. There were some scenes that stood out more than others did and those were the ones that I enjoyed the most. Charlie Sheen does the deadpan humor well and Lloyd Bridges was great in this movie. The movie would transition from being really serious then to really freaking hilarious that had me and my brother trying to figure out did we really just watch that. I though the movie could have been a little longer; and I had hoped to see more of Carey Elwes in the movie since he was in The Princess Bride I was excited to see him in this movie, even though he was not in a lot he was still quite funny. lastly the person I was annoyed with was Jon Cryer, I guess it's because I never really liked him as an actor, and with out him the movie would have been a lot funnier than it already was. I do recommend watching this movie since it is one of Charlie Sheen's funniest films from the 90s and if you liked Airplane! you will like this movie.

Day 227: Another 48 HRS.

Directed By- Walter Hill

Writer(s)- John Fasano, Larry Gross, Jeb Stuart

Starring- Eddie Murphy, Nick Nolte, Brion James, Ed O'Ross

Critics Review- "From start to finish the picture is barely alive, staggering through a cardboard obstacle course while waving around a few guns and breasts to keep the audience awake."- Brian Orndorf "BrianOrndorf.com 

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 20%  Audience- 40%

Out of a possible 5 stars- 2 stars 

My Review- 

Well it is not as funny or as good as the first one it is still okay. This is solely based off of Eddie Murphy's comedic performance in this one. As a sequel I would have hoped it would have been a little better, but it is just a revenge story most of the time with some laughs thrown in here and there. I would have like to seen more from Eddie Murphy and what he was known for back then, but it seemed like he was holding back a little in some scenes that could have been a lot funnier than they already were. There were also some unanswered questions at the end of the movie, I had hoped to find out what happened. All in all it was kind of a disappointment.

Day 226: The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996)

Directed By- John Frakenheimer

Writer(s)- Richard Stanley, Ron Hutchinson; Based on the Book By- H.G. Wells

Starring- Marlon Brando, Val Kilmer, David Thewlis, Fairuza Balk

Critics Review- "The movie keeps switching focus without ever getting its bearings, and when Brando exits earlier than expected, there's little but mayhem to fall back on."- Mike Clark "USA Today"

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 23% Audience- 26%

Out of a possible 5 stars- 1/2 star

My Review-

Wasted my time with this movie. It was boring, it seemed longer than it was, Marlon Brando should have never done this movie. The movie try to be emotional but it just did not work. It was not worth my time to watch this movie, and I do not recommend watching it, Stay far away from it. And the best part of this movie was Val Kilmer and that's saying a lot about him.

Day 225: The Campaign

Directed By- Jay Roach

Writer(s)- Shawn Harwell, Chris Henchy 

Starring- Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Jason Sudeikis, Katherine LaNasa, Dylan McDermott, John Lithgow, Dan Aykroyd, Brian Cox

Critics Review- "There's a lot of laughs to be found in this movie, a few scenes in particular I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. There are slow moments but who cares? All I'll say is get ready for the scene with Zach and his family at the dinner table."- Kristian Harloff "Schmoes Know"

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 67% Audience- 64%

Out of a possible 5 stars- 3 1/2 stars

WARNING MILD SPOILERS AHEAD!

My Review-

This movie makes up for Will Ferrell's last film, Casa de Mi Padre which in my opinion he should have never done in the first place. In this movie he plays congressman Cam Brady, running unopposed until he does something extremely stupid. Enter Zach Galifianakis as Marty Huggins, who is the last person you would see run for congress but he is soon set to run against him by The Motch Brothers, however for their own personal gain played two very funny actors John Lithgow and Dan Aykroyd and his father Brian Cox, who is just as funny as he was in Super Troopers maybe even funnier.  To make Marty more appealing to the voters and reinvent him Lithgow and Akyroyd hire Tim Wattley played by McDermott who can do comedy really well, he was both very funny and intimidating especially when he would just pop up out of know where. I don't see why he doesn't do it more often: he was one of the actors made the movie even funnier than it already was. This movie is very funny right from the opening scene with Jason Sudeikis and Ferrell, it does slow down here and there for some sentimental moments or between certain characters, but some scenes that are shown in the trailer above are even funnier when seeing what leads up to it (the baby punching scene, and another scene where he punches something else). By far one of the funniest scenes I have seen in a long time is the dinner table scene with  Galifianakis and his family, funnier than it is shown to be in the trailer. The Debates scenes that are in the film also stand out since it goes back and forth between Brady and Huggins every other debate making the other one look stupid or having the voters switch sides. Another character that stood out was the maid that worked for Brian Cox's character for some ridiculous reason which you have to see this movie to know why, he makes her talk like black southern woman, even though that is not her ethinicity to begin with. Since this movie can be considered a political satire it does done very well by using some things that seem to always get politicians in trouble; affairs, money, and saying the wrong things, campaign ads using tactics to smear the person their running against (like the two pugs Huggins own are Chinese dogs and not American dogs), or even making them look like an idiot during debates. Ferrell and Galifianakis were able to play to their strengths along with Sudeikis and McDermott as their campaign managers. Since it is Ferrell and Galifianakis in the main roles, and they can be very funny when they want to, the comedy never really lets up with them. As the movie progresses some scenes become funnier than others, and at times almost had me in tears from laughing so hard. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, and from all the movies that I have seen so far this year this has to be by far one of the funniest I have seen, and the funniest from either of these actors, except for Will Ferrell in Anchorman and Zach Galifanakis in The Hangover, those still be their funniest movies, but this is a one that I can add to my list from them. Out of most the political satires that have come out through the years this one is one of the funniest and more relevant for incidents that have happened in the most recent years. However there were some scenes that I thought did not really need to be in the film and really did not help it move along, one of them being a scene where Brady is having brunch with some potential people who will fund his campaign or a scene where Brady ends up seducing Huggins wife. Other than that this movie worth watching; it's very funny, the acting is and comedic timing is spot on with all the actors, and the movie is not too long. If you're looking for away to end your summer movie watching on a good note or just with a good comedy check this one out.

Day 224: Bull Durham

Directed By- Ron Shelton

Written By- Ron Shelton

Starring- Kevin Costner, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Robert Wuhl, Trey Wilson

Critics Review- "I will always respect Bull Durham for what it represents in terms of love of baseball, but it will not be on my list of favorite sports movies."- Kevin Carr "7M Pictures"

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 96% Audience- 77%

Out of a possible 5 stars- 2 1/2 stars

My Review-

This movie was okay, I did enjoy some of it but not all of it. There some scenes that were better than others, well some just annoyed me a little. I will say this I did enjoy the scenes where Costner and Robbins were trying to communicate while playing baseball. Some scenes stood out more then others did for me, but for me I could not see the hype and how it is consider one of the great sports movies but hey that's just me. One of my favorite scenes were when all the players were explaining their problems and could not play until they were all solved. For me that was the highlight of the movie. It is shown throughout the whole movie from Costner and Sarandon in particular how much they love Baseball and it is shown in they way they both talk about it and show it. This is only my opinion on the film, I suggest you watch it so you can form your own.

Day 223: Beginners

Directed By- Mike Mills

Written By- Mike Mills

Starring- Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Melanie Laurent

Critics Review- "The film's special mixture of sadness, comedy and hope sneaks up on you and stays in your memory."- Joe Morgenstern "Wall Street Journal"

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 84% Audience- 77%

Out of a possible 5 stars- 5 stars

My Review-

I was really surprised on how good this movie was, it was a straight forward drama with little bits of comedy here and there. This movie is emotionally driven by all the actors in this movie. Since it was a drama some scenes almost had me on the verge tears and that was during the scenes with all the actors. One actor I really liked was Laurent, it was the second movie with her that I had seen with her, the other being Inglorious Basterds I really liked how she was able to show more of her acting skill then being really angry in her last movie. The comedy aspect was surprisingly between McGregor and his late father's dog. Had not seen many movies from Christopher Plummer, all I know is that he is supposed to be on of the greatest actors of our time. So when he finally won the Oscar for this film some were wondering why it took him so long to win, but while watching this I had time trying to figure out who should have won Best Supporting Actor; Nick Nolte for Warrior or Christopher Plummer for this movie, they both did superb in their films and I could pick who should have won in my opinion but I could not come to a conclusion for this. From what I read, this story is somewhat based on part of what the director Mills went through, and his father telling him that he was gay his whole life, and its done well with McGregor and Plummer, these two actors really make it seem like they are father and son and that their relationship is real. This movie would go up and down with some of the emotions, since it was told in flashbacks, one minute you would be laughing, then the next minute you would feel sad and happy for McGregor's character at the same time. This a movie that should not be missed for many reasons, Plummer's acting, McGregor is actually in a good movie again and the humor is done well to take the mood off some of the depressing parts. So this movie should be watched when you have the time and want to watch a movie that is really good.

Day 222: Another Earth

Directed By- Mike Cahill

Writer(s)- Mike Cahill, Brit Marling

Starring- William Mapother, Brit Marling

Critics Review- "Another Earth is one of the most low-tech, low-budget, scaled-down and engrossing sci-fi movies ever to hit theaters."- Claudia Puig "USA Today"

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 64% Audience- 68%

Out of a possible 5 stars- 4 1/2 stars

My Review-

If you have ever seen the trailer to this movie, it is kind of deceiving. This movie is nothing I expected it to be, it was totally different in a good way I really liked it. Some of my favorite scenes were when the narrator Richard E. Berendzen who is an actual American Scientist would come in a explained certain scenes, or he would explain certain ideas or quotes that would make us think at what was going on during that particular part of the movie which I thought was brilliant on the writers part. What made this movie stand out is that some of these people were not really big actors, they did not have a long list of movies to their name and they seemed genuine. Another thing I noticed When I saw the credits was that, the main character played wonderfully by Brit Marling was also the co-writer of the film and it seems like these two people Cahill and Marling know how to convey emotion between characters with very little dialogue, that's another thing that I liked about this film was that there was very little dialogue, when there was it was only between one or two characters spaced out throughout the film. It was a film that made you think as Berendzen said in the film; " In this case, there's another you out there." That was one of the main things that Marling's character had to deal with along with redemption for the horrible thing that she did, that maybe she would be able to change it, I have not seen many films with her, but I am glad that I started out with this one. With Mapother, once again I had never seen a movie with him. I had heard of him but never seen any of his work, but after seeing this movie I believe he should get more movies like this one so I can see more of his acting range. This movie also has little to no music put precisely in certain areas of the film to convey different emotions between the two characters. This is the type of movie that will make you think in a good way, and it is done in such an amazing way that every time Berendzen spoke I would go back to here what he said again, and I would that for most of the dialogue that he had. Yes it is a slow paced movie, but if it moved at a different speed I do not think it would have been as effective as it was. This another movie to add on the list of movies to watch because it is really worth it. Cahill and Marling bring a lot to the table with this low budget sci-fi film and in the end, in my opinion it pays off. 

Day 221: Cyrus

Directed By- Jay Duplass, Mark Duplass 

Writer(s)- Jay and Mark Duplass

Starring- John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, Marissa Tomei, Katherine Keener, Matt Walsh

Critics Review- "A comedy of discomfort that walks a wonderful line between reality-based emotional honesty and engaging humor, it demonstrates the good that happen when quirky independent style combines with top-of-the-line acting skill."- Kenneth Turan "Los Angeles Times"

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 80% Audience- 52%

Out of a possible 5 stars- 4 stars 

My Review- 

This is the third film from the Duplass brothers that I have reviewed; the others being The Puffy Chair and Jeff who Lives at Home, and out of all those I believe that this where they started to mature a little more, since this came out before Jeff who Lives at Home. I have been looking forward to watching this movie for sometime and now, and I was very pleased with the results after watching it. The thing is with the Duplass' they have a certain way of making a film of a style of filming that at times will make you enjoy the movie even more; such as scenes with the actors with dialogue that's off-screen and leads into the next, or subtle music very now and then and its not all over the movie, they use it when it is necessary in their films and this one of the reasons why I enjoy their films. They also tend to cast actors that at times you would not expect to portray a character like that. Such the case with Jonah Hill as the title character Cyrus, I believe that this was his first dramatic role before Moneyball, and he does drama quite well even if it is a little borderline creepy. While watching this movie I wanted to hit Jonah Hill, but then I came to realize that most likely what we did not see is that John C. Reilly's character was possibly the first person to ever come in between him and his mom, and upon seeing this he was afraid, him and his mom would get torn apart, hence Hill, trying to sabotage everything. This was really well acted by everyone including the supporting characters Keener and Walsh, who played characters who would come in every now and then and made the movie a little funnier when they were on screen. John C. Reilly seems to be taking more serious roles with a mix of comedy every now and then and it seems like he should be doing more of these types of films since he can pull off both. This one of the Duplass movies that should be seen along with two mention above so you can see what types of film makers these brothers are. At times the movie can be a little emotional and that is done all through the actors, they make their feelings for each other genuine and that something you do not see a lot in movies these days, it was not forced it was real. So yes I suggest you watch this movie when you do have the chance, and see what you thing about it. 

Day 220: American Me

Directed By- Edward James Olmos

Written By- Floyd Mutrux, Desmond, Nakano

Starring- Edward James Olmos, William Forsythe, Pepe Serna, Danny De Le Paz, Jacob Vargas

Critics Review- "worth seeing for Olmos' performance alone."- Scott Weinberg "eFilmCritic.com_

Rotten Tomatoes Rating- Critics- 75% Audience- 90%

Out of a possible 5 stars- 4 1/2 stars

My Review-

Edward James Olmos pulls double duty in this film; as director and actor, and he does it well it which is possibly one of the more violent films I have seen in a while, and what makes it more freighting then anything else is this actually happens. In the beginning of the film it states that it is inspired by a True Story, but things like that happen everyday, and from what was depicted it does seem like a really horrible place. The thing is this whole movie rest solely on Olmos' shoulders and he helps the movie move together since it is a story on his life and he narrates the film every now and then. Even though every actor contributed to the film in their own way, Olmos' was the one to watch as the young boy who rose to be a gang leader within the prison system and somewhat outside. In the film it shows that this was the only type of lifestyle that was waiting for them when they were growing up and would lead them along throughout their lives living on the streets of East L.A., another thing that was depicted really well was the prison life and what you have to do to survive will being their. What shocked me was that this was the meanest role I have ever seen Olmos' in, I have always seem him as the good friend, a father or a supporting role that helps a character move along, never in a role where he was calling the shots to get rid of someone. This movie is one of those types that need to be seen, and should be on your list of movies to see, and it should be like Weinberg said its worth it just for the performance from Edward James Olmos. He is also not a bad direct for his debut, I would like to see more from him or if he was directed other movies I would like to watch them and see how well he did with those films as well.