A Look Back at Twister (1996)

 

With Twisters arriving soon it's time to do another A Look Back.

Twister is a disaster thriller movie, that was produced by Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal Pictures, and Amblin Entertainment and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Twister was written by Michael Crichton and Anne-Marie Martin and directed by Jan de Bont.

The story is, an underfunded storm chasing team have made a revolutionary tornado data-gathering device that they've name Dorothy. They soon find out their rival has stolen their idea and plan to beat them to the most powerful tornado in decades. Now it's a race to the first, but the question isn't who's gonna be first, it's will anybody survive?

• Negatives

I've got nothing, just move along.

• Mix

Now let's get this out of the way, because this is a disaster movie you're not gonna get the most mind blowing story. However, there are quite a few character moments, but we all know along with the filmmakers that we're all here for the disasters. So if it's not the deepest story, is it at least entertaining? Oh hell yeah! I don't know how many times I've seen this movie, but I know I'm always entertained everytime. This is movie is a thrill ride.

• Positives

One thing about the movie is the comedy. There's a lot of funny moments that'll get a good laugh out of you. I remember one where everybody's sitting for dinner or something and one bit of dialogue was basically congratulating someone on slaughtering their own cows.

Then there's the performance. Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt have really chemistry together. Which is impressive considering they absolutely couldn't stand each other during production. How much did they hate each other? Well when the theme park ride [Twister...Ride It Out] was a thing, they filmed their scenes separately even though it's clear their characters are talking to each other. And I of course can't talk about performances without mentioning the late Philip Seymour Hoffman as Dusty. He was a show stealer for how energetic he was. And maybe it's just his convincing acting, but I like to think he had a fun time playing the character.

The last thing to credit is the special effects. It's amazing how this is over 20 years old and the effects still hold up to this day. I dare say they make some (not all) effects we see in other movies look like amateurs made them.

While Twister isn't anything deep, it is really fun. So you want to kick back and be entertained whether the movie is old or new, give Twister a shot.

My final rating is, Good.

That's all. Come back on Thursday, Jul 11th, for part two of the Road to Superman (2025), with my review of Superman II. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Classic Film Night - Platoon

 

Platoon is a war movie and the first installment to Oliver Stone's Vietnam War trilogy (the other two films being Born on the Fourth of July and Heaven and Earth). It was produced by Hemdale Film Corporation and distributed by Orion Pictures. Platoon was written and directed by Oliver Stone.

The story is, young university student Chris Taylor has enlisted to join the fight in Vietnam. Things take an intense turn after the soldiers terrorize a village, which now makes Taylor and his fellow soldiers fight amongst themselves.

My Thoughts

One praise to give is the performances, mainly from Charlie Sheen, Willem Dafoe, and Tom Berenger. Now I wasn't too surprised when it came to Dafoe and Berenger, they've done both comedy and serious works, so while they're performances are spectacular, it was pretty obvious they'd do well. The biggest surprise, at least for me, was Charlie Sheen. I knew he did more serious stuff such as this movie, but I was so in love with his comedy work with things like Major League, Hot Shots!, Scary Movie 3-4, and Two and Half Men (yes, I like that show, judge later), that I just never gotten around to his more serious movies. So when I finally watched this, I gotta admit Sheen did deliver an engaging performance.

Then there's the war scenes. Now the movie doesn't go over the top with those scenes, not that I'm complaining! What I mean is those scenes where it's an all out war are very realistic, which in return adds to the intensity to the movie whenever the soldiers aren't at each others throats.

Now for the movie's villain, Sgt. Barnes. At first it did seem like he was gonna be just another soldier, but as the movie went on, I saw he wasn't another run of the mill soldier. His physical appearance is a very stern and menacing face with really cold eyes. To add onto to that, in normal cases it would be very motivational to witness somebody have a whatever it takes to win attitude, but Barnes version is very twisted. How? The guy put a gun to somebody's daughter just to get any type of information. Yeah, not exactly a whatever it takes attitude I'd follow into war. Then we're lead to give the impression that he cares about his fellow soldiers. When that's not really the case. He cares more about how he lost something useful that would've helped win the war, then a life that's been lost.

The last thing I'll praise is the story. Now the film focuses on Chris Taylor but I'll get to that later, the other focus is Barnes and fellow soldier Elias, and their clashing ideologies. Both want to win, but with Barnes it's no sympathy for the enemy and screw your humanity. While with Elias, it's we still need to defeat the enemy, but we don't have to be animals about it. A very opposite but still admirable way of thinking when compared to Barnes. Because of these two, the platoon are split off into two groups, those who are on Barnes' side or Elias'. Where is Chris in all of this? Well what we're witnessing is him needing to decide. So we do have this very interesting third aspect of someone caught in the middle.

I strongly recommend Platoon. Whether you're just a film buff or a fan of war films, Platoon is a masterpiece.

My final rating is, A Must Watch!

That's all for now. Come back on Monday, Jul 8th, for my A Look Back at review of, Twister. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Oh, and have a Happy 4th of July.

A Quiet Place: Day One Review

 

A Quiet Place: Day One is a apocalyptic horror movie, serving as the third installment of the A Quiet Place series, with this one being a prequel to the first film. It's produced by Platinum Dunes and Sunday Night Productions and distributed by Paramount Pictures. A Quiet Place: Day One is written by Michael Sarnoski and John Krasinski and directed by Michael Sarnoski.

The story is, everybody was just living a normal life in The Big Apple. That all changes within an instance when meteors come down from the sky, and hostile extraterrestrials start a rampage. Now, people need to stay quiet if they want to stay alive.

Initial Reaction

Having enjoyed the first two movies, I was really looking forward to this. Although initially I wanted to see the characters from the first two appear, but then I thought, "Ya know what? Different characters from a different setting, would not only set it apart from the first two, but also give us a very different perspective".

Cons

I've got nothing.

Middle Ground

The biggest mix bag is the story. First let's go over the good. What everybody loves about this is franchise is, yes, there are monsters causing chaos, and that is fun but, the movies always focus on the human aspect. With this, a woman named Samira aka Sam, is terminally ill then the creatures show up. So now she just wants to spend her last days on her terms despite the world going straight to hell. That's actually a pretty fascinating story and the writers handled really well. But where the story loses you is we really go into familiar territory. I thought we would see how exactly people would figure out how to survive the aliens. It starts off well, but the moment Sam is knocked out cold, people know to stay quiet and all additional information is given by emergency personnel flying in helicopters. Yeah...they missed out on a big opportunity.

Pros

Even though I slightly criticized the story, there's still some really good suspense. One moment that made me tense up and hold my breath was one another character named Eric was damn near cheek to cheek with one of the monsters. That moment freaked me out. Cause imagine that, ya think things going fine, then next thing you know, a big ugly man eating monster is directly next to you, and the only thing not getting you killed at this moment, is you not uttering so much as a single peep. Yeah, kind of terrifying when you think about it. My other praise goes to Michael Sarnoski's directing. Now I did see his previous movie [Pig]. That was a small indy flick, so I was skeptical when it came to this, even though Day One itself also doesn't have too crazy of a budget, he surprised me and did a great job. And while he handled the bigger monsters moments, it seems like he's best suited for more character driven stories, and he absolutely nailed whenever the story called for more slower, character developing scenes. The last praise I'll give is the performances. Lupita Nyong'o and Joseph Quinn are strong on their own but also have good chemistry together. And while their more dialogue moments are good, it's incredible how both of them were able say a lot only through facial expressions and body language.

While A Quiet Place: Day One isn't going to be my favorite one of the franchise, I still had some sort of fun with it.

My final rating is, Good.

That's all for now. Come back on Thursday, Jul 4th, for my Classic Film Night review of, Platoon. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Looking Back at the Films of 2023 Part Six - Elemental & Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken

 

It's that time again. So let's get to it.

Why Didn't I See Elemental?

It was mainly because the movie simply didn't look interesting. From what I saw from the trailers and commercials, it just looked like another _____ with feelings movie.

What is Elemental?

Elemental is an animated romantic comedy-drama movie, that was produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Elemental was written by Kat Likkel, John Hoberg, and Brenda Hsueh and directed by Peter Sohn.

The story is, there's a world inhabited by living elements of nature. One of these is a fire element named Ember, who is trying to save her father's store after an accident. She befriends a water element named Wade. Soon they make a pack to help save the store.

My Thoughts

The Good: I'll give it this, the animation is great.

The Bad: If there's one thing I can't defend, it's the world building. Other than a few creative things, it's mainly just elements living in New York. Not really dazzling considering we've had fairy tale creatures live in a real world setting, cars in a semi-real world setting, etc.

The Okay: One of the three decent things about the movie was the humor. There are some funny moments, but then there were times when I just couldn't even muster up a smile. Then there's the art style. Some characters look visually appealing, such as Ember and Wade, but sometimes there are characters that just didn't look good. I get it that because their are elements they don't have to human-like, but still. The last thing I'll touch on is the story. While the romance between Ember and Wade can be sweet a lot of times, the movie isn't exactly subtle about its topics. Water being in love with fire, is the filmmakers tackling interracial relationships, but the topics like that are similar to, once again, not very subtle. Because of that the movie will most likely be preachy for some.

Final Verdict: Okay.

Why Didn't I See Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken?

Simply put, this movie slipped under my radar. I mean, I kind of remember seeing TV spots here and there, but for the most part I kept forgetting about the whole thing.

What is Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken?

Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is an animated teen comedy movie, that was produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures. Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken was written by Pam Brady, Brian C. Brown, and Elliot DiGuiseppi and directed by Kirk DeMicco.

The story is, teenager Ruby Gillman is trying to desperately fit in. Because of this desperation, she disobeys her mother's rule about going into the ocean, just so she can some sort of friends. Doing so, she learns there's more to her then she realized.

My Thoughts

The Good: One positive is the animation. Must like their rival [Pixar], there's no doubt that DreamWorks makes beautiful animated films. And with Ruby Gillman much like previous DreamWorks films, showcase this. I think the best was the underwater scenes. Those were beautiful. I also really enjoyed the humor. I especially loved Captain Lighthouse, he was hilarious. Then there's the art style. I liked it. It was very cartoony and had many good designs. Although I'm not the biggest fan of how some characters' eyes were so close to the bridge of the nose. But that's just a small nitpick, so just ignore that. It's not a valid criticism. The last bit goes to the villain, Chelsea. While I didn't find her to be the most sinister, she was a fun character. I also find funny how she is definitely an evil Ariel. And if say otherwise, look at the poster. She's caucasian, has red hair, and a mermaid. She's evil Ariel. Which is a pretty funny shot DreamWorks took at Disney.

The Bad: Nothing.

The Okay: Now I'm not gonna lie, you know where the story is gonna go. However, I always felt like even if people know where your story is gonna go, people will forgive that aspect as long as you provide a fun experience. And Ruby Gillman does that.

Final Verdict: Good.

Okay, that's all. Due come back on Saturday, Jun 29th, for my review of, A Quiet Place: Day One. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

The Amazing Spider-Man: If This Be My Destiny Review

 

Typically when I do these comic reviews it's because of a movie relating to comics is coming out. I did this with Spider-Verse, when Across the Spidee-Verse was coming out. And I did this with Flashpoint, when The Flash was coming out.

So what's the reason here? Why not? When I reviewed the previously mentioned comics people liked those, so I figured why not review this just to give my thoughts.

If This Be My Destiny was a 1965 storyline that can be found in the 1963 volume of The Amazing Spider-Man, within issues #31-33. The story arc was written by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko and drawn by Steve Ditko.

The story is, it starts off with a typical day for Peter Parker aka Spider-Man, with fighting bad guys, figuring out who the Master Planner is, and attending his first day at his university. But when his Aunt May succumbs to a mysterious life-threatening illness, he must get the cure with the limited time he has. The only problem is the Master Planner has it.

• Negatives

I've got nothing.

• Mix

Now for me, I felt like the pacing was in the decent category. With issues thirty-one, we're slow. Now I understand why Stan and Steve did that it was to set up plot and character, but it still felt like things could've been quicker. Now issue thirty-two was pretty good, we breeze by, but in no way are we going too quick. This luckily carries on into the next issue.

• Positives

Now I'm more than likely gonna lose a lot comic fan credit for this but, I've never been the biggest fan of Steve Ditko's art. Not because I think it's bad, far far from it actually. Ditko is without a shadow of doubt one of the greatest, and rightfully deserves to be called a legend. It's just my taste is different from everybody else's. But with If This Be My Destiny, I find this to be Ditko at his best. He's able to show Peter's emotional struggle both with and without the mask, primarily because of skill of display emotion through what kind of pose the characters are in. And I also want to praise Steve for his genius idea of this iconic moment.

When this moment was still in its early phase, Stan Lee himself at first thought this was only gonna be a couple of panels, but to his surprise Ditko stretched this moment out to page after page. According to Stan, he jumped up in triumph even though he wrote the thing.

Then we have the story. It's no wonder people believe this to be the top best story during the Lee & Ditko era of Amazing Spider-Man. Because it's fantastic. We've got Peter going through the ringer, in terms of psychologically, physically, and emotionally, a trope that would follow other Spider-Man stories throughout the character's history for better or worse. We've got drama what with us wondering if Peter will save Aunt May in time, and with him being pinned by that heavy machinery, which would demonstrate his never give up attitude. Even though other great stories would follow suit, this old school classic is one of the examples that show why we love The Wall Crawler.

While a lot of my favorite Spider-Man stories, are either ones Stan Lee didn't write or are ones I grew up with, primarily examples being the J. Michael Straczynski run w/ John Romita Jr. as the artist or Ultimate Spider-Man by Brian Michael Bendis, I absolutely love If This Be My Destiny. If I was for some reason only allowed to read this Spidey story and only this story, you'd hear no complaints from me.

My final rating is, A Must Read!

Okay this was a fun one. Come back on Thursday, Jun 27th, for part six of Looking Back at the Films of 2023. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Underrated Films - Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

 

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is a neo-noir black comedy crime film, partially based on the Brett Halliday 1941 novel, Bodies Are Where You Find Them. The film was produced by Silver Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was written and directed by Shane Black.

The story is, two-bit crook Harry Lockhart stumbles into an audition for a movie and after his remorse for a botched robbery is mistaken for method acting, he gets the part then finds himself in Hollywood. Soon, he's flung into a tangled, murderous conspiracy involving his childhood sweetheart and a hard boiled private eye.

Why It's Underrated

Like main cases with underrated films, they slip under the radar. This is a special case, because this is written and directed by Shane Black. The guy who wrote Lethal Weapon starring Mel Gibson Danny Glover, and directed by Richard Donner. And yes, the same Donner who did Superman with Christopher Reeve. So you'd think after writing a classic like that his movies would get more recognition. Criminally that's not the case.

My Thoughts

Let's start off with the performances. Robert Downey Jr. and Val Kilmer are spectacular together. Their chemistry is great and every scene between is just as entertaining as the last. Kilmer is awesome as the private eye Perry aka Gay Perry. I thought the character was an interesting character and his sarcasm was really funny. The there's Downey Jr. aka Harry Lockhart. This character can kind of be an idiot sometimes, but that almost makes him likable.

Then there's the mystery. I won't go into too much detail in case you're interested. Anyways, at first you think it's gonna be a clear case of somebody being murdered to cover up a big secret. But there's a lot of great twist that'll put a wrench in any of your theories.

Now for the humor. Again, won't go into spoilers in case you're interest is peaked. Now the movie does have fourth wall breaks, but they're done in a way where it doesn't feel like there's winking at the camera. But even if that's not happening, the film also has a tongue-in-cheek way of poking fun at the more hardboiled crime movies or novels. Though not in a mean spirited way, if you look into the production of this, along with Shane Black's filmography, he clearly loves crime and action flicks. So he was poking fun in a more fun way.

The last thing to praise is Shane Black's writing. Not only are his characters flawed and fun, but he also writes great dialogue in a that feels natural for the characters. But there's also the fact that he does a lot of creative things. For instance, in any other the movie, Harry would've met his love interest [Molly] simple because she's there for being an actress. But Shane took a more darkly hilarious route by having her make headline news, by not only stopping a home intruder and almost killing the guy, but also because a Hollywood producer saw the story, not only liked what happened but also thought she was very attractive. Now had I written this I definitely would've put the attractive thing in there, but that whole bit with the home intruder, I honestly never would've thought of that. So thankfully for the filmmakers it was Shane Black who wrote this, and not me 😆.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is not only a great crime film, but also very funny. I say if you find this for rent or streaming, give it a watch.

My final rating is, A Must Watch!

That's all for now. Come back on Thursday, Jun 20th, for a comic book review. That one will be, the Spider-Man storyline, If This Be My Destiny. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Inside Out 2 Review

 

Inside Out 2 is an animated coming-of-age movie and the sequel to 2015's Inside Out. It's produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. Inside Out 2 is written by Kelsey Mann, Meg LeFauve, and Dave Holstein and directed by Kelsey Mann.

The story is, it's been one year since the events of the last movie, and Riley is now gonna start high school. Joy, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, and Fear think it'll be anything day on the job. But then they're given a curve ball when four new emotions show up.

Initial Reaction

Now while the movie was on my most anticipated list, I was still very skeptical. Mainly because only one of the initial writers came back, so with this new crew I was hoping for the best they do well, but not hold my breath too much. Then there's the fact the first is a masterpiece, and that's not a word a use loosely folks.

Cons

I've got nothing.

Middle Ground

There are two things that while still good in their own right, could've been better. One of those being the characters. Our usual emotions of Joy and co. are still pretty good and I liked how they all came together to prop each other up. The new emotions aren't bad by any means, but they didn't really do much. Anxiety had a really good story, the others not so much. I know Embarrassment gave Sadness a helping hand, but I'm drawing a blank on Ennui and Envy. Then there's the story. There's still a good message, and people can relate to the stress of being thirteen with puberty, starting high school, and trying to fit in. You can relate to that whether you're looking back at those days or you're an actual thirteen year old. The slight issue stems from a repeat. We've already saw Joy get kicked out of HQ and then having to find the way back. The only differences was some locations and instead of one emotion being with her [Joy], it was the rest of the gang.

Pros

Since it's a Pixar film, naturally the animation is great. You'll really appreciate the hard work that was put into it, even if you're not the biggest fan of the final product. And much like the first, the humor was good as well. Not all of it worked for me like it did for the first, but I still had a good time. Especially from my boy Anger, he was once again hilarious. The last thing I'll touch on is the cast, mainly the new members. The cast for the newer emotions were really great and they gave good performances. I especially give credit to Maya Hawke as Anxiety, she was spectacular. There was also some recasting as well, one example being Tony Hale being the voice of Fear instead of Bill Hader. But recast like that was barely noticeable, sure maybe there'll be a slip or two, but nothing too damaging. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if people forget those slip ups after the movie was over.

While the movie is flawed, I'm thankfully it's much better than what I was expecting. So if you wanna give it a watch, I say go for it.

My final rating is, Good.

Okay, I'm all done here. Come back on Monday, Jun 17th, for my Underrated Films review of, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.