Tuesday, December 16, 2014

The Burbs

The Burbs directed by Joe Dante, starring Tom Hanks, Carrie Fisher, Bruce Dern, and Corey Felman.

In all honesty this was a good movie, not great by any means, but when compared to what is passing these days as comedies, this movie was heads and tails above them.  Very off beat humor but I instantly connected with the characters, the setting, the pacing, the direction, and the production design.  Everything clicked together in this movie to create a genuinely entertaining movie.

I am by no means a Tom Hanks fan but I would put this up there as one of his better movies and one that needs to be seen by Hanks fans.  This is one of his best roles that connects with his quirky characteristics, creating a character that is just a little bit from walking over the edge but still seems to have his foot planted in reality.  So unlike the many "normal" characters many comedians find themselves playing where their over-the-top personality is trying gel with the logistics of reality and they come off rather disjointed.  This movie never feels that way even though the humor is slightly leaning towards the weird. 



Saturday, December 13, 2014

The Last Stand

The Last Stand directed by Kim Jee-woon, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Forest Whitaker, Luis Guzman, Jamie Alexander, Johnny Knoxville, and Peter Stormare.

There's absolutely nothing special about this movie but a welcome return to the glories days of original actions movies and action leads, not the man-boys we have parading around now that claim to be action stars.  This is just a good old fun action movie, with it seems like anyone and everyone lining up to star in Schwarzenegger and Stallone movie, which is by no means a bad thing.  Everyone here does a good job of filling out their roles bringing their own brand of humor and characterization to their roles to continuously help the movie out.  This is also a welcome return of Arnold to the action movies he left a long time ago for politics. I can honestly say I missed him and his style of actions movie.

Just a good ol action movie to sit back, watch, and have a good time.