Ghostbusters

Who ya gonna call? Happy Halloween everyone, hope you all have a fun night. I just watched Ghostbusters for the first time in more than 15 years, and I either forgot or just flat out did not realize how brilliant it is. I could not help but to kick myself at all the years I have missed out on Dr. Venkman's sarcastic, mostly pompous attitude, or Ray and his naive child like excitement and behavior for the unknown. Then level headed Egon Spangler, who always knows what to do, but usually doesn't tell anyone else. What a great cast of characters, and though Rick Moranis only had a small part as the annoying neighbor/ key master he is fantastic. I don't plan on spoiling anything for any of you as I'm sure you have all seen this film. It is 27 years old, and highly regarded in the comedic community. The three scientists have all lost their jobs at the university for unapproved test methods, so what to do next? Paranormal bounty hunters - for hire. They have put all their eggs in this basket, and it looks grim. Then she shows up. Dana (Weaver) to hire the boys out for a job involving her penthouse. She claims her fridge is possessed by some other world, guarded by vicious dogs, and the name Zuul comes up. Though Venkman (Murray) thinks to himself that she is nuts, he also knows she is hot, and he wants a date. He goes to her apartment and finds nothing, but the load of BS her dishes to her is brilliant. Venkman makes the film. He is the least experienced and the biggest jack ass of the trio. He can sell it anyway he wants to, and people eat it up. Egon (Ramis) and Ray (Aykroyd) are the brains behind the science of ghost capture, and after a few jobs, the Ghostbusters are becoming famous. The film is called Ghostbusters and that is what they do, but essentially we see them only bust one ghost - Slimer. Other than that it is all about Dana and Zuul. What does it mean, and what do we do? Zuul is the gatekeeper for the all powerful Gozer to return to Earth. Zuul possesses Dana and it gets pretty hot -especially for Venkman. Moranis gets possessed by the keymaster and once they are together, Gozer will reign down in Biblical proportions. Cats and Dogs livin together type of stuff. The Ghostbusters must stop this catastrophic event from happening, but before they can Ray uses his brain one too many times, and then we get the greatest / worst / funniest written villain of all time. The Stay Puft marshmallow man. Only he is 50 feet tall and really pissed off. There is not a lot to this film in terms of plot, but the jokes are outstanding, the acting is even better, and still 27 years later Ghostbusters is revered as one of the greats. Written by Aykroyd and Ramis, I commend you. Rumors of a 3rd installment have been on the horizon for some time now with no definite answer. The latest in the rumor mill was that Bill Murray would only do it if he could be a ghost. I dig that. Now Aykroyd and Ramis are saying GB3 will be made with or without Murray. I guess they got tired of his holier than thou attitude. I think he has the right for said attitude as he is the only one still doing quality work. 


NBM rates Ghostbusters - Phenomenal

Halloween Party

Normally I wouldn't post things of this nature, but seeing as The Jester dressed as The Dude, I couldn't resist. Note the authenticity of the identical Ralphs card, and the green and maroon bowling shoes which are the colors the Dude wears.

STOP APOLOGIZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am beyond sick and tired of people not standing behind their work. It has been 3 years already. For the love of God, shut up. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull may be the most ridiculous movie title of all time, but the film itself kicks ass. All kinds of ass. I once heard that the formula that makes a movie great is having at least 3 great scenes and no bad ones. In my opinion this is a great film. Sure, the final scene is a little far fetched, but so is pulling out a man's heart through his chest while he still breathes. Hmm, sound familiar?  What about a bunch of Nazi soldiers melting for looking directly at a golden box said to have held the 10 commandments? My point? These films are ridiculous, which is why we love them. They are works of fiction in the highest degree. The fourth installment was a great work of the same fiction for an hour an half, then it added the dreaded adjective "Science" to the beginning of that fiction. Was it perfect? No, but then again it is hard to make a Perfect film. A couple of scenes I would have cut would have been the Tarzan act with the monkeys, and maybe cut the sword fight down by a couple of minutes, but other than that, it is pretty darn good. This is the film(s) we grew up with, we just happen to be 20 years older, and for some reason most of you have lost your inner Indy. I, on the other hand, try and watch the newest Indy as much as possible, just to appreciate it. You can read Spielberg's Comments Here, and Shia's Here. As for me, you all know where I stand. I'm a fan and a purist, but I appreciate the new projects in certain franchises, especially when they are helmed by all original members.  I cannot wait for Henry Jones Jr. to travel to the Bermuda Triangle for a rumored 5th installment. Once again I will be there opening day to watch it in the glorious 35mm format. Thanks Spielberg - TO HELL WITH DIGITAL!! Speaking of Digital, during the viewing of Machine Gun Preacher, the film paused. No lie. For several minutes the screen held a crystal clear image of Gerard Butler. Digital. Pfffft.

Burn After Reading

I really have an inclining to write tonight, because NBM hit a new 1 day record for page loads. Today we came in just shy of 400 hits. That is outstanding, so I wanted to give you all something new to read. I have written so many reviews, it is hard to keep them straight. Sometimes I write a new review on a film that I have already written a review for - feels a lot like Memento sometimes. For some reason this film popped in my head just now, and I wanted to read my own review. WHAT!?!?! I have not written one on Burn After Reading? Say it ain't so. Oh, it's so. Today seems like the perfect day for this review. I feel not many people have seen this film. I, however, will watch anything with the names Joel and Ethan Coen attached to it. Then you add Clooney, McDormand, Malkovich, Swinton, Richard Jenkins, JK Simmons, and Brad Pitt...well, it can't lose. Unfortunately not enough people have watched it to send it to the status of Fargo, Raising Arizona, or The Big Lebowski. It is every bit as good as all of those films, it just needs to find its audience. It really is a movie about a misunderstanding, and that is also how it all becomes derailed. There are so many players, it can get a little diluted, but they do a perfect job not letting it go that way. Everyone has a good role in this "mystery". I call it a mystery from the perspective of the characters, not the genre in which the film is rated. I would call the film itself Dark Comedy. Let's start with character development. The Coen are so flawless at giving us details in a quick, non drawn out fashion. I love it. Malkovich is Osbourne Cox - a recently forced into retirement CIA agent. His wife (Swinton) hates him. She is currently lovers with Harry (Clooney). Harry is a State Department Marshal who loves his wife, but he also loves every woman he meets. Then we have JK Simmons as the head of the CIA. Bit part as usual for Mr. Simmons, but also as usual, he nails it. Lastly we get the comedy portion. Chad (Pitt), Linda (McDormand), and Ted (Jenkins) are all employees of a hard bodies fitness club. Pitt plays the muscle head retard, and he plays it perfect. He has that Cool World haircut, but this time he is sporting highlights. Brad can do no wrong and to see this character's many imperfections sort of reminds me of a mix between the crazy 12 Monkeys and the eccentric Snatch characters he so perfected. When Osbourne drops a disk at the gym, Chad recovers it thinking he can blackmail Osbourne for the disk contents. Chad thinks they are state's secrets, so with the help of Linda, they move forward. Throughout the story we all begin to realize through few channels of separation, all these characters will interact with one another. When the overly paranoid Harry gets thrown into the mix everything kind of becomes FUBAR, to say the least. One thing in particular happen that I did not foresee, and it involves Harry and Chad. Once all of Chad's resources for making quick money are absolved, he has one more shot. Get more dirt on Osbourne then try again. You will have to watch and see which character is the one that ties it all together, but I assure you, you will not regret watching a movie this brilliant. You will want to watch it over and over again to see what you may have missed. The Coen's have such a knack for cinematic flair, it is unfair to the rest of the film makers out there. They have done so many things so perfectly, all others will be compared to them if their work resembles anything even close. Thanks readers for the 400 hits today. Let's do it again tomorrow, but for now NBM states that Burn After Reading is nothing short of Phenomenal.

Real Steel

So, I will be the first to tell you, I did not have the smallest bit of desire to watch Real Steel. Then when it comes out, the abundance of praise it received from not only the audience, but the critics made me wonder. Got nothing else to do on a Friday afternoon, so why not hang out with the A-Bomb and M-80 for a film that floored me. I knew the basic premise. Estranged Father and Son bond over battle bots or something to that nature. Turns out, it was pretty difficult to watch from a Father's point of view. Charlie (Jackman) is a grade A prick. He never saw his son before he was saddled with him at the age of 11, when the boy's mother dies. I'm not gonna go into the details, but Charlie plans on only retaining custody for 2 months. Cliche' alert: They bond. Fortunately from a story aspect, it happens to a great one. Human boxing is a thing of the past, and now gamers build ultimate fighting machines for high dollar payout, or invest in what eventually becomes a pile of scrap. The sport has been around for about 15 years or so, and it has evolved quite a bit. When Charlie doesn't have a leg left to stand on, he owes money all over town, and has recently trashed 2 robots, which happens to be his only form of income. He and Max (His son) go looking through a scrapyard to find parts when both their lives change. Long story short, they find a robot unlike any they have ever seen. It really reminds me of the Iron Giant robot, and funny enough, it seems there is a lot of that film inside of this one. Charlie and Max start Atom (The Robot) at the bottom of the ladder to see how he does, and though he is a little slow, can't pack much of a punch, he is better built so he can withstand a pounding. The travel the underground circuit long enough to be invited to the big leagues. The film is cliche' laden, but don't we love that about movies. If we didn't love cliche's, there would be no more movies. What makes this film brilliant is the attention to detail in each and every shot. It is very neat to watch Atom the whole time he is on screen, because he is equipped with a "shadow mode". This means he mimics what he sees, and I mean every little detail. How he walks, moves his head, and clutches his arms. Although the film starts out rather dark, it is extremely funny mostly throughout. The banter between boy and Father and spot on perfect. This movie takes cues from lots of our favorites, but is very individual at the same time. The most obvious one to me is Robot Jox. Apparently it's just me though, as I have not met anyone who has heard of it, though I saw it in theater. Then we have the obvious underdog story borrowed from both Rocky I and Rocky IV, and the Iron Giant as already mentioned - A boy and his robot. The last correlation to me is the Father/Son relationship. They don't know each other until now, so why not spend every waking moment in a rig driving across the country to compete in Arm Wrestling Robot fighting matches? Of course I speak of Over the Top. Real Steel did several things very well. Things that had to be done well, or the movie could have been good but not great. The robots is what I speak of. They were seamless. Fluid machines in every way. Does not look CG at all. So much so that I will stand behind my next statement..."More real than Transformers!!" I am glad I watched this film. I sweated out my shirt during the matches if that tells you anything about the realistic factor. Can fighting robots mend 11 years of abandonment and Daddy issues? Watch and see. The kid needs an honorable mention. This kid, Dakota Goyo, is one hell of a good actor. At his age, he kept toe to toe with Hugh, but his delivery of sarcasm and smart ass lines were perfect. I think he will have no issues booking jobs after people see Real Steel.

NBM rates Real Steel - Aweso-nomenal

Bad Teacher

I was very close to watching this in the theater, as I think I may be the only actual fan of Cameron Diaz. People tend to like her, but for some reason, I appreciate her. I don't know why. Can't explain it. After the first wave of awful reviews came pouring in, I felt it would be wise to save my $9, and spend $1 four months later. I will call that a good choice. With that being said, I had a certain grade in my head before viewing it based on what I read, and only one review rang true. That particular review was more of a statement than anything.  "Jason Segal should have had more lines and screen time." I agree with that. He is so good, and this was a secondary role for him, and he killed it. Elizabeth Halsey (Diaz) is engaged to be married which in turn will end her teaching career, one short school year after it began. When she is dumped by her wealthy Mother in Law Fiance', she has no choice but to return to teaching. This is where we see how little of a crap she gives about anyone. I guess the one good thing about her is she is not out to hurt anyone, she just is not out to help anyone either. She is selfish, and she knows it. I think the classroom scenes were some of the funniest, considering she only showed movies about school, every single day. Example: Stand and Deliver, Lean on Me, and Dangerous Minds. Elizabeth is not giving up. She has a new plan. Find another rich man who wants to take care of her. The only problem in her mind are her boobs. She feels they are too small to attract men in general, so she decides to get a boob job. Only problem is the $$$. This becomes her new mission, and what I find funny is the overly nonchalant conversations people have with her about her tits...Co-workers both men and women. Quickly the job at hand becomes irrelevant, when she meets Scott (Timberlake). Scott is a sub who is heir to what she longs for. This becomes her new focus, and Timberlake sells the do-gooder character superbly. He is fantastic as always. The big problem people had with Bad Teacher was that it wasn't raunchy enough. It didn't push the perverse envelope. All I have to say is that every comedy does not have to be The Hangover. This is a well executed comedy that runs smoothly. It may not have the laughs of Horrible Bosses or Bridesmaids, and it may not be shocking like The Hangover, but it does a good job being what It is, and not trying too hard to imitate those other films. I liked the humor, the foul mouth, even the unexpected breast shot (Not Diaz's). I laughed evenly throughout, and some things really got me, Like the dodgeball scene pictured above.

NBM rates Bad Teacher - Awesome

Transformers 4 & 5???

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Machine Gun Preacher

So, I knew very little about Sam Childers. More shocking than that, I knew very little about the film about his quest. I pride myself on being up to date with most new films, especially when such A-listers like Gerard Butler and Michelle Monaghan (So Hot) are attached. My movie going buddy was going to watch this because he has literally seen everything else that is out. I was gonna watch Moneyball or 50/50, but when MGP it was over there were no regrets. For a film that topped at 23% on RT, I had my doubts. What I did notice was that Gerard was a producer, and when that happens, it seems to be important to that person. He did pour himself into being Sam Childers, which looked like it would be hard. Here's the back story for those of you who are as clueless as I was. Sam was not a good guy. The film starts with his release from prison, for which we are not informed why he was detained, but real soon we get the picture that this Biker/Gang member/drunk/heroin junky is not a nice dude. Upon his release, his wife Lynn (Monaghan) his wife pisses him off real quick. She quit her stripper job, found Jesus, and stopped drinking and smoking. Sam has a big issue with all the new changes and we see what type of person he really is. Some bad stuff happens to Sam over the next few weeks and he gives Jesus a chance as well. He cleans up, starts his own construction company, and essentially he is working hard for his redemption. I gotta say, 35 minutes into the film, I had no idea how they were gonna transition him into Africa. It just seemed like it was not headed that way at all. He was taking care of his family and all was well. Then a guest speaker missionary spoke at their church about the work he was doing in Africa. Sam thought he could help, so he books a trip to go over there and help clean up and rebuild for the people. While over there, he wanted to see Sudan, which was the site of a major civil war. A freedom fighter named Deng took him into the war zone, and I don't think Sam had any inclination how bad it was gonna be. Once back stateside, Sam can't sleep due to what he saw, and how he feels about the situation. Innocent men, women, and children being slaughtered for no reason. He wanted to help, so he decides 2 things. He was gonna build a church across from his house for all the people who were interested in the word of the Lord, but felt outcast by all the other local churches, and 2nd, he was going to the Sudan to build an orphanage for all the people in need of refuge. I never felt Sam was doing this for personal glory or a pat on the back. He was fully invested for those kids. This movie had to be difficult to make. Not only the fact that kids are being killed, but the fact that in my estimates, it spans about 10 years give or take, and that needs to be compressed to a coherent 2 hour film. The story does a few things very well, and some things could have been minimized. The struggle Sam has within is his fight. No one expects him to to continue his work, but it becomes his obsession and he expects everyone to be on his page. Butler had to play several characters in this film. The violent junky. The born again Christian. The obsessed crazy person, and a man looking for redemption who feels like no matter what he does, the Lord could never forgive him. The film takes a long time to develop Sam into the "Machine Gun Preacher", but once it does, it is superb. I do feel they shot not only too many scenes in church, but too long of scenes. I do feel several of the church scenes where Sam is preaching while wearing his heart on his sleeves were very necessary, but a lot of them are not. I have not talked about Donnie, yet he was an integral part of the movie and of Sam's life. Donnie is portrayed by the always brilliant, usually creepy Michael Shannon (Boardwalk Empire's Nelson Van Alden). Like I said, the film does a great job of compressing all those years into a film, and I must say, if it hadn't been a true story, I don't think I would have appreciated it as much. I probably would have thought it was too gory and violent, but being true, I now feel it had to be that way, so we can have some idea what Sam fights for still to this day. The final credits are cool too. It shows pictures of the real Sam doing what he does, and we hear him give a short speech about why he does it. Pretty cool stuff.

NBM rates Machine Gun Preacher - Awesome

North by Northwest

This review will consist of 2 parts. 1st part being the fantastic movie that is North by Northwest, and the 2nd part will be about the Theatre in which I watched it today. 1959 Alfred Hitchcock masterpiece North by Northwest is a film I had never seen, but when the opportunity to watch it on the big screen arose, I could not miss out. I knew very little about this film, but I did remember the iconic scene in which Cary Grant was evading a biplane shooting at him in the corn field. It was better than I could have imagined. It really is a brilliant thriller based on a misunderstanding. Roger Thornhill (Grant) is an Ad man. That's what he does, but when he is kidnapped and taken to a strangers home to be interrogated, he does not know what to think. They keep calling him George Kaplan. He has been mistaken for Kaplan, who is a government agent. After denying that name oh so many times, the baddies make him imbibe a 750 of bourbon, then put him in a car hoping he will die on his way home. Since he didn't die, he has to explain to police why he was driving drunk, and this is where it turns into a bit of a comedy. Cary Grant is hilarious by the way. Perfect timing and attitude behind his sarcasms. Loved it. Now he is on a mission to clear his name, and find the real Kaplan to help with that. Without giving away to much, Thornhill is now wanted for DUI and for murder. He is being set up. The spies want him dead, the police want him in custody, and he wants to get some tail in the middle of all this. The amount of sexual references in this 1959 film shocked me. They are witty, blatant, and dirty. Considering that most are exchanged with the beautifully gorgeous Eva Marie Saint, I did not mind. We really get to see how clever Thornhill can be, when sober anyway. He must stay alive, but how can he clear his name. This is why I would categorize this classic as a thriller. Hitchcock really was a mad genius. He shot what he wanted and made sure it was perfect. In the editing room, he only cut out 8 feet of film. 8 feet of film is equivalent to about 5 seconds. He got it right the first time, and it was perfect.

This is what it looks like today

      

    Now onto the theatre. The Franklin Theatre (Franklin, TN) was opened in 1937. In the past 5 years, it has been vacant, and the city was very close to condemning it, and tearing it down. Pity. The residents of Franklin would not allow that to happen. Through 3 years of fund raising campaigns, over 8 million dollars was raised, and the restoration began. They restored the theatre to 1937 specs, with current sound and lighting technology of course. I can truly say it is the most beautiful theater I have ever been to, plus they sell beer by the pint and wine by the glass. A very classy place that shows old films every Sunday for only $5 a ticket. This was the first time I have been inside that theater in over 11 years (when I actually worked there), and I have to say, I loved the transformation. I also loved seeing such a classic for my very first time in a theater that very well could have showed it in 1959 upon it's original release. 

NBM rates North by Northwest - A Work of Cinematic Art

I also rate The Franklin Theatre A Work of Art

The Ides of March

Anyone who has seen the half dozen trailers promoting this political thriller knows it looked good, but could it deliver. YES!!! I had to go to be able to say that I saw all 3 of Goslings 2011 releases the day the came out in the theaters. All three are completely different films, and the only thing this does is add to his over abundant reputation for being able to play anyone. A true actor in every sense of the word. This was another role where he was able to portray a man on a mission. A brooding man with success on his mind. Everyone knows this is a George Clooney "vehicle". Clooney helped write the script, helped produce, Directed it and starred in it. With that being said, It only took Gosling 15 minutes to steal the vehicle George had built, and he drives it like a bat outta hell for 90 minutes. He out shined everyone on screen, which tells us something about Clooney's eye for talent, and lack of ego. This story is about the Democratic Primaries going into the election with the final two men being Mike Morris (Clooney) and the other guy, Pullman (who we never see, but I am pretty sure it was written as Bill Pullman- since he has already played a president once before.) More than that, it is about the man behind the man, which is Paul (Hoffman), who is the campaign leader. Even more than that, it is about Paul's right hand man Stephen (Gosling). These 2 men are the brain trust for Morris to win the Dem Nomination, which would put him in the front of the Presidential race. Stephen, above all, is moral. His life is politics, but he would not dare compromise himself for a victory. His idol is his candidate, which is good for Morris, because Stephen is a very smart guy. He can spin it, say it, or tell it anyway he wants and it all comes out positive. He is the golden boy, but at what cost? Turns out he becomes entangled in a feud between both camps, and before he knows it, it is so out of control he cannot even fix the situation.  It doesn't matter where your political views lie, this is a damn good movie, and really fun to watch Gosling at every turn. Phillip Seymour Hoffman was phenomenal as well, and I did not know it was rated R until his first big scene when he dropped the F-bomb 7 times. I do think Ides gives Scarface a run for its money with that particular word. Stephen Loves politics. It is his life, but being as moral as he is and wants to remain, he has a choice to make, and that choice is really what the movie turns into. When it all goes south does he want to get his hands dirty or walk away? It is not a boring, candidates on the trail type of film. It is more of the practices the camps will institute to get their guy elected. Brilliant, fast paced, and acted to perfection. I thoroughly enjoyed what George Clooney gave us with this one. Co-starring Paul Giamatti, Evan Rachel Wood, and Marisa Tomei - this is a solid film.


NBM rates The Ides of March - Phenomenal

30,000 Smacks for NBM!!!

Thank you all so much for your loyalty. We have officially hit 30,000 hits to our website, and I will not be retiring anytime soon. I am anxiously waiting to see NBM turn 6 digits in the Smack column. Shouldn't take that long.