Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (Alamo Drafthouse 70mm)

Who would fly 1600 miles round trip to watch a film that has been on home video since 1990? We would. A-Bomb and I went to watch The Last Crusade in glorious 70mm film. For those of you who don't know, standard film (before Digital became ubiquitous) is on 35mm. The width of the film is what gives the picture its size on the screen. Now double that, format it properly, and what you get is a grand scale movie you can only dream of if you don't see it for yourself. When the legendary Alamo Drafthouse Ritz in Austin, TX brought out their 70mm series I was intrigued. They were going to show films in the magnificent format for a 1 week run only per title. The Last Crusade was week 2 in the series, and I read about this 3 weeks before it was to happen. I was giddy that an opportunity to watch a film in the greatest series ever was going to be available on the big screen. Other than the 4th installment, I had not seen any of the first three in a theatre setting. One text message later this far flung dream was closer to reality than I could have expected. I mean, in reality, who would spend in excess of $500 to go see a movie? A movie I have owned since the day it hit DVD. A movie I also owned in the VHS format. A movie I have seen 30+ times. Me. I would, but to go alone would be foolish. The dumb part is, who would share such a strange adventure with me. Only one person I could think of. And sure enough, without hesitation, A-Bomb immediately replies with, "Let's do it" or something to that nature. I had not expected that response to what I assumed was a joke question on my part. Now it is somewhat real. The next day we had flight tickets before we even had seats to the show. Awesome, right? I will say this, when people find out you are flying somewhere to watch a film, you get 2 initial responses. The first is an assumption that I/we somehow had something to do with the making of the film. That we are film makers/producers. Those are from the people that think like me. The other half immediately question, What movie? Anxiously waiting on our answer, desperately hoping they are meeting someone important, we respond with Indiana Jones and The Last Crusade, to which we are met with one of two replies. "That is AWESOME!!!", or "Okay?" which is paired with an expression that really lets us know what they are thinking. These guys are morons. In fact, we are geniuses. We know what makes us happy, and we will have no regrets later that we didn't do something because it may be considered ludicrous by normal standards. It was an adventure that gave us several stories we will be able to pass down. A fun filled 3 days that I will forever embrace as one of the best times of my life, oh ya, and the movie was pretty good as well. Now on to the theatre itself. The Alamo Drafthouse Ritz is in downtown Austin. It is a twin theatre with one huge house that is equipped with the 70mm projector and a smaller house that shows first run films in standard format. It was very cool that we were able to reserve specific seats, so we didn't have to stress about getting there early to snatch up prime viewing real estate. The absolute coolest aspect of it though was what seats we actually reserved. Semi private balcony. Two balconies bookended the auditorium. With a balcony reservation came several perks that made the $20 add on well worth it. Each balcony only had seating for 4. The seating was broken up into 2's, where we were set up in leather, reclining, over sized loveseat that was so cush, it felt like we were at home if our home was equipped with awesome loveseats. If the seating comfort wasn't enough, we were escorted by our personal waiter up a private elevator which led to the projector booth. We walked through the "room where the magic happens" to get to our seats where our waiter asked us what we would like to order. Cool, huh? It gets better. Not only were we able to get a top notch pizza with so many pork bi-products on it, it was called "Porky's Revenge", but it was brought to us mid feature and set on our personal tables so we didn't miss even a single over sized frame of the film. Now, what kind of tasty beverage would we want to wash down this delicious pie? Coke? Water? Naw, how bout a Vodka Tonic. Ya, I'll have that, and when I'm done with it, go ahead and bring me another. Without ever leaving our seats, we were fed and liquored up to perfection while watching Indy ask the castle if they have tapestries. It could not have been a better experience, and yes, I would do it all over again. This story is dedicated to my friend Aaron. With you, apparently even stupid, off the wall notions are possible. Thank You.

NBM rates Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade - A Work of Art

NBM rates The Alamo Drafthouse Ritz - A Work of Art

Jester rates the overall trip - A Work of Art

Argo

 

You all know I am a Ben Affleck fan, but only since he took a director's position and proved he knows what he is doing. He is currently my favorite director. With 3 films now under that belt, all of them could have been Oscar contenders, but without fail, he has not made that cut just yet. I do feel he was snubbed with his last offering The Town, and while I feel Argo is a shoe in to crack the top 10 noms for Best Picture, I'd more like to see Ben in that illustrious top 5 Directors of the year category. Will he win? I don't know. I don't really care. I just feel he should be recognized for his efforts. I kind of hope he doesn't win. Why? I worry if he wins that prestigious career making award, he may become complacent and not give as much effort as he has. Each of his 3 features show signs of improvement and his "cinematic eye" is growing stronger. As perfect as The Town was, Argo is damn near flawless. Not only is it a true story, but to lay down this ridiculous story into 2 hours and have it be perfect is a feat in and of itself. Argo is the true story about the 1979 Iranian hostage situation that was declassified in 1996. I don't know much about this history because I was not alive in 1979. With that said, you will be given all you need to know to give you a coherent film. There is no info you should know beforehand to enjoy this film. Like I said, Perfect. The Argo mission had nothing to do with the actual hostages, but focused on retrieving 6 Americans who escaped capture and holed up in the Canadian ambassador's mansion in Iran. Tony Mendez (Affleck) is brought in to help. He is the CIA's top ex-fil guy (short for Exfiltration), and he is there to comprise a plan of attack. The ideas that the CIA are coming up with are asinine, and Tony's is not much better. Fortunately for him it is the best bad idea they have. Make a fake movie. The homework aspect of it where Tony goes to Hollywood to get his fake movie made is absolutely hilarious. Sharing screen time equally through this portion of the film is John Goodman playing legendary make up artist John Chambers, and old school movie producer Lester Siegel played by Alan Arkin. This is the comedic portion of the film, and this stupid plan must be 100% perfect, and they only have a few weeks to make it so. With that said,  this movie is a thriller in every sense of the definition. The last half of the movie I sweated out my shirt, my wife picked her cuticles, and I had knots in my stomach. Wanna know what makes a good movie great? Knowing how it will end (Ya know, because it happened 33 years ago) and still being that knotted up. Quality film making Mr. Affleck. If the trailers look at all interesting to you, go watch it. No one should be disappointed in this film, and if you are, well then I will just say one thing, ARGO #U@& YOURSELF.

NBM rates Argo - Phenomenal

Looper

So, is it possible to have an original idea these days? Yes. Case in point: Looper. I was more than expecting to love this movie. In fact, it would have taken a complete meltdown of story, acting, and effects for me to not have enjoyed it. Exactly the opposite happened. It is coherent story telling at its finest. There are tons of ins and outs, and what have yous, and I cannot believe how perfect it was. Anyone who owns a TV should know the premise of this film. Loopers are assassins in the year 2044. "Marks" are sent from 30 years in the future to be wiped out by the looper. Loopers are paid well in a mostly poor economy. They live well, they love their drugs and women, and as long as their record remains at 100%, life will remain good. That is what the trailers have fed us. We also know that one day, Old Joe (Willis) appears in front of 2044 Looper Joe (JGL), and JGL fails to do his job. This is only the tip of the iceberg of all the different aspects of this film. It goes in so many directions, yet is so engaging, it is almost impossible to not follow along. There was one point when I thought to myself, what the Hell is happening, then it plays out very well. There is also one aspect before the Joe/Joe situation happens that shows where this can go when failure occurs. I won't ruin it, but it was hard to watch, yet so over the top brilliant in its delivery. Where the story goes after Joe lets Joe get away is absolutely mind boggling. It goes forward and back. It is constantly edge of your seat good, and what is introduced, which becomes the main plot point really, caught me off guard. It was a twist of sorts. I was under the impression it would be about a battle against one's own self, but what it evolved in to is way better. It is deeper, and at times, hard to watch due to subject matter. Old Joe has his own agenda, while Looper Joe is trying to figure out what he needs to do. The writing of this in depth story very well could have derailed and become crap in a can. Instead it ultimately becomes the most original, most enjoyable film since Inception. The always gorgeous Emily Blunt plays a very good character, and Piper Perabo (Remember her? Coyote Ugly) seems to have a small part that turns out not to be that small. I cannot get the film out of my head, which proves how imprinting it is. Films that do that become legends and eventually get remade due to the lack of originality in Hollyweird. Rian Johnson who wrote and directed Looper was born by indie film cred. Looper is no different for him. The only difference is he got a bigger budget to make this film. The film, at times, looks as indie as they come. No soundtrack, no background music, no frills. I was a little concerned, as a lot of folks were, about JGL's prosthetics. I will say, it actually played well. It was not distracting and I appreciated the dedication to make this more real. I did find it hard to believe people in 2044 are still driving 2011 Smart Cars (33 years old), 1998 F 150's (46 years old), and late 2000 model Chevy Silverados (mid 30 years old), but at the same time, I appreciate budget money not being spent to make futuristic props that would have no bearing on the story itself.  That was the only thing I questioned in this futuristic, Sci-Fi Thriller. Everything else was fantastic, and I know why I LOVED it, but I am curious to see how other audience members feel. I did hear some grumbles when the credits rolled, yet I laughed it off and grinned ear to ear at what I had just seen. I already want to watch it again. That is saying something with the ridiculous ticket prices these days.

NBM rates Looper - A Work of Cinematic Art

Lawless

I was really anticipating this film, and probably not for the reasons you may think. My #2 reason was content. I love watching stories from this era and the fact it is based on true events doesn't hurt either plus it had that gangster quality about it, but the #1 reason is Tom Hardy. I'm not sure anyone in Hollywood commands the screen as he does right now. He plays Forrest Bondurant. A bootlegger in Franklin Virginia during prohibition. Luckily for him and his outfit, he lives in a small town and local authorities pay him no mind. Probably because they appreciate the shine he produces as much as the next person. Forrest is a no frills guy. He lives quiet as long as he is not pushed. His crew consists of his two brothers, Howard and Jack(LaBeouf). Jack has bigger dreams than what Forrest is allowing, but Jack must choose his own path. Forrest tries to keep a level head about Jack, but knows jack may have to learn the hard way. Things are fine till Forrest declines to give new officials a kick back on profits he earned, so he finds ways to run around them. When Special Inspector Rakes (Guy Pearce) shows up to crack skulls things begin to change. He is as ruthless as he is ugly. The slicked back hair with a strange middle part that spreads a good 3/4 of an inch apart to his sadistic sociopath attitude, and I think what made him look more scary are the lack of eyebrows. He feels he is above the law in enforcing the law, and he frightens people, but not Forrest. This is a great story of family ties, illegal business, and the lengths some will go to protect what they hold dear. Beautifully filmed and violently gruesome. It reminded me of gangster films of yesteryear, and I LOVED it!!! It was better than I expected it could be and for fans (Male) of Jessica Chastain, you are in for a treat. She is glowingly elegant. Beautiful as can be and she delivers a little treat that I didn't see coming. As much as Tom Hardy takes over, even at second billed behind LaBeouf, it is actually Pearce who steals the show. Totally demented and brilliant. Could get him Oscar Gold. And for those of you excited to see another brilliant performance from Gary Oldman, you will not be disappointed. With that said, I expected more from him than 3 small scenes that really had very little bearing on the bigger picture of things. All around fun film that I recommend.

NBM rates Lawless - Phenomenal 

2016 : Obama's America

This is not a film that is going to draw a wide audience. When it comes to politics you have Right and Left, but rarely Center. I consider myself and my views Right. Not because of my politics, but my general being. I am a quite accurate person. Anytime I speak it tends to correct. In that sense, I am right. As for Politics, no one is ever right - correct. Politicians always have their own agenda and the person who gets elected is the one that makes the most believable promises. Delivering on those promises is more rare these days than finding a pack of unicorns. What I wanted to know about this film is how little I actually knew of the man who is our 44th President. I knew almost nothing about him and that is scary. It is a fact based documentary. Not much speculation or theories, but it all seems black and white. I also was interested by the fact that this is based on the book written by Dinesh D'Souza. He is an immigrant himself who has seen the best and worst of The U.S., and I was interested on his perspective. I really enjoyed the architecture of his documentary. At 90 minutes long, it breaks down like this - Opening 20 minutes are about Dinesh himself. His beginnings, how he came to the U.S., and his career during and after his college years at Dartmouth. The next 40 minutes focus on Barack Obama. From birth till now, almost nothing is left out. This is important, because he is an unknown person who lives in the White House and runs the country. We are given information not released in the media, and this interested me. It chronicles his relationship or lack thereof with his Father, follows him to Indonesia where he lived as a teen for a few years, and it closely dissects his relationships with several radicals in the world that have very different views about life and liberty as we have come to know here in the U.S. Finally the last half hour is where it does get very Real and very Scary. It poses the question of what state our country will be in by 2016 if he gets re-elected. In my opinion, all Americans, Left Right and Center should watch this portion. The history of Barry is important because we see his allegiances and how he views "What America should be", but if everyone watched the last half hour with a completely blank and open mind, and forgot about Political Parties and all that,  the 2012 election would turn out very differently. I think Dinesh put together a great documentary without slamming Obama, accusing him of not being born here, and not downright attacking him. We get facts, some opinions, and we should do with it what we will.

NBM rates 2016 - A Must See before November 6, 2012

God Bless America

This is a brilliant premise that not only delivers visually, but audibly, and cerebrally as well. It shows what is wrong with our society in a smash nose fashion, that I would wager the majority of people who watch this film are actually smart enough to recognize a good movie when they see, and therefore are smart enough to realize how bad our society has actually become. Bobcat Goldthwait wrote this unseen gem, and just like his other film, World's Greatest Dad, he delivers what humans have stopped thinking about. Very common societal issues that have somehow become "normal". The way he puts it all down is genius, and though the content is very adult, mass murder and whatnot,  it is very poetic. The opening monologue in itself is one of the best I've heard, and the hero/anti-hero depending on your views of the story, has several really good speeches throughout. When Frank gets the news of a terminal, inoperable brain tumor, he decides enough is enough and his first target is awesome. a "Sweet sixteen" spoiled beyond belief, reality queen who is "mean". This is when he instantly feels better about his soon to end crappy existence, but until one of the now deceased girls classmates stalks him as kind of an innocent "you're my hero", things get awesome. She wants to kill everyone, whereas he just wants to kill people who deserve it. People who are mean. Sure, it is a Dramedy about two mass murderers who, in a strange way, had me rooting for them to wipe out the scum of the Earth and get away with it. It would be a hard film to watch if you have a weak stomach, or hate senseless killing. I really know the reason we are on Frank's side is because of how and why he loses his job. There is no respect, no chivalry, no decency, and no common sense in our world anymore and Frank decides to amend that, and I respect him for it. Balls to the wall, all out, downright delightful extermination of the vermin that occupy our society with no remorse at all. Funny thing is today, one day after watching this film, I realized I would be spared by Frank. I am polite and respectful. So, here is to "the meek shall inherit the Earth" and all that.

NBM rates God Bless America - Phenomenal

The Raid : Redemption

You can read and assess all you want about any given film, but there is no certainty it will deliver what you may have expected. When I heard "Indonesian task force (Cops) raid a building for 90 minutes trying to take down bad guy" I was skeptical. I was not skeptical after watching the trailer if the film was to be less than 30 minutes long. However, at 90 minutes I wondered how they could spend that much time in one building? I am going to throw out a comparison, and I doubt you will agree with me right out of the gate. Scott Pilgrim vs The World. Films that rely solely on choreography had better be PERFECT, and entertaining without becoming stagnate in the delivery. This subtitled film was easy to follow along. The plot is not that in depth. Director Gareth Evans set out to make a modern martial arts film for pure entertainment purposes and he succeeded. It reminded me of Scott Pilgrim because he did things in his film I had never seen before, much like Edgar Wright did in SP. New and inventive ways to kill people, non stop fighting involving at least 2 people and up to 30 at a time. Guns, machetes, hammers, chairs, axes, fridges, and fists are all used as weapons. It really is non stop action with a body count around 100 I'd say. It is one of the bloodiest, most brutal films I have ever seen, but very beautifully done. The direction is flawless, but like I said, the choreography is second to none. Immensely entertaining. Makes me wish Indonesia had more movies come to the states. Of course that could more harm than good. This is probably one of those diamond in the rough, 1000:1 odd type of deals, and as far as I'm concerned, lightning doesn't strike twice when dealing with third world countries making great cinema.

NBM rates The Raid: Redemption - Phenomenal

The Expendables 2

The first Expendables was everything men who were children in the eighties and nineties could have dreamed of, and The Expendables 2 is so much better in every aspect it should be illegal. Featuring a cast with a combined age of around 980 years, these guys have been around the block. However, they have never traveled together. Stallone may be my favorite person right now for having an idea and making it happen. He got some of the biggest egos in Hollywood to all play equal on screen portions to help create what is turning into the best action franchise of all time. The first one was surreal when Willis, Arnie, and Sly all shared the screen for that one short scene. Now to see them fighting side by side is the reality I am glad to be a part of. Willis and Arnie are by no means main characters, but they are very prominent in the second half of the film. This film has a better plot which is based on revenge. Revenge flicks are always fun, because we know everyone will die. When an "Expendable" is terminated, this is all Barney (Sly) needs to amp up his team, call in some big dogs, and destroy everything. Willis returns as "Church". The CIA liaison who is shouting orders at Barney and his team, while Arnie is still an independent contractor in the same game. Some Barney gets some help from them as well as The Lone Wolf (Norris) to help him find and hopefully destroy Vilain (JCVD). The fact that the Villain is named Vilain should tell you the caliber of film we are dealing with here. The revenge plot is a way better angle than the previous offering involving a tyranny on an island no one goes to. This is personal and well played out. The two things that make this film more enjoyable than it should be are - A: The Jokes; and B: the body count. Lets start with the jokes. Every pun you can think of made it into this film. Between Sly, Willis, and Arnie, dozens of references to each others films were thrown out like they had a Gatling gun full of jokes. Then Norris comes in and delivers some gems of his own. I will be anxious for DVD release to really try and catch all of them. I'd say it was in the 30 range. The only thing A-Bomb and I feel they missed out on was a Planet Hollywood reference, and the film had a scene where it would have been perfect, but no complaints from us. Now the body count. Tomorrow you can read about the film The Raid which had quite a death toll. Take that number and multiply it by 300 and you may get close to Ex2. I am only guessing, but 3000 would probably close to accurate. The bodies just kept piling up and we kept laughing at the total disregard for the current cost of ammunition. As you can tell, I love this film and I actually want to see it again...sooon. Also with Nic Cage already signed on for Ex3, and reading that Sly wants Eastwood, Snipes, Ford, and Seagal, the next two years are going to drag along waiting for the next installment of what I can only hope doesn't conclude with a trilogy but continues pace for at least 7 total films.

NBM rates The Expendables 2 - Phenomenal

The Campaign

It's simple. If you like the formula Will Ferrell throws out in his comedies, you'll like The Campaign. If you don't, you won't. The Campaign has nothing miraculously special about it. It is just solid ad libbed, stupid, ridiculous comedy. It is asinine, and preposterous, but funny throughout, and tear inducing hilarious at times. Cam Brady (Ferrell) is a soon to be 4 term congressman who runs unopposed on the Democratic ticket in North Carolina every election, until Martin Huggins throws his hat in the ring on the GOP ticket. This is when is goes from good to Fantastic. It boasts some of the best comedic visuals I have ever witnessed on the screen. This is another film to stash in Will Ferrell's very specific occupational related films, and though Ferrell is top billed, Galafianakis steals the show. Marty is a very effeminate man who doesn't like the politics game. He is only there to get his Father's (Brian Cox in a great role of disappointed Father) approval. The two surprises to me were the roles of the power players who aren't politicians but businessmen who "get people elected who can help them get richer". Dan Aykroyd and John Lithgow. Didn't see that one coming, did you? They are very reminiscent of the douche bag billionaire brothers who actually screw Dan Aykroyd in Trading Places and that's the main appeal to me about these two. They are Team Huggins and the hire the big gun campaign manager played by Dylan McDermott to ensure victory. This also interested me. How did McDermott get involved in this? He is the only true actor amongst the main players which are all comedians. I will say that he nails it. He does his job perfectly, and one of the best jokes in the film are involving his character's aliases which are read halfway through the credits. BTW: stay for the credits. The trailer tells the tale, but we show up for what the trailer can't show and it is worth every second. It is solid throughout, and I am already quoting it with any like minded souls who have seen it (Dean-O).... and the baby punching scene is one of the funniest things I have ever seen in my life. 

NBM rates The Campaign - Awesonomenal

Rabbit Hole

This is the single most depressing film I have ever seen. Sure, with the cast you know it has to be good, which from that aspect it was. The content, however, is hard to bare if you have kid(s), want kids, or have a soul and or a pulse for that matter. I can think of only one reason to watch this film. If you feel like crying. That's it. 
     I wrote the first paragraph only after watching half of the film, but like a train wreck, I could not look away. I had to finish it. I had to see if Becca (Kidman) would be alright. I had to see how long Howie (Eckhart) could deal with being alone emotionally and physically. These two people both experienced the same loss but coping mechanisms are different with all people. And lastly I had to know why she was stalking the boy pictured above. Did he remind her of her son? Did she feel a strange connection with this young man? I had to know, and the information I am not going to tell you, would break your heart. The scene pictured is one of the most gripping scenes I can remember in recent history. The pain these two have seems almost insurmountable. I also want to point out that my rating system does not apply to this film. I cannot, in good conscience, rate this film AWESOME, or PHENOMENAL. it just needs an overall rating with no catchy words attached. The content is just too heavy for any of my adjectives.

NBM rates Rabbit Hole - 4 out of 5 stars

NBM rates Rabbit Hole