There Will Be Blood

Did Daniel Day-Lewis deserve his Oscar win for TWBB? YES!! Did I love it? Sort of. Vastly hailed as a "Work of Art", which is a term I loosely throw around here on NBM as the highest of the high in terms of ratings. I do agree with the statement, but TWBB is not going to receive the coveted "Work of Cinematic Art" rating the Writers, Actors, and Director so strived from NBM,  when doing this film 3 years before I started my site. Only 58 films out of the 421 I have reviewed have received this rating, and TWBB was really close. I am going to tell you why it could have, then why I ultimately took the prestigious prize away, much like they do to coked up, sex scandal clad Miss America pageanteers. The movie begins in 1898 with Daniel Plainview (Day-Lewis) hunting for gold. Let's just say it's not going well, but he is determined to make something of this life, so he never gives up. Move forward a few years. Gold is out, oil is in. Now Plainview is an oil man. He is good at what he does, but more than anything, he is a salesman. He gives property owners low dollar leases to be able to drill their land. Big signing bonuses blinds the property owners to signing anything The first hour shows Daniel's mentality toward success and also his mentality toward anyone who disagrees with him. He is doin well, but not well enough. Then a young man named Paul gives him a lottery ticket. All he has to do is cash it in, and without hesitation he does. Paul sends him to a town undrilled, where oil literally lies on top of the ground. Daniel buys the whole damn town, and this will be his legacy. Daniel plays the demented really well, but he does have honest love for his son. That is the best part of him. Then the second half of film kind of trails on and on about how crazy this man is. It goes all the way into the year 1927, where HW is grown and married. It follows his downward spiral through all of his successes, but at 2 hours 30 minutes, it is drawn out. I think the story is still brilliant, but I think the director (who also wrote the script) wanted to indulge himself in his own epic. I loved the work aspect. How hard everyone strived for the same goal, but watching Daniel continue to shut himself off from everyone and everything just went too far. The main constant in TWBB is the relationship Daniel has with the local preacher Eli. Don't think because I said relationship, that these two liked each other. Daniel went out of is way to humiliate the preacher, and this quarrel was very public for 20 years, but luckily for us viewers, their story does come to a close before the credits role. Maybe the long running time is necessary to close all the gaps, fill all the holes, and leave nothing to our imagination. It's all very black and white and there is no one who would be able to come up with some sort of analogy for Daniel's actions. He is a psycho. A very wealthy psycho, nonetheless, still a psycho. That's it.

NBM rates There Will Be Blood - Phenomenal

Tower Heist

Eddie Murphy is back... in a sense. A PG-13 Eddie is better than the kids movie Eddie of the last 10 years. As much as I was looking forward to seeing Murphy back to business, he was not in the film as much as I thought he would be. He is very intrical, and every scene he is in, he steals...except maybe the one featuring him and Gabourey Sidibe (Pictured above). I finally have a reason to agree with people that Brett Ratner is a good Director. This film is directed phenomenally. The angles he uses and reflections. It all felt real, even when, we as the audience, know what we are seeing is impossible. He did a really good job. The cast is the best part which is the way it should be. To join cult icon Ferris Bueller with cult icon Axel Foley, then add the usually unfunny Stiller to lead the crew (although I liked him in this film) with a guy who has cut his comedic teeth in 2011, I'm talking about Michael Pena, who was the funniest person in 30 Minutes or Less and lastly add the dry wit and brilliant uncomfortableness of Casey Affleck you get an all star cast with real chemistry. I think Casey Affleck was brought on because of his time on the Ocean's movies. They needed a guy with previous "caper" experience and he was that guy, mostly because I think Carl Reiner is dead. Alan Alda (Hollywood Royalty) is the perfect cast call for the character of Mr. Shaw. He is the problem with everyone's lives in the film. He is a big shot investment banker who not only loses everyone's money, but probably won't be held accountable, and still has a nest egg of considerable amounts all to himself. He lives in the multi million dollar penthouse of the building aptly named The Towers. When he is indicted, Josh (Stiller) knows he is in a personal kind of trouble. Josh is the building manager of the prestigious Towers, and he has invested all of his employee's pensions with Shaw. They did not know he did this, but he thought they would appreciate having their portfolios tripled. Instead everyone who has worked for Josh for 10 years lost everything. Josh has to right this wrong. He is pissed at Shaw - a man he considered his friend - but he is more disgusted with himself. He assembles a rag tag team to take from Shaw what he has left. An estimated $20 Million. He wants it for his friends and colleagues who lost all their money. The film's flow is so good, we are unaware of every relationship among the people on screen until we are informed. That is just good story telling. Like I said, Murphy does not make an impact until 30 minutes in, but when he does, I had a big smile. I would not be surprised to find out he adlibbed many of his lines and jokes which he delivers in classic Murphy fashion. Josh is not going to be denied, but he may not have a choice in the matter. He is being watched semi closely by the FBI agent who is working the Shaw case. She (Leoni) also happens to be interested in Josh on a personal level. This does add complications, but with continued great story telling, it rounds out solidly. I wanted more when the short 1 hour 39 minute movie was over. It could be sequeled I think, even though it wasn't really left open. It's just a good cast that could definitely work together again. Sitting at 69% on RT , it has surprised almost everyone who watched the trailers. I think it deserves to be more along the lines of 75%. An absolute fun action comedy that Hollywood as a whole needed. It keeps hope alive that good films can still be made.


NBM rates Tower Heist - Phenomenal

Hanna

What a fun movie to watch. I had some expectation of what Hanna was going to be, but what I got was a bit different. Good different. The cinematography was second to none, and the Chemical Brothers soundtrack synced up with the sequences perfectly. Hanna is raised in isolation on a snowy continent by her Father Erik (Eric Bana). When know from the trailers that he has raised her to be a perfect soldier, or hunter, or maybe just a survivalist. What we are a little unclear about is why. He trains her, teaches her any language she may ever need, and makes her unafraid of the world she does not know. She is 16 and has not experienced anything. Then her time has come. She is ready. Ready for what? That is what the film really is about. The revenge Erik wants on his former employer Marissa (Blanchett), who is a government handler for spies and secret agents. When Hanna is taken into custody by her own free will, the movie is off like a rocket. She is smart and trained and has her orders. Failure is an unknown word to her, and Saoirse Ronan is absolutely one of the elite young actresses in Hollywood today. Hanna takes us on a thrill ride of unanswered questions, laced with really good, if not some of the best, fight scenes ever. As much as I thought this would be an Eric Bana vehicle, it was actually more to showcase the brilliance of Miss Ronan. The way she never hesitates to the way she handles herself and her firearms really showed me that she very well could be what the film was making her out to be. If you can't tell, I really enjoyed this film, and though I love Cate Blanchett, the southern accent was not the worst I've heard, but not the best either. Andrew Lincoln from The Walking Dead, who is also British, does a much more believable southern accent. She tried to hard, and that is why she failed. True southern is about talking slower and drawing out the syllables, not emphasizing every syllable like she did. Her flaw did not over shadow the brilliance that is Hanna. It was not so "Nicolas Cage" over the top, that it was distracting, and it does not change my opinion of the overall story. Truth be told, Hanna is one bad mother. The last aspect I am going to discuss is the overall direction. In a word, PERFECT. The way we see Hanna light up seeing the world for the first time, and being terrified of running water or fascinated with electricity was done so good it had to be done. Director Joe Wright only needed a couple of very short scenes to set the stage of the lead character's entire mentality and he did it so well. You will enjoy what Hanna is, I'm sure of it.

NBM rates Hanna - Phenomenal

Catching Hell

Dean-O here.

I need to disclose a few things before I start:

1. I grew up in the Chicago area
2. I am a devout Cubs fan
3. I drove 8 hours from Orlando to Atlanta early on Sunday, October 5^th, 2003 and sat down the 3^rd base line at Turner Field that evening as the Chicago Cubs defeated the Atlanta Braves in Game 5 of their Division Championship Series, putting them 4 wins away from making their first World Series appearance since the 1940’s. After the game, I drove back home and went to work without sleeping…or without a voice.

Needless to say, I was consumed with the ensuing Cubs chase for the National League pennant against the Florida Marlins. I was elated after the Cubs took a commanding 3-1 series lead after 4 games. And I was on the borderline of hysteria as I watched Game 6 unfold on my TV. The Cubs were up 3-0 going into the 8^th inning. Mark Prior was on the mound and he was dominant. A lifetime of dreams was in our grasp. The Cubs were on the cusp of making it to the World Series.

Then, a fly ball went down the left field line, and everything changed.

It became known as “The Bartman Ball”. Steve Bartman, an unassuming 20-something fan ended up touching the ball as Moises Alou, the Cubs left fielder, reached up to try and catch it. Alou didn’t make the catch, and he immediately reacted with outrage. The ensuing collapse by the Cubs is epic, legendary, and still makes me sick to my stomach. Bigger than that, though, is the reaction to Bartman that occurred during the game. He was isolated, taunted, vilified, and became the symbolic scapegoat for the Cubs failure.

Last month, ESPN Films released a documentary by Alex Gibney titled “Catching Hell”. In his film, he examines the notions of “curses” and “scapegoats” while providing an in-depth perspective on that fateful play and the subsequent fall-out. ESPN Films has produced many impactful documentaries as a part of their “30 for 30” series, and this was no exception. Obviously, this film brought back some painful memories, but I was fascinated by two aspects of his film in particular. First, he incorporated footage from two amateur documentarians – one guy behind the video camera, one guy in front of it. They recorded the experience of arriving at the ballpark that day, getting to their seats in the left field bleachers, and giving their own “fan reaction” running commentary of the events as they unfolded. What this footage captured that Fox TV Network coverage did not was the raw emotion of the fans as the 8^th inning unfolded. The feeling in the stadium went from jubilation to confusion to disbelief to anger and hatred…all within a span of 30 minutes. Most of that anger was directed at the kid in the left field seat…not to the product on the playing field. To watch that “gang mentality” play out so clearly on film and tying it to the coverage that Fox provided – essentially fueling it without fully appreciating the impact they were having – it was a masterful presentation on Gibney’s part. Equally as enthralling was the “behind the scenes” footage – the interviews with the Fox TV producer and commentators, with security personnel at the stadium that day, and with those in the seats around Bartman. They all played a part in the way that the events unfolded around this young man, and hearing first-hand accounts of how he had to be hidden, disguised and escorted to a temporary location before eventually going to his hotel room was captivating. Above all else, though, hearing the story of Bartman’s confusion over what had transpired, his watching the replays of the events in the bowels of Wrigley Field’s security office, his remorse and his outright fear – it was compelling.

While there were parts of this film that I could have done without – specifically the preacher who goes into a diatribe on scapegoating and blowing up the “Bartman Ball” – I was really impressed with this film. Going into it, I thought I knew what to expect. After all, I lived through these events. Gibney managed to give viewers a comprehensive perspective on the incident and the fallout from it. I learned more about the event and the person it impacted than I knew going in, and it made me reflect back on those events in a new light. This film is as much a study in human behavior as it is a dissection of an unfortunate event in a historic baseball series, and I would recommend it to anyone – Cubs fan or not!

NBM rates Catching Hell as Awesome.     

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