50/50

Why would I not want to see this movie? Oh ya, the whole Cancer thing can be depressing and uncomfortable, but other than that we get to see the range of Joseph Gordon-Levitt (JGL). I know he is great because he and Ryan Gosling are always jockeying for position for my favorite actor slot. Seems every time I watch one of their films they catapult to #1 for me only to drop back down to #2 when the other releases a film. 50/50 is no different. Talk about Oscar Snubs. Nobody has mentioned JGL not getting a nod for his role in one of the best reviewed films of the year. He didn't even let the likes of Seth Rogen bring him down, yet no nomination. Utter BS. I don't want to get started on this years Oscars flubs, as there are many. I guess technically I don't really have a "Say" just an opinion as I am not officially a member of that "Dirty Little Guild" - The Screen Actor's Guild that is. On to a comedy about cancer. I read that the writer of the film was the one with Cancer and he wanted to put together a film that could somewhat document the journey while at the same time show that you can still have fun...sort of. The film is funny at times, and sad, dark, and depressing as hell at other time. It is what I call a Perfect movie, because it drags almost every emotion into one place while never being convoluted. It makes the audience happy and terrified at the same time. Along with the writer's intentions for a cancer dramedy, one might ask how Seth Rogen gets cast as the not so funny comic relief? He really was that friend to this guy during his cancer ordeal and treatment process. I wish someone else had been Kyle (Rogen), but he didn't ruin the film for me. I don't mind Rogen, but I can think of a dozen other people I would have liked for that role. JGL delivers an Oscar worthy performance of a Adam,  27 year old man dealing with the lifestyle change of what Cancer brings. He has a type of cancer he cannot even pronounce, but throughout it is referred to as Cancer of the Back, Spine Cancer, and Back Cancer. We follow his relationship with Rachel (Bryce Dallas Howard) through the process, but the real performance is delivered by the always Lovely Anna Kendrick. She is his therapist helping him cope with his current state and she is awesome. Kyle on the other hand seems to only be interested in exploiting his cancer as a way to pick up girls. He figures a "pity-F@#$" is better than nothing and eventually this will take its toll on the friendship. His overbearing Mother (Anjelica Huston) seems to be his biggest problem, because now she feels she has to treat him like he is 8 years old again. I will say the chemo-treatment scenes are some of the funniest in the film. That is a hard sell, but the two gentlemen he gets the honor of meeting in those treatments, which last 4 hours each time, is what really changes his life. Though they are both 40 years his senior, they all have a commonality that brings them closer together, because finally he has someone who actually does know how he feels, and not just someone who says they do. Unless you are there, there is no way you know how someone with that disease is feeling. It's just humanly impossible. Once again JGL delivers quality and shows he is an elite actor in a business full of hacks who are only there because they look good in underwear. Oh, and you do not get Back Cancer from sleeping on a bad mattress. I looked it up. 


NBM rates 50/50 - A Cinematic Work of Art

Friends with Benefits

So back in May 2011 I posted about the film that preceeded this one called No Strings Attached, and because both films share such a similar concept, I had no choice but to compare them. It seems like I remember Friends with Benefits was slated to release first, but when No Strings Attached leapt in front for the first release, FwB was always gonna be dubbed the knockoff. A full six months between the two really tells the story. NSA opted for a January release, which is basically the time of year studios put out fluff they themselves do not believe in, just to have a movie in the theater. FwB stayed in the middle of the Summer to compete with the Blockbuster films the make up the Summer season. Obviously these producers felt they had a worthy film and they were right. To say I am a Justin Timberlake fan is like saying the Titanic was a boat. Yes, I love everything he does, and then add the stunning Mila Kunis and you have pure sexy gold. As you probably know by now the premise of both films is about having a consensual sex based relationship and nothing more. This is the lifelong goal of well, every man ever to walk the Earth, but to get Women in the same boat would definitely take some doin. In this film we follow a young executive Dylan (Timberlake) being woo'd by GC. They want him to take the job in NYC and leave California behind. He is unsure which is why GC sends their best "headhunter" to show him around. Jamie's (Kunis) only job is to convince people to take jobs. She is freelance and she will say anything to get someone to accept a job they have been offered. The one thing about her is the love she has for New York. Needless to say, he accepts the job and since she is the only person he knows in his new city they begin to pal around. That's it, they really are just friends, nothing more...until the subject is broached in casual conversation. This is where the film goes from good to great and from great to sexy-great. What I couldn't remember was how this film was promoted. I thought these two were lifelong friends, but the fact that they just met made it more intriguing. The chemistry between the two stars in unlike anything we see very often. It is perfect. The cheeky dialogue, well thought out plot, and then the emotional anchor we get hit with late (Not what you expect) makes this movie go from Average romantic comedy to something so much more. As you can tell I liked this film exponentially more than No Strings Attached. Another fantastic aspect no one knew about are the cameos. Too many to count. Stars just keep popping up for a single scene and then we don't see them again. It was really fun. Woody Harrelson on the other hand is a regular part of the cast and I am 100% positive there was a call back to White Men Can't Jump. Take that little nugget to the bank and enjoy all of his one liners for what they are.

**PS- Even Kunis's butt double was nice to look at. I was in my own personal Heaven until A-Bomb ruined it for me with that little tidbit. He was correct, and I am a little sad.

NBM rates Friends with Benefits - Phenomenal

Rocky IV

"And the Russian is cut, and it's a Bad cut!!!" This may be the shortest review in NBM history. It only makes since that Rocky IV would be my first review in the franchise, because it is my favorite. That's right, I didn't say, "Was my favorite", I said "IS MY FAVORITE". A-Bomb and I had this discussion, and while his Favorite is III, we believe it all depends on which one you may have grown up with the most. I must have watched IV 40 times as a kid, and probably at least another 10 as an adult. Yes, technically IV is probably the fourth best behind I, II, and III, but to me and my memories, none stand higher. In a Franchise with 5 great films and one mediocre one (you know who you are 5), Rocky IV will always have that special place in my heart, and if you haven't seen it, I don't respect you as a human being. Sorry
NBM rates Rocky IV - Phenomenal

Attack the Block

I had an ultimate desire to see this film when I first watched the trailer, unfortunately it is British made and marketed, so that left me out in the rain. I'd say it's been over a year since I knew of this film and now on DVD, we watched it in all it's glory. It is exactly what you might expect from a Brit Action-Comedy. The only thing I didn't expect was how hard the dialogue would be to understand. For instance, Shaun of the Dead was spoken so methodically as if these guys knew they would have a shot as U.S. fame, whereas "Block" was such a rush from one scene to the next and these British kids all screaming at each other, as one would do during an invasion like this, it got very hard to understand. What makes this film great is that "the dialogue aspect" doesn't even take away from the film. You will still enjoy the Hell out of it, and you will want to watch it again to see hear what you may have missed. When we did catch the jokes or sarcasm it left us reeling at times, and at other times we were in awe of some of the brilliance being displayed. It is an easy watch at only 90 minutes, it gets in, does its business, and gets out. No lagging at all. Block has a lot of films that one can reference it reminds them of. First off is the obvious Shaun of the Dead. Same producers and the director is obviously a fan of Edgar Wright. Also, its one and only recognizable face is Nick Frost (SOTD's Ed). He has a minor role, but being a fan, I enjoyed his screen time. Then the other comparison in my head was that of Harry Brown. This is based in a poor community in South London. It is riddled with thugs and everyone is always afraid of the streets at night. The film starts off with a young lady, Sam, being accosted, and during the altercation, "It" crash lands on a Volvo. What "It" is is an Alien. (Not a spoiler, watch the trailer) Now these teenage thugs go from street thugs to Alien hunters. They take the initiative and kill the ones they see, but before they know it, they are being overrun by some of the coolest looking aliens I have ever seen. They must survive, and in the end, the people who have been afraid of these boys are now relying on them for protection. It also has very close similarities to one of the all time greats, Tremors. If you like British films, this one is a must. I do want to watch it again to catch some more great one liners.


NBM rates Attack the Block - Phenomenal

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Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Skeptical. That's the word I used to describe my ambitions of this film. The fourth in a franchise stemming back to the late 1960's, this version was going to tell us exactly how the apes came to power. The only reasons I watched this is because of James Franco, and the fact that everyone has been touting over it, which I had to see with my own eyes what all the fuss was about. The fuss was literally about "Awesomeness", in my opinion. Within 25 minutes this film will have it's hooks in you, or maybe just it's opposable thumbs, if you will. The film is an origin story following Caesar, who we all know was the first Evolved ape from the other films. He was the primate's god in a sense. The founding Father of their power and now we learn how that happened. Like everything bad that has happened in film, it all starts with a "Cure". Scientists really do screw up more than fix. A "Cure" for cancer created the Nightwalkers in I Am Legend, and a "Cure" usually always has ramifications beyond the creator's realm of forethought. The cure in this film is for Alzheimer's. It creates extreme brain function and allows damaged cells to heal themselves. It is tested on apes and one of those monkeys passed the trials onto her newborn. It will always be embedded in Caesar's DNA and he will never cease to learn. We watch as he learns and a big part of that knowledge stems from his Father, in a sense, Will (Franco). Will created the drug and he now has a hairy son. He teaches Caesar as much as he can, but Caesar is getting to smart for his own good, and he makes a costly mistake when trying to protect his own. This is really fun to watch and the CG is not bad at all. It is always scary when dealing with a film that uses CG in every scene, but this is good enough, it is not distracting from the film. It also boasts one of the very best visuals I have ever seen and it involves gun fire and a Gorilla jumping at a helicopter. Enjoy that scene and the little details that are present in the slow motion capture of it all. Smart and perfectly orchestrated by the writer's, Director, and Cast. I know several of you are probably thinking the same way I did, but I am a believer in this new film and it ended perfectly. PS. Damn Dirty Apes does make it into the dialogue at one point. This version is head and shoulders better than the Marky Mark version and I liked that version as well. Just good movie making.

NBM rates Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Phenomenal

Moneyball

This film is for everyone. Baseball fans who want an inside look. Movie fans who like good, true stories, and Brad Pitt fans who appreciate how easy he makes his job look. The story of Billy Beane is one very few know. When choosing a biopic, Beane would not be my first choice considering the lack of impact he has had on pop culture in the real world. However, his impact on the game of professional baseball is something that will live on forever. This really is fun to watch from any aspect, but it really seems Beane was nuts when it came to his job. He didn't care about "the system" that has been in place for 100 years. He wanted to win. The only problem was figuring out how to beat a team with 142 million dollar payroll with his measly 38 million dollar budget. He recruits the unlikeliest of people to aid him in his mission, and as they say, the rest is history. There is not much I can write about this. You just have to trust me when I say it is brilliant. Billy Beane is the GM of the Oakland Athletics and he "Likes winning even more than he Hates Losing". It makes sense. His right hand man is Peter Brant (Jonah Hill). A Yale Economics graduate who is good with numbers. He realizes players are over paid for any number of reasons and he feels the Moneyball system works. Peter and Billy's number one concern when looking for ball players on a budget can be defined by three letters. OBP. On Base Percentage. If you get on base the most, the odds are in your favor. It is a very smart film, but the fact the Billy was able to re-invent the proverbial wheel is something amazing. No one had faith in what he was doing. The Manager Art Howe fought him tooth and nail to the point Billy went to the extreme to "Make" Art do what he wanted. He lost some long time scouts because they didn't agree with him, and when it got tough, as in not working, he stuck it out. For better or worse, he was gonna take his math experiment through at least 162 games. So much fun to watch and Pitt deserves Gold. The humor is great when it is needed and this is a smaller role than we have been used to seeing out of Phillip Seymour Hoffman, but he shines as Art Howe. Watch this film. At least once and you will not be disappointed.

NBM rates Moneyball - Phenomenal

The Greatest Game Ever Played

I accidentally came upon this film this morning. Although I did know of it's existence, I was never eager to put it in my schedule, but as lax as Sunday morning programming is, I figured, Why not? This is the typical underdog sports biopic and I am not spoiling anything by telling you it will end exactly as you would expect. It is no Rocky. This story is about amateur golfer Francis Ouimet (LaBeouf). 1913 was an era when golf was not a hobby to anyone who had clubs. No, it was the sport of wealthy and entitled people who played to show everyone around them how important they were. Francis was from a working class family, so he had no reason to be on a golf course. Although he was a natural. He was awesome, and he was gonna win no matter what, right up until he quit per his Father's overly strong suggestion. After being out of the game for a while, he is recruited to play in his hometown's tournament. His hometown was in rural Massachusetts and the tournament in question was called the US Open. At first he passed, but later recanted and won the entry final for the final spot. At only 21 years old, he was more of a hometown novelty for tournament writers to exploit. Never given a real chance at victory, he wowed everyone with his early round play, and before long he was the talk of the Open. The Americans had lost the Open to the British a previous number of years and one cocky American vowed this will not happen again. He had no idea at the time that it would not be him to upset the Brits, but the young unpaid Ouimet was the best chance for victory. The real injustice was the fact of his "Amateur" status, even if he won or placed high, there would be no prize money. This did not affect him or his play and the golf action was done very well for this film. I enjoyed it immensely. The comic relief comes from Ouimet's 10 year old, short round caddy who continuously skips school to be at his side. This is a feel good movie about the odds and the real reason we play the game.

NBM rates - The Greatest Game Ever Played - Phenomenal

Midnight in Paris

It really does not take much to make me happy. The words Woody Allen always make me happy, and without knowing anything about this film, I knew I would watch it, and I knew I would enjoy it. Woody Allen does one thing better than anyone else in Hollywood just edging out Tarantino. Dialogue. He is a master with words, much like The Jester, though I am not even in the same atmosphere as Mr. Allen. He is concise and poignant. He knows how people talk, and it comes across so well. He always gets actors who will do justice to his work. I will admit, I have not been the biggest Owen Wilson fan of late, but he was the part. With Woody Allen, you don't screen test. He knows who he wants, tells that person and they accept. No one turns down Woody. I imagine the same went for Midnight in Paris. Owen plays Gil. A romantic with extreme love for Paris. His fiance' Inez (McAdams) is more of a realist, but she does support Gil in his current venture. Gil is a Hollywood screenwriter who has made a name for himself writing comedies and sit-com's and what not. He has decided to change his life and write a novel. It turns out harder than he had imagined. While vacationing in Paris, he claims he would live there, but Inez is less enthusiastic, so like every other idea Men have had in the past, this one also is rejecting by the female counterpart. What we always get from Allen's film is honest uncomfortable situations. Inez and Gil are on vacation with 2 of HER friends and HER parents, which Gil doesn't mind in small doses, but that is not what he gets. More of an overdose than anything else. Her parents add the most comic relief, especially when Gil and her Father get into conversation, but the man that cannot be outdone is Michael Sheen. He plays the know it all, loves to hear his own voice, professor of all things worldly, can't be wrong Paul. Gil's issue with him above all else is the fact that Inez is obsessed with him. He is the show stealer especially when he is challenged by "Lesser" people. When Gil has had enough of the group, he goes for a midnight stroll and this is when it gets interesting. He is picked up by an old car and taken to a "speak easy" of sorts. He thinks he has been taken to a 20's era costume party, but when he is introduced to his literary idols Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald he begins to freak out, though not visibly to anyone around him. He goes along with it, and soon realizes this is real. When morning comes he knows he must get back to the 20's and his new friends. The movie then turns into, what Inez believes, to be the ramblings of a mad man. Every night at midnight he gets back to that period and the people he meets just keeps expanding. Salvador Dali (Adrien Brody), Pablo Picasso, Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates), T.S. Eliot, and Adriana (Marion Cotillard). She is the real reason he keeps up his travels. He is torn between his reality and their reality. He loves all of his new friends, but is it even an option to abandon them for a simpler time? These are the questions he must answer to himself. This was a really cute, sweet, 90 minute solid movie. Chalk another one up for Woody Allen. I do understand Wood Allen is a Love him or Hate him writer/Director and this film is no different. If you don't like him, don't watch Midnight in Paris.

NBM rates Midnight in Paris - Phenomenal

Warrior

This is the one thing I didn't want to do. I did not want to watch another film that was released in 2011, because if I did, I knew I would have to amend my list (See where Warrior ranks) that took so long for me to perfect. Sure it is only one new entry which would only shift everything up one spot, but in fact I also watch another film last night after Warrior, so now it will be total chaos for me. Maybe it was my naive perception of Hollywood and their need to bring us "Based on a True Story" films that made me think this was based on something real. Maybe it was the Director that made me think that also. Gavin O'Connor directed this film and his other claim to fame is the Highly touted, not seen by as many people as it should have been, "Miracle". Warrior is one of those rare movies that gives lots of concepts, and some how makes them all work together in perfect harmony. It really is a Rocky-esque story multiplied by 2. Warrior gives us 2 underdog fighters in the fights of their lives. Motivated by completely different situations and fueled by different mentalities, "Irish" Brendan Conlon (Joel Edgerton) and Tommy Reardon (Tom Hardy) are men on a mission. Tommy shows back up in town at his Pop's house out of the blue some 14 years after he defected with his Mother. I only know it is 14 years because I read it on Rotten Tomatoes. Pop (Nolte) plays the 1000 day sober, ex drunk who drove his entire family away to perfection. Of course, they say, "write what you know". I think that mentality applies to his acting for Warrior. Brendan is a former UFC fighter who now teaches High School Physics. He and his wife have 3 daughters and they are struggling to pay the bills. When he is not teaching, he moonlights in no hold barred parking lot cage matches. He is the most well trained of any of the muscle heads that show up, so he does win, but he does take a beating as well. Tommy is bitter. To say he has a chip on his shoulder would be like saying an ice cube from the freezer sunk the Titanic. He is very intense and uses that to dismantle other fighters. He hates his Pop, but needs a trainer. I haven't mentioned it yet, but Tommy and Brendan are brothers. (Not a Spoiler- Watch the trailer). They are very estranged and there is a lot of animosity between them. When Tommy went with their Mother, Brendan stayed with Pop. Bad blood a brewing for 14 years. When a winner take all MMA tourney arises for the top 16 middle weights in the world arises, these two want in. Tommy needs to relieve some of his own grief from his time in the Marines, and Brendan needs to save his house from foreclosure. A 5 million dollar purse would solve everything, but only one person will win it. Neither one of these Cage newbs have a shot in hell, but that is why you play the game. Anything can happen. I mean, though unlikely, NBM writer Dean-O may be able to shave his "Bears Beard" this week. I doubt it, but you just never know what will happen. Like all Hollywood fiction, we know where this is going. Two unknowns, who are brothers, who hate each other, end up facing off in the title match. Brendan is very grounded, but Tommy seems unstable. He is a psychopath and after watching Hardy's performance, I am looking more forward to watching him unleash the true psycho Bane, in The Dark Knight Rises. The fight scenes are intense and brutal. Very well done. Brendan has some reservations against fighting his brother, but Tommy would be fine if he killed Brendan. What these two are fighting for are both noble, and no matter who wins, I would have been happy. I really enjoyed watching this play out, because I had no idea where it was going to lead. At 2 hours and 20 minutes long, it actually flows so well, it feels like 90 minutes tops. If this film had been based on real people Nolte would be a shoe-in for Supporting Actor Oscar in a Drama. He is superb. The way I rate this may surprise some of you, but allow me to explain. When dealing with a Biopic, the characters and stories are emblazoned in the text of history. The actors know who they are portraying and they need to be as similar, identical even, to those figures. Warrior was drafted on paper out of thin air as far as I know. The story came from a writer, and the characters were created by the actors cast to play them. It was all done to perfection. An engaging story about Family, good and bad, and the ties that bind. Great action that was not overdone. The fighting was not the center of the film, the characters were. With all that said...

NBM rates Warrior - A Cinematic Work of Art