So enough about Mrs. Andrew, both for your mental health and my physical health. Not that she scares me, just I have a healthy understanding of her powers... In other words I'm married so...
Movies. Been a lot of movies out there in the last couple years. Fun ones and dud ones. So let's take a look at some. These are some of the movies Mrs. Andrew and I have watched recently.
RENFIELD - Okay, a movie based not on The Prince of Darkness but on his henchman, Renfield. This movie starts bold, somewhat gross, fantastically fanciful and keeps going. Only a few small slow spots, but it's just the movie catching its breath before plowing on.
Nicolas Cage (one of my favorite actors) absolutely crushes the role of Dracula, even down to an almost perfect imitation of Bela Lugosi's portrayal. And he's funny, scary, mean, undead. Perfect.
Shohreh Aghdashloo does a fantastic job of being the God Mother of the bad guys. Totally fantastic. Doesn't help that she probably has one of the sexiest female voices on screen ever.
So, basically, Dracula and Renfield come to N'awlins and fun happens. Lots of fun. Hugely amounts of fun, for levels of fun dealing with the undead.
And the final big scene, well, if you've ever played D&D with a really mean and anal-retentive dungeon master (the guy who runs the game) you will totally enjoy it. Watch it on your tv and get ready to pause, rewind, stop and just laugh your butt off.
Avoid it if you don't like graphic violence and blood and stuff. But on the other hand, it's handled well, so...
DANCES WITH SMURFS 2 (Avatar 2) - A blockbuster followup to Avatar. Mrs. Andrew really likes Avatar and... she wasn't impressed. We bought Avatar, we won't be buying Deuce. Let's just say James Cameron could have been just a tad less pushy pushing the environmental message.
And once again, I'll be on Humanity's side. We're all we got. We're against everything else, here on Earth and in Space. I'll support the hairless apes over space aliens every day. After all, I are one (hairless ape.)
Cameron is doing to evil space aliens what Disney did to tasty forest creatures. Dammit. Me? Aliens are aliens. More like those little blue creatures on Galaxyquest who eat their own and try to eat the heroes. "What is it?" "I don't know." "Hit it with a rock!" Yeah, aliens are most likely, contrary to what SETI and Roddenberry tell us, not our freinds.
Otherwise, it's a visually stunning movie blah blah blah. All I could think about while watching it was "Cameron made his whole film crew go vegan for this?" (Yes, he really did.) I also thought that it was just the first movie but IN/ON WATER!!! Oooohhh. Yeah.... Blah....
NOBODY - It's a poor man's John Wick (really, Wick is rich, hangs around rich people, has money, is rich, so not a poor man,) made by the people who brought us John Wick. Absolutely fantastic. Good plot, explains everything and full of action and fun. And Christopher Lloyd as a shotgun using undead lich (well, almost, you'll understand when you see it.)
The main character is so relatable. So is his family, all of it, inlaws included. The bad guys are, of course, bad. The fight scenes are hilariously overwhelming. Just the bus scene, well, you'll never look at public transportation quite the same again. So open for a sequel, so hope they don't do a sequel as the movie is a perfect movie by itself.
MR. RIGHT - This is a nice sleeper comedy action adventure that is just, well, fun.
Main female character is a slightly loopy woman wronged by her ex-boyfriend. Main male character is... well... er... ah... watch the darned movie. Great fight scenes, lots of humor, nice music, good dancing, and a seriously warped and twisted plot, of which I won't spoil at all for you. Leaves me and Mrs. Andrew smiling and happy every time we watch it. Seriously, who new violence could be so fun?
Tag line - "I'm a T-Rex, RaWRRRRR!"
I'll do better next blog entry. Maybe. At least there's no singing clowns... yet.
Noticed a trailer for an upcoming release at Thanksgiving by Ridley Scott.....Napoleon...with Joaquin Phoenix. Mr. Right reads good Beans, thanks for the reviews, saw that bus scene from Nobody and I've sworn off public transport.
ReplyDeleteI was waiting for OAFS to comment on the upcoming Napoleon movie. It does look good.
DeleteGlad to be of service with the reviews.
Someday I'll get my life back ...
DeleteWell, first you have to get back home rather than being the dashing jet-setter you are now.
DeleteI did not see the original Avatar so missed the entire phenomenon. I just never felt the need, and certainly not to see the second one.
ReplyDeleteI do enjoy John Wick though, so may check out Nobody.
Nobody is more tongue-in-cheek than Wick. And it's fun. Good pace and enjoyable. It's worth the look.
DeleteI bumped into Nobody via a clip on YT. I watch it every month now. I still get tickled by it. That beginning sequence is exactly what I didn't expect adulthood to be. They really nailed it. The rest of it is amazing...
ReplyDeleteThe whole family interaction and work interaction? Yeah, that's real life, baby. And the family interaction at the end? Yeah, that's real life, baby. Seriously, I have known some Hutches in my life that had a life-changing event and it is very much like the beginning vs the end.
DeleteVery crazy movie. I've seen it 4 times and there's still little details that I pick up.
Movies, I tend to see one a year. Napoleon will make it two.
ReplyDeleteBreathless anticipation.
Just the thought of Ridley Scott doing Napoleon sounds interesting. And apparently another big director is doing a mini-series. Weird how similar productions pop up at the same time.
DeleteI'll have to break down and check out "The Duelists" if Nappy actually happens.
We paused Nobody and have not returned. I will give it another chance.
ReplyDeleteWe agree with your take on Mr. Right and Blue People 2.
We will check out Renfield.
As TB said, we like John Wick.
We finished watching Extraction 2 last evening, and wondered why there were no scenes of dental work. Kidding. We both thoroughly enjoyed it.
The slow beginning of Nobody just sets the perfect setting for the rest of it. And the things that happen in the slow beginning influence very much the rest of the movie. Think of it like an old school rollercoaster. The beginning is the slow being pulled up the first hill portion, then...
DeleteI will have to look at Killer Dentist 1 and Killer Dentist 2. If I can pull myself to do it. They may be a filling experience. Hope I don't need a shot of novocaine to watch...
I liked Avatar, not impressed with the second one. As to aliens, in Avatar the humans are the evil aliens.
ReplyDeleteOn a separate note, don't be afraid to do a current movie review! I like hearing about what's out there before I see a clip on yt!
To me, those are current movies. The thought of going to an actual theater and paying to have my ears assaulted and be more deaf with worse tinnitus while having to hold my bladder and constantly turn to my wife and ask "What did they say?" while some snot-faced punks laugh, carry on and make too much noise all while having to deal with space for my wife's chair and her service dog, well, nah.
DeleteMy 'theater' is comfortable, quiet, the sound can be adjusted to more treble and less bass and the bathroom is just a pause-button away, along with healthier tasty snacks that won't bankrupt a small country.
As to aliens, I tend to agree with Heinlein on that point. Yes, we are aliens to them, evil aliens. But who has more of a right to exist, us or them. Survival of the species, baby. Also, in A-2, the nice blue aliens tended to treat the good alien hybrids like dog crap. Even when the good alien hybrids were doing good things. So, well, screw the nice blue aliens. Pretty much sure we're not watching Dances with Smurfs 3 or More. Would have been somewhat more enjoyable with less skull pounding enviromental message. Seriously.
So you were rooting for the people who traveled untold light years to strip mine a planet so they could have money in the bank back home?
DeleteI ought to say something but I can't think of anything positive to say...
The original story centers around some catastrophe that the 'unobtainium' was the only solution and thus mankind was kind of forced to mine it.
DeleteAnd, yes, horrible treatment of the natives and such, but push comes to shove, if some alien's planet has the only unobtainium that would save planet Earth, would you not support getting said unobtainium no matter how? It would be nice if the Blue People had let us mine, but they didn't. Who is more important? Us or them?
As I recall it was about greed, but it's really not important. Well not important enough to watch it again :-)
DeleteGreed, yes, but without unobtainium life back home would cease to exist. So a greedy fight for life. Eh. Not important enough to watch again.
DeleteMr Right, I never paid much attention to Anna Kendrick until I saw this movie. I will watch it every time it comes on.
ReplyDeleteShe's good in this roll.
DeleteCrusty Old TV Tech here. Renfield, eh? Interesting. Gotta check it out, though I suspect the "Ballad of Dwight Fry" will be playing in loop mode in my cranial MP3 player the whole time...
ReplyDeleteOkay, just read the lyrics and, man, Cooper is one weird dude.
Delete