Top 5 Movies Shawn Was Right About

Matt

I tease my cousin Shawn about his taste in movies a little more than I probably should.

Shawn loves classic, critically-acclaimed cinema as much as I do, but he also loves shoot-em-ups, science-fiction, and action movies I would never even consider watching. He loves the, and I quote, “‘splosions,” and “pew pew.” He said he enjoyed “The A-Team” more than “Black Swan,” and said “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” was good.

He can be sentimental, too, for movies like “Shrek Forever After.” He loves TV, which I don’t. But he does a superb job on our sister blog, TV-Tastic.

I ran him through the ringer for his review of “The A-Team” and I figured since I beat him up all the time, I should do a Top 5 list of movies Shawn was right about.

5. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home: In this case, I thought this installment of the Star Trek film franchise was silly and far too wide a sidestep from the franchise. Shawn, a giant Trekker of the most massive scale, explained to me that I shouldn’t over think it. This is the Star Trek comedy. I hadn’t watched it in a long time and went back for a second viewing. Shawn was right. This is a lighthearted, fun Star Trek adventure that is very accessible and I enjoyed far more the second go around.

4. X-Men: Before going to see this  in the theater with Shawn, I really thought it wasn’t going to work. With a massive cast and so many characters to develop in the huge X-Men Universe, I didn’t think they could pull it off. I really wasn’t amped about seeing it, but Shawn really wanted to go. And he was right. It was a blast. The Wolverine performance by Hugh Jackman remains among the best ever in comic book films. I was wrong, yet again.

3. Mr. Brooks: This was a movie I totally would have overlooked. Kevin Costner has passed his peak, and I don’t really seek out his films anymore. But Shawn reviewed this film for us, and based on his recommendation, I checked it out. Very solid little psycho-drama, mystery movie with a really good performance by Costner. Good choice, Shawn.

2. The Other Guys: This was another one of those movies I would have passed over. I like Will Ferrell, and all, but another buddy police comedy? Like that hasn’t been done? Well, this happens to be one of the best ones. We laughed often and hard in the theater when we went to see it. We had a blast, and I’m glad he got me to go.

1. The Matrix: Man oh man oh man, was I wrong about this one. Because Keanu Reeves was in this, I instantly wrote it off as a crap-fest of epic proportions and literally scoffed at Shawn when he glowed about it to me over coffee. When I finally got around to seeing this on video — God, was I late to the party — I was hooked on “The Matrix.” This is one of the best action/sci-fi films of all time. While the sequels may have left a bad taste in our collective mouths, the original remains a modern classic.

Shawn 5, Matt 0.

Bill and Ted 3 update; Most excellent

Matt

We told you before that Keanu Reeves was talking about a third installment of the Bill and Ted franchise — which I was a big fan of as a heavy metal loving kid.

Apparently, co-star Keanu Reeves wasn’t joking. He updated the story this week with MTV, telling the former music television station that a script is in the works and is weeks away.

“I believe the writers are six weeks away from a draft,” he told MTV on Monday, adding with a laugh, “No pressure, guys!”

Back in September, Reeves dished nothing but wacky jokes about what the project might actually look like — a 3-D black-and-white sequel co-directed by Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola and Werner Herzog? — but this time around the 46-year-old actor gave us some meaty clues about the film’s potential plot (albeit with a few caveats).

“I know a little bit. But I don’t know — the fellas went off and cooked it up,” he explained. “I don’t know what happened when they put the elements together.”

Bill and Ted had two films, “Excellent Adventure” and “Bogus Journey” that were both successful films and a Saturday morning cartoon in the late 80s and early 90s. It featured a fun supporting role by George Carlin and lots of unusual and hilarious historical figures, like Joan of Arc, Beethoven and Abraham Lincoln. Bill and Ted, who have a band called Wyld Stallions, are lousy in school and don’t amount to much. They get a visitor from the future in Rufus, played by Carlin, who travels in a phone booth (who uses those anymore?). Rufus tells them their music will one day change the world, but they need to pass their history test. It sends them on a crazy adventure through time, where they collect historical figures for a presentation. The sequel sends the two boys to hell, where they meet Grim Reaper, played in hilarious fashion by William Sadler.

So, in the sequels, you never know what song changed the world. Apparently the third installment will delve into that storyline.

This film could work if it doesn’t take itself too seriously (which may be hard to do). They’ve been bringing back every franchise, whether it’s from TV or the silver screen. Why not bring back Bill and Ted? At worst, it sucks as much as all the other sequels of late.

Forbidden Planet

Forbidden Planet stars Leslie Nielsen as a heroic starship captain who finds the paradise planet Altair-IV, which is inhabited by Dr. Morbius and his daughter, the sole survivors of an earlier expedition. Morbius uncovered the secrets of the long-lost civilization that made Altair-IV a paradise — the same secrets that unknowingly destroyed the society!

Victor
Rating: 9 out of 10

Plain and simple- “Forbidden Planet” is an under appreciated sci-fi classic. It was directed by Fred Wilcox and stars Leslie Nielson (yes, Leslie Nielson from Naked Gun and Airplane!), Anne Francis and Walter Pidgeon. It is a film which is a marvel to behold on numerous levels. On the surface it is almost a sci-fi horror fable about a creature awakened from a deep slumber on another planet. The story involves a monster which is killing off crew members of a rescue party sent to investigate the disappearance of previous explorers. Upon finding only two survivors, Pidgeon and his daughter played sexily by Francis, the captain suspects that something about the ancient civilization of the planet is awry. There has been obvious comparisons to Shakespeare’s The Tempest, but the film digs deeper than that and explores the Greek intensity of the Id. Pidgeon’s character gives this feeling to the viewer because his sub conscious-mind that drives the creature.

Leslie Nielson and Anne Francis have great chemistry. Their interactions with Robby the Robot (a very expensive prop for 1956) are wonderful to watch, as are the special effects that still look very polished to this day. “Forbidden Planet” also sports a cool electronic score done by Louis and Bebe Barron. It’s is a bit jarring at first but the beeps and boops mesh well with futuristic settings.

I remember having this film on VHS — then laserdisc and now blu ray — and the transfer is impeccable. It still holds up well and is very entertaining even for the most jaded sci-fi geek. The dialog is a bit corny and the pacing somewhat laborious at times. But I am nit picking. Catch it in widescreen if you can. And try not to provoke monsters from the Id.

Season of the Witch

In 14th-century Europe, a courageous knight (Nicolas Cage) leads a group of weary warriors across impossibly treacherous terrain in order to transport a suspected witch (Claire Foy) believed to be responsible for spreading the devastating Black Plague. Filmed on location in Austria, director Dominic Sena’s supernatural adventure also stars Ron Perlman, Stephen Graham, Ulrich Thomsen and Stephen Campbell Moore.

Lauren
1 out of 10

All I know is Nicolas Cage and Clay from TV’s “Sons of Anarchy” are knights in the 1300s-ish and they’re going to transport a witch for some reason.

This seems to be almost horror – witches get hung and drowned before coming back to life to kill the priest who ordered the execution. I’d probably be scared if I wasn’t laughing at the acting and lack of accents. Nic and Ron Perlman, who are way too old to be running around fighting in the crusades, are using some old English words and speech patterns but with their normal accents and modern slang. Wow, it’s bad. I wonder if there was a script or if the actors were just given an outline of the general story like they do on HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Note to writers: these guys need a script. The dialogue is absolutely awful. As I watch Perlman, I can see him laughing at the producers for paying him for this.

Most of the action takes place in front of a green screen and there are a lot of creepy moments just for the sake of being creepy. It seems lazy and thrown together. The storytelling isn’t good either. Towards the end Nic starts explaining what just happened while flashbacks from the movie I’m in the middle of watching appear on the screen. I didn’t forget, I’m not that stupid, and this is not that complicated. On a positive note, there are zombie monks. They are good for a laugh, if nothing else.

Cowboys and Aliens trailer

Matt

Here’s the first peak at “Cowboys and Aliens,” Scott Mitchell Rosenberg’s graphic novel series that is making its way to the big screen next summer through the lens of director Jon Favreau. The story features amnesiac gunslinger Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig), who stumbles into the Wild West town of Absolution where he’s confronted by potent enemy Col. Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford) and a terrifying problem: invading aliens. Aided by the lovely Ella (Olivia Wilde), Jake rallies a posse of the townspeople, Dolarhyde’s minions and local Apache warriors to fight off the extraterrestrial threat. It’s a story of enemies coming together to fight a common enemy.

Favreau has more than proven himself as a director of action-based comic book movies with “Iron Man” and “Iron Man 2.”   Heck, I even like “Elf.” As he did with the Iron Man series, Favreau has another stellar cast with Craig, Ford, Wild, and Keith Carradine, who was great in TV’s “Dexter” and the film “Peacock.” Carradine plays the town sheriff in this picture.  

We’ve had a string of crummy, forgettable summer action movies — from “The Expendables” to “ The Prince of Persia: Sands of Time” “Clash of the Titans” the Transformers films, and the list goes on. Favreau hasn’t steered us wrong yet with an action movie, so I have faith this is going to be one of the best popcorn movies to see next summer.