The Force is Strong With This One.

Star Wars Rogue One
2016 | PG13 | 2 Hr. 13 Min | Sci-Fi | Disney

Director:

Gareth Edwards

Writers: 

Chris Weitz

Tony Gilroy

Stars: 

Felicity Jones

Diego Luna

Alan Tudyk

Synopsis:

All looks lost for the Rebellion against the Empire as they learn of the existence of a new superweapon, the Death Star. Once a possible weakness in its construction is uncovered, the Rebel Alliance must set out on a desperate mission to steal the plans for the Death Star. The future of the entire galaxy now rests upon its success.

Hot off the heels of Godzilla (2014) Gareth Edwards is handed the keys to a prequel that we all needed in our lives (sorry Jar Jar). With an array of new charters filling in a back story to New Hope he is allowed to weave a strong story and flashy effects making Rogue One a very entertaining Star Wars Saga. Felicity Jones knows how to own the screen going from bad girl to hero right before your eyes in the way that Luke should have! Let's face it New Hope will be the weak link in the series at some point. 

At first, I was not comfortable with a CGI Peter Cushing, it was creepy yet once the story rolled on you settle in. Industrial Light and Magic really pulled this off nicely. ILM went through hours of old footage from Cushing in order to get all of his facial mannerisms right. Guy Henry then performed the role on set, while wearing head-mounted cameras that recorded all his facial movements. ILM then replaced his face with a digital mask of Cushing. As luck would have it, a face cast of Cushing made for Top Secret! (1984) had recently been found in an archive, and was of great use in this process. It is also cool to note found footage from New Hope resurfaced and the originally deleted footage from the Death Star attack shot was placed into the final battle in Rogue One. 

George Lucas reportedly loved the film so much that director Gareth Edwards posted on his Twitter feed,  "It was the most important review to me he's kind of like God, I will take that conversation to my grave, his opinion means the world to me." Rogue One is a prequel done right, and it succeeds by focusing on the details. Why did I wait so long to watch is beyond me?

Once again we are witnesses to intense aerial dogfights, armored combat vehicles, sweet looking tanks, flame-throwers, and new stormtroopers that never cease to amaze. And those Stormtroopers are truly something to gawk at. And nothing is better or more terrifying that Darth Vader slowing filling the screen! Look the movie's visuals are amazing. It may be a typical plotline the first act is a slow burn leaving with that meh feeling but I promise you the second act draws together fine for the third act leading into the big battle that will leave you in awe! 

Rouge One was how I felt as a young boy watching A New Hope for the first time leaving me giddy with excitement! Leading right up to the moment of Hope this story will not disappoint, the visuals will blow you away and the battle leaves you wanting more. One downfall and to myself a big one almost tearing me out of the movie in a hurry was the CGI use of a main charter in the end. I get it it was done to tie the movies together but ugh! Those brief moments almost ruined the whole thing for me.

4 out of 5 Stars

With his All-Girl Army of Kung Fu Killers.

Dolemite
1975 | R | 1 Hr 30 Min | Action | Demmention Pictures

Director: 

D'Urville Martin

Writers: 

Jerry Jones 

Rudy Ray Moore

Stars: 

Rudy Ray Moore

D'Urville Martin

Jerry Jones

Synopsis:

Dolemite is a pimp who was set up by Willie Greene and the cops, who have planted drugs, stolen furs, and guns in his trunk and got him sentenced to 20 years in jail. One day, Queen B and a warden planned to get him out of Jail and get Willie Green and Mitchell busted for what they did to him. However, Dolemite is no stupid man and has a lot of warriors backing him, such as his call girls, who are Karate Experts--and lots more...

"You no-business, born-insecure, jock-jawed motherf#@ker!" Dolemite

70s Blaxploitation

Growing up I could not have told you what Blaxploitation was nor did I care. All I know was picking up the VHS cover at the local rental center and seeing movies like Shaft, Foxy Brown, and Cooley High looked fun leading to that Saturday afternoon rental. Of course, I had no real clue who Rudy Ray Moore was other than a record my buddy once had and it is a shame I missed out on the whole Dolemite craze. Moore may not be an A list actor or heck a C list at most he was still a delight to watch has he fumbled around the screen bringing his charter to life. And boy I love my B movies so I was right at home with this one. Sure it's not Black Dynamite or Coffy in terms of look and polish but that is what gives Dolemite its charm. 

"Can you dig it?" Dolemite 

 

Dolemite the Man

Moore first developed the character of Dolemite in his stand-up comedy routines, and later appeared on his 1970 debut album, Eat Out More Often, which reached the top 25 on the Billboard 200. He released several more comedy albums using this persona. In 1975, Moore decided to create a film about Dolemite, paying for most of the production out of his own pocket, and using many of his friends and fellow comedians as cast and crew and according to Dolimete's my Name (2019) a lot of hard work and hustling.  Also, directed by D'Urville Martin, who appears as the villain Willie Green and made appearances on All in the Family, The Cosby Show, and as a villain in many other films would finish his career with 1984s The Bear before suffering a heart attack at the young age of 45. 

D'Urville Martin

Grab your Popcorn it's going to be a fun ride.

Dolemite must use his sharp tongue and karate skills to find the source of the crime and take down Willie Green (D’Urville), a ruthless crime boss.  Moore is absolutely awful as an actor, however, the character of Dolemite is simply amazing. Nearly every strained line that comes out of his mouth is a classic and simply begs to be quoted. For example, when one of Dolemite’s ladies proclaims she’s afraid of ghosts, Dolemite reassures her by exclaiming “Ghosts? If you ever see a ghost cut the mother f@#ker.” While Moore’s performance is poor, nearly everyone else is even worse. That being said, the terrible acting actually makes the film more charming and provides more comedy, though it was certainly unintentional. 

"Man, move over and let me pass 'fore they have be to pullin' these Hush Puppies out your motherf@#kin' a$$!"

Is it worth your time?

On a technical level, No. It is hands down some of the worst editing I’ve ever seen in a movie with frequent cuts and unmatched jumps that lead to missing dialog maybe?  And those boom mics wow. Again, this sloppiness would detract from most movies, but in Dolemite it just made it all the more comical. So with that Dolemite is simply not to be missed. It summarizes everything that makes 70s grindhouse cinema such a joy to watch. It’s poorly directed, scripted, acted, and edited, but somehow remains an entertaining laugh riot. Dolemite is like the crazy drunk buddy that has no filter and hits on all the girls in the bar. It’s dirty, offensive, and full of its self, and a shit ton of fun I was digging every second of it.

3 out of 4 stars

If you have not seen Dolemite and plan on watching this plus Dolemite's My Name I suggest checking this one out first I wish I did. 

Only one man can stop the Yakuza.

Into The Sun
2005 | R | 1Hr 37 Min | Action | Columbia Tri Star

Director: mink
Writers: Steven Seagal (story), Joe Halpin (story)

Stars: 

Steven Seagal 

Takao Ohsawa

Juliette Marquis

Synopsis:

Ex-CIA agent Travis Hunter (Steven Seagal), is called to bring down the criminals who murdered the governor of Tokyo. Hunter uncovers a Yakuza plan to build an enormous drug-dealing network in conjunction with the Chinese Mafia. With time running out and the cold-blooded Yakuza determined to see their plan through, Hunter must thwart the operation, and then get out alive.

Well crap, this movie has left me with so many questions! Into the Sun is part of Box Office Jocks Blogathon hosted by Dubsism and Return to The '80s. The idea behind it simple it is all about movies featuring actors who used to be athletes at the college, Olympic, or professional level, OR movies in which a famous athlete appears. So I picked Into the Sun starring Steven Seagal and wanting to keep up with the Super Bowl-themed weekend this also star's Tennessee Titans Running Back Eddie George. 

Looking kick ass Seagal!

Who didn't enjoy those great action stars of the late '80s like Van Damme, Stallone, Schwarzenegger and of course Seagal? With a box office smash Above the Law in 1988, Seagal became a cinema legend. And here he is in 2005 keeping that action movie mojo alive well to him anyway. It is cool to see him still working but after watching Into the Sun I'm not convinced I need to watch any of his newer stuff. Being a Master in Japanese Kendo you should be in for a treat and as of 2006, his movies have earned $600 million worldwide. So why did I have a hard time getting into this flick? But first Eddie...

Eddie George the badass.

**Spoiler Alert** Eddie George looks badass in the opening minutes playing a CIA Agent going undercover. But sadly that is it! I have let this Blogathon down as he was only in this movie for maybe seven minutes! I was so excited to learn he was in this bad boy with Seagal but that quickly turned to let down. This movie needed more George! Sorry gang but the review must go on.

Sorry to see you go, Eddie.

I would also like to point out this was the directorial debut for mink, yeah I have never heard of him as well. In fact, he has only done 4 movies in his career. What I will say about him he took a crap script and made it look fantastic. He actually shot the film in Super 35 with the intention of framing the completed picture in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio for theatres, but sadly Sony decided to send the film straight to DVD, the studio re-framed the picture to 1.85:1. And one quick note about the soundtrack its horrible in fact it will spoil the moment at times and it is so frustrating.

The movie does look good!

What was more frustrating then the score is the story! It is all over the place and if you did not study Japanese culture you'll find your self on google a lot! And it really does not help that Seagal is talking in Japanese tongue so you find yourself reading the dialog way too much. Then out of the blue, they speak English again. This back and forth is a bunch of crap! So you would think the saving grace would be the action but sadly it lacks their as well. They set the movie up for what should be an epic sword battle that ends up being well MEH. 

The fighting is framed so tight that you can only imagine that it is from Seagal's age or maybe that damn leather jacket that kept him from moving around. Into the Sun seems to have signaled the end of his Action movie career and yet here we are in 2018 and he has been pumping them out year after year, 36 other flicks to be exact! So hopefully he has learned from this one.

I really like Seagal's early body of work and was excited to get reacquainted with him once again. Sadly Into the Sun is a dull action flick that looks good but falls way short on fun. I sure hope the other bloggers had more luck with there picks so make sure to check those out here and here.

2 out of 5 Stars

A new age begins

Avengers: Age of Ultron

2015 | Color | 2 Hr 21 Min | Action | PG | Marvel

Director:

Joss Whedon

Writer:

Joss Whedon

Stars:

Robert Downey Jr.

Chris Evans

Mark Ruffalo

When Tony Stark and Bruce Banner try to jump-start a dormant peacekeeping program called Ultron, things go horribly wrong and it's up to Earth's Mightiest Heroes to stop the villainous Ultron from enacting his terrible plans.

Well ok, so this took me almost a year to watch beginning to end. I had such a hard time wanting to watch this Avengers. I feel they have jumped way too quickly into the newer universes for Marvel. I'm christ we are at the Civil War already. I guess being a classic fan I wanted more of that you know when the comic books were fun and you did not need a comic book encyclopedia  to keep up. I was so lost I had no clue who Ultron really was and then this Vision guy what the hell!! 

I stopped reading superhero books because of crap like this and I have grown burnt out on the movies. I loved Iron Man but maybe it was because I did not really read the books back in the day. The only time I saw Iron Man was when he crossed over to Captian America or Spider-Man books. I don't know maybe I'm just being an ass. 

Overall I did not hate the movie it looks great and the CG is done well. Hulk has never looked better. And the Marvel movies still look a lot better then D.C. movies all tho I will be watching Aquaman in the theaters only because he is my favorite hero. I skipped the new Captin movie and will wait for the Blu-Ray on that one as well.  So how did you guys feel about this movie? Am I the only one that did not care? And I feel like Disney will do the same thing with Star Wars giving us too much! Slow down guys we did not mind having to wait decades for a new Star Wars movie so maybe you should just slow down when it comes to super heroes. Ok Rant over...

2 Bloody Brains

Action has a new hero

Kickboxer
1989 | Color | 1 Hr 37 Min | Action | R | Cannon


Directors:

Mark DiSalle

David Worth

Writers: 

Mark DiSalle 

Glenn A. Bruce

Stars: 

Jean-Claude Van Damme

Dennis Alexio

Dennis Chan

Kurt Sloan is the corner-man for his brother, U.S. kickboxing champion Eric Sloan. When Kurt witnesses his brother become maliciously paralyzed in the ring by Thailand champion Tong Po, Kurt vows revenge. With the help of Zion, a kickboxing trainer who lives in a remote area of Thailand, Kurt trains for the fight of his life.

When I received an E-Mail from Crackle this week I got a little giddy when I read that the kickboxers where streaming for free in June! I thought hell why not revisit the 80's and a little Cannon movie magic. 

You'll believe it when you see it!

Troll Hunter

Rated: PG-13 (for some sequences of creature terror)
Genre: Adventure/Fantasy
Release Date: October 29,2010
Starring:Otto Jespersen Hans, Morten Hansen, Tomas Alf Larsen
Director: André Øvredal

Writer: André Øvredal

Run Time: 103 Minutes

DVD Extras: N/A

A group of students investigates a series of mysterious bear killings but learns that there are much more dangerous things going on. They start to follow a mysterious hunter, learning that he is actually a troll hunter.


I know there are plenty of this mockumentary out there in the style Blair Witch and Cloverfield but don't let that stop you. Troll Hunter is a fantastic thrill ride. With a strong cast great cinematography and a score that will truly suck you in! As with most movies of this style, you will have slow parts but they are far and few in between.

The story revolves around Scandinavian folklore that trolls are out killing farmers livestock, and the government is trying to keep the secret troll threat under wraps. In comes troll hunter Hans played with brilliance by Otto Jespersen.


Thomas (Glenn Erland Tosterud) Johanna (Johanna Morck) and Kalle (Thomas Alf Larsen) set out to find this famed legend Hans to see if he is real. When Han's finally lets the kids join that's when the film gets pieced to together very well. The pace is on target. The political back story makes scents.


The Trolls are the stars of this movie and they cover more than just one type. All the great folklore is in this movie as well. One of my favorite scenes comes from "Three Billy Goats Gruff" with a troll under the bridge. I found myself holding my breath a few times. Just wait until you see the Troll Cave. Wow, every well done.


The movie does fall short in a few places mainly with its ending. The other issue would have been the translation. I was grateful at times for the American dub over the sub-tiles. Believe it or not, the shaky  cam was not bad in this movie.

 If you have a few younger children in the house looking for a safe but intense scares for ages 13 and up this is a great tile to rent. I will sure be a party please-er.


This Halloween pick up Troll Hunter dime the light's pump up the DTS and have a great time. This one will sit in my collection.

4 Bloody Brains out of 5

Part of the Count Down to Halloween 2011 Day 12