Classics: 12 Angry Men

12 Angry Men. 

12 Angry Men is a courtroom drama that was released in 1957 directed by the legendary Sidney Lumet (Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon). The plot revolves around jury deciding in a murder trial that involves one juror that believes the defendant is not guilty while the other 11 believe he is guilty. The movie features an ensemble cast of 1950's actors headlined by Henry Fonda (Grapes of Wrath, Once Upon a Time in the West). 

12 Angry Men is a bonafide classic, it was nominated for 3 Oscars, is a part of the Criterion Collection, was selected to be preserved in the National Film Registry, holds a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is the number 5 movie on IMDB's top 250 movies. The main point of this review is to ask, does it hold up?

The first thing that really jumps out at me is the screenplay, the writing in this movie is phenomenal, every word means something. 12 Angry Men is 96 minutes long and nearly the entire movie takes place in one room with just the jurors talking and debating the innocence of the defendant. One of the best decisions made in the making of the movie is to leave the jurors nameless even to the audience. The way the movie deals with race in 1957 is impressive, it is impressive even by today's standards so there's something to be said about that. 

It's hard to really explain this movie in a way that sounds interesting because this film should not be interesting, it's 96 minutes of dialogue and debate in one room, it should be boring, but it's not. Some may think that it is hell, the move is in black and white too which will throw some people off right away. Part of m love for the movie may stem from my love of politics and law itself which obviously lends itself favorably for the movie. 12 Angry Men gets unbelievably intense and the arguments get underneath the skin in a way that hasn't been done as well since. 

If there was a modern movie that I'd try to compare it to is Lincoln, it's a movie that doesn't contain much action and is about debate just as 12 Angry Men is. The movies are vastly different but they are similar in the way that many people can see that the movies are boring and nothing but talking but 12 Angry Men is much more than that (I'm not saying these 2 movies are comparable in greatness, I liked Lincoln but it's not nearly as great as 12 Angry Men).

Rewatchability: 4.5/5, it's one of those movies that I could watch endlessly, I don't get bored by it and it keeps my attention throughout. The film doesn't get diluted by the result of the ending like some other movies can (I'm looking at you, Buried). 

Rating: 5/5, I don't give a perfect score out lightly and by no means does it mean that the movie is perfect but 12 Angry Men is the kind of movie that I love, it's timeless, thought provoking and enjoyable. For me, the movie has earned every accolade it's gotten and deserves to be studied the way that it is. 

Circle - Review

Circle. 

Circle is a 2015 psychological thriller directed by two first time directors named Mario Miscione and Aaron Hann. Circle stars an ensemble cast of 50 people, a bunch of unknowns, and a few familiar faces, most notably Julie Benz of Dexter fame. What drew me to Circle was its intriguing story (plus it's on Netflix so it's free yo), Circle is about 50 strangers that show up in a room in a circle and have to vote on who gets killed until there is one left. The vote happens every 1-2 minutes so they're forced to make a decision or a random person gets killed by this mysterious orb in the middle of the circle that strikes each person with a bolt of electricity. There's death but 0 gore, after 7/8 people die the group begins to debate a way to do this as logically as possible. The movie really gets at you because it makes you think of yourself in the position and how you'd handle it. The film quickly starts going down a pretty dark path all of 10 minutes into the movie when the group decides to kill of the oldest members of the group to buy themselves some time to debate what to keep doing. 

The movie tackles a lot of big issues, it brings up age, sexuality, religion, race, veterans and some parts really hit you hard. 

It's an interesting movie that's hard to talk about without giving much away but it's definitely worth the watch and it'll make you think a lot for a 90 minute movie. 

Rewatchability: ?/5, I very honestly don't know how rewatchabal this movie is, while I can totally see myself wanting to watch this again and watching it with friends, I don't know if knowing the movie's end will take away from the viewing experience again. 

Rating: 4/5, I liked this movie a lot, I didn't expect much from it which could be the reason I rated it so highly but it was a good movie, it'll make you think and I will definitely be recommending it to friends. 

Saturday the 14th: The Drownsman - Review

The Drownsman. 

The Drownsman is a 2014 Canadian horror film and the 4th film directed by Chad Archibald who's directed nothing of note as of yet. The Drownsman stars a bunch of unknowns whose credits include most of Archibald's other films. The story follows Madison who almost drowns in a lake and has visions of this "Drownsman" and is terrified of water afterward that gets so bad that she skips her best friend's wedding even though she's the maid of honor. (In writing this I started to wonder how this girl bathed, the film shows her being terrified of rain and bathtubs not just big bodies of water so I'm kinda wondering here. She doesn't even drink water, she has like a portable IV that gives her her fluids.) From what I can gather, this "Drownsman" is like Freddy Krueger where he can only get you in his domain (Freddy in your dreams and Drownsman in water). 

After Madison's friends attempt an intervention by pretty much throwing her in a tub, the Drownsman starts coming after all of the girls in classic slasher fashion. Well it's not that scary but I don't think it really tried to be and if I'm being honest, I thought twice about drinking out of my water bottle during the movie so I guess it took a small victory there. 

The acting is pretty bad, the directing is overall pretty okay. The story is kinda dumb but it's a horror movie so who cares? There's a pretty solid plot twist that kicks off the third act of the movie that I very honestly did not see coming. 

The biggest issue with the movie is that you don't really care about the characters and the villain isn't at all interesting. What made Freddy great was his banter and witty remarks, what made Jason great was his mask and machete, the Drownsman on the other hand doesn't talk and looks like a dude who just walked through a swamp, he doesn't have a memorable quality about him that sticks in your head after the movie is over. But there are the makings of a solid franchise here, if you get a better team to do some sequels then I wouldn't be too opposed to a Drownsman series. The Drownsman himself isn't memorable but Jason didn't wear his iconic mask until his third movie so there is still some hope to make the Drownsman a more memorable slasher (drowner). Plus I can't lie, the movie poster is pretty awesome and it's a clear homage to the original Nightmare on Elm Street poster. 

Rewatchability: 1.5/5, I probably won't wanna watch it again but if a few years from now we get a good sequel then I might come back to the OG and check it out. 

Rating: 2/5, a very by the numbers horror movie without much scares to show for it, as I said earlier it could end up becoming a decent franchise if put in the right hands but as of now, it's a forgettable slasher film. 

007: Spectre - Review

Spectre. 

Spectre is the 24th film in the James Bond franchise and the 4th starring Daniel Craig. Spectre serves as the film that ties the other Craig films together. While it is nice to have all of the films to become intertwined, some of the references and ties seem a little forced and awkward. 

The opening sequence of the film takes place during Mexico's Day of the Dead celebration and lends itself to really nice costume design and a phenomenal opening sequence that we've grown used to in this era of Bond. The movie opens with a magnificent tracking shot that follows Bond around and really shows of Sam Mendes' direction. 

As per usual all of the performances are top notch, Craig can play Bond practically in his sleep and has really nailed the character. Ralph Fiennes does a great job as M and as a successor to Judi Dench. Dave Bautista of Guardians of the Galaxy and WWE fame is good in the movie but literally has 1 line, not an exaggeration, 1 damn line. 

2-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz who no longer needs an introduction was his usual brilliant self. Unfortunately he has started to become typecast as the conniving and smart villain who he again plays in Spectre. His role while good could've been much better had the seeds of his plan been planted in the previous movies a la the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He is the self proclaimed "author of Bond's pain" yet the revelations he shows do not hit hard enough due to the fact that we were just introduced to him in this film. Waltz does the best he can with the character and is the thing that keeps this villain from being a run of the mill villain. He doesn't come close to Skyfall's Raoul Silva played by Javier Bardem.

A lot of this movie seemed unnecessary, at 2.5 hours, I think more could've been left out. It's hard to explain, especially without revealing information but there were scenes and storylines that could've either been left out or taken care of much quicker. 

It's hard to judge this movie, do we judge it as an action movie, a James Bond movie or as a Daniel Craig-Bond movie? To keep it simple, I'm going to compare it to Craig's other films because the other incarnations of Bond differ too much to adequately compare to. Spectre is the 3rd best of the 4 Craig films. That seems bad but to be fair Skyfall's and Casino Royale are among my favorite Bond movies ever with Skyfall being one of my favorite movies of the last 5 years. Spectre was destined to be a let down, Skyfall was too good of a film to be followed up by a movie of the same quality but nonetheless Spectre is a good movie. 

Rewatchability: 3/5, I'm always down to watch a good Bond movie but this won't be the first one I grab for in the collection. 

Rating: 3.5/5, a quality addition to the Bond franchise that I think will be remembered better over time as opposed to off the heels of Skyfall. I walked away happy with the film and would definitely recommend it to any Bond or action movie fan. 

The Visit - Review

The Visit. 

The Visit is a 2015 horror movie directed by the infamous M. Night Shyamalan. Honestly Shyamalan hasn't made a good movie in a long time so my expectations for this were pretty low. The film is about two children who go to visit their grandparents for a week and they turn out to be a little odd. It stars two kids I've never seen before and two old people and they all gave pretty good performances. 

The movie is a lot funnier than I expected, not unintentionally funny but actually funny. It's relatively scary, it's much more unsettling, from the moment they get to the house there's a feeling of unease that never really stops throughout the entire movie. In this unease is where the movie shines, you can tell something is up with the grandparents but you don't know what it is and it lets your mind imagine all of the possibilities. 

There's not much to really say about this movie without giving much away so I'm not gonna talk about it anymore. 

Rewatchability: 1/5, it was a good one-view movie, it had good things about it but I'm not rushing back to the theaters to see it or to get it on DVD. 

Rating: 3.5/5, a solid movie where the unsettling feeling lasts with you even after the credits roll and will leave you discussing the movie a while after. With that said it wasn't a great movie that id recommend to everyone but it was still enjoyable. 

The Perfect Guy - Review

The Perfect Guy.

The Perfect Guy is a 2015 thriller directed by David M. Rosenthal (A Single Shot) and stars Sanaa Lathan (The Best Man Holiday), Michael Ealy (The Following) and Morris Chestnut (The Best Man Holiday). The Perfect Guy is essentially a movie about stalking and takes off after the break up of Lathan and Ealy's characters. 

Where this film succeeds lies in Michael Ealy, he does a great job in this role and as shown in The Following has the creepy side of him on full display here. It also shows glimpses of a deeper movie with complex characters but unfortunately doesn't capitalize on the opportunities. 

Where this film fails is in its characters, they're cardboard cut outs, not one is complex or very interesting. The story itself also goes exactly how you'd expect it to go with not much deviation from your standard obsessed lover story. 

The Perfect Guy is fine, for all of my complaints about it I still enjoyed watching it. The performances are good, Michael Ealy is a standout. It showed a few flashes of being a deeper movie but never cashes in on the opportunity and therefore suffers a bit. What could be interesting is a spinoff (I know, spinoffs are 99% trash but this could work) based around Michael Ealy's character because as you find out later in the film, there is some information that you could go much more in depth with in his own film. 

Overall: Decent film, I'd watch it again if it was on TV and I enjoyed it despite some flaws. 

Rating: 3/5, I won't be adding this to my blu-ray collection but at the same time I'm glad I saw it and it wasn't a waste of time or money. 

Dope - Review

Dope. 

Dope is a 2015 coming of age dramedy directed by Rick Famuyiwa (Brown Sugar) and stars Shameik Moore as Malcolm in his first leading role. The cast is rounded out by Zoe Kravitz (Mad Max: Fury Road), Kiersey Clemons, Tony Revolori (Grand Budapest Hotel) and rapper A$AP Rocky. 

In a nutshell, Dope is about a high schooler named Malcolm who is growing up in a bad neighborhood in LA yet is a straight-A student with ambitions of Harvard. He and his friends get tangled up in a drug situation leaving them with kilos of MDMA and a gun with the rest of the film showing how they deal with this situation. 

Firstly, the chemistry between the 3 friends played by Moore, Clemons and Revolori is phenomenal, you truly believe that they've grown up together and have been friends for years and you feel like you're a part of their group too. The movie is actually pretty funny too, mostly due to the interactions within these 3 friends. The drama in the film is handled pretty well and there's a few parts toward the end of the movie where things get really real really fast yet it doesn't seem out of place because throughout the movie the balance between drama and comedy was blended seamlessly. 

The most important thing in a coming of age movie is that the main character becomes a different person by the end of the film in a believable way and Dope succeeds in doing this. The movie takes place for the most part in what seems like a week, maybe a little shorter, but I think a lot of people can attest that in high school, a lot can change in 7 days, maybe not to the extent of the events of the movie but still. 

It is impossible to talk about this movie and not bring up the music because it is such a part of the movie that the film would be different without it. Malcolm and his friends are throwback 90s hip hop heads and actively pursue looking and acting like it's currently 1995. I personally love hip hop, especially this era so when the movie plays a song from the 90's like Nas's "The World is Yours", I feel right at home. I also haven't wanted to buy a soundtrack this badly since Django Unchained and I'm real close to actually buying it. 

Dope is not a movie for everybody, if you don't love hip hop you're experience will suffer a bit, not to say you can't enjoy it but you won't love it. Dope also tackles some pretty big topics such as stereotypes within race and racism itself; it's not as overt and in your face as American History X, it's subtle and seems to boil over a bit toward the end of the film in one of the best monologues in film that I've seen in a long time. You'll have a lot of fun with this movie and you'll be left thinking quite a bit after it's over about who you are and how people perceive you and a movie that can do that is pretty special. 

Rewatchability: 5/5, I can see myself throwing this in my Blu-Ray player pretty much at will and will definitely be buying when it comes out, possibly even seeing it again in theaters if a friend is interested. 

Rating: 4.5/5, almost got the perfect score but I just couldn't get it there. The acting was great except for Tyga but he's not in it enough to matter, the directing was good and even had some pretty cool slo-mo use and a couple parts that used a reverse-simulation really well. I tweeted this out earlier and I'll say it here as well, Dope is low key the movie of the summer, it's highly enjoyable and unlike most summer movies, it's smart. To be as lame as humanly possible and to put it in the best words possible, simply, Dope is dope.

P.S.: It doesn't have to be a sequel or anything but someone needs to get Shameik Moore, Kiersey Clemons and Tony Revolori in another movie together because they were seriously one of the best trios on camera in a long time and I need more.