A weekly talk show hosted by film critic Christopher Crespo
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In this BONUS episode, Chris Crespo and Drewster Cogburn proclaim their picks for the best movies of 2014, with additional picks from NYC senior correspondent Billy D, and they finish the show with the worst movies of the year.
Enjoy the opinionations!
Here we are, these are my five favorite movies of 2014. And they probably are not your favorite movies. And you know what? That’s fine. Because this is my site, and these are my opinions, this is why we are here, so while these may not be the universally regarded best features of 2014, there are my favorites for sure, and if I was giving out all of the film awards, these are the movies that would be getting them.
Now we are getting into the nit and the grit, the top ten of 2014 is underway. Movies that can either take us to whole other galaxies or just bring us right back here to Earth where shit that happened fifty years ago is still happening today, films that can tell us a real story of a psychotic person or make up a story about a fake psycho and still have it ring true in a weird way, here we are with numbers 10 through 6 of my top 25 of 2014 (that’s a lot of numbers).
“A Most Violent Year” is a NYC-set crime drama, but not like the ones we all think of when we hear this phrase. Way less “Goodfellas” and “Donnie Brasco” and much more like the genre-inverting films of Steven Soderbergh, this is a film about a guy who is trying his best NOT to become a mobster, despite the fact that he is surrounded by them, does business with them, and even seemed to marry into it. There is a difference between the right path and the path that is “most right,” and our hero of this story seems to ignore the distinction between the two. Is he a moral businessman? Or is he just a gangster without a gun?
Abel Morales (Oscar Isaac) owns Standard Oil and he is an up and comer in the industry, making headway into rival territories and building up his company into something he hopes will be massive and hugely successful. But he has a problem, and his problem is called New York City circa 1981. Corruption was rampant throughout the city, and his own industry was under investigation for their less than honorable practices. To make matters worse, Abel is dealing with the problem of his truck drivers getting beat up and his trucks hijacked for the thousands of dollars worth of fuel in them. So the union head wants to arm Abel’s drivers with guns for self-defense, but the last thing Abel needs is for one of his drivers to get involved in a shooting. And with impending indictments coming from the city district attorney’s office, his plans to take out a massive loan with his bank are thrown into jeopardy, which in turn puts him, his company and his family at risk of massive financial ruin. To say that the pressure is on for Abel Morales is an understatement.Continue Reading …
2014 saw some interesting things at the cinema, like the return of an ass kicking Keanu Reeves, and a product placement movie that was wildly successful commercially and critically, and an under loved Tom Cruise sci-fi action flick that people really need to get on. Here we go with the continuance of my top 25 of 2014.
From the star of “Jack and Jill” and the director of “Boogie Nights” comes a romantic comedy about a designer plunger manufacturer, a mattress salesman, a phone sex line, a tiny broken piano, seven domineering sisters, pudding cups and frequent flyer miles. “Punch-Drunk Love” is by design much closer to the rom-coms of Billy Wilder than the ones we get today, and as such, it still holds up as a fantastic movie about love and building a new and exciting relationship.
Barry Egan (Adam Sandler) is a nice guy, just another business owner trying to make it in this country, and he’s perfectly fine with being left alone to his own devices, which bothers his sisters. One of his sisters tries to set him up with a friend of hers (Emily Watson) and the two of them awkwardly manage to hit it off in a way that gives Barry a little bit of hope, that he may too have a loving relationship and someone who can see past his social anxiety to the helpless, loving person underneath. In this movie, P.T. Anderson pretty much takes the man-child character that Sandler plays so well over and over in his broad comedies, and he applies the same persona in his more “serious” romantic comedy, one that relies much more on characterization than it does on poop jokes, and it works brilliantly.Continue Reading …
It is finally here, that wonderful moment when I take a look back and realize that the previous year was actually chock full of damn good movies. So many good movies, in fact, that a top 25 barely covers it. But we are going to do a top 25 anyway, because 2014 was actually a year worth remembering for quite a few reasons.
And really 2014 might be known as the year of the “really good” movie, as in there weren’t that many super-amazing-oh-my-god knock out movies, but there was a damn plethora of extremely solid, really well made, entertaining, downright good movies. From small character films like “Locke” and “Chef” to true life movies like “Wild” and “Unbroken” to bigger pieces of “popcorn entertainment” like “X-Men: Days of Future Past” and “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” we got some good stuff. There was a pair of very intriguing Jesse Eisenberg movies in the forms of “The Double” and “Night Moves,” and the fella behind “The Guard” was back with the exquisite movie “Calvary.”Continue Reading …
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In episode 107, Chris Crespo and Drewster Cogburn talk about dem movies!
Chris reviews Mortdecai and Drew reviews Inherent Vice, and they both review The Interview.
Also in this episode:
22 Movies Roger Ebert Really Hated.
Amazon and Netflix making movies.
X-Men: Apocalypse news.
Scorsese gets funding for his dream project.
The top grossing movies of 1985.
And more!
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In this BONUS episode, Chris Crespo tells Drewster Cogburn about the many reactions to American Sniper, as well as the reactions to the reactions.
Also discussed in this episode: what credibility does Michael Moore have?, Or even Seth Rogen?, Politicizing art, Jesse Ventura sued the real American Sniper and won, Jesse Ventura has his own podcast and no one told Chris, StartUp the podcast about making a podcast company, e-cigs are not healthy, and Chris wants to start a vaping podcast.
Enjoy the show!
Loved by audiences, critics, Trekkies and actual “Star Trek” cast members, “Galaxy Quest” is one of those very rare spoof movies that actually works from start to finish. Satirizing not only the science fiction television shows and movies but also the culture and fandom that cropped up around them, this is a great sci-fi action comedy that actually has a little bit of pathos as well, making it an easy to like, enjoyable movie.
In “Galaxy Quest,” a tv show of the same name was very popular in the 1970s, and almost twenty years after it went off the air, the show and its cast were both still incredibly popular. The cast, played by folks like Tim Allen and Sigourney Weaver, act nice to the fans but they resent the success of the show and how they can’t eclipse their own roles. But when an alien race who doesn’t understand the concept of fiction recruits the Galaxy Quest team to help them against an invading force a la “The Three Amigos” and “Seven Samurai,” these folks find themselves thrust into the middle of an adventure worthy of one of their show’s episodes. This movie is funny and smart, all the actors kill it, and there are even some great practical alien effects from the late, great Stan Winston. And then when they get to the end of the movie, you realize that actually snuck in a genuine, emotional little story in there as well that works great, giving this goofy satire an admirably sentimental little button. Basically, if you can’t get with this movie, there’s really nothing we can do for you. You are officially dead inside.Continue Reading …