Review: ‘The Homesman’

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“The Homesman” is an interesting Western film directed by Tommy Lee Jones, which makes him two for two in directing somewhat unconventional Westerns (his other film being the sublime “The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada“). An adaptation of a 1988 novel of the same name, this is a story centered on the harsh realities of living in 19th century frontier America, and the simple logistics of having to deal with people with various states of decaying mental health in a place and time in which such ailments are not very well known or treated properly. And also how much it sucks for plain looking women who couldn’t find a man and had to fend for themselves. Cause that looked like it sucked.

Mary Bee (Hillary Swank) owns her own piece of land in Nebraska and she farms it and seems to be doing pretty well, having plans to expand and plant different crops and buy more animals, so even in such a desolate looking place, she seems to be doing okay for herself. But being in her early 30s and single, she is seen as a spinster, as women were expected to have been married and have kids well before her age. And it’s not for a lack of trying, she just gets rejected mostly because she’s plain and bossy, two things she can’t seem to help much. It is obvious the loneliness is starting to get to her and it is hard not to feel kinda sorry for her situation. And then it is understandable when she volunteers for a seemingly very difficult task, that of transporting three women from Nebraska to Iowa so they could be reunited with their families back East as all three of these women for varying reasons have lost their minds and can no longer be tended to be their husbands. Early on she recruits a trouble making drifter named Briggs (Tommy Lee Jones) to help her with the job, and they are off on an arduous journey.Continue Reading …

#100 – The Quiz Warriors

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In episode 100, Chris Crespo and Drewster Cogburn are joined by TWO returning guests – Matt from The SBK LIVE Show and Curtis Earth from The Curtis Earth Show!

Drew reviews Tyler Perry’s Madea Christmas, Chris reviews The Homesman, and there is trivia galore!

Also Curtis debuts a BRAND NEW song for Cinema Crespodiso!

Discussed in this episode: the 12 most anticipated movies of 2015, Anchorman 2 on Netflix Instant, Stephen King’s IT being made into a movie, The Preacher being made into an AMC TV show, Bond 24 and Batman v Superman updates, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 has a new director, the SONY hack, and the world’s first 4D film festival is happening in Los Angeles.

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Netflix pick for 12/1/14 – ‘Twin Peaks’

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This may be a twenty-plus year old network television show, but the fact remains that the TV series “Twin Peaks” is better than a lot of movies out there, and it can be easily argued that this show was a progenitor to the long form and much more cinematic television shows which are all the rage now – stuff like “The Walking Dead,” “Breaking Bad” and “American Horror Story” owe a lot, if not everything, to this landmark serial created by David Lynch and Mark Frost.

Equal parts murder mystery, soap opera and surreal horror, “Twin Peaks” has it all going for it. The acting is solid and the characters are weird and fascinating, and none may be more interesting than the series lead Agent Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan), an FBI agent who rolls into the quaint, countryside town of Twin Peaks when a popular local girl turns up murdered and a second girl is found having been beaten and raped across the border in Canada, and soon it becomes apparent that there is more going on in Twin Peaks than just some normal murder loving psycho. Otherworldly spirits, hidden alternate dimensions, hallucinated riddle-spouting giants, the Log Lady…there are enough weird characters in this thing to keep everything moving at a nice pace.Continue Reading …

#99 – The Crespodome Stare Down

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In episode 99, Chris Crespo and Drewster Cogburn review Citizenfour and Horrible Bosses 2.

Also discussed in this episode:

Red Box raising their rates.

Gambit/Batman casting decisions second guessed.

Wonder Woman director named (and is a woman).

Christoph Waltz in Bond 24.

The Stand casting news.

Who will direct Blade Runner 2? and much more, so enjoy the show, and rate/review us on iTunes to help us out (okay thanks love you bye).

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Review: ‘Citizenfour’

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You know about this whole Edward Snowden thing? Remember that stuff? When that NSA guy leaked all those NSA documents showing how the NSA spies on us all in every conceivable way? Here’s a Wikipedia page for you people not in the know, read it and then come back and join us informed people over here, okay great thanks. Everyone else who is (and who should be) interested in who this Snowden whistleblower fella really is and why he did what he did and even how he did it, boy do I got a movie for you.

“Citizenfour” is the kind of documentary that was filmed over a large period of time and shows events as they unfold, day by day, moment to moment, and rightly the people involved knew this was going to be a monumental moment in the history of the United States and dutifully recorded it as it happened, getting us as inside as possible, providing a perspective that could never be replicated in any other way because it is the one true perspective.

The first twenty minutes of the film unfold like a thriller, with filmmaker Laura Poitras, already on the government’s shit list, er, I mean watch list thanks to an Iraq war documentary she made, getting contacted by an anonymous source looking for a trustworthy person. Through the use of encrypted emails and spy-speak pass codes and double talk, they were eventually able to meet after an extended period of time, at which point the first day in a multi-day interview process begins between Snowden and a pair of journalists from The Guardian. They find out who he is and what information he has, and then they discuss the best way to proceed with disseminating the information.Continue Reading …

Review: ‘Horrible Bosses 2’

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In 2011, in a summer of multiple R-rated comedies, “Horrible Bosses” was the surprise break out hit of the group, making over $200 million worldwide and resulting in a sequel that has come out…now. “Horrible Bosses 2” is here. But does it capture the same sense of fun and hijinks as the original? Or is this an unreasonable facsimile of something that was once good, a failure of an attempt to recapture old magic?

Well, writer/director Seth Gordon did NOT come back to do this sequel, and instead those duties were passed along to Sean Anders, who is the writer and/or director behind such movies as the not-so-good “Superbad” wanna be “Sex Drive,” the hugely successful and very not funny “We’re the Millers” and the massively disappointing “Dumb & Dumber To.” With this as our benchmark, then it can be said that “Horrible Bosses 2” is the most enjoyable film of the career of Mr. Anders, a definite highlight among comedic low lights. That being said, this movie really isn’t that good. It is not a terrible anti-comedy monstrosity like some of those other movies this guy has had the pleasure of working on, but it’s not something worth revisiting or even recommending. It’s a mild diversion for 108 minutes, with jokes built on the backs of jokes made in the first movie, and new jokes that just aren’t that funny.

Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) and Dale (Charlie Day) have quit their shitty jobs (though I am pretty sure I remember them having finished the last movie happy with their positions as they took care of their horrible bosses, because like, you know, that was the point of that movie) and they are going into business for themselves by manufacturing and selling a shower multi-tool called the Shower Buddy. They start going into business with a massive company run by a dude (Christoph Waltz) and his douchebag son (Chris Pine) and these two guys screw over Nick, Kurt and Dale, so the team of N-K-D concoct a ridiculous kidnapping scheme to try to get their money back. Shit quickly goes awry and they find themselves in it a little too deep with nowhere to go but deeper.Continue Reading …

Review: ‘Blue Ruin’

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The first time I saw “Blue Ruin,” I had a one word response:

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

See, I even went back and found it:

 

And now that I have watched “Blue Ruin” a second time, my reaction is still the same. This movie is so damn good in so many ways it is almost unfair. When a film shows up like this, like a ferocious shotgun blast of smart intensity, it is impossible not to take notice. Who needs huge CG set pieces, hundreds of millions of dollars and an overly long and complicated screenplay to make a memorable movie? Not writer/director Jeremy Saulnier apparently, because this is a super low budget yet very simply told yet incredibly well made and awesome movie, and should be viewed by anyone who wants to make a movie but fear they don’t have the resources to make a compelling film. Guess what, people, it can be done. It WAS done. It is called “Blue Ruin.”Continue Reading …

CCN – November 2014

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In this BONUS episode, Chris Crespo and Drewster Cogburn talk some shit about some shit, rambling along the way, losing their places, and then continue on trucking.

Discussed in this episode: Bill Cosby is definitely a rapist (allegedly), Ferguson yo, Chris talks about the last six books he’s read, Drew tells Chris about Fightball, a mysterious Russian satellite, a real James Bond style laser watch, how the Plague is making a comeback, and the Cthurkey, and Chris talks about the Jurassic World trailer, X-Men: apocalypse casting and the new Star Wars trailer.

Mahalo!

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Netflix pick for 11/24/14 – ‘City of God’

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“City of God” is a 2002 Brazilian crime drama that should have been called “Murderous Children,” because it is all about how crime festers and grows in the poorest neighborhood of Brazil, as little children criminals grow into older, experienced criminals, bringing death and destruction with them wherever they go.

To help make this movie feel as real as possible, much of film was shot on location in Brazil and featured non-professional actors from these impoverished areas, bringing real authenticity to their performances and to the movie as a whole. And it obviously worked because “City of God” almost feels like a documentary, like they just rolled up with cameras and filmed real people doing the things they really do. And yet some of these things are kind of crazy and intense, yet it is pretty normal for them. And since it has been released, it has been nominated for and won all sorts of awards and it has been named on 100 Best Films Ever lists and shit like that so come on, this one is a slam dunk, easy peasy one two threesy, if you haven’t seen “City of God” yet, you are missing out.Continue Reading …