Cinema Crespodiso

A weekly talk show hosted by film critic Christopher Crespo

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Review: ‘St. Vincent’

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“St. Vincent” is one of those movies that starts out ostensibly as a comedy, and how can it not with Bill Murray playing the lead role, but then makes its way into heavier themes and moments, leaving most of the comedy behind for the anguish and tragedy, you know, the rest of the stuff that makes up this crazy thing we call life. The resulting thing is the ugly word “dramady,” which we should replace with another word so as not to have to use that stupid word ever again, because what exactly is the laughs-to-scene ration needed to tip a film’s scales from “comedy” to “dramady,” if not into straight up “drama?” Can we just call these movies “true to life?” Because like life, it is often hilarious and often sad and sometimes both at once. That is “St. Vincent.”

Vincent (Murray) is a drunk. His only “friends” are the nameless fellow regular patrons at his favorite bar and the Russian prostitute (Naomi Watts) who is pregnant with what may or may not be Vincent’s child. He is mean to everyone, has no money, and is much debt thanks to a bad gambling habit. Suffice to say, the dude has issues. And then one day a new neighbor moves in to the house next door, a single mom named Maggie (Melissa McCarthy) and her 12-year old runt of a son Oliver (newcomer Jaeden Lieberher), and before long old Vincent finds himself hanging out with impressionable Oliver, and they become buddies. Vincent shows Oliver how to gamble and how to break someone’s nose (for self defense purposes, of course) and Oliver, like, helps Vincent how to feel again. And stuff.Continue Reading …

Netflix Pick for 10/27/14 – ‘Robot & Frank’

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“Robot & Frank” is a small character film about a retired cat burglar and the robotic healthcare assistant purchased to assist him with his day to day activities. So when the retired burglar decides that he can use the robot to assist him with his day to day duties of cat burglaring, he comes out of retirement for his some good old fashion heisting. Meanwhile he tries to impress a lovely librarian and also has to deal with his oft-absent yet well meaning children who have different views on the use of robotic help aids.

This is an interesting movie because it is science fiction without really having to be so different or implausible. It is sci-fi like “Her” and “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” movies which use their science fiction premise to tell the stories of characters and their relationships to one another. And the fact that the main character is played by someone with the gravitas and talent, specifically Frank Langella, doesn’t hurt at all. He makes the character of Frank seem real and vital and he makes us care about him even though he comes across initially as an old curmudgeonly fogey.Continue Reading …

#94 – Halloweenie Roastidiso

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In episode 94, Chris Crespo and Drewster Cogburn are joined by 4-time guest stand up (and sit down) comedian Pedro Lima a.k.a the Rican Gorilla (www.RicanGorilla.com) for this somewhat special Halloween edition of Cinema Crespodiso.

Chris and Drew review St. Vincent and John Wick. t

There’s a new Netflix Pick of the Week, a new Billy D’s Death at the Movies and more!

Also discussed in this ep:

Sharknado 3 lands in Orlando, early twitter reactions to Interstellar, Christian Bale is Steve Jobs, female director wanted for Wonder Woman, Terminator 5 news, 30th anniversary of Back to the Future, and so much more!

Continue Reading …

Review: ‘John Wick’

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“John Wick” is a near-perfect action movie, in which they did so many things so well that it is kind of easy to overlook some of the smaller, silly flaws, things that would almost be nitpicking when compared to the great action, sweet cinematography, awesome build ups and pay offs, an interesting underworld, and the iconic bad ass character on which this whole thing is centered around, played perfectly by a guy who just doesn’t get enough credit when it comes to his body of work. Is “John Wick” the best action movie of 2014? I think that might be a given at this point, cause it really is awesome.

So there’s this guy named John Wick (Keanu Reeves) and he’s a retired hitman. At the start of the movie, his lovely wife is freshly dead due to some unnamed illness and the only thing he has left is his sweet antique muscle car. Oh, and the world’s cutest puppy, bought for him by his dying wife so he would have something to love and love him back after she had passed. And when some idiot Russian criminals decide to steal his car, beating him up and needlessly killing his puppy along the way, he finds himself a man at rock bottom, with everything he ever cared for taken away from him. What’s a retired, bereaved and wronged hitman to do in a situation like this? We all know. We’re right there with him. He makes a few inquiries, a phone call or two, he finds out the person responsible is the son of the head of the Russian mob in New York City, and, well, things escalate quickly from there.Continue Reading …

CCN – October 2014

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In this Cinema-less BONUS episode, Chris Crespo and Drewster Cogburn talk about Hannibal Burress calling Bill Cosby a rapist, celebrities sue magazines for libel and win (or settle), fake news stories being passed off as real news, a man admits to not knowing how to use a toilet seat, another man asks his wife is she’s been shitting in the tub, and just a little more, so enjoy!

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#93 – Things That Blow Your Mind

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In episode 93, Chris Crespo and Drewster Cogburn review The Book of Life and Fury.

There is a new Netflix Instant Pick of the Week (as well as brand new Netflix POTW theme song!), a new edition of Billy D’s Death at the Movies and so much more!

Discussed in this episode:

DC movies announced, Lego movie sequels, female Robin in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Interplanetary Unusual Attacking Team mistranslations, Paul Rudd helped write Ant-Man, Pacific Rim 2 & 3 news, Minecraft The Movie, Shawn Levy is not good, 2015 Oscars host announced and over 1 hour of IMAX footage in Interstellar.

Continue Reading …

Review: ‘The Book of Life’

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“The Book of Life” is a few stock stories smashed together into one story, and while none of these bits are original and perhaps the overall story suffers a little from there being too much going on with the various characters and general plot lines, this is still a pretty enchanting film thanks to the lush and intricate visual style and an earnestness and heartfelt approach to the movie.

The story centers on three friends – Manolo, Joaquin and Maria. Manolo comes from a long line of bullfighters and his father expects him to be one as well, but Manolo would much rather play the guitar and sing, which his father looks down upon as a lowly and unfit vocation for his son. Joaquin, meanwhile, wants to follow in the footsteps of his father, who was killed fighting against a bad guy named Chakal and whom the town venerates as their greatest hero. And then Maria is a free spirit kind of person, one who resists gender stereotypes and wants to be seen as an equal to her male counterparts and not just some prize to be wed off by her father. The three of them grow up together, and of course both Manolo and Joaquin love Maria and both vie for her attention. Meanwhile, Maria has no problem with leading both boys on and giggling and laughing at both of their advances and going a very long time without showing her hand as to which person she prefers.Continue Reading …

Review: ‘Fury’

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War is bad, right guys? We can all agree on this? Actually, I don’t think we can. So maybe we still need to see movies like “Fury,” which simultaneously condemns and revels in the iron-forging fire that was World War II, what with all the bodies and devastation and brotherhood and bonding and bloodletting and whatnot.

What sets “Fury” apart from other World War II movies? Is it just the focus on the tank warfare? The emphasis on the violent end of World War II, as opposed to D-Day or Pearl Harbor? The chance to see Brad Pitt and Shia LaBeouf share scenes together? Surely these are aspects of this movie that haven’t been emphasized in other war films, but is it enough to truly set it apart from the pack?

“Fury” centers on one tank in particular, the titular tank named Fury, and the five-man crew operating said tank as it makes its way through Germany, beating down every possible Nazi soldier. Right at the start of the movie, this five-man crew is suffering through the loss of one of their men, and then they immediately get assigned a baby faced fresh recruit, enlisted into the Army as a clerk and re-assigned to the German front lines as a tank driver, despite the fact that he has no experience at all with tanks or war. So obviously the rest of the crew of Fury resents him at first, probably because his innocence and wide-eyed look at the horrors of war cruelly reflected their own callousness and battle-hardened psyches, but then predictably the men all bond together by being forced to go through some harrowing situations. Their newest crew member unfortunately has to lose his innocence in order to be accepted as a member of the team, but then again it is apparent that this war left no man untouched.Continue Reading …

The Crespodisco #13 – The Crazy Ones

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In this BONUS episode, Chris Crespo and Drewster Cogburn talk about the songs that come to mind when they think “crazy,” whether the craziness comes from the music, the artists who made the music, or the circumstances surrounding the song, if not a combination of the three. So enjoy this month’s bonus musical odyssey through the minds of Crespo and Cogburn.

Continue Reading …

Netflix Pick for 10/13/14 – ‘Grosse Pointe Blank’

GrossPointeBlank_Poster“Grosse Pointe Blank” is a 90’s romantic comedy that centers on a freelance hitman character going through something of an existential crisis. It features a stereotypical story about a guy coming back into the life of his slighted high school sweetheart years later and how she reacts and decides whether or not to take the guy back. In this case, it’s Minnie Driver as the slighted girlfriend and John Cusack is the guy who ditched her on prom night to live a life that eventually led to professional assassin.

This is a fun movie, definitely fitting into that dark and kind of cynical comedy that was in fashion after “Pulp Fiction” exploded on to the scene a few years prior, and sure this screenplay was in development a few years before “Pulp Fiction” came out but the environment created by the release of that movie surely helped “Grosse Pointe Blank” get made a little faster than other projects at the time. Plus it has a fun and at times irreverent tone that helps the more basic romantic comedy elements seem fresher and more viable. Cusack’s Martin Blank character goes back to his home town for his high school reunion, which just happens to coincide with a job he was assigned in the same town, and he reconnects with an old friend (Jeremy Piven) and tries to get back in the good graces of Minnie Driver’s Debi, who stayed in the town since school and has since become a radio DJ. That last part is very 90s. And while Martin and Debi go to the high school reunion together and work shit out, Martin also has to deal with some dudes trying to kill him on the side. So for the ladies we have a love story and for the fellas we have a few action scenes. And Dan Akroyd as a competing hitman. Oh yea. The Akroyd.Continue Reading …

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