A weekly talk show hosted by film critic Christopher Crespo
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In episode 69, Chris Crespo and Drewster Cogburn review Jodorowsky’s Dune, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, there is a new Netflix Instant Pick of the Week, the cast of Star Wars Episode VII is announced, plus other movie news, also Chris and Drew answer sexy questions from the listeners!
“Joe” is a very interesting character-based Southern drama from David Gordon Green; specifically the David Gordon Green that made movies like “All The Real Girls” and “Undertow” and “Snow Angels” and “Prince Avalanche” as opposed to the David Gordon Green known for the more mainstream “Pineapple Express” and “Your Highness.” We got a moody, atmospheric, heady film, concerned much more with character development and emotional arcs as opposed to mugging for guffaws and weed jokes and dick jokes and such. So actually I guess it depends on which mode of DGG you prefer, though there’s nothing wrong with liking both. I like both.
But “Joe” is certainly the former, a story about an ex-con (Nic Cage) who runs a possibly illegal crew of tree-killers, paid to pave the way for some developers, and the 15-year old drifter kid he takes under his wing and who might actually be able to help give Joe a second chance on life.
This kid, by the way, named Gary, is played by a dude named Tye Sheridan, and he’s putting together a helluva filmography so far, with this being his third movie after “The Tree of Life” and “Mud.” Now there’s a connection there between the three movies, with David Gordon Green being a friend and collaborator of “Mud” director Jeff Nichols on Nichols’ first movie “Shotgun Stories,” and both Nichols and Green being obvious admirers of the work of “The Tree of Life” director Terrence Malick and also with Green and Malick becoming friends and collaborators themselves with “Undertow.” So it all comes back around, these great American filmmakers of different generations.Continue Reading …
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In this BONUS episode, Cinema Crespodiso presents Dr. Drew’s Two Cents, in which Dr. Drewster Cogburn himself ruminates on the joys and memories of cartoons, both of the past and present. Along with Chris Crespo, he talks about everything from Looney Toons to Disney to SNICK and Toonami, Batman, Voltron and Cowboy Bebop and everything else they can think of.
Hey kids, here’s another one for you, a movie that us adults remember fondly, and which upon revisiting, holds up remarkably well as a very solid piece of entertainment. “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” is a throwback hard boiled detective film noir movie, with the added bonus of being a movie that features a seamless (especially for its time) blend of animation and live action, as the story is set in a world where cartoons are real beings. Which of course also makes this movie rather silly.
But “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” is more than just silly because they managed to balance out the inherent cartoonish antics and nature of the story with much more dark, adult things; there is an element of danger in this movie, especially with the murder of toons with a substance called the Dip, and lead character Ed Valiant (Bob Hoskins) being an alcoholic driven to drink by the horrendous murder of his brother (they dropped a piano on his head. Right smack on his head). There’s a Femme Fatale (Jessica Rabbit, voiced by Kathleen Turner), and this movie features one of the most disturbing and intense movie villains of all time in the form of the awesomely named Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd).
There is a lot to like about “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” which is both an homage to old film noir movies and the awesome cartoony past of both Disney and Warner Brothers. The animation looks incredible, and the movie even starts with a Roger Rabbit cartoon, which is distinctive for actually looking BETTER than most cartoons of this nature have ever looked. And it is a ton of fun just watching all the ways the cartoons interact with the real world set and props in the movie, like how the bad guy Weasels walk around with real guns, and how Roger Rabbit smashes real plate after real plate over his fake cartoon head. Brilliant stuff, chaps.Continue Reading …
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In episode 68, Chris Crespo and Drewster Cogburn are joined by Ed Luvables aka DJ Shuffles from FSEDM Our Way on FSEDM.com!
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Cinema Crespodiso presents this BONUS episode, Chris Crespo’s CCN for April 2014, in which he talks about the 25th birthday of Game Boy (not Gameboy), other things that happened 25 years ago, the wackness of the Orlando Magic tanking their second season in a row, lame people recommending chain restaurants on Twitter, and of course a round up of ridiculous news stories around the US and the World.
Alright alright alright, here is yet another recent example of why Matthew McConaughey is suddenly so beloved again as an actor, just another in a long succession of stand out performances in good to great projects, so you can be forgiven if this one slipped past your radar. But now you know…you gotta see “Mud.”
And you see the thing is that “Mud” is actually much more than just a great McConaughey performance, as it is primarily a coming of age movie about a 13 year old kid, working out his increasingly complicated feelings on the opposite sex, the whole while also helping McConaughey’s character try to reconnect with the love of his life, which ends up being more complicated than it appears. And write/director Jeff Nichols is a new filmmaker…well, not THAT new anymore, as this is his third movie and he just keeps getting better, which is a surprise because his last movie “Take Shelter” is DAMN good. But “Mud” is even better. And his style is one that really emphasizes the locations and locale flavors and characters as much as possible, making the locales just as integral to the story as anything else in the movie.Continue Reading …
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In episode 67, Chris Crespo and Drewster Cogburn are joined by the one and only Soul Brother Kevin from THE SBK LIVE SHOW, and they celebrate Easter Sunday and April 20th the only way they know how. Plus Chris and Drew have reviews of Under The Skin and Transcendence, and they all watch the trailers for the new James Brown biopic and the new David Fincher movie starring Ben Affleck. Plus so much more it is ridiculous!Continue Reading …
“Transcendence” definitely WANTS to be a heady science fiction movie that explores big ideas and makes a big impact, but instead it lands a little short, for some reason not really having the gravity or weight needed to establish that emotional connection between the characters and the plot, and in the end just being maybe a few steps above something like “The Lawnmower Man.”
Dr. Will Caster (Johnny Depp) is the world’s foremost mind when it comes to artificial intelligence and all that scientific mumbo jumbo, and he wants to use his knowledge and creations to learn more about the world and the people living in it, while his wife Evelyn (Rebecca Hall) wants to use the same technology and knowledge to actively make the world a better, safer, cleaner, healthier place. And then there’s RIFT, an underground anti-technology terrorist group, led by a foxy little chick with smokey eyes (Kate Mara), and very early in the movie they make a coordinated attack on numerous computer labs, killing dozens of people and blowing up a bunch of machines, all in an effort to thwart the scientific community.
Dr. Caster becomes a casualty of this war, though his death is slower, allowing time for his brain waves and consciousness to be uploaded into an already functioning artificial intelligence machine.
Don’t focus on that little detail, that’s what “suspension of disbelief” is all about. The movie doesn’t really bother to focus on this little facet on which the entire plot hinges, and that’s fine, because that’s cinema.Continue Reading …
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In this month’s Crespodisco BONUS episode, Chris Crespo and Drewster Cogburn talk about some of their favorite genre mash ups, whether they be bands covering songs from other genres, or artists from different genres working together; this episode is all about the joy of getting peanut butter in your chocolate and chocolate in your peanut butter!