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Review: ‘American Hustle’

So now David O. Russell has gone three-for-three in terms of putting out movies that are both crowd-pleasing and critically praised, no small feat for a guy who had his Jessica Biel political sex comedy taken away from him by an insurance company due to production troubles, leaving Russell with no movie and no prospects at the time.

After recovering nicely with the well made “The Fighter” and then following that up with the award-winning “Silver Linings Playbook,” here we have his version of a rollicking 1990’s Martin Scorsese movie, as “American Hustle” is filled with knowing voice overs, astute period details, great performances from an array of great actors, great musical choices blasting on the soundtrack, and features a fantastic juggling act of different characters and storylines that all come together so nicely.

Loosely based on the Abscam FBI stings of the 1970s and 1980s, “American Hustle” is about a pair of con artists (Christian Bale, Amy Adams) avoiding federal prison time by agreeing to work with an FBI agent (Bradley Cooper) to take down a series of people on federal charges, starting with a well meaning New Jersey mayor (Jeremy Renner) and working outwards from there. But really it is not so much about the actual sting operations than it is about the characters and people involved in this whole thing. And of course just about all the character names have been changed, allowing for more creative license so they can have these characters say and do whatever they need them to say and do in order to tell their story, without having to worry about the real life people getting upset at the perceived misrepresentations of this fictional retelling of a real story.Continue Reading …

Review: ‘Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues’

Look, we all know that comedy sequels are never as good as the original. It is the rare genre in which the original is never topped, and more than not we actually get some horrible retreads like “Caddyshack 2” and “Blues Brothers 2000” or cynical cash-ins like “The Hangover” and “Clerks” sequels or worst of all, simply disappointing and uninspired follow ups like “Airplane II: The Sequel” and “Wayne’s World 2,” just to pick on a few. So where does “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” fall on this spectrum of comedy sequels?

(okay, I will make concessions to animated movies, with the “Toy Story” sequels coming to mind, and stuff mixing in other genres like action or horror have more leeway to be different, but the comedy sequels mentioned here are just that…straight up comedies).

“Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” is actually a little better than all those previously mentioned films, in that it was pretty amusing throughout, with some good genuine laughs here and there, and a couple of surprise cameos that worked pretty great (but also with a couple of cameos that flopped pretty hard). If you did not like “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” then you will not like this, and you may even hate it because it is a lot of the same jokes and character dynamics just turned all the way up to eleven. If you DID like the first film, my gut reaction is that most people will feel the same way when they watch this movie, in that a lot of people will generally like this one but it won’t be surpassing anyone’s expectations, nor will it likely become another slow-burning cult classic like the original, finding it’s real legs when it hit home video. Basically, as far as comedy sequels go, this isn’t an abomination or stain on the first film at all, but it’s not as good as the first film either.Continue Reading …

Review: ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug’

Here we go again, yet another nearly three-hour journey through the world of Middle Earth, as filtered through the sensibilities of Peter Jackson, filled with swords and monsters and walks over mountains and sorcery and all that other good stuff. This time we got “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” and what can we say about this movie that has not been said already in one way or another in one of the four previous Hobbit-Lord of the Rings related movies?

I can say this: enough already! And I did not say that before about the original trilogy based on The Lord of The Rings, because those movies were interesting and compelling and filled with danger and excitement and newness, and now all of these years later I just don’t give a shit about a bunch of dwarves and their quest to reclaim their homeland because we already saw a huge battle of good versus evil for the entirety of Middle Earth. I didn’t care about these dwarves a year ago, I don’t care about them now and I won’t care about them a year from now when the final (thank GOD!) Hobbit movie is released.

Yet here we are, we sat through another one of these things, despite the fact that the magic is gone. Splitting a 300-page book into three separate three-hour movies seemed like a bad idea when it was first announced, and now that we are two-thirds of the way through these movies…it still does not seem like the best idea ever. Really, if need be, the story of Thorin and his dwarf buddies could have been told over two movies, that would have been acceptable, but goodness gracious this was so not necessary. For example, there’s a ten to fifteen minute sequence in the movie in which the dwarves are captures by elves and we get to see Legolas again and his father whines and complains about something and refuses to help Thorin and just acts like a dick. And it is so boring!Continue Reading …

CCN – December 2013

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Cinema Crespodiso presents CCN, a monthly show about everything other than movies. You know, all sorts of random things like news, and celebrity bullshit and whatnot. Pretty much whatever the hell host Chris Crespo wants to talk about at any given time, with whatever slant he wants to put on them. Co-hosted by Drewster Cogburn.

Things discussed in this episode include:

New Jersey waitress gay slur fraud. Drew is befuddled.

Racist graffiti hoax in Massachusetts. Drew is surprised.

Fox News host stands behind “Santa is white” comment but concedes just a little to her “Jesus is white” comment. Drew is perplexed.

Is affluenza real? Drew is enraged.

60-year old Italian man legally allowed to be with 11-year girl. Drew is enraged.

WBC Heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko vacates title to focus on Ukrainian politics. Drew is bored.

Missouri woman steals $300K from her own church. Drew is not shocked.

Wisconsin dairy farm busted for animal cruelty. Drew is unfazed.

Upstate New York kids smell bad, pre-K teacher addresses problem. Drew flips the script.

Alabama man kills roommate after argument over television. Drew can relate.

Mississippi vandals destroy public art. Drew is perplexed.

Illinois ambulance driver charged with DUI in Chicago. Drew brings up a movie.

Ohio Police Chief’s wife jailed for shoplifting. Drew was hoping for prostitution.

Delaware company shuts down without informing employees. Drew can relate.

North Carolina middle school worker popped for child porn. Drew is not shocked.

Pennsylvania newlyweds “just wanted to murder someone together.” Drew likes this story.

Maryland man stabs neighbor with a box cutter. Drew is not shocked.

South Dakota man is the worst of the worst of the worst. Everyone is disgusted.

Naked Utah man bites police dog. Drew is amused.

Central Florida craft beer scene featured in New York Times article. Drew agrees.

Chris hates on the loss of physical media in favor of instant streaming. Drew sympathizes.

Chris loves Pearls Before Swine and Get Fuzzy. Drew can relate.

During the outro they talk about: a North Dakota man brings a knife to a department store stick up, an Oklahoma City police station confused a burrito for a bomb and a Seattle barber stabs a customer in the testicles.

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Netflix pick for 12/17/13 – ‘Desperado’

If you have not seen “Desperado” yet, then have we got a spicy treat for you. Robert Rodriguez’ 1995 sequel to his 1992 break out super low-budget surprise movie “El Mariachi” is a sequel in all the right ways, in that it hits a lot of the same beats as the first film, but adds some new stuff and also turns everything up to eleven (usually thanks to an enlarged budget), making for something even cooler, slicker and bigger than the original. And when you can upgrade to Antonio Banderas for your leading man, you jump all over that, it’s a win for everyone, right? (sorry, original mariachi/desperado Carlos Gallardo).

This is a fun movie, mixing elements of revenge thrillers with spaghetti westerns and the low-budget Spanish exploitation filmmaking that Rodriguez started out in to get his beak wet all to much aplomb and great skill. It is almost a shame the Rodriguez is now making either kids movies or throwback films that are “trying to be bad,” so to speak, because when he got started in the 90s he was looking like the next John Woo, but with PASSION. Just watch how fun and sexy and cool this movie is and tell me he’s spending his time wisely with Spy Kids movies. (well, financially that’s his money maker so I get it but still you know what I mean).Continue Reading …

#49 – Swampodiso

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In episode 49, Chris Crespo and Drewster Cogburn are joined by returning guest Big Mike from The Curtis Earth Show on WPRK 91.5 fm and SwampPatrol.com, and they have quite a bit to talk about!

Discussed in this episode:

Big Mike recaps the gator hunting season and talks about the 110-year old gator he caught one night.

The Netflix Instant Pick of the Week is Desperado.

The box office weekend recap includes reviews of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug from Chris and Drew, plus there is talk of Marvel movies, The Hunger Games, Disney animated movies and Tyler Perry Madea films.

Chris talks about the best December opening weekends of all time.Continue Reading …

Review: ‘Out Of The Furnace’

“Out of the Furnace” is a good movie, though it does fall short of greatness because of over familiarity. With elements of revenge films, movies about depressed blue collar towns in America, and stories about struggling families, there is little that feels new or fresh or original with “Out of the Furnace“. But there’s nothing new about chicken parmigiana yet if it is made well, it can’t be beat, right? So “Out of the Furnace” is like a meal you’ve had plenty of times before, and while it may not excite you, you still appreciate that it’s well made and with the highest quality of ingredients.

This is a story about a couple of brothers, Russell Baze (Christian Bale) and his younger bro Rodney (Casey Affleck). They live in Braddock, PA, which is a dying little town on its last legs, as rumors of the mill being shut down looms over everyone like the Sword of Damocles, and tragedy hits the Baze family pretty hard early on, and then gets compounded thanks to some unfortunate circumstances mixed with bad decisions. Soon enough, Russell has to deal with his girlfriend leaving him (Zoe Saldana) and his brother getting mixed up in a bad way with a local bookie (Willem Dafoe) and a violent criminal New Jersey hillbilly (Woody Harrelson). Round out the cast with always reliable actors Sam Shepard and Forest Whitaker and you got a movie that hums with life and meaning, even if its not saying anything original or deeply profound.

Because there is some stuff in here about the depressed American economy, thanks to both the setting and the very specific 2008 pre-presidential election setting, but nothing is really SAID about this state of the economy, it is just the setting for the story. Likewise, Rodney is a soldier with four tours of duty in Iraq under his belt, and he’s got both PTSD from the tours and he’s struggling to find work back in the States, but again, there is not much to distinguish this war veteran from other war veterans from other movies featuring characters like this.Continue Reading …

The Crespodisco #3 – The Good The Odd and The Weird

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In Crespodisco Number Three, Chris Crespo and Drewster Cogburn talk about five bands/artists that they feel should have been more popular but they never were, or bands that have members that come from more popular bands. Enjoy!

Netflix pick for 12/9/13 – ‘Zoolander’

Who would have thought that Ben Stiller, of all the things he has done with his career and all the things he became famous for over the years, would excel the most at being a director? Sure people see Ben Stiller and they immediately think of all his most popular movies like the “Meet the Parents” films and “Night at the Museum” and whatnot, but the REAL talent of the man lies in his abilities behind the camera. A shining example of this skill is this week’s Netflix Instant Pick of the Week, “Zoolander.”

Made in a pre-2001 world, “Zoolander” is about a male fashion model who gets unwittingly recruited to be an assassin all “The Parallax View” style, and it is a crazy, satirical movie that skewers the fashion industry and the world of models, and there are moments here and there with a touch of the surreal that just makes this movie so weird and different and fun. And since at least 2008, Ben Stiller has talked about working on “Zoolander 2” but that’s not necessary, we can all just enjoy this great little comedy, and we can patiently wait for the next Ben Still directorial effort.Continue Reading …

#48 – Find Your Lane

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In episode 48, Chris Crespo and Drewster Cogburn are joined by returning guest Carl Verna (Follow him on Twitter at @videoverna), and they talk about anything and everything as related to the movie world, and Carl also keeps the guys in the loop on some of his latest projects.

Discussed in this episode:

What has Carl been up to?

The Netflix Instant Pick of the Week is Zoolander.

Ben Stiller as a director.

Can Vince Vaughn be a leading man in a movie?

Why do the ladies love Thor?Continue Reading …