Chris - Cinema Crespodiso - Page 138 of 150

Review: ‘Fruitvale Station’

Starting out as a “slice of life” type of movie and ending as a brutal tearjerker (a two-hanky movie, they used to call ’em), “Fruitvale Station” is a small movie about a big issue, and the timing of this particular film couldn’t be any more perfect. Just as a gigantic mirror has been held up to this great nation so we can see just how racist we still are as a whole, this movie comes along and openly questions the perceived value of the life of a black youth in today’s America.

You have two choice right now: you can do a Google search on “Oscar Grant” and read about the tragic event that this movie is based on, or you can just go into the movie and let the shocking events fold right in front of you. Now, while I am sure it would be interesting to watch this movie play out without really knowing what the story is really about, I think it actually does the movie a great service to know ahead of time how the story is going to end. And since “Fruitvale Station” starts with real-life cell phone footage from a very fateful and horrendous night on a train station platform in Oakland, California in the early morning of New Year’s Day in 2009, it is apparent that writer/director Ryan Coogler knew this and wanted to make sure the audience indeed knows what this movie is going to end up.Continue Reading …

Netflix pick for 7/29/13 – ‘Batman: the Movie’

“Some days you just can’t get rid of a bomb!” At one point in the 1966 “Batman: the Movie,” this is a line exclaimed by Batman (Adam West) as he tries to dispose of a cartoon-looking bomb in a public place, and if you can’t get with this kind of campy, over the top, tongue-in-cheek style of comedy in the midst of your 1960’s comic book movie, then stay far away from this week’s Netflix Pick of the Week. But if you can get down with stuff like Bat-shark repellent and dehydrated and then rehydrated henchmen, then you will enjoy the hell out of this ridiculous movie.

The first Batman movie was made based on the popularity of the television series, and followed many of the hallmarks of this tv show, which includes the big “KA-POW” and “WHAPP” title cards during the fight scenes and the bold colors and just general ridiculousness. And fans of the Caped Crusader should really dig the awesome convertible Batmobile, as well as the awesome Batcopter, Batboat and the Batcycle…I mean, who wouldn’t want to ride in that sweet side car?Continue Reading …

#29 – Theater of the Absurd

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In episode 29, Chris is joined by special guest co-host DJ Ed Shuffles a.k.a. Ed Luvables (on Twitter at @edluvables and @djshuffles), and they unwrapped this week’s Crespodiso, in which they BOTH have Netflix Instant Picks of the Week, and Chris reviews Fruitvale Station and The Wolverine.

Also discussed in this episode:

Chris calls out the Orlando Film Commission and demands they financially support more local filmmakers.

Adam Sandler movies = money in the bank.

What’s the difference between PG-13 and R-rated movies?

G.I. Joe Retaliation comes out on DVD.Continue Reading …

Review: ‘The Wolverine’

“The Wolverine” is the sixth time Hugh Jackman has played the adamantium-laced, clawed, mutton chopped character of Logan, a.k.a. the Wolverine, and the overall quality of the movie aside, this may be my favorite portrayal of this character to date. Focusing on his gift slash curse of healing and pretty much being immortal and his deep sense of loss and loneliness that has built up over the years, this movie is free to get into Logan’s damaged psyche and really dig in the character and what makes him tick, and in the long run it pays off.

“The Wolverine” is a sequel to (the god awful) “X-Men: The Last Stand,” in that Wolverine’s love interest Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) is dead and the rest of the X-Men are pretty much disbanded, leaving Logan all by himself (they also seem to pretty much ignore “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” which is somehow even worse than “X-Men: The Last Stand“). He is literally wandering from town to town, living in the wilderness, looking like a crazy person, and it’s sad to think about such a powerful person just hiding out and having nightmares every night about horrible things that happened in his life. They hit this pretty hard, but obviously it must be horrible to live forever because you get to watch people you care about die all around you, and even if you meet new people and start to care about them, they are going to die eventually as well, and you’ll outlive them all, and that’s a bummer. How many times can you lose people before you stop trying to connect to them anymore?Continue Reading …

Review: ‘Upstream Color’

This is going to be a rough ride, peoples. After several viewings of “Upstream Color,” I feel I have a grasp on the ins and outs of the story itself, but I’ll be honest and tell you that I am struggling with what this thing is actually about, know what I mean? So in the spirit of this film, which is a just a little experimental, I am going to try something new with this particular entry; we’re going to figure this thing out together.

First off, I’m going to need you to see “Upstream Color” for this to work. We need to be on the same wavelength. If you need a quick “review” before checking it out, I offer you this:

“Upstream Color” will surprise you. It will confuse you, and if you are paying attention and also allow it to wash over you, it will also reward you. To simply summarize the story and plot here before you see it would be a disservice, so instead I will say that this movie is about a woman meeting a man and together they help each other understand the world they live in and the forces effecting them, all subconsciously of course, and it all boils down to basic, simple human interaction, wordless even, thoughts conveyed through expressions, emotions reverberated and amplified with a look, all the things we know in our own lives, reflected in this movie that quite simply defies basic classification. Is it a romance? Science fiction? Horror? A mystery? An art film? A tone poem? A thriller?Continue Reading …

Review: ‘R.I.P.D.’

Well that was a big old waste of everyone’s time and money. I would add “effort” to the list of items of things wasted in the making and viewing of this movie, but sadly that seems to be the one thing that wasn’t even deployed in the first place in the making of “R.I.P.D.”

Hmmm, maybe that’s a little harsh. Let’s start with some positives.

“R.I.P.D.” is a movie about a police department for the dead. When Boston PD veteran and kind of dirty cop Nick (Ryan Reynolds, Safe House, The Change Up) gets killed in the line of duty, he’s given a choice – he can face judgment and the likely scenario of eternal damnation, or he can join the Rest In Peace Department, which is filled with dead lawmen whose job it is to make sure that the dead stay dead, as some of these bad souls escape judgment and manage to continue living on Earth with all us alive people.Continue Reading …

Netflix pick for 7/22/13 – ‘Shotgun Stories’

From 2007, “Shotgun Stories” exists as proof of several things, namely that American cinematic film making is alive and well, and that original and interesting stories can still be told without a budget over $200 million and the special effects and baggage that come with such productions, and of course what we all already know by now, that Michael Shannon is one of the most compelling actors working today.

“Shotgun Stories” is a low budget little gem about a some half-brothers and their blood feud due to their disparate feelings over their newly deceased mutual father. Things get said, insults get hurled, violence becomes an option, and the rest is a mess of a bad ole time for everyone involved. Violence can beget a pretty vicious cycle, after all, but can one see the cycle coming and do anything to stop it? Should it be stopped? Or should we all yield shotguns in case someone starts disagreeing with us?Continue Reading …

#28 – Time is an Ocean

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In episode 28, Chris and Drew review RIPD and RED 2, they talk about the new Netflix Instant Pick of the Week, they do the box office recap, and they talk about Trance coming out on DVD and The Wolverine hitting theaters next weekend. And the Crespodome is jam packed with movie news and reviews, and also features a brand new Crespodome intro!

Things discussed in this episode include:

Chris and Drew appeared in episode 17 of “SBKLIVE with Kevin, Matt and Angel” the podcast.

Chris appeared in episode 81 of “Corrupting the Kids” the podcast.

The introduction of the “Crespodiso Film School.” Chris and Drew watched All The President’s Men, The Sting and Dracula.

Chris and Drew both review the documentary Indie Game: The Movie.

Terrence Malick is being sued for a movie he didn’t make.Continue Reading …

Review: ‘Red 2’

I need to write this stuff down now because it will all be forgotten very soon, even though I walked out of this movie just a few hours ago. As “Red 2” started and we get thrust back into the life of retired CIA operative Frank Moses (Bruce Willis, A Good Day to Die Hard), I quickly realized that I couldn’t remember a single thing about the first movie and what that story was about or why anyone did anything or why the characters acted the way they did. It was all a distant blur of a memory of a movie, and it is obvious now that “Red 2,” while entertaining enough, will go down the same path of temporal lobe obscurity.Continue Reading …

Netflix pick for 7/15/13 – ‘Blood and Bone’

I am too lazy to check, but I am pretty sure that “Blood and Bone” is the first direct-to-video movie to be a Netflix Instant Pick of the Week, but it was bound to happen, especially with the increase in quality in these DTV films recently. So here we are, a kick ass action movie featuring a bad ass lead performance, criminally underseen due to its lack of exposure, but ready for you to put on right now, sit back, relax and enjoy the pugilistic mayhem.

“Blood and Bone” should have been made in the 1980s, though if it was made back then it would have starred Jean Claude Van Damme, as the very basic story fits right into the mold of those awesome action movies. A lone, mysterious bad ass dude (played by Michael Jai White, Black Dynamite) forces his way into an underground fighting circuit, and he battles his way through fighter after fighter, and really what else do you need to know? The fight scenes are awesome, well shot, and I love how Michael Jai White’s character does each fight with his big ole boots, which I don’t think I’ve ever seen a leading character do before in a fighting movie like this. Looks like those huge boots would make things even more painful.Continue Reading …