Cinema Crespodiso

A weekly talk show hosted by film critic Christopher Crespo

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Review: ‘Jason Bourne’

JasonBourne_MoviePoster“Jason Bourne” brings back Jason Bourne, the American anti-Bond, the 21st century of a spy movie hero, broken by the Powers That Be and constantly seeking answers in a dark and murky world of dubious morals and ethics, fighting not against foreign enemies but instead against the system that birthed him, dissatisfied with what he has become, with a need to blame someone and his aim always shifting to different targets until he finds what he’s looking for. Which of course leads to more questions. And then more searching. Almost as if…it will just go on forever? Meaninglessly?

When “The Bourne Ultimatum” ended back in 2007, it felt like a solid wrap up for the story of regular guy turned incredible super agent Jason Bourne (Matt Damon), as he got most of his answers he was looking for and then escaped the system with his life, his future unknown but at least free in a way of what these shady government programs made him. And yet almost ten years later Jason Bourne is back on movie screens, this time because “there’s a new program” that he apparently needs to be made aware of, and there is also a link to his father in these spy programs, and I am pretty sure in four movies this is the first time his parents are mentioned in any way, shape or form, so of course it feels contrived and kind of hacky.Continue Reading …

Netflix pick for 7/25/16 – ‘Eyes Wide Shut’

Eyes_Wide_Shut_posterAs heard in episode 185 of Cinema Crespodiso.

“Eyes Wide Shut” is the final masterpiece from history’s greatest filmmaker, Stanley Kubrick. High praise indeed, but well deserved. The 1990s saw a bit of a boom in sexual thrillers in mainstream cinema, but instead of going the trashy route like most movies of the time (see: “Basic Instinct,” “Sliver,” “Rising Sun,” “Striptease,” “Showgirls” and so on), Kubrick delivered a movie more interested in the psychological ramifications of a man confronted with cracks in his marriage and seeking out sexual solace in the dark underground of New York City, accidentally stumbling across a secret society that wants very much to remain secret, due to all the creepy shit they get into.

And being a 90s movie, “Eyes Wide Shut” retains those classic Kubrickian touches, the shot compositions and visual storytelling, but gets to feature a movie star couple in the form of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman, together at the time in real life, hence bringing that real emotion into their roles, and it all works really well. Continue Reading …

#185 – The Notorious ADT

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Episode185_TheNotoriousADT

In episode 185, Chris Crespo and Drewster Cogburn are joined by returning guest Amy Drew Thomspon from AmyDrewThompson.com.

Chris and Drew review Star Trek Beyond and Amy Drew reviews The Secret Life of Pets and Ghostbusters.

The Netflix Instant Pick of the Week is Eyes Wide Shut.

Dr. Drew gives his two cents on being careful what you wish for.

Billy D reviews a Guns and Roses concert and Stranger Things on Netflix.

The Crespodisco features the main theme from Star Trek Beyond.
Continue Reading …

Review: ‘Star Trek Beyond’

star-trek-beyond-movie-poster“Star Trek Beyond” is the third Star Trek movie with this particular iteration of the original crew of the USS Enterprise (quite possibly one of the most famous fake vehicles ever), which started with the 2009 reboot “Star Trek,” a reimagining of these iconic characters as younger and less experiences, embarking on their first missions, tested immediately by evil space forces of various sorts, bringing them closer together as a crew, etc. etc., you know the drill. If you aren’t on board with these movies by now, this one is not likely to change your mind.

On the flip side, if you do like these movies, you’ll likely really dig this newest installment because it is simultaneously a fun movie while also having some big stakes and featuring a villain, despite being a bad guy, still makes some sense when he discusses his reasoning for his actions. There are jokes, action scenes, a bit of a plot twist, and it all looks pretty, which all comes together to make for a fine piece of summer entertainment.Continue Reading …

Netflix pick for 7/18/16 – ‘Best of Enemies’

best_of_enemies_ver2As heard in episode 184 of Cinema Crespodiso.

“Best Of Enemies” is a documentary about a two-week series of televised debated staged around the 1968 Republican and Democratic National Conventions, and these debates were between two thought leaders of the era – National Review founder and right wing commentator and author William F. Buckley Jr., and left wing commentator and author of books and essays Gore Vidal. These two men had seemingly diametrically opposed ideologies as well as similar capacities for oration, and these debates quickly became must see television during a time before “must see television” was even a phrase people used, and also ended up having a much more significant impact on television news media than anyone could have ever anticipated.

And best of all, this documentary is super entertaining to watch thanks to great editing of all that 1968 footage and how they really developed and explained the political and cultural climate at the time, one that people will find seems quite similar to what we have going on right now.Continue Reading …

#184 – Podception

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In episode 184, Chris Crespo and Drewster Cogburn are joined by returning guest Ross McCoy (www.twitter.com/ElRoss) from A Mediocre Time with Tom and Dan and the Tumbleweed Comedy Tour.

Chris, Drew and Ross all review Ghostbusters, Chris and Drew review The Infiltrator, and Ross reviews The Secret Life of Pets.

The Netflix Instant Pick of the Week is Best Of Enemies.

Dr. Drew gives his two cents on this lackluster summer at the movies.

Billy D is in MAINE and he still checks in with a short film called AM1200 featuring Ray Wise.

The Crespodisco features a song from the excellent Miles Ahead soundtrack.
Continue Reading …

Review: ‘The Infiltrator’

TheInfiltrator_MoviePoster“The Infiltrator” is based on the true story of the US Customs official who helped take down a huge money laundering syndicate in the 1980s by going undercover and tracking all the Colombian drug money back and forth between Colombia and America via complicit banks set up both abroad and in America. While going undercover, though, this fella maybe starts to lose sight a little of who his friends really are and also seems to enjoy being this fake mob-associated kind of guy and also it is destroying his marriage and also he’s in a lot of danger because he got in over his head a little. But while that may seem like a lot to throw into a movie that is barely over two hours long, rest assured, it IS a lot, too much in fact, so that while this movie tries to be about a lot of things, it ends up being about nothing.

Robert Mazur (Bryan Cranston) has been going undercover for years and he’s tired of making so little progress in the war on drugs, so he convinces his bosses to allow him to take a different approach, one that we’ve all heard before in many contexts, which is to “follow the money.” By getting his foot in the door with Pablo Escobar’s people by presenting himself as a big time money launderer, he’s hoping to amass the evidence needed to find out what they do with their money, who it goes to, and how it gets back to them “clean.” He doesn’t get along with his partner Abreu (John Leguizamo) but that is an issue for all of one scene early on in the film and then they work together with no problems for the rest of the movie. So most of “The Infiltrator” is Mazur pretending to be some made up guy named Bob Musella, and he uses this alias to embed himself with the drug cartel, starting out low on their totem pole and slowly working his way up to their bigger bosses. Along the way, Mazur and Abreu are forced to involve an agent going undercover for her first time, Kathy Ertz (Diane Kruger), and the three of them work together to try to bust as many people at one time as possible.Continue Reading …

Review: ‘Ghostbusters’

Ghostbusters_MoviePoster“Ghostbusters” is the story of a trio of scientists with expertise in the paranormal and how they opened a company in New York City in order to investigate a series of ghost sightings and supernatural activities. As they develop their tech and grow closer as a group, they find themselves at odds with the city and federal government who want them to stay out of public view and not cause a panic, which becomes difficult for this new team as they find themselves facing bigger and bigger threats, until finally it all comes to a head when they have to engage in a very public battle against a gigantic, building-sized foe determined to destroy the city and everyone in it.

Yup, that’s the plot for both the original 1984 movie and this new “Ghostbusters.” The details, however, all the little things that connect these big plot points are all very different. These are different characters with their own sets of problems, and the way these ghosts are summoned and the nature of these ghosts and what they do is all very different, and even the bickering between the city officials and the team takes on a different tenor, as this NYC mayor and his employees are much more media savvy. It is completely the same but also totally different and in a good way, making for an experience that is alternately classic and surprising. That doesn’t mean this movie couldn’t have been better, but it also works on its own terms in a pretty endearing way.Continue Reading …

Netflix pick for 7/11/2016 – ‘Hot Fuzz’

HotFuzzAs heard in episode 183 of Cinema Crespodiso.

From 2007, “Hot Fuzz“is Edgar Wright’s follow up to the hugely successful “Shaun of the Dead,” and with the stars of that movie (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost), they reteamed to make an ode to the action movie genre, going so far as to directly and repeatedly reference both “Point Break” and “Bad Boys II” in the movie itself. Hilarious and quite action packed, “Hot Fuzz” is great because it accomplished what it set out to do, which is to be an homage to these action movies while also sending them up, in an embrace of the ridiculousness which leads to some great action scenes and fun character development, all of it coming together to make a helluva entertaining flick.

Nick Angel (Pegg) is London’s top cop, and he’s so good he makes the rest of the department look bad, so everyone agrees it is in their best interest to transfer Angel to the countryside where he can’t be that great and can’t steal all their thunder and hog up all the limelight and other such metaphors. So he unhappily goes to Sandford, a tiny little town with practically non-existent crime. There he meets the chief’s son Danny (Frost), they get partnered up, and Danny instantly hero worships this big city cop while Nick just tries to do his job without going crazy from the small town mentality of all the people and the high levels of boredom associated with such a village. And then two of Sandford’s citizens turn up dead, it is declared an accident, and Nick Angel immediately suspects there is something else going on. Hence starts his investigation into why exactly Sandford has a very low murder rate but an extremely high “accident” rate, and he uncovers the most dangerous and deadly conspiracy of his career. Hilarity ensues.Continue Reading …

#183 – Team Alien Dicks

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Episode183_TeamAlienDicks

In episode 183, Chris Crespo and Drewster Cogburn are not joined by any guests and did not see any of the new movies that came out this weekend because the options were just so underwhelming.

The Netflix Instant Pick of the Week is Hot Fuzz.

Dr. Drew gives his two cents on seeing live music.

Billy D is BACK and he reviews the Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice Director’s Cut and the ESPN series OJ: Made in America.

The Crespodisco features a song from the Solaris soundtrack and a song from The Fountain soundtrack.
Continue Reading …

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