Weekly Rant #2

The Last Stand bombs... Broken City bombs! Well that didn't take long. 2013 has begun and we have our first box office duds. It's unfortunate for The Last Stand because reviews were not terrible, but the movie trailer was. Johnny Knoxville is NOT who you want in a movie anymore.. and I guess neither is Arnold. Oh well, at least it will be on Blu-ray in a couple of weeks. :)

JJ Abrahams, Paramount, and Bad Robot have bought the rights to Cycle of Lies: Lance Armstrong Biopic. I don't think he even had finished his interview with Oprah yet and the deal was done. Here is the problem I have with that. The man still isn't done lying!!!! Did they buy the rights knowing they could have a possible sequel?? Who in their right minds will want to watch this garbage? This is a lifetime movie, or CBS movie of the week... not Hollywood!! Ugggh!! Maybe we can get John Mayer to play him in the movie.. he's a big slime ball too. 

Brain DePalma, and Al Pacino are set to do a Biopic on Joe Paterno. The working title for this film is called Happy Valley.
SMH!! If any are relatively new to the social networking world we live in, SMH stands for Shaking My Head. The forums out there were running wild with jokes, and theories on who might play Jerry Sandusky, the man who sexually abused 10 children (that we know of) and is sentenced to life in prison. 
Is this Hollywood's lack of creativity screaming out again? Are studio execs saying... screw it, let's have a week of choosing to make films about low down, no good, sleeze-bag filths??!!
Pacino and DePalma are notorious for their Scarface film. 
Ok, c'mon.. it's ok, let it out... you know you wanna say it... all together now, "Say Hello To My Little Friend". I'm wondering if Sandusky's character will have that line in the movie? 

Well, overall it was a quiet week for my rants. I'm still pissed about Ben Affleck not being nominated for Best Director. I am also pissed off that Leonardo DiCaprio wasn't nominated for Django Unchained. The Academy members are idiots, always have been. Who votes for The Best Years of Our Lives over It's a Wonderful Life???? SMH! Do you know where It's a Wonderful Life is ranked on AFI top 100 films of all time? It's 20!! Do you know where The Best Years of Our Lives is? It's not on the list!! Enough Said. However, I am going to finally break my vow. I am going to watch the damn film this week for the first time. Tune in next week and you can hear me rant more about this. 

-Jason Traylor

-Editor SS77

DJango Unchained Review

Grade: A

Shoot em up Fun

First I have to say, I watched this movie and had a smile on my face from beginning to end. The movie is just fun! Creative and ingenious from one of the most daring and unconventional directors... maybe ever. The soundtrack is fun, the cinematography is brilliant. I have to say this is my favorite Tarantino film since Pulp Fiction. I loved Inglorious Bastards, but this is better. The performances in this film are A+++. 

I can't say who is better. Leonardo DiCaprio was born to play a Respectable Southern man. He is just flat out brilliant!!! I can't believe he didn't get an Academy Award Nomination for Supporting Actor. Christopher Waltz is so ridiculously funny with every line he delivers it should be illegal. I am happy he scored another nomination for Supporting Actor. Samuel Jackson's performance is way overlooked because of everything else going on in the film. 

Jamie Foxx plays the slave turned bounty hunter (Django), thanks to Christopher Waltz's character who frees him from bondage. 

After the first act of bounty hunting, the film turns to them both going after Django's wife who is a slave at DiCaprio's plantation. Foxx and Waltz devise a scheme to fool DiCaprio so that they can legally buy her freedom. All I can say is things go south so to speak, and all hell breaks loose. 

Best Picture Nominee and most deservingly so. The script is fresh, raw, and off the radar. I wanted the movie to continue when it was finally over. The dialogue is very intense at times, and it keeps you reeled into the screen. Tarantino just creates these vivid characters through his scripts. He is an actors dream come true. I highly recommend this film to anyone and everyone... as long as you can deal with over the top blood gushing gunshots and violence. 

This is the caviar of Popcorn films. 

-Jason Traylor

-Editor@SS77

Zero Dark Thirty Review

Grade: A

Intense Reality

My thoughts on Zero Dark Thirty are first and foremost, this is an intense film. Intense about the reality of what our CIA operatives went through after 9/11 to catch The Most Wanted man UBA as they refer to him in the film. I actually like what Mike Epps calls him better.. ol Lodi Dodi. :)

The movie follows a CIA operative (Jessica Chastain), as she journeys through the middle east trying to dig up evidence that might lead her to the whereabouts of UBA. Fighting not only Al Qaeda members who are sworn to secrecy, but her own governments politics. Kathryn Bigelow (Hurt Locker) does a fantastic job of pacing this movie from the beginning. I for one am glad the scenes of torture were depicted. If you are going to tell a story, do it right. 

It's a harrowing example of the continuing sacrifice Americans have made in fighting  terrorism. Nominated for Best Picture which rightly so I believe it should be. Jessica Chastain winner of Golden Globe for Best Actress and Academy Award Nominee has a great shot at winning. I have seen this film twice and must say it's powerful. It almost leaves you with an empty feeling at the end. This is no popcorn film about catching Bin Laden, No Michael Bay helicopter shots, this is gritty and daring.  Hopefully seeing this film will give a bit of closure to the decade we had, the decade that was unjustly took from so many due to an evil plot, and evil man. 

We need more honest films like this in Hollywood. Films that choose to take bold chances no matter who it might offend, and to preserve it's integrity.