On This Day in 2007: Remembering SUPERBAD...

It was 15 years ago today that the Greg Mottola-directed hit comedy Superbad was released in theaters nationwide!

Superbad is probably one of the funniest movies that I've ever seen on the big screen (next to 1994's Dumb and Dumber and 1998's There's Something About Mary—both directed by the Farrelly brothers); which is interesting considering the fact that this film is produced by Judd Apatow, whose other flicks I'm not a big fan of.

The dialogue between Superbad's three main characters, Seth (Jonah Hill), Evan (Michael Cera) and Fogell, a.k.a. McLovin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), is so gut-busting hilarious that I actually posted a blog entry back in 2007 listing a lot of memorable quotes by these three goofballs...as well as other characters like Officer Michaels (Seth Rogen) and Officer Slater (Bill Hader). Even the ladies (Jules, played by Emma Stone; Becca, portrayed by Martha MacIsaac; and Aviva Baumann's Nicola) got in on the raunchiness!

I watched Superbad twice on the big screen 15 years ago (the second time for free while I was at work), and even have it on DVD. Not bad, Apatow... This is one of his films where the phallic jokes are actually funny. And not just funny, but really funny. Happy Hump Day.

Photos of the Day: I Hope There Isn't a Flying Saucer in That Cloud!

Yesterday, I went to my local mall (Puente Hills Mall, which served as Twin Pines Mall in the first Back to the Future film) when I noticed from its parking lot a lone cumulus cloud lurking above Mount Baldy...which is the tallest peak in California's San Gabriel Mountains.

If you watched Jordan Peele's latest sci-fi thriller Nope (you can read my review for it here), then you'll find this sight both oddly amusing and scary at the same time!

Of course, if a flying saucer (technically an "extraterrestrial animal in the sky"—according to Nope) did emerge from that cloud, all I had to do to make sure that I wasn't eaten by this interstellar interloper would be to turn off all electronics, not make any loud sounds, nor make excessive eye contact with the saucer if it flew right above me.

Hope y'all had a nice weekend!

Movie Review: PREY...

Yesterday, I set up an account on Hulu.com so I could watch the newest Predator sequel, Prey. Needless to say, it was $6.99 well-spent!

Before I watched the movie last night, I constantly pointed out on my social media accounts how I wished that this film (which was directed by 10 Cloverfield Lane's Dan Trachtenberg) was shown on the big screen instead. After viewing Prey, I made the assumption that a lack of recognizable names and star power in this sequel is why Disney (which took over the rights to the Predator franchise from Twentieth Century Fox a few years ago) did not release this movie in theaters nationwide.

That should not be the case anymore.

While there are no recognizable names like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Adrien Brody (who starred in 2010's Predators, my second favorite sequel in the series), Prey most likely made stars out of Amber Midthunder—who plays the Comanche protagonist Naru in the film—and Dakota Beavers, who portrays Naru's brother Taabe.

The fact that Prey's cast consists of genuine indigenous actors who played Native Americans on screen is a remarkable attribute of this movie... Something that would not have been done decades ago.

And based on her scenes in the movie (including a moment where Naru wades through mud as she searches for Predator in the forest), it's clearly obvious that Midthunder went through tons of training to make her role as a devoted Comanche hunter all the more believable.

In regards to the Predator itself, the design of this film's antagonist is one of the best in the series! The mask and armor that this Predator (played by Dane DiLiegro) wears is obviously more primitive than those of the modern-day alien hunters that Schwarzenegger, Brody and Danny Glover (in 1990's Predator 2) battled in their respective flicks. But the weapons used by the Predator in Prey—such as laser-guided spears—are just as deadly and highly-efficient!

It will be interesting to see where the Predator franchise goes from here. We watched as Native Americans took on an extraterrestrial trophy hunter 300 years ago in Prey... What will be the next time period where we see humans trying to prevent a towering alien life-form from extracting their skulls and spines to keep as a memento?

Happy Tuesday.

Movie Review: BULLET TRAIN...

Earlier today, I watched the action comedy film Bullet Train—starring Brad Pitt, directed by David Leitch (of Deadpool 2) and based on the Japanese novel Maria Beetle by Kōtarō Isaka—at AMC theaters.

It was definitely enjoyable...with Bullet Train basically being Pulp Fiction if it took place on a high-speed railway line in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Bullet Train is about a peaceable assassin codenamed Ladybug (Pitt) who has to retrieve a briefcase from aboard the high-speed vehicle, and ends up running into other colorful killers (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Brian Tyree Henry and Zazie Beetz) who are after Ladybug's precious cargo as well.

It doesn't help that Ladybug confronts other lethal assassins (played by Andrew Koji, Hiroyuki Sanada, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio and Joey King) aboard the train during this increasingly-complex mission!

Of course, despite these unfortunate circumstances, Ladybug manages to survive this trip aboard the bullet train and reunites with his handler (played by Sandra Bullock) at the end.

What makes Bullet Train so fun is that it's Ladybug's huge amount of bad luck in this flick that got him through all of the confrontations with the killers mentioned above, as well as the main antagonist who brought all these assassins aboard the train in the first place: the White Death (portrayed by Michael Shannon).

If I had the same amount of bad luck that Ladybug had in Bullet Train, I'd probably go on to win the lottery, pay off my credit card debts (again) and maybe even get my favorite job back! I lost it over a decade ago. Happy Sunday!

On This Day in 1997: Remembering SPAWN...

It was 25 years ago today that a live-action adaptation of Spawn—which is one of my favorite series by Image Comics—was released in theaters nationwide.

While Spawn is one of the first titles that I collected when I started buying comic books back in 1993 (I was in 7th grade at the time), I actually wished the movie would've been a lot better. Spawn is an R-rated antihero on paper (with his archnemesis, Violator, known to rip the hearts out of people's chests left and right in the comic books), and to make the film itself PG-13 was a huge disservice to this awesome character.

Todd McFarlane, the creator of Spawn, is supposedly planning to direct his own cinematic version of this demonic protagonist. The thing is, he made the announcement that he was going to helm this reboot back in 2015 (with Jamie Foxx and Jeremy Renner starring in the movie)...and so far there has been scant news about this project. Of course, the pandemic should be partly to blame for this.

According to this article, McFarlane will reveal big news about his Spawn film at New York Comic Con...which will be held on October 6-9. We'll see what happens!

Movie Review: VENGEANCE...

Earlier today, I watched the comedy thriller Vengeance at AMC theaters.

This film, written and directed by B.J. Novak (of Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds and the hit NBC TV series The Office), was one of the wittiest movies I've seen on the big screen this year!

Vengeance is about a New York writer named Ben Manalowitz (Novak) who reluctantly travels to Texas to attend the funeral of a girl he once dated, and finds himself in the middle of a plot to seek retribution against the person who supposedly took this girl's life. Manalowitz wanted to make a podcast documenting this quest to seek justice in a nondescript Texas town, only to get more than he bargained for as he interviewed one potential suspect after another who may have been involved in this girl's murder.

This would be an extremely-long review if I had to talk about all of the memorable dialogue spouted in Vengeance...most of them, interestingly, by Ashton Kutcher's character Quentin Sellers.

One interesting scene was between Manalowitz and Sellers—a music producer whose recording studio was oddly located in the middle of the Texas desert. The reason for this was eloquently stated by Sellers: Lots of people who live in these rural areas are so intelligent that they're forced to focus their insightful thoughts into conspiracy theories that run rampant in these parts of America.

Or in Sellers words: These folks are "bright creative lights with nowhere to channel their energy."

Towards the end of the film, Manalowitz and Sellers have another philosphical conversation...with Quentin stating that people are nothing more than "translations of the recordings in our lives." In other words, we tend to fall in love with another person based on how they portrayed themselves on social media or simple photos and videos. But if we talked to them in person, chances are we won't be as impressed as we would be staring at a digital or printed image of them instead. Deep.

And there's this simple line that resonates throughout the film: "Heart sees heart."

As stated earlier, this would be a very long entry if I mentioned additional memorable quotes from this comedy thriller, but Vengeance focuses on other timely issues— Namely, the incompetence of Texas police officers and politicians. Considering the way that Texas law enforcement and government are portrayed in this movie (vengeance wouldn't need to be sought if these folks did their jobs right), its no wonder why Vengeance was filmed in New Mexico and not the Lone Star State itself!

Happy Saturday.

On This Day in 2002: Remembering SIGNS...

It was 20 years ago today that Signs, my all-time favorite M. Night Shyamalan film (even moreso than 1999's The Sixth Sense) was released in theaters nationwide.

So many great scary moments in this movie (specifically the scene above where an alien visitor pays an unexpected visit to a birthday party in Brazil)...though we'll overlook the hilarity that extraterrestrials who are allergic to water would invade a water planet like Earth without having any protective gear on!

Signs was released two years after the film Gladiator, so it was kind of weird watching Joaquin Phoenix—who was phenomenal as the villainous emperor Commodus in Ridley Scott's 2000 Academy Award winner—be the hero at the end of Shyamalan's sci-fi thriller.

"Swing away."

On This Day in 1997: Remembering AIR FORCE ONE...

It was 25 years ago today that the movie where President Han Solo told Commissioner James Gordon to get off his plane was released in theaters nationwide!

In all seriousness, Air Force One was one of my favorite movies of 1997. Harrison Ford was awesome as U.S. President James Marshall, Glenn Close was great as U.S. Vice President Kathryn Bennett and Gary Oldman was so intense as Russian terrorist Ivan Korshunov that it was weird to see him as the heroic Commissioner Gordon in The Dark Knight trilogy almost a decade later.

The only gripe that I have with Wolfgang Petersen's film was Air Force One's demise at the end of the movie. In case you don't recall, the presidential aircraft—with the traitorous Secret Service agent played by Xander Berkeley the only living person still onboard—slams into the ocean after Marshall and his family are safely rescued by U.S. Special Forces soldiers aboard the Liberty 24 aircraft (clips below). Needless to say, the CGI version of Air Force One breaking apart after it impacted the water wasn't exactly Best Visual FX material for the Oscars!

However, the most memorable aspect of Air Force One for me was the music score by Jerry Goldsmith. I love jingoistic tunes in summer blockbusters...which is also why David Arnold's patriotic work in 1996's Independence Day is one of my favorite film scores of all time! Goldsmith's main theme from Air Force One is also featured below.

Happy Monday!

Movie Review: NOPE...

Earlier today, I watched Jordan Peele's sci-fi thriller Nope at AMC theaters. Needless to say, it is another creative and witty film by the Oscar-winning director of Get Out and Us!

Nope is about a horse-wrangling family who tries to make ends meet after the father, Otis Haywood Sr. (Keith David), dies under mysterious circumstances at the start of the film. OJ (Daniel Kaluuya) and Emerald (Keke Palmer), Otis' children, notice a mysterious object lurking in the clouds above their Southern Californa ranch—and attempt to earn some money by capturing the clearest footage possible of this UAP (Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) on various cameras.

OJ and Emerald get more than they bargain for in their attempt to film this object, as it is no ordinary flying saucer zooming around the skies above their home in Agua Dulce (a real locale in Los Angeles County). If you watched War of the Worlds—the 2005 version by Steven Spielberg, specifically—and remembered what happened to humans abducted by the alien tripods, then you'll get an idea as to what kind of danger this territorial saucer poses against OJ, Emerald and all the other residents of Agua Dulce!

As mentioned at the start of this review, Nope is an absolutely creative film. Peele reinvents the wheel with this flying saucer, and there is so much symbolism in this movie that I'd need to re-watch it to get a clearer understanding of them. Example: OJ and Emerald are the descendants of the horse-riding stuntman featured in a series of images (shown below) that were captured by 19th-century photographer Eadweard Muybridge. Horses play a major role in Nope (as the trailers clearly reveal), and by the end of the film, one of the main characters is framed in a shot that mimics the iconic photos taken by Muybridge. Also, there's a maniacal (if not homicidal) chimpanzee named Gordy who also factors into the cryptic themes behind Nope.

[I'm sure that there are lots of online articles now talking about the plot points of Nope, but I prefer writing a review using my current knowledge of the movie (with some quick help by IMDb) before I start reading articles about it.]

Nope has a cast as phenomenal as the concept that Peele came up with for this movie. Along with David, Kaluuya and Palmer, Steven Yeun (of the Oscar-nominated film Minari and TV's The Walking Dead), Brandon Perea (of American Insurrection) and Michael Wincott (of 1994's The Crow...one of my favorite flicks of all time) have memorable roles in this very clever and suspenseful movie.

Nope was shot on 65mm Kodak film for IMAX. After watching the movie at AMC theaters today, I can see why Peele wanted this film to be presented in the ultra-large format! I definitely need to see this flick at the multiplex again to gain a greater appreciation of the thrills and chills that Peele conveyed in his latest critical hit. And one last thing: The film obviously explains why it's titled 'Nope.'

Two thumbs way up for Nope!


Eadweard Muybridge, via National Gallery of Art

Photos of the Day: The OPPENHEIMER Teaser Poster and Film Still...

One day after a previous Christopher Nolan film, The Dark Knight Rises, marked the 10-year anniversary of its theatrical release, another Christopher Nolan movie is officially on the horizon as Universal Pictures unveiled the teaser poster for Oppenheimer...Nolan's World War II biopic about J. Robert Oppenheimer, a theoretical physicist and the man who led the creation of the atomic bomb.

Oppenheimer will debut in theaters nationwide on July 21, 2023—and stars Cillian Murphy as Oppenheimer himself. Also in the star-studded cast are Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., Florence Pugh, Jack Quaid, Matthew Modine, Rami Malek, Kenneth Branagh, Josh Hartnett, Alden Ehrenreich and Gary Oldman. Along with Murphy, Modine and Oldman previously worked with Nolan on The Dark Knight trilogy as well.

A teaser trailer for Oppenheimer is set to be shown exclusively in front of Jordan Peele's sci-fi thriller Nope (which is also distributed by Universal Pictures) this weekend. Can't wait to see the trailer and this film on Saturday!