"Hey! Aren't you afraid of overloading your mouth?"
1910s drag comedy and a sweet dog named Luke collide in Fatty Arbuckle's 'The Butcher Boy,' the first pairing between the legendary comedian and Buster Keaton, my favorite silent film star. Unfortunately, it's nowhere near as solid as their second feature together, 'The Rough House,' but it does offer a real rollercoaster of a piano score mixed with a couple of curious laughs, especially when Fatty and co. don female disguises and…
"He's moulting."
Hilarious and explosive insanity are unleashed in Roscoe Arbuckle and Buster Keaton's 'The Rough House,' an aptly titled literal translation that sees a house of residents and guests terrorize one another through mishaps, misunderstandings, and love-soaked rivalries, where the likes of guns, knives, brooms and even cakes are used as weaponry. It starts with Fatty's Mr. Rough (great name) casually putting out his bed fire (caused by his own cigarette) with a tiny cup of water, taking his…
“I went to rock and roll heaven, and I wasn’t on the guest list.”
Feel good '90s entertainment with one of the absolute finest soundtracks I've ever heard in a film, I'm only disappointed that it's taken me so long to experience Allan Moyle's 'Empire Records,' a cult classic that kickstarted a lot of careers while delivering plenty of laughs and smiles in the process.
It's refreshingly good-natured, quotable, and packed with some really great bands and underrated songs, all…
"You know I'd ride to the death with you."
Rewatch Review: Slightly improving on its predecessor but reaching full blown nonsensical territory, a style I don't see the series shaking before the ending, Justin Lin's 'F9' works wonders in losing a couple of mainstay personalities while introducing John Cena as Vin's long lost brother, yet it can't shake the enigma that is Charlize Theron's awful villain, nor can it resist bringing back long dead characters or dull new ones, all…
"It has been an honor, my friend."
The consequences of the illustrious and deadly killer's recent bloodshed come crashing down in Chad Stahelski's 'John Wick: Chapter 4,' a loud and bombastic rollercoaster of guns, knives, swords, and car crashes. It starts with a bang and rarely lets up over almost three hours as we witness John fighting bulletproof samurai, falling off great heights and down many stairwells, using cars and motorcycles as weapons, wielding a Dragon's Breath rifle in one…
"Tell me the truth: do you find me disgusting?"
Powerfully performed and darkly revealing yet oddly paced and nowhere near as moving as I was wishing it would be, Darren Aronofsky's 'The Whale' gives Brendan Fraser his much deserved chance to shine once more as he plays an obese and reclusive professor grappling with his declining health and the prospects of rekindling a relationship with his daughter he walked out on years prior. Fraser deserves all the accolades for his…
"I want you to shoot her two times right in that face."
Rewatch Review: The 'Fast & Furious' franchise delivers its only spin-off in David Leitch's 'Hobbs & Shaw,' a film heavily improved by the relationship between Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham yet one that's brought down in so many other aspects, from its cartoonish supersoldier nonsense to the way the series entirely jumps the shark now by digging into black tech, elusive government bad guys, and cybernetic enhancements.
It's way too…
"Sorry, boys. We'll fix it and tomorrow we'll hang two of you to make up for this."
Uproarious and consistently classic, Buster Keaton's 'Convict 13' packs in a laugh a minute as a sly swapping of outfits lands Keaton's golfing protagonist in jail and facing execution. The film's both jaw-dropping in its stunts and danger but also smartly comedic, whether it's a sequence of lethally accurate ball and chain acrobatics or the opening where the caddie slyly laughs at Buster…
"These assholes ain't gonna kill themselves."
The gaping void left by Paul Walker's passing is more evident than ever in F. Gary Gray's woefully mediocre 'The Fate of the Furious,' where the series really jumps the shark with its batshit insane sequences that rarely excite thanks to their horrible CGI, such as the "zombie car horde" that makes up one of the worst moments of the film. The Rock is fully back in the fold as a main character here,…
Whether it's a tunnel of love that leads to a black eye or a canoe expedition that's constantly, literally moving downstream, Buster Keaton can't catch a break in 'The Balloonatic,' a surreal and floaty test of skills and love all at once. Buster interacts with the wilderness and its wildlife in casually hilarious ways, including a quiet rabbit hunt that intrigues the attention of two separate and hungry bears. It's not as memorable as some of his other earlier works but it has that constant Keaton magic that's both engaging, funny and incredibly lighthearted, making it a good time overall.
"You'll always be my brother."
James Wan's 'Furious 7' continues the downward trend while offering one of the most emotional endings of the series due to the sad passing of Paul Walker, a rollercoaster of a film with a couple of highlights in a sea of bad acting, an awful script, and overblown setpieces and action sequences that rely too much on CGI to accomplish what they set out to do. This is when the series tosses all logic out…
"Billions? Why don't we just steal that shit?"
The series continues its exciting momentum while beginning its blunt push into the cartoonish nature of its action sequences with Justin Lin's 'Fast & Furious 6,' which still ranks among my top favorites of the franchise. The family returns alongside even more familiar faces and their most formidable foe yet, Luke Evans' Owen Shaw, a man who's always five steps ahead and employs his own squad of racing professionals for their own daring…