Bad Times At The El Royale (壞事大飯店) is an 2018 film. The movie stars Jeff Bridges, Cynthia Erivo, Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, Cailee Spaeny, Lewis Pullman, Nick Offerman and Chris Hemsworth.
The movie takes place on a hotel that sits half in California and the other half in Nevada. The hotel is called El Royale. On this one special night, a confluence of characters come together with their own dark secrets. A priest, a singer, a secret agent, and a rebel. When you put them all together, bad things happen. Plus, on top of that, the hotel also has a huge secret.
The movie was slow at first, but once the bad things start to happen, it spirals into action. The timeline jumps from present to flashbacks episodes. The acting was top notch, but the story was definitely really hard to follow.
Kingsman: The Golden Circle (金牌特務:機密對決) is an 2017 film. The movie stars Colin Firth, Taron Egerton, and Mark Strong. The film adds Julianne Moore, Halle Berry, Pedro Pascal, Elton John, Channing Tatum, and Jeff Bridges to its supporting cast.
The films starts out with the Kingsman getting blow to pieces, suggesting a mole. Eggsy find his way to the US to enlist the help of the Statesman. Harry was not killed and was rescued by the Statemen, the US counterpart to the Kingsman. When they join forces, they head to stop another world usurper. Can they make it back in time to stop the madness?
This film was like episode two. It continues Eggsy's evolution from street thug to socialite. However, you can take the kid out of thuglife, but the thuglife lives on in him.
I liked the movie, but once you've seen it once, its hard to watch again. I've skipped it the last few times. I caught this for the first via Redbox.
Hell or High Water (赴湯蹈火) is an 2016 film. The movie stars Chris Pine, Ben Foster, and Jeff Bridges. The supporting cast include Gil Birmingham, Marin Ireland, and Katy Mixon.
Chris Pine amd Ben Foster play two brothers that rob banks. Jeff Bridges plays the cop on their tales. Its a cops and robbers chase and who will win. The brothers both have their problems and the cop is weeks from retirement.
This movie was excellent. Robbers rob a bank, the cops go after them. Simple? No way, not this era where there's always a sentimental reason someone choses the life of crime. This movie makes you feel for the robbers. That they are good for robbing banks. Giving it to the man right?
Beyond that point, Chris Pine, Ben Foster, and Jeff Bridges were amazing in this film. The brother dynamics and the cop breaking the crime down to chase them. Excellent.
R.I.P.D. (降魔戰警) is an 2013 film. The movie stars Jeff Bridges and Ryan Reynolds. The supporting cast include Kevin Bacon, Mary-Louise Parker, and Stephanie Szostak. James Hong and Marisa Miller are the shells (see below for more info). The movie was not that successful at the box office and showed up on many list for flops of the 2013 summer movie season.
Ryan Reynolds plays Nick Walker, a married police officer of the Boston Police Department. A sting to bring down a known drug dealer, he falls from 4 stories high to his death. On his way to the after life, he's given a chance to join the Rest In Peace Department (R.I.P.D.). Nick is partnered with a R.I.P.D. from the Civil War era, Roycephus "Roy" Pulsipher, played by Jeff Bridges. Together, they are to bring back the souls that slipped through the cracks back in onto Earth. However, when they are on Earth, they are no longer the people they use to be, they are given new shells. Nick is a old Chinese fellow while Roy is a hot blonde.
This movie had its faults, but it was entertaining. I had to pause it multiple times, but whenever free time became available, I finished it over a 2.5 day period via HBO VOD. You have this absurd concept of the afterlife and that the R.I.P.D. is set up like a police television serial. I didn't give away the plot behind Nick's back story being a major part of the story.
No sequels for this one. I think trying to build the next M.I.B. isn't going to happen.
But again, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. If it comes on while I am washing my dishes, I wouldn't change it.
The Men Who Stare at Goats (超異能部隊) is an 2009 film. The film stars George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor, and Kevin Spacey.
Ewan McGregor is a journalist that follows George Clooney around trying to write a story about the US Army's program for psychic powers. Clooney goes to IRAQ because he felt a vision tell him to go there. When they get to IRAQ, they try to camp out. They than get captured by criminals that want to sell them to terrorist. During the exchange, they manage to escape with another captive who takes them to his house. From there, they find their way to a underground psychic company doing experiments.
The movie was a trip. I didn't know what to expect from one scene to the next. Because of this, I wasn't all that engaged and fell asleep a few times. The story was unique but not all that interesting.
True Grit (真實的勇氣) is a 2010 film. The movie stars Hailee Steinfeld, Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, and Barry Pepper. The film was directed by famed siblings, the Coen brothers. This is the second movie adaption of an 1968 novel by Charles Portis. The first adaption starred the legendary John Wayne from 1969.
Hailee Steinfeld plays a 14 year old lass named Mattie Ross. Mattie's father was murder by Tom Chaney, played by Josh Brolin. Seeking justice, Mattie enlist the aid of an U. S. Marshal, Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn played by Jeff Bridges for $50. A large sum in the 1880s. However, a Texas Ranger, LaBoeuf played by Matt Damon, finds out about Mattie and asked for Roosters help to help bring in Chaney for the reward money. They start their quest into Native American territority for Chaney, who's joined "Lucky" Ned Pepper gang, played Barry Pepper. The quest starts and eventually, there's a conclusion that isn't all that happy.
The was a pretty good movie. Long, slow, but full of intensity when things started up. The character development of Mattie, Rooster, and LeBoeuf was steady and not overwhelming. Once the action started, it was a ride. This may be the best Western I've seen in quite some time. The only westerns that pop to mind are Tombstone and Dances With Wolves.
Another awesome thing about True Grit was the dialogue. Simply Amazing. The way it flowed was as if they were from the 1880s. The dialogue was not modernized for today. That's something that Zhong Guo's "Gu Dai" films do very well. Keeping the language of the era. In True Grit, it felt as if they were from the 1880. The expressions were awesome. I need to work that vocabulary back into my communication patterns.
Even in this western, there some Asians! Rooster stays in the supply room of a Chinese man whom ones a General Supply store. Nice! I like how Rooster runs into a bunch of hanging ducks when he's trying to get dressed.
Up to today, Iron Man is the #1 movie for the year 2008. It'll most likely be surpassed by Indy 4 in the next 2 weeks. Its very likely, in 4 weeks, The Dark Knight.
I was hoping that Iron Man would be #1 for the year of 2008. Highly unlikely now. Other movies for the year have yet to come out. Harry 6 might have a chance at the end of the year.
On the international front, Iron Man is #2, but will probably end the year in #4, after Indy, Batman, and Harry.
About 1.5 years ago, I decide to stop collecting comics. I've been cold turkey since that blog entry of April 2007. My last quicken entry for comic books was February 2007.
However, I went back to Frank & Sons this week and spend $99 on all the Iron Man comics I could find since than, plus a Iron Man Mighty Mugg.
Iron Man has been very popular since Civil War and the Iron Man Movie propelled it outta space. Recently, the last five years, there have been 5 one-offs of the main series and just a few months ago, they started a 2nd Iron Man series. Can the Iron Man fanbase carry all these titles? Does this dilute and main Iron Man series? Does Iron Man demand the kind of attention of a Spidey, Supes, or Bats?
I became an Iron Man fan in 1981 when I read a beat up Iron Man 149. The cover had Iron Man flying towards the eye of doom. It drew me and I was hooked and an Iron Man fan for life. I've actively collected Iron Man since January 1986 with Iron Man 205. Since than, I've amassed a few Iron Man issues. Dating back to the TOS stuff. I am prolly missing about 30 or so issues now. Mostly from the 60s. Since I don't go monthly like I did in the 90s and 80s, I have a handful of missing issues in the 2000s era. But only a handful.
Comic books are not normally very PC and in the case of Iron Man, the archenemy is a villian by the name The Mandarin. Through the years, I cringe when The Mandarin appears. Why? Because of how racist the stories are. I have a bad feeling, but The Mandarin will appear in an Iron Man film. I am sad that we're going to see lots of Chinese Stereotypes like honor, face, blah, blah... The best Iron Man story arcs do not ever revolve around The Mandarin, but they keep bringing him back. Over and Over, bad stories, bad stereotypes, etc!
My 2 favorite creative teams on the series are Denny O'Neil/Mark Bright and David Michelinie/Bob Layton. Any arc that Michelinie/Layton did were awesome.
I go back to the West Coast Avengers Vol 2, 1-20 years with very fond memories. Iron man 200-208 was great. Doomquest, demon in the bottle, armor wars, heroes reborn, heroes return. extermis (non mandarin storyline). All great arcs! Non have the mandarin. nuff said
