Snark, Critic and Pop!

Ah, I remember this film from when I was a kid. Not sure what is worse, the trailer or the movie itself. How could it be bad with such a great cast? Buy the VHS tape from your neighbor’s garage sale and find out…

I saw a movie in theaters this week.  It has been a while.  Killing time between work and a glorious, victorious night of Cactus League softball in the lovely metropolis of Waxhaw, NC was just a bonus.  I actually wanted to see Drive.  The trailer made it seem like a cool, film noir version of Jason Statham’s awesome action picture the Transporter.  Heck, Drive had a 93% positive rating on Rottentomatoes.com!  What could go wrong?

I’ll tell you what went wrong – the unnamed, main character of Drive, listed in the credits simply as “Driver.”  (I suppose an homage to the most famous, anonymous anti-hero, Clint Eastwood’s Spaghetti Western character Man With No Name.)  The Driver is played the film’s star, Academy Award nominee Ryan Gosling.  Gosling is a good actor, but whether the problem is with his choice on how to play the Driver or how the Driver was intended, by gum it just did not work for me.  In fact it made me want to stop the film at multiple points just so I could slap the star in the face. (continue reading…)

It’s Sin City meets Dick Tracy!

The title seems to say it all.  “Bruce Campbell Too Busy Making Love the Bruce Campbell Way to Reprise Role of Elvis in Bubba-Hotep Sequel”   He has better things to do.  Like making love the Bruce Campbell Way, or maybe a making sequel to his 2007 film My Name is Bruce?  I don’t want to get down on Mr. Campbell, as I am a huge fan.  He has entertained me for years, and I will continue to be an eager viewer of his work.  Maybe it is the thought of working with Paul Giamatti that has caused him to turn his back on this film.  It will certainly make it hard for me to watch.  But stepping aside and letting Ron Perlman take his spot boggles my mind.  Being the kind of guy he is, and the roles he typically plays and the fan base he has, I would expect some sort of statement to the effect of “While the thought of reprising this role seems rather exciting, between filming Burn Notice, penning my new book, saving the world from Candarian demons, promoting Old Spice and appearing at Timmy Goldshmidt’s Bar Mitzvah I am unable to commit to the role at this time”  I would rather however hear “Folks, Elvis is back!”