AlvinWaltonIsMyBoy

One of my friends recommended it to me a long time ago, and my local dvd shop never had it. Glad I finally got to check it out. Mos Def was pretty amazing as well. Strong stuff. Glad the movie year has ended on a high note. Going to check out Nocturnal Animals and Manchester by the Sea this week. I expect to like both, but not sure if they can top Moonlight. That one left a mark.

The Woodsman. This is an older film from 2004 that they just put on Netflix. Kevin Bacon plays a pedophile who gets out of prison after 12 years and tries hard not to fall back into his old habits. Bacon absolutely crushes this role, the best work of his career. There are scenes here that are as compelling as any that you will find in any film. Kudos to the filmmakers for this one. Their restraint really elevated this material, which could've easily gone off the rails considering the subject matter. The supporting cast is strong. Kyra Sedgwick acts opposite her long time husband, and Mos Def brings the thunder as a cop assigned to keep an eye on Bacon. Michael Shannon makes an appearance as well. Overall, an awesome flick.

Man, that trailer does not inspire confidence. It's a shame. I was hoping for a bounce back from Ridley and the franchise.

All 16 games of this season were meaningful. Kudos to our team for putting together better back to back seasons than we've had in forever, no matter what our schedule looked like. Let's go get one more.

Moonlight. Most beautiful film I've seen in a long time. I will be surprised if it doesn't win Best Picture. Heartbreaking, riveting stuff. 10/10. Don't miss this one.

How come I always have people visiting my profile, but they never send me a message or say anything? That's kinda like knocking on the door of my house and then running away. Do y'all just wanna swing in to see what zipcode I live in? Or how old I am? Y'all some creepy ass dudes.

You gotta see Enemy. It's amazing, and you would love it. Especially if you dig David Lynch, which I know you do. I liked Prisoners, but Enemy was the flick that made me a true believer.

Villeneuve is the man. Gonna be the best flick of 2017. So pumped.

Merry ****ing Christmas.

Boom.

Happy Friday everyone!

I meant to post this earlier in the week to honor the late, great Sean Taylor.

Denzel directed this joint. And this is Scorsese's new joint. Giggidy,

I saw Allied tonight. I'm a sucker for spy movies, so when one comes out with Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard, I'm gonna check it out. Cotillard refuted rumors that her and Pitt were touching each others butts during production, as many people thought this was the reason that Brad and Angelina's ship crashed on the rocks. But I digress. Robert Zemeckis has directed such classics as Back to the Future and Forrest Gump. So the execution here was capable, but the movie never really got off the ground. There was some cool cat and mouse stuff going early, but I thought the movie kinda fell apart after they left Casablanca and got married. It almost felt like a scorned lover flick after that, and you could easily replace the 'your wife is a spy' plotline with a 'cheating spouse' one. The main issue I had with the plot was that Pitt was given more information than he had to work for. In the meeting where his superiors tell him they think his wife is a spy, there's a lot of interesting info as to why they think that she is. It might've worked better if Pitt had figured that stuff out on his own, doing cool spy stuff, instead of having it read to him by an old man in an office. I certainly won't say the movie was boring. I can watch Brad Pitt act in most anything as long as he's not aging in reverse. The chemistry between the leads just seemed to lack any real punch, and the surrounding elements came off a bit flat. With Zemeckis at the helm, I had hoped for a better outcome. Still, there are worse things to see at the movies right now. I wouldn't go as far as recommending it, but I wouldn't say to avoid it either.

I had a few more flicks I didn't get to on my Halloween list, so we decided to grab one tonight on Hulu. Usually when you start digging around the fringe to find some good flicks that you might've overlooked, you get burned fairly often. Or you get a lot of movies that leave you with...meh. I've just been luckier this year for some reason. I went digging and found some gold more often than not. House of the Devil is a great horror film that relies mostly on atmosphere rather than cheap scares. There are some convenient tropes here, but most felt necessary and well executed. Trying to find faults here felt more like nit picking than solid criticism. The patience shown in the directing here is a thing of beauty. Allowing shots to linger or scenes to play out, without feeling the pressure to move on to the next thing. A lot of the film is simply following a girl as she investigates a house where she has been hired to babysit. It's dark, moody, and just unnerving. Plenty of 'will you please just turn on some lights and stay in one room!' kinda stuff. I highly recommend this film. It's a crossover piece for me. I think it would appeal to fans of classic horror and also to ones that only like the contemporary stuff. A good time indeed.

I saw Arrival this weekend, and thought it was great. The earlier reviews on here are pretty spot on, so I won't repeat what has already been said. The director is one of the best working today, and I am excited to see his new take on Blade Runner. I did find this article about the guy who wrote the screenplay, and the process he went through to get Arrival to the screen. It's got plenty of spoilers, so don't read it until after you've seen it. It's all kinds of great if you like nerdy **** like I do. http://thetalkhouse.com/how-i-wrote-arrival/

RIP Sharon Jones. I saw her open for Hall & Oates earlier this year.

The 'eating' motion that Elliot does after every run is obnoxious and played out. I hope someone breaks his jaw.

The Honeymoon Killers. Again, I went deep digging for my Halloween movie fix this year. I was surprised that I hadn't heard of or seen this 1970 film, which is based on a true story. It follows a con man and a bitter nurse as they run a money scam on several, unsuspecting women. This is the best film I've seen in a while. It's a classic. To be clear, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who doesn't like classic films. They would most likely find it to be boring and tedious. But if you can handle the slow burn, it's certainly worth it. The black and white photography is incredible. The performances are outstanding. And when the time comes to 'go there', they do. And they keep going. I found myself saying 'holy ****' under my breath several times in the third act. Riveting stuff. I think it's more of a thriller than a true horror film. It was in the drama section at my dvd haunt, which I think probably fits as well. But make no mistake, there are scenes here that will crawl into your bones. It has a solid 95% on RT, and for good reason. It's a true piece of art.

I'm self employed living in NC as well. I'm a liberal, but Obamacare has been an absolute disaster in our state. I'm grateful that people with pre-existing conditions can get the coverage they need, but I see and hear of many stories like yours from my family and friends. Under no circumstances should any family have to bear these kinds of financial burdens for healthcare. It's criminal.