Deep Purple - Deep Purple (1969)

Personnel:
Ritchie Blackmore - guitar
Rod Evans - lead vocals
Nick Simper - bass, backing vocals
Jon Lord - Hammond organ, keyboards, backing vocals
Ian Paice - drums

Deep Purple reached the crossroads in 1969 with the third and final album released by the Mk I lineup, Deep Purple or Deep Purple III. When I say crossroads I'm talking about the album's overall sound. The first part of the record has the psychedelic sound that dominated the first two albums, while the second part consists of heavy hitting hard rock tracks. But the album also experiments with progressive/classical elements too, with string/woodwind instruments being used in the closer "April".

The album coincides with the band itself and what it was going through. There was a struggle between the members about the direction the band wanted to go in, especially guitarist Ritchie Blackmore who wanted to take the band down a hard rock path.

Despite weak album sales, I really like this album. My favorite song on the album is another cover "Lalena", a beautiful ballad done by singer/songwriter Donovan which Deep Purple turns into a progressive rock masterpiece. The album also has a few interesting psychedelic tracks including the opener Chasing Shadows and the second song "Blind" where Jon Lord shows off his mastery of the keyboard.

The second half consists of a few decent rockers, "The Painter", "Why Didn't Rosemary?", and "The Bird has Flown", dominated by the guitar work of Ritchie Blackmore. Deep Purple (1969) offers the best of both worlds when it comes to Deep Purple's sound at the time. For a period of time the band's future was uncertain at this point, but they sure went out with a bang. Bass guitarist Nick Simper and vocalist Rod Evans would be booted from the band and Deep Purple's record label in the United States Tetragrammaton Records would go out of business leaving the surviving members Paice, Blackmore, and Lord strapped for cash. Would Deep Purple survive? Find out on the next album review!!!

Favorite Songs: Blind, Lalena, The Painter, Why Didn't Rosemary, The Bird Has Flown

The Verdict: 4.0

Deep Purple - The Book of Taliesyn (1968)

Personnel
Rod Evans - lead vocals
Ritchie Blackmore - guitar
Nick Simper - bass, backing vocals
Jon Lord - Hammond organ, keyboards, backing vocals, string arrangements on "Anthem"
Ian Paice - drums

The title of the album was based off some works by a famous 6th century English poet named Taliesin. With the success that Shades of Deep Purple had in the United States there was a great deal of pressure put on the band to quickly release a follow up album.

The Book of Taliesyn doesn't stray to far from the bands first album which had a pop rock/psychedelic sound and once again it has lots of cover songs. But this one has a lot more edge, it sounds like the band was trying to break free of their pop rock roots. The album opens with a strange but addictive opener, "Listen Learn Read On", the vocals remind me of an early Pink Floyd song, and it has a dark cryptic vibe to it especially the lyrics but the tight drumming of Ian Paice holds it together.

Deep Purple had a knack for pumping out some great covers and once again they make Neil Diamond's Kentucky Woman their own, this is definitely the "Hush" of the album with the smokey choruses and harmonies. The Book of Taliesyn might be my favorite album from the Mk I lineup, it still has the classic sound that dominated Shades of Deep Purple but the band was beginning to head in a more hard rock direction especially the instrumental track "Wring that Neck" where guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, drummer Ian Paice, and Jon Lord go all out on their instruments, feels like a dress rehersal for the Mk II lineup that would form in the early 70's.

Favorite Songs: Listen Learn Read On, Wring that Neck, Kentucky Woman, River Deep Mountain High

The Verdict: 3.5

Deep Purple - Shades of Deep Purple (1968)

Personnel:
Ritchie Blackmore - guitar
Rod Evans - lead vocals
Nick Simper - bass, backing vocals
Jon Lord - Hammond organ, keyboards, backing vocals
Ian Paice - drums

British rock band Deep Purple's debut album. The album had dismal sales in England, but it had stronger ones in the United States. Compared to Deep Purple's 70's albums, their late 60's material comes off as more pop rock and psychedelic.

Shades of Deep Purple is filled with many cover songs. Four out of the 8 song tracks are covers from bands and artists like The Beatles (Help), Hey Joe (Billy Roberts), Skip James (I'm So Glad), and a song that Deep Purple made their own, Hush by Joe South arguably the best song on the album.

But Deep Purple does a great job of adding their own style to the songs, the band took "Help" from a standard pop rock track and made it feel like a slow progressive rock ballad. Ritchie Blackmore is fantastic on the guitar and John Lords keyboard ingrains Deep Purple's signature sound on the cover songs.

Shades of Deep Purple is an okay album, I'm not really upset with the amount of cover songs on the album but I'm not really a fan of the pop/psychedelic sound on this album. I like a couple of tracks like Hush, And the Address, but the rest of the songs range from above average to forgettable. Deep Purple would experience multiple lineup changes later on and this Mk I lineup would release two more albums before bass guitarist Nick Simper and vocalist Rod Evans were booted from the band leading to the formation of the Mk II lineup, my favorite one.

Favorite Songs: Hush, And the Address, Hey Joe

The Verdict: 3.0

Trailer Park Boys: Countdown to Liquor Day (2009)

Released: September 25, 2009
Director: Mike Clattenburg
Starring: Robb Wells, John Paul Tremblay, Mike Smith, John Dunsworth

Trailer Park Boys was a little Canadian tv show that began in 2001 and ended in 2008. It told the story of a trailer park in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia called Sunnyvale and three characters that lived in the park, Ricky, Julian and Bubbles. Basically the three guys always had elaborate but unusual plans to get rich while breaking the law which had hillarious results for everyone in the trailer park. When the show ended there was a special episode that followed called "Say Goodnight to the Bad Guys" which felt like The Empire Strikes Back. I won't go into much detail about the episode but it setup the plot for this movie which is supposed to mark the end of the Trailer Park Boys according to film director who also directed/created the tv show, Mike Clattenburg.

Before I start the review I'll just say for the record that Trailer Park Boys was and is one of my favorite shows of all time, however I found the first Trailer Park Boys movie called Trailer Park Boys: The Movie (2006) to be very lackluster. Trailer Park Boys on film is one of those ideas that sounds excellent in theory but you don't get that feeling once you see the movie. It had the original cast members, all of the classic TPB's characters but the movie felt like it was missing something that I just can't figure out.

Countdown to Liquor Day is the sequel to "Say Goodnight to the Bad Guys". Ricky, Julian and Bubbles get out of prison, Julian has plans to turn his trailer into a auto body shop, and Ricky is going to try and get his grade 12. But the trio find out things have changed in Sunnyvale.

The old Sunnyvale trailer park is deserted and in chaos, Jim Lahey who was originally the park supervisor built a brand new trailer park next door to Sunnyvale and once again he is sober and off the alcohol. It's kind of depressing to see the old park deserted when Bubbles is the first to arrive, it really does create the feeling that "this is the end". Lahey has been working out and has lost some weight and he's dedicated to his new park, however there is a problem? Lahey is in the process of developing a new sewer system for his park but Julian's trailer which is in old Sunnyvale stands in the way of his new sewer system.

Lahey comes to Julian in open arms originally offering him $1700.00 dollars for his trailer plus a large quanity of Canadian Tire money. He sweetens his deal overtime offering him a brand new trailer and other incentives but Julian will not budge because he does not want to lose his business. Lahey as usual relapses once again and like always he's hillarious, John Dunsworth once again is amazing as Jim Lahey. Eventually Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles decide to rob a bank, and if you're familiar with the Trailer Park Boys tv show you know what will probably go down?

My main problem with this movie was that I feel like this as well as "Say Goodnight to the Bad Guys" were completely unnecessary, the season 7 finale gave the show a good closure, things were going well for all of the characters there wasn't even a need for these follow ups. The movie also in my opinion did not give the series any real closure and the ending had me going "Where's part II."

Ricky, Julian, Bubbles, Jim Lahey and his assistant Randy are great as usual but the other characters that made the show great took a giant backseat, Ray, J-Roc, Phil Collins, Tyrone, Sarah, Lucy. Maybe I'm just upset that Cory and Trevor didn't return for what was supposed to be the end of the Trailer Park Boys. They weren't around in season 7 but it would have been nice to bring them back for just a little nostalgia. My other complaint was that Sunnyvale and Lahey's new park felt like ghost towns, I know Sunnyvale was deserted but even in the new park it felt like it Lahey, Randy, Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles were the only ones in the park.

Countdown to Liquor Day is nothing more then an entire run of the mill Trailer Park Boys season wrapped into a two hour movie, and by run of the mill I mean traditional. It isn't a bad movie in any sense but I felt lied to by the end of the movie, it didn't give the series any closure even though Clattenburg says this is the end of the Trailer Park Boys and it feels like it needs a sequel.

The Verdict: 2.5

Just stick with the tv show. If you want to give this movie a try I recommend that you rent it. I will always love the TPB's though.

Asia - Asia (1982)

Yeah I know, Asia has been reduced to a running joke now. In 1982 Asia released their s/t debut, it was a massive success reaching #1 on the American billboard, going about four times platinum and it spawned the massive hit single, Heat of the Moment. After the success of their debut, the band just couldn't replicate the magic on later releases and today the band has been reduced to being a small bubble in 80's pop culture being referenced on movies like The 40 Year Old Virgin, and shows like South Park. But believe it or not but the band is still around and releasing albums...even though none of them ever matched the sales of their debut.

Asia was a supergroup that consisted of band members from King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, and Yes, to name drop some bands. They could be described as a progressive rock band but not Van der Graaf Generator prog, more of a pop rock/arena rock oriented version. This album isn't that bad, to be honest. I found it to be somewhat enjoyable, the band members progressive rock ties definitely show on the albums sound but overall the s/t has some great pop rock tracks and catchy choruses. My favorite songs on the album are Heat of the Moment, Soul Survivor, Wildest Dreams, and Here Comes the Feeling. It's a good, above-average album, nothing else. I wouldn't really recommend it to anyone except for those who don't really like the prog-rock genre and are curious about the band.

Favorite Songs: Heat of the Moment, Soul Survivor, Wildest Dreams, Here Comes the Feeling

The Verdict: 3.0

Cobb (1994)

Released: December 2, 1994
Director: Ron Shelton
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Robert Wuhl, Lolita Davidovich

Ty Cobb is arguably one of the greatest baseball players in the history of the game. Playing from 1905-1928, he set multiple batting records that lasted years after his career and even with the steroid era his career batting average of .366, and other records still stand. And he did this in the famous "dead-ball era", which consisted of low scoring games that required more strategic play.

Cobb tells the story of up and coming sportswriter, Al Stump who gets his dream job to work on an biography for Ty Cobb in the 1960's. Stump (played by Wuhl) is excited at the opportunity to meet Ty Cobb, but when he goes to his home in Nevada he receives a warm welcome in the form of gunshots. Immediately Cobb isn't the kind of guy Stump was expecting. He's arrogant, selfish, cranky, and eccentric. He spends his days getting drunk and bragging about his baseball career to Stump, Tommy Lee Jones plays Cobb and he's very entertaining to watch on screen.

The film deals with Al Stump and Ty Cobb's uneasy relationship, Ty Cobb wants Stump to tell a great "heroic" story about him, but the more time Stump spends with Cobb, the more he starts to realize that the guy isn't the hero that he thought he was, but Cobb keeps a close eye on him and will not let him write the biography he wants. The film paints Cobb in an interesting light, portraying him as a classic sports villain, there are many scenes in the film where they show flashbacks to Cobb's playing days, sharpening his cleets on the bench, intentionally trying to hurt other players by driving his cleets into their bodies, taunting opposing players and the fans who boo him relentlessly but Cobb enjoys the boo's and taunts soaking it in on the field while people threw garbage at him.

But the film portrays him as a villain beyond the flashbacks. He abuses women, nearly raping a waitress that he picked up at a resteraunt with Stump, and he talks down about other players including Willie Mays for his skin color, and Babe Ruth saying that he ran pretty fast for a fat guy. My favorite scene in the film is when him and Stump are at the resteraunt/venue and Cobb goes on stage, the host asks him what his batting average would be if he decided to return to baseball right now, and he responds in both a realistic/arrogant tone saying he would bat .290. The host asks him why he would only bat .290 against today's pitchers, his response, "Cause I'm fucking 72 years old you ignorant son of a bitch!!!"

The film chronicles the time Al Stump spent with Ty Cobb from the 1960's to his death on July 17, 1961. It is an interesting biography, portraying The Georgia Peach in both a positive but mainly negative light...basically it comes off as "he was a hell of a player, but a total asshole". The film has some interesting flashbacks to Cobb's playing days but there isn't many, the movie mainly focuses on Cobb in the 1960's just before his death. Tommy Lee Jones was a blast to watch in this film but I didn't really like Robert Wuhl as Al Stump. He's more of a comedic actor and he just didn't feel right to me in this role. Whether some of the claims the film makes are true (Cobb murdering a guy during his baseball career but getting off because of his status, or fixing games) the film is an entertaining ride from start to finish carried ont the back of Tommy Lee Jones.

The Verdict: 3.5

Big Star - #1 Record (1972)

1972 was a great year for music. Blue Öyster Cult released their s/t debut album and Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, The Rolling Stones, and David Bowie all released some great material. This was also the year Big Star made their debut, I never really got into Big Star to be honest until the recent death of vocalist/guitarist Alex Chilton on March 17, 2010.

The band brought a unique blend of 70's hard rock with the pop melodies and hamonies from the bands of the 60's like The Beatles, and The Kinks. These melodies really show on songs like The Ballad of El Goodo. The album also includes In the Street which would become the theme song of the hit sitcom That 70's Show, which ran from 1998-2006.

Although it didn't sell much at the time of release, #1 Record is considered one of the best albums of not only the 70's but one of the best albums all time. I really did enjoy the great blend of 70's hard rock and 60's British Invasion music, my only gripes with this album came with "The India Song" and "ST 100/6", both songs are lackluster at best, but this is album is a must listen to for fans of 70's music. Expect some more Big Star album reviews in the near future.

Favorite Tracks: The Ballad of El Goodo, Don't Lie to Me, When My Baby's Beside Me, My Life is Right

The Verdict: 4.0

BioShock 2 - Xbox 360, PS3 (2010)

It's been about three years since BioShock was released. It was critically acclaimed the moment it was released winning multiple game of the year awards and leaving fans wanting more and anticipating the sequel. But does it live up to the hype of the original?

The game is set in Rapture once again, in 1968 about 10 years after the events of the original and shit has hit the fan. Though you're in different locations in the underwater city, the game maintains the exotic 1950's look of the original game. You play as "Subject Delta" one of the original prototype Big Daddies on a quest to find Eleanor, a Little Sister than you lost contact with many years ago.

BioShock 2 maintains the same FPS/RPG gameplay that the original had. As you progress through the game you can upgrade your character by modifying your weapons, augmenting your attributes with gene tonics, and giving him different plasmids/powers like electric shock, and incineration to name a few.

But BioShock 2 brings some new things to the table. Hacking involves precision timing with the a button now. You can either walk up to the machine/safe you want to hack and physically hack it or you can use your hack tool which works as a weapon which you can aim at and fire at a distance. If there is a room for of splicers and there's a security camera around, you can hit the security camera from a distance, hack it and sit back and relax while security robots mop up the room for you. I really liked the new method of hacking, added some new strategy and depth to the gameplay.

Gone are the old revolver, and tommy guns of the first game. You have a new arsenal of weapons that pretty much funtion the same as the old one, you have a rivet gun which works as your mainstay pistol/rifle, the Big Daddy drill as your melee weapon, and the machine gun which resembles a minigun but has the same rate of fire as a tommy gun. The rocket launcher makes it's return as well as the anti-personel/anti-armor rounds, and there are new forms of "trap" ammo for certain weapons which you aim and deploy with such as trip wires, electric wires, proximitity mines and mini deployable turrets. This adds to the strategy and comes in handy when guarding little sisters.

Perhaps my favorite addition to the game is the ability to use plasmids and guns at the same time compared to the first game when you could only use plamids/guns one at a time and had to switch. Left trigger fires plasmids, and the right trigger fires your guns. You can make some pretty sweet combo's, my personal fav is winter storm combined with the big daddy drill.

The gameplay is alot more tough than the first one. Splicers are almost everywhere this time and you have a few new enemies to deal with including the Big Sisters which make the Big Daddies look like a bunch of wimps. But I found the fights and battles to be alot more intense than the original and you will have to use your plasmids more than the first game which you could get through by running and gunning. The fights get really intense when you get a hold of a little sister. The original gave you the choice of harvesting or saving them. Well that choice is there once again but if you choose to save the little sister, you get less ADAM (Money used to buy plasmids/tonics), if you save the little sister you can get more ADAM by escorting them to dead splicers with ADAM and protecting them as they harvest it. This is where shit hits the fan.

Within seconds the eerie music kicks in and splicers are coming at you from all sides. This is where the trap ammo comes in handy. Some might not like this but I found the battles to be very fun. After you escort the little sister to two dead splicers, you have to take them to a little sister hole and that's where you get the choice to save them or harvest them. Adopting and harvesting yields more ADAM than adopting and saving but I enjoy the extra challenge.

With the slight increase in difficulty your health/eve (magic/mana) bar is very small compared to the original even with the increases you can get overtime. At most you can carry only 5-6 health packs/eve refills. BioShock veterans will have no problem dealing with this issue and the way I see it, it makes the game more challenging. On easy difficulty the gameplay was pretty hard and I did have a couple close calls, but that makes the game alot more refreshing.

Fans of the original BioShock won't take long to be acquainted with the sequel as the same visuals and core gameplay are back. There are some new additions and features to the game which add more strategy to your actions. I found the battles to be even better than the first with new enemies and insane battles where you have to actually rely on your plasmids to bail you out instead of your guns. I found the story to be...adequate but it was slightly lacking when compared to the original game. Did BioShock 2 top the original? No, but is still a good game? Oh yeah, it seems to me that 8/10's are the new 2/10, I don't understand the logic to that, but BioShock 2 is a great sequel that fans of the original will enjoy.

The Verdict: B+

Little King's Story - Nintendo Wii (2009)

One of the underrated gems of 2009, this game has ties to the Harvest Moon series with Marvelous Entertainment publishing the game. It blends elements of Pikmin and Harvest moon with a fusion of rpg, simulation, and real-time strategy.

You play as a young boy named Corobo who gets a hold of a crown that gives him powers of charm and persuasion which he can use to boss people around. You inherit a small weak kingdom Alpoko, with one goal, expand your kingdom through conquest and exploration. Your tools come in the form of your charm which you use to recruit "carefree citizens". You can use these carefree citizens and train them in different jobs/professions. Grunts make up the basic military, farmers are useful for digging holes and cutting down certain trees, carpenters build bridges, hunters are good for long range attacks, and there are other professions which you get access to as you progress. The game is very balanced and you can't get through the game by relying on only one profession, you need to have a solid blend of grunts, famers, carpenters and other specialists if you want to expand your kingdom.

But you need money when building your kingdom, you get that through exploration and conquest which gives you some fat loot that you convert to cash. You can use the money to buy more houses (gives you more carefree citizens, plus methods of collecting taxes), and buildings that you use to train citizens in certain professions. You get more buildings as you advance through the game and defeating monsters in certain areas allow you expand your kingdom to different zones/towns.

My favorite aspect of the game is watching your kingdom evolve and expand overtime, defeat a monster and your kingdom will have a party in town center with a trophy of the monster you defeated in the town square. Though the game is called Little King's Story don't let this turn you off because the game has a great playful/tongue and cheek style that will attract all spectrums of gamers. The soundtrack consists of modified classical music from Beethoven.

I said that this game has elements of real time strategy but don't come into this game expecting command and conquer gameplay. The controls and rts aspects of the game are very simplistic from the recruiting of citizens to giving them orders, all done with a simple aim and click with the a and b buttons. Some will enjoy the simplicity while others will hate it.

Overall this is a fantastic game with a great visual style and gameplay that fans of Pikmin and Harvest Moon will enjoy. My real complaints with the game is that aiming and pointing the direction you want to move your forces in is difficult, this isn't really a game breaker but when your battling monsters it can be annoying and may cost you some of your valuable citizens. Another problem is that many times you send the wrong unit at the enemy (sending a famer instead of a grunt, the farmer ends up getting his ass whooped, hitting down on the d-pad allows you to organize the units you want to send in first but in combat you might forget). The simplicity of the rpg and rts aspects of the game might turn off hardcore fans of the genres, but other than that, Little King's Story is a highly addictive game with a great style, a must own for Wii owners and fans of Harvest Moon and Pikmin.

Cing one of the developers of the game went bankrupt recently, and the game had very decent sales barely hitting the 100k mark in North America, Japan, and Europe combined. I really want to see a sequel to this game ( I heard Super Little King's Story is in the works) so if anyone owns a Wii, I recommend you go out and get this game and support the people that developed this gem.

The Verdict: A-

Seven Samurai (1954)

Director: Akira Kurosawa
Starring: Takashi Shimura, Toshiro Mifune

Seven Samurai is easily one of the most celebrated films in history, it was Japan's highest grossing film at the time and it set the standard for filmmaking and storytelling, its influence continues to show in later movies such as The Magnificent Seven (1960) which used the same plot structure but it was a western set in Mexico with gunslingers.

The story is pretty simple by today's standard but in the 1950's it was ahead of its time. Set in Feudal Japan, a defenseless farming village has been harassed and put under constant stress for years by a large group of bandits, about 40 of them. Desperate and tired of the bloodshead, the village makes a decision to send some villagers to a nearby city to find and recruit samurai to fight back, since they're very poor from constant attacks, their only currency is rice. Things don't go well for the poor group as they're turned down left and right by samurai and mocked/humiliated by the city dwellers because of their poverty. Their luck changes when they encounter an wise aging samurai named Kambei, who agrees to help them and in the process he helps recruit more samurai.

The first half of the movie involves the recruiting of the seven samurai, six are recruited originally but a seventh on tags along that technically isn't a samurai, but he is one of the key characters of the movie, Kikuchiyo played by Toshiro Mifune . Each samurai has their own skills, traits and personalities, a classic recurring theme that you will find in many action movies of the past and present. You will have your favorites but they're all great characters that are well acted and each bring their own flare to the film.

The second half of the film is the samurai and villagers preparing the defenses and of course the inevitable battle against the bandits. Not only do the samurai have to prepare the denfeses and train the villagers to fight, but they must deal with the tensions/stereotypes that the villagers have for them which Mifune's character sums up with a brilliant speech that I won't ruin.

The acting in this film is top notch. Toshiro Mifune, and Takashi Shimura (Kambei) dominate the screen but the remaining characters all have their moments especially the samurai, Heihachi is great at keeping the defenders morale high, Kyūzō is the silent and wise but deadly swordsman of the seven, Katsushirō is the young rookie samurai with great ambition, Gorōbei is the archer, and Shichirōji is Kambei's right hand man and a savy reliable veteran. Even the villagers have their moments and there are a few great characters among them, Rickichi, the young hothead who originally suggests defending the village and fighting back, and Yohei, the older more fearful villager who has some great moments of comic relief to ease the tension. A few minor complaints is that the villager characters take a back seat in the second half of the film and the bandits get little to no screen time, and they are treated like one dimensional villains

Seven Samurai has some fantastic action sequences near the end especially but, this is not an action movie even though its influence on future action/drama films was huge. This is a three hour epic, and it does drag at the first half of the movie but the second half really makes up for it, the soundtrack is very simplistic but beautiful and it adds to the suspense really well. The cinematography is great for the 1950's, the night time scenes were some of my favorite parts in the movie, as well as the classic battle in the rain sequence. I appreciate the detail Kurosawa put into the movie with the village scenery, the characters, the storytelling, and the battle sequences.

Its influence on later movies was immense, The Dirty Dozen, Oceans Eleven, any movie that involved the assembling of a rag-tag crew all owe their respect to Seven Samurai. This movie is easily one of those films you have to watch before you die, but be prepared to invest some time into it.

The Verdict: 5.0

The Wild Bunch (1969)

Director: Sam Peckinpah
Starring: William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan, Edmond O'Brien, Warren Oates, Jaime Sánchez, Ben Johnson

The Wild Bunch stands out from your classic westerns like The Magnificent Seven, the fearless heroes with great morals and ethics saving the day. Set in the early 1900's, The Wild Bunch tells the story of a rag-tag crew of gunslingers struggling to stay together and survive in the changing industrial world that has no need for them anymore.

William Holden plays Pike Bishop, leader of the Wild Bunch. After a botched robbery attempt in Texas, the remaining survivors of the bunch regroup in Mexico in the middle of a revolution, they run into Mexican warlord named Mapache who offers them $10,000 in gold to steal a US army shipment of guns and ammo. Meanwhile Deke Thorton (Played by Robert Ryan), former friend/companion of Pike's leads a group of bounty hunters trying to find and kill the bunch.

Director Sam Peckinpah was out to make a statement in this film going against all the cliche's that previous westerns had. The Wild Bunch have little to no morals, all they care about is money. The opening scene with the bank robbery establishes this, with one of the members harassing a woman in the bank sexually, and a few of them use civilians as human shields to escape the carnage. This movie is violent, savage and ugly with little heroics. One of the members is shot in the face during the escape and virtually blind, unlike other westerns where the leader decides to save him with the "leave no man behind attitude, Pike puts the poor soul out of his misery."

The major theme of the movie though is the end of the "old age of gunslingers/mercenaries". The setting in this movie was fascinating with the 1900's. Machine guns, automobiles, pump action shotguns and grenades make appearances. One of Mapache's military advisors is a German general who is interested in gathering some intelligence on American weapons. There is a particular scene at the beginning of this movie where some have a few large scorpions and army of ants encircled, the scorpions representing the old gunslingers, and the ants representing the new modern era which outnumbers and tramples the scorpions.

The Wild Bunch is a fascinating movie that stands out from the classic western. Despite dragging at a few parts, this film is excellent and a must watch for western aficionados. It has some great acting, and the action scenes are well shot and executed, I'll go as far to say that the opening/closing action sequences are some of the best in the genre's history. I would have love to see Deke Thorton be fleshed out more because it seemed the director was trying to compare him to Pike in that they were both gunslingers of a dying age.

The Verdicts: 4.0

Citizen Kane (1941)

Released: May 1, 1941
Director: Orson Welles
Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten, Dorothy Comingore, Everett Sloane, Ray Collins, George Coulouris, Agnes Moorehead, Paul Stewart, Ruth Warrick, Erskine Sanford, William Alland

Originally a box office flop, failing to recoup its production. Citizen Kane had a re-emergence in the 1950's and today it is hailed by many as the greatest movie ever made. Orson Welles was a triple threat, producing, directing, and starring in the film. It also starred a variety of rookie actors/actresses at the time.

Citizen Kane is a story about the rise and fall of Charles Foster Kane, played by Welles. Originally the son of a poor family that ran a boarding house, Charles life is changed when it was discovered that his families boarding house was sitting on one of the largest gold mines in the United States. His mother sends him to live with a wealthy banker to have him educated and protected from his abusive father. Kane receives his fortune at the age of 25 and he takes over a struggling newspaper chain and specializes in "yellow journalism" a method of blowing stories out of proportions to sell papers, soon he becomes a heavy hitter and an American icon in the media.

The film opens in the form of multiple news stories that highlight the highs and lows of Charles Foster Kane leading up to his death. On his deathbed the last words he mutters is "Rosebud", the film then takes off with a journalist trying to investigate the meaning of the word "Rosebud", the journalist speaks with friends and associates of Kane that tell the story of the man through flashbacks starting with a young optimistic Kane taking over the New York Inquirer to his last days spent in his massive unfinished palace Xanadu.

Orson Welles is fantastic as Charles Foster Kane. The way his character ages and changes throughout the film was brilliant combined with his powerful iconic voice. Like Kane's character the film has that grand sensational feeling to it that makes you wonder if Kane was a self-centered spoiled jerk, or a lonely man trying to reclaim his youth that he lost at a young age. This film has many characters but Charles Foster Kane is the center of this film, the supporting cast was good considering that most of the cast consisted of first time actors/actresses but nothing to write home about.

The film making is what made Citizen Kane. The storytelling, cinematography, the lighting, the sound...was ahead of its time from the deep focus camera work, to the story being told through flashbacks through different points of view.


Examples of deep focus used in the film.

Overall Citizen Kane was a good story with incredible cinematography, is it the greatest movie ever made? Hard to say right now, but it certainly makes a case. I found the supporting cast to be good but overshadowed by Welles, but the film is about Charles Foster Kane told through these characters.

The Verdict: 4.5

Alpha Dog (2006)

Released: January 12, 2007
Director: Nick Cassavetes
Starring: Emile Hirsch, Justin Timberlake, Bruce Willis, Shawn Hatosy, Olivia Wilde, Sharon Stone, Ben Foster, Amanda Seyfried, Anton Yelchin

Alpha Dog is a crime drama based on a pretty recent event, in 2000 a 15 year old Nicholas Marlowitz was kidnapped and murdered by a group of drug-dealers that were barely in their 20's at the time. The characters have different names in the film but the situation and circumstances are still the same. The film revolves around Johnny Truelove, a successful drug dealer in California who is living the high life, unfortunately one of his close associates owes him a couple thousand dollars but refuses to pay up. Things snowball from their and the associate ends up trashing Johnny's house. Johnny and his crew retaliate by kidnapping his younger brother and holding him ransom until he pays off his debt.

The kidnapping is portrayed as innocent and light hearted fun at first but things snowball from there and end tragically for everyone involved. The sad reality is that this incident was over $1,200 dollars. The film tries to be a powerful one but it comes up short most of the time, despite the all-star cast of young actors, Bruce Willis, Sharon Stone, and a pop star, the acting was very dull and lackluster, especially Emile Hirsch. Bruce Willis and Stone were good but their roles were small and they could have used a little more screentime.

It is a decent film at best, but you're not missing much.

The Verdict: 3.0

Carlito's Way (1993)

Released: November 10, 1993
Director: Brian De Palma
Starring: Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller, Luis Guzmán, Joseph Siravo, John Leguizamo

Brian de Palma is known for his crime epics, from Scarface to The Untouchables. Brian de Palma and Pacino teamed up again in the early 90's with another epic, this time set in 1970's New York. Al Pacino plays Carlito Brigante a former heavy hitter in the criminal underworld who has just been released from prison, but this isn't a Tony Montana 2.0, Carlito's main quest is to go legit and save up some money so he can high tail it out of New York, but throughout the journey Carlito finds out that he can't escape his past.

Since his role in Scent of a Woman Pacino's roles onward have felt identical and stale from the raspy voice to the "hooah" catchphrase but he brought a down to Earth personality in this role. The film had me rooting for Carlito and his struggle to be free of the streets of New York all the way to the end. Sean Penn is great as Carlito's Lawyer/friend David Kleinfeld, which was main inspiration for Ken Rosenberg in GTA: Vice City. There were some great moments like the Grand Central escalator shootout, however the movie was lacking in the remaining supporting cast. I've never been a fan of John Leguizamo and the remaining mob characters were very lackluster and made random out of nowhere appearances without any real buildup or introductions despite a small bit part from Viggo Mortensen. With the exception of Pacino and Penn this is a crime epic lite, still worth a viewing though.

The Verdict: 3.5

Brazil (1985)

Released: February 22, 1985
Director: Terry Gilliam
Starring: Jonathan Pryce, Kim Greist, Michael Palin, Robert De Niro, Katherine Helmond, Bob Hoskins, Ian Holm

I've been a big fan of this film since I first saw it late night on the movie channel last year. The film was very strange but it had that "I've got to keep watching this" quality and charm to it. It's a dystopian black comedy heavily influenced and inspired by the book 1984, the settings are grim, plain, dark and very bureaucratic but it has that light-hearted/comedic approach that gives the movie a unique combination and allows it to stand out from Orwell's own vision.

The acting in this film is very good with Jonathan Pryce playing the low level bureaucrat Sam Lowry, he hates his work, and he hates his life, dreaming of a life of freedom and easy living in the countryside. But at the same time he is a slacker who is completely out of touch with reality because of the system he was born in. Robert DeNiro makes a suprising appearance as Archibald "Harry" Tutle, a small part but a big symbollic one at the same time.

Visually the movie is a fantastic from the 1984 visuals to the Monty Python esq humor. Though the love story bits weren't that good, everything else about this film was brilliant...a flawed masterpiece.

DO NOT WATCH the love conquers all 94 minute version though.

The Verdict: 4.5

(500) Days of Summer - (2009)

Released: July 17, 2009
Director: Marc Webb
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Zooey Deschanel

A very good romantic comedy, one of the better ones out there. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is fantastic and Zooey Deschanel is cute as a button. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Tom Hansen, an aspiring architect who has to settle for a job as a greeting card writer. His view on true love has been greatly influenced by his favorite band, The Smiths and the Dustin Hoffman film, The Graduate which is used as the main symbol throughout the movie.

The relationship between Levitt and Zooey Deschanel is fantastic from start to finish. You get the feeling that their love is real instead of the "this is cheesy I'm going to cover my eyes" type reaction that some will get from other love movies. Ever since The Lookout I've been a huge fan of Joseph Gordon-Levitt, his role in G.I. Joe managed to get audiences and critics going "this movie sucked but that Levitt guy was pretty good in it", and now with (500) Days of Summer, it looks like Levitt is on the way to becoming a big talent in the 2010's. Who knows.

The Verdict: 4.0