Category: Uncategorized

“All right you got a job. You clean toilets or cut grass or whatever the hell it is you do. This is what I do. I shoot people in the face.” Brick Oodie

Info from: IMDB
The Baytown Outlaws (2012)
R | 1h 38min | Action, Comedy, Crime

When three redneck brothers agree to help a woman save her godson from an abusive stepfather, they become targets on the run from an odd cast of characters.

Director: Barry Battles
Writers: Barry Battles, Griffin Hood
Stars: Billy Bob Thornton, Eva Longoria, Thomas Brodie-Sangster

This film is for uncomfortable silences with dates for your daughter as you’re waiting for her to get ready. It’s a Jim Dandy way to get the message across that you see the wisdom in violence and you will do no more than chuckle after he’s been killed. I’ll have to keep it around for when my two girls start dating.

“The Baytown Outlaws’ is no Tarantino film. Still, it clearly aspires to be with the subject matter, twangy bass string guittar solos, and the like. For such poor acting and script, I was impressed so many famous actors are in it: Billy Bob Thornton, Eva Langoria, and Thomas Brodie-Sangster all grace the screen. As I said earlier, there may be appeal with very young boys, say 10-15. You know the ones who only recently put down their cap guns and bows and arrows.

Beyond that I see very little that would hold the long term attention of Tarantino fans. Thornton is frightfully bad as the boss, that needs to be said. It didn’t get me interested in “Bad Santa 2” he’s filming now. For bad acting, almost no believability (for example where are the cop cars?) and little originality, the film lost some points with me. I don’t recommend it.

It might have done better as an HBO series where the characters had time to develop and the audience could care over time. As a full length movie, it’s a B movie, I don’t care who they cast in it. I aim to promote and sell people on original ideas. For example, “10 Cloverfield Lane.” I’m getting weary as a critic go to see the same movies played with different title again and again. There are a few moments that are memorable, (see below.

This short scene is my favorite gag, a near success at a Tarantino moment:

This is a trip through the jungles of India adults and children will never forget. Disney nailed it with this one.

I liked the cartoon from 1959 and I figured this might be boring. I was happily wrong! This is one of the best family movies I’ve seen in a long time, probably since Disney’s all animated feature, “Meet the Robinsons.”

The Jungle Book is a 2016 American fantasy adventure film directed by Jon Favreau, written by Justin Marks and produced by Walt Disney Pictures. Based on Rudyard Kipling’s eponymous collective works and inspired by Walt Disney’s 1967 animated film of the same name,[[6] The Jungle Book is a live-action/CGI film that tells the story of Mowgli, an orphaned human boy who, guided by his animal guardians, sets out on a journey of self-discovery while evading the threatening Shere Khan. The film introduces Neel Sethi as Mowgli and also features the voices of Bill Murray, Ben Kingsley, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong’o, Scarlett Johansson, Giancarlo Esposito and Christopher Walken.

The best part of this film for me was of course the animals. Out of all those animals, I liked the wolves best. We have a longstanding tradition in the family of going around and everyone telling our favorite part. My daughters liked different animals from me so I imagine many animals appeal to many different viewers. The wolves were amazing.

Scarlett Johannsen is an incredible boa constrictor. In fact all the characters are voiced incredibly well. My wife and I had fun figuring out who the voices were. Some were easier to detect than others. They spared no expense in the casting.

The film was directed by Jon Favreau. When I discovered this I got excited for him the way you do when you hear a high school friend has done something. I loved him in “Swingers” and “Chef.” To me it’s a sign of a great artist that can act in films like that and also direct an amazing film like this under the Disney banner.

I recommend this one highly.

This is a kind of negative review regarding the topic. Be warned. I’m not a big fan of war and war movies. Figure that in when you read this review. “American Sniper” has some interesting psychological features but at its core, it’s just a war movie. The trailer told me all I needed to know. It WAS the trailer and not much more. It is plain speaking story telling about a sniper who holds the record for kills on tour.

American Sniper is a 2014 American biographical war film[6] directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Jason Hall. It is loosely based on the memoir American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History (2012) by Chris Kyle, with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice. The film follows the life of Kyle, who became the deadliest marksman in U.S. military history with 255 kills from four tours in the Iraq War, 160 of which were officially confirmed by the Department of Defense. While Kyle was celebrated for his military successes, his tours of duty took a heavy toll on his personal and family life. The film stars Bradley Cooper as Kyle and Sienna Miller as his wife Taya, with Luke Grimes, Jake McDorman, Cory Hardrict, Kevin Lacz, Navid Negahban and Keir O’Donnell in supporting roles. (Wikipedia)

Director Clint Eastwood stands way far back and lets us decide for ourselves the morality of the man. Personally, I would have liked him to stand a little closer and make some sort of statement showing even a hint of his judgement call. This film is intense. A small significant particular is that there is no background music in the film. There is a lot a violence. It reminds me of the Bush song, “There’s no sex in your violence.” The fact that Chris Kyle holds some sort of record for kills while on tour as a sniper is appalling to me without ever watching the movie. Why Clint are you glamorizing this guy by making him a movie hero for millions of Wal-Mart shoppers? (tongue in cheek sarcasm there.)

This film is the highest grossing war film of all time and Clint Eastwood’s highest grossing film by far. It grossed 340 million in 2012 making it the highest grossing film for that year: another accolade. That’s incredible but why should we as film critics celebrate that war kills sell? I enjoyed parts of this movie and I think I know what Eastwood was trying to do. He was trying JUST tell the story without sugar coating. I think it could have used a little more creative “umph” to deliver a message or two about whether Kyle should be celebrated or not. He goes around in the movie a hero and has speaking engagements based on the sensationalism. How many people really want to hear a sniper talk? Think of all the blood spilled because he joined the military. I am a pacifist and make no apologies for that fact.

Getting back to telling the real story: Kyle’s wife tells him on the first break when he is at home that she wants him to spend more time with family and friends. He appears shell shocked an distant. He just can’t seem to get it together apart from war. I’d like to thank Eastwood for that but I think he could have gone miles further in showing that war is often an unnecessary hell we participate on purpose. Is the success of this film indicative of our empathy for Kyle or our lust for war movies? I’d say it’s a fine line.

There are scenes where Kyle’s blood pressure is out of control. At other times he is just “off.” In the end he dies at a firing range. Poetic justice? For trying to make war material look cool and for failing to say something as a director about murder and war, it loses 3 stars. See it and tell me what you think. If you saw it did you find it entertaining? If so why.

These films are among my favorites. Some have a quick and dirty audio review from my podcast & I’m adding more http://www.rileyonfilm.com/rileys-great-100-films/