From Stud to Dud - Part II

So last time I discussed younger actors and how they decide to ruin their blossoming career with bad choices for many different reasons.  Now I would like to discuss seasoned actors, veterans of the cinema and how they get to the end of their career just to be in every movie that is offered to them.  Before we start I want to say Samuel L. Jackson is an exception because he has always done any movie he has been asked to be in so he is just trending the same pattern he has always gone.  In addition to that he is known for his cheesiness so it works for him.  Let's talk about a few guys it doesn't work for.

One that has really bothered me has been Robert De Niro.  In 1974 he started his amazing career playing young Vito Corleone in the Godfather Part II.  Yes he had some other movies before that like Bang the Drums Slowly and Mean Streets but he shined in this role.  He won the Best Supporting Actor Award at the Oscars for that performance.  After that he had a host of movies made excellent by his great performances.  There was Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, Raging Bull (which he won his second Oscar, this time for Best Actor), The Untouchables, Goodfellas, Awakenings, Backdraft, Cape Fear, A Bronx Tale, Casino, Heat, Sleepers, Ronin, Analyze This, Men of Honor, and Meet the Parents.  Somebody try to tell me that isn't an amazing career.  He hit it all besides romance.  He had drama, suspense, action, horror, and even comedy.  But now let's look at the problem. Between 1974-2000 he was in 46 movies with all those above gems included in that time period.  Since 2001-present he has done 23 movies.  Now the pace isn't necessarily the problem in this situation, it’s the quality.  I dare you to name me one good quality movie he has made after 2000.  You might say Meet the Fockers which was ok but you already had the first one which was better.  Same goes for Analyze That.  I named 17 movies I thought were good out of his 46 since 1974.  That’s about a 37% success ratio.  Now what about the last 10 years?  If I give in and say 2 were good (which is more than I want to) he has about a 9% success ratio.  What does this all mean?  STOP MAKING BAD MOVIES!!!!  It is frustrating seeing a quality actor throw away his integrity.  Let's move on to another I would consider great.

Anthony Hopkins is one of my top actors.  I love his stage presence.  What I don't love is his lack of filter on picking bad movies to be in.  He had a nice stretch where he had Silence of the Lambs (which he won the Best Actor Award at the Oscars), Dracula, Legends of the Fall, Amistad, The Mask of Zorro (yes I am throwing that in there because I enjoyed watching it in Spanish class every year), Meet Joe Black, Instinct, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (narrator), and Red Dragon.  You will note I left out Hannibal because I thought it was garbage.  After Red Dragon though which was in 2002 he has done 17 movies with only Fracture and maybe Thor to be considered good.  How disappointing every time I see his name on a straight to dvd movie.  Such a good actor wasting his talent.  STOP MAKING BAD MOVIE ANTHONY!!!!  Let's finish up with the man with the voice.

Morgan Freeman has one of the most distinctive voices in the movie industry.  It almost always makes you think about his character and narration from The Shawshank Redemption.  Morgan's problem isn't that he has just started picking bad movies.  No he still does a lot of solid movies.  His problem is that he has decided to do every movie possible.  This is ok for Samuel L. Jackson but not such a prestigious actor as Morgan Freeman.  In the last 10 years he has done close to 30 movies.  About a 1/3 of them are good while the others seem to go straight to dvd.  He is not as bad as De Niro lately but if he keeps on this trend people are going to wonder if he is a good actor or just another Samuel L. Jackson. So my advice is: STOP DOING 2 BAD MOVIES FOR EVERY 3 THAT YOU DO!!!!

If you have others, because I am sure there are more out there, please add to the conversation.  If you disagree and think these actors are making the right moves, go talk to a shrink because you are clearly crazy. 

-Diomedes

Movie Review-J. Edgar

So starts Oscar season, and while some sure fire contenders (Moneyball, The Tree of Life) have already been released, J Edgar marks the unofficial start as we will begin getting contenders released each and every week. I should make it known to start I had the highest of expectations for everything Clint Eastwood touched until recently, his "Invictus" was average, and "Hereafter" was just poor. So my expectations have lowered a bit as it appears Eastwood is indeed human. However the same moderate expectations cannot be placed on Leonardo DiCaprio, who is on a Tom Hanks like run of movies with Gangs of New York, Catch Me if you Can, The Aviator, The Departed, Revolutionary Road, Blood Diamond, Shutter Island, and Inception being his most recent 8 movies. The Aviator wasn't great but he was terrific in it and the rest of that list consists of both great movies and great performances by DiCaprio. J Edgar tells the life story of the man who put the FBI on the map, and Leonardo DiCaprio knocks it out of the park, his voice and mannerisms are replicas of the notorious Hoover. The film goes over his entire life and touches on the more....questioned aspects of that life with respect and class. Eastwood does a great job of editing between the elder Hoover and the younger Hoover. In addition Eastwood touches on all the talking points of Hoover's career, from his dislike for Martin Luther King Jr to the Kennedy assassination to the Lindbergh baby kidnapping to the beginning of fingerprinting and forensics. The film gets good supporting performances from Naomi Watts, Judi Dench, Josh Lucas as Charles Lindbergh, and Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice) as Robert Kennedy. DiCaprio will surely gain deserved Oscar consideration for his role, and from my perspective he is the clear front runner for best actor at this moment (most contenders have not been released yet). However, as good as DiCaprio is, the best performance in the film belongs to Armie Hammer (Winklevoss twins in The Social Network) who plays Hoover's long time partner and more, Clyde Tolson. It will take a great performance to unseat him as Best Supporting Actor in my opinion. The only problem that I had with J Edgar is that is not the most exciting movie in the world if you are not a history fan, while Eastwood keeps the dialogue fast and interesting, there are lulls and the film probably could have been trimmed from its 2 hour and 15 minute running time. J Edgar gets 7 Ninja Stars out of 10.

J Edgar is directed by Clint Eastwood and written by Dustin Lance Black, the film stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Armie Hammer, Naomi Watts, Judi Dench, Jeffrey Donovan, Josh Lucas, Geoff Stultz, Ed Westwick, and Dermot Mulroney.

-Maximus

Watch it Again Movie Review-Reign of Fire

This week has been utterly consumed by Skyrim for me, I have no power against it. For those of you not into video games, Skyrim is a free roaming game set in a land of dungeons, swords, magic,.....and dragons. The game got me thinking about how underused dragons are in pop culture. How to Train your Dragon was one of the best recent animated films, and the Eragon book series is a favorite of many friends of mine (movie was admittedly terrible), but outside of those two examples, there is not much to go off of. Recently a movie came out called "There Be Dragons", you can understand my excitement based off that title, and my sheer disappointment when I found out there are no dragons in it. So based off this recent thought process, it got me thinking of the 2002 action film "Reign of Fire" starring Matthew McConaughey and a pre-stardom Christian Bale. The story is that the world is ravaged by dragons when the King dragon is awakened by miners in London, and the world quickly becomes post apocalyptic. Bale plays the leader of a small camp of survivors who hide in fear of the dragons. Things are going along just fine when an American crew led by McConaughey (with a mean looking shaved head)  shows up and lets the survivors know he has tracked the boss dragon here and intends on killing it. In stark contrast to Bale's group, McConaughey relishes killing dragons, not hiding from them. Bale and McConaughey clash over their differing styles, and you get great performances from Bale, a pre-300 Gerard Butler, and surprisingly enough, from McConaughey. While most people rip McConaughey for his comedy and rom-com's, his performances in serious films are not too bad, I cite this as well as the horror film "Frailty" as examples. While the film offers up nothing short of what you would expect in regards to cheese, it is very effective. The dragons look great and the characters are realistic and well portrayed. In addition, "Reign of Fire" has one of the best deaths in the history of film, and one that is even  better if you watched the trailer for the film as one of the big points of the preview immediately precedes said death. I will never say Reign of Fire should have won Oscars or been film of the year, but it is a fun, crazy, unique ride though a world I wish we saw more of in film.

Reign of Fire is directed by Rob Bowen, and stars Christian Bale, Matthew McConaughey, Gerard Butler, and Izabella Scorupco.

-Maximus

From Stud To Dud

One thing that really irks me in the movie business is when an actor or actress is so promising or has somehow pulled off a few solid movies and then just picks up a string of bad movies and performances.  I mean you're riding high after a couple of good movies or performances and then you decide "hey I feel like searching out my artistic side" or "this studio is offering me a lot of money to take this role".  Then comes the downfall of a promising star.  I want to dispute the thought that may come quickly to your mind when I throw the $ sign out there. 

First look at it short term.  You already have a bunch of money if you have a few good films under your belt so your definitely not starving.  If you don't take this terrible role with the high dollar promise, I guarantee another offer will come along.  It may not offer as much but again what's the difference between $10 million and $15 million?  Heck I will take 1% of that right now and be happy!  Now let's look at the long term effects.  By taking that terrible role you have disgruntled your fan base, making for a less desirable appeal, and in-turn not landing you any blockbusters thereby diminishing your worth and total life income.  So by that poor choice you not only alienate your fans but you lower your life long income by getting greedy at an early stage in your career.

This is a broad topic so I want to stick to younger actors right now and I will expand to career actors next week.   Let me now give you some examples of what I am talking about.  Ryan Reynolds.  I think he is an awesome actor and has so much potential.  I understand the ladies think he is a heart throb which is a plus for him.  He has a good quick wit which makes him funny but he can use that in a serious manner too.  With all his attributes and his naturally smooth presence on screen, why does he do every role thrown at him?  He is a character in 3 different comic book movies.  That is excessive especially since they were all lame characters in bad movies.  His Deadpool was lame in Wolverine, his funny guy in Blade 3 was ok at best but the movie sucked, and need I say anything about such a loser super hero as Green Lantern?  So stop taking bad movies Ryan and do one of two things: get back to comedy type films or break out and do a very serious role.  If the serious role doesn't work, because they don't for everyone (Jim Carrey in The Majestic), go back to your strong point and at least you can say you tried.  But if it does work maybe we get the next person to take the reins from Tom Hanks who had a career path that went along those same lines.

Another guy who fell off the scene and had some great movies before that happened was Cuba Gooding Jr.  I mean he was in Jerry Maguire, Men of Honor, As Good As it Gets, and Instinct.  What happened?  All I see him in now is movies that are released straight to dvd.  Even if he was never offered another good role, STOP doing straight to dvd movies!  It brings down your credibility and puts a dark stain on an overall good career.  Either way he doesn't need the money and I guarantee after his endeavors in the straight to dvd movies, no one is "Showing him the money".

Now for the Artsy example.  Edward Norton.  The guy is awesome.  A powerful and very talented actor who is in numerous good movies like Primal Fear, Fight Club, American History X, and Red Dragon to name a few.  What does he do with his talent?  Squanders it on stupid Indy movies that a handful of people see.  Oh that's great that everyone loves him at the Cannes festival but who cares about that?  If you ask me that whole festival is for B movies that won't make it in the box office.  Once in a while a gem will come out of there but otherwise they are just movies with people trying to touch you with some deep artistic message.  I mean that’s great that they have that festival and that actors can explore their artistic side but after you have done one of those movies or even two then come back to the real thing.  Pull a Darth Vader and go from the light to the dark and then back to the light side of the movie industry.  I just feel, and I believe that there are others out there, that an actor with such talent as Edward Norton has shouldn't waste it on movies a total of 100 people see.

I hope this wasn't an all-out rant but when your good, stay good and make millions happy.  I am sure that some people won't agree with me on this so whether you do or don't, leave a comment and let me know.  I will resume this topic on a larger scale next week because there are many actors that have had amazing careers and in their later years in life have decided to do many a bad film.  Not just one or two but numerous which really leaves me dumbfounded but that is a discussion for next week.

-Diomedes

What Video Games Should be Movies?

In the land of video games, it seems as if every super hero film or big budget movie gets a video game tie in. For the most part, these games are quickly and cheaply made, trying to cash in on the love people have for the film. Its actually hard to think of a good video game based off a movie, but yet they keep coming out, month after month. The same can be said for movies based off video games. Once and a while you get a film like Mortal Kombat, cheesy and silly but yet fun and equally representative of the game, but most of the time you get House of the Dead, Silent Hill, BloodRayne, or Street Fighter. However more and more games that come out are basically movies you control. There is stellar acting, story lines, and plot twists, in addition more and more Hollywood talent is getting involved in video games. Everyone from Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings) to Sam Worthington (Avatar) to Ice Cube (Friday) to Aaron Stanton (Mad Men) have been involved in a game not based off a movie. So the question becomes, with video games becoming more and more movie like, what games should be turned into movies? Here is the list of games I think would be best served becoming movies and the people I think should be involved.

-Gears of War: The GOW trilogy were epic war games about a race of creatures that came from the planet's core to attack humanity, and the force who fought against it. The series came with memorable deaths of beloved characters and emotional moments of loss and sacrifice. If given the LOTR treatment (trilogy all filmed at once) I think GOW could become a great movie franchise. Mickey Rourke or Bruce Willis would make great choices as lead character Marcus Phoenix. A director like Bryan Singer would be terrific at showing the bond between brothers and the keeping the effects realistic.
-Uncharted: The story of Nathan Drake is basically the video game version of Indiana Jones. Drake is a treasure hunter who is the descendant of Sir Francis Drake. The game is full of action and twists and wry humor. The main thing about making Uncharted into a quality film would be the right casting of Nathan Drake, you need a smart ass action hero who can convincingly crack one liners or free fall off cliffs. Mark Wahlberg was recently attached but has since left the project. My personal choices would be Nathan Fillion (Firefly) or Eddie McClintock (Warehouse 13) for Drake.
-God of War: Another trilogy rooted heavily in its mythology, it tells the story of Kratos who ascends to the throne of God of War, only to find out the Gods are against him. Doing this well would take one of the big guns in the directors chair, Spielberg and Cameron come to mind.
-Shadow of the Colossus: A bit of a sleeper in that its not as well known of a game. It was released for Playstation 2 almost ten years ago. I tells the story of a man who loses the love of his life. He is told he he can bring her back if he hunts and kills the 12 colossus. He does this begrudgingly as the colossus are massive and giant creatures but are are harmless if left unprovoked. Picture hunting and killing massive, gentle dogs who only attack to defend themselves. The movie would need to show the emotional roller coaster of the main character who,while he has noble intentions, is committing terrible acts. David Fincher (Se7en, Fight Club) would be a great director for a film of this magnitude.
-Dead Space: Dead Space could have been a typical infested space ship game, but instead was a smartly written and horrifyingly unique game. It focuses on strategic dismemberment and shows those humans you trust could be just as dangerous as the necromorphs who hunt you. DJ Caruso is attached to direct, but I personally think Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan) would be a better choice, he could do the terror but also could do a solid job showing main protagonist Isaac Clark's descent into madness.
-Bioshock: Possibly the best idea on this list. Bioshock had a beginning and an end so beautiful it makes most films jealous with envy. The game focuses on an underwater community in the 1940's whose former residents have been reduced to rage filled murderers while the city around them crumbles. Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) has been circling the project for a long time but due to its necessarily high budget, it has stalled. My personal choice for director would once again be Steven Spielberg, but Verbinski is not a bad choice.
-Red Dead Redemption: The game is already basically a movie, a Western about John Marston, a family man who is forced by the government to hunt his old gang of murderers and thieves, despite leaving that life behind. The conflict between the main character's old life and new life would be great on film. Karl Urban (LOTR, Bourne Supremacy) would be a great John Marston. Clint Eastwood would be great as Dutch, the films main villain and a father figure to John, Eastwood would also fit great in the directors chair. From the many characters you encounter in the game, there would be roles that would perfectly fit Zach Galifinakis, Woody Harrelson, Naomi Watts, Sam Elliot, and Javier Bardem.

While there are hundreds of other games I would like to discuss here, we will save this for a future post, What Video Games Should be Movies 2: The Reckoning. In that post I will break down Grand Theft Auto, Homefront, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, Call of Duty, Assassins Creed, and many more.

-Maximus

November is the Start of Oscar Season

With today being November 1st, it means we will start getting a good amount of Oscar movies in the next few weeks. We have seen a few already, but the heavy hitters are still to come. What follows is a breakdown of what to expect in the next few months and what we have already seen that may come into play.

-Lets start with the best picture race. This year instead of a locked ten films, the number will be somewhere between five and ten, depending on how many first place votes each film gets. Unlike the last two years, we won't get an animated film in the top ten, but a few movies already seem like locks. Already released are The Ides of March, Moneyball, and The Tree of Life. Both The Tree of Life and Ides of March looked like solid contenders, but have faded a bit since their release. Moneyball is still very much in play, and could be a contender for Picture, Actor, Screenplay, and Director. The Help was a huge fan favorite, it seems like it may be a Blind Side like sleeper that could do well when nominations are announced. Other films like Drive and 50/50 are in the mix but doubtful to actually make the cut.

-The coming weeks bring J Edgar from Clint Eastwood which should score a lot of nominations. A Dangerous Method stars Viggo Mortensen and Michael Fassbender and should score nominations in Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actor, and Actress. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy comes out as well soon and may get some big awards including Best Actor for Gary Oldman.

-December should also throw a lot of nominees in the mix. David Fincher's adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo may come up with some nominations. We also get the Matt Damon weeper We Bought A Zoo and the Angelina Jolie directed film In the Land of Blood and Honey. Steven Spielberg finally returns to directing with the WWII drama War Horse as well.

-Some other smaller films will come into the mix, some possibilities are The Artist with John Goodman, Anonymous with Rhys Ifans, Melancholia with Kiefer Sutherland, Gerard Butler in Coriolanus, and Hugo from Martin Scorsese.

-The Best Actress competition is likely already between two people, Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady and Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs, with most people feeling Streep has it locked 4 months before the awards.

-One dark horse keeps me guessing as well, remember when Lord of the Rings got snubbed two years in a row, then cleaned up the last year with Return of the King? What about Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2? It was an extremely dark and well done movie, and while the series has not always been all high points, it has a unique place in pop culture and when it was done well, it was done very well. While I doubt it wins any major awards, I don't think nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor (Daniel Radcliffe), Best Supporting Actress (Emma Watson), and Best Supporting Actors (Ralph Fiennes and Alan Rickman) are out of the question.

Comment below if you feel I left any big contenders out, as no doubt some last minute smaller films will fly under the radar until the New Year comes.

-Maximus

Return of the Movie Ninjas

Welcome back! We are sorry for the long gap without any new posts, but we felt that the Movie Ninjas needed a makeover. When we started here we wanted to give thoughts and opinions and have poignant discussions about movies, however over time, it turned into repetitive posts about what was being released or how the box office turned out. Somewhere along the line we turned what was supposed to be informal discussions about the movie industry into homework and a news feed. In addition to lots of happenings in our lives, the posts felt more like a job then the fun discussions we have between each other each and every day, and because of that we missed a week, then a month. But after that we knew something needed to change, and if you wanted to know how much money Transformers 6: Battle of Idaho made, you can get that anywhere. What you cannot get anywhere is the unique discussions and opinions myself and Diomedes bring to the table. So from here on out we promise multiple posts per week that have no pattern or repetitiveness. They will be rankings of the best actors and why we put them there, previews of what looks good next summer, our opinion on why Meryl Streep is so much better than every other actress. And we will start with my post about what to expect from this coming Oscar season. We cannot be more excited to be back with a refreshed outlook, and we hope that if anyone is still checking in regularly, you will be as happy to read our posts as we are to write them. As always, if you have any opinions on what it is we can do to make things better or if there are any posts you would like to see us make, let us know in the comments. 

The Movie Ninjas-Back and Better than Ever