My Top 7 Favorite Christmas Movies

1. Home Alone (1990) 10/10

2. Miracle on 34th Street (1947) 10/10

3. It's a Wonderful Life (1946) 9.5/10

4. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) 9.5/10

5. The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) 9/10

6. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) 9/10

7. Scrooged (1988) 8.5/10

Merry Christmas!

Did Mookie Do the Right Thing? Part 2 *SPOILER ALERT*

There is controversial subject matter in Do the Right Thing and this is where the spoiler alert goes into effect. I usually don't mention things which spoil the plot of a film, but in this case it's done in the name of science. Well, maybe realistically philosophy, sociology and film studies, but here it goes...

The event which I am referring to is the infamous garbage can scene in which Mookie, played by Spike Lee, takes a garbage can and throws it into the window of a pizzeria. Added note, Mookie works for the pizzeria and spends the entire movie looking forward to receiving his pay as the pizza delivery man.

So, to get back to the main question: does Mookie do the right thing?

On one hand, Mookie's display of vandalism is justified due to the treatment of the predominately black and Puerto Rican people living in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, by the owners of the pizzeria. On the other hand, Mookie breaks the law by vandalising private property, which ultimately leads to a riot and this is where I stall on the question.

Spike Lee himself has given us a bit of insight into the meaning of the garbage can incident. He claims that the answer is ambiguous. It was placed in for the audience to simply ask ourselves whether or not Mookie did the right thing and just like in the ending of The Thing, where Child's excuse of where he was is both suspicious and incomplete, this too is added to keep the audience questioning Mookie's motives.

I give Do the Right Thing a 10/10 with honors! A new feature that will be added to films which make my top 5 list of my favorite films of all time.

So again, please watch this movie, it is up on Netflix for streaming.

Did Mookie Do the Right Thing? Part 1

I am of course taking about Spike Lee's masterpiece from 1989, Do the Right Thing which was robbed for an Oscar nomination for Best Picture. I mean Driving Miss Daisy took home best picture that year and I say for shame on the Academy.

First off before I watched Do the Right Thing my Top 5 favorite films of all time went something like this:

1. Platoon (1986)

2. The Dead Zone (1983)

3. Minority Report (2001)

4. The Planet of the Apes (1968)

5. The Matrix (1999)

Honorable favorites: Dark City, LA Confidential, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Wayne's World, They Live, Fateless and Alien.

Now my top 5 reads a followed:

1. Platoon (1986)

2. Do the Right Thing (1989)

3. The Dead Zone (1983)

4. Minority Report (2001)

5. The Planet of the Apes (1968)

And I never thought that I would ever bump out The Matrix but I love Do the Right Thing and consider it a masterpiece.

First of all, why does this movie rock? The camera movements are very, very interesting. They remind me of Stanley Kubrick's style and although they aren't as surreal, the camera movements are brilliant none-the-less. Likewise, the camera angles are often tilted, which works tremendously in this film.

As for the acting, Danny Aiello brought the house down. Spike Lee was really good as Mookie who is the main character, as was the late Ossie Davis, Bill Nunn, Martin Lawrence, Ruby Dee, Giancarlo Esposito, Rosie Perez and John Turturro, to name only a few of the amazing cast. 

Danny Aiello was more than well deserving of his Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination but he should have won. Spike Lee did win an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 1989 and it was more than well deserving, but like I said above, he should have won Best Picture and Best Director, which he was robbed from getting.

Continue to part 2....

Review of Undercover Brother

Undercover Brother is a comedy starring Eddie Griffin, Chi McBride ad Dave Chappelle. Undercover Brother tells the story of a group of African-Americans who become involved in a plot to destroy the black cultural influence in America by replacing it with stereotypical whiteness. 

There were several anti-Mayonnaise jokes, which I found hysterical, Undercover Brother is very funny and even throughout. My favorite performance and the one who in my opinion stole the show, was far Dave Chappelle. He brilliantly played Conspiracy Brother to a tee and his conspiracies were so real too.

My only complaint is that the middle is a bit slow and the ending is cheesy. Other than that however, a good movie for a good laugh.

8/10.

A Heston Movie I Didn't Like?

I never thought I'd see the day when yours truly would sit through a movie starring Charlton Heston and I didn't end up liking it. But I did and that movie is Earthquake from 1974.

Earthquake was corny, boring, and predicable. Plus I was waiting to see Charlton freak out because that's what he does best.

Nothing too great to talk about here except for Walter Mathau's small but hilariously memorable role as "Drunk" which was entertaining but overall I wouldn't recommend Earthquake.

6/10, Charlton must have done it for the money...

Review of Heat

Starring Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Tom Sizemore, Val Kilmer, Hank Azaria, Ted Levine, William Fitchner, Jon Voight, Henry Rollins and the Allstate guy, Heat is a tremendously amazing crime drama film about one cop (Pacino) and one thief (De Nino) who square off against each other in a field of dead bodies, vehicle wreckage and method acting.

A fun fact about Heat, which was directed by Michael Mann the husband of Diane Sawyer, Heat was shot on 65 locations around the LA area and not one was a sound stage. If only they made movies like this more often.

I will give Heat a 9/10 for it's terrific writing and amazing acting. It is a long movie, coming in at 2 hours and 50 minutes but well worth it. Also, the all-star cast is great, including the lead females actors,  Diane Verona, Ashley Judd and Amy Brenneman.

Well done Mr. Mann.

RIP Blake Edwards

Director, Producer and Screenwriter Blake Edwards a man known for directing The Pink Panther and Breakfast at Tiffany's died two days ago at the St. John's Medical Center in Santa Monica.

Blake, who is married to Julie Andrews, was 88 years old and died from complications due to pneumonia. The same cause of death as Leslie Nielson who died this month in Florida. 

He was also the director of my father's favorite movie of all time, the one who introduced me to Peter Sellers at a young age, The Party.

Review of Eight Legged Freaks

I checked out Eight Legged Freaks last week on Netflix, which is a movie that stars David Arquette and is about a small town infested with giant mutated spiders. Well, it did star a young Scarlett Johansson, who was probably the best actor in the film, so it's got that going for it.

Overall, the movie was ok. Acting was ok, writing was ok and the action was ok. Life wont change by either seeing or missing this one, it was just alright.

I give Eight Legged Freaks a 6/10. I would have given it a 5 but Kari Wuhrer is just too hot and I needed up add one more point for her hottness.

Two Heston Classics

I recently watched both The Planet of the Apes and the Omega Man, which are both cult sci-fi movies starring Charlton Heston.

Planet of the Apes is one of my favorite movies of all time. It centers around a crew of US astronauts who crash land on a mysterious planet full of those damn dirty apes.

The Omega Man centers around a man who is the last person on Earth, or so it seems, who is fighting to stay alive from these mutated people who are victims of nuclear fallout.

Overall, Planet of the Apes is the better film and The Omega Man is campy and badly edited. Planet of the Apes is also one of Heston's finest performances, it's over the top, hyperbolic and just plain awesome! It's also the film this blog is dedicated to.

Planet of the Apes - 10/10.

The Omega Man - 7/10.

The Most Likeable Host on TV

I'm talking about Adam Richman. The Show? The Travel Channel's Man vs. Food a show about food, struggle, food, more struggle and yes, ever more food.

The basic premise of the show is as followed: Adam Richman, who is a guy who knows food, travels to a different city in the US each week in order to showcase three different restaurants that encapsulate the best food in that particular city. 

The last restaurant that Adam visits is in order to compete in some sort of massive food challenge such as eating a 76 oz. steak, a 12 egg omelet, spicy hot wings made from ghost chilli's or burritos that are 6 pounds. If Adam defeats these challenges, then man wins. If not, food wins and most of the time it's pretty even between man and food.

While Man vs. Food is a great show, watching episode after episode on Netflix can get a bit repetitive since the format is the same for all shows. However, other that that Man vs. Foosd is very enjoyable.

9/10!

Review of Reno 911: Miami

The 2007 movie which stars the cast of Reno 911 plus others, including Danny DeVito, David Koechner, Paul Rudd, Patton Oswald and happily, the entire cast of The State.

I was a little disappointed with this movie. On one hand, it's Reno: 911, was a very hysterical show, however as a movie, Reno: 911: Miami was slow and uneven. 

Was it funny? Oh yes, no doubt about it but it also felt a little forced what with all the swearing and nudity which can't be shown on TV. There is a time and a place for those things but just because you can't do them on TV doesn't mean you should over use them in a film.

Overall, it was a funny but I could have used more appearances from members of The State, some of which didn't even speak as well as a stronger story line.

7/10.