aaron taylor-johnson – Spinning Platters

Film Review: “The Fall Guy”

Movie stars and plenty of action kick off the summer in The Fall Guy

Loosely based on the 1980s television series starring Lee Majors, The Fall Guy is an ode to stunt work. Stunt teams have been providing the thrills of action sequences since the era of silent movies and Buster Keaton, to the present day Mission: Impossible and Fast and Furious franchises. Director David Leitch, who has helmed numerous stunt-centric projects, such as Atomic Blonde, Bullet Train, Deadpool 2, and he even co-directed the first John Wick, is the perfect figure to pay homage to the stunt profession. In doing so, The Fall Guy is also properly kicking off the 2024 summer movie season. The movie highlights movie stars, aka the beautiful celebrities recognized worldwide, as much as it highlights stuntmen and stuntwomen, aka those who likely aren’t recognized anywhere. It wouldn’t work without two top-of-their-game A-list actors with incredible chemistry, and it wouldn’t work without great stunt work. The Fall Guy has all the ingredients of an escapist popcorn flick, and rises to the occasion. Continue reading “Film Review: “The Fall Guy””

Film Review: “Bullet Train”

Welcome to late-stage Brad

Balletic Fighting — Brad Pitt and Bad Bunny star in Bullet Train.

Fading assassins looking to complete the latest job. Low-level criminals looking for a clean exit from the life. Under-loved princesses looking to deal with daddy once and for all. Others looking for nothing more than cold, hard revenge. And in the middle of it all is bucket-hat Brad Pitt. In his latest, Bullet Train (or: Bucket-Hat Brad with a Bullet), Pitt romps, skips, hops, twirls, guffaws, and even sings his way through an overly-complicated, needlessly-sprawling, yet more than semi-entertaining roller coaster. Continue reading “Film Review: “Bullet Train””

Film Review: Nocturnal Animals

Ford’s newest picture well worth the wait

West Texas ne’er-do-well Ray Marcus (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, middle) warily answers questions from lawman Bobby Andes (Michael Shannon, l.) and crime victim Tony (Jake Gyllenhaal, r.).

Tom Ford, the American fashion designer turned filmmaker who first garnered accolades for his cinematic talents back in 2009 with his Colin Firth-helmed picture A Single Man, finally returns seven years later with his follow up, another film inspired by a novel. With Nocturnal Animals, based on Austin Wright’s 1993 novel Tony and Susan, Ford again both directs and writes the screenplay, and proves that his first success was no fluke. Ford’s patient fans have been rewarded for their long wait with another visually stunning, captivating picture.
Continue reading “Film Review: Nocturnal Animals“

Film Review: Godzilla

Roaring (and lumbering) back into action!

Godzilla's so vain, he probably thinks this movie's about him. — Godzilla’s so vain, he probably thinks this movie’s about him.

In comparison to 1998’s embarrassing excuse for a blockbuster, Godzilla (directed by Roland Emmerich), most popcorn flicks look Oscar worthy. What’s refreshing about 2014’s Godzilla, directed by Gareth Edwards (Monsters), is that it shows off some remarkably cool modern sequences while embracing the traditional look and feel of the classic Godzilla films and the summer movies of the late 70’s that established the blockbuster sub-genre. After the overload of monsters and CG destruction we see in movies these days, it’s a relief to know that there’s still room for a film to embrace the origins of both and still surprise us. Welcome back, Godzilla.

Continue reading “Film Review: Godzilla”

Film Review: Kick-Ass 2

Kick-Ass is back, and this time he’s (too) serious.

2010’s Kick-Ass had a refreshingly original tone — including a hard-on for depicting severe violent repercussions within a completely unrealistic comic-born plot. The film solidified Chloë Grace Moretz as a rising star…and a genuine bad-ass. Fans hoped to eventually see more of Hit Girl and more of this type of violent mayhem that was (crucially) grounded in a sense of fun and, dare I say, purpose. Now comes Kick-Ass 2, a mostly straightforward revenge tale that features more graphic violence than the original, but much less fun and with less purpose.

Continue reading “Film Review: Kick-Ass 2”