Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

Category: Movies Page 17 of 29

Movie Review: Onward

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On April 14, 2020

In Movies, Reviews

Movie Review of OnwardOnward

Directed By: Dan Scanlon
Starring:  Tom Holland, Chris Pratt

My Rating: [rating=4]

A side effect of these extraordinary times is the early digital release of new movies. The latest Disney film became available on Disney+ after only a month in theaters. While nothing will compare to the theater experience, it’s nice to be able to see new movies during quarantine. Keep in mind, not all movies will be free with a subscription to a streaming service. Another obvious perk to Disney+. Here is my movie review of Onward.

Brief Synopsis

Spiderman (Tom Holland) and Starlord (Chris Pratt) team up for this typical Disney “feel good” film. Ian (Holland) and Barley (Pratt) Lightfoot are eleven brothers who lost their father to illness. Upon Ian’s 16th birthday their late father prepared an extraordinary gift. He was a wizard before the world forgot about magic, and he has a spell that can bring him back for one day. Now the brothers must embark on an amazing journey to complete the spell that will “complete” their father’s gift.

Biggs’ Review

Onward is not just about the family bond, but sibling bond. As I already said, this is your typical heartwarming animated film, but it’s quite enjoyable. The most entertaining element about this film is visualizing Chris Pratt performing his lines while recording them. In fact I even went out to see if there are any YouTube videos of Chris and Tom in the recording booth (FYI, there are). At any rate, as a gamer of, primarily fantasy video games, I can easily identify with Barley. However, there is more about this film that kind of hit home.

Barley is the older but nerdy sibling; while Ian is more down to earth, but not really a popular kid in school. While Barley is comfortable embracing his nerdy personality, Ian struggles to be accepted and often feels embarrassed by his brother. I have a younger sister who may have struggled with an older brother that loved Star Wars, reading books, collecting comic books, playing video games and embracing the geek life.

So watching Ian and Barley discover that special sibling bond felt very real to me. It will pull on those heart strings. This movie is definitely worth watching, especially if you have siblings.

(Click here to read my other reviews)

film_reel“The screen is a magic medium. It has such power that it can retain interest as it conveys emotions and moods that no other art form can hope to tackle.”
– Stanley Kubrick

 

Biggs’ Top 5 90s Comedy Movies

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On April 5, 2020

In Biggs Top 5, Movies

Top 5 90s Comedy Movies

Comedy is probably my favorite genre of movie, and since I have so many favorite comedies I chose the top 5 90s comedy movies for the month of April. In a future Top 5 post I will post 80s comedy movies. I was born in the 80s so many of those films I couldn’t watch until it was well into the 90s. Picking a favorite comedy is tough. A couple of these on the list have sequels. Any move with a sequel is inclusive.

So here they are, in no particular order:

Again, choosing comedies from the 90s is tough. There are so many great movies. In fact there are a few honorable mentions for this Top 5 as well. Office Space definitely deserves mentioning; I’ve worked for a company that almost mimicked this film. I do love the Crocadile Dundee movies but a nice little hidden Paul Hogan gem is Lightning Jack. It’s like Crocadile Dundee in the wild west with a solid performance by Cuba Gooding Jr.

(See last month’s Top 5)

I Have Spoken!

Biggs’ Top 5 Drama Movies

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On March 5, 2020

In Biggs Top 5, Movies

Top 5 Drama Movies

This month I chose the top 5 drama movies. This list is a little easier as drama isn’t really my favorite genre, but there are some great drama movies. I still chose non-franchised movies to make the list easier to filter as well as a few other parameters. The soundtrack plays a big role as well as surprise plot twists and caliber of acting.

I have a couple of honorable mentions for this category as well. The Road to Perdition starring Tom Hanks is really underrated and under appreciated; a wonderful 1930’s mob drama. The King’s Speech (another true story) with superb performances by Colin Firth (as King George VI) and Geoffrey Rush. So there you have it, my top 5 drama movies (as of March 2020).

(See last months Top 5)

I Have Spoken!

 

Movie Review: A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

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On February 24, 2020

In Movies, Reviews

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Directed By: Marielle Heller
Starring:  Tom Hanks, Matthew Rhys
Release Date: November 22, 2019

My Rating: [rating=5]

I know this movie isn’t exactly a recent release; last November in fact. However a movie about someone as iconic as Mr Rogers cannot go without commenting. The man defined an entire generation; my generation. The trailer for this film had me choked up with nostalgia and Tom Hanks seemed like the perfect cast.

And he was! However, this movie isn’t actually about Fred Rogers, its about the man writing a profile on Mr. Rogers; Lloyd Vogel. This movie is a true story.

It’s Not About Fred

As I mentioned, this movie isn’t actually about Mr. Rogers. Lloyd Vogel is the character name that represents the actual writer, Tom Junod. Lloyd has a reputation for writing rather scathing exposes for Esquire magazine. He also has a very hostile relationship with is father (for reasons that are explained in the movie). When he is given an assignment to write a profile on Mr. Rogers, his perspective is completely changed. It’s all thanks to Mr. Rogers.

This movie is so amazing and very respectful to Mr. Rogers. It reinforces that Mr. Rogers is the same person on and off the screen. Every time there is a location change, a scaled down model of the location is used (just like they did in Mr. Rogers Neighborhood). That is easily one of the best features of the film. After reading some of the trivia about this film (which I often do for lots of movies) one of the interesting facts I read is that the studio spent a lot of time (and money) getting the film as accurate as possible.

The writers said the film took so long to be made because they worked with the estate tirelessly to ensure the accuracy of the film. They were given access to the archives to ensure it was “right”. – IMDB

“Such a Good Feeling”

I especially like the scene where Mr. Rogers is on the subway and the whole subway car sings “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”; I would have joined in the chorus had I been there too. This movie will leave you with “such a good feeling” by the end. By the way, if you have Amazon Prime, you can watch old episodes of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood; my daughter has already watched a few. If you grew up with this man in your living room, you need to see this film!

film_reel“The screen is a magic medium. It has such power that it can retain interest as it conveys emotions and moods that no other art form can hope to tackle.”
– Stanley Kubrick

 

HMDYK About Peter Cushing

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On February 6, 2020

In HMDYK, Movies, Star Wars

How Much Do You Know about Peter Cushing? Star Wars fans know him as Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin from A New Hope. If you’re not quite “Star Wars savvy” to know which one is Tarkin, he is the Imperial leader that ordered for the termination of Leia and the destruction of Alderaan (see picture on the right).

“I try to consider what the audience would like to see me do and I thought kids would adore Star Wars.”
– Peter Cushing

I’m sure it’s a generation thing but Tarkin is the only role I know Peter Cushing played. Granted, he was 64 years old when Star Wars was released so, obviously, he’s had many roles in his career. I was curious, so I dug into his filmography. He has quite the distinguished career.

From Darcy to Sherlock

Peter Cushing passed away in 1994 and over the course of his 81 years he’s been in 130 movies or TV series. What I found most surprising is, of the 130 films/series, 50 of them were horror films. It seems he had a penchant for the creepy and scary. In fact, among his horror accolades, he played some iconic characters. Baron Frankenstein and Van Helsing are two of the more well known characters in the genre.

It seems that when he wasn’t trying to scare the audience, he was sleuthing. Yes, Peter Cushing was Sherlock Holmes in several well known Sherlock stories (including The Hound of Baskervilles). His archetypal portrayals also extended to the prideful Mr. Darcy in a Pride and Prejudice series in 1952 and the Sheriff of Nottingham in 1960.

However, I think the role that surprises me most of all was that of Doctor Who. In 1965 and 1966 two Doctor Who movies were produced: Dr. Who and the Daleks and Dalek’s Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. in which Peter Cushing was the beloved Doctor. Hopefully I can track down these movies and watch them.

In fact, I think I need to track down several of his other films; and not just the well known characters. If there is any Peter Cushing film you’ve seen and would recommend, please leave a comment.

“The more you know, the more you know you don’t know.” – Aristotle

 

Biggs’ Top 5 Action/Adventure Movies

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On February 5, 2020

In Biggs Top 5, Movies

I am a huge movie buff so picking my favorite top 5 action/adventure movies is very difficult. In fact, in order to even whittle the list down to 5 I have to set some further qualifications. So for this top 5 list I chose movies that are non-franchised. A “non-franchised” is any movie that is not part of a trilogy or large collection of related films (ex: James Bond or the Marvel movies that make up the Infinity Saga). It’s also based on if I were channel surfing and these movies came on, I would be inclined to continue watching without starting over. This list is in no particular order.

I actually want to watch all these movies just merely by building this list. In fact, as I was building this list I felt like a few other movies deserve some honorable mentions (i.e. movies that almost made the list). Chris Evans performance in The Losers is one of the best parts of the film. While I do not care for the type of music DMX performs, his nerdy character is Exit Wounds is my favorite. Finally, The Fifth Element because it’s just a fun movie to watch and it’s quite quotable.

I Have Spoken!

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