Movie Review - The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Director: Tom Gormican
Genre: Comedy/ Action/ Crime
Runtime: 107 minutes
Year: 2022
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Pedro Pascal, Tiffany Haddish, Sharon Horgan, Neil Patrick Harris, Ike Barinholtz, Lily Sheen
 
Description: Nic Cage (Nicolag Cage) is channeling his iconic characters as he’s caught between a superfan (Pedro Pascal) and a CIA agent (Tiffany Haddish).

Review: The past decade did no go very well for actor Nicolas Cage. He seemed to be in every movie he was offered. This created a huge stream of bad movies, with some exceptions of course. With that, Cage became a joke on the internet. The sometimes it’s best to go along with the joke. In “The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent”, Cage plays a version of himself, Nic Cage, and shows why he is still one of the most beloved actors of his generation.

Things are not going well for Cage in this film either. He has just gone through a divorce and is living in a hotel. Films are no longer offered to the actor, but there is a millionaire who wants to meet him, to show up at his birthday, for a large sum of money. Since Cage is desperate for work, he decides to accept the offer. The eccentric millionaire, Javi, has a plan to make a movie with Cage.

However, Javi is also being followed by the CIA. They suspect him of being a ruthless criminal. For example, he allegedly kidnapped the daughter of a prominent politician. The American spies more or less force Cage to work for them and spy on Javi. The result is a hilarious comedy with a nice pace, funny dialogues and above all a delightful interplay between Nicolas Cage and Pedro Pascal, who are constantly outdoing each other in craziness.
You never know it with Nicolas Cage, he’s sometimes super good, sometimes super bad. In this movie, it’s him the way we love him the most. He always does something unexpected and does not shy away from self-mockery. The film is a joy to watch, has great humor and action in it. Only the subplot of the kidnapping and the CIA didn’t always work for me.

This movie is mainly about Cage, but lets talks about Pedro Pascal and how amazing he is in this film. He holds up very well opposite Cage and they work so well together. I loved their growing friendship and how Javi was a Cage super fan. My favorite part was when Javi is listing his 3 all-time favorites. One of the is, of course a Cage film, another is “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari”, which is also a favorite of Cage. The third is a surprising and hilarious choice (although I understand why, because it’s a favorite of mine too) and they start watching it together. It’s been a while since I laughed out loud over a movie.

“The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent” may well mark Nicolas Cage’s definitive return. With this film, Cage seems to be able to transcend all jokes and parodies. It’s definitely a favorite of 2022 for me.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

90s Movie Review - Starship Troopers

Director: Paul Verhoeven
Genre: Action/ Science Fiction/ Adventure
Runtime: 129 minutes
Year: 1997
Starring: Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer, Denise Richards, Jake Busey, Clancy Brown, Neil Patrick Harris, Michael Ironside, Patrick Muldoon, Eric Bruskotter, Seth Gilliam

Description: Humans in a fascist, militaristic wage war with giant alien bugs.

Review: Sometimes you’re just in the mood for a fun 90s action/ sci-fi flick. The Paul Verhoeven directed film is then a perfect choice for that. The Dutch director managed to impress audiences in his early years with strong and extremely violent action/ sci-fi films “RoboCop” and “Total Recall”, but lost confidence of American audiences with “Showgirls”. The film was labeled tasteless and pulp. Two year later, Verhoeven came back strong with “Starship Troopers” a movie that ridicules American patriotism. I have always loved this film.
Whether or not is sent a clear message to the Americans, the film was received with open arms by many fans of science fiction and explicit action. In the more than two-hour feature film we see how young students Johnny Rico, Carmen Ibanez and Dizzy Flores enlist in the army of the galactic government and fight a murderous race of alien insects species, called Arachnids. The computer-animated and powerful adversaries of humanity are imposing characters who tear apart an consume subordinate humans with great regularity and brutality while the Earth is constantly threatened by approaching meteorites coming from their home planet.
The film relies mainly on strong special and visual effects and excessive violence and bloodshed. The acting is not so great. Casper Van Dien got the role of Johnny Rico, an action hero with the looks, who signs up for the army when his girlfriend has a clear preference for men who join the resistance against the Arachnids. The role of the charming lady is played by Denise Richards, who clearly has to rely on her looks.
The filmmaker shift the focus on the acting to the background by cramming his film full of explicit scenes full of blood and gore, and he alternates the chilling visuals with a good dose of humor. Clancy Brown is the perfect choice to portray the hilarious and ruthless drill instructor Zim (I think a nod to his chilling role in “The Shawshank Redemption”), while Michael Ironside steps in to take on the incisive school teacher and Squad leader of the infantry Jean Rasczak. These are characters that give the film some extra, but underscore the fact that “Starship Troopers” is nothing more than a highly entertaining no-brainer full of excessive violence and cheesy one-liners. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that

Rating: 4/ 5

00s Movie Review - Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Director: Phil Lord, Chris Miller
Genre: Animation/ Family
Runtime: 90 minutes
Year: 2009
Starring: Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Mr. T, Bruce Campbell, Benjamin Bratt, Neil Patrick Harris, Al Roker, Lauren Graham, Will Forte, Andy Samberg

Description: Local scientist Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader) is often regarded ad a failure until he invents a machine that can make food fall from the sky. But little does he know, that things are about to take a turn for the worst.

I WATCHED THIS MOVIE FOR MY 2020 MOVIE CHALLENGE
WEEK 16: A MOVIE BASED ON A CHILDREN’S BOOK

Review: “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” is the debut film of Phil Lord and Chris Miller. Flint Lockwood still lives with his father in a town that is known for sardines. In his room, he works on his inventions and every single one of them has turned into a disaster. Until he creates a machine that turns water into food and it actually works. By accident, the machine gets up in the air and all of a sudden it starts raining food.
The set-up is pretty standard. Flint has a struggling relationship with his father, he meets journalist Sam Sparks that also likes ‘nerdy stuff’ and both relationships and Flint’s journey to success are going to develop towards the end. In between there is enough to enjoy both visually and comedically.
“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” is definitely a fun animation, with an enjoyable story based on the children’s book by Judi and Ron Barrett. A great family film.

Rating: 3,5 / 5

Movie Reviews - Downsizing

Director: Alexander Payne
Genre: Drama/ Comedy
Runtime: 135 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Matt Damon, Kristen Wiig, Christoph Waltz, Hong Chau, Udo Kier, Jason Sudeikis, Neil Patrick Harris, Laura Dern

Description: A social satire in which a man (Matt Damon) realizes he would have a better life if he were to shrink himself to five inches tall, allowing him to live in wealth and splendor.

Review: What would you do if you had the option to shrink, which means your money is worth so much more.
In Alexander Payne’s new movie, this is the question at the start of the film. Paul and Audrey are your every day couple, with not a lot to spend. They want more space and nice things, but that’s simply not possible with their payments. Paul sees a Norwegian professor in the news, who managed to shrink people. A great invention, because you would waist less and everything you have is worth more.
A couple of years after the experiment, ‘downsizing’ is a popular procedure. More people choose to be downsized, like friends of Paul and Audrey. They tell them how amazing it is and how it changed their lives in a good way. And especially because their money is worth more. Paul and Audrey are also thinking about downsizing. If they sell everything, they can live as a king and queen. It’s the solution for all their problems.
After the downsizing process in the film, the movie goes downhill. New plots unfold, which makes to story go in so many different directions. Payne loses focus and towards the end the story goes into another direction, which makes it feel endless. “Downsizing” has such an interesting starting point, but this all gets a little lost.
“Downsizing” is a bit of a mess, but there is still a lot to enjoy. De first half is fast paced, filled with humor and has really nice scenes. Matt Damon is really good and most supporting roles are well performed. At the end, you’re left with mixed feelings. I really love Alexander Payne’s work, but “Downsizing” is not one of my favorites.

Rating: 2,5 / 5

Top 5 Thursday: Movie/TV Womanizers

I really don’t like a womanizer, I really don’t. But in movie and television shows, well, I still don’t, but at least their fictional characters and they are enjoyable to watch. Here is my top 5 of movie/TV womanizers.

5. Jacob Palmer (“Crazy Stupid Love”)

I think I couldn’t even resist Jacob, even with those cheesy pickup lines.

 

 

 

4. Joey Tribbiani (“Friends”)

One simple line does it for him: “How you doin’? Joey isn’t very smart or rich, but he is charming, handsome and kind of sweet.

 

 

3. Charlie Harper (“Two and a Half Men”)

A middle aged man, heavy drinker, jingle writer. Doesn’t sound like the perfect man right. Still Charlie concurs beautiful women all the time.

 

 

2. Barney Stinson (“How I Met Your Mother”)

Barney isn’t picky, his women preferably need to be pretty and under 30. That’s it. And everyone is wondering how he manages every time. Just follow the ‘rules’.

 

 

1. James Bond

How could he not be number 1? He is the biggest womanizer in movie history. He hooks up with at least three women every movie (with off course the occasional exception) and all beautiful women too. Women are his weakness.

 

 

The Almost Made the Top 5: Hank Moody (“Californication”), Alex Hitchens (“Hitch”), Alfie Etkins (“Alfie”), Steve Stifler (“American Pie”), Tony Stark (“Iron Man”), Arthur ‘Fonzie’ Fonzarelli (“Happy Days”), Giacomo Casanova (“Casanova”), Templeton ‘Face’ Peck (“The A-Team”),

Top 5 Thursday: How I Met Your Mother Characters

I love this show and I never did a top 5 or any other item regarding “How I Met Your Mother”. Here are my favorite characters ranked.

5. Lily Aldren

Although she has a cute-like appearance, Lily is far from innocent. She is known to be an extremely sexual person. Lily can also be a rather manipulative person, when she doesn’t approve of something she will go out of her way to change it. Being a kindergarten teacher she has also developed a sense of justice.

 

 

4. Ted Mosby

Ted is a hopeless romantic, being a strong believer in destiny and constantly searches for his soul mate. He is an architect and later a college professor. Ted has some annoying flaws like correcting grammar (which I also do) and he can be very whiny.

 

 

3. Barney Stinson

Barney is a lady’s man and has no intention of settling down. He is very persuasive, has a somewhat childish personality but also has a more tender and soft side when it comes to his family. His friends think Barney has some unusual and annoying habits, like lame catchphrases, sometimes talking in a high pitched voice and spacing out.

 

 

2. Marshall Eriksen

Marshall is very polite, loving, caring and confident, but also extremely emotional. He is very passionate about what he does and cares deeply for his family and friends. Marshall is very superstitious, believes in myths and loves “Star Wars”. I think, of all the characters, I’m most like Marshall.

 

 

1. Robin Scherbatsky

Robin works as a journalist and was born in Canada. She is often made fun of because of that and sometimes she realizes she is the only Canadian in the group. Robin has some strange interests, like guns, cigars and dogs. Robin hates nicknames. She is a fiercely independent woman.

 

 

They Almost Made the Top 5: -