10s Movie Review - Brawl in Cell Block 99

Director: S. Craig Zahler
Genre: Crime/ Thriller/ Drama
Runtime: 132 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Carpenter, Don Johnson, Udo Kier, Marc Blucas

Description: A former boxer-turned-drug runner (Vince Vaughn) lands in a prison battleground after a deal gets deadly.

Review: Bradley Thomas gets fired from his job and finds out his wife is cheating on him. He still wants to give his wife a good life, so he starts working as a drug runner. They buy a beautiful house and his wife gets pregnant. When he ends up in jail, he thinks it’s going to be an easy 7 years. Until his wife gets kidnapped and some dangerous men in the business want something in return.
Over the years, Vince Vaughn has been in a lot of different roles. In the past years he has been in several silly comedies, where he is usually very loud. But I think I prefer Vaughn in more serious roles. And the role of Bradley Thomas is perfect for him. A loving husband, choosing the wrong path, but staying within the lines of his moral compass. He knows how to play it rough, but has a good heart. One of Vaughn’s best work to date.
The film has a pretty long runtime, over two hours. But despite this and the fact it builds up slow, the film never bores you. And there is also a good balance between drama and action.
To watch this film, you do have to be able to endure some graphic fight scenes. “Brawl in Cell Block 99” is very violent. Although that final shot is clearly a dummy.
“Brawl in Cell Block 99” is a surprisingly strong and entertaining prison/ revenge movie.

Rating: 4/ 5

10s Movie Review - Fighting with My Family

Director: Stephen Merchant
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 108 minutes
Year: 2019
Starring: Florence Pugh, Nick Frost, Lena Heady, Dwayne Johnson, Vince Vaughn, Stephen Merchant, Jack Lowden

Description: A former wrestler and his family make a living performing at small venues around the country while his kids dream of joining World Wrestling Entertainment.

Review: There are families where all the member devote themselves to the same passion or hobby and the entire family will be dedicated to this activity. For Rick Knight, his wife Julia and kids Zak and Saraya, it’s wrestling. They run a wrestling school in Norwich and both kids are big fans of the WWE.
The real Saraya managed to become the youngest Diva-champion for the WWE, as her alter ego Paige. She was only 21 when she won. And she didn’t only grow to become a phenomenon, she managed to make the sport popular with women.
The story of a simple girl growing up in a warm, working class family is gold for film makers. Especially when it’s based on a true story and they can add Dwayne Johnson to it. It forms the base for “Fighting with My Family”, which is directed by comedian Stephen Merchant.
The life of the Knight family is fully focused on show wrestling. Rick and Julia wrestled themselves and now have all hopes for their children Zak and Saraya. When they get a call from the WWE, after they saw a video of them in action, Zak and Saraya are invited for try-outs. It’s a dream come true. But for one this dream ends quickly, because only Saraya manages to go on to the next round and travel to Florida for a training camp.
That wrestling is based on mutual trust and agreements isn’t enough. Merchant shows that wrestling is a very complex sport. When former models, dancers and actors enter the ring, Saraya judges them, because they never wrestled. But Saraya herself has a lot to learn about showmanship and learns that these ‘pretty faces’ have more to it than just that.
Because this ‘American world’ is showed from the perspective of a down-to-earth British family, the film has a lot more heart and humor to it. It could have easily become a typical Hollywood film with juvenile slapstick jokes. But with a lot of humor and ability to put things into perspective we see a stranger that stands out among the American fashion dolls because of her nonchalant appearance, jet-black hair and piercings.
“Fighting with My Family” was made with a lot of love and has a lot of heart. The direct humor, the sympathetic character and the great story of Paige make this comedic true story a very enjoyable film that I absolutely loved.

Rating: 4 / 5

00s Movie Review - Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy

Director: Adam McKay
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 90 minutes
Year: 2004
Starring: Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, David Koechner, Chris Parnell, Fred Willard, Kathryn Hahn, Fred Armisen, Seth Rogen, Vince Vaughn, Luke Wilson, Tim Robbins, Ben Stiller, Missi Pyle, Jack Black

Description: Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell) is San Diego’s top-rated newsman in the male-dominated broadcasting of the 1970s, but that’s all about to change for Ron and his cronies when an ambitious woman (Christina Applegate) is hired as a new anchor.

Review: “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” could have easily been a juvenile, forgettable comedy. But director Adam McKay really created a hilarious film, that is a favorite for a lot of people.
We meet the arrogant and quirky Ron Burgundy, who is one of the most successful news anchors in 1970s San Diego. When Veronica Corningstone enters, he gets some rivalry, because she is a very ambitious women with only one big dream: becoming a lead anchor. At first Veronica gets simple stories to cover, like a fashion show for cats, but she doesn’t accept being just that kind of news woman.
When “Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” was released in 2004, it wasn’t very well-received by critics. But through the years, the film has gained a cult-status and is a comedy classic. There was even a sequel in 2013.
The constant bickering between Will Ferrell and Christina Applegate’s characters is hilarious and we get fun supporting roles from Paul Rudd, Fred Willard and Vince Vaughn. But it’s Steve Carell that steals the show, as weatherman Brick Tamland. He is seriously the dumbest movie character and you question yourself how it’s possible Brick is still alive. Carell is hilarious in his role.
“Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy” is definitely one of my favorite comedies off all-time.

Rating: 4/ 5

00s Movie Review - Old School

Director: Todd Phillips
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 88 minutes
Year: 2003
Starring: Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, Ellen Pompeo, Elisha Cuthbert, Perry Reeves, Jeremy Piven, Seann William Scott, Juliette Lewis, Leah Remini

Description: Three friends attempt to recapture their glory days by opening up a fraternity.

Review: Mitch just found his girlfriend cheating on him, when he returns early from his business trip. Not interested in forgiving her, he leaves the house and buys a new one near the campus of the local university. Mitch’s best friend Beanie sees it as the perfect opportunity to have parties. Their other friend, newly-wed Frank and well-known former party animal, really gets back to his old ways during these parties. Because the house seems to be on campus ground, the guys decide to start a fraternity, for all those guys who didn’t get into any.
Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell and Vince Vaughn show that they work well together, when it comes to good comedy. The film hasn’t got the most original plot, but the film has some great jokes and especially Will Ferrell is on a roll as Frank the Tank.
“Old School” is one of those comedies that never gets old and stays funny, even after viewing it over a dozen times.

Rating: 3,5/ 5

10s Movie Review - Hacksaw Ridge

Director: Mel Gibson
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 138 minutes
Year: 2016
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Teresa Palmer, Vince Vaughn, Hugo Weaving, Sam Worthington, Rachel Griffiths, Luke Bracey

Description: World War II American Army Medic Desmond T. Doss (Andrew Garfield), who served during the Battle of Okinawa, refuses to kill people, and becomes the first man in American history to receive the Medal of Honor without firing a shot.

Review: Mel Gibson didn’t really grew in popularity, due to his anti-Semitic outbursts and alcoholism. Ten years after his directorial debut, Gibson sits in the director’s chair again for this war film about a true American hero. His impressive comeback “Hacksaw Ridge” tells the story of Desmond Doss, who managed to save 75 fellow soldiers during the battle of Okinawa, by dragging them away from the fire line.
Desmond Doss didn’t want to carry a gun, due to his religion, let alone fire one. So at all times, he was unarmed. At first, the other soldiers and his superiors think he is crazy and want him gone. Because he will not protect his fellow soldiers. And Doss becomes the mark of jokes and they try to get him to leave. But Doss stays and eventually gets permission to join without a gun and become a medic.
Whenever the soldiers step foot on Hacksaw Ridge, the film becomes more brutal and unnuanced. But the images are filmed so well and it looks very realistic, but it’s not for the faint of heart.
Even though there is a lot of war violence going on, Gibson never forgets to focus on his main character. And that’s all because of Andrew Garfield, whose performance is so strong and believable. Vince Vaughn can easily make you forget about his silly comedies and is also very solid in his performance. But the best supporting role is for Hugo Weaving, who plays Desmond’s father.
The film does follow some standards, as we know them from other war movies. It has clichés and it knows when to make certain decisions at the right moment in the film. And sometimes it gets a little too sentimental.
A great comeback by director Mel Gibson and a fantastic performance by Andrew Garfield.

Rating: 4/ 5

90s Movie Review - The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Director: Steven Spielberg
Genre: Adventure/ Action
Runtime: 129 minutes
Year: 1997
Starring: Jeff Goldblum, Julianne Moore, Vince Vaughn, Pete Postlethwaite, Richard Attenborough, Peter Stormare

Description: A research team is sent to the Jurassic Park Site B island to study the dinosaurs there while another team approaches with another agenda.

Review: After the enormous hit “Jurassic Park” in 1993, Steven Spielberg decided to make a sequel the audience was waiting for. Although the character dies in the first book by Michael Crichton, in “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” it’s Ian Malcolm who saves the day.
Off course the sequel isn’t as original, because the first was so groundbreaking and it amazed everyone. But it’s not just a copy either. John Hammond is concerned about the dinosaurs and tells Ian there is a second island. Malcolm’s girlfriend Sarah is already there to study the behavior of the dinosaurs, so Ian has to go back himself. He is accompanied by documentary maker Nick van Owen and gadget guy Eddie Carr. And Ian’s daughter Kelly also joins them, when she sneaks on the boat. What they don’t know is that the company InGen Is trying to capture the dinosaurs to bring them to San Diego.
To make “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” a little bit more surprising the makers decided to add two adult Tyrannosauruses and a baby. And there are more bad guys in the form of people working for InGen. There are also more deaths en they are bigger than ever.
Jeff Goldblum is, like the first, the best element of the film. The other characters aren’t as interesting as the first. Off course the special effects are again great. Fantastic visuals, that will blow your mind.
“The Lost World: Jurassic Park” builds up the tension, has strong action sequences, great visual effects. Although it never lives up to its prequel, “The Lost World: Jurassic Park” is a joy to watch.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

Movie Moments: "The Lost World: Jurassic Park"

The first time I did this item was august 14th 2011. The movie: “Jurassic Park”. So it’s time that I’m looking a little closer to the sequel “The Lost World: Jurassic Park”, that I think is also wonderful. Here are my favorite moments from the movie.

Moment # 1: The little girl

In the opening scene we see a couple and their daughter spending time on an island. The girl is exploring the sight and finds some little creatures. At first they are friendly, but soon the small dinosaurs appear a little less innocent then they are.

Moment # 2: Stegosaurus

Ian Malcolm is forced to go to the island, to get his girlfriend Sarah back. When he finds her, Sarah sees a baby stegosaurus. She wants to photograph him and Ian knows she will be getting too close. When Sarah runs out of film, the baby doesn’t like the sound of it and calls out for his mom. And they are mad!

Moment # 3: Baby Rex

After freeing the dinosaurs that were captured, Owen decided to take the baby Tyrannosaurus Rex with him because his leg is broken. Sarah and Owen get him into the trailer, but son mommy and daddy come looking for their baby.

Moment # 4: Compsognathus attack

While the group is resting, Dieter needs to take a leak and wanders of in the woods. He is followed by a group of little compsognathus. They won’t leave him alone and attack him. Dieter can’t find his way back and it’s a painful death for Dieter.

Moment # 5: Tent

The group is trying to get some sleep and Ian’s daughter Kelly and Sarah are sleeping in a tent. Their sleep will soon be disturbed when a Tyrannosaurus Rex is coming to camp. He checks out the tent. When one of the people starts to scream, everyone has to run away.

Moment # 6: Long grass

When the group goes into the long grass, which is a very bad idea, they don’t realize a group of hungry velociraptors is surrounding them. From different angles they attack and pull down people in the grass.

Moment # 7: Facing of raptors

While trying to find a save place, Ian, Sarah and Kelly stand eye in eye with two velociraptors.

Moment # 8: T-Rex in San Diego

It’s a brilliant plan to capture a Tyrannosaurus Rex and then bring it to the big city, right? No! It eats everyone on the ship and breaks out.

Favorite Moment: Moment # 3 : Baby Rex

100 Movie Challenge 2014 - # 13: The Watch

Director: Akiva Schaffer
Genre: Comedy/ Science Fiction
Runtime: 100 minutes
Year: 2012
Starring: Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, Richard Ayoade, Rosemarie DeWitt, Will Forte Description: Four men who form a neighborhood watch group as a way to get out of their day-to-day family routines find themselves defending the Earth from an alien invasion.

Review: It’s a very noble deed: starting a neighborhood watch to help de police out. Evan is the initiator, but only three other people in Glenview want to help him. Soon the four men stumble upon something that’s bigger than any of them: extraterrestrials. That’s basically the story and you shouldn’t take it too seriously. It’s a simplistic comedy with jokes that pass you in warp speed. Occasionally they will make you laugh, but they’re mostly juvenile sex jokes.
Although we’re dealing with a cast who has lots of experience with the comedy genre, they don’t lift “The Watch” to a level above average. Ben Stiller is just being his silly self, Vince Vaughn is overly loud and outspoken and Jonah Hill is constantly proving that he’s not a loser. The one that made me laugh the most was Richard Ayoade, who’s just starting to make a name in Hollywood. But then again he’s British and their humor is almost always better than American humor.
Time goes fast while watching this movie, but when it comes to humor the makers were aiming for quantity instead of quality. “The Watch” isn’t a movie you should expect much from, it’s simple and easy to watch.

Rating: 2/ 5

Movie Tip #28 - Old School

Director: Todd Phillips

Starring: Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, Luke Wilson, Ellen Pompeo, Jeremy Piven, Juliette Lewis, Leah Remini, Seann William Scott, Perry Reeves

Description: Mitch (Luke Wilson),Frank (Will Ferrell) and Beanie (Vince Vaughn) are disillusioned with their personal lives begining when Mitch's nymphomanic girlfriend cheats on him, then former party animal Frank gets married, but unwilling to get go of his wild life, and Beanie is a family man seeking to reclaim his wild and crazy youth. Beanie suggests that they form their own fraternity in Mitch's new house on a college campus to re-live their glory days by bringing together a variety of misfit college students, losers, middle-aged and elderly retirees as their new friends and later try to avoid being evicted by the new Dean of Students, whom still holds a personal grudge against all three of them.

Review: It's one of the funniest movies ever. The casting is great, they got a nomination for best on-screen team. Especially Will Ferrell is hilarious as Frank "The Tank" Ricard. Especially when he sings "Dust in the Wind" and the scene where he does gymnastics. But that guy makes me laugh when I just look at him. The story isn't all the complicated, but the way these actors work it is just extremely funny. Watch it and you'll see what I mean.

Into the Wild

I recently saw the movie "Into the Wild". It's about Christopher McCandless, a top student who abandoned his possessions, donated his entire savings account to charity and hitchhiked to Alaska to live in the wilderness. Along the way Chris encounters a series of characters who shape his life.
The movie is based on a true story and the book by Jon Krakauer. Sean Penn is the director of this film and wanted to make this movie for a long time. Emile Hirsch has the honor to play the leading role and he does a great job. Until this movie Hirsch was just a vague name, but now I think we will hear from him more often. At least that's what I hope, 'cause he's a fantastic actor. It's a wonderfull movie, great characters, touching story and beautiful quotes by Chris. Hirsch practically gives away a perfect one man show, but I should credit Catherine Keener and Hal Holbrook as well, who have very strong supporting roles. I could recommened this movie to all of you.