I saw a wide variety of movies last month but the one trip
to the theater was hardly worth the cash. Showing just how out of touch with a
certain subset of the entertainment world I really am, I was unaware that NEED
FOR SPEED (2014) was based on a video game. If I had known this I would never
have agreed to spend money to see it, but we learn and we grow, huh? Still, I
was interested to see Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul on the big screen. It
might have been worth the trip out to determine if he has a chance at
moving from small screen to large so I'm not going to claim too much of a
wound. I find Paul to be an engaging and extremely talented actor and I'm
glad to be able to report that he is very good in this film. He is able to
breathe some visible emotion into a character written as thinly as you would
expect from a game adaptation. He does his best with the material but there is
only so much you can do with this lifeless. The only other real plus the film
has is something you would also expect from its source - very well shot
car crashes. Well- I'm sure that there are some people actually interested in
car races - which the film has to spare- but its the crashes that are worth
seeing even if the rest of the movie is by turns predictable, stupid
and thin to the point of emaciation. NEED FOR SPEED is worth seeing
if you can fast forward through the dull, pointless stretches and just get to
the car footage.
And what the Hell is Michael Keaton doing in this movie? He
plays a character that never interacts with anyone else and mostly just stares
into the camera pontificating about the Zen of Racing. He speaks convincingly
whatever words he has to say but its all gibberish and comes off as a cinematic afterthought. It's as if they thought they needed a narrator but realized paying
Keaton for a day's work would seem more impressive and less of a storytelling
cheat. You know the film is confused about his character when we are told up
front that no one knows what he looks like but we then see that he broadcasts an
internet video show almost every day. How can no one know what he looks like?
As I said - the film is pretty damned stupid.
HIT MAN (1972)- 6 (it has a
certain lack of forward momentum but overall its a pretty good action film)
EYEBALL (1975)- 8 (rewatch)
REVENGE OF THE NINJA (1983)-
3 (rewatch) (terrible, but entertainingly bad)
THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN
(1956) - 6 (rewatch)
SKULLDUGGERY (1970) - 7
LUST FOR A VAMPIRE (1971)- 6
(rewatch)
47 RONIN (2013)- 7 (well
done fantasy)
JOHNNY COOL (1963)- 6 (good
but not great crime tale)
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE
UGLY (1967)- 10 (rewatch)
CURUCU -BEAST OF THE AMAZON
(1956)- 3 (not very good monster tale)
ACT OF VENGEANCE (1974)- 7
(interesting rape revenge film)
NEED FOR SPEED (2014)- 4 (pretty
silly and dumb revenge/carsploitation film- not boring but very paint by
numbers)
THE INITIATION (1984)- 6
(well done slasher)
FRIGHT NIGHT 2 (2013)- 3
(not a sequel but a second remake of the original -colorful and pretty but
dumb)
TRANCE (2013)- 9 (excellent
mystery thriller)
THE BISHOP MURDER CASE (1930)-
6 (pretty good Philo Vance mystery)
ALL-STAR SUPERMAN (2011)- 9
(excellent animated film)
THE HOUSE WITH LAUGHING
WINDOWS (1976)- 8 (rewatch)
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