Drive (2011)

Number Rolled: 100

Movie Name/Year: Drive (2011)

Genre: Thriller

Length: 100 minutes

Rating: R

Director: Nicolas Winding Refn

Writer: Hossein Amini, James Sallis

Actors: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Oscar Isaac, Christina Hendricks, Ron Perlman, Kaden Leos, Jeff Wolfe, James Biberi

One of the first lines in the movie said toward Ryan Gosling’s character, a driver who does small time get-away driver jobs and works as a grease monkey, is “no one is going to be looking at you.” Anyone interested in men is going to understand just how false that sentiment is, because when Ryan Gosling is on the screen, there’s nobody NOT looking at him.

Aside from that? I have a new favorite movie. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the screen. I’m not sure but I think, if there had been a fire, I wouldn’t have gotten up until my TV went blank. It was incredible.

I don’t know who to thank. The writers were amazing. The director knew exactly how to show things to create the ultimate amount of tension. The actors? Ok. I automatically have a new love and respect for both Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan. Their dialog was minimal. And by minimal I mean that Ryan’s character never says more than approximately 8 words at a time, and usually less. Yet, by the end of the movie, you know his character best. Feel for his character. He accomplishes this with facial expression and movement. That’s not an easy thing to ask of an actor.

I could type for years about this movie. I’m not going to, though. Watch it.

Overall Opinion – 5/5

Killers (2010)

Number Rolled: 74

Movie Name/Year: Killers (2010)

Genre: Action & Adventure

Length: 100 minutes

Rating: PG-13

Director: Robert Luketic

Writer: Bob DeRosa, Ted Griffin

Actors: Ashton Kutcher, Katherine Heigl, Tom Selleck, Catherine O’Hara, Katheryn Winnick, Kevin Sussman, Lisa Ann Walter, Casey Wilson, Rob Riggle, Martin Mull, Alex Borstein, Usher Raymon, Letoya Luckett

Have you ever seen that movie about the assassin that decides they don’t want to do the job anymore and wants out? You know, the one where the main character starts to have a conscious or find out that their targets aren’t evil or the one they’re working for is corrupt? Then, later in the movie, they get a hit placed on them so they are forced to remember that they are never allowed to leave?

Ok. Now. How many movies just popped into your head? Even if you’re not a fan of that particular type of movie I guarantee you thought of at least three. If it’s your kind of thing, it was probably closer to thirteen. Please, add this one to the list.

Katherine Heigl is great at what she does, but what she does is play the same character in every single movie she’s in. You know, the neurotic good girl who is snubbed for not being impulsive enough? She played the same character here, only that character got dumped in the middle of a “spy getting out of the business” movie. That spy was played by Ashton Kutcher, and I was shocked that he pulled it off.

The first half hour of this movie felt like four hours. However, once the movie got going, time started moving naturally again. I’ll admit, I’m not much a fan of Ashton Kutcher, so I went into this expecting to want to gouge my eyes out with a spork half-way through. Not so.

The script went by your basic recipe, but did it well. I mean, macaroni and cheese is always made the same basic way but it’s still delicious. This movie wasn’t quite macaroni and cheese, but it was still pretty good.

Netflix has this one labeled as an action/adventure. I don’t think that’s right. It’s more of a comedy with an action/adventure twist. The parts that were action/adventure were really very good. Some of the deaths were bloodier than I expected, too.

I hated the ending. Fuck the ending. Let’s just pretend there was a different ending.

Overall Opinion – 3.5/5

Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (2008)

Number Rolled: 59

Movie Name/Year: Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog (2008)

Genre: Comedy

Length: 42 minutes

Rating: NR

Director: Joss Whedon

Writer: Maurissa Tancharoen, Jed Whedon, Joss Whedon, Zack Whedon

Actors: Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion, Felicia Day, Simon Helberg, Nick Towne, Jed Whedon, Rob Reinis, Otto Michael Penzato

Ok. Why is this the first time I saw this movie? People have been talking about this movie consistently for the past four years. When I told people I hadn’t seen it, I got a lot of gasps and questions as to how someone as immersed in the geek culture could have not seen it. Now? I understand.

Neil Patrick Harris is the only actor in the world that could have pulled off this part. It was a cheesy ball of perfect. Felicia Day is … well … Felicia Day, which is awesome as is Nathan Fillion. He’s not Felicia Day. He’s just awesome. And then there’s Joss Whedon.

This may have been a 45 minutes geek-fest instead of a full length feature film about superheroes or a TV series involving the supernaturally fucked, but don’t go thinking that Joss Whedon didn’t make it just as epic.

Cut into parts, this short movie is more than worth the time it takes to watch. It follows the life of a villain and keeps in mind that simple piece of truth that you learn as a writer: the villain does not believe he is wrong. You get to see this in Dr. Horrible and the way Neil portrays him. You can see the difference between his anarchistic point of view and the cocky point of view of the hero, Captain Hammer, portrayed by Nathan Fillion.

If this movie stands as a hole in your geekdom, as it did for me, let it stand no more. Forty-five minutes is all it takes to fill that hole with the greats geek-filled musical you will ever see. Watch it.

Overall Opinion – 5/5