Jackpot! (2024)

Now Available for Streaming on Amazon Prime.

Paul Feig’s “Jackpot!” is that horrible, malt-o-meal garbage movie meant mainly to be as edgy as possible without ever really intending to offend anyone. It disguises itself as social satire when really in the end it has zero to say. It’s just a flaccid hundred minutes drag through nonsense and emptiness. No one at any point in this movie seems to be mentally present, including John Cena who often looks a lot more like a walking action figure than anything else. With Feig’s premise you just assume you’d be in the market for a blood soaked science fiction film. At the very least, you’d expect a darkly comic if mean movie about greed and the way the economy has driven in to rabid dogs.

It’s actually a vanilla coming of age story with a premise that’s gradually pushed in to the background over the course of the narrative.

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The Crow (2024)

I’ve heard of this certain technique Hollywood usually uses as a means of pulling a fast sequel; it’s by taking a script with a similar concept to an already established IP and turning it in to a sequel. “The Crow” feels a lot like that. It feels like a simultaneous cash grab, exploitation of the art of James O’Barr, and downright lazy attempt to maintain the license for “The Crow.” At thirty minutes in, I wondered if at any point anyone on this movie were even trying. At all. This is a non-move. It’s a movie without a presence, or any kind of a soul, or any kind of self awareness. “The Crow’s” only purpose is to gentrify what should have and could have been a touching, eerie, and heartbreaking movie.

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The Mexico Trilogy: El Mariachi, Desperado & Once Upon a Time in Mexico Limited Edition [4K UHD/Blu-ray]

The best way to approach Robert Rodriguez’s series of action films are as more avante garde independent films. They’re much more obsessed with the mysticism and the lore of the mariachi than pursuing traditional action films. In the process he loses himself in a trio of imperfect often incoherent action films that, while fun, are hard to follow. “El Marciahi” for instance cost Rodriguez everything to make where he couldn’t even afford to film two takes for a lot of his shots. In spite of the troubles, the film made him an indie legend, inspiring many to go their own gold. “Desperado” is the partial remake and sequel now following Antonio Banderas as El Mariachi. The vengeful and vicious music player travels across Mexico with the aide of a gorgeous local nurse—played by then unknown Salma Hayek–as he sets out to put and end to their reign.

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The Five Best Films I Saw in 1999

1999 was such a formative year for many. I was sixteen and experiencing new hobbies, and learning to love movies. And the internet was still in its infancy, transforming in to a fascinating but still mysterious technology. 1999 had much to offer in the way of the film world with studios releasing so many interesting and great films. With the 25 year marked in 2024, I spotlighted five of the best films I saw in 1999.

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