Preview- The Nice Guys (Man Escapes Marvel to Make Fun Movie)

Yes, I know...X-Men, Captain America, Batman vs. Superman...blah blah blah.

This summer we are going to again be neck deep in absurdly self-serious demi gods delivering lines like "I saw the end of the world. I could feel all this death." It's all going to be gravely voiced whispers, CG fireballs, bloodless collateral damage and, in the case of Captain America, annoying obvious quips and cocked eyebrows.

The good news is one of the genuinely entertaining voices absorbed by the roiling behemoth of superherodom, Shane Black, director of Iron Man 3, has made good his escape from the gulag of franchise properties and has made something that looks...dare I say it...fun!

Shane Black made one of the genuinely under appreciated genre pieces of the first decade of this century. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was an unwieldy, undisciplined, violent, and crass flop. What that description omits though is how funny, surprising, satisfying and compulsively watchable it was.

Black writes with  crisp comedic pace absolutely made for buddy action movies. He also has writer credits on the Lethal Weapon series. and In Kiss Kiss Bang Bang he was blessed with a re-energized but still pre-revival Robert Downey Jr. and a swaggering laconically on-point Val Kilmer, both of whom breezed through its post-millenial noir comedy setting with a great bantering chemistry. The movie failed to make money though it has gained a cult audience in subsequent formats.

Now Black returns, setting a similarly framed "bad-guys-doing-good" action farce in the perfect decade for moral ambiguity and absurdity, the 1970s. As recent films like American Hustle and Inherent Vice have proven the 70s were America's prime A-hole decade. A time when people could look and live sleazy and still be sympathetic. And now Shane Black's The Nice Guys promises to deliver a blast of grimy cringe-worthy cinematic fun. So before stepping onto the conveyor belt of pseudo-profound masked men casually pounding cities to dust, I plan on spending a couple welcome hours with The Nice Guys.

Out May 20, 2016

Preview- He Never Died (avoid the trailer)

I am definitely in favor of Henry Rollins being cast in a stereo typical tough guy movie. To put him at the center of a story about a social outcast who spends his time being menacing and gruff seems as natural as breathing.
   
Whether or not I think the world needs another macho revenge fantasy movie is a separate issue. If it hits the sweet spot of grimy energy, crisp pace and “whoa-dude” nastiness it should find an audience the same place Boondock Saints did once upon a time. I plan to see it because it’s the role Henry Rollins was born to play and I’m holding out hope the film will make use of his personality as much as it does his brawny menace.

Just nobody watch the trailer. If this kind of movie appeals to you you already know it. The trailer released for this film gives away a huge central plot point. It’s the worst kind of inept advertising plot spoiler. It’ll be on iTunes video beginning Dec. 18th. If you get a chuckle out of absurd grim faced action movies watch the movie but avoid the trailer.

Star Wars and Awkward Reunions

Yes, I’m gonna see it. Maybe not first night, probably not even first week but I’m gonna see it. Having a Star Wars movie show up now, after all these years, all this water under the bridge, it’s like a phone call out of the blue from that friend you’re shocked is still alive. The last time you saw him he was on top of a table at a karaoke bar having gotten a little too wasted one too many times and you weren’t gonna talk him through the guilt and self recrimination and clean up the barfs anymore. So you walked out, called a cab, and left.

You had been growing apart for a few years anyway and you knew when he never tried to get in touch that he was just as relieved as you to be done with what was, even at its best, a codependent unhealthy relationship in which you shared your weaknesses and perpetuated bad behaviors in one another.

And now he’s back, gonna be in town for Christmas. He swears it’ll be just like the old days. He’s cleaned up and what’s more he’s feeling more energized than ever and has  business ideas he wants to let you in on. He’ll be around a lot more, things are gonna be great and he’ll never let you down again.

Meanwhile I’m a little iffy on getting together at all. I’ve moved on, gotten married, changed. Maybe I don’t want it to be like it was. Sure I cherish the memories but I don’t think I have the energy to pretend we’re teenagers again.

So I’ll see it and I might even enjoy it. But it won’t take long before I start letting the sequels and spin offs all just kind of slip past me onto home video.