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[Should I See It] – Nicolas Cage Facebook Movie

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It’s been a busy last few weeks and I didn’t get a chance to catch any new(ish) flicks opening near you. Sorry about that. I’ve working on a project and something else happened…what was it?

"Pete, do you think your 'rah rah' style will ever work in the NFL?"

“Pete, do you think your ‘rah rah’ style will ever work in the NFL?”

Oh right, that.

I did, however, get multiple opportunities to view a slew of personal Facebook movies. Congrats on everyone’s ability to conceive and wear crazy hats. Sadly, I have neither of the two to offer and as much as I enjoy slide shows of the pompous personalized license plates in my neighborhood, I figured it’s best not to push that on anyone else. Instead, I decided to create a Facebook movie for someone far more interesting. Nicolas “NOT THE BEES!” Cage.

Journey with me now as we take a trip down social media memory lane with the greatest actor ever to punch a woman while wearing a bear costume.

[Should I See It] – Academy Awards Edition

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Recorded this while wrecked with the flu – you’re welcome.

Top Ten Favorite Films of 2013

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Unofficial #1 pending the outcome of a Church of Scientology law suit.

Unofficial #1 pending the outcome of a Church of Scientology law suit.

Everyone has opinions and mine are just as arbitrary as the next insecure jerk-off.

So in the spirit of capricious viewpoints, I thought it’d be fun (read: necessary) to validate mine and compile a comprehensive list of my favorite cinematic experiences.  Did Grown Ups 2 make the list? What about Pain & Gain? Does 12 Years a Slave still suck?

The answer to one of those is “yes” – you’ll just have to watch to find out:

[Should I See It?] Her / Inside Llewyn Davis

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Two new films from some of our best directors, one better than the other.

I apologize for the audio problems in the beginning. It won’t happen again…unless it does. Turn the volume down until the trailer.

“HER” – Batman Scale of Film Excellence: The Dark Knight Rises

Should I See It? Maybe with Reservations

Should I See It? Maybe with Reservations

“INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS” – Batman Scale of Film Excellence: The Dark Knight

Should I See It? Hell Yes with Reservations

Should I See It? Hell Yes with Reservations

[Should I See It?] The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

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Capitol-Portraits-The-Hunger-Games-Catching-Fire

For the five or six of you that are still undecided:

Should I See It? You could do worse

Batman Scale of Film Excellence: The Dark Knight Rises

[Should I See It?] Nebraska Edition

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Nebraska-poster

What a splendid film Nebraska is. Alexander Payne’s latest since the slight but enjoyable The Descendants is a masterpiece of mood and observation. It’s like an early Jarmusch production if Jarmusch was interested in story (or, you know, pacing). It may be my favorite of Payne’s work and that’s saying a lot for a director with Election and Sideways on his resume.

Nebraska is one of those wonderful experiences, like The Coen Brothers’ Fargo, where the setting and characters stick with you well after the ending credits.

Bruce Dern plays Woody Grant, an elderly, alcoholic Montana retiree convinced he’s the recipient of a million dollar prize from one of those Publisher’s Clearing House-style scams. That he hasn’t won anything is obvious, even to him, but the hope that maybe he has sends him trudging on foot down the highway en route to Lincoln, Nebraska to claim his prize. No longer able to drive, a slave to the bottle and living with a wife who criticizes his every move, what else is there to live for?

That’s what his youngest son David, played with surprising effect by Will Forte, believes. What’s the harm in letting him play out his fantasy if only for a few days? Facing the uncertainty of a break-up and the malaise of his dead-end job, David offers to drive Woody to Lincoln. Partially to stop a stubborn Woody from trying to walk the thousand miles and partially to spend time with a man he knows but doesn’t understand.

What I love about Nebraska, and indeed Dern’s performance, is that Woody remains the same ornery, disagreeable coot from beginning to end. It’s what we learn about him along the way that allows David and our empathy to grow for him, so much so that we want him to actually win. Payne and writer Bob Nelson are too smart to allow that of course and find a much more satisfying conclusion but I was blown away by how endeared I was to a collection of difficult characters.

Nebraska’s realizations are subtle, insightful and strangely beautiful. Should I see it? Absolutely.

 

[Should I See It? ] 12 Years A Slave / Dallas Buyers Club

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Exactly what you were waiting for, a straight white male’s opinion on films about American slavery and the early AIDS epidemic.