Ass Whoopin Wednesdays: The Bourne Legacy (2012)

We are exactly nine days away from the release of the fifth film in the Bourne saga entitled Jason Bourne. Once again we are taking the time to watch all of the films in the saga for Ass Whoopin Wednesdays and we have The Bourne Legacy which is the first film not to feature Matt Damon. You see the government is now dealing with the after effects of the last film and they call upon Col Eric Byer, USAF, Ret. (Edward Norton) who decides to eliminate any asset that there is out there. The only problem for him is that one asset that goes by the name of Aaron Cross (Jeremy Renner) refuses to be a victim of that decision so he goes looking for answers and gets help from a doctor (Rachel Weisz) who was also deemed expendable. The film also stars Scott Glenn (Urban Cowboy) as Ezra Kramer, Donna Murphy (Spider-Man 2) as Dita Mandy, Stacy Keach (American History X) as Adm Mark Turso USN Ret., Oscar Isaac (X-Men: Apocalypse) as Outcome # 3, Zeljko Ivanek (Donnie Brasco) as Dr. Donald Foite, Corey Stoll (This Is Where I Leave You) as Zev Vandel, Michael Chernus (Orange Is The New Black) as Arthur Ingram, and the film was directed by Tony Gilroy (Duplicity). Before we get into the review of the film, let’s check out some stats:

As far as the stats are concerned, Aaron Cross has about 12 1/2 kills/knockouts and that half is because Rachel Weisz puts the finishing touches on a villain. We do not essentially know much about Aaron Cross even though we saw some flashbacks, but it just wasn’t enough. I think you can pretty much figure out that Rachel Weisz’s character ends up becoming a love interest and someone he bunks with is killed and Rachel is also under attack now. The big boss is defeated in the film, but as usual you’ll have to see for yourself how it gets done. As far as the spectrum of all the films are concerned, this isn’t the best in series, but it’s actually a pretty good film. I feel like this one is a little more on the Taken side of things only because Jeremy Renner’s character is resourceful and he uses his surroundings to benefit himself like Liam Neeson did. One my favorite scenes in the film is the chase scene in Thailand which is pretty bad ass. One of the other scenes is when Jeremy Renner’s character first saves Rachel’s in her house. Now that is some pretty cool stuff. There is plenty of action in the film to please anyone and plenty of government stuff. The thing I have always liked about these films is the locations they stop in like Manila, Philippines, Thailand, and Alaska. It’s always fun to see where they will end up next. I am excited for the next film in the series so stay tuned for that. I am going to give The Bourne Legacy four fists out of four for a final grade.

Ass Whoopin Wednesdays: Escape From LA (1996)

Believe it or not, today’s Ass Whoopin Wednesday film is one that I have never seen all the way through. When I saw that Netflix had John Carpenter’s Escape From LA  available to watch online, I jumped at the opportunity to see it. The film once again stars Kurt Russell as the bad ass outlaw Snake Pilskin. It supposedly 15 years after the events of Escape From New York and the world has changed just a little bit. The president changed the constitution and he rules forever and Los Angeles is no longer apart of California in the year 2013 (only criminals and deported civilians are sent there). The problem is that the president (Cliff Robertson)’s daughter Utopia (A.J. Langer) has stolen a device that takes satellites and it can shut down power all over the world and she is somewhere in LA with the villainous Cuervo Jones (Georges Corraface) . So, the president gets Snake Pilskin into LA to retrieve the device in 10 hours or he dies and the whole world suffers. The film also stars Peter Fonda (Easy Rider) as Pipeline, Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire) as Map To The Stars Eddie, Valeria Golino (Rain Man) as Taslima, Stacy Keach (American History X) as Cmdr. Malloy, Pam Grier (Coffy) as Hershe Las Palmas, Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead) as Surgeon General Of Beverly Hills, Michelle Forbes (Battlestar Galactica) as Brazen, and the film was directed by John Carpenter. Before we check out the review, let’s look at the stats:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is definitely one of the most iconic and bad ass characters that Kurt Russell has ever played in Outlaw Snake Pilskin. As far as the stats are concerned, he has 24 estimated kills and I say that cause it could have been more, but hard to tell. He did however win one basketball game that he was told to play. He has no origin story and no love interest. One of the things I did was as far as a Love Interest/Family/Friend getting hurt, I answered that with no because he hasn’t really known the people for too long to really consider them friends in my opinion. The big boss is defeated in the film, but you have to see the way it’s done cause it’s poetic justice for Snake. You have to think that a lot of the film is done in that 90’s special effects that still have a little bit of that 80’s flare to the look that I loved about the original. The acting is as good as expected with this film as Steve Buscemi really shines as a two timing weasel in the film and Valeria Golino looks absolutely hot in this film. One of the elements that I enjoyed about the film besides all the outrageous action is all of the sets. The way they make Los Angeles look like a modern wasteland. That was what was enjoyable to me and it was also enjoyable to see Bruce Campbell as the surgeon general of Beverly Hills. The first one was a classic and exceeded all expecatations and this one doesn’t disappoint either. I am going to give it 3.7 fists out of five for a final grade.

Based On A Truesday Story: Hotel Rwanda (2004)

There is no denying that a true story is a lot more interesting to watch because it really happened even though sometimes it seems like the most unthinkable thing. That is why I started the Based On A Truesday Story (a play on the words True and Tuesday). This week’s film is the compelling tale of tragedy in Africa in the country of Rwanda called Hotel Rwanda. Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle) was a manager of a hotel called the Hôtel des Mille Collines when war all of a sudden breaks out in the country of Rwanda between a militant group known as Hutu Militia. The Hutu are hunting down a group of Africans known as Tutsi and they are slaughtering them in an act of genocide. So, Paul will do his best to protect thousands of Tutsi from falling victim to the genocide by hiding them in his hotel in hopes that they can escape. The film also stars Hakeem Kae-Kazim (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) as George Rutaganda, Nick Nolte (48 HRS) as Colonel Oliver, Fana Mokoena (World War Z) as General Bizimungu, Sophie Okonedo (After Earth) as Tatiana Rusesabagina, Antonio David Lyons (American History X) as Thomas Mirana, Joaquin Phoenix (Her) as Jack Daglish, David O’Hara (Braveheart) as David, and the film was directed by Terry George (In The Name Of The Father).

George Santayana once said, “Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.” and quite sadly the man is correct. We have seen it time and time again throughout history and it’s very sad. In the 1940’s Adolf Hitler blamed all of Germany’s troubles on the Jewish Community and in Rwanda the Hutu’s did the same when they sought out to massacre millions of Tutsi’s which they did in 1994. The film has often been compared to 1994’s Schindler’s List due to the fact that Oscar Schindler protected hundreds of Jewish people from massacre like Paul Rusesabagina did in Rwanda with the Tutsi’s. One of the things that struck me as sad is that this was happening all over Africa whether it be in Liberia, Rwanda, or even Darfur. You see the struggle within the film that Paul goes through along with his family as they struggle to protect so many while trying to protect themselves. They risked their lives and basically were able to bribe their way to freedom. It’s sad when you see all the abandoned children due to the causality of the madness that ensued. The acting is superb and the movie is gripping, it is definitely worth checking out if you’re interested in real life stories. I am going to give the film an A for a final grade.

What Are Your Favorite Films Since The Year You Were Born

I saw someone on my Facebook page do this and it intrigued me enough to think about what were my favorite films since he year I was born. Basically, you go year by year since the year you were born all the way up to the present day and you pick a film. I had a hard time choosing films where there are four of my favorite films all released in the same year, but like a true trooper I only chose one film for each year and left no two or three way ties. I also want you to note that when you look at the list, I didn’t choose what I thought were the top films of each year, but films that I loved from each year. These are films that made an impact on me that I will never forget where I was the first time I watched them. Now obviously, there are some years (like the year you were born and probably the first three years of your life) that you obviously did’t watch the films when they came out, but you do remember seeing them later on and they changed you. Here is my list:

1982- Fast Times At Ridgemont High

1983- Return Of The Jedi

1984- A Nightmare On Elm Street

1985- The Goonies

1986- Stand By Me

1987- Spaceballs

1988- Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

1989- Batman

1990- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

1991- Terminator 2: Judgement Day

1992- Malcolm X

1993- Schindler’s List

1994- The Crow

1995- Empire Records

1996- Fear

1997- Private Parts

1998- American History X

1999- American Pie

2000- Gladiator

2001- Blow

2002- Catch Me If You Can

2003- Once Upon A Time In Mexico

2004- The Passion Of The Christ

2005- Star Wars Episode III

2006- The Departed

2007- Knocked Up

2008- The Dark Knight

2009- The Hangover

2010- The Social Network

2011- Moneyball

2012- The Avengers

2013- Prisoners

2014- Guardians Of The Galaxy- this is my current favorite film of this year

Honorable Mention

The Breakfast Club was one of my choices for 1985, but The Goonies had a bigger impact on me at the time. Dazed And Confused is still one of my all time favorite films from 1993, but nothing beats the impact Schindler’s List had on me at the time that I had watched that film. For 1983, it was between Jedi and The Outsiders which is another of my all time favorite films, but Return Of The Jedi is my favorite of the Star Wars series. For 1992, it was between Malcolm X and My Cousin Vinny (which is still hilarious), but Denzel blew me away as Malcolm X and I researched the man for a school project because of the film. So, that was my list and now I challenge everyone that has a blog and covers movies to do the same as me. If I was born before 1974, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Halloween would be on this list as well. Let’s see the lists bloggers!!!