Movies
Four Shorty Reactions: “Blowout” (1981), “Deadpool & Wolverine” (2024), “Rebel Ridge” (2024) & “Waterworld” (1995)
Four Shorty Reviews: “Blowout” (1981), “Deadpool & Wolverine” (2024), “Rebel Ridge” (2024) & “Waterworld” (1995)
Blowout (1981)
“A movie sound recordist accidentally records the evidence that proves that a car accident was actually murder and consequently finds himself in danger.”
Director: Brian De Palma
Writers: Brian De Palma, Bill Mesce Jr.
Cast: John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow, Dennis Franz
Release Date: July 24, 1981
IMDB
Director Brian De Palma took his hand at paranoia with Blow Out (1981). Jack Terry, played by John Travolta, is an audio technician who unexpectedly finds himself in a murder political conspiracy.
Witnissing a car accident, Jack saves the life of Sally (Nancy Allen) and they become intertwined till the very end. Jack learns of Sally’s true intentions in the car with the governor (shock!) and the story unfolds in a way where the politician’s death becomes very suspicious.
The ending of Blow Out is what throws reality out of the window. Sally goes out to meet with media member Donahue (Curt May), much to the suspicion of Jack. They come up with a plan to have her wired so she can be tracked and all of it can be recorded for evidence. Turns out that Burke, a hired hitman played by John Lithgow, is posing as Donahue, and it leads to chaos. Chaos that can not be believed.
Jack drives through a parade, is taken into custody, but escapes with no problem with all his equipment. He can find Sally amid thousands, but it is too late because Burke has already killed her. Jack then kills Burke with the misery of Sally’s death looming over him.
It may not be the point, but I couldn’t help but raise my hands with the crazy suspension of disbelief needed to have Jack reach his final endpoint.
If one were to pick a movie about auditory paranoia, I would go with Francis Ford Coppola’s The Conversation (1974) over De Palma’s Blow Out.
STANKO RATING: B
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
“Deadpool is offered a place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by the Time Variance Authority, but instead recruits a variant of Wolverine to save his universe from extinction.”
Director: Shawn Levy
Writers: Ryan Reynolds, Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, Zeb Wells, Shawn Levy, Rob Leifeld, Fabian Nicieza, Len Wein, John Romita Sr., Herb Trimpe, Roy Thomas, Joe Simon, Jack Kirby, Frank Miller
Cast: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin, Jon Favreau, Dafne Keen, Matthew Macfadyen, Rob Delaney, Jennifer Garner, Wesley Snipes, Channing Tatum, Chris Evans, Henry Cavill
Release Date: July 26, 2024
IMDB
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) made over 1.3 billion dollars worldwide, so let’s not dwell on what the movie is about. People have seen it. A lot of people. Just recently, it passed Barbie (2023) as the 12th biggest film in domestic box office history, according to Variety
With that in mind, I will just talk about the things I liked and disliked about the film. Sorry, there isn’t going to be a heavy breakdown. But let’s be honest; does Deadpool & Wolverine care about in-depth, deep thoughts? Here is a hint. The answer is no.
Deadpool & Wolverine is not a good movie, but it is a good entertainment vessel. Director Shawn Levy, star Ryan Reynolds, and the bevy of writers had a mission to create a joke and reference filled audience pleaser. And to that, they succeeded.
I lost my shit when Wesley Snipes popped up on the screen as Blade. Sitting in the theater with my cousin and my wife, I instinctively grabbed body parts and cackled. It is by far the biggest highlight of the movie for me personally, and the fact it was able to be kept a secret makes it even more special. What makes it even better is the fact that Deadpool & Wolverine made specific jokes about Blade Trinity (2004).
Seeing Jennifer Garner back as Elektra led to some predictable jokes, but I enjoyed the break-up jokes regarding Ben Affleck and the costume conversations. Seeing Channing Tatum finally as Gambit was a great payoff for fan-fiction that’d been building for nearly a decade, but his accent didn’t grip me as comedically as other bits did.
Now, let’s pay homage to Chris Evans. Perhaps the first laugh-out-loud moment is when Johnny Storm reveals himself as a survivor in the void. Everyone remembers when the baby-faced actor from Fantastic Four (2005) and Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer (2007) lit up the screen with his punky teen attitude, right?
Overall, Deadpool & Wolverine is a very funny movie, and it does not disappoint when it comes to its primary mission. The homages are outstanding, especially for someone who has seen all the X-Men movies multiple times. The dialogue and chemistry between Reynolds and Jackman are zesty and fresh. The action is (for the most part) over-the-top fun and easy to root for.
But with that being said, there are misgivings that must be stated. Let’s ignore things like plot, character development, or editing. Let’s talk a bit more granular.
Everything involving the TVA was a chore. This most definitely stems from the fact that I have not watched any of the Marvel Disney+ shows. I appreciated Deadpool’s self-explanatory written reference to Loki, but that doesn’t mean all the different timeline variance conversations irritated my pleasure. I got so pissed when I saw a portal in the trailer, and it stemmed into the feature film too.
Perhaps here is a hot take, but what the fuck is with all the Peter (Rob Delaney) love? He appears in Deadpool 2 (2018), and all of a sudden, he is an interdimensional unifier for all Deadpool characters. There is too much Peter in Deadpool & Wolverine.
One last dig. The dog. The stupid fucking dog. I am not a dog person, nor am I pet person. Therefore, aspects revolving around the ugly dog had me squirming in my seat. Much like Peter, it was the baseline for too many punchlines for me to care about.
STANKO RATING: B-
Rebel Ridge (2024)
“A former Marine grapples his way through a web of small-town corruption when an attempt to post bail for his cousin escalates into a violent standoff with the local police chief.”
Director: Jeremy Saulnier
Writer: Jeremy Saulnier
Cast: Aaron Pierre, Don Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, David Denman
Release Date: September 6, 2024
IMDB
A Netflix original that surpasses all expectations? We love it.
Rebel Ridge centers around former marine Terry Richmond, played brilliantly by Aaron Pierre. Terry has the simple mission of wanting to bail his cousin from jail, but things get complicated when he gets pulled into a small town law enforcement corruption. Don Johnson, in a very Don Johnson role, plays Chief Sandy Burnne, the leader of the unscrupulous group that our new version John Rambo must overcome.
Jeremy Saulnier wrote and directed Rebel Ridge. The man doesn’t work very often, but when he does he makes projects that stick. According to IMDB, there was a five year break between directing projects for Saulnier, with his previous before Rebel Ridge being two episodes of HBO’s True Detective in 2019. He also has two under-the-radar movies in Green Room (2015) and Blue Ruin (2013).
And to think that Rebel Ridge almost didn’t happen. Or at least it could have looked very different. John Boyega was originally meant to star but he left the project midday through filming in 2021. Production for the movie had to shut down while Saulnier and crew had to look for their actor. Thankfully, they found Pierre, because he is objectively the primary reason Rebel Ridge works as well as it does.
Rebel Ridge, while an absolute surprise, does have some flaws. I don’t want to nitpick, so the one thing I’ll say is that the movie does not need to be over two hours long. You could cut out 20 minutes. But with that being said, still check out Rebel Ridge.
STANKO RATING: B-
Waterworld (1995)
“In a future where the polar ice-caps have melted, and Earth is almost entirely submerged, a mutated mariner fights starvation and outlaw “smokers,” and reluctantly helps a woman and a young girl try to find dry land.”
Director: Kevin Reynolds
Writers: Peter Rader, David Twohy
Cast: Kevin Costner, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Tina Majorino, Dennis Hopper
Release Date: July 28, 1995
IMDB
Heading into Waterworld (1995), I had preconceived notions that the movie was an abstract disaster. I am here to honorably say that while Waterworld isn’t a blockbuster masterpiece, it is not a notorious failure.
Waterworld is the second collaboration between director Kevin Reynolds and star Kevin Costner. The two had previously worked together in 1991 with Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves, which found positive reviews and box office success. I suppose the fact that Robin Hood made over 300,000 million dollars on a less the 50 million dollar budget opened the door for Waterworld’s 175,000 million dollar budget…
Yet, because it’s not an all-time waste of minutes, Waterworld still ended up at a profit of over 260 million dollars.
Waterworld takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where the polar ice caps have melted, and all of the Earth is covered in water. Different societies exist, and different resources are rushed upon with great urgency. The main plot circles around the Deacon (Dennis Hopper) chasing after Helen (Jeanne Tripplehorn) and young Enola (Tina Majorino) while they are under the guardianship of the Marnier (Kevin Costner). It’s a classic reluctant loner hero tale going up against a big-bad over-the-top bad guy. The Western storytelling style stays strong in Costner’s movies.
While the journey of watching Waterworld isn’t the most fulfilling, one can still appreciate that fact this movie was made under the most difficult of circumstances. Think about it. Being on water non-stop making a motion picture. Even Jaws (1975) had land-based scenes with its oceanic nightmares. Waterworld’s production made the budget balloon to its absurd number and it also took extended time and effort.
Waterworld was nominated for one Oscar at the 1996 Academy Awards: Best Sound.
STANKO RATING: C-
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