Happy Memorial Day everyone.  The Memorial Day Movie Binge Watch Weekend continued this morning with a film starring Al Pacino and Robin Williams called Insomnia.

Alaska can be problematic.  Days of light without a sign of darkness can really mess with your psyche.  There is a scene here where Pacino’s character wants to go to the school and interview a suspect, but the other local police officers told him that it was 10 PM despite the bright sunshine outside.

However, there was not only the endless days that wound up messing with Will Dormer (Al Pacino).  His recent actions had caused him to suffer through a bout of insomnia.

Dormer had come to Alaska to aid in an investigation of a murdered teenage girl, beaten to death.  He bought his partner Hap Eckhart (Martin Donovan) with him, a partner who was preparing to give information about Dormer to Internal Services.

During the investigation in pursuit of a suspect, accidentally shoots and kills Hap.  Dormer decides to keep the truth of the shooting to himself.

Robin Williams plays the killer.  This was one of the early examples of Williams going for different type of characters that he was not normally recognized for.  This came out about the same time as One Hour Photo, and Williams was amazing at how warped he could be.  You never once wonder why he is playing these parts.  He fits perfectly.

Al Pacino is great here too as he plays a detective struggling with his conscience over his deeds and a man whose mental capacities are being affected from a lack of sleep.  There are also strong performances from Hillary Swank as an Alaskan detective who is a fan of Dormer and Maura Tierney as the owner of the hotel Dormer is staying at.

Then, former General Hospital star Jonathan Jackson was here as the creepy boyfriend of the murdered girl.  Jackson does his normal great job.

This psychological thriller dives into the mental problems of guilt and the physical stress of sleep deprivation.  Great performances from Pacino and Williams really carry the film and you are never sure exactly what they may do.

The final film for today in the Memorial Day Movie Binge Watch is my favorite of director Kevin Smith’s filmography, Dogma.

There was a lot of protesting against this film because of its special take on religion, but I think that is just silly.  There is nothing here that should cause anyone to question their faith or that could be considered blasphemous.  In fact, the film is steeped in religion and religious lore that should be appreciated for what it is.

Bartleby (Ben Affleck) and Loki (Matt Damon) are angels that have been permanently banned from Heaven. However, a church in New Jersey has started a “rebranding” of sorts and they have offered the chance for any sinner to pass through the archways of their church and be forgiven… to have a clean slate.  This would allow Bartleby and Loki the chance to re-enter Heaven and prove God wrong and thus undo all of existence.

Kevin Smith grew up Catholic so he was able to weave plenty of Catholic dogma into the film that included some things that perhaps few people have heard of.  For example, Metatron (Alan Rickman) as the Voice of God, an archangel that is really a thing.

There is way more depth than some of Smith’s work and, although there is still the foul mouthed Jay and the super quiet Silent Bob, most of these characters are understandable and still relatable.  Bethany (Linda Fiorentino) has a remarkable arc for her character, going from an abortion clinic worker to someone recruited by God to save the day.

In fact, one of my favorite scenes was on the train when Bethany and Bartleby were drinking together and sharing experiences about how they lost faith in God.  It was such a real conversation that you forget that one of them is an angel and the other one is meant to kill the angel.  Both Fiorentino and Affleck do some of their best work in this scene.

It is amazing to see Alan Rickman again.  He is truly missed.  Every scene that he is in is raised to a new level.  You can see the others in the scene working on raising their game as well.  It is just something that an actor of Rickman’s quality does.

The story is wonderfully laid out as the characters work their way to this church in New Jersey.  We meet other religious figures such as The Muse Serendipity (Selma Hayek), the 13th Apostle Rufus (Chris Rock), and the demon Azrael (Jason Lee).  George Carlin has a small, but pivotal role of Cardinal Glick who introduces the world to the Buddy Christ, one of the best jokes in the whole film.

Those of you who object to this film on religious reasons should listen to the quote from Alan Rickman about God, “I told you she was funny.”  There is no way that God is not laughing at all of this.

There are great relationships throughout, including Bethany and Rufus, Bethany and Metatron, Loki and Bartleby, Rufus and Serendipity, Jay and Silent Bob and each one brings something special to the film.

There is so much greatness in Dogma. Dogma is filled with pop culture references that really entertain.   It is a fantastic ride from start to finish, without any letdown at all.

One of the benefits of having these Memorial Day Movie Binge Watch Weekends is that it gives me a chance to fill those holes that might exist within my movie viewing.  One of those holes for me is the Martin Scorsese’s classic, Taxi Driver.

I had never seem Taxi Driver, but, of course, I am familiar with the iconic moments (“You lookin’ at me?”).  However, I was unaware of exactly what the story would be or even the general style and tone of the film.

Travis Bickle (Robert DeNiro) is a former Marine suffering from insomnia gets a job as a New York taxi driver where he realizes how much the scum and lowlifes have corrupted the city and, with his mental imbalance, starts plotting on ways to get involved.

Robert DeNiro is brilliant as the mentally unstable vet who seems to have a streak of decency inside him.  I was surprised that Cybill Shepherd was in the film as a beautiful blonde who works for a presidential candidate.  She was one of my favorites from Moonlighting, a TV show from the 1980s.

Taxi Driver explores what causes someone to snap.  Bickle was clearly already not right, but the weight of the world around him slowly sent him to the side of violence despite wanting to be good.

A great movie with a terrific performance.  I am glad I finally got the opportunity to see it.

I never watched Pee Wee’s Playhouse on CBS back when I was younger.  I was never much of a fan of the character.  Yet, I had watched Pee Wee’s Big Holiday one year and found myself loving it.  Who knew?

So as the next Memorial Day Movie Binge Watch, I chose to watch the first of Pee Wee Herman’s movies, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure.

I am consistently surprised at how entertaining and charming these films can be despite starring a character who is anything but.  Pee Wee Herman is not without his good points, but it seems to me that a little goes a long way.

In this movie, Pee Wee has his beloved bike stolen and he goes on a cross country adventure to try and retrieve it.  He finds himself in one troublesome situation after another, only to come out of it because of his likeability and friendliness.  I’m not sure there is a great message here for children, but there is certainly plenty to laugh at.

By the way, this is a Tim Burton film.  Yes, that Tim Burton.

Paul Reubens plays the iconic childlike Pee Wee and he is completely in on the jokes.  When something happens to Pee Wee, you can see the light in the eyes of Reubens.  Pee Wee is actually much like many of the old slapstick comedians of the past, trading in appearance for the jokes.  And most of them work very well.

“Be sure and tell them Large Marge sent ya!!”

A high level of goofiness marks this film and really sets the tone for what we see.  Tim Burton continues to make weird films like this, his first one.

So as I am going through Netflix to find the next film for the Memorial Day Movie Binge Watch, I came across Mamma Mia, the musical featuring Meryl Streep and the music of Abba.  I know there will be a sequel to this movie this summer (Mamma Mia: Here I Go Again) and I thought this would be a good film to watch this Sunday afternoon.

I mean, I do like some of Abba’s songs.

Of course, I do not like Abba THIS MUCH.

And who exactly has the blackmail photos of Pierce Brosnan?  Or was it just a really, really, REALLY big check?

I don’t hate musicals.  In fact, I have several that I love (Grease, Sweeney Todd, most of the Disney films) but they have a couple of things that Mamma Mia didn’t have.  One- people who can sing.  Two- a story that can make up a movie.

Seriously, the story of this movie might be able to fill a half-hour sitcom (if there were enough commercials) but it is way too thin to fill up a nearly two hour movie.

Young and beautiful Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is getting married but she has always wondered about her father.  So when she finds her mother Donna’s (Meryl Streep) diary, she discovers the names of three men whom could be her daddy.  So she invites all three of the men (Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgard) to the wedding, without telling her mother.  Hilarity ensues.

Or not so much.

Most of the movie is a group of people who can marginally sing (except for Brosnan, who cannot sing at all) performing Abba songs, some of which do not fit the scene that they are used within.  I mean, Meryl Streep does a decent version of “The Winner Takes it All”, but the song lyrics do not fit at all with the moment in the film.

Some of the big production numbers, like “Dancing Queen” are fun, if you like Abba.  It is kind of nice to see these quasi-stars dancing around making fools of themselves. It truly is amazing that these actors look to be having a lot of fun in this film.  But almost none of them can sing very well and that is a true drawback to the movie.

Brosnan, Firth and Skarsgard are charming and they do avoid the cliches such as fighting about who the actual father is (which is refreshing).  However, they must be really stupid because it took them a real long time to figure out why Sophie invited them to the wedding despite being absent from Donna’s life for over 20 years.

The end scene is even too unrealistic for a musical, but it puts a cap on this film perfectly.  It makes little sense, but …hell, let’s just sing and dance.

I wonder if Brosnan is singing in the sequel?  Maybe the blackmail photos have since lapsed.

Next up on the Memorial Day Binge Watch is a mockumentary from Christopher Guest, director of Waiting for Guffman and Best in Show.  Guest was one of the members of Spinal Tap, but now we are looking at the world of folk music.

The three members of Spinal Tap, Guest, Michael McKeon and Harry Shearer are here, but now they are the Folksmen, one of three acts brought together for a special one night only concert to honor folk icon Irving Steinbloom, who had just passed away.

Steinbloom’s son Jonathan (Bob Balaban) organized the event along with his brother and sister, reuniting the Kingmen, the New Main Street Singers and Mitch and Mickey.

Each group had great stories about the good old days and their lives since.  Mitch and Mickey in particular was top notch as Eugene Levy and Catherine O’Hara showed their skills and their chemistry.  Mitch and Mickey had had a terrible break up that sent Mitch into a mental institution and the questions about whether Mitch would even be willing to return to sing with Mickey surrounded the performance.

Like most of Christopher Guest’s movies, the actors are presented with ideas about their characters, a back story and most of their actual lines are improvised.  It shows the talent of this group of actors that they can make this story not only cohesive but wildly entertaining through their skills and their familiarity with one another.

The music included in the film is tremendous.  The music here is written by Michael McKeon, Eugene Levy, Christopher Guest and Harry Shearer.  The four of them show a great understanding of the folk music genre because the songs do more than satirize folk music.  Through the humor, it shows a real love of the music.  The Kiss at the End of a Rainbow was nominated for Best Song at the Academy Awards.

There are some true laugh out loud moments of dialogue here.  My favorite one is when Mitch has seemingly disappeared moments before he and Mickey was set to take the stage, Mickey, as she is searching for him, turns to Jonathan and asks if there is a cockfighting ring near the theater.  LOL

There is so much heart in A Mighty Wind that it is more than just a satire.  It is a mockumentary that not only mocks but also shows a great deal of love.

My opinions on the next film in the Memorial Day Binge Watch will not be very popular.

I am not a fan of Inception.

In fact, I have found more films in the oeuvre of Christopher Nolan that I am not a fan of than those that I am.

I know this puts me in the minority of the movie critics world, but that is okay.  I can handle it.

Clearly, the film is a masterwork of CGI and visual effects.  I would be foolish to attempt to downgrade this accomplishment.  Visuals are stunning. I also believe that there should be credit given for the attempt to bring something original and for his intense ambition for the project.  I really wanted to like Inception.

Back when I saw it in the theater, I found it to be okay, but it just did not connect with me.

There is a ton of exposition involved in the film.  There is little way to get around that, but it does not excuse it.  There is a great cast, but I am not as enamored with Leonardo DiCaprio as some people are.

The dreamscape invented within this movie can be difficult to follow and it can cause the audience to be uncertain of exactly what is going on, leaving only the spectacle of the imagery.  That might be enough for some, but I wanted more.

Even the twist at the end could not save this one for me.  While I did not hate Inception, I would not revisit it again or commit the necessary cognitive attention necessary to perceive what was going on.

The Memorial Day Binge Watch began last night with a movie that I had never seen before, but one that I had heard a lot about… The Usual Suspects.

Unfortunately, I knew the ending of the film which took a little bit of the magic away from it.  Still, this movie was filled with great performances and a well organized narrative that keeps you glued to your seat.

This is one of the best films from director Bryan Singer, whose inventiveness shows here in a much more effective manner than some of his other more big time attempts.

The police have brought in a group of five con men as suspects in a truck hijacking, but none of them are involved.  However, this group has something more in common than this suspicion.  They have all done something, inadvertently, against the legendary ghost and mastermind criminal Keyser Söze.  Söze’s associate approaches the men with a job that would square them up with the criminal, and he gives them little choice about accepting.

The great cast included Oscar winner Kevin Spacey as Roger “Verbal” Kint, the crippled con man, Gabriel Byrne as Keaton, a former dirty cop trying to go straight, Kevin Pollak as the thug Hockney, Benicio Del Toro as flashy crook Fencer and Steven Baldwin as thief McManus whose temper gets the best of him.  Throw in Chazz Palminteri as police detective Dave Kujan, Pete Postlethwaite as Söze’s associate Kobayashi, and our ever beloved Agent Coulson, Clark Gregg as Dr. Walters and you can say that this is a fantastic ensemble cast.

However, the main performance is from Kevin Spacey, which, with what we now know about Spacey, can be difficult to watch.  If you cannot divorce yourself from the person Spacey has shown himself to be, then The Usual Suspects would not be for you since he is all over the movie.  If you can remove the real life issues permeating this actor, then you should be able to enjoy this film.

There has been a hole in my viewing. I have not seen very many Daniel Day-Lewis movies over the years.  I know he is considered one of, if not the, greatest actors of all time, but I have only seen a handful of his films.  I watched There Will Be Blood tonight and I can see where that reputation has come from.

In There Will Be Blood, Day-Lewis plays an oilman named Daniel Plainview who is searching for land upon which he can drill for oil.  He finds a certain property that he gains control over.  There is a church there and Eli Sunday (Paul Dano), a local preacher and a self-proclaimed faith healer, comes into conflict with Plainview.

Plainview also had found a baby deserted at one of the sites and he raises him as his son. H.W. (Dillon Freasier).  This relationship develops over time, but there is always a question how much Daniel actually cares about the boy.

In fact, there are few people that Daniel care about at all.  He can only go so far dealing with anyone.  You see this man going more and more into the realms of madness and brokenness.  By the end of the film, Daniel has gone too a place where he is not going to come back from.

The movie is very dark with some cruelty, especially from the main character, but it is fascinating how the film takes that character an systematically tears him down and creates someone who is just a horrid, horrid human being.

Great performances throughout but especially from Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Dano.  They completely engage with these people and embody them despite them both being so unlikable.

Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson creates a wholly original film that is something unlike any film that you have seen.  Some of the scenes are weird and out there where as others fit nicely into the narrative.  It truly is a piece of art.

Clint Eastwood directed mystery Mystic River is a dark and challenging film that puts some great performances into a very sad and depressing story.  It is extremely well done and the film is a sophisticated character drama.

Three men, Dave (Tim Robbins) Jimmy (Sean Penn) and Sean (Kevin Bacon), who were friends in their youths, come back together when Jimmy’s 19 year old daughter is murdered.  Sean is a police officer on the case while Dave has been struggling his entire life from a childhood trauma.  Because of that, he becomes a prime suspect, especially from Sean’s partner Whitey (Laurence Fishburne).

There are a lot of psychological things going on around with Dave, and Tim Robbins is amazing here.  You are never sure exactly what is going on with him and you may not be sure whether or not he was a killer.

Jimmy has a criminal background and has connections to the underworld.  His grief over the loss of his daughter was palatable and this was another great performance.

The film is a moody masterpiece and one of Eastwood’s best films in years.

After finishing the unexpectedly outstanding YouTube Red series, Cobra Kai. this morning, it was only natural to revisit one of my favorite films from my childhood.

The Karate Kid, starring Noriyuki ‘Pat’ Morita as Mr. Miyagi and Ralph Macchio as Daniel Larusso, was one of the greatest underdogs stories from the 1980s and Morita, who had a role on the TV show Happy Days, created one of the most original and iconic characters in movie history.

Mr. Miyagi was full of wisdom and funny platitudes that fit beautifully into the troubled life of Daniel Larusso.  The father-son relationship that developed between the two characters was something special and would stand the test of time.

The Karate Kid is a film that translates easily into today’s world just as well as it did in the 1980s.

The ending sequence with the song Best Around is one of the greatest fight montages in film and the entire karate tournament was very well done.  Even though you suspected what would eventually happen, you had that little doubt in your head wondering exactly how Daniel would accomplish it.  That was the brilliance of the film.

One of the best parts of the film was one where they took Miyagi and completely circumvented any sort of stereotype.  The scene where Miyagi tells the story of his wife and his unborn child’s death in Japanese internment camps was both poignant and heart breaking.  We see Miyagi as a military hero for the US on one hand and how the world of racism and bigotry crushed his life forever.  Pat Morita was nominated for an Academy Award and this scene was one of many that demonstrated the reason why it was a well deserved nomination.

I love the Karate Kid and it deserves its place among the classic movies of all time.

And if you have not seen Cobra Kai, it is a fast binge and extremely enjoyable show.