Friday, June 26, 2015

Be Kind, Please Rewind

He’s an Auto-Correctional Facility. He’s the…

Vidiot
Week of June 26, 2015

Prison is  just free room and board with uncomfortable sex. First up…


Get Hard

The first thing you should do after learning that you’re going to prison is purchase every soap-on-a-rope you can find.

The fresh fish in this comedy however has hired a mentor.

When well to do James (Will Ferrell) is convicted of embezzlement, he employs his car washer, Darnell (Kevin Hart), to edify him on the ins and outs of the penal system.

Going along with James’ assumption that he has served time, Darnell agrees to mentor him in exchange for $30,000.

Over the next 30 days, Darnell exposes James to prison-life situations that he gleaned from pop culture. James laps these lessons up until he learns Darnell lacks credentials.
                                                                                                    
With every joke revolving around jailhouse sex or racial stereotypes, Get Hard has a hard time getting beyond its puerile mindset, making the laughs sporadic at best.  

Incidentally, white-collar penitentiaries are worse because all rich, old, white dudes are on Viagra.  Red Light


The Gunman

Occupations involving guns can be very dangerous if the workers ever go on strike.

Fortunately, the armed employee in this thriller isn’t likely to picket any time soon.

Returning to the Congo years after he assassinated a high-ranking official and went into hiding, former mercenary sniper Terrier (Sean Penn) now finds himself in the crosshairs of similar soldiers of fortune.

To find out who leaked his identity, Terrier must contact everyone involved in the original hit, including his girlfriend at the time (Jasmine Trinca).

Also plaguing Terrier is news that his job has left him with numerous health issues.

Treading familiar territory with heavy footsteps, this middle-aged merc tale has loads of action but little storyline beyond its boilerplate plot points.

Even the star-crossed romance feels passionless and pointless amid the barrage of endless bullets and fisticuffs.

Statistically, most hit men don’t make it out of their retirement parties alive.  Yellow Light


Slow West

The hardest part of living in The Old West must’ve been all of those film-crews shooting Westerns.

Luckily, the only film-crew in this Western is the one shooting this Western.

Following his true love Rose (Caren Pistorius) over from Scotland, teenage aristocrat Jay (Kodi Smit-McPhee) tries to make his way in the American Frontier.

Fortunately, he finds a guide in the form of a wanted man (Michael Fassbender) who agrees to mentor him in the ways of the west and help him find his sweetheart, for a price.

Unbeknownst to Jay, a bounty hunter (Ben Mendelsohn) is also after Rose, along with a number of other bounty hungry gunslingers.

An unrequited love story with spurts of violence and a cinematic landscape, Slow West paints a harsh but humorous portrait of the fabled frontier despite its underdeveloped characters.

Historically, however, all kilt wearing Scotsmen were sought by the law for cross-dressing.  Yellow Light

***Jailbait & Switch***

 
A Man Called Sledge

The main proponent of laxed prison sentences is always the man who prints the Wanted Posters.

Mind you, the outlaw in this Western doesn’t need any likeness to land him in jail – just the promise of untold riches.

Tipped off to a regular gold shipment that is locked up overnight at the nearby prison, notorious bandit Luther Sledge (James Garner) rounds up his gang (Dennis Weaver, Claude Akins) and plots to purloin the bullion by getting himself apprehended.

Incarcerated, Sledge frees the inmates and escapes with the booty during the melee.

However, infighting amongst Sledge’s men over the gold during a poker game results in bloodshed, and the kidnapping of Sledge’s prostitute girlfriend.

An unorthodox Western thanks to its substantial Italian influence, A Man Called Sledge features a refreshing departure from the affable gunslinger characters that Garner usually played.

Furthermore, pioneer prisons were notoriously ineffective on account of their sod roofs.


He’s Reward Winning. He’s the…

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