Alright dudes, another day another dollar. Er, well, more movies. Whatever.


I started out with The Killer Inside Me starring Casey Affleck, Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson. Affleck plays a deputy in a small west texas town who gets involved in bribes, sex, masochism, and of course, murder.

Between this and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Affleck has pretty much perfected playing a true creep. To say that he in unsettling here would be a bit of an understatement. There's a moment where his character just happens to be beating a woman to death, quite slowly, and while he does it he makes sure to tell her how sorry he is and that he loves her. So yes, that's creepy, but the matter of factness in his voice is what really gets me. Affleck has an inherent nice guy quality, which makes him perfect in a role like this. He's proven himself time and again, and I hope he continues to make interesting choices like this.

As for Alba and Hudson, both are quite good. Alba in particular shows chops here that were previously unseen. She finally goes beyond just being a pretty face in the frame and gets to dig deep. It's not an earth shattering performance, but shows that she can do more than previously thought. Hudson is good as well, though it's a tiny part. She never quite took advantage of her Almost Famous momentum, which is a shame. Hopefully a few smart choices like this and we can see a comeback for her.

All in all a pretty creepy movie. Strong direction and great casting choices peppered throughout make it an interesting journey in the mind of a killer.


Next up is AMERICA! or as most people know it, A Few Good Men, the 90s military courtroom drama starring CRUISE, Demi Moore, BACON and Jack Nicholson.

I'll be honest, when I bought this movie however many years ago, it was only because it had CRUISE in it. I went through a period around 19 years old where if I saw a movie that was reasonably priced and had CRUISE in it, I bought it, regardless of how I felt about the film.

Yes, I have seen A Few Good Men before, but I was probably 6 or 7 and had no real memory of it other than the very famous battle of wills between CRUISE and Nicholson at the end. Now since this is 90s CRUISE, it just happens that this movie is pretty damn entertaining. CRUISE was at the beginning of his hot streak that lasted almost 20 years when this movie came out, so of course I love it.

This is Hollywood filmmaking made with the broadest strokes possible. Big names, equally big characters, drama, tension...montages. Everything a great court thriller needs. On top of all this, the script was written by Aaron Sorkin, who also wrote The Social Network and many, many other great movies and shows. As always, he gives his actors great dialogue to chew and they all step up to bat. CRUISE is especially on top of his movie star game here. Ripping the dialogue with glee and having an absolute blast, he really hits his home run when playing against Nicholson, who obviously fucking rules. Seriously, that last scene is electric, and it's all because of CRUISE, Nicholson, and Sorkin's script. Great, great, great.


The film has one fairly major flaw though; it's score. Most 90s films feel dated just cause, but this score sounds like it's from an 80s teen scream schlock fest, or worse, lifetime movie of the week. It honestly brings the film down an entire level. No matter though, CRUISE still CRUISED it.


Finally, we end the night with Cinderella Man, a true story of boxing legend James Braddock and his rise and fall and rise in Depression era New Jersey from Oscar winners Ron Howard, Russell Crowe blah blah blah. Look, describing this movie makes me kind of hate it. It sounds manipulative and cliched, and honestly it is, but shit, man. It works.

Asshole or not, Russell is an incredible actor and Howard can be a great director. Also, this true story that Hollywood just loves to share happens to be really uplifting. I know, I know. I'm eating right out of those bastards hands, but c'mon, I dare you not to goosebumps every time Russell wins a fight.

Maybe not as good as their previous film A Beautiful Mind, though equally as manipulative, Crowe and Howard make a great team and make really enjoyable movies together.


I don't really have much else to say about this one. I love it, but it tends to leave the mind fairly quickly after viewing it. Take that as you will.


Well, it will be a few days before I do this again. Some time next week I believe, although I plan to watch Alien before then in anticipation of Prometheus and I think I'll post something about that here. So until then, suck it.