#Joe Pantoliano

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

[cinematicjourney]

Bound (1996) | dir. Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski

[six-demon-bag]

SAI BENNETT as Alice JOE PANTOLIANO as Henderson LAKE PLACID: LEGACY (2018)

[thesoldiersminute]

"This Moltisanti kid, he's got his head up his ass."

THE SOPRANOS Season 3 | Episode 6 "University"

[woozapooza]

Though not played, the song "Sympathy For The Devil" by the Rolling Stones is referenced four times through various dialogue directly alluding to Ralph as the devil. The references allude to the fact that Ralph is portrayed somewhat sympathetically for the first time in this episode ["Whoever Did This"].

[abs0luteb4stard]

[escapismthroughfilm]

#219

[themosleyreview]

The Mosley Review: Bad Boys: Ride or Die

There is an important lesson being taught here to filmmakers that step into a franchise they are fans of. Fans of a franchise can be the most devoted and best choice to continue on the franchise, but if they are not in service of the story, the characters or the identity of the franchise, then they aren't the right one to take it on. You cannot come in with your own biases, agendas or what your idea of what the franchise is. True fans of a franchise know this and take that lesson to heart and deliver an outstanding entry and that's what this directing duo has done yet again. The Bad Boys franchise has always been about the classic buddy cop relationship that keeps you engaged in between the amazing action. This franchise has a strong beating heart of love and fun at its core and this film keeps that heart pumping at a hardy pace. The previous film was a welcomed return that had its moments of flare, stylistic action and comedy, but it focused on the story and the humanity of the characters first. That same elegance of storytelling continues in this new entry and it may be a bit more kinetic, sometimes overwhelming, but it still lands strongly in the category of greatness.

Will Smith and Martin Lawrence return as our favorite dynamic duo Detective Lieutenant Mike Lowry and Detective Lieutenant Marcus Burnett and they haven't skipped a beat. The magnetic chemistry between them is what keeps you engaged and I loved that this film once again drives home that brotherly love they have for one another. Like the last film, they both deal with their mortality in a unique way as they are older now. Mike has an unexpected growth in personality and I loved that he isn't as perfect anymore. You see him deal with a personal disorder that he must overcome and it is pretty inspiring the way Will portrays it. Marcus gets a new lease on life and lets go of the whiney tone and actually has more pep in his step. In a sense, Mike and Marcus switched perspectives and role types as Marcus has become the more reckless and Mike has become the more cautious. I loved his spirituality which made for some great moments of comedy where Martin truly shined the brightest. Vanessa Hudgens and Alexander Ludwig return as AMMO teammates Kelly and Dorn and they were both fantastic yet again. They weren't an after thought and they both were a powerhouse in the action and held their own when on screen with Mike and Marcus. Paola Núñez was awesome yet again and now as Captain of the Miami PD, Rita Secada. I loved her strength in the film and her chemistry with Mike and Marcus is still strong. Its a mild spoiler, but I hated the fact that her and Mike didn't end up together. Ioan Gruffudd was good as Adam Lockwood and its always great to see him on screen. Joe Pantoliano is always a welcomed face and seeing him as Captain Howard one last time was heartwarming. Jacob Scipio returns as Mike's son, Armando Aretas and he was just as badass and deadly. I liked the strained avenue that Mike and Armando go down as their father and son relationship is slowly being built. Eric Dane enters the franchise as the new threat and I liked him as James McGrath. He was cunning, quick and brutal and wasn't about world domination. I liked the history behind the character even if his motivation was a bit boring. Dennis Greene returns as Reggie McDonald and he has always been the butt of the joke in the past films since his iconic entrance. I loved that in this film, he finally earns respect and he becomes the MVP of the film in an amazing scene.

Composer Lorne Balfe returns with an absolute knockout of a score. Not only does he have his unique touch of intensity, but he continued to incorporate, modulate and evolve the iconic Bad Boys score and themes by original composer Mark Mancina. It drives me up the wall when composers don't use the iconic themes of a franchise and I loved that Lorne kept it alive and flowing throughout the film in multiple variations. The action in this film was top of the line and felt classical in its practical execution. It was gritty, bloody fun that had me smiling from ear to ear. There is a bridge sequence that leads to the iconic Bad Boys shot, but that scene felt a little disjointed and dizzying in the placement of characters. There is a feeling of finality to the franchise as it sort of gives a loving look back at the past films with fun parallels and role reversals. Directing duo Adil & Bilall truly love Bad Boys and it shows in every inch of the screen from the action, the character development and comedy. They have done a magnificent job in delivering an even better entry than the last and I can't wait to own the 4K Bluray. This is definitely the best action film of the year so far! Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!

[bluesakura007]

I was inspired by this Buzz Lightyear of Star Command meme of someone else’s, and by having gone to see a 25th anniversary cinema showing of the first movie yesterday.

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

[cinematicjourney]

Bound (1996) | dir. Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski

[90smovies]

[moviemosaics]

Bound

directed by The Wachowskis, 1996

[luckyshinyhunter]

⚰️Losing these two was my canon event!⚰️

[scrublord27]

“Haunted”

(This art is pretty mid my bad)

[cantsayidont]

I feel like I should say for the record that I wouldn't mind that LOVE LIES BLEEDING goes way off the rails repeatedly if in doing so it hadn't ended up becoming something quite different than it started out. I knew going in that it was going to be some kind of lesbian weightlifting fetish thing where a bodybuilder does too many steroids because her GF thinks it's hot; I didn't appreciate the KStew character's weird biphobic fit, and I wasn't expecting and wasn't wild about the segue into "series of incredibly brutal murders," but I could have dealt with that stuff if the movie had stuck to the original direction in some recognizable way. The problem is that I did not sign on to watch Ed Harris being a creepy old gangster with the universe's most nightmarish wig, just as in BOUND, I didn't sign on for an hour of Joey Pants having a homicidal meltdown while the Jennifer Tilly and Gina Gershon characters are shoved into the background. In both cases, though, that's what we end up getting, at the expense of those movies' original concepts and, honestly, their primary selling points.

The toxic fetishism stuff in LOVE LIES BLEEDING was nonetheless sort of refreshing in the wake of AMMONITE, because whatever else one might say about LOVE LIES BLEEDING, it is not concerned with bourgeois art house respectability. The thing about AMMONITE that I find obnoxious is that its gray gloomy biopic ambiance seems to exist largely to cover for the film's actual primary appeal, which is seeing Saoirse Ronan fuck Kate Winslet. It's like the opposite of putting your kid's medicine or your dog's pills in a spoonful of peanut butter or applesauce to cover the bitter taste; the film's notoriously explicit central sex scene is surrounded by a lot of rather unappetizing porridge and some weak attempts at historical feminist commentary, because if it weren't, it might be derided as disreputable pulpy smut rather than Oscar-bait Cinéma for affluent white people to discuss afterward over a glass of chardonnay. LOVE LIES BLEEDING is willing to own being disreputable, pulpy, and (for a while) smutty, which is commendable; it would be more commendable if it didn't use that as a segue into the drearier reaches of post-Tarantino crime drama.