#cjjones

[wherever-i-look-blog]

Everything’s Gonna Be Okay: Season 2/ Episode 5 – Recap/ Review (with Spoilers) | Genevieve may have a boyfriend, Matilda possibly has sex with everyone in the house and Nicholas? Well, Alex increasingly is given reasons to break up with him. | https://tinyurl.com/yjczq2fg

[doomonfilm]

Thoughts : Baby Driver (2017)

Movies (not all movies, but a vast majority) are meant to be fun.  They are meant to stimulate multiple senses and emotions, taking you to a place that once only existed in the creator’s mind, but is now a world presented on the big screen.  If there’s a modern day director that is known for that immersive nature more so than any, it would be Edgar Wright.  After a string of collaborations with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and a run at the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World property, Wright finally got the opportunity to bring a completely original piece of work to the big screen.  The result was the extremely brilliantly and more than likely seminal Baby Driver. 

Baby (Ansel Elgort) is a prodigy behind the wheel, but a bad choice as a child left him in debt to notorious criminal Doc (Kevin Spacey).  To pay off the debt, Baby becomes the constant in Doc’s gang of rotating bank robbers.  As he nears the end of his 'career’, he meets Debora (Lily James), a young waitress that works at the same diner Baby’s mother (Sky Ferreira) used to.  Baby begins to develop feelings, and for the first time in his life, makes the decision to leave everything behind.  Unfortunately, Doc has alternative plans for Baby, and his continued pressure keeps Baby under his thumb.  As Baby struggles to break free of the situation, his relationships with the other criminals become strained.  Baby ends up being backed into a corner, and is forced to take drastic action for his own sake.

Edgar Wright takes a familiar exploitation framework, applies a facade that falls somewhere between a flat-out musical and the way that Peter Bogdanovich used diagetic music in The Last Picture Show, and fills it to the brim with subtle humor and passionate homages to pop culture.  The result is a ride (no pun intended) that is both familiar and unique.  His camera moves, his editing, and his music cues are as close to perfect as these aspects can be in a film.  Every individual piece of the bigger picture is so tightly intermingled and dependent on one another that it all becomes one living and breathing organism in its own right.  In less capable hands, all of these elements would more than likely come off as forced or contrived.  In the hands of Edgar Wright, you wonder why more films aren’t shaped in this manner.

Most Edgar Wright films are so funny or over the top that you forget how precise of a director he is.  His attention to detail shines bright and bold in the stunt work of Baby Driver, especially the driving.  Nothing jumps outside of the world of being believable, even when things are hyper-stylized as we sit in the viewpoint of Baby and his coping mechanism of scoring his work in the heists.  The decisions scripted for the car chase sequences are smart, and they echo other classic car chase films that fall in the realm of realism over style, such as The Italian Job.  The writing also stands out, with well developed villains that have distinct personalities imposing their will and threatening Baby throughout the course of the film.  The story circles back around into itself wonderfully, making you distrust your initial instincts in regards to characters you initially connect with.  Atlanta serves as the perfect backdrop, and an excellent location choice.

Everyone shines in this film.  Ansel Elgort gives a new spin on the strong silent protagonist.  Kevin Spacey put in a deeply imposing performance, with it being one of his last ones to make the big screen prior to controversy sweeping the legs out from under his career.  Jon Hamm and Eiza Gonzalez play a wonderful Bonnie and Clyde-esque couple, with Hamm providing some beautifully deep range as the film progresses.  Jamie Foxx finds a solid rhythm in what could have easily been an over the top portrayal of a crazy and morally bankrupt criminal.  Lily James initially was the closest thing I would have considered to a weak link, but repeat watching has led to an appreciation of her gregarious personality balancing in perfect tandem against Elgort’s reserved performance.  Quick appearances from Jon Bernthal, Flea, and ‘blink and you’ll miss’ appearances from Jon Spencer, Killer Mike and Big Boi round out the solid cast.

While Baby Driver may not have been the most epic or groundbreaking release of 2017, it was far and away one of the funnest.  Movies like this are what popular cinema was made for, and should embrace.

[rachelsophielesch]

A Bag Girl Double Feature: The Beguiled (2017) and Baby Driver

A Bag Girl Double Feature: The Beguiled (2017) and Baby Driver

The Beguiled is a remake of a 1971 film of the same name starring Clint Eastwood, in turn based on A Painted Devil, a 1966 novel by Thomas P. Cullinan. My dad rented the original film when he read that a remake was in the works. I enjoyed the movie and its 2017 update was on my list of must watch movies of the summer  especially because it had a great cast and I was sold on the idea of blond…

[awesomebeasy]

All you need is one killer track. With the end of their partnership in sight, crime boss Doc coerces his go to getaway driver, Baby, into one last job. Right off the bat - Baby has (#SpoilerAlert) tinnitus, listening to music helps drown that out, and he "choreographs" getaways to a song. That being said, Awesome soundtrack - I want dat. That first getaway - with the red car - omg, my sister said this first scene was like what LaLa Land's first scene shoulda been like. Baby's backstory and his relationship with adopted dad, Joseph, not to mention his solution for where to take him at the end, and how he did it - awww. Like I wana learn sign language now, for real. I love that Baby also made music from his recordings and that whole scene with his mixing a new track was cool. Aside from Elgort, I think everyone turned in awesome performances, especially the kid that played Doc's nephew (that whole scene at the Post Office?👌🏼). The scene at the diner when they talk about songs with Baby, Debbie and Mary in them was sweet (fun fact: I thought Lily James was gona be Lily Collins, and spent like half the movie confused as to why she looked so different, my bad.😆🤦🏼‍♀️), and why at the laundromat were all the clothes primary colors? That made me think of LaLa Land and I almost expected them to breakout in song and dance. The shoot out at the warehouse when they go to get the guns/weapons - whoo boy. I had to take a bathroom break and missed what happened to Doc - but he probably deserved it. The (#spoileralert) trial and jail time and the dream(?) about her waiting for him upon his release? aw. Funniest scene/lines had to be about the confusion over the halloween masks - to be fair, he was also right. I need to check out both Driver (still) and 1978's The Driver which my dad suggested. #AnselElgort #JonHamm #JonBernthal #EizaGonzález #LilyJames #KevinSpacey #CJJones #Flea #LannyJoon #JamieFoxx #BroganHall (the nephew!) #AllisonKing #RMarcosTaylor (as #RichardMarcosTaylor) #PaulWilliams #AndreaFrye #action #crime #music #getawaydriver #carchases #romance writer/director: #EdgarWright movie of 2017 number 19) #BabyDriver

[jasonbinn]

Standing w/ the future #realtime #IgnacioCipriani #CJJones (at New York, New York)

[tramp963]

#DoorintheWoods, #2019s, #Trailer, #directedby #BillyChaseGoforth https://buff.ly/2qQIBl0 #movieby #JenniferPierceMathus, #DavidReesSnell, #CJJones  #thrillermovies

[byrdthebank]

Had a dope photoshoot with #NFL rising star DB @anaveragejo_nes yesterday. Good luck to the homie as he reports to Kanas City for Mini Camp with the #Chiefs. Official photos from the shoot will be placed on (www.highhopesclothing.com) shorty. #HighHopesClothing #CjJones #NFL #RisingStar #DB #KansasCity #Chiefs #DoWork

[sweetiex3]

#deaf #comedian #cjjones #deaf #event #nyu #nyc #fun #photo (Taken with instagram)

[byrdthebank]

Had a dope photoshoot with #NFL rising star DB @anaveragejo_nes yesterday. Good luck the homie as he reports to Kanas City for Mini Camp with the #Chiefs. Official photos from the shoot will be placed on (www.highhopesclothing.com) shorty. #HighHopesClothing #CjJones #NFL #RisingStar #DB #KansasCity #Chiefs #DoWork