"KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON" SLOWLY PERCULATES TO MAKE IT'S POINT...

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON [2023] - [R] - Apple TV - Directed and Produced by Martin Scorsese. Script by Eric Roth, based on a 2017 book of the same title by David Grann. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, John Lithgow, Brendan Frazier, and Robert De Niro. Budget $200 Million.

Based on true events, a WWI soldier [DiCaprio] returns home to the state of Oklahoma during a time when an oil boom has struck the state on Federal Native American territory; more centered around the Osage Nation, where a large number of Indian families have retained the rights to the riches being pumped out of the ground. Lots of money is being tossed around and the soldiers uncle [De Niro] promises his solider nephew a job as a taxi driver. The soldier falls in love with a local Osage Indian woman [Gladstone], who becomes the heir to the family fortune after several coincidental, and orchestrated deaths by murder have left his wife as the last of the family line for future oil fortunes. Over twenty-five local Indian deaths finally raise concern through the Native American Indian Council who send representatives to Washington DC and demand that the United States President send the investigators, under the control of J. Edgar Hoover, who runs an organization that eventually becomes the FBI, to look into the mysterious murders that have eluded justice due to Oklahoma's inability - due to the lack of respecting the rights of Indians during that time - to enforce law on Indian territory.

THE GOOD - The details required to transform the Oklahoma territories into a dusty 1920's old town environment is just mind blowing. The location spotting, wardrobe and makeup for the era, including the Native American wardrobe are just spellbinding perfect for the film. The captured sound was perfect and crisp; captions were added when truly needed. Very little use of green screen or CGI was required for the film and the cinematography was epic, capturing the vast fields and beauty of the Oklahoma "home range" countryside. The lighting was spot on to capturing the dusty, sepia feel of the time captured from old video and photographs of the time.

THE BAD - There are a ton of scenes which could have been edited out to speed up the film. The over three hour run time just seemed too unnecessary and I feel like a lot of good performances by DiCaprio and De Niro suffered because of all of the red tape that was used to go from one scene to another. Flash back scenes are added at a point where they could have just been presented in order of the scene as required. There were no real secrets in this film that needed to be presented to the viewer.

POST MORTEM - This film has a lot of big names in it, but it's definitely not a film that I will want to see again for a long time. There are no moments where I was like, "Let's see that again!" or a scene that brings me to remembering just how much talent was in this film. I'm surprised that DeCaprio took the role of the villain in this film and I'm sure that no one will be surprised in seeing De Niro sitting in another court room, charged for the mischief his character partook in the lawless lands of Oklahoma. Be prepared to hit pause a lot when seeing this film.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫[3.5 of 5 Stars]

TOM CRUISE AND "AMERICAN MADE" HAD IT'S MOMENTS OF BRILLIANCE!

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - AMERICAN MADE [2017] - [R] - Netflix - Directed by Doug Limen. Produced by Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Doug Davison, Tyler Thompson, Brian Oliver, Kim Roth, Ray Angelic. Written by Gary DPinelli. Starring Tom Cruise, Domhnall Gleeson, Sarah Wright Olsen, Jesse Plemons, and Caleb Landry Jones. Budget $66.5 Million.

Based on the hot-trotting life of Barry Seal [performed brilliantly by Cruise], a former TWA pilot and an alleged former member of the CIA who flew missions to arm guerilla soldiers in South America in the 1980's; who became a drug smuggler handling marijuana and cocaine shipments through a private company, became an informant for the DEA to avoid prison. Mexican Cartels eventually launch a "Wanted Dead" hit on him, forcing Seal to frequently move around and record his own history on video.

THE GOOD - There are lots, and I mean LOTS, of areal sequences that are captured on camera; all of the piloting on the private planes were actually piloted by Cruise and his acting team. The locations for this film cross over many small countries and large bodies of water to capture the right feel for what Seal went through during his "missions" to arm guerillas and bring back "supplies." There are many 1980's memorabilia moments that are brought back to life with movie wizardry and the cinematography is spell bounding at almost every turn. Cruise is definitely at the top of his game, performing brilliantly and presenting a character who is under tremendous strain in trying to stay alive in dealing with both the Cartel's and the guerilla fighters he has to deal with.

THE BAD - The pacing is all over the place in some parts of the film. IMO there are some flash back moments that could have been better edited or inserted into the film. There's not enough information on who the Cartel leaders are in the film and the directing seemed to drop the ball as to better explain who each were and what their real involvement was when dealing with Seal.

POST MORTEM - This is a good film. I recommend watching it over a weekend when you have nothing else or better to do. The film drags at times, but there was a lot of emotion to cover in the history of telling Seal's true life story. There are some tremendous areal stunts in the film to keep you on the edge of your seat; and to think that Cruise did all of his own stunts is just crazy!

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 [3.5 of 5 Stars]

ELIZABETH OLSON MAKES HER MARK ON "LOVE & DEATH"

🎥🎞️Movie Review🎞️🎥 - LOVE & DEATH - HBO MAX - [TV-MA] - [10] episodes. Series Directed by Lesli Linka Glatter. Series writers; David E. Kelley, James Atkinson, John Bloom, and Joe Bob Briggs. This series stars the very talented Elizabeth Olson, Jesse Plemons, Krysten Ritter, Lily Rabe, and Elizabeth Marvel.

This series is based on actual events that occurred in a small town in northern Texas on June 13, 1980. The plot involves several church going families in a rural town that are caught up in a devastating murder, which is eventually revealed during a murder investigation, that two married members in their church organization had a wild, impulsive affair, and where the wife of the husband [the one involved in the affair] was murdered with an axe, being hit 41 times in the utility room of her home. Olson leads the series as the open-minded Candy Montgomery, in a mesmerizing performance that is sure to win her some nominations in some future Emmy Award show. Kudos also go out to Krysten Rotter in her performance as the frumpy, mentally deranged Betty Gore. who is in a constant mental struggle to fit in with other wives of the small town.

THE GOOD - This is a witty and smart series, produced carefully to present a northern Texas town in the mid-1980s; the clothes, the cars, the city landscapes, and even the lingo of time are perfectly presented. Olson plays off an impulsive wife who feels like she's "missing out" on life, probably reaching a delayed seven-ear-itch or mid-life crisis, and "logically"reaches out to another man outside of her marriage to help fill her emptiness. She goes brilliantly from church mom, to a sultry deviant that does her best to remain emotionless during her affair, and then afterwards, maintains a proper Christian personae. The cinematography is pristine, the sound is perfect and the music selection was not only noteworthy, but also comically used during the shows run.

THE BAD - After studying up on the actual events of the true events behind the series, the production did very little to maintain integrity with several details on how the people [portrayed by the actors] actually looked, perhaps intentionally distancing itself from those little actual events of the time[?]. There is honestly very little to complain about this series, with the exception of a few little nit-pickings about 80's methodology in terminology that I won't post here.

POST MORTEM - This is a well developed series that only uses the "based on" prescription of the actual events, but I feel that it’s an honest and best telling of the actual events. There is another mini-series produced by HULU in 2022 called CANDY, starring Jessica Biel as Candy Montgomery, that overs some detail with supporting and backing characters that were not presented in Love & Death, which would have explained and developed supporting characters in an all new light and established that a special psychosis was happening in the town. However, I was not impressed with Hulu's production of the true story and the final production seemed rushed and lacked pivotal details in the overall presentation of the mini-series. I suggest that viewers watch HBO Max's version of the true events to get more of a psychological treatment to the development of the real Candy Montgomery.  

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️[4 of 5 Stars]