Is The Dry Spell Over?

Wow, it's not much but we finally saw two decent movies this week. (Well I watched two, my PocketFerengei only watched one of them).



The first movie came out about 10 years ago; and the "powers that be" just got around to doing the sequel.

Here's the synopsis for the first movie: "Sensing a God-given mission to cleanse the earth of all evil, twin brothers Conner (Sean Patrick Flanery) and Murphy (Norman Reedus) set out to rid Boston of crime. But instead of joining the police force, these Irish Americans decide to kick criminal butt their own way. Willem Dafoe co-stars; and Billy Connoly also stars."

I like Willem Dafoe. He's a good actor. But I put him in a category called "Walken" (for Christopher Walken) -- one of those actors who are just so 'out there' that you can't really categorize them, and (most times) you can't really turn away from their performance. And in this movie he proves it. He plays "Special Agent Paul Smecker" and he's the guy trying to figure out the murders the brothers are doing. He is so out there its like he's channeling Christopher Walken.

The movie is bloody, and it has hit "cult" status (which means it didn't make money when it was in the theatre, but it has made up for it on cable and home video sales; but mainly word of mouth--like this!) This is definitely worth a look.



Now alot of people didn't like the sequel (the pure "fans"). Here's the synopsis: "Skillfully framed by an unknown enemy for the murder of a priest, wanted vigilante MacManus brothers Murphy (Norman Reedus) and Connor (Sean Patrick Flanery) must come out of hiding on a sheep farm in Ireland to fight for justice in Boston."

It didn't really live up to it's predecessor. But it's just as entertaining to watch. And instead of Willem Dafoe's character ("Paul Smecker"), they gave us a female version of him: "Special Agent Eunice Bloom", his protege (played by Julie Benz, she's been on Dexter (or at least that's what her bio says)). She was alright, but Willem owned his role. Both movies were written and directed by the same guy: Troy Duffy.

I recommend them both.



I watched this one by myself, I knew I was gonna cry--and I did. This is a "true" story. It's funny when you see a movie labeled this, because it usually means that its been changed, sometimes drastically--like this movie. The true story is from 1924, Japan. A professor in the agricultural department would take the train to his job everyday. His dog would walk him there and meet him at the train when he came home at night.

Richard Gere was the professor (so that was partially true, except he's an American instead of a Japanese man); they got the name and the species right for Hachi (shortened from Hachiko; an Akita); and they got the profession of the guy correct (he is a professor of music; I don't know what the Japanese man was a professor of).

This movie wasn't out in the theatres (a first for Richard Gere, Direct-To-Video), and it is a remake of a 1987 Japanese movie ("Hachikō Monogatari").

I definitely recommend it. The story was touching, and the dog(s) are really cute (I say plural for dog because the dog aged in the movie so they used a number of dogs--and they are a beautiful breed). Keep some tissues near you when you do watch it.

Well, I'm off to feed my Pocket Ferengei. Meatloaf (again).

More later, Booboo.