Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
Year:1990
Director: Pedro Almodovar
Country: Spain
Language: Spanish

After a series of black comedies, Spanish director Pedro Almodovar  hit international fame with his 1988 Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. It earned the best Foreign Film Oscar nomination, while being a critical and commercial success. It was also a change for Almodovar, whose films had previously featured bizarre sexual content, gore and other content deemed inappropriate for mainstream Hollywood. The Spaniard appeared to be in full control after Women and could have played it safe in terms of his next project, however he chose to go back to his risque content and helped changed the rating system because of it. The film was not pornographic enough for an X, but was too discerning for an "R", so it was one of the first films to receive an NC-17 rating in the US

Antonio Banderas plays Ricky; an unbalanced but charasmatic former mental patient takes a porn star prisoner named Marina in the hopes of convincing her to marry him. She is very reluctant, so he ties her up. Will this method prove endearing? 

This "romantic comedy" is in no way conventional by any means. Almodovar clearly doesn't care about political correctness or the usual cliches, as his main character is shown physically abusing his love interest. Tie Me Up's overarching theme is the irrationality of desire, an imperative that frequently makes its own rules. Ricky and Marina are an interesting case study in amour fou, though clearly not role models by anybody's standard. 

Feminists were justifiably appalled by the way Almodovar demonstrates Ricky's behavior, suggesting that it's fine to humiliate and subjugate women if one claims they are motivated by pure passion. I found it hard to find the humour, or the romance, in this picture. Not once did I find myself laughing, although perhaps it is because the comedy was lost in translation. Certainly a unique film that does speak of truth; sometimes the psychopath does get the girl. Some women do seem drawn to abusive people who justify their cruel actions as "out of passion". Nobody should be Ricky, but some are, and some get what they want because of it. 

In conclusion, the ending plays out very much like a bizarro Graduate. Tie me Up! Tie Me Down! is a challenging picture that will make sexually inhibited viewers nervous. For some, this may be great fantasy, but it wasn't my cup of tea. Still, it's quite a different vision. I may re-visit it in the near future. 2.5/5

10 Most Overrated Films Of All Time- By Michael J. Carlisle

Many pictures are box office successes, as well as critical hits, and rightfully deserve their place (Victor Fleming's Gone With the Wind) Other films achieve both critical and commercial success but are still awfully made pictures despite it, and therefore can be deemed "overrated". Of course, everybody will have their own feelings on this subject, but this is The Good, The Bad, and the Critic's official "Hall of the Overrated". Overrated doesn't mean "bad", just simply that it received far more acclaim than the film deserved (Although #1, #4, #7 & #9 are pretty terrible flicks)

Individual reviews can be found in either The Good, The Bad and the Critic's E-Book, which you can purchase for $5, or by navigating the archives in this site.

1. Fight Club (1999, Fincher)

2. Shawshank Redemption (1995, Darabont)

3. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975, Forman)

How is Nicholson's character not the villain? He joins a mental hospital as an alternative to prison, then proceeds to wreck the patient's lives by creating a chaotic atmosphere. He's not rebelling against oppressive authority, the patients are there VOLUNTARILY. They want & need stability & organization.

4. The Matrix (1999, Wachowski Brothers) 

The Matrix has aged so poorly over the span of less than 20 years. The Lego Movie does its message better.

5. Star Wars (1977, Lucas)

6. Pulp Fiction (1994, Tarantino)

7. Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961, Edwards)

8. Blow Up (1966, Antonioni)

9. Donnie Darko (2001, Kelly)

The plot is riddled with holes. This is just an angsty teenage movie with no purpose other than to be depressing for the sake of  being depressing. Good soundtrack though.

10. It's A Wonderful Life (1946, Capra)

Top 15 Films of the Last 15 Years- By Michael J. Carlisle

Welcome to the first 15 years of the 21st Century! So far there have been hundreds of films made over the last decade and a half that can be considered "good" (Darren Aranofsky's Black Swan, Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox) , while only a few dozen can be thought of as masterpieces. This particular list will be quite ambitious; listing 15 films of what The Good, The Bad, and the Critic subjectively feels are the greatest of this era so far. This first ten on this list are subject to a limit of one director per film.

Individual reviews can be found in either The Good, The Bad and The Critic's newest e-book (which you can purchase for $5) or in the archives on this site

1. The Royal Tenenbaums (2001, Anderson) 

2. Revanche (2008, Spielmann) 

3. There Will Be Blood (2007, P.T Anderson)

4. Under the Skin (2014, Glazer)

5. The Great Beauty (2013, Sorrentino)

6. Midnight in Paris (2011, Allen)

7. Certified Copy (2010, Kiarostami)

8. Tree of Life (2011, Malick)

9. My Winnipeg (2007, Maddin)

10. Goodbye to Language 3D (2014, Godard) 

11. Darjeeling Limited (Anderson, 2007) 

12. Love Exposure (2008, Sono) 

13. Y Tu Mama Tambien (2001, Cuaron) 

14. Frances Ha (2013, Baumbach)

15. Passion of the Christ (2004, Gibson)

Top Ten Films of 2014- By Michael J.Carlisle

For me, 2014 was a fantastic year. I got engaged to my girlfriend Amy Gergatz, I moved into a nice little apartment and I published my first book; The Good, The Bad and The Critic. 2014 was also a great year for film in general. Richard Linklater obtained the United States president's approval when the commander in chief claimed that Boyhood was the best film of the year, Wes Anderson may finally win Best Picture at the Academy awards in February for his Grand Budapest Hotel and Michael Keaton landed the comeback role of a lifetime with Birdman (not associated with either Marvel or DC). 2015 has a lot to live up to, hopefully it can be filled with even greater films. 

*Individual reviews will be posted in the near future*

1. Under the Skin

2. Goodbye To Language 3D

3. Life Itself

4. Birdman

5. Grand Budapest Hotel

6. Blue Ruin

7. Boyhood

8. Calvary

9. Mommy 

10. The Unknown Known

Inherent Vice Review- By Brent Willis Bechtel (Guest Writer)

Title:Inherent Vice
Year: 2014
Director:Paul Thomas Anderson
Country: US
Language:English

Occasionally at The Good, The Bad and the Critic we will bring in a special guest writer to review a flick that they feel passionately about. Today's guest writer is Brent Willis Bechtel who absolutely despises Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice. It is polarizing to the film community; as many love it as they do hate it. I have not seen this film yet, but I do love Anderson's filmography thus far. I revisit his 90's masterpiece Boogie Nights at least twice a year. 

In 1970, drug-fueled Los Angeles detective Larry "Doc" Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) investigates the disappearance of a former girlfriend. It's a stoner kidnapping romp based upon the novel by Thomas Pynchon.

"The film did not even feel very "cinematic" after experiencing the vast vacant external landscapes of  Anderson's other flicks, like There Will Be Blood and the intense interior psycho sexual tense arenas of The Master . Robert Elsworth's photography was, as expected, very well done, but the majority of the film felt staged and claustrophobic, as if all the interiors were set on a theater stage. The metropolitan area of Los Angles felt vacant and empty. Were the streets cleared for filming due to some impending disaster? It did not feel free. There was a sense of purposeful constriction to a number of scenes. At times, the film simply flirted with boredom despite wonderfully engaging performances from Joaquin Phoenix as "Doc", Josh Brolin as "Bigfoot Bjornsen"(arguably the best performance of his career),an endearing turn by Katherine Waterston as "Shasta" Fay Hepworth, and a delightfully comical cameo turn from Martin Short as "Dr. Rudy Blatnoyd". There were many moments where the humor just evaporated into thin air.

Readers of Pynchon's original novel will wonder why Anderson chose to let so many plotlines dangle.. Jade's friend Bambi has a much  larger role in the book, including the connection between Puck Beaverton and another male whom he is having at least a bi-sexual relationship with. The Spotted Dick house was a turning point in the novel that was glossed over in the movie, along with a trip sequence in which Doc sees Shasta on the Golden Fang boat, both of which would have made for great cinematic sequences. Then the entire trip to Vegas, in which more important plot lines are revealed (it was there that Doc sees Wolfmann for the first time in FBI custody), the visit to Wolfmann's "free living" community, which is the entire reason for the plot,  is also completely left out! I just don't get it. PTA had all the structure for a great movie in Pynchon's novel. Why include the "pussy eater" scene, but cut all the rest of the sex scenes? There was no development of Denis at all, and the inclusion of an imaginary narrator was ludicrous. Anderson really dropped the ball on what could have been a grand movie on a comic scale with "The Big Lebowski". It was the "lovechild" of Up In Smoke and The Long Goodbye with a dash of Chinatown thrown in.

As great as the original score by Jonny Greenwood was, there were times when he seemed to dance with the ghosts of Bela Bartok and Olivier Messien too often. There was a melodramatic aural subtext that was a too much for me in the first encounter between Doc and Shasta. It felt forced and awkward and was overkill; too serious just for the sake of being so. Kudos must be given to the one hit pop tunes Anderson chose to sprinkle throughout the film.

I know Anderson was taking his foot off the gas pedal of his director's bus with this film, but it just didn't quite jive as whole for me. After his previous three films, it felt like P.T. hid a bump in the road. I don't mind it as long as it is just a one time incident. The man is too talented to deter as he moves forward into what should be the prime time of his career. My love of his overall body of work has lost a small bit of steam."  3/5

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Review- By Michael J. Carlilse

Title: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Year: 2014
Director: Jonathan Liebesman
Country: US
Language: English

Born on Feb 17, 1965 Michael Benjamin Bay is the type of Director/Producer everyone loves to hate- and they have good reason to. His pictures are not methodically paced; rather they are quick, mindless and full of action. If it is jam packed with explosives and terribly written dialogue then it is signature Michael Bay. He frequently collaborates with awful actors (Meagan Fox, Shia LaBeouf) who ham up the screen. Essentially he's the action movie equivalent of M. Night Shyamalan. It's safe to say that he won't be winning any Oscars any time soon.

Darkness has settled over New York City as Shredder (Tohoru Masamune) and his evil Foot Clan have an iron grip on everything from the police to the politicians. The future is grim until four heroes, who happen to be teenage mutant ninja turtles, rise from the sewers and seek justice for the fallen. 

This 2014 remake of the beloved franchise Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is bold in vision, even if it doesn't deliver. Unlike the beloved 90's turtles, this generation's fab four are bullet-proof, six-foot tall mountains of biceps and quads. Foot leader Shredder looks like a death metal samurai. Surprisingly April O' Neil is actually a centerpiece in this film, rather than a forgotten extra that we are used to. There are many nods to the original flicks, but they are tongue and cheek, the film attempts to separate itself from the others.

The Michael Bay produced flick gets a ton of heat for not appealing to people's nostalgia. These aren't your cute and cuddly turtles who dance to Vanilla Ice's Ninja Rap, these are- dare I say it- removed and improved. The jokes, even though they are often poor, are less redundant. Much of the time is spent on better action sequences which display a more real threat. Though Bay's vision is better, it still is not "good" by any stretch of the imagination. The cinematography is its weakest point; it is convoluted, uncoordinated and unprofessional. A blind monkey could shoot the film better. 

If you're looking for a trip down memory land, this is not the film for you. If you're looking for a coherent film with some resemblance of structure, this is not the film for you either. It is mindless action with a laugh or two on the side. The new turtles are unique in vision, but lazy in practice. Better than the originals, although I suspect the 90's films set out to be campy, but still pretty awful and much less fun. Piss on it! 2/5