The Frozen Ground – review

The Frozen Ground is a 2013 thriller set in Alaska, 1983. The film is about the hunt for serial killer Robert Hansen.  It does a really good job following the true crime novel Butcher, Baker.  The acting is really good and it adds to the grim realism of the film that they filmed a great deal of it in Anchorage and other Alaskan locations.  The Frozen Ground pays a lot of attention to detail to make it look like the dirty, gritty, Anchorage of the 1980s.

Cindy Paulson, played by Vanessa Hudgens, escapes Robert Hansen, played by John Cusack, after he raped and nearly killed her.  The police do not help her. Jack Halcombe, played by Nicolas Cage, figures out that her case is tied to a series of missing person cases.  Hansen is taking women, raping them, and then flying them to the middle of nowhere and hunting them with a high-powered rifle game. Halcombe must find a way to bring Hansen to justice before he can kill again. 

The acting for The Frozen Ground is what makes it stand out.  Vanessa Hudgens gives a decent look at her vulnerable side.  Nicolas Cage gives us a lite-version of his performance from 8mm; fun and believable.  The person that really is amazing is John Cusack who is chilling as Hansen.  He is creepy and plays a very realistic psychopath.  The rest of the cast also fills their roles nicely making for a very enjoyable movie.

The story is decent, however it is a by-the-book police procedural.  It doesn’t bring a lot new to the genre. There are also some strange filming choices.  Clearly the filmmakers loved Alaska because there are tons of establishing shots of landscapes.  

Then there are odd scenes added like a shot of Vanessa Hudgens starring at a moose that walks close to her.  At one point I wondered if it just wandered into the shot in mid-town Anchorage and they decided to keep it in the movie.

The Frozen Ground is an interesting movie.  If you are fan of true crime or thrillers it is worth catching. The movie is certainly creepy and has a cold vibe.  If you have been or are from Alaska it is worth seeing since many of the locations are ones you will be familiar with.  I recommend it to anyone wanting to see something a bit different and see Cusack and Hudgens playing a role that is different from their normal roles.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance-review

If Nicolas Cage movies were compared to a fine wine, than this movie will taste like a year freshly corked.  The first Ghost Rider movie was incredibly so-so. Its effects were hard to see, the villains were non-threatening, and the plot was an overall joke. All-in-all, this film would have been laughed off a high school stage.

Johnny Blaze, a stunt man, makes a Faustian bargain in order to cure his father of lung cancer.  Shocker! The Devil doesn’t play fair. Blaze’s father dies in a motorcycle accident instead.  After his death, the Devil makes Johnny his minion by changing him into Ghost Rider.   Whenever evil is about he turns into a flaming skeleton. He can control flames, has enchanted chains, and can basically suck out souls. In the sequel, Nicholas Cage is attempting to control the demon inside a lot more than he did in the first.  He can even go out in sunlight as Ghost Rider, which is new.

This time around, the effects are a lot better.  The action is more visible and the threats are a lot more viable.  This time it’s not just Mephistopheles’ spoiled brat trying to get souls; the Devil is actually close to bringing forth the antichrist.  The stakes are raised a little more since the last film.  The Devil also has a minion who can cause things to decay with his touch (with the exception of Twinkies).  It’s a pretty sweet villain.  With the effects and the action being greatly enhanced, what puts the cherry on top is the fact that it’s Nicholas Cage acting like a smartass most of the movie.  Cage’s dialogue is mostly one liners and him going over-the-top.  This makes it a delight to watch if you are a fan. 

The movie is a lot of fun.  It’s much better than the first and you can easily see it and enjoy it if you never saw the first.  The entertainment value of movies like this comes largely from the “cheesiness” factor- a quality this film does not lack.  Still, it’s played off really well. The script is good and the story is very solid with a lot of great action and cool effects that make for good fun.  My advice is pretty simple. See it, if you can.

Deadfall-review

Wanna ride in my van little boy?

     Oh my god. I do normally enjoy watching Nicholas Cage movies because he takes overacting to a unique extreme.  I thought it didn’t get much more over the top than “Bad Lieutenant” or “The Wicker Man” but then I saw “Deadfall”.  Good lord.  It’s in a class of its own.   In all fairness at least “Bad Lieutenant” had a decent director and it was put together in decent fashion.  “The Wicker Man” is seen more for comedic value now and at least has its own solid concept to stand on since it’s based off a classic horror movie.

     Deadfall was made in 1993 and directed by Christopher Coppola.  So that means that the director is Nicholas Cage’s brother.  Michael Biehn plays the main character; a big time con man that gets in good with his Uncle’s criminal family.  His Uncle, played by James Coburn has a lackey named Eddie, played by Nicholas Cage who is a loud and obnoxious jerk that loves to make a scene. 

Come on! I ooze class!

     The movie is not made well at all.  It gives a lot of narration, which makes the movie less about showing and more about telling. This seems really pointless in a movie.  It’s all a fairly predictable formula of betrayal that has been done before and done better in many other crime movies.  I get the feeling that it wanted to make itself feel like a noir style movie.  The main character is not really established enough to become someone you grow attached to.   I didn’t really care.  The ending was a bit of a F-U twist. 

Way to screw Corporal Hicks movie

      James Coburn is good in this movie.  I’ll give him that.  But otherwise you should not bother unless you want to watch Cage make a fool of himself.  Even the poster makes no sense.  Nicholas Cage is front and center looking as he does normally.  Not only is he not the main character, but he spends in the movie with a moustache and bad toupee.  Way to shaft Biehn there.    Come on he fought the Terminators and the Aliens.  Give him a little respect.

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans-review

This is the face of a man you can trust.

            Anyone who follows me on Facebook knows I’ve been on sort of a Nic Cage kick lately.  The man walks a fine line in his movies.  Since he is one of those actors that never says no to anything it seems he gets offered tons of bullshit.  But if he has fun doing a movie it shows and a movie, while being really weak, can still be wildly entertaining while Nic Cage is having fun.

            In “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans” he chews so much scenery he must have been shitting drywall for a month.  He plays Terrence McDonagh a cop that saves the life of a criminal about to drown in a prison cell during Hurricane Katrina.  The result is a back injury that leaves him addicted to Vicodin and any other drug he can get his hands on. 

Times fun when you're having flies...get it?  Lizard joke

            He steals drugs, he trades sexual favors and he bribes criminals for information as well as uses very over the top tactics to threaten folks while strung out on cocaine. He is a gambling rapist and in no way a good person and the whole movie I wanted to see something BAD happen to him for the way he treated people and how selfish a person he was.  He reminded me of Alonzo Harris in “Training Day” except not nearly as smooth and without the comeuppance.

Dammit, I'll give you DEATH PANELS!

            Speaking of “Training Day” which also had the lovely and talented Eva Mendes, she is in this as well.  In fact the cast is really decent and well picked.  Say what you will but Brad Dourif he deserves a lot more credit for the roles he plays.  That guy is always a great actor in just about everything he is in.  If you aren’t familiar with who he is look him up on IMDB.  Hell of a character actor.

            So with the great cast and story which is a perverse twist of “Training Day” it retains its entertainment value.  Nic Cage is a spaz when he is on drugs in this movie and it’s really fun to watch him have so much fun.  It’s not like he is just bored and going through the motions to get a check like “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”.

Still waiting for him to play Fu Manchu though.

            All in all it was a worthy renter.  It’s nothing a fan of “The Shield” will not have seen countless times.  Mostly you’d come to see a derivative dirty cop movie with the added benefit that it’s got Nic Cage acting super over the top. If you are in the mood for that then you might just be in for a treat after all.