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Jason versus In the Heart of the Sea and Sicario

I'm still about 48 hours away from catching Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but I have had the opportunity to catch up with a couple of the fall's bigger releases. Sure, they aren't Star Wars big, but one is a critically acclaimed crime flick and the other a blockbuster wannabe about a really pissed off whale.

That's right, I'm talking In the Heart of the Seas (the whale movie) and Sicario (not the whale movie), and I've sobered up long enough to toss a few thoughts down on this blog post. Just a few thoughts, so stick with me!

In the Heart of the Sea:

The only reason I think audiences passed on this old-school adventure flick is because it was sold as the true story behind the legend of Moby Dick. And that's a shame because this movie is a pretty sold historical epic, and people need to give a shit about classic literature and history. You know, stuff that happened before the 90s. Nothing but a bunch of uneducated tards out there nowadays. Anyway, In the Heart of the Sea isn't perfect, and director Ron Howard and his screenwriting committee play loose with some of the facts -- I've read a historical account about the fate of the whaleship Essex because I CAN read and DO care about history -- but this is still a fun, fast paced and exciting couple of hours. And the whale attack on the Essex is epic. Sure, the movie is light on character development, but I showed up for a the whale attack and tale of survival that followed, and wasn't disappointed.

Sicario:

Denis Villeneuve's tough and gritty crime flick isn't a crowd pleaser, mostly because it's pretty damn tough and gritty. And I'd say too close to the truth about what really goes down within the war of drugs for our allegedly moralistic, we-get-outraged-about-everything-except-what-we-should-really-get-outraged-about society. But this is a crackjack of a movie. Tense, taut and exciting, with a series of solid performances by Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, Josh Brolin and a slew of others. This isn't a movie where you cheer on the good guys, because in the real world, the good guys aren't that good. Spoiler alert, but it's true. Nor does idealism have a place in the war on anything. Suffice to say, it fits right within my jaded view of the world, and I ate this shit up. It's a great piece of cinema and a must see, unless you're a wussy. Then stick with some other mainstream release created to please the masses.

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