ALL THE PRETTY HORSES [2000]

Billy Bob Thornton directs All The Pretty Horses, a film adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's dark romance-western novel.
It tells the tale of a Texas cowboy, working in Mexico, that falls in love with a rancher's daughter which leads him into all sorts of trouble.
Billy Bob demonstrates some good ol' fashioned Western film-making with this lushly photographed piece where quite often the imagery tells the story more than the dialogue.  Sadly, his vision was gutted when the studio demanded a good 40% of the film be cut due to length.  A lot is lost, particularly the emotional punch the novel carried, but somehow it manages to tread water with some strong performances and interesting situations.

3 cowboys out of 5

FURIOUS 7 [2015]

Horror movie director James Wan makes his first step into jaw-dropping actions films with the latest instalment of The Fast & The Furious franchise,  the tritely-titled Furious 7.
Dom, O'Connor & the rest of the family are back for, yet again, one last job, this time hilariously saving the world from Owen Shaw's nastier older brother.  Like it's predecessors, it lacks in brains, depth or a whole lot of thought-provoking substance but excels in ridiculous, but cheer-worthy action sequences, a sincere heart and an entertaining multicultural cast.  With Paul Walker's death looming over the film, it doesn't let up on the fun as the absurd action kicks into high-gear within seconds of the opening titles.  It's a surprisingly tasteful way to bid farewell to Walker's character, but, as of writing this, the film has passed the $1 billion mark at the box office which guarantees future rides from Diesel and the gang.

3½ Tokyo drifts out of 5

GET LOW [2009]

Robert Duvall gives one the best performances of his career in this poignant little drama set in Tennessee in the 1930's. He never overplays what could have been the cookie-cutter caricature of the cinematic cranky old man we've all seen far too often. Most films will focus on the Grumpy Old Codger character as being crotchety until the end of the movie when we finally see he does have a heart after all, while Get Low shows us he has heart right away and instead choses to leave us wondering why exactly he is the way he is. Rounding out the cast is Sissy Spacek who continues to show she is only getting better with age, Lucas Black finally coming into his own and Bill Murray playing a believable Bill Murray.
This beautifully shot film lags in a few spots and loses a little focus in the second act, but plants it feet firmly on the ground for the powerful, yet restrained final moments of the film.
This is an honest, elegantly performed film about regrets, fear of forgivness and the broken hearts that never heal.

3½ Guard Mules out of 5

THE FAST & THE FURIOUS : TOKYO DRIFT [2006]

What a shitfest.

Nobody returns for the this third installment of the F&F franchise and are instead replaced by a bunch of D-listers. One decent character and they kill them off.

Does the F&F franchise hate Asians? They're either villains or supporting characters to the supporting characters....even in Tokyo.

The "drifting" was neat but that novelty wore off super quickly.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

½ Japa-----fuck it...I don't even care.