Alright, so here's my list of the ten best movies I saw that were released theatrically this year. Note that I haven't seen all of the films that I've wanted to this year, and if I saw a certain few then maybe one or two of those would take a spot on this list. That said, I'm still happy with the list as at least this year I was able to come up with a solid 10 choices, unlike in '10.
I have these in order from 10 to 1 (with one honorable mention) and each movie listed you can read the review of by clicking on the title. The list isn't written in concrete in terms of how they're ordered. Really, the only one I'm certain of is 1, as I strongly feel it deserves that spot.
Honorable mention: The Mesrine movies
These two French/Canadian movies were released in '08 and got a limited release last year stateside. I just happened to see both on the big screen back to back in January. The films, based on the life of notorious French criminal Jacques Mesrine, were wildly entertaining, as he was a wild character who was best known for his elaborate escapes from authorities.
10. Drive
Sure, I thought this was overrated for all the hype it got, and I didn't necessarily care for how it ended. Yet, I'll still say it belongs on the list, due to its great style, nice performances all around, and the groovy 80's electro-sounding soundtrack.
9. Devil's Double
This film that got a theatrical release on a limited basis was based on a true story of how Uday Hussein got a former pal to be his double due to the number of attempts on his life. The story was pretty outrageous and I don't know how faithful to the truth it was. But, it was entertaining sleazy trash and Dominic Cooper was great in a dual role where he had to play two very different characters.
8. Hangover Part II
Yes, this was almost as big of a copy of the first film as Home Alone 2 was to the original. I do agree that Alan was more off-putting as a character this time. Yet, I still laughed often while I watched this, so I had to include it. I guess I enjoyed the interesting Bangkok setting that much.
7. Paranormal Activity 3
Oh, if only the marketing for this one wasn't so damn dishonest... still, in a different way this was as fun as the first two movies in the series, so it belongs here, even if I wish they didn't explain the backstory as I don't really like what the backstory is.
6. Hobo With A Shotgun
What an insane and out there flick this proved to be. Extremely sleazy, extremely trashy, extremely graphic... and yet extremely fun to me too. Seeing Rutger Hauer in this kind of motion picture is still surprising to me. Just head my warning if you're the squeamish type.
5. Drive Angry
I was one of the few who got to see this on the big screen in 3D. I guess most people didn't care for this kind of flick. However, I happen to be one of those who enjoyed this ridiculous and ridiculously fun ride, filled with enough sex, violence, and car chases to make me happy. Amber Heard was also a great heroine.
4. Tucker & Dale vs. Evil
I am glad I was able to see this at a cineplex. The movie was a send-up of slasher movie cliches and it worked well as both a comedy and a horror film. It featured two good-old-boys who love Pabst Blue Ribbon who get mistaken for killers by some dumb teenagers. If you love comedy/horror then this is a must-see.
3. Fast Five
I had only seen the first two movies in the series before I heard many rave reviews for this. It turns out the hype was warranted. While this may be the most preposterous movie I've ever seen it was also great fun, with a nice cast (The Rock was really memorable here) and a final 20 to 30 minutes that was pretty awesome.
2. 13 Assassins
I was lucky to see this Takashi Miike motion picture on the big screen via the Florida Film Festival. I'm usually not a Miike fan but this was quality stuff. It's a simple story of various badasses getting together to go against an evil Lord and his much larger army. The final 45 minutes or so is in essence one long action scene and like the big scene I referred to in Fast Five, it's filmed nicely with everything being easy to follow and it's none of that Michael Bay crap.
1. Attack The Block
I feel pretty strongly this is the best movie I saw all year. I am thankful I got to see it theatrically back a few months ago. It took some time but I'm glad I did have that opportunity. This tale of some tough young London teens (and a nurse) doing battle against a cadre of hairy aliens with glowing teeth is pretty tremendous throughout, from the electronic score by Basement Jaxx to the acting to all the action and gore you see. What's best, though, is that this is greatly written. Everything flows together so well. If only more movies were like this.
I'll be back Tuesday night. I thought I had a nice year of watching movies all in all. 2012 looks to be quite the eventful year, at least on the big screen. One thing I think I'll try to do is to watch more obscure movies, as those are always interesting to write about. Until then, have a good New Years Eve.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Mission Impossibles 2 Through 4
Mission Impossible 2 (2000)
Runtime: 123 minutes
Directed by: John Woo
Starring: Tom Cruise, Thandie Newton, Dougray Scott, Ving Rhames
From: Paramount
Mission Impossible 3 (2006)
Runtime: 126 minutes
Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Starring: Tom Cruise, Michelle Mongahan, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Keri Russell
From: Paramount
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011)
93% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 175 reviews)
Runtime: 133 minutes
Directed by: Brad Bird
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton
From: Paramount
For my last review of the year, it'll be a 3 in 1 deal, although I'll mainly talk about Ghost Protocol, which I actually saw before 2 and 3. I had to use Wikipedia to get the low-down on the plots for both before I was able to watch them.
2 concerns a virus known as Chimera and its cure, which are stolen by a former IMF agent (Scott) and Ethan Hunt has to use Newton as her womanly charms will help him get close to Scott. They go to Australia and have various adventures there. That's about it for the plot.
I did not really like this one at all. Woo appeared to be a parody of himself here with how he used slow-motion and his various motifs, such as doves and what have you. But what really sinks things is that all the characters I could not stand for various reasons. I mean, they act really stupid most of the time and if they don't act dumb, they're just obnoxious. It's a shame, as the Australian sights are nice and so is some of the action.
3 I definitely preferred. The story was better, Cruise seemed more like a team player than a solo act, Hoffman was pretty cool as he cashed in a fat paycheck for his rare appearance in a blockbuster rather than his standard indy faire (hopefully in the future he plays a Bond villain, as that could be tremendous) and there's some nice action present too. However, as I heard elsewhere, it seems like a TV show too often and too often there's an odd color tint to things. I guess that's Abrams as a newbie (at the time) big-screen director. If he did it now I'm sure it'd be better, but this movie is at least a fine time-waster, even if it could have been pretty good with some changes.
Now, onto Ghost Protocol, which I got to watch on a giant screen last Thursday. This series isn't my favorite, to be honest; however, I think this is the best one. While I wish the villain would have been fleshed out more and not such a cypher and the story wouldn't have been as popcorn slight at times, it still works quite well as entertaining shut your brain off fare and if you enjoy fun and exciting action that isn't as insulting or insufferable as Transformers or other films of its ilk, then you should have a good time and I am glad I saw this on the big screen. Some of the scenes were made for a large screen.
The story isn't too complex. Ethan Hunt and his IMF pals Benji (Pegg) and Jane (Patton) have to do a mission at the Kremlin; this is to get information to help them stop an evil Russian looking to use a nuclear weapon to his advantage. However, they get set up there and the Kremlin is bombed. Thus, the IMF is disbanded and the three agents have to go rogue to stop that Russian and his pals. They end up going to Dubai and another exotic location which I won't divulge. Brandt (Renner), who is an “intelligence analyst” gets involved and there are some secrets he has.
While the story isn't the most original it at least is fun escapeism. The action is pretty darn good throughout. The stuff you see in Dubai is especially exciting and well-done. For a guy that previously only directed animated films, Brad Bird did a great job helming this. I certainly prefer that directing style to the likes of directors who use that shaky-cam or quick-edit crap. Hopefully he directs a Bond film one of these days. Speaking of that, this was a much more satisfying spy adventure than Quantum of Solace was.
I'll be back on the 31st where I will reveal my 10 best movies I saw this year.
Runtime: 123 minutes
Directed by: John Woo
Starring: Tom Cruise, Thandie Newton, Dougray Scott, Ving Rhames
From: Paramount
Mission Impossible 3 (2006)
Runtime: 126 minutes
Directed by: J.J. Abrams
Starring: Tom Cruise, Michelle Mongahan, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Keri Russell
From: Paramount
Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011)
93% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 175 reviews)
Runtime: 133 minutes
Directed by: Brad Bird
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton
From: Paramount
For my last review of the year, it'll be a 3 in 1 deal, although I'll mainly talk about Ghost Protocol, which I actually saw before 2 and 3. I had to use Wikipedia to get the low-down on the plots for both before I was able to watch them.
2 concerns a virus known as Chimera and its cure, which are stolen by a former IMF agent (Scott) and Ethan Hunt has to use Newton as her womanly charms will help him get close to Scott. They go to Australia and have various adventures there. That's about it for the plot.
I did not really like this one at all. Woo appeared to be a parody of himself here with how he used slow-motion and his various motifs, such as doves and what have you. But what really sinks things is that all the characters I could not stand for various reasons. I mean, they act really stupid most of the time and if they don't act dumb, they're just obnoxious. It's a shame, as the Australian sights are nice and so is some of the action.
3 I definitely preferred. The story was better, Cruise seemed more like a team player than a solo act, Hoffman was pretty cool as he cashed in a fat paycheck for his rare appearance in a blockbuster rather than his standard indy faire (hopefully in the future he plays a Bond villain, as that could be tremendous) and there's some nice action present too. However, as I heard elsewhere, it seems like a TV show too often and too often there's an odd color tint to things. I guess that's Abrams as a newbie (at the time) big-screen director. If he did it now I'm sure it'd be better, but this movie is at least a fine time-waster, even if it could have been pretty good with some changes.
Now, onto Ghost Protocol, which I got to watch on a giant screen last Thursday. This series isn't my favorite, to be honest; however, I think this is the best one. While I wish the villain would have been fleshed out more and not such a cypher and the story wouldn't have been as popcorn slight at times, it still works quite well as entertaining shut your brain off fare and if you enjoy fun and exciting action that isn't as insulting or insufferable as Transformers or other films of its ilk, then you should have a good time and I am glad I saw this on the big screen. Some of the scenes were made for a large screen.
The story isn't too complex. Ethan Hunt and his IMF pals Benji (Pegg) and Jane (Patton) have to do a mission at the Kremlin; this is to get information to help them stop an evil Russian looking to use a nuclear weapon to his advantage. However, they get set up there and the Kremlin is bombed. Thus, the IMF is disbanded and the three agents have to go rogue to stop that Russian and his pals. They end up going to Dubai and another exotic location which I won't divulge. Brandt (Renner), who is an “intelligence analyst” gets involved and there are some secrets he has.
While the story isn't the most original it at least is fun escapeism. The action is pretty darn good throughout. The stuff you see in Dubai is especially exciting and well-done. For a guy that previously only directed animated films, Brad Bird did a great job helming this. I certainly prefer that directing style to the likes of directors who use that shaky-cam or quick-edit crap. Hopefully he directs a Bond film one of these days. Speaking of that, this was a much more satisfying spy adventure than Quantum of Solace was.
I'll be back on the 31st where I will reveal my 10 best movies I saw this year.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Silent Night Deadly Night
Silent Night, Deadly Night (1984)
Runtime: 85 minutes
Directed by: Charles Sellier
Starring: Robert Brian Wilson, Lilyan Chauvin, Toni Nero, Linnea Quigley
From: Tristar
For Christmas, I decided to recently watch an infamous movie from the 80’s about a young man who dresses up as Santa Claus and goes spree killing during the holiday season. As it’s still December 25 on the West Coast as I write this, it works… at least that’s what I’ll claim. If you want more Christmas-related movies I reviewed you can go to last December as I covered some related to the holiday season.
I saw this movie once before during my teen years. I mean, it was so long ago I saw it on VHS tape via a rental from the mom and pop video store, which closed long ago. I recently found it on YouTube, which even offers up a link to a full video download from Megaupload, if that’s what you want to do.
The story involves Billy, who as a young kid visits his catatonic grandfather in the mental hospital; while the rest of the family is away old gramps talks to him and stresses how Santa punishes naughty boys. The family comes back and they all leave. On the way home they come across a thief in a Santa suit who kills the dad and then attempts to rape and then kills the mom, in front of Billy and his infant brother. Yep, this movie isn’t exactly subtle. So, you then see Billy in an orphanage having to deal with a really mean Mother Superior (Chauvin).
You then see Billy at age 18 as he gets a job… at a toy store during the holiday season. To quote a review from long ago, that aspect is a little goofy given what happened to Billy as a kid. It’s as of something horrible happened to someone as a kid on Valentine’s Day, then as an adult they get a job as a florist. Anyhow, as it nears the holiday season, a co-worker yells at him for allegedly slacking off at this time of year and even calls him a “moon goon”. No, I have no idea what a “moon goon” is either. Through contrivances, Billy ends up having to play Santa Claus at the store, and that’s when he snaps, and goes off on a killing spree on people he sees as being “naughty”, such as those who do bad things to his cute brunette crush Pamela (Nero).
I didn’t remember this from the first time I saw this, but while very entertaining in a trashy way, this movie is rather mean-spirited too. I mean, besides what I said already, you have such things as more than one attempted rape, plenty of nudity, hardly any subtlety at all, Billy having sexual fantasies about Paula which end in him getting killed in his dreams… like I said, mean-spirited. You also get some really cheesy generic 80’s songs, Linnea Quigley showing off her bare breasts (oh wait, this is typical for her), and some memorable kills.
Overall, while this movie is rather ridiculous, and the acting isn’t always the best (to say the least), but it’s a slasher so that’s expected. Despite how cruel it is at times, it’s still a watchable and fun movie to watch, I say. Hopefully that doesn’t make me sound a little strange. After all, back when this was released theatrically this received a HUGE amount of negative publicity. I mean, a lot of people were downright pissed that a movie about a guy dressed up as Santa who kills people was released. The movie didn’t last long on the big screen before Tristar pulled it and no surprise, they never released it on video or DVD and instead other companies did so.
I’ve never seen any of its four (!) sequels. However, if you want a spoiler-filled recap of all five, you can read this FearNet article posted just last night. I’ll mention the four sequels in brief based off of what I know about them. Part 2, about Billy’s infant brother Ricky all grown up, has a lot of footage from the first one edited in, just because… but the new footage includes a scene so ridiculous out of context (or probably in context too) that it’s become an Internet meme. That’s right, the “garbage day” scene. It’s rather graphic but you can still watch the YouTube clip of it here; you get to hear a bad guy say “that’s what she said.” Really. Then you get a few minutes of some incredible cinema. Part 3 involves Ricky returning with what looks like a fish bowl on his head (!) and such things as telekinesis is involved and it just sounds strange. Oh, and genre legend Bill Moseley plays Ricky now. Parts 4 and 5 have nothing to do with the first three. 4 sounds even more strange and deals with bugs, witches, and the Egyptian god Isis. 5 is my favorite in terms of plot alone. I need to see all four sequels, but I need to watch 5 especially to see Mickey Rooney (!) play somebody named “Joe Petto” and has a son named Pino, and yes the names are referring to exactly what you think they are. Why, I have zero idea.
I’ll be back on Thursday night with a post covering the other three Mission Impossible movies, then on the 31st I’ll mention in order my 10 favorite movies released this year that I saw.
Runtime: 85 minutes
Directed by: Charles Sellier
Starring: Robert Brian Wilson, Lilyan Chauvin, Toni Nero, Linnea Quigley
From: Tristar
For Christmas, I decided to recently watch an infamous movie from the 80’s about a young man who dresses up as Santa Claus and goes spree killing during the holiday season. As it’s still December 25 on the West Coast as I write this, it works… at least that’s what I’ll claim. If you want more Christmas-related movies I reviewed you can go to last December as I covered some related to the holiday season.
I saw this movie once before during my teen years. I mean, it was so long ago I saw it on VHS tape via a rental from the mom and pop video store, which closed long ago. I recently found it on YouTube, which even offers up a link to a full video download from Megaupload, if that’s what you want to do.
The story involves Billy, who as a young kid visits his catatonic grandfather in the mental hospital; while the rest of the family is away old gramps talks to him and stresses how Santa punishes naughty boys. The family comes back and they all leave. On the way home they come across a thief in a Santa suit who kills the dad and then attempts to rape and then kills the mom, in front of Billy and his infant brother. Yep, this movie isn’t exactly subtle. So, you then see Billy in an orphanage having to deal with a really mean Mother Superior (Chauvin).
You then see Billy at age 18 as he gets a job… at a toy store during the holiday season. To quote a review from long ago, that aspect is a little goofy given what happened to Billy as a kid. It’s as of something horrible happened to someone as a kid on Valentine’s Day, then as an adult they get a job as a florist. Anyhow, as it nears the holiday season, a co-worker yells at him for allegedly slacking off at this time of year and even calls him a “moon goon”. No, I have no idea what a “moon goon” is either. Through contrivances, Billy ends up having to play Santa Claus at the store, and that’s when he snaps, and goes off on a killing spree on people he sees as being “naughty”, such as those who do bad things to his cute brunette crush Pamela (Nero).
I didn’t remember this from the first time I saw this, but while very entertaining in a trashy way, this movie is rather mean-spirited too. I mean, besides what I said already, you have such things as more than one attempted rape, plenty of nudity, hardly any subtlety at all, Billy having sexual fantasies about Paula which end in him getting killed in his dreams… like I said, mean-spirited. You also get some really cheesy generic 80’s songs, Linnea Quigley showing off her bare breasts (oh wait, this is typical for her), and some memorable kills.
Overall, while this movie is rather ridiculous, and the acting isn’t always the best (to say the least), but it’s a slasher so that’s expected. Despite how cruel it is at times, it’s still a watchable and fun movie to watch, I say. Hopefully that doesn’t make me sound a little strange. After all, back when this was released theatrically this received a HUGE amount of negative publicity. I mean, a lot of people were downright pissed that a movie about a guy dressed up as Santa who kills people was released. The movie didn’t last long on the big screen before Tristar pulled it and no surprise, they never released it on video or DVD and instead other companies did so.
I’ve never seen any of its four (!) sequels. However, if you want a spoiler-filled recap of all five, you can read this FearNet article posted just last night. I’ll mention the four sequels in brief based off of what I know about them. Part 2, about Billy’s infant brother Ricky all grown up, has a lot of footage from the first one edited in, just because… but the new footage includes a scene so ridiculous out of context (or probably in context too) that it’s become an Internet meme. That’s right, the “garbage day” scene. It’s rather graphic but you can still watch the YouTube clip of it here; you get to hear a bad guy say “that’s what she said.” Really. Then you get a few minutes of some incredible cinema. Part 3 involves Ricky returning with what looks like a fish bowl on his head (!) and such things as telekinesis is involved and it just sounds strange. Oh, and genre legend Bill Moseley plays Ricky now. Parts 4 and 5 have nothing to do with the first three. 4 sounds even more strange and deals with bugs, witches, and the Egyptian god Isis. 5 is my favorite in terms of plot alone. I need to see all four sequels, but I need to watch 5 especially to see Mickey Rooney (!) play somebody named “Joe Petto” and has a son named Pino, and yes the names are referring to exactly what you think they are. Why, I have zero idea.
I’ll be back on Thursday night with a post covering the other three Mission Impossible movies, then on the 31st I’ll mention in order my 10 favorite movies released this year that I saw.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Mission Impossible (The First Movie)
Mission Impossible (1996)
Runtime: 110 minutes
Directed by: Brian De Palma
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Emmanuelle Beart, Henry Czerny, Jean Reno
From: Paramount
Believe it or not, this is something I had not seen before this week. I just never felt like it. However, I heard strong stuff about the new MI out on the big screen now, so I figured I should at least try watching the first three in the series. I went and saw this via a DVD rental, and it was an original DVD from ’98, which showed via its presentation… and the disc being scratched up, so I had to fix it.
That wasn’t the only time I was reminded of the 90’s. The movie had data transported on floppy disks, after all, and my personal favorite, major conversations happening in Usenet! That certainly dates things.
The plot as such is that the IMF team led by Jim Phelps (of the 60’s TV show; this time it was played by Voight rather than Peter Graves) go do a mission in Prague but it gets screwed up so it’s left to Ethan Hunt (Cruise, delivering a Cruise-ian performance. You can decide if that’s a good or bad thing) to try and fix things up and not have people think that HE was the one who allowed things to go awry.
The movie has such has a lot of spy stuff such as “moles” and gadgets and wacky setpieces and what have you. It is popcorn entertainment and not something you want to think too much about. But, I don’t mean that as a slight. It’s still entertaining to watch 15 years later. The ending in particular is highly ridiculous; that said, it was still thrilling to watch. In fact, many of the special effects still look fine in 2011. So, while this wasn’t a great movie by any means at least I can say I’ve seen it.
I’ll be back Christmas Day with a review appropriate for December 25. Expect it to be up in the afternoon.
Runtime: 110 minutes
Directed by: Brian De Palma
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Emmanuelle Beart, Henry Czerny, Jean Reno
From: Paramount
Believe it or not, this is something I had not seen before this week. I just never felt like it. However, I heard strong stuff about the new MI out on the big screen now, so I figured I should at least try watching the first three in the series. I went and saw this via a DVD rental, and it was an original DVD from ’98, which showed via its presentation… and the disc being scratched up, so I had to fix it.
That wasn’t the only time I was reminded of the 90’s. The movie had data transported on floppy disks, after all, and my personal favorite, major conversations happening in Usenet! That certainly dates things.
The plot as such is that the IMF team led by Jim Phelps (of the 60’s TV show; this time it was played by Voight rather than Peter Graves) go do a mission in Prague but it gets screwed up so it’s left to Ethan Hunt (Cruise, delivering a Cruise-ian performance. You can decide if that’s a good or bad thing) to try and fix things up and not have people think that HE was the one who allowed things to go awry.
The movie has such has a lot of spy stuff such as “moles” and gadgets and wacky setpieces and what have you. It is popcorn entertainment and not something you want to think too much about. But, I don’t mean that as a slight. It’s still entertaining to watch 15 years later. The ending in particular is highly ridiculous; that said, it was still thrilling to watch. In fact, many of the special effects still look fine in 2011. So, while this wasn’t a great movie by any means at least I can say I’ve seen it.
I’ll be back Christmas Day with a review appropriate for December 25. Expect it to be up in the afternoon.
Thursday, December 22, 2011
A Change Of Plans
My plans have changed now, which I don't like doing, but it does mean me viewing a few movies within the span of several days. I'll be back in about 24 or so hours to post a new review, and by the end of the year I'll have several reviews and even one devoted to the holiday season.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
The Loved One
The Loved One (1965)
Runtime: 122 minutes
Directed by: Tony Richardson
Starring: Robert Morse, Jonathan Winters, Rod Steiger, Liberace
From: MGM
Now, here’s a movie I’ve seen before but I stumbled upon while looking through various VHS tapes (yes; I still use them in 2011; it works for me); I recorded this another time after I first saw it years ago so that I could watch it a second time, but that second time just came this evening.
This was a movie I heard about long before I got to see it. It was described as being “something to offend everyone”, and I’ll agree that for its time period, I am surprised they were able to get away with some of the things that they did.
To sum up the plot, Dennis Barlow of England won a ticket to L.A. so he decided to use that ticket to escape London. As he’s an aimless sort he had the time to hang around Southern California with a bit. Having a famous uncle who works as a production staffer in Hollywood (John Gielgud). They hang out but it isn’t long before the uncle gets canned because of his age. He decides to kill himself via hanging, and you do see him at the end of a noose. Some British expatriates say that he should be buried at the prestigious Whispering Glades Cemetery. That’s where the crux of the movie takes place at, both this place and a pet cemetery that Dennis works at to earn some income.
Along the way he meets up with some rather unusual people and falls in love with a lady who works at Whispering Glades. There are also other people around, like Mr. Joyboy (Steiger), someone who is as bizarre as the surname would suggest. There’s also Liberace briefly appearing as a casket salesman, and in hindsight, it seems funny to me that a lot of people didn’t catch onto the fact that he was… well, you know. I have no problem with that orientation. All that matters to me was that he was quite the showman and quite the piano player too.
Anyhow, this movie has a lot of dry and wry British humor. After all, the short story was from Evelyn Waugh; he (yes, he) was a novelist from across the pond. That sort of humor isn’t for everyone (even me sometimes) but I found this to be rather amusing. It’s mainly a satire on the funeral industry so various things associated with that field are parodied, and the barbs also go towards the Hollywood industry. It also is never boring, as the movie goes in rather strange directions that you couldn’t predict. I won’t give it away as it’d probably sound preposterous from what I’ve said most of the movie is about. Yet, it manages to work somehow.
So, if you like the wry sort of thing, this movie is worth seeing. It sometimes is played on Turner Classic Movies, which is how I saw it. I’ll be back Wednesday night with a new review.
Runtime: 122 minutes
Directed by: Tony Richardson
Starring: Robert Morse, Jonathan Winters, Rod Steiger, Liberace
From: MGM
Now, here’s a movie I’ve seen before but I stumbled upon while looking through various VHS tapes (yes; I still use them in 2011; it works for me); I recorded this another time after I first saw it years ago so that I could watch it a second time, but that second time just came this evening.
This was a movie I heard about long before I got to see it. It was described as being “something to offend everyone”, and I’ll agree that for its time period, I am surprised they were able to get away with some of the things that they did.
To sum up the plot, Dennis Barlow of England won a ticket to L.A. so he decided to use that ticket to escape London. As he’s an aimless sort he had the time to hang around Southern California with a bit. Having a famous uncle who works as a production staffer in Hollywood (John Gielgud). They hang out but it isn’t long before the uncle gets canned because of his age. He decides to kill himself via hanging, and you do see him at the end of a noose. Some British expatriates say that he should be buried at the prestigious Whispering Glades Cemetery. That’s where the crux of the movie takes place at, both this place and a pet cemetery that Dennis works at to earn some income.
Along the way he meets up with some rather unusual people and falls in love with a lady who works at Whispering Glades. There are also other people around, like Mr. Joyboy (Steiger), someone who is as bizarre as the surname would suggest. There’s also Liberace briefly appearing as a casket salesman, and in hindsight, it seems funny to me that a lot of people didn’t catch onto the fact that he was… well, you know. I have no problem with that orientation. All that matters to me was that he was quite the showman and quite the piano player too.
Anyhow, this movie has a lot of dry and wry British humor. After all, the short story was from Evelyn Waugh; he (yes, he) was a novelist from across the pond. That sort of humor isn’t for everyone (even me sometimes) but I found this to be rather amusing. It’s mainly a satire on the funeral industry so various things associated with that field are parodied, and the barbs also go towards the Hollywood industry. It also is never boring, as the movie goes in rather strange directions that you couldn’t predict. I won’t give it away as it’d probably sound preposterous from what I’ve said most of the movie is about. Yet, it manages to work somehow.
So, if you like the wry sort of thing, this movie is worth seeing. It sometimes is played on Turner Classic Movies, which is how I saw it. I’ll be back Wednesday night with a new review.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
The Slams
The Slams (1973)
Runtime: 91 minutes
Directed by: Jonathan Kaplan
Starring: Jim Brown, Judy Pace, Roland Bob Harris, Frank De Kova, Dick Miller
From: MGM
Here is a movie I literally had never heard of before but saw that it was playing real late this past Friday night on TCM so I decided to record it as the plot sounded interesting and the lead was Jim Brown, which is a good sign already for me. Now, I’ve talked about some of his movies before, both good (Slaughter*) and not so good (The Slip**; if I ever get to see it again I may have to review it again just so I can give a more extensive take on why I didn’t think the movie was as good as others have said. With that sort of cast it should have been awesome and yet it wasn’t at all). Like The Slip this is almost impossible to find as I don’t think it ever got a VHS release, let alone DVD, as amazing as it sounds in this day and age.
* http://blairreviewsmovies.blogspot.com/2011/05/slaughter.html
** http://blairreviewsmovies.blogspot.com/2009/08/split.html
The plot, I’ll lift from the IMDb, as it’s concise and explains things rather well: “After a heist Curtis Hook (Jim Brown) is caught by the police. In jail various people want to know where he stashed the loot. But the places where he stashed the loot ($1.500.000) will be demolished so he has to get out of jail to get to the dough.” That is indeed what happens, but let me elaborate a bit.
The movie starts off and you see the heist take place. It involves going to an oil field and the way that the gang wipes out the people guarding the money (and the heroin, which was part of the deal that Jim Brown did not know about) involves the exhaust pipe of a 60’s Ford Econoline and cyanide! Rather inventive, I say. The fit hits the shan and only Brown remains alive, but he ends up in jail, i.e. The Slams. That’s a term I’ve never heard of before to describe the slammer. He meets up with various characters there, all of whom know that he knows where the cash is located. The usual clichés are shown, from cliques to corrupt prison wardens, from racism to prisoners who get special treatment.
I’ll say that the first 10 or so minutes and the final 20 are rather entertaining. I won’t spoil what happens at the end, but for me the middle hour isn’t as strong. It feels like at times that the wheels are spinning in that there’s stalling in order to fill up time. Still, overall the movie is decent and fine. I just don’t think it’s worth spending a whole lot of effort to try and track down given how aside from it appearing on TCM it’s pretty much impossible to find.
Oh, and you get to see Ted Cassidy (i.e. Lurch from the original Addams Family TV show of the 60’s) without makeup. He’s an interesting-looking dude. I’m not poking fun at him, though. Sure, he passed away in ’79 but I still mean no disrespect. Plus, I’m sure he was a gentle giant, all six feet nine of him.
One last thing: HA at TCM rating the movie TV-14. There’s plenty of racial slurs and some homophobic ones too. You see some violence, along with some F bombs and MF bombs too. Oh, and the one scene with several ladies topless. I think the full movie wasn’t watched before it was rated.
I’ll be back Friday night (i.e. maybe Saturday morning) with a new review.
Runtime: 91 minutes
Directed by: Jonathan Kaplan
Starring: Jim Brown, Judy Pace, Roland Bob Harris, Frank De Kova, Dick Miller
From: MGM
Here is a movie I literally had never heard of before but saw that it was playing real late this past Friday night on TCM so I decided to record it as the plot sounded interesting and the lead was Jim Brown, which is a good sign already for me. Now, I’ve talked about some of his movies before, both good (Slaughter*) and not so good (The Slip**; if I ever get to see it again I may have to review it again just so I can give a more extensive take on why I didn’t think the movie was as good as others have said. With that sort of cast it should have been awesome and yet it wasn’t at all). Like The Slip this is almost impossible to find as I don’t think it ever got a VHS release, let alone DVD, as amazing as it sounds in this day and age.
* http://blairreviewsmovies.blogspot.com/2011/05/slaughter.html
** http://blairreviewsmovies.blogspot.com/2009/08/split.html
The plot, I’ll lift from the IMDb, as it’s concise and explains things rather well: “After a heist Curtis Hook (Jim Brown) is caught by the police. In jail various people want to know where he stashed the loot. But the places where he stashed the loot ($1.500.000) will be demolished so he has to get out of jail to get to the dough.” That is indeed what happens, but let me elaborate a bit.
The movie starts off and you see the heist take place. It involves going to an oil field and the way that the gang wipes out the people guarding the money (and the heroin, which was part of the deal that Jim Brown did not know about) involves the exhaust pipe of a 60’s Ford Econoline and cyanide! Rather inventive, I say. The fit hits the shan and only Brown remains alive, but he ends up in jail, i.e. The Slams. That’s a term I’ve never heard of before to describe the slammer. He meets up with various characters there, all of whom know that he knows where the cash is located. The usual clichés are shown, from cliques to corrupt prison wardens, from racism to prisoners who get special treatment.
I’ll say that the first 10 or so minutes and the final 20 are rather entertaining. I won’t spoil what happens at the end, but for me the middle hour isn’t as strong. It feels like at times that the wheels are spinning in that there’s stalling in order to fill up time. Still, overall the movie is decent and fine. I just don’t think it’s worth spending a whole lot of effort to try and track down given how aside from it appearing on TCM it’s pretty much impossible to find.
Oh, and you get to see Ted Cassidy (i.e. Lurch from the original Addams Family TV show of the 60’s) without makeup. He’s an interesting-looking dude. I’m not poking fun at him, though. Sure, he passed away in ’79 but I still mean no disrespect. Plus, I’m sure he was a gentle giant, all six feet nine of him.
One last thing: HA at TCM rating the movie TV-14. There’s plenty of racial slurs and some homophobic ones too. You see some violence, along with some F bombs and MF bombs too. Oh, and the one scene with several ladies topless. I think the full movie wasn’t watched before it was rated.
I’ll be back Friday night (i.e. maybe Saturday morning) with a new review.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Lisztomania
Lisztomania (1975)
Runtime: 103 minutes
Directed by: Ken Russell (no relation, I swear)
Starring: Roger Daltrey, Sara Kestelman, Paul Nicolas, Ringo Starr (yes)
From: Warner Brothers
This is the movie I referenced recently with the recent passing of British director Ken Russell. He is probably best known for directing Tommy, the movie about the Pinball Wizard. From what I knew, a lot of his films were just plain strange. Awhile back I found it online and downloaded it (I know, I know) as at least in the United States it never made it to DVD. It turns out that probably because Russell passed away, more than one person uploaded it to YouTube. This is the best copy. However, if you do watch it, it may be best if you ingest various psychotropic drugs beforehand!
This motion picture is allegedly a biopic of Franz Liszt, a Hungarian pianist in the 1800’s who for a short amount of time was the Justin Bieber of his day! No, really. When he performed there was mass hysteria a la when The Beatles first performed in America. That hysteria was known as Lisztomania, explaining the title. However, what this movie actually is… it seems like it came from the mind of a deranged lunatic. I mean, I’m talking Naked Lunch or Forbidden Zone level of WTF-ness. And, Russell even took liberty with the facts. In real life Liszt and Richard Wagner were pals, which is far from the case as presented here.
The movie… wow. Let me tell you how it starts off. Literally, the first thing you see after the Warner Brothers logo is a metronome, and Daltrey uses it to rhymically kiss the bare breasts of a woman! Then, Richard Wagner (yes, the composer) busts in and wants to kick Liszt’s ass, as Franz was diddling around with his woman. They fight to what sounds like ragtime music, then it gets narrated (?!) in a wacky fashion. He and the wife then get locked in a piano, which gets run over by a train! Then, Liszt wakes up… I think. Who knows for certain.
Anyhow, the opening credits appear, and here’s some of the really strange things I saw:
• A LOT of phallic imagery. I mean, Daltry literally rides on a giant penis at one point.
• A bearded dude in a sailor’s outfit who proves to be a vampire… but it’s a dream sequence… maybe. I know for certain that Wagner IS a vampire.
• The Pope appears, and it’s Ringo Starr!
• Wager is resurrected and he’s a cross between Frankenstein and Hitler; yeah, it’s too weird to even be offensive, even when he fires a machine gun shaped like a guitar.
• Also appearing is a cryogenic Viking named Thor (!) played by Rick Wakeman (!!), of Yes keyboarding fame. He drinks beer and belches.
• By the way, I swear that all I’m saying actually appears in this movie. I could say more but I wouldn't want to ruin any surprises for anyone brave enough to watch this.
The music itself fits the film, I’ll put it that way. Synthesizer stuff and what have you.
I can’t even say that the movie’s good or bad. Like with Naked Lunch or Forbidden Zone, you can only watch in amazement at what you’re seeing.
I'll be back Tuesday night with a new review.
Runtime: 103 minutes
Directed by: Ken Russell (no relation, I swear)
Starring: Roger Daltrey, Sara Kestelman, Paul Nicolas, Ringo Starr (yes)
From: Warner Brothers
This is the movie I referenced recently with the recent passing of British director Ken Russell. He is probably best known for directing Tommy, the movie about the Pinball Wizard. From what I knew, a lot of his films were just plain strange. Awhile back I found it online and downloaded it (I know, I know) as at least in the United States it never made it to DVD. It turns out that probably because Russell passed away, more than one person uploaded it to YouTube. This is the best copy. However, if you do watch it, it may be best if you ingest various psychotropic drugs beforehand!
This motion picture is allegedly a biopic of Franz Liszt, a Hungarian pianist in the 1800’s who for a short amount of time was the Justin Bieber of his day! No, really. When he performed there was mass hysteria a la when The Beatles first performed in America. That hysteria was known as Lisztomania, explaining the title. However, what this movie actually is… it seems like it came from the mind of a deranged lunatic. I mean, I’m talking Naked Lunch or Forbidden Zone level of WTF-ness. And, Russell even took liberty with the facts. In real life Liszt and Richard Wagner were pals, which is far from the case as presented here.
The movie… wow. Let me tell you how it starts off. Literally, the first thing you see after the Warner Brothers logo is a metronome, and Daltrey uses it to rhymically kiss the bare breasts of a woman! Then, Richard Wagner (yes, the composer) busts in and wants to kick Liszt’s ass, as Franz was diddling around with his woman. They fight to what sounds like ragtime music, then it gets narrated (?!) in a wacky fashion. He and the wife then get locked in a piano, which gets run over by a train! Then, Liszt wakes up… I think. Who knows for certain.
Anyhow, the opening credits appear, and here’s some of the really strange things I saw:
• A LOT of phallic imagery. I mean, Daltry literally rides on a giant penis at one point.
• A bearded dude in a sailor’s outfit who proves to be a vampire… but it’s a dream sequence… maybe. I know for certain that Wagner IS a vampire.
• The Pope appears, and it’s Ringo Starr!
• Wager is resurrected and he’s a cross between Frankenstein and Hitler; yeah, it’s too weird to even be offensive, even when he fires a machine gun shaped like a guitar.
• Also appearing is a cryogenic Viking named Thor (!) played by Rick Wakeman (!!), of Yes keyboarding fame. He drinks beer and belches.
• By the way, I swear that all I’m saying actually appears in this movie. I could say more but I wouldn't want to ruin any surprises for anyone brave enough to watch this.
The music itself fits the film, I’ll put it that way. Synthesizer stuff and what have you.
I can’t even say that the movie’s good or bad. Like with Naked Lunch or Forbidden Zone, you can only watch in amazement at what you’re seeing.
I'll be back Tuesday night with a new review.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Immortals
Immortals 3D (2011)
36% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 100 reviews)
Runtime: 110 minutes
Directed by: Tarsem Singh
Starring: Henry Cavill, Mickey Rourke, Steven Dorff, Freida Pinto, John Hurt
From: Relativity Media
Finally, here’s a review of this movie, which I saw in 3D early Sunday evening. When I first heard about it a few months ago I couldn’t have cared less. It just didn’t look appealing to me. Then, I heard from some people online that the 3D visuals look tremendous and it was a fun story. Then, once it came out I heard more of the same. So suddenly it was of interest of me. But, it was just this past Sunday that I had the time and felt like checking this out.
The story wasn’t too complex, to say the least. It’s set in the BC era in Greece, and there are Gods and their enemy, called the Titans. Rourke’s character King Hyperion is evil and mad at the Gods so he wants to unleash the Titans to destroy said Gods. He has to find a magical bow and arrow to do so, though. Meanwhile, there’s Thesus, a common person who has to escape the village he lives in as Hyperion is going to lay waste to it. Things happen and he meets up with an oracle (Pinto). It turns out that Thesus may have been blessed by the Gods… literally.
As I expected, the story wasn’t anything special. It’s serviceable, though. If you enjoy the “sword & sandal” sort of story then you might enjoy this. What was clearly the highlight (well, besides the nudity from the body double of Pinto) were the visuals and the violence. The director had only done two other movies before, both visually strong, and that was more of the case here. The violence literally in your face was pretty sweet. It was like 300… only good. That’s another topic for another day, though.
There isn’t too much else to say. The movie was exactly what I expected. I am glad it wasn’t boring to watch. The pace is quick-enough and it’s cheesy fun. It looks great and if you do want to see it, I recommend doing so in 3D.
I’ll be back Saturday afternoon with a new review.
36% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 100 reviews)
Runtime: 110 minutes
Directed by: Tarsem Singh
Starring: Henry Cavill, Mickey Rourke, Steven Dorff, Freida Pinto, John Hurt
From: Relativity Media
Finally, here’s a review of this movie, which I saw in 3D early Sunday evening. When I first heard about it a few months ago I couldn’t have cared less. It just didn’t look appealing to me. Then, I heard from some people online that the 3D visuals look tremendous and it was a fun story. Then, once it came out I heard more of the same. So suddenly it was of interest of me. But, it was just this past Sunday that I had the time and felt like checking this out.
The story wasn’t too complex, to say the least. It’s set in the BC era in Greece, and there are Gods and their enemy, called the Titans. Rourke’s character King Hyperion is evil and mad at the Gods so he wants to unleash the Titans to destroy said Gods. He has to find a magical bow and arrow to do so, though. Meanwhile, there’s Thesus, a common person who has to escape the village he lives in as Hyperion is going to lay waste to it. Things happen and he meets up with an oracle (Pinto). It turns out that Thesus may have been blessed by the Gods… literally.
As I expected, the story wasn’t anything special. It’s serviceable, though. If you enjoy the “sword & sandal” sort of story then you might enjoy this. What was clearly the highlight (well, besides the nudity from the body double of Pinto) were the visuals and the violence. The director had only done two other movies before, both visually strong, and that was more of the case here. The violence literally in your face was pretty sweet. It was like 300… only good. That’s another topic for another day, though.
There isn’t too much else to say. The movie was exactly what I expected. I am glad it wasn’t boring to watch. The pace is quick-enough and it’s cheesy fun. It looks great and if you do want to see it, I recommend doing so in 3D.
I’ll be back Saturday afternoon with a new review.
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
So...
I fell completely behind on this; yesterday I went to Jacksonville to watch some pro football. I'll just tell you that I watched Immortals 3D and I'll post a review for that by tomorrow night, promise. It's a movie with a typical story but the 3D visuals look rather nice.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Deliverance
Deliverance (1972)
Runtime: 109 minutes
Directed by: John Boorman
Starring: Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox
From: Warner Brothers
So, this is something I wasn’t planning to see but a death made public on Friday plus finding the movie on Blu-Ray for cheap at a Barnes & Noble meant me watching this Friday night. Bill McKinney, who appeared in seven Eastwood movies-along with this one-passed away at the age of 80. He was best known for playing a key role in one of the most terrifying scenes ever put to film, which was in this film. He was one of the hillbillies who made Ned Beatty squeal like a pig in this movie. And, he wasn’t the one with the missing teeth, but rather the guy who, ahem, assaulted Beatty. He passed away due to cancer, so why not say a few words about this movie, plus at the end tell a short story about the connection between my dad and the river this movie was filled on? Anyway, RIP to Bill McKinney.
So, most people know this movie just for the squeal like a pig scene plus the dueling banjos scene where Ronny Cox plays acoustic guitar with a backwoods boy playing banjo. However, this movie is much more than just that. This is about a quartet of men from the city with various levels of experience in the outdoors who decide to canoe a river in the South as in a short amount of time that river will be dammed, literally. You get to see the four differing personalities interact with each other for a bit, and you see some very pretty scenery. Then, the guys run into the hillbillies, and deal with them. The ramifications with the decisions they made in that difficult situation fuels the rest of the movie.
I don’t want to give too much away but it’s a quality drama/thriller, even almost 40 years after it was released. You get very good acting from the four leads, which plays a big role in this movie’s goodness. You get nice scenery, exciting canoeing action, some action, character arcs… if you haven’t seen the movie yet you really should. It looks nice-enough on Blu-Ray, too. Oh, and it doesn’t necessarily always portray white trash people who live in the hills and the woods in a flattering manner. But, the movie sometimes makes the leads look dumb for their stereotypes concerning those people, so that is another layer to this movie.
As for the story I referenced, years ago my dad and his pals went down to the Chatooga River, border South Carolina and Georgia, which is where this movie was filmed at and has never been dammed up. They rafted part of the river and no, they did not run into any rednecks who wanted to violate them nor possible inbred types.
I’ll be back on Monday. Late Sunday afternoon I plan on seeing a movie on the big screen for the first time in over a month.
Runtime: 109 minutes
Directed by: John Boorman
Starring: Jon Voight, Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, Ronny Cox
From: Warner Brothers
So, this is something I wasn’t planning to see but a death made public on Friday plus finding the movie on Blu-Ray for cheap at a Barnes & Noble meant me watching this Friday night. Bill McKinney, who appeared in seven Eastwood movies-along with this one-passed away at the age of 80. He was best known for playing a key role in one of the most terrifying scenes ever put to film, which was in this film. He was one of the hillbillies who made Ned Beatty squeal like a pig in this movie. And, he wasn’t the one with the missing teeth, but rather the guy who, ahem, assaulted Beatty. He passed away due to cancer, so why not say a few words about this movie, plus at the end tell a short story about the connection between my dad and the river this movie was filled on? Anyway, RIP to Bill McKinney.
So, most people know this movie just for the squeal like a pig scene plus the dueling banjos scene where Ronny Cox plays acoustic guitar with a backwoods boy playing banjo. However, this movie is much more than just that. This is about a quartet of men from the city with various levels of experience in the outdoors who decide to canoe a river in the South as in a short amount of time that river will be dammed, literally. You get to see the four differing personalities interact with each other for a bit, and you see some very pretty scenery. Then, the guys run into the hillbillies, and deal with them. The ramifications with the decisions they made in that difficult situation fuels the rest of the movie.
I don’t want to give too much away but it’s a quality drama/thriller, even almost 40 years after it was released. You get very good acting from the four leads, which plays a big role in this movie’s goodness. You get nice scenery, exciting canoeing action, some action, character arcs… if you haven’t seen the movie yet you really should. It looks nice-enough on Blu-Ray, too. Oh, and it doesn’t necessarily always portray white trash people who live in the hills and the woods in a flattering manner. But, the movie sometimes makes the leads look dumb for their stereotypes concerning those people, so that is another layer to this movie.
As for the story I referenced, years ago my dad and his pals went down to the Chatooga River, border South Carolina and Georgia, which is where this movie was filmed at and has never been dammed up. They rafted part of the river and no, they did not run into any rednecks who wanted to violate them nor possible inbred types.
I’ll be back on Monday. Late Sunday afternoon I plan on seeing a movie on the big screen for the first time in over a month.
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