Sunday, June 28, 2015

The Drug Connection

The Drug Connection (Du Hou Mi Shi) (1976)

Runtime: 88 minutes

Directed by: Sun Chung

Starring: Chen Ping, Yueh Hua, Wei Szu, Eva Lin, Chien Yu

From: Shaw Brothers

Here's something I wanted to do more often this past week but wasn't able to due to various reasons. At least I saw an enjoyable film that for some reason was known in West Germany as Kung Fu Brigade Schwarzer Panther. The Letterboxd review is below:

I know that about a week ago I said I was hoping to see some more movies from the Shaw Brothers Studios; unfortunately, due to several people in the entertainment world passing away and me watching those movies in tribute (along with other factors), I was prevented from doing so. But, I had the time today to check this out, something far different from their standard period martial arts film; instead this is an unofficial remake of Coffy... yes, the Pam Grier blaxploitation classic.

Instead of being set in 70's Los Angeles this is set in the swinging area of 70's Hong Kong (which is at least presented as being just as trashy as 70's Los Angeles) and it follows the general plot of Coffy where an awesome badass woman goes after people involved in drug dealing after a loved one is affected by the business. Here, a woman named Wanfei (Ping Chen) goes after the people responsible for her sister Wanjing OD'ing on heroin that was given to her by a sleazeball who forced her into prostitution in order to pay for the drugs... and now she in an institution trying to recover. The blaxploitation theme is carried over into the groovy multi-colored opening credits you'd expect to see in the genre.

The opening of the film got my attention. Now, I am not talking about how they waste no time in presenting copious amounts of nudity. I am talking about how as you look around Hong Kong and all its lights you suddenly hear a funky song and you enter a nightclub full of many different colors and lights and people are doing drugs and dancing around in some outstanding 70's fashion... it started things off on a great note for me.

The rest of the film, it deals with the drug dealers trying to figure out who's killing their men, not suspecting it's an attractive lady who knows some martial arts skills and is not afraid to whip out a disguised blade to kill various bad guys. There's also corrupt cops, actual good cops (one is Wanfei's pal, typically known as THE DRUG SMASHER), and Wanfei having “a celebrity” for a boyfriend but he's not all that he seems.

While the movie isn't as good as Coffy I still enjoyed it, due to how 70's it was (oh man the interiors of some of the sets), how sleazy/trashy it was throughout-there's S&M presented in the most exploitative manner, for example-there are some nice action scenes, and it was nicely directed & well shot by director Sun Chung.

Whether you want to call this The Sexy Killer or The Drug Connection, this was a satisfying piece of exploitation nonsense. This had a memorable ending with many SOB's getting killed and it will inspire me to try and find more Shaw Brothers films like this to go along with me checking out the type of fare people associate with the studio.

Saturday, June 27, 2015

My Best Of 2014 List...

... is finally coming on Wednesday, July 1. I'll be seeing one more thing and whether or not I rate it highly I'll post my Top 10 of last year, finally. I just need to figure out how I'll rank certain films.

Thursday, June 25, 2015

Even More Rest In Peace Acknowledgments

Sad to say too many famous faces have been passing away these past few days, from Dick Van Patten and Patrick Macnee to Tony Longo, an enormous character actor you'd likely recognize from such films as Rapid Fire, Eraser and The Last Boy Scout. Rest in Peace to all. I'll likely be back posting here on Saturday.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

RIP James Horner

I don't have a lot to say tonight but RIP to that great composer James Horner, who died on Monday in a plane crash. He's done a lot of great scores in the 80's and 90's, from the 48 Hrs. films I saw last week to Aliens, Glory and Titanic (or at least I hear that's a great score) and Apollo 13. I was quite sad by that news. RIP

Tonight I should be watching a new film I can talk about here tomorrow instead of seeing more movies I have reviewed here before.

Monday, June 22, 2015

Five Deadly Venoms

Five Deadly Venoms (Wu Du) (1978)

Runtime: 102 minutes

Directed by: Chang Cheh

Starring: Chiang Sheng, Sun Chien, Philip Kwok, Lo Mang, Wei Pei

From: Shaw Brothers

Whether you want to call this Five Deadly Venoms or The Five Venoms, this is one of the more famous Shaw Brothers films and yet I hadn't seen it before. So, to see my first film from the studio in a few months I figured this would be the perfect thing to see and that's what I did when this was on the El Rey Network last night. The Letterboxd review is below:

Once again I realized that it had been far too long since I had seen a Shaw Brothers film. In the upcoming week I'll fix that by seeing more than one movie from them, and not all of them will be their typical martial arts films. This movie was on the El Rey Network and somehow I had never seen this-one of the most famous entries from the studio-so I knew I had to check it out.

The movie is all about the Poison Clan; the master and leader of the clan is dying. His pupil Yang Tieh is sent on a mission to find the master's pal; he's rich and there's the possibility the title clan (five former students who were always masked; they each fight in a unique wacky style. They are Centipede, Snake, Scorpion, Lizard, and Toad) may attack him for his cash. Yang has to try and find the quintet and not only discover their true identities but also see who he can trust... and you'll also get to see which one has a great maniacal laugh.

As I heard from other reviewers it was more about the mystery than the fighting. There's a lot of intrigue and all I'll say about the plot is that you see the Venoms go against each other. The movie's entertaining and all and I enjoyed the action scenes (along with some gruesome moments) but there are other movies from the Shaw Brothers I enjoy more, such as the first two One-Armed Swordsman films or The 36th Chamber of Shaolin. At least I can now say I've seen this.

Sunday, June 21, 2015

99 River Street

99 River Street (1953)

Runtime: a lean and mean 83 minutes

Directed by: Phil Karlson

Starring: John Payne, Evelyn Keyes, Brad Dexter, Frank Faylen, Peggie Castle

From: Edward Small Productions

Here's another film noir I saw and reviewed. This one is obscure and that is unfortunate as it deserves to be better-known, I say. I try to explain why below in my Letterboxd review without engaging in spoiling anything. By the way, the title of this refers to an important location in the movie.

This is another film noir that TCM showed last night; it'll be on again July 17. The reason for them playing it on Saturday was that they showed several films of Evelyn Keyes, who here played a friend of the hero. I hadn't heard of this until a few days ago but I knew that the star (John Payne) and director (Phil Karlson) both did the famous noir Kansas City Confidential, which I will watch one of these days. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this.

I don't want to reveal too much of the plot as it's one of those stories that has surprises and twists & turns but I'll say it's about a boxer (Payne) who has a big fight-the way it's shot may remind you of Raging Bull-but injures his eye and can't box no more so he has to become a taxi cab driver, must to the consternation of his nagging wife, who is cheating on him with a criminal. Most of this film is set during the span of one long night and throughout you get your share of cops, shady characters and some violence. This well-plotted and complex movie is a brutal and hard-hitting film noir, both literally and figuratively.

More than a few times throughout the movie engages in misdirection, and all I'll say about that is that it's either done amusingly or to creatively advance the plot. It's never done to be annoying and it's not a hindrance. This is a well made movie, with quality performances, the expected lighting and shadows, and a grim but interesting world view, where the protagonist is really a victim of circumstances, although him being a loose cannon and easily angered to the point of being violent (it may not have been intended but it did amuse me) did not help either. He really was haunted by that one big fight.

The fact that this is a movie which has fallen through the cracks and has become obscure even within its genre is a shame, as I say it deserves to be compared maybe not with the tippy-top movies but it should be with the likes of Kansas City Confidential, The Killers or Detour, to give but a few random examples. At least it can be ordered via on demand and burned onto a blank DVD-R disc or it can be streamed on Amazon.

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Border Incident

Border Incident (1949)

Runtime: 94 minutes

Directed by: Anthony Mann

Starring: Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy, Howard Da Silva, James Mitchell, Alfonso Bedoya

From: MGM

This was a film noir I watched last night as I was able to and I needed to see something else from the genre. The Letterboxd review is below:

I was reminded that I needed to see another noir and I picked this one out. It's about the still relevant topic of illegal immigrants and Americans smuggling Mexicans over the border for the purposes of hard labor... the topic was interesting to me. It starred the likes of Ricardo Montalban, George Murphy, Howard Da Silva and genre veteran Charles McGraw... and it's from Anthony Mann... sounds like a great formula to me.

The plot is simple: The United States and Mexico work together to stop a case where illegal Mexicans are shipped over the border to work as migrants in the fields and it's a conspiracy between people in both countries so it requires an investigator from Mexico (Montalban) and an investigator from the United States (Murphy) to work together and they both have to go deep undercover; there's natural tension over whether they'll be exposed as they deal with a bunch of sleazy people.

While it's not a typical film noir set in the city with such things as gangsters and hardboiled detectives, it's still one as it covers a criminal investigation and it was a low budget affair and shot as such, with many examples of the low lighting and shadows you expect from the genre. I was always interested in the story and its various twists & turns and wow is there a nasty death scene that happens which I won't spoil but just from using your imagination, your mind paints a picture of something quite gruesome.

Anyhow, if you're a fan of the director you'll likely want to see this.

Friday, June 19, 2015

Loose Cannons

Loose Cannons (1990)

Runtime: 94 minutes

Directed by: Bob Clark

Starring: Gene Hackman, Dan Aykroyd, Dom DeLuise, Ronny Cox, Nancy Travis

From: TriStar

Here's an infamous movie I actually have a backstory with. I explain it in a short manner below in my Letterboxd review: 

This is yet another movie that's due to a messageboard thread. In the past this movie was actually brought up a number of times, and much to my befuddlement I think at least one or two are legit fans of this, but it hasn't been talked about in awhile. It was a podcast recently reviewing this that made me finally want to watch this in full. You see, a few years ago I tried watching this on an Encore channel one night, but it was so awful and so off-putting I stopped watching after a half hour. About the only thing I could say at the time that the film was atrocious but at least the Washington Redskins Starter jacket that Gene Hackman (I have no idea how they roped him into something like this) wore was amusing, as it's quite the 80's artifact and you wouldn't suspect him to wear such a thing, but yet he does for much of the film. As people worldwide read this, I have to explain that the Washington Redskins are an American football team and the team name is an offensive slur and yet because the team owner is a gigantic ogre and manbaby, the name has not been changed despite much protest.

Anyhow, the movie is about loose cannon cop MacArthur Stern (Hackman) who is forced to work a mysterious murder investigation with a detective named Ellis Fielding (Dan Aykroyd) who uses forensic evidence to try and solve the strange case... except that due to a traumatic event Fielding is mentally unwell to the point of often speaking in many different voices & doing weird and sometimes disturbing things... and his psychotic tendencies (said to be “multiple personality disorder”) are treated as a joke, which in 2015 eyes is especially tasteless. Thankfully in this day and age mental health is treated better and someone who has such issues with their brain are not looked at as badly as before.

The main problem with this comedy... it's rarely funny. There are some chuckles but otherwise this lands with a gigantic thud. Besides the fact that someone mentally ill isn't funny on its own, Ellis doing a bunch of goofy voices and running around like a doofus was apparently supposed to be hilarious on its own... there's no jokes connected to those moments, just the fact that he does voices or acts childish is supposed to be funny, only it's not. The movie is definitely rated R due to content, and yet it has those moments that seem best suited to juveniles... talk about misguided.

In terms of the people involved, I feel bad for all of them; director Bob Clark did such films as Porky's, Black Christmas, and A Christmas Story, and somehow ended up doing this and the apparently even worse Baby Geniuses. The cast also includes the likes of Ronny Cox, David Allen Grier, Nancy Travis, Robert Prosky, and Dom DeLuise (as a pornographic dealer! He's the one person who inspires the chuckles) and it may be the worst film for all of them. Again, why an esteemed actor like Gene Hackman did a film where the plot is that there's a HITLER SEX TAPE and it includes Adolf getting it on with several men and one of them is going to soon be the German Chancellor and he is killing everyone who has watched it... just baffling to me. One of the writers is even an esteemed person of the page, television and movies, the late Richard Matheson. How all those people came together to make something so ill-conceived and off-putting, it's amazing.

Point is, this was just a bad idea all around and even with the talent involved, they can't save this. Not even a decent action moment or two or an odd yet fine musical score can save it from Aykroyd embarrassing himself by mugging for the camera incessantly and other inanity. Note that when I talk about the score, I am not including the title song that plays during the end credits. Wow what a strange tune it is, so it's unintentionally really appropriate for the movie. It's sung by Katey Sagal (yes; she's not even in the film either) and Dan Aykroyd. It's at least funny-bad. The video is below.



One last thing: back in 2013 in a landfill someone found discarded footage from this film and it was first thought to be a snuff film; then, it was discovered it was this crap movie but it was something else to see this movie get big attention for a moment a few years ago.

Thursday, June 18, 2015

Another 48 Hrs.

Another 48 Hrs. (1990)

Runtime: 95 minutes

Directed by: Walter Hill

Starring: Eddie Murphy, Nick Nolte, Brion James, Kevin Tighe, Ed O'Ross

From: Paramount

I decided not to wait so that's why tonight I am talking about this film and the original. The Letterboxd review is below:

Minutes after I finished watching the original 48 Hrs. I decided to see this sequel, set 8 years later. I had seen it once before but when the end credits rolled here it turns out I barely remembered this. As sequels go, of course it's not as good as the original but boy could it have been worse.

Via contrived circumstances (not the only contrivance in the movie, either) Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy) is just now getting out of jail, years after he originally expected to. Several bikers are looking to kill him, because one of them is the brother of the first movie's villain and also, they were hired by The Iceman... who isn't Val Kilmer but instead is a mysterous drug dealer connected to Hammond via something in the first film, and only Jack Cates (Nick Nolte) believes the man of ice exists, causing problems on the job.

The plot is pretty goofy at times and I could carp about various things. There is a mystery as to who The Iceman actually is; it's a character you see that is later revealed to be the main villain; I am not quite sure if I buy that person's identity but I will admit it is nice that the story is different this time instead of just being a carbon copy of the original, but Cates and Hammond not liking each other again seems a little forced.

What helps this movie get a 3 star rating is the action. Besides it being the typical bloody violence of Walter Hill, it seemed to be influenced by 80's Hong Kong action. Between the incredible amount of glass that gets shattered throughout to seeing multiple people get blown back at least 20 feet via a single gunshot, I'll have to agree as it does remind me of such things as Jackie Chan, Chow Yun-Fat and John Woo. That is not a bad thing to try and emulate. While this is not as good as the first adventure we had with the duo back in '82, at least I still thought this movie was fine and not a waste of time.

48 Hrs.

48 Hrs. (1982)

Runtime: 96 minutes

Directed by: Walter Hill

Starring: Nick Nolte, Eddie Murphy, James Remar, Sonny Landham, Annette O'Toole

From: Paramount

To be short and sweet, below I explain how I watched this and its sequel last night for the first time in many years.

As typical for this month, me watching this film again was due to discussion elsewhere. I hadn't seen this or Another 48 Hrs. in a long time and I've had both films on a single DVD for years and yet didn't feel like watching them. Well, last night was the night for me to see them back to back.

I presume many people already know the plot to this film-said to be the first “buddy cop” comedy-but I'll try to be brief anyway: Jack Cates (Nick Nolte) is a loose cannon cop in San Francisco. He gets ensnared in a case of an escaped convict named Ganz and his pals when the convict steals his gun and uses it to kill people. As he's a loose cannon, Cates thought it would be a good idea to spring a former associate of Ganz, Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy in his movie debut) out of prison for 2 days in order to track him down.

The premise may be a little goofy but I still enjoy this violent (would you expect anything else from director Walter Hill?) movie where there are also plenty of laughs. Amongst the gun battles and tense situations and big setpieces there's the relationship between Nolte and Murphy; at first they don't get along but of course as the clock winds down, things eventually improves. A cast of famous 80's faces (James Remar, Sonny Landham, Annette O'Toole, David Patrick Kelly, Brion James, Ed O'Ross) helps and it's a film I enjoy, especially the famous scene where Hammond impersonates an officer in a redneck bar, which oddly enough is in the middle of San Francisco, where this movie is set and filmed. It's not hard to understand why Murphy was soon after this a huge star; of course that has long since been squandered but let's not think of the poor choices he made in his career and instead let's think back to roles like this, where he was dynamite.

I do have to bring up the elephant in the room when it comes to this movie: it's an 80's action film so there's plenty of homophobic and sexist moments, but the biggest thing is the racism: Jack Cates is a gruff alcohol-swilling cop so a number of times he utters racist words and phrases to Reggie Hammond, none of which I'll repeat here. A white cop being bigoted towards minorities is especially awkward in this day and age in the United States after all those controversial incidents (Ferguson, the Baltimore riots and all the rest) that have happened the past few years. I can understand some being turned off by it. Jack tries to explain it away but I am able to rationalize that by saying that's how the times were back then and you could have a main character you follow in a big movie act in such an inflammatory manner.

As long as you are alright with such a character, I say this should be seen if you haven't watched it yet and you are a fan of the 80's action.

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

K2

K2 (1991)

Runtime: 104 minutes

Directed by: Franc Roddam

Starring: Michael Biehn, Matt Craven, Raymond J. Berry, Luca Bercovici, Patricia Charbonneau

From: Paramount/Miramax/Trans Pacific Films

Here's a film I watched on Netflix Instant, one where it's the only way to see it in North America unless you import the foreign DVD or have it on VHS. The Letterboxd review is below:

This is another film that comes from discussion in a messageboard thread. I faintly remember it being released way back in 1991 but I had never seen it before. For what I presume are the nebulous “rights issues” (several studios came together to make this) this has never received a Region 1 DVD or Blu-ray release, making it difficult to see... unless you have Netflix Instant. Talk of the upcoming star-studded Everest film in the aforementioned messageboard thread inspired discussion of this motion picture again & I figured it was finally time to check it out.

To clarify, K2 is a popular name for a mountain known by several other monikers-Chhogori, Ketu or Mount Godwin-Austen-and it is the second-highest mountain in the world at over 28,000 feet (over 8,600 meters) and is infamous for being one of the most dangerous mountains anyone could ever attempt to climb. This story is loosely based on a tale of how 2 men were the first Americans to scale the mountain in the late 70's. The story told here is of Taylor (Michael Biehn), a charming A-hole lawyer and Harold (Matt Craven) , a family man although he unfortunately doesn't spend enough time with his wife and young child. Through some circumstances they get added on to an expectation to climb K2 and as it should go without saying various things go wrong.

The fact that you get a lot of arguing and bickering, it sometimes wore me down in a bad way. Climbing such a mountain is stressful, sure, but some of the characters were antagonistic to each other long before they reached K2. There are also no shortage of cliches. Yet, I can still say that this is a solid 3 star affair for a few reasons.

The cast is uniformly fine in their roles. The character of Taylor is a brash cocky jerk but I still laughed at his behavior so it did not rub me the wrong way. Once the serious drama hits and the characters have to face some tough decisions, the actors perform pretty well. Plus, I know that Everest will be full of CG while this movie was all done “for real” and everything you see done actually happened and it wasn't from a computer. It is shown that climbing mountains is quite difficult and it can be deadly. The scenery was quite pretty too.

It is unfortunate that this hasn't had a Region 1 disc release. The scenic views would look great on Blu and even though this is not a must-see it's still fine and deserves more of an audience.

Monday, June 15, 2015

Rocky

Rocky (1976)

Runtime: 119 minutess

Directed by: John G. Avildsen

Starring: Sly Stallone, Talia Shire, Carl Weathers, Burgess Meredith, Burt Young

From: United Artists

Last night this film was on cable so I was happy to see this once again. The Letterboxd review is below:

Before I start talking about this film I figured I should say something I have mentioned before: I am not a boxing fan and I really haven't been for years. It's the sport itself and how I don't find it that exciting to watch, and then there's all the corruption that you find in it. Yet, I am fine with watching movies based on pugilism, such as this franchise of films, as of course all of them are much more than just fighting in the squared circle. I have seen this at least a few times before and years ago I got to see it on the big screen, which was an opportunity I am glad I did take advantage of.

This day and age, a story presented in this original Rocky film may be viewed as being “quaint” and “passe”. Yet in my opinion, with all these big (or not so big) budget movies from Hollywood being so mean-spirited and cruel and cynical (even the recent Jurassic World does this; for example, the cruelest death isn't reserved for an A-hole character but instead is given to a completely innocent person... I know others have carped about it and it did rub me the wrong way too), simple stories like this now stand out even more.

I've talked before about how I enjoy seeing the crappy New York City of old in films from decades past. Well, you get to see the crappy Philadelphia of old-and maybe those areas are still that way-as we follow a down on his luck local boxer named Rocky Balboa who squandered his talent in the past and now fights for cash as his regular job working for a loan shark doesn't pay the bills. As is, he lives in a lower class part of the city and while he enjoys interacting with the colorful characters there, he's not feeling so swell about life... until he meets and falls in love with a shy and mousy girl named Adrian who works at a pet store. Suddenly through a set of circumstances he gets a show at the brash and cocky World Heavyweight Champion Apollo Creed.

The movie takes its time and doesn't throw a bunch of crap at the screen. You get to see Balboa's life and how hapless it is, then you see him get a once in a lifetime chance and while starting that romance you see him train in sometimes unorthodox ways for the big fight. By the end you are really rooting for him and hopes that he is more than just a bum opponent Creed says he can defeat with little effort. As this is not slick or phony you enjoy all the characters.

It's easy to see why Rocky Balboa became a pop culture icon with a tremendous performance from Stallone (I realize that may sound strange now considering much of his career but it's no surprise considering this was a passion project for him and how he got to star in it and become a gigantic star is a great underdog story of its own) but all the characters and performances are memorable, from Apollo to Adrian, the irascible trainer Micky and Adrian's shifty brother Paulie, and even sleazy loan shark Gazzo, and fight promoter Jergens are figures you won't forget. Of course everyone loves a story like this as in some way we can all relate to Rocky at least one time in our lives, but this is great and rousing entertainment and you won't even care about the outcome of the fight, only how well Balboa does.

I know that some out there do carp about this winning the Best Picture Oscar that year and they wish something like Network or Taxi Driver won instead. Well, I don't think it's so egregious and Heaven knows the Academy has made worse decisions just with Best Picture winners. Plus, various aspects are still iconic today, from the drinking of egg yolks and the punching of a giant side of beef to hearing Gonna Fly Now as he jogs up the steps to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

I say that this movie is still effective today and can inspire anyone to do better and defy the odds and possibly experience great success. Considering much of what constitutes American films of recent years, I've grown to have even more of an appreciation for this movie and how all those things came together to create the magic we got here. It was never the same for the sequels but at least all are at worst watchable in my eyes. I know there are some flaws but the highest of high ratings I give it is due to film quality and sheer entertainment I get for it.

Saturday, June 13, 2015

RIP Sir Christopher Lee

The next few days I may watch some films I already reviewed here so I can give them better reviews on Letterboxd. Who knows when I'll be back here but as always check back here every few days. I just wanted to say RIP to Christopher Lee; what a great actor and great man he was; he delivered all those great performances and yet the most interesting thing about his life was off the screen and he had all those incredible experiences such as hunting the evil Nazi soldiers and doing clandestine things for the British government. Hearing about his death was quite sad.

Friday, June 12, 2015

Jurassic World

Jurassic World (2015)

70% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 199 reviews)

Runtime: 124 minutes

Directed by: Colin Trevorrow

Starring: Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Vincent D'Onofrio, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson

From: Universal

Yep, this is me causing more controversy. A lot of people are willing to accept the flaws of this weirdly directed film but I am just not able to. I ramble on a bit but I have a long Letterboxd review below which explains why I did not like this and all and also complain about the terribleness coming out of Hollywood these days.

I hate to be even wordier than I usually am (and believe me I am just wordy in general when it comes to the online world; it's not just here) but I have to in this case. Also, note that I gave the original 4 ½ stars and the two sequels are 2 ½ stars each. Yes, I even liked the sequels far more than this motion picture.

In short, I can't ever remember a time where I didn't feel “different”, or “odd” or “strange”. I've just always been that way, which is fine sometimes as it means I am free to enjoy various different things in my life. I am happy to reject much of what's been hot in pop culture pretty much all through the 21st century and if anyone's ever noticed that me reviewing a modern superhero film is an extraordinarily rare occurrence, there's a reason for that... I don't care about any of them! Everyone else can go wild over the Marvel or DC films while I am content not paying any attention to them and doing other things instead.

But other times it really does stink and people seem to love reminding me that I am an unusual sort. While not right to my face it does smack me figuratively when I see various films rated here by people I follow-or I don't-and the general consensus is far different from me. Fury Road is the most obvious example. Just about everyone loves the film and yet I thought the story and characters were so bad and off-putting the motion picture was a massive disappointment to me.

A lesser example is this movie, where many can agree that there are massive issues with the script and characters and yet most can excuse them? No offense to anyone else but this is impossible for me to do. In the past I sort of did with a few modern blockbusters (i.e. just about everything the massively overrated J.J. Abrams or the massively overrated Christopher Nolan have done; The Dark Knight I still enjoy despite it being total nonsense) but honestly I should go back and review them again, as I would give them ratings closer to the 1 star I gave this. Of course there's the whole thing of me maybe just having finally had enough of these brainless way too expensive Hollywood corporate garbage films that get crapped out every year and most people eat up... or maybe I am just fed up with how most things in Hollywood or television are sequels/reboots, a problem that'll get far worse before it becomes better and it vanishes as actual original ideas will become chic again.

I don't really need to go into specifics on the plot as just about everyone reading this should at least be somewhat familiar with it, but there actually is a dinosaur park open now and due to alleged falling attendance, they decided to genetically create a brand new dinosaur. I knew all along the general conceit is extraordinarily stupid... I was hoping I could still enjoy it. Nope, just nope. This is the sort of movie that rails against corporate stupidity and yet the obvious fingerprints all over it due to corporate stupidity should be apparent to all. It complains about how corporations are ever-present in society and yet it's full of product placement from beginning to end. This is not satire, at least not done properly.

It is indeed true, the script is just atrocious. The story makes little sense and if you spend even a modicum of time thinking about it, it's thinner than tissue paper and falls apart completely. As I don't want to engage in spoilers I can't break it down specifically but the number of intelligence-insulting moments in this “tell instead of show” production are in the dozens. I've already seen other reviewers go more in-depth and they do a nice job explaining just why the story is a giant pile of dinosaur dung; hopefully you can stumble upon one of those reviews. To give a general example, characters change motivations on a whim, just because. A more specific example: the genetically modified character is named INDOMINOUS REX, allegedly because “it's easier for a 4 year old to say” than a typical dinosaur name. I swear this is true. At least with me, when I first hear a name like that, I think: “Oh yeah, that character in Fury Road...” instead of some goofy manufactured creature in a soulless crass thing like this is; it looks a lot like a T-rex, so how exactly will it increase attendance?

Then there's the characters... most of them are God-awful. From there being a pair of teenaged brothers who are both spectacularly sh*tty in different ways (one is hyper-active to an incredible degree and the other is a stereotypical D-bag teen who doesn't care about anything) except for them being as dull as cardboard to Jessica Chas... er, I mean Bryce Dallas Howard as the operations manager of the park who was far dopier and more annoying than Tea Leoni's character in the third one, it's just painful. Oh, and throughout the progression of the film Howard's character's outfit becomes more and more revealing. Someone with the film will probably say, “Oh, this is satire also”. Hogwash! It's the expected gross Hollywood behavior.

Star-Lord, Dinosaur Whisperer comes off the best although he unnaturally predicts what will happen next, as if he's read the script... Vincent D'Onofrio plays the type of character you'd probably expect Vincent D'Onofrio to play and as Howard's sister, I wish that Judy Greer would have actually played the role that Bryce had; the character still would have been crap-and someone who apparently spends the entire time in high heels, even running away from dinos or when she's in the jungle-but I know the performance would have been better, and it's about time that she's finally the bride instead of the bridesmaid when it comes to a big feature film.

Yes, you get to see many dinosaurs throughout and considering that I saw some cosplayers and a young lady in a green dinosaur outfit, I know this will be a massive hit, and I suppose many will be happy with it. Me, I just can't feel that way. At the risk of coming across as “that guy” on the Internet, it looks like I don't care that much about a lot of what passes as current entertainment in America this day and I prefer either things from other countries or stuff that's older. As for the ending, many seem to love it... while I just about howled with laughter at how preposterous it was and how it apparently was supposed to be totally serious, and it also will likely remind you of a famous film... from last year! I did have a rather terrible day yesterday so the so dopey it was funny stuff was nice... except that I was otherwise not entertained by all due to how bad this was and what a massive fail not to have my spirits lightened when I was in dire need of it.

If others want to eat up this offal, that is alright. If you want to get mad about some of the things I criticize here (which I know will happen) I won't be offended. I'll just sit here and proudly proclaim that this is by far the worst movie in the franchise, a heartless movie without care or soul and I'll also loudly state that modern corporate Hollywood is just not for me, and I wish we could get the magic and warm feelings from movies such as... the original Jurassic Park.

Jurassic Park III

Jurassic Park III (2001)

Runtime: 94 minutes

Directed by: Joe Johnston

Starring: Sam Neill, William H. Macy, Tea Leoni, Allesandro Nivola, Trevor Morgan

From: Universal

Believe it or not, until Wednesday night I had never seen this before. I finally decided to check it out and it turns out that it's about average, although it's a masterpiece compared to Jurassic World, which I saw last night and boy did I not care for it. I'll make a post about that in a few hours but for now you can read my Letterboxd review for this film below:

(Note: Today has just been a horrid day all around for me, between those celebrities dying and many little things adding up; I did not want to post this so late but I have to; tomorrow afternoon I'll talk about Jurassic World, which I just saw earlier in the evening. Ooh boy do I have some things to say about that.

I figured it was about darn time I finally saw this film for the first time in full, considering that-even with strong reservations over whether it'll actually be any good-I plan on seeing Jurassic World tonight. Of course I have seen the first two more than once before; the original is a 4 ½ star affair I am glad I got to see on the big screen again in '13, while the first sequel I also rate at 2 ½ stars; while there are some quality moments there are also many stupid ones and characters just act so dumb in the film. Yes, I have actually avoided seeing JP 3 from beginning to end until late last night when I rented it on Amazon.

The plot is that Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) returns and he is promised a lot of money by an apparently rich couple (William H. Macy and Tea Leoni) to fly them over the island from the second film, to sight-see. Yes, their dopiness in hiring a guy who was never on that island before was mentioned. Things go wrong and the rich couple has ulterior motives so things happen on the island that aren't expected by Dr. Grant.

There isn't too much for me to say about this film: it feels slight-almost like a DTV entry-and there are many stupid moments. Yet, it has a B movie feel to it (to echo thoughts I've heard elsewhere) and that charm does help, and it being only 93 minutes means it doesn't wear out its welcome, which is more than I can say about Jurassic World... Leoni's character wasn't nearly as annoying to me as I had been told, and there's a kid character (about 13 or so in age) who was actually tolerable and I wasn't irritated by.

While I don't need to see this ever again at least there are some decent action scenes and I can rate this as being average.

Wednesday, June 10, 2015

Going In Style

Going in Style (1979)

Runtime: 97 minutes

Directed by: Martin Brest

Starring: George Burns, Art Carney, Lee Strasberg, Charles Hallahan, Pamela Payton-Wright

From: Warner Brothers

Here's a random film I heard about recently and it just happened to be on TCM last night. This was a sadly forgotten about film worth seeing. The Letterboxd review is below:

This was another film I found out about in a messageboard thread; the person who brought this up (just recently, by coincidence) said that this was one of his favorites and he's sad that it on DVD has been long out of print . Sure, it can be purchased for streaming online via Amazon but it was easiest for me to watch it last night on TCM when it was part of their block of programming centered around New York City of the 1970's.

The plot sounds simple enough: A trio of retirees in New York City sit on a park bench all day and don't do much else than that. Joe (George Burns) suggests to his pals Willie (Lee Strasberg) and Al (Art Carney) that they should rob a bank in order to add excitement to their lives and to get some cash to supplement their Social Security income. Willie is indecisive to do it but eventually is convinced to do so. I mean, as Joe explains, even if they do get caught and go to jail, they get free room & board and if they get out, they have a pile of Social Security checks to cash.

However, after the act things become more complicated and while the general conceit sounds silly, the movie is more amusing than laugh out loud funny and there are dramatic and somber moments also. It should not be a surprise that "death" and the fear of it is a common thought among the trio.

I won't spoil what the sad moments were but at times the trio is melancholy over things and they wish in the twilight of their lives that some events from decades ago would have gone differently. I'd say this was as much a drama as a comedy. The supporting cast does a nice job but it's the three leads who carry the picture and considering that Burns and Carney performed in some aspect for decades and Strasberg was an acting coach for years, it should not be a surprise they deliver quality performances, especially from Burns as the lead.

It's a shame that this is one of those films that fell through the cracks and isn't better known. It's also a shame that the infamous Gigli was such a toxic bomb, director Martin Brest left Hollywood and I understand even now he's a recluse and almost impossible to track down. A shame for someone who directed films like this, Beverly Hills Cop and Scent of a Woman.

Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Bad Turn Worse

Bad Turn Worse (2014)

Runtime: 92 minutes

Directed by: Simon Hawkins, Zeke Hawkins

Starring: Mackenzie Davis, Logan Huffman, Jeremy Allen White, Mark Pellegrino, William Devane

From: Rough & Tumble Films

This is another messageboard recommended film. I won't go into details on which board or thread I am referring to, but someone there admitting to liking it, even though he thinks that not many others do. From looking around it's more a film that critics like than Regular Joe & Jane film fans. Go figure. The Letterboxd review is below and well, I agree with the regular folks.

In recent years, Texas-based neo noir films have become more popular. While there are old ones like Blood Simple (I need to watch it again to give it a better review, but it's a rare Coen Brothers film I actually like) it's become more prominent in recent years, with such examples as Killer Joe and Cold in July, which I have seen before and enjoyed. Then there's this movie, another dark tale set in the Lone Star State.

The movie centers around a trio of teens: BJ (an ironic name considering his role in a scene involving that sexual act), his girlfriend Sue and their mutual pal Bobby. They live in a small southern Texas town. Sue and Bobby are about to go to college and BJ wants to party with them and celebrate this occasion... he does this by stealing cash from his boss. Things go downhill from there... both for the characters and for my enjoyment.

Getting stupidity right away from the event that starts the plot (the theft of a lot of cash from your boss) is not a deal-breaker; it is just a film, after all. However, when you have most of the main characters act like muttonheads and do dumb things just because the script says so, that starts to become a problem. Things like that have rankled me for awhile now and I am always disappointed when it happens.

But the biggest beef for me is how it starts to become relentlessly ugly and mean-spirited in tone. It's just unpleasant. That alone isn't a deal-breaker either; after all, Killer Joe isn't the easiest film to watch as most of the people in that are awful human beings... yet due to other factors that's a quality film. Here, even with her following her two idiot guy friends, I did feel bad for Sue (and I wish the character would have had more to do, as Mackenzie Davis delivered the best performance in the entire picture) but the rest... I wouldn't urinate on them if they were on fire! That's how much I legit didn't care for them and I certainly wasn't invested in their plight.

You mix all that with racism, homophobia and sexism (in the 80's, when such things happened you shake your head viewing it now, as they didn't know any better back then; now... ) and it was not a fun watch overall, which is unfortunate as there were some inspired moments. Not even a small role from William Devane could improve my mood. Maybe others will get more out of this; I realize this was low-budget but that has nothing to do with the story. Me, I say that other dark Texas tales (like the ones I mentioned already) do it better.

Sunday, June 7, 2015

Woman On The Run

Woman on the Run (1950)

Runtime: 77 minutes

Directed by: Norman Foster

Starring: Ann Sheridan, Dennis O'Keefe, Robert Klein, Ross Elliott, Frank Jenks

From: Universal

Here's a review I should have posted yesterday but I was tied up with other things. This is a film I watched Friday night. The Letterboxd review is below:

This month and July TCM will be showing film noir or film noir-like movies all day every Friday, which is perfect for me as I need to see more from the genre in general. This was one of the motion pictures they showed, one I wasn't familiar with.

It's a tale where an average Joe named Frank (who among other things is an artist) witnesses a gangster murder someone who was going to testify against him and narrowly avoids getting shot himself; Frank is told he now has to testify and he manages to sneak away. His wife Eleanor-Ann Sheridan-is asked to help try and find him in San Francisco (where this was actually shot; you saw plenty of how that town looked back then) but she doesn't trust the cops and thinks Frank is on the run to leave their unhappy marriage. She looks for him with the help of a newspaper reporter. So the title means that she is not running FROM anyone... rather she is running in an attempt to find her errant husband.

I'll mention the first thing I thought after I got done viewing this: what a contrived story. That is why I can't rate it as high as others do. It's not awful... it's just a story full of contrivances and I know noir is no stranger to a far-fetched thing or two but this was more so than usual. Also, at first Eleanor isn't the most likable woman. As you get to know her, though, she's not so bad. She changes as she gets to find out more about the life of a husband where because of their troubled union she doesn't know much about his life. Believe me, a noir centered around a woman... I am not a Men's Rights Activist clown so I definitely have no issue with a girl being the center of a film.


What helps redeem it are the strong performances, the typical things you expect from the genre (tough dames, hard-boiled cops, snappy dialogue, a lot of flavor and figurative color, creative lighting), and the on location shooting in San Francisco. There's also an ending in a unique setting and that was nicely done. That is how I can at least give this a 3 star rating. As it's public domain it means it is quite easy to track down and view if you want to determine whether my rating is too low or not.

Friday, June 5, 2015

Bulldog Drummond Escapes

Bulldog Drummond Escapes (1937)

Runtime: 67 minutes

Directed by: James P. Hogan

Starring: Ray Milland, Guy Standing, Heather Angel, Reginald Denny, Porter Hall

From: Paramount

This is a brief review from me as there isn't too much to say, aside from this being the only time Milland played this character. The Letterboxd review is below:

I know this is a rather random obscure movie to watch but it was just on TCM and while I have known of the Bulldog Drummond character (a war hero turned detective, the subject of a series of novels from a chap calling himself Sapper and then turned into a number of movies) for awhile now I had never read any of the books nor seen any of the films until now. Besides, the movie stars some familiar faces to me in Ray Milland and Reginald Denny... the actor, not the truck driver who got hit in the head with a brick during the 1992 L.A. Riots.

The story is a standard one of Drummond returning to England and he stumbles upon a case where he has to protect an heiress and yes, they do get captured and have to escape. Aside from the hammy acting throughout this is decidedly average in every way. Not great and not bad... just average. Much of the story is either in an old mansion or the sort of foggy marsh that me (and Hollywood, for that matter) imagines the United Kingdom to be full of. That's really all there is to say about this standard low budget programmer.

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Sleepless Night

Sleepless Night (Nuit Blanche) (2011)

Runtime: 98 minutes

Directed by: Frederic Jadin

Starring: Tomer Sisley, Julien Boisselier, Joey Starr, Lizzie Brochere

From: Many different European countries

Here's a review a long time coming, in that I should have seen this much sooner than I did. I'll explain why below in my Letterboxd review: 

Awhile back on a messageboard in a thread someone plugged this film pretty hard and I feel like a heel not only because I haven't seen it until last night but because not too many of the people who read that thread have followed his advice to see this and I think that did bother him. As it's only 2 bucks (plus that tax BS) on Amazon Instant Video I should have seen this far sooner, even if only for that guy's satisfaction.

While this movie is rather ridiculous and there are plenty of scummy characters, I can't say I wasn't entertained by this French/Belgian/Luxembourgian production. It's about a pair of dirty cops who screw up pretty bad so the young teenaged son of Vincent (one of the crooked fuzz; he happens to look like a brown curly-haired Bradley Cooper with a goatee) is kidnapped in retaliation by the drug dealer he ripped off. Most of the action happens at a crowded nightclub said drug dealer runs and things happen to go wrong so Vincent has to think on the fly and try various things to attempt to get his son back.

The movie is well-filmed and you do get to experience the feeling of being in a cramped location where you have a hard time moving around. I know the feeling from being in various nightclubs back in the day, although none were as fancy or extensive as the one you see here, Le Tarmac. Even though I found Vincent not that sympathetic of a person I was at least interested in seeing how this preposterous yet entertaining story would turn out. Without giving much away... there is shaky-cam and usually that is a turn-off but here it seemed appropriate. A lot of the action is people running away from each other-which is nicely-done-but there is a tremendous fight scene that was pretty brutal, and there's also some bullets that fly all over. It being intense and nail-biting much of the time was a big asset.

Of course it's being remade into an American film with Jamie Foxx and Michelle Mongahan and I'll just presume that won't be as good so you might as well see this, the original.

Wednesday, June 3, 2015

The Town That Dreaded Sundown (The 2014 Film)

The Town That Dreaded Sundown (2014)

Runtime: 86 minutes

Directed by: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon

Starring: Addison Timlin, Veronica Cartwright, Anthony Anderson, Travis Tope, Joshua Leonard

From: Several different companies, including the returning Orion Pictures

I watched this Monday night soon after the original. I ended up liking this more than the '76 film, although the final act of this was unfortunate. The Letterboxd review is below:

Last night I watched and reviewed the original The Town That Dreaded Sundown, from 1976. I rated it as average as even though it's one of the first American slashers and the scenes with the killer were well-done, the odd pacing and awful humor tank it. All I knew of this polarizing film is that it treated the 1976 movie as canon and in fact in that universe that movie is shown in the town of Texarkana, Arkansas each year, which is actually true to real life.

Turns out, the 1976 movie is important to the plot here. A person dressed just like the killer from the '76 flick starts killing people and he tells a young lady named Jami (Addison Timlin, who I thought did a swell job) that he wants people “to remember”, which is explained by the end. Jami tries to investigate the murders herself in a heated atmosphere where the theme of religion and sin are present, while falling in love with a young dude she meets up with.

For the first two acts, I was enjoying this. The meta aspects were odd at times but they weren't overdone or obnoxious. The same goes for the gore and sex, which were definitely more abundant than in the original and yet they weren't excessive. The odd aesthetic of there being many 70's, 80's and 90's artifacts around despite this being set in 2013 was a little strange and yet I just went with it. The cast of familiar faces (Veronica Cartwright, Anthony Anderson, Gary Cole, Ed Lauter, Edward Herrmann) does help. It was filmed well; I am talking about such things as cinematography and camera movement.

Then... the final act hit, and things start to fall apart and go off the rails. I can't reveal why without going into massive spoilers but the film does several things which I felt ruined the goodwill built up in the first two acts. Also, the overall story doesn't always make a whole lot of sense by the end. I think it's a shame but of course you may feel different if you see this yourself. And it is reminiscent of a certain famous horror film from the 90's which other people have brought up but I won't.

At least the movie wasn't a turkey, as I had feared beforehand it could be. And, it is more progressive when it comes to such things as sexual orientation, even if that involved minor characters.

Horror fans out there, you may very well check out this and the original if you haven't seen either yet. Also, considering that some of the recent horror I've talked about here recently have either inspired some to add films to their wishlist or they get their share of likes, I think I should try to watch then review more horror from the past few years.

Tuesday, June 2, 2015

The Town That Dreaded Sundown (The 1976 Film)

The Town That Dreaded Sundown (1976)

Runtime: 90 minutes

Directed by: Charles B. Pierce

Starring: Ben Johnson, Andrew Prine, Dawn Wells, Jimmy Clem, Jim Citty

From: Charles B. Pierce Film Productions

Last night I watched both this and the 2014 movie of the same name, which I understand takes place in a world where the 1976 film is canon and it's shown in town every October, which is actually the case. First, the original.

For awhile I've been interested in the odd meta sequel/remake/whatever that came out last fall that has the same title as this. But I hadn't seen the cult favorite original yet and I figured that was necessary for me to see first, so via Amazon Instant Video I finally checked it out... and wondered just why exactly this is a cult favorite, aside from it being one of the first American slasher films.

This is a docudrama-style film with occasional narration that loosely tells the real life tale of a serial killer in Texarkana, Arkansas known as The Phantom Killer, who was never caught and his identity is still a mystery today; he murdered or at least attacked several people during the spring of 1946. The movie covers the police (and a Texas Ranger) investigating and attempting to catch the killer, who is seen wearing a white hood and that had to be the inspiration for Jason's look in Friday the 13th, Part 2.

The idea of covering a real life mystery involving a serial killer certainly sounded interesting; the way it's done here, though, I can only rate it as about average at best. It's not the attack scenes that weigh this down. Those are pretty creepy. Unfortunately, it's rather oddly structured and it sort of just ends.

Furthermore, it's things like some hammy acting and as many others have noted, the awful attempts at humor to I guess liven the mood that are like an anchor to my enjoyment of this. I point my finger at director Charles B. Pierce, not just for being the director but also for playing by far the worst source for the “humor” as the bumbling cop known as Benson. He was like one of the cops on The Dukes of Hazzard and it was just quite unfunny, even if the character was minor and wasn't seen too often. It's the fact that it was not needed and it ruins the mood that is the worst aspect of it all.

However, I did laugh at the sheer absurdity of the scene with the trombone...

It's a shame that the overall experience doesn't rise above mediocre as it did sound cool and maybe I'd prefer a TV episode or special which talks about the true life case and such things as what happened with each attack, all the suspects and how people think they do know the real killer (a man named Youell Swinney) but he was never officially charged. Just reading the Wikipedia article about it was quite interesting so seeing a program about it will be more up my alley. Maybe it's that this was hard to track down for years that added to its reputation but I hope that whatever the 2014 movie of the same name is one I can rate higher than the OG property.

Monday, June 1, 2015

An Announcement

I have decided that from now on, I will stick to what I've done the past few weeks, which is that I (usually) won't be announcing when I'll be posting here next and I'll just tell everyone to check back here every night or two to see what if anything I have up that's new. However, I can say that tomorrow night I plan on posting reviews of a pair of movies that are closely related to one another.