Act of Valor (2012)
30% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 87 reviews)
Runtime: 111 minutes
Directed by: Mike McCoy, Scott Waugh
Starring: Actual real-life Navy SEALs and legit actors like Roslyn Sanchez and Nestor Serrano
From: Relativity Media
Here's a movie you've heard all about for awhile, as it stars actual on-duty Navy SEALs acting in a motion picture alongside Hollywood stars; it's quite the unique gimmick and I was real interested in seeing if this was just a gimmick or something more.
I ended up watching this on Saturday night due to a last minute change in plans, but I still waited to do this review on Tuesday.
Anyhow, the plot is that the SEALs go to Costa Rica to rescue a CIA operative (Sanchez) but they soon find out that the situation is much worse than they first realized; there's a plot going on involing some bad guys (such as a Chechen rebel) who want to use suicide bombers using a rather destructive weapon to cause a lot of havoc in the United States. Drug dealers are also involved, so the action goes from Africa to the Ukraine and then to Mexico.
I know that this movie has gotten a lot of hate from the critical types, and also the people on movie messageboards who try to act all wannabe hotshots and faux intellectual types. I do understand a lot of the criticism. War is made to look simplistic to be jingoistic (although this movie is far from being as xenophobic and ethnic-baiting as those same types would like to say; I'll still call it AMERICA, FUCK YEAH! THE MOVIE, as not only is it funny but because of the jingoism), the non-actors act about as well as you'd expect non-actors to, and the plot and situations aren't always presented in the best way.
Yet, I can't say that I hated this movie. I'm not giving this movie a pass because I'm afraid to be labeled un-American if I rip on a movie all about the military and the troops. I honestly thought it was at least an acceptable time at the theatre; there's still enough entertaining action scenes to make me happy. There wasn't really anything that blew me away but at least it was fun to watch. Many sons of bitches get shot in the head! How can you go wrong there? More than one person has described it as being something like you'd expect from the Cannon studio in the 80's; to me, that's not necessarily a bad thing.
But most importantly, as someone who is about as far as you can get from being fit to serve in the military, it was interesting to see them do everything using live ammunition and also real-life tactics that the SEALs do, as I had no idea about that sort of thing. Point is, as someone who knows quite a few people who went overseas to fight for various branches of the military (and not everyone made it back home), it was nice to see how chaotic life can be for those guys. They're far braver than I am.
I'll be back Friday night with a new review.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
Punisher: War Zone
Punisher: War Zone (2008)
26% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 99 reviews)
Runtime: 103 minutes
Directed by: Lexi Alexander
Starring: Ray Stevenson, Dominic West, Doug Hutchinson, Julie Benz
From: Lionsgate
Here's a movie that I saw once on the big screen and then once at a drive-in; finally I watched it on Blu-Ray via a cheap disc I bought from Blockbuster. I haven't reviewed the highly unpleasant and just poorly made '04 Punisher movie; however I did review the original '89 Punisher with Dolph Lundgren that I say doesn't get the credit it deserves; I couldn't care less about the original comic book character and how it is accurate to the story and all that crap. I say it's a fun and entertaining movie.
As for this Punisher film, it's rather over the top and wacky, but it's unforgettable and I can't help but be entertained by it. After seeing it again, my opinion hasn't changed.
The story is that the Punisher (Stevenson) is facing doubts about his line of work as the guy who wipes out the bad guys in New York City while Jigsaw (West) and his brother Loony Bin Jim (Hutchinson) rise to power and cause headaches. Frank Castle also has to deal with a lady (Benz) and her young daughter.
Like I said, the movie is over the top and wacky; just look at the scene involving some people during parkour and how Castle deals with those sorts of people for how the tone of the movie is. Also, the scene where Jigsaw and Loony Bin Jim recruit bad guys to their cause as if it was a recruitment video for the U.S. Army... pretty over the top. Yet, despite the mix of wackiness throughout and graphic violence and situations, I thought it worked and despite me not being a comic book guy, I thought it worked. The action scenes are well-done and you can make out what's going on, something that sadly isn't as common as it used to be. Plus, I liked how the movie was colored; what I mean is that there are a lot of yellow and blue lights, and they're used effectively to give things a nice look.
So of course this was something that most people did not care for, at least given the critic reviews and how poorly it did at the box office; barely making more than 10 million worldwide, that's not good for a movie with a 35 million dollar budget. It's a shame that it did poor at the box office and there were many problems between director Alexander and Lionsgate while the movie was made. It at least is already developing a cult following for being wacky yet great entertainment.
I'll be back Tuesday night.
26% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 99 reviews)
Runtime: 103 minutes
Directed by: Lexi Alexander
Starring: Ray Stevenson, Dominic West, Doug Hutchinson, Julie Benz
From: Lionsgate
Here's a movie that I saw once on the big screen and then once at a drive-in; finally I watched it on Blu-Ray via a cheap disc I bought from Blockbuster. I haven't reviewed the highly unpleasant and just poorly made '04 Punisher movie; however I did review the original '89 Punisher with Dolph Lundgren that I say doesn't get the credit it deserves; I couldn't care less about the original comic book character and how it is accurate to the story and all that crap. I say it's a fun and entertaining movie.
As for this Punisher film, it's rather over the top and wacky, but it's unforgettable and I can't help but be entertained by it. After seeing it again, my opinion hasn't changed.
The story is that the Punisher (Stevenson) is facing doubts about his line of work as the guy who wipes out the bad guys in New York City while Jigsaw (West) and his brother Loony Bin Jim (Hutchinson) rise to power and cause headaches. Frank Castle also has to deal with a lady (Benz) and her young daughter.
Like I said, the movie is over the top and wacky; just look at the scene involving some people during parkour and how Castle deals with those sorts of people for how the tone of the movie is. Also, the scene where Jigsaw and Loony Bin Jim recruit bad guys to their cause as if it was a recruitment video for the U.S. Army... pretty over the top. Yet, despite the mix of wackiness throughout and graphic violence and situations, I thought it worked and despite me not being a comic book guy, I thought it worked. The action scenes are well-done and you can make out what's going on, something that sadly isn't as common as it used to be. Plus, I liked how the movie was colored; what I mean is that there are a lot of yellow and blue lights, and they're used effectively to give things a nice look.
So of course this was something that most people did not care for, at least given the critic reviews and how poorly it did at the box office; barely making more than 10 million worldwide, that's not good for a movie with a 35 million dollar budget. It's a shame that it did poor at the box office and there were many problems between director Alexander and Lionsgate while the movie was made. It at least is already developing a cult following for being wacky yet great entertainment.
I'll be back Tuesday night.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Believe It Or Not, A Soviet Union Horror Movie
Spirit of Evil (Viy) (1967)
Runtime: 78 minutes (but the version online I saw was only about 72 minutes)
Directed by: Georgi Kropachyoy, Konstanin Yershov
Starring: Leonid Kuravlyov, Natayla Varley, Aleksei Glazyrin, Nikolai Kutuzov
From: Mosfilm
Well, here's something you don't get every day from me... a review of a movie from the Soviet Union! In fact, this is the first one from those former Commies that I've ever seen; I haven't even watched the famous ones like the original Solaris. How I even found out about this movie was that I heard about it from the first time from the podcast hosted at Dreadcentral.com known as Dinner for Fiends. One of the guys on there (a hipster type, but I'll excuse that fact) mentioned on their last podcast this film, and described it as not only having crazy setpieces and camera work, but it was also like a cross between Sam Raimi and old painter Hieronymous Bosch (see what I mean when I mentioned the hipster thing?) and that sounded so weird I was delighted to discover that someone put English subtitles on it and uploaded it to YouTube. This was the first horror film from the Soviets but what a first film it proved to be.
The story is set in the 19th century (at least that's what I'll presume given that the movie was adapted from a story by Nikolai Gogol, a Ukranian writer from the early 1800's) and revolves around a seminary student who has the task of guarding the place where a deceased witch is being held until she is to be buried. He experiences some spooky things which test his faith, and oh what a battle he has at the finale when the fit hits the shan. The twist is, he met the witch, first in the form of a rather scary-looking old woman, and then in her usual form of a pretty attractive brunette, and he was the one who killed her after he saw her do some witchery.
What that guy said about the movie proved to be true. I understand the Raimi comparisons as there's quite a bit of dark humor and the tone can be pretty light at times yet there's also many effective creepy moments. Also, there were indeed some crazy camera shots that you'd expect to see in something more modern than 1967. At 72 minutes things move rather briskly so you should never become bored with it. I heard some complaints about that fact and while the second half is certainly more action-packed I was never bored with the first half.
While I think some things were lost in translation (literally or just figuratively due to the differences in culture) it still seems like a fresh and entertaining movie to watch 45 years after ther fact, even if you just heard of it now and I just found out about it a few days ago. It's rather unique overall. As it feels newer than its age, it's likely you'll enjoy it if you enjoy such things as witches and hauntings and creepy stuff.
Thus, I am glad I got to watch this one of a kind movie and enjoy its setting, the sets, the humor, and the cool musical score.
I'll be back Friday night with a new review. Will it be more foreign horror?
Runtime: 78 minutes (but the version online I saw was only about 72 minutes)
Directed by: Georgi Kropachyoy, Konstanin Yershov
Starring: Leonid Kuravlyov, Natayla Varley, Aleksei Glazyrin, Nikolai Kutuzov
From: Mosfilm
Well, here's something you don't get every day from me... a review of a movie from the Soviet Union! In fact, this is the first one from those former Commies that I've ever seen; I haven't even watched the famous ones like the original Solaris. How I even found out about this movie was that I heard about it from the first time from the podcast hosted at Dreadcentral.com known as Dinner for Fiends. One of the guys on there (a hipster type, but I'll excuse that fact) mentioned on their last podcast this film, and described it as not only having crazy setpieces and camera work, but it was also like a cross between Sam Raimi and old painter Hieronymous Bosch (see what I mean when I mentioned the hipster thing?) and that sounded so weird I was delighted to discover that someone put English subtitles on it and uploaded it to YouTube. This was the first horror film from the Soviets but what a first film it proved to be.
The story is set in the 19th century (at least that's what I'll presume given that the movie was adapted from a story by Nikolai Gogol, a Ukranian writer from the early 1800's) and revolves around a seminary student who has the task of guarding the place where a deceased witch is being held until she is to be buried. He experiences some spooky things which test his faith, and oh what a battle he has at the finale when the fit hits the shan. The twist is, he met the witch, first in the form of a rather scary-looking old woman, and then in her usual form of a pretty attractive brunette, and he was the one who killed her after he saw her do some witchery.
What that guy said about the movie proved to be true. I understand the Raimi comparisons as there's quite a bit of dark humor and the tone can be pretty light at times yet there's also many effective creepy moments. Also, there were indeed some crazy camera shots that you'd expect to see in something more modern than 1967. At 72 minutes things move rather briskly so you should never become bored with it. I heard some complaints about that fact and while the second half is certainly more action-packed I was never bored with the first half.
While I think some things were lost in translation (literally or just figuratively due to the differences in culture) it still seems like a fresh and entertaining movie to watch 45 years after ther fact, even if you just heard of it now and I just found out about it a few days ago. It's rather unique overall. As it feels newer than its age, it's likely you'll enjoy it if you enjoy such things as witches and hauntings and creepy stuff.
Thus, I am glad I got to watch this one of a kind movie and enjoy its setting, the sets, the humor, and the cool musical score.
I'll be back Friday night with a new review. Will it be more foreign horror?
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Something Different But Also Something Amazing... An Incredible Failed TV Pilot
Would you believe there was a failed TV pilot from 1981 that was supposed to be a teenaged version of the late 60's show Laugh-In? Well, there was. And, it happened to star a big name at the time (Jackie Mason) but also some names that would become famous later in the 80's and even today... that is 80's scream queen-and babe-Jill Schoelen, Crispin Glover and... Nicolas Cage! Those last two names appearing in the same TV show with their tremendous and unique acting abilities is pretty awesome. I had no idea that Best of Times even existed until I saw some clips from it on YouTube via a messageboard post.
I then looked online and saw that the entire hour-long TV pilot (well, 48 minutes without commercials, but you know what I mean; IMDb is wrong in saying it was a 2 hour thing) is actually on YouTube. I sat down and spent time watching it and... WOW is my best reaction. I really have to break it down in a detailed manner to report all the amazing things I saw and heard. It consists of such things as Jackie Mason not like the Talking Heads, someone being put in The Friend Zone in 1981, and Nicolas Cage dancing in a manner that you'd expect him to.
We start off with Crispin in a messy room, with a basset hound on his bed and wearing an astounding brown sweater that appeared to have a moose on a giant pocket on the front and on each shoulder, a gold star! Oh, and he also had long shaggy hair... hell, he could have been Shaggy if they ever would have done an 80's live-action version of Scooby-Doo.
Oh, and the show has a laugh track. And, Crispin's sweater isn't the most incredible, either.
There's humor concerning his messy room, then he introduces his 6 friends and you get to see them; of course, Nic's intro is him doing one-armed push-ups on a sandy beach, and he's only wearing shoes and cut-off jean shorts!
After that, Crispin actually gets all preachy about how teenagers always get disrespected but they shouldn't be because they care about the future and ARE the future... yeah yeah yeah.
You then see a dude named Kevin try to get a date with a girl who doesn't know who he is. The only interesting thing is that he compares himself to John Denver, and it isn't the worst comparison.
Out of nowhere, you see Nic Cage and another young male (David) and they look to be on Venice Beach, and as David is trying to eat a burger, Nic talks about how he loved in Rocky the scene where he punched a side of beef. This is done in the typical Nic Cage acting style... yes, he aways acted like that! Also, the humor in this pilot isn't always the best, to be honest.
You see a brief clip of three of the four ladies in the gang of seven talking about going all the way... to San Diego. Yeah, that was the joke. A few times throughout the show you briefly see those three doing their makeup and telling brief jokes. That's why people compare this to Laugh-In.
So, you then see Crispin go into a store and he gets a dime back off of an empty soda bottle; yeah, that dates things. Also, the store owner is Jackie Mason! The joke is that all of the gang come in with a shitload of bottles and they're looking for a shitload of dimes, to quote Blazing Saddles. Then something incredible happens.
I guess I forgot to mention that there are several MUSICAL NUMBERS. Yes. The first one begins and this actually begins what could be considered a precursor to Stomp, as the bottles and items across the store are used as musical instruments! Jackie had what looked to be a legit WHAT THE FUCK look on his face. Then the number really gets going and it's just so... strange, I can barely describe it. It really has to be seen to be believed.
You then get Jill talking for a bit. She wears another tremendous outfit, which is a white shirt that has several different-colored sunglasses on it! She talks about college, and it's actually serious stuff. Talk about tonal shifts in this pilot. Anyhow, even though she was around 18 at the time, she still looked rather attractive.
Another girl is Janet (Janet!), a 14 year old who hangs out with older men in a band who drive around in a total 70's van; gee, a 14 year old girl who is somewhat cute and hanging out with older men... nothing suspicious or creepy about that AT ALL...
Nic and Kevin talk about Kevin's love life. Nic works out almost the entire time. Kevin tries to pick up a chick, and bombs big time.
There's yet another girl (Lisa) who is only slightly chubby and yet there are quite a few jokes made about her weight. Sigh...
Jackie Mason returns, and he's with stockboy David. Now, the sweater David wears is dark red and in yellow are-among other things-a pair of guys on skis and several pine trees!
Our second musical number. It has everyone working at a car wash as Crispin (wearing a shirt and pants... and yellow suspenders) complains about how hard it is for teens to find jobs. You then hear a disco version of 9 to 5 (yes, the Dolly Parton song) being sung by a bunch of people and holy Christ is it wacky. Everyone's dancing around, a violin solo (!?), Nic Cage wearing only overalls and a hankerchief around his neck with no shirt on... it's pretty incredible.
Kevin still tries to get a date, and he fails. This happens a few more times so I'll be skipping that.
Crispin and David play a table-top videogame. They tell a joke that's not worth recapping.
Crispin runs into the store and asks Jackie Mason for a cassette tape, which is hilarious 31 years later but even better... he wants the latest the Talking Heads album! No shit. He was referring to Remain in Light, as believe it or not a part of one song gets played! As Crispin overacts to a tremendous degree you hear part of the song Houses in Motion get played on a small boombox. I swear, this is true. I tell you, I was NOT expecting to hear a Talking Heads song. And in short, Jackie Mason is not a fan of that new wave stuff.
You then hear a really strange song sung by the cast that almost sounds like rap! They complain about doing chores, but I was most fascianted by how bad and weird the song was. Then, it changes into something more traditional as they play around in a park, race go-karts, and that sort of jazz.
You have a brief bit where Julie (a blonde cheerleader girl) brags about having a letter to the editor appear in the TV Guide, and the letter was about Walter Cronkite retiring! I shit you not.
There are brief bits with corny humor involving Nic Cage doing situps in the sand and two of the girls seeing a bunch of boy swimmers naked (it's not worth getting into the explanation) and the third girl-i.e. “The Fat One” being upset that she couldn't see a bunch of naked dudes, and pretty much she had never seen a real life guy in the buff! Why all the picking on the chubby chick?
There are more brief bits, involving GIRL POWER and lonely Kevin trying to get a date with the operator on the line at the pay phone at the arcade (holy cow is this dated), along with the underaged chick being made to lug around the band's shit.
Oh, and the chubby girl has a crush on her male teacher; somehow, she has a black and white framed photo of the guy! These days, teacher/student sex relationships doesn't seem so funny...
Jill Schoelen bitches about teens being exploited because designer jeans are so damned expensive! I'm not kidding. Then, we get another musical number... and it's a disco version of Heartbreaker! Yes, the Pat Benatar song of the same title. The girls sing to Crispin and he looks as happy as a clam at the fact that hot teen ladies are singing to him in a clothing store. It's a dance number and oh man is it hilarious.
Crispin and Jill have a convo, and Crispin says that he had a dream where Jill is his girlfriend; I'll just presume it was a nocturnal emission sort of dream. He asks out Jill on a date, and this is extremely hilarious after this term got popular in the past year or so, but no kidding Crispin gets put in the friend zone! Literally that's what happens. She rejects the relationship because it'd ruin their friendship, and that sucks for him.
Jackie Mason and David talk again, and David arranges for Jackie to supply the food for the school dance. By the way, Jackie and David work at at 7-11! It gets referred to as that, and there's clearly a 7-11 garbage can visible in this scene. 7-11 food at the school dance, what a high class thing to do.
You see the band again, and you hear their music. It's a guitar and keyboard thing, and I can't even describe too well what to compare it to.
Nic Cage whines and moans about how he could be drafted due to the problems going on in the time with the U.S and Central America. No, I have no idea how this serious stuff (where Nic talks about his dad's life in the military too) fits in with the rest of the show.
Crispin is at the dance and he talks about his parents dancing and how they're squares and all that.
Sad to say, Crispin does NOT do any bizarre dancing like he's in a Jason Voorhees movie. However, Jackie Mason does! It's as wacky and robotic as you might imagine, him dancing to the band doing some funky disco tune.
You see some slow dancing, and Nic (wearing a leather jacket and Hawaiian shirt as formal ware) gets a date with a chick by lying to her and saying he's going off to war the next day; it's implied he's doing this just to get some action.
OK, so you get to see NIC CAGE DANCING, and it is every bit as glorious as you might imagine. Pretty much, if you've seen that white guy trying to break dance in Ghoulies, it's sort of like that. He throws his jacket to the ground and then does things like the splits and kicking his legs into the air and I legit lol'ed.
Oh, and he was dancing to that underaged girl playing guitar with the band; of course, she was jamming out.
I stand corrected, right before this ended, you do see a short wacky dance from Crispin, but it wasn't like in Friday the 13th Part 4.
The end credits roll, and of course Nic is billed under his real name of Nicolas Coppola.
Holy shit is my best reaction to that really strange product of the early 80's. I am not surprised it was only a pilot but I am so happy I got to watch something so wacky and hilarious.
I'll be back this upcoming Tuesday night as the next few days will be too busy for any film-watching from me.
I then looked online and saw that the entire hour-long TV pilot (well, 48 minutes without commercials, but you know what I mean; IMDb is wrong in saying it was a 2 hour thing) is actually on YouTube. I sat down and spent time watching it and... WOW is my best reaction. I really have to break it down in a detailed manner to report all the amazing things I saw and heard. It consists of such things as Jackie Mason not like the Talking Heads, someone being put in The Friend Zone in 1981, and Nicolas Cage dancing in a manner that you'd expect him to.
We start off with Crispin in a messy room, with a basset hound on his bed and wearing an astounding brown sweater that appeared to have a moose on a giant pocket on the front and on each shoulder, a gold star! Oh, and he also had long shaggy hair... hell, he could have been Shaggy if they ever would have done an 80's live-action version of Scooby-Doo.
Oh, and the show has a laugh track. And, Crispin's sweater isn't the most incredible, either.
There's humor concerning his messy room, then he introduces his 6 friends and you get to see them; of course, Nic's intro is him doing one-armed push-ups on a sandy beach, and he's only wearing shoes and cut-off jean shorts!
After that, Crispin actually gets all preachy about how teenagers always get disrespected but they shouldn't be because they care about the future and ARE the future... yeah yeah yeah.
You then see a dude named Kevin try to get a date with a girl who doesn't know who he is. The only interesting thing is that he compares himself to John Denver, and it isn't the worst comparison.
Out of nowhere, you see Nic Cage and another young male (David) and they look to be on Venice Beach, and as David is trying to eat a burger, Nic talks about how he loved in Rocky the scene where he punched a side of beef. This is done in the typical Nic Cage acting style... yes, he aways acted like that! Also, the humor in this pilot isn't always the best, to be honest.
You see a brief clip of three of the four ladies in the gang of seven talking about going all the way... to San Diego. Yeah, that was the joke. A few times throughout the show you briefly see those three doing their makeup and telling brief jokes. That's why people compare this to Laugh-In.
So, you then see Crispin go into a store and he gets a dime back off of an empty soda bottle; yeah, that dates things. Also, the store owner is Jackie Mason! The joke is that all of the gang come in with a shitload of bottles and they're looking for a shitload of dimes, to quote Blazing Saddles. Then something incredible happens.
I guess I forgot to mention that there are several MUSICAL NUMBERS. Yes. The first one begins and this actually begins what could be considered a precursor to Stomp, as the bottles and items across the store are used as musical instruments! Jackie had what looked to be a legit WHAT THE FUCK look on his face. Then the number really gets going and it's just so... strange, I can barely describe it. It really has to be seen to be believed.
You then get Jill talking for a bit. She wears another tremendous outfit, which is a white shirt that has several different-colored sunglasses on it! She talks about college, and it's actually serious stuff. Talk about tonal shifts in this pilot. Anyhow, even though she was around 18 at the time, she still looked rather attractive.
Another girl is Janet (Janet!), a 14 year old who hangs out with older men in a band who drive around in a total 70's van; gee, a 14 year old girl who is somewhat cute and hanging out with older men... nothing suspicious or creepy about that AT ALL...
Nic and Kevin talk about Kevin's love life. Nic works out almost the entire time. Kevin tries to pick up a chick, and bombs big time.
There's yet another girl (Lisa) who is only slightly chubby and yet there are quite a few jokes made about her weight. Sigh...
Jackie Mason returns, and he's with stockboy David. Now, the sweater David wears is dark red and in yellow are-among other things-a pair of guys on skis and several pine trees!
Our second musical number. It has everyone working at a car wash as Crispin (wearing a shirt and pants... and yellow suspenders) complains about how hard it is for teens to find jobs. You then hear a disco version of 9 to 5 (yes, the Dolly Parton song) being sung by a bunch of people and holy Christ is it wacky. Everyone's dancing around, a violin solo (!?), Nic Cage wearing only overalls and a hankerchief around his neck with no shirt on... it's pretty incredible.
Kevin still tries to get a date, and he fails. This happens a few more times so I'll be skipping that.
Crispin and David play a table-top videogame. They tell a joke that's not worth recapping.
Crispin runs into the store and asks Jackie Mason for a cassette tape, which is hilarious 31 years later but even better... he wants the latest the Talking Heads album! No shit. He was referring to Remain in Light, as believe it or not a part of one song gets played! As Crispin overacts to a tremendous degree you hear part of the song Houses in Motion get played on a small boombox. I swear, this is true. I tell you, I was NOT expecting to hear a Talking Heads song. And in short, Jackie Mason is not a fan of that new wave stuff.
You then hear a really strange song sung by the cast that almost sounds like rap! They complain about doing chores, but I was most fascianted by how bad and weird the song was. Then, it changes into something more traditional as they play around in a park, race go-karts, and that sort of jazz.
You have a brief bit where Julie (a blonde cheerleader girl) brags about having a letter to the editor appear in the TV Guide, and the letter was about Walter Cronkite retiring! I shit you not.
There are brief bits with corny humor involving Nic Cage doing situps in the sand and two of the girls seeing a bunch of boy swimmers naked (it's not worth getting into the explanation) and the third girl-i.e. “The Fat One” being upset that she couldn't see a bunch of naked dudes, and pretty much she had never seen a real life guy in the buff! Why all the picking on the chubby chick?
There are more brief bits, involving GIRL POWER and lonely Kevin trying to get a date with the operator on the line at the pay phone at the arcade (holy cow is this dated), along with the underaged chick being made to lug around the band's shit.
Oh, and the chubby girl has a crush on her male teacher; somehow, she has a black and white framed photo of the guy! These days, teacher/student sex relationships doesn't seem so funny...
Jill Schoelen bitches about teens being exploited because designer jeans are so damned expensive! I'm not kidding. Then, we get another musical number... and it's a disco version of Heartbreaker! Yes, the Pat Benatar song of the same title. The girls sing to Crispin and he looks as happy as a clam at the fact that hot teen ladies are singing to him in a clothing store. It's a dance number and oh man is it hilarious.
Crispin and Jill have a convo, and Crispin says that he had a dream where Jill is his girlfriend; I'll just presume it was a nocturnal emission sort of dream. He asks out Jill on a date, and this is extremely hilarious after this term got popular in the past year or so, but no kidding Crispin gets put in the friend zone! Literally that's what happens. She rejects the relationship because it'd ruin their friendship, and that sucks for him.
Jackie Mason and David talk again, and David arranges for Jackie to supply the food for the school dance. By the way, Jackie and David work at at 7-11! It gets referred to as that, and there's clearly a 7-11 garbage can visible in this scene. 7-11 food at the school dance, what a high class thing to do.
You see the band again, and you hear their music. It's a guitar and keyboard thing, and I can't even describe too well what to compare it to.
Nic Cage whines and moans about how he could be drafted due to the problems going on in the time with the U.S and Central America. No, I have no idea how this serious stuff (where Nic talks about his dad's life in the military too) fits in with the rest of the show.
Crispin is at the dance and he talks about his parents dancing and how they're squares and all that.
Sad to say, Crispin does NOT do any bizarre dancing like he's in a Jason Voorhees movie. However, Jackie Mason does! It's as wacky and robotic as you might imagine, him dancing to the band doing some funky disco tune.
You see some slow dancing, and Nic (wearing a leather jacket and Hawaiian shirt as formal ware) gets a date with a chick by lying to her and saying he's going off to war the next day; it's implied he's doing this just to get some action.
OK, so you get to see NIC CAGE DANCING, and it is every bit as glorious as you might imagine. Pretty much, if you've seen that white guy trying to break dance in Ghoulies, it's sort of like that. He throws his jacket to the ground and then does things like the splits and kicking his legs into the air and I legit lol'ed.
Oh, and he was dancing to that underaged girl playing guitar with the band; of course, she was jamming out.
I stand corrected, right before this ended, you do see a short wacky dance from Crispin, but it wasn't like in Friday the 13th Part 4.
The end credits roll, and of course Nic is billed under his real name of Nicolas Coppola.
Holy shit is my best reaction to that really strange product of the early 80's. I am not surprised it was only a pilot but I am so happy I got to watch something so wacky and hilarious.
I'll be back this upcoming Tuesday night as the next few days will be too busy for any film-watching from me.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Psycho (the remake, unfortunately)
Psycho (1998)
Runtime: 105 minutes
Directed by: Gus Van Sant
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche, Viggo Mortensen, Julianne Moore, William H. Macy
From: Universal
Yes, I actually watched this movie for the first time in over 13 years; I was inspired by someone I know on Facebook mentioning that they were watching it. It got me to thinking that the only time I watched this was when I went to the theatre and watched it on the big screen. Don't worry, I saw the original before I saw the shot for shot remake. I don't need to tell anyone how great the 1960 film is even now, 52 years later. Anyhow, I saw it, it ended, and as everyone walked out, I don't think anyone enjoyed it, me included. It was just something that was not needed. I thought I did not need to ever watch this again (and thankfully later on I was able to watch the original on the big screen) but then that discussion online plus this blog inspired me to rent this film and give it a second viewing.
Before I get to that, though, I have to mention the realization I came to a few hours after that Facebook post from the pal... this was likely the first-ever R-rated movie I saw on the big screen on my own without my parents! For some reason I'm thinking that I MAY have seen Scream 2 on the big screen on my own but given that it came out in late '97 and I don't know if it was still out in late February right after I turned 17... if I did see it, then I shouldn't have. Whoops on the theatre's part, not mine. But I am more definitive in saying that Psycho was the first R-rated theatrical experience on my own, and I really wish another movie held that distinction! Hey, back then I rarely went to the cineplex. I probably only went out a few times a year in those days, if that.
But back to this motion picture...
Viewing it so many years later, my opinion really hasn't changed; this movie is just a giant waste of time and I have no idea why it was done except to prove a point that even a shot for shot remake (which actually isn't really that as you had some changes, such as making it clear that Norman Bates was diddling his fiddle as he was a voyeur spying on Marion) isn't the same as not only is it dumb for a director to try and imitate another director but that casting does a lot to make or break a movie. Anne Heche is no Janet Leigh, and I thought that at the time, even before she made those really bizarre statements about being two different people and an alien, or whatever that nonsense was. After knowing that, it's real hard to enjoy her as Marion Crane, to be perfectly honest. And as many have said, while Anthony Perkins was a weird shut-in and a nerd he still seemed like a nice guy; Vince Vaughn always came off as a real, well, psycho, and a creep too.
That alone ruins things but then there's other crap, such as surreal dream stuff added in, and it just doesn't add anything positive to the procedings. Sure, some of the performances from the talented cast were fine, but when there are issues with the two leads, that's a big problem. There were definitely things I did not remember from the late 90's viewing, such as the dream stuff or especially briefly hearing a Rob Zombie song in one scene!
So yes, while it was interesting to watch this again after so many years, it pretty much was as I remembered it: it wasn't God-awful... just extremely pointless, especially compared to how great the original film is.
I'll be back Wednesday night.
Runtime: 105 minutes
Directed by: Gus Van Sant
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche, Viggo Mortensen, Julianne Moore, William H. Macy
From: Universal
Yes, I actually watched this movie for the first time in over 13 years; I was inspired by someone I know on Facebook mentioning that they were watching it. It got me to thinking that the only time I watched this was when I went to the theatre and watched it on the big screen. Don't worry, I saw the original before I saw the shot for shot remake. I don't need to tell anyone how great the 1960 film is even now, 52 years later. Anyhow, I saw it, it ended, and as everyone walked out, I don't think anyone enjoyed it, me included. It was just something that was not needed. I thought I did not need to ever watch this again (and thankfully later on I was able to watch the original on the big screen) but then that discussion online plus this blog inspired me to rent this film and give it a second viewing.
Before I get to that, though, I have to mention the realization I came to a few hours after that Facebook post from the pal... this was likely the first-ever R-rated movie I saw on the big screen on my own without my parents! For some reason I'm thinking that I MAY have seen Scream 2 on the big screen on my own but given that it came out in late '97 and I don't know if it was still out in late February right after I turned 17... if I did see it, then I shouldn't have. Whoops on the theatre's part, not mine. But I am more definitive in saying that Psycho was the first R-rated theatrical experience on my own, and I really wish another movie held that distinction! Hey, back then I rarely went to the cineplex. I probably only went out a few times a year in those days, if that.
But back to this motion picture...
Viewing it so many years later, my opinion really hasn't changed; this movie is just a giant waste of time and I have no idea why it was done except to prove a point that even a shot for shot remake (which actually isn't really that as you had some changes, such as making it clear that Norman Bates was diddling his fiddle as he was a voyeur spying on Marion) isn't the same as not only is it dumb for a director to try and imitate another director but that casting does a lot to make or break a movie. Anne Heche is no Janet Leigh, and I thought that at the time, even before she made those really bizarre statements about being two different people and an alien, or whatever that nonsense was. After knowing that, it's real hard to enjoy her as Marion Crane, to be perfectly honest. And as many have said, while Anthony Perkins was a weird shut-in and a nerd he still seemed like a nice guy; Vince Vaughn always came off as a real, well, psycho, and a creep too.
That alone ruins things but then there's other crap, such as surreal dream stuff added in, and it just doesn't add anything positive to the procedings. Sure, some of the performances from the talented cast were fine, but when there are issues with the two leads, that's a big problem. There were definitely things I did not remember from the late 90's viewing, such as the dream stuff or especially briefly hearing a Rob Zombie song in one scene!
So yes, while it was interesting to watch this again after so many years, it pretty much was as I remembered it: it wasn't God-awful... just extremely pointless, especially compared to how great the original film is.
I'll be back Wednesday night.
Friday, February 10, 2012
Yes, I Went And Saw Episode I in 3D
So, I don't need to do the proper intro nor give a plot synopsis for this movie, as you all know it, and I'd say that you all hate it, but after Friday morning at 12:01 AM, that would be inaccurate. Besides, despite the off-putting voice and all the off-color humor, the Red Letter Media reviews for all of the prequels explain far better why they're all poor than I could.
Despite agreeing with that I decided to go and view it in 3D; it gives me something to write about, the visuals would at least be nice (and yeah, they still look nice in '12) and the crowd I figured would be interesting. Boy was I not let down by the last part. I watched it at Downtown Disney at the AMC, and they're showing it now on their giant ETX screen, with pumpin' audio too, so it'd be a good way to watch that film. A lot of people were there, and even I was surprised by the number of fanboys (I won't use the term “nerd”) who were there wearing either the appropriate t-shirts or in Jedi robes, usually with fake light sabers! Really. I guess those guys will never turn down the chance to dress up like their heroes. Say what you will, but at least it was a well-behaved audience and there was no idiocy to talk about. It should be no shock that the one trailer which got by far the biggest reaction was for the new Spiderman film.
Yes, the movie still sucks. But, the crowd was so amped for it (to the point that I actually heard laughs for Jar-Jar Binks and his dialogue!) I did not hate the experience at all. As for the 3D, it's still not the sort of thing where you'll see a lot of stuff flying out at you. Rather, it's the depth of field thing, and in that way it does work. As long as you know that... anyway, it was a unique time at the cinema so it wasn't a mistake to spend that money and go out late at night for that viewing.
I'll be back tomorrow afternoon with something more traditional... and it includes a story about my teenage movie-going years.
Despite agreeing with that I decided to go and view it in 3D; it gives me something to write about, the visuals would at least be nice (and yeah, they still look nice in '12) and the crowd I figured would be interesting. Boy was I not let down by the last part. I watched it at Downtown Disney at the AMC, and they're showing it now on their giant ETX screen, with pumpin' audio too, so it'd be a good way to watch that film. A lot of people were there, and even I was surprised by the number of fanboys (I won't use the term “nerd”) who were there wearing either the appropriate t-shirts or in Jedi robes, usually with fake light sabers! Really. I guess those guys will never turn down the chance to dress up like their heroes. Say what you will, but at least it was a well-behaved audience and there was no idiocy to talk about. It should be no shock that the one trailer which got by far the biggest reaction was for the new Spiderman film.
Yes, the movie still sucks. But, the crowd was so amped for it (to the point that I actually heard laughs for Jar-Jar Binks and his dialogue!) I did not hate the experience at all. As for the 3D, it's still not the sort of thing where you'll see a lot of stuff flying out at you. Rather, it's the depth of field thing, and in that way it does work. As long as you know that... anyway, it was a unique time at the cinema so it wasn't a mistake to spend that money and go out late at night for that viewing.
I'll be back tomorrow afternoon with something more traditional... and it includes a story about my teenage movie-going years.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Slaughter's Big Rip-Off
Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973)
Runtime: 92 minutes
Directed by: Douglas Gordon
Starring: Jim Brown, Ed McMahon (yes), Brock Peters, Don Stroud, Gloria Hendry
From: AIP
Here's a movie I was inspired to track down, and I was able to do it in a not so ethical way, as a few months ago I stumbled upon a podcast known as Bad Movie Fiends; where they not only review awful movies with little merit like Battlefield Earth and The Happening but also awesome low-budget films that technically aren't good but are awesome to watch anyway. I burned through all 100 plus episodes they've done and they're great to listen to and enjoy. Anyhow, I wrote them an e-mail asking them about blaxploitation movies and recommended Slaughter, a movie I saw last summer and thought was pretty great. Much to my surprise they liked the idea so much they watched that movie and this month for them will be blaxploitation. They also managed to enjoy Slaughter a hell of a lot so I am quite flattered they liked my ideas so much.
Anyway, they knew of this sequel but no one knew if it was any good or not, and not even I could answer that, until now.
The plot is that Slaughter is back in LA. He's on a picnic in the country with some pals. Suddenly, a bi-plane appears and machine guns his best friend, while Slaugher survives; needless to say he's PISSED that “The Syndicate” is after him so he I on the path to take down Ed McMahon (!), a.k.a. Duncan, who he finds out is the guy that ordered the hit. Along the way he meets up with a cop (Peters) that coerces him to getting a special list from Duncan that has all of his contacts, including fellow people on the police force. There's also interactions with a wide variety of people wearing lout and wacky clothing from the period, including Scatman Crothers, who only appears in one scene, and doesn't use The Shine. He also has to get help from a pimp (Dick Anthony Williams) who overacts to a hilarious degree.
While it isn't as awesome as the original it's still pretty great and filled with many laughs. Slaughter does some tremendous things, like threaten to shove a guy's face into an airplane propellar, and he even bitch-slaps a guy who has curly hair and a porn 'stache. He dropkicks a guy as if he was a WWE wrestler. He also has to team up with a pimp named Joe Creole who overacts to the nth degree and thus is always hilarious. Needless to say, Slaughter ends up killing many sons of bitches.
Oh, and there's SCATMAN CROTHERS who briefly appears as a jive dude but he only appears in one scene for about 2 minutes. My favorite scene, though, was when Slaughter and the pimp break into a mansion to retrieve the film's McGuffin and you see Ed McMahon make out in a hallway with a woman in her 20's. They then go into a bedroom where you hear them have sex, and it includes Ed McMahon moaning like he's going to orgasm! That is a sound I'll never forget.
About the only bad thing I can say is that when MGM released the movie on DVD they were cheap and didn't pay the cash to have James Brown's soundtrack appear so it was replaced with generic funk and that's unfortunate. Still, this movie has lines such as, “I'm going to kick your eyes out your ass”, and I probably don't need to say much more than that.
I'll be back Friday afternoon with something interesting, and I'll also be posting something about Episode 1 (yes) on Saturday afternoon.
Runtime: 92 minutes
Directed by: Douglas Gordon
Starring: Jim Brown, Ed McMahon (yes), Brock Peters, Don Stroud, Gloria Hendry
From: AIP
Here's a movie I was inspired to track down, and I was able to do it in a not so ethical way, as a few months ago I stumbled upon a podcast known as Bad Movie Fiends; where they not only review awful movies with little merit like Battlefield Earth and The Happening but also awesome low-budget films that technically aren't good but are awesome to watch anyway. I burned through all 100 plus episodes they've done and they're great to listen to and enjoy. Anyhow, I wrote them an e-mail asking them about blaxploitation movies and recommended Slaughter, a movie I saw last summer and thought was pretty great. Much to my surprise they liked the idea so much they watched that movie and this month for them will be blaxploitation. They also managed to enjoy Slaughter a hell of a lot so I am quite flattered they liked my ideas so much.
Anyway, they knew of this sequel but no one knew if it was any good or not, and not even I could answer that, until now.
The plot is that Slaughter is back in LA. He's on a picnic in the country with some pals. Suddenly, a bi-plane appears and machine guns his best friend, while Slaugher survives; needless to say he's PISSED that “The Syndicate” is after him so he I on the path to take down Ed McMahon (!), a.k.a. Duncan, who he finds out is the guy that ordered the hit. Along the way he meets up with a cop (Peters) that coerces him to getting a special list from Duncan that has all of his contacts, including fellow people on the police force. There's also interactions with a wide variety of people wearing lout and wacky clothing from the period, including Scatman Crothers, who only appears in one scene, and doesn't use The Shine. He also has to get help from a pimp (Dick Anthony Williams) who overacts to a hilarious degree.
While it isn't as awesome as the original it's still pretty great and filled with many laughs. Slaughter does some tremendous things, like threaten to shove a guy's face into an airplane propellar, and he even bitch-slaps a guy who has curly hair and a porn 'stache. He dropkicks a guy as if he was a WWE wrestler. He also has to team up with a pimp named Joe Creole who overacts to the nth degree and thus is always hilarious. Needless to say, Slaughter ends up killing many sons of bitches.
Oh, and there's SCATMAN CROTHERS who briefly appears as a jive dude but he only appears in one scene for about 2 minutes. My favorite scene, though, was when Slaughter and the pimp break into a mansion to retrieve the film's McGuffin and you see Ed McMahon make out in a hallway with a woman in her 20's. They then go into a bedroom where you hear them have sex, and it includes Ed McMahon moaning like he's going to orgasm! That is a sound I'll never forget.
About the only bad thing I can say is that when MGM released the movie on DVD they were cheap and didn't pay the cash to have James Brown's soundtrack appear so it was replaced with generic funk and that's unfortunate. Still, this movie has lines such as, “I'm going to kick your eyes out your ass”, and I probably don't need to say much more than that.
I'll be back Friday afternoon with something interesting, and I'll also be posting something about Episode 1 (yes) on Saturday afternoon.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Live Sports On The Big Screen
On this Super Bowl Sunday, why not do something a little different and talk about the few times I've seen sporting events on the big screen?
The first one was back in early 2009 with the BCS National Championship Game between the Florida Gators and the Oklahoma Sooners. I drove all the way to Bradenton to watch it in an auditorium (and a bunch of crazy Gators fans) because of the fact that some locations across the country were showing it in 3D. When it worked, the effect was nice. It's just that the way they filmed it wasn't always the best, and there were such mistakes as entire plays being missed to show a replay, the cameras having trouble following who had the ball, and that sort of thing. I guess that was why Cinedigm (the people that at least presented it; it was a game that was broadcast on FOX so I'll always be happy to blame them for it, as FOX is the dirt worst of all the networks) never tried to do that again.
Then, for four events in 2010, UFC pay per views were presented by Fathom Events in theatres. The pay per views weren't always the greatest but I always had a good time and while the crowds varied in size, the people that did show up seemed to have a good time too. As I presume not enough people showed up to those events, that's why they stopped doing it.
Then, just yesterday UFC returned to theatres, but this time from Cinedigm and instead in 3D. The production was a lot better than the BCS game. There was only a glitch or two and none during the fights themselves. There was only a few instances of the ghosting effect, and it was minor and did not ruin the effect for the bouts. The fact that it was a good pay per view was an added bonus. The attendance where I was... it was pretty good. Hopefully they'll do this once every few months as I'll always attend.
If only events like the Super Bowl would be shown in theatres in 3D... I think that could be pretty awesome.
I'll be back Wednesday night and this time I promise I'll do a traditional movie review.
The first one was back in early 2009 with the BCS National Championship Game between the Florida Gators and the Oklahoma Sooners. I drove all the way to Bradenton to watch it in an auditorium (and a bunch of crazy Gators fans) because of the fact that some locations across the country were showing it in 3D. When it worked, the effect was nice. It's just that the way they filmed it wasn't always the best, and there were such mistakes as entire plays being missed to show a replay, the cameras having trouble following who had the ball, and that sort of thing. I guess that was why Cinedigm (the people that at least presented it; it was a game that was broadcast on FOX so I'll always be happy to blame them for it, as FOX is the dirt worst of all the networks) never tried to do that again.
Then, for four events in 2010, UFC pay per views were presented by Fathom Events in theatres. The pay per views weren't always the greatest but I always had a good time and while the crowds varied in size, the people that did show up seemed to have a good time too. As I presume not enough people showed up to those events, that's why they stopped doing it.
Then, just yesterday UFC returned to theatres, but this time from Cinedigm and instead in 3D. The production was a lot better than the BCS game. There was only a glitch or two and none during the fights themselves. There was only a few instances of the ghosting effect, and it was minor and did not ruin the effect for the bouts. The fact that it was a good pay per view was an added bonus. The attendance where I was... it was pretty good. Hopefully they'll do this once every few months as I'll always attend.
If only events like the Super Bowl would be shown in theatres in 3D... I think that could be pretty awesome.
I'll be back Wednesday night and this time I promise I'll do a traditional movie review.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Damn You, Streaming Video Services!
I was going to review something I stumbled upon which was on a streaming video website but the stream ended up not workng out, so I was SOL. I will be back tomorrow, though, where I'll talk about the experience of watching sporting events on in a movie theatre. Wacky and something different, but I also hope it will be something interesting.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
The Grey
The Grey (2012)
77% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 146 reviews)
Runtime: 117 minutes
Directed by: Joe Carnahan
Starring: Liam Neeson, Dallas Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Frank Grillo, Joe Anderson
From: Open Road Films
Finally, I've seen a quality movie released in 2012. I realize not everyone will agree with this statement but I'll get to that in a bit.
The way this movie has been advertised, you might think it's Taken with wolves, but it's much more than that. To steal a quick plot synopsis from IMDb:
“In Alaska, an oil drilling team struggle to survive after a plane crash strands them in the wild. Hunting the humans are a pack of wolves who see them as intruders.”
It sounds simple but it's more complex than that. You start off by seeing that Liam (I might as well call him that instead of his character name, due to how awesome Mr. Neeson is) is unhappy as the guy who keeps guard and shoots any wolf who tries to attack the people working on the oil drilling team. He clearly misses his old lady. It isn't long before the team boards an airplane and fly back to Anchorage. Suddenly, the plane crashes, and holy crap I haven't seen a plane crash in a fictional movie in such a terrifying fashion.
So, after the crash it's just Liam and six surviving males; those dudes are all rough and tough guys so it's no surprise that there are arguments and disagreements as Liam becomes the alpha male of the group and decides to move the figurative wolf pack and leave the crash site to try and reach civilization as a literal wolf pack decides to track them down as they don't like those men in their space.
Overall, this movie isn't just a badass affair where dudes have to team together to go against nature. Rather, you get to see that these tough guys are human beings and they have families and they have to deal with the fact that it's likely they won't be seeing their loved ones again. I will warn you that the movie is pretty downbeat, if you didn't get that impression already. I don't want to give too much else away but I say that all of it is effective and you have quality acting jobs, especially from Neeson, who has some unforgettable scenes. Also, the scenery of Alaska (actually filmed in rural British Columbia) is quite beautiful.
Now, if you haven't heard there's a segment of the audience that saw this which did not like how things turned out. I won't spoil anything but I did not hear about that backlash until someone I know personally on Facebook mentioned it the night before I saw this, then I look online and a forum has a thread which has people echoing his thoughts. Me, I was fine with how things turned out; I thought it worked for this sort of motion picture and I had little to carp about. Yet, some people out there were so displeased they hated the entire movie, and I say that's unfortunate. This sure as shit isn't The Devil Inside!
Oh, and there is a really short stinger that comes after the end credits but I say it doesn't really add anything so you can just find out what it was AFTER you see the film.
So, I say this film which reunites the star and director of the surprisingly good The A-Team is pretty damn good in a totally different way and it's well-worth seeing. Just don't be misled by what you may infer from the advertising, which I do say can make you think this is something it is not.
I'll be back Saturday afternoon with a new review.
77% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 146 reviews)
Runtime: 117 minutes
Directed by: Joe Carnahan
Starring: Liam Neeson, Dallas Roberts, Dermot Mulroney, Frank Grillo, Joe Anderson
From: Open Road Films
Finally, I've seen a quality movie released in 2012. I realize not everyone will agree with this statement but I'll get to that in a bit.
The way this movie has been advertised, you might think it's Taken with wolves, but it's much more than that. To steal a quick plot synopsis from IMDb:
“In Alaska, an oil drilling team struggle to survive after a plane crash strands them in the wild. Hunting the humans are a pack of wolves who see them as intruders.”
It sounds simple but it's more complex than that. You start off by seeing that Liam (I might as well call him that instead of his character name, due to how awesome Mr. Neeson is) is unhappy as the guy who keeps guard and shoots any wolf who tries to attack the people working on the oil drilling team. He clearly misses his old lady. It isn't long before the team boards an airplane and fly back to Anchorage. Suddenly, the plane crashes, and holy crap I haven't seen a plane crash in a fictional movie in such a terrifying fashion.
So, after the crash it's just Liam and six surviving males; those dudes are all rough and tough guys so it's no surprise that there are arguments and disagreements as Liam becomes the alpha male of the group and decides to move the figurative wolf pack and leave the crash site to try and reach civilization as a literal wolf pack decides to track them down as they don't like those men in their space.
Overall, this movie isn't just a badass affair where dudes have to team together to go against nature. Rather, you get to see that these tough guys are human beings and they have families and they have to deal with the fact that it's likely they won't be seeing their loved ones again. I will warn you that the movie is pretty downbeat, if you didn't get that impression already. I don't want to give too much else away but I say that all of it is effective and you have quality acting jobs, especially from Neeson, who has some unforgettable scenes. Also, the scenery of Alaska (actually filmed in rural British Columbia) is quite beautiful.
Now, if you haven't heard there's a segment of the audience that saw this which did not like how things turned out. I won't spoil anything but I did not hear about that backlash until someone I know personally on Facebook mentioned it the night before I saw this, then I look online and a forum has a thread which has people echoing his thoughts. Me, I was fine with how things turned out; I thought it worked for this sort of motion picture and I had little to carp about. Yet, some people out there were so displeased they hated the entire movie, and I say that's unfortunate. This sure as shit isn't The Devil Inside!
Oh, and there is a really short stinger that comes after the end credits but I say it doesn't really add anything so you can just find out what it was AFTER you see the film.
So, I say this film which reunites the star and director of the surprisingly good The A-Team is pretty damn good in a totally different way and it's well-worth seeing. Just don't be misled by what you may infer from the advertising, which I do say can make you think this is something it is not.
I'll be back Saturday afternoon with a new review.
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