Mission Impossible-Rogue Nation (2015)
93% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 175 reviews)
Runtime: 131 minutes
Directed by: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris
From: Paramount
Yes, I already have seen this film. It was a late night viewing last night where I killed time before I picked someone up from the airport. Their flight was delayed a long while so that's how I was able to pull that off and I was not expecting to see it so soon. The Letterboxd review is below:
Last night, I was able to see this film, and on a giant screen. Watching it so soon wasn't the plan but circumstances allowed for me to do this. Now, I hadn't seen the last film that star and director did (Jack Reacher) but while I understand the hero of that novel had a hulking figure a la Dwayne The Rock Johnson and Tom Cruise is far from that, I still hope to enjoy the movie once I finally see that. I know that got many strong reviews so between that and the high ratings I saw for this movie, I was hoping this wouldn't be a letdown.
Of course I won't say more than what was revealed in the trailer so I'll just state that this is about the IMF under attack (again) and them having to go rogue (again); I think it's odd that has been a thing for a few of these films but otherwise I was fine with that. They go to several foreign countries both familiar to movie-watchers and those that may not be so familiar. Anyhow, the bad guys are a secret organization known as The Syndicate that is like the anti-IMF.
Two things I'll note that I can carp about... even by the standards of this franchise there are some points that things got absolutely illogical. More than once I wondered if Ethan Hunt was actually a T-800, so indestructible he was. I started to worry that I would be taken out of the story by how silly it was getting or get frustrated at how things were turning out. Thankfully it never got to that point and I was able to be entertained by this. Of course I can't give a set of rules or instances where in concrete I can say that when a movie reaches a certain point or various things happen, absurdity will ruin a film for me. It really depends on many different factors and in this case, I was able to look past that and be enthralled by this tale.
The other thing, I wish that some moments weren't shot so closely, so they could be clearer. Otherwise, I did enjoy the action scenes and can't complain about them. The insane stunt from the side of the plane is already known by everyone as it was in all the trailers, and that was the opening scene. The rest of the action included such things as gun battles, car chases, brawls, etc.
The cast as a whole did a fine job, from the returning faces to the newcomers. As many others have noted already, Rebecca Ferguson... when it comes to physical appearance I say that she's attractive. She is more than a pretty face, though. Besides being believable as an ass-kicker who uses martial arts to lay waste to the opposition, Ilsa Faust is a very interesting character as you aren't sure who she is loyal to and Ferguson also acts the part quite well. As others have noted, this better mean that she gets more high profile roles in the next few years, otherwise it was an opportunity squandered.
This is more a spy thriller than what you typically expect in this series. There is plenty of espionage to go around and there is mystery in trying to figure out who the Syndicate is and who is or isn't a member. To parrot another thought, besides the spy aspects it is also nice how there are long scenes with little to no dialogue. What you see at the Vienna Opera is the best example of this. There is no shortage of intrigue and suspense.
While it almost becomes too over the top at times, I am glad I still liked it about as much as many others have already. Hopefully it holds up on rewatch. As is, it was an entertaining movie with the right amount of humor to go along with the crazy moments and the more thoughtful ones.
Friday, July 31, 2015
Monday, July 27, 2015
The Phantom Carriage
The Phantom Carriage (Korkarlen) (1921)
Runtime: 107 minutes
Directed by: Victor Sjostrom
Starring: Victor Sjostrom, Hilda Borgstrom, Tore Svennberg, Astrid Holm, Concordia Selader
From: Svensk Filmindustri
I saw this classic silent film last night and that was a wise move. The Letterboxd review is below. Note that I won't be posting here for a few days as right now I am rewatching the first four Mission: Impossible films, which I have reviewed here before.
Last night I noticed that TCM would be showing this classic silent drama and as I had never seen it before, it was the perfect opportunity to check it out... and I am glad I did.
Based on a Swedish novel, it's a fable of how a man turned wicked after being introduced to alcohol (his name is David; he's also ravaged by tuberculosis) is killed right before midnight on New Years Eve... which is a problem as there's a legend revolving around the title vehicle where the last person to die on the 31st of December has to pilot it and collect souls for Death. David is now in the afterlife and meets up with the previous carriage driver, Georges... who happened to be the man to introduce him to booze. Now, David has to atone for his sins and via flashbacks (and flashbacks within flashbacks) you see that he was a real A-hole, and through his body language and attitude director/writer/star Victor Sjostrom does a tremendous job with that... along with the feelings of remorse later.
This movie was as great as I had heard. It was certainly well-made and more through its actions than the dialogue displayed on screen you went through various emotions. There was spookiness and creepiness early on, then anger at how awful David acted, then you felt inspired at the end. They were able to use at the time revolutionary special effects to make all the spirits transparent and it is certainly effective. The version I saw had an appropriate soundtrack from the musician Matti Bye and it only added to the experience.
This film influenced many people for decades to come. This was one of Bergman's all-time favorites and that was a big reason why he wrote Wild Strawberries for years to come and had Sjostrom as the lead. In addition, a key scene here was borrowed by Kubrick and became one of the most memorable moments of The Shining. I am thankful that even 95 years later this is still a quite effective movie that works as a tale against being selfish and treating others poorly as the ramifications of those actions can hurt many others.
Runtime: 107 minutes
Directed by: Victor Sjostrom
Starring: Victor Sjostrom, Hilda Borgstrom, Tore Svennberg, Astrid Holm, Concordia Selader
From: Svensk Filmindustri
I saw this classic silent film last night and that was a wise move. The Letterboxd review is below. Note that I won't be posting here for a few days as right now I am rewatching the first four Mission: Impossible films, which I have reviewed here before.
Last night I noticed that TCM would be showing this classic silent drama and as I had never seen it before, it was the perfect opportunity to check it out... and I am glad I did.
Based on a Swedish novel, it's a fable of how a man turned wicked after being introduced to alcohol (his name is David; he's also ravaged by tuberculosis) is killed right before midnight on New Years Eve... which is a problem as there's a legend revolving around the title vehicle where the last person to die on the 31st of December has to pilot it and collect souls for Death. David is now in the afterlife and meets up with the previous carriage driver, Georges... who happened to be the man to introduce him to booze. Now, David has to atone for his sins and via flashbacks (and flashbacks within flashbacks) you see that he was a real A-hole, and through his body language and attitude director/writer/star Victor Sjostrom does a tremendous job with that... along with the feelings of remorse later.
This movie was as great as I had heard. It was certainly well-made and more through its actions than the dialogue displayed on screen you went through various emotions. There was spookiness and creepiness early on, then anger at how awful David acted, then you felt inspired at the end. They were able to use at the time revolutionary special effects to make all the spirits transparent and it is certainly effective. The version I saw had an appropriate soundtrack from the musician Matti Bye and it only added to the experience.
This film influenced many people for decades to come. This was one of Bergman's all-time favorites and that was a big reason why he wrote Wild Strawberries for years to come and had Sjostrom as the lead. In addition, a key scene here was borrowed by Kubrick and became one of the most memorable moments of The Shining. I am thankful that even 95 years later this is still a quite effective movie that works as a tale against being selfish and treating others poorly as the ramifications of those actions can hurt many others.
Friday, July 24, 2015
The File Of The Golden Goose
The File of the Golden Goose (1969)
Runtime: 105 minutes
Directed by: Sam Wanamaker
Starring: Yul Brynner, Charles Gray, Edward Woodward, John Barrie, Adrienne Corri
From: Edward Small Productions
I realize this is a film you probably have never heard of before. I never heard of it until about an hour before I saw it would be on TV. The review of this UK-set movie (complete w/ a scene with some Mod people) is below via Letterboxd; it's unfortunately just average.
This was a random watch for me; I had never even heard of this spy thriller before I noticed it would be on MGM HD Wednesday night. I looked at the plot and the cast & I was interested.
In short, it's about an American Secret Service agent (Yul Brynner) who goes to the UK and teams up with an investigator from Scotland Yard (Edward Woodward) to take down a ring of counterfeiters who are copying American cash. The leader of that gang is known as The Owl... who is also a homosexual... only for shock value, at least according to how the movie plays it. That is lamentable but note that The Owl was played by Charles Gray. Another famous face in the movie is Walter Gotell.
The movie is pretty obscure these days and while not awful, I can only rate it as about average. In terms of the plot and characters, there are many other films such as this that do it better, all the intrigue, double-crossing, and the rest. At least I can say that Yul's performance was fine-and you see more of him than you do his English counterpart-and the score was the expected groovy late 60's spy movie music.
What was not expected: a scene that also managed to be the highlight for me. You get to see Gray and others at a psychedelic freak-out party... or at least what a bunch of squares thought a psychedelic freak-out party was. It was hilarious; I almost expected Austin Powers to show up. It was nice to have a good laugh like that. There isn't too much else to say about the film.
Runtime: 105 minutes
Directed by: Sam Wanamaker
Starring: Yul Brynner, Charles Gray, Edward Woodward, John Barrie, Adrienne Corri
From: Edward Small Productions
I realize this is a film you probably have never heard of before. I never heard of it until about an hour before I saw it would be on TV. The review of this UK-set movie (complete w/ a scene with some Mod people) is below via Letterboxd; it's unfortunately just average.
This was a random watch for me; I had never even heard of this spy thriller before I noticed it would be on MGM HD Wednesday night. I looked at the plot and the cast & I was interested.
In short, it's about an American Secret Service agent (Yul Brynner) who goes to the UK and teams up with an investigator from Scotland Yard (Edward Woodward) to take down a ring of counterfeiters who are copying American cash. The leader of that gang is known as The Owl... who is also a homosexual... only for shock value, at least according to how the movie plays it. That is lamentable but note that The Owl was played by Charles Gray. Another famous face in the movie is Walter Gotell.
The movie is pretty obscure these days and while not awful, I can only rate it as about average. In terms of the plot and characters, there are many other films such as this that do it better, all the intrigue, double-crossing, and the rest. At least I can say that Yul's performance was fine-and you see more of him than you do his English counterpart-and the score was the expected groovy late 60's spy movie music.
What was not expected: a scene that also managed to be the highlight for me. You get to see Gray and others at a psychedelic freak-out party... or at least what a bunch of squares thought a psychedelic freak-out party was. It was hilarious; I almost expected Austin Powers to show up. It was nice to have a good laugh like that. There isn't too much else to say about the film.
Wednesday, July 22, 2015
Kid Galahad/Frankie And Johnny
Kid Galahad (1962)
Runtime: 95 minutes
Directed by:: Phil Karlson
Starring: Elvis, Gig Young, Lola Albright, Joan Blackman, Charles Bronson
From: The Mirisch Corporation
Frankie and Johnny (1966)
Runtime: 87 minutes
Directed by: Frederick De Cordova
Starring: Elvis, Donna Douglas, Harry Morgan, Nancy Kovak, Sue Ann Langdon
From: Edward Small Productions
Last night via the MGM HD Network I saw a pair of Elvis films. It had been a few months since I last saw one. The reviews of both are below, starting with Kid.
Recently I was thinking that I had seen several Elvis movies earlier in the years but the last viewing was a few months ago so I was overdue to see one. Suddenly, I saw that last night there would be a marathon of several films of Mr. Presley so that was perfect for me. I saw two of the four they showed; the second review will be posted tonight.
I'll be honest and say that I've never seen the original 1937 movie by the same name starring Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart; just from the talent involved I'll presume the OG movie is better and also has a hero who isn't a punching bag in the ring. I can't compare the two but that is OK. This is about a man (Elvis) who just got out of the Army and he ends up in the town he was born in. It's supposed to be New York state, although it's obviously filmed in California and the scenery there is pretty. He wants to be an auto mechanic but due to circumstances is proven to have one punch knockout power in the boxing ring, although at first he just absorbs punches from his opponent before knocking them out cold. We also follow his manager Willy Grogan (Gig Young), who is a cad that back stabs people, has trouble paying the bills, has heat with the mob and he ignores his girl. To think that Grogan's sister and Elvis fall in love...
While the movie does have a few songs that at least are catchy and there's some goofiness present, it does help that this is more serious than the other Elvis movies I've seen; it's not so flighty and lightweight. The cast all does a fine job (there's even a small role for Ed Asner) and as an action fan I definitely dug that in the role of Kid's trainer was none other than Charles Bronson, who you definitely could believe as an ex-boxer. I've mentioned in some other reviews I am not a fan of the sport-that doesn't matter here as that's only a small part of the story.
Like I said this isn't so fluffy and wacky. While I do laugh at the cornball movies Elvis typically made it is nice to see him in something a little more substantial.
Now, onto Frankie and Johnny.
This is the second Elvis movie I saw last night. With this one, I had heard the traditional American song of the same name before but otherwise I did not know what to expect from. Turns out, this had plenty of songs (I've heard this described as the one film in his oeuvre that is like a musical) and it's pretty goofy.
They had to make the movie fit the song so what they came up with is a riverboat casino setting in the late 19th century. Frankie and Johnny perform together in a stage production and are also a couple. Johnny also gambles... poorly, so one night while docked he and his friend Cully (Harry Morgan; hearing Col. Potter from M*A*S*H sing was quite amusing to me) find a Gypsy fortune teller. Needless to say this is not an enlightened portrayal of that ethnicity. There's also some other stereotyping going on; the only black person you see in the movie is a kid who of course provides the harmonica for a song.
Anyhow, the Romani lady is a sham so she makes up some poppycock about a redhead, and as Frankie (Donna Douglas, who I'll always know as Elly May Clampett) is a blonde, dopey Johnny looks for a redhead for a “good luck charm” at the roulette wheel and when Nellie Bly (the lady of his boss) walks in and fits that requirement, things become complicated. In this film's universe the title song was created based off of that fiery love triangle.
The movie is rather silly and yet I can still say this is average. There are laughs, even if some of them are unintentional, such as a few of the pieces of clothing you get to see people wearing. At least the clothing and sets are colorful. The story is flimsy but at least there's such silliness as “mistaken identity” takes up part of the plot. And where else can you find something known as “the lucky cricket”?
Runtime: 95 minutes
Directed by:: Phil Karlson
Starring: Elvis, Gig Young, Lola Albright, Joan Blackman, Charles Bronson
From: The Mirisch Corporation
Frankie and Johnny (1966)
Runtime: 87 minutes
Directed by: Frederick De Cordova
Starring: Elvis, Donna Douglas, Harry Morgan, Nancy Kovak, Sue Ann Langdon
From: Edward Small Productions
Last night via the MGM HD Network I saw a pair of Elvis films. It had been a few months since I last saw one. The reviews of both are below, starting with Kid.
Recently I was thinking that I had seen several Elvis movies earlier in the years but the last viewing was a few months ago so I was overdue to see one. Suddenly, I saw that last night there would be a marathon of several films of Mr. Presley so that was perfect for me. I saw two of the four they showed; the second review will be posted tonight.
I'll be honest and say that I've never seen the original 1937 movie by the same name starring Edward G. Robinson, Bette Davis and Humphrey Bogart; just from the talent involved I'll presume the OG movie is better and also has a hero who isn't a punching bag in the ring. I can't compare the two but that is OK. This is about a man (Elvis) who just got out of the Army and he ends up in the town he was born in. It's supposed to be New York state, although it's obviously filmed in California and the scenery there is pretty. He wants to be an auto mechanic but due to circumstances is proven to have one punch knockout power in the boxing ring, although at first he just absorbs punches from his opponent before knocking them out cold. We also follow his manager Willy Grogan (Gig Young), who is a cad that back stabs people, has trouble paying the bills, has heat with the mob and he ignores his girl. To think that Grogan's sister and Elvis fall in love...
While the movie does have a few songs that at least are catchy and there's some goofiness present, it does help that this is more serious than the other Elvis movies I've seen; it's not so flighty and lightweight. The cast all does a fine job (there's even a small role for Ed Asner) and as an action fan I definitely dug that in the role of Kid's trainer was none other than Charles Bronson, who you definitely could believe as an ex-boxer. I've mentioned in some other reviews I am not a fan of the sport-that doesn't matter here as that's only a small part of the story.
Like I said this isn't so fluffy and wacky. While I do laugh at the cornball movies Elvis typically made it is nice to see him in something a little more substantial.
Now, onto Frankie and Johnny.
This is the second Elvis movie I saw last night. With this one, I had heard the traditional American song of the same name before but otherwise I did not know what to expect from. Turns out, this had plenty of songs (I've heard this described as the one film in his oeuvre that is like a musical) and it's pretty goofy.
They had to make the movie fit the song so what they came up with is a riverboat casino setting in the late 19th century. Frankie and Johnny perform together in a stage production and are also a couple. Johnny also gambles... poorly, so one night while docked he and his friend Cully (Harry Morgan; hearing Col. Potter from M*A*S*H sing was quite amusing to me) find a Gypsy fortune teller. Needless to say this is not an enlightened portrayal of that ethnicity. There's also some other stereotyping going on; the only black person you see in the movie is a kid who of course provides the harmonica for a song.
Anyhow, the Romani lady is a sham so she makes up some poppycock about a redhead, and as Frankie (Donna Douglas, who I'll always know as Elly May Clampett) is a blonde, dopey Johnny looks for a redhead for a “good luck charm” at the roulette wheel and when Nellie Bly (the lady of his boss) walks in and fits that requirement, things become complicated. In this film's universe the title song was created based off of that fiery love triangle.
The movie is rather silly and yet I can still say this is average. There are laughs, even if some of them are unintentional, such as a few of the pieces of clothing you get to see people wearing. At least the clothing and sets are colorful. The story is flimsy but at least there's such silliness as “mistaken identity” takes up part of the plot. And where else can you find something known as “the lucky cricket”?
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Java Heat
Java Heat (2013)
Runtime: 104 minutes
Directed by: Conor Allyn
Starring: Kellan Lutz, Ario Bayu, Mickey Rourke, Verdi Solaiman, Frans Tumbuan
From: Margate House Films
Here's another random Netflix Instant watch. This time it wasn't a good movie. I explain why below:
If you're wondering why I watched a movie called Java Heat starring the “fountain of charisma” that is Kellan Lutz (he actually is about as charismatic as a can of corn) and a already has pissed away his goodwill from The Wrestler Mickey Rourke, it is because I heard about it in a messageboard thread and someone said it wasn't that bad, which after having seen this I don't really agree, but it being set and filmed in Indonesia was of interest to me as it seems like a scenic country with a great culture and yet I haven't seen too much of it in terms of pictures or film.
The plot: Lutz is said to be an art history grad student from Cornell called Jake Wilde... I realize how preposterous that sounds; well, his real identity may be even sillier. Anyhow, he's in Indonesia when he sees a bombing at a party and a person of royalty is said to be killed... only it's a set-up for something else. Rourke is-shock of shocks-the villain and his accent I can only describe as “foreign”, as I have no idea what it's actually supposed to be in origin. Like in Iron Man 2, his character has an interest in birds. Anyhow, Wilde has to work with an Indonesian cop known as Hashim to bust the case, but neither likes the arrangement.
When you look at films from the country (whether it be insane 80's entries like Rambu and The Stabilizer) or more modern examples like The Raid series, this co-production between Indonesia and the United States just comes off badly. The plot is utter nonsense and it's not even worth trying to figure out. It's just poppycock. Wilde is definitely a “bule” (a dumb white person in Javanese, or so the movie claims) and he comes off as an annoying clown. Between the name and the buff body, he's like the lead of an 80's B movie, only not as charming or entertaining. He's just a blockhead.
There's no real need to see this really dopey and stupid action film when there are many better options on Netflix Instant, where I watched this. About the only thing of note was seeing life in Indonesia, from the customs and the dress to the architecture and scenery. However, there are better ways to explore such things than watching a goofy low-budget action programmer.
Runtime: 104 minutes
Directed by: Conor Allyn
Starring: Kellan Lutz, Ario Bayu, Mickey Rourke, Verdi Solaiman, Frans Tumbuan
From: Margate House Films
Here's another random Netflix Instant watch. This time it wasn't a good movie. I explain why below:
If you're wondering why I watched a movie called Java Heat starring the “fountain of charisma” that is Kellan Lutz (he actually is about as charismatic as a can of corn) and a already has pissed away his goodwill from The Wrestler Mickey Rourke, it is because I heard about it in a messageboard thread and someone said it wasn't that bad, which after having seen this I don't really agree, but it being set and filmed in Indonesia was of interest to me as it seems like a scenic country with a great culture and yet I haven't seen too much of it in terms of pictures or film.
The plot: Lutz is said to be an art history grad student from Cornell called Jake Wilde... I realize how preposterous that sounds; well, his real identity may be even sillier. Anyhow, he's in Indonesia when he sees a bombing at a party and a person of royalty is said to be killed... only it's a set-up for something else. Rourke is-shock of shocks-the villain and his accent I can only describe as “foreign”, as I have no idea what it's actually supposed to be in origin. Like in Iron Man 2, his character has an interest in birds. Anyhow, Wilde has to work with an Indonesian cop known as Hashim to bust the case, but neither likes the arrangement.
When you look at films from the country (whether it be insane 80's entries like Rambu and The Stabilizer) or more modern examples like The Raid series, this co-production between Indonesia and the United States just comes off badly. The plot is utter nonsense and it's not even worth trying to figure out. It's just poppycock. Wilde is definitely a “bule” (a dumb white person in Javanese, or so the movie claims) and he comes off as an annoying clown. Between the name and the buff body, he's like the lead of an 80's B movie, only not as charming or entertaining. He's just a blockhead.
There's no real need to see this really dopey and stupid action film when there are many better options on Netflix Instant, where I watched this. About the only thing of note was seeing life in Indonesia, from the customs and the dress to the architecture and scenery. However, there are better ways to explore such things than watching a goofy low-budget action programmer.
Sunday, July 19, 2015
An Honest Liar
An Honest Liar (2014)
97% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 35 reviews)
Runtime: 90 minutes
Directed by: Tyler Measom, Justin Weinstein
Starring: This is a documentary about James Randi
From: Several different companies
I explain why in my Letterboxd review below but once I discovered this was a thing it was a must-see for me; I have been familiar with Mr. Randi for a long while and this is something I do rate pretty highly.
This was another Netflix Instant watch. I knew I had to watch it as soon as I discovered this was a thing. That is because it's a documentary on the life of James Randi.
If you don't know who The Amazing Randi is, he is a great magician who turned into the championing of science and reason in the mission to take down such charlatans as psychics, faith healers, those that profess ESP powers, and others that claim to have paranormal, occult or supernatural powers. He had a clear influence on such people as Penn & Teller (he was on their Bullsh*t show a few times) and Bill Nye, The Science Guy... they are all in this. I've known for him for a long time and read my first book from him when I was a teenager, and I still have a copy of it now, though I've read a few things from him. So as I am greatly interested in the sort of work he does, love the way he takes down those fakers, and enjoy documentaries even though I don't see them often enough, that may color my rating and why I give it pretty high marks.
An Honest Liar covers his life, notes famous examples of him combating deceivers (from Uri Geller to Peter Popoff; if you don't know those names it's probably because Randi's debunking of these fakers tanked their careers) and talks about his personal life. He did everything from participate in a magic trick done on an old Alice Cooper tour to appear on an episode of Happy Days as himself. There are some surprises along the way. I won't reveal what those are, except that for me it wasn't Randi's sexuality. I did hear when he announced a few years ago that he came out of the closet. You do get to see him live with his longtime partner, someone who I knew nothing about beforehand.
If you are a skeptic who enjoyed seeing Penn & Teller go after these sorts of people on their old show BS, then I definitely do recommend this documentary... and I also recommend his works as an author. As you may be able to tell from this, the style of the books are light and entertaining, and it's an easy read and also great seeing him go after people who sometimes genuinely believe they have special powers but usually know they are trying to trick innocent parties.
97% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 35 reviews)
Runtime: 90 minutes
Directed by: Tyler Measom, Justin Weinstein
Starring: This is a documentary about James Randi
From: Several different companies
I explain why in my Letterboxd review below but once I discovered this was a thing it was a must-see for me; I have been familiar with Mr. Randi for a long while and this is something I do rate pretty highly.
This was another Netflix Instant watch. I knew I had to watch it as soon as I discovered this was a thing. That is because it's a documentary on the life of James Randi.
If you don't know who The Amazing Randi is, he is a great magician who turned into the championing of science and reason in the mission to take down such charlatans as psychics, faith healers, those that profess ESP powers, and others that claim to have paranormal, occult or supernatural powers. He had a clear influence on such people as Penn & Teller (he was on their Bullsh*t show a few times) and Bill Nye, The Science Guy... they are all in this. I've known for him for a long time and read my first book from him when I was a teenager, and I still have a copy of it now, though I've read a few things from him. So as I am greatly interested in the sort of work he does, love the way he takes down those fakers, and enjoy documentaries even though I don't see them often enough, that may color my rating and why I give it pretty high marks.
An Honest Liar covers his life, notes famous examples of him combating deceivers (from Uri Geller to Peter Popoff; if you don't know those names it's probably because Randi's debunking of these fakers tanked their careers) and talks about his personal life. He did everything from participate in a magic trick done on an old Alice Cooper tour to appear on an episode of Happy Days as himself. There are some surprises along the way. I won't reveal what those are, except that for me it wasn't Randi's sexuality. I did hear when he announced a few years ago that he came out of the closet. You do get to see him live with his longtime partner, someone who I knew nothing about beforehand.
If you are a skeptic who enjoyed seeing Penn & Teller go after these sorts of people on their old show BS, then I definitely do recommend this documentary... and I also recommend his works as an author. As you may be able to tell from this, the style of the books are light and entertaining, and it's an easy read and also great seeing him go after people who sometimes genuinely believe they have special powers but usually know they are trying to trick innocent parties.
Friday, July 17, 2015
The House at the End of Time
The House at the End of Time (La Casa Del Fin De Los Tiempos) (2013)
Runtime: 101 minutes
Directed by: Alejandro Hidalgo
Starring: Ruddy Rodriguez, Guillermo Garcia, Gonzalo Cubero, Rosmel Bustamante, Hector Mercado
From: Several different companies from Venezuela
Yes, this is a horror/thriller from Venezuela; I've had it in my Netflix Instant queue for awhile, and it was just today that I finally watched it... and I am glad I did. I explain why in my Letterboxd review below.
This is one of the many movies I've had in my Netflix Instant queue for a long while and today was finally the day where I watched it. This is said to be the first supernatural movie from Venezuela and as far as I know it's true.
The plot: It starts off in 1981 and you see a middle aged man in a hilariously creepy house (it has to be the spookiest in Caracas or wherever this was filmed) murdered-in media res is the term to use here, as the first frame is the middle of this chaotic night-and the mother of the house (known as Dulce) is blamed for the crime and the disappearance of her son but of course it was other forces that were actually responsible. She is let out of prison 30 years later and she returns to the old creepy joint, under house arrest; from there you go back and forth in time as the rest of the story is told, and a young priest helps her out in present time.
Back in the 80's, you see that the family is struggling to get by so there's a lot of tension. I won't reveal any more lest I spoil anything. I'll just say there are various twists and turns and surprises also... and I am not talking about how apparently in that country it's a thing to have water balloons only that they are filled with URINE. Don't worry, the rest of the film isn't like that scene in terms of tone or mood. I was definitely not expecting this movie to be what it was.
While there are some moments that made me go “Hey, wait a minute...” I ended up enjoying this more than I expected to. Various aspects of the plot reminded me of recent films but it's done here in a way that seems different. The performances are nice (especially from Ruddy Rodriguez as the lead), there are many creepy moments throughout, the house has a great atmosphere all its own, there's an awesome séance scene that I wish would have been longer, the cinematography is nice, and once you know what's going on it ends up being fun, due to how well put together this movie is. It's the sort of thing where you have to pay attention throughout; only half watching it will not work.
If you are a horror fan & you want to see genre fare that's not like the mostly lame entries from the Hollywood studios that have come out in recent years, it is well worth it to check out the movie on Instant and hopefully you'll be as pleasantly surprised by it as I was.
Runtime: 101 minutes
Directed by: Alejandro Hidalgo
Starring: Ruddy Rodriguez, Guillermo Garcia, Gonzalo Cubero, Rosmel Bustamante, Hector Mercado
From: Several different companies from Venezuela
Yes, this is a horror/thriller from Venezuela; I've had it in my Netflix Instant queue for awhile, and it was just today that I finally watched it... and I am glad I did. I explain why in my Letterboxd review below.
This is one of the many movies I've had in my Netflix Instant queue for a long while and today was finally the day where I watched it. This is said to be the first supernatural movie from Venezuela and as far as I know it's true.
The plot: It starts off in 1981 and you see a middle aged man in a hilariously creepy house (it has to be the spookiest in Caracas or wherever this was filmed) murdered-in media res is the term to use here, as the first frame is the middle of this chaotic night-and the mother of the house (known as Dulce) is blamed for the crime and the disappearance of her son but of course it was other forces that were actually responsible. She is let out of prison 30 years later and she returns to the old creepy joint, under house arrest; from there you go back and forth in time as the rest of the story is told, and a young priest helps her out in present time.
Back in the 80's, you see that the family is struggling to get by so there's a lot of tension. I won't reveal any more lest I spoil anything. I'll just say there are various twists and turns and surprises also... and I am not talking about how apparently in that country it's a thing to have water balloons only that they are filled with URINE. Don't worry, the rest of the film isn't like that scene in terms of tone or mood. I was definitely not expecting this movie to be what it was.
While there are some moments that made me go “Hey, wait a minute...” I ended up enjoying this more than I expected to. Various aspects of the plot reminded me of recent films but it's done here in a way that seems different. The performances are nice (especially from Ruddy Rodriguez as the lead), there are many creepy moments throughout, the house has a great atmosphere all its own, there's an awesome séance scene that I wish would have been longer, the cinematography is nice, and once you know what's going on it ends up being fun, due to how well put together this movie is. It's the sort of thing where you have to pay attention throughout; only half watching it will not work.
If you are a horror fan & you want to see genre fare that's not like the mostly lame entries from the Hollywood studios that have come out in recent years, it is well worth it to check out the movie on Instant and hopefully you'll be as pleasantly surprised by it as I was.
Wednesday, July 15, 2015
King Kong & Son of Kong
King Kong (1933)
Runtime: 100 minutes
Directed by: Merian C. Cooper/Ernest B. Schoedsack
Starring: Robert Armstrong, Fay Wray, Bruce Cabot, Frank Reicher, Sam Hardy
From: RKO
Son of Kong (1933)
Runtime: 70 minutes
Directed by: Ernest B. Schoedsack
Starring: Robert Armstrong, Helen Mack, Frank Reicher, John Marston
From: RKO
Here's a double bill of the legendary King Kong (which I've seen a few times in my life) and the not so legendary sequel. The Letterboxd reviews of both are below, the original first:
This is a motion picture I've seen a handful of times in my life. Heck, one of the times was a colorized version on VHS. As TCM played this yesterday afternoon I decided to see this incredible film again.
I presume everyone is familiar with the plot so I won't spend much time there talking about it, except that it's a film crew going to a mysterious island and they find a giant gorilla... and the director makes the mistake of bringing the ape back to New York City, only for disaster to strike. The plot is pretty ridiculous and you can carp certain things if you want to... however, I say that even now this is a classic movie, and there are a few reasons why.
This is a classic adventure movie, where you have exotic locations, big setpieces, dramatic moments, a damsel in distress, laughs, etc. This is brought to life by...
The stop-motion special effects from the legendary Willis H. O'Brien. They are perfect and with such things as the composite effects they help make you believe in what you are seeing, from Kong and a T. Rex having an epic fight & a log being tossed about and sending many men on a fall to gruesome deaths to the title creature's legendary scaling of the Empire State Building and how it's always expressive throughout.
The performances are up and down but the ones I dig the most from the human beings in the film are Fay Wray as probably the first Scream Queen, Robert Armstrong as the huckster Carl Denham (& that character is more complex than it sounds from description; he's not always such a bad guy... just a foolhardy one), and I personally dig the Captain of the ship-Englehorn-played by Frank Reicher.
The movie's been officially remade twice-so far-and while they're not bad I'll always stick with the original as at least it's not goofy or burdened with overlength... and as cool as Rick Baker's acting in a gorilla suit is or Andy Serkis and his motion capture work, it's just not the same as what you saw here with the meticulous work of moving those models by hand. This is deservedly a classic that will never quite be duplicated.
Now, onto the sequel.
Earlier in the day I posted my review of King Kong, which I have seen a handful of times in my life. Immediately after the first film was played on TCM, they showed this, the rushed to production sequel, a movie I had never seen before, as I always heard it was not good and you could tell they threw this together so it could come out 9 months after King Kong did. Those critics were right and I can only rate this as about average.
The movie starts about a month after the ending of the first one. Carl Denham flees New York as he knows he'll be indicted for all the damage he ended up causing. He leaves on a ship with a few people, including the returning Captain Englehorn and the racial stereotype that is the Chinese cook. They end up in a far-away port, filled with people who had their dreams crushed and are stuck there for the time being. This includes the damsel in distress for this film, a brunette instead of a blonde. Via contrived reasons they end up back on Skull Island where they discover that Kong as a smaller albino son. This time they stay on the island when it comes to adventures for the rest of the movie.
The film isn't bad, especially considering they rushed it to release and this time the producers interfered with Willis H. O'Brien's work, meaning that an assistant finished most of that work as O'Brien understandably got mad at that. Hearing all that, it eerily sounds like some of the many headaches that come with modern blockbuster releases from corporations that are the film studios now. “The more things change...”, indeed.
Anyhow, this is just average all around. While the effects you see are cool they aren't as great as in the first, and you can just tell this was made fast rather than with care. There are several nice ideas in the movie and it was interesting to see the continuing adventures of Carl Denham and crew; however, this just feels slight, and this being 30 minutes shorter than King Kong doesn't help matters either.
Overall, this isn't a bad movie and I don't regret finally seeing it. It's just that there's no real need to see this unless you really enjoy the main character and/or you want to see some more good stop-motion effects.
Runtime: 100 minutes
Directed by: Merian C. Cooper/Ernest B. Schoedsack
Starring: Robert Armstrong, Fay Wray, Bruce Cabot, Frank Reicher, Sam Hardy
From: RKO
Son of Kong (1933)
Runtime: 70 minutes
Directed by: Ernest B. Schoedsack
Starring: Robert Armstrong, Helen Mack, Frank Reicher, John Marston
From: RKO
Here's a double bill of the legendary King Kong (which I've seen a few times in my life) and the not so legendary sequel. The Letterboxd reviews of both are below, the original first:
This is a motion picture I've seen a handful of times in my life. Heck, one of the times was a colorized version on VHS. As TCM played this yesterday afternoon I decided to see this incredible film again.
I presume everyone is familiar with the plot so I won't spend much time there talking about it, except that it's a film crew going to a mysterious island and they find a giant gorilla... and the director makes the mistake of bringing the ape back to New York City, only for disaster to strike. The plot is pretty ridiculous and you can carp certain things if you want to... however, I say that even now this is a classic movie, and there are a few reasons why.
This is a classic adventure movie, where you have exotic locations, big setpieces, dramatic moments, a damsel in distress, laughs, etc. This is brought to life by...
The stop-motion special effects from the legendary Willis H. O'Brien. They are perfect and with such things as the composite effects they help make you believe in what you are seeing, from Kong and a T. Rex having an epic fight & a log being tossed about and sending many men on a fall to gruesome deaths to the title creature's legendary scaling of the Empire State Building and how it's always expressive throughout.
The performances are up and down but the ones I dig the most from the human beings in the film are Fay Wray as probably the first Scream Queen, Robert Armstrong as the huckster Carl Denham (& that character is more complex than it sounds from description; he's not always such a bad guy... just a foolhardy one), and I personally dig the Captain of the ship-Englehorn-played by Frank Reicher.
The movie's been officially remade twice-so far-and while they're not bad I'll always stick with the original as at least it's not goofy or burdened with overlength... and as cool as Rick Baker's acting in a gorilla suit is or Andy Serkis and his motion capture work, it's just not the same as what you saw here with the meticulous work of moving those models by hand. This is deservedly a classic that will never quite be duplicated.
Now, onto the sequel.
Earlier in the day I posted my review of King Kong, which I have seen a handful of times in my life. Immediately after the first film was played on TCM, they showed this, the rushed to production sequel, a movie I had never seen before, as I always heard it was not good and you could tell they threw this together so it could come out 9 months after King Kong did. Those critics were right and I can only rate this as about average.
The movie starts about a month after the ending of the first one. Carl Denham flees New York as he knows he'll be indicted for all the damage he ended up causing. He leaves on a ship with a few people, including the returning Captain Englehorn and the racial stereotype that is the Chinese cook. They end up in a far-away port, filled with people who had their dreams crushed and are stuck there for the time being. This includes the damsel in distress for this film, a brunette instead of a blonde. Via contrived reasons they end up back on Skull Island where they discover that Kong as a smaller albino son. This time they stay on the island when it comes to adventures for the rest of the movie.
The film isn't bad, especially considering they rushed it to release and this time the producers interfered with Willis H. O'Brien's work, meaning that an assistant finished most of that work as O'Brien understandably got mad at that. Hearing all that, it eerily sounds like some of the many headaches that come with modern blockbuster releases from corporations that are the film studios now. “The more things change...”, indeed.
Anyhow, this is just average all around. While the effects you see are cool they aren't as great as in the first, and you can just tell this was made fast rather than with care. There are several nice ideas in the movie and it was interesting to see the continuing adventures of Carl Denham and crew; however, this just feels slight, and this being 30 minutes shorter than King Kong doesn't help matters either.
Overall, this isn't a bad movie and I don't regret finally seeing it. It's just that there's no real need to see this unless you really enjoy the main character and/or you want to see some more good stop-motion effects.
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Firefox
Firefox (1982)
Runtime: 136 minutes
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Clint, Freddie Jones, David Huffman, Warren Clarke, Ronald Lacey
From: The Malpalso Company (no, it wasn't Mozilla that made this)
This is one of three movies I saw today. That was not the plan but that is how things turned out. I'll explain things in the review below, via Letterboxd:
I was not planning on watching three movies today but that's what ended up happening. I'll talk about the other two tomorrow as they are related to each other; here is the third one, which of course I've known of for years but I was not inspired to watch it until one day awhile ago I saw a parent viewing the film on TV and they remarked they really liked it. Soon after that I found it on DVD for a few bucks at a flea market and yet it wasn't until today that I decided to actually stick the disc in the Blu-ray player and watch Firefox, w/ the aforementioned parent with me.
The plot isn't too complex: Star/producer/director Clint Eastwood plays Mitchell Gant, a former pilot in the Air Force who was in Vietnam and occasionally has problems with what is known now as PTSD. As he knows Russian he is recruited into a spy plot by both the UK and the United States to go into the Soviet Union and with the aid of sympathizers steal the title plane, a fictional piece of work that has some preposterous capabilities, such as flying up to Mach 6 and it partially being controlled by thought. The first half of the movie is the typical spy intrigue and trying to avoid detection by the KGB. Once the plane is stolen there's action and what was then state of the art special effects by John Dykstra, one of the people that did the effects in the original Star Wars films.
I've never read the 1977 novel by Craig Thomas that was the basis for this; no matter what, the story is kind of ridiculous all around. Yet, I was able to ignore that and how in real life the Soviets never would have successfully built such an aircraft (I understand such fears due to the Cold War; I am old enough to have been alive during the dying days of it) and I just went with the film and enjoyed it for what it is. It has some tense scenes in the first half and the second half has some thrilling ones. The cool score all around from Maurice Jarre-it's after he entered his electronic phase-helps too.
That parent isn't the only one who I've seen praise this pretty heavily. I can't go that far but while this is long at over 2 hours long, I was still entertained and that is what counts.
Runtime: 136 minutes
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Clint, Freddie Jones, David Huffman, Warren Clarke, Ronald Lacey
From: The Malpalso Company (no, it wasn't Mozilla that made this)
This is one of three movies I saw today. That was not the plan but that is how things turned out. I'll explain things in the review below, via Letterboxd:
I was not planning on watching three movies today but that's what ended up happening. I'll talk about the other two tomorrow as they are related to each other; here is the third one, which of course I've known of for years but I was not inspired to watch it until one day awhile ago I saw a parent viewing the film on TV and they remarked they really liked it. Soon after that I found it on DVD for a few bucks at a flea market and yet it wasn't until today that I decided to actually stick the disc in the Blu-ray player and watch Firefox, w/ the aforementioned parent with me.
The plot isn't too complex: Star/producer/director Clint Eastwood plays Mitchell Gant, a former pilot in the Air Force who was in Vietnam and occasionally has problems with what is known now as PTSD. As he knows Russian he is recruited into a spy plot by both the UK and the United States to go into the Soviet Union and with the aid of sympathizers steal the title plane, a fictional piece of work that has some preposterous capabilities, such as flying up to Mach 6 and it partially being controlled by thought. The first half of the movie is the typical spy intrigue and trying to avoid detection by the KGB. Once the plane is stolen there's action and what was then state of the art special effects by John Dykstra, one of the people that did the effects in the original Star Wars films.
I've never read the 1977 novel by Craig Thomas that was the basis for this; no matter what, the story is kind of ridiculous all around. Yet, I was able to ignore that and how in real life the Soviets never would have successfully built such an aircraft (I understand such fears due to the Cold War; I am old enough to have been alive during the dying days of it) and I just went with the film and enjoyed it for what it is. It has some tense scenes in the first half and the second half has some thrilling ones. The cool score all around from Maurice Jarre-it's after he entered his electronic phase-helps too.
That parent isn't the only one who I've seen praise this pretty heavily. I can't go that far but while this is long at over 2 hours long, I was still entertained and that is what counts.
Monday, July 13, 2015
The General
The General (1926)
Runtime: The version I saw was a hair under 79 minutes in length
Directed by: Buster Keaton/Clyde Bruckman
Starring: Buster Keaton, Marion Mack, Glen Cavender, Jim Farley, Frederick Vroom
From: Buster Keaton Productions/Joseph M. Schneck Productions
Here's a movie I have seen before yet the last viewing was a long while ago. I was pretty happy to see this one again, as it's something I rate very highly. The Letterboxd review is below:
This wasn't the plan but last night I ended up watching another film I had seen a handful of times before and yet the last viewing was years ago. I now regret not revisiting this sooner.
The plot is simple yet effective: Johnnie Gray (Buster Keaton) is an engineer on a railroad so he is deemed valuable and thus can't sign up to join the Confederacy in the Civil War. I imagine there are a few who object to that side being covered but it never bothered me none. Even with there being several shots of the Confederate flag and that being a white-hot issue now, it really doesn't matter for the story.
Anyhow, we jump ahead in time two years and the North concocts a plan to stop the South and it requires Gray's train being stolen... and his girl is unwittingly involved. He busts his hump trying to get both back, and what you see is a panoply of stunts, creative physical humor, great sight gags, and an always entertaining story that never lets up. Of course Buster did all of his own stunts and that's insane to think that a movie star would do such things as train parkour, throwing large pieces of lumber around, sliding down a rocky cliff, and dodging locomotives all by himself. To think that this was all filmed in 1926 and yet it seems light years ahead of its time due to how it was filmed.
It's a shame that this was somehow a commercial and critical failure at the time, negatively affecting the rest of Keaton's career. At least we still have works of art like this to admire him for, and practically all of his best work can be found on YouTube for those that have never seen them before.
As for this in particular, this is one I should be able to watch often in the future, so I can both enjoy and admire the ingenious visual and physical humor.
Runtime: The version I saw was a hair under 79 minutes in length
Directed by: Buster Keaton/Clyde Bruckman
Starring: Buster Keaton, Marion Mack, Glen Cavender, Jim Farley, Frederick Vroom
From: Buster Keaton Productions/Joseph M. Schneck Productions
Here's a movie I have seen before yet the last viewing was a long while ago. I was pretty happy to see this one again, as it's something I rate very highly. The Letterboxd review is below:
This wasn't the plan but last night I ended up watching another film I had seen a handful of times before and yet the last viewing was years ago. I now regret not revisiting this sooner.
The plot is simple yet effective: Johnnie Gray (Buster Keaton) is an engineer on a railroad so he is deemed valuable and thus can't sign up to join the Confederacy in the Civil War. I imagine there are a few who object to that side being covered but it never bothered me none. Even with there being several shots of the Confederate flag and that being a white-hot issue now, it really doesn't matter for the story.
Anyhow, we jump ahead in time two years and the North concocts a plan to stop the South and it requires Gray's train being stolen... and his girl is unwittingly involved. He busts his hump trying to get both back, and what you see is a panoply of stunts, creative physical humor, great sight gags, and an always entertaining story that never lets up. Of course Buster did all of his own stunts and that's insane to think that a movie star would do such things as train parkour, throwing large pieces of lumber around, sliding down a rocky cliff, and dodging locomotives all by himself. To think that this was all filmed in 1926 and yet it seems light years ahead of its time due to how it was filmed.
It's a shame that this was somehow a commercial and critical failure at the time, negatively affecting the rest of Keaton's career. At least we still have works of art like this to admire him for, and practically all of his best work can be found on YouTube for those that have never seen them before.
As for this in particular, this is one I should be able to watch often in the future, so I can both enjoy and admire the ingenious visual and physical humor.
Saturday, July 11, 2015
The Secret Six
The Secret Six (1931)
Runtime: 83 minutes
Directed by: George W. Hill
Starring: Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, Clark Gable, Johnny Mack Brown, Jean Harlow
From: MGM
I haven't talked about it here but the past few days I rewatched the classic gangster films Scarface, The Public Enemy and Little Caesar. I enjoy all of them. This movie, it's another example in the genre but now this is forgotten. My Letterboxd review is below:
As of late I've rewatched several of the classic gangster movies of the 1930's. Thus, I decided to watch one now obscure in this day and age that I discovered existed when I was reading an article online. As it's available for rental from Amazon, that's what I did and I gave the site a few bucks. This was one of MGM's efforts in the genre.
The plot: Louis Scorpio (played by Wallace Beery) is usually known as SLAUGHTERHOUSE, which is awesome and comes from the job you see him working at the beginning of the movie. He joins a gang and yep, manages to rise in the ranks. You see that there's an overseer who really runs everything. You also get to look at how they influence politics by endorsing their (corrupt) candidate for mayor and bribe juries to avoid conviction. “The power of the press” applies here as two of the men who try to stop the gang are newspaper reporters (one of them a mustache-less Clark Gable in an early role); however, the title group of 6 men are mysterious businessmen and politicians who wear Lone Ranger masks to hide their identity when they meet others because... well, why not? Anyhow, their purpose is to eradicate the gang.
The movie is definitely uneven and it's not as great as the classics in the genre. However, I can still say it's fine. It was interesting to see how that particular gang was set up and run, and how Slaughterhouse was always an uncouth under-educated guy, despite his best attempts otherwise... although he does prefer drinking a glass of milk to a glass of alcohol. There are still some violent moments (especially the hot ending) and the typical trademarks you expect from the genre. And, the cast has faces I am familiar with besides Gable; there's Wallace Beery as Slaughterhouse, Lewis Stone, Johnny Mack Brown, Ralph Bellamy, and in another actor with an early role, Jean Harlow.
If you have seen and enjoyed the most famous entries in the genre then this may be worth a shot for you. At least the movie is well-shot and has some nice touches.
Runtime: 83 minutes
Directed by: George W. Hill
Starring: Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, Clark Gable, Johnny Mack Brown, Jean Harlow
From: MGM
I haven't talked about it here but the past few days I rewatched the classic gangster films Scarface, The Public Enemy and Little Caesar. I enjoy all of them. This movie, it's another example in the genre but now this is forgotten. My Letterboxd review is below:
As of late I've rewatched several of the classic gangster movies of the 1930's. Thus, I decided to watch one now obscure in this day and age that I discovered existed when I was reading an article online. As it's available for rental from Amazon, that's what I did and I gave the site a few bucks. This was one of MGM's efforts in the genre.
The plot: Louis Scorpio (played by Wallace Beery) is usually known as SLAUGHTERHOUSE, which is awesome and comes from the job you see him working at the beginning of the movie. He joins a gang and yep, manages to rise in the ranks. You see that there's an overseer who really runs everything. You also get to look at how they influence politics by endorsing their (corrupt) candidate for mayor and bribe juries to avoid conviction. “The power of the press” applies here as two of the men who try to stop the gang are newspaper reporters (one of them a mustache-less Clark Gable in an early role); however, the title group of 6 men are mysterious businessmen and politicians who wear Lone Ranger masks to hide their identity when they meet others because... well, why not? Anyhow, their purpose is to eradicate the gang.
The movie is definitely uneven and it's not as great as the classics in the genre. However, I can still say it's fine. It was interesting to see how that particular gang was set up and run, and how Slaughterhouse was always an uncouth under-educated guy, despite his best attempts otherwise... although he does prefer drinking a glass of milk to a glass of alcohol. There are still some violent moments (especially the hot ending) and the typical trademarks you expect from the genre. And, the cast has faces I am familiar with besides Gable; there's Wallace Beery as Slaughterhouse, Lewis Stone, Johnny Mack Brown, Ralph Bellamy, and in another actor with an early role, Jean Harlow.
If you have seen and enjoyed the most famous entries in the genre then this may be worth a shot for you. At least the movie is well-shot and has some nice touches.
Wednesday, July 8, 2015
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah
Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah (Gojira vs. Kingu Gidora) (1991)
Runtime: 101 minutes (that's the version put out by Sony, where there's no end credits!)
Directed by: Kazuki Ohmori
Starring: Kosuke Toyohara, Anna Nakagawa, Megumi Odaka, Katsuhiko Sasaki, Akiji Kobayashi
From: Toho
There isn't much here for me to say so below is my Letterboxd review for this movie:
Yesterday would have been the 114th birthday of Eiji Tsuburaya; if you don't know the name, he was the creator of Ultraman, was one of the creators of Godzilla, and did the special effects for all the early Toho kaiji movies. Thus, I figured it would be appropriate for me to watch this last night, a movie I had not seen before but got on Blu recently. All I heard was that it involved time travel and it had quite the daffy plot. The reason why the classic monsters like Ghidorah and Mothra returned in the 90's is because the previous movie (Godzilla vs. Biollante) disappointed at the box office. They kept the same director/writer but they demanded a familiar foe from the past so in came the three headed dragon here.
That plot is: it's actually set in 1992, even though it came out in '91. A time travel space ship from 2204 arrives and tells the people of Japan that Godzilla will wipe out the country in the future so they need to go back to World War II and get rid of the Big G when he was just a dinosaur on an island (really) and they need the help of some 90's people... only their help isn't really needed and that's a big issue with the movie; I'll explain why in a moment but note that things don't go as expected for the 90's people and King Ghidorah is also involved.
I realize that while time travel movies allow for a lot of creativity, most of them also give you a headache if you think of various aspects in a logical matter, and how some things don't make sense. Well, the story problems go far beyond that. The movie just makes zero sense at all from beginning to end. It's not because it's overly complex; it's convoluted, but in a bad way, as it's poor storytelling, where they even go against some of the standard rules for time travel and changing things in the past... personally I prefer Biollante as while it's also a convoluted wacky silly movie-with American actors that have few if any other credits-at least most things there seemed to make sense and everything came together by the time the end credits rolled. This just made me mad with all the logic holes it had and how many things seemed to happen only because the script said so.
It's unfortunate as the practical effects were all nice... although due to the high quality of Blu-ray “the wires are now visible”. There's also a cyborg character and that's a source of much wackiness-you have to see the way he runs. The general idea of the story-as odd as it is-seems fine to me and if done in a different way could have been pretty original and fun. Instead, this was just a confused mess. Others seem to like this more than I did, though.
I do have to mention, though... LOL for the way they referenced one of the most famous directors of all time. I won't spoil it but to mention the truth, his dad did serve in World War II but not in that branch of the military and it was not in the Pacific region where he was by an island with a dinosaur.
Runtime: 101 minutes (that's the version put out by Sony, where there's no end credits!)
Directed by: Kazuki Ohmori
Starring: Kosuke Toyohara, Anna Nakagawa, Megumi Odaka, Katsuhiko Sasaki, Akiji Kobayashi
From: Toho
There isn't much here for me to say so below is my Letterboxd review for this movie:
Yesterday would have been the 114th birthday of Eiji Tsuburaya; if you don't know the name, he was the creator of Ultraman, was one of the creators of Godzilla, and did the special effects for all the early Toho kaiji movies. Thus, I figured it would be appropriate for me to watch this last night, a movie I had not seen before but got on Blu recently. All I heard was that it involved time travel and it had quite the daffy plot. The reason why the classic monsters like Ghidorah and Mothra returned in the 90's is because the previous movie (Godzilla vs. Biollante) disappointed at the box office. They kept the same director/writer but they demanded a familiar foe from the past so in came the three headed dragon here.
That plot is: it's actually set in 1992, even though it came out in '91. A time travel space ship from 2204 arrives and tells the people of Japan that Godzilla will wipe out the country in the future so they need to go back to World War II and get rid of the Big G when he was just a dinosaur on an island (really) and they need the help of some 90's people... only their help isn't really needed and that's a big issue with the movie; I'll explain why in a moment but note that things don't go as expected for the 90's people and King Ghidorah is also involved.
I realize that while time travel movies allow for a lot of creativity, most of them also give you a headache if you think of various aspects in a logical matter, and how some things don't make sense. Well, the story problems go far beyond that. The movie just makes zero sense at all from beginning to end. It's not because it's overly complex; it's convoluted, but in a bad way, as it's poor storytelling, where they even go against some of the standard rules for time travel and changing things in the past... personally I prefer Biollante as while it's also a convoluted wacky silly movie-with American actors that have few if any other credits-at least most things there seemed to make sense and everything came together by the time the end credits rolled. This just made me mad with all the logic holes it had and how many things seemed to happen only because the script said so.
It's unfortunate as the practical effects were all nice... although due to the high quality of Blu-ray “the wires are now visible”. There's also a cyborg character and that's a source of much wackiness-you have to see the way he runs. The general idea of the story-as odd as it is-seems fine to me and if done in a different way could have been pretty original and fun. Instead, this was just a confused mess. Others seem to like this more than I did, though.
I do have to mention, though... LOL for the way they referenced one of the most famous directors of all time. I won't spoil it but to mention the truth, his dad did serve in World War II but not in that branch of the military and it was not in the Pacific region where he was by an island with a dinosaur.
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
Cleopatra Jones
Cleopatra Jones (1973)
Runtime: 89 minutes
Directed by: Jack Starrett
Starring: Tamara Dobson, Shelley Winters, Bernie Casey, Antonio Fargas, Brenda Sykes
From: Warner Bros.
I saw another blaxploitation film; this one was from Saturday night via TCM Underground. The Letterboxd review is below:
This was a real late night watch on TCM Underground (Saturday) night. As I've heard mixed opinions about this I was interested in checking it out.
The plot: the title character (Tamara Dobson) is a tall and statuesque lady who moonlights as a model... but is actually a secret agent. She orders a giant poppy field to be burned, angering a woman known as MOMMY (Shelley Winters! More on her in a bit) and they feud with each other. Other characters include Cleo's boyfriend (Bernie Casey) and a drug dealer known as DOODLEBUG SIMKINS (Antonio Fargas); sometimes characters disappear for stretches at a time... so the story's uneven but I still enjoyed this.
The movie has a lot of intentional and unintentional humor; the action scenes are pretty entertaining-although Cleo doesn't always look convincing when she's engaged in fighting-and the score from J.J. Johnson is quite groovy. The movie's ridiculous and fun, except...
With this genre, being over the top and silly is commonplace. After all, “whitey” is typically the villain and you have plenty of stereotypes, racism, sexism, and homophobia to go around. This was definitely the case here, but it has to be noted that the character of Mommy is a rather blatant example of negative connotations against the homosexual community. She was a garish-looking overweight lesbian who was loud and cruel and shouted most of her dialogue. It was definitely over the top and while I certainly understand those who found that character and all the meaning behind it to be a major turn-off, I just tried to ignore the grossness behind it and I just marveled at how Shelley Winters played the character and how she devoured the scenery.
After all, this is a movie where they specially built a Corvette for the tall hero so that when she got out the driver's side roof raised up so her afro would not get damaged; it's pretty ludicrous all around.
Runtime: 89 minutes
Directed by: Jack Starrett
Starring: Tamara Dobson, Shelley Winters, Bernie Casey, Antonio Fargas, Brenda Sykes
From: Warner Bros.
I saw another blaxploitation film; this one was from Saturday night via TCM Underground. The Letterboxd review is below:
This was a real late night watch on TCM Underground (Saturday) night. As I've heard mixed opinions about this I was interested in checking it out.
The plot: the title character (Tamara Dobson) is a tall and statuesque lady who moonlights as a model... but is actually a secret agent. She orders a giant poppy field to be burned, angering a woman known as MOMMY (Shelley Winters! More on her in a bit) and they feud with each other. Other characters include Cleo's boyfriend (Bernie Casey) and a drug dealer known as DOODLEBUG SIMKINS (Antonio Fargas); sometimes characters disappear for stretches at a time... so the story's uneven but I still enjoyed this.
The movie has a lot of intentional and unintentional humor; the action scenes are pretty entertaining-although Cleo doesn't always look convincing when she's engaged in fighting-and the score from J.J. Johnson is quite groovy. The movie's ridiculous and fun, except...
With this genre, being over the top and silly is commonplace. After all, “whitey” is typically the villain and you have plenty of stereotypes, racism, sexism, and homophobia to go around. This was definitely the case here, but it has to be noted that the character of Mommy is a rather blatant example of negative connotations against the homosexual community. She was a garish-looking overweight lesbian who was loud and cruel and shouted most of her dialogue. It was definitely over the top and while I certainly understand those who found that character and all the meaning behind it to be a major turn-off, I just tried to ignore the grossness behind it and I just marveled at how Shelley Winters played the character and how she devoured the scenery.
After all, this is a movie where they specially built a Corvette for the tall hero so that when she got out the driver's side roof raised up so her afro would not get damaged; it's pretty ludicrous all around.
Sunday, July 5, 2015
Black Samson
Black Samson (1974)
Runtime: 88 minutes
Directed by: Charles Bail
Starring: Rockne Tarkington, William Smith, Connie Strickland, Carol Speed, Michael Payne
From: Omni Pictures
I finally have returned to the blaxploitation genre with this movie; the review of this average movie is below copied and pasted from Letterboxd:
I realize that in the past week I haven't done much on this site. It wasn't planned but I was preoccupied with other things. Well, things should be more back to normal now. I recently realized that it had been way too long since I had reviewed a blaxploitation film here so I decided to fix that last night by watching a pair of movies in the genre.
I've had this on disc for a long while and yet I did not watch it until now. Middling reviews were a reason why. Still, it was time for me to watch this tale of the title character (Rockne Tarkington), a large imposing character-although sadly deficient of charisma, despite what the movie may want you to believe-who runs a bar and is seen as a de facto leader of the neighborhood, who is strongly against drugs. Well, some evil white people want to drive him out and take over the area; the main bad guy is B-movie veteran William Smith, and he definitely has charisma to spare; he also plays a rather evil human being who is easy to hate with what he says and what he does. Really, that character and some supporting ones are more memorable and make up for the monotone performance of Tarkington as the lead.
The movie is average for the most part. A lot of things aren't too exciting. It seems like things don't get out of first gear for much of this. Sure there are funny moments, some wackiness and plenty of both racism and sexism, but it's only the final act that things pick up and it's mainly due to wackiness. What a gleefully absurd finale. At least it was nice to see a new (to me) genre entry and experience the usual tropes, from the urban setting and 70's cars to the hilarious fashion and the funky music, nicely provided here by legendary New Orleans musician Allen Toussaint.
Oh, and at Samson's bar-appropriately called Samson's-there's a LION on display. Yes, a real life jungle cat. Only, it doesn't do anything besides lay there, sleep, or mildly roar a few times. It doesn't attack or devour any of the villains, so what was the point of having it there? It's just set dressing.
Runtime: 88 minutes
Directed by: Charles Bail
Starring: Rockne Tarkington, William Smith, Connie Strickland, Carol Speed, Michael Payne
From: Omni Pictures
I finally have returned to the blaxploitation genre with this movie; the review of this average movie is below copied and pasted from Letterboxd:
I realize that in the past week I haven't done much on this site. It wasn't planned but I was preoccupied with other things. Well, things should be more back to normal now. I recently realized that it had been way too long since I had reviewed a blaxploitation film here so I decided to fix that last night by watching a pair of movies in the genre.
I've had this on disc for a long while and yet I did not watch it until now. Middling reviews were a reason why. Still, it was time for me to watch this tale of the title character (Rockne Tarkington), a large imposing character-although sadly deficient of charisma, despite what the movie may want you to believe-who runs a bar and is seen as a de facto leader of the neighborhood, who is strongly against drugs. Well, some evil white people want to drive him out and take over the area; the main bad guy is B-movie veteran William Smith, and he definitely has charisma to spare; he also plays a rather evil human being who is easy to hate with what he says and what he does. Really, that character and some supporting ones are more memorable and make up for the monotone performance of Tarkington as the lead.
The movie is average for the most part. A lot of things aren't too exciting. It seems like things don't get out of first gear for much of this. Sure there are funny moments, some wackiness and plenty of both racism and sexism, but it's only the final act that things pick up and it's mainly due to wackiness. What a gleefully absurd finale. At least it was nice to see a new (to me) genre entry and experience the usual tropes, from the urban setting and 70's cars to the hilarious fashion and the funky music, nicely provided here by legendary New Orleans musician Allen Toussaint.
Oh, and at Samson's bar-appropriately called Samson's-there's a LION on display. Yes, a real life jungle cat. Only, it doesn't do anything besides lay there, sleep, or mildly roar a few times. It doesn't attack or devour any of the villains, so what was the point of having it there? It's just set dressing.
Thursday, July 2, 2015
Judgment Night
Judgment Night (1993)
Runtime: 110 minutes
Directed by: Stephen Hopkins
Starring: Emilio Estevez, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Jeremy Piven, Stephen Dorff, Denis Leary
From: Largo/JVC
Here's another film I saw as a kid but the last viewing was back in the 90's, so it was long overdue for me to watch it again. The Letterboxd review is below:
Here's another random movie that I was reminded of due to a messageboard conversation. This happened last month but on Tuesday I found the DVD of the film (put out in 1998 by Goodtimes Video! I laugh as I remember the now defunct company from their VHS days) in my collection so I watched it last night. Note that I saw this movie two times in the 90's, but that was it and my memories of the film were faint.
The plot is not too complex: it's another movie set in the span of one night and there are four yuppies (Emilio Estevez, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Stephen Dorff, Jeremy Piven) who go to a big boxing match in Chicago. They go into the city in an RV (modern and hip for the early 90's... it has a Nintendo Entertainment System console complete with the Zapper light gun) that Piven's character got for the night after some sweet talking. Really, you can guess the types of roles that all four men play as it's what you'd expect from all of them; I presume that most of Jeremy's roles are “smarmy A-hole”.
They experience a Chicago traffic jam (I was born and grew up in Illinois so even though I did not live in Chicago or its many suburbs, I still have experienced them before and they're no good) so they get off the freeway and-surprise, surprise-they get lost in “a bad part of town”. They see a gang leader (Denis Leary) kill a man who wronged him and as the quartet are witnesses, he and the few henchmen he's with (one of whom became better known later on as Everlast) go through some pretty sketchy areas of Chi-Town to silence them.
The movie has some contrivances but for the most part, you can explain how Leary and gang can always find the protagonists... basically, the protagonists do some dopey things. It is a “class struggle” sort of thing as it's men who have done decently enough in life vs. the more blue collar types in the gang who felt like they had to do such acts to earn their money... then of course both sides interact with the poor people who live in those run-down areas of Chicago that the police doesn't really care about, as the movie states more than once.
While I wouldn't call it great I was at least entertained by the story, all the moments where the heroes run from the villains and go through several different setpieces (some of them pretty tense), and how the characters all interacted with each other. Leary was fun as the big bad guy. And yes the violence was cool. So, it was an acceptable way to spend an evening, nothing more and nothing less.
To think that a movie many consider is “fine” at best produced a soundtrack that is much more highly regarded, in the large number of famous acts that contributed but that all the songs were combos of rock and rap acts, years before that became a hot trend-good or not that's up to you-for awhile. The songs on the soundtrack are all pretty rad to me.
Oh, and I should say that when I lived in Illinois I one day did get off a busy freeway and drove through a sketchy area of Chicago. I ended up fine and it was in the afternoon but it was more awkward than anything else, as for like 45 minutes I saw no one who even closely resembled me-a dorky white man-and I stuck out like a sore thumb.
Runtime: 110 minutes
Directed by: Stephen Hopkins
Starring: Emilio Estevez, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Jeremy Piven, Stephen Dorff, Denis Leary
From: Largo/JVC
Here's another film I saw as a kid but the last viewing was back in the 90's, so it was long overdue for me to watch it again. The Letterboxd review is below:
Here's another random movie that I was reminded of due to a messageboard conversation. This happened last month but on Tuesday I found the DVD of the film (put out in 1998 by Goodtimes Video! I laugh as I remember the now defunct company from their VHS days) in my collection so I watched it last night. Note that I saw this movie two times in the 90's, but that was it and my memories of the film were faint.
The plot is not too complex: it's another movie set in the span of one night and there are four yuppies (Emilio Estevez, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Stephen Dorff, Jeremy Piven) who go to a big boxing match in Chicago. They go into the city in an RV (modern and hip for the early 90's... it has a Nintendo Entertainment System console complete with the Zapper light gun) that Piven's character got for the night after some sweet talking. Really, you can guess the types of roles that all four men play as it's what you'd expect from all of them; I presume that most of Jeremy's roles are “smarmy A-hole”.
They experience a Chicago traffic jam (I was born and grew up in Illinois so even though I did not live in Chicago or its many suburbs, I still have experienced them before and they're no good) so they get off the freeway and-surprise, surprise-they get lost in “a bad part of town”. They see a gang leader (Denis Leary) kill a man who wronged him and as the quartet are witnesses, he and the few henchmen he's with (one of whom became better known later on as Everlast) go through some pretty sketchy areas of Chi-Town to silence them.
The movie has some contrivances but for the most part, you can explain how Leary and gang can always find the protagonists... basically, the protagonists do some dopey things. It is a “class struggle” sort of thing as it's men who have done decently enough in life vs. the more blue collar types in the gang who felt like they had to do such acts to earn their money... then of course both sides interact with the poor people who live in those run-down areas of Chicago that the police doesn't really care about, as the movie states more than once.
While I wouldn't call it great I was at least entertained by the story, all the moments where the heroes run from the villains and go through several different setpieces (some of them pretty tense), and how the characters all interacted with each other. Leary was fun as the big bad guy. And yes the violence was cool. So, it was an acceptable way to spend an evening, nothing more and nothing less.
To think that a movie many consider is “fine” at best produced a soundtrack that is much more highly regarded, in the large number of famous acts that contributed but that all the songs were combos of rock and rap acts, years before that became a hot trend-good or not that's up to you-for awhile. The songs on the soundtrack are all pretty rad to me.
Oh, and I should say that when I lived in Illinois I one day did get off a busy freeway and drove through a sketchy area of Chicago. I ended up fine and it was in the afternoon but it was more awkward than anything else, as for like 45 minutes I saw no one who even closely resembled me-a dorky white man-and I stuck out like a sore thumb.
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
My Top 10 List Of 2014
I am pissed now... as typical for Letterboxd the site isn't working right so I don't even know if anyone else can actually see the list... I am really unhappy about it so I'll just post the Top 10 list here and hopefully this link will work & give you more details about each movie.
1: The Guest
2: Godzilla
3: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
4: What We Do in the Shadows
5: Nightcrawler
6: Cold in July
7: John Wick
8: Cocaine Cowboys: Reloaded
9: Housebound
10: 300: Rise of an Empire
1: The Guest
2: Godzilla
3: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
4: What We Do in the Shadows
5: Nightcrawler
6: Cold in July
7: John Wick
8: Cocaine Cowboys: Reloaded
9: Housebound
10: 300: Rise of an Empire
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