Ninja (2009)
Runtime: 94 minutes
Directed by: Isaac Florentine
Starring: Scott Adkins, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Mika Hijii, Todd Jensen, Togo Igawa
From: Nu Image/First Look Studios
On here I’m willing to talk about any sort of film. This includes direct to video flicks, which in the past means that it will be of low quality and it won’t be worth your time. In recent years, though, it seems like a lot of quality stuff that doesn’t have to go through “the studio filter” and whatnot turns out to be worth seeing. What I’ll be talking about here isn’t the best representation of the gems you can find in that format (not only does it include B-movie action, but also horror movies); if you’re an action fan, though…
This is something that’s been talked about on certain messageboards for awhile now; those people got excited when they saw this clip, and it indeed was a highlight of the film. Not that the other action was bad, though. You had a variety, from swordfights to gunplay to hand to hand combat to acrobatic actions.
To be brief, the plot is about a conflict between Casey (Adkins) and Masazuka (Tsuyoshi Ihara), both at a dojo in Japan; Casey ended up there as-shock of shocks-an orphan. They both would like to guard the McGuffin… er, I mean the Yoroi Bitsu, a warchest (literally) that has ancient weapons from their clan. Masazuka also doesn’t like that Casey is a white boy, so to speak. He tries to kill Casey during a practice session, so he gets booted out by the Sensei (Igawa) and the Bitsu, along with Casey and the Sensei’s daughter (Hijii) is sent to New York for protection. From there, that’s where things kick in and you get much action.
I’ll warn you guys that if you’re put off by some plot holes or obviously fake sets, then that’s a caveat to keep in mind. It’s filmed in Bulgaria; Eastern Europe is a popular place for low-budget flicks due to tax breaks and whatnot. The outdoor scenes in the daytime look fine and are convincing for Japan, Russia, and NYC. However, some of the outdoor night scenes SO look like a set. Look at this for an example. But, if you aren’t bothered by that, then there’s no problem. For the budget the CGI looked decent enough and it won’t take you out of the experience. I'd even argue that it's better than Ninja Assassin but your mileage may vary; both movies have their positives and negatives but if you managed to enjoy NA then you should see N, you know.
Note that while the movie officially goes on sale on 3/2, it's been available at Blockbuster for the past few weeks now, oddly enough.
I'll be back by late Monday night with one more review.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
Shine A Light
Shine A Light (2008)
86% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 118 reviews)
Runtime: 122 minutes
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Starring: The Rolling Stones, Buddy Guy, Christina Aguilera
From: Paramount Vantage
It’s an odd way that I decided to chat about this particular film, a concert flick released early last year and shown in IMAX also. Before I get to that, though…
Here is a factoid you may not know (and I didn’t know until just a few hours ago): Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner, of The Hurt Locker film, made his film debut as one of the leads in… National Lampoon’s Senior Trip. Yes, the 1995 film that I’ve seen a few times before (including once a few years ago) and I had no idea that he played that role. It’s not as bad as you may think; I’m sure it’s better than the awful-looking direct to DVD titles that they put out all the time.
I’ll be seeing some flicks in the next few days so I’ll be able to add some more to this page. My plans have been screwed up as of late due to some serious things out of my control (I should be fine… I hope) but at least I can zone out by watching some motion pictures.
This one I haven’t seen since I saw it on an IMAX screen last spring, but I remember it well. The reason why I’m bringing it up is… Ke$ha. I’ve always noticed that she had the perfect face for radio, to put it bluntly. Not that I’m shallow or anything… that awful song Tik Tok (maybe the worst new song I hear in 2010) namechecks Mick Jagger as someone whose looks she and her pals are turned on by. I have no idea either. No offense, but even back during the 60’s, his looks… not that I swing that way, but just no. To be perfectly honest, she looks more masculine than he does and if I had to smooch either her or Mick, the lead singer of The Rolling Stones will be able to tell what flavor breathmint I was using beforehand! And, I’m admitting this as I remember how Mick looked in picture-perfect clarity; “Skeletor” was a phrase I remember using at the time.
So, I thought that this movie is worth mentioning. It’s from a famous director who loves having Stones songs in his films and it was filmed at an intimate theatre in New York back in 2006 and features Buddy Guy and Christina Aguilera guest-starring in one song each. Jack White also appears in another song. Now, if you’re a fan of the band and enjoy hearing their songs on the radio (if you don’t own a few albums from them, even if it’s best-ofs only) then this is worth seeing. This is something not really for the blog but there are many quality Stones tunes that you don’t hear on the radio but I think they’re pretty great and are worth acquiring, no matter how. This movie has some favorites that you hear on the radio all the time, but also others that are not as familiar; they're still great, though.
So, if you like this band, it's a must-see as you should enjoy it. They still are great live in the current day, as I can attest to.
I'll be back Sunday night with a new review or two.
86% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 118 reviews)
Runtime: 122 minutes
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Starring: The Rolling Stones, Buddy Guy, Christina Aguilera
From: Paramount Vantage
It’s an odd way that I decided to chat about this particular film, a concert flick released early last year and shown in IMAX also. Before I get to that, though…
Here is a factoid you may not know (and I didn’t know until just a few hours ago): Oscar nominee Jeremy Renner, of The Hurt Locker film, made his film debut as one of the leads in… National Lampoon’s Senior Trip. Yes, the 1995 film that I’ve seen a few times before (including once a few years ago) and I had no idea that he played that role. It’s not as bad as you may think; I’m sure it’s better than the awful-looking direct to DVD titles that they put out all the time.
I’ll be seeing some flicks in the next few days so I’ll be able to add some more to this page. My plans have been screwed up as of late due to some serious things out of my control (I should be fine… I hope) but at least I can zone out by watching some motion pictures.
This one I haven’t seen since I saw it on an IMAX screen last spring, but I remember it well. The reason why I’m bringing it up is… Ke$ha. I’ve always noticed that she had the perfect face for radio, to put it bluntly. Not that I’m shallow or anything… that awful song Tik Tok (maybe the worst new song I hear in 2010) namechecks Mick Jagger as someone whose looks she and her pals are turned on by. I have no idea either. No offense, but even back during the 60’s, his looks… not that I swing that way, but just no. To be perfectly honest, she looks more masculine than he does and if I had to smooch either her or Mick, the lead singer of The Rolling Stones will be able to tell what flavor breathmint I was using beforehand! And, I’m admitting this as I remember how Mick looked in picture-perfect clarity; “Skeletor” was a phrase I remember using at the time.
So, I thought that this movie is worth mentioning. It’s from a famous director who loves having Stones songs in his films and it was filmed at an intimate theatre in New York back in 2006 and features Buddy Guy and Christina Aguilera guest-starring in one song each. Jack White also appears in another song. Now, if you’re a fan of the band and enjoy hearing their songs on the radio (if you don’t own a few albums from them, even if it’s best-ofs only) then this is worth seeing. This is something not really for the blog but there are many quality Stones tunes that you don’t hear on the radio but I think they’re pretty great and are worth acquiring, no matter how. This movie has some favorites that you hear on the radio all the time, but also others that are not as familiar; they're still great, though.
So, if you like this band, it's a must-see as you should enjoy it. They still are great live in the current day, as I can attest to.
I'll be back Sunday night with a new review or two.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Sex Drive
Sex Drive (2008)
46% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 107 reviews)
Runtime: 109 minutes
Directed by: Sean Anders
Starring: Josh Zuckerman, Clark Duke, Amanda Crew, James Marsden, Seth Green
From: Summit Entertainment
I apologize for not having something new posted much sooner, but the end of the month and the start of this one I was so busy with a number of activities and finally I have the time to do this. It will be something I saw more than once on the big screen back in late 2008 and I’ve seen on DVD, but only its original cut and not the unrated cut (more on that later).
This was released in October of ’08 and it was advertised on TV well enough but for whatever reasons, it did not do all that well at the box office; that’s a shame. It’s one of those raunchy flicks starring young people; but, it’s not one of those mindless crapfests such as the previously reviewed College. Rather, this has a heart and you’ll enjoy it instead of being sent into alternating fits of rage and boredom. It’s about a dorky guy, Ian (Zuckerman) who creates an exaggerated persona online and he finds a girl on there and she asks to meet him in Knoxville, Tennessee. That’s a problem as he lives in suburban Chicago. But, the rest of his blended family happen to be out of town for the weekend, so they leave and he, his chubby dorky friend Lance (who nonetheless is suave with the ladies) (Duke) and his tomboy lady friend Felicia (Crew) “borrow” the 1969 Pontiac GTO-a sweet-looking ride-of Ian’s homophobic brother (Marsden) and they drive down to Tennessee so that he can have “an encounter” with the online girl, without knowing for certain if she’s actually a young lady, or a lady at all. Along the way they engage in various hijinx, including ending up on an Amish farm and meeting one sarcastic guy there (Green!)
The movie is of the vulgar type and not everything’s realistic (while it’s true that as seen in the movie, the Amish teenagers always go through a period of Rumspringa, I don’t think it’s a huge bash that rivals anything the largest frats on the largest campuses can put on, and certainly you won’t have Fall Out Boy performing there. Yes, they’re in the film), but overall the few times I’ve seen it I have always had a good time with it. There are funny moments throughout and it’s never dull; the story moves along about as fast as a ’69 GTO, as a matter of fact. Some things are on the predictable side (Felicia and Ian are “just friends” but things start to change…) and there are some curveballs along the way; it’s always entertaining and like I said it’s not just raunchy stuff the whole time. It’s a game cast where the leads are people that many people aren’t familiar with but they equate themselves well (Crew looks very attractive in the film, IMO); Duke is best known for being Michael Cera’s pal and does stuff online with him-I’m just going off of hearsay as that’s not the sort of thing I watch-and he’s a nice find. Marsden is great as a buff obnoxious lout who unveils a big surprise at the end and I’m not always a fan of Green-Robot Chicken’s popularity is beyond my comprehension-but he was pretty amusing in his role. You’ll probably recognize another familiar face or two as some character actors have some brief but good roles. So, if you like vulgar comedies but want to see something with a heart too, check this out.
The unrated cut on the DVD is 20 minutes (!) longer and while I’ve only seen the intro to it, I can tell you it’s a parody of unrated cuts with alternate takes and some blown takes too. As the intro (which is the opposite of subtle) states, unrated cuts on DVD are almost always BS as it really should be “an alternate cut” as usually it’s just added footage rather than more visceral stuff being cut out to avoid an NC-17 or R rating, depending on the rating they ended up with. So, the producers/director made it a gag and from what I hear it’s pretty humorous if you have the taste for something like that. I say it’s something that needs to be spoofed, so one of these days I’ll watch it.
I’ll be back on Friday with another review.
46% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 107 reviews)
Runtime: 109 minutes
Directed by: Sean Anders
Starring: Josh Zuckerman, Clark Duke, Amanda Crew, James Marsden, Seth Green
From: Summit Entertainment
I apologize for not having something new posted much sooner, but the end of the month and the start of this one I was so busy with a number of activities and finally I have the time to do this. It will be something I saw more than once on the big screen back in late 2008 and I’ve seen on DVD, but only its original cut and not the unrated cut (more on that later).
This was released in October of ’08 and it was advertised on TV well enough but for whatever reasons, it did not do all that well at the box office; that’s a shame. It’s one of those raunchy flicks starring young people; but, it’s not one of those mindless crapfests such as the previously reviewed College. Rather, this has a heart and you’ll enjoy it instead of being sent into alternating fits of rage and boredom. It’s about a dorky guy, Ian (Zuckerman) who creates an exaggerated persona online and he finds a girl on there and she asks to meet him in Knoxville, Tennessee. That’s a problem as he lives in suburban Chicago. But, the rest of his blended family happen to be out of town for the weekend, so they leave and he, his chubby dorky friend Lance (who nonetheless is suave with the ladies) (Duke) and his tomboy lady friend Felicia (Crew) “borrow” the 1969 Pontiac GTO-a sweet-looking ride-of Ian’s homophobic brother (Marsden) and they drive down to Tennessee so that he can have “an encounter” with the online girl, without knowing for certain if she’s actually a young lady, or a lady at all. Along the way they engage in various hijinx, including ending up on an Amish farm and meeting one sarcastic guy there (Green!)
The movie is of the vulgar type and not everything’s realistic (while it’s true that as seen in the movie, the Amish teenagers always go through a period of Rumspringa, I don’t think it’s a huge bash that rivals anything the largest frats on the largest campuses can put on, and certainly you won’t have Fall Out Boy performing there. Yes, they’re in the film), but overall the few times I’ve seen it I have always had a good time with it. There are funny moments throughout and it’s never dull; the story moves along about as fast as a ’69 GTO, as a matter of fact. Some things are on the predictable side (Felicia and Ian are “just friends” but things start to change…) and there are some curveballs along the way; it’s always entertaining and like I said it’s not just raunchy stuff the whole time. It’s a game cast where the leads are people that many people aren’t familiar with but they equate themselves well (Crew looks very attractive in the film, IMO); Duke is best known for being Michael Cera’s pal and does stuff online with him-I’m just going off of hearsay as that’s not the sort of thing I watch-and he’s a nice find. Marsden is great as a buff obnoxious lout who unveils a big surprise at the end and I’m not always a fan of Green-Robot Chicken’s popularity is beyond my comprehension-but he was pretty amusing in his role. You’ll probably recognize another familiar face or two as some character actors have some brief but good roles. So, if you like vulgar comedies but want to see something with a heart too, check this out.
The unrated cut on the DVD is 20 minutes (!) longer and while I’ve only seen the intro to it, I can tell you it’s a parody of unrated cuts with alternate takes and some blown takes too. As the intro (which is the opposite of subtle) states, unrated cuts on DVD are almost always BS as it really should be “an alternate cut” as usually it’s just added footage rather than more visceral stuff being cut out to avoid an NC-17 or R rating, depending on the rating they ended up with. So, the producers/director made it a gag and from what I hear it’s pretty humorous if you have the taste for something like that. I say it’s something that needs to be spoofed, so one of these days I’ll watch it.
I’ll be back on Friday with another review.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Chinatown
Chinatown (1974)
Runtime: 131 minutes
Directed by: Roman Polanski
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Hillerman, John Huston, Burt Young
From: Paramount
Here is a movie that including the viewing I had of it a few days ago (I got it for free from the local library), I’ve only seen twice, but it is an undeniable classic amongst so many people, and I agree with the general opinion on it.
Go here for a nice (if high-brow) brief analysis of the movie and some reasons why it’s considered great and some of the elements that make it so, such as the cinematography and how it’s plotted. If you don’t know anything about it, I will not reveal too much and instead I’ll deliver a bare-bones version. JJ Gittes (old Jack himself) is a gumshoe detective in LA in the mid 1930’s, where you have stuff like The Great Depression and a drought taking place. He gets hired by the wife of the chief engineer of the city’s Water and Power company to spy on him as she believes he is cheating. But, from there it’s much more complex (yet still easy to follow) as it’s actually a scam put on by someone, Jack gets involved with Evelyn (Dunaway) and you have much intrigue as you follow along with Gittes in trying to figure out what is going on; I will say that a major topic of the film is water and how it’s a powerful commodity and it can make people much money if they can manipulate it a certain way. That part of it reminds me of Quantum of Solace, and it could have been down well in that flick, but believe me it wasn’t. Then again that entire film was a miss and a major disappointment; I may talk about that one of these days. It is done to perfection in Chinatown, though.
These days it is easy to view Nicholson in a parody manner and think that his recent performances are just him playing himself, but even if that’s true you can’t forget how he was and how he delivered so many quality performances worth watching and enjoying. From what I’ve seen, this is clearly amongst his best-ever performances as a sleazy but still caring detective. The rest of the cast also does a great job with their roles and you have some surprises along the way, the biggest being near the end. I won’t reveal it but it comes out of nowhere and is quite shocking and puts a different twist on things. It’s something you should see, especially if you are a fan of mystery/film-noir flicks. Don't be put off because it's from Polanski, a guy who is infamous for obvious reasons (and I won't get into the controversy over him possibly finally going to jail for what he apparently did over 30 years ago; one part of his life makes a revelation in the movie all the more creepy), but instead enjoy the last movie he ever made in America and appreciate how despite some serious faults he's still one hell of a director.
Sometime soon I’ll see the movie’s sequel, The Two Jakes, which I understand is not that great. I don’t think we’ll ever see the proposed third movie with JJ Gittes, which involves the freeway system and the company known as Cloverleaf; yeah, Who Framed Roger Rabbit borrowed quite a bit from that planned third movie. WFRR is something I only fully appreciated when I saw it a few years ago and I could appreciate how while it was live-action and animation combined seamlessly, it was great as a story that was a classic film-noir from the olden days. That is something you should see if you haven’t viewed it recently/through adult eyes.
Runtime: 131 minutes
Directed by: Roman Polanski
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Faye Dunaway, John Hillerman, John Huston, Burt Young
From: Paramount
Here is a movie that including the viewing I had of it a few days ago (I got it for free from the local library), I’ve only seen twice, but it is an undeniable classic amongst so many people, and I agree with the general opinion on it.
Go here for a nice (if high-brow) brief analysis of the movie and some reasons why it’s considered great and some of the elements that make it so, such as the cinematography and how it’s plotted. If you don’t know anything about it, I will not reveal too much and instead I’ll deliver a bare-bones version. JJ Gittes (old Jack himself) is a gumshoe detective in LA in the mid 1930’s, where you have stuff like The Great Depression and a drought taking place. He gets hired by the wife of the chief engineer of the city’s Water and Power company to spy on him as she believes he is cheating. But, from there it’s much more complex (yet still easy to follow) as it’s actually a scam put on by someone, Jack gets involved with Evelyn (Dunaway) and you have much intrigue as you follow along with Gittes in trying to figure out what is going on; I will say that a major topic of the film is water and how it’s a powerful commodity and it can make people much money if they can manipulate it a certain way. That part of it reminds me of Quantum of Solace, and it could have been down well in that flick, but believe me it wasn’t. Then again that entire film was a miss and a major disappointment; I may talk about that one of these days. It is done to perfection in Chinatown, though.
These days it is easy to view Nicholson in a parody manner and think that his recent performances are just him playing himself, but even if that’s true you can’t forget how he was and how he delivered so many quality performances worth watching and enjoying. From what I’ve seen, this is clearly amongst his best-ever performances as a sleazy but still caring detective. The rest of the cast also does a great job with their roles and you have some surprises along the way, the biggest being near the end. I won’t reveal it but it comes out of nowhere and is quite shocking and puts a different twist on things. It’s something you should see, especially if you are a fan of mystery/film-noir flicks. Don't be put off because it's from Polanski, a guy who is infamous for obvious reasons (and I won't get into the controversy over him possibly finally going to jail for what he apparently did over 30 years ago; one part of his life makes a revelation in the movie all the more creepy), but instead enjoy the last movie he ever made in America and appreciate how despite some serious faults he's still one hell of a director.
Sometime soon I’ll see the movie’s sequel, The Two Jakes, which I understand is not that great. I don’t think we’ll ever see the proposed third movie with JJ Gittes, which involves the freeway system and the company known as Cloverleaf; yeah, Who Framed Roger Rabbit borrowed quite a bit from that planned third movie. WFRR is something I only fully appreciated when I saw it a few years ago and I could appreciate how while it was live-action and animation combined seamlessly, it was great as a story that was a classic film-noir from the olden days. That is something you should see if you haven’t viewed it recently/through adult eyes.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Meet The Feebles
Meet The Feebles (1989)
Runtime: 94 minutes
Directed by: Peter Jackson (yes, that Peter Jackson)
Starring: A bunch of puppets and some people in giant costumes
From: Wingnut Films
It’s still amazing to me that Peter Jackson has made a hugely successful trilogy of films (none of which I’ve seen and I have not too much in the way of interest in ever seeing them) and then did a remake of the famed King Kong and now has out The Lovely Bones, a big-budget flick with wildly divergent opinions as to its quality. I say that because before he hit it big, he made a trio of out-there movies that frequently are extremely graphic and have warped senses of humor, and yet manage to be quite awesome. They are 1987’s Bad Taste (easily found via Google Video), 1992’s Braindead (i.e. Bad Taste, probably the bloodiest movie ever made), and this one, a film about *puppets* who do a variety show-it’s obvious what it’s a parody of-and on their show they’re like the Muppets but off-screen they have their own world and it’s probably every taboo you can think of, from S&M to sodomy to drug use, perverts, paternity suits, and muckraking reporters.
There are a number of little stories in the film but the main ones are that the day is a big one (yeah, it mostly takes place during one day), as if their performance that night is great, they’ll get a fancy new TV contract, and a hedgehog named Robert (who speaks like Elmer Fudd) is there as it’s his first day on the job as part of the show’s chorus. From there you see how the characters act off-camera and it’s positively not for all tastes; if you have an out-there sense of humor and can laugh and enjoy off-color subjects, then this is for you. But, it’s not one of those gross-out fests where they’re as vulgar as possible with no skill involved at all. There’s a lot of legit humor here which just so happens to be usually on the vulgar side. There are even some musical numbers, and they’re all well-done. It’s unique and I think it’s a great time and it’s another one of those films that I can watch multiple times with no problems, and there aren’t too many of those around. It moves very quickly and there's never a dull moment.
Note, though, that the movie can be found on DVD released by several different extremely small companies, and the version I rented from college way back when and the one I have on DVD, the print is in rather horrid condition. It adds to the surreal experience, but oddly enough, on YouTube you can easily find the movie broken up into 10 parts, and there the print looks much better. So, that may be the way you want to see it. If you have any programs to download videos off of there… but not that I would ever condone such actions…
I’ll be back by this time next week with at least one new review.
Runtime: 94 minutes
Directed by: Peter Jackson (yes, that Peter Jackson)
Starring: A bunch of puppets and some people in giant costumes
From: Wingnut Films
It’s still amazing to me that Peter Jackson has made a hugely successful trilogy of films (none of which I’ve seen and I have not too much in the way of interest in ever seeing them) and then did a remake of the famed King Kong and now has out The Lovely Bones, a big-budget flick with wildly divergent opinions as to its quality. I say that because before he hit it big, he made a trio of out-there movies that frequently are extremely graphic and have warped senses of humor, and yet manage to be quite awesome. They are 1987’s Bad Taste (easily found via Google Video), 1992’s Braindead (i.e. Bad Taste, probably the bloodiest movie ever made), and this one, a film about *puppets* who do a variety show-it’s obvious what it’s a parody of-and on their show they’re like the Muppets but off-screen they have their own world and it’s probably every taboo you can think of, from S&M to sodomy to drug use, perverts, paternity suits, and muckraking reporters.
There are a number of little stories in the film but the main ones are that the day is a big one (yeah, it mostly takes place during one day), as if their performance that night is great, they’ll get a fancy new TV contract, and a hedgehog named Robert (who speaks like Elmer Fudd) is there as it’s his first day on the job as part of the show’s chorus. From there you see how the characters act off-camera and it’s positively not for all tastes; if you have an out-there sense of humor and can laugh and enjoy off-color subjects, then this is for you. But, it’s not one of those gross-out fests where they’re as vulgar as possible with no skill involved at all. There’s a lot of legit humor here which just so happens to be usually on the vulgar side. There are even some musical numbers, and they’re all well-done. It’s unique and I think it’s a great time and it’s another one of those films that I can watch multiple times with no problems, and there aren’t too many of those around. It moves very quickly and there's never a dull moment.
Note, though, that the movie can be found on DVD released by several different extremely small companies, and the version I rented from college way back when and the one I have on DVD, the print is in rather horrid condition. It adds to the surreal experience, but oddly enough, on YouTube you can easily find the movie broken up into 10 parts, and there the print looks much better. So, that may be the way you want to see it. If you have any programs to download videos off of there… but not that I would ever condone such actions…
I’ll be back by this time next week with at least one new review.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes (2009)
68% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 186 reviews)
Runtime: 128 minutes
Directed by: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Robert Downey, Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong, Robert Maillet
From: Warner Brothers/Village Roadshow/Silver Pictures
Here’s something I was going to mention for the last review but I’ll state it here instead. Pro wrestling was obviously inspired by The Road Warrior. Besides the famous Road Warriors (i.e. Legion of Doom) tag team, there’s Lord Humungus and how there was a masked wrestler in the Southeast known as Lord Humungous, and then his outfit was clearly the inspiration for the costumes for another great 80’s tag team, Demolition.
Well, there’s a wrestling connection here too with this flick. Robert Maillet was a former wrestler, best known as being briefly in the WWF in the late 90’s as Kurrgan. He was pretty awful, even considering he’s a legit 7 feet tall guy, but I wonder why he didn’t become an actor sooner, as his interaction here with Downey reminded me of Bond vs. Jaws in The Spy Who Loved Me, and indeed, if he wanted to be he could be the Richard Kiel of our generation.
But, besides that and the interesting musical score that seemed to fit the Victorian England setting pretty well, I didn’t care for this flick too much.
The main things were that I didn’t like the characters nor the story; those are kind of major things, so that’s that. I couldn’t stand the Holmes character at all, as he was a drugged up drunk loser who was totally reprehensible; I don’t care about anyone saying that’s how Sherlock was in the novels, as I haven’t read them and I’m sure most people know him from those old British movies. I have no idea why Watson kept on being by his side even though Sherlock almost always treat him like crap; it almost seemed like a battered wife sort of thing… seriously, not that I noticed it myself as I’m not a deviant like that, but others on messageboards have stated that there was a gay subtext between Holmes and Watson and given that, amongst other things, Sherlock for no reason at all dicks around and tries to prevent Watson from marrying his wife to be, so maybe they’re on to something there… so yes, I didn’t like any of the characters, not just the main ones.
Then, the story… it’s actually supernatural, which caught me off-guard (I didn’t pay much attention to the trailers), and it becomes more and more preposterous as it goes through a series of set-pieces (rather than any sort of plot that moves fluidly, it goes from one set-piece to another) and the ending… it is SO ridiculous and laughable. Sherlock is a bright guy, yeah, but he knows an encyclopedia’s worth of information on a variety of things SO broad and vast that just so happen to be a part of the story, and the fact that he just so happens to know all of this, it’s rather convenient and not something that I can believe. Besides the fact that Sherlock is an 1880’s version of an MMA fighter, he apparently also has mind-reading abilities and can see into the future and past; that’s the only way I can explain some parts of the story, and I have an easier time believing that the story was one thing rather than the way it turned out (to state it as vaguely as I can without spoiling anything). So, I didn’t like the story either. Mix in some action that can be hard to follow sometimes due to the God-awful new way action scenes are usually filmed where you rarely can make out what’s going on, and some rather horrid acting from Rachel McAdams where I couldn’t tell most of the time whether her character was supposed to be sarcastic and Holmes wasn’t supposed to know it, whether she was sarcastic and he WAS supposed to know she was BS’ing, or what, but it wasn’t a good performance from her at all (the other performances in this film were fine, I thought). That one performance didn’t help matters.
So, once again I’m baffled as to the high praise it’s gotten from many places, as like with District 9, it just turned me off and I didn’t like it, although at least it didn’t make me as mad as District 9 did. But, I recommend that you don’t see it. Check back this time next week for at least one new review.
68% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 186 reviews)
Runtime: 128 minutes
Directed by: Guy Ritchie
Starring: Robert Downey, Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams, Mark Strong, Robert Maillet
From: Warner Brothers/Village Roadshow/Silver Pictures
Here’s something I was going to mention for the last review but I’ll state it here instead. Pro wrestling was obviously inspired by The Road Warrior. Besides the famous Road Warriors (i.e. Legion of Doom) tag team, there’s Lord Humungus and how there was a masked wrestler in the Southeast known as Lord Humungous, and then his outfit was clearly the inspiration for the costumes for another great 80’s tag team, Demolition.
Well, there’s a wrestling connection here too with this flick. Robert Maillet was a former wrestler, best known as being briefly in the WWF in the late 90’s as Kurrgan. He was pretty awful, even considering he’s a legit 7 feet tall guy, but I wonder why he didn’t become an actor sooner, as his interaction here with Downey reminded me of Bond vs. Jaws in The Spy Who Loved Me, and indeed, if he wanted to be he could be the Richard Kiel of our generation.
But, besides that and the interesting musical score that seemed to fit the Victorian England setting pretty well, I didn’t care for this flick too much.
The main things were that I didn’t like the characters nor the story; those are kind of major things, so that’s that. I couldn’t stand the Holmes character at all, as he was a drugged up drunk loser who was totally reprehensible; I don’t care about anyone saying that’s how Sherlock was in the novels, as I haven’t read them and I’m sure most people know him from those old British movies. I have no idea why Watson kept on being by his side even though Sherlock almost always treat him like crap; it almost seemed like a battered wife sort of thing… seriously, not that I noticed it myself as I’m not a deviant like that, but others on messageboards have stated that there was a gay subtext between Holmes and Watson and given that, amongst other things, Sherlock for no reason at all dicks around and tries to prevent Watson from marrying his wife to be, so maybe they’re on to something there… so yes, I didn’t like any of the characters, not just the main ones.
Then, the story… it’s actually supernatural, which caught me off-guard (I didn’t pay much attention to the trailers), and it becomes more and more preposterous as it goes through a series of set-pieces (rather than any sort of plot that moves fluidly, it goes from one set-piece to another) and the ending… it is SO ridiculous and laughable. Sherlock is a bright guy, yeah, but he knows an encyclopedia’s worth of information on a variety of things SO broad and vast that just so happen to be a part of the story, and the fact that he just so happens to know all of this, it’s rather convenient and not something that I can believe. Besides the fact that Sherlock is an 1880’s version of an MMA fighter, he apparently also has mind-reading abilities and can see into the future and past; that’s the only way I can explain some parts of the story, and I have an easier time believing that the story was one thing rather than the way it turned out (to state it as vaguely as I can without spoiling anything). So, I didn’t like the story either. Mix in some action that can be hard to follow sometimes due to the God-awful new way action scenes are usually filmed where you rarely can make out what’s going on, and some rather horrid acting from Rachel McAdams where I couldn’t tell most of the time whether her character was supposed to be sarcastic and Holmes wasn’t supposed to know it, whether she was sarcastic and he WAS supposed to know she was BS’ing, or what, but it wasn’t a good performance from her at all (the other performances in this film were fine, I thought). That one performance didn’t help matters.
So, once again I’m baffled as to the high praise it’s gotten from many places, as like with District 9, it just turned me off and I didn’t like it, although at least it didn’t make me as mad as District 9 did. But, I recommend that you don’t see it. Check back this time next week for at least one new review.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
The Road Warrior (i.e. Mad Max 2)
The Road Warrior (1981)
Runtime: 94 minutes
Directed by: George Miller
Starring: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Michael Preston, Vernon Wells, Kjell Nilsson
From: Warner Brothers-Kennedy/Miller Productions
Here is another movie I got on Blu-Ray, which like with Rambo and Doomsday I rented from the local Blockbuster (it’s the only place I know of in town to rent stuff; the local Movie Gallery closed down, which I only found out a few days ago, after it was long gone; I’m bummed, as I would have liked to have gone in there and grabbed some DVD’s for extra cheap). This one is The Road Warrior, known as Mad Max 2 elsewhere around the world. It was called that in the U.S. as most people had never seen the original Mad Max yet.
The plot is simple yet effective. The greatly named Max Rockatansky is now a loner, roaming around in the Australian desert; we learned via opening narration that the world went to hell in a handbasket, so there’s that. Max is in his sweet ride, his only companion an awesome Australian Cattle Dog (wait until you see how the dog keeps a certain person at bay from possibly harming his master). In what can be applied to current times, gasoline is in short supply so acquiring it any way possible is the way of life in the desert. After the narration things start off immediately with a car chase with Max and several bikers, which Max wins, but we see the wildly-dressed gang (w/ Wez, played by Vernon Wells) later. Then, he stumbles upon an odd gyro pilot (Spence) who tells him about an encampment of random oddballs that staked their claim to an oil pump, making them the target of the gang that has Wez; their leader is Humungus (Nilsson), a huge masked man that nonetheless speaks rather intelligently and isn’t the gravelly-voiced or grunting sort of villain. They want the oil and gasoline, but the people of the encampment refuse the offer, so the threat escalates. Under duress, Max helps them out, and you’ll see whether or not his assistance will allow them to move to the Gold Coast area of the country.
The movie-a rather interesting take on the Western-is pretty great and holds up almost 30 years later. It’s filmed very well, the pace is pretty quick, and the action stuff is tremendous, especially the final 20 minutes or so, where you wonder how they did some of the stuff without computer aid and without several stuntmen being maimed or even killed. Without giving too much away, it turns out that a part of Doomsday manages to crib pretty heavily from the final 20 minutes of The Road Warrior. Also, there’s humor throughout, some of it pretty dark, but it’s always entertaining, no matter how odd it may seem at times. It’s easy to see why this made Gibson a worldwide star with this great turn as an anti-hero who you nonetheless cheer for. It’s especially nice on Blu-Ray. Sure, there aren’t too many features on it, but for a few bucks it was a very nice rental, at least.
Check back around this time next week for at least one new review.
Runtime: 94 minutes
Directed by: George Miller
Starring: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Michael Preston, Vernon Wells, Kjell Nilsson
From: Warner Brothers-Kennedy/Miller Productions
Here is another movie I got on Blu-Ray, which like with Rambo and Doomsday I rented from the local Blockbuster (it’s the only place I know of in town to rent stuff; the local Movie Gallery closed down, which I only found out a few days ago, after it was long gone; I’m bummed, as I would have liked to have gone in there and grabbed some DVD’s for extra cheap). This one is The Road Warrior, known as Mad Max 2 elsewhere around the world. It was called that in the U.S. as most people had never seen the original Mad Max yet.
The plot is simple yet effective. The greatly named Max Rockatansky is now a loner, roaming around in the Australian desert; we learned via opening narration that the world went to hell in a handbasket, so there’s that. Max is in his sweet ride, his only companion an awesome Australian Cattle Dog (wait until you see how the dog keeps a certain person at bay from possibly harming his master). In what can be applied to current times, gasoline is in short supply so acquiring it any way possible is the way of life in the desert. After the narration things start off immediately with a car chase with Max and several bikers, which Max wins, but we see the wildly-dressed gang (w/ Wez, played by Vernon Wells) later. Then, he stumbles upon an odd gyro pilot (Spence) who tells him about an encampment of random oddballs that staked their claim to an oil pump, making them the target of the gang that has Wez; their leader is Humungus (Nilsson), a huge masked man that nonetheless speaks rather intelligently and isn’t the gravelly-voiced or grunting sort of villain. They want the oil and gasoline, but the people of the encampment refuse the offer, so the threat escalates. Under duress, Max helps them out, and you’ll see whether or not his assistance will allow them to move to the Gold Coast area of the country.
The movie-a rather interesting take on the Western-is pretty great and holds up almost 30 years later. It’s filmed very well, the pace is pretty quick, and the action stuff is tremendous, especially the final 20 minutes or so, where you wonder how they did some of the stuff without computer aid and without several stuntmen being maimed or even killed. Without giving too much away, it turns out that a part of Doomsday manages to crib pretty heavily from the final 20 minutes of The Road Warrior. Also, there’s humor throughout, some of it pretty dark, but it’s always entertaining, no matter how odd it may seem at times. It’s easy to see why this made Gibson a worldwide star with this great turn as an anti-hero who you nonetheless cheer for. It’s especially nice on Blu-Ray. Sure, there aren’t too many features on it, but for a few bucks it was a very nice rental, at least.
Check back around this time next week for at least one new review.
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