RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
My son and I just stepped in from seeing T4 and we really, really were entertained with the final product. Which brought us both to pose this question on the way home: "Why all the hate?" ?:)
True, the film doesn't appear to be on the tracks to breaking even much less match Star Trek dollar for dollar but I think that it's getting unfairly panned by critics and fanboys not old enough to shave yet. Honestly, I couldn't pinpoint the reason...
The film is edited very nicely and lets you follows the action without a forced rush. The cinematography is gorgeously dark; it really puts you into the bleak and disturbing future. Add to that a lot (and I mean A LOT) of intense action sequences of which are mostly filmed real, complete with fantastically rendered CGI effects AND giant robots, that are pleasures to watch.
For those that have seen it, there was one sequence in particular that merited from my son and I, the heraled triple fist-bump for kudos. I'll just say, it was great to see from a nostalgic P.O.V..
I truly hope prospective viewers give this film the shot that it rightly deserves and goes into it with an open mind, and are able to just sit back and enjoy the ride.
We both give Terminator: Salvation, a solid three stars out of four. Might even go back later in the week for an encore. B-)
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Glad to hear that you and your son enjoyed the movie Rogue; my brother and I also liked it a lot and like you feel that it isn't deserving of the critical drubbing its received. We saw it again today and it held up quite well to a second viewing. It goes without saying that a BluRay purchase down the road is a foregone conclusion.
Also, for all the negative critical response, I think it is important to note that if you check user ratings on sites like IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes and IGN movies, where thousands of votes have been tallied, you'll see that it's actually scoring it quite well, never going below 70/100 on any of those sites.
So, while the critics may whine and pine for the Merchant & Ivory version of The Terminator and fanboy idiots like Harry Knowles spit venom on it for the most trivial and innocuous of reasons (will he ever be capable of writing a review without resorting to personal attacks or juvenile profanity?), not everyone shares that hateful viewpoint.
Christopher Lee is cast against type, hamming it up in this Hammer film as the scowling, swarthy peasant Rasputin, who antagonises all as he wins the Tsarina's confidence on his arrival in St Petersburg.
I love Hammer, the good thing about English studios is you knew what you were getting, there's quality control of sorts. The look of a Hammer is of a kind, it's not sumptuous or chic but has a chintzy allure, like a boarding house or Indian restaurant of the 1970s. The plain narrative grips you; these days it would be all noise and smoke and blue lighting overshadowing the respected actors.
That said, after the bravaura first half hour the plot unfolds in a predictable way as Rasputin wins the confidence of the Tsar's family as expected, with nary a setback. It goes against the Hammer formula in that usually you have a group of folk in a strange castle getting the willies (you can't go wrong with this) or it's from the pov of the doctor in Frankenstein as he goes a bit crazy and alienates the locals. Here it's all from Rasputin's pov, and we know he's a bad guy so what gives. Dramatically it's a bit dead in parts, and while the sets are good there are few actors in it, it gets a bit claustrophobic. The Queen's court, for instance, seems to be made up of only three people. And we never see the Tsar at all. There's a missing element here.
I'm terrible at film reviews, so all i say is i laughed my arse off from start to finish, if you haven't seen it, give it a try, one of colin farrel's best performances.
A man and a woman meet, fall in love, marry, decide to divorce but do so in the most ruthless way imaginable. A bizarre, brutal film which shows just how adventurous Michael Douglas can be. Like Falling Down, this is no popcorn movie and is often so extreme that one doesn't know whether to laugh ot be shocked. The performances, from Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito (who also directed), are all great, as is the screenplay for the film which is constructed as a morality tale.
A very good film, which I would recommend. However I wouldn't necessarily call it an entertaining film.
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
A man and a woman meet, fall in love, marry, decide to divorce but do so in the most ruthless way imaginable. A bizarre, brutal film which shows just how adventurous Michael Douglas can be. Like Falling Down, this is no popcorn movie and is often so extreme that one doesn't know whether to laugh ot be shocked. The performances, from Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito (who also directed), are all great, as is the screenplay for the film which is constructed as a morality tale.
A very good film, which I would recommend. However I wouldn't necessarily call it an entertaining film.
I enjoyed that film too Dan. I always thought Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas worked well together. They were a fun couple to watch in Romancing the Stone , Jewel of the Nile, and Roses. Too bad Turner had the issues she had, as I think they could have been a modern Tracy and Hepburn.
I enjoyed that film too Dan. I always thought Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas worked well together. They were a fun couple to watch in Romancing the Stone , Jewel of the Nile, and Roses. Too bad Turner had the issues she had, as I think they could have been a modern Tracy and Hepburn.
Absolutely. They were great together. It's amazing to look at Kathleen Turner's filmography and to see all the fantastic films she made during the 80's; Romancing the Stone, The Man with Two Brians, Peggy Sue Got Married, Prizzi's Honor, Who Shot Roger Rabbit, The Accidental Tourist, The War of the Roses. She was extraordinary during that decade, but then she kind of disappeared during the 90's. I completely agree with you about them possibly becoming a modern Tracy and Hepburn; their chemistry together was amazing.
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
Serial Mom is a terrific film. It's one of the few post-80's films that Kathleen Turner has made which was good.
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
The biggest surprise of the year. I thought this would be the kind of movie that would only appeal to fans of The Football Factory, or anything else with Danny Dyer in it. Michael Peterson aka 'Charles Bronson' is a bit of a tearaway. He got done for robbing a post office of around £26 in the 70's. The sentence 7 years, be a good boy and you're out in 4. However strip yourself naked and challenge the prison warders to an all-in square-go, take your art teacher hostage, occasionally wander onto the roof for a nice sit-down protest and they're going to keep you inside for a long time. 30 out of the last 34 years in fact.
It is a truly bizarre story. Especially given 'Bronson' looks like a circus strongman with his bald head and his handlebar moustache. The press have had a go at this film for glamourising violence, but it does nothing of the sort. Who on earth would want to be this man? Why waste your life in such a way. Tom Hardy is brilliant as Bronson, at once terrifying, weird and funny. The most effective moments for me were when 'Brosn--- Jesus I almost wrote Brosnan there, 'Bronson' is outside prison and goes home with his folks. They leave him in the back of the car and he can't get out. I don't quite know why that struck me as being so funny but it did. Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn (The Pusher trilogy) has made one of the most inventive British films of the last twenty years. It has been compared to Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, but to me with its strange fanciful sequences where 'Bronson' imagines himself as a vaudeville performer onstage it seemed more like Ken Russell, not that he was ever asked to direct anything like this. Film of the year so far.
Notorious Brit flick from last year, notorious because of the title, which is slang for a vile sex act too perverted to be explained in a family newspaper (but not too perverted for the ajb007 website - read on!) and because it isn't very good.
Three good time Northern lasses (well, from Leeds) are on their first day's holiday in Spain when they meet some lads who invite them back to their yaght, stationed in the marina, for a drink. Spirits run high, they cast off and into the blue, then hard drugs appear and the scene descends - or ascends, depending on why you rented the DVD - into a full-scale below-decks orgy (though one shyer girl stays out of it).
At this point the titular sex act rears its head as one lad, taking a girl from behind, knocks her out across the head, in order to bring about a supposedly pleasurable tightening effect. It's not to be tried at home - or anywhere frankly - as the girl promply carks it. Then we have the situ of a dead body on a yaght and the blokes discussing how to cover it up as they don't want to go to chokey. Or rather, they've no intention of going down in that sense. Ay thang yew.
Until this point Donkey Punch is a typical guilty pleasure Brit flick, but without the pleasure. Sea, sun, sand and sex but it is all as exciting as stale lager. The only surprise is that Danny Dyer doesn't turn up in it; I don't dislike Dyer as an actor but his films like The Business never quite deliver on illicit thrills for me, and this is the same. Two of the girls look a bit similar, none of them have much character to their faces. As for the sex scene, it might turn on someone who'd never seen a porn film – I paused it halfway through to go out and fix myself a glass of warm water. The problem is these films cater for a generation used to hardcore on the internet while knowing that they can't possibly compete due to certification, so the result is a bellyflop. Unlike the 1970s generation of sexploitation films, where they knew they held the aces, for where else could a young lad see moving breasts and bare flesh?
So far so banal, but actually after the 40 minute mark and the fatal event, things really do pick up and it becomes quite a good thriller, not Hitchcock [Edit: FFS! Portly Brit director of Rear Window, how come he's the only thing to gets blanked out in this review?!!) but not bad. Admittedly for most of the film I was thinking how much better it could have been, but it was interesting how one sympathies switched back and forth, and it's different from your usual slasher fare. While none of them seem to have any character initially, it is the sort of film where their characters emerge through adversity, so it gets better as it goes on. But it badly fluffs the sexy build-up and movies are often about first impressions really.
Another guilty pleasure purchase that affords NP no real pleasure so presumably no guilt as well? It's a philosophical conundrum,isn't it, like if a tree falls in the forest and no one sees it, has it happened? If I rent a dodgy DVD but can't get off on it, do I need to mention it at Confession?
Anyway, this is from the Shameless stable, a label given over to remastering pervy 1970s exploitation films. The only really Shameless aspect is how they sell these hooky films, money for old rope really! They talk about how they've hunted down missing scenes and found the original soundtrack etc etc, all proud, and they seem a nice bunch but when you see the film, well, it's a bit rubbish.
Oasis of Fear has a young couple, early 1970s, touring Europe in their zippy classic open top sports car, flogging porn mags to foreigners to make a buck (that dates it). They get busted by cops and are sort of on the run, but when they run out of petrol they are invited into an abode by a rather grim Mexican type lady, quite neurotic.
The first ten minutes are fun, with a George-Beatle style opening tune, but once it settles down it all gets quite boring. Funny how great classic films don't really date but bad movies really do. This comes from the era where you had to make your own entertainment, where a trip to the cinema to see a big colour film was an event compared to watching Dixon of Dock Green on your black and white telly, especially when - get this - the woman takes her top off! But today it just moves at snail's pace and doesn't engage at all, save the last half hour.
The best things about these Shameless DVDs are the trailors that accompany it. The films themselves more often than not are a letdown.
Milk with an Oscar-winning performance by Sean Penn, thoroughly deserved imo.
Nothing bad to report here, I enjoyed it! Though 10 mins in I kind of felt, what do I need to see this for, we know how it's gonna pan out, still it got me engrossed enough. Amazing how, at the end, when they flag up pictures of the real people featured in the movie, they look very very similar. In fact the only one who looked v different was the lesbian campaigner who in reality looked really fit, a kind of big-haired Jane Fonda type, and the heterosexual in me said, "Hmm, wish they'd cast that one a bit more accurately..." Then I turned round to the hetero in question and said, "Do you mind, this is a public theatre! And if you're meant to be hetero, what do you think you're playing at?!?"
A bit manipulative towards the end, though one couldn't help getting a few sniffles. I liked the insertion of 1970s stock footage, all colourful and a bit grainy. The film proper could have looked a bit more 1970s in style however.
I read a review of this in Empire a while back and picked it up on DVD last week and have just got through it.
The basic premise is that Jean Claude Van-Damme has lost custody of his daughter, is broke and down on his luck. He becomes unwittingly involved in a robbery on a Belgian Post Office.
This isn't your average Van-Damme movie, there are many points were JCVD takes swipes at himself and his career. He may not be renowned for his acting abilty but he is a real force in this movie. One scene in particular where he is lifted above the set and addresses the viewers directly, giving frank views on his life and career.
I really enjoyed the film and will probably now revisit some of my old Van-Damme favourites.
1- On Her Majesty's Secret Service 2- Casino Royale 3- Licence To Kill 4- Goldeneye 5- From Russia With Love
Mr MartiniThat nice house in the sky.Posts: 2,703MI6 Agent
Milk with an Oscar-winning performance by Sean Penn, thoroughly deserved imo.
Nothing bad to report here, I enjoyed it! Though 10 mins in I kind of felt, what do I need to see this for, we know how it's gonna pan out, still it got me engrossed enough. Amazing how, at the end, when they flag up pictures of the real people featured in the movie, they look very very similar. In fact the only one who looked v different was the lesbian campaigner who in reality looked really fit, a kind of big-haired Jane Fonda type, and the heterosexual in me said, "Hmm, wish they'd cast that one a bit more accurately..." Then I turned round to the hetero in question and said, "Do you mind, this is a public theatre! And if you're meant to be hetero, what do you think you're playing at?!?"
A bit manipulative towards the end, though one couldn't help getting a few sniffles. I liked the insertion of 1970s stock footage, all colourful and a bit grainy. The film proper could have looked a bit more 1970s in style however.
I haven't seen this yet, but remember hearing on the news about filming. The news would warn people about certain parts of San Francisco and certain streets being closed for filming. The biggest closure was for a march Harvey Milk did with a lot of supporters ending with a speech at City Hall (I think it was city hall). They also re-made some of the Castro district to look like it did during the 1970's. It was interesting to see some of the stuff on the news. Maybe I should rent this and see how it turned out.
Some people would complain even if you hang them with a new rope
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
edited June 2009
"Yes Man"
Jim Carrey vehicle...we got this as a discount rental from the local video store, when the boys rented a couple of Playstation 2 games over the weekend. I must say, the boys and I enjoyed this one quite a lot---some genuinely funny moments. Carrey is hardly stretching his range, here, but the script is fairly tight, it's extremely well-structured, and Terence Stamp has an excellent turn as a motivational speaker...this guy should be the next M :v ...
I wish I knew the name of the female lead (she's adorable)...a nice bit of Rom-Com* fun, and well worth a look for anyone looking for some light entertainment. 3.5 out of 5 stars
*Not my favourite genre...but every once in a while...
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
edited June 2009
"This Gun For Hire"
Nifty, early film noir from 1942, with Veronica Lake and Robert ("Music Man") Preston getting the top billing, as a nightclub performer and police captain respectively...but it's really Alan Ladd, in the role that put him on the map (he's listed last in the opening credits as 'Introducing: Alan Ladd')---Raven, an assassin for hire---who owns this picture, from the opening to the final shots.
Raven is paid off for a recent job in counterfeit money, which puts the police on his trail, and revenge on his mind. Through a chance meeting with entertainer Ellen Graham (Lake), Raven gets a chance to track down the people who set him up; it's a story of wartime treachery and lives gone wrong, with police dragnets, guns and murder. Great fun, with a running time of 81 minutes. I'm a big fan of old-style B&W thrillers---perhaps the purest use of light and shadow, in terms of framing scenes of both drama and action---stark contrasts employed to reveal the infinite shades of grey within the characters portrayed B-)
Veronica Lake is quite appealing here, in a patented 'retro' kind of way---very slight of build, thin yet curvy in the right places, and improbably well-endowed :x She looks quite short next to the diminutive Alan Ladd, which means: a) those stories about Ladd standing on crates to gain height during scenes must be true, or b) Miss Lake was a hobbit. And I don't think it's 'b', because her feet are not large and hairy She's not all that dynamic as an actress, at least not here, but she's serviceable in terms of moving the plot along and, as I said, is easy on the eyes. Robert Preston was a talented performer, but he really phones this one in as the straight-laced police captain whose girl might have been abducted by a professional killer. Perhaps the nicest little surprise was a young Marc Lawrence (a hoodlum in both DAF and TMWTGG) as the supporting bad guy's affably murderous henchman.
But this is Alan Ladd's picture, and his performance is really quite excellent---with layers of nuance, extending from Bogart-style toughie to a wounded soul who never really had a chance at a normal life. Seeing him here, it's no wonder the little guy became such a big movie star.
Highly recommended for fans of the 'old school'; 4 out of 5 stars.
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Entertaining horror from Sam Raimi. Easily the best thing he's done since A Simple Plan and streets ahead of his Spidergimp movies. A woman who works in a bank and therefore probably deserves to go to hell is cursed and must fight to prevent herself from being dragged to hell. It's technically proficient, if a little hollow; you really don't care if the heroine lives or dies and it's no match for Evil Dead 2 or American Gothic, but anything that stops Raimi from making Spiderman movies is indeed a good thing.
Entertaining horror from Sam Raimi. Easily the best thing he's done since A Simple Plan and streets ahead of his Spidergimp movies. A woman who works in a bank and therefore probably deserves to go to hell is cursed and must fight to prevent herself from being dragged to hell. It's technically proficient, if a little hollow; you really don't care if the heroine lives or dies and it's no match for Evil Dead 2 or American Gothic, but anything that stops Raimi from making Spiderman movies is indeed a good thing.
) I loved the Spider-Man films. The first two were IMO among the greatest super-hero films of all time.
I can't wait until Drag Me to Hell; a horror film from arguably one of the finest directors of all time. Raimi is an awesome director. He's a wonderful stylist who is IMO of the calibre of Leone and Tarantino, two other legendary stylists. I think that as he's a genre director, he doesn't get the attention that he deserves. Unfair, really, as when I read articles about someone like Godard (one of the most overrated directors of all time IMO) it really infuriates me how certain directors are elevated above those who IMO are so much better.
Anyway, I'm a big Raimi fan and I'm very much looking forward to seeing this film.
"He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back—that’s an earthquake. and then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory." Death of a Salesman
Perhaps it's the generally unenjoyable movies I've rented of late, but I really enjoyed this comedy and it easily passed by 20-minute rule. It's from the guys behind 40 Year Old Virgin, and has the same sensibility, in that while it deals with an awful situation, it offers as a kind of sop an alternative scenario. For instance, here the young couple's predicament is contrasted with the happily married, well-off couple who have two kids but an iffy marriage. In fact, I imagine a few couples in the audience might have felt a bit awkard at these scenes.
I liked Paul Rudd as usual - he would have made a good Leiter in the Craig era imo, but the two players, Seth Rogan and Katherine Heigl (who really should be more famous if this is anything to go by) work especially well together. Heigl in particular had great comic ability and lifts this up, unlike the actress who played Sarah Marshall in Forgetting...
A plot hole - the next day after their one-night stand, the guy can't recall actually having sex with her. Seven weeks later he can recall the details of why he didn't wear a condom. I think a couple of scenes might have been deleted, in particular why she doesn't have an abortion, though dwelling on that in a comedy is iffy. And it's clear the guy isn't really THAT much of a slob after a couple of scenes.
Generally I like the way it second guesses you and wrongfoots you, like when Ms Preggers and her sister take on the obnoxious nightclub bouncer and it backfires on them.
"This is where we leave you Mr Bond."
Roger Moore 1927-2017
RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
Orca
Although it was alot cooler film when I was a child, it doesn't hold up very well with age. This film of revenge between a killer whale and a stubborn fisherman, that rode the coattails of the JAWS craze back in the 70s, is beautifully shot but empty on story and none of the characters are particularly memorable outside of Richard Harris.
The film's one lasting grace is the mesmerizingly haunting score by Ennio Morricone. Has this guy ever laid an egg with his musical pieces? Not that I know of. It makes the film on a whole alot more tolerable though and prevents me from condemning the movie totally.
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
I was hoping for a dark, spooky tale in the manner of The Pit and the Pendulum, which also starred Vincent Price. Boy, was I wrong. This 1963 flick is played for laughs, but the laughs aren't that good. Price amiably hams it up as a benovolent paternal magician but you know what you're dealing with the moment a raven flies through his window and starts talking to him with a wise-ass delivery. This is Sabrina the Teenage Witch territory, The Munsters but less fun and without the groovy theme tune.
A great supporting cast such as Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and a young Jack Nicolson do little to enliven this and even at 80 minutes it outstays its welcome. This is more like a forgotten Disney flick, hoping to prompt an indulgent chuckle, and it unfolds very predictably. Rubbish special effects too, even for the time.
Oh, and then I saw a chunk of Total Recall on the telly...
{[] Like the Goldfinger of its day... even has a nod to early Bond films, such as being sucked into outer space. Arnie is great, though it's also wise to surround him with quality actors and turns, rather as they do with Hugh Grant in Four Weddings... Special mention for the Jack Nicolson type who is in pursuit of Quaid, he doesn't put a foot wrong....
"Get your a$$ to Mars.... Get your a$$ to Mars... Get your a$$ to Mars..."
This AIP horror comedy might be slapdash and hokey, but I've loved it since I was EIGHT!
I hope you understand that I take your recent "review" and "extreme criticism" of this beloved low budget Corman quickie to be a lot of hot air! Pffft!!
Try "The Comedy Of Terrors". It consisits of the same cast. Along with B. Rathbone.
Eight years old would be about the right age for such claptrap... )
Not Quite Hollywood
Superbly entertaining documentary about Australian exploitation films from the 1970s onwards, championed unsurprisingly by Quentin Tarantino, who is a welcome fanboy talking head. When I say documentary, we're not talking World At War here. We're talking exploding heads, voluptuous naked female bodies, snazzy cars shot from unbelievable angles; suddenly you see why Ozzie Martin Campbell's scene after the credits of GoldenEye is somewhat arresting. Though Campbell's rubbish sex comedy Eskimo Nell turns up and strangely Campbell is a no-show when it comes to talking about it.
It's divided into sections, the first dealing with the sex comedies of the 1970s - so-called 'Ocker' films which Barry Humphrey's had a hand in. Loads of naked flesh here, very much of my era growing up and so much more erotic than today's anodyne hardcore. Then it moves on to kung-fu, horror and finally car chase flicks. It's like the best and longest movie trailer you've ever seen!
Spesh mention for one of Quentin's faves, The Man From Hong Kong, which starred our very own George Lazenby and one I'll be looking to rent. Lazenby turns up as a talking head. Actually you want to rent all of them, but in truth you know that you'll probably have seen the best bits in this documentary.
Gritty late 1950s black and white British film with a stunning up-and-coming cast. It's about a guy who joins a dodgy road haulage firm where the aim among its 13 drivers is to get as many runs in a day as possible, with the foreman keeping count.
As one reviewer noted, it's got a pre-Prisoner Patrick Machoohan, a pre-Bond Sean Connery, a pre-Man from Uncle David MacCullum, a pre-Carry On Sid James, a pre-Doctor Who William Hartnell, a pre-Ipcress File Gordon Jackson, a pre-Moonraker cameo Alfie Bass (okay okay!) and a pre-Pink Panther Herbert Lom. Machoohan and Lom are virtually unrecognisable.
Connery is in a turn up and don't fluff your lines type role and is there but that's about all. The star is a pre-Zulu Stanley Baker, though Baker is an actor who doesn't seem to have the iconic longevity of his successors, perhaps because he emerged at at time when UK cinema wasn't that sexy or transatlantic in its appeal. Anyway, Baker is worth watching because you can see where Connery got much of his mannersims from, the cool, steely, alone quality. Even his hair is styled much like Connery in Goldfinger (though presumably real).
Hell Drivers is a decent flick, my only gripe being that it doesn't really stack up. Its theme is not dissimilar to Connery's The Hill, reviewed on the previous page, in that it's one discredited man kicking against unjust authority in a macho environment. But it's hard to credit that Baker's character would needlessly antagonise authority in this way, as the head foreman hasn't really provoked him much, aside from a rough greeting for the new boy.
What's more, it's established early on just how dangerously the lorry drivers have to drive to get in their daily rota, and just how shocked the rookie driver is at this, so for the very same driver to risk his and other road users' lives just to make a point doesn't seem exactly heroic.
Still, the climax is exciting enough and recalls another iconic British film of the 1960s which you'll know if you see it.
Still superb Danny Boyle movie, hardly dated at all especially as Britpop band Blur, who contribute two songs here, have reformed this summer. This is astonishingly entertaining stuff with real visual flair. That said, I'm not sure about Boyle for Bond. He's very much a Scorcese type; okay within certain limits but always needs a non-stop action narrative that never flags. Slow things down and he loses his way a bit.
Never Say Never Again - Special Edition
Bootleg Bond DVD with mostly John Barry score. Once you get past thinking of other films all the time, this is surprisingly enjoyable. Connery still looks ancient and the photography is very thin and poor (and rubbish underwater shots too) but Carrera's Fatima Blush is a lot more effective here for some reason, as opposed to just irritating, while Brandeur's Largo is less effective for some reason.
Days of Glory
Boringly titled war movie with an angle; it's about the Algerian recruits for the French army in WW2 who found their contribution ignored and sidelined. It's the sort of film that would emerge in recent years with French introspection over its race attitudes. Excellent crisp photography of their tour of duty from Italy to Marseilles, Paris, the Rhone Valley and so on. Only problem is that it's an issue movie, every scene aims to bang you over the head with how unjust their situation is and there's hardly anything else going on there. So it does seem a bit doctrinaire, it isn't subtle in its execution.
Eight years old would be about the right age for such claptrap... )
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LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
edited June 2009
"Appaloosa"
Directed by and starring the excellent Ed Harris as a mercenary gunslinger named Virgil Cole who, along with his .08 gauge shotgun-toting partner, Everett Hitch (played by Viggo Mortensen), has been "keeping the peace for a dozen years or so."
They are summoned to the southwestern town of Appaloosa to put an end to the reign of terror of Bragg (Jeremy Irons), an evil land baron (is there any other kind in the wild west? B-) ) with a private army of enforcers who have the town in a stranglehold. Renee Zellweger is excellent here as Allie French, a piano player from St. Louis with ambiguous loyalties, who quickly enters into a a serious relationship with Cole. Aside from the always-good Irons, Lance Henriksen gets a chance to chew a bit of villainous scenery as a rival gunslinger with an agenda of his own. It was great to see Harris and Mortensen reunited from David Cronenberg's fantastic History of Violence...
The action is excellent, and realistic---gunfights at close quarters, where not every shot finds its target, and things get genuinely messy. This was based on a novel by Robert B. Parker, who wrote many cracking-good westerns besides the crime stuff for which he's probably most famous. I enjoyed Harris' direction---as an actor, he allows the body language, dialogue and conversational pacing to add nuance to every scene in an otherwise fairly straightforward, routine horse opera. He very wisely allows his DP, Dean Semler, to light and frame things in an efficient and non-flashy way. The production design is very true to the period. As a fan of this genre, I continue to be delighted that a few westerns are being made from time to time (I thought Kevin Costner's Open Range was excellent, and is a nice companion piece to this film in terms of theme and storyline).
The end title theme is performed by Tom Petty and his old band, Mudcrutch B-)
3.5 out of 5 stars.
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Comments
True, the film doesn't appear to be on the tracks to breaking even much less match Star Trek dollar for dollar but I think that it's getting unfairly panned by critics and fanboys not old enough to shave yet. Honestly, I couldn't pinpoint the reason...
The film is edited very nicely and lets you follows the action without a forced rush. The cinematography is gorgeously dark; it really puts you into the bleak and disturbing future. Add to that a lot (and I mean A LOT) of intense action sequences of which are mostly filmed real, complete with fantastically rendered CGI effects AND giant robots, that are pleasures to watch.
For those that have seen it, there was one sequence in particular that merited from my son and I, the heraled triple fist-bump for kudos. I'll just say, it was great to see from a nostalgic P.O.V..
I truly hope prospective viewers give this film the shot that it rightly deserves and goes into it with an open mind, and are able to just sit back and enjoy the ride.
We both give Terminator: Salvation, a solid three stars out of four. Might even go back later in the week for an encore. B-)
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
Also, for all the negative critical response, I think it is important to note that if you check user ratings on sites like IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes and IGN movies, where thousands of votes have been tallied, you'll see that it's actually scoring it quite well, never going below 70/100 on any of those sites.
So, while the critics may whine and pine for the Merchant & Ivory version of The Terminator and fanboy idiots like Harry Knowles spit venom on it for the most trivial and innocuous of reasons (will he ever be capable of writing a review without resorting to personal attacks or juvenile profanity?), not everyone shares that hateful viewpoint.
Christopher Lee is cast against type, hamming it up in this Hammer film as the scowling, swarthy peasant Rasputin, who antagonises all as he wins the Tsarina's confidence on his arrival in St Petersburg.
I love Hammer, the good thing about English studios is you knew what you were getting, there's quality control of sorts. The look of a Hammer is of a kind, it's not sumptuous or chic but has a chintzy allure, like a boarding house or Indian restaurant of the 1970s. The plain narrative grips you; these days it would be all noise and smoke and blue lighting overshadowing the respected actors.
That said, after the bravaura first half hour the plot unfolds in a predictable way as Rasputin wins the confidence of the Tsar's family as expected, with nary a setback. It goes against the Hammer formula in that usually you have a group of folk in a strange castle getting the willies (you can't go wrong with this) or it's from the pov of the doctor in Frankenstein as he goes a bit crazy and alienates the locals. Here it's all from Rasputin's pov, and we know he's a bad guy so what gives. Dramatically it's a bit dead in parts, and while the sets are good there are few actors in it, it gets a bit claustrophobic. The Queen's court, for instance, seems to be made up of only three people. And we never see the Tsar at all. There's a missing element here.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I'm terrible at film reviews, so all i say is i laughed my arse off from start to finish, if you haven't seen it, give it a try, one of colin farrel's best performances.
Vive le droit à la libre expression! Je suis Charlie!
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A man and a woman meet, fall in love, marry, decide to divorce but do so in the most ruthless way imaginable. A bizarre, brutal film which shows just how adventurous Michael Douglas can be. Like Falling Down, this is no popcorn movie and is often so extreme that one doesn't know whether to laugh ot be shocked. The performances, from Douglas, Kathleen Turner and Danny DeVito (who also directed), are all great, as is the screenplay for the film which is constructed as a morality tale.
A very good film, which I would recommend. However I wouldn't necessarily call it an entertaining film.
I enjoyed that film too Dan. I always thought Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas worked well together. They were a fun couple to watch in Romancing the Stone , Jewel of the Nile, and Roses. Too bad Turner had the issues she had, as I think they could have been a modern Tracy and Hepburn.
The biggest surprise of the year. I thought this would be the kind of movie that would only appeal to fans of The Football Factory, or anything else with Danny Dyer in it. Michael Peterson aka 'Charles Bronson' is a bit of a tearaway. He got done for robbing a post office of around £26 in the 70's. The sentence 7 years, be a good boy and you're out in 4. However strip yourself naked and challenge the prison warders to an all-in square-go, take your art teacher hostage, occasionally wander onto the roof for a nice sit-down protest and they're going to keep you inside for a long time. 30 out of the last 34 years in fact.
It is a truly bizarre story. Especially given 'Bronson' looks like a circus strongman with his bald head and his handlebar moustache. The press have had a go at this film for glamourising violence, but it does nothing of the sort. Who on earth would want to be this man? Why waste your life in such a way. Tom Hardy is brilliant as Bronson, at once terrifying, weird and funny. The most effective moments for me were when 'Brosn--- Jesus I almost wrote Brosnan there, 'Bronson' is outside prison and goes home with his folks. They leave him in the back of the car and he can't get out. I don't quite know why that struck me as being so funny but it did. Danish director Nicolas Winding Refn (The Pusher trilogy) has made one of the most inventive British films of the last twenty years. It has been compared to Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, but to me with its strange fanciful sequences where 'Bronson' imagines himself as a vaudeville performer onstage it seemed more like Ken Russell, not that he was ever asked to direct anything like this. Film of the year so far.
Notorious Brit flick from last year, notorious because of the title, which is slang for a vile sex act too perverted to be explained in a family newspaper (but not too perverted for the ajb007 website - read on!) and because it isn't very good.
Three good time Northern lasses (well, from Leeds) are on their first day's holiday in Spain when they meet some lads who invite them back to their yaght, stationed in the marina, for a drink. Spirits run high, they cast off and into the blue, then hard drugs appear and the scene descends - or ascends, depending on why you rented the DVD - into a full-scale below-decks orgy (though one shyer girl stays out of it).
At this point the titular sex act rears its head as one lad, taking a girl from behind, knocks her out across the head, in order to bring about a supposedly pleasurable tightening effect. It's not to be tried at home - or anywhere frankly - as the girl promply carks it. Then we have the situ of a dead body on a yaght and the blokes discussing how to cover it up as they don't want to go to chokey. Or rather, they've no intention of going down in that sense. Ay thang yew.
Until this point Donkey Punch is a typical guilty pleasure Brit flick, but without the pleasure. Sea, sun, sand and sex but it is all as exciting as stale lager. The only surprise is that Danny Dyer doesn't turn up in it; I don't dislike Dyer as an actor but his films like The Business never quite deliver on illicit thrills for me, and this is the same. Two of the girls look a bit similar, none of them have much character to their faces. As for the sex scene, it might turn on someone who'd never seen a porn film – I paused it halfway through to go out and fix myself a glass of warm water. The problem is these films cater for a generation used to hardcore on the internet while knowing that they can't possibly compete due to certification, so the result is a bellyflop. Unlike the 1970s generation of sexploitation films, where they knew they held the aces, for where else could a young lad see moving breasts and bare flesh?
So far so banal, but actually after the 40 minute mark and the fatal event, things really do pick up and it becomes quite a good thriller, not Hitchcock [Edit: FFS! Portly Brit director of Rear Window, how come he's the only thing to gets blanked out in this review?!!) but not bad. Admittedly for most of the film I was thinking how much better it could have been, but it was interesting how one sympathies switched back and forth, and it's different from your usual slasher fare. While none of them seem to have any character initially, it is the sort of film where their characters emerge through adversity, so it gets better as it goes on. But it badly fluffs the sexy build-up and movies are often about first impressions really.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
So thats what they're calling it these days, nice!
Another guilty pleasure purchase that affords NP no real pleasure so presumably no guilt as well? It's a philosophical conundrum,isn't it, like if a tree falls in the forest and no one sees it, has it happened? If I rent a dodgy DVD but can't get off on it, do I need to mention it at Confession?
Anyway, this is from the Shameless stable, a label given over to remastering pervy 1970s exploitation films. The only really Shameless aspect is how they sell these hooky films, money for old rope really! They talk about how they've hunted down missing scenes and found the original soundtrack etc etc, all proud, and they seem a nice bunch but when you see the film, well, it's a bit rubbish.
Oasis of Fear has a young couple, early 1970s, touring Europe in their zippy classic open top sports car, flogging porn mags to foreigners to make a buck (that dates it). They get busted by cops and are sort of on the run, but when they run out of petrol they are invited into an abode by a rather grim Mexican type lady, quite neurotic.
The first ten minutes are fun, with a George-Beatle style opening tune, but once it settles down it all gets quite boring. Funny how great classic films don't really date but bad movies really do. This comes from the era where you had to make your own entertainment, where a trip to the cinema to see a big colour film was an event compared to watching Dixon of Dock Green on your black and white telly, especially when - get this - the woman takes her top off!
The best things about these Shameless DVDs are the trailors that accompany it. The films themselves more often than not are a letdown.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Nothing bad to report here, I enjoyed it! Though 10 mins in I kind of felt, what do I need to see this for, we know how it's gonna pan out, still it got me engrossed enough. Amazing how, at the end, when they flag up pictures of the real people featured in the movie, they look very very similar. In fact the only one who looked v different was the lesbian campaigner who in reality looked really fit, a kind of big-haired Jane Fonda type, and the heterosexual in me said, "Hmm, wish they'd cast that one a bit more accurately..." Then I turned round to the hetero in question and said, "Do you mind, this is a public theatre! And if you're meant to be hetero, what do you think you're playing at?!?"
A bit manipulative towards the end, though one couldn't help getting a few sniffles. I liked the insertion of 1970s stock footage, all colourful and a bit grainy. The film proper could have looked a bit more 1970s in style however.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
I read a review of this in Empire a while back and picked it up on DVD last week and have just got through it.
The basic premise is that Jean Claude Van-Damme has lost custody of his daughter, is broke and down on his luck. He becomes unwittingly involved in a robbery on a Belgian Post Office.
This isn't your average Van-Damme movie, there are many points were JCVD takes swipes at himself and his career. He may not be renowned for his acting abilty but he is a real force in this movie. One scene in particular where he is lifted above the set and addresses the viewers directly, giving frank views on his life and career.
I really enjoyed the film and will probably now revisit some of my old Van-Damme favourites.
I haven't seen this yet, but remember hearing on the news about filming. The news would warn people about certain parts of San Francisco and certain streets being closed for filming. The biggest closure was for a march Harvey Milk did with a lot of supporters ending with a speech at City Hall (I think it was city hall). They also re-made some of the Castro district to look like it did during the 1970's. It was interesting to see some of the stuff on the news. Maybe I should rent this and see how it turned out.
Jim Carrey vehicle...we got this as a discount rental from the local video store, when the boys rented a couple of Playstation 2 games over the weekend. I must say, the boys and I enjoyed this one quite a lot---some genuinely funny moments. Carrey is hardly stretching his range, here, but the script is fairly tight, it's extremely well-structured, and Terence Stamp has an excellent turn as a motivational speaker...this guy should be the next M :v ...
I wish I knew the name of the female lead (she's adorable)...a nice bit of Rom-Com* fun, and well worth a look for anyone looking for some light entertainment. 3.5 out of 5 stars
* Not my favourite genre...but every once in a while...
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Nifty, early film noir from 1942, with Veronica Lake and Robert ("Music Man") Preston getting the top billing, as a nightclub performer and police captain respectively...but it's really Alan Ladd, in the role that put him on the map (he's listed last in the opening credits as 'Introducing: Alan Ladd')---Raven, an assassin for hire---who owns this picture, from the opening to the final shots.
Raven is paid off for a recent job in counterfeit money, which puts the police on his trail, and revenge on his mind. Through a chance meeting with entertainer Ellen Graham (Lake), Raven gets a chance to track down the people who set him up; it's a story of wartime treachery and lives gone wrong, with police dragnets, guns and murder. Great fun, with a running time of 81 minutes. I'm a big fan of old-style B&W thrillers---perhaps the purest use of light and shadow, in terms of framing scenes of both drama and action---stark contrasts employed to reveal the infinite shades of grey within the characters portrayed B-)
Veronica Lake is quite appealing here, in a patented 'retro' kind of way---very slight of build, thin yet curvy in the right places, and improbably well-endowed :x She looks quite short next to the diminutive Alan Ladd, which means: a) those stories about Ladd standing on crates to gain height during scenes must be true, or b) Miss Lake was a hobbit. And I don't think it's 'b', because her feet are not large and hairy
But this is Alan Ladd's picture, and his performance is really quite excellent---with layers of nuance, extending from Bogart-style toughie to a wounded soul who never really had a chance at a normal life. Seeing him here, it's no wonder the little guy became such a big movie star.
Highly recommended for fans of the 'old school'; 4 out of 5 stars.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Entertaining horror from Sam Raimi. Easily the best thing he's done since A Simple Plan and streets ahead of his Spidergimp movies. A woman who works in a bank and therefore probably deserves to go to hell is cursed and must fight to prevent herself from being dragged to hell. It's technically proficient, if a little hollow; you really don't care if the heroine lives or dies and it's no match for Evil Dead 2 or American Gothic, but anything that stops Raimi from making Spiderman movies is indeed a good thing.
I can't wait until Drag Me to Hell; a horror film from arguably one of the finest directors of all time.
Anyway, I'm a big Raimi fan and I'm very much looking forward to seeing this film.
Perhaps it's the generally unenjoyable movies I've rented of late, but I really enjoyed this comedy and it easily passed by 20-minute rule. It's from the guys behind 40 Year Old Virgin, and has the same sensibility, in that while it deals with an awful situation, it offers as a kind of sop an alternative scenario. For instance, here the young couple's predicament is contrasted with the happily married, well-off couple who have two kids but an iffy marriage. In fact, I imagine a few couples in the audience might have felt a bit awkard at these scenes.
I liked Paul Rudd as usual - he would have made a good Leiter in the Craig era imo, but the two players, Seth Rogan and Katherine Heigl (who really should be more famous if this is anything to go by) work especially well together. Heigl in particular had great comic ability and lifts this up, unlike the actress who played Sarah Marshall in Forgetting...
A plot hole - the next day after their one-night stand, the guy can't recall actually having sex with her. Seven weeks later he can recall the details of why he didn't wear a condom. I think a couple of scenes might have been deleted, in particular why she doesn't have an abortion, though dwelling on that in a comedy is iffy. And it's clear the guy isn't really THAT much of a slob after a couple of scenes.
Generally I like the way it second guesses you and wrongfoots you, like when Ms Preggers and her sister take on the obnoxious nightclub bouncer and it backfires on them.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Although it was alot cooler film when I was a child, it doesn't hold up very well with age. This film of revenge between a killer whale and a stubborn fisherman, that rode the coattails of the JAWS craze back in the 70s, is beautifully shot but empty on story and none of the characters are particularly memorable outside of Richard Harris.
The film's one lasting grace is the mesmerizingly haunting score by Ennio Morricone. Has this guy ever laid an egg with his musical pieces? Not that I know of. It makes the film on a whole alot more tolerable though and prevents me from condemning the movie totally.
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
I was hoping for a dark, spooky tale in the manner of The Pit and the Pendulum, which also starred Vincent Price. Boy, was I wrong. This 1963 flick is played for laughs, but the laughs aren't that good. Price amiably hams it up as a benovolent paternal magician but you know what you're dealing with the moment a raven flies through his window and starts talking to him with a wise-ass delivery. This is Sabrina the Teenage Witch territory, The Munsters but less fun and without the groovy theme tune.
A great supporting cast such as Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and a young Jack Nicolson do little to enliven this and even at 80 minutes it outstays its welcome. This is more like a forgotten Disney flick, hoping to prompt an indulgent chuckle, and it unfolds very predictably. Rubbish special effects too, even for the time.
Oh, and then I saw a chunk of Total Recall on the telly...
{[] Like the Goldfinger of its day... even has a nod to early Bond films, such as being sucked into outer space. Arnie is great, though it's also wise to surround him with quality actors and turns, rather as they do with Hugh Grant in Four Weddings... Special mention for the Jack Nicolson type who is in pursuit of Quaid, he doesn't put a foot wrong....
"Get your a$$ to Mars.... Get your a$$ to Mars... Get your a$$ to Mars..."
Roger Moore 1927-2017
You are JUST NOW getting to the Raven?!
This AIP horror comedy might be slapdash and hokey, but I've loved it since I was EIGHT!
I hope you understand that I take your recent "review" and "extreme criticism" of this beloved low budget Corman quickie to be a lot of hot air! Pffft!!
Try "The Comedy Of Terrors". It consisits of the same cast. Along with B. Rathbone.
Perhaps you might take to it's charms.
Not Quite Hollywood
Superbly entertaining documentary about Australian exploitation films from the 1970s onwards, championed unsurprisingly by Quentin Tarantino, who is a welcome fanboy talking head. When I say documentary, we're not talking World At War here. We're talking exploding heads, voluptuous naked female bodies, snazzy cars shot from unbelievable angles; suddenly you see why Ozzie Martin Campbell's scene after the credits of GoldenEye is somewhat arresting. Though Campbell's rubbish sex comedy Eskimo Nell turns up and strangely Campbell is a no-show when it comes to talking about it.
It's divided into sections, the first dealing with the sex comedies of the 1970s - so-called 'Ocker' films which Barry Humphrey's had a hand in. Loads of naked flesh here, very much of my era growing up and so much more erotic than today's anodyne hardcore. Then it moves on to kung-fu, horror and finally car chase flicks. It's like the best and longest movie trailer you've ever seen!
Spesh mention for one of Quentin's faves, The Man From Hong Kong, which starred our very own George Lazenby and one I'll be looking to rent. Lazenby turns up as a talking head. Actually you want to rent all of them, but in truth you know that you'll probably have seen the best bits in this documentary.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Gritty late 1950s black and white British film with a stunning up-and-coming cast. It's about a guy who joins a dodgy road haulage firm where the aim among its 13 drivers is to get as many runs in a day as possible, with the foreman keeping count.
As one reviewer noted, it's got a pre-Prisoner Patrick Machoohan, a pre-Bond Sean Connery, a pre-Man from Uncle David MacCullum, a pre-Carry On Sid James, a pre-Doctor Who William Hartnell, a pre-Ipcress File Gordon Jackson, a pre-Moonraker cameo Alfie Bass (okay okay!) and a pre-Pink Panther Herbert Lom. Machoohan and Lom are virtually unrecognisable.
Connery is in a turn up and don't fluff your lines type role and is there but that's about all. The star is a pre-Zulu Stanley Baker, though Baker is an actor who doesn't seem to have the iconic longevity of his successors, perhaps because he emerged at at time when UK cinema wasn't that sexy or transatlantic in its appeal. Anyway, Baker is worth watching because you can see where Connery got much of his mannersims from, the cool, steely, alone quality. Even his hair is styled much like Connery in Goldfinger (though presumably real).
Hell Drivers is a decent flick, my only gripe being that it doesn't really stack up. Its theme is not dissimilar to Connery's The Hill, reviewed on the previous page, in that it's one discredited man kicking against unjust authority in a macho environment. But it's hard to credit that Baker's character would needlessly antagonise authority in this way, as the head foreman hasn't really provoked him much, aside from a rough greeting for the new boy.
What's more, it's established early on just how dangerously the lorry drivers have to drive to get in their daily rota, and just how shocked the rookie driver is at this, so for the very same driver to risk his and other road users' lives just to make a point doesn't seem exactly heroic.
Still, the climax is exciting enough and recalls another iconic British film of the 1960s which you'll know if you see it.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Still superb Danny Boyle movie, hardly dated at all especially as Britpop band Blur, who contribute two songs here, have reformed this summer. This is astonishingly entertaining stuff with real visual flair. That said, I'm not sure about Boyle for Bond. He's very much a Scorcese type; okay within certain limits but always needs a non-stop action narrative that never flags. Slow things down and he loses his way a bit.
Never Say Never Again - Special Edition
Bootleg Bond DVD with mostly John Barry score. Once you get past thinking of other films all the time, this is surprisingly enjoyable. Connery still looks ancient and the photography is very thin and poor (and rubbish underwater shots too) but Carrera's Fatima Blush is a lot more effective here for some reason, as opposed to just irritating, while Brandeur's Largo is less effective for some reason.
Days of Glory
Boringly titled war movie with an angle; it's about the Algerian recruits for the French army in WW2 who found their contribution ignored and sidelined. It's the sort of film that would emerge in recent years with French introspection over its race attitudes. Excellent crisp photography of their tour of duty from Italy to Marseilles, Paris, the Rhone Valley and so on. Only problem is that it's an issue movie, every scene aims to bang you over the head with how unjust their situation is and there's hardly anything else going on there. So it does seem a bit doctrinaire, it isn't subtle in its execution.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Fay :x Wray and KONG, The GOD OF SKULL ISLAND! (beats chest)
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Directed by and starring the excellent Ed Harris as a mercenary gunslinger named Virgil Cole who, along with his .08 gauge shotgun-toting partner, Everett Hitch (played by Viggo Mortensen), has been "keeping the peace for a dozen years or so."
They are summoned to the southwestern town of Appaloosa to put an end to the reign of terror of Bragg (Jeremy Irons), an evil land baron (is there any other kind in the wild west? B-) ) with a private army of enforcers who have the town in a stranglehold. Renee Zellweger is excellent here as Allie French, a piano player from St. Louis with ambiguous loyalties, who quickly enters into a a serious relationship with Cole. Aside from the always-good Irons, Lance Henriksen gets a chance to chew a bit of villainous scenery as a rival gunslinger with an agenda of his own. It was great to see Harris and Mortensen reunited from David Cronenberg's fantastic History of Violence...
The action is excellent, and realistic---gunfights at close quarters, where not every shot finds its target, and things get genuinely messy. This was based on a novel by Robert B. Parker, who wrote many cracking-good westerns besides the crime stuff for which he's probably most famous. I enjoyed Harris' direction---as an actor, he allows the body language, dialogue and conversational pacing to add nuance to every scene in an otherwise fairly straightforward, routine horse opera. He very wisely allows his DP, Dean Semler, to light and frame things in an efficient and non-flashy way. The production design is very true to the period. As a fan of this genre, I continue to be delighted that a few westerns are being made from time to time (I thought Kevin Costner's Open Range was excellent, and is a nice companion piece to this film in terms of theme and storyline).
The end title theme is performed by Tom Petty and his old band, Mudcrutch B-)
3.5 out of 5 stars.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM