Last night I trudged to the second-run theater and took in Speed Racer. Some people here liked it, and I read some comments on IMDb and elsewhere that indicated the film is underrated, misunderstood, and destined to be viewed as a classic. Well, I guess I'm a philistine who just didn't get it, because I thought this movie was a dud. The racing action is frantic and confusing, sort of like watching a bunch of Hot Wheels commercials while tripping on acid. Then there's the story itself, which is overloaded and over-complicated, with too many villains, too many changes of sides, and too many Attack-of-the-Clones-ish speeches about corporatism, endorsement deals, and parts manufacturing. And it goes on for well over two hours! What's more, Speed himself is a sullen, humorless bore, and I think Christina Ricci made this film too close to Black Snake Moan, as she seems determined to put the "trick" into "Trixie." Surprisingly, though, for someone who usually hates precocious kids in movies, I thought the kid here was pretty good. Granted, the movie does have its moments, but not enough for me.
The Day The Earth Stood Still 1951 - Tony DP recommended I get my hands on the original and watch it, so I did. I have to admit once I started watching I couldn't stop. Although the films cinematography is very primitive, endless shots of various power equipment at a standstill, the story is very compelling and Michael Rennie as Klaatu is very good.
Now some AJB members seem to think the Keanu Reeves as Klaatu is a big mistake, but I tend to disagree. Klaatu is a very stoic person and Reeves can play stoic, in fact that is about all he can play, so I think it might work. From the trailer I have seen I think this remake, if it can be called that, will have a completly different storyline, so I am not sure a direct comparison can be made anyway. I think the female lead will be pretty good to.
In regards to The Sea Hawk, (singular not plural, Napoleon) It stands right there with Captain Blood and The Adventures of Robin Hood as my favorite Flynn trilogy of triumphs.
If only Rathbone played the villain instead of the good, (but not great) Henry Daniell (who didn't fence) and the love interest role was tailor made for the lovely Olivia. She even had the same lady in waiting from Robin Hood. (Una o'Connor from Bride Of Frankenstein
The Day The Earth Stood Still 1951 - Tony DP recommended I get my hands on the original and watch it, so I did. I have to admit once I started watching I couldn't stop. Although the films cinematography is very primitive, endless shots of various power equipment at a standstill, the story is very compelling and Michael Rennie as Klaatu is very good.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it Barry. We'll make a sci-fi fan out of you yet.
Now some AJB members seem to think the Keanu Reeves as Klaatu is a big mistake, but I tend to disagree.
I'm with you Barry. I love the original film as much as anyone, and I have no problem with Keanu playing Klaatu.
"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
If there's any relevance/poignancy to this project, then I can forgive casting errors. However my sixth sense is telling me that this will be a expensive, zoom shot infested, mindless time waster. With "cool" looking people and even cooler profits which will stand the test of time as much as any other in this environment of revision craziness.
Building one's financial future off the efforts of others. Bah.
Not that I was dying to see it, but I finally caught The Golden Compass. There's two hours of my life I'll never get back. What was all that about? Dust somehow or other opening a portal to a parallel universe, which I guess it can do when it comes into peoples' bodies and/or their talking animal-souls, and it can apparently be stopped by subjecting children to torture? The whole production seemed sad--cheap-looking computer effects, derivative production design, big-name actors (including the CR twins Dan Craig and Eva Green) on screen so quickly you forget they were ever there, all desperate to be accepted as another Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter. Maybe if I read the book I'd understand the muck of a story; then again, if this is the kind of kid-friendly fantasy-adventure an atheist concocts, I might just stick with those old Anglican fogies.
Never knew there was a real movie hiding behind one of the funniest comedies ever, that being 1980's Airplane!. But lo and behold, I popped in the dvd and there was the inspiration behind the madness in all of it's fabulous 50's camp glory.
The plot is identical. (Don't eat the fish!) And so many lines of dialogue are word for word! I had a hard time not laughing. This was a real treat for someone who grew up with the spoof. Heck, it was great on it's own.
A side by side comparison is needed here. Check it out.
I'm going to attempt a shorter review than I normally do. I recently saw this for a second time, and seeing as I missed the start the first time, thus seeing it complete only recently for the first time, I thought I would post here what I thought of it. Which is, that I loved it.
The film essentially tells the story of a little girl who goes missing, and is directed by the much-maligned Ben Affleck (whom, although he's not one of my favourite actors, is still IMO a pretty good actor who needs a better agent.) If Gone Baby Gone remains the only film Affleck has ever directed, he will have had a fantastic career.
The film is magnificent. The performances are all fantastic (Casey Affleck is emerging as a simply electrifying actor), the film is enormously well written and it is amazingly directed. It also features a terrific, but not entirely revolutionary, plot, and it makes stunning use of its Boston locations. I've never been to Boston, however I get the impression that the manner in which it depicts the Boston neighbourhoods, in which it is set, is genuine.
It's not perfect though. I found it to be rather self-righteous towards the end, and the plot isn't completely logical.
Anyway, I would definitely recommend this film as I think it is truly outstanding. {[]
(BTW, I couldn't help but note that it shares one of the major locations of The Departed, which bemused me. I also suspect that this review is not that mich shorter than I usually do, if at all. ) )
"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
I also saw Gone Baby Gone and while it is an impressive film, (it easily trumps Clint Eastwood's ponderous Mystic Pizza as being the best adaptation of a Dennis Lehane novel so far), the plot is routine. That's the least twistiest twist in a movie outside an M Night Scooby Doo movie. And the presence of The Wire stars Amy Ryan and Michael K Williams just reminded me of how much that show makes most crime films seem cliched and simplistic.
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,998Quartermasters
"Hellboy"
Didn't really get it. My kids enjoyed it, but...not really my thing, I guess. Never read the books, so admittedly I came to it without expectations.
Maybe I'll try it one more time before I send it back to Netflix...
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
Not the Welsh Thunderball warbler, but the bawdy romp of Henry Fielding. A five-star film with a five-star cast: young gonnabees like Albert Finney, Susannah York and David Warner, plus old stalwarts like Edith Evans, Joan Greenwood and David Tomlinson, plus the Bond connection (Diane Cilento, Connery's wife at the time) and a young Julian Glover (Kristatos).
But I didn't really get it. Finney is a likeable but not very charismatic lead, I never felt I was really rooting for him. The women never seemed very desirable, so giving the lusty antics a bad name. The scene cuts away coyly whenever there's a bit of sex, though maybe I also saw the censored version. Comedy consists of people running around speeded up, good for Benny Hill but nothing else. Edith Evans is good, and the olde worlde scenery is well done, but I didn't raise a smile, or much of anything else...
Vixen
Sadly Napoleon's flag also remained at half mast for this notorious Russ Meyer film. Amateur hour rubbish but it had a bouncy joie de vive. Vixen is the spiritually loyal but wilfully adulterous wife of a private charter plane pilot, who is oblivious to her antics. It's set in the Canadian Rockies. Vixen's antics include seducing her younger brother in the shower. As Dan Same pointed out to me via pvt message about another of my screenings, "It's not exactly Citizen Kane, is it?" )
Vixen is also racist and taunts the 'black boy' friend of her brother, who glares at her and says things like 'I'm warning you Vixen...' Vixen has a voice like Tiffany Case taunting Curly at the gas station. The racism is meant to be ironic, that she's so loose sexually but so uptight on race, but I confess that passed me by.
Bittersweet interview extra shows the actress who played Vixen looking really thin and rough; she later reveals that seeing her so large on the big screen at the time made her feel sick and triggered her anorexia. She thanks the recently deceased Meyer for giving her her 15 mins of fame... but you do look at her and think of the cost.
Things We Lost in the Fire. Halle Berry plays a woman who can't cope with the murder of her husband, David Duchovny (has Halle ever played a woman with a black husband or boyfriend?), while Benicio del Toro is Duchovny's best friend and a wannabe recovering heroin junkie. Will these two broken people be able to heal each other? If you can't answer that question you haven't seen very many movies. Yeesh--this is one of those movies that just screams, "Give me lots of Oscar nominations!" Halle gets to weep, scream, howl in anguish, and go without makeup to show how serious she is; Benicio does the obligatory cold-turkey-drying-out scene, and looks more tired than usual; and since the whole movie was obviously done on a low budget we know the producers couldn't have paid these big stars their normal fees, and that they had to have done it because the movie is so "serious" and "important." And Duchovny's character is so perfect you wonder why he doesn't rise on the third day after his murder. See this only if you like your tears jerked right out of your head.
the plot is routine. That's the least twistiest twist in a movie outside an M Night Scooby Doo movie.
I didn't mind the plot, but boy, does the film like coincidences. )
"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
Hardyboy omitted the obvious: two Bond stars in his film!
The Kingdom
This got reviewed a few pages back. An FBI team go out to Saudi Arabia on a touchy mission to find clues to a terrorist atrocity on a US civilian camp (or something). I liked it, the sort of action thriller blockbuster Hollywood do so well, but have dropped the ball over in recent years with pap like The Sentintel. Liked Jamie Foxx as the leading man, great soundtrack and fast action. Essentially it's just CSI type stuff set out in the Middle East but it camoflauges itself well. Not really plausible that a team could find anything much in just seven days, and the villains seem to be less savvy and superb towards the end of the film, otherwise the whole FBI team could have been offed within the first half hour!
Oh, a new NP thesis emerged: Barack Obama and the black leading man in the post-Iraq era. That is, blacks have the new charisma and credibility because, being politically and socially disenfranchised until now, they are largely untainted by any corrupt shenanigans of recent years.
This was a staple of my youth along with The Incredible Hulk and, ahem, Wonder Woman.
By the way, did you know the first series of Wonder Woman was set in World War II, they forwarded it to the 1970s for Series 2... In the UK we never saw that.
Six Million's pilot is very dull and slow moving, one of those pilots like a first date where it's, let's see what we think first. It's quite silent, stark and eerie, with only two or three people in it intercut with technicians doing countdowns,etc. No real insight into Steve Austin's character, no evidence of friends or family life. Actor Lee Majors picked because you could easily make an action man figure out of him: bland face, loads of hair in a side parting. There's a dodgy love interest with a nurse quietly dropped for the follow on episodes.
The next two on the disc were your usual Bond-style heroics: Polaris submarines, an underwater breathing gadget, Milk Tray man antics, black dudes guarding a warehouse of coffins, Brit Ekland, an underground lair at the finale. Steve Austin shows a bit more bionic power, they introduce that metallic whirring sound whenever he does something bionic. Majors is very broad in the beam, not fat but very wide backed. Quite good fun, if you want some insight into why Moore's Bond was top dog in his time, you could do worse than to watch this.
I really like John Cusack and he was great in High Fidelity and Gross Point Blank, but this very contrived adaptation of a Stephen King short story was awful...not even scary (and it's supposed to be a horror film) and how Samuel Jackson was convinced to be in this movie is beyond me.
I could also say I just watched Confetti {:) but I think being mostly men on here I won't even bother with a review ;% (..actaully it was pretty crap, but never mind! )
She's worth whatever chaos she brings to the table and you know it. ~ Mark Anthony
Brilliant stuff for the most part. Roger Donaldson, would-be director of QoS but he bailed, did this Jason Stratham pic about a heist in the 1970s, sort of based on a true story.
It has the 1970s look all the way through. Stephen Campbell Moore (Bright Young Things and Ashes to Ashes) was great in it, plus some other well known faces like Peter Bowles. There's a rumour on imdb that Mick Jagger has a bit part in it, unconfirmed.
A couple of daft, incongruous moments towards the end but great stuff, and brilliantly cast.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, starring QoS's Mathieu Amalric, NSNA's Max von and Sydow, and CR's Isaach de Bankole (I don't think I missed any other Bond connections). In all seriousness, I feared this movie would be a bore and a downer, but it's truly remarkable. Although he goes through most of the movie capable of moving only his left eye, Amalric gives a great performance; and the film is filled with humor, wisdom, and compassion. I was also surprised by Marie-Josee Croze, who is the embodiment of patience and sweetness as the character's therapist--I didn't recognize her as the deadly (and smokin' hot) assassin from Munich. Also amazing is that this French film is directed and produced by Americans, and the script is by a Brit. There's globalism for you!
After their existential road trip in the first films, the duo tackle politics with the kind of profundity and insight that Dan Same could only dream about. I won't spoil it for anybody by revealing any of the set-ups, but this had me in stitches. Neil Patrick Harris reprises his role from the first film, playing a parody of himself as a drug and booze fuelled hedonist, that steals the movie. Easily the most thoughtful film about life in a post-9/11 world to be made so far.
After their existential road trip in the first films, the duo tackle politics with the kind of profundity and insight that Dan Same could only dream about.
Sounds wonderful. I can't wait. :v )
"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
Vantage Point - A nice little (and short) film that has a gimmick to it. The American President has just been shot and you get to watch the story play out from various witnesses viewpoint. But, just when a key point is about to be played out, we go back to the start of the film and view the same story, but a different person's vantage point. What keeps the story progressing is the cliffhanger ending to each view.
The cast is good, Dennis Quad, Forrest Whitaker, Michael Fox, William Hurt are all good and Sigourney Weaver is along for the show with a small part.
As I said the movie is short, 90 minutes and the ending seems rushed. I got the feeling a lot of the story was left on the cutting room floor. Despite those misgivings I did enjoy the movie.
Needless sequel that owes nothing to the original, except for cameos by 80's kid stars Corey Haim, (I blinked and missed him) and Corey Feldman, who reprises his role as the comic book geek, now all grown-up and justifiably paranoid. It's almost worth renting just to see how the years have treated these two lost boys, but not quite.
This is showing at the Prince Charles cinema. However, in the end I didn't see it as it would have meant going into town again; I'd already gone in in the morning to buy a mop and bucket - I had misgivings about that because I figured Danny the landlord should be buying it as it's his place, but then I figured I could use it at my folks' place if and when I moved...
Comments
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Now some AJB members seem to think the Keanu Reeves as Klaatu is a big mistake, but I tend to disagree. Klaatu is a very stoic person and Reeves can play stoic, in fact that is about all he can play, so I think it might work. From the trailer I have seen I think this remake, if it can be called that, will have a completly different storyline, so I am not sure a direct comparison can be made anyway. I think the female lead will be pretty good to.
If only Rathbone played the villain instead of the good, (but not great) Henry Daniell (who didn't fence) and the love interest role was tailor made for the lovely Olivia. She even had the same lady in waiting from Robin Hood. (Una o'Connor from Bride Of Frankenstein
And what a terrific musical score.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it Barry. We'll make a sci-fi fan out of you yet.
Building one's financial future off the efforts of others. Bah.
Never knew there was a real movie hiding behind one of the funniest comedies ever, that being 1980's Airplane!. But lo and behold, I popped in the dvd and there was the inspiration behind the madness in all of it's fabulous 50's camp glory.
The plot is identical. (Don't eat the fish!) And so many lines of dialogue are word for word! I had a hard time not laughing. This was a real treat for someone who grew up with the spoof. Heck, it was great on it's own.
A side by side comparison is needed here. Check it out.
http://www.philosophiste.com/
I'm going to attempt a shorter review than I normally do.
The film essentially tells the story of a little girl who goes missing, and is directed by the much-maligned Ben Affleck (whom, although he's not one of my favourite actors, is still IMO a pretty good actor who needs a better agent.) If Gone Baby Gone remains the only film Affleck has ever directed, he will have had a fantastic career.
The film is magnificent. The performances are all fantastic (Casey Affleck is emerging as a simply electrifying actor), the film is enormously well written and it is amazingly directed. It also features a terrific, but not entirely revolutionary, plot, and it makes stunning use of its Boston locations. I've never been to Boston, however I get the impression that the manner in which it depicts the Boston neighbourhoods, in which it is set, is genuine.
It's not perfect though. I found it to be rather self-righteous towards the end, and the plot isn't completely logical.
Anyway, I would definitely recommend this film as I think it is truly outstanding.
(BTW, I couldn't help but note that it shares one of the major locations of The Departed, which bemused me.
Didn't really get it. My kids enjoyed it, but...not really my thing, I guess. Never read the books, so admittedly I came to it without expectations.
Maybe I'll try it one more time before I send it back to Netflix...
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Not the Welsh Thunderball warbler, but the bawdy romp of Henry Fielding. A five-star film with a five-star cast: young gonnabees like Albert Finney, Susannah York and David Warner, plus old stalwarts like Edith Evans, Joan Greenwood and David Tomlinson, plus the Bond connection (Diane Cilento, Connery's wife at the time) and a young Julian Glover (Kristatos).
But I didn't really get it. Finney is a likeable but not very charismatic lead, I never felt I was really rooting for him. The women never seemed very desirable, so giving the lusty antics a bad name. The scene cuts away coyly whenever there's a bit of sex, though maybe I also saw the censored version. Comedy consists of people running around speeded up, good for Benny Hill but nothing else. Edith Evans is good, and the olde worlde scenery is well done, but I didn't raise a smile, or much of anything else...
Vixen
Sadly Napoleon's flag also remained at half mast for this notorious Russ Meyer film. Amateur hour rubbish but it had a bouncy joie de vive. Vixen is the spiritually loyal but wilfully adulterous wife of a private charter plane pilot, who is oblivious to her antics. It's set in the Canadian Rockies. Vixen's antics include seducing her younger brother in the shower. As Dan Same pointed out to me via pvt message about another of my screenings, "It's not exactly Citizen Kane, is it?"
Vixen is also racist and taunts the 'black boy' friend of her brother, who glares at her and says things like 'I'm warning you Vixen...' Vixen has a voice like Tiffany Case taunting Curly at the gas station. The racism is meant to be ironic, that she's so loose sexually but so uptight on race, but I confess that passed me by.
Bittersweet interview extra shows the actress who played Vixen looking really thin and rough; she later reveals that seeing her so large on the big screen at the time made her feel sick and triggered her anorexia. She thanks the recently deceased Meyer for giving her her 15 mins of fame... but you do look at her and think of the cost.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
But becoming a die hard fan and truly loving cult movies isn't something that can be cultivated over night.
For those that don't get it, no explanation will suffice. For those that do, no explanation is neccessary.
Oh, and Dan is welcome to Citizen Kane. I'll take the late Russ Meyer anyday
Will check out Lorna.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
For kids.
The Kingdom
This got reviewed a few pages back. An FBI team go out to Saudi Arabia on a touchy mission to find clues to a terrorist atrocity on a US civilian camp (or something). I liked it, the sort of action thriller blockbuster Hollywood do so well, but have dropped the ball over in recent years with pap like The Sentintel. Liked Jamie Foxx as the leading man, great soundtrack and fast action. Essentially it's just CSI type stuff set out in the Middle East but it camoflauges itself well. Not really plausible that a team could find anything much in just seven days, and the villains seem to be less savvy and superb towards the end of the film, otherwise the whole FBI team could have been offed within the first half hour!
Oh, a new NP thesis emerged: Barack Obama and the black leading man in the post-Iraq era. That is, blacks have the new charisma and credibility because, being politically and socially disenfranchised until now, they are largely untainted by any corrupt shenanigans of recent years.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Indeed, but I try never to be obvious. :007)
This was a staple of my youth along with The Incredible Hulk and, ahem, Wonder Woman.
By the way, did you know the first series of Wonder Woman was set in World War II, they forwarded it to the 1970s for Series 2... In the UK we never saw that.
Six Million's pilot is very dull and slow moving, one of those pilots like a first date where it's, let's see what we think first. It's quite silent, stark and eerie, with only two or three people in it intercut with technicians doing countdowns,etc. No real insight into Steve Austin's character, no evidence of friends or family life. Actor Lee Majors picked because you could easily make an action man figure out of him: bland face, loads of hair in a side parting. There's a dodgy love interest with a nurse quietly dropped for the follow on episodes.
The next two on the disc were your usual Bond-style heroics: Polaris submarines, an underwater breathing gadget, Milk Tray man antics, black dudes guarding a warehouse of coffins, Brit Ekland, an underground lair at the finale. Steve Austin shows a bit more bionic power, they introduce that metallic whirring sound whenever he does something bionic. Majors is very broad in the beam, not fat but very wide backed.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Two words...don't bother.
I really like John Cusack and he was great in High Fidelity and Gross Point Blank, but this very contrived adaptation of a Stephen King short story was awful...not even scary (and it's supposed to be a horror film) and how Samuel Jackson was convinced to be in this movie is beyond me.
I could also say I just watched Confetti {:) but I think being mostly men on here I won't even bother with a review ;% (..actaully it was pretty crap, but never mind!
Brilliant stuff for the most part. Roger Donaldson, would-be director of QoS but he bailed, did this Jason Stratham pic about a heist in the 1970s, sort of based on a true story.
It has the 1970s look all the way through. Stephen Campbell Moore (Bright Young Things and Ashes to Ashes) was great in it, plus some other well known faces like Peter Bowles. There's a rumour on imdb that Mick Jagger has a bit part in it, unconfirmed.
A couple of daft, incongruous moments towards the end but great stuff, and brilliantly cast.
Roger Moore 1927-2017
After their existential road trip in the first films, the duo tackle politics with the kind of profundity and insight that Dan Same could only dream about. I won't spoil it for anybody by revealing any of the set-ups, but this had me in stitches. Neil Patrick Harris reprises his role from the first film, playing a parody of himself as a drug and booze fuelled hedonist, that steals the movie. Easily the most thoughtful film about life in a post-9/11 world to be made so far.
The cast is good, Dennis Quad, Forrest Whitaker, Michael Fox, William Hurt are all good and Sigourney Weaver is along for the show with a small part.
As I said the movie is short, 90 minutes and the ending seems rushed. I got the feeling a lot of the story was left on the cutting room floor. Despite those misgivings I did enjoy the movie.
Needless sequel that owes nothing to the original, except for cameos by 80's kid stars Corey Haim, (I blinked and missed him) and Corey Feldman, who reprises his role as the comic book geek, now all grown-up and justifiably paranoid. It's almost worth renting just to see how the years have treated these two lost boys, but not quite.
This is showing at the Prince Charles cinema. However, in the end I didn't see it as it would have meant going into town again; I'd already gone in in the morning to buy a mop and bucket - I had misgivings about that because I figured Danny the landlord should be buying it as it's his place, but then I figured I could use it at my folks' place if and when I moved...
Roger Moore 1927-2017