vash23n wrote:Dangit I cant remember the name of the film, but has anyone seen the post-apocalypse film with the marital arts guy (American and very white) who plays and carries around a guitar? If this is the movie that has been mentioned already I will feel very embarrassed, but I swear it seems like a different movie. This movie rocked... so corny, nothing to make you reconsider your purpose in life, just a movie with a white boy who kicks as at martial arts and also plays guitar.
I'm pretty sure you're talking about Six-String Samurai.
And REPO, we all know Labyrinth and Dark Crystal were Jim Henson's best works, but as far as Muppet films, I had to name a few.
Mr. Popo, everything Tim Curry does is gold, from Rocky Horror to Clue to Legend to It to that one episode of Psych.
vash23n wrote:Dangit I cant remember the name of the film, but has anyone seen the post-apocalypse film with the marital arts guy (American and very white) who plays and carries around a guitar? If this is the movie that has been mentioned already I will feel very embarrassed, but I swear it seems like a different movie. This movie rocked... so corny, nothing to make you reconsider your purpose in life, just a movie with a white boy who kicks as at martial arts and also plays guitar.
I'm pretty sure you're talking about Six-String Samurai.
And REPO, we all know Labyrinth and Dark Crystal were Jim Henson's best works, but as far as Muppet films, I had to name a few.
Mr. Popo, everything Tim Curry does is gold, from Rocky Horror to Clue to Legend to It to that one episode of Psych.
Mod_Man_Extreme wrote:Ahhh....The story bits do tend to take a little away from the action.
If you liked it though, you owe it to yourself to watch Shaolin Soccer. 100% more Steven Chowness abounds.
Already seen it. Totally loved it.
Kung Fu Hustle would not have been as good a movie without the story elements. Steven Chow has a nice way of humanizing his characters and making you give a shit. It's not ONLY about the action and special effects. The same is true of Shaolin Soccer(unless you see the shitty American edited version)
I also agree that Planet Terror was a great movie. I always loved Robert Rodriguez movies. He always has the right mix of style, action, humor and cheese. I've watched Desperado dozens of times and loved Johnny Depp in Once Upon a Time in Mexico.
Watch about 1/2 of Ice Age: Meltdown recently. It was entertaining, though nothing in particular really stood out compared to other movies of its type.
RyaNtheSlayA wrote:
Seriously. Screw you Shao Kahn I'm gonna play Animal Crossing.
I just watched Virtuosity, starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. It was cheap, the script was pretty dumb, and at times I just had to shake my head at the effects and plot, but all in all it was so stupid I ended up liking it. Not a great movie...or even a very good movie...but I was certainly entertained.
Ack wrote:I just watched Virtuosity, starring Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe. It was cheap, the script was pretty dumb, and at times I just had to shake my head at the effects and plot, but all in all it was so stupid I ended up liking it. Not a great movie...or even a very good movie...but I was certainly entertained.
Lol I loved how the part with the bomb and the computer at the end made no sense. They were just like. . . hey, it's 1995, nobody knows anything about computers. Denzel will just figure out how to stop it. . . somehow.
A Clockwork Orange – This is the film that really turned me on to Kubrick’s work, and years later it holds up as one of his best. It oozes style the way that few films can, and manages to marry its design to a genuinely captivating and thought provoking narrative. It is funny how my reaction to this film has changed over the years. When I first saw it in high school I focused on the new-to-me excessive violence and sex (in much the same way that Tarantino films once appealed to me). It was titillating. In college I got caught up in the existential/philosophical dimensions of the film and came to both admire the protagonists’ spirit and to disdain the antagonistic institutions that sought to curb it. In my early 20s I really seized on the aesthetic dimensions of the film and admired it for those reasons above all. Now, a few months from 30, I was for the first time genuinely horrified by almost everything in the film (the rape, in particular, struck a nerve with this now married man) and appreciative of Kubrick’s ability to craft such soul-stirring scenes. The fact that this film feels so fresh every time I sit down to view it makes it hands-down one of my all time favorites.
Grade: 5/5
Unforgiven – This is a film that, while still strong on its own merits, is more important for the signal change it introduced in the Western genre (for mainstream audiences, anyway) and in Eastwood’s career. The film works best when it creates a sense of openness and despair through either the sweeping scenery or when the dialogue focuses on Eastwood’s internal struggles. The film fits the definition of a “slow burn” in my book – everything builds up to the last few minutes and makes them some of the most exhilarating moments in Western movie history. That said, much of this has been done better since and the inverted tropes of Unforgiven have become standard. Nonetheless, it’s been great to see Eastwood move on from his work here and take similar creative approaches to other genres.
Grade: 4/5
Transporter 3 – The Transporter movies are a guilty pleasure, but it is certainly a series where each sequel is a little worse than the previous effort. This one combines plot elements from Transporter 1 with something like Crank (both better films) and the result is hit and miss. In a genre where the strength of action carries the day, many of the stunts struck me as at best nods to earlier films in the series and, at worst, as retreads. That’s not to say there’s not some impressive stunt work or a lack of eye candy – I jut got the distinct sense that I’d seen it before.
Grade: 2.5/5
Dark City – This was the first time I saw the director’s cut of the film, and I must say that I liked it more than I had in previous viewings where the narrative seemed truncated. However, this is a film that, like Unforgiven above, suffers from better films in the same vein being produced since it was released. The story is less imaginative than the setting and characters are (this is probably my favorite Kieffer Sutherland role) and I get the sense that Proyas just tried to do too many things . In particular, the climactic battle towards the end of the film falls a little flat and feels cartoony – not the payoff I had hoped for considering the gravity of everything leading up to it. Still, this is about as great an example of film-noir meats dystopian science fiction as you’ll find from the early 90s.
Grade: 3.5/5
First Blood (Rambo 1) – I had only seen Rambo 2 and Rambo 3 before, so when I had a chance to pick up all four of the films on the cheap I decided I’d bite. This film is very different from its sequels (more on those next review post) and is better at providing some social commentary in a way that the latter films can’t match. Viewed in the context of other Vietnam-War films that had been released up to the point when this came out, the film really stands out as a novel approach to the anti-hero. Viewed in the context of the other Rambo films, the action is a little flat.
Grade: 3/5
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)– Though some might say it is a good thing, I bemoan the fact that they don’t make them like this anymore. This is an extremely colorful and charismatic approach to the Robin Hood legend which manages to both include all the expected elements and still keep the modern viewer interested. Errol Flynn is easily the best Robin Hood the cinema has seen and his captivating performance here is a study in why he was such an engaging star. The sets are elaborate, the cast is huge, and the production is a spectacle to behold. I am perhaps in the minority in that I am also a big fan of 1991's Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and think both deserve their due credit, but this film is still better than the updated version and stands as a testament to the dawn of technicolor.
Grade: 4/5
We have a newborn at home so I am not sure how often I'll be out to see/review new movies. That said, I've been plowing through my growing Blu-Ray collection and will continue to post about older films for a while. I've also started watching the complete Ray Bradbury Theater series, so expect some thoughts on that in the future.
Next up: Rambo 2, 3, and 4, The Searchers, and more!
Last edited by dsheinem on Tue Jul 14, 2009 3:00 pm, edited 2 times in total.
