Amph What was the last movie you saw?

Rambo: First Blood - Part 2

It seems that the Rambo franchise stops thinking as of George P. Cosmatos' directed sequel. First Blood Part 2 minimally continues chronologically and thematically where its predecessor finished. Where First Blood established a wounded character with a thought provoking story, Part 2 literally goes in guns blazing and reverses the depth and maturity of the first film. In Part 2, Rambo fails to follow orders by not only engaging the enemy but killing any VC soldier on sight. There's little tactic or restraint to his approach resulting in a perilous situation made more dangerous. As with First Blood, the events in this film could have been easily avoided except this time around it is all the more far-fetched and borderline comedic. The action is fast, the explosions are large and the gun fire loud. Of course, this makes for a very entertaining film.

At no point did I want to switch the film off in disgust - I wanted to do was keep watching. But, my enjoyment stemmed from wanting to see the ridiculous heights the spectacle could reach rather than experience the inner turmoil of the lead character. This is why Rambo disappoints - it's mindless fun which, of course, is not a bad thing. But, compared to the standard of its predecessor in its ability to combine drama, action, and political commentary, Part 2 under delivers the promise established by the first film.

Although there are attempts at drama (a cliched, one note "romance" subplot) and political commentary (laughably oversimplified plea of clemency for the soldiers), all of these attempts are undone by the testosterone fueled pacing of the film. The entire final forty minutes is pure action minus build up or tension. Rambo's emotional outburst from the "agony" endured in the mission is comedic gold. Throw in a sappy power ballad sung by one Frank Stallone over the closing credits and you may have one of the greatest Apocalypse Now parodies ever made. But at least I enjoyed watching the film have endless slews of fun.
3 out of 5

 

Yeah, I know, right?

Why, Pixar, why?

 

Taken (2009)

This was really good. Love Liam Neeson. Do I have to say how good his threat was? 5/5

 

Excellent reivew.

The novel hammers home these points even more poignantly. I'd love to see someone make a low budget much more faithful adaption of the story. I understand why Stallone tweaked the title character just a bit though, but a part of me wants to see the novel redone as a period piece.

 

It really is so good. McDowell is great, but I also really adore Chris Sarandon's performance. He's totally committed, I give him that, and often very funny.

Long time defender of this movie. Yes, I know, Costner's accent, Christian Slater, etc. But it's just so wildly entertaining. Morgan Freeman is a blast. And it could never be less than a must see just for Rickman. Oh, and Kamen's score really is gorgeous. Gives the film a lot of the heft it might otherwise be missing.

 

The best line from Fright Night: "Welcome to Fright Night...for real." Not just the line, but how Chris Sarandon delivers it.

 

Yeah, it's a pretty exclusive club . It was never a critical darling, but it was a HUGE hit, and I remember people generally liking it at the time. But somewhere between the Summer of 1991 and the mainstreaming of the internet it became cool to hate it if Google searches are any indication.

Now I've got an itch to revisit the Patrick Bergin version from that same year. I've only seen it once, but I remember it as a joyless, dour slog of a movie. But there is Uma Thurman at her most luminescent. Or is that Umanescent?

 

My mother and I are big fans of this one too. It's predictable and a bit 90s camp, but I love that about it: it's a movie that knows exactly what it's audience wants to see and it delivers, but without going completely over the top. And Azeem is probably my all time favorite Morgan Freeman character.

 

The Martian. It was very good. It was less technical, got laughs, and was fun all around. They left out the best line from the book; "My ******* is doing as much to keep me alive as my brain." But oh well.

For you nerds the Lord of The Rings scene is worth the price of admission.

 

Ever since childhood I've liked just about anything in the Robin Hood-verse so I'm partial to that film without going out of my way to defend it.

Princess Mononoke- for the first time ever and on the big screen. Somehow I had never gotten around to seeing this. It's up there with his better works for sure. I found Billy Bob's voice distracting but maybe that's just me. Insert all the usual Miyazaki praise, what else can you say?
Like The Wind Rises it takes on war, even man's war against nature, with nuance instead of simplicity. Will need to see it again as it's a big rush the first time around.

 

Thanks!

I didn't even know there was a book, I just assumed it was his response to Michael Cimino's Deer Hunter.

 

First Blood by David Morrell. eBooks available too.

 

The Martian.

 

The X-Files: I Want To Believe

There's an interesting line spoken by Scully to Mulder around the half way point of the film where she says that she wants a life away from the FBI. Scully claims that she is getting older and she wants to look away from the darkness. She implores upon Mulder to do the same by looking into himself rather than into the darkness in which most of his time is spent. This scene underpins precisely why the second X-Files film does not work. Chris Carter's sequel to Fight The Future does not reflect the series because it is established early on that both Mulder and Scully have resigned from the FBI since the show's end. Instead, the film portrays them as consultants or assistants to the FBO. Therefore, for most of the film, Mulder and Scully are not leading the story of The X-Files: I Want to Believe. Instead, most of the film is driven by the characters plays by Connolly, Peet, and Xzibit since the case revolves around those characters.

It is not until the last thirty minutes of the film that this feels like a bona fide X-Files installment because most of Mulder and Scully's dialogue up until this point refers more to their personal lives after the FBI and far less on the investigation. Therefore, most of the story within I Want To Believe would not even work as a regular X-Files episode because it spends so little of the time resembling The X-Files as a result of Mulder and Scully feeling more like two cameo roles in an FBI sci-fi procedural drama.

The story itself is very thin adnd below the standard of traditional X-Files fare while the "guest" roles are either unnecessary (Peet and Xzibit) or just creepy and distracting (Connolly). Somewhere within I Want To Believe there may have been a good episode to fill out a season. While it was good to see Duchovny and Anderson work as a team (eventually), the overall premise of a true X-Files story was left undelivered.



2 out of 5

 

I see you're going through Netflix streaming new additions as well. Looking at the 2 hrs 23 minutes length I expected this to be the extended edition but it is the theatrical one. I didn't realize it was that long. I really liked this when I first saw it, with my excitement propelled by the Kenner toy line with the Star Wars-esque packaging, and it is one of the few videotapes I bought new back then. There hadn't been an action adventure movie with unexpected wit, neat stunts, and a rousing score like this in a couple of years, which was a long time when I was younger.

 

Something I meant to say, this movie is what interstellar could have been despite it also taking a scientific liberty or two.

 

Seeing the Martian really made me wonder why there haven't been more movies like The Martian: great hard sci fi about exploring the solar system. Europa Report really tried I think in its goofy low budget way.

Part of it may be that the public has come to realize that manned exploration of the solar system is an empty-headed fantasy. No one wants to see that kind of sci fi. I'm not sure general audiences want to see any kind of sci fi any more.

But sometimes fabulous storytelling can bring in people who wouldn't normally care about the genre.

 

The top-grossing movie of the year is about a theme park populated by genetically-engineered dinosaurs, and the only movie that can beat it is about people zipping around in FTL ships and manipulating a semi-conscious energy field. Another likely high-grossing film is an adaptation of a teen novel about the dumbest government in dystopian fiction. I think you're giving audiences too little (too much?) credit regarding suspension of disbelief.

I think it's really that there don't seem to be many approaches to take to "hard" sci-fi space exploration. Either they find aliens (or future humans) or have to survive a rather limited variety of mishap(s), often both-- or whatever the **** happened in Sunshine.

 

You try to explain that to Elon Musk.

 

The Martian. Outstanding. The audience I was with loved it, so it's good to see that nobody actually cares what planet's name is in a movie title. Scott shows a surprisingly deft touch with the book's humor, keeping it a light, rousingly entertaining crowd-pleaser while maintaining the scientific drama of Watney's plight. The script does a pretty good job of streamlining the book, though I was disappointed to see some of the more interesting scenarios from Weir's parade of horribles passed over (ditching the loss of communications due to the drill accident is particularly puzzling, since not only does it heighten the drama at a key point, but it's key to the whole logic behind the piracy joke, of which the film makes much). It doesn't quite capture the deep nerdery and intensity of the science drama of Weir's book as a result, but it still makes for a keen, propulsive science-fiction survival thriller. It looks great, has an absolutely stellar cast, thrills, inspires, and leaves a huge smile on the face.

It was so good that I didn't want to do anything but keep chasing that movie-watching high, so I rented Ex Machina. The Martian was great, but this was even better. Domhnall Gleeson is a programmer invited out to the remote retreat of his tech-billionaire boss, Oscar Isaac, to test an artificial intelligence, Alicia Vikander. Gleeson is great as a nobody sucked into a bizarre situation, caught up in the process while surrounded by total weirdness. Isaac is amazing as the mysterious, abrasive, hard-drinking, reclusive genius. And Vikander is flat-out something else entirely as a robot struggling to understand her humanity. It's a thoughtful, intelligent film that develops wonderfully, and I was amazed at how perfectly it nails the constant, unsettling sense of deep unease with whatever is actually going on here. It's got to be one of the best debut films I've ever seen -- beautifully shot and brilliantly written by Alex Garland. Easily the best movie of the year so far.

 

Halloween 6: The Curse of Michael Myers. Watched the Producers Cut, then the deleted scenes, then stuck in the other disc to watch the theatrical ending. Still like the Producers Cut ending better. The strobing effect in the Theatrical Cut hurts my eyes.

 

'Monty Python and the Holy Grail',

Man I have a complex relationship with this film. I sort of love and am annoyed by it at the same time. Some comedies are brilliant but they simply cannot be watched over and over and over again. 'Holy Grail' is probably the best example of this. I used to love this one and probably watched it more than I should. When it is on it's A game it matches the best the Pythons ever did. The problem is that 'Holy Grail' is the perfect example of what happens when a cult film becomes mainstream and loses all it's charm from overexposure. I know I sort of sound snobbish but 'Holy Grail' was better when not everyone was in on the joke.

I recommend at the very least a year between viewings of this one. The problem is I know some people who love it and never grow sick of it. It's the only reason I rewatched it so quickly.

 

Actually, this one came straight out of my own collection, but I'm glad to hear it's on Netflix because I have a few people I want to recommend it to and now I don't have to loan them my copy . It should also increase traffic on its IMDb board, which means more chances for discussion.

I should've mentioned in my review that I watched the extended edition, which I believe runs 2 hrs. 35 min. The most significant addition - and it is significant - is

Spoiler

the subplot where the Sheriff's Witch is revealed to be his Mother (and a fraud) and the one pulling the strings behind all of the machinations

. Personally I prefer the theatrical release, not only because it's more streamlined, but because it leaves that original dynamic in tact.

And its success inspired at least one film--Disney's Three Musketeers, which followed its model to a T. The pop ballad, which not only sees your Bryan Adams, but raises you a Sting and a Rod Stewart, a score by Michael Kamen, Tim Curry channeling Rickman as Cardinal Richelieu (though much more subdued) and it even has Michael Wincott playing Captain Rochefort, virtually indistinguishable from his role as Sir Guy of Gisbourne!