Amph What was the last movie you saw?

Sabotage (2014) - With an $18 million worldwide gross and a %19 RT score, David Ayers' Sabotage typifies Arnold's comeback. But unlike efforts before and since, I honestly feel this one gets a bad rap. It's a relentlessly grim and unpleasant film, featuring a cast of characters that are extremely unlikeable. So much so that before the plot kicked in I struggled to find any emotional purchase here. But once Olivia Williams' character is introduced and the dominoes start to fall, I found Sabotage to be a well acted and intriguing mystery in the mold of Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians. Surrounded by a strong supporting cast, Arnold--who has looked either rusty or bored (or both) since his comeback--gives his best performance in years. But the standout for me was Olivia Williams, who is fantastic (dodgy attempt at an American by way of Atlanta accent aside). I loved the way her character was written, and she really steals the movie out from under her costars in the same way Tommy Lee Jones did in The Fugitive. I desperately want to see an Investigator Caroline Brentwood movie.

It certainly has its missteps and Ayer lays on the sleaze and gore to the point that they stop being effective and start to become comical, but I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Sabotage, and unlike most of Arnie's recent stuff, I think it deserved a better fate. - 6.5/10

 

Yeah it's his best comeback film easily, though The Last Stand is pretty darn fun too.

 

I've only watched The Last Stand once, but it more or less delivers as an unambitious diversion (there's a backhanded compliment ). But to me Arnold seemed a bit rusty there. A rust he hadn't seemed to shake until Sabotage. It's not award caliber or anything, but he definitely feels invested in the material.

 

See, Sabotage is the only Arnold comeback film that I think deserved its terrible reception. I haven't seen Maggie, but The Last Stand and Escape Plan were both enjoyable, if minor, non-blockbuster-style action movies. The Last Stand did a good job of riffing on Arnold's age without pushing it too far, and maintaining a light, fun comic tone, while Escape Plan was a pretty solid prison-escape thriller in which Arnie was easily the best thing. And Terminator: Genisys was a fairly mediocre blockbuster -- palatable, but unexceptional -- but no more so than Jurassic World, which set box office records. Sabotage, though, was just unrelentingly awful. It's a joyless grimfest with no relatable or enjoyable characters (indeed, no characters whatsoever, none of them having any characterization deeper than their tattoos) and no reason for an audience member to get anything out of the experience. Olivia Williams is a good actress, but she's got nothing to work with here, and Arnold is given nothing to do but look dour for two hours. I hated everything about it.

 

Havac, yours is clearly the majority opinion, and in part it's that overwhelmingly negative response that kept me from watching it until now. But as it turned out, many of the reasons so many people seemed to dislike it are exactly why it worked for me. I remember the trailers setting it up more as an action picture, which it's not. And the lack of likeable characters (though I continue to champion Williams' character as extremely likeable; one of the best I've come across in a while) is sort of the point.

I also give Arnie credit for going outside his comfort zone. The Last Stand was generic and safe. Escape Plan sort of gimmicky. Whether it worked or not is subjective, but I'm glad he stretched his wings a bit.

 

It was nice to find 2001 on Netflix. Rewatched it. It still shows up in current movies like The Martian. I'm not even sure it's possible to do a hard sci fi movie about near future space exploration without referencing it.

Too bad Kubrick wasn't exactly a visionary about gender roles. I think there's exactly one woman in the movie who isn't manning a reception desk or serving food.

However, I also rewatched Haskin's 1953 War of the Worlds last night, in which Ann Robinson does not allow the impending extinction of the human race to prevent her from serving coffee to every man she sees.

 

Agreed, Kubrick -- for all his progressiveness in the cinematic arts -- was hardly a feminist. From Lolita to Clockwork Orange to Eyes Wide Shut, his view of women (at least as it came though in his films) was strictly gender-roled as subservient helpers of men. Yeesh, I love his films but this aspect has to be taken with a grain of salt.

 

Gravity:

The most interesting aspect of the Alfonso Cuarón directed film is less about the visuals (amazing though they are) and more about the sound which makes the atmosphere of Gravity so rich. Steven Price's soundtrack adds to the overall feel of the film by sounding as though it took inspiration from 1970s BBC Radiophonics mixed with strings, brass and modern electronica. The mix and style is very subtle by keeping away from a Hans Zimmer style of score. Space sounds very much as it looks - lifeless, isolating, and absolutely chilling. Sound wise, Gravity is absolutely perfect because of the sense of vacuum captured by the film. Meanwhile, the visuals work best when they are at their most still because that's where their detail and depth are best characterised. Some of the faster and more violent visuals are disorientating.

Performance wise, Sandra Bullock gives the performance of her career because Gravity is by far the role which has challenged her the greatest. While some moments feel a little flat, she takes to the role with both hands and reinvents herself as an actress since the script does not invite for much dialogue given that she spends most of the film alone, separated from her team. There is one shot in this film which makes for a clear highlight: Bullock's character enters the Chinese Space Station and is elated to be able to remove her space suit and begin breathing oxygen without it. She strips and simply floats and hangs, curled up like a newborn baby.

It's a beautiful image. When combining the sound and visuals, Gravity is less of a film but more of an experience and a thrilling one. Most of the conventions of a modern day Hollywood sci-fi are eschewed and the focus instead is on emotion and atmosphere. For the most part this works outstandingly, there are just a few moments where Gravity is a little caught in its style of its own good which can be at the expense of the story and developing an attraction for the character we care about.

4 out of 5

 

I think my favorite moment of War of the Worlds is when Ann Robinson tells Gene Barry (in a very flirty way) that she teaches library science at USC. Talk about whacking 1953 audiences over the head with progressive gender characterizations! Ouch!

 

I never saw Bad Boys upon initial release because I was too young to be let into the cinema to see it. This is same issue would also prevent my friends and I from seeing Saving Private Ryan when it was released due to the then introduction of the MA rating which would bar anyone under 15 from seeing a film with this rating unless accompanied by an adult. For me, Will Smith in the 1990s was about Fresh Prince, Independence Day, and Men In Black. Back then, to see him take on such an attitude driven role with some hard boiled delivery was strange for me to see in the trailers.

As for my timing, I had no idea that BB3 was in the making. I was browsing through Netflix and felt it was time I finally saw this film. Ultimately, its execution doesn't marry up with its concept because of marketing.

I mean, they have this song playing over one scene in the film:



I like this song as a smooth, funky pop song. But this is Bad Boys. when I think Bad Boys, I think:




Michael Bay spent way too much time playing down to the audience in Bad Boys. I'll check out the sequel this weekend.

 

The 90s was probably the peak of the movie soundtrack as promotional item. Most movie studios are/were affiliated with record companies, so one hand washes the other. The song promotes the movie, the movie promotes the song. And I recall "Shy Guy" being a pretty big hit (almost certain the video had clips from the movie, too). That was the last I saw if Diana King though.

That can be applied to most Michael Bay films .

Cool, curious to see what you think. You've inspired me to watch the first one again and finally check out the sequel.

 

You're saying that for show. Larry Niven is your favorite sci-fi author!

2001 was the first movie I saw that made me feel ill-at-ease without being out-and-out horror. Only later did I understand the point, and I think it's awesome.

 

I know, Niven is awful.

 

What clicked for you with Williams's character, out of curiosity? She wasn't an animal like the rest, but I don't recall her being that interesting. She struck me as just another instance of the generic female cop/weary investigator type, who randomly falls for the male lead because he's so amazing and not because it makes any real sense. Williams is a good actress, and I liked her rapport with her partner, but other than that I just didn't see the character as having much going on, certainly not enough to elevate the film. If she had actually gotten the lead treatment, with appropriate screentime, and a sharper script, I think there could have been a really interesting setup in her investigating these out-of-control cops, but I don't think we got it.

Anyway, I agree that the lack of sympathetic characters could have been interesting if the film had done something with it, but I don't feel like it did. It was grim and nihilistic for its own sake, because it's edgy and cool and extreme bro, rather than because it really had anything to say. It wasn't making an artistic statement through its ugliness, it was just an ugly movie for the sake of nihilism-chic, and as a result it seemed more mindlessly trashy than intriguingly ambiguous.

Arnold wasn't bad at all, and it wasn't quite his typical role because it didn't play to his goofy charisma at all, but I don't think it really pushed him that much to just frown through the movie. He's done the stoic badass before, though this was certainly better acting than John Matrix. The Last Stand was definitely playing it a little generic, but I thought that Escape Plan was actually a decent wander outside his comfort zone by making him a smart-aleck, clever-badass sidekick. It was definitely a very different role from the leading man stuff he's used to, and a good experiment in making his persona work as a supporting character who's more than just a gimmick cameo.

 

His views of men, however...

 

When it came out, at least when I saw the trailer, Bad Boys looked like Simpson/Bruckheimer going through the motions with Michael Bay hired to make it look like their Tony Scott movies, with his own quirks.

Someone Like You
I just felt like watching turn-of-the-century Ashley Judd, motivated by the realization I hadn't seen her in this kind of role. At some point, just about every actress with popularity or acclaim does the romantic comedy with bouncy music and a wisecracking best friend or relative or pet.

 

Mysterious Footworks of Kung Fu (1980) The things I sit through for my Chan Wai Man fix. As usual, he's terrific as the vicious big bad. And also too common, he gets offed way too early by the annoying leads (including the worst interpretation of Beggar Su I've come across.) I stopped caring after he went kaput. This is why I prefer Shaw Brothers to most indies, they have better stories and characterization for most of the roles. 1/10

 

Touche. I think it's fair to say he was a misanthopist in the all-inclusive sense rather than narrowing it down to plain old misogyny.

 

Broken Oath (1977) I've seen this before, but I still have issues outside of the main villain. Pure Lotus Lius' (Angelo Mao - or Captain Scowl as I call her) parents were accosted by mercenary bandits. The father murdered, the mother raped. So little Pure Lotus ultimately grows up in a temple (not very successful with the happy thoughts, but instead she grows into a kung fu tigress.) Meanwhile, her family's attackers are doing quite well for themselves 20 years on until Liu seeks revenge for her parents on the very men who created her and destroyed her family.

Yeah, it's Lady Snowblood done Golden Harvest style.

Angelo Mao has one expression: Pissed off. What she lacks in acting abilities, she more than makes up for with Kung Fu prowess. I get that the character is an empty, revenge driven shell, but the reason why Mao hasn't clicked with me is simple. I want a little bit of character with that awesome kung fu. Whatever I've seen her in, she's the same monotone... so her terrific techniques are almost pushed to the side.

So why bother? Chan Wai Man playing another older evil power monger - Zhao Cai- with as much nasty political savvy as his painful looking kicks and chops. He makes this movie and what little compassion I felt for Pure Lotus was purely because of Zhao Cai. Some actors can lure me to watch them in everything. Chan Wai Man, like David Chiang, is one of those actors.

6/10 for Zhao Cai, 4/10 for the movie and Angela's Kung Fu.

 

Airplane! (1980) – Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Jerry Zucker

It’s Lieutenant Hurwitz. Severe shell-shock. Thinks he’s Ethel Merman.

You’ll be swell, you’ll be great. Gonna have the whole world on a plate. Startin’ here, startin’ now. Honey, everything’s coming up roses . . .

War is hell.

Well, there’s kind of no point. It holds up. It’s still hilarious. It’s a film with influences that continue to this day and it’s kind of like a more earnest Marx Brothers movie: if you have four jokes a minute, odds are one of them will be hilarious, but be sure and keep a straight face. And it is one of the most gut-bustingly funny movies ever. The cast is really brilliant, particularly the veteran character actors: Peter “grown man naked” Graves, Robert “sunglasses” Stack, Lloyd “sniffin’ glue” Bridges and, best of all, Leslie Nielsen who has a deadpan to die for: “What was it we had for dinner tonight?” “Well, we had a choice of steak or fish.” “Yes, yes, I remember, I had lasagna.” But I’m going to stop now because any attempt to talk about this movie just devolves into a litany of great lines and hilarious sight gags and brilliant bits. Surely you know what I mean. 4 stars.

tl;dr – anarchic comedy classic is still brilliant, astounding and hilarious; those deadpans are to die for. 4 stars.

More Movie Reviews!

 

"But that's not important right now."

 

The Lady from Shanghai. I love the studio era of filmmaking. The big studios are easily tarred as meddling bad guys holding back the age of the auteur, but they produced a ton of great films at an impressively consistent level of quality; even the most forgettable studio film is usually a professionally-crafted bit of enjoyable entertainment. They had a system so good that they could just take a bunch of guys on the payroll and try to knock off a four-year-old film nobody remembers anymore and produce freaking Casablanca. That said, goddammit, studios, why'd you have to mess with Orson Welles?

Yet another Welles project that was taken away from him, The Lady from Shanghai was extensively meddled with, with over an hour cut from the film; it's infuriating not to be able to see Welles's vision for it. Still, it's a great noir. Welles plays an Irish sailor convinced, against his better judgment, into taking a job aboard the yacht of a married woman who flirted with him. From there, things only get more and more off-kilter, as Welles is cooped up not only with his temptress, but her caustic lawyer husband, who makes up for being crippled by being condescending and domineering; his creepy, obnoxious, questionably sane law partner; and a prying jackass of a steward. Welles does an incredible job of building up a creepy, unnerving atmosphere, and makes shadowy noir style feel at home in the burning sun of the Caribbean. I also really appreciated that Welles avoided the quick descent into corruption of most noir, in which the protagonist, immediately smitten by the femme fatale, almost instantly succumbs to temptation and goes from everyday Joe to criminal. Instead, Welles spends a long time struggling to resist his attraction, constantly threatening to quit but never going through with it, trying to do the right thing without being willing to commit to it. It's a slow slide and makes for a very effective character and good psychological noir. Tremendous atmosphere, solid writing, great-looking and inventively shot, it's what you'd expect from Welles. Top-notch noir.

 

It's probably a combo of 1.) I was expecting her character to simply be a foil or generic plot facilitator. But the script and Williams' performance gave her more depth and personality than such characters are typically afforded. It's nothing deep, but there was an effort there to shade this supporting character, maker her human. That goes a long way with me. Far from being a generic cop archetype, she felt more real to me. I'd give %80 of the credit for that to Williams, but I felt there was clearly an attempt to make her more 3D in the script. 2.) What's the old saying about the one-eyed man in the land of the blind? Lots of good actors in this movie, but Arnie's team are virtually indistinguishable from one another (save for the female officer, who I initially liked, but the character and the actress go a bit too gonzo at the end, sapping all credibility), all being loudmouthed, dimwitted sleazeballs. They play them well, but it's all just varying shades of flannel until Williams shows up.

Agreed (mostly). I mentioned it had its flaws, and that's certainly one of them. I will say that I give it some props for at least creating and sustaining an atmosphere. It's one of those movies that leaves you feeling as if you've been wallowing around in the trash. Unpleasant as that is, misguided as it ultimately might be, I'll take that over a generic atmosphere any time.

In the first act I thought Arnold was in pure generic stoic mentor mode, but as the movie goes along he peels that back a bit, layer by layer, and humanizes the character. The only betrayal of this is what surely must've been an ad-lib during the scene where Arnie is being interrogated by feds and he laments about one of the guy's %48 body fat. Funny moment, but it felt more like Ahnold and less like John Wharton.

I was surprised by Arnie taking the sidekick role in Escape Plan, and honestly that might be the template for him moving forward. I still think an aging Conan provides him with his juiciest post-political role, but it might be time for him to evolve into a supporting player. Sometimes less is more.

Oh, and his being cast as the new host of The Apprentice? Hand. Glove.

 

I know what you mean, and don't call me Shirley.