Amph What was the last movie you saw? (Ver. 2)

You should check out Grandma, the Lily Tomlin vehicle from a couple of years ago. Or, well, maybe not; it's not very good. But there's a twenty minute interlude in the middle with Sam Elliott as Lily Tomlin's estranged ex-husband and it is the darkest character Elliott's ever played and he is just amazing. I remember seeing the movie and kind of thinking, "Oh, he can actually act and not just skate on charisma." Which, I mean, his charisma is to die for, so that's no insult, but I think his performance in Grandma was award worthy.

 

Darker than the time he played the big villain on the last season of Justified? Because he was pretty damn dark (and very good, and also he didn't have his mustache so it added to the disturbingness of his performance) in that.

 

Blue Thunder (1984) Roy Scheider star as a flying policeman with an experimental helicopter and PTSD from his tour in Nam. Plot is pretty vague, and still manages to hit most of the clichés of an eighties action movie. There's some pretty good helicopter flying caught on film, as well as some nauseatingly awful model F-16's.

 

Beirut. This one didn't make much of a splash this spring; it came and went from theaters before I could even catch it. But you better believe I was interested in a period political thriller starring Jon Hamm, so I was glad to finally catch up with it on Amazon Prime. Given how quickly it disappeared from theaters, I wasn't expecting too much, but it was good. Not exceptional, but a good, solid throwback to the days of sharp Cold War political thrillers for adults. Hamm is predictably excellent as a former diplomat stationed in stylish seventies Beirut, until his wife was killed in a terrorist attack. Now, in the eighties, this former star is a washed-up alcoholic summoned from mediating local labor disputes into the middle of the Lebanese Civil War to negotiate the release of his old CIA-operative buddy. He's surrounded by a solid cast, with Rosamund Pike, Dean Norris, and Shea Whigham all excellent, as he tries to navigate an unfamiliar situation in which he doesn't trust anybody. In true alcoholic style, he slips between bouts of boozed uselessness and flashes of his old brilliance, and if the script is neither brilliant nor unconventional, it's well-crafted, and gives plenty of room for tension and atmosphere. It's a really good, solid movie and I'd definitely recommend it.

 

1990 remake of Night Of The Living Dead

The lead actors were decent, but I still turned this off after about 30 minutes as the original is so much better. This remake isn't bad per se, but I just did not find it scary or really that interesting. No remake can ever top the Psycho remake for the worst idea ever; I only made it 20 minutes into that ridiculously horrible film.

I rarely give up on a movie without finishing it; I guess I'm just not into horror remakes lol.

 

The Night My Number Came Up (1955)
I always enjoy this one. It's a suspense movie about the passengers in a Dakota transport aircraft becoming increasingly worried that a dream predicting disaster for the trip is coming true. The story builds up the tension nicely, and having familiar faces amongst the passengers such as Michael Redgrave and Denholm Elliot helps a lot.

Taxi Driver (1976)
An ugly story beautifully told. I'd seen this once before, about 25 years ago on a portable 15'' TV, and though the story is how I remember it the experience is so much better for watching it on a modern wide-screen television. The cinematography is great, the acting is great, and it's got a Bernard Herrmann score. Still a depressing story about a guy you wouldn't want to spend much time around, though.

 

Savini did try though didn’t he? It was fun seeing Bill Moseley as Johnny, but yeah, this fell flat for me too.

As I am watching a lot more horror from favorite directors, the shift away from characterization stings. Fulci was a brilliant writer in terms of character for his giallo work, but he became so fascinated by gore and non linear storytelling, his films suffered because the characters were simply there to tell the story. Argento is known for not giving a fig Newton about character (Tenebrae being his most recent and excellent exception), but Romero was most consistent in caring about characters so you wanted to go on those journeys.

I think Savini got too caught up in alternate Barbara and trying to hit all the classic moments in Night for his remake to work. Nothing will top how horrifying the original Night ending is to me though. They could remake that movie til the zombie cows come home, but that awful, ironic ending...cannot touch it.

I guess I tend to ignore most horror remakes. I have a sinking feeling I will be bored off my butt with the Suspiria reimaging.

 

Predators - after seeing the mess that’s The Predator last week I thought I’d go back and watch the last film in the franchise which, like the new one, tried to expand on the world building of the franchise.

I thought Predators was a good addition, however I don’t think it was as good as the original or the 1990 sequel. But Predators isn’t a bad film at all IMO. I like the fact it throws you straight in to the action with a group of strangers and that it plays it seriously. I like the idea of 2 factions / tribes / types of Predator too.

The fact it seems to follow (copy) the original in many ways is a downside as its almost beat for beat in places. Not just in scenes but also character traits and actions.

I like the hunting dogs scene and I love the part where we see the captured Predator tied up, it really turns things on its head. The reveal of the new Predators as the drone flies in to camp is fantastic.

Lawrence Fishburnes turn is an odd one, but probably there purely for exposition purposes and I don’t mind it. I think Adrian Brody carries the film nicely as an action hero too.

So yeah overall a nice addition that for me doesn’t ruin anything that’s come before, it expands on the world building and from here it could have gone anywhere. I just didn’t expect the new one to go where it did.

 

I remember when the TV version was made, and there was some talk of competition in the armed chopper field between Blue Thunder and Airwolf. Airwolf was better.

I just watched "Angel in My Pocket", and nice Universal comedy from the late 60's with Andy Griffith as a small town pastor. It's rarely shown on TV, but I found a bootleg on Ebay, so I got it for my Mom. I think she'll like it; she likes the Mayberry shows.

 

When they made Stringfellow less moody, the show lost something.

 

A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) I recently purchased the first four movies of the series at Walmart. I watched the first one last night. It was fun to see it again after so many years. It still has some scary parts to it. The rest of the series loses something as it went on though. It was written and directed by Wes Craven.

 

I like what it aspired to do. I think Romero who rewrote his script genuinely tried to look at the story in a new lens in how he approached the character of Barbara. It is clunky at times but over the course of the film she goes through a transformation to becoming the hero instead of the character who became comatose in fear in the original.

It's what a remake should at least try to do as it tries to do new things and rectify some of the faults of the original

 

Zodiac. A mystery without a clear solution, a messy web of suspects and evidence, it's just a brilliant procedural about the obsession with finding a solution. It's firing on every level, with a fantastic cast and great direction. It's so good that it's hard to say too much about it. Just, "Boy, what a great movie."

 

13 going on 30

I have watched this film quite a number of times. It is a very funny chick flick that has a nice romance in it. The acting is good, and has some great music in it! I love the bit where 30 year old Jenna starts flirting with a 13 year old boy, always makes me lol.

 

Ghost Stories 2017 .

this is a British movie stars Andy Nyman , Paul Whitehouse . It's kind've a throwback to the anthology horror movies , but it's not tongue-in-cheek , it's seriously scary at times . It's incredibly well directed to maximise the creep factor , and Whitehouse shows what a terrific actor he is .

 

Johnny English Reborn (2011)

I’ve seen this so damn much, and it’s always a good time. Rowan Atkinson once again does a marvelous leading job. Dominic West, Rosamund Pike and David Kaluuya all do a good job as well. There’s lots of great gags (Wave your hands in the air like you don’t care!) throughout the film. I can’t decide which of the three is best, as I love them all. 8.5/10.

The Mummy (1999)

They don’t make adventure films like this anymore. Indiana Jones is obviously the best adventure series, but I’d put The Mummy second. There hasn’t really been anything like these two series ever since, but I’m hoping the Uncharted film/s will change that. Brendan Fraser is the man, and it sucks that his career suddenly came to a halt. Maybe they can cast him as Sully in Uncharted, alongside Tom Holland. I think that’d work really well. Anyway, back to The Mummy - I can’t tell you enough how much I love the cast in this film. They’re just such a joy to watch, and they share great chemistry. Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Oded Fehr and all the others are fantastic. There’s lots of laughs and thrills throughout. It’s got a nice soundtrack. It’s just so good. 9/10.

 

"Patience is a virtue!"
"Not right now it's not."

"So, you think this justifies the killing of innocent people?"
"To stop this creature, let me think... [in unison with Oded Fehr's character] yes!"

 

Sounds interesting. I didn't make it that far though, as I was not digging the first 30 minutes. I'm not much of a fan of remakes in general, but maybe I can give this one another try someday.

 

The Girl on the Train (2016)
It's a nice Hitchcock-style suspense thriller that fails to stick the landing, which is unfortunate given the cast (Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson, Justin Theroux, Luke Evans). I know it is based on a book and I suspect that third act works a lot better on the page; as it is I found the film lurches into a rather clumsy climax.

 

@Jordan1Kenobi, I thought that The Mummy was a better movie overall, but that The Mummy Returns had a better ending. The Brendan Fraser Mummy trilogy also demonstrates that you just can’t set this kind of movie in a modern setting and actually have it work. I think that that is one of the reasons why the Russell Crowe/Tom Cruise remake bombed.

 

I thought that The Mummy was a better movie overall, but that The Mummy Returns had a better ending. The Brendan Fraser Mummy trilogy also demonstrates that you just can’t set this kind of movie in a modern setting and actually have it work. I think that that is one of the reasons why the Russell Crowe/Tom Cruise remake bombed.[/QUOTE]

I still haven't seen the newer Cruise movie; and I'm usually the one in favor of movies with the strong female leads (I know the new movie has the monster being a female). The Brendan Fraser movie, at least the original one, had plenty of great moments that make it high on my desired re-watch list. As I've mentioned before, my favorite is the opening scene that takes place in ancient Egypt. Being somewhat of an Archeology buff (I graduated with a degree in Anthropology a year after the movie came out), it was right up my alley. And the rest of the movie taking place in the twenties made sense; because that's when the discoveries of the tombs in Egypt were predominantly taking place.

 

Venom I liked it.

 

Oded Fehr for the win. I cannot stand the CGI for this film, otherwise I still have a good time with the movie. As far as adventure films, I think Aquaman might harken back to stuff like that.