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

Therefore you must like Twins

 

Rambo First Blood part 2 having watched the original (and best) last week I thought I’d give the sequel a go. I don’t think I’ve watched this for over 30 years, but everything was still as I remember it and it took me back to a time in the mid 80s when I was obsessed with Stallone in this, Rocky 4 and Cobra. I also had the posters up on my wall and the games for my ZX Spectrum.

The film has pretty much jettisoned what made the original so good and turned him into an indestructible hero. Freed from prison to be sent on a mission to find and photograph evidence of POWs still in Vietnam. Of course he finds POWs and can’t help but rescue one of the them. But betrayed by the authorities that sent him Rambo is captured and tortured by the Russians who are complicit with the Vietnamese forces. Rambo escapees, kills everyone, frees the hostages and returns back to base to deliver a rousing message about how veterans have been treated.

There are lots of memorable scenes in this, they even try to reenact the originals forest hunt here but in the jungle. Switch your brain off and it’s typical 80s mindless action fare that’s all utterly ridiculous when you see how many people he’s actually up against.

 

Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2
This is the trilogy's ESB to the first one's ANH. A little less fun, but deeper and more emotional, and new characters bringing a lot to the story.

 

Sheba, Baby. A PG-rated blaxploitation movie would seem to miss the point, yet Sheba, Baby works. It’s not particularly gritty or complex, and is fairly bland. And the acting is . . . not great. But it’s a solidly put together, enjoyable piece of pulp. It overwhelmingly has the look and feel of a Rockford Files episode that’s somehow starring Pam Grier, but by my lights that’s no bad thing.

Grier plays a private eye who heads back to her hometown to help her father, who’s being leaned on by mysterious heavies who want him to sell out his small, community-oriented loan center. She roughs some guys up and follows the trail back to a sleazeball with a yacht, and it all ends with a jet ski, a speedboat chase, a harpoon gun, and an unnecessary explosion: everything you need for a satisfying ending. She’s even got a love interest/sidekick with the outstanding blaxploitation name of Brick Williams. It’s got all the pieces, and they’re put together more than well enough to entertain. It doesn’t deserve more praise than that, but for what it’s trying to be, it doesn’t need it.

 

Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special
This one parodies holiday specials with as much love and care as Galaxy Quest did to Star Trek. The production and writing have the perfect amount of cheese to be hilariously funny without being mean, and it earns some real heartfelt warmth. Great stuff.

 

AVENGERS INFINITY WAR (2018)

Yes, this is a re-watch and yes, probably anyone remotely interested has already seen this, so... will keep it short. I still find it amazing. It's hard to believe that, with this many characters, so many can have "their moments". Thanos is a fantastic villain (although he definitely has more of a sadistic streak than some seem to want to admit). Chadwick Boseman has a wonderful gravitas - it's not the script giving him amazing lines, it's his PRESENCE. Really enjoyed how, at least here, Dr Strange is presented as a colder, pragmatic contrast to some of the other heroes (its cool when heroes aren't all given the same basic personality). My only misgiving is on behalf of Hulk fans. He gets his butt kicked in the first five minutes and never gets anything to do for what, the next five, six hours (sorry, but "brainy Hulk", as much as I like him, is just Banner on steroids to me). One of the best superhero movies ever, and one of the best "spectacle" movies ever (for me!). Maybe its ubiquity has tarnished its luster for some, but I am still wowed.

 

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
I liked it better the second time I saw it, I think I had some wrong expectations going in the first time. And after reviewing the others, I caught some references and callbacks I missed on my first viewing.

In the last post credits scene, pay attention to the newspaper headline.

Drax wasn't meant to be a destroyer, he was meant to be a dad. I guess that explains his sense of humor.

 

Ugh I’m 9 minutes into SkyfallBourne.

21:20 in. Craig Bond lacks any of the charm and soul of the older Bond films. It rather reminds me of Disney Star Wars. So dim and dull. I’m sorry this happened to your franchise Bond fans.

 

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
Wow I really enjoyed this. I thought I had seen it but maybe had just seen the trailer. Jim Carrey is amazing as a guy who meets a girl, falls in love. Things go sour and she has her memories of him erased. He then does the same, but complications ensue. Very original and mind bending; Kate Winslett is an actress I'm lukewarm on (her American accents are all over the place) but she is terrific here.

 

The Big Shot. This is the last of Bogart’s gangster pictures to sneak through right as he became a bona fide star and stopped having to play hoodlums. It’s also one of the best of its kind, with solid cinematography and an engaging story. As a tragic gangster protagonist, Bogart has better material to work with than usual. He plays a three-time loser on his deathbed in a prison hospital, explaining how he got sent up for life for a crime he didn’t even commit this time, since he was with an old flame, the wife of the crooked lawyer who set up the job. Bogart’s crooked ways got a well-meaning young guy sent up with him too, and the movie is ultimately Bogart’s effort to clear him of serious charges. It’s a narrative that works, and the film has good atmosphere and showcases Bogart to its benefit. An overlooked entry in his filmography.

 

12 Angry Men (dir. Sidney Lumet, 1957) 4k

I've seen this film several times already, but since it was just released on 4k disk, I watched it again. Coincidentally it was just voted the 24th best movie ever on a recent poll of JCC posters. Most of you will have seen it already--several times, probably.



The film is adapted from a play, and pretty much the entire thing is set in one room. The setup is simple; in court, a boy is accused of murdering his father, and the story involves the jury deliberating. Initially, all except one juror (Henry Fonda) are convinced of the boy's guilt; but as they discuss the details of the case, one by one they become--for different reasons--convinced that there's a reasonable doubt.

The execution is so great that it makes up for any flaws the film has. It's remarkable how easily and quickly the film establishes 12 distinct characters (all white males) that almost immediately register with the viewer; not once are we confused about who's who, and so on, thanks to great writing and direction, and fantastic ensemble cast. It's also remarkable how engaging the whole thing is despite being set in a single room; the characters are well-written and acted, and it's great to see the dynamics in the room change as different characters stand off against one another. Rating: 11 angry men out of 12.

 

People forget Jack Klugman was a dramatic actor before the Odd Couple.
Detroit Rock City
It was...okay. I wanted to like it more than I did, given i grew up in the 70's and it looked like a fun film. It started out really good; then kind of fizzled as a group of kids try to get tickets to a Kiss concert. Maybe a better cast/director and it could have been a classic. Still decent with some laughs, but should have been better. Good soundtrack; oddly mostly non Kiss songs.

 

Isle of Fury. My quest to run up ridiculous numbers of Humphrey Bogart films watched continues with this one-hour B-movie with an early leading role for Bogart. Bogart runs a pearl diving business on a remote Pacific island. On the night of his wedding, he rescues two men from a ship wrecked in a storm. One, the captain, makes trouble, while the passenger befriends Bogart but struggles with an attraction to his bride. He returns the favor by saving Bogart from an octopus and they grow friendlier, but he’s actually there to take in Bogart, who’s wanted for murder. It’s a decent enough premise, but the film is mediocre. It’s not bad, just a minor, generic B-picture. Its most remarkable feature is Bogart’s awful pencil mustache, which is combined in one scene with a pith helmet to create the lowest point ever recorded on the Bogart coolness scale.

 

Bogie could rock his bow tie look, though.

 

Rambo 2 and 3 may as well be a totally different character from First Blood.

John Rambo or whatever 4 is called and then 5 feel more like a return to the First Blood character.

The original First Blood is so good. I think we’re past it now in the MCU but in a lot of ways First Blood is what an early best Incredible Hulk movie could be like.

The Pacific Northwest town and law enforcement have no idea what this drifter is capable of and what they push him to do. Hulk would turn into a monster and smash.

John Rambo is a hunter. Even when he’s the prey he’s on the hunt. Setting traps. Knowing how to hide and flush out pursuers. He even turns being overwhelmingly outnumbered into an advantage.

Also good about the movie is the general arrogance of those hunting Rambo at first. Reminds me of the mob of sports fisherman in Jaws.

And the ending to First Blood is so sad. It’s not the feel good end of 80s action movies. It’s the right ending.

 

"Teenage Zombies", from producer/director Jerry Warren, who brought us "The Wild World of Batwoman". It was being shown as the latest offering from "The Mads are Back LIVE" on-line show. Without the excellent riffing of Trace & Frank, the movie would be unbearably bad. Poor acting, a nonsensical script, and low production values. Plus, even after show producer Chris Gersbeck edited nearly 15 minutes from the movie, it still dragged on and on and on.
When Warren's "Batwoman" movie was shown on MST3K, it inspired Tom Servo to yell at the screen, "END! ENNNNNNNND!" That movie was light exercise compared to "Teenage Zombies".

 

Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy
2004

Hadn't seen this in ages and it is just as silly and ridiculous as I remember it.
There are a lot of cameos from famous comedians, Jack Black punts Baxter, Will Ferrell's dog, off of a bridge at one point.
Steve Carell is funny everytime he is on ccamera.
Anchorman is an insane and absurd movie that has a lot of laughs mixed in with some cringe, but that's to be expected. It was also interesting seeing this again after having only remembered it via memes for so long.

 

Eroica (dir. Simon Cellan Jones, 2003) streaming

TV movie made by the BBC about Beethoven's 3rd symphony, Eroica. The whole thing is on Youtube; I watched it because it came up in my recommended videos and it seemed interesting.



The plot: In 1804, then-33-year-old Ludwig van Beethoven (portrayed as per usual as a cantankerous man, by Professor Quirrel) goes with his secretary and student Ferdinand Ries to the palace of one of his patrons, Prince Lobkowitz, to rehearse/perform his newest symphony, his third, tentatively titled Bonaparte. Chatting politics with the prince and the other guests, Beethoven tells everyone how much he admires Napoleon, who he believes to be a man of the people. Then the performance starts. The majority of the movie is seeing the orchestra play the music. There are brief breaks in between the movements, allowing for some plot, but clearly the raison d'être for this film is to show what a performance of this piece must have looked like, played by people wearing period clothing and playing period instruments, and what the reaction of people was. This was radically new music; some listeners and musicians are shocked and dismayed, others excited.
At the end, an elderly Joseph Haydn is just in time to hear the fourth movement; afterwards, he sighs that Beethoven's done what no composer's ever done-- he's written himself in the piece (thus marking the transition from the classical to the Romantic period). During a flashforward during the fourth movement, Ries tells Beethoven over dinner that Napoleon has crowned himself emperor; in response, Beethoven angrily tears up the title page of the score.

In other words, it's an extended music video clip. Generally well-executed, for a TV film of its time. Give that the central part of the film is the musical performance, I wish more care had been given to the actual performances. Example: Professor Quirrel really should've been taught that wildly flailing your arms about is not "conducting." Then again, half the time he steps away from conducting to have quiet conversations--while the orchestra continues to play, with noone giving the tempo. This is the type of movie where the orchestra plays a piece for the first and and plays the whole thing perfectly, sightreading).

The scene where Ries angrily interrupts the performance because he mistakenly thought a horn player had come in too early is historical.

Anyway, obviously it's not some kind of deep drama or character study or anything like that. But it's a good watch if you enjoy the piece, which I do, so I'll rate it 3 and a half instances where Beethoven couldn't hear what someone was saying out of 5.

 

Alien Covenant
Rating 6 out of 10
Had potential, especially those Neomorphs. But it felt like a retread of the 1979 classic, and adding the creator of Xenomorph to the mythos hurt the franchise, I preferred the ambiguity of where the Xenomorphs come from. Granted Alien Advent fixes this, connecting the origins from different films, it really should have been added into Covenant.
Watch Decker Shado’s review of Alien Covenant, it will make you laugh.

 

Everything you say is spot on about First Blood, in a way I can understand them going a different way with the sequel because its hard to recapture what made the first one so good and it would be impossible to surprise audiences again. Its similar in a way to what films like Aliens, Temple of Doom or Empire did as sequels (don't get me wrong I'm not saying Rambo 2 is on their level), so at least they didn't try and re-hash the original too much.

On the ending of First Blood, I bought the novel its based on and was surprised to see that he died at the end in that.

 

Bold statement to put anything lower than the Irish brogue in Dark Victory.

 

It’s lower.

 

Yes yes and yes. Only 8 mins in and past the intro song of Goldfinger on Prime. Nice to see so much soul in just one segment.

I haven’t watched a second more of SkyfallBourne since my last and I’m honestly not sure if I will. I think time has passed to long since I was able to watch Craig 1&2 and I’m off that train.

Bring on these older titles though!

Oh and if they’re making a new Bond actor go back to them and let Craig’s be a speed bump on the long run ahead.

 

Summer of Soul. Over six weeks in the summer of 1969, a music festival brought a succession of fantastic black acts to Harlem for enormous crowds. It was filmed and recorded, but nobody was interested enough to air the footage, and the whole thing just kind of faded out. Questlove has dug it back up, putting together the footage to showcase the music while putting it and the festival in the context of that time and place in the black community. He’s done a fantastic job, creating a documentary that bursts with the exuberant energy and pride of the moment. My favorite part was seeing the emotion on the faces of the attendees and participants as they watched the footage for their interviews. It’s just a really powerful, fantastically made film. It’s quite cleverly put together — there’s a part where Questlove shows the political turmoil of the time by showing Malcolm X reacting to JFK’s assassination followed by MLK reacting to Malcolm’s assassination followed by RFK reacting to MLK’s assassination. It’s got some meat to go along with the incredible music, but the inescapable impression is the sheer joy of the music and the crowd. A wonderful documentary.