Valdez Is Coming (1971) Dir. Edwin Sherin Valdez, a Mexican-American law man comes upon the scene of a besieged shack. He is informed of the fact that the man inside of the shack is suspected of having killed a man. The victim in question is the former husband of the leader of the posse's fiancée. When Valdez observes the fact that the man has an Indian woman with him inside of the shack, he tries to intervene but this leads to the man's death. It is then revealed that the man in question was innocent of the crime, which leaves Valdez with a feeling of guilt and the desire to do right by the man's widow, a pregnant Indian woman. To that end, he goes to the rancher who had led the posse and asks him for 100 dollars to give to the woman. He is twice refused, the second time barely escaping with his life. Realizing that the man will not listen to reason, he instead turns to the violent methods he learned as a young man but gave up on as he tried to straighten out his life. Even though I would deem this an imperfect film, there is a lot here to like: it's an adaptation of Elmore Leonard novel, it has the classic scene of the hero dusting off his old weapons as he gears up for his revenge (when will someone make a Youtube supercut of those scenes?) and it features an older, grizzled Burt Lancaster who is more or less playing an amalgam of the western characters he portrayed throughout his career. In that respect, it's not unlike the kind of performances given by Jimmy Stewart in "Firecreek", John Wayne in "The Shootist" and more recently Clint Eastwood in "Unforgiven". On top of that, that poster is absolutely fantastic.
The American Friend [Der amerikanische Freund] (1977) American con-man in Germany Tom Ripley has been hired to commit a murder, and as he finds such work distasteful, he figures out a way to get someone else to do it. A terminally ill family man who slightly dissed him while Ripley was handling an art forgery. It seems like all the reviewers hate this on the first viewing and like it on the second. This is my first viewing, so I hated it. It's rather confusing, particularly the camera work in the action scenes.
Private School (1983) Dir. Noel Black Christine and Jim are students at an all-female and an all-male exclusive private school respectively. In the periphery of their relationship turmoil we also get a glimpse of the puerile desires of their peers and the hi-jinks that ensue in their wake. I like both Phoebe Cates and Matthew Modine and was hoping for or expecting something like the charming but imperfect "The Sure Thing". But this is more in line with the puerile, 'raunchy' 1980s comedies à la "Porky's". Interesting to watch only in so far as it reveals the degree to which those films feel dated.
The Windmill Massacre (2016) Dir. Nick Jongerius An eclectic group of foreign tourist take a bus tour of windmills in the Dutch countryside. Shortly after their bus breaks down, one of their number is killed as he tries to find help. The other person with him, a young woman, tells her fellow passengers what she saw, which is a dark figure brutally murdering the man. They refuse to believe her when it is revealed she is psychotic and currently off her meds. But then the weird and violent occurrences pile up as the night progresses and it is revealed that nearly all of the people on the tour have a dark secret in their past. I was more or less in the mood for a slasher but this Dutch effort (featuring a largely international cast) was not it. Pretty paint by the numbers, no memorable performances (I guess Noah Taylor is interesting for the limited amount of screen time he gets) and it all looks a bit too low budget for a production that obviously aimed significantly higher.
Kong Skull Island (2017) Legendary / Warner Brothers Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts Starring Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman, John C. Reilly A diverse team of adventurers, scientists and soldiers unite to explore an uncharted island in the Pacific and find their mission of discovery becoming one of survival, encountering a ferocious giant ape and other prehistoric horrors. Exciting with plenty of well-staged action. Much more acceptable than the laughable King Kong remake done by Dino De Laurentiis from 1976 or the over-produced Peter Jackson one in 2005. Proudly has a "B-movie" attitude, but with an A-movie budget. Reminded me of Jurassic Park III and AVP: Requiem, two other pictures that didn't waste our time with any baloney and got right down to business. Also superior to the same producing team's 2014 Godzilla, which took far too long kicking it into gear. Certainly, one could accuse the director of having more on his mind. It's set during the end of American involvement in Vietnam in 1973, causing Sam Jackson's military man to be mighty embittered. And obvious allusions to Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now abound -- even Hiddleston's character is named Conrad and O'Reilly's is Marlow! But none of that seriously interferes with the fun. Kong is much better rendered here than in Peter Jackson's 3-hour marathon from a decade ago, looking more the humanoid-ape mutant he should be than just a huge gorilla. Stick around to the very end for a post-credits epilogue about some of our friends from Toho. Lengendary is referring to this "shared cinematic franchise" as the MonsterVerse.
I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958) Dir. Gene Fowler Jr. On the eve of his marriage, a man leaves his bachelor party early to pay his fiancée a late night visit. On his drive over there, he comes upon the scene of an apparent accident, but after he exits his car, the victim has disappeared. Shortly thereafter, a strange force overtakes him. The very next day, he arrives at the wedding somewhat later than planned. From the very first hours of their honeymoon, his wife is confused by his behavior and this confusion turns to fear over the course of their first year together, as she realizes that she doesn't recognize the man she is living with as the man she fell in love with and got engaged to. A lot of 1950s B-movies could be read as metaphors for the red scare: "The Blob", "Invasion of the Body Snatchers", ... This one could also be interpreted as such, but I found it to be more an allegory of domestic violence. A woman who marries an apparently nice guy, then discovers he is not who she thought he was after the wedding, becoming increasingly more afraid of him and discovering that the other men she turns to for help do nothing to aid her. As B-movie titles go, it's hard to beat this one. It's pretty much a B-movie title with the dial turned to 11.
Edge of Eternity (1959) Dir. Donald Siegel A Sheriff's deputy in a small mining town in Arizona is tasked with investigating a series of murders and disappearances that appear to be linked to each other, though the connection is not readily apparent. The man used to be a brilliant law man in Denver until problems in his personal life led to him botching a case so badly that it destroyed his career. At the same time he is investigating the case, he meets and becomes increasingly enthralled by the young daughter of the local gold baron. Brilliant little film. Features beautiful Cinemascope vistas of the Grand Canyon and a daring stunt sequence on top of a cable car. There are hints, both stylistically and thematically, to later Don Siegel films, among them "The Killers", "Dirty Harry" and especially "Charley Varrick". It feels more modern than its 1959 release, never more so than in its gritty opening scene and the character of Scotty O'Brien (a brilliant Mickey Shaughnessy). And it's always nice to see Jack Elam, this time in a sympathetic role.
How I Live Now (2013) American teen Daisy is spending the summer on the English estate of her relatives. And she is quite put off by their messiness, their meat and cheese eating, their dogs, and their frequent communication through talking instead of texting. Her stay becomes a bit more bearable when she meets the incredible charming Eddie. Daisy doesn't see much of her aunt, an expert on the ever-increasing terrorist activity. The aunt is called away to an emergency conference in Geneva, but it isn't a problem for the highly independent cousins. Until a furious wind blows in from the direction of London, followed by a rain of ash. This is based on a Young Adult novel, and has the general genre theme of a young girl learning to grow up and to love in a universe designed to further the first by denying the second. That part of the movie was ok. But I found everything else in the movie well worth my time. The younger cousins are both interesting and fantastically portrayed. The scenery is amazing. But most striking of all is the impression of a civilized, connected society of plenty suddenly turned violent and confused. It's a limited version of Syria or Iraq or Yugoslavia repackaged to emotionally strike at western audiences. This seems to be mischaracterized as a post-apocalypse movie. It's a lot more horrifying than that.
FAST and Furious Working my way through the series in prep for Fate of the Furious. Ya know without the long down time between this film and Tokyo Drift or being able to get most of the main cast back I don't know if it would have done as well at the box office which has allowed it to transform into what the series is now. Would really love to pick Justin Lin's brain someday about the series and see what he had in mind with it; how long ago did he see the pivot he would make with the series? Did he have that vision all the way back at Tokyo Drift?
Cheerleader Camp (1988) Dir. John Quinn A group of cheerleaders attend a cheerleader camp, at the end of which they will compete against other teams in a competition. The various members of the team all have their own hang-ups which distract them from the competition, none more so than their star cheerleader, who is self-medicating to deal with mental issues. Eventually the focus of the camp shifts to survival as attendees start to turn up dead, apparent victims of gruesome murders. I gave this a try because I'm still in the mood to watch a decent 1980s slasher. This was not it. Part of the problem is that I think I've now seen so many of them, whatever is left is mostly not very good. This is more or less a "Friday the 13th" clone that is subpar and at times very weird.
Captain America: Civil War ~ J. Russo & A. Russo I liked this better than Ultron. I think it was better focused thematically despite the inclusion of so many characters. It's clearly designed to place your sympathies with Cap, but I feel reluctant to enjoy that in the current climate. It's not as blatantly objectivist as The Incredibles which I sat through with my son recently, but it still leans heavily on the idea that our institutions are the problem and the superior individual is the solution. I know that's kind of the superhero idea, but if Cap and Ironman had been on opposite sides, I definitely wouldn't have rooted for Ironman.
Tried to watch Dr. Strange. I can understand how it might appeal to a particular audience, but it's just a hodge-podge of mystical goofiness. Cummerbatch or the director apparently decided he should channel Sherlock. Yawn.
I didn't feel any problem rooting for Ironman in this movie, even though as you say Captain America is the moral center of it. Stark's position was justified and well argued. The reason this was such a good superhero movie is that the moral question was fairly balanced between the sides. That the movie seemed to be bending towards Captain America's position was inevitable because we are watching an action movie and the defining feature of an action movie isn't the action, but the clear moral justification of the protagonist. He has the information, and we see he has the information. But then Stark's fury at Rodger's betrayal takes us out of that - how would we be looking at the situation if we didn't have a movie viewer's view on the situation? Like we inevitably do in real life?
Live By Night (2016) Dir. Ben Affleck An Irish-American Boston-based outlaw who is getting by with a string of armed robberies he commits with two childhood friends and who has refused all approaches from the Irish mob to join their outfit ends up biting off more than he can chew when he starts an affair with the Irish mob boss' mistress. When things turn inevitably bad and he is sent down to prison for three years, he re-emerges with a desire to get even and he goes to work for his nemesis' competition, the Don of the Italian mob. To this end, he is sent down to Florida to take over the rum business and maximize profits before prohibition ends. The second Dennis Lehane adaptation that Ben Affleck has directed. This was somewhat panned critically. I thought it wasn't all that terrible, just a bit paint by the numbers. Terrific production design, a very good supporting cast (Brendan Gleeson, Chris Cooper, Elle Fanning, Zoe Saldana and my personal favorite Chris Messina) but a rather bland story that we have seen before (and better). There is also a reason that "Gone Baby Gone" is still my favorite among all of the films that Ben Affleck has directed: it's the one in which he is not the lead. I might be in the minority with this opinion, but I never thought that Ben Affleck was a particularly compelling leading man.
Yeah all they mysticism was ho-hum for myself as well but I still thought it was an ok Marvel flick. I thought Cumberbatch sounded exactly like Tom Selleck in it.
I liked it better than most of their more recent output. Mostly because it managed to stand out a bit from the rest of the bunch, kind of like how "Ant-Man" and "Deadpool" also did, in their own way.
Magnus ~ B. Ree and Jiro Dreams of Sushi ~ D. Gelb Two documentaries that are largely reverential to their subjects' mastery of a skill but don't completely whitewash the sacrifice that entails. I've turned into a chess geek the past few months, but I think Magnus is interesting beyond that in just terms of the upbringing and pressures facing a young phenom. Jiro had some wonderful food photography. I find the man both fascinating in good and bad ways.
The Killers (1964) Two hitmen go into a school for the blind to kill the autoshop teacher, who accepted his fate with calmness. Wondering why their job was so well paid and so easy, they decide to investigate the teacher's past. Maybe there is something to the rumors of a missing million dollars. Stylish and provocative, mostly because Lee Marvin can't help but be awesome. Better when the assassins are on the screen - I didn't really care for the extended race-car interlude. I didn't know anything about the movie before watching it, so seeing a former President was quite a shock. The main problem is that you can't have a good moral in a movie with two sets of bad guys where they both end up losing. The message becomes the generic and useless idea that people get what's coming to them, instead of something about a particular failing in one of the sides that lead to their downfall or a particular strategy that lead to success.
The original film is also very good. I know many people who prefer Don Siegel's more gritty take on it, but I prefer the Robert Siodmak film (ever so slightly). There's also the simple matter of Burt Lancaster > John Cassavetes and Ava Gardner > Angie Dickinson.
I recall posting about this picture before around here. It was originally made for television, but was theatrically released instead because of its violence. It was Ronald Reagan's last screen appearance -- and the only time he played a villain. Screenwriter Gene L. Coon was a prolific writer of television scripts, including many for the original Star Trek series -- several under a pseudonym. I shouldn't need to tell anyone that the short story its based upon by Hemingway is terrific. If you've never read it, do so.
I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore Ruth comes to find her laptop and her grandmother's silverware gone and her house broken into. She is tired of shitty people doing shitty things and just wants her stuff back. This really got darker then i thought it would. I enjoyed it
Guns, Girls and Gambling (2012) Dir. Michael Winnick After his girlfriend has dumped him, a man goes to an Indian casino for a night of gambling. On a whim, he enters an Elvis impersonators contest at the casino. Even though he doesn't win, he subsequently has a fun evening playing poker and getting drunk with the other contestants in the contest. The next morning, he wakes up and finds himself accused of having stolen a highly valued mask from the office of the casino's proprietor, who is also the chief of the local Indian tribe. It is soon revealed that other parties are interested in retrieving the mask as well, among them a blonde female assassin, a cowboy, an Indian warrior, two corrupt lawmen and a wealthy rancher. Not a masterpiece by any means, but 90 minutes of good, dumb fun. Though it is slightly sillier in tone, this film finds itself in an adjacent universe to both "3000 Miles from Graceland" and "Flying Aces". It also stars Christian Slater and between this film, "3000 Miles from Graceland" and "True Romance", this is the third feature I have seen him in in which Elvis is somehow central to the plot. Features an eclectic supporting cast that includes both established actors like Gary Oldman, Powers Boothe and Jeff Fahey as well as Helena Mattsson (who I only ever remember seeing in the first season of "Fargo") and for some reason, Dane Cook.
Batman vs Superman - 2016 I'm not a huge comic book aficionado. Decent flick, but what the hell happened at the end? That dust/dirt levitating sure seems to undermine the finality of it.