I had week 8 done pretty much as I was writing up week 7. Fell behind a bit. But when you've watched over 100 hours worth of movies so far this year, I'm sure that I can be forgiven! This week my choices consisted of sequels, nostalgic flicks and the greatest science fiction horror move ever made. A strange mix I'll admit!
Onto the movies!
February 19th - American Pie 2
Comedy sequels tend to fall into a few categories. There's the cheap cash in based on the existing brand (See Van Wilder, all the American Pie straight to video spinoffs). Unsatisfying sequels which try to replicate what made the original great, but fail (The Hangover). And finally there are true sequels that realise it's the characters that are endearing, and that it's the chemistry between them that makes these movies funny and enjoyable to watch. A good comedy should be like catching up with old friends. And after American Pie proved to be such a hit, the filmmakers did not take long in reintroducing us to the Stifmeister & co. The plot is again pretty thin. The guys rent a summer house and spend their time trying to hook up with women, perv over lesbians and figure out how to move on from their high school days. There's an extra helping of Jim's embarrassing dad, and another good payoff with Stifler's mom. Movies like this are never going to change the world, but that doesn't mean that they are easy to get right. Good night in all round.
7/10
February 20th - Rocky Balboa
Sylvester Stallone spent quite a few years in the wilderness. After making solid action fare such as Demolition Man, Assassins and Daylight, he slipped into direct to video hell with D-Tox, Get Carter and (shudder) Avenging Angelo. It was going to take a spirited comeback to bring him to the table again. When he announced he was going to make new installments of Rocky and Rambo, everyone thought it was a desperate move which would do nothing but tarnish the memories of the originals. The the trailers started to filter out. And those old feelings of what made those movies so great were stirred. Then THAT music kicked in. The underdog was back. And how good it was to see him again. Rocky Balboa is a triumph. It follows a theme that will come to us all. Old age. What can you do, even when you've had this extraordinary career, when the next big thing comes along and you're considered tired and out of date? A computer simulation is shown on ESPN, detailing a fictional fight between an in his prime Rocky and the current Heavyweight Champion Mason Dixon. It has Rocky winning. Dixon's shallow money grabbing management have dollar signs in their eyes, and an exhibition match is set. Rocky still with 'some stuff in the basement' accepts. This is such a heartfelt and genuine movie that I cannot recommend it enough. There's a scene late in the day, where Rocky has to let it all go, where there are flashbacks of everything the character has been through, and I have no shame in admitting it brought tears to my eyes. And any movie that can do that, has something special going for it.
9/10
February 21st - Major League
Nostalgia can be a dangerous thing. I remember taping this off of TV years ago, and thinking it was the funniest thing in the world. Times change, people change and unfortunately opinions on movies change. The story follows the recently widowed owner of a baseball team. She wants to move them to sunny California but to do so will have to make attendances so low, that the league make an exception. So she hires the biggest ragtag, bunch of losers she can, meaning the team will always lose and people will stop coming to see them. But they catch whiff of her plan, and decide they should try to win the 'whole fucking thing'. I'm sure you can see where this is going. And usually, I tend to like these kind of movies (Dodgeball is a recent example). There is always joy in seeing the underdog do well (Rocky movies). But it needs to be funny or heartfelt along the way. This is simply neither. It is not dramatic, nor surprising. Just the definition of generic and predictable with no charm or charisma to make up for it. Damn nostalgia........
4/10
February 22nd - Aliens
And this is more like it. After recently watching Alien, it was only a matter of time before this fell into my blu ray player. Set 57 years after the original, Ripley is woken from her hyper sleep, only to be blamed for the disaster aboard the Nostromo. No evidence of alien lifeforms were found, nothing to back up her story. She is demoted and spends her nights suffering crippling nightmares. That is until mining colonies that were set up close to where the Nostromo crashed, suddenly stop making contact. A team is dispatched, with Ripley onboard as an advisor, despite knowing what horrors await. This is pitch perfect filmmaking. James Cameron has crafted an epic interpretation of Ridley Scott's slow build original. Instead of one Xenomorph, there are countless. Instead of a team of scientists, it's a team of rock hard grunts. The action is tense, exciting, horrific and visually engaging. This is the kind of science fiction that is simply not made anymore (though Prometheus is giving us hope!). Another special mention goes to the blu ray transfer as it is quite simply beautiful. It looks like it was made yesterday. For all the kids out there who loved Avatar, this is that movie x10 and with an 18 rating. If I see this tumble onto the big screen any time soon, I'll be first in line. Oh and finally, the poster is the Polish interpretation. Way too curious to ignore.
10/10
February 23rd - Rambo
The 2nd part of Stallone's renaissance, this is another solid entry into the franchise. I don't think it was quite as successful an update as Rocky, though I have already found out that there are many people who disagree! John Rambo has stayed in Burma and is living the quiet life. When a group of church aid workers want to go into the villages to deliver medicine and food, they ask for his help. He warns them against it, that they don't know the true horrors of war and they should just go home. They don't listen, and of course are tortured and captured. When the minister of the church hires a group of mercenaries to go in and rescue them, Rambo is talked into going along.
And guess who turns out to be the hardest of the bunch? This follows very similar ideas to Rocky. Confronting the past, accepting who you really are. But this is much larger in scale. Rocky felt like a small, personal, almost indie like movie. For Rambo, again written and directed by Sly, he pulls no punches. The point is continuously hammered home that war is hell. This is as graphic a war movie as I have ever laid eyes upon. There are throat slittings, legs blown out, decapitations, arms pulled off, necks broken. This is certainly not for the faint hearted, and is tough to watch at times without grimmacing. It is very well made, and knows its place in only being around 85 minutes long, as by that time, even all the gore in the world was in danger of overstaying its welcome.
7/10
February 24th - Midnight in Paris
First up, an admission. I'm not a huge fan of Woody Allen. I've nothing against his movies, I mean they are entertaining enough. But I'm not sure I see what the big deal is. Most of his recent output has been particularly underwhelming, with only Vicky Christina Barcelona exceeding expectations. Then came along Midnight in Paris. In this day and age, a movie to be this original and engaging, I have to hold my hands up. The story follows Gil, an American screenwriter who has fallen out of love with the hollow art of screenwriting and has come to modern day Paris in search of inspiration for his first novel. His wife is with him, though she would rather he stuck to the screenwriting so that she can continue shopping on Rodeo Drive. One night, Gil decides to walk the streets of Paris on his own, to be alone with his thoughts. The clock strikes midnight and a mysterious, old fashioned car pulls up beside him. They tell him to get in, that they are going to a party. It's only when one of the men introduces himself as F.Scott Fitzgerald, and says that Pablo Picasso will be at the party, that Gil realises something is not quite right. He wakes up the next morning and dismisses it as a drunken dream, but then the car turns up at midnight again, and another shower of literary and artistic greats await......I was so glad to see this take home the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay as it is a very good movie. It's not a typical Hollywood tale, but instead a throwback to the artistic greats of history. It poses the question of whether our current era will be looked back upon with the same reverence in 100 years. It is lighthearted, whimsical and dare I say it? Inspirational. Owen Wilson's best movie in years, and so to, without a doubt, Woody Allen's. I may be a convert........
8/10
February 25th - Striking Distance
Here we go with the nostalgia again. When I was younger I loved this movie. I had it on video and must have watched it a couple of times a month. I don't know what it was about it. Probably that it was 18 rated and I felt like I was getting away with something! And while it's not the same disappointment I felt with Major League, it definitely is a shallow product of the 90's. The story follows Tom Hardy (Bruce Willis), a Pittsburgh cop who testifies against his own cousin in a police brutality case because 'loyalty above all else, except honour' is his father's motto. At the same time, a serial killer is going around killing women, and personally taunting Hardy. His own father is slain by the serial killer's hand. His cousin then commits suicide, prompting Hardy to take a job as a river cop, and to extricate himself from everyone. But then the serial killer shows up again, and is targeting women Hardy has a past with......Bruce Willis is almost always good value, being one of the most watchable movie stars on the planet. But then Sarah Jessica Parker shows up, and again this is where nostalgia kicks in. I seem to remember her character being interesting, but no, she's simply annoying. It also reminds me that she's such a terrible actress. Overall it's a solid movie, but I don't think I'll be getting into a routine where I watch it a few times a month again. Or a few times a year. Or possibly ever again!
6/10
And there we have it, another week with a random assortment of movies! I have been toying with the idea of themed weeks. I will definitely be spending the week leading up to The Avengers watching Marvel's output thus far. Any other ideas? A Harry Potter week? A 22 day marathon of Bond movies? A Police Academy week? Any suggestions are welcome, just sound off in the comments below.
Until next time..........
Bruce Willis can play the action man role in his sleep. And he will always be entertaining to watch. When given roles where he is actually required to act, he can excel even more. See Twelve Monkeys and Sin City for good examples. Last Man Standing is a prohibition era set Spaghetti Western, directed by Walter 'The Driver' Hill. That should be enough to peak your interest right there. Throw in Christopher Walken as a psycho henchman and you have one of the most criminally underrated movies of the last 20 years. Willis plays John Smith, a drifter who settles in a town run by two different gangs. An opportunist and skilled gunsman, he sees a chance to make a lot of money by playing both sides against each other. But playing both against each other is a dangerous game, and it's only a matter of time before at least one of them finds out. What follows is a great movie. There's some great action sequences, some pathos for Smith and a quick draw showdown. As I say, very underrated and little known movie, this is highly recommended.
I've been watching quite a few of these Warner Brothers animated movies, and this is the first one I approached where I didn't know the story. This one is based on the acclaimed 'Tower of Babel' series of comics. The story goes that Batman has files on all of the Justice League members, detailing their weaknesses. Being the paranoid loner he is, it's a failsafe in case any of them turn to evil and they have to be stopped. But what happens when the enemy is able to infiltrate the Batcave and is therefore able to learn how to defeat the Justice League? The story is big in scale and endlessly interesting, so it's just a shame that the movie seems so small. The style of animation that continues to be used just pales in comparison to the style and ingenuity of their Manga counterparts. Entertaining enough, but you always feel that they could do more with these movies. Oh well, if it inspires a younger generation of comic book geeks then it's all good with me.
