PhantomKnight
CS! Gold
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 20,534 
Likes: 3,135
Location:
Last Online Nov 27, 2024 15:53:10 GMT -5
|
Post by PhantomKnight on Sept 30, 2021 19:08:37 GMT -5
Police Story (1985)
Before now, I confess that I haven't been familiar with Jackie Chan's pre-American work at all. Oh, I'd heard things, but just never got around to checking them out. Police Story is one of his most popular, if not THE most popular of his pre-Hollywood works, and I gotta say...it's not hard to see why.
The film admittedly has the same kind of basic story that is now typical of almost all cop films and doesn't deviate from it too much, but this is very much a case where the success of a particular film lies more in its execution rather than its plot. At its core, Police Story is really just a series of set ups for Jackie Chan to just do his thing, and it's hard to complain about that when what the guy does is just so damn entertaining. Make no mistake, the plot holding all of these various setpieces together gets the job done and is engaging in large part due to the innate on-screen charm that Jackie Chan displays. This actually brings me to another thing about this movie -- just how much of a comedy it actually is, in addition to being a police thriller. I certainly wasn't expecting that going in, and that aspect of the movie definitely took me by surprise. But then again, when I look back on the vast majority of Chan's American movies, they were all action-comedies too, so maybe it shouldn't have been such a shock. I can't say that ALL of the comedy completely worked (for example, the humor the movie tries to get out of Chan's character's relationship with his girlfriend fell kind of flat for me), but the humor that's more tied into a lot of the fights and the physicality of the stunts absolutely works. And speaking of the fights...my God, are they pretty awesome. As the movie goes on, it seems to up the ante more and more until the climax set in a shopping mall, which really just put the goofiest grin on my face practically the whole time. Not only are all the stunts in this sequence highly impressive and a blast to watch, but they also effectively communicate just how painful they would be, which strikes a very nice balance.
In terms of plot and character, Police Story may not be the most ambitious of cop movies, but who cares when just the experience alone is this much damn fun? What it lacks in those departments, it more than makes up for in its action and high energy level, so who am I to complain too much?
***1/2 /****
|
|
thebtskink
CS! Silver
Join Date: Jul 2000
It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.
Posts: 19,462
Likes: 4,984
Location:
Last Online Nov 27, 2024 13:40:14 GMT -5
|
Post by thebtskink on Sept 30, 2021 20:49:32 GMT -5
Body Heat (1981)
As soon as I turned on this movie, and was created by John Barry's smooth jazz score over the credits with Lawrence Kasdan as writer/director, I was hooked.
Set in sweltering Florida weather, Body Heat follows William Hurt as Ed Racine, a somewhat incapable lawyer who spends more time chasing women then putting together sound legal strategies for his clients. Our plot is set in motion at a river esplanade jazz concert as Racine catches the eye of Kathleen Turner's Matty Walker--or did she catch his? I suspect that the film was marketed as a neo-noir, but it's very clear from the get go and genre archetype how this is going to go. Fortunately, that doesn't really matter. Every line of the early dialogue between Ed and Matty crackles with flirtation, and is delivered so quickly and matter-of-fact that you're expecting the sexual energy to boil over at any moment. Witness:
Matty: [to Ned] You aren't too smart, are you? I like that in a man.
Ned: What else do you like? Lazy? Ugly? Horny? I got 'em all.
Matty: You don't look lazy.
Kasdan has a such a knack for dialogue that when Matty has her hooks into Ed, fucking behind her husband's back that you see why Ed is going down his path.
The supporting cast feels fleshed out - Ted Danson as the prosecutor living vicariously off Ed's exploits, their cop friend always giving a skeptical eye, and a young Mickey Rourke as a former criminal client that feels he owes Ed but wants to talk him out of his plans.
While I saw the bones of the ending coming, I was very impressed by the journey as well as a few final twists.
Excellent movie.
9/10
|
|
Doomsday
Administrator 
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 23,312
Likes: 6,778
Location:
Member is Online
|
Post by Doomsday on Sept 30, 2021 21:12:34 GMT -5
Body Heat has been on my list for a while.
|
|
thebtskink
CS! Silver
Join Date: Jul 2000
It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.
Posts: 19,462
Likes: 4,984
Location:
Last Online Nov 27, 2024 13:40:14 GMT -5
|
Post by thebtskink on Sept 30, 2021 21:16:22 GMT -5
Body Heat has been on my list for a while. There's 4 or 5 excellent scenes in it. Well written and very well acted. |
|
PhantomKnight
CS! Gold
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 20,534
Likes: 3,135
Location:
Last Online Nov 27, 2024 15:53:10 GMT -5
|
Post by PhantomKnight on Sept 30, 2021 22:30:39 GMT -5
Awesome, glad you liked it! One of the rare remakes worthy of the original, I think.
|
|
1godzillafan
Studio Head
Join Date: Feb 2017
I like pie!
Posts: 9,480
Likes: 6,217
Location:
Last Online Nov 8, 2024 5:42:00 GMT -5
|
Post by 1godzillafan on Oct 1, 2021 6:51:14 GMT -5
The Bad and the Beautiful
Kirk Douglas stars as a former big time Hollywood producer trying to convince several of his lucrative collaborators over the years to help him with a new film that will hopefully boost their careers, but nobody is willing to partner with him due to each having an ugly falling out with him. They each reminisce of their time with him, which also serves as a career biography.
I've always been attracted to films that old Hollywood makes about old Hollywood, and their whole masturbatory love for themselves. They can be stunning films like Sunset Boulevard, lovely and fun like Singin in the Rain, goofy like the Three Stooges in Movie Maniacs, to flat out trash like Broadway to Hollywood and usually I'll be drawn to them. That's mostly why this title stuck out to me.
What I really dug about this movie was its presentation, as its sort of an anthological look at Kirk Douglas's rise to success and stumble, from the eyes of people he had done dirty. The segment that lingers the most is his mixed-signal love affair with Lana Turner (who is given top billing in this movie despite it clearly belonging to Douglas). This is the lengthiest and the most compelling of the three, though it comprises the middle portion of the film, which means it's a bit of an Oreo cookie of a movie. The chocolate crisps are good in their own right, but we're all here for that creamy center.
Of the other two, as a lover of B-movies I liked the first chunk that showed off Douglas and Dick Powell working in low budget horror, including a movie that was clearly inspired by Cat People. The last story featuring him and a screenwriter he hired is not bad, but it kind of drags in comparison to what came up before it. That's the only real complaint I had about the movie, is that it's last quarter wasn't that interesting and only existed to serve up "You're broke."
That being said, that idea of Douglas needing a double-U and calling back his best support led to an ending that is interestingly ambiguous. It hints at the possibility that there might be a chance at convincing them, though it's clearly an uphill battle. I liked that, because he's a man that shouldn't easily be forgiven, but the idea that he could be redeemed shouldn't be off the table.
This is a pretty good movie and I quite liked spending my time with it. I'd definitely watch it again if the mood struck me.
|
|
thebtskink
CS! Silver
Join Date: Jul 2000
It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again.
Posts: 19,462
Likes: 4,984
Location:
Last Online Nov 27, 2024 13:40:14 GMT -5
|
Post by thebtskink on Oct 1, 2021 9:14:10 GMT -5
Oh and in case you missed it, in for next round
|
|
Doomsday
Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 23,312
Likes: 6,778
Location:
Member is Online
|
Post by Doomsday on Oct 1, 2021 9:29:39 GMT -5
Cool, I know people expressed interest a couple pages back so let’s make it official, who’s in for the next one?
|
|
PhantomKnight
CS! Gold
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 20,534
Likes: 3,135
Location:
Last Online Nov 27, 2024 15:53:10 GMT -5
|
Post by PhantomKnight on Oct 1, 2021 10:01:46 GMT -5
I'm in, too.
|
|
Dracula
CS! Gold
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 26,108
Likes: 5,733
Location:
Last Online Nov 27, 2024 15:59:07 GMT -5
|
Post by Dracula on Oct 1, 2021 11:14:22 GMT -5
I guess I'm in
|
|
PG Cooper
CS! Silver
Join Date: Feb 2009
And those who tasted the bite of his sword named him...The DOOM Slayer
Posts: 16,650
Likes: 4,067
Location:
Last Online Nov 27, 2024 12:43:38 GMT -5
|
Post by PG Cooper on Oct 1, 2021 11:46:37 GMT -5
The Bad and the Beautiful Kirk Douglas stars as a former big time Hollywood producer trying to convince several of his lucrative collaborators over the years to help him with a new film that will hopefully boost their careers, but nobody is willing to partner with him due to each having an ugly falling out with him. They each reminisce of their time with him, which also serves as a career biography. I've always been attracted to films that old Hollywood makes about old Hollywood, and their whole masturbatory love for themselves. They can be stunning films like Sunset Boulevard, lovely and fun like Singin in the Rain, goofy like the Three Stooges in Movie Maniacs, to flat out trash like Broadway to Hollywood and usually I'll be drawn to them. That's mostly why this title stuck out to me. What I really dug about this movie was its presentation, as its sort of an anthological look at Kirk Douglas's rise to success and stumble, from the eyes of people he had done dirty. The segment that lingers the most is his mixed-signal love affair with Lana Turner (who is given top billing in this movie despite it clearly belonging to Douglas). This is the lengthiest and the most compelling of the three, though it comprises the middle portion of the film, which means it's a bit of an Oreo cookie of a movie. The chocolate crisps are good in their own right, but we're all here for that creamy center. Of the other two, as a lover of B-movies I liked the first chunk that showed off Douglas and Dick Powell working in low budget horror, including a movie that was clearly inspired by Cat People. The last story featuring him and a screenwriter he hired is not bad, but it kind of drags in comparison to what came up before it. That's the only real complaint I had about the movie, is that it's last quarter wasn't that interesting and only existed to serve up "You're broke." That being said, that idea of Douglas needing a double-U and calling back his best support led to an ending that is interestingly ambiguous. It hints at the possibility that there might be a chance at convincing them, though it's clearly an uphill battle. I liked that, because he's a man that shouldn't easily be forgiven, but the idea that he could be redeemed shouldn't be off the table. This is a pretty good movie and I quite liked spending my time with it. I'd definitely watch it again if the mood struck me. I agree with your criticism of the last stretch of the movie. It's like the inverse of This Island Earth. |
|
1godzillafan
Studio Head
Join Date: Feb 2017
I like pie!
Posts: 9,480
Likes: 6,217
Location:
Last Online Nov 8, 2024 5:42:00 GMT -5
|
Post by 1godzillafan on Oct 1, 2021 19:58:26 GMT -5
I'll be in next round. I'm feelin' good.
|
|
Dracula
CS! Gold
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 26,108
Likes: 5,733
Location:
Last Online Nov 27, 2024 15:59:07 GMT -5
|
Post by Dracula on Oct 2, 2021 12:27:02 GMT -5
The Outsider (2018)
The Outsider was a film that went straight to Netflix without a whole lot of fanfare back in 2018. If anyone did talk about it it was in the context of questioning the ethics of making a Yakuza film centered around a white guy. The movie opens with an American veteran played by Jared Leto who is in a Japanese prison for some unspecified reason where he meets a yakuza member and gets used as a pawn in some prison crimes. Once out he’s taken under the wing of a yakuza member and becomes an associate of one of these crews, crime movie antics ensue. The film currently holds a 17% on Rotten Tomatoes, which does seem rather harsh to me, but the movie does have some pretty clear problems. Leto’s character is in fact very specifically white, so attempts to lump this in with “whitewashing” and “race-bending” controversies seems a bit off, this is instead much more comparable to something like The Last Samurai (The Last Yakuza?) in which the filmmaker opt to choose an unlikely white entrypoint character to bring western audiences into a foreign world. It’s not an impossible trope, but if you’re going to do it you had better do it right and I’m not sure this movie really does. The crux of the problem is just that this Leto character is kind of boring despite being in an odd predicament and it’s not overly clear what is motivating this guy. He doesn’t seem to exactly enjoy the riches he’s receiving as a Yakuza member and he gets nothing but abuse from most of the other Yakuzas aside from his main friend. We are led to gather that he has some PTSD from the war but we don’t explicitly see much of anything from his past and he also doesn’t talk much. Honestly it’s one of the few movies that maybe could have used a voiceover. That said there are some good things here; the atmosphere of postwar Japan is rendered fairly well and the scenes of violence mostly have impact. It wasn’t a movie I particularly regret seeing but it’s also one I doubt I’ll remember too clearly.
**1/2 out of Five
|
|
Doomsday
Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 23,312
Likes: 6,778
Location:
Member is Online
|
Post by Doomsday on Oct 2, 2021 20:39:44 GMT -5
Awesome! We've got enough for a new round. Nilade still has a review out there but we haven't hit the cutoff so I ain't complaining. Any old or new blood want in on another round? donny frankyt IanTheCool |
|
IanTheCool
CS! Gold
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 21,497
Likes: 2,865
Location:
Last Online Nov 27, 2024 15:45:49 GMT -5
|
Post by IanTheCool on Oct 2, 2021 20:42:08 GMT -5
No, not with my hallloween watching, which is already tough to fit in with my current life
|
|
Nilade
Director
Join Date: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,687
Likes: 426
Location:
Last Online Nov 18, 2024 0:05:59 GMT -5
|
Post by Nilade on Oct 3, 2021 23:01:40 GMT -5
Am I the last one? I'll have both up, if not by tomorrow, by Tuesday. You have my word.
|
|
Doomsday
Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 23,312
Likes: 6,778
Location:
Member is Online
|
Post by Doomsday on Oct 4, 2021 0:39:13 GMT -5
Am I the last one? I'll have both up, if not by tomorrow, by Tuesday. You have my word. No prob man, I know you're good for it. You want in next round? |
|
Nilade
Director
Join Date: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,687
Likes: 426
Location:
Last Online Nov 18, 2024 0:05:59 GMT -5
|
Post by Nilade on Oct 4, 2021 10:12:59 GMT -5
Am I the last one? I'll have both up, if not by tomorrow, by Tuesday. You have my word. No prob man, I know you're good for it. You want in next round? Count me in. |
|
Nilade
Director
Join Date: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,687
Likes: 426
Location:
Last Online Nov 18, 2024 0:05:59 GMT -5
|
Post by Nilade on Oct 6, 2021 4:00:54 GMT -5
Monos
A squad of child soldiers called Monos, part of a group called The Organization, watch over a hostage at an outpost hidden in the mountains of South America. When their commanding officer visits to check up on them, he leaves them with a cow to milk, but instructs them they they must look after the cow as well, as its on loan by supporters to their cause. When the cow is accidentally killed after a night of celebration by one of the soldiers, the leader, Wolf, kills himself to avoid harsher penalties by The Organization. Another soldier, Bigfoot, is next to be appointed leader. After they successfully thwart an attack on their base, they're soon relocated to the jungle. After a failed escape attempt from their hostage, they commanding officer visits soon after and pits them against each other in order to find out more details of what they've been up to. This escalates into a series of events where the group begins to turn on the ones who they feel betrayed them.
First off, I have to say that this film was a visual treat. It's a series of beautiful and surreal shots tapered together that make scenes of training exercises, youthful hijinks and uncomfortable scenarios easy on the eyes. Very little is said about The Organization, the backgrounds of the children, or any details of the who and why of their hostage, but keeps the focus on what's going on in front of the camera, which is just fine because it made the characters that much more interesting.
I can see this film as being compared to Lord of the Flies, and rightfully so, its definitely inspired by it, but its still a beautifully shot film that tells its tale in a unique way that manages to pull you in and make you part of the experience.
Probably one of the best recommendations I've had from Dracula.
9/10
|
|
Doomsday
Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2001
Posts: 23,312
Likes: 6,778
Location:
Member is Online
|
Post by Doomsday on Oct 6, 2021 11:34:02 GMT -5
|
|
PG Cooper
CS! Silver
Join Date: Feb 2009
And those who tasted the bite of his sword named him...The DOOM Slayer
Posts: 16,650
Likes: 4,067
Location:
Last Online Nov 27, 2024 12:43:38 GMT -5
|
Post by PG Cooper on Oct 6, 2021 11:36:05 GMT -5
Alright, time to find lots of body horror and drug-fueled comedies. |
|
PhantomKnight
CS! Gold
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 20,534
Likes: 3,135
Location:
Last Online Nov 27, 2024 15:53:10 GMT -5
|
Post by PhantomKnight on Oct 6, 2021 11:55:48 GMT -5
Alright, time to find lots of body horror and drug-fueled comedies. I love you too, man. |
|
PG Cooper
CS! Silver
Join Date: Feb 2009
And those who tasted the bite of his sword named him...The DOOM Slayer
Posts: 16,650
Likes: 4,067
Location:
Last Online Nov 27, 2024 12:43:38 GMT -5
|
Post by PG Cooper on Oct 6, 2021 12:07:47 GMT -5
Alright, time to find lots of body horror and drug-fueled comedies. I love you too, man. Wait til you see the Youtube thumbnail I'm cooking up for the end of the month. |
|
PhantomKnight
CS! Gold
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 20,534
Likes: 3,135
Location:
Last Online Nov 27, 2024 15:53:10 GMT -5
|
Post by PhantomKnight on Oct 6, 2021 12:19:08 GMT -5
Wait til you see the Youtube thumbnail I'm cooking up for the end of the month. How ominous... |
|
PG Cooper
CS! Silver
Join Date: Feb 2009
And those who tasted the bite of his sword named him...The DOOM Slayer
Posts: 16,650
Likes: 4,067
Location:
Last Online Nov 27, 2024 12:43:38 GMT -5
|
Post by PG Cooper on Oct 6, 2021 13:08:19 GMT -5
|
|
