Unstoppable – Tony Scott directed action flick starring Denzel Washington and Chris Pine as railroad employees who attempt to stop a runaway train. Based on a true story, the film quickly tells the background story of the events leading up to the runaway train and spends the majority of the film on the various efforts to stop the train, culminating in the heroic actions that two employees took on their own to stop the train.
Because the film is “based on a true story” a filmgoer cannot be sure what on the screen actually happened and what has been embellished, but regardless, the film is engrossing. Tony Scott does a good job of editing back and forth between news reports, railroad corporate decision making, and the action on the track to keep the story moving. Denzel and Chris Pine are excellent in their roles, Washington is the veteran employee about to be forcibly retired and Pine is the new guy, just out of training school, recently separated from his wife and child. Washington and Pine are running a train that is on the same track as the runaway and they narrowly miss a head on collision with it. Washington then decides he can turn around and catch the runaway, despite orders from the corporate office not to. The suspense is maintained throughout and the action is almost non-stop. The film clocks in at about 100 minutes running time, shorter than the typical film, but appropriate for this story as at no time did I think the story was dragging.
I enjoyed the film as I found the story compelling and the action exciting. The sound editor on the production should get some credit for doing a great job delivering all the various sounds one hears in a rail yard and on a train, as well as the screeching grinding sounds heard from trying to stop the train. My only complaint would be that at times the timeline of the events didn’t seem plausible as an event would occur on the tracks and immediately the news team would be reporting who the individual was and would have a picture of that person, which would be conveniently viewed by a loved one.. Despite that small complaint, I enjoyed the film and recommend it.
Kick-Ass. This movie started out as a real hoot: nerdy teenager decides to don a costume and be a super-hero, inspiring other powerless teens to do the same; but it eventually turns into a nasty, vicious, and downright ugly slash-fest. Note to producers: child endangerment is never a cool subject for a popcorn movie.
wasn't fond of it either. one film I'll never watch again. I agree that if they'd run with what they set up in the beginning of the movie, it would have been a laugh.
half-watched The Dark Knight two nights ago...needed background noise while I did my homework.
The Barefoot Contessa Starring Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner. Bogart plays a hard drinking and smoking director who strikes a friendship with Maria Vargas (Gardner) who becomes a Contessa during the final years of her short life. The "barefoot" part comes from the fact that she always felt comfortable without shoes. This film was entirely shot in Europe and they clearly take advantage of the beautiful locations. Anyone familiar with On Her Majesty's Secret Service will probably see a strong simularity between Maria Vergas and Tracy Di Vincenzo. They both have simular attitudes of being malcontents and finally find statisfication with the right man until it's far too late. Bogart role is simular to the one he played in In A Lonely Place, Bogie's best IMO, though he's definetly more kindler and gentler. Bogart never falls in his love with Maria but he has sort of a fatherly relationship towards her. This a bit of a Hollywood film at first, young, foreign, starlet being discovered and wisked off to America for a film career, but really it's more a fairy tale set in a modern era. Definetly a classic by any means.
RogueAgentSpeeding in the Tumbler...Posts: 3,676MI6 Agent
Caught it on TMC the other night; I hadn't seen it in years yet it still holds its own. It remains very atmospheric and creepy despite being terribly low budget, even for the 60s.
8.5/10
Mrs. Man Face: "You wouldn't hit a lady? Would you?"
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice isUNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
A witless and hollow comedy starring Mel Brooks as a billionaire who makes a bet that he could survive on the streets for 30 days. The beginning gags got a chuckle from me and some of the stuff that followed too like the bit with a piece of corn on someone's face. However, a majority of these gags you can see a mile away; You know that hand on the floor will be stepped on, you see that car will run over that puddle and splash people, and it's like this for most of the film. This is amateur hour. This came from the mind who wrote and directed The Producers '68 and Young Frankenstein ? Trading Places, an infinitely smarter film, took their characters for granted. They reacted to the situations they were in and they delivered comedy gold. Here Brooks' character is too lazy even to be funny, he just bums through this picture like he knows he'll get his money back and have a happy ending.
What's just as bad, or possibly worse, is that the film tries to be more than what it is. At one point of the hobos Brooks meets up with dies on the sidewalk and the death is clearly emphasized for pathos. Then the next scene involves a comedic attempt to dispose of his ashes at "sea". The awkward nature of lumping in tradegy with comedy didn't work and it happens one too many times in film.
I really am baffled by Brooks' output in the past 25 years. Spaceballs was fun, definetly not close to his early genius, but fun nonetheless but now he can't even accomplish that level of middling comedy anymore.
Clerks, one of the most well known "cult" films and the big break for Kevin Smith. Shot on a shoe string budget and in black and white, the film's main strength is the sharply written dialogue (those who are major Star Wars fans should find the scene where they are talking about a hoot).
movie was good, but they kept doing these annoying fade to black parts, and overall it could have been about another half hour of movie and back story. my opinion? you have had to have read the book to understand what was going on most of the time.
part two had better be EPIC with the Battle of Hogwarts and all...
Raymond Chandler written film noir from 1946 starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake. Ladd returns home from the war to find out his wife has been living it up while he has been away. After a big argument he walks out and gets picked up by Lake who is seperated from her husband, nightclub owner Eddie Harwood. The next day Ladd learns his wife has been murdered and he is the prime suspect. However, he is not the only suspect, among the other suspects is Lake's husband, Eddie Harwood who was having an affair with Ladd's wife.
The story has several surprises and I did not know who the murderer was until it was revealed. I enjoyed the movie, but I was disappointed Veronica Lake did not have more to do and I never felt her and Ladd had any real spark. Some of the supporting players including Hugh Beaumont (Beaver's dad) and William Bendix are very good.
I can recommend the film, but I have seen better film noir.
LoeffelholzThe United States, With LovePosts: 8,992Quartermasters
Kick-Ass. This movie started out as a real hoot: nerdy teenager decides to don a costume and be a super-hero, inspiring other powerless teens to do the same; but it eventually turns into a nasty, vicious, and downright ugly slash-fest. Note to producers: child endangerment is never a cool subject for a popcorn movie.
wasn't fond of it either. one film I'll never watch again. I agree that if they'd run with what they set up in the beginning of the movie, it would have been a laugh.
The boys and I just saw this one; I think we enjoyed it a bit more than you guys did. Yes, it was very odd, and uneven---sometimes too dark, and nakedly opportunistic in its ripping-off of Kill Bill---but it was also similarly exhilarating, in an escapist sense, even if you need a shower when it's over. I actually enjoyed the natural friction created in the narrative between the goofy teenage school stuff and the harder-hitting death and mayhem, with the halting superhero wish-fulfillment stuff lathered in as an adhesive that (almost) holds this crazy mix together. In short, I suppose I admire the boldness of the attempt, even if it can be effectively argued that not all cylinders are firing here.
The performances were good; Nicholas Cage's...
...spot-on aping of Adam West's 'Batman' line delivery was fantastic, IMO )
...even if the story was trite in spots (KA's love interest).
Guilty fun. 3 out of 5 stars. Don't expect Ridgemont High in tights.
Check out my Amazon author page!Mark Loeffelholz
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
Raymond Chandler written film noir from 1946 starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake. Ladd returns home from the war to find out his wife has been living it up while he has been away. After a big argument he walks out and gets picked up by Lake who is seperated from her husband, nightclub owner Eddie Harwood. The next day Ladd learns his wife has been murdered and he is the prime suspect. However, he is not the only suspect, among the other suspects is Lake's husband, Eddie Harwood who was having an affair with Ladd's wife.
The story has several surprises and I did not know who the murderer was until it was revealed. I enjoyed the movie, but I was disappointed Veronica Lake did not have more to do and I never felt her and Ladd had any real spark. Some of the supporting players including Hugh Beaumont (Beaver's dad) and William Bendix are very good.
I can recommend the film, but I have seen better film noir.
I liked Blue Dahlia too.
I found out on TCM that the murderer was suppose to be the brain damaged war vet but the censors did not like the idea of a WWII veteran being a murderer.
Saw the new Harry Potter, not bad but I dont remember there being that much flesh on display in the book
there wasn't lol. for sure some creative license there...my friend was joking about how many of the uber nerds in the theater peeled out after the credits ran so they could get to a bed...I laughed.
I finally got round to seeing The Evil Dead, which has been much talked about especially since Sam Raimi went to the Spider-man franchise. This was one of those films I turned my nose up at in the 1980s, rather like Rocky, seeing as it all seemed quite nasty and blue collar compared to our man in the tux. Anyway, I found it to be an exhilerating horror, with masterful camera work and an unaffected grunge feel. It really got the sense across of trying to stay alive til the dawn comes up.
The DVD extra with the documentary was interesting, originally it was called Book of the Dead and it only got a major release a year or so after the premiere, even then it was video that gave it a second lease of life and then it went and got banned, being classified in the UK as a video nasty along with the likes of I Spit On Your Grave. I takes a lot to make me feel sorry for Eli 'Hostel' Roth but watching him boyishly explain how Evil Dead prompted him to make movies, only for another talking head in the documentary to pop up and say that the films inspired by it were torture porn rubbish, I felt a certain pang for the guy...
Road to Morocco: Third's the charm. Bing & Bob perform the title song during a camel ride. It's simply surreal. Bing fluffs the camel's tuft. Neat and quirky. Dorothy Lamour = Babe. My favorite "Road'
Buck Privates. Abbott & Costello's star making turn. You can tell this was an "event" picture that everyone had to see. A brilliant musical comedy. The Andrews sisters do three numbers. It took 24 hours to get "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B" outta my head.
A classic starring Boris Karloff. Karloff plays a cab driver named John Gray living in Endinburgh, Scotland in 1831 who sells dead bodies to a highly regarded but cold hearted medical teacher, Dr. Wolf McFarlane, for student dissection. This is probably Karloff at his most sadistic. Gray torments McFarlane by proudly announcing they are friends in public places much to Mcfarlane's annoyance and harrasses McFarlane at his home. Years before, Gray had refused to name McFarlane as a Body Snatcher in a famous trial. As a result, Gray was scorned among the community and takes his revenge out on McFarlane who didn't lift a finger to help him.
My favorite moment was when Gray and McFarlane discuss an operation that the doctor preformed which he thought, at the time, was unsuccessful. Here Gray tears into him, belittling him on his knowledge of the human body and calls him ignorant. Gray, in fact, taught MacFarlane about the human anatomy. The moment is played with great gusto by Boris Karloff who rips the poor man apart and even though you know McFarlane is a jerk you can't help but feel sorry for him.
I think the only minor annoyance in this film is McFarlane's pupil who gets caught up in the middle of the fued with Gray. The pupil, Donald Fettes, who's gentle spirit helps an ailing girl walk again after Mcfarlane preformed surgery on her, is a bit too much of a sycophant. Even after Fettes learns the horrid truth about the bodies that are supplied to McFarlane, he insists on calling the doctor "a great man". That kind of got on my nerves but it's not a big deal.
Robert Wise directed this film and he really brings the haunting atmosphere of an era which just got past the infamous "Burke and Hare" murders that were mentioned frequently in the film. As an added bonus for horror fans, Karloff and another great horror legend, Bela Lugosi, in a minor role, have a one on one with Karloff being the victor. Overall, a Karloff classic.
A classic starring Boris Karloff. Karloff plays a cab driver named John Gray living in Endinburgh, Scotland in 1831 who sells dead bodies to a highly regarded but cold hearted medical teacher, Dr. Wolf McFarlane, for student dissection. This is probably Karloff at his most sadistic. Gray torments McFarlane by proudly announcing they are friends in public places much to Mcfarlane's annoyance and harrasses McFarlane at his home. Years before, Gray had refused to name McFarlane as a Body Snatcher in a famous trial. As a result, Gray was scorned among the community and takes his revenge out on McFarlane who didn't lift a finger to help him.
My favorite moment was when Gray and McFarlane discuss an operation that the doctor preformed which he thought, at the time, was unsuccessful. Here Gray tears into him, belittling him on his knowledge of the human body and calls him ignorant. Gray, in fact, taught MacFarlane about the human anatomy. The moment is played with great gusto by Boris Karloff who rips the poor man apart and even though you know McFarlane is a jerk you can't help but feel sorry for him.
I think the only minor annoyance in this film is McFarlane's pupil who gets caught up in the middle of the fued with Gray. The pupil, Donald Fettes, who's gentle spirit helps an ailing girl walk again after Mcfarlane preformed surgery on her, is a bit too much of a sycophant. Even after Fettes learns the horrid truth about the bodies that are supplied to McFarlane, he insists on calling the doctor "a great man". That kind of got on my nerves but it's not a big deal.
Robert Wise directed this film and he really brings the haunting atmosphere of an era which just got past the infamous "Burke and Hare" murders that were mentioned frequently in the film. As an added bonus for horror fans, Karloff and another great horror legend, Bela Lugosi, in a minor role, have a one on one with Karloff being the victor. Overall, a Karloff classic.
I love the Val Lewtons. This is my all-time favorite Karloff performance outside of Frankenstein and Targets.
A classic starring Boris Karloff. Karloff plays a cab driver named John Gray living in Endinburgh, Scotland in 1831 who sells dead bodies to a highly regarded but cold hearted medical teacher, Dr. Wolf McFarlane, for student dissection. This is probably Karloff at his most sadistic. Gray torments McFarlane by proudly announcing they are friends in public places much to Mcfarlane's annoyance and harrasses McFarlane at his home. Years before, Gray had refused to name McFarlane as a Body Snatcher in a famous trial. As a result, Gray was scorned among the community and takes his revenge out on McFarlane who didn't lift a finger to help him.
My favorite moment was when Gray and McFarlane discuss an operation that the doctor preformed which he thought, at the time, was unsuccessful. Here Gray tears into him, belittling him on his knowledge of the human body and calls him ignorant. Gray, in fact, taught MacFarlane about the human anatomy. The moment is played with great gusto by Boris Karloff who rips the poor man apart and even though you know McFarlane is a jerk you can't help but feel sorry for him.
I think the only minor annoyance in this film is McFarlane's pupil who gets caught up in the middle of the fued with Gray. The pupil, Donald Fettes, who's gentle spirit helps an ailing girl walk again after Mcfarlane preformed surgery on her, is a bit too much of a sycophant. Even after Fettes learns the horrid truth about the bodies that are supplied to McFarlane, he insists on calling the doctor "a great man". That kind of got on my nerves but it's not a big deal.
Robert Wise directed this film and he really brings the haunting atmosphere of an era which just got past the infamous "Burke and Hare" murders that were mentioned frequently in the film. As an added bonus for horror fans, Karloff and another great horror legend, Bela Lugosi, in a minor role, have a one on one with Karloff being the victor. Overall, a Karloff classic.
I love the Val Lewtons. This is my all-time favorite Karloff performance outside of Frankenstein and Targets.
"You've made a disease of me, eh, Toddy?"
I've yet to see Frankenstein but I have seen other Karloff features including Targets witch I got a huge kick out of.
Outstanding 1950 film noir directed by Billy Wilder and starring William Holden and Gloria Swanson. Holden plays down and out screenwriter Joe Gillis who is three payments behind on his rent and car payment. While trying to give the car repossessers the slip he pulls into the driveway of a giant but unkept Hollywood mansion. The mansion is home to silent film star Norma Desmond (Swanson) and her assistant Max. Desmond was once a big Hollywood star, but hasn't worked since they went to talkies. She is working on a screenplay for her return and when she discovers Holden is a screenwriter, she requests he work with her on her screenplay. Holden in need of money and spying an opportunity agrees. Their relationship develops as both fill the needs of each other, Norma Desmond gets companionship and Joe Gillis gets an easy life style and plenty of nice things.
Gloria Swanson is riveting in the role of Norma Desmond, the has been actress who believes she is still a big star going through life as if it were one big dramatic scene. When she was on screen I couldn't take my eyes of her, she manages to make her character both scary and sympathetic. Holden is also good, his narration throughout the film adds insight to his feelings and he captures Gillis's flip attitude to life.
Wilder's direction (he also helped write the script) is flawless, from the opening scene of a wide eyed body floating in a pool, shot looking up from the bottom of the pool, to the final shot of Norma Desmond's wide eyed stare, the look of the film, shot in black and white, is dark and foreboding. The film's score also adds to the foreboding as right from the opening credits the music lets the viewer know something bad is going to happen.
The film won three Oscars for Art Direction, Music and Screenplay. Both Holden and Swanson were nominated for an Oscar, but didn't win. I cannot believe Swanson didn't win as she is wonderful, completely convincing as a faded star, caught in her own madness. A little research revealed that the 1950 Best Actress Award was won by Judy Holliday for her role in Born Yesterday, a film I have never seen. Although I haven't seen Born Yesterday, I just can't believe anyone could have been better than Swanson.
Outstanding 1950 film noir directed by Billy Wilder and starring William Holden and Gloria Swanson. Holden plays down and out screenwriter Joe Gillis who is three payments behind on his rent and car payment. While trying to give the car repossessers the slip he pulls into the driveway of a giant but unkept Hollywood mansion. The mansion is home to silent film star Norma Desmond (Swanson) and her assistant Max. Desmond was once a big Hollywood star, but hasn't worked since they went to talkies. She is working on a screenplay for her return and when she discovers Holden is a screenwriter, she requests he work with her on her screenplay. Holden in need of money and spying an opportunity agrees. Their relationship develops as both fill the needs of each other, Norma Desmond gets companionship and Joe Gillis gets an easy life style and plenty of nice things.
Gloria Swanson is riveting in the role of Norma Desmond, the has been actress who believes she is still a big star going through life as if it were one big dramatic scene. When she was on screen I couldn't take my eyes of her, she manages to make her character both scary and sympathetic. Holden is also good, his narration throughout the film adds insight to his feelings and he captures Gillis's flip attitude to life.
Wilder's direction (he also helped write the script) is flawless, from the opening scene of a wide eyed body floating in a pool, shot looking up from the bottom of the pool, to the final shot of Norma Desmond's wide eyed stare, the look of the film, shot in black and white, is dark and foreboding. The film's score also adds to the foreboding as right from the opening credits the music lets the viewer know something bad is going to happen.
The film won three Oscars for Art Direction, Music and Screenplay. Both Holden and Swanson were nominated for an Oscar, but didn't win. I cannot believe Swanson didn't win as she is wonderful, completely convincing as a faded star, caught in her own madness. A little research revealed that the 1950 Best Actress Award was won by Judy Holliday for her role in Born Yesterday, a film I have never seen. Although I haven't seen Born Yesterday, I just can't believe anyone could have been better than Swanson.
Outstanding film, highly recommend!
I loved the relationship between Desmond and Max. He was her guardian against reality and it's really his fault the way she ended up at the conclusion of the film.
Sunset Blvd. definetly is the greatest film about "Hollywood" with The Bad and The Beautiful a close secound.
Outstanding 1950 film noir directed by Billy Wilder and starring William Holden and Gloria Swanson. Holden plays down and out screenwriter Joe Gillis who is three payments behind on his rent and car payment. While trying to give the car repossessers the slip he pulls into the driveway of a giant but unkept Hollywood mansion. The mansion is home to silent film star Norma Desmond (Swanson) and her assistant Max. Desmond was once a big Hollywood star, but hasn't worked since they went to talkies. She is working on a screenplay for her return and when she discovers Holden is a screenwriter, she requests he work with her on her screenplay. Holden in need of money and spying an opportunity agrees. Their relationship develops as both fill the needs of each other, Norma Desmond gets companionship and Joe Gillis gets an easy life style and plenty of nice things.
Gloria Swanson is riveting in the role of Norma Desmond, the has been actress who believes she is still a big star going through life as if it were one big dramatic scene. When she was on screen I couldn't take my eyes of her, she manages to make her character both scary and sympathetic. Holden is also good, his narration throughout the film adds insight to his feelings and he captures Gillis's flip attitude to life.
Wilder's direction (he also helped write the script) is flawless, from the opening scene of a wide eyed body floating in a pool, shot looking up from the bottom of the pool, to the final shot of Norma Desmond's wide eyed stare, the look of the film, shot in black and white, is dark and foreboding. The film's score also adds to the foreboding as right from the opening credits the music lets the viewer know something bad is going to happen.
The film won three Oscars for Art Direction, Music and Screenplay. Both Holden and Swanson were nominated for an Oscar, but didn't win. I cannot believe Swanson didn't win as she is wonderful, completely convincing as a faded star, caught in her own madness. A little research revealed that the 1950 Best Actress Award was won by Judy Holliday for her role in Born Yesterday, a film I have never seen. Although I haven't seen Born Yesterday, I just can't believe anyone could have been better than Swanson.
Outstanding film, highly recommend!
I loved the relationship between Desmond and Max. He was her guardian against reality and it's really his fault the way she ended up at the conclusion of the film.
Sunset Blvd. definetly is the greatest film about "Hollywood" with The Bad and The Beautiful a close secound.
"You used to be in pictures, you used to be big"
"I am big, its the PICTURES that got small"
I've had this on my sky+ for a while, but got round to watching it last night..... Wasn't sure what to expect - and as I'm not a great fan of Colin Farrell, I wasn't expecting much.
Two 'gun for hire' men are sent to Bruges, after the rookie of the two (Farrell) makes a mistake and shoots a young boy by mistake. This then impacts on these two main characters, the older one (Gleeson) taking a 'older brother' responsibility over the rookie - and although the main boss man (a very ironic performance by Ralph Fiennes - who's cockney gangster accent is hilarious in its self), then asks this older one to 'take care of' the rookie, brings into queston why they are in this business. This movie is not exploring anything new, but the the Guy Ritchie feel of direction - and the very un-politically correct jokes, plus great performances by Farrell and Gleeson made for a unexpected and very entertaining movie.
The ending was a bit trite - but after the 3rd glass of wine - it was forgiven -{
A strong 7/10
She's worth whatever chaos she brings to the table and you know it. ~ Mark Anthony
Captain Blood - 1935 pirate film starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland. Flynn is Peter Blood, an English doctor who is wrongly accused of treason and sent off to slavery. At Port Royal he is "bought" by Arabella Bishop (de Havilland), eventually they learn he is a doctor and he spends much of his time treating the Governor. When Port Royal comes under attack from Spanish Pirates, he leads fellow slaves in an escape and they commandeer the pirate ship. Blood eventually becomes the most well known and most sought after pirate in the Carribean.
I enjoyed the film, but I don't think it is the best pirate film ever, as some have stated. My biggest gripe is that de Havilland is not a terribly exciting female lead. Her character is rather boring and I didn't find much sex appeal from the performance either. Comparing her peformance here, with Maureen O'Hara's in Against All Flags, there is no question O'Hara is a much more interesting character with greater sex appeal. My other issue with the film is that I found parts rather boring. The final battle is quite good and Flynn is good, especially with this being one of his first major roles.
IMO, the best pirate movies I have seen are
Pirates of the Carribean "Curse of the Black Pearl
Against All Flags
The Black Swan
The Spanish Main
Captain Blood
Based on the 1976 novel written by Ira Levin, The Boys From Brazil is about an attempt fully replicate Adolf Hitler. Years before Dr. Josef Mengle (Gregory Peck) made 94 genetic duplicates of Adolf Hitler and these boys were adopted by families which had much in common with Hitler's original parents. Mengle believes if these boys share the same circumstances of Hitler's life at least one of them would become the genuine article. The one circumstance focused on the film is the death of the boys' fathers at age 65. Ezra Lieberman (Laurence Olivier) stumbles onto this plot when a young jewish man informs him of Mengle's experiment. The man is killed and it's up to Liebermann to find out what is going on. The film moves on suspensefully as each of the 94 men are slowlly killed.
This an all star cast of sorts with the two principle actors I already mentioned along with James Mason playing the aristocratic Colonel Siebert. The film generally has one foot in reality. Mengle was a real Nazi war criminal who conducted gruesome experiments mostly on twins. In this film though, Gregory Peck is certainly not reflecting the real life counterpart. Peck is generally silly and outrageous as a mad scientist barking every word he speaks and slobbering over Hitler as if he was God himself. It's real quite a preformance which always brought me back to the film for mutliple viewings. Olivier is equally comical and fun in his over the top portayal of Lieberman, mostly due to the equally silly accent he puts on. As I said before, the plot runs along smoothly and though you'd have to suspend your disbelief, it's kind of challenged near the end. Leiberman consults a genecist played by Bruno Ganz who explains how would be possible to clone human life. This sadds to the darkness of ending ten fold. Coupled with a brilliant score by Jerry Goldsmith, The Boys From Brazil is a good thriller punched up by fine preformances.
Comments
Because the film is “based on a true story” a filmgoer cannot be sure what on the screen actually happened and what has been embellished, but regardless, the film is engrossing. Tony Scott does a good job of editing back and forth between news reports, railroad corporate decision making, and the action on the track to keep the story moving. Denzel and Chris Pine are excellent in their roles, Washington is the veteran employee about to be forcibly retired and Pine is the new guy, just out of training school, recently separated from his wife and child. Washington and Pine are running a train that is on the same track as the runaway and they narrowly miss a head on collision with it. Washington then decides he can turn around and catch the runaway, despite orders from the corporate office not to. The suspense is maintained throughout and the action is almost non-stop. The film clocks in at about 100 minutes running time, shorter than the typical film, but appropriate for this story as at no time did I think the story was dragging.
I enjoyed the film as I found the story compelling and the action exciting. The sound editor on the production should get some credit for doing a great job delivering all the various sounds one hears in a rail yard and on a train, as well as the screeching grinding sounds heard from trying to stop the train. My only complaint would be that at times the timeline of the events didn’t seem plausible as an event would occur on the tracks and immediately the news team would be reporting who the individual was and would have a picture of that person, which would be conveniently viewed by a loved one.. Despite that small complaint, I enjoyed the film and recommend it.
wasn't fond of it either. one film I'll never watch again. I agree that if they'd run with what they set up in the beginning of the movie, it would have been a laugh.
half-watched The Dark Knight two nights ago...needed background noise while I did my homework.
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Roger Moore 1927-2017
The Barefoot Contessa Starring Humphrey Bogart and Ava Gardner. Bogart plays a hard drinking and smoking director who strikes a friendship with Maria Vargas (Gardner) who becomes a Contessa during the final years of her short life. The "barefoot" part comes from the fact that she always felt comfortable without shoes. This film was entirely shot in Europe and they clearly take advantage of the beautiful locations. Anyone familiar with On Her Majesty's Secret Service will probably see a strong simularity between Maria Vergas and Tracy Di Vincenzo. They both have simular attitudes of being malcontents and finally find statisfication with the right man until it's far too late. Bogart role is simular to the one he played in In A Lonely Place, Bogie's best IMO, though he's definetly more kindler and gentler. Bogart never falls in his love with Maria but he has sort of a fatherly relationship towards her. This a bit of a Hollywood film at first, young, foreign, starlet being discovered and wisked off to America for a film career, but really it's more a fairy tale set in a modern era. Definetly a classic by any means.
Caught it on TMC the other night; I hadn't seen it in years yet it still holds its own. It remains very atmospheric and creepy despite being terribly low budget, even for the 60s.
8.5/10
Batman: "The Hammer Of Justice is UNISEX!"
-Batman: The Brave & The Bold -
A witless and hollow comedy starring Mel Brooks as a billionaire who makes a bet that he could survive on the streets for 30 days. The beginning gags got a chuckle from me and some of the stuff that followed too like the bit with a piece of corn on someone's face. However, a majority of these gags you can see a mile away; You know that hand on the floor will be stepped on, you see that car will run over that puddle and splash people, and it's like this for most of the film. This is amateur hour. This came from the mind who wrote and directed The Producers '68 and Young Frankenstein ? Trading Places, an infinitely smarter film, took their characters for granted. They reacted to the situations they were in and they delivered comedy gold. Here Brooks' character is too lazy even to be funny, he just bums through this picture like he knows he'll get his money back and have a happy ending.
What's just as bad, or possibly worse, is that the film tries to be more than what it is. At one point of the hobos Brooks meets up with dies on the sidewalk and the death is clearly emphasized for pathos. Then the next scene involves a comedic attempt to dispose of his ashes at "sea". The awkward nature of lumping in tradegy with comedy didn't work and it happens one too many times in film.
I really am baffled by Brooks' output in the past 25 years. Spaceballs was fun, definetly not close to his early genius, but fun nonetheless but now he can't even accomplish that level of middling comedy anymore.
Shame Smith went from that to Cop Out
movie was good, but they kept doing these annoying fade to black parts, and overall it could have been about another half hour of movie and back story. my opinion? you have had to have read the book to understand what was going on most of the time.
part two had better be EPIC with the Battle of Hogwarts and all...
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Raymond Chandler written film noir from 1946 starring Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake. Ladd returns home from the war to find out his wife has been living it up while he has been away. After a big argument he walks out and gets picked up by Lake who is seperated from her husband, nightclub owner Eddie Harwood. The next day Ladd learns his wife has been murdered and he is the prime suspect. However, he is not the only suspect, among the other suspects is Lake's husband, Eddie Harwood who was having an affair with Ladd's wife.
The story has several surprises and I did not know who the murderer was until it was revealed. I enjoyed the movie, but I was disappointed Veronica Lake did not have more to do and I never felt her and Ladd had any real spark. Some of the supporting players including Hugh Beaumont (Beaver's dad) and William Bendix are very good.
I can recommend the film, but I have seen better film noir.
The boys and I just saw this one; I think we enjoyed it a bit more than you guys did. Yes, it was very odd, and uneven---sometimes too dark, and nakedly opportunistic in its ripping-off of Kill Bill---but it was also similarly exhilarating, in an escapist sense, even if you need a shower when it's over. I actually enjoyed the natural friction created in the narrative between the goofy teenage school stuff and the harder-hitting death and mayhem, with the halting superhero wish-fulfillment stuff lathered in as an adhesive that (almost) holds this crazy mix together. In short, I suppose I admire the boldness of the attempt, even if it can be effectively argued that not all cylinders are firing here.
The performances were good; Nicholas Cage's...
Guilty fun. 3 out of 5 stars. Don't expect Ridgemont High in tights.
"I am not an entrant in the Shakespeare Stakes." - Ian Fleming
"Screw 'em." - Daniel Craig, The Best James Bond EverTM
I liked Blue Dahlia too.
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there wasn't lol. for sure some creative license there...my friend was joking about how many of the uber nerds in the theater peeled out after the credits ran so they could get to a bed...I laughed.
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The DVD extra with the documentary was interesting, originally it was called Book of the Dead and it only got a major release a year or so after the premiere, even then it was video that gave it a second lease of life and then it went and got banned, being classified in the UK as a video nasty along with the likes of I Spit On Your Grave. I takes a lot to make me feel sorry for Eli 'Hostel' Roth but watching him boyishly explain how Evil Dead prompted him to make movies, only for another talking head in the documentary to pop up and say that the films inspired by it were torture porn rubbish, I felt a certain pang for the guy...
Roger Moore 1927-2017
Road to Morocco: Third's the charm. Bing & Bob perform the title song during a camel ride. It's simply surreal. Bing fluffs the camel's tuft. Neat and quirky. Dorothy Lamour = Babe. My favorite "Road'
Buck Privates. Abbott & Costello's star making turn. You can tell this was an "event" picture that everyone had to see. A brilliant musical comedy. The Andrews sisters do three numbers. It took 24 hours to get "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B" outta my head.
A classic starring Boris Karloff. Karloff plays a cab driver named John Gray living in Endinburgh, Scotland in 1831 who sells dead bodies to a highly regarded but cold hearted medical teacher, Dr. Wolf McFarlane, for student dissection. This is probably Karloff at his most sadistic. Gray torments McFarlane by proudly announcing they are friends in public places much to Mcfarlane's annoyance and harrasses McFarlane at his home. Years before, Gray had refused to name McFarlane as a Body Snatcher in a famous trial. As a result, Gray was scorned among the community and takes his revenge out on McFarlane who didn't lift a finger to help him.
My favorite moment was when Gray and McFarlane discuss an operation that the doctor preformed which he thought, at the time, was unsuccessful. Here Gray tears into him, belittling him on his knowledge of the human body and calls him ignorant. Gray, in fact, taught MacFarlane about the human anatomy. The moment is played with great gusto by Boris Karloff who rips the poor man apart and even though you know McFarlane is a jerk you can't help but feel sorry for him.
I think the only minor annoyance in this film is McFarlane's pupil who gets caught up in the middle of the fued with Gray. The pupil, Donald Fettes, who's gentle spirit helps an ailing girl walk again after Mcfarlane preformed surgery on her, is a bit too much of a sycophant. Even after Fettes learns the horrid truth about the bodies that are supplied to McFarlane, he insists on calling the doctor "a great man". That kind of got on my nerves but it's not a big deal.
Robert Wise directed this film and he really brings the haunting atmosphere of an era which just got past the infamous "Burke and Hare" murders that were mentioned frequently in the film. As an added bonus for horror fans, Karloff and another great horror legend, Bela Lugosi, in a minor role, have a one on one with Karloff being the victor. Overall, a Karloff classic.
"You've made a disease of me, eh, Toddy?"
I've yet to see Frankenstein but I have seen other Karloff features including Targets witch I got a huge kick out of.
Outstanding 1950 film noir directed by Billy Wilder and starring William Holden and Gloria Swanson. Holden plays down and out screenwriter Joe Gillis who is three payments behind on his rent and car payment. While trying to give the car repossessers the slip he pulls into the driveway of a giant but unkept Hollywood mansion. The mansion is home to silent film star Norma Desmond (Swanson) and her assistant Max. Desmond was once a big Hollywood star, but hasn't worked since they went to talkies. She is working on a screenplay for her return and when she discovers Holden is a screenwriter, she requests he work with her on her screenplay. Holden in need of money and spying an opportunity agrees. Their relationship develops as both fill the needs of each other, Norma Desmond gets companionship and Joe Gillis gets an easy life style and plenty of nice things.
Gloria Swanson is riveting in the role of Norma Desmond, the has been actress who believes she is still a big star going through life as if it were one big dramatic scene. When she was on screen I couldn't take my eyes of her, she manages to make her character both scary and sympathetic. Holden is also good, his narration throughout the film adds insight to his feelings and he captures Gillis's flip attitude to life.
Wilder's direction (he also helped write the script) is flawless, from the opening scene of a wide eyed body floating in a pool, shot looking up from the bottom of the pool, to the final shot of Norma Desmond's wide eyed stare, the look of the film, shot in black and white, is dark and foreboding. The film's score also adds to the foreboding as right from the opening credits the music lets the viewer know something bad is going to happen.
The film won three Oscars for Art Direction, Music and Screenplay. Both Holden and Swanson were nominated for an Oscar, but didn't win. I cannot believe Swanson didn't win as she is wonderful, completely convincing as a faded star, caught in her own madness. A little research revealed that the 1950 Best Actress Award was won by Judy Holliday for her role in Born Yesterday, a film I have never seen. Although I haven't seen Born Yesterday, I just can't believe anyone could have been better than Swanson.
Outstanding film, highly recommend!
I loved the relationship between Desmond and Max. He was her guardian against reality and it's really his fault the way she ended up at the conclusion of the film.
Sunset Blvd. definetly is the greatest film about "Hollywood" with The Bad and The Beautiful a close secound.
"You used to be in pictures, you used to be big"
"I am big, its the PICTURES that got small"
A pity no 5.1 DTS this time. Regular Dolby still sounded prime though.
"Don't screw up. I know how to roll, but it's hard on the elbows. And if you just have to play James Bond, I'll bust your ass."
Chuck Heston: "Yes ma'am!"
I've had this on my sky+ for a while, but got round to watching it last night..... Wasn't sure what to expect - and as I'm not a great fan of Colin Farrell, I wasn't expecting much.
Two 'gun for hire' men are sent to Bruges, after the rookie of the two (Farrell) makes a mistake and shoots a young boy by mistake. This then impacts on these two main characters, the older one (Gleeson) taking a 'older brother' responsibility over the rookie - and although the main boss man (a very ironic performance by Ralph Fiennes - who's cockney gangster accent is hilarious in its self), then asks this older one to 'take care of' the rookie, brings into queston why they are in this business. This movie is not exploring anything new, but the the Guy Ritchie feel of direction - and the very un-politically correct jokes, plus great performances by Farrell and Gleeson made for a unexpected and very entertaining movie.
The ending was a bit trite - but after the 3rd glass of wine - it was forgiven -{
A strong 7/10
I enjoyed the film, but I don't think it is the best pirate film ever, as some have stated. My biggest gripe is that de Havilland is not a terribly exciting female lead. Her character is rather boring and I didn't find much sex appeal from the performance either. Comparing her peformance here, with Maureen O'Hara's in Against All Flags, there is no question O'Hara is a much more interesting character with greater sex appeal. My other issue with the film is that I found parts rather boring. The final battle is quite good and Flynn is good, especially with this being one of his first major roles.
IMO, the best pirate movies I have seen are
Pirates of the Carribean "Curse of the Black Pearl
Against All Flags
The Black Swan
The Spanish Main
Captain Blood
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Based on the 1976 novel written by Ira Levin, The Boys From Brazil is about an attempt fully replicate Adolf Hitler. Years before Dr. Josef Mengle (Gregory Peck) made 94 genetic duplicates of Adolf Hitler and these boys were adopted by families which had much in common with Hitler's original parents. Mengle believes if these boys share the same circumstances of Hitler's life at least one of them would become the genuine article. The one circumstance focused on the film is the death of the boys' fathers at age 65. Ezra Lieberman (Laurence Olivier) stumbles onto this plot when a young jewish man informs him of Mengle's experiment. The man is killed and it's up to Liebermann to find out what is going on. The film moves on suspensefully as each of the 94 men are slowlly killed.
This an all star cast of sorts with the two principle actors I already mentioned along with James Mason playing the aristocratic Colonel Siebert. The film generally has one foot in reality. Mengle was a real Nazi war criminal who conducted gruesome experiments mostly on twins. In this film though, Gregory Peck is certainly not reflecting the real life counterpart. Peck is generally silly and outrageous as a mad scientist barking every word he speaks and slobbering over Hitler as if he was God himself. It's real quite a preformance which always brought me back to the film for mutliple viewings. Olivier is equally comical and fun in his over the top portayal of Lieberman, mostly due to the equally silly accent he puts on. As I said before, the plot runs along smoothly and though you'd have to suspend your disbelief, it's kind of challenged near the end. Leiberman consults a genecist played by Bruno Ganz who explains how would be possible to clone human life. This sadds to the darkness of ending ten fold. Coupled with a brilliant score by Jerry Goldsmith, The Boys From Brazil is a good thriller punched up by fine preformances.
Four Christmases.
Just F**king don't, alright!!!!! X-(
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