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Sunday night and I’ve worked mothers days cooking down the road for so many tables it’s insanity, I’m thinking “didn’t these people get this over at brunch commmme on”!
This has been done after a heavy Saturday night.
I get home and my girlfriend is on the phone her mother and she’s sounding talkative. I scanned the channels and a film was on that made me forget the stress or cooking for 60 people with one other chef over two hours.
The film was Tango and Cash.
Yes Tango and Cash
Sylvester Stallion as uptown suavely dressed Ray Tango. He’s smooth and ice cold balls as big as the Easter Island statues; I mean he fires at a petrol tanker after it’s proved there is petrol in it. Tango is so kick arse and so sure that there is cocaine on board that he opens fire on the taker. And then, yes, it snows cocaine.
Kurt Russell (since fallen to near the bottom of the ladder) plays Gabriel Cash, downtown trash cop. He goes to work on the street wearing dirty jean and ripped sweat shirts, he’s ghetto, and he’s down with the street.
Both Tango and Cash know of each other as they are both considered the two best cops in the city. Having massive egos on them both they just can’t stand the thought on the other bettering the them. Through some events they are both framed for murder by bad guy and Ripples front man, a man who cut a deal with the devil that allows him to smoke forever and not lose any part of his body, Jack Palance.
Tango & Cash thus form the buddy formula being sent to prison together. Nothing brings men closer than prison, and in their case it is never more true.
Escape, investigate, interrogate, and set the record straight and we have the rest of the plot.
Ok Tango & Cash isn’t a classic action film, it’s in The Last Boy Scot league but the script I think is awesome. Late 80’s Lethal Weapon rip off could be said but still I find highly entertaining. The prison scenes and escape is 80’s action at its best.
So it was blissful to fire gaze at this cheesy flick, winding down from my hectic night with this beautifully brainless action film.
Defiantly one for the ten dollars for five DVD rentals.
6.5/10
‘In the Heat of the Night’ is a 60’s movie that you might see late at night and start watching. Before you know it 30 minutes later you’re still watching engrossed.
That’s how I first came about it, so as I came home on a split shift the other day and behold ‘In the Heat of the Night’ was on, so I watched.
Sydney Poitier has achieved a status in the acting world, the status of ‘the man’ and this status is due to many roles, one of which is Virgil Tibbs. “They call me Mr Tibbs”! Tibbs a black police detective is mistaken for a killer in a small southern town by the local racist flatfoots. They assume that he is the killer because of a few things. 1. He’s black, (imagine if they had hip-hop back then?) 2. He’s a stranger. 3. The cops are philistines .
Fitting the local’s criteria he is deemed to be even guiltier due to the fact he actually has money on him. Enter Rod Steiger as Police chief Bill Gillespie a bigoted oaf who couldn’t find his pistol if it was loaded and hanging from his mouth.
When Tibbs proves he isn’t the killer by calling his Captain he is ordered to assist the southern police as best he can. Thus forms an unwilling alliance between Gillespie and Tibbs to track down the party truly responsible for the murder that has occurred. As the two sleuth their way to the truth barriers are broken down, and a friendship is almost forged between the two. Tibbs also begins to shake the local’s ideas of black people with his intelligent ways and no-nonsense attitude.
Ok so that’s the plot. Beneath this is the statement the film is making. Now having been made in the late 60’s there is a lot of racial turmoil happening in the states, and due to this, this is an incredibly brave movie to have been made. Steiger character is really a house nigger to the town’s rich white folk where as Poitier comes across as a supercilious man, a law unto himself, (there is a great oh yeah moment where Tibbs slaps down the towns richest white man). He looks down at the nigh retarded southerners as they do the cotton pickers in the field. In a great scene Gillespie taunts Tibbs with this fact as Tibbs is readying himself to leave Gillespie swallows what’s left of his pride and asks him to stay and help. When Tibbs refuses he hits him with the truth, “you think you are so much better than us here how can you even dream of passing up this opportunity to prove it”.
This is a must see for all those who love film, and for those who say to themselves as I did years ago ‘I must really see older films’. A classic that gave birth to squeals that were nowhere near as good as this but still enjoyable for the Poitier factor (They call me Mister Tibbs and The Organisation).
Also a little bit of trivia concerning the cast and New Zealand. Warren Oates plays Officer Sam Woods is in ‘In the Heat of the Night’ he was also Sleeping Dogs and kiwi film staring Sam Neil directed by Roger Donaldson and including a crew member John Reid (my ex-film school tutor) who when on to make the Last Tattoo which stared Rod Steiger. (Small world).
In the Heat of the Night 8/10
I am excited about a few films due to drop this year. The new Batman is looking wicked Ledger as The Joker just looks kick ass evil and the Nolan factor rubbed over the Batman’s is a great touch. I was visiting a friend a while ago, Joe is a cool guy and always turns me onto new films coming out, and he tuned me into Hancock. This is a film about a transit super-hero who in his attempts to stop crime really makes things worse. I saw the teaser trailer and was like “damn shit this looks like the type of block-buster I want to go see.
Over the week end my girlfriend went and saw the Iron Giant and texted me during it to tell me that the latest Hancock trailer kicked ass, so I have found it and now I present it to you.
(Sorry I can't get it to embed, so here's a link, enjoy.
HANCOCK TRAILER
(PS. Best Villains part 2 coming soon)
Porn, yes porn. This IS a genre of film, disagree if you like but you’re wrong. As a partisan reviewer I feel I must make a comment on the genre.
Now forgive me Rusty and Dewayne I won’t be reviewing any one film because of a few reasons, well a lot of reasons, I don’t know that may titles, I don’t know an incredible amount of actors, and to be really honest with you I usually download clips from films rather than whole films. What I am going to be writing on is a brief history of the development of this genre and where I see it at the moment, and where I feel this genre is going.
With the advent of video the porno flick moved from a story ala John Holmes as Sam Strong trying to find the woman who gives the best blowjob in the world for his wealthy client. Many scenes but you just had to watch on to see how good she was. Video has brought about the end of the story or plot in porn, good thing, bad thing, no. It’s just a thing. Now if you have a video camera and money for a hotel room you can make a porno, this is the biggest misconception with regards to porn. I am not saying that this isn’t true, because it is, but like all films you need star attraction. Yeah you can make the film with Belinda down the road cause she’s a renown dirty girl and doesn’t mind getting her gear off for a camera, but it not that simple. We need to consider angles, takes, actors habits and needs to perform. When all these factors add up wrong porn becomes testy to shoot.
We need to credit the makers of the easiest genre sometimes. Imagination is lacking constantly, but it isn’t the most important factor, I mean everyone is going to have sex, there isn’t really a twist here. But (I say this having never shot porn) the porn director has to be pragmatic in their decisions. The director who will shot their subjects directly at a mirror is lacking. A director that stays on the one shot (you know the one constant penetration) is lacking, and to me suggests not enough coverage. Too long on the foreplay, no foreplay, ugly actors, there are a myriad of things that can make porn bad porn.
Then it comes to “can you handle it”. Most people say “yeah I could make a porno” but could you really? Do you really want to stand there and watch this go down. Do you want to be there for the icky goings on we don’t see on the finished product, bloopers in porn must be just horrible to deal with.
Like all films there are good ones, and there are bad ones. Porn is no exception there is good porn and there is bad porn, and like film it is largely up to the viewer. I have a friend that complains that some of the girls are “too porno” he prefers real like girls but I think he is in the minority. Some like orgy’s some like one on one. Some like threesomes some don’t.
In today’s day and age porn has less of a taboo about it. This does not mean we are living in a second age of Caligula it’s just that porn has always been watched by people and these people are being more honest about watching it.
So where is porn heading? Well unfortunately I see it getting worse. I see more home girls and guys making there own and sending it out on the web. Thus amateur porn will take over, though even this home job film making will have an audience because when it comes down to it, most everyone want to see other people have sex, its just some are honedst about it most are not.
Ok these are my picks there is no official ranking apart from if there was a director I have studied the most it’s old Stan. Each one of his films are amazing in there own way but you either like him or you don’t. (My mother walked out on two Kubrick films).
1. Paths of Glory.
- If any of Kubrick’s movies encapsulates his style and content this is it. Corridor shots, mans inner killer, the power in the hands of the insane. Paths of Glory has it all.
2. Dr Strangelove.
- Peter Sellars playing three characters. The war room dark humour this is Kubrick at his best.
3. The Killing.
- Watching this you will see where Pulp Fiction comes from. One of the best heist films ever made.
4. The Shining.
- My friend Joe will curse me as he considers this the best. Long tracking hallway shots, mis en scene that’s beyond comparison. The doubling of the characters, the colours of wardrobe, and of course the overlook.
5. Lolita.
-James Mason is brilliant as the rat-bag HH. Sellars showing his range and one hell of a taboo story. She wanted it though.
6. Barry Lyndon
- The photography of this film is truly amazing. Though the story is long it is engaging throughout.
7. Full Mental Jacket
- A classic war flick with all the Kubrick messages. Again mis en scene is outstanding just look at the storm clouds overhead as the grunts are about to graduate, or the red before conflict.
8. A Clockwork Orange
- Boo and hiss me as much as you want I just don’t think this is as good as the before mentioned.
9. 2001 Space Odyssey
- Again spit on my decision but I find the amazing cuts (bone to ship) average, did I actually just say that? Too much has been made of this film. It is a visual extravaganza and massive aspect of Kubrick’s content, but meh.
10. Eyes Wide Shut
- I would rate this at 8 for MY enjoyment sake. But this isn’t the best work Kubbie ever did, also dying before completion really dulls it down.
11. Killers Kiss
- Amazing if it was a grad film. Killers Kiss shows aspects of what’s to come, and the boxing at the start is great. But over all in the company of what he produced Killers Kiss belongs here.
Spartacus I don’t rate as a Kubrick film. He was brought in after difficulties so it was sans his study and planning.
In no particular order, as they came to me over two nights here are just some of my nominations for Best Villian ever. (Taking votes and nomination now.)
Javier Bardem - No Country for Old men.
Captain in Pan’s Labyrinth.
Jack N - The Joker
Russell Crowe - 3:10 to Yuma
Allen Rickman - Die Hard
- Robin Hood
Tom Beringer - Platoon
Clancy Brown - Shawshank Redemption
- Highlander
Dennis Hopper - Speed
Chris Sarandon (the Vampire from Fright Night)
Anthony Hopkins - Silence of the Lambs
The Daleks
Christopher Lee - The Wicker Man
Courtney Gains (Malachi) - The Children of the Corn
Phillip Seymour Hoffman - Mission Impossible 3
Patrick Bergin - Sleeping with the Enemy
Linda Fiorentino (Wendy Kory ) - The Last Seduction
John Malcovich - In the Line of Fire
Gene Hackman (Lex Luther) - Superman
F. Murray Abraham (Antonio Salieri) -Amadeus
Kevin Costner - Mr Brooks (was he a villain?)
“Steve Martin, when did you stop being funny”?
This was a question (a valid one) thrown at Martin by a comedian named Dennis Pennis that had me in fits of laughter. Steve Martins reaction was not to react. He couldn’t react he had been trumped because Martin deep down knew that he hadn’t produced anything worthy of himself for years. I think that Martin went home and thought deep and hard about this harsh comment. Then I think he wrote Bowfinger as a big shut up to doubters.
Martin together with crony Frank Oz present Bowfinger, one of the funniest Steve Martin films ever and a much welcome return to form for Martin.
Martin is Bobby Bowfinger, a failed film maker who throughout making his master piece shows us shades of Ed Wood in his rough style and she’ll be right attitude. Bowfinger is a swindler, a talker, a rat-bag but very likeable. His machination for his film is that he will get the biggest star at the time to be his lead. Kit Ramsey (Eddie Murphy) is a powerful deranged movie star. He is in Bowfingers new film (Chubby Rain) there is only one catch. He has no idea he is in the film. Only Bowfinger and a select few know that this is a farce.
Chubby Rain is a terrible sci-fi flick involving Alien love and melting cops. Ramsey has a delusion that Aliens are trying to harm him previous to this film making and as he is included unbeknownst into scenes this delusion become more and more tangible to Ramsey, till finally he is forced to go into hiding with his friends at ‘Mind Head’ (a not so disguised dig a Scientology). Enter Jiff, Kits look-a-like played by Eddy Murphy.
“We shoot him from the back, we shoot him from a distance they will never know”.
Now many people don’t like Murphy. “Yeah he’s funny but he can’t act so good” - wrong.
Bowfinger should be seen purely for Murphy for it is Murphy that makes this film as funny as it is. His playing of two characters is brilliant and my opinion award worthy. Kit a wanker film star with strange habits and ideas, and Jiff a plebe pure and simple. Aspirations to break into a career of errand running he is the embodiment of gormless.
There are other things that make this a great watch but I will let you find them. I will just refer to my favourite events.
1. Jiff crosses traffic
2.Kit in the car park
3. Jiff’s interview
4.Every scene with Eddie Murphy really
Bowfinger 7/10
What happens when you cross an episode of Jerry Springer with North American town over a winter? You get ‘Lars and the Real Girl’.
Lars (Gosling) is delusional, he’s doting in a pathetic way. Lars is a weirdo in a cute sort of movie way. You could be forgiven for thinking that Lars may go on a axe killing spree at any point of this film, but he doesn’t. Instead, Lars sends away for a luxury sex aid (a high end blow up doll) and introducers her to the town as her fiancé.
Yes I know a few questions could pop up. You could question the authors sanity, or maybe the producers eye for film. These questions are valid, but they are quickly answered within about 15 minutes of Lars and the Real Girl. As the film is unfolded the events that make this seemingly strange tale into a lovely character film of Lars’s delusion and the enamour we find in it are found. As we the audience find more enamour for Gosling’s character so does the town. You see like us the audience; the town or the characters chosen to portray the town are pretty normal people. The have there own little inflections, their own idiosyncrasies but you will immediately warm to them. As they all greet Lars’s new fiancé with fear and trepidation (I mean who can blame them this guy is claiming a mannequin as being real) they begin to treat his new girlfriend with the tenderness of a town that has found the beauty of the new woman amongst them.
This is a well written, superbly played piece of film there is little doubting this. But when one poses the question does this film break the mold I must answer unfortunate for me it did not. Yes it was funny, it was warming I really liked a lot of things about it, but for me it couldn’t escape the feeling of samey same. Another ‘You, Me, and Everybody we know’ in a small town ensconced in snow.
The story takes place over the winter season (An easy chose for the makers “the winter for a mans discontent, the winter of his delusion, a winter for a town to wake to the beauty of this delusion). The story of one of a mans growing up. A man-child becoming a man. A story of a man finding his true love through his delusion for a sex aid. Added to this prosaic formula the quirky characters (who aren’t too quirky) and I think you’ll see what I mean when I say ‘samey same’.
Overall a good movie one I recommend. This is a dinner and date film (I took my girlfriend to see it then we got Subway. I had a pork rib sub and a M&M biscuit, she had a coke cause she was full cause of all the food she had eaten at work). Now I could suggest you be a little romantic but I only review film it really isn‘t my place. The main thing is you should see this film because it’s worth seeing. It is a good story. The characters are likeable, the script sincere, enjoyable (though a little contrived at points). And as for the performances I shell only say you will be impressed if you are impressed by things of that nature.
7/10
I feel that it is my responsibility to warn as well as promote. Too tell you of the mediocre as well of the marvellous and I have just seen a film that on the surface had me going “man I want to see that, looks gritty, looks well written, looks like my kind of flick”.
A Guild to Recognizing your Saints seemed good. Independent film smallish cast, some Indy light-heavy weight actors Robert Downy Jr, Shia LaBeouf, Chazz Palminteri, Martin Compston (watch this cat he’ll go far). A story written and directed obviously from a true tale of one’s past that seemed sincere and captivating. Another Basketball Dairies film but ostensibly without all the rest of the prosaic scenes that so often accompany types of films pretending to be as such. The scenes that only the writer thought were amazing because in his head at the time they were. Though in reality they weren’t the wasp’s nipples as the writer thought.
It is here when a good director should step in a and say “enough, this is gratuitous, not necessary, and to be honest mate it’s just not good writing“.
Well sadly A Guild to recognizing you Saints suffers from this malediction. Even more tragic is that the writer is the director so there are no checks and balances played upon the film. What we are left with is a bunch of screaming Brooklyights screaming and cursing with their thick accents talking about “what the fuck this, and mother-fucking that, and disrespect me you fucking yaaaa, ya mother-fucker ya arrrh, getta outta here ya mother-fucka I’m counting my fucking matches.
But if I cut all that outta here ya mutha-fukarrrrrrrrrrrrrr. I found that I also had another type of film on my hands. I had a Harsh Times (No disrespect on Harsh Times it is great) type of deal.
A film where every scene you are thinking “oh god. What’s going to go wrong here” film. Now it’s just me talking here but films that walk that razors edge of unhealthy anticipation are not good. (Elegant in my terseness as always). The film ceases to be a journey of constant discovery but one of constant dread gets in the way of feeling for the film as a whole because I’m in constant dread for the characters. Yes you could argue that been made to feel this way is a sign that the film is working because I have reached a level of empathy for the characters to allow me to feel this dread and you’re right to a degree. These characters however I never liked and part of the reasons I didn’t like them is because of the impending sense of dread they brought with them. (I must point out I did like LaBeouf’s and Compston’s characters). Though the one’s I did like I could have taken or left.
So having rambled on for this long and successfully not told you anything about this movie (seemingly) I have revealed a lot without revealing anything of the plot I will fill you in on a little bit of it. Dito (LaBeouf and Downy) coming home, past and present, a man found, life lost, love realised, but not. One boys escape. Now that’s how blurbs should go. You should be able to walk into a video store and read just that type of blurb I feel.
A Guild to Recognizing your Saints 6/10
Sometimes there are rare gems in film. This is widely known. Then there is those rare gems that come from first time directors, American Beauty type films, Sam Mendes type directors.
‘Thank you for Smoking’ is one of those gems.
No great film can come from a shoddy script. Once you have this great script you need to find the right cast and crew to play it. Thank you for Smoking has a great script. Great lets just define this word - extreme in amount, degree, and effectiveness. This is a pretty apt breakdown of how great the script is. I would venture a little further, I would throw marvelous, outstanding, a marvel, just brilliant, yes it’s just that good.
Aaron Eckhart plays Nick Naylor. Sharp, good looking, articulate Naylor is a lobbyist for big tobacco. His job is not to sell cigarettes to us but rather talk in there defence and on there behalf. Naylor knows that tobacco is no good but he isn’t here to remind us of that fact he's a spin doctor.
Naylor is the guy that can argue that the sky isn’t blue, that wood doesn’t just come from trees, and ultimately that we should be allowed to chose for ourselves whether cigarettes are good or bad for us.
He argues that cigarette packets shouldn’t have warnings on them because everybody already knows they are bad, why be reminded. Why not put warning on cheese as cholesterol is the number one killer in the United States or planes, or cars.
This is but one of his arguments throughout this stellar film the script shines, then beams, then illuminates like a massive sun.
Add in Eckhart’s brilliant performance, and William H Macey playing a prudish senator that is beat bopped and scatted on by Naylor several times and the rest of the cameos (Duval, Sam Elliot) you are treated to a fine movie.
If you have seen this you will agree, if you haven’t then get on it. (This would be in my top ten of last year). It is one of those films that from the get go you knew you were in the treat.
One last thing I find fascinating about Thank you for Smoking is that throughout this film not one, NOT ONE, cigarette is smoked.
8.5/10
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