1) Satsifaction (1988) - not good movie but she was a star already
2) Mystic Pizza (1988)
3) Pretty Woman (1989)
4) Erin Brockovich (2000)
5) My Best Friend's Wedding (1997)
6) Notting Hill (1999)
7) Pret a Porter (1994)
8) Closer (2004)
9) Gaslit (2022)
10) Homecoming (2018)
Legendary in its own way, forever screening on video and hotel TVs, mocked in Clerks, killed Lewis Teague's feature career, and Michael Biehn's attempt at stardom. Also helped kill Orion. A chaotic production, surprisingly so for what one would assume was a simple shoot em up. But it's a mess, full of plots and different films - a training film, a more authentic style movie, a boorish service comedy, (bein' hungover, playin' golf) clash between two heroes (uptight Biehn and more casual, way out Charlie Sheen), a hugely unrealistic plot where Biehn tries to get information out of journalist Joanne Whalley, endless missions, endless Arab bashing, a hackneyed funeral
Whalley has bad perm, Biehn's hair is bad too, there's always movement but no sense of momentum. Weird gear shifts - over the top melodrama when Dennis Haysbert is killed for instance, then it goes investigation with Biehen doing research on terrorists via Whalley (because "intelligence aren't doing their jobs" - it felt wrong, wrong, wrong, then there's hyuck hyuck military comedy, then strained drama about Charlie Sheen fitting in.
Teague really struggled as a director without a set script. I was disappointed to read of his behavious in Brenda Feigen's book - she accuses him of changing the script with his writer, yelling at her, losing control of the film, refusing to let her go on location (I think he did lose control of the film, Charlie Sheen and Michael Biehn said they rewrote the film).
Watching his career he was better with a low budget and a good writer and a script that wasn't changed a lot.
Curious to watch this again. Thoughts:
*opening car crash well shot, chilling as it's how the director died but... terrible back projection
*Roger Moore is dressed in silly ways - silly moustache, bowler hats
*Moore makes a joke about James Bond which is fun (he hadn't been cast yet)
*The editing is akward at times - weird cuts
*Not well directed
*Moore is excellent - the story is very good
* Needs more atmosphere - Hammer horror would do it better
*Don' like he music
*Woman who plays mistress is good, woman who plays wife is stiff
Based on the short story later filmed as The Man Who Haunted Himself. Its good source material but this is surprisingly bland and talky, like a radio play - that might've had more atmosphere. It was directed by Hitchcock himself too. This was early days so maybe that was it.
Tom Ewell plays the lead. Maybe someone more nervy.
The best bit is the out-tro where Hitchcock watches Hitchcock be carted off. A Hitchc doppleganger would've been more fun.
Buddy cop film with Jay Leno and Pat Morita - I would've greenlit that and it has a decent idea, with Morita investigating industrial espionage in Detroit. There's some interesting stuff about Detroit resentment of the Japanese car industry.
The funniest/best scenes are cultural and quirky: Leno getting drunk with Morita, and Morita going into a bar with toughs who talk about tariffs. I think the film needed to lean into culture clash bit more - Morita fits into Detroit too well if that makes sense.
Also Leno's character is a bit too sleazy - they should've just given him a girlfriend, made Morita the ladies' man. Look there's a lot of things that could've been done better - it does move, the leads are fun, Chris Sarandon and Tom Noonan are decent villains.
The original director was John Guillermin, who was replaced by Bob Clark who was replaced by Lewis Teague. Teague keeps the pace fast and light.
Kind of the American Alvin Purple about a man irresistible to women - only he's played by Morgan Paull who is a good looking guy (he's the investigator shot at the beginning of Blade Runner), and he's a cop, a former Vietnam vet in a small town who everyone wants to have sex with: the girls he coaches, random women on the street, waitresses. Many are played by familiar faces from 70s exploitation: Pat Anderson (the main girl, she looks uncomfortable getting nude at the end), Anitra Ford, Tara Strohmeiher.
The last act turns into an action film, quite well, when some toughs come into town. But the mix of tones is uneasy. A comedy guy from Police Academy 2 is his mate.
Still the sheer unrelenting male fantasy-ness of it all, the gall, get some points. Co directed by Lewis Teague - I'm not sure how much he did.
*Big Timber - from novel by William Hatfield - announced 1935 - instead Cinesound filmed Tall Timber
*Call me when the Cross Turns Over - from novel by D'arcy Niland to be filmed in 60s with Diane Cilento and Sean Connery but not filmed
*Careful He Might Here You - optioned in 1963 by Josh Logan who wanted to make it with Elizabeth Taylor (who would've been great)
*Collits Inn - Frank Thring was going to film this musical but died
*Come Away Pearler - Colin Simpson novel optioned in 1954 by Joe Kaufman see here
*Come In Spinner - novel optioned in 1954 by Joe Kaufman
*Conn of the South Seas - Cinesound said in 1932 might remake The Adorable Outcast see here
*Desert Legion - Raymond Longford WW1 story
*The Delinquents - from novel adapted by Alan Seymour for producer Joseph Janni and director Jack Lee - announced 1963
*Dig - story of Burke and Wills from Ralph Peterson script for Anthony Quayle - announced 1957
*Don Bradman biopic - proposed by Ron Randell in 1952 see here
*Eureka Stockade - Ken Hall version
*The Fatal Wedding - Cinesound said might remake this in 1933 see here - this may have just been a random announcement though Cinesound did make Silence of Dean Maitland
*Fisher's Ghost - sound remake by Raymond Longford of his 1925 hit - Tony Buckley says towards the end of
*For the Term of His Natural Life - Cinesound said in 1932 might remake it see here
*The Fortunes of Richard Mahoney - adaptaion of novel to be done by MGM in the late 40s with Greer Garson and Gregory Peck
*Ginger Murdoch - optioned by Frank Thring
*Gold Dust and Ashes - from novel by Ion Idriess announced 1935 by Cinesound see here
*The Green Opal - Chips Rafferty film about immigration
*The Haunted House - announced by Cinesound in 1938 see here
*James Don't Be a Fool - EV Timms novel
*The Kelly Gang - Cinesound said in 1933 might remake it see here
*Les Darcy film - announced by Chauvel in 1947 to star Tommy Burns see here
*Life of Nellie Melba - proposed 1940 Cinesound film with Marjorie Lawrence
*The Long Shadow - 1947 Jon Cleary novel optioned in late 60s but not made
*Mr Burke and Mr Wills - Burke and Wills story written by Terence Rattigan
*My Love Must Wait - novel about Matthew Flinders optioned by Charles Chauvel
*Naked Under Capricorn - published 1958 owned by Chips Rafferty
*Ned Kelly - directed by Karel Reisz starring Albert Finney announced 1963
*The One Day of the Year - Alan Seymour's play, filmed a few times for TV, optioned in 1970
*Overland Telegraph - 1939 announcement Frank Clune sold to Cinesound, he'd write it up in 1955
* Pearl of Great Price - late 30s Cinesound announced 1936 see here
*Pepper Trees - Ealing film late 40s with Chips Rafferty and Tommy Trinder - scheduled for 1948 see here
*The Pioneers - Cinesound said in 1932 might remake it see here
*Redheap - novel by Norman Lindsay to be filmed by Thring
*Return Journey - film about Burke and Wills which collapsed in the 1960s but resulted in a short
* Robbery Under Arms - Ken G Hall version, mentioned from the 1930s until the 1940s but killed off by Rank's interest and dud 1957 film
*Rudd's New Selection - announced in 1933 see here - became Grandad Rudd
*Sara Dane - from the novel, starring Sylvia Syms, proposed late 1950s
*Saturday to Monday - original of The Siege of Pinchgut - announced in 1950
*Sheepmates - started filming but abandoned
*Storm Hill - Eric Porter film announced in 1946
*Wake in Fright - directed by Joe Losey starring Dirk Bogarde - announced 1963 - there was also a proposed Morris West version
*Wards of the Outer March - novel adapted by Charles Chauvel - announced in 1944
*When Cobb and Co Was King - novel optioned by Charles Chauvel
*Yellow Sands - Cinesound in late 30s - announced 1936 see here
Odd film. Part drama about the rise of a vigilante force - Italian-Americans in the city, dealing with blacks and politicians and crooks and mafia. Which is a potentially great story. But it also tries to be middle aged white man payback story, with Tom Skerritt attacked by black pimps, and crims, and smacking people around. It doesn't work.
Big reason is Skerritt, an accomplished actor who is simply miscast. I don't buy him as a frustrated Italian American or a secret hero. If they couldn't get Charles Bronson they needed some tubby middle age guy full of rage - Ben Gazzara, or someone.
Michael Sarrazin is Skerrit's cop friend. Patti Lupone is Skerrit's wife! Yaphet Kotto, who probably should've played the lead, steals the film as another vigilante fighter running a theatre workshopp.
1) King Kong (1976) - doesn't get respect but I liked it
2) Flash Gordon (1980) - masterpiece
3) The Dead Zone (1983) - excellent Steven King adaptation
4) Manhunter (1986) - great version of the novel
5) Conan the Barbarian (1982)
6) Three Days of the Condor (1975)
7) Mandingo (1975) hey why not
8) Halloween 3 Season of the Witch (1982)
9) Evil Dead 2 (1988)
10) Blue Velvet (1986)
Knocked out again how good the script is - superbly directed, acted, etc... but feel script is also magnificent and never gets its due (aside from “Indianapolis” monologue which everyone bangs on about). Why is it so good?
- basic structure very strong: first shark attack (kills girl), cop not dumb and tries to shut down beach but can’t bc of business, second shark attack (kills kid), everyone panics, mum of kid offers huge award which sends out vigilante, someone kills a shark but (twist) it’s the wrong shark, third shark attack (kills guy who tries to help cop’s son), go out on expedition
- Solid conflict all through: shark versus human, but also mayor versus cop and scientist (and the mayor is well motivated i.e. he’s doing it for business), macho fisherman vs scientist, macho fisherman vs cop
- Basic engineering plotting but very well done: we know cop will face off against shark, so we have him (a) afraid of water (b) be the least knowledgeable person about sharks on the boat compared to scientist and the macho fisherman (c) leave him abandoned by the other two at the end via killing fisherman and knocking out scientist (d) remove the boat - this is breathtakingly good and amazingly has not been copied enough (I think because stars want to play superheroes)... but you have our lead, have him go on a shark hunting expedition but we think he’s safe because he’s on a boat and we have the world’s toughest shark fisherman and the world’s smartest shark scientist... BUT THEN... they destroy the boat, kill the fisherman, take out the scientist... why is this not ripped off more?
- Things that might have been a little contrived (eg going shark hunting on a boat that is falling apart, not radio-ing for help) makes complete and utter sense if motivated by character: Quint the fisherman is full of swagger and machismo, thinks he’s the toughest guy on the block, tougher than any shark so of course he’d go off shark hunting on a crappy boat (it wouldn’t make character sense if he went off on a good boat) and wouldn’t call for help (of course he wouldn’t call for help) - it is about character
- Also, watch building of status of shark through Quint’s attitude: ‘I’ll catch him easy’, on trip, ‘no worries’, then over trip ‘hang on this shark is really skilled’ then ‘you know what lets try to drown him in the shallows’ then... shark eats Quint!
- Incredible sense of verisimilitude - everything feels real around the edges, mainly the day to day life in the town for the cop: he’s always got people whinging about karate students karate chopping people’s fences, and sitting in front of him at the beach whingeing about people parking in front of their shop, people make jokes at the town meeting about the reward being cash or cheque - it’s all grounded in reality which sells the outlandish story
- key change from the novel... where there’s a big subplot about the scientist having an affair with cop’s wife... now in terms of conflict this is good... you can see the scenes and the dramatic tension... but someone somewhere along the line went “let’s not do that because it overloads the script” and instead he gives the cop and wife a loving marriage (“want to fool around?”)... also it makes the cop and the scientist friends, and thus focuses the conflict between fisherman and scientist - I don’t think keeping the adultery subplot would have been fatal to the film but it would have robbed “Jaws” of much of its warmth... and I think would have been less popular (speculative theory: what is the difference between Spielberg and Scorsese? Scorsese would have kept the adultery subplot if he’d done Jaws).
Anyway thanks to Peter Benchley, Carl Gottleib, Howard Sackler and John Milius
A bunch of Hollywood tropes thrown in a blender which included FJ Thwaites' original novel - much changed but the bones are still there. It's about a nepo baby, awkwardly if likeably played by Lloyd Hughes, who is kicked out of college for brawling, then disowned by his dad, can't get a job, hooks up with Alec Kellaway and Diane du Cane, is poor, then eventually finds fame as a composer.
The relationship between Hughes and du Cane is contrived but nicely emotional. Rosalind Kennerdale is great fun as a diva though her being tied up at the end isn't that great - and my sympathy is kind of with her, I mean du Cane isn't entitled to a show. Frank Harvey hams it up.
Spectacular opera sequences. Striking opera. Hughes never convinces as someone who lives in Australia but he's fine.
I wonder why Shirley Ann Richards wasnt in this? Maybe the only natural role for her would be the sister which was too small. She could've played du Cane's part...
Look, not a good movie, not a strong script, certainly it struggles in comparison with Romancing the Stone. Opportunities missed wholesale - they never came up with interesting things for Danny de Vito to do - and bright ideas not developed (the villain being a Joan Wilder superfan and using her plot ideas against her, the jewel being a guy).
But it has its compensations. It's bright, colourful, moves along, there's action and some funny gags, the location work in Africa is stunning, and most of all Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner have chemistry off the charts.
I remember seeing it at the movies - the audience loved it laughed at everything. Dumb climax, and all that.
1) Dr No (1962) - I'm allowed one Bond. I'll go the first, the trickiest.
2) Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1959) - charming
3) The Hill (1965) - no toupee - gritty stuff
4) The Untouchables (1987) - great Irish
5) Robin and Marian (1976) - perfect old Robin Hood
6) The Wind and the Lion (1975)
7) Cuba (1979) - underrated film and performance
8) The Molly Maguires (1970)
9) Marnie (1964) - so darn weird
10) Tarzan's Greatest Adventure (1960)
McMutry takes on Billy the Kid via one of his most fun fictitious protagonists - a wealthy man from Philadelphia who writes dime novels and seeks inspiration. This offers McMurtry the chance for satire on dime novels which is fun. There is violence and humour though Billy is never quite a captivating character. A lot of it is made up.
Part of the brief rev head boom of the early 80s - this, Freedom, Midnite Spares - this has a decent story and cast. Richard Noir looks silly with his sun glasses at hat as the villain but Terry Serio is ideal. Really Serio should have played the villain and Gerry Sont (who's his brother) should have played the hero. Serio is very good though. A shock to see young Deborah Conway go nude.
A memoir, I guess, full of autobiographical meanderings mostly about story telling but McMurtry also talks about his heart attack, looking for books, his love of books, essays, cowboys. It's beautifully written. Better I think that some of his later memoir works. Wonderful.
It's so audacious that the essentially silly idea does work - combining a sniper with an old Karloff movie. Karloff is a joy. Peter Bogdanovich is a very awkward actor, like surprisingly so, but he adds to the film's charm. Tim O'Kelly really impresses. MVP though goes to Nancy Hsueh, who is warm, smart and lovely - a Polly Platt surrogate. Sam Fuller's storylining keeps the pace fast.
I wish Bogdanovich had done more thrillers he could handle violence well. I mean, kids get shot. And watch their parents get shot. This film packs a bang, aside from sixties skivvies and deejays.
Coppola's Psycho knock off has a great murder sequence with an axe to show how tremendous he is with genre. There's a memorable opening, with another guy dying, a superb Luana Anders performance. Once Anders dies half way the film never quite gets its groove back though Patrick Magee does all he can.
I got confused in the second half to be honest. Mary Mitchell is a rather bland blonde - Coppola loved his blondes. Bill Campbell is alright.
Clearly made by someone with talent. Some great moments. I do find it patchy.
Not much new to say. Bogart's little smiles at the end to Rains. Bogart over acts in places as do others. Perhaps the best second act in movie history with all these sequences? Endless fun to watch with the characters and the lines.
You know how they could've done a sequel? The tale of Rics run by Sydney Greenstreet. Have a new dodgy French policeman and an American arrives to cause trouble.
John Reilly's swing at a star vehicle didn't make it with the public but is full of terrific moments. I wonder if it lacks an emotional relationship or two the way the best Will Ferrells do - or maybe Reilly simply isn't Ferrell. Reilly is terrific though - Jenna Fischer a lot of fun (looking more hot as the sixties go on), Kristen Wiig always good value. There's cameos from the cool group - Jack Black, Jonah Hill and so on.
Maybe the fact he didn't see his kids hurt this financially? It's very funny.
Odd to watch. I'm so familiar with the original and this plays such lip service to it - repeats catchphrases and so on. Angourie Rice is a better actress than Lohan but not as charismatic. The love interest is a better actor too but it doesn't work his character not being dumb - it makes him mean. I kept thinking Rene Rapp was Sydney McSweeney. Auli'i Cravalho and Jaquel Spivey are gerat. The girls who play Amanda Seyfried and Lacy Chabert aren't as good.
I like how Tina Fey's character hooked up with Tim Meadows but feel the film would've been better with new actors playing these roles. The film is stronger going its own way - the musical numbers are done with imagination. I get why they did what they did.
Not from Roger Corman or Avco Embassy but with graduates of the Corman school - director Lewis Teague and writer John Sayles. It's fast paced and witty. The alligator looks terrible and fake. The film gets by on Teague's unpretentious handling, a fine cast - Forster is always fun as a weary cop, Robin Riker sweet as a croc expert,Dean Jagger has a great late career role as a slimy politcian, Henry Silva almost steals the show as an extravagant hunter (they should've kept him alive). They kill a kid as Sayles did in Piranha - the good old days.
But the alligator looks stupid. Never once is it convincing.
1) Paddington 2 - splendid
2) Wonka - didn't expect to like it, really did
3) Four Weddings and a Funeral - who else could've played it
4) Bridget Jones' Diary - extended his career
5) Love Actually - carries the film
6) The Man from UNCLE - should've played the lead
7) The Gentlemen - having the time of his life
8) A Very English Scandal - wonderful
9) About a Boy - forgotten now, but very good performance
10) Sirens - nice performance in a little gem of a film
David Cronenberg does a car film - which is fine but this is dull. Made conscientiously. Nicely shot. Bland rock soundtrack from some guy who is like Springsteen lite. William Smith seems like a genuine racer.
Claudia Jennings in her last role is wasted as Smith's girlfriend. I just didn't care. Maybe if Jennings had played the lead.
There's a scene where some guy is in bed with two topless women that feels like an eleventh hour addition to jazz it up. It's too polite.
Over the top vigilante fun which stacks the deck so far in favour of its hero it is hilarious and also gret fun - the punk gangs run drugs, hassle students, are rude, and you can't touch 'em. Tim Van Patten beats himself up, can plays piano, has a protective mum so by the end you're cheering for Perry King to take out him and his mates. Michael J Fox is in it. And Roddy McDowall.
I wondered if there was enough story in this for a whole movie. There wasn't. This reall should have been included in the first. You could deal with it in half an hour - Paul rides the worm, leads the Fremen, beats Feyd in a duel, the end.
This gets by on its visuals and the excellent actors especially Florence Pugh and Zendaya giving the piece real heart. The villlains are so monotnous, constantly killing random people and their own men. They couldn't give them som nuance?
The battles are done in that modern dull way - lots of CGi and leading characters fighting from the front instead of being sensible and standing back.
Excellent history of the US war with the Apaches, which starte relatively late but went on forever. I was familiar with many Westerns based on this - Geronimo, Cochise, Magnas Colorado. I'm surprised no one has really gotten behind the Mickey Free story. The Ameicans don't come out of it that well but the Apaches did make them pay. Depressing, exciting, full of colourful characters A lot of "two people were killed... three surveyors were killed... they killed a family". Maybe these bits could've been dramatised a little more.
Good solid story very well put together, Some wonky dialogue especially episode four. At heart a good old star vehicle with Winslet having two guys pant over her, and being smart and kind and saving the day. Gripping story. Well acted all the way through. Terrific atmosphere.
Why is it awesome? Many reasons. Beautiful locations, directions, cast (even minor roles0. Watching it I. kept thinking how executives would've ruined it. I'm sure they tried.
Why is the script good:
- verisimilitude
- exposition wrapped in humour
- makes a nice guy ordinary man likeable (cute stuff with kids, job and wife "want to get drunk and fool around")
- uses basic oppositional dramatics: mayor cares about money more than safety, main hero isn't as smart as Richard Dreyfus or touch as Robert Shaw and doesn't like water, but is the last one standing
- great tension... the town think they've got it sussed, but they dont, the top fisherman is killed, then they go on a boat but it breaks down and is crap, then Shaw thinks he's got it sussed but he doesn't. and Dreyfuss thinks he can do it but he doesn't
- has three contrasting heros, Mr Average, Mr Smart, Mr Brawn
Location work was all worth it. Simply wonderful.
A memoir about a real guy who helped Thunderbolt for years. This gives is great novelty even though much of it feels made up - Thunderbolt's fiancee who died and so on. Flowery language scenes that seem cribbed from Robbery Under Arms. Some great scenes like the people who might be poisoning him - and a memorable sense of tiredness and exhaustion from Thunderbolt.
Liked this more the second time. Appreciated the energy, pace, politics, feminism, attractive cast. It's a bit more pervy than the others and lacks a top level star. I didn't like the two rape sequences but it gives the film a story. Everyone is trying their best, they throw themselves into it. A healthy attitude to sex apart from the rape stuff; that is depicted as bad it's just unpleasant. Joyously silly shoot out at the end.
Stephanie Rothman apparently wrote an early draft.
Actually Jason on a boat which isn't a bad idea because of the Crystal Lake connection and it's different suspense. That section I didn't mind. There's a hilarious subplot with the boat captain being hard on his son but the women are attractive and the kills well done and there's two major adult characters which is a novelty. This is the second one in the series where there's a nerdy film buff character. I liked the throwbacks to boy Jason.
But too much of it is silly like being reunited at the end with a dog, and the random gang who turn up and instantly want to rape someone.
Based on a radio play and it is very talky, but it was shot over six days or something and there wasn't much Cy Endfield could've done. It's beautifully shot and the actors spit out the dialogue. A lot of Maltese Falcon - man dead, chasing Macguffin, there's a sinister fatty and a woman sho's shonky. William Gargan, Ralph Byrd, Barabar Billingsly... so some star power.
Jason takes on a girl with telekenis, which isn't the best idea but at least it's a point of difference. There's a trailer at the top to bring everyone up to speed which is cute - the flirting/horny teens go through the motions (the mindless sex and nudity seemed to suit the early 80s more somehow) and the teen's accomodation seems a little too lush but once Jason starts knocking people off the film gets in its stride. There's solid action and interesting kills.
Cold War thriller with Ian Carmichael in a Kenneth More style role - more accurately, Cary Grant, who Carmichael wanted to emulate. In his memoirs Carmichael says the original scrit was great but was rewritten. Maybe. I think he's miscast. I can see why he got the role - not bad looking, comic, etc... Kenneth More would've been more at home or Dirk Bogarde.
Janet Munro is lovely as the girl, a little mysterious, though she's too young for him. Actually it's not so much that (14 years difference) as the fact he's not hot enough for her. Incidentally erhe's a scene where she changes out of her wet clothes and flashes her bare back - racy!
But the basic problem of the film is it's not clear what Carmichael is doing... he's a scientist doing chess stuff, looking for a colleague, I think. But the whole thing is a trap from Curt Jurgens so it's a trick, which isn't that satisfactory.
Curt Jurgens adds some star power at the end and I liked Hugh Griffiths as a fisherman and scenes out in the countryside, which had the 39 Steps vibe this could have led into more.
Jim Brown had made a bunch of movies before this but this feels like his first blaxploitation one - with its black hero hero ex Vietnam vet kicking racist white arse and bedding a white woman. I mean he did that things in earlier movies but this one feels like the first to address the formula, if that makes sense.
It doesn't stuff around - the opening scene has Brown's dad killed and Junior is soon kicking arse and smacking people around. There's an above average support cast - Cameron Mitchell as the cranky racist agency head, Stella Stevens (showing all and sundry) as the mafia gal who falls for him and most of all Rip Torn as the trigger-happy mafia dude. I love the banter between Brown and off sider Don Gordon, and support Mafia actors are strong. Location photography in Mexico is visually interesting.
Lots of action. Brown looks better with a moustache.
A more slick entry - done with intelligence and polish. Tommy is back as a tormented adult, determined to wipe out Jason's corpse.. instead he brings him to life accidentally via lightning. Thtat's not bad. The cast includes Jennifer Cooke, who is spunky as the local cop's daughter, and a young Tony Goldwyn. There's no nudity which is weird and just the one sex scene; some little kdis are at camp but aren't harmed - one girl is praying when Jason decides not to kill her, a little Mike Myers style.
Jason's more a spernatural figure here. There's a nice line in self referential humour which doesn't go overboard and one or two memorable kills (a neck breaking). I wasn't wild about the paintballers being killed. The film lacks the craziness and dodginess of the early 80s efforts.
Bless the idealism - they made a genuine sequel, with Corey Feldman's character returning grown up (Corey has a cameo at the beginning) and tell a story where the killer isn't Jason, but inspired by Jason. Boo. No emotional connection. They try for a different character with the traumatised guy.
There's a comic fatty (brutally killed by a random killer who then disappears), some comic rednecks, quite a large cast, too many non teens, actors taking the piss when they should've been focused on doing their jobs, a woman who had to be fully nude in broad daylight in the middle of a forrest. They use again the device of a small kid - he's black and there's a few other black characters (one killed on the toilet) so there's points for diversity.
A good movie inside struggling to get out - the idea of a camp of psychologically scarred teens is great, but not really developed. Some flashes of interest but it doesn't really work.
1) Star Trek 4 The Voyage Home
2) Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol - kind of forgotten now but the first really good one
3) Mad Max Fury Road - the second will always be the best for me but this was outstanding
4) The Pink Panther Strikes Again - the 4th Sellers, it works because it's got a good idea
5) Rocky IV - pure junky Cold War fun
6) American Reunion - they didn't stuff it up, and did some different things
7) The Bourne Legacy - inadequate star but good film
8) Fast and Furious - oddly the fourth one kicked off the series
9) Mothra vs Godzilla
10) Friday the 13th part 4 The Final Chapter (honrable mention to Nightmare on Elm St 4)
Worst 4th entries
1) Terminator Salvation - who cares
2) Superman 4 - you could weep
3) Lethal Weapon 4 - tired, lazy
4) Police Academy 4 Citizens on Patrol - though it does have Sharon Stone
5) Batman and Robin - not that bad but pretty bad
6) Jaws the Revenge
7) Men in Black International
8) Hunger Games Mockingjay - drag that sucker out!
9) Jurassic World
10) Depiscable Me 4
Siodmak's riff on Frankenstein - a doctor doing experiments in the desert comes caross a dying millionaire, saves his brain, the brain takes him over. So it's a battle for possession really and it works in novel format because we're hearing the guy's thoughts and Donovan's thoughts. Told in diary form.
It's a lot of fun, gripping to read.
Documentary on the famous tennis player. Sympathetic though there's plenty of footage of him being a brat. I mean, he really swore - so did other players of the time. I love how he was the nerd and Vitas and Bjorg were so cool - they are really really cool even in flashback. Tatum O'Neal looks so pretty in the footage of her. He admits to many flaws. His wife and kids seem to really love him.
A reluctance to put its characters through the wringer, stars directing episodes, boring guest stars (John Cena sticks out like a sore thumb, Josh Harnett not much better), unresolved plot lines that are unresolved in uninteresting ways... it's the third season blues. Carmy used to have an obstacle to overcome, his family and the obstacles of a restaurant, now it's mostly him being a boor and causing trouble. Too many flashback eps, and episodes that repeat what we know. Also th final party... why are our regulars so heavily involved? I mean Carmy worked there but the cousin dude only for a short time... wouldn't Olivia Coleman celebrate at her own place?
It's great to see a few more familiar faces in the series: Crispin Glover as a camper and Corey Feldman as a 12 year old boy.
Joseph Zito, director, tried to make a good movie that hits the beats and this gives you what you need - old lore, new lore, some cool deaths, some deaths that are repeated, attractive cast taking their clothes off and getting killed, lack of logic. The hockey mask. Some hot twins. A character seeking revenge against Jason (such a logical character you wonder why they didn't use that earlier... I also love it how the character he's related to was just some random girl killed having sex and no one important i.e. the final girl from the first film or something). There's a stoner watching a stag film from the 1920s.
Feldman isn't in it much - his sister has a bigger part. But he's in the bonkers vlimax where he shaves his head and hacks into Jason. Having a 12 year old in it gives it more guts as does the fact his mother is killed.
This was a lot of fun.
No TV so no Moonlighting.
1) Die Hard (1988) - I'll get this over with
2) Pulp Fiction (1994)
3) Look Who's Talking (1989) - his voice did help
4) The Last Boy Scout (1991) - can't believe it wasn't a bigger hit
5) Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995) - the best of the sequels
6) Armageddon (1998) - craptacular fun
7) Sin City (2005) - kind of forgotten now but fun in its day
8) Looper (2012) - he would take these risks and they would pay off
9) 12 Monkeys (1995)
10) Planet Terror (2005
I can't think of any other top Hollywood star who took as many risks.
Another one for fun, top ten Bruce fiascos
1) North
2) The Story of Us
3) The Bonfire of the Vanities
4) Hudson Hawk
5) Blly Bathgate
6) Color of Night
7) Four Rooms
8) Perfect Stranger
9) Cop Out
10) Breakfast of Champions
Even those are interesting. "Fiascos" is probably mean. They are, mostly, big swings - what an interesting star he was.
