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John Jennings
Reviews
Collateral (2004)
Excellent!!! Deserves Oscars!!
MODEST SPOILERS!!!!!!!!
I 've know that Michael Mann "had it" since "Manhunter". (a superb film.)
This film is excellent, kudos to all actors.
Yet it is, perhaps, overlong, certainly cut 20 minutes.
This is the THINKING MAN'S action flick.
Both Cruise and Fox are SUPERB!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I knew who the final victim was from the gitgo,
But I gotta say,
as a born again Christian,
why do the whole limp weenie Hollywood "spiritual yet clueless, Buddhist jerkoff jam"?
Why didn't some tract carrying Christian step up to the cab window and save both of these clowns a whole lot of grief?
The Village (2004)
Hey, if even Ebert bailed...... (modest spoilers)
Modest spoilers!
Well, it's kind of a thinking man's horror film, with some thought provoking implications. But that presumes that people go to movies for a round of politically correct PBS reflection.
Even at that, I found it tedious going.
But there were a FEW scary moments early in the film, and some excellent cinematography, ala Amish country.
But I gotta wonder, why does this director have a penchant for making films about castrated males?
Just as in "Signs", I kept wondering, WHEN is one of these guys going to pick up a weapon? I mean, don'tcha even want to kill an alien/whatever, just for grins?
If the best these folks can do is send a blind woman out to save their bacon, maybe a swarm of outlaw bikers SHOULD roll in and diversify the gene pool.
Hey, if even Ebert bailed, maybe I am giving too much credit.
Barbarosa (1982)
22 Years LATER I find out.....
Back when this film came out (1982), a friend told me it was no good, Willie Nelson can't act, blah, blah, blah. I took that at face value, and blew the film off. Well, 22 years later, 'Barbarosa' is on cable on American Movie Classics on a hot July afternoon, there isn't nothing' else on, so I say, okay, I'll give it fifteen minutes to get my attention.
Well, I gotta say, 'Barbarosa just BLEW ME AWAY!
I am Texan born and bred, and have done a fair amount of inquiry into old Texas lore, and this film is just SO RIGHT in so many details. In recent films like 'Cold Mountain', 'Open Range', and 'The Missing', it is much in vogue to get the 19th century period details exactly right. Well, 'Barbrosa' knocked that ball out of the park 22 years ago!
The basic feel of the old Texas homesteads and the horse race and barbecue, they still existed much like that out in West Texas when I was a kid.
The basic plot line is about two converging family blood feuds, one Spanish, the other German American, that is so TOTALLY authentic for this period! Also, the Big Bend scenics are superb!
While some may question Willie's talent for treading the boards, he has no problemo playing himself, and doesn't miss a beat. Gary Busey is one of my favorite actors, despite a habit of making tons of low budget el crappo films. He is at the top of his game in 'Barbarosa'.
While the film does have it's quirky moments, it is basically believable, and some of those old-timers were indeed quirky.
(Warning! As for eating armadillos, don't try this at home! They CAN carry leprosy.) My only beef is that the musical score didn't always seem to match the dramatic action, the music is wry and whimsical at the wrong time, possibly aping some spaghetti Western, but is fine when it sticks to Spanish guitar.
Some have labeled 'Barbarosa' a spaghetti Western. I don't agree, though it may seem so in the historical sequence of film-making. This was a successful attempt to make an authentically period Texas border film, by folks who knew what they are doing.
Some find the gunplay subdued and 'unrealistic', but 'Barbarosa' rightly shows the reality of old west killing where setting up the bushwhack and sniffing the ambush were far more decisive than actually pulling of the trigger.
In the old man's tale, you learn that Barbarosa was originally a Texas Ranger, who were often called los diablo's (the devils) by border Mexicans. This was a REAL legend, indeed a reality, down on the border.
The Hunted (2003)
Enjoyable, but a triumph of style over substance!!!!
Quick! Somebody dial 1 800 FIRST BLOOD PART DIEU!!!!
Also obvious ripoffs of (homage to?) "Southern Comfort" and "Predator".
But, I really don't care!
This is the kind of stylishly trashy film I really dig!!!
But I gotta say, while I am a HUGE fan of TL Jones, (going way back to
"Rolling Thunder"),he is a bit long in the tooth to be physically keeping up with a MUCH younger man.
Also, there is ZIP chemistry between TLJ and the SAC babe who does a credible job of filling a pair of jeans PLUS, there is the twenty year old obligatory tired old feminist rhetoric scene!
Anyway, there are enough low butt angles to compensate for the total lack of any credible romantic intercourse or sensitivity. But hey, this is a CHASE flick!
Benicio del Toro is AWESOME, doesn't miss a beat! And the basic premise is quite credible!
Flawed masterpiece! But wasn't that what they said about "Apocalypse Now"? A MUST see for every dude who maintains even a modest weapons cache.
Blue Velvet (1986)
From avant-garde to Norman Rockwell
When this film was first released (in 1986,) its stylistic oddities labeled it a fascinating, yet `weirdo' experimental effort. I remember discussing it with fellow young `yuppies' at the time. However, with all of Hollywood's carefully calculated and gratuitous cinematic perversities ever since, `Blue Velvet' now plays as a virtual Norman Rockwell celebration of American family values.
In retrospect, `Blue Velvet' is a brilliant achievement. I rate it in my top twenty films of all time. Now I just have to digest `Mulholland Dr.', and bridge the gap. The use of classic and powerfully evocative Roy Orbison music in both films mines deeply the root of the American psyche.
Ofelas (1987)
Superb!
One of the ten best movies ever made! Brilliant! Soars high above the usual Hollywood pedophilia!!!!
Timeless! This is what movie making is ALL ABOUT!
(Really dig the reindeer.)
Cat People (1942)
Film Noir CLASSIC !!!!!
Though somewhat mundane in beginning, and perhaps ultimately in plot, `Cat People' has segments, notably in the `late night in the office while stalked by the beast' segment, of incredible film noir brilliance, making the `The Third Man' seem a mere a mid fifties detergent commercial.
Serious film buffs must see `Cat People', if only for these priceless seconds. These few seconds remind me, across the decades, that there dwell geniuses among us.
The scene of animal horror in the pet shop was clearly ripped off in the baboon segment in "The Omen".
The Day of the Jackal (1973)
Classic! An all time great!
This film is one of those where it feels like they broke the mold after it was made. In short, it is a classic.
It is amazing that one can make a thriller out of a story where anyone who knows their history already knows the ultimate answer. But art, like life, is a journey, not a destination.
This is a fascinating era. (I also have the excellent `The Lost Command' with Anthony Quinn, which deals more directly with the French war in Algeria.)
With the ending in doubt only because of the willful suspension of disbelief, how does the film `work'?
It works with clean, crisp story telling. Scenes are rendered with a direct realism, rather than contrived or belabored `grittiness'.
We are taken behind the scenes of political power, to find what we have always suspected, that cynicism and brutality are essential to the greater cause of `patriotism'.
Great performances all around, with the ultimate payoff that every audience craves to see, that it is the skill and guts of the individual that makes the difference.
Signs (2002)
Politically Correct, but still "Works"
This film is enjoyable, yet has plenty of logical fallacies. Why so many errors in logic? Because logic is totally sacrificed to allow full play to symbolism.
My biggest problem is that neither of the two brothers bother get a weapon until it is almost too late, or even plan elementary tactics. They neglect to secure their dog, who is their most reliable alert device. And what Pennsylvania farm doesn't have at least a shotgun around? (Neither of these wussies would last a week on the Ponderosa.) The `Home Alone' kid would have nailed at least five aliens with booby traps.
Plus in a survival situation, young children get to vote? (Children are SO WISE.)
As stated before, these errors are deliberate by the filmmakers, so that all serves the symbolic needs of the tortured inner world of the Gibson character. But I still don't know if this film is triumphantly politically correct, or a subtle satire of political correctness.
My favorite scene is the brief one with the recruiting sergeant, who is a borderline psycho and absolutely right in his prognosis!
Sci-fi buffs will want `more' in terms of scenario and special effects. But despite its deliberate defects, this film `works', has some genuinely scary moments, and is well worth a look.
Mad Max 2 (1981)
The Ultimate Apocalyptic
The "Road Warrior" just does it so well. The characters and plot elements are so basic. They are basic because they are so true. The bottom line IS that sometimes you have to butcher the bad guys, or they will rape your woman and post your severed trophy head on a spike on the front of their horse/screaming machine.
Mad Max" had it's moments, "Thunderdome" a big snore.
The "Road Warrior" is the best of the three. If you are a warrior, you will get it. If you are not a warrior, there's always "Mary Poppins".
Prime Cut (1972)
For Real Men Only
This is one of those rare gems that only "real men" like myself seem to appreciate.
While self-indugent in some ways (like can there really be a mob enforcer with a heart of gold?), this film scores solidly enough times to rate top marks.
Cool symbolism abounds. Like the role reversal of the evil heartland versus the good guy big city. The good-natured crowd unwittingly cheering a murder attempt by blonde Nordic farmboy killers in overalls. The driving straight into the savage fury of a prairie thunderstorm. Hackman's cynical indifference to the tears of a young farmboy giving up his prize steer to be butchered. The whole combine eats limo scene.
The character "Weinie" is a truly original slimeball. And the bad guy's name is Mary Ann?
"Prime Cut" is a daring movie, and if somebody lacks the sensibility to understand that, I feel truly sorry for them. (And, yeah, I worked in a slaughterhouse once.)
Gargoyles (1972)
Because it is just so cool, that's why.
For some reason, "Gargoyles" is just one of those films I like to video every couple of years. For one thing, I love the Southwestern desert, and the "setup" is cool, too.
There's a genuine "desert rat", plus Cornel Wilde soldiers manfully on. There's more than a brief resemblance to the Bates Motel.
You get to see early Scott Glenn, and a real cutie in a halter top.
I found myself constantly trying to figure what kind what kind of guns I'd need for dealing with gargoyles. I figure a shotgun for night work, and a.308 M14 for daytime, plus a .44 mag for close encounters, though the gargoyles didn't seem that tough skinned.
Yeah I know this film is trashy, but for me, it works. Ending not perfect, but this film is still, for me, the essential cult classic. Truly strange that it was actually made for TV.
The Ipcress File (1965)
Like much better on second look (decades later!).
When I first saw this film some decades ago, I was gravely disappointed because it did not follow the book as to settings, which included a trip to the Med and a Pacific atoll for a bit of atom testing. This film is set much smaller in the environs of London, which is, indeed, where most of the action in the book takes place.
Also, the book has a fantastic great sense of humor, possible only with the first person interior narration of Harry Palmer in the format of the novel. (The "Ipcress File" is on my very short bookshelf of favorite books of all time.)
However, I recently caught the film on American Movie Classics and was struck with its overall excellence, start to finish. The film stands alone, apart from the book.
I will not repeat the excellent comments of previous commentators, but would like to point out several bits I relished. As soon as one is lulled into the humdrum world of the civil service spy, you suddenly see them carrying Sterling sub-machineguns to cover an exchange of valuable commodities. Also, it was a wonderful bit where one bureaucrat threatens another because his team was called out to cover an apparent "dry hole", only to be effectively checkmated against official complaint because his team arrived several minutes late. I bet this happens in the real world more than we know.
Now I say love the book, and, almost four decades later, love the film.
The Big Country (1958)
This great movie has been curiously overlooked.
I recently caught this on AMC or TCM, and it is so good it just blew me away!
It is a MUST to see this in Wide Screen format on DVD on a fairly big TV. The edited screen VHS loses about 40 % of the impact.
This is an ALL STAR cast, with great performances all around. Burl Ives is my favorite in his Oscar winning role as a crotchety old head of a back canyon cattle clan.
This is a classic well-written story from the pen of Donald Hamilton. (His legacy of the superb Matt Helm character is permanently confused in most minds by the forgettable Hollywood Matt Helm films made by Dean Martin.) But this story is a masterwork by Hamilton. In the Old West, it often came down to water rights, cattle and women, and that's when the trouble starts.
Gregory Peck is great in his usual role as a man with almost as much integrity as God. Charlton Heston is dynamic, yet masterfully understated in his role as ranch ramrod (He doesn't steal the show). Jean Simmons is the desirable, yet cool schoolmarm in a flawless performance. I didn't recognize Carol Baker until I saw the credits, playing daddy's girl to the hilt. There are also great performances by Charles Bickford as "the Major", and Chuck Conners as the Burl Ives characters fatally flawed son.
"The Big Country" is superbly photographed, and makes one think of the later black and white film "Hud".
This film seems to be under appreciated, but should be on anybody's list of the Top Ten Westerns of all time. It is some of the best work that Hollywood ever produced.