Hate to say it because l was primed to love it, but Edgar Wright's remake of THE RUNNING MAN (2025, AMC's DOLBY CINEMA) is merely a ground hit triple when all elements/talent involved should have delivered a cinematic grand slam. Josh Brolin's clearly enjoying himself playing evil producer Killian (TV hosting duties by Colman Domingo are just 'meh') and Glen Powell mugging like a reality TV star diva when he isn't being his usual likable action movie star self are the only noteworthy highlights. The rest of the rather large cast alternates between annoying (Michael Cera), wasted (William H. Macy), bland (Jayme Lawson as Ben's criminally underused wife) or just plain anonymous (all the runners, who are indistinguishable from "Call of Duty" generic cannon fodder). The action set-pieces are underwhelming and spread far apart during the punishing 133 min. running time (cool credits though), which would be tolerable if the ending didn't feel like a forced-by-test-audiences cop-out that neuters the two-hour build-up. And while parts of this remake are eons better than the '87 version l wasn't expecting Wright and company to aim for the former to match the latter in cheesiness. Judged as a typical Holllywood action pic this is better than average, but as an Edgar Wright movie this is as bad or worse than "Baby Driver." You win this action duel, "Predator: Badlands." 🥺😢
Carl Reiner's DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAD (1982, AMAZON RENTAL) is a cute homage to film noir cinema with dark-haired Steve Martin playing a 1940's L.A. private eye working a nonsense-riddled case for bullet-sucking, would-be femme fatale Rachel Ward. The well-chosen clips from a bunch of '40's noir flicks deliver silly laughs at the expense of Eva Gardner, Alan Ladd, Kirk Douglas, Bogart, etc. with "Dteam On"-type juxtaposition. Reiner's channeling of Otto Preminger as a Nazi villain was my favorite highlight. Worth seeing but wait for it to appear on free streaming. At $3.99 l feel l overpaid for my digital rental. 🤨🤑
Director Mary Bronstein's IF I HAD LEGS I'D KICK YOU ('25, THEATER) traffics on A24's 'existential angst' dramatic formula with unspectacular but humorously dark results. Rose Byrn (shot in unflattering close-ups for 90% of the on-screen images) is a working mother dealing with a child tied to a medical device, an absent husband (Christian Slater, mostly heard) and an apartment in shambles due to a hypnotic hole on the roof that could also be a gate to an alternate reality. 🤨🥴 Conan O'Brien stands out in a small dramatic role in which, ironically, his highlight is a hilarious story about beheading lab mice. 🐭🐁 Women will probably relate to Linda juggling life troubles and feeling like an inadequate parent, and the 'unreliable narrator' trope builds to a finale wide open for interpretation. Seek it out when it hits 'free' streaming, not worth the big screen headache.
James Vanderbilt's NUREMBERG ('25, THEATER) runs too long at 2.5 hours, but a murders' row of top-tier acting talent (Russell Crowe, Michael Shannon, Richard E. Grant, John Slattery, Colin Hanks, etc.) make the well-worn, predictable subject of the Nuremberg trial of Nazi heads compelling. Rami Malek gets the choice role as an unorthodox psychiatrist that develops a bond with Herrman Göring (Crowe, hammy but understated) to their mutual detriment/advantage. 'It's okay.'
Sound like a very middling week at the movies. I didn't have high hopes for Running Man, despite being a Wright lover. The trailers just didn't do it for me, and you seem to confirm my impressions
Kunider, Paul, watch it and make up your own minds about "TRM." You might like it and get more enjoyment from its antics than me. It's at the very least a contemporary equivalent of the cheesy '87 original, so you're guaranteed some mainstream action fun. The AAA project that'll catapult Glen Powell into superstardom, however, this is not. 😥😓
Don't worry, I'll watch it at some point, just because it's Edgar Wright. I like all of his movies (including Baby Driver), but the trailers turned me off so much that i'm in no rush to watch it. Glen Powell is not helping though, I don't care for that. Mostly his acting, because he seems nice
I had different feelings about some of the details (Colman Domingo's performance was maybe my favorite in the movie; I thought the action sequences were pretty good), and similar feelings on other points (the ending is where the creaky, tonally schizophrenic plot really runs off the rails), and basically had the same overall impression of the movie (a flawed, reasonably enjoyable action flick that didn't live up to the rest of Wright's strong filmography). I'd agree that I wouldn't discourage anyone from checking it out, but I'd recommend tempering expectations.
I think im in the minority but i have so much fun with Baby Driver...maybe moreso the first act. And....dont judge me....for some reason ive never really connected with Hot Fuzz much. I love Pegg/Frost and the finale is crazypants but otherwise it seems kinda so so to me. Some day perhaps ill connect moreso.
I took a break from Stargate SG1 to try and make a dent in my ever-growing To-Watch list.
Watching the Detectives (2007): A weird little romcom full of cool people about a movie nerd who owns a small and struggling video store. It's strange to see Cillian Murphy in this type of movie. You get Lucy Liu as the love interest (she's the worst girlfriend ever) and Jason Sudeikis as the best friend. Also, there's a bunch of cameos from the Broken Lizard gang popping up here and there. Anyway, the movie's fine, it's just weird enough to keep it going for 90 minutes.
Roofman (2025): Another movie with bad marketing. I thought I was getting into a silly action comedy, but I got a decent drama, based on real events. I don't have much to say about it, it's a good movie.
Cecil B. Demented (2000): Strangely enough, the message in the movie is still valid today. I'm not saying it's not a bit juvenile, but I do like the love for movies presented here. I mean, the commentaries are shown in a pretty vulgar and violent way, death to mainstream cinema and all that. One character says at one point: "You don't have to like the movie". I'm paraphrasing a little, but he/she's talking about liking the latest blockbuster that's being marketed to you. Anyway, that's a whole other conversation that will never be solved. John Waters has never been my guy, but this movie I like a lot. I really like Stephen Dorff's performance. I got the recently released Blu-ray from Umbrella. I paid way too much for it, but whatever. I would've loved and interview with Dorff, but we got a short one with Melanie Griffith, so it's fine, I guess.
Hard Boiled (1992): Out with the shitty Blu-ray, in glorious 4k goodness, jam packed with extras. Damn this movie is awesome. Strangely enough, I haven't seen that many John Woo China-era (era) movies, but I saw this one a few times. I know, I should try the then, especially that they're all being put out on 4k now. I'll get to them eventually.
Outland (1981): A murder-mystery on a space mining colony, with Sean Connery, in glorious 4k? Sign me up. I obviously seen this movie before and watched it on Blu-ray a couple of time, but when the 4k was announced I jumped on it. Another good looking Arrow release with a few interesting extras.
And yesterday afternoon I picked up Naked Gun (2025) on 4k. Still a fun movie that doesn't try too much to be like the original. The extras are mostly promo stuff, but the little we get is fun and interesting enough when you need just a little more from the movie.
No, I'm not familiar. My "gaming" knowledge is composed of playing stuff on DOS as a kid, a brief 2 years where I had a N64 and played mostly hockey, and now I have an old Xbox 360 where again I mostly play hockey. But sometimes Jazz Horse (RDR original), and the awesome game where you steal peoples cars and drive around. And sometimes fly. (GTA 5). But mostly playing hockey.
It's kind of foreign to me people that upset or enthusiastic about a game. "I didn't/did like the story". I don't care, I'm just riding around on my horse and more often playing hockey against computer players.
I rewatched Sinners, because it's so good. I've been listening to the score a bunch, and it's also A+ (Ludwig Göransson). I want to watch Sinners again right now.
My son and I watched The Naked Gun (2025) and it was hilarious. Better yet, at a cool 1h25m with 8 minutes of credits. That would be half way through a Judd Apatow movie.
Other than that, I've just been powering through Deep Space Nine. Only 3 episodes to go. It's so good!
Oh, I did watch Northwest Passage (1940) with Spencer Tracy. Very fun adventure movie about some ranger soldiers making their way through the northern wilderness. There's some very problematic depictions of the indigenous people, but great movie if you can ignore that.
Did you or your son have a problem with the 'owl' thing? 🦉 I thought it was a dumb but tolerable comedic leap into no man's land. The OJ son/reference was my favorite: done and gone. 🫎😅
The Naked Gun is one of my most pleasant movie surprises in a long time. Felt like a fools errand but holy sh@t Akiva nailed it. The insanity of the cabin scene alone was worth the price of admission. My favorite moment is probably the Black Eyed Peas riff..just brilliant writing. "they're fools" "agreed"
The owl thing was silly, much like most of it. No problems with it here. I had to tell my son it was a reference to OJ Simpson. He knows who that is, but didn't know he was in the OG movies.
That's one of it's greatest strengths, is that it's super funny even if you don't get all the references. Like all the stuff from the early 2000s.
Ha...looks like a same brain moment with todays thumbnail.....
Running Man (1987)
Prepping for the new movie (also reading original book). Of Arnolds classic 80s run i guess id say this one holds up less well. Dont get me wrong, i loved it then and enjoy it LOTS now but it felt kinda...hrmm...cheap?..DTVish?...not sure. Still, there's so many banana characters within and the sheer weirdness of having the Family Feud guy be the big bad is just awesome.
More than once on F This ive mentioned Almost Famous as one of my top 10 favorite films (prob top 5). As a bit of a obsessive ive deep dove into its background for decades. Welp Cameron finally released his Autobiography/Journal named The Uncool ("im glad you were home." "im always home, im uncool"). It made my month to find out that this book primarily focuses on his life from 15-21 which was the years he was a rock journalist. If you are a fan of Almost Famous OR Classic 70s rock, its well worth your time. His time with the Rolling Stone is like Forrest Gump levels of crazy experiences with the biggest artists. Also, he's done some incredible interview podcasts for the book. I think the best is a 2 parter on a podcast called Impolitic.
Edgar Wright
Edgar, promoting his Running Man, has been dropping in on some fav movie podcasts lately. He tells great stories about this film and Stephen King and more. Also, as an incredibly fun cinefile, there's TONS of great movie discussions. If interested, i highly suggest these podcasts with him: The Kingcast, The Movies that Made Me, and Pure Cinema Podcast.
Wright is always fun in interviews. You want to make your head spin, listen to him with Quentin Tarantino. At the end, your To-watch list with be 500 pages long
THE ADVENTURES OF ICHABOD AND MR. TOAD (1949) The Headless Horseman is the big set piece, but I was delighted by all of Mr. Toad’s antics. Disney nerds don’t make enough of a big deal about Mr. Toad. Dude is a bona fide movie star!
DEAD MEN DON’T WEAR PLAID (1982) A fascinating experiment, but not as screwball as I remembered it.
THE TOWN (2010) Say what you like about Affleck, but he knocked it out of the park with this one.
GALAXY OF TERROR (1981) Quuhod goodness!
TRUE GRIT (2010) Forgot how good this movie is. Just hits all the right notes.
And now for F This Trek: I binge-watched season one of Enterprise this week. The show is so frustrating because it's mostly boring except for those few episodes where things really pop. Why can't every episode be as good as those few?
I liked Enterprise, but I agree there was issues. They kept changing direction every seasons, so it's very uneven. But don't listen to me, my favorite ST after TOS is Voyager, and I really don't care about DS9 😎
Mr. Toad is based on parts of the novel The Wind in the Willows. When I was reading novels (it has been a while), it was one of the few I read twice. Pink Floyd took the name of the their first album - Piper at the Gates of Dawn - from a chapter.
There's a few bland aspects to Enterprise... namely, the plots, the dialogue, the cast, the characters, the production design, the pace, the tone, and the music. Other than that, it's a blast :p
Wow, scathing haha. Kunider, I love Voyager too. It's my 2nd favourite, after Deep Space Nine. Janeway is so badass, and ready to explode the ship at a moments notice. No fear. The show's best point was introducing Seven of Nine, which was supposed to be a hot women in a tight suit (which it was, admittedly), but also became the most influential character. Picardo was also so good.
Went to the movie theater last week, first time in a long time. 1pm showing of Predator: Badlands at AMC. The movie didn't start until 1:32pm. 32 frigging minutes of trailers and ads. Honestly, I was ready to get up and leave.
Multiply times four and that's my average movie-going week at AMC theaters in NYC. 🤨😪 Luckily l learned early to just time my arrival at screenings 20-25 minutes after the starting time.
So, do tell us more about "Predator: Badlands." Best in the series? Highs, lows? 🙂
I would probably rank it below the original, Prey and Predator 2. There was some cool world building or rather lore building, and it tied in a lot with some of the more interesting parts of Alien: Earth.
Some of the CGI was a bit rough though (that kinda seems to be the norm these days) and some scenes were too dark, including the opening fight sequence which was probably 90% obscured by darkness.
Overall though, I thought it was fun and original enough to hope we get more like it in the future.
Last weekend I was in Scranton, Pennsylvania, doing some pet sitting. A horror convention called Creature Feature was taking place at a hotel downtown, so I took advantage of my proximity to it for an enjoyable afternoon. It was the first con that I have attended since Chiller Theater in 2017. Cons are a weird thing if you are by yourself. Once you see everything there and do whatever business appeals to you, there is not much to do. Autographs are not my thing, but the panels are usually of interest to me. I attended one on Friday the 13th Part 2 with “Vicki” and “Jeff” as well as a crew member who stepped in to be Jason throughout the shoot. I had a chance to ask a lot of questions. The next session was a Q&A with Clint Howard.
Of the celebrities present, Bill Moseley was the big name. It was interesting to see Edwin Neal, the hitchhiker in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He has not changed much in half a century.
As an aficionado of Japanese cinema, I want to acknowledge the passing of one Japan’s great actors, Tatsuya Nakadai. He worked with many notable directors (including Akira Kurosawa) during the heyday of Japan’s movie industry in the 1950s and ‘60s.
HE RAN ALL THE WAY (1951) – In his final film role before his early death, John Garfield plays a wanted robber who takes a family hostage. What Garfield was able to bring to a role like this is a sense of pathos. Though seldom shown or openly discussed, the situations that led him to that moment can be felt. This is a fast-paced noir that races toward a somber and emotional conclusion.
THIS SPORTING LIFE (1963, dir. Lindsay Anderson) – Frank Machin is living the dream, going from being a poor coal miner to a well-paid hero on the rugby field. What he loses along the way is a sense of values and where his place is in British society. Richard Harris gives a very nuanced performance as Frank, full of swagger at certain moments yet more vulnerable than he cares to admit to himself. I watched this decades ago on a regular cable television. Now that same channel’s schedule is dominated by “reality” shows. The times do change.
RED CLIFF (2009, dir. John Woo) – Woo’s epic cinematic adaptation of one of the most famous works of Chinese literature was worth the nearly five hours (the international cut) it took to finish it. When an ambitious imperial official in the 3rd century A.D. tries to extend his rule over regions in the south of China, an alliance forms to defeat his invasion. Though full of CGI, Red Cliff still has plenty of practical filmmaking present to give the viewer a sense of awe. Hundreds of extras with impressive costumes and props were used to film the extensive battle scenes. The first part of the film has a lot of fighting, and the second part slows down to focus on strategy and relationships. There are a lot of characters in the story, most very familiar to a Chinese audience but requiring some memorization from a Western viewer.
MERCENARIES FROM HONG KONG (1982) – Narrative insanity from Shaw Brothers that goes full 1980s. The general story revolves around a businesswoman hiring a group of mercenaries to go on a mission to Cambodia. The pacing is so fast that there frequently is no clear transition from one plot point to the next. What you get is a mish-mash of combat scenes, gangsters, martial arts, and car chases. MERCENARIES is a perfect candidate for a Junesploitation watch.
Red Cliff was amazing. Some stuff was CGI, like most of the boat stuff, but other stuff it was we have 1000 extras, have them charge at something. I really liked it. It does't feel like a Woo production (except for the pigeons flying in at the end of part one). But he's a steady hand and maybe directs his best movie ever. The big war scenes with all the horses are so well staged.
I rented blu-rays to watch Red Cliff. Having the extras to consult only increased my appreciation of the film. I wonder if there has been a bigger movie production in this century, Paul. Just watching Red Cliff's credits shows the enormous amount of people involved in making it.
THE CURIOUS FEMALE (1970) – The Curious Female is indeed a curious film. It has all the trappings of sexploitation while presenting some interesting ideas and excellent cinematography. The scenes with psychedelic lighting really stand out. The framing story of members of a future liberated society watching 20th-century smut and commenting on it gives the film a fleeting impression of intellectual content.
EMMANUELLE (2025) – A 21st-century update of a 1970’s e-r-o-t-i-c classic had me intrigued. This time around, Emmanulle is a quality control analyst assessing her employer’s luxury hotel in Hong Kong. She certainly is not a repressed type, yet her encounters leave her less than satisfied. Will her interest in a mysterious client of the hotel lead to something more meaningful? Though not dissimilar to the skinemax films shown on cable years ago, the film has higher production values. There is a sterile quality to much of the narrative. That and the slow pacing end up distancing the viewer.
Deathstalker (2025): A while ago I watched the original movies and saw a remake was coming. Imagine my surprise when I saw it was now available. This is a very fun movie, going with the funny side of the originals. Most of the monsters and effects are practical and it's very gory. You've seen the main actor in stuff, Daniel Bernhardt, and you won't be disappointed, he brings the stunts and the silly. Directed by Steven Kostanski, who did Psycho Goreman. If you need a decent sword and sorcery movie, this will fill that void. Definitely a blu-ray buy when it comes out.
It's time to start RUNNING... our mouths! 😃
ReplyDeleteHate to say it because l was primed to love it, but Edgar Wright's remake of THE RUNNING MAN (2025, AMC's DOLBY CINEMA) is merely a ground hit triple when all elements/talent involved should have delivered a cinematic grand slam. Josh Brolin's clearly enjoying himself playing evil producer Killian (TV hosting duties by Colman Domingo are just 'meh') and Glen Powell mugging like a reality TV star diva when he isn't being his usual likable action movie star self are the only noteworthy highlights. The rest of the rather large cast alternates between annoying (Michael Cera), wasted (William H. Macy), bland (Jayme Lawson as Ben's criminally underused wife) or just plain anonymous (all the runners, who are indistinguishable from "Call of Duty" generic cannon fodder). The action set-pieces are underwhelming and spread far apart during the punishing 133 min. running time (cool credits though), which would be tolerable if the ending didn't feel like a forced-by-test-audiences cop-out that neuters the two-hour build-up. And while parts of this remake are eons better than the '87 version l wasn't expecting Wright and company to aim for the former to match the latter in cheesiness. Judged as a typical Holllywood action pic this is better than average, but as an Edgar Wright movie this is as bad or worse than "Baby Driver." You win this action duel, "Predator: Badlands." 🥺😢
Carl Reiner's DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAD (1982, AMAZON RENTAL) is a cute homage to film noir cinema with dark-haired Steve Martin playing a 1940's L.A. private eye working a nonsense-riddled case for bullet-sucking, would-be femme fatale Rachel Ward. The well-chosen clips from a bunch of '40's noir flicks deliver silly laughs at the expense of Eva Gardner, Alan Ladd, Kirk Douglas, Bogart, etc. with "Dteam On"-type juxtaposition. Reiner's channeling of Otto Preminger as a Nazi villain was my favorite highlight. Worth seeing but wait for it to appear on free streaming. At $3.99 l feel l overpaid for my digital rental. 🤨🤑
Director Mary Bronstein's IF I HAD LEGS I'D KICK YOU ('25, THEATER) traffics on A24's 'existential angst' dramatic formula with unspectacular but humorously dark results. Rose Byrn (shot in unflattering close-ups for 90% of the on-screen images) is a working mother dealing with a child tied to a medical device, an absent husband (Christian Slater, mostly heard) and an apartment in shambles due to a hypnotic hole on the roof that could also be a gate to an alternate reality. 🤨🥴 Conan O'Brien stands out in a small dramatic role in which, ironically, his highlight is a hilarious story about beheading lab mice. 🐭🐁 Women will probably relate to Linda juggling life troubles and feeling like an inadequate parent, and the 'unreliable narrator' trope builds to a finale wide open for interpretation. Seek it out when it hits 'free' streaming, not worth the big screen headache.
James Vanderbilt's NUREMBERG ('25, THEATER) runs too long at 2.5 hours, but a murders' row of top-tier acting talent (Russell Crowe, Michael Shannon, Richard E. Grant, John Slattery, Colin Hanks, etc.) make the well-worn, predictable subject of the Nuremberg trial of Nazi heads compelling. Rami Malek gets the choice role as an unorthodox psychiatrist that develops a bond with Herrman Göring (Crowe, hammy but understated) to their mutual detriment/advantage. 'It's okay.'
Sound like a very middling week at the movies. I didn't have high hopes for Running Man, despite being a Wright lover. The trailers just didn't do it for me, and you seem to confirm my impressions
DeleteWorse than Baby Driver, yikes. I should just rewatch the original.
DeleteKunider, Paul, watch it and make up your own minds about "TRM." You might like it and get more enjoyment from its antics than me. It's at the very least a contemporary equivalent of the cheesy '87 original, so you're guaranteed some mainstream action fun. The AAA project that'll catapult Glen Powell into superstardom, however, this is not. 😥😓
DeleteDon't worry, I'll watch it at some point, just because it's Edgar Wright. I like all of his movies (including Baby Driver), but the trailers turned me off so much that i'm in no rush to watch it. Glen Powell is not helping though, I don't care for that. Mostly his acting, because he seems nice
DeleteI had different feelings about some of the details (Colman Domingo's performance was maybe my favorite in the movie; I thought the action sequences were pretty good), and similar feelings on other points (the ending is where the creaky, tonally schizophrenic plot really runs off the rails), and basically had the same overall impression of the movie (a flawed, reasonably enjoyable action flick that didn't live up to the rest of Wright's strong filmography). I'd agree that I wouldn't discourage anyone from checking it out, but I'd recommend tempering expectations.
DeleteI think im in the minority but i have so much fun with Baby Driver...maybe moreso the first act. And....dont judge me....for some reason ive never really connected with Hot Fuzz much. I love Pegg/Frost and the finale is crazypants but otherwise it seems kinda so so to me. Some day perhaps ill connect moreso.
DeleteI took a break from Stargate SG1 to try and make a dent in my ever-growing To-Watch list.
ReplyDeleteWatching the Detectives (2007): A weird little romcom full of cool people about a movie nerd who owns a small and struggling video store. It's strange to see Cillian Murphy in this type of movie. You get Lucy Liu as the love interest (she's the worst girlfriend ever) and Jason Sudeikis as the best friend. Also, there's a bunch of cameos from the Broken Lizard gang popping up here and there. Anyway, the movie's fine, it's just weird enough to keep it going for 90 minutes.
Roofman (2025): Another movie with bad marketing. I thought I was getting into a silly action comedy, but I got a decent drama, based on real events. I don't have much to say about it, it's a good movie.
Cecil B. Demented (2000): Strangely enough, the message in the movie is still valid today. I'm not saying it's not a bit juvenile, but I do like the love for movies presented here. I mean, the commentaries are shown in a pretty vulgar and violent way, death to mainstream cinema and all that. One character says at one point: "You don't have to like the movie". I'm paraphrasing a little, but he/she's talking about liking the latest blockbuster that's being marketed to you. Anyway, that's a whole other conversation that will never be solved. John Waters has never been my guy, but this movie I like a lot. I really like Stephen Dorff's performance. I got the recently released Blu-ray from Umbrella. I paid way too much for it, but whatever. I would've loved and interview with Dorff, but we got a short one with Melanie Griffith, so it's fine, I guess.
Hard Boiled (1992): Out with the shitty Blu-ray, in glorious 4k goodness, jam packed with extras. Damn this movie is awesome. Strangely enough, I haven't seen that many John Woo China-era (era) movies, but I saw this one a few times. I know, I should try the then, especially that they're all being put out on 4k now. I'll get to them eventually.
Outland (1981): A murder-mystery on a space mining colony, with Sean Connery, in glorious 4k? Sign me up. I obviously seen this movie before and watched it on Blu-ray a couple of time, but when the 4k was announced I jumped on it. Another good looking Arrow release with a few interesting extras.
And yesterday afternoon I picked up Naked Gun (2025) on 4k. Still a fun movie that doesn't try too much to be like the original. The extras are mostly promo stuff, but the little we get is fun and interesting enough when you need just a little more from the movie.
I saw Bullet in the Head earlier this summer and it was amazing, so I'd recommend checking that out for some John Woo goodness.
DeleteI've never seen Outland (and hadn't even heard of it until recently), but it's close to the top of my watchlist.
Have you ever played the videogame Stranglehold, directed by John Woo? It was fun. It features Chow Yun Fat as Inspector Tequila.
DeleteNo, I'm not familiar. My "gaming" knowledge is composed of playing stuff on DOS as a kid, a brief 2 years where I had a N64 and played mostly hockey, and now I have an old Xbox 360 where again I mostly play hockey. But sometimes Jazz Horse (RDR original), and the awesome game where you steal peoples cars and drive around. And sometimes fly. (GTA 5). But mostly playing hockey.
DeleteIt's kind of foreign to me people that upset or enthusiastic about a game. "I didn't/did like the story". I don't care, I'm just riding around on my horse and more often playing hockey against computer players.
I rewatched Sinners, because it's so good. I've been listening to the score a bunch, and it's also A+ (Ludwig Göransson). I want to watch Sinners again right now.
ReplyDeleteMy son and I watched The Naked Gun (2025) and it was hilarious. Better yet, at a cool 1h25m with 8 minutes of credits. That would be half way through a Judd Apatow movie.
Other than that, I've just been powering through Deep Space Nine. Only 3 episodes to go. It's so good!
Oh, I did watch Northwest Passage (1940) with Spencer Tracy. Very fun adventure movie about some ranger soldiers making their way through the northern wilderness. There's some very problematic depictions of the indigenous people, but great movie if you can ignore that.
Did you or your son have a problem with the 'owl' thing? 🦉 I thought it was a dumb but tolerable comedic leap into no man's land. The OJ son/reference was my favorite: done and gone. 🫎😅
DeleteThe Naked Gun is one of my most pleasant movie surprises in a long time. Felt like a fools errand but holy sh@t Akiva nailed it. The insanity of the cabin scene alone was worth the price of admission. My favorite moment is probably the Black Eyed Peas riff..just brilliant writing. "they're fools" "agreed"
DeleteThe owl thing was silly, much like most of it. No problems with it here. I had to tell my son it was a reference to OJ Simpson. He knows who that is, but didn't know he was in the OG movies.
DeleteThat's one of it's greatest strengths, is that it's super funny even if you don't get all the references. Like all the stuff from the early 2000s.
Ha...looks like a same brain moment with todays thumbnail.....
ReplyDeleteRunning Man (1987)
Prepping for the new movie (also reading original book). Of Arnolds classic 80s run i guess id say this one holds up less well. Dont get me wrong, i loved it then and enjoy it LOTS now but it felt kinda...hrmm...cheap?..DTVish?...not sure. Still, there's so many banana characters within and the sheer weirdness of having the Family Feud guy be the big bad is just awesome.
The Running Man is a nostalgia film for me. I watched it many times on HBO in the late 1980s.
DeleteDeeper Drive with Director Discussions:
ReplyDeleteCameron Crowe
More than once on F This ive mentioned Almost Famous as one of my top 10 favorite films (prob top 5). As a bit of a obsessive ive deep dove into its background for decades. Welp Cameron finally released his Autobiography/Journal named The Uncool ("im glad you were home." "im always home, im uncool"). It made my month to find out that this book primarily focuses on his life from 15-21 which was the years he was a rock journalist. If you are a fan of Almost Famous OR Classic 70s rock, its well worth your time. His time with the Rolling Stone is like Forrest Gump levels of crazy experiences with the biggest artists. Also, he's done some incredible interview podcasts for the book. I think the best is a 2 parter on a podcast called Impolitic.
Edgar Wright
Edgar, promoting his Running Man, has been dropping in on some fav movie podcasts lately. He tells great stories about this film and Stephen King and more. Also, as an incredibly fun cinefile, there's TONS of great movie discussions. If interested, i highly suggest these podcasts with him: The Kingcast, The Movies that Made Me, and Pure Cinema Podcast.
Wright is always fun in interviews. You want to make your head spin, listen to him with Quentin Tarantino. At the end, your To-watch list with be 500 pages long
DeleteExactly! so many suggestions! His recent stint on the Movies that Made Me gave me a few Post-apocolyptic clicks to pick.
DeleteTHE ADVENTURES OF ICHABOD AND MR. TOAD (1949)
ReplyDeleteThe Headless Horseman is the big set piece, but I was delighted by all of Mr. Toad’s antics. Disney nerds don’t make enough of a big deal about Mr. Toad. Dude is a bona fide movie star!
DEAD MEN DON’T WEAR PLAID (1982)
A fascinating experiment, but not as screwball as I remembered it.
THE TOWN (2010)
Say what you like about Affleck, but he knocked it out of the park with this one.
GALAXY OF TERROR (1981)
Quuhod goodness!
TRUE GRIT (2010)
Forgot how good this movie is. Just hits all the right notes.
And now for F This Trek: I binge-watched season one of Enterprise this week. The show is so frustrating because it's mostly boring except for those few episodes where things really pop. Why can't every episode be as good as those few?
I rewatched True Grit recently, and my goodness, what a great movie. One of my favourite westerns.
DeleteI couldn't get into Enterprise at all. I watched 3 episodes maybe. Then just bailed and went back to TNG. F This Trek, haha.
I liked Enterprise, but I agree there was issues. They kept changing direction every seasons, so it's very uneven. But don't listen to me, my favorite ST after TOS is Voyager, and I really don't care about DS9 😎
DeleteI like Enterprise too! But I'm always just happy to be watching any Star Trek. Season Three was my favorite even though it was the most serialized.
DeleteMr. Toad is based on parts of the novel The Wind in the Willows. When I was reading novels (it has been a while), it was one of the few I read twice. Pink Floyd took the name of the their first album - Piper at the Gates of Dawn - from a chapter.
DeleteThere's a few bland aspects to Enterprise... namely, the plots, the dialogue, the cast, the characters, the production design, the pace, the tone, and the music. Other than that, it's a blast :p
DeleteWow, scathing haha. Kunider, I love Voyager too. It's my 2nd favourite, after Deep Space Nine. Janeway is so badass, and ready to explode the ship at a moments notice. No fear. The show's best point was introducing Seven of Nine, which was supposed to be a hot women in a tight suit (which it was, admittedly), but also became the most influential character. Picardo was also so good.
DeleteWent to the movie theater last week, first time in a long time. 1pm showing of Predator: Badlands at AMC. The movie didn't start until 1:32pm. 32 frigging minutes of trailers and ads. Honestly, I was ready to get up and leave.
ReplyDeleteFortunately, I liked the movie. But good damn.
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DeleteMultiply times four and that's my average movie-going week at AMC theaters in NYC. 🤨😪 Luckily l learned early to just time my arrival at screenings 20-25 minutes after the starting time.
DeleteSo, do tell us more about "Predator: Badlands." Best in the series? Highs, lows? 🙂
I would probably rank it below the original, Prey and Predator 2. There was some cool world building or rather lore building, and it tied in a lot with some of the more interesting parts of Alien: Earth.
DeleteSome of the CGI was a bit rough though (that kinda seems to be the norm these days) and some scenes were too dark, including the opening fight sequence which was probably 90% obscured by darkness.
Overall though, I thought it was fun and original enough to hope we get more like it in the future.
Last weekend I was in Scranton, Pennsylvania, doing some pet sitting. A horror convention called Creature Feature was taking place at a hotel downtown, so I took advantage of my proximity to it for an enjoyable afternoon. It was the first con that I have attended since Chiller Theater in 2017. Cons are a weird thing if you are by yourself. Once you see everything there and do whatever business appeals to you, there is not much to do. Autographs are not my thing, but the panels are usually of interest to me. I attended one on Friday the 13th Part 2 with “Vicki” and “Jeff” as well as a crew member who stepped in to be Jason throughout the shoot. I had a chance to ask a lot of questions. The next session was a Q&A with Clint Howard.
ReplyDeleteOf the celebrities present, Bill Moseley was the big name. It was interesting to see Edwin Neal, the hitchhiker in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He has not changed much in half a century.
As an aficionado of Japanese cinema, I want to acknowledge the passing of one Japan’s great actors, Tatsuya Nakadai. He worked with many notable directors (including Akira Kurosawa) during the heyday of Japan’s movie industry in the 1950s and ‘60s.
I got to many films over the past two weeks.
ReplyDeleteHE RAN ALL THE WAY (1951) – In his final film role before his early death, John Garfield plays a wanted robber who takes a family hostage. What Garfield was able to bring to a role like this is a sense of pathos. Though seldom shown or openly discussed, the situations that led him to that moment can be felt. This is a fast-paced noir that races toward a somber and emotional conclusion.
THIS SPORTING LIFE (1963, dir. Lindsay Anderson) – Frank Machin is living the dream, going from being a poor coal miner to a well-paid hero on the rugby field. What he loses along the way is a sense of values and where his place is in British society. Richard Harris gives a very nuanced performance as Frank, full of swagger at certain moments yet more vulnerable than he cares to admit to himself. I watched this decades ago on a regular cable television. Now that same channel’s schedule is dominated by “reality” shows. The times do change.
RED CLIFF (2009, dir. John Woo) – Woo’s epic cinematic adaptation of one of the most famous works of Chinese literature was worth the nearly five hours (the international cut) it took to finish it. When an ambitious imperial official in the 3rd century A.D. tries to extend his rule over regions in the south of China, an alliance forms to defeat his invasion. Though full of CGI, Red Cliff still has plenty of practical filmmaking present to give the viewer a sense of awe. Hundreds of extras with impressive costumes and props were used to film the extensive battle scenes. The first part of the film has a lot of fighting, and the second part slows down to focus on strategy and relationships. There are a lot of characters in the story, most very familiar to a Chinese audience but requiring some memorization from a Western viewer.
MERCENARIES FROM HONG KONG (1982) – Narrative insanity from Shaw Brothers that goes full 1980s. The general story revolves around a businesswoman hiring a group of mercenaries to go on a mission to Cambodia. The pacing is so fast that there frequently is no clear transition from one plot point to the next. What you get is a mish-mash of combat scenes, gangsters, martial arts, and car chases. MERCENARIES is a perfect candidate for a Junesploitation watch.
Red Cliff was amazing. Some stuff was CGI, like most of the boat stuff, but other stuff it was we have 1000 extras, have them charge at something. I really liked it. It does't feel like a Woo production (except for the pigeons flying in at the end of part one). But he's a steady hand and maybe directs his best movie ever. The big war scenes with all the horses are so well staged.
DeleteI rented blu-rays to watch Red Cliff. Having the extras to consult only increased my appreciation of the film. I wonder if there has been a bigger movie production in this century, Paul. Just watching Red Cliff's credits shows the enormous amount of people involved in making it.
DeleteContinued...
ReplyDeleteTHE CURIOUS FEMALE (1970) – The Curious Female is indeed a curious film. It has all the trappings of sexploitation while presenting some interesting ideas and excellent cinematography. The scenes with psychedelic lighting really stand out. The framing story of members of a future liberated society watching 20th-century smut and commenting on it gives the film a fleeting impression of intellectual content.
EMMANUELLE (2025) – A 21st-century update of a 1970’s e-r-o-t-i-c classic had me intrigued. This time around, Emmanulle is a quality control analyst assessing her employer’s luxury hotel in Hong Kong. She certainly is not a repressed type, yet her encounters leave her less than satisfied. Will her interest in a mysterious client of the hotel lead to something more meaningful? Though not dissimilar to the skinemax films shown on cable years ago, the film has higher production values. There is a sterile quality to much of the narrative. That and the slow pacing end up distancing the viewer.
Deathstalker (2025): A while ago I watched the original movies and saw a remake was coming. Imagine my surprise when I saw it was now available. This is a very fun movie, going with the funny side of the originals. Most of the monsters and effects are practical and it's very gory. You've seen the main actor in stuff, Daniel Bernhardt, and you won't be disappointed, he brings the stunts and the silly. Directed by Steven Kostanski, who did Psycho Goreman. If you need a decent sword and sorcery movie, this will fill that void. Definitely a blu-ray buy when it comes out.
ReplyDeleteThanks, didn't even know this existed or was out. 🤠👍
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