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 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.
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.
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 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.
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.