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Post by jeffersoncody on Jun 19, 2021 9:17:35 GMT
HIRED TO KILL 1990 - This was a real surprise. I was expecting a really bad and cheap action film but in fact, despite some hilarious dialogue in the first quarter, it actually turns out to be quite well-made, with a good score and adequate performances from a mostly unknown cast. Brian Thompson usually portrays a supporting character--this is the first time I have seen him as the star--he's got a sardonic way of speaking which provides a lot of humor. Oliver Reed, Jose Ferrer, and George Kennedy have key roles as well- the focus is a Magnificent Seven story with Thompson posing as a gay fashion designer with 7 models who are in fact professional mercenaries. The stand out scene is where Reed is suspicious of Thompson so he grabs him between the legs (a move Reed used in Gladiator as well) and without any hesitation, Thompson kisses him on the mouth. I credit them both for keeping their cool in that scene--this was a Greek-made production and it was much better than I expected, given the obscurity of it. LOL. As someone who once had to sell this movie, and saw it twice; once on the big screen, I do not share you enthusiasm for it. I found it underwhelming after going in with high expectations back in the day. Bad, bad script. Brian Thompson, who hoped the film would make him a star, tirelessly promoted it, though. Such passion he had. Here is Thompson opposite Sly Stallone in COBRA.
And, more recently, discussing "The Hero Knife" in the film.
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Post by politicidal on Jun 19, 2021 14:38:18 GMT
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Jun 19, 2021 22:12:22 GMT
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Post by Salzmank on Jun 20, 2021 2:25:27 GMT
Snake Eyes (1998, dir. Brian De Palma).  This got negative reviews in 1998. I have no idea why; I loved it. It’s wonderful, just plain wonderful. It’s kinetic, hilarious, over-the-top, thrilling, suspenseful, bombastic, well-acted, and loads of fun. It’s also got a message, which may not be the most important thing about it but which, judging from reviews, most critics missed: It’s about shadings of heroism, not the military-industrial complex. It opens with one of De Palma’s trademark directorial tours-de-force, a 20-minute apparent single shot, à la Orson Welles’s Touch of Evil, that sets up our characters, plot, and setting with seeming ease—and must have been hell to shoot. Everything else in the movie depends on that first shot; we go back to its events over and over, we and the characters analyze it again and again like how John Travolta analyzes the sound footage in De Palma’s Blow Out. Most critics said it was the high point of the movie and reaped scorn on everything after it. In fact, everything after it is of a piece—gloriously stylized, gloriously De Palma. Critics, who’d apparently never seen a De Palma movie before, also went after the plot—no, honestly. And they even criticized De Palma and screenwriter David Koepp for revealing whodunit early on. Unsurprisingly, De Palma and Koepp made the right choice. Performances all top-notch. It’s basically a two-hander between Nicolas Cage, at his most manic and amazing, and Gary Sinise, at his coldest. Basically because Stan Shaw, an actor I don’t know, gives a remarkable performance that encapsulates the movie’s main theme. Cheerfully old-fashioned, entertaining climax, as silly as anything on a dark and stormy night and all the better for it—but the movie doesn’t end there! The coda just repeats the filmmakers’ point that the story isn’t about the conspiracy, it’s about the duality between the characters and within the Cage character, the fact that sometimes a bad man does a very good deed and a good man a very bad one. I’m convinced that De Palma figures out the most logical, most typical way to shoot a scene, the way 99% of directors would do it, and then decides not to do it that way. Almost every shot is distinct and memorable, filtered through a unique sensibility and with the most intriguing visuals possible. Just great. This reminded me of why I like movies in the first place.
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Post by Spooky Ghost Ackbar on Jun 20, 2021 5:40:05 GMT
 A truly underrated epic. It’s not perfect, but it deserves more praise. Man, if only modern movies had 1/100th of this movie’s production values! |
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Post by jeffersoncody on Jun 20, 2021 6:51:04 GMT
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Post by Prime etc. on Jun 20, 2021 7:51:12 GMT
STACEY 1973 --classic trash about a centerfold/race car driver/private detective. The story is basically the Big Sleep except the director would rather focus on other activities in a bedroom besides sleeping. Despite the amateurish aspects of it--this was made before Charlie's Angels and long before the modern trends of women-led action films, it shows that this was already being explored in the drive-in circuit.
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Post by politicidal on Jun 21, 2021 0:56:32 GMT
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Jun 21, 2021 5:30:23 GMT
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Post by Spooky Ghost Ackbar on Jun 22, 2021 17:55:45 GMT
Ever seen “Murder, My Sweet”? It’s another film noir starring Powell, only it’s a much better movie.
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Post by politicidal on Jun 22, 2021 18:13:54 GMT
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Post by jeffersoncody on Jun 22, 2021 21:19:09 GMT
Ever seen “Murder, My Sweet”? It’s another film noir starring Powell, only it’s a much better movie. I have seen MURDER MY SWEET, and agree it's a better film film than CRY DANGER, but I really love the 1975 version of FAREWELL, MY LOVELY (1975) best - Robert Mitchum's world weary Marlowe is my favorite screen portrayal of Chandler's famous private eye.  
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Post by Spooky Ghost Ackbar on Jun 23, 2021 5:08:06 GMT
Ever seen “Murder, My Sweet”? It’s another film noir starring Powell, only it’s a much better movie. I have seen MURDER MY SWEET, and agree it's a better film film than CRY DANGER, but I really love the 1975 version of FAREWELL, MY LOVELY (1975) best - Robert Mitchum's world weary Marlowe is my favorite screen portrayal of Chandler's famous private eye. Oh! I actually didn’t know that was a thing. I should check that out.
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Post by jeffersoncody on Jun 23, 2021 5:51:30 GMT
I have seen MURDER MY SWEET, and agree it's a better film film than CRY DANGER, but I really love the 1975 version of FAREWELL, MY LOVELY (1975) best - Robert Mitchum's world weary Marlowe is my favorite screen portrayal of Chandler's famous private eye. Oh! I actually didn’t know that was a thing. I should check that out.
The supporting cast includes Harry Dean Stanton, John Ireland and Sylvester Stallone.
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Post by Chalice_Of_Evil on Jun 23, 2021 10:18:40 GMT
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Post by Feologild Oakes on Jun 23, 2021 10:45:23 GMT
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Post by politicidal on Jun 23, 2021 14:16:18 GMT
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Post by factchecker2point0 on Jun 23, 2021 19:17:36 GMT
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Post by louise on Jun 23, 2021 20:42:45 GMT
Fast and Loose (1930). Fairly amusing comedy about an idle wealthy upper class sister and brother (Miriam Hopkins and Henry Wadsworth) who fall for humble working class people (Charles Sterrett and Carole Lombard). Henry Morgan is their exasperated father. I thought Hopkins’s love interest a bit dull, I actually thought her upper class suitor (David Hutchison) more entertaining. And there’s not much for Carole Lombard to get her teeth into.
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Post by phantomparticle on Jun 23, 2021 23:36:28 GMT
Crime Without Passion (1934) Bizarre drama written (and directed) by Charles McArthur and Ben Hecht. Reprehensible lawyer Claude Rains gives his showgirl girlfriend the shaft when he falls for an icy gold digger. Twist and turn script with a memorable finish. Slavko Vorkapich contributes a one-of-a-kind opening montage as three Furies emerge from a drop of blood to fan out over the city in search of souls to corrupt.   Margo in her first film role, about to be brutally discarded.   |
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