Thunderball is real boring. The problem is two-fold. First, the opening is heavy. After the pre-title bit (which is goofy with the jetpack), it’s a pseudo-Hitchcock, with Connery off in a spa. He sees strange things going on and gradually romances his masseuse. Intercut with these scenes are the bad guys preparing to do their […]
Entries Tagged as 'ⓏⒺⓇⓄ'
Thunderball (1965, Terence Young)
June 10th, 2008 1 Comment
Recommend on MahaloFirst Blood (1982, Ted Kotcheff)
June 5th, 2008 No Comments
Maybe if it weren’t for the Stephen J. Cannell television techniques (cars flying through the air or exploding on impact), the asinine, comedic banter between the deputies, some poor writing and Richard Crenna, First Blood might have been okay. Ted Kotcheff isn’t a good director though, so maybe not. Kotcheff shoots exteriors well (the stuff […]
Vital Signs (1990, Marisa Silver)
June 4th, 2008 No Comments
I’d forgotten grown men used to wear cut-off, midriff-revealing shirts. Adrian Pasdar does in the final scene of Vital Signs. It’s horrifying.
Pasdar also bulks up throughout the picture, maybe for his shirtless scenes in the late second act, or for that closing shot.
And even though Vital Signs is tripe, another failed studio attempt to launch […]
Taking Care of Business (1990, Arthur Hiller)
May 29th, 2008 No Comments
Hard as it is to believe, I’d sort of forgotten about Jim Belushi having a film career. For a while during Taking Care of Business, I kept thinking I’d seen him in something recently (which I haven’t), then I realized… his performance in the movie is a rip on Bill Murray. Expressions, tone of voice, […]
Dedication (2007, Justin Theroux)
May 22nd, 2008 No Comments
Is it possible to use The Doors’ “The End” without it recalling Apocalypse Now? Even if it’s just the opening snippet.
No, it’s not. Especially not when you do it twice like Theroux does in Dedication.
But Theroux harkening back to great films (or, hey, if he even harkened back to a mediocre one) would be such […]
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984, Steven Spielberg)
May 21st, 2008 No Comments
I can understand Chinese people being upset with the stereotypes–Spielberg and company basically lift all the anti-Japanese stereotypes from early 1940s American films and apply them to the Chinese–but at least they’re only goofy and mischievous. The Indians in the film are downright evil. Temple of Doom’s atrocious script (I suppose Willard Huyck and Gloria […]
Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (2007, Colin Strause and Greg Strause)
May 15th, 2008 No Comments
Surprisingly, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem does elicit some conversation. Or, at least the first forty or so minutes of it does. The rest might elicit armed revolt, I’ll never know.
The movie’s interesting for a few reasons. Firstly, it’s atrocious. From the incompetent direction–the Strause brothers apparently couldn’t handle a Doublemint commercial–to the cheap CG (maybe […]
