The Stop Button

An appreciation of amusements.

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Entries Tagged as 'David Morrell'

First 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 […]

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Rambo III (1988, Peter MacDonald)

February 11th, 2008 No Comments

According to IMDb, Rambo III was the most expensive movie ever made at the time of its release. It shows. Enormous sets, lots of vehicles–Rambo versus a helicopter, Rambo versus a tank, Rambo in a tank versus a helicopter. For all the money, it ought to look fantastic–except director Peter MacDonald, a camera operator and […]

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Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985, George P. Cosmatos)

February 4th, 2008 No Comments

Rambo’s pretty awful. It’s not terrible–not too terrible to watch anyway (at least once, though New York Times critic A.O. Scott should probably be fired for supporting it to any degree). The main technical fault lies with George P. Cosmatos, who somehow managed to stock the crew with capable people (editor Mark Goldblatt is no […]

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Rambo (2008, Sylvester Stallone)

January 28th, 2008 No Comments

First, I need to get the theater-going experience out of the way. I do not remember the last time I’ve been in a theater filled with stupider people. They did not shower for the most part. Their girlfriends had to explain the complicated parts to them. I can only imagine what seeing Rambo III would […]

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