|
Quote:
|
Licence to Kill 1989 ★★★★
A local TV station is plowing through a number of James Bond-films. Good for me, because they later end up on their streaming platform. I like this one. It has Bond as a venging angel after the mutilation of Felix Leiter. Dalton makes for a good gritty Bond (especially with the way Sanchez dies), though he does not have the dry wit of Connery. Come to think of it, imagine a combination of Dalton's determination and Moore's joke delivery. On second thought, let's not and say we did. Robert Davi makes for a good Bond-villain with the right balance between charm and ruthlessness. The kind who, one moment, can be chitchatting with someone and the next, he can give the order to cut out their eyeballs while he looks on, not blinking once. Well complemented by a young Benicio Del Toro. This movie has two Bond-girls, but neither of them are memorable. Fun fact: one of the DEA-agents played a boxer on Police Squad!, with the poem “roses are red, violets are blue... I'm gonna break your face”. (I love these moments “wait, he looks familiar... imdb... dot... com... oooh, riiigght!”) I also like the action set pieces. Take for example the bit in the beginning where they catch Sanchez. Just the right balance between nonchalantness (everything is under control) and impressive (holy crap, he is just sitting down on the tail of flying plane, in mid flight.) Maybe not top 5 Bond of all time, but always a fun watch when it comes on. |
Quote:
COUNT DRACULA (1970). >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>SPOILERS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> > >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> > According to the review of CD on the great website 1000 MISSPENT HOURS (which I recommend) by "El Santo" (and what I've read), by the end of the 60's Christopher Lee was bitching constantly how Hammer wasn't doing Dracula right and no doubt, Hammer was sick of his complaining. Another company contacted Chris about how THIS film would be the "Definitive" version. The only trouble was that Jess Franco, who could be wildly erratic even at his best, was scheduled to direct. And truth to tell, parts of the film are very close to the source novel, especially the early parts in Transylvani-great atmosphere and Lee very good. But then the effect is hampered by foolishness or taking liberties with the story. Van Helsing, in here, delegates more than He does anything else and a scene where He protects Mina from the Count involving fire is pretty weak, although it's a gem compared when the men invade Carfax Abbey and see all kinds of stuffed animals on the wall. What follows is absolutely ridiculous and makes You wish more of the film could be like the interesting opening. ** |
|
Connan the Barbarian
5/10 Some nice special effects here and there, but it was really tough to sit through over hours, so I skipped around. |
COTTON COMES TO HARLEM (1970). Decent action comedy about the search for a large sum of cash hidden in a bale of cotton that has sold to a Junk man (Redd Fox, probably prepping for SANFORD AND SON a couple of years later) and then bought back. Not bad with a truly funny ending. Good cast, but Redd all but steals every scene he's in. ***
|
HALLOWEEN 3 :SEASON OF THE WITCH (1982). Michaels Myers is out and Celtic mythology is in....kind of a strange film and it might have done better without the HALLOWEEN franchise name. On it's own terms, it's not bad with some good performances, a creepy motive behind the plot and decent grue.
On the Plus side, Tom Atkins is pretty cool in here and even more so when I met him at HORRORFIND in June 2006 and had him sign a photo and pose with Me for one. I was very tempted to ask him what it was like to smooch lovely Stacy Nelkins::love::, but decided not to. Biggest downer for H3:SOTW is the damn song that plays frequently::mad::*** |
The Hills Have Eyes 1977 ★★★★★
Wes Craven delivers an absolute masterpiece in horror. From the start, he sets up the terror, with the gas stop guy actually being a competent version of Crazy Ralph from the original Friday. And they still don't listen. Ugh... people, am I right? Between the eerie images and the gleeful cackling of the gang watching upon this typical family (you never used that kind of language before you moved to NYC... timeless.), it really immerses you in the impending doom and terror. It's coming and the only question remaining is when things will go south. When they do, it's an absolute feast of carnage, traumatic experiences and humanity at its worst and most primal. Pluto fighting the dog, Mercury raping the daughter (in fact, just the whole camper invasion, my goodness), or the crushed hope when they reach what they hope is the army base,... I hope you took in some air before the start of the mayhem, because this movie won't let you catch any before the end. I up my rating from last time. Straight up five star masterpiece. |
Quote:
DON'T LOOK NOW (1973). >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>SPOILERS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> > >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> After the loss of their daughter, a grieving couple go to Venice (which looks crumbly and deserted) where He is helping with a church restoration. His wife (well played by lovely Julie Christie) meets a pair of women, one who has second sight and gives her some hope, but will it matter if the husband is kind of dick-ish. This film looks absolutely fantastic (very much an art film) and a excellent score by Donnagio. However, I found DLN meanders and hard to understand at time (also the fact that Criterion never has subtitles certainly didn't help), but it has aged well and worth seeing. The controversial "Sex scene" really goes by so quick that it may have been people thinking what they THOUGHT they saw that caused the fuss. Also, why Julie would actually "do it" with Donald Sutherland (who usually doesn't inspire kind feelings in anything) when dating Warren Beatty at the time doesn't mesh. *** |
Quote:
|
| All times are GMT -8. The time now is 06:04 PM. |