Whitster, Some great films there, well-established classics and a few lesser-known gems (Bobby Fischer, The Limey, Infernal Affairs, Dark City). Mean Streets has always been one of my favorite favs. Early Scorcese, back when DeNiro was young and still considered the greatest actor of his generation and a successor to Brando. Awesome movie, full of sudden rage and dark humor. Disagree about Constant Gardener. I loved it and plan to watch it again soon. I also think the director's other film, City of God, is one of the greatest movies I've ever seen, like top-ten material of all time. Good list. H
Yeah, they fucked up a good premise. Actually that director, Peter Hyams, is one of the kings of B-movies. Some are very good, for what they are, some suck big time. If you're a fan of his I would suggest some of his better movies: Time Cop The Relic Narrow Margin Outland Capricorn One The last is a great cheesy B-flick, about a staged Mars landing. It's sheer silliness, but done well. You have to put up w/watching OJ Simpson (made before he was murderer) but at least he gets killed early on. H
Forgot about Wonder Boys. Good one, haven't seen it in a while, due for a "re-viewing". Thanks for reminding me. H
Silent Hill Someone needs to tell Hollywood that movies based on stories of video games don't work. Why? Because the games themselves come from the stories of movies that the game creators grew up on, be they good, mediocre, or horrendous. So they're movies based on other movies. Silent Hill's convoluted "plot", using the term very loosely, is cobbled together from pieces of The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby, Nightmare on Elm Street, the Salem witch trials, several old Twilight Zone episodes, and who knows what else thrown into the mix for good measure. The first hour or so has some great imagery, but by now we know oh-too-well from films like The Ring and The Grudge that cool, creepy imagery will not carry a movie w/o some kind of real story to propel us forward so that we actually give a shit about the characters involved. Silent Hill seems like it was written by adolescents (and since it's based on the video game, it may very well be) who are enthralled by comic-book panels of the grotesque. Like those "graphic novels", it's all about effect, and it's affected, the images mean nothing in and of themselves while they're presented as if they're profound and deep, but they exist only as really cool imagery. In the second-half of the film, when the filmmakers finally try to tell a story and explain what is going on, it's both convoluted and banal and any energy that the film has is drained. At the same time we're asking "What the fuck is going on?" we're also saying "Haven't I seen this all before, but much better done?" Poseidon Poseidon, otoh, is a very good b-movie, an action flick that might very well be a decent video game. Unlike Silent Hill, which pretends to have profundity, this flick just wants to have fun and makes no pretense about it. One of the things I liked most about it is that after the intial expository sequences in which we get to know just enough about the cliched circumstances of each of the melodramatic main characters to distinguish them from one another, that once the action starts it doesn't let up, it's relentless. There are no sentimental blah-blah dialogue sequences between the characters to bring the action to a halt, unlike the original film, which wore its schmaltz on its sleeve and became embarrassing. Yes, an unsavory character finds redemption thru heroism, one suicidal character learns life is worth fighting for, and yet another learns that love is about letting go, but these cliched epiphanies are conveyed strictly thru action, thru the deeds of the characters rather than corny words. In fact there's very little dialogue at all once the action starts. The FX are excellent, the acting is spot-on and way above your standard action-fare (the great Richard Dreyfuss in an action flick?), and we really don't know which character will die, especially since there are 2, count 'em 2, heroes. It's silly, mindless, and completely improbable, but that's exactly what it's supposed to be and it succeeds beautifully. H
A couple of excellent family films: The Legend of Zorro This sequel to The Mask of Zorro was panned by critics and didn't do very well at the box office. But I thought it was alllllllmost as good as the original. Granted, it takes a while to get started, the first hour is a bit drawn out as they set up the story, but then it really kicks into gear and the second-half was sheer non-stop action fun. I think this would be perfect for kids, the violence is not nasty or gory, in fact it's rather amazing that in a movie w/so many cool sword fights no one ever actually gets stabbed w/a sword. It has a nice subplot about the relationship between Zorro and his son; the kid is feisty and likable and played w/o sentiment by a very talented 10 yr old actor, Adrian Alonso. Antonio Banderas makes a great hero and the drop-dead gorgeous Zeta-Jones proves again that she's much more than just a pretty face, this woman can act. There are several kinetic, exhilarating fight sequences, and there is one absolutely amazing, breath-taking shot of Zorro jumping from the top of one moving train car to another on his magnificent horse. The villains get their's in the end and the family is reunited, just like it should be. A good old fashioned "swashbuckler". The Parent Trap This 1998 film was a remake of a 60's Disney film w/Haley Mills. It was Lindsay Lohan's first movie and she gives one of the most charming, likable child performances you will ever see. When the movie first came out she caused something of a sensation and one can see why, her talent just bursts off the screen. She's not only sweet and absolutely adorable, but she plays the twin characters so well that you can tell which twin she is even when that twin is pretending to be other. She makes them two distinctive characters. The adults are well-played by Natasha Richardson and Dennis Quaid and they make a rather far-fetched premise believable and real. The movie goes on a bit too long but Lohan holds it together even when it wanders thru her sheer fierce talent, we can't help but root for her. Good family stuff. H
My favorite movie of all time: The Holy Mountain -- (CONTAINS SPOILERS) A true masterpiece of cinema from the director Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo). A christlike figure climbs down from a cross where he is attacked by a group of children. He is saved by a man with no hands or feet After the two smoke a joint, the christlike figure begins wandering around the desert landscape. He enters a city where the police are brutalizing, executing, and raping people for no apparent reason. Tourists contently take pictures of these executions. The Christ and his limbless sidekick are hired by a circus in order to reenact the conquest of mexico using frogs and lizards. The battle scene is not to be missed. Frogs (dressed like conquistadores) are blown up. Christ then goes to a Roman party, where he gets intoxicated. The Romans than take him and make hundreds of molds of his body This angers Christ, who destroys all the molds, but before he can go must fight a group of prostitutes who worship Mary Magdalene. Escaping with his life, he meets a mystical guide who introduces him to seven wealthy and powerful individuals, each representing a planet in the solar system. These seven, along with the protagonist, the guide and the guide's assistant, divest themselves of their worldly goods and form a group of nine who will seek out the Holy Mountain, in order to displace the gods who live there and become immortal. They seek absolute truth which they believe is on top of the Holy Mountain. They go through many confusing and mystical treks until they finally reach the mountain. When they get there, the wise men are fake and they laugh at the group making fun at how their trip was pointless. Then Jodorowsky says "Zoom out camera" and the camera zooms out to show the sound crew and cameramen. The whole point of the film is pointlessness. It reveals the absurdity of religion and mysticism. Jodorowsky shows an overwhelming slew of religious and mystical symbolism and many are led to believe that they are significant. However, at the end Jodorowsky lifts the veil and shows that it was all meaningless. Even the movie is an illusion. My Second Favorite Movie: Aguirre: Wrath of God -- Francicso Pizarro sends a group of explorers Eastward into the jungles of the upper Amazon in search of the rumored El Dorado, the legendary city of gold. Along with practical supplies, a line of Indian slaves move a cannon, a horse, a likeness of the Virgin Mary, and nobleman's chairs containing the wife of the commander, Don Pedro de Ursua (Ruy Guerra) and the daughter of the military captain. He is Don Lope de Aguirre (Klaus Kinski), an intimidating thug who broods and plots mutiny almost from the start. The group intends to claim El Dorado as their own new empire, and has brought along nobility, the clergy, and the women precisely for that purpose. Burdened by their Spanish customs as much as by their unlikely cargo, the group falls prey to the mysteries of the jungle. The river rises without warning and washes away their camp. A third of their soldiers are lost on a raft that becomes caught in a perpetually spinning whirlpool. And unseen Indians are picking off the explorers one by one, with snares and poison darts. When Don Pedro decides to turn back, the possibly insane Aguirre mutinies. Butchering any and all dissenters, the snarling captain continues the expedition further downriver. His megalomanic plans include breaking away from Spain, and starting a pure dynasty by marrying his own daughter
vanh, Aguirre is also one of my favs, it's actually the first foreign film I ever saw as a youngster. (It was obviously a strong influence on Coppola's Apocalypse Now.) At times it's dreamlike, hallucinogenic. The opening shots of the trek up the mountainside are remarkable and Kinski gives a great performance as man degenerating into utter madness. He was one of the finest actors of his generation, Germany's Brando or DeNiro; it's too bad he was such a jerk, squandering much of his career on really bad films just so he could take home a paycheck. But his films w/Herzog (Aguirre, Woyzeck, Nosferatu, Fitzcarraldo) are pretty much all masterpieces. My favorite is Nosferatu, the Vampyre. Kinski absolutely transforms himself, creating one of the most original villains ever on film, both funny and chilling, while at the same time paying homage to Schreck's original character from the silent classic. It's as great a performance as I've ever seen. I'm unfamiliar w/The Holy Mountain. I checked Netflix but apparently it isn't out on dvd yet, so I'll have to wait for that one. H
Uh , sorry, i thought vanhelsing's description of 'holy mountain" was a parody, i just assumed, sorry 'bout that. Meet joe black..............,