Movie #19 - The Hitcher (2007)

2007 remake, The Hitcher, was quite a disappointment. I was expecting more from this film as I am a cult fan of the original movie starring Rutger Hauer. When I saw the trailer of this film, I thought to myself, Sean Bean as John Ryder could be a good casting for this reckless character. However, I thought wrong.

The film starts out quite normal for a horror film. College couple on their way to a cabin for spring break. Handsome guy driving a sports car with a buxom woman as his girlfriend.
Then comes the rain and cue - The Hitcher. I haven't seen the original film in over 15 years, but I do recall being more scared of the Rutger Hauer entrance than this one of Bean. Maybe its just the fact that overall, Hauer has a stronger threat presence on screen than that of Bean, known more for his roles in Lord of the Rings - Fellowship of the Ring and Patriot Games.

After the couple offers to drive Bean after an encounter at a gas station, this movie just degrades into a gore fest of cat and mouse scenes. There is too much useless killing and too little character development, even for a horror movie - whose main goal is to scare you!

Bean provides very little to evoke an emotional response to his character portrayal of John Ryder and there is nothing in the acting performances of Sophia Bush and Zach Knighton. The original Hitcher was cast with C. Thomas Howell and Jennifer Jason Leigh, a 1986 upgrade compared to these two young actors cast in this Bean version.

I beg to question what Michael Bay was hoping to achieve with this remake. Bay was able to convince Hitcher writer, Eric Red to develop this updated screenplay for this remake, however, there really isn't anything new to offer and its not very good.

There is only one good scene in this movie when Ryder comes flying down the highway in his black Camaro to the Nine Inch Nails classic - Closer, playing in the background. That was a cool scene. Yet the rest of the movie falls short of expectations in the remake category.

Although an update to this film was warranted, I would probably have enjoyed Hauer reprising this role and this character. Although he is quite older now, Hauer could probably have done justice to the Ryder character.

For readers out there, skip this Hitcher and find the original 1986 cult classic. If you watch both films back to back, you will know why the '86 version is the better of the two films. The 2007 version is full of useless death scenes and petty thrill sequences and does not achieve the character development which made the original scary. The original movie becomes scary the moment Howell's character stops the car - the 2007 version is never scary and is an overall disappointment.

Reference: I originally published this article on Helium.com

Movie #18 - Letters from Iwo Jima

The combination of Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, and Paul Haggis were able to capture the true essence of the stories behind the battle of Iwo Jima through the films Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima. Both films tell the story from unique perspectives and although Letters from Iwo Jima stands out as the better of the two films, the combination of the stories is a unique theatrical experience.

Letters from Iwo Jima stars Ken Watanabe (Batman Begins, Last Samurai) and a number of Japanese actors portraying soldiers stationed at Iwo Jima weeks before the great battle between the United States and the Japanese. Watanabe plays General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, the famous general who was able to hold off the U.S. invasion of Iwo Jima for many days without proper military support or supplies.

Having this story told from the Japanese perspective provided a great insight to the mentality of the Japanese war front. The suicide scenes were quite powerful, yet gruesome. This showed that by that time of the war, the Japanese soldiers were honorable men, willing to sacrifice their very lives for their country.

Following General Kuribayashi's character as he returns from his time living and studying in the United States to the horrors of war is a treat for the audience. Its Spielberg, Eastwood, and Haggis' way of showing how pointless this war truly was for those involved. It shows that the Americans and Japanese were great friends in the past and that this war really had no purpose for those men that died fighting it.

The strong storyline of the film followed the character named Saigo. He was a baker drafted to fight in the war. He comes close to death throughout the film, some instances comedic, some ironic, and some dramatic. He survives the entire battle through his own wit and convictions. As an audience of this movie, you truly feel for this character and hope for his survival. Although his adventure is perilous, Saigo survives to preserve the "letters" of the soldiers of Iwo Jima, which became the core of the plot of this film.

There are some powerful performances in this movie. Mainly by Watanabe and Kazunari Ninomiya (Saigo) which resonates throughout the film. Because there haven't been many films depicting the Japanese perspective during WWII, this film is full of twists and turns and the stories are wonderfully told.

The Oscar nominations for Best Director (Eastwood), Best Motion Picture (Eastwood / Spielberg) and Best Writing - Original Screenplay (Haggis / Iris Yamashita) were all well deserved.

As a fan of great cinema, I am hopeful that this movie making experience will allow Haggis, Eastwood, and Spielberg to collaborate on future projects so that they can treat their audiences to future epic films.

Reference: I originally published this article on Helium.com

Movie #17 - Flags of Our Fathers

On paper, putting together the ensemble team of Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, and Paul Haggis should result in a tremendous blockbuster. Overall, this movie does not disappoint.

Flags of Our Fathers follows the lives of six men who were involved in the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima, a pivotal battle won by the United States during WWII. What wasn't known at the time, is that the United States were virtually broke with the billions of dollars spent on WWII and the fact that many of its citizens grew weary of the whole campaign.

The movie follows three plot lines, which is quite common in Paul Haggis screenplays. It follows the lives of Ryan Phillippe (John "Doc" Bradley), Jesse Bradford (Rene Gagnon), and Adam Beach (Ira Hayes). All three men were involved in the raising of the famous flag, however, how this event affects these men is really a wonderful story to tell.

There are pockets of action sequences which are quite powerful and are inserted at strong points throughout the film. This provides the audience with the needed change of pace to maintain interest while at the same time, discuss the negative effects of the war on these three individual characters.

Brief cameos of war piece veteran actors such as Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan) and Neil McDonough (Band of Brothers) show Spielberg's influence on the film. This enhanced the feel of the movie as both actors have been cast in various war pictures in the past and provide a strong representation for both the action sequences and the drama of the film.

Strong performances were achieved by both Phillippe and Beach. Both men were able to capture the characters being portrayed by the film. Since it was a true story being depicted in the plot lines, it must've been difficult to develop the characters any further. By the end of the film, you truly believed Phillippe and Beach were the men telling the story, which made the film powerful in the end.

I read somewhere that you needed to watch this movie first before watching Letters from Iwo Jima. This way, you could not only understand both perspectives of the story (United States and Japanese points of view), but could appreciate how important this battle was to both sides.

Having the trio of Haggis, Spielberg, and Eastwood work on these two films was a treat to the theatrical audience. Although from the box office perspective, both films didn't live up to expectations, as a fan of the collaboration, I am glad that these films achieved their goals - to tell the true stories from the heroes of this great battle of WWII history.

Reference: I originally published this article on Helium.com

Movie #16 - Casino Royale

Like any Bond film, Casino Royale starts off with a wonderfully shot action sequence, in which we get introduced to the Bond character. I haven't seen one Bond film that doesn't kick off with these gripping scenes, however, like many Bond movies before this one, the movie sets a high standard and usually falls flat by the end.

The plot of this film dates back to Bond's first mission as a MI-6 agent - his elevation to double '00' agent status. I like the current trend of many films recently, creating sequels to the famous franchises in the form of prequels. The prequel angle has allowed stories to be changed, more detail and background information to be provided, and the ability to develop the lead character into greater detail. The successful prequels that I have enjoyed include the Hannibal Lechter series, Batman, and now this new era with Daniel Craig leading the way.

Judi Dench reprises her role as M in this film. Also, in coordination of the prequel concept, there is no Q cast for this film. A good choice in plot design if you ask me. However, the film does take into account that a prequel could be cast in the past, but instead, Casino Royale is set in present time with references to 9/11 and gadgets from the current age. This is once again a good choice in plot design as a dated James Bond character would probably disappoint fans of the movie seeking out the newest spy technologies and cars.

Daniel Craig is a new-age Bond for the new-age Bond fan. He is no longer the suave, debonair, snooty British spy. This Bond is brutish, crude, and somewhat clumsy in his actions and his dealings as the famed spy. I like the shift in character paradigm as I was getting sick of the cool Bond and enjoyed the fact that they made some changes to how he conducted himself in this film.

Overall, this movie lacks the substance of a great Bond film. As with some of the more notable Bond classics, there is no great villain or cast of henchmen after the spy. Craig's character deals with obstacle after obstacle, yet doesn't really solve the problem in the end of the movie. The ending seems to be tacked on for conclusion purposes, but the film doesn't end in true Bond fashion.

Due to recent popularity of Texas Hold 'Em poker, Casino Royale seemed to be a fitting stage for this prequel. The cast includes Eva Green, who the camera seems to love on the screen whenever she is in the shot. She is quite beautiful, either in her conservative HM Treasurer outfits or as a slinky, mystical woman entering the casino floor. Even in her inevitable betrayal scenes, I find a sense of beauty in her face, something that was a bonus for this film. However, the casting of the rest of the characters such as Mads Mikkelsen as Le Chiffre really didn't do this film justice. I know that having Craig as the new Bond became a prerequisite to cast a lesser known evil villain. In my opinion, a stronger character development of Le Chiffre would've been more appealing overall.

I cannot complain too much about this movie as it was a good attempt at allowing a franchise adapt to a new timeline. I am excited to see what else Ian Fleming has up his sleeve for this unique opportunity to revamp an old friend.

Reference: I originally published this article on www.helium.com

Movie #15 - The Messengers

There was a great deal of potential when this movie started, however, as the plot progressed, scene after scene became more predictable.

The Messengers seemed to unfold like a combination of scenes and plots similar to other films such as The Others, mixed in with a dabble of The Grudge, with a pinch of The Amityville Horror and even some insights stolen from The Ring. There was nothing new achieved in this film and it ranks up there as another quick scare movie - especially since it seemed quite short with little to no character development.

I was impressed by the young actress cast in this film. Kristen Stewart gives a strong performance despite her lack of exposure in the industry. She actually conveys to the audience that she is genuinely scared by the haunting of her new home, however, a better script probably would've taken advantage of her acting performance. I was not impressed by the achievements of Dylan McDermott or Penelope Ann Miller. I believe both actors were cast as potential headliners for this movie. Their roles could be easily interchanged with no name actors, who probably would have achieved the same level of performance.

As a fan of the X-Files television show of the late 90's, William B. Davis (otherwise known as the Cigarette Smoking Man or "Cancer Man") makes a brief cameo in this film. At first glance, you see him as his old menacing character from the show, however, I would have liked Davis to have a greater role as this movie progressed. He's a strong actor and would be a nice complement to the movie - he was grossly misused as a cast member.

With about 40 minutes left in the film, the progression of the script seemed quite telegraphed and predictable. This is consistent with many of Sam Raimi's recent films, even the blockbusters. Gone are the days of Evil Dead where every other scene was unique and you didn't expect what would come next. Gone are the days of the cult classics. Raimi's new production company, Ghost House, is still seeking its first big hit. The Messengers was a good try, but that wasn't it.

Reference: I originally published this article on www.helium.com

Movie #14 - The French Connection

I must admit... I have wanted to watch this movie for many years now. Ever since I was a kid, I always heard that one of the best police movies is The French Connection. Well, it does not disappoint. This film is Gene Hackman at his best... not to forget, a cool counterpart in Roy Scheider.

Hackman and Scheider were at the top of their game in this movie. Intensity and passion were easily conveyed by both actors. This pairing of A-list actors from that era really worked... something that could be compared to the accomplishment of pairing Walken and De Niro in the Deer Hunter or Pacino and De Niro in Godfather II.

Hackman and Scheider portray New York City Narcotics officers 'Popeye' Doyle and 'Cloudy' Russo... great nicknames by the way. The plot was based on a true story of a real narcotics ring that two police officers had uncovered during the 70's which involved a french connection with smugglers from France.

The chase scenes here are incredible for the time period. This is probably a template movie for many television and movie chase scenes reminiscent of the classic film, Bullitt. I watched recently on a top movie list show that it was rumored that some of the action sequences were actually shot in real time without proper stuntmen and stuntcars.

This film was directed by one of my favourite directors... William Friedkin. Although his recent work has been total crap, his early work is inclusive of one of my favourite films of all time - The Exorcist. Friedkin won an Oscar for his efforts in this film along with Hackman for Best Actor. I would've liked to have seen Scheider win also, but he was nominated... which is great acknowledgement for his performance.

Back to my comment about the scenes. The rumour is that Friedkin mounted cameras on top of Hackman's car and along the street. He never did block off any traffic or hired stunt drivers for any of the shots. This way, the full out chase scene involving Hackman chasing after a subway car with his French sniper friend would seem more realistic on screen. Don't get me wrong, I am sure that Friedkin fixed some of those scenes, but I would not be surprised if most of that rumour is true. It did look more realistic and resulted in a great chase scene. The conclusion of that scene is probably the most recognizable shots in the film and hence, I chose it for the picture in this blog post.

Finally, I can say that I have watched the French Connection... if I ever see this movie again on television, I'll add it to the list of movies that I watch just to see one or two scenes for...

Movie #13 - Poseidon

Well... to mark the first day of having The Movie Network (TMN) channels on our cable system at home, I decided to start myself off on the right foot and watch the remake of The Poseidon Adventure, entitled Poseidon.

There isn't much to this film. The cruise ship is CGI built and the set, although elaborate, is really a bunch of stages in a warehouse. Even some of the major set builds seem fake and you really have to pay attention to what could be real and what's obviously not.

Josh Lucas and Kurt Russell star in this film with some useless appearances from the likes of Emmy Rossum and Richard Dreyfuss. There is also a surprising appearance by Fergie (Stacy Ferguson) of Black Eyed Peas fame and Andre Braugher from Homicide: Life on the Street.

The film attempts to build some characters early on in the film, but spends just about 10 minutes on this attempt. Unlike the first Poseidon starring Hackman and company, this movie wastes no time in destroying the ship with the rogue tidal wave, but also wastes no time to pit the band of survivors against pitfall after pitfall of danger.

I guess Wolfgang Petersen's (Das Boot, Air Force One, Outbreak, In the Line of Fire) thought that if he just bombarded the audience with scene after scene of suspense, that the final picture would be well worth the time spent. Well... I thought the original Poseidon Adventure was a bore, due to its attempts to build characters and discuss courses of action in a time of crisis. However, this film just threw all of that out of the window and decided to just do a plain action film... which sank at the end.

Both movies have their positives... I guess in retrospect, the first one had bigger actors for one (Hackman, Borgnine, Winters) and even garnered some Academy attention. This one... was just a fumble from the beginning. It probably relied on the success of the first film in order to parlay that into success in a remake.

Overall, in my movie watching lifetime... I haven't seen a movie remake better than the first one... and trust me, there have been plenty that have bombed. This one can rank up there with the rest of them.

There is only one cool scene here... but in a time of despair and destruction, its doubtful that this scene would even happen in "real" life. However, it was still a cool one and was the only surprise of the movie. Bonus: Fergie dies... guess the whole film wasn't that bad!

Movie #12 - Rush Hour 2

I still don't get sick of seeing Jackie Chan stunts. They are so well choreographed and he has such skill and finesse to his movements. What makes this film set funny (Rush Hour 1-3) is the fact that they teamed up Chan with Chris Tucker.

Every time Tucker is on screen, you cannot help but laugh with his character. What makes it funnier, is that it almost seems effortless. Tucker was being groomed as being the "next" Eddie Murphy. However, with some of his movie appearances and starring roles, he ranks up there with Murphy.

Although I was never a big fan of Tucker's stand up work as compared to the likes of Carlin, Pryor, Murphy, Peters or Chappelle, Tucker's on-screen persona really does get some laughs.

For example, early in his career, Tucker made some candid appearances on TSN's Off the Record with Michael Landsberg. Let's just say, he stole the show during all of those appearances that audiences were begging him to return time and time again.

The outtakes of the Rush Hour movies rank up there with other comedic movies. Tucker and Chans blunders are both hilarious and in some cases for Chan, quite painful.

Back to the movie. Chan and Tucker have great on-screen chemistry. Mainly because Tucker loves to be the spotlight and Chan is a genuine type of person both on and off the big screen. The action sequences are quite predictable... many kicks, blocks, and evasive maneuvers, but it seems to work throughout this film and others in this set.

The additions of Ziyi Zhang (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) and Roselyn Sanchez (Without a Trace) are what make this movie better than the first one and probably better than the second one. My wife and I missed out on Rush Hour 3 only because after 6 years since #2, it seemed more like a money grab.

Both Zhang and Sanchez steal the show during their time on screen. Both women are quite beautiful and it only makes a silly movie like this one worth watching.

Movie #11 - The Poseidon Adventure

I was watching this movie on the AMC channel the other day. I had originally seen this film back when I was 14, renting movies from our local video store (Queen Video) in Streetsville, Ontario during their awesome rental deal, 5 old movies for $5.

The reason I rented this movie back in 1994 was because of the cover. It showed a flipped over boat, with a ton of cast members who at the time, were famous in their own right. By 1972 production standards, the Poseidon Adventure was considered a major blockbuster film with a tremendously large budget. To create a relative example, this film would rank up there in cost as Titanic. Ironically, also a ship disaster movie.

The cast is filled with A and B list celebrities. Everyone's favourite loud mouth, Gene Hackman. A very rough and tumble Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons (for comic relief of course - although he didn't really achieve it here) and Shelley Winters. Winters received an Academy Award nomination for this film for Best Supporting Actress... something that is almost unheard of nowadays in a so-called action movie.

There is also a very brief cameo of Leslie Nielsen... see if you can spot him. He makes a Janet Lee-esque appearance in this film... so don't blink if you are expecting to see him in the latter parts of this movie.

Related to my commentary for this movie is the fact that this film was recently remade in 2006 starring Kurt Russell in the Hackman role. I didn't bother seeing this film when it was released because I actually didn't really like the first one.

My personal rule with remakes - if I don't like the first one... why waste another 2 hours of my life to see the next one. It probably isn't any better if they used the first one as a template or foundation for the story.

The adventure itself is quite fantastic in the sense that a band of passengers struggle to live while the sinking ship continues to throw obstacle upon obstacle at these characters. There really isn't any character development beyond Hackman and Borgnine and I am quite surprised why Winters got this Oscar nod. This movie was ground breaking in the sense of giant set design and stunts and action sequences... however, beyond that, it is a sinking ship from beginning to end!

Movie #10 - Alien Resurrection

Forgot to post this one last week. I don't really know why I like this movie. There are some really crappy scenes in this movie, but there are some cool shots that I enjoy, even to this day. Guess I like this movie for I watched it in theatres, back when watching R rated movies was a cool thing to do.

There are some good cameos in this film from the guy who plays Wormtongue from LOTR (Brad Dourif) to Gary Dourdain of CSI fame. If you want a weird friggin' movie, cast Dourif. Always liked him as a side character, ever since his work on One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest.

There's also a strong comedic performance from Ron Pearlman... you might even spot some parallel maneurisms between this character in 1997 to his current role as Hellboy. Its the persona that Pearlman brings, which is a far cry from his television days as the Beast in Beauty and the Beast.

What I like about this movie... Sigourney Weaver is crazy yet again, but she's also part alien now as she is cloned with hybrid DNA. That makes her even more lethal. She's also an amazon in this flick, as she kicks everyone's ass in a great intro scene in the gym. Winona Ryder doesn't do much to add to this movie as another "robot" with an agenda.

I dig the action sequences which include the alien chase in the water tank, the fight between the Betty crew and the soldiers (cool guns attached to Dourdan), and the ladder scene with Pearlman.

The concept of the movie has been done and they really should've stopped with Alien 3, which was bad enough. But Weaver's gotta pay the bills somehow and having a Quadrology is the ticket... too bad they made Alien vs. Predator (AVP), because now that's just too much of these mouth-watering freaks!

Movie #9 - Suspiria

I never thought I would be able to say this, but I might've actually seen the worst movie in my whole life. And lets just say, I don't know the exact figure of how many movies I have watched, but I would assume that I have seen at least more than 1000+ movies.

During Halloween 2007, I happened upon a list of Top 10 horror movies of all time published by MSN.com. Knowing that these articles are usually biased, I decided to give the list a chance and read on through.

I discovered that the list included 6 movies that I have seen before, including 2 of my top 3 favourite films of all time: Psycho and The Exorcist. However, the other 4 movies baffled me, not because they were odd inclusions, but because I had never been exposed to any of them before.

At #4 on that list included the Dario Argento film from 1977, Suspiria. Claiming to be one of the most wonderfully, stylistic horror movies of its era, potentially of all time. I recently picked up a copy of this movie from a trip to Stratford, and I was excited to watch this movie. 1977 was a year of great movies, so my expectations were quite high.

The movie started off somewhat expected... creative death scene, quite graphic by 1977 standards with the stabbing of the exposed beating heart and the full out hanging of the woman in the scene. However, I believe the use of colour (technicolour) hurt this film. The colours in many of the scenes were too bright and vibrant... maybe that was the point. However, I could look beyond this movie if there was a decent script or even a point to the whole thing,

The final solution of this movie... witches and the haunting of the school... was tacked on in the final 20 mins of the movie... something that is billed to be the scariest part of the whole thing... according to the tag line, the last 12 minutes are scarier than the first 92 mins.

Well, it totally flopped. This movie is highly regarded in many film circles, yet I believe it is overrated. What makes this worse is that the film is a remastered version of the original, which includes every scene that was meant for theatrical release.

There are some positives... I got to spend a nice night with my wife. I did in fact like the score of the film, however, I felt it was misused throughout different scenes in the movie. Also, the set chosen for this film and the lighting were cool at times, but still did not overcome a lack of plot, script or even decent scares, thrills, or chills.

Put this movie up against my 3 favourites any day - The Shining, Psycho, and The Exorcist and you will see how bad this movie truly is.

Here's the top 10 list that I found... I am saddened for I no longer want to watch the other 3 movies that I haven't seen yet - Eraserhead, Don't Look Now, and Repulsion.

10. Eraserhead

9. The Exorcist

8. Halloween

7. Don't Look Now

6.Texas Chainsaw Massacre

5. Nightmare on Elm Street

4. Suspiria

3. Night of the Living Dead

2. Repulsion

1. Psycho

At least he got the #1 movie right. I'll give him that.

Movie #8 - The Godfather Part II

This is definitely one of the greatest, if not the greatest sequel of all time. The only other movies that you can stick in with this category of films is Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Star Trek 2: Wrath of Khan, and Lord of the Rings: Twin Towers. If anyone out there can think of a better set of sequels, then I would challenge them to find one to displace Godfather II as the best one.

Al Pacino and company are at their best here... but what makes this movie even better is the fact that Robert DeNiro has been added to the cast as the young Vito Corleone. I read an article a few years back stating that DeNiro and Pacino regret not having the opportunity to be in the same scenes together during their youth and only got that opportunity in the movie Heat.

Retrospectively, I believe if they had their chance to be in the same scenes in Godfather II as opposed to just promotional photos like this one, this movie would outweigh the importance of Godfather where Marlon Brando established his iconic status.

Godfather II seems to be on television every weekend of the year... always catch it during different times of the movie... yet however, there are two scenes that I could watch over and over again. Both are quite dramatic and both involve the character of Fredo (John Cazale). The underlying theme of Godfather II is to show the contrast between the young Vito vs. the Michael character, both as don's of their respective families at a young age. In Vito's case, although he is still a murderer in many instances, he runs his family with a sense of honour, trust, and love. Yet in Michael's case... although his intentions are just, he runs the family with a obsessive sense of control, mistrust, and greed. There are many times that show that Michael has become drunk with power and is slowly destroying his family and the relationships around him.

As a result, his entire family turns on him throughout the film... including his wife Kay and their children, his older brother Fredo, his older sister Connie, and of course the continuing conflicts with the other families such as that of the Hyman Roth clan.

Back to my favourite scenes. When Michael discovers that Fredo inadvertently betrayed Michael so that he would gain more power and respect in the syndicate operations during this pivotal scene during New Year's Eve in Havana, Michael gives his brother Fredo what is now known as the "kiss of death." The intensity of the kiss is what makes this scene great... Michael claims that Fredo broke his heart and does not let him go during this powerful embrace. Fredo tries to get away... but Michael doesn't let him go until he tells him how he truly feels... very powerful!!!

In a related scene, Michael orders his bodyguard Al Nili to execute his brother once their mother died. During her subsequent funeral, a similar embrace is made in the presence of Nili... who has the grave look of death on his face as the audience knows that he is the only one who is aware that Fredo will be dying very soon.

Overall, there are many powerful scenes in this movie that make this a great movie. It is definitely one of my favourites and quite possibly is a better movie than the first one. I know from my wife's reference from reading the novel, this movie is more in tune with how the novel plays out, as it tells about Vito's early life. However, I like how Francis Ford Coppola decided to spin this story within the trilogy, which ranks the Godfather trilogy as one of the most powerful storylines in film history... in my opinion, only second to the older Star Wars trilogy and above the Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

Movie #7 - The Day After Tomorrow

The Day After Tomorrow is a Hollywood blockbuster that addresses a current topic of interest globally in a trivial way. Current issues that have plagued the globe in terms of climate change, pollution, resource use, etc. have been accelerated in this movie to show what life would be like after another ice age. Technology aside, it takes the work of one man - Dennis Quaid, to save the world.

This is very typical since there are thousands of scientists globally who have been saying this for years already... yet in one major swoop, one man knows that the doom of the world is eminent.

There are side plots to this movie with a cast that includes Jake Gyllenhal, Emmy Rossum, Sela Ward, and Ian Holm. Too bad none of them made any real difference in this movie. The majority of the side cast outside of these actors consisted of recognizable Tier 2 Canadian actors. This movie was obviously filmed in Hollywood North, made to look like New York city. Although CGI allows for this, casting Canadian actors in prominent roles like the VP of the U.S. made this movie more enjoyable as a Canadian movie fan.

Anyhow... this movie does have some cool scenes. The mass exodus of the seagulls and birds out of New York city was quite cool. Made a lot of sense knowing that the animals would've been the first to know that trouble is brewing in nature. I could've enjoyed this movie more without the CGI wolves attacking the cast in a marooned Russian ship. Scenes like this really didn't make a great deal of sense since they are escapees from the zoo and suddenly went rabid and crazy for not being fed for a couple of hours - doubtful.

There was some dramatic scenes and some areas in which people died unnecessarily. However, the major dramatic scene that I found quite comical was the cast trying to escape the looming cold front of death... something that just didn't seem right. Good product placement for Wendy's though... saved Quaid's life from this blast of cold air.

Anyhow... overall, this is just one of those Roland Emmerich movies that you can live without seeing... although all of his movies are in that category.

Movie #6 - Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome

The final instalment of a B-rated trilogy, this one still is my favourite of the 3 movies. Overall, all three movies are pretty bad, but you have to appreciate these types of movies for some of the subtle nuances.

I love the guy with the porcelain doll headdress. He doesn't die in the entire movie... yet almost gets killed at least 5-6 times before the movie ends. The movie takes a lot of twists and turns... especially with the Captain Walker storyline with the children... but what makes this movie good in its B-rated category is the fact that there is a great gladiator duel in Thunderdome early in the movie and the song performed by Tina Turner, "We Don't Need Another Hero."

The battle between Max and Blaster in Thunderdome was well shot. You are captured by the intensity of this David and Goliath battle. But because it is Max... you already know he's going to win. Finding out that Blaster has Down Syndrome is a surprise... and seeing that even Max's character has compassion at the end of the battle is a good thing.

Turner's role in this movie was mediocre throughout. There are way too many shots of her giant eyes... and she is using a really odd accent in the movie... one that doesn't fit the location (Australia). The only thing achieved well for Turner's role was costume design... that full metal outfit was great.

The song for the original score was definitely a major hit in the 80's for Turner, but her acting career perspectives took a major dive post-Thunderdome due to her poor performance in this movie.

This movie is definitely not one you would enjoy if you don't like pointless action movies or anything done by Mel Gibson. However, if you are like me and you do... then you'll watch this every chance you can get.

Movie #5 - Face Off

Yes... it was bound to happen. Being so busy and so lazy at the same time, I have already started to lose touch with my two blogs. However, I am vowing to make a consistent entry each time I watch a film.

In this case... this is a retroactive entry from a couple of weeks ago. I watched about 75% of this movie and since I have seen it before - many times, I figured, it should be added to the review list.

What made this movie reference funny was that Face Off was being shown on the History Channel of all places on a Saturday night. I know that most televisions in Canada are usually watching Hockey Night in Canada on Saturday nights, however, to place such an obscure movie for the channel's specialty (e.g. war movies, documentaries, history related movies, etc.), I watched this movie mainly to see what the related "history" was in this movie.

Now onto the movie... I will keep you in suspense of what the History channel decided to relate this movie to. Face Off was not a bad movie... way better than John Woo's first crossover attempt in Hard Target (with Jean Claude Van Damme). I like the contrasting roles between good and evil portrayed by Nicolas Cage and John Travolta... and in comparison, Travolta does a better job at evil than Cage does at good. There's a great quote in this flick, which is still one of my favourites. I like the use of slow and fast filming techniques used by Woo and his framing of different scenes and setups of confrontations was good.

There are bad parts to this movie... the operation itself to change faces and voices really wasn't believable, even at this era of plastic surgery. Also, there is way too much focus on Cage's eyes... plus, he is crying way too much in this movie, especially an action movie. However, this is really consistent with Cage's acting abilities in most of his movies... so its not surprising he does it here. Also, I don't like that although Woo creates awesome action sequences, because he uses so much slow and fast images... you can clearly see the stuntmen being used during the slow images. This is a major detractor with an action movie... you really don't want to believe that a stuntman is doing that scene.

Overall, this movie is fun. I cannot complain about brainless humour. By the way... the "history" of this movie related to how in 1997, this movie talks about face transplant operation, which was recently completed in France in 2006. Now that's a stretch... literally!

Movie #4 - Predator

Let's face it... this movie can now be used for political campaigns as there are two govenors in this one.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is not at his best here... not as many one liners in this one as in his other classics like Commando or The Running Man. There was only 1 that I caught throughout this movie, and that's one too little if you ask me. He's famous for those... even in his current tenure as the Govenor of California...

Jesse the "Body" Ventura is briefly in this movie, but after watching this movie again... I dig the MTV t-shirt he is sporting underneath the army fatigues. Cool gun he is carrying around too...

One of my favourite bad guys is here in this movie playing a platoon mate of Arnold... its Bill Duke. He's an ominous black actor... famous for his shaved head and piercing eyes. He's usually playing a mercenary or hitman in movies... so his special forces role here is not a stretch. I just liked his cameo here for he is completely weird... after his buddies begin to be poached by the Predator, Duke slowly becomes mad. I like how he prepares for battle too, by shaving his face with a blunt razor. Guess the director gave each of them the opportunity to think of ways to get ready... this was Duke's. His death was probably the most gruesome too... considering this movie was considered very violent for 1987.

As for Arnold... he gets outmatched here by the sheer size of the Predator. The actor cast in this role would probably have to be 6"9 at the very least to look towering over Arnold. Not to mention the gigantic head created by Stan Winston's special effects to complete the look of the creature from outer space.

As the movie progresses, although there are bloody scenes of death, I would've like to see more. The death of Carl Weathers was awesome, but yet, he always gives a good death in his movies. It didn't help that I watched a cut version of this movie on Spike TV, but I would've liked to see the death of Sonny Landham (Billy). Not only does Landham do a fantastic prep for his death... throwing his gun away, cutting his chest open with his 1.5" blade, but he even waits for the Predator on a gladiator-esque log on top of a waterfall. This would be a great scene had it been shown... instead, an eerie scream was put in its place. I believe more could be done here.

The final battle scenes with Schwarzenegger and the Predator are somewhat tacked on in comparison with his culmination battles of his other films. But I am biased towards his roles in the Terminator movies myself. By far, this is still the better Predator film of the bunch... but that doesn't say much!

2M's.

Movie #3 - The Number 23

Its good to see Jim Carrey making more serious films. Although this movie became quite predictable around the halfway point, it was still a solid role for Carrey to move into the serious actor category.

I keep on telling Christine that Carrey needs to do a war movie now that he has finally played a psycho. He actually kills some people in this movie and he has some sex scenes here, something that I really didn't need to enjoy the overall movie.

Christine and I didn't gamble to view the unrated version... which would probably have some Virginia Madsen nudity... ah well. Sex scenes with Jim Carrey can stay in the vault if you ask me.

Ever since the early 90's, Carrey has been type cast of being the zany comedic actor that talks out of his ass. However, as mentioned in another blog site that I used to run, Carrey did have a serious role once early in his career. If ever this movie comes on television again (TV movie), please seek out "Doing Time on Maple Drive." Carrey plays an alcoholic brother... a side character to the gay brother lead role. Clever appearances by Doogie Howser's dad, James B. Sikking... and you got a movie that shows that Carrey is in actuality a versatile actor.

Now don't get me wrong, he's attempted this in the past with some successes (Truman Show & Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and some failures (The Majestic)... however, its good to see that he is expanding his resume.

Either way, he gets kudos already for dating Jenny McCarthy... that alone deserves 3M's. However, this movie gets 2M's... its mediocre overall, but not because of Carrey...

Movie #2 - 28 Weeks Later

First of all... I would like to comment that on a Friday night, the only thing boring married couples or those in long term relationships do is rent movies. If you go to your local videostore, you will see what I mean... however, what is sad are those that go there by themselves... because they have nothing better to do. Wait a second... that used to be me, so that's not sad at all. Its fantastic!!!

Anyways, I was greatly disappointed by this sequel to one of the better horror movies done in recent years. 28 Days Later was a wonderfully shot movie, which was well cast and did not have a tremendous budget. It showed how horribly wrong a government science experiment can go and the effects it could have on major populations. It was a great commentary on the current state of our society and our unpreparedness for what is a possibility (pandemic, disease, starvation, etc.) but an accelerated pace.

28 Weeks Later is far from it. Although, like the original... the opening scene of this movie is awesome. Its an intense 5-10 mins that ensures that people are in their seats if watched in the theatres. After this... the movie is a tremendous letdown.

There are some cool pan shots of downtown London, England completely empty and there are some eerie shots of the streets and famous landmarks with no people. I found this quite compelling in the first movie, but this was somewhat overdone in the second movie.

The score was once again a great piece of music. Not only did it setup up gruesome set pieces in both films, but it was used as a gloomy undertone to what was to come...

I didn't like some of the violent scenes... there was too much violence in some of the more pivotal scenes and confusing violence in others. There was more commentary on the influence of the military (I believe the producers of this movie are commenting on the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan) with scenes of military martial law and when they execute a Code Red order to exterminate all living people on the Isle of Dogs.

I liked the concept of this movie, focusing on repopulation and the efforts that the U.S. military and NATO would be doing if something like this were to occur. However, even in a horror movie where unbelieveable things are permitted to happen, I didn't find this movie believeable.

Although it gave me a good scare in some points, I was quite disappointed by the final product. There were many things that needed to be worked on in this movie. Without seeing the recent Resident Evil sequel, I would have to think that the producers made a horror movie with more explosions and CGI scenes to compete with this flick than to create another character driven horror story like the original 28 Days Later.

Overall, I still give it 2 M's out of 5. I would've reviewed this more poorly... but zombie-esque movies are a favourite genre of mine in the horror category, so I am somewhat biased.

If you are going to watch this movie... make sure you enjoy the first 10 mins of it, for the rest of it falls flat!

Movie #1 - Backdraft

What better way to start, but with a good movie.

1991 was a good year. Although I was only 11 years old, I remember being able to watch movies every weekend, for my local video store had a great rental deal of 5 old movies for $5.

Greatest deal ever!!!

Well, although I don't recall ever renting Backdraft, I know that I watched this movie with my family in theatres.

Ron Howard portrays a wonderful storyline of two brothers, played by Kurt Russell and William Baldwin, who hate each other... and how to tie the brothers together, but with firefighting.

This movie cost a lot of money to make in 1991, as computer graphics were not up to par with making large pan shots of fire scenes and destruction... all had to be done with live action and miniature models. I remember a show in the early 90's, Hollywood FX Masters hosted by Christopher Reeves, showing the movie magic behind Backdraft.

Not only would this movie cost a great deal of money to make now using special effects, but the cast would be high end in pricing. Although William Baldwin would cost a B-rated movie salary now... Kurt Russell, Robert De Niro, Rebecca De Mornay, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Scott Glenn, J.T. Walsh, and my favourite 100-year old villain, Donald Sutherland. This movie would be made with similar actors nowadays, but would cost 10x to make on actor salaries.

The movie is compelling from start to finish. Although Baldwin never amounted to much in Hollywood, his role in this movie as the lost younger brother works for me. Russell is the driving force in this movie... he's a believable fireman and he's a tough as nails older brother. Sutherland and De Niro provide veteran presence in their side roles, while the late J.T. Walsh provides another prime villainous performance.

Overall... this movie will still remain one of my favourites from 1991. Out of my 5M scale (Meliton Movie Minute scale), I give it 3.5 M's.

Introduction

I love watching movies... its one of my favourite things to do apart from collecting sports cards.

I am one of those guys who will sit and watch a movie I have seen 10-15 times already, just to watch and learn new details that I didn't know already about the scene or to watch a favourite part which is about 1.5 hours into the movie.

My wife hates the fact that I do this... especially with movies that I already own!

My theory behind it is... its free when its on television and its a nice surprise that you didn't plan for. Plus, I am always in training to defend my title as self-proclaimed Scene-It Movie Champion.

The invention of the PVR (Personal Video Recorder) also has not helped matters much. This has allowed me to record movies playing at obscure times of the evening or during the day when I am at work. Not only that, but more channels such as AMC (American Movie Channel) have become part of our basic digital package.

My wife is lucky that I haven't splurged yet on HBO or TMN or any of the sports packages... yet.

Anyways... enjoy my blog. And to others who have visited my blog sites in the past... I will do my best to keep this one going.