Jack's Reviews

The Sting (1973)



Director: George Roy Hill
Cast overview: Paul Newman, Robert Redford
Running time: 129 minutes

Well, this was disappointing. A film that won seven Oscars and was nominated for ten, yet I found it tedious. It certainly looked and sounded promising - a nice, original idea, with the 1930s setting providing a decent twist to a typical crime story. The wonderful cast of Newman, Redford, Shaw, and supporting actors such as Durning was even more promising. It's highly acclaimed, considered to be in the top 250 on IMDb - not necessarily a rock-solid indication of a decent film, true, but I was still expecting great things.

It seems dated, tired, the sets aren't particularly convincing, and I didn't find it to be particularly interesting. I will say that the ragtime music is fantastic and iconic, and the performances are generally good, but the rest of it didn't draw me in as other films in the era and genre have. I can't believe this beat The Exorcist to the Best Picture Oscar. I consider the latter to be an excellent, ground-breaking horror film, and this to be a vastly overrated, pedestrian crime film.

While most seemed to love the film, others did find fault with it being entertaining but paper-thin - I found it to be the other way round, in a sense. A decent story that should have been great but that I just didn't find enjoyable. I will say, though, that perhaps this is one that needs another watch.

On a first watch, certainly - not much cop. I'm hoping my next seventies crime film - The Warriors - is better. Shame, because I thought I'd love this as well.



Quotes
[last lines]
Henry Gondorff: You not gonna stick around for your share?
Johnny Hooker: Nah. I'd only blow it.

[Polk greets Snyder]
FBI Agent Polk: Sit down and shut up, will ya? Try not to live up to all my expectations.

Johnny Hooker: Can you get a mob together?
Henry Gondorff: After what happened to Luther, I don't think I can get more than two, three hundred guys.

Trivia
Robert Redford didn't see the movie until June 2004.

Jack Nicholson turned down the role of Johnny Hooker before Robert Redford changed his mind and decided to play it.

The movie was filmed on the backlot of Universal studios and the diner in which Hooker meets Lonnegan is the same diner interior used in Back to the Future (1985) in which Marty McFly first meets his father and calls Doc Brown.

Trailer

I like The French Connection a little more than you, but it's still a disappointment.

I gave The Sting a decent rating right after I watched it, but I've liked it less and less the more I've thought about it. That movie is one of the reasons why I've been letting movies sink in a little before I rate them.

Luckily, you have The Warriors coming up next to make all the bad feelings disappear. Can youuuu digggg it?

A View to a Kill (1985)



Director: John Glen
Cast overview: Roger Moore, Christopher Walken
Running time: 131 minutes

I'm a huge fan of the James Bond films (they were the films that got me into film) and, though this generally seems to be regarded as one of the weakest entries of the series, I find this to be one of the most underrated of the lot. Starring Roger Moore in his final Bond outing, it centres around Max Zorin's plot to destroy California's Silicon Valley. Walken stars as Zorin, and holds up for me as the most memorable Bond villain - larger than life, chilling, and effortlessly cool and cunning. I'd even go as far to say as he overshadows Moore.

Grace Jones and Patrick Macnee play solid supporting roles, with Jones as the henchwoman May Day, and Macnee as one of Bond's allies, Sir Godfrey Tibbett. Duran Duran's excellent title song is one of the best of the series for me, as is John Barry's booming, hairs-standing-on-the-neck soundtrack, culminating in a tense climax atop San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge.

OK, Moore did look old by this point, and he seemed to age terrible between Octopussy and this. However, I don't think his age diminishes the film as a watchable venture - yes, he looks fairly old for the role, but it doesn't diminish my enjoyment. Another possible criticism is that Tanya Roberts is one of the weaker Bond girls - a role that is hardly known for its intellectual strengths, she is completely vapid and her creation is paper-thin and cliched, even for this series.

This isn't a perfect Bond film, and it's not even the best Bond film, but I think it's been harshly looked upon by many, who perhaps sees Moore's puffy visage and assume the film to be dreadful, but I'd consider it to be one of Moore's best, certainly better than the likes of The Man With the Golden Gun, which I found to be the nadir of his tenure in the role.



Quotes
[Zorin is going to kill Bond]
James Bond: My department know I'm here. When I don't report they'll retaliate.
Max Zorin: If you're the best they've got, they're more likely try and cover up your embarrassing incompetence.
James Bond: Don't count on it, Zorin.
Max Zorin: [laughs] Ha ha, you amuse me, Mr. Bond.
James Bond: It's not mutual.

James Bond: Well my dear, I take it you spend quite a lot of time in the saddle.
Jenny Flex: Yes, I love an early morning ride.
James Bond: Well, I'm an early riser myself.

U.S. Police Captain: You're under arrest.
Stacey Sutton: Wait a minute, this is James Stock of the London Financial times.
James Bond: Well, actually, captain, I'm with the British Secret Service. The name is Bond, James Bond.
U.S. Police Captain: Is he?
Stacey Sutton: Are you?
James Bond: Yes.
U.S. Police Captain: And I'm Dick Tracy and you're still under arrest!

Trivia
Roger Moore said that he decided to end his run as James Bond when he realized that Tanya Roberts's mother was younger than he was.

Roger Moore on his DVD commentary has said that this is definitely his least favorite Bond movie of the seven he starred in, mainly because of the increased violence but also because he felt he was too old for the part and, as confirmed in his autobiography, he felt there was no chemistry between himself and Tanya Roberts, and a genuine dislike of Grace Jones.

At the premiere Sean Connery told the press, "Bond should be played by an actor 35, 33 years old. I'm too old. Roger's too old, too!"

Trailer

I also happen to think it's one of the most underrated Bond films. People seem to be appalled by Moore's age in this film and the age difference between him and Tanya Roberts (she may play an empty character, but she sure is hot! ), but I think they should just get over it. A View to a Kill is a fun Bond adventure film and Walken is freaking awesome as the villain! Naturally, the film has many flaws, but it's a guilty pleasure of mine, so I don't really mind that much.

__________________
Cobpyth's Movie Log ~ 2019

I'm someone who likes pretty much all of the Bond films, but I never seem to like them as much as I hope to. This was an exception; I saw it at the movies and a couple times since-it's a fun movie and it's turned into one of my favorites of the series.

This is one of my least favorite Woody Allen films but I respect your opinion and enjoyed reading your review. Feel free to go to my review thread to read my review of the film.

Airplane is one of my favorite film comedies...I don't know about Leslie Nielsen stealing the show, I think it's a pretty solid ensemble but the rest of your review is on the money.

Absolutely. This is the problem I find when I read some of the reviews of older films by people who weren't born when the film was released. It's hard to place yourself back in the 60s or 70s and be astounded at the groundbreaking special effects, or the audacity and inventiveness of the director without actually having been there and it actually having been astonishing, absorbing, entertaining....but we were the same when we were looking at films our parents loved for the same reasons, you just have to relax into it and feel the story. A
As one of the older members of this community tho, I love the enthusiasm for film shown by all you youngsters here , you're amazing

An American Werewolf in London (1981)



Director: John Landis
Cast overview: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter
Running time: 97 minutes

This is a film I've been meaning to watch for a while, and it seemed from the outset something I'd like. Set in England, it centres around two American college students who are attacked by a werewolf while walking on the rural country moors of Yorkshire. I was also interested as I thought Griffin Dunne's performance in After Hours was great. What did surprise me about this was that the main plot strand actually only lasts for the first twenty minutes or so of the film.

Did I enjoy this? Yes, reasonably. It's certainly an unorthodox film, but it's nevertheless interesting. There are some nice touches in the film - the parochial part-Yorkshire setting, the use of only songs with "moon" in the title. This was clearly a project that Landis was passionate about, and I heard he wrote the script ten years before he used it. This is clearly a labour of love, yet one that feels uncertain and rushed despite this.

What I didn't like were the dream sequences - I just felt they were superfluous and unnecessary, and didn't really do much to advance the story. The story should be simple and easy to follow; it isn't. That's the thing about this film - it's divisive. You feel sure you know what's going on but you begin to doubt yourself. I suppose it's quite clever in a way, and it's certainly a film that would require multiple watches, I reckon, in order to fully appreciate the qualities it does undoubtedly have - apt soundtrack (The Marcels' "Blue Moon" is particularly good), wonderful special effects, good locations.

The ending seems to have particularly divided people - personally it was one of the things about the film I liked. Overall, a decent film that I think could have been done far better, but it still works well with what's there. Recommended.



Quotes
Dart Player: Stay on the road. Keep clear of the moors.
Chess Player: Beware the moon, lads.

Jack: It's a full moon...
Jack, David: [remembering the warning they received] Beware the moon...
David: And stick to the road. Oops.
Jack: I vote we go back to the Slaughtered Lamb.

Nurse Susan Gallagher: He's a Jew.
Alex: How do you know?
Nurse Susan Gallagher: I've had a look.

Trivia
This is the first film to earn the Academy Award for Best Makeup. That category was created in 1981.

All the songs in this film have the word "moon" in their titles.

The fake porno movie "See You Next Wednesday" was the first thing to be filmed during production.

Trailer

It's perfect in my eyes and has been ever since I saw it at the drive-in the first night it was out. But hey, we all have some differences in personal favorites. Nice review and glad you enjoyed it

The Fugitive (1993)



Director: Andrew Davis
Cast overview: Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones
Running time: 130 minutes

This 1993 thriller stars Harrison Ford as Richard Kimble, a doctor wrongly accused of murdering his wife who escapes from the prison van he is being transported in, and Tommy Lee Jones as US Marshal Samuel Gerard, the man leading the operation to recapture him. The plot itself is actually very well-thought out for a Hollywood thriller of this nature. It's not simply your typical run-of-the-mill Hollywood thriller with terrible acting and a paper-thin plot. There is a decent story behind this, and this is actually a good film, bordering on very good.

The acting from Ford and Jones particularly was excellent, as well as some great supporting performances from the likes of Jeroen Krabbe - whom I recognised from The Living Daylights six years earlier. Indeed, Jones won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance here - I wouldn't say it was quite that good myself, but it was certainly effective.

I've not seen the original series that this was based on, but I'm not sure if it could live up to this, which is surely one of the best thrillers of the 1990s, and only bettered in 1993 by Falling Down, of those that I've seen. Very good. Recommended. If only more modern-day thrillers could be as exciting and original as this rather than attempting to bamboozle and shock the audiences; good, old-fashioned entertainment with a solid story to back it up.



Quotes
Deputy Marshal Samuel Gerard: Alright, listen up, people. Our fugitive has been on the run for ninety minutes. Average foot speed over uneven ground barring injuries is 4 miles-per-hour. That gives us a radius of six miles. What I want from each and every one of you is a hard-target search of every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse in that area. Checkpoints go up at fifteen miles. Your fugitive's name is Dr. Richard Kimble. Go get him.

Dr. Richard Kimble: [Holding Gerard at gunpoint] I didn't kill my wife!
Deputy Marshal Samuel Gerard: I don't care!

Deputy Marshal Samuel Gerard: Newman, what are you doing?
Newman: I'm thinking.
Deputy Marshal Samuel Gerard: Well, think me up a cup of coffee and a chocolate doughnut with some of those little sprinkles on top, while you're thinking.

Trivia
Harrison Ford damaged some ligaments in his leg during the filming of the scenes in the woods. He refused to take surgery until the end of filming so that his character would keep the limp. The limp can be seen in any subsequent scene where Richard Kimble is running.

The wrecked train and bus remain a tourist attraction in Dillsboro, North Carolina.

According to producer Roy Huggins, Gerard's line in response to Richard Kimble's claim of innocence ("I didn't kill my wife") was originally read in the script as, "That isn't my problem." But at the request of Tommy Lee Jones, it was changed to, "I don't care."

Trailer

Not quite a favorite for me but a very good movie no doubt

The Avengers (2012)



Director: Joss Whedon
Cast overview: Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans
Running time: 143 minutes

I'll start by saying that I'm not a fan of superhero movies at the best of times. This was no exception for me. I found it to be the typical half-baked Hollywood fare that seems to be so prevalent these days, with a thin, almost non-existent plot, weak characters, and completely predictable and uninteresting.

Firstly, the few positives. Well, it does look fantastic. CGI can often be overused/misused but in these sorts of films it comes into its own. The Avengers does look superb even if the rest of the film falls flat for much of its 143-minute running time. The rest of the film just feels like every superhero movie out there - there's neither light nor shade, nothing surprising or unpredictable. It's just crap. I can't understand how it's managed to attain an 8.5 score on IMDb, as well as some seemingly rave reviews. Then again, you look at many on there and they seem pretty scathing.

This feels like a kids film, in that there's very little of depth, of a thought-provoking nature to keep you entertained for what is a long film. Yes, there's plenty of action and nice-looking special effects, but where's the story that even a superhero film requires? Special effects and CGI alone cannot save a movie that's severely lacking in a story.

Anyway, not something I'll be watching again. Another cliched, regurgitated piece of tripe.



Quotes
Loki: Enough! You are, all of you are beneath me! I am a god, you dull creature, and I will not be bullied by...
[Hulk flattens Loki with repeated smashes into the floor]
The Hulk: Puny god.

Steve Rogers: Thor, what's his play?
Thor: He has an army, called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract.
Steve Rogers: An army. From outer space.
Bruce Banner: So he's building another portal. That's what he needs Erik Selvig for.
Thor: Selvig?
Bruce Banner: He's an astrophysicist.
Thor: He's a friend.
Natasha Romanoff: Loki has them under some kind of spell. Along with one of ours.
Steve Rogers: I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here.
Bruce Banner: I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell crazy on him.
Thor: Have a care how you speak! Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard and he is my brother!
Natasha Romanoff: He killed eighty people in two days.
Thor: He's adopted.

Steve Rogers: What's the matter, scared of a little lightning?
Loki: I'm not overly fond of what follows...
[Thor appears]

Trivia
Robert Downey Jr. kept food hidden all over the lab set and apparently nobody could find where it was, so they just let him continue doing it. In the movie, that's his actual food he's offering and when he was eating, it wasn't scripted. He was just hungry.

Reputedly a scene was filmed where during the final battle Captain America saves an old man trying to protect his grandchildren. He tells him to 'Get them to cover' but as he walks away the old man asks him "Cap, is that really you?'. He turns and, noting the man's World War II veteran lapel pin, trades salutes with him. As Captain America sprints away the children ask their grandfather 'Do you know him?' and he replies 'We ALL know him'.

After Thor takes Loki off the Quinjet down on the mountain side, two large ravens fly by them as they are talking. In Norse mythology, their father, Odin, had two ravens, Huginn and Muninn, who would bring Odin information from Midgard (Earth).

Trailer

I gave it rep because you took the time to sit down and write a review, but don't let that fool you into thinking I agree with a single word.

Fair enough. We all have opinions on film. There are undoubtedly films I think are great that others think are crap.

Drive (2011)



Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Cast overview: Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan
Running time: 100 minutes

I remember a couple of years ago that this film garnered some rave reviews, but I never got round to watching it - and wasn't as much of a film fan then as I am now. I've given it a watch, and unfortunately have been left fairly disappointed. It felt from the very start like a modern-day Taxi Driver, and certainly has some notable parallels with that film that extend far beyond simply the title - the taciturn, solitary protagonist whom we don't know much about, who isn't really expanded upon as a character; the big-city location; the driving element; the violence, sometimes gratuitous; the younger woman with whom the protagonist becomes infatuated. However, Taxi Driver is a far, far superior film that stands rightfully as one of the all-time classics. This, on the other hand, is a very mediocre effort from a director who has produced better.

This is the first I've seen of Gosling, and I wasn't impressed. There's nothing wrong with playing silent characters, or being that type of actor, but here he seems to be permanently sedated, a mindless zombie who offers very little to his character's role and lacks any kind of tangible charisma. Carey Mulligan can be very good, but here is fairly ordinary. The likes of Cranston and Brooks are all talented actors in their own rights, but here they seem dulled by a weak script.

One thing I did enjoy was the soundtrack. It's a 1980s-style score that perfectly complements the scene in which it plays, and it's one of the few things from the film that came across as well-done. There wasn't much else. The driving scenes, of which - ironically - there are few, were entertaining enough, but even in those there was a kind of torpor, a real lack of excitement.

That's the thing about this film - it plays out as something it's not, an art-house film that fails on most levels, with mostly wooden acting, a poor, undeveloped script, and a complete absence of a defining plot. This isn't terrible, but it wasn't exactly enjoyable. Going into this, if there was one thing I thought this would be, it was enjoyable. It wasn't.



Quotes
Driver: [on the phone with Irene] Can I talk to you? I won't keep you long. I have to go somewhere and I don't think I can come back. But I just wanted you to know. Getting to be around you and Benicio was the best thing that ever happened to me.

[first lines]
Driver: [on phone] There's a hundred-thousand streets in this city. You don't need to know the route. You give me a time and a place, I give you a five minute window. Anything happens in that five minutes and I'm yours. No matter what. Anything happens a minute either side of that and you're on your own. Do you understand?
[pause]
Driver: Good. And you won't be able to reach me on this phone again.

Bearded Redneck: You're Shannon's buddy right? We met last year. You drove me and my brother back from Palm Springs. We hired another wheelman. I spent six months in jail. My brother, he got himself killed. I got this sweet job coming up.
Driver: How 'bout this. You shut your mouth. Or I'll kick your teeth down your throat and I'll shut it for you.
Bearded Redneck: Nice seein' you again.

Trivia
Ryan Gosling replaced Hugh Jackman.

Driver references the fable of The Scorpion and the Frog: the frog agrees to carry the scorpion across the river; the scorpion stings the frog, saying "it's my nature" and both drown. Driver can be seen as The Frog of the story - he drives/carries criminals (scorpions) around in his car, but is inevitably dragged into their destructive world (stung) leading to everybody's downfall. Driver's jacket has a scorpion on the back, just as the frog carried the scorpion on its back.

The Driver and Irene actually say very little to each other, primarily because Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan felt that their scenes should be more focused on the mood and refused to say many of the scripted lines. Mulligan summarized making the film as "staring longingly at Ryan Gosling for hours each day."

Trailer

I certainly wouldn't call The Avengers a great film, but as mindless entertainment, I completely enjoyed it.

I didn't like Drive the first time I saw it. The second time, I liked it a lot.

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)



Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast overview: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy
Running time: 165 minutes

I've said previously that I'm not much of a superhero movie fan. This was, however, a fair sight better than the others I've seen. I realised fairly soon that I hadn't watched these in order, but, hey, I can't change that now. So here goes a review. Well, as I said, it was at the very least moderately enjoyable and easy to follow, which is more than I can say for many similar films nowadays - ridiculous considering they're often aimed at kids. Perhaps not this lot, but a lot of them appear to be. This is the final of Nolan's Batman trilogy.

The main thing about this film is that it's relatively entertaining, though not insultingly so - i.e. there is still a solid back-story to eliminate some of the tedious set-pieces that most films nowadays seem to feature in one way or another. The acting performances are often good - stand-outs being Michael Caine as Alfred, Tom Hardy as Bane, Christian Bale as Batman himself, and I thought Anne Hathaway gave a creditable performance as Selina Kyle / Catwoman.

There are some slower scenes that tend to make the film drag, and it doesn't feel as fluent and organised as it could have done, but it's reasonable. Hell, it's watchable, which is a heck of a lot more than most superhero films - Christ, it even manages to be moderately entertaining. The sound effects and action sequences all show a level of meticulousness that deserves credit.

Overall, a reasonably good film. Not one I can see myself watching again - there are too many other good films for that - but I'm sure it is the sort of film that fans of the genre could gain enjoyment from. Not brilliant, but OK.



Quotes
Jim Gordon: I never cared who you were...
Batman: And you were right.
Jim Gordon: ...but shouldn't the people know the hero whot saved them?
Batman: A hero can be anyone. Even a man doing something as simple and reassuring as putting a coat around a young boy's shoulders to let him know that the world hadn't ended.
[takes off in the Bat]
Jim Gordon: Bruce Wayne?

Bruce Wayne: Why didn't you just... kill me?
Bane: You don't fear death... You welcome it. Your punishment must be more severe.
Bruce Wayne: Torture?
Bane: Yes. But not of your body... Of your soul.
Bruce Wayne: Where am I?
Bane: Home, where I learned the truth about despair, as will you. There's a reason why this prison is the worst hell on earth... Hope. Every man who has ventured here over the centuries has looked up to the light and imagined climbing to freedom. So easy... So simple... And like shipwrecked men turning to sea water from uncontrollable thirst, many have died trying. I learned here that there can be no true despair without hope. So, as I terrorize Gotham, I will feed its people hope to poison their souls. I will let them believe they can survive so that you can watch them clamoring over each other to "stay in the sun." You can watch me torture an entire city and when you have truly understood the depth of your failure, we will fulfill Ra's al Ghul's destiny... We will destroy Gotham and then, when it is done and Gotham is ashes, then you have my permission to die

Jim Gordon: [reading from the book "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens] I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss. I see the lives for which I lay down my life, peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy. I see that I hold a sanctuary in their hearts, and in the hearts of their descendants, generations hence. It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.

Trivia
The final fight marks the only occasion in either this series or the Burton/Schumacher films in which Batman is seen during the daytime.

Christopher Nolan said that this film's theme deals with "Pain". For Batman Begins, it was on "Fear", while The Dark Knight deals on "Chaos".

In the early minutes of each film in the trilogy the main villain (Ra's Al Guhl, Joker, Bane) disguises himself as one of his own henchmen and there is a conversation about said villain in each scene.

Trailer

I agree with you that the film had no business winning Best Picture over The Exorcist, but I thought it was an excellent movie, perhaps a little overrated. but solid entertainment.

I was curious as to whether or not you ever saw the TV remake with Jack Lemmon and George C. Scott? It's quite good and stands up quite proudly to the original.