LIAM NEESON STARRING IN NON-STOP

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcDiwYjeO7ZamEI6zjb4WM7GP2_epwF2tHTjOZbODFcHzPv-tZFe10-F2zN7rz5bKhl7eWVEnD7P-frjYzc3bmQQfH_DKbBl0hf6DK5fq7pFZifDjrYgtwYf5rk-1sFimSSqbFgz-92Tg/s1600/non-stop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcDiwYjeO7ZamEI6zjb4WM7GP2_epwF2tHTjOZbODFcHzPv-tZFe10-F2zN7rz5bKhl7eWVEnD7P-frjYzc3bmQQfH_DKbBl0hf6DK5fq7pFZifDjrYgtwYf5rk-1sFimSSqbFgz-92Tg/s1600/non-stop.jpg" width="190" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #073763;">year: 2014 rating: ***1/2</span></b></td></tr> </tbody></table> <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #073763;"><i>There’s an old movie about an airplane hijacking where the villain writes down a warning on the bathroom mirror, with lipstick… </i></span></b><br /> <br /> Well things have surely progressed... Using modern technology, smart phones are faster than the eye, or two eyes: belonging to our flawed hero, Liam Neeson’s air marshal, Bill Marks, who from the very first frame of NON-STOP, as he gets out of his car at the airport with an expression of disgust hearing planes soaring overhead… We know right off the bat this is no happy camper, and flying isn’t his cup of tea...<br /> <br /> So by the time the plane’s in the air, and Bill begins getting threatening texts from someone on board, he’s already so high-strung it won’t take much to make him look guilty as sin. That’s how most of the film plays out, with Marks seeming like a hijacker while people are stealthily picked-off… as warned by the mystery texter… and our man has double duty of finding the killer and clearing his own maligned reputation.<br /> <br /> It’s risky giving away too much, especially in a movie promoted as a high-octane action thriller, the likes of DIE HARD, AIR FORCE ONE or even SNAKES ON A PLANE, when it’s more of a slowburn mystery – and Neeson isn’t the only cog in the wheel. After getting to know several characters, including Julianne Moore as a friendly passenger, a helpful techie and a scene-stealing New York cop (Corey Stoll), you’ll want the plane to land safely, and not only because of a frightened little girl who, as set up from the very beginning, is the person we’re supposed to invest all our hope in.<br /> <br /> The only downtime occurs whenever Neeson’s Marks has to figure out the next step – some maneuvers are cleverer than others. And after a while the <i>falsely accused</i> device gets  tiresome. Thankfully there’s an 11th hour threat that takes us past the paranoia. On the other hand, it’s a relief we didn’t have to bite our nails the entire ride, because an intriguing, fleshed-out, character-driven mystery is always the best time-filler, and NON-STOP is never boring.

action, corey stoll, hijack, julianne moore, liam neeson, mystery, suspense, thriller

LIAM NEESON STARRING IN NON-STOP

year: 2014 rating: ***1/2 There’s an old movie about an airplane hijacking where the villain writes down a warning on the bathroom mirro...

BROOKE SHIELDS IN ENDLESS LOVE & ENDLESS LOVE REMAKE

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwK19r04SrdTXyeNrcNZbV25D5Wl3K0-XJBgW0-PzSFLXJxDzDraqKAhGg_b09PKziZiJbkZgImcRwUMDoTYl76pO7-s_oq76GCxo3Uw2svn29OR_el1N7g-1tyvvoGsZvHOOQ4VTVq70/s1600/e1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwK19r04SrdTXyeNrcNZbV25D5Wl3K0-XJBgW0-PzSFLXJxDzDraqKAhGg_b09PKziZiJbkZgImcRwUMDoTYl76pO7-s_oq76GCxo3Uw2svn29OR_el1N7g-1tyvvoGsZvHOOQ4VTVq70/s320/e1.jpg" width="262" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white;"><u>year: 1981 rating: **1/2</u></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span">The first act of the original ENDLESS LOVE dares to ponder just how far liberalism should be stretched…</span></span><br /> <br /> Not of the political nature, but parental, since Don Murray’s Hugh Butterfield and his quirky wife Ann are the kind of throwback hippie parents who not only allow their teens Jade and Keith to have a raging party, but they themselves join in, smoking pot and making out in the midst of everyone... <br /> <br /> So it should be no shock, providing that kind of free-spirited influence, that their daughter, played by the already iconic Brooke Shields… a beautiful young actress who was, by this time, after PRETTY BABY and THE BLUE LAGOON, an old hat at pushing the exploitation envelope… It's no surprise when Jade hooks up with Keith’s handsome new friend, a middle-class kid brought into the bourgeois family like an orphaned pup…Her steamy romance with Martin Hewitt’s David Axelrod is anything but subtle. The two have sex in the house after hours, and her parents know all about it – here's where the hook comes in: While mom, a sultry Shirley Knight and whose sexuality towards David is more interesting than Brooke's mannequin beauty, thinks her daughter's the windswept affair is absolutely fine, dad begins questioning his own open-mindedness and thus hands down a strict edict: neither kid can see each other for thirty… long… days...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpgwABRlp3sWfh_0YwN5JYodAQyGKJBXRYQu6RqtyP0rOoCmOsdXOxOI5KHvDTtG2c1L0-KZ5DV4L2sIj-H8GiHwyGBvcqhjvyPcUJHQhsmqVaVdcO3eavzJOWdNt5pgBjlas7n9lgAd4/s1600/Picture+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpgwABRlp3sWfh_0YwN5JYodAQyGKJBXRYQu6RqtyP0rOoCmOsdXOxOI5KHvDTtG2c1L0-KZ5DV4L2sIj-H8GiHwyGBvcqhjvyPcUJHQhsmqVaVdcO3eavzJOWdNt5pgBjlas7n9lgAd4/s1600/Picture+1.png" width="176" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Brooke Shields in love</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Long for David, that is, but not Jade, who hangs around her high society friends... which includes David and Jade's joint buddy played by the always preppie James Spader... and she doesn’t seem that heartbroken: not one bit. It’s during this time the most intriguing yet still plodding scenes with David feeling out-of-place in the looney bin aided by shrink Richard Kiley, take place in a movie far more creepy than romantic…<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm9EKC2IbwTNR7lzLTe9wng2urLM0z8hNv1-4IFbhpJhLJgjHLZHWZ_4hkiJVddGUz0d_z1Y9ZlD6zctp-Y0LTzph3_wCUxjY1K4IRjcT9j-5sfpAPUkxomWhIyBhKqH8A_yEFl58yzMxK/s1600/23905191_399262920502890_3956730407347974261_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="615" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm9EKC2IbwTNR7lzLTe9wng2urLM0z8hNv1-4IFbhpJhLJgjHLZHWZ_4hkiJVddGUz0d_z1Y9ZlD6zctp-Y0LTzph3_wCUxjY1K4IRjcT9j-5sfpAPUkxomWhIyBhKqH8A_yEFl58yzMxK/s320/23905191_399262920502890_3956730407347974261_n.jpg" width="205" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Tom Cruise's pointless Cameo</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Highlighted by a famous Lionel Richie/Diana Ross duet, which is even sung by a female character in one scene, the standout track is Blondie’s death-disco shuffle HEART OF GLASS, playing in hypnotic rhythm while David stalks Jade’s party he's not allowed to join... And soon enough, with all his rage he goes legitimately crazy!    <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM4bSMKrEGmBGJm707dzySEJiuT1k4U2qd3USg4Sx3Ks-26gg62udbc_WzcuCXcVB4yKLhirVQjPuo30UC6x7iI2ntW48pZFp1nHWPUB2PQbU7b7LVPOSyWgaKgzBBy-40ZLNDCDg78-W4/s1600/23915789_399266010502581_5008523750504645085_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="605" data-original-width="390" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM4bSMKrEGmBGJm707dzySEJiuT1k4U2qd3USg4Sx3Ks-26gg62udbc_WzcuCXcVB4yKLhirVQjPuo30UC6x7iI2ntW48pZFp1nHWPUB2PQbU7b7LVPOSyWgaKgzBBy-40ZLNDCDg78-W4/s320/23915789_399266010502581_5008523750504645085_n.jpg" width="206" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Endless Love Ian Ziering Cameo</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> At this point, ENDLESS LOVE morphs into a bizarre psychodrama as David spends time at the aforementioned mental asylum where Brooke sporadically turns up in hallucinations and ironically, those are probably her best moments, full of surreal, dreamy passion, surpassing an eventual forced dilemma to avoid David (who's really the main character) or embrace what he, not she, considers <i>endless love</i> but is more of a pathetic obsession... imagine that title!<br /> <br /> And to note, unlike the cliché strictly-romantic remake, reviewed below, poor dad isn’t able to complain too much or for very long. And what a shame... he’s the only character who eventually makes any logical sense. <i>IN CLOSING: Tom Cruise sweats after a scrimmage football game, changes his shirt, and talks to David about... nothing, really... but his photos are also all over the Net while there are not Internet Captures of BEVERLY HILLS 90210 and SHARKNADO star Ian Ziering, as Brooke's younger brother (like on 90210, he's ten years younger than he looks). The picture above was a wide shot of the house's interior, and by the time you get in on the staircase, it's pixelated, and the photos below will further prove why no one bothered to show where Ian got his start... Take a look...</i><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrX-NRWEuOmDlD1zCHAPUwE7tpQjMAv_ItzDQrFBNPqp00ez3Oqiw4DtzpfP_dTq4DFz5nI64nac7IA0P05gb-YfE1iEscOgUQk5RQrCIdUgbHbWy8A9chIhNgb2rTNZt3z_TeazYjWx6C/s1600/23795057_399260590503123_6556523484758875445_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrX-NRWEuOmDlD1zCHAPUwE7tpQjMAv_ItzDQrFBNPqp00ez3Oqiw4DtzpfP_dTq4DFz5nI64nac7IA0P05gb-YfE1iEscOgUQk5RQrCIdUgbHbWy8A9chIhNgb2rTNZt3z_TeazYjWx6C/s1600/23795057_399260590503123_6556523484758875445_n.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>The only shot where he's close enough to see, Ian Ziering is coughing up fumes in a pivotal yet meaningless fire scene</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCFL5AU-BxiEYGOiGF8Is29DxeLIPXYICa7602Y6a5NE0B3dsb2JjyY8hQHvXrsZSZq09-7XJKTk2HpWmn7kDh4AnLeui-kzlHhuMr36n4H_U-C2Xh8oo8AtBGoueJ9WW_m6xZIMe6j4WP/s1600/23794887_399260587169790_7036093805806250787_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="646" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCFL5AU-BxiEYGOiGF8Is29DxeLIPXYICa7602Y6a5NE0B3dsb2JjyY8hQHvXrsZSZq09-7XJKTk2HpWmn7kDh4AnLeui-kzlHhuMr36n4H_U-C2Xh8oo8AtBGoueJ9WW_m6xZIMe6j4WP/s1600/23794887_399260587169790_7036093805806250787_n.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Ian Ziering In the dark again: For Google: Endless Love Ian Ziering Brooke Shields Ian Ziering Endless Love</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv8uj2zSFEm1OLLdSa_eDW-Nmwa_rVCd85eSfyO0Fl6E6fh2JXcEB71DhQzPrxE3hNM1flx_rEDhPBcNJmA7sZ3o2UgrUCCQ1rUiDnbiqUi0YK6TEltkZTQHMLwalerC1-jVAfNjP0sKIt/s1600/23795141_399260583836457_1957786547251618021_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="502" data-original-width="927" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv8uj2zSFEm1OLLdSa_eDW-Nmwa_rVCd85eSfyO0Fl6E6fh2JXcEB71DhQzPrxE3hNM1flx_rEDhPBcNJmA7sZ3o2UgrUCCQ1rUiDnbiqUi0YK6TEltkZTQHMLwalerC1-jVAfNjP0sKIt/s1600/23795141_399260583836457_1957786547251618021_n.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>For anyone who doesn't believe here's proof Ian Ziering's in it, plus Tom Cruise and Jimmy Spader (pre-James) too</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVDedN8MCmB5aAysLK5JgKdMLk5wxORijqbnC0BlEcgJv2q1VBlri4Z3kWGRKxk8UFdtFHETDd8vw7QmmL2YTGMqXrd4qyZk8tlAcDxHec-0HaPejEW9ZlV7WFNyXtfsGzfYPpBFce66Y/s1600/e4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVDedN8MCmB5aAysLK5JgKdMLk5wxORijqbnC0BlEcgJv2q1VBlri4Z3kWGRKxk8UFdtFHETDd8vw7QmmL2YTGMqXrd4qyZk8tlAcDxHec-0HaPejEW9ZlV7WFNyXtfsGzfYPpBFce66Y/s1600/e4.png" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u>Years before lecturing Brooke on medicine,  Tom Cruise made a pre-fame cameo in her movie...</u></span></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span id="goog_1522913687"></span><br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHhhqyIkYUUui-YgsuDX7ZG332BHOuoN857BToq4Psjg4ivtJlXkBg_ilxLJZe_GYWThCMunR2rad8KcVO0vV4pliIua8Q_MteulHywVoXOukIE9VUKDmxF0sLmPtbP-Dr9UQbzlf7Zto/s1600/e2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHhhqyIkYUUui-YgsuDX7ZG332BHOuoN857BToq4Psjg4ivtJlXkBg_ilxLJZe_GYWThCMunR2rad8KcVO0vV4pliIua8Q_MteulHywVoXOukIE9VUKDmxF0sLmPtbP-Dr9UQbzlf7Zto/s320/e2.jpg" width="198" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span"><u>year: 2014 rating: **</u></span></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="background-color: white;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span"><i>If there were an Oscar for “Best Jerk Dad,” you could bet easy money on Bruce Greenwood as Hugh Butterfield, a successful surgeon and, most importantly, father of a gorgeous teenage daughter who has fallen in love, and she can’t get up…</i></span></b></span><br /> <br /> Well on the other side of the coin (or tracks) is a muscular, chisel-chinned guy named David who has, in dad’s opinion, extremely little to offer poor rich Jade Butterfield…  <br /> <br /> In the lead female role, Gabriella Wilde is the perfect aesthetic match for Alex Pettyfer‘s David… Despite the class issues, both have just graduated from the same high school, and within seconds she’s instantly smitten, even though when her dad’s raking in dough at the hospital, David’s old man gets greasy as a mechanic (then again he owns the garage)... But this isn’t the John Hughes universe so money doesn’t really matter – at least not to the young folks. <br /> <br /> ENDLESS LOVE is based on the novel adapted into a 1981 Brooke Shields movie that garnered an even more popular song (and is the third 80’s reboot on the same weekend along with ROBOCOP and ABOUT LAST NIGHT)… But this version holds its very own featherweight, guilty pleasure camp value and doesn't try to be anything more than fluff… With a slight edge...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtekMVb7UeIaAWUsQawSha72Tkd0qoapNJ8Kbd0W_d8wA8qdTHq8RGTctnAWh174RQrMoQYvRBsmoEX90D14-Y6doSlYDPiRAcIWpSX4QnGhyInw_IFNUOFaliwP7syrlVTwNw9DeLJzI/s1600/e3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtekMVb7UeIaAWUsQawSha72Tkd0qoapNJ8Kbd0W_d8wA8qdTHq8RGTctnAWh174RQrMoQYvRBsmoEX90D14-Y6doSlYDPiRAcIWpSX4QnGhyInw_IFNUOFaliwP7syrlVTwNw9DeLJzI/s320/e3.jpg" width="309" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Fun melodramatic villain Bruce Greenwood</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Which is where dastardly Greenwood comes in, providing a constant, unapologetic bulwark to steamy young desire: From being blunt at the dinner table to Internet stalking to goading fist fights, the doc will do just about anything to get his daughter, who’s supposed to be interning at a hospital, away from this low-rent former valet driver… But the summer romance is hot and sizzling and their connection has gone way too deep… Or you can even all it <i>endless</i>…<br />   <br /> The love story between the two leads is so forced, there's very little mystery and nothing to base the attraction on other than both being perfectly attractive… Imagining David's dreamy aspirations coming out of an ugly guy’s mouth would be like watching an action flick starring a 500 pound crippled blind man – and would a GQ stud waste his time on anyone besides a dainty supermodel?  <br /> <br /> ENDLESS LOVE is so packaged for young girls, there’s nothing left for anyone else except how down and dirty “dear old dad” gets… With a forced Ken and Barbie romance; a wasted subplot about a dead older brother (straight out of FOOTLOOSE); a weak side cast including Jade’s dizzy mom and a black comic relief who’s not one bit funny; and several catastrophes tying loose ends together, it takes our desperate antagonist to not only shape things up, but to give this ENDLESS any shape at all…

2014, brooke shields, bruce greenwood, don murray, eighties, romance, shirley knight, tom cruise

BROOKE SHIELDS IN ENDLESS LOVE & ENDLESS LOVE REMAKE

year: 1981 rating: **1/2 The first act of the original ENDLESS LOVE dares to ponder just how far liberalism should be stretched… Not o...

BILL MURRAY & HAROLD RAMIS WITH PJ SOLES IN STRIPES

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh23Aky-sR9O1cJUWVoo0pv9pvkCp70QP1IgE21RVSLJx4lozKnLks-N9xuNH9Z4OEJBRNqWmgUNJYNXpBQB6wngnGD86ot4EjgpsxW6hulxYegS-YxHUQfXFPH_qcg6FYlueSf7jDF1QU/s1600/d.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh23Aky-sR9O1cJUWVoo0pv9pvkCp70QP1IgE21RVSLJx4lozKnLks-N9xuNH9Z4OEJBRNqWmgUNJYNXpBQB6wngnGD86ot4EjgpsxW6hulxYegS-YxHUQfXFPH_qcg6FYlueSf7jDF1QU/s320/d.jpg" width="196" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Harold Ramis as Zitsky</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <i>"That’s my favorite kind of acting," PJ Soles said in a Cult Film Freak interview, "when something’s real and the responses are real and, you know, Bill led the way and I followed."<b> </b></i><br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2pJflK_NnrAMTgPc0JR364DPooDPPf47x92u73ZOovArIhKihRp4vuEu2eBX33xbTjhU0bFb44lG1UdPyVIrzE7qHeBKMr66LQ_qWxcAYT_jothyzSiwd-mXJ-nAGF_iR5ecmLDwRMzc/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2pJflK_NnrAMTgPc0JR364DPooDPPf47x92u73ZOovArIhKihRp4vuEu2eBX33xbTjhU0bFb44lG1UdPyVIrzE7qHeBKMr66LQ_qWxcAYT_jothyzSiwd-mXJ-nAGF_iR5ecmLDwRMzc/s320/1.jpg" width="205" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><u>Bill Murray as Winger</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> After MEATBALLS, director Ivan Reitman and Bill Murray filmed STRIPES, starring Murray and Harold Ramis, who co-wrote the summer camp comedy and between both films directed Bill in the now legendary golfing venture CADDYSHACK…<br /> <br /> In STRIPES, when Bill Murray’s John Winger, attempting to prove to his best friend Russell Ziskey, played by Harold Ramis, that he isn’t too old and/or out of shape to join the military, after completing only several trudging sit-ups, Ramis quips: "I think you're ready for the Special Olympics!” Well if not that, the Army, where Winger decides to go after having enough of a nowhere existence, and being dumped by his hot blonde girlfriend, who feels John’s antics just aren’t “cute anymore.” One of the funniest scenes (embedded below) involves the two friends in the recruitment office, awkwardly answering a particular question long before the <i>Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell</i> era… "We're not homosexual... But we are willing to learn."<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWwEtKDX_1F3fYa8cBmo75cPfUWof1IhRZRq7ilFWWyTwfml4-bKom8qoKThfXcUGlP3_q1CGeL5NY2MiZejMkHBrBLahB8bbg1F6i7JAk9s3pL2KVwMz9qgGeL_xrfaQiPfGOjQhOtk_X/s1600/87496_full.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="554" data-original-width="204" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWwEtKDX_1F3fYa8cBmo75cPfUWof1IhRZRq7ilFWWyTwfml4-bKom8qoKThfXcUGlP3_q1CGeL5NY2MiZejMkHBrBLahB8bbg1F6i7JAk9s3pL2KVwMz9qgGeL_xrfaQiPfGOjQhOtk_X/s400/87496_full.jpg" width="146" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Damn we love PJ</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> Since Bill Murray is usually the endearing, independent rogue, it’s often missed that STRIPES really is a bonafide buddy comedy. Throughout the boot camp classic, Ramis is right by Murray’s side – they even hook up with two lady MPs together. <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8nVdBx569LmtO3qFmyAok3zIzZscjeW1IJlPBf5x0Dwkc6U5sMr0Zs6sT7ywKY48yaLkMPSI9T8roGaBaYliyudC-8Ej7cTX9q8J_jC0slYX62xbRmUaatndL39VIn0YwaFJdYkCyJX4/s1600/2.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8nVdBx569LmtO3qFmyAok3zIzZscjeW1IJlPBf5x0Dwkc6U5sMr0Zs6sT7ywKY48yaLkMPSI9T8roGaBaYliyudC-8Ej7cTX9q8J_jC0slYX62xbRmUaatndL39VIn0YwaFJdYkCyJX4/s1600/2.jpg" width="289" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>PJ Soles recalls STRIPES with Bill Murray</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="background-color: white;"><u>Winger’s girl, Stella, is played by ROCK N' ROLL HIGH SCHOOL and HALLOWEEN starlet PJ SOLES, who recalls a sequence with Murray, along with Sean Young and Harold Ramis, when they use the general’s house for their own personal enjoyment… </u></span><br /> <br /> <i>Our scene that ended up being in the kitchen was outside, on a hill, looking at fireworks, and we were supposed to be going into the big kiss but instead, it was three o’ clock in the morning… </i><br /> <i><br /></i> <i>We were in Westwood. It was getting late. They shot Harold and Sean’s scene… their little love scene. And Ivan was, “Uh, I don’t know, we have to show somehow that you guys like each other. We’re gonna have to do something inside because we can’t go outside now, it’s too late. We can’t have lights outside. It’s a neighborhood.”  </i><br /> <br /> <i>We were talking in the kitchen… And Bill opens the refrigerator and takes out a carrot. And I just looked at him and said, “What are you gonna do with that?” And Ivan just said, “Bring the camera in here. Let’s roll it.” And we shot that in literally twenty minutes. With coverage and everything. And I love that. It’s one of my favorite all-time scenes and because of the fact it just happened so automatically.</i><br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGgSOjhqbUpg2HXcYR_DNS6Q_O8NkiAlIwpHIBqTBgE2fgzF4qPhIy9XgSiVcp9n5rv3J5-VfjXjK0mhviigvIBc4JpHwp9Ncdm4zzicLg-Rk1gdbPl240typMwImKhGjLmbOUqxehmAM/s1600/bill_murray-stripes1981-1340.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGgSOjhqbUpg2HXcYR_DNS6Q_O8NkiAlIwpHIBqTBgE2fgzF4qPhIy9XgSiVcp9n5rv3J5-VfjXjK0mhviigvIBc4JpHwp9Ncdm4zzicLg-Rk1gdbPl240typMwImKhGjLmbOUqxehmAM/s320/bill_murray-stripes1981-1340.jpg" width="228" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Conrad Dunn at Psycho</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> And yet, STRIPES is not all fun and games. The opening twenty minutes, showing Murray’s downfall as a taxi driver, his breakup and the enevitable game-changing decision, has the somber cadence of a movie that’s not relying on joke-a-minute laughs. Winger is a real guy with real troubles, and has no idea what he’s getting into…<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6fsRbgycrRE9tQgHmXXZV7D1Vx11-mbLJLO8Jip4jUm6o-roDtJI9SdMX9inHA44C2aMaFfc0jkvOAD9T2fg-fbArSxQ8cV_Qw5-Ap6pHzFRuOgM4YdIXx2semsNrIhA4PEJq7o_XrYjG/s1600/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="485" data-original-width="150" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6fsRbgycrRE9tQgHmXXZV7D1Vx11-mbLJLO8Jip4jUm6o-roDtJI9SdMX9inHA44C2aMaFfc0jkvOAD9T2fg-fbArSxQ8cV_Qw5-Ap6pHzFRuOgM4YdIXx2semsNrIhA4PEJq7o_XrYjG/s400/maxresdefault.jpg" width="122" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>HulkaMania!</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Some great performances came out of the dire situation of two completely inept friends stuck in the hellish Boot Camp, including one scene leading up to the romantic tryst PJ Soles recollected...<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> When Winger attempts to go AWOL and Ramis’s Russell chases him outside the barracks, the two have it out, arguing intensely surrounded by ominous tanks...<br /> <br /> Murray and Ramis are quite funny together, but they can get down and dirty too. There’s a real edge to their chemistry here... And in films before and after, Ramis wrote many of the characters that made Bill Murray an icon.<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvhmp4HP9eFvreV-kQbKxldJSIpwQ-uUpJ3E0hiXeT5Xdhs8jBug86ufCdD5-RSgCVGjuaUiWLLyqr7y3JcLcyjc-U9GKDwy2Qa-DVNA0yx05qwjpI8JwkKku8wXuIU1yjdI7ITqc5Os6U/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-10-26+at+12.21.28+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1031" data-original-width="560" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvhmp4HP9eFvreV-kQbKxldJSIpwQ-uUpJ3E0hiXeT5Xdhs8jBug86ufCdD5-RSgCVGjuaUiWLLyqr7y3JcLcyjc-U9GKDwy2Qa-DVNA0yx05qwjpI8JwkKku8wXuIU1yjdI7ITqc5Os6U/s320/Screen+Shot+2017-10-26+at+12.21.28+PM.jpg" width="173" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><u>This should be real!</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> One of the great character-actors from the 1970’s, Warren Oates, playing the gruff Sgt. Hulka, inserts an edgy brand of realism throughout the comedic proceedings. One scene that brings out intense acting on Murray's part has Hulka and Winger meeting alone in the barracks bathroom... Hulka takes off his helmet and challenges Winger to punch him in the gut, off the record. In this scene a subliminal connection occurs between the two loggerheads. Meanwhile, Oates' edgy dynamic is countered by John Larroquette who, playing the doofus Captain Stillman, is truly the unlikable antagonist and plays more for the zaniness of the picture.<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4OMjys8TI0pHhjaHSP3QAsECJLRIcQIMJjrrBqzwJXl4sd0S-U95hTgOExOIuUSk0IKCtFt_YDIG8mabMRNuoAUyyxjoV-j8lMqK1SOHX-0Zc1tBGTDZs-x41zJ-NshvKzBlbWZihqZ4/s1600/bill_murray-stripes1981-2210.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4OMjys8TI0pHhjaHSP3QAsECJLRIcQIMJjrrBqzwJXl4sd0S-U95hTgOExOIuUSk0IKCtFt_YDIG8mabMRNuoAUyyxjoV-j8lMqK1SOHX-0Zc1tBGTDZs-x41zJ-NshvKzBlbWZihqZ4/s320/bill_murray-stripes1981-2210.jpg" width="317" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>RIP for Harold Ramis on 2/24/2014</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> John Candy’s Ox is the endearing scene-stealer, and winds up, during the troop's night out, mud wrestling a bevy of babes... But let’s shed some light on a few wonderful character actors, including John Diehl as the dimwitted Cruiser, who has played everything from a vice cop to a psychotic… Speaking of which, one of the most memorable rants comes from Conrad Dunn's Francis <i>Psycho</i> Sawyer: “Now, any of you homos touch me, and I’ll kill ya,” he growls during the troop's initial introduction. Leading to Hulka’s now iconic reply, “Lighten up, Francis.” <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQABHmSVdN9Ln6LumJECiFcCZxPcLk_XJNgH5pb3l4Qmg-gaD4VU6r9spi8mvo5gL34QNfFo6HCDugNJCbgi2juId0QP4iaNcQ35oHlrYu0OWqOGFMgeuc-t-TFpJJNA9qKYYncKJ3mvi3/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-10-26+at+12.14.55+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1099" data-original-width="418" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQABHmSVdN9Ln6LumJECiFcCZxPcLk_XJNgH5pb3l4Qmg-gaD4VU6r9spi8mvo5gL34QNfFo6HCDugNJCbgi2juId0QP4iaNcQ35oHlrYu0OWqOGFMgeuc-t-TFpJJNA9qKYYncKJ3mvi3/s320/Screen+Shot+2017-10-26+at+12.14.55+PM.jpg" width="121" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>StripesScore: ****</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> While a majority of the film occurs at Boot Camp, the film suffers <i>after</i> the troop passes a last-minute drill test, and, being sent overseas, Winger and Ziskey, along with Stella and Sean Young's Louise, steal an all-terrain recreational vehicle and wind up having to rescue their fellow soldiers, who had gone after them (mind you, Hulka <i>never</i> gets captured). This segment is awkward, way too long and not very funny, but STRIPES is the quintessential military comedy no matter… Even the flaws pass muster… And “That’s the fact, Jack!”<br /> <br /> Like ANIMAL HOUSE, Elmer Bernstein's music plays for theme more than laughs. The piano bar riff embodying Winger's lazy countenance aside, a triumphant score blares throughout, as if part of a genuine gung ho war feature (yet also reminiscent of Berstein's patriotic marching romp from Steven Spielberg's zany 1941)...<br /> <br /> This allows the humor to subtly intrude upon the gritty location, which is a character in itself: Harboring two buddies (and real life creative partners continuing in GHOSTBUSTERS and GROUNDHOG DAY) who will always be remembered within the high ranks of cinematic glory.

army, bill murray, comedy, eighties, harold ramis, interview, ivan reitman, john candy, pj soles, warren oates

BILL MURRAY & HAROLD RAMIS WITH PJ SOLES IN STRIPES

Harold Ramis as Zitsky "That’s my favorite kind of acting," PJ Soles said in a Cult Film Freak interview, "when somethi...

PAUL W.S. ANDERSON'S POMPEII

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHmTgVt7kiOUYP8FcdQ3PrtO8JmEGWUpS3ROlMLz1dk1eB9c49MKsvVTArnhZ0YQ4ije-yy9Wtpj8_2S1MiKZr8Jc5KKr4fCcFsoaG_6LJmOoUR7bWKMh28uunXFOZnCNjqgOb-ZnMhHw/s1600/5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHmTgVt7kiOUYP8FcdQ3PrtO8JmEGWUpS3ROlMLz1dk1eB9c49MKsvVTArnhZ0YQ4ije-yy9Wtpj8_2S1MiKZr8Jc5KKr4fCcFsoaG_6LJmOoUR7bWKMh28uunXFOZnCNjqgOb-ZnMhHw/s1600/5.jpg" width="212" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2014 rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> It seems like forever since Kiefer Sutherland played a jerk, something he did quite well before beating time on a television series – and right off the bat he’s the really horrible Roman who kills our future hero’s family… But the kid is much too young to do anything about it, for now…<br /> <br /> If this sounds like the opening of CONAN THE BARBARIAN, within the next half hour POMPEII becomes more like THE PRINCESS BRIDE and eventually morphs into a GLADIATOR version of TITANIC… And yet with all these influences, it’s still an original and surprisingly worthwhile motion picture that resembles an epic but thankfully keeps focused on a basic storyline. <br /> <br /> Milo, played by Kit Harrington, is the grownup version of that unlucky little boy, and as a slave he’s destined for something much better than trudging around in chains. As fate would have it, after being able to mentally bond with a dying horse, he catches the interest of a beautiful young lady, Cassia. <br /> <br /> In the love-interest role, full-lipped Emily Browning is lovely, chaste, and, like most sheltered ingénues, downright mopey… but not on an annoying level. Her father has a connection with a Roman ruler, Sutherland’s evil Corvus, visiting Pompeii for a gladiator match the following afternoon. And he really wants Buttercup’s… or rather, Cassia’s reluctant hand in a forced marriage. <br /> <br /> Meanwhile, in a murky dungeon beneath the coliseum, a battle champion named Atticus, played by a tough, slowburn Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (try reading that five times fast), is set for his final bow… so he’s promised… before being set free. And that death match will be against the newly captive Milo, who might be his only equal: not in strength but cunning agile.  <br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoGJgZ65O70XPXMxKHg_JOSq8B5zLy6SPsJvViO3Ck9cN2Ls-G53VHGaFyqhjd1mWCq2cVRglUfq4_XgewRBZchpVBqFuDt_Q9NaBrF2GjPS3cM1qPQJwmDXSuJAp4GG-y7rLi4geJ2-4/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoGJgZ65O70XPXMxKHg_JOSq8B5zLy6SPsJvViO3Ck9cN2Ls-G53VHGaFyqhjd1mWCq2cVRglUfq4_XgewRBZchpVBqFuDt_Q9NaBrF2GjPS3cM1qPQJwmDXSuJAp4GG-y7rLi4geJ2-4/s1600/3.jpg" width="200" /></a></div> Beyond the unrequited romance of Milo and Cassia, the real dynamic occurs between these two fighters. With all the threats and bravado, and the eventual kinship, you’ll be anticipating this matchup... only there’s a problem… make that a <i>really big problem</i> in the form of a rumbling volcano, shadowing the entire region, threatening to turn this gladiator flick into a bonafide disaster film. <br /> <br /> Thankfully there is one chaotic coliseum battle before the historic volcano goes completely haywire. But how each character remains fighting for their lives while still viciously pitted against each other (ala TITANIC) – even when flaming lava rocks are plummeting to the earth – keeps the story character-driven, trumping the desperately futile situation… <br /> <br /> Too bad there weren't more scenes, as Bob Dylan once wrote, “spent inside the coliseum, <strike>dodging lions and</strike> wasting time.” Because director Paul W.S. Anderson created a pretty neat stage only to let it melt away during most of the second half. And while it really would have been terrific to see the two unlikely friends fight each other… just to see who’d win.... eventually there’s enough closure for every character to make POMPEII a satisfying action-packed melodrama.

2014, action, disaster, emily browning, kiefer sutherland, period piece

PAUL W.S. ANDERSON'S POMPEII

year: 2014 rating: *** It seems like forever since Kiefer Sutherland played a jerk, something he did quite well before beating time on a...

KEVIN COSTER IN 3 DAYS TO KILL WITH HAILEE STEINFELD

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy7k5K7uRCCsmbjQdPcs1Aii6_eOO2Z3ygx_-hc44eJYPxc2j-h7wDaA00FS-CArlJ7z6ZUkNeIu71ZeC0bIR_qymnwXvVKTL2ZkN_ad-ErZPjm0QCb3Ju79vsjAzPVGoi8gc511trj94/s1600/3-days-to-kill-kevin-costner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy7k5K7uRCCsmbjQdPcs1Aii6_eOO2Z3ygx_-hc44eJYPxc2j-h7wDaA00FS-CArlJ7z6ZUkNeIu71ZeC0bIR_qymnwXvVKTL2ZkN_ad-ErZPjm0QCb3Ju79vsjAzPVGoi8gc511trj94/s1600/3-days-to-kill-kevin-costner.jpg" width="188" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><span style="color: #073763;"><b>year: 2014 rating: ***1/2</b></span></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><span style="color: #073763;"><b><i>Grunge music is all the rage, Bill Clinton’s in the White House, the Internet has just begun and Kevin Costner is an energetic leading man…</i> </b></span></span><br /> <br /> Okay so it’s really not the ‘90s again, but some things won’t let go... And Kevin Costner has a brand new chance to – like Bruce, Sly and Arnold the last couple years – prove he’s still got something to offer the hard-boiled thriller genre… <br /> <br /> But it’s not like this “comeback” is a total surprise: Costner’s turned up in small yet important roles lately, playing Clark Kent’s father in MAN OF STEEL and Jack Ryan’s mentor in SHADOW RECRUIT. And now he's landed a pretty decent, fleshed-out vehicle although the real credit belongs not to the director, McG, but Luc Besson, who wrote the original story and co-scripted… His signature is all over THREE DAYS TO KILL. <br /> <br /> Costner plays ex CIA agent Ethan Renner, who, reminiscent of the classic film noir DOA, is a dying man with very little time left…<br /> <br /> We begin with a coughing Ethan staking out a villain named Wolf (who has a really creepy henchman) in a prologue full of edgy turmoil, setting the pace for the rest of the movie, especially since, right before bombs blast and necks break, a guilty Ethan calls his estranged daughter, a teen on her eighteenth birthday, letting us know this isn’t your usual crime flick. <br /> <br /> After moving to Paris to spend important time with his ex wife and kid, Ethan’s reluctantly hired by sexy rogue agent Vivi Delay – a sly, wicked version of a James Bond girl – to kill the man who got away in the intro. For a tradeoff, Amber Heard’s dreamlike femme fatalle provides an experimental cure to Ethan’s disease: sporadic hallucinatory injections will keep him ticking, but only if he pulls off that one lucrative <i>score</i>.  <br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPo_dsqNc7gxAFrJleUkR-a11lVvzsZ3WBXb2RnQ1eyzpb-mpviNVFzWomakrGqmo0rAViR-xKFiSRYVjtwhEEDDWlhz8zQnF5YdVnGhdftLSGe4q3ipvyZdQ35EHyuOlusHzHtNNds2o/s1600/3-days-to-kill-kevin-costner-hailee-steinfeld.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPo_dsqNc7gxAFrJleUkR-a11lVvzsZ3WBXb2RnQ1eyzpb-mpviNVFzWomakrGqmo0rAViR-xKFiSRYVjtwhEEDDWlhz8zQnF5YdVnGhdftLSGe4q3ipvyZdQ35EHyuOlusHzHtNNds2o/s1600/3-days-to-kill-kevin-costner-hailee-steinfeld.jpg" width="188" /></a></div> In the Besson fashion, mixing rugged crime with patriarchal responsibilities, Ethan must <i>kill</i> the same amount of time with his daughter that he does gathering clues for the primary target, which includes a ton of gunfire, car chases and an unlikely friendship with a guy he has to torture, more than once.  <br /> <br /> In the lead role, Kevin Costner’s hardnosed, timeworn exterior fits a man who may not have long to live… A gruff, raspy voice sounds like he's seen and done just about everything while his posture, bent and formidable, provides a believably unbreakable<i> hit man</i> who can’t be stopped, despite advanced age. And yet you’ll never hear him utter the words, “I’m too old for this,” or something of that clichéd nature. Ironically enough, the fatal disease makes Ethan seem even younger, and stronger, than if he were handicapped only by time.  <br /> <br /> In the pivotal role of young Zoey, TRUE GRIT starlet Hailee Steinfeld isn’t an annoying intrusion that kids can be. In fact the father/daughter scenes are intriguing and unpredictable enough to where the bloody action feels more like a break than a mainline being intruded upon.<br /> <br /> Perhaps McG does deserve equal credit after all: Unlike Besson’s recent directorial misfire, THE FAMILY,  this movie's mobile ultra-violence blends neatly with the parental subplot, which never gets too corny or melodramatic despite a farfetched premise, a wasted story on squatters sharing Ethan's apartment, technical issues concerning voice-looping, an overlong climax and a tacked-on conclusion. But as pure escapism goes...

2014, action, amber heard, hailee steinfeld, kevin costner, luc besson, mcg

KEVIN COSTER IN 3 DAYS TO KILL WITH HAILEE STEINFELD

year: 2014 rating: ***1/2 Grunge music is all the rage, Bill Clinton’s in the White House, the Internet has just begun and Kevin Costner...

WALTER HILL PRESENTS THE BRAT PACK NOIR OF 'BLUE CITY'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFOO205wjhee-SdaPFp5vqtO7e7_E9bIqj5bL5LvAzJ2jgfE_lTSMHKmNUcl4g588cWZCxtn831kIObXd9V-ruDokJq0eu1iJd6hbJiszakF32D03z-0bZ6IYmz3iuMJF1O2-nQEBBHmU/s1600/title00_024232384-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFOO205wjhee-SdaPFp5vqtO7e7_E9bIqj5bL5LvAzJ2jgfE_lTSMHKmNUcl4g588cWZCxtn831kIObXd9V-ruDokJq0eu1iJd6hbJiszakF32D03z-0bZ6IYmz3iuMJF1O2-nQEBBHmU/s1600/title00_024232384-2.jpg" width="217" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"><u>year: 1986 rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> This dark horse Brat Pack outing was up for a few Razzie Awards, but for what exactly? BLUE CITY is actually a decent action/thriller about the son of a beloved slain mayor returning to a Florida town, Blue City, now run (from inside a roadhouse bar) by seedy Scott Wilson...<br /> <br /> Seeking clues, Nelson gets back in touch with his old drinking buddy David Caruso, who is sober, paranoid, and running a fishing boat. And what makes this Brat a Pack in our love interest: Caruso's pretty sister, Ally Sheedy, who becomes smitten with Judd... a former crush resurfaced. She works at the local jail he was thrown into after a brawling bar fight.    <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfricZ6JBtRMlwk5JeWT20NpM1HvCA0iBUceg164pALiLWrn8T5IApXviOIdWO-_GaZldzVrF4IMqH0z9Wna23Bs1J9YFiOC-AySt7T4qgGYw99j87z7I7Cl3IlxrJmSPHVkbxht96Lvo/s1600/blue-city-6.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfricZ6JBtRMlwk5JeWT20NpM1HvCA0iBUceg164pALiLWrn8T5IApXviOIdWO-_GaZldzVrF4IMqH0z9Wna23Bs1J9YFiOC-AySt7T4qgGYw99j87z7I7Cl3IlxrJmSPHVkbxht96Lvo/s1600/blue-city-6.png" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Straight Shooter</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> The best scenes are his gun-toting revenge against a bevy of Wilson's thugs. In the usual action flick fashion, the underdog is in over his head, and yet his lack of experience makes him cocky, reckless and assertive. "I'm new at this," Judd quips after kicking in the door of a racetrack office during a heist. And he soon learns how to get around, eventually finding out who killed his father... which isn't such a shocker... but there's always a cost.<br /> <br /> BLUE CITY is colorful action Neo Noir directed by Michelle Manning, who makes this a Brat Pack trifecta being she produced both THE BREAKFAST CLUB and PRETTY IN PINK for John Hughes. And in this departure from teen melodrama are plenty of old school cinema stuff to keep you entertained like fist fights, gun fights, explosions, and a nifty side cast including sexy Anita Morris as his lush stepmother and the always watchable Paul Winfield. But it's Scott Wilson's grimacing villain who really stands out like bad guys often do in Walter Hill films, this one produced and co-written, not directed by, and in many ways,  CITY feels like his project, although more STREETS OF FIRE than 48 HRS. Even his stock musician Ry Cooder provides a beach-breezy score with more synth than slide.<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTuQOfRLr52aVoamUgDQjyHgMCEXyKjibasf2ToBCm50nwZrVkT9RJXruSax9EnxP4Yi1wHI3Fj2Y7wrtviqa0ey-_oVyNavC3Z6tccBHZ18L3zeAb_FQFvGHeN-Ktk8JsSFj2aIJSyERk/s1600/bluecity-2-1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTuQOfRLr52aVoamUgDQjyHgMCEXyKjibasf2ToBCm50nwZrVkT9RJXruSax9EnxP4Yi1wHI3Fj2Y7wrtviqa0ey-_oVyNavC3Z6tccBHZ18L3zeAb_FQFvGHeN-Ktk8JsSFj2aIJSyERk/s1600/bluecity-2-1.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Blue City starring Jude Nelson, Ally Sheedy, David Caruso & Scott Wilson</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtGaU_FNDj9GkgJLJ3gk3KA_ZGG6dCQJ3sBfd53WPrtmB_yggcUccIcrm3NIzAIwPGq7UKFz1_uFg8sDP7hwNlBKJBRkcsBgDTf108XYTz6Svx647e5ihYBAiclasDuJOUhV5MnL3iSUBs/s1600/Picture+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtGaU_FNDj9GkgJLJ3gk3KA_ZGG6dCQJ3sBfd53WPrtmB_yggcUccIcrm3NIzAIwPGq7UKFz1_uFg8sDP7hwNlBKJBRkcsBgDTf108XYTz6Svx647e5ihYBAiclasDuJOUhV5MnL3iSUBs/s1600/Picture+2.png" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Wide-eyed heavy Scott Wilson</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUw5afA84G4Xta9ZHaYZhplDGwSCSA8DzjD2orh4gmbbQvkyvPuWEkvdVW_IHfdTa5nJgQHkNeeFEjNZkTeYmAzrMfyD5jnscIlrS5o0h5lCJLz6fvwcyhvoKpD-3gzHZYiO6ldVDRGFW8/s1600/Picture+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUw5afA84G4Xta9ZHaYZhplDGwSCSA8DzjD2orh4gmbbQvkyvPuWEkvdVW_IHfdTa5nJgQHkNeeFEjNZkTeYmAzrMfyD5jnscIlrS5o0h5lCJLz6fvwcyhvoKpD-3gzHZYiO6ldVDRGFW8/s1600/Picture+3.png" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Ally Sheedy in BLUE CITY</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFRjIDODdfoBYamwUZzjEEmQrNZGX_KsXlDvwq_M9g1SXkGpz9TKg4xnMDpBef8cM1eYomd0A7LaNuIiP39mZS5E3s_sgPJwEt1uBsahDmDJndSeN2q8-7lQVLnvmxG08Y5AGfmuZpxasj/s1600/Picture+4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFRjIDODdfoBYamwUZzjEEmQrNZGX_KsXlDvwq_M9g1SXkGpz9TKg4xnMDpBef8cM1eYomd0A7LaNuIiP39mZS5E3s_sgPJwEt1uBsahDmDJndSeN2q8-7lQVLnvmxG08Y5AGfmuZpxasj/s1600/Picture+4.png" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Judd with gun</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGbOkZ4E6jQ4u6fEl-3bAb2rANBS8j4qjPZxV_JbXFUKi1rgJILRBeLNIKhiwkN9cy_4f8Y5GLjG6KPHE8rH3GBVYLQFHxw7xNjGg4RTOBffMCRs_SPdqqNcOJwaXdYNfrps-52vmtR86o/s1600/Picture+5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGbOkZ4E6jQ4u6fEl-3bAb2rANBS8j4qjPZxV_JbXFUKi1rgJILRBeLNIKhiwkN9cy_4f8Y5GLjG6KPHE8rH3GBVYLQFHxw7xNjGg4RTOBffMCRs_SPdqqNcOJwaXdYNfrps-52vmtR86o/s1600/Picture+5.png" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>A Modern Western, but aren't they all?</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid4xmKimI3mQ4UiUP7qtQ7qgHscfUhI57GcAhv6C3m1jOZSNKiUh6D3zyi3wfLxHSiKR5-8w1jQA0QLCMhA_iP3Cpfsoi5Yi6mfQN829D53CEsX9_JyCfYvZ2KD4iuLXmJ67X4U-UZvhTx/s1600/Picture+6.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid4xmKimI3mQ4UiUP7qtQ7qgHscfUhI57GcAhv6C3m1jOZSNKiUh6D3zyi3wfLxHSiKR5-8w1jQA0QLCMhA_iP3Cpfsoi5Yi6mfQN829D53CEsX9_JyCfYvZ2KD4iuLXmJ67X4U-UZvhTx/s1600/Picture+6.png" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>David Caruso in BLUE CITY</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSkPb_H3DeZPeblW8gdFfxUETNR9JfCJDiCOVlq8ezBl9w-Sxo64TjpQLfnWwLd6VsxehsdHaeGSPLt1ujKywMNSVaTdElfXlaTY6loIzUByn9e3XzDo6Bp6o2bT1A9JH5OyK9GUzxx6wz/s1600/Picture+7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSkPb_H3DeZPeblW8gdFfxUETNR9JfCJDiCOVlq8ezBl9w-Sxo64TjpQLfnWwLd6VsxehsdHaeGSPLt1ujKywMNSVaTdElfXlaTY6loIzUByn9e3XzDo6Bp6o2bT1A9JH5OyK9GUzxx6wz/s1600/Picture+7.png" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Judd Nelson ends the game</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>

action, ally sheedy, anita morris, brat pack, david caruso, eighties, judd nelson, neo noir, scott wilson, walter hill

WALTER HILL PRESENTS THE BRAT PACK NOIR OF 'BLUE CITY'

year: 1986 rating: ***1/2 This dark horse Brat Pack outing was up for a few Razzie Awards, but for what exactly? BLUE CITY is actually a...

LEE HORSLEY IN 'THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuwi_TNpyVis1_OFBI7OPVKM1T2zwMIsO0kpVl2AKsZCH0Sg6ROb8g-glVFzhmlR2fiD7byOisyRSLKn-BAuClvaNaH20TUJvNxsuOMOwf6RxL9XxXRs8hauv0NNFn303mjCL6vFd15IIk/s1600/poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuwi_TNpyVis1_OFBI7OPVKM1T2zwMIsO0kpVl2AKsZCH0Sg6ROb8g-glVFzhmlR2fiD7byOisyRSLKn-BAuClvaNaH20TUJvNxsuOMOwf6RxL9XxXRs8hauv0NNFn303mjCL6vFd15IIk/s1600/poster.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1982 rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> When kids went to CLASH OF THE TITANS and teens to DRAGONSLAYER, grownups ventured into THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER, an exploitation fantasy with plenty of blood, guts, and naked women...<br /> <br /> Lee Horsley is Talon, grownup from the vulnerable kid he once was: his family butchered before his eyes by villainous Richard Lynch. Thus Talon, now a womanizing mercenary, is given the task to retrieve the brother of gorgeous Alana, played by the wide-eyed beauty, Kathleen Beller.<br /> <br /> Most of the action occurs from the halfway point to the ending, after weathering twenty minutes of a reanimated zombie and too many close-up battles that don’t matter to the plot/rescue, which, once underway, never lets up.<br /> <br /> Talon’s sword, with a blade in the middle and two more on the side, shooting-out like missiles, is really cool, as are any scenes in dark lit taverns or dungeons. And thankfully it's not a searing epic: Running at a fast-paced ninety minutes, this bloody romp has just about everything – including a cocky hero that never takes the situation too seriously, even though death lurks... and even pounces... around every corner.

action, anna bjorn, cult, eighties, fantasy, kathleen beller, lee horsley, richard lynch, richard moll

LEE HORSLEY IN 'THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER'

year: 1982 rating: *** When kids went to CLASH OF THE TITANS and teens to DRAGONSLAYER, grownups ventured into THE SWORD AND THE SORCERE...

FIRST NIGHT OF THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpbSEPXyjNVRbG-Ejz3swsWk-662Mf0dgVL-MLRMcRbZ6QG5us0-ZcAkWQVrtDsl2Y7RPRC2ckiw_u0hCrlctxD2lKS5tkMJi8KTJQX8vaHkKehjCsawx3XkW9fYKmMUDA7z-cUDI_jT4/s1600/Tonight-Show-Jimmy-Fallon-Poster-Crop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpbSEPXyjNVRbG-Ejz3swsWk-662Mf0dgVL-MLRMcRbZ6QG5us0-ZcAkWQVrtDsl2Y7RPRC2ckiw_u0hCrlctxD2lKS5tkMJi8KTJQX8vaHkKehjCsawx3XkW9fYKmMUDA7z-cUDI_jT4/s1600/Tonight-Show-Jimmy-Fallon-Poster-Crop.jpg" width="260" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #073763;">Jimmy Fallon Takes Over TONIGHT</span></b></td></tr> </tbody></table> <b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #073763;">A clever introduction for this article would be to list the TONIGHT SHOW hosts in order, beginning with the groundbreaking Steve Allen followed by the pan-flash Jack Paar, long running staple Johnny Carson, his stalwart replacement Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien and... Jay Leno… </span></i></b><br /> <br /> But last night the newest host, Jimmy Fallon, told the exact same joke… Calling out the elephant in the room... And that was the best way to begin his new stint as TONIGHT SHOW host, by sarcastically quipping that, like the last youthful replacement, he may not be around very long. <br /> <br /> A few years ago a strange thing happened when, after Conan O’Brien took over the reins of the NBC 11:30 time slot, Jay Leno, who was “retired early” like a character straight out of LOGAN’S RUN, returned for a 10 o’clock show, basically mirroring his TONIGHT right down to the in-house band, snarky political monologues and guests like Robin Williams and Billy Crystal…<br /> <br /> Turns out he was being slowly brought back like a rogue item on a conveyor belt, and would soon take over his old gig: the producers quickly pressed CNTRL Z as if no one else were paying attention. <br /> <br /> So Conan would be cane-yanked like a failed vaudeville performer, which is part of why the former LATE NIGHT host didn’t last… Readymade for college audiences, the jovial jester simply wasn’t a sleeping pill for the middle-aged and elderly audiences that Leno, and before that, Johnny Carson catered to…<br /> <br /> So the question raised by everyone, including (albeit cryptically) Fallon himself, is will Jimmy boy last as the "new improved" TONIGHT SHOW host?<br /> <br /> Judging by the Monday night pilot/introduction, his best moments were in the very beginning… He walked out and humbly asked people to like him… Those of us who had never seen his LATE NIGHT venture and had given up on SNL years ago, were meeting Fallon for the first time… He mentioned his wife and kid, and his mother and father were in the audience… At this point, if Jimmy passed out ELECT ME buttons it wouldn’t be that shocking: He was bittersweet, down-to-earth, seemed very relaxed, sincere, and yes, witty… Then he pulled a “mulligan”…<br /> <br /> His band, The Roots, a revved-up version of Jay Leno’s original jazzy Branford Marsalis ensemble, jammed a funky rhythm (a new catchy theme has yet to be written, correct?) and Jimmy walked back out on stage, told a few decent jokes, and did a visual routine that was actually quite funny: Showing pictures of Olympic athletes and commenting on what each looked like, from pot smoking hippies to Red Bull addicts. This human Rorschach test was, as it were, the first hit of the night.<br /> <br /> But soon the old folks warming up at home would be suddenly jolted… Fallon and Will Smith (who was, at first, hardly distinguishable since not being properly introduced) did a bouncy number where names of particular hip-hop dances would show on the screen, and they’d follow suit. Here we got to see our new host has physical talent. But in a hard-working world prepared for slumber, do we really need a male version of an IN LOVING COLOR fly girl lighting up the screen?<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRwCxgriNcD-u48sb0qdV7wfKO8MsHfMTTGWu5JUfBAeoAImwi3evhogof7EakQ6drFqCBv1lH4Nt-WMmz0KqDHKNQyFZb-vTvufqSHbB22QAlfYyfsf1CR3j1rIs6-kZzTzPFgmaSgdo/s1600/fallon4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRwCxgriNcD-u48sb0qdV7wfKO8MsHfMTTGWu5JUfBAeoAImwi3evhogof7EakQ6drFqCBv1lH4Nt-WMmz0KqDHKNQyFZb-vTvufqSHbB22QAlfYyfsf1CR3j1rIs6-kZzTzPFgmaSgdo/s1600/fallon4.jpg" width="241" /></a></div> Next up was a performance by mega-band U2 atop a very tall building's dusky rooftop: A nod to The Beatles LET IT BE, the Irish rockers played a new song INVISIBLE that seemed like the following morning of their past hit, BEAUTIFUL DAY…<br /> <br /> Although being played live, it came across tinny and dubbed: The guitar sounded like a glossy synthesizer, the drums were 80’s electric and the bass was hardly distinguishable… But this is a review for Fallon, not U2, who would make up for a mediocre performance when, at the end of the show, they played an acoustic version of their Oscar Nominated song that was really quite good.<br /> <br /> Okay so, we just skipped to the end so let’s finish up by covering the in-between, and by far the low points of the night: First when a group of celebrities, ranging from Robert De Niro to Seth Rogan, walked out and handed Jimmy a hundred dollars… He had mentioned that a particular friend owes him bet-money for getting this lucrative TONIGHT SHOW spot, and it turned out to be all these people…<br /> <br /> When each celeb appeared through the curtain, ambled up to Fallon’s brown desk (with a matching brown city landscape backdrop), the audience was roaring too loudly, and only a few of the celebs were even recognizable… Not only did this sketch go on way too long, it was clumsy and awkward, to say the very least: Basically, like that hip-hop dance number, the blaring alarm would not only put the at-home viewing audience on edge, but deleted any of the down-home charm Fallon demonstrated earlier.<br /> <br /> Lastly, the interview with Will Smith, whom Fallon claimed was one of the biggest stars on the planet… When in reality, Smith has been failing to completely woo cinema audiences... This was the <i>real</i> low point…<br /> <br /> Jimmy seemed nervous and antsy, and hardly zeroed in on his guest or asked any interesting questions… And Smith, telling inside jokes and reminiscing about his show biz family and their personal connection to Fallon, wasn’t helping matters: We were basically overhearing two chums talking old times together. Thankfully, this “interview” didn’t last very long.<br /> <br /> As mentioned, the acoustic U2 song sounded quite good… even for those benign to the omnipresent pop outfit, the crooning ballad was moving and impressive. While a timid Fallon failed to connect with the band, the band connected with the audience... And after the tune, that was basically that: Jimmy Fallon had delivered an opening show in which his best moments were tame and humble, only he might not have realized this fact: which explains all the bookended noise that had our new host beating the clock till his maiden voyage was complete.<br /> <br /> That is, he only looked noticeably uncomfortable when he was forced to pay attention to someone and/or something else. And if in fact his Achilles Heel is interviewing famous celebrities, could there be an iceberg looming in the distance... with a really big chin?

2014, jimmy fallon, TV

FIRST NIGHT OF THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON

Jimmy Fallon Takes Over TONIGHT A clever introduction for this article would be to list the TONIGHT SHOW hosts in order, beginning with ...

HELEN HUNT & BILL PAXTON & PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN IN TWISTER

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7teHwGtuhsCnsVoipcjh3O3jRvB9ugVhHOLPaQYqngUNRCdQU6ekh4m4aHvd2FyHtDTkNhGcDDRkwKxAexeNl3y1u-QQ4sbq86IuzQ5ankfw8uxa7JhBcdBYdv760u0nqIXaCcSooet0/s1600/t3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7teHwGtuhsCnsVoipcjh3O3jRvB9ugVhHOLPaQYqngUNRCdQU6ekh4m4aHvd2FyHtDTkNhGcDDRkwKxAexeNl3y1u-QQ4sbq86IuzQ5ankfw8uxa7JhBcdBYdv760u0nqIXaCcSooet0/s1600/t3.jpg" width="168" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #073763;">year: 1996 rating: ***1/2</span></b></td></tr> </tbody></table> <i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">“It’s really hard to define yourself in this big movie competing with special effects,” actor Scott Thomson, who plays one of several storm chasers, said in a Cult Film Freak interview. “The star of the show is the TWISTER.”</span></i><br /> <br /> And we can’t forget the flying cow that really made a lasting, iconic impression although there are many other great visuals: including an assortment of tornadoes that practically become living/breathing movie monsters...<br /> <br /> The aesthetics aside, TWISTER is a character-driven film, literally. And while there are an assortment of storm riders aboard the dilapidated mobile caravan, the two leads are Bill Paxton’s Bill Harding and his soon-to-be-ex wife Jo, played by Helen Hunt.<br /> <br /> The story begins with Bill seeking one last signature to finalize the divorce. Here we meet the intrepid team, highlighted by Philip Seymour Hoffman as Dusty, an energetic, classic rock blaring hippie slob, randomly goading the uptight Jami Getz as Bill's naïve, tagalong fiancé who is actually quite important: during most of the film, it's through her shocked eyes we experience what the others are completely used to....   <br /> <br /> Especially Helen Hunt’s Jo, who, during the intense childhood prelude, loses her dad to a farmland tornado… Her story goes slightly beyond Bill’s determination to prove his contraption/invention <i>Dorothy</i> can, when whisked up into the sky, learn specific information so that, in the future, people will have more than a two-minute storm warning. In this story Jo has her own revenge angle... Tornado chasing is not only science, it's deeply personal! Then again Bill's idea had been ripped off by his corporate scheming rival (Cary Elwes), adding motivation and dimension to his character.  <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZaJGAByW95GUCeyBiNxlxuqf3n-XlryHxSSKKAyVFW-71YQRhGk2HfacGkT9eMbeT5P-NQRwG3w677AL1lZX88eCO2B58aqCRLmw2Wta_AtrS-JCL2rBIDAzu-pZsnQCMb9aOJyZmv_U/s1600/t2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZaJGAByW95GUCeyBiNxlxuqf3n-XlryHxSSKKAyVFW-71YQRhGk2HfacGkT9eMbeT5P-NQRwG3w677AL1lZX88eCO2B58aqCRLmw2Wta_AtrS-JCL2rBIDAzu-pZsnQCMb9aOJyZmv_U/s1600/t2.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #073763;">Philip Seymour Hoffman</span></b></td></tr> </tbody></table> A defining attribute of TWISTER is it's constantly on the go... At the same time, an impending sense of doom lurks throughout… Like when the people are on land in JAWS, we never forget where the real danger exists and what's always waiting for us. Thus this roving, suspenseful yarn – even during brief pockets of downtime – relies on the quirky crew stalking a formidable menace that normal folks hide from... And the audience rides shotgun the entire trip.  <br /> <br /> Thankfully, executive producer Steve Spielberg wasn’t finished with author Michael Crichton after his sublime, successful adaptation of JURASSIC PARK… With TWISTER, SPEED driver Jan de Bont directed something special that, although maligned as corny and far fetched despite a huge box office draw, still holds up today: like an actual storm, the adventure begins with a breezy introduction, slowly escalates into a wind-swept cadence and eventually blasts off into several thrilling crescendos. <br /> <br /> Sure, it's a bit much when the tornado becomes a determined, lone antagonist, chasing our two main characters like the end of a cliché horror flick, and the dialogue gets silly and downright contrived, but that's all part of the escapist fun that should keep you completely entertained from start to finish... if you let it! <br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitzbppyrEjnJAIyFQuYcp-_U5FIBPGxo0YzXyCwdDUhmV9WSByLtASNI6sSuZal5IQwnx_quhZCDofTE8mMkM8o6-OvJ5Tx0K9HVe4H6ZcRO3JwsdlxKIjuM_PSRBPuIxr1v6HXj_BLAg/s1600/t7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitzbppyrEjnJAIyFQuYcp-_U5FIBPGxo0YzXyCwdDUhmV9WSByLtASNI6sSuZal5IQwnx_quhZCDofTE8mMkM8o6-OvJ5Tx0K9HVe4H6ZcRO3JwsdlxKIjuM_PSRBPuIxr1v6HXj_BLAg/s1600/t7.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #666666; color: white;">Character Actor SCOTT THOMSON discusses working on the hit film TWISTER</span></b></td></tr> </tbody></table> <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #666666; color: white;">This was a real ensemble... There were a whole lot of you on board...</span></b><br /> <br /> Yeah, we’re kind of divided into two camps… Bill and Helen played the parents of all of us storm chasers… The other, Cary Elwes’ team, is the evil team with all the technology.<br /> <br /> We’re the affectionate, scrappy, <i>we’ll do anything including risking your lives in the name of science</i> group, and the adrenaline rush of throwing yourself into a tornado… And yeah, that was a very tricky situation in which all of us on Helen’s team were kind of like, I don’t know... What’s that Greek mythology creature? The one body with the… oh, it’s the Hydra… We were kind of like a Hydra… We were all joined at the shoulders. <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwF4OjuyhGx6KYBKtvHyNz7jz5pMK4ITo9YNBewuDgdtKa5EPc-pF0tb_LBYD2-tbdvUrEDuj6HONckYg8MISG_1GT7SFB4LaTfEW9X2wNDgU3TbQVCJgxwoPekiTyiqCTOHvQPy1_MMY/s1600/336513_full.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwF4OjuyhGx6KYBKtvHyNz7jz5pMK4ITo9YNBewuDgdtKa5EPc-pF0tb_LBYD2-tbdvUrEDuj6HONckYg8MISG_1GT7SFB4LaTfEW9X2wNDgU3TbQVCJgxwoPekiTyiqCTOHvQPy1_MMY/s1600/336513_full.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #666666; color: white;">Philip Seymour Hoffman with Scott Thomson</span></b></td></tr> </tbody></table> When I read the script, I thought, if I ever played Dusty, that’s the part to have because there’s something there to play… Philip Seymour Hoffman came in and did a bang-up job... We were kind of envying him because he had all the… You know, he had a lot of fun. <br /> <br /> <b><span style="background-color: #666666; color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: #cccccc; color: #073763;">Your character is nicknamed The Preacher... What's the reason for that?</span> </span></b><br /> <br /> It was never really defined, to my frustration… I tried talking to the director, Jan de Bont, a nice guy from Holland… His background is a cinematographer, basically, and he’d come out with SPEED and everyone had embraced him because that was an amazing action film, so he was recruited for TWISTER… <br /> <br /> But he wasn’t really interested in getting into the minutia of our characters. I tried to get some time with him... I’d say: “I’m called The Preacher… So this is my take… I feel like I’m a preacher’s son who went over to the <i>dark side</i> of science and yet still had my roots in my Baptist Evangelist background.” But there was no time to explore that… And I tried, but, what are you gonna do?<br /> <br /> I usually just tell people I was the guy in the cow suit. <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoR9rNxgXpcv1RlnpPZDR8ds30SiqCm-8uME8IjEARhnchK8HFbscdPFdC8iagDXZinHkEUDOjLTmlUOmfjO0DRLPfzcw4dyU60p3wYP2ydhroGGoyV7TWYZ6LKnqHVWNhFb6K9oBuLaY/s1600/title00_102852608.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="274" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoR9rNxgXpcv1RlnpPZDR8ds30SiqCm-8uME8IjEARhnchK8HFbscdPFdC8iagDXZinHkEUDOjLTmlUOmfjO0DRLPfzcw4dyU60p3wYP2ydhroGGoyV7TWYZ6LKnqHVWNhFb6K9oBuLaY/s1600/title00_102852608.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="background-color: #666666;">"Philip Seymour Hoffman came in and did a bang-up job" Scott Thomson</b></span></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgqcnOXw89zogpJvvK6_1Zycb6aYDF7IsSBq-TQ10OO5lIUHPz2VWcb76AluhizEl2ZJP3WFUKzTMUAhf-1I4FAc3pmu0Baa7g9zrRNC9SyZB_axXXs1vDeffxA6-z56hlGXdZn2RGvZU/s1600/214689.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgqcnOXw89zogpJvvK6_1Zycb6aYDF7IsSBq-TQ10OO5lIUHPz2VWcb76AluhizEl2ZJP3WFUKzTMUAhf-1I4FAc3pmu0Baa7g9zrRNC9SyZB_axXXs1vDeffxA6-z56hlGXdZn2RGvZU/s1600/214689.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><span style="color: #073763;"><b>1989 rating: ***</b></span></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><span style="color: white;"><i><b style="background-color: #666666;">And here's a bonus archived review, more of a write-up, actually, of a movie with the same title that probably has its own faithful following...</b></i></span></span><br /> <br /> Let's just say that often, in the cinematic sense, weird has gotten a bad time. When weird is too weird, or weird for the sake of being weird, it's a complete waste of time.<br /> <br /> But in the 1989 independent film, TWISTER, which has little to do with a tornado and nothing to do with the Helen Hunt movie about people chasing them (that came out several years later), gives weird a good name.<br /> <br /> Centering on a dysfunctional, eccentric family in Cleveland living in a mansion: the father played by Harry Dean Stanton who owns a soda pop factory and his two kids: Crispin Glover, who sits around strumming his guitar and acting strange (like he does so well), and the self-involved daughter, Suzy Amis, who hates her life more than her boyfriend, Dylan McDermott, whose tough guy blue collar character gives the movie a firm "normal" base.<br /> <br /> The title is liken to CHINATOWN, having little to do with the plot but everything to do with the unpredictable, spontaneously existential concept. So for fans of weird, this little gem is highly recommended. The dialogue is creative, perfectly suited for the quirky ensemble. And for fans of normal, perhaps it's a good change.<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6nruMdrb-Syty9Sii__rTCut0M9WxZq4Hl5ah4q7vNH54mpAyQ7BDg5t-0ey3TmoTl57N5kvKFQcR3eTc9FDjXDX3gmMg5PutmQl1G4Ay8xvyHrSoiF7PXcTamNGzQNGysP7tT0EqNqk/s1600/slice_twister_movie_image_helen_hunt_bill_paxton_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6nruMdrb-Syty9Sii__rTCut0M9WxZq4Hl5ah4q7vNH54mpAyQ7BDg5t-0ey3TmoTl57N5kvKFQcR3eTc9FDjXDX3gmMg5PutmQl1G4Ay8xvyHrSoiF7PXcTamNGzQNGysP7tT0EqNqk/s1600/slice_twister_movie_image_helen_hunt_bill_paxton_01.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><span style="color: white;"><b style="background-color: #666666;">Back to the main TWISTER, here are the stars Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton for good measure...</b></span></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/cm?t=mr0c27-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B003Y5USG4&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe> <iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/cm?t=mr0c27-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B000W4D94I&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe> <iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/cm?t=mr0c27-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B000WC3AKI&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe> <iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/cm?t=mr0c27-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B000002N7W&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe> <iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/cm?t=mr0c27-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=B0000CDLBC&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe>

action, alan ruck, bill paxton, cary elwes, ensemble, helen hunt, interview, jami gertz, michael crichton, nineties, philip seymour hoffman, scott thomson, steven spielberg, thriller

HELEN HUNT & BILL PAXTON & PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN IN TWISTER

year: 1996 rating: ***1/2 “It’s really hard to define yourself in this big movie competing with special effects,” actor Scott Thomson, w...

ROBOCOP REMAKE REBOOT REVISION

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ZensSxMlHz5VCxER5hin2VIqNPNHcS8UQW8mYEz80XV-Ztkocsl-dhyphenhyphenJj854T05IE5w-cCFXxP4fRMT2lJ7C40Fx8eOvVGwKbfS3LjVKgrB4bp6liCDf038BGhefa9YG2yfLgawD1v8/s1600/robocop.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2ZensSxMlHz5VCxER5hin2VIqNPNHcS8UQW8mYEz80XV-Ztkocsl-dhyphenhyphenJj854T05IE5w-cCFXxP4fRMT2lJ7C40Fx8eOvVGwKbfS3LjVKgrB4bp6liCDf038BGhefa9YG2yfLgawD1v8/s320/robocop.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white;">year: 2014 rating: **</span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="background-color: white;">In 2028 Detroit, crime is rampant. Although, with the exception of one cliché shootout, we never really see how bad things have become – to where robots would even be considered in the first place... </span><br /> <br /> Starting with a failed experimentation overseas, Michael Keaton’s subliminally sinister Raymond Sellars, head of “OmniCorp,” decides what reluctant America needs is a sympathetic machine over a cold, heartless robot. Meanwhile, our human hero and future steely crime fighter Alex Murphy, played by an intensely serious Joel Kinnaman, is on the beat. <br /> <br /> Soon enough his partner gets shot, and Alex is blown up from a car bomb, planted by the gang we hardly got to know and/or hate: an event occurring much quicker than the violently torturous death sequence from Paul Verhoeven's 1987 original starring Peter Weller… But there’s plenty of gore to come, in another form entirely.<br /> <br /> “I don’t want to see myself like this again… ever,” a now robotic Alex Fisher tells his own personal Dr. Frankenstein, actually Dr. Norton who, played by Gary Oldman, fully exposes the limbless, brain-wired creation sans amour. And while given loads of specific information about how the man-machine works, what’s really important is that RoboCop fights crime. But when the urban action scenes finally happen they’re rushed and lackluster: leading to Murphy’s personal vendetta to take down the gang who took him out. <br /> <br /> What should have been the main story is peripheral to the corporate chief in desperation mode, bolstered by Samuel Jackson’s over-the-top propaganda newscaster… Through all the exposition, and with an exception of a dull love story sidetrack, Robo gets lost in the shuffle.    <br /> <br /> This new fangled COP is like reading a hundred pages of instructions for a quick ten-minute ride. With so much pontificating compassion for the man inside the metal, it doesn’t seem like the filmmakers grasped or, more importantly, enjoyed the concept of a human-robot vigorously fighting crime: And if <i>they</i> don’t like it, why should the audience?

2014, cop, crime, gary oldman, michael keaton, remake, science-fiction

ROBOCOP REMAKE REBOOT REVISION

year: 2014 rating: ** In 2028 Detroit, crime is rampant. Although, with the exception of one cliché shootout, we never really see how ba...

LORD HOW BUSINESS IS GOOD FOR THE LEGO MOVIE

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbFnehOIrsc1FOEwCehcl8I8OajHiH87JmmTvsn_i6jp5j9gRr2AxRGeLmYuli5bZwtFCcU3ihmaco-0-le4PPqBI3cQ80HZBc7N0-53voZ4ClUsPSPW_gsakBtbsTq3hUK3ABUSra9Yo/s1600/lego.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbFnehOIrsc1FOEwCehcl8I8OajHiH87JmmTvsn_i6jp5j9gRr2AxRGeLmYuli5bZwtFCcU3ihmaco-0-le4PPqBI3cQ80HZBc7N0-53voZ4ClUsPSPW_gsakBtbsTq3hUK3ABUSra9Yo/s1600/lego.jpg" width="162" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white;">year: 2014 rating: *1/2</span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="background-color: white;">Only big business Hollywood could get away with naming their new ominous villain Lord Business, or how he makes himself known to commoners as, President Business… It won’t be long till children fear uptight men in stiff suits lurking beneath their bed or hiding in their closet during bedtime... </span><br /> <br /> It’s the builders verses business, literally, as our supposed Master Builder, Emmett, a dimwitted construction worker with very little creativity and an awful taste in music, reluctantly joins the ranks of an assertive girl and her band of misfits, all under the wise leadership of Morgan Freeman's Vitruvius, promising our unlikely hero he’s “chosen" to save the Lego universe from being glued together by that formidable wretch so persistent and overbearing, the movie should be named after him instead.   <br /> <br /> By far the best thing about THE LEGO MOVIE are the visual effects, intentionally choppy like the good old days of stop motion animation but even more-so: As spaceships, boats and other neat vehicles move around, it’s like they're being created before our very eyes.  <br /> <br /> Venturing from the city to the Wild West to the raging seas to the towering heart of all things sinister, there’s enough eye-candy to last a million lifetimes… And while having nostalgic fun seeing tributes to Star Wars, historical figures and comic book characters – including Batman in an important role –  it’s tough getting completely lost in a world cool enough to make you want to forget bourgeois stuff like commercialism, overpriced coffee, voting machines, cheesy television shows, and movies that break weekend box office records… <br /> <br /> Okay, well, as far as that last thing is concerned, Lord Business and Warner Brothers, Village Roadshow, Vertigo Entertainment, Lin Picture, Animal Logic, RatPac-Dune Entertainment and especially LEGO all believe in the same outcome: creativity is just fine, but big bucks are truly the bottom line…<br /> <br /> Now seriously, folks, is that concept<i> really</i>  so frightening? 

2014, computer animated, will ferrell, will forte

LORD HOW BUSINESS IS GOOD FOR THE LEGO MOVIE

year: 2014 rating: *1/2 Only big business Hollywood could get away with naming their new ominous villain Lord Business, or how he makes ...

BRADY BUNCH CHILD ACTRESS SUSAN OLSEN ON SHIRLEY TEMPLE

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdYcgX7hNb2iWdKkH2FPvJa8MkC2ov5ay71zQRtzS5VDCqXgpCh0x3zoOZ9KVVlynwjyts-NLA4zW2K8blvLYywVUuAQAc3A23GrB8Sz2TkkoTTyF6rTFf1yUMrHXaXxhiwWfgdOAPFkQ/s1600/bedea93edff51004_MV5BNTYyMDQzOTQ5N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwOTU1MTAwNA_._V1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdYcgX7hNb2iWdKkH2FPvJa8MkC2ov5ay71zQRtzS5VDCqXgpCh0x3zoOZ9KVVlynwjyts-NLA4zW2K8blvLYywVUuAQAc3A23GrB8Sz2TkkoTTyF6rTFf1yUMrHXaXxhiwWfgdOAPFkQ/s320/bedea93edff51004_MV5BNTYyMDQzOTQ5N15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTcwOTU1MTAwNA_._V1.jpg" width="242" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Susan Olsen as Cindy Brady</td></tr> </tbody></table> There was a generation who didn't grow up watching Shirley Temple films, but everyone still knew who she was: An adorable, talented child starlet who sang songs and made the whole world smile...<br /> <br /> So it took another cute little actress, this one from a popular television series, to teach and/or remind us of Shirley Temple... And that's Susan Olsen as Cindy Brady, the youngest one in curls on THE BRADY BUNCH...<br /> <br /> In the episode THE SNOOPERSTAR, a curious, troublesome Cindy is paid back for peaking into her older sister Marcia's diary... The revenge-minded teen writes a mock entry about a talent scout searching for the next Shirley Temple... Cindy, believing this very tall tale, "auditions" for <i>lovey</i> herself, Natalie Schafer from GILLIGAN'S ISLAND... And in memorial to Shirley Temple's passing, here's an <i>interview selection with Susan Olsen</i> taken from a Cult Film Freak archive... <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8-uDDJ_yJVttRA7Pq6f64EuvPZcxiEGr9wu_bzRWI94TgWnJix0p72cAXMwEygWa98OR225PDZMwcccJinsYgqvr7AzaKSQjgXzFp61Bdyv787h51_xf4JWBQkVRNNdG8EZF9DtNvmuA/s1600/158690.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8-uDDJ_yJVttRA7Pq6f64EuvPZcxiEGr9wu_bzRWI94TgWnJix0p72cAXMwEygWa98OR225PDZMwcccJinsYgqvr7AzaKSQjgXzFp61Bdyv787h51_xf4JWBQkVRNNdG8EZF9DtNvmuA/s1600/158690.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Brady Bunch meets Gilligan's Island</td></tr> </tbody></table> <b>Was there any particular BRADY BUNCH episode that was difficult for you? </b><br /> <br /> The embarrassment of the Shirley Temple episode. I was too old for it. It had been an idea for me to do when I was 8 or 9 but at 12 I looked and felt like a dork singing <i>Goodship Lollypop</i>. <br /> <br /> <b>Were you already a Shirley Temple fan?</b><br /> <br /> I loved Shirley Temple when I was really little... like five. As I said above I felt very stupid playing a 12 year old who wants to be like her. I truly adore her now as a woman who grew up as a true example of how great a former child star can be.<br /> <br /> This is why you never hear of her. She had a wonderful attitude and far more of an adult career than most people know. I read her memoir and she is just so very classy and smart and forgiving of any misdeed ever done to her, a woman of true grace and dignity. She's very willingly put family first and then went on to become a diplomat and Cancer survivor. She ROCKS! I'm definitely a fan of hers NOW.<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMia9rZVgRN-Wq_PSmmv5tnyUU4siIl1-MA__ZMndaDtceYX3-ULiHQ-Ss64hsZwVlWiYpMhQZ00QZmyCA4juzHfzQlISPWihtmTPWzmAM5uDnd_Ac3d9C-QSVBkQEMSikHQONOuRo39c/s1600/apache003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMia9rZVgRN-Wq_PSmmv5tnyUU4siIl1-MA__ZMndaDtceYX3-ULiHQ-Ss64hsZwVlWiYpMhQZ00QZmyCA4juzHfzQlISPWihtmTPWzmAM5uDnd_Ac3d9C-QSVBkQEMSikHQONOuRo39c/s1600/apache003.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rest in Peace Shirley Temple</td></tr> </tbody></table>

shirley temple, susan olsen, tribute

BRADY BUNCH CHILD ACTRESS SUSAN OLSEN ON SHIRLEY TEMPLE

Susan Olsen as Cindy Brady There was a generation who didn't grow up watching Shirley Temple films, but everyone still knew who she ...

OTTER & FLOUNDER GO UP THE CREEK

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4vcZDO3Cje2NiJuzI8a2gqNXG0G-l7eCpVUal6JZrCW5Ig6MlAbhHPrVGJ3Fk6KM15ZZwTQ-w7Qg6ccj_R1QjyXuQOAFe4MoqsxPLOW4TdI9FNTcWejWZ9SbfoTOnNUWMAuMDpc6joOE/s1600/51QFJkAVHSL._SL500_SY300_.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4vcZDO3Cje2NiJuzI8a2gqNXG0G-l7eCpVUal6JZrCW5Ig6MlAbhHPrVGJ3Fk6KM15ZZwTQ-w7Qg6ccj_R1QjyXuQOAFe4MoqsxPLOW4TdI9FNTcWejWZ9SbfoTOnNUWMAuMDpc6joOE/s400/51QFJkAVHSL._SL500_SY300_.jpg" width="217" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1984 rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> A year following this neglected outdoor comedy, Tim Matheson would ask Chevy Chase to kill him in FLETCH. Chase was originally designed for OTTER in ANIMAL HOUSE, a part that made Matheson, a former child actor who was growing into various roles like a bad cop in MAGNUM FORCE, a household name... but only where cool people live.<br /> <br /> In FLETCH, Matheson looked somewhere in his late thirties, playing an established businessman. Here he's a broke, grungy college slacker and actually looks much younger than in FLETCH but way too old to be a student. But that's probably intentional: He's one of four buddies stuck in a nowhere university sent by John Hillerman's stuffy Dean on a river rafting race, a win garnering not only free degrees but a chance to defeat a quartet of jerky blonde dudes: UP THE CREEK spends the first half partying on land and the second trudging downriver. It's splendidly vapid entertainment most of the way through, providing terrific action shots along the roaring rapids while either the catchy Cheap Trick title track blares, or that theme's variation plays via triumphant orchestration.<br /> <div> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> Stephen Furst, our second ANIMAL HOUSE alumni, chews scenery as a fat guy who lives and loves to eat... imagine if the passive Flounder took "rowdy fat guy lessons" from John Belushi's Bluto and passed with flying colors. While Dan Monahan, best known as Pee Wee of PORKY'S fame, adds little more than a smiling face. And GHOSTBUSTERS hottie Jennifer Runyan is fitfully pouty as Matheson's conquest, only she's much too easy to win over... <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD1QhpP7YCc7anlWIFrgG-SvdXNOekw0b3uk6oV5Y2h3I2bI76lLC-lZrvS6hjYuxu34stuzmfQd6E94Mv-63XNABvxU3L6GP5ispSerXNkgA7lX1sEQmkPUYyfpWivhYLQn6Q6bOEhxo/s1600/Up+the+Creek+Lobby+Card_8.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD1QhpP7YCc7anlWIFrgG-SvdXNOekw0b3uk6oV5Y2h3I2bI76lLC-lZrvS6hjYuxu34stuzmfQd6E94Mv-63XNABvxU3L6GP5ispSerXNkgA7lX1sEQmkPUYyfpWivhYLQn6Q6bOEhxo/s1600/Up+the+Creek+Lobby+Card_8.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">Action Scene</td></tr> </tbody></table> During the crashing of a lodge/tavern, there's not much our cocky womanizer can't accomplish... yet Otter fans know he's a lot funnier with more obstacles to climb.<i> </i>And the expendable fourth banana played the bitter SPACEBALLS nose job doctor who needs to work on his putts... Sandy Helberg is the quirky oddball of the group, and much more likable than funny.<br /> <br /> Slowing down the pace is gung ho military zealot, head of a rogue army troop initially hired to thwart the competition: Almost the entire final half centers on this unfunny jerk, especially after kidnapping one of the good guys. After a while you'll wonder what happened to the conceited preppies or their banal beauties (including REVENGE OF THE NERDS "That's My Pie" girl Julia Montgomery): Thus if UP THE CREEK stuck to the rapids and spent less time with unfunny rivals and a charade-playing pooch, it would be a far more satisfying venture. Instead, throughout many VHS-only years and finally Warner Archive DVD-available, CREEK remains in that cinematic <i>purgatory of confusion</i>: was it a failed commercial comedy or an intentionally corny cult flick all along? Either way, despite the flaws, this party still provides a fun, steady beat. To quote a Beatles track: <i>"Turn off your mind, relax and float downstream...</i>" Very sound advice!<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIanlSpu5NAtYBwR6TAFd9rKix9VMje6Z9pz68ONQEjuBqPA-wVkEIdKsH2YbSbutmtr30C5JKt0uc8MsScqTszURyOAUZhSNbnEK3NPI4KyBnv3OcYA4DL15eKD3vaXjZvR_4A9X3X7c/s1600/creek.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIanlSpu5NAtYBwR6TAFd9rKix9VMje6Z9pz68ONQEjuBqPA-wVkEIdKsH2YbSbutmtr30C5JKt0uc8MsScqTszURyOAUZhSNbnEK3NPI4KyBnv3OcYA4DL15eKD3vaXjZvR_4A9X3X7c/s1600/creek.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stephen Furst, Tim Matheson, Sandy Helberg and Dan Monahan in UP THE CREEK</td></tr> </tbody></table> </div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVcJrG29YeyHBg1xgJRc_nTLkzZm32gaqrlFc3OdGl9Kng8OAFJjJbmF9CwfwTeGIgy4JnjTMACkSRbbrjqnug9fzG7AAy0DCoyURMG_x8CAfyV2KwtV_OQ7RyBnUF9p2iiF0HXV8ZSVI/s1600/up-the-creek.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="508" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVcJrG29YeyHBg1xgJRc_nTLkzZm32gaqrlFc3OdGl9Kng8OAFJjJbmF9CwfwTeGIgy4JnjTMACkSRbbrjqnug9fzG7AAy0DCoyURMG_x8CAfyV2KwtV_OQ7RyBnUF9p2iiF0HXV8ZSVI/s1600/up-the-creek.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tim Matheson with Jennifer Runyan in UP THE CREEK</td></tr> </tbody></table>

college, comedy, dan monohan, eighties, john hillerman, stephen furst, tim matheson

OTTER & FLOUNDER GO UP THE CREEK

year: 1984 rating: *** A year following this neglected outdoor comedy, Tim Matheson would ask Chevy Chase to kill him in FLETCH. Chase w...