Everyone has holes in their film seeing world. I haven’t watched anything from Bollywood. I haven’t seen very many musicals. I’ve seen very little of the 30s-40s western genre. All of those I am fine with. But, somehow, I’ve got a big gaping hole in my film knowledge which houses Sidney Poitier. For some reason his films never made it onto my syllabi when I got my film degree, and I just haven’t sought out his stuff. But, now that I have seen THE DEFIANT ONES, that will change.
I was a high school student to wrap up the 20th century. I was a high school student with a sister who managed a movie theater. I was a high school student with a love for movies. I was a high school student who saw a LOT of movies. I was a high school student who also saw a lot of BAD movies. Somehow, though, I never got around to seeing PAYBACK. In 1999, Mel Gibson was not only crazy, he was a huge star. So the thought that he might have mad a bad movie initially kept me away, because I didn’t want to… I don’t know… tarnish my thought of his other movies. Or something. High school students can be dumb. Or maybe that was just THIS high school student who was dumb. Anyway, I finally saw PAYBACK.
As the sound era was in its infancy, Hollywood was figuring out how to reinvent (or in some cases, just invent) its genres. THE BIG HOUSE was released in 1930 as the first major prison film of the sound era. It would prove to be a majorly influential film for the prison sub-genre going forward. 
Continue reading ‘johnlink ranks THE BIG HOUSE (1930)~’
Eh, what the heck, right? I mean, outside of the SyFy channel, there aren’t all that many movies out there about tornados. So if one gets a theatrical release it has to be at least half way decent… right?
In America, there are certain things that we sort of compartmentalize in order to maintain our dignity. Certainly the internment camps of World War II serve as an example. Slavery is another. Even now, just calling an Armenian slaughter a genocide is no-go politically because we don’t want to make our friends mad. Without question, though, one of the great black marks on American righteousness is the use of two atomic bombs on civilian populations to end World War II. Well-meaning folks can debate the necessity of dropping the bombs. But, without question, the choice marked an absolute slaughter of many innocent people who’s only crime was being a Japanese citizen. WHITE LIGHT / BLACK RAIN is a documentary about the bombs and the survivors.
Continue reading ‘WHITE LIGHT / BLACK RAIN: THE DESTRUCTION OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI (2007)’
I saw a whole bunch of scenes from this back in my previous job at the movie theater. It looked funny enough that I thought I would give it a shot at some point. Happened upon it the other night and gave it a go.
Hey, what do ya know? Another Liam Neeson action flick. Why do they keep getting made? Well, despite some flaws, they are usually good for a couple hours of entertainment. This one all takes place on a plane. So, sure, I’ll always give something like that a look.
Even though this was clearly a movie which starred a couple of guys WELL past their prime, I have to admit that I’ve kinda, sorta wanted to see this since it came out anyway. Last night, I finally did.
I’ve always liked this little thriller. It was made at an interesting time in terms of accessibility of celebrity, it was made at an interesting time for its stars, and it is a quirky left jab of a film. It’s been six years and two weeks since I’ve seen this movie – it was an early ranking in the infancy of johnlinkmovies – so I’m glad to get back at it.
This sounded like the sort of horror movie on the edge of where I can enjoy something versus hate watching it. I’m just nt a fan of the torture genre. This promised to be a tough, gritty, revenge flick. On the other hand, it had received quite a bit of positive response from horror fans. I gave it a run, but tentatively so.
Continue reading ‘johnlink ranks THE SEASONING HOUSE (2012)’
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