I’ve been meaning to see HUGO since it came out in theaters. I suppose three years isn’t too bad of a time frame. Being Christmas night the other night, my wife and I were in the mood for a movie with a certain kind of magic. I’m not always a fan of Christmas movies, but there is this whole genre of movies which are made in a way which makes it feel like that sort of a special time. HUGO, fortunately, was one such film.
Haven’t done a two-for-one article in many years, but this seemed like the right time. I’ve ranked both of the HUNGER GAMES movies before, and just watched them consecutively in preparation for seeing the third movie this weekend. Since I’ve considered them separately (and the first one twice, no less), it made sense to look at them as a two movie arc.
With all of the hoopla surrounding THE INTERVIEW over the last couple of weeks, I thought it might be interesting to visit another Hollywood movie which considers North Korea: RED DAWN. I saw the original for the first time a few years ago. It wasn’t bad. Not sure it needed to be remade. But when has that ever stopped a studio from remaking something anyway?
My wife and I had the exciting task of putting together a dollhouse tonight in anticipation of Christmas later this week. We decided to throw on something we knew well enough to keep in the background. Naturally, we got sucked into it and barely managed to build the thing over the course of 100 minutes. Happy Holidays everyone!
I try and watch a new version of CHRISTMAS CAROL every year. I’ve managed to do it more than I haven’t, which isn’t too hard considering there seem to be hundreds of versions. This one, SCROOGE, is from 1935 and it stars a man who had been playing the character for years on stage, and had even done a silent version years earlier: Seymour Hicks.
I happened upon this recent Japanese yakuza action flick late at night. It promised fast paced action with plenty of crazy happenings. For energy, it seemed to fall somewhere between the seriousness of THE DEPARTED and the pure action of something like TRANSPORTER. Turns out it is much closer to THE DEPARTED, though with less lofty thoughts on life.
Continue reading ‘johnlink ranks AUTOREIJI (OUTRAGE) (2010)’
I don’t watch enough character driven stuff anymore. My movie watching has been so geared towards distraction and entertainment that the titles gracing these pages has become a seeming parade of horror, thriller, sic-fi, action, etc. I’m not sure how it has become that, but every so often you see a really well made movie which, unexpectedly, reminds you of why you love movies. THE SPECTACULAR NOW was that for me last night.
Continue reading ‘johnlink ranks THE SPECTACULAR NOW (2013)’
This decade old thriller about a serial killer who kills serial killers is a movie I’d circled and considered watching a few times. I finally did, though not for any particular reason. Just in the mode from something of that vibe. I really had no idea if this was any good when I started it…
I’ve been in non-stop play reading mode for the last month as I figure out what the heck I’m going to direct here for the next year or so. I stumbled across this movie, a two person film, written and directed by a playwright I respect: Neil LaBute. Despite thinking his words always read well on a page, I’ve never actually seen any of his work performed. I figured this Stanley Tucci/Alice Eve star vehicle would be a good entry into his stuff.
Continue reading ‘johnlink ranks SOME VELVET MORNING (2013)’
I’m annoyed that they tried to change the title of this movie for the DVD release. If you can’t decide on a title before a movie hits theaters, you shouldn’t get to change the title after that. EDGE OF TOMORROW may be too grand and abstract an idea for a Hollywood sic-fi movie, but that doesn’t mean you get to push the reset button and start calling it LIVE. DIE. REPEAT. just because you want to. All that said, I’m really glad I finally saw this movie.
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