This is one of those 90s action flicks that is certainly not remembered as a classic, but is a decent enough distraction. I’d seen it a couple of times, but was looking for something late at night to kill an hour and a half. I was in the mood for Morgan Freeman. Boom. Done.
This is a movie which I never, ever, ever would have thought would find its way onto this series of movie rankings. This is a movie starring Zac Efron (from HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL) in the role of Matthew Perry as a high school senior. When Chandler loses his way in life, a weird old janitor makes him… wait for it… wait for it… 17 AGAIN. If I had energy to get up off the couch and get the remote I wouldn’t have even started it. But, well, I watched it.
This is the first thing I’ve seen in theaters all year. The first since HARRY POTTER last November. That’s all you need to know how much I wanted to love this. The first SCREAM is a landmark film in the horror genre. It turned me on to the writing of Kevin Williamson, and it defined a certain kind of movie of the 90s. The second film was good, but had some flaws. The third film was junk. They took a full decade off before coming back to the series. I wanted this film to be everything the first one was, but for the new remake or torture porn flicks which have permeated the horror genre since the first trilogy.
With the prequel coming out which, supposedly, honors the story of the original trilogy, I thought I would revisit the X-MEN series. I’ve seen the first one many times, and remember it as a solid introductory story. I’ve seen the second one a few times, and remember liking it better than the first. And I’ve seen the third one just once, in theaters, and remember it as garbage which ruined a potentially great trilogy. Why can’t comic book movies get the third one right? Anyway, onto the write-up for the first one…
Been a long window between movies. Between working, writing and directing a show, and being home with Liz and Quinn, movies have sadly dropped off the radar for a bit. But I am coming out of that funk, starting with a documentary I’ve long wanted to see, LOOKING FOR RICHARD.
Continue reading ‘johnlink ranks LOOKING FOR RICHARD (1996)’
I’ve seen more irreverent (or maybe just irrelevant) comedies this year than I have in the past couple years combined. COP OUT is another of those. This is the Kevin Smith movie, which Kevin Smith didn’t write, about two bumbling cops played by Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan. Since THE WHOLE NINE YARDS, I’d give any Bruce Willis comedy a go. But since THE WHOLE TEN YARDS, I am fully aware that a Bruce Willis comedy can also suck.
To be honest, I wasn’t all that excited when this film was released. I’d never watched the American version of THE OFFICE or 30 ROCK and hadn’t seen SNL in fifteen years, so the Steve Carell and Tina Fey pairing didn’t do anything for me. It looked like a romantic comedy, and I’m iffy on those. But I’ve since watched a bunch of THE OFFICE and grew an appreciation for Carell, and saw a few scenes from the movie and learned it’s more of a romantic-action-comedy. Liz and I were up for a little distraction, and this seemed to fit the bill.
I hadn’t seen this film since my Film 101 class back in my Film Studies days. I remember having had a rough night the evening previous, and nodding off in between the mutiny and the famous Odessa Steps sequence. After watching THE UNTOUCHABLES a month ago, POTEMKIN had been on my mind. I stumbled across it on YouTube, and was able to watch the entire film online. Which was great, save for the commercial breaks which were automatically placed at regular time intervals, and so it cut directly in the middle of the Steps sequence. Bad film karma, YouTube!
Continue reading ‘johnlink ranks BRONENOSETS POTYOMKIN (BATTLESHIP POTEMKIN) (1925)’
Despite hearing mostly negative feedback about this film, I was still mildly excited when it popped up on HBOHD. What I had seen of it in theaters was sure nice to look at (though I was usually seeing it from the booth with no sound), but I had heard the CGI was rough, taking away from everything else. But I gave it a go anyway!
Guilty pleasure warning! I’ve been working on a show at the high school which deals with the mindset of young adults as they graduate high school and prepare to move on in the world. It has definitely brought me back to that time in my life. Watching TEACHING MRS. TINGLE was, I think, a subconscious reflection of that. Watching SHE’S ALL THAT while sick and trying to go to sleep was more conscious. I was pretty sure I would fall asleep in the first ten minutes, but it sucked me right in.
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