This came across HBOHD as I was on the couch with a napping Quinn this morning, and I figured I’d watch it for the first time since middle school. I didn’t realize the behind-the-camera power this had, with 80s icon John Hughes writing the script and original HARRY POTTER Director Chris Columbus helming the project. Add in a memorable John Williams score, and you can see how this project had the tools for success, even before release!
This was the last of a night of silent flicks TCM aired. It took me this long to get to it for no good reason. I’ve seen big chunks of this before, I especially remember the collapsing house sequence, but this would be my first complete viewing. Man, I love me some Buster Keaton!
Continue reading ‘johnlink ranks STEAMBOAT BILL, JR. (1928)’
We did an Iocaine Project show on whether or not to support Mel Gibson. I said that his recent troubles wouldn’t keep me from watching a film I heard was good, and this falls under that category. That said, I think it may be impossible to watch him on screen without thinking ‘Wow. That guy is crazy!’ This film should have been his career resurrection from the anti-Semitic stuff, but then he had the crazy phone calls. So who knows, maybe in ten years he’ll have another shot to remake his career. I’m betting on him winning a late-in-life acting Oscar for a performance that recognizes his faults. Because, really, there is no denying that Gibson is a brilliant actor. SOME SPOILERS BELOW
I had somehow got it in my head that this was a typical 80s action flick which had Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen fighting Commies. I suppose I never looked past the cover art to see that this was actually the story of an invasion of the US and the start of WWIII and that the good guys were high school students fighting guerrilla style from the woods. Hey, you can call that a lot of things. Typical is not one of them! SPOILERS BELOW
I’m averaging one well-received foreign vampire movie a year, I guess. Last year was the great LET THE RIGHT ONE IN. This year, NIGHT WATCH. I’d heard of this one awhile, but had never tracked it down. Now, I’m going to have to find its follow up, DAY WATCH. Maybe that will be my foreign vampire movie of 2011.
Continue reading ‘johnlink ranks NOCHNOI DOZOR (NIGHT WATCH) (2004)’
So this is a movie I saw about a dozen years ago and remember really liking. It is one that comes up in conversation every so often, because I reference the ending duel as one of my favorite sword fights when I’m running a choreography workshop. But other than that duel, the 18th century Scotland setting, a rape scene, and Liam Neeson hiding in a carcass as though he was still in the STAR WARS universe, I remember little about the film.
I interrupt this unplanned series of 20s and 30s cinema for the biggest release of the weekend. This turned out to be Quinn’s first movie in theaters. One perk of being a theater manager is being able to go in and run a private screening. Liz, my mother, and I took Quinn in. But this wasn’t for him specifically. If Liz didn’t see it opening weekend, there was a chance she would have exploded.
Continue reading ‘johnlink ranks HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART 1 (2010)’
I’m not sure I should be ranking this, as it comes in at around 40ish minutes. But it was considered a feature in Chaplin’s time, and not a short, so I figure what’s good enough for he and his producers is good enough for me. In fact, he owed First National two shorts. They accepted this one feature instead, and let him out of his contract (much to their mutual delight).
I really love TCM. In the next couple of days there will be reviews of a couple of Chaplin features and a Keaton feature, all thanks to a night of silent films on the channel. First up is this feature which was Charlie Chaplin’s first feature length which he wrote, directed, and starred in (heck, he even did the music).
This is in the top five of my embarrassing list. Partly because I wanted to see it so bad, partly because it was a favorite of my favorite film professor, partly because I had told people I HAD seen it. But I finally rectified all of that. On a side note, I have even more respect for Cary Elwes’ portrayal of Robin Hood in MEN IN TIGHTS after seeing how he channeled Errol Flynn so wonderfully.
Continue reading ‘johnlink ranks THE ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD (1938)’
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