This is a movie which fell under the same category as SPARTAN. That is to say, it is a film I remember seeing years ago at a movie night, remember liking enough to purchase (though I was less discriminating in those days with my money) and remembered little about it, save for a scene or two which hunkered in tight in a part of my brain which is saved for unnecessary movie knowledge. But I was in the mood for a thriller, so here we go (with SOME SPOILERS)…
I am a big Alex Proyas fan, thanks mostly to his work on DARK CITY, though I also appreciate the fun of I, ROBOT and the atmosphere of THE CROW. In 2009, he directed KNOWING, which received its share of bad reviews. I figured, though, I could give any sci-fi/action flick a shot. Warning: SPOILERS AHEAD!
I was stuck at work last night because we had to run down That Stupid ECLIPSE Movie to make sure it works. Once all the customers left, I figured I could take some time to watch a movie I wanted to see, and not TSEM. On the plus side, I finally caught the A-TEAM. On the minus side, I found out the sound in theater 3 wasn’t working so I watched it without surround sound.
So a Bogart/Huston movie I’d never seen, heck never even heard of, came across Turner Classics this past week. Was happy to watch this film which released between two of his great classics, THE MALTESE FALCON and CASABLANCA.
Here’s a case of ‘it can’t possibly be as bad as I’ve heard’. People coming out of this movie last summer hated it. Critics hated it. Comic book fans hated it. It seemed as though they actually did worse than the third X-MEN installment. But the Wolverine origin story had been playing on HBO and I figured I’d at least check it out. How bad could it be?
Continue reading ‘johnlink ranks X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE (2009)’
Had a bunch of stuff clogging up the DVR and Liz and I decided to knock something off of it. A light thriller seemed to be something desirable, so we went with STATE OF PLAY. We were pleasantly surprised to find a well above-average, if not perfect, political thriller with themes of media role in today’s society.
Caught an old 90s standby today. I consider Kevin Smith an important part of the 90s independent movement, but I am not sold on all his work. I haven’t watched any of his films in years, but always considered CHASING AMY and DOGMA the top of the list, and CLERKS a step below. MALLRATS next, and then the others after that. It had been too long since I watched this, his debut film.
After stomaching the brutal, emotional marathon that is ANTICHRIST, Liz and I needed something a little more popcorn-inspired to wind down our evening with. For Liz, that means watching the first thirty-five minutes of a movie she is very familiar with before falling asleep, for me that means staying awake because I am a completest and can’t fathom not finishing what I started, even if it would be much smarter to just go to bed.
This is a film which demands discussion. This is not I, ROBOT or TRANSFORMERS or even something like Hitchcock’s TO CATCH A THIEF. No, ANTICHRIST needs to be talked about and figured on. But you need to see it in order to participate. There are spoilers below, so see it before reading. Know that there are two versions. A squirm-inducing unedited film and a still brutal, but more stomachable version. The latter is playing on IFC (and would still earn a hard R) and is the version this ranking uses. Again, SPOILERS BELOW, so jump at your own risk except maybe to view the trailer.
I’m a huge fan of the Daniel Day-Lewis version of the same title. I had heard there were older versions, but they were certainly off my radar. This 1920 edition popped up on Turner Classic Movies and I put it on my DVR. It stayed there awhile before I got to it on a lazy Wednesday afternoon. This version of the film is not to be confused with the 1920 German version with Bela Lugosi.
Continue reading ‘johnlink ranks THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS (1920)’
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