And Interstellar, too.
Don't be silly.... Was not the worst movie in a year where you were given films such as 300: Rise of an Empire, Transformers: Age of Extinction, The Legend of Hercules, The Monuments Men, Pompeii, Blended, Into the Storm among others...Quoting Grouchy (view post)
Movies released the same year as Blackhat: Mortdecai, The Human Centipede III, The Cobbler, The Gallows, Fantastic 4, Tracers, Get Hard, Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, Jem and the Holograms...Quoting Dukefrukem (view post)
Movies released the same year as Public Enemies: Transylmania, Old Dogs, Miss March, The Unborn, Bride Wars, Did You Hear About the Morgans?, THe Ugly Truth, Dragonball: Evolution, Obsessed, Alvin and the Chipmunks 2, I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, Madea Goes to Jail, I Love You Beth Cooper
I mean, play fair.
Last 10 Movies Seen
(90+ = canonical, 80-89 = brilliant, 70-79 = strongly recommended, 60-69 = good, 50-59 = mixed, 40-49 = below average with some good points, 30-39 = poor, 20-29 = bad, 10-19 = terrible, 0-9 = soul-crushingly inept in every way)
Run (2020) 64
The Whistlers (2019) 55
Pawn (2020) 62
Matilda (1996) 37
The Town that Dreaded Sundown (1976) 61
Moby Dick (2011) 50
Soul (2020) 64
Heroic Duo (2003) 55
A Moment of Romance (1990) 61
As Tears Go By (1988) 65
Stuff at Letterboxd
Listening Habits at LastFM
I will. Eventually.Quoting StuSmallz (view post)
1941 is really bad. Interstellar is excellent. More on this, later.
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I also liked and saw Transformers: Age of Extinction on the big screen.
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Miami Vice (2006, Michael Mann)
So keep in mind I have only seen a few episodes of the original TV series, and that I am a 90s kid which means I lack the awe that an 80s kid would have for Miami Vice. But Netflix had the 2006 film and I love Michael Mann's work, so I decided to spend two nights after work catching up on a movie that a lot of people who's opinion's I respect have recommended. Despite being messy at times I really liked, maybe even loved, Miami Vice. The style is layed on heavy in this cops and criminals thriller, and it is thick even for a Mann film. This film is a tasty hamburger where the plot is the ketchup and only exists for flavor.
Mann goes pure 1980s where the heroes wear shades and have intense gazes off into the sunset or the night sky as they head off to take down obvious villains. Gong Li and Colin Farrell's very tender and close relationship offers a nice batch of gray in this very black and white scenario, although the cops in this film are not above bending the rules. Jamie Foxx seems to be in this movie to offer a contrast to Farrell, particularly as the cop with a more stable life. The drug dealers that Crockett and Tubbs are investigating seem to be mostly background detail, although that is fine in this case. The film does not have enough run time or room to cover them anyways.
As usual, there are well shot action scenes-Mann does not get enough credit for doing those incredibly well-and plenty of gun play. There is a big shoot out later on that is very entertaining, yet I prefer the trailer park scenes because they are slow and intense. Also Farrell and Foxx are both exceptional actors, and Mann uses both of them to full effect here. Too bad this movie kind of bombed at the box office-perhaps Miami Vice only works best as a TV series.
Last edited by MadMan; 06-13-2019 at 07:25 PM.
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Catching up on this thread...
I still look forward to Mann's work even though he can be hit and miss for me. I feel like when he hits, he HITS, and when he misses, ooof, the wind off the bat blows my hair back. I don't quite seem to go with normal people's take on him, so go with a grain. (Also I was an 80s kid and watched Miami Vice every damn chance I could.)
AWESOME
-Collateral
-Heat
-Manhunter
-Miami Vice
Good
-Last of the Mohicans
-Thief
Okay
-Ali
-The Keep
Dull
-Blackhat
-Public Enemies
Bored out of my mind
-The Insider
Heh I love Thief a lot.
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I need to rewatch it (I own on dvd) but I've only seen it once.Quoting MadMan (view post)
I own the Criterion blu/DVD combo but I saw it on Netflix, first.
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I still have to see The Insider, The Keep, Ali and Blackhat.
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For my 20k post, I give you all...a review! Also taking a break for a while. Not sure when and if I'm coming back. Cheers!
Johnny Guitar (1954, Nicholas Ray)
Every so often I finally get around to viewing a Nicholas Ray film and so far I have been well rewarded every time. Some are better than others, and in this case his 1954 cult western classic Johnny Guitar might be his best, or at least one of them. What aids this picture is that Ray takes cliches and works around them while also embracing many of them at the same time. He even manages to create some new ones, and works in a romantic subplot that is more of a square than a triangle. Even though one member of it refuses to admit that she hungers for a man she openly loathes.
Naturally Johnny Guitar has those picturesque views of the old west. Yet the costume design and additional use of color rounds out things very nicely. I could look at this movie all day, and whatever transfer Hulu featured looked great. Guitar, Vienna, Dancin' Kid and his bunch are all dressed up in bright, vivid colors, while Emma, Vienna's rival, and the townspeople she manipulates are dressed in either dull or black clothes. Even though they are supposed to represent law and order in contrast to Vienna and company, if you looked only at what people were wearing in this movie you would easily peg Emma as the villain. Which incidentally she is in this movie.
In fact the Vienna-Johnny-Dancin'-Emma love affair mess probably contributed the most trouble in this movie than anything else. I got the HUAC Committee parallels however I felt that the theme of suspicion without cause is one that fits in well in any era. Oh and the angry mob descending on Vienna's home later in the film, stirred up by Emma, remains haunting and anger inducing to this day. Guilt assumed before innocence and by association is an all too common aspect of history that people tend to sweep under the rug. Best to just assert they "Deserved it" instead.
Having made film noirs before and after Ray could not help including those aspects in his western. It is really a marvel that this movie exists. There is no gun fight duel in the street, no stirring speeches or wrongs particularly righted. Yes some justice happens despite the circumstances, yet it comes too late to be truly satisfying. Unlike some of the films from it's era and genre Johnny Guitar stands apart, confusing some of it's intended audience while inspiring some like myself. Too bad Ray was so far ahead of his time, a decade or so early to a brand of western that is mostly what the genre is today.
Last edited by MadMan; 06-22-2020 at 07:05 AM.
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Reposted from my blog:
Brokeback Mountain (2005, Ang Lee)
"I wish I could quit you." Sure make all the jokes about that line yet in the context of Brokeback Mountain it cuts quickly and to the core. Jack yells it at Ennis, then instantly regrets ever saying such a thing in the next minute as Ennis breaks down. This occurs at the movie's heart and almost towards the later part of the film, a scene that is brutal and heartbreaking. I regret ever joining the other idiots in 2005 who made jokes off that line. I plead ignorance however that's little to no excuse.
Ang Lee by 2005 was an established director, and even after gifting us with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon he had more wonderful surprises up his sleeve. One of them was Brokeback Mountain, a film that reminds me of Delmer Daves' westerns, those startling picturesque melodramas created in an era long gone by. Also I thought of films such as Black Narcissus, where the characters are unable to properly fulfill their own longings. Even though Jack and Ennis have a decades long relationship neither man due to society and their own separate lives cannot find happiness with each other.
That and each man goes along with societal expectations, well at least Jack does. Ennis fails to hide who he is from his wife, although the film never quite says if his kids picked up on him being in love with a man or not. Ennis has a temper that is on display multiple times, particularly during an awe inspiring fireworks scene that literally reflects the fireworks going on his own life.
Despite being focused on the two male leads the movie still has time for others, also concentrating on the women in the men's lives. Alma grows to resent Ennis for not being around enough and uncovers his secret all too easily. Meanwhile Lureen either seems all to willing to ignore who Jack is or she focused too much on her business. Either way she seems the clichéd dutiful wife focused primarily on her business. I thought it was interesting how the movie only really showcases Ennis' one daughter of the two, Alma Jr., although perhaps that's due to only having so much time I suppose.
Jack on the other hand mostly keeps himself almost under wraps, only truly showing blatant emotion several times. The two men seem to be apart even when they're together, and yet in a different time and place maybe things could have worked out. Perhaps that may have been the case, yet no one knows for sure. Life has an awfully funny way of working out, typically not in our favor.
Ang Lee has created a modern classic, one that still affects the viewer 16 years later. He adds to both the western and drama genres, and he reminds me of what I discover as a young man: Wyoming is so beautiful words cannot describe it at all. I can relate to Ennis' struggle to find a meaningful relationship and connection with someone, and clearly the only person he ever landed with happened to be Jack. That's something anyone straight, gay or otherwise can relate to easily.
Blog!
And it's happened once again
I'll turn to a friend
Someone that understands
And sees through the master plan
But everybody's gone
And I've been here for too long
To face this on my own
Well, I guess this is growing up