I loved this film. It's really, really bad, but easily one of the funniest films I've seen recently. For some strange reason it's set a mere seven years into the future from 1990, 1997, during a heat wave and gang war in LA. The fact that it's in the future doesn't add much to the story, but I guess the cars look a little different. And the guns. Danny Glover is wound up in the most ridiculous way and for no justifiable reason. One minute he climbs out of a gangster's limo in a cloud of smoke and tells them to lay of the ganj as he goes to see a mystic informant, and the next he's rushing around mad and wound up for no reason like a raging paranoiac with a fear of heights and no time to masturbate who curses birds. Bill Paxton is also ridiulous as his short-lived up and coming partner. The funniest scene in the film has him try to get in the hotboxed limo that takes Glover to the informant, before running after it and shouting "f--k!" as it drives off. I don't know, I guess he really wanted to get stoned.
It's a weird film, and does not make much sense. Danny Glover's character has an intense fear of heights that means the finale of the film is a little longer than usual. I guess it serves to give him a disadvantage to the predator but they don't use it. Instead he climbs out down a ledge and curses about how he doesn't need birds, then finds himself in a spaceship. The characters are all ridiculous, especially Glover's character, who shouts at everything and runs around talking to himself. In one scene he rushes after Gary Busey's equally frustrated agent and grabs him by the collar, but while other films would have him approach casually like a bad ass, or meet him in a corridor, this film has him run out of his office and run down stairs, barging past people, despite the fact that Busey is walking slowly away. It just looks silly and I'm sure it's intentional, because there are many other things that make no sense. In one scene Paxton and Glover are both wearing suits and trilbies, despite having never worn them before, and they never wear them again. It's just slightly bewildering, and kudos to the film makers if it was intentional, because it works without being obvious or self conscious.
I don't know, I'll definitely be watching this again, but although unique it's not as good an action film as the first Predator.
I have a thing for westerns. I think it appeals to my inner child more than any other genre except maybe sci-fi because it's set on the "frontier," or what was the frontier of the American west, which means unexplored terrain, wide open spaces, sun and adventure. Of course it's not a realistic depiction of the wild west by any means, but there's a cosy innocence to that ideal that is appealing, and a youthfulness and sense of adventure.
This is my favourite of the Anthony Mann westerns so far for a number of reasons. Like Red River it is about a journey to a new place, in this case a place for a bunch of settlers to call home. The film opens with the hero, played by James Stewart, and his roguish friend played by Arthur Kennedy defending the settlers from a group of Indians. They find themselves at Portland, a small harbour town, and then head up river to find a new land beyond the mountains. So far so corny, but beyond the beautiful cinematography, what I liked about this film is the conflict between the two leads, one of mercenary nature who likes the town life, and James Stewart's character, who's no longer cares for monetary gain and wants to live a quiet life in the new settlement. This divide is not only between the main characters but between the settlers and the greedy bandits of the local gold mine. Fate has them discover gold at just the right time so that the two are separated by their motivations, one turns to the evil of materialism and quick gains and the other follows his heart. In the end of course it's obvious how it turns out, but I liked the idea and the look of the film as much as anything, and it's one of the most entertaining.
MIA has to be one of the best TV episodes I've ever seen, and a great end to season 2. It's a pretty hard-hitting episode that deals with regret, loss and yearning, as experienced by Al when Sam finds himself in San Diego at the time that Al's wife re-marries while his younger self is rotting in a Vietcong prison camp. Al, desperate to change his life so that his wife doesn't remarry, violates his own code of conduct and tries to stop Beth Calivicci from marrying a lawyer, lying about Sam's real mission, which is actually to save a Vietnam vet and top detective from being killed in an ambush in which he freezes up due to similarities to an ambush he experienced in Vietnam. It's a great episode that's not too heavy on nostalgia, although there are hippies and drugs and Marvin Gaye's Heard it Through The Grapevine. It's an enjoyable episode, but the final scene is the best in the series so far, in which Al, invisible and unable to communicate with his ex sees her one last time, pleading with her. It's a great episode and Dean Stockwell is great in it.
So far a great series, I hope it continues to be that way, despite warnings of an infamous white rap from Dean Stockwell.
Yeah so I really like this series, and it's a great series, but Sam Beckett might as well be Jesus. He's so inherently good, so full of virtue, so boyishly innocent and without corruption that it's at times hilarious. In one episode, the second episode to deal with racism in the the deep south in the 50s might I add, Sam leaps into a lawyer defending a young black woman named Lyla accused of murdering the son of some...wealthy southern gentleman who apparently owns a a whole town. Without any prior knowledge of who he's leaped into, he pleads not guilty on her behalf, causing an uproar in the racist town. When he hears the dreaded n-bomb he takes it personally in the funniest way, shuddering, seizing up and lifting his finger and telling Captain Cod to never ever use that word again in his presence. As if Sam has any reason to take it so personally, unless I'm missing something and Sam spent some of his childhood in the ghetto. So far Sam's only weakness has been towards his old piano teacher, whom he finds himself drawn to while performing a play in another episode.
The show has plenty of lame moments, and plenty of great moments. Some episodes are very bland, some are great fun. So far the highlights have been the ghost episode, in which he leaps into a parapsychologist who has to help a grieving woman find out if her husband is haunting her. This episode has a few hysterical moments involving Al. So far my favourite episode is Good Morning, Peoria, which has Sam play a radio DJ fighting to keep rock n roll on the air against the local stuffed shirts who think it's contaminating the youth. It's helped by the great music and setting. Another highlight is a pretty daring episode in which he leaps into the body of Jimmy, a young man with down's syndrome who has to be accepted by co-workers at a new job and by his brother's wife. To himself and Al, Sam (Jimmy) is coherent and understands all that is asked of him, and yet he still makes mistakes anyway and finds himself bullied and berated by his co-workers. It's as if Jimmy is like Sam, a normal, smart person trapped within a system, and it's a thought-provoking episode.
As I said the show isn't meant to be taken seriously but there are some episodes in which Sam and Al should be causing more harm than good to the timelines of others. Throwing aside the fact that even getting in somebody's way in the street could drastically alter the lives of random people, one little girl who for some stupid reason, something about being "pure of heart" can see both Al and Sam, and the memory of a strange man impersonating her mother and claiming to be an angel who has come to help them might well confuse her mind with unanswerable questions for a long time for better or worse. But of course the writers have an excuse, because apparently the only explanation for Sam leaping into specific people and only being able to leap out when he's solved a problem is some kind of higher intelligence; basically god I guess. I guess it conveniently fills in all the plot holes, not that it matters anyway, since it's not serious and the pseudo-scientific time travel plot basically serves to have Sam and Al leap into various situations and nostalgic times in the 20th century.
It's been a while since I first watched this film, back in the days of my adolescent Tarantino obsession which had me watching Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs every second day. I saw Jackie Brown around that time, and loved it back then too, although it wasn't as striking as Pulp Fiction I really sank into it. Watching it again recently I remember why - it's one of the most chill films ever; a crime comedy that doesn't go for drama or or spectacular set pieces, set mostly in bars and apartments, with a brilliant seventies funk and soul soundtrack, comprised almost entirely of conversation that's great to listen to in that Tarantino-esque way while also continually feeding the story and character development, which all centres around money exchange with multiple players looking for a slice of the pie, from Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson, brilliantly paranoid), an arms dealer who enjoys his shaky persona as a slick, smooth criminal too much, to titular character Jackie Brown (Pam Grier) who wants to get out of working for him and live life before getting old, to her bail bondsman turned lover Max Cherry (Robert Forster) who also feels himself getting on in years, to ambitious cop Ray (Michael Keaton) who wants to put Ordell away, and finally Louis (Robert De Niro), a broken down loser just out of jail who schemes with Ordell's stoner girlfriend Melanie (Bridget Fonda) to steal the money for themselves.
A simple story but it's the characters that make it, and they're all likeable in their own ways, all funny or interesting, all with great scenes. Tarantino's trademark stylization is at it's most chill, and it works, it all feels very laid back. There are plenty of laugh out loud moments and quietly funny moments that have to be seen, bolstered by the subtle performances. It all adds up to one of the most entertaining crime films ever.
A new favourite among my favourite TV shows, it's a simple premise that doesn't always make sense logically but doesn't take itself seriously enough to try. Samuel Beckett (Scott Bakula, just a square-jawed every man hero) assembles a team of scientists including his best friend Al Calivicci (Dean Stockwell, brilliant) to undertake a time travel experiment in the desert to see if one can travel through time within the span of one's lifetime. In the pilot episode Sam ends up in the 1950s as a test pilot for an experimental jet plane trying to break mach 3. He must convince his wife, best friend and air force friends and superiors that he is test pilot Tom Stratton. In one hilarious instance he is given control of a B-29 bomber and doesn't know how to fly, so just sits while it tilts to one side, all while some hijinks music plays as the plane plummets to the Earth. Amazingly the brush this near death experience off as a joke. He meets his "neurological hologram" sidekick Al, a womanizing, cigar-smoking man. Dean Stockwell in the only role I've seen him in other than Blue Velvet, is hilarious and his reactions are priceless, as are those of Bakula sometimes, despite often being bland.
The first season is great, although some episodes are better than others. The show is at times funny and goofy, making fun of the 50s, and at other times more serious, when it tries to deal with issues of race or prejudice, like the great episode The Color of Truth, although it's always lighthearted fun. I'm a quarter of the way into season 2 at the moment, and it's getting better and better.
My favourite buddy cop film and one of my favourite films simply because of how entertaining, unusual, laid back and fun it is. This is a film that took me by surprise when I first watched it because of how chill and easygoing it is, much like character John Conner, played by Sean Connery, an eccentric detective and friend of the Japanese businessmen they're investigating, who knows the Japanese inside out and is therefore the best man for the case. It's almost comical to see Connery deal with the Japanese and give wisdom to his "Kohai" played by Wesley Snipes, knock out opponents like a ninja and spout mind-bending expressions, putting the American police department he derides to shame all the way, especially an arrogant, crooked detective played by Harvey Keitel. Connery couldn't be more perfect as he knocks out a tough body guard and then quips to the other "they say if you have to resort to violence you've already lost...would you like to find out Jeff?" He's justifiably and hilariously pleased with himself, but not the point of smugness as having learned from a superior culture as opposed to the "fragmented mtv rap video" culture of America he's basically a far better detective. The Japanese expect to be caught in Japan, but in America they take advantage because they think the American authorities are crooked and stupid, and aren't often wrong, so when a murder occurs in the Nakumora building during vital business negotiations, a weaselly, highly Americanized little subordinate thinks he can sloppily cover up a scandal with murder and forged evidence. It's up to John Conner to casually play golf with the head of the company get free membership and gain information on the Japanese' terms while Snipes learns and becomes a better detective. It's also a bit of an educational film about the way the Japanese do things, far more direct, simple and precise, and with honour of course, and I guess some kind of strange Japanese/American relations film. It's light entertainment, colourful and fun with a great cast all round, also including Steve Buscemi as a reporter who gets told by Sean Connery. Sean Connery steals the show in quite possibly my favourite performance of his so far, and it's worth watching for him alone. Also it was great to watch Ray Wise from Twin Peaks play a senator. There's a Twin Peaks reference at one point, and there's some Leland Palmer in his performance.
