Track the Films You Watch (2006) - Page 67

Elizabeth S · 12-26-2006, 07:59 PM

[quote=Michael Elliott]As for Stallone being 60 and fighting again:

Spoiler:

I think some people misinterpreted Michael's last sentence here. . .the "he" is the opponent. I had to read it twice myself because I presumed he meant the opposite first.

george kaplan · 12-26-2006, 10:46 PM

Imagine: John Lennon

I never got a chance to see this theatrically, so this was my first viewing. It's well done, and had a smattering of footage I hadn't seen before, but nothing I really need to see again (I'd read about Al Capp, but seeing him be such a moron was almost embarrasing - his subsequent public humiliation for various adulterous activities just makes him look like even more of a horse's ass). The Beatles Anthology remains one of the few documentaries that I will actually rewatch.

george kaplan · 12-27-2006, 01:04 AM

Starman

Another big budget B movie from John Carpenter. This guy couldn't direct his way out of bed in the morning. Not my least favorite director by a long shot, but quite possibly the least talented this side of Ed Wood.

Jeff Reis · 12-27-2006, 01:05 AM

12/26 Savage Weekend (1979)

1/2 (of 5)
Dull and fairly pointless entry in the backwoods horror/slasher vein isn't quite incompetent enough to mock, but not violent or weird enough to recommend. I was convinced the lead actress was Sela Ward even though I didn't see her name in the credits. A few enjoyably strange scenes and overall gauzy 70's milieu along with some bare breasts which I thought belonged to Sela Ward elevate it from the dreaded (and rarely given by my forgiving ass) one star rating.

SteveGon · 12-27-2006, 08:55 AM

Quote:

This guy couldn't direct his way out of bed in the morning. Not my least favorite director by a long shot, but quite possibly the least talented this side of Ed Wood.

You obvious haven't watched any Ulli Lommel epics.

And I'll skedaddle before Justin comes in here with an axe.

Sandro · 12-27-2006, 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by george kaplan

Starman
This guy couldn't direct his way out of bed in the morning ..............quite possibly the least talented this side of Ed Wood.

Those are pretty harsh words even for you, George! Even those who don't like Carpenter's movie usually admit that he at least has some amount of skill and craft. What specifically leads you to your conclusion?

george kaplan · 12-27-2006, 09:20 AM

What specifically leads you to your conclusion?

Well you've got these big budget (or at least not real low budget) films, with actors that have clearly done a great job acting in other films, and in these films they come across as bad actors, and everything about these films just feels cheesy. It's hard to pin that on anything but the director, since he's the common link.

Adam_S · 12-27-2006, 12:15 PM

Rocky Balboa -

(8 of 10)

Easily the best Rocky sequel yet--very much in the vein of the first Rocky in story and substance. Stallone's is the only male performance of the year to move me to tears; he wrote some very powerful, very effective, scenes into this film. The filmmaking is outstanding the film looks good, my only frustration is the overdone fight at the end. I know that's how fights are shown now, but I don't think the film needed to take on the TV mantle to present the fight.

On the other hand since every bit of those TV on-screen graphics, sound effects, style etc was created by the assistant editors (editors don't do annoying grunt work like that) and wasn't provided to the film, it's an impressive bit of post work.

Still it didn't feel right, and when I came home to find Rocky on TV (it was boxing day after all), it reminded me of why I hate modern TV sportscasting (ie the ESPN effect), the bastards are all smarmy with annoying voices/personality and couldn't call a sport if their life depended on it. There's no comparison to the actual calling of the fight found in the original Rocky. in my mind the ESPN guys in Rocky Balboa sound like a a four year old jumping up and down shrieking in incomprehensible excitement. And that goes for the retards calling college football for TV as well, I can actually 'see' the game better listening to the radio than watching it because the radio guys know how to call a game. For next season I'm hooking up the radio in my receiver so I can mute the TV and play the audio from the radio.

Otherwise the writing in Rocky Balboa is top notch and the performances outstanding, the final fight is just a bit dissappointing, but very much in the vein of the first Rocky. I also thought the ending was a bit of a letdown, it works for the original Rocky because he and Adrian are fighting to get to each other, there's not an equivalent here.

But one fantastic swan song for the franchise.

---------------
Here Comes Mr. Jordan -

(9 of 10)

I've wanted to watch this for ages, and it was on TCM last night. The film is better than I hoped and an excellent companion to films like A Matter of Life and Death. Claude Rains gives one of his best performances in this film. If there's one thing I disliked about the film it's the ending was a little annoying and somewhat unexpected, but I imagine that would fade with a repeat viewing.

Robert Montgomery plays Joe, a boxer who has a shot at the title--he's in the pink--and while flying his private plane he goes into a spin and a dive. A nearby 'courier' sees him and decides to spare him the agony of a plane crash, but Joe would have survived and pulled out of the dive. Unfortunately by the time they sort things out in the next world Joe's body has been cremated by his well meaning manager. So now Joe has to pull a 'Quantum Leap' and jump into a recently vacated body. He'll appear to us as the same Joe but everyone else will see the appearance of the body.

A very fun, well made and enjoyable film. Joe's a bit of a dummy about things, but that's forgiveable, unlike me, he never saw Quantum Leap, so he has to figure it all out in the space of a one film.

Adam

Haggai · 12-27-2006, 12:19 PM

Glad you liked HCMJ as much as I did, Adam. It's coming on DVD in February. Did you see my reviews for this one and for Beatty's remake? You should definitely see his version as well now (Heaven Can Wait). It's been on DVD for a long time already.

Michael Elliott · 12-27-2006, 12:19 PM

Quote:

And I'll skedaddle before Justin comes in here with an axe.

Hopefully Justin doesn't visit this thread because it could lead to the first murder in HTF history.

Quote:

Another big budget B movie from John Carpenter. This guy couldn't direct his way out of bed in the morning. Not my least favorite director by a long shot, but quite possibly the least talented this side of Ed Wood.

A few comments....

Since you aren't a fan of the genre and since you've never seen an Ed Wood film, the last part of your quote is pretty unfair. Even if someone isn't a fan of the genre I can't believe you'd make such comments but I think those comments come from you not seeing many genre films. If you want to see some really bad stuff then check out D'Amato, Franco, Cunningham, Miller, Adamson, Girdler and hundreds of others. If you watched these you'd probably see why many consider Carpenter one of the strongest directors over the past few decades.

STARMAN is considered the best among his non-horror work and since you didn't like HALLOWEEN, I'd be willing to be there's nothing in his filmography for you to enjoy. As for the film being cheesy, well, it is but so is every other science fiction film with the exception of a few.

I'm really starting to fear your reviews when you get to some of the Euro Horror out there but who knows. You might become a fan of something off beat like CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST.

BTW, I didn't want to clog up the other thread but you can go directly to your post if you do what Bill says. You can also just save your post to your computer and update it that way.