MAN of STEEL

Superman..

..blah blah..
I don't know what everyone's so excited about - fantastic new Superman actor - thoughtful sharp script - cutting edge effects - a cast that challenges the '78 Superman - yeah, what gives..

anyway, I'm off to see Man of Steel for a third time - I'll be back with a proper review..

AC

DIE HARD has FALLEN

I watched an excellent action film this month and it was fun as hell, though bittersweet.
From beginning to end this tale of a man on his own - of impossible odds against a group of terrorists, looks, acts, and feels like the movie I'd absolutely hoped for with Die Hard 5. It was logical - he saves a building in the first - an airport in the second - a city in the third(his city) - the eastern seaboard in number four, and logically - inevitably would be the whole country in number five. Not only would he save the country, but the actual president in his house - goofy, overly patriotic ..perhaps, but Die Hard evolution, baby..
..could have been huge and so much fun if that guy up there kicking ass and saving lives while saying hilarious shit was named John McClane,
but nope.

OLYMPUS HAS FALLEN was a blast, and so close to what A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD should ..could have been - that it embarrasses the makers of the latter.

DH5 is the equivalent of a direct-to-video DH, but my immediate review - the "out-the-door-chatting-with-buddy" review was..

"Ugh - that felt like a two hour television pilot for a high-budget-but-shitty-anyway TV show called DIE HARD: Next Gen or somesuch starring his son, where Bruce Willis would do the occasional lazy cameo during sweeps week."

"Where's the phone? I gotta dial this in..."

The film is fucking atrocious.
It's a messy ill-paced disaster and I honestly can't believe they let this go out as a DIE HARD movie.
The character deserves way better. I would have thought the actor himself would deserve "good quality" but what if someone doesn't know what that is anymore?

I'll never forget seeing DIE HARD at the Oxford Theatre back in 'ol '88. Great memory, that one - Jim, Steve, and I - utterly floored.
DH5 was the inverse experience.
 
I wish I could ask BW if he cares about keeping that franchise intact ..his true hero if you will, but I think I just got the answer. Too bad.


Go see OHF instead - lotta fun.

AC

S K Y F A L L

SKYFALL is the 50th anniversary James Bond movie, and it's the best film they've made yet. It's filled with love of the character, his history, and all delivered in a well-paced tightly written juggernaut of an action/spy thriller.

The film is a MASTERPIECE, and here are a few of the reasons I think so...

1) Bond - By the end of this one, Daniel Craig IS the Ian Flemming character.
2) M - I love Judi Dench, and the Motherly relationship explored so well
3) M's death scene - emotional and anything but gimmicky ..very well delivered.
4) Javier Bardem's SILVA ..wow, best single Bond villain yet
5) Silva's intro scene - exceptional
6) Silva's "advances" on Bond - ballsy stuff, and watch Bond for his disappointment - extremely courageous performance matching the writing perfectly
7) CINEMATOGRAPHY - Roger Deakins is a genius - this is a BEAUTIFUL FILM
8) DIRECTION - Sam Mendes might be made for Bond ..very surprising
9) Moneypenny - yum yum.. she is one charismatic actress
10) Ralph Fiennes - Great addition, and a character well-played
11) Q - I like 'im - great chemistry with Bond
12) The Cuff - Bond fixes himself as he lands off the tractor on the train - Great Moment
13) The Casino - Beautiful, and evocative of Bond in the '70s
14) Silva's Island - too cool ..great Art Design, and a particularly nice evolution of the Bond Baddie Secret Lair - wish I could visit that crazy spot
15) The SUITS ..man, they are nice
16) Bond Assassination and FALL ...what a scene, and it led perfectly into...
17) The Titles - Gorgeous, and thematic ..very nice.
18) The Relationships - Enemy/friend - the character writing is really solid
19) The New MI6 - Stylish, and subterranean - cool
20) Silva's girlfriend - Lovely, but mysterious ..again, evoked memories of the '70s
21) Her Death - Surprising, and his line "Your lovers are here" was oddly chilling
22) The rescue by MI6 - Bond doesn't usually get "the Cavalry" but it worked
23) Silva's "monster face" and origin ..dramatic, but not ridiculous(Robert Carlyle anyone?)
24) The LIGHT FIGHT - simply one of the best staged/photographed fight scenes in Cinema History
25) Bond AGES, and we see it's effects - very human, but still the spy we love
26) M makes mistakes, and is going to be "fired"
27) Mallory's arc from "jerkoff" to "M"
28) Great Script overall
29) Bond's visit to M's house ..fun
30) The ASTON MARTIN DB7 - Glorious, and a very nice touch that Connery's car is Craig's Bond's one passion he reveals.
31) SKYFALL is a great title, and almost makes up for "Quantum of Solace"
32) Skyfall the place - Stark and beautiful - Interesting thing to finally give us some real humanity with JB
33) Good origin tale, and hey ..we knew he and Batman had similar pasts - how could they not?
34) Kincade - I love Albert Finney, and do wonder if Connery would have been asked to play this role ..regardless, he was fantastic, and it was a treat to watch he and Judi Dench flirt it up
35) Watching the three of them turn JB's family home into a "Home Alone" movie was pretty fun
36) The attack on Skyfall, and his car - rough to watch
37) The Final fight with Silva - personal, and well done
38) Almost forgot how much I liked the Adele song too
39) It was long - I love a GOOD long movie
40) The "exploding pen" comment from Q
41) The Women - far less focus on "Bond Girls" and more on making the females relevant
42) Kincade doesn't die
43) Bond on the roof/top of MI6 - nice metaphor
44) The central plot is Silva's revenge on M - Bond is simply in the way - I like that
45) THE BAD GUY WINS - Never happened before - he has one goal, and he does achieve it
46) The Moneypenny reveal
47) The Bulldog gift from M ..nice
48) A BILLION - It made over one billion dollars, and that means someone just might say "Whatever you just did - do it again". Good.
49) "James Bond will Return" - nice 50th anniv. homage to those old ones that had the next film title in a promise at the end
50) THE EJECTOR SEAT GAG!!! - I sooo love that moment "Oh go ahead, Bond - eject me - see if I care.."
What a brilliant moment, not unlike the third "Indy" movie where the first film is reduced to one sound bite joke I thought this was so Mother/Son and just so damn charming. I'll miss her in the series, but boy - what a note to go out on.

Funny, I've seen it twice but having just finished this I think I'll see it again.
How often does a franchise produce it's best work at age 50? Gives me a little faith...

The irony of Bond's "no parents" for this kid is that I've lost mine too
 ..but man I wish I could have taken them to see it.

A.

Lessons of Darkness - Herzog

Brilliant visual experience ...enlightening.

Werner Herzog has fascinated me for years, but this one really got me..
...and I can't stop watching this one DOC, for that motion of camera through the nightmare landscapes, as his voice is becoming a companion to me like a weird old German uncle ...I highly recommend it.

There's beauty, even in the horror of the situation that Herzog is drawn to, that only certain minds can see. I do believe that that is his single greatest motivation, actually - the humanity within the madness humans create...
Black beauty.

Blackbird (2012)

This is the best film of the Atlantic Film Festival here in Halifax this year.

I LOVED it, without that painful caveat of having to say "for a local film"...

It's simply one of the best movies I've seen this year. Extraordinary for it's ground-level-genius, and ultra-consistency of tone/performance.

I'll seek out Jason Buxton, and offer my limited services as a result. This, and a number of others in the fest, are the inspirations for a cat like myself over Hollywood's millions...
I choose artistry and choices as my heroes.

The Long Goodbye (1973)

Great poster - great movie..
What an interesting thing to bring the classic noir into the gritty '70s and mix it up just right.
That's exactly what Robert Altman did with his adaptation of Raymond Chandler's Phillip Marlowe in THE LONG GOODBYE.
Personally, I didn't think Elliot Gould would pull it off, but this is just another of many instances when I'm happy to be way wrong. Took a while to recognize Sterling Hayden, and Marlowe's car was a very nice touch, as were a lot of the "here he is in the nineteen-seventies" moments.
Go watch it ..it's worth it.

A.