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Fast Five 2011
Even as a fast paced action movie it's a little too long at over 2 hours, but the standoff and subsequent man wrestle between Vin and Rock is old school action funk and epitomizes the level of absurdity this series is willing to go, putting it in the Rocky IV ballpark for sequels, or at least in the nosebleeds.
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The Professionals 1966
MVPs: Conrad Hall gets big ups above all. That man shoots a mean western. Then Burt, Lee, Woody, Claudia's chest, Robert, Bellamy and Palance. That's pretty much the whole cast. Title does not lie.
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The Shining 1980
In Kubrick's masterpiece, The Past is a figure of powerful manipulation. An all-encompassing generalization of The Past, from the personal journeys we can recollect ourselves, to the countless centuries of human bloodletting and the horrors that "shining" brings upon its cursed person. To say Danny has it harder than Cole in Sixth Sense would be a gross understatement. To shine is to gain a lifetime of overwhelming experiences flushed into the head like a lightning bolt but the past doesn't…
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Star Trek Into Darkness 2013
Spock as fist-throwing-vehicle-jumping-logic-abandoning-action-tough-guy epitomized jumping the shark over all other lameness, right? There's a few big ones to choose come third act. The "boldly go" line thrown at the end is the ultimate hypocrisy, however. Cumberbatch will at least make a badass Jedi master. This much I do know.
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Twilight Zone: The Movie 1983
That last segment is a true work of art, the reason to watch, and one of the scariest imaginations to put into the mind of a child, as it did to me. John Lithgow brings pent-up demands for thunder, for the first hour and fifteen didn't hold up well at all. The John Landis one is the most unforgivable and should have never saw final cut. It's repetitive and crass too, especially with the tragic accident in mind. The Spielberg…
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Eye of the Needle 1981
The Donald-Sutherland-as-Nazi-spy-stiletto-stabbing-sociopath I always needed but never knew existed.
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The Witches 1990
You do not easily forget this film if it was part of your childhood. Nic Roeg, following a career of provocative and haunting cinema, serves his tricks and treats to the child in all of us and to some it was indelible. Angelica Huston fully deserved of iconic status in the vein of Bowie in Labyrinth.
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Ragtime 1981
I dug this quite a bit. Milos Foreman goes all-out with sprawling early 20th century detail. Like he did so elaborately with Amadeus, the production and historical values are extensive. The screen is epic with the widescreen treatment taking full advantage of the huge frame. The sense of place in time is engulfing. Talk about a who's who of names too. Character actor bliss. Even James Cagney gets a character role and nails it in his swan song. The 2…
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The Town That Dreaded Sundown 1976
This was a rough watch for me. Rough in that it was a terrible transfer of a copy god knows how old. However, the film is a sparkling pebble diamond in that rough. Thick within the low production nature of it all there is a truly effective, often deadly straight procedural killer story. It's very much as if Peckinpah made a horror film. The 40s were oh such simpler times and the setting helps to expand on a way of…
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True Grit 2010
"Time just gets away from us."
Only the Coens. The most authentic western in modern memory, only the Coens could accomplish what they do here and they warrant rewatchability to spare. For one, the Coens are masters of language. Always have been, always will be. The way they go about capturing the Old West linguistics and dialects and transplant them into unique and unusual accents of characters is an absolute treat to experience and in the process, transplants the viewer…
