The 2009 Movie Genre of the Month

[Heineken Skywalker]

Jun 21, 2009 10:17:31 GMT -5 slayrrr666 said:

Bad Boys-1983
Heiney, I know you really liked this one from what I remember, but I just really couldn't get into it. Aside from the general dullness that comes from the fact that this is an 'acting' based film, there wasn't a whole lot for me to stay interested in.

Ah, once again that damn pesky acting by actors gets in the way.

[Heineken Skywalker]

ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ (1979)

Clint Eastwood stars in the true story of Frank Morris, a convict who, along with a pair of brothers, were the only ones to have successfully escaped from Alcatraz, a prison that was notoriously escape-proof. Or did they escape? They were never caught and their bodies were never found, so we'll probably never really know for sure.

There are the usual prison movie scenes, ie: the talk with the warden, the bad prison food, Clint fending off several attempts by a much larger man to make him his "special friend", etc. The real meat of the story is the planning and execution of the escape plan though, and that stuff is actually pretty interesting.
On a side note, if you ever go to San Francisco, I strongly recommend heading down to Fisherman's Wharf and taking the tour of Alcatraz prison. It's fascinating to walk all over that place and see the actual cells that housed inmates like Frank Morris and Al Capone.

7/10

STIR CRAZY (1980)

Buddies, Skip (Gene Wilder) and Harry (Richard Pryor), are framed for a bank robbery and thrown in prison. The guys are totally out of their element in prison and when all hope seems lost that they'll even survive, the warden, who is "auditioning" prisoners on a mechanical bull for the up-coming inter-prison rodeo, discovers that Skip is a natural.
The boys, along with a couple of other prisoners they befriend, decide to use the rodeo as the cover for an elaborate escape plan.

Lots of fun with Wilder and Pryor, who improvised many of their scenes. Not the most plausible of stories, and there a few plotholes, but none of it is really to be taken too seriously.

7.5/10

[slayrrr666]

The Longest Yard-2005
This is the Adam Sandler remake, and while it wasn't as good as some of his others, I have to say I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. The main thing with this one is that, even though it's not all that funny at times, especially during the middle when he's trying to get the football game together, it isn't all that funny even though, strangely, the fact that they're 'acting' during this time didn't bother me like it should've. The light and breezy tone made it easy for me to stay interested, and while I didn't laugh a lot at it, it was still fun enough for me say I thought it was good. As usual, the big, action-packed football game was a lot of fun, but that goes without saying.
8/10

[Heineken Skywalker]

I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG (1932)

Returning home from WWI as a decorated war hero, James Allen (Paul Muni) decides he doesn't want to return to his boring old factory job and heads out across America to seek work in the construction industry. Times are tough however and James finds himself wrongly accused of holding up a diner. Completely railroaded he is sentenced to ten years on a tough southern chain gang. After serving some hard time, he escapes to Chicago where he changes his identity and, over the course of a couple of years, becomes a prominent member of society. Unfortunately his past eventually catches up with him and he finds himself facing the chain gang again.

My first time seeing this classic of the genre and I was pretty impressed. Outside of that melodramatic dialogue and acting that were the style back then, it holds up pretty well for such an old film. You can definitely see how it influenced many other similar movies like COOL HAND LUKE and even SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION. Muni was great, reminded me a little of a young Charles Bronson, and without giving it away, the ending is very cool and original.

8/10

[Heineken Skywalker]

AT THE DEATH HOUSE DOOR (2008)

Documentary that examines the death penalty from the perspective of a retired pastor who, over the course of his career, witnessed over 90 executions in a Texas prison. The pastor shares his thoughts on some of the men, sometimes by playing from his collection of tapes that he recorded at the time.
One case that is discussed, revolves around an inmate who, despite strong evidence and his own claims that he was innocent, was executed by lethal injection in '89.

7/10

[Heineken Skywalker]

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (1994)

Based on the Stephen King short story about a young, successful banker whose life is turned upside down when he is convicted of murdering his wife and her lover. Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is sentenced to life imprisonment at Shawshank Prison where he is perceived as quiet, a loner, and even snobby.
After a while, he befriends "Red" (Morgan Freeman), an inmate who is "known to be able to acquire certain things from time to time". Andy eventually earns the respect of other prisoners and even gains a position of status. He gets funding for the prison library and puts his former job to good use by doing the taxes and bookkeeping of the warden and other prison staff.
There are the usual scenes and clichés we've come to expect from prison movies, the bad food, solitary confinement, beatings and sexual abuse, etc., but the cast and director Frank Darabont makes everything here seem fresh and new.
It all culminates in a climax that will have you cheering, or at the very least, smiling with satisfaction.

Robbins and Freeman do some of their finest work here, and Bob Gunton and Clancy Brown, as the Warden and Captain of the Guards respectively, are great as well, playing very unlikeable characters.
Note: This was Clancy's fourth appearance in a prison movie this month: BAD BOYS, DEAD MAN WALKING, THE HURRICANE and now SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION.

Not just the greatest prison movie, but one of the all time best movies in general.

10/10

[Heineken Skywalker]

THE LIFE OF DAVID GALE (2003)

David Gale (Kevin Spacey), a professor of philosophy and anti-death-penalty activist, is accused of raping and murdering a colleague, so he ironically finds himself on death-row. Journalist Bitsey Bloom (Kate Winslet) is assigned a three-day series of interviews with Gale, just before he is to be executed.
Bloom is skeptical of Gale's innocence at first, but the more she talks to him, and does a little investigating of her own, the more she is convinced that Gale may have been the victim of an elaborate set-up.

Spacey and Winslet are in their usual "top form" as actors and are surrounded by a strong supporting cast. Though the resolution is a bit far-fetched, the story is intriguing and did keep me guessing. Plus I'm a sucker for watching pretty much anything with Kate Winslet in it.

7/10

[slayrrr666]

Ilsa: The Wicked Warden-1977
Frankly, considering the company around me at the time, this was one I was shocked I got away with, as it features pretty much everything I love in films and was thoroughly entertained the whole way through. Since it's Jess Franco and Lina Romay in their prime, this was dirty, disgusting, disturbing, depraved, demoralizing, so a fun time. An excuse to get women naked whenever it's time to do so, so nothing wrong with that on my end, and frankly, Franco has never done a bad WIP film at all, and this might be his best one. It's not a heartwarming tale of humanity, it's just a never-ending onslaught of the 3 B's of Nudity on display, and I love it for that.
9.5/10

[Heineken Skywalker]

THE GREEN MILE (1999)

When John Coffey (Michael Clark Duncan) is convicted of raping and murdering two little girls he is sentenced to Death Row at Cold Mountain Penitentiary. There, the guards, including Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks), don't know what to make of this soft-spoken giant of a man who is afraid of the dark and who later reveals a magical healing power. Could someone with such a gift and demeanor really be capable of committing the gruesome crimes he was accused of? That's the dilemma facing Edgecomb and the other guards.

A prison movie that's not your typical prison movie. A warden and guards, except for one, who aren't evil, a giant black man who can perform miracles, a trained mouse, a urinary tract infection, a woman with cancer, several on-screen electric chair executions, including one that goes horribly wrong, and several twists and turns in the plot, all told in flashback by an elderly man in an old folk's home. See? Not your typical prison movie.

Thoroughly enjoyable and another homerun from Director Frank Darabont and writer Stephen King who previously brought us THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION.

9.5/10

[Heineken Skywalker]

Brand new in theaters is the third ICE AGE film, ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS, and later this month brings us HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE, the long-awaited sixth film in that series, so the genre/category for July is...

FRANCHISES

1. In order to qualify as a "franchise", the series of movies has to be at least a trilogy, ie: three films. For the purposes of this, if all that exists is the original film plus one sequel, I'd consider it a "franchise-in-the-making" and not a true franchise. I'm sticking to series of films where you can already go out and rent or buy at least three movies in that particular series. Not movies where they've released only two, and a third entry is a possibility in the future, or even currently filming.

2. You can watch as many or as few films from any series, that has at least 3 movies in that series. You can watch just the first ROCKY if you want, or just the last one, ROCKY BALBOA. You don't have to see any of the movies in-between if you don't want to. Or you can watch ROCKY 3 and ROCKY 5, or just ROCKY 2, if you choose.

3. Because this category is not "genre specific" try to watch movies from franchises that cover different genres. Don't just watch all horror franchises or just all comedy franchises. Treat it like a movie buffet, a little sci-fi, a little horror, a little action-adventure, etc.

4. Whenever you watch one, feel free to post it in "Just Watched Movies" like you normally would, or even write a review for "Review Hell" if so inclined, but most importantly, post in this thread, so we can see what everybody's watching. Feel free to tell us what you thought of the film and score it using the 1 to 10 system, ie: 1 being just awful, 5 is average and 10 being perfect. Half points, ie: 8.5/10 are also allowed.

5. All movies have to have been theatrical releases. No made for tv or made for cable movies, ie: HBO, Sci-Fi Channel, etc., are not eligible. No television mini-series either.

6. Try to watch at least four, one per week, but watch as many, or few, as you feel comfortable with.

7. You have until July 31st and then on August 1st I'll announce the next genre or category.

[slayrrr666]

So, same rules as last time. Gotcha.

[Heineken Skywalker]

Jul 2, 2009 10:12:00 GMT -5 slayrrr666 said:

So, same rules as last time. Gotcha.

Except for one major difference, instead of only up to two, you can watch as many as you want from any given franchise.
Obviously, I would prefer people mix it up and watch a variety of things, but since it's not a contest this time, I'm not being a stickler for that kind of thing.

My first two this month:

TARZAN THE APE MAN (1932)

An African expedition, including Jane Parker, to find the legendary elephant's graveyard, and it's treasure of ivory, takes an unexpected turn when they encounter Tarzan, a white man raised by apes.
Tarzan abducts Jane, and they slowly learn to communicate with each other.
Featured also are an encounter with a tribe of violent dwarfs, an elephant stampede, and battles with various jungle animals.
There's a lot of use of stock footage, especially some weak back-projection of natives standing around in the background while the lead actors speak in front of them. Unintentionally campy and pretty dated now, but still has some entertainment value and it is one of the definitive versions of the classic character.

This was the first appearance of five time Olympic gold medal winner Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan, and actress Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane Parker. They would go on to appear in 5 more Tarzan movies together. After six films, MGM, and O'Sullivan, decided they'd had enough and then Weissmuller made 6 more Tarzan films for RKO Pictures, for a total of 12 film appearances as the same character.

6/10

THE PINK PANTHER (1963)

The first appearance of Peter Sellers as Inspector Jacques Clouseau in the long-running series. The plot is about trying to protect a rare diamond, The Pink Panther, from being stolen by The Phantom, a famous jewel thief. But the fun in these movies is really in watching Closeau bumble his way from one mishap to another, all the while trying to maintain his dignity.
Sellers was great in this part, his signature role, and some of the later entries are actually funnier as they focus more on Closeau as the main character. Here, he's part of an ensemble of characters, including David Niven as Sir Charles Lytton AKA The Phantom, who gets just as much, if not more, screentime. Unfortunately, whenever Sellers/Closeau wasn't on screen, I found myself getting a little bored.

First appearance of the Pink Panther character during the opening credits who would become the star of his own animated series, and also features that great Pink Panther Theme by Henry Mancini.

6.5/10

[ZapRowsdower]

Whoops.

From last month's:

Dead Man Walking (1995, Tim Robbins)

Fantastic performances all around, but this is Susan Sarandon's movie hands down. It's a very emotional, heartfelt movie that examines the pro's and con's of the death penalty, and asks very important questions about it. 9/10

Rendition (2007, Gavin Hood)

Very surprised that Gavin Hood went from this to Wolverine, because these are two very different films. One of those current-events films that fell under the radar because audiences just aren't lining up for current-events films these days. Which is unfortunate, because this one was actually very good. Definitely a harsh criticism on our foreign policy at the time, and out-of-country prisons not unlike Guantanamo Bay. Kudos to Reese Witherspoon who stole the show as the prisoner's wife, who has no information on where her husband is or if he's even okay. 8/10

I'll have some for this month soon. Promise.

[slayrrr666]

Die Hard 2-1990
Long a film I've considered underrated, despite being one of the upper echelon entries in the genre, which for me isn't good enough. This is just fun all around, no dull spots, fun action scenes, a great plot, tons of hysterical one-liners, a bunch of bad-guys are shot to pieces or blown up, and it provides a solid time out everytime. Suspenseful when it counts, heartwarming when it needs to, a fantastic movie. Dropped slightly due to repeat viewings, but still one of the all-time best.
9.75/10

[Heineken Skywalker]

DAMIEN: OMEN II (1978)

Set about 7 or 8 years after the end of the first film, the ultimate bad boy, Damien Thorn, is now a teenager. After the deaths of his parents, he was adopted by his aunt and uncle and is now attending a prestigious military academy. He slowly learns about his origins and destiny, and with the protection and mentoring from satanists who are committed to his cause, starts to set the stage for his world domination.

Not as powerful as the first film mainly because in the original the deaths seemed to be more shocking and unexpected, here it seems a character could die if he just suspects Damien of anything remotely wrong. Some of the performances are a bit over the top and the scary choir music is more bombastic and all over the movie this time. The first film showed a little bit of subtlety in all of these areas and is therefore more powerful because of it, I think. There are so many unexplained deaths around Damien that you would think his uncle would become suspicious long before he actually does, not to mention that there are people seemingly coming out of the woodwork telling him, "The boy ain't no good!".

Good, not great sequel, but better than that awful THE OMEN remake of a couple of years ago.

6/10

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL (2008)

The man in the hat is back and this time he's much older and has way too many supporting characters helping him along his adventure. There's actually too much plot in this movie too. You know how you can tell, because the action keeps stopping so characters can explain what's going on, over and over again.
In no particular order, this movie has crystal skulls, a city of gold, the Roswell/Area 51 conspiracy, aliens, Russian agents, a greaser sidekick, a lost love, a double agent, a professor who has seemingly lost his mind, a chase on campus, a nuclear test site escape, natives that literally crawl out of the walls, an action sequence that takes place in the warehouse from the end of the original RAIDERS, THREE tributes to Indy's former colleague, the late Marcus Brody (a painting, a photo and a statue!), killer ants, monkeys, a sword fight during a high-speed car chase, THREE waterfalls, etc, etc..
The sequence with the monkeys and Mutt (Shia LaBeouf) swinging through the trees Tarzan-style, is just awful and definitely a low-point in the film. Cate Blanchett was decent as the main Russian villain, but with that black hair and that accent I couldn't help but think of Natasha from the old "Bullwinkle" cartoons. I kept expecting her to say, "Ve must get Moose und Squirrel und da' Crystal Skools!". Marion (Karen Allen) and the other two cohorts (Ray Winstone and John Hurt) mostly just take up space and add to the film's length. Granted, the movie's only about 2 hours long, but it does feel much longer. It doesn't have that light, breezy, fast pace of the first three films.

What is good? Harrison Ford as Indy. It's great to see the character back on the big screen and it fits Ford like an old fedora and a well-worn leather jacket. Indy can still handle himself and mostly gets through the film with his dignity intact. I was ready to hate Shia's character, but for a young upstart, he was actually pretty good, and he gave Indy someone to bounce exposition and quips off of.
Almost as many scenes that are silly as there are ones that are good. The weakest of the Indiana Jones movies, but still worth seeing if you're a fan of Ford or Indy.

7/10