What general film/series have you just seen.. marks out of 5

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

Cavalcade (1933: Frank Lloyd):

I finally have seen all Academy Award Best Picture winners. I have been at one-to-go for a few years now, waiting for this film to be released on DVD. It is fun to finish cinematic goals and since there are so many lists it is off to other ones. This is among the least well known of the winners, the last to have a DVD release though it is nowhere near the worst that I have seen (like The Broadway Melody.)

This very British American film of a Noel Coward play is a series of events in the lives of the aristocratic Marryots and some of their staff starting at the end of 1899 and ending at the beginning of 1933. This leads them through the Boer War, the death of Queen Victoria (January 22, 1901), the Titanic, World War I, the evil modern Jazz influence (OK this aspect seems a little dated and veering toward Reefer Madness territory.) It is an anti-war film and sometimes overly so with montages that reminded me of the better Wooden Crosses (Raymond Bernard; this came out the year before) that go on longer than they should.

My biggest qualm with it is that it feels like a truncated version of a play. The film is too short to cover that many years and the amount of characters it has. Popular stage actress Diana Wynyard would win Best Actress but for me her style is too stage driven for the camerawork. What surprised me is that Clive Brook (as Robert Marryot) came off quite well with a more subdued acting style (his filmography is much more vast than Diana’s). I had seen him in the earlier Shanghai Express a few months ago which he used a trans-Atlantic accent making him sound a lot like Cary Grant so I suspect his accent in here is closer to his real one.

This is a decent film and worth watching if you into 1930s cinema. If you into films about World War I (though I would recommend movies like The Big Parade, Wings or Wooden Crosses first) then you might enjoy this as well. However, there are plenty of better Best Picture winners and even films that came out that year (Lady for a Day, Duck Soup, 42[sup]nd[/sup] Street …) that you might want to see instead.

The commentary on here is by Richard Schickel. I have listened to two of his commentaries so far and have felt disappointed with both. Here he has too many pauses, does not seem overly interested in the film and according to David Krauss of Blu-ray review “misidentifies actress Margaret Lindsay.” Count how many times he states this is the actor’s best film (which is mostly true, but he repeats it Ad Nauseum.)

http://bluray.highdefdigest.com/8840/cavalcade.html

[Markgway]

Stick (1985-USA) **½
Burt Reynolds directs and stars in sluggish, but enjoyable Elmore Leonard adaptation.
Again, more and better action would've helped.

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

Escape Plan (USA, 2013) [DCP] – 3/5
Unremarkable but solid prison escape thriller whose charm relies almost entirely on leading stars Stallone and Schwarzenegger. Neither are what they used to be, but since the younger generations have failed to produce any new action star of the same calibre it’s good to see them still on screen. Here the two play their roles straight – no retarded Rambo references or “I’ll be back” jokes – although with a sense of humour. Quite passable entertainment.
...

I will pretty much support anything new with either Stallone or Schwarzenegger in it as I saw The Last Stand, Bullet to the Head and this in the theater. I was hoping for a little more when I saw this film in the theater though and I am a sucker for prison break films. Several THX-1138 references in it. One thing I loved in it was the reveal scene -- I was thinking that was surprising. I will probably eventually get this on BD/DVD.

[Markgway]

I will pretty much support anything new with either Stallone or Schwarzenegger in it as I saw The Last Stand, Bullet to the Head and this in the theater. I was hoping for a little more when I saw this film in the theater though and I am a sucker for prison break films. Several THX-1138 references in it. One thing I loved in it was the reveal scene -- I was thinking that was surprising. I will probably eventually get this on BD/DVD.

None of these films have been a patch on their classics, but like you say, I feel I have to support them, if only for what they've given us in the past. Apart from Jason Statham there are no younger (mainstream) action stars. If we don't go to see the old guard who will and what happens when they finally do retire? Rambo V starring Ashton Kutcher?

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

... If we don't go to see the old guard who will and what happens when they finally do retire? Rambo V starring Ashton Kutcher?

That just depressed me. Add in DJ Qualls and you have a power duo there. Now I would believe if they had been POWs for several years and were shells of their former self.

Actually I like The Last Stand a lot (wrote a review somewhere.) But what was more depressing was the box office take for those films I mentioned above. I was pushing The Last Stand to as many as I could (online and off) and what was a little annoying was how many people I know eventually saw it after it came on BD/DVD.

The Bruce Willis films have not been doing too bad in BO take. I wish the last Die Hard was better (I still supported it in the theater.)

[Markgway]

The Bruce Willis films have not been doing too bad in BO take. I wish the last Die Hard was better (I still supported it in the theater.)

That was the worst of the lot and made by far the most cash. Go figure!

[Markgway]

Sharky's Machine (1981-USA) **
Frustrating this one. Potentially this Burt Reynolds star vehicle (which he also directed) could have been the best of the bunch for it has the most involving plot. But after a confident opening act too many nagging missteps are made (Rachel Ward's character is poorly written, the pacing becomes sluggish, a key character's death occurs offscreen, loose ends are left dangling) and I left this film (after a violent climax) with the taste of missed potential. I understand why fans like this noirish Dirty Harry clone, but for me it was ultimately a disappointment.

[HungFist]

The Bruce Willis films have not been doing too bad in BO take. I wish the last Die Hard was better (I still supported it in the theater.)

That was the worst of the lot and made by far the most cash. Go figure!

The only one that was a part of a franchise...

Still happy it was a success - just for it being an R-rated film. Its success should help the industry in general.

[Markgway]

Disturbed (1990-USA) **

Twisted black comedy set in an asylum. Malcolm McDowell (as a rapist psychiatrist losing his marbles!) mines every possible laugh, but the unpleasantness of the material may overwhelm many viewers, and the all-too-obvious plot is tied up in an unsatisfactory way.

[Markgway]

Blood Diamond (2006-USA-South Africa) ***
Strong thriller with a social conscience; Leonard DiCaprio is excellent in the lead.

Heat (1986-USA) **
Cheesy Burt Reynolds vehicle, but like most, watchable enough.

[HungFist]

Blood Diamond (2006-USA-South Africa) ***
Strong thriller with a social conscience; Leonard DiCaprio is excellent in the lead.

Should watch this some day. The Counselor sparked my interest in Scott again.

[Markgway]

Blood Diamond (2006-USA-South Africa) ***
Strong thriller with a social conscience; Leonard DiCaprio is excellent in the lead.

Should watch this some day. The Counselor sparked my interest in Scott again.

Blood Diamond was directed by Edward Zwick.

[HungFist]

Blood Diamond (2006-USA-South Africa) ***
Strong thriller with a social conscience; Leonard DiCaprio is excellent in the lead.

Should watch this some day. The Counselor sparked my interest in Scott again.

Blood Diamond was directed by Edward Zwick.

Didn't Scott direct DiCaprio in something like that too?

edit: right, Body of Lies, got these two confused

[Markgway]

Prayer of the Rollerboys (1990-USA-Japan) **½

[Markgway]

Jeepers Creepers (2001-USA-Germany) *½
Piss poor horror; smugly scripted with dumb, annoying characters.
What is the point of having an indestructible monster? That's no fun for the audience. If it can't be killed then everything else is inevitable, right down to the LOL flyaway ending and predictable 'there's a sequel in this...' fade out.

Wolf Creek (2004-Australia) *½
Offensive exploitation horror bases itself on a true story then proceeds to 'guess' what happened to its victims - graphic torture and sexual threat just as you'd expect. The sinister killer is effectively portrayed, but it takes many 'oh, come on' moments to ensure his survival for the spooky fadeout.

[Markgway]

Mission of Justice (1992-USA) **

[Beat TG]

Escape Plan (2013) - I gotta say that this is the best movie of both Stallone and Schwarzenegger to date imo. Despite the somewhat boring chemistry scenes between them in the first third of the movie, the timing of them both teaming up here was just perfect. Great quotables from both, especially good ol Arnie (still delivering lines so consistently). The cast was also used effectively (minus 50 Cent), and the tension between the protagonists and antagonists that greatly builds up leads to an incredible finale of guns and brawls. And unlike recent Hollywood action movies like The Expendables movies, this actually tells a story with characters and enhancing the mood by showing all the planning and details of escaping from prisons. Real effort.

Rating: 8/10

[HungFist]

Wolf Creek (2004-Australia) *½
Offensive exploitation horror bases itself on a true story then proceeds to 'guess' what happened to its victims - graphic torture and sexual threat just as you'd expect. The sinister killer is effectively portrayed, but it takes many 'oh, come on' moments to ensure his survival for the spooky fadeout.

Been a good while since I saw it (on TV). Recall liking it a lot

Escape Plan (2013) - I gotta say that this is the best movie of both Stallone and Schwarzenegger to date imo. Despite the somewhat boring chemistry scenes between them in the first third of the movie, the timing of them both teaming up here was just perfect. Great quotables from both, especially good ol Arnie (still delivering lines so consistently). The cast was also used effectively (minus 50 Cent), and the tension between the protagonists and antagonists that greatly builds up leads to an incredible finale of guns and brawls. And unlike recent Hollywood action movies like The Expendables movies, this actually tells a story with characters and enhancing the mood by showing all the planning and details of escaping from prisons. Real effort.

Rating: 8/10

Wait, you mean on their entire careers? Better than Terminator 1&2? Better than Total Recall, Predator, Conan, Commando, Cliffhanger...?

[Beat TG]

Nope, it doesn't come near as good as their definite classics. But compared to the crap they did in the 2000s and recently, Escape Plan actually makes them look good.

[Markgway]

Casino Royale (1967-UK-USA) *
A giant all-star turkey.
Anyone who credits this spoof as part of the 007 canon needs their head examined.
Orson Welles would've made a great proper Bond villain though...

[Markgway]

Robocop (1987-USA) ***½
Paul Verhoeven's bloody, futuristic action satire reminds us just how awesome such films used to be.

My Cousin Vinny (1992-USA) ***
Overlong, but very witty and sharply played judicial comedy.

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

Nope, it doesn't come near as good as their definite classics. But compared to the crap they did in the 2000s and recently, Escape Plan actually makes them look good.

I ended up liking The Last Stand quite a bit. My mini-review below:

The Last Stand (2013: Kim Jee-woon) ***/****

I have not seen a film on opening day since Drive. I tend to avoid the Friday crowds (and extra fees where I go), but crowds have been busy throughout the week and I had to see something. I did not have the time to go to any coffee shop so I was more coherent than usual. I made it in time for the first trailer for the latest Die Hard and later for more Bruce Willis enjoyment and to my surprise there was one for Red 2. I wonder if I should see Red 1. This was shown in the second largest theater and the crowd was somewhat noisy, but luckily about half full so I got a good seat toward the back with no one behind me. Unfortunately, there was nothing unusual about the boilerplate crowd except for the vast amount of Arnold accent imitations that permeated the theater.

This is the first 2013 film I have seen. I was not expecting much since this is a come back film for Arnold, except that I noticed it was directed by Kim Jee-woon who had directed a horror film A Tale of Two Sisters which I had thought quite highly off and an action film The Good, The Bad, The Weird which I had liked and felt it was influenced by Hollywood action films regardless of the Spaghetti Western name. I thought he might be a good fit. Many an action aficionado will state the corruptive effect for Asian action auteurs in Hollywood such as John Woo (though some of his Hollywood output like Face Off I really like) and Ringo Lam. But with a relatively smaller budget at 30 million there might not be as much pressure from the producers, though it may have trouble making that money back with a weak opening weekend.

Arnold is Ray Owens a local sheriff who was a successful cop in LA but wanted to work at a slower pace (in some ways this character reminds me of the Tom Selleck Stone Cold character). He has a rag tag assortment of inexperienced deputies including Luis Guzman and eventually Johnny Knoxville. Meanwhile a drug kingpin Gabriel Cortez (Eduardo Noriega: The Devil’s Backbone) is being shipped under Agent John Bannister (Forest Whitaker: Ghost Dog), but is unfortunately freed with the help of a large magnetic device and lots of hired mercenaries. He is then heading toward the border to escape through a town already partially taken over by his gang led by Burrell (Peter Stormare: Get the Gringo).

The cinematography from Kim Ji-yong was impressive. It is not overtly shaky like much of the Michael Bay and Bourne films that has dominated and influenced the action landscape -- detrimentally in my opinion. But it is not static either. It should not be with the amount of car chases, gun fights and general mayhem.

It is interesting how MMA style has been influencing action fight scenes over the past few years. There is a nice one here involving Arnold and Eduardo Noriega that is appropriately intelligent enough between a smaller faster man and a stronger older one.* I watched Commando the following night and I can easily say that fight finale with Vernon Wells is much worse, though The Last Stand has nowhere near the amount of one-liners. Arnold’s delivery of dialogue is a bit rusty here, but his presence is still formidable. I am curious on how The Tomb is going to turn out. I hope it is as good as this film.

This was a good start to the 2013 season. While the plot was nothing extraordinary and the federal and local police were pretty inept in dealing with these hired mercenaries, this is a fun and fast bloody popcorn film with plenty of humor and exploding bodies

There are no additional scenes after the credits.

* Spoilers below: though sometimes I do wonder when someone is stunned why you do not continue the assault instead of letting them get back to their senses. This seems an extremely dangerous approach with criminal psychopaths. Of course then the fight scene would be over sooner. I thought the power slam after the arm-bar/scissor choke was quite appropriate. It is similar in that aspect to the triangle choke/power slam combination in one of my favorite fights of all-time with Donnie Yen and Collin Chou in Flash Point.

Peter Stormare does not seem to live much in films does he?

[Markgway]

The Expendables 2 (2012-USA) **½
No one could confuse this with a classic, but it's more fun than the original.

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

The Expendables 2 (2012-USA) **½
No one could confuse this with a classic, but it's more fun than the original.

I thought it was a pretty fun film (gave it half a star more than you) and I agree I liked it more than the first film. I saw it in the theater which I think helped the experience. I will rewatch it eventually.

[RetroRobot]

Fanboy pandering can be fun, but when it's done as lazily and uninspired as the Expendable flicks, I just don't get the appeal. I get zero out of watching these action men of the past trying to recapture some of their long lost glory. I applaud the thought behind it, but the actual effort put in, just doesn't do it for me. Fast forwarded through most of the second one, and not gonna bother with the third. I rather just watch their 80's and 90's classics instead.