Sean’s movie thoughts

I might have corny taste. I don’t try hard to deny it.  (A friend and former coworker would say I have corny taste and sometimes terrible taste.) I have watched a few Hallmark channel movies lately and I have enjoyed them.  Maybe I wanted a break from direct to video action movies or maybe I like romcoms but don’t like some of the modern romcoms. We will see if I continue to watch Hallmark movies in January or take a break for the NFL playoffs. If you, assuming someone reads this, feel like you would never watch a Hallmark movie that is okay. I recently watched  Unexpected Valentine  Three Wise Men and a Baby Three Wiser Men and a Boy  Three Wisest Men The Groomsmen First Look

 How many Focker jokes will be in the upcoming Meet the Parents sequel ? I would guess at least six. At a certain point there can be too many. I remember the last Vacation movie had maybe 5 jokes about the family renting a weird car. Maybe a few were too much or unrealistic for a relatively realistic film. Roger Ebert was not a fan of funny cars in films. He called them a sign of desperation. I saw a good mini review of Wicked for Good . There was a full review later, which was also positive. Most early mini reviews I saw were negative and mentioned splitting a play into 2 films. Wicked, the play,was under 2 hours long, so turning it into 2 movies was going to be a stretch.  The new Deathstalker is decent, more more than decent.  The practical makeup effects are good, and most of the jokes are good. There is not too much comic relief. (Yeah I still complain about too much comic relief.) I think it might be worth watching again.

  Exit Protocol was decent. Dolph Lundgren , Michael Jai White , and Scott Martin star in this movie about assassins. I liked it but maybe it would be better with someone else in Martin's role. He was not terrible but maybe Frank Grillo would have been better in the role.  Michael Jai   White has maybe an extended cameo in Exit Protocol but it was nice to see him. His character was named Isaac Florentine . The real life Isaac Florentine is a director who among films directed Undisputed 2 , which starred Michael Jai White. There is another sequel to Meet the Parents coming out next year. I saw the first two but I don't remember if I saw the third one. I don't remember wanting to see the third one. Expect more jokes about the name Focker. Some of these years later sequels have been kind of sad.

I re-watched Xanadu and it is a fun movie but kind of odd. Olivia Newton John, Michel Beck, and Gene Kelly star in this musical. It was Kelly’s last appearance. Beck did not sing. That might have been just as well. It might be time to re-watch Grease.  Okay, I know that one of the songs has a line or two in poor taste and  a few of the actors playing high school students don’t look like high school students. It is still re-watching.  Gladiator Underground is fun. I think it is worth re-watching. Two brothers are in an illegal tournament  and they have a strained relationship. Fights are good.   Five recent movies I liked a lot Affinity Diablo Prisoner of War Fantastic Four: First Steps Under Fire  

Affinity stars Marko Zaror. He plays a man named Bruno. One day Bruno meets a mysterious woman named Athena. Some goons take her.  Bruno uses his special skills to find her and he has two friends helping him. Bruno might been in a special forces unit. Zaror is good in this. He plays a more likeable character than he did in Diablo. After seeing this I am more interested in his upcoming project based on a real life person. Louis Mandylor has a supporting role. It is always nice to see him. Brooke Ence, an actress I am not familiar with, plays Finch, another of Bruno's friends. It is a short movie, which I like. The action scenes are good. I am not sure who played the special henchman but he looked familiar. This is worth seeing again.

Rainn Wilson stars as a burned out EMT in this comedy, Code 3.  I liked it.  I am not a fan of the Office, the British or American version, so I might not have seen Wilson in a lot of movies or TV shows.  Maybe I was just in the mood for a comedy but  it might be worth re-watching. Avatar Three is coming out this year.  I think I saw the original Avatar and did not care for it.  Maybe I should give it another try and if I like it, maybe I could watch the first sequel.  I think I will re-watch my DVD of the Night Strangler this month.  It has been a while since I saw it.  I remember liking it.  Also I probably should re-watch I Ain't Scared of You, a Tribute to Bernie Mac this month.  The title fits in with the season, thematically at least.  Also I should probably watch his baseball themed comedy Mr. 3000 again. Maybe I will give it another chance. I tried another comedy and lost interest. After 40 something minutes I did not c...