Sean’s movie thoughts

I finished the Marine series by watching the Marine 2. I started with the Marine 6, and worked my way backwards. Ted Dibiase stars in this one. He is with his wife attending the opening of a luxury resort. (Like in most of these movies, the hero is in the wrong place at the wrong time.) Terrorists come and take the guests hostage. It is up to our hero to save them. Michael Rooker is on hand in a supporting role. Diabiase is good enough but he did not pursue an acting career after this film. He did his own stunts and was convincing in the fight scenes. He was not as good in the non-fight scenes. Maybe he could have developed into a good action hero if he continued to act. This series is finished, for now. 3,5, and 6 are the best.

Who’s Harry Crumb stared John Candy as an inept private detective investigating a kidnapping. Of course Harry thinks he is a great detective. (That is the source of the comedy.) His father and grandfather were great detectives. He is assisted by the kidnapped girl’s sister Nicki (Shawnee Smith). They have a good chemistry. I liked John Candy but this is a trifle. I probably should not have bought it but I did. (At least it was reasonably priced.) There was a brief bit where Harry disguises himself as an Indian American (not Native American). I don’t think it was really mean-spirited but it would not go over well today. I guess this might be considered Candy’s attempt to create an inspector Clouseau type character.

Stan and Ollie is good. It is set in the early 1950s and the comedy team is on tour in England. They have not worked together in years and there might be strains in their relationship. There is a possibility of a comeback movie for them after the tour. This movie is inspired by real events but some liberties might have been taken. John C. Reilly and Steve Coogan are good as Oliver Hardy and Stan Laurel. Reilly is wearing some kind of fat suit or something to make his face and neck fatter. That is a bit distracting at first. I have seen Coogan in a few supporting roles but this might the first time I have seen him in a lead role. The actresses playing their wives are good too. I think this is good and I plan to see it again before the end of the year. It is funny and at times sad. I am not sure if there is a larger point to the film than seeing the pair perform but the performances are good. I think this film might inspire people to see films by Laurel and Hardy.

John Cena was the star of the first Marine film and it is okay. It has a nice turn by Robert Patrick as a bad guy.  Cena plays a Marine named John who gets discharged for disobeying an order, the fact that he pulled off the mission  I guess is besides the point. He tries to get work as a security guard but that ends after he throws someone through a plate glass window. (The guy deserved it though but after that John’s buddy left the movie.) John and his wife are going to the mountains but they end up at the same gas station as Patrick and his band of villains. (The heroes of this series, from what I have observed from watching five of the six films, are not very lucky.) Thing go sideways and his wife gets kidnapped. John Cena is capable in the action scenes but he was not a natural actor at the time. (The fact his character is named John might have been a hint.) He has become better over the years but I don’t think he is in the same class as Dwayne Johnson.

I liked the Aquaman movie but I did not love it. Maybe I need to see a movie a few times before I love it. It was good and the underwater setting did help make the film feel different than some other superhero movies. Some people and critics seem to really liked it more than I did. I guess I am not sure if I missed something or not. It was good, if a little long, and Jason Maoma seems to be getting comfortable in the role. I want to see a sequel but maybe without Ocean Master. I don’t think he was a good villain. He was not a terrible villain but hopefully the sequel will have a better villain.

I listened to the Slash Film podcast episode on Glass. The podcast was fun, the hosts had some interesting views and their conversation was enjoyable. It actually made me reconsider my thoughts about the movie. That was time well spent. (If you look up the podcast, I will not benefit in any way. I am not being paid for this mention of the podcast.) I still hate or at least dislike Glass. The movie ends badly. I have probably have seen movies with endings I disliked more but at the moment it is hard to remember one. I did not like the ending of Game Night. The podcast suggested for all the movie’s faults, you have to admire the film’s ambitions. It is an interesting idea but I am not sure if I agree with that. Ambitions are nice but if they are not reached, maybe that means the filmmakers were overly ambitious. The podcasters said maybe complete creative freedom, which Shyamalan basically had with this film, does not always produce great work. Maybe some artists need limits or bou

First Man is about Neil Armstrong and the moon landing. Ryan Gosling plays Armstrong.  I am not a huge fan of him but he is good. He reteams with director Damian Chazelle, who directed La La Land. The closing act is good. (The whole movie is good but a good last act can make a difference about how you feel about a film.)The moon looks amazing. There are silent scenes on the moon that I liked. Also this movie is building to the moon landing and if the scenes on the moon were not good or interesting, that would hurt the film. I wish now I had seen this in theaters but maybe I was a bit burned out on going to movies in theaters at the time this was in theaters. I think some of the scenes would have looked amazing on the big screen. I liked this and will probably watch it again before the year ends. I admit I liked the scenes of the flights and the training sequences more than the scenes with Armstrong and his family. I thought Claire Foy did fine in the role of Mrs. Armstrong. Maybe

Dog Days is a movie set in Los Angeles featuring a large cast connected by their dogs. (Maybe in a city the size of Los Angeles some of these connections are unlikely but this is a comedy.) In a lot of ways it reminded me of Valentines Day (which I like more than maybe I should). Maybe I am feeling generous but I liked Dog Days. Maybe none of these stories could work as a whole movie but the stories work together in this movie. The performers are good, the movie is light entertainment but there are some more serious moments. There was a scene with a woman using pepper spray or mace on someone but that was played for comedy. It was nice to see Finn Wolfhard in a non-horror setting. I liked it.  I might not re-watch it but I don’t regret seeing it. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/dog-days-2018 This review is nice.

Shout Factory put out a Blu-Ray of When Harry Meet Sally, so I bought it. Billy Crystal plays Harry and Meg Ryan plays Sally. They first met at the end of college and then met again five years later and then met again 5 years after that after their relationships with other people ended. They don’t like each other at first but after their third meeting a friendship develops. Which is interesting because Harry used to believe that men and women cannot be friends. (The movie is not about that.) That friendship leads to something more. Crystal and Ryan are good. I am tempted to say that this might be Crystal’s best performance in movies. Ryan is also very good. They are good together. This set her off on her career as a star of other romantic comedies such as Sleepless in Seattle. Bruno Kirby and Carrie Fisher have supporting roles as friends that Harry (Kirby was his friend) and Sally (Fisher was her friend) were on a double date with but ended up with each other. That was kind of n

This sequel to the animated Death of Superman is out and it is good. After Superman’s death, four new heroes appear to take on Superman’s role but can they be trusted? Also is Superman really gone? Are any of the four really Superman back from the dead? This film answers those questions and it is fun. The parts with Superboy are enjoyable and I liked  Steel. Maybe they could get spin-off films or appear in other films. This film is based on the classic storyline from the 1990s. There are differences though. I enjoyed this. The action scenes are good and there are some good character  moments.  This is as good, or very close as good, as the Death of Superman animated movie. I hope there will be another animated Superman movie in the next year or so.

Glass is a sequel to both Unbreakable and Split. Bruce Willis, James McAvoy, and Samuel L. Jackson all return from their respective films. This is from writer/director M. Night Shyamalan. He has had a interesting career, with some hits and some flops. He has a reputation for overusing the twist ending in his films. David Dunn, from Unbreakable, is looking for the Horde (the villain with multiple personalities from Split). David and the Horde are captured by police and taken to a mental hospital where a doctor tries to convince them that they are not superhuman. Also on hand is Mr. Glass, the villain from Unbreakable with the high iq and brittle bones. James McAvoy is really good as the Horde. He is really convincing switching characters. He might be the best best part of the movie. I think there might have been some special effects or make up used but most of the transformation comes from his performance. Anya Taylor-Joy returns from Split but she doesn’t have a lot to do. It was

Well, there is announcement of a new Ghostbusters movie. This won’t be a sequel to the 2016 Ghostbusters with the all woman team. The rest of the details are vague but the director Jason Reitman is promising that it is not a reboot of the original film No stars are committed at this time. I suspect it will have an all male team. There is also supposed to be an animated Ghostbusters movie in the works but details on that are also pretty vague. Also that animated movie seems to been in the works for a while now. We will see. I did not hate the 2016 movie. It had problems but it also had potential and it is not as bad as some other recent comedies like Sisters or the House. (I am not claiming to be the film’s biggest fan but I thought a sequel could have worked.) We will see what develops or doesn’t. The Doc Savage movie that was announced a few years back got canceled and the Remo Williams/Destroyer reboot seems to have died. I liked the original Ghostbusters as much as anyone but

Jeff Bridges is good as the alien visiting Earth in this 1984 classic. His character takes on human form and travels across the country with a woman (Karen Allen). The body looks exactly like her dead husband (which complicates things). It is good. Bridges’ character gets more comfortable as the movie goes on but always remains alien. There are other characters, some who think the alien is a threat but at least one who doesn’t. Bridges’ character has mysterious powers/orbs. John Carpenter directed this movie, it is a bit different than the rest of his filmography. He is best known for Halloween, Escape from New York, and the Fog. There was a follow up TV series. It is a good movie, Bridges and Allen were good together. It is worth seeeing if you haven’t seen it and rewatching if you have.

The Great Battle is a Korean movie about a small armed force defending a fortress against a massive invasion force. This is inspired by an event in Korean history. (The movie takes liberties.) I thought the battle scenes were well staged and compare well with epic battles from films like the Lords of the Rings series. I liked some of the performances, even in the subtitled version. I also like stories about men defending a fortress (like the Alamo story and the book Legend by David Gemmel). The movie moves at a good clip, even though it is over 2 hours long. I might watch this again before the year ends. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/entertainment/movies/article/Review-Korean-film-The-Great-Battle-a-13239650.php I liked this review.

The Star Trek film series is reported to be dead. That is a shame, I liked the cast and I thought Star Trek Beyond was really good. More members of the crew seemed more involved(or to put it another way the film managed to use more of the crew than the previous film). I really had hopes for a fourth film. Oh well, the reboot was good. The new cast did a good job bringing new life to the classic crew.  Star Trek Into Darkness might be a bit of a misfire but it is not terrible. It is not the worst film in the Star Trek film franchise despite what some people were saying for a while. (That might be Star Trek V or it could be Star Trek Nemesis. I am not sure which one, I think it has been at least four years since I saw either one.) I guess this frees up Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, John Cho, Zoe Saldana, Simon Peg, John Cho, and Karl Urban for other projects. Maybe some of these actors will work together in other projects. That would be nice. I’d trade both Pacific Rim movies and the

Nemesis is like a cut rate Blade Runner. That is okay, nothing wrong with that. In this movie, Olivier Gruner stars as Alex, a LA cop, with cybernetic enhancements. He is brought back to fight terrorists but things might not be as simple as they appear. Gruner was a real life martial arts champion. This movie doesn’t take enough advantage of his fighting skills but he comes across well as the weary Alex. Tim Thomerson, best known for the Trancers series, costars. This might be worth checking out but not worth buying.  (Alas, I bought it.) I have seen worse. There are four or five sequels to this movie.

During a weak moment, I considered going to see Holmes and Watson to see if it was really that bad. The moment passed and I did not go see it. I guess I doubted it could be that bad for a moment but then I heard another review and the doubt faded. I am not a huge Will Ferrell fan, I think I dislike as many of his films as his as I like but I don’t love any of his films. Will I eventually see the film to confirm it is really as bad as critics say? Maybe. I feel pretty sure it is close to being as bad as the critics said and I don’t enjoy watching bad movies. (I watch some movies that other people don’t like but I like those movies.) It is more fun, for me, to watch or read a review of a bad movie. Maybe one day the film will be on Netflix or Hulu and I will give it a chance. It is sad that the movie is reported to be so bad, I don’t think has been a decent Sherlock Holmes spoof since Without a Clue. Maybe it is time to re-watch that film.

I had never seen Jesus Christ Superstar before today but I had heard some of the songs. I watched a 2012 production that was slightly modernized (the Roman guards look like a modern swat team, and Judas has a cellphone for some examples). The only actor/singer I recognized was Melanie C (the former Spice Girl). This is the story of how Judas betrays Christ (and why) and how Christ is crucified. The show is sympathetic towards Judas. The show is also sympathetic towards Ponicus Pilate. That surprised me. There are several songs sung including Gesthame, Superstar, I Don’t Know How to Love Him, and Everything is All Right. (These were songs I knew before I saw the movie.) I thought the performances were good and the songs were sung well. I enjoyed it. I think it might be worth re-watching later this year.

I heard Escape Room is better than the trailer made it look and the trailer looked average. So I guess that makes the movie above average. (Also the early January release date is not a good sign.) Maybe I will check it out. The big movie this month is Glass, a sequel to Split and Unbreakable. I have not seen Unbreakable in a long time(and I might been lukewarm on it) and I have not seen Split. So I might be skipping Glass. Now that I noticed how movies go out of their way to destroy cellphones (or have cellphones fail) it is hard not to think about it. I wonder if this will become distracting going foreward. Maybe I will just get used to it. I have now seen the last four Marine movies. Should I bite the bullet and buy the first two? There are other wrestlers/actors as the stars, not Mike “the Miz”Mizanin. I am not sure.

Franchises can die. Maybe they should sometimes. Not every franchise is Godzilla or James Bond, although the Godzilla franchise appeared to die a few times over the years. The Dirty Harry series ended and Clint Eastwood did other projects. The Predator franchise can die. I think it would be okay if it just faded away. There was an article on a website saying how the franchise could be saved. It was interesting but I wonder if saving the franchise is worth the effort. The first movie was pretty good and the second one was not bad but the crossover films with Aliens are average at best. Disney is planning to reboot the Pirates of the Carribbean franchise without Johnny Depp. Maybe they should just put the franchise on the back burner for the next few years and then relaunch it. Or maybe they could let the franchise die and move on to other things.

Salem’s Lot, the 2004 mini-series based on the Stephen King novel, holds up. (My DVD calls it a movie, so I think it qualifies for this blog.) I have not seen it in a few years. It is different from the 1979 mini-series in some ways. Rob Lowe stars as Ben Mears, a writer coming back to the small town of Salem’s Lot in Maine. He wants to write a book about the town. While he is in town, mysterious things start to happen. There are vampires in the town. (This is a 14 year old mini-series based on a book that is 43 years old, I am not overly concerned with spoilers.) I like this movie/mini-series and the 1979 mini-series too. I think Rob Lowe, Andre Braugher, and Samantha Mathis were good in their roles and there are some creepy events. James Cromwell is also good in his role. A major difference between the two adaptations is Barlow is more like he is in the novel and not the monster from the 1979 version. It is worth tracking down.