Jul
04
2007
Or, Live Free or Die Hard as it is in the states
Dir: Len Wiseman
Writ: Mark Bomback, David Marconi; some characters: Roderick Thorp; A Farewell to Arms by John Carlin
- Bruce Willis … John McClane
- Timothy Olyphant … Thomas Gabriel
- Justin Long … Matt Farrell
- Maggie Q … Mai Lihn
- Cliff Curtis … Bowman
- Kevin Smith … Warlock
- Mary Elizabeth Winstead … Lucy McClane
What better way to mark America’s Independence Day than with a trip to see this film? The makers of Die Hard 4.0 obviously agreed with me, why else would they have had it open on Wednesday otherwise? And it was the perfect popcorn action flick. Not a lot of plot, or character, but plenty of explosions and much violence. Remember violence from 80’s films? It was all about the death count, the casual shootings, and the big explosions, not like the torture and slow deaths you are more likely to see today.
The plot isn’t that important. Suffice to say that there are bad guys. They do bad things. John McClane stops them. End of, baby, end of.
Course the fact that Willis is now in his fifties might make you wonder does he make a believable action hero. And I’d have to say yes. Totally believable. Afterall, if Rocky could do it, then so can McClane. And yes, it is silly, at one stage McClane “kills a helicopter” with his car. But it is also totally enjoyable and entertaining. And the action scenes are damn cool.
I guess you could say that I enjoyed this film. Just don’t think too hard about it, or wonder at the fact that the bad-guy is a carefully chosen american, and that there is mix of ethnicities to the cast. Guess they didn’t want to bring too much politics into this film, and that is as it should be.
Course, maybe I enjoyed it so much cause I’ve always been a Bruce Willis fan, right from those Moonlighting days. As for recommending people to go see it, well it is a total no brainer. Do you like action films? If so go. If you are in the mood for something with plot and storylines and want to think then I’d give it a miss. But if you are a fan you’ll love it, just try and catch it on the big screen cause I’m guessing it won’t be as much fun at home.
IMDb | Stainless Steel Droppings | Full2 Fallto | LifeParticles | hint of sarcasm
Tags:
A Farewell to Arms,
action,
Bruce Willis,
car chase,
Cliff Curtis,
David Marconi,
Die Hard 4.0,
John Carlin,
John McClane,
Justin Long,
Kevin Smith,
Len Wiseman,
Maggie Q,
Mark Bomback,
Mary Elizabeth Winstead,
mindless fun,
Roderick Thorp,
silly,
Timothy Olyphant
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May
17
2007
Writ & Dir: Nick Cassavetes based on the true story of Jess James Hollywood
- Emile Hirsch … Johnny Truelove
- Justin Timberlake … Frankie Ballenbacher
- Shawn Hatosy … Elvis Schmidt
- Ben Foster … Jake Mazursky
- Anton Yelchin … Zack Mazursky
- Sharon Stone … Olivia Mazursky
- Bruce Willis … Sonny Truelove
- Matthew Barry … Interviewer
- Vincent Kartheiser … Pick Giamo
- Dominique Swain … Susan Hartunian
- Amanda Seyfried … Julie Beckley
You know this films isn’t half bad. I went to see it expecting a somewhat mindless popcorn film. But is actually a fairly watchable, half way decent flick.
Johnny Truelove and his pals are half-arsed weed-dealer-kids, hanging out and doing drugs, making money through dealing. But when real bad-boy Jake Mazursky owes money to Truelove things begin to escalate, leading to Truelove and “his boys” kidnapping Jake’s half brother. But the 15 year old Zack doesn’t seem like much of a victim. He gets to live the life of drugs, drink and parties; he is having a good time. But the kidnapping was a spur of the moment thing, and when he consults his lawyer Truelove realises that the implications may be quite serious.
His solution? Why get rid of the hostage of course.
Most of the film consists of the “boys” hanging out, having a good time, getting stoned, watching video games and playing games. But of course you know that it isn’t going to end happily. The opening scene is an interview with Johnny Truelove’s father, there is a time line, and every peripheral character is identified as a witness. You know that trouble can’t be far away.
Surprisingly, all the actors do a good job. Hirsch reminded me a little too much of Leonardo diCaprio for some reason, but played his role well. Timberlake had little to do for much of the film, handing around, getting high, but in the final scenes he was really good as his character suddenly realises what he has gotten himself into. Anton Yelchin, playing Zach, was perfectly cast as he comes across as a nice boy, likeable and innocent. But it is Foster who really steals the show as the violent and unpredictable Jake. Sharon Stone too does a great job, although the make-up effects in the interview scenes felt a little too much for me.
It isn’t an excellent film, but there is plenty to like about it.
Official Site | IMDb | Wikipedia entry | Fantasy Moguls | Pop Syndicate | Pop Matters
Tags:
7 Stars,
Alpha Dog,
Amanda Seyfried,
Anton Yelchin,
Ben Foster,
Bruce Willis,
Dominique Swain,
drugs,
Emile Hirsch,
Jesse James Hollywood,
Justin Timberlake,
kidnapping,
Matthew Barry,
murder,
Nick Cassavetes,
Sharon Stone,
Shawn Hatosy,
true crime,
Vincent Kartheiser
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Jun
07
2005
Dir: Frank Miller, Robert Rogriguez & Quentin Tarantino
Writ: Frank Miller
- Bruce Willis …. Hartigan
- Mickey Rourke …. Marv
- Jessica Alba …. Nancy Callahan
- Clive Owen …. Dwight
- Nick Stahl …. Roark Jr./Yellow Bastard
- Elijah Wood …. Kevin
It is hard to know how to describe this film, I suppose I could say that Sin City has three stories, each based on a different graphic novel by Miller. Or that it is just an experiment in style and how to make a film look original.
The film opens with soon-to-retire cop Hartigan (Willis) as he attempts to save 11 year old Nancy Callahan from rape and death. I’m guessing you’ve figured out it isn’t a fluffy-bunny film right? Because there is a hell of a lot of violence. In the main it is fairly cartoony, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have impact, and there are a few scenes that’ll make anyone wince.
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Tags:
9 Stars,
action,
based on comic,
Bruce Willis,
Clive Owen,
Elijah Wood,
Frank Miller,
Jessica Alba,
looks cool,
Mickey Rourke,
Nick Stahl,
Oirish accents,
Quentin Tarantino,
Robert Rodriguez,
sff,
Sin City,
superheroes
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