Movie Reviews 2017

I think what made The Missiles of October the better telling was their look at the Soviet side with Howard Da Silva as Nikita Khrushchev, Nehemiah Persoff as Andrei Gromyko and Albert Paulsen as Anatoly Dobrynin. the "back channel" between Soviet  "rezident" spy Alexander Fomin played by Harris Yulin and ABC News correspondent John A. Scali played by Paul Lambert, which was THE break through to solving the crisis, is also covered in more detail. also the late Ralph Bellamy was outstanding as UN Ambassador Adlai Stevenson

Sully (2016) biographical drama directed by Clint Eastwood about "Miracle on the Hudson" pilot Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger. VERY well acted by Tom Hanks as "Sully" and Aaron Eckhart as his First Officer Jeff Skiles. covers the accident itself and the subsequent NTSB investigation with it's usual "second guessing". also some of the post accident PTSD problems both men experienced. as a former US Airways pilot who actually flew as a First Officer with Sullenberger at the SFO crew base in the early 1990's I enjoyed the movie and I thought Hanks caught Sully's personality well. he was one ot THE most professional Captains I flew with in my airline career. the movie gets a well deserved 85 % "fresh" from Rotten Tomatoes. runs a relatively short 96 minutes. plays again all day on HBO Wednesday May 10th and Sunday May 14th. I rate it    of four

btw some of the REAL heroes of "Miracle on the Hudson" were the Ferry boat captains and their crews along with the NYPD divers. without their timely response to the accident MANY US Airways Flight 1549 passengers just might have DIED


Spy Game (2001) spy themed movie starring Robert Redford and Brad Pitt with Catherine McCormack as the Pitt characters "love interest". pretty good plot with excellent action in spots. sometime hard to tell the "good" guys from the "bad" among the CIA people in the movie as it seems like many are working at "cross purposes" trying to "undermine" each other which gives this movie plenty of  "plot twists" and surprises. plays on Showtime channels again daily starting Tuesday May 9th and sending Friday May 12th. I rate it   of four

Last Man Standing (1996) crime-action thriller remake of Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars (1964) which it self is a remake of Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo (1961) only set in Prohibition Era South Texas. basic plot is a stranger comes into town and plays the two rival "bootleg" gangs against each other which leads to "oodles of ordnance" I don't think a minute goes by of it 100 minute run time without someone getting shot in a gun fight. stars Bruce Willis as the stranger "John Smith" with Bruce Dern as the town's useless Sheriff and William Sanderson as Joe the bartenders who helps Smith esp at the end. David Patrick Kelly plays Doyle the Irish gang leader with Christopher Walken as Hickey his #1 lieutenant and Ned Eisenberg as Strozzi the Italian gang leader with a pre-Soprono's Michael Imperioli as Giorgio his  lieutenant. the lovely Alexandra Powers is Lucy Kolinski, Strozzi "woman"

played on HBO the other night and hopefully will repeat soon. I like all three of the movies with this plot and find them VERY entertaining and I think this one really has THE most action of the three. I rate it, along with the other two "originals" a "must see"     of four for action fans

Never Die Alone (2004) crime-action thriller staring rapper turned actor DMX and white actor David Arquette with the rest an all black crew. usually I do NOT care for black "gangstah" movies BUT this one actually has a pretty interesting plot with a number of "twists" and excellent action in spots with a crazy "revenge" ending. plays on Cinemax channels Monday May 15th and Friday May 19th. I rate it   of four

Mission: Impossible II (2000) second of the Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt "IMF" spy-action film series it features Ving Rhames, John Polson and the lovely Thandie Newton as Ethan Hunt's "crew" with Dougray Scott and Richard Roxburgh as the "nasty basztard" bad guys. Brendan Gleeson plays a greedy azzhole corporate boss. Anthony Hopkins has an un-credited cameo as the IMF mission commander. has the usual IMF chases and "oodles of ordnance" with plenty of "stuff that goes boom" and also a few interesting "plot twists". pretty much non-stop action BUT I thought they kind of "jumped the shark" with the final fight scene which was WAY longer than necessary to "tell the tale". plays again on Cinemaz channels Tuesday May 16th and Thursday May 18th. I rate it    of four

The Producers (1968) the great Mel Brooks made his directorial debut, and and also won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for this "screwball comedy" about  a down on his luck Broadway musical producer Max Bialystock play by the great Zero Mostel who comes up with a scheme to defraud his investors after his accountant Leo Bloom, played by the late great Gene Wilder, tells him that "you can actually make more money with a flop rather than a hit". SO the two look for THE worst musical comedy EVER and come up with "Springtime for Hitler" written by a former WWII German soldier Franz Liebkind, played by the hilarious Kenneth Mars, who played outrageous comedy characters in a number of late 1960' early 1970's movies like What's Up, Doc? (1972). '60's-70's comedy star person Shawn plays Lorenzo St. DuBois (LSD) a crazy druggie cast to play Hitler in the musical while Christopher Hewett plays the usually wreck of a director Roger De Bris. the lovely Lee Meredith plays Ulla, Bialystock's "eye candy" secretary.

this is a "must see" for  Mel Brooks fans and is just one hilarious scene or laugh line after another throughout. the way the "scheme" all comes apart when "LSD" goes off script as Hitler and turns what SHOULD have been a horrible FLOP into a HIT leaving Bialystock and Bloom looking for a way to "get out of the trap" is what gives it it's outstanding "screwball" action. played on Turner Classic Movies the other night and hopefully will repeat soon. do NOT mistake this for the (2005) version staring Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick which is NO WAY near as funny OR as well acted. I rate the original     of four

btw, I am kind of wondering IF I am wasting my time with this thread which gets just about NO response. it is kind of like >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsazvKGMyqY

I always enjoy the thread. Thank you for doing it.

Mimic (1997) Sci-Fi horror film staring Mira Sorvino, Jeremy Northam, Josh Brolin, Charles S. Dutton, Giancarlo Giannini, and F. Murray Abraham. similar plot to the Alien movies only instead of space alien "xenomorphs" running amok. it is genetic engineering "judas bugs" that were bred to destroy cockroaches that had caused a plague and then die off. instead they are breeding and multiplying in the Manhattan subway system and causing havoc. like the original Alien (1979) has excellent suspense with plenty of heart stopping "startle" scenes. also has some crazy "twists" in the plot like WHAT is with the kid "Chuy" played by young Alex Goodwin ???. overall IF you like the Alien franchise movies and esp the original, you should enjoy this one. plays on the Action-Max channel again Saturday May 20th @ 1:15am pacific time and i rate it    of four

Disraeli (1929) early "talkie" historical film about the 19th century British Prime Minister to Queen Victoria, Benjamin Disraeli. the first ever Best Actor Oscar for the great George Arliss in the title roll. it also features his wife Florence who played in most of his movies. goes into the political intrigue of the British acquiring the Suez Canal from Egypt in 1875. excellent suspense and "spy stuff". this is the first of a number of excellent historical movies staring Arliss as famous people including Alexander Hamilton (1931), Voltaire (1933), The House of Rothschild (1934), where he played both the father Mayer early on and then the eldest son Nathan later, and  Cardinal Richelieu (1935). I highly recommend ALL of these for those that enjoy early movies. serious drama students STILL study Arliss who was known as "The Voice" back then. all five movies play every so often on Turner Classic Movies and I rate them ALL     of four for their historical value

Love the Thread Rink!  

thank you for the kind words, Slobbasaurus

Jason Bourne (2016) latest of the Jason Bourne "spy-action" film series and a direct sequel to The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) stars Matt Damon once again as the title character with Tommy Lee Jones as a "shady" CIA director and Alicia Vikander as the CIA head of Cyber Ops. the usual "see Bourne run, see Bourne fight, see Bourne evade, see Bourne fukk with the system" plot with plenty of chases, fights and ordnance. the final chase scene thru the Las Vegas Strip is spectacular BUT this, like the Mission Impossible series of movies is getting a bit "long in the tooth" and repetitious. still it IS worth a look for "action" fans. plays again on HBO all day Saturday May 20th, Monday the 22nd and Wednesday the 24th on HBO-Z and again all day Thursdat the 25th on HBO. I rate   it just because "really nothing new here"

The Express (2008) VERY well acted sports biography about the great Syracuse University football star Ernie Davis (played by Rob Brown) who tragically died of leukemia in 1963 at the age of 23. also stars Dennis Quaid as Syracuse football head coach Ben Schwartzwalder with Charles S. Dutton Ernie's grandfather and mentor "Pops" Davis and Darrin Dewitt Henson as the great Syracuse and Cleveland Browns running back Jim Brown. the movie covers Ernie's early life and go's deep into the racism in sports, esp college football, back in the late 1950's / early 1960's. really a "must see" for college football fans or those interested in the history of the times. plays on the 5-Max channel Sunday May 21st @ 3:40amand on Cinemax channels Tuesday May 23rd @ 1:00pm & 4:00pm all pacific time. I rate it    of four

Mission: Impossible III (2006) more "spy-action" with Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt leader of the "IMF" team with Ving Rhames, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Maggie Q as his fellow team members. Philip Seymour Hoffman play the "bad baztard" villain in this one. the usual IMF oodles of action with spectacular stunts and "stuff that goes boom". like the Bourne review, it's worth a look for action fans BUT the plots starting to get a bit "stale". played in the IFC movie channel and hopefully will repeat on another movie channel soon as IFC is over-run with commercials. like the latest Bourne film, I rate it only   of four

SPLIT...   I liked this, which explains a lot about me....   Great performance by James McAvoy playing ~5-7 split personalities.  Also like the M.Night Shyamalan ending twist and hopefully we get to see if that continues into another film.   

The Road Warrior (1981) the 2nd of the three Australian post-apocalyptic action films that made Mel Gibson a star along with Mad Max (1979) and Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985). also stars Bruce Spence as the Gyro Captain with young Emil Minty as the Feral Kid, Vernon Wells as Wez, a mohawked, leather-clad biker who is the prime villain and Max Phipps as Toadie who is somewhat the movie's "comic relief". this one and Beyond Thunderdome the best two of the series with pretty much non-stop action, chase scenes and "stuff that goes boom". plays on Cinemax channels East & West Thursday May 25th and again Sunday May 28th. it is a movie along with Beyond Thunderdome I can watch multiple times and NOT get bored. I rate both    of four

The Wizard of Lies (2017) made for HBO movie from book of the same name by Diana B. Henriques about the Bernard Madoff "Ponzi scheme" fraud with emphasis on the consequences for his family. stars Robert De Niro as Bernard Madoff, Michelle Pfeiffer as his wife Ruth. Alessandro Nivola as his eldest son Mark, Nathan Darrow as his youngest son Andrew and Hank Azaria as Madoff's "chief financial officer" Frank DiPascali who ran the day-to-day operation of the scheme. the Mrs loved it and thought it was well acted. I thought it was dull mostly because the story was "nothing new here" although De Niro and Pfeiffer were excellent in their rolls. plays all week on HBO so you can decide for yourself. for me it was

The Interpreter (2005) political "suspense-thriller" about a UN interpreter played by Nicole Kidman who overhears an assassination plot and her efforts to thwart it. also stars Sean Penn as a US Secret Service agent tasked to find out IF her story is  true. starts out kind of "slow" and I found myself "paging thru" some of the first half BUT "picks up the pace" in the second half and has pretty good action, suspense and interesting "plt twists" at the end. probably could have been a good 20 minute shorter and still "told the tale". plays again on Stars-Edge Friday June 2nd @ 7:05am and 6:00pm pacific time. I rate it   of four

Deepwater Horizon (2016) historical disaster film about the 2010 oil rig blowout and fire disaster in the Gulf of Mexico south of New Orleans in 2010. was thinking this would be a "nothing new here" movie and only got into it in the middle because there was nothing on late night. Boy OH was I WRONG!!! VERY entertaining "heroic fast-action" movie that had me on the EDGE of my SEAT!!! the CGI of the disaster is OUTSTANDING to where you can almost smell the burning oil. stars Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell and Gina Rodriguez with John Malkovich as Donald Vidrine the BP London "root weevel" manager who's "pushing to complete" the well was the REAL cause of the disaster. most everyone in the US of A and esp the Gulf Coast knows the story BUT the depiction of the disaster and the heroic response of the drill crew is well worth watching.  in the ending epilogue it is stated that, just like with the corporate crooks on Wall Street, NO one was ever prosecuted for their actions and they also list the 11 oil workers who died. plays again on Cinemax channels Monday May 29th @ 5:00pm &  8:00pm and again Sunday June 4th @ 11:00am & 2:00pm pacific times. I rate it     of four the story is THAT well told

I really liked The Express.  The guy who plays Ernie Davis is a pretty good actor.

Lincoln (2012) epic historical drama directed by Steven Spielberg that probably took THE biggest SCREWING in the Oscars of ANY movie in HISTORY. stared Daniel Day-Lewis as President Abraham Lincoln, Sally Field as First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln, David Strathairn as Secretary of State William H. Seward and Tommy Lee Jones as Republican Congressman Thaddeus Stevens . of the historical dramas I have seen in the past this is arguably THE best acted by ALL involved BUT of the six "major award" Oscars it was nominated for the ONLY winner was Best Actor for Daniel Day-Lewis. Best Picture went to Ben Affleck's Argo which is also an excellent movie and I have NO problem with that BUT Ang Lee as Best Director for that CGI fest fantasy about a freeking kid and a tiger on a boat Life of Pi instead of  Spielberg (OR Affleck who was NOT even nominated) ??? or Christoph Waltz Best Supporting Actor for Django Unchained instead of Tommy Lee Jones ??? Waltz was good BUT his character was more a STARING than SUPPORTING part in that movie. also overlooked were Alan Arkin for Argo and Robert De Niro for Silver Linings Playbook. in any case IF you want to see a GREAT historical drama it plays again on Showtime Saturday June 3rd @ 1:30pm ans 10:30pm pacific time. I rate it    of four

THE original The Gambler (1974) THE drama about a degenerate sports bettor Axel Freed played by James Caan, his bookie "Hips" played by Paul Sorvino and his girl friend Billei played by Lauren Hutton. excellent supporting rolls by Burt Young as  the "collector" Carmine and Vic Tayback as the menacing loan shark One along with Jacqueline Brookes as Axel's mother Naomi and Morris Carnovsky as his rich grandfather A.R. Lowenthal. also James Woods in an early in his career bit part as a smart azz bank loan officer. I think this is a MUST SEE at least once for ANY sportsbettor. it is NOT to be confused with the recent 2014 Mark Wahlberg / John Goodman remake which is pure "schlock" by comparison with only ONE memorable scene in the whole movie. the original plays again on EPIX-Hits Thursday June 1st @ 2:15 am and EPIX-1 Tuesday June 6th @ 12:25 am pacific times. I obviously rate this     of four. it is one of the many movies from this time period that made James Caan a star including the made for TV Brian's Song (1971) The Godfather (1972) and Rollerball (1975)

Walz was awesome in Django, but I do see your point of him having a starring role.  

you GOT to see the original The Gambler (1974) IF you have never seen it Slobbasaurus. also thought Deepwater Horizon was surprisingly good. after watching the whole thing it IS a little "slow" early on BUT once the crew gets to the rig and those two BP "company men" Vidrine (John Malkovich) and Kaluza (Brad Leland) show up and start with THEIR BS, it gets "interesting REAL fast

Free State of Jones (2016)  historical American Civil War and "Reconstruction" era movie based on the life of Newton Knight, played by  Matthew McConaughey, who lead a revolt against the Confederacy in Jones County, Mississippi during the Civil War and fought to get voting rights for freed blacks afterwards. very well acted by McConaughey along with Gugu Mbatha-Raw as Rachel his black love interest and Mahershala Ali as Moses Washington, his black "lieutenant" during the revolt,  found it to be interesting "unknown history" BUT was somewhat "slow" without a lot of "slam-bang" action. plays again on Showtime Two Monday March 5th @ 5:00pm, Showtime East & West Wednesday the 7th @ 4:30 and 7:30pm and also Saturday the 10th @ 5:00pm and 8:00pm. interesting movie for history buffs and I rate it   of four

The Magnificent Seven (2016) remake of the 1960 Yul Brynner classic with Denzel Washington in Brynner's "leader" roll. most reviews I have seen say "same old-same old" and it has a pretty "neutral" 63% "fresh" from Rotten Tomatoes. TOUGH to re-do a "classic". premiers next Sunday June 11th @ 5:00pm pacific time on EPIX-1. have NOT viewed it yet so can NOT rate at this time BUT kind of suspect it will be in my opinion NONE of the Magnificent Seven films are nearly as good as the Akira Kurosawa classic 1954 action movie Seven Samurai which inspired the original western themed version

Dirty Harry (1971) the first of the crime-action movie series (that along with the earlier Sergio Leone "spaghetti westerns") made Clint Eastwood an action movie star. has the famous and often quoted line "do I feel lucky?' well, do you, punk?" the film also ended up destroying co-star Andy Robinson's (who played "The Scorpio Killer") film career. he got "type cast" as a "psycho villain" and only had one other major film roll in the 1973 Walter Matthau crime drama Charley Varrick. plays on the Action-Max channel Thursday June 8th @ 10:40am, on Cinemax East & West Saturday the 10th @ 3:15pm & 6:15pm and again on Action-Max Monday the 12th @ 1:45am all times pacific. definite "classic I rate    of four

Magnum Force (1973) second in the "Dirty Harry" series with Eastwood it features early woork by actors David Soul, Tim Matheson and Robert Urich as three rookie motorcycle cops "taking out the trash". also features Hal Holbrook as Harry's supervisor who is secretly controlling the rookie cops actions. this is also a personal favorite in the series and has a couple interesting "plot twists" at the end. GREAT scene early on with Harry posing as an airline pilot to take down two hijackers where the co-pilot has the line during takeoff "excuse me Captain but CAN you FLY ???" LOL!!! it is also playing on Cinemax channels this week Action-Max Wednesday June 7th @ 5:55am then Cinemax East & West Friday the 9th @ 12:55am & 3:55am and Sunday the 11th @ 3:00am and 6:00am. I also rate the    of four

Rink what's your thoughts  on Interstallar ?

just TOO weird and convoluted for me, Vito. I think it's pure

Ben-Hur (2016) another remake of the historical epic classic with Morgan Freeman and a cast of "who ???" actors. NO way NEAR as good OR as well acted as the 1959 Charlton Heston as Judah Ben-Hur, Stephen Boyd as Messala and Jack Hawkins as Quintus Arrius production with English character actor Hugh Griffith in the Morgan Freeman part of Sheik Ilderim. for all of it's "spectacular" CGI the sea battle is completely half azzed. the character of Quintus Arrius, who Judah saves after the sea battle, is not even mentioned in this remake. also I do NOT think the Chariot Race, for all it's "WOW factor" CGI is also just NOT as well done. this is NOT even as good as the 1925 silent with Ramon Novarro as Ben-Hur and Francis X Bushman as Messala which is definitely worth a look for "historical" movie fans. it holds a well deserved "bottom feeder" 25% from Rotten Tomatoes it ended up a "box office bomb" and was one of the biggest "flops" of 2016. plays again on EPIX channels next week IF you want to fool with it. for me it was pure

Idiocracy (2006) is a satirical sci-fi comedy about the complete "dumbing down" of American society 500 years in the future. it is REALLY pretty "stupid funny" throughout although ALSO a pretty scary warning about the future. has a decent 74% "fresh" rating from Rotten Tomatoes an had mostly good reviews. has become somewhat of a "cult classic" esp after the American 2016 Presidential Election with the comparison of Donld Trump to the movie's dim-witted wrestler-turned-president, "Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho". screen writer Etan Cohen started after the election that "I'm no prophet, I was off by 490 years" . plays again on Starz Friday June 9th @ 10:00am and  6:35pm pacific time. I rate it    of four

As always Rink, thanks for this thread man.  

ONLY memorable scene in the 2014 Mark Wahlberg / John Goodman remake of The Gambler, Slobbasaurus is "Getting To the Position of Fukk You" >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJjKP8vYjpQ but THAT was GOOD