Brokeback Mountain: Our Community's Common Bond > The Lighter Side
ABCs at the Movies: The Doubles Round!
memento:
IMDB: Charles Bronson gives a splendidly steely and stoical performance as Arthur Bishop, a merciless and meticulous, but stressed-out aging veteran hit-man who lives by his own strict personal moral code. Cocky eager beaver Steve McKenna (excellently played by Jan-Michael Vincent) befriends Bishop. Bishop teaches McKenna the tricks of his lethal trade. But does McKenna have some other nefarious secret agenda concerning Bishop? Tautly directed in a supremely mean'n'lean stripped-down no-nonsense style by Michael ("Death Wish") Winner, with a crafty and ingenious script by Lewis John Carlino, slick cinematography by Robert H. Kline, a superbly shivery'n'spooky score by Jerry Fielding, and several stirring slam-bang action set pieces, this fine film certainly makes the grade as a very tense, exciting and suspenseful crime thriller. Popping up in nifty minor roles are Keenan Wynn as a crusty mob capo and Jill Ireland as an alluring prostitute. From its bravura laconic, virtually wordless first fifteen minutes to its startling double whammy surprise twist ending, this superior favorite never makes a single false step and delivers the immensely satisfying goods with exceptional skill and efficiency.
oilgun:
Stockbroker T.T.Ralston has promised his neice Gwen to double it if she can raise $20,000. for charity. But he connives so those she asks refuse to give her more than the $10,000 she's already raised. Gwen secretly gives T.T.'s new partner Steve Bennett the $10,000 and asks him to double it. Later in a discussion with T.T., business partner Dick and client Van, about truth in business Steve bets the $10,000. that he can tell the truth for 24 hours. Having already accepted an invitation for a weekend on T.T.'s houseboat, Steve is subjected to 24 hours of attempts to get him to lie or divulge the bet, which would lose him (and Gwen) the $10,000.
Fran:
From IMDb: I was surprised to see the 7.1 (as of the time of this writing) rating for this movie. Really, I found it to be just plain bad. The dialog is nothing to write home about. The acting of Brando is ridiculous. The plot is full of holes. The worst part, however, is the editing. The scenes seem cut together haphazardly. There's very little exposition, and the audience is left to infer what they should be feeling based on vague references. The main character is on a hunt for his old friend because he was double-crossed. It's not served up as just simple revenge, though; there's an implied depth of emotion that is never earned by the protagonist. There's one scene in which Brando's character sacrifices his freedom for his friend, but there's very little explanation as to why he would do such a thing. There's not enough backstory to make this sacrifice believable. We're just thrown into the scene and expected to absorb the understood history between the men. Then his friend leaves him for dead. This would be fine if the scenes prior to that hadn't had him wasting precious time (with him barefoot and on the run) to find Brando, waiting for him to retrieve his ring (let's not talk about the realism of a stuck-up aristocratic RICH female STRANGER suddenly allowing Brando's character to grope her simply because he gave her a crappy ring), and then sticking with him through a chase scene where any seasoned criminal would know it's better to split up.
This movie is horrible.
memento:
From IMDB: This movie is great, I had the opportunity to see it twice at Sundance, the first time it was very confusing. The second time, it makes sense, when you can understand all the story tricks and plot twists. I think this film is in t he same vane as Memento, Existenz or The Usual Suspects, you have to watch it twice to know whats going on. I had the opportunity to talk to Shane Carruth the maker of this film and aside from being a really nice guy, he explained that you simply have to watch it a few times and pay attention to the doubles and triples of people. This film won 2 well deserved awards at Sundance because it truly embodies the independent spirit of film making.
oilgun:
Van Damme plays twins re-united in Hong Kong to avenge their parents' murder by local bad guys, but this lunkhead kick-em-up doesn't even take advantage of that gimmick; the basic story would have been exactly the same with just one Jean-Claude. Lots of profane dialogue and some gratuitous nudity for the kiddies.
Question:
"Q" can still be a wild card, right?
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version