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The horror channel are having a Lucio Fulci season, every Saturday throughout August. And with ZFE being one of the many Fulci films i've not seen, and starring Richard Johnson in support, this was one I wanted to see sooner.
Also, it's a shame that Tisa Farrow retired early. I thought she was a decent actress and quite pretty, in a natural kind of way.
Richard Johnson ranking:
1. Deadlier Than The Male (1967)
2. The Haunting (1963)
3. Some Girls Do (1969)
4. The Witch (1966)
5. The Night Child (1975)
*****6. Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979)*****
7. Operation Crossbow (1965)
8. A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square (1979)
Lucio Fulci ranking:
1. The Beyond (1981)
2. City Of The Living Dead (1980)
3. The Black Cat (1981)
4. Lizard In A Woman's Skin (1971)
*****5. Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979)*****
6. The House By The Cemetery (1981)
<center><font size = 4>part 12</font></center>
<center><font color = darkblue size = 6>FULL METAL JACKET (1987)</font></center>
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It took Kubrick seven years to get to another production, but Full Metal Jacket was once again going to be a film hard to forget. It can best be discussed when split in two parts. And most people are likely to gravitate most to the first.
The training sequence is often considered unintentionally funny - at times - whilst leaving a powerful impression. Training sequences are often 'cool' in films because we start with people who are mostly on the same inexperienced level we are. Gradually we can see them develop their skills and of course we project our own secret ambitions into this. But in Full Metal Jacket things are slightly different. What counts is the doctrine, the drill, the desensitisation, brainwashing almost, and the dehumanisation. It's the war machine at its best. Vincent D'Onofrio delivers a frightening performance as private Joker, but R. Lee Ermey provides both laughs (perhaps undesirably) and some level of antagonism. Despite Kubrick's initial objection to the casting of Ermey, thinking him not menacing enough, the former gunnery sergeant blows our minds away. He was the second actor (see Peter Sellers) whom Kubrick allegedly allowed to make his lines up during shooting. The result is, however, staggering. Ermey's performance is one of the key selling points of the entire film...
... which is sort of funny since the second part of the film stars neither him or D'Onofrio. We now focus more on the previously less conspicuous Matthew Modine. We also see Adam Baldwin and our reluctant Felix Leither, John Terry. This part features the Vietnam segment of Kubrick's last war themed movie. Some will argue that it's the weaker part of the film but I think it's merely a different part of the film, though not necessarily a weaker part. We are confronted with the importance of giving the press good material to satisfy the 'audiences' at home. And we do get a discomforting climax. Kubrick will not let you sleep well after this film.
Although shot far from location, Kubrick was perfectly able to capture the Vietnam feel. Full Metal Jacket is IMO one of the bestr Vietnam films, perhaps only behind Platoon and Born On The Fourth Of July. I find myself being moved by the second half and taking some form of guilty pleasure in the first.
Final score: 8/10
DD's Stanley Kubrick retrospective score card:
2001: A Space Odyssey: 11/10
The Shining: 9,5/10
Dr. Strangelove: 9,5/10
A Clockwork Orange: 9/10
Lolita: 9/10
Paths Of Glory: 9/10
Spartacus: 8,5/10
The Killing: 8,5/10
Full Metal Jacket: 8/10
Barry Lyndon: 8/10
Killer's Kiss: 6,5/10
Fear And Desire: 5/10
DD's Michael Mann retrospective score card:
HEAT: 10/10
The Insider: 9/10
Thief: 9/10
Collateral: 8,5/10
Miami Vice: 8/10
Manhunter: 8/10
Public Enemies: 7,5/10
Ali: 7/10
The Last Of The Mohicans: 7/10
The Keep: 5,5/10
DD's David Fincher retrospective score card:
Seven: 9,5/10
The Social Network: 9,5/10
Zodiac: 8,5/10
The Game: 8/10
Panic Room: 8/10
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo: 8/10
Alien³: 7,5/10
The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button: 7,5/10
Fight Club: 7/10
SGD ahead of "Operation Crossbow", Major?
For Richard Johnson films, you ought to check out "Khartoum"-
The "acting" in these makes Gigli look like a master piece , like they picked up random people in the street , "wanna be in a movie ?" lol
To be fair, though Some Girls Do isn't a match for Deadlier Than The Male, Johnson's performance as Drummond... well, I can't find fault with, and is further proof that had Johnson accepted the Bond role, he'd have been fantastic.
Thanks for the Khartoum recommendation, I've seen the DVD here and there, but I never got around to buying a copy. Danger Route is another Johnson film I want to see, it also stars Diana Dors, which is another reason I want to see it, but there has been no official DVD (or VHS) release yet. It's available on ioffer, but that's a gamble.
Evil dead remake, was better than i expected, literally no character building or plot though not to be expected with a film like this. Was quite a few whoa moments, some great visual effects. Not a bad movie really compared to most contemporary horror.
Shame to see pretty talented people getting involved in utter trash. Bad film, predictable from start to finish, and horrendous ending.
'Bullet to the Head'
Surprisingly, I thought Sylvester Stallone was fantastic in this. The rest of the cast was pretty bland, and I didn't appreciate the over-usage of the CGI blood. Action sequences were generic, not too terrible. The film wasn't good, but wasn't horrendous. I'd say it's under average.
I've just finished Munich a few minutes ago and I feel strongly urged to give a short review about it. When I decided to watch Munich I was interested in how exactly Spielberg was capable of displaying the Munich massacre in 1972. I asked myself in how far he would be able to keep up with a somewhat difficult topic like this. The Munich massacre is a symbol for the whole middle-east conflict. I had my doubts at first whether a Hollywood producer would be able to not only reproduce but also show the complexity of this conflict to the general public. After watching the movie itself I'm proud to say my doubts turned out to be wrong.
I really cannot believe that Steven Spielberg directed Munich. He is capable of a much better movie. This movie drags. Good set decoration is no substitute for a good show. The film broke twice while we were trying to watch this thing. Turned out that was the best part of the movie.
Me too! One of my favourite films and one of Spielberg's best works without a doubt.
At 2hrs 49mins I was left wanting more...hopefully Netflix will bring the extended version. Loved it.
8 out 10.
That's exactly how I felt! I didn't understand a lot of the complaints from 'The Hobbit.' I loved every minute of it.
@Sandy, now that, I can agree with! Still stands as my favorite film of all time. I would throw an infinite amount of money at a blu-ray release right now. They need to get to releasing it!
Wow what an underrated movie.
It's not underrated at all. It is utter garbage. For one thing, it's directed by McG for chrissakes! It's really quite insulting to the memory of the first two Terminator films. I fear for number five when it's released in 2015.
An underground network of caves is discovered, so a research team is sent down to investigate. Having been picked off one-by-one, they eventually discover a civilisation untouched by the modern world. I have no idea why this was cert 18, as there is nothing remotely graphic enough to warrant such a rating.
I see on the imdb, this has been likened to The Descent (2005), but I would say that it's actually closer to The Cave (2005). It's not worth going out of your way to find, but at least it's another Rich Johnson film for my collection.
Richard Johnson:
1. Deadlier Than The Male (1967)
2. The Haunting (1963)
3. Some Girls Do (1969)
4. The Witch (1966)
5. The Night Child (1975)
6. Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979)
7. Operation Crossbow (1965)
8. A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square (1979)
*****9. What Waits Below (1985)*****
Reservoir Dogs stars Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Edward Bunker, Randy Brooks, and Quentin Tarantino. This was Quentin Tarantino's first real movie. A cool aspect of the movie is that you have to constantly pay attention because of its nonlinear storyline. But the basic plot is, A group of career criminals are recruited to pull off a simple jewelery heist. But the job goes terribly wrong when they are overrun by cops and problems ensue. The movie takes place before and after the actual events of the heist itself. You don't even see the heist take place. What I love about not being able to see the heist scene, Quentin Tarantino allows the audience the open up there imagination, and see what the heist scene would be like in our own minds. This in my opinion makes the movie more interesting. And you can't not talk about dialogue when it comes to Quintin Tarantino, because everything in his movies revolves around dialogue. The dialogue in this movie is so simplistic, its so pure, so natural, it feels like real conversation you would have with a family member, a friend, or a loved one. His dialogue is very well written, especially in the opening scene, you sort of get sense of the characters just by the way they talk with one another. Like for example Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi) talks about how he doesn't like to tip other people, and you feel that because you've most likely had a conversation like that before. Reservoir Dogs is so realistically driven, and I enjoy watching the characters talk. Tarantino's movies revolve around pure talking, but the conversations that these people have are so interesting and you get so invested with the characters. Right away you are attached to the characters. Which kind of draws me into the film. Coming back to that Tarantino creates some of his greatest characters in his films. I like to think of Mr. Pink as the voice of reason, he is the one character that relates to the audience, he sort of like the eyes of the audience in this film, He's saying "Let's get out of here", "Lets just take the diamonds and run" but none of the other characters listen to him. Even though this movie centers around anti heroes I feel like the true villain of the film is Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen). Mr. Blonde is an absolute psycho in the film. And I love how even though you know that deep down, he is a psychopath, he is in control of what he is doing, and even though he knows what he is doing is wrong, but he still does it anyway. You get this sense of creepiness from him and he brings some humorous elements to his character and sort of balances him out. So that way you don't feel to distracted by the pain he is inflicting on this police officer. It is Quentin Tarantino's first film and you see all of those amazing elements he puts in a lot of his other films. Like the nonlinear storytelling, the 'Trunk" shot, edgy dialogue, and lots of foul language. I love the storytelling, the dialogue, and the characters. I would highly recommend it if you haven't seen it.
Overall Rating: 9.5/10
Or because it has a crap story and has absolutely zero character development and is an abomination of the Cameron movies. It's the equivalent of saying the last Die Hard film is so much better than the original because it has loads more action! But then if you think a good movie only means having lots of CGI and explosions and then even more explosions, then good luck to you :-)
You're welcome. I know the film got a good bit of hate, but I think people should look at it as a continuation to Cameron's films, because like you said, it's a side-quel, and it was very fun.
And I hated the third film. Well, not 'hated,' just so not into it that I only watched it once. [-(
Agreed with you there. Mind you I did actually enjoy it more than Matrix Reloaded, which I saw a couple of weeks before, but that doesn't say much
It's hard for me to decide which I liked more, this or 'White House Down.' The former worked better with an R-rating, had some pretty tense moments, and some great fight sequences. But, the film was chock full of plot holes and moments that made absolutely no sense whatsoever, I don't prefer this cast as much as that seen in the latter film, and I couldn't get over how terrible the CGI was. 'White House Down,' on the other hand, was a lot more comedic - which I didn't care for - and the fight sequences were not as good.
They both have their pros and cons, which is nice, since they both came out only a few months apart from one another. I'd suggest seeing them both once the latter is released on blu-ray/DVD, if you didn't catch it in theaters.
As I have said elsewhere, if you want to enjoy a real stonker of a White House attack plot, just read the late and great Vince Flynn's thriller, Transfer of Power.
It's a question I'm sure Scorsese asks himself along with "How did Raging Bull ever lose to Ordinary People"? It's one of the great mysteries of Hollywood.
Goodfellas is just my favourite movie of all time. I can watch it over and over again and yet each time, the viewing experience increases for me.