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Eh? How on earth could someone see it as "anti-woman" somehow? I haven't seen such comments, and that sounds, well, crazy. That would be as peculiar as calling it "anti-man". Pro-human, more like. :)
Then again, I have seen some men say something ridiculous like that about American Psycho and that didn't make any sense to me, either. A completely different kind of a movie, obviously, but still. (And, obviously, made by feminists - the director, the screenwriters, the lead...)
It never ceases to amaze me how differently people see movies. Different tastes I understand, and maybe completely different interpretations of what people see are just a continuation of that, but it can still be utterly puzzling sometimes.
I literally don't see the 3D effects (the technology is not compatible with my eyes), so I always only go see movies in 2D. Saves me money, too, and I don't have to deal with those crappy glasses, either.
I'll report back after Fury.
Sin City: A Dame To Kill For (2014)
I went in with the lowest of expectations, having heard more negative than positive about the long-anticipated sequel to the 2005 masterpiece Sin City. Perhaps that's why I was slightly relieved to find myself enjoying things a lot better than I'd thought I would. While admittedly this film isn't as strong and 'fresh' as its predecessor, it's still a violent, sexy and visually impressive experience. I wish they could have kept some of the original actors, like Clive Owen and Devon Aoki, but this cast is quite suitable too. Sin City is still by far the better film of both but the sequel is competent enough.
The Cincinnati Kid (1965)
It all makes sense now. For nearly nine years people have been telling me that Daniel Craig had a bit of a Steve McQueen thing going in CR. Now I completely understand why. The Cincinnati Kid is a nice little poker movie from the 60s, compelling and daring. The poker game is exciting and McQueen's acting absolutely great. Marvellous film!
The Core (2003)
Remember when Delroy Lindo was in pretty much every film, from Romeo Must Die to Gone In 60 Seconds to The One to The Core? Remember when CGI started to become cheaper and thus more accessible for projects that were cheaper than LOTR? Remember when Oscar winners celebrated by taking part in films that didn't do them any favours. Just ask Hillary Swank, who pulled a 'Jinx' with this one...
The Core was just another we-have-to-save-the-world science fiction film in a long series of films spewed out in the new millennium. But while some did it right (Sunshine), many failed to impress. The Core, for example, starts with a barely convincing premise and lamely builds on it by introducing your typical team of soon-to-be-heroes. It's bad enough that Roland Emmerich knows only one way to introduce characters and set up a disaster film, it's even worse to see others do the exact same thing too. 1) Find a president or at least some military hotshot who will make the decisions. 2) Find the science person who will in at least scene get mocked for being the goofy Einstein but who save us all in the end. 3) You'll need a pilot too.
The science hocus pocus in The Core is laughably bad. It the Earth's core stops turning, let's try blowing it up from the inside. Also, let's actually get there. Yes! We actually have an engineer kinda guy who conveniently designed a ship that's badass, it can eat through the Earth and reach its core in a matter of hours. Of course things must go wrong so that people can sacrifice themselves. Bruce Willis did it in Armageddon; now everyone has to do it, even Bruce Greenwood! By the way, if your suit can take only "half" of 5000 °C, it will now allow you to survive two seconds when exposed to 5000 °C. It will burn before you know.
The Core is an underwhelming attempt at smart science that turned out fairly uninteresting.
@DarthDimi you will most likely torture me for saying this, but I just love 'The Core'! :D I saw it in cinema when it was released 12 years ago, and I was blown away. Sure it's dumb to the point of no return (did you count the number of compartiments the ship had? Because if you take that number and remove 1 for each time they ejected one, you'll notice one compartiment suddenly appeared during the trip to the core because they mathematicaly the compartiment where Swank and Eckhart are at the end didn't exist at the start of the trip!!). But the characters are so likeable (Tcheky Karyo was my absolute hero as a kid), the chemistry between them is wonderful. So call me bonkers but I just can't help but have a huge grin on my face for 2 hours.
What can be said about this film that hasn't already been said before and why a review now you ask? Well in case you didn't know this has very recently undergone a long overdue 4K restoration supervised by Scorcese himself obviously for it's 25th Anniversary, 25 you say yes 25 makes you feel old doesn't it?
As well as a star studded screening at the Tribeca film festival that bought it to a close, following hot on the heels inevitably is the new Blu ray reissue. Is it worth the upgrade, well if you have a player and only have this on DVD then it's a given but even if you have previous HD effort released some years back then this is still worth the money in your pocket. Warner Brothers aren't one's for forking out for new prints and this looks the best it has ever had on a home format.
Although please don't go expecting the film looking like it was shot yesterday, one of the biggest misconceptions about the format is that some people expect sparkling resolution. I remember some years back when Coppola's masterpiece The Godfather Part 1 and 2 arrived on HD that some individuals were horrified it didn't look like Transformers 2. Completely missing the point, blu ray allows the film maker to revisit their work and return it as close to what it looked like on the cinema screen when it was first released and like GF 1 & 2 Marty as lovingly made this look the best it's looked since it's original theatrical release. Natural colours, an immersive sound stage that truly makes that soundtrack sing, certainly makes any previous version look redundant.
The story is a given, the ascent and then descent of street level mob member Henry Hill and his eventual capture leading to him informing against his associates and friends. Hill's story is the basis for Nicholas Pileggi's book which Scorcese and the author based their screenplay on. There might be people out there that don't like this but if you have any appreciation of pure cinema then I can fail to see how you can not acknowledge it's brilliance. It's without doubt one of the most influential films of the last 30 years and it would be hard to think of a world with out Goodfellas in it. You can't think of a more electrifying slice of celluloid to kick of the 1990's, it blazed a trail that saw the likes of Tarantino, PT Anderson and David Fincher follow in it's wake.
Tarantino pretty much copied it's style, yes he's adept at placing the needle in just the right place on his turntable but Marty got there first and was doing that kind of thing as early as Mean Streets. Although it is here where he elevates it to an art form. From the moment Tony Bennett's Rags To Riches blares out your speakers right up to Sid Viscous' OTT and extravagant version of My Way closes the film, it's clear that Scorcese would make one hell of a DJ at any party.
It's not only cinema that owes it a debt, it has entered into popular culture in a way that very few films have, as adored and celebrated as the Godfather and rightly so. David Chase creator of ground breaking TV opus HBO's The Soprano's proclaims it his Koran. It's not hard to see why. Although the crime series undoubtedly has allot to thank the Corleone family for, it's Goodfellas that it most resonates with. The Godfather dealt with the higher echelons of the mob and was essentially a film about family whereas Scorcese's film is about the streets, other gangster films would follow and some very impressive but Goodfella's is the blue print. Chase's series is probably the medium that really delivered it it's greatest tribute as well as being original enough to be regarded as the trail blazer in it's own right.
Chase's not only borrows the influence but also it's cast, watching it in light of Soprano's the roster of actors he cast in his series. Most notably Lorraine Bracco Soprano's very own Dr Melfi. Those that know their Soprano's will also recognise Paulie 'Walnuts' Gualtieri , Salvatore 'Big Pussy' Bonpensiero, Phil Leotardo and of course most notably Tony's nephew Christopher Moltisanti, respectively Tony Sirico, Vincent Pastore, Frank Vincent and Michael Imperioli.
Though not to get carried away with the supporting players, Goodfellas
is probably most well know for it's main players most notably Ray Liotta, Robert DeNiro and Joe Pesci as Henry Hill, James 'Jimmy' Conway and Tommy Devito. Neither actor has quite since been so brilliant. Liotta was basking in the acclaim of stealing Johnathan's Demme's Something Wild when Scorcese cast him as his lead character, Liotta while a hugely talented actor has never quite lived up to the promise he displayed quite devastatingly here. DeNiro is sadly to say a former shadow of himself these days, he did follow this with some great turns in Heat, Scorsese's own Casino (his last time with his friend and collaborator at the helm) and Jackie Brown but this is really the last time that the actor that gave us the Young Vito Corleone, Travis Bickle and Jake Lamotta came that close again. Pesci here and with DeNiro in Casino also has rarely been as terrifyingly despicable, a uncharacteristically sympathetic role in Oliver Stones JFK aside his acting as been as memorable. Pesci was also rewarded with an Oscar for best supporting actor at 1991 Academy Awards for his portrayal of one the most frightening cinematic protagonists in cinema history. Lorraine Bracco's contribution can't be underestimated and Paul Sorvino says more with his eyes than some actors can with their mouths, his quiet relaxed presence no less notable.
Although the Academy once again ignored Marty and gave the Oscar for best film and director to Kevin Costner for Dances With Wolves. It seems madness to think Pesci was the only win of the night but then again despite Costner's film still being remembered it most certainly hasn't aged as well or held up like Goodfellas has. Just like The Godfather 1 & 2 it's littered with memorable scenes, the tracking shot that follows Henry and Karen into the Copacabana sound tracked masterfully by "Then He Kissed Me" by The Crystals and the Derek and the Dominoes Layla piano exit will never seem quite the same after the camera moves over that pink Cadillac revealing it's gruesome find. This just amongst many moments this film displays, Scorcese and crew displaying a true mastery of their craft. Thelma Schoonmaker's editing combined with Michael Balhaus' cinematography, an example of a synthesis of their talents, the results being Scorcese and crew are like the cinematic Caravaggio's, the results visceral and real as they display the violence and excess on the screen.
Goodfellas is simply a masterpiece and to call it one of the greatest films of all time is nothing than what it deserves. It's director hasn't quite touched it's brilliance again and while Casino is another masterful example of his talents and some prefer it, it doesn't quite touch these heights. Marty having become of recent are far more commercial film maker, delivering box office successes and a great partnership with an actor who seems to have replaced Bobby D as his muse in the shape of the talented Leonardo DiCaprio.
Although it's only his last film the brilliant The Wolf of Wall Street that has approached the anarchy and excess that defined Goodfellas, it's unlikely he'll get that fiery and incendiary again but that probably the way it should be, so fire up the home entertainment system sit back and indulge in this visual and audible feast.
★★★★★
@DarthDimi
Thank you very much, I enjoyed writing it and to have it appreciated is most heart warming.
Yes, that is Stacy Keach & Sir Roger taking the leads in this slice of 70's eurocrime. I'll hand it to Moore, I have never seen him this tough. For the most part, it's slow, but around 3/4 of the way in, they throw in a car chase in case the viewer might have fallen asleep. During said car chase, with Keach at the wheel, our Rog does something that will make @DaltonCraig007 grin like a cheshire cat.
I have to say, you sure don't see too many movies like this. First off, the chemistry between Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro in this film is astounding. The film is this: two guys go to a convention in Las Vegas and spend the entire weekend absolutely zonked out on copious amounts of drugs, where they start hallucinating horribly and bad things happen. It's a dark comedy, of sorts, definitely not something for everyone, but it was a wild ride and one of Johnny Depp's finer roles.
One hell of a spectacle and, for me, still the finest superhero movie of all time, with #2 not far behind. Reeve and Hackman are brilliant in their roles; in fact, the whole cast is spot on. Really cant say anything bad about it. Excellent.
Sorry, I got things mixed up. A correction is in order. The writer of The Planet of the Apes comics was Doug Moench, known from Moon Knight, the artist was Mike Ploog, who has a similar streek as Sienkiewicz.
The whole movie looks great, as if it just came out this year!
THAT'S how you do a special edition, George Lucas!!!
Yeah... and we know how things went down fast from there. I've never liked the Lester cut of S2. And S3? Don't get me started... :-q