BANGKOK DANGEROUS
And it is you know – quite dangerous…who can forget what Murray Head had to say in his 1980’s hit, “One Night In Bangkok”? I didn’t go enthusiastically though, as , believe it or not, it’s another movie about an assassin thinking about retirement. And it stars that “lovable loser”, Nicolas Cage. “Joe” is his name, that’s all you need to know. He quickly fills in his past with a narration – hired killer, been there, done that, he’s quite burned out. I don’t whether it’s the make-up or Cage is playing a part close to his heart, because he’s looks quite burned out. With straggly dark hair and a face that look more like an undertakers (or maybe a corpse), they want you to know “Joe” has reached the end of the line. I might add he seems to have a drug addiction problem, and that never helps one to look their best. Plus, here he is again doing that flat, monotone voice thing – it’s irritating. (more…)
Friday, August 29th, 2008
TROPIC THUNDER
Well, I had to find out more about the movie that dethroned “Batman” at the box office, to see if it was really something special, or it was just a matter of time and opportunity. Had this movie been about thirty minutes long, I would have called it something special. As “spoofs” go, it was a great start – if not a mildly confusing one. You begin by seeing what looks like more movie previews, or trailers, as they call them. One is for something like the tenth sequel in an action movie series starring Ben Stiller. Another is for the latest film by an Academy Award winner, this part played by Robert Downey Junior, and the third is about a fat comic guy, this one looking a lot like Eddie Murphy’s gas passing family in those “Nutty Professor” movies he did some years back. Only this time the comic star is played by Jack Black. (more…)
Friday, August 22nd, 2008
VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA
You know, it used to be, a long time ago, a Woody Allen movie would be released to much fanfare. Then there were some bad ones, a backlash, and it would be, well, what are we going to get this time, funny or stinky? Now, here’s his latest release and you talk about “under the radar”. What really got my attention was the title – who is “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”? It turns out that actually refers to two women and a city – Vicky (Rebecca Hall), Cristina (Scarlett Johansson) and the city of Barcelona, Spain. (more…)
Friday, August 1st, 2008
SWING VOTE
21 million dollars – yes, 21 million dollars, that’s how much Kevin Costner sunk into this movie from his own retirement account. Now, think about what you could do with that much money. It’s enough to make you cry. Apparently motivated by the close Bush-Gore election eight years ago, Costner and his co-writer pals now want to imagine it as even closer, yes, so close, it comes to one vote in a place called “Texico, New Mexico”. (more…)
Friday, July 25th, 2008
THE X FILES: I WANT TO BELIEVE
Here’s is my relationship with “The X Files” – there isn’t one. I saw the show maybe five times (once because it followed a Super Bowl), the first movie ten years ago, and that was it. So, is it fair I review the movie? Hey, this is “The John & Ken Show”, who cares about fair.
Were you as shocked as I was that there was going to be another movie? The show has been off the air for six years, what gives? Ah, yes, the cash register gives, that’s what. David Duchovny is a fine actor, but things have pretty much dried up for him, and Gillian Anderson, well, I’m not sure but I think she purposefully pulled away for a while, and did have a small splash in artsy films, but, let’s just say the “time was right” for both of them to bring back “Scully and Mulder”.
And if you’re a fan of these characters you won’t be disappointed. I’ll admit, they have something between them in that “now they love each other, now they don’t” kind of thing. In case you didn’t know, they were FBI agents specializing in the “unusual”. She’s the doctor, he’s the guy with the amazing intuition, all right, enough about that. What I’m trying to emphasize is that if you’re not into their chemistry, or at least their “guiding beliefs”, you may not be into much of what goes on here. (more . . . )
Friday, July 18th, 2008
THE DARK KNIGHT
The latest retelling of the Batman story came out with little fanfare three years ago when “Batman Begins” debuted. As I said then, it was a pleasant surprise and one of my favorites that year. I was reminded again how good it was, and why it received so little attention, when I turned on the TNT network last night and there was the last incarnation of the Batman story, “Batman and Robin”, with George Clooney and Arnold Schwarzenegger. That was a stinker – no wonder they gave up the franchise for eight years.
Well, three years ago Director Christopher Nolan reinvented the comic book “hero” by going back to the story’s roots. Since it was a fine film, and made a fair amount of cash, there had to be a sequel. How do you top yourself?
If you believe all the hype, he has. Me, I’m not so sure. But I’ll say this – plenty of thought went into this storyline, beginning with the concept that because Batman is so successful beating back the bad guys invading “Gotham City”, it’s time for a whole new class of criminal. Enter “The Joker”, who is really far more of a madman than a criminal. (more. . .)
Friday, June 20th, 2008
GET SMART
Just for the record, I saw this one here in Burbank, and stumbled out of the theatre into the 100 degree heat, which when accompanied with the blindness caused by being in the dark for two hours, can be quite disorienting. I was overwhelmed – as for this movie, well let’s just say I’m at least glad I hung in there and stayed for the whole thing.
I’m not what you call a “big fan” of the original TV series, but I watched it as a kid, and when I got my first VCR in the mid-1980’s, I recorded show after show. I’m just not one of those guys who can recite all the episodes. I’m never that way about anything.
Good for me, because the only things this movie brings back are the obvious ones about the show – the lines “sorry about that chief”, “would you believe”, and “it’s the old blah blah blah trick”. Oh, there’s also the phone booth, the hall of closing doors, and a few other things, but the odd thing about this movie is that Steve Carell in playing the role of Maxwell Smart, is mostly not the character you remember, even if you’re only a casual fan of the show (more. . .)
