Recent Viewings (I'll get slammed for some of this)

[ulthar]

Between disks of "Rocky and Bullwinkle" (which I find hilarious, btw) for my daughter, we have managed to sneak in a few movies.

ITALIAN JOB

Had this one on the queue; saw it on TV.  Took it off the queue.  It was okay.

THE RECRUIT

Had this one on the queue; saw it it on TV.  Took it off the queue.  I missed the first few minutes (which I HATE to do), but watched anyway.  Very predictable, and not very engaging at all.

What's with Pacino lately?  All his characters seem the same.  In this one, I thought several times, "okay, am I sure I'm not watching Devil's Advocate?"  Too bad; I think of him as one of the greats, but for the last few years, he seems typecast or something.

OFFICE SPACE

Okay, I have heard about this one from a lot of folks and finally watched it.  Didn't like it THAT MUCH.  It had a few mildly amusing parts; I only laughed out loud once.

Oh, I know, here come the "oh, you just don't get it" replies.  I did get it; I liked the first half of the movie much better than the latter half.  I thought the ending of the main plotline lame.

Maybe it's just me.

HOSTAGE (2005)

Bruce Willis as an ex hostage negotiator.  (*** perhaps some mild spoilers below the next paragraph)

Total Tangent:  You know, when I worked in law enforcement, I used to do rifle training with a bunch of the SWAT marksman guys.  One day, there was a negotiator training thing going on with negotiators from all over the state.  One of the snipers and I wandered into the break room during their break, and I commented to him, rather loudly, "I want to get some tee-shirts made.  They will have on the back a silouette of a man on the phone in a rifle scope cross hair.  The caption will read, 'Simplify the scene; shoot the negotiator.' "  Needless to say, if looks could kill ...

Okay, back to the movie.  It was okay, but I thought the subplot with the DVD totally stupid.  When Bruce's family got kidnapped and held hostage, I thought "why is that a plot device in EVERY action movie now?  We've seen it with Mel Gibson (RANSOM), Harrison Ford (at least twice, AIR FORCE ONE and FIREWALL), the one with Kim Bassinger (CELLULAR) and now Bruce Willis.  Give it a rest already.

Oh yeah, and this Fall's lineup of TV shows seems to have a hostage related show on every network, too.  Eh-hum.

Some claim that the hostage thing was needed to keep Bruce involved; but, the reality (if the makers of HOSTAGE had bothered to actually DO any research) is that as Chief of Police in a small department, he would have NEVER left the scene anyway after turning it over to the other agency.  HIS officer was killed there, for crying out loud.  I could not believe it when he left in the first place.  So, the plot device was not needed.  

But overall, HOSTAGE was not too bad for what it was.  You got the typical many bad guys cannot kill the good guy no matter how outnumbered or outgunned he is.  On the plus side, you get a few surprises in the plot.

I think the shining part of this movie was Ben Foster as Mars.  Man, he played a nut very well, and you just did not know what he was going to do next.  However, I did not like (as I generally don't) the 'superhuman keeps on going' aspect of his character after he was seriously wounded, though.  Cheap. Hollywood. Trick.

This weekend, we had a "scary mist fest" with:

THE FOG (1980)

John Carpenter when he did low budget.  Fun overall good old fashioned ghost story, and Rob Bottin as Blake!  Man, I think Dean Cundey and John Carpenter make one the best Director-Photographer combinations Hollywood has ever seen.

Also, what's not to like about any movie with Buck Flower in a bit part?  I confess I am a bit of a Buck Flower fan, ever since I saw him in SORORITY BABES IN THE SLIME BALL BOWL-A-RAMA telling the back story of the Imp.  Good stuff.

THE 13th WARRIOR (1999)

I really enjoyed this film.  For the first half hour to 45 minutes, I was pretty much lost.

I liked this movie for the sideways glimpse into Norse attitudes on bravery.  I've read some comments that it was butchered in editing, but I still liked it.  Some commenters lament the loss of subplot resolution, but I say good riddance.  Too many movies have too much going on and forget to just be stories.

This one ended up being a good, interesting story.  It got a little action-ey hokey near the end, but oh well.  Antonio Banderas as an Arab?  I can forgive that, too.

And yes, it DID have Sven-Ole Thorsen in the credits, who is one of our favorites. (Is there a Viking movie worth watching without Sven-Ole??)

I'd give it a 4 out of 5.

[daveblackeye15]

Oh my god someone does not love Office Space.

You must be torn apart.

[Ed, Ego and Superego]

Ulthar,
 I don't recall your job. Do you work in a "traditional" corproate office?   I do and too much of the movie hits it dead on.  

 
This is not one of those "oh, you just don't get it" replies. I'm not saying its the best movie ever, its just a mirror to some sad facts of life... work, and amusing because of that.  Its not good general comedy maybe?  
Slackers did the same  for me back in my younger days.  I KNOW those people.  The skins change, but the souls are the same.  I watched it with my wife, who did not slack, and she just didn't get it.
-Ed

[Ash]

I read the book HOSTAGE by Robert Crais before I saw the film and I must say that the film was very faithful to it except for a few certain points.
Matter of fact, I had just completed the novel and then saw a trailer for Hostage not two or three days after.  I was pumped to see it.

In the book, the character of Mars was not a teenage kid like in the movie.
He was a huge brutish man with lots of tattoos and a bald head...much older than the other two.
While reading it, I envisioned him looking like the pro wrestler Saturn seen below.
He was much scarier in the book.



The characters of Kevin & Dennis played by Jonathan Tucker & Marshall Allman looked exactly like I pictured them in the book.

I was totally amazed when I saw the movie and saw how much they resembled the characters I had envisioned while reading the novel.

Also, the book starts off with a bang when Kevin, Dennis & Mars rob a mini-mart and flee to the main house in the story.
In the film, they simply follow the father & his kids to the house.

If I'm not mistaken, Hostage came out before any of those other films you mentioned ulthar, so I believe it set the precedent.  (not 100% on that though)

Bruce WIllis was good in it though while I was reading the book, I envisioned a completely different looking guy.
Still, Willis did a decent job.

[ulthar]

Interesting, Ash, about Mars in the book.  What was the reason for this older guy to be hanging out with a couple of kids?

Also, if anyone has not seen HOSTAGE, look at the picture Ash posted to see Mars in the background (the long haired kid).  You can tell from the beginning of the movie he's a psycho, though he's almost like a background character for most of the first act.  That picture is highly symbolic; Dennis "in control" with Mars in the background.  Looking wierd.

Good choice of stills!!

[ulthar]

Ed Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ulthar,
>  I don't recall your job. Do you work in a
> "traditional" corproate office?   I do and too
> much of the movie hits it dead on.  
>
> This is not one of those "oh, you just don't get
> it" replies. I'm not saying its the best movie
> ever, its just a mirror to some sad facts of
> life... work, and amusing because of that.  Its
> not good general comedy maybe?  
>

I KNEW this comment was coming.  No, I don't work in a cube and I never have.

BUT, I will say that those parts of the movie DID resonate with me; I could relate to the nihilism and a lot of the insider type jokes.  I thought is was amusing but not FUNNY.  It was the second half that let me down (the whole theft thing) completely.  I just disconnected and no longer cared about the characters or found it situationally funny.  Sorry.

>Slackers did the same  for me back in my younger
> days.  I KNOW those people.  The skins change, but
> the souls are the same.  I watched it with my
> wife, who did not slack, and she just didn't get
> it.
> -Ed

Are you talking about SLACKERS (2002) or SLACKER (1991).  I've not seen the former, but the latter I saw in grad school while at a typical liberal college town.  And yes, I knew many of the people depicted in that movie.  And yes, I laughed my bohunkus off.

[Ash]

ulthar Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
Interesting, Ash, about Mars in the book.  What
> was the reason for this older guy to be hanging
> out with a couple of kids?

If I recall correctly, he worked with them at a job site.
In the book, while sitting in the stolen pickup truck outside the mini-mart, Kevin expresses some distrust of Mars to Dennis and that they should be cautious of him because they don't really know him that well.
Not 100% on that...I'd have to pull the book off my shelf and look to be sure.

Also, if anyone has not seen HOSTAGE, look at the
> picture Ash posted to see Mars in the background
> (the long haired kid).  You can tell from the
> beginning of the movie he's a psycho, though he's
> almost like a background character for most of the
> first act.  That picture is highly symbolic;
> Dennis "in control" with Mars in the background.

And that is almost exactly how it plays out in the book as well!
In the book, Mars hardly says anything in the first half.
He's always just there in the background.
But like the movie, he steps up and seriously makes his presence known in the latter half.

[trekgeezer]

I love the 13th Warrior, although I still don't get the reason for changing the title from the Michael Crichton book (Eaters of the Dead).

"Give the Arab a sword and he brings back a knife."

[Ed, Ego and Superego]

Ulthar, I was indeed talking about the Linklater SLACKER (1991).   Up to the Fisher Price cam ending I was amazed and laugher much.

Office Space- No need to apologize for taste, I only really recall the office humor parts myself.  Though I feel I must apologize for boeing the "Just don't get it guy" after being warned..
 On a real world note, my boss just got a red swingline stapler as an ironic gift and was in heaven.  

I went through a Crighton phase a few years ago, re-read everything, then saw the 13th Warrior and some of the 70's films.  Its neat to see Beowulf getting a new airing.  Some stories just last.
-Ed

[ulthar]

Ed Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
 
> Though I feel I must apologize for boeing the
> "Just don't get it guy" after being warned..

No worries.

[Neville]

I pretty much loved "The 13th warrior" ans "Hostage".

"The 13th warrior" has its share of problems, mainly plot holes and being so short it seems to rush whenever there's no need to. Word is that Michael Crichton cut from 15 to 45 minutes of McTiernan's cut. Still, it's a joy to watch. It has probably the best acting Antonio Banderas has ever done in Hollywood and McTiernan camerawork is fantastic, elegant when it has to, rough and physichal most of the time.

"Hostage" is what action films sohuld be these days. Instead of PG violence and flashy FX, "Hostage" takes a rather improbable situation (a double kidnapping) but does it right. Plot is dime a dozen and not particularly well developed, supporting roles are schematic at best, but the filmmaking is f**king brilliant, and the tension the film distiles REAL. Bruce Willis and Kevin Pollack do some great acting as well.

[Shadowphile]

Was that the original Italian Job or the remake?

[ulthar]

The 2003 remake with Mark Wahlberg.  Sorry, I should have indicated that in my original post.

[Shadowphile]

Have you seen the original?

[ulthar]

Nope, but it has Michael Caine in it, so I am interested.  I'll have to put it in the queue (I've got the original OCEAN'S ELEVEN in already, too).

I take it the original is better than the 2003 version?