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The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)
1974 | Action, Drama, Mystery

"It’s just a nearly perfect film. It has everything. It has humor and suspense. It has danger and emotion. An incredible ensemble cast of the people you’ve heard of and know their name — like Walter Matthau and Jerry Stiller — to the amazing actors who played the characters on the subway train. I think it captures my New York — what I love about New York, what I think New York is — so beautifully. It’s this place of cranky individuals with big personalities who make our city run. And you’d think it wouldn’t work, but actually, it does, and New York comes through. And all the ways the transit cops, and cops, and mayor, and the citizens, and the people in charge of making the trains go — all of these people amazingly work together. And you know, when the lights go off and the old man who keeps saying, “There’s going to be red lights and it’s going to stop the train,” he’s right. Actually the system works. It lumbers along but actually it works."

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Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her (2000)
Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her (2000)
2000 | Comedy, Drama
Back when every studio drama wanted to be indie real bad (when we got shit like J-Lo's 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 𝘌𝘺𝘦𝘴 for example) and when hyperlink movies were king. This really could have been something, but instead it leans way too close into the template for all the movies this is ripping off (one-quirk characters overexplaining the themes to the leads and - by extension - the viewers, long writerly conversations that exist solely for decoration, cloying symbolism, purposefully disappointing non-resolutions, etc.) All but completely throws aside the lives of these unique, incredibly intriguing women in favor of having their stories revolve around some lackluster romance - pretty much defining them all by it in the end. For shame. Not entirely unpleasant, of course the ensemble is stuffed with amazing talent, it has a nice cadence and some decent scenes here and there. But as far as I'm concerned Rodrigo García should be fired for continually swinging and missing by turning these potentially thought-provoking stories into underwritten, tiresome (and borderline offensive) grief exploitation.
  
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Awix (3310 KP) rated Into the Night in TV

May 31, 2020  
Into the Night
Into the Night
2020 | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
The cheap gag about Into the Night would be to declare it the best Belgian apocalyptic SF disaster thriller mini-series ever made, but it deserves better than that. Not entirely unlike Lost, but without the plane actually crashing: passengers and crew of a commercial jet find themselves desperately travelling west, perpetually, as the sun's rays have suddenly become lethal. Characters come into sharper focus, tensions within the group build, there are many incidental crises and problems.

It's done with a slightly broad brush and occasionally becomes a little contrived, but there are great performances from the ensemble cast and it soon becomes genuinely gripping and tense, though not without the odd moment of black humour ('I'm going to die in Scotland... with Belgians!' despairs one character in the first episode). Not sure what they're going to do if it gets a second series, but this is a fine piece of entertainment. (Right-thinking people will surely watch the original version, with subtitles if necessary: the English dubbing is not great.)
  
Army of the Dead (2021)
Army of the Dead (2021)
2021 | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
6
6.8 (21 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Took To Long To Get To The Fun Part
I love me a good Zombie flick. I also love me a good Heist flick. So…when I heard that Zack Snyder (JUSTICE LEAGUE) was making a “Zombie/Heist Flick”, I thought “what’s not to like”?

Turns out…plenty.

A pet project of Sndyer’s that has been stuck in “development hell” in Hollywood for almost 2 decades, ARMY OF THE DEAD tells the tale of a group of mercenaries that look to rob $200 million from a vault under the casinos of Las Vegas - one small problem…Las Vegas has been walled off as a way to contain a zombie plague.

My first warning that this was not going to a pleasant experience is that this film has a 2 1/2 hour run time. That certainly seems bloated for a Zombie film and the first 1 1/2 of this flick certainly proves this out as Snyder - ham handedly - seeks to flesh out each of the characters in long, boring exposition scenes that didn’t really add anything to the tension or action. Well…it did add something…restless boredom.

But…I gotta admit, once the group of mercenaries make their way to the vault in Las Vegas, the last hour of the film was pretty darn fun.

Dave Bautista (Drax in the GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY films) leads the group of mercenaries and Ella Purnell (Emma in MISS PEREGRINE…) is his estranged daughter. I won’t bore you with the details of why these 2 are estranged…but they are and Bautista insists that his daughter NOT come along on this mission. So you know what happens next…yep, she comes along and I was rooting for her to get killed almost from the start. Neither of these 2 characters work and since they are central to the story they are really at the root of the problems with the first 1 1/2 hours of this film.

The rest of the ensemble, however, are a lot of fun and bring that “B Monster Movie” vibe to the proceedings and they look like they are having alot of fun. Tig Notero, Ana de La Reguera, Omari Hardwick and Theo Rossi are an enjoyable lot and know EXACTLY what type of film they are in.

But the standouts of the ensemble are the always great Garret Dillahunt (John Dorie in FEAR THE WALKING DEAD) who brings his usual “A” game to the proceedings. As does Nora Arnezeder (SAFE HOUSE) as “The Coyote” a survivor who has been in Las Vegas before and - especially - Matthias Schweighofer (RESISTANCE) who steals every scene he is in playing the German safecracker.

I would have loved it if Snyder would have cut the Bautista and daughter scenes (and characters) and just had this ensemble go after the loot - it would have been a much better - and shorter - film.

But…if you can last through the long, boring first 1 1/2 hours, the last hour is “good enough” Zombie action with an interesting “twist” on the genre that I will have to give Snyder credit for.

If you do all this, you’ll have a passably decent enough entertaining time.

Letter Grade: B-

6 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(OfMarquis)
  
Fury (2014)
Fury (2014)
2014 | Action, Drama, War
To start, let me say that I’m a sucker for a good war movie. Growing up as a military brat, I have a profound respect for our nation’s veterans and history, especially those from the “greatest generation.” With that said, I approached David Ayer’s Fury with a bit of hesitation, after all, how will Fury be able to differentiate itself from so many other films in the genre? I am happy to say that, while Fury doesn’t show us anything we have not really seen before, strong performances by its ensemble cast help carry this story of a tank crew into a solid film.

Brad Pitt delivers a stellar performance as Don “Wardaddy” Collier. He is a war hardened Sergeant who struggles to keep the few shreds of his humanity while preparing his new “green” typist who was assigned to his tank after one of their battle brothers has fallen. Pitt takes the young Pvt. Norman Ellision (Logan Lerman) under his command and works to make him into war hardened soldier. Pitt knows that by doing so he will not only to save the young man’s life, but probably the lives of the other men in his care. This ensemble cast shines with solid performances from Michael Pena, Jon Bernthal and Shia LaBeouf. I want to take a moment to highlight LaBeouf especially. He has gained tons of negative press in recent months for several reasons and the promotion of this film has shown little of LaBeouf thus far. No doubt to protect itself from the backlash in his public life. But if you decide to not go and see this film because of him, you will miss out on a strong more dramatic performance we really haven’t seen from him often and one that will remind audiences that he is a good actor.

This action in this film is methodical and someone slow and somewhat cartoonish thanks to tracers on the gun and cannon fire that makes it look like “Star Wars” at times, however the intensity is constantly building from the opening sequence through the climax of the movie. Even in the middle of the film where we are seemingly in a safe place, the intensity is continues to build as we are unsure just how humane these characters are. This intensity leads us to care about these characters and search for relief in the climatic conclusion.
  
The Last Stand (2013)
The Last Stand (2013)
2013 | Action, Mystery
It’s 2013 and Arnold Schwarzenegger is back in his first leading role in 10 years in
“The Last Stand”
Directed by legendary South Korean director Kim Ji-w oon, The Last Stand stars
Schwarzenegger as Ray Owens, a former LAPD narcotics officer who has left the
violence and bloodshed of the big city to become the sheriff of a sleepy border town
in Arizona called Sommerton Junction where the biggest crime is the town’s mayor
parking in the firezone on main street.

Meanwhile in Las Vegas, Gabriel Cortez, the most vicious and ruthless drug lord
since Pablo Escobar, stages a spectacular escape from FBI custody and takes off
in a stolen/modified Chevrolet Corvette C6ZR1.

With a FBI agent held hostage and a group of mercenaries, Cortez races towards
the Mexican border at over 200 mph and Sommerton Junction. Counted out by the FBI
and the military as just another ‘small town sheriff’ with a group of inexperienced
deputies, Sherriff Owens reluctantly accepts the truth that the only thing standing
between Cortez and his escape and the safety of the people of Sommerton Junction is
Ray.

Co-starring Forrest Whitaker, Johnny Knoxville, Jaimie Alexander, Luis Guzman,
Peter Stormare, and Genesis Rodriguez, “The Last Stand” is a great action film
with an ensemble cast that follows the formula of the ‘action film’ but follows it
well. A basic/solid plot with plenty of spectacular stunts and explosions. After the
first 5 minutes, you don’t have a chance to leave the theater. The story unfolds
quickly, and you really don’t have the chance to look away. With plenty of comic
relief (most of it courtesy of Johnny Knoxville and Luis Guzman) and no romantic
scenes (except for one or two couples lip locking) I though the movie was a great
film. After 10 years, it was honestly a relief to see Schwarzenegger back in movies
as the lead and as part of an ensemble cast.

If there is one thing you can count on,
it is because Arnold always delivers when it comes to action movies no matter the scale,
and after so much time in politics it doesn’t look like he’s skipped a beat
and it’s a great escape from the winter chaos outside.

Welcome back Mr. Schwarzenegger!