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The Cotton Club (1984)
The Cotton Club (1984)
1984 | Drama, Musical
Richard Gere has made a lot of forgettable movies
Really. Seriously. If you think about it. The guy has been acting since the early 70s and he is mostly remembered for Chicago and Pretty Woman. Honorable mentions maybe to Officer and a Gentleman, Primal Fear or American Gigolo.

Director Francis Ford Coppola I'm sure was hoping to recreate the magic of the 1920s/1930s jazz club gangster era as he did with The Godfather in this film and it just didn't work. It seemed I just didn't care about the characters nearly as much and the case just wasn't up to it. Any time you have James Remar is your main bad guy in a film you are in trouble.

The highlight of the film for me was all the great jazz music, large vaudeville song and dance numbers and great tap dancing scenes with the great Gregory Hines. It was cool to see a very young "Larry" Fishburne and lots of other people you know from other movies, but it just wasn't enough. Nicolas Cage overacting (I know what a shocker) and over the top violence just to have over the top violence.

You won't find the caliber of Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, Robert Duvall or James Caan here.

I really wanted to love this film as it has been on my "to watch" list for a long time; however, I was ultimately disappointed.

  
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Darren (1599 KP) rated 48 HRS (1982) in Movies

Jun 20, 2019  
48 HRS (1982)
48 HRS (1982)
1982 | Action, Comedy
7
7.2 (9 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Story: 48 Hrs starts as Ganz (Remar) gets broken out of jail while on work detail by Billy Bear (Landham), he heads off to clean up old debts leaving cops bodies in his path of destruction. It doesn’t take long for Ganz to clash with detective Jack Cates (Nolte), where Ganz forces Jack into a difficult situation.

Jack must go to prisoner Reggie Hammond (Murphy) a wise cracking con man to help track down Ganz using his street knowledge. In what is an unlikely partnership turns into something special as the two find a way to get to the bottom of the crime.

 

Thoughts on 48 Hrs

 

Characters – Jack Cates is a grizzled cop, he gets the job done with his experience keeping him in high regard. He must stop the killer using criminal Reggie Hammond as the best chance to catch this killer. Reggie Hammond is a criminal near the end of his stint in jail, he is wise-cracking fast-talking meaning he can bullshit his way out of any situation he finds himself in. He uses this chance of time out of jail to settle a few scores. Elaine is the girlfriend of Jack who is tired of not making things serious between the two. Ganz is the killer on the loose, after his break from prison, he has a short-temper which causes his itchy trigger finger to fire on any enemy he comes across.

Performances – Nick Nolte is a great choice for a seemingly warn down cop, he takes the non-sense style needed for the role and goes with it. Eddie Murphy was one of the most popular stand-up comedians at the time, this was his film debut and he handed it very well, bringing his own energy to the role which could have been something we have seen before. James Remar is good as a villain because it is a character we have seen before, but he really convinces in this role. There is a negative here, that is Annette O’Toole, which to be fair isn’t her fault because the character is written so poorly

Story – The story follows a cop and a criminal work together to stop another criminal, yes this is a buddy cop movie. We have unlikely partnership which must work together to get the common goal. This is a story we have seen plenty of times since and it seems to be a hit or miss through the years, but this does keep things simple enough to enjoy not looking to throw us any surprises along the way.

Action/Crime/Comedy – The action is by the book for cops and criminals, nothing is over the top and mostly comes off like you would expect. The crime world is the cop needing to work with the criminal that is the best chance to catch a cop killer. The comedy comes from the odd pairing that must work together.

Settings – The film is set in San Francisco which always seems to be a great location for any crime comedy world to unfold.


Scene of the Movie – Settle this with fists.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – Ganz seems a lot easier to catch.

Final Thoughts – This is a good buddy comedy that bought us Eddie Murphy to the big screen. We get the action and comedy without being buried with one too often and most importantly we are entertained.

 

Overall: Great fun action comedy.

https://moviesreview101.com/2018/05/26/franchise-weekend-48-hrs-1982/
  
Unnatural (2015)
Unnatural (2015)
2015 | Action, Horror, Mystery
4
4.0 (1 Ratings)
Movie Rating
Characters – Martin is the expert in the area where the photoshoot takes place, he knows the wildlife and how to deal with any threats that come his way and must protect the people who are not used to the threat. Dr Lindval was part of the research team that created the polar bear, she is desperate to survive once it is free but does know more than she is letting on. Brooking in the photographer on the shoot, he does lack the guts to defend himself from the threat. We also have the models but they are here to look pretty through the terror.

Performance – James Remar is clearly the biggest draw in this film and he is good without being his best, when you look into the other performance we get the mystery from Fenn and the annoying wimpy guy from Carlson hitting the marks we are expecting to see in the film like this.

Story – Group of people in Alaska with no escape must rely on one expert to keep them safe against an unknown creature for a set amount of days, well this is easy enough to go with and stops a lot of pointless discussion about trying to get help when there isn’t any, we also have the characters getting picked off in the random order like you would expect which is fine too.

Action/Horror – The action is mostly running from the attacks from the creature which isn’t the most impressive either.

Settings – The setting is the highlight as we have the group trapped with nowhere to run for the 3 days before the next plan arrives.

Special Effects – The effects look mostly practical as we barely get to see the monster apart from in the shadows.

Scene of the Movie – The first attack is a fun moment.

That Moment That Annoyed Me – We don’t see enough of the creature.

Final Thoughts – This is a forgettable creature feature that tries to ask bigger questions but doesn’t seem to want to try and answer them.

 

Overall: Not one of the best.