Tag Archives: action

#264-Beverly Hills Cop

Quick Recap: Eddie Murphy plays Axel Foley, a Detroit cop looking for answers to his friend’s murder in upscale Beverly Hills. Are there hijinks? Buddy, you won’t BELIEVE the amount of hijinks this movie has.

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HIJINKS

Fun (?) fact: Sylvester Stallone was originally chosen as Axel Foley but dropped out when he couldn’t successfully negotiate what kind of orange juice would be kept in his trailer (according to legend).

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Where there’s Balki, there are hijinks

My thoughts: Is it possible that Beverly Hills Cop is the most 1980s movie ever made? Let’s check the facts:

  • various people casually dressed up as Michael Jackson
  • music is heavily played on a synthesizer
  • a black man puts a banana in a tailpipe and his only consequence is a look of sadness from the two white officers
  • Eddie Murphy

I think if you were to throw in some neon, a few catch phrases and Kenny Loggins this would win.

With 100%  certainty, Eddie Murphy is the reason this movie is so memorable. The plot about a guy looking to find his best friend’s killer is dark but also just general enough to allow Murphy to do his thing. Many of the scenes felt more like I was watching a stand up special than a movie. ( When white people go to a hotel they act like this, but when black people go to a hotel, they do this!) It’s not a bad thing, but it did make the movie seem a little disjointed at times. I also never really bought that Murphy’s character really cared about his friend. They were only together for a few minutes onscreen so I was never really invested in him. Everything just felt like a set up to another joke, which, although they were usually funny and I’ll never turn down a chance to see Judge Reinhold humiliated, the whole schtick gets old.

Nevertheless, it’s a breezy movie and if it was on basic cable on a Saturday afternoon, I would probably sit down to watch it again, if only because of Balki.

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Final review: 3/5

Up next: The Big Lebowski

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#252- The Good, The Bad, The Weird

Quick recap: A train robber, bounty hunter and really bad guy are in a race to find buried treasure.

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He may be bad, but oh my god is he gorgeous!

Fun (?) fact: Although the movie is somewhat of an homage to spaghetti westerns, it more closely resembles a genre of Korean films called  a’Manchurian western’.

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My thoughts: Seeing as how The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is one of the best films I have watched lately, I was really interested to watch this one. I expected it to be somewhat of a parody with nods to the original version, but it’s really not. The two movies have a similar structure and plot, but, and I know this is blasphemy to some, I enjoyed this one so much more.

My favorite aspect of this movie is how complex the characters are. The Good guy isn’t all good, while the Bad guy is bad, but with reason to be. And The weird guy is funny and klutzy but also amazingly savage when needed. And these traits are seen mostly through the actions of the characters because there isn’t a ton of talking. There is a ton of violence in this movie which I loved watching because there is great mix of guns and martial arts. There were some ridiculous moments, but I think that is in line with the genres this movie was paying tribute to.

The Good, The Bad, The Weird is set in 1930s Manchuria but there is beautiful mix of modern elements as well as elements from the Wild West. The music is also amazing and blends everything together perfectly. Basically, I loved this movie from beginning to end and I’m a little disappointed more people don’t know about it. It’s kind of like the Amelie phenomenon, where that’s the only French film many people know so it automatically becomes their favorite. For Korean films, I think many people could identify The Host, but this one deserves just as much credit.

Final review: 5/5 of course

Up next: 12 Angry Men

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#247- Rio Bravo

Quick recap: John Wayne plays Sheriff Chance, in charge of a small town that has been taken over by the Burdette brothers. The only people who can help him are a disabled guy, a recovering alcoholic and worst of all- a woman.

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Fun (?) fact: The set was built 7/8 scale so the characters could seem ‘larger than life’

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To celebrate his 18th birthday, John Wayne bought Ricky Nelson a pile of manure and then threw him into it, because that’s his thing?

My thoughts: I’m still not a huge fan of John Wayne, but boy was this a lot of fun to watch. It’s a Western that you don’t really have to think through. They even made the good guys wear white hats and the bad ones black ones! How much easier can you get? I guess maybe naming John Wayne’s character Goody McGood but that’s really unnecessary. Hilarious, but unnecessary.

There isn’t anything that stands out about Rio Bravo, which is maybe why I liked it so much. It’s not boring at all, which is saying something since the run time is almost 2 1/2 hours.It’s also not just an action movie from beginning to end. There was plenty of time to get to know the characters, of whom I especially liked Dude, played by Dean Martin. None of them were overly complicated or anything, because as mentioned before, all you need to know is who is bad and who is good. John Wayne was the star, but I think I liked his character the least. He was more good natured than Red River and definitely less murdery, so that was nice, but he was just some older guy doing his job. He seemed to genuinely care about Dude and Stumpy, but in a fatherly way, not like friendship.

Which is what makes the love story REALLY not work for me. At the time of filming, John Wayne was 51 while his love interest, played by Angie Dickinson was 26. It’s not that she looks all that young, but that John Wayne looked so old. If there is ever a time in your life that you need to think of something unsexy, might I suggest John Wayne making out? That’ll do that trick, guaranteed. The couple of songs also seemed out of place but considering Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson were cast, I guess they had to throw a bone to the audience.

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That’s one way to flirt? I guess?

Final review: 4/5. A badass female lead would’ve been nice but this was still a great movie

Up next: Possibly The Jerk

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#245- Akira

Quick recap: In Neo Tokyo,A teenage motorcycle club fights the government, who have taken their friend and turned him into a dangerous psychopath.

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Teenage biker gangs are the worst

Fun (?) fact: The film takes place in 2019, as Neo Tokyo is set to host the Summer Olympics. As ultimate proof the IOC all secretly love anime, Tokyo is actually hosting the Summer Olympics in 2020. Either that, or they know the world will be ending very soon.

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My thoughts: 5 minutes into Akira and my only thoughts were, ‘what the hell am I watching?’ and ‘Can I just watch this forever?’. To say this was an amazing experience is an understatement. As I drove home after the movie (I watched it at the Drafthouse) all I could think was that this movie changed my life somehow, even though I can’t explain in what way.

I’m not by any stretch of the imagination an ‘anime’ fan, although I did once buy the Cowboy Bebop Blue album because I was going through an especially bad breakup. After watching Akira, I GET it. Something this complex can’t be told through traditional means and anime is perfect for weaving in ridiculous plot points with achingly human experiences. I’m intentionally vague about the plot because there are just so many layers there. I went in thinking this was going to be some fluffy guy film about racing motorcycles and found that it was so much more.

Everything in Akira is over the top- the music, the plot, and especially the visuals. I can not believe this was made in 1988 because there are many shots that seem impossible without the aid of computer graphics. There were several really creepy scenes, which, as mentioned above, I won’t get into, but it gave me nightmares later on. I’m also a wimp, so take that into account. I have no idea if this movie is for everyone, but if you are in the least bit interested in anime, this is a hell of a way to get acquainted with the genre.

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Final review: 5/5

Up next: Foolish Wives

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