The next stop in my Prison/Courtroom film haze is this little gem from 1996. With probably Samuel Jackson's single best role he has ever played, as a man looking for revenge against some extremely racist southern white boys that did him wrong. Everyone knows him as Nick Fury now but he was way better when he actually acted. It is in my honest opinion that Matthew McConaughey put in one of his very best as well! I think miles ahead of even the film he won best actor for. Sandra Bullock's character is well done but could probably be switched out for any other main stream actress, although I do believe she is at her most beautiful in this film. Not like that has any baring on how good the movie is, just saying!
Again, this being a drama, the special effects are limited to blood and acts of violence so that is all I will say about this aspect of the film.
The story is written incredibly well as it is based on a John Grisham novel of the same name. I have not read this particular novel but I have read 1 or 2 of his books in the past so I know they are well written. Obviously, this film was not script written by the novelist but even if they change or delete certain things, the original writing still shines through, and it does shine extremely well in this picture.
I love this movie and have seen it a few many times and it has yet to get old so I will probably continue to watch it every few years or so. Recommendation for this is high, so if you haven't seen it and love drama then shame on you for overlooking this! And if you have seen it, then watch it one more time to get reacquainted with it because it is really that good!
I can remember watching this in the theater when I was in high school and I also remember being highly moved after the viewing. I had seen it a few times since then but it wasn't until recently that I got the itch to view it again. That itch came from a day of scrolling through Netflix for something to watch when I came to a documentary about the escape from Alcatraz in the summer of 1962. I have always been interested Alcatraz and the escape from said prison as well. I have seen the film based on it starring Clint Eastwood and have seen the Unsolved Mysteries episode based on it too. I just find it plain interesting. So, I watched this documentary and instantly got in the mood to watch some good prison and courtroom type films. Murder In The First was my first choice.
This film is starring Kevin Bacon, as the inmate, Christian Slater, as his lawyer and Gary Oldman, as the Assistant Warden of Alcatraz. All 3 of the main actors do a phenomenal job in the respective roles. Bacon really makes you feel for his character and I mean really feel sorry for him. Very believable! Now Oldman may only be the supporting actor but I believe he steals the show because he makes you hate him with the utmost intensity!
As the films original marketing campaign said it is inspired by a true story. "Inspired" is really what they meant. After this viewing I decided to look up the whole true story and it really wasn't as heart wrenching as the films. The film has Kevin Bacon's character sent to Alcatraz after stealing five dollars to feed his younger sister so naturally one would start feeling sorry for him. In reality, the real man the film is based on was sent there for murder to start. As good as the film is knowing this made it so I didn't feel anything for the character in the film. I guess it ruined it just a little bit for me, so I think I just ruined it for anyone reading this. Also, on the same subject it was called the case that closed Alcatraz, when in actuality the story is from the early 1940's and The Rock didn't close until 1963.
There are no special effects to speak of because this film is mainly a courtroom drama. There are a couple of scenes that have blood but the cause of the blood is mostly happening off screen.
I think all who like a good courtroom drama should see this film as it is a very engaging story regardless of the true story.
Ever since I was a little kid I have loved Godzilla. I have seen every film made on this character and for some reason I can't get enough. I was even in line to watch the American remake back in 1998 and then after I saw it I wanted to throw things at the screen. In that film it wasn't Godzilla! That was a giant fuckin' iguana that laid eggs all over the city. And it was made by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, the team behind the spectacular ID4 and Stargate films. Why the hell they thought it was a good idea to take one of the most, if not THE most iconic character of all time and jack him up til he has nothing left to compare him to the original. Oh my bad, he sounded the same! That was it. So when I first heard that Hollywood was making yet another remake of a classic, knowing the last one was a fuckin' disaster, I thought instantly they would mess it up! Now, this film has yet to be released, but from the extended trailer it seems as thought the filmmakers have done Godzilla's look some justice. The sounds in the trailer, as well, sound correct. From this trailer I can deduce that for 1: he is absolutely humongous, ever so much more then the original Gojira! He actually looks like his leg is as tall as the originals full height. And 2: It actually looks wicked good! Although I am still skeptical because the '98 version looked good but was far from it. But, I won't lie every once in a while I get in the mood to watch this inferior version for some reason, and all I can do all the while is make fun of the atrocious acting. Anyway, to the point...I really want to watch this new one pretty badly!
I was 10 years old when this came out and I watched it the first time and have loved it ever since. This film really is that good. And not in the 80's sense. Well it's good for an 80's movie too but it would be great if it came out today in the same state as it was released originally. The only thing about that is if it were made today the sasquatch would be completely CGI, and that would strip away what makes this movie so good.
I am gonna make this short and sweet here. The story is quite good, the acting is quite good, the comedy relief is incredibly good and the special effects are spectacular. The effects really boil down to Harry's costume. It was made with all practical appliances and makeup and animatronics for the face. The actor who plays Harry is really that tall, well he may be 6 inches taller after all the head pieces are in place. He looks so much like a sasquatch that when you watch this picture you kinda forget that they do not really exist. The costume really is as good or better then all similar costumes made today without the help of CGI. His face shows real emotion and that you won't normally get with a mostly animatronic face.
This movie has to be seen by all and especially by a family. It is an outstanding film that should keep adults entertained as well as small children with the comedy that's in it.
I originally saw this film when I was a kid so maybe that was about the time it was released on VHS. I believe I watched it with my father, if I am not mistaken, as he is a big fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs who wrote the novel. I only remembered one part of it, until today that is. The part I could recall was Tarzan as a teenager and taking a nice long hearty piss on the mean apes head. My only guess as to why I remembered this was, it's friggin funny, even for an adult it's a mite amusing.
So I had been in the mood to watch a good Tarzan movie and for people that are in the know, a good one is very hard to find! This one with its ridiculously long title is considered by many to be the best of the lot. I personally haven't seen all of them so I really can't say at this point.
Most people know the story of Tarzan either by stories they were told as kids or they went about it the easy way and watched the Disney cartoon of a bunch of years ago. The Disney one is okay but I wanted live action. This particular film is acted pretty well on the whole. Christopher Lambert in his first English speaking role of his long career and Andie Macdowell in her first movie role ever and they both do rather well. Ian Holm, who plays the Captain that brings Tarzan back to civilization, plays him for the most part well. There are a few times where he goes a bit on the over acting side but he kinda is an over actor anyway. The other cast members do a decent job of not sticking out, so i guess that's good because if they stuck out that usually means they were bad.
All of the effects are completely practical so no CGI at all in this, well because it wasn't really in used yet for drama films and saved mainly for science fiction. I do believe there is a few real apes in this picture but for the most part they are all people in ape suits and it sticks out badly. All the blood is very bright so it kinda sticks out like red paint, but that was how things were done in the 80's.
I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of this picture when it took place in the jungle and showing how Tarzan grows up. Very entertaining! Then when the film shifts to civilization it kinda gets boring and the time between they skip over a bunch of shit that would have been interesting to the story. It does have a rather uneventful climax and abruptly ends when I was ready for more jungle activity.
I have to say that this movie is just okay.
I am watching this one as I am writing this because so far there is entirely too much to remember. About halfway through and I already am of the opinion that this movie sucks ass! I intend to finish it though because I have a problem in my brain and have to finish the films I start.
First off, the producers of this film thought it a good idea to make Kellan Luts Hercules! What the Fuck were they thinking? This guy can't act his way into a non-speaking role in a commercial! But, it isn't his fault entirely because not one person in this picture even attempts to act. Most of the people are supposed to be from the same general area yet they all have different accents? The sad thing about the acting is the best actor in it happens to be Scott Adkins and he is really only an established martial arts master.
The special effects and the CGI are completely atrocious to the point of making Tron and The Last Starfighter seem real. There is way too much green screen! There isn't enough blood considering that alot of the film takes place in gladiatorial games in arenas. Way to many slow motion scenes just thrown in to make the 3-D seem cooler but overall fails miserably. There is a lion during a scene and it looks like a stuffed animal. All the fire in it is done with computer, what they couldn't afford a fuckin' match? The effects look bad even for a made for TV movie!
There are some small positives and those are a couple of the fights scenes are okay. I mean that, they are just okay. Some of them also, you can tell they are choreographed. Especially the times when the people fighting completely miss each other but are meant to look like they connected.
This film wears its influences right out in the open. You can tell it got the slo-mo from 300, the gladiator stuff from...well, Gladiator, and the CGI looks stolen from a shitty version of Spartacus.
Now this film is directed by Renny Harlin who is of the Long Kiss Goodnight, Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger fame from back in the 90's. He did a good job with those few action films but we must not forget that he also made Cutthroat Island! Island in my opinion wasn't bad although it wasn't remotely good either, it was though, a kind of fun, campy pirate film. Island did so bad in the theater that it single handedly killed Carolco Pictures, they went bankrupt even before the film got a theatrical release. Onto my point here, I wouldn't be surprised if this movie destroys Millennium Pictures!
At this very moment I am at the end of this film and it just had some of the worst CGI in the entire picture. If you watch this film just remember the lightning sword!
This is by far one of the sorriest excuses for an "A" film ever! It is 2014 now so there is no reason why this should be made so badly. There is another Hercules movie on the horizon, being released in June and starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and that reason alone it will be a better film. I have my fingers crossed still
I finally get my yearly dosage of crack! No, not the actual drug, I am talking about Game of Thrones. Every year when the show begins a new season it only lasts about two and a half months. Then you get to wait another ten months for a new season. I believe each season has been worth the wait but it really is bullshit we all have to wait almost a year for a fix!
The season 4 premiere was last night and I was expecting to see a few things as I have read all the books and I knew that season 3 ended a bit early for me. I seem to remember the third book, A Storm of Swords, having a huge shift in the narrative and a massive cliffhanger. So last season I had planned on seeing this happen and it did not, so naturally I half expected it to take place in this first episode, but it did not. I guess what we all should come away from this with is, in Game of Thrones don't ever expect anything because most likely it won't happen!
I will not have any spoilers for any episode I write about so people can know that I am not into ruining the show for anyone as I would also hate it. Even though I have read the books and know generally what is gonna happen, the producers of the show are doing their damnedest to keep even the book readers on their toes.
So, with all that said I get to a small review of the premiere episode of season 4. It was pretty uneventful for me, mainly because maybe I was waiting for that big thing to happen that just didn't. I suppose it was completely uneventful because obviously there are some big things that happen in each episode. This show isn't into filler episodes like most other shows that have ever aired. This has big shoes to fill especially seeing as how the previous season ended. So it's understandable that the producers would want to give you a break from all the shock and awe.
Every single actor in this show is cast about as perfect as can possibly be imagined. They all do an outstanding job with a few special standouts being Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke and Jack Gleeson. I say Jack Gleeson because regardless what people have to say about his character they all have to be in agreement of one fact...everyone absolutely hates him! So either that is a very young and gifted actor or he is a fucking dirtbag in real life and not acting at all. I am leaning towards gifted. No matter what happens in the show I am of the belief that young Mr. Gleeson's career is over after this show because he has played such a hateful and hated character that noone will ever be able to believe him in anything else.
Great story throughout, as is the case with all the episodes ever of this show so basically what I really want to say is if you have seen the show then you won't miss this episode and if you haven't watched any of the previous seasons then....What are you waiting for? This show is easily one of the best to ever air!
