Quarantine movie reviews part 6

Road House (1989)

One of THE cult classics. I enjoyed it a lot, because it is so obviously a comedy. The nonstop bar fights are hilariously staged. Swayze is just in full on charisma mode. 

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

I liked the Tony Scott remake of this with Denzel and Travolta more. It had more energy. But this version isn't bad. It has some nice gritty 70s NY style. It has Jerry Stiller. And the lead is Walter Matthau, who I have never really seen in a movie like this, and really enjoyed here. 

Vampire's Kiss (1989)

This movie is glorious! An early Nic Cage starrer, here he plays a guy convinced he has been bitten by and is turning into a vampire. The movie has a couple of familiar Cage memes in it, but that only scratches the surface. This is a treasure trove of Cageiness, so over the top and so magnificent. I also thought Jennifer Beals made for a damn hot vampire. 

St. Elmo's Fire (1985)

The quintessential "brat pack" movie, directed by Joel Schumacher (RIP). While it obviously was influential at the time, I really didn't think this movie was that good. The characters are just not likable. Also the movie is not that insightful about its target audience, it's very superficial. I definitely would have been buying all the Ally Sheedy stock back then though. 

Cop Car (2015)

This was the film that got director Jon Watts the job helming the last 2 Spidermans. It's a really sharp small film. Two junior high age kids find a seemingly abandoned police car, and take it for a joyride, which kicks off a story that's both tense and kind of funny. Kevin Bacon is in top form as the cop. 

Far and Away (1992)

This was a fairly notorious Cruise/Kidman bomb at the time. I do think this kind of sweeping epic was a weird match for Ron Howard, as was a thick Irish accent for Cruise. But it's not awful. Cruise and Kidman, who I liked here, have easily their most engaging chemistry of their 3 films they did together. 

Mascots (2016)

It's a minor effort for Christopher Guest,  but it has some laughs and some amusing mascot routines. Nice seeing Fred Willard in one of his last.roles. 

First Blood (1982)

Rambo: First Blood Part 2 (1985)

Rambo 3 (1988)

Okay, these movies never interested me as a kid. Watching a shirtless, muscled-up Stallone run around shooting people was not my thing. I had seen the 2 latter sequels and didn't like either at all really, but these earlier movies are better. 

Actually, I would say that the overall 5 film franchise ranks 1-5 in quality.

First Blood is easily the best, a gritty action movie with something on its mind. The 2nd one is a bit dumber and more bombastic, but mostly delivers as an action flick. I was pretty bored by the 3rd one. 

I never failed to be amused by this franchise's commitment to turning everything into a big explosion.

Fifty Shades of Black (2016)

Marlon Wayans spoofs Fifty Shades of Grey (only the 1st one though, this came out before the sequels). Honestly, I laughed more at this than I expected to. It's not great at all, but it doesn't hold back at being an outrageous R comedy. 

The Big Chill (1983)

This was a pretty acclaimed movie about a group of friends (including Kevin Kline, Jeff Goldblum and Glenn Close) reuniting for a funeral. It honestly didn't do much for me. Good performances, but I've seen some imitators of this that are just better. 

The Old Guard (2020)

One of the better Netflix originals. Charlize Theron leads a group of immortals who are sort of soldiers for hire. This has some really good action and world building. Kiki Layne from If Beale Street Could Talk is great as a new recruit. This seems all set up for sequels and I welcome them  

Becky (2020)

This seems all set up to be an instant cult classic, then it just doesn't get there. A moody teenage girl (Lulu Wilson, fantastic) fights back against a group of sadistic bad guys led by Kevin James (seriously...and he's great) after they take her family hostage. It certainly has some memorable gore (the eye scene guarantees I ain't watching this again), but it takes WAY too long to get to the good stuff and then has s weirdly abrupt ending. 

Hercules In New York (1970)

Worth watching as a curiosity. This was Arnold Schwarzenegger's very first movie, and his English was still so bad they had to dub his dialogue after the fact. His delivery is the same monotone in every scene.  It's a terrible movie by any objective standard, as Arnold is paired with this terrible Woody Allen-type nebbish, as he tours New York. But the movie has an undeniable weird charm to it.

Palm Springs (2020)

Somehow almost every movie that uses the Groundhog Day gimmick works. Few better than this one, a very funny and sweet romcom with Andy Samberg, and Cristin Milioti in one of the best "finally someone gave her a chance" parts of recent memory. Samberg is great, and the movie has some fun twists and a lot.of laughs, but also has some legit gravitas when it needs to. 

The Hunt For Red October (1990)

This is the only Jack Ryan film I hadn't seen. I've never been a big fan of any of these movies, but this is the best of them. This was Alec Baldwin's lone movie as the character and he's very good, but the star of stars here is Sean Connery in one of my favorite performances of his. I feel like a lot.of these submarine movie tropes were utilized better in Crimson Tide, and the film maybe has too many climaxes, but it's a very well done thriller. 

Navy Seals (1990)

"Ooooh! Navy Seals!" Indeed. This movie really is intellectually devoid. It's just bad, a terribly messy mix of jocky Top Gun type military bravado and empty shoot em up. I watched the 2nd half of this movie in a bored stupor basically.