The Green Mile (1999)

07 Tuesday Oct 2014

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Paul Edgecomb was somehow scarred,
For he was once a prison guard
Upon the “mile” painted green.
The death row cells it ran between
Held prisoners awaiting there
The just and fair electric chair.
 
Upon this mile, he and his guys
Secured those sensing their demise:
An Indian with life’s regret,
A Cajun with a rodent pet,
And big John Coffey, dense but tame,
Who barely knows to spell his name.
 
One guard named Percy savored grief
And mocked the prisoners’ belief.
At every chance, with clear disdain,
He’d add unneeded extra pain,
But he was swiftly terrified
When “Wild Bill” disturbed his pride.
 
Though Billy’s antics were insane,
John Coffey proved much less profane.
He somehow healed a pain-filled Paul,
As well as Mr. Jingles small.
Both man and mouse were touched by John,
And their afflictions soon were gone.
 
Since Paul was freed of his torment,
He thought John might be innocent.
Although John seemed harmless throughout,
Nobody else held any doubt:
He killed two girls, or so they said.
He would be punished for the dead.
 
Paul’s friend and boss Hal wished that life
Would spare his cancer-stricken wife.
Paul’s guards agreed to transport John
To heal the tumor ere the dawn.
He did so and employed her trial
To punish sinners on the mile.
 
Paul saw that John was doing time
For Wild Bill’s appalling crime,
And though he wished to let John go,
He could not free him from death row.
Once John was dead with many tears,
Paul lived well past one hundred years.
Both he and Mr. Jingles wait
Upon the mile that is their fate.
_____________
 

Steven King’s preoccupation with horror and violence unfortunately detracts (for me) from most of his work, but in certain cases his talent for drama supersedes these aspects to create a truly memorable story. Misery and The Shawshank Redemption are such stories, and so is The Green Mile. As with Shawshank, The Green Mile deals with a prison of the past, but though there are fleeting glimpses of work details nearby, it depicts the even more somber area known as death row, or the Last Mile.

The main guards are uniformly either admirable or despicable, but all are well-cast. Tom Hanks as Paul Edgecomb yields a Gump-ish Southern drawl and even gets a brief reunion with Lieutenant Dan…I mean, Gary Sinise. David Morse, Jeffrey DeMunn, and Barry Pepper play Paul’s sensitive and respectful good ol’ boys, while (Lost alert!) Doug Hutchison convincingly portrays sadistic Percy Wetmore, who disregards life and hates mice, people, and not getting his way. Michael Clarke Duncan’s Oscar-nominated performance as John Coffey is the stand-out, that of an innocent soul too simple to defend itself and too oppressed by the world’s ill will to desire a protraction of this life. While his origins are ambiguous, scenes like the “flicker show,” in which the projector forms a halo around his head, confirm his innate goodness and miraculous legacy. The other prisoners are likewise skilled actors: Dancing with Wolves’s Graham Greene as the remorseful Arlen Bitterbuck, Michael Jeter as mouse-trainer Eduard Delacroix, and a frightening Sam Rockwell as the perverse Wild Bill Wharton. (Rockwell’s comedic role in Galaxy Quest that same year attests to his versatility as an actor.) Bonnie Hunt, Patricia Clarkson, and James Cromwell round out the surprisingly large cast.

Despite all the characters, the film’s plot progresses methodically, developing most characters gradually, such as the scope of Coffey’s mysterious powers and the extent of Percy’s and Wild Bill’s malice. Each subplot, with both drama and comic relief, is woven beautifully into the overall narrative: Paul’s urinary tract infection, Percy’s desire to work at a mental hospital, Hal’s dying wife, Coffey’s wrongful conviction, etc. Most of the credit goes to King, but director Frank Darabont, who also adapted Shawshank, deftly handles the various story threads with visual mastery. Aside from readers of the book, the viewer doesn’t know what will happen next, making scenes like the comeuppance of the two villains both shocking and brilliant.

With all this praise, The Green Mile could have made it into my top 100 if not for its many detractions. Profanity is plentiful, as is violence. Del’s botched execution scene in particular is as disturbing as the C-section in Prometheus and continues for far too long just to sicken the audience, as well as the characters. The family of his victim wanted him to suffer, but I doubt they intended for such an atrocity. Pair these issues with a preoccupation with urinating and an overall depressing atmosphere, and the film falls short of something truly uplifting.

Yet, while critics can nitpick and delve into the themes and details for social and spiritual meaning, the film works on the surface as a proficient supernatural tragedy. The death of gifted innocence is always sad, and The Green Mile achieves a poignancy that most films only dream of.

Best line: (John Coffey, speaking for all decent people nowadays) “Mostly I’m tired of people being ugly to each other. I’m tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world every day. There’s too much of it.”

 
Artistry: 10
Characters/Actors: 10
Entertainment: 7
Visual Effects: 9
Originality: 9
Watchability: 8
Other (language, violence): -2
 
TOTAL: 51 out of 60
 

Next: #104 – WALL-E

© 2014 S. G. Liput

220 Followers and Counting

 

Air Force One (1997)

06 Monday Oct 2014

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When President Mitchell assists Russian forces
With capturing Radek, a dangerous threat,
He vows to stop tyrant regimes at their sources,
Though most of his Cabinet’s not ready yet.
 
Not long after takeoff, his plane is hijacked
By terrorists led by Egor Korshunov.
They want Radek swiftly released, though the fact
That Mitchell escaped really ticks Egor off.
 
The Vice President’s politics are ignored
By Egor, who threatens continual slaughter.
The President, though, is still hiding on board,
In hopes of retrieving his wife and his daughter.
 
He plays cat-and-mouse with the terrorist band
And calls Washington for some needed advice.
Through sabotage, Mitchell disrupts what was planned,
Although interference does come with a price.
 
A helpful distraction allows him to sneak
The hostages out from the maniac’s grip.
When captured by Egor, things start to look bleak
Until Marshall violently gives him the slip.
 
Although he’s retaken his family and plane,
He now has to watch out for enemy fire.
The plane is soon damaged and cannot remain
For long in the air with no capable flyer.
 
Support gets his wife and his daughter away,
And they just have time for a last-minute run.
One final attacker can’t quite win the day,
And Mitchell escapes to the new Air Force One.
_______________
 

Air Force One is a clear imitator of 1988’s Die Hard, featuring a terrorist team that seizes control of a supposedly secure fortress, takes hostages, and is undone by a lone defender. The first terrorist killed even yields the protagonist his first weapon, a machine gun minus the “ho, ho, ho.” What Air Force One has over its predecessor is (A) an even direr situation aboard an airplane and (B) Harrison Ford as the President of the United States.

Ford’s star power and his sympathetic portrayal of a family man willing to do what’s right over what’s popular make him an ideal champion. I did like how his daughter’s complaint about her desire for mature involvement was depicted merely as normal angst rather than some kind of told-you-so in which she proves she knew better than Dad; such situations are all too common in film. Gary Oldman is an effectively intense Hans Gruber stand-in, and while he’s clearly insane, he obviously considers the ideological reasons for his crimes legitimate, making him an intimidating zealot. Most of the other performances, such as Vice President Glenn Close, are serviceable, but the film does feature a number of recognizable actors, at least to me. The Secretary of Defense is played by Dean Stockwell, better known as the hologram Al on Quantum Leap, and Egor’s pilot Andrei is portrayed by Elya Baskin, Peter Parker’s landlord in Spider-Man 2 and 3. Not to mention the Lost alert: another terrorist, who holds the President at gunpoint before a lethal scuffle, is Andrew Divoff, known to Lost fans as Mikhail or “Patchy.”

The action itself is taut and suspenseful, much like Die Hard, and refreshingly intelligent. None of the characters make foolish or stupid decisions, and a number of believable precautions and attempts at sabotage and diplomacy are carried out, such that the film carries some sense of realism. The end rescue is particularly intense, even if it is reminiscent of Airport 1975. The effects and explosions are often impressive, though their computer-generated origins are glaring in a few over-the-top scenes, such as the impact in the finale.

Despite frequent violence and language, Air Force One is an edge-of-your-seat actioner that upheld the familiar roles of Harrison Ford as hero and Gary Oldman as diabolical villain. It’s quite the flight. Harrison Ford for President, anyone?

Best line: (President Mitchell) “Peace isn’t merely the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice.”

More obvious best line: (President Mitchell, to Egor) “Get off my plane!”

 
Artistry: 8
Characters/Actors: 9
Entertainment: 10
Visual Effects: 8
Originality: 7
Watchability: 10
Other (language, violence): -1
 
TOTAL: 51 out of 60
 

Next: #105 – The Green Mile

© 2014 S. G. Liput

218 Followers and Counting

 

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

06 Monday Oct 2014

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As patriotism is reaching a high at the time of the Second World War,
Steve Rogers is eager to join with a corps,
Since freedom and goodness are worth fighting for,
But since he is sick, he is not their first pick
And simply could not get his foot in the door.
 
One Abraham Erskine, a German defector whose serum can better a man,
Gives Rogers a chance at the Army’s new plan:
This serum could take down the whole Nazi clan.
Although Steve is weak, he’s courageous and meek,
And Erskine picks him to do what few men can.
 
Assisted by Howard Stark, Erskine transforms the weakling he’d luckily found
To quite the he-man, unimpaired, muscle-bound.
They praise his success until Erskine is downed;
The serum’s destroyed by an agent employed
By the evil Red Skull, who is now gaining ground.
 
The Red Skull, who once used the serum himself, has found the arcane Tesseract.
He’s planning to harness its power intact
And conquer the globe and the Third Reich, in fact.
Meanwhile, Steve’s stuck selling war bonds with luck
But hopes to make more of a worthy impact.
 
He hears his pal Bucky was captured by HYDRA and sadly is most likely dead.
Both Stark and the fair Agent Carter are led
To get Steve past enemy lines with no dread.
He frees prisoners and his friend is no worse
So Steve’s private team gets the glad go-ahead.
 
Brave Captain America, Bucky, and team attack the Skull’s depots and bases,
But when they catch one of the Skull’s science aces,
Arnim Zola, poor Bucky falls with no traces.
Then Cap’s purposeful to take down the Red Skull
And rid the world of his most dreadful of faces.
 
Assaulting his headquarters, Cap follows closely aboard an explosive-filled plane.
The Skull is dissolved by the Tesseract’s strain,
But Cap sees his efforts to land are in vain.
Despite the steep price, Rogers crashes in ice…
And wakes up years later where S.H.I.E.L.D. must explain.
__________________
 

Yes, I consider Captain America: The First Avenger the best pre-Avengers Marvel film, as does my dad. Director Joe Johnston had already attempted a retro superhero flick in 1991’s The Rocketeer, and his treatment of Cap’s origins feels both familiar and fresh. The cinematography and the recreation of 1940s New York have the faded nostalgia of an old photograph, and the spectacular explosions and stunts set against this background (plus an Alan Menken musical number) make it uniquely entertaining.

Plus, the film boasts the unexpected star power of Chris Evans, whose gung-ho patriotism and intrinsic goodness are surprisingly convincing following his bad-boy impudence as the Human Torch in the lackluster Fantastic Four films. His goody two-shoes persona could easily have been boring, yet another hero we ought to cheer for just because, but the ways in which his character displays his selflessness gain the audience’s sympathy even before the famed experiment that transforms him into a beefcake. The effects used to diminish Evans’s physique are impressively seamless. Supporting players are alternately amusing and poignant, including Stanley Tucci as the Yinsen-esque motivator Dr. Erskine, Tommy Lee Jones as swift-tongued Colonel Phillips, Hayley Atwell as love interest Peggy Carter (who will soon have her own mini-series appropriately titled Agent Carter), Dominic Cooper as Iron Man’s father Howard Stark, Toby Jones as HYDRA scientist Dr. Zola, and Sebastian Stan as fallen friend Bucky Barnes. As far as comic book villains go, Hugo Weaving excels as the Red Skull, whose makeup could easily have become absurdly cartoonish but succeeds as an outward manifestation of his sanguinary intentions. The Matrix proved Weaving’s talent for villainy, but here his German accent and Nazi origins enhance his malevolence. The film also features an assassin played by Richard Armitage, who would go on to play Thorin Oakenshield in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy.

In addition to Barnes’s sorrowful fall from the train, the thrilling climax aboard the Red Skull’s plane is deftly imagined. The villain’s “death” from the Tesseract is sufficiently ambiguous to make one wonder if he was really killed or perhaps transported elsewhere (you never know), and the film ends with one of the most credible instances of the he’s-dead-no-wait-never-mind cliché. I’ve mentioned this cliché before: used in countless films, many animated, it milks often contrived pathos from a character’s apparent death before resurrecting him, sometimes right away for a cheer, sometimes near the end as a deus ex machina. This doesn’t necessarily hurt a film overall; it just hampers its originality. The reason Captain America’s version of it works so heartbreakingly well is that, from the perspective of everyone he knew, Cap really did die, just as most of them had died by the time he was awoken. The final scene brings him up to speed with S.H.I.E.L.D. and the contemporary Avengers, but his sense of loss provides a somber conclusion to an otherwise rousing adventure. As the last film in Phase One of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, Captain America: The First Avenger completed the cast for the subsequent Avengers team-up (even though Cap was not a founding member in the comics; just sayin’).

Best line: (Colonel Phillips, after Cap kisses Agent Carter and glances at him) “I’m not kissin’ ya!”

 
Artistry: 8
Characters/Actors: 8
Entertainment: 9
Visual Effects: 10
Originality: 7
Watchability: 9
 
TOTAL: 51 out of 60
 

Next: #106 – Air Force One

© 2014 S. G. Liput

216 Followers and Counting

 

Shrek 2 (2004)

03 Friday Oct 2014

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Fiona and Shrek, ever since true love’s kiss,
Are living the good life in marital bliss,
But soon they’re invited to Far Far Away
To meet with her parents, in spite of Shrek’s nay.
 
The journey is long and the company grates,
And when they arrive, the whole welcome deflates.
The king is disgusted by Shrek’s ogre ways,
And Shrek gives an equally ornery gaze.
 
A Fairy Godmother then visits Fiona
And isn’t much thrilled with her ogre persona.
The Godmother planned all along for her son
Prince Charming to wed her, till Shrek jumped the gun.
 
She urges the King, who is under her thumb,
To get rid of Shrek, so her own prince can come.
The King hesitantly obeys and recruits
A famed mercenary known as Puss in Boots.
 
The cat doesn’t win but befriends the main pair
And guides them to Godmother’s potion-filled lair.
One potion that guarantees beauty and joy
Transforms the two ogres to a real girl and boy.
 
The Godmother sees this as her perfect chance
For Charming to woo the princess at a dance,
But Shrek, with the help of his fairy tale friends,
Attacks the King’s castle before the night ends.
 
Redeeming himself, the King sticks up for Shrek
And thwarts the corrupt fairy pain-in-the-neck.
Both parents and son-in-law now get along,
And Donkey and Puss sing a toe-tapping song.
__________________
 

Shrek 2 ranks on my list as DreamWorks Animation’s best CGI film, as well as their most successful.  It also holds a special place in my heart thanks to my mom.  I was only 10 when my mom picked me up from school one day, but instead of driving home, I suddenly realized we were entering the parking lot of our local movie theater to see what else but Shrek 2.  The unexpected surprise (and enjoyable film) became one of those indelible childhood memories, even if she herself barely remembers it.

The film itself was a joy to watch, bringing back all the lovable players from the first film and introducing new classic characters.  It builds on the original story and doesn’t repeat itself.  Nearly every joke hits its target, and there are so many details and parodies that repeated viewings are definitely rewarded.  At the very beginning during the Oscar-nominated song “Accidentally in Love,” there are references to From Here to Eternity, Spider-Man, and The Fellowship of the Ring, and countless others follow, including spoofs of Alien, E.T., Beverly Hills Cop, Frankenstein, The Mask of Zorro, Mission: Impossible, Hawaii 5-0, and even the O. J. Simpson chase footage.  The Zorro resonances are especially ingenious since Antonio Banderas plays his feline counterpart Puss in Boots with enough gusto to give Donkey a run for his money as best animal sidekick.  (I’m a sucker for those big dark eyes.)  Yet, in addition to all these parodies, the film retains its own brand of humor:  Donkey’s annoying are-we-there-yets, the clever exchanges that both Shrek & Fiona and King Harold & Queen Lillian share before their rendezvous, the glimpses of the villains’ pub and the red carpet night.  As with the first film, a soundtrack of contemporary songs complements several thrilling action scenes; Jennifer Saunders’s rendition of “Holding Out for a Hero” as Shrek storms the castle is easily the best sequence of the whole film and my favorite version of the song.

Shrek 2 was a high point for DreamWorks that was quickly lowered by the likes of Madagascar and Shrek the Third.  The third Shrek film was an uninspired, unfunny mess focusing on all the wrong things and was only partially redeemed by the decent Shrek Forever After.  Perhaps it would have been better if Shrek and the gang had been left singing “Livin’ La Vida Loca.”  As far as satirical comedies with a romantic heart of gold go, DreamWorks has yet to do better.

Best line: (Fiona, unsure what Shrek’s new form looks like, questioning Puss) “Shrek?”  (Puss, eyeing her) “For you, baby, I could be.”

 
Artistry: 8
Characters/Actors: 10
Entertainment: 10
Visual Effects: 9
Originality: 9
Watchability: 10
Other (I like other films more): -5
 
TOTAL: 51 out of 60
 

Next: #107 – Captain America: The First Avenger

© 2014 S. G. Liput

215 Followers and Counting

 

Iron Man Trilogy (2008, 2010, 2013)

02 Thursday Oct 2014

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(Spoilers ahead)
 
The playboy genius billionaire
Tony Stark does not much care
About concerns he made his cash
From weapons that guerrillas stash,
Until this vain and selfish man
Is kidnapped in Afghanistan.
 
When locked up by some terrorists,
A fellow prisoner assists.
Life-saving Yinsen does his best
To stop the shrapnel in Stark’s chest.
When he is stable, Stark is forced
To build a missile he endorsed.
 
Instead of building what they’ll shoot,
Both he and Yinsen build a suit,
An Iron Man that Stark will drive
To get out of this cave alive.
Though Yinsen sadly meets his end,
Stark finds freedom, thanks to his friend.
 
When good pal Rhodey rescues him,
Stark then announces on a whim
That he’ll leave weapon tech behind,
And most believe he’s lost his mind,
Like partner Obadiah Stane,
Who makes his reservations plain.
 
Intrigued by his initial suit,
The terrorists find it to loot,
And Tony builds a better one
To stop the violence he’s begun.
An arc reactor in his chest
Protects his heart and fuels his quest.
 
His exploits mess with certain plots
And scare assistant Pepper Potts,
Who cares too much to just stand by
And watch her dear employer die.
He urges her to help him hack,
And they learn Stane ordained the attack.
 
Stane’s had another suit created,
Bigger, stronger, more ill-fated.
Powered by Stark’s tech he stole,
Stane has great power at his control,
Which proves too much, when it’s revealed,
For agents from a group called S.H.I.E.L.D.
 
Though weakened, Tony swoops right in
And battles Stane but cannot win.
Through streets and skies and rooftops too,
They duke it out in public view.
With Pepper’s help, they finish Stane,
But to the press, Stark must explain.
Though S.H.I.E.L.D. would have him stick to plan,
He tells the world he’s Iron Man.
__________________
 
Now that his cover has been blown
And his identity is known,
Ol’ Tony Stark’s enjoying it
And showing off his suit a bit.
The Stark Expo his dad began
Now showcases his Iron Man.
 
His rival Justin Hammer tries
To copy Tony’s “iron” prize,
And senators are less than thrilled
That Stark won’t share what they can’t build.
In any case, he’s flying high,
And yet he fears he soon will die.
 
Palladium inside his chest
Is killing him and leaves him stressed.
He names his girlfriend Pepper as
The CEO of all he has,
But while he’s at a grand prix racing,
There’s a brand new foe worth facing.
 
Ivan Vanko, wielding whips,
Removes the smirk from Tony’s lips.
Though Tony beats him, he can tell
That Vanko forged his tech quite well.
It seems that both their fathers had
Been partners ere Vanko’s went bad.
 
From jail, the Russian brute is sprung
By Justin Hammer, who has hung
His hopes on Vanko to provide
Something that Stark has not supplied.
Meanwhile, Tony’s recklessness
Distresses Rhodey to excess.
 
Rhodes takes a suit for Air Force use,
While S.H.I.E.L.D. stops Tony’s booze abuse.
Director Fury urges Stark
To visit matters in the dark,
His distant father’s expo plans,
Which may hold clues his life demands.
 
He halts his health’s unseen descent
By forging a new element
To spare his heart and fuel his suit.
Meanwhile, Hammer’s new recruit
Builds robot soldiers for his goal,
And they are under his control.
 
The Stark Expo is quickly made
A battleground by this upgrade,
And Rhodey in his borrowed suit
Is forced to battle Stark and shoot.
Because of his involvement, Hammer
Gets a ticket to the slammer.
 
Agent Romanoff from S.H.I.E.L.D.
Frees Rhodey on the battlefield,
And he and Stark take out the bots
And barely rescue Pepper Potts.
Once Vanko’s vanquished, Stark is told
By Fury he’s too brash and bold.
Stark is confused but not upset:
He won’t be an Avenger…yet.
________________
 
Since Stark helped stop a space invasion,
He’s been panicked on occasion.
Memories of nearly dying
Scare him, though he’s still denying.
In his basement, he grows roots,
Constructing countless high-tech suits.
 
The world is threatened once again
By someone called the Mandarin,
A terrorist with frightful voice
Who gives world powers little choice.
One Aldrich Killian tries selling
His A.I.M. technology compelling.
 
When Happy Hogan, Tony’s guard,
Is injured by a bomb and scarred,
Stark calls the Mandarin to fight,
And missiles answer him outright.
Both Maya Hansen, an old flame,
And Pepper flee the strike by A.I.M.,
 
But Tony’s suit instinctively
Flies him to rural Tennessee.
While there, he meets a lonely kid
Named Harley, who assists off grid.
They check a bomb-like suicide
With clues to how some others died.
 
When suitless Stark locates the foe,
He finds the Mandarin’s a show,
An actor, Trevor Slattery,
Who faked his crimes on live TV.
It’s Killian who is to blame
And his Extremis, backed by A.I.M.
 
With Rhodey’s armor, Killian’s bent
On kidnapping the President.
With him deceased, he’ll own and guide
The leadership of every side.
He’s kidnapped Pepper too, but soon
Stark’s suit returns when opportune.
 
A fleet of suits at Stark’s command
Attacks and makes a final stand.
The President saved, Stark gets aid
Defeating Killian’s tirade.
When all is done, Extremis ended,
All the villains apprehended,
Stark negates what he began,
But still, deep down, he’s Iron Man.
______________
 

Iron Man was the beginning of the Marvel Cinematic Universe that has grown exponentially ever since, including one or two films a year and an ongoing television series.  The seminal superhero flick introduced lasting facets of this universe, such as Robert Downey, Jr.’s Tony Stark, Clark Gregg’s Agent Coulson, and the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division, better known as S.H.I.E.L.D.  Even non-comic geeks probably knew the basics of the Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man mythos, but Iron Man was certainly less widely known, even if he too had a 1990s animated TV series (and was voiced by Airplane!’s Robert Hays).  The 2008 feature film established Tony Stark as a household name, thanks predominantly to Downey’s utterly entertaining charisma and the awesome CGI armor.  Gwyneth Paltrow also found her most recognized role as his girlfriend Pepper Potts, and who would have guessed that that unassuming Coulson urging for a debriefing would go on to have his own weeknight show?  Of the villains in the three films, Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane is the best, offering both an intimidating presence (which Vanko had and Killian lacked) and a worthy showdown (which Vanko lacked and Killian had).  Plus, Samuel L. Jackson’s incipient post-credits scene as Nick Fury opened up countless opportunities, referenced an Avengers film still four years away, and made the hearts of fanboys everywhere beat a little bit faster.

Iron Man 2 continued the all-around coolness factor that had made its predecessor such a success, starting off with some epic AC/DC.  Downey had his usual banter down pat, and Don Cheadle stepped gracefully into the role of Rhodey, previously played by Terrence Howard, though I wish they had kept Howard all the same.  (After all, he never got to wear the War Machine armor he was eyeing.)  Iron Man 2 introduced another menacing villain in Mickey Rourke’s Ivan Vanko/Whiplash, as well as Scarlett Johansson as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow.  Sadly, neither of them were utilized fully; after Vanko’s initial assault on Stark, he’s off in the shadows letting robots fight for him, and when he finally arrives on the battlefield, he’s taken out within two minutes.  Likewise, Johansson is present mainly for eye candy and an overlong hallway melee meant to simply exhibit her strength and tenacity; otherwise, her role is minimal, though definitely bigger than Hawkeye’s cameo in Thor.  I did enjoy the lighter villainy of Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer, and the portrayal of Stark’s morbid spiral into drunkenness, his paternal issues, and his struggle to synthesize his needed element deepened his character and provided a very obvious Captain America reference.

Iron Man 3 was the start of Phase 2, Marvel’s post-Avengers period, and proved that they still had the right balance of humor, heart, and action.  In a comic-book world where near-death experiences seem like an everyday annoyance, it was intriguing to see Tony’s recurrent distress from his time with the Avengers.  From the trailers, I was sure that Ben Kingsley would steal the show as the threatening Mandarin, and he did…for the first half.  The revelation of his true oblivious identity was a big let-down, for me and many comic fans, though a recent partial retcon in the Marvel One-Shot “All Hail the King” presents the possibility of future efforts doing the character justice.  On the other hand, the treatment of the Extremis story arc was exciting, complex, and influential to the Marvel universe, since Extremis continued to pop up in the first season of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  (By the way, minor Lost alert: Rebecca Mader, who played Charlotte Lewis on my favorite show, portrayed a nameless Extremis soldier who took down Rhodey’s armor.)  While I enjoyed Tony’s bonding with the boy in Tennessee, the threequel tried to cover a lot of territory, and some elements like Maya Hansen and Trevor Slattery were wiped away too quickly to make room for a slam-bang climax that was admittedly spectacular.  Pepper’s role in the final battle did seem rather contrived, as if Paltrow had simply requested more action for her character, and Tony’s destruction of his suits may have been “sweet,” but it was also irresponsible, considering they weren’t sure all the baddies had been defeated.  The denouement ties up the storylines with a contemplative bow, but its ambiguity left further entries in the series in doubt.  Maybe Tony now lives in the Avengers Tower/Stark Tower.

Overall, the Iron Man films are a huge feather in the cap of Marvel Studios, and Robert Downey, Jr. makes the role his own so effectively that any distant reboot couldn’t hope to find a worthy replacement.  Of the three, I probably prefer the original, a near-perfect origin story that displays a good reason for Tony to change (the dying words of Shaun Toub as Yinsen) and touches on themes of self-improvement and the War on Terror.  All three are among the finest and most fun superhero films thus far.

Best line from Iron Man: (Nick Fury, speaking to Stark and moviegoers everywhere) “’I am Iron Man’. You think you’re the only superhero in the world? Mr. Stark, you’ve become part of a bigger universe. You just don’t know it yet.”

Best line from Iron Man 2: (Tony, reading Romanoff’s description of him) “’Mr. Stark displays textbook… narcissism.’  [long pause]  Agreed.”

Best line from Iron Man 3: (Pepper, toward the end) “What have I got to complain about now?”  (Tony) “Well, it’s me. You’ll find something.”

 
Artistry: 8
Characters/Actors: 9
Entertainment: 9
Visual Effects: 10
Originality: 8
Watchability: 9
Other (violence): -2
 
TOTAL: 51 out of 60
 

Next: #108 – Shrek 2

© 2014 S. G. Liput

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#110: To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

01 Wednesday Oct 2014

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When Scout was only six years old,
The Great Depression on the rise,
Her brother Jem and she were told
The mad Boo Radley lived next door.
Their father Atticus so wise
Forbade it, but they’d still explore.
 
A lawyer, Atticus was sent
To represent a colored man
Accused of rape but innocent.
Bob Ewell, father of the victim,
Hated them and soon began
To stalk the man who’d contradict him.
 
Scout and Jem and their friend Dill
Stuck up for Atticus one night.
Despite the backlash, Finch would still
Defend despised Tom Robinson.
In court, he put up quite the fight
But could not convince everyone.
 
Although he could not save poor Tom,
Finch nonetheless gained much respect,
But Ewell still could not stay calm
And tried assaulting Scout and Jem.
Then someone turned up to protect,
Dispatching Ewell and saving them.
 
Their rescuer turned out to be
The “maniac” they knew as Boo,
And for his gracious gallantry,
Both Sheriff Tate and Finch concurred
That they would hide Radley from view,
To spare him, like a mockingbird.
_________________
 

Among all the sci-fi blockbusters and upbeat comedies on my list, To Kill a Mockingbird is a thoughtful step back into the past, to a time when schoolyard arguments and slamming screen doors were a child’s main worries.  As readers can probably gather from my list choices thus far, I’m not much for old black-and-white movies, usually because they are overacted, boring, or both.  Yet certain films exude classic-ness and create stories and characters that truly deserve all the accolades they received.  Based on Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird is such a film.

Gregory Peck won his lone Oscar for his captivating turn as Atticus Finch, whose gentle guidance for his children and dauntless stand for justice earned him the number one slot on AFI’s best Heroes list.  It’s a quietly persuasive performance, and his stirring soliloquy at the end of the trial is an effective discourse urging the jury to buck expectations as he did, not for the sake of rebellion or sanctimony but for what is clearly right.  My VC considers Peck the film’s greatest strength, whereas his children are its weakness.  Mary Badham and Philip Alford (“the boy” in Shenandoah) as Scout and Jem are cute and believable as a pair of inquisitive youngsters, but as admirable a father as Atticus is, he hasn’t imparted to them the importance of obedience.  He tells them not to bother the Radleys, not to stay with him at the prison, not to fight at school, not to attend the trial, all rules they flout. Call it realistic juvenility, but their constant sneaking around in the first half wears on one’s patience. That being said, the children’s scenes include both warmhearted nostalgia and surprising tension that mostly make up for their mild misbehavior. Other actors are in fine form, including James K. Anderson as the menacing Bob Ewell, an Oscar-worthy Brock Peters as the defamed Tom Robinson, and a silent Robert Duvall in his first film role as Arthur “Boo” Radley.

One point on which I want to expand is the similarity and superiority of To Kill a Mockingbird’s denouement with that of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight.  (Spoiler alert)  In the second film of Nolan’s Batman trilogy, DA Harvey Dent went mad as Two-Face, murdered multiple victims, and was finally brought down.  Yet Batman and Police Commissioner Gordon believed that his prior image of resolute justice was more important than the truth, and they lied, turning Dent into a martyr and Batman into a criminal.  This strange decision of what they thought was right irked me, but the similar decision about Boo Radley made clear to me the reason why.  Whereas Dent slaughtered people who supposedly deserved it (according to the flip of a coin) in cold blood, Boo killed one man who had proved himself a liar and a likely child beater and who was in the act of attacking two innocents. The decision to cover-up Boo’s crime was likewise made by the hero and the head of police, who did so not because the town couldn’t handle it but to protect a sincere guard from the wrath of good-ol’-boys who surely would not understand.  The choice made by Batman and Gordon seemed arbitrary, covering up unjustifiable actions of a dead man for the sake of a sterling reputation that had been undermined.  They didn’t know what would happen if the truth had simply been broadcast; it certainly would have been better coming from them than from a demagogue like Bane in The Dark Knight Rises.  On the other hand, Atticus’ decision is more defensible because he knew from immediate experience how townspeople would react to the murder of one of their own, and he agreed to the deception to save the life and peace of a man who had rescued his children. I cannot see myself agreeing to Batman’s dishonesty; Atticus Finch’s I can.

To Kill a Mockingbird is undeniably classic, and I personally consider it a better film and more deserving of the Best Picture Academy Award than that year’s Lawrence of Arabia, despite the latter’s epic portrayal of a real-life character, which is typical Oscar fodder.  My VC summed up the film’s message as the clichéd “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” or a recluse by rumors, or an accused Negro by societal convention.  Though its titular comparison doesn’t precisely fit Boo’s situation, Mockingbird’s sentimental depiction of down-to-earth fatherhood and judicial defense of what’s right continue to make it a must-see drama.

Best line: (Reverend Sykes to Scout, after witnessing Finch’s fruitless but laudable efforts in court) “Miss Jean Louise.  Miss Jean Louise, stand up.  Your father’s passin’.”

 
Artistry: 10
Characters/Actors: 10
Entertainment: 7
Visual Effects: N/A
Originality: 9
Watchability: 6
Other (admirable depiction of fatherhood and what’s right): +9
 
TOTAL: 51 out of 60
 

Next: #109 – The Iron Man Trilogy

© 2014 S. G. Liput

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The Matrix (1999)

29 Monday Sep 2014

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Desk worker by day and hacker by night,
Neo is met by a girl who can fight.
This Trinity tells him that Morpheus wishes
To show him a secret that stays surreptitious.
 
When Neo won’t take an escape route too high,
Mysterious agents detain with no why.
He’s interrogated by Smith, a shrewd thug,
Who bugs him with some kind of literal bug.
 
At night, Neo meets up with Morpheus’ crew
Who take out the bug and deliver him to
The dreamer himself, who then offers some pills,
Without quite explaining the subsequent ills.
 
The red pill then causes our hero to wake
And has him soon thinking he made a mistake.
He finds himself nude in a world where machines
Are fueling themselves by the vilest of means.
 
The AI’s took over, and nobody sees,
For people are now used as live batteries.
The world Neo knew is the Matrix, a fake,
To keep people blind to the truth, lest they wake.
 
Recruited at once by the hovercraft crew
He met in the Matrix, who showed him what’s true,
He’s tutored by Morpheus, who first explains,
And cool skills are downloaded into their brains.
 
They enter the Matrix, once training is done,
To find out if Neo is really the One.
The Oracle tells him what he needs to hear,
But they can’t return, for a traitor is near.
 
As Smith captures Morpheus after a fight,
The turncoat exterminates friends in their sight.
He’s stopped, leaving only a browbeaten trio
And Morpheus still in the Matrix, but Neo
 
Insists he be rescued, regardless of threats.
They go in and shoot the heck out of the sets.
The rescue is thrilling and proves, more or less,
That Neo’s the One who can grant them success.
 
When both of his comrades are safe through the phone,
Both Neo and Smith have a duel on their own.
As robots fill Morpheus’ crewmen with dread,
A fight and a chase leaves our champion dead.
 
A kiss and a prophecy Trinity knew
Revive him with powers that Smith can’t subdue.
The robots are halted, and Neo’s inclined
To stopping the Matrix and freeing mankind.
______________
 

Written and directed by the Wachowski Brothers, The Matrix is one of the few sci-fi films that one can call ground-breaking. Star Wars was the original, and many others have tried, such as Inception and Avatar, with varying success, but The Matrix took audiences by surprise with its brilliantly staged action, religious symbolism, and thought-provoking dystopia. Plus, it’s downright cool, and it knows it’s cool. From Trinity’s opening fight scene to the expertly choreographed kung-fu face-offs to the helicopter rescue, the film has all the action moviegoers could want, but it also featured a number of fascinating themes, such as the validity of “reality.” Combine these elements with slick camera work, impressive CGI, protracted but artful use of slow-motion and bullet-time effects, and a trench-coated cyberpunk mystique, and you’ve got a hit.

Keanu Reeves shed his Bill and Ted persona for a straight-faced, chosen-one role of Neo, and Laurence Fishburne proved surprisingly agile as the mysterious Morpheus. Carrie-Anne Moss found her breakthrough role playing the formidable Trinity, and Joe Pantoliano and especially an intense Hugo Weaving make for excellent villains. Weaving’s deliberate pronunciation of “Mr. Anderson” is distinctly intimidating.

The film’s main drawback, aside from language, is its high body count. Those who die in the Matrix die for good, and a number of innocent people are caught in the crossfire, particularly during the bullet-riddled lobby scene. While these scenes remain admittedly awesome, the deaths of neutral parties by “good” characters diminish the overall fun factor.

The Matrix isn’t completely original: it owes much to anime, such as Akira, and to martial arts films.  A few first-person shots with Neo running through an apartment at the end were even reminiscent of the foot chase in the Coen brothers’ Raising Arizona. Still, The Matrix is a sci-fi masterpiece that stands much higher than its two sequels.  (I may review those someday.  Essentially, they continued the breathtaking action of the first film but emphasized pointless exposition and ended on a thoroughly unsatisfying note.)  Taken on its own, The Matrix is a provocative thriller that the Wachowskis have yet to match. (We’ll see about their upcoming sci-fi effects extravaganza Jupiter Ascending.)

Best line: (Morpheus, to Neo) “This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.”

 
Artistry: 10
Characters/Actors: 8
Entertainment: 9
Visual Effects: 10
Originality: 9
Watchability: 9
Other (violence, language): -4
 
TOTAL: 51 out of 60
 

Next: #110 – To Kill a Mockingbird

© 2014 S. G. Liput

213 Followers and Counting

 

Ghostbusters II (1989)

28 Sunday Sep 2014

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Dana Barrett has a baby,
But out on the street one day,
Oscar in his baby carriage
Very nearly rolls away.
 
Though the former Ghostbusters
Were forced to locate other work,
Dana asks them to inspect
To see if any dangers lurk.
 
Working at an art museum,
Dana feels uneasy toward
Vigo the Carpathian,
Whose portrait is to be restored.
 
Peter Venkman and his cohorts
Dig into First Avenue,
Where Ray finds a ghastly river
Full of pink slime flowing through.
 
Once the ‘Busters prove they’re sane
By vanquishing two apparitions,
They begin to find more business,
Fueling slime-induced suspicions.
 
When the slime tries grabbing Oscar,
Dana flees to Venkman’s flat,
While the others check the sewers,
Where the moody slime is at.
 
Egon, Winston, Ray, and Peter
Are arrested once again,
And poor Oscar soon is kidnapped
To the art house, Vigo’s den.
 
Once he starts his reign of terror,
All the Ghostbusters are freed,
And they use a certain giant
Statue in their time of need.
 
Crashing evil Vigo’s party,
They destroy his floating head.
Having rescued Dana’s baby,
Peter fills her ex’s stead,
And the Ghostbusters are honored
As defeaters of the dead.
___________________
 

Most probably disagree, but yes, I like the second Ghostbusters more than its predecessor. Perhaps it’s because I saw it first for some reason.  (Similarly, my VC saw Superman II first and prefers it to the original).  Ghostbusters is always hailed as being full of hilarious lines and incidents, but to me, Ghostbusters II is even more so. The pathetic birthday scene seems to indicate the franchise’s fall from grace early on, but it just keeps getting better and better. From Venkman’s side-splitting looks on his psychic TV show to the courtroom scene with Louis Tully’s awkward reappearance to the inversely scary and funny effects of the pink slime (long before the whole ground beef controversy), the hilarity just keeps coming.

Some critics complained that the sequel didn’t add anything to the franchise. Though it doesn’t try to exceed its predecessor, it continues its clever script with even more potent quotables.  For example: “Doe, Ray, Egon.”  In addition, Venkman’s baby banter makes him much more likable than in the first film, and while the villain Vigo is just as soberly menacing as Gozer was, he has a welcome addition in Peter MacNicol as Dr. Janosz Poha, whose Eastern European accent inevitably elicits crack-ups. Plus, while the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man was a fictional character, the climax with the Statue of Liberty not only looks more realistic but has the desired uplifting effect on the audience as well as the characters.

I may be in the minority, but I feel that Ghostbusters II was an improvement on the first film, with a similarly absurd plot and lovable characters spouting lines worthy of repetition. There may not ever be a third film with the original cast, but Ghostbusters II is an outstanding swan song for the franchise. Though it may soon return from the dead…with women….

Best lines (so many): (the mayor) “Being miserable and treating other people like dirt is every New Yorker’s God-given right.”
 
(Venkman, upon being asked why they drilled a hole in the middle of the street) “Well, there are so many holes in First Avenue, we really didn’t think anyone would notice.”
 
(Egon, analyzing Oscar’s nursery) “Cozy. My parents didn’t believe in toys.”
(Ray, later on) “You mean you never even had a Slinky?”
(Egon) “We had part of a Slinky. But I straightened it.”

 

Artistry: 7
Characters/Actors: 9
Entertainment: 10
Visual Effects: 8
Originality: 8
Watchability: 10
Other (language): -1
 
TOTAL: 51 out of 60
 

Next: #111 – The Matrix

© 2014 S. G. Liput

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The Untouchables (1987)

28 Sunday Sep 2014

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When Prohibition was the law
And Al Capone Chicago’s king,
The liquor and the violence raw
Pervaded nearly everything.
 
When Treasury agent Eliot Ness
Arrives to bring Al’s business down,
He fails to make the least progress,
For rackets fill this crooked town.
 
Considering his efforts vain,
He meets a cop out on the beat.
This James Malone converses plain,
And Ness refuses to retreat.
 
Soon after, Ness recruits Malone,
Accountant Oscar Wallace, and
Italian novice cop George Stone,
Who plan to make a daring stand.
 
The four complete a couple raids,
Impounding booze and shooting skulls.
Capone enlists his lethal aides
To slaughter these “Untouchables.”
 
Ness hopes to put Capone away
For hidden income tax evasion,
But leads and Ness’s men fall prey
To Al’s nefarious persuasion.
 
When Ness and Stone succeed at last
In capturing Capone’s bookkeeper,
He testifies of misdeeds past,
But Ness perceives that bribes run deeper.
 
Despite the deck he stacked so well,
Capone is sentenced, thanks to Ness.
Although some valiant lawmen fell,
The justice-minded found success.
___________________
 

The Untouchables isn’t the kind of movie I would expect to enjoy:  it has plenty of foul language and some shockingly violent scenes, which isn’t surprising considering director Brian De Palma’s prior films like Carrie and Scarface. I’m not exactly fond of the gangster genre either, as evidenced by my placement of The Godfather at #300 on my list, due to the acting and production quality rather than the story. Yet, The Untouchables matches its impeccable period sets and costumes and doesn’t just focus on the gangsters but on the coppers too. Whereas acclaimed films like The Godfather and Goodfellas are all about crime bosses’ violent actions leading to their downfall, The Untouchables features the justice-seeking lawmen in addition to the violent criminals. To me, the latter without the former tends to be depressing and excessive, regardless of the artistry with which it is done.

Kevin Costner found a great role in Eliot Ness, displaying both a kind, family sensitivity and a fierce dedication to justice. Sean Connery won his lone Oscar playing shrewd policeman Jimmy Malone, and his final scene with Costner is genuinely moving.  (The two would reunite briefly in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves four years later.) Charles Martin Smith as Wallace and Andy Garcia as Stone round out the quartet of Untouchables, and Robert De Niro owns the slimy arrogance of Al Capone, having already played a young Vito Corleone thirteen years prior.

On an artistic level, the drawn-out arrest scene overuses slow motion, but De Palma’s penchant for long shots is expertly enacted in the invasion of Malone’s home, creating palpable tension, intensified by Ennio Morricone’s Grammy-winning score. The infamous baseball bat scene may be heinous, but it attests to the kind of man running Chicago during Prohibition and why he had to be brought down by any means necessary. It’s based on a true event, though the film frequently departs from the actual accounts of Ness’s success, such as the fact that none of his men were actually killed. Ness’s revenge on Capone’s henchman is both unnecessarily brutal and sickly gratifying, but Capone’s comeuppance is the moment of triumph that The Godfather sorely lacks: good triumphing over evil. The Fugitive is often singled out as a surprisingly exceptional film based on a ‘60s TV series; let’s not forget that The Untouchables achieved that excellence first.

Best line: (Malone) “You wanna know how to get Capone? They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That’s the Chicago way! And that’s how you get Capone.”

 
Artistry: 10
Characters/Actors: 10
Entertainment: 9
Visual Effects: 7
Originality: 8
Watchability: 8
Other (violence, language): -2
 
TOTAL: 50 out of 60
 

Next: #112 – Ghostbusters II

© 2014 S. G. Liput

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The Right Stuff (1983)

26 Friday Sep 2014

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Test pilots were the fastest men alive,
And Chuck Yeager was famous as the best.
But soon man found a new frontier—to strive
Toward space, and certain valiant men impressed.
Shepard, Grissom, Slayton, Cooper, Glenn,
Carpenter, Schirra—these were their names.
America was smitten with these men,
Who dared for fame which could well end in flames.
When countless tests had readied them for flight,
They blasted skyward. Shepard was the first;
The next was Grissom and his slip and slight;
And then Glenn and the orbits he traversed.
These seven proved ideas are not enough;
Achieving dreams requires the right stuff.
_______________
 

I believe The Right Stuff should have won Best Picture for 1983 (over Terms of Endearment, a VC favorite). No other film that year and few films since have provided such a sweeping, mostly accurate, and entertaining view of turning points in history. It also boasts an ensemble of ‘80s heavyweights, including Dennis Quaid as Gordon Cooper, Ed Harris as John Glenn, Scott Glenn as Alan Shepard, Fred Ward as Gus Grissom, and Sam Shepard as Chuck Yeager, plus smaller roles for Barbara Hershey, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Shearer, and Jeff Goldblum (who also appeared in The Big Chill that year).

As I stated in my Apollo 13 review, my grandfather was directly involved with the space program and was present for many of the sometimes humorously unsuccessful rocket tests shown in a montage halfway through. Though the film doesn’t celebrate the men behind the scenes, as Apollo 13 did, it pays homage not only to the seven initial astronauts who braved the unknowns of the Mercury program but also the test pilots who paved the way by risking their lives to break down barriers, as Yeager did on October 14, 1947, when he hit Mach 1.

Yet The Right Stuff isn’t just an affectionate tribute to the early space program. It also testifies to the fortitude of pilots’ long-suffering wives; to the camaraderie of men daring to face a challenge together; to the ridiculous chutzpah of the media and how they whitewashed anything unsavory or unfavorable; to the wonders and thrills that drive men to risk life and limb, push envelopes, and go where no one has gone before (yes, I like Star Trek).

Beyond that, it’s also great fun to watch, particularly the rigorous testing the would-be astronauts endured. The beginning with Yeager is a tad slow and Levon Helm’s drawling narration a bit discordant, but once Shearer and Goldblum’s bumbling recruiters step in, the over-three-hour film passes quickly. A few scenes were unnecessary, such as the fan dance toward the end, and an unscientific and rather silly “explanation” for the fireflies John Glenn witnessed, but overall the film rarely misses a beat. Each game-changing event is given ample attention, with both humor and grief involved, such that one feels uniquely educated by the film’s end. The Oscar-winning score by Rocky’s Bill Conti matches the subject matter beautifully, aided by Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” and Holst’s The Planets. Though lesser-known players, such as Lance Henriksen’s Wally Schirra, are not given much screen time, The Right Stuff recreates the original real-life “star voyagers” who captured America’s collective imagination and prepared the way for future leaps for mankind.

Best line: (Jack Ridley, after Gus Grissom’s perceived fault with the second Mercury splashdown) “Nothing these guys do is gonna be called a failure… But you’d think the public’d know that they’re just doing what monkeys have done….”   (Yeager) “Monkeys? You think a monkey knows he’s sittin’ on top of a rocket that might explode? These astronaut boys, they know that, see? Well, I’ll tell you something, it takes a special kind of man to volunteer for a suicide mission, especially one that’s on TV. Ol’ Gus, he did all right.”

 
Artistry: 9
Characters/Actors: 9
Entertainment: 9
Visual Effects: 7
Originality: 9
Watchability: 8
Other (language): -1
 
TOTAL: 50 out of 60
 

Next: #113 – The Untouchables

© 2014 S. G. Liput

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