tallquasimodo Blog

Under discussion:

Blade Runner  (1982)

The Matrix  (1999)

Sleep Dealer  (2009)

Sleep dealer is above all an interesting film.  It is a truism that the best science fiction is usually that which tells a story about people, rather than whatever new gadget or idea forces it into a genre (sometimes rightfully) looked down upon as little better f tits and lazers. 

While Sleep Dealer treads ground that has been seen before in films like Blade Runner(1982) and The Matrix(1999) it would be unfair to compare it to either.  What sleep dealer has and the above do not, are normal people.  There are no Hard Boiled Deckards or Messianic Neos here, just people trying to get by, and maybe make thier world a little more bearable.  As a novice director, Alex Rivera is one to watch in the future.  While the Sleep Dealer is long on interesting imagery, it comes up a bit short on confidence in showing it.  With a surer hand on his next feature he could be a big name in his chosen corner of the film world

Under discussion:

Finnegan's Wake  (1963)

When I stumbled across a chance to see a little-circulated film version of Joyce's notoriously difficult novel, I jumped at it.  I knew very little about the book other than that most people who had successfully read it usually had or wound up with advanced degrees in English.  Myself not being one of them, I thought I would give it a shot nonetheless.  The movie was quite difficult, though not traumatically so.  The style is perhaps closest to that of Eraserhead in that it is dreamlike, though the palpable similarities end there.  Though I have no frame of reference on which to judge it, I am fairly certain that in 1963, and probably even today, that no closer adaptation could be made, and almost certainly would not be made.  If you're facing the book as an assignment of some sort, little harm would probably come to you if you watched the film along with an attempt to read the book, using it as a guide, though your professor might not see eye to eye with that view.

Under discussion:

A Better Tomorrow  (1986)

A Better Tomorrow II  (1988)

Hard-Boiled  (1992)

Blackjack  (1998)

Watch this movie for the gunfights, John Woo's specialty, not for the acting or the plot.  Dolph Lundgren plays Jack Devlin, AKA Dolph Lundgren, in this predictably paced and sappy story of overcoming one's fears and taking care of the daughter of a friend who died in a car accident, while protecting an up-and-coming supermodel from a mysterious assassin.  This is less convoluted than some of the plots of John Woo's movies.  The real draw here is Dolph diving through the air with two handguns like Chow Yun Fat in some of Woo's better movies.  (The Killer, Hard-Boiled, A Better Tomorrow, A Better Tomorrow 2)

Under discussion:

Assault on Devil's Island  (1997)

Despite my best efforts, I can't truly dislike this movie.  Sure it's derivative, sure it's predictable, sure the acting could be a lot better, but it's also an entertaining if not a good movie.  Hulk Hogan and his team of Navy SEALs does whatever the hell they feel like and shoot quite a few bad guys along the way.  See Hulk Hogan crush a coconut with his hand, fail to be surprised when he emerges from his house with a rocket launcher, or when Shannon Tweed shows her tits.

Under discussion:

A Better Tomorrow  (1986)

A Better Tomorrow II  (1988)

Hard-Boiled  (1992)

The Killer  (1989)

The Wild Bunch  (1969)

Desperado  (1995)

Tokyo Drifter  (1966)

I really wanted to be impressed by this movie, and I was, in a sense.  The color is fantastic, and the cinematography is nothing to sneeze at either.  It even had what must have been some very cool gunfights for its time.  Unfortunately the narrative itself was too hard to follow.  Call me racist, but I had trouble differentiating the various bosses from each other due to the similarity of their names to my western ear.  This left the majority of dialogue fairly difficult to comprehend.  I wish I had seen this movie before being exposed to some of the better handgun-based action movies made since, such as A Better Tomorrow, A Better Tomorrow II, The Killer, Hard Boiled, Desperado, etc.  Even The Wild Bunch could be included in that category. 

Under discussion:

The Dark Crystal  (1982)

Somehow missed this one as a kid, though that's excusable merely because it was made before I was born.  I enjoyed the fleshed-out fantasy world and the general lack of human actors.  While I admire it for being incredible for the time in which it was made, it has not held up particularly well over the years.  I hate to say it because I believe there is more artistry in puppet-work than in CGI, CGI has really spoiled me.  All the puppets were wood and plastic, lacking even the facial emotion of the earliest Pixar movies.  The guys in suits were really cool, but were still just guys in suits.  The seams were just a little bit too visible. 

Not a bad movie, but I am niether the target audience nor close enough to the era in which it was made.