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Harry's DVD PICKS & PEEKS - 3rd wk of August 2011: COBRA, BIG LEBOWSKI, ARMED & DANGEROUS, Kubrick's Noirs, New Carpenter, 3rd Polanski & much more!
Hey folks, Harry here… Here ya go with today’s releases of interest in the domain of home video. There’s some truly great stuff this week. As usual the images and links take you to Amazon where if you like the item in question and want it, you can get it – and a small portion of your purchase price goes to support the best efforts of this column. So thanks again, and I hope you enjoy several of these great titles this week!
Tuesday, August 16th, 2011
Here’s a piece of bliss to kick the list off with. We got some important and truly brilliant films later on this list, but say you want a movie that is guaranteed to pick up your spirits, tickle you through and through. A film that will enthuse you and remember just exactly how remarkably awesome that John Candy was. One of my all time favorite fat guy performers in film history. He’s a bit like a fat Errol Flynn, with mad splashes of Gleason here and there. He has a soul of a child – and longs to be remembered. John is a force of nature in ARMED AND DANGEROUS. One of my very favorite performances of his. He’s surrounded by great and funny talent in this film and because he’s gone – the whole thing is bittersweet… which gives it such a wonderful full bodied laugh. You find yourself so endeared to Candy’s every action. Once he dons that outfit on the cover of the Blu, it’s just pure happy. The lovable rascal. Candy was the man!
Stanley Kubrick’s THE KILLING Criterion Blu
Ok – I’m now absolutely convinced that the Joker’s clown mask from the Heist at the opening of THE DARK KNIGHT, could only have looked the way it did, if Christopher Nolan said to somebody, “Let’s make his mask evoke Sterling Hayden’s mask from Kubrick’s THE KILLING!” – because folks… it totally does. What you have here is a perfect crime film. Laid out, precisely. Executed pretty damn well, but the nature of greed can be such a fuck in the ass. I love watching this flick. The photography alone is just something that I can’t rip my eyeballs from. But after the film, I went to the extras – and lo and behold there was an HD printof THE KILLER’S KISS… so here you have a Criterion presented double feature of Kubrick Classics. Here in Kubrick’s earliest work you’ll see everything that he was to become. He has an uncompromising and powerful eye at all times. Watching this pair of films you can find yourself wishing that Kubrick never left the genre. I sometimes fantasize about Kubrick and Jim Thompson teaming up for about 7 adaptations of Jim’s work. His dialogue in THE KILLING is just incendiary. Such a treat, thanks Criterion!
New high-definition digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
New video interview with producer James B. Harris
Excerpts of interviews with actor Sterling Hayden from the French television series Cinéma cinémas
New video interview with film scholar Robert Polito about writer Jim Thompson and his work on The Killing
Restored transfer of Stanley Kubrick’s 1955 noir feature Killer’s Kiss
New video appreciation of Killer’s Kiss with film critic Geoffrey O’Brien
Theatrical trailers
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film historian Haden Guest and a reprinted interview with Marie Windsor on The Killing
John Carpenter’s THE WARD Blu Ray
This is a pretty damn good return from John Carpenter. Here you have a “something wrong in the girl’s looney bin” story. For those of you that got introduced to the genre with SUCKERPUNCH… prepare for an entirely more sedate take. Carpenter makes the most of his cast, budget and script – delivering a solid scary tale that make me wish for more… and often. Once the film begins echoing a bit of the GRUDGE, I really began to like it. The “problem” is so damn creepy looking. Especially the creepy skin. The first few of ya that email me something cool and Carpenter-y will score an autographed by John Carpenter poster for THE WARD. Be sure to include your home address so we can ship them to ya!
Roman Polanski’s CUL-DE-SAC Criterion Blu
The biggest problem with CUL-DE-SAC is that it is not KNIFE IN THE WATER or REPULSION. To me, that’s its strength. Reminds me in a way of JUNIOR BONNER, in that most of the criticism that is leveled at it – comes from it defying the expectations of the first two films. I like it. It’s a more subtle mind fuck, than the first two, but you can’t deny there’s something just wrong about the situation these characters are in. There’s something insidious beneath the scenes and I love it. Mad love for Donald Pleasance in this, but you’ll love Lionel Stander. Not a ton of extras but I do like the short documentary. Here ya go:
New digital restoration, approved by director Roman Polanski, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
Two Gangsters and an Island, a 2003 short documentary about the making of Cul-de-sac, featuring interviews with Polanski, producer Gene Gutowski, and cinematographer Gil Taylor
Interview with Polanski from 1967
Theatrical trailers
PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic David Thompson
I fucking love COBRA. Always have. Always will. Imagine the most ridiculously intense Harry Callahan style lone-wolf cop ever. That’s COBRA. His car is my all time favorite bulge-mobile. Those sunglasses and the dour look of Stallone’s… it’s just awesome. The film is still just too goddamn short. There’s nothing to it, the film is obviously missing an entire act where something happened, but I’m not sure what or where it goes. Directed by George Cosmatos (R.I.P.) – whose RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II and TOMBSTONE just make me so very happy as I watch. Stallone’s laser mounted submachine gun just rules. As do the crazy axe wielding psychos of this flick. And Brigitte Nielsen… 1080p for a reason buddies. Disc has Cosmatos commentary, a making of and the trailer. Not bare bones… this is the the film I want a modern sequel of. I want a retired Marion Cobretti targeted by the axe gang’s grown chidren… and I want it to be an ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 style affair. I really do. Because there must be a poster for a movie named MARION COBRETTI. Right?
Love this. This is one of those films about a parent that is brilliant, so when his son dies, he presevers the brain and builds with the younger so a big robot to put the brain into – because this is always a very good idea – and bam, you have THE COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK – a sci fi classic from 1958. Released for the first time on DVD! About friggin time! Oh – and Otto Kruger plays the father that we wish would put our brains into giant robot bodies! I really would love a giant robot body.
OK – this is just a very sweet Blu Ray. Sweet because this is just one of the movies that could very well hold the meaning of life. Somewhere in this magical send up of Chandler, is something entirely new and its own. One day – Coens willing – we’ll get Lil Lebowski – which will be like BABY’S DAY OUT but way duder. I want Holly and Nick to take the Dude and Julianne’s lil Dude and The Dude and Walter go after the doomed culprits. I can’t help but dream of this flick. And I would be totally happy to just dream of it – because THE BIG LEBOWSKI is specific perfection. The Blu Ray is pretty damn sweet, lots of extras and I love the Book Blus when they’re done right like this. This and ARMED & DANGEROUS are my recommends based upon anticipated rewatchability.
The reason to get this is Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska. They’re superb. Fassbender’s Rochester won’t make you forget the towering performance by Orson Welles, but it’s damn fine work – and I love watching Mia and Michael play these characters. I also love the new way that Fukunaga took in telling the story. It was bold and ultimately very satisfying. I’m also quite fond of Jamie Bell’s character. Such a great adaptation. I’ll revisit this a few times.
Pure ridiculous fun. The product placement soured me a bit on the film upon initial viewing in 1993, but repeat viewings over the years have just made me so accustomed to more flagrant examples – that I’ve chilled out on this flick and learned to just enjoy the hell out of it. This is essentially CONNETICUTT YANKEE IN KING ARTHUR’S COURT, but if it starred Stallone and Snipes… and was just fucking genius. Everything about this film is just cheesy fucking fun. The film has grown in entertainment value over the years. I swear it wasn’t this much fun in 1993. But now that we live in the future, this shit is hilarious. It all works. You get a Brambilla and Joel Silver commentary. Think about the possibilities.
Robert Redford directs a very handsomely produced courtroom case involving the court cases following the Lincoln assassination. James McAvoy is assigned the case of defending the mother of one of the accused. The Mother is Robin Wright. They are fantastic. I feel Danny Huston is a bit too Snidely Whiplash. But McAvoy continues to impress. This is awfully dry material though. Nothing particularly pulpy about any of it. There’s a tad of DocuDrama going on here, but I like that kind of thing, especially in a court room setting. If you love a good historical work though, you’ll dig on this. Redford did solid work.
Ya know – after hearing how awful this film was from friends online… after hearing that it was a total bullshit adaptation of the really superior source material. I went into this expecting to just hate viciously upon the film. BUT… giggle… I didn’t realize that this was a post-apocalyptic monster vampires vs Jedi Catholics with futuristic crazy fast motorcycles in an unofficial remake of THE SEARCHERS with Paul Bettany as John Wayne… well, once I made that connection – as the story moved forward, I just giggled at it. Had fun with it. Looked at it as pure B-Horror-Scifi that wanted to be epic as hell, but just wasn’t written or performed with near enough of the nuance and emotion that would’ve made for a brilliant PRIEST film… but ya know… I had a helluva fun time with a lot of this. Looks goofy as hell sometimes, but some of the shots are damn effective. It is better than PWSA’s crap.
BATMAN: BRAVE & THE BOLD – Season Two Part One
If you still have not discovered the metaphysical joy that comes from BATMAN: BRAVE & THE BOLD – I don’t know what to say. Other than… You Need To Change That. This is pure happy mainlined. This feels like classic silver age BATMAN and DC universe. Before things became so direly serious. When superheroing was fun. There’s some real crazy nerd genius at play on this series – and I take it not everyone has been supporting it, as after this next set – we won’t be getting any more. The Aquaman episode is some of the funniest shit I’ve seen in a long time. Pure fun.
This and the next film are a pair of the shameful flicks that I just can not sit through. I fucking hate THE SPECIALIST. I just can not watch it. Everything doesn’t work. I just. I really dislike this movie.
The acting is so bad. The film is so flatly uninteresting that I just don’t care about anything that’s happening, no matter how much energy is given to it. The characters don’t work, the actors don’t spark and it just lies there dead for me. I absolutely do not recommend.
MUPPETS TAKE MANHATTAN Blu Ray
Ok. Not my favorite two, but we’re getting a pair of Muppet Blu-Rays! This was the third Muppet flick – and I had a blast with this film. Frank Oz helmed it and there’s several classic moments and a whole lotta laughs.
Definitely fun, but not really magic for me. It just doesn’t have the energy of those old PIGS IN SPACE skits… at least not for me. The edge seems slightly dulled here. But it is still a whole bunch of fun. Hoping we get all the Muppets on Blu this year – but haven’t heard for sure. MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL and THE MUPPET MOVIE are the ones I must have.
I’m not familiar with CUT-THROATS NINE, but Fred Williamson’s JOSHUA is a mid-seventies blaxploitation revenge classic which has Fred playing a former Union Soldier that discovers his mother had been killed badly. He becomes a bountyhunter and seeks revenge too. GOOD STUFF! Plus you get whatever CUT THROATS NINE is. Cool title at least!
Dirk Bogarde plays BRUCE CAMPBELL!!! Frankly, that’s all I needed to know. Then I found out that this wasn’t THE BRUCE CAMPBELL, but a character named Bruce Campbell – long before the one true Bruce had ever come into existence. Alright – so Dirk’s Bruce is dying, but ain’t got time to die cuz he’s inherited his father’s valley which his old man was convinced had oil on it. But then there’s a shoddily made Dam and a corporate concern – and the great Stanley Baker is in this! So yeah, for a movie that I never heard of from 1957, this movie – once it gets going, really gets exciting. Very nicely done!
Next week we’ll be looking at TROLL HUNTER, ROUNDERS, BLITZ, WIN WIN, THE BEAVER, SWINGERS, 4 Roger Corman Fantasy flicks, BAMBI 2, HOSTAGE, SECRET SUNSHINE Criterion Blu, THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER SOLD, ERNEST SCARED STUPID Blu, LITTLE BIG SOLDIER Blu, BABY: SECRET OF THE LOST LEGEND, Corman WOMEN IN CAGES triple bill on Blu, SCENES FROM A MALL Blu, ERNEST GOES TO JAIL Blu, ERNEST GOES TO CAMP Blu, ONE MINUTE TO ZERO and more! See ya then!
Readers Talkback
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You've got a great big dollar sign there where most women have a heart. I fuckin love THE KILLING.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 4:15 a.m. CST
Once again, the Timothy Dalton/Zelah Clark Jane Eyre is the best.
by Dennis_Moore
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Aug. 16, 2011, 4:16 a.m. CST
Why does Cobra put his newspaper on the grill and cut his pizza
by Dennis_Moore
with scissors?
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Where Candy says he can read lips was an ongoing gag in my house growing up.
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How can you let Priest off the hook so easy? I think it might be the worst movie I've seen all year. I agree about Cobra. Loved that movie when I was younger. It's got a bad-ass vibe going for it.
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Awful movie! Awful! On the other hand, Cobra is a fun action-flick. "PHIG!" The villain is so cheesy but nevertheless, entertaining.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 4:37 a.m. CST
I haven't read any of this yet. Does Harry name drop again? God, I hope so.
by nico_laos
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Is now the only Kubrick feature that needs a Blu-ray release, and since Criterion released THE KILLING with KILLER'S KISS, I fervently wish they'll get a hold of the rights to FEAR AND DESIRE as well. If they could swing that, my other wish is that they could also obtain DAY OF THE FIGHT, FLYING PADRE, and THE SEAFARERS. If that happened the very last few precious drops of the Kubrick canon could finally see an official release (high-def to boot!) and my bookshelf would be complete. Sheeeiit..if they threw in STANLEY KUBRICK'S BOXES while they were at it, I'd flip the fuck out quite honestly.
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Robert Teppers "Angel of the City" is a masterclass in epic songwriting that enhances the viewing experience and uplifts all those who hear it. From the polished production, accomplished musicianship and Teppers grizzled, world weary vocals, Angel of the City annihilates anything that stands before it.
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What's your boggle?
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but yeah the Specialist is atrocious.
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Did someone call? Yeah Stallone's got four flicks out in this weeks column. You have to worry when you have four movies and the best of them is COBRA... Guilty pleasure!
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And I love that gang of guys with axes. I mean they simply didnt think that one through. It's not exactly hard to get hold of guns, but these guys went for the unwieldy, impossible to conceal, have to get right up next to the victim, axe option. No wonder the whole gang got pwned by just one guy with a SMG. The law is civilized isnt it PIG!
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So I doubt you'll see it anywhere except with the Italian subs on Youtube (where the other Kubrick docs reside).
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Good work Harold :-)
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Yeah, these are pretty ropey, but you know, they're both great guilty pleasures, most especially THE SPECIALIST, which its ridiculous Latino accents, the absurd sex scene, but most of all James Woods doing a pretty good job of scene-chewing. Don't be so hard on them dude! They're from a different era, when R-rated blockbusters were a dime a dozen. Not that I think we should ever return to that era! The likes of TRAINING DAY proved that you could be every bit as entertaining while being much more classy.
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....it still really pisses me off that candys passing went all but unnoticed just because it happend the same week that curt cobain shot himself. to me john candy was always the bigger loss.
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...is Stallone sleeping on the floor while Sharon Stone sleeps in the bed, and one night she leaves a chocolate on his pillow, and he unwraps it and eats it and says "thank you for the chocolate" while he's munchy wunching away. I remember that because I always wondering how many takes it took to film that scene and if Stallone was spitting out the chocolate each time to maintain his physique. And because it was a corny way to establish rapport between the two characters. One character gives the other a chocolate. Nice. <p> Oh, and I also remember the love scene between Sly and Sharon Stone where they're naked, and rubbing each others bodies up against each other while looking like wet dogs, and then Stallone inserts his salami into her poom puff and he's all like "mmmmmm, ohh yeahhh" and she's like "ohhhhh....ohhhh baby". Yeah, that was weird.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 5:12 a.m. CST
And here's something about Stallone and Sharon Stone that will blow your mind
by Bobo_Vision
Okay, they both have the initials S.S. And, Sly Stallone sounds a lot like Sharon Stone. And if you combine their names, Sly and Stone, it is reminiscent of the band Sly and the Family Stone. AND...there's two S's in the word Specialist. <p> Weird, huh?
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Aug. 16, 2011, 5:14 a.m. CST
Now here's the thing about Assassins that will blow your mind
by Bobo_Vision
You've got Stallone...and you've got Banderas...and you've got Assassins. Break down the word Assassins, (Ass/ass/ins) and you have a couple of asses (Stallone and Banderas) in Assassins.
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It's far too tame of a movie, needed a better score, and the majority of the humor ends in a smile instead of a laugh. I like the action sequence at the end, it's got a great cast of character actors, really a who's who of the 80's, and the end song by Atlantic Starr is pretty good. Cobra needs to get a proper release of the score by Sylvester Levay.
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Demolition Man is up there with Stallone's best, I fucking love it. THIS is the Stallone film that needs a sequel. Drop him back on ice and wake him up in 100 years and let him go Rambo on some Eloi or something. Christ, there should at least be a comic sequel? Cobra is a real guilty pleasure, I know it's utterly preposterous but it's just SO MUCH FUN! Even though it's not trying to be. How awesome is that?! I remember seeing Assassins in the cinema and constantly looking at my watch. Why won't this movie DO something? Lame. Specialist is one of the best films Sharon Stone ever made. Which is to say it's shit. Still 2 out of 4 is pretty good, sign me up for a couple of new Stallone Blu-Rays, oh yeah!
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Aug. 16, 2011, 6:01 a.m. CST
Harry... Did you get yourself a copy editor by any chance?
by Happyfat73
This is the most legible thing you've written on this site by such a margin that there's gotta be a copy editor involved. There are almost no elipses and it's written using actual sentences. I mean, it aint perfect, but you don't want to go too far now. Well done, sir.
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that sex scene in the Specialist,because,as she said to him, she had been fed up being naked in all her movies. But that's what I dont understand: 1.Sharon Stone became a star because she showed her pussy,not because of her (non-existing) acting talent.She is also a member of the MENSA,which means she is pretty smart. Soooo was that hard for her to understand,that the only reason HW casted her in their movies was to show her naked body because that's what the audience wanted to see? The irony is that after her career ended,she tried to return to the show business with the sequel of the movie that made her famous,in which sequel she again,you guessed it,showed her naked body. 2.If i am not mistaken,the casting contract that the HW actresses sign,always has detailed information about what the actress will do in the movie and especially if there is a nude/sex scene to make,how she will play that scene and how much she will be paid for that scene. And dont forget that prior to the contract,there is also the script and the director/director who will discuss it with the actor, he is keen on hiring. Sooo didnt Sharon Stone already knew when she signed for the movie, that she was going to do a sex scene in a shower,where she will be rubbing her naked body with the naked body of the midget Stallone?
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Got em both. Two of the finest transfers and packed with extras. Of course, Cul De Sac is a masterpiece from a director at the top of his game., whereas The Killing is Kubrick still learning to master his craft - but it's still better movie than Eyes Wide Shit.
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For the most part, the movie is a mess. But Woods is hilarious in every scene he's got.
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Any deleted scenes? New docs? Dare I ask - a commentary track? Don't be shy Harry - I'd rather read that info than hear your thoughts on a possible sequel!
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for grown-ups whereas Cobra is a very simplistic and juvenile - mind you that's probably why Harry likes it.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 6:34 a.m. CST
bobo_vision - you've got The Specialist and Assassins mixed up.
by Righteous Brother
Silly twat.
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Getting 80% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes!
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...but this sentence gave me pause: "This is one of those films about a parent that is brilliant, so when his son dies, he presevers the brain and builds with the younger so a big robot to put the brain into – because this is always a very good idea – and bam, you have THE COLOSSUS OF NEW YORK – a sci fi classic from 1958." Wha? I _think_ "builds with the younger so" should be "younger son" but even with that mental correction (along with the correct spelling of "preserves"), this wins for most convoluted sentence of the post.
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of "My Name is Nobody", minus Fonda and Hill and humor and great score and midget on stilts and rat-faced gunslingers and Wild Bunch and....well, you get the idea. "Nobody" is original and loads of fun. "Assassins" is so derivative, it even lifted the lost birdie story practically verbatim.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 7:34 a.m. CST
I Can Only Remember One Thing From My MIddle School Viewing(s) of Cobra
by Aquatarkusman
The spittle flying off that dude's lips as he punctuated each and every sentence fragment with "PIG." I think the actor went on to reduce the amount of spit used in being the calmer intergalactic hit man in X-Files.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 7:36 a.m. CST
Sharon Stone is not mensa, she admitted to lying about it
by jawaburger
and bobo is right on, righteous brother, you are confused.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 7:40 a.m. CST
Priest is not better than PWSA's crap; Priest makes PWSA look like David Lean
by melonman
Anderson's upcoming The Three Musketeers is going to be such a humungously OTT bad movie that it may well break the quality cinema continuum and become the greatest movie ever made. Maybe.
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So if actresses have specific contracts and are paid a certain amount for nude scenes, that would make them high priced hookers, right?
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Aug. 16, 2011, 7:42 a.m. CST
When I was a kid we used to try and count the number of deaths in Cobra
by melonman
But the last 10 minutes are impossible to keep track of. At least they were on a battered VHS copy. Hence the real reason for Blu Ray. Body counts.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 7:46 a.m. CST
YOU'RE GONNA REGRET THAT THE REST OF YOUR LIFE... BOTH SECONDS ..."
by kwisatzhaderach
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Favourite bit in Cobra, right at the end (paraphrasin): Captain: "Cobra! You saved the girl, killed the bad guys and made the streets safer once again. You're awesome. Anything you want, you got it!" Cobra: "I could use a new car. The bad guys shot mine up." Captain: "No. It's not in the budget." Then Cobra punches someone in the face because they disagree with his unsubtle metods.
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This comedy was hilarious! Jeebus, can anything genuinely funny even survive anymore? Watching this high is as much fun as southpark. "Those savings are OUTRAGEOUS" - Aquaman
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And while it's far from a home run, it's way better than you're giving it credit for, Harry.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 8:09 a.m. CST
I second, third, fourth, whatever James Woods in The Specialist
by Samuel Fulmer
James Woods in The Specialist. One of the best over the top bad guys in film history. You can't help but laugh during that phone tapping scene. Also the film has Sharon Stone pre extensive plastic surgery, a semi-awake Stallone, and the last (to my knowledge) James-Bondesque score from John Barry. I enjoy this Stallone so bad it's good work more than Cobra. Other than the first scene in the supermarket (which is top shelf), Cobra is a bore.
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Harry, You forgot season 5 of Dexter hit blu ray today. Yes I know it's TV but it still tops over half the films on this list (the other half are masterpieces), and no one is allowed to comment on the TV weekly release list. WHAT GIVES?
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great kiss off line and exceptional use of Steve Railsback!
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Aug. 16, 2011, 8:22 a.m. CST
righteousbrother....which part....you mean Stallone eating the chocolate?
by Bobo_Vision
Does he eat the chocolate in Assassins? Is that what you're trying to tell me you black bastard?
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Is the reason I have low sperm count... My ball sac is inflated because of that one scene, Thanks a lot Warner Bros... I was only 15 at the time, FUCKKKKK!!!!!
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Armed and Dangerous is good 1980's Candy. Maybe not on par with Planes, Trains and Automobiles or The Great Outdoors, but still pretty damn funny. The scene at the Toxic Waste Dump always makes me laugh when I see it on cable. Eugene Levy is also very funny in this one.
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or Brion James or Jonathan Banks or Steve Railsback or Baron Harkkonnen Armed and Dangerous is such a great little flick. Not sure I need it in 1080p though..
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I truly feel in my heart of hearts that that is the film that Dan Akyroyd stopped giving a shit and just started doing his asshole schtick. But it does have Lucy Deakins..and the steak eating scene..thats it.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 8:48 a.m. CST
Harry hates a Stallone film? GTFO where's the real Harry?
by sunwukong86
I am shocked Harry, shocked
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Yeah, the chocolate scene is in Assassins. Julianne Moore places the chocolate or mint of whatever the fuck it is, on Stallone's pillow.
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its obvious he put that movie together without even getting out of bed.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 9:04 a.m. CST
Van Cleave's score for "Collossus Of NY"...incredible
by darthliquidator
Solo piano only...the entire score....gives the whole movie an understated creepiness and sadness....and check out the Collossus as he invades the U.N. and starts Gort-zapping the crowd with his laser eyeballs!!
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then Dolph Lundgren makes The Russian Specialist. It's like they're still competing for World Champeeeen.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 9:11 a.m. CST
Great Outdoors fucking rules all over Armed and Dangerous.
by stu_pickles
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but I was kinda hoping it would be ok, in a Friday night rental kinda way. (that rhymed)
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Aug. 16, 2011, 9:27 a.m. CST
John Barry's score for The Specialist was wonderful
by Nasty In The Pasty
Like a sublime fusion of Body Heat and one of his 007 scores. Classes up a laughable movie far more than it should.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 9:27 a.m. CST
I'd buy the Big Lebowski blu-ray in a heartbeat IF NOT FOR THAT SHITTY PACKAGING
by gruntybear
Special edition packaging sucks out loud. I don't want a blu-"book." I don't want a Happy Meal toy shrinkwrapped with my movie. I don't want trinkets and paperback sized mini-prints and half-ass souvenir tourbooks. I just want the damned movie in plain old standard blu-ray packaging. Why isn't this an option WITH EVERY FILM?
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The loss of John Candy was wrongly overshadowed by Cobain's death. Imagine how many great Candy performances we were robbed of. True story - last week I had a dream that John Candy walked into my office and told me that he faked his death because he was tired of being famous! I was so damn happy to see him!
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Aug. 16, 2011, 9:40 a.m. CST
The hate for Preist is because it's not faithful to it's source
by sunwukong86
The Korean comic is a bit different and I think is why some people are bashing the film. But I honestly don't know how popular the comic is
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I guess that's the phoenetic spelling.
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...as Harry would say. But Demolition Man is fun.
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Stallone, like Russell for Tombstone, has already come out and said he really directed and edited Cobra. Cosmatos basically just watched the monitor for him.... They both kept their mouths shut until Cosmatos passed but are open about it now.
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no respect for JC at all. What a shame.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 10:13 a.m. CST
Because there must be a poster for a movie named MARION COBRETTI. Right?
by Mo_Rephus
Wrong. I hate that movie. My feelings aside, it's just not great. I wanted to like it. I like Stallone and I like the Rambo films, Rocky, etc., but Cobra just plain sucks. And what's her name...what the hell did ANYBODY see in that skank? She was Stallone's Sondra Locke. Locke was a two dimensional cardboard actress (two dimensional characters and only the ones like in The Gauntlet was she even good at) and Nielsen is a shitty actress who just looks slutty. Both tried to take the people who helped put them on the map to the cleaners. As for Cosmatos, Cobra looks more like a film he actually directed whereas Tombstone was ghost directed by Kurt Russell.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 10:14 a.m. CST
If run-on sentences were an art form, Harry would be a classical master.
by Jeffrey
Dumb or careless, that is the question.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 10:20 a.m. CST
The characters don’t work, the actors don’t spark and it just lies there dead for me. I absolutely do not recommend.
by Mo_Rephus
My thoughts on Cobra exactly. It's nothing more than a piss poor Dirty Harry rip off. Go watch the Harry Callahan films instead (Sudden Impact is the suckiest of the lot, but worth a watch with Harry and his new semi-auto 44 magnum...oh, wait...what a coincidence! Sondra Locke was in that one! Well, that explains a lot...)
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Hmm, reappraisal obviously required...and not just so I can watch the shower scene again! ;)
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Aug. 16, 2011, 10:40 a.m. CST
The biggest problem with CUL-DE-SAC is that it is not KNIFE IN THE WATER or REPULSION. To me, that’s its strength.
by MrWug
Wha?
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The Killing on Criterion Blu is tops for me. That is my favorite Kubrick film, without question. That, coupled with the recent Criterion Blu of Kiss Me Deadly, would be a great double feature. Armed and Dangerous is pretty damn funny, plus it has Eugene Levy and Meg Ryan when she was still super cute and didn't look like a blowfish. Demolition Man is fun, but the rest of Stallone's movies out this week are shit. The Specialist and Assassins are incredibly boring. I haven't attempted to watch Cobra in a long time (mainly because of how horrible it was when I saw it so long ago), but I may check it out again. Brigitte Nielsen in 1080p is tempting. She was so hot back then.
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Wow..I feel like Hans Zimmer now..
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do not delude yourselves fellas. Her having red hair was a giant turn off for me (sorry Harry) but when she went platinum and short, she gave me Norwegian Wood. She was only hot in Rocky 4 and Beverly Hills Cop 2. That is all.
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For hipster trash there's this: David Holzman's Diary: Special Edition http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0053TWV8M?tag=filmcravecom-20&camp=14573&creative=327641&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=B0053TWV8M&adid=1KWVVPWHHC20WH53C5M3& For Italian horror lovers there's this: Smile http://www.amazon.com/Smile-Armand-Assante/dp/B004Z1HY4U/ref=sr_1_4?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1313509786&sr=1-4 For Full Moon lovers there's this: Subspecies 20th Anniversary Blu Ray. http://www.amazon.com/Subspecies-Blu-ray-Angus-Scrimm/dp/B005FIXA4A/ref=sr_1_6?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1313510035&sr=1-6 For Gen X'rs, there's this: Voltron: The Legend Begins. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B004ZKKL46/scifinews/
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Baby, Scenes From a Mall and the Ernest blu-rays have been in $5 bins at Wal-Mart for months now.
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with robots!
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Aug. 16, 2011, 11:32 a.m. CST
Bridget Neison WAS SMOKING HOT in Cobra, are you guy's INSANE!!
by welcometothepartypal
I watched the DVD commentary with Cosmatos and he mentioned a possible director's cut, because the studio made him cut a lot out. Now IF they ever released that version on Bluray I might upgrade. Sure it's no "Rocky" but it is silly 80's flick fun. And yes only really tough men cut their pizza with scissors.
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That PIG spittle spraying bad guy from COBRA is actually the same punk from the start of TERMINATOR who gets Arnies hand inside him. Anyone else notice? Anyone else think its bizarre how Stallone kills him at the end of COBRA. He punches him so hard that he gets impaled on a huge and quite clearly blunt hook. That blunt hook might have given him a nasty bruise but impale him?! No, that not possible even for you Mr Cobra Man.
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wash day tomorrow. nothing clean.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 11:56 a.m. CST
Muppets take Manhattan was the best muppet movie
by Motherfucker Jones
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I remember the Grauman's Chinese Theater having a 24-hour "Cobra-thon" when it first came out, Stallone was so hot at the time. Fun movie. You just know they called Central Casting and asked for the closest thing to Arnold they could get for that villain. ## On "Demolition Man" the story is that Stallone and Snipes actually got into it a little on the set during the fight scenes. I really, really wish the footage of THAT existed.
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CUT-THROATS NINE is a Spanish-made western that is often understandable mistaken for a Spaghetti western, due to it having the look and feel of one of those. That said, it's probably the nastiest film of its type that I've ever seen, coming off like a very harsh exploitation film that happens to take place within a horse opera context. It's about a cavalry officer who has to escort nine murderers/rapists/what have you to a military prison while also serving as guard to a shipment of gold that's also on the stagecoach they're traveling in. Also along for the ride is the officer's nubile teenage daughter. Early in the film, something goes wrong that kills crashes and danages the stagecoach beyond repair and kills its driver, leaving the officer, his daughter and the killers to make their way in the direction of the prison. Needless to say, things do NOT go well for all involved. I'm a veteran fan of nasty 70's-era exploitation flicks, but this one will really leave you wanting to take a thoroughly-scrubbed shower after sitting through it, and I don't mean that as a recommendation. It also includes one of the goriest eviscerations seen in a film of its time.
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They didn't put the awesome commentary from the DVD on the Blu-Ray! It was the best fucking part! Totally stupid.
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It has the best songs and Grodin is a force of nature in that movie. Such a crazy, committed performance. The John Cleese cameo alone makes it tops. "What's wrong with bus terminals?"
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Aug. 16, 2011, 12:21 p.m. CST
The only thing I can recall from Armed And Dangerous is
by openthepodbaydoorshal
Eugene Levy in assless chaps. Thanks for that image burned into my skull. I know a lot of people may say Planes, Trains and Automobiles, or even Uncle Buck would be their favorite John Candy preformance (in film, his characters on SCTV trump ALL his film work). I would have to say it would be Tom Hanks' brother in Splash is my favorite. It was like a slightly more civilized Johnny LaRue. When he arrives for work, in utter joy, because "Penthouse printed my letter!!"...priceless. Would've loved to have seen a Schmenge Brothers film, in the vein of Wayne's World. And ya gotta give Cobra credit for featuring the Richard Lynch of the '80s..Brian Thompson.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 12:37 p.m. CST
You people are fucking crazy. COBRA blows and so does Demo Man...
by Somerichs
The only thing up for discussion is which one is a bigger piece of shit. The only thing demo man has going for it is Sandra Bullock, who's all kinds of hot and pretends to have an almost orgasm, if memory serves.
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It never looked better than in Demolition Man
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I can't recommend it enough. Cosmatos, in that glorious accent of his, merely describes everything you're seeing on screen. This is a sunset. Here the birds fly away. Etc. It's unrelenting. And it's put me and my friends in stitches for years. And COBRA rules! It's the perfect companion to COMMANDO. I call it the THESE DUDES KILL EVERYBODY DOUBLE FEATURE.
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I think this guy's a couple cans short of a sixpack. Your clothes. Give dem to me... now.
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FUCK YOU ASSHOLE!
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Aug. 16, 2011, 1:02 p.m. CST
re: "and no one is allowed to comment on the TV weekly release list."
by jim
That's been fixed (for lack of a better term) for quite a while now. Post away.
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COBRA is in the over-the-top mullleted-cop 80s action sub-genre... funnily enough I was watching clips from STONE COLD this weekend which was Brian Bosworth's early 90s foray into the over-the-top cop movie. Assassins and The Specialist are in the same category (I guess it's not a genre) of really really boring action movies from the 90s. "Striking Distance" with Bruce Willis, and Boiling Point with Wesley Snipes.. Black Rain from Ridley scott... there are so many major action movies from the early 90s that just put me to sleep.
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Little nostalgic moment. Was at one of the early test screenings of Cobra, back in the mid-80s, which they held on the Culver City lot (Sony hadn't bought the place yet). Movie got through about 3 reels, then, the screen went black. Apparently, someone had messed up the order or there was a reel missing and they had to scramble over to the edit room to grab the missing reel. In any event, a low rumbling voice was heard from the back, and then, the next thing we were treated to was Sly and his blonde bombshell at the time, Miss Nielsen, as they got up front and proceeded to take questions from the audience for about 10 minutes to help us kill the time. He was a class act then, as he still is now. Minor note: I think those test screening feedbacks sometimes really are taken verbatim. SPOILER: at the end of the film, the main villain is ensnared on a hook on a line which is then fed into a furnace. During this screening, there was no shot whatsoever of the actor being anywhere near the flames or his body burning. Just some screams. After seeing this a-hole the entire movie as the main villain not suddenly get his comeuppance, it was a huge let down. So, verbatim (because I wrote down my notes at home afterwards -- still have 'em), I said, "Perhaps you guys had some sort of budget reasons why you didn't shoot the final death of the villain. A simple re-shoot could entail just taking a dummy torso, somewhat out of focus, and but it into some flames. It's not a great solution at all, but at least we'll see SOMETHING." Seems like they took my least-possible-fix idea to heart.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 1:12 p.m. CST
The Baby, Scenes From A Mall and Ernest Blu-Rays are only getting a wide release now
by Nasty In The Pasty
They've been exclusive for Wal-Mart before.
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Both awesome action flicks. Big dummy ginger.
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If you listen to Schwarzenegger on any commentary track, he tends to just describe the scene as well. It's funny to hear Paul Verehoeven trying to give you a detailed recap of the demands of some complex shot or scene, only to have Arnold cut him off to say shit like "Yeah you see here I am running up the stairs. Und dere I used him like a meat shield. Haha, so great." He can be funny and it's not constant description... sometimes he'll give some insight on making the movie or crack a joke.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 1:21 p.m. CST
Anyone remember Letterman riffing on Cobra's tagline?
by openthepodbaydoorshal
Along the lines of "Acting is the disease. Stallone is the cure."
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is that Tiny Lister is in it in all his cross-eyed badassedness!
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Aug. 16, 2011, 1:39 p.m. CST
Strangest commentary I ever listened to was Brendan Fraser's for The Mummy
by jim
There are three on my version: Sommers and his editor with a mostly technical commentary; Oded Fehr, Arnold Vosloo, and Kevin O'Connor doing a "this was a fun scene", "that was the day...", "here's when I almost died", etc. kind of commentary. Then there's Fraser's. It's him alone and it's like watching a movie with a friend who's seen it a few times and just makes odd comments regarding what's happening, or about to happen. There are one, maybe two times he comments on the making of the film, but for the most part it's "I think he likes her", "Oh oh, here comes trouble", "I think something is going to happen here" sort of comments.
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O.k., I thought that was odd. Thanks.
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.... commas, ellipsis and periods where they don't belong.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 1:59 p.m. CST
The LOTR Extended Editions still have the best commentaries ever
by Jaka
Bar a very wide margin, too, imo.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 2:13 p.m. CST
COBRA is a fucking retard piece of shit. It's also monumentally gay! Fuck, the 80s was the Queer Decade indeed!
by AsimovLives
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Aug. 16, 2011, 2:19 p.m. CST
A Stanley Kubrick Box that actually had all his movies would be very sweet. Including FEAR AND DESIRE and his short movies.
by AsimovLives
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Aug. 16, 2011, 2:34 p.m. CST
Hey Asi...could you imagine Michael Bay directing Stallone and
by openthepodbaydoorshal
Schwarzenegger in the '80s? You know there'd be a golden hued, slow motion pan up and down their bodies, glistening with oil and shining like chrome on a car.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 2:49 p.m. CST
Cosmatos' commentary just descriptive of what's going on
by Samuel Fulmer
Maybe because "allegedly" Stallone ghost directed it.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 2:49 p.m. CST
openthepodbaydoorshal, no i can't imagine that, and thank goodness for small mercies!
by AsimovLives
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Aug. 16, 2011, 2:53 p.m. CST
Harry had a helluva fun time in Priest, but just couldn't get into Inception
by THE_CHOPPAH
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Fall asleep in that one too?
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Aug. 16, 2011, 2:56 p.m. CST
jaka, they're a close second to Ebert's Citizen Kane and Dark City commentaries
by THE_CHOPPAH
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is none of them is rhinestone! when are they gonna re-release that bastard, so i don't have to pay some stupid markup on amazon. i want that and dolly's clevage on blu!
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Or, at least, for selected scenes. Here's a sample: "This scene with the enlargement of the breasts was fantastic because again it was one of those things - in the movie it was used it was kind of like 'ok that's what guys would like to see, this world deals with big breasts, then so be it I'm just going to have bigger breasts'. But in the audience there was this kind of like, immediately you saw women sitting there telling each other 'now that's a great idea we have to check out where to get that done' so you can deflate and inflate the breasts on command. It's a whole new concept because there are some guys who like little breasts and there are some guys who like big breasts so wouldn't it be nice if you could play both sides, you know sometimes even simultaneously."
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He and Milius had clearly just had a few steins of beer. Arnold totally disses on Richard Simmons, of all people, to open the commentary.
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I liked when he said he wished there was a big turd in the toilet when he broke it with the TX's face.
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...the current dvd cuts out the "the love is gone" sequence. Its a fucking outrage.
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I haven't listened to either. I have that Citizen Kane release, too. But Ebert started getting on my nerves a long time ago and now I just can't really stand his reviews at all. Nothing personal against him, though, so I should probably try out that commentary. Of the commentaries I HAVE listened to, which is at least a couple hundred, none come close to being as entertaining and informative as those included on the LOTR EE.
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I love the Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Phillipa Boyens commentaries the most. Peter says some of the funniest shit in there. Especially during the Ent scenes.
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It´s just a damn fine popcorn film. Can´t gey any better! Sequel NOW!
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Or is that Dread? Dont remember. I do remember Bullock was SMOKIN in Demo Man. Boingo Perfect.
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I agree - John Barry's score elevates THE SPECIALIST to such a level that it makes it pretty good to watch. It's certainly better than COBRA.
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Movie marquee when I saw Cobra: Cobra Raw Deal Top Gun Ah, the summer of '86 And when I saw Demo Man the 1st time my buddy yelled out "beats Taco Bell" after they told Sly he was eating a ratburger, now everytime I watch it I keep expecting Sly to say"beats Taco Bell", sigh, I need to dub that in
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Oh yes. Her ass was fantastic in that.
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i concur.
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No one ever turns into a giant snake in the new "Conan the Barbarian." That, in a nutshell, is what's wrong with this remake: The knowing sense of big, ridiculous fun that marked the 1982 original is gone, and in its place we get a self-serious series of generic sword battles and expository conversations. Fight, talk, fight, talk, fight, talk, then an enormous throwdown followed by a denouement that dangles the possibility of a sequel (dear God, no) — that's the basic structure here. And yet, despite seeming so simplistic, director Marcus Nispel's film is mind-numbingly convoluted. The fact that it's been converted to a murky, smudgy, barely-used 3-D doesn't help matters. At one point, I scrawled in my notes: "Incomprehensible underwater serpent attack." There you have it.
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ROCKET FUEL!
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Yeah, "there you have it." Do you always steal film critic Christy Lemire's words and let her work do the talking for you, without giving her credit, as in your lift from her "Conan" review? I read these words in her review that is now posted on Yahoo just a couple minutes ago. You should be ashamed of yourself - but this is now the norm in the shithead new world order of the internet. Where every monkey who can type is a "journalist". PFFFFTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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is that him on the cover of cut throats nine?
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No, but it does look like him a bit...all moustache and eyes....
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Ebert's commentary for Citizen Kane is like taking a master class on the film - it is quite entertaining and informative.... just listen and you will be enriched.... he is in top for for the Kane commentary
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Aug. 16, 2011, 8:05 p.m. CST
Everything from "The Killing" to "Eyes Wide Shut" is worth owning.
by Hercules
But "The Killing" is a Coen-calibre brilliant, better-than-timeless suspense crime thriller. Plus it co-stars Tim Carey as Nikki Arcane! Tim Carey > Jim Carrey
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i went in with low expectations - i liked it a lot - the crew did a lot with a small budget - very over the top and cartoony - in a good way - the vampires are very cool, the fight scenes are great and those jet cycles rule - i just got home with the bluray
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remember when that red haired belly dancer appeared on screen and how arnold's reaction was one of a guy who just seen a girl he banged a long time ago but forgot he banged her
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I think ALL Kubrick films are worth SEEING!!!! ALL!!!!!!!! Seeing becomes ownership- for life- no need to spend money. Geez, there was a time when films couldn't be bought, like a soda and a pack of cheezcrackers, but I guess I get your point. But if you buy a film with no intention of seeing it more than once, or twice, then you are an idiot. Unless you can buy your films for a buck or less.
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And I think you have it in reverse - some Coen films are Kubrick-calibre brilliant....
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Aug. 16, 2011, 9:37 p.m. CST
WHY THE FUCK DO PEOPLE WHINE ABOUT HARRY NOT REVIEWING A MOVIE?
by Hey_Kobe_Tell_Me_How_My_Ass_Tastes
Bitch, moan and whine about harry not reviewing a movie, and then when he does you rip him to shreds for it - deserved or not, but when he doesn't you whine like little 5 year old bitches having a meltdown over a dropped ice cream cone. And it goes on for YEARS! gET A fUckING life~!
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Yes, the Aquaman stuff is absolutely hilarious, but I think it should be noted that it isn't a comedy and that it isn't campy. However, nods to that campy and comedic era (Adam West, etc.) are prevalent throughout. It gets everything absolutely perfect. I'm certain that if they had made a Batman movie in 1979, 1980, it would have been done in this spirit. And it would have been great. You know, before Frank Miller got a hold of Batman and his take became the unfortunate standard. Morrison is evening it all out now, but do yourself a favor and watch the best animated Batman since the Dini/Timm days.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 11:18 p.m. CST
COBRA cuts his pizza with scissors because he is a BADASS...
by Hat Man
I saw an internet thingie entitled 10 Reasons Why Cobra is Badass or something. There is no real reason. Just that he's a Badass. What is awesome about Demolition Man (apart from the film itself) is that it had Sir Humphrey Appleby from Yes Prime Minister in it. Talk about worlds colliding. Nigel Hawthorne in scenes with Sly and Wes nearly melted my brain with the incongruity of it all. Good times.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 11:31 p.m. CST
The depiction of union thuggery and intimidation was funny as hell in Armed and Dangerous.
by Ted Knight
There's always a kernel of truth in effective comedy. Even in as broad a manner as Armed and Dangerous. One of my personal favorite buddy cop movies.
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Aug. 16, 2011, 11:43 p.m. CST
Hard to believe its been 10 years since Carpenter's last feature film.
by Ted Knight
Man's as lazy as a Frenchman. Went ahead and made a blind purchase of The Ward today. I feel the man has earned my trust.
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Anything with Kurt Russell and John Carpenter. The Thing and Big Trouble in Little China are the only commentaries I've listened to more than once. It's like hanging out and throwing back a few with two of the coolest dudes on the block. In fact they sound as if they're already up a few rounds on you before they even begin the commentary.
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Aug. 17, 2011, 12:09 a.m. CST
Taco Bell Patron in Demolition Man: What would you say if I called you a brutish fossil, symbolic of a decayed era gratefully forgotten?
by Ted Knight
John Spartan: I don't know... thanks?
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Unfortunate that commentary is rarely as insightful as his.
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Color me intrigued. Just hearing his goblin-esque voice for two hours sounds hilarious. I couldn't help but picture in my mind that he'd be decked out in his Leprechaun gear whilst delivering his insights. I'm definitely gonna look into that.
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Dumb, batshit, grade-Z fun. Not a bad expenditure of my 80-odd minutes and $1.20. Also a HUGE set up for a sequel at the end ("The war's not over ... it's just begun!" DUN-DUN-DUN as he rides off on his jet-bike into the murky bluish sunset.) I have high hopes that this turns into a cheezy fun franchise. It's already better than Underworld. BTW, thank the gods for Redbox. I can now read Harry's column and go right out and rent a new release immediately and have an opinion posted about it within a day. (I'm still pissed off about that p.o.s. CAMP HELL, though. Aaargh.)
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What a great juxtaposition of two similar BD covers.
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Cobra was badass. Why were there no sequels? Stallone created another cool character like Rocky and Rambo. So much more could have been done with Cobra.
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I'm only ever cutting my pizza with scissors from now on. I just remembered, I had a Cobra mirror of all things when the movie came out. And I tried reading the book, A Running Duck by Paula Gosling. It was ok, movie was better. Everyone thought it was going to be Stallone's new franchise, I'd have loved to have seen a couple more. I'm so gay for Stallone, it's shameless!
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Fucking Nihilists
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*Bowling ball Lebowski dvd abides*
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I guess that's the Ebonics version of the book.
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Aug. 17, 2011, 10:35 a.m. CST
Re: John Carpenter's The Ward..or..we waited ten years for this?
by openthepodbaydoorshal
Look at Carpenter's strongest work. Just like any movie, it starts at the script. And unfortunately Carpenter has chosen a script that is basically a female Shutter Island with shock effects. Carpenter still has the eye to frame and fill the widescreen, and he makes the most of the limited budget. His camerawork is very reminscent of the tracking and subjective work within the corridors of The Thing, except now they're the hallways of the mental institute. And the score mimics Carpenter right down to the pulsing bass line. And it is so good to watch a movie with clean steady camerawork and composition. No shaky-cam. No ADD editing. But Carpenter's style does seem stuck-in-time. Did we really need to see repeating ominous shots of the exterior of the clinic? There's something evil going on..we get it. Carpenter gets a decent performance out of Heard, who resembles the love child of Kim Novak of Vertigo and Tippi Hendren, at times. But he really didn't reign in Mamie Gummer, who's last name should be Mugger or Rubber. She does share her mother's look and I hear she can be good, but her constant face-making was distracting. And did we really need a "girls get up to dance together to pop song" scene? From John Carpenter? So, a definate step up from his work on Masters Of Horror, but it just misses the mark from being really good.
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I read that the transfer for the Blu ray is kinda crappy. Can anyone (Harry, perhaps...) give some insight into whether that's the case? That seems like a good deal for a special edition of one of my favorite movies but if the transfer is lousy I'll wait.
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The bashers of this movie never cease to amuse. 12 years later and you *still* don't fucking get it? Nope, no hope for you, troglodyte.
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is a terrific, intense old Euro-Western from Spain about a bunch of convicts that are chained together trekking through the mountains led by a guy who is trying to figure out which of them raped and murdered his wife. Loved it when it screened at the Egyptian in Hollywood a few years ago.
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didn't know WalMart had an EXCLUSIVE on Ernest.. I figured they were movies NO ONE wanted..a BD disc for like 5 bucks? CRAZY... So maybe I didn't care THAT much for the later entries.. LOVED Camp and Christmas (release it you Disney BASTARDS!!!). as for Demo Man.. how can you HATE that flick? the only thing to really HATE on.. is that the movie you THINK you're going to get in the first 10. totally flips to flat out comedy in the next 90.. but I have a BLAST and a half with that movie.. they need a Sly and Wesley commentary... And.. who can forget Rob Schneider's GREATEST LINE EVER!!! "We're police officers, we're not trained to handle that kind of violence" LOL.. I saw this in the theater.. LOVED in then.. and maybe some of the FX don't stand up.. but its still a fun as hell movie to watch..
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Harry, you surprise me with this. Priest, which is utter failure, you say is cheesy fun? But you DON'T recommend Assassins because of acting? I do recommend it, because it's a classic, and cheesy fun also.
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The biggest problem with CUL-DE-SAC is that it is not KNIFE IN THE WATER or REPULSION. To me, that’s its strength.
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Aug. 17, 2011, 4:04 p.m. CST
I picked up the Cobra, Demolition Man and Big Lebowski blurays.
by Kevin D
I was blown away by the picture quality on both The Big Lebowski and Demolition Man blu's. They blow away prior DVD editions easily. Some people have felt that too much DNR (Digital Noise Reduction) was used on Lebowski but while the image does look smooth with not that much apparent film grain visible, there is still a very impressive amount of detail and no one has that weird waxy look when way too much DNR has been used (i.e. Patton blu-ray and the ultimate hunter edition of Predator). Very pleased indeed with the substantial leap in quality with both of those. Demolition Man in particular is like seeing it again for the very 1st time. Cobra on the other hand, while looking better than the ancient DVD, has some problems. The movie still has a really soft and washed out look to it and the detail didn't pop nearly as much as I was expecting it to after checking out the Demolition Man blu. I know that around this time in the 80's that a lot of people were using crappy cheap film stock and maybe this is the best that the movie could look. So, I was expecting more and maybe the same level of restoration wasn't applied to Cobra as was to Demolition Man.
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Aug. 17, 2011, 5:38 p.m. CST
the_choppah,Ebert's comentary for CITIZEN KANE is indeed brillant. You can tell the man really loves the movie.
by AsimovLives
And i love the fact you also love CITIZEN KANE. Or at least bothered to watch it at least twice, which is more then can be said about so many of the so-called geeks in here. Me, i worship CITIZEN KANE.
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It's a movie that has a great shocking thing about it: Stallone actually bothers to really act. And he's very good. COPLAND is not an isolated case.
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Aug. 17, 2011, 5:43 p.m. CST
jaka, the LOTR comentaries that are the most "fun" have to be the actors' comentary. Specially anything that Billy Boyd says.
by AsimovLives
One of my favorite Boyd's coments was at the end credits of TTT: "Bernard Hill: sunk the Titanic". Another one was at the end of the ROTK when he says "what i never understood is why we had to do this comentaries without pants". Those two made me fall to the floor laughing.
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Aug. 17, 2011, 5:46 p.m. CST
"Nigel Hawthorne in scenes with Sly and Wes nearly melted my brain with the incongruity of it all." That was also not lost on me. Byzarre casting that movie has.
by AsimovLives
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Aug. 17, 2011, 5:52 p.m. CST
THE BIG LEBOWSKI makes me eafer to drink a white russian, or as The Dude calls it, a caucasian.
by AsimovLives
It's also one of the funniest movie i ever seen in my whole life. It still makes me laugh like hell after so many viewings. For me the movie is like a perfect comedy, specifically designed to please me and make me laugh. It's for comedy to me what Blade Runner, THX 1138 and 2001 are for SF, CITIZEN KANE for drama and APOCALYPSE NOW for war movies are to me.
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two of my all-time favorites, period.And complaining about Cobra being preposterous? Quite senseless, I feel, since that is precisely the point. It is what I call a McBain flick ("Mendozaaaaa!"), my favorite ever, closely followed by Showdown in Little Tokyo ("You've got the right to die"). Asimov, glad to see we're at least exactly in the same page regarding the Dude; given your strong feelings towards Jar Jar I thought we might be in completely different planes (I don't hate him, for sure). Choppah, share if you please about Ebert's Dark City commentary; I've got the blu awaiting in my not-yet-watched stack, though the movie I already watched and dug.
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I still, to this day, jack off with mental imagery of Brigitte Nielsen. The 80's Natasha Henstridge. What a fucking woman!
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Of course I love KANE. It is truly a fine fine film I pity people who say they don't like the film. I tend to distance myself from these folks.
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Compared to the pile of shit that was Stallones output during those years (1994-2006 with the exeption of COPLAND) ASSASSINS is the ONLY one who hold a high enough quality to be compared to the MANY GREAT Stallone flicks! And this was one of the films that made Banderas a star in the US!!
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...I agree about F.I.S.T., it IS great, let's hope for a Blu-Ray release for that too. How about Nighthawks? I loved that as a kid, Sly has an awesome beard and can you not love Rambo vs. Roy Batty? Epic :)
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I love Nighthawks! Always wished he'd revisited that character. People always associate Stallone with the 80's and Nighthawks came out in 1981, but it's very much a 70's style cop/action flick. According to wikipedia it was originally pitched as a third French Connection movie.
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I have to vote for SIDEWAYS. Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church are hilarious. Church's comments about his "craggy proboscis" and referring to one of his female costars as "the bejugged Virginia Madsen" are some of the highlights.
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Uh ... it's been long-established that Kurt Russell actually directed TOMBSTONE via daily notes and a shot list and gave Cosmatos, who was basically Russell's on-set "directing beard", the credit.</p><p> As for Neillsen, you nerds are fucking horny out of your minds. Sure, she had world-class legs, but she basically looked like the missing member of Flock Of Seagulls. To add insult to injury, she later had sex with one of the California Raisins.
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I remember when it came out at the theater and supposedly Stallone wanted the movie under 90 minutes so it could run more times in a day. He thought it was going to be the highest grossing movie ever at the time.
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Priest might make most of PWSA's flicks look like David Lean although Soldier was pretty great due to Kurt Russell.
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Aug. 23, 2011, 3:49 p.m. CST
Did The Ward not coming out theactrically because it was another 1960's set film in a woman's mental institution?
by LordSoth
The Ward was pretty great and works much better than other films with similar twists. However, I did notice it didn't feel very much like Carpenter's other films. I also noticed it's his second film in a row with a female lead.
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Sept. 2, 2011, 7:52 a.m. CST
Oh, come on! Who doesn't like Antonio Banderas screaming "FAACK! YOO!" in ASSASSINS?
by MrMysteryGuest
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