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Glengarry and Persona ponder Eastwood's SPACE COWBOYS
Hey folks, Harry here with a look at SPACE COWBOYS from constant chatters... GLENGARRY and PERSONA who got a look at the latest from Clint Eastwood at a nation wide paid sneak preview of the film yesterday.. I've been getting a good deal of pretty positive reviews for the film, but I'm sure there's a bunch of you good folks that want to talk back about what ya saw yesterday so.... let's group it all here beneath Persona & Glengarry's review... take care....
Hey Harry-
It's been awhile since I popped into the chatroom. Had some time and decided to type up alittle something about SPACE COWBOYS.
Here is a rather interesting movie. For those of you familiar with Clint Eastwood's directoral efforts, you'll feel right at home with the leisurely pace and romantic and lighthearted tone. Combine the style of Clint Eastwood's directing with the formulaic "space adventure" and "old man humor" genre's and you have SPACE COWBOYS.
The film begins with a black and white introduction of essentially the two main characters of this film, Frank Corvin and Will Hawkins. Here we have two Clint and Tommy Lee Jones look-alikes hotdogging it in the California desert chatting it up with CLINT AND TOMMY LEE's voices! Bizarre to say the least. Not really distracting, but weird. It's funny to think what Clint REALLY looked like when he was younger and see this guy try to live up t! o the squinty eyed standard. At any rate, it's a suitable introduction, giving us an idea of the characters traits.
Then we're taken to present day. A Russian satellite is falling fast and we're told it would send Russia into "civil war". Seriously, I think a loaf of bread would sooner do it than a 20 year old satellite. Anyway, Clint designed the technology that it's operating on (and although it's never revealed exactly how the Russians acquired said technology, it's hinted at that James Cromwell's character may have leaked it to the Commies [and yeah, Cromwell's playing a Southern version of the head of police he did in LA CONFIDENTIAL, a real SOB). Cromwell eventually allows Clint to take his crew from their past project, Daedulus, although he doesn't think they can pass the physical requirements (huh, bullshit, then there wouldn't be a movie). We get the obligitory recruitment scenes. Very funny stuff. You know you've seen this stuff before, but not with actors you've! kinda taken seriously over the years. And that's not to say this is a bad movie or the scenes are handled incorrectly, it's just the combination of Clint's tone filming the scenes and the library of work you're recalling as you're seeing the scenes. Here we have Donald Sutherland testing roller coasters and sporting a ponytail while eating a banana and trying to get his Viagra going on anything with tits and a pulse. During this I'm seeing Mr.X from JFK. His haunting presence and attitude. And we pretty much feel this way throughout the film with all the actors. Tommy taking some dumbass kid with a sexy girlfriend up for a puke-ride in his biplane. And James Garner...well...nevermind. Anyway they eventually get to go up, with some startling revelations and genuinely tender moments. But in a movie like this, you can pretty much guess the outcome, right? Well, at this point, sure. Grumpy Old Astronauts. You're thinking, Sutherland popping wood in space. Tommy Lee joyriding the ! Space Shuttle. Then it turns into something of a thriller. They get to the satellite and discover something they're not really prepared for, to say the least. The special effects at this point are superb. In my opinion, far better than ARMAGEDDON or DEEP IMPACT. And by the way, we are treated to an asshole younger astronaut breaking rules and flaunting his youth in front of the older guys. He's somewhat of an annoyance. The film progresses very well, forcing us upon the tension quickly, as a real situation such as theirs probably would. The characters and dialogue are charismatic and involving, giving us some great jokes along the way, most of which come from the guys experience with the medical tests. Don't go seeing this film with a history book or your common sense. It's a good movie. That's it.
==
Glengarry
Hey folks, Harry here again with Persona's look at SPACE COWBOYS.... enjoy...
Hey Harry, this is Persona from the chatroom. Attached is a review of the
movie
Space Cowboys, which I pretty much liked.
Grr....the attachment didn't get sent...here's try number 2.
Well, I just got back from the sneak preview of Space Cowboys.
The Details:
Space Cowboys has a bad trailer. If you've seen it, you know what I mean.
The
movie looks bad. Space Cowboys is not an excellent movie. Space Cowboys
is a
movie that you will like if: a) you aren't tired of astronaut-saving-the-world
movies b) you like the actors a lot (not a hard thing to do) or c) you are
over
55 and like the idea of a movie that shows senior citizens kicking the butt
of everyone under 30. I think it's pretty safe to say nobody in category
c reads
this site.
Since I don't feel like being very clever, I've arranged my impressions
of the
movie as a series of Random Thoughts:
(only very minor spoilers)
This movie has one of the slowest establishing shots I've seen in a LONG
time.
This movie contains more naked old men butt than I've ever wanted to see.
Coming
on the heels of "Waking Ned Devine" I may be scarred for life. If this becomes
a Hollywood trend I might consider taking Dramamine before movies.
Jay Leno must have a very lucrative side business interviewing fictional
characters
in movies on his show. That's probably how he affords all those cars.
There aren't any kids in this movie. And only 2 teenagers in a brief scene.
This movie relies WAY too much on the old standard tech speak solution,
as follows:
Engineer
Well, we might be able to solve our hugely impossible problem that is not
adequately
explained to the audience by re-configuring the doohickey to intersect the
sprocket
at the precise angle of target velocity.
Navigator
And we only have a .5 millisecond time frame! We're only gonna get the one
shot!
Pilot
This is insane! But I would like to point out that this is the only way
to do
it!
Cut to:
Ground Control
Wow! I'm suitably impressed that these guys have come up with such a great
but
risky plan on the spur of the moment, even though I have no idea what they're
talking about! And because I'm impressed, you in the audience should be
too!
Cut to:
Audience
(slightly confused)
Uh...Yeah, we buy it!
This movie is pretty funny. Yeah, it's mostly old age jokes, but they work.
It's almost a law that an astronaut movie has to have someone upchuck. This
movie has one of the grossest puke scenes in recent memory.
James Garner and Donald Sutherland are underused.
Clint Eastwood and Tommy Lee Jones are both great in this movie.
Shooting the opening of the movie, which takes place in 1958, entirely on
black
and white film is, depending on your viewpoint, either very pretentious
or really
cool.
The SFX are pretty decent.
I didn't know that astronauts go up into space and then come back down all
in
the same day. Since they apparently do, I want to go on a day excursion
to see
the Hubble Telescope and take some space junk home as a souvenir.
NASA needs to hire better groundskeepers.
Joke they could have used but (thankfully) didn't:
"I'm too old for this shit"
Nobody in this movie is referred to as a "space cowboy". Thank goodness.
That whole Russian satellite thing sounds stupid, but it sorta makes sense
in
the movie. This movie requires that you suspend some of your critical thinking
skills, but at least they didn't break any laws of physics in a super obvious
way. (Like Armageddon and Mission to Mars did.)
So, basically, this movie is pretty fun and I bet most of you folks (even
the
young geezers) will enjoy it.
Your fun-loving chat addict, Persona.
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+ Expand All
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Jul 31, 2000 9:20:12 AM CDT
Fight the AssholePatrol (stop the kicking and the banning)
by darthpsychotic
My favorite Clint Eastwood would be FireFox which would be in this same 'genre'. Clint "carjacks" a HotRod Jet(one which make Lucas proud) and goe for a joyride. Oh by the way I'm first cocksuckers.
-
Space Cowboys is gonna rock, I haven't got to see it yet but I'm really excited I think it is going to be one of the top flicks to come out so far this year.
-
Space Cowboys ROCKS...i just wanna know, how do the horses get into space...
-
Forget whether or not they refer to each other as "Space Cowboys," my decision to eventually rent or not rent will be based upon how many times the annoying Steve Miller song with the line about space cowboys will be played.
-
Jul 31, 2000 9:59:10 AM CDT
Not only old people will like this film, oh and I liked the trai
by gilmour
Why is that people are saying that only old people will like this film? who cares about their age. I remember a similar comment was made this time 8 years ago for "Unforgiven" But the film was great and made over 100 million. And I for one thought the trailer was pretty good. Clint rules!
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Caught the preview last night. I'd agree with the other reviewers that it's pretty formulaic, but that the formula is done right. Fun performances from all of these legendary actors, except from James Garner - he just looks old.
The physics were pretty good, except for, once again, Hollywood has insisted on making loud explosions in space. I really wish someday someone would take a clue from 2001 - things breaking and exploding in space, in silence, are IMO even more awe-inspiring (and, of course, that is the way it would really be). -
I didn't remember any Steve Miller in the movie, was it in the trailer? I think you're safe.
-
In the movie, which I thought was just mediocre, William Devane says "I'm too old for this shit" after Clint and Tommy just rode the thing that spins around.
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This movie was really good, both very funny and a smart, interesting space adventure. The ending was a little hokey, but that's OK.
-
I had a lot of fun at this movie and yeah, it is kind of formulaic at times and is very "Hollywood," but as someone said, it's "Hollywood" done right. If you haven't seen it, think "The Right Stuff" not "Armageddon"-knock off. And Donald Sutherland is worth the price of admission anyway, basically reprising his role from "Kelly's Heroes," that other flick he did with Eastwood.
-
Now THAT is one fun movie! That and Where Eagles Dare have to be among Clint's best films ever. I have high hopes for this film. So far there are few similarities to Armageddon (come on now, that film wasn't THAT bad) and other similar films which didn't quite make the mark, so we could be in for a real treat.
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Jul 31, 2000 11:47:18 AM CDT
This movie rocked, I wonder if it'll beat Hollowman
by enigmainyourhead
Man, what a fun first hour!! I've never been in a theater where there was 2 minutes of straight laughter, I think we missed about 5 more jokes in the process...
From a certified Donald Sutherland hater, I gotta say he stole the show. -
The first half - or more - of this movie is about the best fun to be had in a theater this summer. Then once the boys make it into space, it does an astonishing nose dive. The crisis and its solution is - as one of the reviwers here mentioned - way too reliant on techno-speak. I had no idea what the hell the plan was, although to be honest I tuned out as soon as they started with all the science gibberish. What's really bad is that this movie gives no pay-off. All through the movie, James Cromwell as Eastwood's boss has screwed him at every turn for forty years and you're just waiting for that final Eastwood moment where he gets back to Earth and wrings his neck or at least gives him a great kiss-off of a one-liner but they never meet up again at the end. And there's also an asshole young astronaut who basically sabotages the entire mission through his arrogant bungling and in effect causes the death of a major character but do we get to see him get his just desserts? Nope, he gets knocked out and spends the rest of the movie in a state of unconsciousness. And I think the final shot of the movie is supposed to be funny or victorious or something but instead it's more than a little depressing and not in a cool, poignant way. It's not exactly the shot I'd pick to close out a rousing adventure flick. I was hoping they'd go out with something more along the lines of a Slim Pickens Dr. Stranglove moment. This is still worth seeing - for a matinee at least - for fans of all four actors and it does have plenty of great moments but by the end of the film, all I could think of was the opportunities Eastwood and co. missed here for a total crowd pleaser. I think the summer of 2000 will officially go down as the lamest ever. But I still have hopes for Hollow Man at least.
-
this movie sucked. It had no spirit and i didn't care when Hawk got cancer and it was just predictable that he was going to sacrifice himself, although it was never real clear as to why he had to do that. It all seemed so cliche and a cop out. Oh yeah and the other NASA guy (he was always chewing gum) said "I'm too old for this shit" when Clint and Jones were spinning around in that machine, betting who would pass out first. Jesus this movie goes on the premise that if you know how to fly a cropduster you can fly a space shuttle (with no computer, mind you). Yuck, i don't like Eastwoods direction either. He's soooo cookie cutter and boring. But i guess some people like him, but other than Donald Sutherland i can see no reason to watch this movie in the theatres. Go see Blood Simple again.
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Look, I'm just not gonna see this. I can see how a lot of people would enjoy this flick and that's cool. I probably wouldn't hate it either, but I just know there are other movies I'm gonna be spending my money on in the next couple of months (mostly revivals) and by the time it gets to video, I'm not gonna care. Still, I really have to know what this "last shot" that's so amazing is all about, I just hafta! So, can ya help a guy out?
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Yes. There are some senior citizens who visit AICN. You guys give the straight talk about movies that can't be had on the "E" channel.
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If you want to see a bunch of old white guys pretending that they're real macho badasses, just tune in to CNN and check out THAT action. Geez - not ONE of those actors has any sense of self-respect to be in a predictable, formulaic, feels-as-good-as wetting-yourself-in-black-slacks crappo movie like this. DON'T give me that bull about how big, bad, and tough Clint is - those days are as far in the past as pet rocks and avacado green kitchen appliances. And since when are special effects the raison d'etre for a flick? The best special effect will be making it look like any ONE of those Viagra-poppin' daddies could walk across the street without getting winded. Thhhhppppp.
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Orcus preferrs the pontiface of love
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