Info and forum posts by 'Lawrence Talbot'

RE: What I watched this week (w/e April 29th)

Hello David. Nice to meet a fellow fan of MST3K which is hilarious fun with a classic Sci Fi movie thrown in. Beautiful color even to a totally color blind person like myself. I have This Island Earth on DVD so as to keep my Buddy Ebsen fan membership in good standing. BTW, I can see that the colors look great although I wouldn`t want a quiz on what colors they are.


On DVD I`ve watched Sweeney Todd, The Proposition, Wasabi, One Eyed Jacks, Sexy Beast 3 times, 6 episodes of Firefly from the Box Set, 8 episodes of Danger Man from the Box Set and Ronin. I`ll try and review some of what might not be that well known but for brevity purposes I`ll not get long winded I hope.

I love Westerns but the first viewing of The Proposition was not as good as I expected. I think this movie set in the Australian outback had beautiful scenery of the stark surroundings but not a lot else going for it. Not to be harsh it wasn`t a bad film just didn`t work for me.

Wasabi is a light action comedy starring Jean Reno as the action hero. A woman he loved years in the past in Japan dies leaving him close to $200 million of Japanese mob money in her will and a daughter he didn`t know about not in the will of course. Let`s just say wait until it`s in the bargain bin or possibly put the money on a good horse at the racetrack.

One Eyed Jacks has an interesting history. A Western starring Marlon Brando, Karl Malden and veterans Slim Pickens and Ben Johnson it is one of 3 films MB produced from his own production company he had briefly. Marlon Brando and Karl Malden are best friends and bank robbers. Trapped by the Mexican police on a hill, Malden betrays Brando by promising to go get fresh horses and then not going back after a fruitful bank robbery. A story of betrayal and payback the film had beautiful color on other formats but my bargain bin copy lacked the sharpness and the film is a bit overlong. To a Brando fan like myself these things don`t matter and IMHO was his best Western.

Firefly was a great combination of Sci Fi and Western themes shown on tv as a series. Starring a largely unknown name cast actor Nathan Filion leads his crew on heist jobs in the spaceship Firefly, a small outdated beauty of a ship. I loved this show but when the movie Serenity came out and two of the cast members meet their demise in it I knew this show was history. There had been talk of reviving it before the film but that turned out to be wishful thinking. I would recommend a viewing though if possible as it is funny and enjoyable entertainment.

Danger Man aka Secret Agent Man was an early 60s show starring Patrick McGoohan of the old Prisoner tv series. Agent John Drake (McGoohan) goes on secret agent missions and although a 007 type doesn`t carry a gun nor get close to beautiful women. He uses his considerable wits to succeed and survive. This was a hugely popular series in the U.K. and U.S.A. as was the Prisoner. Word has it that Patrick McGoohan was considered for the original James Bond, but McGoohan wasn`t keen on the role. Although the show is a bit dated Patrick McGoohan and Danger Man are two of my favorites.

Ronin is just an all time great action film so I urge every action fan to research it.

Lastly on tv this week I viewed reruns of Life on Mars, Murphy`s Law and Vincent. I could watch a fresh episode of Life on Mars and Vincent every week if possible as these two are superb series. I`ve seen a fresh episode of 24. Is it me or is 24 getting a tad redundant? I have 3 seasons on Box Sets so perhaps I`ve seen a few too many episodes.

Best Regards

Lawrence


*Movies are the great escape from it all*

RE: DVD`s DVD`s ....do you ever watch `em twice?

I try to only buy DVDs that I believe I will watch more than once. I have a disorganized rotation system where my many favorites are near the top and "rested" and ready to go. However I also have a bottom of the heap where the stinkers that fooled me can Rest In Peace.

I go through times where I have a festival of my best Sci Fi then Westerns or Dramas etc. which helps to keep my interest going and I`m always appreciating some thing or character I missed before.

BTW, people say Howard Hughes watched Ice Station Zebra continuosly probably on 16 mm. film I`m guessing. I can`t touch that although I`ve seen that movie many, many times. I think I know all the speaking parts of each character by now.

Movies are the great escape from it all.

This item was edited on Sunday, 29th April 2007, 09:43