What's bullshit Mr. Quaid? Afraid to admit that you're having a schizo paranoid episode, or are you really an invincible secret agent from Mars, who is in the middle of an interplanetary conspiracy to make him think that he's a lonley construction worker.

Total Recall is a Sci-Fi film directed by Paul Verhoeven who also directed Starship Troopers and RoboCop. It is kind of like The 6th Day where villains do an operation on him and appear to be his friend but then double cross him. He has the same corny lines like Well, Cohaagen. I've got to hand it to you. It's the best mind-fuck yet. Ronny Cox plays the main villain. I would have enjoyed the film more if Ronny and Arnold would have played Dueling Banjos just like when Cox did it in Deliverance. The things it has going for it are the great score by Mr. Goldsmith a very sexy Sharon Stone and some cool special effects. It is one of my favorite Jerry Goldsmith scores. I have also heard the bad news that there is a remake of the film. The remake stars Colin Farrell, Bryan Cranston, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel and Ethan Hawke. I don't think a remake was necessary it is not one of Arnold's best but also not his worst, that title goes to End of Days. 

Everyone has somebody that they want to put out of the way. Oh now surely, Madam, you're not going to tell me that there hasn't been a time that you didn't want to dispose of someone. Your husband, for instance?

Strangers on a Train is my new favorite by the Master of Suspense. It is the second of two films he did with Farley Granger. It is one of his best. The music is Robert Walker plays Bruno Anthony a man hungry for Murder. Walker is one of the best and creepiest Hitchcock villains after Perkins of course.  Walker is creepy during the tennis match when everyone turns their heads to watch the ball and his head is still. Also when he is stocking and killing Mariam.Here is the glasses scene on the left. And above that is the opening scene. Below it some man carries a cello case onto a train. Here is the script from the killing.

We see Bruno's gloved hands dart quickly to Miriam's throat.
 The lighter falls down out of picture, and as Bruno's hands
 grip her throat, his head moves slightly to blot out Miriam's
 face. His head moves a bit farther until Miriam's face is
 nearly uncovered at the other side of the screen, and we see
 her glasses fall off.
 
 CLOSE SHOT
 
 Miriam's glasses hit the ground. The shadows of their
 struggling figures over the shot.
 
 CLOSE UP
 The screen is filled with one of the lenses of the glasses.
 They are of the diminishing type. Against the moonlit sky
 we see reflected, the elongated struggling figures, as though
 we were shooting up at them. Suddenly one of the figures
 falls forward.
 
 CLOSE UP
 
 Miriam's head drops into the picture by the glasses.
 
 Bruno's hand comes into the picture and picks up the glasses.
 One of the lenses has been broken by Miriam's fall.

Give 'em hell Pike!

One day in Hollywood directors Sam Peckinpah and John Woo were talking about idea's for new films. You know Sam I am sick of all these cop films I have always wanted to make a western. What about you? Ever since Bonnie and Clyde came out I have wanted to make a film like that with the slow motion death scenes and lots of blood. You mean  like The Magnificent 7 but with  bloody slow motion shootouts.  Ya kind of like that.  You know what that does not sound bad. And this turned into the wild bunch. A Bloody western starring William Holden, Ben Johnson, Warren Otes, Ernest Borgnine, Robert Ryan and Edmond O'brien who are all great in the film. I thought the opening seen with the scorpion and the ants was good and it set the tone for the whole movie. In a way it is kind of like the Magnificent seven because they are fighting a group of bad guys who are robbing from a small Mexican town. And there is a final shootout in which all of the gang dies except for a few. It is one of the best westerns ever made.

You're a fool Conrad. Those of us who understood knew in 1941 that we could never win.

   The  Battle of the Bulge is a film based on the last major German battle of The Second World War. It stars the greatest war actor of all time Henry Fonda who had already starred in Immortal Sergeant, Mr. Roberts, The Longest Day and In Harms Way.It seems like he has starred in almost every war film. It also stars Dana Andrews, Robert Shaw, James MacArthur, Robert Ryan, Telly Savalas and Charles Bronson. Ryan, Savalas and Bronson would reunite in 67 to do The Dirty Dozen. Shaw is always a good choice for a villain. He was good in From Russia with Love and Taking of Pehlam 123. Good war film.

After all, murder is - or should be - an art. Not one of the 'seven lively', perhaps, but an art nevertheless. And, as such, the privilege of committing it should be reserved for those few who are really superior individuals.

A few days ago I watched The Hitchcock film Rope which was the first of three films he did with James Stewart. It involves Farley Granger and John Dall as collage students who murder a fellow student and hide the body in their home. They then throw a party inviting his dad, aunt, wife to be, former teacher and a friend. The film is said to be inspired by the murder of 14 year old boy by University of Chicago students Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb. Granger over acts to much. You can tell that Stewart knows something is wrong when Granger starts freaking out about how he did not strangle a chicken. Hitchcock shot for periods lasting up to ten minutes and shot the film in just one room.Not many have done this which is one of the things that makes it good.

Earthquakes bring out the worst in some people.

I recently watched Earthquake and  it was really bad and one of the worst of the 70's disaster films. Not only is there an earthquake but they thought they needed a large flood to finish off what was left of the city of Los Angles. These disaster films always have weird casts. This one has Heston, Kennedy, Gardner and Roundtree and Walter Matuschanskayasky as a drunk which was the best part of the film the rest was bad. He was only on screen for about 5 minutes.

Y-You are the... Duke of New... New York. You're A-Number One.

Escape from New York is one of my favorite John Carpenter film's. The cast is great he teams up with Kurt Russell and a who's who of veteran actors like Lee Van Cleef, Harry Dean Stanton, Ernest Borgnine and Donald Pleasence who plays the president. The film also stars Isaac Hays as the main villain the Duke of New York who is pretty bad ass in this film. I think this has to be one of the strangest casts in a movie When Carpenter and Russell join forces you know it's going to be a good film. At the start of the film it says that in 1997 the crime rate rose 400%. So to control all of the criminals they turn the United States biggest city in one large jail. First off where would all the people of New York be re located. They don't really tell you why the crime rate is so high. One of my favorite Carpenter films and my second favorite of the Carpenter/Russell films.

Getting ourselves killed is not going to make any difference to anyone except us.

Yet again Aldrich directs another great war film. The film is called Too Late the Hero. In many ways it is similar to the Dirty Dozen. One like the Dirty Dozen it stars two cast members from the Flight of the Phoenix. The Dozen had Ernest Borgnine and George Kennedy while Two Late has Ronald Frazer and Ian Bannen. It also has a mission that goes deep into enemy territory and will kill about 85% to 90% of those involved. The cast includes Micheal Caine, Cliff Robertson, Harry Andrews and Henry  Fonda. This is also one of my favorite Caine performances. Ken Takakura's role as Maj. Yamaguchi is also very good. Watch it.

You're the king of knock offs!

Have you seen Mission Impossible and Hard Boiled if so then put both of those together and replace Tom Cruise with Jean-Claude Van Damme, chun yun fat with Moses Chan, John Voight with Paul Sorvino throw in Rob Schneider and pairs of jeans wired with bombs you get a very bad action movie.

You're all going to die!

Zulu is a great war film with a great cast which includes Jack Hawkins, Stanley Baker and Michael Caine in his first major role which in my opinion is one of his best performances.  Hawkins had already starred in the war classics The Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia and Baker had starred in the Guns of Naverone. The score was composed by the late great John Barry and is one of my favorites of all his scores and one of my favorite war themes. The film is based on a true story about the British in South Africa during the late 1870's. The first shot shows the Battle of Isandlwana where 1,300 British troops were killed after being overwhelmed by the Zulu's who lost 1,000 men in the battle. So a group of about 90 British soldiers some of whom are wounded must fight off thousands of Zulu's. It is a very good war film and a must watch if you are looking for a good war film.

I'm a mog: half man, half dog. I'm my own best friend!

I  had not seen Spaceballs in a while. It was fun to watch it again. It stars everyone from Bill Pullman and  John Candy  to Rick Moranis and Mel Brooks and Micheal Winslow the sound effects guy from Police Academy. In the movie they poke fun at Star Wars, Star Trek, Planet of the Apes, Alien, Wizard of Oz and countless other films and television shows. The joke keep coming from start to finish. I enjoyed Yogurt he has to be my favorite character in the film. I also really liked Candy as Barf. I have only seen a few of Brook's films and I would say that this is my favorite of the ones I've seen. I need to watch more of Brook's films.

Minneapolis goes to the movies.

1. Vince Vaughan.
 He is known for starring in comedies along side such actors as Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson.

2. Terry Gilliam is known for directing Fear Loathing in Las Vegas and Monty Python and the Holy Grail. 

3. Peter Graves was an actor who was mainly known for TV but starred in Stalag 17 and Airplane!

4. Graves older brother James Arness was also a TV actor but became most known in the movies as the Thing.

5. Charles Bernstein is a film composer who is known for A Nightmare on Elm Street and also for scoring two of  Tarantino's films.

6. Ward Kimball was an animator for Disney and created such characters as Jimmy Cricket, The Mad Hatter  and the Cheshire cat. He also worked on Mary Poppins and Bed Knobs and Broom Sticks. 

7. Pete Anthony is a composer known for spierman 3, I Am Legend and the new King Kong.


8. Mitch Paulson is known as being the Visual Effects man for Iron man 1 & 2 and also for Wanted.

9. Jamie Hardt was part of the Sound Department for such films as Hurt Locker and Spiderman 1 & 3.

10. Mark Siegel is a Visual Effects man for the 2nd and 3rd Star Wars and two of the Caribbean films.

11. Craig R. Maras worked in the Animation Department on such films as the Iron Giant, The Lion King, Aladdin and Mulan.

12. Ralph Hammeras is the Special Effects man for 20,000 Legues under the sea, The Giant Claw and In Old Chicago.

13. Jonathan Egstad is an Academy Award winning Visual Effects artist known for such films as I Robot, X Men, The Fifth Element and Titanic.

 14. Arch Johnson acted in more then 133 movies and TV shows including The Buddy Holly Story, The Sting and Bewitched.

15. Mark L. Rosen is an Academy Award winning producer known for Bright Star, Spice World and Alligator.


16. Jack Smight is the director of the films Midway, Airport and Harper.

17. Joel Coen is a director known for the films Fargo and The Big Lebowski.

18. Ethan Coen the younger brother of Joel is also known for Fargo and The Big Lebowski.


19. James Hong is an actor known for his role in the films Blade Runner, Kun Fu Panda and Mulan.

20. Arlene Dahl is an actress kwon most for her role in Journey to the center of the earth with James Mason and Three little words with Fred Astaire.

Aright listen up! The guys we're after are professional runners. They like speed and are guaranteed to go down the hardest possible way so make sure you've got your funderwear on. We find 'em we take 'em as a team and we bring 'em back. And above all else we don't ever, ever let them get into cars.

Tonight I went and saw Fast Five at the Riverview. It stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker and The Rock. It was entertaining from start to finish. It has good looking women, nice cars, over the top fights and awesome car chases. The chases were unlike anything I've seen before, because in one scene they are speeding around Rio pulling a bank vault full of money. The vult is flying around behind them knocking police cars off the road. The part on the train is really cool as well. If it's a good action movie you are looking for then go to to your local theater and see Fast Five

RIP Peter Falk (September 16, 1927 – June 23, 2011)

Peter Falk was a great actor over the years I watched him in such films as It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, The In-Laws, The Princess Bride and The Great Race. He is most known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo on the television show Columbo. RIP Peter you will be missed.

I guess I don't have to tell you what's coming, Frank. I'm promising you nothing except a job no man should have to do who's already had more than his share of combat. I've gotta ask you to take nice kids and fly them until they can't take any more, and then put 'em back in and fly 'em some more. We've got to try to find out just what a maximum effort is. How much a man can take and get it all.

Last week I watched The classic ww2 film 12 O' clock high starring Gregory Peck and some other actors who's names I can't remember. It is about some of the first Americans in England and how they are forced to fly on long and brutal bombing campaigns with low supplies and moral. I enjoyed it very much. Peck was very good in this film.  This has to be one of my favorite war movies about the Air Force and the fighting in the skies. The film really shows you how much war a man can take before he cracks.

Indecision is a virus that can run through an army and destroy it's will to win. Or even to survive.

A few days ago I watched In Harms Way. It stars John Wayne, Kirk Douglas, Henry Fonda, Patricia Neal, Burgess Meredith,George Kennedy, Good old Bruce Cabot and many other famous faces. I think it has to be my 5th favorite of the all star war films after Dirty Dozen, Great Escape, Longest Day and Bridge Two Far. Many of the stars listed above were only in the film for 10 or 15 minutes.  Meredith, Neal, Wayne and Douglas are the main cast members. Kirk plays basically the same role as he did in Gunfight at OK Corral a drunk who abuses women. With all these great stars, Otto Peminger as director Hugh S. Fowler who edited such classics as Planet of the Apes, Gentlemen prefer Blondes and Patton. George Tomasini who edited Vertigo,Rear Window, North by Northwest, the Birds,Psycho and many other Hicthcock films. Lyle R. Wheeler the production designer for Gone with the Wind and All about Eve. Loyal Griggs on Cinematography who is known for Shane, Ten Commandments and White Christmas, Sound editor Charles Grenzbach who did Platoon, The Godfather and Wall Street. Lawrence W. Butler who did special effects for Casablanca, The Caine Mutiny and To be or not to be. Saul Bass who made the titles to Goodfellas, North by Northwest and the Big Country. and of course Jerry Goldsmith. It also has a great sea battle.
 

Six hours he's riding the subway before anybody notices his corpse doing laps around L.A., people on and off sitting next to him. Nobody notices.

Collateral, which I watched recently is a crime movie about a taxi driver in LA who is played by Jamie Foxx. He is held at gun point by a trigger happy Tom Cruse who makes him drive around to various spots so that he can kill certain targets.  So then for most of the movie Cruise goes around LA murdering people at bars, clubs and in dark allies.  It reminded my of Phone Booth with Colin Firth. Towards the end it seems like Cruise is a super assassin because he always has a another clip in his pocket. It seems like he has ten or fifteen clips in his pocket. He is able to walk into a crowded night club and pick off all the guards and take out his target
Even while the place is swarming with cops. Then to add to
the over the top action Foxx in an effort to kill Cruise causes the cab to do a roll over, which both men survive.  Cruise is able to walk away with blood all over his head and go kill some  more. Even after being shot he still survives. While it may be entertaining it's not as good as some of the other works my Michael Mann who is not related to Anthony Mann. His best film is Heat. It's to bad that Jason Statham only has a 1 minute part at beginning of the film.