What I'm watching

Hi all, this tumblr mainly exists as a way of tracking all the movies I've been watching and some of the initial thoughts, and general feelings, I've had about them.

5/5 - Fantastic movies; movies which need to be seen and enjoyed by everyone.

4/5 - Movies which are very good but don’t have that spark which compels you to make others watch them as well.

3/5 - Average movies; watchable and enjoyable, but nothing which elevates them higher. The baseline all movies are given before watching.

2/5 - Can be watched but really bland and forgettable.

1/5 - Minimal to no reason to watch these films. It may have some redeeming factors e.g. it’s so bad it’s good or there’s one character that’s awesome enough to make it not a total waste of time.

0/5- Total waste of time. Nothing redeemable about these films.

As with every review blog/site, this is all my own personal opinion so feel free to take everything with a grain of salt.

Also I'm Scottish so all reviews will be in UK English. Get used to theatre, colour and words ending in -ised.

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Catching Elephant is a theme by Andy Taylor

 

#503/#54 Escape From New York Decorated soldier turned criminal Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) is given a chance at a pardon in exchange for rescuing the US President (Donald Pleasence) from within the now walled off island prison of Manhattan. Watching Lockout recently made me think I should really get around to finally watching this cult classic. I was a touch wary however because I didn’t like Big Trouble in Little China at all and was unsure if another Kurt Russell/John Carpenter pairing would be my cup of tea. I shouldn’t have worried though because this movie is wonderfully 80’s and a ton of fun. Plissken is the quintessential renegade badass and I don’t think it’s possible to not enjoy watching what he gets up to. He fits with his environment so well that the first moment you see him on screen you instantly know this is going to be somebody interesting to watch for the next 100 minutes. Russell plays him wonderfully as well, in a very low key manner. Others might have been inclined to go over the top, but Russell’s laid back attitude to the whole affair just screams ‘fuck you’ to every authority figure in this flick. Lee Van Cleef, Donald Pleasence and Isaac Hayes all do well in these various authoritative roles as well. Van Cleef is probably the best of the group; working as the kind of ying to Snakes yang. He’s the road Snake could have gone down had he continued the way he had. They don’t like each other but there’s still a level of respect there despite their animosity. Pleasence makes a good cowardly president and Hayes, while not the deepest character, lends some presence to his role making him seem like a worthwhile adversary to Snake. Other than this the rest of the movie is 80’s action at its finest and is what you would expect from a good ticking clock movie. The sets are also really good and the soundtrack is great. The opening credit music has got to be up there with the Terminator and Halloween for instantly resonating with the movie and locking itself forever within the recesses of your brain. I’m definitely going to be rewatching this one again. Well worth checking out. 4.5/5

#503/#54 Escape From New York

Decorated soldier turned criminal Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell) is given a chance at a pardon in exchange for rescuing the US President (Donald Pleasence) from within the now walled off island prison of Manhattan.

Watching Lockout recently made me think I should really get around to finally watching this cult classic. I was a touch wary however because I didn’t like Big Trouble in Little China at all and was unsure if another Kurt Russell/John Carpenter pairing would be my cup of tea. I shouldn’t have worried though because this movie is wonderfully 80’s and a ton of fun.

Plissken is the quintessential renegade badass and I don’t think it’s possible to not enjoy watching what he gets up to. He fits with his environment so well that the first moment you see him on screen you instantly know this is going to be somebody interesting to watch for the next 100 minutes. Russell plays him wonderfully as well, in a very low key manner. Others might have been inclined to go over the top, but Russell’s laid back attitude to the whole affair just screams ‘fuck you’ to every authority figure in this flick.

Lee Van Cleef, Donald Pleasence and Isaac Hayes all do well in these various authoritative roles as well. Van Cleef is probably the best of the group; working as the kind of ying to Snakes yang. He’s the road Snake could have gone down had he continued the way he had. They don’t like each other but there’s still a level of respect there despite their animosity. Pleasence makes a good cowardly president and Hayes, while not the deepest character, lends some presence to his role making him seem like a worthwhile adversary to Snake.

Other than this the rest of the movie is 80’s action at its finest and is what you would expect from a good ticking clock movie. The sets are also really good and the soundtrack is great. The opening credit music has got to be up there with the Terminator and Halloween for instantly resonating with the movie and locking itself forever within the recesses of your brain.

I’m definitely going to be rewatching this one again. Well worth checking out. 4.5/5

#289/#6 Fantastic Voyage Set during the Cold War both the USA and the Soviets have developed the technology to shrink objects to a miniaturised scale but can only maintain that scale for 1 hour. In order to save a man injured by the Russians with information on prolonging the shrinking process, a team is miniaturised and sent into the man’s body in order to destroy his brain clot from the inside. With only an hour to do so, and with a saboteur on board, will they be able to execute their mission in time? I really enjoyed this film. It was a campy 60’s fun sci-fi film mixed with elements of a good spy thriller. It was reminding me a little of Sean Connery’s bond movies actually, probably helped along by the inclusion of Donald Pleasence in the cast. Not in terms of the spy elements, although the walk through the secret base was a little Q Labs-ish, but more so in just the whole feel of the movie. The time limit, and the fact that the film was shown primarily in real time meant that there was a real need for urgency which pulled the film along and kept you entertained. On top of this some of the set and effects, while very 60’s psychedelic, were interesting to watch and cool to see incorporated with the corresponding parts of the body (of which the film was actually surprisingly accurate for the most part). Even now some of them were hard to figure out just how they did them. I’m guessing some form of wire work but it really looks like they are naturally swimming in a lot of the scenes when they go outside the sub. Other than Pleasence none of the rest of the cast is all that memorable (outside of Raquel Welch but that’s only for the fact she’s the only woman in the movie). They all play their parts well but this is definitely a case of the story being the star of this movie rather than some big name actor/character. There are some plot holes and some weird leaps in logic/science but you’ve got to just sort of accept that those are going to happen with this sort of film from that era. All in all, a really enjoyable watch and I’d see it again. 4/5

#289/#6 Fantastic Voyage

Set during the Cold War both the USA and the Soviets have developed the technology to shrink objects to a miniaturised scale but can only maintain that scale for 1 hour. In order to save a man injured by the Russians with information on prolonging the shrinking process, a team is miniaturised and sent into the man’s body in order to destroy his brain clot from the inside. With only an hour to do so, and with a saboteur on board, will they be able to execute their mission in time?

I really enjoyed this film. It was a campy 60’s fun sci-fi film mixed with elements of a good spy thriller. It was reminding me a little of Sean Connery’s bond movies actually, probably helped along by the inclusion of Donald Pleasence in the cast. Not in terms of the spy elements, although the walk through the secret base was a little Q Labs-ish, but more so in just the whole feel of the movie.

The time limit, and the fact that the film was shown primarily in real time meant that there was a real need for urgency which pulled the film along and kept you entertained. On top of this some of the set and effects, while very 60’s psychedelic, were interesting to watch and cool to see incorporated with the corresponding parts of the body (of which the film was actually surprisingly accurate for the most part). Even now some of them were hard to figure out just how they did them. I’m guessing some form of wire work but it really looks like they are naturally swimming in a lot of the scenes when they go outside the sub.

Other than Pleasence none of the rest of the cast is all that memorable (outside of Raquel Welch but that’s only for the fact she’s the only woman in the movie). They all play their parts well but this is definitely a case of the story being the star of this movie rather than some big name actor/character.

There are some plot holes and some weird leaps in logic/science but you’ve got to just sort of accept that those are going to happen with this sort of film from that era. All in all, a really enjoyable watch and I’d see it again. 4/5

Donald Pleasence in You Only Live Twice Telly Savalas in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service Charle Gray in Diamonds Are Forever Ok try this one on for size: Bond (Sean Connery) meets Blofeld (Pleasence) in YOLT. Then he meets him again in OHMSS but neither of them recognise each other even though they’ve already met and should. This is even more confusing for the audience now as both Bond and Blofeld are being played by different actors, George Lazenby and Savalas, but are supposed to be the same characters with no facial alteration (except Blofeld cutting off his earlobes). They then meet again in DAF but Bond is now Connery again and Blofeld is Gray. At least this time Blofeld is supposed to have undergone plastic surgery. But it’s not done yet, Gray already played Bond’s ally in Japan, Dikko Henderson, in YOLT with Connery. Finally Bond (Roger Moore) kills Blofeld (probably) in For Your Eyes Only but his face is never seen. The dubbed voice used for this is Robert Rietty, who also dubbed the voices of Emilo Largo in Thunderball and Dr Strangways in Dr No. My head hurts :S

Donald Pleasence in You Only Live Twice

Telly Savalas in On Her Majesty’s Secret Service

Charle Gray in Diamonds Are Forever

Ok try this one on for size: Bond (Sean Connery) meets Blofeld (Pleasence) in YOLT. Then he meets him again in OHMSS but neither of them recognise each other even though they’ve already met and should.

This is even more confusing for the audience now as both Bond and Blofeld are being played by different actors, George Lazenby and Savalas, but are supposed to be the same characters with no facial alteration (except Blofeld cutting off his earlobes).

They then meet again in DAF but Bond is now Connery again and Blofeld is Gray. At least this time Blofeld is supposed to have undergone plastic surgery.

But it’s not done yet, Gray already played Bond’s ally in Japan, Dikko Henderson, in YOLT with Connery.

Finally Bond (Roger Moore) kills Blofeld (probably) in For Your Eyes Only but his face is never seen. The dubbed voice used for this is Robert Rietty, who also dubbed the voices of Emilo Largo in Thunderball and Dr Strangways in Dr No.

My head hurts :S

#92 You Only Live Twice (Rewatch) After active Russian and American spacecraft are stolen by an unknown craft each country blames the other and threatens retribution if their ship is not returned. The United Kingdom however thinks there might be another organisation at work pulling the strings. MI6 sends James Bond (Sean Connery) into Japan, the last known location of the mystery vessel, in order to avert World War 3 and discover the true culprit. This is the last of Connery’s original run as 007. Having grown bored/annoyed of the public attention from the role and fearing being type cast, Connery announced this would be his last time playing Bond mid way through production on this film. Despite this there doesn’t really seem to be any slump in performance, and we’re given the same Bond we know and love one more time. Donald Pleasence would finally provide the face of the mysterious Ernst Stavro Blofeld, no 1 and leader of SPECTRE, in this installment. Although Blofeld would be played by 3 different actors over the course of the series, this version is probably the most synonymous with the series (Nehru suit, bald, holding a Persian cat, facial scar) and most widely parodied since (most notably Dr Evil in the Austin Powers series). In terms of Bond girl this time around there were two: Aki (Akiko Wakabayashi) and Kissy Suzuki (Mie Hama). Both girls where chosen by the producers and sent to London for 3 months to learn English for the roles. Originally the roles were supposed to be reversed but Akiko proved to be the better at English and was therefore given the part with more lines. Kissy represents the more standard Bond girl and has a part similar to Honey Ryder in Dr No, helping Bond on the island and escaping with him when it’s about to explode. Aki on the other hand might be my favourite Connery era Bond girl (although Tanya in FRWL might tie with her). She’s smart, confident, a competent agent, of great assistance to Bond in the field and she chooses to pursue Bond. She also has a rather tragic death. All in all she’s more of an individual than most of the previous girls. Probably the main thing this film has going for it is spectacle. There have been big action set pieces in the previous films but this has a ninja training academy and an incursion on a hollowed out volcano lair. Everything is just a little grander this time around and it feels like it has more of purpose for happening than all the underwater battles from Thunderball. It also perfectly showcases Bond’s fighting style with a panning aerial shot of the dock rooftops. This is also the first of the Bond movies to largely deviate from Ian Fleming’s original novel and, interestingly enough, had the beloved children’s author Roald Dahl, a friend of Fleming, provide the screenplay. Maybe not quite as good as films 2 and 3 but a definite upgrade from number 4. 3.5/5.

#92 You Only Live Twice

(Rewatch)

After active Russian and American spacecraft are stolen by an unknown craft each country blames the other and threatens retribution if their ship is not returned. The United Kingdom however thinks there might be another organisation at work pulling the strings. MI6 sends James Bond (Sean Connery) into Japan, the last known location of the mystery vessel, in order to avert World War 3 and discover the true culprit.

This is the last of Connery’s original run as 007. Having grown bored/annoyed of the public attention from the role and fearing being type cast, Connery announced this would be his last time playing Bond mid way through production on this film. Despite this there doesn’t really seem to be any slump in performance, and we’re given the same Bond we know and love one more time.

Donald Pleasence would finally provide the face of the mysterious Ernst Stavro Blofeld, no 1 and leader of SPECTRE, in this installment. Although Blofeld would be played by 3 different actors over the course of the series, this version is probably the most synonymous with the series (Nehru suit, bald, holding a Persian cat, facial scar) and most widely parodied since (most notably Dr Evil in the Austin Powers series).

In terms of Bond girl this time around there were two: Aki (Akiko Wakabayashi) and Kissy Suzuki (Mie Hama). Both girls where chosen by the producers and sent to London for 3 months to learn English for the roles. Originally the roles were supposed to be reversed but Akiko proved to be the better at English and was therefore given the part with more lines. Kissy represents the more standard Bond girl and has a part similar to Honey Ryder in Dr No, helping Bond on the island and escaping with him when it’s about to explode.

Aki on the other hand might be my favourite Connery era Bond girl (although Tanya in FRWL might tie with her). She’s smart, confident, a competent agent, of great assistance to Bond in the field and she chooses to pursue Bond. She also has a rather tragic death. All in all she’s more of an individual than most of the previous girls.

Probably the main thing this film has going for it is spectacle. There have been big action set pieces in the previous films but this has a ninja training academy and an incursion on a hollowed out volcano lair. Everything is just a little grander this time around and it feels like it has more of purpose for happening than all the underwater battles from Thunderball. It also perfectly showcases Bond’s fighting style with a panning aerial shot of the dock rooftops.

This is also the first of the Bond movies to largely deviate from Ian Fleming’s original novel and, interestingly enough, had the beloved children’s author Roald Dahl, a friend of Fleming, provide the screenplay.

Maybe not quite as good as films 2 and 3 but a definite upgrade from number 4. 3.5/5.