ROCKY BALBOA
The Rocky franchise became a joke in the early 90's. Rocky V: Go For It is on my top 10 worst movie list of all time. When I was reading my bible (Entertainment Weekly) earlier this year I was surprised to find that Sylvester Stallone was filming the 6th and final round of the Rocky franchise. Why would he do such a thing? Besides having lots of time on his hands (when was the last time Sly was in a movie?) I can only come up with a line from the movie itself..."I still got some stuff in the basement".
ROCKY BALBOA (RB) is a really good movie. Actually, I can't think of another film that has surprised me so much. RB opens with Rocky visiting his late wife's grave. Three times during the film I had a tear in my eye...this was the first. We learn Rocky has opened a small eatery called Adrian's. Although he seems content running the restaurant and telling old boxing stories to his clientele the look on his punished face says everything..."this isn't what I want to do". Age has told him that boxing is in his past. His gut is telling him differently. An exhibition fight is arranged with Rocky and the current champ Mason "The Line" Dixon. I liked that the screenplay didn't portray Dixon as a villain. He's portrayed as a great fighter who is so good that when he fights the bouts last only a round or two. Big deal right? In the early 90's I paid for every "pay per view" there was. Nothing was more frustrating when the fight only lasted one round or when one of the boxers tried to bite his opponents ear off. The boxing fans in Rocky are frustrated. They want to see great competition...will Rocky deliver?
I will refrain from spoiling the ending. All I can say is at this point ROCKY BALBOA is currently the most memorable film of 2006. I give it an "8".
Top 5 Sylvester Stallone films.
1. Rocky
2. First Blood
3. Cliffhanger
4. Rocky Balboa
5. Demolition Man
Friday, December 22, 2006
Sunday, December 03, 2006
TURISTAS
TURISTAS is a horror film about a spring vacation like holiday in Rio that goes horribly wrong. The film is filled with great looking scenery...lots of young hotties in skimpy bikinis...Oh yeah, the rain forest looks good to. My expectations were low going into this film. I knew it was a horror flick that took place in Rio during a vacation but I didn't know anything else about it. Usually with horror films you know something about the villain. For example, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre...We know the baddie probably has a rusty chainsaw that he uses to introduce his victims to the afterlife. In TURISTAS, the premise involves a surgeon who kidnaps tourists, sedates them, and steals their vital organs to give to the economically depressed people of Brazil. Because health care is not a large concern in Brazil the surgeon and his staff don't bother sewing up their organ-less patients. Their bodies are discarded with the other medical waste involved in the operation.
During the opening credits I was surprised when I saw the name of John Stockwell under the directors title. Although he has never won or deserved an Oscar or even a nomination he has had a few decent credits to his name which include "Blue Crush", "crazy/beautiful", and last years "Deep Blue". All of these were rated 6 or 7 by myself and received mixed to good reviews by professional couch potatoes (movie reviewers). Also, all three of these films involved the ocean in some way shape or form. I like when a director leaves his comfort zone, especially when they abandon a comfortable zone such young twenty-something relationship movies to young twenty-something horror flicks.
STOCKWELL LOVES WATER
...But sometimes leaving your comfort zone can become uncomfortable. Although TURISTAS leaves the familiar "relationship fare" Stockwell is accustomed to...he can't leave water behind. Most of TURISTAS takes place in an underwater cave/cavern system that the good guys use to hide from the bad guys. The problem with this is that caves and caverns are dark...very dark. I had a difficult time figuring what the hell was going on...the lighting was terrible. Half the time I couldn't tell if the bad guys were hiding waiting until the good guys would come closer or if I was seeing the good guys hiding waiting for the bad goes to get further away.
Horror movies are supposed to be scary, not confusing. "TURISTAS" gets a "2".
FYI...TURISTAS stars Josh Duhamel from televisions Las Vegas. He will also be in TRANSFORMERS, which will be released summer 2007.
During the opening credits I was surprised when I saw the name of John Stockwell under the directors title. Although he has never won or deserved an Oscar or even a nomination he has had a few decent credits to his name which include "Blue Crush", "crazy/beautiful", and last years "Deep Blue". All of these were rated 6 or 7 by myself and received mixed to good reviews by professional couch potatoes (movie reviewers). Also, all three of these films involved the ocean in some way shape or form. I like when a director leaves his comfort zone, especially when they abandon a comfortable zone such young twenty-something relationship movies to young twenty-something horror flicks.
STOCKWELL LOVES WATER
...But sometimes leaving your comfort zone can become uncomfortable. Although TURISTAS leaves the familiar "relationship fare" Stockwell is accustomed to...he can't leave water behind. Most of TURISTAS takes place in an underwater cave/cavern system that the good guys use to hide from the bad guys. The problem with this is that caves and caverns are dark...very dark. I had a difficult time figuring what the hell was going on...the lighting was terrible. Half the time I couldn't tell if the bad guys were hiding waiting until the good guys would come closer or if I was seeing the good guys hiding waiting for the bad goes to get further away.
Horror movies are supposed to be scary, not confusing. "TURISTAS" gets a "2".
FYI...TURISTAS stars Josh Duhamel from televisions Las Vegas. He will also be in TRANSFORMERS, which will be released summer 2007.
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