I need to point out: Simon wasn't REALLY after revenge. He honestly didn't care that McClane had killed his brother. Revenge, like the bombings, was a diversion to help with the robbery.
JeffJohnson
· 1 month ago
Yes, I did mention that it turned out to be a diversion for a bigger heist, but I guess I could have been clearer. The point is, I was mentally done with the story by the time the "twist" was revealed.
DwDunphy
· 1 month ago
It's the potential that galls me. Having undone two huge hostage situations, I really just wanted Simon to be some anonymous schmuck looking for anarchy, just playing games with McClane since he's proven to be so resilient in the past. We wouldn't get that degree of nihilism from a movie character until The Dark Knight's Joker, but it would have been interesting to see McClane trying to figure out some connection for Simon's motive, only to discover he has none.
Instead, we get some sitcom plot device.
DwDunphy
· 1 month ago
So the fact that Simon was such an uncreative bonehead and copied Hans' shtick to the T is better than him going on a vengeance trip (plus, Jeff DID allude to the fact that it was really about the heist, not the revenge.)
With Jedi, I am constantly reminded that not only did the Rebels not see the Empire was rebuilding the Death Star, they didn't see it until it was more than halfway done. It's like someone in High Command gets the message that the Empire seems to be constructing something vaguely round-shaped, but decides to take a wait and see approach because, good Lord, they wouldn't be stupid enough to pull that Death Star trick again, would they?
Then it's halfway finished and, wow, where did that half-completed Death Star come from?! Color me startled!
With Alien 3, I have only one thing to say, just one thing: dog in an alien suit. That is all.
SeagirlX
· 1 month ago
What fun reading! I love all aspects of film and love all kinds of analyses! Great read! Jaws is my all time fave film and it took me a while to accept the second one, and to me, there aren't #3 and #4. Number four was so ludicrous, I pretend it's not even related.
I could not agree more on the Alien #3 and #4 too! Number four was a total embarrassment and I didn't even get it.
Wasn't The Exorcist demon named Isuzu? I could be wrong, it's been a long time...but maybe I'll load that DVD tonight...
SeagirlX
· 1 month ago
I stand corrected! I should know better. ;-) The demon was in fact, Pazuzu!
BobCashill
· 1 month ago
The second Death Star in ROTJ really bugged me, too.
Fincher's DVD edit of ALIEN 3 is an improvement, but that beginning is a turn-off no matter what.
EXORCIST II is a dazzling movie--if you can just turn off the dialogue track. Really ravishing visuallly. John Boorman's account of its turbulent production in his autobiography ADVENTURES OF A SUBURBAN BOY is riveting.
rwcass
· 1 month ago
Is your body supposed to be frozen during hypersleep, i.e. you stop growing? If so, another ten-year-old actress would've had to replace Carrie Henn. I assume that's one reason the character was killed off. Also, Ripley had to remain as Job-like as possible.
I actually liked the cloning setup of "Alien: Resurrection," but the movie itself wasn't very good. I read that Jean-Pierre Jeunet couldn't speak English at the time (maybe he still can't), so he used an interpreter to speak to the actors. But something was obviously lost in the translation.
When I saw "Resurrection" in the theater in the fall of '97, my roommate's girlfriend screamed early in the movie, but it wasn't because of a surprise alien attack or a moment of gore. She screamed because Dan Hedaya's shoulder-hair tufts were suddenly exposed to a harsh backlight. That still makes me laugh.
jamesballenger
· 1 month ago
Alien3 - Only twice have I stood in a theater clapping after I learned of a characters death. Newt's (Riiiiipppppllllleeeeeyyyyy AAAAIIIIIEEEE - thank goodness for hyper sleep) and Captain Kirk in Generations. And the 4th (which rocks more than the 3rd) was co-written by Buffy's Dad and directed by the guy who did The City of Lost Children!!!!! Poltergeist 2 - In this one at least the guy was waaay creepy looking. I always thought the"sun shower" was a cool looking shot. In the 3rd one it's set in an apartment building, thus making the 2nd that much better. Die Hard - OK sure the supposed plot twist was lame, but you get Jules and Butch(Booootch) singing Counting Flowers on the Wall, anything that (if only barely) acknowledges Pulp Fiction is the shit in my mind . Also the jumping from the George Washington (not) to the soon to be exploding ship was shot in Charleston SC, thus making it pretty groovy in my mind. Return of the Jedi - Hey I agree with you. As a matter of fact the Imperial government decided to make it EASIER to attack the Death Star. Before you could barely get an x-wing in the trench, now the whole damn Millenium Falcon fits! Jaws, Exorcist, Poseidon - 3 awesome movies that should have ended there.
ibrodie
· 1 month ago
It may sound sacrilege, but listen to the truly awesomely awful director's commentaries for Godfather II (yay) and III (boo, well, hmm), and the machinations required to explain why Clemenza didn't return (because Richard Castellano wanted to use his own writer for his dialogue) and thus introduce Frankie Pentangeli as yet another crew boss, and then why Tom Hagen is missing from III (because Robert Duvall can spot a disaster), ushering in George Hamilton. Perhaps not in the 'had a brother' category, but still pretty frickin' awful.
All Comments
Instead, we get some sitcom plot device.
With Jedi, I am constantly reminded that not only did the Rebels not see the Empire was rebuilding the Death Star, they didn't see it until it was more than halfway done. It's like someone in High Command gets the message that the Empire seems to be constructing something vaguely round-shaped, but decides to take a wait and see approach because, good Lord, they wouldn't be stupid enough to pull that Death Star trick again, would they?
Then it's halfway finished and, wow, where did that half-completed Death Star come from?! Color me startled!
With Alien 3, I have only one thing to say, just one thing: dog in an alien suit. That is all.
I could not agree more on the Alien #3 and #4 too! Number four was a total embarrassment and I didn't even get it.
Wasn't The Exorcist demon named Isuzu? I could be wrong, it's been a long time...but maybe I'll load that DVD tonight...
Fincher's DVD edit of ALIEN 3 is an improvement, but that beginning is a turn-off no matter what.
EXORCIST II is a dazzling movie--if you can just turn off the dialogue track. Really ravishing visuallly. John Boorman's account of its turbulent production in his autobiography ADVENTURES OF A SUBURBAN BOY is riveting.
I actually liked the cloning setup of "Alien: Resurrection," but the movie itself wasn't very good. I read that Jean-Pierre Jeunet couldn't speak English at the time (maybe he still can't), so he used an interpreter to speak to the actors. But something was obviously lost in the translation.
When I saw "Resurrection" in the theater in the fall of '97, my roommate's girlfriend screamed early in the movie, but it wasn't because of a surprise alien attack or a moment of gore. She screamed because Dan Hedaya's shoulder-hair tufts were suddenly exposed to a harsh backlight. That still makes me laugh.
Poltergeist 2 - In this one at least the guy was waaay creepy looking. I always thought the"sun shower" was a cool looking shot. In the 3rd one it's set in an apartment building, thus making the 2nd that much better.
Die Hard - OK sure the supposed plot twist was lame, but you get Jules and Butch(Booootch) singing Counting Flowers on the Wall, anything that (if only barely) acknowledges Pulp Fiction is the shit in my mind . Also the jumping from the George Washington (not) to the soon to be exploding ship was shot in Charleston SC, thus making it pretty groovy in my mind.
Return of the Jedi - Hey I agree with you. As a matter of fact the Imperial government decided to make it EASIER to attack the Death Star. Before you could barely get an x-wing in the trench, now the whole damn Millenium Falcon fits!
Jaws, Exorcist, Poseidon - 3 awesome movies that should have ended there.