i missed the mini-series-didn't even know about it 'til it was gone! :( the only film version i've seen is the one with susan hampshire.it is rather old and has the most awful cheezy cheap sets.i had always hoped for a remake.
Jim, I finally caught up with DEEP BLUE SEA, and I hereby declare it to be a fine example of Action/Suspense Plot Number One. In fact it's a purer example of the Plot than JAWS. All the basic elements are there, although there is no real standout hero - it has several.
Thanks for the tip off, but if you're right the movie doesn't really belong here after all. I have seen P2, but apparently my memory has failed to connect that part with the rest of it. I'll have to give it a second viewing some time.
Glad you liked it! So were you as surprised as I was when Jackson got cut off (tee hee) mid-sentence during the normally-cliched Big Speech? Our only big-name star! Killed! Barely half-way through (snicker) the movie!
I also spent the entire movie thinking the good-swimmer hero was going to get killed because he showed the "smart" shark his trick too early. "No way she's going to fall for that again." I was surprised by his survival.
The original Predator is more in keeping with list, IMO. In it, the victims are isolated from society by the jungle. P2 does have scenes where the predator hunts isolated folks (like the warehouse scene), but throughout most of the movie the predator (and his victims) aren't isolated from society at large.
To be honest, neither am I. Although I did like Godfather II quite a bit better than the original. I mentioned it because I assumed you'd be in the majority. Not that I find your tastes to be average, but because you have to go with statistics when everything else is unknown. :)
*lol* An old boyfriend of mine used Olivia Newton-John's Greatest Hits II as makeout music. I'm so used to Sarah MacLachlan, Tori Amos or Enigma that the choice just totally stunned me. I guess some would find Olivia cheesy, but I love her too! I just can't listen to "A Little More Love" the same way after that incident though.
I think that's Predator II your'e thinking of. It has cops going into a warehouse to trap one of the Predators in an environment where it can't use its IR vision.
"Devil's Advocate" is a trip. I'm in law school ... most here resent the hell out of it, though a few swear by it (claim it's the reason they applied in the first place). I swear it's based on a real NYC firm.
"Election" was sweet. It's almost like Matthew Broderick grows up and becomes the Jeffrey Jones character from "Ferris Bueller."
If I could bring myself to like any of the Irving novels I've read, it'd be Garp, probably. I feel like the concept of subtlety isn't part of his writerly repertoire. I wish it were. He creates interesting characters, then buries them in symbolism and contrived tragedy. But hey - that's just a personal preference.
Speaking of Jackson, I thought he was the more compelling part of "Jungle Fever." But I can't really deny the guilty-pleasure value of a "Major League" or a "Real Genius."
"Acceptable" was probably understating the case. What I meant to say was that those are my favorite American directors, but (apparently) I was feeling vague and/or mercurial. "Adequate" doesn't quite do them justice, I'd agree.
Absolutely certain about the Brady sequel. Repeat viewings are critical, as is a healthy appreciation of the understated comic wonder that is Gary Cole (see OFFICE SPACE).
Just the "big lizard rampaging through New York" scenes. But those are probably coincidental rather than copycatish. Actually, as far as intent is concerned, Godzilla was probably planned to one-up Jurassic Park (it didn't , of course), to that might make more sense as a comparision. But The Lost World is closer chronologically, I think.
And it's okay that we don't always agree - how boring otherwise. :)
Sure, Godzilla only had a couple memorable scenes, but The Lost World didn't have any. Okay, there was that RV hanging off the cliff scene in TLW, but any thrill that contained was ruined by how loooong it dragged on.
Besides, Godzilla had Jean Reno and Hank Azaria, while TLW had . . . Uhhh . . . Criminy, I can't remember a single human being! Sure, Broderick was miscast in Godzilla, but at least I remember he was in it! And I kinda liked having the anti-Stallone cast in such a role.
Finally, of every character in both movies, CGI or human, the only one I came close to having any empathy for was The Big G herself.
Dang! Who was in TLW!? Sure, I could check the IMDb, but I'm finding it remarkable how forgettable everyone was!
Oh! Right! Jeff Goldblum! Jean Reno wins that match-up, hands down.
Agreed - much better than Anaconda. But I'd have to say that the dialog is the only thing that saved it from being a waste of time. For me, it was thrill-less, which is a fatal flaw in a thriller. But you're right - go in thinking "comedy" and you'll be much happier.
I'm just at the end of it now, and I have to say that it's one of the most interesting books I've read. It gives me a much deeper appreciation of psychology and also surprised me as to how much we know (and don't know) about how our brains work. He really tries to explain, and supports with evidence, that our emotions, thought processes, everything is a result of the environments our ancestors lived in. I highly recommend it and I'm thinking of getting The Language Instinct soon.
I am think about reading The Myth of the First Three Years by John T. Bruer as a counterpoint to What's Going on in There? and Rare Earth by Peter Douglas Ward and Donald Brownlee as a counterpoint to Probability 1. Anybody think these books are worth checking out, especially in relation to what I've already read?
i absolutly ADORE swan lake!
i missed the mini-series-didn't even know about it 'til it was gone! :( the only film version i've seen is the one with susan hampshire.it is rather old and has the most awful cheezy cheap sets.i had always hoped for a remake.
I think my preference for JP and TLW over GODZILLA was confirmed by the fact that they are sf while it is sci-fi ... if you take my meaning.
Jim, I finally caught up with DEEP BLUE SEA, and I hereby declare it to be a fine example of Action/Suspense Plot Number One. In fact it's a purer example of the Plot than JAWS. All the basic elements are there, although there is no real standout hero - it has several.
Thanks for the tip off, but if you're right the movie doesn't really belong here after all. I have seen P2, but apparently my memory has failed to connect that part with the rest of it. I'll have to give it a second viewing some time.
Yeah. The dinosaur movies at least attemped scientific plausibility (if that's your meaning).
Ok, this whole post is a spoiler:
Glad you liked it! So were you as surprised as I was when Jackson got cut off (tee hee) mid-sentence during the normally-cliched Big Speech? Our only big-name star! Killed! Barely half-way through (snicker) the movie!
I also spent the entire movie thinking the good-swimmer hero was going to get killed because he showed the "smart" shark his trick too early. "No way she's going to fall for that again." I was surprised by his survival.
And I liked the oven scene.
In all, tons of fun.
The original Predator is more in keeping with list, IMO. In it, the victims are isolated from society by the jungle. P2 does have scenes where the predator hunts isolated folks (like the warehouse scene), but throughout most of the movie the predator (and his victims) aren't isolated from society at large.
To be honest, neither am I. Although I did like Godfather II quite a bit better than the original. I mentioned it because I assumed you'd be in the majority. Not that I find your tastes to be average, but because you have to go with statistics when everything else is unknown. :)
Yeah, I'd agree with that. He probably took the role because he thought That Scene was as cool as everybody else did.
*lol* An old boyfriend of mine used Olivia Newton-John's Greatest Hits II as makeout music. I'm so used to Sarah MacLachlan, Tori Amos or Enigma that the choice just totally stunned me. I guess some would find Olivia cheesy, but I love her too! I just can't listen to "A Little More Love" the same way after that incident though.
I think that's Predator II your'e thinking of. It has cops going into a warehouse to trap one of the Predators in an environment where it can't use its IR vision.
"Devil's Advocate" is a trip. I'm in law school ... most here resent the hell out of it, though a few swear by it (claim it's the reason they applied in the first place). I swear it's based on a real NYC firm.
"Election" was sweet. It's almost like Matthew Broderick grows up and becomes the Jeffrey Jones character from "Ferris Bueller."
Ever see "Your Friends and Neighbors?"
Which five?
Not a Godfather fan ... though I recognize how very squarely in the minority that view places me.
If I could bring myself to like any of the Irving novels I've read, it'd be Garp, probably. I feel like the concept of subtlety isn't part of his writerly repertoire. I wish it were. He creates interesting characters, then buries them in symbolism and contrived tragedy. But hey - that's just a personal preference.
Speaking of Jackson, I thought he was the more compelling part of "Jungle Fever." But I can't really deny the guilty-pleasure value of a "Major League" or a "Real Genius."
Don't get me wrong ... Deep Blue Sea is great candy. I wouldn't say Michael Rapaport or LL Cool J was slumming. But Sam Jackson ........
"Acceptable" was probably understating the case. What I meant to say was that those are my favorite American directors, but (apparently) I was feeling vague and/or mercurial. "Adequate" doesn't quite do them justice, I'd agree.
Absolutely certain about the Brady sequel. Repeat viewings are critical, as is a healthy appreciation of the understated comic wonder that is Gary Cole (see OFFICE SPACE).
Just the "big lizard rampaging through New York" scenes. But those are probably coincidental rather than copycatish. Actually, as far as intent is concerned, Godzilla was probably planned to one-up Jurassic Park (it didn't , of course), to that might make more sense as a comparision. But The Lost World is closer chronologically, I think.
And it's okay that we don't always agree - how boring otherwise. :)
Sure, Godzilla only had a couple memorable scenes, but The Lost World didn't have any. Okay, there was that RV hanging off the cliff scene in TLW, but any thrill that contained was ruined by how loooong it dragged on.
Besides, Godzilla had Jean Reno and Hank Azaria, while TLW had . . . Uhhh . . . Criminy, I can't remember a single human being! Sure, Broderick was miscast in Godzilla, but at least I remember he was in it! And I kinda liked having the anti-Stallone cast in such a role.
Finally, of every character in both movies, CGI or human, the only one I came close to having any empathy for was The Big G herself.
Dang! Who was in TLW!? Sure, I could check the IMDb, but I'm finding it remarkable how forgettable everyone was!
Oh! Right! Jeff Goldblum! Jean Reno wins that match-up, hands down.
Agreed - much better than Anaconda. But I'd have to say that the dialog is the only thing that saved it from being a waste of time. For me, it was thrill-less, which is a fatal flaw in a thriller. But you're right - go in thinking "comedy" and you'll be much happier.
I'm just at the end of it now, and I have to say that it's one of the most interesting books I've read. It gives me a much deeper appreciation of psychology and also surprised me as to how much we know (and don't know) about how our brains work. He really tries to explain, and supports with evidence, that our emotions, thought processes, everything is a result of the environments our ancestors lived in. I highly recommend it and I'm thinking of getting The Language Instinct soon.
I am think about reading The Myth of the First Three Years by John T. Bruer as a counterpoint to What's Going on in There? and Rare Earth by Peter Douglas Ward and Donald Brownlee as a counterpoint to Probability 1. Anybody think these books are worth checking out, especially in relation to what I've already read?
What did you think of How the Mind Works? I read and enjoyed Pinker's The Language Instinct, and was wondering if I should read some more.