Wednesday, January 30, 2013

11 Awesome Quotes (From Awful Movies)



Bad movies happen, but sometimes they have some good lines that stand out and almost make you happy you sat through them.


11. Super Mario Bros. (1993)
This is widely regarded as one of the worst video game movies ever made.  It’s lack of faithfulness to the game’s cartoonish atmosphere, as well of the fact that many non-human characters are inexplicably human in it are often cited as reasons.  Still, the fact that Mario and Luigi are actually likable and well-cast makes it automatically better than most video game adaptations.  I also like how King Koopa (Dennis Hopper) highlights the ultimate paradox:
“Do you know what I love about mud?  It’s dirty and clean at the same time.”


10. Wanted (2008)
Although I found this to be a rather mediocre film that took a great action concept (curving the bullet) and wasted it with cheesy Matrix-wannabe-style slow motion, Morgan Freeman drops a perfect precision F-Bomb out of nowhere.
“…otherwise shoot this motherfucka, and let us take our fraternity of assassins to heights reserved only for gods of men.  You choose.”
It sounded better in the context of his monologue leading up to it, but for some reason, the whole quote isn’t included on IMDb’s quotes section.    


9. Street Fighter (1994)
This movie is an example of how bad video game movies were once at least enjoyably campy and self-aware before Paul W.S. Anderson ruined even that.  Raul Julia’s Bison is an example of how these movies had some cool elements.  Although cheesily enjoyable, he utters this line that’s so badass that TVTropes uses it as a title for a villain’s acts of evil being so regular that he doesn’t remember them the way his victims do. 
“For you, the day Bison graced your village was the most important day of your lfe, but for me it was Tuesday.”
 It’s not quite as badass in the context of the whole scene, but I’ll poke fun at that in another post.


8. Underworld Evolution (2006)
This mediocre film series does have at least one moment of intentional comic relief.  When The villain Marcus (Tony Curran) wants to get information from exiled vampire Tanis this gem is uttered.
“Please, sit.  There’s no need for this to be unpleasant.  I’ve always rather enjoyed your company.  [Tanis nervously glances toward his armory]  Now you’re being rude.”


7. Wizards (1977)
[SPOILER ALERT] For the most part this Ralph Bakshi cartoon is disjointed, pretentious postmodern nonsense.  However it has a “Just Shoot Him” scene so awesome, it’s the only instance I can think of where an entire movie was redeemed by one scene.  It looks like Avatar (Bob Holt) is about to get into a generic wizard fight with his evil brother Blackwolf, and this happens: 
   “Let me tell ya, I ain’t practiced much magic for a long time.  I wanna show you a trick mother showed me when you weren’t around to use on special occasions like this.  Oh yeah, one more thing.  I’m glad you changed your last name, you son of a bitch!” [pulls out a Luger and shoots Darkwolf twice]


6. Batman & Robin (1997)
As awful as this movie is, it does have this great exchange between Bruce Wayne (George Clooney) and Pamela Isley (Uma Thurman).  While there are a couple good one-liners among the swarm of awful ones, this scene is a standout.  Very rarely does a movie show a radical environmentalist getting put in her place.  And yet, for some reason, this isn’t listed among the memorable quotes on IMDb.  Hippies.
PAMELA ISLEY – “I have here a proposal showing how Wayne Enterprises can immediately cease all actions that toxify our environment.  Forget the stars!  Look here at the Earth, our mother, our womb.  She deserves our loyalty and protection, and yet you spoil her lands, poison her oceans, blacken her skies!  You’re killing her!”
BRUCE WAYNE – “Well, your intentions are noble, but no diesel fuel for heat, no coolants to preserve food…millions of people would die of cold and hunger alone.”
PAMELA ISLEY – “Acceptable losses in the battle to save the planet.”
BRUCE WAYNE - “People come first, Dr. Isley.”

5. Resident Evil (2002)
This otherwise worthless movie does have one line that gets a chuckle from me.  I love how crazy Rain (Michelle Rodriguez) comes off in this scene, as well as the line’s delivery.
KAPLAN – What was all that shooting?
RAIN – We found a survivor.
KAPLAN – And you shot him?!
RAIN – [slowly] She was crazed.  She bit me.


4. Robin Hood (2010)
I actually looked onto Google thinking that they had to have lifted this line from somewhere else.  There is no way such a lame movie could have produced such a rousing line.
“Rise and rise again, until lambs become lions.”


3. 300 (2006)
I hate this movie, but this line gets a chuckle from me.  Leonidas (Gerard Butler) talking to one of his officers over the pile of Persian bodies they just massacred and considering a parlay with the Persians.
“Relax, old friend, if they assassinate me, all of Sparta goes to war.  Pray they’re that stupid.  Pray we’re that lucky. Besides, [bites an apple and talks with his mouth full] there’s no reason we can’t be civil is there, is there?”


2. Shoot’em Up (2007)
I absolutely despise this sexist, anti-gun abortion of a movie.  Most of the humor was terrible, but there were some few funny parts, like the “FUK U 2” scene, and Smith’s attempting to buy ammunition with food stamps (“It’s just as good as cash”).  The standout is when Smith (Clive Owen) sums up my feelings about guys who wear pony-tails.
SMITH – “You know what I hate?”
WOMAN – “No!”
SMITH – “I hate these forty-year-old jackholes wearing pony-tails.  That pony-tail does not make you look hip, young or cool.”


1. Miami Vice (2006)
This movie was absolutely tedious and unwatchable.  While it did have some great gunfights, most of it consisted of Colin Farrell and Jamie Fox each acting like a college student who wanted the other to go away so he could masturbate.  And yet Det. Gena Calabrese (Elizabeth Rodriguez) pulls this excellent scene that makes one wonder why the movie isn’t about her.
SKINHEAD – “Shoot me, she dies.  Shoot me, go ahead.  Fuck it, we can all go.  That’s cool.”
DET. CALABRESE- “That’s not what happens.  What will happen is…what will happen is I will put a round at 2,700 feet per second into the medulla at the base of your brain, and you will be dead from the neck down before your body knows it.  Your finger won’t even twitch.  Only you get dead.  So tell me, sport, do you believe that?”
SKINHEAD - “Hey, fu-”
BLAM!!!


Upcoming Movies - 2013



The truth is I’m starting to see movies as a critic does.  I’m analytical and I often feel obligated to see a movie just to have an opinion on it.  This unfortunately makes watching movies a chore.  The actual act of going to a theater to watch a movie is a pain in the ass (especially with my work schedule) so I have to choose which movies I want to go out and see.  I must admit I did a terrible job choosing, and it didn’t help that a lot of good-looking movies came out around October, and I didn’t have the time to see all of them (and yet I still sat through Total Recall, I’m not proud of that decision).  I have an insane amount of movies to to catch up on before I can make a favorite movies of 2012 list, but my theater-based watching from that year is complete, so I can post what movies look interesting for 2013.  I probably intend to avoid comedies since I'm tired of Hollywood types telling me how to live my life, and comedians are the worst about that.

MOVIES I WILL DEFINITELY SEE

A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III (Feb. 8)
It looks funny, and I like the 70's aesthetic.

I grew up with GI Joe, so this is required viewing for me.  Although they seemed to adapt the DIC cartoon in the last one, this one looks like the fixed some things.  They fixed Cobra Commander and Snake Eye’s costumes, and there are no stupid black power suits, either.  I wanted to see this last year.  They had practically finished the movie, they had trailers, a Super Bowl spot and a release date, and THEN some punk thought, “Hey let’s make this a 3D, because we all know how well 3D transfers work.”  I should not be that upset about this.  It was passably entertaining but forgettable.  I actually slightly prefer Rise of Cobra, which seemed to embrace the cartoon roots more.  (5/10)

Wrong (Mar. 29)
This absurdist movie looks hilarious.  The presence of William Fichtner is a plus, and I also like the poster.

Trance (April 5)
Danny Boyle's usually a good thing.  Also, I need to forget his ridiculous Olympic ceremony.

Iron Man 3 (May 3)
This is the big one.  The trailer looks great.  The new directorial choice of Shane Black looks promising, as does the inclusion of Guy Pearce.  I don’t know why they didn’t cast an actual Chinese person to play the Mandarin, but Kingsley's voice sounds cool.  It was ok.  The first is still better. (7/10)

Man of Steel (June 14)
I like Superman as a character, and as I pointed out I don’t think he’s been handled well in film yet, which makes this a must-see.  Still I think Zack Snyder is an absolutely inept director; I hope Christopher Nolan will point him in the right direction, though.

The Lone Ranger (July 3)
Gore Verbinski is always a fun director, and Johnny Depp is finally showing some of his old versatility.

Guillermo del Toro is an excellent director and the presence of Idris Elba and Ron Perlman is also encouraging.  Still, I’ve never found Mecha to be a remotely appealing idea

The World’s End (October 25)
The new Edgar Wright/Simon Pegg movie.

Now I know I want to see it since I know Philip Seymour Hoffman is in it.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (December 13)
I actually found the first installment to be a massive disappointment.  The fact that this one has a dragon in it is the only reason I have any intention of seeing it.  We need more dragons in cinema.



HARD MAYBES

I think Sam Raimi may be on his way to being considered a fallen creator, and I might have to watch this movie to confirm this.  It might be Alice in Wonderland all over again.  It looks like a good idea for a prequel (How the Wizard became the Wizard), but some of the story elements look too much like a foregone conclusion (it’s about him finding out who the good witch is when we all know who they are).  One thing that encourages my seeing this in theaters is the 3:4 ratio they seem to be using for our world.  I already complained about how this was annoying and unnecessary in my Enchanted review, and it will probably be more tolerable in the theater than on a TV.  It was underwhelming (4/10)

Upside Down (Mar. 15)
Interesting story, and the visuals look beautiful, although it is typical I-Pod future look.  However, being able to go onto upside-down world just because you put weights on your legs?   I don't think it works like that.

Evil Dead (Apr. 5)
When I changed my mind and decided to watch it, I couldn't find an opportunity for weeks.  Now that I have, it was good and had effective gore. (7/10)

Oblivion (Apr. 12)
The premise looks intriguing, it has good visuals and it’s directed by the guy who did Tron: Legacy (I’m one of the few people on the internet who likes this movie).  My only problem is that Tom Cruise looks a bit wooden in it.

I though the last one was okay, but now Best Picture Nomination okay.  The trailer looks great and Benedict Cumberbatch’s voice sounds intimidating.  Now I know why he’s voicing a dragon in The Hobbit.  It was awesome. (10/10)

Epic (May 24)
Looks like a decent version of Fern Gully.  I like the villain's (Christoph Waltz) line: “I’m going to destroy the forest.  I’m only going to do it once so you’d better pay attention.”
Gatekeepers 
Israel is a fascinating subject, but I don't think I'll be able to see this documentary in theaters.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (October 4)
About time they made this. 



SOFT MAYBES

Gangster Squad (Jan 11)
I might go if someone asks me to.  Note how Sean Penn pretty much uses a lame version of the “Swear to me” line from Batman Begins.

Warm Bodies (Feb. 1)
Although I hate serious zombie movies, I don’t mind zomedies.
  
This series has probably overstayed its welcome, but some the action looks great.
Snitch (Feb. 22)
I like the Rock, and it looks like a solid movie.

The Wolverine (July 26)
I never asked for another X-Men movie, but with James Mangold at the helm, it’s sounds a bit interesting.



MOVIES I DON’T HAVE ANY INTENTION OF SEEING

Although it doesn’t look bad, Cracked.com’s increasingly leftist tilt has made me reluctant to give David Wong money.
 
Yeah, generic hackish CGI cartoon with an all-star cast?  No.

I’m becoming less and less amused by mainstream comedies and, besides, I think Steve Carell is overrated.

Pain and Gain (Apr 26)
The Rock and Mark Wahlberg are likable actors, but I’ve learned that Michael Bay is always bad news.

The Purge (June 7)
You know, at first I found the premise a bit interesting.  Being the conservative wonk I am, I immediately associated the thought of legalizing murder under a certain circumstance so as to reduce the number of poor people who will potentially commit violent crime with a certain liberal belief.  However, the obnoxiously ironic use of patriotic imagery (which I find at least as trite as earnest jingoism) and the presence of Ethan Fucking Hawke suggested something more liberal.  Turns out, the movie was meant to be some kind of hit at the Tea Party and the NRA, because advocating fiscal responsibility and the right to bear arms is totally the same thing as legalizing murder for a night.  You gotta admit, the abortion connection is far less of a reach than what the movie thinks it's doing.  I at least feel vindicated that the movie is not getting much praise, and that even people who would be on board the contrived attempt at satire think it's not much more than a generic home invasion movie.      
Despicable Me 2 (July 3)
I’m one of the few people who didn’t like the first one.  Still, though teaser's pretty funny.

The Smurfs 2 (July 31)
I’m actually surprised this is only the second one.  I could’ve sworn they crapped out more of these already.

300: Rise of an Empire (August 2)
I thought the first movie was absolutely atrocious for reasons I’ll go into when I get around to doing a full review of it.  Obviously, I have no intention of seeing the sequel.

Kick-Ass 2 (August 16)
I wasn't a fan of the first movie, but the inclusion of anti-gun/anti-vac jackass Jim Carrey ensures that I will actively avoid the sequel.

I may be in the minority, but I hated Ron Burgundy.  I do not understand what people find funny in this movie.  The trailer for the sequel seems to sum up everything I hated about the first movie: the forced absurdist dialogue and the fact that, of all the idiots in the cast, the guy with the actual developmental disorder that’s not his fault is somehow the most worthy of my ridicule.

Friday, January 25, 2013

70's Movies Ranked





Unlike some reactionary critics, I do not wax nostalgic over the supposed superiority of 70’s cinema, which celebrated pretentious vanity projects while forgetting that movies are primarily meant to be aesthetic, entertaining and touching.  I’m glad we now make movies that people can connect to, regardless of how many mediocre blockbusters get made.  Still, here are the 70’s movies I like.




41. The Star Wars Holiday Special
1978
D: Steve Binder, David Acomba
**********
Aside from Nelvana’s animated sequence and maybe the Bea Arthur sketch, this is one of the most unwatchable and bafflingly bad movies I have ever seen.  I don’t blame Lucas for wanting to forget this.  The prequels, though flawed, cannot possibly be compared to this garbage.


40. Moonraker
1979
D: Lewis Gilbert
**********
A pathetic attempt by the Moore-era Bond to cash in on the success of Star Wars.  When I first saw it, I thought it was hilariously bad.  However, a more recent viewing simply made it seem dull and mediocre.


39. Jaws 2
1978
D: Jeannot Szwarc
**********
It was made by the same director as Supergirl, which is surprising because it’s so much more competent than that movie, but not so surprising because they were both very boring movies.  The final takedown of the shark was pretty cool, though.


38. Fritz the Cat
1972
D: Ralph Bakshi
**********
As a fan of animation and anthropomorphism, I think this movie had so much potential to be a smart and mature entry in an underappreciated subgenre.  It had a lot of strengths, but it was ruined by its unrelenting and unnecessary raunchiness, which is made even worse because it involves cartoon animals.  I think Marzgurl hit the nail on the head when she said this movie has nudity just for the sake of having nudity.

 
37. Dawn of the Dead
1978
D: George A. Romero
**********
I’m probably a contrarian when it comes to zombie movies.  I have some respect for Night of the Living Dead for its originality and influence, but it’s not my thing.  I’ve never found the subgenre particularly appealing, and the only serious example of it I like is 28 Days Later.  I didn’t understand why people treat this as a seminal horror movie when I find the serious aspects underwhelming.  There are so many moments of seemingly intentional camp in it.  I also dislike the Zack Snyder remake, although I imagine I would hate it even more if I liked the original.  I haven’t seen Day of the Dead, though, so I may modify my opinion.


 36. Superman
1978
D: Richard Donner
***********
Another good movie ruined by a terrible ending.


35. Nashville
1975
D: Robert Altman
**********
Being from Nashville, I would like to have at least one fun movie about my hometown.  Instead we get this, Percy Jackson and Trash Humpers.  It’s one of those dry comedies like Lost in Translation and Bottle Rocket that are so dry they apparently forgot to put jokes in it.  The only part of it I found funny was the scene in which a pretentious reporter is in a field of idling school buses and she can’t decide if she wants to make a positive or negative metaphor based on their yellow color.  I also liked a scene which prominently displayed St. Henry’s Church (my grade school alma mater).  Oddly enough, the movie doesn’t seem particularly flattering toward the town; it focuses on petty rivalries, political corruption and an assassination. 


35. Annie Hall
1977
D: Woody Allen
**********
The first five or ten minutes are hilarious, but it quickly devolves into dull romcom dreck.  It’s largely credited with influencing the romantic comedy formula, which is reason enough to hate it.  I don’t care if anyone would think me a lowbrow fanboy for saying this movie stole the Oscar from Star Wars, but that’s what it did.  This is not a Lives of Others situation.  It stole the Oscar from Star Wars.


 34. The Lord of the Rings
1978
D: Ralph Bakshi
**********
Some good animation, but it isn’t too well-executed.  It’s much shorter and less detailed than the Peter Jackson version, but it seems longer because it’s not as a watchable.


 33. A Clockwork Orange
1971
D: Stanley Kubrick
**********
I would consider this a masterpiece, but I can’t get past the gratuitous and utterly overdone raunchiness.  Many things in this movie look like they’re lewd just for the sake of being lewd, and that time-elapsed three-way scene looks like something out of a Happy Madison movie.


32. The Hobbit
1977
D: Jules Bass, Arthur Rankin, Jr.
**********
It has a very distinctive art style, but it could have been much better.  Those obnoxious songs certainly didn’t help.


31. Jaws
1975
D: Steven Spielberg
**********
Though I don’t love it as much as everyone else, but it is a good film.


30. National Lampoon’s Animal House
1978
D: John Landis
**********
Though this movie was funny, I still find the Delta House “heroes” to be unsympathetic, and this movie possibly popularized the annoying trend in comedies like Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Old School of framing the actual bad guys as protagonists.


29. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
1975
D: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones
**********
The movie is funny, but the overt randomness as well as the real-life attitudes of Monty Python’s crew have made me a little more antagonistic of the franchise lately.


28. The Wicker Man
1973
D: Robin Hardy
**********
Though it gets on the preachy side, it doesn’t seem so far-fetched nowadays.  Certainly a better movie than the unintentionally hilarious remake.


27. Wizards
1977
D: Ralph Bakshi
**********
While I believe one awful scene can ruin an otherwise good film, this is the one example of a great scene somehow redeeming a bad movie.  I usually don’t like Ralph Bakshi movies, and I was hating this film until I saw the final wizard fight in which the good wizard pretty much pulls out a Luger and shoots the villain.  That made the movie for me.


26. American Graffiti
1973
D: George Lucas
**********
Proof that Lucas was at some point able to make a good, character-driven movie that was not a genre film.


 25. The French Connection
1971
D: William Friedkin
**********
A good crime thriller that has a revolutionary car “chase.”  Well, it’s not technically a car chase.  It’s a guy really trying to catch a train.  It helped by simulated a crowded street, adding to the realism.


24. The Abominable Dr. Phibes
1971
D: Robert Fuest
**********
A stylish art-deco thriller with Vincent Price


23. Duel
1971
D: Steven Spielberg
**********
A suspenseful cat-and-mouse game between a motorist and a murderous trucker.


22. Soylent Green
1973
D: Richard Fleischer
**********
A dark view of a barren future starring Charlton Heston.


21. Star Trek: The Motion Picture
1979
D: Robert Wise
**********
It’s not a very good movie, and the plot had been done before in that very franchise, but it’s one of my Late 70’s/Early 80’s Effects Movies that I find to be guilty pleasures.  The model work is amazing in this film, and despite complaints about it, the overly long scenery porn scene of V’Ger is my favorite part of the movie.  That transporter accident was pretty disturbing, too.


20. The Black Hole
1979
D: Gary Nelson
**********
It’s better than Star Trek: The Motion Picture, but I like it for the same reason.  Gratuitous scenes of excellent model work.


19. Mad Max
1979
D: George Miller
**********
A groundbreaking postapocalyptic film with great action and stunts.  It departs from the conventional revenge movie formula by having the loss of the family the primary drive of the movie, rather than getting it out of the way in the first five minutes.  However, since we all already knows that Max’s family dies before we watch the film, that makes the movie less suspenseful and more like an exercise in masochism.  It’s kind of annoying how fate just cheats over and over again to have Max’s family die.  Also, I love Bubba.


18. Dirty Harry
1971
D: Don Siegel
**********
Classic movie with a memorably vile villain.


17. Logan’s Run
1976
D: Michael Anderson
**********
Though dated in its visuals, it’s a smart movie.  Though some may think carousel is like religious fanaticism, but I see a lot of the modern trend of hedonism taken to a point where anyone who cannot get in on it is worth getting the shaft.


16. Watership Down
1978
D: Martin Rosen, John Hubley
**********
A great, dark cartoon with a unique style.


15. The Godfather, Pt. II
1974
D: Francis Ford Coppola
**********
Although it is an excellent movie, I don’t think it does the same for me as the first one.


14. Patton
1970
D: Franklin J. Schaffner
**********
Not a typical war movie, but rather a great character study of a complex man, played by the perfectly cast George C. Scott.


13. The Jerk
1979
D: Carl Reiner
**********
The best comedy of the decade.  Reiner/Martin movies are the quirky masterpieces that McKay/Ferrell movies only think they are.


12. THX 1138
1971
D: George Lucas
**********
An underrated dystopian classic that looks so clean it’s hard to believe it’s so old.  Also, the movie's message against rampant consumerism seems sadly ironic considering Lucas's recent career.


11. The Duellists
1977
D: Ridley Scott
**********
Good story, good humor and amazing cinematography.  This movie deserves credit for being Ridley Scott’s directorial debut.  Too bad it’s relatively forgotten.  Some directorial debuts are deservedly forgotten (The Coens’ Blood Simple), but this one needs some attention.


10. Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
1971
D: Mel Stuart
**********
Gene Wilder >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Johnny Depp


9 Banjo the Woodpile Cat
1979
D: Don Bluth
*********
Don Bluth’s movies are known for tugging at the heartstrings, and this one goes all out.  I practically rapes your soul before it’s happy ending.  Also has an interesting production story.


1973
D: Wolfgang Reitherman
**********
This movie pretty much defined my entire perception of Robin Hood to the point that I even see Robin Hood as an anthropomorphic character.  I remember seeing commercials for Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves as a kid thinking, “What’s this, Robin Hood isn’t supposed to be a human.”  Too bad Disney doesn’t like this movie like I do. 


7. The Deer Hunter
1978
D: Michael Cimino
**********
Hollywood has not been kind to the Vietnam War, and I think this is the only truly great movie about it (unless you count the first half of Full Metal Jacket).  Still, that Orthodox Wedding Scene was too much.  I’m Catholic, and I thought that dragged on too long.


6. A Christmas Carol
1971
D: Richard Williams
**********
Wonderfully animated short that doesn't cut much meat out of the story.  The best after the 1984 version.


5. The Godfather
1972
D: Francis Ford Coppola
*********
A great story, and the cinematography is so good, it’s hard to believe it’s from the early 70’s.


4. Network
1976
D: Sidney Lumet
*********
If you’ve ever taken crap from some hipster punk online, chances are he was using the iconic still of Peter Finch’s “Mad as Hell” speech as his avatar.  Still, it’s a great satire with some excellent monologues.


3. Alien 
1979
D: Ridley Scott
*********
Amazing visuals and suspense.  It works as a horror movie because the actions of most of the characters make sense.  Still effective even if you know the twist.


2. The Conversation
1974
D: Francis Ford Coppola
*********
A great character study of a lonely man who feels qualms about his job spying on people.  It’s an overlooked classic with an excellent twist.  It was nominated for Best Picture but lost to Coppola’s own Godfather, Pt. II.  I’m in the minority when I say that it deserved it more.


1. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
D: George Lucas
*********
While some view it as rehash of Flash Gordon and other serials, but this movie’s genius was that it took all those tropes and added well-written characterization, proving that genre movies were equal to all others.  It effectively ended the 70’s era of cinema and made it for the people, and we haven’t looked back since.