Brian's Thoughts on Movies

"As the sun sets in the west we bid you a fond farewell" True Romance plays like a heist film in reverse in which a newlywed couple named Clarence and Alabama, played by Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette, try to secure their future by selling cocaine that Clarence inadvertently stole from Alabama’s former pimp, Drexel played by Gary Oldman.  The film focuses on their burgeoning relationship as much as the unpredictable environment the couple finds themselves in while getting mixed up with some pretty nasty and colorful characters. As always I discuss spoilers so please watch the film first. Quentin Tarantino sold this script, one of two from early in his career before he was able to direct his own film.  Natural Born Killers is the other, a story about a vile couple that was changed substantially by director Oliver Stone.  Director Tony Scott in turn made some structural changes to True Romance but maintained the soul of the script and injected it with his

“Then you have my resignation sir.” James Bond to M in Licence to Kill Licence to Kill is the most controversial James Bond film.  Rarely have I heard comments that it is poorly made, but many Bond fans, especially those who have not read the books, do not like it.  I feel this is good example of the need for film discussion.  For example, I like David Fincher as a director and I admire the structure of his film Fight Club.  However despite two viewings I do not enjoy the experience of watching it, though many disagree with me. Please note, I do include spoilers and third act revelations in this post so I encourage every reader to watch the film first and then come back. Producers Albert R. Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson decided to create a story to showcase Bond’s darker side, now that they had Timothy Dalton, whose interpretation was based on the more serious character from the books.  Licence was Dalton's second Bond film.  During the late 1980s a lot of the popular a

“Go ahead, tell him what you want.  If he fires me, I’ll thank him for it.” 1987 was the 25 th anniversary of the release of the first Bond film, Dr No, and the film released to celebrate it was a treat (ranked 8 th on my list ).  The Living Daylights originated as a short story in which Bond spends three nights waiting for a British spy to cross from East Berlin to West Berlin, with the job to shoot a sniper who is targeting the defector.  During the long nights as he fights sleepiness Bond comes to admire a female cellist, who turns out to be the sniper he was sent to kill.  When the time comes, Bond cannot bring himself to kill the beautiful woman and shoots the gun instead.  The defector still manages to make it.  Bond is willing to lose his job for not following orders and recognizes that he might be tired of this life. As always, I will discuss spoilers and third act revelations so please see the film first. The film version takes this set piece, changes the settin

“Come with me if you want to live” – several characters in the series The Terminator series is an example of a successful film that is strung out for too many entries, which threatens to dilute the original product.  I am glad there was never an E.T. 2; Elliot Goes to Space, or a fourth Indiana Jones film (oops, I’ll get back to that series on these days).  To me the first two Terminator installments are classic films and the rest have their moments but not the power of those first two.  James Cameron, who wrote and directed The Terminator and co-wrote, coproduced and directed Terminator 2; Judgment Day, allegedly had a nightmare of an endoskeleton walking through fire and developed a science fiction film around it.  Cameron, a visionary director who sets a budget record on almost every film he makes (T2, True Lies, Titanic, and Avatar), filled two movies with his ideas and then stepped away from the series.   A new Terminator film only comes out every several years as each sequel