Brian's Thoughts on Movies

As I have written reviews for the other 24 seasons here are a few thoughts on the new one.  As always, there are spoilers below so please watch the series first: 24 Legacy uses the same format (a real time thriller) and much of the same creative team.  Howard Gordon , Manny Coto, and Evan Katz were the main writers and executive producers.  Jon Cassar, who directed many of 24’s best episodes also directed several episodes of the new season.  Stephen Hopkins, who set the tone for the series as lead director in the first season and then left (Cassar took over for Seasons 2-7 and then Live Another Day), returned and directed several episodes, including the opening episode and the finale.  Hopkins’ staging was very welcome as his episodes contain the most suspenseful scenes.  Sean Callery returned as the composer and came up with some new themes but also borrowed a little from the old vault.  Overall the series largely benefited from the old team tho...

“The Bat is dead.  Bury it.  Consider this mercy”  Superman to Batman in Batman v. Superman The above quote, which takes place about an hour into Batman v Superman; Dawn of Justice, is an example of where I disagree with director Zack Synder’s interpretation of Superman.  When Superman comes across as threatening he loses the nobility which is a cornerstone of the character.  Even in this post 9/11 world Superman doesn’t need to use tough talk more akin to 24’s Jack Bauer or a Clint Eastwood cop because he doesn’t have to.  By behaving this way, he fuels the concern many of the characters in this new series have about an alien in their midst. I was mixed on Man of Steel, appreciating some of the changes, like Lois figuring out who Clark is early on, but not enjoying the excessive destruction of the protracted third act nor David S. Goyer’s heavy handed dialogue.  Man of Steel was more profitable for Warner Brothers than the more traditional S...

Zorin: “Intuitive improvisation is the secret of genius.”  Bond: “Brilliant, I am almost speechless with admiration”. Roger Moore’s last Bond film is proof of how challenging it is for a longtime Bond actor to conclude with a strong entry.  Few Bond fans would claim Connery’s best is Never Say Never Again or that Brosnan’s is Die Another Day.  The tone shifts a lot, and there is both more violence and silliness than usual.  The villain, Max Zorin has a psychotic personality as a result of Nazi experiments on his pregnant mother when she was in a concentration camp.  The violence, nearly all of it initiated by Zorin, is effective, though I think a few scenes could have been implied rather than shown outright.  The silliness could have been dropped entirely. As always there are spoilers below so please be forewarned before proceeding. A View to a Kill  was the first Bond film I saw in theatres.  I had seen a few others  (Octopussy,...

In 2015 in anticipation of Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation I wrote a post reviewing the other films in the Mission Impossible series.  As I discussed I am only familiar with the movies so although I know the premise of the series I am not one to judge how true the films are to it.  However I understand that in the show the Syndicate was a recurring threat to the main characters, much as SPECTRE is in the James Bond films. As always I discuss spoilers so please watch the film first and then read the below. Rogue Nation pits Ethan’s IMF team against the Syndicate, an organization that first started as a secret within MI6, until the Syndicate leader, Solomon Lane, went rogue and started conducting terrorist attacks.  The Syndicate and the IMF team are both after a piece of data which turns out to contain money that the Syndicate can use to fund future attacks.  IMF is absorbed into the CIA, headed by Alec Baldwin as a new character, Alan Hunley, making Etha...

Thunderball and Never Say Never Again are unique pair of films.  The latter is a remake of the former and both star the same actor, Sean Connery.  It is not uncommon for a remake to feature an original cast member in a different role (a la Michael Caine in Sleuth in which he played one of the two leads in the  first film version and then the other one in the -far inferior- second one).  The remake of Cape Fear, which I like more than the original, features the original stars Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum in small but crucial roles.  In my post for Vanilla Sky I discussed that Penelope Cruz played the same role in both the Spanish language original and the English language remake a few years later, but she was the second lead.   Generally remakes cast different leads either because they are made many years apart or in a different language.  Never Say Never Again curiously takes the original James Bond, pairs him with different behind the scene...

Superman The Movie was one of my first movie going experiences and then as now I ate it up.  As I have mentioned before I do not read many comic books, (though I did read “The Death of Superman” when it came out in 1992), so my exposure to Superman has mostly been on the big and small screens.  Unsurprisingly Christopher Reeve is my favorite Superman but my affinity for the Bond films has prepared me well for casting changes.  The other actors all have found their own approach to the role in their respective mediums. In anticipation of my discussion of Batman v. Superman; Dawn of Justice film, I want to take a brief look back the other Superman films.  I was pretty mixed on Man of Steel, liking Henry Cavill’s portrayal and the alien discovery elements of the story,  but did not appreciate the excess of destruction and some of the horrible dialogue.  I have never rewatched it in full through I have seen a few moments on cable once or twice.  A...