Brian's Thoughts on Movies

 Avengers: Endgame was the last film that several of the core actors were contracted for so going in I knew it would be the final time to see them work as a group and some would likely not survive.  I am happy to admit that I guessed the title in advance as I had picked up on the significance of Dr. Strange’s line in Infinity War “We’re in the endgame” after he gave the time stone to Thanos. The title is, in truth, a misnomer as it really was only the end for Tony Stark and Steve Rogers.   Just about every other Avenger either has or will appear in a follow-up film or TV show.   The planning for these two films allowed the audience to feel the impact of the Infinity War finale by separating the two films by a year.   We mourned the loss of the blipped characters and wondered how the remaining Avengers could possibly resolve it.   I thought it might involve some time-travel but was pleased that the marketing for the film gave little hint, spending other th...

It is odd to think of Coming to America as a series.  While I heard rumors about a potential sequel to Eddie Murphy’s big 1988 hit for years, I thought it about as likely as another Austin Powers, or True Lies film.  Comedy sequels often do not work because they are a result of a financial decision as opposed to inspiration.  See Arthur 2, Three Men and a Little Lady, Little Fockers, The Hangover Part II, or one of the endless Police Academy films to name but a few that merely recycle the main beats of the original film. The few that work usually are a result of broader ideas that did not quite make the first film and or further the story or expand the lives of the characters and can exist on their own (a la Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me or Meet the Fockers). Spoilers below for both Coming to America films. Coming to America (1988) Coming to America came out in the summer of 1988.   Eddie Murphy, who had been on Saturday Night Live, standup specials and...

  When I was a kid, I never missed The Dukes of Hazzard.   The show about two cousins in the South dealing with a comedically corrupt local law enforcement and visiting bad guys was loaded with entertaining car chases and jumps.   The cousins’ car,   the General Lee, a red 1969 Dodge Charger with sealed doors, was as much a character as any of the speaking roles.   The first time I ever noticed a continuity error was catching that in some episodes the gear shift was on the floor and in others it was near the wheel meaning they were using lots of cars.   I also usually caught it when footage (especially the jumps) was re-used. The jumps were exaggerated but largely done for real (a car was wrecked after each one).   While the stunts were good the charm of the show came from its characters, and its bluegrass score. My experience with this show got me excited when I first saw the trailer for Gone in Sixty Seconds which had a similar muscle car (a ’67 Mu...

 continued from Part I The sequence during the break is most interesting if the viewer just focuses on Vesper.  She grows concerned in the elevator when Bond pulls out the gun.  This turns into full scale panic as Bond starts battling with the Ugandan rebels.  The stairwell fight is vicious and like Vesper we just want out.  As Bond eventually strangles the chief villain, Obanno, Vesper eventually finds the courage to help Bond disarm him. Campbell allows the aftermath to play out realistically. Bond, with a lot of blood, mostly his own, on his white shirt, tells Vesper to get Mathis to help with the bodies (giving her something to do).  When he fixes himself a strong drink and looks at himself in the mirror with a sense of loathing. Craig is terrific in this wordless scene. Bond may get his man, but every violent act is taking more of his humanity.   Little scenes like this make the film longer but enrich it greatly. When Bond finds Vesper sitting...

  “So you want me to be half monk, half hitman”   James Bond to M in Casino Royale Casino Royale is my favorite film and like all great films, each time I watch it, which is only about once a year to preserve its power, I notice something new about it.  As such I have a LOT to say about this film and to avoid an overly lengthy post I am going to break it into two.  Casino Royale was such a breath of fresh air when it was released it is easy to forget the Bond series was hardly on life support before it came out in 2006. Pierce Brosnan’s Bond films had all performed well and each had something of substance, even though there had been an overuse of digital effects in Die Another Day (2002).  I had been a fan of the Bond films for over twenty years when I saw this film and the 1969 film On Her Majesty’s Secret Service had long been my favorite, due to the character-based story.  In the middle of the climax of during my first viewing of Casino Royale I real...

 "Never hate your enemies.  If affects your judgement"  Michael Corleone to Vincent About a year ago I wrote a review on The Godfather Part III which was mildly positive based on the strengths of the leads and the portion of the storyline that focused on Michael’s attempt to atone for his crimes.   However, I have long felt overall a sense of disappointment in the film as it is disorganized, overlong, and asked the audience to invest in an incestuous relationship.   The film felt a little rushed as it had many interesting ideas but was not terribly well put together. Last year director Francis Ford Coppola (who also cowrote all three films with the late Mario Puzo, who wrote the original novel-which is one of my favorite books) announced he would be releasing a cut entitled Mario Puzo's The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone for the film’s 30 th Anniversary which was his original choice for a title.  This version would restructure the film an...