(Not So) Random (Blu-ray) Movie Mention: “DREDD” (2012)

The Tagline Says…

“JUDGMENT IS COMING“

…And That’s Exactly What’s Happening.

Right Here.

Right Now.

Ready?

GREAT!

😉       😀

Let Me Truly Begin By Saying That This Flick…

“DREDD“

…Is My Favorite Blu-ray Of 2013, Thus Far.

I Can Say That Without Reservation, OR Hesitation.

It Is Simply Wonderful.

To Be Blunt…

…I LOVED IT!!!

As Far As The Film Goes, “DREDD” Is Totally And Easily 142,000-Times BETTER Than The Original Take On The Film, The Campy Cheese-Fest “JUDGE DREDD“, Starring SYLVESTER STALLONE.

In The 2012 Version…

KARL URBAN Is “DREDD“

…And He’s So So SO Much Better As The Title Character Than Ole SLY Was.

Don’t Get Me Wrong, My Peeps, I AM A Fan Of Ole SLY STALLONE.

I Always Have Been.

I Just Enjoyed KARL URBAN‘s Take On The Character So So SO Much More.

“DREDD” Is WILD.

It’s FUN.

It’s BRUTAL.

It’s BLOODY.

It’s LOADED With Wonderfully Awesome Special F/X, Trashy And Dangerous Characters, The Works!!!

It Has A Simple, But Effective, Plot.

And, Of Course, A Stone-Cold Performance By KARL URBAN.

😀

Honestly, I’m Actually Kinda Sad I Didn’t Make The Time To See This One Up On The Big Screen.

😦

After Seeing It On The Blu-ray, I Can Totally Tell Y’all I Would Have Happily Shelled Out My $10 To Catch It At The Theater.

This Blu-ray Is Rather Stunning.

The Sound Quality May Be The Best I’ve Yet Heard.

The Picture Quality Was Spot-On.

The Flick Simply LOOKED And SOUNDED Wonderfully Wonderful!!!

Co-Starring…

OLIVIA THIRLBY As The Rookie Judge “ANDERSON”

…And…

LENA HEADEY As The Ruthless Drug Kingpin “MA-MA”

…This Version Of The Classic “JUDGE DREDD” Comics Is Vastly Superior To The Original Film Adaptation, And I Had An Absolute Blast Checking-It-Out!!!

I Recommend This One To Anyone Who Enjoys Some Quality Escapist Fun!!!

“JUDGMENT IS COMING“

???

You Betcha, My Peeps!!!

It’s Coming, And It’s AWESOME!!!

😀       😀       😀

“True. I Was Their Number-One Son, And They Treated Me Like Number-Two…”

“…But, It‘s Human–Nature To Fear The Unusual.  Perhaps, When I Held My Tiffany Baby–Rattle With A Shiny Flipper Instead Of Five Chubby–Digits… …They Freaked.  But, I Forgive Them.”

—OSWALD COBBLEPOT/”THE PENGUIN“

((Danny DeVito, “BATMAN RETURNS” (1992)))

😀

BRADLEY -Vs- “DARK CITY”: A Rematch 15 Years In The Making!

Opening Night.

1998.

I Was There.

I’ll Never Forget That Night, Honestly.

My Friends And I Had Decided Long Before It Was Released We Would Be Seeing This One On Said Opening Night.

Back In The 1980s And 1990s, That’s What Everyone Did On A Friday Night. You’d Meet-Up With Your Friends And You’d Head To The Local Movie Theater.

It Was Almost Like A Ritual. We Simply HAD HAD HAD To Go See Something.

Living In A Small Midwestern Town, It’s What We Had To Do.

It Was Our Best Option For Having A Good Time. It Was Either That, Or Go Walk Around The Mall.

I Know, Right, We Were Lame.

ANYWAY…

…We All Loaded-Up And Drove A Few Towns Over To The Much Larger Theater.

It’s About A 25-Minute Drive.

(((well we probably made it in less than 20-minutes, but it's SUPPOSED to take longer)))

Upon Entering The Theater, I Was Immediately Horrified To Find It Totally Packed.

The Only Seats Left Weren’t Ideal, To Say The Least.

We Took Said Seats, Anyway.

We Weren’t About To Miss This Flick.

Period.

Sadly, The Theater Was BLAZING-ASS-HOT!

Not Hot As In “Hip & Cool”…

…No…

…I Mean It Was F-in’ HOT HOT HOT Like Hell’ishly HOT!

Like 714-Degrees HOT!

It Was February, And Therefore Cold Outside.

So, The Theater People Had The Heat Cranked Allllll The Way Up.

That’s How It Felt, Anyway.

Couple That With A Totally Packed House, And Yeah.

HOT HOT HOT!!!

The People Sitting In Front Of My Friends And I Never Stopped Gabbing. Someone’s Pocket-Pager Went Off Like 10-Times. I Couldn’t Follow The Plot Very Well Because Of The Distractions And Became Very Confused As To What The Hell Was Really Going On.

It Was All Too Much.

Add In The Fact That “DARK CITY” Is A Dark, Slower-Paced Thriller And It Becomes Easier To Understand Why I Left The Theater Afterward Vowing To NEVER Watch This Flick Ever Ever EVER AGAIN!

And I Didn’t.

For 15 Years, My Vow Stood Strong And Unwavering.

That Is, Until Very Recently.

Seeing “DARK CITY” On Opening Night Was THE WORST THEATER EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE.

Period.

It Had Totally Tainted My View Of The Movie.

You See, I Took-Out My Frustrations Of The Night On The Film. I Shouldn’t Have, But I Did.

My Bad.

Upon Watching It Again, Finally, After 15 Years, I Finally Realized I Had Made A Horrid Mistake.

“DARK CITY” Really Is A Quality Flick, My Peeps.

Watching It In The Comfort Of My Own Home, Without Distractions, I Was Able To Finally Appreciate It For What It Is.

A Very Good SCI-FI THRILLER.

It’s Well Acted.

(((starring RUFUS SEWELL, KIEFER SUTHERLAND, JENNIFER CONNELLY, and WILLIAM HURT)))

It’s Well Directed.

(((craftily done by ALEX PROYAS whom also directed another favorite of mine "THE CROW")))

The Sets And Special F/X Are Very Cool.

The Plot Can Be A Touch Confusing At Times, But You’ll Eventually Get It In The End.

All In All, I Was Saddened It Had Taken Me So Long To Finally Give It Another Chance.

BUT, In The End, I’m Super Glad I Did.

“DARK CITY” Deserved Better Than What It Got.

It Deserved Better Than What I Gave It.

SO, Here I Am, Trying To Rectify The Problem.

😀

If You’ve Seen This One, GREAT.

If You’ve Not, Well, DO SO.

Some People Can’t Get Enough Of “DARK CITY“…

…Some People Can’t F-in’ Stand It.

WHICH ONE ARE YOU?!??!?

My Curiosity Abounds.

😉     😀     😉

((QUICKIE)) Random Movie Mention: SEAN CONNERY As JAMES BOND -007- In “FROM RUSSIA With LOVE” (1963) !!!

The Truest Example Of An Espionage Thriller In The JAMES BOND Universe Is This Flick…

“FROM RUSSIA With LOVE“

…Starring…

SEAN CONNERY As  (Secret Agent -007-) JAMES BOND

…And Also…

DANIELA BIANCHI As (Soviet Defector) TATIANA ROMANOVA

LOTTE LENYA As (SPECTRE Agent #3) ROSA KLEBB

PEDRO ARMENDARIZ As (Special Agent) ALI KERIM BEY

…And…

ROBERT SHAW As (SPECTRE Assassin) DONALD “RED” GRANT

The Film Was Directed By…

TERENCE YOUNG

…Whom Had Previously Directed The BOND Caper…

“DR. NO“

…And Whom Would Go On To Direct My Fave Fave FAVORITE Of The SEAN CONNERY As BOND Flicks…

“THUNDERBALL“

😀       😀       😀       😀

This Is SEAN CONNERY‘s Second Outing As JAMES BOND, And It’s A Real Treat For Anyone Whom Is  A Fan Of The Long Running Franchise.

Here, BOND Is Trying To Get The Soviet Defector, TATIANA ROMANOVA, And A Secret Soviet Decoder-Machine ((The LEKTOR)) Into The Hands Of Her Majesty’s Government And The American CIA.

But, Standing In His Way Are The Evil SPECTRE Agent ROSA KLEBB And Her Trusty SPECTRE Assassin “RED“ GRANT.

***{{{PLOT SUMMARY HERE}}}***

!!! !!!! !!!

😀       😀       😀

Some Film Highlights?!?

The Gypsy Camp.

That Awesome Rifle AND Briefcase.

That Even MORE Awesome Wrist–Watch.

A Nifty Boat Chase.

An Even MORE Nifty Helicopter Attack.

But, My Favorite Is The Train Trip On The Super Classic “ORIENT EXPRESS“!!!

😀       😀

So, My Peeps, If You’re Really In The Mood For A Very Classic BOND Adventure…

…Then I’m Sure You’ll Get A Real Kick Out Of This One!!!

“FROM RUSSIA With LOVE“

…Is A Super Sweet Spy Thriller, And One Of The Best Flicks In The Series.

You Should Really Give This One A Go, Kiddies, If You Haven’t Already.

For Those Of You Whom Have Already Seen It, I Hope You Dug Its Jive!

Y’all Take Care, Now.

HAPPY MOVIE WATCHING, Fo SHO!!!

😀

“Life Beats Down And Crushes The Soul…”

“…But Art Reminds You That You Have One.”

—STELLA ADLER

-((1901–1992))-

{{{ACTRESS}}}

{{{ACTING TEACHER}}}

{{{FOUNDER Of The STELLA ADLER STUDIO Of ACTING}}}

Quickly, What’s On Now?!? –SEAN CONNERY As JAMES BOND -007- In “YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE” (1967)

I Consider…

“YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE“

(1967)

…To Be The Most Underrated Of The…

SEAN CONNERY As JAMES BOND

…Adventure Epics…

…And It’s A Damn Fine Adventure At That, My Peeps!

😀

“YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE“

…Was Directed By…

LEWIS GILBERT

…Whom Would Later Helm The JAMES BOND Adventures…

“THE SPY WHO LOVED ME“

(1977)

…And…

“MOONRAKER“

(1979)

…Both Of Which Are Personal FAVES Of FAVES!

😀       😀

Alright, The Gist Of The Flick Is This:

The World Sits On The Brink Of WORLD WAR III.

An American Spacecraft Has Disappeared, Following An Encounter With An Unknown Spacecraft.

The Americans Are Blaming The Russians For Entire Incident.

(((Of Course They Are!)))

They (The Americans) Make It Known They’re Going To Launch Another Spacecraft In Just A Few Weeks.

If ANYTHING Happens To It, They Will Consider It An Act Of War!

The British Government, On The Other Hand, Does NOT Believe The Russians Are Responsible.

This, However, Must Be Proven Before Something Does Happen That Could Ignite The World Into Full-Scale Nuclear Armageddon!

Sooo…

…The British Government Fakes JAMES BOND‘s Death, Freeing Him To Go On The Hunt For The Truth.

They’re Sending BOND To Japan, Where They Believe The Before Mentioned “Unknown Spacecraft” Originated.

And Now, You Know The Basic Plot For This Epic Romp!

So, What’s Gonna Happen?

Did The Enemy Originate From Japan?

If So, Will BOND Be Able To Locate And Destroy Them In Time?

Or, Will The World Be Pushed Beyond Said Brink And Eventually Become A Giant Fireball In Space?

Hmm?

HMM?!?

Well…

…Wouldn’t Y’all Rather Watch It And Find-Out For Yourselves?!?

SURE YOU WOULD!!!

😉       😀       😉

I Will Tell You It’s A Helluva Ride, My Peeps, And A Helluva Lot Of Fun!!!

Some Of My Favorite Parts?!?

“LITTLE NELLY”

(((Trust Me, You'll Get It When You See It!)))

KEN ADAM‘s Eye-Popping Production Design.

NANCY SINATRA Beautifully Singing The Film’s Theme Song.

The Wonderfully Amazing VOLCANO LAYER.

But, Most Of All, My Favorite Part Is The Big Reveal Of JAMES BOND‘s Arch Enemy/Nemesis, “ERNST STAVRO BLOFELD“, Played To Creepy, Evil Perfection By An ALL-TIME FAVE Of FAVES Actor…

DONALD PLEASENCE

!!! !!!! !!!

😀

As I Said, I Consider This Flick…

“YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE“

…To Be The Most Underrated Of All Of The BOND Flicks To Star…

SEAN CONNERY

…And I Think You’ll Totally Understand Why Once You’ve Checked-It-Out.

Since We Only Live But Once, My Peeps, You Should Sincerely Check-Out…

“YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE“

…Before You Finally Just, Ya Know, Check-Out.

Period.

Happy Movie Watching, My Peeps!!!

ENJOY YOURSELVES!!!

You Already KNOW I’m Doing So, Fo SHO Fo SHO!!!

(ALMOST) Random (MIDNIGHT) Movie Mention: “UNKNOWN” (2011)

“UNKNOWN“

…Stars MY MAIN MAN Himself…

LIAM NEESON

😀       😀       😀

…And Stars…

AIDAN QUINN

JANUARY JONES

DIANE KRUGER

&

FRANK “Skeletor“ LANGELLA

😀       😀

It’s Also Produced By “Mr. UBER PRODUCER“…

JOEL SILVER

😀

Alright, My Peeps…

…Check-It-Out…

LIAM NEESON

Is

“Dr. MARTIN HARRIS“

…He Thinks?

But, Is He Really?

Well…

…We Really DON’T KNOW.

((wink wink))

You See, Shortly Into The Flick, He’s In A Car Crash.

He Hit His Head Hard.

He’s Now In The Hospital.

And, He’s Just Awakened From A Four (4) Day Coma.

He’s In Berlin.

He Doesn’t Speak German.

He Has No Official Identification.

He Might Know Some People, But We’re Not Really Sure.

He Just Remembers That He’s “Dr. MARTIN HARRIS“ And That His Wife ((played by JANUARY JONES)) Doesn’t Know Where He Is, Nor What Has Happened.

He Then Remembers She Should Be At The Hotel They Were Originally Going To Stay In, And He’s Got To Go Find Her.

BUT…

…When He Does Get To The Hotel, And He Does Find His Supposed Wife…

…SHE DOESN’T CLAIM TO KNOW HIM AT ALL.

And Now Another Man ((played by AIDAN QUINN)) Shows-Up And Says That HE’s Actually “Dr. MARTIN HARRIS“!!!

W.T.F.

?!?!?!?!?!?

And NOW The Flick Really REALLY Begins!!!

😀     😀     😀     😀

“UNKNOWN“

…Is Really A MUCH BETTER Flick Than A Lot Of Folks May Have Told You.

It Just Had The Bad Luck Of Coming Out After LIAM NEESON‘s Surprise Mega-Hit-Flick…

“TAKEN“

😦

“UNKNOWN“

…Is Fun.

It’s Exciting.

It’s Suspenseful.

It’s Clever.

It Was Good Enough For Me To Wanna Buy It, My Peeps.

I’d Say That’s PLENTY Good.

😉

Some People Told Me “UNKNOWN” Was Slow In Too Many Places, Which Ultimately Hurt The Overall Presentation.

To Those People, I Simply Say…

“YOU‘RE IMPATIENT!”

Dammit.

I Thought This Was A Classically Paced Thriller.

I Could EASILY See ALFRED HITCHCOCK Directing Something Like This.

HITCHCOCK Loved The Whole Idea Of The “MISTAKEN IDENTITY“ Caper.

I Think He Would Have Relished In Directing This Flick.

Or, At Least, A Flick Like It.

I’m NOT Saying “UNKNOWN” Is The Greatest Flick Ever, My Peeps.

I AM Saying “UNKNOWN” Is A Lot Better Than You May Realize.

It’s Also Got MORE DEPTH And A THICKER PLOT Than People Gave It Credit For.

It’s Got MORE DEPTH And A THICKER PLOT Than “TAKEN” Had.

And That Is A FACT.

Period Period.

If You Haven’t Seen “UNKNOWN” Yet, Give It A Go, Kids.

If You’ve Seen It Once, And Didn’t Bother Going Another Round…

…Please…

…Do Yourself The Favor Of Checking-It-Out AGAIN.

It’ll Only Cost You 113-Minutes Of Your Life.

A Drop In The Bucket, Ya Know?!

😉

😀       😀

What’s On Now?! ORSON WELLES’ Production Of “THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI” (1947)

“THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI“

…May Not Be Exactly What ORSON WELLES Had Envisioned…

(((His Original-Cut Was About 155-Minutes, The Studio Release-Cut Was About 87-Minutes)))

…But You Can Totally Still See Plenty Of His Vision.

I Will Say It’s Loaded With Intrigue…

…Murder…

…Plot Twists…

…Exceptional, Quirk’ish Acting…

…And Quirk’ish’ly Exceptional Directing.

The Film Stars…

RITA HAYWORTH as “Elsa Bannister“/“Rosalie“

(((HAYWORTH Was Actually Still Married To WELLES At The Time This Flick Was Made)))

ORSON WELLES as “Michael O’Hara“

(((WELLES Also Wrote The Screenplay, Produced AND Directed)))

&

EVERETT SLOANE as “Arthur Bannister“

(((SLOANE Was Also A Performer With WELLES' "Mercury Players")))

*** *** ***

Michael O’Hara, against his better judgement, hires on as a crew member of Arthur Bannister’s yacht, sailing to San Francisco. They pick up Grisby, Bannister’s law partner, en route. Bannister has a wife, Rosalie, who seems to like Michael much better than she likes her husband. After they dock in Sausalito, Michael goes along with Grisby’s weird plan to fake his (Grisby’s) murder so he can disappear untailed. He wants the $5000 Grisby has offered, so he can run off with Rosalie. But Grisby turns up actually murdered, and Michael gets blamed for it. Somebody set him up, but it is not clear who or how. Bannister (the actual murderer?) defends Michael in court. Written by John Oswalt <jao@jao.com> (Via The IMDB ((http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040525/plotsummary)))

*** *** ***

“THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI“

…Is Now Over 65-Years-Old.

Yet, It Remains As Wildly Fun As It Ever Has.

As Others Have Said Of This Film…

…It Is TOTALLY Classic ORSON WELLES.

Kinda Hard Not To Be Since He Wrote, Starred-In, Produced, And Directed It.

“CITIZEN KANE“

…Is The Flick Most People Remember When Thinking About ORSON WELLES.

Of That, There Can Be No Debate.

But, Sometimes I’d Much Rather Kick-It-Back And Watch…

“THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI“

Period.

It’s A Lot More Fun, That’s A BIG Fo SHO.

When I Watch “CITIZEN KANE” I Say…

"Well, Now I've Seen It. I Can Totally Understand Why It's Such An Important Flick. I Might Watch It Again At Some Point."

When I See “THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI” I Say…

"Did I Just See What I Think I Just Saw?! I'm Gonna Have To Watch This One Again!"

See The Difference?

Trust Me, Watch Them Both.

Then You’ll Totally Get My Jive, My Peeps.

And It’s Worth It!

It’s So VERY Worth It!

No Foolies, Kids.

Sooo…

…If You Like Quality Murder-Mystery-Noir-Thrillers…

…And ORSON WELLES‘ Unique Filmmaker Qualities…

…I Say Give This One A Go.

“THE LADY FROM SHANGHAI“

…May Very Well Be Right Up Your Proverbial Alley, My Peeps.

You Really Should Trust Me On This One.

Give It A Go, Fo SHO Fo SHO!

M’Kay?!?

MMM’KAY!!!

😉       😀

Who Just Found Their Copy Of “TRANCERS III: DETH LIVES” (1992) On The VHS?!

((*Gives Two Thumbs Up*))

THIS GUY!!!

WOOHOO!!!

SWISH!!!

U.S.A.!!!

U.S.A.!!!

😉

(*teehehehe*)

What, I Thought It Was Cute.

It Was…

…Wasn‘t It?!

😀       😀

Like You‘re Really Going To Tell Me That YOU Have…

“TRANCERS III: DETH LIVES“

…On VHS Sitting Right There Next To You?!

NO?!

I Didn’t Think So!!

😛

WHAT SORT OF TREASURES HAVE YOU DISCOVERED?!

It’s Not Everyday Someone Finds a TIM THOMERSON Masterpiece In An Old Cardboard Box.

SO, WHAT HAVE YOU FOUND?!?!

ANYTHING EXCITING?!?!

Let Me Know, Please.

I LOVE Finding Treasure.

Especially When It‘s…

“TRANCERS III: DETH LIVES“

!!! !!!!! !!!

!! !!! !!

! ! !

😀