Yesterday was a beautiful day. There's something thrilling about spring creeping its' verdant way into the new year. The sun was shining, the temps were in the low 70's, and everything was peaceful and right in the world. A few of us ventured out to a park and enjoyed a great afternoon of playing bocce and croquet. These are gentlemen's games, but not necessarily the way we play them. I remember back in college, there was a sort of "free-for-all" viciousness that could erupt over a genteel game where one tosses balls. The idea of "full-contact psyche-outs" made the game much more entertaining. The amount of trash talk that occurs during one of these rounds is equal to that of any prison yard basketball pickup game. I, personally, revel in the cutthroat level of play that we enjoy. This is what camraderie is all about.
So, as the weather is making it more tempting to go outside and play, I am finding it a bit distracting to keep up with my little project here. Nevertheless, I am still making headway (and hoping for rainy days). I have finished all the "A's" and am now working steadfastly on the "B's" (in addition to some skipping around that I will ocassionally do). As I'm currently packing to go see my niece and nephew, I will dilly-dally no further and get on to the good stuff!
29.) ASH WEDNESDAY
A low-budget indie starring the doe-eyed Elijah Wood, and the jaded Edward Burns, this movie tells of brotherly devotion, and the moral conviction to hold family in the highest esteem. Wood's character, Sean Sullivan, is killed by a mob hit on Ash Wednesday in 1980. Three years later, he is being spotted walking around his old neighborhood in Hell's Kitchen. His older brother, Francis (Burns), is accosted by their mutual enemies wanting to know if Sean is really dead. We learn that this is truly the case as his death had been faked, and Sean has returned from hiding to collect his wife (Rosario Dawson), not knowing that she has been kindling an affair with his brother. This movie has all the makings of a great source of intrigue, however it falls short of being too interesting. It's tough to see Frodo as a real threat, or the man that Rosario Dawson would choose over the machismo-exuding Edward Burns. This movie also confirms my suspicions that no one takes Oliver Platt seriously. He struggles to fill the role of street-hardened gangster. As in most of his movies, he falls ridiculously short. Not a terrible movie. Good for a bad-weather distraction.
30.) ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13
This movie has a very Die Hard feel to it. Maybe the snowy Detroit setting, the New Year's Eve party plans interupted plot, or the one-man versus his demons characterizations give this flick an "all-too-familiar" auld lang syne. Shot as a big-budget action epic, it seems that director was more interested in getting from gun fight to gun fight to pause to question (as his audience frequently does) why the hell is this happening in the first place? Laurence Fishburne is compelling as a ruthless, cop-killing, crime lord whose arrest is news item number 1. He, along with a few petty criminals, are headed for processing when a vicious blizzard causes their route to be detoured to the dilapidated Precinct 13 (scheduled for immediate closing). His presence brings on the threat of assassination by a group of para-military hitmen bent on keeping him out of prison, and dead to the world. Ethan Hawke is a fine actor when it comes to dramatic subtext, and tortured artist syndrome. Ethan Hawke is not an action star. His attempt at waxing heroic is way too distracting to bring the movie into the realm of being considered on par with the aforemention Die Hard franchise. It's a popcorn movie that needed a little extra salt and butter to be truly appetizing. Though, watching John Leguizamo take a bullet to the brain was, in some small way, very fulfilling to anyone who has been forced to watch his stand-up specials.
31.) THE ASTRONAUT'S WIFE
Should someone coerce you into watching this film, end your friendship with this person immediately. I am reminded of a great moment from This Is Spinal Tap when Rob Reiner is discussing some of the band's more cruel reviews. He quotes one for their Album Shark Sandwich as being only two words: "Shit Sandwich". I have taken this reference and used in my personal life to describe any book, movie, album, play, or whatnot that warrants a swift execution of thought. Suffice it to say, when I think of this confusing, trite, and utterly awkward attempt at Sci-Fi (featuring a Charlize Theron who doesn't get naked, and a Johnny Depp who has never heard a real Southern Accent in his life) the only thing that comes to mind is: "Shit Sandwich".
32.) ATTILA
Made by USA Pictures, this feature was originally aired on the USA Network back in 2000. This is supposed to be a sweeping epic telling the life story of the much-feared "Scourge of God", Attila the Hun. Instead, this is a half-hearted costume party where orgies consist of fully-clothed women doing the "Skinemax body rub" on each other, and Roman Soldiers dressed like they walked straight out of Caesar's Palace. If you can believe that this Attila (played by a Gerard Butler that would have been stomped by his own 300 character) could bring the Roman Empire to its' knees, then you can believe that Powers Boothe is a convincing actor outside of Tombstone. The action scenes are big, but when the camera goes in close, you can clearly seen men hitting their choreography in a precise fashion. This movie is history in the way that National Geographic is porn. Not to mention that it clocks in at 3 hours! Tim Curry, though, is fairly entertaining.
33.) THE AVIATOR
Seeing this title, I got a little excited that I was in for something akin to the highly entertaining Howard Hughes Bio-pic from a few years ago. Alas, this is no relative. This movie tells of the early days of the Airmail service, and the struggles that pilots had to endure in the days before radios, blackboxes, and air traffic control. Starring Christopher Reeve as the troubled pilot in charge of escorting the precocious Rosanna Arquette to her new home away from her own bespotted past, this film is hailed as "High-Flying Action and Heartwarming Romance". I would have believed that tagline if I had seen it underneath Superman. But, I saw neither of the two. Reeve and Arquette are passable in their performances, though both have done far superior work elsewhere. There was something a little sobering about seeing the tragic Reeve limping in a scene after being mauled by a wolf. Knowing where that actor's life would one day take him, I felt a little twinge of sadness for him. Overall, this would be good Hallmark fare. Not much else.
I now log-off this post with the happiness that seeing my family usually brings. I will carry my latest conversation with SVC as a source of pride as I journey north for the next few days. I hope the weather is nice, and I can one day expose my nephew to all sorts of cinematic corruption.
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