Crocodile Dundee

In a lot of media, particularly film, there is a action/adventure trope or subcategory involving a man of adventure pairing up with a "city girl". It isn't always done well. but when it is it makes for some fun, memorable films. Some popular examples of this in the 1980's were Romancing the Stone, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and of course Crocodile Dundee.

Released in 1986 Crocodile Dundee, a bit to my surprise, was the #2 movie overall at the U.S. box-office that year just behind Top Gun. The film stars Paul Hogan as Michael "Crocodile" Dundee, a man who is something of a living legend in Australia. He is visited by a journalists named Sue Charlton (played by Linda Kozlowski) who is eager to learn Dundee's story and write about it for the newspaper back in New York. After a few days in the outback Sue convinces Dundee to come back with her to New York City to continue the story. From there it's a pretty standard, well done, fish-out-of-water movie and they fall in love by the end.

I've liked this movie ever since I was a kid and rewatching it again today, I still found it very entertaining. It's not a complex story and there aren't any dramatic plot twists. It's just a fun, breezy, hour and forty minutes with some likeable characters.
I give it a 3.5 out of 5

Heartbreak Ridge

Heartbreak Ridge is a 1986 war film starring Clint Eastwood, who also served as both Director and Producer. The movie is about an aging U.S. Marine (played by Eastwood) who is tasked with whipping a ragtag group of undisciplined Marines into shape, and eventually leading them into combat in Grenada.

While I do like Clint in this movie, he is playing another one of those tough, grouchy, no-nonsense characters he's known for. A lot of his dialogue involves spouting off lines like;

• "You're dead marine! You just got your legs blown off, and we have to send a search party out for your testicles."
  

• "I've drank more beer, pissed more blood, and banged more quiff than all you numb-nuts put together."
  

• "The United States' Marines are lookin' for a few good men - you ain't it."
  

-and-

• "Sergeant, get that contraband stogie out of my face before I shove it so far up your ass that you'll have to stick a match up your nose to light it."
  

As for the supporting characters, they're a mixed-bag and all of them are fairly one-dimensional. This is also a movie that suffers a bit from having a 2 hour and 10 minute runtime, but it's a story that could've been told in about 90 minutes. 

Overall, I like it and I think it is a pretty entertaining film but, it definitely isn't up there with my all-time favorite war movies. 
3 out of 5

Best Bond Girl Names

With 24 official films dating back to the early 1960's, the James Bond franchise has become a staple of both cinema and pop culture. One of my favorite quirky things about these films are some of the fun and unique names of the women Bond encounters on his missions. So, just for fun, I decided to make a list of my favorites.

Kissy Suzuki 

Actress: Mie Hama

Film: You Only Live Twice (1967) 

Mary Goodnight 

Actress: Britt Ekland

 Film: The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)

Plenty O'Toole

Actress: Lana Wood

Film: Diamonds are Forever (1971)

Xenia Onatopp

Actress: Famke Janssen

Film: Goldeneye (1995)

 Octopussy

Actress: Maud Adams

Film Octopussy (1983)

Chew Mee 

Actress: Francoise Therry

 Film: The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)

Honey Ryder

Actress: Ursula Andress

Film: Dr. No (1962)

Dr. Molly Warmflash 

Actress: Serena Scott Thomas

Film: The World is Not Enough (1999)

Holly Goodhead

Actress: Lois Chiles

Film: Mookraker (1979)

 Pussy Galore

Actress: Honor Blackman

Film: Goldfinger (1964)

Today's Movie: Sunshine

Released in 2007, Sunshine is a Danny Boyle directed sci-fi thriller. Even though the film failed to recoup it's budget at the box-office, I think it's actually a pretty good film.

The plot centers around a group of astronauts aboard a ship known as the 'Icarus II'. Their mission is to deploy a massive nuclear device in order to reignite our dying Sun.  While on their way to the Sun, the crew picks up the distress beacon of the original 'Icarus' ship which disappeared seven years earlier. It is decided that they'll divert course and see if there s anything to recover from the old ship. Of course this is a movie and that decision proves to be costly, as it sets in motion a series of unfortunate events that not only threaten the lives of the crew but put the whole mission in jeopardy. 

Overall, I find this movie entertaining. It's well directed, the visual effects still hold up after a decade+, and the film boast a solid cast of Chris Evans, Rose Byrne, Cliff Curtis, Michelle Yeoh, Benedict Wong, Cillian Murphy, Troy Garity, and Hiroyuki Sanada. As with most science-fiction films a lot of the actual science is pretty inaccurate which can be distracting but, the character dynamics and the story here are compelling enough that it doesn't really bother me.

 If you haven't seen this one before, I definitely think it's worth checking out.

 4 out of 5

A Look Back At Twister

Today I decided to take a look back at 1996's Twister. A film that had a domestic gross of over $240 million and was second that year only to Independence Day at the box-office. In '96 this movie was a big deal.

The plot is pretty straight forward; Bill Harding (played by Bill Paxton) travels to meet up with his estranged wife/storm-chasing meteorologist Jo (played by Helen Hunt) to pick up some divorce papers. Once Bill meets up with her and his former team of tornado researchers, he is quickly pulled back into storm-chasing. Wanting to see the DOROTHY research device he designed in action, Bill and his new fiancée Melissa (played by Jamie Gertz) tag along with the team to chase down a couple of twisters. Predictably, Jo and Bill start to reconnect and this, coupled with a few close calls with some tornados, causes Melissa to call off her and Bill's engagement. By the end of he film, Jo and Bill are able to successfully launch the DOROTHY device into an F5 tornado, gather a bunch of data, and presumably live happily ever after... or they died in a twister related incident after the events of this film. Who's to say?

Now, I have always had a bit of a soft-spot for disaster films (just in the past few months I've written entries about Earthquake, Airport '77, and The Poseidon Adventure) and Twister is no different. It's a flawed movie, with some laughable writing, and hammy acting. On the flip side though, it was nominated and even won several awards for special effects and sound mixing and in that regard, the film holds up pretty well for being nearly 25 years old. 

Has the movie gotten better with age like a fine wine? No, but if you're just looking for a straightforward, entertaining, popcorn flick then I think this one still gets the job done.
 3 out of 5

A Look Back At Jailhouse Rock

1957's Jailhouse Rock was Elvis Presley's third film, and arguably one of his best. As you'd probably expect, since it is an Elvis movie, it's a musical with a pretty thin plot. Elvis plays Vince Everett, a man who accidently kills a guy in a bar fight and is set to prison. Once Vince is released, he persues a career in music. He soon meets a music promoter named Peggy (played by Judy Tyler), and before you know it Vince is a big star and he and Peggy are in love by the conclusion of the film.

 There is some decent acting in the movie, some good songs, and the actual 'Jailhouse Rock' sequence is probably the most iconic and one of the most memorable numbers from any of Elvis' films. I know a lot of people sort of laugh off Elvis movies, and sure Elvis Presley was no great acting talent. However, there is a certain charm and fun to a lot of the movies he was in that I find very entertaining. Jailhouse Rock isn't my favorite (that honor belongs to 1964's Viva Las Vegas), but I enjoy it.
3.5 out of 5

Today's Movie: Pilgrimage

Pilgrimage is a 2017 film starring Tom Holland, Richard Armitage, and Jon Bernthal.

Set in Ireland in 1209, during the Crusades, the heart of the plot revolves around some monks simply getting a sacred relic from Point A to Point B. I did like a lot about this movie; most of the acting is pretty good, I thought the film was well shot, and I really liked the ending. That being said, it's one I'd have a hard time recommending to a lot of people. Even though it's only about an hour and a half long, it does feel a bit slow at times. Also, in addition to being a film with a subject matter that doesn't have the broadest appeal, a decent chunk of the film is subtitled. I'm fine with this and I thought the story was interesting overall but, I know for a lot of people this is not something they're going to be into. 

I'm not really sure who the target audience for this one was, but I was entertained enough to give this one a 3 out of 5.