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Post by berkley on Feb 3, 2024 14:44:26 GMT -5
It's hardly a classic film to me, but I just saw Hard Target last night, that I haven't seen in, at least 15 or more yrs. Forgot how good it was and how cool and good of a job Van Damme did. The action is just slamming. Mabie Woo at his best on that front. Hard to believe it's over 30 yrs old at this point. Man alive. I should watch this again. I remember liking it at the time but also feeling just a bit disappointed that it felt more like a regular Hollywood action movie than a real John Woo piece. I was a big fan of both Woo and Van Damme so my expectations were super high, which probably didn't help.
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Post by GoldenAge Heroes! on Feb 3, 2024 15:10:22 GMT -5
It's hardly a classic film to me, but I just saw Hard Target last night, that I haven't seen in, at least 15 or more yrs. Forgot how good it was and how cool and good of a job Van Damme did. The action is just slamming. Mabie Woo at his best on that front. Hard to believe it's over 30 yrs old at this point. Man alive. I should watch this again. I remember liking it at the time but also feeling just a bit disappointed that it felt more like a regular Hollywood action movie than a real John Woo piece. I was a big fan of both Woo and Van Damme so my expectations were super high, which probably didn't help.
Yeah, it's a fun rewatch, i had a blast seeing it again. A lotta Vandamage! Probably watch it again at the end of the month before Tubi axes it. I would say it's 'one' of my favorite Van Damme movies, next too Lionheart, Timecop and Bloodsport.
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 3, 2024 19:52:26 GMT -5
I should watch this again. I remember liking it at the time but also feeling just a bit disappointed that it felt more like a regular Hollywood action movie than a real John Woo piece. I was a big fan of both Woo and Van Damme so my expectations were super high, which probably didn't help.
Yeah, it's a fun rewatch, i had a blast seeing it again. A lotta Vandamage! Probably watch it again at the end of the month before Tubi axes it. I would say it's 'one' of my favorite Van Damme movies, next too Lionheart, Timecop and Bloodsport. I can handle those three, from him. Also Universal Soldier, which I enjoy, against m better judgement. It helps that he doesn't have many lines and can be physical. Dolph Lundgren is fun in that, too. I was really impressed with him, in JCVD. He actually got to show something there, beyond spin kicks and butchered English.
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Post by berkley on Feb 3, 2024 22:35:38 GMT -5
Yeah, it's a fun rewatch, i had a blast seeing it again. A lotta Vandamage! Probably watch it again at the end of the month before Tubi axes it. I would say it's 'one' of my favorite Van Damme movies, next too Lionheart, Timecop and Bloodsport. I can handle those three, from him. Also Universal Soldier, which I enjoy, against m better judgement. It helps that he doesn't have many lines and can be physical. Dolph Lundgren is fun in that, too. I was really impressed with him, in JCVD. He actually got to show something there, beyond spin kicks and butchered English. Barring the HK guys like Chow Yun-Fat and Jackie Chan, Van Damme is probably my favourite action star of the late-80s-90s period, even more than Schwarzenegger, though it's hard to compare the two since Van Damme made mostly B-movies. But I'd certainly rate him over Seagal, Bruce Willis, etc. I like all his movies from that time, roughly 1988 to around 1995 or '96, even the schlockiest ones. After that I lost track of him for some reason, possibly because his movies were no longer screened in the cinemas but went straight to video. Which made JCVD the film all the more effective, as I hadn't heard or seen anything from him for a long time.
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Post by tartanphantom on Feb 4, 2024 11:48:20 GMT -5
I can handle those three, from him. Also Universal Soldier, which I enjoy, against m better judgement. It helps that he doesn't have many lines and can be physical. Dolph Lundgren is fun in that, too. I was really impressed with him, in JCVD. He actually got to show something there, beyond spin kicks and butchered English. Barring the HK guys like Chow Yun-Fat and Jackie Chan, Van Damme is probably my favourite action star of the late-80s-90s period, even more than Schwarzenegger, though it's hard to compare the two since Van Damme made mostly B-movies. But I'd certainly rate him over Seagal, Bruce Willis, etc. I like all his movies from that time, roughly 1988 to around 1995 or '96, even the schlockiest ones. After that I lost track of him for some reason, possibly because his movies were no longer screened in the cinemas but went straight to video. Which made JCVD the film all the more effective, as I hadn't heard or seen anything from him for a long time.
I'm onboard with this viewpoint, although I also like Seagal and Willis.
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Post by GoldenAge Heroes! on Feb 4, 2024 12:29:29 GMT -5
Yeah, it's a fun rewatch, i had a blast seeing it again. A lotta Vandamage! Probably watch it again at the end of the month before Tubi axes it. I would say it's 'one' of my favorite Van Damme movies, next too Lionheart, Timecop and Bloodsport. I was really impressed with him, in JCVD. He actually got to show something there, beyond spin kicks and butchered English. I agree, he was great in JCVD, no question. Although I also thought he was great in Lionheart as well, and thought that film had a lotta heart too ( no pun intended ). And I've always loved his accent . . hahaaaa.
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Post by GoldenAge Heroes! on Feb 4, 2024 12:46:33 GMT -5
Barring the HK guys like Chow Yun-Fat and Jackie Chan, Van Damme is probably my favourite action star of the late-80s-90s period, roughly 1988 to around 1995 or '96, even the schlockiest ones. After that I lost track of him for some reason, possibly because his movies were no longer screened in the cinemas but went straight to video. Which made JCVD the film all the more effective, as I hadn't heard or seen anything from him for a long time.
It's a little bit of a toss up for me, so many great action stars at that time, but I'm a huge Van Damme fan, from the fun 80's b-movies to the A-list 90's. But yeah hollywood dumped his ass in the late 90's, and put him in the straight-to-video bargin bin with Segal. Boy, they had there time though, fun stuff.
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Post by berkley on Feb 24, 2024 3:53:53 GMT -5
Tonight at home I watched As Tears Go By (1988) another early Wong Kar-wai movie that I hadn't seen before. I sometimes think I'm a bit too obsessive about watching things in chronological order, but I do think I would have enjoyed this one just a little more if I hadn't seen Days of Being Wild just a few months ago - because it seems to me that there is a clear progression from Tears to Days and thus seeing them in reverse order so close together the earlier movie felt like a regression. All that aside, this is an indispensable movie for any HK-film fan. Great to look at, as all the WKW movies I've seen have been, and the story is a an interesting mixture of a Mean Streets inspired gangster plot with the romance between cousins played by Andy Lau and Maggie Cheung - though I'd say neither is as effective as in Days of Being Wild, just a year or two later.
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Post by Hoosier X on Feb 25, 2024 15:59:24 GMT -5
Today I’m watching Monsieur Verdoux (1947).
I was browsing Tubi, just to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. And they’ve got Monsieur Verdoux!
I saw it probably about 1990, and I don’t think I understood it. I sure don’t remember much about it. I’ve been meaning to watch it again for several decades. I’m pet-sitting, so today seems like a good opportunity.
The dog’s cable, as my Aunt Kathy calls it.
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Feb 25, 2024 18:53:28 GMT -5
Today I’m watching Monsieur Verdoux (1947). I was browsing Tubi, just to make sure I wasn’t missing anything. And they’ve got Monsieur Verdoux! I saw it probably about 1990, and I don’t think I understood it. I sure don’t remember much about it. I’ve been meaning to watch it again for several decades. I’m pet-sitting, so today seems like a good opportunity. The dog’s cable, as my Aunt Kathy calls it. I loved that movie. I watched it with my dad back in the 80s, thanks to the magic of VHS and old movies showed late at night.
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Post by Batflunkie on Feb 29, 2024 16:46:45 GMT -5
Watched Chinatown (1974) this morning on Netflix. And while I thought it was a pretty good movie for what it was with plenty of twists and turns to keep the viewer engaged, the ending felt like a cinematic dead end with no real resolution for any of the plot threads (but maybe that was the point?)
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 29, 2024 18:02:12 GMT -5
Watched Chinatown (1974) this morning on Netflix. And while I thought it was a pretty good movie for what it was with plenty of twists and turns to keep the viewer engaged, the ending felt like a cinematic dead end with no real resolution for any of the plot threads (but maybe that was the point?) Forget it...it's Chinatown!
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Post by codystarbuck on Feb 29, 2024 18:08:00 GMT -5
50th Anniversary of the release of Blazing Saddles, in all its subversive glory.....
(NSFW...obviously)
I often quote my favorite line, from Slim Pickens....
"What in the Wide Wide World of Sports is a-going on here?"
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Post by Batflunkie on Feb 29, 2024 18:30:57 GMT -5
50th Anniversary of the release of Blazing Saddles, in all its subversive glory..... (NSFW...obviously) I often quote my favorite line, from Slim Pickens.... "What in the Wide Wide World of Sports is a-going on here?" Mine is "Can't you see that this is the last act of a desperate man?" "We don't care if it's that last act of Henry The Fifth, we're leaving!" And the fact that the "beans and coffee" scene is still censored on tv airings never fails to make me laugh
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Feb 29, 2024 18:32:32 GMT -5
Watched Chinatown (1974) this morning on Netflix. And while I thought it was a pretty good movie for what it was with plenty of twists and turns to keep the viewer engaged, the ending felt like a cinematic dead end with no real resolution for any of the plot threads (but maybe that was the point?) That was exactly the point. Life doesn't have easy endings. Or necessarily any endings this side of the grave. This is very much a throw-back to the noirs of the late 40s and early 50s only with what the Hayes Code wouldn't allow at that time.
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