My latest view/review was also a Tomas Milian movie,
We see him in the first place as spaghetti western actor but in Italy he is best known as Giraldi, the cop on a motorbike
https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/The_Cop_in_Blue_Jeans_review
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Today: Kong: Skull Island (Vogt-Roberts, 2017)
A complete rejig of the Kong story set in 1973 rather than the more traditional 1933 sees shady government agent Bill Randa (John Goodman) hire an ex-S.A.S. tracking specialist (Tom Hiddleston, bland as can be) to help him map out the mysterious Skull Island in the Indian Ocean, escorted by a helicopter squadron fresh from Vietnam, led by Lt. Col. Packard (Samuel L. Jackson). Heading out under the cover story of this being an environmental mission, the only person who suspects that Randa might have another agenda is photographer Mason Weaver (Brie Larson), whoâs suspicions are confirmed when a 100ft ape-like creature proceeds to swat their copters out of the sky like they were moths, killing half the party and scattering the rest. From there itâs a dash around the island; some of the survivors are looking for a way out, some are looking to avenge the dead and kill that monster monkey. On their travels however they come across an American WWII fighter pilot (John C. Reilly, bringing the comic relief; some of which works, some of which doesnât) stranded on the island since crash-landing there in 1944 who informs them that âKongâ (as the island natives call him) is far from the only monster on the island; in fact, he may be all thatâs holding the other monsters at bayâŚ
So, is it any good? Well, itâs a blockbuster creature feature starring King Kong, and itâs precisely as good (or bad, depending on your taste for monster movies) as one would expect a movie like that to be; no more, no less. It offers no surprise hidden depths. Samuel Jackson chews the scenery, Tom Hiddleston vanishes into it. All of the real stars are computer generated and larger in scale than a block of flats. This is a loud, brash, shallow and light movie, chock-full of corny dialogue both dramatic and comedic, and featuring a veritable bounty of multi-limbed, oversized beasties. As such, you already know if you like this movie or not. Not as po-faced as Godzilla (Edwards, 2014) yet not (quite) as cheesy as Pacific Rim (del Toro, 2013), Kong: Skull Island is not going to set cineasts hither and yon scratching their goatees pondering its deeper narrative; it is what it is, but itâs an enjoyable enough example of its type.
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Last flick I saw in theatersâŚGood Fun. 
Hotwire⌠1980⌠answers the question if Strother Martin can carry an action-movie⌠Yes. Heâs a master lockpicker and car-repossessor for a sleazy auto-dealer, played by George Kennedy (in a dual-role as his sleazy sheriff-brother). They blackmail a hotwire-specialist to team-up with Martin, to steal back a Rolls Royce from the owner of a popular strip-club.
Of course the specialist falls in-love with a stripper⌠with side-plots showcasing Martinâs cantankerous hell-raisability:
" That car ainât worth takinâ. â
â Theyâre ALL worth takinâ. "
The film was definitely made for the Burt Reynolds/Clint Eastwood audiences of the 70âs.
Standoff (2016). Some good moments, but just not much depthâŚ
Last night: Pulp Fiction (Tarantino, 1994), while @MazzyStar was out watching the new Beauty and the Beast (Condon, 2017). Best film ever made? Very probably (Pulp Fiction, not Beauty and the bloody Beast).
Night before last: Vanilla Sky (Crowe, 2001), the remake - or âcoverâ, as director Cameron Crowe likes to call it - of Spanish picture Abre los ojos (AmenĂĄbar, 1997), in which inherited-wealth billionaire playboy David Aames (Tom Cruise) is introduced to a girl, Sofia (Penelope Cruz, who played the same role in the Spanish movie) by his best friend (Jason Lee) and, having spent a single evening of sweet conversation in her company, has just enough time to decide heâs fallen in love with her before his lovelorn psychotic âf*ckbuddyâ Julie (Cameron Diaz) drives him at breakneck speed off of a bridge and into a wall, killing herself and massively disfiguring David in the process. All of this is being relayed to us in flashback however, as David - wearing a prosthetic mask and locked in a prison cell - is telling the story to his court-appointed psychologist (Kurt Russell), who is building a determination of Davidâs mental state for his upcoming trial for Sofiaâs murder. Hang on, what? Whatâs happened here? The answer is considerably more Red Dwarf than the movie - on the face of it, a romantic drama - would have us guess.
It tends to polarise viewers but Vanilla Sky has long been a favourite of mine.
This is really just a little bit of film triviaâŚto accompany the new âKongâ film.
Despite the fact that Iâve watched the original (and best) âKing Kongâ (1933), many, many times, it hadnât sunk in - until today - that the original concept for âKongâ, was conceived by the renowned writer, Edgar Wallace, of âThe Edgar Wallace Mysteriesâ fame⌠and I know that there are one or two fans of that particular series, on the âSWDBâ.
I watched this one recently, didnât like it that much though. I wonder if the original version is better?
I attended exploitation movie festival yesterday with these films:
Demonoid
Antropophagus
Black Gestapo
I was especially thrilled by Dâamatoâs Antropophagus, great piece of nasty exploitation.
As far as I know Wallace was hired to write a screenplay, but more or less nothing was used of what he had written before his death.
The main star of the film, George Eastman (Luigi Montefiori), has gone on record as saying that he didnât particularly like making the film.
And yesâŚthere are some extremely gruesome moments in itâŚ
I prefer Vanilla Sky over Abre los ojos but theyâre very similar.
Kong: Skull Island (2017)
Wow!..what a steaming bowl of rhinoceros diarrhea this was. Bad cast, bad acting and the worst dialogue that iâve herd in quite awhile. Easily, one of the worst movies I have seen in a long time.
Yeah ⌠apart from John C Reilly it feels like all the actors are reading their dialogue and everyone is so serious, it was no fun at all to me. Tom Hiddleston trying to look badass was the most annoying thing throughout.
I liked the new Kong. Some terrific directed action scenes, but indeed the they could have tried to give the characters more substance to intensify the fun. Still Hiddleston And Larson let their roles look more interesting than they actually are.
And of course as always in films without substance, the end has nothing to offer, and its directing is now also banal. But overall it was entertaining. 6/10
HeHe, i think he was audition to be the next James Bond, i hope not.
Just had a Chuck Norris martial arts double-bill.
âA FORCE OF ONEâ (1979)
When the police officers of an undercover police unit are being mysteriously killed by a martial artist, a professional kickboxer (Chuck), is hired to train the officers in the not-so-gentle artâŚ
Things become personal, when Chuckâs adopted son, meets an untimely end.
There are some fantastic action scenes, in this flickâŚwell worth watching.
âTHE OCTAGONâ (1980).
A renowned martial arts expert, Chuck Norris, must come to terms with his own personal demons about his past, and his half-brother - who has graduated from being a young spiteful brat, to become an older lethal weapon, with a huge chip on his shoulder.
At the same time, Chuck must defeat a dastardly Ninja plan to create a worldwide training camp for terrorists. The feet and hands start flyingâŚ
Fantastic action, from start to finish, with a magnetic appearance from the late, great, Lee Van Cleef.
Recommended.
La Battaglia dellâUltimo Panzer (1969, J.L. Merino)
An Italian-Spanish war movie (âMacaroni Combatâ) by the director of Requiem for a Gringo/Duel in the eclipse. The story is set in France, shortly after D-Day: A German tank regiment is ambushed and the only survivors, a tank commander and his crew, must now try to rejoin their own lines. Theyâre joined by a survivor from another crew, an old an wise sergeant who knows the war is lost and therefore immediately clashes with the tank commander, a young an ambitious officer who wants to continue the war until the bitter end.
Most macaroni combat efforts tend to hide their lack of means with a surplus of combat action, but this one tries to sell an anti-war message with a more psychological approach, with mixed results. Guy Madison is the American officer whoâs setting a trap for the Germans; his scenes feel completely detached from the rest of the movie (where they by any chance shot for another production that was never finished?). The story culminates in a tank battle involving one American and one German tank (it was actually filmed with one single tank, that was painted on one side to make it look German, and on the other side to make it look American).
Low-key and slow-moving, but the actors arenât bad and Erna Schurer (who plays a local beauty who falls for the German officer) is worth the price of an entrance ticket alone. Itâs by the way available (free of charge) on You Tube
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Motherlode⌠1982⌠Directed by, and starring Charleton Heston⌠but this has aged-into an absolute Kim Bassinger vehicle. -Made just as she was becoming a huge star. Easy to see why. She overwhelms every scene sheâs in. But the film fails in one key aspect⌠studio cave-shots and mine-shafts that are way too confusingly edited. I lost all comprehension of who was doing what, whereâŚ
Hestonâs a psychotic hermit, searching for the source of all the gold found in the river-valley. Beautiful British Columbia locations add impact to the elements of mystery that plot successfully presents.
.
Three days ago: Ghost in the Shell (Sanders, 2017)
The much-ballyhooed live-action remake of the wildly popular 1995 anime is in fact a somewhat different story which nevertheless covers similar ground and which does so via a number of set-pieces lifted straight from the source movie (although often presented in a different order). Scarlett Johansson plays Mira Killian, a refugee to Japan and victim of a terrorist attack which killed her parents and almost killed her, leaving only her brain intact. However, cybernetic augmented tech is all the rage these days - everyone has at least some form of cybernetic enhancement - and Hanka Robotics are able to make Mira a test case: The first brain implant into an entirely augmented body (or âshellâ), ostensibly utilising her as a weapon for the governmentâs âSection 9â anti-terrorist division. Flash forward one year and Mira (now known as âMajorâ) and her Section 9 buddies are on the trail of Kuze (Michael Pitt, Boardwalk Empire), a cyber-terrorist hell-bent on murdering the Hanka Robotics top brass, which puts Dr. Ouelet (Juliette Binoche, Trois couleurs: Bleu), Miraâs designer and closest thing she had to a âmotherâ, in the firing line.
The dialogue is a little clunky and itâs way overpacked with CGI spectacle but, on the whole, Ghost in the Shell is an enjoyable romp which comes in at just a shade over 90 minutes; a rarity for big blockbuster titles these days, and a welcome one at that. Itâs not as good as its predecessor - itâs just more convoluted and crowded than the 1995 picture - but itâs different enough to have been worthwhile, I think. Scarlett Johansson is very good indeed despite the âwhitewashingâ furore (the role should really have gone to an Asian actor but Hollywood still insists on going for big-name casting over ethnically correct casting when it comes to marquee titles) and âBeatâ Takeshi Kitano was fun as always in his role as the Section 9 chief.