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Red Dawn (1984 & 2012), a review by DJ DoenaDirector: John Milius Patrick Swayze ... Jed C. Thomas Howell ... Robert Lea Thompson ... Erica Charlie Sheen ... Matt Darren Dalton ... Daryl Jennifer Grey ... Toni Brad Savage ... Danny Doug Toby ... Aardvark William Smith ... Strelnikov Ron O'Neal ... Colonel Ernesto Bella Powers Boothe ... Lt. Col. Andrew 'Andy' Tanner Lane Smith ... Mayor Bates Synopsis: The tides have turned against the United States. Most of the world has fallen to the communist advances and Europe is too tired for a third war in the same century. But the US is still free. Until now. Nicaraguan/Cuban/Russian forces have invaded the US and already taken large parts of the country. Somewhere there still is a Free America. The small town of Calumet, Colorado is not that lucky. It suddenly finds himself occupied and people are getting arrested or even killed. A group of high school students manages to escape into the mountains and from there they try to defend their country in good ol' Guerrilla warfare manner. My Opinion: This film is seriously dated. I've watched it for the first time, so there wasn't any nostalgia that could build up over the years. But 30 years ago, the world was different and people were actually afraid of an all-ending war that would turn Earth into a nuclear wasteland (Nowadays they're still scared because of a terrorist attack that happened more than 12 years ago and had less than 1/3 of the casualties that traffic accidents caused in the same year, so much so that they're willing to give up essential freedoms for a little bit of safety.). The cast list is an interesting composition with Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey, three years before they had the time of their lives (pardon the pun) on Dirty Dancing, still-bad-boy Charlie Sheen but also Lea Thompson (Back to the Future or more recently Switched at Birth). Director: Dan Bradley Chris Hemsworth ... Jed Eckert Josh Peck ... Matt Eckert Josh Hutcherson ... Robert Kitner Adrianne Palicki ... Toni Walsh Isabel Lucas ... Erica Martin Connor Cruise ... Daryl Jenkins Edwin Hodge ... Danny Will Yun Lee ... Captain Cho Jeffrey Dean Morgan ... Tanner Michael Beach ... Mayor Jenkins Synopsis: This time the My Opinion: Actually, this movie this quite a few things better than the original. Before the invasion the NKs disabled all of America's high-tech, computer-based weaponry, so there were no predator drones, no spy satellites, no communications network. It went back to the basics. In the 80s this wouldn't have been possible, because there weren't that many computers involved in warfare. So this time around it actually makes a little more sense why this didn't end in a big nuclear shootout. Also, it wasn't a bad idea to give at least one of the guys a background in military training and having been to Iraq he had the knowledge of how insurgence works. What I also found noteworthy was his comparison to the Viet Cong and the Mujahideen because it at least acknowledged that the VC and others were only doing what these kids are doing now: Defending their own country. This movie also wasn't a carbon copy; they deviated from the original material in some ways so it didn't become completely predictable for someone who had seen the original recently. And they have black kids now! In the year of Beverly Hills Cop the original didn't have any memorable black characters in it, not even the obligatory black-dude-that-dies-first. *Originally the bad guys were supposed to be Chinese but then they also wanted the Chinese market to show this movie, so the bad guys became North Koreans instead. (From DJ's Short Movie Reviews on February 11th, 2014) Syriana, a review by KinkyCyborgSyriana Title:Syriana Year: 2005 Director: Stephen Gaghan Rating: 14A Length: 128 Min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.40:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1 Subtitles: English, French, Spanish Stars: Kayvan Novak George Clooney Amr Waked Christopher Plummer Jeffrey Wright Plot:Extras: Scene Access Feature Trailers Bonus Trailers Deleted Scenes Featurettes Interviews Closed Captioned My Thoughts: Very intriguing and fascinating movie even though at times I was confused as to what was going on. It was like playing connect the dots... only the dots keep moving. The message was clear... big business, more directly OIL business, dictates much of what happens in the world. Corruption, terrorism, political unrest, the removing of obstacles with extreme prejudice... all in a days work for the powers that be who jockey for control of the world's most valuable natural resource. Also, this movie does little to endear the viewer to the Arab oil barons whose obscene wealth is prominently on display. Clooney was good, Damon was good, Jeffrey Wright was great! Also I've never seen Tim Blake Nelson in a suit before and it was quite a shock to the system. Great movie if not a bit confusing. Likely no more confusing than the real life double dealings employed by the oil companies. KC Rating: (From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2010 on January 16th, 2011) Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete First Season marathon, a review by DJ DoenaDisc 2 Heavy Metal Synopsis: While the others are asleep Cameron checks for possible threats and she finds a huge shipment of the alloy the Terminators are made of. It's protected by another Terminator but John wants to steal the alloy and destroy it. My Opinion: I liked it that John took charge even if it was dangerous. But apart from that not much has actually happened. Queen's Gambit Synopsis: Andy - the man who had built the Turk - build yet another machine. It's a chess machine and he's competing in an computer chess tournament to win a government contract with the military. But someone kills Andy - it's the missing resistance fighter.My Opinion: For some reason I expected the whole time that Cameron would challenge one of the chess computers. I know that they have to stay undercover and she's a machine and has no emotions, but still, something in her eyes made me expecting it. I still don't know what to think about the "FBI Terminator" / "Cromartie" yet because I have no idea what kind of plot they have for him in future episodes. Dungeons and Dragons Synopsis:My Opinion: This was basically the introduction episode for Derek and since they've put that much effort in explaining his background I believe he'll stay for a while. I like him, he seems like the right type to be a resistance fighter. And with every episode I like Cameron more.Disc 2 - My Opinion: Either I have become more lenient or they didn't make as many mistakes as in the previous episodes. I also think the addition of Derek and Charley could be interesting. But that depends on how long they will stay. (From Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete First Season marathon on January 21st, 2009) |