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The Wrecking Crew, a review by GSyren

Title	The Wrecking Crew
Year	1969
Director	Phil Karlson
Stars	Dean Martin, Elke Sommer, Sharon Tate, Nancy Kwan, Nigel Green
Overview	Teamed with beautiful British agent Freya Carlson (Sharon Tate), Matt Helm (Dean Martin) is assigned to retrieve one billion dollars in gold, stolen by international crime czar Count Massimo Contini (Nigel Green). Determined to keep his ill-gotten gain, the Count orders two gorgeous assassins (Elke Sommer and Nancy Kwan) to dispatch Helm once and for all.
My thoughts	The sixties was the decade when the Bond spoofs bloomed. The Matt Helm series (4 movies) was neither the best nor the worst. I never quite understood where the producers got the idea that Dean Martin would make a good secret agent, even in a spoof. But it didn't turn out quite as badly as one might have feared. The films range from silly to imbecile, with The Ambushers being the worst of the lot. So at least The Wrecking Crew, the last of the 4, was a step up. On the plus side there is the ladies. Elke Sommer, Nancy Kwan and Tina Louise are just fine, but it is Sharon Tate who steals the show. Sadly this was her next to last movie before being so brutally murdered by "The Manson Family" in 1969. Without her this would have been a weak 2.5 stars, at best. The film is full of silly impossibilities. The portable helicopter - an idea clearly stolen from Bond - couldn't possibly fit in a car trunk. And the mountain road that ends at a cable car station in the fell like mountains. In Denmark, where the highest mountain is 170 meters! Well, you really have to be in a forgiving mode to enjoy this. But if you are, then it is passable.
Rating

(From Reviews and ramblings by Gunnar on March 29th, 2013)

Iron Man, a review by KinkyCyborg

Iron Man



Title:Iron Man
Year: 2008
Director: Jon Favreau
Rating: PG-13
Length: 126 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Robert Downey, Jr. [Robert Downey Jr.]
Terrence Howard
Jeff Bridges
Gwyneth Paltrow
Leslie Bibb

Plot:
Suit up for action with ROBERT DOWNEY JR. in the ultimate adventure movie you've been waiting for, Iron Man! When jet-setting genius-industrialist Tony Stark is captured in enemy territory, he builds a high-tech suit of armor to escape. Now, he's on a mission to save the world as a hero who's built, not born, to be unlike any other. Co-starring TERRENCE HOWARD, JEFF BRIDGES and GWYNETH PALTROW, it's a fantastic, high-flying journey that is "hugely entertaining" (Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal).

Extras:
Scene Access
Bonus Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Closed Captioned



Time for my pick and I decided that since I just picked up the sequel I should get around to watching the first installment.

If you are looking for a good action movie to watch you can rarely go wrong by picking any one of the Marvel comic book film adaptations and Iron Man certainly delivered. Combine all the explosions in this movie and you have another Hiroshima! I like how the birth of Iron Man unfolded, using current day conflicts as a vehicle to tell the story. Not my favorite comic growing up (I was always partial to the Fantastic Four) but I sure liked his character in the movie.

This movie marked Robert Downey Jr's complete comeback from a drug induced abyss that took many good years away from his career and in so coming back he has actually ascended into the superstar stratosphere. Great for him but it has evolved into something that is now quite a pet peeve of mine. Every interview, every awards appearance, every time he sticks his face in front of a camera he is posturing, shades on, and playing the role of THE MAN which was funny and somewhat deserving at first but c'mon... zip it already! 

Interesting role for Jeff Bridges as the sans hair villain and I think he plays a bad guy very convincingly. Gwyneth Paltrow was neither her nor there in this one for me... probably they overpaid for a star for what could have been filled by any number of young, cute actresses. Much was made of the exclusion of Terrence Howard from the sequel but I'm not disappointed. Nothing about his performance stood out and I feel that Don Cheadle, his replacement, has much more personality anyway.

What impresses me most about Iron Man was that is was a great movie coming from director Jon Favreau, who also had a bit part in this one. I've always disliked his loudmouthed, vulgar roles as an actor save for his performance in Rocky Marciano. If this movie, it's sequel and the upcoming Cowboys & Aliens is any indication, perhaps he has finally found his calling. If he can consistently put out big budget, blockbuster caliber movies than he can thankfully put his sub-par acting career to bed.


KC

Rating:

(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2010 on November 27th, 2010)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Dharma & Greg: Season One (1997/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia (United States) Length: 528 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Spanish: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

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Plot:
When free-spirited yoga instructor Dharma Finkelstein meets conservative attorney Greg Montgomery, it's love at first sight. Unfortunately, there is absolutely no love in the air when Dharma's hippie parents finally meet after their children have already married at a drive-thru chapel in Reno. With friends and family all suggesting that a quick annulment would be best, it's no surprise that the couple begins to second-guess their impulsive nuptials. But it's soon evident that nothing can stand in the way of true love!


Dharma & Greg
1.01 Pilot (1997-09-24)
Writer: Dottie Dartland (Writer), Chuck Lorre (Writer)
Director: James Burrows
Cast: Jenna Elfman (Dharma), Thomas Gibson (Greg), Shae D'Lyn (Jane), Joel Murray (Pete), Mimi Kennedy (Abby), Alan Rachins (Larry), Mitchell Ryan (Edward), Susan Sullivan (Kitty), Elaine Kagan (Woman on train), Megan Butala (Young Dharma), Mathew Weiss (Young Greg)

This is a series, where I really like the first few episodes. But sadly it's a one joke premise which grows tired quickly. Still I like the pilot very much so.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on April 4th, 2011)