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The Getaway, a review by Jon

The Getaway ****
4 out of 5

Political manoeuvring gets Doc (Steve McQueen) out of prison even when a parole board said no. Now he has a bank to rob for benefactor Benyon (Ben Johnson) with the help of his wife (Ali MacGraw) and Rudy (Al Lettieri). The job goes wrong and now Doc and his wife are on the run from Benyon's enforcers and Rudi, looking for the $500,000.

Five years after Bonnie and Clyde re-wrote the rulebook and one year after the enigmatic Vanishing Point and Two-Lane Blacktop, we're well into America's New Wave cinema and Sam Peckinpah doesn't disappoint with a typical example of how to mix thriller and art-house. The first 10 minutes is like a European short film; Bonnie and Clyde ruffled a few feathers with abstract editing, against the Hollywood idea of invisible cuts, but Peckinpah goes one better to show Doc's frustration at prison. It's a powerful, almost wordless sequence and forever separates the director from modern pretenders.

Don't be put off by the prospect of contemplative arty stuff like that though. This is as tough a thriller as any and the King of Cool McQueen was never cooler, channelling Bogart to deliver one of his best characters as Doc. He is utterly fantastic. Just look at the scene where he calmly buys a shotgun to immediately use on the police car that's pulled up outside. Or his memorable one-liners ("How ya doin', Slim?" ) and the way he deals with MacGraw! I mean, she's not a great actress, but she does convince, so she hardly deserved getting slapped around!

There's another example of how Hollywood had changed, allowing women to be slapped. Peckinpah really out-does himself though with the injured Rudy, taking a vet and his wife hostage, they end up cuckolding "poor little Harold"! Al Lettieri is great as Rudy, always menacing even when he's playing games. He was supposed to star in Rabid Dogs for Bava two years later and that film does owe a lot to this in many ways. Interesting how that happens. That European cinema should influence a shift-change in America, a change that Europe itself picks up on.

Certainly The Getaway revels in violence enough to be honourary Giallo. Revels may be the wrong word though, because this is another intelligent and accountable commentary on a violent society (see how the kids wander over to look at a recent corpse, similar to how children tease the scorpion in The Wild Bunch). Peckinpah's set-pieces are incredible, reminding one of Leone's spaghetti westerns, especially with the bizarre Morricone influenced score. And he was the best at slow-motion photography since Kurosawa. Certainly John Woo could take a few lessons.

Walter Hill's (The Driver) screenplay is tough, but a lot of fun, with terse to-the-point dialogue. Scenes like Doc retrieving the lost bag of money was indulgent, but I wouldn't miss it for anything ("when you work a lock, don't leave scratches"). Overall, a very watchable, powerful action-thriller, the like of which is sorely missed and probably makes Michael Bay cry. All the CGI flashy shit that passes for action movies these days can't recreate a partnership like McQueen, Hill and Peckinpah.

(From Stop Thief! The Robbing Bastard Marathon on August 16th, 2009)

The Dark Knight Rises, a review by Tom

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The Dark Knight Rises (2012/United States) IMDb | Wikipedia Warner Home Video (Germany) Director: Christopher Nolan Writing: Jonathan Nolan (Screenwriter), Christopher Nolan (Screenwriter), Christopher Nolan (Story By), David S. Goyer (Story By), Bob Kane (Original Characters By) Length: 165 min. Video: Widescreen Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround, Audio Descriptive: Dolby Digital 5.1, French: Dolby Digital 5.1, German: Dolby Digital 5.1, Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1, Thai: Dolby Digital 5.1 Subtitles: Chinese, Danish, English, French, German, Finnish, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Other, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Icelandic, Thai

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Stars:
Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne
Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon
Tom Hardy as Bane
Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Blake
Anne Hathaway as Selina

Plot:
Eight years on, a new terrorist leader, Bane, overwhelms Gotham's finest, and the Dark Knight resurfaces to protect a city that has branded him an enemy.

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Commentary
• Trailers
• Photo Gallery
• Featurettes
• Digital Copy

For me this movie is a bit of a let down. Too many stupid plot contrivances. Like why is Gordon sending all police officers down to the sewers? Doesn't he even consider in the slightest that it could be a trap?
Also it feels a lot like rehashing Batman Begins, having Bruce again locked up in a prison where he has to escape from. When I first saw it, I saw it coming very early on, who the main bad guy will turn out to be.
This movie could have been easily told in a shorter runtime. Anne Hathaway as Catwoman is great though. And I liked the ending, even though I guessed it coming.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Reviews on December 23rd, 2012)

Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles: The Complete First Season marathon, a review by DJ Doena

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.

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.

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)