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Streets of Fire, a review by GSyren

Streets of Fire (5-028836-040279)

United States 1984 | Released 2013-11-18 on Bluray from Second Sight, Universal City Studios

94 minutes | Aspect ratio 1.85:1 | Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English PCM 2-Channel Stereo

WALTER HILL'S classic, highly stylized 'rock & roll fable' has gained a huge cult following since its original 1984 release and with its backdrop of rain-drenched, neon-lit streets is one of the most visually iconic films of the decade. Big time rock singer Ellen Aim is playing her hometown when she is grabbed from the stage by local bike gang The Bombers, led by the menacing Raven. Tom Cody, a tough ex-soldier and Ellen's ex-boyfriend returns home to get her back and he's ready to take on the whole gang.

My thoughts about Streets of Fire:

Maybe I should have bought Walter Hill's The Warriors and have watched it before I watched Streets of Fire, because many people say that Streets of Fire is basically a musical version of The Warriors. Well, I can't comment on that, but I can say that I'm a bit ambivalent about Streets of FireHoney I shrunk the Kids and its sequels). Possibly intentional by Hill, but that just didn't work for me. All in all, not quite my thing, but still a good enough film experience.

I rate this title

(From Reviews and ramblings by Gunnar on April 5th, 2015)

Killers, a review by Dragonfire

I decided to go see Killers yesterday.  Of the movies starting on the 4th, that is the one I was most interested to see.  I know that some are trashing the movie, but I enjoyed it.  Yes it has issues, but I still thought it worked as an entertaining movie overall.  It is a bit silly, but it is also fun overall.

The plot isn't the most original being sort of like True Lies and Mr. and Mrs. Smith, though there are a few different elements.  It would have been better if the story had been more original..or at least if some things had just been handled a bit better.

Spencer is a CIA killer in France for a job.  Jen has recently been dumped and he goes on the vacation she originally planned with her ex with her parents.  Spencer and Jen met in an elevator in the hotel and decide to have dinner that night.  They keep seeing each other while in France and they get married once back in the States.  Spencer decides that he is leaving his job even before he knows the relationship is going to last.  Three years later, things seem perfect for the couple.  then Spencer is contacted by his former boss who wants Spencer to do another job.  The next day, people start trying to kill Spencer and Jen finds out the truth about his former job when she wanders into one of the attempts. 

There is a decent amount of action to the movie, mostly provided by shootings as well as a few car chases.  Spencer does get into a few fights as well.  The violence isn't that extreme or graphic.  Some of what happens is funny, but the movie wasn't as funny as the previews made it out to be.  Jen freaks out more than once with what is going on, and that does add some of the humor. 

The characters are somewhat interesting.  Spencer is very good at his job with the CIA but he leaves that all behind after meeting Jen.  It is sort of hinted at that he had already been having some issues with the work, though that isn't explored.  Spencer does make some mistakes, but he is a decent, likeable character overall.  I did like Ashton Kutcher in the part.  It is a bit more ...subdued than some of his other parts have been.

Jen is kind of a mess of a character.  She acts completely different at first after meeting Spencer.  As things happen, sometimes she manages to deal with things already and other times she flips out.  At one point, she decides that something is going on - after it is just randomly mentioned by Spencer in passing - and she slips into the stereotype behavior for that event before even knowing if it is true or not.  She wants to run home to Daddy and let him deal with the situation instead of giving Spencer much chance to handle things.  She demands answers, which she does deserve.  But she does it while they are clearly in danger and Spencer is still trying to get them to safety.  She is a bit irrational at times and just annoying.  The more I think about her, the more annoying I think she is.  It is almost impossible to like her.  I think most of that is because of how the character is written, but some of it might be because of Katherine Heigel playing the part.  I'm not that fond of her.  Jen's parents turn up every so often and they are mostly flat characters.  Her dad talks about doing things and certain way and being prepared..and he criticizes the fact that Spencer does things differently.  Her mother is always drinking something, so she's at least somewhat drunk in every scene. 

Overall, I do think the movie is entertaining, though it definitely could have been better.  It isn't bad as a fluff type of movie.  I would have gone with 3.5 stars on Epinions, but since I couldn't, I went ahead and rounded up to 4.  So I'll use that rating here too.



I did post a longer review on Epinions if anyone wants to take a look.

Killers

(From Killers on June 6th, 2010)

Tom's Glee Marathon, a review by Tom

Glee
Season 1.10 Ballad
Writer: Ryan Murphy (Created By), Brad Falchuk (Created By), Ian Brennan (Created By), Brad Falchuk (Writer)
Director: Brad Falchuk
Cast: Dianna Agron (Quinn Fabray), Chris Colfer (Kurt Hummel), Jessalyn Gilsig (Terri Schuester), Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester), Jayma Mays (Emma Pillsbury), Kevin McHale (Arty Abrams), Lea Michele (Rachel Berry), Cory Monteith (Finn Hudson), Matthew Morrison (Will Schuester), Amber Riley (Mercedes Jones), Mark Salling (Noah "Puck" Puckerman), Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina Cohen-Chang), Gregg Henry (Russell Fabray), Charlotte Ross (Judy Fabray), Romy Rosemont (Carole Hudson), Sarah Drew (Suzy Pepper), Naya Rivera (Santana Lopez), Heather Morris (Brittany Pierce), Harry Shum, Jr. (Mike Chang)

A fun episode. Even though I think the storyline, that Rachel is crushing on Mr. Schuester is stupid, I like how it plays. Lea Michele does it great job making this storyline funny.

Finncompetent:
Finn is singing "You're Having My Baby" to Quinn in front of her parents and thus telling them about the baby. Quinn is thrown out of the house after this. Even if Finn does a really stupid thing, I like how it plays. The reaction of the parents are funny. How first they find it strange that he starts to sing. Then they are getting into it until they realize what the song is telling them. Also the scene following this with Quinn fighting with her parents is played very well.

Brittana:
The reaction of both when Santana draws Brittany as her singing partner

Stupid moments:
Tina drawing up Mike as singing partner with "Other Asian" given as name on the paper. This is not something Mr. Shuester would do (it is something Sue Sylvester would do). I hate it when a joke is set up in a way which conflicts how a character would do it otherwise.


Notable music:
The mash-up of "Young Girl" and "Don't Stand So Close To Me", which Mr. Shuester is singing to Rachel to discourage her feelings for him, is fun. I especially enjoy the reactions of Emma to this song (and also Rachel's reaction to Emma's reactions).

The Glee club is singing "Lean On Me" to Quinn and Finn, which I enjoyed.


Rating:

(From Tom's Glee Marathon on August 27th, 2012)