Rocky II. This one always seems to fade in my memory compared to the others but it actually holds up pretty well. It's basically a re-run of the first movie except Rocky's having trouble managing the fame he got from fighting Apollo and trying to retire from fighting because of health concerns, but of course he's forced to get back in the ring again. Aside from the goofy bit of the army of children chasing him while he's jogging through the city, it still feels like a character-based drama, whereas the next couple of movies (especially IV) transition over to being more cartoony. Maybe I'm wrong, but the "Yo, Adrian! I did it!" ending comes across like something that was changed after a test screening - the whole vibe of the movie is that Rocky doesn't really need to win, he just needs to not give up like in the first movie because Apollo's whole issue is that he can't make Rocky quit, but then in the last minute it's like "Aw, screw it, let him win and have the title, too!"
Went ahead and watched Rocky III, too. It's fun. Mr. T is great as Clubber Lang and it's cool to see Rocky and Apollo team up, but it sort of gets at the problem Stallone has always had as a star, which is that he's fantastic when he's playing an underdog but his likability steadily drops when he's playing a swaggering "best in the world" tough guy. Like, Rocky barely feels like the same character he was in the first two movies. You love the guy in the earlier movies when someone asks him about beating Apollo and he shyly says "I dunno, he looks pretty mad...", but then you look at him in this movie in his Ric Flair suits and all his rich guy stuff, and his polished-up mannerisms, and...he's not a bad guy but he just doesn't have that instinctive likability anymore.
Yeah, but he never gets it back is what I'm saying. He doesn't truly become Rocky again until like Rocky Balboa.
Rewatched the 1973/1974 version of The Three Musketeers. I think when I first saw it I hated it. Then the next few times I saw it, I saw good points but didn't hate it. Watching it again now, as an adult with a little more understanding of adaptations, I think it's probably the best of all The Three Musketeers movies. Yes, they played up the slapstick comedy parts of the book, which is what bothered me the most the first few times that I saw it. But now that I accept that as part of any adaptation and knowing how bad it could have been, I don't fault the move so much anymore. Add it together with The Four Musketeers which is the second half of The Three Musketeers book, and it is the only version that tales the whole tale.
Aquaman. 6/10. Rented it on my dvr with a sale price of 2.99. For some reason the movie wasn't HD, it looked like 720p. That alone made it unejoyable. Too many costumes and colors did not match or made any sense. Did they really have to cgi the dad's face of aquaman?
Booksmart: 6/10 Look forward to the PC of the next generation picking this one apart, but it really tried to fit somewhere between a Superbad and a John Hughes type high school comedy into today's accepted politics, mostly. Funny in parts, good when it has actual surprises, but overall felt like it was trying too hard. Kids seemed way more interactive and less into their phones than in any real life high school. Also, nobody but nobody had any real problems, which was surreal. So 6 for energy of the cast and the pacing and rebirthing a John Hughes type feel-good kid comedy.
Saw Whiplash (9 out of 10) this weekend. Great acting (Teller and the guy in the Farmers insurance ads).
8 Diagram Pole Fighter. A pretty good Shaw Bros. martial arts movie with Gordon Liu playing one of his heroic monk characters. He starts out as the fifth of seven brothers who go to war, but a traitor causes all of them to get killed, except for Liu, who escapes to a Shao Lin temple, and the sixth brother who goes hopelessly crazy. Liu has to rework his fighting style and get revenge. The mostly weapons-based fighting is pretty fun - the bad guys use these special tools that clamp down on the heroes' spears and limbs, and at the temple Liu learns how to de-fang wolves with his staff, which leads to the bad guys eventually literally getting all their teeth ripped out of their mouths. I'm not entirely sure what the 8 diagrams were supposed to be. There might have been a translation issue there...
Great movie. It was nominated for 5 Oscars and won 3, btw, including "the guy in the Farmers insurance ads"
I was an adult when I saw it, so I had a leg up on you. If you think about it, how could it not be terrific? A classic novel by Dumas, the screenplay by George MacDonald Fraser of Flashman! fame. Ever read the Flashman novels? Hilarious historical fiction set during the Victorian era - in India, Afghanistan, the Crimea - everywhere things were happening, British officer Flashman, the devilish skirt chaser and accidental hero, was there! It had a superb cast, and it was directed by Richard Lester, who made some great films during the ‘60’s. Films like A Hard Day’s Night. He won the Palme d’Or at Canne for his early The Knack... and How to Get It (1965). Musketeers had everything going for it, even the quirky tail end of the freaky ‘60’s, which actually lasted through the early ‘70’s (you have to trust me on that one). I’ve probably seen it 3 or 4 times. The sequel is also good, although the first movie had the most impact because it was such a surprise when it came out. No one had ever seen a version of The 3 Musketeers remotely like it, of course, and people were cracking up in the theaters.
