Logging

Labor day movie round up

Film in theater:  The Grandmaster
DVDs:  The Other Guys, Logan's Run, Smokey and the Bandit, The Raid Redeption

The Grandmaster was a disappointment.  Was hoping to be washed over and relaxed on a hot afternoon by Won Kar Wai images.  Was actually surprised by how lame the slow motion shots looked.  Seemed like he was adjusting to shooting a new format or something.  Maybe going digital for the first time?  I honestly don't know, nor do even care enough to research it.  Story telling was bad.  How is it possible to have Tony Leung, Zi Zhang, and Won Kar Wai and make a lousy movie?  Goes to show how hard movie making is.

The Other Guys was laugh out loud funny in parts and yet I still fell asleep.  My theory is the plot sucks and they blow their comedy wad in the first half of the movie and don't set anything up and so the third act becomes total absurdity.

The Raid Redemption, however, embraces absurdity and is a vehicle for kick-ass action sequences.  I thought it was a pretty awesome in the way old Jet Li or Van Damme movies were awesome.

Smokey and the Bandit is a lot of fun and I appreciate it more now than when I was younger.  I'm not an instinctive fan of the "Southern" as Tarantino puts it, but Jackie Gleason is a delight and damn, Burt and Sally Field had some real chemistry going there.  I still prefer White Lighting.

Logan's Run...eh...would like to see the Nic Refn remake if that ever happens.