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American Strays (1996)
Love 'em or Kill 'em.
Filmmaker(s): Michael Covert

The desert can be a lonely place for the people who live there or for those who are traveling through. It is also the teller of different stories including the story of a traveling salesman whose only commodity is death and the story of a young man who finds that the death that he wishes for is difficult to find. Others are just traveling through, on their way to another place when they stop to eat at Red's Desert Oasis. The food may not be great, and the waitress may be surly, but those who stopped at Red's will find that they are involved in the showdown of their life.

Cutie Cleaner Tarantino gets under my skin, where Richard Rodriguez does not. It is a corner of myself I do not quite understand. If you have QT wonder, this could help. Tarantino places the viewer as a sort of museum visitor. He has this virtual video...


Published March 27, 2023
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American Sniper (2014)
The most lethal sniper in U.S. history.
Filmmaker(s): Clint Eastwood

U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle takes his sole mission—protect his comrades—to heart and becomes one of the most lethal snipers in American history. His pinpoint accuracy not only saves countless lives but also makes him a prime target of insurgents. Despite grave danger and his struggle to be a good husband and father to his family back in the States, Kyle serves four tours of duty in Iraq. However, when he finally returns home, he finds that he cannot leave the war behind.

Focus watched this like many others, consuming a rather simple story. Superficially, we are to admire this soul, both as an individual and representative of a collective who ‘serve’ us. As with Forgiven, we have some subtle exit from the story in the direction of...


Published March 26, 2023
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Italian Job (2003)
Get in. Get out. Get even.
Filmmaker(s): F. Gary Gray

Charlie Croker pulled off the crime of a lifetime. The one thing that he didn't plan on was being double-crossed. Along with a drop-dead gorgeous safecracker, Croker and his team take off to re-steal the loot and end up in a pulse-pounding, pedal-to-the-metal chase that careens up, down, above and below the streets of Los Angeles.

The In, The Out slick production lacks the cinematic acrobatics of “The Good Thief.” Except, except for one clever thing. The editing. The direction, acting and all that are pretty ordinary, as is the actual story and it tested very poorly. So — the story goes...


Published March 12, 2023
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Rambo (2008)
Live for nothing, or die for something.
Filmmaker(s): Sylvester Stallone

In Thailand, ex-Green Beret John James Rambo joins a group of mercenaries to venture into war-torn neighboring Myanmar to rescue a group of Christian aid workers who have been kidnapped by a ruthless local infantry unit.

Arrows suppose it makes economic sense to design a film this way. It has one scene only: the shootout at the end. This is what the target audience comes to see. Everything else is setup and justification. The Asians are baddy bad bad. The mercenaries...


Published March 7, 2023
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Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008)
Same Planet. Different World.
Filmmaker(s): Eric Brevig

On a quest to find out what happened to his missing brother, a scientist, his nephew and their mountain guide discover a fantastic and dangerous lost world in the center of the earth.

Dibs on the Guide is all about intent, isn’t it? If you have a film intended to reach some depth, the intent can be simply what the artists trust and if they are deep themselves AND good artists we get something valuable. I would never discount...


Published March 7, 2023
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King Arthur (2004)
Rule Your Fate.
Filmmaker(s): Antoine Fuqua

The story of the Arthurian legend, based on the 'Sarmatian hypothesis' which contends that the legend has a historical nucleus in the Sarmatian heavy cavalry troops stationed in Britain, and that the Roman-British military commander, Lucius Artorius Castus is the historical person behind the legend.

Blue Woman these simple constructions, its easy to see where they decided the hook would be. I imagine the pitch was that this would be “Braveheart” meets “Gladiator” but with a fighten’ gal. I’m sure they took a model and put her in blue tattoos...


Published March 7, 2023
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Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)
The bride is back for the final cut.
Filmmaker(s): Quentin Tarantino

The Bride unwaveringly continues on her roaring rampage of revenge against the band of assassins who had tried to kill her and her unborn child. She visits each of her former associates one-by-one, checking off the victims on her Death List Five until there's nothing left to do … but kill Bill.

Used Record Store are movies that are well done; there are movies that satisfy; there are those that work, those that stick, those that transcend time to become classics and those that change lives. None of these measures necessarily has anything to do with each...


Published March 7, 2023
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Jupiter Ascending (2015)
Expand your universe.

In a universe where human genetic material is the most precious commodity, an impoverished young Earth woman becomes the key to strategic maneuvers and internal strife within a powerful dynasty…

<strong>A Vast Profitmaking Enterprise. big division in films for me is whether it nourishes me or not. We build our lives from stories, lucidly if we are lucky. Films are the bath in which we rejuvenate — some films. All other film...


Published March 7, 2023
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Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014)
Manners maketh man.
Filmmaker(s): Matthew Vaughn

The story of a super-secret spy organization that recruits an unrefined but promising street kid into the agency's ultra-competitive training program just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius.

Not that Kind of Tailoring time to time in these comments, I remark on my surprise at how sophisticated young viewers are, and how they demand ever more complex and subtle self-referential folds. It gives me pleasure to realise that my flower children cohort were...


Published March 5, 2023
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Iron Monkey (1993)
Unmask the legend.
Filmmaker(s): Yuen Woo-Ping

Iron Monkey is a Hong Kong variation of Robin Hood. Corrupt officials of a Chinese village are robbed by a masked bandit known as "Iron Monkey", named after a benevolent deity. When all else fails, the Governor forces a traveling physician into finding the bandit.

Flight Assembly am not a student of Hong Kong martial arts movies, just someone who dips into the accessible ones. My interest is in the cinematic experience, and that depends to a large extent on how the camera is choreographed. It doesn’t matter to me how...


Published March 5, 2023
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