Vanilla Sky (2001)

After Tom Cruise separated from Nicole Kidman I feel he started a different path that allowed him to explore more of his acting. Where he did not have to rely so heavily on his good looks and winning personality. In all honesty I actually like his films and the characters he portrays. I had tried to watch Vanilla Sky years ago and could not see where it was going and gave up about 15 minutes in. Anyway on the second watch I actually knew what was happening and was able to follow it pretty well.

Tom Cruise plays David Aames a rich publishing heir who is a playboy around town, he starts with a weird dream and then wakes up next to Cameron Diaz, this could be many people’s dream. At his birthday party his best friend brings Penelope Cruz and there is a spark. He leaves her in the morning and makes a mistake by getting in the car with Cameron Diaz who feels jilted and she causes an accident that leaves Tom disfigured. You then follow him as he tries to regain his life and recover from the accident.

This film was captivating and kept me enthralled to the end and I have to say that I was not exactly sure where it was going but the ending really worked for me and I have to say that they way it all worked out in the end ticked all the right boxes for me. Overall this comes under the strong three star recommend catagory for me and I think most of you will actually enjoy it.

Escape from L.A. (1996)

The sequel to Escape from New York, which I reviewed here, sees Snake Plissken being conned into entering Los Angeles which has been cut off from the mainland due to an Earthquake. It is used as an island to deport all of the undesirables to. Director John Carpenter comes back but overall this is just a rehash of the original. Instead of going after the President, this time it is the President’s daughter who has the doomsday device.

This is the worst kind of sequel as it simply tries to redo what the original did so well and they are never going to be able to match what the original had and this means that this is simply a pale imitation of what I thought of as a very enjoyable film. You have a supporting cast that is strong as the original including Steve Buscemi, Stacy Keach, Peter Fonda, Cliff Robertson, Valeria Golina and Pam Grier.

Overall a very disappointing follow up to Escape from New York, I rate this as a poor two stars and would say watch the first film again before you bother watching this film.

Tango & Cash (1989)

Starring Kurt Russell and Sylvester Stallone as Los Angeles Cops this is a Buddie Cop movie that does not start out in the traditional way. You have Sly Stallone as the distinguished well dressed rich cop that does the job for the love of it and the Kurt Russell character that gets the job done however he has to, even if he is a total slob. With Teri Hatcher as Stallone's sister and Jack Palance as the bad guy that arranges for Tango and Cash to be set up for a murder. You follow the comedy as they have to come to terms with working together to clear their names.


This film comes at the height of the action police comedies from the late 80's and early 90's and stars two of the bigger action stars of the time in Stallone and Russell. They have a really good chemistry with them both showing that they are really good as comic actors with some good timing, Stallone particularly is not thought to highly as a good actor, simply getting by on his bulk and early success with Rocky and Rambo. I have to say that I think in this he pulls off the distinguished officer with a portfolio really well. 


This film is fairly generic with little to put it above other cop films but with Russell and Stallone it certainly worth seeing if you enjoy the action comedy films such as Lethal Weapon or Beverley Hills Cop, this is a strong 3 star recommend from me.

Escape From New York (1981)

Film of 2012 #64


The John Carpenter film starring Kurt Russell as Snake Plissken, New York has been walled off as a maximum security prison and the inmates are allowed to run free. A Terrorist takes Airforce One and crashes the plane and the President is played by Donald Pleasence ejects and lands in New York and the army have to get him out. So they use Snake as the best at what he does to go in and get him out. He meets Ernest Borgnine as the Cabbie and runs into Isaac Hayes who is the Duke of New York and the person who runs the city. Lee Van Cleef as Hauk and Adrienne Barbeau as Maggie round out the cast from this 80's cult favourite.

Scored by John Carpenter this film is another of his very strong 80's films with a strong cast and interesting story, even if it is a bit contrived. This film looks at a society where criminal actions and violence reach such a peak that it becomes viable and acceptbale to shut off New York and turn it into a prison and as plot point in a film it is good as it gives you a famous city to run around and you can make up your own rules as anything goes. There is some interesting thoughts on how far people would go to survive with some of the lower class criminals running around the sewers eating people and others trying to make some form of living by doing what would be considered a normal job, such as Cabbie. This falls into the Action genre with some social commentary but really it is about the fight scenes and the chase scenes and the desperation of Snake trying to get the president. There is also another story with the problem being there is a threat to the whole world safety based on what the president has in his brief case. 

I really enjoy this film with Kurt Russell totally over acting in the role of Snake and really playing the bad-ass. The score and direction from Carpenter paint a really dark and scary future and there is very little light in the story, I would say this is a 4 star recommend if you enjoy anything that Carpenter has done in the past.

The Thing (1982)

The 1982 classic from the master of suspense John Carpenter, a film that I have seen several times and will watch many times again, I have listened to fan commentary's and dissections of this film and there is nothing that will make me dislike the film. It is a remake of the 1951 film  The Thing From Another World, so it goes to show that remade films can be better than the original, that however is not an excuse to go around remaking them all though. With the soon to be released prequel, the trailer which I reviewed here I decided to re-watch the film for the first time in a while on Bluray.

One of the things that this film is famous for is the effects back in 1982 they were all practical and I was worried that watching it on Bluray might destroy the memory of effects that are truly believable and fantastic. But from the Dog to the spider head they all hold up as well on Bluray as they ever did on VHS or DVD.

This is a classic of the horror genre and a must see for all fans of the genre and all movie fans in general I give this a solid 5 stars and say that everybody should give this a go at least once if you have a love of film.