Netflix And Chill: The Christmas Chronicles 2 (2020)

Most of the main players return for this sequel to the Santa flick that gave Netflix a big hit two years ago. Having said that, I cannot think of many of their original Christmas content that hasn't gone down well. They have certainly done their homework, and worked with people who know what viewers will expect.

Young Kate (Darby Camp) is unhappy. She is having to spend Christmas in a warmer climate, with her brother (Teddy, played by Judah Lewis), her mother (Kimberly Williams-Paisley), her mother's boyfriend, Bob (Tyrese Gibson), and Bob's young son, Jack (Jahzir Bruno). So she takes the opportunity to sneak away when she can, but young Jack accompanies her. The two children end up on a cart driven by Belsnickel (Julian Dennison), who then throws them all through a wormhole, which is all part of his plan to get to Santa's Village and ruin Christmas. Why does he want to do that? That all comes out as the slim plot unfolds, with Kate and Jack doing whatever they can to help Santa (Kurt Russell) and Mrs. Claus (Goldie Hawn).

Directed by Chris Columbus (you can say many things about him, but an unsafe pair of hands he is not), The Christmas Chronicles 2 gives you everything you might want from a sequel to the first movie, without taking any risks. Columbus also co-wrote the movie with Matt Liberman, the main writer from the first movie, and it's a very enjoyable and amusing family film. Like so many other films that Columbus has helmed. But other films from Columbus are missing one vital ingredient that this has; Kurt Russell.

Yes, that's right, much like the first time around, this Christmas movie is absolutely lifted up by a turn from Russell that shows him to be the Santa we never knew we wanted. Having been an acting legend for decades, especially to fans of John Carpenter movies, Russell has the look and age to play Santa, but the baggage and cool factor to add a different kind of magic sparkle. He always has a twinkle in his eye, and genuinely seems to relish the adventures that divert him from his usual Christmas schedule.

Having Goldie Hawn play Mrs. Claus (following on from her cameo in The Christmas Chronicles) is another major plus. This isn't just a Christmas movie, this is a family affair. These stars are having a whale of a time, and viewers are simply lucky enough to watch their chemistry infuse the whole film with a warm glow. Very few people could compete with these adults, but fair play to the younger cast members for trying their best, and being helped along by the script. Camp is, in many ways, the least of the leads, but she's the unwavering heart of the film, dealing with her own complex issue as she loses herself in another Christmas adventure. Then you have Bruno, stealing a lot of his scenes with a wonderful comic turn. Dennison makes a great villain, blinded by his rage for much of the runtime, although perhaps not beyond some kind of redemption. The other characters have much less screentime, but everyone does good work.

The many CGI elves are designed for fun, rather than realism, the reindeer all look fine, the many small wonders in Santa's village are a treat, and there's nothing here to stop this becoming a new Christmas favourite for a while. Yet it is lacking something. If it wasn't for the casting, this wouldn't play half as well as it does. It's also just not quite as good as the first film, because it lacks the impact of first seeing Russell play his Santa so perfectly, and it repeats a number of tricks. If the first film was a shiny new toy, this is the party gift that seems fun at first, but is then placed in a drawer and forgotten about until someone asks you to bring it round for their Christmas party.

An easy option if you're wanting some fun for all the family, but I don't think it will become an annual tradition. 

6/10

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Yule Love It: The Christmas Chronicles (2018)

I was down for this movie as soon as I first heard about it. Kurt Russell as Santa Claus, that was all I needed to hear. Sold.

The Christmas Chronicles tells the story of two siblings, Kate (Darby Camp) and Teddy (Judah Lewis), who are facing their first Christmas since the death of their father. Teddy has been keeping himself busy with friends, stealing cars for joyrides, while younger Kate remains naïvely optimistic that everyone can get their wishes from Santa. When their mother (Kimberley Williams-Paisley) has to head out to work on Christmas Eve, Kate convinces Teddy to keep her company as she stays up all night, determined to videotape evidence of Santa. They eventually get their evidence. In fact, they stow themselves in the back of Santa's sleigh, eventually causing a crash that sees Santa losing his magic hat and potentially losing out on the chance to make Christmas happen for lots of children who will lose the Christmas spirit.

Written by Matt Lieberman, from a story created with David Guggenheim, this is a solid attempt to create yet another Santa mythos for the modern age. You have the magic hat, you get some helpful little elves (depicted with poor CGI, although I am sure that kids will still enjoy seeing them), and you get a Santa who both embodies the traditional look while also complaining about how he's always depicted as being a fat guy who says "ho ho ho". It doesn't all work, but the bits that do make up for the bits that don't.

Director Clay Kaytis only has one other directorial credit (the middling movie version of Angry Birds) but has a solid background in animation that stretches beyond that. He doesn't do a bad job, all in all, and it's not really the kind of material that lets anyone put their stamp on things, aside from Russell. This is a Christmas movie, but it's also very much a star vehicle, and it often works better in the latter form than it does in the former. Let's face it, we have plenty of Christmas movies to choose from. But none of those star Kurt Russell.

As for the cast, did I mention the big plus of having Russell as Santa? Whether he's talking with naive candour to people who are never going to believe his story or jamming in a jail cell with members of the E Street Band, Russell is clearly having a lot of fun onscreen, and that comes over to viewers. Camp is okay as the young girl, Lewis has a harder job portraying the sullen teen who has got himself on the naughty list (of course), and Williams-Paisley is just there to bookend the film with scenes of family time during the holiday season. And there's a fun, if predictable, cameo at the end of the film.

Is this a great film? No. Is it one you may well end up watching more than once, and perhaps use as a new seasonal standby in between some of your more established classics? It just might be. Especially if you have kids who need a big playlist while they impatiently await the arrival of Christmas Day itself.

7/10

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The Hateful Eight (2015)

Although he's become, arguably, a much more divisive figure in recent years, Quentin Tarantino is a director who certainly knows how to sell his product. The hype machine for The Hateful Eight started up quite a while ago, and continues while the movie is on release (thanks to the limited 70mm screenings - which are even more limited here in the UK, unfortunately). Which makes it hard to process if you come out of the cinema having not completely loved one of his films. Thankfully, that's a rare occurence. Aside from Death Proof (which I still rate as a solid 7/10) and the second volume of Kill Bill, I've never felt disappointed by Tarantino. I have an idea of what to expect going in, and he delivers.

The Hateful Eight is his second Western, coming along after his first full feature in the genre (the superb Django Unchained). Whereas the film before it, however, was a lively mixture of violence, comedy, and discomfort, The Hateful Eight turns out to be quite a different animal. Despite still having a similar mix of ingredients, in differing amounts (which I guess you could say about every Tarantino film, of course).

Kurt Russell plays John Ruth, a man travelling with a woman named Daisy Domergue (played by Jennifer Jason Leigh). He's taking Daisy to the town of Red Rock to collect a bounty and see her hung. Unfortunately, the wagon that the pair are travelling in can barely keep ahead of a blizzard that's on their tails. Major Marquis Warren (played by Samuel L. Jackson) is stuck in the snow, and eventually receives a life from Ruth. As does Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins), a little while later. And the new quartet get themselves to Minnie's Haberdashery, just in time to get much-needed shelter and warmth, where they meet some other men who are also avoiding the blizzard. But everything might not be as it seems.

Taking cues from his previous works, Agatha Christie, and The Thing, Tarantino would seem to have lined up another treat for fans. The cast certainly stay on the top of their game - alongside those mentioned, viewers will enjoy turns from Bruce Dern, Tim Roth, and Michael Madsen, as well as a few others. The premise is solid. And the framing and cinematography is often gorgeous, even if the majority of the movie takes place in the one location.

The big surprise here is also the biggest disappointment. The writing isn't up to scratch. Oh, there are moments that will tickle your earbuds, and moments that I am sure the cast absolutely relished sinking their teeth into, but there are also some big mis-steps. For example, one scene shows a character who barely brings himself to talk to another character, except in anger. But that only last a few scenes, only until Tarantino NEEDS the characters to talk in order to set up a big scene. Then we have two scenes that utilise a voiceover narration because, well, I just don't know why. If the whole movie had the same kind of commentary then it would be fine, or if the scenes couldn't be expressed in a purely visual manner, but it doesn't and they could. Making the decision to clumsily chat over just a couple of random scenes quite a bewlidering one.

The other aspect of the writing to cause some frustration is the level of self-cannibalising that Tarantino indulges in. Viewers know that you can rely on ol' QT to pepper his movies with a veritable cornucopia of references to other films, which is part of the joy, but when he sprinkles in enough moments that feel as if they're referencing his own past glories then it's hard not to think that you're watching a copy of a copy, inevitably appearing as a weaker image. Even the one or two songs used on the soundtrack don't feel right. They just feel as if they've been put there by a man who knows that it's expected of him. This may seem like a minor niggle, and something not worthy of this full paragraph, but once it's noticed it then becomes hard to completely enjoy the movie without considering the shadow cast over it.

But let me clarify something. Although I have gone on about the negative aspects of the movie, I still had a hell of a great time with The Hateful Eight. I was on board as soon as Russell and Jackson started to speak to one another and every subsequent character introduction set another smile on my face (especially Roth, who really should be getting more great movie roles). There's an original score by Ennio Morricone for fans to enjoy. And when the script works, as it does in many instances, then you can revel in the simple pleasure of great actors delivering great lines.

Overall, this is far from his best work. But I'll take a lesser Tarantino movie over many other viewing choices, any day.

NB - due to the fact that I don't live within a reasonable distance of Leicester Square in London, the version of the movie that I watched wasn't the full 70mm version, that comes complete with a few minutes of extra footage, overture, and intermission. BUT all of you lucky Edinburgh folk, and anyone near enough to commute, DO get the chance to see the full version next month, at The Filmhouse - http://www.filmhousecinema.com/showing/the-hateful-eight-70mm-feb16/

7/10

Pick up this Tarantino boxset here, to tide you over until The Hateful Eight is released - http://www.amazon.com/Quentin-Tarantino-Ultimate-Collection-Blu-ray/dp/B00U1QGJBM/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1452156857&sr=1-1&keywords=quentin+tarantino

The Battered Bastards Of Baseball (2014)

You may know Bing Russell as a hard-working actor, arguably most famous for his recurring role in Bonanza, playing Deputy Clem Foster. Or you may know him as the father of a fine actor named Kurt. If you're a baseball fan, or hail from Portland, Oregon, then you may even know him as someone who caused a bit of a ripple, to put it mildly, through the world of baseball in the 1970s. I was, sadly, unaware of Russell, other than his connection to Kurt, but this documentary has made me into a big fan of the guy.

It's a story of a kind that has been turned into movies on more than one occasion. The story of a man (Russell) who loves his chosen sport - baseball - and continues to love it, even after injury puts an end to his potential career. Over the years he sees the sport being worn away, eroded by the quest for the almighty dollar. Independent teams start to die off, with every single one of them turning to a bigger name, a major team that will keep the smaller teams around simply to pick up the great talents that appear every so often. Russell saw an opportunity, and opportunity that everyone else sneered at, and he took it. He created an independent baseball team - The Portland Mavericks - at a time when a) no other independent teams were around, and b) Portland had fallen out of love with baseball. What's more, he created a team that started to win. It started to win and it started to remind people of how much fun could be had from a day out at the big game. Of course, this soon saw him marked out as a threat to the status quo.

Directors Chapman Way and Maclain Way take this golden story, illustrate numerous moments with archive footage and talking heads interviews (including people who played in the team, sports commentators who watched everything unfold, and Kurt, of course), and let viewers gradually warm up to the optimistic, perhaps slightly naive (though no less wonderful), fairytale that played out in the most unlikely of environments. IF this was a movie (and I think I've already heard whispers of it being turned into one) then you might roll your eyes, laugh at some of the cliches, yet still enjoy yourself. The fact that it's real allows you to revel in just how great life can be at times, and to enjoy the whole thing with the same degree of optimism, as you start to see Russell and his team defy the odds again and again, seemingly at every turn.

Trust me, even if you hate baseball, or are pretty ignorant of it (as I am, being a Brit who doesn't tend to watch many sports anyway) then you will still be able to love this documentary. It's such a fantastic tale that all but the most hard-hearted of viewers will spend most of the runtime with a large grin stuck on their face. This is well worth your time. A real . . . . . . . . wait for it . . . . . . . diamond in the rough, as it were. Thank you, I'm here all week.

9/10

The documentary is only available at Netflix just now, so enjoy some more Russell-related sports with Touchback - http://www.amazon.com/Touchback-Blu-ray-DVD/dp/B0092HW8OI/ref=sr_1_2_bnp_1_blu?ie=UTF8&qid=1405636062&sr=8-2&keywords=kurt+russell+touchback

The Art Of The Steal (2013)

The Art Of The Steal is a con/heist movie like a hundred others I could name. It's nowhere near the best of the bunch, but it passes the time pleasantly enough, thanks mainly to a great cast all having a lot of fun onscreen.

Kurt Russell is Crunch Calhoun, a thief/getaway driver who ends up doing a stint in a Polish prison thanks to a deal made by his brother, Nicky (Matt Dillon). Years later, Crunch is a stunt motorbike rider who provides some extra spectacle, in the form of some painful crash landings, for some extra cash. He has a young friend (Francie, played by Jay Baruchel) who hates watching it happen, but can't do anything to stop it, and a girlfriend (Lola, played by Katheryn Winnick) who keeps motivating him to do whatever it takes to make them some money. When a golden opportunity to pull off a major job comes along, Crunch ends up working with Nicky once again, as well as some other familiar faces from his past. He doesn't trust his brother, yet he needs him to make the whole plan work.

Written and directed by Jonathan Sobol, this is a movie that does just enough to coast by. It's clever, yet not too clever. It's derivative, yet not in a way that makes it feel as if it's directly lifting from any superior movie from this subgenre. And it is, despite its flaws, fun. The script does what it needs to do, in terms of the plot developments and twists, but it also throws in a handful of unnecessary moments that end up proving to be highly amusing. Just watch Jay Baruchel trying to bumble his way past a border guard and try not to laugh.

However, even with the decent script and direction, this would be an inferior film if it didn't have such a great ensemble cast involved. Russell is always a pleasure to watch onscreen. Always, and this performance is no different. Dillon is another performer I like seeing in movies, and I've been a big fan of Baruchel for years, so to see him alongside these actors was a real treat. Winnick isn't given much to do, but she does it well. Kenneth Welsh and Chris Diamantopoulos make up the rest of the main crew. Both are good fun, although the former has more great lines. And it's also worth mentioning Jason Jones and Terence Stamp, playing the two men who are trying to catch Calhoun and co. Jones is very amusing, as an agent who doesn't really have the experience to make people take him seriously, while Stamp is the exasperated old hand who also happens to genuinely love art.

If you're in two minds about whether or not to watch The Art Of The Steal then just flip a coin to decide. If, however, you like the main cast members as much as I do then you should have a good time. So flip the coin and then make the call when you can see how it has landed. Consider it a small moment of conning yourself in preparation for the film.

6/10

http://www.amazon.com/The-Steal-Blu-ray-Kurt-Russell/dp/B00IARA89S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1404610534&sr=8-1&keywords=the+art+of+the+steal+bluray

You know what else is a steal? My e-book of movie reviews, collated and put together in one massive package. Every copy sold helps me justify my obsessive viewing and review-writing to my understanding, but exasperated, wife.

The UK version can be bought here - http://www.amazon.co.uk/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_3?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1395945647&sr=1-3&keywords=movie+guide

And American folks can buy it here - http://www.amazon.com/TJs-Ramshackle-Movie-Guide-Reviews-ebook/dp/B00J9PLT6Q/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1395945752&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=TJs+ramshackle+mov

As much as I love the rest of the world, I can't keep up with all of the different links in different territories, but trust me when I say that it should be there on your local Amazon.

Touchback (2011)

Despite one or two titles that I couldn't get a hold of, this is the last stop on the big tour of Kurt Russell's filmography, those checking over his IMDb listing and wondering why I haven't covered Cutlass should know that it's a short film so I didn't include it here.
I did, however, INCLUDE it here (as it's available on YouTube) so enjoy.

Touchback is a typical, sentimental sports drama. Mix a bit of Field Of Dreams with It's A Wonderful Life with any number of American Football movies and you'll get this.

Brian Presley plays Scott Murphy, a broken man thanks to a sports injury from his youth. He has a lot to be thankful for in life, including his wife (Macy, played by Melanie Lynskey), but it's hard to see those through the haze of regret and frustration. It's especially hard for him when he sees former team-mate Hall (Marc Blucas) doing so well and in a relationship with Jenny (Sarah Wright), who used to be Scott's girlfriend in high school. After a particularly bad day, Scott sits in his truck and considers just what he has left to live for. He thinks back to high school and the most important game of his life, but is it just a dream or is something very strange allowing history to be changed, if Scott chooses to change it.

Ticking every single box that you expect to be ticked, and with no surprises whatsoever, Touchback shouldn't really be as enjoyable and moving as it is. Maybe I'm just getting soft in my old age. Or maybe it's just so easy to identify with. It's not really all about football, it's about those choices that we all make to set us on different paths. Consciously or not, we make numerous decisions every day that lead us to exactly where we are in the here and now. I often tell my wife, and I apologise for anyone feeling nauseous after reading this, that I don't mind all of the mistakes I made in my life because they piled up and led, ultimately, to our meeting and developing a relationship. How can I want to change anything that could then undo such a good result?

Writer-director Don Handfield does everything exactly as you'd expect. There's some humour here and there, but the focus is more on the prospect of seriously changing a whole life than any Back To The Future style shenanigans. There's plenty of manipulation, most of which I admit I fell for. Hey, it's effective and affecting by the time it all builds towards the big finale.

The cast all do a decent job, though nobody excels (except, perhaps, Kurt Russell in a wonderful supporting role - maybe he should play every team coach ever). Brian Presley is strangely absent in the lead role, but Melanie Lynskey puts in a much better performance. Marc Blucas and Sarah Wright are perfectly fine in standard jock and cheerleader roles, respectively, and Kevin Covais joins in with some of the more fun moments as Todd White, a young, non-sporty man once bullied by Scott who now finds himself being befriended by the guy. And Christine Lahti also does well with her limited screentime, playing a mother who may not get along to watch her son in action on the football field, but who is always very proud of him.

The pacing, the dialogue, the shot choices, it's all by-the-numbers stuff. But that doesn't mean that it's bad, it's just never great.

6/10

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Death Proof (2007)

While it must be said that Death Proof is much better as part of the Grindhouse experience, where it appears in a truncated form, revisiting the movie wasn't as painful as I had anticipated. It remains the weakest film from writer-director Quentin Tarantino, to date, but it's also full of many delights for fans of this kind of entertaining "trash".

The plot is actually very slight. The movie follows two different groups of girls and shows what happens when they run into a very dangerous driver known as Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell, the highlight of the film). That's really all there is to it, with this plot providing Tarantino with the excuse he needs to set up some automotive carnage in the first half and a quite superb car chase during the grand finale.

The biggest problem that Death Proof has is the cast in the first half of the movie. Tarantino fills the film with his usual dialogue, but it's coming out of the mouths of young women who just aren't convincing as people who would be experienced and/or cool enough to have such tastes and conversations. Jordan Ladd, Vanessa Ferlito and Sydney Poitier may be lovely young women, but they're practically children compared to the characters normally delivering Tarantino soundbites. Rose McGowan is a saving grace, as is a lapdance sequence and a couple of choice music selections, but the rest of the first half is one big wasted opportunity when not putting Kurt Russell front and centre. Thankfully, things pick up enormously when the second group appears. Mary Elizabeth Winstead may play someone young and naive, but Rosario Dawson, Tracie Thoms and Zoe Bell all feel like adults with some experience of adult life.

The second-biggest problem that Death Proof has ties in with the first, it's the way in which Tarantino seems to be indulging himself. Of course, it could be argued that his best movies have stemmed from an urge to indulge himself, but this just takes it that bit further. The pacing is painfully slow at times, speeches serve little purpose except allowing the writer-director to relish his own dialogue and the casting is hit and miss because one or two people seem to be there for reasons other than their actual ability to act.

These problems, however, CAN be temporarily forgotten whenever Kurt Russell is reminding viewers of just how great he can be at becoming a full character or when cars are speeding along on tarmac. The finale of the movie keeps these two elements onscreen for an all-out, tyre-screeching, fender-bending car chase that feels like it could have come straight from the 1970s. Which means that the film is a partial success.

It still won't necessarily win you over entirely, but Death Proof is certainly a film worth revisiting at least once. Those car scenes, the pretty flawless soundtrack, some enjoyable dialogue exchanges and another top drawer performance from the one and only Mr. Russell end up ensuring that there's at least something to enjoy during its runtime.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Proof-Blu-ray/dp/B001L4I1XM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369753520&sr=8-1&keywords=death+proof+blu+ray

Or go for the full Grindhouse package with this - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Grindhouse-Collectors-Edition-Blu-ray/dp/B004C9MC9W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370126861&sr=8-1&keywords=grindhouse+blu+ray

Poseidon (2006)

A remake of a movie that remains my favourite disaster movie of all time (The Poseidon Adventure), Poseidon would seem to be a movie not really worth bothering about. How could it ever hope to top the fantastic original? Well, let's just cut to the chase here, it doesn't. It does, however, make for a decent bit of entertainment in its own right, thanks to a decent cast and solid direction from Wolfgang Petersen, who is no stranger to drama in submerged vessels (as viewers of the magnificent Das Boot will agree).

This adaptation may take place almost a quarter of a century after the original movie, but there's very little different in the overall premise. That's unsurprising, the main premise is so good that it needs no tinkering. A large and lovely cruise ship, the Poseidon, is hit by a freak wave out in the middle of the ocean and a group of people decide that their best bet for survival is to get to the bottom of the ship, which is now the part of the vessel now lying ABOVE the water. So the folk start to climb up and up on a perilous journey, doing their best to stay ahead of rising water levels, avoid explosions and fires and keep their footing as they move higher.

As you might expect, there are a number of scenes in Poseidon that are all about spectacle. Thankfully, the special effects are so well done that the moments of spectacle are really . . . . . . . . spectacular. Seriously, the visuals are consistently impressive, which is kind of a minimum requirement now for the big-budget disaster movies.

Special effects aren't everything though, as almost everyone would agree. The focus of the movie sways between the destruction of Poseidon and the perilous journey of the characters, which is why it's a good job that the various cast members all do well in their roles.

Kurt Russell and Josh Lucas are the two leaders of the group, men with different styles who have the same inner strength and strong will. Russell's character has added motivation as he also does his best to keep his daughter (Emmy Rossum) and her young fella (Mike Vogel) safe. Jacinda Barrett plays a woman whose main concern is her young son (played by Jimmy Bennett), Mia Maestro plays a stowaway and Richard Dreyfuss is the oldest member of the group. There are also small roles for Freddy Rodriguez and Andre Braugher. Oh, and Kevin Dillon goes over the top as the asshole of the group. I guess I should also warn anyone who dislikes the singing voice of Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson, they will roll their eyes as she entertains the cruise ship passengers during the opening scenes of the movie.

The script by Mark Protosevich (working from the novel by Paul Gallico, with some nods to the 1972 film) is perfectly serviceable. This kind of film has very few surprises, therefore the script isn't exactly full of great twists, turns and character reveals. It sketches out the relationships, it goes for the easy moments of emotional manipulation and it moves the survivors from one problem on to the next. For me, that makes the script just fine for a disaster movie.

Everything - script, cast, special effects - is brought together masterfully by director Petersen, who paces things perfectly and keeps the camera moving around in a way that never lets viewers forget how much worse the whole situation is getting for every minute that the ship is capsized.

I really didn't expect to enjoy Poseidon as much as I did. My love for the original movie is so great, I just didn't expect to see around that mental block. The fact that I ended up thinking about buying this as soon as the end credits started rolling is testament to what a pleasant surprise it was.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Poseidon-Blu-ray-Region-Free-Russell/dp/B002U5741G/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1369089887&sr=8-2&keywords=poseidon

Dreamer (2005)

Dreamer is a standard live-action Disney movie that just happens not to actually come from Disney. There isn't one unpredictable moment in it, the music from John Debney keeps reminding viewers that it's all meaningful and life-affirming, and many scenes are shot with an added, warming glow suffusing each frame. Despite these marks against it, I ended up enjoying Dreamer, thanks mainly to a great cast giving decent performances. Sometimes familiarity doesn't breed contempt, sometimes it's just comfortable. Dreamer is just that, a comfort movie. I may not rush to revisit it, but I admit that I enjoyed it while it was on.

Inspired by a true story, Dreamer is all about a horse named Sonador that falls during a big race and sustains what should be a career-ending injury. Horse trainer Ben Crane (Kurt Russell) is angry at the employer (David Morse) who ignored his advice not to race the horse. With his daughter, Cale (Dakota Fanning), by his side, he ends up leaving the stables with the horse, a reduced cash amount for his work and no job. He also has his assistants, Balon (Luis Guzman) and ex-jockey Manolin (Freddy Rodriguez), and a plan to help Sondaor get well enough so that she can at least be used for breeding, even if she will never race again. But Sonador has a strong spirit, as does young Cale, and looks like she may want to race. That will take hard work and money. The hard work isn't a problem, but the money just might not be available.

Written and directed by John Gatins, Dreamer doesn't really have any major flaws apart from the sentimentality and predictability of it all. It's a nice film, probably too nice for many people to be able to stomach.

The big plus point for the film is the cast. Russell puts in another great performance as a decent everyman, Fanning does her usual good work in another film made during the peak of her "wide-eyed years" and the ever-dependable David Morse is as dependable as ever, despite being saddled with (no pun intended) the role of main villain. Guzman and Rodriguez are both a lot of fun, Elizabeth Shue is fine as Ben's wife/Cale's mother and Kris Kristofferson hangs about to be Ben's grumpy father, who may or may not help out and reforge a bond with his son. And then there's Oded Fehr, appearing about 70 minutes into the movie and getting a few minutes of screentime as a character who may as well have been named "plot device #3".

Cynical people should look for hundreds of films that they will prefer to watch before this one, but anyone who can handle the sugar content should find this moderately enjoyable. It's certainly a decent enough family movie so maybe keep it on standby for any time you may have a 7-12 year old in your home.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Dreamer-DVD-Dakota-Fanning/dp/B000CSTIIA/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1368707710&sr=1-1&keywords=dreamer

Sky High (2005)

I really like Sky High. It's a Disney movie aimed at teens. Part of me suspects that I shouldn't like it as much as I do, but I do. It's fun, it's funny, it has a great cast and it features an eclectic selection of superheroes. What's not to like?

The plot revolves around young Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano). Will is about to start his superhero education at the titular Sky High, but his powers haven't shown themselves yet. That would be bad enough with one superhero for a parent, but Will has two - The Commander (Kurt Russell) and Jetstream (Kelly Preston) AKA Mr. & Mrs. Stronghold. All that pressure doesn't make life any easier for a boy who is expected to do great things. Thankfully, he has some great friends, even if it looks like they may all end up being sidekicks as opposed to actual heroes. The kids may all have different powers and plans to wear some snazzy costumes, but high school is the same mix of cliques, bullies and teenage awkwardness.

Written by Paul Hernandez, Robert Schooley and Mark McCorkle, and directed by Mike Mitchell, Sky High is lively and amusing. Oh, it could certainly be sharper, and there's nothing here too complicated or subtle, but this isn't trying to be The Dark Knight (it was released 3 years beforehand anyway, in the same year as Batman Begins) and that suits me just fine. Not that I dislike The Dark Knight, it's just that not every superhero movie needs to be dark and thought-provoking. Especially superhero movies for the entire family.

The cast is the biggest asset that the movie has, with everyone doing their bit to add to the fun with their performance. Angarano is fine in the main role, Danielle Panabaker is also fine as his close friend who may or may not want something more to develop and Mary Elizabeth Winstead is the cute girl at the high school about to complicate the whole situation. Steven Strait scowls and throws fireballs competently, in a role that feels almost like a warm up for his role in The Covenant, while Nicholas Braun, Kelly Vitz, Dee Jay Daniels, Jake Sandvig, Will Harris, Malika and Khadijah all provide decent support as the ragtag group of students training to be heroes or sidekicks. But it's the adult stars who get a lot of the best moments, in my opinion. Russell and Preston are both very good as the parents who are also superheroes, with the former particularly enjoyable every time that he's onscreen as The Commander. Kevin Heffernan is very enjoyable as Ron Wilson, bus driver, and Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald (two former members of The Kids In The Hall) are both very funny in their respective roles. Bruce Campbell is great as a coach who takes no nonsense, Cloris Leachman pops up for one scene as the school nurse and Lynda Carter has an extended cameo as Principal Powers.

Sky High doesn't pretend to be anything other than it is. It's an enjoyable superhero movie that takes the genre trappings and weaves them through a standard Disney high school movie. When the end result is this much fun, I can't say that I mind. No, I don't mind at all.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Sky-High-DVD-Kurt-Russell/dp/B000BY99YS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367953641&sr=8-1&keywords=sky+high

Miracle (2004)

Unbeknownst to me, the world of international ice hockey was dominated throughout the 1970s by the Russians. In fact, by the time the 1980 Winter Olympics was looming, they looked unbeatable. That was the scenario facing head coach Herb Brooks (played by Kurt Russell), and it was a scenario that led to some major changes in the way that the team was picked and trained.

Based on a true story, this is typical live-action Disney fare. It starts off with Herb applying for, and getting, the head coach position before then showing him selecting his team of young players, working them harder than they've ever been worked before, trying out some unusual tactics and then seeing how things pan out as they play on the national stage.

Director Gavin O'Connor, working from the script by Eric Guggenheim, hits all of the right notes at all of the right moments (just as he would a few years later with Warrior). This is a tale of self-belief, of courage, of sportsmanship and of, well, ice hockey.

Russell is great in the lead role and he gets to work alongside some wonderful talent. Patricia Clarkson plays his supportive wife, Noah Emmerich is an assistant coach who initially doubts his methods and Kenneth Welsh is the team doctor. The young hockey players consist of men picked predominantly for their hockey skills - Eddie Cahill, Patrick O'Brien Demsey and Michael Mantenuto being the three team players who get the most screentime. Thankfully, you wouldn't know that because they do a fine job, although perhaps that IS because they spend a lot of time ice-skating.

This isn't a film for cynics, few Disney films are. There are no surprises here, what with it being based on a true story, but even if you're unfamiliar with what really happened, as I was, then . . . . . . there are no surprises here. It also lacks much humour. This isn't The Mighty Ducks and it seems as if O'Connor wanted to make sure that nobody watching the film would ever forget that. He succeeded. Whereas The Mighty Ducks was a family movie full of great characters and fun moments, this is an uplifting true story, full of good acting, suitable musical accompaniment and a big dollop of good ol' hey hey USA. I prefer the former type of movie myself, but this one is also a good watch.

7/10

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Dark Blue (2002)

It's April 1992. A turbulent time for Los Angeles, with all eyes watching the trial of the police officers accused in the beating of Rodney King. If those men are acquitted, the whole city might just burn. Kurt Russell stars as Eldon Perry, a policeman who was brought up by gunslingers and sees himself as a man who does a lot of things wrong to get the right results. His superior (Brendan Gleeson) agrees, he knows that whenever he wants ANY mess cleaned up he can ask Perry to get it done. Unfortunately, many other people view Perry as a monster including his wife (Lolita Davidovich), his young partner (Scott Speedman) and an officer (Ving Rhames) intent on uncovering the truth about a recent shooting incident and, in turn, corruption within the LAPD. In fact, as the movie unfolds, Perry starts to think about his own actions and how others view him. He starts to suspect that they may be right.

Written by James Ellroy and David Ayer, this is exactly the sort of thing you'd expect from the writers of L.A. Confidential and Training Day, respectively. Eldon Perry is a larger than life character, a bit of a bully and a braggart even to those he loves, and his moral compass has been thrown so far out of whack that it's unsure whether or not he can find his direction again. Ron Shelton does a great job in the director's chair, allowing for the actors to do their best with the material while he makes sure that all of the threads are winding together to complete the big finale.

Russell excels in the lead role, it's arguably his best performance from his 21st century filmography. He IS a bit of a monster and a horrible person, overall, but he's also a fully fleshed-out character with moments that show that he does have a heart (one scene with him being yelled at by Gleeson really starts to make him slightly sympathetic, while another involving Davidovich reading out a letter to him turns into something unexpectedly affecting). Speedman is okay in his role, he's young and acts naive enough and that's what's needed of him. Gleeson is superb, but Gleeson is always superb. In this movie, however, he's even more superb than usual, his performance sharpened by the gradual development of his true character. Ving Rhames, ahhhh Ving Rhames, he gives a subdued, sweet performance that reminds you of the actor who once seemed so great. Why did he ever start to take roles in every other Straight To Disc (or STD, if you will) piece of nonsense? I'll never know. Thankfully, there will always be performances like this one to look back on. Lolita Davidovich and Jonathan Banks have their supporting roles that allow them one or two moments to shine. And shine they do. Michael Michele may have the most thankless role, but she does okay with it.

Putting these characters together and seeing how things unfold makes for a solid drama. Setting everything on the brink of those 1992 L.A. riots makes for something much more. It's tense, it's incendiary and it's an unflinching reminder of just how easily corruption can insidiously filter through even the most well-meaning of people.

8/10

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Interstate 60: Episodes Of The Road (2002)

Written and directed by Bob Gale, Interstate 60: Episodes Of The Road is a highly entertaining blend of Eerie Indiana, Big Fish and, well, Road Trip. It feels slightly disjointed, but the title gives a clue to that (although it's often just called Interstate 60 on the marketing and packaging nowadays - I just listed the full title as it is on IMDb).

Gary Oldman is a red-haired trickster by the name of O. W. Grant, a man who spends his time smoking his monkey-head pipe and granting wishes, but he grants wishes in very twisted and unexpected ways. He's like a PG version of the djinn from the Wishmaster movies. James Marsden plays a young man named Neal Oliver, wishing for some answers in his life just as O. W. Grant is within earshot. Interested, Grant decides to arrange a little road trip for Neal. He must deliver a package on a journey that will take him along Interstate 60. Of course, there isn't an Interstate 60. At least, that's what Neal thinks until he's shown a different view of things. He continues along the road in his car, meeting various characters and getting into one or two strange situations along the way.

I enjoyed this movie from the very beginning, the first few scenes features a great moment with Gary Oldman and Michael J. Fox that sums up the devious playfulness of O. W. Grant, but as it continued I started to love it. It manages to be funny and quirky in a way that doesn't scream in viewers faces about how funny and quirky it's being. People may disagree with me on that, but I think that the way in which everything was added on, one character at a time, helped move the film from normality to outright whackiness. As a viewer, I felt very much like that metaphorical frog sitting in water that I didn't notice was being constantly increased ever so slightly towards boiling point.

Despite, compared to some, not really having THAT much in his filmography, Gale does a solid job with the direction of the film. That's probably thanks to the fact that he's filming his own script and writing has been his forte for the past five decades. There's nothing too spectacular on display, but nothing too clumsy either.

Marsden is his usual pleasant self in the role, Oldman has more fun than usual, Christopher Lloyd adds another eccentric character to his list of eccentric characters, Chris Cooper is fantastic as a man who cannot stand anyone lying to him, Amy Smart performs better than usual and Kurt Russell has fun in a small role, playing the police captain of a small town that has legalised a highly addictive drug and allows anyone to party as hard as they like in return for various civic duties.

If you don't like quirky, rather lightweight films then avoid this one like the plague. But if you enjoyed any of the titles I mentioned in the first paragraph then you may want to watch this at least once and see if you enjoy it as much as I did. It goes a bit too far into the ludicrous for a few minutes (involving a lawyer and a big bunch of other lawyers), but it still charms and entertains far more than hundreds of other better-known titles that you could pick from the last decade.

8/10

http://www.amazon.com/Interstate-60-Ann-Margret/dp/B002T4GWYI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366395047&sr=8-1&keywords=interstate+60

Vanilla Sky (2001)

A remake of a Spanish film that I have still, sadly, not yet seen (Abre Los Ojos by Alejandro Amenabar), Vanilla Sky couldn't really be any further removed from the last movie that paired director Cameron Crowe up with star Tom Cruise - Jerry Maguire. Then again, there are more similarities between the two when looked at in a bit more detail. For now, to keep things simple, I'll be keeping everything quite shallow. That's my level, and I'm comfortable there.

Tom Cruise plays David Aames, a very rich and successful young man who gets himself in a fair bit of trouble when he fools around with the gorgeous and successful Julie Gianni (Cameron Diaz) before falling instantly and absolutely in love with the spirited Sophia (Penelope Cruz, reprising her role from original version). David goes from a dizzying high to an unbelievable low as his face is disfigured and his spirit crushed. He starts to push people away with his behaviour, including his best friend, Brian Shelby (Jason Lee), and ends up forced to speak to a psychiatrist (Kurt Russell) in an attempt to make sense of events that he doesn't understand. Reality and fiction intertwine, making David fear for his sanity.

Crowe is credited with writing the screenplay as well as directing this movie. As already mentioned, I've not seen the original, but I'd imagine that his screenplay work is more in line with an adaptation than any wholly original work. Regardless, he does a good job. As well as the dialogue, there are so many fantastic little touches in every scene, both front and centre and just noticeable in the background. The detritus of these characters' lives is something that rewards repeat viewings, and the film may veer too unevenly between the highs and lows - especially after such a good opening 20 minutes - but it ultimately makes it all worthwhile for the audience by the time the credits roll.

The cast are a bit of a mixed bag. Cruise does okay in his role, and perhaps enjoyed performing half the movie with his face either covered up or disfigured, while Jason Lee and Penelope Cruz are both very good at portraying . . . . . . . very good people. Cameron Diaz doesn't do quite so well, but then she never really does (bless her). Kurt Russell is enjoyable in his role, and other roles are filled by people such as Timothy Spall, Tilda Swinton, Noah Taylor, Michael Shannon and Johnny Galecki.

It may be a bit self-indulgent in places (the excess of pop culture references, the Spielberg blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo, the sense of smugness during the final third), but it also has so many great moments and dark, albeit glossed over, ideas in the mix that I still like it a lot. And, typically from Cameron Crowe, there's a cracking soundtrack accompanying the visuals.

7/10

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Soldier (1998)

A sci-fi action  movie directed by Paul W. S. Anderson may be enough to make most sane cinema fans reach for the "Off" button, but this is one of his better films, improved no end by a superb central performance from Kurt Russell. I'll be honest, I tend to enjoy Anderson's movies. Okay, the second Resident Evil movie was really painful, but the rest of the franchise has provided me with a lot of mindless fun (in fact, here is my overview of the franchise with more recent releases available in the Flickfeast sidebar). However, those movies don't matter. Anderson used to make better films. I also enjoyed Mortal Kombat, sue me. Event Horizon remains his best film, but Soldier comes close.

It's a shame that this movie was released so unceremoniously here in the UK, being judged a bit of a flop. It was, at the time, the most expensive movie to be released direct to DVD over here, with some people criticising the fact that such a large chunk of the $75M budget had gone to Russell, given a big paycheck for a role that saw him uttering barely over 100 words. It's easy to put on rose-tinted glasses nowadays and bemoan the fact that audiences neglected to help out a great film, but that would be lying. Soldier is good, almost very good, and it deserved better than the treatment it received, but it's not great.

So, what's the actual plot? Well, Kurt Russell plays Todd 3465, a super-soldier. He's one of a group of tough, obedient, young men selected and birth and brought up to know nothing but the military life. He's so tough that he accepts orders from Gary Busey without batting an eyelid. Sadly, or maybe not so sadly, that regimented life is disrupted when Jason Isaacs comes along with new and improved super-soldiers. He asks to pit one of his men against a number of Busey's men and so Jason Scott Lee fights a group of people, including Todd. The older models put up a valiant attempt, but it's no good. New blood is taking over. The soldiers are no longer needed, which leads to Todd being dumped on a planet like an old washing machine that's broken down beyond repair. Thankfully, the planet isn't as uninhabited as everyone else thinks it is, and Todd soon meets a bunch of people (including Sean Pertwee and Connie Nielsen) who try to befriend him and allow him to become part of their community. It just remains to be seen whether or not he can stop being a trained killer, but maybe that's just what the people need in case anyone else ends up on the planet.

This kind of thing has been done many times before, the old guard facing off against the new, and it's a solid premise brought to life by a solid cast. Anderson does okay in the director's seat, thankfully resisting the temptation to chop the thing up into an unwatchable mess, and he's given a decent, though sparse, script by David Webb Peoples to work from. Peoples claims that the movie is a side-quel to Blade Runner, which he also wrote, and there is fun to be had in spotting the little nods and references to many other films (though you may need to keep pausing the film to find them all).

Russell is excellent as Todd, a man almost made into a machine, but all too vulnerable. He's able to gain sympathy, despite not really being a warm and winning personality because it's completely outwith his control. He is what he is, others did it to him, and perhaps others can restore his humanity. Sean Pertwee and Connie Nielsen are fine as a pair of decent folk who try to remain optimistic, even as Todd puts other people on edge. Gary Busey is, surprisingly, one of the good guys, in a way, but Jason Isaacs really goes to town with his role, and Jason Scott Lee is certainly intimidating enough as Todd's main foe (not actually a villain, really, Isaacs remains the villain). Mark Bringelson is also good fun as someone aligning himself with either Busey or Isaacs, depending on how he sees things developing.

While it may be a bit slow for some people, especially in the middle section, this is a very enjoyable sci-fi action flick that benefits from some decent design work and action sequences that really do pack a punch. Russell and Lee really convince on the physical front, easily selling themselves as the super-soldiers that the movie needs. If you swore a long time ago that you would never watch a Paul W. S. Anderson movie, maybe just give this one a chance and see what you think. When all is said and done, you can still avoid the Resident Evil movies for the rest of your life if you want to.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Soldier-DVD-Kurt-Russell/dp/B00004CYXW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1365032563&sr=8-1

Check this screencap carefully to spot a few of the many little references in the film.

Breakdown (1997)

A quick note for those thinking that some Kurt Russell movies may have been missed on this journey through the filmography of the great man - don't forget that some of the movies have already been reviewed on IMDb and there are also one or two that have been reviewed here in the past (such as Executive Decision, which was reviewed as part of my Seagalathon). And now back to our normal broadcast day.

The long, quiet roads stretching through America have often been used to decent effect in thrillers (most notably, for me anyway, in the sublimely brilliant The Hitcher) and they are once again the setting for tension and unease in this enjoyable movie directed by Jonathan Mostow, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Sam Montgomery.

Kurt Russell plays an everyday Joe, named Jeff (sorry for the confusion there, I should really rewrite that bit, but we all know that I'm not going to now), who is driving on a long and tiresome journey with his wife, Amy played by Kathleen Quinlan. When the car suffers the breakdown of the title, Jeff and Amy are seemingly fortunate enough to be approached by a trucker named 'Red' (the great J. T. Walsh). 'Red' offers them a lift after he's unable to help them get the car started and, after an initial polite refusal, the couple decide that Amy should accept the lift while Jeff waits with the car. Some time later, with no help in sight, Jeff finds the fault with the car, fixes it and gets on his way. He makes straight for the predetermined meeting point, expecting his wife to be there, but finds that nobody has seen her. Jeff tries to consider the possibility that there has been some confusion between him and his wife, but things take a turn for the strange and disconcerting when he sees 'Red' driving along in his truck, gets him to pull over and then hears the man tell him that he's never met him before in his life and has no idea where his wife is. Maybe the car trouble wasn't the worst thing that could happen out on the desolate highways.

Covering a lot of familiar ground, Breakdown may cause a lot of viewers to dismiss it as tired thriller fare that's too derivative and not exciting enough to ever become a top priority in the viewing pile. I have to admit that it doesn't do quite enough to ever become a top priority, but it has a bit more to it to save it from complete dismissal.

First of all, there's the cast. Russell is always great in an Average Joe role and he's exceptionally good here, always believable even as the whole situation gets more and more perplexing. J. T. Walsh never put in a bad turn in his life, at least not that I'm aware of, and gives another fantastic performance here. Quinlan may, understandably, not get as much to do, but she's perfectly fine and the relationship between her and Russell is well sketched out and nicely done. M. C. Gainey, Jack Noseworthy and Rex Linn provide some good support and even every minor character gets enough to do to make themselves somewhat memorable.

Second, we have the direction and story from Mostow. While he's never been a director sitting atop any favourites list, Mostow is a solid talent who can do very good things with the right material. Thankfully, in the shape of the script by himself and Montgomery, this is the right material. He starts everything off in an easily recognisable reality before pushing everything gently, but firmly, into cinematic thriller territory and he has the good sense not to try to turn the everyman hero into Rambo.

Third, we have the actual setting of the film. Those miles and miles of open road. A fine environment when travelling from A to B, but a harsh and scary environment when something goes wrong.

Despite a final reel that goes for a standard "Hollywood" finale, Breakdown does enough to warrant a viewing and may even become one that people find themselves revisiting now and again, when they're in the mood for a thriller that hits all of the right notes while also feeling a bit different from the norm. Fans of Russell and Walsh will most certainly want to give it a try and fans of fun thrillers should do likewise.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Breakdown-DVD-Kurt-Russell/dp/B00007LZ6F/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1364191037&sr=8-1

Escape From L.A. (1996)

People have been getting quite worked up over the past few days after hearing news that the mighty Escape From New York has been lined up for the remake treatment. I can see why that news would be upsetting, but I also think that most people seem to be forgetting that Escape From New York has already been remade on at least two occasions now. The first remake was set in L.A. and directed by John Carpenter. The second one, off the top of my head, was directed by Neil Marshall and called Doomsday.

I know, I know, Escape From L.A. isn't a remake, it's a sequel. Of course it is. It just happens to hit almost every beat from the original movie in exactly the same order. The opening, once again, tells viewers about the disintegration of America and how a certain area of land has been made into a point of no return for most citizens. The danger, once again, comes from the daughter of the POTUS and the one man who may be able to get the job done is, once again, the mighty Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell effortlessly reprising the role 15 years after the original film). Snake is, once again, given very little choice in the matter and ends up using a one-man vehicle to get into L.A. before wandering around and meeting a variety of oddballs as he tries to reach his goal.

The fact that everything is so familiar is both a big positive and BIG negative for the film. Russell is great, in one of his best roles, and the supporting players all bring some fun to the proceedings but the old familiarity breeding contempt adage starts to come true as each scene clearly plays out as a pale imitation of good stuff from the original movie. There are no surprises here for fans of Escape From New York.

There is, however, still plenty of fun. Carpenter, who wrote the script with Debra Hill and Kurt Russell, may not be at the top of his game when it comes to the visuals (a lot of these mid-1990s effects look worse than the stuff in the 1981 film, which at least has a certain retro charm to it nowadays) and makes one huge mis-step with a scene featuring some surfing that has to be seen to be disbelieved, but he throws enough good people onscreen to guarantee that movie fans will at least spend most of the movie with a smile on their face.

Cliff Robertson plays the president this time around, Stacy Keach and Michelle Forbes are the people who give Snake his instructions and try to keep tabs on him, Peter Fonda is a wise old dude, Steve Buscemi is slippery Eddie AKA Map To The Stars Eddie and Bruce Campbell is a creepy surgeon. Valeria Golino has a small role as a woman who enjoys the freedom that living in dangerous L.A. provides and Pam Grier is enjoyable as Hershe Las Palmas. A. J. Langer is the daughter of the president and Georges Corraface is the revolutionary type that she falls in with, but both are overshadowed by the supporting cast, which also includes the great Al Leong and Peter Jason in small roles.

While certainly not as bad as it was made out to be when initially released, Escape From L.A. just isn't a patch (pun possibly intended) on the first film, but it has plenty of enjoyable little moments throughout and shows some strong ideas at its core as it weaves the basic plotline through an America that Carpenter shows to be horribly restrictive and in need of adjustment. It's set in 2013, but it's a 2013 where personal freedoms are kept in check by the government, American citizens are treated like a foreign invader once a judgment has been made and people are controlled by a mixture of lies and misinformation. Thank goodness it's only a movie, eh.

6/10

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Tombstone (1993)

As is sometimes the way, Tombstone is a fantastic film that really seems to have defied some long odds to come together as well as it has. Kevin Jarre, who wrote the main script, was initially due to direct the film, but was fired just after he directed a number of scenes featuring Charlton Heston. George P. Cosmatos is the man who now has his name listed as director, but Kurt Russell played just an important, and maybe even more important, role in getting everyone back in the game and getting the movie finished. It's not surprising. Russell had a plum starring role in a movie chock full of great actors being allowed to do great things.

The film is all about Wyatt Earp (Russell) and his brothers (played by Sam Elliott and Bill Paxton) as they settle into life in Tombstone and try to enjoy some peace and quiet. Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer) is also in town and it seems like everyone may get to enjoy life a bit more with the days of being a lawman in Wyatt's past. But people don't always get what they plan for and Tombstone soon starts to see more and more violence in its streets, so much so that the pressure mounts for Wyatt to return to his old role. That is something that he just doesn't want to happen, but he may not have a choice in the matter if some of the more trigger-happy cowboys keep causing so much trouble.

Kevin Jarre's script was, apparently, pared down quite a bit from its initial size, but what's here is all good stuff. There are some superb lines of dialogue and characters are well sketched out. Despite how densely populated the film seems, everyone is given a decent share of the screen-time. Oh wait, that's not quite true. All of the men are given enough time and space, but most of the women in the movie are given fairly short shrift. Dana Delany fares better than most in the role of Josephine Marcus and Paula Malcomson and Joanna Pacula have one or two good moments, but Lisa Collins and Dana Wheeler-Nicholson needn't have bothered turning up, considering the little that they have to do. In fairness, the film is a look at Wyatt Earp and his friends and family and that famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral so decisions would have been made to keep the focus on the men about to get themselves involved in a historic shoot-out.

The direction, from whoever was in the big seat, is absolutely fine, but the cinematography, set design, etc. all pale in comparison to the work done by the casting department. Simply put, Tombstone has one of the best casts in a 1990s movie that you can think of. Let me just reel off the better-known names and see how long the list gets: Russell, Elliott, Paxton, Kilmer, Delany, Pacula, Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn, Charlton Heston, Jason Priestley, Stephen Lang, Thomas Haden Church, Michael Rooker, Harry Carey Jr, Billy Bob Thornton, Billy Zane, Wyatt Earp (you read that right, he's a distant relative of the lead character), Terry O'Quinn and the voice of Robert Mitchum.

Feel free to re-read that list and soak up just how much quality is scattered throughout it. The fact that, despite so much competition, this film ends up being owned by Michael Biehn and Val Kilmer, in their separate scenes and also any that see them sharing the screen, just shows how good those two actors are. One moment in particular, with Biehn's Johnny Ringo showing off his gun-twirling skill before being delightfully mocked by Kilmer, is up there with the very best in the Western genre (maybe even THE best, in my opinion). Russell is very good in the main role, as you'd expect, but Wyatt Earp is the unshowy, earnest heart while Biehn and Kilmer get to be a lot more flamboyant and fiery.

While not an entirely perfect film, Tombstone somehow manages to put so many individual great moments together that it feels almost like an instant classic. It becomes more than the sum of its parts, but that's because all of those parts are so well cast.

9/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tombstone-The-Directors-Cut-DVD/dp/B001QOGXPU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1363068604&sr=8-1

 

Captain Ron (1992)

If you mention the movie Captain Ron to some people, then they may grin and try to tell you that it's a fantastic film. They will be wrong, but they won't realise that. Captain Ron is one of those movies that SEEMS better when some time is passed and you're thinking about all of the different roles that Kurt Russell has played and then your brain goes "oh, don't forget that he was great in Captain Ron". Your brain will be correct to remind you that Russell was/is great in the title role, but that will then lead you to remember the entire movie with a coating of fondness that it doesn't really deserve. It's mildly amusing and it's something I'd watch again if it was on TV during a horrible, rainy afternoon, but it's nothing great.

Martin Short plays Martin Harvey, husband to Katherine Harvey (Mary Kay Place) and father to Benjamin (Benjamin Salisbury) and Caroline (Meadow Sisto). When Martin inherits a yacht he gets very excited and immediately plans a family trip. He wants them all to enjoy themselves and learn a bit about life on the ocean while someone takes charge and helps them bring it back to America to sell it. The person who comes to take charge of the boat for them is Captain Ron (Russell). Ron has one glass eye, an uncanny talent for getting lost and an easygoing, somewhat slapdash, manner that soon starts to get on Martin's nerves. Can the two men survive at sea together for the whole journey? And does Ron actually know what he's doing?

Directed by Thom E. Eberhardt, who also worked on the screenplay with John Dwyer, Captain Ron is easygoing, by-the-numbers, comedy fare. Martin Short plays the highly strung character that he's played many times before, Mary Kay Place is a supportive wife and the Salisbury and Sisto are kids who change during the course of their trip, for better or worse. People fall overboard, some DIY goes horribly wrong, there's an embarrassment that befalls the married couple when they try to have some quality time on their own, etc. etc. etc.

The big plus point in the movie is Russell in the role of the captain. There are times when the character could become annoying and unsympathetic, but Russell plays him with such a laid-back, kindly demeanour that even as he's making mistake after mistake it's hard to think unkindly of him. As Martin Short's character starts to lose his patience with Ron, viewers end up warming to him even more and that warmth stays throughout until a final third in which some danger is added and characters need to show what they're really made of.

Undemanding fun, lifted up to the top of the rigging by Russell.

6/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Captain-Ron-DVD-Kurt-Russell/dp/B0001IMC9S/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1362364373&sr=1-1

Unlawful Entry (1992)

In the late '80s and early '90s, the glossy psycho thriller was a popular box office choice for many viewers. This was due, in no small part, to a certain smash hit by the name of Fatal Attraction. Then audiences were treated to the psycho-centric likes of Pacific Heights, Dead Calm, Single White Female, The Temp, The Crush, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle and many other entertaining releases, including this one.

Directed by Jonathan Kaplan and written by Lewis Colick (though there were a couple of other people involved in creating the story), Unlawful Entry holds up as a superior entry in the psycho thriller sub-genre for two reasons. First, the presence of Ray Liotta, who can play a menacing psycho like few others. Second, the fact that this particular psycho is also a policeman, which really hits home just how scary it can be if any member of Joe Public is ever at the mercy of someone in authority abusing their power.

Kurt Russell and Madeleine Stowe play Michael and Karen Carr, the married couple who meet Officer Pete Davis (Liotta) when he is one of the men who responds to their call after a traumatic experience with an intruder in their home. Pete and his partner, Officer Roy Cole (Roger E. Mosley), make a great impression, both being professional and friendly, and it seems as if Officer Pete may be a good man to have as a friend. However, when Michael realises that Pete doesn't always act in accordance with the law himself he starts to get worried and he tells Karen that they shouldn't spend any more time with him. Of course, by then it's a little too late. Pete sets out to get what he wants and he has his powers as a policeman to help him get it.

The movie, essentially, boils down to a battle of wills between Russell, playing a regular guy, and Liotta and those two men really work well against one another. Madeleine Stowe isn't left out, but the film is certainly more about different types of alpha males. Roger E. Mosley does well in his role, Ken Lerner is good as the friend/attorney Roger and Deborah Offner is likable enough in the role of Karen's friend, Penny. Fans of Dick Miller will be pleased to see his brief cameo and fans of Djimon Hounsou will also be happy, despite the fact that his role is even smaller than that of Miller's.

It may be, like many others of its kind, quite hard to believe at times, but Unlawful Entry also keeps things more tense and uneasy throughout because of the thorough feeling of helplessness that Kurt Russell ends up experiencing. It may be nothing more than a slick, well-made thriller, but there are moments that strike uncomfortably close to home when aligned with news stories that have been known to crop up about corruption in the police force. It serves as a worrying reminder that bad people can do bad things, no matter what uniform they wear.

7/10

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