Prime Time: Greenland (2020)

Having done his time protecting the President Of The United States, saving the world from terrorists, and even catching a dangerous submarine, Gerard Butler now gets to focus on trying to keep his onscreen family safe. I'm sure he has had a previous family-in-peril needing his strength and courage, but I can't think of any specific title just now, Because so many Gerard Butler movies just blur into one another. Which isn't that big a deal for me, mainly because I happen to like Butler anyway.

Butler plays John Garrity, a structural engineer. He's currently going through a difficult patch with his wife, Allison (Morena Baccarin), but the two of them try to put a brave face on things for the sake of their young son, Nathan (Roger Dale Floyd). They need to work even harder to keep brave faces when John receives an automated call as people group together to watch a passing comet. It turns out that the comet isn't just going to provide a pretty lightshow in the sky. It has bits falling into the Earth's atmosphere that will destroy entire cities. And one major chunk will bring about an Extinction Level Event. Heading to safety, the Garrity family finds numerous obstacles in their path, and the clock is ticking.

Written by Chris Sparling, a writer with a filmography that varies wildly in quality from the greatness of Buried to the sheer awfulness of ATM, Greenland is an entertaining disaster movie that wants to pretend it's a bit more grounded than most. It's really not, especially when you consider the coincidences required during almost every major plot beat, but it somehow manages to find a nice sweet spot between the more bombastic disaster movies and the likes of the more thoughtful, and disappointing, Deep Impact (note, don't hold me to that, as I am long overdue a revisit of Deep Impact, having not seen it since it first came out on VHS).

Director Ric Roman Waugh has an action thriller background (his previous film before this one being the Butler-starring Angel Has Fallen) and he capably delivers the goods here. You get some chases, you get a fight or two, and you also get some decent CGI causing big problems. The fact that this is a disaster film is almost secondary to the fact that it's a Gerard Butler film, for better or worse.

Butler is good in the lead role, one that doesn't really stretch him or take him out of his comfort zone, but it at least places him in a developing situation that feels a bit different from many of his other interchangeable movies. Baccarin is also good, even if she has to spend a lot of the movie hoping that she can stay alongside Butler while he offers protection and the possibility of escape. And then you have Floyd, a young actor who somehow manages to avoid being too annoying, even as his character makes things a lot harder than they otherwise could have been. Hope David, David Denman, Scott Glenn, and Holt McCallany are the other main names appearing here and there, all in small supporting roles as Butler, Baccarin, and Floyd attempt the seemingly impossible.

If you like disaster movies then there should be enough here to keep you entertained. If you like dramas with a bit of action dotted throughout then likewise. And if you like Gerard Butler movies then, well, you've probably seen this before spotting this review.

7/10

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Apocalypse Now (1979)

Important note - it has been many years since I have seen Apocalypse Now, but I could not pass up the chance to see it on the big screen, even if it was "The Final Cut", a version that includes a lot of the footage from the "Redux" version, but not all, and clocks in at around three hours.

Here is my completely unnecessary review for today, because god knows that more than enough has been written and said about this film already. But I'll add my two cents anyway.

I've always had my issues with Apocalypse Now, issues that have simply been exacerbated by most of the material added to it over the years.  The film is an undeniable classic, and should always be considered as a contender for the greatest war movie of all time, but that third act is a real slog, going on for far too long and becoming more and more arduous in a way that was perhaps intended as a metaphor for the Vietnam War itself.

The plot is relatively simple. Martin Sheen plays Captain Benjamin L. Willard, a man sent on a classified mission to catch up to the mysterious Colonel Walter E. Kurtz (Marlon Brando) and terminate his command. Terminate with extreme prejudice. Willard travels on a small boat with four other men, and they all get a chance to be reminded of the absolute insanity of war.

Based on the novel, "Heart Of Darkness", by Joseph Conrad, written by John Milius and Francis Ford Coppola, and also directed by Coppola, the making of Apocalypse Now is the stuff of legend, with some claiming it felt as if it would go on, and be as tough, as the war itself. It's a sprawling mess, at times, but the more powerful moments are SO powerful that it will remain an essential work of art as long as cinema is around.

It's also funny to watch it as a more fully-formed adult, compared to how I watched it as a teen, eagerly awaiting the iconic moments. The Ride Of The Valkyries sequence still holds up as well as ever, for example, but also plays out as a comment on how those particular Americans view themselves, as powerful and larger than life warriors annihilating an enemy by dealing out death from above, while the people below include a random selection of villagers and schoolchildren, as well as those quick to fight back.

It's hard to think of anyone better than Sheen for the lead role, and I'm glad that heart attack didn't put an end to his involvement. He's the perfect mix of military rigidity and wide-eyed confoundment at the events occurring around him. His "crew" are all portrayed brilliantly by Albert Hall, Sam Bottoms, Frederic Forrest, and a very young Laurence Fishburne. Dennis Hopper crops up for a few scenes, stretching himself by playing a wild-eyed hippy type (with a camera), and there are very small roles for Harrison Ford, Scott Glenn, and R. Lee Ermey. Robert Duvall doesn't have a lot of screentime, but he certainly grabs a fair share of the best scripted lines, and the film somehow finds another level to go to whenever he's around. And then you have Brando, casting a lengthy shadow over the proceedings, both in character and also in the established weight of his performance that has been spoken about for the past forty years. Although the film really grinds to a halt when Willard and Kurtz finally meet, that is not the fault of Brando, who is riveting for every moment that he's onscreen, a warrior who knows what it truly takes to win any war, and is as willing to accept his own death as he is unwilling to accept the judgment of others.

There are a couple of moments I will never enjoy, a scene involving the slaughter of an animal being one that really turns my stomach, but Apocalypse Now is a film that, considering what it took to get made, wouldn't feel right if it was perfect. I'd also agree with many other people who might want to remove a whole point for the extended "French plantation" sequence that appears in extended editions of the movie (it's so clunky and awful that it's actually embarrassing). The fact that none of the negatives ever put me off recommending it in the strongest possible terms, however, should help to remind you of what a cinematic touchstone this is.

9/10

I caved in and ordered this upcoming release.
Americans can get it here.

Backdraft (1991)

As a tribute to firefighters everywhere, Backdraft works. As a piece of fluff that will appeal to any youngster who always wanted to be a firefighter, Backdraft works. As an entertaining and involving movie, Backdraft just doesn't cut it. After a decent run at the box office, this movie exploded (no pun intended) on home video. Well, I can't tell you if it was popular everywhere, but it certainly quickly became the must-see movie at my high school. I think, if my memory serves me correctly, that this may have been due in no small part to the reduction (removal?) of the rental windows that I remember being brought about by Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves. I am only going by personal recollection here so may be completely incorrect. What is definitely correct is that this particular movie was very popular on video at Liberton High School (which, ironically, still hasn't burned to the ground, despite my fervent prayers).

The plot is standard melodrama, directed by Ron Howard and written by an ex-firefighter named Gregory Widen (who witnessed someone killed by the titular occurrence). William Baldwin (one of the many lesser talents in the Baldwin brood) plays Brian McCaffrey, a young man who finally passes the test to become a firefighter and ends up stationed alongside his big brother, Stephen 'Bull' McCaffrey (Kurt Russell). Big brother wants to look after him and he does that by working him harder than anybody else. Scott Glenn is another one of the old hands while Jason Gedrick plays the other new recruit, a young man lucky enough to not have any older brother on HIS case. On top of the tension between the two brothers there are also a worrying number of fires that seem to have been engineered, possibly, to kill certain people. Robert De Niro plays the investigator trying to find out how the fires started.

Apparently, when she read the script Jennifer Jason Leigh (who plays Jennifer Vaitkus, Brian's old flame who may be reignited) said that she wished she could play the fire because it's the best part and that really tells you all that you need to know about the movie. The fire IS the best part. When the flames are billowing around the screen the movie gets interesting. At all other times it's just a messy mix of horrible, super-cheesy lines and completely uninteresting personal drama that is all underlined by a manipulative score from Hans Zimmer.

Kurt Russell is always good to watch, as far as I'm concerned, and there's also a lot of fun to be had when De Niro is onscreen. There's also a lot of fun to be had in the moments featuring Donald Sutherland, as an imprisoned arsonist, and the always-great J. T. Walsh plays a slippery politician and is . . . . . . . . . . . . great, as always. Scott Glenn is alright, Clint Howard has a tiny, but enjoyable, role and Jennifer Jason Leigh and Rebecca De Mornay both do okay with what they're given. Jason Gedrick may not be great, but the weakest link in the cast is bland, talentless William Baldwin who drags the film down with his weak "talent". A better leading man MIGHT have improved the movie ever so slightly, but it's hard to say. As the saying goes: "you can't polish a turd".

Ron Howard isn't a consistently great director, but he has made many very good movies (personally, I love Apollo 13, Parenthood and Frost/Nixon, among others) and I haven't seen a movie from him that I have completely hated. Having said that, this one is the worst I've seen from him so far.

4/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Backdraft-Blu-ray-Kurt-Russell/dp/B004GCK6W0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1361296523&sr=8-2