Robs takes on Media and Entertainment

I have watched “Man on Fire” (2004) many times. If it is on or I see it available, I will watch it. I think I got some free movies on Vudu once and bought a copy (although I no longer have any idea how to get to that account). I really like this movie. Denzel Washington is a large part of my enjoyment. In my opinion, he may be our greatest actor*. His portrayal of the tortured warrior, whose heart is broken by a child, and set on a path for vengeance is fantastic. I cry everytime they are reunited at the end. As for the rest of the cast - Dakota Fanning, Chris Walken, and Giancarlo Giannini are superb. The rest of them carry their parts well enough. Mexico City plays a very nice role. When you lay on Tony Scott’s directing + Paul Cameron cinematography + Christian Wagner editing + the sound design, you get a VERY tense and violent thriller. The music cues are really great. While John Creasy (Denzel’s part) is a trope of story writing, in terms of a roman à clef, the Sanchez brothers (t...

Mark Polonia has made almost 80 films since 1985. That is 2+ per year. There was a 3 year pause in his proliferation after his twin brother & production partner John died in 2008. If you consider that he (they) didn’t really start cranking out this entertainment until 2000 - it is more like 3 per year. If he keeps at it as long as they did, he will pass Richard Thorpe and William Beaudine (credited as directing ~180 each). Wowzers. His particular craft is low-low budget. Lower than Roger Corman or Lloyd Kaufman even. Polonia’s production values are limited. You get 2 or 3 sets with plenty of establishing shots to fill the transition. You get special effects and creatures which look like they were assembled by a junior high art class. You will see the same actor playing multiple parts, married couples acting together, and a lot of the same names showing up in multiple different releases. You will see the same people + sets in 2 or 4 of these movies in a room; I assume many of them a...

I am sorry to Ragnar for my title tagline - I have friends and acquaintances from Sweden, Finland, and Denmark, but I can not place a single person I know who was born in Norway. I only know one Swedish Chef and that is mostly by reputation - but that was good enough for the bit. Jokes are way better when you have to spend 70 words explaining them. ‘In Poland, we don't ask, we do. Why problem make when you no problem have you don't want to make?’ - Piotr, the Polsk bjørnejeger. That should have informed the student film crew when they took off investigating the eponymous Trollhunter. The line where one of them compares themselves to Michael Moore made me laugh. I saw them as more Geraldo Rivera.They were similarly charming and unfortunately got into more trouble than he did interviewing those skinheads. This movie is fun. The dialogue is dry and funny. The acting is great. Even the cinematography is good for such a low budget, shaky cam,‘found-footage’ piece of work. The actio...

Neo-noir or noir-revival. Crime drama or psychological thriller. Whatever. If what it takes to fit these labels is characters making nihilistic moral choices as a result of desperate circumstances - then “No Way Out” (1987) fits right in the zone. It even says so in the title. We get a gorgeous 32-yo Kevin Costner playing beside 28-yo Sean Young and against Gene Hackman. It is brilliantly performed and super intense. You can see how Costner became a star. This is 2 years after “Fandango” and “Silverado”. It came out at the same time as “The Untouchables” and right before “Bull Durham”. His star-ness was definitely anchored here. Sean Young’s character is more complex than you might want to credit at first - and they were easy to believe. The only characterization I couldn’t get behind was Will Patton. He was played to be a deviant / sociopath. He did that great. Unfortunately in 1987, they had to out him as homosexual just so we would know how truly awful he was. For the 2023 viewer, t...

Classified as a musical romantic drama, I would call it an opera. There is NO spoken dialog. The way the characters flow and move, I wondered if the music was diegetic to the scenes. They are certainly singing (even if their sound is voice-overed after the fact) - but it looks to me like they are listening to the same soundtrack as the audience. It stars Catherine Deneuve, Nino Castelnuovo, Anne Vernon, Marc Michel, and Ellen Farner. I almost watched it about 100 times simply for Ms. Deneuve - but now that I have seen it, I would watch it 99 more. I want to go find more projects with Anne Vernon in them. She was my favorite. This is set in France during the Algerian War. That is the catalyst that tears these lovers apart. In spite of everything being sung-through and the score doing some of the lifting for the character’s moods or feelings, I found the acting to be compelling and naturalistic. Teen lovers act like teen lovers. The unrequited beauty acts like a jilted young adult. The w...