Memorial Day Movie Marathon - Part III
Crimson Tide
Tense action movie of nuclear proportions with Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman. Interesting, but (as with most action films) the character logic just doesn't make sense. It all boils down to a clash of ego between the two stars. But it's flawed in that Hackman's actions are baffling. He ignores the common sense that Washington's character, along with the entire audience, grasps with no problem. And he inexplicably plays the race card towards the end-- even though you hear no mention of it before or after.
What makes it worse is that the whole conflict was awkwardly set up in the beginning, with Hackman giving some contrived "I'm a simple man, you're a complicated man" speech so you know he's going to make a stupid move eventually.
One of the supporting roles is Viggo Mortensen, although I had to look it up on IMDB. It had been bugging me for half the movie before I realized it was Aragorn. James Gandolfini plays a nicely detestable character as well.
Ending was pure Hollywood. You knew from the opening credits that Denzel was going to end up saving the universe from Sauron and Mordor and... well, something like that.
Final Score: 4 out of 10.
Rounders
The movie that started the dominos falling for the recent surge in poker's popularity. In other words, Matt Damon is responsible for roughly 40% of the content on ESPN.
The overall 'cool' factor of this movie puts it ahead of most. The lingo, the style, the attitude are all played up well here. And even though it preaches some of the evils and pitfalls of gambling, it mostly makes you want to hit the nearest casino (there's one a few hours from here, now that I think about it...). Damon's good (kind of par for the course for him these days though). Ed Norton is good. Johns Turturro and Malkovich have convincing supporting roles. Plus-- and this is a big plus-- Famke Janssen has a role (Author's note: Ohhhhhhhh). The scenes feel real, even when you know who's coming out on top.
It scores even more points for its rewatchability. It's something I should probably have memorized before the next time I find myself 20 dollars deep into a card table (I've only won a hold 'em tourney once. The pot? A wallet-busting $35). I really can't think of a bad time to watch this movie.
Final Score: 7.5 out of 10.
posted by BJC @ 10:14 PM
Your thoughts (2 so far)
2 Comments:
I am a tough grader. I think anything 8 and above should be reserved for the upper-echelon movies like Pulp Fiction, American Beauty, Dazed & Confused (review coming soon), etc.
I haven't gone into the real high-tier part of my dvd collection yet.
I liked "Crimson Tide," but the king of modern submarine movies remains "Hunt for Red October."
I disliked the ending for "Crimson Tide," which was basically an unsatisfying "tie game" ruling.
They could have just invoked a Tarzan line like "Mmmm...nukes bad. Denzel good. Gene ugly."
It would have made about as much sense.
As for "Rounders," I am relieved to read that someone else was bitten by the Famke Janssen bug. Wow, she was gorgeous, in any language.
I liked the intelligent dialogue and content of the movie. I'm sure kids hated it, because there wasn't a single car chase or exploding building. I guess every once in a while, adults ARE allowed to go to the movies. (Although, admittedly, this movie WAS from 1998.)
Pretty good calls for round three!
*Morris Workman
www.morrisworkman.com
workmanchronicles.blogspot.com
dvtsports.blogspot.com
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