Not Too Serious, Not Too Stupid, Just Right

I like '2 Guns'. And, I usually dislike pure action flicks. They're almost always so cheeky that it undermines the action -- makes goings-on so dumb that you can't take anything seriously -- or they work so hard to be taken seriously that it comes off dense, brackish, and (let's go all-in) odious.

Director Baltasar Kormákur did a nice job. '2 Guns' plays light and snappy when it needs to, solid down the middle when that's the way to go.

Love it. Should score.





















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Tight. Nicely Done

Usually, this kind of movie is so superficial it hurts. '2 Guns' may not be very deep but it doesn't seem superficial. There's a kind of subtext in these clips that gives proceedings weight you wouldn't expect, while the energy pops, keeps the fun level going, like you would expect.

Director Baltasar Kormákur has an easy way with the camera and handles the script well. Like, when actors talk over each other. There's a nice rhythm you don't get in product like this too often.

Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg take things seriously. It's so common to see performances phoned in with storylines like this. Not so much, here.

Had my doubts but '2 Guns' is looking like a cool popcorn flick. I'll buy this one on Blu-ray.






























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Totally Hell Yeah Pop-o-corn '2 Guns' Trailer Rock And Roll

Yeah, it doesn't take a genius to figure whether this is for you. I can't wait.



























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Rave Reviews

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Denzel Talks Character in 'Flight'

This is a pretty good talk especially as junket gab goes. These guys connect, actually talk. New footage as well. Worth a look.



















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Asian 'Flight'

How strong is Denzel? This poster design/concept is pretty weak but it still works. Why? Because Denzel is front and center. His presence just says 'believe in this'. Substitute another actor and it falls flat.

Can anybody carry a film like this guy?

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Buttery Popcorn Crowd-Pleaser Trailer for 'Flight'

Fun. All this needs is a nice twist and it'll score. But, even without a twist, even if it's by-the-numbers with a predictable ending, it'll still score.
























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Straight From The 80s

Denzel totally owns this. By-the-numbers but still good.

Wait a minute, though. This is the "most provocative film of the year?" Really? Says so right on the poster.

I did not know that. Can't wait. 

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Poster and Drop-Dead Trailer for Denzel Washington's 'Flight'

Wait. There's a movie directed by Robert Zemeckis starring Denzel Washington?

Okay, Zemeckis is a tech craftsman -- his camera is flawless, and Denzel is...well...what do you say about this guy. He nails it every time.

This is pure money. Can't wait. I may see this in the theater, that's how good this trailer looks.

Made my day.
















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Movie Minutiae: 'Crimson Tide', Lipizzaner Horses, Garbled Communications, and Narrowly Averted Nuclear War

Remember this encounter between Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington in 'Crimson Tide'?



Plays almost quaint. Not sure you could do it that way today, but I always loved that scene.

Here's the Lipizzaner and, yes, they are born black and turn white as they mature:

The plot, if you've never seen 'Crimson Tide', revolves around a dispute between a submarine captain (Gene Hackman) and his executive officer (Denzel Washington) over whether they should launch a nuclear strike, and the conflicted officers and crew who must decide which commander to follow. Hackman wants to launch based on orders that were received while Washington wants to confirm orders that may have countermanded the first order but, as the radio transmission was interrupted, the second message was incomplete and open to interpretation. Here's the critical moment:



What a pleasure. Great blocking and direction by Tony Scott. Click click editing by Chris Lebenzo (who also worked with Scott on 'Deja Vu', 'The Taking of Pelham 123', and 'Unstoppable'. A great editor for high energy stuff. He was nominated for an Oscar for best editing for both 'Top Gun' and 'Crimson Tide'.) makes the clip spool out in a single breath despite its 5-minute runtime. Writer Michael Schiffer crafted the dialogue just so. And, what a performance from Hackman and Washington. One of my all-time favorite scenes.

Scoping out the movie's Wikipedia page, I see this blurb at the bottom:

See also:


Vasili Arkhipov, a Soviet naval officer who during the Cuban Missile Crisis disagreed with his submarine captain and political officer and prevented the launch of a nuclear torpedo from a Soviet submarine.

No kidding... I click the link and find:

Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov (Russian: Василий Александрович Архипов) (30 January 1926 – 1999) was a Soviet naval officer. During the Cuban Missile Crisis he prevented the launch of a nuclear torpedo and therefore a possible nuclear war. His story is to this day unknown to the wider public, although some believe that Thomas Blanton (then director of the National Security Archive) expressed it in 2002, "a guy called Vasili Arkhipov saved the world."[1]

and

On October 27, 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, a group of eleven United States Navy destroyers and the aircraft carrier USS Randolph trapped a nuclear-armed Soviet Foxtrot class submarine B-59 near Cuba and started dropping practice depth charges, explosives intended to force the submarine to come to the surface for identification. The captain of the submarine, Valentin Grigorievitch Savitsky, believing that a war might already have started, wanted to launch a nuclear-tipped torpedo, despite the Soviets' being informed that practice depth charges were being used.[3]


Three officers on board the submarine — Savitsky, the Political Officer Ivan Semonovich Maslennikov, and the second in command Arkhipov — were authorized to launch the torpedo if agreeing unanimously in favor of doing so. An argument broke out among the three, in which only Arkhipov was against the launch,[4] eventually persuading Savitsky to surface the submarine and await orders from Moscow. The nuclear warfare which presumably would have ensued was thus averted.[5] Arkhipov's actions served, in part, as the inspiration for the American film Crimson Tide.

along with...

At the conference commemorating the 40th anniversary of the Cuban Missile Crisis held in Havana on 13 October 2002, Robert McNamara admitted that nuclear war had come much closer than people had thought.[citation needed] 

In Aleksandr Mozgovoy's 2002 book, Kubinskaya Samba Kvarteta Fokstrotov (Cuban Samba of the Foxtrot Quartet), retired Commander Vadim Pavlovich Orlov, a participant in the events, presents them less dramatically, saying the captain lost his temper, but eventually calmed down.

Who knew.

























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Just Who is Tobin Frost? Latest 'Safe House' Trailer/Ditty

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Super Compressed Trailer for 'Unstoppable'

'Unstoppable' Featurette

Body Of Lies

This one has potential, but if it's just another by-the-numbers thriller posing as a meaningful statement it will fall flat. It's not as if there aren't plenty of real bad guys out there to make a movie about. As Russell Crowe's character (CIA honcho Ed Hoffman) says, "It's a dangerous dangerous world..."

The trailer isn't getting much traction, though. People are skeptical. Story will have to deliver the goods on the very real and very dirty work the CIA engages in if 'Body of Lies' is to succeed. Ridley Scott certainly has what it takes. His 'American Gangster' had the ring of truth and subtle performances by Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe made it work.

The last thing people want to see is a fakey look at terrorism (see last year's 'The Kingdom' which was Hollywood schlock and a slap in the face, and lost money). If 'Body of Lies' doesn't deliver audiences will shoot it down.

Here's an interview with David Ignatius, the author of the novel (of the same name) on which the movie is based. Ignatius is a journalist with The Washington Post and has the connections one would need to create a credible story about CIA operations.

I hope they did this story justice. If not, I just don't need that crap in my life. If so, I'm looking forward to it.

Frank Lucas: American Gangster

I just finished watching 'American Gangster' on DVD. Movie is nicely directed by Ridley Scott with 'invisible' camera technique that not only doesn't bring attention to itself, it makes you forget you're watching a movie. Also to credit for this movie's easy flow is screenwriter Steven Zaillian whose script brings this true story to life in a direct and accessible way, without over-stylizing it for the big screen. Drug lord Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) and the detective that chased him, Ritchie Roberts (Russell Crowe), are brought to life by Zaillian's script, and backstory is handled so effectively and naturally you feel like you know them by the end of the movie -- in fact you feel like you've known them for years.

'American Gangster' is a pleasure. I'm looking forward to watching the extended unrated version.

Here's Denzel's outlook on Lucas, with comments by Brian Grazer, Ridley Scott, and Russell Crowe.

American Gangster

Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe are on a roll. Here's a preview.

Hitting The Target

There’s a certain kind of movie I really like. It clicks along with lots of energy, turns on a dime, and has visual panache. Director Antoine Fuqua produces this kind of work. In ‘Training Day’, starring Denzel Washington and Ethan Hawke, every scene is shot with an easy confidence that is direct as well interesting and fresh. Fuqua’s camera is never quite where you expect it to be, and this yields a visual pop and drive missing in many films of the genre. The story isn’t fluff either -- each scene in 'Training Day' builds dramatic tension through Act II, and character arc rolls out well with a strong resolution in Act III.

The projects Mark Wahlberg chooses have solid story and clean lines. ‘The Italian Job’, starring Wahlberg and directed by F. Gary Gray, spins out with clean energy and visual snap, and has car chases that are of reference quality. The sequel, ‘The Brazilian Job’, due in 2008, is getting good buzz and will be a must-own DVD. Wahlberg has, somewhat against the odds, become a go-to action headliner, playing the everyman who (somewhat against the odds) wins out in tough situations in ways audiences can connect with.

Lorenzo Di Bonaventura has similar tastes in movies. He shepherds projects that have a straight-ahead energy like ‘The Matrix’, ‘The Perfect Storm’, and ‘The Departed’. Each one of these stories is a good example of ‘painting your protag into a corner’ and forcing them to find a way out. These plots propel their characters headlong toward an unambiguous fate, and leaves audiences satisfied.

Di Bonaventura, Wahlberg, and Fuqua are the team behind the new thriller, ‘Shooter’, which opened this week. Wahlberg plays a Marine sniper who is enlisted to advise how an assassination of the president might be attempted from a range of over a mile. However, he finds himself on the run after the president is killed and he is framed for the shooting. The trailers I've seen have that live camera you expect from Fuqua and the story seems solid. This should do fairly well at the box office, and have excellent DVD sales.

Having a main character who is so talented with a rifle he can hit a target a mile away seems apt for these three filmmakers. Their talent for storytelling has the same kind of precision.