David Vining's Blog, page 139

The King’s Man

I can see why this is disappointing some people. It’s marketed with videos like this while following up on the anarchic insanity of the first two movies, and yet it’s not really like that for the bulk of its running time. In addition, the movie does have elements of the craziness, but they never really gel with what came before while also clashing on some level with everything around them. The bulk of the film is decidedly different, a surprisingly sober look at how World War I affected the ...

Lethal Weapon 3

In retrospect, I was probably a tad overgenerous to Lethal Weapon 2. It was a made by committee mess, but it still managed to entertain me. Well, the second sequel in the franchise continues the heavy downward trend, becoming pretty much nothing more than an interconnected series of ideas that never actually gel in any way, shape, or form. It relies heavily on charm and chemistry from the actors, but that really only goes so far when the scenes of chemistry between our two stars end up feeli...

The Matrix Franchise: The Definitive Ranking

I guess I should make one of these now, huh? Four films is the bare minimum of movies in a franchise that I want in order to make a list. Three films ends up feeling too small for it, and I did the Airport movies, a franchise with four. So, here goes.

For a lot of people, the franchise begins and ends with the first film. They see it as a perfect movie to some degree, beginning and ending a tale in great style that the sequels never match up to. I am not so hot on the first film, find...

Lethal Weapon 2

I had some small issues with the first Lethal Weapon film, and I have more with the second. The first was a combination of very strong character work that helped to elevate a less than stellar second half punctuated by quality action. The second movie in the franchise still has some strong character work, but the overall structure feels off while the mystery, which is never much of a mystery, ends up feeling a bit haphazard with the sorts of personal connections that just makes one roll one’...

Lethal Weapon

Another staple of 80s action filmmaking, Lethal Weapon is solid character work mixed with a so-so mystery topped with quality action. It’s interesting how there are a small bevy of screenwriters who can manage to come through as distinctly as a director. Shane Black’s written films feel almost as much Shane Black as Shane Black directed films. Lethal Weapon has a distinct feel to it shared with movies like The Nice Guys and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. It’s not that Richard Donner as director doesn’...

The Matrix Resurrections

That was disappointing but not entirely unexpected. I like the original Matrix trilogy pretty evenly, finding its pretensions thin but the overall entertainment value of the hero’s journey inverted fairly consistent. There was always  room for the story to continue in some way, but when Lana Wachowski finally took up the offer to make the sequel, leaving Lilly who didn’t want to be part of visiting their past, Lana did it out of a sense of loss for the pair’s parents who died within a fe...

My Darling Clementine

John Ford takes on one of the most famous real life Western showdowns and shootouts, delivering a handsome and emotionally affecting character piece that also ends up dealing with the actual shootout. It’s mostly a character piece about Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday where the Clantons are largely forgotten for a very large bulk of the film. The heart is in the character work that dominates the center of the film, where the film is best, but the Clanton stuff ends up feeling tacked on. It also ...

They Were Expendable

John Ford went to war. He joined the OSS, was given the rank of commander, and made documentary films for the navy. The height of his excitement was being present at the Battle of Midway where he made the Academy Award winning Documentary The Battle of Midway, along with several others. With the war winding down, he was allowed to go to Florida and film an adaptation of the book of the same name by William Lindsay White about a real squadron of PT boats, fictionalized a bit for dramatic effe...

The Northman – Trailer

This looks awesome.

How Green Was My Valley

I saw this movie once about fifteen years ago and was underwhelmed. Much like revisiting Doctor Zhivago much later in life, I went in prepared to see the heartwarming crowd pleaser that everyone else seems to see in John Ford’s sole Best Picture winning film, and once again I walked away feeling like I may be insane. I just can’t get into the saccharine opening or the muddled middle which prevents me from investing in the ending. It’s filled with John Ford goodness like incredibly strong vis...