50x3: Big Trouble in Little China (M-2)

Well, I am probably going to take a lot of flack for this. I realize a lot of people love this movie, and I can see that it may be a bit of a cult classic. Usually I can handle weird and a bit confusing, but this film was just a little much for me.

In Big Trouble in Little China Jack Burton (Kurt Russell) takes a friend of his, Wang Chi (Dennis Dun) to the airport to pickup his fiancee. While there Burton locks eyes with a woman, Gracie (Kim Cattrall) who seems to realize that something is about to go down.

Once Wang's fiancee is through customs, a Chinese street game known as the Lords of Death kidnap her. Burton and Wang jump in Burton's truck to chase them down and end up in the middle of a street battle between the Wing Kong and the Chang Sing.

As they escape, Burton loses his truck and he and Wang meetup with Gracie, Eddie (Donald Li) and a magician named Egg Shen (Victor Wong). Together they come up with a plan to infiltrate a brothel where Wang's fiancee is supposedly taken.

It turns out that all of this is happening because of a sorcerer known as Lo Pan (James Hong). Legend says that he is forced to roam the Earth in as a ghost until he can marry a girl with emerald green eyes. Turns out Wang's fiancee is just that girl.

Burton is now tasked with finding Wang's fiancee, stopping Lo Pan from marrying her and regaining his human form, and most importantly - finding his truck.

I do have to give this film props for one thing - it was incredibly ambitious. A lot of stuff was shoved into a 99 minute movie, and so many strange and odd ideas tossed in as well.

Again, perhaps this is me watching it a bit too late in my life. Had I watched this in the '80s or early '90s I may have enjoyed it a lot more.

It did have its moments, and I laughed a handful of times at the sheer insane things that they put into the film - but overall it just didn't hit me right.

Grade:

36/50x2: The Ghost Writer

Well, it finally happened. Waiting way too long to write these reviews has finally caught up to me. I admit that on several occasions in writing these I had to look up certain things, but for the most part I still pretty much remembered and understood what had happened in the film.

But, The Ghost Writer is the first film where I believe there was just far too much going on in the movie for me to actually remember what it was about.

So, I will give you a very short, clift notes version of what I can remember. Ewan McGregor stars as the unnamed ghost writer. He has been tasked to help write the memoirs of former British Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan) after the ghost writer before him, Mike McAra, died in an auto accident.

He travels to a small villa that Lang, his wife Ruth (Olivia Williams) and his assistant Amelia (Kim Cattrall) are all staying at. He first stays in a hotel, but after Amelia forbids him from taking the memoirs with him to work with, he decides to take up a room there.

Like the ghost writer before him, he begins to dig up many things about the Lang administration - mostly about capturing terrorists and handing them over to the CIA for torture.

Many other things are uncovered, including a pretty large twist near the end that even I did not see coming - at least I don't think I did, but it has been far too long. Hence why I will never wait this long again or fall this far behind in writing the reviews.

Anyway, from what I do remember about the film it was - decent. I really do enjoy a film about cover-ups and uncovering secrets, but here even the uncovering was done rather - boring I guess may be the word.

I really enjoy McGregor in almost anything he has been doing, and here he was pretty darn good as well. Brosnan is also pretty top notch in the role as the Prime Minister. I guess it was just the writing - and it was just so dark and bleak all of the time. Too many clouds and too much grey.

Grade:

HOT: Bonfire of the Vanities

Well, color me red. I have been dreading watching this film because for some reason I was getting it mixed up with War of the Roses, that Danny DeVito/Michael Douglas film that I have heard some horrible things about. Lucky for me, it wasn't.

Still not spectacular, but I got through it.

Tom Hanks stars as Stephan McCoy, a hot shot Wall Street investor who is married to Judy (Kim Cattrall) and has a daughter in Bonfire of the Vanities. He also happens to have a girl on the side, Maria (Melanie Griffith).

One night while taking his dog for a walk, McCoy makes a huge mistake that pretty much sends his life into a downward spiral. McCoy heads to a payphone to call his mistress, and by mistake calls his wife. Some innocent mistake that was the start of a very bad period for him.

Judy of course, is pissed that he is cheating, but doesn't leave him just sort of ignores him. This doesn't stop McCoy from seeing Maria though. He finds out that she is coming into town to visit and picks her up at the airport.

While 'fooling around' in the car they miss their exit and are forced to take the next one and turn around. They end up in the South Bronx and while trying to get back on the freeway, McCoy is forced to get out of the car to to move a spare tire out of the way. Two men approach him and as he tries to get away, Maria jumps into the driver's seat and McCoy jumps into the car.

After arriving at Maria's apartment, McCoy wants to call the cops to explain what happened, just in case one of the men was injured by the car during the escape, but Maria stops him.

This all just so happens to be happening about the same time as Abe Weiss (F. Murray Abraham) is seeking reelection for District Attorney and the African American community is up in arms due to the constant amount of African Americans getting locked away. So, they were searching for a white man to make an example (and a show) of.

This is where McCoy's life begins to fall apart. A writer, Peter Fallow (Bruce Willis) writes a piece on the accident, playing up the kid in a coma as an honor student. McCoy reads this while speaking an important client, and freaks out, losing a $6 million deal in the process.

Finally, McCoy is arrested and put on trial in front of Judge Leonard White (Morgan Freeman) for the hit-and-run accident. The courtroom is a circus as everyone is trying to make an example of McCoy.

And, that is where I will leave you. I won't let you know how the trial ends or what happens next. Watch it to see for yourself.

Was this a good movie? Maybe. But, it wasn't spectacular. Honestly, I really didn't like Hanks' character in the film, so that threw me off a bit. And, I have never really enjoyed Griffith - I can't think of a single role of hers I have enjoyed.

I just wasn't that interested in the film. I found it rather boring. I didn't hate it, it just was well nothing really.

Grade: