"Reagan" Review

Yesterday, I went to the 2:30 screening of Reagan at the Red Rock 10 Theaters in Gallup. I found myself the only person in the auditorium although one other person paid for a seat. Then again, the whole theater complex was devoid of cars in the parking lot.

Before the movie started, I was bombarded with trailers of upcoming movies, primarily the Christmas holiday movies. I found this funny since we're not out of summer yet.

This has to be the first movie I've ever seen for the first time where I knew pretty much exactly what line of dialog was going to be spoken next. I guess I am too well-versed on the subject.

The movie covered Reagan's life from Dixon, Illinois to his passing. The end credits featured photos and videos of Ronald Reagan along with his funeral.

On Reagan, I thought that Dennis Quaid did a good job portraying Ronald Reagan. To his credit, he did not try to do an imitation of him (Rich Little-style). Reagan would be a hard historical figure to portray anyway. I feel that Lane Smith as Richard Nixon in The Final Days (1989) and William Devane as JFK in The Missiles of October (1974) did much better in portraying those presidents.

Above, Nancy and Ronald Reagan at the Town & Country Hotel
 in San Diego in September 1979. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The main problem I had with Quaid's Ronald Reagan was not from his acting, but that he looked strange on horseback. Reagan was 6'1" and Quaid is an inch shorter. Yet when he was on horseback, he looked as if he were 5'10" or thereabouts. Maybe it was his body shape? I think the camera angles could have been better during the horseback riding scenes. By the way, the scenes involving Reagan's ranch, Rancho del Cielo, were actually filmed at the ranch. That was a nice touch.

The supporting players all did good work with Penelope Ann Miller as Nancy Reagan and Jon Voight as former Soviet KGB operative Viktor Petrovich (a fictional character) as standouts. It was nice to see Jennifer O'Neill as the older Nelle Reagan. I hadn't seen her in years. 

The movie has not impressed the critics (22% likeability), but audiences has given it a 85% likeability rating at Rotten Tomatoes (at this writing). Go figure.

There was nothing in the movie what would tarnish Reagan's legacy. In fact, the movie only fortified it.

My grade: B+.

“Reagan” Biopic Starring Dennis Quaid Gets 98% Approval

Above, actor Michael Landon and Reagan in June 1980 at the Ambassador
 Hotel on California Primary Election Night. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The Ronald Reagan biopic has hit the screens over the weekend and it appears to be a hit.

The movie, Reagan, stars Dennis Quaid as our 40th president and docments his life from childhood.

While audiences have been giving the movie rave reviews, the elites are not so enamored. Noting such, the Gateway Pundit responded with, "What a surprise!"

They also wrote:

Popular Hollywood actor Dennis Quaid, who has starred in numerous box-office hits. including, “The Big Easy,” “The Parent Trap,” “Great Balls of Fire,”The Rookie,” “Far from Heaven,” to name a few.

Quaid has been acting since the 1980s and has appeared in over  80 films in his storied career.

Currently, Dennis Quaid is starring in the must-see Ronald Reagan biopic titled, “Reagan.” The film has a 98% audience approval rating and a 19% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

The people love it and the elites hate it.  What a surprise!

To read more, go here. 

"Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" Review

Above, at Red Rock 10 Theaters. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Yesterday afternoon, I went to Gallup to see Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire by Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. We had a full house in the auditorium.

Let me just start off to say that I found it entertaining. We're talking about a Legendary/Warners Godzilla movie, not Shakespeare. There are a few things that I see as flaws. To give any of them away would be spoilers. There was also some shark-jumping. 

The MonsterVerse movies all play like a Heisei Gamera movie, not a Godzilla movie.

It is amazing that Godzilla x Kong had a budget of $135 million. But the money did not show up on the big screen. I saw a number of not-so-good shots. They were on a par with Godzilla vs. Kong, quality-wise. With that amount of money spent and the number of special effects people working on it, it makes the special effects of Godzilla Minus One all the more remarkable, considering the movie cost Toho around $15 million to produce. It is no surprise to me why Godzilla Minus One got a special effects Oscar whereas none of the MonsterVerse movies ever did. I have the feeling Legendary/Warners wanted to rush out a movie.

Right now, Godzilla x Kong is around 60% at Rotten Tomatoes by the critics. It is around 93% by fans. At this same point, Godzilla Minus One was in the upper 90s by fans and the critics. 

Toho should use a paraphrase of Kentucky Fried Chicken's slogan: We do Godzilla right!

My grade: B+

Following the screening, I headed to Jerry's Cafe in Gallup for a great chile relleno/enchilada combo dinner. 

Considering we're to get another round of snow, I am glad to get out of the house to see a movie and go out to dinner.

Godzilla Spotted Approaching America For December Arrival

Godzilla will be coming to America from Japan, thanks to Toho Co., Ltd.

Godzilla will see a theatrical release in the U.S. on December 1, according to an article in Forbes.

They wrote:

The world’s favorite hundred foot tall rampaging kaiju is about to make landfall just in time for the holiday movie season, according to an announcement today from Japan’s Toho International. Godzilla Minus One, the first Japanese-produced Godzilla film since Shin Godzilla in 2016, will debut in Japan on November 3, 2023 and will get a theatrical release in the United States on December 1. It is just one part of a broader plan for Godzilla to rampage through American media and pop culture in coming months.

“Set in a post-war Japan, Godzilla Minus One will once again show us a Godzilla that is a terrifying and overwhelming force, which you already get a sense of from the teaser trailer and poster,” said Koji Ueda, President of Toho International. “The concept is that Japan, which had already been devastated by the war, faces a new threat with Godzilla, bringing the country into the ‘minus.’”

Ueda said the film, directed and written by Takashi Yamazaki, will share continuity with 2016’s Shin Godzilla, a cult favorite that ranks #4 on Rotten Tomatoes’ all-time ratings for the franchise, just below the 1954 original.

Above, the Godzilla statue at Toho Studios in Setagaya. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

To read more, go here. 

For Relaxing Times, Make It Suntory Time

Above, a Suntory whiskey advertisement at Shinagawa Station in Tokyo. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

While doing something else, it dawned on me that next year will mark 20 years since the release of the Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson movie, Lost In Translation. 

Filmed in Japan and directed by Sofia Coppola, here's a summary of the film from Rotten Tomatoes:

A lonely, aging movie star named Bob Harris (Bill Murray) and a conflicted newlywed, Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), meet in Tokyo. Bob is there to film a Japanese whiskey commercial; Charlotte is accompanying her celebrity-photographer husband. Strangers in a foreign land, the two find escape, distraction and understanding amidst the bright Tokyo lights after a chance meeting in the quiet lull of the hotel bar. They form a bond that is as unlikely as it is heartfelt and meaningful.

Lost In Translation was released on September 9, 2003.

It is interesting that many people don't "get" the movie, yet it scored a 95% on the Tomatometer and 85% Audience Score at Rotten Tomatoes.

I enjoyed the movie after seeing it two years after my first visit to Japan in 2001 and before my second with G-TOUR in 2004. In fact, some of the locations used in the movie were visited by G-TOUR. I enjoyed seeing the sights and sounds of Japan as well as the soundtrack. 

Since next year marks 20 years since the movie's release, I guess I'll have more to say about it then.

Why the photo of a Suntory whiskey advertisement at top? The Bill Murray character was in Japan to make commercials for Suntory Whiskey with the catch line, "For relaxing times, make it Suntory time!"

"No Time To Die" [Some Spoilers]

Above, Lea Seydoux and Daniel Craig in No Time To Die. Eon Productions.

Just a little while ago, I got home from seeing No Time To Die and then having dinner at the El Rancho Hotel in Gallup. 

Russell Azbill and I went to the 1:30 screening at the Red Rock 10 Theaters.

First off, do not drink a lot of fluids before going into the movie auditorium for it is a longer than usual Bond movie and you may have need to pee during the movie. It is about about 2 3/4 hours long.

As for the movie, it is the best James Bond movie since Skyfall (not that Spectre was bad),

I was disappointed that Bond's assistant Paloma (Ana de Armas) in Cuba had such little screen time. She's gorgeous. I was pleased to see the return of Lea Seydoux from Spectre. Not only does she return, she also has a four-year-old daughter (you can guess the rest).

The synopsis of the plot is as follows (from Rotten Tomatoes):

James Bond is enjoying a tranquil life in Jamaica after leaving active service. However, his peace is short-lived as his old CIA friend, Felix Leiter, shows up and asks for help. The mission to rescue a kidnapped scientist turns out to be far more treacherous than expected, leading Bond on the trail of a mysterious villain who's armed with a dangerous new technology.

There's a lot of action throughout the movie, which is what Bond fans have come to expect. The villain Safin (Rami Malek) has to be the creepiest Bond villain ever. The melody of "We Have All The Time In The World" from On Her Majesty's Secret Service plays in the movie and Louis Armstrong's version plays during the end credits. 

Former James Bond George Lazenby (On Her Majesty's Secret Service) posted on Facebook September 28:

Since it wasn't feasible for me to be in London for the World premiere I got to see the new Bond here in LA. Interesting choices of music I must say

I was hoping to see the movie dedicated to Sean Connery, but it didn't happen (even though the movie was completed before Connery's death, they still could have tacked it on). They didn't do one for Roger Moore either.

As this is Daniel Craig's last outing as James Bond, the shocking ending makes perfect sense. If you want to avoid a major spoiler, you can stop reading here. 

Major Spoiler Follows

At the end, he signals M to have missiles launched against Safin's island headquarters to destroy the biological poisons that are stockpiled there. Bond, wounded from his last encounter with Safin, cannot get off the island and is engulfed in the explosions from the missiles. It appears that James Bond was killed in the conflagration (rather Flemingesque).

However, the usual, "James Bond Will Return" pops up after the end credits. 

The likely scenario for the next movie will be that Bond, barely alive, is found and is hospitalized. When the bandages wrapped around his face are removed, the new James Bond will be revealed. We shall see.

My grade: A. 👍👍👍👍👍

Bull-Ridin' Movies

A few months ago, I ordered My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys (1991) starring Scott Glenn, Kate Capshaw, Ben Johnson, Gary Busey and Tess Harper.

From Wikipedia:

Scott Glenn is H.D., a champion bull rider whose career is ruined after being gored by a bull. He returns to his hometown of Guthrie, Oklahoma to discover things have drastically changed — the family farm has been abandoned, his old girlfriend Jolie (Kate Capshaw) is a now a widowed mother, and his sister Cheryl (Tess Harper) has put his father (Ben Johnson) in a nursing home. H.D. rescues his father from the home and returns him to the ranch. But when H.D. leaves the farm to visit Jolie, his father seeks out Cheryl. Cheryl retaliates by threatening to return her father to the nursing home and sell the ranch. At this point, H.D. takes notice of a rodeo which would give him $100,000 if he can ride four bulls for a total of 32 seconds.

My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys is an entertaining rodeo movie with one of the more interesting actors of our generation, Scott Glenn (it is hard to believe he's now 82). Kate Capshaw was good in this movie (not irritating as she was in the second Indiana Jones movie) and the great Ben Johnson. Gary Busey was good in this as well (I met him 11 years ago and saw him regularly when I worked in Zuma Beach). Clarence Williams III also was in this and he looked the same to me as he did in Mod Squad of the late 1960s. I didn't think much of his acting in that. It seemed that every other sentence he uttered in that show was, "I can dig it" and that's it. Here, he played a lively cop friend of Scott Glenn.

I'd give this movie a A-.

It was dedicated to the memory of bull-riding champion Lane Frost, who was killed two years prior in a freakish accident following a 85-score ride. Lane was to do some stand-in stunt work for this movie, but his death prevented that.

More on Lane Frost.

Yesterday, my order of 8 Seconds (1994) arrived in the mail. It is a biopic of the life and career of Lane Frost.

It stars Luke Perry as Frost, Cynthia Geary as Kellie Kyle Frost, Stephen Baldwin as Tuff Hedeman and Carrie Snodgress as Elsie Frost. It also includes an early appearance of actress Renée Zellweger as Buckle Bunny.

From Wikipedia:

8 Seconds is a 1994 American contemporary Western biographical drama film directed by John G. Avildsen. Its title refers to the length of time a bull rider is required to stay on for a ride to be scored. It stars Luke Perry as American rodeo legend Lane Frost and focuses on his life and career as a bull riding champion. It also features Stephen Baldwin as Tuff Hedeman, and Red Mitchell as Cody Lambert.

The film was completed and premiered shortly after what would have been Frost's 30th birthday, in late 1993.

On Frost's death, Wikipedia posted:

On July 30, 1989, at the Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo in Cheyenne, Wyoming, after completing a successful 85-point ride on a Brahma bull named Takin' Care of Business, Frost dismounted and landed in the dirt. The bull turned and hit him in the back with his horn (although he was not gored), breaking several of his ribs. He initially rose to his feet, waving at Tuff Hedeman for help. As he took a couple of steps, he fell to the ground, causing his heart and lungs to be punctured by the broken ribs. He was rushed to Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was 25 years old. No autopsy was performed. He posthumously finished third in the event.

Seeing bull-riding in New Mexico got me curious about this dangerous sport and prompted me to get these movies. I vaguely remember the death of Lane Frost in 1989. There are videos on YouTube that captured Frost's death.

Oddly, the critics didn't much like 8 Seconds (garnering a 31% score in Rotten Tomatoes), but audiences loved it (garnering a 94% score).

I give it an A-.

Both movies are worth viewing.

Frankenstein Movies

This past week, I watched two Frankenstein movies that my ex-roommate Jessica gave me last Christmas.

Both movies were entertaining and were different takes on the characters. I had never seen these movies before. Until now.

The first one I watched was Victor Frankenstein (2015).

Here's the Rotten Tomatoes summary:

While searching for animal body parts at a London circus, radical scientist Victor Frankenstein (James McAvoy) meets gifted surgeon Igor Strausman (Daniel Radcliffe). Not only does the brilliant doctor offer Strausman his friendship, but also a chance to work with him on groundbreaking research that could change the world forever. When Victor's experiments with life and death go too far, only Igor can bring him back from the brink of madness and save him from his monstrous creation.

The second movie I watched was I, Frankenstein (2014).

Here's the Rotten Tomatoes summary:

Two centuries after Dr. Frankenstein assembles and reanimates his creature, Adam (Aaron Eckhart) is still living. He becomes embroiled in a war between two immortal races: gargoyles, the traditional protectors of mankind, and evil demons. Since Adam is neither human nor demon, gargoyle Queen Leonore (Miranda Otto) and demon Prince Naberius (Bill Nighy) each want him for their own purposes. It is up to Adam to discover his inner humanity and the reason for his continued existence.

Of the two, I enjoyed I, Frankenstein more, but both are worth a viewing. 

Godzilla Being Sabotaged By The Critics?

Above, my Godzilla: King of the Monsters theater ticket. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

It is indeed bizarre to read the negative reviews of Godzilla: King of the Monsters by the critics, while at same time, laud the 2014 Godzilla. Sometimes I wonder if they saw the same movie as I did. 

Although I liked the 2014 Godzilla (I found it more entertaining than Toho's Shin Godzilla), I don't like it as much as Godzilla: King of the Monsters. Back then, I gave Godzilla a B+.

In general, fans like the current entry. At Rotten Tomatoes, fans give it an 86% audience score, while the critics are giving it 40%. Over at various message boards, quite a number of fans are telling others to "ignore the critics". This smells of "critic sabotage" to me.

According to the BBC, the negativity is being blamed for Godzilla: King of the Monsters "disappointing" box office results. One has to remember that it is up against some stiff competition such as Aladdin.

They wrote:

After some pretty punishing reviews, Godzilla – and his monstrous cohorts Rodan, Ghidorah and Mothra – have fallen short of expectations at the US box office. 

The latest in the 'MonsterVerse' from Legendary Pictures, Godzilla: King of the Monsters, has made $49 million (£38.7 million) across more than 4000 screens in the US, which doesn't bode brilliantly for a movie that's cost around $200 million to make. 

For perspective, the previous movies in the series, Godzilla and Kong: Skull Island, did notably better on their opening weekends, launching to $93 million (£73 million) and $61 million (£48 million) respectively. 

Though things brightened slightly worldwide, with a total haul of $179 million (£141 million), but industry outlets like Variety are already calling it a 'fading franchise'.

It will be interesting to see if Godzilla: King of the Monsters picks up more business through word-of-mouth in the coming days and weeks or has enough "staying power" to maintain steady box office business.

To read more of the BBC article, go here.

"El Dorado"

"I'm paid to risk my neck. I'll decide where and when I'll do it. This isn't it."

Three weeks ago, I ordered two John Wayne/Howard Hawks westerns, Rio Bravo and El Dorado at the same time.

Rio Bravo arrived about a week after ordering it. El Dorado arrived last Saturday, but I only picked it up from the post office yesterday. I watched it last night.

Many say that El Dorado is a remake of Rio Bravo. Well there's a lot of similarities, but I wouldn't call it a remake.

It had been years (decades, actually) since I last viewed El Dorado, so it was almost like watching a new movie. I was thoroughly entertained by it. Wayne and co-star Robert Mitchum had a good buddy chemistry. Wayne looked good in this movie. It was produced in late-1965, but not released until almost two years later. It was made after Wayne's lung cancer surgery. He dropped some pounds during that time. He made The Sons of Katie Elder earlier that same year, immediately following his surgery, and looked haggard in it.

A young James Caan was also a co-star and his role was more comedic. It is hard to believe that he's the same actor who played Santino "Sonny" Corleone in The Godfather six years later.

Jim Davis (Jock Ewing in television's Dallas) was hardly recognizable with a big mustache. Mitchum's brother John played a bartender. John Mitchum is probably best known as detective Frank DiGeorgio in the first three Dirty Harry movies.

Michele Carey, who played hottie Joey MacDonald, recently passed away at 75.

The paintings used during the opening credits were done by Olaf Wieghorst, who also had a bit part as a gunsmith.

Rotten Tomatoes gave El Dorado a 100% positive rating.

Laurel and Hardy Stuff

Above, "The Music Box" stairs in 1985. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

The movie, Stan & Ollie, about the 1953 British tour by Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, is now out in theaters. I am waiting for it to play in Gallup so I can go see it.

Rotten Tomatoes has given the movie a 90% positive rating.

Back in 1983 and 1985, I went on tours of Laurel and Hardy locations with the Way Out West Tent of the Sons of the Desert fan organization (named for two of their movies), which included "The Music Box" stairs and their graves.

Here are some photos I took of their gravesites and of T. Marvin Hatley, the composer of "The Cookoo Song" (Laurel and Hardy's theme):

Above, Oliver Hardy's grave at Valhalla Cemetery in North Hollywood. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, the Sons of the Desert plaque honoring Oliver Hardy at Valhalla Cemetery. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, Stan Laurel's grave and Sons of the Desert plaque at Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Above, T. Marvin Hatley in 1985. Photo by Armand Vaquer.