tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5190627334056603500.post6179492501042247005..comments2023-10-19T05:36:56.844-07:00Comments on "Let's Not Talk About Movies": The ExpendablesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5190627334056603500.post-78213980056073611762010-09-07T08:30:19.686-07:002010-09-07T08:30:19.686-07:00Don't worry, Mike. Deep down, I know that we&...Don't worry, Mike. Deep down, I know that we're debating the quality of turds, and we should be on to better things. But, the discussion helps to clarify arguments of mine that needed clarification (because...of COURSE...I think I'm right!)<br /><br />The "acceptable" reason to give "Salt" a lesser rating is that it sets up its situation in a way that is completely artificial to story-logic for the benefit of audience hood-winkery. It's like the guy wrote the interrogation scene only, and then said..."I'll figure it out when I sell it."<br /><br />It's been out long enough that I think I can toss out some spoilerage (doesn't salt PREVENT spoilage?—but I digress) Guy who says he's a Russian spy walks into CIA headquarters, says there's a plot to assassinate the Russian premiere by a secret cell of Russian agentry—put aside Russian agents killing the Russian premiere, as that one is the least of our worries.(!) Salt goes in to interrogate him, gives him a ration of shit...then the guy says "The assassin is named Evelyn Salt." To which, Salt looks at him and says..."MY name is Evelyn Salt." "Then you're the Russian agent.." he says.<br /><br />Interesting scene...if it wasn't all TRUE! If she was a secret Sov' agent (in the middle of CIA headquarters, btw...and of, course, she's the ONLY one..) why would this guy then reveal...the PLOT...the AGENT carrying it out...and his own ROLE as the leader of the group...STILL operating it the U.S.?<br /><br />Then, of course, she carries out the plot...without carrying out the plot...to find her husband, that manages to fool the CIA, but not the team of doctors who declared the premiere legally dead...That's some CIA we got there...<br /><br />Then, it becomes a chase movie with revenge elements, in which she basically blows away her old allies because they killed her husband, except of course for the OTHER Russian agent hiding in plain sight, who started this whole plot rolling in the first place. It makes no sense. Is mind-numbingly illogical. And Noyce's directing is far less interesting than his Clancy/Newfront/Dead Calm days. I'm surprised he even took this job with this bone-head script. I think Noyce has made some great movies...This is garbage, and I wasn't impressed by the fights, although they were directed by the 2nd unit guy did the "Casino Royale" fights.<br /><br />"Salt" LOOKED smart, but it was SO dumb. Another case of Hollywood hucksterism. LNTAM no like."Yojimbo_5"https://www.blogger.com/profile/12791996320278381516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5190627334056603500.post-52772029498869777982010-09-06T20:33:00.454-07:002010-09-06T20:33:00.454-07:00Ah Yojimbi let's agree to disagree and remain ...Ah Yojimbi let's agree to disagree and remain friends ;) because I know, deep down, this is a pretty bad movie. Although you maybe get a pass on this one, there is still no acceptable reason for you to have given Salt a lesser rating than The A-Team, but that's another story.The Taxi Driverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04352371911592068643noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5190627334056603500.post-69047642202224278002010-09-06T11:42:18.516-07:002010-09-06T11:42:18.516-07:00Chris, I am, indeed, not a manly man, but I do lik...Chris, I am, indeed, not a manly man, but I do like me some good red meat in an action film—I just want it to have all the muscles controlled by a brain-stem! "The Expendables" is such a lame (and, dare I say, limp) film the likes of which I haven't seen since Cannon Films stopped making movies.<br /><br />And Mike, in all seriousness (for once), I never called fans of Arnold morons (although I did say the direction of "The A-Team" treated its audience like morons). I just can't imagine anyone on pins and needles waiting for him to get back into making movies, certainly not after his pre-politics out-put ("End of Days?" "Eraser?").<br /><br />I did, indeed, note that it was Statham, himself, in the nose of that plane in those two shots of the strafing run on the dock. Kudo's to him—Statham's pretty good in the movie, actually, and at least he was given more cred than Jet Li, who was treated like a rag-doll and comedy relief throughout the film.<br /><br />But I, at least, found "The A-Team" "entertaining," and frequently clever, far more than the eye-rolling melodrama, and jock-joshing that was stuffed into the sausage-casing that was "The Expendables." I was brutal in my review of this film because I genuinely hold it in contempt. I've enjoyed films with most of these people, certainly, but this one was for the easy buck, with an emphasis of shucksterism in the presentation and promotion...so many tough guys, so little time...that I found dishonest, and with the intention of deceiving folks out of their hard-earned money...and here, at LNTAM, where I emphasize value along with creative artifice, that sort of crap deserves to be kicked to the curb, and kicked until you hear the last gurgle. Which I did, hopefully entertainingly—I, at least, made the guys I saw it with laugh."Yojimbo_5"https://www.blogger.com/profile/12791996320278381516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5190627334056603500.post-90659152712473269862010-09-05T10:28:05.930-07:002010-09-05T10:28:05.930-07:00Yojimbo, the comment isn't fair because, despi...Yojimbo, the comment isn't fair because, despite it being in good humour, you stereotype all of Arnold's fans as being, basically morons, but of course, my response was in good humour as well.<br /><br />You can't tell me that, purely from a technical standpoint, the A-Team was better made than this. Nothing in the A-Team was visible, the shots cut away right as big action was happening and the fights were filmed so close and cut so fast that fists were connects but who belonged to them and what they connected with was impossible to tell.<br /><br />However, when the camera films behind Statham when he's in the plane and you can see with perfect clarity all the terrain he is flying over, well that's exciting. Never once during the chase with Jet Li in the back of the truck can you not tell what is going on and the scene is cut to the momentum of the action.<br /><br />They are both bad movies. A-Team is just a little more unwatchable.The Taxi Driverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04352371911592068643noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5190627334056603500.post-38269541742968523572010-09-05T07:07:50.147-07:002010-09-05T07:07:50.147-07:00Films that are marketed as being for manly men who...Films that are marketed as being for manly men who like manly things annoy me. Because they're usually rubbish. And if you don't like them you're not manly enough.<br /><br />Um, I haven't seen this though. That may have been an unrelated rant.Chris David Richardshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02042114431864864898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5190627334056603500.post-92107717447071307112010-09-05T01:09:18.849-07:002010-09-05T01:09:18.849-07:00"However I think your above comment isn't..."However I think your above comment isn't fair."<br /><br />I've never understood why someone would think that anything anyone writes isn't "fair."<br /><br />Again, you must be condemned to a repeated viewing of "The A-Team," for to say that it is worse than this puerile, horribly executed garbage is...no other way to say it...wrong.<br /><br />Schwarzenegger was, indeed, very good at picking roles within his range...which was limited...and directors had to go so far as to manipulate the muscles of his face (this was Ivan Reitman) in order to get the proper expression out of him. Oy. It appeared to me that in his whole performance in "The Expendables", he was limping."Yojimbo_5"https://www.blogger.com/profile/12791996320278381516noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5190627334056603500.post-47027017987924316762010-09-04T21:25:57.952-07:002010-09-04T21:25:57.952-07:00"I'm sure there's SOME-one out there,..."I'm sure there's SOME-one out there, outside of a day-care or the Democratic Party, that's been hoping for Schwarzenegger's screen return, but I think that may be a side-effect of extensive steroid use."<br /><br />Although I didn't like this movie either, I didn't hate it as much as you and would certainly take it over the A-Team any day, which was, in terms of execution, a hell of a lot sloppier (I'll never let this one go with you ;)). However I think your above comment isn't fair. I wish we did have Arnold back because, after he stopped taking himself so seriously in action movies he actually became a quite likable screen presence and a lot of his movies, if not great, are at least very entertaining for that very reason. He knew how to pick roles that didn't exceed his range although, was it just me, or did he kind of look like he was limping when he walked out?The Taxi Driverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04352371911592068643noreply@blogger.com