Air Force One starring Harrison Ford, Glenn Close and Gary Oldman

Posted on May 23, 2010 Written by ripitup

Air Force One starring Harrison Ford, Gary Oldman and Glenn Close. Image from http://www.kotiposti.net/

With the collaboration of Russia and USA, a tyrant leader is captured and put the jail. This is seen as a triumph by both countries. However US President James Marshall (Harrison Ford) is skeptical. He is determined to favor humanity over politics and save more people the next time.

It is time for the President to go home on Air Force 1. The plane has The First Lady (Wendy Crewson), the president’s daughter, important administrative staff, his press secretary, bodyguards and a Russian-speaking (led by Gary Oldman) group who is supposed to make an interview with the President and the staff. The plane safely takes off. However unknown to the passengers, there is a traitor on the staff and with his help, the Russian group prove that they are something else all together. They hijack the plane, threatening to kill the hostages. Their demand? The release of the tyrant. The Vice President (Glenn Close) does her best to control the situation. The President can leave in his escape pod and jump off to safety or he can stay to fight for the hostages and the family. While it seems like mission impossible, the president will do his best to use his “General” skills, his intelligence and well…adrenaline…

This movie was fun. Pure, unsaturated action/thriller. So what if Harrison Ford will save the world once again? He does it well and we expect him to. Our Han Solo/Indiana Jones/ Jack Ryan sure has the guts and the experience to pull it off.

If there were any major flaws, I didn’t notice. I was too busy having fun. I liked the fact that all the terrorists spoke in Russian between themselves. It added authencity. While some might argue that we get another heroic President with the perfect family life gets to save the world, along with a little help from his friends (Independence Day, Bill Pullman also comes to mind), it is not like the screenplay writer hasn’t rubbed the viewers’ noses in America’s political sins. Movies like this tend to portray a perfect politician: honest, determined, family-oriented, loving and humane. He also comes with a fondness for football and a good sense of humor. I like this type of fictional politicians because let’s face it, movies are the only places we are going to see this politician. So enjoy his character, root for him and well…let the action begin. I guess I don’t really need to mention that Glen Close and Gary Oldman are good as always. I am yet to encounter a role that they sold and I didn’t buy.

Reasons to see the movie:

– The Cast: Harrison Ford, Glenn Close, Gary Oldman, William H. Macy

– The Concept and The Genre: It is so cool to imagine how it would be to fly in that nuclear-war resistant, ultimately gorgeous plane. And action on a plane is a concept I do enjoy.This one is truly well done. It had 2 Oscar nominations: Best Sound and Best Editing.

– The script is good.

Made in 1997. Directed by Wolfgang Petersen (Outbreak, The Perfect Storm, Troy). Written by Andrew W. Marlowe.

6.3 on IMDB. 7 for the art, 9 for the entertainment from me.

Favorite Villain Quote:

– Egor Korshunov (Gary Oldman)- to the First Lady: In a war, people die.

– First Lady: This isn’t war! You just murdered an unarmed woman!

– Egor Korshunov: You who murdered a hundred thousand Iraqis to save a nickel on a gallon of gas are going to lecture me on the rules of war? DON’T!!!!

Six Days Seven Nights starring Harrison Ford and Anne Heche

Firewall starring Harrison Ford and Paul Bettany

Gary Oldman Tribute

The Scarlet Letter starring Gary Oldman and Demi Moore

Lestat, Dracula and Other Vampires featuring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Gerard Butler, Stuart Townsend and More

Posted on November 4, 2009 Written by ripitup

Vampires are mesmerizing beings. They’re labeled the undead, since technically they are neither dead nor alive. They mostly have a great sense of style and just are hot. Of course there is the whole ick factor of blood-sucking and all, but overall, they bring charisma, charm, lust and seduction to the screen. Many actors have taken on roles as vampires either in TV shows or movies, but right now this is a movies blog so we are going to go strictly film on this one. Now of course it is impossible to cover them all, so I am going to mention some of the most remarkable ones and if you disagree or think I’ve left some important ones out, well- please share 🙂

1) Interview with the Vampire (Based on the novel by Anne Rice)

Tom Cruise as Lestat in Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire

The first Vampire I met on screen was Anne Rice’s Lestat, portrayed by the skilled Tom Cruise:

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGkBMe3j-Sk [/pro-player]

Now, the trouble with Tom Cruise’s portrayal of Lestat- probably it has to do with the script, I haven’t read the novel, so I wouldn’t know how Anne Rice meant him to be- he brings humor to the story. Lestat isn’t scary. Oh sure, Brad Pitt’s Louis was rightfully scared when Lestat was sucking the life out of him, but Tom Cruise with blond hair and terribly white skin does not equal something of a cold, Scandinavian or in our case a vampiric beauty. Tom is good with jet black, short or a little longish hair like he has in Mission Impossible 2 or Jerry Maguire. Well, I hadn’t initially found Tom’s look funny, I just thought he wasn’t exactly scary or desirable. But here’s what happens: He picks Brad Pitt as his life partner. I have no objections as in picking a guy like Brad to spend eternity with, let’s face Lestat could do a lot worse. But, need I remind you Lestat is a male undead? Sure, a vampire is a sexual being and he could be as gay or as bi as he damn pleases. But a male vampire (Tom Cruise) siring another guy (Brad Pitt) is not exactly a girl’s fantasy. Well, it is not mine anyway. You haven’t picked up on the vibe? Watch closely. Lestat adds a little girl played by Kirsten Dunst to the group and she keeps acting like a total brat. So Lestat gets pissed and threatens her with bringing home a sister. Dad Tom, Mommy Brad – and kid Dunst. One small, weird vampire family. Well, it didn’t hurt that the movie also features Antonio Banderas as a Vampire with beautiful long hair. But mind you, Banderas’ Armand is not nearly as destructively gorgeous as his El Mariachi in Desperado. There’s something wrong with the vampires in this movie. They are pretty. But they are not sexy.

Brad Pitt in Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire — Brad Pitt as Louis in Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire

Antonio Banderas as Armand in Interview with the Vampire

Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt and Kirsten Dunst in Interview with the Vampire

2) BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA

Gary Oldman as Dracula in Bram Stoker's Dracula

Now Dracula is the ultimate myth, legend, fantasy. Dracula is the most famous Vampire of all times. Many versions have been written since Bram Stoker’s and many actors have played him. And this one with Gary Oldman is sort of fun. The cast is great. It has Winona Ryder as Dracula’s love/lust interest, Keanu Reeves as her fiancee and Anthony Hopkins as Van Helsing. The problem is Dracula seems much too much like a cartoon character. The movie was directed by Francis Ford Coppola ,however it more feels like a Tim Burton movie. And I think I would have liked it more if it had been a Tim Burton movie and with Johnny Depp as the Dracula. Gary Oldman is a fantastic actor but this movie is listed as a horror romance whereas the way it has been shot and acted out as a parody. Or maybe it just feels that way because it was short in 1992 and the effects aren’t that good. There is also a very superficial on my part that Dracula is very ugly for the most of the time. You saw the picture above, right?

3) DRACULA 2000

Gerard Butler as Dracula in Dracula 2000

trailer:

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oprkYnHObk [/pro-player]

Now, this Dracula is fun. It is not scary or that much exciting, but it is fun. After all, we have young women being trapped,seduced, fed on by Dracula. And Dracula is Gerard Butler. Now, we shouldn’t have any lack of masculinity or charisma issues, right? But there’s something off about this particular vampire. He is supposed to be the perfect seducer. And fine, sure he looks a lot better than most of the people you would meet in a bar- but I am not sure I would have recognized Gerard Butler, had I not known he was in it. This clean- shaven face makes him look too young- and he is kinda young himself- and too innocent. However I was checking out stuff with Dracula 2000 and I came upon his audition, where he looks utterly different. He has long hair, a beard and he looks like he could be the perfect Pirate of the Caribbean- minus Jack Sparrow’s a little eccentric behavior. I am posting the link, but I will put an image just to give you the picture. Butler appears in this video very similar to his image in Attila. And below is how he was in Attila.

Gerard Butler as Attila in Attila. But of course he is not playing a historical hero in the audition- he is darker,much darker- And I think this look could serve him better as a vampire.

Enjoy Gerard’s Dracula audition:

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk3syqGaPN8&feature=PlayList&p=8981B582471B3361&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=31[/pro-player]

4) QUEEN OF THE DAMNED

Stuart Townsend as Lestat in Queen of the Damned

video from the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kz1HcYmlBq4&feature=related

I think Stuart Townsend makes the perfect Lestat. Of course I’m biased, not because I’m a great fan of Stuart – I became fan after this movie, but because this movie captures the goth and rock spirit that comes with the vampire territory. Here when Lestat wakes up, he also sort of takes a hard rock band under his wing and becomes their singer. The whole world falls in love with this vampire and his music. Rockstars have tons of groupies and many front men are considered as sex symbols. They have added the dark side and the allure of the vampiric quality and bingo! You have a vampire movie with a really cool soundtrack and a vampire that can really seduce. It is not highly rated but I believe this movie to be very underrated. If you like Vampires and hard rock, you will enjoy this movie.

P.S: I’m not including Twilight because I have already done a number of posts on Twilight and Edward Cullen.

If you want stuff on the Twilight movies and cast:

Twilight Saga and The Rest of The Cullen Family

New Moon Dissected

Pattinson vs.. Lautner

Robert Pattinson isn’t vain. He is British!

Pattinson vs. Edward Cullen: The Cute Robert Pattinson, The Beautiful Edward Cullen

Twilight Movie Review: Twilight Mania

Matthew McConaughey : Wanna see him act? I have the movie for you…

Posted on August 15, 2009 Written by ripitup

It is sad to admit that Matthew McConaughey is probably the symbol of anti-diversity (I’m not even sure if this is a word but you get the point). I hadn’t even conciously thought about it until I saw a funny blog post about his romantic comedies, the latest being Ghosts of Girlfriends Past. The post was about how all his movies and their posters were alike. Although romantic comedies might follow a certain formula, they follow (almost) different routes on how characters get to be together in the end. The similarity of the posters, though, make me laugh. You can check out the link below:

http://www.cracked.com/blog/matthew-mcconaugheys-next-10-movies/

However, I am not sure I would go that far to thrash the guy. Because frankly, his name does attract me to a romantic comedy. It is not that I’m expecting much, but I like his presence. Yes, it feels like he is playing the same character a lot. And yes, he doesn’t change his appearance either- (a part from the awful haircut he wore in Ghosts of Girlfriends Past- and that straight cut made him look old and kind of unattractive) . But if you don’t think he can act and/or he is just a pretty face, go see A Time to Kill. It is a John Grisham adaptation; and it is a beautiful movie. And trust me, Grisham is my favorite author and I hate the movies that don’t do his work justice. But it is a powerful movie, and Matthew is brilliant there. I’ll get back to this movie shortly.

The post I gave the link of above, also thrashes Kate Hudson. A friend of mine had the same complaint about her: that she can’t act; that she plays the same character in the same lousy way over and over again. But then again, how many ways are there to play similar, two-dimensional characters? Maybe, they really find the paychecks too nice to turn down the roles. Maybe they love the work that doesn’t challenge them. Or maybe they are simply not offered scripts that help them bring out their potential. Remember, Hudson had been nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for her role in Almost Famous. Hollywood is a tricky place to be in. I never see anyone doubting Gary Oldman’s talent. Yet even he has complained that he is hardly offered scripts that he loves.

And as for romantic comedies, why shouldn’t we have them? Where there is demand, there has to be supply. Economics 101, guys! Of course not all the examples of the genre are good. But they help you escape real life problems and it is nice to watch lives that are easily sorted out for a change.

Now, if you want to see Matthew act; and act him well at a good drama at that:

636_atimetokill

Plot: Mississippi,1990s. Two rednecks rape a 10 year-old, African American girl. They are arrested but there is a chance they might not get a life sentence or even get away with it. The father loses it, and kills the men on the trial day. Now the father is the defendant. He is defended by his white lawyer friend Jake (McConaughey). You are with the father all the way. The thing so powerful about the story is, it feels so real. It kicks you in the gut. Because John Grisham based it on a real life case. You see, Grisham himself is a lawyer. One day at court, he is hearing in on a similar case- a little girl has been raped. John is a father too, so he puts himself in the father’s shoes, not being able to help it. And he thinks that he would want to shoot them down- and he probably would try. The story is gripping. Yet Grisham added another conflict by making the criminals white, and the victims Black; adding inevitable racism issues. The fact that the man’s lawyer also has a family- a wife and a little girl- and they get threatened by racist groups does not make things easier…Oh and of course the morality issues. Is it OK to take matters into your own hands? Hell, it is easy to give a lecture on what is right or wrong unless it is personal.

Go see A Time to Kill. You have seen the cast on the poster: Sandra Bullock (Jake’s assistant), Samuel L. Jackson (the father), Matthew McConaughey, Kevin Spacey ( as the District Attorney) and Ashley Judd (as Jake’s wife). And let’s keep our fingers crossed that Matthew acts in more movies like this…

The Scarlet Letter starring Demi Moore & Gary Oldman: When Adultery Is OK, part 3

Posted on July 7, 2009 Written by ripitup

The Scarlet letter (1995)

Starring Demi Moore, Gary Oldman, Robert Duvall

BEWARE OF SPOILERS!!!!

The letter is A, it stands for adultery/adulteress. It’s the 1660s and Demi Moore gets branded. Why? Oh,right- the story…

She is married to Robert Duvall’s character, who is a physician and a weird man who has sent his wife to one of the new colonies so that she could set a home before he arrives. Weird, right? In a time where women are hardly ever considered capable or to have the right to the anything without their husbands- she arrives alone. Her modern& forthright attitude is not very welcome. Even weirder, the narrator of the movie is Demi Moore (Hester)’s daughter- who will be born later- and keeps referring to Duvall’s character as Hester’s husband…

Then as Hester settles and proves herself capable of living as she likes despite others’ opinions, she meets a beautiful man by the name of Arthur (Gary Oldman).

Oh yes, with his costume of the era, long hair, beard and lovely& cute attitude, Gary Oldman is a beautiful man.They both share a passion for reading. His personality? Just as perfect. He is a priest, very modern and visionary, friendly with Indians,a pacifist and a romantic at heart. He is disappointed to find out that Hester is married. Still, their encounters continue and they realize they have not only respect & admiration for one another but a strong attraction, and deep feelings. Arthur is the one who practices self-control after he confesses his love. After all, he is a priest in love with a married woman and in 1660s, they could be “hanged for this”. So they avoid each other for a while. Then they receive news that her husband was killed in an Indians attack. When Arthur visits Hester’s home to give her the news, she is not exactly grief-stricken. She is anxious to know when it will be publicly acceptable for them to be seen together in public.

But people are bigots mostly and they live by strange rules they have set. Arthur very sadly announces that they have to wait for 7 years. Demi Moore is so disappointed with the news. But it takes them just a few seconds to engage into a passionate kiss- and then later on, into a great love-making.

Arthur and Hester, no longer to keep all those emotions in

I was so glad that they didn’t try to wait for such a ridiculous period of time. After all, there are very few things that are as natural and beautiful than two people- madly in love with each other-having sex. But of course it is not what the society thinks. And to make matters more complicated, Demi Moore gets pregnant. When people find out, they send her to jail. There aren’t exactly laws for this, but then they feel like they should punish a woman who bears a child who is not from her husband. Arthur is shocked and upset that she is treated like that so he wants to confess. But if he does confess, they will let her go but hang him.So there is no way Hester is going to risk his life. She forbids him to talk… So she gives birth in jail and Arthur can only see the child as the “Reverend”. The fact that her husband has survived makes everything even worse. He is determined to make her life hell- he accuses her and her friends of witchcraft. He also finds out Arthur is the father…

So Hester refuses to let go of her principles, to endanger Arthur… She gets branded with A, so the whole town is against her, apart from her friends whose lives are in danger…Arthur is torn between doing what’s right, what’s right for Hester…

And eventually when the town decided to hang Hester and the other women, Arthur just takes his stand, and tells them all..That he is the father of the child.That he loves her. That he is her husband in god’s eyes. He proposes they hang him instead. But when you think this might be another tragic ending, the Indians come to rescue…

It is just such a perfect, amazing love story. You root for the characters from the start. They are so humane, lovely, passionate and idealistic. Their love is real and knows no limits. I love every scene and moment from this film.

If your husband is a jerk, and you have married him against your will and meet such a great guy, it can’t be called adultery. It is just the kind of love a lot of us seek and yet seem to find only in movies…

Buy The Scarlet Letter on amazon.com

When Adultery is OK, Part 1: Revenge starring Kevin Costner & Madeleine Stowe

When Adultery is OK, Part 2: The English Patient starring Ralph F?nnes & Kristin Scott Thomas

Easy A starring Emma Stone (full of Scarlet Letter references)

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