Year of 100 Films: 28 – The Equaliser

Another recommendation from the MIGHTY Rosie was this 2014 adaptation of the TV show The Equaliser.

This film had strong cast centred around Denzel Washington (as former covert operative Robert McCall) and included Chloe Grace Moritz, Marton Csokas, David Harbour, David Meunier, Johnny Skourtis, Vladimir Kulich, Melissa Leo and briefly Bill Pullman.

Plot: Widower Robert McCall has left his former life behind and is living a small life, working in a US version of B&Q in Chicago. He’s kind to his neighbours, helpful with his colleagues in work and since he can’t sleep is a regular at an open all hours cafe near his home, where he often is found reading a book. One of the other regulars is call girl called ‘Teri’ who is working for the russian mob, when she is badly beat up, Robert wants to help and offers to buy her contract for just under $10,000. This amount seems to be all of the money he has, when that negotiation descends into the threat of immediate violence, we learn what Robert used to do. In under a minute all of the people in the room with him (about 4 or 5) are dead. When the russian syndicate they worked for investigate it starts a chain of events that leads to a war between a criminal gang and a guy who sells tools and lumber, when the criminals start targeting people close to Robert, it’s kill, or be killed.

Notes: I always enjoy the sub-genre of action films that boil down to “you don’t know who you just messed with”. They are often fast paced and get going almost immediately and this film ….. didn’t. There’s tons of set up as we see a grieving man battling OCD trying to live a life without the person who made that worthwhile for him. He’s reading the books that she wanted to read and tries to be a good man. The build up to the action scenes are paced incredible well and nothing feels rushed. When the film turns, it seems to happen just at the right time and as a result the impact of the visceral fight scenes is greater. It plays with ideas of redemption, or second chances and also with our own natures. It’s an understated performance added to decent enough action and this was overall a very satisfying action film that came as a wonderful surprise. 9/10

Year of 100 Films: 29 – Top Gun: Maverick

It’s hard to imagine that watching Top Gun, just days before wasn’t building towards watching this, a sequel to a film, seemingly made for nostalgic reasons. Knowing a few people who had seen it, I asked for opinions and the one I got most often was “it’s actually good”. This wasn’t encouraging, but all three of us wanted to give it a go, so we sought it out. It was released in 2022, directed by Joseph Kosinki and had a cast of Jennifer Connelly, Miles Teller, Jon Hamm, Bashir Salahuddin, Charles Parnell, Monica Barbaro, Jay Ellis, Glen Powell and reprising their roles Val Kilmer as Admiral Tom ‘Iceman’ Kazinsky and Tom Cruise as Captain Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell.

Plot: Many years after the events of the movie and his heyday, Pete Mitchell is a test pilot, never really promoted above Captain, he is a pilot who refuses to be anything other than a pilot, when his test plane project is shut down in favour of drones, he steals the plane and does the test successfully, only to crash the bird once he as always pushes to hard. Rather than be kicked out as he probably should be, he’s brought in to teach a new generation of combat pilots how to pull of a mission to prevent a airbase being completed and destabilising Europe. It doesn’t go well as Maverick isn’t a teacher and the pilots are as full of themselves as he was. Back at the old airbase, he finds himself at a local bar with an old flame running it and she doesn’t have time for him, nor do his COs at the base. On top of all that is one of the pilots, Rooster, being the son of Goose who blames him not only for his father’s death, but tanking his chances to join the Navy years earlier.

Now he has to prove himself as a pilot, as a teacher and a man and he’s not doing well at any of them. The final problem is that he looks like he’s the best person to lead this mission, which does not have good odds of survival for the pilots. Now looking like the last of an old breed of pilots, can he win the girl, make peace with the son of Goose and mourn the loss of his friend and often saviour, Iceman.

Notes: I don’t know who was asking for this film. It looks entirely set up as a nostalgia-fest, much like the Ghostbusters film from a couple of years ago. But honestly it did seem to have something to say. Maverick was the hot shot up and comer, but now a generation has gone by and he’s the old guard. He still has the stuff, but he’s out of place in a Navy that’s relying less on people and more on tech and he’s an analogue hero in a digital world. He has to deal with all the mistakes he has made and all the missed opportunities. Whilst we do have a whole bunch of new pilots and co-pilots (Phoenix, Fanboy, Bob and Hangman along with others) really this is about Pete Mitchell’s midlife crisis and quest for relevance. Of course he’s the only man who can do the mission, or course he’s going to go back for the man he left behind and of course he’ll win the day because of who he is and despite it, but this film does showcase that there’s a cost to this. Maverick has been the hotshot rebel\ who plays by his own rules, but that’s cost him advancement, kept at the rank of captain, whilst his top gun rival was a fleet admiral. He’s given his life to the Navy, costing him more than one chance to be happy. He tried to spare his best friend’s son from dying like his father, only to create resentment between them.

This film raises questions, but doesn’t really go out of it’s way to answer any of them, it raises them around the plot and lets you carry them on. In a world that’s become more mechanised and digitalised, is there still a place for a more old fashioned and seat of their pants hero? If not, should we make one? Do we need heroes like that still?

I was not keen to watch this, feeling that Cruise is somewhat over-rated and many of his films are formulaic and lack substance, this is a sequel to one of those, but it is deeper than that and overall a really satisfying watch. It’s worth checking out and my saying that was quite a surprise. 8/10

Year of 100 Films: 30 – Jason and the Argonauts

This 1963 bank holiday perennial was directed by Don Chaffey and had a cast which included Todd Armstrong, Nancy Kovack, Gary Raymond, Laurence Naismith, Niall McGinnis, Honor Blackman, Jack Gwillim, Douglas Wilmer, Nigel Green, Bill Gudgeon and a pre-Doctor Who Patrick Troughton.

Plot: After his family is murdered by a treasonous usurper, Jason lives in exile, but returns to take his kingdom back from King Pelias. Jason is convinced by Pelias (without knowing that’s who he is) to go and retrieve the Golden Fleece, on an island at the end of the known world. He helps him get a ship builder to build him a ship as well as a crew of the greatest heroes of the time (including Heracles, going by the roman name of Hercules) and they set off with Acastus working as a double agent.

On Olympus, Hera takes interest in Jason’s plight and wants to help, Zeus plays against her and they each take turns putting aid and obstacles in their way. They travel to an island guarded by the metal man Talos, then another where harpies torment a starving man. They travel through treacherous rocks and recover Medea, the last survivor of a ship from the island they are heading too. There are betrayals and violence as Jason and his men face the Hydra to get the fleece and then an army of skeleton warriors to escape the island and return to claim his throne.

Notes: This is another bank holiday film, weirdly not one we watched on a bank holiday. This was a sort of companion piece to Clash of the Titans, despite the only thing they both had in common was that both of them had a special effects department that was one guy called Ray. The actors aren’t the stars, the story isn’t the star, the star is the effects by Ray Harryhausen. From the Hydra, to Talos and the skeleton warriors, these effects while dated, had an abundance of charm. It added value to a film that would have little to recommend it. With my son being currently obsessed with Greek Myth, it was an easy win and am glad he enjoyed it. Overall it’s a bank holiday classic for a reason and it’ll come out again am sure. 6/10

Year of 100 Films: 31 – Top Gun

Though not his first film, this 1986 Tony Scott film can be considered the film that turned Tom Cruise into a superstar. It has an iconic status in 1980’s films and has been joked about and lampooned so often, but I don’t actually remember the film itself, so I fixed that. The cast is quite a murderer’s row with Tom Cruise, Anthony Edwards, Meg Ryan, Tom Skerritt, Tim Robbins, Michael Ironside, James Tolkan, Kelly McGillis and Val Kilmer.

Plot: After a crisis in a plane costs a pilot his career, second place pilot Pete ‘Maverick’ Mitchell and his co-pilot Nick ‘Goose’ Bradshaw are given the chance to join the US Navy’s advanced training course, known colloquially as Top Gun. Cocky and abrasive, Maverick doesn’t fit in around the rest of the pilots, especially his main rival ‘Iceman’. Maverick meets Charlie, a government specialist working with the Navy and the two begin an affair. There’s then a visit from Goose’s wife and son. Part way through the training there is an accident, Maverick is able to get out of the cockpit, but Goose hits the canopy and dies before he hits the water. This takes Maverick out of the game for a while, losing the race to be #1 at Top Gun. This takes a back seat in importance as a mission comes up, this class must work together and get the job done.

Notes: There’s a routine by the comedian Rich Hall about the plot of many Tom Cruise films and the formulaic nature of them. This is kind of the start of that. We get the talented hero, the fall from grace, the love of a good woman and the return to greatness and victory. But that said, this isn’t bad. Is it a bit jingoistic? Yes. Is it a bit homoerotic? Just a touch, but this is better than you expected it is. The film hinges on the relationship between Mav & Goose and in that, it works wonderfully. Edwards and Cruise sell the idea of best friends, despite being in very different points in their lives. When Goose dies, the film finds it’s pathos and you’re in it for the rest of the film. The film is beautifully shot, the aerial sequences are gorgeous and it has a blockbuster feel to it, it’s a film that’s so known, it gets overlooked and I’m glad that I finally got to it and would recommend it to everyone.

Is it a bit thin plot wise? Yes. Characterisation is very low level, but it fits with the time it was made, its gung-ho action and well made gung-ho action and despite it’s flaws, it is worth trying. 7/10

Year of 100 Films: 32 – The Princess Bride

This 1987 bank holiday classic, directed by Rob Reiner was released in 1987 and had a massive cast which included (deep breath) Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Andre the Giant, Wallace Shawn, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Mel Smith, Carol Kane, Billy Crystal and in the framing sequence Peter Falk and Fred Savage and a fantastic scene with Peter Cook.

Plot: A boy is sick, his grandfather arrives to read a book to the boy that has become a family tradition when someone is sick. The story is a medieval tale of a woman called Buttercup, who having fallen in love with a stable boy, watches him leave so he can earn his fortune and come back and marry her. He is killed by the Dread Pirate Roberts and so years later, she finds herself betrothed to Prince Humperdink. Days before her wedding, she is kidnapped by a trio of criminals, scheming Vizzini, the gigantic Fessick and vengeful swordsman Inigo Montoya. They are followed by a masked man, later identified as the Dread Pirate Roberts, who bests each of them, killing Vizzini, in order to save the princess. She then learns that Roberts is actually her stable boy Wesley. We then have betrayals, kidnappings, giant rats, torture, wizards and long awaited revenge as we head for a happy ever after.

Notes: This is a perfect film. Action sequences are fun and exciting, enough romance to make it a love story, but still poking fun at it and dialogue that’s equally funny and quotable. “Mawwidge”, “Have fun storming the castle.” “I’m not a witch, I’m your wife!” and obviously “Hallo! My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die!” If you know this film, no more than that needs saying, if you haven’t, you need to, it’s a film that feels like a bank holiday Monday when you were a kid and that’s always worth a try. I genuinely love this film and watch it at least once per year. 10/10

Year of 100 Films: 33 – We’re the Millers

This was a recommendation by the MIGHTY Rosie based on her watching it on a weekend away.

This 2013 comedy was directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber and had a stellar comedy cast including Jason Sudekis, Jennifer Anniston, Emma Roberts, Will Poulter, Ed Helms, Kathryn Hanh, Nick Offerman and Mollie Quinn.

Plot: David Clark is a relatively low level drug dealer. He lives near neighbours Rose (a stripper) and Kenny (a neglected teenage boy) and he is very much happy to keep them all at arm’s length. After he is robbed after trying to help homeless/couch surfing teen Casey, he is in severe debt to international drug smuggler/deal Brad Gurdlinger. To clear this debt and get a big pay day, he offers Dave a job, drive to Mexico and smuggle back some cannabis. After an interaction with tourists in an RV/Campervan, Dave comes up with the idea to pose as a family, hiring Rose as a mother and Casey and Kenny being their kids.

They have to get in and out of Mexico and back home, facing rival cartels, law enforcement and the almost familial bickering to get his payday, but lets say there are several incidents of shenanigans and fiascos between them and home.

Notes: I haven’t seen a really funny film since the Hangover trilogy. Humour in film and TV has changed and I’m not always a fan, so I had low expectations of this and… I was happily wrong. From the start I was giggling, but the mid-point I had been laughing harder than I had in weeks and by the end, it was painful how I had been laughing. It reminded me of the best way of doing comedy, be very clever, writing about dumb things. We have slapstick, bawdy french farce and lots of witty rat-a-tat dialogue. This used lots of different kinds of funny to make the whole film hang together. I often pick an actor who either excelled, or surprised me, but not here because everyone is firing on all cylinders. This is a silly film, but honestly it brightened up and afternoon. 8/10

Year of 100 Films: 34 – Highlander

This bit of 80’s nostalgia was directed by Russell Mulcahy and had an a strong cast including Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Clancy Brown, Sheila Gish, Roxanne Hart, Hugh Quarsie, Jon Piloto, Beattie Edney and Alan North.

Plot: In 1536, Connor MacLeod of the Clan MacLeod is killed in battle with a rival clan by a strange warrior known as the Kurgan. Connor doesn’t die, he is cast out by his family and friends. By 1985 he hasn’t aged a day and battles a man with a sword under Madison Square Garden in New York. Back in the 16th century, MacLeod is met by Juan Sanchez Villa-lobos Ramirez, a metallurgist to the Spanish royal court and like MacLeod, an immortal. In a training montage, Ramirez breaks down the rules. They cannot age, or be ill, nor have children. They can be killed, by decapitation and they are doing so to gain a prize. One day, they will meet far away and battle one another for this prize. They are safe on holy ground, but in the end, there can be only one. Connor and his love Heather take Ramirez in and one day while Connor is away, the Kurgan returns, kills Ramirez and rapes Heather. Connor returns and Heather keeps this from him and they two live together, till Heather dies of old age. Then taking Ramirez’s katana, leaves Scotland and travels the world. During World War II, he meets a little girl called Rachel, who stays with him. Eventually he’s in New York and the immortals are gathering. Finally it’s between the Highlander (MacLeod) and the Kurgan to battle for the prize, just as MacLeod is falling for Brenda Wyatt, an expert in swords who learns his secret and puts herself in the middle of this final battle.

Notes: This is a great concept for a film, but it’s execution struggles with just a couple of weird things about it. Despite the basis of the film being about sword fighting, the sword fighting you see is a little basic, also in a film set in medieval scotland, the one part you get the most scottish of actors to play is a spaniard? Bold choice. Yes the accents wobble here and there and then over here again. But the thing is, it also works, Lambert’s accent wanders, but after 400 years, it would, he has a mix of world weary irritation and deep sadness. He plays this against Clancy Brown, who was relatively new to this level of film, but chews the scenery to an epic extent, clearly having all the fun in this film. Then you pour a Queen soundtrack all over it and it’s just all kinds of fun and games. Are there some missed opportunities? Yes. It is a deeply flawed film? Also yes, but it’s fun and I got to share it with my boy. This was a satisfying bit of weekend fun and was glad to watch it again 7/10.

Year of 100 Films: 35 – Blade

This Stephen Norrington film was released in 1998 and helped pave the way for the breakout films X-Men and Spider-Man. More than any other film before those two, this helped kick off the superhero film explosion we’re still experiencing over 25 years later.

Written by David S Goyer, this adaptation of a relatively obscure side character from Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan’s 1970’s Tomb of Dracula, Blade had an impressive cast with Kris Kristofferson, N’Bushe Wright, Udo Kier, Donal Logue, Stephen Dorff, Arly Jover, Tim Guinee, Sanaa Lathan and in the title role Wesley Snipes.

Plot: Doctor Karen Jensen, a haematologist, is dragged inadvertently after being bitten into a covert war, on one side a society of well hidden and connected vampire houses, lead by pure blood slow aging vampires (Hominus Nocturna) and those younger ones who were bitten and infected with vampirism. The purebloods led by Dragonetti preferring to hide in the shadows and survive are challenged by a more militant and hedonistic tribe led by Deacon Frost. On the other side is Whistler, an old man who survived the brutal massacre of his family and seeks revenge, the other side of that team is Blade, a vampire/human hybrid with regular aging and ability to walk in the daylight. Blade struggles against the thirst for blood that all vampires share and battles the rest of the vampires to reclaim the life he took from them. Frost has found information that could unearth La Magra, the blood god, who could change the whole world and put vampires on top and the rest of the world on the menu. Blade and Karen have to try and put a stop to Frost’s plan to embody La Magra, before his thirst and her becoming a vampire take that chance away from them,

Notes: It’s hard to think that this film is 26 years old at time of writing. Blade was not a character many people thought of, so liberties were taken with the character as on the page, gone was the disco sensibilities and wooden knives and turn of phrase, new was the all leather look, silver weapons and enhanced strength. Comics soon took this, admittedly better, version to it’s heart and you can thank this film for improving that character there as well. So with a blank slate, what you could do was play it as you wanted and see where that took you. The film has a generational quality, the old and stuffy purebloods and Whistler, dying of cancer on one side and Blade and Frost representing a new wave. Rather than gothic and subtle, Frost’s vampires are hedonists and ravers, clearly enjoying their power and preying on the sheep like and oblivious human beings. This film made vampires cool, but Blade was cooler. Snipes owns the screen all decked out in leather, silver and taciturn comments. Blade says little but his actions do a lot of talking.

The plot is paper thin and lacks any kind of nuance, the characterisation is slight, somewhere between a wisp of silk and a trick of the light, but action? Yeah that works. With the heavy bass dance music, flashy fight scenes and explosive action, this film recognises it’s a silly action movie and owns it, then revels in it. It’s fun and frenetic in places and never outstays it’s welcome. Is it corny? Yes. Is it outlandish and video-gamey? Once again that’s a yes, but with the last couple of attempts by Marvel (Howard the Duck and Captain “Rubber-Ears” America) it was proof that you can do super hero movies and make them fun. 8/10

Year of 100 Films: 36 – A Few Good Men

This 1992 legal drama was written by Aaron Sorkin, directed by Rob Reiner and had a textbook all star cast of stars and solid character actors including Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, Cuba Gooding Jnr, Kevin Pollack, JT Walsh, Noah Wylie, Christopher Guest, Xander Berkley, J A Preston, Wolfgang Bodison, James Marshall and Michael DeLorenzo.

Plot: Guantanamo base in Cuba, a US marine Lance Corporal and a Private First Class, Hal Dawson and Lauden Downy perform a corrective punishment on another Private, Willy Santiago. It goes badly and Santiago dies. The marines surrender and a court martial is arranged. The defence assigned in Daniel Caffee, a junior naval officer in the JAG corps, who is a relaxed lawyer just treading water in the Navy after a promise to his dead father, he’s an expert in plea bargaining and without a single bit of information recommends a guilty plea and a deal of 6 years, this infuriates Lt Comm. Jo Anne Galloway who is his co-council along with Sam Weinberg. Caffee works out that he’s been assigned to get this done quietly so to help the career of the Gitmo marine’s CO Colonel Nathan Jessop who along with his subordinates want to keep the details of all this in house. Caffee bucks his own tradition and pleads not guilty and this becomes a tense legal drama with two marines who have admitted guilt and an inexperienced lawyer up against an experienced prosecutor unwittingly following an agenda and if Caffee fails, the marines could lose their freedom, or their very lives.

Notes: This is a veritable who’s who of a-list stars at one time or another, future stars of film and TV and quality character actors even if you discount the leads Cruise and Nicholson. There’s two films here, one is everything up to the final scene, which has a mixture of clever dialogue, twists and drama and believe me, that’s good stuff. But then at the end there’s the final confrontation and if you don’t know, then I won’t ruin it, but most likely you do and nothing else needs saying. Cruise exudes charm and plays off the earnest Demi Moore really well, without it completely devolving into the usual romantic subplot crap you expect. Everyone does well with a tight script with Wolfgang Blodison a surprise as the buttoned down Dawson who is prepared to face what he has done and cannot conceive of the idea that he could get out of it. But we’re all here to see Nicholson, playing another loveable/unlikeable character who forces your attention to him whenever he’s on screen. He’s arch as hell, but in the way you know he can pull off and despite how stage the last scene is, creates a performance that stays with you.

I love this film and honestly it’s damn near perfect, this is a 9/10 film that is almost a comfort watch at this point.

Year of 100 Films: 37 – Serenity

This 2005 film written and directed by Joss Whedon and was a follow up to his cult TV show Firefly. It’s cast included Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Ron Glass,  Adam Baldwin, Jewel Staite, Sean Maher, Morena Baccarin, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Summer Glau.

Plot: 2517 and in a star system colonised by a humanity too numerous for each flies the crew of the firefly class ship Serenity are on the ragged edge. Veterans of the losing side of a civil war Capt Mal Reynolds and Zoe live with longtime accomplices hired muscle Jayne Cobb, pilot Wash and mechanic Kaylee and work any job they can. From smuggling to robbery and salvage. Along the way they gain Simon and River Tam, a rich doctor from a rich world and his sister are on the run from the government that tortured an experimented on her. After many failed attempts to retrieve her, the Alliance Parliament have sent a operative to retrieve her, this calm and well spoken gentleman has no name, no official identity and no qualms about doing anything and everything to get the job done.

Mal and his crew have to evade this operative, canabalistic Reavers and the Alliance military to learn what secret has been driving River further insane and then take this secret and reveal it to everyone.

Notes: Okay before I start, there have been several allegations made my several people about the writer/director. Predatory behaviour, misogyny and harassment are wrong and if this guy made a film now, not sure I’d be too interested in seeing it, but I first saw this and bought this long before this came to light and so I am going to try and separate art from artist. So what we’re left with is a bit of an insider movie. It’s clearly made for fans of the TV Show Firefly and serves to put a cap on it and give a degree of closure for the gone too soon show.

We have action a plenty, quip filled dialogue and a warning about giving in to authority, because they’ll go too far and that belief is a reason to do good things as well as justification to do evil. Our hero is flawed and complex and shoots unarmed people 3 times in the space of 2 hours and yet, you’re still very much on his side. Fillion takes the centre stage and is having fun with it. Everyone else is on good form and Ejiofor is chilling as the polite and friendly monster who comforts a man as he kills him. The make up effects are great and we finally see the near mythical Reavers from the series. It’s all of the Whedon-tropes on display, the evil being very evil, the monsters being metaphor like, the heroes being flawed and conflicted men or formidable women who kick just as much ass. I was struck by the end both how I’d want more of this, but honestly it was a loving farewell to the best underdog ship in the ‘verse and I was happy to watch it again and share it with my boy. This is not perfect, but it’s a 9 out of 10 film and I doubt you can change my mind on this.