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“Taken” An Exciting Thriller
Feb 4th
An Exciting Thriller
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
TAKEN is a nonstop action thriller that does its job very well, but its job is just to make you enjoy it while watching and then forget about it after it’s over.
In other words, it has no lasting value other than what appears on-screen for 91 minutes.
Liam Neeson plays Bryan Mills, who is divorced, who has a 17-year-old daughter, and who gave up his career in order to live close to his daughter in Los Angeles.
What was his career? Well, we aren’t told explicitly, but it kept him away from his daughter, Kim, while she was growing up, and he was probably an agent for the C.I.A.
However, what he tells Kim is, “I was a preventer. I prevented bad things from happening.”
And, Boy, does he ever! With all the gadgets and know-how he needs to prove it!
Bryan reluctantly agrees to let Kim go to Paris with her friend, Amanda, but only if Kim will follow all the rules he lays down for her.
And, sure enough, their very first day in Paris, Kim and Amanda are kidnaped out of the apartment they are staying in, which causes Bryan to leap into action and show his stuff.
Through his expertise and contacts, Bryan figures out that he has only 96 hours to rescue Kim or else he will never find her, and so Bryan is off to Paris.
Right at the Paris airport, there is a good chase with a fantastic ending. Then that night at a construction site, there is a big shoot-out and escape. No, there is not quite an escape. Wait, yes, there is.
Bryan knows lots of tricks, and the action is very good.
No, it is outstanding!
Bryan proves to be one ruthless, hard-nosed “preventer,” but the movie might remind you of the 1988 FRANTIC, starring Harrison Ford and directed by Roman Polanski, only this one has more testosterone.
The action is nonstop and is just chase after chase after chase with no depth, but only horizontal action.
Then there is a coda at the end which wraps everything up in a nice, heartwarming bow.
TAKEN should be taken with a grain of salt–no, a spoonful–no, a cup– no, a pound of salt, and then you can enjoy it for what it is, an exciting thriller.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
“Gran Torino” Beyond Self-Parody
Jan 28th
Beyond Self-Parody
“Hotshots” looks at a movie!
GRAN TORINO is the latest film directed by Clint Eastwood, he also stars in it, and he has said that it might be his final acting job.
That would be a shame, because it doesn’t represent his best acting work, nor does it show his best directing, either.
Clint plays Walt Kowalski, and the film opens at the church ceremony for the funeral of his wife, Dorothy. Walt is clearly uncomfortable, and he also makes it obvious that he doesn’t approve of the way his teenage granddaughter dresses and acts.
However, one of his sons says something to the other one that gives us an insight into Walt. He says, “There’s nothing anyone can do that won’t disappoint the Old Man.”
Walt is retired, after having worked for the Ford Motor Co. for 50 years, and his prize possession is a 1972 Gran Torino, which he tells people he even helped assemble. He doesn’t drive it, but keeps it clean and pristine in his garage.
I don’t believe that it is a coincidence that 1972 was also the year that DIRTY HARRY was released, and later we will see Walt use some mannerisms that an old, retired Dirty Harry Callahan might use.
Walt lives in the same Detroit neighborhood that he and Dorothy always lived in, only now it is almost unrecognizable with the influx of immigrants.
A family of Hmong people live in the house next door, and Walt reluctantly gets to know them better.
One night he catches their teenage son, Thao, trying to steal the Gran Torino out of Walt’s garage, which was to be the initiation requirement for Thao to get into the gang his cousin runs with.
When the gang tries to take off with Thao, Walt points his rifle at them and actually says, “Get off my lawn!”
However, Thao was being forced to join the gang, and when Walt prevents it, Thao’s family bring Walt food and flowers out of appreciation, which Walt doesn’t approve of one bit.
Walt becomes a hero in the neighborhood, and Thao is sent to Walt to work off the debt he now owes Walt.
Whatever humor is in the film is Walt teaching Thao how to be a man like him.
GRAN TORINO has loose directing, poor acting, not very good writing, and sinks to beyond self-parody.
I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”
Gran Torino – Movie Trailer
Jan 9th
A racist Korean War veteran living in a crime-ridden Detroit neighborhood is forced to confront his own lingering prejudice when a troubled Hmong teen from his neighborhood attempts to steal his prized Gran Torino. Decades after the Korean War has ended, ageing veteran Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) is still haunted by the horrors he witnessed on the battlefield. The two objects that matter most to Kowalski in life are the classic Gran Torino that represents his happier days working in a Ford assembly plant, and the M-1 rifle that saved his life countless times during combat. When Kowalski’s teenage neighbor (Bee Vang) attempts to steal his Gran Torino as part of a gang initiation rite, the old man manages to catch the aspiring thief at the business end of his well-maintained semi-automatic rifle. Later, due to the pride of the Asian group, the boy is forced to return to Kowalski’s house and perform an act of penance. Despite the fact that Kowalski wants nothing to do with the young troublemaker, he realizes that the quickest way out of the situation is to simply cooperate. In an effort to set the teen on the right path in life and toughen him up, the reluctant vet sets him up with an old crony who now works in construction. In the process, Kowalski discovers that the only way to lay his many painful memories to rest is to finally face his own blinding prejudice head-on.