Growing up in the 70s and 80s, I was of a generation of American kids that was not taught about Vietnam. Sure, some kids had fathers that fought or even died there. Some of our classmates were refugees from the war, who showed up in our elementary school classrooms to start over in a new …
First Blood has to be one of the most distressing movies ever made. Things go badly for John Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) from the very first scene, and it only gets worse from there. After learning that his last living war buddy has succumbed to cancer, Rambo walks to the nearest town for something to eat. …
Sooo, I finally saw Rambo. It was fine. Okay, it wasn’t fine. It wasn’t fine at all. It made me mad. And I know it got decent reviews and was less crappy than anyone dreamed, but Sly TOTALLY missed the mark with this one. It’s the Rocky V of the Rambo saga, and now he …
I don’t recall ever having standards, but at some point in my young life, I must have decided that 96% action and 4% dialogue was a bad ratio for a movie. I remember feeling that Rambo didn’t hold a candle to First Blood, and must have boycotted Rambo III entirely, because when I turned it …
After revisiting First Blood I was chomping at the bit to get my hands on the sequel. You can imagine my horror when I got it home and the tape wouldn’t play. I practically dropped to my knees and shook my fist at the sky, but I took a deep breath, ordered a new copy, …
Someone needs to give Christian Bale a sandwich and some diet counseling. If this guy continues to gain and lose alarming amounts of poundage for movie roles (see also The Machinist), he’s going to have some kidney problems (or worse) coming his way soon enough. I’m just saying. But audiences seem to dig this sort …
Revisiting Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, I found that my response to the film was pretty much the same as my initial impression: It is one part great movie, and one part pretty good movie. I guess how you feel about the film depends on how you feel about Matthew Modine’s performance. As his character …