74 - Sin City

Connection To THE FACULTY - director Robert Rodriguez (also actors Elijah Wood and Josh Hartnett) but the director is the one I'm going with.

I thought since this was the year the long awaited Sin City - A Dame To Kill For is released I thought it was worth revisiting a film I really dug when I first saw it back in 2005, I think I've seen it once again in the extended form in 2006 but this is a revisit to the original cinematic cut.

I didn't really talk about the director Robert Rodriguez (co-directing with the comic creator Frank Miller here) on the entry for The Faculty and I mean't too say something on my opinion of him. My opinion on him is that a lot of his films there is something holding them back from being truly great - From Dusk Till Dawn, Desperado, Machete films like that on paper sound a touch better then the execution, these are not bad films, though he's made them as well, I think my genuine opinion is Sin City is the only film that as reached it's potential as far as I am concerned, and that's why I'm excited for it's belated sequel.

I don't read many comic books (or graphic novels) really, but I do enjoy films based on them, from the superhero to stuff like Ghost World I've loved numerous films that have started life there, so I never know how closely something follows to the comic, but Sin City moreso then many more I am under the impression is the closest you'll get to a shot by shot remake of a comic, Rodriguez purposely co-directed with the creator Miller to get this and he stuck to using the comic panels as storyboards.

I enjoy films with multiple stories (though the previous film that Robert Rodriguez did with 3 other directors including Quentin Tarantino who guest directed here - Four Rooms - was a film I didn't think too highly of) because I think said it in the write up to Nightmares that stories don't necessary out stay there welcome, there's really 3 stories here plus bookends featuring Josh Hartnett (who I said I wasn't a big fan of as an actor but this the 4th film I've watched this month with him in).

Firstly, we get the makings of the final story with Bruce Willis, a good cop saving a little girl from a vile rapist who he shoots both the weapons of (his hand with a gun in and his genitals), but he ends up getting framed and put in prison while the girl grows up to be Jessica Alba and the guy he shot - The Big Yellow Bastard (Nick Stahl) though she's a little old for him wants to put a notch on the bad post. In the first full story Mickey Rourke is Marv who wakes up next to a dead hooker (Jaime King) and vows to get revenge for her since she showed him love when nobody else would because of looks (even other hookers) and in the second story Clive Owen faces of with Brittany Murphy's psycho ex-Benicio Del Toro which could end up causing a war between the hookers, the gangsters and the cops.

The all star cast is pretty darn great, the stand outs including Mickey Rourke, who it's weird they said The Wrestler was his big comeback because he was so awesome here, also stands out are creepy as hell we have Elijah Wood and of the female cast - Brittany Murphy... I miss you so much, I had such a soft spot for you starting with Clueless (rollin' with my homies) I just love how she plays her role the way she speaks it, and among others Rosario Dawson also shines and Jessica Alba is pretty darn good as Nancy.

It's probably been said multiple times by people before but it's such a benefit to the movie that it literally looks like a live action comic-book, I loved the colour scheme of the movie, mostly black and white except for flashes of colour including blood, clothing and The BYB. Going back to the actors there was some fun minor roles in there as well.

Overall, while it features an lot of violence that might turn people off but I really liked it, I am really looking forward to the sequel. I was glad to revisit after so long.

47 - Halloween H20: 20 Years Later

Connection To HOLLYWOOD HOMICIDE - Josh Hartnett

Like Jason and Freddy, all the years of sequels of varying qualities it was sometimes hard to remember what made them so iconic in the first place, the Halloween films went from awesome, to a pretty good sequel, then Michael Myers-less, to my opinion, three films that are quite hard to distinguish from each other, I think Halloween H20 (which is not set underwater) was obviously mean't to the series farewell with original (and first sequel) star Jamie Lee Curtis returning as Laurie Strode.

One note that is not really related to my opinion, Total Film, a magazine here in the UK back in 1998 gave the film the full ***** that as stuck in my head (similar to Empire giving Die Hard With A Vengeance the same score), so I think when I first saw it in the same year I had high expectations I remember not disliking it but I know it's not a 5* film, I think it was an example for me at the time of how reviews in magazines you like can already send you prejudging it in hope or negativity.

H20 is set 20 years after the first 2 Halloween films hence the title, it pretty much ignores 4,5,6 (no reason to ignore the 3rd one since it's not related) except for noting that she faked her death which is probably to account from the 4th movie saying she was dead but I'm actually not sure if it was intentional to be honest because why would they ignore everything but that.

So yeah 20 years later, Marion Chambers (Nancy Stephens, who appeared in the first two movies), Dr. Loomis' colleague, returns home to Illinois a few days before Halloween (in 1998) to see there's being a burglar, and she gets neighbour Jimmy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, then best known for being Tommy on 3rd Rock From The Sun - indie cred and film fame hadn't happened yet) searches the house but finds nothing, Mario discovers a medical file is missing the one of Laurie Strode (who remember because of the second movie is noted to be Michael Myers sister) and discovers in fact somebody is still in her house and rushes to Jimmy's where she finds him and a friend dead (Jimmy gets a ice hockey boot in the face) where Michael Myers attacks her and slices her throat.

On Halloween, Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) as tried to get her life back together even faking death and moving to California and changing her name, she's now a headmistress at a boarding school and as a son John (Josh Hartnett) and boyfriend Will (Adam Arkin), the schools guidance counselor, she seems to have everything sorted but the events of 20 years ago still haunt her, and as you expect The Shape shows up again in her life.

Revisiting this movie made me realize the film at times is kind of well average, I mean it was cool there an Halloween sequel with Curtis but there just seemed way too many of that thing from the horror movie bag of tricks - the fake jump scare - after the opening death scenes, there seems to be about a 100 before it gets to Myers at the boarding school,

Curtis is strong in the lead role and it was cool seeing her share the screen with her movie Janet Leigh (obligatory Psycho reference goes here), I liked the idea of her character trying to rebuild her life but the past is just not that easy to escape mentally. Josh Hartnett, which I've noted as someone I'm not a fan particularly plays off well with Curtis, his love interest is placed by Michelle Williams, who like Gordon-Levitt at the time was best known for TV (Dawson's Creek for her) then the film career that would flourish in the years to come who doesn't really show (not pushed to I guess) the acting talent she proved she had, there 2 friends are played by Jodi Lynn O'Keefe and Little Man Tate and are really the only 4 teenagers in it for the films slasher time. There's also LL Cool J, who does a better job then the rapper-turned actor for the next Halloween movie Busta Rhymes mainly because there not a scene of LL doing kung fu on Michael Myers, he plays the schools security guard.

One thing I didn't remember his how short it was coming in at 85 minutes and it does zoom by to be fair - there's some good deaths and it's a step up from the the previous 3 Halloween films and miles in front of Resurrection. The ending was great just a shame it was literally undone in seconds by the film's sequel (the final in the series until Rob Zombie relaunched)

While Scream was indebted to the slasher genre the original Halloween helped launch, this is a Halloween film inspired by Scream's success (Scream's writer Kevin Williamson is a producer here) and it's too me better then Urban Legend and some others where the names completely escape me at the moment.

Overall, despite too many fake jump scares, it's film short running time means it doesn't wear and it's funny seeing Laurie and Michael go toe to toe one last true time. So I'm going with recommended but with faults.

46 - Hollywood Homicide

Connection To AIR FORCE ONE - Harrison Ford

There's always ultimately one of two choices to go with when picking a film as the connection, especially if it's one I haven't seen - do I go for a film that's known to be at least decent or something that's known to be a bit poo-poo (sorry for the harsh language), I think sometimes that decision lies in the last few films I have watched, if there is a lot badness just been then it needs something awesome to remind me why I like film and the bad film sometimes lies in the curiosity of how bad it might be or what it's reputation is in the so-bad it's good field

Hollywood Homicide stars Hollywood legend Harrison Ford (star of some of the awesome-ist films ever) and not Hollywood Legend Josh Hartnett (actually the star of one of my least favourite films of all time - I won't say what it is but I am anxious to revisit it and do it on here) and reading critical ratings for the film it seems to have bad marks but not quite bad enough (the 30% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes seem to suggest some critics liked it - Roger Ebert liked it apparently), all I can say is that I'm prepared to give this film a chance...

For starters, I can't help but think before multiple rewrites there was a much sharper film in there, but that's just a guess maybe it was like this all along - as a film it had fleeting shining moments but ultimately didn't do too much for me. I did like the idea initially of two cops - both moonlighting in different professions, one as a real estate broker (Harrison Ford) and the other a yoga teacher/wannabe actor (Josh Hartnett), and the two are assigned to investigate a night club shooting involving a rap group.

Ford and Hartnett don't have too bad chemistry if I'm honest and there are times the film threatens to take off, but as an action-comedy it's rarely that funny, and the action is... okay, Isaiah Washington and Dwight Yoakam made decent villains though I think they deserved a better movie around them.

Overall, it's not awful it's just most of the time largely uninspired, maybe if they went the approach of biting satire on Hollywood and rap music we could have had something but alas this is all we get.