21 - Police Academy 4: Citizens On Patrol

Connection To THE QUICK AND THE DEAD - Sharon Stone

I really love the Police Academy movies, these are the words I feel I need to start with, this is not any confessional - I am proud of it, I had them all on VHS back in the day (except the last one which hadn't been made yet), they all must have got watched plenty of times - I always insisted on going to bed at a certain time (strange kid I know) where I would a video, very little of them where actually "kid" movies (though some where) and they would often be comedies such as Scrooged, Spaceballs - stuff like that, stuff that had adult jokes, Police Academy since there was 6 of them, where the kings. I think 2 and 6 where probably my least favourite then, so it was a battle between Miami Beach and the other 3 movies that where admittedly pretty similar.

I think 4 was my favourite though if I had to pick, though it stuck to the formula that already established, I think I enjoyed the mix of the pre-established characters and some of the new faces (Mrs. Feldman, House etc.) and thus it's probably still my favourite of the bunch.

1,3 and 4 basically go like this - new recruits put through, wacky hi-jinks ensure, criminals who wasn't a threat for the rest of the movie became a threat and everybody bands together at the end to defeat them. 1 dealt with the original recruits like Mahoney, Hightower and Jones, whilst the 3rd (Back In Training) had them original recruits be instructors against a rival academy (the city can only keep one open), whilst deals with real citizens in the C.O.P. (Citizens On Patrol) initiative, but let's face it these differences are only there to make the films just a little bit different.

Most of the old favourites get a chance to shine from Zed (Bobcat Goldthwait) to Lassard (George Gaynes), but some are close to just being there and I'm thinking the filmmakers just didn't want them left out. I always liked Steve Guttenberg in these movie, he seems to get a lot of flack but he's a very likable presence.

Harris (G.W. Bailey) is back replacing Art Mertano as Mauser, which for some reason was said because he had an accident that left him in a wheelchair for life (which is true) but that didn't happen until 1989 - who replaced him in the 2nd and 3rd, he's even inherited his lackey Proctor (Lance Kinsey) with zero explanation, I guess they didn't need to explain it since it's there job to be the antagonist. I think I prefer Harris of the two, I just preferred his performance and his comeuppance always seemed more satisfactory.

David Spade makes his debut and he's shockingly with the wise-cracks as a skateboarder saved from jail by Mahoney who gets him into the C.O.P. program, Spade's double for the skateboarding scenes is none other then Tony Hawk while Sharon Stone plays the girl-of-the-week (if this was a TV show) for Mahoney, who is a reporter covering the project, another noticeble face for me Corinne Bohrer as a recruit and Zed's love interest is a very pretty lady and remember her in a short-lived sit-com around the early 90s it might have been called Free Spirit something like, I think she was a witch in that, anyway I digress she also later played Veronica's mother on Veronica Mars.

The random funniest scene for me is Lassard is talking about the C.O.P program and forgetting what it stands for and Zed next to him saying Citizens On Patrol in gritted teeth and then Lassard repeating it in gritted teeth, don't know why that still makes me laugh to this day.

Of these new faces only House would appear in the next movie (and that's it) - which would mark no more Mahoney, as well as Zed and Sweetchuck, Billie Bird (Mrs. Feldman) would appear in the sixth movie but is playing a different character for some reason.

Overall I just like it I can still watch this now (like the other films) and get so much enjoyment out of me, if you hate the Police Academy movies as a rule though I can't see this changing your mind.

20 - The Quick and The Dead

Connection To NIGHTMARES - Lance Henriksen

After watching Nightmares it was supposed to lead onto Maximum Overdrive, per the Emilio Estevez connection, and You Tube had it on ready and all planned but in the meantime it was took off which as taught me a lesson not to plan too far ahead and just take it has it comes, there is a list of stuff I have saved with possible connections but I think that has taught me not to stay so close to that.

Anyway I digress, so that brings me up to the second western in as many days - Sam Raimi's 1995 The Quick and The Dead. This is the first time I've seen it since the 90's (when I was a teenager) and you know what I really bloody enjoyed this.

I was a would-be filmmaker at one point and this is the sort of western I would have come up with if I had the chance, I mean that more not about the plot or anything but it's certainly a western influenced by the western film rather then historical if this sentence makes sense.

The motive of Sharon Stone's character is straight out of Once Upon A Time In The West and that of Harmonica (the reveal scenes are very similar) but even though she is the de-facto star it feels more like an ensemble piece ( 2 of the co-stars Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio where not a-list yet) and it sort of feels like characters inspired from other westerns all mixed together and see if it works - which it does.

Gene Hackman is the bastard bad guy, who holds an annual dueling competition likely in some points to get rid of potential rivals and to show the townsfolk who fear him how dangerous he is, he as the old Freudian excuse which works in showing how much of a cold bastard he is.

The two main support are the future stars - Crowe and DiCaprio -this was Crowe's first US movie (and wouldn't be embarrassing like what was coming up soon for him - Virtiousity) and DiCaprio had the success already of an Oscar Nom for Gilbert Grape and some other well received films both are great in their roles, Crowe as the Reverend who was once part of Hackman's gang forced into the competition and DiCaprio as the Kid, cocky and the son of Hackman.

There's also some cool supporting players such as Keith David and Lance Henriksen, who both have their moments and considering how many duels are in this movie, none of them are ever boring, one even including a cool shot shown from the back of a bullet going right through a head.

Overall a fun western, I don't know if purest will dislike it but for me it was really well done with great characters and performances and it never has a dull moment.