3DD!3

It’s Christmas again and John McClane is waiting for his wife to arrive at Dulles International Airport in Washington. I know no better way of spending this stifling summer afternoon (12 July 2006, temp. 90°F in the shade) than in the company of John McClane and a band of terrorists capable of any atrocity. Bruce Willis is simply flawless as McClane and 16 years later he’s just as cool as ever. Renny Harlin handles action and suspense perfectly and lots of déjà vu lines like: "Just once, I'd like a regular, normal Christmas. Eggnog, a fuckin' Christmas tree, a little turkey..." They pleasantly lighten the mood of Die Hard 2. Too bad that they don’t make movies like this any more.

The first half hour follows the Quentin movie template to the letter. Perfect dialogs and flawless black humor. "If it’s not too much trouble, could I possibly borrow your ice bucket? I promise I’ll bring it right back." The second part is more reminiscent of Rodriguez’s Desperado - fast moving, action and a massacre in the bar. The turning point between these incongruous halves comes in the form of the “devilish dance performed by the gorgeous and wonderful Salma Hayek (Quentin just has a knack at arranging these things ;-). Maybe it is this incongruousness of the two halves that stopped me from giving this movie a full five stars. Although I found this difference less disruptive when watching for a second time. Maybe third time round I will work up to five stars. Cheech Marin is certainly worth a mention for playing three roles in this one movie: the border guard, the MC of the Titty Twister and Carlos.

So at last I got round to watching Judge Dredd. And I must say that it’s a gem. It really isn’t every day that you can see something like that. The plastic costume and Sly’s angular skull with that droopy lip protruding from the helmet. Sylvester Stallone as Joseph Dredd is just the coolest guy on Earth. Non-stop wisecracks. He shoots first, asks questions later. He serves the law loyally. He’s principled... Superb. The story more or less makes sense, and in terms of special effects, this movie is unique. The actors meet all possible expectations and the director made this blindfolded. Despite all of the absurdity, it’s great fun. The epitome of a Guilty Pleasure. Four is maybe too many stars, but I am still reeling in shock from what I just saw. ;-)

Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland and James Garner prove that they aren’t yet ready for the scrap yard. Great acting performances and perfect humor carry you through the movie without a moment for boredom. Of course, Clint proves that he is still cool and the camera (which he himself was directing) focused on him the most, although I much preferred the character Hawk, played by Tommy Lee Jones.

Uh? What on earth can I say? This time Luc Besson seriously deserves a medal. Because The Transporter 2 is so utterly full of clichés or complete craziness that you just have to say to yourself: what the fuck?! Examples: Frank Martin peels off a bomb from the underside of an Audi using a crane - while driving. Frank Martin jumps from building to building like Batman, in a car. And the episode with the jet at the end is just totally kick-ass. You just sit there and gawp. The two stars that it earned from me were for Jason Statham and the perfect black Lamborghini that didn’t even survive the whole movie. Sniff ;-)... Second time round it was much more fun. I had a really good time. Maybe in time I’ll raise it to 3*. ;-)

This is certainly the weakest episode in the Mad Max series. It lacks the amazing car chases and the story is rather fragmentary. But still, the beginning when Max arrives in Bartertown is pretty well done and the final action sequence with the train is also quite impressive. And at the end, we get to take a look at Sydney. Slightly above mediocre.

In 1994, Roland Emmerich struck gold when he let a military unit walk through a portal of rippling water into a distant galaxy to a desert planet ruled by the Sun god, Ra. But Ra wasn’t a god, but an alien who subjugated the people into worshipping him as a god. The scouts, led by Col. O'Neill, stood on the side of the subjugated people and fought against the false god. Three years later, following on the success of the movie, a TV series was created that developed on the huge potential of the idea of traveling through time using a stargate, celebrating even greater success than the original movie. But back to the movie. The story is truly good and the special effects excellent for the time. The acting performances are nothing earth-shattering, but they suffice, Kurt Russel still in form and James Spade as Daniel Jackson is pleasantly madcap, but at the same time clever and mainly he’s a “good guy" :-). It took a long time to decide how many stars to give. Originally I put **** and I was considering leaving it at that, but I would be lying to myself, so *****

A classic. A gang of gunslingers who arrive in a small village to protect the peasants there. One of the few westerns that I really like. Great actors, flawless music and an atmosphere that gets right under your skin. A really well-made remake of Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai that perhaps became even better-known than the original.

An excellent short from Pixar that I first had the good luck to see before Monsters, Inc. Super animation as always, marvelous music and disarming birds with the power to make even the biggest grump in the movie theater laugh. Excellent. Keep up the good work, boys. 100%

Easygoing and unpretentious Sunday afternoon fun for the whole family. Michael Jordan plays Michael Jordan really well and you can tell that the role was tailor made for him. :-)