I’ll admit it. I am one of the few Americans who is simply not a fan of the original Dumb and Dumber. It just struck me as too damn dumb. It’s not that I did not get a couple laughs out of the film, it’s just that overall I could not get into it, much like I could not get into Napoleon Dynamite. But today, the trailer for its sequel arrived, and I must say that I laughed out loud a couple of times. So here’s to hoping I enjoy the second more than the first.
Years ago, I played Star Wars: Battlefront for the first time, and loved it, although the maps were a bit small. Years later the pinnacle of Star Wars games, Battlefront 2, came out and I was floored. Then came news, there would be no Battlefront 3. Sadness enveloped my heart, yet another in long line of recent Star Wars related disappointments. But then a beacon of hope, EA unveiled a new trailer for Battlefront 3, this one utilizing the incredible DICE engine, and so there was hope again (excuse the pun but, A New Hope). This year they have unveiled a bit more and it looks promising. It seems the 2015 will be the year of Star Wars.
About a month ago I posted an article on why episode VII will be good. I made some good points in the article, but was remiss in mentioning one person: Mark Hamill. The fact is that Mark Hamill is a far better actor now than he was when he was first cast in the original Star Wars trilogy. When Hamill was originally cast, he had some acting experience on television in the form of a sit-com and the soap opera General Hospital. Star Wars was his first major film break, and he was cast in the lead as Luke Skywalker. That’s a lot of pressure on a relatively inexperienced actor, not to mention the fact that George Lucas is not known for his great ability to direct actors. So the performances that we got, while good, were probably not great. Since Return of the Jedi however, Hamill has expanded his acting to Broadway, and most famously to voice over work.
For those of you who do not know what I am referring to, during the nineties and up to today Hamill has provided the voice of the Joker in Batman: The Animated Series and the video games Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. All three are regarded as some of the best incarnations of the Batman mythos ever. Much of that is because of Hamill’s portrayal of the iconic Joker. In fact just recently Hamill gave us a small bit of that increase in acting skill that you can view below.
My point is this, when Hamill entered the Star Wars world he was young and largely inexperienced; he will return to the Star Wars world as an accomplished actor and the audience will reap the benefits.
So, I recently sat down and started watching some of my beloved movies of the past, to see how they have held up over time; now let me point out that this is not to confused with my previous post of movies from my childhood that disillusioned me. The first movie that I will be discussing, it 1990’s classic Navy Seals. I had fond memories of this film as one of the great action films of the 90’s. I was mistaken. First of all, it’s not so much of an original film as it is a blatant rip-off of Top Gun. Let me explain. The movie revolves around a squad of Navy Seals led by Michael Biehn (I’m not even going to bother with his character name), who is a no-nonsense All-American blond haired leader type (much like Iceman from Top Gun). He constantly has to deal with Charlie Sheen’s character, a member of his squad, who is a fun-loving, daredevil, fly by the seat of his pants type of soldier (much like Maverick).
The squad has the obligatory black guy (Dennis Haysbert, AKA the Allstate Insurance guy)- and spoiler alert… he dies first. Keep in mind Top Gun also only had one black guy, as did most movies of the era. Another member the squad is played by Rick Rossovitch who coincidentally played Iceman’s co-pilot in Top Gun. And the love interest in the film was played by Joanne Whalley-Kilmer- That’s right, the wife at the time of Val Kilmer, who played Iceman in Top Gun. The film goes on to emulate the basic plot of Top Gun by having the renegade solider (Sheen) do something risky resulting in the death of one of the team, and then learning that he has to be a team player. Of course the villain is played by the American enemy of the month, in this case a Middle Eastern bearded chap who basically screams “Death to America”. The SEALS come in save the day, and all is made right echoing the ending of Top Gun. To top things off, even the movie score blatantly tries to rip-off Top Gun. All in all, this film is an ultimately formulaic attempt at filmmaking that was apparently made to ride on the coattails of Top Gun‘s success. Below is the trailer for your amusement.
Rating when I was young: 8.5
Rating now: 3.5
Just a quick blurb today. Many of you noticed that I have added a video games section (my third love along with film and television). I came across an article today which I could not have agreed with more. Read it for yourself by clicking on this link. Or for those of you less technologically inclined, simply click on the link below. Let me know what you think.
The Dark Side 