The Bum’s Rush #15

The Best Stuff – Movies (part two)

Last week I talked about the top five movies I could watch again and again and never get tired of. This week I’m going to run down the movies that almost made the cut.

The Runners Up

The Quiet Man – My favorite John Wayne movie in which The Duke stars as Sean Thornton, a boxer of Irish descent who is attempting to escape the sins of his past. To do so he returns to his native homeland and the old cottage his mother left to him after her death. After arriving in the small town of Innisfree where he was born he meets, and promptly falls head over heals for, Mary Kate Danaher (Maureen O’Hara). The real trouble starts when Mary Kate’s stubborn and greedy brother, ‘Red’ Will Danaher, refuses to let the two marry. Things only get worse (and more hilarious) from there and culminate in a rip-roaring fist fight that stretches from one end of the town to the other, with a quick stop at the pub and plenty of betting along the way.

Superman II – This movie could have easily been in the top five. It could just as easily replaced Superman: The Movie as my number one favorite superhero movie. It improves greatly on several aspects of the original, has some amazing character moments, a great love story and a villain who is, in my humble opinion, one of the greatest screen villains ever. So what is it that relegates Superman II to runner up status? Why, it's none other than the movie’s “director” Richard Lester. After Superman: The Movie debuted to fantastic numbers the producers promptly fired director Richard Donner, who was continually at odds with the producers. Unfortunately this meant that Superman II, which was under production at the same time as the original movie, needed a new director to finish the film. When watching Superman II you can tell that a majority of the work must have been done by Donner himself, and I’ve always believed that the silliest and most outlandish parts of the movie, especially towards the end, stemmed from Lester’s involvement. I would love to see, as I’m sure most fans would, the version of the film, as it would have looked with Donner at the helm all the way.

Aliens – This movie, aside from being one of the greatest sequels ever, is also one of the best action movies ever. It’s a completely different type of film from the original Alien movie, which mostly focused on the horror aspects of a single deadly creature as it worked its way through a ship full of blue collar workers. This movie takes the premise of the original and ups the ante by placing a platoon full of well-trained marines against an army of the most single-minded killing machines in the universe. And considering the hectic scheduling, tight budget and last minute cast and crew replacements it’s not hard to tell that James Cameron was at his best on this film. Memorable characters, eminently quotable dialogue and spectacular scenes of action, heroism and terror make this a movie worth watching again and again.

Die Hard 2 – There’s no action hero I enjoy watching more than Bruce Willis’ John McClane. He’s like Dirty Harry, but dirtier. He puts himself through almost as much punishment as he dishes out on the bad guys. It’s pretty hard for me to nail down which of the three movies I enjoy the most, but for my money (and I know I’m not in the majority here) Die Hard 2 has to be my favorite. It’s bigger, it’s badder and it’s harder than the other two Die Hard movies. The no holds barred action takes place in an airport where terrorists have taken control and are refusing to let planes land until their demands are met. John McClane just happens to be at the same airport to pick up his wife (who is trapped in one of the planes circling the airport) and when he notices some suspicious characters moving about he springs into action. The main bad guys main not quite match up to Alan Rickman and his cronies from the original Die Hard, but their sheer numbers, military training and absolute disregard for plane-loads full of people make them a force to be reckoned with. And man does stuff ever get kicked and ‘splode in this movie. Yippie-ki-yay Mr. Falcon.

Manhunter – Forget Silence of the Lambs. Forget Hannibal. And really and truly forget all about Red Dragon. Manhunter (based on the Thomas Harris novel), directed by Michael Mann, did Hannibal Lecktor first and did him the best. William Petersen (CSI) stars as Will Graham, a profiler on the trail of serial killer Francis Dollarhyde. In order to better understand his prey Graham must turn to another serial killer, one that he brought down years before, Dr. Hannibal Lecktor, for help. In Manhunter Lecktor is portrayed by one of my favorite actors, the brilliant Brian Cox. I personally think that Cox’s portrayal of Lecktor is miles above Anthony Hopkins. Rather than Hopkins’ over the top (especially in the sequels) and somewhat comical portrayal, Cox plays Lecktor cool and calm and much more likeable, which only serves to make him even more disturbing. And Petersen makes for a truly convincing Will Graham, a tortured man who is way too good at his job for his own good. At times you have to wonder how little a push it would take to turn Graham into the very thing he hunts for a living. Add in Tom Noonan’s turn as the truly horrific Francis Dollarhyde and you have not only the best Hannibal Lecktor movie, but also one of the best thrillers you’ll ever see.

Quick Bits

1. Well I tried to spread the word but it happened anyway. My favorite new comic, Breach, has been cancelled and will end with issue 11. Dammit.
2. Peter Berg, who I mentioned a few weeks ago as the director for Bran Mak Morn, has now been named in connection with a movie based on Andy Diggle’s Vertigo comic Losers.
3. After two years Kevin Smith has finished writing the six-issue Spiderman/Black Cat mini. The last issue of the mini-series, number 3, was published in October of 2002. Almost THREE YEARS AGO! Honestly, at this point does anyone even care if the book is finished or not?
4. Some of the biggest talk on the Internet over the last few weeks, as far as comics are concerned, has been the scheduling of Wizard’s Wizard World Atlanta 2006 convention on the same weekend (June 30th through July 2nd) as the 25th HeroesCon. Creators and fans alike have viewed this as an overt and aggressive attack on the part of Wizard to put the HeroesCon out of business. The plan seems to have backfired somewhat as creators and fans have expressed their outrage. Scores of creators, many of whom rarely attend conventions, have pledged to attend the HeroesCon. Likewise, many fans that have never before attended the HeroesCon plan on making their first visit to the show next year. The backlash seems to have gotten Wizard’s attention and the company is now backpedaling as fast as they can insisting that the dates of the Atlanta con are not and have never been set in stone. This despite the fact that handouts were being passed around at the recent San Diego comic convention that announced the new Atlanta con as taking place on those dates.
5. In related news, I cancelled my subscription to the Wizard Magazine on Friday. These sorts of tactics may be accepted as strictly business but that doesn’t mean that we, as fans, have to sit idly by and watch it happen. I’m voting with my dollar.
6. I watched Katsuhiro Otomo’s (Akira) Steamboy this weekend. It might just be the best anime I have ever seen.
7. Nextwave is a new Marvel comic written by Warren Ellis and drawn by Stuart Immomen. I’m kinda looking forward to it. Awful name though.
8. Every trailer I see for Serenity (I’ve seen three so far) makes it look better and better!

NEXT WEEK: Lamenting the loss of Breach and while I’m at it you can bet I’ll probably be getting on my high horse again regarding cancelled comics. And possibly some interesting news from the Wizard World Chicago Con happening this weekend. 

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