Demolition Man

Sci-Fi, Vinnie's Personal Favorites 1 Response »
Jul 302010

 

Sylvester Stallone is well known for his action roles from such franchises as Rocky and Rambo, but one of my most favorites was in Demolition Man. Stallone stars as top police officer John Spartan, who has a reputation for blowing up buildings, but not on purpose. Spartan claims that it just happens while doing his job.

“Send a maniac to catch one.” That’s Spartan’s motto when he goes up against the psychotic but comedic Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes). After Spartan gets hoodwinked while apprehending Phoenix, he is sentenced to a cryogenic prison, which keeps him young so he can serve his 70-year sentence. I guess that’s one way to keep the prisoners from misbehaving or attempting suicide.

Thirty-six years later, Los Angeles has changed… a lot, thanks to Governor Raymond Cocktou (Nigel Hawthorne). It may appear more peaceful, but the new laws appear stricter. The funniest is whenever anyone swears, (Beep!) they get a ticket.

As it turns out, Phoenix was also cryogenically frozen. After waking up, he fights his way out and kills anyone who gets in his way. A group of six unarmed officers find him and approach with extreme assertiveness. Like that’s really gonna work against a criminal like Phoenix, especially with the new skills he has with computers and martial arts. How did he get them? That’s the mystery.

The only officer who remains fascinated by the 20th century brutality is Lieutenant Lenina Huxley (Sandra Bullock). It was she who suggests setting Spartan free so he can go after Phoenix and recapture him. I admit that Huxley’s material needs work, but she proves very useful working with Spartan with her knowledge about the 20th century.

The number one radio station in town plays mini show tunes, which are kiddy commercials. It’s hilarious when Huxley sings along with them, which annoys Spartan. Another amazing factor was that all restaurants are “Taco Bell” because it was the only one to survive the franchise wars. Now here’s something unusual. Arnold Schwartzenegger was once president, but this movie was made in the early 90s long before he became governor of California.

The last remaining criminal types, led by Edgar Friendly (Dennis Leary), choose to live underground in order to avoid these strict laws. Unfortunately, it means starving to death and stealing groceries. When Spartan and Huxley join forces with them, the mystery about Phoenix begins to unfold.

Soon Phoenix takes over the cryogenic prison and attempts to unthaw every prisoner there to become part of his personal army. It’s all up to Spartan to stop him. All I can say is, this final battle proves to be both exciting and perilous.

This movie is definitely a sci-fi comedy classic. Yet I don’t see how three seashells have replaced toilet paper. At least Spartan knows an easy way to get some. Just use plenty of bad language.

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Young Hercules

Fantasy Adventure 1 Response »
Jul 282010

I admit that it has been awhile since I posted anything on the Hercules: the Legendary Journeys franchise. Young Hercules (Keep) was based on Hercules’ early years. It’s interesting to see how Hercules (Ian Bohen) grew up to become the hero we all know so well. He went to an academy, where he met Iolaus (Dean O’Gorman) and Jason (Chris Conrad) of the Argonauts. They all trained in combat together by Cheiron (Nathaniel Lees), a wise centaur instructor.

Soon Jason finds out that his father is dying. In order to save him, Jason, Hercules, and Iolaus gather a team together and head off on a quest to find the Golden Fleece.

There were a few different cartoon shows that had an episode with the Golden Fleece as part of the story line. It wasn’t until I saw this movie when I finally understood the actual story behind it. The Golden Fleece is a magic ram skin that can heal anyone by being wrapped in it. Now that’s amazing.

On their way over, the wicked goddess Discord (Meighan Desmond), as a siren, lures Hercules and his friends onto an island, which by the way is a terrific idea as part of a story about sea travel as well as the cliché of struggling through a bad storm.

It becomes more exciting later on when Hercules and Ares (Kevin Smith) battle it out in a stick fight over fire, much like what Hercules was trained to do, only with fancier moves. It was incredible.

This movie was only the beginning. Shortly afterward, Young Hercules was a TV series, which starred Ryan Gosling instead of Ian Bohen as the lead. Unfortunately, it only lasted from 1998-1999.

I think this version was just as well made as Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. After seeing this film, I have a different outlook on that series. I’ll tell ya, it’s definitely been a long road Hercules has been on as a hero.

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Weird Al Yankovic Concert 2010

Celebrities 2 Responses »
Jul 262010

On the night of July 21st 2010, Weird Al Yankovic came to Orlando and performed a concert at the “Hard Rock Cafe” at Universal Studios City Walk. It’s been awhile since I last went to one of his concerts, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I got a T-shirt and some trading cards there. Good thing my sister and I arrived early.

These are only a few from a set of 50.

Weird Al opened with a polka medley with songs from Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Justin Bieber, and others. Then came some classic songs like “You Make Me” and “Good Old Days”, both of which come from the album Even Worse. They weren’t among his bigger hits, but I remember them well.

Of course Weird Al also performed other big hits like “Smells Like Nirvana”, “Fat”, “Eat it”, “Money for Nothing/Beverly Hillbillies”, “Amish Paradise”, “Dare to Be Stupid”, and “White and Nerdy”. He even included some new songs like “Skipper Dan” and “Craigslist”.

Weird Al was a really smooth dancer when he performed “Wanna B Ur Lover”. He came down from the stage and sang to the ladies in the front row. It was so funny. Then while performing “Ode to a Superhero”, a guy had to hold a harmonica for Weird Al while he was playing the accordion.

In between songs there were many channel flips on the screen. Among them are “interviews” with celebrities like Celine Dion, Avril Lavigne, Snoop Dog, Eminem, and Jessica Simpson. (Or is it Sampson?) I figured that Weird Al needs that time for all those costume changes.

There were also plenty of short segments, where Weird Al was animated on other shows like Johnny Bravo, The Simpsons, Futurama, and Celebrity Death Match. That even includes other shows that so much as even mentioned Weird Al as a reference. I never realized there were so many. It was set up very well, much like Robot Chicken.

Weird Al also mentioned that July 21st was an anniversary of when UHF premiered. Everyone was cheering, including myself, because we know that movie is a real classic.

After the concert, there was an encore with a Star Wars theme. I thought it was appropriate with Star Wars Celebration V coming up in August 2010. But first, Weird Al sang about cell phones. There wasn’t much to it, but if you had a cell phone, you could hold it up while hand waving to the song.

Then came Weird Al’s two Star Wars songs, “The Saga Begins” and “Yoda”. Just before finishing “Yoda”, Al and the band did some other kind of singing that sounded like random chanting. I admit, that choreography was tight, as it had appeared unexpected.

I’ll tell ya, Weird Al Yankovic is better than ever. I wonder if he has a new album coming out soon.

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Muppet Disco Show

Childhood Favorites, Muppets No Responses »
Jul 242010

Even though disco is dead and has been for years, there’s still an exception. And that is in the hearts of Muppet nostalgia. Back in the 70s into the early 80s when disco was all the rage, it was featured a lot with the Muppets and on Sesame Street. Even the classic Disney characters once had a disco album called Mickey Mouse Disco, but that’s another story.

Here’s a YouTube video that I found which features a compilation of various Muppet characters at the disco. Don’t worry, no one was drinking or getting into bar fights, not even the monsters. Enjoy.


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Kill Bill, Part 2 of 2

Quentin Tarantino films 1 Response »
Jul 232010

Welcome back. Kill Bill – Volume Two begins right where the first one left off. The Bride (Uma Thurman) is back and on her way to hunt down Bill’s (David Carradine) brother Budd (Michael Madsen), who is number 3 on her “Death List Five” as part of her quest for revenge. We didn’t get to see much of Budd earlier, but we do now.

Bill warns Budd about the Bride coming for him, but Budd isn’t worried at all. He even sold his samurai sword at a pawnshop. “You pawned a Hattori Hanzo sword?” Sounds a little silly, doesn’t it. If the Bride had overheard this conversation, she’d think that Budd would be an easy target to take out.

Budd works as a bouncer in a bar. Though he’s always late, he thinks it shouldn’t matter because no customers ever arrive that early in the day, which is understandable. Budd’s boss is hilarious when he gets mad at Budd for it. Was that Sid Haig as the bartender?

Later that evening, the Bride arrives at Budd’s trailer for a sneak attack. Unfortunately, Budd takes her down with one shot of rock salt to the gut. Not so easy after all, was he. I guess that proves that the gun is mightier than the sword, even a Hattori Hanzo samurai sword.

Then Budd buries the Bride alive. That wasn’t much of a battle. As the Bride works her way out of this peril, we go into another big flashback. Bill sends the Bride to train under Pai Mei (Gordon Liu), who is a very strict instructor. The training was brutal and hard to watch, but now we know where the Bride learned some of those extraordinary skills, which includes the instant eye gouging. Soon the Bride escapes by the skin of her teeth (or should I say hand), and heads for Budd’s place again.

Meanwhile, Elle (Darryl Hannah) is already there and she doublecrosses Budd by killing him with a black mamba snake and makes Budd suffer by reading info about that snake aloud to him. Some killers have no mercy.

After that, the Bride arrives and fights with Elle. How convenient, since she was number 4 on the “Death List Five”. This battle also gets interesting as new secrets are revealed. The Bride’s name is finally revealed to be Beatrix Kiddo and the story behind Elle’s eye patch is not a pretty one. The catfight ends with Elle losing her other eye. I can still remember how everyone in the theater reacted when Beatrix stepped on that eye and crushed it. Ewe! Elle is defeated, but is she really dead like the other three?

Beatrix may have lost her list earlier, but she doesn’t need it anymore because there’s only one target left, Bill. She soon finds Bill along with another little surprise, and a very likable one at that. This final confrontation drags a little bit, but I liked Bill’s philosophy on Superman compared to other superheroes.

Overall, this two-volume movie was very creative. Action, humor, strong gorgeous women, it’s got it all, which makes this film a masterpiece.

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