Movie #294 - The Ice Harvest

The Ice Harvest
2005 - Rated R - 1 hr 32 min
Director: Harold Ramis
Starring: John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Platt

I'm moving steadily through the I's and the seventh shelf, so I'm pretty excited about that.  Plus, the letter I seems to be treating me pretty well so far.  Nothing I can't stand yet and plenty more goodies on the way.

Here, we have John Cusack, a personal favorite, in a movie that's a bit odd, but still decent.  A dark comedy about a mob-lawyer and a gangster who plot to rob their mob boss - what could go wrong?  Double-crosses happen, everything comes out in the wash, and our main character manages to wriggle free of all the traps set in front of him.

Oliver Platt is great as Cusack's "best friend" who openly admits he was sleeping with his wife while  Cusack was still married to her.  And oh yeah, Platt's married to her now.  Meanwhile, Cusack's in love with a strip club owner who's not exactly got his back.  Who's helping who?  And who survives?

The twists and turns make this one worth a watch.  Plus, the ensemble cast is just plain fun.  And crime movies set at Christmas are always a good time.

Movie #32 - Armageddon

Armageddon

Touchstone Pictures

1998 - Rated PG-13 - 2 hr 30 min

Director: Michael Bay

Starring: Bruce Willis, Billy Bob Thornton, Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Steve Buschemi, Owen Wilson, Michael Clarke Duncan

I was never really impressed with this movie. To me, it was just one of Michael Bay's early attempts to destroy the earth. This movie also doesn't know what it is. Action? Adventure? Love story? There are moments when it feels like a chick flick. And since it has a (sorta) happy ending, maybe it is a romance.

Perhaps the most annoying part of this movie is the narrow viewpoint it gives viewers. The world is going to get hit by a giant meteor and "life as we know it will end." You would think such an event would inspire a global collaboration of some kind... but since this movie is so quintessentially American, obviously the US has to do something to save everyone. Instead of watching different cultures to come together, oil rig workers and NASA scientists must learn to get along. And Liv Tyler is pure uselessness in this movie.

Don't get me started on the stupid plan they have to blow up the meteor. Drill into it and blow it apart with a nuke? Would that really even work? I demand a Myth Busters episode for this.

Anyway, I never really bought into all the hype about this movie. Now, 12 years later, I still feel like it's overrated and extremely unrealistic.