Movie #374 - End of Days

End of Days
1999 - Rated R - 2 hr 1 min
Director: Peter Hyams
Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gabriel Byrne, Robin Tunney, Kevin Pollack

Isn't it great that Arnold's returning to movies so he can make more gems like this one? Hehehe.

Okay, it's not sooooo bad.  Gabriel Byrne's a pretty scary devil incarnate and Kevin Pollack plays a nice, sorta goofy sidekick to Arnold's Jericho character. Yeah, his name's Jericho.  Jericho. We already knew it was a religious movie, people. Easy already.

So the devil has to mate with chosen-one Robin Tunney, who's not digging Byrne's sideburns. Arnold has to intervene -- cuz mere priests can keep the hunky devil at bay, ya know -- and gets betrayed by just about everyone (thanks to the devil's mucho persuasive powers, obvi.) And btw, if you kill the devil's host body, you can get possessed yourself.... just an FYI, Arnold. Of course, the only one strong enough to kill Arnold is himself, so it's a good thing he's mentally strong enough to fight the devil inside too....

What a weird ending.

Movie #350 - L.A. Story

L.A. Story
1991 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 35 min
Director: Mick Jackson
Starring: Steve Martin, Victoria Tennant, Richard E. Grant, Marilu Henner, Sarah Jessica Parker, Kevin Pollak, Patrick Stewart, Iman

I love this movie, I really do.  It's got all the trademark wit of a Steve Martin-penned comedy (better than Shop Girl, that's for sure) and tells the "real" truth about late 80s / early 90s Hollywood.  From trendy twists of lemon to Marilu Henner's outrageous jewelry "points" system, Martin shows us his satirical side.  Good stuff, all around.

So the talking signboard is a bit weird, but for some reason, it's just handled as fact.  Martin's character doubts it at first, as anyone would, but once it proves itself, he starts listening.  And it's never explained, which I think does this movie a great favor.  To do so would belittle the "fairytale" of this love story.

And who doesn't want to rollerskate through an art museum?

Watch this one and laugh--both at the outdated technology (it's 1991, for crying out loud) and the witty reparte that Martin writes so well.

Movie #333 - A Few Good Men

A Few Good Men
1992 - Rated R - 2 hr 18 min
Director: Rob Reiner
Starring: Tom Cruise, Demi Moore, Jack Nicholson, Kevin Bacon, Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Pollak, James Marshall, JT Walsh, Christopher Guest, Matt Craven, JA Preston, Noah Wyle

This is the first time I've watched this movie as an adult.  It was a favorite of my parents' so I had definitely seen it as a teen, but never really sat down and absorbed it as an adult.  Nor did I realize this is based on a play.  The style of the film and the scene structure makes a lot of sense knowing that.

Anyway, this really is a good damn movie. (SPOILER ALERT) It raises one of my favorite questions: Is it okay to sacrifice one to save many?  Nicholson's character things it is, Cruise and Moore don't think so.  As they dig to get to the bottom of this one, watching the chain of corruption climb higher and higher, this question gets asked many times.  The moral gray area is left for us to ponder, while the movie ends almost the only way it can.  He could get away with it, I guess, but not up against the unexpected powerhouse of Tom Cruise.  Really, who saw Cruise taking out Nicholson? Anywhere else, my money'd be on Jack.

Long story short, it was nice to enjoy this again with the ability to really process what it's trying to say.  Some outstanding performances here, but what I really enjoyed most were the questions it raised and asked me to answer for myself.