Movie #412 - Licence to Kill

Licence to Kill

1989 - Rated R - 2 hr 13 min

Director: John Glen
Starring: Timothy Dalton, Carey Lowell, Robert Davi, Wayne Newton, Benicia Del Toro, Desmond Llewelyn, Anthony Zerbe

Thank goodness Timothy Dalton's Bond knows how to trick-drive a semi, or this movie would have ended completely differently.  Really... that's just crazy, that whole end sequence.

So Dalton's Bond... this is my first time watching this movie and I have mixed feelings.  Good plot, good action sequences, nice use of Q "in the field," and a nice range of ladies for Bond to get tangled up with. Dalton's not my favorite Bond (is he anyone's?) but he brings a certain flare to going rogue and working undercover... in a tux. Yes, Bond is about the only character to have ever combined drug-circle infiltration with a martini, but it's not all fun and games, you know?

Not a bad entry into the franchise's books, but definitely not a favorite. Not with the likes of Daniel Craig filling the icon's shoes these days. It's tough to compare.

Movie #240 - The Goonies

The Goonies
1985 - Rated PG-13 - 1 hr 54 min
Director: Richard Donner
Starring: Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Jeff Cohen, Joe Pantoliano, Corey Feldman, Kerri Green, Martha Plimpton, Jonathan Ke Quan, Robert Davi, Anne Ramsey

Oh, the goonies.  Suburban American gets it's very own pirate adventure in this 80s classic, rife with young stars. Little baby Sean Astin.  Teenage Josh Brolin. Skinny Joe Pantoliano.  And Cyndi Lauper's all over the place, in case you missed her.

The best part about revisiting this childhood favorite as an adult is all the jokes I've just understood.  And the pirate's name is One-Eyed Willy.  One. Eyed. Willy.  How did I not get that? And how do all these people make it through the movie without laughing?

We also got to watch the deleted scenes on the DVD, including the illusive octopus attack scene that Mike has been obsessed with finding since childhood.  Well, here it is.  Hooray.

So I love this movie for what it represents from my childhood, for being led by a talented cast of tweens, and for introducing us all to the possibility that we could become treasure hunters. And actually find something.