The Magnificent Seven (1960)

Genres

Action, Adventure, Western

Director

John Sturges

Country

USA

Cast

Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn, Brad Dexter, James Coburn, Horst Buchholtz, Eli Wallach, Vladimir Sokoloff, Jorge Martinez de Hoyos, Rosenda Monteros, Whit Bissell, Rico Alaniz, Natividad Vacio, Robert J. Wilke, Val Avery, Bing Russell

Storyline

When their small village is once again attacked by Calvera (Eli Wallach) and his banditos, three Mexican farmers hire seven gunfighters, each of whom comes for a different reason, to help defend their homes.

Opinion

Nowadays Americans, Hollywood actually, are famous for making awful remakes of great foreign language movies. But I guess things were different back in 1960s because Sturges's The Magnificent Seven is a fantastic remake - maybe even better than Kurosawa's Seven Samurai - as well as a magnificent western.

Having seen Kurosawa's film not long ago I was pretty familiar with the story and the fact that I'm not a huge western fan made me fear for the worse, a boring film and story. But what happened was quite the opposite. Despite its predictability, the film was engaging from beginning to end and kept me on the edge of my seat. Yes, I know this is not a thriller, but I was really invested in the story.

Just like its Japanese predecessor, The Magnificent Seven also has great characters. Although not all the characters are equally developed or well defined, they still are pretty memorable and the characterization throughout is strong. From the cowboys to the farmers to the banditos, each of them has their thing and they all get a fair amount of screen time. An
d the cast also does a good job, especially Yul Brynner as the enigmatic Cowboy leader.

And just like the original, this one as well beautifully portrayed two different cultures, the Mexican farmers and the cowboys, and highlighted that, in times of need, no matter how different people are, they can work together and learn from each other.

What's really different are the atmosphere and pacing. The Magnificent Seven has a better pacing and is way less dark and reflective. It's more of a just chill kind of movie. And it works beautifully as such. This film is indeed incredibly entertaining.

War Machine (2017)

Genres

Comedy, War

Director

David Michôd

Country

USA

Cast

Brad Pitt, Ben Kingsley, Anthony Hayes, Emory Cohen, RJ Cyler, Daniel Betts, Topher Grace, Anthony Michael Hall, John Magaro, Aymen Hamdouchi, Scoot McNairy, Will Poulter, Keith Stanfield, Alan Ruck, Meg Tilly, Griffin Dunne, Josh Stewart, Tilda Swinton, Georgina Rylance, Russell Crowe, Reggie Brown

Storyline

A successful US General (Brad Pitt) is sent to command NATO forces in Afghanistan and he is determined to win an unwinnable war.

Opinion

I saw the trailer for War Machine about a week ago. It didn't convince me but I still gave the film a change because it's from David Michôd and, as he proved with his previous two movies, Animal Kingdom and The Rover, he knows what he is doing. I guess that's why I wasn't crazy about this one because I was expecting way more from him.

After dealing with criminal families and post-apocalyptic worlds, this time around Michôd uses a fictitious war story to tell about the rise and fall of a US General and he does that blending reality and fiction only to empathize how hard it is to distinguish them. 

But that's not the only thing he tries to do, actually, that's the less important. The real goal, well, I suppose, is to show the hypocrisy and surrealism around the role of US in the Afghanistan war. Or wars in general, for what matters. The problem is that, in order to do that, he switched drama, a field where he's very experienced, for comedy. Terrible comedy. It's almost like War Machine tries to be a modern-day version of Dr. Strangelove, and it fails miserably.

Then there's Scoot McNairy's voice over that gives the film that satirical boost it needs, but at the same time it also keep the General's character sympathetic and it feels like they, the filmmakers, want you to care for him. 

That's how War Machine ends up being a movie about war that is neither funny nor dramatic, a war movie that lacks action and that fails to make that criticism it's supposed to make.

However, it's not all rotten, and the cast has to be thanked for that. In spite of the weak script, the actors manage to do a fairly good job, in particular Brad Pitt as the General who just kills it with his exaggerated facial expressions and grins, pretty much the only parodistic thing about the film that really works. 

Predator 2 (1990)

Genres

Action, Horror, Sci-Fi

Director

Stephen Hopkins

Country

USA

Cast

Danny Glover, Kevin Peter Hall, Gary Busey, Ruben Blades, Maria Conchita Alonso, Bill Paxton, Lilyan Chauvin, Robert David, Adam Baldwin, Kent McCord, Morton Downey Jr., Calvin Lockhart, Elpidia Carrillo

Storyline

Amidst a territorial gang-war in 1997, a sophisticated alien hunter (Kevin Peter Hall) stalks the citizens of Los Angeles and the only man between him and his prey is veteran L.A.P.D. officer, Lieutenant Mike Harrigan (Danny Glover).

Opinion

After watching and enjoying Predator, I thought that watching a sequel without Arnold Schwarzenegger in it would be a waste of time. That said, and despite the fact that I was expecting a bad sequel, I still watched Predator 2 because, let's be honest, I love when sequels suck so I can have fun saying shit about them. Well, Predator 2 didn't allow me to do that because it's actually a pretty good sequel. If not even better than the first instalment.

The plot is basically the same of the first film, still having an invisible predator attacking armed forces in the (urban) jungle, so there's no mystery, no guessing who or what is going around killing people, still it manages to be interesting and engaging.

As for the characters, this time around the writers went for a different path. The characters are decently developed and they are definitely more likeable - not all of them though - and you actually care for them. The major difference here is the Predator. The alien has more screen time and a bigger role in the story; also, we get to know these creatures, their weapons and their behaviours a little bit better. With the latter, however, I did have a problem. The whole spearing the policewoman's life because she is pregnant thing just didn't seem like something a Predator would do. Unless she was pregnant with the alien. Which did cross my mind to be honest.

And then there's the action. It isn't as exciting or thrilling as it was in Predator, but it isn't bad either. Actually some scenes are pretty awesome. And it still is the thing that keeps the film going and that entertains from start to finish.

Alice in Wonderland (1951)

Genres

Adventure, Animation, Fantasy, Musical

Directors

Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske

Country

USA

Voice Cast

Kathryn Beaumont, Ed Wynn, Jerry Colonna, Richard Haydn, Sterling Holloway, Verna Felton, J. Pat O'Malley, Bill Thompson, Heather Angel, Joseph Kearns, Larry Grey, Queenie Leonard, Dink Trout, Doris Lloyd, Jimmy MacDonald, The Mellomen, Don Barclay

Storyline

One day, daydreaming young girl Alice (Kathryn Beaumont) spots a large white rabbit (Bill Thompson), dressed in a jacket and carrying a large watch. Quickly following him, she stumbles into the world of Wonderland where she will live an adventure which culminates in a terrible encounter with the Queen of Hearts (Verna Felton). 

Opinion

I've already said in the past that I've never been a fan of Alice, I guess that's why I have never seen Disney's Alice in Wonderland as a kid. I thought it was about time to fix it, I watched it, and I'm still not a fan. While arguably better than Tim Burton's - and I had a nice time watching it -, neither this one was able to charm me.

The story isn't exactly like the one Carroll wrote, it's a blend of his Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, the events don't have the same order, some rather important parts are left out, but it wasn't a problem at all. I actually liked it this way because it allowed me to enjoy it a bit more, despite the fact that there wasn't a real plot. 

Anyway, the film felt incredibly off, and some of the blame is on the characters. They aren't charming or interesting, they aren't that nice and some of them are quite annoying. What's really annoying though is that lots of characters are introduced only to disappear and never to be seen again. However, some of them are memorable, like the Mad Hatter, the March Hare and the Queen of Hearts.

Moving on, the animation is beautiful and very colourful; also, the songs throughout are quite enjoyable and make the film a bit more fun. Still, it's not charming.