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Decided to take a breather last night (I'm in the middle of Ph.D. exams but had the house to myself and enough time to spare an evening).
Watched two movies--each one an action film, but made 45 years apart, so VERY different tone.
First up--John Wick: Chapter 2. I had thoroughly enjoyed the first one, so the second one was a blind buy. Empty house meant I could cut loose with the audio. A wild ride from start to finish. You either like it or not (guess it depends on how one feels about Keanu Reeves). Looked and sounded fantastic.
Next--Scorpio. A spy thriller from 1973 starring Burt Lancaster (a very spry guy still at age 59), Alain Delon and Paul Scofield. Also surprising numerous Trek alumni [yes, I'm an old school Trek fan]--Burt's wife was the Romulan commander from whom Kirk stole a cloaking device, one of the CIA agents was in the 20th century Roman Empire episode, the main bad guy (at least you're meant to view him as such--the film is not very clear, in the end, about who is on the side of the angels, so to speak) was John Colicos (famous as the first Klingon leader on Trek). Another agent was James Sikking, who was in one of the Trek movies of the 80s. Very much a film of its time (might even be better appreciated as a cultural document of early 70s filmmaking than as a film on its own). The Twilight Time Blu-ray looked very good, considering the source material--a bit uneven in PQ, but at its best, surprisingly sharp and with appropriate colours and flesh-tones. The story is a bit of a mess, but I'm a fan of all three leads, so it was worth taking from the unwatched pile on which it had been sitting for a couple of years.
Only two more weeks of this exam madness to go. Then I can watch more of the pile--and have time to offer more detailed commentary.
Watched two movies--each one an action film, but made 45 years apart, so VERY different tone.
First up--John Wick: Chapter 2. I had thoroughly enjoyed the first one, so the second one was a blind buy. Empty house meant I could cut loose with the audio. A wild ride from start to finish. You either like it or not (guess it depends on how one feels about Keanu Reeves). Looked and sounded fantastic.
Next--Scorpio. A spy thriller from 1973 starring Burt Lancaster (a very spry guy still at age 59), Alain Delon and Paul Scofield. Also surprising numerous Trek alumni [yes, I'm an old school Trek fan]--Burt's wife was the Romulan commander from whom Kirk stole a cloaking device, one of the CIA agents was in the 20th century Roman Empire episode, the main bad guy (at least you're meant to view him as such--the film is not very clear, in the end, about who is on the side of the angels, so to speak) was John Colicos (famous as the first Klingon leader on Trek). Another agent was James Sikking, who was in one of the Trek movies of the 80s. Very much a film of its time (might even be better appreciated as a cultural document of early 70s filmmaking than as a film on its own). The Twilight Time Blu-ray looked very good, considering the source material--a bit uneven in PQ, but at its best, surprisingly sharp and with appropriate colours and flesh-tones. The story is a bit of a mess, but I'm a fan of all three leads, so it was worth taking from the unwatched pile on which it had been sitting for a couple of years.
Only two more weeks of this exam madness to go. Then I can watch more of the pile--and have time to offer more detailed commentary.