It always seems to surprise people when I admit stuff like this, but until now I had never seen WYATT EARP. And when I was getting ready to watch it and do this review I worried I was gonna get myself into trouble because it came out six months after TOMBSTONE, and lived and died in its comparisons to TOMBSTONE, so I know everyone in the comments is gonna want to talk about that. And the thing is I still haven’t seen TOMBSTONE either. Yeah, I know. I’ll get around to it.
Initially I thought I should do that first, but then I realized it was a unique opportunity to be the one guy watching WYATT EARP on its 30th anniversary with zero instinct to compare and contrast to TOMBSTONE. I have been preparing three decades to be this specific guy. (read the rest of this shit…)
You remember Rambo, John J. Vietnam vet, Green Beret, POW camp survivor, Congressional Medal of Honor recipient. In ’81, as a homeless drifter, he waged a one-man guerrilla war against the police department of Hope, Washington, wounding several officers, killing police dogs, blowing up buildings and causing one officer to die from falling out of a helicopter. But they let him out of prison for a secret POW rescue mission. Though he earned a presidential pardon, he decided to live in Thailand, living off odd jobs such as stickfighter, temple-builder, snake-catcher or river guide, with occasional missions to help the Mujahideen in Afghanistan or rescue missionaries in Myanmar. But eventually he came home to his dad’s place in Arizona.
It doesn’t seem like it, but that movie was 11 years ago. Rambo has short hair now, wears cowboy hats and runs his (now deceased) dad’s horse ranch. He lives with a woman named Maria (Adriana Barraza, AMORES PERROS, DRAG ME TO HELL), who I guess the photos on the wall indicate was his parents’ maid, and her granddaughter Gabrielle (Yvette Monreal from the El Rey show Matador), who calls him Uncle John and who he says he thinks of as his daughter. (read the rest of this shit…)
Right now, in 2019, people sure do love a good TV series. Some claim that the premium cable and streaming shows are actually better than movies. As TV shows become more cinematic and cinema becomes more serialized, the two mediums seem to be growing into each other like a very respectable rat king. Big name real deal movie stars can star in TV shows or limited series and collect acclaim and awards instead of scorn for slumming it.
At the same time the industry is obsessed with “intellectual property” and franchises, so naturally we’re getting TV shows that prequelize or sequelize a popular movie/movie series. In recent years they’ve done Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Tremors, Taken, Transporter: The Series, Training Day, Limitless, Ash vs. Evil Dead, Cobra Kai, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp and Wolf Creek, and soon we’ll be getting new Star Wars and Marvel tie-ins and maybe Undisputed and all kinds of shit.
From the dawn of 1986 they came…moving stylishly down through the decades. Movies, TV shows, cartoons, struggling to reach the time of the reviewing, when Vern will write about the franchise
That wasn’t how it worked in the early ’90s, though. There had been a few genre shows connected to movies: Planet of the Apes (1974) (and the animated Return to the Planet of the Apes [1975]), Beyond Westworld (1980), Blue Thunder (1984), Starman (1986-1987) and Alien Nation (1989-1990). None of these ran for very long, few are well remembered. TV was lesser than movies, you could never carry over the cast or the production value, and extending a movie series onto the small screen was not really a good bet.
But shit, HIGHLANDER II: THE QUICKENING wasn’t a good bet either. And producers Davis and Panzer, stinging from that loss, weren’t ready to leave the blackjack table. Maybe a TV-sized saga of the Immortals could be more than the Starman of the ’90s. Maybe it could be the M.A.S.H. of the ’90s! (read the rest of this shit…)
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Recent commentary and jibber-jabber
Rawbeard on Normal: “I’ve not seen Normal but I also want to recommend Free Fire by Ben Wheatley if you haven’t seen it…” Apr 26, 14:59
Curt on The Getaway (1972): “I completely agree about the 1970s being an interesting era for all those reasons. It’s the “I only like chocolate…” Apr 26, 10:27
so-and-so on Normal: “oh for sure, i didn’t know the film would elevate to russian mob violence when i went into it. i…” Apr 26, 09:50
CJ Holden on Normal: “so-and-so, can you imagine the ridicule NOBODY would’ve gotten if it would’ve been about an average Joe who just randomly…” Apr 26, 04:41
so-and-so on Normal: “i didn’t see the point of giving odenkirk an action hero backstory in Nobody, because it removed the one potential…” Apr 25, 11:11
Mr. Majestyk on The Getaway (1972): “I think I’ve led to an oversimplification of Tarantino’s complaints. It wasn’t just the unhappy ending thing. He was more…” Apr 25, 09:15
Curt on The Getaway (1972): “That’s another thing the 1970s film bros were always very fixated on – the knee-jerk equations of “downer ending =…” Apr 25, 08:03
KayKay on Æon Flux: “Yeah I saw this years ago, was bored out of my skull and can’t be arsed to re-visit it. Which…” Apr 25, 07:23
KayKay on The Getaway (1972): “But in terms of betrayal though…. doesn’t the chick in THE CRYING GAME turning out to be a dude sting…” Apr 25, 07:04
Alex R on The Getaway (1972): “I read his book but I was trying to watch Tarantino’s big influences (Things To Do In Denver When You’re…” Apr 25, 06:23
KayKay on The Getaway (1972): “As always you make some fascinating points, Majestyk. I don’t mind McQueen, while not exactly being his biggest fan. Thing…” Apr 24, 18:44
KayKay on The Getaway (1972): ““Bill Murray’s whole deal is that he’s an entertaining asshole, so why do the plots of so many of his…” Apr 24, 18:26
KayKay on The Getaway (1972): “What! There’re people around these parts who HAVEN’T devoured the entire QT filmography at least 12 times??? Shocker!” Apr 24, 18:21
KayKay on The Getaway (1972): “QT’s disdain for 80’s cinema is strange. I mean, it’s not like his movies are in any way truly channeling…” Apr 24, 17:55