Week 31 brings us to 1991!!
I turned down:
White Fang
Wild Hearts Can't be Broken
So that left me with two:
Beauty And The Beast, which I just watched last winter in the theatre 3D (3D was a waste).
So I went with a movie that has established a little bit of a cult following in the US and in Japan. The Rocketeer directed by Joe Johnston. Based on a classic comic book.
I remember seeing this film many years ago and think "aah better than good". But now it has picked up a bit of a following I wanted to give it another look.
The film follows a young stunt pilot Cliff played by Billy Campbell who finds a jet pack in 1938 that allows him to fly. The jet pack was stolen from Howard Hughes, played by Terry O'Quinn (Lost), by the mob, who was hired by movie star Neville Sinclair (Timothy Dalton) who has ideas of his own of what to do with the jet pack. Stumbling into the mess is Cliff's girl, Jenny (867-5309), played by the beautiful Jennifer Connelly. Also cannot forget to note his mechanic Peabody played wonderfully by Alan Arkin.
On the plus side. The movie looks wonderful, it looks like it came right out of a comic book. I think this is why it has picked up a cult following. It may be the best transfer of a comic book to a movie ever ( just speaking of the look). Add in the great feel of 1938. The look takes you to that time and place. If you get a chance to watch it just look how Connelly is framed every time you see her. So I guess we throw a big thumbs up to the cinematographer Hiro Narita. Set design James Bissell.
On the down side. The movie is called the Rocketeer. We may see the Rocketeer fly for 7 minutes of the 108 minute movie. Which kind of leaves a lot of chasing and talking and set up to the big ending. Another thing is I felt Billy Campbell was kind of a stiff, no emotion at all.
Well here are some fun and not so fun facts.
The movie bombed, blamed mainly because Disney did not know how to market it. It had ok reviews. Just no big stars at the time. In fact they changed the poster to show Timothy Dalton (Bond) to see if it would help. Plus they did not seem to know who to market it to, children or adults, and they failed in each respect. In fact oversees they marketed it under Touchstone.It only grossed 46 million. Disney had games, toys, posters, and trading cards ready to go in the stores and they just collected dust.
The movie was suppose to be Disneys answer to Indiana Jones. It was suppose to be a trilogy. In fact Connelly and Campbell were signed up for two more films.
Disney introduced a new camera called the Shaky-cam. The opposite of a Steady-cam. They used it to add vibrations into the film.
Johnny Depp was the first choice for Cliff.
To finish, I noted this before, sometimes when watching a movie I think "Walt would have love this one". He would have loved this, he was so fond of space and planes, and the future. Sadly in my opinion it just misses a bit. I would give it 3 1/2 out of 5 Mickeys. Mainly for the look and idea. It is just one of those movies I want to like more.
Well until next week.
Safe travels.
I turned down:
White Fang
Wild Hearts Can't be Broken
So that left me with two:
Beauty And The Beast, which I just watched last winter in the theatre 3D (3D was a waste).
So I went with a movie that has established a little bit of a cult following in the US and in Japan. The Rocketeer directed by Joe Johnston. Based on a classic comic book.
I remember seeing this film many years ago and think "aah better than good". But now it has picked up a bit of a following I wanted to give it another look.
The film follows a young stunt pilot Cliff played by Billy Campbell who finds a jet pack in 1938 that allows him to fly. The jet pack was stolen from Howard Hughes, played by Terry O'Quinn (Lost), by the mob, who was hired by movie star Neville Sinclair (Timothy Dalton) who has ideas of his own of what to do with the jet pack. Stumbling into the mess is Cliff's girl, Jenny (867-5309), played by the beautiful Jennifer Connelly. Also cannot forget to note his mechanic Peabody played wonderfully by Alan Arkin.
On the plus side. The movie looks wonderful, it looks like it came right out of a comic book. I think this is why it has picked up a cult following. It may be the best transfer of a comic book to a movie ever ( just speaking of the look). Add in the great feel of 1938. The look takes you to that time and place. If you get a chance to watch it just look how Connelly is framed every time you see her. So I guess we throw a big thumbs up to the cinematographer Hiro Narita. Set design James Bissell.
On the down side. The movie is called the Rocketeer. We may see the Rocketeer fly for 7 minutes of the 108 minute movie. Which kind of leaves a lot of chasing and talking and set up to the big ending. Another thing is I felt Billy Campbell was kind of a stiff, no emotion at all.
Well here are some fun and not so fun facts.
The movie bombed, blamed mainly because Disney did not know how to market it. It had ok reviews. Just no big stars at the time. In fact they changed the poster to show Timothy Dalton (Bond) to see if it would help. Plus they did not seem to know who to market it to, children or adults, and they failed in each respect. In fact oversees they marketed it under Touchstone.It only grossed 46 million. Disney had games, toys, posters, and trading cards ready to go in the stores and they just collected dust.
The movie was suppose to be Disneys answer to Indiana Jones. It was suppose to be a trilogy. In fact Connelly and Campbell were signed up for two more films.
Disney introduced a new camera called the Shaky-cam. The opposite of a Steady-cam. They used it to add vibrations into the film.
Johnny Depp was the first choice for Cliff.
To finish, I noted this before, sometimes when watching a movie I think "Walt would have love this one". He would have loved this, he was so fond of space and planes, and the future. Sadly in my opinion it just misses a bit. I would give it 3 1/2 out of 5 Mickeys. Mainly for the look and idea. It is just one of those movies I want to like more.
Well until next week.
Safe travels.