Chris Pratt Is Jack Burton

So I'm watching Jurassic World in the theater and about midway through it, it hits me like a ton of bricks… Chris Pratt is Jack Burton, or more accurately, he's the only guy who can come close to what Kurt Russell did with the character in Big Trouble in Little China.

There's been a lot of talk lately about The Rock starring in a remake of the cult classic, and like most die-hard fans who cherish the John Carpenter original through and through, I wasn't exactly thrilled to hear that anyone was even going near this movie.

Nothing against The Rock; I'm a fan actually. It's just that if he were the guy who walked right up to one of the Three Storms, who just inexplicably floated down from the sky into the room, and tried punching him in the face, part of me believes it might actually work. He's the friggin' Rock.

But Kurt Russell's Jack Burton was a classic everyman. He was operating on pure balls mixed with overwhelming ignorance. He just tried it because…well…what the hell.

And that's where Chris Pratt comes into play. He can be a hero in the classic sense, but he's funny first and foremost. I mean honestly, just picture him reacting to the same kind of supernatural absurdity we witnessed in the original. It's almost like Guardians of the Galaxy was a rehearsal.

I'm not saying a remake would work. The original is a perfect mix of relentless action and non-stop laughs. But if you're going to do it, Chris Pratt is the only actor who gives true fans some hope.

Check out my previous post about what makes Big Trouble in Little China my most watched film, by far, of all time.

DeNiro Being Funny

Maybe You've Never Seen Him Like This

Robert DeNiro is the best. In my opinion, he took what Brando invented to another level. He made the animalistic, naturalness terrifying. I don't think there's ever been an actor who has been less afraid to be unlikeable. Even beyond unlikeable...irredeemable.

But...that's not what I want to show you. I think most people, when they think of DeNiro, think of a mob guy. Slick and ice cold. But, still fairly early on, he and Scorsese decided to change it up. Not many people my age know of or appreciate The King of Comedy, but it's awesome.

DeNiro is hilarious, but his comedic turn is so unique to his style. He's funny because he's so unfunny. It's probably the most excruciating character to follow for an entire film...ever. Yet, it works. It's a testament to the power of DeNiro to somehow keep it together and, of course, to the power of Scorsese to take this comedy to some pretty dark places.

Great, fast, funny and irritating...a Scorsese/DeNiro comedy.

Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wVhCCo02P4

Old School

Staaaaaaaaallone!

Ok...some people hate these types of movies. By types, I mean 80s action movies. The Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Van Damme, Chuck Norris stuff. I love it, proudly.

This is a gem. Stallone plays a nice guy in a country club-style jail for an act of rage years ago, in response to a father-figure being beaten up badly. However, an old enemy played by Donald Sutherland, who Stallone humiliated by escaping from his prison in the past, is now warden of a nasty prison and he gets Stallone into his hellhole.

That's the plot, but it's Stallone's classic 80s hero, the convict that you pull for, that sets this apart. The twists are surprisingly touching (First Base's killing will piss you off) and there's some nice support from Sutherland and Tom Sizemore.

Here's a classic scene...the football game. They used real prisoners from the location where they filmed, Rahway prison. Check it out...nasty scene.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQ5TwKApFC4

Awesome Site

Great Link:

http://spectrumculture.com/2012/10/re-makere-model-rio-bravo-1959-vs-assault-on-precinct-13-1976.html/

I'm sharing this link above for a great site and article comparing Howard Hawks and John Carpenter. Carpenter is an admitted fan of Hawks. The Thing is a remake of Hawk's The Thing From Another World. However, it's Rio Bravo that seems to have most influence over Carpenter's films.

Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13, a cult-classic now, was pretty much a re-telling of Bravo. It changed the Wild West setting, switching it to LA of 1976, a form of a wild west all it's own. The story finds a group of people bunkered down in an abandoned police station, surrounded by a gang of maniacs who've already killed a little girl in a shocking opening scene. The group must work together to survive.

It's a simple story and provides a structure that Carpenter would recycle many times, in different variations. Anyway, check it out...great article.

Unexpected The Whole Way

The GOAT

Taxi Driver is the greatest movie ever made, in my opinion. I'll be adding more and more about Scorsese as I go along, but for now, I just wanted to talk about the scene in Taxi Driver, the massacre.

Up until this point, the story has been all over. DeNiro's Travis Bickle started out quirky, funny and seemingly harmless. He tried to get a girlfriend and it's all fallen apart and now he's made himself into a machine. No longer harmless, but weird, detached and dangerous. It's a wild transformation and maybe DeNiro's greatest ever.

This scene is amazing. The movie becomes a straight-up horror film. It's terrifying, but more than the blood, it's Bickle's behavior. His decision to sit for a couple seconds after killing Keitel on the street. His failed attempts at suicide after the massacre. It's all so weird and happenstance, which is what makes it real.

If you haven't seen this movie...Come the hell on man...

The Massacre:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CImWc7og28

The Ultimate Battle

It's Called The Exorcist not the Exorcee

When I think of The Exorcist, like anybody else, I think of the girl's head spinning around, green vomit, and the most disturbing uses of a crucifix that you'll ever care to imagine. However, now that I'm a little older, I can get past some of the more gory, shock-value type stuff to the subtext of the story...and it's goooooood.

Watch the movie and pay attention to the young priest, Damien Karras, and his story. Again, you tend to get caught up in Reagan's story, after all she is the one being possessed, but the heart of the story belongs to Karras. He is struggling with his faith and haunted by the fact that he must put his mother into a home, against her wishes. The demon uses this to taunt him during the exorcism, but he prevails, by taking the demon into his own body and jumping, headfirst, out the window to his death.

His friend, another priest, comes and reads him his last rites. It's a heavy scene, but a scene after all this when Reagan, upon seeing the priest's collar as they say goodbye, gives him a hug, is even heavier. It's not only touching, but also seems to add to the feeling that this was just a small part of the never-ending battle between good and evil.

The older priest, with all his worldly knowledge, couldn't handle the exorcism, but this local priest, struggling with his faith, endures and prevails. It's also telling that he's an ex-boxer, born, perhaps, for this fight.

Heavy stuff...revisit this and pay attention...it's better than you think.

The Ending:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XcX5dG4eJ4

Slickness

A Little More Mann

I’m a huge Michael Mann fan, as you can probably tell. Talking about Manhunter got me thinking about some other key scenes to share. I’m linking a couple..check them out.

This first one isn’t actually a movie, it’s from the pilot for Miami Vice, the TV show not the movie version. I think this scene is classic 80s and sums up Mann’s obsession with undercover cops and the idea of them getting in too deep and needing reassurance of what’s real. The song doesn’t hurt...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1o-NWNmQLM

This is a scene from Thief, Mann’s early feature. James Caan plays an ex-con, out and back doing jobs as a professional thief. He has a plan to get out, but this scene, and more importantly, the way Caan delivers the dialogue, gives you a good idea of his no non-sense approach. He seems to have wasted all the time he cares to and it’s all precious from here on out. It’s also an early indication of Mann’s fascination with people on the outskirts of society, trying to find some type of normalcy. Another kick-ass 80s movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfetsPmDWAk