Star Trek into DarknessI was never all that wild on the 2009 film (I certainly didn't think as much of it as a lot of people seemed to), which is probably why I didn't see this when it came out. I think I ended up preferring it to the previous one. More action-packed, and the militaristic elements of the plot reminded me of
The Undiscovered Country, which is probably my favourite
Trek film. Decent, but still not as good as the best of the old movies.
Once Upon a Time in MexicoI've always far preferred this film's immediate predecessor, but for whatever reason, I was really in the mood for this more outlandish (and cartoonish) sequel yesterday, which I've not watched in ages.
This is one of those films that I feel winds up somehow being less than the sum of its parts - there are some brilliant scenes and characters, but the end product ultimately feels like a bit of a let-down. I think part of the problem is the wildly shifting tone from scene to scene - you have laugh out loud comedy mixed with some really dark stuff, and it doesn't seem to blend all that well. Still, it's got a brilliant cast; I dunno what it is about Rodriguez, but starting with this he's managed to routinely assemble absolutely kick-ass casts for his films. Looking back on it now, this really anticipates the grindhouse style he's adopted with most of his movies since. Also loved the subtle little references to the other two films in the trilogy that I'd somehow never noticed before, like Rourke's chihuahua being called Moco (the villain from the first movie) or the ringtone on Banderas' mobile being the song he performs over the opening credits of
Desperado. Great little touches.
Not as good as the superb
Desperado, but still an immensely fun ride.
p.s. To any Mexican members we may have on the forums, I have one question for you: "Are you a Mexi
can? Or a Mexi
can't?"