Thursday, July 23, 2015

Thursday Movie Picks: Sequels


(ahem, ahem...putting on my Movie Trailer Guy voice) In a world where the first thing was a smash hit that all you suckers went and brought expensive tickets to, our hero is back to finish taking care of business...or, as much as business as possible before the third installment. See us do everything done bigger, badder, and more explosionier! The makers of Wednesday bring you...


Yes, that means it's time for Thursday Movie Picks and yes, the topic for this week is Sequels. Aha! That's why I did a list of prequels, yesterday. Timing young'uns, timing. Click over to the site of Wanderer, our host - Wandering Through the Shelves, for all the rules on this thing. As for me, well, I did what I do - try to suggest some movies you haven't seen.


Scream Blacula, Scream
(1973)
The original, 1972's Blacula is a 'hood classic. It's an origin story of something that didn't exist in cinema before that movie, at least to my knowledge, a black vampire. The sequel sees our titular bloodsucker doing battle with a guy who yearns to be the High Priest of his voodoo cult. And ever the charmer as a vampire must be, we also see him putting the moves on the one and only Pam Grier. (My full review)


Death Wish II
(1982)
The first Death Wish gave us a template for vigilante movies that's been copied thousands of times since. Of course, all of its own sequels are counted among those thousands. The original saw the hero's wife beaten and killed and his daughter left permanently catatonic after being gang-raped by a group of young thugs. Charles Bronson takes his .44 to the streets of New York and gets some justice. This time around, our hero has moved to Chicago where his housekeeper is gang raped and killed and his daughter is kidnapped, raped, kills herself trying to escape her assailants. Yup, time to get the .44 out once more. Well, a few more times since there were four of these movies. Each is more bonkers than the one before it.


Rambo
(2008)
This is the fourth installment in Sylvester Stallone's other well known franchise, reprising his role as unstoppable Vietnam Vet, John J. Rambo. This time, there is some sort of story I suppose. Let's be honest, though, it doesn't amount to a hill of beans. The worth of this movie is that it's about 90 minutes of Sly going all one-man-army and causing a seemingly endless parade of gory mayhem. He doesn't just kill people, he kill's em good. By the hundreds.


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20 comments:

  1. With the exception of Rambo, I haven't seen the other 2 films though I do know that Death Wish II does have a score by Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin.

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  2. LOL I love your poster. I actually haven't seen any of these. I do remember a lot of people talking about the body count in Rambo though.

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    1. Thanks! The body count in Rambo is joyously ridiculous.

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  3. I also love the poster. It's been years & years so I don't remember much of Scream, Blacula, Scream but I do remember that it was silly and fun in a what were they thinking? way. You're right that the Death Wish movies became more ridiculous with each one and since the first was pretty awful to begin with that wasn't far to fall. Speaking of ridiculous Rambo yeesh, First Blood was no masterpiece but it did have a serious intent which was completely sidelined in the sequel but it certainly served Stallone well.

    So many choices and the one that came to mind first I was sure would pop up all over the place so I put it in as an extra pick and I sought out more obscure ones. My first choice relates to one of your prequels yesterday. My three (and extra) this week are:

    Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)-When a probe causes havoc throughout the galaxy the crew of the Starship Enterprise return via time travel to the San Francisco of the mid-eighties in search of a pair of humpback whales to repopulate the species and save the universe! Relying on a blend of humor and nostalgia this is one of the best sequels in the series.

    Father's Little Dividend (1951)-In this sequel to Father of the Bride shortly after the wedding of the first film young bride Elizabeth Taylor announces that she is expecting a baby. Everyone one is delighted except granddad-to-be Spencer Tracy who goes into a tailspin. The gist of the film deals with how he works his way through the panic of impending grandfatherhood.

    Son of the Sheik (1926)-In his last film before his sudden death at 31 Rudolph Valentino plays a dual role of the sheik from the original film that made him a star and his son who falls in love with Egyptian dancing girl Yasmin, Hungarian silent star Vilma Bánky who looks about as Egyptian as your Aunt Tillie from Pomona, who he is led to believe has betrayed him. Much riding through the desert and sword fights follow, an interesting artifact of a bygone era and a chance to see the man who was at the time the biggest star in the world but not much of a film.

    Honorable Mention-Aliens (1986)-In this brilliant kinetic sequel to Alien the recently awakened Ripley, after being in hyper sleep for 57 years, returns to LV-426 with a team of marines when contact with the human colony that has been established is lost. What follows is an action packed fun ride fantastically directed by James Cameron during which Sigourney Weaver could not be tougher and the cast that surrounds her offers terrific support.

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    1. I last saw The Voyage Home back around the time it came out and didn't much care for it. It's long been time to revisit it, though. I love Aliens. With a completely different tone than the first, it's just as good. Haven't seen the others.

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  4. LOVE that poster! I really want to see Blacula and this sequel. They look perfect (in their way).

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    1. Thanks! Perfect in their way is very accurate.

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  5. Quite the selection of films. I haven't had the chance to see any of these, though I've heard a fair bit about the Death Wish films. Technically, I'd say it was Dirty Harry that set the template of the vigilante film but Death Wish certainly helped popularize.

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    1. Dirty Harry did come first, but Death Wish gave us the guy who is not necessarily an officer of the law yet goes out killing bad guys because of what they did to his family.

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  6. Love Blacula but i have not seen the remake which just makes me laugh that there is a remake. I love Charles Bronson and have seen this film as well-he is such a bad ass. I believe i have seen bits of Rambo 4-they all mesh together in my mind:) I have also chosen "Father's Little Dividend" because the chemistry between Tracy and taylor is so rich. "Naked Gun 2 1/2 is just so much fun to watch and I laugh out loud plus i love Leslie Nielsen. My last is Star Trek: First Contact-The new cast battling the evil,Borg with a creepy but sexy Borg queen-can't have it any better.

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    1. Not a remake on Blacula. It is actually a part 2. I love all the Naked Gun movies. They're ridiculously funny.

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  7. Rambo is one of the unintentionally funniest movies I've seen in my life :)

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  8. Ashamed again, not seen any of these!

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    1. Nothing to be ashamed of. Not like these are classics, lol.

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  9. Such bad ass picks here Dell! I've only seen Rambo but my brother LOVES the Death Wish franchise, so I've seen snippets of those movies.

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    1. Thanks! Your brother sounds like my kind of dude!

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  10. One day, I'm gonna sit down and re-watch all the Rambo movies. I've seen First Blood I and II but years ago, when I was a kid. Loved them! I have always wanted to see the Death Wish movies as well. Just for the sheer "bonkers" aspect alone. Oh, Blacula. Don't know when I'll fit those in, but I should probably experience some 'hood classics' as you say.

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    1. The last two Rambo movies have at leadt as much, if not more than the Death Wish flicks. And we could all use a few 'hood classics in our lives.

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