Welcome to TBO.com. Skip directly to: our Keyword Search, Section Navigation, Content.

TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online

John Allman

If you’ve ever wandered the aisles at the video store or surfed the DVR pay-per-view options and seen a bunch of movies that you’ve never heard of, chances are John has watched them. Why? He loves movies. All kinds of movies. Good, bad, so-bad-they’re good, even the truly unwatchable ones. He mostly loves horror and science-fiction and drive-in exploitation movies that most upstanding model citizens wouldn’t dare watch. Then he writes up his thoughts so you can decide - watch, don’t watch or avoid at all costs. Sometimes he even gets to talk to the cool folks who make some of your favorite films.

Blood, Violence and Babes
John Allman

Most Recent Entries

Monthly Archives

New Releases for Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Posted Jun 11, 2010 by John Allman

Updated Jun 11, 2010 at 07:02 AM

What’s new in stores and on video shelves this week:

From Paris With Love
Genre: Action
Directed by: Pierre Morel
Run time: 92 minutes
Rating: R
Format: Blu-Ray

The Lowdown: John Travolta has a natural charisma that allows him to navigate easily between good bad guy and bad good guy without putting off his fan base. What I mean is that as a bad guy, think Vincent Vega in “Pulp Fiction” or Gabriel Shear in “Swordfish,” Travolta commands the screen by injecting humor into his portrayal of coldblooded killers. And as a good guy with questionable qualities, such as his character Charlie Wax in “From Paris With Love,” you still can’t help but root for the guy even as he breaks rules, breaks laws and breaks heads.

If only this wannabe-better-than-it-is action flick was capable of matching Travolta’s magnetism with any spectacular fireworks of its own.

Alas, this paint-by-numbers spy flick is content to chug along between firefights and car chases with little care for actually constructing some sort of compelling storyline beyond Travolta’s bald, earring-wearing CIA operative mowing down bad guys with aplomb.

Maybe it’s the choice of his sidekick, the less than magnetic Jonathan Rhys Meyers, who despite toplining Showtime’s popular series “The Tudors,” has just never made much of an impact with me as an actor.

In fact, I found it difficult to even stay awake through much of the film’s slight 92 minute running time.

Here’s what I remember:

I don’t remember much about the start of the movie, actually. I’m not sure if there was a big action intro or not. I just remember Rhys Meyers, who plays a low-level government flunkie assigned to middling spy work, arguing with his French girlfriend about having to go to work. I think he also had some extended, long-winded conversation with his boss.

Initial doze off…

Suddenly, the inertia of the film’s first 20 minutes gets kicked in the keister with the introduction of Travolta’s Charlie Wax. In no short order, Travolta has dispatched a bunch of people, including customs agents, a Chinese gang and some drug dealers. Then he’s doing cocaine while driving recklessly through the streets of downtown Paris. Then Rhys Meyers is cajoled into taking a bump and they’re both talking manically while heading to pick up a prostitute. Travolta picks the woman he wants, and Rhys Meyers seems too concerned with getting his girlfriend on the phone to realize that he’s essentially tagging along with Travolta for a 2-for-1 special in the hooker’s apartment when suddenly Travolta is blasting his way through the wall or floor, I forget, and shooting more bad guys. Then he’s sliding down a pole upside down shooting more bad guys. And Rhys Meyers is trailing behind him looking thoroughly out of place.

Back to sleep…

Travolta is talking. Yadda yadda yadd…

Back to sleep…

Travolta is killing more bad guys.

Back to sleep…

Rhys Meyers girlfriend gets re-introduced to the screen. Why does she keep popping up?

Nodding off…

Suddenly she’s revealed as one of the bad guys. Huh? Whaaa?

Fighting to keep eyes open…

Rhys Meyers is pointing a gun at her. He looks conflicted. Come on, man, you can’t shoot your girl, can you?

Struggling…damn you, eyes, stay open…

Travolta and Rhys Meyers are leaving some type of embassy building that is surrounded by agents and cops with their guns drawn.

Eyes…heavy…

Travolta is heading across a tarmac toward a private jet with Rhys Meyers in tow and talking about how good of a special agent Rhys Meyers would make. Then they stop to play chess. The end.

“From Paris With Love” bears all the hallmarks of its originator, the former director Luc Besson, who stopped making cult classic films like “Leon: The Professional” and “The Fifth Element” to focus on producing and writing B-grade drive-in worthy action movies.

Since then, he has given the world such B-level classics as “The Transporter” and clunkers like “District 13” and “Kiss of the Dragon.”

Morel previously directed “District 13,” the crazy French action film spotlighting parkour, an intense and highly acrobatic style of fighting and maneuvering through tight spaces, and had a surprise smash with “Taken,” the revenge thriller featuring Liam Neeson.

“Taken” gripped audiences from the word go with a strong story, an undeniably electric performance from Neeson and some bone-crunchingly good action scenes.

“From Paris” never finds that same balance, in part, because of its paper-thin plot and, largely, because Travolta’s presence overshadows everything and everyone else. Nothing else can compete.

The Stuff You Care About:
Hot chicks – Not really.
Nudity – I don’t remember, how bad is that?
Gore – More gun violence than the opening of “Saving Private Ryan,” which says a lot.
Drug use – Yep.
Bad Guys/Killers – The only one I remember is Rhys Meyer’s girlfriend.
Buy/Rent – If you love you some Travolta, then rent it. Otherwise, avoid.
Blu-Ray Bonus Features – Exclusive: BonusView audio commentary featuring director Pierre Morel’s talking head in the corner of the screen. Additional: Making-of featurette; “Spies, Spooks and Special Ops: Life Under Cover” featurette with interviews with former CIA operatives; “Secrets of the Spy Craft” featurette, which serves as a glorified advertisement for the Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.; “Friend or Foe” trivia challenge, which I’m sad to say would require considerably more attention than the movie deserves, as it asks repeat viewers a question every minute of the entire film; “Charlie Wax’s Gun Locker” featurette, which allows you to pick from the arsenal of Travolta’s character to learn more about each individual weapon and watch specific scenes where the gun is utilized.
On the Web – http://www.frompariswithlovefilm.com/

Tales of the Gold Monkey (Shout Factory, 990 minutes, Unrated, DVD): Ah, the 1980s, a golden time for television because there really seemed to be no rules back then – it was anything goes, especially in the realm of horror, sci-fi and action-fantasy.

You could turn on one of the major networks and find a show about a school teacher turned superhero (The Greatest American Hero), an astronaut deep-sixed into space for hundreds of years (Buck Rogers in the 25th Century), even a half-hour serial about a lycanthrope (Werewolf).

Many of these shows ripped off existing source material to find a starting point. “The Greatest American Hero” was basically a take on DC Comics’ Green Lantern – an ordinary man asked to assume the responsibilities of a superhero/protector by acquiring a piece of alien technology. Instead of a glowing green ring, William Katt had some nifty red tights and a cape. “Werewolf” could easily have been called Werewolf by Night, who was first introduced in the 1970s classic Marvel Comics “Marvel Spotlight” series.
In 1982, television producer/writer Donald Bellisario, responsible for overseeing such hits as “Magnum, P.I.,” “Airwolf” and “Quantum Leap,” introduced the world to “Tales of the Gold Monkey,” a new show on ABC spotlighting Jake Cutter, a supposedly dashing ex patriot pilot flying cargo in the South Pacific just before the start of World War II.

Any resemblance to Indiana Jones, the dashing archeology professor by day, ancient artifact adventurer by night, who was introduced to the world a year earlier in “Raiders of the Lost Ark” seems, in hindsight, completely intentional.

Both Dr. Jones and Mr. Cutter wear brown leather coats. Both sport hats, although I would take Indy’s fedora anyday over Cutter’s captain’s cap. Indy had a sidekick, Sallah, who got to make funny quips. Cutter has his mechanic Corky, who isn’t nearly as funny. Indy’s love interest was the tough as nails, hard-drinking Marion Ravenwood. Cutter becomes involved with aspiring actress Sarah White, who is later revealed to be an American spy. Both men had to contend with Nazis. But only Cutter had a favorite refuge, a bar called The Gold Monkey whose proprietor Bon Chance Louie was a stuffy but helpful French man (ironically played by two different actors during the course of the show). There were jungle adventures, pirate adventures, strange ape-like beasts (I say ape-like because the makeup is so horrendous that you can easily tell there is a man wearing a hard plastic monkey face) and dangerous femme fatales.

If only Bellisario had thought to inject “Gold Monkey” with an ounce of the creativity, intelligent dialogue or pacing of “Raiders.” Then, maybe, he might have been onto something.

As Cutter, Stephen Collins goes for the goofy instead of the daring. In fistfights, he routinely gets beat up. He talks to his dog, Jack, way too much. He possesses an annoying inner monologue that is presented at random times as a voiceover. And he simply doesn’t look capable of handling himself against any threat, despite supposedly being a fighter pilot who tangled with the Japanese prior to WWII. [Interesting note: According to IMDB, the squadron that Cutter allegedly flew with, the Flying Tigers, weren’t around in the late 1930s ramp-up to war. Neither were the Zero Fighters, several of whom Cutter supposedly shot from the sky.]

The pilot episode, which was shot like a TV movie, labors on intermittingly with very little character introduction other than Jack, Cutter’s one-eyed dog. Scenes drag well past the point of necessity. The fights are poorly staged. And everybody seems to be winking at the camera as if “Gold Monkey” were an ahead-of-its-time satirical spoof of dashing jungle adventurer movies. For a few minutes, you actually find yourself wondering – is this supposed to be a parody a la “Police Squad!” which also debuted in 1982.

It’s not, and wasn’t. “Gold Monkey” aspired to be the real deal, a thrilling weekly serial that captivates viewers with tales of adventure, romance and danger at every turn.

It’s more “Land of the Lost” than “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” sadly, and it becomes clear quickly why “Tales of the Gold Monkey” lasted just one season and had but 21 episodes.

Re-watching it today, that was more than enough.

In fact, you could essentially watch the Pilot episode and the final episode and not feel as if you had missed too much.

Animation Express (Image, 333 minutes, Unrated, Blu-Ray): This impressive collection of 26 animated shorts encompasses everything from CGI to Stop-Motion to hand-drawn animation. The artists all hail from the National Film Board of Canada. Titles include “Invasion of the Space Lobsters,” “Land of the Heads,” the award-winning “Sleeping Betty” and “Madame Tutli-Putli,” and more. The Blu-Ray disc offers an additional 13 short films not available elsewhere.

Not the Messiah (He’s a Very Naughty Boy) (Sony, 91 minutes, PG, Blu-Ray): The cultural and comedic impact of the members of Monty Python can be traced back to the group’s inception in 1969. In celebration of their 40th anniversary, the surviving members produced a one-night-only live performance at London’s Royal Albert Hall featuring songs and bits inspired by their cult smash film “The Life of Brian.” For fans, it’s a dream opportunity to see a rare on-stage reunion between Eric Idle, Michael Palin, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam with only John Cleese not appearing. “Not the Messiah (He’s a Very Naughty Boy)” was created by Idle and John Du Prez, the duo responsible for the touring Broadway hit “Spamelot.”

The Illusionist (Fox, 110 minutes, PG-13, Blu-Ray): One of two magician-themed mysteries released in 2006, “The Illusionist” was the lesser-noticed, but no less impressive, film featuring Edward Norton, Jessica Biel and Paul Giamatti. Director Neil Burger keeps the twists coming as he weaves the stories of illusionist Eisenheim (Norton), the Chief Inspector (Giamatti) and the bride-to-be (Biel) of Prince Leopold into a semi-tragic tale of love that crosses the boundary of death itself.

Reader Comments

Coupons and Deals

Games, Puzzles & Trivia

Advergaming and Branded Media

IYP and SEO vendors: SEO by eLocalListing | Advertiser profiles