Movie Review – The Taking Of Pelham 123

A normal day on the New York subway is disrupted when armed men take over a subway car. The line controller finds himself caught up in the drama as the time runs out on the deadline for the hostages.

The movie was made once before starring Robert Shaw and Walter Matthau, which in turn was based on the book of the same name. This time around John Travolta and Denzel Washington take the parts of criminal and dispatcher respectively. Both are fine actors who carry the movie well. The movie is made by Tony Scott (brother of Ripley) and Taking seems very similar in visuals and colours to his last movie with Mr Washington, Deja Vu.

As with the current fashion, a lot of shots are whip shots, where the action, scenery or anything else seems to whip past the camera too quickly. Its OK for a 30 second commercial but for a movie it has become more than a little tired.

Obviously altered from the original and updated to take into account modern times, the movie is well paced and enjoyable. Travolta is charismatic as the criminal mastermind and is edgy without going over the top.

Having enjoyed the original, I had my reservations about this version which turned out to be unfounded. Its a good movie, action packed, without a boring moment.

June 16, 2009
Categories: Movies . . Author: welshrogue . Comments: Leave a Comment

Book Review – Atomic Lobster – Tim Dorsey

Serge A Storms is back and this time he is in the middle of a blood grudge between a criminal family bent on revenge and Jim Davenport, mild mannered wrong person in the wrong place. Along the way there will be blood, drugs, inventive ways to kill people and of course a cruise ship.

Serge A Storms is a wonderfully manic character. A serial killer who is just plain lovable. He loves the culture in Florida, hates bad people, and generally is a nice guy if you can avoid becoming one of his victims! This is the tenth Storms book and they are beginning to blur into one. The plots, while different, all seem the same and other than Serge finding new and wonderful ways to kill folk, there is nothing new under the sea.
A book just like all the previous ones, there is only so many druggies, sex maniacs and gangsters that Florida can handle, and the reader feels the same way!

June 16, 2009
Categories: Book Review 2009, Books . . Author: welshrogue . Comments: Leave a Comment

What Miami Vice REALLY meant to me!

I wrote a little missive describing the impact that the TV series Miami Vice had on me. I talked about the fashion, the cars, the music, the look of the show and how it had made me feel, both then and now. How it had influenced me in various ways, pushed or pulled me into different situations based on what I had learnt from the show. Now after watching the FIVE series straight through I have come to realise that everything I had based that missive on, and apparently half of my life, was only the first series, not the whole enchilada!

For instance, I didn’t realise that Detective Trudy Joplin had a sign on her desk that read Trudy “Big Booty” Joplin! I had also forgotten about Izzy. Izzy or to give him his proper name, Isidore Moreno was a small time crook and big time informant for the cops which he would give in his broken English, using incorrect analogies and mixed up phrases and words. He was pretty much comic relief while furthering the plot by giving information to Crockett and Tubbs.

When watching five series of anything, you will notice where certain locations or set reappear, like the one location which was either an island paradise, a fishing town where drug dealers ruled, or where
military kidnappers held someone.  You also started seeing the same clips of downtown Miami, where hookers and pimps hung out, made more noticeable when it appears the film was taken in New York in the early seventies!

Edward James Olmos was brought in mid way through series one as Lieutenant Martin Castillo, and for the next four and a half series, I believe he smiles twice. He is way more Gaff from Blade Runner than Adama from BSG. He is moody, secretive, thoughtful, unless the episode calls for martial arts and violence where he suddenly becomes this wild man.

Because Miami Vice became the hip place to be seen, there were multiple up and coming stars as well as established stars who appeared in episodes. Willie Nelson as an ex- Texas Ranger, Liam Neeson as an Irish terrorist, Ian McShane as a Columbian drug lord and also a South American corrupt general…. Ian McShane? Lovejoy?? WTF? Several artists appeared twice as different characters such as Stanley Tucci. Possibly the best guest appearances was by Denis Farina as Albert Lombard, who becomes more than likable with his few appearances starting in the first series and finishing in the last. He really does grow into this enjoyable character, and if he had been given the opportunity to be in every episode probably would have become simliar to G’Kar from Babylon 5 in growing from a bit part into one of the most likeable and strongest character on the screen.

For every good appearance there were not so good ones, Miles Davis as a pimp who half the time doesn’t seem to know what he is pimping, Julia Roberts as a paper thin character who gets to sleep with Sonny, Little Richard who is on screen for moments only. Possibly the most bizarre is James Brown who believes in little green men.

On a side note, if you combine about ten episodes from Miami Vice the series, you can create the script for Miami Vice the movie which Michael Mann also made.

Plots started strong at the beginning of the series but by series five were scraped from the bottom of the proverbial barrel. One episode towards the end introduced a young cop who pretty much was the star of the episode. Crocket and Tubbs appear briefly but other than that it was more 21 Jump Street than Miami Vice.

While Jan Hammer gets credit and deservedly so, for creating the soundscapes for the series, in series five he was replaced by Tim Truman. I didn’t remember this and to be fair, I should have. Gone are the thick layers of synths, to be replaced by big drums, and rock guitar. Suddenly I am realising that I subconsciously remember this music as it guided me into listening to various guitar albums such as Guitar Speak, and discs from Steve Vai, and compilations from Guitar World etc.. Whereas Jan Hammer
used his Keytar to add heavy chugging riffs or soaring solo lines, now a real guitar was doing the work and doing the work well. At times it does sound more like aural masturbation than constructed music but it does work.

As I watched episode after episode, I started wondering how big is the criminal underworld in Miami, because I would have expected that word would have gotten out pretty quickly about two vice cops driving around in a white Ferrari busting drug dealers.

After five series, the show ended with the main characters quitting the force, taking the Ferrari with them. I felt burnt out as multiple episodes merged into one big montage of action. Miami Vice was a good show for the time it was made, if you pick out the good bits, ignore the bad bits and understand that it was never going to be as good as a Hill Street Blues. It was a pop culture show for the pop culture audience and after watching it all, my eyes have gone pop.

June 15, 2009
Categories: Uncategorized . . Author: welshrogue . Comments: Leave a Comment

Movie Review – Terminator Salvation

The fourth in the Terminator series, but the first to show the world after Judgement Day. John Conner and the resistance are struggling to fight the machines as the war rages on. There is no end in sight and the machines keep making new models. Could humans really be defeated?

This movie feels like a combination of several different types of media, Movies – Mad Max, TV Shows – Battlestar Galactica, Books – War Of The Worlds.  It seems to take a little from each and make something different out of it.

Christian Bale is John Conner, or at least John Conner pretending to be Christian Bale. I found it hard to discern between Conner and previous Bale roles such as Batman, same voice, same man of action. I wonder how Batman would fare against the machines? Same Worthington is excellent as Marcus Wright although at times he reminded me of Helo from BSG. I have to admit it, Moon Bloodgood is stunning, even shot, covered in blood and dirt, she really is the real deal! Look forward to seeing her in many more movies! Anton Yelchin is just as good but no where near as stunning. Considering the last time we say Mr Yelchin (who looks about 10) on the screen he was having problems saying Vulcan on Star Trek, I never once confused him with Kyle Reese!

There is lots of actions, multiple explosions, enough to satisfy any Michael Bay fan anyway! Sometimes the shaky cam spoils the fight scenes but overall some excellent cinematography. Good special effects although I found a couple that were on Marcus Wright just made me think of The Dark Knight, you’ll know what I am talking about when you see them.

What I did find irritating and downright annoying more than once was the apparent need to reference the previous movies either by the classic lines of “Come with me if you want to live” and “I’ll be back” to the use of a Guns and Roses song which also featured in Terminator 2. They took you out of the movie and spoiled the moment several times. There was no need to do this other than to humour fans of the previous movie.

I had seen a lot of reviews that were pretty negative about the movie and hoped that it would be better than that. It was, but it wasn’t perfect by any means. Its an OK movie with a hollywood ending that spoils things a bit by being obvious. If violent machine vs human is your thing, pass the popcorn!

May 22, 2009
Categories: Book Review 2007 . . Author: welshrogue . Comments: Leave a Comment

Movie Review – Star Trek

Reboot of the series of movies based on the television series. Seriously, if you don’t know what Star Trek is, how are you using the internet?

The plot is almost secondary to what you see on the screen. The plot tells the story of how the crew of the Enterprise meet, get together and etc. etc. etc. What you get though is faithful reproductions of well loved characters by new actors who have breathed new life into the roles and made the reboot something special to behold. From the start, the visual look is set with lots and lots of lens flares which are OK for a while but then become a little annoying after a while. It also introduces fast camera whips for any physical action which while it may be the current trend among film-makers, does tend to spoil the view of what is happening action wise.

The cast are so well picked that just watching them on screen is like re-living old episodes of Star Trek in HD. It is that good. Chris Pine as Kirk isn’t what we know and love to be at first. Rather you get to watch as he becomes the man, the legend, yes, he becomes William Shatner without the bad acting! Zachary Quinto looks like, and acts like Leonard Nimoy. It isn’t just the ears, its how he walks, talks, everything!! Of the other cast, several stand out but special mention must be made for Karl Urban and Simon Pegg who inherit the roles of Bones and Scotty respectively and continue them with more than a nod towards James Doohan and DeForest Kelley. Seriously, these guys were born for these roles.

There is so much well placed humour, never taking away from the action but keeping the dialogue going, with more than a few well placed ‘classic’ lines from the TV show. For a movie that is listed as 126 minutes, I could have sat there for another hour basking in the wonder of it all.

I am a self confessed geek, I love all things sci fi, I get sci fi humour but this movie is more than just a remake of a classic movie based on a classic television show. It is a really good movie by itself that stands alone if you are not acquainted with the long history of Star Trek, although if you aren’t acquainted with the show, do you even know what moving pictures are?

If this could be made into a television series with this cast, you would have a sure fire hit on your hands. As it is, hopefully there will be first a DVD packed to the gills with extras, out-takes and more and then a sequel or five movies.

After the flop and fail of The Day The Earth Stood Still remake, it truly is a glorious thing to have a remake, or reboot, that shines, stands up to the original and is going to make new fans for the old show! Did I mention I loved it?

May 8, 2009
Categories: Movie Review, Movies . . Author: welshrogue . Comments: 1 Comment

Miami Vice and the effect on me

In 1984 Miami Vice appeared on our TV screens. Pastel coloured suits and fast cars, gun battles and fast boats, drug runners and fast women. It wasn’t like anything I had ever seen before, it was vastly different from Hill Street Blues, Starsky and Hutch, and all those other cop shows that had come before. Yes, it was a buddy show, but it also had a good
supporting cast. Yes, it had Ferraris but at the time, I was probably more of a Lambo fan. I did have the poster of the white Countach on my bedroom wall.

Two things made Miami Vice stand out to me. One was how it looked, and that was thanks to Michael Mann. The other was the music, original music by Jan Hammer, and the various songs that would be used during the show, often in place of dialogue.

The look of the show was different. At the time I had no idea at all about Miami, probably including where it was. After all I was only 14 when I first saw the show and living in the damp cold of Wales! Miami is a striking place to look at. Art deco gone slightly insane! The buildings themselves are fantastic to look at with the varied designs and colours. What caught my eye was how it was filmed, often at night and how everything looked right. Lots of night shots made the show more real to my mind than one where you just see daylight during an episode.

Most people can recall the moment during the pilot episode where Crockett and Tubbs are driving through Miami at night. This moment is special for two reasons, one of which I will mention in a minute. Long shots over the hood of the car, close ups of a back wheel, and in car shots all work wonderfully. Who hasn’t driven at night though a city that seems deserted? If you are driving a normally busy place and there are few if any other vehicles around, it does feel different. Especially at night, when its warm. There is no other feel.

Car chases were common place in Miami Vice, and quite rightly to my mind because where else would they happen? I couldn’t imagine a car chase down the main streets of Cardiff, Wales. It had to happen in the US and Miami Vice represented a large part of my knowledge about the US at that time. I knew that Hill Street Blues was in a busy city but didn’t seem to have that many chases. Starsky and Hutch did but even then, they didn’t excite my boyhood senses the way they did in Miami Vice.

Michael Mann who was the executive producer of the show, has since made a big screen version of Miami Vice and also Collateral, both bring up the feel of the Miami Vice show. Long shots at night, driving through cities. Perhaps its just me but the imagery of this stays with me for a long time.

The other part of Miami Vice that made such an impact on me was the music and perhaps the way the music was used. I was 14 years old, and without much knowledge of reality (some things have not changed) so I believed that this was how life should be. Music that suited the moment, and pop songs that I already knew, used in ways that increased my liking of them expediently. So much so that I made three mix tapes of music that I believed was suited perfectly to night time listening.

There were two parts to the music of Miami Vice, the first being the original music of Jan Hammer. Yes, most folk remember the theme tune to Miami Vice, the bombastic opening, the ‘keytar’ that Hammer used to play but to me, the best music was the moody music you would hear when there was very little dialogue and the music was being used to carry a moment or scene. I bought the Miami Vice album, and it had four Hammer tunes (can’t touch that!) of which, one was the theme tune and three were instrumentals
that had been used in episodes.
I should state right now that I love rock music, soul, especially Stax Volt, guitar instrumentals and even show tunes but I have a big love for synth music. Jan Hammer created music that to my inexperienced ear sounded a lot like Tangerine Dream. Moody, emotional, and yet often understated. In fairness I should point out that I also own the soundtrack for Risky Business which contains several Tangerine Dream tracks as well as the soundtrack to Thief which was created by Tangerine Dream. The movie Thief was also directed by Michael Mann! Coincidence or not?
But back to the Hammer. Different styles of music suited different episodes and Hammer created them all. A late night talk show feel, a Colombian feel, a haunting melody that seemed to hang in the air during a poignant moment. It all fitted into the bigger picture of Miami Vice and helped it be something special. I also bought Escape From Television, Jan Hammers album filled with tracks for Miami Vice and still enjoy listening to it. The style of music resonates with me, so much so that I believe it was Jan Hammers music that first pointed me in the direction of trying to create music. I have several guitars that I can played badly but I record most of my music with a large keyboard connected to a computer.

The other part of the Miami Vice music was songs by artists I had heard of. Earlier I had mentioned that classic scene of Crockett and Tubbs driving at night. One of the reasons why this scene is so memorable is that there is barely any dialogue, but there is Phil Collins ‘In The Air Tonight’ being played, filling in with the emotions and atmosphere. With
the actors looking serious, and images of the car driving though the city, it was utterly perfect use of a song that I had liked at the time but not to any great extent. In fact, other than this scene the only time I can really remember being in love with this song is for the Cadbury’s commercial where there is a Gorilla playing drums to this song.

Several artists had guest roles in the show, often coinciding with one of their songs appearing in the episode. It seemed to be a bit of a pay off but I don’t remember ever watching an episode and feeling that a song didn’t fit into place and do the job I felt it had been written for. Often a song that I was already aware of, would be used in an episode and I
would appreciate the song more than before because of how it had been used. In a way, it felt as if these songs were being explained by their use in the show.

I can spend years without watching an episode or even thinking about it, but every now and again, I remember, and I smile. Miami Vice still inspires me to create music, listen to music and to wear pastel suits, no socks and drive around at night with sunglasses on. Ok, maybe only two out of three then!

May 1, 2009
Categories: Stuff . . Author: welshrogue . Comments: Leave a Comment

Book Review – The Altman Code – Gayle Lynds

A cargo ship from China is going to the middle east and it may or may not be carrying biological weapons. This is the dilemma facing the president of the United States. Well that and there appears to be a man in a Chinese prison who may be his father.

Although written by Gayle Lynds, the books states Robert Ludlum on the cover because it is another one of those spin off books, even though Mr Ludlum is no longer with us.  It deals with Covert-One, a secret agency that answers only to the president and one of their assets, Jon Smith. It’s funny how different writers can make such a difference to a
character. While The Altman Code is far from being a drag to read, I much preferred The Arctic Event written by James H Cobb. The characters were more enjoyable and the action faster paced.

The Altman Code is not a bad book but its a slower read than I would prefer and not as exciting as I might have wished for. Other than that, an enjoyable book.

April 21, 2009
Categories: Book Review 2009, Books . . Author: welshrogue . Comments: Leave a Comment

Book Review – South of Shiloh – Chuck Logan

In Mississippi, a man from Minnesota is taking part in a reenactment of a civil war battle when his life is suddenly ended. Was it an accident as the police are suggesting or was it an attempt on the life of the man standing next to the victim? The mans widow has only one person to turn to, the father of her child, a man she has not seen for eleven years, a disgraced photographer.

Unlike previous books that focused on the main character of Phil Broker and his family, and stay within the confines of the Minnesota border, South of Shiloh spends the majority of the action in the steamy south of Mississippi as the main character of John Rane discovers that the civil war may be over but there is still a lot of history happening. Its funny that the book doesn’t even read like the previous books, its is more like a Harlen Coben novel, and this isn’t a bad thing. Chuck Logan’s books are hard hitting, action packed and full of emotional twists and turns before the final page is read and South of Shiloh is no different. Its just that it feels different. There is a large chunk of history from the civil war en-wrapped in the book with some great details and enough information to help anyone who doesn’t know which side wore blue.

Another very enjoyable book by Chuck Logan, a surprising change of page but still very enjoyable and a good read. I hope this is not the last we read of John Rane!

April 7, 2009
Categories: Book Review 2009, Books . . Author: welshrogue . Comments: Leave a Comment

Book Review – The Navigator – Clive Cussler & Paul Kemprecos

A statue of a sailor from 900 BC appears to be the reason why people are being killed and there would be more dead with not for the timely intervention of Kurt Austin of NUMA. Now he must find the real reason why a mysterious man is behind murder, theft and perhaps human sacrifice.

Another Kurt Austin story, the seventh, and again, I believe a return to form from Clive Cussler. After so many of the recent books missing that vital ingredient that made the earlier Dirk Pitt books un-put-down-able, the master story teller seems to be firing on all cylinders. The Navigator has all the ingredients of a classic Cussler novel. A prologue set deep into history, a loony power mad villain and high adventure on, under and off the water.

A great adventure book, and one worthy of joining the long list of good books that Clive Cussler has written.

April 2, 2009
Categories: Book Review 2009, Books . . Author: welshrogue . Comments: Leave a Comment

Book Review – Sins of the Assassin – Robert Ferrigno

In the year 2043 the United States that is split in two. One half ruled by Islam, the other Christianity. Both struggling to survive and both under attack from within and without.  Rakkim Epps, a muslim shadow warrior must travel from the Islamic Republic in the north west of the country south and east to to stop a warlord from finding and using a weapon from many years before.

The second book in the triolgy, Sins of the Assassin doesn’t waste much time letting the reader catch up on the first book, Prayers for the Assassin, and to be honest it doesn’t need to. The back story is filled in as the plot progresses. The main character, Rakkim, is very enjoyable to read. He is as quick to think as he is to kill, and yet, he isn’t just a
weapon. The other characters are also fun although not to the same extent with the exception of Leo, who perhaps adds some needed levity.

The furture is not a shiny one with clean streets and happy children, far from it, but Sins of the Assassin makes it seem like an interesting place all the same. A very good followup to the first book!

March 26, 2009
Categories: Book Review 2007 . . Author: welshrogue . Comments: Leave a Comment

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