what do you do, sleep with that thing under your pillow? / I would if I slept

Average rating: 6.75, with the strangest spread of ratings I've had in a while

Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) - "This dramatic retelling of the Pearl Harbor attack details everything in the days that led up to that tragic moment in American history. As United States and Japanese relations strain over the U.S. embargo of raw materials, Air Staff Officer Minoru Genda (Tatsuya Mihashi) plans the preemptive strike against the United States. Although American intelligence agencies intercept Japanese communications hinting at the attack, they are unwilling to believe such a strike could ever occur on U.S. soil."
length: 2 hours, 24 minutes

source: I borrowed the DVD from a friend's collection
I watched it because: it's a WWII movie I haven't seen; how could I resist??
IMDB: 7.5/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 57% Audience: 81%
my IMDB: 6/10

MPAA rating: G (??!)

notable quote: "We got 183 combat planes on this base, general. The way they're parked now, a one-eyed monkey hanging from a balloon could scatter them to hell with one hand grenade."

directed by: Richard Fleischer, Kinji Fukasaku, Toshio Masuda

my notes: 2 hours of yackety-yack buildup for maybe 24 minutes of action, more than half of which (the yapping) is in Japanese with insufficient subtitles. The hard part is that one already knows what's happened, what's going to happen, who the main players are, and how and why they did what they did. Well, if one has always thought too much about WWII. 

    There are better options out there. 

    Roger Ebert's review is here, which I thought was painfully funny.

Academy Award winner: Best Effects, Special Visual Effects—A.D. Flowers, L.B. Abbott
Academy Award nominee:
• Best Cinematography—Charles F. Wheeler, Osamu Furuya, Shinsaku Himeda, Masamichi Satô

• Best Art Direction - Set Decoration—Jack Martin Smith, Yoshirô Muraki, Richard Day, Taizô Kawashima, Walter M. Scott, Norman Rockett, Carl Biddiscombe

• Best Sound—Murray Spivak, Herman Lewis

• Best Film Editing—James E. Newcom, Pembroke J. Herring, Shinya Inoue
overall: not strongly recommended

 

The Man from Nowhere (2010) - "An ex-special agent Cha Tae-shik's only connection to the rest of the world is a little girl, So-mi, who lives nearby. Her mother, Hyo-jeong smuggles drugs from a drug trafficking organization and entrusts Tae-shik with the product, without letting him know. The traffickers find out about her smuggling and kidnap both Hyo-jeong and So-mi. The gang promises to release them if Tae-shik makes a delivery for them, however it actually is a larger plot to eliminate a rival drug ring leader. When Hyo-jeon's disemboweled body is discovered, Tae-shik realizes that So-mi's life may also be in danger. Tae-shik becomes enraged at the prospect that So-mi may already be dead and prepares for a battle, putting his own life at risk."
length: 1 hour, 59 minutes

source: I own the DVD
I watched it because: it's one of my favorites, and it was time for a solid win

    previously reviewed here
IMDB: 7.7/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 100% Audience: 90%
my IMDB: 10/10

MPAA rating: R

notable quote: "...Mister?"

directed by: Lee Jeong-beom

my notes: I love this film. Won Bin (Cha Tae-Shik) can do more with a brief facial expression than most actors can do with a multi-minute monologue. Doesn't hurt that he's gorgeous, either. It's a good story, excellently played, with fights well-choreographed, and profoundly violent—but also incredibly tender and lovely. It makes me cry!

overall: most highly recommended

The Bridge at Remagen (1969) - "Fatigued by the long combat in Europe, Lt. Phil Hartman (George Segal) and his men are ordered to advance on Remagen, a possible toehold into enemy territory. Meanwhile, Maj. Paul Kreuger (Robert Vaughn) of the German armed forces is ordered to defend the town and the nearby bridge across the Rhine. As a desperate battle commences, Hartman and Kreuger both find themselves pawns of larger forces and witness how war can turn each side against itself."
length: 1 hour, 55 minutes

source: I borrowed a friend's DVD
I watched it because: as ought to be clear to anyone, I'm a sucker for WWII movies
IMDB: 6.7/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 20% Audience: 58%
my IMDB: 4/10

MPAA rating: R

notable quote: "[listening to approaching aircraft] 'Ours or theirs?'

    'Enemy planes, sir.'

    'But who is the enemy?'"

directed by: John Guillermin

my notes: big, solid Meh. The main (American) character is a sociopath, and the rest of the Americans are either blind-stupid or abhorrent or both. The only decent person in the film is Robert Vaughn's Herr Major Kreuger, the German commander in an impossible position. Without anyone to admire, this story is a hard sell. 

    If one is looking for a solid 'war bridge' movie, try instead A Bridge Too Far (1977, reviewed here) or, better still, The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957, reviewed here).

overall: not  recommended

Lethal Weapon (1987) - "Following the death of his wife, Los Angeles police detective Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) becomes reckless and suicidal. When he is reassigned and partnered with Roger Murtaugh (Danny Glover), Riggs immediately clashes with the older officer. Together they uncover a massive drug-trafficking ring. As they encounter increasingly dangerous situations, Riggs and Murtaugh begin to form a bond. Riggs' volatile behavior might just help them apprehend the criminals—if it doesn't kill them both first."
length: 1 hour, 49 minutes

source: I own the DVD ...  again ...  after having sold the last set I had
I watched it because: I wanted an old reliable that would distract from a stressful day

    previously reviewed here
IMDB: 7.6/10  -  Rotten Tomatoes: Tomatometer: 80% Audience: 86%
my IMDB: 7/10

MPAA rating: R

notable quote: "'God hates me. That's what it is.'

    'Hate him back; it works for me.'"

directed by: Richard Donner

my notes: it's a wild one, for sure. Don't walk away and expect to have a clue where you are in the picture once you've returned. It's mostly pretty people being pretty crazy, which is entertaining. I especially like the fraught hesitancy of the buddy angle, especially when one considers the time period over which it develops.

    Roger Ebert's über-enthusiastic review is here, which made me snort but with which I generally agree.

Academy Award nominee: Best Sound—Les Fresholtz, Rick Alexander, Vern Poore, Bill Nelson
overall:  recommended

 

[the title quotation is from Lethal Weapon]