First, I've got to say, I like John Cusack. And it's not one of those weird likes. I enjoy the man's work. He says (according to his IMDB.com page) that he tries hard to act well for the movies he likes, and he just does some movies for the money, but to be completely honest, I can't tell the difference in the acting. I don't know whether that makes him a good actor, or a bad one, but either way, I seem to enjoy watching his movies. From the list on his IMDB.com profile, I can easily remember seeing about half his lifetime of work, movies that I can instantly recall just from seeing the title alone, and that's pretty impressive, if you ask me. I can't really say whether he's just being himself in every role, or whether he's a character actor, or even what that really means. I just know he usually takes part in movies that are fun to watch.
The Numbers Station is no exception. Netflix classifies it as a "race against time" movie. I didn't even realize there was such a genre, so I would have classified this movie as pure "action," which it is. To sum it up without giving anything away, I'll just define the title. A "numbers station," according to the beginning of the movie, is a secret government-controlled radio station that uses coded broadcasts to send encrypted orders to agents in the field. According to the movie, such broadcasts are untraceable and the codes can't be broken, making them the perfect way to transmit orders. John Cusack plays an agent who is assigned to such a station, and to sum things up, the station, at some point in the movie, becomes "compromised."
I don't know how I managed it, but I summed up a movie without giving away a goddamn thing. I'm rather proud of myself. I mean, yes, I mentioned that the station becomes compromised, but, please, it's the name of the movie, and you KNOW there's going to be some sort of problem or there wouldn't be a movie about it, right? I mean, compromised is pretty goddamn vague. Could mean anything from aliens to secret agents to ninjas to sea monsters from Korea. Anything. Pretty goddamn open, that word is.
So, let me see. John Cusack plays the agent. There's a girl. Some hot chick. Seen her before, don't know what her name is. You know why i don't know what her name is? She hasn't done any monster movies. Yes, that's right. I love horror and monster and creature features. If you haven't been in one, I don't know you. John has done several, not to mention the odd romantic comedy that I enjoy laughing at on occasion, and that's how I know him so well. And by him, I mean, his work. John tends to stay out of the media circus, and that's another thing to like about John Cusack. There's some other people in the movie as well, most notably, Liam Cunningham, I think his name is? Yea, that's him, should be easily recognizable, i've seen him in a lot of things. Acting is decent, at least, I never saw anyone and thought "Oh, that's whatsisname, from wherever," because I was too wrapped up in the movie to even think about the actors, and they acted well enough to leave me in my little bubble of entertainment. lol
This movie is almost all action, which is maybe why it didn't do so well at the box office. At least, I guess it didn't do so well, because I had never heard of it before seeing it on Netflix. Now, action is usually a good thing, but in this movie, there was a few things that could have been improved. The station itself was pretty awesome, an abandoned american military base in england. They showed the base a little bit, but I think if they had played up the setting a bit more, the wholly abandoned feel of the place, it might have added to the atmosphere. Two, there wasn't much action going on between the two main characters. Very little chemistry, no sparks flying, not much romantic tension, you know? It would have really gone against type for John's character, and I get that, but I think it still would have added something to the movie if things were a little more, I don't know, "sparky." Three, there's not really a whole lot of question as to who's doing what or what's going on. They do a great job of explaining things, and you can figure out what's happening almost immediately, but there's no real question about it then, is there? There's no twist at the end that makes the whole movie make sense, which is what happens in a lot of movies, and often adds to the tension and makes people remember the movie a bit better for the surprise. Oh and of course, female nudity, which this movie has none of, always makes a movie better. I don't know why, but being an average straight american male, it just does, somehow.
All in all, the movie was enjoyable, there was tons of action, bullets, explosions, the usual action fare, and a hot chick to drool over, even though she wasn't naked. I'd probably watch it again, and I'm honestly confused as to why it never made the rounds on the premium channels, or maybe it did and I just missed it, somehow. Catch it on netflix if you like. Pretty sure it was just added recently, and it was just made this year, so I doubt they'll drop it from the lineup anytime in the next few months.
Oh, fuck me! Liam Cunningham! Of course! I just made the connection to where I had seen him! Dog Soldiers! One of the best werewolf movies I've ever seen! I liked it so much I got it on DVD! he played Captain Ryan, the bastard leader of the black ops squad that gets raped by werewolves at the beginning of the movie! Holy shit, no wonder I know the guy. I'm pretty sure he always plays a hard ass military type. Typecast, maybe, but he does his job well. I sure as hell hated the guy in that movie, and that's just plain good acting! lol Yea, so there's another reason to watch the movie. The guy looks totally different with a beard, though, just saying. I almost didn't recognize him.
Holy freakin shit! He's also Davos, the onion Knight from Game of Thrones! :-o I been watching Game of Thrones for three seasons now and I never even made the connection... Goddamn. That's good acting, right there. Same face, bearded or not, and I can't even recognize him from one role to the next. And he always plays policemen, soldiers, people in authority, that kind of thing. Maybe typecast, maybe a character actor, but either I'm senile or he's good at his job. I'm really hoping he's good at his job, because if I'm senile, I'm going to start leaving my house without pants on any day now, and honestly, where would I put my wallet and keys? Man, that bites. I'd hate to lock myself out of the house. Especially without pants. Especially next winter! :-o
In other news, I made a prediction a few months back that the summer would be cool and wet. It was a prediction based on several factors. One, we've had unusually warm and dry seasons the last few years, and a return to less dry and less warm weather was expected. It's like watching it come up Black on the roulette wheel 6 times in a row and then betting on Red. Also, this past winter was wetter and colder than the previous winter. It may not have been as wet or as cold as an average winter for these parts, but compared to the winter of 2011-2012, which was warm and dry, it signaled a return to more normal temperatures. More normal temperatures, for this region, means a relatively cool and damp summer, so I figured forecasting a cool and damp summer to be a pretty safe bet. Turns out I was right so far. Been cool, and damp, and so wet I haven't been able to mow the lawn in about 2 weeks because of all the freestanding swampland back there. Or, I think they call them "vernal pools," meaning, depressions that fill up with water in the spring and then evaporate come summer. At least, I hope they evaporate, because if they don't, I expect frogs to make a comeback just in this area alone for all the breeding grounds. I may not know shit about variations in the jet stream or how El Nino or La Nina will affect the tropical storms in the gulf of Mexico or whatever, but let's face it, the important thing in meteorological science isn't to tell people what's already going on out there. Any idiot can look out the window at the clouds and say it might rain. People don't need to be told what it's doing outside right now, or why. What they really want to know is, what is it going to do tomorrow? And the day after? And 6 months from now? Which would ultimately lead to, "is that hurricane or tornado going to hit me or not?" That's the real goal of meteorology. Predictions. Accurate predictions. To save lives, to save money, and to save me from getting my ass wet next time I go to a picnic and it pours. Because really, who likes a wet ass if it's not on a hot babe in the shower?
Exactly. I knew you'd agree. Til next time! :-D
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