Comments on Moon In The Gutter: Return To The Green Inferno

Thanks Neil, Glad to hear you got to see it and yo...

2008-03-12T07:57:00.000-06:00

Thanks Neil,
Glad to hear you got to see it and you admired it as well...I think a lot of people are going to be kicking themselves for not seeing this at theaters when this monster hits DVD this summer.

Thanks to the delay in the latest American release...

2008-03-12T04:33:00.000-06:00

Thanks to the delay in the latest American releases fetching up in UK cinemas, I've only just seen 'Rambo'

I have to say, Jeremy, everything you wrote about it (and everything Brandon said on Out 1) is on the money.

Hyper-kinetic, brutally realistic, unflinching, nihilistic - it's an angry snarling movie that sinks its teeth into you and doesn't let up for the whole of its running time. 'Rambo' is one of the most intense and draining cinema-going experiences I've had in ages.

Thanks for the recommendation.

Excellent read Jeffrey. Thanks for leaving such w...

2008-01-29T06:45:00.000-06:00

Excellent read Jeffrey. Thanks for leaving such well considered and thought out comments.
I really do need to do some sort of post on one of his films eventually. I will be curious to hear your thoughts on it.
Thanks again for the very clear headed comments.

Jeremy,Thanks as always for the warm welcome - sor...

2008-01-28T12:00:00.000-06:00

Jeremy,

Thanks as always for the warm welcome - sorry if I came across as chiding.

I happen to agree with the areas of contention people usually have with Spielberg (trouble with endings, imposition of world-view sometimes derailing the story he's there to tell), but seldom sense a lack of conviction in his choices. Just the opposite, in fact. I think he's gone through a very strange, compulsive period of begging for approval from audiences that I recently see indications that he's emerging from.

Now to me, that compulsion is in and of itself fascinating, and marks him as a filmmaker who can't help but put a personal stamp on his films. I find that of value in the overall - it fits what we know of his upbringing, and it's chartable over the course of his career.

For my money, that marks him as an auteur - regardless of how it sometimes negatively impacts the apparent goals of a story he's elected to tell (RYAN is a perfect example of his taking a film off the rails).

But no balls? I don't know of a director more effective at visually implying violence than Spielberg. I'd submit that it's no lack, but instead a profound discomfort with his own potency as a visceral filmmaker - he's constantly apologizing for the effectiveness of his image-making - trying to 'take it back' and restore a status quo. His panic is palpable to me, and his recent, cathartic integration of the impulse into the very fabric of MUNICH galvanic. And extremely encouraging.

I hope you will take Spielberg on directly one of these days - I guarantee a lively back-and-forth from me if you're game.

-Jeff

Thanks Neil, This..."but whose films have develope...

2008-01-28T08:19:00.000-06:00

Thanks Neil,
This..."but whose films have developed into turgid, bloated affairs shot through with emotional manipulation."
and
"I completely agree with you about the sense of 'deflation' when the genius first half hour of 'Ryan' deteriorates into a contrived and by-the-numbers slog through a checklist of war movie tropes."...

pretty much sum it up for me. I appreciated reading this...thanks for stopping by and commenting. Hope you enjoy RAMBO.

Thanks RamboFan,
Glad you enjoyed the film as well. I am going to see it again soon.
I have always liked that the character seems apolitical to me. This guy walks alone so I don't let the politics that a critic might bring to it bother me. I hope critics aren't judging it that way from either side...
I actually don't agree with many of Sly's politics but I love the guy and his films. I appreciate that I don't feel like he is forcing any political views down my throat unlike a lot of filmmakers would (liberal and conservative).
I hate even bringing up politics here...back to the film.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting.

If I hadn't been sneakily reading this review at t...

2008-01-28T05:55:00.000-06:00

If I hadn't been sneakily reading this review at the office I'd have stood up and made with a round of applause. "The kind of film 'Saving Private Ryan' would have been if Steven Spielberg had any kind of film-making balls, which he doesn't." You have just summed up, in one wonderfully quotable sentence, my exact feelings about Spielberg. An over-rated, self-important director who was at his best helming suspense thrillers ('Duel', 'Jaws') but whose films have developed into turgid, bloated affairs shot through with emotional manipulation.

I completely agree with you about the sense of 'deflation' when the genius first half hour of 'Ryan' deteriorates into a contrived and by-the-numbers slog through a checklist of war movie tropes.

Looking forward to 'Rambo', though. It sounds like the kind of straight down the line, unapologetic action movie that modern cinema is crying out for.

I have seen it 3 times already and it kicks ass!!!...

2008-01-27T22:58:00.000-06:00

I have seen it 3 times already and it kicks ass!!! If you haven't noticed, most of the bad reviews are from liberal critics.They want Rambo to sit down and talk with these sick evil bastards, not sink an arrow through their throats. I hope our real heroes in Iraq and Afganistan get to see this film.

Hey Zablo, Thanks so much for the mention on Stall...

2008-01-27T19:04:00.000-06:00

Hey Zablo,
Thanks so much for the mention on Stallone Zone! It's one of my favorite stops and I am honored...

Hey Jeffrey,
Thanks for stopping by...always good to get comments from you. My feelings towards Spielberg are pretty complex too as I actually like a number of his films.

His "important' films almost always rub me the wrong way with SAVING PRIVATE RYAN being the one that bothers me the most.
It was probably too flippant of me to write that but I have always thought of him as one of the ultimate examples of a 'ball-less' filmmaker. By which I mean that I never get the sense that he really follows through in his films (I can't tell you how many times I have felt deflated by his endings) and I feel a lack of conviction in almost all of his work. I just don't believe the guy...
Now I realize that most would completely disagree with me but that is just what I have almost always gotten from his films...SAVING PRIVATE RYAN was kind of the ultimate example of it to me but it isn't a film I have ever revisited so who knows maybe my thoughts on it now would be different now. The distaste it left in my mouth when I saw it opening night still lingers.

Either way, not trying to ruffle any feathers and I know my above thoughts on Spielberg are scattershot and I am not offering much to back them up. Perhaps someday I will write out a well thought post on his work...and perhaps even pay tribute to some of his films I do admire...I typically try not to make callous remarks towards people's work here so I am actually glad you called me on that line...thanks again for stopping by and I have been enjoying your reading your comments on RAMBO at Mobius and I think DVD Maniacs?
Love the Gould pic by the way...

By which of course I don't mean to suggest that th...

2008-01-27T18:34:00.000-06:00

By which of course I don't mean to suggest that this is the 'Make Jeff Happy Sunshine Blog". Ahem.

Carry on.

- Jeffrey Allen Rydell

"It’s the kind of film SAVING PRIVATE RYAN would h...

2008-01-27T17:50:00.000-06:00

"It’s the kind of film SAVING PRIVATE RYAN would have been if Steven Spielberg had any real kind of film making balls, which he doesn’t."

Ya lost me.

My feelings about Spielberg are... complex, but dismissals like the above don't begin to speak to them.

- Jeffrey Allen Rydell

Well said Jeremy!

2008-01-27T13:56:00.000-06:00

Well said Jeremy!

Thanks Steve,Stallone gets a raw deal in my book. ...

2008-01-27T10:57:00.000-06:00

Thanks Steve,
Stallone gets a raw deal in my book. He's easily one of teh smartest and talented people working in Hollywood and has been for the past thirty years...hope you enjoy the film.

Thanks Keith,
I really think you will dig the film. We have lots of similiar tastes and I think this monster will be right up your alley...enjoy.

Thanks Brandon,
Super psyched to read you review. I really can't wait...

Thanks again...

My review of "Rambo" should be appearing on Out 1 ...

2008-01-27T00:45:00.000-06:00

My review of "Rambo" should be appearing on Out 1 soon. I must say that I love it as much as you did, maybe even more!

Your review definitely made me more pumped up to s...

2008-01-26T14:18:00.000-06:00

Your review definitely made me more pumped up to see this movie. I had been wanting to see it anyway. I was a fan of all 3 of the other ones, but I did think 2 and 3 got away from the original view of the character. I'm glad to see that this one is more on mark. It's also nice to see a dirty, bloody, and violent action film. I'm tired of all these slick Michael Bay action flicks that we've gotten stuck with over the last couple of days. Stallone and guys like him would make the guys in action movies today cry like babies. I was a big fan of the new Rocky, so I'm interested to see what Sly does to Rambo. Thanks for the review. I'm glad to see someone not just criticize this film because it's Stallone. Have a great weekend.

Well, you sold it to me. Stallone's work has attra...

2008-01-26T13:54:00.000-06:00

Well, you sold it to me. Stallone's work has attracted acres of criticism (sometines justified, mostly unfair) but any new film featuring his talents has got to be checked out.This one sounds like a real treat.