Author Topic: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time  (Read 235182 times)

smirnoff

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Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #1360 on: February 09, 2014, 12:03:57 AM »

Her name is Marine Jahan and she was known as Jennifer Beals double in Flashdance.

I spent a long time not sure if it was a guy or girl. I didn't know what kind of place The Battery was.

1SO

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Streets of Fire - One Chapter at a Time
« Reply #1361 on: February 10, 2014, 12:06:53 AM »

Streets of Fire - Escape From The Battery
"I'll be comin' for her…
"…and I'll be comin' for you too."


Cody stays behind to buy everyone else time to escape. His fighting is nothing more than a bunch of shots of him knocking bikers in the face with a swinging rifle, but the editing is so sharp it plays like a more complicated action scene. When he fires at the pipe filled with gasoline (?) it's shown from multiple angles. In one of the best moments. Raven walks out of the fire nice and slow. He's kind of impressed with Tom, but looks forward to getting his revenge. Dafoe gets a lot out of very few words, and acting against a blank.

The annoying side of Rick Moranis finally bubbles up. Motormouth jerky crankiness is only going to work for so long. He's reached the end of his goodwill. After here, every time he talks you hope this is the comment that pushes Tom into knocking him out. It peaks at the end of this 15-minute Chapter when the bus gets a flat tire. "The only trouble with kicking the shit out of you is it would be too easy," Tom says but I wish he would do it anyway.

The music when Tom rides off to rejoin the group is the most 80s moment of this excessively 80s film. There's a bonus number here as our heroes walk through The Strip, a cover of Stevie Nicks' "Sorcerer". Also a bonus character. Much as I like the film, I don't understand why they wrote in this groupie. She serves no purpose ever and they're not even sure how to get rid of her when the time comes. The Sorels on the other hand, I like them. This Chapter goes all the way to their performance of "Countdown to Love", a very sweet moment. Nice that such a square-jawed picture can work in a nice doo-wop ditty and show everyone smiling along.
Rating: * * *

smirnoff

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Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #1362 on: February 10, 2014, 04:18:44 PM »
Yes, that is a great moment for the film. :)

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Streets of Fire - One Chapter at a Time
« Reply #1363 on: February 10, 2014, 10:35:26 PM »

Streets of Fire - Road Block
"Nice to see there's some integrity left in the force."

The racist cops are an episodic part of the journey home, but it's really tightly directed and unlike most of the film, relies more on performance than style. Character actor Peter Jason has worked with Walter Hill 9 times, and he proves there are no small parts. Last seen as the cowboy bartender who tries to get the best of Eddie Murphy in 48 Hrs., here he's the racist cop.

This is a jewel of a scene, allowing for Madigan, then Moranis and finally Pare to do some of their best work as they try to talk, buy and finally muscle their way out. There's another nice moment of friendship with The Sorels, who react to the cop's racist remarks and then cheer as the police vehicles are blasted.

Here's where we first get that strange blast of electricity as they board a train which crosses districts. I wonder what they were going for with this. The blast even sounds science fiction.
Rating: * * * 1/2

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Streets of Fire - One Chapter at a Time
« Reply #1364 on: February 10, 2014, 10:58:27 PM »

Streets of Fire - Back to the Richmond
"I hate you for taking money to come and get me."

I'm going to get this out of the way. 13 minutes of mostly treading water and tying up emotional loose ends.

I like that The Richmond is a small enough place that everyone just leaves what they're doing and heads for the police station when Tom returns with Ellen. One of Michael Pare's best small moments is his look when Reva approaches and he can tell she's going to hug him.

What the hell is the groupie still doing here?


"I want Tom Cody."

Willem Dafoe gets the same dialogue as everyone else, but he's much better at delivering it than anyone. I like that he isn't going big or campy, though the film would indicate that to be the way to go. He's a genuinely threatening presence. If Harry Potter had been made in the 1980s, you'd be looking at Voldemort.


"What did I do that was so wrong?"

The rainy day is where the film almost falls apart. You can sense it's time to move on, or at least move along at a better pace. There are still good moments, but this is not Top 100 material.

What the hell is the groupie still doing here?

Tom knocks out Ellen Aim. I don't advocate violence against women and I don't believe the film does either.
Rating: * * 1/2

1SO

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Streets of Fire - One Chapter at a Time
« Reply #1365 on: February 11, 2014, 10:51:53 PM »


Streets of Fire - Rumble
"I got something special in mind."

Back on top. The blues score, the sound mix of rifles and rumbly cycles, the many unforgettable looks by Willem Dafoe and Rick Moranis finally gets knocked to the pavement. I really love this small moment…


"Well, my plan went to shit. Let's see how you do."

What follows is simply one of the greatest fight scenes I've ever seen. The choreography, editing (which often throws choreography aside), and the clang of those hammer axes as they swing with great force. I have watched this scene over and over again. It is probably the bar to which I hold all other one-on-one fights. Jackie Chan is great against a crowd, but he's never taken on one person in a scene as good as this. (2nd best might be Neo's training with Morpheus in The Matrix.)

There's so much tension in the middle as Tom forces Raven's weapon to the ground. he swings back and sees Raven's lip quivering. When Tom throws away his weapon, Raven balls up his fists and you hear it on the sound mix. We're only halfway done.


Reposted for awesomeness.

During the fistfight, the camera swings down to a reaction shot by Raven's 2nd. He realizes his boss is going to lose. I'm into this more than any similar shot from the fights in Raging Bull. (Unpopular opinion, but I said it.) The fight ends not with a knockout blow, but an inspired push. Throw in the sound of 100 rifles preparing to fire and there you have it.
Rating: * * * * *

smirnoff

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Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #1366 on: February 12, 2014, 05:30:58 PM »

"Well, my plan went to shit. Let's see how you do."

Loved that.

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Re: Streets of Fire - One Chapter at a Time
« Reply #1367 on: February 13, 2014, 12:46:07 AM »
Streets of Fire - "I Can Dream About You"

When it came out, the most famous thing about Streets of Fire was this song. It always made for an odd fit into the movie because when it comes up, I'm no longer in the world of the film but recognizing the song that's popular in my world. It is a good song, and still sounds good today. (What do you know, something in Streets of Fire that isn't dated.)

Meanwhile, Tom ties up loose ends. First he tells Billy Fish why he won't say goodbye to Ellen… then he says goodbye to Ellen. Sometimes, it's like they wrote the script and then put it away until it was time to film. Luckily, both scenes are reasonably well-written, the film is back to all that cool stage lighting and "I Can Dream About You" times out to be a wonderful song to say goodbye to.
Rating: * * * 1/2
« Last Edit: August 27, 2020, 12:43:01 PM by 1SO »

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Streets of Fire - One Chapter at a Time
« Reply #1368 on: February 13, 2014, 11:35:46 PM »

Streets of Fire - "Tonight is What it Means to Be Young"

When I did Chapter breakdowns for the Pixar films, each one contained new questions and new insight with the approach. I'm a bit disappointed that Streets of Fire didn't do the same. The cool parts are still Très Cool, the bad parts still stick out and it still hangs in my Top 100 on a large nugget of creativity wrapped in a hard candy shell of nostalgia. What I learned is what you all taught me with your fresh perspectives, through your reviews and comments. It's also reassuring to read that the film gets a lot more right than wrong.

We end at the beginning. Another performance by Ellen Aim and the Attackers. Another epic rock song by Jim Steinman, coupled with Andrew Laszlo's lighting. One last scene of that amazing editing, not a moment out of place. I'm always sad to see it come to an end.
Rating: * * * *

oldkid

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Re: 1SO Rebuilds His Top 100 of All Time
« Reply #1369 on: February 14, 2014, 10:10:34 PM »
Unfortunately, I was unable to get Streets of Fire before you finished.  I should get it any day now.  I'll post a review.
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