omnimous

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Reviews

The Road Killers
(1994)

The best "Lambert" movie after Highlander. 7/10
The terrorised road trip genre has given us many classics including Duel, Hitch-Hike, Roadkill (a.k.a Joyride), Highwaymen Breakdown and the wholly godfather of them all The Hitcher. Roadflower (a.k.a Road Killers) is another entry in this genre hailing from 1994 and starts off promisingly buts ends up a mixed bag.

Roadflower is a film of two halves. One half road chase thriller, one half talky, psychological battle of wits. Both halves are pretty good in their own right but never quite gel as a whole. The first half hour (road chase thriller) is taut and suspenseful. Director Sarafain builds up tension superbly as Jack, his family and friends are terrorised by Cliff and his gang. Shot in a claustrophobic manner by James Carter, and with tense music by Les Hooper, the filmmakers create a sense of impending doom. The desert location is sweatily evoked and McDonald is very effective as the increasingly harassed Glen. After a silly, but well staged game of chicken, Glen is killed in a rather disturbing scene and the stage is set for a dramatic game of cat and mouse across the American desert. However, the tone change somewhat as the film switches its perspective from Jack's desperate family man to Cliff's demented gang of drifters.

At a lean 86 minutes, one gets the sense a lot of chopping occurred in the editing room. Afterall, this is an earlier offering from the destroyer's of film du jour: The Weinsteins. It seems someone was so pleased with Sheffers' performance (good, but does get irritating after a while) they decided to change the focus of the film to his character. It would be interesting to see if Tedi Sarafian's original script had more road chase elements to it. Despite this, Sarafian has made an entertaining and often disturbing little flick. Just don't go into it expecting The Hitcher mark 2.

The Thing
(1982)

Suspence, claustrophobia and breathtaking effects in a film stigmatized the horror cinema and not only. 10/10
John Carpenter's remake, which basically the only connection it has with the '51 film is that they are based on the same book. In fact, Hawks was based on Campbell's book "Who going there?", while Carpenter is the one who brought it to the big screen.

Our story begins like this. A husky is being chased through the frozen mountains of Antarctica and is being chased by two people who are chasing it in a helicopter, trying to kill it. The dog manages to reach a camp where a group of people come out to see what's going on. In the panic they kill the two helicopter crew members, injuring one of their own team. The dog is saved and the footage showing it roaming freely in the camp and socializing with the team members makes us believe that the dog...Carpenter foreshadows what is to come. We soon learn that the dog is a carrier of a deadly alien virus, which takes the form of the organisms it invades until it changes into its true form to kill whatever threatens it When the team members find out, they begin to doubt each other and whether the one seeing is healthy or infected by the murderous alien. What follows is a peculiar sci-fi psychological thriller, with the elements of "whodunit" mutated in the case of "whoisit".

The research team consists of 12 people. 12 actors on one set - every director's nightmare. But Carpenter handles his characters with characteristic mastery, giving, with the help of Bill Lancaster's amazing screenplay, his excellent cast the space and time to develop them and give them depth and substance, thus helping the viewer to enter himself. In the impasse where the heroes are and to feel their despair. Kurt Russell stands out in the lead role, who gives here perhaps the best performance of his career.

He avoids the bad scene of the pompous and arrogant fake brat, playing the reluctant hero, who doubts his ability to handle the situation and the humility he brings to his character makes him all the more believable. Worthy of mention are the mechanical effects used to make the alien monster, perfectly rendering its form: And it is a sample that a science fiction film can be very scary and effective without the use of digital effects. The gray photography, the narrow corridors and claustrophobic rooms, the heroes isolated from the world and thus cut off from any hope of salvation, combined with the evocative music by the great Ennio Morricone, give a dark atmospheric thriller, a modern classic, always unsurpassed . For me it will always be right up there with the pioneer Alien.

A trully masterpiece!

Jesus of Nazareth
(1977)

The Zeffirelli's Phenomenon! The best potrayal of life of Jesus Christ. 10/10
Franco Zeffirelli's masterpiece "Jesus of Nazareth" is considered one of the most faithful depictions of the life of the God-man, winning the absolute recognition of the world from generation to generation., "Jesus of Nazareth" by Franco Zeffirelli is the biggest religious production in the history of the small and big screen. It dramatizes the birth, life, ministry, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus.

Beginning in 1973 The original idea for the creation of the mini-series on the life of Jesus Christ arose when Lew Grade was received by Pope Paul VI. He wanted to congratulate him on the production of the movie "Moses the Lawgiver", starring Burt Lancaster.

It was at the end of their meeting that the Pope told him that he hoped the next project would be about the life of Jesus. Two weeks later, Lew Grade would say that he intended to make the film about Jesus. The role of director was offered on the initiative of the Pope to Franco Zeffirelli. He insisted that either he would make Jesus of Nazareth or someone else.

Franco Zeffirelli initially refused to direct the telefilm. But it was Lew Grade who persisted and finally convinced him. He accepted the job just before Christmas 1973.

The leading director decided to make a film about the life of Jesus that would be accepted by all Christian denominations. Both Franco Zeffirelli and Lew Grade insisted that the depiction of Jesus' life should be universal. They went as far as the Vatican and the College of Rabbis in London where they consulted experts.

The image of Robert Powell as the Godman "spoke" to so much of the public that it has now evolved into a modern pop iconography. In the collective unconscious Powell's figure is the figure of Jesus and not an actor playing him.

The great Italian director used an excellent cast of actors. Among them are Sir Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richarston, Peter Ustinof, Anne Bacroft, Olivia Hussey, Claudia Cardinale, Anthony Quinn, Ernest Borgnine, Rod Steiger, Christopher Plummer, Ian Holm, Ian McShane, Donald Pleasence, James Earl Jones, Stacey Keach, Michael York and Robert Powell in the role of Jesus. Greece was also represented in the emblematic film "Jesus of Nazareth". It was Giorgos Vogiatzis who played the role of Joseph.

Principal photography, which took place in Morocco and Tunisia, began in September 1975. It was completed several months later in May 1976. It was extremely exhausting, especially for the lead actor.

It took four whole years to make the 371 minutes of "Jesus of Nazareth" a reality. One year of shooting and three years of preparation.

The cost of production was extremely high. Reports of the shocking drama's budget size range between $12 million and $18 million.

It first aired on March 25, 1977 on the British channel ITV. Two days later it was shown by the state-run Italian channel RAI 1. On April 3, it was shown in the United States on NBC. The first screening of the film was a huge success in both Europe and America, with viewership exceeding 50%.

RoboCop
(1987)

Action. Sci-Fi, Satire. Brutal Violence. Prophetic. All Time Classic! 10/10
Although he has done the culture the important service of stripping Elizabeth Berkley for our enjoyment, Paul Verhoeven remains misunderstood. Ambassador of Euro-Trash, as his bitter enemies in America like to call him, the Dutch director did not fall short when he created one of the most important sci-fi films ever made in my opinion.

In a bleak future that seems to have sprung from William Gibson's hardcore cyberpunk, all-powerful corporations reign isolated in their inaccessible skyscrapers while decaying Detroit has become a battleground between gangs and inadequate police forces. One of them, led by Clarence Boddicker (the diabolical Kurtwood Smith) will sadistically execute the unfortunate police officer Murphy (Weller), who, as we all know, "returns" to life as RoboCop, the most modern invention for maintaining order.

Weller (by then best known for The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension) was lucky enough to have the..jaw Verhoeven was looking for, as it was the only facial feature that would be visible from his protagonist. Still, in the few minutes he's still human, Weller is thoroughly likable. Vulnerable and grounded, Murphy just wants to make it to the end of the day alive to return to his family and is miles away from the classic action hero, hence his brutal execution (in which Verhoeven implied that he has evidence from Christ's martyrdom) is unbearable.

From that moment on, the film turns into an ultra-violent urban western, with RoboCop is the future evolution of the lonely hero we are used to in Leone's films.

The perfect fascist fantasy, an instrument of order that has the right to use violence against any lawbreaker even if it is not provoked, Robo is a brilliant invention of screenwriters Miner-Neumeier, since essentially the remnants of his human nature are the things that make him vulnerable. But enough philosophy.

The film, like its protagonist, has no problem scoring below the belt. With Poledouris' triumphant soundtrack in the background, Robocop makes his presence known to the city's criminals with few negotiations and more bullets, while at the same time his memory, be it microchips or neurons, holds the necessary information to find those responsible for his death.

It's a thoroughly enjoyable carnage, with no meaningless dialogue and endless discussions before opening fire - if you break any of the three basic commandments (or rather four commandments, very clever script inspiration) you're done. Murphy, both before and after, remains essentially alone against the "bad guys" and again well, where no one was tempted to fit in between the bloodshed and romance.

The social ramifications, camouflaged with satire, are there. With The Corporation soon on our screens, take a look at RoboCop's corporations.

Ravenous monsters, with complacent employees fighting to climb the ladder and bosses interested in selling anything, even if it's defective (the scene with OCP's apparently defective robot is now a classic). After all, the connection between gang leaders is direct, since in the film one serves the other! At the same time, both the "I'd buy that for a dollar" comic strip and the various advertising messages are clearly aimed at television, which was stupid even then.

The Crow: City of Angels
(1996)

Not like the Original but a very good sequel. 7/10
The Crow: City of Angels is from1996, directed by Tim Pope and written by David S. Goyer (Blade, Nolan's Batman universe, Dark City, Hellraiser). It is the sequel to the 1994 film The Crow and the second installment in The Crow film series.

One particular new strain of popular cinema that came up around this time was what was called, mostly derisively and dismissively, the MTV movie. In other words, films influenced heavily by rock video, and often made by people from that milieu. There are hundreds of fascinating MTV movies from the '80s, including Prince's magnificent Purple Rain (Albert Magnoli, 1984) and John Hughes' delightfully inventive Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986).

Then, in the '90s, along came the Crow movies. Their aesthetic was not blindingly new - in fact, to me, the jarring, frenetic, MTV style was even a bit warm and cosy. But the second Crow movie is still a challenge, or more simply, an affront, to most film reviewers - not only because of its blaring, full-on MTV vibe, but also because of its peculiar (in all senses) narrative form.

In The Crow: City of Angels, the hero, Ashe Corven (Vincent Pérez), gets to do the same to the gang of decadent street toughs who murdered his son.

As in the original Crow film, this hero is a phantom avenger, a reincarnated creature who can withstand any bullet, flame or spike, and just get up off the floor and keep murdering. He is a mean, sadistic creature. I would be tempted to call Ashe an anti-hero, if I thought the film and its (mainly) music video director Tim Pope entertained the slightest moral qualm about his actions.

The Crow: City of Angels gave me the ephemeral frisson of that heroically terrifying feeling. In its own stuttering, strangled, necessarily compromised voice, it's struggling to describe a New World.

A world that is in decline and the film shows it to the fullest.

Definitely more gothic than the first and you don't miss the hard images In the pluses of the film, well-known names appear such as Iggy Pop, Thomas Jane, Ian Dury, Vincent Castellanos, the beautiful Mia Kirshner in the role of Sarah from the first part & of course Vincent Perez in the role of the Crow, which certainly does not touch the awesome performance of the blessed Brandon Lee, but it's not bad.

Skip the Haters and give a chance to the sequel.

A nice movie.

Nuovo Cinema Paradiso
(1988)

I didn't want the movie to end. A Triumph!
"Cinema Paradiso" is one of those movies that you don't want the end to come.

A story that you negotiate, perhaps the most important things for a person. Friendship, love, romance, loss.

These concepts could not be more beautifully expressed in Guiseppe Tornatore's masterpiece, "Cinema Paradiso".

Tornatore gives us a film so masterfully and dreamily shot that sometimes you will laugh at the good humor and sometimes you will be moved. It makes you feel that there is soul in this movie.

And as Alfredo (Philippe Noiret) had said - "Life is not like the cinema. Life is harder." I cannot give any spoiler. You must see this movie.

A Triumph.

End of Days
(1999)

Schwarzenegger vs. Satan! Not bad but i expected more.
1999 and the world is preparing for the millennium. There is chaos about the coming end of the world.

And just as the world is so frightened by the supposed "prophecy" of the devil being left on earth and the second coming, a teaser trailer pops up in cinemas and later on TV for "End Of Days".

Peter Hyams taking advantage of all this fuss about the end of the world, decides to make a film about the descent of Satan to earth and the destruction of the world.

And who could mess with Satan? But of course Arnold Schwarzenegger. Schwarzenegger has dealt with evil cyborgs (Terminator), with aliens (Predator), with terrorists (True Lies), with a bunch of spoiled children (Kindegarden Cop), and now the Satan.

Hyams tried to make a "slight" horror movie with a lot of action, guns, searches on building roofs, fights with priests but there are also moments of good creepiness and there are too many that I can't give spoilers.

A good movie to pass the time effortlessly but that's about it.

6/10.

Castlevania
(2017)

Now this is a MASTERPIECE.
Castlevania is based on videogame with the same name and...KABOOM.

The story in each episode, the character development, the design of the characters, the design of the enviroment (castles, forest, monastry e.t.c).

Another good point is the plot twist and how well worked and the backround story of each character (again).

The voice acting is just brilliant. The choreography. The music. The dialogues and and and...

Vampires, Demons (Monsters), Magicians, Witches e.t.c. All in blender with perfect result.

I believe the best anime show in NetFlix.

Enjoy.

Note: This anime show is not for children.

Attilas '74
(1975)

Touching and unfortunately completely plausible!
Michalis Kakogiannis is an excellent director and has directed well-known tragedies in world cinema such as Iphigenia, Electra and The Trojan Women.

"Attilas '74" unfortunately erases the tragedy that island went through and let some commentators (Turks) do not want to admit it, shows the sufferings that the Greek Cypriots have gone through such as poverty, refugee, famine, war and kill over 1000 with the invasion of Turkey in 1974 on the island that still shows that it came peacefully (propaganda).

The documentary is real and is a punch in the stomach.

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