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I just came back from seeing Shaft with Feht. Definitely a watch-once movie, and a complete waste of Samuel L. Jackson's talent. Feht had indicated he wanted to watch something in the blood-and-guts genre, and I had suggested The Patriot, but I went along with his suggestion because Jackson generally puts in great performances (I'm thinking Jackie Brown and Pulp Fiction, here).
It had been so long since I'd gone to a movie theater, that I decided to see if I could find the movie times on the Internet, which by itself is a kind of non sequitur, but which also turned out to be a piece of cake (and what is even more important, the times were correct!). We had half an hour from the moment the page loaded into the browser to the start of the movie, and made it with ten minutes to spare!
I don't really remember the first Shaft film (except for the unforgettable title track by Isaac Hayes, which is still compelling almost 30 years later) so I cannot make any comparative comments about this performance, but I did happen to notice (who didn't?) that Richard Roundtree, who played John Shaft in the original movie oh, so many moons ago, appears in this movie as "Uncle John" Shaft. It's a cute touch that is yet another variation on a well-worn theme (most recently, Faye Dunaway's performance in The Thomas Crown Affair and the voice of Roger Moore at the conclusion of The Saint). It's pretty sad when that's the most memorable thing you can remember about a movie.
As for the rest of the movie, it went by in kind of a blur. Leave aside the violence, language, and length and you might have something that's suitable for a television feature. Otherwise, there wasn't much of anything to distinguish this movie from a few thousand other good-cop-quits-to-seek-justice-outside-the-law tales that have been made over the years. Even the scene at the end, where the bad guy was being led into the courthouse, was predictable.
Then again, I have to ask myself: Just what exactly was I expecting? Samuel Jackson doing Avery Brooks doing Robert Parker's "Hawk"? I don't know. Feht noted that The Gladiator was a superior movie. Not having seen it, I cannot comment, but I think it will be a while before I go to a movie theater again. Tape rentals are cheaper.
At any rate, afterward, we dropped by the Miyako for a couple of beers and copious quantities of sushi, including the item made with sea urchin roe with a raw quail egg that the Pournelles introduced me to. We spoke of possibilities, which is a good thing to talk about over sushi and beer. He tells me things I do not particularly want to hear, and that's probably a good thing in the long run. I shall have to think over what he said. In the meantime, good night.
Cheers...
It had been so long since I'd gone to a movie theater, that I decided to see if I could find the movie times on the Internet, which by itself is a kind of non sequitur, but which also turned out to be a piece of cake (and what is even more important, the times were correct!). We had half an hour from the moment the page loaded into the browser to the start of the movie, and made it with ten minutes to spare!
I don't really remember the first Shaft film (except for the unforgettable title track by Isaac Hayes, which is still compelling almost 30 years later) so I cannot make any comparative comments about this performance, but I did happen to notice (who didn't?) that Richard Roundtree, who played John Shaft in the original movie oh, so many moons ago, appears in this movie as "Uncle John" Shaft. It's a cute touch that is yet another variation on a well-worn theme (most recently, Faye Dunaway's performance in The Thomas Crown Affair and the voice of Roger Moore at the conclusion of The Saint). It's pretty sad when that's the most memorable thing you can remember about a movie.
As for the rest of the movie, it went by in kind of a blur. Leave aside the violence, language, and length and you might have something that's suitable for a television feature. Otherwise, there wasn't much of anything to distinguish this movie from a few thousand other good-cop-quits-to-seek-justice-outside-the-law tales that have been made over the years. Even the scene at the end, where the bad guy was being led into the courthouse, was predictable.
Then again, I have to ask myself: Just what exactly was I expecting? Samuel Jackson doing Avery Brooks doing Robert Parker's "Hawk"? I don't know. Feht noted that The Gladiator was a superior movie. Not having seen it, I cannot comment, but I think it will be a while before I go to a movie theater again. Tape rentals are cheaper.
At any rate, afterward, we dropped by the Miyako for a couple of beers and copious quantities of sushi, including the item made with sea urchin roe with a raw quail egg that the Pournelles introduced me to. We spoke of possibilities, which is a good thing to talk about over sushi and beer. He tells me things I do not particularly want to hear, and that's probably a good thing in the long run. I shall have to think over what he said. In the meantime, good night.
Cheers...
