Star Wars

STAR WARS is easily the best film in the franchise. While THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK usually garners more recognition, there's something about this first film that's so compelling, it's sense of wonder carries us through five inferior follow-ups.

You know how it begins: "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away ..." That's a great fairy tale setup, playing with our expectations by switching "galaxy" for "kingdom." But make no mistake: a fairy tale this is: you've got your farmboy who dreams of greatness, your princess in distress, your wizard, your pirate, even your trusty dog and heartless villain. You've got magic, swashbuckling, romance, even a little comedy relief, all wrapped up in a shiny sci-fi package to fool us into thinking we're actually seeing something new.

But even though we know better, we can still delight in the wonderful execution of this rightfully classic film. Its breathlessness and sense of adventure, its eager desire to please, and its genuinely likeable cast invite us along for the ride. And what a ride it is, filled with everything we could want from an adventure movie.

The film even ends with appropriate dash, jauntily saying that, yes, it has done everything it intended to do. What a delight, and what a pleasure to discover that, even after all these years, STAR WARS still delivers.

Seraphim Falls

I grew up in the Mountain West. I know how to track, ride, and shoot, and I know that hypothermia can be deadlier than bullets. When SERAPHIM FALLS began in the Mountain West with characters who track, ride, shoot, and nearly succumb to hypothermia, it earned my immediate and total buy-in. When able stars Pierce Brosnan and Liam Neeson enacted the line, "The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed," it pegged my Cool Meter. When Anjelica Huston, in a great bit of stunt casting, intoned, "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do," I thought, 'Now, there's a western!"

The story begins in the High Sierra, where Neeson and his henchmen attack an unsuspecting Brosnan, who barely escapes with his life. Wait a minute - it's Liam Neeson! He's usually a good guy! And so's Brosnan! What's going on here? Those questions provide much of the film's dramatic tension, as we try to figure out what, exactly, is going on and why. But there's no time for that, at first. At first, it's all running and sliding and nearly drowning or bleeding to death or dying of the aforementioned hypothermia, in addition to my beloved riding, tracking, and shooting. Brosnan does career-best work as he gives us desperation, determination, and bafflement. His portrayal of a man at the edge of death brough to mind Jack London's "To Build a Fire," and I completely bought that he was just moments away from feeling warm all over and laying down to sleep.

Cinematographer John Toll does absolutely brilliant work here, as well. He brings to life the mountains, the desert, and places in between with such care and clarity that I could almost smell the pine tar and juniper berries. He creates the mythic West by taking much of the myth out of it, and he made me feel homesick for the first time in years.

SERAPHIM FALLS isn't a big movie. It's a revenge picture, and a chase picture, and a personal picture. But it's also very much a western, and it felt true to the West as I understand it. I'm glad I saw it.

Born to Fight

I'm sweet on Thailand, which is weird because I've never been there. Nevertheless, everyone I know who has been there has raved about it. My father lived in Bangkok for a while and raves about the food and the incredibly friendly, easygoing nature of the people in the Land of Smiles. My sister-in-law went to Chiang Mai on a missions trip and liked it so much she moved there permanently. She raves about the food, the beautiful scenery in her part of the country, and (again) the incredibly friendly and easygoing nature of the people in the Land of Smiles. My friends in the Navy mostly rave about the cheap beer in Phu Ket; but hey, there's a lot to be said for cheap beer served with a smile!

After delighting through BORN TO FIGHT, I realized why Thais are known for being so friendly: since they can kick your butt three ways to Sunday, they don't need attitude. Further, I realized why their beer is so cheap: they need the alcohol to numb the pain that results from having a complete disregard for personal safety. BORN TO FIGHT is like an '80s-90's Hong Kong action-fest, only moreso. Where the masterpiece POLICE STORY features a car chase through (and I mean through!) a shantytown, BORN TO FIGHT drives its vehicles through a shantytown and adds explosions. Where HARD BOILED features Chow Yun Fat shooting it out and rappelling with a baby in one arm, BORN TO FIGHT features a guy doing gymkata with a baby strapped to his back. It's just plain awesome.

Let me run it down for you: this movie has Tae Kwon Do, Muy Thai, Gymkata, Gunkata, Little Girlkata, Old Mankata, Hot Chickkata, Soccerkata, Rugbykata, Motocrosskata, Semi Truckkata, and, oh, yeah, lots and lots of TNTkata. Didja like that CGI flaming motorcycle in GHOST RIDER? In BORN TO FIGHT, they light an actual motorcycle on fire, put an actual guy on that motorcycle, then have him drive up an actual ramp, crashing the motorcycle into the windshielf of a semi while the guy flies over the trailer and lands on what I can only hope are a couple of mattresses buried in the ground and covered with dirt. Didja like the ferry explosion that kicked off DEJA VU? In BORN TO FIGHT, they blow up an entire village real good. I mean, c'mon! What more do you need? Toss in a little Buddhism, a lot of Thai nationalism, even some actual character development, and you've got yourself an action picture that puts this summer's American pixelfests to shame.

If America had more movies like this, we'd be a Land of Smiles, too.

Road House

God help me, I actually liked ROAD HOUSE.

I'd been avoiding this movie for years, but it just wouldn't go away. By the looks of it, ROAD HOUSE had all the markings a lame action picture: GYMKATA with beer. So why didn't it die the quiet death of, say, BLACK DOG? My guess is that it's so awful that it's actually pretty good: Patrick Swayze dances his way to victory, Ben Gazzara intimidates townspeople with monster truck fu, Sam Elliott does his schtick with roughly half a moustache, and Kevin Tighe doesn't turn out to be the bad guy for perhaps the first time since "Emergency!"

Here's the setup: Tighe hires Swayze, a legendary bouncer, to clean up his road house and make it a going concern. Naturally, Swayze turns out to have a graduate degree in philosophy (What, you thought those guys got real jobs after graduation?), is a martial artist, and likes to do tai chi in the minimum possible clothing. Swayze's getting the bar staff under control is actually the most fun part of the movie: he's doing his best Louis Gosset Jr., shaping up the crew while intoning that "People don't want to come to a bloodbath." Before you know it, he's turned Tighe's funky little beer-and-a-shot joint into a soulless meat market, decorated in high '80s style. Then, of course, Swayze's butting heads with the local racketeer and monster truck fu afficionado, stuff is blowing up real good, Sam Elliott's providing guidance, and Kelly Lynch (aka the local ER doc) is swooning all over the new marshall in town.

Does that setup sound familiar to you? Yeah, it's basically half the westerns ever made, with the clever substitution of quasi-Asian philosophical mumbo jumbo and really bad synth music for stoicism and harmonicas. So, what's to like? The fights are a hoot, with all concerned appearing to be more concerned with not breaking a nail than putting the hurt on their opponents. The dialogue is corny and fun, the story beats comfortingly predictable, and the train clatters resolutely to its station, hitting every beat and and ending with a laugh.

Actually, the more I think about ROAD HOUSE, the less I find to like about it. But, there it is. Would I go out of my way to watch ROAD HOUSE again? No. Would I change the channel if I came across it in a hotel room somewhere? Probably not. It's cheesy, it's fun, it's kinda lame but, for whatever reason, it grew on me. Your mileage may vary.