My mission part II

Last week, while Katy was out of town I continued my plan to physically watch every single movie I own by watching Where the Wild Things Are, Cop Land, The Hunt for Red October and Red.

I had only seen Where the Wild Things Are once, in theaters, but I remembered liking it a lot more than I did with this viewing. This time I found it to be pretty boring. I realize there's not a lot going on in the movie on purpose as it's more a reflection of how a child deals with his feelings than some kind of fantasy family film, but fuck, it's so boring.

Thankfully I watched Cop Land next, a movie that absolutely lives up to the potential promised by its cast that includes Sylvester Stallone, Robert DeNiro, Harvey Keitel and Ray Liotta. It was amazing to see Stallone in this part. I had honestly forgotten how good an actor he can be outside of the Rocky/Rambo franchises. If you haven't seen this one, you must do so now.


Next was The Hunt for Red October, a very 90s thriller about a Soviet submarine commander, Sean Connery, who may or may not be hijacking his submarine to America. This wasn't quite as awesome as I remember, though there is still plenty to enjoy. I have a soft spot for almost anything from the 90s, and it doesn't hurt that Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin both are at the top of their game. It's especially nice to watch Alec in leading man mode, and it makes me wish he still got parts like this one.

Finally, I ended the night with Red, a movie starring Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Hellen Mirren and Morgan Freeman as assassins forced out of retirement in order to find out who is trying to kill them. I actually enjoyed this much more upon second viewing. I definitely enjoyed it in theaters, but watching it this time I was able to enjoy the smaller moments that are spread throughout the film. The cast itself is hilarious, particularly Malkovich as a spy who has been on one too many mission in his day. It's Karl Urban who really stands out for me though as the young hot shot given the task of taken these Retired, Extremely Dangerous agents down. He doesn't have a huge part per se, but he brings a gruffness to the part that reminds me of Timothy Olyphant, something that is definitely a good thing.

I'm not sure when I'll have another movie day, but I have seen Source Code and will be seeing Your Highness this weekend so I'll be sure and have something up about those ASAP.