With only three days left in the challenge, I have to choose my films wisely and watch films that I have always wanted to see. I remember when today’s film came out that I wasn’t allowed to watch it. For some strange reason, I just never bothered to watch Basic Instinct, but I did for today. Detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) is a cop with a little bit of a troubled history. When a big time former Rock star gets murdered with an ice pick while having sex gets Nick signed on to the case to investigate. The only problem is that when he begins to investigate the only suspect in author Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone) things begin to get dark as he uncovers the truth behind the murder. The film also stars George Dzundza (The Deer Hunter) as Gus, Jeanne Tripplehorn (The Firm) as Dr. Beth Garner, Denis Arndt (Metro) as Lieutenant Walker, Leilani Sarelle (Days Of Thunder) as Roxy, Bruce A. Young (Jurassic Park III) as Andrews, Chelcie Ross (Trouble With The Curve) as Captain Talcott, Wayne Knight (Jurassic Park) as John Corelli, Dorothy Malone (The Big Sleep) as Hazel Dobkins, Daniel Von Bargen (Super Troopers) as Lieutenant Nilsen, Stephen Tobolowsky (Mississippi Burning) as Dr. Lamott, Jack McGee (Crash) as Sheriff, and the film was directed by Paul Verhoeven (RoboCop).
This was one intense film that I can definitely see why my mother didn’t want me to see it. There are so many sex scenes in this film or at least scenes involving nudity whether it be Sharon Stone or Jeanne Tripplehorn. It’s crazy, but that fact definitely does not overshadow the fact that the story is very interesting to begin with. The whole entire film, I was thinking I knew who the person that did it was, but then it tricks me into thinking that it was a different person to only leave me with a cliffhanger of sorts at the end of the film. The film’s story definitely leaves you wanting more when it is all said and done. I want to commend Michael Douglas, Tripplehorn, and Stone for putting on some great performances in the film If it wasn’t for them, I don’t know if this film would have been the same and Sharon was perfect for the role. She was mysterious, seductrive, and smart which was made her very sexy and desirable in my opinion. The cinematography was pretty good, but the car chase scenes were a little weak in my opinion. Other than that, it was a solid film and I really enjoyed it. I highly reccommend the film to anyone that loves sexy mystery thrillers and its definitely NSFW (Not Safe For Work). I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.
After watching the 1961 Billiards classic The Hustler for yesterday’s film, I couldn’t pass up on watching the sequel which took 25 years to make. I’m Certainly ok with it taking that long considering that The Color Of Money was directed by Martin Scorsese (The Wolf Of Wall Street). Paul Newman (The Hustler) is back as Fast Eddie Felson, but he has kept to his promise that he made in the first film where he doesn’t play pool. The game has certainly changed as the nine ball has become the preferred game. One day, he sees a kid named Vincent (Tom Cruise) that he sees a lot of potential in so he decides to take him on the road to train him in how to hustle in billiards, but this will inspire Eddie to return. The film also stars Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves) as Carmen, Helen Shaver (The Land Before Time) as Janelle, John Turturro (Transformers) as Julian, Bill Cobbs (Oz the Great and Powerful) as Orvis, Forest Whitaker (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) as Amos, Bruce A. Young (Jurassic Park III) as Moselle, and the film featured real pool players like Grady Matthews, Keith McCready, and Steve Mizerak.
The thing that I loved about this film is that while it sort of takes a cue from the first film, it definitely carves it’s own path as it differentiates itself from the original. For one, there is a little more nudity in this film than there was in the original thanks to a scene with Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. The real difference between this film and the other film is that Fast Eddie just didn’t know when to quit and he didn’t realize what he had in front of him until it was too late. In this film, he is trying to teach Vincent that you don’t always show your stuff right from the get go, but that will bite him in the you know what later. That is the difference between the two films as far as story is concerned and I like that about this film. The pool scenes were incredible as usual, but they sped up a lot of the action too for time purposes. Tom Cruise was great as this kid who thinks he’s all that, but is really insecure inside when it boils down to it and Mastrantonio is great as the girl who pulls the strings on him. I loved the ending of the film because they leave it open ended where you sort of figure out for yourself who may have won that match. This was an example of a film that may have taken years to do, but they did it right. I am going to give the film an A- for a final grade.
When you have started watching a series like Jurassic Park, you might as well go all the way down the line and finish exactly what you started. That is why I chose to finish the series by watching Jurassic Park III for today’s film. Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) is over the events that transpired during the first Jurassic Park film and is continuing to do what he loves to do which is study the dinosaurs. After a couples child goes missing on the second island (from The Lost World Film), they trick Dr. Grant and his assistant Billy (Alessandro Nivola) into going there. The only problem with all of this is the couple were not aware that Dr. Grant never was on this island and so they are put into a situation that he is all too familiar with. The film also stars William H. Macy (Fargo) as Paul Kirby, Téa Leoni (Fun With Dick And Jane) as Amanda Kirby, Trevor Morgan (The Sixth Sense) as Eric Kirby, Michael Jeter (Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas) as Udesky, John Diehl (A Time To Kill) as Cooper, Bruce A. Young (Basic Instinct) as Nash, Laura Dern (Jurassic Park) as Ellie, and the film was directed by Joe Johnston (Jumanji).
On the scale of what is the best film of the series, I would have to say that this isn’t one of them, but that doesn’t mean that I thought the film was bad. It’s actually not that bad of a movie, but it’s not the best in the whole series. In fact, if I were to rank this one with the other three in the series (that includes Jurassic World), this one would be last. As soon as Jurassic World 2 is done filming in 2017 and in theaters, I will then rank them as part of my Top 5. One thing that bothered me about the movie was Téa Leoni, I don’t know why, but her character annoyed me a lot. I was hoping the whole time that she was going to be eaten by a raptor. I know what you’re thinking and I know it sounds evil, but she attracted a really scary dinosaur by the name of Spinosaurus that kills a T-Rex in the film. The other thing I hated about the film was the last Raptor sequence the film had. These Raptors have been relentless in the previous two films, but because of a helicopter sound, they run away with their eggs. That to me was just too dumb and not cool. After two films with cool raptor sequences, I expect a lot more in the third film. Besides the usual dinosaurs, we are treated to a cool Pterodactyl chance sequence that made the film worth watching after all. As I said before, it’s not the best film in the series, but if you are a completest like myself then check it out on Netflix right now. I am going to give the film an B- for a final grade.
365moviesin365dayschallenge 