1984’s Romancing The Stone is perhaps as rare an entity as the eponymous gemstone around which much of the movie is centred. Very much a film of its time in some respects (soundtrack being the most obvious), it’s timeless in others, combining a classic adventure story with many of the elements that form the basis…
Category: review
Films I Watched When I Was Younger – Issue 9: Basic Instinct
As a teenager there was really only one reason that I, or any of my friends, bothered to watch 1992’s Basic Instinct. In much the same way as you might have raised an eyebrow had anyone claimed that they read Playboy for the articles (obviously before the internet removed the necessity for such lies –…
Films I Watched When I Was Younger – Issue 8: Total Recall
Like 1982’s Blade Runner, 1990’s Total Recall is based on a story by acclaimed science fiction writer, Philip K. Dick. However, a dystopian futuristic setting, and similar source material is probably the only common ground the two movies share, as the intellectual and philosophical weight of the former is largely jettisoned in the latter for…
Films I Watched When I Was Younger – Issue 7: Pretty Woman
1990’s Pretty Woman might seem an odd film for me to enjoy given the genre of film that I’ve tended write about in recent weeks. But if the nineties action movie was generally the staple of my teenage movie diet, I did occasionally sample other delights and I did really like Pretty Woman when it…
Films I Watched When I Was Younger – Issue 6: Double Impact
Last week I wrote about 1992’s Under Siege, a film in which Steven Seagal solved the problem of being a mediocre (at best) actor by surrounding himself with much better actors thus producing a film that is really quite good (for a mindless nineties action flick). A year earlier, Jean-Claude Van Damme opted for…
Films I Watched When I Was Younger – Issue 5: Under Siege
1992’s Under Siege is that rarest of things, a good Steven Seagal movie. It’s oft described as being ‘Die Hard on a boat’ and that’s not an entirely unfair description. Except it’s not as good as Die Hard. Mostly because it has Steven Seagal in the lead role rather than Bruce Willis. Furthermore, while Seagal’s…
Films I Watched When I Was Younger – Issue 4: Gremlins 2 – The New Batch
No-one could accuse the 1984 comedy horror movie Gremlins of taking itself too seriously. But as tongue-in-cheek as the original Gremlins is, the 1990 sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch is absolutely bonkers. Anarchic and completely irreverent, at the time of its release I was absolutely convinced it was superior to its predecessor. I was,…
Films I Watched When I Was Younger – Issue 3: The Fugitive
It’s a valid criticism of modern cinema that much of the current output comes in the form of sequels (and indeed prequels), or remakes/reboots of movies that already exist. Or multiple adaptations of the same novels. Or big screen reimaginings of much-loved TV series. The resurgence of the small screen, thanks in part to online…
Films I Watched When I Was Younger – Issue 2: Speed
1994’s Speed is often referred to as Die Hard on a Bus. Which is a little unfair. While many action flicks owe much to the mighty Die Hard I’m not sure Speed really does. Unlike John McClane, Speed’s protagonist, Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves), spends very little of the movie fighting and killing bad guys.…
Films I Watched When I Was Younger – Issue 1: Demolition Man
After spending most of December writing reviews of Christmas(ish) films, I’ve decided that I should make the reviewing of movies a more regular feature on James Proclaims. After all, there are films out there that don’t include even the vaguest of references to Christmas and they shouldn’t be precluded from featuring on this blog just…
The (Now Traditional) James Proclaims New Year’s Eve Review Of The Year That Was
Well here we are again. The end of another year. A time, if ever there was one, for reflection. Which is something I like to do here on James Proclaims. Now, I’m aware I won’t be the only person doing this today but, lest we forget, I also did it at the end of 2015…
The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 24
It’s Christmas Eve, which is the day before Christmas Day and therefore the day on which one should open the final door of a standard Advent Calendar. And The James Proclaims Advent Calendar Of Christmas(ish) Films is no exception to that rule, and so today we must bid adieu to my Christmas Countdown of festive…
The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 23
As we open door 23 of The James Proclaims Advent Calendar Of Christmas(ish) films it’s definitely time to get in the party mood and what better film to emphasise that spirit than 1985’s Brazil? Conjuring up images of carnivals, samba and beaches, Brazil is…erm…nothing to do with any of that. Described by star Jonathan Pryce…
The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 22
Door 22 of The James Proclaims Advent Calendar Of Christmas(ish) Films and we’re almost at the end. By which I mean the end of the Advent Calendar, not the ‘End of Days’. But today’s film does have an apocalyptic feel to it nonetheless. For it is none other than Terry Gilliam’s 1995 noirish, sci-fi, time-travel…
The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 21
Door 21 of The James Proclaims Advent Calendar Of Christmas(ish) Films and conspiracy theories abound as Will Smith unexpectedly finds himself to be an Enemy Of The State. Cos it turns out that, apparently, the National Security Agency don’t like not getting their own way, and will happily murder people who don’t agree with them.…
The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 20
We’re finally into the twenties of December and Christmas is starting to feel very imminent indeed. Today is the last day I’ll do any work for the remainder of 2017. To be honest, I deserve a rest. It’s been a tough few months all told. Maybe I’ll treat myself to a mini-break. I’ve heard good…
The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 19
It’s day 19 of the James Proclaims Advent Calendar Of Christmas(ish) Films. Days 17 and 18 featured Eyes Wide Shut and Prometheus and both of those films required us to use our intellects. So today I think we could all do with a rest. We could do without the burden of thinking. It would…
The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 18
It’s the 18th December! Only a week to go until the big day! It’s also time for door 18 of The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films and today we’re going all sci-fi with Ridley Scott’s Alien ‘sort-of prequel’ Prometheus. It’s an Alien film without any ‘Aliens’ in it. I mean there are aliens,…
The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 17
Day 17 of the month that is commonly known as December and we’re onto the 17th movie in The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films. So far in this compendium of Christmas cinema we really haven’t had to engage our brains an awful lot. But that isn’t going to work today. Today we’re going…
The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 16
Door 16 of The James Proclaims Advent Calendar Of Christmas(ish) films brings us a movie that is, in many ways, a certified comedy classic. It’s also something of a conundrum. 1983’s Trading Places has, in Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd, two of eighties cinema’s finest comedic talents at the top of their game. On paper,…
The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 15
It’s time for door 15 of The James Proclaims Advent Calendar Of Christmas(ish) FIlms and what better place to start the weekend than In Bruges? After all “it’s a fairytale town isn’t it?” Hitmen Ray and Ken (Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson respectively) find themselves hiding out there at the behest of mob boss Harry…
The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 14
By the time 2002’s Die Another Day hit our screens, signalling the decline of a certain British spy with the initials JB (or at least Pierce Brosnan’s portrayal of him), we had already been introduced to an American undercover agent with the same initials and the heralding of a new kind of action film The…
The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 13
Welcome back to The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) films. Today we must tread with caution as creeping out from behind door 13 are several seemingly cute and harmless furry creatures. But feed them after midnight they become a lot less cute. They become Gremlins. Gremlins is a veritable 80s classic. I loved it…
The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 12
12 days into December and as luck would have it, we happen upon door 12 of The James Proclaims Advent Calendar Of Christmas(ish) Films. And it’s about time that a namesake of mine turned up His name’s Bond. James Bond. There have been 24 official Bond films made (and a few unofficial ones too),…
The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 11
It’s day 11 of the James Proclaims Advent Calendar Of Christmas(ish) films and it’s time to be done, once and for all, with Shane Black. Don’t get me wrong, the man is pretty much peerless when it comes to making films that are are ‘not-really-Christmas-films-but-a-bit-Christmassy-nonetheless’. But if he’s going to include a Christmas element in…
The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 10
Day 10 of the James Proclaims Advent Calendar Of Christmas(ish) films brings us The Ice Harvest. Starring John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton and Connie Nielsen, and directed by Harold Ramis, it’s a Christmas-themed comic crime caper, with twists and turns galore. Or so it first appears. On paper it looks like it could be an…
The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 9
Here we are at door 9 of the James Proclaims Advent Calendar Of Christmas(ish) films, and it’s about time Bruce Willis popped up. Yes it’s no other than the most Christmas(ish) of all the action films…. …The Last Boy Scout Sorry, were you expecting something else? Is there a more Christmas(ish) Bruce Willis flick than…
The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 8
Hello and welcome to day 8 of The James Proclaims Advent Calendar Of Christmas(ish) films. And door 8 invites us to cast our memories back to 1996, to a film in which Geena Davies has lost her memories – for our film today is none other than The Long Kiss Goodnight. And wouldn’t you…
The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 7
Behind door 7 of The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films we find the neo-noir crime masterpiece that is LA Confidential. Released in 1997, it’s hard to believe this movie is twenty years old. There’s a genuinely timeless air about it, perhaps partially because of the 1950s setting, but more so because of…
The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 6
The other day I was strolling past a nice(ish) hotel and I saw Father Christmas. He seemed to be promoting some kind of Christmas event that was being hosted within the establishment. He was not alone in doing so, for he was accompanied by a woman that I supposed to be his good lady wife…
The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) Films – Door 5
It’s day 5 of December, so it’s no coincidence that we’re opening door 5 of The James Proclaims Advent Calendar of Christmas(ish) films. And out of the shadows comes the ‘spooktacular’ Ghostbusters 2. Which is the sequel to the original 1984 Ghostbusters and not the 2016 reboot. Ghostbusters (1984 version) is one of my…
