[7.6/10] Hey! An actually good first season episode of the show! Full disclosure, I’m probably overrating this one a bit because it’s the first episode of the series that really felt like even a nascent version of what Parks and Rec would become.
You have Leslie being well-meaning and sympathetic. Her desire to break into the “boys club,” the outsized importance she places on this, and her endearing awkwardness trying to make it work is all quite sweet and well done. (Heck, even Mark seems kind of charming here with the way he’s nice to her.) On the other end of the spectrum, Leslie being so repentant and scrupulous about breaking into that gift basket is pure Knope, especially in her series of videotaped apologies to the people she let down. Classic stuff.
Plus, we get our first great Ron-Leslie moment. Ron standing up for Leslie in her hearing with the City Manager is a great moment, that fits Ron’s libertarian sensibilities and shows the first bit of recognition for Leslie’s better qualities. And her stressing over a letter in her file, with Mark telling her it’s the thing that makes her a member of the “club,” is the perfect button.
We even get a B-plot of Andy trying to clean the house (and himself) for Ann, where he seems like the well-meaning goofball P&R fans know and love rather than the more jerky layabout he started off as.
Overall, it’s nice to dive back into the first season and actually come up with an episode like this where you see the seeds for what Parks and Rec would grow into rather than something that feels like an alien adaptation of a show you really like.
"My idea of a perfect government is one guy who sits in a small room at a desk and the only thing he's allowed to decide is who to nuke."
MY GOD! It was soooo uncomfortable to watch. She is a REALLY GOOD ACTRESS, and the way he told everything makes her creepier! HIS EYES!!!! PLS was insane!!
This episode broke me to million pieces. What a great show. Thank you Richard.
started very slowly but if you make it through the start, it's quite good!
The scene where Paddington cries... Illegal
I haven't seen this movie for a really long time and just bought the new restoration from a 4k master on blu-ray and was happy to watch it. I thought it wouldn't be as good as I remembered it, because most of the time you realize that movies you liked in your childhood weren't actually that good.
That's however in no way true for Rambo (the German title of "First Blood" which is why I always got confused in the past when I heard the original title and thought that it was a part of the franchise I hadn't yet seen).
The restoration looks really good (except for some scenes that stand out because of their worse quality (mostly due to bad lightning in the original movie, I guess), and besides that, the movie is still really captivating, though it is in no way over the top. The car/motorcycle chase for instance - how unimpressive was the car flip or Rambo falling from the motorcycle? Still it was more captivating than a lot of modern movies with so overrealistic and fast paced cuts, that you just stop caring all together.
Also I totally forgot how funny Richard Crennas persona was: "God didn't make Rambo - I made him. I'm Sam Trautman - Colonel Samuel Trautman. I came to get my boy" - what an introduction :D And then follows a dick-measuring contest between Will Teasle and Sam Trautman. That is great acting. As is the acting of Brian Dennehy as the dislikable villain character - and of course we cannot forget the actin of our main character, portrayed by Sylvester Stalone - I also forgot how extremely moving the last scene was - I remembered that there was this critical moment when Rambo finally opens up to Trautman, but I forgot just how intense it was, and how unexpected it came. It feels somewhat displaced in a movie that builds up as an action movie with the underdog fighting the bad guys who unfortunately have the law on their side. And at the finale all of a sudden this change of tone - that is really bold, it's both strange but because of it strangeness so much deeper and better - as you are simply not prepared to what is going to happen. I always remember to feel sympathetic towards Vietnam veterans even though I am and always was a pacifist. I guess that is an impression that this movie left with me when I saw it the first time at my earlier teen years.
Last but not least I also really liked the sound track and the setting and locations are also really great. All in all a pretty good movie and factoring in that this movie had me so interested even though I've seen it a couple of times in my youth, and feeling that though it is so 80s it is still a movie that could captivate so many young audiences who have never seen this movie before, I am inclined to give it the best rating possible.
And because I mentioned the new blu-ray release: this is really worth a buy. There is more than 1,5 hours of extras, and these are pretty mixed - from the classics like interviews, making-ofs, trailers and featurettes to two serious documentaries, one on the Vietnam war and the other on the training of Green Barrets, as well as a fitness training featurette from the personal trainer for Rambo, there is a lot really interesting and unconventional ground covered. And the steelbook artwork looks just stunning as well :)
An action movie, but a thoughtful one, with important social commentary on the rights and respect of individuals, corruption, and honoring those who sacrifice for their country.
What an incredible good show, good story telling and very well acted, solid 10/10.
I appreciated the humanity and complex relationships of this horrific period of history. It's well-done and a must watch.
I've been to Auschwitz, I've stood where those poor people stood, and I was affected in a way I never thought possible when I walked around the remains of that camp... It makes watching this even more harrowing and at times incredibly difficult. You will be moved to tears on many occasions while watching this piece of stunning television. It's a very tough watch but totally worth every minute. It's a solid 10/10 from me and just incredible.
Rambo: First Blood Part II is a film that knows exactly what it is and doesn't apologize for it. It's a brash, loud, and explosive action flick that delivers exactly what it promises: mindless entertainment with a patriotic heart. If you're in the mood for some good old-fashioned, gun-toting, explosion-fest with a touch of emotional resonance, then strap yourself in and enjoy the ride.
"To survive a war, you gotta become war.
The scene were Rambo, as a prisoner, tells Murdock he's coming to get him, is the stuff I love in action movies. Such a bad ass scene!
Anyway, seeing Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) hiding in the mud to kill someone, blast the shit out of someone with a arrow with a exploding tip, murdering tons of bad guys and being a great shirtless red band wearing one-man army is just fun to watch. We even get a guy that is so scared of Rambo he just jumps out of the helicopter when Rambo approaches him. We never get to see if he even had a parachute on. I want to believe he didn't have one.
I'm still baffled the direction First Blood Part II took after the amazing First Blood. He kills no one in the first part but Rambo thought by the time part II hit, hold my beer.
Yeah, Rambo: First Blood Part II was a fun rewatch and it is the Rambo everyone pictures when thinking about the guy.
Imagine trying to make a Coen Brothers movie on your own. You would have colorful characters, a weird situation or misunderstanding, and a fair amount of violence. And that would be the absolutely minimum of what you would expect. Well, in this movie, that is about as much as you are going to get. Coens-lite? Derivative of Coens? It felt like there was a better movie in there but it just missed on so many levels. I kept waiting for it to kick in, but it never did. Margaret Qually (whom I first fell in love with in Sanctuary) gives it her all while playing a southern lesbian, but that isn't enough to carry this film. It really is a mess.
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This is not as bad as some people claim it is. A fun little flick that doesn't reinvent the wheel but it would be a lie to say that it didn't entertain me over it's pleasant 80 minutes. You can have a good time, but probably forget about it in a few weeks - but that's fine. Films like this one are needed from time to time.
