Aaron Neuwirth (DrZeek)

Ammon: I was partial to tragedy in my youth. That was before experience taught me that life was tragical enough without my having to write about it.

Another Greek adventure film that relies on a mix of cheesiness with over the top theatrical acting, and quality effects by Ray Harryhausen. While slightly less fun and engaging than Jason and the Argonauts, the film certainly maintains the same spirit of that film, and works well enough.

For this Greek adventure, we follow the story of Perseus, played by Harry Hamlin. Following the setup of young Perseus and the acquiring of some of his magic possessions, Perseus, the son of Zeus, wins the hand of the Princess Andromeda in marriage by answering a seemingly impossible riddle. Trouble appears in the shape of Calibos, the princess's former love and all around whiny jerk monster, and his mother, the Goddess Thetis, played by Maggie Smith. In order to stop the dreaded Kraken from being released by Thetis and destroy either Andromeda or her city, Perseus must search for the Medusa, as her head is the only thing that can stop the Kraken. With the help of Pegasus, a robotic owl built by the gods (...yes), and a right hand man played by Burgess Meredith, Persues may just stand a chance.

While working well with its premise and handling the tone appropriately, the main problem comes from stretching out its story too much. The film has less of a straight to the point approach, which results in the development of characters who just don't need that much developing. That may sound silly, but in a silly film like this, its better to have larger than life characters than a bland lead hero character. It certainly helps to have Meredith and Laurence Olivier as Zeus however.

All this being said, of course the real star of the movie, however, is Ray Harryhausen. He does great work for the most part at again providing some clever creations from the world of Greek Myth. While there are certainly clear moments that stand as very dated, some sequences, such as the Medusa scene, are stand outs.

Certainly film about having grand fun with Greek Myth, even if it is stretched out a bit too far.

Zeus: Perseus has won. My son has triumphed.
Hera: A fortunate young man.
Zeus: Fortune is ally to the brave.
Thetis: What a dangerous precedent. What if there more heroes like him? What if courage and imagination became everyday mortal qualities? What will become of us?
Zeus: We would no longer be needed. But, for the moment, there is sufficient cowardice, sloth and mendacity down there on Earth to last forever.

Zeus: The gods are best served by those who need their help the least.

A fun film about the legendary Greek hero Jason and his quest to find the Golden Fleece. The film is quickly paced, has a fun sense of seriousness to itself, and features some very good stop-motion animation by early special effects master Ray Harryhausen.

The film stars Todd Armstrong as Jason, who returns to his Kingdom of Thessaly to claim his throne. But it's not that easy for this. In order to gain the throne, he must find the magical Golden Fleece, which has amazing healing powers. Jason selects a crew, which included Polydeuces, Pelias, Argos, and Hercules. Jason also gains the help of the Queen of the Gods, Hera, played by Pussy Galore herself, Honor Blackman. Jason and his crew must now reach the fleece, while dealing with surviving of a 100 foot bronze giant, a huge venomous creature with head full of seven snakes, and a terrifying army of skeletons.

This is just a fun movie to watch and not necessarily in a cheesy way. Sure there are moments of that scattered throughout, but the adventure nature of this film works well to keep it on a to the point flow. The heavy theatrical acting is met with fun action scenes involving quality work with stop-motion effects. Certainly helping this further is the score provided by Bernard Hermann.

If there is any problem that I had with the film, its that there's no second half or follow up film. The film concludes with Jason retrieving the fleece, but anyone familiar with the exploits of Jason knows about the adventures he has on his way back to Thessaly, let alone what comes of he and his wife Madea.

These are minor quibbles however, as the film is just meant to be some solid adventure fun, with a little Greek myth background to provide for the landscape and characters.

Jason: Now the voyage is over, I don't want any trouble to begin
Polydeuces: There won't be any trouble, Jason. Just tell us where the city is and when we attack.
Jason: We don't attack.
Polydeuces: But that's foolish, you have the finest fighting men in the world.
Jason: 40 fighting men against a nation?
Phalerus: Better forty than one Jason.
Jason: We're not *pirates*, Phalerus.

Narrator: This is your life and it's ending one minute at a time. I am Jack's favorite movie. 1. You do not talk about Fight Club. I love watching this movie, it's always entertaining, I could easily put in on a 24 hour loop. It is a film surrounding the boring life of an office drone who becomes involved with an outsider, working together to vent their feelings initially through brutality and later through an evolved system seeking to enlighten the world in their own sort of way. The movie combines dark humor, violence, social commentary, and various other themes, and still finds time for a small love story. 2. You do NOT TALK about Fight Club. Great casting, Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter, Jared Leto, even Meat Loaf, all at the top of their game. Just the right amount of nonchalance to their situations, yet great intensity to some important moments, as well as all the physical stuff involved, and being able to bring a great amount of humor to some dark topics. 3. If someone yells "Stop!", goes limp, taps out, the fight is over. David Fincher's best film, at the top of his game, and from the commentaries and behind the scenes stuff, you can tell he had a great time making this movie. His visual style is wonderful, showing how to make a movie through dialog, cinematography, and editing. The combination of cynical humor and a gritty atmosphere makes for a great looking film. 4. Only two guys to a fight. I have read the book that the movie is adapted from, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. The script, adapted by Jim Uhls does great justice to the book and Chuck Palahnuik has even acknowledged how the film had improved upon the book in some ways. The story unfolds itself into a unique experience that is polarizing in terms of capturing it's audience, and even those who like it may still not see the message and themes that the film gets across. 5. One fight at a time. An amazing soundtrack. Composed by the Dust Brothers, they do a great job in capturing the spirit of the film, with many memorable themes throughout. The film also caps itself off amazingly with "Where's My Mind" by the Pixies, in fact, this is the movie that got me into the Pixies in the first place. Staying with the song, it is one of the best ending songs to any movie I've seen. 6. No shirt, no shoes. Addressing the style of the film again, the movie looks great. Filled with some very clever uses of special effects, frame splices. The way the camera moves, giving subtle hints about things and establishing the tones of how scenes should play out, accompanied by the, as mentioned, incredible soundtrack to help even further. 7. Fights will go on as long as they have to. The movie is very funny. Being my favorite film, that makes it my favorite dark comedy. Besides the sharp dialog, which contains all sorts of quotable lines, their are plenty of visual jokes that one can catch upon seeing the movie many times over. There is also a lot of clever/useful little information bits throughout the film, which I find neat as well. 8. If this is your first night at Fight Cub, you have to fight. When I saw this for the first time, I watched it right away the next morning. This was one of the first movies where, upon seeing it, I started to think about things. I find a lot of the ways I think about things and react to situations to be in relation to the line of thinking that these characters have, as well as the characters in other books by Palahnuik. I believe this movie to have been one of a few sources that gave me the kind of perception that I have. To me, this movie is perfect. Narrator: It's called a changeover. The movie goes on, and nobody in the audience has any idea.

Martin Blank: They all have husbands and wives and children and houses and dogs, and, you know, they've all made themselves a part of something and they can talk about what they do. What am I gonna say? "I killed the president of Paraguay with a fork. How've you been? There is no real reason why this movie should be in my top 3 of all time. It is simply a movie that just clicks with me and makes me feel like having a continuous loop of it would be just fine. It fits itself into my favorite genre of movie, a dark comedy, and a hit man-comedy at that. It's very funny, has a great soundtrack, some very funny characters, and some pretty cool action scenes. Martin Blank: If I show up at your door, chances are you did something to bring me there. John Cusack is Martin Q. Blank, in a great performance as a man who became detached from life, ditched his previous life in Michigan, and became a contract killer. He has a handful of charisma as well as a dark undercurrent and some paranoia issues that create a well balanced character. Debi: Some people say forgive and forget. Nah, I don't know. I say forget about forgiving and just accept. And... get the hell out of town. Minnie Driver is perfect as the lost girl in Martin's life, who plays as a good foil to his character. She is charming and funny, and very different in relation to the other people still in her Michigan town. Mr. Grocer: Easy there Chief, I don't see Hollow-Point Wound Care on the menu. Martin Blank: Why are you in Detroit? Redwings need a new goon? Dan Akroyd is also great in a complete bizarre role as a rival hit man to Martin, and has a great style of chemistry with Cusack as well. And then there are great little roles from Joan Cusack, Alan Arkin, Hank Azaria and Jeremy Piven, all with some of the best moments in the movie. Marty: Debi's house. Paul: Kinda crept up on you, didn't it? Marty: No, you drove us here. Paul: [pause] Yep. I love the concept, a hit man is disillusioned with his work and decides to attend his high school reunion and re-evaluate his life. Of course there is also a job to be done in his town, as well as rivals awaiting him. I also love how care free the responses are concerning hit men. No one takes Martin serious when he tells them what he does and in relation to the other people at the reunion, it seems like Martin would actually win the award for the most interesting life after high school. Mr. Newberry: What have you been doing with your life? Marty: Uh... professional killer. Mr. Newberry: Oh! Good for you, it's a... growth industry. The soundtrack of this movie is great. It got me into The Violent Femmes as well as a few other bands. I am not a big fan of 80s music, but this movie somehow manages to get the only bands and songs I like that had hits in the 80s and compile 2 great soundtracks albums. Martin Q. Blank: Oh, the reason I called... Could you find out who else is in town? I've made two spooks and a ghoul already, so if they've double-booked the job, and/or they're going to kill me, I'd like to know. If you could find that out, that'd be great. The direction by George Armitage also works very well. He combines all the elements of a dark/romantic comedy with an action thriller. The action is a lot of fun, with some memorable scenes, including a particular fight scene that is very gritty and real and a shootout in a mini mart. And this is all mixed once again with the great soundtrack as well as live vibrant colors fitting the nature of the comedy and situation. Mr. Grocer: So, what are you gonna do? You gonna Throw that gun at me? Marty: No... Maybe! Mr. Grocer: How 'bout this? How 'bout I sell you a piece for a hundred Gs? Marty: OK! Front me? Mr. Grocer: Deal! I love watching this movie. It moves quickly, has a number of memorable scenes, quick and sharp dialog written by Cusack and his friends, with a fun high concept and good characters. Martin Blank: You're a handsome devil. What's your name?