Pentuple Bill Mini Musings: Mayhem and More...

Machete Kills:
What's it about?
Ex-Federale and all-round blade-wielding arse-kicker Machete is recruited by the President of the United States to take down a revolutionary gone mad, and a billionaire arms dealer (and everyone else in-between), before global war erupts.
Who would I recognise in it?
Danny Trejo, Charlie Sheen, Mel Gibson, Amber Heard, Vanessa Hudgens, Michelle Rodriguez, Sofia Vergara, Jessica Alba, Antonio Bandera, Cuba Gooding Jr, Lady Gaga, Walton Goggins, Tom Savini, and more.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Director Robert Rodriguez has his fingers in multiple pies, but this time he's hands-off when it comes to the script (beyond a "story by" credit, anyway), and it really shows. The script lacks discipline and efficiency - exploitation movies don't need to make strict sense, but they do need to get where they're going fast, and Machete Kills seems rather intent on expanding beyond it's limits. The first 40 minutes feel slap-dash - multiple characters doing the job of one, excessive stunt-casting meaning numerous side characters are given little screen time, and the like - but after that, the movie does find a greater sense of focus again.

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North By Northwest...

Back on my degree, we covered Hitchcock fairly often - indeed, one of my prof's was an epic Alfred-fan. So, again, this was a case of 'record it as we might use it on the course, but then leave it in a box of videotapes for years' ... quite.

Now, being a fan of Captain Scarlett when I was younger, I think I'm right in saying, that North By Northwest is my first proper exposure to Cary Grant (upon whom Scarlett was based closely).

Yes, it's a spiffing film, and Grant rocks, and it's one of Hitch's best. Nevermind the obvious, what NBN did was take me right back to my days at university. Watching those cinematic classics in the campus' theatre on restored prints (something I think I'd appreciate even more now, than back then). I dug the old school colour palette, the rear projection, the epic matte paintings, the innuendo of trains going into tunnels, the rough hidden edits (when panning in and out of the train, which in turn took me right back to Hitch's excellent Rope).

So, whilst it was actually my first viewing of Northwest, it managed to feel familiar, to take me on a trip down memory lane thanks to its romantic vision of the time in which it was shot.

I guess you and I could say, with multiple meanings, those indeed were the days.