"FIGHT NIGHT: THE MILLION DOLLAR HEIST" (2024) Photo Gallery

 

Below are images from the PEACOCK limited series, "FIGHT NIGHT: THE MILLION DOLLAR HEIST", the 2024 adaptation of Jeff Keating and Jim Roberts’ podcast, “Fight Night”.  Created by Shaye Ogbonna, the eight-part miniseries starred Kevin Hart:

"FIGHT NIGHT:  THE MILLION DOLLAR HEIST" (2024) Photo Gallery

"THE BOUNTY HUNTER" (2010) Review

 

"THE BOUNTY HUNTER" (2010) Review

When I first saw the preview trailers for both "THE BOUNTY HUNTER" and "COP OUT" over a decade ago, I had naturally assumed I would prefer the action/romantic comedy starring Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that my opinions of the two movie proved to be reversed. I am not claiming that "COP OUT" was an exceptional action/comedy film. Trust me, it was not. But I consider it a piece of cinematic artistry in compare to the incoherent "THE BOUNTY HUNTER".

To my knowledge, ”THE BOUNTY HUNTER” told the story of a New York journalist named Nicole Hurley, who jumped bailed and ignored a court summons over an altercation with a cop in order to pursue a promising story about a suicide that smelled suspiciously like a murder. Hot on the journalist’s trail is her ex-husband, a former cop-turned-bounty hunter named Milo Boyd. He had been given the assignment to find her and turn her over to the police. Once Milo found Nicole, the two were forced to contend with another former cop, who also happened to be a killer; and a pair of hired thugs who worked for a bookie to whom Milo owned money.

Judging from the plot’s outline, one might assume that it was not that complicated. I wish I could say that the movie was not complicated. After all, there were aspects of it that I enjoyed. For instance, I enjoyed the bed-and-breakfast scene where Nicole and Milo a moonlight dinner on the hotel’s terrace. Not only did it featured first-rate acting by Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler, but also allowed their characters to reflect upon their error in getting a divorce. I also enjoyed the rather humorous scene in which the pair tracked down a country club golf caddie, who could provide information on the killer. And Nicole and Milo’s encounter with the killer on the road back to New York City, was filled with both humor and good action. I must almost admit that director Andy Tennant did a solid job in pacing the film, despite the unnecessary plot lines in the script. One last thing . . . I enjoyed Oliver Bokelberg’s crisp and colorful photography of Manhattan, Atlantic City and other parts of New Jersey and New York State.

As for the plot . . . what in the hell happened? What led screenwriter Sarah Thorp to take a straightforward plot and screw it up? What problem did I have with the story’s plot? Its execution made no sense whatsoever. I had no problems with the idea of a bounty hunter searching for his bail jumping ex-wife. However, I had a problem with how Thorp handled the entire story. In the movie, it took Milo a few hours to track down Nicole from her Manhattan apartment, to her singer/mother at an Atlantic City hotel and finally to a race track. But once Milo caught up with Nicole, it took them two days to return to Manhattan. Why? Because Thorp had side tracked the couple with some unnecessary adventures.

One, Nicole and Milo stopped at an Atlantic City casino-hotel to gamble at the craps table. Milo had made a deal with Nicole that if she served as his good luck charmed and enabled him to win at least $5,000 (the money he was receiving for her capture), he would let her go. He ended up winning $8,000, she walked away, he eventually lost the money with more gambling and they ended up spending the night together at the casino-hotel. Their second day on the road included a close encounter with the killer (forgettably portrayed by Peter Greene), a side trip to a country club to interrogate the golf caddy and an unnecessary stop at the very bed-and-breakfast where they had spent their honeymoon. Meanwhile, the movie also focused upon a pair of hired thugs for a female bookie portrayed by Oscar nominee Cathy Moriarty, to whom Milo owned money due to his gambling habit. A good deal of mistaken identity ensued when the thugs picked up Nicole’s newspaper colleague, whom one of them had mistaken for Milo. Finally, the movie ended with a showdown with the killer and Milo’s ex-partner. The entire sequence was nothing more than a vague, yet convoluted mess that left me feeling dissatisfied.

Some critics have complained about a lack of screen chemistry between Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler. I would have to disagree with that opinion . . . somewhat. I must admit that the two stars had failed to produce any sparks in their first scene together. Fortunately, Aniston and Butler managed to create some kind of chemistry, as the movie progressed. But they did not have the kind of chemistry that Butler had with Katherine Heigel in 2009's "THE UGLY TRUTH" or Aniston had with Vince Vaughn in 2006's "THE BREAK UP". In fact, Butler’s role seemed like a remake of his Mike Chadway character in ”THE UGLY TRUTH”. Whereas his Chadway character had managed to perfectly contrast with Heigel’s prissy character in the 2009 comedy, his Milo Boyd character failed to do the same with Aniston’s more sardonic and extroverted personality in ”THE BOUNTY HUNTER”. But the pair still managed to create some chemistry.

Only a handful of the supporting cast actually impressed me. Dorian Missick did a solid job of portraying the ambiguity of Detective Bobby Singer, the police detective who was Milo’s ex-partner, the couple’s close friend and of whom they suspected of being corrupt. Christine Baranski was charming and funny as Nicole’s mother, a nightclub singer at an Atlantic City casino. Siobhan Fallon was equally funny as the wife of the bail bondsman that Milo works for. Christian Borle gave a hilarious performance as the country club golf caddy who reluctantly gave Milo and Nicole the information they needed on the killer. I would have included Jason Sudeikis’ hilarious portrayal of Nicole’s wacky and at times, disturbing colleague, former one-night stand and stalker; Stewart. But once he got caught up in the useless bookie story line, he became a nuisance and I eventually lost interest in him.

In the end, I do not know if I could really recommend "THE BOUNTY HUNTER". A forgettable villain and numerous subplots that made the movie’s story convoluted prevented it from going anywhere. Pity. The movie could have been a first-rate comedy in the vein of 1988’s "MIDNIGHT RUN". Instead, it turned out to be a second-rate movie with too many flaws.

"THE BOUNTY HUNTER" (2010) Photo Gallery

 

Below are photos from the 2010 action comedy, "THE BOUNTY HUNTER". Directed by Andy Tennant, the movie starred Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler:

"THE BOUNTY HUNTER" (2010) Photo Gallery

"GOLDFINGER" (1964) Review

 

"GOLDFINGER" (1964) Review"

Ever since its release in 1964, the James Bond movie, "GOLDFINGER" has been regarded as one of the best ever in the franchise. In fact, it is considered by many Bond fans as the franchise's definitive film, considering that it more or less created what is known as "the Bond formula".

The 1959 Ian Fleming novel, upon which the movie is based, is also highly regarded by some fans. However, others believe that the movie is an improvement on the literary version. While I agree that the movie, "GOLDFINGER" is an improvement over the novel, I have a rather low opinion of both the novel and the cinematic adaptation. However, I am here to comment on the movie and not the novel.

The plot for "GOLDFINGER" begins with MI-6 agent James Bond sabotaging a Latin American drug laboratory. Following this assignment, Bond rests at an exclusive Miami Beach hotel, where he receives instructions from his superior "M" - via C.I.A. operative Felix Leiter - to observe a bullion dealer name Auric Goldfinger. Bond discovers that Goldfinger is cheating at gin rummy with the help of employee Jill Masterson. Bond distracts Jill and blackmails Goldfinger into losing the game. While enjoying sex with Jill inside his hotel room, Goldfinger's Korean (or Japanese) manservant Oddjob knocks Bond unconscious. The agent regains consciousness and finds Jill's dead body covered in gold paint.

After "M" censures Bond for screwing up his assignment in Miami Beach, he orders the agent to discover how Goldfinger is smuggling gold out of Europe. Bond engages in a golf match with the villain, before following him to Switzerland. There, the agent meets Jill's sister, Tilly, who seeks revenge against Goldfinger for her sister's death. Eventually, Bond and Tilly form a short-lived alliance before the latter is killed by Oddjob and the former becomes Goldfinger's prisoner. Fearful that the British agent might know the details of his new operation in the United States, Goldfinger keeps Bond a prisoner, instead of killing him.

As I had earlier stated, "GOLDFINGER" is without a doubt one of my least favorite Bond movies of all time. And there are many reasons why I harbor such a low opinion of it. Some of the the film's problems stemmed from some poor characterizations. James Bond spent most of the movie either behaving like an oversexed adolescent or an idiot schoolboy. This characterization merely hampered Sean Connery's performance in the movie and led me to consider it one of his worst. The movie also featured one-dimensional portrayals in characters such as Auric Goldfinger's henchman, Oddjob, which allowed actor Harold Sakata spend most of the movie wearing a menacing smile; the thuggish Mafia bosses who visit Goldfinger's Kentucky farm; and a very weak Felix Leiter, as portrayed by Canadian actor Cec Linder, who spent most of the movie behaving like a sidekick, instead of an ally from the C.I.A.

"GOLDFINGER" also featured some incredibly bad plotholes that make me wonder why this film is so highly regarded. For instance, I understood why Goldfinger had ordered Oddjob to kill Jill Masterson for her betrayal. Why did he not order Oddjob to kill Bond, who had compromised Jill and caused him to lose the card game? Goldfinger decides to keep Bond a prisoner, instead of making more of an effort to learn what Bond knew about his current scheme, "Operation Grand Slam". I think drugs would have been a good deal more helpful than a gold laser threatening the agent's nether regions. The method Bond used to convince Pussy Galore, Goldfinger's personal pilot, to betray her boss disgusted me. It disgusted me that screenwriters Richard Maibaum and Paul Dehn allowed Bond wrestle Pussy to the barn floor and use sex to get her to betray Goldfinger. It disgusted me that the entire scene reeked of attempted rape. Why not have Bond convince her that Golfinger was simply a nutcase? I guess Maibaum and Dehn, or the producers, wanted an excuse for Bond to use his "magic penis" on the leading lady.

The movie's most perplexing plot line involved the Mafia bosses' visit to Goldfinger's farm. It featured one of the most ridiculous and unnecessary plot turns in the movie franchise's history. The sequence began with the gangsters' arrival and demand for Goldfinger's presence and the money he owed them. And while Bond eavesdropped on the conversation, Golfinger revealed his Fort Knox plan. Then he murdered them. Many Bond fans have claimed that the reason Goldfinger revealed his plan to the Mafia bosses before murdering them, was because he wanted bask in the enjoyment of letting someone know about his plans. If that was the case, why not have Goldfinger tell Bond earlier in the film before before attempting to kill the agent or leave him for dead? Why save this moment for a bunch of one-dimensional gangsters in the first place? What makes this scenario even more ridiculous is that when one of the gangsters, Mr. Solo, decided that he wants nothing of the Fort Knox plan, Goldfinger sent him on his way with a gold bar . . . before Oddjob killed the man and crushed him inside a car. Goldfinger could have simply killed Solo and the other gangsters at the same time . . . without this ludicrous revelation of his Fort Knox plan?

Were there any positive aspects about "GOLDFINGER"? Well . . . yes, or else I would consider this entry in the franchise to be the worst. Thankfully, the movie's cast included Gert Fröbe as Auric Goldfinger. Although my opinion of Goldfinger's intelligence has diminished over the years, I remain impressed by Frobe's commanding presence and excellent performance. The movie also featured the talented and classy Honor Blackman (who was already famous in Great Britain for her role in the TV series, "THE AVENGERS"), playing the tough and intelligent Pussy Galore. I enjoyed Ms. Blackman's performance so much that it seemed a shame that her character was ruined in that Galore/Bond wrestling match inside the barn at Goldfinger's Kentucky farm. Shirley Easton made the most of her brief appearance as one of the doomed Masterson sisters, Jill. And one might as well face it, I doubt no one will ever forget that last image of her gold-painted body spread out upon the bed inside Bond's Miami hotel room:



"GOLDFINGER" also benefited from Ted Moore's photography of Britain, Switzerland and Kentucky; which featured beautiful and sharp color. I was also impressed by Peter R. Hunt's editing, which seemed most effective in the car chase around Goldfinger's Switzerland plant, the showdown at Fort Knox and the fight aboard Goldfinger's plane. Last by not least, I have to mention the music featured in the film. Between John Barry's score and theme song performed by the talented Shirley Bassey, I must admit that the film's music is one thing in "GOLDFINGER" that rose above everything else. After all, the move's theme song is considered one of the best in the Bond movie franchise. And that is an opinion I do share.

Despite some of the movie's positive aspects - some of the performances, the photography and the music - I have always harbored ambiguous feelings about "GOLDFINGER" for years. In the past, I tried to accept the prevalent feeling that it was probably one of the best Bond movies. But after watching it the last time . . . well let me put it this way, whether or not it was responsible for creating the Bond formula, I finally realized how much I truly dislike it.

"GOLDFINGER" (1964) Photo Gallery

 

Below are images from "GOLDFINGER", the 1964 adaptation of Ian Fleming's 1959 James Bond novel. Directed by Guy Hamilton, the movie starred Sean Connery as James Bond:




"GOLDFINGER" (1964) Photo Gallery