What Emmanuelle Movie Did You Just Watch?

[Ed Hocken]

Ah yes, I've never read Without Remorse. But everyone knows that ending, yep.

[Howard]

I'll defend Tom Clancy's first 5-6 books. Any of his more recent output is indefensible.

I'll defend his early output up to (and including) Executive Orders.

Stephen Coonts did a better job at streamlining everything. Still I'll give Clancy over W.E.B. Griffin. Now he's terrible.

Yeah, but Coonts sucks at character work. Clancy>Coonts.

[Matt]

Only Clancy I love is 'Without Remorse'...

Enough said.

'Red Storm Rising', 'the Cardinal of the Kremlin', and 'the Hunt for Red October' are right up there, imho.

[Abraham Smashington]

Sam Fisher = Clancy

Coonts = No video game character I can think of

Clancy wins.

[Howard]

Only Clancy I love is 'Without Remorse'...

Enough said.

The only ones I love are The Sum of all Fears and Debt of Honor. I merely like the rest.

[Ed Hocken]

Coonts doesn't have any video games. But Clancy just licenced his name to those video games.

And what do you mean Coonts doesn't have good characters. How can you besmirch Admiral Jake Grafton? Sure, there's one book where Dan Quayle became Acting President.

[Matt]

And Craig Thomas mops the floor with any of them. Without Thomas, there would not be a Mitchell Gant or a Kenneth Aubrey.

[Howard]

Coonts doesn't have any video games. But Clancy just licenced his name to those video games.

And what do you mean Coonts doesn't have good characters. How can you besmirch Admiral Jake Grafton? Sure, there's one book where Dan Quayle became Acting President.

Reading comprehension. Required. I said he sucks at character work. And he does.

[Ed Hocken]

And Craig Thomas mops the floor with any of them. Without Thomas, there would not be a Mitchell Gant or a Kenneth Aubrey.

I'll have to check this out, I'm sure he's better than Vince Flynn.

Also, while not techno-thrillers, Brian "Son of Al" Haig's books were pretty good from what I remember.

[Matt]

hey, don't knock Vince Flynn. Mitch Rapp is THA MAN.

[Ed Hocken]

I think it was Cameron Hughes that said Vince Flynn sucked. Still, check out Brian Haig featuring Major Sean Drummond as the wisecracking JAG Attorney.

[Matt]

Watched 'My Life in Ruins' last night (watched it for CHUD, so my review will probably be written this weekend).

Plot: A tour guide in Greece (who has taken the job out of necessity) leads a group of tourists around Greece for a week. Romance ensues.

Horrible. Simply horrible. There isn't a single real, relatable character in the entire film. Everyone is a stereotype of a cliche of a stereotype, and it's all played so broadly that you can never get invested in the supposed 'romantic comedy' that's being presented. 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' wasn't a work of art, but at least the script played true to what real people are actually like.

A lot of the blame for this trainwreck has been placed on Nia Vardalos, and I honestly feel that it's pretty unwarranted: she's delivering what the script offers her, and she's honestly doing the best that she can to carry this drivel. Her charm still comes through, and in a better film that would be enough.

Richard Dreyfuss? Wasted. He plays the only somewhat 'real' person on the tour bus, and he's given a couple of relatively amusing scenes, but this is strictly a paycheck gig. Richard, wanna go to Greece for a couple of months and get paid for it?

And yes, Greece is beautiful in the film. I mean, it's really, really stunning looking. When the movie ended, my wife and I both agreed that we want to go there and do a tour...but not on THIS fucking tour bus.

[Ed Hocken]

Just started watching Black Dynamite last night, movie makes Undercover Brother its bitch.

[Anderson]

Just started watching Black Dynamite last night, movie makes Undercover Brother its bitch.

Black Dynamite is such a fucking great movie. By the time, they got to the Captain Kangaroo pimp...I was sold.

[Bobby Bear]

Watched High Fidelity earlier. I love that movie. Never got how anyone could even joke about Rob's place being a "dump." Nowhere with that many records, gorgeous chairs, and a magnificent Pavement poster could be anything approaching a tip.