Simon Wincer
12 connections found
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Connections, in both directions
The Expendables (2010)
Directed by Sylvester Stallone
influenced by Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991)
In “The Expendables,” Stallone, who also co-wrote the screenplay, plays a character who calls himself Barney Ross, while the aforementioned Mickey Rourke, fresh from his bit as the Russian villain in “Iron Man 2,” plays the all-too-appropriately-named Tool, a character whose entrance is an homage to “Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man” (1991).
Avatar: The Way of Water (2022)
Directed by James Cameron
influenced by Free Willy (1993)
Plot Themes
The latter is reminiscent of a Free Willy-like story of an unexpected friendship between Lo’ak and a castaway tulkun .
Cameron explores the possibilities of spacey sea spectacle with high-speed races, furious fights, and even sentimental scenes of cross-species bonding that recall Free Willy or SeaWorld performances.
The Scream franchise has its die-hard fans, I know, but for many people the demand for a fourth instalment (a decade after 2000’s just-okay Scream 3) mirrored that of, say, Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles or a new Leprechaun flick.
Melding a save-the-cute-critter caper — “Turtle Diary” or for that matter, “Free Willy” — to a romance is inspired, if not a wholly original idea.
But, also: It is essentially a straightforward remix of Free Willy , except Willy has sexual intercourse with a human.
Del Toro's sentimental side takes over here, leaving the audience with a plot that fuses E.T. and Free Willy with a frustrated woman's daydream of sexual salvation.
Ozploitation attracted mavericks and misfits from film industries everywhere: drunk-driving champ Dennis Hopper (Mad Dog Morgan), "bloody pom" David Hemmings (Harlequin, Race for the Yankee Zephyr), Hong Kong action reject Jimmy Wang Yu, H'wood moonlighters Stacy Keach and Jamie Lee Curtis (they costarred in Roadgames), and perhaps not surprisingly, porno star John Holmes (Fantasm).
The setting is like an updated H Rider Haggard novel by way of Lee Falk's The Phantom , injected with a healthy dose of Afrofuturism.
The closest comparison I can make is to 1996's The Phantom, which eschewed serious character introspection for old fashioned ass-kickery.
To that point, it seems Boam’s tongue-in-cheek theme will be that this Phantom doesn’t particularly excel at the job, or even want it — a sort of forerunner to Seth Rogen’s take on “The Green Hornet” in which our hero stumbles into any success he enjoys and largely thanks to his cast of supporting characters.
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015)
Directed by Guy Ritchie
influenced by Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (2001)
Universal 2015's "Jurassic World" starring Chris Pratt landed in theaters nearly 14 years after "Jurassica Park III." Universal Pictures Paul Hogan and Linda Kozlowski returned for “Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles,” which followed the original by 13 years.
There are hints of Flight of the Navigator, The Last Starfighter, The Goonies, and D.A.R.Y.L.
When this proves more grueling than they had anticipated, with 'the naturals' of the land acting wary, Newport returns to England for supplies and assigns Smith to visit their king, Powhatan (August Schellenberg, the "Free Willy" series), in his 'great city.'
Avatar is Pocahontas and Dances with Wolves and Quigley Down Under and whatever other movie comparisons you want to throw at it.
Anyone who has seen “Dances With Wolves” or “Quigley Down Under” or “The Last Samurai” will know the answer to that question.
The plot to director Pinkaew's audacious follow-up to Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior plays kind of like Free Willy with elephants.