Movie of the Day [Streaming and Blu-Ray] : 3 DAYS TO KILL

3 DAYS TO KILL – With over 50 movies under his belt, Kevin Costner continues to mature into a better and better actor. Deftly and pulse-poundingly directed by McG from  a Luc Besson script, 3 DAYS TO KILL is simply a joy from its impressive opening credit sequence to its close.

A great and surprisingly smart and humanistic action-thriller, Costner is compelling as Renner, a man who has grown tired in the killing, and his understated performance is picture perfect, and is but one of an across the board great cast. Add to that vibrant cinematography and an ebullient score, and you have the kind of emotionally rich action movie that Pekinpah  would have made, and that’s high praise indeed.

Catch it free on streaming, then buy the Blu-Ray for the commentary and special features. It’s that good. Grade: A-.

 

REASONS TO GET THE BLURAY: “watched this film on an excellent Blu ray transfer. It comes in a 1080p resolution and a 2.37:1 aspect ratio. Beautifully detailed – check out the gracefully aging Costner face – and provides some terrific panoramic shots of Paris. Colors are excellent. Great picture. The audio is excellent as well. The primary track is DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. It works great, especially in the numerous action sequences including the requisite car chase, several gun battles and some close up fighting. Dialog is clear and well positioned. Subtitles are available in Spanish, English and English SDH. Extras include a making-of short, a profile on director McG, a piece featuring a real CIA operative and a trailer. There are 2 options as well as to which feature to watch. The theatrical version and an extended version (5 minutes longer).”–Amazon.com review

 

This is a really beautifully shot film, and depending on time of day or bandwidth issues, that can be lost when viewing via streaming. Which is why I say streaming is a try before you buy medium. When you determine this is a movie you’re going to come back to, that’s when you want to purchase the Blu-Ray.

3 Days to Kill [Blu-ray]

More Great Movie Opening / Title Credit Sequences!

My previous tirade on public domain abuse and Shakespeare 🙂 made me think of a few more incredible opening credit sequences.

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S ROMEO AND JULIET- Brilliantly directed by Baz Lurhmann (the only one of his four films I’ve seen all of, the other three I’m not positive are for me) this is a great film, great trailer, and…. Great opening credit sequence.

William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (Special Edition)

PAT GARRET AND BILLY THE KID- You could hold up any of Pekinpah’s films, but even for a Pekinpah film this credit sequence stands out. It’s amazing. And not something PETA would approve of.

Sam Peckinpah’s Legendary Westerns Collection (The Wild Bunch / Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid / Ride the High Country / The Ballad of Cable Hogue)

PISTOL WHIPPED- Seagal’s movies of the last decade or two have been of questionable quality. PISTOL WHIPPED is a surprisingly good film, that I actually enjoy more, every time I watch it. And one of the impressive things for me with this film was that opening credit sequence. Bullets and Gravestones, a nicely done combination.

Pistol Whipped

MENACE II SOCIETY- Doesn’t actually have a credit sequence, it has a title sequence. But what a sequence. It is a horrific, horrific film, that remains almost 20 years later brilliantly directed, and wrenchingly performed. To think this is someone’s debut film is amazing. Offensive, vulgar, sad, twisted, and unfortunately still too accurate a portrait of generational ignorance, lost souls, and man made hells. But the film is also quite engrossing, with moments of levity and even fleeting moments… of love.

Menace II Society [Blu-ray]
—I’m a DVD guy, I really don’t care for Bluray. The packaging sucks (The moronic blue bar, was it designed by a blind guy? Cheap materials, poorly designed. Everyone I own (METROPOLIS, WATCHMEN Director’s Cut) looks like crap on my shelf, compared to the simple, functional design of a DVD case), and the quality difference between DVD, for me isn’t enough to justify paying more. So, I only recommend Blu-rays over DVD, if they offer special features not found on the DVD, and the price is right. This Blu-Ray qualifies.

Kiss Me Deadly (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

KISS ME DEADLY- Sports one of the most striking and haunting credit sequences. The Scrolling text, with the woman panting inconsolably beneath it.

FRACTURE- Is a very good thriller, with a quiet, understated credit sequence that is, like the film itself… endearing, and sticks with you long after you’ve seen the movie.

Fracture (Widescreen Edition)

That’s all for now!

Favorite Movie Title Sequences / Opening Credits

Favorite Movie Title Sequences/Credit Sequences

WOLVERINE- Director Gavin Hood’s X-MEN ORIGINS:WOLVERINE is a mediocre, relatively forgettable film that sports uneven direction and muddled writing/plot. However, the opening title sequence, done not by the director, is another matter entirely; being quite frankly brilliant. You’ll find yourself wanting to rewatch that title sequence constantly, while wanting to completely remove the rest of the film.

Peter Berg’s THE KINGDOM opening credits give in scant minutes a compelling, and brilliantly designed overview and background to the film he’s about to show you, and more to the conflict that has gripped the world since the latter half of the 20th century. It’s an amazing an ambitious credit sequence, if perhaps a bit heavy to really engender re-watchability, which a great title sequence should be… above all else.

LORD OF WAR- A great sequence follows the pov/life history of a bullet. Has been loudly applauded in many quarters and with good reason. It’s an instant classic.

SEVEN- A great movie and a great (and much copied) credit sequence. Perhaps the most influential of all the sequences on this list. Which is perhaps why it doesn’t seem as brilliant now, because so many people have stolen/borrowed this style. But the original is still the best.

QUANTUM OF SOLACE- Coming off the success of the first film, this one was subjected to all kinds of criticism, even before the film came out, including the title sequence. I quite like the film, it has flaws but I quite enjoy it. It falls apart at the end, but is still strong enough throughout most of it. And I LOVE the credit sequence. There was a lot of gnashing of teeth about Alicia Keys, but her amazing vocals along with songwriter Jack Black’s compulsive lyrics, above those sultry and sensual visuals just works, and is quintessential Bond. In fact I think it is my favorite Bond Credit sequence. A credit sequence I could watch on repeat darn near constantly.

SAHARA- By all reports an average film, it sports a fantastic floating tracking shot among the artifacts of a room. Seemingly simple, but brilliantly done.

HOSTAGE- The poster says a lot about what’s wrong with this film, it is unfocused and seems a bit pointless. That said the credit sequence is among the best ever put to film. It is brilliant.

Go to the members section of this blog for how to view any and all of these sequences (sign up and I’ll send details). However you view them, avoid crappy flash versions like you’ll find on Youtube. Just say no to Flash and its derivatives. 🙂

And Feel free to leave your comments about your favorite credit sequences. 🙂