Category: movies

subway tokens

I have a long commute. I work and go to school in Boston, and neighboring Cambridge, Massachusetts. But I live out in the boonies. I’ve been dealing with this commute since I started grad school. Until fairly recently, I would pretty much always take public transportation. I would drive to the nearest train station, take the commuter rail into Boston, and then ride the T, Boston’s combined subway and above-ground transit system. The whole commute would take about 2 to 2 and half hours from door to door. Each way. I’d only do this about 2 or 3 times a week, piling up my Boston/Cambridge commitments into crazy-long days. I’d usually be gone from home between 12 and 15 hours on one of my commute days.

Sometime last year, say around February, I stopped commuting so often. I’ve been largely busy with another project, and have been working from home, telecommuting, etc. And days when I’ve gone into work for meetings, I’ve driven. While it has plenty of downsides (traffic delays, parking hassles and environmental impact), driving is also usually a bit faster: 2 to 3 hours total. Plus with more flexible times. So, in order to be able to have that extra time with the other project, I’ve been driving a lot more. But I decided to start taking the train in again, at least some days.

So here I am, taking public transportation again. (And today I got my first Charlie Card. I guess I’ll write about that later.) Sitting on the train and the subway, I have time to sit and think. So I’ve been thinking about subways, and subway scenes.

Subway scenes seem quite popular in movies and TV shows, especially in the action genre. There’s something compelling about the seedy, dark atmosphere of a subway station for a fight scene, with the tension of possible oncoming trains. Or about slipping into a subway car as the doors shut in a chase scene. And let’s not forget the claustrophobic fight scenes inside a subway car.

Subway Scenes

  • Buffy, season 5 “Fool for Love”
    This is the episode where Spike tells how he killed 2 slayers back in the day. The second one involved a fight scene in a New York subway car.
  • The Fugitive (1993)
    This one has an L train (elevated train) rather than a subway. Harrison Ford has a fight scene with the one-armed man in a train car.
  • Daredevil (2003)
    There’s that vengence fight scene in the subway station at the beginning with Ben Affleck, followed by that whole flaming “DD” insignia on the platform in the scene with Joe Pantoliano.
  • The Matrix (1999)
    Keanu (dude) Reeves has a big showdown with Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) in a subway station.
  • V for Vendetta (2005)
    V (Hugo Weaving, again), with some help from Evey (Natalie Portman), uses a subway train to deliver a message. (“Boom.”)
  • Run Lola Run/Lola rennt (1998)
    Lola’s run started because her boyfriend left a bag of money on the subway.
  • Strange Days (1995)
    The movie starts off with a chase scene where a woman (Brigitte Bako) escapes by running into a subway car just as the doors close.
  • Sliding Doors (1998)
    This movie’s alternate outcomes hinge upon whether or not Gwyneth Paltrow makes it onto a subway car before the door slides shut.
  • Crocodile Dundee (1986)
    End of movie. Declarations of love shouted across a crowded subway station.
  • Hellboy (2004)
    Hellboy (Ron Perlman) chases down demons in the subway tunnels, gets hits in the head with a train. (Don’t worry, he’s fine.)
  • The Italian Job (2003)
    Minis get driven down into a subway station, and race down the subway tunnels.

    • back to school

    So I started class again today. It’s been over a year since I last took a class. (Though not that long ago since I actually finished the work for that class….) I think I’m getting too old for this. 35 years old. Rushing off to a class where the average age of the students is probably 20. (My face, perhaps in an effort to make me feel younger, has graced me with a nice red zit on my nose. Just in time for the first day of school. It’s like high school revisited.) And can I just say that I didn’t quite feel prepared? As I was rushing around the house trying to get my essentials together for the ride in (car key, wallet, iPod…), I said to myself, “I should bring a pen. I think students use those.” So I grabbed a pen, and hoped that whatever papers were left in my backpack would serve for any note-taking purposes. (I did bring my laptop, though. So, here I sit in class, pretending to take notes. Just kidding! I’m really in the car driving home!)

    So I rushed around this afternoon dealing with registering for class (which I should’ve done weeks ago). And I sat in class with 40+ other students. And I felt almost like I was back in a previous life. And I had various flashbacks to other days in the classroom. Other classes I’d taken, as a grad student, as an undergrad, and even back in high school. And oddly, I had flashbacks to the movie Back to School. Mind you, I’ve never seen more than a few minutes of this movie starring, and apparently largely written by, Rodney Dangerfield. Nor do I want to see any more. (Really not a big fan of Rodney Dangerfield.) But I could somewhat identify with the premise: an old guy goes back to college, where he stands out for being such an old guy. (Also for being loud-mouthed, lewd and crude. Hopefully I didn’t come off as such an oaf.)

    I was going to put together a list of other movies of older folks going back to school. I mean, there must be others I’ve seen or know of. There’s that whole genre of parent/kid body swapping (like Freaky Friday and Vice Versa) that must have some misadventures of adults going to school with a bunch of youngsters. But I really should get to bed instead.

    Oh yeah, and I still owe some pants. I ran off to class earlier with my pants only half- way up. I mean, my pants post. It’ll have to be tomorrow.

    9 of my favorite kick-ass women TV shows

    Here is yet another installment of my ongoing project to collect, classify and critique movies, TV shows and other media that prominently feature kick-ass women. This is the first list of TV shows I’ve put together. I’ll probably have one or two more, and probably another movie list at some point. To recap the lists so far:

    Kick-ass women project meta-list

  • movies I love or at least like moderately well (1, 2, 3, 4)
  • movies I need to see (5, 6)
  • movies I found disappointing (7)
  • movies I don’t expect to like (8)
  • another blogger has put together a related list of Hong Kong movies
  • I also started a consolidated list, for quick reference, but haven’t updated it recently.

    • So, here’s the first TV list. As in my previous lists, I’m ordering these chronologically, though in this case by year that the show began to air. (I considered ranking these differently, but since my favorite came first chronologically and gets to be at the top of the list this way anyhow, I’m going to avoid the tricky task of ranking the rest of my favorites.) (I also feel compelled to say that if you’re wondering why “Xena” and “X-files” aren’t on the list, it’s because I didn’t watch them. I’ll try to remedy that. One of these days.)

    9 of my favorite kick-ass women TV shows

    1. The Avengers (1965-1967)
      This is my all-time favorite kick-ass woman TV show. Emma Peel (as portrayed by Diana Rigg) is my idol. (By the way, the whole series ran from 1961-1969, but here I’m talking about the Mrs. Peel seasons.)
    2. The Bionic Woman (1976-1978) Lindsay Wagner plays Jamie Sommers, a woman with “bionic” (cybernetic) superpowers. It’s been absolutely ages since I watched this, but I enjoyed it as a kid. It may well have been the first kick-ass woman show I watched.
    3. Wonder Woman (1976-1979)
      Lynda Carter plays the quintessential woman superhero. A colorful show where good and evil are portrayed as black and white. (I vaguely remember watching this when I was little, and then got some of the DVDs recently. I don’t think I’d ever seen the first season before, though, which was set during World War II. It’s actually quite a bit better than the following seasons, which are set in the contemporaneous 1970s.)
    4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003)
      Sarah Michelle Gellar kicks ass as Buffy, as do a variety of regular cast members and guest stars. I also love the way this show interleaves the horrors of living in the midst of monsters and supernatural evils and the after-school-special-type horrors of being in high school. (This show is another one of my absolute favorites. A possible 2nd.)
    5. Stargate SG-1 (1997-????)
      I quite like Amanda Tapping as Samantha Carter, with her brilliant matter-of-fact geekiness. She was usually about brains more than brawn, but could hold her own in a fight scene.
    6. The Powerpuff Girls (1998-2004)
      Three cute little girls with big eyes and superpowers battle the forces of evil in this animated kids’ show. I’m partial to Buttercup, the angry one. I fear I’m probably more like Blossom, the annoyingly nerdy one. I don’t think I’m much like Bubble, the sweet one. (Though she’s John’s favorite. What does that mean?)
    7. Alias (2001-2006)
      Jennifer Garner plays secret agent Sydney Bristow in this flashy spy show. Lots of fun fight scenes and clever gadgets, combined with over-the-top cloak-and-dagger disguise scenarios. I’ve only seen the first 2 seasons, though. I liked the first (lower budget) season better.
    8. Firefly (2002-2003)
      A great, but sadly short-lived, sci fi masterpiece, which happily at least led to a movie. I love Gina Torres as Zoe, a warrior woman with a dry wit, steady hand and a sense of being in control.
    9. Battlestar Galactica(2004-????) (plus the 2003 miniseries)
      I was surprised at how much I like this reinterpretation of the cheesy 1980’s space opera. In this show, strong women are the norm, rather than the exception. Katee Sackhoff as Starbuck majorly kicks ass as an ace pilot. Other noteworthy strongwomen include Grace Park as Sharon(s) Valleri, Mary McDonnell as President Laura Roslin, and Tricia Helfer as the bad-ass cylon Number Six.

    Potentially kick-ass women movies that probably suck

    This is another installment of my ongoing project to collect, classify and critique movies, TV shows and other media that prominently feature kick-ass women. I started by putting together lists of my all-time favorite movies in this genre. (I also started a consolidated list, for quick reference, but have to update it.) A recent contribution to the project has come from another blogger, who put together a list of her 10 favorite Hong Kong kick-ass women movies. Other installments from me have included a couple of lists of movies that I haven’t yet seen, but would like to. I also recently made a list of movies with kick-ass women that I found disappointing. (Whether it was disapointment in the movie, or disappointment in the potentially kick-ass women.) This next list somewhat straddles the last two categories: movies with potentially kick-ass women that I haven’t seen, but don’t have high expectations for. In many cases, I’m (morbidly) curious about them, though.

    9 potential kick-ass women movies I haven’t seen, am not sure I want to see, but have some morbid curiosity about

    1. Barb Wire (1996)
      This is the one starring Pamela Anderson (Lee). I really don’t expect anything redeeming about this movie, though I did read a review on imdb saying the movie is fun in a campy way.
    2. Batman & Robin (1997)
      This looks awful. I’ve read that it’s awful. But I’m somewhat morbidly curious about Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy and Alicia Silverstone as Batgirl.
    3. Starship Troopers (1997)
      I stumbled across a mention of this one at some point in my “research,” but from a source I don’t have much trust in. Not sure the details on who the kick-ass woman is. It has Denise Richards and Dina Meyer. (Funny, I just typed Dina Richards and Denise Meyer…guess that reflects that I don’t really know either of their work.) Googling “Denise Richards” and the movie title brought up various mentions of breasts and sex scenes, which is not a good sign. Oh, and I did find this useful abridged version of the script, though.
    4. Out of Sight (1998)
      Jennifer Lopez plays a US Marshall. I vaguely recall that this is the movie where she lets her own ass get kicked due to mushiness for George Clooney.
    5. Entrapment (1999)
      I have very low expectations of this for 2 reasons: 1) Sean Connery, who is, as far as I can tell a misogynist. I blame him for some of the atrocities of The Avengers (1998). I don’t think he likes to have a character he plays bested by a woman. and 2) Catherine Zeta-Jones. I once read an interview with her in a magazine (I don’t even know which. I was probably in a waiting room somewhere) where she talked about the importance of the and the challenges associated with being…pretty.
    6. Miss Congeniality (2000)
      I have serious doubts about the kick-ass qualities of Sandra Bullock in this, but I’m curious. Looks to be a lightweight comedy.
    7. Lara Croft Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life (2003)
      Angelina Jolie, once more. The first one was moderately disappointing. What should I expect from the sequel of a moderately disappointing movie?
    8. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003)
      I just don’t know if I can stomach this one. What with Arnold and all. Kristanna Loken plays a female terminator. That Arnold presumably whoops.
    9. Catwoman (2004)
      I wanted this one to be fun, but I heard it was pretty bad. (Although one friend of mine said she enjoyed it.) Halle Berry wears the catsuit.

    Another list of kick-ass women movies

    Not one of my lists this time, though. I’m excited to share that another movie buff has put together a new list of some of her favorite kick-ass women movies on her site Webs of Significance. Check out her list of 10 kick-ass women movies, which features a selection of Hong Kong movies in the kick-ass women genre.

    9 disappointing kick-ass women movies

    In my continuing quest to find media that prominently feature kick-ass women, I have come across examples of such that well…haven’t measured up. In some of these, a potentially kick-ass character was disappointingly wimpy. Or the actor/actress couldn’t pull off the role convincingly. In others, the movie was not great. In still other cases, the movie just plain sucked. Here’s the list of my biggest disappointments. As with previous lists, movies are ordered by year produced/released. With one big exception: I’m saving my all-time biggest disappointment for the end of the list.

    9 kick-ass women movies I hoped would be better:

    1. …coming up at the end of the post…
    2. Cutthroat Island (1995)
      I really want to like this movie, and it has its moments. Geena Davis plays a pirate. How cool is that? Lots of action, fight scenes, chase scenes, etc. And Geena Davis plays a pirate. But somehow, unfortunately, it’s just not that good a movie. But Geena Davis plays a pirate!
    3. The Fifth Element (1997)
      I remember looking forward to this one, since I’ve liked Besson’s other movies, and since it appeared to prominently feature a kick-ass woman. I saw it in the theater. However, I found the movie to be generally pretty forgettable. (As in, at this point, I don’t remember much beyond some bright colors and some irritation with Bruce Willis.)
    4. Star Wars: Episode I – the Phantom Menace (1999)
      This movie disappointed so many in so many ways. One of the ways in which it disappointed me was that I thought there was an opportunity for Natalie Portman to kick some ass. I was unimpressed. (And things just got worse in Episode II…)
    5. Rush Hour 2 (2001)
      Another movie I don’t remember too well. This one has Zhang Ziyi, playing a kick-ass villainous type. Problem is, she seems pretty unstrung, from what I remember. And of course, she’s not the star, so her character doesn’t get to win.
    6. Tomb Raider (2001)
      While Angelina Jolie did kick ass moderately well in this, the movie was pretty weak overall. I do remember a few cool fight scenes. I should probably give it another chance.
    7. Daredevil (2003)
      Another movie I really wanted to like. Probably because of Kevin Smith‘s involvement, as well as being a comic book/superhero movie. But let’s face it. Ben Affleck is just not convincing as a superhero. But Jennifer Garner kicked ass as Elektra in spite of things. At least in the fight scenes.
    8. Underworld (2003)
      I loved Kate Beckinsale in Cold Comfort Farm (one of my all-time favorite movies, though not in the kick-ass woman genre). However, this movie was…well…not great. And Kate was not terribly convincing in an action role.
    9. Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle (2003)
      I’m not sure what was going on with this movie. I found the first one entertaining and funny. This one just pained me.

    And here it is. My all time biggest disappointment in a movie in the kick-ass women category:

    1. The Avengers (1998)
      How could they???

    To say that The Avengers (1998) movie disappointed me would be like saying Everest is a pretty big mountain. That eating the chicken salad sandwich you left in your car all one hot July day may lead to stomach upset. That the Hindenberg disaster was the result of an unfortunate mishap. What I’m saying is that this movie was a gigantic, mountainous gut-spewing fireball of a disaster.

    Okay, perhaps I exaggerate. In that my expectations were pretty low, so I supposed the disappointment level couldn’t have been that extreme. But please understand that I love the Avengers show, at least in its 1965-1967 incarnation. That I have idolized the character Emma Peel, as portrayed by Diana Rigg, since my formative teenage years.

    This movie had a variety of “flaws” (Ralph Fiennes’ cardboard performance as Steed, the inclusion of the character “Mother,” Sean Connery’s unconvincing role as a megavillain, to name a few), which could have been overlooked if only the portrayal of the character Emma Peel had been appropriately…like Emma Peel. But she just wasn’t. Uma didn’t cut it.

    I actually got a fair amount of enjoyment, after I saw the movie, just from ranting about how many things they got wrong. Believe it or not, I want to watch it again. So that I can relive those rants, and perhaps share them here.

    9 more kick-ass women movies I want to see

    Here is yet another installment of my kick-ass women in movies and TV project. Since I’m starting to have trouble keeping track of which movies I’ve already listed, I’ve started up a master list. So far, it has my first 5 lists, and can be found under pages in my sidebar.

    Below is the second list of movies that I should see. (To those of you gave me some more recommendations, Thanks!) As in the previous installments, the movies in this list are ordered chronologically.

    9 more kick-ass women movies I want to see

    1. Supergirl (1984)
      I really know almost nothing about this one, but I have fairly low expectations from this US-made movie from the darkest depths of the Reagan era. I’m curious, though. We need more women superhero movies.
    2. Swordsman II/Xiao ao jiang hu zhi dong fang bu bai (1991)
      This Brigitte Lin movie has been recommended to me by a new friend and Hong Kong cinema buff. While I’d been curious about this movie in the past, her review of the movie makes me downright eager to see it.
    3. The Swordsman III/Dung fong bat baai 2: fung wan joi hei (1992)
      If I like the second Swordsman, I’m instructed to see the third.
    4. Bride with White Hair 2/Bai fa mo nu zhuan II (1993)
      I haven’t yet seen this sequel, starring Brigitte Lin, even though I already have the DVD in my collection. I should get to it!
    5. Point of No Return (1993)
      Bridget Fonda stars in this La Femme Nikita/Nikita remake. The reviews aren’t as bad as I’d expect from a remake that didn’t need to be made. (Though how many remakes really do? Why is that folks make remakes of the good movies? Ooh. There’s a fun list to make…seriously flawed movies that should be remade.)
    6. Smilla’s Sense of Snow (1997)
      Julia Ormond stars in this mystery/thriller. I don’t know too much about it, though I read the book ages ago. (From what I understand, though, the movie makes a pretty big departure from the book.)
    7. The X Files (1998)
      This is the movie, which a friend (a big fan of the show) says she found a bit disappointing. It’s probably still worth considering for Gillian Anderson’s famed role as Scully.
    8. Resident Evil (2002)
      Milla Jovovich stars. Based on the game. Has been recommended to me. Have duly added it to my queue.
    9. Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
      The sequel to the above item.

    Some kick-ass women movies I need to see

    Here’s another installment in my ongoing project to collect and categorize kick-ass women movies and shows. This is a list of such movies that I haven’t seen yet, but hope to (or should) see someday soon. (This is my fifth list in the series. The first four lists are of movies I’ve seen and loved, or at least enjoyed.)

    9 kick-ass women movies I need to see

    1. Coffy (1973)
    2. Foxy Brown (1974)
      Two 70’s classics starring Pam Grier. I’m curious, but wary. Wary of the 70’s mostly, I guess.
    3. Aliens (1986)
    4. Alien 3 (1992)
    5. Alien Resurrection (1997)
      It’s pretty shocking that I’ve never seen any of the movies in the Alien franchise. Especially considering that Sigourney Weaver’s role of Ellen Ripley is legendary in the kick-ass woman genre. These are at the top of my to-see list. (I need to see the first one, too, but I understand that Ripley is not yet too kick-ass yet in that one.)
    6. GI Jane (1997)
      More military than most of the kick-ass women movies I watch. Demi Moore stars in this one as woman in a Navy Seals training.
    7. Die Another Day (2002)
      Halle Berry is supposed pretty good in this, though I’ve heard it’s not a great Bond movie overall.
    8. House of Flying Daggers/Shi mian mai fu (2004)
      I believe this one is supposed to be pretty good. It’s got Zhang Ziyi. I have high hopes.
    9. Elektra (2005)
      This should have been great. I heard it wasn’t. I’d sill like to check it out. Jennifer Garner reprises (somewhat) her role from Daredevil.

    Another 9 kick-ass women movies

    Here’s another installment in my endeavor to catalogue, critique, and otherwise classify movies, shows and other media that prominently feature kick-ass women. This is my fourth list of movies. The first three lists contained more of my all-time favorite movies (or at least those movies I know better), but this list still includes some great movies (or at least some movies that have great kick-ass women roles). At some point soon, the lists will be moving into the following territories:

    A pre-list list of upcoming lists:

    • Movies that I hear are good, which appear to have very kick-ass women, but which I have (shamefully) not yet seen
    • Movies in which there are some great kick-ass women, though with roles that are less central
    • Movies with kick-ass women where either the characters or the movies themselves were disappointing (or just plain awful)
    • Movies that I haven’t seen, but heard or suspect are crap, but which I should probably still see anyhow.
    • TV shows! I’m happy to say that TV has many more kick-ass women characters than in the days when Cathy Gale and Emma Peel first fought their way onto the small screen. I’ll likely start with my favorites.

    And then at some point, my plan is to devise a rating scheme whereby I can actually rank the movies, shows and kick-ass women characters.

    Okay, onto the real list. Like the previous lists, these movies will be ordered chronologically.

    Another 9 kick-ass women movies

    1. A View to a Kill (1985)
      Grace Jones (Mayday) played an atypical “Bond Girl” role in this one. Not restricted to the role of pillowy soft femininity to bolster the masculinity of Bond.
    2. La Femme Nikita/Nikita (1990)
      This is an important movie that probably should have appeared on one of my earlier lists. Anyhow, a great movie, and a great role. Anne Parillaud kicks ass in style. And in French. Perhaps even in French style.
    3. Thelma & Louise (1991)
      This is more about kick-ass strength of character than ass-kicking action, but this movie is still a classic of the kick-ass women genre. Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon take no prisoners.
    4. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1992)
      It’s not the amazingly great TV show, but still fun. Kristy Swanson’s portrayal of Buffy is still worthy of being labelled kick-ass.
    5. League of Their Own (1992)
      I’m not generally a big fan of sports movies, but this one is worth mentioning, especially since it’s based on some real-life women who kicked ass, in their way.
    6. Iron Monkey/ Siu nin Wong Fei Hung ji Tit Ma Lau (1993)
      Jean Wang plays a supporting role, but holds her own and kicks ass along with Donnie Yen. This movie also scores extra points because the kick-ass young boy in the movie was actually played by a kick-ass young girl. And it’s a great martial arts movie, overall.
    7. Supercop 2/Chao ji ji hua (1993)
      It may be pretty clear that I am a big fan of Michelle Yeoh. In this one, she reprises her role from Supercop (the one with Jackie Chan). It wasn’t a super movie, but it did have some super ass-kicking scenes.
    8. X-Men (2000)
      While this movie gets points for having women superheroes, I actually found the X-Women to be a wee bit wimpy. Especially in the fight scenes–they only kick moderate ass. On the other hand, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique counterbalances with a more impressive display of ass-kicking, and is menacing to boot.
    9. Mrs. & Mrs. smith (2005)
      I can’t say I loved this movie, but I did appreciate the kick-assedness of Angelina Jolie’s character.