Kingdom Hospital, and part two of the Underdog list.

Watched the third part of Kingdom Hospital today. I'm a bit behind, as I don't get a lot of DVR time.(Too much Max and Ruby and Rubbadubbers.) Frankly, I don't know if I'm gonna make it until the end, because it's too damn confusing. Lars Von Trier's The Kingdom was 4 1/2 hours as opposed to the 15 hours that they're going to hit with this(though with all the f'n commericals ABC slaps in there, it's really about 12), and I remember it making a lot more sense. Episode three featured a sequence straight out of Dennis Potter's The Singing Detective, and I found myself wishing I was watching that instead. According to Fango, ABC is sharpening up the ax for it already, and will be moving it to Thursday at 9 where it can die a quiet death next to Must See TV. Maybe when it's on DVD, I can give it more of a chance.

So, anyway, let's go to the Underdog list, part the second.

26. Nothing To Lose - Uh, Martin Lawrence and Tim Robbins in a buddy comedy? No thanks. Next~!
27. Living in Oblivion - No argument here. Buscemi is fabulous and James LeGros is an excellent ersatz Brad Pitt.
28. Top Secret - What can I say about a true classic? Eminently quotable, and Val Kilmer missed his calling as a comedic actor. Between this and Real Genius, a pair of cable staples in my adolescence.
29. Antz - CGI from the un-Disney. Would be just another cartoon flop if it weren't for Woody Allen and Stallone being part of the voice cast. Far, far inferior to A Bug's Life.
30. Atlantis - Visual design by Mike (Hellboy) Mignola aside, more flat 2D animation that no one saw. Chud's description is true, move away from the Disney animation formula and you're doomed.
31. Fright Night - Worth it for Roddy MacDowall alone. A horror classic.
32. Long Kiss Goodnight - Saw this in the theater in my go see everything days. Cheesy, guilty fun, but not worthy of the list.
33. Wanted Dead or Alive - Bleah. Gene Simmons is the only redeeming factor here.
34. Cop Land - Stallone Acts. This got enough attention when it came out that it's not an underdog. Nearly got Stallone an Oscar nomination.
35. The Edge - David Mamet writes an action picture about tough men and bears. Not particularly good.
36. State Of Grace - Gary Oldman walks off with this one. Great movie.
37. Miami Blues - A very off-center cop movie. Great performance by Alec Baldwin.
38. The Peacemaker - Saw this in Orlando on the last night of my honeymoon. It's okay, not great by any stretch of the imagination, and Nicole Kidman shouldn't do action movies.
39. Ronin - Eh. Jean Reno and DeNiro's interplay makes the movie, and the car chases are good, but this isn't an underdog. Rented a lot.
40. Die Hard 2: Die Harder - Movies that gross over $100 million, especially pre-Titanic, are NOT underdogs, particularly movies that didn't kill franchises.
41. Temple of Doom - see above.
42. To Live and Die In L.A. - Just watched this again as it has just been re-released on DVD. Spectacular, spectacular piece of 80's filmmaking, and the best thing Friedkin would do until 2003's The Hunted. Plus it has copious blood and nudity.
43. James and The Giant Peach - Not Nightmare Before Christmas, but close. Very good.
44. Kiss of The Dragon - Not Jet Li's best, not even Jet Li's best U.S. release.(That would be Romeo Must Die.) Besson has written better action pictures for other directors(The Transporter, Wasabi, the Taxi series in France), and seems content to be a writer/producer now. His last film was The Messenger in 1999, and his last good directorial effort was The Fifth Element (which deserves a sequel if anything does).
45. Nighthawks - Stallone with a beard, in drag. Rutger Hauer, ruthless German terrorist. Lando Calrissian, action sidekick. Fun movie.
46. King Of New York - Not an underdog in my video store. Rents as much as Scarface and the Godfather movies. One of Walken's best films.
47. Heaven Help Us - Okay, hardly a classic, despite Donald Sutherland as a monk.
48. L.A. Story - Good, not great, best scene is Steve Martin roller skating through an art gallery. Has gratuitous Sarah Jessica Parker, proceed at your own risk.
49. The Specials - Never seen it, we never got it at my video store, and never run into it on the cable, therefore, no opinion.
50. Bill And Ted's Bogus Journey - see Die Hard 2. Bill Sadler's Reaper is priceless, though.

Tomorrow, Raw thoughts, the Yankees start the season in Japan, and 51-75, including the two movies that most truly deserve to be on this list, and more movies that don't.