2025 California Wildfires/Firestorm (1998) Movie Review - Movie Goodness

hello everybody welcome to movie goodness where we examine life through cinema here on the kb radio network i am your host kevin reed and welcome to the very first movie goodness of 2025 at least i think it is isn't it i

think so uh time of time and days are blur to me ever since uh i want to say thanksgiving you

I can't tell you what day of the week it is,

what date it is.

You know,

my time is all thrown off.

I feel like it's seven o'clock at night when it's actually 315 in the afternoon.

I don't know what's going on with me lately.

I don't know if my mind is slipping.

And depending on who you ask,

my mind has been slipping since birth.

But that's neither here nor there.

But my concept of time has just went.

haywire over the last couple of months so it time kind of blends in on itself but i believe this is the first movie goodness episode of 2025 and if it is if i'm correct in in

that uh guess happy new year to everybody i hope that this show finds everybody doing well that you already started your journey to have a better 2025 that you did

in 2024.

Even though 2024,

yes,

we had our ups and downs,

but we got through it,

you know,

kicking and screaming,

but we got through it nonetheless.

2025 is a new year,

new goals,

new mission statements to make.

You know,

I'm not a big

New Year's resolution guy.

I don't make New Year's resolutions.

I feel if you're going to make a change,

it doesn't matter if it's January the 1st.

or April 10th or October the 28th it doesn't matter whenever you feel the need to make a change make that change start it right then and there you know so it doesn't need to hear no dare today we're going to talk about something that is ongoing you

know good old movie goodness fashion we talk about current affairs and the biggest current thing that is no pun intended sweeping

the world is this california wildfire situation and it is sad you know when you see these pictures online or on the news uh all of the devastation that has taken place it

is like the stuff of of movies ironically enough being as though this is around the los angeles area where hollywood is and all where they make all of these good movies and it's

it looks dystopian it looks like in a dystopian movie that they're shooting you know like the special effects has gotten out of control but this is real life this is actual real life i saw one uh video of

this fire it just devastated this town i want to i want to say pasadena one of those areas around there and it looked like the depiction of hell from the film

Constantine that starred Keanu Reeves when he went into hell to retrieve that medical bracelet and it just looked so funky and real at least in that film like if I was to imagine hell which I don't want to because I certainly don't want to go there but

that's what I would say yep that's hell that looks like hell only to fast forward to 2025 you

and to turn on the news and we see an actual depiction of that.

I mean,

it looked exactly like the scene from that movie,

but it was real.

It just tore me up on the inside,

tore me up to see all of these people who are homeless,

you know,

with this fire sweeping.

You know,

down here in New Orleans,

we are,

at least we should be,

very empathetic to...

natural disasters when it happens elsewhere because we've been through it you know we've been through devastations of natural disasters uh i.e hurricane katrina you remember the pictures of hurricane katrina for those of you who don't live in this area and you saw actually saw the pictures on the news unfortunately

um us down here we didn't have to look at pictures it was our houses but you know you saw the devastation you saw how houses were flooded and uh your materialistic things were floating down the street or damaged or ruined pictures

and whatnot all that good stuff gone because of these flood waters and you know as as bad as it was and it was horrible and it still is because

believe it or not people people are still trying to bounce back from hurricane katrina it that has not went anywhere but it it was a road to recovery there was a starting point for those of us who houses

were flooded for example my parents house they it was flooded you know but all they did got got out the houses uh you

put up new sheet rock and whatnot,

got new furniture and this,

that,

and the third.

And so eventually they were able to bounce back and thousands,

if not millions of others who had to go through that as well.

But in this instance,

when you're dealing with wildfires,

they don't have nothing to go back to.

See,

when we left for Katrina,

we came back to devastation.

We came back to see our houses just in a wreck.

The people of California.

When these fires started raging and they left,

they left homes.

When they came back,

it was nothing but ashes.

There's nothing there.

And so for people who want to compare the two,

you can't compare the two.

What the good folks over in California are going through was far worse.

And my heart,

my prayers go out to them as they rebuild.

This was a...

or it still is because it's still ongoing it is not over unfortunately this is on going but what we're gonna talk about today we're gonna go through the history of what took place and uh what what is going on currently and why why is it taking so long and

for our film today that we're going to review um initially i wasn't going to do a film but i say now i'm gonna review this film because under

any other circumstance i don't see an opportunity to review this film for no other reason and it is the 1998 film starring nfl hall of famer turned actor turned back to nfl commentator howie long and it is firestorm a film that i remember back in 1998 i was excited for and

i will tell you why when we get to the review but first let's talk

about the devastation that is going on currently in California.

The wildfires,

this ongoing series of wildfires that are burning through the state of California,

more specifically Southern California,

that has resulted in fatalities.

I think up at least the time of this recording,

16 deaths have taken place.

due to these wildfires,

homes destroyed,

and of course,

power outages throughout those areas.

But the 2025 fire season started very early.

Now,

this isn't something new.

They always have wildfires in California.

This is a thing,

unfortunately,

just like it's a thing for down here in southeastern Louisiana for that six-month period that we have hurricanes.

It's hurricane season.

Every time...

a little breeze come off the coast of africa our buttholes clench up because we know that that can turn into a tropical storm or god forbid a hurricane and enter the gulf of mexico and here we go again and so this this

is a thing um unfortunately it's a thing for the people in california as well but not normally does it start this early especially at the very beginning of the year and

It really came from these winds.

It was like a wind event that took place.

I think they called it the

Santa Ana wind event.

Speaking of hurricanes,

hurricane gust winds that were just blowing in.

It wasn't any storms.

It was just this wind event.

With this wind,

you had these little...

small fires or whatever the case may be and the wind fueled those fires and it just raged completely

out of control and it sparked several large devastating wildfires in Los Angeles County.

Now according to climate scientists,

climate change increased the likelihood of the event by causing first a very strong rainfall which resulted in more vegetation.

So with that happening and then this very strong drought that took place after

which dried up all that vegetation,

the likelihood of such events increased by 30,

they said up to 30 to 60% from 1950.

So previous climate models underestimated the risk.

But even they said that a three degree temperature rise will increase the chances of such events two times.

in comparison to the current condition.

So climate change also increased the intensity of winds and reduced the amount of water available for stopping the wildfires.

And I know what a good contingent of people feel about climate change.

There's a large group of people who don't even believe in climate change,

that it's not a thing.

But it's a thing.

It is a thing.

thing and i don't see how you can deny that how can you deny the existence of climate change have you walked outside at any point during the year or any time in your life you know a difference you

know the difference of these bitter coals that happen in the south case in point i was just reading before uh i started preparing for the show today you

I was just reading about how as of today,

the day of this recording,

every state in the United States,

with the exception of two,

the other 48 states,

every one of those 48 states have snow today or in the next coming days.

The two that don't will be here in Louisiana and Florida.

Everybody else will get snow.

Now that doesn't mean there's a blanket of snow everywhere else in some portion of your state.

There's going to be snow throughout the next week or so.

So that is bananas to me.

I've never seen nothing like that.

When they showed the map,

I was like,

my God,

the whole map is white.

Except here and in Florida.

But it's cold enough here in New Orleans.

It is freezing.

I mean,

I don't know why it's not snowing.

because it's cold enough to snow and we have a slight drizzle in the air.

So it feels like it might snow,

but it is not,

according to these meteorologists and whatnot.

But,

yeah,

climate change is a real thing.

That's why you're getting hurricanes in

Los Angeles.

You remember a couple of years ago you had a hurricane hit Los Angeles?

Hurricanes hitting

New York City and blizzard.

blizzards happening in the south and all this other stuff it's just crazy climate events that are taking place and this is just in the united states i i if i if i put pen to paper and go to googling and typing on his computer and

you know search around the world i'm pretty sure they've had some changes in their weather over the past 20 30 40 years as well it is gradually changing and this is

partially the result of some of that.

And now I'm not here to try to convince anybody or move the needle on anything in regards to your beliefs in climate change.

If you believe what you want to believe,

and that's for anything that I talk about here on this show,

I'll just give my thoughts and beliefs.

Now,

if you disagree,

that's fine.

That's your opinion.

But

I'm looking at what's in front of me and what my body tells me every time I walk out the door.

It is.

freezing when it's supposed to be hot or is hot when it's supposed to be cold for no is no reason why christmas day you should be walking around with shorts in a tank top on because it's burning up you know that's that's weird to me but

here in new orleans that's the that's the course of a day here in new orleans we go through and let me get back to the wildfires here in new orleans we go through all four seasons in the course of a day

It is crazy.

And this happens all the time.

We'll get winter in the...

first thing in the morning it'll be freezing cold by 10 11 o'clock it turns to spring you come out of your jacket midday it is burning hot you're in short sleeves now you you you done scripted out some of them layers by

the afternoon you probably throw on a little windbreaker because it's getting a little cool then at night you're wrapped up in a throw rug or whatever in your house because it's freezing cold you don't know how to set your thermostat

throughout the day you do not it is it is crazy here in New Orleans now heading back to California here's a list of fires that burnt more than

1,000 acres of uh property land or whatever and it produced significant structural damage and resulted in casualty beginning on January the

7th you have the Palisades fire that consumed

23,713 acres.

As it stands right now,

only 11% of that fire has been contained.

Evacuations were forced in this area.

They destroyed at least 513 structures,

and it damaged 63 of them in

Pacific Palisades,

northwest of Santa Monica.

Two confirmed fatalities.

came from this fire three confirmed injuries uh associated with extreme powerful uh santa ana win event and so that was on january the

7th also on january the 7th we had uh eden the uh which was also in los angeles county you had 14 117 acres that were affected by these fires

27% of that fire has been contained.

Of course,

evacuations were forced.

It destroyed at least 1,211 structures and damaged 166 of them in Pasadena.

Eight confirmed casualties were the result of this fire.

Five confirmed injuries as well.

On the 7th as well,

you have Hearst,

which is also,

well,

all of them in Los Angeles County,

so it makes no point to say that.

But in Hearst,

you had 799 acres affected.

89% of this fire has been contained.

No casualties confirmed.

No injuries were confirmed in this event.

We move over to Lydia,

which had

395 acres.

that were affected this fire was contained

100 on the

11th of january sunset you had 43 acres affected that fire was contained it started on the 8th it was contained on the

9th and in kenneth you had 1052 acres affected it has been contained that fire started on the

9th it was contained on it

Well,

no confirmed casualties or injuries in that fire.

Now,

let's get into,

I guess you could say,

the controversial nature of these fires.

You know,

what else contribute to this devastation that took place in California?

Yes,

it is a natural disaster,

act of God,

if you will.

But human beings had their hand in it.

As well,

the budget for the Los Angeles Fire Department was reduced by 17.6 million dollars or 2 percent in the fiscal year of 2024,

2025.

On December 4th of 2024,

the L.A.

Fire Chief Christian Crowley said that the reduction has adversely affected the L.A.

Fire Department.

affected the department's ability to maintain core operation and that the seven million dollar reduction of overtime hours severely limited the department's capability to prepare for train for and respond to large-scale emergencies such as this and

affected inspections and of residential and brush clearance prior to the first wildfires

the Santa Ines

Wizard War,

I believe I'm saying his name right,

at least the name of this wizard war correctly,

which is a large...

westerwar it it holds

117 million gallons of water um the infrastructure is it's located in the upper pacific palestines um and it had been completely emptied due to ongoing maintenance to the repair of a tear on

its cover so they didn't have access to that that was

A major blow to the efforts to contain these fires.

Now,

the reservoir was scheduled to resume operations in February,

which was next month.

The former

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power General Manager Martin Adams stated that the repair operations had been going on,

quote unquote,

for a while.

And the officials typically maintained lower water levels in the reservoir.

during winter months to prevent water stagnation and additional issues with chemical compensation and bacteria growth.

And so it was normal for him to go through a routine in the winter,

but to completely drain it was kind of off,

I guess you could say.

Now,

a lot of the blame has been laid at the feet of California's Governor Newsom.

And I look,

I don't know who to point the finger at,

who to blame or whatever.

But I know it's going to turn into something politicized.

I think back to don't think back too far.

But the incident that happened in New Orleans on New Year's Day,

the terror attack that took place.

And I don't even think it was a day later.

You have political,

quote unquote,

leaders come forth and talk about suing the city.

all this other foolishness what's that gonna do it's not gonna bring back the 15 people that died there i i don't understand you know because of the little concrete barriers that were supposed to be uh up during this time when uh that fool did what he did on bourbon street but i

know in situations like this and similar to this uh people

want to blame somebody somebody has to take the fall and sometimes you just got to sit back and just take the l i don't think i don't think blaming x y and z is going to solve the problem because if you really look at this situation talking about the uh californian wildfires if

you look at this situation it's it was kind of inevitable it's something that i don't think the waters

Would have helped you.

Now,

granted,

it could have saved a lot of homes and a lot of structures.

Don't get me wrong.

But at the end of the day,

with this wind event and the way that that fire spread and how fast that fire spread and how dangerous it was,

you're asking a lot from these firefighters to try to contain these fires.

Now,

is it sad that they didn't have any water to fight?

these fires yes yes it is you know and i guess i'm kind of poking holes in my own argument so to speak by saying that yeah you did need the water but i don't think it would have made this dynamic difference as if it

was going to save everybody's homes if that makes any sense i guess the point i'm trying to make is it's not the time to point fingers

You know,

literally the fire is still burning and we're pointing fingers.

Let's try to get this.

Let's focus all our energy on trying to get these fires contained and start a rebuild for these people who are quote unquote homeless at this time.

Which brings me to this other part of the equation that you see a lot on social media.

If you pay attention to these type of things,

a lot of people.

could care less about the fires in california sadly enough and it's sad it's sad some of the posts that i see on social media it is completely ridiculous how people are saying oh the celebrities oh

it's just celebrities losing their houses like they can't afford to rebuild that celebrities don't make as much money as you think they don't have just millions of dollars sitting laying around the house

You know,

like,

like you think,

like you dreamed up in your head that they are well off.

They're not that well off to lose your house like this.

And people could care less about that.

That's not fair.

That's not right.

What if people took that attitude if something happened to your house?

You know,

the typical layman,

you know,

the middle class who are struggling to keep their head above water.

It's not fair to have that attitude.

Number one,

it's not just celebrities that live in Los Angeles,

people.

In case you was wondering.

Yeah,

a lot of celebrities lost their home.

But there are far more average,

everyday,

go-to-work-every-morning

Americans who lost their homes,

their property,

their possessions,

and in some cases even lives in this fire.

And so you need to watch how you express yourself,

I guess you could say.

It's wrong to feel that way.

Even if it was just celebrities,

who wants to see?

anybody i don't care what status they are lose their homes lose their possessions uh here's a few celebrities who houses burnt down in these wildfires as of uh as of today uh

mandy moore uh carrie alway's uh eugene levy billy crystal paris hilton adam brody uh anthony hopkins jeff bridges john

Goodman Miles Taylor

James Woods

Mel Gibson

Ricky Lake Ed Harris and the list goes on and on and on of celebrities or entertainers who lost their homes due to these wildfires and to touch in on that you

on top of that like I said beside the celebrities normal average everyday Americans

They're having problems finding homes during these fires

Los Angeles area landlords they raised the court the cost of rent

They raised that they pretty much price price gouged and raised rent 15 to 20 percent due to these fires and

Most of the rent has almost doubled causing many newly homeless people to have

difficulty finding somewhere to stay.

This is crazy to me.

Why is now if we want to harp on the government,

this is where we harp on the government because the government should go after these landlords,

go after these people who are causing more stress in a situation like this.

It's bad enough I lost my house.

Now,

okay,

let me go find somewhere to stay,

me and my family.

And rent is twice as much as it was before because these landlords,

I guess,

trying to recoup for what they lost during the fires or whatever the case may be.

Or they see an opportunity to make money,

make more money in these disastrous situations.

These are things that we see all the time.

We see it a lot.

down here during hurricane season and whenever a hurricane hits here or a tropical storm or whatever,

price gouging is a real thing.

It is a real thing.

Gas go up like two extra dollars.

Groceries go up,

you know,

your essential stuff.

And they do it willy nilly,

willy nilly,

because there's no oversight.

There's nobody really looking at that time because they're focused on other things.

And it's sad.

It is heartbreaking to see that this is taking place for these people in the Los Angeles area.

Now,

also,

some hotels,

they have offered discounted rates for those who are displaced,

while others that choose the price gouge,

you know,

increase in their rates substantially,

even for those who were already booked.

And this is before the fires raged out of control.

They changed the price.

it's just that even after they had booked it for this price they came back with a different price oh yesterday's price isn't today's price and they i mean it's ridiculous it's ridiculous what's going on there i feel so bad for those people

Now,

the economic impact of this is going to be astronomical.

It goes without saying.

According to J.P.

Morgan,

they estimated that the insured loss from the fires were projected to exceed

$20 billion,

which would set a new record for wildfire-related insurance claims in

U.S. history.

And to be honest with you,

I—

feel that it's going to be much more than that that's that's just the estimate i'm pretty sure it's going to be way more than 20 billion dollars but that's the the guesstimation i guess you could say now

jp morgan noted that those figures could raise further due to the fire's continuing spread and the lack of containment uh as of january the 12th damage calls

predictions were estimated to be as high as 135 billion would it be dollars and um yeah this is when this is all said and done this is going to be catastrophic economic now

jumping into the entertainment aspect of it all being as though this is taking place in the los angeles and los angeles area and this is movie goodness

We got to talk about entertainment and the effects of what's happening in that arena.

Now,

due to the severe winds and fire damage,

Amazon

Studios and

Universal Pictures,

they canceled their Hollywood premieres to

The Wolfman,

which is scheduled to come out in a couple of weeks.

Unstoppable,

which is the Amazon

Prime show or movie that is scheduled to come out,

I think.

this upcoming weekend and so they canceled those premieres uh universal studios has closed is universal studios hollywood theme park and universal city walk as well the

31st annual screen actors girl award uh they canceled the live announcement for his nominees instead they issued a list to uh to the press to be released um the

30th annual Critics'Choice Awards,

which was intended to be held on January the 12th in Santa Monica.

It was postponed until January the

26th. The deadline for

Oscar nominations voting was delayed for two days due to the fire.

The premiere of the Under Ninja movie was cancelled due to the state of emergency.

I've never heard of the Under

Ninja.

i know i don't i don't have a earthly idea what that movie's about but uh reading the title has my curiosity uh several hollywood entertainment headquarters and production centers have shut down as well postponing production of several shows and movies such as gray's anatomy ncis

ncis origins hacks uh ted lasso jimmy kimball live after midnight fallout on call

and the last showgirl have all been postponed moving over to sports the nh nhl postponed their january 8 game at the crypto.com arena in downtown los angeles between the los angeles kings and calgary flames due to the wildfires also

the nba they postponed a january night game between the los angeles lakers and charlotte horner

Hornets at that same arena as well as two

January the 11th games between the Lakers and the Spurs and between the Clippers and the Hornets in the Intuit Dome the NFL they moved a playoff game this is how serious it is the playoffs uh

they were scheduled to have a Monday night game on January the 13th between the Los Angeles Rams and the Minnesota Vikings you

Glendale. Well,

actually,

they moved it to Glendale,

Arizona.

It was supposed to happen in

L.A., but they moved it to Glendale,

Arizona as a alternative former

U.S. swimmer,

Gary Hall Jr.

said he lost his 10,

Olympic gold medals,

including five gold medals in the fires.

And,

uh...

Yeah,

it's just devastating from that aspect as well.

you know uh because it affects everything of course first and foremost these people homes and uh businesses and everything yes that is first and foremost but that affects them and now you're going into this and it affects everybody else because everybody who are into sports and looking forward to these games they have to uh you

know not watch their favorite team play or uh their movies that

you were looking forward to i was looking forward to seeing um wolfman which it isn't going to stop the release of the film or nothing like that but as far as the premieres and stuff like that but it affects uh these films and these tv shows and so on and so forth that will um

affect you in some shape form or fashion so don't think that it's just renegaded to those who are in the los angeles area but you

With all that being said,

those are the events of these California wildfires that have devastated the people in the Los Angeles area.

And as always,

as I said to start off the show,

my thoughts and prayers are with everyone who are dealing with this.

You know,

because this is going to be a road back that is going to be hard.

It's going to be tough.

And,

you know,

my heart goes out to them,

to those who lost their lives.

My heart goes out to them,

to the firefighters and the first responders.

Man,

my hat goes off to you.

As people are running away from the fires,

you see these firefighters running into it.

And that takes some bravery that we all wish we have.

We all think we have,

you know.

Everybody thinks they can run into the fire and be the hero until they feel the heat,

you know,

and that's when you get that reality check like,

do I really want,

you know what I'm saying?

And so,

yeah,

we all think that we have that gene in us to be

Superman or Batman or something like that.

But these men and women who truly put their lives on the line,

I should say,

for our lives,

they deserve all the accolades.

that they earned.

But yeah,

hopefully they get all this under control in some shape,

form,

or fashion.

It is kind of crazy that them being so close to the ocean,

to the biggest body of water on Earth,

the Pacific Ocean,

and they don't have water to fight the fires.

It is the craziest thing

I have ever heard in my life.

But this is where we at.

this is 2025 hopefully they can get this rectified in some shape form or fashion and be able to uh contain these fires and get people back on track to rebuild and get back to a normal life

all right now let's get into our review for today it is a film that is uh related to what is taking place currently in

California and it is none other than the 1998 action thriller directed by Dean

Sampler starring Howie Long,

Glenn or Scott Glenn,

William Forsythe and Susie Amos

Firestorm. A film in 1988 that I was super excited for and the reason I was super excited for me being a huge football fan

I liked

harry long you know and i liked him leading up to this because he had popped up in a couple of movies as you know he wasn't the star but he was he was in it as like a henchman in broken arrow and

it was another film that he popped up in but i liked him in broken arrow the little role that he had and i'm like man harry long got a little something with him he can act a little bit now granted broken arrow

was not an academy award-winning film but i liked his acting in that movie it fit that movie and so when he was announced to be the lead of this action film and i'm like okay he

fits the bill big guy muscular guy tough rugged guy he's this firefighter who uh gotta fight these criminals during a fire oh man in the woods man give me this

I'm excited for this you know and I liked firefighter movies even though we don't get a lot of them you get backdraft which is probably my all-time favorite

firefighter movie um which i thought about reviewing for this show but i chose not to i'm gonna save that for another one uh another show on upon itself i should say and um there's

another fighter firefighter film that i liked it came out in the 80s why it's the name escaping me my god i think uh timothy hutton it was timothy hutton

um is it tuck 182 or something like that it was something it came out in the 80s anyway i like that movie too but i wanted to i wanted to talk about this because i'll never ever get the opportunity to talk about a uh smoke jumper uh

like this again oh those who wish them dead that's another one too with angelina jolie almost reviewed that one almost reviewed that one that came out a couple of years ago but anyways uh

I would never get the opportunity to talk about this movie and I decided today is the day.

Firestorm.

Man,

this movie was so bad.

This was not a good movie at all.

This was a failed attempt to turn Harry Long into something,

you know,

and this is around the era where they were just throwing these actors or...

or not say that loosely but we will see these people they'll throw them against the wall see who sticks you know who who who can emerge in the you know mid to late 90s as the next big action star because in the

80s we got a plethora of them and that we still watch to this day we still watch the long swartzenegger bruce willis and you know all these uh vandams and

all that good stuff.

We watched all them in the 80s.

So in the 90s,

not so much.

In the 90s,

they had so many come out and they didn't pan out too well.

I think the only one from the 90s that came out of nowhere that you kind of sat back and said,

okay,

that's an action star.

And that's Steven Seagal.

But we saw how he has fell from grace.

As of a few years ago,

I mean,

he he can't buy a role right now because Steven Seagal can't act.

You know,

dad,

he can kick your butt.

At least he used to.

Now he's about

300 pounds.

And even if he probably still can kick your butt,

but he can't act.

But

Howie Long was one of those guys.

Howie Long,

like I said,

he fit the bill.

Had this came out

10.

15 years earlier,

Howie Long would have done it.

This movie would have did blockbuster numbers.

This movie bombed.

And it bombed because it had the weakest story,

the weakest screenplay,

and the worst acting you ever want to see.

And this was Scott Glenn,

who I adore.

I love Scott Glenn as an actor.

William Forsythe as the villain in this film.

William Forsythe is awesome.

It just did not work.

You know,

this movie was set in Wyoming during this wildfire that took place in the woods or whatever.

And

Howie Long,

he's the smokejumper.

And in case you don't want to know what a smokejumper is,

those are the firefighters who they go out and they're highly trained.

Highly trained and they jump from the airplanes and,

you know,

they try to contain these.

uh wildfires like they'll set a fire you know behind it where it can kind of take the air from the big fire so they can contain the big fire and stuff like that i learned a lot about firefighters through this movie and what these dudes were doing because i was wondering why well he's a firefighter why is he setting fires you

know and it was explained in the movie like oh that makes sense you

That's cool that they do that,

you know,

stuff like that.

But that's about it.

As far as this film is concerned,

this did nothing for my excitement level.

The action was weak.

Now,

I did enjoy the cinematography.

Now,

the movie is directed by a cinematographer who he made some pretty decent films as a cinematographer or dare I say some really good,

good movies.

As a cinematographer or director of photography,

however you want to label him,

but you know,

he did the Mad Max films with George Miller.

He shot...

uh last action hero water world uh the bone collector nutty professor 2 and uh triple x and all these movies he really is a good cinematographer i

love the way he shoots movies unfortunately unfortunately and he also did apocalypto which is one of my favorite movies of all time and it looked gorgeous he he shoots some really good movies but he

can't direct this just because you can place a camera in a good spot don't mean that you you can direct the film he just could not direct uh this movie was all over the place i i just it

just it was just boring in a movie a movie like this an action thriller where at least okay if the acting is bad you can look past it it's a popcorn turn your brain off type movie you

It didn't even excite you with the action.

It was just so bland.

This was the blandest action movie I've ever seen in my life.

It was borderline boring.

And

I watched this movie twice.

I watched it when it came out,

went to the theater to go see it.

And then I watched it again about two or three days ago to prepare for this show.

And it took me two or three days to finish it.

I just could not sit down and watch this movie without falling asleep.

I mean,

it was that bad.

And it's sad because I knew,

you know,

it wasn't like I was disappointed.

Like,

man,

I remember it better than this.

No,

I knew that this movie was bad,

but it still found the way to make me mad.

And I just could not.

I had to force myself to get through it.

But like I said,

the only positives,

the cinematography was was great.

I love the way I love the look of the film.

It did look realistic.

The fires and all that good stuff that was exciting to watch.

The action was unbelievable.

The plot was equally unbelievable.

And it just ended.

This movie just stopped.

It's like it's like.

they got to a certain point it's like they got to a certain point and they said you know what we're good this should be enough and they the movie just stopped and uh whatever but i guess it was a mercy because

it was a chore to get through it firestorm from 1998 starring the great howie long gets a letter grade of a d minus yeah it was uh

Yeah,

yeah,

it's a movie.

I'll say that much.

But anywho,

to everybody in the Los Angeles area,

I know my wife's friend,

she lives in that area.

I don't think she was directly affected by it,

or at least not to my knowledge.

But there are some people that I do know that live out in that area.

Thank God they're okay.

But...

You also have to keep in mind the air quality,

all that,

all that's going to affect them as well,

you know,

and this is far from over.

So with it being far from over,

please keep those people in your thoughts and prayers.

And if you're able to donate,

if you're able to help and assist in any shape,

form or fashion,

I implore you to do it.

I'm not telling you who to send your money to,

is up to you,

is your money.

whoever you trust you know if you trust red cross or whoever whatever these foundations are do your research don't just send it to any old body uh do your research and uh send it to the right people who will do what that money is allocated for and so uh if you're able to help these people out in any shape form or fashion i implore you to do it uh i do plan to do it uh in

the next couple of days or so because

I've been touched.

My heart,

my heart is telling me to help.

So I'm going to assist in some shape,

form or fashion.

I would love to know everybody.

Do you know anybody being affected by these storms or

I say storms,

but these these wildfires?

Do you plan to help out?

Are you sympathetic,

empathetic to the cause?

Let me know.

Everybody email the show KB radio.

podcast at gmail.com.

You can also search for

the kb radio network on all social media networks as well don't forget about youtube subscribe to the kb radio network channel on youtube and like this video pretty pretty please don't forget about the five stars the reviews and sharing this show if you're listening on apple podcast spotify i heart radio wherever you are currently listening to

movie goodness here on the kb radio network everybody

thank you for joining me for this edition of movie goodness i really really really enjoy talking to you all i want you all to know that i love you continue to love everyone and until we speak again you

all be blessed

2025 California Wildfires/Firestorm (1998) Movie Review - Movie Goodness

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