Generation X Movies

Wolfen

noreply@blogger.com (Random) — Sun, 27 Nov 2011 02:18:00 +0000

Wolfen (1981)
Director: Michael Wadleigh
Cast: Albert Finney, Diane Venora, Edward James Olmos
Memorable Quote: They kill to survive. They kill to protect.

Wolfen is a high concept horror film dressed up with an A-List actor and a decent budget. While some of the effects are dated, the plot still has some resonance.

The Plot of Wolfen
When a local industrialist and his wife are found brutally murdered, detective Dewey Wilson (Finney) and his team are called into investigate. During his investigation, discovers that the dregs of the city, living in the worst, broken down neighborhoods in the city, are disappearing but because they are on the edge of society, no one seems to notice.

He stumbles upon a small group of Native Americans who live and work the city. This small tribe believes there are supernatural forces at work and it would be best for Dewey and his crew to leave it alone, but of course, he doesn’t.

The Performances, Writing, & Direction of Wolfen
Albert Finney gives an understated performance in what could have been an over-the-top role. Hines brings some character in his supporting role. Diane Venora is somewhat bland in her portrayal of Finney’s side kick. Edward James Olmos does stand out in his supporting role.

The direction is solid throughout the movie, but loses some of it’s momentum towards the end of the movie. The special effects were cutting edge when the movie was made, but are dated by today’s standards.

Summary Judgement on the Wolfen
I fear that many viewers will discount the Wolfen because its somewhat forgotten, but there’s a solid story. So instead of watching the latest lame slasher movie, give the Wolfen a chance.

The Onion Field

noreply@blogger.com (Random) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:53:00 +0000

The Onion Field
Director: Harold Becker
Cast: John Savage, James Woods, Ted Danson, Franklyn Seales, Ronny Cox
Memorable Quote: “A cop who gives up his gun is a coward.”

The Onion Field is movie about a policeman killed in the line of duty, and could have been a by-the-numbers police procedural but is so much more mainly due to the subtle direction and the depth of the performances by the talented cast.

The Plot of the The Onion Field
The movie is based on the true story penned by former cop Joseph Wambaugh and delves deeply into the story of the cops and criminals involved in a cold blooded shooting of the young police detective. A small time criminals takes on a new partner to pull off stick-ups and burglaries. The leader of the duo Greg Powell (Woods) shows sociopathic tendencies who manipulates those around him. His new partner (Seales) is fresh-out of prison and ripe for the pickings when he comes aboard a Powell’s little criminal family.

Counter-posed to the plot line of the criminals is the story of two young detectives, Hettinger (Savage) and Campbell (Danson). They both seem low-key and fresh faced as they go about their job in a workman like fashion.

The story of these two cops and criminals coverage on one fateful night when the cops pull over Powell and his young partner. Powell panics and abducts the two detectives and drives them into the countryside near an onion field where he shoots Campbell. In the aftermath of the shooting, Hettinger escapes into the night.

Powell’s partner deserts him and later that night, Powell is apprehended. He gives up his young partner and they both end up in jail.

The movie shifts from a story about a crime to tell the protracted story on the ensuing trials and the effect it has on those involved in the shooting.

The Performances, Writing, & Direction of The Onion Field
The Onion Field showcases several fine performances with John Savage and James Woods getting the meatiest roles. Woods, who had mostly had smaller roles in TV and films until this role, is electrifying in his role of a sociopath with enough intelligence to manipulate those around him and the legal system. Savage is equally engaging even though he takes a low-key approach to the character. His depiction of a man who comes apart a piece at a time due to the effects of the shooting is riveting.

Franklyn Seales also brings his A-game to the role of the small time hood who gets over his head when he finds himself over-matched by his conniving partner. Even Danson is very good and brings depth to his character even though he has limited screen time.

The story could have been a drab police procedural, but instead takes the viewer inside the minds of the crooks and the cops. We see real people and not cardboard or stereotypes. The strength of the movie is the source material of Wambaugh’s wonderful book about the shooting. Even though Becker takes a low-key approach to the subject, he lets the actors tell the story and with that choice he allows the movie to breath and move along at a natural and organic pace.

Summary Judgement on The Onion Field
The production values on The Onion Field seem akin to a TV movie of the 70s at times, but as the movie progresses you see that Director Harold Becker has decided not to get in the way of the story using a simple approach letting the story unfold and the actors to get underneath and into their roles. Woods makes the movie with his entrancing performance, engaging and repulsing us at the same time. Savage also grabs us as his character slowly becomes unhinged in the aftermath of the shooting. Some viewers might find the beginning of this movie as little slow, but if they give it a chance, they’ll discover a real gem of a movie.

The Parallax View

noreply@blogger.com (Random) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 18:25:00 +0000

The Parallax View Director: Alan Pakula Cast: Warren Beatty, Hume Cronyn, William Daniels, Paula Prentiss
Memorable Quote: “We’re in the business of reporting the news, not creating it.”

The Parallax View is one of the movies I didn’t see when it was released and I’d always felt like I had missed something. Well, I’ve finally seen it and I can say I did miss something -- an intriguing yet very uneven and somewhat clumsey movie.

The Plot of the Parallax View

Joe Frady (Beatty) is a reporter who is either in the wrong place at the wrong time or the exact opposite, but at the beginning of the movie he is present at an assassination. Being young and ambitious, he has the idea that the assassination has a great meaning and possibly a conspiracy behind it, but he quickly runs out of leads. That is until a woman (Prentiss) comes to him and points out that witnesses at the shooting are disappearing at an alarming rate. Joe sees only rational and logical explanations behind these deaths, but starts picking at the threads of the story when something happens to her.

His editor (Cronyn) tries to persuade him to stop chasing a lost cause, but Frady persist. This persistence gets him beat-up and then almost killed but he is rewarded eventually as he starts to uncover something bigger than even he could imagine.

The Performances, Writing, & Direction of the Parallax View

Initially, Beatty seems ill-fit to the role of the two-fisted investigative reporter, but he grows into it as the movie progresses. While not a one-man show, Beatty has to carry most of the picture. Both Prentiss and Cronyn are quite good in their supporting role and Prentiss stands out in the few scenes she appears in.

The story is somewhat uneven. It moves along in fits and starts and sometimes takes oblique angles that seem more to confuse than illuminate. Still, it is an intelligent script with some compelling twists and the ending is haunting.

Pakula, while a wonderful actor’s director, seems out of his element at times with this movie. Action has never been his strong suit and it is painfully evident at times here. One action scene is embarrassingly bad, covered primarily with a wide-shot that robs the entire scene of tension or suspense.

Summary Judgement on the Parallax View

I was hoping for something more because I was familiar with Pakula’s work over the years. I feel the weakness of this movie is just a case of a mismatch of the director’s style with the story. There are some very powerful intriguing moments in this movie, but they are dragged down by some of the other clunky moments which is too bad. I would recommend that people start with All the President’s Men before seeing this movie because it is truly illustrative of Pakula’s fine work.

Patton

noreply@blogger.com (Random) — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:20:00 +0000

Patton (1970)

Director: Franklin Schaffner

Cast: George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Michael Strong, Michael Bates

Memorable Line(s): "Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country."

Patton is an epic movie. It’s big in scale and big in personality due in large part to the character of Patton. He’s a bigger than life person with a massive ego and the spacious background of World War II to display that ego. Fortunately for the filmmakers and the viewers, George C. Scott takes on the role with such abandon that it seems like he was born to play the part.

The Plot of Patton

Patton see himself as a man of destiny. He feels as if he were created to do one thing and that is to be a warrior. In the backdrop of World War II we get to see how this man’s destiny plays out and how he made a huge difference on the battlefield.

The movie starts out during the U.S. North African campaign. General George S. Patton (Scott) is making great progress as he pushes the German forces across the continent, but he feels he is in competition with the British General Montgomery (Bates). This competition plays out as the battle moves to Italy and Patton takes some risky moves perhaps more motivated by personal ambition, rather than military objectives. In the eyes of his comrade, General Omar Bradley (Malden), Patton is more than a little reckless with the lives of his soldiers. But he does make it into the city before Montgomery.

While Patton was a brilliant military strategist and a great source of positive morale for his men, he had blunt and mostly ineffective political skills. He paid handsomely for not being better in this area. In one instance, he assaults a shell-shock young soldier and is later forced to apologize to his all of his troops.

After several other mis-steps, he finds himself on the back-bench without an Army to command. This maneuver works well for the Americans in a way because the Germans feel that Patton is the general they are most worried about and follow his movements almost to distractions.

The Ally commanders finally decide to bring Patton back into the game in Europe as the allies are pushing into France after the D-Day invasion. At one point when U.S. troops get surrounded in a German counter-attack, Patton rallies his men and moves a massive offensive across 100 miles in 48 hours to fend the Germans off the out numbered and trapped troops.

Ever the warrior, Patton makes his most critical mistake by speaking provocatively about inciting a war with Russia. This is what ultimately dooms him in the eyes of the U.S. command.

The Performances, Writing, and Direction of Patton

Patton was the big winner at the Oscars when it was released and deservedly so. It took Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor along with the award for the best screenplay.

This is George C. Scott’s movie. His bigger-than-life portrayal grabs the viewer from the word, “Go.” With his sense of destiny and intensity, it would have been easy to take the character completely over the top, but Scott walks a fine line and keeps his Patton completely real. All the supporting cast are solid including Malden as the common soldier who happens to have become a general.

The screenplay was co-written by Francis Ford Coppola and if you watch Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now,” you will see how he created Robert Duvall’s Colonel Kilgore.

Schaffner does a good job of balancing the epic story of the battles with the character story of Patton. Still the story is almost all Patton. Most of the war scenes are convincing, but sometimes the scale seems bit stretched some by today’s standards. Another memorable element of this movie is Jerry Goldsmith’s haunting score.

Summary Judgment on Patton
I remember watching Patton many years ago and it made an impression on me, but it faded over time. In watching the movie again, I feel as if I appreciated Scott’s portrayal even more than I originally did. I also found the script does an exceptional job of editorializing on some of Patton’s actions while not judging the man. This is a movie worth watching and I suggest if you want to see an actor in the role of his life, then Patton is the movie for you.

First Blood

noreply@blogger.com (Random) — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:02:00 +0000

First Blood: (1982)
Director: Ted Kotcheff
Cast: Sylvester Stallone, Richard Crenna, Brian Dennehy
Memorable Line(s): "There are no friendly civilians!"

This is the movie that spawned three sequels featuring the tortured Vietnam vet, John Rambo. Plus it made Sylvester Stallone a lot of money and gave him something to do because new ideas are so rare for him.

The Plot of First Blood
John Rambo (Stallone) is a former Vietnam veteran who goes to a small town in Washington but encounters a less than welcoming atmosphere by the local authorities led by the local sheriff (Dennehy). They go as far to incarcerate him and perform some serious damage on him.

Being somewhat off-balance, Rambo decides to escape and wreck some vengance on these local yokels. Only he takes it up a to higher level, taking on the sheriff and his small army of deputies. Because of his in-depth fighting skills, Rambo over-matches the posse in the woods and then in town.

Rambo’s old commander (Crenna) from Vietnam shows up and tries calm the situation down talking sense to both Rambo and the local authorities, but the situation is already beyond controlling as Rambo is beyond reason and the local authorities get more than they bargained for.

The Performances, Writing, and Direction of First Blood
This is pretty standard “one-man army” fare as Stallone takes an over the top and somewhat histrionic approach with the main character, Rambo. But he does know how to do an old fashioned butt-whipping and that’s what audience wanted.

Dennehy and Crenna provide solid performance despite having slightly over-written characters. They actors playing the local yokels are quite convincing in their supporting roles which can probably be credited to good casting.

This is a largely predictable movie as the characters and the situations are painted with big brushes. The sheriff is an over-bearing and sadistic guy. Rambo is terribly misunderstood and troubled with all the skills from his Green Beret training ready to put into action. I mean, put these two combinations together and what do you expect? A blood bath, right? Well, you got it.

The direction is competent for the day, but seems a little dated by today’s standards. The action sequences seemed like they needed a little more polish.

Summary Judgment on First Blood
This movie came out in my formative years and while it hit a cord for some action-starved movie fans, I never really bought into largely because the treatment of this story was so heavy-handed and over the top. Stallone has been able to mine this franchise and Rockey for years, but that doesn’t mean that these are good movies. I will say that this Rambo installment is probably better than all the sequels, though. If that’s not a sterling endorsement, then what else can I say?

Body Double

noreply@blogger.com (Random) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 19:38:00 +0000

Body Double (1984)
Director: Brian DePalma
Cast: Craig Wasson, Melanie Griffith, Dennis Franz, Gregg Henry
Memorable Line(s): "Showtime! Jake, I'd like you to meet my favorite neighbor."

Director Brian DePalma has received much criticism for ripping off a lot of Alfred Hitchcock's techniques and themes. I used to defend him, but the evidence is in and the other critics got it right. At least on Body Double, they did.

The Plot of Body Double
Jake Scully (Wasson) is an mild mannered, small-time actor who's life and career are on a slow-downhill slide. His only acting job is a low budget horror movie in which he's bombing and his relationship just ended when he catches his girlfriend cheating on him. He ends up losing the acting job when he has an unexplained case of claustrophobia.

Jake ends up getting a housing sitting job in multi-million dollar home with a spectacular view and, oddly enough, a telescope. And Jake discovers his inner voyeur. Not having a lot to do, he takes up spying as his new avocation catching some titillating "free shows" each night.

One particular show catches Jake's interest and through coincidence, he finds himself tracking the beautiful young woman who is a part of his nightly entertainment. When she finds herself in peril, he comes to her rescue and she rewards him a few, brief passionate moments, but then she runs off.

Jake finds himself confused and conflicted. He definitely wants more time with this entrancing woman, but can't figure out how. He returns to his telescope and renews his vigil. While back on his watch, he sees an intruder in her house and he breaks into action, but he is too late.

It is now when Jake's life starts to unravel as he tries to find out why the women he's infatuated with was attacked. His investigation take him behind the scenes of the film industry as he tries to get the bottom of his obsession. His search leads him to an adult actress named Holly Body (Griffiths) because he thinks she might be the key to finding out what really happened.

The Performances, Writing, and Direction of Body Double
The derivative nature of this movie is hard to ignore. Jake's claustrophobia is just a parallel course to Jimmy Stewart's character's vertigo in Hitchcock's vertigo. Jake's voyeurism is just an extended version of Rear Window. Many of the shots have a Hitchcock feel to them. It's one thing to make an homage to someone, but it's another to just imitate so blatantly.

This script has some huge plot holes and several major contrivances that really distract the viewer from the movie. There are several moments where it's obvious what the main character should be doing, but, of course, it's the exact opposite. And his close encounter with the women of his obsessions is almost laughable in how histrionic it is.

Wasson seems ill-fitted to the role in many ways. There are times in which he should have been confident but wasn't and time when he should be the exact opposite and wasn't. Melanie Griffith is effective in her role though, but there's not a lot work with.

And lastly, there score is down-right over wrought at times. It reminded me of a parody of a Bernard Herrman score

Summary Judgment on Body Double
Body Double is just an updating of well-tread Hitchcock themes but with a more base and tawdry treatment. There are time in which this movie just plods along almost incoherently. I can say that in the final third of the movie, the story does take on some positive momentum, but that is too little, too late.

Pumpkinhead

noreply@blogger.com (Random) — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:45:00 +0000

Pumpkinhead (1988)
Director: Stan Winston
Cast: Lance Henriksen, Jeff East, John D'Aquino, Kimberly Ross
Memorable Line(s): "All she can do is take you straight to Hell."

It's been a while since I've reviewed a scary movie and this is one I remember from a special day in which I watched six movies in one day. While it wasn't great, I can say that it did stick with me.

The Plot of Pumpkinhead
Ed Harley (Henriksen) grew up out in the sticks among poor dirt farmers. One dark night, there's a commotion at the door -- a man pleading for shelter, but Ed's father denies the man. The young and curious Ed watches in horror as something takes the man.

Years later, Ed has his own little country store, scratching out a meager existence still out in the sticks. His pride and joy in life is his cute little son.

One day, a group of young people come by the store to get supplies for a weekend in the country. They are a well meaning lot except for one of them who is a definition of a real jerk. As the others do their shopping, two the guys grab their dirt bikes with a little out door adventuring. As they hurdle the hills with their bikes they fail to notice that Ed's son is chasing his runaway dog directly into the path of their motorcycles. One of the guys avoid's the boy, the second one is unable to dodge him and the boy is struck and killed.

Grief stricken, Ed visits an old crone who is tapped into the powers of darkness. Revenge will be his as she helps him call on the powers of the demonic creature these hill people call -- Pumpkinhead.

The Performances, Writing, and Direction of Pumpkinhead
Stan Winston was long acknowledged to be a wizard with special effects and make-up and try as he might to wrap a story around this movie, it still is little more than excuse for him to show off his spectacular ability. Where he does make some headway in this area is with several of the characters, but in a movie of this vein, there's little room for actor to create characters -- but a couple of then do okay. This is not to say the acting is bad, but the roles just aren't too beefy.

Lance Henriksen leads the cast and does an adequate job. The rest of the cast are similarly adequate and some of the supporting cast actually do quite well.

Even though this movie doesn't have an A-level budget, it doesn't look cheap or shoddy. The photography shines way above the budget restraints and, of course, the monster effects are top notch

The story isn't too original, but they do manage to keep the pace up once it gets started. So, at least, it's not boring.

Summary Judgment on Pumpkinhead
You don't come into a movie called Pumpkinhead and expect a lot and this movie certainly beats that bar. Although it doesn't tread any new ground, the execution of this movie is well done and if you like monster movies, it's not a bad B-scare flick.

The Deep

noreply@blogger.com (Random) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 16:18:00 +0000

The Deep (1978)
Director: Peter Yates
Cast: Nick Nolte, Jacqueline Bisset, Robert Shaw, Louis Gossett, Eli Wallach
Memorable Line(s): "You have forced me to take what you would not let me pay for."

Hollywood got a grand slam home run when they tapped into Peter Benchley's Jaws, so they go back to him again only this time with not so spectacular results. The Deep isn't a bad movie, but it's not all that great either.

The Plot of The Deep
David (Nolte) and Gail (Bisset) are treasure hunters diving for sunken treasure in the Caribbean when they find more than they were bargained for. They think they've found part of a long lost treasurem but one of the items they dredge up turns out to garner more attention than almost any treasure and they have of no idea what they've really found. They take their discoveries to an expert treasure hunter Romer Treece (Shaw), but he offers them little help. Word quickly slips out of what their real find is and they are soon up to their necks in danger.

Before they know it, they get swept up by local thugs led by a ruthless , but get released when they discovered they no longer have the item of interest. It turns out that Treece has tricked them and they quickly figure this out. David blackmails his way into Treece's next dive for treasure. Only it isn't really treasure they are looking for. It's something so much more deadly.

The Performances, Writing, and Direction of The Deep
The Deep is so fixed in plot, that it's hard for the characters to really make a dent in this movie. David is driven to risk his life, almost on a whim, and we never really know why. There's an allussion to him having to perform some macho-driven motive, plus the fact that David and Gail find their relationship in peril.

Nolte is competent in a somewhat cardboard role and the lovely Bisset isn't given a lot to work with. Robert Shaw gets to play the tough and crusty man of the sea again, but I must that I've always found Shaw to have the ability to upstage about anyone on the screen. And he takes this role on with great relish. The underwater photography is lovely though.

One the biggest obstacles in this movie is that so many of the scenes are shot under water. This takes away a lot of actors latitude, plus the action sequences seem languid and convoluted.

This is a such a plot driven movie that it's hard to engage with the characters. Plus, to it's detriment, the plot seems to meander at points. I will say that the fight scenes are wonderfully choreographed and come across a quite realistic. Unlike fight scenes of today where everyone knows martial arts, these guys punch, pull, tug, gouge and kick. I'm sure if there was a chance to bite on another they would do it.

Summary Judgment on The Deep
The Deep offers a lot of promise, but it fails mainly due to the plodding plot and failure to establish genuine characters. The movie does offer just enough appeal to warrant a viewing on cable or online, but don't expect the thrills or quality of Jaws.

Dog Day Afternoon

noreply@blogger.com (Random) — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 13:40:00 +0000

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)
Director: Sidney Lumet
Cast: Al Pacino, John Cazale, Charles Durning, Carol Kane, Chris Sarandon
Memorable Line(s): "Attica, Attica, Attica."

It was a straight forward bank robbery -- in and out. That was the plan but the wheels came off quickly when the third robber chickens out and runs, a small fire brings in some unwanted attention, and the next thing you know the bank is surrounded by cops. And the media. And a couple hundred by-standers. That's all the ingredients of a spectacle.

The Plot of Dog Day Afternoon
Sonny (Pacino), Sal (Cazale), and Stevie enter the bank just at closing time. The plan is simple -- grab the money and get out. Within just a few minutes, Stevie gets cold feet and bolts. The robbers discover that there's already been a money pick-up and only a small sum of money remains in the bank. Then Sal decides he needs to burn the bank register and the fire attracts the attention of business man across the street. The bank guard has an asthma attack and the bank tellers need to pee. Before the robbers know it, the bank is surrounded with cops and heist is over, but the circus has just begun.

Sal starts negotiating with the lead cop (Durning) who is frantically trying to get the scene under control. While it's not the keystone cops, it's darn close. Sal wants a helicopter and a plane out of the country. While they wait, Sal turns the whole thing to theater, inciting the crowd, and everything is fun and games -- that is until the the first shot is fired.

Then the big question arises on whether anyone will get out of the bank alive.

The Performances, Writing, and Direction of Dog Day Afternoon
Dog Day Afternoon isn't your usual heist movie. It's really a story of a fiasco. Like many films from this era, it is a very gritty film full of tension and raw energy and these are combined with some really wicked dark humor. Pacino is a large part of the reason why this film works so well. The film is his to make or break and his performance ripples with the dilemma he has placed himself in. Cazale, though, has a one-note role in the movie. The rest of the cast is spot-on and convincingly fill out the movie with authentic people.

Director Lumet uses a docu-drama approach to bring the story to life. The camera work and editing create an extra sense of chaos. Sal is wildly unpredictable as is the crowd and all these fill the film with crazy complications. Lumet smartly lets New York City have it's own rowdy place in the movie. We see a city and its people rally around this one-day sensation, trying to get in on his glory.

The film also dramatically portrays the relationship between the criminal and the hostages. The longer the ordeal lasts, the more the film explores how the hostages align themselves with Sal.

The only knock on the film is that it might drag on a little long.

Summary Judgment on Dog Day Afternoon
The direction by Lumet makes us believe the characters in this movie. You feel Sonny's confusion and desperation. The heat and the sweat ooze from the screen. Dog Day Afternoon also seems to capture the essence of the mid-'70's too -- the changing of social norms and the loss of identity. Pacino makes the movie and it's his performance that draws us in and really makes us care for Sonny. If you want a quality drama inter-mixed with some darkly comic moments, then Dog Day Afternoon could be the film for you.

The Eyes of Laura Mars

noreply@blogger.com (Random) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:39:00 +0000

The Eyes of Laura Mars (1978)

Director: Irvin Kershner

Cast: Faye Dunaway, Tommy Lee Jones, Brad Dourif, Rene Auberjonois, Raul Julia

Memorable Line(s): "About two years ago, I started seeing imagery of murder -- violence and it started to become apart of my work."

The Eyes of Laura Mars works hard to be a provocative, stylish thriller, but really just ends up being a rather conventional one instead and an uneven one at that.

The Plot of The Eyes of Laura Mars

The movie starts out with a vision -- a vision from someone's point of view. It's indistinct, but there's some sinister intent in this perspective. We see a woman and very quickly this woman is dispatched with an ice pick in a rather grisly manner.

While the vision is from the killer's perspective it is also seen by a Laura Mars (Dunaway), who is a high fashion photographer mostly recognized by her faux-violent and sexually charged photographs. It seems that the murders have been going on longer than when she started having her visions and the killer was using her photographs for inspiration. Another unfortunate item for Laura Mars is that the most recent chain of victims are all Laura's friends and loved ones. These shocking visions she experiences wreck havoc on her life as one-by-one each of her friends is taken out by the killer -- all leading in a chain to back to her.

A police detective (Jones) take a special interest in protecting Laura because it is strongly suspects that she could very well be the next victim. Their relationship moves from strictly professional to a passionate romance. Together they try to put the pieces of the puzzle together before the killer comes for her.

The Performances, Writing, and Direction of The Eyes of Laura Mars

The script was penned by John Carpenter, of "Halloween" fame and it really tries too hard at times. With a mystery/thriller like this, there are conventions and this movie has to employ many of them including false suspects, red herrings, and mis-directions to keep us off the scent. Another annoying thing about this movie is that it never explains why she shares these visions with the killer.

This may come as a shock to some, but I've never really seen Faye Dunaway's appeal. She does well in films where she is low-key, but when she's asked to carry a film with a wide array of emotions, she sometimes over reaches and this one example. There are times in which her performance is almost histrionic. Her performance is not helped by some of the clumsy direction either.

There are times in which this movie has a TV movie feel. Several scenes are downright clunky and detract from the rest of the movie.

The musical score is over wrought in many places, but I can say that the theme song sung by Barbara Streisand is quite haunting and powerful is the one thing that stuck with me over years.

Summary Judgment on The Eyes of Laura Mars

It's probably bad that the best memory of a movie is the theme song sung by a pop-diva, but that's pretty much the impression it made. On the whole, it's not a totally unejoyable movie to watch. If you can catch it on cable, it might not be a bad way to kill two hours.

Capricorn One (1977)

noreply@blogger.com (Random) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:20:00 +0000

Capricorn One (1977)
Director: Peter Hyams
Cast: James Brolin, Elliot Gould, Sam Waterson, O.J. Simpson, Hal Holbrook, Brenda Vaccaro
Memorable Line(s): "Hey, Dr. Kelloway. Funny thing happened on the way to Mars."

Capricorn One is one of those movie with an ingenious and memorable plot gimmicks that doesn't work out as well as it could have. Still, for the most part, the movie holds it own.

The Plot of Capricorn One
It's the next new frontier for mankind - Mars. Getting there is everything for the NASA program and the three crew members (Brolin, Waterson, and Simpson) are excited to be a part of this historic mission but just before launch, the three astronauts scheduled to take their voyage are pulled aside and told that due to a technical failure the mission has to be scrubbed.

NASA officials, with their funding and credibility dangling by a thin thread decide to take a desperate act and feel the need to fake the Mars expedition including the Mars landing and walk on the planet. The crew is initially reluctant, but Dr. Kelloway (Holbrook) tells him that the entire fate of the program rests on their decisions and, eventually, they capitulate to participating in one of the biggest hoaxes in history.

Everything goes well until it doesn't. The space craft burns up on re-entry to Earth's atmosphere and that leaves the three astronauts as glaring evidence. They quickly put two-and-two together that they have no future -- figuratively and literally, and bust out, but fortunately,

A hard-nosed, old fashioned reporter (Gould) gets wind of something in the air and starts digging. He gets on the trial and is nearly killed which makes him dig even deeper. `

There's a whole lot at stake and the powers-that-be work their hardest to make sure all the loose ends are eliminated, but those 3 astronauts are pretty resourceful.

The Performances, Writing, and Direction of Capricorn One
Peter Hyams is one of those directors who really knows his craft. His films look good, he knows how to tell a story and even knows how to get the best of his actors, but none of his films have broken out to become a notable blockbuster. He really deserves more recognition, but until he gets that one big film, he will continue to toil with second-rate thrillers which is what Carpricorn One is.

The pace works and the script actually has a some very good lines. Saw Waterson has a juicy role as the wise-cracking crew member. Brolin on the other had is about as about stoic as he can get. Maybe it was a choice he took with the character, but it certainly didn't give him a whole lot of latitude with the character. I'm also wondering if the casting director had a crystal ball would they have cast O.J. Simpson? Probably not, and it's not just his real life exploits. He just not that good.

Elliot Gould turns in one his usual non-acting roles as the crusty reporter. In my opinion, Gould is only good for certain roles and, unfortunately, this not one of them. Hal Holbrook, on the other hand, bring his usual brilliant game to this movie and shines in his role.

Summary Judgment on Capricorn One
I always had fonds memories of this movie and while there are moments in the movie that are slightly over-done and despite some of the acting downsides, Capricorn One does succeed as being a pretty good thriller. Would it make my top ten list for thrillers for the decade? No, but still, its worth viewing on cable.

Broadcast News

noreply@blogger.com (Random) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:50:00 +0000

Broadcast News (1987)
Director: James L. Brooks
Cast: Holly Hunter, Albert Brooks, William Hurt, Robert Prosky, Joan Cusack
Memorable Line(s): "Sorry... sex, tears... this must be the news."

Whatever your thoughts about television news is, Broadcast News places the local news at a precipice with those of the old guard digging in their heels against the inevitable decline of local broadcast news from being about substance to entertainment. And, oh yeah, it has some quality comedic moments and a love triangle that is very engaging.

The Plot of Broadcast News
We see the three children, all early in their lives. We get a quick peeks of the individuals they will become in the actions of their youth.

Years later, we catch these three people in the midst of their careers at a station in Washington, D.C. Jane (Hunter) is a driven and deeply neurotic television news producer who is paired up with a kindred spirit, Aaron (Brooks), in the pursuit of substance in the news. They are the true acolytes of delivering real news to the public. They also happen to be in love, but for Jane it is purely platonic and, sadly for Aaron, it is totally unrequited.

These two also stand at a place in time in terms of local news broadcasts where the landscape was dramatically shifting -- away from substance and more into entertainment. In this evolution, we get to see the grand entrance of Tom (Hurt) who is a little bit dull, but somehow is completely charismatic. After starting his career as a sports caster, he makes the move to anchor almost entirely on his handsome persona. Tom is not entirely dimwitted, though, because he knows that that he has a lot to learn about the news and targets Jane as his mentor.

Aaron sees Tom as the devil incarnate, but something stirs within the confines of Jane's neurotic psyche that she can't deny. Despite herself she finds herself falling in love with Tom and this, of course, puts she and Aaron on a collision course because of his unspoken passion for Jane. At the crux of this triangle of people and also facing down the "truth" of journalism is a very popular story that Tom produced on his own. Much of these three's future turns on the approach Tom takes.

The Performances, Writing, and Direction of Broadcast News
While the cast makes Broadcast News' story work, the real architects here is James L. Brooks. A veteran TV man who created the Simpsons and was a powerful influence in many other successful shows, Brooks made the transition to the big screen smoothly with Terms of Endearment and then followed it up with Broadcast News. His strength is his ability to create characters that are very appealing, yet fundamentally flawed. But Brooks seems to work in an almost oxymoronic fashion because while he can create characters and situations that seem completely believable, they also come across as artificial. The dialog cuts through to the truth, but it isn't real. The characters have this one additional kink about them that pushes them past reality into a movie-like hyper realism.

Now, I don't want to say his movies are bad because of this. In fact, when Brooks finds the truth, these are the strongest moments of his movies despite some of the artificiality surrounding it. Broadcast News has several of these moments and they are very effective.

The cast is stellar, but in many ways are hamstrung because these characters aren't all that likable. Hunter takes on the neurotic Jane with a ferociousness that is startling at times. You see a woman who is conflicted with embracing only the truth, yet is capable of deceiving herself. Brooks has a beefy part and pulls it off well. Aaron is an intelligent man who knows his limitations in this rough and tumble world of broadcast news, yet still has ambitions, both in his career and romantically and Brooks is nearly perfect in his role. Many may not see the challenge that William Hurt has in playing a likable, but somewhat intelligence-challenges character, but it is a tight rope and he plays it well. He never becomes a caricature, but brings a nuanced and multi-faceted layered character that doesn't make fun of himself.

Summary Judgment on Broadcast News
Broadcast News is one of the movies where the memory of the movie is better than the actual experience of watching it. The moments that Brooks and the cast bring us are better than the total sum of their parts. I think that the movie's greatest strength is also it's greatest weakness -- the characters aren't all that likable. But what real life people really are? Broadcast News is an excellent movie that I can whole heartedly recommend as long as you know what you're getting yourself into.

Jagged Edge

noreply@blogger.com (Random) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 21:36:00 +0000

Jagged Edge (1985)
Director: Richard Marquand
Cast: Glenn Close, Jeff Bridges, Robert Loggia, Peter Coyote, Lance Henriksen
Memorable Line(s): "He is not a psychopath, he is a monster."

A woman is brutally murdered and her husband is the chief suspect. Your job as the defense attorney is to make sure your client is found innocent. What if you fall in love with him? What if what they are saying about him is true -- that he is a cold blooded murder?

The Plot of Jagged Edge
Page Forrester is brutally killed and her husband, Jack (Bridges), attacked. She has all the money and he is ambitious -- wanting to become a senator. So, he becomes the prime suspect in the cross hairs of the an ambitious and possibly unscrupulous district attorney (Coyote).

Teddy Barnes (Close) is former district attorney, now working for a private law firm and is reluctant to defend Jack when she is initially approached. She feels rusty and brings in her old, crusty partner, Sam (Loggia) to get the old instinct going again and this turns the tide in her decision to take the case.

To prepare for the case, she has to spend a great deal of time with Jack -- one-on-one time. This proximity leads to eventual relationship that is more intimate than the typical lawyer/client friendship. Much more.

Things change when Teddy as certain truths become known and she begins suspects that her client really may have done what is accused of. Does she continue to defend a man she suspects is possible of murder? Can she turn her back on the man she loves?

The Performances, Writing, and Direction of Jagged Edge
There's some real problems with this movie. The story sets Teddy up to be this shrewd and intelligent litigator, but what's one of the first things she does? She starts a romantic relationship with her client. Isn't the some cannon of ethics that frowns upon this? And there's a forced quality to how quickly the relationship blossoms between Jack and Teddy as the director overplays his hand. Yes, this is a movie and it only has about two hours to tell it's story, but the director could have been a little more subtle in setting up this relationship.

I think Glenn Close is a wonderfully talented actress but in this film there are times in which she takes being over earnest to excess. I think this is more the director's fault than the actors, but no matter who's fault it is, it's up there on the screen for every one to see.

The other issue is that the ending is just too pat. This criminal has been so canny and skillful and then all of a sudden he leaves a critical piece of evidence just lying nearly in plan sight. I mean really! And the ending is very contrived.

Bridges is quite convincing in his role and let's us see the anguished husband and the calculating client. Loggia seems to relish the role of the crusty, foul-mouthed sage because he takes this role on with so much gusto that he seems to ooze of the screen. He has some of the movies best lines, too.

Summary Judgment on Jagged Edge
Jagged Edge is set-up to be an intelligent and steamy legal thriller, but it sabotages itself in too many places to be taken seriously. I wanted and so much more from this talented cast, but in the end, it was a bit of let down.

Brian's Song (1971)

noreply@blogger.com (Random) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 12:59:00 +0000

Brian's Song (1971)

Director: Buss Kulik

Voice Cast: Billy Dee Williams, James Caan, Jack Warden, Bernie Casey

Memorable Line(s): " Ernest Hemingway once said "Every true story ends in death." Well, this is a true story."

* Small Screen Gem *

This is tear jerker of tear jerkers for sports movies. This one set the bar high for sentimentality. It's difficult to be alive during the '70's and not know this movie. Now, with all that being said, the movie is far from perfect, but what is good about it overcomes any of its short comings.

The Plot of Brian's Song

Gayle Sayers (Williams) is the golden boy coming into the Bear's spring training camp. He is quiet and reserved. Brian Piccolo (Caan) is a walk-on who will most likely not make the team. He is motor mouth and a joker. Sayes is black and Piccolo is white and they break a barrier in football when they become the first integrated roommates in the game.

This unlikely pair become true friends and build a bond that transcends their team or sport. Sayers has all the talent and makes the team easily while Piccolo has to scratch and fight his way even into a back-up position. Something in their bond makes them both better players as Sayers is brilliant on the field and Piccolo works his way from back-up to starter. When Sayers suffers a potentially career ending injury, Piccolo takes upon himself to rehab Sayers back to full health.

They become a dual threat in the backfield for the Bears, but Piccolo starts to falter during their third season together. When he's sent back to Chicago for some tests, cancer is discovered and Piccolo starts the slow descent with his best friend by his side. Now is when the friendship really becomes apparent.

The Performances, Writing, and Direction of Brian's Song

Before I go too far, you have to know this is a TV movie and it was made in the 1970's. That should be context enough, but not a lot of money was put into TV in the '70's. So, you have to keep that in mind when you view this movie.

Brian Piccolo's story is this movie. It trumps all the less than stellar production values of a made-for-TV movie in the '70s. And there our many moments in this movie where the hearts strings are pulled too tight and the easy choice taken. Some of the music cues are good examples of how the story is slightly overdone, but again, it's quite difficult to overcome the inherit pitfalls with melodrama in this story.

Williams and Caan carry this movie and they both do a fine job with challenging parts. Their biggest obstacle is the story because it can lead them them toward pathos. Both actors work against this succeed for the most part, but sometimes the tide is too strong and they swept up in sentimentality.

The direction is workman like and there are some rough edges, but, again, story is king and you learn to overlook these issues.

Summary Judgment on Brian's Song

Brian's Song is in a class with Old Yeller for pulling the heart strings which makes a real challenge in making a film that can get past the sentimentality and tries as it might, it just can't. It's just unavoidable and the viewer just has to surrender to it and go along for the ride. There are places this story could have gone to mitigate the problem with becoming maudlin, but it just stays on path. There are worse choices to make, though and Brian's Song is still an effective and satisfying movie. Just try not to cry. I dare you.

Heavy Metal

noreply@blogger.com (Random) — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:03:00 +0000

Heavy Metal (1981)

Director: Gereld Potteron

Voice Cast: John Candy, Eugene Levy, John Vernon, Joe Flaherty, Harold Ramis

Memorable Line(s): "Even when someone has the

strength to discard me, my power is not diminished."

Inspired by the tone and art of adult Sci-

Fi/Fantasy magazine, Heavy Metal, this films goes to prove that not all animated movies are for kids. And this one is

distinctly not for kids. It seems targeted at 16 to 24 year old young men -- which happens to be just the age range I was in at the time of its release. Heavy Metal mixes stylized and provocative art work with driving rock and roll music from the late '70's to create a one of a kind animated experience.

The Plot of Heavy Metal

Summarizing the plot of Heavy Metal is a challenging task because the movie is really a set of animated shorts of different styles and tone with a central framing device being a mystical and malevolent green orb called the Loc Nar. Each segment has its own flavor. The first segment takes a futuristic film Noir tact featuring a hard-nosed taxi driver. The next segment titled "Den" takes an fantasy/adventure with a touch of humor. Then there's the macabre "B-17" segment which has a ghoulish style to it. Other segments play directly to comedy. The finale segment, Taarna, goes for the epic approach featuring a lone warrior set to protect an entire planet.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the film, in pandering to it's target audience, is replete with scantily clad women who bear their breasts for any reason. At times, it seems laughable, but you learn quickly the audience they were trying to appeal to.

The Performances, Writing, and Direction of Heavy Metal

Heavy Metal is one of the bold experiments and a unique movie that you have to give it some credit for its ambition. Because it is an anthology movie, you really don't get a sense of the arching characters and maybe if they had drawn them out, you wouldn't want to. Some of the stories are nothing more than single concept such as "B17," but they still have their effectiveness like a good short story.

The animation varies from piece-to-piece with some pieces trending toward more traditional and some more stylized. I tend to like the more stylized pieces because they seem to have an edge to them that sets them apart from the other pieces.

While all the voice actors do a fine job, none of them really stand with the exception of maybe John Candy in "Den." His delivery displays good comic timing and elevates his piece above what it could have been.

If I had to pick my favorite segments, they would be "Harry Canyon," "B-17" and the final segment, "Taarna". Some complain that Taarna is a bit overlong and it could be, but it has some time to breath because of it's length. I will also add that "Captain Sternn" has some of the better lines in the movie. I could live without "So Beautiful, So Dangerous," though. It really doesn't have much going on.

Summary Judgment on Heavy Metal

Heavy Metal is not for every one and I can see some women becoming deeply offended by most of the depictions of woman. It is clear who the target market for this movie is and it seems to have a bullseye for them. There's a hipness and rebellious quality to this film that harkens back to the counter-culture of the '60s that is appealing. Again, it's not for everyone, but if you like sci-fi and animation, then I would recommend checking out Heavy Metal.

Neighbors

noreply@blogger.com (Random) — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 19:15:00 +0000

Neighbors (1981)
Director: John Avildsen
Voice Cast: John Belushi, Dan Aykroid, Cathy Moriarty, Kathryn Walker, Tim Kazurinsky
Memorable Line(s): "Why do I keep getting sucked into these degrading conversations?"

This movie didn't do too well when it was released and I have to admit that it is one of the most off-beat and quirky screwball comedies I've ever seen.

The Plot of Neighbors
Earl (Belushi) and Enid (Walker) Keese are suburbanites living out a dull middle class existence when suddenly their stale life gets unsettled when two lunatic neighbors, Vic (Aykroid) and Ramona (Moriarty) move in next door. The hi-jinks ensure almost immediately when Vic offers to go out and buy dinner, but pockets the money and drives next door and back to his house to cook the meal. Ramona is a real sexpot and starts to work on Earl with her considerably womanly wiles. Vic comes across a bi-polar lunatic alternately befriending Earl and then attempts to assault or kill him. Enid, for some unknown reason, embraces their the new couple and is game for just about anything they want to do.

The ante gets upped throughout the film as Ramona keeps making the moves on Earl, Earl sinks Vic's truck in the swamped, and Vic disappears into quicksand while searching for the truck. And this is only the beginning of how quickly Earl's life gets turned upside down.

The chaos that Vic and Ramona bring somehow get both Earl and Enid to reflect on the banal existence and, even though, their world is now nearly total and beyond recognition, they come to appreciate the chaos that is Vic and Ramona.

The Performances, Writing, and Direction of Neighbors
Belushi is cast against type as the straight man - Earl the uptight middle-class, suburbanite and brings a stylized approach to the character and it fits the overall tone of the movie. There is a lot of mugging going on, though. Aykroid's take on Vic is similar to the sketch-comic approach he brought to his characters on Saturday Night Live. Vic is never really a real character, but he does have some of the funnier moments in the film.

Moriarty plays the familiar sexpot role she's played before and is consistent throughout the movie, but like Vic, this isn't a real character, but a caricature. Kathryn Walker doesn't have a lot to work with, but does her best. Tim Kazurinsky takes the same approach as Aykroid and plays his crusty tow truck driver past the point of reality almost past the line into the absurd.

This is a messy movie. It seems like it wants to be two things; a screwball comedy and a social commentary. Unfortunately, it doesn't do either of them well. For one thing, the musical score treats the audience as if they are complete idiots and won't get the point. It pounds the point home that this movie should be funny and overdoes it in almost every way. And this is consistent with the direction of the movie. There's almost no subtly to the way this movie is handled. The jokes are pretty blunt and work against the whole satirical approach.

Summary Judgment on Neighbors
As I said, this is a quirky movie that almost succeeds as a satire, but doesn't really because it seems as if the creative talents behind the movie are too timid to really commit to it. Still, if you're a old time Saturday Night Live fan, the performances by Belushi and Aykroid are worth seeing and there are many moments in the film that do work on the screwball comedy level. If you can catch Neighbors on cable, I'd say give it a try.

Fright Night

noreply@blogger.com (Random) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:07:00 +0000

Fright Night (1985)
Director: Tom Holland
Cast: Roddy McDowall, William Ragsdale, Chris Sarandon, Amanda Bearse
Memorable Line(s): "I am Peter Vincent, vampire killer!"

Imagine you're a teenager having the normal teenage problems -- home work issues, parent issues, girlfriend issues, when all of a sudden all these problems seem trivial when a vampire moves in next door. That's the catalyst for Fright Night.

The Plot of Fright Night
Charley Brewster (Ragsdale) is a teenager who watches too many late night horror films. His favorite program is hosted by a has-been horror movie actor, Peter Vincent (McDowall). Charley is trying to make relationship progress with his girlfriend, Amanda (Bearse) when the train comes off the track as he sees two men carrying a coffin into the house next door.

Charley's over active imagination gets the best of him and it goes to over drive when the news reports a series of grisly murders which have coincided with the entrance of his new neighbor. One of the victims is a woman who Charley saw enter the house. Charley takes up a nearly full-time vigil on the house, to the detriment of his relationship, and he gets an eyeful when he sees the new neighbor (Sarandon) sinking his rather large teeth into the next of a scantily clad woman.

The boulder is rolling down hill and picking up speed, but before it gets too far, Charley learns that he can't get the police to believe him because they think he's crazy and he gets the blown off by his hero, Peter Vincent. His girlfriend and and friend think he has gone around the bend and entreat Peter to help debunk Charley's notion that his neighbor is a vampire.

Peter performs this task (for a small fee) and it goes like a charm until Peter just happens to notice that Charley's new neighbor doesn't cast a shadow in a mirror -- real tell-tale sign of a vampire. As fast as things were moving earlier, they pick up speed as Charley finds himself on a lone collision course with this creature of the undead.

The Performances, Writing, and Direction of Fright Night
Director Holland weaves and bobs with comic scenes and the films more serious moments, handling horror and jokes quiet well. There's a light, tongue-in-cheek undertone going through-out this film that takes the edge off some of the film's rougher edges. Some of the direction doesn't work, but it's the over-all effect that carries the day with this movie.

The cast does it's best to mold itself to the elastic tone of this movie and, for the most part, make it work. McDowall stands out, balancing out his character's pathos and cowardice and even has one of most real moments in the film. Ragsdale has a difficult role and holds his own even though there are moments when he has to reach to be convincing. Sarandon has a juicy role and takes it on with relish. Bearse doesn't quite make the same grade as the other actors in the movie but she has some of the least convincing dialog in the movie.

Fright Night was made when special make-up transformations effects were all the rage. Many scenes showcase these fantastic transformations, but they seem to up-stage the story at times and don't serve the film well. Still, it was a different day and time. Today, CGI would deliver more seamless effects and less obtrusively. The effects work in most instances.

Summary Judgment on Fright Night
Fright Night is a real tight-rope walk of a movie as it balances out several different types of tone -- Gothic horror, comedy, action, -- and all the while having a tongue firmly planted in its cheek. The general effect of the balancing act works for the most part even though some specific sections come across less than polished. Fright Night is targeted at a certain demographic and meets that demands of that demographic quite well. If you want a decent escapist horror film then Fright Night would be a good fit.

Starman

noreply@blogger.com (Random) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:59:00 +0000

Starman (1984)
Director: John Carpenter
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen, Charles Martin Smith, Richard Jaeckel
Memorable Line(s): "I watched you very carefully. Red light stop, green light go, yellow light, go very fast."

John Carpenter's movies always seem to have some sort of rough edge. It not that that they look amateurish, there's just a rawness, but Starman breaks that trend and is probably Carpenter's most polished movie. It's also a real treat to watch.

The Plot of Starman
Something is flying through space towards earth. An alien craft of some sort. It breaks through the Earth's atmosphere and crash lands in the back woods of Wisconsin.

A few miles from the crash site, we see Jenny Hayden (Allen) watching a home movie of time gone by with her deceased husband. She passes out on her bed and shortly after that a presence enters her home and explores it, collecting information and items. Jenny wakes up to some disturbance and discovers a baby-like form in her front room, but this isn't like any baby she has ever seen because it is growing at an exponential rate from infant to boy and then to manhood. And this entity ends up looking just like her husband (Bridges).

This is the beginning of Starman and also the start of a long adventure for Jenny Hayden and her Starman. It is a journey that takes them across the country with government types in pursuit lead by a conflicted SETI scientist (Smith). It is also a journey in which Jenny discovers just who this entity is and the Starman discovers what it is to be human. The two big problem are that they only have 36 hours before the Starman expires and a Army general (Jaeckel) wants the alien captured.

The Performances, Writing, and Direction of Starman
As I said in my introduction, this is probably Carpenter's most polished and complete pictures. From what I know about this movie is that it was totally backed by the studio and while movie looks and feels good, the experience wasn't to Carpenter's liking which is too bad because it is some of his best work.

Bridges has a juicy role as the alien and it's a part an actor can really sink their teeth into because there's little precedent for a role like this and a lot of territory to explore. Allen delivers an excellent performance as the grieving widow. Charles Martin Smith gets a peach of a role and delivers a very likable performance in the supporting role of a government contracted scientist.

The script is a bit of a tightrope walk as it has to balance out the action with poignancy without becoming sentimental or maudlin and it does this walk quite well. The score while simple is hauntingly effective.

Summary Judgment on Starman
This movie seemed well outside of the bounds of the subjects that Carpenter liked to spend his time and it's shame he didn't like the experience any more than he did because this is a darn good movie. Other movies have tried this subject matter before and after, but few have done it better.

True Believer

noreply@blogger.com (Random) — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:43:00 +0000

True Believer (1989)

Director: Joseph Ruben

Cast: James Woods, Robert Downey, Jr., Margaret Colin, Kurtwood Smith

Memorable Line(s): "Then know this going in -- everyone is guilty."

You know the line where someone says, "They don't make movies like that anymore?" Well, they have always been making movies like True Believer for a long time and will continue to make them. Well crafted and decently acted movies are a dime a dozen but they are mostly unoriginal and uninspired.

The Plot of True Believer

We see a crowded China Town street with people milling about. An individual man separates from the crowd, but just as quickly another man steps forward brandishing a gun and shoots the first man down and then runs from the scene.

The scene changes to a prison where a prisoner is singled out for a prison yard execution by another prisoner. But he is prepared and prevails.

Eddie Dodd (Wood) is a former (the operative word is "former") fire-breathing liberal from the '60's who once fought the good fight against the system, but now defends mid-level drug dealers. Roger Baron (Downey) is an idealistic, newly graduated, fresh-faced lawyer who wants to study with the master, only to find "the master" has lost his fire and now will take any case that pays the bill regardless of the client's guilt.

Roger becomes quickly disenchanted with the new legal direction that Dodd is taking with his law practice and an opportunity appears to really help someone out. Roger works over Dodd's sense of mission and finally he guilts Dodd into taking the case. The case just happens to be that of the intended victim in the prison assassination attempt.

The problem with the case is that it is one with real consequences. A man's freedom is on the line and Dodd has to muster muster all his old guile to find a way to make his case or else all is lost. This includes Roger's naive innocence, Dodd's renewed dedication to "the cause of justice", and this man's life.

The real obstacle is that powerful forces are arrayed against them as Dodd and Roger must fight an uphill battle that could also cost them their lives.

The Performances, Writing, and Direction of True Believer

Sort of cookie cutter plot taken from a mish-mash of other plots, the only thing that really keeps the movie at float at times is the impassioned performance from Woods. Woods maybe takes the perfromance a little too far in places and the direction is helping him along, but Woods has considerable skill and charisma, so he succeeds more than he fails.

Downey acquits himself well, but his part of over-written, so he's coming at the part from a deficit. It's a role any one of the brat pack could have played and Downey doesn't really distinguish himself in the role. There are some meaty roles for the supporting cast and Kurtwood Smith does stand out.

There is a bit of style in the direction, but it really can't over come the stale plot.

Summary Judgment on True Believer

True Believer has Woods, some style and a nice set-up, but it is largely forgettable. In fact, I knew I had seen it, but had completely forgotten that I had. If you happen to tune into this movie on cable one day, it is worth the effort to watch, but not a lot of effort.

The Elephant Man

noreply@blogger.com (Random) — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:53:00 +0000

The Elephant Man (1980)
Director: David Lynch
Cast: Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Freddie Jones, Anne Bancroft, John Gielgud
Memorable Line(s): "I am not an animal!"

David Lynch as a director is nothing else if he's not his his own man with his own sensibilities. Sometimes those sensibilities serve him well and sometimes that don't. This is one of the times in which his unique vision is right on.

The Plot of The Elephant Man
In the bowels of London, there is an exhibition of something so repulsive that women scream and men gasp at the sight of it. Yet, people can't repress their curiosity and the lines are always long. For the first portion of the film, we don't get the see the actual object of this fascination, just the reactions of those who do observe the object.

One such person is Dr. Frederick Treves (Hopkins). Maybe it's through some rumor, but he's drawn, almost compulsively to see "the thing." The thing is John Merrick (Hurt) and he is terribly disfigured by a horrible mistake of nature. For marketing's sake, he has been dubbed "The Elephant Man" and he is exploited in every way because of his condition.

Merrick is in the care (if you can use that word) of a cruel showman, (Jones) who only see Merrick as a meal ticket. He mistreats Merrick terribly, seeing him as little more than an show animal.

Whatever motivates Treves is not completely known but it turns out to be a rescue mission for Merrick as Treves takes him under his care in the hospital. Treves sees Merrick as patient, specimen and human -- and in that order. Merrick makes the most of it and starts finally to see some human kindness as he mends at the hospital, but Treves must face his own motivations the longer Merrick remains with him.

The Performances, Writing, and Direction of The Elephant Man
There are two signature performances in this movie; Hopkins as Treves, the doctor who rescues Merrick, and Hurt as Merrick. I would argue that while Hurt's performance is truly sublime, it is Hopkin's role that is really the most challenging and Hopkins pulls it off quite well. The intentions of Treves seem immediately most obvious, but there many layers in his motivations and Hopkin's peels off these layers deftly as he lets Treves unfold before us. All of the rest of the cast is subpurb also especially Freddie Jones as the cruel showman and Bancroft, the leading lady of the stage who takes a great interest in Merrick.

The real driving force behind the movie, though, is Lynch. While not as experimental and artistically bold as his earlier movies, his tact with this movie is more appropriate to the content of the story, but still there are some moments in which he employs some of his earlier tactics to great effect in The Elephant Man. The breaks in the more traditional storytelling of the narrative in which uses more jarring and disorienting imagery make us see the chaotic world that Merrick lived in and they are quite effective.

The real credit goes to Lynch in allowing these great performers to their job without forcing through some of the characters quirks he add to characters in his later works.

Summary Judgment on The Elephant Man
Lynch chose to film The Elephant Man in black and white and it is in the stark contrasts in these two colors that he paints of picture of a man who is considered a creature by some, a freak by others, and an object of fascination and pity by others. This black and white treatment seems to be symbolic of the Merrick's life -- one of cruelity, but one in which someone who with an hideous exterior has an inner beauty and character that is fascinating. It is in this juxtaposition that both the characters find themselves, balancing our curiosity with respect and pity.

Cocoon

noreply@blogger.com (Random) — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:31:00 +0000

Cocoon (1985)
Director: Ron Howard
Cast: Dom Ameche, Wilford Brimley, Hume Cronyn, Steve Guttenberg, Jessica Tandy, Brian Dennehy
Memorable Line(s): "I know you're trying to help your people but so am I."

Cocoon is a unique movie because the core of it's cast consists of the geriactric set and this usually not the demographic that Hollywood is shooting for, but it was a big hit. While Cocoon is a real crowd pleaser, sometimes it panders and that's when it loses some of it's effectiveness.

The Plot of Cocoon
The residents of a rest home see their best days behind them as they clock ticks down on their lives. Three gentleman (Ameche, Brimley, and Cronyn) of their group decided to take a walk on the "wild side" and routinely sneak into a private house located adjacent to their retirement home.

Meanwhile a down on his luck charter boat captain, Jack (Guttenberg), takes on a new client who wants to engage his services for a extended time which pulls him back from the brink of financial insolvency. These new clients aren't doing the normal fishing like is normal customers, but are bringing up strange, over-large, egg-shaped objects from the ocean floor, saying they are large shells. After retrieving them, they place the objects into the same pool the geriatric set has been swimming in.

As a side-effect from swimming among these objects, all these old folks get a great sense of rejuvenation including one who is particularly ill. Two-and-two aren't put together until Jack and the geriatric swimmers discover the truth behind the egg-shaped objects.

Initially, this truth is all fun and games as the gang regains all it's youthful zeal. The secret knowledge spreads beyond the narrow circle and, as is all too common, everybody wants in on the action to the detriment of everyone, unfortunately.

The Performances, Writing, and Direction of Cocoon
These are seasoned professional actors and they bring every bit of their experience to these parts. It's really a joy to see all this cumulative experience on the screen. Ameche, Brimley and the Cronyn's all stand out, but all the performances from this experienced cast are exceptional. Guttenberg represents the younger set in the movie and he comes across as little over-earnest at times.

Howard's breakthrough movie was Night Shift and he stepped up his directing game with Splash. He continues that roll with Cocoon. Howard's style is a throwback to the big entertainment directors of the past such as Frank Capra. These director knew how to make audiences smile. For the most part, this works for Howard, but today's audiences are a little bit more sophisticated and some of his tricks tend to pander to a lower common denominator.

The script works fairly well as it balances out some of the more comedic moments with the poignant ones. The climax has a bit of a trumped up complication, but if you can get past that, it's still fairly satisfying.

Summary Judgment on Cocoon
In his early films, Howard tends to want to be a crowd pleaser and this film is no exception. But this is a popcorn, Saturday afternoon movie and was never intended to be art or heavy on substance. If it's escapism you want, Cocoon is there for you.

The Great Santini

noreply@blogger.com (Random) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:55:00 +0000

The Great Santini (1979)
Director: Lewis John Carlino
Cast: Robert Duvall, Blythe Danner, Michael O'Keefe, Stan Shaw, David Keith
Memorable Line(s): "No one can tell you anything, dad."

* Underrated and Overlooked *
The Great Santini is largely a forgotten movie, but really shouldn't be. Based on a Pat Conroy novel in which he plumbs the familiar depths of a dysfunctional family and this is quality source material. Add to that, some great performances and you have a gem of a movie.

The Plot of The Great Santini
"Bull" Meechum (Duvall) is a force of nature and an intimidating figure both as a Marine and a family man. All Marine and domineering in every way, Meechum runs his family like they are extension of the military. Lillian (Danner) is his long suffering wife and peacemaker in the family and takes the brunt of Meechum's boorish behavior. Ben (O'Keefe) is the eldest son and finds that his burgeoning manhood puts him conflict with his fiercely competitive father. And Bull's competitive bar is set unrealistically high. These expectations eventually will bring this conflict to a head eventually.

Bull returns home and, as is common practice for military families, he puts them on the move again. This move puts the family in the heart of the south (which also happens to be Conroy's favorite setting) in Buford, South Carolina. The family is not happy with the move, but have little choice and do their best to adapt.

Ben strikes up a friendship with a young a black man, Tommer (Shaw), who is afflicted with stuttering. In the racially charged south in 1960's, this is a dangerous relationship as Toomer has a volatile young racist as an enemy. This friendships serves as a catalyst that leads to an ultimate showdown between father and son and maybe the ultimate revelation.

The Performances, Writing, and Direction of The Great Santini
While Duvall has the showcase performance and eats screen real estate every time he has screen time, but newcomer O'Keefe hold his own as the real central character in this drama. Duvall is quite remarkable because he takes this unsympathetic misanthrope and shows him as a authentic human being, flawed at the core, yet still trying to do his best.

When compared to the other roles, Danner's portrayal of the mother is as well fleshed out as the other characters and we never really get see her motivations very clearly. The other children do a great job in their roles and are quite convincing.

The backbone of this movie is the story. The tension between father and son is what creates the momentum for this movie as the son finally is man enough to challenge his father. It is an age old story, but this telling has wonderful performances to make it stand out.

The direction isn't flashy, but does what it needs to and never gets in the way of the story. The only knock on this movie is that is that at times, the movie is a little blunt in places, but these scenes do not mar the over all effect.

Summary Judgment on The Great Santini
This is vintage Conroy containing inter-family conflict, bad parenting, and the south. Conroy has mined this topics many times and this one is quite successful telling as it came early in his career and elements didn't seem so re-cycled as the did later in his career. Duvall gets a juicy role and O'Keefe shines in his first lead role. Forgotten, but not gone, The Great Santini is a great film for those that like drama.

Platoon

noreply@blogger.com (Random) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 18:09:00 +0000

Platoon (1986)
Director: Oliver Stone
Cast: Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Willem Defoe, Forrest Whitaker, John McGinley, Kevin Dillon, Johnny Depp
Memorable Line(s): "When the machine breaks down, we break down."

When I first saw Platoon when it was released, I did think it was good, but for some reason it left me cold. It did seem better the second time around, but I still have some reservations.

The Plot of Platoon
The setting is Viet Nam War and the time is 1967. Chris (Sheen) stands out from the rest of his fellow grunts because he enlisted instead of going to college. Still he is just fresh meat for the war and he knows almost immedietly being there is a big mistake as soon as he gets there, but there he is, clueless and suffering in the role of a grunt soldier, feeling completely disposable. Life is measured in days and sometime in only minutes.

When they are not in the field, they are trying to escape the place with drugs and alcohol. Every new day brings new peril as they patrol seemingly aimlessly facing off against an almost invisible enemy. The name of the game is survival and private Chris just tries to keep his head down. The lines between enemy and innocent bystander blur and after one of their own is killed, tempers flair and when they enter a local village things get out of hand.

Sgt. Barnes (Berenger) is a mysterious and malevolent character who threatens to go from soldiering to vengeance, but Sgt. Elias (Defoe) stands in his way because he sees himself as a crusader where Barnes see himself above any morality. When Barnes crosses the line, the stakes are raised in the ranks and Chris will be forced to choose sides in a game of life and death.

The Performances, Writing, and Direction of Platoon
Platoon won the Academy Award and almost deservedly so, but there sometimes it seems as if director Oliver Stone tries too hard and over philosophizes while in other places the films seems to meander along almost pointlessly, but maybe that's what he was trying to get across. Still, more works this movie than doesn't and when it does work, it is quite affecting and effective.

It's ironic that Charlie Sheen would have the lead role and act as the narrator for a Viet Nam movie after his father, Martin Sheen, did the same thing only a few years earlier in Apocalypse Now. Sheen acquits himself well in the role, but seems restrained in many scenes, thus muting the effect of his performance. You do get to see his character evolve throughout the film, yet retain a core innocence. Berenger and Defoe serve as angel and devil to the young Chris and while Defoe is solid in his part, Berenger excels in his role as the amoral soldier.

Stone does an excellent job of capturing the chaos and brutality of war. In many scenes, it's hard to decipher what is going on and the audience surely feels this disorientation when things get totally out of hand in the most ferocious battles and this certainly gets across the chaos of fighting.

Summary Judgment on Platoon
Platoon is a quality movie, but I still feel that Oliver Stone keeps the characters at a distance, thus making it harder for the audience to identify with the characters. As I said in my open, I felt that Platoon is a better movie than I recalled. So, I can recommend Platoon as a "should-see" movie from the 1980s.

A Fish Called Wanda

noreply@blogger.com (Random) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:48:00 +0000

A Fish Called Wanda (1988)
Director: Charles Chrichton
Cast: John Cleese, Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, Michael Palin, Tom Georgeson
Memorable Line(s): "Don't ever call me stupid."

The heist movie has always been a fan favorite, but with A Fish Called Wanda, the filmmakers mix the genre with a comedic flair which makes for a delightful combination.

The Plot of A Fish Called Wanda
Set in England, a small crew of thieves mastermind a $20 million dollar heist of diamonds, but also display why the phrase "there is no honor among thieves" is so true. The crew consists of cunning seductress, Wanda (Curtis), a hot-headed weapon's master, Otto (Kline), and a stuttering, animal lover, Ken (Palin). The leader of the crew, George (Georgeson), gets double-crossed by the "brother/sister" team of Otto and Wanda, but not before he stashes the loot in an undisclosed location.

The wheels start spinning as Wanda and Otto try to scheme up a way to get the diamonds. In the process, an unsuspecting barrister, Archie (Cleese), gets caught up in their plot as Wanda tries to use him to get information. All the while, Ken must dispatch with an elderly woman who was only the witness that can put his friend, George, at the scene of the crime.

One of the lynch pins in the whole scheme is a locket and it becomes the proverbial hot potato as things progress. Where it goes, the characters have to follow and the complications never keep coming.

The Performances, Writing, and Direction of A Fish Called Wanda
The performances in A Fish Called Wanda seem effortless. Because the movie is a combination crime/comedy, the actors have to walk a fine tight rope to make sure they don't over-do the seriousness of the action roles, but yet let the comedy work, too. All actors acquit themselves quite well. Jamie Lee does the best job as she has the scheming seductress down to a fine art. Cleese handles the straight-man part very well and is completely believable in the role. Both Kline and Palin get to play their roles a little broader with Palin getting the most latitude. Both get to do some physical gags and pull them off.

The key to the direction of this movie is timing because of all of the comedy. Stylistically, the movie is a little flat, but the comedic timing is spot on. The script is a lot smarter than people give it credit because beneath this comedy is a story that twists and turns, keeping the audience guessing.

Summary Judgment on A Fish Called Wanda
I saw A Fish Called Wanda when it was released and remembered being pleased with it, but over the years, the details faded to where almost nothing was left of it. It was nice to get acquainted with this movie again, though. It's not art, but the script and the performances are worth watching.

The Duelists

noreply@blogger.com (Random) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:43:00 +0000

The Duelists (1977)
Director: Ridley Scott
Cast: Harvey Keitel, Keith Carradine, Albert Finney, Tom Conti, Cristina Rainies, Edward Fox
Memorable Line(s): "Honor is indescribable...unchallengeable."

* Underrated and Overlooked *
This is Ridley Scott's feature film debut and it is an auspicious debut at that. The Duelists is a treat for those that love stunning images and is where Scott makes his mark as one of cinema's premiere visualists. But this movie is much more than just gorgeous images, it has a very compelling story.

The Plot of The Duelists
Set during the Napoleonic age, this is a dualist tale of honor and absurdity. Feraud (Keitel) is a hot-headed soldier whose honor is besmirched with even a sneeze. After one his duels ends up with the a mayor's nephew being felled, D'Hubert (Carradine) is dispatched by his general to reprimand Feraud. Feraud is trying to impress a lady when D'Hubert make his reprimand and, of course, Feraud takes offense. This starts a epic duel between these two men that lasts for years.

As their paths cross while in the service of Napoleon's army, they face-off numerous times with different types swords and pistols with each being seriously wounded while dueling, thus ending that duel, but prolonging the inevitable. Even with these near fatal outcomes outcomes, Feraud obsessively persists in defending his honor even over the years.

The Performances, Writing, and Direction of The Duelists
The Duelists is a striking movie visually. Scott seems to frame every shot as if he's delivering a masterwork from a Renaissance painter. Many shots are simply breathtaking. This movie is worth seeing just for its fantastic imagery.

Now even with effusive praise for it's look and feel, there are some short comings. For one, Scott uses some clumsy and forced narration to take us from one period of the film to another. The other qualm I have with it is with the casting. While both Carradine and Keitel are quality performers, they seem ill-fit for these roles. Keitel seems more out of place in the part than Carradine while both bring American accents into a mostly British cast. Now with that said, in the extra features on DVD, Scott admits that studio forced his hand in casting. So, we can't blame that on him. Still it the casting doesn't gel well with the film as a whole.

Summary Judgment on The Duelists
The Duelists is a movie that has stuck with since I saw it many years ago. This memory held with me based mostly on the sumptuous imagery in the movie, but with my most recent viewing, I also was impressed with the story. While they may be stretching the primary concept a bit, the film didn't feel thin. If you want to see a master visualist at work, then I highly recommend The Duelists.