Full Review: Manhunter (1986)‏

People in the Movie:  William Peterson, Dennis Farina, Brian Cox, Tom Noonan

Director:  Michael Mann

Pigeonhole:  Thriller / Crime Drama

The Basics:  The movie is based on the book Red Dragon by Thomas Harris.  Will Graham (Peterson) is a former FBI profiler who is asked out of retirement by his former supervisor Jack Crawford (Farina) to assist on an open case trying to capture a serial killer nicknamed the “Tooth Fairy” (Noonan), who has already murdered 2 families.  Will is reluctant to re-join the FBI, as his previous case tracking and capturing Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecktor left him seriously injured and hospitalized for significant amount of time, not to mention a little “shell shocked”- and hence led to the aforementioned retirement.  Will does agree, and the hunt is on, trying to stop this monster before he gets to another family.  Hannibal Lecktor’s (Cox) advice is sought by Graham, in an attempt to gain behavioral perspective on the “Tooth Fairy”.  

Recommendation: If you like any one of the following: crime dramas, Miami Vice (TV show), William Peterson, or the Hannibal Lector series, you should see this.  I highly recommend it.  The movie is rated R for some violent scenes and imagery.    

My Take: **spoiler alert**  Manhunter was truly ahead of its time.  I note this because it was not originally received well.  This is one of the first times we see the FBI using forensics and behavioral clues to solve crimes on the big screen – as opposed to solving crimes (and thus driving the movie) with interviews, gun fights, actors being “sexy”, car chases, and luck, as it had always been.  Mann’s direction was also very stylized.  He used specific colors in the lighting, the scenery and clothing to denote moods and to make the audience almost “feel” the environment.   His music – a lot of synthesizer – has a very 80’s, Miami Vice feel to it (which makes sense since Mann was directing Miami Vice at this time).   These elements drew negative criticism, and so when the movie came out, it did not succeed critically, or financially.

But fortunately, as the entertainment world progressed, many then, and now, point to this movie as launching the other Lector movies, as well as TV shows like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, The X-Files, Millenium, and The Profiler, to name a few.   In light of the successes of these, critics have gone back and now (rightfully) praise Manhunter.

Peterson did an outstanding job as Will Graham, arguably one of his best roles to date.  I like Tom Noonan in his role as the serial killer Francis Dollarhyde (aka the Tooth Fairy).  His stature (he is 6 foot 6) easily lends itself to be a physically imposing, “scary” character, yet he was still able came off as the shy, tentative introvert that his character was.  There is scene in which Dollarhyde, and his blind girlfriend (Joan Allen) visit a veterinarian (a friend of Dollarhyde’s) who is doing a dental procedure on a full grown tiger.  Dollarhyde and Reba are allowed into the room with the sedated tiger, and there was such great tension as to who was the real predator in the room.  Brian Cox’s portrayal of Lecktor is excellent.  I will have to say that Cox’s mannerisms were much more congruent to the book, than Hopkin’s in Red Dragon (that is a whole other discussion).  All in all, I have state this is great acting and great direction.

At this point I do want to note if you are a book purist, then you may not like Manhunter as much as you would like movie Red Dragon (2002).  Many elements are the same, however, Will Graham’s character drives Manhunter, and Francis Dollarhyde is more peripheral, where in Red Dragon (both movie and the book) Dollarhyde is much more developed.  Manhunter’s ending is also skewed from the book.

Final Thought/Extras/For Fun:  Tom Noonan kept in character so much, during filming he isolated himself from the other actors who were pursuing him.  He did not meet William Peterson until filming the scene at the end where Will comes at him.  Noonan also became so menacing looking from working out during the shoot –plus his height– that crew members were visibly afraid of him… The only decision I did disagree with Mann about was his choice to eliminate the shots with Noonan done up with the Red Dragon (almost full body) tattoo.  I have attached the pictures from my DVD set.  Dollarhyde did have them in the book, and I felt this would have added a neat element… 

Happy Birthday, Richard Gere

A favorite movie of mine that he is in, the Mothman Prophecies

Rumor: remake of Romancing the Stone‏

This is just a rumor at this point, but then again, so was George Bush running for president the first time around.
Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler would star ... I wonder who would play Ralph (DeVito's character)? ...
It is becoming cliche, but seriously, is Hollywood that starved for ideas that it has to go to the 80's and find semi-decent comedies to attempt to redo? What's next a Mannequin remake?

The Turner/Douglas/DeVito combo had the right mix of laughs and action in Romancing the Stone, which is likely the reason it was successful. Because let's be honest, the story was very borderline.

coming soon, like this weekend: Apollo 18‏

This is another "found footage" horror movie (such as Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity) that reveals the Apollo 18 mission to the moon actually did take place (in secret of course), and reveals why NASA stopped all lunar missions thereafter - and not for budgetary reasons.

Early screening viewers are giving very high marks.

Worst Movie End: Sliver (1993)‏

Any non-comedy film that ends with the line "Get a life.", can likely earn a spot on my Worst Movie Endings list.

**spoiler alert** This was an otherwise decent mystery/erotic thriller that followed up Basic Instinct for Sharon Stone, and Instinct's writer, Joe Eszterhas. Stone moves into a NY high-rise in which there have been some mysterious deaths. She then begins a charged sexual relationship with Billy Baldwin. Another tenant is murdered, and Baldwin lets Stone in on a little secret he has.

The big reveal that we all waited for after learning that Zeke (Baldwin) had video cameras wired throughout the entire building, was, "who is the killer?" In the released theatrical version, it turned out to be Jack (Tom Beringer). Yay. Not a great way to go, but serviceable. Carly (Stone) then unloads a gun into Zeke's video system, apparently now tired of the good sex, and voyeuristic games. Huh? She now suddenly has a conscience about watching other people's lives, so rather than just walking away she destroys someone else's property? I hope Zeke sent her the bill.

The noted fact is that Zeke was supposed to be (and filmed) in the original script as the killer. Test audiences apparently hated it, even though it made the most sense with what was on the screen the prior 107 minutes. Joe Eszterhas then re-wrote 5 different endings in 3 days. It startles me to think that the final ending was the supposed best of the those 5? Yikes.

Happy Birthday, several folks

Rebecca DeMornay - the object of many a young boys dreams in Risky Business.

Elliott Gould - my favorite role of his is still Trapper in MASH.

William Friedkin - director of 2 of the best movies of the 70's, The Exoricist, and The French Connection

Happy Birthday: David Fincher

We will look the other way about Alien3, since Se7en was awesome.  Zodiac, The Game, and Fight Club were all very entertaining.
Hopefully he does justice to the "new" Girl with the Dragon Tattoo movie.

Quick Look: Salt (2010)

Remember when Russia was still the "enemy"?  Salt brings back that Cold-War fever with a nice fast action spy/espionage thriller, that has a very Jason Bourne-like feel to it.
Angelina Jolie plays Evelyn Salt, a respected CIA operative who goes on the run after being accused of being a Russian mole.  Salt learns of an assassination plot to kill the Russian President, as he is currently in the United Sates, and to kill the American President, so she, of course, must intervene.  A very good mix of acting, action - gun fire, explosions, car chases, hand to hand fighting, etc.., and location use.  Not quite up to par, in my opinion, with the Bourne movies, but still an entertaining ride.  Jolie does just fine in action films, and we are left to believe future Salt films could be forthcoming. 

Interesting fact: this film was originally written for a male character, and Tom Cruise was secured for the lead.  (Like we needed another Tom Cruise action/spy movie.)

Full Review: The Fourth Kind (2009)

People in the Movie:  Milla Jovovich, Elias Koteas, Will Patton

Director:  Olatunde Osunsanmi

Pigeonhole:  Thriller / Mystery

The Basics: This is a faux-documentary (or docufiction- as opposed to a mockumentary, which is comical) about a recently widowed psychologist named Dr Abbey Tyler (Jovovich) who comes to believe through some therapy sessions that several of her patients have been abducted by aliens.   Abbey later discovers that she may also be an abductee, and as the movie progresses several people, including her patients end up dead or injured.  Abbey’s daughter then goes missing and we are to led to think she was most likely abducted.   Skepticism and questions are abound by Abbey’s colleagues, as well as the town sheriff (Patton), who knows a “secret” about Abbey’s dead husband.  The film takes place in Nome, Alaska. 

Recommendation:  The presentation was very interesting, which, in and of itself is worth a glace (I will discuss this below).  There are a few good thrill moments, and I can see where the director wanted to go – but too many sub plots and “holes” clogged it up to make it a great film.  X-Files fans (the X-Philes) would really like this.  

My Take: **spoiler alert** The film opens with Jovovich informing the audience she is portraying Dr Abigail Tyler, and that the audience will see her portrayal, as well as “real interviews, footage, and audio bits” from the “real” Abbey Taylor, as well as others connected to this  story - but whose names have been changed for their privacy.  So what the audience sees through portions of the film (at least 50+%), are split screens showing the Jovovich, et. al. film, along with the “real footage” in the other screen, in a very documentary-like style.  I applaud the writer-director to investing the resources to give the movie this feel, essentially creating 2 movies then morphing them into one.

The actors performances were average.  Jovovich was believable throughout, but Koteas who was portraying Tyler’s colleague and confidant, Dr. Abel Campos, took his skepticism about the abductions to an almost to a borderline caricature level, and at other times he seemed to have a confused/concerned look on his face that did not seem to fit with the action in the scene.  Sheriff August (Patton) plays the “I need to arrest and blame somebody” cop while it clearly appears that there is “something” going on in Nome that is beyond typical explanation.

Here are some elements brought into the film, while each one interesting, puts too much (overall) on the plate of the viewer for this 100 minute film:

- Abbey’s husband was supposedly killed by an intruder.  There are clues throughout and we learn this to not be true, thus creating its own subplot.

- Abbey’s daughter Ashley is blind from conversion disorder (hysterical blindness, basically) likely due to her father’s death.

- We never see the aliens, but we see about a 2 second glimpse of a possible UFO.

- While it appears some of abductions are for at least medical experimentation, others might be more personal.

- The aliens apparently can posses or control people to some degree.

- There is an entire subplot brought up that these aliens speak Sumerian.  Different characters are heard uttering phrases in the language while under hypnosis, or on the video and audio recordings.  Abbey then learns of a Dr. specializing in the study of Sumerian, so he comes up to Nome to investigate with her.  (A slight reach, at best.)     

Final Thought/Extras/For Fun:  What I find interesting is that a segment at the beginning and end of the film ask the audience to make up its own mind about alien abductions, yet, the presentation leaves you no other alternative… I watched this on cable, and the DVD/Blu-Ray may have some additional insight, extras, etc…  The setting being in Nome, Alaska, is not really significant for the movie, however, it is noted that the FBI has, in fact, investigated true disappearances from Nome, although there was no FBI element in the movie…

Happy Birthday: Paul Reubens

Thanks for the many laughs throughout the years, Pee Wee Herman.

Worst Movie Ending: Titanic (1997)

***spoiler alert*** This an epic movie on many levels, the costumes, the cinematography, the score -truly a big budget film, that did "look" great on big screen, and is deserving of many of the awards it won.
The DiCaprio/Winslett love story drove the movie, yet was the proverbial "weakest link", in my opinion, considering they were both fictional characters. Everything happening in the periphery was much more entertaining and made the ultimate tragedy of the movie seem more human, rather than being so detached, as many movies do.

Beyond the ship sinking, the "real" tragedy of the movie was Rose, the old bag, tossing the Heart of the Ocean (you know, the priceless blue diamond) into the ocean at the end of the movie. She had no use for it, and Brock Lovett (Bill Paxton) seemed like a decent guy, so why not give it to him? That totally killed the movie for me. Had that been my expedition, and I witnessed her toss the necklace like that, she would have been tossed over the rail right after.

Happy Birthday, Macaulay Culkin

His impact on Hollywood in the 90's as a child actor was etched into history and he will forever be known for Home Alone.  But who else secretly cheered when he fell to his death in the Good Son?

Happy Birthday, Sean Connery and Tim Burton

Sean Connery has done too many movies to name, but will always be "the" James Bond.

What can you say about Tim Burton's movies? You always know that he was directing... he has that unmistakeable touch that you can just "see". Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice :)

Happy Birthday, Rupert Grint

He will forever be linked to the Harry Potter universe as goofy, but loveable Ron Weasley.  I am looking forward to seeing him in future films.

Happy Birthday, River Phoenix and Ray Park

What could have been, had River Phoenix not OD'd as far as his acting career went?

Shout out to Darth Maul (Park) one of the better on screen bad guys of Star Wars.

Bob's Quick Look: Conan The Barbarian (2011)

Being a huge fan of the original books by Robert E. Howard, the Marvel comic book series, and the two movies released in the early 80s (the video game that came out a couples years ago kinda sucked,) I was pretty excited for a new Conan movie to finally hit the big screen. What I saw made me want to cry.
The story is very basic. During his education as a warrior, Conan’s village of Cimmeria is raided by tyrant and his army who are searching for the final piece of an evil magical mask that will enable the tyrant to rule the world. The keeper of the shard, Corin, Conan’s father,
played by Ron Perlman, is tortured and ultimately killed by the bad guy in front of his young son, who then dedicates his life to finding this tyrant and avenging his father’s death. That’s the story. There’s not much more to it than that.

Essentially what we see is a 3D swashbuckling splatter-fest. I feel the makers of this movie decided to sacrifice elements such as story, character development, and things like this, to fill the movie with as much action as possible. My disappointment stems from the fact that
there is so much source material to work with that would have made for a great movie, and it seems like the producers didn’t really care. They’re satisfied with selling tickets solely on the name. What’s even more frustrating is that the beginning of the movie was very well done. Ron Perlman gave an excellent performance (as usual) as Corin, and Leo Howard’s portrayal of the young Conan was awesome. The writers did a spot on job showing the relationship between Conan and his father as they make a sword together and how Corin teaches his son to fight. But once Conan is an adult, these more detailed elements completely disappear. The rest of the performances were “ok” at best. Jason Mamoa was an alright Conan and Stephen Lang was at least bearable as the tyrant, Khalar Zyn. I’ve never been shy about the fact that I’m not a fan of Rose Mcgowan as an actress, and in this movie in her performance as Zyn’s witch-daughter could only be described as “corny.”
All in all, this movie had a lot of potential that was otherwise ignored for the sake of maximum 3D action, and this film is a good example of what happens when a movie’s producers are more interested in using visual f/x than in making a good story driven movie - kind of like The Phantom Menace.

Famous Quotes : Taxi Driver (1976)

Memorable Movie Quotes: Taxi Driver

“You talkin’ to me?”

The line is spoken by Robert De Niro in the role of Travis Bickel as he is practicing drawing his new arsenal of handguns. This is a scene where we really begin to see his mental state begin to deteriorate as Bickel is essentially gearing himself up to go into the world to kill.

Interesting Note: Robert De Niro improvised this line that would go on to be ranked as the #10 movie quote by the American Film Institute.

In the works, Ridley Scott

I read today that a follow up to Blade Runner is in the works, either a prequel or sequel, no other real info was noted.  I will hunt for a good link later.  Not sure what I think of this, yet.  There would be great stories for both before and after, but Blade Runner is one of those movies that could easily be soiled by a lame folllow up.

I am really looking forward to Prometheus- the Alien universe prequel.  I have read both a PG-13 and an R version will be sent to 20th Century Fox for review since this is scheduled to be a "big summer" release on 6/8/12.  I sadly suspect the PG13 version will be chosen to be able to make the most money, and the R version will be held for DVD and Blu-Ray releases.

reboot weekend, eh?

What's up this weekend and reboots?  Conan and Fright Night filling out the (likely) top 2 earning slots?

Is Hollywood that desparate for movie ideas?

Quick Look: The Crazies (2010)

I had a chance to watch this movie recently, I had been trying to catch up to it, as Timothy Olyphant is the lead character - the Sheriff - and I have been impressed with his recent works (Justified, Hitman, Deadwood, e.g.).
I guess I would call this a nouveau-zombie-like movie.  It is a reboot/remake of a 1973 movie of the same name.  A toxin (or virus) gets into the water supply of an Iowa town and turns the people there into zombie looking (pale, veiny skin) highly violent killers.  The key difference being that these infected people still maintain their higher brain functions, enough to drive, talk, aim guns, and think.  The military quickly responds to contain the situation.  The story centers on Olyphant attempting to evade the "crazy" townsfolk and the military, to get out of town with his pregnant wife and a few others.
The scariest moments, in my opinion, were early on in the film, so it was kind of let down getting to the end.
It's worth a look on cable, rental, or a discount DVD.  It has some good intense moments, mixed with very believable performances.  I would not call it overly gory, and did not have any of those "comic relief" moments that appear in many of today's horror films.

coming soon: Underworld :Awakening

nice little trailer on IMDb :  http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1058577433
I guess it will be 3D, too.

I liked Underworld, #2 had some good moments and expanded on the story, and #3 I liked better than #2. 
I felt the natural progression of the story would have led the next movie to show the audience the "final battle" between Lucian's horde and Kraven's army, bringing the story line full circle.

Too bad, I feel Michael Sheen, who played Lucian, was one of the best characters throughout the stories. 

Weekend Movie Pick 8/19: The Seven Year Itch (1955)

This is a great summer comedy about a man named Richard Sherman (Tom Ewell) who sends his family off to the country for the summer while he stays behind in the city to work, and perhaps to enjoy a little bachelor-like freedom for a bit.  A sexy blond (Marilyn Monroe) moves into the apartment upstairs, and Sherman's wanting imagination goes into hyper-drive.
The real comedy of the movie is that Ewell spends probably two thirds of the movie talking out loud to himself, basically vocalizing his inner-monologue about everything, especially when he is tempted by "her".  Ewell comes off exactly how you would expect someone to with a name like Sherman - a big geek.  The audience never really believes he would cheat on his wife, and the back and forth strife he creates with himself is hilarious.
I have only watched the colorized version, so I do not know if anything is gained or lost by watching it in its original format of black and white. 

Full Review: Strangeland (1998)

Submitted by Bob

Principal Cast: Kevin Gage, Elizabeth Pena, Linda Cardellini, Dee Snider Robet Englund

Director: John Pieplow

Genre: Horror, thriller.

The Basics: Dee Snider of Twisted Sister wrote and starred in this psychological thriller about a suburban psychopath who lures teenagers to his house via internet chat rooms and subjects them to torturous tribal “rites of passage”, such as intense body piercing and flesh scarification.  His latest victim, Genevieve (Cardellini) is the daughter of a detective who will stop at nothing to catch the sadistic monster, with the online name CaptHowdy.  Howdy, real name Carlton Hendricks (Snider) is caught, but found not guilty of his crimes- by reason of insanity- and is treated and released from a mental hospital.  Upon his return to his small home town, he is lynched by a local mob, undoing the positive results of the psychological treatment and returning him to his psychopathic mindset.  Capt. Howdy then goes on a rampage getting revenge against those who tried to murder him, and the detective who did nothing to stop it.

Recommendations: Fans of psychological thrillers and psychopath horror films will enjoy this one.  It is graphically violent in some scenes, so viewer discretion is advised, as they say.

My Interpretation: I must admit that I went to see Strangeland in the theater because it was written by Dee Snider and I’m a fan of his music.  I had the idea that since he was deep into metal culture and intelligent (as proven by his famous appearance to Congress to speak out against the

PMRC) this would be a somewhat scary and well written movie.  I was right. 

The film doesn’t seek to redefine the psychological thriller.  It takes aspects of the culture on the time (1998) and exposes the possible horrors associated with those parts of our culture that many of us see as harmless.  For example, at the time, internet chat rooms were rising in popularity and discussions of the dangers of these rooms were beginning to arise in the media.  Also, the trends of body piercing, tattoos, and scarification were growing in popularity.  Snider successfully integrated these trends into the horror of this story as a sort of social satire.  The thing is, when CaptHowdy is caught the first time, these elements are not mentioned anymore in the movie. This is where Strangeland becomes more “typical” as a horror/thriller.  Not to say it becomes a bad movie at this point, but many of things that set this movie apart to this point, fade away.

I do wish that Dee Snider would have continued writing movies as I think the films would have gotten better and better over time.

Statistics:

Cast Performance: Good.  You have a good mix of seasoned character actors and newcomers to make the movie believable.  Snider is great as Howdy, Gage is a good “rogue cop who doesn’t want to follow the rules,” and Robert Englund is awesome as the closed minded, behind closed doors, small town lynch leader.  Cardellini and newcomer Amy Smart both work well as the “horror movie teens.”

Violence/Gore: Borderline.  The violence of the movie is disturbing more on a psychological level.  CaptHowdy is more of a sadist than a killer.

He sticks hooks in your skin and pierces your genitals rather than gut you.  Not much carnage, but violence mentioned is on screen.

Nudity: Moderate. CaptHowdy keeps his victims naked, so the nudity of the film does not carry a sexual connotation.  But it is there.

Ambiance/Music: Very Good.  The setting is small town America, which is shown very effectively throughout the movie.  The soundtrack is full of up and coming stars in heavy metal, with Snider himself proving the opening song.

Overall Rating: 3.75/5.0 Bob Kline scale.

Happy Birthday, Matthew Perry

While Chandler was one of my 2 favorites on Friends, it never appeared (to me) Matthew could move beyond that sarcastic goof persona...but he still has plenty of years ahead

Bob's Quick Look: Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011)

In the third installment of Michael Bay’s Transformers film franchise, Optimus Prime discovers that the US government had lied to him about their knowledge of the existence of his race. What he discovers is that the world famous moon landing was a US recon mission to investigate an Autobot ship that had crash landed on the dark side of the moon. Optimus and his Autobots go to the ship where they find their previous leader, Sentinal Prime (voiced by Leonard Nemoy), in stasis lock. The Decepticon leader Megatron, who is now starting to lose his mind, quickly learns of Sentinal Prime’s awakening and sends his minions to claim the experimental technology that Sentinal’s ship was carrying. Sam Witwicky, who is now starting his career, once again gets swooped up into the melee, and must do what he can to aid his friends, the Autobots, in saving planet Earth.
Michael Bay openly apologized in interviews for the poor quality of the previous two films. While I thought the first Transformer’s movie was good, the second film, Rise of the Fallen, sucked, and I’m happy that Bay admitted it. That said, I’ve just seen this movie once, but my first impression is that Dark of the Moon might be the best one done so far. The transformers themselves were finally written as characters rather than plot elements, giving them much richer personalities. Like I said, Megatron is starting to go insane, and this was shown nicely. The story is solid and moves well through the two and a half hour runtime.

Personal Note: Many fans applauded the fact that Megan Fox did not return, but I did not have any problem with her. It’s not her fault the second movie sucked. On the other hand, I did not miss her in this movie. Good action and very well done fx make this one you’ll want to catch in theaters or get on Blu-Ray.

Bob's Quick Look: Captain America : The First Avenger (2011)

Steve Rogers is a young man from Brooklyn who wants nothing more than to serve his country in the armed forces during World War II. There’s only one problem, Steve stands five foot three and weighs less than 100 pounds. Luckily, an ex-Nazi scientist, now working for the US government is conducting a medical experiment to create the perfect soldier. Through this test, Steve is turned into a 6 foot muscle man, and ready to fight. He goes from being a war bonds spokesman, to inadvertent war hero, to captain of an Army Special Ops unit targeting the forces of lead Nazi scientist Johan Schmidt, AKA the Red Skull.
This film shows how far comic book movies have come in the last few years. When seeing a comic book movie for the first time, I find myself waiting for the moment when the character becomes the hero. It does take some time, but the story moves well enough to keep the viewer paying attention to the movie, rather than waiting for Peter Parker to finally become Spiderman, for example. The players all act their parts very well, and this is a beautiful movie to see on the big screen. I watched this in 2D and was amazed.

Interesting note: Even though the movie is subtitled “the First Avenger,” this is the last of the Avenger’s solo movies to be released before they team up for “The Avengers” in 2012.

Spoiler Alert: If you can still the catch this in the theater, stay through the closing credits for a sneak peak of “The Avengers”.

Thoughts on the Dirty Dancing remake...

After mulling this over a bit, I do not see what can be offered in a remake/reboot that would add something positive to the "franchise".
Dirty Dancing was one of those movies that represents a moment in time where direction, casting, script, acting and soundtrack came together in such a way, that nothing will compare.  It is far from a flawless movie, but no one will "be" Johnny Castle other than Swayze, and no one will be "Baby" other than Jennifer Gray.
Now, if it is a modern themed "reboot", ideally with different character names, it might be worth a look... but my faith in Hollywood "doing the right thing" makes me believe it will be a putrid flop.

Happy Birthday, Robert DeNiro and Sean Penn

Robert DeNiro has been is so many great movies it is tough to name even a 'few' favorites he has been in... here are some: Godfather II, Untouchables, Heat, Wag the Dog, Jackie Brown

Sean Penn - 2 of my favorites of his are 21 Grams and Mystic River. Remember when he was married to Madonna?

Happy Birthday, Steve Carell, Jim Cameron, Madonna

Steve Carell - my favorite of his, to date, is the 40 Year Old Virgin

Jim Cameron - mr. big budget director himself...my favorite of his still remains The Terminator

Madonna - still a better singer than actor, but who could forget Desparately Seeking Susan and Truth or Dare?

Happy Birthday, Ben Affleck

From the humble beginings of after-school specials to now (remember him using steroids and getting violent?), Ben is really maturing into a better actor, and a very good director.
Some of my favorites: Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Boiler Room, The Town, and Gone Baby Gone-(directing only)

Full Review: The Breakfast Club (1985)

People in the Movie:  Anthony Michael Hall, Molly Ringwald, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy, Emilio Estevez

Director:  John Hughes

Pigeonhole:  Drama/ Comedy

The Basics: Five high school students spend a Saturday in detention, and although they are from different social cliques, the invisible boundaries break down this day.  Each one of them realizes the others go beyond his and her surface stereotypes and the pre-conceived notions each may have previously held. 

Recommendation:  Growing up in the 80’s and having seen this movie more times than I can remember, might lead me to have a slightly higher opinion of this movie than it deserves, but I highly recommend it.   The ‘R’ rating is for language, and drug use.

My Take: **spoiler alert** Hall, Ringwald, Nelson, Sheedy, and Estevez come together at 7am on a random Saturday morning for detention for various transgressions, which are revealed throughout the film.  They are labeled with some favorite high school descriptors as; a brain (Hall), an athlete (Estevez), a basket-case (Sheedy), a princess (Ringwald), and a criminal (Nelson).  Interestingly, we see through the progression of the film that while the labels seem to pigeon-hole each one, at the very beginning, that each of them comes to almost embrace this label, making him or her unique.  

The chatter is light at first, mostly Bender (Nelson) slinging insults, and the others reacting.   But gradually more and more secrets and truths are revealed about each of their respective lives, with some laughs and some tears, and some pot smoking.

Paul Gleason plays the principal, Richard Vernon, who we see is burned out, and at one point almost willing to become physically violent with Bender.   Gleason played a good role, the adult who almost despises the generational gap, or at least his ability to accept it.   John Kapelos plays Carl the janitor, who is the self-purported “eyes and ears” of the school.

The biggest question that is verbalized in the movie is, despite the fact these 5 seemingly different students became “friends” this Saturday would they still be friends on Monday morning?  Or would the social barriers, expectations, and peer pressure lead one back to where he or she started?

Final Thought/Extras/For Fun:  I relate to (and enjoy) this movie because I knew kids who shared similarities to the 5, and still see some similarities to my own high school years… The Simple Minds song “Don’t You Forget About Me” will forever be linked to this movie…  While I do not normally do this, you should check this out from IMDb, it is deleted/cut scenes (about 2/3 of the way down the page) since they are not likely to ever appear on a DVD version:  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088847/trivia

Quick Look: Dead Snow (2009)

Two words: Nazi zombies.  That was all I needed to read before wanting to check this movie out.  I was not disappointed.  (It should be noted, this is a foreign horror film set in Norway, and the characters are all speaking Norwegian.)
A group of 7 med school students venture up into the woods/mountains of Norway on Easter break to meet a friend at her cabin for a weekend of r&r.  They, of course, encounter the zombies and an entertaining splatter-fest ensues.

There is no new ground broken in this film, there are no actors you would recognize, and many horror movie cliches are abound - victims who were drinking, having sex, venturing off alone, etc...  Plus, there seemed to be several plot holes, but let's be honest- we are not watching films like this for tight scripts and plot, we are watching for the mutilations, killings and gore, and you will find this movie has all your needs covered.  For example, these zombies prefer disembowelments to brain munching.  You will see gunfire, use of a moltov cocktail, a chainsaw, a sledge hammer, and several hatchets.  It is a fun 91 minute ride, and a must see for zombie movie fans.

Quick Look: Clash of the Titans (2010)

I watched this movie last night, and wanted to give it a day to set in - which I do not know if that was a good or bad thing...
It is hard to call this movie a reboot, because it did not, in my opinion, resemble anything close to the 1981 film.  Also, if you are familiar with Greek mythology, this film does not even come close to showing anything considered "historical" within the mythos.
So, I will focus on a just a few points:
- All other criticism aside, this is a fun action/adventure movie, while a little unbelievable at times, still enjoyable.
- I did not like Liam Neeson as Zeus, and I am a big of fan of most of his work.
- Ralph Fiennes probably played the most interesting character in the film as Hades, but despite my best efforts to "not notice",  his voice sounded too much (to me) like Lord Valdemort's.
- The CGI creature effects were large scale, and bordering on outlandish.  They could have been scaled back about 25 percent and possibly improved the feel of the movie, making it more organic vs. less.

I viewed this on cable, so I do not know if there any good extras on the DVD or Blu-Ray.

Weekend Movie Pick 8/13: The 39 Steps (1935)

In honor of Alfred Hitchcock's birthday, you should check out a classic from his collection, The 39 Steps.  It is a great mystery that employs the popular "wrong man" theme, that follows a man named Richard Hanney (played by Robert Donat) who ends up tangled into an international spy/espionage caper that takes him from London all the way into the Scottish moors.
The dialogue is spot on, and the tension rises and falls, with some almost humorous moments.  If you like Hitchcock, this is a must see movie.
The Criterion DVD has some nice extras worth checking out, especially a mini documentary about Hitchcock's British films, The 39 Steps being one.


 

Happy Birthday, Alfred Hitchcock

The Master of Suspense, and one of the top directors of all time...

Happy Birthday, Antonio Banderas

2 favorite movies with Antonio are Desperado and The Mask of Zorro

Full Review: Hellraiser (1987)

Submitted by Bob

Principal cast: Andrew Robinson, Claire Higgins, Ashley Laurence, Doug Bradly

Director: Clive Barker

Genre: Horror

**spoiler alert**

The Basics: The story centers on Frank Cotton (Sean Chapman) who is literally torn apart after solving the now famous puzzle cube, unlocking the gate to Hell. He is able to break his bonds and return to the world of the living into the attic of his old house, but needs victims to exsanguinate to reconstitute his now eviscerated body. Enter his brother Larry (Robinson) who moves into the house with his wife, Julia (Higgins) and Larry’s daughter Kirsty (Laurence). In the past, Julia had had an affair with Frank, so she now agrees to lure victims and kill for him. Kirsty happens upon a murder scene and sees the still skinless Uncle Frank. In a panic she grabs the cube and runs. Inadvertently, she solves the puzzle cube calling the demonic Cenobites to her. To save her own life, she tells them her Uncle Frank escaped them and she would lead them to him, leading to the final confrontation.

Recommendation: This is a movie that should be included in the collections of anyone who is a fan of the horror genre, and in my opinion, movie fans in general. It is a good example of what can be accomplished with a limited budget and some imagination. Warning: This movie is graphically violent at times, so it is not for the feint of heart.

My Interpretation: At its core, Hellraiser is a demonic, intensely violent family drama. You have Frank who, being a pervert and criminal, is the Cotton family’s proverbial black sheep, and who is squatting in the house in which he grew up. His brother, Larry is the well doer of the family, which is a character trait that is passed down to his daughter, while his wife, Julia, betrays him in her quest to bring her lover back from the dead.

This is the kind of storytelling that Clive Barker is known for. Like his other movies and books, it has a substance that goes beyond the typical demons come and kill people aesthetic. In this film, the demons aren’t even the antagonists. The humans murder and commit horrors of their own, while the Cenobites, personifications of Hell itself, are morally neutral in their role as executioners of the curious, with no desires, loves, or hatred of their own.

Being a horror maven, I don’t frighten easily when it comes to movies, but even though I’ve seen this one a thousand times, I still get a chill or two at scenes such as Frank cutting the back off a dead rat with his switchblade, or the “Chattering” Cenobite shoving his fingers into Kirsty’s mouth. Clive Barker is one of the masters of creating a tense atmosphere and pulling the viewer right into it, whether you’re watching one of his movies or reading one of his books. This is Barker’s first major motion picture and, in my opinion, still his best.

Statistics

Story: Excellent. Richly imagined and dynamic, with solid character development and good pacing.

Cast performance: Very good. The actors do a good job in bringing forth the family dynamic into their performance to make their interactions believable.

Violence/Gore: Intense. Remember, this movie was made back when the MPAA were much, much more liberal about what could pass for an R rating.

Couple that with the level of carnage Clive Barker is known for, and you get a good idea of what to expect.

Nudity: Very little. An accidental nipple slip and a quick butt shot is all there is. However the lack of nudity takes nothing away from the movie,.

Ambiance/Music: Very good. Barker does a great job of using set, music and sound to create an eerie atmosphere which can be chilling when viewed in the dark (this is coming from a horror fan, remember.)

Overall Rating: 4.75/5 on the Bob Kline scale.

Happy Birthday Sam Elliott

Sam Elliott has been in too many movies to name off the top of my head, but 2 of my favorite roles of his are in Tombstone (1993) and Road House (1989).

Quick Look: Resident Evil Afterlife (2010)

I just watched this movie this weekend, being a fan of the series.
Milla Jovovich reprises her role as Alice, as she commences an attack on the (evil) Umbrella Corporation in Tokyo. Alice then proceeds to Alaska in search of the survivors from the previous movie who went there looking for a safe haven called "Arcadia", but only to find only Claire (Ali Larter), who has lost her memory. The two then proceed to Los Angeles and find a handful of survivors in an abandoned prison, with hundreds of thousands of zombies surrounding the outer walls. The good news is that Claire's brother Chris is one of the survivors, and Aracdia turns out to be a ship, conveniently in the LA harbor, very close to the prison. The group attempts to make their way out of the prison to the boat only to find a bigger evil waiting for them.
** spoiler alert ** I will normally suspend much of my disbelief for movies, especially when getting deep into series/sequels like Resident Evil, however, Afterlife pushed just a little too far. The movie felt very disjointed throughout. Alice making her way around the globe had little to no explanation, nor did it have any background set up. There is no indication what happened to all of Alice's clones, only that some died in the assault on Tokyo. The condition of LA was not in line with what we had learned from the previous movie (Extinction). Plus- had you not seen any of the other movies, Afterlife would probably not make a lot of sense. Even worse, the end very clearly sets up another movie to follow.

I will end with what I liked: The movie opens with a pretty good action sequence, heavy on the gunfire and explosions, with little in the way of dialogue... The "Executioner" was a very cool bad guy... I like that Chris Redfield was brought into the story.

Full Review: Jeepers Creepers (2001)

People in the Movie:  Gina Philips, Justin Long

Director:  Victor Salva

Pigeonhole:  Horror / Suspense / Monster movie

The Basics: A college aged brother (Justin Long) and sister (Gina Philips) who are driving home for spring break on a country road encounter a monster, whom then begins to pursue them, literally stopping at nothing. This is a nice little 90 minute horror/thriller that has carved a place for itself in the genre.  The film is very basic, resembling an almost 50's-like monster movie, with nothing “new” or groundbreaking, but the acting was believable (which is very high marks), the dialogue was good, the intensity held throughout, and the ending was great.

Recommendation:  While there are some horror movie clichés that come out in this film, it moves at a good pace, and there several scenes that make this memorable – so give it a once over.  But, a must see for horror fans.   

My Take: **possible spoiler alert** Slow starts and bad endings can be movie killers for me.  Jeepers Creepers has neither, and that is one of the reasons why I like it above many other similar films.

Trish (Philips) and Darry (Long), on this drive home witness what appears to be someone throwing several bodies from the back of an old van into a large vent pipe next to an abandoned church.  That "someone" sees Trish and Darry rubbernecking at his activities and begins to pursue them in his vehicle, running them off the road, but continuing on.  Trish and Darry go back to the church (one of the cliché moments) and discover something quite horrifying.   They leave, with Darry in borderline shock.    

The remaining body (haha) of the movie is pretty much cat and mouse games, with the monster in pursuit, and somehow a random psychic involving herself with a prophetic reveal. 

The ending is the proverbial “cherry on top” for me.  In horror, so called Hollywood endings usually are lame, and Jeepers Creepers is definitely not a Hollywood ending.  I will leave you hanging on that one…

Final Thought/Extras/For Fun:  Philips’ and Long’s actions, and reactions hold very well through the movie – you believe that they are scared.  Salva did a great job of not letting them get outlandish, which tends to happen in many horror films.  You can empathize, almost.  (The fact that neither of them were big name stars at the time may have aided this.)   Salva also did an excellent job of hiding the monster’s appearance.  You see different parts of him throughout, literally until the end…  This is the first of two filmed Jeepers Creepers movies, with the third reportedly in pre-production, but not fully cast, and no dates set…

Quick Look: From Hell (2001)

Check out From Hell (2001) - this is a great mystery/horror film, set in the late 1800's in London, in the Whitechapel district.  Oh yeah, it's about the Jack the Ripper killings.
Johnny Depp does an excellent job in the role Inspector Abberline, based on the real Inspector Abberline (let me emphasize "based on").  The Hughes Brothers directed, and captured a nice look for the period, lots dark foreboding scenes, and giving the audience a solution based on one of the many Jack the Ripper theories.
Yes - the story is still a bit romanticized, and Heather Graham playing the role of Mary Kelly, a poor street walking prostitute, was not "great", but overall a very enjoyable film, with some intense moments.  Robbie Coltrane of Harry Potter fame plays Abberline's partner.
If possible, check out the Limited Edition DVD, which has lots of great extras - plenty of deleted scenes, and the 2nd disc has a very informative interactive Jack the Ripper investigation with lots of historical information about the case.