" I heard he swallowed his vomit during a test."
"However it happened, he was a good caddy and a good kid..."
" He was a brown-noser Lou, you hated him."
"Shut up."
Monday, December 31, 2012
Awesome movie quotes: Caddyshack (1980)
"...Karl Lipbaum died last week in summer school from a severe anxiety attack..."
Review: Rififi (1955)
People in the Movie: Jean Servais, Carl Mohner, Robert Manuel, Jules Dassin
Director: Jules Dassin
Pigeonhole: Crime Thriller/ Film Noir / Drama
Basics: A group of 4 highly skilled thieves Tony (Servais), Jo (Mohner), Mario (Manuel), and Cesar (Dassin) pull off a large jewel heist in Paris. Unfortunately these men have a run in with a local crime boss named Grutter (Pierre Grasset), and it will not be a Hollywood ending for any of them.
Recommendation: I highly recommend Rififi to fans of the noir-style-crime films of the 50's, I would put this movie in the discussion as the one of the best. It is not rated, but I would treat it like a 'PG-13' or very light 'R' for implied violence (it happens off screen), drug references, and criminal activity.
My Take: This is a French made film, and the spoken language is also French. Jules Dassin is actually an American who was blacklisted from Hollywood, and living in France at the time. The film was shot on a shoestring budget, if one could even call it that, with many of the actors and production people being inexperienced or really anxious for the work. The result is classic 2 hour film that has been copied or imitated probably 100's of times over.
**spoiler alert**
Tony is just out of prison (for a prior theft) and appears to physically and mentally 'running on empty'. Jo and Mario meet Tony and give him the details of a smash and grab theft, to which Tony refuses. Later that night Tony goes to a club in search of his ex, her name is Mado. She appears to be a high end prostitute who is now "with" a local gang leader named Grutter. She leaves the club with Tony, and upon arrival at his shabby looking apartment he demands all of her jewelry, then proceeds to whip her across the back with a belt. Tony then calls Jo and informs him that he will join in the plan, but that rather than a smash and grab for a small take, he wants to do a well planned heist that will net a large amount of money. Cesar, a friend of Mario's, is quickly brought on to the team as the safe-cracker.
The group begins a long, meticulous observation of the jeweler and how they will defeat the alarm, as well as timing around the surrounding businesses hours and local beat cops who patrol the area. With the plan in place, the quartet begin the burglary which unfolds as a masterfully shot thirty two plus minutes with no dialogue spoken, or background music played. The four men work as a single "machine" to first break into the store by cutting in from the apartment above; to then disable the alarm; to then the slow cutting into the safe; and finally their escape. The tension builds throughout, and any little noise (like Jo bumping a piano) seems to be like an explosion on the screen.
The heist is pulled off and all that is left is for the sale of the jewels to a "fence" from London for these men to have enough money each to "retire", however, Grutter finds out about their involvement and wants the jewels for himself. Cesar is captured and gives Grutter the information about the other 3. Mario and his girlfriend are soon killed, and Grutter kidnaps Jo's child demanding the jewels as ransom. Tony has been a step behind Grutter, trying to chase him down and finally catching up to him in a "final shootout".
All debts are settled by the conclusion.
Servais really shines in Rififi; he comes off like a french version of Humphrey Bogart. He commands the scenes with nuance, his voice, and his calm precise actions. Watching the break-in scene, it is easy to understand why it would be copied many times over - it was like watching a criminal symphony with so many single parts, but all working in unison. It is worth watching the movie just to see that masterful experience unfold.
Extras:
- Real burglaries have since been committed using the same tactics seen in this film
- Dassin would only film on dark and cloudy days to give it the foreboding feel. He would not film if it was sunny and bright outside.
Director: Jules Dassin
Pigeonhole: Crime Thriller/ Film Noir / Drama
Basics: A group of 4 highly skilled thieves Tony (Servais), Jo (Mohner), Mario (Manuel), and Cesar (Dassin) pull off a large jewel heist in Paris. Unfortunately these men have a run in with a local crime boss named Grutter (Pierre Grasset), and it will not be a Hollywood ending for any of them.
Recommendation: I highly recommend Rififi to fans of the noir-style-crime films of the 50's, I would put this movie in the discussion as the one of the best. It is not rated, but I would treat it like a 'PG-13' or very light 'R' for implied violence (it happens off screen), drug references, and criminal activity.My Take: This is a French made film, and the spoken language is also French. Jules Dassin is actually an American who was blacklisted from Hollywood, and living in France at the time. The film was shot on a shoestring budget, if one could even call it that, with many of the actors and production people being inexperienced or really anxious for the work. The result is classic 2 hour film that has been copied or imitated probably 100's of times over.
**spoiler alert**
Tony is just out of prison (for a prior theft) and appears to physically and mentally 'running on empty'. Jo and Mario meet Tony and give him the details of a smash and grab theft, to which Tony refuses. Later that night Tony goes to a club in search of his ex, her name is Mado. She appears to be a high end prostitute who is now "with" a local gang leader named Grutter. She leaves the club with Tony, and upon arrival at his shabby looking apartment he demands all of her jewelry, then proceeds to whip her across the back with a belt. Tony then calls Jo and informs him that he will join in the plan, but that rather than a smash and grab for a small take, he wants to do a well planned heist that will net a large amount of money. Cesar, a friend of Mario's, is quickly brought on to the team as the safe-cracker.
The group begins a long, meticulous observation of the jeweler and how they will defeat the alarm, as well as timing around the surrounding businesses hours and local beat cops who patrol the area. With the plan in place, the quartet begin the burglary which unfolds as a masterfully shot thirty two plus minutes with no dialogue spoken, or background music played. The four men work as a single "machine" to first break into the store by cutting in from the apartment above; to then disable the alarm; to then the slow cutting into the safe; and finally their escape. The tension builds throughout, and any little noise (like Jo bumping a piano) seems to be like an explosion on the screen.
The heist is pulled off and all that is left is for the sale of the jewels to a "fence" from London for these men to have enough money each to "retire", however, Grutter finds out about their involvement and wants the jewels for himself. Cesar is captured and gives Grutter the information about the other 3. Mario and his girlfriend are soon killed, and Grutter kidnaps Jo's child demanding the jewels as ransom. Tony has been a step behind Grutter, trying to chase him down and finally catching up to him in a "final shootout".
All debts are settled by the conclusion.
Servais really shines in Rififi; he comes off like a french version of Humphrey Bogart. He commands the scenes with nuance, his voice, and his calm precise actions. Watching the break-in scene, it is easy to understand why it would be copied many times over - it was like watching a criminal symphony with so many single parts, but all working in unison. It is worth watching the movie just to see that masterful experience unfold.
Extras:
- Real burglaries have since been committed using the same tactics seen in this film
- Dassin would only film on dark and cloudy days to give it the foreboding feel. He would not film if it was sunny and bright outside.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Review: Black Death (2010)
People in the Movie: Eddie Redmayne (The Good Shepherd, My Week with Marilyn), Sean Bean (TV's Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings films), Carice van Houten (Black Book, TV's Game of Thrones)
Director: Christopher Smith
Pigeonhole: Drama / Action / Dark Fantasy(-ish)
Basics: Set in England in 1348 during the Dark Ages/ Middle Ages during the "black plague", a young monk named Osmund (Redmayne) leads a group of soldiers to an isolated village in search of a necromancer who can supposedly raise the dead. The soldiers, headed by Ulric (Bean) intend to bring this person back to the bishop for trial. Faith, love, religious beliefs, fundamentalism and fanaticism are all elements that are examined.
Recommendation: This is a really a hidden gem, and I am glad I caught up with it. I would call it a sombre reckoning towards this period of history and does not glorify anyone's actions or behaviors. 'R' rating is for brutal violence, and language.
My Take: Visually speaking, Black Death is so "simple" relying very little in the way of special effects, but so effective in creating a gloomy medieval setting, that I cannot write enough good words to describe it. It was produced and filmed in Saxony, Germany; the set work - again minimal - really worked to transport the audience to the English countryside; the costumes and weapons looked period authentic. The storyline and plot strive to not identify "good guys" versus "bad guys", and I praise the effort to let the audience makes its own decisions about the characters and actions.
**spoiler alert**
The movie opens with Osmund, the monk, taking food to his secret love Averill (Kimberly Nixon) and asking her to leave because the black plague, or "pestilence" as it is referred to, has made its way to the local abbey. Averill wants him to come with her, but he refuses thinking of his vows. She tells him she will wait by a marker at the edge of the woods for a week, in hopes he will join her. Osmund, conflicted about his commitment to the church versus his love, prays for a sign. Seven soldiers soon arrive asking for guide to a remote village on the edge of a marsh, as the plague has supposedly not touched the residents there. Osmund volunteers noting he was originally from area of the village - but his real desire is to locate Averill, the marker they were to meet at, is on the route to this village. The leader of the abbey does not want Osmund to go, fearing the world outside will change him, but Ulric notes they are on orders from the Bishop and require assistance.
After introductions to the other soldiers, the party starts off, and Ulric informs Osmund of their true desire to reach the village: to capture a necromancer rumored to be able to bring the dead back to life.
The journey proves to be a difficult one. They come across a group of people in the countryside ready to burn a woman for being a witch, noting that many had become ill after the woman was seen near the local well. Ulric frees the woman from her bounds, only to pull her aside and slash her throat - what he notes is more merciful than the burning. Ulric quickly establishes his truly idealistic beliefs in the church. Shortly after this one of the soldiers named Griff reveals he has the plague after coughing up blood; he is read last rites and his best friend Wolfstan (John Lynch) kills him. Both of these scenes come off as matter of fact, with little emotion other than "it needed to be done". Osmund and the 6 remaining men camp for the night at the edge of a forest. Osmund awakes at dawn, the others still asleep, and runs to the marker. He searches frantically around finding Averill's bloody clothes and her horse, but not her body. A group of bandits approach, and Osmund runs back to the soldiers yelling loudly to wake them up. A brutal fight ensues and another soldier is killed while protecting Osmund, who also sustains an injury. Most of the bandits are killed, but 2 manage to steal the soldier's horses, and ride off.
Osmund, visibly despondent now, continues on and leads them to a marsh, with the village seen on the far side. The villagers seem a bit afraid of their arrival, but Ulric assures the village leader named Hob they only mean to rest there and be on their way. Langiva (van Houten), a striking blond woman wearing a bright red dress, leads Osmund away to dress his would, where we note she is a proficient herbalist. Several of the villagers exchange glances, foreshadowing nefarious activities yet to come.
The group reassembles at the village church, which seems to be falling apart from abandonment - and unheard of in medieval times. Suspicious, but undeterred, Ulric, Osmund and the others head off to dinner with the village. After several minutes pass, Langiva leads Osmund out into the woods where she shows him Averill's body raised from the dead in a pagan ritual. Osmund panics and runs back towards the village. Meanwhile, the others all begin to pass out from being drugged.
The scene cuts and we see the group awaken to find themselves bound, sitting in cage in the town center, which is in filled with about 4 feet of water. Langiva and Hob announce that any of the group who renounce God will be freed. None of them accept the offer. A solider named Dalywag is removed from the pit, crucified and disemboweled. A soldier named Swire, now traumatized, volunteers to renounce God - he led from the village, but then hanged from a tree. Osmund is pulled out of the cage with Langiva stating loudly that she will get him to renounce God. Osmund is taken to a tent where he is reunited with Averill. She is visibly disoriented and does not seem to recognize Osmund. Deciding to "release her soul", he grabs a knife from a nearby table, stabs her in the heart, carries her body outside and then proceeds to cut Langiva in the face. Hob and several other villagers attack and beat Osmund almost unconscious. Ulric begins taunting Hob and Langiva, which prompts them to bind his arms to horses so they can dismember him (like being drawn and quartered). With the villagers occupied with Ulric's torture, Wolfstan recovers the knife Osmund dropped during the beating and begins freeing himself and the last remaining soldier named Mold. Ulric, just before he is killed, announces to the village they will no longer be free of the plague - as his shirt is removed he is seen to have bulging black lymph nodes under his arms. Wolfstan and Mold escape the cage and begin killing their attackers. Langiva is seen heading off for the marsh while Osmund who has now awakened begins pursuing her, sword in hand. She yells at Osmund through the fog of the march that she had never raised the dead, but merely drugged Averill (and others) to make it appear she had that power. Langiva manages to escape, while Osmund returns to the village. Hob and Mold fight each other, and Mold is killed. Wolfstan knocks Hob unconscious and secures him for transport back to the bishop.
The last scene of the movie we are shown is that Osmund became a zealot witch hunter, who tortures and kills women, with the church's backing, still hunting for Langiva whose image he sees in all of the accused's faces. It is not known whether he ever caught up to her or not.
Final Thoughts: This movie is excellent on so many levels; script, acting, cinematography, story, and overall execution. Despite identifying the villagers, Hob and Langiva specifically, as the antagonists, we were not led to see them as evil, but as much victims of the times, scared of outsiders and the plague, succumbing to the extreme whims of a skilled chemist. The soldiers, the supposed protagonists, were all shown to have serious character flaws, and Osmund was portrayed perfectly as a naive young man torn between love for woman and his vows to the church. And all of these elements are set in the face of the black plague of Europe. While I noted the violence as "brutal", I would not call it gratuitous like a horror/splatter film. I believe the director showed great restraint to not show us too much, but at the same time staying true to the period and the type of violence that would have been common for these people.
Redmanye and van Houten really shined in their characters, especially seeing Osmund in the final moments - changed - as the lead monk had predicted early in the film. It was equally hard to miss Langiva in any scene wearing the red dress against the fairly muted tones of the costumes and gloomy backgrounds.
Director: Christopher Smith
Pigeonhole: Drama / Action / Dark Fantasy(-ish)
Basics: Set in England in 1348 during the Dark Ages/ Middle Ages during the "black plague", a young monk named Osmund (Redmayne) leads a group of soldiers to an isolated village in search of a necromancer who can supposedly raise the dead. The soldiers, headed by Ulric (Bean) intend to bring this person back to the bishop for trial. Faith, love, religious beliefs, fundamentalism and fanaticism are all elements that are examined.
Recommendation: This is a really a hidden gem, and I am glad I caught up with it. I would call it a sombre reckoning towards this period of history and does not glorify anyone's actions or behaviors. 'R' rating is for brutal violence, and language.
My Take: Visually speaking, Black Death is so "simple" relying very little in the way of special effects, but so effective in creating a gloomy medieval setting, that I cannot write enough good words to describe it. It was produced and filmed in Saxony, Germany; the set work - again minimal - really worked to transport the audience to the English countryside; the costumes and weapons looked period authentic. The storyline and plot strive to not identify "good guys" versus "bad guys", and I praise the effort to let the audience makes its own decisions about the characters and actions.
**spoiler alert**
The movie opens with Osmund, the monk, taking food to his secret love Averill (Kimberly Nixon) and asking her to leave because the black plague, or "pestilence" as it is referred to, has made its way to the local abbey. Averill wants him to come with her, but he refuses thinking of his vows. She tells him she will wait by a marker at the edge of the woods for a week, in hopes he will join her. Osmund, conflicted about his commitment to the church versus his love, prays for a sign. Seven soldiers soon arrive asking for guide to a remote village on the edge of a marsh, as the plague has supposedly not touched the residents there. Osmund volunteers noting he was originally from area of the village - but his real desire is to locate Averill, the marker they were to meet at, is on the route to this village. The leader of the abbey does not want Osmund to go, fearing the world outside will change him, but Ulric notes they are on orders from the Bishop and require assistance.
After introductions to the other soldiers, the party starts off, and Ulric informs Osmund of their true desire to reach the village: to capture a necromancer rumored to be able to bring the dead back to life.
The journey proves to be a difficult one. They come across a group of people in the countryside ready to burn a woman for being a witch, noting that many had become ill after the woman was seen near the local well. Ulric frees the woman from her bounds, only to pull her aside and slash her throat - what he notes is more merciful than the burning. Ulric quickly establishes his truly idealistic beliefs in the church. Shortly after this one of the soldiers named Griff reveals he has the plague after coughing up blood; he is read last rites and his best friend Wolfstan (John Lynch) kills him. Both of these scenes come off as matter of fact, with little emotion other than "it needed to be done". Osmund and the 6 remaining men camp for the night at the edge of a forest. Osmund awakes at dawn, the others still asleep, and runs to the marker. He searches frantically around finding Averill's bloody clothes and her horse, but not her body. A group of bandits approach, and Osmund runs back to the soldiers yelling loudly to wake them up. A brutal fight ensues and another soldier is killed while protecting Osmund, who also sustains an injury. Most of the bandits are killed, but 2 manage to steal the soldier's horses, and ride off.
Osmund, visibly despondent now, continues on and leads them to a marsh, with the village seen on the far side. The villagers seem a bit afraid of their arrival, but Ulric assures the village leader named Hob they only mean to rest there and be on their way. Langiva (van Houten), a striking blond woman wearing a bright red dress, leads Osmund away to dress his would, where we note she is a proficient herbalist. Several of the villagers exchange glances, foreshadowing nefarious activities yet to come.
The group reassembles at the village church, which seems to be falling apart from abandonment - and unheard of in medieval times. Suspicious, but undeterred, Ulric, Osmund and the others head off to dinner with the village. After several minutes pass, Langiva leads Osmund out into the woods where she shows him Averill's body raised from the dead in a pagan ritual. Osmund panics and runs back towards the village. Meanwhile, the others all begin to pass out from being drugged.
The scene cuts and we see the group awaken to find themselves bound, sitting in cage in the town center, which is in filled with about 4 feet of water. Langiva and Hob announce that any of the group who renounce God will be freed. None of them accept the offer. A solider named Dalywag is removed from the pit, crucified and disemboweled. A soldier named Swire, now traumatized, volunteers to renounce God - he led from the village, but then hanged from a tree. Osmund is pulled out of the cage with Langiva stating loudly that she will get him to renounce God. Osmund is taken to a tent where he is reunited with Averill. She is visibly disoriented and does not seem to recognize Osmund. Deciding to "release her soul", he grabs a knife from a nearby table, stabs her in the heart, carries her body outside and then proceeds to cut Langiva in the face. Hob and several other villagers attack and beat Osmund almost unconscious. Ulric begins taunting Hob and Langiva, which prompts them to bind his arms to horses so they can dismember him (like being drawn and quartered). With the villagers occupied with Ulric's torture, Wolfstan recovers the knife Osmund dropped during the beating and begins freeing himself and the last remaining soldier named Mold. Ulric, just before he is killed, announces to the village they will no longer be free of the plague - as his shirt is removed he is seen to have bulging black lymph nodes under his arms. Wolfstan and Mold escape the cage and begin killing their attackers. Langiva is seen heading off for the marsh while Osmund who has now awakened begins pursuing her, sword in hand. She yells at Osmund through the fog of the march that she had never raised the dead, but merely drugged Averill (and others) to make it appear she had that power. Langiva manages to escape, while Osmund returns to the village. Hob and Mold fight each other, and Mold is killed. Wolfstan knocks Hob unconscious and secures him for transport back to the bishop.
The last scene of the movie we are shown is that Osmund became a zealot witch hunter, who tortures and kills women, with the church's backing, still hunting for Langiva whose image he sees in all of the accused's faces. It is not known whether he ever caught up to her or not.
Final Thoughts: This movie is excellent on so many levels; script, acting, cinematography, story, and overall execution. Despite identifying the villagers, Hob and Langiva specifically, as the antagonists, we were not led to see them as evil, but as much victims of the times, scared of outsiders and the plague, succumbing to the extreme whims of a skilled chemist. The soldiers, the supposed protagonists, were all shown to have serious character flaws, and Osmund was portrayed perfectly as a naive young man torn between love for woman and his vows to the church. And all of these elements are set in the face of the black plague of Europe. While I noted the violence as "brutal", I would not call it gratuitous like a horror/splatter film. I believe the director showed great restraint to not show us too much, but at the same time staying true to the period and the type of violence that would have been common for these people.
Redmanye and van Houten really shined in their characters, especially seeing Osmund in the final moments - changed - as the lead monk had predicted early in the film. It was equally hard to miss Langiva in any scene wearing the red dress against the fairly muted tones of the costumes and gloomy backgrounds.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Awesome movie quotes: A Christmas Carol
"I wear the chain I forged in life. I made it link by link and yard by yard. Is its pattern strange to you or would you know the length of the strong coils you bear yourself?"
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Review: Die Hard 2 aka Die Harder (1990)
People in the Movie: Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia (Die Hard, Presumed Innocent), William Sadler (The Shawshank Redemption)
Director: Renny Harlin (Nightmare on Elm St 4, The Long Kiss Goodnight)
Pigeonhole: Action / Big Budget / "Comedy"
Basics: Street smart detective John McClane (Willis) is back for another Christmas full of gunfire, and this time he is taking on a bunch of rogue US military operatives-turned-mercenary, led by Colonel Stuart (Sadler). This time Dulles Airport in Washington, DC is the site of the action. It is race against time to stop the bad guys, and McClane has to protect people on the ground, as well as planes circling in the air.
Recommendation: Plenty of gunfire, explosions, and wise-cracking fuel this sequel. If you like big action blockbusters starring Willis, then you will like this. 'R' rating is for violence and language.
My take: The plot is based on a novel called '58 Minutes' in which a cop has to stop terrorists who have taken over an airport, and he only has 58 minutes until his wife's plane circling overhead, crashes.
**spoiler alert**
John is at Dulles waiting for his wife's plane to land, when he spots and subsequently follows 2 suspects into the baggage area - which quickly turns into a shootout. One of the men is killed while the other escapes. After sending the dead man's fingerprints to his buddy Al (Reginald VelJohnson), they realize the suspect is likely a mercenary, who was former US military. McClane takes his suspicions to Dulles security Captain Lorenzo (Dennis Franz), but is promptly escorted out of his office.
Meanwhile we see the mercenary group cut Dulles' communications and computer driven instruments to guide the planes circling overhead. We discover their ultimate motive is to assist in the escape of General Esperanza, a rich drug lord who is being extradited to the US via this airport. The mercenaries have their own computers set up, and prove to they are "in control", they intentionally crash a plane that was running low on fuel. All seems to be hopeless, once again, but it's Christmas, and John McClane doesn't tolerate terrorists getting in the way of him seeing his wife. After multiple shoot-outs, a couple of hand to hand fights, and a nice big fiery explosion incinerating the bad guys, John wins again.
Why I liked it:
It's brainless fun, and my Y chromosome enjoys the lone-guy-with-a-handgun taking on a whole group of supposedly military trained more athletically built men with automatic weapons and grenades. And winning.
The pace moved very well, and the action was pretty constant.
The supporting cast was strong, I especially liked Sadler, Lorenzo, and Fred Thompson (who played Dulles' Chief of Operations).
What could have been improved:
I did not understand why it had to be Dulles Airport specifically, or basically how they were not able to work in Reginald VelJohnson as a main character again, especially after his great performance in the first film. McClane's immediate allies in this film (specifically Barnes and Marvin) left a little to be desired.
Taking down the terrorists in the first film, felt much more urgent and tense. This time it feels very "ho-hum, here we go again", in my opinion. I have also never been one to harp on the 'suspension of disbelief' factor, especially in a shoot-em-up movie like this - but Willis looked slightly out of shape, and again these are supposed to be military trained bad guys, so even though I praise it for being brainless fun, the "brainless" part is a knock.
I honestly did not see the point of the Richard Thornberg (William Atherton) character again. Remember he was the investigative journalist who stuck his big snout into the McClane's family business and almost got people hurt in #1, which coincidentally he does again. He provided nothing but stupidity and a few comic relief moments, at best.
Final Thoughts: This is still a great action film to see, and sometimes knowing the good guy is going to win out no matter what, makes watching it just that much better.
Die Hard 3, and beyond take the approach that this movie never took place, because John identifies himself early in this film as an LA detective who moved to California but was from New York, which would make sense based on #1 played out. However, Die Hard 3 has us to believe he never moved to LA and his wife still lives out there.
Die Hard 5 is scheduled for a February 2013 release.
My take: The plot is based on a novel called '58 Minutes' in which a cop has to stop terrorists who have taken over an airport, and he only has 58 minutes until his wife's plane circling overhead, crashes.
**spoiler alert**
John is at Dulles waiting for his wife's plane to land, when he spots and subsequently follows 2 suspects into the baggage area - which quickly turns into a shootout. One of the men is killed while the other escapes. After sending the dead man's fingerprints to his buddy Al (Reginald VelJohnson), they realize the suspect is likely a mercenary, who was former US military. McClane takes his suspicions to Dulles security Captain Lorenzo (Dennis Franz), but is promptly escorted out of his office.
Meanwhile we see the mercenary group cut Dulles' communications and computer driven instruments to guide the planes circling overhead. We discover their ultimate motive is to assist in the escape of General Esperanza, a rich drug lord who is being extradited to the US via this airport. The mercenaries have their own computers set up, and prove to they are "in control", they intentionally crash a plane that was running low on fuel. All seems to be hopeless, once again, but it's Christmas, and John McClane doesn't tolerate terrorists getting in the way of him seeing his wife. After multiple shoot-outs, a couple of hand to hand fights, and a nice big fiery explosion incinerating the bad guys, John wins again.
Why I liked it:
It's brainless fun, and my Y chromosome enjoys the lone-guy-with-a-handgun taking on a whole group of supposedly military trained more athletically built men with automatic weapons and grenades. And winning.
The pace moved very well, and the action was pretty constant.
The supporting cast was strong, I especially liked Sadler, Lorenzo, and Fred Thompson (who played Dulles' Chief of Operations).
What could have been improved:
I did not understand why it had to be Dulles Airport specifically, or basically how they were not able to work in Reginald VelJohnson as a main character again, especially after his great performance in the first film. McClane's immediate allies in this film (specifically Barnes and Marvin) left a little to be desired.
Taking down the terrorists in the first film, felt much more urgent and tense. This time it feels very "ho-hum, here we go again", in my opinion. I have also never been one to harp on the 'suspension of disbelief' factor, especially in a shoot-em-up movie like this - but Willis looked slightly out of shape, and again these are supposed to be military trained bad guys, so even though I praise it for being brainless fun, the "brainless" part is a knock.
I honestly did not see the point of the Richard Thornberg (William Atherton) character again. Remember he was the investigative journalist who stuck his big snout into the McClane's family business and almost got people hurt in #1, which coincidentally he does again. He provided nothing but stupidity and a few comic relief moments, at best.
Final Thoughts: This is still a great action film to see, and sometimes knowing the good guy is going to win out no matter what, makes watching it just that much better.
Die Hard 3, and beyond take the approach that this movie never took place, because John identifies himself early in this film as an LA detective who moved to California but was from New York, which would make sense based on #1 played out. However, Die Hard 3 has us to believe he never moved to LA and his wife still lives out there.
Die Hard 5 is scheduled for a February 2013 release.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Awesome movie quotes: Love Actually (2003)
"Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. General opinion's starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don't see that. It seems to me that love is everywhere. Often, it's not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it's always there - fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends. When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge - they were all messages of love. If you look for it, I've got a sneaking suspicion... love actually is all around."
Friday, December 14, 2012
Expanded Look: Hellraiser: Deader (2005)
Hellraiser: Deader is the 7th entry into the family and was direct to video. It stars Kari Wuhrer (from MTV's Remote Control) and Doug Bradley returns as Pinhead for his now standard 5-6 minutes of screen time. Rick Bota directed this, the second of three Hellraisers he led (Hellseeker / Deader / Hellworld).
'R' rating is for violence, language, nudity, and sexuality.
Deader, like Hellseeker, took a non-Hellraiser related script that Dimension Films already owned, and the screenwriter just wove in the Hellraiser elements. It was filmed in Romania.
**spoiler alert**
Amy Klein (Wuhrer) is in an investigative journalist who is sent to Bucharest, Romania, to look into a cult of people called Deaders who allegedly kill themselves but are then resurrected by their leader named Winter (Paul Rhys). Amy got onto the story from watching a videotape sent to her paper from a girl named Marla who was a Deader. Winter, we learn, is a descendant of LeMarchand, the creator of the original puzzle box. It seems Winter wants to open the puzzle box, so he can "rule the hell dimension", but he cannot open the box himself. So he seeks out vulnerable people, and from what I can gather, basically convinces each one to kill him/herself with the rest of the cult looking on and then resurrects them so that they will be subservient to him, hoping that one will be able open the puzzle box for him. However, he obviously has been unsuccessful to this point getting someone to open the box.
Amy finds Marla's apartment, but discovers Marla, apparently dead and clutching the puzzle box. Amy takes the puzzle box, returns to her hotel and opens it; Pinhead appears and warns her she is danger, but that is it. She continues her investigation and comes across the Deaders, but it quickly seems that she is in the "possibly awake, possibly dreaming, or possibly in hell" fugue state. Just as she is about to be assaulted by Winter, Amy "wakes up" in her hotel room, but then finds she has been stabbed severely in the back - knife still buried to the hilt, yet she is still alive.
She seems to hallucinate through a few more sequences - visiting a group of nihilists living on a train, memories of her abusive childhood, seeing Marla, then ending up in the psych ward in Romania - until finally, she is "awake" and back with the Deaders, again, if she ever really left. The puzzle box opens, Pinhead appears and informs Winter of his obvious ignorance, that he could never have any power in the Cenobite realm. Winter and the Deaders are torn apart by the Cenobites, while Amy chooses to kill herself rather than be taken to hell.
Positives: The visuals for this film were excellent: it very much had the feel of a nihilistic-Euro horror film. There is something about Romania that just lends itself to the horror genre. The atmosphere was creepy at the keys moments, the tension rose and fell at a good pace, plus the gore/ splatter was not over or under used. The score provided appropriate background in the scenes.
Kari Wuhrer was a very pleasant surprise as Amy. Looking at her resume you see a bunch of B and C movie credits, with plenty of small TV roles, so it was nice to see her pull off a strong-willed journalist, but with a good mix of fear and emotion at the right moments. Her character alone made this worth seeing.
Negatives: While I am normally a fan of the distorted perception and the breakdown of reality (where the audience cannot tell if someone is awake, dreaming, in another dimension, etc...) it did not work as well as it could have for Deader. This element has been used many times in the Hellraiser movies, but for some reason it just felt a little disjointed to me because just as the tension was spiking Amy would then suddenly "wake up", again.
Pinhead and the Cenobites were grossly underused, especially considering the film chose to use the element that Winter is a LeMarchand, from the prior mythology. If his desire was to get to or be in the hell realm, I think we could have/ should have been shown a little more. That being said I am still glad the story did not get comically ignorant trying to spoon feed us a sorry attempt at expanding the Bloodline story arc.
I am slightly unclear at the conclusion implying that Amy, by killing herself, was escaping hell. I guess my impression was either she should have been in hell already, or to escape she would have had to bargain her way out (a la Kirsty). But, that is a minor detail.
Recommendation: Worth seeing, in my opinion, for the visuals and Wuhrer's performance. Like Inferno and Hellseeker it plays out more like a psyhological thriller, but Deader ups the proverbial ante a bit with a little more splatter. It stands alone - you will not need any exposure to any prior Hellraiser films to see this. The Cenobites are basically an afterthought, so do not expect much participation from them.
'R' rating is for violence, language, nudity, and sexuality.
Deader, like Hellseeker, took a non-Hellraiser related script that Dimension Films already owned, and the screenwriter just wove in the Hellraiser elements. It was filmed in Romania.
**spoiler alert**
Amy Klein (Wuhrer) is in an investigative journalist who is sent to Bucharest, Romania, to look into a cult of people called Deaders who allegedly kill themselves but are then resurrected by their leader named Winter (Paul Rhys). Amy got onto the story from watching a videotape sent to her paper from a girl named Marla who was a Deader. Winter, we learn, is a descendant of LeMarchand, the creator of the original puzzle box. It seems Winter wants to open the puzzle box, so he can "rule the hell dimension", but he cannot open the box himself. So he seeks out vulnerable people, and from what I can gather, basically convinces each one to kill him/herself with the rest of the cult looking on and then resurrects them so that they will be subservient to him, hoping that one will be able open the puzzle box for him. However, he obviously has been unsuccessful to this point getting someone to open the box.
Amy finds Marla's apartment, but discovers Marla, apparently dead and clutching the puzzle box. Amy takes the puzzle box, returns to her hotel and opens it; Pinhead appears and warns her she is danger, but that is it. She continues her investigation and comes across the Deaders, but it quickly seems that she is in the "possibly awake, possibly dreaming, or possibly in hell" fugue state. Just as she is about to be assaulted by Winter, Amy "wakes up" in her hotel room, but then finds she has been stabbed severely in the back - knife still buried to the hilt, yet she is still alive.
She seems to hallucinate through a few more sequences - visiting a group of nihilists living on a train, memories of her abusive childhood, seeing Marla, then ending up in the psych ward in Romania - until finally, she is "awake" and back with the Deaders, again, if she ever really left. The puzzle box opens, Pinhead appears and informs Winter of his obvious ignorance, that he could never have any power in the Cenobite realm. Winter and the Deaders are torn apart by the Cenobites, while Amy chooses to kill herself rather than be taken to hell.
Positives: The visuals for this film were excellent: it very much had the feel of a nihilistic-Euro horror film. There is something about Romania that just lends itself to the horror genre. The atmosphere was creepy at the keys moments, the tension rose and fell at a good pace, plus the gore/ splatter was not over or under used. The score provided appropriate background in the scenes.Kari Wuhrer was a very pleasant surprise as Amy. Looking at her resume you see a bunch of B and C movie credits, with plenty of small TV roles, so it was nice to see her pull off a strong-willed journalist, but with a good mix of fear and emotion at the right moments. Her character alone made this worth seeing.
Negatives: While I am normally a fan of the distorted perception and the breakdown of reality (where the audience cannot tell if someone is awake, dreaming, in another dimension, etc...) it did not work as well as it could have for Deader. This element has been used many times in the Hellraiser movies, but for some reason it just felt a little disjointed to me because just as the tension was spiking Amy would then suddenly "wake up", again.
Pinhead and the Cenobites were grossly underused, especially considering the film chose to use the element that Winter is a LeMarchand, from the prior mythology. If his desire was to get to or be in the hell realm, I think we could have/ should have been shown a little more. That being said I am still glad the story did not get comically ignorant trying to spoon feed us a sorry attempt at expanding the Bloodline story arc.
I am slightly unclear at the conclusion implying that Amy, by killing herself, was escaping hell. I guess my impression was either she should have been in hell already, or to escape she would have had to bargain her way out (a la Kirsty). But, that is a minor detail.
Recommendation: Worth seeing, in my opinion, for the visuals and Wuhrer's performance. Like Inferno and Hellseeker it plays out more like a psyhological thriller, but Deader ups the proverbial ante a bit with a little more splatter. It stands alone - you will not need any exposure to any prior Hellraiser films to see this. The Cenobites are basically an afterthought, so do not expect much participation from them.
Review: Valentine (2001)
People in the Movie: Marley Shelton (Deathproof/Grindhouse, Pleasantville), David Boreanaz (TV's Angel, TV's Bones), Denise Richards (Wild Things, The World is Not Enough)
Director: Jamie Blanks (Urban Legend)
Pigeonhole: Thriller / Slasher / Horror
The Basics: Talking place just prior to Valentine's Day, a group of 5 single women receive disturbing Valentine cards, and are then subsequently stalked by a murderous psychopath who is seeking revenge from an incident that took place during a middle school Valentine's Day dance, years ago.
Recommendation: While pretty formulaic, it is still an entertaining hour and half slasher flick, with a fair amount of star power in the cast. 'R' rating is for violence, language, and brief sexuality.
My Take: Ever wonder what happened to the geeky kid who asked the popular kids to dance at one of your school functions, only to get made fun of? Valentine's Day will clear it up, and will make you think twice about all of your broken-hearted classmates.
**spoiler alert** The movie opens in 1988, in a middle school gym where a Valentine's Day dance is being held. We see Jeremy Melton (the geek) asking Shellie, Lily, Paige and Kate (the popular girls) to dance with him to which he receives varying levels of refusals. Still undeterred he asks Dorothy who is sitting alone (likely due to the fact she is overweight) to dance. They venture under the bleachers to make out. Several classmates see and proceed to make fun of the two; Dorothy, now embarrassed, promptly states Jeremy was attacking her. The group of onlookers then proceeds to strip and assault Jeremy.
Fast forward to 2001, Shellie (Katherine Heigl) is a now med student. Studying late one night she receives a threatening Valentine card, which she quickly shrugs off, but is then chased through the medical building by a person wearing a cherub mask, and killed. At Shellie's funeral Kate (Shelton), Paige (Richards), Lily (Jessica Cauffiel), and Dorothy (Jessica Capshaw) all talk to a detective briefly about Shellie, and it seems she was somewhat estranged from the other 4 friends, likely because of med school.
We are soon introduced to Adam (Boreanaz), Kate's ex-boyfriend, who apparently is alcoholic, and his addiction is why they are not a couple right now. We also meet a man named Campbell, a friend of Dorothy, whom she invites to stay at her house after he is supposedly evicted from his apartment - but it seems there is more to Campbell than just a good-looking-down-on-his-luck wayward "friend".
The four girls head to an art gallery to see Lily's boyfriend Max open his new exhibit. After a fight with Max in a video "maze" at the gallery, Lily is cornered by the cherub-masked suspect, and is killed. Her body ends up in a dumpster, and with no witnesses around, her friends are none the wiser - thinking she has gone to Los Angles for an audition she had spoken about earlier in the evening.
With several other tension builders, and some red herrings thrown in about who the killer is, we are now ready for the final act - a Valentine's Day party at Dorothy's mansion. Dorothy is despondent thinking she has been stood up for her own party, but the audience witnessed earlier that Campbell has already been killed. Kate and Paige try to console her, but to no avail. Adam shows up drunk, so Kate walks away from him. Paige's date arrives at the party, but she quickly "leaves" him after spurning his sexual advances, in particularly funny, but painful-to-watch scene. She then makes the horror movie mistake of wandering off alone to go get into a hot tub by herself. Predictably Paige is killed after the killer attacks with a drill, then throws it into the tub which electrocutes her. This attack also causes the circuit to break, so with the power out, the party begins to break up.
Dorothy and Kate begin to argue about who they think the killer is - Adam or Campbell. Kate, now thinking Adam could be Jeremy Melton, grabs her cell phone to contact the detective and runs outside. Kate comes back into the house and flees from Adam, only to discover the multiple dead bodies littered through the different rooms we have previously observed. With tension now peaking, Kate finds a gun and wanders out into a hallway, but is tackled by the masked suspect and they tumble down a flight of stairs in the front room. Adam comes into the room, picks up the gun and shoots Kate's assailant. The cherub mask is removed to reveal Dorothy. Kate and Adam embrace - but the last shot before the credits roll is that Adam was, in fact, Jeremy Melton, the killer.
Final Thought: My single biggest criticism of Valentine's Day lies in the fact that the killer was not "hidden" well enough with either different/alternate suspects, or scenarios. There were opportunities to build up suspicion on several other characters specifically Jason Marquette (a man who took Shellie on a date), Campbell, or even Max (to some degree), but unfortunately it did not happen. And it is possible that some of this 'material' could have hit the cutting room floor. But instead I feel that the proverbial arrows all point to Adam throughout the film. I will note that I did enjoy the way the ending played out, which was a nice touch to reveal what we suspected all along.
Extras: Heigl and Capshaw have both been main characters on TV's Grey's Anatomy... The girl's deaths are predicted by their lines spoken at the middle school dance...
Director: Jamie Blanks (Urban Legend)
Pigeonhole: Thriller / Slasher / Horror
The Basics: Talking place just prior to Valentine's Day, a group of 5 single women receive disturbing Valentine cards, and are then subsequently stalked by a murderous psychopath who is seeking revenge from an incident that took place during a middle school Valentine's Day dance, years ago.
Recommendation: While pretty formulaic, it is still an entertaining hour and half slasher flick, with a fair amount of star power in the cast. 'R' rating is for violence, language, and brief sexuality.
My Take: Ever wonder what happened to the geeky kid who asked the popular kids to dance at one of your school functions, only to get made fun of? Valentine's Day will clear it up, and will make you think twice about all of your broken-hearted classmates.
**spoiler alert** The movie opens in 1988, in a middle school gym where a Valentine's Day dance is being held. We see Jeremy Melton (the geek) asking Shellie, Lily, Paige and Kate (the popular girls) to dance with him to which he receives varying levels of refusals. Still undeterred he asks Dorothy who is sitting alone (likely due to the fact she is overweight) to dance. They venture under the bleachers to make out. Several classmates see and proceed to make fun of the two; Dorothy, now embarrassed, promptly states Jeremy was attacking her. The group of onlookers then proceeds to strip and assault Jeremy.
Fast forward to 2001, Shellie (Katherine Heigl) is a now med student. Studying late one night she receives a threatening Valentine card, which she quickly shrugs off, but is then chased through the medical building by a person wearing a cherub mask, and killed. At Shellie's funeral Kate (Shelton), Paige (Richards), Lily (Jessica Cauffiel), and Dorothy (Jessica Capshaw) all talk to a detective briefly about Shellie, and it seems she was somewhat estranged from the other 4 friends, likely because of med school.
We are soon introduced to Adam (Boreanaz), Kate's ex-boyfriend, who apparently is alcoholic, and his addiction is why they are not a couple right now. We also meet a man named Campbell, a friend of Dorothy, whom she invites to stay at her house after he is supposedly evicted from his apartment - but it seems there is more to Campbell than just a good-looking-down-on-his-luck wayward "friend".
The four girls head to an art gallery to see Lily's boyfriend Max open his new exhibit. After a fight with Max in a video "maze" at the gallery, Lily is cornered by the cherub-masked suspect, and is killed. Her body ends up in a dumpster, and with no witnesses around, her friends are none the wiser - thinking she has gone to Los Angles for an audition she had spoken about earlier in the evening.
With several other tension builders, and some red herrings thrown in about who the killer is, we are now ready for the final act - a Valentine's Day party at Dorothy's mansion. Dorothy is despondent thinking she has been stood up for her own party, but the audience witnessed earlier that Campbell has already been killed. Kate and Paige try to console her, but to no avail. Adam shows up drunk, so Kate walks away from him. Paige's date arrives at the party, but she quickly "leaves" him after spurning his sexual advances, in particularly funny, but painful-to-watch scene. She then makes the horror movie mistake of wandering off alone to go get into a hot tub by herself. Predictably Paige is killed after the killer attacks with a drill, then throws it into the tub which electrocutes her. This attack also causes the circuit to break, so with the power out, the party begins to break up.
Dorothy and Kate begin to argue about who they think the killer is - Adam or Campbell. Kate, now thinking Adam could be Jeremy Melton, grabs her cell phone to contact the detective and runs outside. Kate comes back into the house and flees from Adam, only to discover the multiple dead bodies littered through the different rooms we have previously observed. With tension now peaking, Kate finds a gun and wanders out into a hallway, but is tackled by the masked suspect and they tumble down a flight of stairs in the front room. Adam comes into the room, picks up the gun and shoots Kate's assailant. The cherub mask is removed to reveal Dorothy. Kate and Adam embrace - but the last shot before the credits roll is that Adam was, in fact, Jeremy Melton, the killer.
Final Thought: My single biggest criticism of Valentine's Day lies in the fact that the killer was not "hidden" well enough with either different/alternate suspects, or scenarios. There were opportunities to build up suspicion on several other characters specifically Jason Marquette (a man who took Shellie on a date), Campbell, or even Max (to some degree), but unfortunately it did not happen. And it is possible that some of this 'material' could have hit the cutting room floor. But instead I feel that the proverbial arrows all point to Adam throughout the film. I will note that I did enjoy the way the ending played out, which was a nice touch to reveal what we suspected all along.
Extras: Heigl and Capshaw have both been main characters on TV's Grey's Anatomy... The girl's deaths are predicted by their lines spoken at the middle school dance...
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Expanded Look: The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008)
'I Want to Believe' is the final X-Files production (as of this writing); it stars David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson reprising their roles as the series mainstays Fox Mulder and Dana Scully. Chris Carter, the X-Files creator wrote and directed. 'PG-13' rating is for violence, and horror-ish images.
When people say 'X-Files' the natural tendency is to think of the ongoing alien and government conspiracy episodes -including the first movie. However, the strength of the show, in my opinion, was in the standalone episodes where Mulder and Scully would investigate a case that defied typical scientific explanation, whether paranormal or supernatural (outside of anything extraterrestrial), and are typically referred to as the 'monster of the week' X-Files episodes. I Want to Believe resembled one of these monster of the week episodes, as opposed to the alien conspiracy arc.
**spoiler alert**
The basic premise of this film is that FBI is investigating some kidnappings in Virginia, the most recent of which is an FBI agent named Monica Bannan. Agent Drummy (Xzibit) convinces Scully, now working as a doctor in Catholic hospital, and Mulder, living in seclusion since the end of the last episode of the show (6 years ago), to assist them in the case because of a paranormal aspect. Father Joe Crissman (Billy Connolly), a former priest, claims to be having visions of the crimes, however, he has a bit of a credibility issue due to his former molestation of 37 alter boys. Despite this fact, Father Joe continues to assist to find Agent Bannan, but another woman is soon abducted. During the search of a snow covered field for the newest victim, Father Joe having a vision leads the group to a burial site full of different victim's body parts. Scully and Mulder do the proverbial split up to work different angles of the case, as well as some soul-searching in Scully's case. Eventually it is discovered that an eastern European "doctor" was harvesting limbs and organs, and successfully making Frankenstein-like transplants onto animals and humans. Several lives are lost by the end, but Mulder and Scully live for possible reunion.
What I Liked: This movie really highlights the best of the 'golden years' of the X-Files, and why I enjoyed the show so much. This was a very good story with a touch of sci-fi as well as horror; Mulder and Scully are forced to think outside of their comfort zones - both working the case, and in their personal lives; this combined with elements that elements meant to make even the audience uncomfortable, like the police receiving help from a sexual predator, and visuals like the people harvesting organs.
Billy Connolly did an excellent job as Father Joe, playing the damaged former priest, and now possibly seeking redemption. Anderson and Duchovny turning in very good performances as their returning characters, with Anderson maybe even stepping up her game from the end of the TV series. The scenes, script and material felt tense and dark, which held my attention throughout - they were also disturbing without being horror movie gruesome.
I felt the continuity and connection the former show was appropriate, which is often not the case when doing sequels after a long lay-off, or making a TV to movie transition. Mulder and Scully had aged slightly, and they did not approach the case as if they were back running the X-Files, which could have been an easy trap to fall into. Carter deserves credit for that.
Negatives:
- This film was released almost 6 years after the final TV episode had aired, and I think that the interest in the show and characters had dwindled except among the die-hard fans. Apparently there were production and contract hold ups which led to the prolonged delay. This in and of itself is not a criticism, but more that I am acknowledging items that may have led to the lukewarm response it got from both the box office and from other critics.
- I feel like the first three quarters of the movie were near spot-on perfect, but that the ending felt just a little too forced, and equally predictable. Once Mulder ventured off on his own, it seemed like it played out exactly like dozens of the X-Files episodes, complete with stupid decision making on his part and then a not-so-believable confrontation with the bad guy. This did not ruin the movie because it really unfolded in manner which we expect it to, but it was just a little of bit of a let down after the previous set up.
- Strangely there was a vast collection of politically hot issues as elements in this film including: religion versus science/ medicine; gay marriage; child molestation by clergy; law enforcement using psychics; and medical experimentation. I understand why several of these points were used - to contrast one another, but it just seemed to me as if several of these topics were thrown out there for the sake of throwing them out as opposed to using them as strong plot drivers.
Recommendation:
Fans of the series "should" like this, as it is another opportunity to see Mulder and Scully back again in a well acted, "old school" X-Files plot. I will note that expectations for different people may have potentially ruined their viewing, considering how the show ended and the subsequent desire to see more of the alien conspiracy arc. For non-fans, this is still very watchable, as none of the X-Files history comes into play.
I consider myself a fan of the show, and I feel this film is as good as any of the episodes in the heyday of the X-Files, so I highly recommend seeing it.
While I like the idea of Chris Carter tying off the alien story arc with (possibly) another film, I would feel just as good if he left it alone, and did not try to force a bad movie and script into production.
When people say 'X-Files' the natural tendency is to think of the ongoing alien and government conspiracy episodes -including the first movie. However, the strength of the show, in my opinion, was in the standalone episodes where Mulder and Scully would investigate a case that defied typical scientific explanation, whether paranormal or supernatural (outside of anything extraterrestrial), and are typically referred to as the 'monster of the week' X-Files episodes. I Want to Believe resembled one of these monster of the week episodes, as opposed to the alien conspiracy arc.
**spoiler alert**
The basic premise of this film is that FBI is investigating some kidnappings in Virginia, the most recent of which is an FBI agent named Monica Bannan. Agent Drummy (Xzibit) convinces Scully, now working as a doctor in Catholic hospital, and Mulder, living in seclusion since the end of the last episode of the show (6 years ago), to assist them in the case because of a paranormal aspect. Father Joe Crissman (Billy Connolly), a former priest, claims to be having visions of the crimes, however, he has a bit of a credibility issue due to his former molestation of 37 alter boys. Despite this fact, Father Joe continues to assist to find Agent Bannan, but another woman is soon abducted. During the search of a snow covered field for the newest victim, Father Joe having a vision leads the group to a burial site full of different victim's body parts. Scully and Mulder do the proverbial split up to work different angles of the case, as well as some soul-searching in Scully's case. Eventually it is discovered that an eastern European "doctor" was harvesting limbs and organs, and successfully making Frankenstein-like transplants onto animals and humans. Several lives are lost by the end, but Mulder and Scully live for possible reunion.
What I Liked: This movie really highlights the best of the 'golden years' of the X-Files, and why I enjoyed the show so much. This was a very good story with a touch of sci-fi as well as horror; Mulder and Scully are forced to think outside of their comfort zones - both working the case, and in their personal lives; this combined with elements that elements meant to make even the audience uncomfortable, like the police receiving help from a sexual predator, and visuals like the people harvesting organs.
Billy Connolly did an excellent job as Father Joe, playing the damaged former priest, and now possibly seeking redemption. Anderson and Duchovny turning in very good performances as their returning characters, with Anderson maybe even stepping up her game from the end of the TV series. The scenes, script and material felt tense and dark, which held my attention throughout - they were also disturbing without being horror movie gruesome.
I felt the continuity and connection the former show was appropriate, which is often not the case when doing sequels after a long lay-off, or making a TV to movie transition. Mulder and Scully had aged slightly, and they did not approach the case as if they were back running the X-Files, which could have been an easy trap to fall into. Carter deserves credit for that.
Negatives:
- This film was released almost 6 years after the final TV episode had aired, and I think that the interest in the show and characters had dwindled except among the die-hard fans. Apparently there were production and contract hold ups which led to the prolonged delay. This in and of itself is not a criticism, but more that I am acknowledging items that may have led to the lukewarm response it got from both the box office and from other critics.
- I feel like the first three quarters of the movie were near spot-on perfect, but that the ending felt just a little too forced, and equally predictable. Once Mulder ventured off on his own, it seemed like it played out exactly like dozens of the X-Files episodes, complete with stupid decision making on his part and then a not-so-believable confrontation with the bad guy. This did not ruin the movie because it really unfolded in manner which we expect it to, but it was just a little of bit of a let down after the previous set up.
- Strangely there was a vast collection of politically hot issues as elements in this film including: religion versus science/ medicine; gay marriage; child molestation by clergy; law enforcement using psychics; and medical experimentation. I understand why several of these points were used - to contrast one another, but it just seemed to me as if several of these topics were thrown out there for the sake of throwing them out as opposed to using them as strong plot drivers.
Recommendation:
Fans of the series "should" like this, as it is another opportunity to see Mulder and Scully back again in a well acted, "old school" X-Files plot. I will note that expectations for different people may have potentially ruined their viewing, considering how the show ended and the subsequent desire to see more of the alien conspiracy arc. For non-fans, this is still very watchable, as none of the X-Files history comes into play.
I consider myself a fan of the show, and I feel this film is as good as any of the episodes in the heyday of the X-Files, so I highly recommend seeing it.
While I like the idea of Chris Carter tying off the alien story arc with (possibly) another film, I would feel just as good if he left it alone, and did not try to force a bad movie and script into production.
Monday, December 10, 2012
What If? Forrest Gump had been played by someone else
The lead role was reportedly turned down by John Travolta, Bill Murray, and Chevy Chase.
In my opinion, this movie would not have been one one-hundredth the success it is, with any of those other 3 three actors. None of them could have pulled Forrest's innocent, slightly challenged role, believably.
Travolta - his best roles just prior to this film would have been the 'Look Whose Talking' movies. Yikes. Although, Pulp Fiction came 3 months after Forrest Gump. I just see no way he could have pulled it off.
Murray - his best role just prior to this movie would have been Groundhog Day. Yes, that is a comic classic, but for its biting sarcasm. Even on his best day, Murray could not have pulled off the Gump we all know.
Chase - his leading role prior to Forrest Gump would have been Memoirs of an Invisible Man. Let's be honest, has Chevy Chase ever done anything remotely serious? There is nothing wrong with that, but the fact he was even considered is disturbing.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Holiday Look: Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas (1977)
This is a Christmas TV movie created by Jim Henson, and a staple from my childhood. The puppetry and voices are done by Muppet Show veterans, and it very much resembles a Muppet Show episode with its simplicity and excellent musical numbers..
The premise is that Emmet and his Ma are poor/working class country folk who live in a place called Frogtown Hollow. Emmet does odd jobs with his father's old tools, and Ma washed laundry for various people. While they may lack in wealth, they seem happy that they have music in their lives. As Christmas approaches it is announced there will be a talent show in town, and the winner will get 50 dollars. Emmet and 3 of his friends put together a jug-band to enter into the contest; Emmet desiring the winnings to get his Ma a nice Christmas present. The problem: Emmet is expected to play washtub bass, so he will have to put a hole into his mother's washtub which will make her livelihood a little more difficult. Ma also decides she wants to enter the talent show, but in order to buy fabric for a dress, she will have to hock Emmet's tool chest.
The real irony is that neither Emmet nor Ma win the talent show and things seem grim because both of their means of working are gone, but all turns out for the best as they are walking home singing. It is a feel good family movie, with a good holiday message.
The premise is that Emmet and his Ma are poor/working class country folk who live in a place called Frogtown Hollow. Emmet does odd jobs with his father's old tools, and Ma washed laundry for various people. While they may lack in wealth, they seem happy that they have music in their lives. As Christmas approaches it is announced there will be a talent show in town, and the winner will get 50 dollars. Emmet and 3 of his friends put together a jug-band to enter into the contest; Emmet desiring the winnings to get his Ma a nice Christmas present. The problem: Emmet is expected to play washtub bass, so he will have to put a hole into his mother's washtub which will make her livelihood a little more difficult. Ma also decides she wants to enter the talent show, but in order to buy fabric for a dress, she will have to hock Emmet's tool chest.
The real irony is that neither Emmet nor Ma win the talent show and things seem grim because both of their means of working are gone, but all turns out for the best as they are walking home singing. It is a feel good family movie, with a good holiday message.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Quick Look: House of the Dead (2003)
House of the Dead is "zombie movie" that is based on the video games, and is one of the lowest rated movies on IMDb. While I would never consider this movie a cinematic masterpiece, I would still watch and enjoy it more than many of the critically regarded "top films", any day of the week. It is directed by Uwe Boll; 'R' rating is for violence, gore, language, and nudity.
**spoiler alert**
The film is about a group of friends who venture out to an island for a rave party, and upon their arrival discover the island is overrun with zombies. The captain of their boat named Kirk (Jurgen Prochnow) - yes there was a pun intended - turns out to be a gun runner, so the few remaining survivors from the party and from the boat grab as many guns as they can carry and proceed to a spooky looking old house to "make a stand" against the zombie onslaught. A little history is learned about the zombie leader, and by the end almost no humans or zombies survive the night.
There is very little in the way of a plot, although the history of the zombie leader was so what interesting; the dialogue is borderline brainless, except for the puns and tongue in cheek humor; and the acting for the most part is more comical than dramatic. So what remains is a host horror movie cliches, a ton of gunfire, some explosions, and senseless nudity - which is exactly you should pick up this movie out of the discount bin for $1.99. The director stated during an interview that he wanted to make this a fun, adolescent, R rated adventure based on the video game, and I believe he completely succeeded. The action is decent, and the slow parts are filled with the aforementioned comedy, even though it was presented as trying to be serious - which then made the on screen product twice as funny.
Yes, there are better ways to spend 90 minutes, but there are many, many far worse films to watch than House of the Dead.
Trivia:
- 32 clips from the original arcade game are shown at various points in the film
Friday, December 7, 2012
(beyond a) Quick Look: Hellraiser: Hellworld (2005)
This is the 8th installment in the Hellraiser series, and direct to video. This is 3rd of 3 Hellraiser installments for the director, Rick Bota, and the final appearance (as of this writing) of Doug Bradley as Hellraiser's iconic mainstay, Pinhead. Lance Henriksen and Katheryn Winnick fill out the leading the roles. 'R' rating is for violence, gore, nudity, sexuality and language.
**spoiler alert**
The movie opens with five friends (Chelsea, Mike, Allison, Derrick and Jake) attending the funeral of a sixth friend named Adam, who had recently committed suicide. We learn that they were all into a role playing online game called 'Hellword' that is based on the Hellraiser mythology, and that Adam apparently became obsessed, leading to his demise. The five remaining friends hold themselves somewhat accountable for not helping Adam.
Two years later, Mike, Allison, and Derrick have gotten back into Hellword, and get invited to a themed party in the game's honor. Chelsea (Winnick) is reluctant to go, but finally agrees so she can "keep an eye on the others". The party is being held at a gothic looking mansion (really, where else could a Hellraiser party be?), owned by an unnamed person referred to only as The Host (Henriksen). He leads the five (Jake showed up on his own) on a brief tour providing drinks, and revealing the horrible history of the mansion - once a convent where the nuns all mysteriously disappeared, and a criminal psychiatric ward soon after that - complete with its own morgue/operating theater in the basement.
The five soon split up and venture through the house mingling in the party, but soon becoming caught up in a horrific revenge plot being sought by Adam’s father – who we learn is The Host. Not everyone survives.
The final sequence shows The Host in a cheap hotel drinking. He has some of Adam’s belongings, one of which is the puzzle box which he decides to open. The Cenobites show up and tear his soul apart.
What worked: I like the theory of Hellraiser using the online/ gaming medium; the idea of people creating their own “hells” wasting away in front of the computer really could have worked, especially with as many people who currently game online.
The ambiance of the mansion, and the action taking place against the backdrop of a rave style party worked pretty well. The scenes, sets, and gore/ splatter were all effective and believable. As I have noted in the past, there is something about old psychiatric wards that I find very creepy, and a perfect fit for horror movies.
Winnick and Henriksen did very good jobs in their character roles; everyone else was “horror movie cliché” as far as what he/she brought to the screen.
What didn’t work so well: The story, like several of its recent predecessors, was based on a non-Hellraiser related plotline (a script that Dimension already had), so that the Hellraiser mythology was just woven into the screenplay; almost haphazardly in the case of Hellworld. The victims, it seems, would find themselves isolated in different rooms of the mansion and eventually killed with a Cenobite standing there. There appeared to be no effort to use the Cenobites in the scenes, other than to have them physically be in the shot. I felt no tense build up that the movie could have used to work these elements in effectively. This also stepped “to the side” of a person building his or her own hell and then summoning the Cenobites via the puzzle box, to oblige.
One could argue that the victims did, in fact, open the puzzle box by playing the online game and created their hells by not helping their friend who committed suicide, but I did not feel the story unfolded that way.
The entire plot direction could not reconcile to the audience whether they wanted us to think that the Hellraiser mythology was all fiction that eventually turned out to be “real”, or whether the mythology was “real” all along and that the online gaming was just incidental to the 6 friends and the revenge plot by The Host.
Final Thought: I believe this could have been a great Hellraiser installment had a better approach been taken to the treatment of the mythology’s and Cenobites’ place in the story – either as fiction and part of a hallucination, or as being “real”. Stumbling along implying “both”, but without giving us a little more development just did not work.
**spoiler alert**
The movie opens with five friends (Chelsea, Mike, Allison, Derrick and Jake) attending the funeral of a sixth friend named Adam, who had recently committed suicide. We learn that they were all into a role playing online game called 'Hellword' that is based on the Hellraiser mythology, and that Adam apparently became obsessed, leading to his demise. The five remaining friends hold themselves somewhat accountable for not helping Adam.
Two years later, Mike, Allison, and Derrick have gotten back into Hellword, and get invited to a themed party in the game's honor. Chelsea (Winnick) is reluctant to go, but finally agrees so she can "keep an eye on the others". The party is being held at a gothic looking mansion (really, where else could a Hellraiser party be?), owned by an unnamed person referred to only as The Host (Henriksen). He leads the five (Jake showed up on his own) on a brief tour providing drinks, and revealing the horrible history of the mansion - once a convent where the nuns all mysteriously disappeared, and a criminal psychiatric ward soon after that - complete with its own morgue/operating theater in the basement.
The five soon split up and venture through the house mingling in the party, but soon becoming caught up in a horrific revenge plot being sought by Adam’s father – who we learn is The Host. Not everyone survives.
The reveal is somewhat of a let down, and creates a plot chasm that I am unable to resolve in my mind. We learn that The Host drugged the five and buried them in pine coffins with breathing tubes, on the back of his property. He then “created” terrifying scenes (what the audience witnessed and believed was happening) in their minds through suggestion. He accomplished this by placing cell phones in each of their coffins and we learn Mike, Allison, and Derrick who we thought were killed while being attacked in the mansion, actually died in their coffins while The Host was describing the attacks to them. Chelsea and Jake who had been fighting through their (imagined) assaults in the house are rescued and unburied by the police who show up several days after the party – while The Host, of course, is long gone.
The final sequence shows The Host in a cheap hotel drinking. He has some of Adam’s belongings, one of which is the puzzle box which he decides to open. The Cenobites show up and tear his soul apart.
What worked: I like the theory of Hellraiser using the online/ gaming medium; the idea of people creating their own “hells” wasting away in front of the computer really could have worked, especially with as many people who currently game online.
The ambiance of the mansion, and the action taking place against the backdrop of a rave style party worked pretty well. The scenes, sets, and gore/ splatter were all effective and believable. As I have noted in the past, there is something about old psychiatric wards that I find very creepy, and a perfect fit for horror movies.
Winnick and Henriksen did very good jobs in their character roles; everyone else was “horror movie cliché” as far as what he/she brought to the screen.
What didn’t work so well: The story, like several of its recent predecessors, was based on a non-Hellraiser related plotline (a script that Dimension already had), so that the Hellraiser mythology was just woven into the screenplay; almost haphazardly in the case of Hellworld. The victims, it seems, would find themselves isolated in different rooms of the mansion and eventually killed with a Cenobite standing there. There appeared to be no effort to use the Cenobites in the scenes, other than to have them physically be in the shot. I felt no tense build up that the movie could have used to work these elements in effectively. This also stepped “to the side” of a person building his or her own hell and then summoning the Cenobites via the puzzle box, to oblige.
One could argue that the victims did, in fact, open the puzzle box by playing the online game and created their hells by not helping their friend who committed suicide, but I did not feel the story unfolded that way.
The entire plot direction could not reconcile to the audience whether they wanted us to think that the Hellraiser mythology was all fiction that eventually turned out to be “real”, or whether the mythology was “real” all along and that the online gaming was just incidental to the 6 friends and the revenge plot by The Host.
Final Thought: I believe this could have been a great Hellraiser installment had a better approach been taken to the treatment of the mythology’s and Cenobites’ place in the story – either as fiction and part of a hallucination, or as being “real”. Stumbling along implying “both”, but without giving us a little more development just did not work.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Awesome movie quotes: Die Hard (1988)
"Was always kinda partial to Roy Rogers actually. I really like those sequined shirts."
Awesome movie quotes: Weird Science (1985)
"Look, we can deal with shame.. death is a much deeper issue."
Monday, December 3, 2012
How did they get there? Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
I caught a section of this movie on cable last night - specifically the ending, and there is an item, very much like the ending of Star Wars, A New Hope that troubles me.
Before I get to that I must note Raiders is one the all-time great action films. This is really a highlight of how to make a wide audience blockbuster with the simple formula - a great hero, easy-to-hate bad guys, excellent action sequences that are not purely driven by special effects, the "prize", and minimal use of foul language and bloody deaths.
So near the end, Belloq and the other Nazis have travelled to an unidentified island and decide to open the Ark before handing it over to Hitler. Oops, big mistake, the "angels of death" appear and wipe out all the bad guys. Here is the problem: exactly how did Indy and Marion get back to the US? I do not assume the 2 of them could have manned and driven the U-Boat by themselves. Was the German command on that island stupid enough to have every able bodied Nazi follow them the Ark ceremony only to be killed? No one was left to guard to the facilites?
All right - let's suspend the disbelief and just assume all the Nazis there died, while Indy and Marion found a radio and called for help and the Allies picked them up... still some holes there to be filled, but as with simple formula blockbusters, the good guys do always win, one way or another.
Before I get to that I must note Raiders is one the all-time great action films. This is really a highlight of how to make a wide audience blockbuster with the simple formula - a great hero, easy-to-hate bad guys, excellent action sequences that are not purely driven by special effects, the "prize", and minimal use of foul language and bloody deaths.
So near the end, Belloq and the other Nazis have travelled to an unidentified island and decide to open the Ark before handing it over to Hitler. Oops, big mistake, the "angels of death" appear and wipe out all the bad guys. Here is the problem: exactly how did Indy and Marion get back to the US? I do not assume the 2 of them could have manned and driven the U-Boat by themselves. Was the German command on that island stupid enough to have every able bodied Nazi follow them the Ark ceremony only to be killed? No one was left to guard to the facilites?
All right - let's suspend the disbelief and just assume all the Nazis there died, while Indy and Marion found a radio and called for help and the Allies picked them up... still some holes there to be filled, but as with simple formula blockbusters, the good guys do always win, one way or another.
Tell us about some of your favorite holiday movies...
This can be a movie about the holiday, set during the holiday, or a movie that was released around the holiday.
Tell us about why you like it.
Tell us about why you like it.
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