filmandcinemapuritans

 

 

Terminator? Is enough enough?

 

            Okay so the first and two films were big hits, due to the fact of Arnold Schwarzenegger delivery of “I’ll be back.” But I think it’s time to put this franchise back to bed. With the trailer for the upcoming TERMINATOR SALVATION turning heads at comic conventions one has to ask the question: Are we really wanting to continue with a franchise that’s started and ended two different times?

At the end of Terminator one, the skynet cyborg war was coming and Sara Connor drove off in a jeep into the unknown. This ending was a beautiful poetic thing, in the second film however, I found a few sticky inconsistencies. In the first film Reese(Michael Biehn character) says that they sent back one robot after they won the war, after Reese went through they blew up the time portal. That’s it, no sequels. So one has to ask with Terminator one and two and the God-awful television series. How many time portals and robots did they send back? Can I get a straight answer? This fact is the only thing that’s making me mental about the series, the fact that there should have been NO sequels. However the current upcoming film, SALVATION, I feel should have been actually TERMINATOR 2, rather then the actual sequel. My fear is that they’re going to squeeze this franchise so dry that it’s going to become an actual joke of a series. However I think it was a smart move to get Christian Bale (the biggest star on the planet now) to star as John Connor. All I can say now, is we’ll see what happens.

 

I’ve seen the trailer of a yet another useless remake. The upcoming rehasing of Friday the 13th. The above clip is a scene from the set of the film. The trailer isn’t out yet for public access. This is confusing because the character of Jason Vorhees wasn’t the focus of the original 1980 film, in other words, the film was actually a mystery. The trailer of the film shows a hulking, athletic Jason Vorhees(hockey mask) an all running after people. My only guess is that this version of the film is actually an update of all the films(or a remake of ALL the films). My comment about the trailer is that from what I saw(I might actually give this a chance, for a second)it looks like nothing orginal. It looks like its going to be another TEXAS CHAINSAW remake, where they’re going to up the blood and lower the scares. My only question to the producer of the Friday the 13th update is the following: What are you going to do to make the action and the scenes in the film original? The Friday the 13th series had ten sequels(Not counting the spin-off Freddy vs. Jason), what hasn’t been done, what weapon hasn’t Jason used to dispatch some horny teenagers. The film comes out in October of 2008, and we’ll see if updating this time works for the better or worse.   

These films have actually nothing to do with each other I just happened to watch the two of them in the same night. The only thing that I can say about them is that one was good and one was bad.

 

            VANISHING POINT, was the good. A very art house film even thought it’s about a car chase. Barry Newman plays a driver who has to deliver a car in less than twenty-four hours. However, he breaks the traffic rules early on that the police are obsessed with catching him. The story is told through a string of flashbacks, which tells further of Barry Newman’s character that was a cop and in love. An African American Disc Jockey played by Clevon Little, who talks to the main character over the radio, also fuels the story’s narrative. Clevon Little’s character is a blind man whose voice leads the Barry Newman character to safety. It’s actually artsy and a well-acted script. For stunts and action there’s plenty of it to go around, at this time in the seventies it seemed all the car stunt guys were getting their fills (Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry was also around the same time). This is great sure-fire entertainment.

 

Now, to VANTAGE POINT. The film that I was so excited to see. THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SOME SPOLIERS SO PLEASE IF YOU STILL WANT TO SEE THE FILM, DISCONTINUE READING.

The film is about the president of the United States being assassinated in front of millions of people in a Spanish Square.

            VANTAGE POINT’s premise is a good one, seven different people’s perception of the same event. Great idea. What went wrong was the plot turned less cerebral, less a mystery of the events, and more of an action film. There was a car chase scene that looked exactly like the one in the BOURNE IDENTITY. Once they lost the cerebral and were concentrating on stunts and explosions it lost everything for me. HERE ARE THE SPOILERS: When things shifted for me was when William Hurt playing the president of the United States, had a story, and his story was to be switched with a “double.” That just doesn’t make sense to me or this would have been more shocking at the very end of the film, yet it was released forty five minutes in when there was still a remainder of forty five minutes. All the suspense drained and my suspension of disbelief dried up completely. A double seemed weak and left too many questions as to be a major plot point of the story.

The story of the top assassin being blackmailed to kidnap the president was also week. As a motive, kidnapping a brother just doesn’t make everything hold water; I feel that it should’ve been a child or a spouse, which would be the fuel for the assassin to do what he did. And I’m sorry, the president would not be that easy to grab to begin with.

Impossible to believe and the wrong information given at the wrong time made this wannabe suspense thriller, into a dumb action movie. Very disappointing film where with its all-star cast could have been an “A” plus effort.

Dirty Mary and Crazy Larry

            Dusted off another good cult film the other day DIRTY MARY AND CRAZY LARRY. I honestly didn’t have high hopes for this film especially with that title, but got to say I went to Amazon and ordered the special version of it immediately. The plot isn’t the strong part; it’s the acting and characterizations that make this film so engaging. Mary is played wonderfully by British actress Susan George (STRAW DOGS, THE HOUSE WHERE EVIL DWELLS), as a young girl who falls in love with a bad dude Larry played to perfection by

A young badass Peter Fonda. Larry is a racecar driver who needs money to buy a new car; him and his Mechanic, Deke, plan a simple crime and get away with a shopping bag full of cash. The three then head south where Vic Morrow, who plays a cop, pursues by helicopter. From there the other actors in the film, the cars,(1969 Dodge Charger R/T with a 440 cubic inch V-8 engine) fill the void. With the stunts being filmed in real time, which meant the limited stunts that Peter Fonda had to were one hundred percent real; this makes this film a showcase for motor happy entertainment. It’s short at tight ninety minutes, but you’ll have so much fun you wont mind the length. Also in this film spot the shots where Quentin Tarantino took direct homage from for DEATH PROOF, as he has said this is one of his favorite movies.

Remake central again.

Disturbing news today, I’ve heard three films that are ridiculously going to be remade and I’m going to discuss them in order so the can of the ridiculous gets so warm we can partake in the stew. First is the very celebrated John Travolta/Oliva Newton-John musical GREASE. This film takes place in the nineteen fifties and was filmed in the late seventies. The film is old enough to begin with rehash something everybody is familiar with. This is a stupid idea.

            The second film is actually on one of my all time scariest films list: NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET. This is very disappointing to me because of the fact that the original was just so scary and the many spawned sequels kind of muted the original. However, I do feel that with the right director and maybe some savy and clever CGI work it actually might be passable. I don’t have high hopes for that film though especially after Rob Zombie’s HALLOWEEN and Michael Bay’s forgettable TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. HALLOWEEN for example, was mean, not scary, too violent and plot-less. Zombie turned one of the most celebrated scare icons into a hulking stuntman that killed people because his Mommy was a stripper. What the hell? Zombie’s script was confusing even with the timeline, when you watch a film, and it’s a period piece yet you don’t know what time period your in…that’s bad.  And if you rewind that film Mr. Zombie, three women in that film were all killed the exact same way (crawling on the floor trying to escape Michael Meyers), so much for originality.

            The third and final film I just heard was going to be remade is a shocker!

The most celebrated, cult film of all time is going to get an update: THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW! Love it or hate it this film has beaten all odds of going away into a film vault. Usually on Halloween of every year at midnight this film is playing. It’s a ritual for some fans and a religion for others. THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW was it’s own fan club, DVD’s, CD’s and live stage show. Remaking this film with a Zak Ephron(only an example) and a Miley Cyrus is a very dangerous and stupid idea. There is a reason why this film has survived and has been replayed in THEATERS, not just television, but in theaters and that is because people cherish it. Trying to update, rewrite and re-polish something that works is a big folly.

            So get ready film puritans for giant cloud of disappointments when these gems hit theaters. The most insulting thing more than remaking some of these classic films is now, when you talk about one of these films, you have to constantly CLARIFY which film you are talking about: remake or original?

Who watches the Watchmen?

            Whoever had just seen (or been able to see) THE DARK KNIGHT? You have probably seen the most amazing trailer for another superhero film called THE WATCHMEN. This will no doubt be a film event. The film is based on one of my favorite comic books (of the same name)

Written by Alan Moore. It was published back in 1985 and for at least twenty years it spent the good portion in developmental hell. Ths was the comic book ath made the adult comic books possible, no thought bubbles, no sound effects and no stupid plot points, this book had normal people playing superheros. The subject matter of the comic book has been extremely praised and celebrated that it won the prestigious HUGO award for “other forms” in 1988. Other winners of the HUGO award include Robert Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, Orson Scott Card and Ray Bradbury. It was also nominated as one of the best 100 novels from TIME MAGAZINE. This makes it the only comic book story/graphic novel to ever be considered yet win the award. It’s considered the Citizen Kane among comic fans and a great piece of literature among literature forums. This said, bringing this remarkable piece of fiction to the screen has been no easy task. With directors in the past being attached the project like Terry Gilliam and Ridley Scott, the times were not ready for this work. It took a young man who actually made a great remake of DAWN OF THE DEAD and an eye popping interpretation of a graphic novel 300, to even be considered for this directing gig: Mr. Zack Snyder.

            A devout fan of the comic, Mr. Snyder promises the theatrical film and already talked about DVD will be faithful to every panel of the comic. With the man’s previous work blowing audiences away left and right he feels like the right choice to bring the WATCHMEN to life.

            In closing, when this film enters theaters March of 2009, I think Mr. Zack Snyder will make motion picture history and open millions more fans to the text and ink that is the WATCHMEN.

And finally the answer the question: Who watches the Watchmen? Will be the entire world.

Please purchase a copy of the graphic novel on amazon.com or check out a clever motion comic of the actual text on itunes.com.

http://www.watchmencomicmovie.com/index.php

I just re-watched a classic 1984 sci-fi film called The Repo Man. This film is such an UNDERATED gem! When I was younger I might have seen pieces of this film on television but it was so censored that you couldn’t follow the story line so I being confused changed the channel. After a re-watching, this film is a literary classic. It stars a very young Emilio Estevez as a loser punk who gets employed at car reposition agency. He falls in with a bunch of colorful characters some played wonderfully by Harry Dean Stanton and Tracy Walter. Things liven up when a $20,000 bounty is asked for a 1964 Chevy Malibu where a government agency is called in, two Hispanic repo-men, three hoodlums and an alien force all come to the same junction. This film has elements of an early Pulp Fiction and elements of William S Burroughs and Hunter Thompson play in this off the wall little movie. This film is a ninety-minute trip into “Anything goes land.” If you haven’t seen this film, please rent it. If you’re into screenplay writing and filmmaking, this is a film that is pure original in every way. The dialogue is top notch, the characters all vividly written (and acted) and the most important thing of all: THIS FILM IS NOT PREDICTABLE! There is no way you can predict the chain of events or the ending of this film. A sure fire original tale as far as I’ve seen in a long time.

Check out the Repo Man on imdb.com: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087995/

I have a review of an old film but a good one. At the local cinema theater that I always go to (the non-traditional movie theater, it shows documentaries, foreign films, and older films for festivals). I saw a double feature of 1981;s The Roadwarrior and 1987’s The Running Man. It was part of the abysmal future night I guess. Anyway, I’ve seen both these films way back in the day on vhs or a crappy edited version on television. These films never gave me any thought or consequence. But after listening to a friend who ran this particular program at the independent theater I was curious. So I figured what the hell.

            The first feature up was The Roadwarrior, a sequel to a Mel Gibson film, I had seen this film in pieces and didn’t think much of it. In fact I was looking more forward to the Running Man especially being an Arnold Schwarzenegger fan. The film opened with a pan and scan recap of the original film with boring narration of what you were about to see. Then suddenly the screen lit up with the sight of a dessert, Brian Fey’s thunderous music, then Mel Gibson’s 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT Coupe, fired through the road. In the car, villains were chasing a young Gibson and I buckled my seatbelt I was hooked. For ninety minutes the film kept me entertained left and right, with the quirky villains, the young boomerang boy who befriends the troubled Gibson, Gibson’s “I don’t give a shit attitude” and the incredible stunts. The film probably hasn’t seen the light on a screen in almost thirty years was probably the best action film I’ve ever seen in a movie theater. The last shot of an injured Mel Gibson standing on the road just staring into the camera to is one of the most haunting images on film ever. The film is a classic and should be shown every week in a movie theater. 

            The next film was The Running Man, A film I loved as a kid. As the film went on a half hour into its running time I wanted to slit my wrists. It was the cheesiest, , plot hole infested science fiction film of all time. At the end the action was bland, the “video” flash back sequences felt ridiculous as positions of the camera (How did the news get a shot of Ben Richards flying his helicopter from the outside, and oh yeah, it was recycled footage from the beginning sequence). Poor sloppy and cheap film making. It seemed like this was a film that’s budget was basically used on the sets rather then the rest of the film. If anything needs and update or (I know, I know) a remake it’s this one and my only justification for this sinful act is too actually fix the original.

This is an off the topic of film blog but how can anybody watch television these days? My gripe is that every show no matter what it is, something advertises at the bottom or side of the screen. For example the television show America’s Got Talents (even though it is extremely lacking in talent) is edited so horribly that you can’t see the acts number one and number two they advertise profusely on top of everything. In the middle of a dance act they throw up an advertisement for Mama Mia. And the same dance act they cut to a million different reaction shots and the actual performer is lost in the ADHD kind of editing. I guess television viewers have the attention spans of gnats, these days. Anyway that was my non-film rant.

Carl you’re a hypocrite! How can you be a film purist when you say you actually LIKED or PREFERED some remakes. How in one breath can you say remakes are bad and silly and still have them in your DVD collection? My answer is . . .you’re right I am a hypocrite, but I have a defense. As a whole I find remakes to be bland films, however if the writing and directing brings something new and exciting to the table I really can’t complain. For example John Carpenter’s “The Thing” bought new insight from the novel it was originally based on, John W. Campbell Jr. “Who goes there.” The famous blood testing scene, which is from the novel, in the 1982 remake, not in the original 50’s flick “The Thing from Another World.” Another example I think the acting in the remake of Cape Fear is incredible. Not just with Robert DeNiro playing the psycho killer but Jessica Lange playing the tortured wife of Nick Nolte. To me this is noteworthy in a remake. If the remake is an uninspired, updated repeat of the original film, that I don’t like. But if the movie has a decent script and decent story line to stand on its own two legs then I always say why make it remake. For example, Prom Night was remade and it had little to do with the original Jamie Lee Curtis film, so at that point why not just call it a different name, then being tagged with being a remake. This is very frustrating to me, especially when a film is just an update and nothing is bought to the table but the same script with updated character names and beefed up dialogue. That’s pathetic. Yes I may still be a hypocrite, but I’m still the believer of original ideas.  So yes I a m a hypocrite of guilty pleasures but the remakes I like are far and few between. Original scripts are the scripts I celebrate.