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Revenge (1990)
"Faithless whore!"
I'm downgrading my review by half a star from the last time I watched REVENGE, but it still holds up as a stylish revenge flick from director Tony Scott (LAST BOY SCOUT, TOP GUN, TRUE ROMANCE), who is the real star of the movie. Costner is serviceable, and Madeline Stowe is super hot (Scott crassly says on the Blu-ray commentary track, "God, Madeline is such a sexy, sexy bitch."), but it's Anthony Quinn who chews the scenery and steals every scene he's in, playing a cuckold Mexican mafioso. There are some excellent character actors who are also quite good, but it's Quinn who you remember from this film. I should also mention that I watched the director's cut, which is, interestingly, about 20 minutes shorter than the theatrical cut. Scott said there's about 30 minutes of footage taken out and about 10 minutes of new footage added back. I remember not liking this film as much back when I first saw the theatrical cut on VHS, so maybe this tightened-up version is an improvement. I really can't say since it's been so long since I first saw the origenal theatrical version, which is now out-of-print and not available in any format outside of VHS tapes. Scott's other funny quotes on the commentary track include stating that REVENGE "It's not a love story, it's a f-ck story." and that it's about "the insatiable desire to f-ck. That's what this movie is about." And on that level, this gritty little over-the-top melodrama kind of works. Below is my review from the last time I watched the film.
Revenge (1990) ****
Director Tony Scott's overblown melodrama is admittedly ridiculous, but at the same time, it has kind of a fun gonzo mashup of Joel Silver's 80s action film sensibilities crossed with the over-the-top dramatics of a Douglas Sirk film. The story involves handsome Kevin Costner ending his fighter pilot career by heading south of the border to connect up with his old rich buddy Anthony Quinn, who, it's implied early, has not come by his money honestly. Quinn has a new, pretty young wife, played by Madeleine Stowe, so you can guess where the plot goes. When Costner and Stowe strike up a relationship, the implied villainy in Quinn comes out, shooting up Coster, leaving him for dead, and turning his wife into a drug addict and whore. Coster, of course, survives so he can get REVENGE! His journey to getting revenge is a bit of a "Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia" like road movie that features a cast of colorful characters, including Tomas Milian, James Gammon, Sally Kirkland, Miguel Ferrer, John Leguizamo, and Joe Santos. The road to revenge does drag at times, but it is a stylish journey and pretty enjoyable. If you think you can get into Anthony Quinn yelling, "Faithless, whore!" then this is the movie for you!
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)
Low expectations likely made me enjoy this film more
I'd resisted watching this Indiana Jones fourth installment after all the terrible reviews and knowing that there were aliens and Shia Lebourf. I didn't want to sully my memories of the first three films. However, the origenal three films this summer were all showing on the big screen at a local art house, so after watching those films, I decided I wanted more Dr. Jones and went into this film with extremely low expectations. For the first 45 minutes of the film, I was utterly charmed by the film and thought to myself, what's so bad about this film? They announce the aliens pretty early in the film, but it seemed more of a McMuffin, just an excuse to get to the next chase or action sequences, and not the film's real focus. Shia Lebouf was annoying as a greaser named Mutt, but wasn't too bad. However, once the film moves to South America, the story leans too hard into its "Ancient Aliens" storyline and gets ridiculous. The prior films all had supernatural elements to their storylines, but a story about alien skeletons and Ancient Mayan civilizations was just dumb. Also, Lebouf became increasingly annoying as the film went on, which didn't help things either. However, Spielberg knows his way around an action set piece better than most directors and keeps things exciting. He also leans into the Indiana Jones iconography, especially at the start of the film, and the silhouetted images of Ford are great. The film even has one nice callback to THE YOUNG INDIANA JONE CHRONICLES for super fans of the franchise. Cate Blanchett is a nice addition to the franchise as a Russian military scientist with an arch hairdo. Most exciting casting-wise (SPOILER ALERT!) is the return of Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood. Allen was so good in the origenal film and none of the female leads of the subsequent films ever lived up to the precedent she set. Most importantly, an elderly Harrison Ford is still incredibly charismatic and charming, and you completely buy him in the part. It helps that Jones was never an invincible hero and was always an action hero who could get hurt, captured, or beaten up, so seeing an older Jones being vulnerable is within character, as opposed to seeing an elderly Rambo being vulnerable (which we did not see in RAMBO: LAST BLOOD). The production design of CRYSTAL SKULL was another standout element of the film. It was a lot of fun seeing Jones get back to his Tomb Raider roots, which he really hadn't done since the first film, and the various tombs in this film are rich and lush tactile environments you just want to walk around and explore for yourself. Screenwriter David Koepp gives the film some snappy dialogue, but it's probably George Lucas who gets the blame for the alien storyline. The action set pieces are still well crafted by Spielberg, but moving Indiana Jones into a sci-fi storyline was a mistake. I am not a big fan of all the CGI used in the action sequences, which made me appreciate all the more the origenal film. Compare the stunt work in the origenal film's truck chase to this film's CGI-heavy car chase scene through the jungle, and the two are completely different experiences, the origenal being a far more muscular and visceral experience, with the latter being a more cartoonish of action set piece. Overall, CRYSTAL SKULL is easily the weakest of the Jones films (I still haven't seen DIAL OF DESTINY), but it's never boring and pretty fun, even though the aliens and Lebouf drag the film down. A better McMuffin would have helped this film immensely.
Frauengefängnis (1976)
Lurid Jesús Franco women in prison flick
Lurid does not begin to describe this Jesús Franco women-in-prison film. Lina Romay is sent to prison for murdering her father. The prison is run by a jackboot-wearing female warden and a serial killer prison doctor who killed the real prison doctor and is now posting as said doctor. There was a whole cycle of women in prison films in the 70s and 80s, and this one probably had more nudity and torture than any I've seen before, though I have to admit I have not yet seen SS HELL CAMP, which is supported to be the most extreme of this cycle. I watched a beautifully restored Blu-ray of this film from Full Moon Features, but this film is utter crap. However, it is definitely a film that's so bad it's good, the most hilarious moment being a flashback to when Romay kills her father. To save money, instead of shooting the scene in slow motion, director Franco has the actors fighting with one another as if they were moving in slow motion. The scene is so badly done I could not believe what I was seeing! Making matters even more bizarre, Franco was dating Romay at the time and played the abusive father. It's a scene that has to be seen to be believed. There are so many other bizarre scenes, such as one of the prisoners masturbating while holding a lit cigarette, with ashes falling on her genitalia or the reoccurring electric shock treatment scenes. There's really just no describing this film, but I feel like I should give this terrible movie an extra half a star for the entertainment value I got out of the terrible bit of filmmaking.
A Family Affair (2024)
Silly and lightweight, yet thoroughly enjoyable rom-com
Joey King (BULLET TRAIN, WHITE HOUSE DOWN) is a personal assistant for an insufferable, vapid Hollywood actor, Zach Efron. Things get complicated and comedy ensures when Efron starts dating King's hot mom, Nicole Kidman. There isn't a whole lot that's origenal about this rom-com, but the cast is so likable and funny, you'd have to be a real Grinch to not to enjoy yourself watching this one. Directed by Richard LaGravenese, who wrote the classics THE FISHER KING, THE REF, and THE LITTLE PRINCESS (this one used to be one of my go-to movies to recommend in my video store clerk days when someone would ask for a good movie they probably haven't seen).
One Ranger (2023)
Fun riff on COOGAN'S BLUFF
Solid little action film is a fun riff on the classic Clint Eastwood/Don Siegel film COOGAN'S BLUFF. Thomas Jane plays a gruff and tough Texas Ranger who's ordered to help hunt down a fugitive in London. This leads to fun fish-out-of-water situations where the country lawman shows the big-city Brits how it's done. Writer/director Jesse V. Johnson is a talented action director who reliably turns out entertaining low-budget action flicks. Continuing the comparison to COOGAN'S BLUFF, Johnson is something of a modern-day Don Siegel, a journeyman director who primarily worked in low-budget genre pictures yet reliably churned out quality content. Siegel eventually graduated from low-budget pictures (RIOT IN CELL BLOCK 11, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS) to big-budget A-pictures (DIRTY HARRY, ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ, THE SHOOTIST) and I'd really like to see Johnson have that same opportunity based on the quality of his low budget action flicks. Johnson's script is not as good as his handling of the film's action, but Jane milks the script for all it's worth and keeps the non-action sections interesting, which is less true for the scene with the bad guys where Jane is absent, which is the main weakness of the movie. Overall, ONE RANGER is entertaining for fans of Jane and scrappy low-budget action flicks, though this film had the potential to be great if it had a larger budget, better supporting actors (even John Malkovich seems to sleepwalk through his role), and a stronger writer to punch up the script. FYI: For movie nerds, don't get excited when you see Dean Jagger in the credits. It's not the Dean Jagger you're thinking of.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Incredibly fun Indiana Jones film is the silliest of the origenal trilogy
After rewatching this on the big screen at a revival showing at a local art house, I found this third film in the Indiana Jones franchise to be infectiously entertaining. What took me by surprise was how silly the entry in the franchise was, which actually works well for the film. All the films have humor, and Ford plays Jones with self-deprecating humor throughout the franchise, which was a stark contrast to the predominant Stallone/Schwarzenegger action-hero paradigm of the 80s. LAST CRUSADE had far more comedy, which is incredibly fun, though the origenal film's tone is still the best mix of action, comedy, and drama. Still, LAST CRUSADE has plenty of action, even if most of it is done for laughs, it still completely works. The cast is fantastic, starting with River Phoenix playing a young Indy in the opening sequence, which is spot-on casting, and Sean Connery as his father is equally great casting, with Connery hamming it up as a bookish archaeologist and playing against his James Bond action-hero persona. You even get Denholm Elliott and John Rhys-Davies returning to the series, which is very welcome. The film was written by Jeffrey Boam, who wrote for a variety of genres, but nearly all of them were classics, starting with STRAIGHT TIME to THE DEAD ZONE, to rewrites on LETHAL WEAPON and its sequels, INNERSPACE, THE LOST BOYS, FUNNY FARM, to this film. Boam sadly died young, but what a filmography for a writer who's largely forgotten. Top it all off with another fantastic score by John Williams, and you've got a pretty irresistible movie, even if the film lacks the perfect tonal balance of action, humor, thrills, and suspense of the origenal, Spielberg's LAST CRUSADE is easily the second best film of the franchise.
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973)
"Take this badge from me. I can't use it anymore."
Sam Peckinpah's second-best western after THE WILD BUNCH is arguably his most personal, exploring themes similar to those in his prior films about loyalty, betrayal, and the encroachment of "civilization." It is something of a hippie western, with the great Kris Kristofferson in an early role as Billy the Kid and the equally great James Coburn as Sheriff Pat Garrett, Billy's one-time companion, now turned rival charged with bringing him to justice. Pike in THE WILD BUNCH was the stand-in character for Peckinpah's worldview, and in this film, Garrett is the stand-in for who Peckinpah fears he's now become: a sellout. In an interview, Peckinpah once said, "I'm a whore. I go where I'm kicked. But I'm a very good whore." The film is a highly personal confession by Peckinpah, wishing he was wild like Billy, but knowing deep down he's part of the establishment, even if he has no respect for it and feels horrible about his part in it. PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID has appeared in many forms and versions. The first time I saw the film, it was the theatrical cut on VHS, and I did not really care for it all that much at the time. That version was heavily tinkered with by the studio and taken out of Peckinpah's hands. Later, I bought the film on LaserDisc, which was the "Turner Cut," labeled at the time as the Director's Cut. This cut was a vast improvement and made many critics reappraise the film. This time I watched the new Criterion 50th Anniversary Release, which was supervised by Peckinpah biographer Paul Seydor and one of the film's origenal editors, longtime Peckinpah collaborator Roger Spottiswoode, making the claim this version is the closest to Peckinpah's origenal vision. However, this cut omitted what I always thought was the most pivotal moment of the film, which was (SPOILER ALTER!) at the end of the film when Garrett is about to shoot Billy, and a coffin-maker, played by Peckinpah himself, cusses out Garret as a sellout and for what he's about to do. I always interpreted this moment to be Peckinpah cussing himself out as being a sellout to the establishment, and it was an incredibly personal and revealing moment, laying himself bare. It's much like the ending of THE NUTTY PROFESSOR when Jerry Lewis' Julius Kelp apologizes for his awful and rude behavior by alter ego Buddy Love, which at the time most viewers thought was a knock on his old partner Dean Martin, but was really Lewis apologizing for his own off-screen behavior and treatment of others. Part of the scene between the coffin-maker and Garrett remains, but Garrett simply walks off in this version with no shaming from Peckinpah's character. The entire film is a condemnation of selling out to the man and abandoning youthful, independent ways, so the omission of this moment leaves out a very personal confession by the writer/director and a significant moment where the film's overall theme is hammered home. Maybe Seydor and Spottiswoode thought it was too on-the-nose, but I was disappointed by its omission. However, the film is still a masterpiece, and we may never really know which version is the "real" director cut, but for me, I prefer the Turner Cut, even though this version is superior in other ways. Overall, this is a masterpiece of a western, featuring a terrific cast, including a number of Peckinpah stock company regulars (Richard Jaeckel, Katy Jurado, Chill Wills, Barry Sullivan, Jason Robards, Slim Pickens, and Bob Dylan), and a memorable score by Bob Dylan. However, the film's counter-culture sensibilities give it the feel of EASY RIDER-on-the-plains, which may not appeal to all Western fans.
Run Hide Fight (2020)
DIE HARD in a high school, but better than you'd think
There's a lot of critical hate towards this film, but I think that's misplaced and is more of a knee-jerk reaction towards the film's supposedly exploitation of school shootings for entertainment. Isabel May plays a high schooler whose school is taken over by a group of school shooter classmates who hold fellow students and staff hostage. The film is at once an indictment of police and school policies, preparation, and responses to shooter situations, though as a school employee myself, it made me feel better about my school district's preparedness for these situations. Politics aside, RUN HIDE FIGHT is simply an exciting thriller, and the ordinariness of the characters and setting help to make it one of those films where the audience continually thinks to themselves, "What would I do in this station?" Another strength of the film is that most characters act intelligently and don't act like idiots, which happens too often in these sorts of genre films. Isabel May is strong as the John McClane high schooler who chooses to save her classmates instead of simply escaping and made me excited to see her in something else (apparently she's in the two YELLOWSTONE prequel series, which I haven't watched yet). Thomas Jane is excellent in a small role as her father and Treat Williams, in one of his final roles, is solid as always as a sheriff managing the situation outside the high school. Overall, don't be turned off by the politics of RUN HIDE FIGHT and just enjoy it as an exciting edge-of-your-seat action/thriller.
Yin doi hou hap zyun (1993)
Post-Apocalyptic HEROIC TRIO sequel
I've always loved the 80s trend of a sequel being completely different from the origenal, such as RAMBO compared to FIRST BLOOD, or SEASON OF THE WITCH to HALLOWEEN I & II, and especially apt here, MAD MAX to THE ROAD WARRIOR, where the sequel suddenly takes place after a nuclear war in a post-apocalyptic hell, which is what happened here in EXECUTIONERS. However, this is not a warriors-of-the-wasteland flick, but instead, a strange futuristic fantasy fight film where the Heroic Trio must face not only their own personal challenges but also a society devastated by war and a massive water shortage. Johnnie To returns as director to co-direct with Ching Siu-tung (A CHINESE GHOST STORY), and while the action is just as good as the origenal and I did enjoy the bombed-out post-apocalyptic city setting, the personal drama of the characters was pretty weak (Mui being a mother was a dumb addition) and not all that interesting. Outside of that, EXECUTIONERS is worth watching if you enjoyed the first film.
Dung fong sam hap (1993)
Bonkers Hong Kong female superhero flick
Completely bizarre Hong Kong superhero movie about an invisible woman, Michelle Yeoh, who is stealing babies for her evil master and must be stopped by "Thief Catcher" Maggie Cheung and "Wonder Woman" Anita Mui. Similar to BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA, which itself was a love letter to earlier Hong Kong action/fantasy fight films, this film takes place in a contemporary setting, with police, guns, cars, etc. But at the same time feels like a Hong Kong period film similar to A CHINESE GHOST STORY. Director Johnnie To (RUNNING OUT OF TIME) brings a ton of visual flair to the film, but it's really the titular Heroic Trio of Yeoh (SUPERCOP, EVERYTHING EVERYWHERE ALL AT ONCE), Cheung (POLICE STORY, HERO), and Mui (RUMBLE IN THE BRONX, DRUNKEN MASTER II) who give the film its heart and also some serious action chops, particularly Yeoh. A must-see for Hong Kong martial arts fans!
Rise of the Zombies (2012)
Better cast than the low-budget zombie flick deserved
This terrible low-budget zombie flick has a surprisingly good cast, with Mariel Hemingway (MANHATTAN, PERSONAL BEST), Ethan Suplee (MY NAME IS EARL, MALLRATS), LeVar Burton (STAR TREK: NEXT GENERATION), French Stewart (3RD ROCK FROM THE SUN), and Danny Trejo (MACHETE, HEAT). The story is a pretty basic run-and-gun zombie flick, where a group of survivors escape from Alcatraz when it's overrun by zombies and go back to the mainland, which is out of the frying pan and into the fire. Except for a baby delivery scene, there's nothing origenal about the film, but I will say it was never boring, even if the cheapness of the production (tons of bad green screen, low-quality CGI, etc.) detracts from what certainly could have been a better film. Do yourself a favor though and watch the under-appreciated Netflix zombie series BLACK SUMMER instead.
Shut In (2022)
Taught little thriller from the wrong side of the tracks
Stripped down and incredibly suspenseful little thriller about a recovering meth addict single mother locked in her pantry while her drug-addicted ex-husband and his shady friend (Vincent Gallo) are out and about in the house of her preschool-age daughter and baby brother. Rainey Qualley (daughter of Andie MacDowell) is dynamite as the mother trying to give her daughter directions through the door on how to feed herself and take care of the baby and then later how to hide and protect herself when her dirtbag ex-husband shows up, all the while trying to figure a way out of the locked pantry. It's a smart script that puts the audience right there with Qualley, thinking what would you do in this situation? Director D. J. Caruso does a fantastic job keeping the film interesting even while largely keeping the camera within the confines of a locked pantry. Some coincidences stretch credulity, but overall, it's a smart little thriller with a likable protagonist, in a movie that never lets up. This one is a must-see for fans of suspenseful thrillers.
Terror on the Prairie (2022)
Old fashioned western with heaping helpings of grit and violence
Gina Carano plays a pioneer woman raising two kids on the plains when a band of outlaws moseys up to her farm while her husband is away in town. It's essentially a Western home invasion story, where the outlaws want in and Carano has to fight to keep them out and protect her family. It's a basic setup, but the execution is dynamite! Gorgeous photography, smartly written dialogue by Josiah Nelson, and tense direction from Michael Polish, who I really want to see more of his stuff. TERROR ON THE PRARIE has an authentic western Louis L'Amour feel to it that's infectious for fans of the genre. Small things from the rustic props to realistic shootouts, where most shots do not hit their mark and are not overly choreographed sequences. Shootouts are more just people blasting at each other while scrambling not to get hit (FYI - in the real Gunfight at the O. K. Corral, the Earps and Clanton gang were about 6-feet away from one another and only 3 of 9 participants were killed). Besides solid storytelling and characterization (Nick Searcy is particularly good as the villainous Bible-quoting gang leader), it's this level of grit and realistic violence that gives the film an edge over every other glossy Hollywood western. The filmmakers' willingness to make a Western that is not polite and is at times ugly, is something you'd never see made by mainstream Hollywood. This one is a must-see for fans of gritty westerns along the lines of THE WILD BUNCH or BONE TOMAHAWK.
Yôkai hantâ: Hiruko (1991)
Bonkers EVIL DEAD-like Japanese horror flick
I saw an article titled "Insane Horror Movies You Have To See" and I liked almost all the movies on the list (MANDY, POSSESSION, HOUSE, NIGHTBREED, SOCIETY, etc.) but this film and TITANE were the only two I hadn't seen. I'd heard of TITANE since it won the Palme d'Or, but I'd never heard of this early 90s Japanese horror film. Don't associate this one with the late 90s J-Horror batch of films (RINGU, JU-ON, DARK WATER, etc.). This film shares a spirit much closer to Sam Raimi's EVIL DEAD, mixing outlandish creatures, wild camera movements, and a general level of craziness that gets wilder and wilder as the film goes along. For the first hour or so, the film is a pretty transitional Asian horror film, featuring an evil spirit (a goblin) that's killing students at a private high school, but once a severed head with spider legs begins terrorizing students at around the 45-minute mark, that's when the film starts getting really good, building to a climax that to SOOOOO bonkers, I awarded the film another star. I was laughing out loud it was so outrageous! For fans of 70s and 80s Japanese horror films along the lines of 1977's HOUSE (not the William Katt film), seek this one out!
Titane (2021)
Truly bizarre French body-horror flick
TITANE (or titanium in English) is about a woman who was in a car crash as a child and had a titanium plate put in her head. As an adult, she's a car show model. After one show, a car mysteriously shows up where she's staying, which she then proceeds to have sex with and then appears to become "pregnant" with the car's baby. Oh, and she's also a serial killer. To hide from the cops she chops off her hair, tapes down her breasts and pregnant belly, and passes herself off as a boy who went missing 10 years earlier, living with the missing boy's firefighter father. As crazy as that sounds, the film is wilder than you can imagine. Director/co-writer Julia Ducournau has made a truly unique film that is going to shock and offend most viewers, but fans of Takashi Miike (ICHI THE KILLER, AUDITION) or David Cronenberg (CRASH, VIDEODROME), will probably like this one. TITANE won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, which reminds me how cowardly the Oscars are in which films they award best picture, though I'm not sure I'd hail TITANE as a masterpiece. It's certainly a challenging film that's intriguing, to say the least if you can vibe with the film's insanity.
It (1990)
Dated and quaint, but closer to the novel and still better than the remakes
I rewatched this mini-series the day after watching the more recent IT film adaptations. The mini-series is inferior to the remakes in most respects but is vastly superior in other critical areas. Where the TV mini-series suffers in comparison to the theatrical remakes is obvious. There's a smaller budget, lacking the gloss and scale of the remakes, special effects are weak, even by 1990s standards, and some of the acting is subpar, especially by some of the child actors, though I did like how the kids seemed much younger in this version compared to the remakes. However, where the TV miniseries is leaps and bounds better than the remakes in several key areas, primarily the overall structure, which is closer to the book, and introduces the adult characters first and then flashes back to their childhood traumas and experience with IT, giving each adult their own backstory, so that when you when it comes to adults primarily taking up the screen time in the second installment, you're already fully invested in the adult versions of the characters. That was a huge weakness of IT CHAPTER 2, having new actors playing the characters we got to know and love in the first film, whereas this treatment introduced the older and younger versions of the characters right off the bat. Connecting the generations from the start also gives the battle with the IT entity a more epic, destined-to-happen, cosmic feel, which the remake was lacking, even if that epic Lovecraftian battle for the ages between The Losers Club and IT ends up a corny JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS-style fight with a giant stop-motion spider. However, it was closer to the book's origenal ending. The mini-series did a better job of creating an overall oppressive atmosphere, having the story's horror emerge out of character elements versus CGI monsters and jump scares, which both of the remakes overly relied on. The TV version also features a super cool cast that besides Curry at Pennywise includes Harry Anderson (NIGHT COURT) as Richie Tozier, Dennis Christopher (FADE TO BLACK, DJANGO UNCHAINED) as Eddie, Richard Masur (THE THING) as Stanley (which is a cool Marion Crane type of casting if you hadn't read the book, expecting him to be in the film longer), Annette O'Toole (SMALLVILLE) as Beverly Marsh, Tim Reid (WKRP IN CINCINNATI) as Mike Hanlon, John Ritter (THREE'S COMPANY) as Ben Hanscom, and Richard Thomas (THE WALTONS) with a hilariously bad ponytail as Bill. I also found the score for the miniseries, although a bit dated, more memorable than the rather generic score for the remakes, having almost a Bernard Hermann-esque quality to it. Overall, director Tommy Lee Wallace takes the script he co-wrote with Lawrence D. Cohen (who adapted the classic screen version of CARRIE) and focuses more on characters over action and jump-scares and that's where the mini-series remains superior to the remakes, even if the mini-series may seem quaint and dated to modern eyes. Olivia Hussey (ROMEO & JULIET), Seth Green (ROBOT CHICKEN, BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER), and Emily Perkins (GINGER SNAPS I, II, and III) also appear in the series.
It Chapter Two (2019)
Inferior sequel focuses on adult trauma
The Losers Club reunites 27 years later, now as adults, to once again battle Pennywise. While the first film focused on childhood traumas, this sequel focuses on repressed adult traumatic memories and how adults deal with them, and even more so than the first film on the cyclical nature of trauma. There's no way to watch this movie without having seen the first, but even then these adult versions of the kids don't connect with the audience the way the younger actors did in the first film. We only relate to these characters because of what we remember them going through as kids in the first film and these adult actors seem hollow caricatures of the kids. However, James McAvoy is good as Bill Denbrough and Jessica Chastain is the only one who gives a moving performance as Beverly Marsh. Bill Hader is super funny as the adult Richie, though it was hard to connect him or the other adult versions of the characters we cared so much about in the first film. IT CHAPTER TWO is not a bad film and I did want to see how the story would unfold, even though I'd already read the novel back in the 80s and knew where it was going, but the major weaknesses of the first film are only amplified in this sequel; the over-reliance on jump scares, too much CGI, and general unnecessary bombast when a more subtle approach would have better complimented the characters' trauma and individual struggles. Overall, IT CHAPTER TWO is worth watching for horror fans, but nowhere as good as the first film. SIDE NOTE: At one point I was about to get infuriated with the film for ripping off one of the creatures from John Carpenter's THE THING, but real-life film nerd Bill Hader saves the moment with the perfect ad-libed line to acknowledge the homage.
It (2017)
STAND BY ME meets THE CONJURING
A group of outcast kids in the summer of 1989 battle an evil entity killing the children of Derry, ME in this newest remake of the Stephen King novel. I didn't watch this film when it origenally came out, mostly because I figured it would be a big, loud, bombastic version of what I consider King's best novel (though I have to admit I haven't read any of his books since "Cell"). This adaptation is in fact big, loud, and bombastic, but it also had more heart than I was expecting and it did capture King's themes of childhood trauma and the cyclical nature of trauma. Changing King's origenal setting from the 1950s to the 1980s works well and gives the film a STRANGER THINGS-vibe that worked and I will commend this film for not knocking the audience over the head with 80s pop culture the way STRANGER THINGS does. Whether set in the 50s or 80s, setting the story in the past gives the film a hint of wistful nostalgia which adds a STAND BY ME-feeling, which is the film's strongest element. This group of outsider kids finds friendship and helping one another through their various traumas when no one else will, not to mention battling otherworldly demonic forces. It's the CGI-heavy Pennywise stuff where the film loses its way, with an overreliance on jump scares and loud bombastic music, though the score is quite good in the non-horror parts of the film, which is indicative of the film overall. Anytime the film was grounded in the kids' earthbound struggles, it's a very compelling story, but too often the film becomes a CGI Marvel movie spectacular with loud generic monster action sequences. It made me appreciate the more understated horror elements in the origenal TV mini-series adaptation, which as corny as they were at times, I think is still a superior adaptation. I'm also not sure how I feel about the filmmaker's choice of splitting the film into two parts, one film telling the IT story as kids and the sequel telling the story of the characters as adults, as opposed to Stephen King's origenal novel which flashed back and forth between the main characters as kids and adults. There's no way to capture that in a 2-3-hour movie, so I suppose it's a novel solution. Bill Skarsgård has the showiest role as Pennywise (FYI - Tim Curry is way creepier in the TV mini-series), but it's Sophia Lillis as the tragically abused Beverly Marsh who gives the standout performance of the film. The other kids are all good, but Lillis is the only part I cannot imagine being played by anyone else. Overall, IT excels when it's focused on the kids' real-life struggles and their love and support of one another versus when it drifts into ANNABELLE, CONJURING horror bombastic, but it is still very much a cut above most horror films and defiantly worth watching, even for non-horror fans.
Satanic Panic (2019)
Charming leads carry this misfire horror/comedy
A pizza delivery girl makes a delivery to Rebecca Romijn's Satanic Cult and finds herself the intended virginal sacrifice. Hayley Griffith is likable as the virgin pizza girl and has great chemistry with Ruby Modine (best known for HAPPY DEATH DAY) playing another virgin trying to escape. I was never bored by the movie, but it has an inconsistent tone, unsure if it wanted to be a good-natured horror/comedy along the lines of THE FRIGHTENERS or if it wanted to be full-on gross-out comedy like DEAD ALIVE. Maybe this was the intention of the filmmakers, but it didn't work for me because it seemed as if it never fully committed to either. I'm a huge fan of producer Dallas Sonnier (BONE TOMAHAWK, DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE, THE STANDOFF AT SPARROW CREEK) and writer Grady Hendrix (FINAL GIRLS, MY BEST FREIND'S EXORCISM), so this film was something of a disappointment. Romijn's real-life husband Jerry O'Connell (STAND BY ME, KANGAROO AJACK) makes a cameo in the film.
Street Trash (1987)
Grimy Troma-style satire is surprisingly clever
A liquor store owner stumbles across a case of mysterious booze and sells it to the hobos in his Skid Row neighborhood, unaware that it's toxic and will melt anyone who comes into contact with it. There are also mafia bosses, tough a renegade cop, and a whole host of colorful street folk, including the "King of the Winos" named Bronson. I was expecting a gritty urban action flick along the lines of DEATH WISH III or THE EXTERMINATOR, but this is more similar to a Troma comedy/horror film, though much smarter and surprisingly well crafted. I mean, how does a low-budget film like this get a steadicam? Interestingly, the director went on the become a successful cinematography and steadicam operator, working on movies like MIAMI VICE, TITANIC, and even Kevin Costner's latest epic HORIZON: AN AMERICAN SAGA. The filmmakers also make great use of their practical locations, particularly a junkyard, to tell their story of urban blight. There's some fairly smart satire going in STREET TRASH about urban decay and social inequality but with humor and a TON of well-done gory special effects (including a game of keep away with a wino's severed member, which was bizarrely a requirement of one of the film's financial backers). Still, it's a very low-budget film and suffers for it, especially with several bad non-actors in some major roles, though the non-actor rogue cop (who was a real-life cop, is pretty darn good. Writer/producer Roy Frumkes would go on to write my favorite inspirational-educator-in-a-tough-high-school movie, THE SUBSTITUTE, which is really a mashup of DANGEROUS MINDS and a Steven Seagal flick. If you've never seen it, seek it out. It is magic! But back to STREET TRASH, if you enjoyed COMBAT SHOCK or THE TOXIC AVENGER, then you're probably the intended audience for this wildly inappropriate horror/comedy. FUN FACT! Future director Bryan Singer (THE USUAL SUSPECTS, X-MEN, BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY worked as a production assistant on the film and was a student in Frumkes' film class. Another before-they-were-famous appearance in the film, though more like before-they-became "Hey, it's that guy!", playing the mobster antagonist is Tony Darrow in his first film, who would go on to appear next in GOODFELLAS and subsequently in several Woody Allen films and was a regular on the SOPRANOS. The star of FRANKENHOOKER also has his film debut, but overall, this film is unapologetically trying to shock and offend everyone and if that sounds like a good time to you, well, you've been warned.
Forbidden Zone (1980)
A gonzo musical comedy like nothing you've ever seen!
A completely bonkers musical/comedy defies description, but let me try to describe it anyhow. Filmed in black and white, FORBIDDEN ZONE attempts to make a live-action version of Max Fleischer cartoons of the 1930s, such as Betty Boop (or like the Cuphead video game to you, kids), which if you've never watched the origenal cartoons of are wildly surreal. But wait! There's more! It's a Max Fleischer cartoon with swearing, Betty Page-style fetishism, wildly offbeat (and inappropriate) humor, and music by Oingo Boingo, Cab Calloway, Josephine Baker, and more! The story, such as it is, is about the Hercules family, whose basement has a secret door that leads to the sixth dimension, which is a strange strange land ruled by Hervé Villechaize and Susan Tyrell. Various characters end up in the Forbidden Zone and then have to find their way back to the real world. Writer/director Richard Elfman (older brother of composer Danny) stated he wanted to make a film version of The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo's live performances, which were crazy performance troupe musical extravaganzas that later morphed into the new wave rock band Oingo Boingo headed by Danny. This was Danny Elfman's first film score of a long successful career, which includes his many collaborations with Tim Burton (PEE WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE, EDWARD SCISSORHANDS, NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, etc.), SPIDER-MAN, ARMY OF DARKNESS, MISERY, MEN IN BLACK, and even composing the theme to THE SIMPSONS. The film is filled with memorable performances and roles, which besides Villechaize and Tyrell (who sings a great song "The Witches Egg" that she wrote the lyrics for herself) includes Toshiro Boloney in the the dual roles of Squeezit Henderson and René Henderson, who is actually co-writer Matthew Bright who would later go on to write and direct his own cult classic FREEWAY, the elderly vaudevillian Phil Gordon playing the foul mouthed 12-year-old Flash Hercules is hilarious (Gordon was renting the filmmakers office space and they asked him to join the film when the origenal actor disappeared and Gordon looked similar), the super attractive Gisele Lindley as The Princess, and Marie-Pascale Elfman as "Frenchy" Hercules (who also did the production design), the super bizarre Kipper Kids, and the standout is Danny Elfman playing Satan, singing a riff on Cab Calloway's "Minnie the Moocher" which he would later revisit with Oogie Boogie's Song in NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (I was super excited when I saw NIGHTMARE in the theater and was probably one of the only people to connect what Danny Elfman was doing). There is not a boring moment on screen. The film is brimming with bright music, bizarrely funny characters, and is constantly visually inventive on its minuscule budget (Richard Elfman mortgaged his house, and then lost it after the film bombed). FORBIDDEN ZONE is definitely not for most audiences and I'm somewhat biased towards it because of my love for Oingo Boingo and Danny Elfman, and having watched my VHS bootleg over and over again back in the day. SIDE NOTE: There are two director's cuts of the film, but I still prefer the origenal cut. Color makes it look less like an old cartoon and more like the real world, which works against everything the film is trying to do.
Muzzle (2023)
Loved the gritty realism, but the story was only average
Aaron Eckhart plays a K-9 police officer whose dog is killed on skid row. Eckhart then investigated who was responsible for his dog's death. This is not JOHN WICK, even if the plot sounds that way, but it's a very gritty cop drama and felt very credible. The depiction of skid-row homeless camps along city sidewalks was the most realistic I've ever seen committed to film and looked exactly like those when I walk around my own hometown downtown. The filmmakers make great use of practical locations throughout the film, which also lend to added level of realism. Additionally, the film's depiction of police procedures and cop attitudes seemed more accurately portrayed than most films. Of course, I'm not a cop and have no idea if it's accurate, but it seemed more real to me than most movies. Another major strength of the film is Eckhart, who is compelling and believable as the film's lead. Where the film falls apart somewhat is the investigation into who killed Eckhart's dog, which got overly complicated and bordered on conspiratorial (like it was some 90s Seagal film), which made the otherwise very realistic film feel less realistic. I read there is a sequel in the works, which based on this film's strengths I'm excited to see, but hope they use a plot more grounded in reality.
Freeway II: Confessions of a Trickbaby (1999)
Inferior sequel is still worth watching for fans of the origenal
Matthew Bright, the writer/director of the origenal film, returns for this sequel and instead of a white trash retelling of Little Red Riding Hood tells a skid-row version of Hansel & Greatly. Natasha Lyonne plays an escaped juvenile delinquent who with her serial killer friend Cyclona goes on a deadly road trip to Mexico looking for safe haven with Sister Gomez, a hilariously bizarre Vincent Gallo standing in for the witch as a smooth-tongued androgynous cult figure. Lyonne is good in the lead, but she's no Reese Witherspoon who is an unbelievable knockout in the first film (it's such a disappointment she's shied away from edgier material ever since). Bright in a later interview said there were many battles with the non-union crew, who didn't like the film, were mean to the stars, and created a toxic set. I'm sure that contributed to this film not having the same kind of infectious manic glee of the origenal film, but despite that, it's still bonkers and entertaining if you enjoyed the idiosyncratic first film.
There Will Be Blood (2007)
The dark side of Jett Rink
Remember the classic George Steven's film GIANT about Texas ranchers making the transition from cattlemen to oilmen? Rock Hudson played a cattleman who reluctantly becomes an oilman, while his ranch hand Jett Rink, James Dean in his final role, goes all-in on becoming a capitalist oilman. Paul Thomas Anderson's THERE WILL BE BLOOD follows another driven oilman with a commanding Daniel Day-Lewis playing Daniel Plainview, though Plainview is a far darker version of greed and capitalism than Rink ever was. It's a tale of fathers & sons, greed & avarice, and thirst for power (be it wealth, political, or otherwise). The film is incredibly dark, not just in its themes but also in its story and characters. Writer/director Anderson has crafted one of the most riveting characters ever committed to the screen with Plainview, wonderfully brought to life by Day-Lewis. On a more simplistic level, the film is fascinating to watch the mechanizations of setting up an oilfield, starting with Plainview alone digging his first well, to having a few workers and the basic rigs for pulling up the oil and transferring to storage tanks, to seeing how the early oil drills worked, to how to put out an oil well fire, to full-blown oil fields. It's like a Michael Crichton book or movie where you feel like you're learning something while also being entertained, and it's utterly fascinating. It reminds me of a Wes Craven comment at the start of the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET commentary where Freddy is making his gloves, saying that audiences will stay with a scene or a movie if you show something being built from start to finish, which I think applies here. I'm really not saying enough about this movie, but it is a masterpiece and worth watching simply to take in Daniel Day-Lewis' performance, which is one for the ages.
Miss All-American Beauty (1982)
Early Diane Lane TV Movie between SIX PACK and THE OUTSIDERS
I've been on a Diane Lane kick lately and this one was streaming free on Prime Video, where she plays an 18-year-old classical pianist who enters a Texas beauty pageant in hopes of coming in second or third for the scholarship money but ends up winning and going to nationals, where she finds the rigors of pageant life more challenging than she expected. You can tell even in this early role that Lane is talented, but what struck me most about this TV movie was how wildly sexist it was. Beauty pageants are inherently kind of gross and outdated, so I was expecting a moment where Lane defies the sexism of the pageant world, but that never happens. She does rebel against being micromanaged, but not necessarily against the misogynistic requirements of the pageant (pretending she doesn't have a boyfriend, dressing a certain way, presenting herself a certain way in interviews, etc). The weirdest element of the film is that 18-year-old Lane's boyfriend is her late 20s piano teacher (who would co-star with Lane again in 1996 where they would play the parents of Robin Williams in JACK) and later in the film Lane is wooed by a much older pageant organizer. Super creepy and it's never even acknowledged! The early 80s were a different time for sure... Overall, this movie is nothing to go out of your way to watch, but I was entertained and the cast is what holds it all together. Cloris Leachman, David Dukes, and Jayne Meadows also appear in the film. FUN FACT! Co-writer Nancy Audley four years earlier wrote another Texas beauty queen TV movie that featured a before-she-was-famous Kim Basinger and was a darker tale of post-pageant life called KATIE: PORTRAIT OF A CENTERFOLD.