There seems to be an attempt underway to redeem, or position this as a "cult classic".

Cult... maybe. classic... no.

Rewatching it after all these years, it's just as disappointing. The music, cinematography, and dialogue are cheap, and bad sub-tv standard. Effects look equally cheap, even for the time too.

The real problem is Rik Mayall's manic, gross out for-kids performance looks embarrassing in this cheap environment, and the subject matter is too adult for kids, but the execution is too juvenile for adults, especially when it tries to deal with topics concerning "mental health issues", and it is therefore borderline insulting.

Phoebe Cates characterisation too, of the woman who's childhood imaginary friend returns later in life when she is having a hard time in life - Overbearing mother, philandering husband, losing her job etc. is too flat, and monotone - no evident sadness when depressed, no apparent joy when happy (er), which only serves to highlight, in a negative way, how loopy Mayall is.

The dialogue is grossly misjudged, seeming spiteful and psychotic , in attempting to say things kids who don't know what the meaning of what they are saying really come from the mouths of adults, which is just plain sinister.

There are a couple of good points though, such as the other imaginary friends of patients in a psychiatrists waiting room can each only be seen by the people who's imaginary friend they are, so to those people, their imaginary firend appears to have an imaginary firend... which is quite original. And the end, too borders on the poetic.

But it is an obvious attempt to try and make a Tim Burton style movie, by someone who isn't Tim Burton...oh dear.

I can't help but imagine how truly great this story could have been if Tim Burton himself had actually made it.

Remake, anyone?

But this is mostly rubbish.

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

What it's all about.

This is a deliberately cheap. low budget looking love letter to the people who love movies... but more, it's about the sense of community that comes through the medium of movies, and people's love for them.

To understand this, it's best to consider the word: Media.

(Physical Media being the term that is increasingly becoming the catch-all buzzword of our age, not just for the ranks of collectors of various media, be it records, CDs, or DVDs - I 'd lay money on it that this term will be entered into the Oxford Dictionary before too long!)

For, beyond the specific media, or medium (VHS, DVD, CD etc.), collectively, these are a medium for something else: Social interaction, and connection, with other people.

Whether it be gathering at your local record store, Blockbuster, or other, these media facilitate this reason to connect, that the content provides.

Ironically, the prime thing that streaming, and the internet as a whole, has taken away from us, and the one thing we really needed from them.

Now, all this pretentious waffle of mine only serves to illustrate what this movie is about, and encapsulate... the desire to reconnect with others around you in person, physically present. AS when Jerry (Jack Black) becomes magnetised after an attempt to disrupt a local power station he suspects is sending out subliminal signals to influence his mind, he returns to the desperately struggling VHS video store he works at with long suffering friend Mike (Mos Def), and owned by Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover) and his magnetic presence causes all the tapes to be blanked.

Mike quickly formulates a plan for him and Jerry to make their own versions of the movies lost, and rent those out instead.

Ghostbusters is their first attempt, and unexpectedly, creates a cult like stir in the community, who are soon knocking at the door for their other favourites to be "Sweded", or remade by the duo. And as things go, the ore they draw in others in the community to help them out.

This is not a laugh out loud, tears streaming down your face, side splitting type of comedy, but rather a very quirky, surreal-ish eccentric smiling movie, that has you chuckling all throughout, while leaving you feeling very warm and cosy at the heart-warming, and uplifting finale.

As well as making you want to immediately go out and "Swede" your own favourites :)

Sweet, sublime, and really quite a beautiful little film.

2 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

What on earth were they thinking?!!!

...Not regards the movie itself, but giving this great movie this crappy title.

If you want to hamstring your movie before it's even released, why not give it the same principle title as an already cult classic movie (Starring Harvey Keitel), to make people think it's a sequel to that one... not only that, add the extra qualifiers in there too, to make it sound like cheapo, straight to DVD bargain bin fodder movie that is going to be Godawful?

And I imagine it is this very thing that has put people off watching this from the get go, and why it continues to be overlooked.

Of course, it shares the idea of a "Bad Lieutenant" as does the other one, but this has plenty of it's own beats.

So do yourself a favour, and ignore the title!

Look instead, at the fact that this has, perhaps, the most Nicholas Cage performance Nicholas Cage has ever given... in that it is all, and everything he is and does in one movie, like this is what he's been aiming at all his career, as his character begins somewhat soberly enough, although somewhat morally corrupt, but then goes spiralling out of control with ever crazier antics, and behaviour - Cage goes bouncing off the walls eventually, but it's his portrayal of a man trying to contain it at first, and then the transition to Mr. crazy man that blows you away.

Add to that, it's Directed by Werner Herzog.

Werner Herzog... Nicholas Cage.

....Nicholas Cage... Werner Herzog.

That's the movie you're getting.

....And that's got to be worth a couple of hours of anyone's time.

5 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

What a weird movie.

It seems to be, on the face of it, chumming along with the kind of Breakfast Club / John Hughes, 80s teen angst / melodrama kind of audience, and yet has a more substantial, and even darker heart in the story, aimed at a more adult audience.

In fact the whole teen romance bit between Cusack and Skye seems to fall by the wayside toward the end, focusing more on the relationship between her and her father's "tax troubles", with Cusack eventually receding into the background altogether.

Heavy subject matter for the audience you'd expect this to be aimed at. and the kind of movie who's clothes this superficially appears to wear...

...And other than the general look of the film, the two leads and one highly oversold moment (The boombox moment), which lasts possibly less than ten seconds and has precisely zero impact on story or anything, yet has become a cultural touchstone, not least through the likes of Deadpool and Family Guy etc. referencing it, this lacks all the kind of feel of those other movies, the zing, and the dynamic eighties style editing, and so forth...indeed, I'd go as far as to call it quite...flat, by comparison.

It almost feels, like this was a more seriously intentioned movie with some great, strong dramatic ideas of it's own, that was either co-opted, or re-purposed to try and shoe-horn it into a John Hughes category of movie, and for that audience.

If it had gone either way more completely, it might have been a great movie on it's own: Heavily toward the Dramatic, adult aspects, and it might have been an Oscar worthy movie... treated more lightly, and it it would have been sitting alongside Ferris Bueller in the collective affections, but ends up just befuddling, and underwhelming.

One moment, does not a movie make.

Meh.

4 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

I've "Seen" this twice before, but only watched it for the first time today.

Well, I saw a few minutes of it back in the day, off the back of the whole Tarantino thing, but found it boring, and switched it off...then, about ten years ago, I gave it another go, and fell asleep.

But now, I thought I'd give it another go, and find it is one of the best things I've seen recently.

I think this is because I'm now ready for it - more mature (ish) - as can be evidenced by the fact that among the Tarantino movies, Jackie Brown is the one that has been creeping up through the ranks of my favourite movies of his, as it operates on a more slow burn, lo-fi - effortlessly cool basis, rather than all the pizazz of his other works...

...And that's exactly the kind of space this operates in; If possible, even more effortlessly cool, and lo-fi than Jackie Brown - but not boring.

I've also read an Elmore Leonard novel now (Maximum Bob - quite funny!) , and so am more tuned into his intricate yet easy, and naturalistic storytelling... the vibe he was giving in his work, and which both Jackie Brown and this, both adaptations of Leonard's work capture extremely well.

This tale of the Hapless bank robber, and prison escapee who comes across the cool, calm, and composed FBI agent, and sparks fly between them, causing her to question her duty to the law while at the same time, trying to catch him , is coolly, and seductively told, against a backdrop of a planned heist among some nefarious yet engaging characters does everything with ease, and without trying too hard to say: "look how cool this movie is eh!?!!!" the way some adaptations of Leonard's work do, or how the Ocean's 11 series do, which are a bit too goofy and overt for my taste. This is more straight up, and is the better for it.... more... subtle.

Given I've only really just seen it, is it right that I should add it to my list of favourite nineties movies now? .... ah, what the hell, it's going on there, as I think this getting a few rewatches.

(Not only that, I've ripped the movie to hard drive, and I'm keeping this DVD! :)

2 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Quaint British, quirky, light hearted comedy farce, concerning a village power struggle over an illegally bred pig in the time of post-war rationing... principally: Pork.

Quite fun, if light, piece of comedy fluff.

2 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Rank this among the movies it's most important for you to see...

...Alongside the likes of 12 Angry Men etc.

I'd been meaning to see this for as long as I can remember, and it didn't let me down. In fact, it exceeded my expectations by a long chalk, and for one very odd, and specific reason:

Irony.

The irony here consists in the fact that for those, like me, who have long heard of it, but never seen it, it is notorious for the scene in which the ageing news anchor has an on air break-down, instructing the viewing populace to join him in screaming from their windows:

"I'M MAD AS HELL!!! - AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!!!"

...But little else substantively about the film.... Which is, of course, kind of the satirical point of the movie, that only a sensationalised moment is able to break through to the general consciousness, and all else of substance goes by the wayside.

Indeed, when this was made, it was to be considered the most biting satire, but only a few years later, might have been considered purely cynical... Now, of course, it is sadly neither of these to any great degree, so much as it has become mere observation.

Observation of an objective fact.

A demented, desperate, scurrilous "news" network breaking free form the high minded standards of reporting of the time...

(If you believe these ever really existed in this "profession" in the first place)

...In favour of playing on the most primal and primitive parts of the human consciousness: Primarily: FEAR. And so becoming the collection of crazed Disaster Porn Junkies we know and love to despise today, and indeed, duping the populace into becoming such themselves.

After initially trying to push their beleaguered news anchor away from themselves like a turd on a stick, the psychopathic, and / or Sociopathic news director (Dunaway) determines how to employ it for the network's (her own, principally) advantage in the ratings war - she's practically having orgasms over stealing the numbers away based on her colleague's psychological, messiah based breakdown, and distress, while Holden, playing his friend watches on with dismay as he is made to become the hero to the masses / cult leader / prophet / seer, believing in his own righteousness.

On top of all this, we get to see the various machinations of the most Machiavellian variety of the network hierarchy in attempting to exploit the situation, each of the higher ups jockeying for position off the back of it.

What could possibly go wrong?

This movie was, at the technical level, most impressive to me for a couple of reasons, over and above each well defined character being played brilliantly by every actor, full of breath-taking monologues and set pieces, and all to a cinematic score of.... nothing. That's right, there's no music in this film, so you just lean right into the dialogue and the scenes unaided by musical manipulation.

It will shock any modern audience as to just how prescient it was, and how painfully accurate it's speculations were regarding this morally bankrupt industry.

A real eye opener!

3 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

A reasonable Hitchcock clone... but lacking that certain something.

Robert Wagner's character: college kid, Bud, finds himself in a dilemma when his girlfriend gets pregnant and wants to get married, so he decides she needs to have an "accident" (in particular, a fatal one), and so the first half of this is following him in his convoluted attempts to make this happen...

...The second half then turns into a kind of Agatha Christie Sleuth kind of movie, as the focus shifts away from him, and onto the girlfriend's sister, who won't take "accident" for a reasonable explanation, and begins to hunt down her killer, unknowingly coming into contact with Wagner, who then attempts to weasel his way into her affections... and, by way of marriage, daddy's mining empire.

There's an odd cheeriness to the title card music which doesn't seem to fit the movie, and I was more than aware as the movie went along that if you took the music score away, the action is really rather pedestrian, and somewhat lacking in that most essential Hitchcock ingredient:

Suspense.

There's no real tension in this, and I couldn't help but wonder what kind of masterpiece this would have been if Hitchcock himself had actually made it!

But overall, a fairly decent stab at this kind of thing.

(Cinematography in places is breath-taking though.. especially the scenes where a car is present)

2 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Not Goodfellas, and definitely not The Godfather!

I remember being somewhat underwhelmed at the prospect of this at time of release, and so was never inspired to watch it.

And to be honest, even after the first five minutes, I had a bit of a sinking feeling, as it seemed to channelling a "knock-off Goodfellas" vibe, with a somewhat hammy Al Pacino, seeming like he was way past this kind of thing, and perhaps only signing on to associate himself with the rise in cache of the then fresh, young superstar of Johnny Depp...

...But then...


.....A little bell went off in my head: "Oh, I get it!"

This is intentional in terms of style, as shorn of the kinetic, dynamic (some would say: Glamorous) film-making style of Martin Scorsese, this band of bozos look just like the cheap band of hoods they really are: A bunch of kids who never really grew up, and wanted to play "gangs" - bargain basement Goodfellas - scuzz-oids doing their best impression of mafia men, which makes them all seem a little sad - albeit brutal - to the extent that they even have the expression: "Forget about it!" highly emphasised, and constantly repeating as a wry running joke. The FBI surveillance team even have an actual joke about it in one scene.

And now Pacino's performance makes total sense, as the older "passed over" gangster channelling a kind of Midnight Cowboy's Ratso... a quite pathetic, tragic figure at once trying to ease his way out of this lifestyle, and dreaming a little dream of a life elsewhere, while still, either by habit or compulsion, due to the dangers of stepping out of line, or character, playing the part of gangster in that cartoonish way to keep the younger guys from suspecting him.

And it is this, that is Depp's FBI character tunes in on, as he allows Pacino to take him under his wing, whilst infiltrating this crew, and the broader mob.

Initially Depp himself seems to be doing some kind of Erol Flynn impression, in terms of look, but Pacino gradually knocks him into shape as a wise guy, without realising he is being played by Depp.

And this is what this story is, and what makes it it's own thing, rather than an attempt to imitate Goodfellas, or a cheap Godfather clone... This is about the genuine bond that develops between Pacino and Depp, around issues of trust and betrayal against a constant background of danger.

...And this is what makes this both refreshing in a gangster movie, and well worth watching.

So put Goodfellas and The Godfather out of your mind, in terms of expectation when going in, else you will be disappointed, but taken for what it is, it's really rather great, as you find yourself increasingly entranced in the development of this relationship, and the anticipation how this story will play out.

I would also draw attention to the incredible performance by Anne Heche as Depp's long suffering wife... I don't know what awards she got for this, but it's one of those: Should definitely have gotten an Oscar for best supporting actress performances... And reminds us of the tragedy of the career she could have had based on this.

2 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Yeah, not bad...

... Usual heartwarming, life affirming / rite of passage fare of the kind Disney usually makes... In fact, if always thought it was a Disney movie!

I have avoided it all these years as I was seventeen or eighteen when it came out, so it wouldn't have been my kind of thing, but it's a pretty well made movie regardless of target audience. Fairly tight, efficient storytelling that doesn't have much flab and is one of the better examples of it's kind.

So a super solid family movie, with nothing to make a parent's teeth set on edge, but adults can enjoy it too.

This particular adult had two specific reasons to enjoy it:

Firstly, a young, point break era Lori Petty... Ahem... Very warm today isn't it... Phew! :)

... And secondly, the total surprise of seeing no less a luminary than Michael Ironside in it! - legend! -

(And if you include Michael Madsen, that makes three)

Although it didn't have me balling my eyes out exactly, there may have been the suggestion if a tear in one or two places.

(I think I'm getting soft on my older age)

4 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Still a powerful race relations / gangs- cop movie, which I suspected had aged badly, but really hasn't at all... Except the soundtrack is severely dated, which is otherwise the only thing that takes you out of the movie.

But a truly great dramatic story, nevertheless.

4 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

I found this as part of a three-movies-on-a-disc set by bootleg dvd outfit: 23rd century...

(The others being: Ape Man, and Mesa - haven't watched yet)

... Pretty decent looking DVD, I have to say!

It's not really a "horror" movie, to be honest, as, while there are some disturbing (unsettling) images, there are no real jump scares of graphic horror scenes... It's just more a woozy, hallucinatory tone - the dread Dr Doom speaks of is most accurate -

It starts abruptly, with a woman in a car being run off the road and into a river... She survives, but is haunted by fleeing glimpses of a weird looking man who seems to be silently stalking her. After getting out of town she comes to another town and takes a room in a boarding house, but is increasingly obsessed with an abandoned old pavilion she saw on her way into town.

The movie basically follows her around...

(not many other characters to speak of - bar a priest, a psychologist, the landlady, and the real creep if the story: the guy taking the room across the hall from her's)

... And this intimate portrait of her doubt, and decent into possible madness if the real, true horror of the story... Eerie.

The performances are pretty wooden, yet precise, and they have to be, as the real stars of this show are the director, cinematographer, and ultimately, the editor, who conspire to elevate this way above a mere horror movie, but even worthy of being considered a with of cinematic art:

Every shot is like a perfectly composed photographic portrait, the actions and words of the characters move fluidly in a brilliantly visually poetic way of telling the story, and the editing... Wow! Spot on.

The timing of the edits are absolutely perfect... Leading from one scene, or frame to the next beautifully. A well as the juxtapositions of the cuts. Perfection.

No, this is more than a b-movie, or horror movie... It looks, feels, and movies not like a cross between an Alfred Hitchcock movie, and a Stanley Kubrick movie...

... In fact, not only would I say that if either of those filmmakers had made this, they might consider it among their best work, I could well believe they both saw this and wished they'd made it themselves!

I could even go so far as to say that this might well be the reason The Shining exists at all, not to mention others if a similar standard, like the sixth sense, or Jacob's ladder

Masterpiece.

2 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

All you need is Brains!


Just about as good a zombie movie as you'd wish to see.

Very simple set up:

Young guy gets new job in a cadaver and scientific specimen storage facility, and the older h=guy there showing him the ropes, and bragging a little (oops), tells him about the story behind the original Living Dead movie, and how those pickled zombies are now in the basement, having been contained there by the military...

...Naturally, young guy doesn't believe, older guy, showing off, takes him down to see the "safe as houses" containers, and.... well.... you can guess what from there.

Wotsit hits the doodah, and the rest of the movie is just an escalation of events from there.

I realise, from this, the essential ingredient in most (although not all, admittedly) zombie movies, over and above keeping the movie tight, economical, and short, is a healthy dose of humour, which this has in spades...

(Zombie movies that take the subject, and themselves too seriously are generally an eye-rolling yawn-fest)

...Either satire (social or otherwise) or straight up comedy suits the genre well, and allows you to enjoy the gross -out horror with a big fat grin on your face!

This one sits somewhere, humour wise, between the raised eyebrow / knowing satire of those classic Romero movies and Shaun Of The Dead, this latter one being the most obviously influenced by the tone of the humour in this, although this, itself, clearly in feel, look, and tone, feels a perfect fit with those Romero ones.

Aside from the mindless fun, this does have a pretty darn impressive thread of zombie lore and bio-logic running through it, which they didn't have to put in there, but is really well thought out, and appreciated, nonetheless.

Pretty cool alt / metal / punk soundtrack, a gang of hapless youth-punk / street trash waste-oids, brilliantly pleasing practical horror effects. which are both gross and hilarious, no nonsense, straight in zombie fest.

Hugely entertaining, great fun, and and excellent hour and a half all round.

(Another tough to find DVD too!)

✔︎ Helpful Review?

A pretty awful movie that feels like it was meant to be something else, but was bodged to get it out the door in some kind of movie shape.

Subsequent reading online reveals this story takes it's cue from a true story, about a player's strike in the NFL in the eighties, and therefore replacement players were brought in for the final games of the season...

...And I think this was originally intended to be a straight up dramatic movie about that, but the fact that the names of teams and individuals have been (barely) altered indicates they couldn't do that for some reason. I think, also, the fact that you have Keanu Reeves (fresh off The Matrix) and Gene Hackman in this rubbish is otherwise inexplicable, excepting that they were signed on to the original concept, and perhaps couldn't back out.

And there is a serious dramatic thread around the characters they play that strongly suggests the original intent - meaning to make a movie of the more recognisable true story / underdog inspirational tale of the kind that we are all familiar with, and has been done infinitely better elsewhere.

...And outside of that central thread, is where this really goes off the rails:

An almost cartoonish set of "comedy" characters of the most basic, unfunny, toe curling, paint by numbers kind, couched in a whacky movie tone totally at odds with the central feel these characters at times give - painful to watch, especially as the absurd comedy idea is done to perfection in: The Waterboy, and makes this look way out of its class by comparison, in respect of this comedy element. Add to that the utterly bizarre soundtrack, which is mostly Euro-dance tunes that even then were at least a decade out of date... Good fit for a quintessentially American NFL story eh?

So i get the feeling this started life as something better, and more meaningful, all contracts were signed, people committed, and the movie ready to roll, when the rug was pulled out from under them, and they had to rehash and bodge a brand new movie around it, and from it, which seems like it was either done in five minutes, without any thought or imagination or originality, or entirely spontaneously - on the spot...

...Not, perhaps with even the original scriptwriters, producers etc. But maybe the.... uh...


...Replacements.

Artless and dumb.

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

The most eighties movie you will ever see.

(...And that's some stiff competition!)

This is a movie who's name ha entered my consciousness only in the last few months, on account of being mentioned here and there as a tough one to find on DVD...

...And there's a reason for that, as it turns out:

It's crap.

......Well, I want to be fair, and say instead: mostly crap (...mostly :).

There is the kernel of a fairly good idea and story here, but for the most part it is buried under an avalanche of all the worst stereotypes and trope-oids of the eighties, from the horrifically toe-curling mega-eighties soundtrack, the "kid in school getting bullied" trope with your standard eighties high-school bullies (only played badly), very thin storytelling, wafer thin, paint by numbers characters, God-awful wooden acting which even makes No Retreat, No Surrender doubt it's claim to bad acting, and it seems to have borrowed everything around it at the time to "construct" this movie.

There's bullying thing (Karate Kid), The Time Travel (ish) element (Back To The Future), and a plethora of other stuff those familiar with the eighties will spot on sight... but all done waaaaaaaay worse.

And actually, for such a short movie (1hr:30mins), it feels long.

It does however, somewhat redeem itself in the last half hour, as I felt they finally started making something of their own, and the quality picks up a nudge, earning a couple more points over the 4 out of 10 I was going to give it, as it reveals something of genuine heart, and a poignancy in the relationship between returning from the dead 60's angel rocker type and the love of his life he lost when he died tragically in true "Leader Of The Pack" style stupidity at the beginning of the movie.

Most of the chatter I've heard about this mentions that maybe the almost simultaneous release of: Back To The Future at the time is the reason this all but vanished. Yeah... Let's say that's the reason!

(Not the fact that the the one note I mentioned aside - everything in this fails on every count).

All this said, it is definitely one of those that is in the camp of: So bad it's...erm... well, still pretty awful actually, but you have to admire it's awfulness, which is a kind of charm all it's own.

I think, if the budget was a little bigger -say, to the power of one hundred - the effects were anything more than less than amateur, the actors better, the story tightened up, with vastly better dialogue (not written on eighties version of AI, or whatever ape wrote it), you may even have something of a decent, if not great, movie here, as the idea is sound.

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Unholy Cow!

Was not expecting this from Kevin Smith (Clerks / Mallrats / Dogma etc.), as this doesn't look or feel like one of his movies... In fact, it doesn't even look or feel like the DVD cover / poster art would lead you to believe this movie was going to be...

...Because going by that, you may be expecting a Robert Rodriguez / Tarantino-ish type of hillbilly / horror chop up festival of the gross out kind of affair.

(Funny, I watched Tucker And Dale the other day, bought among the same batch of DVDs, so was expecting something a little more along those lines)

No, this is a more slow burn, unsettling, even serious (in premise) affair regarding a very Waco incident reminiscent movie, with a disturbingly believable religious sect entrapping a trio of horny teenagers who have one trekking on a promise of sex, causing the ATF (think I got that right?), led by John Goodman's agent to lay siege to their estate.

The brilliance of the story is that there are no clear heroes in relation to "the villain", as the government orgs are ever more dubious as it goes.

Michael Parks, as the cult's leader and religious head, absolutely steals the show as the quietly maniacal, manipulative, and superficially affable and charismatic top nut job, and this whole movie hangs on this faultless and stunning performance.

Put the idea of "Kevin Smith movie" out of your head, as well as the notions and impressions that the cover / DVD art may give you, and you will see a very subtly brilliant movie when you watch it.

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

The joy of joylessness.

I only ever heard of Harvey Pekar relatively recently, and that was through something on tv about this film.

A really inventive, original movie about the everyday life of Mr Pekar, and his pursuit of the idea that those everyday happenings would be the perfect subject matter for a comic book - rejecting the idea that they should be the exclusive preserve of superheroes and the otherwise fantastical in nature... His creation: American Splendor, has since become something of a cult comic, and this movie, is about as meta as you can get...

...Paul Giamatti plays Harvey, and Harvey himself appears in this movie, often narrating, sometimes offering comment on the movie rendering of his life, and the actors, as they tell the tale of his development of this idea, and the events it led to, including the now infamous David Letterman show appearances, which then create a kind of feedback loop of life imitating art, and art imitating life, as his creation, detailing the everyday mundane, comes to reflect the un-everyday events in his life that the comic led to.

A lot of the real people depicted also appear in the movie, as well as the actors portraying them, oftentimes with moments of great mirth - my favourite being when actual Harvey is talking about sweets with his co-worker on a representation of the set used in the movie, but with Giamatti and and the actor playing the co-worker are seated in the background trying not to crack up at surreal conversation they are having about sweet flavours.

In all, it's the story about a man who doesn't buy into the whole fantastical world of comics, and in general, is a pretty glum, depressive type who makes this ordinary world a note of the extraordinary, but also takes a turn when he discovers he has cancer, and this whole experience becomes the topic of a new comic: Our Cancer Year.

The occasional comic book cell framing and the general surreal meta meta nature of the movie really makes this stand out...

(In particular, when Giamatti's Harvey is watching a stage play rendering of his comic about himself is almost a hall of mirrors experience for the audience)

...Yet has the same sort of vibe as Ghost World, and movies of this sort.

A really great, absorbing watch, and likely to inspire those who see it to seek out the original comics - as I am :)

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

The best of the bunch.

This was the last Cagney movie in the box set I have, and not the most well known (to me at least), having no particular notoriety for iconic moments or lines like White Heat, Angels With Dirty Faces, or The Public Enemy, but for me, this one is by far the best, most well rounded movie of them all.

Mostly, I think, precisely because it is Cagney's most naturalistic, subtle, and nuanced character and performance - not relying on meme-able moments.

This is a complete, and very interesting character - basically a good guy who finds himself winding up in the bad guy business - the hero cast as the baddy.

Again, I see huge influence on The Godfather in this regard, but instead of the young innocent Michael Corleone becoming ever more corrupted and lost, Cagney's character slips away somewhat, but ultimately recovers and redeems himself (although the good guy never entirely goes away).

Set against the backdrop of the great events of the time, it's a more intimate portrait of a handful of characters as they seek to influence the times, just as they are influenced by them...

(setting a personal tale / tragedy against great historical events is always the key to giving it a sense of the epic, in scale, and poignancy in my view, and all the best epic / personal stories do this - acting as a frame for the more intimate story being told)

...From the trenches of the first world war, Eddie returns home to find his job gone, and the influx of returning soldiers and the hardship of the cost of living, he falls into the less than legal activities which are made possible by prohibition, the Wall Street Crash, and finally the repeal of Prohibition, against which, his fortunes rise and fall.

And what with the other characters and the shifting dynamics between them over time, there's much more in this movie than those others.

Cagney is brilliant here, Bogart is an excellent bad guy, and the story is excellently told.

✔︎ Helpful Review?

Undeliverance.

I have a vague memory of this coming out at the time, and being rather dismissive of it, thinking it was just going to be a cheap, throwaway shlock-fest comedy horror... which it is, mainly, except for the throwaway part. As this has actually got a genius concept at it's heart, and does one of my favourite things in cinema:

Subvert the audience expectations and preconceived notions.

...Even use them to bamboozle the audience, and lead them down a wrong alley or two.

Most recently, Get Out was lauded, and is laudable for having done this very thing to great effect, but this has a truly great spin on expectations, as it uses the trope, the stereotype even of the down south hillbilly redneck types being weird, perverted savages as the basis of a misunderstanding between them who are the good guys, essentially, and the young and innocent college kids who go into their neck of the woods to camping, setting up what the experienced horror fan might expect to become a kind of Friday The 13th / murder on the lake slasher affair - and in fact, the college kids, who have this preconception of Tucker and Dale end up being the cause of the horror (mostly to themselves :), with their intolerant attitude causing them to demonise our heroes, and mistakenly set against them.

It's a horror comedy of errors, which actually could be Shakespearian in it's farce of misunderstandings, misconceptions and basically getting the wrong end of the stick (literally, in a couple of cases!).

But better than all of this, it's just great fun, and is a deserved modern cult classic.

It won't undo all the damage done to the image of our Southern American friends by movies like Deliverance, Southern Comfort, Easy Rider etc. but it must be nice for them at least, not to be on the end of a reputational kicking for a change, with a couple great affable guys in the movie to get behind.

Brilliant.

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

This is a bad movie.

...Not bad in the sense that others are bad - say, Showgirls, The Room, or something, which are so hilariously bad they deserve some sort of attention for their badness alone. No, this is just bad film-making, with a weird concoction of attempted well worn elements shoe-horned into one film and ends up doing none of them well, if at all.

On the surface, it's a kind of a quirky, misunderstood eccentric genius sleuth (Sherlock style) pursuing a serial killer who's deeds are menacing a city, except, Kevin Kline's sleuth isn't really that quirky, and the puzzles (when he gets to them) are so simplistic and predictable even a 5 year old could deduce them (no need for a genius anyway).

After the opening scene, with the initial murder, the murderer, indeed the whole premise is essentially forgotten about for another 45 minutes - seriously, you forget that there even is one! - and all this time is taken up by giving dubious and contrived backstory his relationship with Susan Sarandon's character, who is in this for some reason, and his brother, played by Harvey Keitel, who is in this for some reason (does absolutely nothing throughout), his new acquaintance / love interest with friend of victim played by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, who is in this for some reason, while his friend, played by Alan Rickman, who is in this for some reason, tags along... To round things out, you have two heavyweights of the acting world, Rod Steiger, and Danny Aiello, both capable of great subtlety and brilliance, trying to out-Nicholas Cage each other in wild, unnecessary, bonkers shouting and screaming contests, that are totally inappropriate to the given situation.

To make matters worse - that is worse even than the attempted slapstick humour, totally at odds with the noir-ish tone of the movie - the finale is, well let's say, so underwhelming as to to give underwhelming a bad name: "You mean I sat through this all the way for that!?!".

But it's principle sin, beyond the contrived, "designed" nature of the plot, phoned in performances by an inexplicably stellar cast, and it's general clunky oddness, is that it is boring... tedious, lacking any tension or dynamic, atmosphere or vibe.

...The only reason I watched all the way through was a kind of morbid fascination with it, like: "it's got to be going somewhere with all this, right?", and I was just entranced with seeing how it would tie up, and how this would all make sense in the end... It doesn't.

On the plus side. having found this in the Charity shop yesterday, I begin to see why some MGM dvds are hard to find now, or why you have to pay a little more on the open market for them, as possibly some 80% of the movies are, if not, almost but not quite good, then mostly awful (recent years releases anyway), and did poorly in the cinema, sold poorly on DVD etc. and so there are scarce any about, let alone will they ever appear on streaming services on this basis, or be reissued on physical formats by any major reissuer. Still, I can't help but have a growing fascination for MGM dvds because of it.

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Having seen Angels With Dirty Faces, and been more impressed than I thought I would be by James Cagney, I found a DVD box-set of four of his films - this amongst them... And it's a curious one to summarise my feelings about really...

...Right away, having seen White Heat just before this, I now see the pattern, dare I say : Schtick that Cagney was about - repeated themes of the troubled archetypal gangster type, what with minor twists and variations on that theme, and also, as an actor, repeated patterns of some of the most over the top, hammy and cartoonish acting ever, among other moments of genuine excellence (subtlety etc.).

This whole movie seems to be the same: Moments, indeed whole sections and ideas that are truly inspired and brilliant, among some otherwise generally awful acting, directing, and storytelling.

I partly put the "ouch" factor down to the fact that this is in talkies a relatively early attempt at such subject matter, and so a lot of the road maps and practices that would develop later just weren't around at this time, so the movie makers were at once "winging it" in being daring and innovative, but still within the constraints of more traditional, conservative, and even clunky methods.

Half the cast here either can't act a bean, or simply were not actors at all... just thought they'd "have a stab at it" - The guy who plays Cagney's brother is mind-bendingly bad, mumbling his way through lines in some stifled monotone, which would suffer by contrast to any other actor, let alone one of the most unique actors ever...

(There's a great monologue in this where a woman says to Cagney's: Tom, how strange and unique he is... how different form other guys, and it says better than anyone else can all that needs be said about Cagney himself - in fact, you get the distinct feeling, while watching it, that she is actually talking to him, not his character)

...And James Cagney is certainly that, you may love him or hate him as an actor, or sometimes, as I am both at the same time! - but he most certainly is perhaps the most distinctive, and singular actors ever- presence, and some powerfully compelling quality to him, despite all the cartoonish-ness.

The fact that this brother is almost a ringer for Al Pacino in The Godfather can't be entirely an accident though...

(He is even a brother of a gangster who joins the marines, and is even called Michael!)

...And this was my prevailing feeling throughout this movie, that I could see so many later movies of this type echoing right through it, that this has clearly been an enormously influential movie, and doubtless is where Coppola (and whoever wrote the Godfather book) Scorcese and countless others have taken huge chunks of inspiration.

So because of those later movies, you've probably seen all this before, and better, but this seems to be one to watch to grasp it's cultural impact alone, in terms of sourcing the origins of so much more that came after.

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

This is a monster of a documentary!

(And effectively a movie in it's own right)

Running over three and a half hours or so, it is brilliant at tracking the genesis, development and production of the best movie of all time, as well as it's legacy.

I'd never actually seen this, as I am actually one of those rare people who doesn't generally like having the illusion of the finished product spoiled, or my own consideration of it tainted by even the creator's realities...

(I don't like all the extra "stuff" that comes either on dvds or reissue records - demos, outtakes and the like - just give the final magic trick straight, and don't show me how it was done, and ruin the magic of the experience!)

...However, this is a feature disc that comes with the "Final Cut" version of the dvd, which is why I bought it, out of curiosity, as I'd always been resistant to this latest "cut" - being both sentimentally attached to the original theatrical cut with voice over (which I grew up with), and completely devoted to the later Director's Cut -

...And yup, the "Final Cut" ain't for me.

("I want more life.... F£%*er!" ... Not: "I want more life... Father!" - a minor quibble, but has more impact, and is symptomatic of a litany of things I don't like about this "Last" version)

((Using a lot of quotation mark here, aren't I!?! :))

Anyway, back to our scheduled programming... The great point of interest about this for me, is as it shows the development stage, how there were so many things original intended to be in the story that were opted against, but actually found their way into Blade Runner 2049 - So Villeneuve basically said: "Well, if you ain't gonna use 'em... I will!"

Requires a lot of stamina to get through this doc / movie, as if you are a Blade Runner geek, you can't pull yourself away from it, but my ass was numb from watch this, I've got to say, and was peeing like a racehorse after it was over.

Great stuff though.

(Just got to get my sticky little hands on that dvd box set now, so I can get that original theatrical voice-over cut again - must see it again!)

2 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Saw this in the cinema at time of release, and really liked it...

...Unfortunately, most of the rest of the world didn't very much, and so, it seems mostly forgotten.

It is probably the best "superhero" movie of it's time - way ahead in terms of production values and budget, and I don't think you would see it's like for almost another twenty years when the MCU started up it's epic journey. In fact, watching this again makes me realise that this is undoubtedly the movie that got Johnston the job of directing the Captain America: The first avenger movie - as it plays the old "retro" superhero movie to a tee.

As with CapAm, it has a powerful whiff of an Indiana Jones movie in the retro style - perfectly capturing that time period in look and feel, with a slight nod to Metropolis, with all that post Art-deco styling of the helmet and such.

...But this is not surprising either, as Johnston also worked on those Indiana Jones movies as art director, as well as later designing the Iron Giant in the animated feature.

It has a prototype rocket pack designed by Howard Hughes, which is being hunted by Nazis, gangsters, a Zeppelin, and Timothy Dalton as a quintessential British baddy, all fighting against the accidental Rocketeer hero, a local pilot who by chance, happens across said rocket pack, and decides to use it.

Great rip roaring adventure fun of the old matinee variety, which they just don't make anymore... well, except for the Indiana Jones movies... And that first Captain America movie... and it still looks great, and works well, both in the production, and the special effects, which still work for me.

(Incidentally, the DVD I got of this was a German release, which is merely called: "Rocketeer" (dropping the: "the") - not sure of my German , so stand to be corrected, but is this because the German rendering would be: Die Rocketeer (mildly amusing in English, but not exactly what the filmmakers want it to be known as).

2 people found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Exceeded all my expectations.

I am in the mode of picking up dvds of all those movies that have made a dent in the general consciousness over time, but at time of release, I said to myself... meh... not for me.

In this case, the whole ballet business left me rather cold.

...But, it turns out, that's only the circumstance, and it doesn't matter if you're into ballet, or like me.... not. As this is more a tale of artistic obsession, and the darker places of both mind and soul this takes someone to. It's actually almost identical, plot wise, to Whiplash, but with the marked difference that here, Portman's character is rather meek, oppressed, self conscious, and a but of a put upon lamb, who's "dedication" to her craft and the opportunity this presents to her, brings something more out her, by degrees... just can't keep it in people, if it wants, and needs to get out!

But, thankfully, you don't need to have an ounce of consideration or care for ballet, or that world to thoroughly enjoy the performance Portman gives, or the story told here... Just watch t for the drama, the character study, the tragedy and the psycho-melodrama, and it's really quite brilliant.

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

This is one of those quirky oddment curios that seems to have become lost to recent memory.

...It blends a serious dramatic subject and tone with an almost sublime, surreal fairy-tale quality (very lightly).

Blanchett plays a school teacher who seeks to get revenge on a drug dealer who's been pushing to kids at her school, by planting a bomb in his office... Unfortunately, the explosion kills a child, and she is naturally inconsolable at what she has done...

...Upon arrest, and under interrogation, one of the officers (Ribisi) begins to fall in love with her, and so devises a way to help her escape - but does she want to?

It's one that I caught by accident on tv late night once, that I found myself transfixed by, and curious about as it went along. Ultimately, it's become something of a favourite of mine due to those disparate qualities, which seems to make sense when watching it; The gentle pacing, calm, almost glacial feel makes it oddly mesmerising.

Great.

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Finally got round to seeing this, and not disappointed at all!

While the first instalment moved along in a more considered, and deliberate fashion, being more of an "establishing" piece for this world - it was more intrigue and politics, this has a more open, and free feel to it... more organic feeling, and briskly paced.

It's best to consider the two parts as like different phases of a chess game... The first part is the opening moves, positioning the pawns, and setting up the play, and having done that, this is where the real game begins, with the bigger pieces coming into play, with big bold moves, to make all that early work pay off.

...And while it is of course, a continuation of that the first part, this seems to have a tone, and feel of it's own, being, as said, more organic, and open feeling; A movie with more... air in it, more about a general atmosphere and movie environment in which the story takes place.

I said in my review of the first part (perhaps imperfectly) that a lot of the heavy lifting, as far as carrying the movie was done by seasoned established actors, in their roles, which allowed Chalamet to play the "scrawny kid" with weight of expectation on him...

(His role here, mirroring the character he's playing)

,,,But now it's time for the character to grow, and become what he is meant to be, meaning Chalamet had to pull more presence and a sense of strength, power of person, if you will from himself, in order to foreground the character effectively, and carry this movie himself...

Which he does brilliantly.

As those previously mentioned actors and their respective characters recede a little into the background of the story.

But alongside him. is of course Zendaya, and Austin Butler...

...Zendaya being little more than a general icon of the times to me (everybody seems to think she's the bee's knees for some reason, though I could never figure out why), although here she at last shows she's a genuinely excellent actor, in her role as foil to, and counterpart of Chalamet's Paul. Basically the heart of the story.

.....And then, there's Butler, who I thought was just going to be employed here to look menacing and give us a stock psycho villain... but has a more meatier role than expected. Granted, he is a nutter and a chilling menace, but is more prominent in the story than I'd thought, and he does portray his character excellently, giving a general sense of threat throughout.

These three are clearly the stars of the show, and I get the feeling, they are going to be the go-to movie stars for a generation to come - they are going to be in everything from now on, I feel, and that isn't a bad thing at all on this showing!

As far as plot goes, the first part had a much greater feel of intrigue and politics, and political machinations - more: Godfather than Star Wars, but this shifts the emphasis more to the religious / faith, and philosophy of what these things are, and what they mean, as well as their implications, and the nature of those things in and of themselves - and the tone, therefore, is more mystical as well as philosophical - More: The Last Temptation Of Christ than.. er....Star Wars.

You can, of course, go all gooey over the imagery like all the 4k Imax crowd certainly have, it seems, and certainly, that's all here, but the story is strong enough (and the telling of that story by Villeneuve) even before you get to that.

A movie to swim in, immerse yourself in, and be swept along by, by virtue of it's expansive look, feel, pace and tone... and truly Epic in every sense.

We now await the next part! :)

(Oh, and Florence Pugh deserves a solid mention for a solid, stoic performance as the Emperor's daughter, as well, an din particular, Javier Bardem, who gives a multi-scene stealing performance as a true believer, with a dry comic edge.)

✔︎ Helpful Review?

This has aged badly.

Haven't seen it since I saw it in cinema as a young'un - I thought there was more to it, and more of it than there was - I though Charles Dance had more to do here than is the reality.

...So one of those where time makes me mis-remember how good a movie is, or was.

Very thin, clunky dialogue, wooden acting - even Eddie struggles with the comedic timing here (probably knew the script was painful even as he was doing it)

Not to mention playing fast and loose with what I take to be Buddhism and using artistic licence to add some other hocus pocus to it is not something you'd get away with now - people just know too much about such things to know the person writing it doesn't.

A little bit wee, a little bit poo.

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Not what you'd expect...

...At least, not what I expected.

Given the name, and the cover images of a masked female assassin looking type, I had been led to believe this was something along the lines of a Samurai swords twirling, blood splattering, heads rolling Kill Bill type of movie.

Instead, it's a more slow-burn revenge tale, with more sedate cinematography, intricate plotting, and story-telling that takes it's time, all set to a classical score and some wonderful photography.

The basic plot is a (then) girl is forced to accept blame for killing a young boy she kidnapped for ransom, by means of having her own child abducted by the man who coerced her into confessing, over time, she builds a plot to take revenge as she works her way closer to the man, who it seems is not unused to child abduction.

The subject matter is naturally a little tough, and there is a lot of violence (torture etc.) and some sex scenes, but an "action" thriller it isn't, and in fact, it's all the better for it.

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

Cheesy, Creepy (now), but fun still.

(I can even forgive the Starship mega-hit soundtrack song...almost)

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?

A kind of French attempt at a Natural Born Killers style movie...

...And a fairly decent stab at one too!

Of course, NBK is, in the true sense of the word: inimitable, but this has the energy, and frenetic pace and wild visual and storytelling sensibility of that, about a semi-legendary bank robber / outlaw and his squeeze, and their merry band of nutty men, going up against a police unit, headed by a sadistic, psychotic copper, who is the real villain of the piece.

After only a brief, obligatory introduction to characters and situation, it pretty much jumps straight in, and bangs along until the end in a nutty, extreme cartoon violence way.

Not sure it all works, but it sure ain't boring!

very good indeed.

1 person found this review helpful.   ✔︎ Helpful Review?