cult film freak: August 2011

Written by James M. Tate / 8/29/2011 / No comments / horror , suspense , tens

DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (2011)

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ToM3Yq7irrw/TlvU8V4MO3I/AAAAAAAACMU/0TMTddlYX4A/s1600/28975235_.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5646340690969115506" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ToM3Yq7irrw/TlvU8V4MO3I/AAAAAAAACMU/0TMTddlYX4A/s200/28975235_.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" /></a> title: DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK year: 2011 cast: Katie Holmes, Bailee Madison, Guy Pearce, Jack Thompson, Julia Blake rating: **1/2 <div>If you’re five minutes late, it might be a blessing. The violent prologue, setting up the mansion, its original owner, and an unlucky victim – and then catching a silhouetted glimpse of the intruding beasts – takes away from the essential buildup thereafter. Director Guillermo Del Toro does a decent job introducing our characters: a father, future step-mother, and young daughter moving into an old house for restoration (although the constantly trolling camera is somewhat dizzying). Like the creepy but flawed seventies original, there are whispering voices inside a grate within the house's dusty cellar, and the girl, Sally… played remarkably by Bailee Madison…. is in-tune with the wraiths and their secret world (sort of an obscured, demonic Narnia), which she initially figures to be elves or gnomes.First-billed star Katie Holmes does very little, save for investigating the house’s past as Sally battles the tiny goons: resembling spider monkeys hybrid with silverfish… while Guy Pearce is the dolt that makes everyone stay put. While Del Toro’s mistake is showing too much of the computerized monsters, taking away from what could have been much scarier if prolonged and implied, he does present one extremely jarring close-up. Unfortunately, this is the only scene where our frightened protagonist seems completely vulnerable. But throughout the hit-and-miss, Bailee Madison alone garners enough sympathy for the audience to keep interested till the end. And rabid horror fans should know: this is more of a dark fantasy than the genre you're itching for. </div>

horror, suspense, tens

DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK (2011)

title: DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK year: 2011 cast: Katie Holmes, Bailee Madison, Guy Pearce, Jack Thompson, Julia Blake rating: **1/2 ...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/28/2011 / No comments / action , eighties , sequel , sylvester stallone

SLY STALLONE IN RAMBO III & RAMBO IV

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jfRw-2WyqoQ/Uvq3Gn8-GOI/AAAAAAAAc8Y/4edaBoEfnpE/s1600/Rambo+III+001frfg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jfRw-2WyqoQ/Uvq3Gn8-GOI/AAAAAAAAc8Y/4edaBoEfnpE/s320/Rambo+III+001frfg.jpg" width="203" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1988 rating: **1/2</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
RAMBO III: When the title appears, the music pounds energetically, leading fans to believe this is just what the doctor ordered. Then we begin with a really long-haired John J. Rambo having a stick fight inside an Asian club... 
 
There's a bit of irony as afterward, our buff hero helps monks build their monastery. Here's when Colonel Trautman (Richard Crenna) seeks his killing machine for a mission in... get this... Afghanistan. Russia's taking over the country, exploiting the villagers, and it's up to Rambo to help. Initially John J. refuses, that is, till Trautman himself is captured and taken to a Russian-run Afghan prison. 
 
RAMBO OF ARABIA is, for the most part, a ponderous film. Without a wilderness setting like FIRST BLOOD or a jungle terrain from RAMBO, we have lots of sand and no real change of scenery. After hearing exposition dialogue by a local sidekick, then a speech by none other than Omar Shariff, and all surviving a Russian air assault, Rambo rescues his mentor way too easily, and that's about it. Tons of machine gun deaths and the bloody stuff that made the first two work, but without the adventurous fun: Although there are sporadic attempts at humor as Rambo and Trautman go back and forth like Rocky Balboa and his trainer Mickey, but it's just not fitting here. And battling the evil Russians while celebrating the sovereign people of Afghanistan... talk about dated! 
 
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--uLYOC49doA/Uvq33nA9MoI/AAAAAAAAc8g/JyoiyOPKl0w/s1600/Picture+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/--uLYOC49doA/Uvq33nA9MoI/AAAAAAAAc8g/JyoiyOPKl0w/s1600/Picture+1.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2008 rating: ***</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
RAMBO IV: An eighty minute film, while quite rare, is a perfect running-time for 
action, especially one as violent as this. 
 
Super high definition 
violence can only be "enjoyed" so much, and this was a neatly 
entertaining blood & guts film where John Rambo saves a group of 
Christian Missionaries from an Asian drug cartel overseas... He goes in, 
kills the bad guys, and leaves. In this case, less is not only more, 
it's just enough.

action, eighties, sequel, sylvester stallone

SLY STALLONE IN RAMBO III & RAMBO IV

1988 rating: **1/2 RAMBO III: When the title appears, the music pounds energetically, leading fans to believe this is just what the doc...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/27/2011 / No comments / comedy , paul rudd , tens

OUR IDIOT BROTHER

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8sBIyx2Qmek/TlnVGSG70GI/AAAAAAAACL8/pTN2OnJ3GL4/s1600/My%2BIdiot%2BBrother%2BFilm-cropped-proto-filmcritic_reviews___entry_default.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5645777911802482786" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8sBIyx2Qmek/TlnVGSG70GI/AAAAAAAACL8/pTN2OnJ3GL4/s200/My%2BIdiot%2BBrother%2BFilm-cropped-proto-filmcritic_reviews___entry_default.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 153px; height: 200px;" /></a>title: OUR IDIOT BROTHER year: 2011 cast: Paul Rudd, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer, Kathryn Hahn, T.J. Miller rating: *** Imagine if the loyal, floppy family pooch became a human and inhabited the lives of its owners… Well here you have it. Idiot Brother Paul Rudd is an oblivious, kindhearted hippie sent to jail for selling pot to a uniformed police officer (entrapment, anyone?). When he gets out, he lives with each of his three sisters, all in various types of relationships: one married, one gay, one a single writer with a platonic roommate. The humor is subtle, and not always laugh out loud funny, but things get interesting when Brother shares stuff he’s learned about each of his sibling’s relationships: putting their love lives in jeopardy. Our hero’s hollow vibe, counterbalancing the neurotic personalities around him, works to eventually teach his siblings that he’s not the idiot after all. A bearded, shaggy Rudd (resembling Ben Affleck doing an L.A. Woman era Jim Morrison impersonation) paints this likable, quirky dude with an intentionally lazy performance, allowing the other characters, including an ex girlfriend keeping his dog hostage and a nephew in need of a real friend, to catch up to his breezy rhythm. So in this summer of big budget mediocrity, this kind of mellow idiocy works just fine, despite the sporadic cliches. And in not trying for greatness, it remains simply good, and thus entertaining, throughout.

comedy, paul rudd, tens

OUR IDIOT BROTHER

title: OUR IDIOT BROTHER year: 2011 cast: Paul Rudd, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer, Kathryn Hahn, T.J. Miller rating: *** Imagine if ...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/25/2011 / No comments / comedy , nineties , rebecca staab , sandra bullock , tate donovan

LOVE POTION NO. 9

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zHzMmshRM3g/TlaVsCZBtSI/AAAAAAAACLk/W8GfLxeKrNI/s1600/28%2Bcopy.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644863766744118562" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zHzMmshRM3g/TlaVsCZBtSI/AAAAAAAACLk/W8GfLxeKrNI/s200/28%2Bcopy.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" /></a>title: LOVE POTION #9 year: 1992 cast: Tate Donovan, Sandra Bullock, Rebecca Staab, Anne Bancroft rating: ** <div>The premise is witty and engaging, as are the two main characters but only when they follow it. Both are nerdy, disassociated scientists played by Tate Donovan and his (at that time) real-life girlfriend Sandra Bullock, on the verge of being a big star. Donovan visits a gypsy, played by Anne Bancroft, who gives him a potion that makes the opposite sex wildly attracted to the subject’s voice. He and Bullock first test it on a monkey, and then venture off on their own to see who they can land. The eventual conclusion is predictable: both will fall for each other, but most of the film has Bullock attracting rich men, including the prince of England, while Donovan, after sowing his oats, realizes he’s fallen for her. With gap teeth and messy hair pre-transformation, Bullock relishes in either personality – although her switch from ugly to pretty means very little since, having used the potion, the men would be attracted to her either way. But this is Donovan’s venture (he narrates as well) and the two best scenes involve a gorgeous single’s bar girl, played by Rebecca Staab, first shooting him down and then practically raping him; Saab’s multilayered performance displays every emotion in six minutes time. But halfway through, when a con artist hooker coaxes our lead, and all his friends, to hand over their goods… And when the gypsy gives Donovan a complicated antidote to snare the soon-to-be married Bullock… What begins as a quirky rom-com ends up a jaded, uneven mess that even true love can’t fix. (And watch <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rebecca-Staab-Fan-Page/241480391507">Rebecca Staab's</a> awesome performance in two great scenes.) <iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Fn2b2gYtLBQ" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="260" width="490"></iframe></div>

comedy, nineties, rebecca staab, sandra bullock, tate donovan

LOVE POTION NO. 9

title: LOVE POTION #9 year: 1992 cast: Tate Donovan, Sandra Bullock, Rebecca Staab, Anne Bancroft rating: ** The premise is witty and en...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/24/2011 / No comments / drama , emma stone , jessica chastain , oscar nominated 2012 , period piece , tens

THE HELP

<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rWv07CyWAzo/TlVNq4qZg1I/AAAAAAAACLM/1i5p8QDBbPE/s1600/the-help-31.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644503107138847570" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rWv07CyWAzo/TlVNq4qZg1I/AAAAAAAACLM/1i5p8QDBbPE/s200/the-help-31.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 166px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 200px;" /></a>title: THE HELP 
year: 2011 
cast: Emma Stone, Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis 
rating: ** 
 
<div>
A lightweight take on an important subject – African American maids in the South during the turbulent early 1960s, with Emma Stone as Skeeter, a journalist who decides to write a book on the perspective of “the help,” beginning with an interview with central maid Abileen, played by Viola Davis, and the chemistry between these two… the core of the film… is practically non-existent. 
 
A lifeless Stone seems more fitting to a High School dramedy – and in one aspect she is: since Bryce Dallas Howard, as the ostensible Hilly – embodying every ounce of racism into a single character – acts more like a campus bully than a spoiled Belle. By the time Abileen agrees to tell her stories, something practically illegal in the town, there’s little to no drive for the audience to be part of, nor a feeling the controversial project has any sense of urgency or deep ramifications. And Viola Davis, an obviously capable actress, seems alone in a performance meant as a team effort. 
 
It’s the side-story involving the rambunctious overweight Minnie (a role created to steal the film), played by Octavia Spencer, and dimwitted white trash Jessica Chastain that… in a few scenes centering on Minnie’s advice on cooking and life… embodies more scope than the bland mainline. And Bryce Dallas Howard’s eventual “just dessert” is so unrealistic and juvenile, it’s begging for the audience to cheer, “Yeah!” Director Tate Taylor’s agenda centers more on pleasing and/or manipulating the audience than to fulfill a significant story, shedding brighter light on the sway of the leaves than the storm that had caused it. </div>

drama, emma stone, jessica chastain, oscar nominated 2012, period piece, tens

THE HELP

title: THE HELP year: 2011 cast: Emma Stone, Jessica Chastain, Viola Davis rating: ** A lightweight take on an important subject – ...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/23/2011 / No comments / eighties , george c. scott , john g. avildsen , marlon brando , neo noir , suspense

GEORGE C. SCOTT & MARLON BRANDO IN THE FORMULA

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cu-cpyjTtM4/TlP3ZQLKSyI/AAAAAAAACKs/4Wxs4xm8uuw/s1600/the-formula-original.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644126771235932962" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Cu-cpyjTtM4/TlP3ZQLKSyI/AAAAAAAACKs/4Wxs4xm8uuw/s200/the-formula-original.jpg" style="float: right; height: 210px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 131px;" width="199" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1980 rating: **1/2</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
CHINATOWN without water, and not entirely satisfying, although there are decent moments as George C. Scott investigates the death of his cop friend, who was involved with a “formula” that has to do with… well that’s revealed in the second half of the film, which gets weighed down by too many conversations with characters being killed off right after revealing the secrets that carry Scott from one person to the next. 
 
The main problem is the lack of situations between the dialogue – more chatter than the necessary suspense which would make our protagonist seem in real danger. Marlon Brando plays a stateside oil tycoon, and while it’s fun watching him on screen – as he continuously purses his lips and revels in a shady persona – he’s doing an obvious performance. Once in Germany, where Scott becomes drenched in a Nazi secret (teased in the prologue with Richard Lynch), he meets a brooding, sexy Martha Keller, perhaps the most fleshed-out character. But fans of Film Noir will see her deception way before love-struck Scott does. 
 
Director John G. Advilsen strays from his colorfully creative styling of JOE and SAVE THE TIGER, and his latter, more popular flicks like ROCKY and THE KARATE KID that make you want to win at all costs. This lacked either color or stamina, and leads to a dull conclusion where all those conversations, some of which are genuinely intriguing, seem a waste of time.

eighties, george c. scott, john g. avildsen, marlon brando, neo noir, suspense

GEORGE C. SCOTT & MARLON BRANDO IN THE FORMULA

1980 rating: **1/2 CHINATOWN without water, and not entirely satisfying, although there are decent moments as George C. Scott investigat...

THE FANTASTIC FOUR (1994)

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xpNjmSWdHFU/TlP42v51HOI/AAAAAAAACK8/I39mx2TaHVQ/s1600/10243272_ori.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5644128377481010402" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xpNjmSWdHFU/TlP42v51HOI/AAAAAAAACK8/I39mx2TaHVQ/s200/10243272_ori.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 186px; height: 200px;" /></a>title: THE FANTASTIC FOUR year: 1994 cast: Alex Hyde-White, Rebecca Staab, Michael Baily Smith rating: **1/2 There’s something good within this Roger Corman made-for-TV movie, but it’s overshadowed by side-characters and situations more befitting to the Krofft brother’s universe. Not a bad thing in itself, but the actors playing this famous comic-book team-up had a lot of potential for a much cooler outing than this. Alex-Hyde White plays the assertively brainy Dr. Reed Richards, who, along with fellow college genius Victor Von Doom (with that last name, he’s bound to be a villain), attempt an experiment that fails miserably, “killing” Victor and sparing Richards. We then cut ten years later: Richards is joined by Johnny Storm, an over-the-top Jay Underwood, and one of the prettiest women this side of life, Rebecca Staab as Johnny’s sister Susan, whose childhood crush on Richards has carried over – and it’s mutual. And not forgetting Ben Grimm, portrayed with brawny charm by Michael Baily Smith. Long story short, once in space they're pummeled with mysterious cosmic rays, crash land on earth and while unaffected by that, they’ve acquired powers: Richards is a human rubber band, Johnny can make fireballs with his hand, Susan turns invisible, and Grimm’s turned into a Thing made of rocks. The side-characters include a band of thieving freaks, resembling rejects from the H.R. Puffenstuff set; two vapid thugs; and the black-masked Dr. Doom himself – way too much screen time’s spent on these while the titular superheroes, and their particular skills, are used less than sporadically until the very end: which rushes to a quick conclusion. Perhaps if there was a part two, we’d get more of what, and who, this movie’s all about. Either way, Reed Richards and Susan Storm have great chemistry. The Thing, although resembling a costume, works fine as a sympathetic hero. And The Human Torch, eventually morphing into animation, looks neat as he battles a giant laser. But all this should have occurred less than halfway through for THE FANTASTIC FOUR to successfully live up to its title. (And listen to <a style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/cultfilmfreak/2011/08/29/rebecca-staab">my interview</a> with Rebecca Staab.)

action, alex hyde-white, made-for-TV, marvel comics, nineties, rebecca staab, roger corman, superhero

THE FANTASTIC FOUR (1994)

title: THE FANTASTIC FOUR year: 1994 cast: Alex Hyde-White, Rebecca Staab , Michael Baily Smith rating: **1/2 There’s something good wi...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/19/2011 / No comments / action , fantasy , tens

CONAN THE BARBARIAN (2011)

<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oqsnseHzBG0/Tk9OYIr8YbI/AAAAAAAACKM/BjBoVKoLrOY/s1600/Jason-Momoa-in-Conan-The-Barbarian-2011-Movie-Image-2.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642815034674143666" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-oqsnseHzBG0/Tk9OYIr8YbI/AAAAAAAACKM/BjBoVKoLrOY/s200/Jason-Momoa-in-Conan-The-Barbarian-2011-Movie-Image-2.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 220px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 162px;" /></a>title: CONAN THE BARBARIAN 
year: 2011 
cast: Jason Momoa, Stephen Lange, Ron Perlman, Rachel Nichols 
rating: * 
 
After a pointless introduction by none other than the narration king himself, Morgan Freeman, we have Conan “born into battle” – his dying mother literally giving birth on a battlefield, and his father, played by log-jawed Ron Perlman, in no danger whatsoever as swords clack and blood sheds all around him – thus lifting his baby like “Kunta Kinte” and proclaiming him “Conan.” This is followed by Conan the Preteen, with a pretty yet snarling face, as he fights off growling aggressors but is no match for evil pillager Khalar Zym, who needs one piece of a mask to become… super evil. Long story short... like the John Milius/Arnold Schwarzenegger film, the baddie kills Conan’s sole parent, catapulting the of-age Conan: stronger, tougher but still just as pretty... looking more like Conan the Barbizon Institute… in seeking revenge against Zym, his henchman, and the worst character in the film – Rose McGowan as Zym’s gothic, witchy daughter. The action scenes are sporadic, filmed so close-up and quick it’s all but a flurry of flesh, impossible to keep track. And one character mentions the Barbarian’s eclectic past: slaying for fun, sailing with pirates, and being a renown thief. It’s too bad we couldn’t partake in these adventurous hobbies – like the original stories by Robert E. Howard – instead of being saddled with a pointlessly searing tale about our semi-muscular hero keeping a young, pure-blooded maiden out of the antagonist’s clutches. Jason Momoa portrays Conan like he’s imitating his favorite sword and sorcery hero from a cable TV series, which this entire mess is reminiscent of, save for the banal ultra-violence and big budget effects that, with little to no story backing it up, means nothing in the end. And a message to Hollywood: Next time juggle some of Howard’s passionately brutal stories into your next film – or adapt his only full-length novel, HOUR OF THE DRAGON… and you might just have something.

action, fantasy, tens

CONAN THE BARBARIAN (2011)

title: CONAN THE BARBARIAN year: 2011 cast: Jason Momoa, Stephen Lange, Ron Perlman, Rachel Nichols rating: * After a pointless introd...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/17/2011 / No comments / courtroom drama , diane keaton , eighties , matthew modine , mel gibson , prison , romance

MRS. SOFFEL

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--VQdSvfjOHw/UT_UHbQ8z2I/AAAAAAAAXc0/_XPKaNBAGjE/s1600/mrs-s.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="340" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--VQdSvfjOHw/UT_UHbQ8z2I/AAAAAAAAXc0/_XPKaNBAGjE/s640/mrs-s.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1984 cast: Diane Keaton, Mel Gibson, Matthew Modine, Terry Quinn rating: ***</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Somewhere between BADLANDS and DEAD MAN WALKING lies MRS. SOFFEL, a time-period melodrama about a warden’s Christian wife, played by a wistful Diane Keaton, who, while handing out bibles on death row, gets enamored with a slick, handsome folk hero, a young Mel Gibson soon to be hanged with younger brother Matthew Modine. 
 
Whether it’s true love, or the fact Gibson’s character (who sounds strangely like Eric Roberts) has a way of conning naïve women, the underlying passion between the polar opposites, with the gray prison bars between them, is an engaging buildup to the inevitable escape and, during the final act the trio: Keaton, Gibson and Modine, ride a sled through the snowy winter with Terry O’Quinn’s posse on their tail. 
 
The romantic aspect is somewhat thin – if Gibson resembled an everyman prisoner, would there be a film at all? But the direction, gorgeous cinematography and apt performances provide a spellbinding combination of style and substance, although there’s more of the first than the latter.

courtroom drama, diane keaton, eighties, matthew modine, mel gibson, prison, romance

MRS. SOFFEL

year: 1984 cast: Diane Keaton, Mel Gibson, Matthew Modine, Terry Quinn rating: *** Somewhere between BADLANDS and DEAD MAN WALKING li...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/16/2011 / No comments / action , donald sutherland , nineties , prison , sylvester stallone , tom sizemore

LOCK UP

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-00B0JBvYtN8/Tks4QE0ygyI/AAAAAAAACJc/jyCYhHLK3Y8/s1600/5037.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641664807035896610" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-00B0JBvYtN8/Tks4QE0ygyI/AAAAAAAACJc/jyCYhHLK3Y8/s200/5037.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 170px; height: 230px;" /></a>title: LOCK UP year: 1989 cast: Sylvester Stallone, Donald Sutherland, Tom Sizemore rating: *** Somewhere within all the corny, bombastic fare lies a cool little prison flick starring Sylvester Stallone as a furloughed convict with six months to go – suddenly thrust from a nice location to a really nasty one thanks to villainous warden Donald Sutherland, seeming out of an overboard science-fiction film. Sutherland’s cartoonish tyrant aside (with a personal vendetta against our hero); it’s Sly, with a Bill Conti score backing him, turning in his usual tough dude with a good soul character. And with the aid of fellow prisoners Tom Sizemore as a talkative exposition machine, and friendly Frank McCrae as the head of the jailhouse auto garage, he has some fun – befriending a naive and predictably doomed young convict while battling the big Indian from PREDATOR and 48 HRS: Sonny Landham as the joint’s formidable ruffian. But all sinks to Sutherland’s hammy performance – though perhaps the writer’s partially to blame for comic-book dialog like: “This is Hell – and I’m going to give you the guided tour.” Yet even the dumb stuff… as Stallone goes through endless mental and physical torture to eventually confront his enemy… is brutally fun to watch.

action, donald sutherland, nineties, prison, sylvester stallone, tom sizemore

LOCK UP

title: LOCK UP year: 1989 cast: Sylvester Stallone, Donald Sutherland, Tom Sizemore rating: *** Somewhere within all the corny, bombasti...

CLINT EASTWOOD IN SPACE COWBOYS

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wvJUGeqEMuI/Tks2-lx6mwI/AAAAAAAACJM/70CXuO7dSHM/s1600/spacecowboys.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="146" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641663407132941058" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wvJUGeqEMuI/Tks2-lx6mwI/AAAAAAAACJM/70CXuO7dSHM/s200/spacecowboys.jpg" style="float: right; height: 168px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 230px;" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2000 rating: **1/2</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
This film, centered on a group of tough old Air Force veterans who were overlooked as astronauts in the fifties and now given the opportunity to go to space, is so catered to an audience you’ll expect the actors to wink at the camera after each line. 
 
The premise is rather weak: a dying Russian satellite must be retrieved, which mysteriously carried a now dated guidance system designed by director Clint Eastwood’s character, a world-weary rogue sporadically described as “not as team player” except when it comes to his old team he gathers for the trip: James Garner as a laidback preacher; Donald Sutherland as a womanizing rollercoaster architect (the comic relief); and Tommy Lee Jones as a stunt flier, the most likable of the bunch and truly the main character. 
 
Prepare to root for the good guys... With one-dimensional jerks played by James Cromwell and William Devane, you won’t have a choice. And while it’s Cliché City as our heroes show their “Ripe Stuff” while training for the mission, these are the best scenes, covering over half the film and including some genuinely funny, and even touching, moments. 
 
But once they go to space, with the exception of a rather poetic conclusion (with the aid of a lyrically fitting Sinatra tune), it’s dull as watching paint dry – but some of the colors aren’t bad.

action, clint eastwood, donald sutherland, james garner, tommy lee jones, zeroes

CLINT EASTWOOD IN SPACE COWBOYS

year: 2000 rating: **1/2 This film, centered on a group of tough old Air Force veterans who were overlooked as astronauts in the fifties...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/14/2011 / No comments / charlene tilton , katy kurtzman , made-for-TV , seventies

DIARY OF A TEENAGE HITCHHIKER

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-taEZpPOrfs4/UtrmgTkpgmI/AAAAAAAAcgE/E2gakoigjGY/s1600/Diary-of-a-Tee-1979.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-taEZpPOrfs4/UtrmgTkpgmI/AAAAAAAAcgE/E2gakoigjGY/s1600/Diary-of-a-Tee-1979.jpg" width="136" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1979 rating: ***1/2</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
These girls just never learn. No matter how many creepy drivers try, or succeed at, attacking the four pretty friends, they continuously thumb rides to the beach. Well it is a ninety-minute warning against hitchhiking, which was quite popular at the time. 
 
Charlene Tilton stars as a seventeen year old whose struggling suburban parents, Dick Van Patten and Kathrine Helmond, can’t afford her a car. After breaking up with “Peter Brady” (Christopher Knight), she’s left to her own devices. 
 
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3A3GNtSb-ZU/URW1gjQ5rcI/AAAAAAAAWSY/SgWSNpANT44/s1600/hitchhiker-charlene-tilton.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="241" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3A3GNtSb-ZU/URW1gjQ5rcI/AAAAAAAAWSY/SgWSNpANT44/s320/hitchhiker-charlene-tilton.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With the late Dominique Dunne</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It’s a fitfully suspenseful timepiece enveloped by a wah-wah peddle CHiP’s era soundtrack – something you’d hear blasting inside a 1970's skating rink. And as the climax nears, one girl is raped and another is killed... 
 
After Tilton meets a dream guy with her entire rosy future planned… you’ll hope she doesn’t stick that thumb out one last time. Also stars POLTERGEIST big sister Dominique Dunne, who was tragically murdered a few years later. And prepare for a classic "twist" ending concerning child actress Katy Kurtzman, who plays Charlene's little sis. 
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charlene tilton, katy kurtzman, made-for-TV, seventies

DIARY OF A TEENAGE HITCHHIKER

1979 rating: ***1/2 These girls just never learn. No matter how many creepy drivers try, or succeed at, attacking the four pretty friend...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/13/2011 / No comments / action , adam roarke , exploitation , lynn borden , neville brand , seventies , suspense

THIS IS A HIJACK AKA HIJACK

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A7e5q4jmqPE/TkcylyPGkkI/AAAAAAAACIs/96ew0tWrROY/s1600/5635.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="320" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5640532683026502210" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A7e5q4jmqPE/TkcylyPGkkI/AAAAAAAACIs/96ew0tWrROY/s200/5635.jpg" style="float: right; height: 230px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 150px;" width="208" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1973 rating: ***</td></tr>
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Although it’s the underrated Adam Roarke who, as an unlucky gambler owing bundles to the mob, comes up with the plan to hijack a private jet owned by his ball-busting billionaire employer, it’s the classic heavy Neville Brand who not only steals the show, but heads the hijacking that involves the bullying of rich snobs, and a lot of other sometimes unintentionally hilarious moments taking away from the contained intensity that might have merited a better film. 
 
Brand makes each hostage sing children songs to make them look idiotic, and forcefully seduces their beautiful girlfriends. All the while, Roarke remains the more calculating hijacker, just wanting the plane, which is sought after by the bullet-giddy FBI down below, to land safely. And Lynn Borden plays Roarke’s girlfriend: it’s great seeing the duo from FROGS and DIRTY MARY CRAZY LARRY together again in a guilty pleasure that gets too sidetracked with eccentric personalities, often putting the titular heist to the background... Yet it’s still entertaining from start to finish, abandoning the mainstream thriller template for that of a gritty exploitation and ultimately synergizing into a combination of both.

action, adam roarke, exploitation, lynn borden, neville brand, seventies, suspense

THIS IS A HIJACK AKA HIJACK

1973 rating: *** Although it’s the underrated Adam Roarke who, as an unlucky gambler owing bundles to the mob, comes up with the plan to...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/10/2011 / No comments / action , comic book , danny huston , hugh jackman , marvel comics , ryan reynolds , tens , thriller

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE

<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T-fXfRXAjBQ/TkLVfyfGDUI/AAAAAAAACHU/nrurFa-OFGU/s1600/wolverine-x-men-origins-ps3-game.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5639304425526136130" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T-fXfRXAjBQ/TkLVfyfGDUI/AAAAAAAACHU/nrurFa-OFGU/s200/wolverine-x-men-origins-ps3-game.jpg" style="cursor: hand; cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 230px; margin: 0 0 10px 10px; width: 146px;" /></a>title: X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE 
year: 2011 
cast: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Ryan Reynolds 
rating: ***1/2 
 
Wolverine, the tough maverick from the X-MEN comics and films, gets his own flick, beginning with a darkly-lit prologue leading to an opening credit sequence where we see our hero, Logan, and his older brother Victor fighting in every American war: leading up to Vietnam where the real story begins, as the boys join a group of special-op mutants, led by the mysterious Stryker. As Logan aka Wolverine parts company with the troop, not wanting to partake in a pointless murder, he ventures alone to Canada, working as a lumberjack. Here’s where the best action resides as Wolverine dodges death by a quicker, more lethal adversary… who’s also his brother – and eventually gets the surgery to make him into the steely-gutted character we all know... thus his real troubles (and some terrific chase scenes) begin. Then, the third act is purely revenge-driven: as Wolverine seeks Stryker with the aid of the surviving members of his former troop. But Victor, played with venomous gusto by Liev Schreiber, wants his own closure, making him a great secondary villain, more action-based than the big boss played with haunting precision by Danny Huston, turning tricks up his sleeve and a plot to rid the world of mutants. Playing out like a fast-paced, gritty Western combined with a Steve McQueen-era war adventure, here's a lean rogue thriller that continuously delivers. And even when it basks in self-absorbed melodrama, it always returns to the kind of stuff comic book fans, or anyone who loves non-stop action, paid to see.

action, comic book, danny huston, hugh jackman, marvel comics, ryan reynolds, tens, thriller

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE

title: X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE year: 2011 cast: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Danny Huston, Ryan Reynolds rating: ***1/2 Wolverine, ...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/08/2011 / No comments / action , bruce campbell , horror , larry cohen , leo rossi , nineties , robert z'dar , sequel , william lustig

ROBERT Z'DAR RETURNS IN MANIAC COP 2

action, bruce campbell, horror, larry cohen, leo rossi, nineties, robert z'dar, sequel, william lustig

ROBERT Z'DAR RETURNS IN MANIAC COP 2

year: 1990 rating: ***1/2 REVIEW HAS MOVED HERE

Written by James M. Tate / 8/06/2011 / No comments / action , calista carradine , jeff wincott , karate , michael ironside , nineties

THE KILLING MACHINE

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zw5OfXhAuLM/Tj4MRCBkLEI/AAAAAAAACGs/i2BOUdjAlB8/s1600/%2524%2528KGrHqF%252C%2521jUE1I0%2529mELzBN%2528HkwnmYg%257E%257E_3.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5637957270255184962" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zw5OfXhAuLM/Tj4MRCBkLEI/AAAAAAAACGs/i2BOUdjAlB8/s200/%2524%2528KGrHqF%252C%2521jUE1I0%2529mELzBN%2528HkwnmYg%257E%257E_3.JPG" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 162px; height: 220px;" /></a>title: THE KILLING MACHINE aka THE KILLING MAN year: 1995 cast: Jeff Wincott, Michael Ironside, Terri Hawkes, Calista Carradine rating: ***1/2 An action movie involving a scorched hit man with amnesia who gets a brand new face. Sounds bad, but it isn't. Jeff Wincott stars as a hired killer awoken from surgery, given a task to take out a list of people who aren't exactly bad guys: including a politician, a reporter, and a beautiful, spectacle-wearing lady scientist. Wouldn't you know, he falls for the third target and can't and/or won't do his job, which he wants out of anyway. Michael Ironside turns in his usual tough guy performance as the crooked government agent forcing our hero back into what he does best, and for ninety minutes, he does it well: even when his "boss" becomes the final challenge. And when the bullets aren't flying, there's tons of fistfights and karate.

action, calista carradine, jeff wincott, karate, michael ironside, nineties

THE KILLING MACHINE

title: THE KILLING MACHINE aka THE KILLING MAN year: 1995 cast: Jeff Wincott, Michael Ironside, Terri Hawkes, Calista Carradine rating: **...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/01/2011 / No comments / comedy , tens

CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE.

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V2vXSAHUL5s/TjeWrfLAZKI/AAAAAAAACGM/bXXBPkSWDHA/s1600/Crazy-Stupid-Love-movie-image-Steve-Carell-Ryan-Gosling-2.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5636139132523668642" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-V2vXSAHUL5s/TjeWrfLAZKI/AAAAAAAACGM/bXXBPkSWDHA/s200/Crazy-Stupid-Love-movie-image-Steve-Carell-Ryan-Gosling-2.jpg" style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 168px; height: 200px;" /></a>title: CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE. rating: 2011 cast: Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Julianne Moore, Kevin Bacon rating: *1/2 Oh what a movie trailer can hide. In this case, a side-story involving newly separated couple Steve Carell and Julianne Moore’s thirteen-year-old son, so overwritten and unrealistically wise for his age, spouting pretentious dialog that seems like narrative about lost love and infatuation. And then the movie’s buried lead, the friendship between single's bar swinger Ryan Gosling, picking up one supermodel per night, and brokenhearted Carrel, who wandered into the place and can’t stop pouting about his wife’s infidelity. The best parts you’ve seen in the trailer or commercial, Gosling making a "real man" out of Carrel, giving him advice, pickup lines and new clothes. But that damn kid, in lust with his seventeen-year-old babysitter, who has a creepy crush on Carell and… so many distractions ruin what could have been a simple comedy, overshadowing the most interesting character played by Emma Stone, the one girl who sees through Gosling’s bullshit: eventually giving him some real depth. It’s just too bad this film has too many people to shed decent light on the ones who mattered, and that the audience paid to see.

comedy, tens