CHANNELLING LITTLE GIRL LOST TWILIGHT ZONE INTO POLTERGEIST

<div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DTKpcLjJHus/VWuk2-VUpQI/AAAAAAAAn2Y/74vM1Ddo53s/s1600/Picture%2B1.png" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DTKpcLjJHus/VWuk2-VUpQI/AAAAAAAAn2Y/74vM1Ddo53s/s320/Picture%2B1.png" width="220" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Writing on the wall</td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-size: small;">It's sheer luc<span style="font-size: small;">k when<span style="font-size: small;"> your</span></span> daughter vanishes, her <span style="font-size: small;">f<span style="font-size: small;">rightened </span></span>voice speaking somewhere behind the walls of the house, late at night… '</span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: small;">That is, if your neighbor just happens to be an expert <span style="font-size: small;">on</span> inner-dimensional travel, beyond capable to guide you <span style="font-size: small;">through</span> the process <span style="font-size: small;">of </span>figuring things out by drawing lines on the wall<span style="font-size: small;"> so </span>she can be pulled back to the real world, on<span style="font-size: small;">ce again</span>… </span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">And f</span>or those unaware<span style="font-size: small;">,</span> the <span style="font-size: small;">"</span>They're<span style="font-size: small;">"</span> in "They're Here" w<span style="font-size: small;">as</span> already around for two decades<span style="font-size: small;">:</span> <span style="font-size: small;">although</span> in POLTERGEIST that helpful male neighbor is a short lady with an intentionally grating voice<span style="font-size: small;">... A</span>nd LITTLE GIRL LOST, from the third season of Rod Serling's THE TWILIGHT ZONE, was written by Richard Matheson<span style="font-size: small;">, who <span style="font-size: small;">later penned</span></span> the television movie that would <span style="font-size: small;">get</span> POLTERGEIST producer Steven Spielberg on the map: JAWS is for killer fish what DUEL is for Mack Trucks, after all. And to connect LITTLE GIRL LOST even fu<span style="font-size: small;">r<span style="font-size: small;">ther</span></span> to <span style="font-size: small;">S<span style="font-size: small;">pielber<span style="font-size: small;">g</span></span></span>: the episode was directed by Paul Stewart, the butler from CITIZEN KANE in charge of <span style="font-size: small;">torching</span> <span style="font-size: small;">Charles Foster Kane's boy<span style="font-size: small;">hood sled</span></span>... Two were used for filming<span style="font-size: small;"> and, </span>years later, the remaining "Rosebud" would be purchased by<span style="font-size: small;"> Steven himself, a<span style="font-size: small;">n </span>Orson Welles</span> <span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: small;">fan</span>. </span></span><br /> <br /> <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;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ivMSeXbSMiI/VWtofEPdFmI/AAAAAAAAn08/cmKkfSg2E-A/s1600/Picture%2B2.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ivMSeXbSMiI/VWtofEPdFmI/AAAAAAAAn08/cmKkfSg2E-A/s320/Picture%2B2.png" width="217" /></a></span></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Little Girl Found 20 years later</span></td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-size: small;">So with Spielberg and Matheson having scratched each others backs<span style="font-size: medium;"> (DUEL gave<span style="font-size: medium;"> Richard a nice push <span style="font-size: medium;">as well</span>), maybe</span></span> a<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span>deal was worked out so the 1982 <span style="font-size: medium;">film's</span> frantic <span style="font-size: medium;">third</span> act could borrow heavily from what made up the entire ZONE <span style="font-size: medium;">premise</span>…<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span> </span><br /> <span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span> <span style="font-size: small;">Ironic that Spielberg would, the following year,<span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="font-size: medium;">produce</span> a</span> cinematic TWILIGHT ZONE<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">...<span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="font-size: medium;">T</span></span></span></span>he best segment being the William Shatner classic NIGHTMARE AT 20,000 FEET<span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="font-size: medium;">recasting</span> John Lithgow,</span> directed by George Miller, and originally written by Richard Matheso<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">n<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;">, thus </span>epitomizing his ZO<span style="font-size: medium;">NE contributor legacy</span>.<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></span></span><br /> <br /> Though not his best addition, LITTLE GIRL LOST is quite <span style="font-size: medium;">good</span>, providing a sort of cursed<span style="font-size: medium;"> </span>vibe throughout –<span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> edgy</span> turmoil</span> equally shared by father, wife, neighbor, unseen daughter and especially that intrepid pooch… Leading to a glimpse into the other side: a<span style="font-size: medium;">n out of f<span style="font-size: medium;">ocus</span></span>, celestial shadowland that might have been better left to the viewer’s imagination<span style="font-size: medium;">, more developed </span>within the contained Stage Play buildup –<span style="font-size: medium;"> tightly</span> written, acted, directed and allowing one of the best horror<span style="font-size: medium;"> <span style="font-size: medium;">films</span></span> <span style="font-size: medium;">to be made</span> (and then horribly remade) years later. Now that's recycling!<br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div>

eighties, richard matheson, science-fiction, sixties, steven spielberg

CHANNELLING LITTLE GIRL LOST TWILIGHT ZONE INTO POLTERGEIST

Writing on the wall It's sheer luc k when your daughter vanishes, her f rightened voice speaking somewhere behind the walls of t...

REVIEW OF THE SIXTH EPISODE OF HAPPYISH

<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://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Yxif2uVtFv0/VWvAkJsgsxI/AAAAAAAAn20/_xNKQ1ikExg/s1600/Picture%2B2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Yxif2uVtFv0/VWvAkJsgsxI/AAAAAAAAn20/_xNKQ1ikExg/s200/Picture%2B2.png" width="78" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">E6 Grade: D</td></tr> </tbody></table> Like the Prince of Egypt crossing the long hot desert, the sixth episode of Showtime's HAPPYISH titled "Moses, Helen Keller & Lenny Bruce" is a bridge between... not sure what exactly...<br /> <br /> Still, the impossible Promised Land is sought after by Kathryn Hahn's Lee Payne during a day of shopping... Meanwhile, Steve Coogan as Thom, her husband and overall partner-in-pessimism, is dealing with a new employee at the Ad Agency, a youngster thinking up a new campaign for The Wonderbra who could very well become his own Pete Campbell...<br /> <br /> And that's pretty much that: A conversational tribute to the art of searching and a searching tribute to the art of conversation. The problem is, there's really no light at the end of the tunnel, or any tunnel anywhere, really... Just open space as, after a Biblical rendition, Moses crosses over, guiding Lee through the mall... And how many times can he scream "Let my Penis Free" before the realization that this week's bland envelope has been pushed far enough?

2015, cable, kathryn hahn, steve coogan

REVIEW OF THE SIXTH EPISODE OF HAPPYISH

E6 Grade: D Like the Prince of Egypt crossing the long hot desert, the sixth episode of Showtime's HAPPYISH titled "Moses, Hele...

REVIEW OF CAMERON CROWE'S ALOHA

<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://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J36WkMw4NuM/VWngOyGiZcI/AAAAAAAAnzQ/NLho0XBF6hE/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J36WkMw4NuM/VWngOyGiZcI/AAAAAAAAnzQ/NLho0XBF6hE/s200/1.jpg" width="129" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 rating: 1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> The Politically Correct Machine has helped save ALOHA by venting complaints that there aren't enough actual Hawaiians in a movie set in Hawaii. Controversy covering up for an empty shell. <br /> <br /> First off, there's hardly anyone around beyond the primary cast, with the exception of a small village of… Native Hawaiians that, unlike the greedy white folk, are like “Indians” in Neo Westerns, looking to the sky with wisdom while those neurotic Caucasians race around like gaudy checkers on a plush chessboard. And what really needs to be centered on is how truly awful ALOHA is, in every regard – which might be an impossible feat since no other recent movie has lacked so much: including plot and character-development, two things attempted right off the bat simply because three popular and attractive movie stars appear together on the big screen: After cramming everything into a rushed introductory narration, we meet Bradley Cooper’s Brian Gilcrest, a maverick defense contractor sent to Hawaii – and yet we never actually experience anything he’d ever risked. Imagine if Han Solo were first introduced to audiences already frozen in carbonate... Tony Stark in a coma.<br /> <br /> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2Sg9RAeX87g/VWngThhhyFI/AAAAAAAAnzY/eTWq0_dQlwo/s1600/2.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2Sg9RAeX87g/VWngThhhyFI/AAAAAAAAnzY/eTWq0_dQlwo/s320/2.jpg" width="192" /></a>By his side, overacting to the hilt… an embarrassing, hyperactive attempt to <i>steal the picture</i>... is Emma Stone as Allison Nig, a spunky fighter pilot never once seen fighting or piloting. Hired to keep an eye on Cooper’s ambiguous shyster while they get lost in the "magical" Hawaiian night, working out a land deal with the natives, their Romantic Comedy chemistry is beyond awkward. She seems to be frantically auditioning for the “role of a lifetime” while Cooper blandly rehearses for just another paycheck: as if his SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK character overdosed on Valium, and went with it. Meanwhile, in writer/director Cameron Crowe’s usual low-rent Hal Ashby fashion, he throws in a collection of otherwise good tracks for no apparent reason: a jukebox playing in a barroom of chattering nincompoops.  <br /> <br /> If this pseudo couple weren't bad enough, throw in an ex girlfriend, Tracy, played by the always overly-angelic Rachel McAdams, and her two perfect Hollywood-Cliché kids, attempting to give our leading man legitimate background as a flawed-endearing human being. Yet no one is fleshed-out beyond idyllic chatter tethered to a buried plot involving a really rich guy (Bill Murray, wasting his and our time) who wants to launch a rocket... of some kind... to the local’s existential chagrin.  <br /> <br /> As for an actual story – there isn’t one. In fact, ALOHA is neither a popcorn time-filler, an arthouse comedy, a political/military satire or any kind of romance. By far the best character, involved in a humorous moment towards the end, does the audience a favor by hardly speaking a word, a miracle in itself: For Cameron Crowe’s dialogue has become so vapid, he should start making Silent Films… Let’s just hope someone else writes the title cards.

2015, bill murray, bradley cooper, cameron crowe, emma stone, rachel mcadams, romantic comedy

REVIEW OF CAMERON CROWE'S ALOHA

2015 rating: 1/2 The Politically Correct Machine has helped save ALOHA by venting complaints that there aren't enough actual Hawaiia...

ROCK VS EARTHQUAKE IN SAN ANDREAS

<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/-3mxAATY77DE/VWfyHzzgrCI/AAAAAAAAny8/YJv7skPzck0/s1600/Picture%2B1.png" 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/-3mxAATY77DE/VWfyHzzgrCI/AAAAAAAAny8/YJv7skPzck0/s320/Picture%2B1.png" width="160" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> The Disaster genre, ranging from EARTHQUAKE to TITANIC, relies mainly on two things: characters and... disaster. And they should be in that order because, after all, you can only invest so much on a catastrophe…<br /> <br /> That aspect takes care of itself, especially with today’s special effects, allowing just about anything to occur on the big screen – and in the case of SAN ANDREAS, the sky is the limit. Thankfully, the few humans on board are likable enough. And instead of setting up a normal story before being catapulted into turmoil halfway through, it all flows together, from one obstacle to the next. <br /> <br /> Dwayne Johnson is the perfect fit here, and as a helicopter-flying rescuer, he has all the attributes and machinery once the crap hits the fan – the Bay Area getting pummeled by more than just the ground shaking. Meanwhile, the coolest looking sequence is also the most ridiculously far-fetched, as our heroes venture off the land and into the water, facing unbelievable odds. Yet somehow, even Rock’s corniest devil-may-care lines seem pretty natural... <br /> <br /> The only cringe moments occur between his daughter and her two new friends – but their plight is connected enough to Johnson, who, along with an equally intrepid ex-wife, are the ones to follow through this relatively basic "save the family" action flick disguised as a big budget epic.

2015, action, disaster, dwayne johnson

ROCK VS EARTHQUAKE IN SAN ANDREAS

2015 rating: *** The Disaster genre, ranging from EARTHQUAKE to TITANIC, relies mainly on two things: characters and... disaster. And th...

EPISODE FIVE HITS RELATIVE HIGH ON HAPPYISH

<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/-R_WZvTgQDL4/VWKJZbYxi4I/AAAAAAAAnyc/ip_SVvm11bs/s1600/Picture%2B2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R_WZvTgQDL4/VWKJZbYxi4I/AAAAAAAAnyc/ip_SVvm11bs/s200/Picture%2B2.png" width="81" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">E5 Grade: A-</td></tr> </tbody></table> After four episodes of overly catering to those who, like Bob Dylan wrote, are at the point where negativity won't pull them through, HAPPYISH hits a highpoint, somewhat...<br /> <br /> That is, the main character, Thom Payne, ad man un-extraordinaire, is stuck on a stalled New York train on the way to work, and doesn't philosophize as much as experiences the doldrums in which his theories are often derived... Like finally witnessing what's inside the guy who goes outside his own pontificating box, and, despite the eclectic title "Starring Josey Wales, Jesus Christ and the New York Times," we begin shouting "F--- You" to Arthur Miller, the playwright whose DEATH OF A SALESMAN reflects Thom's nowhere job... in his mind. Standing next to Marylin Monroe, the epitome of a trophy wife, Miller deserves to be cursed at or they'd have chosen another photo. Meanwhile, co-star Kathryn Hahn's Lee gets stuck in a rented studio, listening to a man who lost his family to the Nazis. Herein, she's as bored as the audience. <br /> <br /> Jesus is praised obnoxiously, Clint Eastwood's Josey Wales is quoted quickly, and The New York Times is what people read on the train, annoying Thom to death and finally bringing this Showtime show to life. Funny that it took a dead train to get a potentially good ride on track... without even trying this time around.

2015, cable

EPISODE FIVE HITS RELATIVE HIGH ON HAPPYISH

E5 Grade: A- After four episodes of overly catering to those who, like Bob Dylan wrote, are at the point where negativity won't pull...

WEEKEND REVIEW OF TOMORROWLAND

<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/-8Z7eKOJRFRQ/VWA2sJJOLjI/AAAAAAAAnyI/Ce57OBYYixU/s1600/Picture%2B1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8Z7eKOJRFRQ/VWA2sJJOLjI/AAAAAAAAnyI/Ce57OBYYixU/s200/Picture%2B1.png" width="108" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2015</td></tr> </tbody></table> Veiled in sparse, mysterious promotion, TOMORROWLAND is, well, kind of based on the section of Disneyland providing a retro-reversed future, viewed through the awe-inspired eyes of the 1950’s when true Science Fiction reigned and dreams were storybook creative and Utopian deluxe. <br /> <br /> Starting out as a ROCKETEER meets CONTACT, we have two young heroes – first a brilliant boy who will grow into George Clooney; and then a determined girl who receives a magical pin to enter the titular location that includes a monorail (sans the rail) and other futuristic CG visuals, as if George Lucas created a live-action JETSONS... But Steven Spielberg seems the nostalgic influence of director Brad Bird. Unfortunately, as we’re detoured into a clunky road picture involving intrepid kids and banal villains, it's more of a limp GOONIES than a Millennial CLOSE ENCOUNTERS. <br /> <br /> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GCLEvdwdXwQ/VWAY8qu0jOI/AAAAAAAAnxo/OOlMHziccu4/s1600/Picture%2B3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GCLEvdwdXwQ/VWAY8qu0jOI/AAAAAAAAnxo/OOlMHziccu4/s320/Picture%2B3.png" width="114" /></a>The lead character, Casey Newton, has a “special” gift, especially heightened when she receives that device, allowing her to glimpse into a strange new world, introducing that splendid location teased upon before detouring back on our "filthy" present time. The action sequences are shot well enough, but there’s never a legitimate reason to go from one point to the next. And as Britt Robertson overacts throughout this big budget blockbuster, she's far better suited for sappy melodramas...  <br /> <br /> <a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wTiVX-VHOMk/VWAZCUiczQI/AAAAAAAAnxw/OAO4vnxW6hE/s1600/Picture%2B2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wTiVX-VHOMk/VWAZCUiczQI/AAAAAAAAnxw/OAO4vnxW6hE/s320/Picture%2B2.png" width="127" /></a>Not that our A-list George Clooney is that much better. Grumpy and lethargic, when his eccentric former boy genius Frank Walker engages in physical activities, it’s as awkward as the non-chemistry with his young partner – think Doc Brown and Marty McFly, on Valium. And from the very onset, there’s another young girl whose purpose shouldn’t be spoiled… She winds up taking away from what Robertson should have had: a genuine connection with Clooney. Instead, the trio, together during a supposedly pivotal arc, seem like they’re rehearsing for three different movies at the same time… and badly.  <br /> <br /> Calling TOMORROWLAND preachy, as some mainstream critics have had to reluctantly admit, is an understatement – and an insult to films with a more subtle/less overwhelming message intact: not uncommon in the Sci-Fi genre, especially going back to the Atomic Era 50’s. Yet the final doomsday monologue by Hugh Laurie, while reminiscence of Michael Rennie’s anti-nuke lecture at the peak of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL, is more annoyingly hypocritical (coming from Disney) than overall effective.  <br /> <br /> Too silly to be deep and too complicated to be involving, TOMMOROWLAND doesn't feel especially catered to any particular age group. Basically, director Brad Bird and co-scriptwriter Damon Lindelof have taken us for a long misleading ride. And the irony is... they meant to. <br /> <br /> RATING: *

brit robertson, disney, george clooney, hugh laurie, science-fiction

WEEKEND REVIEW OF TOMORROWLAND

year: 2015 Veiled in sparse, mysterious promotion, TOMORROWLAND is, well, kind of based on the section of Disneyland providing a retro-r...

THURSDAY NIGHT REMAKE REVIEW OF 'POLTERGEIST'

<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/-q_ultJhFZHc/VV7GxJ5OaTI/AAAAAAAAnwo/81qiNBsEjhM/s1600/Picture%2B1.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q_ultJhFZHc/VV7GxJ5OaTI/AAAAAAAAnwo/81qiNBsEjhM/w168-h400/Picture%2B1.png" width="168" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 rating: **</td></tr> </tbody></table> Well there <i>was</i> a theme park ride based on Steven Spielberg’s JAWS, so why not POLTERGEIST? You sit inside a tram connected to winding tracks, rolling through a riveting haunted house. Yet what separates this from any other frantic horror movie of the last decade is an evil clown doll… numerous clowns, actually… and a cute little girl sucked inside the television set. Hi Def... sans the Star Spangled Banner sign-off. <br /> <br /> Wherein the original had three complete acts, each a fulfilling story in itself, the new POLTERGEIST cuts right to the chase – and it’s <i>only</i> a chase this time around. The family consists of mellow patriarch Sam Rockwell, seeming more like a cool uncle than a responsible adult dad with his wife, two curious kids and one bitter teen… just like before. But this suburban clan act like they just met, lacking the ingrown chemistry before the haunting occurs and hardly earning the post-traumatic, devil-may-care attitude after the research staff, led by Jane Adams, moves in to investigate the paranormal emergency. <br /> <br /> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RF-Ir8fnj-w/VV7HdxHOSDI/AAAAAAAAnw4/-Uym1ikjtlE/s1600/Picture%2B3.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RF-Ir8fnj-w/VV7HdxHOSDI/AAAAAAAAnw4/-Uym1ikjtlE/s200/Picture%2B3.png" width="80" /></a>Like the unnecessary CLOSE ENCOUNTERS Special Edition brought us quickly inside the spaceship, this reboot takes us deeper into the ghoulish depths of the house built on a relocated cemetery. A nice attempt to learn the ingredients of all the bedlam, but without any explanation there’s no purpose to go that one step beyond, even when the usually-effective Jared Harris (reunited with his HAPPINESS lover, Adams)… a cross between the original Tangina and Robert Shaw’s tough JAWS shark hunter… arrives to clean house, literally. <br /> <br /> Not that there isn’t a fair amount of suspenseful jolts. It just wasn’t necessary to remake a cinematic experience that took its time to put the characters, and the audience, through an immense ringer. At a sparse 93-minutes, these people hardly suffer at all. The main clown serves as a cameo. And not long after "They're Here," they're gone.

2015, haunted house, horror, jane adams, jared harris, remake, sam rockwell

THURSDAY NIGHT REMAKE REVIEW OF 'POLTERGEIST'

2015 rating: ** Well there was a theme park ride based on Steven Spielberg’s JAWS, so why not POLTERGEIST? You sit inside a tram connec...

STEVEN SPIELBERG PRESENTS THE ORIGINAL POLTERGEIST

<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/-yYNgwr24hhk/VVqIfV1abHI/AAAAAAAAnsw/n5qIQtzGanA/s1600/1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yYNgwr24hhk/VVqIfV1abHI/AAAAAAAAnsw/n5qIQtzGanA/s320/1.png" width="205" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1982 rating: ****</td></tr> </tbody></table> Although executive produced and not technically directed by Steven Spielberg, who was busy with E.T. THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL, few projects have perfectly encompassed the successful and groundbreaking filmmakers' style and overall rhythm, while fulfilling his college dream of creating a genuine horror flick, as the iconic POLTERGEIST: beginning with a spooky introduction wherein a television actually… get ready for a shock, millennials… ceases programming late at night following the Star Spangled Banner – the screen becomes "snow" and a little blond girl, Carol Anne, played by the late Heather O’Rourke, is summoned from her bed, puts her hands to the static and utters the famous line…<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sHi5iM_tKzM/VVqG_cYS6wI/AAAAAAAAnsU/g7G8tHPXK1s/s1600/4.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sHi5iM_tKzM/VVqG_cYS6wI/AAAAAAAAnsU/g7G8tHPXK1s/s320/4.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">JoBeth Williams</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> Well you know that line, and many know the film already…<br /> <br /> A taut combination of at least two horror sub-genres, Haunted House and Paranormal Research, POLTERGEIST exists within the suspenseful collision of either, introducing the family at a newly developed semi rural suburbia, a pivotal character in itself…<br /> <br /> Craig T. Nelson and JoBeth Williams are cool parents of three kids, and only two really matter. Sadly, in real life, a few years before O'Rourke's death, teenage daughter Dominique Dunne, playing the temperamental and eventually absent teenage daughter, was killed by her boyfriend – catapulting the “Poltergeist curse" that unfortunately adds to the overall pop culture spell of the original vehicle and eventual franchise. <br /> <br /> <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/-19LZ7es64GE/VVqHeLwcICI/AAAAAAAAnsc/t_0ecqZBWQA/s1600/2.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-19LZ7es64GE/VVqHeLwcICI/AAAAAAAAnsc/t_0ecqZBWQA/s320/2.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nelson &amp O'Rourke</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> Behind the lens, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE auteur Tobe Hooper channels Spielberg’s lavish vision, beginning with random odd occurrences that are, by the ex-hippie parentals, mistaken as simply good vibrations at first… that is until Carol Anne vanishes into the television set, and then into the clutches of the house itself, which, by the time professional researchers arrive, has gone completely bonkers… <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q-vJmnwuZmE/VVqHqU1PtqI/AAAAAAAAnsk/ecw3y8CjlII/s1600/3.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-q-vJmnwuZmE/VVqHqU1PtqI/AAAAAAAAnsk/ecw3y8CjlII/s400/3.jpg" width="186" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Send in the Clown</td></tr> </tbody></table> Expository scenes where Beatrice Straight and her two assistants perform a sort of ghostly stakeout within the central living room, as Carol’s voice echoes through the shadowy walls, are both entertaining and educational – also showing how the family has become like seasoned war vets, hardly scared or even skittish after everything that's happened previously: arguably making up the best scenes, free from what would become a bit too much frantic screeching, exist within the mysterious and even humorous 45-minute initial buildup, which includes smoking grass, remote controls, sudden furniture stacking, and a dead parakeet... <br /> <br /> <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/-mvq6IQKWirI/VVqyHNLRcSI/AAAAAAAAntQ/rBQjnhcA_bk/s1600/3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mvq6IQKWirI/VVqyHNLRcSI/AAAAAAAAntQ/rBQjnhcA_bk/s320/3.jpg" width="162" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">No Bozos After This</td></tr> </tbody></table> And there's an underrated horror starlet in JoBeth Williams’ Diane Freeling, keeping a strong connection with her daughter even as scene-stealing, ghost channeling Zelda Rubinstein, as Tangina, a sort of mystic Columbo and the film’s most memorable cult figure, arrives: butting heads with Nelson’s stalwart father/husband Steve while trying to coax Carol Anne towards, and away from, "the Light"...<br /> <br /> But it’s Oliver Robins as young son Robbie Freeling, attacked by his infamous clown doll not long after a nightmarish tree grabs him into a menacing thunderstorm, who goes through the most hellish torture – that’s if you don’t count the guy who pulls his face off under heavy bathroom lights, supplying Tobe Hooper fans a taste of 70’s exploitation smoothly combined with Spielberg’s stylistic vision that earns genuine chills while avoiding cheap thrills, and eventually focuses on not only the house but where it was built, giving the tagline and famous dialogue “They’re here” a deeper meaning since, basically, "they" never left: it's the family that moved in. <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>

craig t. nelson, eighties, heather o'rourke, horror, steven spielberg

STEVEN SPIELBERG PRESENTS THE ORIGINAL POLTERGEIST

year: 1982 rating: **** Although executive produced and not technically directed by Steven Spielberg, who was busy with E.T. THE EXTRA T...

ANOTHER GOODBYE TO DAVID LETTERMAN

<div style="text-align: left;"> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9zATmAH6Y2M/VV2Wvf4kB4I/AAAAAAAAntw/mAWxsksw_HM/s1600/Picture%2B1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-9zATmAH6Y2M/VV2Wvf4kB4I/AAAAAAAAntw/mAWxsksw_HM/s1600/Picture%2B1.png" /></a></div> David Letterman's final show. He said goodbye after 33-years, which includes both networks... Although for some of us, 11:30 CBS compared to 12:30 NBC was so bright and shiny. Letterman was just too visible. On the old show he sort of blended into the woodwork. And he would actually bomb. More jokes fell flat because he wasn't a polished standup, he was... different. Better than the comics who relied their humor on the quality of the joke itself. Dave's jokes in the old days filtered through an aura of him not caring either way. Skits, too. Then on CBS: suddenly he got huge laughs for every single line, and it was like... he cared. He was suddenly a really famous guy instead of a guy laughing at really famous people. But hey, it was a damn good final show tonight. And the end of an era. Two, actually. And right now, the new late-late host James Corden is doing a couple things at once: bidding farewell to Letterman and, all revved up, imitating Jimmy Fallon. But that's another story. For the Millennials to figure out.<br /> <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://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8JNNgJD441M/VV2dIzxAxYI/AAAAAAAAnuA/ep1K3BHwjU8/s1600/Picture%2B2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="278" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-8JNNgJD441M/VV2dIzxAxYI/AAAAAAAAnuA/ep1K3BHwjU8/s640/Picture%2B2.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robin Williams on Late Nite with David Letterman and below a very unfunny unhappy clown</td></tr> </tbody></table> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/RhCxLr99QPQ" width="420"></iframe>

2015, TV

ANOTHER GOODBYE TO DAVID LETTERMAN

David Letterman's final show. He said goodbye after 33-years, which includes both networks... Although for some of us, 11:30 CBS compa...

JUDD NELSON IN 'MAKING THE GRADE'

<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://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4c8SrFG0XUk/VVk0KMaoCgI/AAAAAAAAnqs/rykSZ7LTISQ/s1600/1.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4c8SrFG0XUk/VVk0KMaoCgI/AAAAAAAAnqs/rykSZ7LTISQ/s200/1.jpg" width="140" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1984 rating: ***1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> A year before THE BREAKFAST CLUB made Judd Nelson a star, turning his energetic acting style into a focused study of teenage angst and rebellion, he played a similar character – only his MAKING THE GRADE hero Eddie Keaton break-dances instead of jamming an air guitar Cream riff; in other words, his rebellion is catered strictly for humor. Wild on the streets, he owes a bookie, Dice Man, played by Andrew Clay, and winds up taking the place of a spoiled rich kid: attending a prep school whilst hiding from mobsters. <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NjWnFe2JsIE/VVk0n50gbII/AAAAAAAAnrE/riChbIuvx44/s1600/2.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NjWnFe2JsIE/VVk0n50gbII/AAAAAAAAnrE/riChbIuvx44/s1600/2.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Judd and Jonna</td></tr> </tbody></table> That’s the plot in a nutshell, and GRADE, within this framework, packs a lot of hit and miss humor as well as likable or fitfully unlikable side-characters, throwing everything into the pot: from pratfalls to one-liners to stereotypes to action scenes, and beyond. <br /> <br /> <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/-uDvYAK4aqyw/VVk0vQObl-I/AAAAAAAAnrM/84g6pw2ftug/s1600/3%2B17-35-27.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uDvYAK4aqyw/VVk0vQObl-I/AAAAAAAAnrM/84g6pw2ftug/s1600/3%2B17-35-27.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Judd with Carey Scott</td></tr> </tbody></table> No surprise Nelson plays the part with gusto – though sometimes too much. Yet where Eddie’s urban-hip con artist stuck in the fledgling Preparatory academy tries stealing every scene on board, he’s given an ultimately thankless lead to people like Dana Olsen as, technically, the most important person herein...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7TaivnfVV5U/VVk06UarHGI/AAAAAAAAnrU/8EDfQeZ3luQ/s1600/4.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7TaivnfVV5U/VVk06UarHGI/AAAAAAAAnrU/8EDfQeZ3luQ/s320/4.jpg" width="146" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Judd as Eddie/Palmer</td></tr> </tbody></table> Olsen's Woodrow Palmer is not only a person, but a name with plot significance – for Eddie becomes Palmer as the real Palmer vanishes through the middle of the story, focusing on the misadventures of the school including a cool slob gym teacher Walter Olkewicz; WKRP big guy Gordon Jump as the passive Dean; Scott McGinnis as a conceited jerk; RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK Peter Lorrie clone Ronald Lacey as Eddie’s New York buddy; and gorgeous ingénue Jonna Lee as Tracey Hoover, whose father has a ton of bread, practically owning the school. <br /> <br /> <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://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nuUtk0SwdW0/VVk1Av_RGhI/AAAAAAAAnrc/o9hMnKsdGP8/s1600/6.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nuUtk0SwdW0/VVk1Av_RGhI/AAAAAAAAnrc/o9hMnKsdGP8/s320/6.jpg" width="233" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dana Olsen as the real Palmer</td></tr> </tbody></table> So opposites attract… the poor kid and the rich beauty… Only she doesn’t know he’s poor, and his savvy charm makes her smitten almost right off the bat, deleting any genuine chemistry and leading to overlong scenes between the duo.<br /> <br /> Corey Scott’s Rand is perhaps the most natural character, a resilient geek and the only student who knows Eddie’s, and Palmer’s, true identities: helping the first become a preppy while keeping the other safe from being sought out. Meanwhile, Nelson combats The Dice Man, who moves in with relatively serious threats, and when Dana Olson’s Bill Murray-like slob returns, GRADE hits an ensemble peak where the eventual turnout matters less than all the fun being had: Which, as we learn at the tail end of the credits, was supposed to result in a sequel called TOURISTA. Maybe because Nelson would hit the Brat Pack stratosphere, outshining any zany Golum/Globus produced followup, it never came to pass. And an important note… While Judd was street savvy here and in BREAKFAST CLUB, during the same time he played a dork “weenie” in an early Kevin Costner road flick, FANDANGO, showing his eclectic range as an actor – who, later on, turned out to be an underrated, underused one at that.

comedy, eighties, jonna lee, judd nelson

JUDD NELSON IN 'MAKING THE GRADE'

1984 rating: ***1/2 A year before THE BREAKFAST CLUB made Judd Nelson a star, turning his energetic acting style into a focused study of...

HAPPYISH EPISODE 4 SHARES A COKE WITH MAD MEN

<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/-PupTubN6W4c/VVmflBxl7dI/AAAAAAAAnr0/mO0PfIOR08s/s1600/809875326_8694518cb0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PupTubN6W4c/VVmflBxl7dI/AAAAAAAAnr0/mO0PfIOR08s/s320/809875326_8694518cb0.jpg" width="117" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">E4 Grade: D</td></tr> </tbody></table> The corny yet catchy commercial jingle that some of us grew up on, "I'd like to buy the world a Coke," where a race-uniting of spaced-out hippies sing a peaceful song about a billion dollar corporation's drink made of sugar and syrup for "perfect harmony", is of two-fold significance tonight: ending one show about ad writers and beginning another... <br /> <br /> Thus, forever gone is MAD MEN, and here's a quick writeup of the fourth episode of HAPPYISH titled "Starring Sigmund Freud, Charles Bukowski and Seven Billion A-Holes."<br /> <br /> While Steve Coogan's Thom Payne flipped off God the last time around, now both he and his wife want a spaceship to free them from a vapid world of... happy jerks. And with a side-story involving their brooding son bullied by a mean kid at school, tonight was unfocused, and not very profound. In fact, Bradley Whitford's grouchy Jonathan has deeper insight than Thom, and he's not even trying. Let's just hope that horrendous Coke commercial doesn't make an actual comeback anytime soon. Maybe, like with pop-up ads, the mere sight of it, twice in one night, will seal its fate, permanently.  

2015, cable, steve coogan

HAPPYISH EPISODE 4 SHARES A COKE WITH MAD MEN

E4 Grade: D The corny yet catchy commercial jingle that some of us grew up on, "I'd like to buy the world a Coke," where a...

LOOKING INTO THE WAYWARD PINES PILOT EPISODE

<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/-OY3UyutSHZ4/VVcFaN_TBdI/AAAAAAAAnqA/jxwn25gnDfE/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-OY3UyutSHZ4/VVcFaN_TBdI/AAAAAAAAnqA/jxwn25gnDfE/s1600/2.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 Grade: C+</td></tr> </tbody></table> Matt Dillon stars in WAYWARD PINES, and how. There’s little left for any other character since his Secret Service Agent Ethan Burke is so desperately alone, and beyond LOST... No not on an island but an idyllic small town ala Norman Rockwell; a sort of Mayberry existing in THE TWILIGHT ZONE. And with genre producer M. Night Shyamalan at the helm, you would think a few surprise elements would appear out of the woodwork – but the twists in this adaptation of someone else’s novel are already built in from the get-go…<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-smcPbwyIKm8/VVcGB95to5I/AAAAAAAAnqI/m0b2QwK216c/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-smcPbwyIKm8/VVcGB95to5I/AAAAAAAAnqI/m0b2QwK216c/s320/1.jpg" width="124" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Outsider</td></tr> </tbody></table> PINES has been compared to TWIN PEAKS since its very conception, but the Neo Noir aspect of David Lynch’s bizarre mystery is nowhere to be found, really, other than a guy in a stiff suit out of his element. Just a 45-minute setup where we met a few strange people – especially one particular nurse who provides the sole indication that M. Night is involved beyond the pilot’s meticulous direction: she could do a horror movie wonders, and Melissa Leo seems to be having a blast unveiling her creepy, campy, old fashion Alpha Female role.<br /> <br /> The pilot WHERE PARADISE IS HOME cuts back and forth with an injured Dillon… involved in a car crash on the way to investigate missing Secret Service agents, waking up in a sparse hospital without a cell phone… to his hometown where a brooding son and perfect wife stress on the news, while the Agency tries locating his whereabouts, in vain… <br /> <br /> But what only seems to matter, while a bleeding, bruised Dillon trudges around and finds no resources... except for Juliette Lewis's port in the storm... is the final establishing exterior shot that the show’s very own promotion and description already gave away, blunting any mystery that should still be lurking around every shady corner. For in a town as openly strange as WAYWARD PINES, where else is there to go? It almost feels like the magician revealed the trick too soon.

m. night, matt dillon, suspense, TV

LOOKING INTO THE WAYWARD PINES PILOT EPISODE

2015 Grade: C+ Matt Dillon stars in WAYWARD PINES, and how. There’s little left for any other character since his Secret Service Agent E...

GEORGE MILLER DIRECTS MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

<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/-4PtldQ2_6nM/VVWIkcfcvDI/AAAAAAAAnpI/QJRgiFLlTZQ/s1600/Picture%2B1.png" 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/-4PtldQ2_6nM/VVWIkcfcvDI/AAAAAAAAnpI/QJRgiFLlTZQ/s320/Picture%2B1.png" width="186" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: <span id="goog_475067870"></span><span id="goog_475067871"></span>2015 rating: *1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> George Miller’s original MAD MAX films might have broken too much ground since every other <i>barren landscape within a post-Apocalyptic</i> action vehicle is compared to the source – and here’s a reboot by the man himself, perhaps bringing something fresh to the dilapidated table...<br /> <br /> Well the action scenes are done all right, and the direction is quick and tense. But the characters… including MAX himself, cursed with sudden flashbacks to partially explain his brute-like mannerisms and Charlize Theron’s Imperator Furiosa, equally bad ass and a far better driver… are about as important as avatars controlled on a noisy video game.<br /> <br /> The score seems intentionally melodramatic, encapsulating a grandiose old school epic vibe, trying way too hard for genuine cult status – treating our heroes like they’ve earned their thick skin without being fleshed out beyond cool weaponry and nostalgic roots – FURY ROAD actually feels more like a second film following a proper introduction. Meanwhile, the tyrannical main villain looks straight out of a HE-MAN cartoon, and the only hint of a plot evolves around beautiful slaves being protected from his banal wrath.    <br /> <br /> Technically, a ROAD is a particular section of a larger area that takes you down one specific lane, but FURY has too much open space where everything is going on while absolutely nothing happens, back and forth, in either direction. 

2015, action, charlize theron, george miller, reboot, tom hardy

GEORGE MILLER DIRECTS MAD MAX: FURY ROAD

year: 2015 rating: *1/2 George Miller’s original MAD MAX films might have broken too much ground since every other barren landscape with...

MAKING TRAGIC CAMPY NOIR SENSE OF TOMMY WISEAU'S THE ROOM

<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://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3EetNrc6FuM/VUuU826kiNI/AAAAAAAAnj4/lTbyUgS_66M/s1600/Picture%2B2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3EetNrc6FuM/VUuU826kiNI/AAAAAAAAnj4/lTbyUgS_66M/s1600/Picture%2B2.png" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2003 Grade: F Camp Value: A</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> Gotta give credit to writer/director/actor/producer Tommy Wiseau. He paid tribute to Orson Welles from a different source than Fred Flintstone, Bruce Lee, Woody Allen and many others have – for there’s no LADY FROM SHANGHAI trick-mirror homage in THE ROOM, considered the “CITIZEN KANE of bad movies"...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eSPN9uQGnqc/VUuVnQAhiUI/AAAAAAAAnkI/Wz7z1UpgQVA/s1600/2c6fb41e-f62e-49c3-8485-dd1a3d95fd8d.PNG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eSPN9uQGnqc/VUuVnQAhiUI/AAAAAAAAnkI/Wz7z1UpgQVA/s320/2c6fb41e-f62e-49c3-8485-dd1a3d95fd8d.PNG" width="170" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Original Smashing Tantrum</td></tr> </tbody></table> Whether he admits it or not, it’s Charles Foster Kane that Tommy imitates at the end of his disastrously brilliant independent film turned accidental cult phenomenon, destroying the titular pad during his dramatic tantrum caused by betrayal and heartache. And while Orson was beginning what would be a maligned yet brilliant career as a director, actor, and voice-over artist, Tommy Wiseau obviously needed to get himself... including long dyed black hair, a short muscular body and a severely limited acting talent hindered further by what sounds like an Austrian accent... onto the big screen, to simply prove his worth as a cinematic presence since he probably would never be hired otherwise: Make your own ground if you can’t stand on theirs... He was buying the stairway to Hollywood.  <br /> <br /> Thus THE ROOM, if anything else, is more of an attempted Acting Reel for the sake of the leading man… Outright propaganda for Tommy as well as a showcase for his celebrated character, Johnny, a banker who lives in a San Francisco loft with a cheating fiancé, Lisa, played by Juliette Danielle, a sultry vixen with the prowess of an evil femme fatalle, having a steamy affair with Johnny’s Best Friend...<br /> <br /> <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://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pumngWpssB4/VUvw6NPgenI/AAAAAAAAnkg/f8v6zTjM3Ic/s1600/Picture%2B1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pumngWpssB4/VUvw6NPgenI/AAAAAAAAnkg/f8v6zTjM3Ic/s1600/Picture%2B1.png" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greg Sestero as Mark</td></tr> </tbody></table> Enter the vulnerable male co-lead, Mark, and Greg Sestero looks the most like an actor. The character is a sheepish dolt yet wolfishly cheats with his best friend’s girl, shifting the genuine vulnerability to Wiseau’s Johnny as both dudes share Lisa in abundant sex scenes, taking up a good percentage of screen time – light "porn" without penetration scored by a glossy soundtrack while every scene, sensual or otherwise, provides a gateway of San Fran B-Roll shots that are totally random and hardly Establishing. <br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_2oKhGU_Aao/VUv0l-XUcTI/AAAAAAAAnlY/RveTnVnL7Hw/s1600/Picture%2B1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_2oKhGU_Aao/VUv0l-XUcTI/AAAAAAAAnlY/RveTnVnL7Hw/s200/Picture%2B1.png" width="83" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lisa in hot red</td></tr> </tbody></table> Other characters that fill a... dare it be said... Film Noir template include a young guy (or old boy) with the heart of gold peaking into the dark side, exhibiting a creepy penchant for his mentor’s girl… That being Denny, a pseudo drug-addict who looks around thirty but is a teenager Johnny's paying through college, making random "TV sitcom neighbor" type appearances that further establishes our shaggy hero as an extremely super fella. In fact, Johnny is spoken of endlessly. Even when Tommy “the actor” isn’t on screen, entering and exiting like a stiff muscular "Mollusk" (quoting Rifftraxx), or throwing a football around with his buddies, he’s talked about by Lisa and her food-fetish best girl-friend, her lively dying mother, and of course, her lover i.e. Johnny's guilt-tortured best friend…<br /> <br /> <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/-TQW-00i3lB4/VUvxlrfpoWI/AAAAAAAAnkw/I5lPUVh_tTY/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TQW-00i3lB4/VUvxlrfpoWI/AAAAAAAAnkw/I5lPUVh_tTY/s200/2.jpg" width="175" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Welles as Lime</td></tr> </tbody></table> So when Johnny does breeze in, Wiseau’s East European accent makes the character that much intriguing, bizarre, and undeniably classic. And while Johnny is the main character <i>and</i> the plot-driving, expository McGuffin of his own tepid tale... looking forward to an upcoming wedding and celebrating his surprise birthday party while being cheated on... he’s also his own special guest star throughout, making him more of an anticipated off-screen THIRD MAN Harry Lime than main player Charles Foster Kane: after all the promotion, his eventual input means everything.  <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L_F3QnSAvU4/VUvxsvnuGdI/AAAAAAAAnk4/AxCU4etnjuU/s1600/3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-L_F3QnSAvU4/VUvxsvnuGdI/AAAAAAAAnk4/AxCU4etnjuU/s1600/3.png" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Frankly, Lisa..."</td></tr> </tbody></table> Thus, Lisa is really the true leading role: She alone holds all the cards, and is playing the deck in a twisted, cunning, mischievous fashion… Like all evil Noir dames, there’s no limit to her meticulous venom. It might be Johnny’s ROOM, but it’s really Lisa’s agenda-driven ride. In fact, while Tommy's influences border on Orson Welles and James Dean (his words), Lisa, at the very end, becomes a sort of millennial Scarlet O'Hara... Her 11th hour desperation could have led Mark to spout the famous Clark Gable damning farewell, and it would have fit.  <br /> <br /> <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/-0KjT6j4mhr0/VUvx1GyGsSI/AAAAAAAAnlA/Jqmgk-77gkA/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0KjT6j4mhr0/VUvx1GyGsSI/AAAAAAAAnlA/Jqmgk-77gkA/s200/1.jpg" width="161" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Official Room Blu Ray</td></tr> </tbody></table> And so, whatever Wiseau attempted with THE ROOM is unclear. Like the Italian director of TROLL 2, Tommy insists his film was meant for laughs so basically – all this poking-fun-at was intended all along. But it just doesn’t seem like a vehicle that’s <i>in on</i> its own joke and punchline. The extremely serious melodramatic manner in which the actors throw uneven dialogue around, including tormented breakdowns along with an omnipresent heated sexual tension and intense male bonding...<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UOpvwzdbL0s/VVEqE9NpGuI/AAAAAAAAnok/qjI919OWOtg/s1600/Picture%2B1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UOpvwzdbL0s/VVEqE9NpGuI/AAAAAAAAnok/qjI919OWOtg/s1600/Picture%2B1.png" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Having a Ball</td></tr> </tbody></table> If this were in fact a “black comedy” like the man himself insists, it would not have been this “good” because frankly, there’s nothing funny about THE ROOM; at least not on purpose. Like mentioned earlier, it all seems an outright, contrived attempt to make Wiseau a bonafide movie star; and if that failed than writer, producer, or director credit would do...  <br /> <br /> And perhaps he was trying to tell us something within the story itself, about himself: Greg Sestero’s Mark, the more conventional, better-looking pretty boy, is preferred by Johnny's own fiancé, whom he lives with and will (eventually want to) die for: So maybe Lisa’s character represents the Hollywood industry, preferring the cookie-cutter American babe to a beefy, bizarre Euro stud? Either way, without Tommy Wiseau's insanely original style, and everything else he brings to the table, there would be no ROOM at all. For he not only made this movie, he completely makes it. And we can only hope and pray TW attempts to write another serious art film. So far, he's playing into the wacky costume bestowed upon by his accidental aftermath as a pop culture bad movie court jester. But it's when he tries... way too hard... to be legitimate: therein the true glory lies.   <br /> <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://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oaTcjECpXWw/VUv2K5AuvfI/AAAAAAAAnlo/rQhXKNi__Ek/s1600/Picture%2B2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="170" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oaTcjECpXWw/VUv2K5AuvfI/AAAAAAAAnlo/rQhXKNi__Ek/s640/Picture%2B2.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Welles to Wiseau, we celebrate all those brave enough to make a film... <i>any</i> film!</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aYRydundnt8" width="560"></iframe>

2015, indie

MAKING TRAGIC CAMPY NOIR SENSE OF TOMMY WISEAU'S THE ROOM

2003 Grade: F Camp Value: A Gotta give credit to writer/director/actor/producer Tommy Wiseau. He paid tribute to Orson Welles from a d...

GLIMPSE INTO THE THIRD EPISODE OF HAPPYISH

<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://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w_E1G29tqP4/VVAT2_foCjI/AAAAAAAAnn4/XWUrVqTw90w/s1600/image_background_129.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w_E1G29tqP4/VVAT2_foCjI/AAAAAAAAnn4/XWUrVqTw90w/s320/image_background_129.jpg" width="135" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">E3 Grade: C</td></tr> </tbody></table> Not long ago, a short little movie on You Tube got a lot of religious people miffed, and a few important Americans had to apologize – profusely!<br /> <br /> Well thank goodness, no apologies are needed in <i>this</i> country: as the pop culture loathed Christian God and Jesus get pummeled literally to death in this week’s HAPPYISH starring Steve Coogan as an ad man who, with a very sick son and a curse of being perpetually Catholic, gives the Big G the middle finger and can’t stop… protesting way too much…<br /> <br /> <a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rbR_EGSQu9g/VVAXiTVf7rI/AAAAAAAAnoE/V4kuKMOyB8A/s1600/Picture%2B1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rbR_EGSQu9g/VVAXiTVf7rI/AAAAAAAAnoE/V4kuKMOyB8A/s320/Picture%2B1.png" width="147" /></a>Though most of the third episode, titled "Starring Vladimir Nabokov, Hippocrates and God" remains in the ad office where the group's about to lose a big client… An insurance company wanting to be more like Geico and the other funny commercials. At one point, as the cute Geico Gecko is stalking the brooding, miserable Coogan, the little green guy says, "It's only tragedy if you don't see the comedy.” Which can sum up this particular episode, and the entire HAPPYISH series thus far: It's not funny, on purpose, which seems intentional... or something.  <br /> <br /> What’s really needed are a few characters not so similar to the main man, sounding as if Woody Allen were channeling through MAD MEN Don Draper, in a vacuum. Without some kind of counterbalance, he's way too lazy and comfortable in his own shared... MISERY. Speaking of... Special guest star Rob Reiner, pretentiously rehearse-directing a bad commercial, looks surprisingly fit. Yet even his nostalgic energy can't bring the level higher than lethargically mediocre, at best.

2015, cable, steve coogan

GLIMPSE INTO THE THIRD EPISODE OF HAPPYISH

E3 Grade: C Not long ago, a short little movie on You Tube got a lot of religious people miffed, and a few important Americans had to ap...

REESE WITHERSPOON IN HOT PURSUIT

<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/-VUeeOkaTkAU/VU5OLYcsTUI/AAAAAAAAnmw/7Iq0lANZtw0/s1600/Picture%2B1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VUeeOkaTkAU/VU5OLYcsTUI/AAAAAAAAnmw/7Iq0lANZtw0/s200/Picture%2B1.png" width="133" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 rating: *</td></tr> </tbody></table> Seeming like Holly Hunter from RAISING ARIZONA combined with Sally Field had she tried out her own Burt Reynolds style road comedy, another short and spunky Oscar winner, Reese Witherspoon, puts on a noticeably fake “Good Old Girl” accent and goes so overboard, you would think she was rehearsing for an SNL skit that didn’t stretch into 90 long minutes. <br /> <br /> Her unlucky, by-the-book Cooper is so uptight that, like Sandra Bullock in THE HEAT, she’s begging to be brought down to Earth… Which is where Sofía Vergara’s Daniella Riva comes in… but not very handy. <br /> <br /> Befitting the "reluctant buddy flick" template, the hyperactive Cooper and the tough Riva are polar opposites… the cop protecting the wife of a gangster who was supposed to testify, and with two bad Feds on their trail… yet they can’t stop talking to and at each other, making HOT PURSUIT a vapid competition where both actresses, and the audience, lose.

2015, comedy, reese witherspoon, road movie, team-up

REESE WITHERSPOON IN HOT PURSUIT

2015 rating: * Seeming like Holly Hunter from RAISING ARIZONA combined with Sally Field had she tried out her own Burt Reynolds style ro...

JACK BLACK AND JAMES MARSDEN IN THE D TRAIN

<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/-H__SGzj2o8I/VUxtQmSCkTI/AAAAAAAAnl8/hS2pb8Ozs5I/s1600/MZ5WT9D.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/-H__SGzj2o8I/VUxtQmSCkTI/AAAAAAAAnl8/hS2pb8Ozs5I/s200/MZ5WT9D.jpg" width="135" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 rating: *1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Scenes in the trailer (and the poster image), where Jack Black’s former high school loser parties down with James Marsden’s popular cool guy at their class reunion, come and go in an 11th hour flash, and mean very little in one of the most falsely advertised motion pictures ever made: </span><br /> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">After a dry set-up involving Black seeking Marsden in Los Angeles, as his wife and son thinks he's on a business trip, leads to a shocking twist that’s buried in the promotion for two reasons: It might take away from those yearning for Jack to regain the comedy crown from the Zach Galifianakis and Josh Gad types who stole his funny fat guy thunder years ago. And for anyone who actually paid to see a comedy, you might want to hold on to their cash, or waste it on this weekend's other banal buddy flick, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2015/05/hot-pursuit-RW.html">HOT PURSUIT</a>, which is THE GODFATHER in comparison. The overall execution of what we do get from THE D TRAIN is awkward, slow-paced, and buries a vacant plot that suffers a bigger identity crisis than the dull and pointless main character.</span>

2015, buddy, comedy, jack black, james marsden

JACK BLACK AND JAMES MARSDEN IN THE D TRAIN

2015 rating: *1/2 Scenes in the trailer (and the poster image), where Jack Black’s former high school loser parties down with James Mars...

JAKOB SALVATI STARRING IN LITTLE BOY

<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/-STiwTArurNw/VUpoPx4GYlI/AAAAAAAAnjU/qZtv0KsCgz0/s1600/1.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/-STiwTArurNw/VUpoPx4GYlI/AAAAAAAAnjU/qZtv0KsCgz0/s200/1.jpg" width="135" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 rating: ****</td></tr> </tbody></table> An instant backlash against LITTLE BOY occurred for being religious propaganda, yet there’s loads of mysticism while the most helpful character is downright Atheist. And years ago, <i>two</i> nice priests helped a kid in THE EXORCIST... <br /> <br /> Although Jakob Salvati’s 8-year-old Pepper Flynt Busbee aka Little Boy, who could suffer from “Dwarfism” and really wants his MIA father to return from the Pacific during World War II, is his own person, completely.<br /> <br /> Local priest Olivier, played by the always-dependable Tom Wilkinson, gives Boy a list: things that could help his own faith and to possibly get dad back home… The list itself not only serves as a plotline but includes suspenseful elements – the audience not sure who will be the person to befriend, to feed, and most important, to bury. <br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jYTyCuCgS3w/VUpoT-f916I/AAAAAAAAnjc/Omwl0Sz-4Lw/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jYTyCuCgS3w/VUpoT-f916I/AAAAAAAAnjc/Omwl0Sz-4Lw/s200/2.jpg" width="133" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poster Art</td></tr> </tbody></table> From Tatum O’Neal to Justin Henry to Anna Paquin to Haley Joel Osment to Quvenzhané Wallis, Hollywood has nominated and/or handed the Oscar to young people, and if Jakob isn't included – something's very wrong. The kid not only steals the movie, he completely owns it. With sad blue eyes conflicting with a stubborn, feisty determination lost in a world-weary haze, it's Boy verses everyone; particularly a menacing bully. The most creative scenes are of a fantastical nature, imagining pulpy adventures with dad in lavish cinematic settings while dreaming of becoming his favorite comic book hero. <br /> <br /> <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/-Osw2Etw6ffs/VUpoYrOtxjI/AAAAAAAAnjk/WAxUdirttRg/s1600/Picture%2B1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Osw2Etw6ffs/VUpoYrOtxjI/AAAAAAAAnjk/WAxUdirttRg/s200/Picture%2B1.png" width="101" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Great Actor</td></tr> </tbody></table> Directed with a unique art house, fable quality (with a hilarious homage to Spaghetti Westerns) by Alejandro Monteverde, the beach town location, filmed in Mexico, both captivates and envelopes the story with vivid, blown-out cinematography resembling a child's reverie combined with the nostalgic era of postcards and magazines, where Boy and the other characters, including and especially his initial antagonist turned best friend, call home.<br /> <br /> Enter Hashimoto (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), a Japanese resident loathed and feared by the townsfolk for simply being Japanese during wartime, providing a sort of retro KARATE KID Mr. Miyagi: a mentor believing in himself over God, and bringing our dreamer back to Earth.  <br /> <br /> While Hashimoto’s kinship with the eccentric title character, who eventually thinks he has mystical power to literally change things, is heartfelt and ultimately satisfying, their connection overwhelms a wider, richer story where LITTLE BOY fights the odds, on his own terms, in one of the greatest child actor performances ever filmed.We'll have to see if anyone else noticed.

2015, jakob salvati, war

JAKOB SALVATI STARRING IN LITTLE BOY

2015 rating: **** An instant backlash against LITTLE BOY occurred for being religious propaganda, yet there’s loads of mysticism while t...

CARPENTER & RUSSELL RETURN FOR BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA

<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://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WneBFbZTfQA/VfB6K2CUugI/AAAAAAAAo-c/JshJ0bxGG9M/s1600/1-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WneBFbZTfQA/VfB6K2CUugI/AAAAAAAAo-c/JshJ0bxGG9M/s320/1-1.jpg" width="224" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1986</td></tr> </tbody></table> As grungy truck driver Jack Burton, director John Carpenter’s stock action star Kurt Russell is a Snake Plissken for the GOONIES generation, making BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA feel like ESCAPE FROM WILLIE WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, or as one character points out, a "radical ALICE IN WONDERLAND"…<br /> <br /> For BIG TROUBLE is an adventure where each level brings a new chaotic challenge, making the overall plot not matter much – that being a kidnapped green-eyed Asian beauty caught in the mazy labyrinth beneath Chinatown where Burton and an eclectic band of misfits, including and especially Dennis Dun as the resilient Wang Chi and tough ingénue Kim Cattrall as Gracie Law, survive various elements to reach the literal bottom of things. But as far as the players go, BLADE RUNNER actor James Hong is the man here, and an old one at that. His ancient Lo Pan needs to wed the green-eyed McGuffin, who’s engaged to our likable young sidekick. In that, Dennis Dun has equal screen time with the often benign Russell, who remains impartial during most of the karate-filled bouts.<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7xInYw4dVJo/VfB6ff3QE7I/AAAAAAAAo-k/OdNUTGxY2qk/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2015-09-09%2Bat%2B11.30.40%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7xInYw4dVJo/VfB6ff3QE7I/AAAAAAAAo-k/OdNUTGxY2qk/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2015-09-09%2Bat%2B11.30.40%2BAM.png" width="241" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Much Cooler Image Poster</td></tr> </tbody></table> Awkward dissolves aside, John Carpenter keeps the pace moving effectively with quick-cut close-ups providing a comic book panel styling, colorfully reminiscent of Walter Hill's STREETS OF FIRE, and turns in a more upbeat soundtrack than usual: though his ominous synth remains an undercurrent.<br /> <br /> And where Russell’s NEW YORK Plissken paid homage to Clint Eastwood’s iconic Spaghetti Western loner, this super-macho fella has a John Wayneish delivery, at times going so overboard that the performance feels more like a quotable-contrived satire than a genuine action hero… <br /> <br /> But with loads of mystical fantasy, an exploding samurai, costumed monsters and tacked-on special effects that often distract from the basic pulpy peril, you shouldn’t take LITTLE CHINA very seriously. In fact the whole rollercoaster ride, seeming purposely tailor-made for a cult-following even before successfully acquiring one, is much better experienced than evaluated... In one ear, out the other... Relax and enjoy. <br /> <br /> RATING: ***1/2

adventure, eighties, james hong, john carpenter, kim cattrall, kurt russell

CARPENTER & RUSSELL RETURN FOR BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA

year: 1986 As grungy truck driver Jack Burton, director John Carpenter’s stock action star Kurt Russell is a Snake Plissken for the GOON...

QUICK GLANCE AT THE SECOND EPISODE OF HAPPYISH

<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://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o-gnGdzLdFs/VUbieuSCOmI/AAAAAAAAni4/YJxeS1Wb_1o/s1600/Picture%2B1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o-gnGdzLdFs/VUbieuSCOmI/AAAAAAAAni4/YJxeS1Wb_1o/s1600/Picture%2B1.png" width="168" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">E2 Grade: C</td></tr> </tbody></table> As <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2015/04/happyish.html">mentioned previously</a>, Steve Coogan replaced the late Philip Seymour Hoffman on Showtime's original series HAPPYISH, but Kathryn Hahn as wife/mom Lee Payne was there all along...<br /> <br /> Episode Two, eclectically titled "Starring Marc Chagall, Abuela and Adolf Hitler", is really her vehicle, providing a pissed off narration/prologue with Carol Brady BRADY BUNCH bashing, which segues into an "Annoying Jewish Mother" plotline very cliche in nature yet not typical in delivery... Pun intended as a delivered Amazon Dot Com box's logo-arrow speaks with her dead mom's lecturing voice... Meanwhile, Coogan's Thom is like a completely helpless and hopeless version of MAD MEN Don Draper, reluctantly stressed over an office sofa while not taking to a new concept for Keebler cookies.<br /> <br /> More or less a bridge episode extended from the far superior pilot, the overall destination isn't clear as neither husband nor wife successfully progressed or humorously regressed from their comfortably pessimistic suburban hell. Instead of covering new sullen ground, they shifted gears to another perturbed driver and rounded the same track. <br /> <br />

2015, cable, steve coogan

QUICK GLANCE AT THE SECOND EPISODE OF HAPPYISH

E2 Grade: C As mentioned previously , Steve Coogan replaced the late Philip Seymour Hoffman on Showtime's original series HAPPYISH, ...

A MALE REVIEW OF AGE OF ADALINE STARRING BLAKE LIVELY

<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/-f6TOULQTK18/VUFq06oC1iI/AAAAAAAAnhg/Rf24Ri8ryYs/s1600/2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f6TOULQTK18/VUFq06oC1iI/AAAAAAAAnhg/Rf24Ri8ryYs/s1600/2.png" width="150" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 rating: **1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> In most cases, if a man found out his one true love, the love of his life, his beloved soul-mate would remain, as he aged, a beautiful 29-year-old woman, he might not tell the Feds on her… But that’s for another movie, and wishful thinking… <br /> <br /> In AGE OF ADALINE, the title character has the same problem as your average vampire… The entire world ages around her… That of course calls attention since her identification says, for example, 50 and she still looks… fantastic. And with a daughter twice her age (Ellen Burstyn) and a whiny “perfect guy” out to land a date in the modern era, Blake Lively’s ingénue has to, as usual, move on before her heart gets attached, and vice versa…<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i1oyYaRTtuc/VUFqjK2V-7I/AAAAAAAAnhY/mOuTHDN0r5E/s1600/1.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-i1oyYaRTtuc/VUFqjK2V-7I/AAAAAAAAnhY/mOuTHDN0r5E/s1600/1.jpg" width="214" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Young Harrison Ford clone</td></tr> </tbody></table> Thus the first half wastes a potentially intriguing science-fiction aspect buffered by a mainstream chick flick template, eventually veering into a creative version of Nick Sparks territory: the young couple juxtaposed with an old couple… And that’s when things pick up, just a bit…<br /> <br /> Harrison Ford is the father of Adaline’s new beau, and it turns out he had dated her thirty years ago when she was the same exact age… Flashbacks occur, providing what River Phoenix in INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE failed to achieve: a completely realistic looking young Harrison (reboot Han Solo and Indy Jones, anyone?). At the point when Ford’s William realizes Adaline is not her granddaughter but actually herself, we have an 11th hour tear-jerking finale that overrides the frivolous romance with Ford’s son, played by an uninteresting and petulantly persistent Michiel Huisman, way over his head as a leading man. While looking the part, his acting seems more Hallmark Channel than Motion Picture.   <br /> <br /> So if Adaline just told the truth the first time, her original true love, who she seemed way more into during the 1960's flashbacks and present time conversations, probably would have understood...

2015, blake lively, harrison ford, romance, science-fiction

A MALE REVIEW OF AGE OF ADALINE STARRING BLAKE LIVELY

2015 rating: **1/2 In most cases, if a man found out his one true love, the love of his life, his beloved soul-mate would remain, as he ...