CA

Duel (1971)

Basic plot: A case of road rage escalates to life and death proportions.

After the mediocrity of Always, and and the abomination of 1941, I had begun to think this Spielbergathon was a bad idea. When I started up Duel, I expected the worst and the four minute driving montage that opens the film didn’t seem to promise much better. Luckily, once the story actually got started, everything was right back on track.

The story of Duel is simple: road rage becomes preposterously obsessive. There’s only one lead character and, to be honest, he’s not terribly likeable, but if you put yourself in his position his actions are a little more justifiable. He’s just your average guy on the road trying to get home.

When he passes an old semi-truck on the highway, the trucker takes it personally and counter-passes him. From there things get bigger and bigger until everything escalates to an unspoken battle for survival. The dialogue is kept to a minimum. The majority of the talking is a voice-over expressing our lead character’s fears and theories about the situation. It isn’t especially well-written, but it gets the job done.

The real place that this movie excels is in visual storytelling. At exactly 90 minutes, the film takes it’s simple yet ridiculous concept and makes you feel every minute of it. Some might find the pacing nerve-grating in an irritating sense, but I thought it was a genius play on the lead character’s own frustrations. You feel the suspense as he feels it. Add in the fact that they NEVER show the truck driver, and the anonymity adds to the atmosphere beautifully. All you know about the situation is what the main character knows. Nothing more, nothing less. The movie isn’t in real time since there are several fade-forwards, but the cuts during the action scenes are better than most horror movies manage.

It’s far from perfect, but it’s a very noteworthy directorial debut. Spielberg didn’t disappoint in the least with this one. it’s probably the only movie of his I’ve watched so far this month that I would go somewhat out of my way to get my own copy. I really, really liked it.

True Romance (1993)

Basic plot: A twisted love story about a man and a callgirl who fall in love, and the domino effect caused by the strings attached to successfully dropping out of such a lifestyle. 

Quentin Tarantino is one of my favorite writers ever, and this movie only further verified why. Unlike Natural Born Killers (directed by Oliver Stone), Tony Scott’s True Romance still feels very much like a Tarantino movie. It’s got all those classic Tarantino things from the brilliant dialogue, to the extreme violence, to the A-list-before-they-were-A-list cast. The story itself is a beautiful love story in that really bizarre, “this would never happen but it’s still a really cute, messed up idea” way. Considering it’s a story about a couple that falls in love in literally ONE night - a story motif I’m not generally a fan of - the acting and the script absolutely sell it.

Christian Slater is a great make-shift hero, and Patricia Arquette couldn’t possibly be more adorable. If I made a list of movie characters I could fall in love with, Alabama would probably be in the top ten even after only one viewing. The supporting actors are all just as fitting for their charactes. Gary Oldman proves yet again that he can rock the shit out of ANY role he wants to, Christopher Walken plays another great Christopher Walken, Dennis Hopper makes a surprisingly good father, Val Kilmer is an oddly placed but believable Elvis, and James Gandolfini, Brad Pitt, Chris Penn, and Samuel L Jackson all the steal the scenes when they pop up briefly.

I’m not sure where I can rank this having only seen it once. Multiple viewings would undeniably make it climb my unwritten charts, but even after a single viewing I’d say without much hesitation that it’s one of the best movies I’ve ever seen. It was right up my alley. Weird characters, great relationships, great dialogue, ridiculous story.

I loved it.

1941 (1979)

Basic plot: Japan tries to attack mainland America during WW2. Isn’t that hilarious?

I’m not going to talk about this very much because the movie doesn’t deserve it.

1941 is one of the worst movies I’ve ever seen, and it depresses me to think that Spielberg had anything to do with it. Imagine every unfunny SNL skit you’ve ever seen. You know the kind: the ones where it’s obvious what the joke is SUPPOSED to be, but it just isn’t funny. Now take the WORST jokes and throw them all together in a two and a half hour long mish-mash of stupid characters and barely existant plot.

The movie has a great ensemble of comedic actors: Dan Akroyd, John Belushi, John Candy… but it fails to find a single chuckle worthy joke for any of them. I literally laughed ONE time during the entire movie. Once.

I even had to take a 15 minute break halfway through - a 15 minute break that was originally meant to be a 24 hour break until my roommate convinced me it would be better to just get it over with. If you know me, you know that typically I HATE taking much more than a bathroom break the first time I ever watch a movie. Hell, if I know there’s even a chance I won’t have time to finish something the first time I watch it, then I’ll put it off until I KNOW I can watch it from beginning to end in one sitting.

Just the thought that I was tempted to take a full day’s break from this to survive it should be all the review you need.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 4:
The Dream Master (1988)

Basic plot: After Freddy finishes off the Elm Street kids, he abuses one girl’s power to drag other kids into her dreams in order to continue feeding his hunger for souls.

After a horrifically disappointing second installment, it looks like the series is officially back in action with two excellent additions in a row. I liked Dream Master every bit as much as Part 3. In fact, just about everything I said about Dream Warriors could be said about Dream Master.

This movie kicks off shortly after where Dream Warriors left off. The three survivors are out of the penetentiary and back in their homes, so it’s nice to see them tie the movies together so closely. The new cast members are your standard slasher victims, but none of them are particularly hateable so it works well.

The dreams are just as fun as ever, continuing the legacies of the first and the third far better than I would’ve ever hoped from a fourth movie in ANY series. My favorite kill hit really early involving a boy being drowned in his waterbed. Add on Freddy’s brilliant finishing line of “How’s that for a wet dream” and we have a winner. One of my favorite things about Freddy is that it feels like he’s got so much more personality than any of the other slasher killers, partially because when he’s in dreamland there aren’t any rules. I love the possibilities that opens up.

The negatives here are the same as they were for the third movie: 80s cheese (which is debatably a positive anyway), and poorly aged special effects. Both are easily ignored to have a good time. The ridiculous 80s music actually helps things.

Again, I loved this movie. If I ever rewatch this series, I’m just going to skip the second one. Thanks to the fact that the surrounding films completely ignored it, this should be easy to do.

A Nightmare on Elm Street 3:
Dream Warriors (1987)

Basic plot: The last of the Elm Street kids find themselves sharing occupancy of a penitentiary. Freddy continues to haunt them while certain authorities continue to think they’re simply crazy and suicidal.

After the absolute disgrace that was Freddy’s Revenge, Wes Craven himself decided to lend a hand to the series to bring it back to it’s former glory by co-writing the script. And it shows. Debatably as good as the first one (though I disagree, I did really, really like it, so I wouldn’t argue too hard against that claim), Dream Warriors has some awesome moments.

Most of the new cast members are a bit cheesy at times, but they reminded me of some of John Carpenter’s campier characters so it still works quite well. The very 80s corniness that exists is all in good fun. Nancy, from the original Nightmare, is back as an adult for a second round with Freddy. Getting original cast members is always a big help for my acceptance of sequels. Her father also makes an appearance.

Freddy himself gets far more lines this time around than I remember him having in the original (I’d honestly rather just forget Part 2 - luckily that’s exactly what Part 3 tries to do), and since they accompany equally creepy dreams it just adds to his personality even more. Where the second one completely forgot to do anything scary at all, this one has several fantastic kills including my personal favorite of the first three films. When Freddy puppeteers a puppet master with strands of his own flesh, playing it off as sleep walking in the real world - that’s just genius. Disgusting, but genius.

The biggest hurt on the film would have to be its very poorly aged special effects. Green screen usage is glaringly obvious, and certain lightning effects look like something a ten year old could figure out after fifteen minutes with After Effects. Still, despite these flaws, the movie is incredibly entertaining. I wouldn’t have trouble saying it’s just as entertaining as the original, but since the original cuts out most of the corn, I’d still hold it up as the superior movie.

I loved this one. You should watch it.

I’m taking today off to hang out with my sister. In the meantime, I present to you as brief distraction:

An Ode to my DVD collection to the tune of a song

from Walt Disney’s The Little Mermaid.

New on Superbull.

Ten More Movies is a series of posts to bring attention to my ten favorite movies of the year that either weren’t considered Best Picture material or weren’t big enough sellers to be in the Top Grossers. These are movies that excel at entertaining people more than they excel at having brilliant scripts, beautiful cinematography, tear-jarring performances, or the ability to put a number on the end of the title - though they may have pieces of those elements. These are the ten movies I think you should see that statistics say you might’ve missed, year by year.

2005

For my breakdown on the Top Grossers of 2005, go here.
For Doug’s breakdown on the Best Picture nominees of 2005, go here.

10. Saw II

Times I saw it in theaters: 0 — Times I’ve watched it on DVD: 1

Both of the first installments of this series caught me by surprise. I always expected that I would hate them, but when I finally forced myself to give them a watch they far surpassed my expectations. The sequel isn’t nearly as good as the original, but it’s still quite entertaining by sequel standards.

9. Turtles Can Fly

Times I saw it in theaters: 0 — Times I’ve watched it on DVD: 1

Turtles Can Fly was the first movie to be filmed in Iraq following the fall of Saddam Hussein. It’s a heart-wrenching foreign film that will twist your gut and make you appreciate how good you have it. It’s a major downer, but incredibly well made. I’m surprised it didn’t get a Best Foreign Film nod at that year’s Academy Awards.

8. The Exorcism of Emily Rose

Times I saw it in theaters: 0 — Times I’ve watched it on DVD: 1

This is another horror movie that I just caught for the first time this past October. The horror/courtroom drama aspect works way better than I ever would have guessed as they explain both the spiritual and the scientific sides of supposed demon possession. Even if they did take substantial liberties with the whole “based on a true story” thing, it makes for a really entertaining movie.

7. Waiting…

Times I saw it in theaters: 0 — Times I’ve watched it on DVD: 2

It may be because I’ve worked in the food industry (albeit fast food), but I found Waiting hilarious. In the same way that Office Space nailed what it’s like to work in a cubicle, Waiting details to perfection why customers suck. Waiting has more of a Kevin Smith sex comedy feel to it (though Smith had no involvement), and I really enjoyed the sarcastic, asshole-ish, I-hate-my-job tones throughout.

6. Serenity

Times I saw it in theaters: 1 — Times I’ve watched it on DVD: 1

I saw this before I ever even knew what the Firefly TV series was and I still loved the movie. Hell, this was even before I ever watched a single episode of Buffy. Joss Whedon’s amusing dialogue and fun group of characters were easy to warm up to. Now, I’ve only seen the series once and watched the movie twice so I don’t have nearly as great of a love for it as many fanboys, but I do appreciate as a very good new sci-fi.

5.  The Descent

Times I saw it in theaters: 0 — Times I’ve watched it on DVD: 1

This is one I saw for the first time during Horrorfest 2007, and it was a great introduction to director Neil Marshall who is slowly becoming a personal favorite of mine. Unlike The Cave which released earlier that same year and sucked harder than most other movies from this millenium, The Descent used the scary concepts of claustrophobia and darkness and made them extremely suspenseful. I really, really liked it a lot. I need to buy my own copy.

4. Rent

Times I saw it in theaters: 0 — Times I’ve watched it on DVD: 5+

I bought Rent on a whim for $8 at CostCo. Why? Because I was bored and curious. After the first viewing, I was a little disappointed, but I downloaded the soundtrack so could relisten to some of the songs that had caught my ear. After listening to soundtrack a bit, it started growing on me more and more and by the next time I watched the movie I enjoyed nearly the entire thing. I’ll always absolutely detest the “Over the Moon” or whatever that bullshit is, but the rest of the movie is always a fun watch. I’d estimate I grew from liking 25% of the soundtrack to loving 65% and really liking another 25%. I still listen to the soundtrack more than I’d ever watch the movie (it’s hard to find 2.5 hours to rewatch things and when I do, I still have dozens of movies I prefer that are the same length). But I dig it.

3. The 40 Year Old Virgin

Times I saw it in theaters: 0 — Times I’ve watched it on DVD: 5+

The first time I ever watched this, I might have laughed harder and more often than any other movie had made me do. I loved the improv dialogue comedy and the pure filth of it all. The way this movie talked about sex made the original Clerks sound like Ace Ventura. It was hysterical and unapologetic, yet beneath the crude talk it still had some heart to it. The cast is perfect and everything flowed for me. Since then, Apatow has pumped out even better heartfelt, raunchfests but this was a fantastic way to start the pattern.

2. Cinderella Man

Times I saw it in theaters: 0 — Times I’ve watched it on DVD: 5+

I really dig both Ron Howard and Russell Crowe movies, so it’s easy to understand why I’d enjoy a joint effort from them so much. The boxing pads the drama well and the story of a man trying to keep his family together during the Great Depression of the 1930’s is touching. I wouldn’t even hesitate to say I like this more than the original Rocky and I love the original Rocky. Family love really hits home for me, and the examples of it in this movie are fantastic. It should’ve gotten some Oscar nominations.

1. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Times I saw it in theaters: 1 — Times I’ve watched it on DVD: 5+

I went to this movie in the theaters with my dad just because we needed something to do. Turned out it was absolutely hilarious in that quirky, WTF-is-wrong-with-British-people way that I hadn’t seen since Monty Python. Only this time it was in space. After I bought it on DVD and started forcing it on everybody I knew, it slowly became one of my all-time favorites. The humor is really, really weird and definitely not for everybody, but it’s right up my alley. I loved it. Everything is absurd. It felt like this movie was made for me.

To close things off, my Top Ten favorite films of 2005, no limitations:

1. King Kong
2. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe
3. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
4. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
5. Cinderella Man
6. Batman Begins
7. The 40 Year Old Virgin
8. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
9. Rent
10. Crash

Always (1989)

Basic plot: A guy dies, but sort of continues to follow old friends and loved ones until he learns to let go while helping them do the same.

I’m just going to spoil this movie as I see fit because there really isn’t any reason to go out of your way to see it at all. You don’t gain or lose anything by not seeing it. It is the very definition of “passable”. Not what I expect from Spielberg.

Although it has hints of Spielberg flair here and there, Always is the sloppiest movie of his I’ve seen. Richard Dreyfuss is awesome just as he will continue to be for all eternity, but he’s the lone shining beacon in this movie. Generally I love John Goodman but he doesn’t stand out here, and Holly Hunter works well as a very average looking heroine, but her cartoonish voice can be distracting.

The biggest problem is the incredible imbalance this movie constantly displays. It felt like no sooner would I start to think “This is a really good scene emotionally” just before it would take a huge turn into absolute melodrama or become corny beyond belief and completely ruin the moment. This literally happened in about three out of every five scenes for me.

The story also has a lot of things that bother me. I think there’s a good story to be found within the idea of the dead helping the living, but this one fails on a few too many levels. For one, I have trouble caring about forestfire fighters. Like, I’m sure that’s just because I don’t havea  proper appreciation for the danger involved in flying planes over forests and dumping water on them, but even after watching this I have trouble fathoming how it could be THAT dangerous. Sadly, believing it IS that dangerous is a major pillar of this story. Think Top Gun, then take away all the excitement, then add in P.S. I Love You (which I haven’t seen, but the trailers tell me it’s damn near a rip off of this). That’s Always.

Secondly, the love part of the story is iffy. I applaud the movie for taking the time to explain WHY the two main characters loved each other before killing Dreyfuss, but his replacement clone that his girlfriend meets after he dies blows. It’s essentially this model-looking dude that happens to have every god damned quirk Dreyfuss had before he died. ALL OF THEM. Dreyfuss flies crazy? So does this guy. Dreyfuss plucked at his eyebrows? So does this guy.  It just got silly and it didn’t help that the new guy isn’t actually half as cool as Dreyfuss whether he has the character’s quirks or not.

There are a handful of moments that made me go “That’s so Spielberg”, but there were far more moments that made me go “Spielberg is way better than this.” Meh. I’ll probably never watch it again.

http://somethingincyberspace.wordpress.com/

My friend Brian and a few of his friends have recently started a group-effort blog called Something in Cyberspace. The blog was pitched to me as a blog for the ADD-inclined internet reader, occasionally linking to quick and obscure points of interest.

I was asked to contribute articles from time to time, so I’ll be occasionally donating mini-bits about movie-related memorabilia, indie films, or foreign films as something of a cross-promotional effort for Bullshish (particularly CA, but Superbull and DD by association).

It’s still in the very early stages of creation right now, but if you’ve got thirty seconds to spare every now and then, check it out. A link will always be under the “More Bullshish” section of my Blogroll on the right.

Oldboy (South Korean - 2003)

Basic plot: A man is released after 15 years of solitary confinement. Cue revenge story.

After recent news that Steven Spielberg had shown interest in remaking this 2003 South Korean vengeance movie with Will Smith, I decided now was as good a time as any to check it out while I was in between Netflix returns. One of my roommates has had a copy for a while and I just kept putting it off.

Now that I’ve seen it, the only regret I have is that I successfully put it off for so long. Sure, the past month was spent watching horror movies of varying quality (some of them excellent, excellent movies), but I don’t feel terribly guilty about saying Oldboy is one of the best overall movies I’ve seen since sometime in September.

Everything flows flawlessly, and the movie doesn’t limit itself to one genre, either. I suppose it’s a drama more than anything, but it’s also an action film, a suspense, and a dark (very dark) comedy all wrapped up into a giant ball of awesome. The visual style is equally fantastic; almost like some weird crossbreed of Amelie and Fight Club.

It’s hard to talk too much about it just because I feel like it’s one that quite a few people may not have seen and it’s just way too good to risk ruining anything. If you haven’t seen it, rectify that fact as soon as possible. Just be warned it gets pretty dark at times, but it’s amazing.