What I Watched In July

Bluntly stated there is nothing interesting or fresh about the story of  BABY DRIVER (2017). If you've seen a dozen or more crime films in your entire life you have seen a variation on this story. But that is what actually makes this such an incredible film. It's the style employed in telling this clichéd story that makes this movie an amazing cinematic feat - one well worth seeking out.

Understand that it's not just in the obvious thing that director Edgar Wright has done, which is to edit entire sequences of the movie to rock and roll songs. That in and of itself would be an interesting thing to see and Wright does it very well. But what he's really done is infuse the film with the energy of those rock and roll songs to the point that it's impossible to think of the film's various characters without the certain music automatically playing in your head. I'll admit that I was a little disappointed that there wasn't more to the story of BABY DRIVER but any film that has the sequences this one does deserves to be respected. Hell, this film has two specific sequences that elevate the movie to near classic status on their own - the romantic laundromat getting-to-know-you sequence which is played out like a ballet routine laid over the verbal dance that allows two people to discover if they actually like each other beyond just the physical. And then there is the mind-bending, brilliant car and foot chase set to the instrumental song tune Hocus Pocus by Focus. Rarely have electric guitars, yodeling and speeding bodies been so well crafted for excitement.

Oh - great cast too! 

I've already written a brief bit about WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES and I plan to comment on VALERIAN and the new Spider-man film but I'm really pressed for time right now.

THE LIST 

THE CURSE OF THE VAMPIRE (1972) - 4 (dull, lifeless Spanish horror)

TIME TRAVELERS (1976) - 4 (limp TV movie from a Rod Serling story)

BABY DRIVER (2017) - 7

YETI - GIANT OF THE 20TH CENTURY (1977) - 2

SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING (2017) - 9

GAMERA (1965)- 7 (Japanese version) (rewatch)

CASTLE IN THE DESERT (1942) - 6 (solid Charlie Chan mystery)

SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE VOICE OF TERROR (1942) - 6 (rewatch)

KING KONG VS GODZILLA (1962)- 7 (rewatch on the big screen)

THE SAINT'S DOUBLE TROUBLE (1940) - 5 (OK programmer)

STUDENT BODIES (1981)- 6 (fun slasher spoof)

BLOOD FATHER (2016) - 7

HAMDS OF STEEL (1986) - 6 (silly Italian post-apocalypse thriller)

WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES (2017) - 9

VALERIAN AND THE PLANET OF A THOUSAND CITIES (2017) - 8

THE RETURN OF GODZILLA (1984) - 8 (rewatch)

What I Watched In April

The James Gunn scripted THE BELKO EXPERIMENT (2017) is a blast of high concept horror that, with a less commercially successful pedigree, would have been a low budget film that turned up on NetFlix and slowly built a cult following. As it stands, the movie is a low budget effort with very good actors that flopped theatrically and will slowly build a cult following. See the difference there? Yeah, the actors in this one make all the difference in the world. In fact, THE BELKO EXPERIMENT is a great example of how a strong cast of solid character actors can elevate a piece of exploitation cinema. 

The plot is basic and brilliant - an office building full of employees is locked down so that no one can leave and then an impersonal voice over the intercom system informs everyone that a certain number of them must be dead in a certain amount of time or all of them will be killed. As you might expect, mayhem ensues. Part Office Space, part Battle Royale the film is well written and tightly directed with enough depth of characterization to make events more tense than average. As stated, the cast is excellent and the dark progression of violent demands on the trapped co-workers twists many everyday annoyances that haunt all of us in our work lives into grim signifiers. The ending is well played and carries a couple of good surprises making this a dark ride but one I can recommend.

I'm an unabashed fan of the super-silly Fast & Furious franchise films! With each entry in the series they become more and more ridiculous and less credible but, perversely, more fun. What started as a story about sophisticated thieves using fast cars to facilitate their crimes has morphed into a tale about a government sanctioned, ever expanding super-spy team. Madness!

This time out the twist is that, at the behest of a mysteriously threatening lady (the amazing Charlize Theron), model of dependability Dom (Vin Diesel) turns traitor to his friends running off with an EMP weapon capable of wiping out the electronics of an entire city. The rest of his team have to figure out why he has done something so contrary to his personality and stop his new cohorts from carrying out whatever bizarre plan they have in mind.

It plays out with speed, humor and insane car chases while the central mystery's solution makes all things clear and provides for another deepening of the emotional manipulation at the heart of the series. Playing on the heartstrings is part of this series' structure and family is the core driving characteristic in these movies now, reflecting producer Diesel's way of looking at life. It's a positive element that allows for relationships to grow and the group of friends to enlarge even if it requires some selective memory from film to film. Don't get me wrong - I like seeing Jason Statham brought into the action on the side of the angels (and he gets a great John Woo inspired sequence here) but didn't he flat out murder a member of their team a couple of movies back?

Still- these are perfect popcorn munching, drive-in evening action flicks that I'm glad are still being made. Dumb fun can sometimes be exactly what is needed, especially if it can be done without being too insulting to the viewers intelligence. Bring on number 9!

The List 

BLUE EYES OF THE BROKEN DOLL (1974) - 7 (rewatch)

FOOTSTEPS IN THE DARK (1941)- 8 (Errol Flynn comedy mystery)

THE UNCERTAIN DEATH (1973) - 7 (Larraz drama of plantation madness in India)

JOURNEY TO THE SEVENTH PLANET (1962) - 4 (rewatch)

THE BELKO EXPERIMENT (2017) - 8

WOMEN OF SAN QUENTIN (1983) - 6 (TV movie about prison guards)

THE SPELL (1977) - 5 (evil witch-child TV movie)

THE BEYOND (1981) - 9 (rewatch)

WORLD WITHOUT END (1956) -6 (rewatch) (silly, sexist, colorful SF)

BATMAN: BAD BLOOD (2016) - 7 (animated tale)

MASSACRE IN DINOSAUR VALLEY (1985) - 4 (terrible Italian made cannibal film)

THE EVIL OF FRANKENSTEIN (1964) - 6 (rewatch)

PLAY MOTEL (1979) -4 (ridiculous sexploitation/crime story) 

IT (1990) - 6 (rewatch)

THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS (2017) -7

PHANTOM FROM 10,000 LEAGUES (1956) - 3 (rewatch on Blu)

CHERRY 2000 (1987)

I have often seen Cherry 2000 lumped in with the spate of post-apocalyptic films that sprang up like mushrooms in the shadow of The Road Warrior (1982). Now that  I've finally seen this oddity it turns out not to take place in a nuclear devastated future but one that is a simple extension of the prevailing trends of its times. That is something I can enjoy and respect when the story being told is engaging enough, so the question becomes just how well constructed is Cherry 2000. That is a complicated question.

Somehow I missed this 1980's relic in my younger years and I'm sure that if I'd seen this in my youth I would think more highly of it. It certainly is interesting to see from the vantage point of 2016 but more for the peek inside what 1980's imagined our times would grow into. The film is a time capsule of nostalgia for the future as imagined by the neon past and for that it is fascinating. It doesn't take much thought to realize that Cherry 2000 is nothing more than a western plot spit-shined and retrofitted as a science fiction tale with the requisite story building blocks simply renamed for a futuristic feel. Strangely, the oddest element of the movie is not the futuristic city design or the story's extrapolation of what human sexuality might transform into but that fact that the plot is mostly constructed from romantic comedy clichés and a bizarre man-child coming of age arc. I have to admit that I didn't see that coming.

The time is the early 21st century and as society has stratified human sexual relationships have become a very codified interaction. In this world dating and sex have been commoditized to the point that the only way people hook up for even the most casual of sexual activity is to hash out a formal contract specifying the things to be expected from both parties. If this sounds like a hellish way to meet your mate you might try the lifestyle choice of Cherry 2000's protagonist Sam Treadwell (David Andrews). Sam is a mid-level manager of an Anaheim recycling plant and he owns his very own fembot! Yep- Cherry is the name of his devoted and beautiful but decidedly artificial 'wife' and all is wedded bliss until a night of robo-humpy-pumpy ends with Cherry getting soapy water in her circuits causing her to blow fuses instead of..... Anyway, Sam is distraught in the same way a teenager is after that first breakup and even more upset when he discovers how difficult it will be to repair or replace his beloved doll. It seems that Cherry is a 2000 model and they are so very rare and expensive that there are none in Anaheim. Sam's only hope to locate a new one is to travel into the apocalyptic wastelands of Zone 7 to a place called The Graveyard in hopes of locating a fresh toy. To do that Sam needs a Tracker and he lucks into the offices of E. Johnson (Melanie Griffith) who is willing to help him find the object of his desire. Miss Johnson has all the impressive sexiness that a 1980's model Melanie Griffith is capable of but Sam only has eyes for his dream girl so no sooner has she accepted the job then they are off to Zone 7 in her awesome muscle car.

It's not hard to spot the obvious western tropes here - replace faulty robot with kidnapped wife, hot tracker with gruff frontiersman, cool car with horses and you can see the bones of the tale. Of course, as soon as Griffith is onscreen the shape of the larger story becomes obvious - boy and girl will find they love each other after much angry arguing and adventure - with the only question being how long the film will drag things out. In the case of Cherry 2000 the answer is almost too long but that is a minor complaint about a movie that willfully attempts to confuse the viewer about its aims. This film is a strange amalgam of romantic comedy meet-cute obviousness, 1980's era AIDS paranoia, chilly social satire, clumsy action set-pieces and screwball comedy villains.

Scattered along this journey are a number of great character actors doing their best to sell this tale and often enough they manage the task. Tim Thomerson is a joy to watch in anything as he chews up the script and spits out some brilliant lines that, at times, seem like in-character adlibs. Nobody does frustrated confidence better and Thomerson really shines as the man with a supply of Cherry 2000 robots but no desire to relinquish even one. Legendary gruff but lovable Ben Johnson, best known as a regular face in classic westerns, here plays a character with a connection to Griffith's that allows him to add some tender moments as the romance unfolds. Adding to the old west feel is a short performance from another western regular Harry Carey, Jr. but he is given little to do. Add in an even smaller part from the great Brion James and a blink-and-you-miss-him appearance from Laurence Fishburn (as a date broker in a bar!) and you have enough onscreen to keep a cinefile interested. Cherry 2000 isn't a great movie but it is pretty good, well paced and definitely a fun diversion for fans of science fiction cinema.

Kino Lorber's Blu-Ray looks and sounds fantastic with all the technical polish you would expect from the company. The extras included are enticing headlined by a feature length commentary track with the film's director Steve De Jarnatt who went on after the abortive release of Cherry 2000 to write and direct the cult favorite nuclear apocalypse film Miracle Mile. There is also a short making of segment produced at the time of the production that emphasizes the Nevada shooting locations and stunt work. This is interesting enough to see once but disposable. Much more interesting is the interview with Tim Thomerson in which he tells a few tales out of school about the production. He is an engaging interviewee talking about his penchant for playing villains and I just wish this segment had been longer and more in-depth. This release is a great way to become acquainted with Cherry 2000 and for longtime fans it must feel like the film is finally getting the attention it deserves. It may not be the best of its decade but it is well worth seeing.

What I Watched In May

Last month saw me enter the sacred movie house on many occasions - and it was good. Well, it was great actually! Except for that one time.

Let me explain.

The latest Marvel film hit screens and, as I have enjoyed all of them before, I ventured out to view it with high levels of anticipation. High expectations are often the death of joy in such instances but in this case Mr. Wedon and his associates pulled yet another Ace from their sleeves and gave us a fantastic adventure. Much like the first one AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON gets its weakest moments out of the way in the first act dropping us into the action with only some dodgy CGI to mar the fun. It was these first few minutes that gave me some slight trepidation but luckily the remainder of the film was sure-footed and just as emotionally satisfying as it was exciting. These truly are the films I hoped - nay - wished for as a young lad reading and rereading every comic book I could afford. They make me glad to be alive!

Next I went to Nashville's only second run theater and caught two movies in one evening. This near overindulgence in cinema made me giddy with a rush of endorphins even if the films viewed were less than excellent. First up was the superior of the two, Neill Blomkamp's third science fiction feature C.H.A.P.P.i.E. which I found to be very quite entertaining but narratively clumsy. The film is quickly paced, well performed and flawless in its depiction of its future world and its special effects, but it is also painfully simple-minded in its plotting and story. That's not to say I wasn't swept along and even brought (I swear) to tears on two separate occasions, but I too often felt the hand of the manipulator subtly shifting the playing field to set up the required set piece to come. Also, the eventually villainous individual played by Hugh Jackman is too sketchily drawn to be more than a cardboard bad guy. It seems that there may have been more ambition in the script to paint him as a religious zealot and the outline of that trait is present in the finished film but the movie slides away from it too often for it to deepen him as a character. I liked the film but it is very flawed.

THE LAZARUS EFFECT on the other paw is a fairly dull affair that wastes a pretty good cast. The film has a good horror premise but squanders it by sanding the interesting story ideas down to silly foregone conclusions. It is a flat, barely interesting but competently produced film that would have merited a 5 out of 10 until the end scattered any remaining good will to the winds. I suspect the sad final act was the third or fourth version attempted by the filmmakers trying to juice an otherwise blah movie. Oh, well.

The Fast & Furious franchise (say that three times fast!) has become a reliably fun and exciting action series since Vin Diesel stepped back into the series and gave it focus. As bizarre and silly as the car stunts and fights often become these movies remain great fun bin the same way a Marvel superhero film can be. FAST & FURIOUS 7 proves that there is still plenty of gas in the tank as the merry, motley crew deal with the fallout of their last government sanctioned adventure. This time Jason Statham is the relentless, deadly villain (as brilliantly teased in the last film) and my man Kurt Russell enters the scene as a potentially valuable ally against The Stath's one man army. I've often said that while some action movies play with the bounds of what is physically possible the Fast & Furious films laugh at gravity and drive past the laws of physics while shooting it the finger - all while looking pretty damned cool. Half the fun of these movies is wondering what outrageous thing they'll come up with next and number 7 does not disappoint in the 'Holy Shit' category of eye-popping crazy.

I worried that the death last year of series star Paul Walker might put a damper on the whole affair, but it did not. They cleverly took the opportunity to very touchingly say goodbye to Walker in the final moments of this film and essentially write his character out of future installments without doing away with him. I'm not ashamed to admit it got a little dusty in the theater before the credits rolled. I think the smartest choice Diesel and his co-creators on these movies have made is instilling a sense of family in the DNA of the character interactions throughout the series and they use that effectively here for more than just a motivational device. Well done.

And last but in no way least was MAD MAX: FURY ROAD! Holy Bleeding Hell - what a film! If this were the last movie I ever saw on the big screen I think I could die a happy man. George Miller comes roaring back to action cinema and blows the theater to bits in a relentless drive to entertain and thrill. It was a joy to be reminded how effortlessly a master can relate back-story, characterization, motivations and hope while rocketing along a speed that forces you to hold on for dear life. This is a white-knuckle ride through a vision of Hades as imagined by a twisted genius and it stands beside the fantastic original three films wonderfully. This is the kind of dark surprise that comes along once a decade or so and I encourage everyone to see it if for no other reason than that it will be copied and stolen from for the next ten years. Viva Max! Viva Furiosa! Viva George Miller!

THE NOVEMBER MAN (2014)- 8 (very good spy thriller)

THE CANAL (2014)- 7 (well done Irish horror film)

THE AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (2015) - 9

REC 4: APOCALYPSE (2014)- 6 (the least of the series)

DAY OF ANGER (1967)- 8 (rewatch)

CHAPPIE (2015) - 7

THE LAZARUS EFFECT (2015)- 4

THE VAMPIRE'S NIGHT ORGY (1974)- 7 (rewatch)

UP THE ACADEMY (1980)- 3 (terrible comedy linked to Mad Magazine)

THE TIME GUARDIAN (1987)- 5 (better than expected post-apocalyptic tale)

THE COSMIC MONSTER (1958)- 5 (not bad British SF monster film)

THE ALPHABET MURDERS (1965)- 7 (fun, slightly silly Agatha Christie adaptation)

HOUSEBOUND (2014)- 9 (excellent New Zealand horror comedy)

FAST & FURIOUS 7 (2015)- 7 (incredibly fun and completely ridiculous)

TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD (1972)- 8 (rewatch)

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (2015)- 9

PREDESTINATION (2014)- 8 (fantastic Heinlein adaptation/expansion)

BATMAN VS ROBIN (2015)- 7 (good animated tale)

THE LAST OF SHEILA (1973)- 8 (rewatch)

FRANKENSTEIN CONQUORS THE WORLD (1965)- 8 (rewatch) 

What I Watched in March

I saw a wide variety of movies last month but the one trip to the theater was hardly worth the cash. Showing just how out of touch with a certain subset of the entertainment world I really am, I was unaware that NEED FOR SPEED (2014) was based on a video game. If I had known this I would never have agreed to spend money to see it, but we learn and we grow, huh? Still, I was interested to see Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul on the big screen. It might have been worth the trip out to determine if he has a chance at moving from small screen to large so I'm not going to claim too much of a wound. I find Paul to be an engaging and extremely talented actor and I'm glad to be able to report that he is very good in this film. He is able to breathe some visible emotion into a character written as thinly as you would expect from a game adaptation. He does his best with the material but there is only so much you can do with this lifeless. The only other real plus the film has is something you would also expect from its source - very well shot car crashes. Well- I'm sure that there are some people actually interested in car races - which the film has to spare- but its the crashes that are worth seeing even if the rest of the movie is by turns predictable, stupid and thin to the point of emaciation. NEED FOR SPEED is worth seeing if you can fast forward through the dull, pointless stretches and just get to the car footage.

And what the Hell is Michael Keaton doing in this movie? He plays a character that never interacts with anyone else and mostly just stares into the camera pontificating about the Zen of Racing. He speaks convincingly whatever words he has to say but its all gibberish and comes off as a cinematic afterthought. It's as if they thought they needed a narrator but realized paying Keaton for a day's work would seem more impressive and less of a storytelling cheat. You know the film is confused about his character when we are told up front that no one knows what he looks like but we then see that he broadcasts an internet video show almost every day. How can no one know what he looks like? As I said - the film is pretty damned stupid.

HIT MAN (1972)- 6 (it has a certain lack of forward momentum but overall its a pretty good action film)

EYEBALL (1975)- 8 (rewatch)

REVENGE OF THE NINJA (1983)- 3 (rewatch) (terrible, but entertainingly bad)

THE BEAST OF HOLLOW MOUNTAIN (1956) - 6 (rewatch)

SKULLDUGGERY (1970) - 7

LUST FOR A VAMPIRE (1971)- 6 (rewatch) 

47 RONIN (2013)- 7 (well done fantasy)

JOHNNY COOL (1963)- 6 (good but not great crime tale)

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY (1967)- 10 (rewatch)

CURUCU -BEAST OF THE AMAZON (1956)- 3 (not very good monster tale)

ACT OF VENGEANCE (1974)- 7 (interesting rape revenge film)  

NEED FOR SPEED (2014)- 4 (pretty silly and dumb revenge/carsploitation film- not boring but very paint by numbers)

THE INITIATION (1984)- 6 (well done slasher)

FRIGHT NIGHT 2 (2013)- 3 (not a sequel but a second remake of the original -colorful and pretty but dumb)

TRANCE (2013)- 9 (excellent mystery thriller)

THE BISHOP MURDER CASE (1930)- 6 (pretty good Philo Vance mystery)

ALL-STAR SUPERMAN (2011)- 9 (excellent animated film)

THE HOUSE WITH LAUGHING WINDOWS (1976)- 8 (rewatch)