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Xyzzy
Reviews
My Dog Skip (2000)
They don't make 'em like this anymore. Er, except this.
One doesn't usually see coming-of-age type films that are completely straightforward anymore.
I suppose that makes this a "family" film or even a "children's" film but, appropriately enough, it's more like a film that might have been made 50 years ago.
If the movie has any flaws it's only in the occasional drawing out of the already sentimental subject matter, especially at the intro and outro of the film.
Great performances, by the way. (Somebody get Kevin Bacon an Oscar or a Golden Globe or something. The guy's got it coming!)
Soldier (1998)
Go beyond the usual and find an extraordinary film.
I've watched this movie a second time to try to figure out why it wasn't as successful (commercially or artistically) as it should have been, and discovered considerable artistic merit--which may ultimately have been its commercial undoing.
First of all, this movie attempts "serious" science-fiction, social commentary, more than action-adventure. There is action in it, but that's not really what it's about. If you focus on that, you'll end up with (as others have noted) a bad "Aliens" clone. But, again, that's not what it's about.
The movie is really about Todd's (Kurt Russell) transformation from human to near-machine and back to human (mostly *back*). But because it's not trying to give you a typically glib Hollywood style answer, Kurt Russell must make this transformation without speaking, and largely without broad expressions. And he really does a wonderful job--it can take two viewings to appreciate it.
The surrounding "social logic" is flawed and it's never adequately explained whether Todd's ability to hold his own against an army of supposedly superior troops comes from his experience on the battlefield or his newfound human-ness or what, but the movie still makes a marvellous showcase for Russell's (easy to underestimate) talent.
The Unnamable (1988)
The Misktaonic Bruins combat a rather mundane evil.
The problem with adapting HPL to the screen lies in the fact that he used literary sleight-of-hand to hint at but never fully reveal his monsters because that ultimately would have required giving a definite shape to them. Once defined, he knew they would be less frightening.
This is rarely done in movies, and if you hold off showing the monster until the end, you'd better make the payoff big. "The Haunted Palace" suffers from the revelation of the monster at the end--apparently some sort of plastic costume left over from "It Conquered the World" with a tacky wavy effect tacked on to it--and so does this film.
Not that the creature isn't done well, but ultimately, she's a woman in a costume and that's just not that, well, unnameable. (Is "unnamable" even correct spelling?)
Apart from that, the movie is just a standard haunted house film, with college students being picked off one-by-one by said unnameable thing. (Which actually does have a name, come to think of it.) Doors lock mysteriously and inexplicably, and the evil force dispatched everyone easily until the end of the movie. (The sequel shows more originality and atmosphere.)
UCLA students should get a kick of the locations, though: The exteriors for the film were shot on the quad, and the library scene may be Powell or the University Research Library. A far cry from the ancient, brooding New England Miskatonic described by HPL.
Deep Space (1988)
One too many dips in the "goofy" pool.
Veteran director Fred Olen Ray and cinematographer Gary Graver prove they have the skill to put together a good low budget rip-off of Alien--but that they aren't gonna any time soon.
The movie is essentially a long string of clichés: Napier and Glass play two cops who "don't play by the book" blow up a car by shooting it, killing a perp who's "just a kid", getting suspended by their hard-ass boss (but mysteriously continuing to work nonetheless), investigating a mysterious murder which is being covered up by the military which, naturally, has been engaged in creating a super-war machine, etc. etc. etc.
Ann Turkel does an admirable job, even though she's given the thankless task of being Napier's love interest and virtually falling apart every time something happens.
Then there's this whole business of stunt casting Julie Newmar as the psychic who tells Napier where the alien is.
The frustrating thing is that, in between the nonsense, FOR shows a real talent for pacing, action and shooting on a budget. He and Graver manage to create real atmosphere in the final scenes that, even though it's directly lifted from Ridley Scott's "Alien" (note the character name "Mrs. Ridley"), complete with inexplicable smoke, light, dripping water and even strobes, it's a tantalizing look at what the two are capable of when they set their minds to it.
But as much as I was rooting for it, when Napier says (in the post-coital dialogue with Turkel) "The street is my boss. Who's yours?" I realized that the movie had landed in camp-ville, like it or not, and there it would stay.
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
Long. Dense. Cloying. Dated. Uneven. Underrated. Wonderful.
This movie suffers from a number of things, not the least of which is comparison to the "practically perfect Mary Poppins", which this movie hearkens back to--particularly with the songs "Hushabye Mountain" and "The Old Bamboo", not to mention the whole turn-of-the-century England millieu.
And, boy, is it dense. Two-and-a-half-hours (more or less, depending on the cut, I believe) of singing and dancing and musical overtures, without a lot of dead-time between numbers.
At the same time, it's somewhat unfocussed with regard to its audience. The humor will be too broad for some older children, while some of the songs will bore younger children. (Sally Anne Howe gives a beautiful performance of "Lovely, Lonely Man" but the song itself seems somewhat out of place.)
And then there's the camerawork. Exacerbated by pan-and-scan format (and MGM has apparently opted not to release the widescreen version, even on DVD), the movie features pans and cuts that were stylish in the '60s but look a little silly now.
The story itself sprawls, with the middle portion of the movie being taken up by a story-within-the-story which is somewhat confusing when we exit it wondering how much of what we just saw is supposed to carry over into the outer story.
But ultimately, these flaws seem minor. The movie is charming, well-done and so good-natured, it's hard not to like. The Sherman Brothers were at their peak, not to mention Dick Van Dyke. He and Ms. Howe seem to have a genuine chemistry. When the movie shines, it really shines, enough to make you forget the tarnish on the other parts.
Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)
Destined to develop a cult following.
No, this movie isn't for everyone. It's reminiscent of last year's "Very Bad Things": Critics didn't like it much and audiences stayed away in droves, but fans of black comedy (the few, the proud) will find much to enjoy here.
Top-notch performances all around, a lot of heavy-handed humor disguising some of the subtler satire, and some stupid misanthropy mixed in with the more intelligent misanthropy.
If you're not overly sensitive to things, there are a lot of good laughs.
The General's Daughter (1999)
Surprisingly touching, believe it or not.
Am I the only one who remembers the '70s and early '80s? Critics decried the graphic violence of this film but mostly it was suggested or out-of-focus, with just enough brief glimpses to keep from getting to be hokey or a tease. Brian De Palma or Francis Ford Coppola would scoff. (Heck, sometimes I think I'm the only one who remembers last summer's "Saving Private Ryan"?)
Travolta knowingly parodies his own (superb) accent from "Primary Colors" which was disconcerting until you realize the parody is deliberate. (His boss actually says, "You can cut out the cheesy southern accent.") After all, he's playing an army investigator who might be expected not to have the same command of accents as a professional actor.
We get some interesting insights into his character during his brief interviews with James Woods. We learn that Travolta isn't a high ranking (or even commissioned) officer, but that he can throw his weight around because of his role (criminal investigator).
The movie has a lot of little scenes like this which serve to build the characters. And the final result is less a summer blockbuster-type thriller than a provocative look at how some of the worst crimes imaginable are not illegal.
At one point the question gets asked, "What's worse than rape?" By the end of the movie you find out. And believe it. And yet, like any good tragedy, you can't help but have compassion for all the characters involved, no matter their crimes.