I just watched this again after only seeing it once just over ten years ago. It still has the same impact except for the fact that my appreciation for everyone involved has increased immensely. The story is basically a character study involving the infantrymen in the Vietnam war with the focus being on a young soldier named Chris who volunteered for the war. We are introduced to a number of distinct characters and we see each of their personalities develop as their time in combat increases. I cannot say enough good things about "Platoon" and in my world, it is the greatest war film ever made. Stars include Charlie Sheen as Chris, Willem Dafoe, Tom Berenger, Johnny Depp, Kevin Dillon, Forest Whitaker, Tony Todd, and Chris Pedersen (Jack in Penelope Spheeris' "Suburbia"). This film was written and directed by Oliver Stone and comes under my highest recommendation. Try and pick it up on DVD if you can as there are two running commentaries by Oliver Stone and military advisor Dale Dye and there is also a documentary on the film entitled "A Tour Of The Inferno" that is excellent as well.
Well, this "Roger Corman Presents" series seems to be quite the excellent little genre. I saw "Burial of the Rats" a while ago and enjoyed it very much and the series delivers again with "Black Scorpion". Joan Severence ("Wiseguy", "Payback") stars as Darcy, a cop who moonlights as an ass-kicking superhero named Black Scorpion. She dresses in tight leather and fishnets and beats on criminals with various kicks and punches. Definitely the sexiest superhero I believe that I have seen (yes, I thought she was sexier than Wonder Woman). Eventually, she uncovers the plot of a group of psychotic asthmatics who wish to taint the city's air supply so she takes it upon herself to put and end to their wheezing scheme. Some of the wonderful co-stars include Bruce Abbott ("Re-Animator") as Darcy's partner, Rick Rossovich ("Top Gun") as Darcy's dad, and Garrett Morris as her sort of sidekick. There is a sequel out now as well.
The Wild, Wild World Of Jayne Mansfield (1968)
I did not know what I would find in this little oddity. It is basically a mondo movie with Jayne flaunting her assets around Europe and America and visiting various sex-oriented sights such as a massage parlor, a strip club, a breast contest, a transvestite beauty contest, and a nudist colony. I must say that this could very well be the most un-politically correct film that I have ever seen as Jayne makes many sexist remarks that include advice such as the fact that if you have large breasts, you should use them to your advantage, blah, blah. I wondered throughout the movie if the voiceover was in fact Jayne or some woman pretending she was Jayne. I tried to find out the truth but I think only Mulder and Scully can uncover that one. There was also some obligatory accident footage of Jayne's death and I found this portion of the movie was in surprisingly good taste compared to everything else. This was an interesting movie to say the least but for fans of this kind of stuff only.
My friend Michael told me that this was a horrible movie but that I would love it. I believe his words were that I would "eat it up". I did and this is simply another one of director Alex Cox's ("Sid and Nancy") strange little masterpieces. We basically have a group of four hapless bank robbers who stumble across a small, Mexican-style town while on the lam. The town is full of rejects and cowboys and general weirdos. The cast is incredible and there are heaps of cool guys and girls from all over. The lead bank robbers consist of Joe Strummer (from The Clash), Dick Rude, Sy Richardson, and Courtney Love. Joe Strummer brings new meaning to the word cool as Simms as he smokes cigarettes and fires his gun never once losing his demeanor. Courtney does not seem to have the confidence that we are used to and is incredibly irritating but she suits the role of the annoying Velma. Some of the co-stars include all members of the Pogues, Fox Harris, Sara Sugarman, Elvis Costello, and Jim Jarmusch. There is also an appearance from Dennis Hopper and Grace Jones. I thought this movie just reeked of coolness.
Do not watch this if you are depressed. It will make you sink down much lower than your current state. This is a bleak and true tale about an American student named Billy Hayes who is busted by the Turkish police for trying to smuggle hash out of the country. He is put in a prison and basically left there to rot with little hope for release before he goes insane. He does make some friends with a couple of fellow inmates and they try to find a way to escape while enduring the brutal and unfair treatment that they receive from the guards and government. Brad Davis give an incredible performance as Billy and conveys the slow decomposition of his will as though you were watching this character with a hidden camera. We see Billy transform from a good-looking and confident vacationing student to a broken and near-neanderthal mess. Davis is also supported by a truly phenomenal cast including Randy Quaid ("Independence Day", "Vacation"), John Hurt ("The Elephant Man"), and Irene Miracle. The script was written by Oliver Stone.
Ouch! What the hell happened here? I was in the mood for a knight-type movie and decided to rent this. Boy, that will teach me to go by box art. There is a dragon in this that makes the three-headed whatever from "The Loves of Hercules" look like it was done with state of the art effects. The main plot is that of King Arthur and how his evil sibling wants to steal the throne from him. In an attempt to do this, his queen is kidnapped and Lancelot is sent to save her. Sounds alright but unfortunately, nearly everything about this movie was really lame. I will never be able to take Candice Bergen or Dyan Cannon seriously again. I also do not understand why accomplished actors like Edward Woodward ("The Equalizer") and Malcolm McDowell would want to be a part of this. The only things I found interesting were early appearances from Rupert Everett ("Cemetery Man") and Liam Neeson. Maybe it was just a big joke that I didn't get. I hope so.
There is a picture of a snowman and a naked girl in a shower on the back cover of this box. It looked so silly that I had to rent it. I was not disappointed as this was a very well done spoof of the genre. Our story revolves around a brutal murderer named Jack Frost who is doused with genetic fluid when en route to his execution. He mutates into a bloodthirsty snowman and begins to pick off the residents of a small town one by one. It is up to the local sheriff, Sam, to stop him. There are the usual cast of small town rednecks and dimwits but they all have their charming qualities. All the rules of "Scream" definitely apply in this case. This one was very cliche-ridden but loaded with a comedic style that could very well create a new genre of horror movie. I would recommend this to anyone with a sense of humour who is looking for a entertaining and light horror movie. Check it out.
I usually like the John Grisham film adaptations. In fact, "A Time To Kill" is one of my top ten picks of the 90's. Unfortunately, "The Chamber" just didn't cut it. I thought that it may be due to the fact that I generally do not enjoy Chris O'Donnell but his co-stars included Faye Dunaway and Gene Hackman. The problem must have been in the script as this story about a young lawyer defending his racist, Klan member relative just didn't do it for me. Everything just seemed too convenient and I was not really feeling any suspense or fear for the well being of the characters. It also seemed that O'Donnell's character didn't have any real purpose. I don't know what the problem was but all I can tell you is that the first five minutes were pretty cool but the remainder wasn't.
For someone who generally despises CGI, this was a welcome surprise. "Mortal Kombat" is a primarily CGI-driven movie that is the story of a tournament to decide the fate of the world. It was based on a popular video game and all of the major characters are included with focus being on Rayden (Christopher Lambert), Liu Kang (Robin Shou), Johnny Cage (Linden Ashby), Shang Tsung (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), and Sonya Blade (Bridgette Wilson). Talisa Soto ("Vampirella") is also involved as Kitana. Now, CGI is incorporated into nearly every scene in the movie and that is why it works. It was overdone in a way that from the very beginning of the film, you have an almost surreal feeling. This continues so that you can very much believe that you are viewing an altered view of reality throughout the whole picture. This was very smart of the filmmakers to do as they actually seem to understand CGI and the fact that is usually does not look entirely believable. By making the world slightly off-kilter from the start, we are not expected to believe some completely unreal creature in a world of otherwise total reality. Everything is overdone and this somehow helps to add to the reality that we are viewing. This is a near-perfect example of how today's computer technology should be used in a film without ruining the believability of the story (a la "Spawn and "Anaconda"). I really liked this one. The laserdisc (and DVD I think) contains a commentary track that is very well done.
A nice little 70's flick about a cool guy named Skipper who kills young girls and is generally not a very good person. He is basically a 25-year old man who can't seem to escape the glory days of high school so he plays all the 15 and 16 year old girls and basically has all of the small town youth following him like some sort of loser pied piper. The movie was pretty good but the best part was Robert F. Lyons who plays Skipper. Picture a psychotic Luke Perry as Dylan in "Beverly Hills 90210" and cross him with Matthew McConaughey's character in "Dazed And Confused". I thought it was quite creepy how much power this character had over the younger characters in the film and the control he has over all of the kids who looked up to him was very Mansonesque. For the time it was released this is not a surprise. The box compared this to "River's Edge" but I barely found a connection although they are both great movies that you should see. Co-stars Richard Thomas before he was John-Boy on "The Waltons".
Here we have a rapist who runs around in a hockey mask and makes the lives of the young women in town very unsettling. They take it upon themselves to put an end to their fear and they begin to take self defense classes and form a group that women can phone if they are in trouble and feeling harassed. This is a case of an anti-rape film that unfortunately plays more like a exploitation film than one with a message. I was entertained but I felt that the issue of rape was not addressed in a way that made it as scary and degrading as it is. Sure, some of the women had their anti-rape dialogue and everyone was obviously shaken up after the crime had been committed. I just didn't feel as though the true horror of rape came across like it could/should have. The karate instructor kicked some serious ass on some pimp named Percy.
Excellent early effort from the Coen brothers ("Fargo"). This one stars Dan Hedaya ("The Usual Suspects") as Marty, a small town bar owner. He discovers that his wife (Frances McDormand) is cheating on him with one of his employees (John Getz). Julian doesn't like this so he hires a private detective to do away with the adulterers. That is all I am going to say as this movie is so full of clever twists and turns that me shooting my mouth off anymore may detract from the viewing experience. M. Emmet Walsh ("Blade Runner") is great as the greedy detective who keeps popping up throughout the film. Very suspenseful and very intriguing, I suggest you check this out if you enjoy movies where you are not quite sure about what is really happening until the climax. It was a lot like a mystery novel (you know, the kind where you are tempted to read the last page). Check it out if you enjoyed "Fargo" and other thrillers like it.
Fred Olen Ray directed this tale of a group of post-apocalyptic survivors stuck in a deserted outpost with a monster. If you are familiar with the b-movie classic entitled "Creepazoids", this was almost like a remake. Stars include Brinke Stevens (in her first good role in the last few years), J.J. North, Tim Abell, Ted Monte, and G. Gordon Baer. I am assuming that the obvious similarities to "Creepazoids" were intentional and the end result is just as enjoyable as it. There is not much more to say other than this is the usual Fred Olen Ray sci-fi fare and if you like his other stuff as much as I do, this one does not disappoint.
Charlton Heston is in this creepy tale about the consequences of opening and Egyptian tomb and bringing the preserved organs of an ancient queen back to your home. There was some good atmosphere and I found the best parts were when the scientists were examining the tomb itself. I wish that there was more of this throughout the film as I really like that type of movie. There were secret chambers, booby traps, and a lot of cool treasure and artifacts inside the actual tomb. Although the part of the film that took place in Egypt was very well done, I found the part that took place in London a little bit silly although Stephanie Zimbalist gave a fine performance as Heston's disturbed daughter.
This is one of those movies that I kept hearing was really good but I kept putting it off. Finally, something possessed me to bring it home and it was a very good sci-fi action flick. I don't think that it is the be all and end all of futuristic films but it definitely had its moments along with some very well done action sequences. In fact, most of the movie was action but it never really got my juices flowing. Don't get me wrong, it was a well done movie but for someone who is not a huge science fiction fan, I probably missed out on a lot of what a sci-fi fan would like about it. I can see how people would really like this one. Oliver Gruner gives a fine performance as Alex, a half human who is out to stop something bad from happening. Low budget sci-fi regulars Tim Thomerson ("Trancers") and Brion James ("Blade Runner") are in the cast. A good flick if you are like me and probably a great flick if you are a sci-fi buff.
I remember this one from when I was a kid. I think that I watched in with my dad on some Sunday afternoon and it is still as cool as it used to be. Richard Benjamin and James Brolin star as two tourists who are on a vacation to check out the newest type of theme park. The park is divided into three worlds: westworld, medieval world, and roman world. Once the guest has chosen which world he/she will attend, the guest is put in an authentic recreation of the world complete with androids who will satisfy your every dream and desire. Brolin and Benjamin choose to go to Westworld and they soon come across a bad ass android simply called "The Gunslinger" (Yul Brynner). They shoot him as in the park, they cannot be hurt but they can hurt the robots. It doesn't take long, however, for the robots to begin to malfunction and the aforementioned statement that humans cannot be hurt is no longer true. Very, very cool premise and quite scary as the robots quickly take over the parks and the gunslinger is out for blood. This was written and directed by Michael Crichton.
Back to: