I read an article in Movieline a couple of years ago about a really cool guy named Christopher Jones. It seemed, as I recall, that he was destined to be the new James Dean and then he just dropped out of the film business for over 20 years. Anyways, it turns out that he is that star of this film and he was just as cool as he sounded in the article. Jones stars as Max Frost, a rock star who has an amazing amount of influence over the American youth. So much, in fact, he manages to lower the voting age to 15 and become president. This was a great "what if" movie that I thought was an incredibly original idea that seemed good at the beginning and then slowly turned bad as Max kept gaining and abusing the power. This may be partly due to the fact that I am 25 and I started to feel quite old. Jones gave a confident performance as Max and you really bought into the charisma of the character. The songs were pretty cool too. Some of the co-stars include Shelley Winters as Max's mom, Richard Pryor as his drummer, and Hal Holbrook as a Senator who Max uses to reach his status. It's too bad that Christopher Jones did not make more movies because I thought he was pretty good. Check this flick out of you can find it. The director also directed "The Todd Killings" which is also about a charismatic twentysomething who gains power over youth. By the way, if anyone knows where I can get a copy of the soundtrack for this film, please e-mail me!
The first film in this series had all the trimmings of a decent erotic b-movie. Lisa Boyle, Griffin Drew, Shauna O'Brien and Raelyn Saalman were the stars and it had a b-movie feel to it that seems to be getting lost more and more especially when these movies jump on the sequel bandwagon. The only thing that part 2 of this series retains from it's predecessor is Shauna O'Brien and it happened to be directed by Fred Olen Ray (although it does not feel like one of his films). This time Shauna plays Linda and she is no friend at all but is a vindictive bitch who wants to make a guy named Alex's life a living hell as he slept with her while on business in New Orleans. Perhaps the title is meant to be said in a sarcastic tone. She is as nutty as an O'Henry and her character is very similar to Rebecca DeMornay's in "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle". This was not nearly as good as the first one and we can clearly see that this series has enjoyed a quick death.
Friend Of The Family 3 : Mischievous (1996)
I spoke too soon, the series hath returned from the dead and it is a rotting corpse that I hope will be shot in the head and put in the ground once and for all. A cremation would probably be more appropriate. I rarely will make a comment about the believability of a plot as I think movies are a form of escapism. This is an exception as nobody could possibly be a stupid as the lead character, Jeff, in this farce. The plot has nothing to do with anyone's family and this does not even have any actors of any note. Basically, Jeff goes to his high school reunion and hooks up with his old friend, Angela, who has turned into a adrenaline junkie who likes to have sex on top of buildings and has some sort of praying mantis thing going on. This Jeff idiot keeps doing what she wants like an old dog and if he is reluctant all she has to do is dare him. The only redeeming quality about this movie is the ample sex scenes but even these are totally unerotic and dumb. If this is what you want, rent a porno instead. Only get "Friend Of The Family 3" if you want to see the stupidest movie in the video store.
Here we have an interesting concept involving the whole male population of the world having to take a pill to make them temporarily impotent so the population explosion will simmer down. Unfortunately, the pill works too well and now no women can get pregnant. We then follow a government agent around as he scours the world for men who did not take the pill so they can impregnate the women. These men are called Dicktators and we join five of them and their exploits. My favorite was the Latin Dicktator who has spent his whole life with sheep so when he is to impregnate Rene Bond, she needs to act like a sheep for him to get aroused. Weird and funny. There is also a black Dicktator, a cross-dressing Jewish Dicktator, an Oriental Dicktator, and a Russian Dicktator who drinks Vodka and begins to learn English by kissing various body parts while the woman names them. What can I say, I am trying to see all of Rene Bond's movies because she is so damn cute. Available from Something Weird Video.
Here we suffer from the "why make movies out of books if we are going to make them bad" syndrome that Rees covers so eloquently in his review of "Phantoms". I loved the novel as it was creepy and had a lot of depth. The movie lacks both. I thought that this was a sure thing as it is directed by Michael Mann ("Heat", "Manhunter") and stars Scott Glenn ("Backdraft"), Jurgen Prochnow ("Das Boot"), Gabriel Byrne ("The Usual Suspects"), Ian McKellen, and Robert Prosky. Boy, was I sadly mistaken. A one sentence plot summary is that the Nazis are ordered to take control of a keep and when men begin to die, they bring in a Jewish professor to try and figure out why. The acting is way below what is expected from these actors and I was very disillusioned when I found out that Michael Mann both wrote and directed this. I was expecting so much more... read the book instead.
Low budget fare from fairly decent low budget director Tim Ritter. Ritter has always been original through his first three movies: "Truth Or Dare", "Killing Spree", and "Wicked Games". This time around we are introduced to another serial killer whose name in this one is Angus Lynch. I found this to be Ritter's most mature film to date and his writing has improved immensely over his previous work. There is enough blood and nudity to satisfy the people looking for that and enough substance to satisfy critical assholes like myself. There are some music videos at the end that are slightly embarrassing but this is not Ritter's problem. I am still a fan and will check out his next project when it becomes available. Shot on video and available through Twisted Illusions and Draculina.
Another classic from Penelope "I used to be cool" Spheeris. I don't understand what happened to her as a filmmaker. This one stars John Cryer ("Pretty In Pink"), Daniel Roebuck ("River's Edge"), and Red Hot Chili Pepper Flea as three punk friends who decide to hit the road and head for California. While camping one night, they are jumped by a motorcycle gang led by Lee Ving (from the punk band Fear). They kill Flea and the other two escape. They come across various people including a bullfighter-Elvis impersonator named Daredelvis and a country hickette named Jessie (Catherine Mary Stewart). The dudes spend the rest of the movie looking for the bikers so they can avenge Flea. There was some minor action in parts but the real appeal of this film was Cryer and Roebuck and their friendship. I liked to watch these two on screen and it is rare (if ever) to see a road movie set in the American desert with a couple of punks (one with black hair and one with a Mohawk). Check this one out.
Shannon Whirry stars in this movie about an evil man who trains women to become assassins while enslaving them at the same time with microchips in their brains that will kill them after a certain amount of time. Think Jess Franco's "Faceless" and cross it with "La Femme Nikita". This one gets a good rating from me although I do not really know why. I just enjoyed watching it. Mind you, I enjoy watching everything that Shannon Whirry is in (even "The Granny"). She holds the same place in my heart as scream queen Linnea Quigley, it does not matter how good or bad the movie is, as long as they are in it. Don't get me wrong, I think b-movie fans will get a kick out of this, I am just admitting that I am slightly biased in this review. Worth a rental anyways.
Jim Jarmusch directed this black and white feature early in his career. It is a road movie about a guy named Willie, his cousin Eva and his best friend Eddie. The film starts in New York with Eva coming to visit Willie from Romania (I think). They begin to develop an odd relationship and soon Eddie is introduced into the picture. Eva heads North and a year or two later, Willie and Eddie decide to visit her. After hooking up, they all decide to drive to Florida for something to do. Like Jarmusch's other films, some may find this slow but if you allow yourself to become involved with the characters, it becomes quite engrossing. The lingering style that Jarmusch uses with fairly static shots and the emphasis on the dialogue allows you to feel like you are right there with the actors. Like I said about "Down By Law", don't fall into the trap of thinking that this is an art film and just allow yourself to spend an hour and a half with the people on the screen.
I thought I was really going to hate this one. In fact, that's why I rented it... I wanted something to make fun of for a couple of hours. Although this was my intention, I could not help remembering every so often that Richard Linklater is the director. I loved "Dazed and Confused" so why should this be any different. I prejudged it on the box and the fact that it has a "hip" alternative soundtrack. I hate to admit it, but I quite liked this tale of a bunch a Gen-X philosophical losers and how their attitudes are exposed when an old friend who has now become a rock star has returned for a night. While he is all big and famous, his peers are still hanging out by the local convenience store, making racist comments, drinking beer, and talking about what they could be doing. An interesting study on the youth of today that seemed almost to be making fun of them rather than making the slacker thing look like it's the cool way to be. I really liked star Giovanni Ribisi as Jeff and Parker Posey as the rock star's publicist. The character of Sooze is the 90's equivalent on the annoying meter of the girl from "Peeping Tom".
I am afraid to use the word dwarf in this review so when I refer to the dwarf, I will simply call him "d". We have a couple that moves into a boarding house. The boarding house is run by a crazy old woman who likes to dress up like she is a Spanish singer while her icky "d" son plays the piano. She also like to smuggle heroin inside teddy bears and other toys that she gives to "d" to play with after she gets the drugs out. You are probably wondering what the nutty mommy wants with the drugs, right?! Well, the drugs are to keep all of the girls that are locked in the attic as part of mom and "d"'s white slavery, prostitution ring in line. Oh no, is the young, voluptuous blonde that just moved in with her fiancée going to become a part of this harem? Hmmm. Another classic oddity from those strange folks at Something Weird Video. I watch a lot of movies about crazy people, eh?
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