Here is a great, fun movie that ties together many of the elements I love into one movie. I have always been a fan of having a good time when I watch a movie and this one delivers while also containing elements of mystery, suspense, action, and cheese. Bokeem Woodbine ("The Big Hit") stars as Daryl, a black man who has just been released from prison and wants to go straight. Soon, we are introduced to his friend Trip who gets Daryl involved in a bank robbery that winds him up back in prison again. Upon his second release, Daryl meets a beautiful woman named Trish who reminds him of his ex-girlfriend. It does not take long for them to get shot at and soon Daryl is involved in a scam that he does not need to be a part of. This was a fun movie shot in a an almost comic book style that can hold its own as an action movie without taking itself too seriously. Not quite as over the top as something like "The Big Hit", it had me smiling and also trying to figure out whodunnit. A special appearance by Jeffrey Combs ("Re-Animator") made this movie hands down my favorite in the last month. I'm even smiling as I write this review. Cynda Williams plays the mysterious Trish and there are also appearances from Snoop Doggy Dogg, LL Cool J, and "Candyman" Tony Todd. Writer/Director Darin Scott did a great job.
Bastard Out Of Carolina (1996)
Well, here's a well-done depression fest that involves the physical and mental abuse of a young girl by a poor upbringing and a super-prick of a stepfather. Jena Malone stars as Bone, the young girl born from Anney (Jennifer Jason Leigh). Bone leads a depressed life until her mom meets a new man (Dermot Mulroney). Bone's life gets better for this period but circumstances lead to Anney being single again. Soon afterwards she meets a new asshole, I mean husband, and he begins to abuse Bone almost immediately for a lengthy amount of time. Ron Eldard ("E.R.", "Sleepers") plays the prick with a scary reality and you quickly begin to hate him. This movie was extremely well made and was the subject of controversy upon its release due to the public lynching by Ted Turner and his censorship police. Although the movie is quite heavy and graphic, I commend director Anjelica Huston for telling a story like this in such a realistic manner and not candy-coating it for the masses. Supporting cast includes Michael Rooker (in one of my favorite performances by him), Lyle Lovett, Glenne Headly, Christina Ricci (briefly), and Grace Zabriskie.
A seventies exploitation flick that I seeked out after seeing the amusing trailer. Seventies sex icon Candy Rialson stars as Bonnie, a drifter who is drifting until she meets up with an artist named Geraldine (Joan Blackman) who likes to paint her nude. Before this, however, we are treated to an odd scene involving Bonnie and a friend robbing a rich man in a sexy and inconvenient manner. I don't really know why this whole sequence was included but I guess that is why this genre is called "exploitation". Bonnie and Geraldine's relationship begins to sour because Geraldine is a lesbian but Bonnie wants a man. She gets one in the form of a burglar named Dan but after Geraldine kills him, Bonnie runs away to the security of a local art collector named Victor. Victor, however, is a weirdo and likes to keep all his pets (tigers, birds, women) locked up in cages in his basement. If this sounds like something that you would enjoy, it was enjoyable to watch but not everyone will appreciate it the way I did.
I love going back and watching the stuff that I watched when I was younger as many of you have probably gathered from many of my reviews. This one was no exception as it was a blast to watch the pilot episode of the adventures of Crockett and Tubbs. For those of you who lived as mountain people or those who were born too late, "Miami Vice" was an eighties cop show that was extremely "hip" at its time and created a style that leaked into the mainstream. In retrospect, this style was quite goofy but that does not detract from the fact that this was a good cop show with a good cast and a good premise. Oh, and it also had a good theme. The pilot deals with the meeting of vice cop Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson) and New York police officer Rico Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas) and their subsequent partnership. It also has the story of a bad guy drug dealer who killed Tubbs' brother. I really liked this blast from the past and if you have fond memories of this show, you will not be disappointed by this tape. Jimmy Smits ("NYPD Blue") makes a small appearance and this pilot was made before Edward James Olmos joined the cast.
Here is another disappointing Stephen King adaptation. Many of you will probably remember the Emilio Estevez starring "Maximum Overdrive" from the eighties. Frankly, that was a cheesy movie but it was entertaining and I actually liked it because it was a lot of fun to watch. Unfortunately, "Trucks" was not. Both films share the same premise of machines taking on lives of their own but in this one, the focus was on the trucks and only the trucks and their relentless circling of a small town diner/gas station. Timothy Busfield stars as Ray, a wooden loser who has a son named Logan (Brendan Fletcher from the excellent "Little Criminals"). They live in the town and Ray has a thing for Hope (Brenda Bakke). Everyone walks through their parts and the trucks drive around and then what seems like half the night later, the end credits roll. Maybe I'm being too hard on this movie but it is the endless parade of this type of substandard genre flick that is quickly pumped out that is giving genre flicks a bad name. This movie just seems to have been made for the sake of being made but it does not seem that anyone involved cares that it was being made. Oh well, I'll keep renting them and I guess that is the sad irony of it all. Maybe the machines are controlling us...
The Erotic Adventures Of Pinocchio (1971)
This was a fun little frolic in fairy tale land. I looked at the sleeve for this in the video store and laughed out loud when I saw the tagline which reads "It's not his nose that grows". Further research made this more appealing as it features a fun appearance from Dyanne Thorne ("Ilsa") as Pinocchio's fairy godmother. The plot involves Gepetta making the ultimate man out of wood and finding out that having sex with wood is not very satisfying. Soon, Pinocchio is a man but everytime he is unfaithful to Gepetta, his penis grows larger. Seeing as this is a sexplotation flick, this happens often and Pinocchio is soon performing in sex shows for the evil Jo Jo. His penis has to be wheeled in a wheelbarrow after too many sex acts render it too much to handle. As ridiculous as this sounds, I really enjoyed it (surprise surprise) and Gepetta is a major babe. This flick is a great example of a fairy tale being turned into a sexy b-movie and working. Enjoy it. Ray Dennis Steckler was the cinematographer.
Creaturealm: From The Dead (1998)
Brimstone Productions brings us another shot on video genre compilation with its usual above average results. "Creaturealm" is another series of anthologies from creator Kevin J. Lindenmuth and this time deals with horror stories. The first piece is entitled "Hollywood Mortuary" and is one of the best shorts that I have seen included in an anthology such as this. Writer/director Ron Ford has come up with a brilliant concept with Randal Malone in creating an urban legend that almost could be a true legend (we are dealing with Hollywood folklore here folks). The basic idea is that Pierce Jackson Dawn is the greatest make-up artist around in the golden days of horror in the thirties and forties. He is desperate to keep the genre alive so he resurrects the dead corpses of screen legends Pratt Borokof and Janos Blasko to raise a little hell and make horror reach the headlines. Interview bits with actual people (Conrad Brooks, Dave DeCoteau, Margaret O'Brien) are intercut with the story to add a sense of realism. This one was extremely well done on all aspects and this comes highly recommended for any fan of the low budget scene or classic horror films. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Kevin J. Lindenmuth's "Eyes Of The Ripper" which was a surprise for me because I have very much enjoyed all of his other work. I think that the sound problems that plagued his segment took away a lot from the whole thing. Sasha Graham stars as Amy and she is telling the story of how she has mental dreams and how they are reality. I usually like Lindenmuth's work but this one didn't cut it. I don't like to say it, but it was a real let down after "Hollywood Mortuary". We all have our bad days I guess. It wasn't totally horrible though and please don't let this detract you from checking out this tape.
The Sword And The Sorcerer (1982)
There have been a lot of decent sword and sorcery movies made and a lot of duds. It is a tough genre to crack as there needs to be a healthy mix of swordplay and sorcery. The redundancy of the last two sentences will be ringing through my head as I sleep tonight but I still believe that the words I wrote are true. For every "Dragonslayer" there is at least one "Merlin And The Sword". Cutting to the chase, "The Sword And The Sorcerer" is one of the better and funner of the genre and I have seen it many times. Lee Horsley stars as Talon, a lippy rogue and brilliant fighter who is out to seek revenge on the evil king Cromwell who killed his father and mother. There is mucho fighting, sarcastic remarks, and a little bit of skin and gore and the film still manages to stay on track with a decent story and that heroic feeling. Although you may not be a big fan of this genre or may be unimpressed by its high camp factor, this is a great representation and leaves all of the other bad fantasy movies in the dust. Check this one out if you can find it, I had a hard time. Co-stars include Simon MacCorkindale ("Manimal") and Richard Lynch and it was directed by Albert Pyun ("Nemesis").
The Thing From Another World (1951)
Many of you are probably familiar with John Carpenter's remake of this story. I am not going to sit here and tell you that I think the original is better because that would be a blatant lie as I am a huge Carpenter fan and regard his version as one of the greatest suspense films ever made. The original Howard Hawks version does, however, stand up as on of the better classic sci-fi films I have seen and I thought it was much scarier than a lot of the others. Many of these movies tend to lose something in that they are so old and we are spoiled by the special effects, gore, and other naughty vices from our generation. "The Thing From Another World" manages to get around this as it does not utilize a great amount of these things. Much like a Hitchcock film, "The Thing" relies on uncertainty and unseen predators to deliver the chills, not high tech animatronic monsters and buckets of pig intestines. This all mentioned, James Arness' monster will still seem silly to some but watch this one and forget about the look of the monster and try and get into it. You don't know what a thing looks like, do you?
David Mamet is one of those names that I have heard a lot but have never actually checked out his movies. I thought that I would start with this one as it is about cops and it has actors I like. This film was fantastic as it was so much more than a simple cop thriller and was instead an intricate and detailed mystery that you had to put together and follow very closely to "get it". I love movies like this and I love it when I can curl up in front of the TV and really get drawn into the picture. You have to do this with this film but if you do, the results are amazing. Joe Mantegna stars as Bob Gold, a jewish homicide detective who gets involved in the murder of a jewish woman, a potential conspiracy, and an underground organization of revolutionaries. There is also another storyline as Bob's partner, Sully, is hot on the trail of a black murderer and this keeps up the action entertainment for the film. This film features excellent writing and as I said earlier, is better watched with no distractions (definition=alone). I will be reviewing more of Mamet's work in the coming months. Co-stars include William H. Macy ("Fargo") as Sully and Ving Rhames ("Pulp Fiction") as bad guy Randolph.
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