This has to be one of the most demanding movies of the last ten years in that it hooks you from the first five minutes and demands your attention for the duration of the film. We are treated to excellent dialogue, excellent editing, excellent directing, excellent pacing, etc. etc. The whole movie is excellent and like director Doug Liman's previous film "Swingers" was completely enjoyable from start to finish. The premise is basically that there is a rave happening one night and the events of that night are shown from three different perspectives. The first is that of Ronna (Sarah Polley) who needs money for rent so she decides to get some drugs for a couple of guys. The drug deal goes wrong and Ronna is in trouble. The second perspective is that of Simon (Desmond Askew), Ronna's dealer, who has decided to go to Vegas with some friends and who gets in a lot of trouble beginning with tantric lovemaking, a threesome, and a fire. The final perspective is that of Adam and Zack, two soap opera stars who are busted for possession of weed and have to be part of an undercover operation to clear their names. I'm not going to reveal any more because there are many surprises and too many great moments in this film to mention. The humour in the film was great and, as I said before, the pacing was fantastic. Check it out tonight. Stars include Scott Wolf ("Party of Five") as Adam, Jay Mohr ("Suicide Kings") as Zack, Katie Holmes ("Dawson's Creek") as Ronna's friend, Timothy Olyphant ("Scream 2") who is super cool as drug dealer Todd Gaines, William Fichtner ("Albino Alligator") as a freaky cop, Taye Diggs ("The Wood") as Simon's friend Marcus, Breckin Meyer ("54") as Simon's white-black friend Tiny, James Duval ("The Doom Generation") as Simon's other friend, and brief appearances from b-movie queens Nikki Fritz and Tane McClure as lap dancers.
Superman And The Mole Men (1951)
Before there was the Chris Reeve Superman that most of us remember, there was Kirk Alyn and there was George Reeves. Kirk was the first Superman of the serials before television and George Reeves was the first television Superman. This hour long feature was George's debut as the Man of Steel and was a real treat to see as Superman was my hero as a kid and I grew up on a combination of the Chris Reeve movies and the George Reeves series. The plot concerns a small town in the US that has the world's largest oil drill. So large, in fact, that it has drilled into the earth's core and disturbed a race of mole people. These harmless little critters that look like ugly Ewoks crossed with "Land of the Lost" cavemen come up to investigate and create a wave of paranoia in the small town that results in a lynch mob that is intent on destroying the little guys. Clark Kent and Lois Lane happen to be in town doing a story on the oil drill at the time and it is up to Superman to stop the insanity and help our little buddies return to their home. This was an enjoyable bit of genre cheese from back in the fifties that brought back many a Sunday afternoon. I only wish that for George Reeves' debut, a more menacing villain could have made an appearance such as Bizarro, Brainiac, or Lex Luthor. Phyllis Coates co-stars as Lois Lane.
Burt Reynolds stars in and directs this cop thriller that captures much of the grittiness of what one might think that an early 80's Atlanta vice squad would be like. Burt plays Sharky, a tough cop who is sent to vice after one too many crazy acts. He soon creates a "machine" of cops in the vice squad which consists of Brian Keith as the old vet named Papa, Charles Durning as the chief who just wants to reach retirement, Bernie Casey as the cool cop trying to reach Zen, Richard Libertini as Nosh who is both Sharkey's friend and a surveillance expert, and Earl Holliman. Many consider this to be one of Burt's best performances and I have to agree as he is very convincing as the determined cop with a very awkward love affair with the subject of his surveillance and his grim and sometimes ugly determination to take down the leaders of a prostitution and slavery ring. One of the main reasons that I feel that this film works so well is that Reynolds as a director had the opportunity to be a real egomaniac and make Sharky a big hero/action star but instead he opted to go with a more subdued and intense character that brought a rare sense of realism to what could have easily been a conceited star vehicle. This movie felt like a dirty police case that had none of the glossed over niceness that we see too much of in so many cop thrillers. I don't know why "Prince of the City" keeps coming to mind but it was that type of realism that made this movie so special. Another reason the film was so great was, as I mentioned earlier, due to Reynolds' performance. You were brought into this character from the opening montage of Sharky as walked to an undercover bust and the character did not falter from this point on. I forgot I was watching Burt Reynolds much like I forgot I was watching Burt Reynolds when he became Jack Horner in "Boogie Nights". These are signs of a great actor that unfortunately Burt is never really recognized as. If you a fan of the cop thriller genre like I am, you should check out "Sharky's Machine". Oh yeah, I musn't forget to say that Henry Silva plays one hell of a villain.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969)
I have come up with a theory on the James Bond universe. It has followed relatively the same pattern as the "Star Wars" series in my opinion. You see, the Connery era to me is like the original "Star Wars" film in that it set the standard. The effects were not as good as the others but it laid out what the whole phenomena was all about and many consider this part of the phenomena to be the best. My favorite part of the "Star Wars" series was "The Empire Strikes Back" and my favorite film in the Bond series is "On Her Majesty's Secret Service". This was the only film in the Lazenby era of the Bond series but it is the film that I felt had the best equivalent to being an actual spy film that actually took into account Bond's feelings other than being a superspy. Sure, he still was sleeping with many a woman but this Bond film was different in that there were no gadgets and the villain was not quite as comic book as many of the others. As far as a spy film goes, I felt like this was the best in the Bond series although I would not say that it was the most fun. There is a difference and I thought that "Live And Let Die" and "Moonraker" were a lot more fun but I felt that in the entire series, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" was the best film. Moving on with the "Star Wars" comparison, the Roger Moore era was much like "Return of The Jedi" in that the effects were much better but there were more one-liners and he was the easiest Bond to like. My favorite "Star Wars" movies were "Empire" and "Jedi". Moving on, Timothy Dalton was like "Battlestar Galactica" and Pierce Brosnan is like "The Phantom Menace". Brosnan makes good action movies on their own but they lack the magic and mystique that made the rest of the series so special. My analysis is strictly my opinion and I'm sure some of you think my head is up my ass but so be it. No other movies contain as much fierce fan base splitting as these two series and I hope that at least a few of you can see where I'm coming from. The only thing that I think may be wrong with my analysis is that everyone remembers "Empire" as it is many people's favorite but many Bond fans have forgotten "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" perhaps because it was so different than the others. I think it's time for another look.
I was really surprised that this movie (which has achieved a sort of cult status) was shot here in Vancouver. I had no idea of this fact until I began to recognize locations. There was no doubt in my mind when local punk legends The Pointed Sticks made a guest appearance in an underground club scene. These types of revelations make some movies so much better. On the surface, I thought that I would dig this movie due to its cover art which depicts a cool looking teenage girl and the tag line "Her dad's in prison. Her mom's on drugs. The only adult she admires is Johnny Rotten." I couldn't pass it up and then on further examination I found that it was directed by Dennis Hopper who had not directed a movie since "The Last Movie" in 1971. This movie was a dark and depressing look at the ultimate dysfunctional family with Hopper as the jailbird dad, Sharon Farrell ("It's Alive") as the junkie mom, and the incredible Linda Manz as the abused byproduct named Cebe. There are some heavy duty incest references and the movie has many moments that may offend the average family looking for a good drama. As a good drama, however, the film succeeds and holds nothing back in it's portrayal of Cebe and her desperate attempts to be her own person while at the same time trying to hold together what remains of her "family". Manz portrays Cebe very honestly and I found it hard to think that it was all acting. She has unfortunately not done anything of note since this film other that the very strange "Gummo" in a very strange dance scene. Hopper did a good job directing but again left this profession for yet another near decade until his second return with "Colors" in 1988. Also starring Raymond Burr. Check this one out on the recent letterboxed rerelease from Anchor Bay if you can but don't expect to be skipping down the street after watching it.
This one was a lot of fun provided you don't get hung up on the fact that it's a sequel to "Carrie". As a 90's horror movie, it was a lot of fun and great to see a cool goth-type girl laying vengeance on a bunch of asshole jocks. This movie made the biggest stereotypes of the normal high school cliques and let the underdog have the last laugh (a la "Heathers"). Emily Bergl stars as Rachel Lang, a lonely girl in high school who the beautiful people would normally call a "freak". She is supposed to meet her best friend Lisa (Mena Suvari from "American Beauty") but unfortunately Lisa takes a dive off the school's roof instead. It is soon established that Lisa lost her virginity to one of the football oafs and he dumped her hard so she killed herself. It is also soon established that Rachel has the ability to move things with her mind when her emotions get out of control. Rachel finds herself falling for one of the main football players (who is actually a decent guy) but his friends don't approve of her and the continue to terrorize her until things get really out of control. The climax of the film had some memorable effects and I liked the fact that this film did not dwell on the religious stuff like the original. I think director Katt Shea has made a fine transition from direct to video b-movies to major studio theatrical pictures. I look forward to seeing more. Some of the many co-stars include Jason London ("Dazed and Confused") as the nice jock, Amy Irving reprising her role as Sue Snell from the original, and punk band X's singer/guitarist John Doe as Rachel's stepdad. I liked this flick much better than any of the "Scream" or "I Know What You Did Last Summer" movies.
I
had really high expectations for this one after seeing the trailer for it a
couple of years ago. A group of
female Olympic athletes are taken hostage while at the Olympics in Hong Kong.
They have to depend on their gymnastic and fighting skills to escape
their captors and their fate of becoming merchandise in a slavery ring.
The title is a little misleading as it is really Ebony, Ebony, Ivory, and
a little bit of Jade but this is a minor problem.
The movie in itself had some brief but decent fight scenes including one
in a changing room, one in a warehouse, one with the girls hands bound behind
their backs, and one in a graveyard with lots of guns blazing.
I must say that I quite enjoyed this movie (despite the bad lighting and
bad dubbing) and it was yet another reminder that the 70's were a much different
time for the film world. I don't
think anyone would dare make a movie like this in today's P.C. climate but at
least companies like Anchor Bay (God bless 'em) are digging up the old classics
and marketing them to the general public. Get
on your video store's case to pick up the entire Anchor Bay catalog.
God, I am not being paid off... seriously.
Oh yeah, the movie stars Rosanne Katon and Colleen Camp (both of whom
were in Jack Hill's "The Swinging Cheerleaders") as well as Sylvia
Anderson. This was made in the
Phillipines and was directed by Cirio Santiago who I think takes the record for
the largest amount of movies that I know I have seen around but have not
actually seen although he did do "Caged Head 2" with Jewel Shepard.
The potential for mass hysteria always makes for a good movie because in addition to the initial threat which may cause the hysteria, there is also the threat of the hysteria itself. It is like an entire disaster movie packed into one neat little riot and the whole rest of the movie build up to try prevent this from happening because you know what a mess will be when the shit hits the fan because people are idiots. I don't have a problem with society. The initial threat in this movie is some nutcase sniper who sneaks to a spot on top of the scoreboard at a sold out pro-football game and just wanders around figuring out who he is going to pick off first. He is spotted by a cameraman in the Good Year blimp and Charlton Heston the cop is called to the scene. Chuck is faced with the challenge of stopping the sniper before he starts shooting because once people know there is a sniper at the football game, it will result in the aforementioned mass hysteria. It doesn't take long for cool guy SWAT leader John Cassavetes to also be brought to the scene along with his team so that everyone can be ready when Snickers boy's trigger finger gets a little too itchy. This flick was very effective in a disaster movie type way as it followed the Irwin Allen soap opera type formula that I (and it seems only I) feel works quite well. The tension builds for a the majority of the movie and then the payoff leaves you feeling satisfied that you spent all that time waiting for it. I highly recommend this flick to those who dig thrillers and suspense. Some of the many co-stars include Beau Bridges as a bossy dad, Martin Balsam ("Psycho") as the stadium's head of security, Jack Klugman ("Quincy") as a gambler whose life depends on the outcome of the game, Gena Rowlands ("Gloria") as an unhappy woman, Walter Pidgeon ("Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea") as a pickpocket, and the girls and guns king himself, Andy Sidaris, as the TV director.
Back To: