Oh dear, it's film quiz time again over at Dennis Cozzalio's place. And it's a really hard one.
1) Most obnoxious movie you’ve ever seen
Not counting Mystery Science Theater 3000, I'd have to say Gone with the Wind. "I don't know nothing about birthing no babies," my ass.
2) Favorite oddball pairing of actors
I wish I could think of some really incongruous pair, like John Denver and George Burns, but the best I can come up with is Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. And they really are my favorites.
3) Which movie would you have paid to see remade by Ken Russell?
How about Iron Man? Make Tony Stark a real playboy, show us another side of Pepper "Sex" Pott?
4) Emma Stone or Margot Robbie?
Emma Stone for body of work. Margot Robbie for Ms. Q. Now I've got one: C.C.H. Pounder or Viola Davis?
5) Which member of Monty Python are you?
The tall one.
6) Which movie would you have paid to see remade by Vincent Minnelli?
I was never a fan of his glossy, saturated technicolor, but in Suicide Squad, it might have worked.
7) Franco Nero or Gian Maria Volonte?
Nero is unstoppable.
8) Your favorite Japanese monster movie
Agian, outside of MST3K, I don't watch these. Although I'm intrigued by the new Monster Island franchise. Can I say Latitude Zero?
9) Which movie would you have paid to see remade by Stanley Kubrick?
His clean, clear, possibly sterile style might have saved Batman v. Superman.
10) Hanna Schygulla or Barbara Sukowa?
I don't believe I've seen either in anything significant. But I've heard of Hannah.
11) Name a critically admired movie that you hate
There are a lot of critically admired movies that I've never bothered to watch, because they don't seem like my thing (Godfather), so I can't say I hate them. But someone did make me watch Taxi Driver and I didn't care for it. When she fell asleep, I turned it off.
12) Which movie would you have paid to see remade by Elia Kazan?
I haven't seen many of his movies, but he's known for message movies, right? Captain America: Civil War.
13) Better or worse: Disney comedies (1955-1975) or Elvis musicals?
I'm not a big fan of Disney animation (except Fantasia), but I suspect you mean the live-action, Dean Jones or
Fred MacMurray, That Darn Cat type comedies. Which I kind of like, especially if Haley Mills is in it. But Elvis
must win.
14) Which movie would you have paid to see remade by Alfred Hitchcock?
I think he could have done a lot to tighten up Ant Man, and maybe add some suspense, while keeping the humor.
15) Ryan Gosling or Channing Tatum?
Gosling seems to have some strong acting chops, but he looks like a "sharpie" - cast him for a conman or maybe a shady cop. Tatum has a more generic look, although he looks good in "slab o' meat" roles. Tatum, for flexibility and likeableness.
16) Bad performance in a movie you otherwise like/love
I feel like "Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's" should be the key that unlocks many more, but that's the only one I can think of.
17) Which movie would you have paid to see remade by Howard Hawks?
If he remade Captain America, he'd probably punch up the humor.
18) Tippi Hedren or Kim Novak?
OK, I've got a pair of platinum blondes for you: Janet Leigh or Peggy Lee? (Yes, I just saw Pete Kelly's Blues.)
19) Best crime movie remake
Ooh, can I say Maltese Falcon?
20) Which movie would you have paid to see remade by Preston Sturges?
Maybe he could be the one to finally do The Incredible Hulk properly. Bring out the horror, keep the pace brisk.
21) West Side Story (the movie), yes or no?
Yes, I kind of like it.
22) Which movie would you have paid to see remade by Luchino Visconti?
Again, I haven't seen many of his movies, but I do think he could do something with the X-Men - maybe X-Men: First Class. I think he could handle the swinging 60s/70s milieu in an interesting way.
23) What was the last movie you saw, theatrically
and/or on DVD/Blu-ray/streaming?
Theatrically, we saw the RiffTrax presentation of Night of the Living Dead. It was interesting to get back to a theater. On disc, we watched Vincent Price's Last Man on Earth. Without riffing, this brought us down so bad, we didn't try to watch the flipside of the disc - Panic in the Year Zero. Instead we rewatched Animal Crackers.
24) Brewster McCloud or O.C. and Stiggs?
Haven't seen BMcC since ~1976, and OC+S is on my Netflix queue, so I can't really answer now.
25) Which movie would you have paid to see remade by Luis Bunuel?
Can he do Dr. Strange? We'd need to add a perverse love affair to seal the deal, I guess. Or should we save it for Jodorowski?
26) Best nature-in-revolt movie
Does The Day the Earth Froze count?
27) Best Rene Auberjoinois performance (film or TV)
I am only really aware of him as Odo, and I never really watched ST:DS9. I know I've seen him in other things, and recognized him, but nothing really stands out.
28) Which movie would you have paid to see remade by Ingmar Bergman?
That's easy: Logan.
29) Best movie with a bird or referencing a bird in its title?
I was thinking Eastwood's Bird (which I haven't seen), but of course, the true answer is Maltese Falcon again.
30) Burt Lancaster or Michael Keaton?
I'm not a big Lancaster fan, but Mr. Mom? Our second silliest Batman? I love Keaton's Dogberry from Much Ado, but it has to be Burt.
31) In what way have the recent avalanche of allegations unearthed in the wake of the Harvey Weinstein scandal changed the way you look at movies and the artists who make them?
I've been overlooking artists personalities for a long while. But it's getting harder. I'm less inclined to watch Polanski or Woody Allen now. But I still watched Baby Driver, even after hearing about Kevin Spacey.
32) In 2017 which is “better,” TV or the movies?
I'd say movies, but they are definitely converging, while diverging from the old customary ways. For one thing, both have gotten into telling long, serial stories, as TV gets less episodic, more "continuity-like", and movies come in 4-5 part trilogies and expanded universes.
Whew, done! The "paid to see remade" questions were especially tough. I had to use a simple trick to get through them. Can you spot it?
Thursday, November 30, 2017
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Red Shoes Diary
I might have mentioned that I have never watched The Red Shoes (1948), but I'm now getting into the Powell/Pressburger oeuvre, and it is time. Since it includes a curse and the devil, I guess it's an October horror movie, right?
It starts with a ballet performance, but not a genteel stuffy performance. The music students and other fans waiting in line for the cheap seats nearly trample the guards to get in. Marius Goring is attending because his professor wrote the score - or did he? Because it sounds like he stole it from one of Goring's student projects. But he isn't really the protagonist.
The next day, Goring goes to the ballet's impressario, Anton Walbrook, to get back a letter he sent about the plagiarism of his work. Walbrook understands what is going on, but convince Goring to keep quiet, and also offers him work as rehearsal director. (Also, he looks very Barrymore.)
Walbrook goes to a society party to mingle, but it's actually because Moira Shearer's mother is trying to get him to see her daughter dance. He doesn't like this, and it looks like Shearer won't be the protagonist. But finally, he sees Shearer in a performance, and decides to make her his star. He gets Goring to work on a ballet based on the fairy tale, The Red Shoes. Of course, Shearer and Goring fall in love, and of course, Walbrook wants Shearer for his own. That's the romantic triangle and now we see the picture.
The story is simple enough - girl must decide between sleazy but powerful impresario or noble but poor composer. To amp it up, the sleazy guy actually brings out her best art, while the composer wants her to quit working (of course). And, as in so many Powell/Pressburger movies, it ends with a fall from a great height.
But even if the story is simple, it is not told that way. It is full of interest and incident. Walbrook, as the devil-surrogate, is of course the most interesting. Goring is a bit of a zero, but Shearer is rather affecting, possibly because she was a real ballerina, more than an actor.
The music and dance are the best part, but there's less of both than you might expect.
In conclusion, I don't think that, if I had seen this as a young girl, it would have inspired me to become a ballerina.
It starts with a ballet performance, but not a genteel stuffy performance. The music students and other fans waiting in line for the cheap seats nearly trample the guards to get in. Marius Goring is attending because his professor wrote the score - or did he? Because it sounds like he stole it from one of Goring's student projects. But he isn't really the protagonist.
The next day, Goring goes to the ballet's impressario, Anton Walbrook, to get back a letter he sent about the plagiarism of his work. Walbrook understands what is going on, but convince Goring to keep quiet, and also offers him work as rehearsal director. (Also, he looks very Barrymore.)
Walbrook goes to a society party to mingle, but it's actually because Moira Shearer's mother is trying to get him to see her daughter dance. He doesn't like this, and it looks like Shearer won't be the protagonist. But finally, he sees Shearer in a performance, and decides to make her his star. He gets Goring to work on a ballet based on the fairy tale, The Red Shoes. Of course, Shearer and Goring fall in love, and of course, Walbrook wants Shearer for his own. That's the romantic triangle and now we see the picture.
The story is simple enough - girl must decide between sleazy but powerful impresario or noble but poor composer. To amp it up, the sleazy guy actually brings out her best art, while the composer wants her to quit working (of course). And, as in so many Powell/Pressburger movies, it ends with a fall from a great height.
But even if the story is simple, it is not told that way. It is full of interest and incident. Walbrook, as the devil-surrogate, is of course the most interesting. Goring is a bit of a zero, but Shearer is rather affecting, possibly because she was a real ballerina, more than an actor.
The music and dance are the best part, but there's less of both than you might expect.
In conclusion, I don't think that, if I had seen this as a young girl, it would have inspired me to become a ballerina.
Friday, November 24, 2017
At the Octoplex
Even though it's closer to Thanksgiving, I'm still catching up on our Halloween movies. We watched a great batch of old classics, four double bills. Here goes:
Son of Frankenstein/Ghost of Frankenstein (1939/1942) are up first. These sequels both feature Bela Lugosi as Ygor, deformed when he survived a hanging. He looks very dashing in a wolfman-esque beard - it squares off his heart-shaped face. In Son, when Basil Rathbone as Baron von Frankenstein's heir shows up at the castle, Ygor is always nearby, tootling his oxhorn flute.
When the young doctor revives the corpse of the monster (Boris Karloff), he discovers that it only responds to Ygor's flute. The monster then begins murdering the jurors who judged Ygor, and it's time for the old torch-carrying mob. Ygor is shot and the monster is pushed into a pit of molten sulfur. That's the last we'll see of them!
Until Ghost. When the villagers blow up Castle Frankenstein, it releases the monster (Lon Chaney, Jr., this time) from the pit, which has preserved it. Ygor takes him to see Cedric Hardwicke, the old Baron's other son, to get him a tune-up. Before he can do much, the monster kills Dr. Frankenstein's co-worker, Dr. Lionel Atwill. The old Baron's ghost appears to the doctor. and suggests putting Atwill's brain in the monster, so it won't be evil. Ygor, however, wants them to use his brain - he has been hanged and shot and is pretty banged up. Guess what happens?
Note that both Son and Ghost have, respectively, a son and a ghost as advertised. They also have great casts and are a lot of fun.
Hollywood's Legends of Horror Collection: Mark of the Vampire/The Mask of Fu Manchu (1935/1932) is up next. These two are a bit different, each notorious in their own way. Mark takes place in some Eastern European town with gypsies, etc. Elizabeth Allan is daughter of the lord of the manor, who winds up dead - with two small puncture wounds in his throat. Police inspector Lionel Atwill doesn't believe it is vampires, but when specialist Lionel Barrymore shows up, he confirms: vampires. Notice that creepy strangers Bela Lugosi and Caroll Borland have just moved in, scaring the locals.
Before I get to the spoiler ending, I should mention that the commentary track featured horror and SF author Kim Newman, one of our faves. So, although we don't listen to a lot of these tracks, we had to listen to this one, and were glad we did. For one thing, they talked about how Mark was more or less a remake of Todd Browning's London After Midnight, a lost film. The gimmick in both films is that the vampires are fake, used by the police to expose the real murderer. I sure didn't see that twist coming.
I'm afraid I don't have much to say about Mask of Fu Manchu. It's possible I fell asleep a little. I do want to say that Boris Karloff makes a great Dr. Fu, if you don't mind the yellowface. Even better (worse) is Myrna Loy as his daughter Fa Lo See. For some reason, many of Loy's early roles had her playing Asian. I'll admit she has an exotic look, but I don't really see Asian. However, when she is given Sir Nayland Smith as a plaything, she has him whipped by a large African man, and it is pretty kinky. Oh, Mrs. Thin Man! So, if you are politically insensitive, this precode might be worth a watch.
The next double double comes courtesy of Rod Heath, of Ferdy On Films. He masterfully dissects the four Mummy sequels, available on 2 discs, The Mummy's Hand/The Mummy's Tomb (1940/1942) and The Mummy's Ghost/The Mummy's Curse (1944). Hand sets up the premise for the series as the retiring priest tells new priest George Zucco about how Kharis stole a bunch of tanna leaves (they look like eucalyptus to us) to try to revive his dead love Ananka. As punishment, he is entombed alive with a big supply of leaves, and the priests keep him alive with a few drops of tanna potion.
Note: Kharis is presumably based on the Greek word for devotion (root of charm, charisma) and Ananka comes from the word for necessity or destiny.
Hand features a roguish archeologist Dick Foran and his Brooklyn buddy Wallace Ford scouring Egypt for ancient treasure. They get funding from a cabaret magician (Cecil Kellaway), to the dismay of his beautiful daughter Peggy Moran. Of course, she becomes the target of both the mummy (Tom Tyler) and Zucco. It ends with the mummy heading back to America with our heroes.
There is no particular "hand" on hand.
In Tomb, we go to Foran's home in Massachusetts, where, as an old man, he tells his friends and family the story again. In Egypt, Zucco is telling the same story to his disciple, Turhan Bey. Soon, Bey is in Mass. too, setting up as gravedigger in the local cemetery, with the undead mummy - Lon Chaney, Jr, now a three-monster player (Frankenstein's monster, Dracula, Kharis). After some killing, Ford shows up (Moran has gone to her reward, it seems), but the younger generation, John Hubbard ad Elyse Knox are taking the main duties, including Knox's duty as re-incarnated Ananka substitute.
Kharis hangs out in a tomb in the cemetery, so the title checks out.
In Ghost, Zucco hands over the high priest duties to cadaverous John Carradine, who heads to Mass. to get the mummy back to Egypt. There, archeology student Robert Lowery is studying Kharis, but his main interest is otherworldy, Egyptian orphan Ramsay Ames. Surprise! She is Ananka reincarnated. Kharis catches her, and they both sink into a Massachusetts swamp. Ghosts are not in evidence.
Finally, in Curse, Massachusetts has moved to Louisiana (now the swamp makes sense). Some engineers are draining the swamp, but people keep turning up dead - maybe a mummy or two have been dug up? Beautiful exotic Virginia Christine (Mrs. Olson for Folgers) is wandering around without her memory, and there are some Egyptians (Peter Coe and Martin Koslek) skulking around the ruined chapel on the hill (noted ornament to any Louisiana town). The curse in question is probably when the Mummy shouts "Fuck this!" at the end.
Wow, what a great collection of b-horror movies! And (even though it is Thanksgiving by the calendar), I'm not done with spooky October yet.
Son of Frankenstein/Ghost of Frankenstein (1939/1942) are up first. These sequels both feature Bela Lugosi as Ygor, deformed when he survived a hanging. He looks very dashing in a wolfman-esque beard - it squares off his heart-shaped face. In Son, when Basil Rathbone as Baron von Frankenstein's heir shows up at the castle, Ygor is always nearby, tootling his oxhorn flute.
When the young doctor revives the corpse of the monster (Boris Karloff), he discovers that it only responds to Ygor's flute. The monster then begins murdering the jurors who judged Ygor, and it's time for the old torch-carrying mob. Ygor is shot and the monster is pushed into a pit of molten sulfur. That's the last we'll see of them!
Until Ghost. When the villagers blow up Castle Frankenstein, it releases the monster (Lon Chaney, Jr., this time) from the pit, which has preserved it. Ygor takes him to see Cedric Hardwicke, the old Baron's other son, to get him a tune-up. Before he can do much, the monster kills Dr. Frankenstein's co-worker, Dr. Lionel Atwill. The old Baron's ghost appears to the doctor. and suggests putting Atwill's brain in the monster, so it won't be evil. Ygor, however, wants them to use his brain - he has been hanged and shot and is pretty banged up. Guess what happens?
Note that both Son and Ghost have, respectively, a son and a ghost as advertised. They also have great casts and are a lot of fun.
Hollywood's Legends of Horror Collection: Mark of the Vampire/The Mask of Fu Manchu (1935/1932) is up next. These two are a bit different, each notorious in their own way. Mark takes place in some Eastern European town with gypsies, etc. Elizabeth Allan is daughter of the lord of the manor, who winds up dead - with two small puncture wounds in his throat. Police inspector Lionel Atwill doesn't believe it is vampires, but when specialist Lionel Barrymore shows up, he confirms: vampires. Notice that creepy strangers Bela Lugosi and Caroll Borland have just moved in, scaring the locals.
Before I get to the spoiler ending, I should mention that the commentary track featured horror and SF author Kim Newman, one of our faves. So, although we don't listen to a lot of these tracks, we had to listen to this one, and were glad we did. For one thing, they talked about how Mark was more or less a remake of Todd Browning's London After Midnight, a lost film. The gimmick in both films is that the vampires are fake, used by the police to expose the real murderer. I sure didn't see that twist coming.
I'm afraid I don't have much to say about Mask of Fu Manchu. It's possible I fell asleep a little. I do want to say that Boris Karloff makes a great Dr. Fu, if you don't mind the yellowface. Even better (worse) is Myrna Loy as his daughter Fa Lo See. For some reason, many of Loy's early roles had her playing Asian. I'll admit she has an exotic look, but I don't really see Asian. However, when she is given Sir Nayland Smith as a plaything, she has him whipped by a large African man, and it is pretty kinky. Oh, Mrs. Thin Man! So, if you are politically insensitive, this precode might be worth a watch.
The next double double comes courtesy of Rod Heath, of Ferdy On Films. He masterfully dissects the four Mummy sequels, available on 2 discs, The Mummy's Hand/The Mummy's Tomb (1940/1942) and The Mummy's Ghost/The Mummy's Curse (1944). Hand sets up the premise for the series as the retiring priest tells new priest George Zucco about how Kharis stole a bunch of tanna leaves (they look like eucalyptus to us) to try to revive his dead love Ananka. As punishment, he is entombed alive with a big supply of leaves, and the priests keep him alive with a few drops of tanna potion.
Note: Kharis is presumably based on the Greek word for devotion (root of charm, charisma) and Ananka comes from the word for necessity or destiny.
Hand features a roguish archeologist Dick Foran and his Brooklyn buddy Wallace Ford scouring Egypt for ancient treasure. They get funding from a cabaret magician (Cecil Kellaway), to the dismay of his beautiful daughter Peggy Moran. Of course, she becomes the target of both the mummy (Tom Tyler) and Zucco. It ends with the mummy heading back to America with our heroes.
There is no particular "hand" on hand.
In Tomb, we go to Foran's home in Massachusetts, where, as an old man, he tells his friends and family the story again. In Egypt, Zucco is telling the same story to his disciple, Turhan Bey. Soon, Bey is in Mass. too, setting up as gravedigger in the local cemetery, with the undead mummy - Lon Chaney, Jr, now a three-monster player (Frankenstein's monster, Dracula, Kharis). After some killing, Ford shows up (Moran has gone to her reward, it seems), but the younger generation, John Hubbard ad Elyse Knox are taking the main duties, including Knox's duty as re-incarnated Ananka substitute.
Kharis hangs out in a tomb in the cemetery, so the title checks out.
In Ghost, Zucco hands over the high priest duties to cadaverous John Carradine, who heads to Mass. to get the mummy back to Egypt. There, archeology student Robert Lowery is studying Kharis, but his main interest is otherworldy, Egyptian orphan Ramsay Ames. Surprise! She is Ananka reincarnated. Kharis catches her, and they both sink into a Massachusetts swamp. Ghosts are not in evidence.
Finally, in Curse, Massachusetts has moved to Louisiana (now the swamp makes sense). Some engineers are draining the swamp, but people keep turning up dead - maybe a mummy or two have been dug up? Beautiful exotic Virginia Christine (Mrs. Olson for Folgers) is wandering around without her memory, and there are some Egyptians (Peter Coe and Martin Koslek) skulking around the ruined chapel on the hill (noted ornament to any Louisiana town). The curse in question is probably when the Mummy shouts "Fuck this!" at the end.
Wow, what a great collection of b-horror movies! And (even though it is Thanksgiving by the calendar), I'm not done with spooky October yet.
Friday, November 17, 2017
Sick Out
The Big Sick (2017) was one of the "it" movies that everyone talks about, and presumably goes to see. We watched it on DVD as soon as we got the chance. It is based on relationship between the writers, an Americanized Pakistani standup comic and an American woman who gets very very sick.
Kumail Nanjiani (playing himself) is a Chicago standup with a decent routine, some friends in the biz, and a tiny apartment he shares with another (much worse) comic. One night, he is heckled by a young woman (Zoe Kazan based on co-writer Emily Gordon). Although they just insult each other, they quickly wind up in bed. She doesn't want a relationship, and his family wants to arrange a marriage for him with a nice Pakistani girl, so they try to keep it casual. But they keep coming back to each other. He doesn't tell his family he has a shiksa girlfriend, and they keep trying to set him up - with very nice young Islamic women, I should say. When Helen finds out about this, she feels like he is keeping his options open, and finally breaks up with him.
Then she gets sick - like medically induced coma sick. Kumail gets her to the hospital and calls her parents (Ray Romano! and Beth Gardner). They aren't too thrilled by him - not because they are racist (more than usual) but because he broke their little girl's heart. But they are forced together by the medical emergency and learn to get along.
A couple of things: You might be thinking that this doesn't sound like a very original plot. You're right, the outline is nothing new. The goodness comes from the honesty not the originality. Also, the humor is mostly on the subtle side. There are many family dinners where Kumail's family berates him for all sorts of things - like his bearded brother wants him to grow a beard, and his father, who has a mustache, suggests that at least a mustache would look good. I was thinking that his family were such jerks I would avoid them altogether. But I saw Nanjiami mention that he wanted to show the humor in his family and realized that they were all just straight-faced kidders. But I still can't tell whether the little bits of his stand-up routine are supposed to be funny, mediocre, or somehow meta.
Actually, I didn't find this terribly funny, not like, say, Get Out. Like Get Out, though, it's strength is in its honesty. It's a real story about real people, and people you don't always hear about.
Kumail Nanjiani (playing himself) is a Chicago standup with a decent routine, some friends in the biz, and a tiny apartment he shares with another (much worse) comic. One night, he is heckled by a young woman (Zoe Kazan based on co-writer Emily Gordon). Although they just insult each other, they quickly wind up in bed. She doesn't want a relationship, and his family wants to arrange a marriage for him with a nice Pakistani girl, so they try to keep it casual. But they keep coming back to each other. He doesn't tell his family he has a shiksa girlfriend, and they keep trying to set him up - with very nice young Islamic women, I should say. When Helen finds out about this, she feels like he is keeping his options open, and finally breaks up with him.
Then she gets sick - like medically induced coma sick. Kumail gets her to the hospital and calls her parents (Ray Romano! and Beth Gardner). They aren't too thrilled by him - not because they are racist (more than usual) but because he broke their little girl's heart. But they are forced together by the medical emergency and learn to get along.
A couple of things: You might be thinking that this doesn't sound like a very original plot. You're right, the outline is nothing new. The goodness comes from the honesty not the originality. Also, the humor is mostly on the subtle side. There are many family dinners where Kumail's family berates him for all sorts of things - like his bearded brother wants him to grow a beard, and his father, who has a mustache, suggests that at least a mustache would look good. I was thinking that his family were such jerks I would avoid them altogether. But I saw Nanjiami mention that he wanted to show the humor in his family and realized that they were all just straight-faced kidders. But I still can't tell whether the little bits of his stand-up routine are supposed to be funny, mediocre, or somehow meta.
Actually, I didn't find this terribly funny, not like, say, Get Out. Like Get Out, though, it's strength is in its honesty. It's a real story about real people, and people you don't always hear about.
Sunday, November 12, 2017
Sword Fish
Sword Master (2016) is an odd one. I put it on because it was streaming and Ms. Spenser had some work to catch up on. She doesn't care much for kung fu movies, and it doesn't disturb her if I watch them if the dialog is in Chinese. Also, it was directed by Derek Yee, but produced by Tsui Hark.
It starts with a fight on a bridge above a frozen river. A sword master fights an assassin (Peter Ho) with the skull of a snake tattooed over his face. The assassin wins - I guess that isn't the sword master of the title.
That would be Lin Gengxin, who wants to hide his identity. He spends all his money in a house of dancing girls, and winds up working there as a lowly janitor. When Snake-face comes to fight him, his clan tells him he is dead. Now Snake-face has no one left to beat - his life is hollow and empty, and he is dying of a fatal illness (?).
Of course, they meet unknowing, and the master/janitor teaches the assassin/Snake-face all his tricks and philosophy - before either knows that they will have to fight to the death in the last act.
There are also some stories about the dancing girls. One is an aristocrat with martial arts skills. Another is a country girl, keeping her family fed on the wages of sin. At least I think that's the case. There may have been a few more. Once the women are in dancing girl make-up, it's pretty hard to tell who's who.
In fact, I wasn't sure about a lot of what was going on. These martial arts films are always a little puzzling to me. But I don't mind if the spectacle is wild enough.
And this one certainly is spectacular. Wild and fun.
It starts with a fight on a bridge above a frozen river. A sword master fights an assassin (Peter Ho) with the skull of a snake tattooed over his face. The assassin wins - I guess that isn't the sword master of the title.
That would be Lin Gengxin, who wants to hide his identity. He spends all his money in a house of dancing girls, and winds up working there as a lowly janitor. When Snake-face comes to fight him, his clan tells him he is dead. Now Snake-face has no one left to beat - his life is hollow and empty, and he is dying of a fatal illness (?).
Of course, they meet unknowing, and the master/janitor teaches the assassin/Snake-face all his tricks and philosophy - before either knows that they will have to fight to the death in the last act.
There are also some stories about the dancing girls. One is an aristocrat with martial arts skills. Another is a country girl, keeping her family fed on the wages of sin. At least I think that's the case. There may have been a few more. Once the women are in dancing girl make-up, it's pretty hard to tell who's who.
In fact, I wasn't sure about a lot of what was going on. These martial arts films are always a little puzzling to me. But I don't mind if the spectacle is wild enough.
And this one certainly is spectacular. Wild and fun.
Saturday, November 11, 2017
Every Frame an Airbrushed Painting on the Side of a Van
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017) has what I like in movies: fun. Ever since Deadpool, or maybe Guardians of the Galaxy (oh, and Ant-Man), we've been getting some lighter, funnier Marvel comic book movies. Sure, Logan was plenty grim, but that's not all the Marvelverse has to offer, unlike on the DC side, where it's all grim and gritty.
As well as being funny, this movie is gorgeous - any frame could be airbrushed on the side of a van and it would be awesome. Or a black light poster or album cover. The opening scene is set on Earth in the 80s, so that makes sense. Then we meet our heroes on a CGI set that would look great as the scoreboard of a pinball machine. This scene sets up the dynamic well. Star Lord is talking trash, Gamora has a plan, Drax jumps down the monsters throat and tries to slash his way out. Rocket is trying to set up a boombox so that baby Groot has tunes. So we have a nice little battle scene set to baby Groot boogying down to ELO.
This isn't a big part of the main plot, but it does serve to introduce the uptight Art Deco aliens, the Sovereign, lead by Elizabeth Debicki (looking rather Tilda Swinton), who gives the Guardians Gamora's sister Nebula (Karen Gillan). The main plot starts when Star Lord finds out that his father is Kurt Russell, playing Ego, the Living Planet.
The story is a good one, with a lot going on but more focused than the previous film (or a lot of the big Marvel movies). But it is the old Daddy Issues plot, the only one most writers seem to know.
But all that hardly matters. What matters is awesome fights, chases, and battles. Drax the Destroyer is really the MVP in the movie. He attacks with such pure innocent gusto, laughing his fool head off just for the joy of the fight. It was incredibly infectious, as well - so pretty soon you're laughing along, going "wow" and "whoa" at all the right places. Plus, Drax has some great lines, like mispronouncing "anulax" as "harbulary", because they sound just the same to him.
Let's see, I'm leaving out Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Ego's psychic pet/slave. She's a great character, especially interacting with Drax, who insists that she's hideously ugly - which is good, because when people love her, it is for what is inside. There was Michael Rooker as Yondu, with his whistle-controlled rocket arrow. He plays another side of Star Lord's Daddy issues. There's Gamora and Nebula's feud, also a Daddy issues story. And a cameo from Howard the Duck.
My only quibble would be with the use for imitation 80's typography for the opening. It kind of smacks of Stranger Things. But I guess it is period-appropriate. The music wasn't as anthemic, with a couple of clunkers - although I agree that "Brandy" may be the greatest song ever written. And the end credits, done in the style of a, 80s cop show, were fabulous.
And in the end, we meet teen-aged Groot. What a jerk!
As well as being funny, this movie is gorgeous - any frame could be airbrushed on the side of a van and it would be awesome. Or a black light poster or album cover. The opening scene is set on Earth in the 80s, so that makes sense. Then we meet our heroes on a CGI set that would look great as the scoreboard of a pinball machine. This scene sets up the dynamic well. Star Lord is talking trash, Gamora has a plan, Drax jumps down the monsters throat and tries to slash his way out. Rocket is trying to set up a boombox so that baby Groot has tunes. So we have a nice little battle scene set to baby Groot boogying down to ELO.
This isn't a big part of the main plot, but it does serve to introduce the uptight Art Deco aliens, the Sovereign, lead by Elizabeth Debicki (looking rather Tilda Swinton), who gives the Guardians Gamora's sister Nebula (Karen Gillan). The main plot starts when Star Lord finds out that his father is Kurt Russell, playing Ego, the Living Planet.
The story is a good one, with a lot going on but more focused than the previous film (or a lot of the big Marvel movies). But it is the old Daddy Issues plot, the only one most writers seem to know.
But all that hardly matters. What matters is awesome fights, chases, and battles. Drax the Destroyer is really the MVP in the movie. He attacks with such pure innocent gusto, laughing his fool head off just for the joy of the fight. It was incredibly infectious, as well - so pretty soon you're laughing along, going "wow" and "whoa" at all the right places. Plus, Drax has some great lines, like mispronouncing "anulax" as "harbulary", because they sound just the same to him.
Let's see, I'm leaving out Mantis (Pom Klementieff), Ego's psychic pet/slave. She's a great character, especially interacting with Drax, who insists that she's hideously ugly - which is good, because when people love her, it is for what is inside. There was Michael Rooker as Yondu, with his whistle-controlled rocket arrow. He plays another side of Star Lord's Daddy issues. There's Gamora and Nebula's feud, also a Daddy issues story. And a cameo from Howard the Duck.
My only quibble would be with the use for imitation 80's typography for the opening. It kind of smacks of Stranger Things. But I guess it is period-appropriate. The music wasn't as anthemic, with a couple of clunkers - although I agree that "Brandy" may be the greatest song ever written. And the end credits, done in the style of a, 80s cop show, were fabulous.
And in the end, we meet teen-aged Groot. What a jerk!
Thursday, November 2, 2017
Foley Artist
The Wrong Guy (1997) was for Ms. Spenser - she's a big Kids in the Hall fan. If you don't like the Kids, and especially Dave Foley, you might want to skip this, because he is in almost every frame.
He plays a nebbishy executive who thinks he's going to be promoted to president, mainly because he is engaged to the current president's daughter. When he is passed over (someone else is engaged to the daughter the president likes better), he flips out and threatens to kill the president. Then a super-assassin sneaks in and kills the president, just before he storms into the office. When he comes out holding the knife, all covered in gore, it looks like he will be taking the blame!
Except not - because there was a security camera in the office and it's all on tape. The police completely ignore Foley and go after the real killer (Colm Feore). But since both guys are heading to Mexico, they keep crossing paths.
The cops chasing them are lead by fat and corrupt David Anthony Higgins (Higgins Boys and Gruber), who co-wrote with Foley. He keeps staking out strip clubs and expensive restaurants to run up the expense account. I didn't like this bit much until I realized how unrealistic it was - the movie's tone is carefully calibrated between realism and slapstick fantasy, and he was a reminder of the unreality of it all.
Foley eventually gets picked up by Jennifer Tilly, a shy girl who sometimes falls asleep at the wheel, due to narcolepsy. Her dad is Joe Flaherty (SCTV), a banker being driven out of business by the rapacious farmers of the town. He is one of my favorite things about the movie - showing off the renovations the bank made in the 70s, taking out the inkwells and putting in pens on chains. Never could get comfortable in the new chair, though.
The thing this movie does best is find the right tone. Foley is smug, dense, self-deluded, clumsy in the exact right proportions. The people around him are normal, but equally clueless, in the exact right measure. Plus, it's got some cute Hitchcock references. This kind of flew under the radar, so if you haven't heard of it, you may want to check it out.
He plays a nebbishy executive who thinks he's going to be promoted to president, mainly because he is engaged to the current president's daughter. When he is passed over (someone else is engaged to the daughter the president likes better), he flips out and threatens to kill the president. Then a super-assassin sneaks in and kills the president, just before he storms into the office. When he comes out holding the knife, all covered in gore, it looks like he will be taking the blame!
Except not - because there was a security camera in the office and it's all on tape. The police completely ignore Foley and go after the real killer (Colm Feore). But since both guys are heading to Mexico, they keep crossing paths.
The cops chasing them are lead by fat and corrupt David Anthony Higgins (Higgins Boys and Gruber), who co-wrote with Foley. He keeps staking out strip clubs and expensive restaurants to run up the expense account. I didn't like this bit much until I realized how unrealistic it was - the movie's tone is carefully calibrated between realism and slapstick fantasy, and he was a reminder of the unreality of it all.
Foley eventually gets picked up by Jennifer Tilly, a shy girl who sometimes falls asleep at the wheel, due to narcolepsy. Her dad is Joe Flaherty (SCTV), a banker being driven out of business by the rapacious farmers of the town. He is one of my favorite things about the movie - showing off the renovations the bank made in the 70s, taking out the inkwells and putting in pens on chains. Never could get comfortable in the new chair, though.
The thing this movie does best is find the right tone. Foley is smug, dense, self-deluded, clumsy in the exact right proportions. The people around him are normal, but equally clueless, in the exact right measure. Plus, it's got some cute Hitchcock references. This kind of flew under the radar, so if you haven't heard of it, you may want to check it out.
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