Victor Frankenstein (2015) is a strange title for a movie that is mostly about his hunchbacked assistant Igor.
In this telling, Daniel Radcliffe is a hunchback clown with no name working in a circus. He is also a bit of an anatomy savant, who patches up performers when they get injured. One day, the eccentric Dr. Frankenstein (James McAvoy) sees him and frees him from his circus cage. He takes him to his odd home and give him the name of his morphine-addicted room-mate, Igor Straussman, who hasn't been seen for a while.
Frankenstein cures Igor's hunchback (in the most disgusting way possible) and cleans him up for society. Since Dr. F is a bit of a crank and a boor, Igor looks pretty good by comparison. But Frankenstein isn't just trying to Pygmalion a hunchback - he has bigger plans. With the help of a foppish benefactor (a superfluous role, but well played by Freddie Fox), he hopes to become, dare we say it, a GOD!
Just to get the spoilers out of the way, the monster doesn't have much screen time, but this isn't really about him. I guess it's supposed to be about the titular VF, but it's mostly about Igor and his humanity.
Even more, I think that this is a a visual pleasure, with sumptuous sets, studied compositions, and a fluid camera. There is a scene at the beginning with a women on a trapeze that made me think of Lola Montez. When your movie recalls Max Ophuls, you're onto something.
Finally, the movie isn't exactly a comedy, but it isn't afraid to be silly. There's a "Fronkenshteen" gag straight from Young Frankenstein, for instance, but they don't carry it too far.
All in all, a good-looking movie that doesn't take itself too seriously, starring McAvoy and Radcliffe. My favorite Frankenstein movie made in this century.
Tuesday, August 30, 2016
Sunday, August 28, 2016
Vast Expanse
I read the first two novels that the Syfy series The Expanse (2015) was based on, so I may not be the best judge. Ms. Spenser didn't, but she loves it too.
It's a space opera/police procedural/political thriller, except when it's not. There are several intertwining stories. One is the space opera, with Steven Strait as a cute officer on an ice hauler, running water between the Saturn and the asteroids. Picture the crew of the Nostromo, but without the alien. He and a few members go to check out a distress signal and find a deserted ship, and see their ice hauler destroyed with all hands. They'll be more or less on the run for the rest of the series.
The police story takes place on the asteroid Ceres - picture the Bladerunner world, but underground. Thomas Jane is a detective with the private security force. He is cynical and scruffy, with a punk haircut, sideburns, and a trilby hat. He is looking for rebellious rich girl Juliet Mao, who may have joined the Outer Planet Alliance, a semi-terrorist organization fighting for freedom for the asteroids.
The third story features high-level UN-Earth diplomat Shohreh Aghdashloo, a sweet Indian grandmother with a cut-throat side, trying to prevent war between Earth and Mars.
There are plenty of other subplots as well, like the generation ship that the OPA is building for the Mormon Church, but I won't get into them.
This all looks great, with very reasonable special effects. The characters are interesting, and the milieu fascinating. But here comes a semi-spoiler: None of this is what the series is about. It is just scene setting. You get a few hints here and there, but the series is pretty good about distracting you until the tenth and final episode. Then...
Well, we'll have to wait until the second season, coming in 2017. Or do what I'm doing, and reading the novels ahead.
It's a space opera/police procedural/political thriller, except when it's not. There are several intertwining stories. One is the space opera, with Steven Strait as a cute officer on an ice hauler, running water between the Saturn and the asteroids. Picture the crew of the Nostromo, but without the alien. He and a few members go to check out a distress signal and find a deserted ship, and see their ice hauler destroyed with all hands. They'll be more or less on the run for the rest of the series.
The police story takes place on the asteroid Ceres - picture the Bladerunner world, but underground. Thomas Jane is a detective with the private security force. He is cynical and scruffy, with a punk haircut, sideburns, and a trilby hat. He is looking for rebellious rich girl Juliet Mao, who may have joined the Outer Planet Alliance, a semi-terrorist organization fighting for freedom for the asteroids.
The third story features high-level UN-Earth diplomat Shohreh Aghdashloo, a sweet Indian grandmother with a cut-throat side, trying to prevent war between Earth and Mars.
There are plenty of other subplots as well, like the generation ship that the OPA is building for the Mormon Church, but I won't get into them.
This all looks great, with very reasonable special effects. The characters are interesting, and the milieu fascinating. But here comes a semi-spoiler: None of this is what the series is about. It is just scene setting. You get a few hints here and there, but the series is pretty good about distracting you until the tenth and final episode. Then...
Well, we'll have to wait until the second season, coming in 2017. Or do what I'm doing, and reading the novels ahead.
Saturday, August 27, 2016
Hail and Farewell!
I'm a big fan of Coen Bros. movies, especially the funny ones like Hail, Caesar! (2016). They tend to meander about, with lots of happenings but no real point. I feel like Hail, Caesar! has less plot than most, which is great.
It is about a Hollywood producer/fixer in 1950s Hollywood, Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin). His job is to find scandals before they happen and squash them, using money or muscle. He's very good at what he does, but he is conflicted. He goes to confession a lot, and also considers an offer to work for security at Boeing - in their nuclear program. What, and give up show business?
One of his responsibilities is Goerge Clooney, who is starring in the titular movie-within-the-movie, Hail, Caesar: A Tale of the Christ. To make a long story short, he is kidnapped by a gang of communist screenwriters and held for ransom. That ransom is a bit of a McGuffin, though. Actually, Clooney kind of likes the commies, and doesn't mind being kidnapped.
Since that isn't the "plot", what is? Well, we get an Esther Williams-style water ballet starring a profane Scarlett Johansson, a hayseed cowboy star being shoehorned into a white-tie drawing room comedy, Tilda Swinton as a pair of twin gossip columnists who hate each other, Channing Tatum doing a sailor musical, and so on. Some people thought the movie parodies were weak - they were just recreations without much point. I thought the point was the recreation. They were probably fun to make and they are fun to look at.
Maybe if I watched this again, I'd see that it is all connected. If not, so what, it's a fun ramble through old Hollywood. It doesn't have the old timey music of O, Brother or the neo-screwball of Intolerable Cruelty, but it's fun. We liked it.
It is about a Hollywood producer/fixer in 1950s Hollywood, Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin). His job is to find scandals before they happen and squash them, using money or muscle. He's very good at what he does, but he is conflicted. He goes to confession a lot, and also considers an offer to work for security at Boeing - in their nuclear program. What, and give up show business?
One of his responsibilities is Goerge Clooney, who is starring in the titular movie-within-the-movie, Hail, Caesar: A Tale of the Christ. To make a long story short, he is kidnapped by a gang of communist screenwriters and held for ransom. That ransom is a bit of a McGuffin, though. Actually, Clooney kind of likes the commies, and doesn't mind being kidnapped.
Since that isn't the "plot", what is? Well, we get an Esther Williams-style water ballet starring a profane Scarlett Johansson, a hayseed cowboy star being shoehorned into a white-tie drawing room comedy, Tilda Swinton as a pair of twin gossip columnists who hate each other, Channing Tatum doing a sailor musical, and so on. Some people thought the movie parodies were weak - they were just recreations without much point. I thought the point was the recreation. They were probably fun to make and they are fun to look at.
Maybe if I watched this again, I'd see that it is all connected. If not, so what, it's a fun ramble through old Hollywood. It doesn't have the old timey music of O, Brother or the neo-screwball of Intolerable Cruelty, but it's fun. We liked it.
Thursday, August 25, 2016
Slade 'Em
I don't have much to say about Evil Roy Slade (1972) - it is an early 70s Western spoof starring John Astin. If that doesn't rope you in, this isn't for you.
Astin is Evil Roy Slade, the rottenest bad guy in the West. His nemesis is railroad baron Mickey Rooney and his idiot nephew Henry Gibson. They hire Sheriff Bing Bell (Dick Shawn) to track him down. Sample joke: Whenever anyone says the name "Bing Bell", someone else says "Who is it?" or "Is someone at the door?" That one gets funnier every time. But if you don't like it, there's another one coming in a second.
Of course, Astin meets the girl who can reform him - not his moll Edie Adams, but sweet Pamela Austin. She gets him to take his first step without a gun. But will he be able to walk into a bank without robbing it?
This was made for TV - a pilot for a series that was never made. Ms. Spenser saw it in the day, and encouraged me to cue it up. It's mostly pretty corny. But I am such a sucker for John Astin, especially when he goes all crazy Gomez eyes. I guess you could say this is Addams Family meets Blazing Saddles.
Astin is Evil Roy Slade, the rottenest bad guy in the West. His nemesis is railroad baron Mickey Rooney and his idiot nephew Henry Gibson. They hire Sheriff Bing Bell (Dick Shawn) to track him down. Sample joke: Whenever anyone says the name "Bing Bell", someone else says "Who is it?" or "Is someone at the door?" That one gets funnier every time. But if you don't like it, there's another one coming in a second.
Of course, Astin meets the girl who can reform him - not his moll Edie Adams, but sweet Pamela Austin. She gets him to take his first step without a gun. But will he be able to walk into a bank without robbing it?
This was made for TV - a pilot for a series that was never made. Ms. Spenser saw it in the day, and encouraged me to cue it up. It's mostly pretty corny. But I am such a sucker for John Astin, especially when he goes all crazy Gomez eyes. I guess you could say this is Addams Family meets Blazing Saddles.
Wednesday, August 24, 2016
Under the Clover
10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) isn't a sequel to Cloverfield - or is it? It isn't in the same style; the filming is normal studio style, not found footage. The location isn't New York, it is rural Louisiana (in fact, mainly in a bunker). And the evil isn't giant monsters, it is something closer to home - or is it?
Mary Elizabeth Winstead breaks up with her boyfriend and leaves town. In her emotional state, she doesn't register the radio reports about some emergency. Now, I actually haven't seen Psycho, but did the opening remind anyone of Janet Leigh's roadtrip at the start of that movie? Never mind, not important. What is important is that she is hit by a truck, crashes, and wakes up locked in a grimy basement. Her captor is John Goodman.
I want to give away as little as possible, but the set up pretty much is the movie. Goodman is keeping Winstead captive for her own protection. He tells her there is nothing left on the surface, they will just need to stay below. Winstead doesn't believe this, doesn't trust Goodman, but what can she do?
I learned about the concept of a "bottle show" from TV writer and producer John Rogers of Kung Fu Monkey. A bottle show has a limited location and few characters - a show in a bottle. Like when they get stuck in an elevator for a whole episode (did Seinfeld ever do that?). It's often done to save money, but there's a certain elegant style to it. 10 Cloverfield Lane really pulls this off, I think. It's tense, suspenseful, and actually kind of funny. Well, it's got John Goodman.
So, a completely different movie than Cloverfield, with a different director (first timer Dan Trachtenberg). But J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot Production is clearly on to something.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead breaks up with her boyfriend and leaves town. In her emotional state, she doesn't register the radio reports about some emergency. Now, I actually haven't seen Psycho, but did the opening remind anyone of Janet Leigh's roadtrip at the start of that movie? Never mind, not important. What is important is that she is hit by a truck, crashes, and wakes up locked in a grimy basement. Her captor is John Goodman.
I want to give away as little as possible, but the set up pretty much is the movie. Goodman is keeping Winstead captive for her own protection. He tells her there is nothing left on the surface, they will just need to stay below. Winstead doesn't believe this, doesn't trust Goodman, but what can she do?
I learned about the concept of a "bottle show" from TV writer and producer John Rogers of Kung Fu Monkey. A bottle show has a limited location and few characters - a show in a bottle. Like when they get stuck in an elevator for a whole episode (did Seinfeld ever do that?). It's often done to save money, but there's a certain elegant style to it. 10 Cloverfield Lane really pulls this off, I think. It's tense, suspenseful, and actually kind of funny. Well, it's got John Goodman.
So, a completely different movie than Cloverfield, with a different director (first timer Dan Trachtenberg). But J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot Production is clearly on to something.
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Weird TV
I've seen it many times, and been tempted, but something always kept me away from UHF (1989). On paper, it looks like a must-see: Weird Al Yankovic doing Kentucky-Fried Movie style riffs on TV. But there was also something sketchy about it that made me want to keep it at arms length. I finally succumbed and I can give it my heartiest qualified recommendation.
Al is an underemployed loser who keeps getting fired because he is a daydreamer - dreaming he is Indiana Jones in a parody of the rolling boulder scene while he lets the fries burn at his fast food job, for ex. This is a good example of the strengths and weaknesses of the movie. The parody is cute, but a little predictable. Also, in some parts, it's just Weird Al doing the scene without any jokes - it's funny because it's Al. This is very much YMMV.
His doting aunt gets him a job managing a failing UHF station. This allows for a few more parodies, including a cover of the Ballad of Jed Clampett done in the style of the Money for Nothing video. Note: This is the ONLY Weird Al song parody in the movie. Again, strength and weakness.
When he hires dim-witted janitor Michael Richards to be his kiddy show host, the weirdness leads to ratings, and the station starts to make money. This isn't quite believable, but is kind of funny. Also, Fran Drescher as the receptionist who wants to be a news reporter with her cameraman Billy Barty (fond of low-level shots) are likewise smile-worthy but not laugh-out loud.
Still, lots of comic talent (I'm leaving out Gedde Watanabe and Victoria Jackson), just not a lot for them to do. I liked the parody stuff, but there wasn't enough of it. It also tended to jump to the most obvious and predictable gag - but done well enough that you might not care.
So if you love Weird Al, you'll like this, at least. And there is a Dr. Demento cameo. That's worth something.
Al is an underemployed loser who keeps getting fired because he is a daydreamer - dreaming he is Indiana Jones in a parody of the rolling boulder scene while he lets the fries burn at his fast food job, for ex. This is a good example of the strengths and weaknesses of the movie. The parody is cute, but a little predictable. Also, in some parts, it's just Weird Al doing the scene without any jokes - it's funny because it's Al. This is very much YMMV.
His doting aunt gets him a job managing a failing UHF station. This allows for a few more parodies, including a cover of the Ballad of Jed Clampett done in the style of the Money for Nothing video. Note: This is the ONLY Weird Al song parody in the movie. Again, strength and weakness.
When he hires dim-witted janitor Michael Richards to be his kiddy show host, the weirdness leads to ratings, and the station starts to make money. This isn't quite believable, but is kind of funny. Also, Fran Drescher as the receptionist who wants to be a news reporter with her cameraman Billy Barty (fond of low-level shots) are likewise smile-worthy but not laugh-out loud.
Still, lots of comic talent (I'm leaving out Gedde Watanabe and Victoria Jackson), just not a lot for them to do. I liked the parody stuff, but there wasn't enough of it. It also tended to jump to the most obvious and predictable gag - but done well enough that you might not care.
So if you love Weird Al, you'll like this, at least. And there is a Dr. Demento cameo. That's worth something.
Sunday, August 21, 2016
Blind Ambition
Zatoichi: Vol. 19: Samaritan Zatoichi (1968) is another Zatoichi film, and I mean that in the best way. Back in the 80s, Ms. Spenser and I used to go to the Coolidge Corner Theater, which was on a years long Japanese movie binge. They would have two or three double bills a week, and we would watch most of them. I don't know how many Zatoichi movies we watched - there are 26 in all, and they kind of run together.
They all star Shintaro Katsu, as the blind, chubby, sloppy, greedy, sentimental travelling masseur and gambler - who is also one of the greatest swordsmen in the land. In Samaritan, his yakuza ties lead him on a mission to collect a debt, and he winds up being forced to kill the debtor. Minutes too late, his sister appears with the money, but it seems that the boss didn't want the money, he wanted the sister. Zatoichi helps her out, which she has mixed feelings about, him having killed her brother and all.
Several reviewers mention the departures from the formula in this movie, but I didn't see it. It had the gambling, the corrupt bosses, and the girl who falls in love with Zatoichi. Also, some brilliant swordplay.
You might know of this series from the 2003 remake, Zatoichi. It's fine, but I recommend the real thing.
They all star Shintaro Katsu, as the blind, chubby, sloppy, greedy, sentimental travelling masseur and gambler - who is also one of the greatest swordsmen in the land. In Samaritan, his yakuza ties lead him on a mission to collect a debt, and he winds up being forced to kill the debtor. Minutes too late, his sister appears with the money, but it seems that the boss didn't want the money, he wanted the sister. Zatoichi helps her out, which she has mixed feelings about, him having killed her brother and all.
Several reviewers mention the departures from the formula in this movie, but I didn't see it. It had the gambling, the corrupt bosses, and the girl who falls in love with Zatoichi. Also, some brilliant swordplay.
You might know of this series from the 2003 remake, Zatoichi. It's fine, but I recommend the real thing.
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