Category: Cinema

"Well, at least we didn't pay full price."

I don't remember what I was originally looking for when I stumbled across this on YouTube, but it brought a ton of memories flooding back. I was absolutely obsessed with this movie as a young adult. I was in eighth grade at the time, and being the same age as as the character, developed a huge crush on "Francher."

From Wikipedia:

The People is a 1972 television film, broadcast as an ABC Movie of the Week on January 22, 1972. It is mostly based on a novella by Zenna Henderson, "Pottage", but also contains elements from her stories "Ararat", "Gilead", and "Captivity". It stars Kim Darby and William Shatner.

This science fiction film tells the story of Melodye Amerson (Kim Darby), a young teacher who goes to a remote area to work with a group of individuals who have isolated themselves from civilization and maintained an independent community, vaguely similar to the Amish or a religious commune. Melodye is unnerved by the secretive behavior of her students, and the fact that all fun, games and activities she proposes are forbidden to them. Valancy (Diane Varsi), an elder in the community, advises Melodye to stay, because she senses that things are about to change in the valley, and Melodye herself is a part of that change.

Melodye soon discovers that the secluded and "backwards" residents are actually aliens with mild paranormal powers. A natural disaster destroyed their planet, and they are hoping to establish a life on Earth. Landing in the late 1800s, initially they shared their secret with local residents, but found themselves condemned as witches. Many were killed, and the survivors forbade their children ever to use their abilities, even with extreme discretion. Young adults like Valancy (and even some of the older people) have been pushing for an end to these restrictions.

What surprised me the most about seeing this again some forty years later is how I remembered not only the music, but also most of the dialog. This is amazing considering this was many years prior to VCRs, so I couldn't have seen it more than a couple times yet somehow managed to commit so much of it to memory. This speaks volumes about what an impression this movie left on me.

It also explains the origin of a lot of the themes contained in a short story I wrote a couple years later in high school; something else I had completely forgotten about until I found it while going through my Dad's effects a year ago.

Intriguing title, no?

On the last day of the first manned mission to Mars, a crew member of Tantalus Base believes he has made an astounding discovery – fossilized evidence of bacterial life. Unwilling to let the relief crew claim all the glory, he disobeys orders to pack up and goes out on an unauthorized expedition to collect further samples. But a routine excavation turns to disaster when the porous ground collapses, and he falls into a deep crevice and near certain death. His devastated colleagues attempt to recover his body. However, when another vanishes they start to suspect that the life-form they have discovered is not yet dead. As the group begins to fall apart it seems their only hope is the imminent arrival of the relief ship Aurora.

Interesting premise, and the trailer was intriguing:

I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff, but oh my lord…

We all know Liev Schreiber is a certified hunk and a decent actor. But if I ran into him on the street, I'd have to ask, "Why, Liev? Why?! Were you bored? Needed money? What, for Chrissake prompted you to sign on to this stinker?"

It's not out in theaters yet, but I read the other day it was available through VOD. There wasn't anything else on the teevee machine tonight, so I agreed to the $10 charge and ordered it up.

All I can say is at least it wasn't two ten dollar tickets plus concessions in a theater

Alien meets Ghosts of Mars meets 28 Days Later meets The Thing meets…

You get the idea. To its credit, the visuals were awesome. The Martian landscape shots were beautiful. The story, however…well Zombies in Space would've been more apt a title and from the way the characters reacted to the threat, it was painfully obvious none of them had ever seen a zombie apocalypse movie of any kind. If they had they would've known instinctively that the only way to stop the damn things is with a steel spike through the head. But no!

Ben and I saw the new Carrie yesterday. I went in with low expectations, but was pleasantly surprised. While my memories of the original film are kind of hazy at this point, I think this re-telling of the story seemed much more faithful to the original story—or at least it fleshed out a lot of what had been missing from the 1976 film.

While I thought Sissy Spacek provided a much more vulnerable and abused Carrie, Julianne Moore brought a whole new level of cray-cray to the role of Mrs. White. Dat bitch be insane!

When the film ended, I didn't feel like I'd been cheated out of seven dollars, but on the other hand, I had no immediate desire to see it again until it shows up on cable…

Final verdict? Recommended. It's a fun little escape.

The same cannot be said for the pay-per-view movie we saw last night: Pacific Rim. The only redeeming feature of that stinker seemed to be the eye candy provided in a nicely matured Charlie Hannam. Setting aside that the whole premise was ridiculous, it seemed to be yet another in a very long line of  films where the firm providing the CGI just perfected one of those Wow! special effects (in this case, creating millions of bits of shattered glass) and immediately thought it would be a good idea to use everywhere. Again and again.

This was one of those films that I had wanted to see when it originally came out but never got around to. I'm glad now I didn't waste money to see it in the theater…

For the first time ever, I don't have a single negative thing to say about a movie.

It's even worth paying for a full-price ticket.

…for a viewing.

Instead of heading to the theater to see White House Down last night as I'd originally planned, I came home and curled up in front of the television and ordered Europa Report on cable.

I read yesterday that this geekly-anticipated film—while not released to theaters until August 2nd—was for some reason immediately available via VOD.

Europa Report was something I caught wind of several months ago and found the premise intriguing: a "hard" science fiction story (aka 2001, or Moon) without the usual epic space battles and prosthetic aliens we've come to expect from the sci-fi genre.

When all was said and done, I wasn't disappointed—but I wasn't wowed either. Good, but not great. I didn't feel like I'd wasted ten dollars to see it, but it left me wanting more. If you've read any of the speculative fiction written about Europa since the Galileo mission back in the 1990s, you knew how the storyline was going to play out from the very first scene, but it was still nice to see  some of those ideas finally realized on screen. It was interesting, but not particularly surprising.

I was hoping the film would be more along the lines of The Frozen Sky by Jeff Carlson, a book I highly recommend and another one of those novels that's begging to be filmed.

Oddly enough, it's still something I'd like to add to my library when it's available on disk. Take from that what you will.

Today, while reading this, I was reminded of one of my favorite short stories—and one of my most despised movies of all time—Nightfall, by Isaac Asimov.

When I first read this as a young adult, the story fired my imagination, and actually inspired a painting that I started but never completed. That's why—some twenty-five years later, I was thrilled to hear that it had been made into a film. It was with great anticipation that I went to one of the first screenings, and never have I been so throughly and completely disgusted. Most of the audience had walked out long before the film finished, but I—and probably about a couple dozen others—lasted until the bitter end.

As we were walking out something happened that has never happened since: the theater manager actually offered to give us our money back without anyone asking.

It was that bad.

While there are many, many films that should never be touched because they are already perfect in their original incarnations (The Women immediately comes to mind), there are  hundreds of others that beg for an update. So my question to you is this: what film would you remake if you could?  Nightfall is definitely at the top of my list, but there are others. What piece of literature (of any genre) would you like to see on the silver screen that hasn't been put there yet?

I saw Man of Steel yesterday. I know I'm going to catch a lot of flack for saying this, and based on the reviews that are pouring in it's obvious that I'm in a decided minority, but I wasn't thrilled.

It wasn't one of my "must see" summer movies, but since I had the day to myself and Ben had no desire to see it I took advantage of the situation.

I started yawning about half way through. Two hours into it I began checking the time on my phone.

For me, it was one of those movies that made me wonder if it was ever going to end, and more than once I thought about just getting up and leaving.

I have no problem with each generation feeling the need to put their own cinematic mark on our cultural mythology, but what annoys me the most about this continually re-telling is that these stories (which we all collectively know by heart) are never moved forward. I mean, how many Superman/Batman/Spiderman  origin stories must we endure without ever adding to the narrative? By now everyone knows how Superman came to be on Earth; how Spiderman was bitten by a rare and/or radioactive spider, and how Batman's deep-seated psychological issues stemming from the death of his parents led him on his path to become the caped crusader.

So why does this story have to be retold again and again? We know it. Let's go on with something new and original. God knows the original comics provide more than enough story lines to sell tickets.

Which reminds me…aren't we about due for another Three Musketeers reboot?

And—ducking—unlike the majority of my gay peers, Henry Cavill just doesn't get my motor running. Sorry, guys. He's decent enough looking (especially when bearded) and has a killer body in this film, but he's still far from leaving-a-wet-spot-on-the-seat hot in my opinion.

Being of a certain age, there will only be one cinematic Superman for me, and that will forever be Christopher Reeve.

And lastly, maybe it's because I'm getting old, but I'm also over all the gratuitous violence in these films. I've never been a fan of it, but I think Man of Steel really went over the edge and could've cut a full half hour of that shit and nothing would've been lost from the story. The time the final fight between Kal-El and General Zod occurred, I kept thinking, "Oh for Chrissake can we please wrap this up already?"

I give it a 5 out of 10. But then, I'm in a mood today.

Last Thursday, Ben and I treated ourselves to a date night. It had been a while since we'd done one, and was a welcome change from our usual routine. We grabbed dinner at Larkburger (the grilled portobello Amy Burger is delish!) and then went to The Landmark at Greenwood Village to see This is the End.

You know from a previous post that I find Seth Rogen un-bear-ably delicious, and his appearance in this movie did nothing to lessen that. But the movie itself? Uneven is probably the best review I can muster. I'd give it maybe a 5 out of 10. This is the End just didn't seem to know if it wanted to be a full-on self-referential comedy or if it wanted to be taken seriously. Yeah, I loved the not-so-subtle homoerotic jokes (Danny McBride alluding to how he was regularly ass-fucking Channing Tatum—who appears in the film in a dog collar and leash, no less!) and there were several laugh-out-loud and jump out out of your seat scenes, but overall I have to say my feelings overall can be summed up thusly:

Coming in August…

Ben and I saw INTO DARKNESS Saturday afternoon and I have to say I was blown away. I love love love the Abram's reboot of the franchise. He manages to remain faithful to the core—the "soul" if you will—of the mythology yet breathes new life into the stories and characters in unexpected ways.

My only fear is that with him now becoming wrapped up with Star Wars, he won't have the time to do any more Trek movies, and that would be unfortunate.

Instead of rambling on at length about how awesome I thought this film was, I'm just going to copy verbatim what one of my readers posted on his blog because it sums up my own thoughts exactly:

GREAT!

INTO DARKNESS is not only the best of aaallllllllll the Star Trek movies, it is one of the best action movies in years. GO SEE IT! I'll be seeing it again if I get the chance. I'll leave it at that but for one more thing:

INTO DARKNESS breaks almost all movie rules:

• Sequels are not as good as the 1st.
• Reboot/Remakes are not as good as the original.
• Sequels which are reboots/remakes suck!
• Remakes of great movies are never as good as the original.
• Remakes of great movies which are also reboots are never as good as the original.

I had forgotten/didn't know the main plot for INTO DARKNESS so I'll not reveal it here but it took until 40% through that I realized what I was seeing. [And when I did, I giggled like a schoolgirl; it amazes me that they've managed to keep it quiet for so long—VR] When the action stopped the plot moved forward and the interaction among the characters was just as entertaining.

While I am not a big fan of Tom Cruise, Oblivion was surprisingly good. In fact, I'd go so far as to give it an 8 out of 10. It's one of those films that left me thinking about it hours later.

As many reviews have stated, the visuals are absolutely stunning. In a lot of films, CGI often overpowers the storytelling, but in this case it it simply blended seamlessly into it. And while I hate to admit it, Mr. Cruise is a decent enough actor that I can ignore the Crazytown bubbling beneath the surface of his real life to accept the character he's playing as believable.

Damn, I want that house in the sky. (And of course the vehicle required to go to and from the place.)

I also have to applaud the storyline. Yes, it used a dozen well-worn tropes of science fiction, but combined them in a way that still seemed fresh, and while there were a few plot holes left unanswered (exactly how did that mountain paradise escape destruction?) they were minor in comparison to some other recent big-budget highly anticipated sci-fi I've seen (cough, Prometheus, cough).

I didn't see the plot twist coming, which is always a good thing as far as I'm concerned. Surprise me, Hollywood. Make me walk out of a theater not feeling like I'd just fed fifteen dollars into a shredder.

It was also a very pleasant surprise that when the true nature of the invaders was finally revealed, it wasn't a hoard of rubber-masked applied-prosthetic bipeds.

And the OST by M83 is pretty damn good too.

It wasn't bad. I mean, I knew going in that it wasn't going to be a life-changing experience, but more just mindless fun; something that both Ben and I desperately needed to get us each out of our own heads for a few hours, and to a large degree it was exactly that. Every alien abduction trope used in the last thirty years was given screen time, with more than one overly obvious nod (that had audience members—all 15 or so of us—giggling) to Close Encounters.

Overall, it really wasn't anything we hadn't seen before, but it was entertaining enough—and Josh Hamilton provided enough yummy, scruffy eye candy—that it was worth the $6.50 we paid at the matinee.

My only real complaint was that there were a few glaring continuity issues and that they could've easily left off the last ten minutes of the movie. There was enough of a resolution at that point that they should've simply walked away and ended it there, making for a much better film. All those additional "three months later" minutes did was leave the door open for a sequel of some kind or another.

So I'd give it a 6 out of 10. Good enough for an afternoon romp, but definitely not worth paying full ticket price if you can avoid it.

It took us a while, but we finally got around to seeing Skyfall last night. We paid an extra $2 per ticket and went for the "VIP" seating at the Landmark theater where we saw it, and I have to say, it was worth the extra money just for the larger, more comfortable seats. We'll definitely be returning to this particular venue; even non-VIP seats are treated to complimentary soda and popcorn.

I thought the movie itself was fantastic. I found the opening sequence and the cinematography in general to be absolutely stunning. In fact, of the three Daniel Craig Bond films, I think this one is the best of the lot.

All I can say is if you haven't seen it yet, don't waste another minute. Skyfall definitely makes up for the incoherent mess that was Quantum of Solace.

Via

People have been raving about it, so I went to see The Hobbit yesterday. It wasn't something that Ben had any desire to see, so I knew it was a film I'd have to go to on my own. Since he was in Phoenix, I took the opportunity and walked down to the train station and jumped on light rail for a ride to the theater.

I never read The Hobbit (Yeah, yeah, I know. How can a teenager of the 70s have not read The Hobbit?), but I loved The Lord of the Rings as well as the Harry Potter films without ever having read their source material either, so I expected to once again be greatly entertained by this journey to Middle Earth.

Sadly, I was not amused. I can't honestly say I gave a flying fuck about any of the characters, and it seemed to be little more than one pointless CGI creature battle after another. After the mountains finished fighting, I quietly gathered up my belongings and left.

Maybe I missed something in that last half that would've awed me and changed my opinion. But the theater was freezing (I had my heavy coat on), I had an hour's trip home and still needed to get my turkey breast in the oven; all of which seemed more interesting than what I'd seen on the screen thus far.

I've been meaning to write this all week. We saw Cloud Atlas last Saturday and both Ben and I came away very impressed and wanting to see it again.

In my humble opinion, this film showcases the concepts of karma and reincarnation in the most beautiful manner I have ever seen on film. There have been other movies over the years that attempted to do this, but none have succeeded the way Cloud Atlas does.

Sadly, like many reviewers have noted, it's also a bit of a hot mess. The so-called "yellow face" makeup was somewhat of a distraction, but necessary to telling the story and keeping the thread of "same soul, different lifetimes" intact.

While I consider myself an atheist, I cannot deny that the idea of reincarnation still resonates on a deep level with me, and if I had to choose from and embrace any of the multitude of belief systems that—like reincarnation—have no scientific proof to back them up, reincarnation would definitely be my selection.

In fact, this pretty much would sum up my belief—if I believed in karma and reincarnation.

If nothing else, the movie has reminded me to be a little more mindful of my interpersonal relationships…just in case.