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Reviews
The Thing (1982)
Vintage Carpenter
For too many years, the words "John Carpenter's" have preceded sub-standard films. His late 70s and early 80s however, were superlative in excellence, and The Thing is a shining example. What might be best are the two critical factors- that the film has heft behind its style, and that Carpenter did not fear making it dark.
Logan's Run (1976)
Origin of Basil Exposition
Having heard of the film's reputation, I took the opportunity when Target became sufficiently anxious to be rid of this merchandise that they marked Logan's Run on dvd down to 5.99. While some have praised the film for it's inclusion of landmark 70s bathing beauty Farrah Fawcett, I call this one of the film's low points. In addition, while the film generally portrays the future convincingly, the sets are somewhat bare. Furthermore, I do believe that the Old Man sequence is longish, though the old man is enjoyable to listen to.
So those are the flaws as I see them. On the other side, Michael York is a pleasant changeup from more typical scifi stars. The effects were as enjoyable as the contemporary Black Hole. Most importantly, the film contains something that is integral to science fiction yet has been regularly left out since the work of Jules Verne and others. Here I speak of genuine intelligence and coherent philosophy. Enjoyable though the then-groundbreaking effects were, this alone sets the film apart. And let me finally state that I eagerly await the arrival of the wall-mounted Chick Generator Matrix from the folks at Bell Labs.
The Castle of Fu Manchu (1969)
Bucket Of Mud, Transferred to 38 mm
Am I wrong? I swear that "Gustavo Re" actually is Burt Young of Rocky fame. It was said on MST3K that this was the case and other people making comments have said this. It looks exactly like him. Could the world be unfortunate enough to have two Young brothers separated at birth?
Jason X (2001)
Can't Say No
So help me God, I will support the Jason franchise to the day I die. No dearth of quality, no depth of incompetence will tear me from the first horror I ever came to love. That is why I bump Jason X from its rightful grade of 6 of 10 to a towering 10 of same.
The killings were inventive, but there seemed to be too few. I say that some 15 or 16 are appropriate in the modern era, as established by Jason takes Manhattan, for example. I didn't like the jokey manner of things. I expect a more dark and grim theme. It often ruined things for the very victims of murder to make the quips about the way in which they were killed.
The so-called UberJason was just too goofy. He seemed cool in publicity shots, but comes off like the villain from Power Rangers during the film. Kay Em, Rowan, and the sergeant were all cool. I could have done without the rest, but that's always the case. It's lucky that even three characters come out likable. Chronenberg was kind of cool too.
The highest budgeted feature of the series to day showed where the money was spent, and it seemed like it was mostly scifi effects, and not the killings as I would have wished. Anyway, like I said, I can't say no to Jason, so for all faults it has, I accept Jason X with open arms.
No Man's Land (2001)
Chilling and illuminating with touches of black comedy
While I would have to say that most everything that could be stated about No Man's Land, I felt inclined to say some more here for lack of a more suitable forum in which to discuss the film (My friends lean more towards the second part of my little double feature- The Cars That Ate Paris).
First I am happy to see a war film which at no time uses sheer quantity of battle and gore to impress upon us either its bloodlust or anti-war stance. Naturally there are a lot of both. The small scale of the story would seem to stem as much from economical reasons. I would guess that the budget would not have allowed for the Spielberg approach. Even so, allowing the plot to rest on a few people and their plight allows a rich experience.
The acting was, in my opinion, excellent. Every moment seemed to me believable, and the actors facilitated very well the laughs which were squeezed out of this one. Some wasn't great. The British officer was not anything special, but he too served his purpose.
Some people have mentioned other films from the region, as well as the noteworthy Three Kings. I have to say that I see the most similarity with a late Burt Lancaster war film, Go Tell The Spartans. The filmmaking felt similarly smalltime in the most positive sense of the word. The theme of limited involvement in what is not our business exists in both films. This though, felt more effective.
Strike Commando (1987)
Rambo Meets A Viral Infection
Yes, the movie is bad. Tragically so. But I can't deny that I am overcome by a natural charm that movies this bad exude. Imagine a movie that cheerfully includes the hackneyed scene where the hero looks over the carnage wreaked by the bad guy and dramatically shouts his name out really long.
Special note should be made of our lead man's character-building scene where he tearfully brags about the food and candy at Disneyland to a dying Vietnamese boy. Simply priceless. For this kind of badness there should be a medal. If you see it, go ahead and try it for a lot more laughs than you'd get from a genuinely good comedy. Look for Reb Brown's "performance".
The Island (1980)
A fine, fine little nugget of gold
I take risks at the video store regularly, and sometimes the reward is great. When I saw a tattooed fist in the ocean clutching a knife, I just had to try. And unlike the Rambo ripoff I also picked, The Island was a pleasant surprise. Michael Caine did not mail it in, strangely enough. Loads of piratey action and gore complete with a naked wench push Cutthroat Island aside as the all-time greatest pirate movie with "Island" in the title.
Too often, a cool box fails to translate to a cool movie, but this one delivered with a vengeance. I can't say enough good stuff about The Island. If you see it, get it. Pirates aplenty!