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JerseyJim77
Reviews
Evil Roy Slade (1972)
Silly and very funny
One of the great comedies of our youth. The whole family howled with laughter on our first viewing. Re-watched recently and it is still funny. Many quotable quips still in the repertory. Astin and Shawn are both in their comedic prime.
Nova: The Hidden City (1989)
Interesting
This is a documentary about New York City's four primary utilities: Water, Electricity, Sewer and Trash Hauling. While making a pot of coffee (using all four utilities), Judd Hirsch narrates the details about how these utilities operate and what needs to be done in the future. Issues such as conservation, infrastructure improvement, environmental management and recycling are addressed.
It is nicely done showing showing the inner workings of services we take for granted. Where does the City's water come from? How is electrical demand managed? Where does the sewage and trash go?
This episode is 30+ years old now. I would like to see a new followup episode to show what progress (or lack thereof) has been made.
Excalibur (1981)
Still superb after all these years
The praises of the other reviewers have covered it all and it's all true. Boorman's realization of the Arthurian legend remains a pleasure to behold. Since 1981 other great fantasy legends have hit the screen including Lord of the Rings, Twilight, Harry Potter, Avatar and so forth. However, Excalibur still hold its own as a classic of epic adventure and myth.
Don't pass up the chance to see this again. The current DVD version is excellent with all the cinematographic nuance Alex Thompson created. My hope is that the next time I screen Excalibur, a quality Blu-ray release will be available.
Red Dwarf (1992)
Completely pointless
This version of Red Dwarf is strictly a worthless footnote. The script is almost completely cribbed from the original British episode "The End" with a poorer cast, flat performances and nothing original to speak of.
It is astonishing that Someone thought it useful to Americanize what was already a classic comedy on both sides of the Atlantic. That Someone must think all Americans are parochial morons who would be alienated by the original. This is yet another failed attempt to de-Anglicize a British hit. At least this version died before being officially aired.
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles: Prague, August 1917 (1993)
Kafka can be funny
One of the more interesting, humorous and bizarre Young Indy episodes. Indy must receive a critical phone call in his Prague hotel room. Unfortunately there is no phone and Indy is thrown into a Kafkaesque nightmare trying to get one installed in time. Indeed, Franz Kafka himself is one of the clerks in the phone office. The bureaucratic labyrinth, arbitrary policies and uncaring sadism of the "system" Indy faces will be familiar to anyone who had ever dealt with government agencies. This episode takes a comedic and satirical approach to our fear of being a rat in a bureaucratic maze. Tim McInnerny is outstandingly creepy as Kafka.
Equilibrium (2002)
Interesting Sci-Fi fusion without much originality
Equilibrium borrows its plot, look and feel from "Fahrenheit 451", "The Matrix", "Blade Runner", "Nineteen Eighty-Four", "THX 1138" and other cinematic dystopias.
The overall result is entertaining. However this film is not as thought provoking as its ancestors. The action sequences become a bit comical as the movie progresses. There are many plot holes and the boundaries of credibility are stressed, even for science fiction.
In its favor is a slick production design showing an oppressive and colorless world where "feeling" is a crime. A few feeling (and heavily armed) holdouts protect the forbidden objects of art, culture and even schlock from the incinerator. Along the way the viewer gets a glimpse of the little rooms where outlaws can touch, smell, listen and feel.
I gave it a 7/10.
Citizen X (1995)
One of the best.
"Citizen X" is the superbly told true story of the hunt for one of history's worst serial killers. What makes this story even more compelling is where and when it took place; the Soviet Union in the 1980's.
** Mild Spoilers **
Viktor Burakov (magnificently played by Stephen Rea) is a newly promoted forensic investigator for the Rostov oblast militia. He discovers past and present unsolved murders, apparently by the same person. The murders are unsolved because no one has ever taken the trouble to properly investigate the evidence. He is driven to find and stop the killer. His only tools are his dedication, skill and honesty. His obstacles are the corruption and political ideology of the Soviet system that discourages the search for truth. His naiveté would have led to failure were it not for his boss, Col. Mikhail Fetisov (Donald Sutherland). Fetisov is a politically astute cynic who understands the game and knows how to deal with the Soviet bureaucracy. However, he also shares Burakov's desire to bring a murderer to justice, even if the official party line is "There are no serial killers in the Soviet Union!"
The cast is outstanding. The locations and sets are perfect recreations of latter day Soviet life. Randy Edelman's score is particularly good.
More important, this film shows a dark and disturbing criminal phenomenon with both intensity and poignancy. This was a made-for-cable movie by HBO Films and they have become a great resource for films that would otherwise never be made.
Metropolis (1927)
Only watch the best version!
Much has been written, here and elsewhere, analyzing and judging Metropolis. I agree with most opinions and will not rehash them here. Suffice it to say that Metropolis is a masterpiece with strengths and weaknesses. It is certainly one of the 20th Century's most important films.
What I will share are my opinions of the many versions and releases of this masterpiece. Few films have as many versions and cuts as Metropolis. The original 210 minute version is lost but 76 years of theatrical and video distribution have created a long list of renditions, most pitifully flawed. I have viewed 5 versions and to the credit of the industry, they have gotten better over recent years.
My first seeing of Metropolis was at a college screening in the 1975. It was an old and worn 16mm print. The transfer from 18 to 24 fps was primitive, most scenes flickered from bright to dark and back. The frame registration was poor, cropping many intertitles. As I recall, it was about 90 minutes long. Despite these flaws, I found Metropolis provocative and interesting and have been a fan ever since.
I next saw Metropolis in the early 1980's on a VHS videotape rented at a local store. It was pretty much the same, jerky, fuzzy and short. The musical score was bland and completely unsynchronized with the scenes. It was merely sound to fill the silence.
In 1984 (a good year for films about futuristic societies) the Moroder version was aired. It had color tinting and a very 1980's musical score. I liked this approach, especially the improving visual quality. Instead of just transferring a used 35mm print, care was being made to optimize each scene. However, it was still the same 90 minute version I had seen over the years.
When I got my DVD player (1998), I purchased the Madacy "Hollywood Classics" version. It is a full 115 minutes, was inexpensive (about $12 US) and promised the ultimate Metropolis experience. It was a great disappointment. I did enjoy seeing scenes previously missing and the story was better for it. However the quality was more like the VHS version with fuzzy, flickering images that bounced left and right. The constrast was too high and no amount of tweaking on my TV monitor could improve it. The musical score was better but not arranged to be appropriate to each scene.
This year (2003) I purchased the Kino/Murnau Foundation restoration version DVD. To date, this is THE version! They have assembled the best negatives and prints available, used all the scenes available and digitally processed the images. The result is a beautiful, clean and visually stunning presentation about 125 minutes long. Using the original scripts, missing scenes are described by special intertitles. This gives the plot a richer and more connected story. The musical score is the original Gottfried Huppertz composition as written in 1927 and demostrates that "silent" movies should not be without the proper score.
My recommendation is to skip all other version and get the Kino DVD.
The Dead Zone (1983)
The best Walken and the best Stephen King film
Stephen King has scores of film and television adaptations of his novels. Few of them disappoint. However, The Dead Zone stands above the rest. Credit goes to a tightly woven script by Jeffrey Boam and superb direction by David Cronenberg. Most important is a masterful performance by Christopher Walken, arguably his finest.
The less you know about the story, the better. Watch it, let it all unfold and you will not be disappointed.
Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
It has a quality but don't burn the book!
[Minor spoilers]
François Truffaut's 1966 film vision of the Ray Bradbury novel is not a typical science fiction movie. Unlike most futuristic totalitarian dystopias in movies, "Fahrenheit 451" is a low-key almost pastoral film.
The story has become a classic. A near future society has outlawed all books. Their reasoning is the need for everyone to be the same, have the same ideas and the same aspirations. Television is the only mass media permitted and its content is banal, unchallenging and simpleminded. To enforce the book ban, firemen have evolved into official arsonists who find, collect and burn all books.
Montag is one of the firemen. As played by Oskar Werner he is a quiet ordinary conformist. His wife Linda, played by Julie Christie, is a typical person of this age. She is a pill popper who is self-centered, vain, unemotional and dull. Montag's mild discontent gets serious when he befriends a free spirited neighbor (also played by Julie Christie) and becomes interested in the books he burns.
Much about this movie is interesting but overall it lacks energy. The dialog and plot seem as tranquilized as the characters themselves. Truffaut was probably deliberate in his "feel" for the film. However there is little suspense. The society should be oppressive and stifling to give credence to the need for rebellion. Instead few people appear to be really suffering. Most citizens are affluent, polite and well fed even if they are mindless hedonists. What little dramatic violence there is is directed against the books with close-ups of paperbacks succumbing to flame.
There are high spots in this movie. The movie credits are not printed on the screen but are spoken instead. The most interesting characters in the movie are the "book people" who memorize and take the names of a favorite book.
The look is a bit low budget and dated but not unusual for 1960's science fiction. Apparently a remake is in the works and will probably run to the other extreme of CGI and special effects.
The best recommendation is to read the original novel. The many movie plot holes (such as how people can read in a bookless society) are explained. The depth of repression is thoroughly experienced. Most important the reader understands the consequences of a world where intellectual diversity is taken away.
The Majestic (2001)
Better the second time around.
I just watched "The Majestic" on cable, first since I saw it in the theatres. I think this remains a fine film. It may be a corny "feel-good" movie but I still like a well done story.
Jim Carrey plays Pete, a rising screenwriter who is caught up in the Hollywood Red Scare of the early 1950's. On the eve of his ordeal he suffers amnesia after a car crash and finds himself in a small California town mistaken for a local hero, Luke, lost during World War II. The townsfolk want desperately to have their lost son Luke restored to them and Pete begins to believe it himself. He resumes the romance of "Luke" and his fiancée Adele (Laurie Holden). His "father" (very well played by Martin Landau) is brought out of his depression and wants to reopen The Majestic, the long closed town movie theatre. Eventually Pete recovers his memories and the troubles of his true life return.
I admit to a soft spot for films about small town life. This town has all the cute clichés. Everyone is on a first name basis. Adele and Luke's courtship seems to be everyone's favorite sport.
However, this film also shows the meaning of loss, redemption and personal values.
Under Siege (1992)
Good action, good fun!
This is probably Steven Seagal's best action film. A Navy cook who is also an ex-SEAL takes on a battleship full of terrorists. The bad guys, lead by a maniacally superb Tommy Lee Jones, want to steal nuclear Tomahawk missiles. Seagal's character with help from a Playboy playmate puts the monkey wrench in their plans.
High action, low humor and a few interesting twists and turns make for a nice ride.
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
The low water mark of Star Trek
The Star Trek franchise has its ups and downs but overall it has produced quality entertainment. ST V is the exception, the worst Star Trek film made to date. There are a few humorous moments but not enough to make watching this turkey worthwhile.
In Harm's Way (1965)
Excellent war drama, often underrated.
This film seems to fallen on hard times. It has been either maligned or forgotten. I think it still remains a great war story and one of the best films about the U.S. Navy in World War II. It has an impressive cast led by John Wayne in his prime. The film touches on personal drama during war in a way not common in the 1960's.
2001: A Space Travesty (2000)
It's a travesty all right!
The idea had potential, "Police Squad" meets "Men in Black". Sadly nothing in this film is funny. The script appears to have been written by teenage stoners who had any humor skills surgically removed. $26 million to make this turkey? I guess most of the money went to catering.
The Emperor's New Groove (2000)
More wit, less songs
A funny and well done entertainment. Witty dialogue and hilarious scenes. I particularly liked the diner sequence. David Spade is excellent as the egocentric emperor. Unlike most Disney animated features, it has only one song, a welcome relief.