Alien (1979)

 

Running Time: 112 minutes

Media: DVD

 

A few months ago, a great actor, John Hurt died from cancer at the age of 77. This was one of his earlier movies, and it seemed to be a great idea for a tribute review in dedication of him. He will be forever remembered in his varied roles, including that of the titular Elephant Man, as Ollivander in the Harry Potter series, and the War Doctor in the Doctor Who franchise. He captured our hearts and imaginations and for that I am truly grateful that he graced our lives. Rest in peace, John.

So, without further ado, we move our focus to the actual film itself, Alien, released in 1979. Star Wars – A New Hope, which released some three years earlier served as the coat tails, for which this movie pretty much ride on, with Ridley Scott clinging on to George Lucas with his interpretation of what aliens could be.

Scott paints an eerie picture of isolation, desperation and horror in this film. But how well does it pay-off?

I will tackle the one at a time… Isolation, we have a deep space towing vessel, naturally, in deep space, making its way back to earth with a huge haul of some kind of magical space ore that must be worth a motza on the profits alone. Looking back on this some 38 years since its release, it seems quite cliche to say the least. To be honest, this movie did pretty much set the trend for many well-used film cliches over the next forty or so years. The sets alone, cold, dark, dimly lit and yet, correct me if in wrong here, some look like they had been padded with leather in places (?), still give a feeling of solitude. Hell, they even throw in a freaking cat into the mix to add the "We're all alone up here, let's give it the 'Crazy Cat Lady' feel" cliche. The cat served as a semi-plot device for part of the film, kinda like how Wilson the volleyball did in Cast Away, but less convoluted. Cat does jump-scare, where's the cat, must save cat from villain, end scene with cat...

I know the tagline of "In space no one can hear you scream" was meant to send chills down your spine; I mean, come on, this was meant to be for all intents and purposes, the first space horror, right? I kinda took this a little literally. Of course not, I thought, once you're in space, there isn't sufficient atmosphere to carry sound waves, not to mention, if you're in space, you'd freeze-dry before you could get the scream out. Maybe the tagline should have been written as "In the right kind of pressurized atmospheric environment, people could probably hear you scream"...?

But I digress... It's this setting that makes the audience feel isolated, kinda depressed and trapped, that it forces them to sit and live the plot as it unfolds. You feel the cabin fever and paranoia of Veronica Cartwright's character creep inside you as crew members get cut down, one by one. It's like watching Scream in outer space, but without the crazy motive. You already feel the inevitability of Tom Skerritt's character as soon as he enters the air ducts. You know he's gonna die in there. The lovely xenomorph does the lovely jump scare and you half expect it to say "Whassup!"

Personally, I thought this scene was somewhat comical in nature, a bit like the scene in The Exorcist where Reagan does the projectile vomit bit.

Desperation seems to drive paranoia and vice versa. Parker, played by Live or Let Die actor Yaphet Kotto, seems more focused on surviving for profits' sake. I have to admit, I was surprised that he and Lambert (Veronica Cartwright) lasted as long as they did. I'll be brutally honest, I wanted Lambert to die far sooner than she did in the film.

Now, let's focus on the horror aspect of Alien. I was three when this came out, I'm forty now, so thirty-seven years of experiences to prepare me for this film and what it had in store. I was gripped on the edge of my seat for about forty or so minutes while the Face Hugger latched onto Kane's face and played tonsil hockey, only to have it die later on, and then have the tiny alien burst out Kane's chest... It kinda went all anticlimactic after that. Jump scares and things latching onto faces and aliens bursting out of chests is all very well and good. But somehow, this teensy little alien hit xenomorph puberty and grew to umpteen feet in a few hours film time... What..!? How does that f[CENSORED]king work? Ridley, you have some explaining to do, bro.

Aside from these, there's the mouth on the tongue in a mouth thing... That's the stuff nightmares are made out of... How many levels does that go?

And to be honest, if you're into something that will make you feel both in awe and disgust, google "Xenomorph Pikachu".

But that aside, one thing most of us didn't expect seeing was an android, in this case, Ash, who basically blindly followed orders without a care. All crewmen were expendable. Fast forward to when Ripley, Lambert, Parker and Ash were the only crew members left, the 'android murder' scene was both scary and ridiculous at the same time. Parker managed to cut Ash's head off and was still flailing about like a headless chicken, but with what looked like semi-cooked linguine sticking out of his neck, and bleeding what looked like condensed milk... In fact, the android interrogation scene kinda looks like an orgy gone wrong. You just have to take my word for it and see the movie...

So let's cut to the chase. What did I think of Sigourney Weaver in the film? This initial performance as Ellen Ripley, I have to confess, was actually kinda wooden in places. Bearing in mind that this was her third film at that point in time, I kinda also blame Dan O'Bannon for writing her character that way. Ripley became less one-dimensional in later movies and so I fail to see why O'Bannon didn't consider any character development for Ripley within this film. I mean, she's meant to be the surviving cast member of this film, and we barely see her running away from the alien, let alone really facing up to it. More stay put, dodge, then blow it out the airlock... I don't know, it felt like it needed something to kick it up a notch. The face hugger scene was great, but once Tom Skerritt's character was on the chopping block, the film kinda followed suit. It almost feels like they were in a hurry to get to a happy-ish kind of ending and weren't afraid to make certain sacrifices to achieve that...

I'm willing to give Alien a 3½ star rating only because this was one of those watershed moments that dramatically changed the way we thought about horror and science fiction, even though it does lack in character development of the main protagonist and it rushes to the ending such that its lustre is lost on the audience. I hope to be reviewing the sequel Aliens soon, and I hope that I'll be giving it a higher rating.

Looper

Running Time: 118 minutes.

Media: Cinematic release.

Now I have to confess, I was a little slack in reviewing this film when I had the opportunity, but I did have a trip to Hawaii some few days after and no opportunity to boot up the blog and make it happen. This film has recently been released on DVD and Blu-Ray, so I recommend that you consider purchasing it.

"Recommend?" you hear me say... Does that mean that the Movie Madman is endorsing this movie? He is indeed, endorsing this movie. I actually found it quite an interesting one, albeit with some reservations, which I'll explain later. But then again, I am a science fiction fan (as opposed to being a science fiction freak), and this movie does play on the concept of time travel fairly well. The trick is with this movie is to bear in mind that there are certain sequences that must be considered in a certain order when watching the film. It also kinda helps if a diagram such as the one below, is drawn to help you understand what's going on. This kind of timeline in comparison to that of, say, the timeline of Primer, is tame in comparison. Take a deep breath before clicking that previous link, you have been duly warned.

We don't need no stinkin' Deloreans!

So how did this story line come about? Well, here's the Cliff Notes version. Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays the role of a hired assassin, Joe, who eventually has the opportunity to retire from the business when he shoots his future self sent back in time. Only drawback is, of course, that he would naturally know that some thirty years down the track he'll be sent through time to be shot by his younger self.

Now, here's the clincher. Bruce Willis, action hero extraordinaire, plays the older version of Joe. He's purposely sent himself back in time, not to get shot, but to kill the guy that eventually got his wife killed, who is at this point in Young Joe's life is just a little kid. So we have a young assassin trying to kill his older self who in turn is trying to kill some kid. Sounds a bit far-fetched, but that's only the time travel talking. You kinda get used to the ride once you start recognizing what's happening and when.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, what can I say about this guy that I haven't previously? In the last three years, he's appeared in Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Looper and Lincoln. He's made his performance in this recent film an incredible one and he just keeps on ticking, adding more and more to his repertoire. He's a fairly high commodity right now, and I wouldn't be surprised if this is just his way of warming up! JGL's performance as the younger version of "Joe" is remarkable, even down to the prostheses he wore to resemble a young Bruce Willis. He actually has a kind of James Dean look about him, and the nuances and voice intonation are remarkable. Throughout the majority of the movie, his demeanor is very calm and collected and that just added another level to it all. The chemistry between JGL and Willis is perfect, showing to sides of the same coin, though showing it some thirty years apart, and it works.

As to Bruce Willis, the man does not give up, A Good Day to Die Hard will be appearing in cinemas in 2013, and as far as I can tell John McClane's ex-wife is still yet to thank him for saving her life... Twice... As per usual his ability to play action hero pays off in playing the role of an action anti-hero, per se; or better yet, playing the role of villain without being the actual villain. I wish I could elaborate on that, but it's a little difficult to do so. Let's just say that he's a victim of circumstance. The role of Old Joe is corrupted enough to suit Willis, who seldom plays bad guys, to help portray him in the light best suited to view him as someone who didn't want to be bad, but had to be in order to get back what he lost so undeservingly. You almost feel sorry for the guy, who has risked everything to turn back the clock, quite literally. But OMG, there's a scene later on in the film where you see some serious need for anger management classes. He really lets his rage fly and that only brings us a little closer to understanding how much he's lost and what he'd do to get it back.

And speaking of anger management, Whoooooo! It seems the rage thing is a common trend in this film, the kid I mentioned earlier that Joe Senior has to kill off... I wouldn't want to piss this kid off, because his rage is some serious s[CENSORED]t right there, let me tell you. He makes the stuff that you see with Jean Grey at the start of X-Men 3 seem timid in comparison. Though he didn't really capture my heart either... Part of me kinda wishes Older Joe had succeeded because this kid is a bit of brat behaviorally, or in need of some serious mood-controlling medication.

Oh, and how did Emily Blunt get an American accent all of a sudden? I was kinda shocked to hear that kind of enunciation from her... Not that I was disappointed with it, far from it, I was just very surprised. She plays the role of the kid's mother who plays some pivotal role in this time travel affair. She's very nice in the film, although, she was waving a shotgun in the direction of JGL... It doesn't cancel one another out but she's seriously got issues with getting close to people, if the first date involves waving a shotgun in your face. She's very different to how I remember her from The Devil Wears Prada. Throw in a few second rate characters like those played by Jeff Daniels and Piper Perabo and... who haven't appeared in much lately and you have a semi-plausible cast who do make the plot move forward, but not with the enthusiasm I had originally anticipated with this movie.

As much as I liked Looper I have to confess I didn't really love it. The movie starts off well and gives a full rundown of how the time travel schtick works, but it seems to hurry up and try to sort everything out as quickly and neatly as possible. Angry kid, Joe Senior and a number of baddies resolve to do this with bullets and explosions and a couple of grunts here and there and the final ending as performed by Gordon-Levitt actually kinda serves as a sigh of relief for the film but also for the audience. I actually was glad that it ended when it did. I'm sure it did well in the box office, last check I made it had reached over $166 million in the States, but I don't think this was from repeat viewers; and if it was it was from geeks who were desperately trying to understand the timeline. I am awarding Looper 3½ stars for a valiant effort, but with a very haphazard rush to the finish with a cast of characters that seriously need a Valium or two to settle down...

Men In Black 3 (aka MIB³)

Running Time: 116 minutes.

Media: Cinematic release.

When I heard they were finally concluding the trilogy of Men in Black earlier this year I was taken back to a time where I first having people refer to me as "El" and consequently as just "L"... Those were much simpler times back then... MIB3 runs on a similar parallel in the sense that Agent J is sent back to a period where "simpler times" was the norm...

When Will Smith's character of Agent J is tasked to solve his partner K's mysterious disappearance from the time stream, he gets pulled from his usual comfortable environment and thrust into 1969... Where K's younger self played by a remarkably accurate Josh Brolin joins forces with J to set things right, including the capture of Boris, a very... angry alien who wants to kill off everyone in MIB...

Brolin's portrayal of Tommy Lee Jones's Agent K from 1969... Well, what can I say... It defies description... His intimations, slight nuances and even the southern drawl that Tommy has are hypnotic... The fact that Josh can practically become a younger version of a well-known character like K and nail it time after time after time is incredible... It's so convincing that I'm compelled to watch his portrayal of George W. Bush in W very soon...

Sadly, with plusses there are a few minuses... Zed, played previously by Rip Torn (now 81) has been replaced by Emma Thompson, on the premise that Zed has passed on... And her portrayal of being a chief of MIB staff seems a little lackluster in comparison to her 1969 counterpart played by Alice Eve... It's not convincing enough... Frank the dog, is also absent from the film, as well as Tony Shaloub's Jack Jeebs... So a lot of the humor has to come from the Smith-Jones-Brolin dynamic within the film than from these secondary characters... despite Thompson's one main attempt to gain a few laughs from the audience, which from my observation in the cinema was a lot of questioning as to whether Thompson was suffering from a mild form of Tourette's...

However, the film does redeem itself with an incredible twist which ties in the first film perfectly... It had me blown away and left me wanting to go home and see the first film just to see the links to the this film... Men in Black 3 has my approval and my respect, as well as a rating of 4½ stars... If they make a fourth film... And this is a very remote "if", I'd be very happy to see what they come up with...

Starship Troopers

Running Time: 129 minutes.

Media: Digital Download.

Wikipedia lists this movie as "a military science fiction thriller film"... Well, two out of three ain't bad, Wikipedia... It certainly has military elements, and it certainly has a very strong sci-fi feel to it... But for it to be classed as a thriller? I think the authors of this article of this film need to re-think their categorization skills!

I'm going to skip the main critique for a moment and go straight to the rating side of this review... I've given this movie 3½ stars... Why? Because in my opinion it's only a half-decent film... But it's not a decent one, I'll tell you that much... The acting is somewhat wooden, the actors a little more so, and the script is a little... something in the middle between "hilarious" and "pathetic"... I don't think there is a word, but if there was it would be something between these two extremes...

This film is set in the not-too-distant future, and we see our three main characters played by Casper Van Dien; the former Mrs Charlie Sheen, Denise Richards; and the former Doogie Howser, MD, Neil Patrick Harris who are located in a Buenos Aires high school, in a world which is in war with a world filled with large hostile insect-like aliens called Arachnids, or known better to the general population as "bugs"; and citizenship is a privilege, earned by serving in the military forces. Johnny Rico, played by Van Dien, signs up for the military to stay close to Carmen, played by Richards, who has signed up as a pilot. Their friend, Carl Jenkins, played by Harris joins up with the Military Intelligence group... There's also a redhead by the name of Dizzy Flores , played by Dina Meyer who in a way kinda stalks Rico by joining the military along with him... Ah, unrequited love...

The movie is sprinkled with a number of recognizable actors here and there, inclusive of Jake Busey (who has kinda grown up since his "stoner"-persona days), Clancy Brown (who may be recognizable as Victor Kurgan, from Highlander, as well as his voicing Lex Luthor in a number of Warner Bros/DC Comics animations), and Michael Ironside (who is well known for a number of "tough guy" roles, as well as his voice-acting as Darkseid in Superman: The Animated Series)... Beyond this, the movie has a number of scenes that are so hammy it will make a devout Jew say it's non-kosher...

There are a few saving graces, one which involves some partial nudity on the part of Dina Meyer... and also some rather poignant areas along the film where Michael Ironside says something profound... everything else seems a little over the top and over-done... I don't wish to stray from my 3½ star rating, and I won't... it's corny, but it has somehow developed into a bit of a cult-classic... The "so bad it's good defense", and so to rate it any less would take away from that... But to rate it any higher would give rise to calls that I have rated it higher than it deserves... And those that would say that would be correct... If I awarded it three stars, I would have to justify it... I'm choosing not to rate it any higher. Starship Troopers amazingly spawned two sequels... neither of which I have seen, but when I do, it will hopefully garner higher ratings than those that I have given to this movie.

I Am Legend

Running Time: 100 minutes

Media: DVD

I Am Legend is the third book-to-movie conversion of the novel of the same name, this version starring Will Smith and for a very brief period, Emma Thompson...

We're set in a post apocalyptic New York City in 2012... Some three years prior, Emma Thompson in the form of Dr. Alice Krippin has created a "cure for cancer", or so we believe... it seems this cure mutated and has an ability to turn people into predatory, vampiristic beings referred to as "Darkseekers" who prey on those immune to the virus.

One such immune person is Will Smith's character, Dr (and Colonel) Robert Neville, a military virologist... who is one of the only few (if not the only) human survivors in New York City in 2012. He scours the city with his dog Samantha, looking for survivors, hunting deer and looking for suitable Darkseekers to experiment on in order to find a cure for those infected by the Krippin virus.

The isolation that the film portrays with Neville wondering an apocalyptic and decrepit New York City with his only companion, a German Shepard called Samantha; is eerie, uncomfortable and somewhat disorienting to the audience... I think, this is only because we never consider the possibility of being so isolated... and I feel Francis Lawrence, who directs this, has really hit a home run with this in-your-face kind of film... Most post-apocalyptic films tend to have a sense of almost near comedy the way the infected characters the living  run away from, amble about... Not so here... these Darkseekers are not necessarily mindless creatures, they possess a structure, a sense of intellect, and to a degree you do feel some sort of compassion for them... You also find yourself wanting to reach out to Dr. Neville, whose saga is peppered with flashbacks and his momentary episodes of near-emotional breakdown make you realize Neville is not superhuman, only human.

This movie kinda hits a bit of an anti-climax after the introduction of Alice Braga who saves his life at one point in the movie... and goes downhill from there, albeit slowly... and although the movie ends in a way that does give it some reprieve, the movie is spoiled by a few moments from this particular point, including one point which involves a critical emotional release in relation to bacon - pay attention, as this moment goes fairly quick if you don't; those that love bacon will understand my distress, funny as it is. I still enjoyed this film, however, and despite the few points I've mentioned above, the film I Am Legend gets awarded four stars.

Timecop

Running Time: 98 minutes.

Media: File Download.

I don't know why I did this... I must have been either out of my mind, drunk, or maybe I was high... possibly all three... But I took the liberty of watching this film when I had very little to do with my time a few weeks ago... when I had an hour and a half as well as a few million brain cells to kill.

Unless you're a Jean-Claude Van Damme enthusiast... anyone telling you that they saw a Jean-Claude Van Damme film will think you would have have better spent your time doing more liberating and productive things like taking a power drill to your skull. And predictably, Timecop is no exception.

The idea of time-travel films is one that is meant to provide a sense of entertainment and wonder, and getting somewhat confused trying to follow the differing timelines and how they interact with one another... Timecop is a little bit different... you are entertained by the somewhat horrible attempt of Jean-Claude mastering English, and entertained by the suspension of belief a viewer must have that someone with his accent can have the name of Max Walker... For those playing at home, the real Max Walker is a cricketing icon, and while both are equally as annoying as one another... at least I know that at least I know the cricketer is a lot more believable than Van Damme's character. You are provided with a sense of wonder, but only in the sense of wondering how the film could still have amassed over $45 million in the US during its box office release given how hokey it is... and the only confusion one seems get is trying to follow the plot: Time-travel discovered, Jean-Claude chases a few crooks through time, comes back, things have changed, travels back in time, and makes everything right again... The Back to the Future trilogy did a better job of this some nine years prior, with their final film finishing in 1990, some four years before this film came out... I don't think the Timecop screenwriters ever took the time to see the film that practically set the bar for time-travel films... and as a result, wrote this...

This film literally had my head shaking in disbelief... Mia Sara who kinda steals the show a bit ended up starring in a time-travel based series called Time Trax also involving a time-traveling cop back in 1993... To be honest, she wasn't moving up in the world when she did this film, she did in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, but Timecop certainly wasn't a step in the right direction for her... One could say that any movie Jean-Claude has starred in was also not a step in the right direction for him... One can only wait and see what the sequel for The Expendables will be like with him starring in it, maybe this will be the kind of break he needs...

In the meantime, Timecop with all its... hokey-ness, gets a a two-star rating and no more... Not unless I want to die a slow and painful death, I already started that with watching this particular movie...

12 Monkeys

Running Time: 127 minutes.

Media: DVD.

This is by far one of the weirdest films out... one of the few time-travel films that still requires me to view over and over again just to make some semblance of sense of it.

12 Monkeys is one of the types of movies that requires maybe one or two viewings to finally get a hang of what's going on. I say this as it seems the film kinda combines a number of time frames and as a result one needs to focus carefully on where and where Bruce Willis' character, James Cole is in... Madeline Stowe plays a somewhat paranoid psychiatrist, Kathryn Railly who gets embroiled with James' time travel adventures, much against her want... Add the zany antics of Brad Pitt as a fanatical animal rights activist and mental patient and you have all the chemistry you need to get a film that kinda loses the audience... And the plot...

To give you a quick run-down on the basic premise of the film - a super duper virus has been released back in 1996, resulting in deaths of pandemic proportions. As a result, the human race has been forced to venture underground to survive... Fast toward some forty, maybe fifty years onwards and the world as we know it seems to have taken on a cross between steampunk, UFC fighting stadiums and New York sewers... James Cole has been given the task to travel back in time, find out what caused the virus and stop it from ever spreading to begin with... James keeps having these dreams of witnessing a guy get shot at an airport as a child, which are apparently repressed childhood memories...

Terry Gilliam directs this film, which kinda explains the costume and stage design for the post-apocalyptic world, and possibly the scripting of Brad Pitt's lines... The film had my head scratching, wondering why the world supposedly seemed to regress in terms of technology, fashion and I'd have to add, intellect...

The film is great in the way it twists and turns, eventually closing the loop in the end... There are a few areas that seemed a bit on the fake side, like the color in David Morse's hair in the film. I guess, the delivery of Stowe's performance seemed a little unbelievable as well... However, there is some light at the end of the tunnel; what with Brad Pitt's performance which resulted in Pitt being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, and he also won a Golden Globe for his role in the film. Real comic geeks may recognize one of Kathryn Railly's colleagues as being played by Frank Gorshin, who played the role of the Riddler in the 1960's TV series of Batman.

Would I watch this film again? Yes, though not terribly soon... Although it's a great film, the movie seems to get caught up in itself so much, the audience is left wondering what the hell is happening, and you find yourself a little cheated in the end, especially with not having seen the ending in your mind sooner... Bear in mind, this movie is a re-write of the French film La Jetée, a film made in 1962, of which I've yet to see, but will in the near future... 12 Monkeys borrows a number of components from its predecessor and makes it a worthy film, even though it does go over the top at times... I'm giving this film four stars as a result.

The Man from Earth

Running Time: 89 minutes.
Media: Video file.

This is not my ordinary kind of movie I would normally sink my teeth into... I saw it some five or so years ago around the time it first came out... I have to admit it's not everyone's cup of tea, but it does come across as a fairly intellectual kind of film in places...

Jerome Bixby, who died before this movie was released, started writing the screenplay back in the 60's, but finally finished it off on his death-bed in 1998. I know, a bit gruesome, but hey, that's the way it happened... His son, Emerson Bixby took the screenplay and decided to work on making it into a movie. The results are actually quite surprising.

Bixby (Junior) has taken a not-so-well known cast, inclusive of the title character, played by a relatively unknown David Lee Smith... If you have seen Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood you may have recognized him as the actor who played the young Shep Walker. Other cast include Tony Todd, who has played many very morbid characters in a number of horror based films as well as CIA Director Grahamin the TV series Chuck, John Billingsley, who played the character of Doctor Phlox on Star Trek: Enterprise and William Katt, who's real claim to fame was playing history teacher turned superhero Ralph Hinkley/Hanley (I could never understand why they changed the surname?) in The Greatest American Hero.

The movie pretty much occurs mostly at the home of John Oldman, a university professor, who admits to his friends he is leaving behind that he is a Cro-Magnon who has managed to survive for over 14,000 years. The plot revolves his friends trying to determine Oldman's sanity by throwing questions about his memories and general history and the possibilities of his claim being true.

There is a bit of a twist, and I will say nothing save that some people of a strong religious constitution may take offense to it. I will leave it to those willing to take a chance on the movie. The storyline is well thought and written out... even though at times the quality of the acting sometimes takes a temporary and relatively short down turn before starting back up again... I have given The Man from Earth four stars and I fele I should move on and hurry as I have two more reviews to make!

I know, I know... I've been slack... it's been almost two months since my last review... February and March have been relatively busy for me... so I hope to be back on track with more reviews in the days and weeks to come, inclusive of a mini-marathon of movies some time in April/May!

Sharktopus

Running Time: 89 minutes.
Media: Video file.

Yes, you're not imagining things... The name of the movie is "SHARKTOPUS"... I'm laughing as I write this... This is by far the most insane movie I've seen in my film review career... I'm actually forcing myself to watch this due to the fact I was intrigued by the name, the cover and the B-grade movie cheesy goodness that this movie seems to ooze more than an overloaded quesadilla...

In a record time, a sci-fi film has relayed the plot; a genetically designed hybrid, part-shark part-octopus, has just accidentally got itself released during a military demonstration near Santa Monica, and is now gobbling up locals at the quaint beach township of Puerto Vallarta. And it's up to a number of B-grade actors with less talent than the entire cast of "Saved by the Bell", to bring the creature down... This film is headed by none other than B-Grade extraordinaire, Eric Roberts... brother of Julia Roberts, the talented sibling of the two... He seems to be the only actor in this film that I'm vaguely aware of, let alone, the only actor who seems to be near-believeable in his acting... Everyone else, just makes me want to face-palm and go "WTF??"

With plenty of hilarious scenes where badly-acting beach-goers get chomped up by our title character, and more shots of women's cleavage; this film makes you keep scratching your head in disbelief. Whether you're trying to figure out where the plot is headed or how this film actually made it into production and onto the Syfy channel, and then onto DVD... or how one can sit through 89 minutes of sheer and not get lobotomized by the cheap acting, this movie was probably the craziest choice I ever made in what to review... and I will regret the hour-and-a-half I've lost that I will never get back... However, due to the "B-grade factor" and how ridiculously hilarious this movie is, I'm willing to give it 1½... actually, make it 2 stars... for a film that was low budget (like most Syfy original films are), but has the amazing ability to keep you watching... like a bad car accident... you don't want to stare but you can't look away... Be wary though, producer Roger Corman says he'd love to make a sequel to this film... Eek!

Though in retrospect, I'd probably recommend that you don't watch it unless you have 90 minutes to kill and a few ounces of brain cells you no longer need. On second thought, abandon seeing the film, and buy a six-pack of beer and kill the brain cells with that... at least you won't have any regrets afterwards...

Electric Dreams

Running Time: 95 minutes.
Media: File Download.

Anyone born in the late 70's, like myself would probably have been exposed to this song in some time of their life, and wondered "Hey, wasn't there a movie based on this song?"

Indeed there was my little movie addicts... Electric Dreams pushed the boundaries of cinema with Virgin Films debuting with this movie as its first... I remember recording this on an old VHS recorder when it was on Channel 10, I would have been maybe nine years old then. I loved the movie immensely, and for the first time in about 27 years, I've seen it again from start to finish... 

Miles Harding, played by a somewhat then (and somewhat still relatively) unknown Lenny Von Dohlen, is an architect who decides to buy a computer to help re-organize his life, update his security, automate his home, and to also help with him in the design of a new earthquake-proof brick. After Madeline (a cellist, played by the then 23-year-old Virgina Madsen) moves upstairs, all hell breaks loose... An accidental spill of champagne on the computer's circuitry as well as an overload of information from Miles' company server turns his computer sentient... Artificial intelligence at its best, but unlike some other films where the intelligence is instantaneous, the computer (who eventually becomes known as Edgar by the end of the film), has to learn like everyone else...

Eventually Edgar becomes sentient enough to make Miles' life hell, play music, take over the house, and fall in love with Madeline (something Miles is against, particularly because Edgar is making his life a misery)...

The film makes me smile even now, and with computer graphics that at that stage were comparable but not as great as say Tron was... and cool music by Jeff Lynne (of ELO fame) and Culture Club, this movie will make your heart reach out to Edgar... Having said that, I found Von Dohlen's portrayal of a bespectacled socially-inept nerd kinda irritating... It's only the talent of Bud Cort (who voices Edgar) who seems to save the day by playing off the nerdiness of Miles. There is one other thing that seems to keep me from giving this 5 stars, and that's towards the end, the final sequence, where people are dancing like crazy to Phil Oakley's "Electric Dreams" song. It's... a little overdone... That's just my opinion... Maybe I'm thinking like this because it's over a quarter of a century later since I first saw it, I don't know... but it's kinda weird to me now... But if I'm docking half a star for that and Miles' character portrayal, it's a small price to pay. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry... and it will make you nuts ;) Enjoy!

Source Code

Wikipedia listed this as a "science fiction/techno-thriller"... As the concept of a "techno-thriller" is hard to define, I'll settle for "science fiction/thriller". For what Source Code is able to pull off in 93 minutes is astounding, and with a little bit of shock value and some tear-jerking moments towards the end has already given me reason enough to reach for the 5 star rating.

Jake Gyllenhaal plays the part of Captain Colter Stevens who after a mission in Afghanistan wakes up to find himself in the body of some other guy on a moving train opposite Michelle Monaghan. Personally, the idea of waking up facing Michelle Monaghan has become the subject of a few dreams myself over the last few days since watching this film, but I digress. Stevens finds that he appears to everyone, and including himself in his own reflection, that he is Sean Fentress, a history teacher. Once he's come to terms with this unusual setting of events, the train blows up.

Colter then finds himself in a specialized cockpit which is part of the Source Code project, where he has the ability to basically travel back in time for eight minutes in the body of another being; over and over and over again. His mission, find out how the train blew up, who blew it up and why, and with what, etc., and prevent another potential dirty bomb from detonating. We find Gyllenhaal being re-inserted into the Source Code over and over and over until the very end. This movie is a mix of the Quantum Leap TV series, which I currently own in its entirety (yes, big time travel nut here) and 12:01, a movie that's not particularly well known, that involves a time-loop...

Now, one thing I noticed when I was watching the movie was hearing the voice of Colter Stevens' father, played by Scott Bakula... I nearly fell out of my chair in delight... Reason being? Scott Bakula's character in Quantum Leap, was that of Dr Sam Beckett, a man who kept leaping through time and whose consciousness popped into particular people's bodies; rather much like Colter Stevens did here! It's a nice little homage to Quantum Leap fans who would pick up on this little Easter egg within the film itself.

I've given this film 5 stars for originality and clever use of time travel concepts, and also for the little well-related cameo!

In Time

Running Time: 109 minutes
Media: Cinematic Release

Due to circumstances beyond my control, the last film from my seven movie marathon on 29/10/2011 started about fifteen minutes earlier than advertised. Needless to say I've sent my concerns to the cinema in question ad awaiting further word to their response for starting a film much earlier than they should have. Granted, it was probably one of the final sessions for the day and they may have wanted to finish early, but at the cost of not notifying patrons of this change may have gotten a few more disappointed movie-goers such as myself.

That aside, In Time, a film which is set in a future where the aging gene has been turned off, so (woohoo!) everyone gets to live forever, right? Wrong, it turns out there's a contingency plan set in place... You stop aging when you turn 25, however once you hit that quarter century, a timer activates on your arm, counting down a year... At this stage, you know you have a year to start earning more time in order to stay alive. Time has, as a result become the ultimate currency. As a result, the rich can pretty much become immortal while the poor, like Will Salas, played by Justin Timberlake struggle to get through day by day. When your counter reaches zero, the death is like having the plug pulled from you and you basically fall where you die. This form of death is the basic driving point of the film, beating the clock in order to get the next few seconds, minutes and hours just to stay alive. A scary thought indeed.

Will Salas finds himself in a unique dilemma after saving an aristocrat from "New Greenwich", the rich side of where he lives; it seems the 105-year old Henry Hamilton is tired of his life and wants to end it. He transfers the 116 or so years left on his timer to Salas while he sleeps, leaving him enough time to go to a nearby bridge and wait for time to catch up with him before plunging to his death into a storm drain. Salas sees this happen and runs for his life, whilst also being pursued by a mob known as the Minutemen, led by a 75 year-old chap called Fortis, who rob the unsuspecting poor of their precious time; and a Timekeeper known as Raymond Leon, who attempts to adhere to the laws set by time, to ensure that nothing illegal happens, whilst also trying to live day to day.

The movie which also features Amanda Seyfried as Sylvia, an aristocrat whose dad is 110 and the overall bad guy of the movie, and Olivia Wilde, who plays the part of Will Salas's mother, Rachael Salas. Now, I know there have been a lot of MILF jokes going around the 'Net, with guys saying how much they'd love to do Justin Timberlake's mom... I know, crude... but, hey have you seen Olivia Wilde lately? She's still one smoking woman!

The movie takes on a "Bonnie and Clyde" sort of feel to it toward the end, and with the lack of color available in this film, which is usually the case in many a dystopian type of movie, the film does seem to work rather well. You find yourself racing against time with them as they try to survive with every action they take. For some reason I could have seen this movie being a bit longer, but the length was quite adequate, and I did find myself glancing at my left arm a few times expecting to see thirteen numbers counting down instead of my Fossil watch! I've given this movie 4½ stars and a strong recommendation to see it if you fancy a bit of a sci-fi fix... This is by far one of the most original films I've seen.

Real Steel

Running Time: 127 minutes.
Media: Cinematic Release.

When I first heard about this particular movie, I was like "Hang on, I know this from somewhere..." and did a little digging... Sure enough the fifth film of my seven movie marathon on 29/10/2011, was based on an old 1963 Twilight Zone episode I had seen ages go in a re-run.

This sci-fi movie takes place in the not too distant future, in the year 2020. Regular boxing by humans has been replaced by robots. Hugh Jackman plays Charlie Kenton, a former boxer who owns such a robot who ultimately gets KO'd to pieces and is eventually replaced by Atom, the robot visible in the movie poster here, who ends up competin against a number of odds in teh robot boxing scene. Not only that but Charlie has to deal with his somewhat estranged son, Max, an eleven-year old Justin Bieber clone with an ego the size of a small third world nation. He's stubborn, supposedly quite knowledgeable and he despises his dad. What joy, what bliss...

The estranged parent and child storyline has been done ad absurdum, as has the underdog storyline... Putting the two together and throwing it in with CGI characters which resemble souped-up Rock'em Sock'em Robots from the early 1980's, gives some credibility to the film and pays the original story from which this was based, some well respected tribute; but this is not a film to be taken too seriously. It's definitely a film to take your kids to see, but after four rather great films, Real Steel didn't seem to sit as far up as the others I had seen that day. By this time, I had already seen four amazing films, it was edging toward 9pm and I kinda felt that the film was not on the same par. I honestly think it was the kid's ego in that film that spoiled it for me...

All in all, this would be a great movie to take the kids to, they'll enjoy the robots smashing one another, over and over again. Take them to see this film and they will do the beds, the dishes and the lawn for a good few weeks to make up for the joy they receive for seeing this film. Adults, it's a fairly decent effort and Jackman plays his part well enough to get some respect from the audience. Be on the lookout for Kevin Durand as Ricky, Charlie Kenton's nemesis. Those who have watched enough of Hugh Jackman over the years may recognize Durand as the actor who played Fred J. Dukes (aka The Blob) in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

I've given this movie 3½ stars for a decent effort, and great use of CGI.

The Thing (2011)

Running Time: 102 minutes.
Media: Cinematic Release.
 
The Thing was the fourth movie in my seven movie marathon on 29/10/2011. This movie actually serves as the prequel to the 1982 version of the movie which starred Kurt Russell!

I was actually quite impressed with this sci-fi/horror film, and having seen the 1982 version *ages* ago when I was much younger, this prequel kinda answered a few questions about the original; and it's also made me want to get the original and see it again!

The scene of where it all happens is in the Thule Antarctica station in winter, 1982. Put simply, the Norwegian research team there come across a spaceship underneath the ice; but also an escaped alien encased within the ice, which the team, aided by scientists played by Eric Christian Olsen and Mary Elizabeth Winstead drag back to the station. Winstead plays a very Ripley-esque character who reminds me a lot of Sigourney Weaver's well known role in Alien, whilst still resembling Winona Ryder. You may recall Winstead's portrayal of Ramona Flowers in Scott Pilgrim vs The World back in 2010.

I guess everyone can figure out what happens next, the alien naturally escapes from the ice... and like in any isolation/alien film, people start getting killed off by the alien. The beautiful thing about The Thing, is that the alien has this natural gift to not only absorb other people but also imitate them... mind you these Things seem to have a knack for not staying hidden for very long... One particular scene involves one particular individual who has been imitated by one of the Things to absorb another individual, fusing with it... It was kinda disgusting actually! But very well done...

The scenes move from one to the next in quick succession and work fast enough for the audience to catch up, but leave you guessing for more as to what happens next. I thoroughly enjoyed this film but will be giving it four and a half stars as the special effects were a little unbelievable at times, even though the film has been carefully researched to incorporate a number of elements from its 1982 sequel.