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LawrenceA
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Posts posted by LawrenceA
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Repo Jake (1990) - 2/10
Very stupid direct-to-video action flick with Dan Haggerty as a guy fresh off the bus in L.A. who takes a job with a vehicle repossession company. This leads him into all sorts of dangerous and "humorous" encounters. This was terrible, poorly done on every level. I watched it because it was included on a DVD set that I bought for some other titles.
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The Big Man: Crossing the Line (1990) - 5/10
Misfire crime drama with Liam Neeson as a Scottish ex-con and former mine worker who is desperate for work, as he must support his wife (Joanne Whalley) and two young children. He's offered a chance at some big money by shady big city operator Matt Mason (Ian Bannen), but it will require Neeson to partake in an underground bare-knuckles boxing match. Also featuring Billy Connolly, Peter Mullan, Pat Roach, Maurice Roeves, Ken Drury, Rab Affleck, and Hugh Grant.
This spends much of its runtime as a typical boxing drama, with Neeson's character dealing with family problems while undergoing the cliched fight training sequences. It gets more interesting when the actual fight occurs, and then afterward as the crime story elements come into play, but its not enough to save the film. This was a Miramax release, and apparently Harvey Weinstein pulled one of his notorious hatchet jobs, taking the original director's cut of just under two hours and chopping it down to 90 minutes, sacrificing some much needed character depth along the way.
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I remember Morgan Freeman on Another World. And Anne Heche. I think she played twins.
I recall liking Victoria Wyndham on that show. And whoever played Carl.
John Aprea from The Godfather Part II was on there, I think as Linda Dano's love interest.
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I smoked for decades. I quit 9 years and 2 months ago. I quit cold turkey, with no relapses. It got too expensive, and my health was deteriorating quickly. I still miss it, and I have dreams about smoking a few times a week.
I've heard the excuse that people didn't know that smoking was bad for them back then. That could only be believed by people who have never smoked. Anyone who has smoked knows that there's nothing healthy about it.
Smoking killed my father young, and caused the emphysema that eventually killed my grandmother. It also led to my grandfather's heart attack, and may have contributed to the cancer that eventually killed him.
As for non-smokers...how about Lena Horne?
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I see there's a new cartoon...but I can't post it. Someone else can.
My guess is Fail-Safe (1964).
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13 minutes ago, Sepiatone said:
Sure is. Personally, I don't see a connection to the "Joker" character in movies and the motive for a mass shooting spree. But then, nutjobs never needed any rational reasoning for doing what they do. And after reading what "Incels" purportedly stands for, I also fail to reckon how shooting up patrons at a movie house does anything to improve their situation or foster any empathy towards it. Anyway....
My neighbor thinks it's some kind of publicity stunt by the producers to generate overall interest in the movies release.
There are a few connections. The new film portrays the Joker as a loser who gets beaten down by society until he finally cracks, committing multiple acts of murder, as well as inspiring others to do the same. Since the Joker is the protagonist of the story, some view the film as glorifying this type of behavior.
Many of the mass shootings in the past several years have been committed by "losers", or "incels" (involuntary celibates, for those who aren't familiar with the nomenclature), young men who seem to have failed in their work and/or their love lives. Some fear that other such men in the viewing audience may sympathize with the Joker character to the degree that they will be inspired to go out and kill.
Finally, the Aurora theater shooting in 2012 was committed during a showing of The Dark Knight Rises by a nutjob who cited the Joker as his inspiration, so some view that as an indicator of what could happen again, particularly with a movie focusing on the Joker character and where he explicitly calls for violence to "get back at society".
I personally don't care. I'm not offended by onscreen violence, and I'm not going to coerced into committing violence because of a movie. And as you say, most nutters don't need an excuse to commit violence. But I'm also not certain that this is a publicity stunt by Warners, as I think it will keep more people away from theaters out of fear of an incident, rather than draw more to see it in the theater.
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Boiling Point, Takeshi Kitano, Japan (1990) - 8/10
Unusual crime drama/black comedy from writer-director Takeshi Kitano. A couple of quiet blue collar workers and amateur baseball players run into trouble with the local yakuza. When their coach, a former gangster himself, gets involved, things escalate, leading to the two workers making a trip across the country to buy some black market firearms. This brings them into the orbit of a volatile gangster (Kitano). With Masahiko Ono, Yuriko Ishida, Takahito Iguchi, Minoru Iizuka, and Eri Fuse.
Kitano's trademark deadpan characters and odd tone are on full display, resulting in an unpredictable film that I very much enjoyed. Many viewers may be turned off by the low-key vibe punctuated by violence, but it clicked for me. Kitano is both scary and funny as the deranged yakuza, although he doesn't appear until the movie is half over. Recommended.
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Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Pedro Almodovar, Spain (1989)* - 7/10
Ricky (Antonio Banderas) is released from a mental asylum where he's spent the last 7 years. He's been declared healthy by a judge, but Ricky immediately sets out to kidnap movie star Marina (Victoria Abril), with whom he's in love, in order to force her to love him. Also featuring Loles Leon, Maria Barranco, Rossy De Palma, and Francisco Rabal.
Almodovar's controversial film, which contributed to the MPAA establishing the NC-17 rating, has been decried as misogynistic by some. I rather regarded it as the director's send-up of rom-com conventions, where the male half of the couple often acts in ways that would be considered unbalanced and creepy if done in real life. It can also be taken as Almodovar's exaggerated take on heterosexual romances and marriages, where the woman is "kept" and eventually falls for her captor, despite the craziness of that notion. The leads are very good, as is Leon as Abril's sister, and Rabal as an ailing director raging at the dying of the light.
* Most sources cite this as a 1990 release, as does the sleeve on the Criterion DVD cover. However, IMDb lists it as a 1989 release, citing the premiere as taking place in December of '89.
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Things (1989) - 1/10
Canadian no-budget horror-comedy (?). As far as I could tell, the plot concerns a pair of brothers who discover that the wife of one of them has died. She had undergone some experimental treatment for infertility which resulted in her giving birth to a bunch of mutant creatures which look like fat, chihuahua-sized ants with big sharp teeth. The house that the brothers are in is isolated, they have no vehicle, and there's also a power outage. After sitting around and telling pointless stories to each other, the "things" attack, and the movie just gets stupider.
The opening of the movie, which features a woman stripping nude while wearing a cheap Halloween devil mask, sets the tone. The acting is feeble, the dialogue beyond moronic, the effects bad, and no cinematic aspect fails to disappoint. The majority of the audio is very badly done post-dubbing, and the score is a horrible hodgepodge of bad electronic keyboard doodling and even worse original songs. All of this is interspersed with pointless "newscasts" featuring porn star Amber Lynn as the anchorwoman (badly) reading her lines off of cue cards. The whole thing is an astonishing feat of ineptitude and idiocy the likes of which are rarely encountered.
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29 minutes ago, laffite said:
Point taken ... just another way of saying how much I like the movie and an alternate way, if you will, of paraphrasing the oft intoned exclamation, "I can't believe how anyone cannot like this or that film," knowing very well that it is no doubt so.
Someone in another thread (again I can't recall which) used the term "universally-acknowledged classics" or something similar a week or two ago. It led me to wonder if there really is such a thing. Is there a movie that everyone around here would agree was good? Before the internet I would have named several, based on my own opinion, that of those in my immediate circle (friends & family), and what I have read in film books. But now...I can't think of any movie that I haven't read someone voicing dislike for.
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The Firm (1989) - 7/10
British TV production, originally produced as an episode of the series Screen Two. Gary Oldman stars as the leader of a group of upscale soccer hooligans. Unlike the typical ruffians and pub thugs one thinks of, Oldman and his gang hold good jobs, dress nicely, and even have families that they are responsible for. The story depicts rising hostilities between Oldman's crew and another gang led by "Yeti" (Phil Davis), with the violence reaching absurd levels. Also featuring Lesley Manville as Oldman's wife (they were married in real life at the time), Andrew Wilde, Charles Lawson, and Patrick Murray.
Director Alan Clarke (Scum, Made in Britain) once again dwells on the effects of violence and the doomed souls that deal in it. Oldman is intense as usual, and Phil Davis, who I know mainly from Mike Leigh films, is effective as the preening blond antagonist.
Elephant (1989) - 7/10
A short film (39 minutes) made for British TV, by producer Danny Boyle and director Alan Clarke. The film is a series of brief sequences depicting men approaching and shooting other men. No reason is given, there is virtually no dialogue (only one or two unintelligible lines are said in the background of one scene), and none of the men shown are identified. It's meant to be an indictment on the senselessness of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland, where this was filmed. It can be taken that way, or as pure gun-violence porn. I wouldn't be surprised to find this among the viewing materials of spree shooters. However, there is an almost hypnotic quality about the film's aesthetic purity. Director Gus Van Sant would borrow the title and some of the film's visual style for his 2003 school-shooting film Elephant.
Source: Both on a Blue Underground DVD.
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2 minutes ago, Janet0312 said:
What is the meaning? The moon was once a dumpster? They throw everything in there but the kitchen sink.
I don't think there is a meaning. Setting aside that the title itself tells you it is a dream, Melies often was simply concerned with the visual aspect of film, and not with story or deeper meanings.
I just think it looks amusing.
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2 minutes ago, laffite said:
"Up to "Strangelove" ? But not including? I tremble to think someone might reveal that he/she doesn't like that one. If so, then still another of the naturals shocks that flesh is heir to. Thanks, Will.
No matter the movie, some one doesn't like it, and will be more than happy to tell everyone else as much. In fact, a few people voiced displeasure with Dr. Strangelove in the past few weeks in another thread (I don't recall which one - I lose track of all of the "most overrated/movies you hate" threads).
I honestly can't think of a movie that someone on here hasn't said they hated or felt was "overrated" at least once or twice in my years reading the message board. And that's just here, let alone other movie sites, like back when IMDb had comment sections for each movie, and invariably there would be at least one thread declaring each and every movie "the worst movie ever made!!!".
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17 minutes ago, speedracer5 said:
I was thinking maybe Lawrence's avatar was a scary moon face? I was thinking of that really old movie from the early 1900s that features the moon with the face?
That's a good guess. You're thinking of A Trip to the Moon (1902), directed by Georges Melies. My avatar is from Melies' earlier film The Astronomer's Dream (1898). Here's the whole film, running three and a half minutes:
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1 hour ago, Janet0312 said:
I'm not coming back on this board until you change that creepy avatar. Yikes!
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Amok Train aka Beyond the Door III (1989) - 4/10
Strange Euro-horror flick, with a group of American teenagers on a school trip to Yugoslavia (?!?) to witness a once-a-century religious festival. Their weird chaperone, local Professor Andromolek (Bo Svenson), discusses the details of the festival, which involves sacrificing a virgin, which makes virgin student Beverly (Mary Kohnert) understandably nervous. Soon the teens find themselves on a train, where violent accidents keep killing off people.
This Italian/Yugoslavian co-production was shot mostly in English, although there's some subtitled Serbo-Croatian dialogue as well. The film is cheap-looking and mostly amateurishly acted, but there's some memorable imagery and some laughably over-the-top gore scenes. Much like Beyond the Door II (actually 1977's Shock), this also has nothing to do with Beyond the Door (1974), an early Exorcist rip-off.
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Without a Clue (1988) - 7/10
Amiable comedy send-up of the Holmes/Watson stories, with Michael Caine as a bumbling, vainglorious actor hired by brilliant surgeon Dr. John Watson (Ben Kingsley) to act as front for Watson's crime solving, assuming the guise of Sherlock Holmes and taking all of the credit for Watson's real sleuthing. The two have a falling out resulting in a split, which opens up the opportunity for arch-villain Moriraty (Paul Freeman) to attempt a major caper. With Jeffrey Jones as Lestrade, Lysette Anthony, Nigel Davenport, Pat Keen, and Peter Cook.
Caine and Kingsley are excellent in the leads, and the film has an easygoing charm. The production values are decent, and the film doesn't overstay its welcome. A cute, if mild, diversion.
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Killing American Style (1988) - 3/10
Schlock action travesty with mutant-jawed Robert Z'Dar as a ruthless criminal who escapes from a prison bus along with a few of his gang. They hide out in a nearby house where they seek medical aid for an injured cohort. Unfortunately for them the house belongs to 80's-movie-hero-archetype John Morgan (Harold Diamond), who dresses like he just stepped out of a bad rock music video, and of course he also knows martial arts. Featuring Jim Brown (why, Jim?!?) as the police chief, John Lynch as a loathsome crook named Lynch, Veronica Paul, Jimmy Williams, Bret Johnston, and Buck Striker.
This isn't as entertaining as Deadly Prey, but it's just as incompetent and silly. The fight choreography is awful, the special effects laughable, and the dialogue hilariously atrocious.
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It's Impossible to Learn to Plow by Reading Books (1988) - 6/10
Very-low-budget first feature effort from writer-director Richard Linklater. He also stars as an aimless college student who travels to see an old friend. The film is nearly plotless, a meandering sequence of loosely connected incidents involving the protagonist, with very little dialogue. It's like an even more primitive version of Linklater's next film, Slacker (1990), and in fact is included as a bonus feature on that later film's Criterion release. Those who like 80's/early 90's indie film aesthetics may get something out of it, but most will be left baffled and/or bored.
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The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (1988) - 7/10
TV-movie adaptation of the play, derived from Herman Wouk's novel. US Navy Lt. Stephen Maryk (Jeff Daniels) is on trial for taking over command on his ship, due to what he claims was the mental instability of the ship's captain, Lt.Com. Phillip Francis Queeg (Brad Davis). Maryk's defense attorney Lt. Greenwald (Eric Bogosian) mounts a sharp defense, battling naval prosecutor Lt.Com. Challee (Peter Gallagher). Also featuring Michael Murphy, Kevin J. O'Connor, Daniel Jenkins, Laurence Ballard, and Matt Malloy.
Director Robert Altman presents the film rather straightforwardly. However, he elicits performances that keep the viewer interested despite the claustrophobic setting of an impromptu gymnasium-turned-courtroom. Bogosian is the standout among the talented cast, while Davis, given the unenviable task of playing one of Bogart's most famous roles, does an adequate job.
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The Spirit (1987) - 5/10
TV-movie version of the Will Eisner comic strip character, with Sam Jones as the square-jawed police man who is seemingly murdered by criminals, only to survive and fight crime as the Spirit, sporting a dark blue suit and fedora, as well as a domino mask. In this story, he faces off against a group of art antiquities thieves. Also featuring Nana Visitor as the hero's love interest, Garry Walberg as the police captain, Bumper Robinson as the Spirit's juvenile sidekick, Laura Robinson, Daniel Davis, Les Lannom, and Philip Baker Hall. This goes for the tongue-in-cheek camp vibe of the 60's Batman TV series, but with much less success. The hero is thinly drawn (no pun intended), and his look is silly in a modern context.
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34 minutes ago, RoyCronin said:
It says SURF NAZIS MUST DIE.
Perhaps it inspired this...
Surf Nazis Must Die was criticized by reviewers as boring and hard to follow, and its acting, dialogue, and camerawork were widely panned. Janet Maslin wrote "Not even the actors' relatives will find this interesting." Roger Ebert stated that he walked out of the film after 30 minutes.
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Grave of the Fireflies (1988), Isao Takahata, Japan - 7/10
Animated film that follows a boy and his younger sister who are left orphaned during the waning days of WWII. They struggle to survive among the increasing scarcity of resources and a seemingly uncaring and cruel world, while the boy also tries to keep his sister's spirits high and childish joy intact. This is a very highly regarded film in many circles, and while I thought it was reasonably well done, I also felt it wallowed a bit in sentimentality and was very manipulative in the final act. It comes in a close second behind The Plague Dogs as the most depressing animated film that I've ever seen.
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2 minutes ago, LornaHansonForbes said:
this might start a flame war, but I can't stand JENNIFER JASON LEE, although I certainly haven't seen everything she's done, including this. I think ALAN RUDOLPH directed it and his films are often POLARIZING.
OH MY GOD HOW DARE YOU!!!!
Just kidding, I don't care about Jennifer Jason Leigh one way or the other. I've liked her in some things (Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Miami Blues) but not in others.
I never watched Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle, although I recall renting it out regularly.
Do we really have flame wars around here? The most I ever see is one grumpy comment here or there, and that's usually from me, and it's either deleted by a Mod or I delete it myself.
Halloween Schedule Disappointment
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