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Honor Society Review: A Snarky Psychopath Softens Up in Fun Teen Movie
Honor Society is an odd movie, a frequently fun film that sometimes subverts audience expectations but works against itself with its own messaging. The Paramount+ original movie goes in some often unexpected and original directions despite beginning with every tried and true trope of movies about high school and teenagers, beginning as one type of (admittedly obnoxious) film before unfolding as a more mature one which attempts to transcend these tropes and occasionally succeeds.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger Got A Sweet Birthday Wish From Son-In-Law Chris Pratt, And Of Course, Cigars Were Involved
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Paradise Highway Review: An Incredible Thriller Has Morgan Freeman Tracking Juliette Binoche
Paradise Highway is a hell of a debut feature film for a writer/director. Anna Gutto distilled years of research into an incredibly unique script and then created a very entertaining movie, featuring acting powerhouses like Morgan Freeman, Juliette Binoche, Frank Grillo, and Cameron Monaghan, which tackles a very important subject. If a filmmaker's first major work is their calling card, then Gutto's phone will likely be ringing off the hook.
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Gwyneth Paltrow Talks Having A Famous Mom, And Why She Thinks That Actually Made Her Career Harder
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Megalomaniac Review & Interview: Profound and Brutally Horrific Cheval Noir Winner at Fantasia 2022
Megalomaniac cuts deep and twists the knife. It’s complexly layered, blends moral lines, and contains visceral violence and cruelty. It’s an unflinching film with coldly delivered performances, and a Cheval Noir award from the 2022 Fantasia International Film Festival.
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Tom Cruise's Mission: Impossible 8 Is Adding A Mindhunter Star
The Resort Review: A Supposedly Fun Vacation They'll Never Do Again
It's a little odd that there's been multiple major projects in the last year all centered around a luxurious island resort that's not what it seems. The White Lotus, Old, Nine Perfect Strangers, and even Vacation Friends have all focused on various cacophonies and chaos coming from these little pampered paradises, and now there's The Resort (not to be confused with last year's horror film The Resort; apparently even titles referring to luxury resorts are being done multiple times). Maybe it's a symptom of late capitalism, or a product of the pandemic, a way for people to enjoy pampered tropical vacations at a time when cruise ships are terrifying.
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Kelly Clarkson Freaking Out When Nic Cage Admits He Added An Unbearable Weight Scene To The Script Is Totally Adorable
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Yes, a Hollywood Legend Made ‘Annie’
John Huston was one of the greatest filmmakers who ever lived, an outsized figure with a legendary reputation as a Hemingway-esque man’s man.
His best films include “The Treasure of Sierra Madre” (1948), “The Man Who Would Be King” (1975), “The African Queen” (1951), “The Night of the Iguana” (1964) and “Prizzi’s Honor” (1985).
Huston once played Orson Welles in the filmmaker’s final film, “The Other Side of the Wind” and Huston himself was once portrayed by no less than Clint Eastwood in “White Hunter, Black Heart” (1990).
Glancing at Huston’s staggering list of works, there are a few late career jobs that didn’t work, though all are worthy of interest and rediscovery. Yet, none jump out as forcibly as “Annie” (1982), the big-budgeted adaptation of the Broadway musical sensation.
Leapin’ Lizards! Huston directed that movie?
Not only did Huston make a massive ’80s summer movie, but this silly, adorable hit is also a true anomaly: it’s a period piece, a musical and an early big budget comic book film adaptation.
“Annie” is based on Harold Gray’s “Little Orphan Annie” comic strip, which was published in some form from 1924-2010. It became a radio program (1930-1942), spawned two different films (one from RKO in 1932, the other from Paramount in 1938) and became a monster Broadway success in 1977.
At one point early in its run, the title role was famously played by a young Sarah Jessica Parker.
Adapting a movie based on a stage show success like “Annie” was inevitable, though its success during the age of MTV domination made it seem like an iffy, antiquated choice.
Huston was actually perfect to counter this, as his film is every bit as sentimental, sweet and in line with Golden Age of Hollywood tradition as the material needed. There’s nothing remotely hip, modern or cynical about it, which is exactly why it works.
While not as visually demonstrative of its comic book roots as George A. Romero’s “Creepshow,” released the same year, nor anywhere near as stylish as “Dick Tracy” (1990) or “Frank Miller’s The Spirit” (both based on source material from the same era as “Annie”), the performances suggest the comic strip origins as much as Broadway.
Aileen Quinn, donning a massive wig and a smile that could melt an iceberg, stars in the title role. Her Dickensian upbringing in an orphanage includes daily abuse from the always drunk, psychotic Mrs. Hannigan (Carol Burnett).
When Annie is adopted by Daddy Warbucks (Albert Finney) and finds a surrogate mother figure in Warbucks’ secretary, Grace Farrell (Ann Reinking), it seems her greatest dream of finding a family is realized.
Yet, Miss Hannigan won’t let her find happiness and recruits her rotten brother Rooster (Tim Curry) and his equally awful girlfriend (Bernadette Peters) to get her back.
If the opening number, in which Annie muses about the life she dreams of having, doesn’t choke you up, abandon ship immediately. It’s a sugary sweet intro and one of the few scenes with real feeling.
From that point on, it leaps from one oversized set piece to another, with one song dedicated entirely to the naming of Annie’s dog. It’s that kind of movie, Take it or leave it.
Despite how wrong one would imagine Huston would seem for the material, “Annie” never trips him up the way Robert Altman tried and failed big with his similarly lavish comic book adaptation and full-fledged musical, “Popeye” (1980).
Burnett’s wild performance is somehow as loopy and comic as you’d hope but has a welcome edge, too. Having Peters and Curry on hand as a truly loathsome duo was a master stroke; they bring a welcome intensity to the third act.
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In fact, the seriousness of the song-free climactic chase is a nice change of tone. At times, it sounds like Finney is actually impersonating Huston himself. Reinking is luminous, her considerable talent as a Broadway actress in full view.
Although he once sported one of cinema’s greatest voices, Geoffrey Holder, playing Punjab, is in the same boat as co-star Roger Minami – they’re stuck playing embarrassing stereotypes and never given the opportunity to emerge as anything more than background figures.
Edward Herrmann’s hambone, theater-ready performance as FDR isn’t an indication of how great he would be elsewhere. In general, the FDR scene is a deadweight scene that should have been axed.
Huston’s approach to helming a lavish musical is to fill the frame with spectacle, beauty and complex choreography. It’s always welcome when we have scenes where characters converse without bursting into song, as most scenes are set ups for actors to start belting out showstopping numbers.
The ample musical numbers are as complicated as a Stanley Donen musical, with inventive choreography worthy of Busby Berkeley. This is the kind of film where, in addition to everyone on screen dancing their hearts out, everyone on screen is smiling incessantly.
Yet, unlike “Chicago” (2002) and too many other modern musicals of its ilk, Huston allows for long takes and doesn’t let the editing break up the choreography.
FAST FACT: The number one movie in 1982? “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” with $314 million according to Box Office Mojo. “Annie” came in number 12 with $49 million.
Huston’s decision to lean into the elaborate production design, always-busy set pieces and theatrical performances gives “Annie” a distinct, and not altogether unwelcome, lack of realism. The film’s tone matches Quinn’s always cute but overly self-conscious Shirley Temple impression.
The “Let’s Go to the Movies” sequence is wonderful, as a splashy number gives way to the film doting on Greta Garbo in “Camille” (1936). Huston’s own film legacy and adoration for the art form is reflected here.
It’s the film’s best, most thoughtful scene, as the length of it gives us the odd sensation of watching iconic fictional characters watching a real movie star.
My own experience with “Annie” was of a movie I watched dozens of times in my childhood, then abandoned in the ’80s. Seeing it now, Huston’s epic musical is cornier than a bucket of rubber chickens and as cute as a baby Ewok.
The strength of the performances by Burnett and Reinking, as well as Huston’s surprising gusto in a genre he never previously tackled, are what won me over after not seeing this since Ronald Reagan was President.
“Annie” was a mid-size hit during a decade when traditional musicals were often embarrassing (“Grease 2,” “Xanadu” and “Can’t Stop the Music” are notable examples) or overshadowed by MTV-supported rock musicals.
It’s bizarre to think that “Annie” found an appreciative audience during the same summer where “Blade Runner” and “The Thing” flopped. It seems Detective Deckard and a bearded Kurt Russell were no match for Quinn’s giant red hair and E.T.’s glowing finger.
Without question, “Annie” could be done today and exude a grit to match the Great Depression setting, instead of the thick coat of Hollywood gloss that Huston generously slathers on every scene.
(2014’s “Annie” featuring Jamie Foxx and Quvenzhané Wallis took a straightforward approach to the material)
Quinn and the other actresses who plays orphans are all deep-throated singers who are Broadway bound, tireless while hitting their marks and never come across like real children. Quinn, and Annie in general, are so cute, you never worry about her.
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Huston’s version will never receive the appreciation of either his essential works nor the best musicals of its era (the Depression-era, Steve Martin-starring “Pennies From Heaven” from 1981 has this beat).
Nevertheless, while “Annie” will always remain a weird entry in Huston’s towering list of films, it’s no embarrassment. It’s so corny, old fashioned and faithful to the feel of 1930s era musicals, that “Annie,” were it in black and white, could have been in theaters at the same time as “Camille,” if not Berkley’s “Footlight Parade” (1933).
If you can’t stand to hear someone sing “Tomorrow” ever again, then just forget it. However, if, like myself, you haven’t seen it in decades and remember it being a cheesefest, then you’d be right.
It is cheesy but appropriately so.
Huston gave Little Orphan Annie a Radio City Music Hall-sized vehicle. The character is mythic, and Huston, as unlikely a choice as he was, wound up being an ideal filmmaker for “Annie.”
The post Yes, a Hollywood Legend Made ‘Annie’ appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.
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One Thing Nope Brings To The Horror Genre That Daniel Kaluuya Thinks Is 'Pretty Special'
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The Gray Man Review: Another Russo Brothers Popcorn Cinema Action Spectacle
Directors Anthony and Joe Russo deliver an unrelenting fusillade of star-studded, big-budget action mayhem. Their adaptation of Mark Greaney's The Gray Man espionage thriller turns on a two-hour bullets and beatdowns spigot. Characters chase each other around the world in huge set pieces while wracking up a massive body count. It's a popcorn cinema spectacle that eschews a thoughtful narrative for clichéd genre tropes. You have the indestructible hero, despicable villain, a secret flash drive, and of course, a kidnapped girl. The script won't win any awards, but audience adrenaline will flow in torrents.
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Chris Rock’s Brother Brings Up Tupac, Jada When Asked About Motivations Behind Will Smith’s Oscar Slap
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Glorious Review: J.K. Simmons and Ryan Kwanten Deliver the Horror Goods
Ryan Kwanten delivers a surgical performance alongside J.K. Simmons in Glorious. Gore and divinity are aplenty, complimented by well-executed story development that’s hog-tied together at the end. The humor throughout keeps things lighthearted while the stakes continue to rise.
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Did You Love Miles Teller’s ’Stache In Top Gun: Maverick? Actor Shares One Person Who Was Very Happy To See It Go
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Peele’s ‘Nope’ Might Be Year’s Worst Film
Jordan Peele, meet M. Night Shyamalan.
The “Sixth Sense” director was once the toast of Hollywood before his films devolved into tortured “gotcha” exercises. Shyamalan has never been the same, creatively speaking, even if he occasionally teases a return to form a la 2016’s “Split.”
Can we expect a similar arc with Peele following his third film, “Nope?”
Even the best directors have clunkers on their resume – Steven Spielberg’s “1941” may be the best example. It’s how badly Peele orchestras his UFO thriller that should give even his greatest fans pause.
Oscar-winner Daniel Kaluuya stars as O.J. Haywood, son of a Hollywood-approved horse farmer. His pappy (Keith David, in a micro-cameo that screams for more screen time) supplied horses for various TV and movie projects over the years. Now, the son is trying to follow his lead, aided by his headstrong sister, Jill (Keke Palmer, in a grating performance).
A curious cloud collection above their ranch interrupts that quest.
There’s something peculiar in the sky formations, and it forces the Haywoods to consider its connection to both a family tragedy and their immediate survival.
That’s all audiences need to know going into “Nope” beyond the obvious. It’s a UFO thriller, full stop. Peele proved his horror instincts were first rate with “Get Out” and “Us,” so shifting to science fiction felt like a lateral move, talent wise.
Something sizable got lost in the shift.
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Let’s start with the Haywoods. Kaluuya earned an Oscar for his work in “Judas and the Black Messiah,” and his intensity is a welcome asset for any film. Or should we say “most” movies?
He’s a dullard here, moping around his farm and barely connecting with sister Jill, who overacts as if to compensate for her brother’s charisma vacuum.
You’re rooting for their survival, of course, but barely by genre standards.
The story itself offers a slow-burn template without the details that keep us engaged. The father-son dynamic hinted at in the opening never blooms, nor is there much dramatic tension tied to their horse business.
Snore.
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The most arresting part of “Nope” has little to do with the actual story. We see, via flashbacks, how a cute animal went wild and destroyed the set of a ’90s TV show. It’s a terrifying sequence showing Peele at his instinctual best. And you could remove every second of it from the film and it wouldn’t change a thing.
“Nope” doesn’t lurch into “Worst Movie of the Year” material until the third act. The characters’ motivations prove elusive, as does any real sense of danger. The finale drags on, and on, and the pay off is cartoonish and maddening.
Just make this movie stop. Please.
Secondary characters offer some respite, but even they are poorly integrated into the film. Veteran actor Michael Wincott suggests a subplot worthy of our inspection, but his character’s choices make no sense when it counts the most.
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Peele helped pioneer a new wave of socially conscious, uniformly progressive horror. Previous directors used the genre to send both chills and a message. Think George A. Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead,” the 1968 shocker that explored race relations in a way no other film could.
“Get Out” scorched liberal white guilt, among other contemporary issues. “Us” delivered a more complicated message about culture, class and social mobility.
Neither film wallowed in its messaging. Peele shrewdly kept the story, and scares, top of mind. It’s something other artists routinely fail to do, and why each new Peele movie feels like an event.
“Nope,” for better and worse, offers little to any deeper meaning except one chilling note. Peele may not be the auteur we imagined.
Hit or Miss: “Nope” is more than one of the year’s worst films. It’s a sign Jordan Peele’s narrative instincts are betraying him … and us.
The post Peele’s ‘Nope’ Might Be Year’s Worst Film appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.
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After Chris Pratt’s Comments About Harrison Ford And Indiana Jones Go Viral, Fans Share Their Own Snarky Thoughts
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The Miracle That Was ‘A Fish Called Wanda’
“A Fish Called Wanda” isn’t like most ‘80s comedies.
It’s not a star-driven vehicle like “The Golden Child,” “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” “The Naked Gun,” “Back to the Future” or “Fletch.” Nor is it a teen-centric romp out of the John Hughes content machine or its clever copycats.
The era’s sex romps focused on teens, think the “Porky’s” franchise, “losing; It” or “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.”
Director Charles Crichton’s “Wanda” earned its R rating the old-fashioned way, but it’s not meant to titillate or traffic in extraneous slurs. And it delivers big laughs through wit and character, delivered by four actors who make every line sizzle.
The story itself is simple but engaging. A quartet of crooks pull off a gem heist but immediately turn on each other. There’s no honor among these thieves, but Jamie Lee Curtis’ Wanda keeps the boys off balance with her curves.
John Cleese, the film’s screenwriter and co-star, leans into his oh, so British persona as the one presumably moral figure. He’s a calcified barrister, afraid of his shrew of a wife and spoiled brat daughter (played by Cleese’s real-life daughter). His Archie Leach (yes, that’s Cary Grant’s real name) pokes at British conventions without making them seem undignified.
Michael Palin’s stuttering Ken could never be written today. His affliction is part of the gag, and twice he finds his tongue in ways that leave us grinning.
And then we have Otto.
Kevin Kline scored a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for one of the funniest characters of the Reagan Era. He’s certifiably deranged, spewing mangled Italian to buckle Wanda’s knees one moment then regurgitated Nietzsche the next.
And don’t ever call him stupid.
He dangles Archie out of a very tall building’s window after one such insult. The brilliant sight gag, powered by a fractured perspective, shows a deft touch from the “Lavender Hill Mob” auteur in his final film project.
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Kline’s physicality alone is worthy of that golden statuette.
He impossibly springs up from a seated position, beds Wanda via comically inspired thrusts and stalks Ken for having a semblance of a soul.
And, to hear Otto describe it, an impressive posterior.
Academy voters treat comedy like a slasher film. Yes, they generate profits but they’re too undignified to honor in any meaningful way.
Yes, they made repeat exceptions for Woody Allen, giving “Annie Hall” a Best Picture award over “Star Wars” and making the director’s leading ladies frequent winners.
They couldn’t help but honor Kline in a year where he squared off against Dean Stockwell (“Married to the Mob”), Alec Guinness (“Little Dorrit”), River Phoenix (“Running on Empty”) and Martin Landau (“Tucker: The Man and His Dream”).
FAST FACT: Kevin Kline says Cleese personally created Otto’s signature look, “a combination between a fashionista and a man who reads Guns & Ammo.”
“Wanda” also nabbed nominations for Best Director and Best Screenplay, something we may never see again from an outright comedy. That’s partly because awards season voters loathe the genre, and also since the industry has mostly given up even making them.
It’s a shame that the film’s sorta sequel, “Fierce Creatures,” fell so dramatically on its face. That 1997 film is all but forgotten now, and good riddance. At least the idea seemed sound on paper. Instead of trying to replicate “Wanda’s” magic, why not reunite the key players for a whole new comedy?
Easier said than done, even though Cleese returned as the project’s screenwriter.
Even the trailer is punishing.
“A Fish Called Wanda” is a joy from start to finish, a brilliantly realized romp that plays to its cast’s considerable strengths. It’s not rude for rudeness’s sake, nor does it exploit Curtis as the sole female of the quartet.
She emerges as the most capable of this cast of clowns.
“A Fish Called Wanda” is sophisticated yet crude, bubbly but dark, a blend of British and American humor that wrings the very best out of both.
It’s no wonder Team “Wanda” couldn’t duplicate that cinematic miracle.
The post The Miracle That Was ‘A Fish Called Wanda’ appeared first on Hollywood in Toto.
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On Exactitude in Science, an old Jorge Luis Borges story, described a map of an Empire that became so meticulously real that its cartographers essentially replicated the very Empire they were mapping. Lewis Carroll (of Alice in Wonderland) actually wrote something which precedes this by 50 years, with his 1893 novel Sylvie and Bruno Concluded, in which one character exclaims, "And then came the grandest idea of all! We actually made a map of the country, on the scale of a mile to the mile!" The character confesses that they don't use the map, though: "We now use the country itself, as its own map, and I assure you it does nearly as well."
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Michael B. Jordan Has A Wax Figure Now, And The Internet Has A Ton Of Jokes About Its Appearance
35 Years Later ‘RoboCop’ Is as Fresh, Raw and Relevant as Ever
Paul Verhoeven’s “RoboCop” (1987) felt like a crazed, positively cracked masterpiece when it first arrived.
Once audiences got past the B-movie moniker (surely no one at Orion Pictures thought we’d take the title seriously, right?), there was the film itself, a tortured hero’s journey dolled up in science fiction and presented as an uncompromised, state-of-the-art popcorn flick.
It begins in the not-too-distant future, in which the population is obsessed with television, surrounded by outbreaks of violence and at the mercy of corporations with far too much access to power. In other words, just like today. No date is given for the setting and none is needed.
The future is now.
Peter Weller’s Officer Murphy is a “transfer from Metro South,” immediately put on the streets and partnered with the aggressive Officer Lewis, played by Nancy Allen.
There’s coed nudity at this station, a precursor to Verhoeven’s “Starship Troopers” (1997), as well as a commentary on the nature of the force’s inner politics. Upon hearing word of a strike, the force’s Sgt. Reed (played by a terrific Robert DoQui) announces, “We’re policemen, not plumbers. Police officers don’t strike.”
It’s a small touch (“RoboCop 2” actually depicts the eventual police strike) but pivotal- this is a system that aims to control the humanity of those who serve it.
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The world of the working-class criminals and the heavily padded/armed cops coalesces when Murphy and Lewis pursue Clarence Boddicker (a fantastic Kurtwood Smith) and his gang of loyal sickos. The hierarchy of rich men in suits, who hire monsters like Boddicker to carry out their wicked deeds, comes to ground level with Murphy’s infiltration of this criminal chain that starts at the top floor of Omni Consumer Products headquarters.
It’s worth noting that the bureaucrats calling the shots and their board room meetings are every bit as interesting as the action taking place at street-level. If there’s a worthy comparison, in terms of a protagonist struggling to maintain his true identity and humanity, while sharks in suits orchestrate chaos and corruption, this actually goes well alongside the cult 1987 TV series, “Max Headroom.”
Change OCP with Channel 54 and Murphy’s cop with Matt Frewer’s investigative reporter and the two have similar concepts and themes. Of course, whereas “Max Headroom” had late ’80s TV standards, Verhoeven’s ultra-R-rated vision goes much further.
Murphy’s death, an agonizing scene, is similar to the one in Sam Raimi’s “Darkman” (1990).
Outside of teen slasher flicks, few adult-minded movies are as insanely violent as “RoboCop,” though even that quality, which initially made the film controversial and disreputable to some critics, has become a part of its legend.
Looking at it today, the blend of the rousing rebirth of Officer Alex J. Murphy with gushes of blood and explosions, is tempered with a rich sense of humor and true filmmaking showmanship. Verhoeven’s attack on mega-corporations, consumerism and how corrupt organizations can control and steer the direction of law enforcement, remains savage and worthwhile.
FAST FACT: The 2014 “RoboCop” remake is considered a commercial failure despite out-earning the original film by $5 million at the U.S. box office.
The POV of Murphy’s rebirth is riveting, very funny and great cinematic storytelling. So is the somber set piece where Murphy revisits his old home and has flickers of memory, revealing how much he lost. Tons of exposition are presented with great humor and inventive visuals, though the film’s human core never dissipates.
Once Murphy is reborn and literally rebuilt as RoboCop, he is an immediate success, “cleaning” up the crime stricken streets of Old Detroit, by leaving piles of rubble, blood shattered glass and corpses behind.
The survivors are supposed to be grateful as he marches off. It’s a great response to “heroes” like John Rambo and Paul Kersey. Murphy’s new identity as RoboCop is a human tank, all brute force and no personality, with the consciousness of the man inside the metal initially kept in sedated state.
We know something’s up, however, because of an unexplained “(Directive 4 CLASSIFIED)” warning that ominously appears in Murphy’s enhanced vision.
Verhoeven’s storytelling and gift with action sequences always comes across.
The faux news broadcast that opens the film includes a quick shot of the Challenger shuttle disaster, as well as parodies of board games and hospital ads that reflect the era in which this was made.
Perhaps the biggest ’80s artifact here is a reference to “T.J. Lazer,” which looks closer to “Captain Power” or “Lazer Tag” than anything William Shatner ever did. However, rather than deem this dated, perhaps it’s time to consider that “RoboCop” just takes place in an alternate 1987, where the hopes and limitations of futurist ideas come crashing together.
We witness the OCP meeting, where the security concepts project has resulted in RoboCop, though it’s a nice fake out; the silver hulk on the movie poster isn’t introduced. Instead, we meet the bulky, insect-like and vile ED-209, who malfunctions immediately and turns an executive into chunks of flesh in front of his terrified colleagues.
The introductory ED-209 sequence (offering our first glimpse of the incredible Phil Tippet stop motion animation effects) always generates laughter, but the scene disturbs me. Perhaps it’s the roaring sound ED-209 makes (like a cougar made by Mattel), or how the victim’s colleagues shove him around into harm’s way before the assault, or the smoking corpse on the table afterward. Its satire, all right, but also absolute savagery.
Weller was a character actor who gained instant cult status by playing the title role in the wonderful “The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai: Across the Eighth Dimension” (1984). There’s an off-the-charts degree of difficulty involved with what Weller had to bring to the physicality of playing RoboCop. Weller and Allen don’t overplay their roles and create great sympathy by showing how vulnerable their characters are.
Yet, it’s the villains who steal the show.
Miguel Ferrer’s hilarious and ruthless Morton (the VP of Security Concepts) is matched by Ronny Cox’s scary, only-nice-on-the-outside Dick Jones and Smith’s showstopping Clarence Boddicker (who we learn is wanted for the deaths of 31 police officers).
What a perfect trio of movie bad guys. Boddicker’s gang is so grotesque and vile, it makes Murphy’s murder all the more unpleasant. Also, there’s no music to soften or editorialize how vicious that sequence is.
FAST FACT: Verhoeven says he considered Arnold Schwarzenegger to play both Alex Murphy and, later, RoboCop, but the hulking actor was too big for the suit they had in mind.
Dan O’Herlihy, playing The Old Man who runs OCP, is elegant but only slightly less sinister here than he is in “Halloween III: Season of the Witch” (1983), where he also played an older man of questionable power.
Verhoeven’s film has a sick sense of humor, ruthless violence and a great story. It seems to take place in the same world as Verhoeven’s equally thrilling but far pulpier “Total Recall” (1990).
“RoboCop” is full of unexpected touches, like the quirky battle between RoboCop and ED-209 that is settled by a pesky flight of stairs. Or the out-of-nowhere moment where toxic waste decides the fate of one of the film’s most despicable figures.
The gore is startling, even today. I still wince when RoboCop kills a man by slashing his throat and a glob of blood lands on him. Basil Poledouris’ score provides an exciting march but is also wisely somber. RoboCop’s “thermograph” visions are akin to the POV of “Predator,” released within weeks of one another.
As tremendous as the action is here, Verhoeven’s film is the story of a machine who discovers that he was a man. It’s also surrounded by spoofs of tacky corporations and commercialization. Note the 6000 SUX ad within the film – it’s funny but not really that farfetched.
Likewise, the oft-quoted “I’d buy that for a dollar” from the popular sitcom within the film; it looks moronic but likely to air right after “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.”
July 17th, 1987 – RoboCop
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Starring: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Daniel O’Herlihy, Ronny Cox, Kurtwood Smith and Miguel Ferrer
Budget: $13 Million / Box Office: $53.4 Millionhttps://t.co/freR1HXmSs pic.twitter.com/qbdgi2wuQY— Retro80sRadio (@retro80s_radio) July 16, 2022
Despite a welcome sense of humor and oodles of exciting action, the film is full of powerful, painful sequences. Note the awful spectacle of Murphy’s fellow police officers opening fire on him, as OCP stomps him down as quickly as they can assemble him.
“RoboCop” is among the best comic book movies not based on a comic book and the best sci-fi/action combos ever. Yet, the weight of emotion within the film is why it’s so much more than a popcorn flick.
When Murphy remarks on the wife and son he lost, he says, “I can feel them, but I can’t remember them.” As much as a sharp-edged nudge at corporations and fat cat bureaucrats, “RoboCop” is rich with existential agony.
The last time I saw it was with an audience at a midnight revival screening in Denver. Most of the packed audience had never seen it before. Their reaction to the final moment sums up what I love about the film.
After dispatching the last of the remaining villains, someone says, “Nice shooting, son. What’s your name?” RoboCop turns, considers for a second, then smiles as he says, “Murphy.”
Someone sitting close to me suddenly shouted out, “You’re damn right it is!” The auditorium erupted into cheering.
RoboCop is aware of his rotten existence and for better or worse, has now found a greater balance of the machine and the man inside the suit. A fitting end and also a return for Alex J. Muprhy.
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‘Where the Crawdads Sing’ Goes from Beguiling to Snooze-Worthy
Olivia Newman’s “Where the Crawdads Sing” has been effectively marketed by its studio as an event movie based on a popular novel.
It’s not the first time a bestselling book has been made into a dud of a movie, though it is disheartening that Reese Witherspoon (acting as producer) and other talented film artists worked on a project with so little impact.
As a majorly hyped adaptation of a bestselling novel, it’s nowhere near the one-two punch of the novel and film of “Gone Girl” (2014) but is on par with the disposable “The Girl on the Train” (2016).
I recently stalked the books aisle at Target with a friend, looking for a copy of “Where the Crawdads Sing,” only to find it was entirely sold out. I wonder if that will be the case a month from now, after everyone has seen this middle-of-the-road movie.
Daisy Edgar-Jones stars as Kya, who lives alone with her abusive father next to a marsh in North Carolina. When everyone in Kya’s family deserts her, she’s left alone to raise herself and becomes a town outcast, referred to as “The Marsh Girl.”
The story toggles between 1969, with Kya on trial for murder, and ample flashbacks to the 1950s, where we see Kya come out of hiding, fall in love and develop her abilities as an artist.
I liked Edgar-Jones’ performance, but the characterization is shallow. There are too many unanswered questions about how Kya could have raised herself alone in a cabin.
She hardly seems like a “Marsh Girl,” as she’s the most attractive character in the movie, sporting make up, perfect hair and clean wardrobe in every scene. I know it’s a movie, but this is akin to a Disney depiction of childhood trauma. The character should come across like Sissy Spacek for most of “Carrie” (1976) not Mandy Moore in “A Walk to Remember” (2002).
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Her good work and the initial hook of the mystery kept me intrigued, until the whole thing idles for so long, it’s as though the filmmakers stopped caring about providing an answer to the central question.
Edgar-Jones was good in the recent “Fresh” (which appeared on Hulu) as well, though these two 2022 starring roles make me hope that lead roles in better films are in her near future. David Strathairn plays Kya’s attorney and gives the most spirited performance in the film.
The supporting actors are good, but the characters are all one note. The dialog is overly self-conscious, sounding like commentary from the screenwriter and not actual spontaneous thought. In fact, the entire film has that problem: this always seems like a movie and never something that could have actually happened.
Perhaps on the written page, it plays more plausibly, but as adapted into a film, there’s something artificial about the whole thing.
Read along with @DaisyEdgarJones and @_TaylorJSmith and see the book come to life on the big screen. #CrawdadsMovie is exclusively in theaters Thursday. https://t.co/RqHoGw40it pic.twitter.com/vJCQvhesXu
— Where The Crawdads Sing (@CrawdadsMovie) July 11, 2022
By the midpoint, I went from wondering whodunit to questioning when this dull, tepid drama will finally get moving.
I was taken by the story at first, until it resorts to becoming a variation on “The Notebook” (2004) by the second act. The flashback structure is a big problem, as it elongates a predictable love story, distances us from any suspense of learning the outcome and makes the court case feel longer than the O.J. Simpson trial.
I didn’t read the 2018 book by Delia Owens, though that shouldn’t be a prerequisite to appreciating the film. In fact, whether it’s Harry Potter or “Waiting to Exhale” (1995) or “The Right Stuff” (1983) any film adaptation should stand on its own and succeed at being its own thing, regardless of committing to being entirely faithful or only showing some fidelity to the source material.
Are there movies that are better than the books they’re based on? Definitely – Rob Reiner’s “Misery” (1990) is way at the top of my list and it’s not an isolated case. Nevertheless, a great movie ought to inspire us to seek out the source material.
The location may be exotic for some, but this is the same rich/poor class divide and tortured romance of both “Pretty in Pink” (1986) and “The Notebook” (2004), to name a few. More immediacy is given here to the romantic triangle and whether Kya will be published over the outcome of the murder trial, which is a clear sign something went wrong.
Newman’s film is so overly drawn out and devoid of grit, any suspense and character depth has been whittled down to dust.
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I loved the music score by Mychael Danna. “Carolina” by Taylor Swift, which plays over the end credits, is one of the best movie songs of 2022. It also looks great – in fact, too picture perfect, too pretty for something that’s supposed to be fairly sinister.
After drawing out the story for much longer than expected, the story finally lands on a big reveal, which I will not spoil or hint at. However, I will say that the answer to the big question is such an anticlimactic letdown, the filmmakers would have been better off concluding with an ambiguous cliffhanger.
Had someone told me how this movie ended beforehand, I wouldn’t have wasted my time for a conclusion sporting so little punch.
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Unlike the recent, artificially similar mini-series adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s “Sharp Objects” (2018), with its terrifying gut punch of a last-minute unveiling of the big twist, “Where the Crawdads Sing” seems determined to soften the impact of the big secret and leaving us unfulfilled.
Compared to, say, the big, shocking whammy of a last scene of “Presumed Innocent” (1990), this is akin to a longwinded joke with no punchline.
There are a few things here I liked, but the cumulative effect made me nickname this “Where the Turkey Gobbles” on my walk to the parking garage. I know, juvenile and dumb, but then, so is “Where the Crawdads Sings.”
Two Stars
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Resurrection Review: Rebecca Hall Astounds in a Gripping Thriller
Rebecca Hall astounds in a visceral and utterly gripping psychological thriller. Resurrection dangles precariously on a ledge of abject terror. The protagonist's facade of control and independence shatters into cutting shards of doubt. She faces a horror thought long vanquished. The life she cherishes comes under attack from a formidable adversary. Her descent into paranoia and madness is fueled by a desperate fight for survival. The film's bonkers climax will disappoint or provoke heated discussions. Either way, you'll be hooked.
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‘Avatar’ Baddie Stephen Lang Makes ‘Mid-Century’ Worth a Look
Stephen Lang is an American actor with a staggering list of film and stage credits, but they haven’t made him a household name yet.
Most know Lang for playing the lead villain in “Avatar” (2009), the “Don’t Breathe” franchise or “The Hard Way” (1991), to name a few.
Broadway historians would note that Lang was a standout playing the son to Dustin Hoffman’s Willy Loman, in the legendary 1984 production of Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman.” Lang returns in the upcoming “Avatar” sequel this fall and is the lead of “Old Man,” the forthcoming thriller from Lucky McGee.
While Lang has been a utility player for decades, his work always warrants attention, whether the material is worthy of him or not.
Case in point: Sonja O’Hara’s “Mid-Century,” in which Lang plays Frederick Banner, a brilliant, murderous architect with a reputation to match Frank Lloyd Wright.
We witness the disturbing incident that burns Banner’s name into infamy. Decades later, Tom (Shane West) and his wife (Chelsea Gilligan) rent Banner’s immaculately designed and very haunted house. Tom starts learning about the house’s rotten backstory.
Then he starts seeing ghostly visions of Banner’s late wife (Sarah Hay).
“Mid-Century” is not all there, with plotting that goes bonkers in the third act. It helps that, at times, it’s very creepy, mostly due to how good Lang is here. Having Mike Stern, the screenwriter, also play one of the heavies demonstrates how hands on this is; ditto, O’Hara, the director, who also has a supporting turn.
The setting is also reportedly the screenwriter’s actual home. Maybe the filmmaking was just too cozy? The biggest issue is a screenplay that doesn’t hold together in the late going.
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West hasn’t headlined a big movie since playing Tom Sawyer in “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” (2003) and has mostly worked steadily in television. As the film’s lead, he’s rusty and too overly self-conscious.
Far better is genre veteran Vanessa Williams and intriguing newcomer Emmy Perry. Nevertheless, even though it’s a supporting turn, this is Lang’s show from top to bottom.
This plays like a small but intriguing companion to Alex Garland’s recent “Men,” as all the male figures are controlling, condescending, sexist and very-1950s. Contrasting “Mad Men”-era chauvinism to contemporary attitudes gives this some subtextual heft. The ideals of the ‘50s and the All-American bravado of those suit and tie businessmen are the core of both Lang’s character and the patriarchal figure played, albeit briefly, by Bruce Dern.
However, both “Parents” (1988) and “The Stepfather” (1987) covered this material with more clarity and depth.
At least it’s not gory and emphasizes atmosphere and spooky imagery over cheap thrills. Lang may have shot all of his scenes in a few days, but they’re spread out over the film enough to maximize his screen time.
The actor is positively chilling and appears to be having a good time scaring us.
“Mid-Century” is not an essential horror film, but its nicely shot and has one of those Lang performances you shouldn’t miss. That will be enough for some, though pairing a screening of “Don’t Breathe” with “The Stepfather” would be preferable to seeing this.
Still, Lang continues his trend of being the best thing in most of his movies. Frederick Banner is a frightening figure and its worth giving this a look just to see how fully Lang has brought him to life.
Two Stars
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‘Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris’ Bakes a Class Conflict Souffle
Some movies make it almost impossible to critique them.
They mean oh, so well, feature performances honed to perfection and lack the oversized ambition to fall on their face.
So goes “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris,” an indie charmer with pluck to burn.
Based on the 1958 novel by Paul Gallico, “Mrs. Harris” offers a gentle exploration of social inequities seen from a maid’s point of view. Lesley Manville gives the title character so much heart, depth and twinkle she’s irresistible.
Why the film changes gears so abruptly, leaving the wondrous Manville temporarily adrift in a socialist subplot, is anyone’s guess.
Manville stars as Ada Harris, a hard-working maid mourning her husband’s wartime death long after hostilities wrapped. So she buries herself in her work, cleaning up for London’s rich, famous and self-satisfied circa the 1950s.
It’s a life, of sorts, but she can’t help pine for something more.
So when her employer shows off a ravishing Christian Dior dress Mrs. Harris starts to dream and dream big. What if she traveled to Paris and brought home something just as lovely?
She makes that trip, of course, the title alone is the perfect spoiler. What she discovers in the City of Lights is more than Haute Couture. She confounds the stuffy scolds in the House of Dior, charms more than a few gentlemen and runs smack into a workers revolution.
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Writer/director Anthony Fabian handles the latter with little finesse, all the while soft-pedaling themes that might lend “Mrs. Harris” some well-needed bite. Why would Mrs. Harris pine for something as impractical as a fabulously expensive dress? Do the rich and famous deserve such finery given how much harder Mrs. Harris works day in, day out?
Why do we worship at the altar of fashion in the first place?
The film’s villains are so obvious they sashay across the screen daring us to loathe them. Isabelle Huppert is ideal as the worst of the lot, giddily rubbing Mrs. Harris’ face in her Nobody-ness.
The screenplay is generous to a fault, granting even the wicked players some humanity. The film trudges along, buoyed by Manville’s radiance and the sense that she’ll live out a lifetime’s worth of fantasies.
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Mid-film, we’re thrust into a French class revolt, and Mrs. Harris’ interactions with the subplot are suddenly rushed and wrapped up at breakneck speed.
You don’t have to perfectly align with the working class to wish the sequences had more time to breathe. Yet during much of the movie “Mrs. Harris” moves at a glacial pace, satisfied with basking in its frothy existence.
The quasi-color blind casting might not be historically accurate, but it’s done in such a gentle manner that it’s as comforting as Manville’s crinkly smile.
There’s wish fulfillment aplenty, and it lands better than the average “Sex and the City” montage. Credit Manville for those wonderful moments. After all, seeing a genuinely kind person rise up at long last never goes out of style.
HiT or Miss: “Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris” is alternately sweet and soulful, but it’s inability to maintain a steady pace spoils some of the fun.
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Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between Review: Another YA Movie Lacking Depth
Summer 2022 has brought in an influx of young adult romance movies and shows, which have become a staple for their core audience. From The Summer I Turned Pretty over on Amazon Prime Video to Netflix’s Love & Gelato, which fans of the original novel and critics alike panned as an unsuccessful adaptation. The formula for film productions has turned to bestselling young adult novels for content, drawing in already-established fanbases and newer fans alike. However, this model is not always successful, although previous adaptations like All the Boys I Loved Before have drawn in mass praise. July 2022’s newest batch of movies includes Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between.
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'Thor: Love and Thunder' Spoiler-Free Review
‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ Delivers Woke Camp, Not MCU Thrills
We thought “Batman and Robin” would forever prevent superhero films from aping ’60s-era camp.
Taiki Waititi didn’t get the memo.
The director’s “Thor: Love and Thunder” veers dangerously close to full-on Pow! Bam! Zoom! If you thought Waititi’s “Thor: Ragnarok” pushed the MCU’s comedic elements too far, you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.
And it’s a terrible choice Waititi abandons mid-movie. By then, it’s too late.
We reunite with Thor (Chris Hemsworth) in the middle of a God-life crisis. He’s bored, distracted and unable to rouse himself for anything save superheroics. We learn this from a cheeky backstory told by Waititi’s Korg, the craggy creature whose increased presence is a sign of Waititi’s clout.
Translation: No one on set told the director he’s pushing the silliness too far.
The story itself is feather-light and beneath the once-mighty MCU. We learn that Thor’s old flame, Jane Foster (Natalie Portman, game for all the silliness), is suffering from Stage 4 cancer, a plot line played for yuks early on.
Funny!
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A vague promise made by her old beau transforms her into Thor (Lady Thor? Mighty Thor? Thorina?), a female Asgardian who wields Thor’s old Mjolnir. The new Thor, along with old-school Thor and King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson, having a blast between the goofy asides) must battle a new threat, Gorr the God Butcher.
That’s Christian Bale, giving a performance that doesn’t belong in this movie. He’s terrifying, a monstrous brute who rises above his limp back story and motivation. Tonally, he’s all wrong for “Love and Thunder.”
What were Waititi and co-writer Jennifer Kaytin Robinson thinking?
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Who thinks it’s funny that Thor speaks to his weapon as if it were a new lover jealous of Mjilnor? And the less said about Russell Crowe’s appearance here, the better.
Pow! Bam! Cringe!
Need more tonal screwups? A key plot point focuses on kidnapped children, something the screenplay often plays up for snickers.
Waititi’s wonderful “Jojo Rabbit” turned Hitler into a comic character and squeezed laughs out of Nazi terror tactics. So he knows how to balance uncomfortable material with humor.
He fails at the task here. Completely.
Since this is Marvel Phase 4 we know the woke won’t be left behind. We’re reminded that King Valkyrie is a lesbian, twice, and another character’s back story involves two Dads who procreate.
Just know these details are vital to the story and, if left out, would see the entire film collapse upon itself.
Thor: Love and Thunder’s Tessa Thompson and Natalie Portman describe the appeal of getting to play in the MCU from an acting perspective. https://t.co/NxeAAws3rw
Hint: it involves a certain “lack of dignity.” pic.twitter.com/lbzG4ZCivU
— IGN (@IGN) July 4, 2022
Somewhere along the way “Thor: Love and Thunder” realizes you can’t reconcile the farcical first half with Gorr’s menace. So the film all but throws the humor out, focusing on the Thor/Jane relationship and generic superhero mischief.
That’s just as jarring, and the switch doesn’t come with bravura action scenes or anything that trumps “Raganrok’s” spin on the MCU.
In fact, “Ragnarok” proved superior in so many ways, and that’s before you realize “Love and Thunder” squanders a Guardians of the Galaxy group cameo.
How is that even possible?
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Maybe Waititi has Patty Jenkins Syndrome. The “Wonder Woman” director delivered a grand superhero romp in 2017, and then followed it up with one of the worst films in recent memory, “Wonder Woman 1984.”
Did her ego get too big for the set? Was she given too much authority behind the scenes? We’ll never know, but it’s fair to ask similar questions of Waititi after watching “Love and Thunder.”
Something went seriously wrong between “Ragnarok” and “Thunder,” and the mystery behind it might be more entertaining than the film itself.
HiT or Miss: “Thor: Love and Thunder” is a crushing disappointment, doubling down on “Ragnarok’s” comedic beats without the wit and style to make them soar.
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