The Last of the Mohicans (1992) Review

Easily one of the most spectacularly crafted films of the nineties and unfortunately it is also one of the most overlooked and underrated.

British and French troops do battle in colonial America, with aid from various native American war parties. The British troops enlist the help of local colonial militia men, who are reluctant to leave their homes undefended. A budding romance between a British officer's daughter and an independent man who was reared as a Mohican complicates things for the British officer, as the adopted Mohican pursues his own agenda despite the wrath of different people on both sides of the conflict

The final sequence is possibly one of the greatest climaxes in film history. There is no dialogue during the final battle. Only a strongly composed musical score. Even the final dialogue atop the mountain by Russell Means is phenomenal. We see in his face the end of his people and believe it. Additionally there is the brilliant cinematography and gorgeous untamed landscape that is consistently seen in the film.

Director Michael Mann has managed something quite extraordinary in that he was able to make a version of James Fenimore Cooper's novel that is equal to the 1936 version starring Randolph Scott, if not able to surpass it.

There aren't enough adjectives in any thesaurus or dictionary to describe my love of this picture. Fantastic, beautiful, unbelievable, exquisite, perfection all come to mind in addition to ones that I don't even have enough time to list. The Last of the Mohicans is largely one of the major reasons I want my life to be in film. It is one of the first films I was aware of and remains after all these years to be one of my absolute favorite films.

★★★★

Super 8 (2011) Review

I'm a very big fan of Steven Spielberg as well as Roger Corman, George A. Romero and those old 1950s sci-fi cheese fests. Super 8 plays like a tribute to all of that with even a little bit of The Goonies thrown in.

The year is 1979 and a group of junior high age kids are making a movie about zombies using a Super 8 camera and their own homemade makeup and production value. One night while filming a scene by a railroad track they witness a pickup truck crash into a train. The train derails nearly killing all of the kids and allows something to escape from one of the cars. The kids start to notice strange things happening in their hometown. Dogs and people disappear, the government takes over patrolling the town, there is several occurrences of unexplained destruction. They start investigating the circumstances and they discover a large government conspiracy and the strong possibility of an extra-terrestrial life.

When you have a film like this there is one thing required of the parents. That's for them to fade into the background. In this film the focus is mostly on the kids as it should be because they are by far the most interesting characters. The whole picture is an example of a great film being made without overloading the audience with CGI effects or loud noises. I suggest Michael Bay takes some notes on this picture.

There are a lot of unrealistic scenes and aspects in the film. During one scene the kids are filming part of their movie outside a teacher's house. All the military personnel either don't notice them or don't care that they might end up filming sensitive material. Additionally I have been told that the backpacks that the kids carry in the film were not actually. Don't know if that's true since I wasn't alive at that time. Despite those unrealistic components I don't really care. I was interested enough in what was happening in the film to let it go and believe me those criticisms are minor compared to the praise I have for the film.

This is the first real good film of the summer. To use a frequent phrase in the film it's mint.

★★★1/2

Be Kind Rewind (2008) Review

This movie relies on one thing. That every character in it is stupid enough to go along with its premise. Be Kind Rewind tells the unlikely story of a small video store on the verge of collapse, literally. There's only a couple of customers who are willing to get their videos (yes, videos because they have no DVD) from it. The store, named Be Kind Rewind, is run by a single clerk named Mike (Mos Def) and crashed by his idiot paranoid friend Jerry (Jack Black). Jerry is so convinced that the government is controlling his mind by way of the power plant he lives next to, that he attempts to sabotage it. He is of course electrocuted. Instead of dying he is magnetized and inadvertently erases all the videos in the store. Don't ask me if that is really possible. I've never met a magnetic person to ask them. Anyway Mike and Jerry decide to reshoot the entire catalog themselves with an old camera and a budget of about zero dollars. They begin to make more money with their "Sweded" versions of the films (including Ghostbusters, Driving Miss Daisy, Men In Black, The Lion King, Rush Hour 2) then they ever did renting the real ones. "Sweded" means they are more expensive because they have to be imported from Sweden. Sweden actually has a very lax stance on file-sharing and so there is a LOT of piracy in Sweden.

No way could any of this happen in real life but guess what? I don't care because it's all whimsical and whimsy is what writer-director Michael Gondry excels at. Jack Black has rarely even made me smile but his role is the best in the film. One particular moment where he makes up the lyrics to Ghostbusters had me laughing quite a lot. Mos Def on the other hand was a mental strain. He mumbles through the whole film and only emotion is whining. As a cinephile I truly enjoyed the idea behind the film and found myself asking myself how I would remake a smaller version of my favorite movies.

Whether their plan works or not I won't tell you nor will I inform you if Hollywood believes Mike and Jerry's work to fall under piracy or parody but I will say that this was an enjoyable film. I suppose that the people in the area are paying for a twenty minute version of a movie starring their neighbors but I myself don't know my neighbors enough to want to pay a dollar a minute for something that is far below the quality of the original. Maybe I should go knock on their door? Nah.

★★★

Thelma & Louise (1991) Review

What this pictures amounts to brilliance and art. It is quite possibly the greatest road picture ever made. Yes, even better than Easy Rider. Those who might be aware of the fact that Easy Rider is one of my favorite Dennis Hopper films will know that me saying a better road film exists is an accomplishment.

As the film opens we meet Louise (Susan Sarandon), a waitress in a small Arkansas diner. During a lunch rush she takes a smoke break (in the kitchen) and calls her friend whose name is, yep you guessed Thelma (Geena Davis) and makes reference to a weekend trip to a cabin owned by a friend of Louise. Thelma is the polar opposite of Louise. She is married to a moronic hothead rug salesman named Darryl (Christopher McDonald). Thelma is so timid that she decides to wait until Darryl leaves for work, then she leaves him a note and takes his handgun (in case of bears or a serial murderer) and packs up to go on the trip with Louise. Louise herself has a boyfriend named Jimmy (Michael Madsen). He is short-tempered like Darryl but is far more well-meaning. Before Thelma and Louise arrive at their destination Thelma wants to stop at a roadside bar. Although at first unwilling to stop, Louise agrees to after she is reminded that it is also Thelma's vacation. There the pair meets a mysterious man named Harlan (Timothy Carhart) who takes an interest in Thelma and flirts with her all night. They end up in the parking lot of the bar where, after Thelma refuses to have sex with Harlan, he beats her and attempts to rape her. Louise appears brandishing the handgun. Harlan lets Thelma go but not without saying he should have raped Thelma anyway and adding a few more expletives thrown at the two women. Louise shoots and kills him. Based on the evidence against them and lack of physical evidence the two flee. Harlan's body is soon discovered and it doesn't take the police long to suspect Thelma and Louise had something to do with it. The investigation is lead by Hal Slocumb (Harvey Keitel) who immediately is sympathetic to the pair and believes that everything is not quite how it seems. As Thelma and Louise head to Mexico they keep meeting a young hitchhiker named J.D. (Brad Pitt). He turns out to be a thief and takes advantage of Thelma in order to steal the sixty-six hundred dollars given to Louise by Jimmy. Things for the women spiral more and more out of control as they try to escape with their lives. Instead of going directly from Oklahoma through Texas to Mexico the two travel around and end up going Louise insists on not going through Texas. Something happened to her in Texas years earlier that she refuses to talk about. Thelma is able to figure out Louise was raped and received no help from the police. That, we learn, is the reason for her earlier reactions about Thelma and Harlan.

The film has been discussed left and right about its apparent anti-male quality. I have never thought of this film as anti-male. Sorry, I don't relate to Harlan or feel sympathetic to the sleazy truck driver that gets his rig blown up for being a pig. The truth is that Thelma and Louise are not meant to be role models. The shooting of Harlan is the biggest mistake either one of the women could possibly make. Those mistakes continue with holding up a convenience store, trusting J.D. and locking a police officer in the truck of his car. Eventually the two go for a Bonnie and Clyde/Young Guns 2 ending as they drive their Thunderbird off a cliff.

The performances in the film are brilliant. Obviously all the leads are great but I was more moved by the performance given by Christopher McDonald who is unfortunately mostly known for his roles is bad comedies like Happy Gilmore and Flubber. Near the end of the film there is a shot of Darryl who sits at his home staring at the television on the verge of tears. We see on his face the realization of his mistakes and what he has lost. That shot only lasts for about ten seconds but what a shot.

I have one negative criticism for the film and it happens at the last shot. Instead of trusting the audience enough to follow the women's car off the cliff with a more somber score director Ridley Scott opts for a happier freeze with the car in mid-air then fades to white. As the credits role we see some snapshots reprising earlier moments in the film along with a cheesy soundtrack choice by Hans Zimmer. If you pick up the film on DVD take a look at the original ending. It's far superior.

I have enjoyed the films of director Ridley Scott and Geena Davis and Harvey Keitel and Michael Madsen and Susan Sarandon. When you add all that enormous talent you have a fantastic film.

★★★1/2

The Blues Brothers (1980) Review

There was a day when comedies were actually comedic. Only certain films brought the right combination of a great director, cast, and script. In the case of The Blues Brothers you can add a great soundtrack on top of that.

Jake (John Belushi) and Elwood (Dan Aykroyd) Blues are brothers/musicians who are on a mission from God. That's their code for trying to raise money to save the orphanage they grew up in from foreclosing. After Jake is released from prison, he and Elwood start to bring their old band back together so that they can play a charity show to raise the money. Along the way they are chased by police, Nazis, a country band, a bartender and a mystery woman.

Written by John Landis and Aykroyd and directed by Landis The Blues Brothers is a fun picture that I can't get enough of. Usually I am so irritated by John Belushi that I want to punch him square in the jaw. That's not the case with his role as Jake. He brings his usual loudmouth slob down to a dull roar and if I as a film critic and not a music critic can say, he actually has quite a good singing voice. Aykroyd is Belushi's silent partner and straight man. His facial expression never changes and he never removes his sunglasses (Belushi removes his once) not even when it's 106 miles to Chicago and they have a full tank of gas and half a pack of cigarettes and it's dark. Sorry, I couldn't resist quoting one of my favorite lines.

There's about thirty cameos in the film (the best ones from such musicians as Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, James Brown and Cab Calloway among others) and contains about five hundred and eighty-two car crashes (all within about ten minutes of each other). The best way to do cameos is not mention that the person is who they are. That's something that the filmmakers are aware of and play it beautifully.

I highly recommend this picture.

★★★

Keeping Mum (2005) Review

★★★

Here's a wickedly funny movie that you don't have to be British to appreciate. Set in the small English country parish of Little Wallop, Keeping Mum tells the story of a priest named Walter Goodfellow (Rowan Atkinson) who is so preoccupied with writing the perfect sermon, that he doesn't realize his wife Gloria (Kristin Scott Thomas) is on the verge of having an affair with her golf instructor Lance (Patrick Swayze) and that his seventeen year old daughter is consistently going a number of inappropriate relationships with unsuitable boyfriends and his son is terrified to go to school. This continues until the arrival of a nanny whose supposed name is Grace Hawkins (Maggie Smith). Almost instantaneously Grace becomes a part of the family as she starts tending to their needs and removing those causing problems.

This picture is a black comedy which insists on taking a slightly sinister approach that is enormously refreshing. It doesn't rely on gross out gags and poorly developed characters. Instead it focuses on very sincere actors giving very sincere performances all of them are perfect in their particular roles. Rowan Atkinson has always had a talent for playing massively inept individuals with a certain charm while Patrick Swayze gives, in my opinion, his best performance. He's so sleazy in this picture that you get the feeling that if you touched him you'd catch some sort of disease that there is no diagnosis or cure for. The true star of the film though is Maggie Smith. She gives a darker rather more sinister version of Mary Poppins. Grace is extremely kind-hearted but is not above bashing someone's head in with a frying pan if it suits her.

The violence and nudity in the film is under control so there is no reason to not enjoy the movie.

 

The Hangover Part II (Review) 2011

In the more than twenty-three years I have been going to the movies I have only walked out of two films. The first time was during Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. The second time was last night during The Hangover Part II.

Two years after the bachelor party in Las Vegas Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms), Alan (Zach Galifianakis) and Doug (Justin Bartha) travel to Thailand (referred to by Alan as Thighland). The guys wake up the next day in Bangkok not remembering the night before. So begins a reprehensible journey to discover what they did.

The Hangover Part II is devoid of any worth or soul. The entire picture makes light of realities in Thailand and says that they are funny. They aren't. Prostitution, Trafficking, animal abuse, riots, poverty etc. should not be used as entertainment like this. Everyone involved in this atrocity should be ashamed of themselves. Its attempts to "push the envelope" are disgusting and shameful. It doesn't border on the edges of bad-taste because to say that would be to imply that it had any taste at all. The last thing I heard was a transsexual prostitute saying to a man and I quote, "My load in you and your load on the floor" endquote.

Seven years ago when I walked out of Anchorman I was bored. When I walked out of this film I was offended and refused to subject myself to any more garbage. From speaking to others who did stay I am glad I didn't.

 It is presently June 4, 2011 and I think I can reserve this picture a spot on my list of the ten worst films.

No star rating

Single White Female (1992) Review

Jennifer Jason Leigh and Bridget Fonda star in this film that stresses the importance of background checks. Allison "Allie" Jones (Fonda) is a software designer in New York City. While her professional life is on the rise her personal one is in a freefall. After she discovers that her fiancé Sam (Steven Weber), slept with his ex-wife she banishes him from her two bedroom apartment. Allie is now in need of a roommate. So she puts an ad in the newspaper looking for a roommate. Every single applicant is not right, until the appearance of Hedra "Hedy" Carlson (Leigh). Hedy seems to be the perfect roommate and very quickly fills the void left in Allie's life after Sam's departure. The two girls' friendship deepens when Hedy brings home an adorable, and very expensive, puppy. At first Allie objects to the idea of a pet but quickly becomes attached to it. After about a month Allie reconciles with Sam and they begin to discuss moving in together again much to Hedy's discomfort. Eventually Hedy's more disturbed side begins to surface as she tries to be more and more like Allie even going so far as to change her hairstyle to match Allie's exactly. Hedy has had issues since the age of nine when her twin sister drowned in an accident. Since then Hedy has not been the same. Hedy blames herself and seeks to replace her twin.

Directed by Barbet Schroeder, who is perhaps best known for directing the exquisite Reversal of Fortune, the film starts off as an effective psychological thriller. Leigh (one of my favorite actresses) gives an intensely creepy and yet reserved performance. The audience sympathizes with Hedy in some strange way. In a way that reminds me of Judi Dench in Notes on a Scandal it is a performance in which we wish it could be different for her despite our head telling us to hate her.

Unfortunately the last act of the film transforms it into a standard monster-in-the-house-slasher picture. Allie ducks around air vents and behind furniture while Hedy chases her calling for her. I wish the film could just avoid that cliché and stick to what worked in the first two-thirds of the film.

★★★

How I Review

I am not going to review something according to other people's tastes. For example a good friend of mine truly enjoyed Anchorman: the Legend of Ron Burgundy. That remains as the only film in the history of my life I have ever walked out on. He tells me that I can't be a good critic because I don't go along with the rest of earth's moviegoers. Are you kidding? Should I be ashamed for not agreeing? No because I've always been proud of my critical eyes. When I find a film I love there is nothing I enjoy more than giving it praise.

So what do I look for? First of all I look for an emotional connection. If it's a comedy I expect to laugh, if it's a drama I expect to want things to work out for the characters, if it's a horror I expect to be scared. As far as I am concerned when you have a comedy that doesn't make me laugh, you have a failed comedy. Same thing with horror and being scared. However if you have a drama that doesn't make me cry you don't exactly have a failed drama. Perhaps they weren't going for that.

Priest (2011) Review

★1/2

In as few words as possible this film is all over the place. It never bothers to create a coherent storyline or introduces new characters effectively

The main character in the film has no real name. He is simply called Priest (Paul Bettany). Set in what I assume is a post-apocalyptic future; Priest tells the story of a man who defies the church by going after the vampires who have abducted his niece. He sets off on a journey with a trigger-happy sheriff whose name I cannot recall. Haggis maybe? The bad guy is a self-referred human vampire. In fact he's the only one of the vampires who can be in daylight and doesn't look like sausage skin filled with gelatin. As far as the story, it moves so fast that I found it difficult to keep up. Eventually I started asking, "Who's that guy?" Additionally I must say that vampires are really not PG-13 material. I really wish the filmmakers had gone all the way to an R rating instead of simply playing it safe.

The best sequence is in the beginning where we see an animated prologue. That was a lot of fun. That's only the first ten minutes.

The film is based on a popular Manga series, which you are supposed to read backwards. I can't help but think that if I had watched the film backwards it might make more sense.