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The Ninth Configuration (1980)
A trip into the mind
The mind is a scary place. Worse then monsters, nightmares or killers that the real world can hold. There are places in which the mind will go into when dealing with the pain that we inflict on not only ourselves but to others. This journey to that other world has always been a hit and miss in the movies, rarely finding that correct balance to allow the viewer to see through their eyes. As someone who has had my fair share of rides into that broken landscape, this is one of those rare movies that it gets a lot of things right. Because that ride is troubled and not easy, it leads to a movie that is not easy to feel or understand.
So what is this movie all about? Well we have a mental hospital for the army which gets a new leader Vincent Kane, played by Stacy Keach. Kane quickly takes to one of the patients named Billy Cutshaw, Scott Wilson, who had a breakdown before he was supposed to go into space. Soon in a not so shocking moment that Kane is really crazy and is there to be hopefully healed after he runs away in his mind from his actions in war. Doesn't this all sound like the perfect movie for a Friday night? After an event in which Kane saves Cutshaw's life at a bar, in which he also spills blood, Kane tries to save not only Billy's mind but hopefully restore his faith in man. These are all very deep themes that lead to many questions on the idea of God and what it means to be alive.
Like I said, I have been crazy a few times in my life, having dealt with a mental breakdown of my own and so the idea that Kane ran to put distance in his soul for what he did, is one that I can relate with. While I never killed anyone or hurt anyone physically, the emotional trouble that I unleashed unto some around me is just as wrong. At some point you see what you have become and you hope to be a different better person. Kane wanted to be better but of course it's never that easy. Some never find it and others never try.
This movie was not very successful when it was first released in 1980, many of the theme religious theme can be also found in director William Peter Blatty's more known work The Exorcist, which he wrote the book screenplay for. The cast is great and so is the pace of the story. But that story is heavy and it can be a turn off for so many.
So should you see this movie? Yes. It should be a must for anyone who likes movies that make you think and asks questions without easy questions.
The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
Feed me
I really like musicals but sometimes musicals have a tendency to take the edge off some of the darkest works. It is that rare work that keeps it's teeth when music is added to the story. I had seen the 1986 remake and found it to be too silly and teeth less as the years went on. Somehow I had never watched the original which after seeing it found that not only was it better then the remake, I also found the tale to be darker even if it is still wrapped up in the cloth of comedy.
So the story is pretty much the same from the remake, And if you think that I shouldn't point that out then you haven't watched enough movies were the original was different from the remake. We have a plant that needs to eat blood and is never full enough. It's all a bit on the dark side of things which is allowed to shine without the music. Now that's not to say that the remake was terrible even if I did not like it. It is just that the satire and horror of the movie loses a punch when people are singing.
Now I watched the original black and white movie and yes it is rough, I mean it was mostly shot over two days by Roger Corman. That pacing that has the story moving along quickly is something you can feel. It's a comedy but it also has a realistic feel because all Seymour really wants to do is prove himself, much like you and me. Of course he does go far to try to get the favor of not like his boss but also of the girl he loves. That raw feel of shooting the movie fast leads to a look that feels cheap but also laughs come from the knowledge that things are jumping the rails at every turn.
This version of the story is not for everyone. Kids unfortunately will balk at the lack of color, and yes i know there is a colored version but that's just rubbish. Some people might find it void of laughs or might think that Jack Nicholson is too over the top in just the few moments that he is the screen, and he is. But for me I really enjoyed it.
So should you watch this? It's classic cinema so yes you should. It might not have the budget or even monster that the remake had but not everything is made better with more money.
Wolfen (1981)
More then you know is out there
Ah the werewolf, there are times when this sometimes forgotten beast gets pushed into the movie spotlight. Normally when this happens it's as the villain in some horror movie where our monster is misunderstood or straight out a killer with no reason for why it has the desire to chew on human flesh. 1981 was an interesting year as we got 3 tales in one year. The first time are well remembered and sit nicely in the horror genre, An American Werewolf in London and Howlin. Both movies are more or less the same thing, someone gets bitten and next thing you know they are up howling at the moon. But like I said there was 3 that year and the third one for my money is the best of the three because it's less horror and more a tale of culture and beliefs.
So Wolfen is not a horror movie. Yes I said it. Now that does not mean that it does not have its great moments of blood and gore, because it does especially towards the end. But when you go back and see how everything goes down you realize that the point of the movie is about a more interesting element then simply getting bitten by a werewolf and turning into one. It's about the idea that tales of shape shifting amount Native Americans is real.
But lets go back at the start shall we before we get so deep into the myth of things that luck in the shadows. At the start we have a murder of a wealthy couple which of course gets the police looking for answers everywhere. In comes our hero Albert Finney, who plays Dewey Wilson, a cop who after some personal struggles has just rejoined the force. Pretty soon Wilson is going down a path that the murder and more that come along are not drug or crime related. No the answer is about land and does Wilson believe in things that are just legends.
This movie has a great cast going for It besides Finney, it has Edward James Olmos, Gregory Hines, Tom Noonan, Dick O'Neill, James Tolkan and Diane Venora. The POV shots of the werewolves was groundbreaking and used by many later movies. It builds on its supernatural theme is layers without it seeming to be just some cheap idea. The idea of a belief that is older then we know in which people can transform seems somehow more real then the idea that bitting turns you into one because its missing that deeper richer legend behind it.
So why isn't Wolfen better remembered? I think maybe the themes and the fact that its not an all out horror movies, in which we see heavy make up to transform people into animals, plays into why it's a classic like the other two. People want to see gore and this movie isn't about gore or monsters.
So should you see this movie? Yes all horror fans should watch this movie. I would even say that non horror fans should find it. It's no family movie but it can lead to a great discussion about what we believe in.
The Ten Commandments (1956)
Let my people go
So I am going to be up front here about how I felt before I even started to watch this Charlton Heston yarn. My eyes had started to roll before it even started. I would not stay I'm over religious at all, I have more hope for an afterlife then I do belief in one, but this is one of the great in all cinema and I felt that I needed to give it a chance. And I did. Want to know something? My eyes ended up rolling back to where they belong and while I did not love it, I would say that I liked it enough that I would watch it again. Giving a movie speak for itself is important, never should you knock something down until you have witnessed it with your own eyeballs.
So I do not need to go into very much detail here on what the story is. It is one that most of us have heard of in one form or another, be it by reading it in the Bible or by seeing a disney movie. Maybe this is where my indifference had started but it did get stuck in my mind, its going to be an almost four hour bible lecture. But the basic story is Heston is a Jewish baby that is found by the sister of the pharaoh and raised as one of their own. Yul Brynner finds out the truth and pretty soon Heston is leading his people to find a home of their own.
What I enjoyed the most is that even at 220 minutes the story never really dragged. There was enough drama to keep the pieces moving. Now that does not mean that you do not feel it, because you do but unlike a lot of other epics of it's time, I'm looking at you Ben-Hur, I was never bored. Sure I knew how the story would go but that doesn't mean that you can not enjoy the movie. Stand outs include Anne Baxter, Edward G. Robinson and Cedric Hardwicke. Even the effects of the Red Sea opening was nicely done, even for 1956.
Was there stuff that I didn't like that kept me from going from like to love? Yes and it is our old friend Heston. The man could never act and no amount of argument can change my mind. Your lead is what we see the most and that walking ham just over did it every time he was on the screen. However unlike in Ben-hur, he didn't so over do it that I was taken out of the movie.
So should you watch this movie? Yes, it is a classic that should be seen. The blu ray that I happen to watch was amazing and looked great. This is a movie that I would love to see on the big screen some day.
Streets of Fire (1984)
We need a new hero
Ok, lets just get this out the way, Michael Pare as an actor really sucks. Now I know that to most that isn't like earth shattering news but I just wanted to point that out because he is the worse part about this movie. Some would say that this whole movie sucks but not me. I just love this movie. How this movie tanked when it came out is understandable, it had a feel and look that was out of step with the times which really blows because this movie just rocks.
Lets start out with what its all about. So we have a singer named Ellen Aim(played by Diane Lane) who is kidnaped by a gang lead by Willem Dafoe. Out to rescue Aim is one Tom Cody(played by our friend Pare). Along for the ride is Rick Moranis and Amy Madigan. Great cast right? The music kicks ass, the 50's mashup with the 80's adds a style that is unquestionably different. It's all pretty much silly fun that at times is so over the top that it's hard to keep a straight face. But i gotta keep going to the look because you are not going to find any other movie like it anywhere.
It really bothers me that this movie isn't better liked or remembered by so many. It's everything that the 1980's were, over the top and crazy. Mix in the action of Walter Hill as director and it's such a fun time.
I could go on and on about by the bad dialogue and bad jokes that sit alongside black leather gangs like they were made for each other. I could tell you about a lot of things but every time I watch this movie my big question always comes back. Why did it bomb. It bomb because our hero is awful. I want to always love this movie more then it should but Pare and his bad acting always gets in the way.
So should you see this movie? Yes, just pretend that anyone but Pare is our hero
Rocketman (2019)
Music and pain
I love Elton John, his music has been a huge part of my life over my 40 years on this planet. So to see him get the biopic treatment is just crazy. I know the talk when it comes to these types of movies is on how close to life they are and how much stuff is left out. This was one of the issues that just drove me crazy with Bohemian Rhapsody. The time line was moved around so much that as a big Queen fan I noticed that years and events did not match up. Well I happy to say that this time around that didn't matter because while this is a biopic still, the take was on a more fantasy journey so the timeline didn't matter.
So I am not going to waste time telling you who Elton John is. If you don't know then you have some big damn issues in your life. But the movie traces his life from when he first started playing the piano to around the time in the mid-80's when he started to get cleaned. We get all the high's and low's, the nasty family backstory and heartbreaking lovers along the way. It doesn't always paint John in a perfect light and so you feel some of his pain along the way. But the story would be nothing if the music was not great, which it was. Taron Everton does a great job at painting the piano singer but so does everyone in the cast. I loved how so much of the music was mixed in and how it didn't hold it's self to that whole time line thing. A great example of that would be when we hear the song I Want Love sung when he was a kid, when of course that is a song from the 1990's. This was a flat out great musical that never loses focus on who the star is, Elton John. Another aspect that I am glad was in focus was his personal relationships. Yes we all know that John is gay, but we are reminded that everyone is hurt and fooled no matter what your sexual orientation is.
So should you see this? Yes, yes, yes. Right now. And love it because his story can be our story even if we never were rock stars or famous. We all have lived rich lives and have had pain along the way.
Runaway Train (1985)
High speed action
Movies like people look different over time. I first saw this movie as a kid, it was an all time favorite of my step-dad, and I remember that i liked it but not much more then that. Who was in it, what it was about or even the plot besides the train was lost to me. So these last few years as I have started to go back and really watching movies this one was high on my list. I wanted to see if my memory of it was correct or if I was looking at the past as a ball of sunshine where nothing was bad. Well I am happy to say that once the real star of this movie shows up, the train that is, it's more exciting and thrilling then I ever remembered it being.
So what is our little yarn about? Well let me paint you a picture alright? We have two men who have escaped from a prison in Alaska, played by Jon Voight and Eric Roberts. After crossed the snow then get on a train which ends up going off on its own with only a train employee, played by Rebecca DeMorney, going 80 MPH towards one exciting problem after another. What more could you ask for from a movie? I mean some would say maybe some deep insight into the meaning of man or how the system keeps men going in a endless trap. Na this is a Cannon movie and it was 1985 and all director Andrei Konchalovsky does is gives us more action.
Looking back at movies from your childhood can seem like a good thing but sometimes you will find movies that you loved are nothing but crap now. Other times you rediscover a movie and see how much better it is now that you are older. This is no masterpiece but it should be better remembered for the thrill ride that it is.
So should you see this movie? Do you love action? Then why are you still reading this, get you ass out there and watch it. You can thank me later.
Mark of the Vampire (1935)
Ta-da
Oh the old last minute ta-da moment in movies. It has been employed since the beginning and sometimes its even been clever. Let me start out by saying that this movie is dull. I mean it is truly a dull movie. Of course I did not know how dull it would be when I first started it but even at even just an hour in length it felt like 4 or 5. And all for what may you ask? Well the ending of course.
So what is this tale all about? Well vampires of course, I mean it's in the title. But specifically about the murder of one Sir Karelia Borotyn, who is found with two marks on his neck. Of course then talk is all about how this is all the work of a Count Mora, played by Bela Lugosi. Traps are set and people are hunted until it is reveled that not everything is it seemed. All that sounds super interesting right? Well it did to me and then I started to watch it and like I said it was a dull affair. It was a good take on what a vampire is and how one man tried to use it's lore to get away with murder but thank God it was only an hour long.
Which all leads to the idea that sometimes you have to look at movies from a bigger frame. This movie isn't a classic nor is it all that great of a viewing but the ideas placed forth make it something worth seeking out. After all, are vampires real and can a legend be used to hide our worst acts?
So should you see this movie? Honestly yes, i mean its only an hour but I do warn you its dull but the twist at the end is something that makes one wonder what in our world is even real.
Into the Night (1985)
Meh.
So normally when I watch a movie I wait till it's done to gather my thoughts before I send off a review of the movie. If it's a movie I have watched before I might have a few thoughts in my mind already about how I feel. I had never watched this movie before but had heard some mixed reaction but that normally doesn't stop me from watching almost anything. Well there is 40 minutes left in this movie and I had to stop it so I can start this review because I'm still waiting for something, anything to happen. I feel like at any moment this movie will kick in and I'll have a blast, I have been saying that for the last 30 minutes. But anyways ill go back to it and see what happens.
40 minutes later...
I kept waiting for the movie to kick into the next gear and it never did. The plot was pointless and dumb. Sure Jeff Goldblum is fine and his normal somewhat charming self and Michelle Pieiffer isn't awful but everyone else is. Stolen jewels is supposed to be the drive for this whole movie and I just didn't care. It was humorless and all the directors thrown in throughout the movie was so pointless. About the only thing I enjoyed was the soundtrack which was composed by Ira Newborn and featured music by B.B. King.
So what have we learned? Story matters or at least how you handle the story that is. Had it handled as more thriller without the failed comedy maybe it would have worked better? I'm not sure what would have worked here but I know that it didn't work for me the way it was.
So should you see this movie? If you like offbeat 80's movies it might work for you but for most people it might as frustrating for them as it was for me.
The Hard Way (1980)
And now for something different
Sometimes you come across gems not because someone tells you about them or because you saw them of some list, no sometimes gems are discovered by mistake. This movie was one of those movies that Amazon Prime just happen to have and it said i might like because I had recently seen the Charles Bronson movie, The Mechanic. I thought I was going to get a movie long those lines but what I got was something so much better. When you find these kind of gems all you want to do is tell everyone in the world about it.
So what is this British made for TV movie all about? Well John Conner, played by Patrick McGoohan, is a hitman who wants out of the game. Well of course those who need his services can not take no for answers so they force him into another job. When Conner double crosses them, a game of cat and mouse between Conner and his boss, played by Lee Van Cleef, starts. What makes this movie so much different is the production values for again a made for TV movie. The story is well written and the action is never over the top but enough to make the story interesting. Another aspect that adds a touch is an ongoing dialogue from Conners wife as she seems to be speaking to the viewer. Of course the twist is given at the end of the movie which is satisfying.
This movie is by no means for everyone. Some people might find it predictable or slow at times, and I will admit that it is both of those things. But sometimes its good to find movies that have something fresh or new to say and in different ways.
So should you watch this? If you like action movies then I would say that at some point you should watch it. It is not perfect but it is a good little ride that you wont regret.
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
Not great but still unnerving
POSTED ON MAY 29, 2019
BY JORTEGASA78
POSTED IN MOVIE REVIEW
TAGGED 1999, BLAIR WITCH, BLOG, DANIEL MYRICK, DOCUMENTARY, EDUARDO SANCHEZ, EVIL, FOLKLORE, HEATHER DONAHUE, HORROR, HORROR MOVIE, LORE, MOVIE, MOVIE OF THE DAY, MOVIE REVIEW, MYSTERY, WITCHES
EDIT
It was a bold movie that forever changed the way that movies were made. That's the line that we are often told about this movie and its mostly correct. It was somewhat bold, the idea of lost footage was not new, but it somehow caught the imagination of the public. It came out during a time when the genre of horror was starting to be reborn. The late 80's into the early 90's saw horror slip into one unforgettable trash movie after another. Then came Scream and everything changed. By the time this movie came around the public was ready for something new and they got it.
The movie honestly is not that great. It has a somewhat weak story that would make for a great book more then a great movie. Something is out in the forrest and a group of filmmakers go out to do a documentary about it. The acting is all around awful at times. We don't see much of anything and the ending left so many wanting more. And that I think is the key to this movie. It gave us just enough that left us hungry for more. We wanted it to be real. Sure it was not the first movie to have the idea, but it was a movie that tapped into the public's love for lore of the unknown. We knew that it was not real but what if.
I'm not sure if horror movies will ever go away. People love them and they make a lot of money for those in Hollywood. Scream night have awoken our current love of horror movies but it was in Blair Witch that it went from a killer with a knife to a force that you couldn't hide from.
So should you see this? Yes. At least once. It took me almost 20 years to watch it. Was it great? No but it was still creepy. I happen to love folklore and then ideas in this movie tapped beautifully into that idea that there are things we can not explain. Watch it and then go camping and tell me that it doesn't make you stay up all night.
THX 1138 (1971)
The future we cant stop
A stunning piece of filmmaking that was ahead of its time but it is not for everyone. Layers upon layers of meaning, many time with only imagines, make this a movie that rewards you the more you take it in. The future where drugs control our emotions and cameras are everywhere is still a future that can be written for mankind.
Gosford Park (2001)
The kind of movie that takes it time and well worth it
To say that this movie takes it time to not only set the mood but to let you into the world that it lives in, is an understatement. I just love this movie. It know it has a lot to say and it doesn't rush it. It is not for everyone but for those who want a murder mystery with a nice twist, this is one that must be watched to be loved