Random Film of the Week(end): Rollercoaster

Posted on January 26, 2014 by geelw

In some parts of America during the summer of 1977, you either got very lucky and saw Star Wars, or you got very unlucky because that flick was sold out when you wanted to go and had to settle for something like Rollercoaster. Now, on it’s own merits it’s a passable “disaster” flick that’s a wee bit too long and wastes the talents of a few major stars at the tail ends of their careers. On the other hand, it’s about a unnamed home-grown terrorist who decides to seriously vandalize amusement parks and kill people (at least in the first big accident in the film) in order to extort money from a mega corporation just because he can.

There’s no motive other than profit, he’s not some crazed maniac out for revenge whose daddy and mommy were killed in a freak amusement park accident, and the film relies on some dopey luck and dumber plot holes to speed things along as it hopes you won’t notice under all that Sensurround booming your eardrums into submission. But none of this will matter to some people who see this flick today and think it works on the level of a decent thriller. It sort of doesn’t in my old eyes because the film not only shows you the culprit right at the beginning, it tends to drag out scenes just to show off some fancy camerawork and some nice amusement park real estate instead of add depth to the characters it needs to… Continue reading →

Random Film of the Week(end): Planet of the Apes (2001)

Posted on January 25, 2014 by geelw

Thanks to reports from around the internet and a few periodicals about all sorts of problems during the pre-production phase and more issues during the rather speedy shooting schedule to meet a July release imposed by 20th Century Fox, I certainly didn’t want to see the otherwise reliable Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes remake, but my mother sure did.

I was camping out at her place during that summer after a breakup and on the day the film opened, she pretty much rolled up on me and said we were going to the movies, so off we went. The funny thing was 33 years earlier, she took me, my older brother and sister to see the original film (my first movie experience), so I guess she was trying to jog my memory a bit out of the funk mode it was in. Well, that worked to a point as we both ended up not liking this remake much at all.

Of course, I ended up heading back to that theater a few days later to make sure I was sure I didn’t like the film… Continue reading →

Random Film of the Week: PRISON

Posted on January 24, 2014 by geelw

Let me tell you, kids… Scared Straight has NOTHING on Renny Harlin’s PRISON. Hell, If they showed this released in 1988 flick on TV and in schools, instead of some hard-timing losers screaming at kids about staying out of trouble, I’d bet you a hot nickel that the rate of incarceration in America would be at an all-time low. Seriously, this film is SO messed up and mean and shot in an actual closed prison with actual inmates from another joint so there’s a solid sense of verisimilitude here that’s amplified into the haunted realm by the ghost of an executed killer out for some bloody reeeee-venge.

This film is also important for a few reasons horror and fantasy fans should appreciate. For one, it got Harlin the job directing Nightmare on Elm Street 4 which was his “big” American genre film break and led to others over the years both good and bad. It’s also Viggo Mortensen’s first movie appearance in a leading role and we all know where his career went as the years went by. As for this nugget of methodical madness, it’s a pretty effective blend of genre jail flick and atmospheric horror featuring some nicely gory moments plus one of the funniest random deaths I’ve ever seen in any film… Continue reading →

Random Film of the Week: Iceman

Posted on January 24, 2014 by geelw

EDIT! It was THAT cold in the library that I got Tim Robbins and Timothy Hutton confused. Heh. Corrected! The funny thing is that mistake most likely came out of a conversation last night with a friend who started that confusion as we were discussing movies both actors were in and I must have retained that up in the vaults as a frozen memory. OOPS. Ah well…

Yes, it’s still winter outside, so I’m tossing this forgotten flick up with the hope you check it out because it’s actually a great and thought provoking sci-fi drama. This may or may not be a short post because it’s FREEZING in the library (seriously, NYPL? What’s up with this indoor cold?) and my brain is flipping on and off in deciding my word count. Anyway, excellent performances from Timothy Hutton as Stanley Shephard, an anthropologist who helps a defrosted prehistoric man (John Lone) as he struggles with the new world he’s been awakened into.

Sure, the “science” here is immediately questionable as to how that caveman survived 40,000 years in that block of ice, but the film works because of the performances that have you believing everything it throws at you. Besides, as I’ve said before, if you’re going to see a sci-fi flick for the “science”, you’re not going to be enjoying much with a too-critical set of eyes… Continue reading →

Random Film of the Week: The Straight Story

Posted on January 21, 2014 by geelw

For me, The Straight Story is David Lynch’s best film because it succeeds wholly as the director’s “most experimental” work and manages to be one of those movies that WILL touch you no matter how you feel about his other work. The true story of Alvin Straight’s 200+ mile journey to visit his ailing brother on a riding lawn mower may seem well out of Lynch’s weird wheelhouse, but those of his fans and anyone with a good eye will see plenty of strangeness in the normal here that shows even the simplest of stories can be remarkable when told as well as done here.

Perhaps the most amusing and interesting thing about the movie to some will be it carries the Disney name on it (it was released under the company’s Buena Vista Pictures label back in 1999) and is rated G, usually two death knells for a director know for startling his audiences with bizarre imagery. Lynch keeps things more mundane here, but there are moments in performance and presentation where you can see bits of his trademark style on display and it doesn’t detract from the story at all… Continue reading →

Random Film of the Week: Private Lessons

Posted on January 20, 2014 by geelw

Hollywood just did not know what to do with Sylvia Kristel. By the time the Dutch actress made it to America a few years after becoming a worldwide star (well, everywhere except here in the US) from her appearance in and as Emmanuelle and two sequels, she ended up working in a few American movies that ranged from passable to flat out wretched. 1981’s Private Lessons is one of those flat out wretched ones, a “sex comedy” that’s not erotic or amusing at all, but pretty unsettling and when seen in light of modern views of its subject matter, just plain wrong.

Of course, I have to confess that I saw this way back when it was released with some like-minded friends and we though it was going to be the thrill of the late summer only to end up crawling out of the theater in need of a shower and a Men In Black style memory wipe. There’s just a layer of head-shaking offensiveness here that only those with low to no morals would find “thrilling” or even remotely “sexy”. Then again, I don’t want to make poke at someone’s particular proclivities ’til they pop. If this dreck does it for your own tastes, more power to you then. On the other hand, given that real people have gone to real jails for doing what happens here in real life, that fine line between movie fantasy and stark reality is stomped on and wiped away long before this trash-fest is over…

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Random Film of the Week(end): Death By Invitation

Posted on January 19, 2014 by geelw

(Thanks, Vinegar Syndrome Films!)

I’ve sat through no fewer than four films featuring witches and demons as a central theme over the past week and not all of them were good times, no siree, ma’am. Granted, 1971’s slow-moving sort of creepy Death By Invitation isn’t the best of the bunch and for modern horror fans with short attention spans or those looking for non-stop scares and CG blood gushing everywhere (blech!) this one may be Death By A Thousand Cuts.

That said, while it’s going to be more bore than gore to the younger ADD set, those who like slow-burning slightly cryptic fires should check this one out if only for Shelby Leverington, the sassy young thing playing the lead. Director David Friedman drags out this revenge tale that may only interest those who appreciate thinking a bit as they watch a film that pretty much sets up its entire plot during the opening moments and slowly gets to the point as it crawls along to the finish line…

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Random Film of the Week(end): It Should Happen To You!

Posted on January 19, 2014 by geelw

(Thanks, KaninFamily!)

The lovely Judy Holliday soars as a sort of ditzy but shrewd former girdle model who ends up becoming an instant celebrity thanks to a few simple billboards with her name on them George Cukor’s 1954 gem that shows off some fantastic looks at the New York City of the era. This film is also famous for being the movie debut of Jack Lemmon and here, he’s perfectly cast as Pete Sheppard, a documentary maker who shoots Holliday’s Gladys Glover in Central Park and of course, falls in love with her after some amusing assorted ups and down.

There are plenty of laughs in this classic to spare, many at Gladys’ expense as her sudden celebrity goes other head and she thinks her new found fame means all that attention is positive. While some elements are dated, the film does a very good job at foreshadowing today’s fame-crazy celebrities who do a heck of a lot more than simply toss their names up on a billboard to get attention…

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Random Film of the Week(end): North By Northwest

Posted on January 18, 2014 by geelw

(Thanks, moviegoof!)

One of my favorite “perfect” films, North by Northwest is one of those films that stands the test of time thanks to everyone involved being at the top of their game and throwing themselves fully into their work. Everything clicks from the moment Bernard Herrmann’s famous score kicks off into that Saul Bass-designed title sequence (note the booming drums that out-roar Leo, the MGM lion) until the final nod and a wink sex joke the adults will snicker or laugh out loud over (while the kids wonder what they’re snickering or laughing or loud about about) closes things out. I’ve seen this countless times since the 80’s and it’s always entertained me to no end.

This is probably the best “wrong man” film made (yes, it’s even better than The Wrong Man) because it combines dramatic, comedic and action elements in Hitchcock’s inimitable style. Sure, there are some plot holes and silly stuff that don’t hold up to too much scrutiny if you’re the overly picky sort. But if this film doesn’t have you cracking a smile or hanging out near the edge of your seat by the time it’s through, you’re either too jaded or watch films with one or both eyes shut…

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Random Film of the Week(end): A Shock to the System (1990)

Posted on January 18, 2014 by geelw

(Thanks, FirstLookStudios!)

I’d bet anyone reading this who has held any sort of job where they felt (or feel) underutilized, under appreciated or have been passed over for some sort of award or reward has felt that certain twinge deep in the back of their minds. You want revenge for that wrong done to you and for the briefest of moments, a flash of some sort of violent or not so violent payback pops into your head and is gone like the wind before you can dwell on it. Or (in real life) you just make the rest of the day a complete pout-fest until you can slog it on home and bury your sorrows in a quart of Cherry Garcia with a few shots of Disaronno for good measure.

Well, dear reader, drop that spoon and stumble over here for a spell. I’ve got your back here. A Shock to the System is your movie selection for this evening. Director Jan Egleson’s great little 1990 black comedy is a showcase for Michael Caine’s laid back, brooding and maliciously dry portrayal of Graham Marshall, a NYC ad executive with time (and a few people) to kill after he’s passed over for a promotion. Oh, it’s not as grim as it sounds, ladies and gents. In fact, I bet this film will give a few of you all the wrong ideas…

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