Movie Madness Week of 11/19/2017

MOVIE MADNESS

Justice League (2017): This and the following review will be light to avoid spoilers due to it being a new release.  The basic plot has been covered in the trailers: In the wake of Superman’s death, Batman and Wonder Woman gather a team of heroes to face a new threat.

                I really enjoyed this, probably the most controversial comic movie this year.  Is it perfect?  No.  Some of the CGI in the climax is not as transparent as I would like, and some of the world building like the Atlantis scenes didn’t have enough room to breathe.  However it has a lot going for it:

• Ben Affleck and Gal Gadot continue to impress in their roles.
• Eliza Miller, which I thought would fill the movies, was not bad.  Grant Gustin’s TV incarnation is a better Flash in my opinion, but Eliza was far better than I expected.  The costume has got to be improved thoug
• The best Superman portrayal from Henry Cavill, (and more importantly the script), yet.

While not as good, in my opinion as Wonder Woman or Avengers, which will be the immediate comparison for most, I still felt this was as good as most super-hero movies.  Easily as good as most of the Marvel single hero films and as good as Civil War or Age of Ultron.

Coco (2017): In the latest from Disney/Pixar, a young boy learns the importance of family and following your dreams.  This is a return to form for Pixar, which has been mired in sequel-itis and films that left me cold.  Good Dinosaur, like Wall-E, left me cold, and while I enjoyed Inside Out in the theater, on re-watches, the oppressive bullying of Joy makes it hard to watch.  Coco presents a relatable family, one that annoys and loves each other while spotlighting a cultural holiday, most will be familiar with but know little about: Dia de los Muertos.   The filmmakers should be commended for creating a film that discusses loss and death but from a non-threatening viewpoint.  I hope this holds-up on re-watch.   The negative to the film-watching experience was the Olaf’s Frozen Adventure Short at the beginning.  I am not a Frozen naysayer (on the whole).  Let It Go doesn’t drive me crazy.  That said this short has no point other than to drive more merchandising.  It lacks the heart and humor of the previous short, and is bloated in trying to cram 3 new songs into the short.  When Lassiter came to pre-eminence his first act was to shut down a lot of the direct to DVD features he felt was diluting the brand.  This short felt like a step back to that.

Robin Hood (1922): This silent Douglas Fairbanks led film defies expectations.  It clocks in at approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes, which makes it long for a silent film.  While engaging, those expecting a swashbuckling romp with the classic Robin Hood tropes will be disappointed.  This version is more Game of Thrones intrigue than swordfights and vine swinging.  Missing are the quarter-staff fight to cross the river where Robin meets Little John and the archery contest.  Over half of the film is the set-up.  Here all the main players know each other.  Robert, Earl of Huntingsford (later Robin Hood) is a friend of King Richard the Lion-Hearted.  On the eve of the Crusade, he embarrasses Guy of Guisborne at a tournament and a drunken Prince John at the feast later when John makes a pass at Lady Marion.  The prince already has plans to usurp control once Richard is gone and charges Guy of Gisborne to assassinate King Richard and Robert, the King’s second in command while on the Crusades.  The knights leave, Prince John begins oppressing England, and Little John, Robert’s squire, is sent with a message to inform Robert of what is happening.  Robert tries to leave and is framed as a deserter before he can warn the king and John tries to have Marion killed.  Once Robert becomes Robin Hood, the film barrels to the end.    This is worth watching, but as I said at the outset, if you’re looking for a swash-buckling action film, this isn’t it.

Alien (1979)

MOVIE MADNESS

Alien (1979):  

Early last month, on August 13^th, Disney Hollywood Studios closed The Great Movie Ride.  On the whole, I enjoyed the ride, though I found the cast conductors to be annoying, especially once the sound track commentary was added by Robert Osborne, and the ride conductors seemed to think there job was to compete with instead of complement the audio commentary.  For those who haven’t gone on the ride, the premise was to take you into the movies of yesteryear.  It was a dark ride that went through scenes of classic movies, most of them from the Turner library of MGM/ Warner Bros. classics.  The few exceptions were a couple of Disney movies, a Paramount film, Raiders of the Lost Ark licensed from Lucasfilm, and a 20^th Century Fox film.  The latter was the oddest choice of all because here in the middle of a ride in a park run by a company that prided itself on being wholesome family fun was a salute to an R rated Science Fiction/Horror film.  My family and I rode it one last time its last week, and as I went through the Nostromo while Mother counted down the self-destruct one last time, I was moved to watch it again.

Alien, released in 1979, tales the tale of the ill-fated crew of the mining ship Nostromo.  It was directed by Ridley Scott and starred Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, Harry Dean Stanton, Veronica Cartwright, John Hurt, Yaphet Kotto, Ian Holm, and John Hurt.  The film is considered to be a classic and rightly so.  In one of the pre-ride commentaries, Robert Osborne attributed part of its success to being a unique blend of science fiction and horror.  I would disagree with that as the combination in film arguably went as far back as Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde or Frankenstein, and the combination was definitely prevalent in the science-fiction hey-day of the 50’s in films like The Thing from Another World and Invader of the Body Snatchers.  What it did to was type into the zeitgeist of the time of how those genres were changing in the late 70’s.  If I wanted to be facetious, I would say it is Star Wars meets Halloween.  Now obviously, this isn’t really true.  For one, Alien is more hard science-fiction than Star Wars science-fantasy.  It also falls more in the dystopian sci-fi tradition than Star Wars, which has a much more hopeful tone.  Similarly, there are parts of Alien, particularly the 1^st third that are more constructed like a haunted house story.  The characters are mysteriously summoned to a dark and stormy location, and then they are trapped there.  I also don’t want to suggest plagiarism, the release dates are too close together for one to be inspired by the others, but Alien has the same production values as Star Wars with the pacing and building of tension of Halloween.

The movie looks spectacular with the model work of the Nostromo, the sets of the ship’s corridors, to the Alien creature effects.  The Academy evidently agrees because the film won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects that year, and they still hold up.  The only effect that doesn’t work is the transition from the dummy of the decapitated Ash (Ian Holm) to the actor’s head which was coming through a hole in the table which was covered up by the ragged faux flesh of the android’s torn neck.  What lets the transition down is the lighting and editing.  The lighting was much darker in the scene with the dummy than with the actual actor which makes the change between frames jarring.  Once the Alien bursts through Kane (John Hurt)’s chest, the film transitions to the slasher structure as the Alien stalks and kills the crew while they try to trap and capture it.  Similar to Carpenter and Spielberg, Scott knew that less was more so that you typically got quick cuts of the creature.  Also, like Halloween, while there were several jump scares, few of them were because of the monster itself.  You almost always see the creature slide in and out of frame before it strikes, with the tension building while you wait for the victim to realize the trouble there in, then the tension is released because of a flash of light, a hissing cat, or a clanging cylinder.  It’s also worth noting that this film has two villains, the second being the android Ash, effectively played as a mumbling, nervous Science Officer.  The real climax of the film to me comes when Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), Parker (Yaphet Kotto), and Lambert (Veronica Cartwright) were “doomed” from the beginning of the film as Ash, on behalf of the company, has been doing everything he can to make sure they bring an Alien back.  That in and of itself makes the film worthy of at least one re-watch to reevaluate the motive behind all of his actions (It makes sense to suggest that all creatures have a primal fear of fire, but was he guessing or suggesting something he knew wouldn’t be effective?  Were the trackers crap on purpose?)  I also like his movements when he attacks Ripley.  It suggests  someone not in control of their actions like a robot under an outside influence.  The cast is fine, though other than Weaver and Holm most of them don’t get a lot to do.  I do wish we had gotten some time to know the characters more, though there are some inferences: Parker and Brett are the blue collar second class to the white collar officers, there seems to me to be a romantic relationship or attraction between Kane and Lambert, though there isn’t much to overtly suggest it, and Dallas seems to be the company man who doesn’t want to make waves.  There are a few quibbles that I have: if it’s a mining vessel with five officers and two technicians who does all of the mining?;  the planet set suggests that the organic design is that of the “native” race [there is an alien corpse in a chair in a structure that was also Giger designed], but the Alien creates a nest with the same look; who is the second corpse in the nest with Dallas, everyone else was clearly killed?  However, in the end, it is highly entertaining and deserves its status as a classic.

Therefore, it maybe isn’t too surprising to find an R rated sci-fi horror movie in the middle of The Great Movie Ride.  Other than Star Wars, which had its own attraction, and Star Trek, which was IP from a competitor, Alien was probably the most famous and well regarded science-fiction franchise at the time the ride was created.

COMIC COMMENTARY, COMICS READ WEEK OF 2/6/2017

Modern Marvels

DC Comics Pick of the Week: Action Comics #973

                Superman unwittingly leaves a trail to the Fortress while Lois continues to dig into the mystery of Clark Kent.  Dan Jurgens continues to prove that he has a grasp on Superman as a character like few others.  Since the onset of Rebirth, Jurgens has put several plates into play:

•      How will Superman react to New 52 Lex Luthor?
•      Who is Mr. Oz?
•      Who is Clark Kent?

The last story arc established a détente between Luthor and Superman, with both realizing that their nemesis is not the same man that they have known on both sides.  This story arc drives into the mystery of the second Clark Kent and the potential danger he poses to Superman’s private life.

Honorable Mentions (an above average read): Deadman: Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love #3, Deathstroke #12, Justice League of America Rebirth #1, New Super-Man #8, Red Hood and the Outlaws #7, Wonder Woman #16 (Yes, Rebirth is this good!!)

Other reads:  All-Star Batman #7, Batgirl and the Birds of Prey #7, Detective Comics #950, Earth 2 Society #21, Flash #16, Gotham Academy Second Semester #6, Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #14, Suicide Squad #11, Supergirl #6, Superwoman #7, and Titans #8

Marvel  Comics Pick of the Week: Ms. Marvel #15

                At first it seems like this issue has dropped the previous thread of Kamala being confronted by a member of on-line guild, and instead introduces a story of cyber-bullying and the levels at which a second-generation immigrant feels they have to over-compensate in modern America to validate their culture and break down stereotypes.  It quickly ties the two together by the online entity threatening to blackmail Kamala being the same one involved in the cyber-bullying.  Ms. Marvel continues to be a delight, an all-ages female-centric title that manages to cover topical issues without preaching.  It is one of the few female friendly titles I feel comfortable allowing my 10-year old daughter read.

Honorable Mentions (an above average read): Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows  #4

Other reads:  All-New Wolverine #17, Black Widow #11, Deadpool the Duck #3, Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme #5, Foolkiller #4, Inhumans Vs x-Men #4, Jessica Jones #5, Kingpin #1, Power Man and Iron Fist #13, Totally Awesome Hulk #16, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #17, Uncanny Inhumans #1.MU, and Unworthy Thor #4

Silver Age Spotlight

Marvel Silver Age Pick of the Week: Fantastic Four #56

                Klaw attacks the FF to try and drive the Black Panther to him.  A great issue with a lot of tension.  Klaw appears as he would be until the Modern age with a great design by Kirby, and a fantastic power set.  Lee and Kirby draw tension by having the Fantastic Four separated: Johnny is out looking for Crystal, Reed and Ban are in the lab, and Sue is cleaning up the apartment.  This allows Klaw to ratchet up the menace by taking on Sue and Ben one-on-one.  The only gap in plot is the fact that Klaw attacks at all.  There really isn’t a reason for him to be here, other than this is the FF’s comic.  Klaw knows who T’challa is and where Wakanda is, so using the FF as a go between doesn’t work.  However, the climax kind of uses that conceit to its advantage, as T’Challa sends Reed a needed component to help Reed, as Klaw intended, but the macguffin is delivered via a remote controlled automaton and not in person, thwarting his revenge.  We also get a rare sight, Reed beating a foe hand-to-hand, using the Vibranium bands delivered by the Black Panther to pummel Klaw into submission.

Honorable Mentions: Daredevil #21

Other Reads: Amazing Spider-Man #42, Amazing Spider-Man Annual #3, Avengers 33, and Fantastic Four Annual #4

DC Silver Age Pick of the Week: Funny Stuff #35

                I don’t have much to say, but Funny Stuff is probably my second favorite humor title of this area.  Blackie Bear and J. Rufus Lion are strong features, but the stars are Dodo and the Frog, and their strips whether a multi-page story or a strip ad-page topper are a delight.

Honorable Mentions: Adventure Comics #130 (Superboy feature only), Star Spangled Comics #82 (Tomahawk feature only)

Other Reads: Animal Antics #15, Western Comics #4

Golden Age Greats

I didn’t make much progress with my DC Golden Age Reading List.  Green Lantern #6 was a chore to get through.  It surprises me a lot, but this is the Golden Age title I struggle with the most.  The character as he is used isn’t compelling enough to sustain a 60+ page story and the direction is wrong-headed.  Enlisting Alan in the army, severely limits the stories you can do with him, and while I know continuity wasn’t a concern in the 40’s, it puts the quarterly book at odds with the monthly feature in All-American where Alan is still a civilian radio engineer.

Halloween Viewing! Psycho, Dracula, The Conjuring, Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde

MOVIE MADNESS

Psycho

                I don’t know how much I can add that hasn’t already said about this masterpiece, but I did watch it through new eyes with my daughter recently.  It was probably the best time I’ve had watching a movie.  Alexandria is 10, and loves non-fiction.  She knew about Alfred Hitchcock from the “Who Is/Was..” biographies aimed at kids.  She is a bit OCD about spoilers and wanting to know what she is getting into, so she asked me, “What is this about”?  “A woman steals money from her boss and runs away”, I replied as I started the movie.  I didn’t lie.

                I was then treated to an hour and a half of a classic by a master of the medium punctuated by some of the best commentary as she tried to work the movie out:

                ‘Oh, she’s so paranoid she goes Psycho!’

                ‘You dummy, the police are watching you.  He sees you buying the car…’

                ‘His mother did it!’

                ‘I know she’s his mother, but he shouldn’t cover for her.’

She got a pleasant surprise from the movie’s denouement, and I had a blast.

Dracula (1931)

                I sat down yesterday to watch some classic monster movies to get in the mood for tonight.  I sat down and watched Dracula because my daughter had called it boring.  We watched it about 6 months ago, and she said she liked it at the time, but since I fell asleep because it was later at night and probably my sixth time seeing it, I was hard-pressed for a rebuttal, so it was the first Halloween movie of the day.

                I enjoy the Universal monster movies, but I find a lot of them survive on nostalgia factor.  For me, horror has to work on a suspense factor, or it doesn’t work as a horror film.  That doesn’t mean they are bad, just, to this modern film lover, not scary.  Dracula has a lot going for it.  The set design is excellent.  The best acting in the film comes from Dwight Frye who delivers a truly creepy performance as Renfield, the highlights being his character being found on the Vesta and when he explains to Van Helsing he was asked to do ‘..what has already been done’.  The other standout is Edward Van Sloan as Van Helsing.  It is no surprise that Lugosi’s best scenes are with the two of them , as I feel they elevate his game.  Lugosi is fine.  I can’t classify him as a great actor, but he certainly had a commanding presence which benefited his performance.  Todd Browning makes good use of edits and camera angles as special effects, my favorite being when they are used to make it appear as if Dracula has ascended the staircase, draped with a large thick web without disturbing it.

The Conjuring (2013)

My wife recommended this as a good scary movie for my daughter to watch, so the three of us tucked in.  It’s a good suspenseful thriller in the haunted house genre.  The plot if fairly typical: Family moves into a ‘new’ old house, strange occurrences start, family reaches out to outside expert for help, etc.  There are some really nice shots like a sheet in the wind taking a shape for a split second or a pair of hands in the dark that are on screen just long enough for you to process what you’ve seen and be scared/shocked by them, but they don’t overstay their welcome.  The only thing that deterred for me was that the film was set in the 70’s and everything was fairly period accurate, but the cinematography was too crisp and sharp for a film set in the time.  I actually think this would be better in standard definition than high definition.

Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)

                I reviewed the silent version here, and it is hard for me to review this version without comparing the two.  There are some story differences that are foundational.  Carew in this version is the fiancée’s father and not a colleague.  Therefore the impetus of the experiment is different.  Here Jeckyll is already obsessed with duality instead of it being fostered by Carew’s needling.  The music hall girl, named here as Ivey Pearson has a much larger part. 

                I found myself having complex feelings about this version.  On the one hand there was more plot and relationship building conveyed because of the advantage of dialogue to convey information vs. the silent version, but the silent version I believe had a more effective Hyde.  Frederic March is a fine actor, and I like Jeckyll  (pronounced JEEK-EL in this version which is really annoying)with his darker tones.  This isn’t a saint brought low; he experiences lust and rage, but suppresses it.  His Hyde however is really let down by the makeup.  It has a monkey-man feel and March plays Hyde that way.  His Hyde has no charm and is ugly from the beginning, no slow degeneration.  I found myself rolling my eyes are glancing at the clock when Hyde was on the screen.  I still think this is a film worth seeing, but the Hyde has no subtlety and the film suffers for it.