A Movie Maniac Who Is Nutz About Netflix
Saturday, January 26, 2013
School's out...of this world
Coming at the tail end of a decade featuring teen thrillers like "Scream" (1996) and "I Know What You Did Last Summer" (1997) is "The Faculty" (1998), a sci-fi film about high school teachers turning into aliens and taking over the school. A stereotypical, Breakfast Club-esque cast of teenagers including a geek (Elijah Wood), a jock (Shawn Hatosy), a spoiled girl (Jordana Brewster), an outsider (Clea Duvall) and a rebel (Josh Hartnett), find themselves defending the school against an alien takeover. The school's 'faculty' is peopled with plenty of familiar faces, as well. Robert Patrick is the hard-assed football coach and the first person infected and turned into an alien. School nurse Salma Hayek (a regular in films directed by "Faculty" director Robert Rodriguez) and science teacher Jon Stewart also fall victim, as do school principal Bebe Neuwirth and drama teacher Piper Laurie. Meek young teacher Famke Janssen, forever tormented by the rebel Zeke who at one point offers her chocolate laxatives hidden in a stash in the trunk of his car, turns into a vixen when the aliens take over the school. The movie has great dialogue and impressive special effects. It's a battle of students vs. teachers as the students try to find out who the head alien is, so they can destroy him or her. Drugs provided by the rebel (Josh Hartnett) figure into the plot as a way of killing the aliens and things eventually return to normal for the students and the faculty (one student even refers to the teachers as 'the faculty' at one point, which isn't usually how a student refers to his teachers). The movie is a little more violent than I would expect for an alien movie, with a pencil going throw someone's hand and a pen going through someone's eye, after the character who suffers this fate alludes to this very thing earlier in the film. Clearly, something is wrong with the teachers if pens and pencils aren't being used in the way they were intended. I had seen parts of this movie on TV years ago and had always wanted to see it in its entirety. I was very impressed with it, with the cast and the dark comedy of it.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Disney BFFs Turned Frenemies
Let me first start off by saying that I couldn't be happier that Netflix has finally reached a deal with Disney which will allow them to stream many of the Disney Studio's classic films, films I would much rather watch than the current crop of animated movies from Disney and other studios. "The Fox and the Hound" (1981) was always one of my favorite of Disney's older films and so I had to watch it again after having not seen it in years. I didn't realize the movie was based on a book and in reading up on the movie after watching it again, I realized the book was a little bit darker for all the characters concerned. Disney, of course, played it safe and created a light, family friendly version that appealed to kids and adults. Tod, the fox, is so named by the lonely Widow Tweed because, according to her, he's 'such a little toddler'. He's rambunctious and always getting into mischief as foxes like to do, I suppose. Copper, the hound dog, gets into trouble of his own, much to the annoyance of his owner's older hunting dog, Chief, who bellows 'you can't tell these young whippersnappers anything.' The pair (Tod and Copper) meet in the forest and soon become inseparable, frolicking and playing without a care in the world. Other woodland animals, such as Big Momma the owl can see that the two friends are 'such a funny pair' even though they can't see it themselves. After all these years, I always remembered the line where Tod says 'Copper, you're my very best friend' and Copper responds with 'And you're mine too, Tod.' Little do they know, their friendship will fall by the wayside because that's how nature dictates it should be. Copper is being groomed to be his owner Amos Slade's new hunting dog. He'll become 'a real killer' say the other animals, but naive Tod reassures them, 'oh no, not my friend Copper, he won't ever change.' Wise Big Momma tells him 'time has a way of changing things'. The dialogue in this film was very good for an animated film, which is probably why I am repeating so much of it here. As the animals grow up, they grow apart. Copper knows they can't be friends anymore. 'Those days are over,' he warns Tod. Tod's owner abandons him in the forest where he is left to fend for himself among the other forest animals. He doesn't do such a great job of this until meeting Vixie, a fellow fox. She's Tod's new friend, but his friendship with Copper is put to one final test before the film's conclusion. This film had an interesting attitude towards women, I thought. While Big Momma the owl is thought of by the other animals as wise and all-knowing, even singing her lessons to the other animals (in singer Pearl Bailey's voice) at times, Tod's owner Widow Tweed is called a 'meddling female' by the hunter Amos Slade. He also calls her 'female' and 'woman' as he blows his top at her and her mischievous fox. Tod himself, upon first meeting Vixie, calls her a 'silly, empty-headed female'. It's interesting that he thinks of her that way. Also, there is the fact that Tod's mother abandoned him at the start of the film and this made me think the character is supposed to resent females. He feels further abandoned when the female he does trust, Widow Tweed, leaves him on his own in the forest. Maybe the hunter feels the same way. He's alone, aside from the company of his hunting dogs and he likes to be by himself, so he resents the interference of his widowed neighbor. I enjoyed hearing the voices of the recognizable voice cast, most of them Disney Legends who had contributed voice work and in some cases, live-action work, to different films in the studio's library over the years. Mickey Rooney ("Pete's Dragon") played Older Tod and Kurt Russell (whose Disney legacy includes films too numerous to mention) played Older Copper. Paul Winchell ("Tigger" from the Winnie the Pooh films) voiced a wacky woodpecker doing his best to capture a green caterpillar for his breakfast in a small subplot and Winchell's Winnie the Pooh costar John Fiedler ("Piglet") who died a day after Winchell in 2005, voiced a timid porcupine who took Tod in during his rainy first night in the forest alone. Sandy Duncan (the live-action studio film "Million Dollar Duck") voiced Vixie and John McIntire (seen in the live-action "Herbie Rides Again") voiced an angry badger who turned Tod away before the porcupine came to the rescue. And lastly, Pat Buttram (heard in everything from "The Aristocats" to "Robin Hood" to "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?") played Chief, the older hunting dog who resents young Copper, the new dog in town. This film, always one of my favorite Disney classics, was a lot of fun to revisit. Luckily, there are more Disney classics in the Netflix queue waiting for me to rediscover them.
Touched By A 'Christmas Angel'
"I'm not an angel." Della Reese, arguably one of TV's most famous angels from her nine-year stint on one of my favorite TV shows, "Touched By An Angel", barks this at a curious little girl several times in what is certainly not the first and probably not the last movie called "Christmas Angel" (2012). The little girl lives with her single and happy that way mother (Teri Polo, from the "Meet the Parents" films) across the street from a decrepit house with boarded up windows and a strange glow coming from behind the boards. Reese's character, a grumpy former jazz diva, a role I've seen her play on episodes of TV's "Picket Fences" and "That's So Raven" (two more favorite shows of mine), lives inside the otherwise uninhabited eyesore. The young girl, Olivia, convinces her friend and classmates to place wishes in a self-created box outside of the house and those wishes will come true in time for Christmas. Her own personal Christmas wish is that her mother will get a husband. Her fiercely independent, sports-loving mom doesn't really show any interest in finding anyone, until a doctor (Kevin Sorbo, formerly TV's Hercules) shows up. He owns the house with the strange glow, the one that appears to be granting wishes. Olivia's friend, Lucas, tries to plead Dr. Nathan's case, saying "he's a doctor, I thought girls liked doctors", but Olivia sets her sights on other men for her mom until realizing Nathan just may be the one. Nathan comes with his own baggage, past and present, that prevents him from truly wooing Olivia's mom, which feeds Olivia's own mistrust of the man. The movie was less than two hours long, but I thought it crammed a lot of small subplots and characters into that time and most of them didn't get resolved or if they did, it was all too quickly before the credits rolled. Issues like alcoholism, throat cancer, kidney transplants and a mother-daughter reunion took place, but most of these themes seemed unnecessary to me when compared with the larger story of the mysterious house and the wishes that were being granted. I won't give anything away by saying which specific characters were affected by these issues. The actress who played Olivia, Izabela Vidovic, gave a great performance, I thought, and I usually don't like the performances of child actors, especially in sentimental Christmas movies like this one. Della Reese got to sing a little bit in this movie, which is something I always enjoyed when she did it on "Touched By An Angel." This was a good movie and one that apparently aired on the same Christian TV network as "The Heart of Christmas" (2011), which I watched last week. God is mentioned in this movie several times, including by Reese, which coupled with the angel talk made me have major "Touched By An Angel" deja vu. Several characters also hold hands and say grace before eating and Olivia prays before drifting off to sleep. It doesn't get any more wholesome and family friendly than that.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Missing
Nathan (Taylor Lautner, the "Twilight" movies) is a typical teenager and the star of 2011's "Abduction." He lays back on the hood of the car while his friend cruises down the street a la something out of "The Dukes of Hazzard", attends out of control parties and wakes up shirtless and drunk on the lawn the next morning, and finds himself dealing with a strict father and more sympathetic mother. His father (Jason Isaacs, "Nine Lives") spars several rounds with Nathan in his hungover state to teach him discipline. It is said that Nathan has rage issues and the boxing with his father and wrestling at school help him to deal with those issues and so do sessions with a caring therapist (Sigourney Weaver, "Aliens"). When assigned to do a 10 page research paper (who didn't love those in school?) about missing people with his pretty female neighbor (Lily Collins, "Mirror, Mirror"), he finds a picture of a boy that looks like himself on a missing kids website. The missing kids website is a cover for a group of Serbian criminals dealing in stolen government secrets. When agents come to the house looking for encrypted documents containing these secrets, Nathan's "mother" (Maria Bello, "A History of Violence") and "father" are killed. His therapist helps him to get away from the criminals even though he is also being trailed by the head of the CIA (Alfred Molina, "Spiderman 2"), who states "the currency of this war is information" (the documents Nathan has that the criminals want). When Nathan comes face to face with Koslow (Michael Nyqvist, an actor I've never heard of before), the head of the criminal group, the man threatens to kill everyone from Nathan's boring teachers to all his Facebook friends to get what he wants. This is also the same man who, when meeting Nathan at a Pirates game to talk about the documents, says "I don't understand this game at all, but I like popcorn" as he munches away. I won't give away any more of the plot or the ending. It's somewhat complicated, but not terribly so, however, I don't want to reveal anything else to ruin anything. I liked how Nathan's exasperated father in one scene mumbled the word "teenagers" as so many parents have done before him, but the CIA head does the same thing and uses the word "kids". Clearly, Nathan is a teenager, but it's interesting that he is referred to as a kid and in a movie of this sort you do expect someone older to be the leading actor (someone like Bruce Willis maybe or more recently, Liam Neeson). When Nathan's friend Karen goes to kiss him, she remarks "and no braces, either" which also references to the "kids vs teenagers" theme. Most kids would have braces whereas a teenager may not anymore. She happened to be referring to an encounter they had when they were younger. I enjoyed this movie. What started out as a "face-on-the-milk-carton" movie turned into a nice edge-of-your-seat thriller where no one was who they seemed. I'm sure "Twilight" fans will appreciate the fact that Taylor Lautner has a shirtless scene in the film. Oh yeah and he cries in one scene, tears running down his face as he says "I was dreaming about [my parents]", the same parents who were just bumped off. Aww, buff and sensitive, what a combination.
A Close to Home Christmas Story
The 2011 TV movie "The Heart of Christmas" isn't just any sickly sweet Christmas movie like the ones found on Hallmark and ABC Family every December. It is sweet at times, but also very sad, and it's based on a true story. It's based on the true story of a little boy who lived not far from me in Washington, Illinois. Dax Locke, a cancer patient, spends month after month in the hospital going through chemotherapy and radiation. His overwhelmed mother, Julie, finds support from other mothers whose children are also struggling with the big "C." She finds even more support from St. Jude's Children's Hospital, which takes care of her son as he fights the disease. Her neighbors also come to the rescue helping to speed Christmas up a couple of months early because Julie doesn't think Dax will live to see his second Christmas. The only real stars of the movie are Candace Cameron Bure ("Full House"), still as beautiful as ever, as an overworked wife and mom who finds herself touched by Dax's story and tells Julie this during a vigil; and George Newbern ("Father of the Bride") as a sympathetic doctor, or as he refers to himself, "a tone-deaf Jewish doctor" during a round of Christmas carols outside of the family's home. A less caring doctor steps in to help the family through the most serious parts of their ordeal and Julie's mom (the actress playing her looks to be nearly the same age or only a few years older than Julie herself) is there to offer love and support at those difficult times. Matthew West, the singer of the film's theme song (also called "The Heart of Christmas") also has a small role as one of the neighbors who helps decorate the Locke's house for Christmas in late October. The movie is very sad, but inspirational as well. It gives hope and teaches a great lesson, which is 'cherish the moment'. I especially enjoyed it because I know people that know Julie Locke and are familiar with the Locke's story. It definitely hit close to home.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
'Cry' Me a River
70's leading lady Susan Blakely ("The Towering Inferno") stars as Polly, a frazzled single mom and speed addict in "A Cry for Love" (1980). In addition to balancing kids and an unsatisfying job as a radio host, she attempts to write a book about self-discovery. Her pill habit runs her life, allowing her to balance the mothering, radio-hosting and writing. When the money runs out, she runs to Daddy (a 'special appearance by' Gene Barry), a wealthy movie producer. Stumbling around on a beach after a party where she has scored more pills, she literally trips over Powers Boothe ("Deadwood") as a man very far off the wagon. He stays over and they begin a relationship. She experiences the highs and lows of her addiction while he is never without an alcoholic drink in hand, even in a bumper car where he holds a beer in one hand and steers with the other in one scene. He likes Polly and maybe more importantly, he likes the book she's writing that no one else seems to have faith in, not even her father. Despite her own addiction, she tells Boothe's character Tony, 'I like you better when you're sober.' He sees the truth of their mutual situation by telling her 'we're two peas in a pod.' Ultimately, the pills are Polly's downfall, causing her to lose her job (you 'Gloria Steinemed yourself right out of a job' her boss says when she delivers a political rant brought on by her drug high) and to lose face with her kids ('oh, stick it in your ear, Felicia', a mild insult Polly hurls at her daughter during an argument). She and Tony are left to make decisions that will change their lives for the better. This movie came out at the tale end of the 70s, 1980 to be exact, but it looks and feels very much like a 70s movie. Some of the decor in Polly's house has that vintage 70s look and design to it. References to feminist Gloria Steinem and TV talkfest The Mike Douglas Show are mentioned and so is a generic rock band called 'The Know', obviously some kind of riff on 'The Who'. I enjoyed the brief appearances by familiar character actors: Welcome Back, Kotter's Robert Hegyes as a pizza restaurant owner who becomes the victim of one of Polly's pill-fueled outbursts, Lainie Kazan as a guest on Polly's radio show, an author who has written a book on astrology and sexuality ('tell me about your sexuality, er, tell me about your book' Polly says absentmindedly), The Golden Girls' Herb Edelman as Polly's frustrated boss and Patricia Barry (no relation to her onscreen husband Gene Barry) as Polly's caring mother. This was a nice what used to be called 'disease-of-the-week' movie, this one dealing with the disease of drug and alcohol addiction. Very well-acted by two underrated actors, Susan Blakely and Powers Boothe.
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Once A Killer, Always A Killer
Only a few years before assuming the role of a serial killer in 1993's "Kalifornia" and 1994's "Natural Born Killers", Oscar nominee Juliette Lewis played an uneducated 15-year-old named Amanda Sue Bradley whose life spirals and involves drugs, prostitution and murder. 1990's "Too Young to Die?", based on a true story, co-starred a young Brad Pitt, Lewis' costar in "Kalifornia", and it was interesting to see two future movie stars in a movie of the week. All the elements were there that led to this girl's downfall: a neglectful mother, a perverted stepfather, a failed marriage at 14. Pitt's hustler character didn't help her situation, forcing her into a job as an exotic dancer, where she met a nice guy soldier ("Caddyshack"'s Michael O'Keefe, I really like him as an actor) with young kids of his own. He claimed he wasn't after what she thought he was after when he let her stay with him, but his commanding officer saw things differently. "L.A. Law" lawyer Michael Tucker stepped in when Amanda Sue was thrown in jail after Mike was murdered and questions about the death penalty and charging a minor as an adult were raised before the credits rolled, so I won't give anything away. Lewis had the child-like qualities down in this role, since Amanda Sue was only 14 and clearly not very intelligent. She asked her lawyer for "candy-covered chocolate" that her absentee mother gave her when she was sick and she quickly became attached to the soldier's daughter's purple bunny, to say nothing of her closeness with the soldier's kids. Someone even referred to her as "15 going on 5". I liked the whole Midwest landscape of the movie. It took place in Oklahoma and you saw construction sites, trailer parks and other familiar landmarks of this part of the world in the film. Brad Pitt had a sizable role as the troublemaker who caused Amanda's life to take an ugly turn, but Lewis was really the star of this movie, although I did think she was a little over-the-top in some of the loud, emotional crying scenes. She was similarly loud, emotional and child-like in the 1999 film "The Other Sister", which I enjoyed. In that movie, her mother was very overprotective as opposed to being neglectful as was the mother in this film. I had seen parts of this movie on TV many years ago and when watching the whole thing last night, some of the scenes looked familiar to me. I was glad to be able to see the movie in its entirety.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)