This one was genuinely hard. Hard to watch, hard to figure out what to say. SO, I'll just do it quick, like removing a Band-Aid.
BattleField Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000 (henceforth Battlefield Earth) is set one thousand years after an invasion from the planet Psychlo. Humanity is thrust into a primitive state, fearing technology and the stories of the demons that rule the outside world. One human, Jonnie, leaves his home in the Rockies to find food when he meets up with a few others and wonders into a city. There, the group is taken captive by the Psychlos for enslavement. Jonnie fights back, drawing the attention of the head of security, Terl. Terl "teaches" Jonnie the language and knowledge of the Psychlos in order to use him to train a mining team of humans to mine a vein of gold near a deposit of uranium (the radiation from uranium is toxic to Psychlos). Jonnie instead uses the knowledge to fight back and free humanity from the tyranny of the demons.
Sounds like a great idea, no? I thought so. And the first 20 minutes or so I was really confused about why this was such a despised movie. It wasn't bad. Jonnie was well developed already and his new pals were entertaining. THEN the Psychlos showed up. That is when this movie took a major turn. The culture of Psycho is a corrupt corporate one and Terl is trying to get transferred off Earth, but due to missteps in the past (mainly sleeping with a senator's daughter) he is stationed on Earth for a lifetime. His scheme to use humans to mine gold is a last ditch effort to get himself off planet. All well and good... But most of the time I wonder HOW the Psychlos managed not only knock humanity back to the stone age, but HOLD the Earth when they overlook places like Fort Hood. Yeah... Let's talk plot holes, people.
Plot hole #1:
If you graduated #1 in your class, how did you miss the concept of "knowledge is power"? Terl teaches Jonnie, not just the language, but math and engineering, and how to pilot a Psychlo aircraft. OF COURSE this gives Jonnie the tools he needs to lead a revolt against their captors.
Plot hole #2:
Gold is the most precious resource to the Psychlos. And YET... In 1000 years they have not found Fort Knox and empty it. This gives Jonnie the means to distract Terl until the revolt can be organized. Jonnie goes to Fort Knox (in the aircraft that Terl left him) and takes enough gold to appease Terl and make him think that they are accually working (and smelting the gold into bars...*sigh*) buying Jonnie the time needed to overthrow the Psychlos.
Plot hole #3:
Fort Hood. Period. Everything about this scene and everything that comes from it. The Psychlos aren't just a corporate society, they are a warrior society. WHY was Fort Hood left alone?? All the weapons are still there after 1000 years, in working order apparently. Jonnie raids the stash there, his men learn to fly fighter planes (the fuel is still viable and the planes themselves aren't rusted out), and there is even a nuclear warhead there. THIS is the dumbest thing ever for them, as a nuclear explosion reacts with the atmosphere the Psychlos need to breathe causing a chain reaction of a massive explosion. (In plot hole #1 Jonnie learns this and uses it to defeat not just the Earth stationed Psychlos, but destroy the entire planet of Psychlo.)
Plot hole #4:
Terl allows Jonnie to have access to the Denver Library (Yes, evidently paper in books only looks slightly aged when they sit for 1000 years). This ties into plot hole #1, but is slightly different. It's here that Jonnie actually forms the concrete ideas he used to rebel. We get to see him reading the Declaration of Independence, and looking at maps showing him where things are.
Plot hole #5
Terl leaves Jonnie and his men to mine UNSUPERVISED. Yes, the uranium is toxic, but they show aircraft overhead and establish early on that they have great surveillance technology. WHY did no one notice the aircraft was gone for over a week? Really??
There are so many more... But I will be here all night if I talk about them all. These are the holes that bug me the most.
The other thing that really bugs me is the acting from most of the Psychlos, especially John Travolta. I love Travolta, most of the time. But this role is WAY over the top. He's not even close to seeming like a threat. He just seems funny. The leader on Earth is similarly comical. Pretty much all of them aside from Ker, played by Forest Whitaker. Poor guy. He had a really crappy role. But let me tell you, he acted the HELL out of it!
Also... I believe that someone knocked the camera loose on the tripod because EVERY SINGLE SCENE is tilted. Why? It looks cool. That is the only reason I can come up with. I wonder if humanity evolved to have one leg longer than the other... Hmmm....
I have more rants about this... But I will let Mike Nelson from Rifftrax take it from here... Take it away, Mike! I recommend you don't watch this movie... But if you must, riff it the whole way through. It's the only way to enjoy it!
GGC
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
It was the best of (movie)times... The Last Picture Show (pt 2)
The film is in black and white, lending to the feel of decay. In black and white run down houses look even worse. This town is dying, but not with a loud bang. Heck, hardly with a whimper. The town's bleakness and emptiness is present throughout the film in a sort of dusty oppression. It's almost suffocating at times. It's easy to see why Jacy toys with the boys in her life, she is simply bored and needing to entertain herself. (Of course this doesn't make it right... It just explains it.) This feeling builds until Duane and Sonny attend the last movie (Red River, by the way). With the movie house closing, the town has lost it's cultural center thus it's last really bright spot.
What really makes this powerful is not only the town being front and center, but the characters. Especially Sonny, Ruth, and Sam the Lion. Sonny is an impressionable teen who is torn about what to do, but rarely stands up for himself. He usually tries to do the right thing, but seems to fail more often than succeed. He's just a kid and learning the ropes. We've all been there... So he remains sympathetic despite his mistakes.
Ruth is a house wife, ignored by her husband. Which makes it even more heartbreaking when Sonny does the same. I am not condoning extramarital affairs, but Sonny not even explaining things to her is just plain wrong. She has been dealing with abandonment from her husband for years, and now Sonny piles his on top. So, when Sonny returns to her in the end and she starts throwing things, the audience completely understands. We also understand when she comforts him afterward.
Sam the Lion is a force of nature. He seems rough, but he's sentimental and human. He genuinely cares for Billy and Sonny and does the best he can for them. Sam is always giving Duane and Sonny a hard time about the sports teams that always seem to be loosing huge. He gave Billy a job at the pool hall and watches out for him like his own son. He seems to keep the businesses going just to make sure that his employees are taken care of. He's the kind of character that really can bring a movie like this to life.
Basically, this movie is about people and real places. It's about the passing of time. It's about love and jealousy. It's about growing up. I really didn't know how to describe it, or how to express my feelings on it. So, this is the best I could do.... I know that I am ignoring the metophores and symbolism. I am not trying to be academic (well... at least not TOO academic), I am just trying to share my thoughts.
GGC
(Yeah... The Dude is in it! And he looks like a baby.)
It was the best of (movie) times... The Last Picture Show (pt 1)
I know that I am really late with this week's blogs. But... I really wasn't sure how to start this one. (really, both the good and the bad are hard ones this week.) So... I will just try to do this one justice.
The Last Picture Show is set in the early 50's in a small town in western Texas called Anarene. The story focuses on Duane and Sonny, best friends in their senior year of high school. Duane is dating the prettiest girl in the class, Jacy. Sonny breaks up with his girl in one of the first scenes, so he spends most of his year single. I say that the movie focuses on Duane and Sonny, and that is true, but the main character is actually Anarene. The town is dying slowly as young people go away to college and don't return, the money is drying up, the social places are all run by one man (Sam the Lion), everyone has known each other their whole lives. It is dying economically, socially, and (especially at the end) culturally. Sam the Lion is a father figure to the boys, especially Sonny and a "simple boy" named Billy. When he dies after a stroke, he leaves the pool hall to Sonny (who also takes care of Billy), the dinner to Genevieve (the waitress and cook there), and the movie house to Miss Mosey (the attendant there). Without him, the social ties of the town start to ravel.
The PLOT actually follows Duane and Sonny through the tough transition of high school into adulthood. During their growing pains, Sonny ends up having an affair with his coach's wife (yes, one man coaches all teams), Duane ends up getting played by Jacy, Duane moves away after she dumps him, Sonny hooks up with her, and when Duane hears that Sonny and Jacy have hooked up he comes home to confront his best friend. *deep breath* Duane and Sonny fight, resulting in Sonny's eye getting injured with broken glass from a beer bottle. This is when Sonny "breaks it off" with Ruth (the coaches wife) by just ignoring her for months. In that time, he runs the pool hall, working days on a rig and runs off to marry Jacy. The marriage is never consummated, however, and Jacy goes off to college in Dallas. Duane joins the army and is shipped off to Korea. The boys make up and attend the last movie to show at the movie house (the last picture show... Get it?) and Sonny sees his friend off. Minutes after Duane's bus leaves, Billy is sweeping in the street, and is hit by a cattle truck and dies. The men of the town just stand over him talking about how he had no sense and wonder why he was just standing there with a broom. In grief, Sonny pulls Billy's body away to cover him up. Unable to face the pool hall, he drives off as if to leave town, but turns back to see Ruth.
The movie ends with a sweeping shot down an empty Main Street.
This is a really powerful movie, mostly in it's quietness.
The Last Picture Show is set in the early 50's in a small town in western Texas called Anarene. The story focuses on Duane and Sonny, best friends in their senior year of high school. Duane is dating the prettiest girl in the class, Jacy. Sonny breaks up with his girl in one of the first scenes, so he spends most of his year single. I say that the movie focuses on Duane and Sonny, and that is true, but the main character is actually Anarene. The town is dying slowly as young people go away to college and don't return, the money is drying up, the social places are all run by one man (Sam the Lion), everyone has known each other their whole lives. It is dying economically, socially, and (especially at the end) culturally. Sam the Lion is a father figure to the boys, especially Sonny and a "simple boy" named Billy. When he dies after a stroke, he leaves the pool hall to Sonny (who also takes care of Billy), the dinner to Genevieve (the waitress and cook there), and the movie house to Miss Mosey (the attendant there). Without him, the social ties of the town start to ravel.
The PLOT actually follows Duane and Sonny through the tough transition of high school into adulthood. During their growing pains, Sonny ends up having an affair with his coach's wife (yes, one man coaches all teams), Duane ends up getting played by Jacy, Duane moves away after she dumps him, Sonny hooks up with her, and when Duane hears that Sonny and Jacy have hooked up he comes home to confront his best friend. *deep breath* Duane and Sonny fight, resulting in Sonny's eye getting injured with broken glass from a beer bottle. This is when Sonny "breaks it off" with Ruth (the coaches wife) by just ignoring her for months. In that time, he runs the pool hall, working days on a rig and runs off to marry Jacy. The marriage is never consummated, however, and Jacy goes off to college in Dallas. Duane joins the army and is shipped off to Korea. The boys make up and attend the last movie to show at the movie house (the last picture show... Get it?) and Sonny sees his friend off. Minutes after Duane's bus leaves, Billy is sweeping in the street, and is hit by a cattle truck and dies. The men of the town just stand over him talking about how he had no sense and wonder why he was just standing there with a broom. In grief, Sonny pulls Billy's body away to cover him up. Unable to face the pool hall, he drives off as if to leave town, but turns back to see Ruth.
The movie ends with a sweeping shot down an empty Main Street.
This is a really powerful movie, mostly in it's quietness.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
A recap and schedule for upcoming weeks!
Just as a recap, these are the movies DOWN. I have watched them (it was sometimes painful, but I have DONE it!) and blogged about them....
5-13-12---- Ben Hur 5-13-12----Meet the Spartans
5-19-12---- Toy Story 5-21-12----Another 9 1/2 Weeks
5-24-12---- Yankee Doodle Dandy 5-30-12----Phat Girlz
6- 3-12---- Blade Runner 6- 4-12----It's Pat!
6-10-12---- Do the Right Thing 6-11-12----American Ninja V
AND now, these are the movies left that are ranked in the 90's. As I explained before, the IMDb list changes according to votes (I have copied and pasted the list I have been working from, so the movies remain the same, however, I do monitor the list periodically.) And I STILL have been unable to find Addiction, so I have had to improvise. So, here is the schedule through July. (the dates are all Saturdays. and as I have been late with a few blogs, well, expect that on occasion here as well.) All of these are subject to change if a problem happens. I have located all of these movies, so THESE should be watched and reviewed without a hitch... Just needed to remind you all!
Week of
6-16-12---- The Last Picture Show & Battlefield Earth
6-23-12---- Pulp Fiction & Alien From LA
6-30-12---- The French Connection & Time You Change
7- 7-12---- Goodfellas & Troll 2
7-14-12---- Sophie's Choice & Gigli
7-21-12---- Swing Time & The Smokers
I hope you have been enjoying this project as much as I have. I also hope the changing nature of the IMDb's Bottom 100 hasn't been confusing. Just a note, Alien from LA is replacing Addiction for now. Hopefully I will find that *#@$% movie and will throw it in when I can. It is a foreign movie (Finnish to be exact) and so I think that is the problem in my search. As I have quite a few Turkish movies coming up, I hope that I can deal with this hiccup soon!
Enjoy! And thanks for reading!
GGC
5-13-12---- Ben Hur 5-13-12----Meet the Spartans
5-19-12---- Toy Story 5-21-12----Another 9 1/2 Weeks
5-24-12---- Yankee Doodle Dandy 5-30-12----Phat Girlz
6- 3-12---- Blade Runner 6- 4-12----It's Pat!
6-10-12---- Do the Right Thing 6-11-12----American Ninja V
AND now, these are the movies left that are ranked in the 90's. As I explained before, the IMDb list changes according to votes (I have copied and pasted the list I have been working from, so the movies remain the same, however, I do monitor the list periodically.) And I STILL have been unable to find Addiction, so I have had to improvise. So, here is the schedule through July. (the dates are all Saturdays. and as I have been late with a few blogs, well, expect that on occasion here as well.) All of these are subject to change if a problem happens. I have located all of these movies, so THESE should be watched and reviewed without a hitch... Just needed to remind you all!
Week of
6-16-12---- The Last Picture Show & Battlefield Earth
6-23-12---- Pulp Fiction & Alien From LA
6-30-12---- The French Connection & Time You Change
7- 7-12---- Goodfellas & Troll 2
7-14-12---- Sophie's Choice & Gigli
7-21-12---- Swing Time & The Smokers
I hope you have been enjoying this project as much as I have. I also hope the changing nature of the IMDb's Bottom 100 hasn't been confusing. Just a note, Alien from LA is replacing Addiction for now. Hopefully I will find that *#@$% movie and will throw it in when I can. It is a foreign movie (Finnish to be exact) and so I think that is the problem in my search. As I have quite a few Turkish movies coming up, I hope that I can deal with this hiccup soon!
Enjoy! And thanks for reading!
GGC
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
It was the worst of (movie) times... American Ninja V
[Apologies for any misspellings, I was reduced to the age old technique of "sounding it out" on many words here.]
I wasn't looking forward to watching American Ninja V. I haven't seen ANY of the other movies in this series. And if I was going to watch a bad ninja movie, I wanted it to be an old one with bad dubbing. HOWEVER, this movie was fantastically bad. In other words... I have found my first "so bad it's good" movie.
American Ninja V begins with a scientist in his lab. He is excited because he has discovered a pesticide that leaves no harmful residue behind (we all know that this is fiction, right?). HOWEVER, if this chemical is breathed in in large enough concentrations, it is deadly... (Uhhh... Guys? Isn't that harmful? Just askin...)
Our scientist doesn't realize until this point that he is working for the bad guy (Glock, yeah, that's his name... Well, his last name, and that is what he goes by for most of the movie so there ya' go...) until the head henchman brings him a puppy to test on (this is how we know that he is a villain, only a bad guy harms innocent baby animals. The Tick taught us that!). Glock threatens the scientist to continue his testing and we cut away to our hero, Joe Kastle. Who lives on a house boat. He comes home to find that his work order to have the tarnish cleaned from the brass was misread by the maintenance worker (Lisa... also the love interest and damsel in distress later... But I get ahead of myself). She has varnished ALL of the woodwork on the boat, making it impossible to live in for two days. She tells him that he can stay with her (did I mention that this is only about thirty seconds after they meet?) but he balks. So she fast talks him into a date for dinner to make it up to him.
We then cut to Joe in his dojo. (He is THE American Ninja from the title, ya' know!) HIS sensai (Master Tetsu) arrives and reminds him that he agreed to house sit. Master Tetsu then dumps his grand-nephew on him as well and disappears in a puff of smoke to catch his plane. So... Joe and the boy (Hiro) drive off with Joe unhappy with the surprise of babysitting. Hiro, we find out, is the last of Master Tetsu's ninja clan and has been closed off since he lost his parents. (PLOT POINT)
Joe is forced to bring Hiro on his date with Lisa. They have a great time until Lisa is kidnapped by Viper (a mercenary ninja in Glock's employ. And YES he appears in a puff of smoke. Because he's a NINJA, duh!). Joe fights off Vipers mooks. It seems that Viper is just pulling them out of his pockets, but that is ok, because Joe kicks ALL their butts. Well, except for Viper. Viper walks away with Lisa's unconscious body. Joe and Hiro follow some of the goons to an airfield, and hop on the plane, taking them to a South American country... I think. I may have missed something there... But I am pretty sure that they are in South America.
Once there, the unlikely duo break Joe out of jail, fight off many more Ninjas (dressed in purple... Insert your own joke here...), discover that Lisa is the scientist's daughter (yeah, from the beginning. His name is Dr Strobel.), and that Viper killed Hiro's father. Hiro begs Joe to train him, but Joe is reluctant due to events in another movie. (I think his last student was killed.) But they meditate and Master Tetsu appears to both of them telling them to team up, because they need each other to grow. So, in a montage, Joe trains Hiro in the art of ninjitsu. Then our heroes storm the castle as it were.
OF COURSE they win. They defeat Glock's plan of selling the pesticide as a weapon (they even save the puppy! YAY!) and Viper is thrown from a plane. Lisa and Joe live happily ever after, and Hiro is taught the art of the ninja, carrying on the legacy of his family.
Ok. Now, don't get me wrong, this movie is bad. But holy SMOKES is it fun! The fight scenes are goofy, complete with cartoony music and sound effects. The bad guys are REALLY bad. The good guys are REALLY good. This is a movie meant for kids, in the 3 Ninjas sort of line. If you watch it with a sense of humor and low expectations, laughs will abound. And all the ninjas appear and disappear in a puff of smoke. Yeah! Pretty AWESOME!
I wanna learn ninjitsu in a montage. Seems like a much easier much more efficient way than seeking out a master and spending years of learning and training. *shrug* Can any of you direct me where I can do this? Let's make this happen, people!
*ninja vanish*
GGC
I wasn't looking forward to watching American Ninja V. I haven't seen ANY of the other movies in this series. And if I was going to watch a bad ninja movie, I wanted it to be an old one with bad dubbing. HOWEVER, this movie was fantastically bad. In other words... I have found my first "so bad it's good" movie.
American Ninja V begins with a scientist in his lab. He is excited because he has discovered a pesticide that leaves no harmful residue behind (we all know that this is fiction, right?). HOWEVER, if this chemical is breathed in in large enough concentrations, it is deadly... (Uhhh... Guys? Isn't that harmful? Just askin...)
Our scientist doesn't realize until this point that he is working for the bad guy (Glock, yeah, that's his name... Well, his last name, and that is what he goes by for most of the movie so there ya' go...) until the head henchman brings him a puppy to test on (this is how we know that he is a villain, only a bad guy harms innocent baby animals. The Tick taught us that!). Glock threatens the scientist to continue his testing and we cut away to our hero, Joe Kastle. Who lives on a house boat. He comes home to find that his work order to have the tarnish cleaned from the brass was misread by the maintenance worker (Lisa... also the love interest and damsel in distress later... But I get ahead of myself). She has varnished ALL of the woodwork on the boat, making it impossible to live in for two days. She tells him that he can stay with her (did I mention that this is only about thirty seconds after they meet?) but he balks. So she fast talks him into a date for dinner to make it up to him.
We then cut to Joe in his dojo. (He is THE American Ninja from the title, ya' know!) HIS sensai (Master Tetsu) arrives and reminds him that he agreed to house sit. Master Tetsu then dumps his grand-nephew on him as well and disappears in a puff of smoke to catch his plane. So... Joe and the boy (Hiro) drive off with Joe unhappy with the surprise of babysitting. Hiro, we find out, is the last of Master Tetsu's ninja clan and has been closed off since he lost his parents. (PLOT POINT)
Joe is forced to bring Hiro on his date with Lisa. They have a great time until Lisa is kidnapped by Viper (a mercenary ninja in Glock's employ. And YES he appears in a puff of smoke. Because he's a NINJA, duh!). Joe fights off Vipers mooks. It seems that Viper is just pulling them out of his pockets, but that is ok, because Joe kicks ALL their butts. Well, except for Viper. Viper walks away with Lisa's unconscious body. Joe and Hiro follow some of the goons to an airfield, and hop on the plane, taking them to a South American country... I think. I may have missed something there... But I am pretty sure that they are in South America.
Once there, the unlikely duo break Joe out of jail, fight off many more Ninjas (dressed in purple... Insert your own joke here...), discover that Lisa is the scientist's daughter (yeah, from the beginning. His name is Dr Strobel.), and that Viper killed Hiro's father. Hiro begs Joe to train him, but Joe is reluctant due to events in another movie. (I think his last student was killed.) But they meditate and Master Tetsu appears to both of them telling them to team up, because they need each other to grow. So, in a montage, Joe trains Hiro in the art of ninjitsu. Then our heroes storm the castle as it were.
OF COURSE they win. They defeat Glock's plan of selling the pesticide as a weapon (they even save the puppy! YAY!) and Viper is thrown from a plane. Lisa and Joe live happily ever after, and Hiro is taught the art of the ninja, carrying on the legacy of his family.
Ok. Now, don't get me wrong, this movie is bad. But holy SMOKES is it fun! The fight scenes are goofy, complete with cartoony music and sound effects. The bad guys are REALLY bad. The good guys are REALLY good. This is a movie meant for kids, in the 3 Ninjas sort of line. If you watch it with a sense of humor and low expectations, laughs will abound. And all the ninjas appear and disappear in a puff of smoke. Yeah! Pretty AWESOME!
I wanna learn ninjitsu in a montage. Seems like a much easier much more efficient way than seeking out a master and spending years of learning and training. *shrug* Can any of you direct me where I can do this? Let's make this happen, people!
*ninja vanish*
GGC
Sunday, June 10, 2012
It was the best of (movie) times... Do the Right Thing
[NOTE: the second clip is NOT safe for workplaces or children.]
The events of Do the Right Thing take place over one day in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn on the hottest day of the year. The heat causes everyone's hatred to smolder until it explodes at the end of the day. Mostly, the movie follows Mookie, a pizza delivery boy around the area, introducing us to the local population. Notably, Buggin Out (the angry black man), Radio Raheem (a large young man with a boombox continually blasting out Public Enemies "Fight the Power"), Jade (Mookie's younger sister, a pulled together well spoken young lady), Tina (Mookie's girl and mother of his son), Da Mayor (old drunk), Sister Mother (old wise woman), Master Senior Love Daddy (the DJ on the air for 12 hours everyday), Sal (the owner of Sal's Famous Pizzeria and Mookie's boss), Sal's two sons (Vitto and Pino, both also employed at Sal's), and MANY other characters. I normally wouldn't list all these, but I just wanted you to understand the scope of the cast in this story. The main conflict begins when Buggin Out tells Sal to put some pictures of African Americans on his Wall of Fame. As Sal owns the business, he tells him ONLY Italian Americans. Buggin Out, well, bugs out and gets himself booted from the place. He spends most of the rest of the day trying to organize a boycott of Sal's. Later, Radio Raheem walks into the pizzeria with his boombox blaring. When Sal yells at him to turn it off, he is angered as well. Buggin Out and Radio Raheem team up and storm the pizzeria when Sal is kind enough to open his doors to a few kids for last minute slices. Raheem blares his boombox and Buggin Out says that they will stay there until Sal agrees to put the pictures of African Americans on the wall. Sal gets fed up and threatens them with a baseball bat, but instead of roughing the kids up, he uses the bat to "kill" the boombox. Raheem, enraged, attacks Sal, dragging him outside. Even though many try to break it up, it takes the police to finally stop Raheem. HOWEVER, things go completely upside down when one of the police officers kills Raheem in front of the entire neighborhood. Mookie, distraught, throws a trash can through the window of the pizzeria, starting a riot focused on Sal's Famous Pizzeria. The mob ends up burning the place down in front of Sal and his sons. The movie ends the next day, with Mookie going to get his pay from Sal and life moving on.
THAT was just scratching the surface. There are a few more side plots. That was only the main conflict. But lots of conflicts occur all day. For instance, Pino is terribly racist and doesn't bother to hide it. Tina is constantly on Mookie to spend more time with her, even becoming enraged when Mookie has to work. Jade wants Mookie to move out and take care of his responsibilities. There are a trio of older African American men, one of them hates the fact that a family of Koreans opened a grocery, and no African Americans own a business in their neighborhood. Sister Mother doesn't like Da Mayor because he drinks too much. All of this is over seen by Mister Senior Love Daddy, who (in my opinion) is God. Everyone seems to have a bigoted hatred for someone (resulting in an uncomfortably comical moment in the middle of the movie).
Do the Right Thing is really something to look at. There is a red tint to everything and many shots have heat waves rising from the pavement. Everyone is sweaty and on edge. The audience is really dragged into this sweltering day, just from the visuals. Every character has a unique voice and tone, kind of a task as there are so many characters to flesh out. Spike Lee also opts to use so many strange angles and shots, accenting the feel of each scene. The movie is dramatic, comical, and just downright uncomfortable when it needs to be.
This is not my first time watching this movie. In fact I have seen it three times prior to this. It was one of the movies that I had to watch for a film class in college. Our weekly assignment was to answer a question in a one page essay. The question for this movie (and yes, I remember it very clearly) was "Why did Mookie do what he did?" I didn't know after watching it in class. So I rented it, and watched it at home. I still didn't know how to answer. So I watched it with my boyfriend at the time (thinking that HE possibly could have some insight), I STILL didn't know how to answer. I ended up turning in a page of b.s. just so I could complete the assignment. After having watched it again, I think that the question is unfair to require only a page to answer. There is WAY too much going into this one action (Mookie throwing the trash can, just in case I lost you there) to condense it to only a page. Mookie is in a pressure cooker, and the heat wave added the missing ingredient. Raheem was killed and everyone went crazy for a while. Hmmm.... I just sort of did it in a few sentences... I guess I could have done it... But I doubt it. I don't have to support it the way I needed to then.
Do the Right Thing is a well produced movie. A well written movie. A well acted movie. And I really don't think that I want to see it again. It ends on a sort of helpless note. Like a "why???" It's a good movie to show what bigotry over years can do, given a catalyst. But, it isn't designed to make you feel good. It is designed to make you think. To show what a mob of people is capable of. I am not sure what side Spike Lee falls on, even. The end credits have two quotes, one that condemns violence in any form from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and one that justifies SOME violence from Malcom X. So, yeah. I think I need to go think about the state of the world now...
GGC
The events of Do the Right Thing take place over one day in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn on the hottest day of the year. The heat causes everyone's hatred to smolder until it explodes at the end of the day. Mostly, the movie follows Mookie, a pizza delivery boy around the area, introducing us to the local population. Notably, Buggin Out (the angry black man), Radio Raheem (a large young man with a boombox continually blasting out Public Enemies "Fight the Power"), Jade (Mookie's younger sister, a pulled together well spoken young lady), Tina (Mookie's girl and mother of his son), Da Mayor (old drunk), Sister Mother (old wise woman), Master Senior Love Daddy (the DJ on the air for 12 hours everyday), Sal (the owner of Sal's Famous Pizzeria and Mookie's boss), Sal's two sons (Vitto and Pino, both also employed at Sal's), and MANY other characters. I normally wouldn't list all these, but I just wanted you to understand the scope of the cast in this story. The main conflict begins when Buggin Out tells Sal to put some pictures of African Americans on his Wall of Fame. As Sal owns the business, he tells him ONLY Italian Americans. Buggin Out, well, bugs out and gets himself booted from the place. He spends most of the rest of the day trying to organize a boycott of Sal's. Later, Radio Raheem walks into the pizzeria with his boombox blaring. When Sal yells at him to turn it off, he is angered as well. Buggin Out and Radio Raheem team up and storm the pizzeria when Sal is kind enough to open his doors to a few kids for last minute slices. Raheem blares his boombox and Buggin Out says that they will stay there until Sal agrees to put the pictures of African Americans on the wall. Sal gets fed up and threatens them with a baseball bat, but instead of roughing the kids up, he uses the bat to "kill" the boombox. Raheem, enraged, attacks Sal, dragging him outside. Even though many try to break it up, it takes the police to finally stop Raheem. HOWEVER, things go completely upside down when one of the police officers kills Raheem in front of the entire neighborhood. Mookie, distraught, throws a trash can through the window of the pizzeria, starting a riot focused on Sal's Famous Pizzeria. The mob ends up burning the place down in front of Sal and his sons. The movie ends the next day, with Mookie going to get his pay from Sal and life moving on.
THAT was just scratching the surface. There are a few more side plots. That was only the main conflict. But lots of conflicts occur all day. For instance, Pino is terribly racist and doesn't bother to hide it. Tina is constantly on Mookie to spend more time with her, even becoming enraged when Mookie has to work. Jade wants Mookie to move out and take care of his responsibilities. There are a trio of older African American men, one of them hates the fact that a family of Koreans opened a grocery, and no African Americans own a business in their neighborhood. Sister Mother doesn't like Da Mayor because he drinks too much. All of this is over seen by Mister Senior Love Daddy, who (in my opinion) is God. Everyone seems to have a bigoted hatred for someone (resulting in an uncomfortably comical moment in the middle of the movie).
Do the Right Thing is really something to look at. There is a red tint to everything and many shots have heat waves rising from the pavement. Everyone is sweaty and on edge. The audience is really dragged into this sweltering day, just from the visuals. Every character has a unique voice and tone, kind of a task as there are so many characters to flesh out. Spike Lee also opts to use so many strange angles and shots, accenting the feel of each scene. The movie is dramatic, comical, and just downright uncomfortable when it needs to be.
This is not my first time watching this movie. In fact I have seen it three times prior to this. It was one of the movies that I had to watch for a film class in college. Our weekly assignment was to answer a question in a one page essay. The question for this movie (and yes, I remember it very clearly) was "Why did Mookie do what he did?" I didn't know after watching it in class. So I rented it, and watched it at home. I still didn't know how to answer. So I watched it with my boyfriend at the time (thinking that HE possibly could have some insight), I STILL didn't know how to answer. I ended up turning in a page of b.s. just so I could complete the assignment. After having watched it again, I think that the question is unfair to require only a page to answer. There is WAY too much going into this one action (Mookie throwing the trash can, just in case I lost you there) to condense it to only a page. Mookie is in a pressure cooker, and the heat wave added the missing ingredient. Raheem was killed and everyone went crazy for a while. Hmmm.... I just sort of did it in a few sentences... I guess I could have done it... But I doubt it. I don't have to support it the way I needed to then.
Do the Right Thing is a well produced movie. A well written movie. A well acted movie. And I really don't think that I want to see it again. It ends on a sort of helpless note. Like a "why???" It's a good movie to show what bigotry over years can do, given a catalyst. But, it isn't designed to make you feel good. It is designed to make you think. To show what a mob of people is capable of. I am not sure what side Spike Lee falls on, even. The end credits have two quotes, one that condemns violence in any form from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr and one that justifies SOME violence from Malcom X. So, yeah. I think I need to go think about the state of the world now...
GGC
Monday, June 4, 2012
It was the worst of (movie) times... It's Pat!
I watched SNL in the late 80's and early 90's. I am not really sure that I missed an episode, because my curfew was early, so I was always back in time. Even when I stayed with friends, we watched it. It was still funny then. (Maybe not Belushi funny... But I still laugh at Carvey's George Bush, Sr. and Dennis Miller's Weekend Update is still outstanding.) The reason that these shows were funny is timing... Or in some cases the small doses we got the character. Which brings me to Pat.
The reason that Pat was funny (and yes, I kinda found Pat funny... I will be calling Pat "her" for clarity in the future) was that the sketch ended in minutes, NOT an hour and seventeen excruciating minutes later. Pat is not a character that a writer should even WANT to make into a feature length(ish) story. She is a one-joke show. Is she a woman or a man? And hour and 17 minutes of that. Oh, and not only that! Pat is unlikable, as in a truly horrible, selfish person.
The plot (as it were) is focused on Pat, an androgynous character living her life. She gets fired from the post office for opening everyone's mail, she barges in on her neighbor, she freaks out the pharmacist, and all this in the first 5 minutes of the movie. Alright, maybe 10. BUT STILL! In her search for a job, Pat goes to a bar, there she meets Chris (I will call Chris "him in the future), also an androgynous character. They date, fall in love and get engaged. All while the script carefully hides both characters respective genders. In the meantime, Pat gets new neighbors, Kyle and Stacy Jacobsen. Through the course of the movie, Kyle forms an extreme obsession on Pat. His wife leaves him because he is in love with Pat. In the meantime, all is not well with Chris and Pat due to Pat's lack of job and misconceptions of what a career actually is. Also what a relationship actually is. Chris leaves her for taking him for granted. Pat also takes her neighbor's job with no remorse (her neighbor is Kathy Griffin playing herself as a radio "love line" advice "doctor"). This really goes nowhere, just another instance to show how Pat is terrible. Kyle then steps in and in a psycho move, kidnaps Pat and tried to make her strip, so he can see whether she is a man or a woman. Not that it matters to him, he just wants to know. Oh! All this while he is dressed as Pat. This results in a chase scene, ending with Kyle arrested and Pat with her pants down dangling above Ween in concert. (Of course, we don't get to find out what she is... what would be the fun in THAT???) With this dose of humility, Pat runs to find Chris, and they get back together and they all live happily ever after, except Kyle who is in jail.
This movie is SO awful!!! Pat is really unlikable. I can't even really find good clips to share. Which is good for you... Bad for me cause I really wanna share my pain! I can only find the longer clips, and even I am not so cruel as to share those and make you watch them. Tempting as it is, I would live in a world of guilt. You are getting off LIGHT!!
So seriously, if you feel nostalgic for SNL, watch Wayne's World, hell, any Chris Farley movie, Blues Brothers, or (better yet) catch an actual SNL rerun. Seriously! Pat came from the time of Toonces the Driving Cat, Deep Thoughts, and Stuart Smalley just to name a few. They were much funnier and most of them (Stuart, Stuart, Stuart... Tsk tsk... You disappoint me.) had the good sense to stay away from a feature length movie. WATCH THEM!
That's the review, and I. Am. OUTTA HERE!
GGC
(Yes, I know that The Blue Brothers was WAY before Pat... But I wanted to include it because it's AWESOME!)
The reason that Pat was funny (and yes, I kinda found Pat funny... I will be calling Pat "her" for clarity in the future) was that the sketch ended in minutes, NOT an hour and seventeen excruciating minutes later. Pat is not a character that a writer should even WANT to make into a feature length(ish) story. She is a one-joke show. Is she a woman or a man? And hour and 17 minutes of that. Oh, and not only that! Pat is unlikable, as in a truly horrible, selfish person.
The plot (as it were) is focused on Pat, an androgynous character living her life. She gets fired from the post office for opening everyone's mail, she barges in on her neighbor, she freaks out the pharmacist, and all this in the first 5 minutes of the movie. Alright, maybe 10. BUT STILL! In her search for a job, Pat goes to a bar, there she meets Chris (I will call Chris "him in the future), also an androgynous character. They date, fall in love and get engaged. All while the script carefully hides both characters respective genders. In the meantime, Pat gets new neighbors, Kyle and Stacy Jacobsen. Through the course of the movie, Kyle forms an extreme obsession on Pat. His wife leaves him because he is in love with Pat. In the meantime, all is not well with Chris and Pat due to Pat's lack of job and misconceptions of what a career actually is. Also what a relationship actually is. Chris leaves her for taking him for granted. Pat also takes her neighbor's job with no remorse (her neighbor is Kathy Griffin playing herself as a radio "love line" advice "doctor"). This really goes nowhere, just another instance to show how Pat is terrible. Kyle then steps in and in a psycho move, kidnaps Pat and tried to make her strip, so he can see whether she is a man or a woman. Not that it matters to him, he just wants to know. Oh! All this while he is dressed as Pat. This results in a chase scene, ending with Kyle arrested and Pat with her pants down dangling above Ween in concert. (Of course, we don't get to find out what she is... what would be the fun in THAT???) With this dose of humility, Pat runs to find Chris, and they get back together and they all live happily ever after, except Kyle who is in jail.
This movie is SO awful!!! Pat is really unlikable. I can't even really find good clips to share. Which is good for you... Bad for me cause I really wanna share my pain! I can only find the longer clips, and even I am not so cruel as to share those and make you watch them. Tempting as it is, I would live in a world of guilt. You are getting off LIGHT!!
So seriously, if you feel nostalgic for SNL, watch Wayne's World, hell, any Chris Farley movie, Blues Brothers, or (better yet) catch an actual SNL rerun. Seriously! Pat came from the time of Toonces the Driving Cat, Deep Thoughts, and Stuart Smalley just to name a few. They were much funnier and most of them (Stuart, Stuart, Stuart... Tsk tsk... You disappoint me.) had the good sense to stay away from a feature length movie. WATCH THEM!
That's the review, and I. Am. OUTTA HERE!
GGC
(Yes, I know that The Blue Brothers was WAY before Pat... But I wanted to include it because it's AWESOME!)
Sunday, June 3, 2012
It was the best of (movie) times... Blade Runner
Wow. This movie is pretty awesome. Let's get started...
Blade Runner is set in the early 21st century (*grin*). In this not too distant future, artificial intelligence has taken a leap to the Nexus 6. The Nexus 6 is a person, only better, and illegal on Earth. They are used as slave labor off planet. A Blade Runner is a police officer who has the distinction of hunting down renegade "replicants" as these AIs are called. Our main character, Rick Deckard, is one of these elite. A group of replicants have escaped and arrived on Earth. Deckard is, of course, called in (from retirement, no less) to hunt them down. Through his investigation, Deckard meets Rachel. Rachel is also a replicant, however, she did not know this before Deckard entered her life. Through her, we get to see that the replicants can form emotions despite not being programmed to have them. As they are designed to be physically powerful and (in some cases) at least as smart as the humans who made them, this emotional life they have can make them quite dangerous. Most have not developed emotions due to their 4 year life span. This group of replicants have come only to gain more life. In their search, they have gone on a killing spree that draws the authority's attention, and it seems to be all for naught, as we find out that the 4 year life span is not a fail safe programmed into them, but simply a consequence of their existence that the Tyrell Company (the company who designed the Nexus 6) was unable to reverse. Deckard hunts them down, and through his relationship with Rachel (also a Nexus 6) seems to start to see them as people. The climax is heart breaking and beautiful in the cinematography. We even, sort of, get a happy ending. Rachel and Deckard leave to be together for however long she has.
The movie sets a mood that is pretty darned cool. It is cyber punk-esque is feel... But not overwelmingly so. It's dark and slightly foreign in technology, but not so much that it alienates the audience. In fact, most of the backgrounds are actually downtown Tokyo. So we get advertisements for Coca-Cola and the like. But, the police force has flying cars. Seriously. This movie takes place in 2019 and they have flying cars. Seven more years, people! Yay, for flying cars!
I really also liked the feel and movement of the script. About halfway through, I realized that it was a Noir homage. And well done, too. Sure, it's futuristic, but all we needed was the voice-over of Deckard's inner monologue and it could have been a Bogie film. Most of the other elements were there, the mysterious woman needing help and the gruff detective who is hesitant to form an attachment to her to name a couple. WHY did it take me so long to see this movie???
Which brings me to my last thoughts, I LOVE sci-fi and cyber punk is one of my favorite asthetics for movies. I am 36 years old, and this is my first viewing of this particular movie. Why? I wish I could answer that. I am so glad that I can now say that I have seen it. And if you know me, I am officially now taking suggestions for future movie viewing in this genre, just so I don't miss another gem.
GGC
Blade Runner is set in the early 21st century (*grin*). In this not too distant future, artificial intelligence has taken a leap to the Nexus 6. The Nexus 6 is a person, only better, and illegal on Earth. They are used as slave labor off planet. A Blade Runner is a police officer who has the distinction of hunting down renegade "replicants" as these AIs are called. Our main character, Rick Deckard, is one of these elite. A group of replicants have escaped and arrived on Earth. Deckard is, of course, called in (from retirement, no less) to hunt them down. Through his investigation, Deckard meets Rachel. Rachel is also a replicant, however, she did not know this before Deckard entered her life. Through her, we get to see that the replicants can form emotions despite not being programmed to have them. As they are designed to be physically powerful and (in some cases) at least as smart as the humans who made them, this emotional life they have can make them quite dangerous. Most have not developed emotions due to their 4 year life span. This group of replicants have come only to gain more life. In their search, they have gone on a killing spree that draws the authority's attention, and it seems to be all for naught, as we find out that the 4 year life span is not a fail safe programmed into them, but simply a consequence of their existence that the Tyrell Company (the company who designed the Nexus 6) was unable to reverse. Deckard hunts them down, and through his relationship with Rachel (also a Nexus 6) seems to start to see them as people. The climax is heart breaking and beautiful in the cinematography. We even, sort of, get a happy ending. Rachel and Deckard leave to be together for however long she has.
The movie sets a mood that is pretty darned cool. It is cyber punk-esque is feel... But not overwelmingly so. It's dark and slightly foreign in technology, but not so much that it alienates the audience. In fact, most of the backgrounds are actually downtown Tokyo. So we get advertisements for Coca-Cola and the like. But, the police force has flying cars. Seriously. This movie takes place in 2019 and they have flying cars. Seven more years, people! Yay, for flying cars!
I really also liked the feel and movement of the script. About halfway through, I realized that it was a Noir homage. And well done, too. Sure, it's futuristic, but all we needed was the voice-over of Deckard's inner monologue and it could have been a Bogie film. Most of the other elements were there, the mysterious woman needing help and the gruff detective who is hesitant to form an attachment to her to name a couple. WHY did it take me so long to see this movie???
Which brings me to my last thoughts, I LOVE sci-fi and cyber punk is one of my favorite asthetics for movies. I am 36 years old, and this is my first viewing of this particular movie. Why? I wish I could answer that. I am so glad that I can now say that I have seen it. And if you know me, I am officially now taking suggestions for future movie viewing in this genre, just so I don't miss another gem.
GGC
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