Apologies from me for this late update -- I had a super-crappy week last week due to the death of an old acquaintence here in Dallastown that I went to school with and things got complicated. Aside from that, I would like to present to you the first anime-related review of Movie Monday, a look at ADV Film's 2002 entry, City Hunter: The Motion Picture.
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“Nookie never lies.”
--Martin Blacker as Joe Saeba, a.k.a. City Hunter
Let it be said that I’ve been an unabashed fan of anime, or Japanese animation, since I was twelve years old. The very first ‘real’ anime I ever saw was The Guyver: Bio-Booster Armor OAV put out by U.S. Renditions, and it’s been an on-and-off-again ride ever since. Right now, it’s on again, and I’d like to commemorate this ninth review by being the first anime-related review of Movie Monday -- City Hunter: The Motion Picture, a made-for-TV special to celebrate ten years of the TV series City Hunter being on the air.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with the City Hunter story, and that included me, it’s fairly simple -- Ryo Saeba (Joe Saeba in the English version) is Shinjuku’s number one troubleshooter and ladies’ man, also known as City Hunter. If you leave a message on the XYZ board at the downtown Tokyo train station, he’ll come find you and offer assistance. If you happen to be a pretty lady, then he expects to be paid with some nookie. To stop his relentless nookie quest, his assistant Kaori has a variety of hyper-dimensional hammers that she smacks Joe over the head with, ranging from a 50 pounder to a 1,000-ton ball on a chain.
The lass in need of assistance this time is dancer/performer Ami Munto, whose brother disappeared some time ago. Recently, Ami received a bundle of black roses, which always held significance for her and her older sibling. Simultaneously, a criminal mastermind known as The Professor has entered Tokyo, with the purpose of committing a terrible terrorist action against the Japanese government. Could this Professor be Ami’s long-lost brother? What’s his purpose for challenging the City Hunter? If I said anything else, I’d spoil what is probably the most thrilling anime I’ve seen in a long time, so I’ll just stop right here and let you watch it for yourself.
I watched both versions of the film (the original Japanese version and the English dub) and found the English dub to be more enjoyable, even if it does have some serious mistakes and mispronunciations in it. Most notable of the changes in the dub is the switch of Ryo’s name to Joe so it would fit the lip flaps. The same probably happened with Saeko, the sexy female police inspector, whose name got changed to Sandra. Kaori’s name got mispronounced by each character at least a dozen times, and I don’t think any of them got it right. And finally, the most notable mistake was the mispronunciation of the city Shinjuku, which got pronounced as "not SHIN-juku," not "shin-JU-ku."
But this dub makes up for what it did by giving these characters more flavor than the Japanese version had. In the Japanese version, Ryo is simply a tough guy with a case of wackiness that could be controlled with some anti-psychotics; Martin Blacker, his English voice actor, brings more balance to the role, giving “Joe” a unified persona. The arguments between Falcon, a tough mercenary who runs a coffee shop, and Joe are absolutely hilarious, whereas they fell flat for me in the Japanese version.
As for the hyper-dimensional hammer thing, I have only this to say to City Hunter fans -- when you get to be my age (27 in May), whacking someone over the head with a hammer because they chase after women is like watching a Looney Tune, not an anime. Sorry, but all that fighting between Joe and Kaori didn’t make me laugh once. I’m guessing the hammer business is something only die-hard City Hunter fans understand, ‘cause it was lost on me.
As an added note, the final battle between Joe and The Professor is probably my favorite part of the movie, because it takes place on a speeding bullet train against a rusty orange sunset. The gunplay in City Hunter is very realistic, with the guns actually looking like their real-life counterparts. The fistfight between Joe and The Professor wasn’t bad either, as it didn’t have them pulling out rapid-fire martial arts on each other and just going totally over-the-top with it.
Overall, I’d say that City Hunter: The Motion Picture isn’t for everyone, but if you’re a big action fan and you like your anime to be a little more realistic and believable than something like, say, The Guyver, then you might want to give this film a shot. I did -- I found a like new copy of it on the Amazon.com Marketplace for a smidgen below six dollars, and that included the shipping. Unfortunately, used is probably going to be the only place you can find the City Hunter movies and TV series, as they have all been discontinued by ADV Films and are now probably out-of-print. But if you like to hunt, and you know this bargain bin barbarian does, then you’ll find your dose of Joe, Kaori, and the hyper-dimensional hammer-whackin’ soon enough.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
Movie Monday No. 8 - Big Trouble
Well, two weeks in a row for the month of March, people! Let's keep this streak going with a review of the Barry Sonnenfeld comedy, Big Trouble, which I picked up at Tom's Music Trade here in Red Lion, PA for four bucks. Wondering what store I'm talking about? Read on and find out for yourself!
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"This is Miami? They can keep it."
--Dennis Farina as Ness, Big Trouble
Cue the Cheers theme song, people, ‘cause I’m going to jabber on about one of my favorite places to go. No, it isn’t La-La Land; I can go there any time I want (and some people claim I live there daily, which I’m not conceding or denying). It’s a trade store located on North Main Street in the town I live in, Red Lion, Pennsylvania, called Tom’s Music Trade, and it’s the best place to find anything you’re looking for.
Feeling a bit blue last Wednesday, I went to Tom’s (it’s, like, five minutes from my apartment) and traded in some older DVDs I had and acquired some new ones for my collection. Tom, the owner, is a British guy who hasn’t lost his accent yet, likes watching UFC fights on his laptop by the cash register, and never seems to be in a sour mood, no matter what the weather may be like outside. When I visited his store on Wednesday, I told him about my blog, and that I’d mention his store in it someday.
Well, that time has come, since on my visit there I picked up the 2001 Touchstone Pictures comedy Big Trouble, based on Pulitzer-prize winning humorist Dave Barry’s first novel. I’ve never read the novel, but there were definite "Barry-isms" carried over from the book to the script, which is always a good sign that the writers actually cared about the material (and it wasn’t just another paycheck to them).
This film begins with Jason Lee playing a hippie addicted to Fritos named Puggy. Everyone keeps mistaking him for Jesus because of his long hair and goatee, which I thought was actually kind-of funny. The movie begins full-force with Tim Allen playing Elliot Arnold, a former columnist who quit his job after having a meltdown at his former boss who tried to assign him ‘serious’ work. If this isn’t a Barry-ism, then I don’t know what is.
The story in this film follows Arnold as his son, Matthew, attempts to go to a female classmate’s house and squirt-gun her so he can "score points" for a game played in school. Simultaneously, Dennis Farina arrives in town and at this girl’s house to kill her father, who has been skimming money from his company. The company had ordered him dead, and Farina and his partner, who always responds with the same line -- "You said it" -- end up botching the job when Elliot’s son Matthew enters the scene and tries to ‘kill’ the poor girl with his squirt gun.
When the girl’s mother (Rene Russo) and Matthew’s father Elliot meet for the first time, there’s some chemistry that can’t be denied...and when she stops by Elliot’s office the next day, they end up doing this hilarious sex scene where Elliot is trying to kiss her, take her clothes off, balance himself, and keep from spilling a cup of coffee, all to a Mexican samba in the background. This had me rolling, and that was a very good sign.
The girl’s father (Stanley Tucci) acquires a nuclear bomb from some Russian arms dealers who use a crappy bar as a front for their operation. That’s when two knuckleheads, led by Tom Sizemore, storm the bar to rob it, but instead take the nuclear device and the so-called "drug kingpin in the fag Jag" back to his house, where Elliot, his son, and the "kingpin’s" daughter and wife have arrived after finding out that another one of these squirting games has gone on, and end up getting tangled up in the heist with the nuclear device (that everyone keeps remarking looks like a garbage disposal).
If the comedy in this doesn’t keep you watching the movie, this is the point where it kicks into high gear and everything gets cranked up ten notches. I won’t ruin it for you -- you have to see it for yourself as every character gets what’s coming to them, and then some.
A movie would be nothing without its script, and this movie had a great one. The direction by Barry Sonnenfeld, who also directed Get Shorty and Men In Black before this film, was top-notch. There weren’t what I call frat-boy shots in it -- shots down women’s dresses, extreme close-ups of breasts and ass -- you get what I mean. It was a very clean movie in terms of that. The acting was top-notch, but that’s what happens when you have comedy greats like Stanley Tucci, Jason Lee, Rene Russo, and of course Tim Allen working with material from Dave Barry -- you’re bound to have something funny.
The music for this film was great as well, performed by James Newton Howard, who gets very little recognition for his work. The jazzy themes he came up with for Big Trouble matched the film perfectly, and even in the suspenseful last minutes, the score lived up to the action on the screen. Industrial Light and Magic even did some great plane effects here that still hold up well.
Overall, Big Trouble is simply a tightly-plotted and very funny movie, and I haven’t even mentioned half of what goes on. I’m saving it for you, the viewer, to find out when you watch it, because this is one movie I’d recommend to just about anybody, even my grandmother (if you’re reading this Grammy, go rent Big Trouble before the day’s through). If you’re looking for big laughs with a great cast that will not disappoint, then Big Trouble is the movie for you. And if you don’t laugh even once, then you are not human.
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"This is Miami? They can keep it."
--Dennis Farina as Ness, Big Trouble
Cue the Cheers theme song, people, ‘cause I’m going to jabber on about one of my favorite places to go. No, it isn’t La-La Land; I can go there any time I want (and some people claim I live there daily, which I’m not conceding or denying). It’s a trade store located on North Main Street in the town I live in, Red Lion, Pennsylvania, called Tom’s Music Trade, and it’s the best place to find anything you’re looking for.
Feeling a bit blue last Wednesday, I went to Tom’s (it’s, like, five minutes from my apartment) and traded in some older DVDs I had and acquired some new ones for my collection. Tom, the owner, is a British guy who hasn’t lost his accent yet, likes watching UFC fights on his laptop by the cash register, and never seems to be in a sour mood, no matter what the weather may be like outside. When I visited his store on Wednesday, I told him about my blog, and that I’d mention his store in it someday.
Well, that time has come, since on my visit there I picked up the 2001 Touchstone Pictures comedy Big Trouble, based on Pulitzer-prize winning humorist Dave Barry’s first novel. I’ve never read the novel, but there were definite "Barry-isms" carried over from the book to the script, which is always a good sign that the writers actually cared about the material (and it wasn’t just another paycheck to them).
This film begins with Jason Lee playing a hippie addicted to Fritos named Puggy. Everyone keeps mistaking him for Jesus because of his long hair and goatee, which I thought was actually kind-of funny. The movie begins full-force with Tim Allen playing Elliot Arnold, a former columnist who quit his job after having a meltdown at his former boss who tried to assign him ‘serious’ work. If this isn’t a Barry-ism, then I don’t know what is.
The story in this film follows Arnold as his son, Matthew, attempts to go to a female classmate’s house and squirt-gun her so he can "score points" for a game played in school. Simultaneously, Dennis Farina arrives in town and at this girl’s house to kill her father, who has been skimming money from his company. The company had ordered him dead, and Farina and his partner, who always responds with the same line -- "You said it" -- end up botching the job when Elliot’s son Matthew enters the scene and tries to ‘kill’ the poor girl with his squirt gun.
When the girl’s mother (Rene Russo) and Matthew’s father Elliot meet for the first time, there’s some chemistry that can’t be denied...and when she stops by Elliot’s office the next day, they end up doing this hilarious sex scene where Elliot is trying to kiss her, take her clothes off, balance himself, and keep from spilling a cup of coffee, all to a Mexican samba in the background. This had me rolling, and that was a very good sign.
The girl’s father (Stanley Tucci) acquires a nuclear bomb from some Russian arms dealers who use a crappy bar as a front for their operation. That’s when two knuckleheads, led by Tom Sizemore, storm the bar to rob it, but instead take the nuclear device and the so-called "drug kingpin in the fag Jag" back to his house, where Elliot, his son, and the "kingpin’s" daughter and wife have arrived after finding out that another one of these squirting games has gone on, and end up getting tangled up in the heist with the nuclear device (that everyone keeps remarking looks like a garbage disposal).
If the comedy in this doesn’t keep you watching the movie, this is the point where it kicks into high gear and everything gets cranked up ten notches. I won’t ruin it for you -- you have to see it for yourself as every character gets what’s coming to them, and then some.
A movie would be nothing without its script, and this movie had a great one. The direction by Barry Sonnenfeld, who also directed Get Shorty and Men In Black before this film, was top-notch. There weren’t what I call frat-boy shots in it -- shots down women’s dresses, extreme close-ups of breasts and ass -- you get what I mean. It was a very clean movie in terms of that. The acting was top-notch, but that’s what happens when you have comedy greats like Stanley Tucci, Jason Lee, Rene Russo, and of course Tim Allen working with material from Dave Barry -- you’re bound to have something funny.
The music for this film was great as well, performed by James Newton Howard, who gets very little recognition for his work. The jazzy themes he came up with for Big Trouble matched the film perfectly, and even in the suspenseful last minutes, the score lived up to the action on the screen. Industrial Light and Magic even did some great plane effects here that still hold up well.
Overall, Big Trouble is simply a tightly-plotted and very funny movie, and I haven’t even mentioned half of what goes on. I’m saving it for you, the viewer, to find out when you watch it, because this is one movie I’d recommend to just about anybody, even my grandmother (if you’re reading this Grammy, go rent Big Trouble before the day’s through). If you’re looking for big laughs with a great cast that will not disappoint, then Big Trouble is the movie for you. And if you don’t laugh even once, then you are not human.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Movie Monday No. 7 - In Bruges
Well, here's starting off a new month with a new review. Let's see if I can start another streak of updating them on or near Monday (the previous record was 5 weeks straight). The problem I had in February ended up being that I am came down with a nasty cold and didn't get out much and didn't feel like doing much of anything, even Movie Monday. Well, that's about to change. So here for your reading pleasure (or displeasure, as the case may be), is a review of 2007's twisted, un-P.C. drama/thriller In Bruges.
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"What’s a f**king fifty year-old Chinese lollipop man doing with kung-fu?"
--Colin Farrell as Ray, In Bruges
Up until this film, I had yet to see a project that truly captured the agony that a first-time hitman might go through when his first job blows up in his face. It’s a theme that intrigues me and I’ve seen it attempted in other films, but never to the degree of success that Martin McDonagh has pulled off in his 2007 feature for Universal/Focus Features, In Bruges.
I came across this film at the local Lackluster (oh wait, did I say that? I meant Blockbuster) Video store in my hometown and realized that it was cheaper to buy the previously viewed copy for $3.99 than it was to rent the damn movie for $4.99. Since I’m a big fan of offbeat British humor, I thought this would be a good match for me. It was, but this film also packs an emotional wallop I was not prepared for.
In Bruges finds our two heroes Ray (Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) taking a few days off in the Belgium town of Bruges after Ray’s first hit went wrong. It’s not revealed in this early stage exactly what went wrong with it, but they’ve received orders from Harry (Ralph Fiennes), their boss, to sit tight and wait for him to call. After some very comedic sightseeing that gets Ray into more trouble than he bargained for (and reveals his peculiar fascination with midgets), Ray scores a date with a cute girl on a local film crew (who is of normal human size, I’d like to note).
When Ray’s off on his date, Ken gets the call from Harry, and it’s between these two points that we really learn what went wrong. Ray shot a priest, and as he stepped out of the confession booth blazing bullets, a bullet blew open the head of a five year-old boy who was praying because, as he had written in a note Ray finds in the boy’s hands, he was sad. Ken pulls him away before the cops arrive, and now Harry wants Ken to "whack" Ray. "Nobody does a kid and gets away with it," Harry says. "Nobody."
As to whether Ken offs Ray or doesn’t, I’ll leave that up to you to find out when you watch In Bruges. While I was watching it, the film seemed to take on three different shapes -- the hitman movie, the neo-noir movie, and the offbeat independent European comedy. This unique blend of these three genres, if you will, allows In Bruges to be something very unique -- not a hitman neo-noir European comedy (duh), but a very emotional film about what humans do when other humans screw up.
Take for example Colin Farrell’s character, Ray. He’s got the biggest screw-up of all -- he shot a kid by accident. In one of Farrell’s best pieces of acting so far in his career, he actually curls up into Ken’s arms and bawls for the death of the child’s life he so ruthlessly took. This scene solidified the theme of the film for me -- that no matter who we are, we must first own up to what is ours and what we’ve done. It’s a powerful, very human theme, disguised in trippy neo-noir coating.
The music and production design further go to isolate the characters into this surreal world they live in. Carter Burwell composed a masterful piano-led score that tapped into the sadness and desolate feeling of Bruges, along with highlighting the more colorful parts of the characters’ personalities. His chase music, for when Harry catches up to Ray, is also quite exemplary. The production design was done by Michael Carlin, who captures the natural colors and architecture of Bruges masterfully, and with good taste.
There are two drawbacks to In Bruges -- the excessive use of the "f" word and the gruesome detail they put into the gunfire wounds. I thought these two elements were a little unnecessary in order to get their point across; we don’t need to see a chunk of the five year-old’s head missing in order to know that he’s been shot. A little blood and a small hole would have sufficed. Plus, to emphasize how much language there was, a rather amusing (or appalling, depending on how you look at it) montage is included on the DVD in the bonus features of nothing but the instances of foul language used in the movie. While it made me laugh, it might make some of you more virgin-eared readers out there in cyberland shriek in dismay.
Overall, I’d have to say that In Bruges is a very different film -- not at all what it is advertised or hailed to be. I think it has at its core a very serious theme about your sins catching up to you, and that if you try to run, you only delay the inevitable. A pretty grim outlook, but one that matches the lives of criminals and hitmen that populate the world this movie takes place in.
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"What’s a f**king fifty year-old Chinese lollipop man doing with kung-fu?"
--Colin Farrell as Ray, In Bruges
Up until this film, I had yet to see a project that truly captured the agony that a first-time hitman might go through when his first job blows up in his face. It’s a theme that intrigues me and I’ve seen it attempted in other films, but never to the degree of success that Martin McDonagh has pulled off in his 2007 feature for Universal/Focus Features, In Bruges.
I came across this film at the local Lackluster (oh wait, did I say that? I meant Blockbuster) Video store in my hometown and realized that it was cheaper to buy the previously viewed copy for $3.99 than it was to rent the damn movie for $4.99. Since I’m a big fan of offbeat British humor, I thought this would be a good match for me. It was, but this film also packs an emotional wallop I was not prepared for.
In Bruges finds our two heroes Ray (Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) taking a few days off in the Belgium town of Bruges after Ray’s first hit went wrong. It’s not revealed in this early stage exactly what went wrong with it, but they’ve received orders from Harry (Ralph Fiennes), their boss, to sit tight and wait for him to call. After some very comedic sightseeing that gets Ray into more trouble than he bargained for (and reveals his peculiar fascination with midgets), Ray scores a date with a cute girl on a local film crew (who is of normal human size, I’d like to note).
When Ray’s off on his date, Ken gets the call from Harry, and it’s between these two points that we really learn what went wrong. Ray shot a priest, and as he stepped out of the confession booth blazing bullets, a bullet blew open the head of a five year-old boy who was praying because, as he had written in a note Ray finds in the boy’s hands, he was sad. Ken pulls him away before the cops arrive, and now Harry wants Ken to "whack" Ray. "Nobody does a kid and gets away with it," Harry says. "Nobody."
As to whether Ken offs Ray or doesn’t, I’ll leave that up to you to find out when you watch In Bruges. While I was watching it, the film seemed to take on three different shapes -- the hitman movie, the neo-noir movie, and the offbeat independent European comedy. This unique blend of these three genres, if you will, allows In Bruges to be something very unique -- not a hitman neo-noir European comedy (duh), but a very emotional film about what humans do when other humans screw up.
Take for example Colin Farrell’s character, Ray. He’s got the biggest screw-up of all -- he shot a kid by accident. In one of Farrell’s best pieces of acting so far in his career, he actually curls up into Ken’s arms and bawls for the death of the child’s life he so ruthlessly took. This scene solidified the theme of the film for me -- that no matter who we are, we must first own up to what is ours and what we’ve done. It’s a powerful, very human theme, disguised in trippy neo-noir coating.
The music and production design further go to isolate the characters into this surreal world they live in. Carter Burwell composed a masterful piano-led score that tapped into the sadness and desolate feeling of Bruges, along with highlighting the more colorful parts of the characters’ personalities. His chase music, for when Harry catches up to Ray, is also quite exemplary. The production design was done by Michael Carlin, who captures the natural colors and architecture of Bruges masterfully, and with good taste.
There are two drawbacks to In Bruges -- the excessive use of the "f" word and the gruesome detail they put into the gunfire wounds. I thought these two elements were a little unnecessary in order to get their point across; we don’t need to see a chunk of the five year-old’s head missing in order to know that he’s been shot. A little blood and a small hole would have sufficed. Plus, to emphasize how much language there was, a rather amusing (or appalling, depending on how you look at it) montage is included on the DVD in the bonus features of nothing but the instances of foul language used in the movie. While it made me laugh, it might make some of you more virgin-eared readers out there in cyberland shriek in dismay.
Overall, I’d have to say that In Bruges is a very different film -- not at all what it is advertised or hailed to be. I think it has at its core a very serious theme about your sins catching up to you, and that if you try to run, you only delay the inevitable. A pretty grim outlook, but one that matches the lives of criminals and hitmen that populate the world this movie takes place in.
Monday, February 9, 2009
Movie Monday No. 6 - Thunderbirds Are Go
Well folks, it's been about a month since Movie Monday was updated, and I apologize sincerely for that. I had some personal business to take care of that ran long and the blog suffered as a result of it. But, I have returned, and with an "absolutely smashing" review of Thunderbirds Are Go, the first feature film that showcased the amazing Technicolor wonder known as Supermarionation. Let's jump right in.
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“F.A.B.”
--Sylvia Anderson as Lady Penelope, Thunderbirds Are Go
Ladies and gentlemen, it is time for a guilty confession. I am an Andersonphile, the term given to those who enjoy the Gerry Anderson Supermarionation puppet series such as Thunderbirds, Stingray, Captain Scarlet (my personal favorite), and even Terrahawks. These shows, which were a staple of British television for many years, have become treasured classics, and today I’m reviewing one of the most prized of the bunch -- Thunderbirds Are Go, the first of two Thunderbirds feature films from 1966, which I picked up at a bargain outlet chain store called Christmas Tree Shops (has nothing to do with Christmas or trees, however) here in York for about ten dollars.
The setup for Thunderbirds, in case you’ve been living under a rock for the past forty years or so, is known to most: Jeff Tracy, an ex-astronaut, lives on a remote island in the South Pacific with his five sons (well, four, if you don’t count John, since he’s up in space in Thunderbird 5, but more on that later). From here they operate International Rescue, which receives distress calls and deploys the mighty Thunderbird vehicles, able to traverse land, sea, and air and rescue anyone and practically anything. Lady Penelope and her butler Parker, who operate a tricked-out, hot pink Rolls Royce, assist them in their adventures.
In this film, the adventure centers around a manned expedition to Mars called the Zero-X (which has the typical lengthy assembly sequence that, somehow, remains arresting to this day). In the opening minutes of the film, the Zero-X crash-lands in the ocean, suggesting sabotage. The brass of the space force come to the conclusion that International Rescue should be called in to oversee the next launch. Seems simple enough, unless you count that there’s the ever-present threat of The Hood, a puppet who looks like James Cagney on a bad hair day and is always causing problems for Jeff Tracy and his sons.
This film is a real treasure, mostly due to all the period design pieces and miniature models that were used for the production. Alternatively, there is also the wonderful music of Barry Gray, who scored pretty much all of the Supermarionation shows (his launching sequence music for the Zero-X is particularly memorable). What also makes this a stand-out piece of film history is Alan’s dream sequence with Lady Penelope at the Swinging Star, which featured puppets based on a real 1960’s pop band. While the dream goes way off the radar, it’s fun to see where the Andersons’ imagination would take them sometimes.
Another stand-out piece of filmmaking, even if it is just miniatures, is the Andersons’ view of Mars in 1966 as an ashen, barren rock world with -- GASP -- Martian Rock Snakes that spew fireballs at will at the unsuspecting humans of Zero-X! Sorry, I got carried away there, but you know, that’s easy to do when you’re watching one of these...even after forty-plus years of being in circulation, these movies still haven’t gotten old.
On the other hand, certain questions do arise when watching this, such as -- where did Jeff Tracy and Lady Penelope get their money? Are they having an affair? What kind of a name is Tin-Tin, anyway? Wasn’t that the name of a K-9 dog drama on the Family Channel in the mid-90’s? And about Tin-Tin -- was she having some sort of relationship with Alan? And just what did John ever do to land himself the job of being in Thunderbird 5, the space station, all by his lonesome? What did he do to dear old Dad Tracy to land that crappy assignment? Makes you wonder, you know? ;-)
All kidding aside, both kids and adults alike should really enjoy Thunderbirds Are Go, even those kids like myself who refuse to grow up. It has all the elements that make a good film into a great film--adventure, action, and the quirky little mysteries about the characters that I mentioned above. And, per the usual Movie Monday quota, you can pick it up for $10 or less, which makes Thunderbirds Are Go not just a great movie, but a terrific movie.
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“F.A.B.”
--Sylvia Anderson as Lady Penelope, Thunderbirds Are Go
Ladies and gentlemen, it is time for a guilty confession. I am an Andersonphile, the term given to those who enjoy the Gerry Anderson Supermarionation puppet series such as Thunderbirds, Stingray, Captain Scarlet (my personal favorite), and even Terrahawks. These shows, which were a staple of British television for many years, have become treasured classics, and today I’m reviewing one of the most prized of the bunch -- Thunderbirds Are Go, the first of two Thunderbirds feature films from 1966, which I picked up at a bargain outlet chain store called Christmas Tree Shops (has nothing to do with Christmas or trees, however) here in York for about ten dollars.
The setup for Thunderbirds, in case you’ve been living under a rock for the past forty years or so, is known to most: Jeff Tracy, an ex-astronaut, lives on a remote island in the South Pacific with his five sons (well, four, if you don’t count John, since he’s up in space in Thunderbird 5, but more on that later). From here they operate International Rescue, which receives distress calls and deploys the mighty Thunderbird vehicles, able to traverse land, sea, and air and rescue anyone and practically anything. Lady Penelope and her butler Parker, who operate a tricked-out, hot pink Rolls Royce, assist them in their adventures.
In this film, the adventure centers around a manned expedition to Mars called the Zero-X (which has the typical lengthy assembly sequence that, somehow, remains arresting to this day). In the opening minutes of the film, the Zero-X crash-lands in the ocean, suggesting sabotage. The brass of the space force come to the conclusion that International Rescue should be called in to oversee the next launch. Seems simple enough, unless you count that there’s the ever-present threat of The Hood, a puppet who looks like James Cagney on a bad hair day and is always causing problems for Jeff Tracy and his sons.
This film is a real treasure, mostly due to all the period design pieces and miniature models that were used for the production. Alternatively, there is also the wonderful music of Barry Gray, who scored pretty much all of the Supermarionation shows (his launching sequence music for the Zero-X is particularly memorable). What also makes this a stand-out piece of film history is Alan’s dream sequence with Lady Penelope at the Swinging Star, which featured puppets based on a real 1960’s pop band. While the dream goes way off the radar, it’s fun to see where the Andersons’ imagination would take them sometimes.
Another stand-out piece of filmmaking, even if it is just miniatures, is the Andersons’ view of Mars in 1966 as an ashen, barren rock world with -- GASP -- Martian Rock Snakes that spew fireballs at will at the unsuspecting humans of Zero-X! Sorry, I got carried away there, but you know, that’s easy to do when you’re watching one of these...even after forty-plus years of being in circulation, these movies still haven’t gotten old.
On the other hand, certain questions do arise when watching this, such as -- where did Jeff Tracy and Lady Penelope get their money? Are they having an affair? What kind of a name is Tin-Tin, anyway? Wasn’t that the name of a K-9 dog drama on the Family Channel in the mid-90’s? And about Tin-Tin -- was she having some sort of relationship with Alan? And just what did John ever do to land himself the job of being in Thunderbird 5, the space station, all by his lonesome? What did he do to dear old Dad Tracy to land that crappy assignment? Makes you wonder, you know? ;-)
All kidding aside, both kids and adults alike should really enjoy Thunderbirds Are Go, even those kids like myself who refuse to grow up. It has all the elements that make a good film into a great film--adventure, action, and the quirky little mysteries about the characters that I mentioned above. And, per the usual Movie Monday quota, you can pick it up for $10 or less, which makes Thunderbirds Are Go not just a great movie, but a terrific movie.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Movie Monday 05: Taffin
It's currently snowing here in PA, something unexpected after the inch of ice we had over the weekend. I swear, I'm moving someplace warm someday where there is NEVER any winter. I can't stand the cold weather. Even with all this extra padding I have, I'm not built for it. So, that's enough of my griping. Let's get on with the review for this week, which is of 1987's Taffin starring Pierce Brosnan.
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“Would you all mind not talking about me as if I wasn’t here?”
Pierce Brosnan as Mark Taffin, Taffin
One cold winter day some three years ago, I wandered into the zoo that has become the Super Wal-Mart in East York and saw their bargain bin movies by the front registers. Nobody was digging through them, so I took it upon myself to peruse the titles there, priced at 2 for $10. I didn’t find much that was worth writing home about, but one movie stood out--Francis Megahy’s Taffin, based on Lyndon Mallet’s novel of the same name. This independently produced film, released in 1987 under the MGM/United Artists banner, had a distinct European flavor to it that I simply fell in love with. And of course, there’s always Mister 007 himself, Pierce Brosnan. You can’t go wrong there.
In this vehicle, Brosnan plays the title character Mark Taffin, who lives in a small Irish town as a rugged debt collector. He’s a different brand of hero, though--if he feels that you can do the job yourself, then he won’t help you. If he feels you can do it, but don’t have the brains, he’ll tell you how to do it. And when all else fails, Taffin can totally kick your ass with his fighting skills. So when rumors begin to fly that the Sprawley Corporation plans to build a large chemical plant on the edge of town, the townspeople are looking for help...and lo and behold, who better to help out than Taffin?
If this sounds like one of Steven Seagal’s mid-90’s eco-thrillers to you, then you’re not even close. Brosnan’s character of Mark Taffin is a true man, who stands up for what he believes in (as he comments in one scene to his lover Charlotte, played by the striking Alison Doody, “This [the mind] is far more powerful than this [the fist]...at least, it used to be”). He is a dying breed of man, even back in 1987 when this was filmed, and that stood out to me above all else as the theme of this film.
As far as Brosnan’s performance is concerned, it’s spot-on, chap. A native Irishman, Taffin’s sounds and accent really come through, and his rugged charm could make a straight man like myself swing for the other team. But an actor is only as good as his script, and David Ambrose (who also wrote Year Of The Gun) assembled a great adaptation here that shows the diverse sides of Taffin’s Irish life.
There’s a discussion here about the morality of what Taffin does as well, displayed in arguments he has with his former seminary teacher Mister O’Rourke (Ray McAnally). One memorable quote that comes out of their first argument belongs to Taffin--“And you would rather bend the knee than stretch the mind.” This riveting piece of drama mid-way through the film shows not only the dynamics of the two characters, but the complexity of Taffin--a man who wants to believe in something bigger than himself, but after all he’s seen and done, finds something audacious in what some people would call an invisible support system.
The way Taffin goes about fighting the Sprawley Corporation is unique to the character as well--he enlists the help of his brother Mo (Patrick Bergin) and other friends to dig up incriminating secrets about Sprawley’s top executives, and uses these secrets to blackmail them into signing a document that, as one character puts it to Mister Sprawley himself, “could put both of us away for a long time.” But this act does not come without retaliation from Sprawley--this same executive and his wife get burned alive in their house, and the blame is put on Taffin, ruining his iron-clad reputation and discrediting him among the townspeople.
As for what Taffin does to win the day, I won’t say for fear of ruining the movie’s delicious ending, but in a refreshing change of pace, it doesn’t involve storming Sprawley’s high-rise tower with guns blazing and grenade launchers setting things aflame. If that’s what you’re expecting out of Taffin, then you might as well rent a Bruce Willis movie, because you’re in a completely different league.
The acting in this film, as I’ve previously mentioned, is sensational. Director Francis Megahy really knew what he was doing with the material, and it shows. Allison Doody is perhaps the most alluring Irish woman I’ve seen on film, even if she sometimes came off as a hopeless appendage to Taffin; Ray McAnally plays the duality of Mister O’Rourke to the hilt, since he is a seminary teacher who’s asking a sinful man to do sinful things to sinful people; and above all, there’s the balancing act that Pierce Brosnan had to play as Mark Taffin--showing that you were smart, cool, and collected, and genuinely hurt when even Mister O’Rourke turns his back on you.
There is one drawback to this film, however, especially with female viewers, and that’s the strip club scene that is so talked about. I viewed it as a piece of Irish culture, but then there’s the argument that Director Megahy was simply feeding a film director’s obsession to see a woman’s naked breasts. Paul Verhoeven (Robocop, Starship Troopers) and Walter Hill (Red Heat, Last Man Standing) suffer from the same affliction, in case you haven’t noticed. So, what was the point of the scene? I really couldn’t tell you--you’ll have to decide that for yourself, but if there was one thing that detracts from this otherwise well-rounded film (God, that was a horrible pun), it’s the club scene.
If you’re looking for a film with a little European flavor that won’t let you down in terms of drama and quality acting, then look not further than Taffin. While it may not have dozens of explosions, car chases, or fight scenes, it’s a very riveting view of Mark Taffin’s journey for honor and respect--and that’s something we can all identify with.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“Would you all mind not talking about me as if I wasn’t here?”
Pierce Brosnan as Mark Taffin, Taffin
One cold winter day some three years ago, I wandered into the zoo that has become the Super Wal-Mart in East York and saw their bargain bin movies by the front registers. Nobody was digging through them, so I took it upon myself to peruse the titles there, priced at 2 for $10. I didn’t find much that was worth writing home about, but one movie stood out--Francis Megahy’s Taffin, based on Lyndon Mallet’s novel of the same name. This independently produced film, released in 1987 under the MGM/United Artists banner, had a distinct European flavor to it that I simply fell in love with. And of course, there’s always Mister 007 himself, Pierce Brosnan. You can’t go wrong there.
In this vehicle, Brosnan plays the title character Mark Taffin, who lives in a small Irish town as a rugged debt collector. He’s a different brand of hero, though--if he feels that you can do the job yourself, then he won’t help you. If he feels you can do it, but don’t have the brains, he’ll tell you how to do it. And when all else fails, Taffin can totally kick your ass with his fighting skills. So when rumors begin to fly that the Sprawley Corporation plans to build a large chemical plant on the edge of town, the townspeople are looking for help...and lo and behold, who better to help out than Taffin?
If this sounds like one of Steven Seagal’s mid-90’s eco-thrillers to you, then you’re not even close. Brosnan’s character of Mark Taffin is a true man, who stands up for what he believes in (as he comments in one scene to his lover Charlotte, played by the striking Alison Doody, “This [the mind] is far more powerful than this [the fist]...at least, it used to be”). He is a dying breed of man, even back in 1987 when this was filmed, and that stood out to me above all else as the theme of this film.
As far as Brosnan’s performance is concerned, it’s spot-on, chap. A native Irishman, Taffin’s sounds and accent really come through, and his rugged charm could make a straight man like myself swing for the other team. But an actor is only as good as his script, and David Ambrose (who also wrote Year Of The Gun) assembled a great adaptation here that shows the diverse sides of Taffin’s Irish life.
There’s a discussion here about the morality of what Taffin does as well, displayed in arguments he has with his former seminary teacher Mister O’Rourke (Ray McAnally). One memorable quote that comes out of their first argument belongs to Taffin--“And you would rather bend the knee than stretch the mind.” This riveting piece of drama mid-way through the film shows not only the dynamics of the two characters, but the complexity of Taffin--a man who wants to believe in something bigger than himself, but after all he’s seen and done, finds something audacious in what some people would call an invisible support system.
The way Taffin goes about fighting the Sprawley Corporation is unique to the character as well--he enlists the help of his brother Mo (Patrick Bergin) and other friends to dig up incriminating secrets about Sprawley’s top executives, and uses these secrets to blackmail them into signing a document that, as one character puts it to Mister Sprawley himself, “could put both of us away for a long time.” But this act does not come without retaliation from Sprawley--this same executive and his wife get burned alive in their house, and the blame is put on Taffin, ruining his iron-clad reputation and discrediting him among the townspeople.
As for what Taffin does to win the day, I won’t say for fear of ruining the movie’s delicious ending, but in a refreshing change of pace, it doesn’t involve storming Sprawley’s high-rise tower with guns blazing and grenade launchers setting things aflame. If that’s what you’re expecting out of Taffin, then you might as well rent a Bruce Willis movie, because you’re in a completely different league.
The acting in this film, as I’ve previously mentioned, is sensational. Director Francis Megahy really knew what he was doing with the material, and it shows. Allison Doody is perhaps the most alluring Irish woman I’ve seen on film, even if she sometimes came off as a hopeless appendage to Taffin; Ray McAnally plays the duality of Mister O’Rourke to the hilt, since he is a seminary teacher who’s asking a sinful man to do sinful things to sinful people; and above all, there’s the balancing act that Pierce Brosnan had to play as Mark Taffin--showing that you were smart, cool, and collected, and genuinely hurt when even Mister O’Rourke turns his back on you.
There is one drawback to this film, however, especially with female viewers, and that’s the strip club scene that is so talked about. I viewed it as a piece of Irish culture, but then there’s the argument that Director Megahy was simply feeding a film director’s obsession to see a woman’s naked breasts. Paul Verhoeven (Robocop, Starship Troopers) and Walter Hill (Red Heat, Last Man Standing) suffer from the same affliction, in case you haven’t noticed. So, what was the point of the scene? I really couldn’t tell you--you’ll have to decide that for yourself, but if there was one thing that detracts from this otherwise well-rounded film (God, that was a horrible pun), it’s the club scene.
If you’re looking for a film with a little European flavor that won’t let you down in terms of drama and quality acting, then look not further than Taffin. While it may not have dozens of explosions, car chases, or fight scenes, it’s a very riveting view of Mark Taffin’s journey for honor and respect--and that’s something we can all identify with.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Movie Monday 04: Blood Simple
It's still cold here in PA, but at least there's no ice freezing my rastafaran' neh-nehs off. In the meantime, enjoy this review of the Coen Brothers' Blood Simple, a movie I recently sampled with some not-so-hard-earned Christmas money.
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“Well, ma’am, if I see him, I’ll sure give him the message.”
--M. Emmet Walsh as Loren, Blood Simple
If there was ever a movie I had heard so much about and never had a chance to see, it was Blood Simple. The first film by the Coen Brothers, who would later go on to do Fargo, Intolerable Cruelty, and more recently No Country For Old Men, was recently released onto DVD in a director’s cut edition by MGM, and I was able to purchase it in the independent film section of Target for about ten dollars.
Blood Simple was made in Austin, Texas in 1985, and follows a seemingly simple story. Ray (John Getz) has it bad for his boss’s wife, Abby (Frances McDormand). When Loren (M. Emmet Walsh), a private detective, photographs them together doing the nasty in a motel room on a stormy night, he gives the pictures to Abby’s husband, Marty (Dan Hedaya), the owner of a backwoods bar.
Ray and Abby make plans to leave town together, while Marty decides he can’t live with his wife’s infidelity anymore and agrees to pay Loren $10,000 to kill both Abby and Ray. Typical of most characters M. Emmet Walsh gets to play, Loren has an ulterior motive--he fakes the death photographs of Ray and Abby and then shoots Marty, thereby collecting his fee and leaving the only person who could implicate him looking rather dead.
Ray, not wanting to run off with Abby poor, heads to the bar that night to get two weeks worth of pay that’s owed to him. When he opens the door to Marty’s office, he stumbles onto the crime scene...the blood...Marty’s safe standing open...and, oddly enough, Abby’s revolver lying on the floor, still smoking. Ray can only assume that Abby has killed her husband for her and Ray’s future, and does the only thing he knows to do--clean up the mess and get rid of the body.
And I’m stopping right here, because if I tell you readers anything else about this tightly scripted and tightly-wound southern suspense noir, I’d be ruining what is probably one of the best debut films I’ve ever seen from any writer/director, whether they be brothers or not (and that is taking how much I loved El Mariachi into account).
I had never seen John Getz or Dan Hedaya in a film before, and I feel terrible about that, because now I know what I was missing out on. Getz is the stoic strongman who simply can’t live with what he did to his old boss, or what he thinks Abby did to her husband, and he pulls it off with tens across the board. Dan Hedaya is a natural villain, but it’s not entirely clear why Abby and Marty’s marriage is so bad in the beginning of the film. Whatever the circumstances, you actually start to feel sorry for Marty as his perfect plan to get rid of his wife and his wife’s lover unravels around him, and ends up putting him into an early grave.
Frances McDormand is one of the most underrated actresses in Hollywood. I had seen her previously in Darkman, which was not really the most becoming of roles for her (I mean, let’s face it, folks--Darkman wasn’t really becoming for anybody), and it made me wonder what she was truly capable of. I found out by watching Blood Simple. She plays all the angles of Abby’s personality pefectly--the cheating, confused wife; the woman in love with another man; and the woman determined to get to the bottom of who killed her husband. Her reactions in her dream sequence with Dan Hedaya are particularly poignant to me, and are really the standout pieces of acting in the film.
M. Emmet Walsh is one of my favorite character actors, because he’s usually playing these low-life scumbags that you just love to hate. I first saw him in MGM’s Denzel Washington/Robert Townsend vehicle The Mighty Quinn, and I was like “Who is this guy? He’s freakin’ great!” Seeing him in this earlier role solidifies for me that he is one of the most underrated character actors in Hollywood (last time I saw him was in Surviving Christmas, I believe), and seeing him sweating like a pig in that awful yellow suit in Blood Simple with that slightly retarded southern accent was like finding a pot of gold.
The look of this film is true independent style. It represents life as life is, not the color-coordinated hyper-realism that Hollywood often portrays. While that hyper-realism can be fun at times, it wouldn’t have suited Blood Simple. This is a movie where everything was real and practical--the barely furnished studio apartment Abby and Ray move into; the backwoods bar that Marty owns with the statue of a brown bull outside; the field where Ray does the deed to Marty for his ladylove. All of it was real, making it almost surreal, like we’re peeking in on these people’s lives in a voyeuristic fashion.
What I’ve always loved about the Coen Brothers is their offbeat sense of humor. Here in their first film, they were still developing it, but the signs are there of something great. Two particular scenes feature the same joke--Ray’s house is on a dead end street that isn’t labeled as such, and everyone squeals tires as they drive off, then shove it into reverse as they hit the dead end, turn around, and drive back up the street. Even Abby comments on it the first time it happens--“Would have liked to have seen his face when he saw the dead end.” The use of The Four Tops’ tune “It’s The Same Old Song” throughout the movie to juxtapose against certain actions was also a nice example of their offbeat, quirky humor as well.
You might think I’m going to recommend Blood Simple as a great movie for everyone to see, but in actuality, I’m not. I believe that everyone should at least give it a chance, as you should with most things in life, but this movie is for the true fan of tightly-wound thrillers and independent films. Everyone else who doesn’t fall under that category would probably be out to lunch after the first ten minutes (I know most of my colleagues would). So, unless you’re a die-hard Coen Brothers fan and want to see how they got their start, or you’re in the mood for some murderous, double-crossing southern hospitality, then Blood Simple will satisfy that mood nicely.
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“Well, ma’am, if I see him, I’ll sure give him the message.”
--M. Emmet Walsh as Loren, Blood Simple
If there was ever a movie I had heard so much about and never had a chance to see, it was Blood Simple. The first film by the Coen Brothers, who would later go on to do Fargo, Intolerable Cruelty, and more recently No Country For Old Men, was recently released onto DVD in a director’s cut edition by MGM, and I was able to purchase it in the independent film section of Target for about ten dollars.
Blood Simple was made in Austin, Texas in 1985, and follows a seemingly simple story. Ray (John Getz) has it bad for his boss’s wife, Abby (Frances McDormand). When Loren (M. Emmet Walsh), a private detective, photographs them together doing the nasty in a motel room on a stormy night, he gives the pictures to Abby’s husband, Marty (Dan Hedaya), the owner of a backwoods bar.
Ray and Abby make plans to leave town together, while Marty decides he can’t live with his wife’s infidelity anymore and agrees to pay Loren $10,000 to kill both Abby and Ray. Typical of most characters M. Emmet Walsh gets to play, Loren has an ulterior motive--he fakes the death photographs of Ray and Abby and then shoots Marty, thereby collecting his fee and leaving the only person who could implicate him looking rather dead.
Ray, not wanting to run off with Abby poor, heads to the bar that night to get two weeks worth of pay that’s owed to him. When he opens the door to Marty’s office, he stumbles onto the crime scene...the blood...Marty’s safe standing open...and, oddly enough, Abby’s revolver lying on the floor, still smoking. Ray can only assume that Abby has killed her husband for her and Ray’s future, and does the only thing he knows to do--clean up the mess and get rid of the body.
And I’m stopping right here, because if I tell you readers anything else about this tightly scripted and tightly-wound southern suspense noir, I’d be ruining what is probably one of the best debut films I’ve ever seen from any writer/director, whether they be brothers or not (and that is taking how much I loved El Mariachi into account).
I had never seen John Getz or Dan Hedaya in a film before, and I feel terrible about that, because now I know what I was missing out on. Getz is the stoic strongman who simply can’t live with what he did to his old boss, or what he thinks Abby did to her husband, and he pulls it off with tens across the board. Dan Hedaya is a natural villain, but it’s not entirely clear why Abby and Marty’s marriage is so bad in the beginning of the film. Whatever the circumstances, you actually start to feel sorry for Marty as his perfect plan to get rid of his wife and his wife’s lover unravels around him, and ends up putting him into an early grave.
Frances McDormand is one of the most underrated actresses in Hollywood. I had seen her previously in Darkman, which was not really the most becoming of roles for her (I mean, let’s face it, folks--Darkman wasn’t really becoming for anybody), and it made me wonder what she was truly capable of. I found out by watching Blood Simple. She plays all the angles of Abby’s personality pefectly--the cheating, confused wife; the woman in love with another man; and the woman determined to get to the bottom of who killed her husband. Her reactions in her dream sequence with Dan Hedaya are particularly poignant to me, and are really the standout pieces of acting in the film.
M. Emmet Walsh is one of my favorite character actors, because he’s usually playing these low-life scumbags that you just love to hate. I first saw him in MGM’s Denzel Washington/Robert Townsend vehicle The Mighty Quinn, and I was like “Who is this guy? He’s freakin’ great!” Seeing him in this earlier role solidifies for me that he is one of the most underrated character actors in Hollywood (last time I saw him was in Surviving Christmas, I believe), and seeing him sweating like a pig in that awful yellow suit in Blood Simple with that slightly retarded southern accent was like finding a pot of gold.
The look of this film is true independent style. It represents life as life is, not the color-coordinated hyper-realism that Hollywood often portrays. While that hyper-realism can be fun at times, it wouldn’t have suited Blood Simple. This is a movie where everything was real and practical--the barely furnished studio apartment Abby and Ray move into; the backwoods bar that Marty owns with the statue of a brown bull outside; the field where Ray does the deed to Marty for his ladylove. All of it was real, making it almost surreal, like we’re peeking in on these people’s lives in a voyeuristic fashion.
What I’ve always loved about the Coen Brothers is their offbeat sense of humor. Here in their first film, they were still developing it, but the signs are there of something great. Two particular scenes feature the same joke--Ray’s house is on a dead end street that isn’t labeled as such, and everyone squeals tires as they drive off, then shove it into reverse as they hit the dead end, turn around, and drive back up the street. Even Abby comments on it the first time it happens--“Would have liked to have seen his face when he saw the dead end.” The use of The Four Tops’ tune “It’s The Same Old Song” throughout the movie to juxtapose against certain actions was also a nice example of their offbeat, quirky humor as well.
You might think I’m going to recommend Blood Simple as a great movie for everyone to see, but in actuality, I’m not. I believe that everyone should at least give it a chance, as you should with most things in life, but this movie is for the true fan of tightly-wound thrillers and independent films. Everyone else who doesn’t fall under that category would probably be out to lunch after the first ten minutes (I know most of my colleagues would). So, unless you’re a die-hard Coen Brothers fan and want to see how they got their start, or you’re in the mood for some murderous, double-crossing southern hospitality, then Blood Simple will satisfy that mood nicely.
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