Director: Brian Yuzna
Runtime: 93 minutes
Admittedly, I should've watched something much shorter. I have to wake up for work an hour earlier these days and I'm still adjusting. Ah well. This was a typical Brian Yuzna film -- aka a lot of dopey, over-the-top fun from a guy who has clearly hung out with Stuart Gordon a lot but has a bizarre comic book sensibility running underneath everything. I don't know if I'd qualify his films as good from an objective standpoint, but they sure as hell entertain (if not always for the right reasons). Return of the Living Dead 3 actually makes a good attempt at injecting some pathos into the 245-Trioxin saga, by giving us a zombie who maintains her personality and memories after revival. Overall, an enjoyable flick.
Worth the Purchase: Yes.
Stats: 16/401 movies watched in thirteen days.
Currently Projected Completion Date: January 15, 2010
Completion Date Goal: February 25, 2010
Showing posts with label Decade: 1990s. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Decade: 1990s. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
The Great Unwatched: The Twelve Chairs (1970) and Point Break (1991)
Two films I enjoyed for very different reasons.
The Twelve Chairs (1970)
Director: Mel Brooks
Runtime: 94 minutes
This a highly enjoyable comedy from Brooks (who has does a scene-stealing turn as an insanely devoted servant early in the movie) adapted from a classic piece of Soviet satire. On her deathbed, an old woman reveals that, years before, she had sewn her jewels into one of the twelve dining room chairs to prevent them from being confiscated by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution. This sets in motion a race between her son-in-law (and former aristocrat) Vorobyaninov (Ron Moody), con man Ostap Bender (Frank Langella, brilliant), and a conniving Russian Orthodox priest, Father Fyodor (Dom DeLuise). Vorobyaninov and Bender eventually team up, but they don't fare well -- every time they come upon the chairs, a few of them are sent somewhere else with farcical precision. And of course, the jewels are never in the chairs that are left behind.
This is not a typical Brooks film; although much of the same temperament of humor (read: over-the-top, slapsticky, and occasionally juvenile) appears in his later spoof movies like Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, here he largely avoids knowing nods to the audience and self-reference. He instead chooses to tell the story "straight", wacky though it is. Since we're dealing with some disreputable characters, it's much more satisfying to watch them fail on their own terms, something that Brooks grasps quite well.
Of all the films that I've watched thus far as part of this little experiment, this is the one I regret not having seen much sooner.
Worth the Purchase: Absolutely yes.
Point Break (1991)
Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Runtime: 120 minutes
I bought this one because it was referenced in Hot Fuzz. I'm really glad I did because now there's whole sections of that movie that are way funnier now. Also, it's kind of funny to see Swayze as a surfer guru.
Worth the Purchase: Woah.
Stats: 15/401 movies watched in twelve days.
Currently Projected Completion Date: January 10, 2010
Completion Date Goal: February 25, 2010
The Twelve Chairs (1970)Director: Mel Brooks
Runtime: 94 minutes
This a highly enjoyable comedy from Brooks (who has does a scene-stealing turn as an insanely devoted servant early in the movie) adapted from a classic piece of Soviet satire. On her deathbed, an old woman reveals that, years before, she had sewn her jewels into one of the twelve dining room chairs to prevent them from being confiscated by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Revolution. This sets in motion a race between her son-in-law (and former aristocrat) Vorobyaninov (Ron Moody), con man Ostap Bender (Frank Langella, brilliant), and a conniving Russian Orthodox priest, Father Fyodor (Dom DeLuise). Vorobyaninov and Bender eventually team up, but they don't fare well -- every time they come upon the chairs, a few of them are sent somewhere else with farcical precision. And of course, the jewels are never in the chairs that are left behind.
This is not a typical Brooks film; although much of the same temperament of humor (read: over-the-top, slapsticky, and occasionally juvenile) appears in his later spoof movies like Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, here he largely avoids knowing nods to the audience and self-reference. He instead chooses to tell the story "straight", wacky though it is. Since we're dealing with some disreputable characters, it's much more satisfying to watch them fail on their own terms, something that Brooks grasps quite well.
Of all the films that I've watched thus far as part of this little experiment, this is the one I regret not having seen much sooner.
Worth the Purchase: Absolutely yes.
Point Break (1991)Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Runtime: 120 minutes
I bought this one because it was referenced in Hot Fuzz. I'm really glad I did because now there's whole sections of that movie that are way funnier now. Also, it's kind of funny to see Swayze as a surfer guru.
Worth the Purchase: Woah.
Stats: 15/401 movies watched in twelve days.
Currently Projected Completion Date: January 10, 2010
Completion Date Goal: February 25, 2010
Saturday, March 7, 2009
The Great Unwatched: Wanted (2008) and Dollman (1991)
There's lessons to be learned in getting too cocky. I promised my girlfriend we'd go out last night, so I didn't get a chance to watch anything. I figure hey, I'm ahead of the game, one night won't be so bad. Today I get a call from Mom that proves me wrong; she'd just found a DVD mailed to me a few months ago that she'd forgotten about. Apparently, I'd neglected to say no to a Columbia House Director's Selection a couple months ago and so now I was the proud(?) owner of Timur Bekmambetov's Wanted. So not only did I miss a day of movie viewing, but the list just moved up a tick. Brilliant.
Anyway. On to our feature presentations for this evening.
Wanted (2008)
Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Runtime: 110 minutes
Well, that was... action-y. Wanted is a kinetic, highly visual experience largely undercut by main character Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) and his sarcastic narration. I get that his life sucks, really I do. It just seems like a director as visually oriented as Bekmambetov clearly is could have more clearly conveyed Gibson's dilemma without leaning on the crutch of a descriptive voice-over. Gibson's snide self-loathing doesn't endear him to us and when he's picked out to be an assassin because his panic attacks are, in fact, superpowers (among other reasons), he reacts by freaking out. A lot. And it's really annoying. Of course, there's no movie if he doesn't get over it and start busting heads, but by the time he does, he has a long way to go to regaining the audience's trust.
Otherwise, the action sequences are appropriately awe-inspiring, if on the far side of ridiculous. Angelina Jolie looks like she needs a sandwich. The twist midway through is fairly easy to pick out, but if we're going to really quibble about something, let's talk about the finale. In the final showdown, one character does something monumentally idiotic, based on evidence that they've just discovered has been forged in the past. Furthermore, these forgeries have all come from the same person whose giving them said evidence now. And yet, they take this irritatingly, mind-blowingly stupid action. And the movie wants us to think that they are not only noble, but awesome. I don't buy it. No thank you.
Worth the Purchase: Well, it was kind of pretty?
Dollman (1991)
Part of: The Full Moon Archive Collection
Director: Albert Pyun
Runtime: 79 minutes
I think the best part of this movie was seeing Jackie Earle Haley, some eighteen years before he essayed the part of Rorschach in Watchmen, dropping the f-bomb every other word and squishing a tiny alien head with his hand.
I think the worst part of this movie was the rest of it.
Worth the Purchase: Nah.
Stats: 13/401 movies watched in eleven days.
Currently Projected Completion Date: January 29, 2010
Completion Date Goal: February 25, 2010
Anyway. On to our feature presentations for this evening.
Wanted (2008)Director: Timur Bekmambetov
Runtime: 110 minutes
Well, that was... action-y. Wanted is a kinetic, highly visual experience largely undercut by main character Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) and his sarcastic narration. I get that his life sucks, really I do. It just seems like a director as visually oriented as Bekmambetov clearly is could have more clearly conveyed Gibson's dilemma without leaning on the crutch of a descriptive voice-over. Gibson's snide self-loathing doesn't endear him to us and when he's picked out to be an assassin because his panic attacks are, in fact, superpowers (among other reasons), he reacts by freaking out. A lot. And it's really annoying. Of course, there's no movie if he doesn't get over it and start busting heads, but by the time he does, he has a long way to go to regaining the audience's trust.
Otherwise, the action sequences are appropriately awe-inspiring, if on the far side of ridiculous. Angelina Jolie looks like she needs a sandwich. The twist midway through is fairly easy to pick out, but if we're going to really quibble about something, let's talk about the finale. In the final showdown, one character does something monumentally idiotic, based on evidence that they've just discovered has been forged in the past. Furthermore, these forgeries have all come from the same person whose giving them said evidence now. And yet, they take this irritatingly, mind-blowingly stupid action. And the movie wants us to think that they are not only noble, but awesome. I don't buy it. No thank you.
Worth the Purchase: Well, it was kind of pretty?
Dollman (1991)Part of: The Full Moon Archive Collection
Director: Albert Pyun
Runtime: 79 minutes
I think the best part of this movie was seeing Jackie Earle Haley, some eighteen years before he essayed the part of Rorschach in Watchmen, dropping the f-bomb every other word and squishing a tiny alien head with his hand.
I think the worst part of this movie was the rest of it.
Worth the Purchase: Nah.
Stats: 13/401 movies watched in eleven days.
Currently Projected Completion Date: January 29, 2010
Completion Date Goal: February 25, 2010
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