 For yours truly, there really is no better 'National Lampoon's Vacation' movie than the third in the series, 'Christmas Vacation', which can be watched every single year without hesitation around the holiday season. For as much as people tend to agree with me on that, however, it does get interesting when it comes down to what order people place the other films in terms of quality. For my money, I probably have to give it up to the original that started it all.
For many, this first entry is pretty basic and bland. To be perfectly honest there's not a whole hell of a lot that happens here. But what it does do well is examine the family vacation scenario, and give us a comedy based on all of the faults of a family road trip. Really, it works the same way as 'Christmas Vacation', which highlights all of the downfalls of an old-fashioned family Christmas. 'European' and 'Vegas' take things to different levels, and they're entertaining enough, but there's something almost missing in them about the relatability of the family dynamic in the situation. As far as 'Christmas Vacation 2' and 'Vacation' 2015, as far as I'm concerned, they aren't a part of things, just like 'Kingdom of the Crystal Skull' for Indiana Jones, or everything straight to video for 'American Pie'. 'Vacation' is, simply enough, about Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) wishing to spend more time with his wife, Ellen (Beverly D'Angelo) and kids, Rusty (Anthony Michael Hall) and Audrey (Dana Barron). This is probably a good time to mention to those more familiar with Johnny Galecki and Juliette Lewis in the respective brother/sister roles that indeed, these kids change every time. Anyway, the plan is for a cross-country trip from Chicago to Southern California, seeing plenty along the way, and finally ending up at Walley World for their final destination. In the real world, it would be kind of like travelling to Disneyland. But of course, as one can predict, what starts off as a fun family road trip soon turns into a nightmare of constant disappointments and failures. Some of these include Clark being tempted by a mystery woman (Christie Brinkley) driving a Ferrari, getting vandalized in a bad neighbourhood, a visit with good old Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid), his wife, Catherine (Miriam Flynn), their somewhat twisted children, Vicki and Dale (Jane Krakowski and John P. Navin Jr., respectively) and the hilarious Aunt Edna (Imogene Coca) and of course, for anyone who has seen the film, the big punchline towards the end that probably isn't even really a spoiler anymore, but it's kind of what makes the movie worth checking out in the first place. The whole film, again like 'Christmas Vacation' is here to say "you're not alone on all these crazy family mishaps". Despite it being on the older side of classic comedies at this point, I think there's still a relatability to a movie like this that can't really be denied. AGAIN like 'Christmas Vacation', there's just something along the line here that will pop up having the audience say "been there", even if the film is portraying something a little more extreme. Do bear in mind though that this is still R-rated, and not exactly a family film (although I can't say this is anything "hard-R") so it's a little edgier than the other three. But with that said, sometimes edgy is a good thing, and this is a pretty good example of such a thing for its time. If you're looking for a good, classic road trip comedy, this is definitely a good place to look.  It has been quite some time since I've seen this movie, so there were a few things that I didn't take into account. Once again, we have a late 70s classic that has unfortunately dated itself for any newcomers. But, laying my cards on the table, I have to say that despite any aged issues it may have, I still think it's a lot of fun. But one's viewing of it needs to sort of fit a particular scenario. More on that later.
Before I go forward with this one, though, a few things one really should know. First off, this was filmed before 'Dukes of Hazzard' aired. Therefore, do not be too shocked at the presence of a Confederate flag on the Bandit's '77 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am's license plate. Also, akin to the film's time is a lot of the humour involved. In fact, I laughed extra hard at one line in particular because it's so incredibly over the top offensive (or at least probably is to the average person. I tend to have a pretty dark sense of humour). Bo "Bandit" Darville (Burt Reynolds) is approached by a wealthy Texan named "Big" Enos Burdette (Pat McCormick), along with his tiny son, "Little Enos" (Paul Williams). They offer him $80,000 to haul 400 cases of Coors (yeah, this is a big beer commercial, too) from Texarkana to Atlanta in the span of 28 hour. Even though this sounds like a fairly natural process, one must understand that this film is dated in another way - at the time, in certain locations of America, there was prohibition. So to make a long story short, our man the Bandit here is taking part in bootlegging. As for why the Enos' want this Coors; they are sponsoring a racer in Atlanta's Southern Classic, and want to celebrate in style when their car wins. The Bandit accepts the task, recruiting his partner, Cledus "Snowman" Snow (Jerry Reed) to do the truck-driving. Bandit's role in this operation is to be a "blocker"; someone who will divert the attention of law enforcement away from illegal cargo. Said law enforcement comes in the form of Sheriff Buford T. Justice (Jackie Gleason) and his bumbling son, Junior (Mike Henry). They inadvertently begin chasing Bandit by chance after Junior's runaway bride, Carrie (Sally Field) hitches a ride with him. So much of what we have here is a bit of a Wyle E. Coyote/Roadrunner situation. And I think it's also safe to say that this one is a bit of a time capsule of a film, considering the laws of the time and a few other details about it I already mentioned. But speaking of going back to things I mentioned, I was talking about viewing this in a particular scenario. Aside from just watching it for yourself, I would recommend that this is a bit of a "dude" film, and therefore needs to be seen with a "dude" frame of mine. This is a movie where you get your buddies together, crack open some Coors (or other beer that suits your taste a bit better) and go along for the ride without overthinking any of the potentially offensive things that might be in it. It's definitely a product of its time, but I do think that with the right frame of mind, this can still be a lot of fun.  To wrap up a month of Summer blockbusters, one that certainly bears mentioning is 'Jurassic Park'. It's interesting to consider the fact that CG was so brand-spanking new at the time that filmmakers were still utilizing it as not much more than really good looking special effects. The primary example predating this was probably 'Terminator 2', two years prior with the T-1000. And while 'Toy Story' was the first full-length CG film in 1995, I tend to consider 'Jurassic Park' to be what really, truly brought CG into the spotlight. While the T-1000 still looks great, this brought dinosaurs to life for us dino-obsessed kids at the time, and before this the best we could do was stop-motion.
This movie had such an impact that when a contest was held to name Toronto's basketball team in '94, it was narrowed down to eleven names; two of which were dinosaur references - "T-Rex" and "Raptors". Of course, we all know what we landed on, but considering "Towers" was the runner up, it's probably a good thing. The film spawned all sorts of merchandise as well, some of which I had, including a massive colouring mural that took up about 4-6 feet of wall space. I was 10 going on 11 when this was released, so I wasn't after a lot of the toys and such. But I was still very much into it, because even then I understood that this was a ground-breaking film. Sequel after sequel would follow, but none of them to this very day can hold a torch to the awesomeness that is 'Jurassic Park'... well, except maybe the improved quality of the CG effects, but dammit, this was 1993, so for the time it looks incredible. The story of course involves wealthy industrialist John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) inviting paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) to an island he owns, off the coast of Costa Rica - Isla Nublar. Here, he hopes to have the two experts analyse what he has created and approve his attractions for opening his park. This is influenced by the park's investors insisting on a thorough inspection to ensure the park's safety. The investors' representative lawyer, Mr. Gennaro (Martin Ferrero) comes along as well, inviting mathematician and chaos-theorist, Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum). Although the group is blown away by what Hammond has created (an interactive "zoo" that holds cloned dinosaurs as opposed to everyday animals), all manage to see the inherent danger that lies within the park. Soon, the group is sent on a tour along with Hammond's grandkids, Tim (Joseph Mazzello), a young dinosaur geek, and Lex (Ariana Richards), a young computer geek (though she prefers to be called a "hacker"). Meanwhile, the park's head programmer, Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight) has plans to steal fertilized dinosaur embryos and deliver them to Hammond's corporate rival based on a bribe. This will involve shutting down the park's security system and racing against the clock as a bad storm is rolling in and he needs to collect the embryos as well as get to the last boat. As a result, the park's security grid shuts down, dinosaurs escape, chaos ensues. This separates them into groups; while Ellie, Malcolm, Hammond and others (techie, Mr. Arnold - Samuel L. Jackson, and raptor expert, Muldoon - Bob Peck) work on restoring power and communications to the island, Grant, Tim and Lex find themselves having to maneuver through a dangerous array of should-be-extinct wildlife - half of which is out for a good meal. At this point, 'Jurassic Park' has become one of the most repetitive franchises out there, and it's so stale that after 'Fallen Kingdom' in 2018, I have no real drive to go to another one. The premise is more or less always the same - in some form, it's generally "ignore what people say is dangerous and get into a situation that's potentially gonna kill us anyway". It's always people making dumb decisions and paying the price, while Ian Malcolm remains to this day the voice of reason that no one listens to - still the smartest character in 'Fallen Kingdom' if you ask me. Anyway, the bottom line is that in this original film, it all makes sense for that first time around, and the cautionary tale of "playing God" is established along with some decent character development, especially with Grant and Hammond. Seeing this as a 10-year-old kid on the big screen, I can remember it being a hell of an experience. I remember being totally on-edge when the T-rex got out, as well as the kitchen scene with the raptors. But I also remember being in total awe of what I was seeing. Remember when 'Avatar' came out and we were all totally mind-blown by how awesome the 3D was? This was that for 1993. It was a film that gauged every emotion, and to this day I enjoy watching it as a good slice of nostalgia. It doesn't quite look as good now as it did back then, considering how far we've come with technology. But it's probably the best overall story between all of the films, regardless. That said, I can actually still recommend Netflix's 'Camp Cretacious' where we see something else happening during the events of 'Jurassic World'. As far as I'm concerned, it's the best 'Jurassic' thing that has been released since this original film - but this is still the golden child of the collection.  With the arrival of summer, I thought I'd take a look at some of the great blockbusters of the past. For any real movie fan, there really is no better place to start than with the one that pretty much started it all. 'Jaws' is, without a doubt, one of the all-time greatest movies ever made for so many reasons. This is a title that doesn't necessarily land on my favourites list, but it also clearly deserves all the credit it gets when you really think about it. Being the first big summer blockbuster is only the beginning.
Based on Peter Benchley's book of the same name, the film portrays a great white shark who attacks the casual swimmers of a beach community. It starts with a skinny-dipper named Chrissie Watkins (Susan Backlinie) and events continue to unfold as long as a stubborn mayor, Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) decides to keep the beach open for tourism and economical purposes. Police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), working with oceanographer, Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfus) disagrees with the decision, especially with his wife, Ellen (Lorraine Gary) and son, Michael (Chris Rebello) to look out for. He is overruled, however, but puts a bounty of $10,000 on the shark, causing the townspeople to take on shark-hunting. The hunt is believed to be ultimately successful, but Hooper knows the shark is still out there, as the captured shark simply doesn't have the right jaw span to match the killer shark's victims. This is proven soon enough with yet another big beach attack. Ultimately, it all leads to the real meat of the movie in just short of its second half. This involves Brody, Hooper, and badass shark-hunter, Quint (Robert Shaw) going for the great white shark hunt of their lives to end the shark's reign of terror once and for all (despite a few cash-grab sequels that follow). Of the films in the 'Jaws' series, this is really the only one that holds and "classic" value, unless you're looking for some crazy amount of cheese-tastic special effects to laugh at. I think the most important takeaway from this is how much influence it has had on other movies. When you take 'Halloween' for example, there's something very Jaws-like about Michael Myers. In fact, 2018's 'Halloween' quoted 'Jaws' for being its most heavy influence. There's even things like Quint's speech about looking into a shark's eyes that's very reminiscent of Loomis' take on Michael Myers. It has influenced many others as far as summer blockbusters go too, and directors like Kevin Smith have a hell of a lot of fun with it (look for 'Jaws' references in almost all his movies. To top it all off, it's a favourite for many fans as well as a favourite for many filmmakers, who take it as their big influence. Another solid thing to note here is that it's a fine example of how sometimes a seemingly catastrophic failure can be one hell of a happy accident. The story goes that there were big problems with the mechanical shark, so it became a seldom seen thing throughout the movie. As it turns out, our imaginations were able to do a good job at filling in the blanks, making things even more thrilling. This is a classic example of how less is more, and the fact that sometimes we really don't need to be spoon-fed everything. The shark shows up just enough to be scary, but its before the shark shows up that has us on the edge of our seats. Who can possibly forget the masterfully suspenseful "dun-un" theme that perfectly symbolizes the killer shark's approach. Again, less is more. There's not a whole hell of a lot more I can say about 'Jaws' that hasn't been said in the past, though, so let's break it down to personal opinion. 'Jaws' is something I whole-heartedly respect, and certainly enjoy to some degree. For me, however, it has always been more of a piece of history than a cinematic favourite. I absolutely love pretty much everything here that involves the three leads, but the first half of the movie is something that has very busy (albeit very natural) dialogue, and it can get a bit messy. On the whole, this is great, but for me, it doesn't even hit my Top 10. It's one of those titles I can recommend to anyone as a cinematic legend, but newcomers might have trouble with some of it. Either way, this one has its place in the history books, and it's definitely worth checking out!  We all have a few titles that are on our radar, but if ever brought up to anyone, are met with something along the lines of "what in the Hell are you talking about?". One of these for me, is 'Son of Rambow'. Generally, if I mention it, people wonder if I've ever even SEEN any bit of the 'First Blood/Rambo' series (which I basically haven't, but at least I can make it a project for the site). Moving on, perhaps it might interest newcomers that this is where both Will Poulter ('We're the Millers'/'Maze Runner'/'The Revenant') and Bill Milner ('X-Men: First Class'/'Dunkirk') got their respective starts as kids.
The film follows the young and innocent Will Proudfoot (Milner) who belongs to the Plymouth Brethren church along with his mother (Jessica Hynes). The religion comes with the strictest of rules, one of which involves never watching any form of entertainment. One day, in class, he's sent out to the hall, as the class is about to watch a documentary. Here, another trouble-making, bad influence of a boy, Lee Carter (Poulter) gets thrown out of class, and the pair meet, only to break a fish bowl, getting them both into trouble. Lee makes a deal that he will take the punishment and "torture" for Will's dead father's watch, and Will acting as stunt man for the film Lee wants to make for the Screen Test Young Film-Makers' Competition. One day, when Lee brings Will to his house, he makes him hide from his brother, Lawrence (Ed Westwick). While in hiding, Will ends up watching 'First Blood', and becomes inspired to help Lee with his film. The pair form an unlikely friendship, but with the catch that Will has to keep this friendship hidden from his mother. This reminds me of some of my old friends, although they weren't nearly as bad as Lee Carter. I was a pretty innocent kid, but still managed to get into trouble with these other kids. Sometimes they weren't allowed over, and I got introduced to things like smoking, and other rebellious, boyish things, and none of it was particularly "good". But despite these guys being bad kids, we still had deep conversation, and fun times. Somehow, this brings a sort of dark nostalgia to the table. Back to the film, the main focus is the friendship between Will and Lee, but there are some of other sides to this story. In their home lives each boy is dealing with a very deep personal matter. Will has to deal with the irritating Brother Joshua of the Brethren, who has an obvious thing for his mother, and seems to be slowly replacing his father. Meanwhile, Lee has to deal with his ignorant brother, Lawrence, but is completely misguided with the thought that Lawrence is the only person in his life who really cares for him. I appreciate how the film takes the time to delve into these personal problems, as those are what make for the best conversation between two unlikely friends. It's so easy to brush off a kid you don't like, but you might empathize with their story if you just take the time to listen. Last and, honestly, probably least, there's the French exchange student, Didier Revol (Jules Sitruk). This kid rolls up to the school, becomes instantly popular (based on 80s punk/pop/WTF fashion), and it feels like he got lost on his way to another movie but decided to stick around and see the sights. Eventually, we get that he has this whole other side story about the toxicity that popularity can bring, and it does eventually blend into Will and Lee's story as he wants to help them with the movie. Of course this also leads to rivalries and such, which may or may not get in the way of the project Lee wants to do. Didier serves his purpose, and a valuable lesson is learned through him, but there was still something about him that felt altogether unnecessary (in other words, the film totally could have still worked with his absence, unless there was something vital I missed). This is another one of those movies I have a soft spot for based on the subject matter of imagination going towards filmmaking. Another such example is 'Be Kind, Rewind' or 'Brigsby Bear'; films that aren't necessarily golden in quality, but definitely show an appreciation for film and creativity while adding a healthy does of friendships and just plain good old warmth. This also takes place somewhere in the 80s, so the soundtrack is pretty full with nostalgic pop hits. If nothing else, it's pretty interesting to see these kids (namely Poulter) in their beginnings, both actually delivering really good performances. I consider this a feel-good movie as a whole, and well worth checking out... that is, if you can find it.  While I maintain that on the whole, 'Secret of NIMH' is probably my favorite Bluth film, it seems to go without saying that 'The Land Before Time' is the most popular. It has happened very under the radar, but this 1988 children's classic has spawned a grand total of 13 straight-to-video sequels; the last one coming out as recent as 2016. It's really cool to know that this has actually lasted so long, and that there's still an audience for it somewhere.
I would suggest that this is the Bluth film I feel most nostalgic for, however. This is the one that takes me back to my childhood days, and it was somewhat surprising how much of the dialogue I remembered, as I quoted along while watching with a big grin my my face. I can't deny that this viewing was fun for me, as it had been quite some time since I saw it. But I remembered the love I had for it as a kid, watching it time and time again with friend after friend because, hell, we all liked it. For some reason, dinosaurs were a huge thing in my childhood - and I'm talking years before 'Jurassic Park' came along to perfect it for us. The film first introduces us to the likes of Littlefoot the "Long Neck" (Gabriel Damon) and Cera the "Three Horn" (Candace Hutson), who become separated from their families during a bad earthquake. In the process, Littlefoot also tragically loses his mother (Helen Shaver) who, beforehand, was leading him and his grandparents to The Great Valley; a lush land full of food and water, necessary for their survival. She reminds him how to get there, and the poor kid has to venture there alone. He does, however, eventually come across a few friends who join in the perilous journey; apart from Cera, Ducky the "Big Mouth" (Judith Barsi), Petrie the "Flyer" (Will Ryan) and Spike the "Spiketail" (Frank Welker). Along the way, they must face many obstacles, including a vicious T-Rex named Sharptooth (also Frank Welker). One thing the film never seemed to lose for me was its overall sense of wonder. Composer James Horner along with the animators on this really do manage to take you away to this almost magical land of dinosaurs. Admittedly, the animation can certainly look dated here and there, but I'd urge you to pay closer attention to the backgrounds and environments than the characters, themselves. It does a fantastic job with scale, using very little. A solid reference point would be when Littlefoot's mother introduces him to "tree stars", and brings one down to him with her long Apatosaurus neck. In the meantime, Horner's score does a great job at setting the mood, whatever the case may be. 'The Land Before Time' was a great way to introduce dinosaurs that would speak to kids, and teach about love, death, teamwork, and even friendship among different races. There's a whole concept in here where dinosaurs stick to their kind because they're all different, but the journey includes five different breeds banding together to get to their common goal, as well as bring down a common enemy. And, get this, it does everything within the course of just over one hour. It's a very easy movie to sit down and watch at random, which is perhaps why I probably managed to wear out our VHS recording of it. Side note: recorded on the same tape was THIS half-hour claymation dinosaur musical special, starring 1980 Fred Savage.  This is one I haven't actually seen in years - long enough that the last time I saw it, I was totally ignorant to what this was really about. It's essentially a history lesson wrapped up in an adventurous package, giving you some idea of what Jewish families had to go through back in the late 19th century. The film was directed by Don Bluth, but produced by Steven Spielberg, and based on Spielberg's passion for history, this almost comes across as more him than Bluth.
The two would sadly eventually part ways with their creative differences. However, not before establishing the classic titles that are 'An American Tail' and 'The Land Before Time'; a couple of staples of 80s childhood. It's a shame, they seemingly made a pretty good team. Bluth's style of animation along with Spielberg's imagination made for some pretty awe-inspiring stuff. I'm wouldn't pretend to claim this as one of my favorites in the Bluth collection, really. But it does make my list of Screening Suggestions for the month just due to it being a little piece of cinematic history. If you as any 80's kid now (we're all in our late 30s/ early 40s) about 'An America Tail', I think most of us would look at it with fond memories... but we'd probably go on to say 'The Land Before Time' was better. And I say that while maintaining that I still think this is well done. As the film opens, in 1885, we are introduced to the Russian-Jewish Mousekewitz family as they celebrate Hanukkah. Papa (Nehemiah Persoff) tells his children, Fievel (Phillip Glasser) and Tanya (Amy Green) about the land of America; a land where the threat of cats apparently doesn't exist. Meanwhile, Mama (Erica Yohn) doesn't want Papa scaring the kids with a story about cats. Almost immediately after Papa's story, the human family they live with are the victims of an anti-Jewish attack from a group of Cossacks ("people of southern Russia and Ukraine, noted for their horsemanship and military skill"). To the mice, the threat is represented by cats. When all is destroyed, the Mousekwitz family decides to head to New York and away from the threat - or so Papa believes. While the family is on board a tramp steamer headed for America, a storm stirs up, and Fievel manages to lose the hat Papa handed down to him during the Hanukkah celebration. While chasing it down, however, Fievel becomes separated from his family and the steamer altogether. He manages to ride a bottle to Liberty Island and arrive safely, but the family is otherwise convinced he was killed in the storm. While on a mission to find his family, Fievel inadvertently finds himself teamed up with a group of mice, lead by Bridget (Cathianne Blore); an Irish mouse trying to rally a group in order to fight off the cats who everyone discovers are a part of America after all. The main thing I managed to remember from this movie was the song 'Somewhere Out There', which is by and large probably the most famous song to ever come from a Don Bluth film. It was nominated for an Oscar that year, but managed to lose to 'Take My Breath Away' from 'Top Gun' - both would eventually get a ton of radio play. Otherwise, I barely remembered the likes of the comedy relief characters; a bumbling cat named Tiger (Dom DeLouise), and a cockroach named Digit (Will Ryan) who was basically second fiddle to the film's primary antagonist, Warren T. Rat (John Finnegan); a character I forgot about altogether. I remembered the basics of Fievel being separated from his family, and trying to get back to them. All of the other material was something I forgot about, probably because I didn't entirely understand it at the time. Having said that, I think one would probably actually get a little more out of this as a teenager or adult. It seems to be aimed at impressionable children, but some of them might not be able to grasp some of what's going on. Personally speaking, I definitely got more out of the story now than I did as a kid. In a way, however, that's a bonus, as the film does nothing to talk down to kids. This one is a little more based in history and reality and has a bit more of a serious tone than the wonderful fantasy worlds Bluth otherwise tends to present us with. Personally, I still get more out of 'The Secret of NIMH' and 'The Land Before Time', but I'd still consider this a classic in it's own right.  For the month of March, I thought I'd take a look at the material of classic animator, Don Bluth, and some of his best and highest recommended material from yours truly. With that said, I have to be honest when I say this is also a re-watch for me with a lot of these titles, after spending at least a good decade in the back of my mind. We start this all off with a true classic; 1982's 'The Secret of NIMH'.
If I'm going to be talkign about Don Bluth's best material this month, this is for sure a great place to start, as it's arguably one of his best titles. Most people I know would argue 'The Land Before Time', but for my money, this is Bluth Golden Standard. It's everything you could possibly want from a Bluth movie. It's the perfect combination of fun, dramatic, and fantastic, and even kind of dark. Although it's not without its dashes of goofy comedy, most of this is a testament to how Bluth never wanted to talk down to kids. The fact of the matter is, story-wise, this could give your average Pixar film a run for its money today. In a small world that takes place on the Fitzgibbons' farm, we meet the likes of a widowed field mouse named Mrs. Brisby (Elizabeth Hartman, in her final role) and her family of four children; Theresa (Shannen Doherty), Martin (Wil Wheaton), Cynthia (Jodi Hicks) and the ill-fallen Timothy (Ian Fried). Without understanding Timothy's illness, Mrs. Brisby seeks out the help of Mr. Ages (Arthur Malet); an old friend of her late husband, Jonathan's. Mr. Ages diagnoses Timothy with pneumonia, and warns not to move him and allow him proper rest and medicine for about three weeks. In the meantime, the farmer intends to plow the field where they reside, which means the family must find a way to move without forcing Timothy out of bed, or he risks death. Mrs. Brisby then sets out on a journey, seeking help from the Great Owl (John Carradine), a bumbling crow named Jeremy (Dom DeLuise), and a clan of rats, lead by the seemingly ancient and wise Nicodemus (Derek Jacobi) who holds an intriguing secret based on the rats' friendly relationship with the late Jonathan Brisby. This all creates a more intense and interesting subplot to the film as well, throwing us all a bit of a curveball. Being that this one is from the early 80s, one can appreciate the fact that animation was much tougher to do back then, and Bluth proves to be extremely successful with it here. I absolutely love the dream-like atmosphere that this movie provides, and it's an odd case where I wouldn't actually want to see it cleaned up with CG. There's something about the oldschool animation here that gives this movie so much of its charm, and we'll learn Bluth pulls this off in his early days. Back in the 80s and early 90s, I'd say Bluth movies were to Disney what Dreamworks is to Pixar now - it's a bit of a "lesser" brand in theory, but in reality, sometimes the stories are just as good, if not better. It was an honest to God coin-flip for us kids. I didn't really pick up on this title until much later in my life, but I'm very glad I did, and in my own way, I regret not giving it a proper chance in my early days. I was born the same year this came out, so I've been familiar with the title as far back as I can remember. Nevertheless, this totally holds up, and it's actually a great example of a family film with a strong female lead, if you're looking for one. In its own way, it provided that nostalgic factor, regardless of the fact that I saw it for the first time well into my twenties. That all comes from the style, and the memory that Don Bluth had a way of providing that escape from reality very easily. It's one of the best examples of his more dream-like stuff, and it really does take you away into a whole other world. It's Bluth fantasy at its peak.  Sometimes when I do these Screening Suggestions, the review will be on a movie I haven't seen yet, but has been highly recommended to me. In these cases, my readers can take the "suggestion" to come from my peers rather than me, but I won't post unless it's something I'm fairly certain I'll agree about. The point of Screening Suggestions is to suggest titles one might enjoy, while at the same time being sure it's something I'd recommend based on my own tastes.
In the case of '9', it seems people understand what it is I look for in movies. I went into it fairly blind, but all in all really liked it by the end. This one is fueled by the wondrous imagination of director Shane Acker, whose short film of the same name was nominated for an Oscar in 2005. This is essentially the "full version" of what he was going for, assisted by screenwriter Pamela Pettler, best known for movies like 'The Corpse Bride', 'Monster House' and the more recent animated 'Addams Family'. Together, they make a pretty good team. Even though this was pretty well met in the middle, as far as critics were concerned, it's just otherworldly and interesting enough of an idea that it didn't take much to rope me in. We start things off with a brief monologue about how "life must go on", and are soon introduced to 9 (Elijah Wood); a sort of mechanical sack doll, brought to life through a scientist (Alan Oppenheimer). It turns out the scientist has made 8 others as well, making up a pretty star-studded cast; the frail but friendly 2 (Martin Landau); the cycloptic engineer, 5 (John C. Reilly); the mentally unstable oracle, 6 (Crispin Glover); the stubborn leader, 1 (Christopher Plummer); two scholarly but silent twins, 3 and 4; and the somewhat mysterious and rebellious female, 7 (Jennifer Connelly). To make a long story short, the general plot has to do with their survival against machines that have wiped out mankind. While most wish to hide, 9's idea is to go on the offensive. There's a pretty deep setup to the film that is revealed more than half-way through, giving an explanation as to these sac people's existence. Things end up being a bit of a stretch, considering it's an alternative version of the 1930s and could just be "near future" for its general purposes. In the end, the message is essentially the idea that in the wrong hands, technology can be disastrous to mankind. In many ways, it's reminiscent of 'WALL-E', but this time around there's use of alchemy and magic, and it takes place in a war-torn past rather than the distant future. It's an interesting fantasy, and a sort of "what if" story, but you certainly need a fair share of imagination to get yourself through it. One thing I really liked about this one was just in how dark things tended to get. They've got such concepts in here as soul-sucking, death, what might lie beyond death, and I have to admit that it really earns its PG-13 rating. It's a decent title for anyone looking for a fun, animated adventure that has a sense of edginess and even a certain darkness to it. It's not at all long, so it's a very easy watch, and its atmosphere really brings you into its post-apocalyptic world - you're very much on this adventure with these sac people (or "Stitchpunks" as they have become otherwise known), and it does tug on every little emotion, even if only for a second. While the film isn't entirely what I'd call a masterpiece, it's very well done for what it is, gets its message across quite plainly, and even if you don't like this, there's always the Oscar-nominated short. Speaking for myself, the main draws lie in the all-star cast, the atmosphere and the overall adventure. Although It's perhaps something darker and edgier, complete with a scary scene or two, it's still something the whole family can watch and enjoy. Opinions will vary, but I for one loved it, and I can see it as something I may keep coming back to in the near future if I really need an escape. If you want to be transported to another world, it's a good place to look.  Here we have another fun title that seems to have split people right down the middle. Speaking for myself, I find it to be one of those titles I can just have some dark, twisted fun with; much like 'Gremlins'. This is fitting, considering this comes from same director Joe Dante. He seems to know how to hit that note just right, where something cute and/or fun has the potential to be pretty scary. Despite what it looks like in its marketing, this is a PG-13 flick, and it takes advantage of that. If you can put a lot of the cheesy dialogue aside, it works pretty well in answering the question; "What if we made 'Toy Story' really dark?"
Things start off pretty over the top when GloboTech; a top defense contractor acquires the Heartland Toy Company. Toy designers, Larry Benson (Jay Mohr) and Irwin Wayfair (David Cross) are given the job of developing fully interactive toys that will "play back" by Globotech CEO, Gil Mars (Denis Leary). Mars goes with Benson's "Commando Elite"; a group of tough-guy Army soldiers, and Wayfair's "Gorgonites" to be their enemies. Benson jumps the gun on providing the product with its "playability", and activates the toys with a very special microprocessor, which ultimately brings the toys to life, and gives them all a personality of their own. We soon meet Alan Abernathy (Gregory Smith), who signs off on a shipment of these toys for his family's toy store. Along with a friendly delivery driver named Joe (Dick Miller), they activate Archer (Frank Langella); leader of the Gorgonites and Chip Hazard (Tommy Lee Jones), not quite realizing what they were about to unleash. Chip is purchased by Christy Fimple (Kirsten Dunst), the object of Alan's affection, as a present for her little brother, Timmy (Jacob Smith), and Archer goes back to Alan's house in his backpack, where Alan realizes he's actually sentient. The lot of them soon learn what's really happening as the Chip activates the rest of the Commando Elite to hunt down and kill all of the Gorgonites, who they see as their sworn enemy. Meanwhile, the reality is that their roles are reversed, and Archer and the rest of his monster friends are the "good guys". Looking at it today, it's certainly one of those movies where you have to let the CG slide a bit. This was 1998, and CG was just getting good enough to get away with animation that looked a lot like plastic toys. This was one of those things that looked really good for its time, but we've also come a long way since '98, so I could see that being something viewers wouldn't appreciate as much today. On top of that, as mentioned before, there's a lot of dialogue here that's just corny and seems to cater to a younger audience, while some of the violence and action caters to the older, teenage crowd. In that sense, one might consider that it doesn't really know who it's for. From my perspective, however, this is one of those movies kids can watch that has a darker side to it. Again, comparing it to 'Gremlins', it's a good bit of a toe-dip into something that, while fun, is taken a bit more seriously. These soldiers actually do kill more than just a few Gorgonites. I don't see a lot of confusion in who it's catering to. Back when it was released, I considered it one for the kids looking for a darker side. 'Monster Squad' is another example I could throw out there where it's got some language and some violence, but it's something your parents would still let you watch. This doesn't come in as a super high recommendation, considering it seems very clear that this title has just as many disliking it as liking it. I would recommend indulging in your curiosity though, if you've always wondered what this one is like. You may be pleasantly surprised at some of the stuff it has to offer. I haven't even brought up some of the other appearances in this, which include Kevin Dunn and Ann Magnuson as Alan's parents and Phil Hartman and Wendy Schaal as Christy's parents. Hartman's probably the best part of this movie, honestly - his performance is very 'Simpson'-esque. While there are still a few cringe-worthy moments here and there, if you can just manage to make that part of the fun of it all, it works as something outlandishly fun and entertaining.  In one of the manliest of mannish films, we have the action hero's take on a creature feature. What calls for popcorn more than that of a mysterious alien from a distant planet who comes to Earth to hunt, only to go toe to toe with our favorite action star? This is a prime example of the subgenre that is action horror with a sci-fi twist. To this day, in my humble opinion, it stands as the second best "Alien/Predator" movie in existence ('Aliens' being in my top spot), if only because the plot of it is so simple, and it delivers exactly what we want. Maybe it's just me, but I'd say it's almost a perfect action movie.
Army Special Ops soldier and Vietnam Veteran, "Dutch" (Schwarzenegger) and an elite rescue team are given a quick in-and-out mission by Dutch's former commanding officer, General Philips. Among the team are Mac (Bill Duke), an expert tracker named Billy (Sonny Landham), the testosterone-fueled Blain (Jesse Ventura), Poncho (Richard Chaves) and the company's resident jokester, Hawkins (Shane Black). With them, comes CIA officer Dillon (Carl Weathers) - an old friend of Dutch's. As the mission gets underway, the team finds such strange things as three skinned corpses with no sign of approach from any side. After carrying out their mission, and without getting into too much spoiler territory, the team comes across a surviving guerrilla named Anna (Elpidia Carrillo). She's shaken up, and claims things like the forest coming alive to kill people. As they head to their extraction point, they soon they realize they are going up against something that poses a much bigger threat than they signed up for; something that hunts them from the trees using heat vision and the ability to become transparent with its camouflage. As one can imagine, things go pretty much how you'd expect with a look of pretty violent kills in the process. Predictable however it may be at this point, however, it all leads to one of the greatest showdowns in cinematic history. By now, we're all pretty familiar with the Predator. He's become a pop culture icon who sits alongside the Alien. He's the Jason Voorhees to Alien's Freddy Krueger. But this was back in a time before anyone understood what the Predator was, and Schwarzenegger was the real draw. At the time of its release, it looked like it was gonna be another 'Commando', and though the trailer offers brief glimpses of what the Predator looked like, it just wasn't the main focus. Here we have what one might call "dude porn" - a cast of "manly" men doing "manly" things like violence and mayhem and killing. It really delivers on that aspect right down to making the Predator itself throw down his arms just to have a one-on-one fight with Schwarzenegger. It was a unique way to have the world's strongest man meet his match in brawn for once. A line here and there is perhaps a bit dated, but honestly, not enough to ruin things. This is still one of the best action movies ever made, as far as I'm concerned. I have seen it a bunch of times, and I'm still just as entertained by it as ever. It carries some special effects with it that still look great by today's standards, and further go to show that CG doesn't necessarily have things on the same level as practical effects. This one was even nominated for an Oscar for these effects, losing to 'Innerspace', and at the time, it was only between those two films. However, as far as I can see, 'Predator' still stands as a sort of landmark in the action genre, and it introduced a character who would live on for decades. I could watch this movie in my 90s and still think it's great, no holds barred entertainment.  Although this month takes a look at some of the titles I personally consider "essential Schwarzenegger" titles, I do heavily consider this particular title to be the one and only king of them. I would say 'True Lies' is my favorite, but if you want full Arnold, this is definitely the place to go. To put it another way, I'm fairly convinced this was the movie that really inspired the Rainier Wolfcastle character on 'The Simpsons'. Yes, he was obviously based on Arnold, but I think it's this particular Arnold they were going for.
For a quick plot synopsis, we open the film, and are eventually introduced to former Colonel John Matrix (Schwarzenegger). He is living a happy, retired life with his daughter, Jenny (Alyssa Milano). It's interrupted quickly, however, when his former superior Major General Franklin Kirby (James Olson) informs him that the members of his former unit have been killed by unknown mercenaries. Said mercs raid John's home and kidnap Jenny, lead by Bennett (Vernon Wells); an ex-member of John's team that was discharged for excessive violence. John is eventually overpowered and captured, but this ends up being a big mistake. With his daughter's life on the line, John Matrix eventually manages to escape, and enlist the help of random off-duty flight attendant named Cindy (Rae Dawn Chong). Now John will stop at nothing to rescue his daughter, and put an end to Bennett and his henchmen. So basically what we have here is a no holds barred revenge plot involving the biggest action hero of the 80s in his prime. If someone was to ask me who Schwarzenegger is, I would tell them watch 'Commando', as I find it to be the quintessential Schwarzenegger movie. If we think of him in a stereotypical light, I'd say this is the role that really shows it. He's muscle-bound, powerful, full of guns and ammo, shoots but never gets shot, he's got the accent, and above all else, some of the best one-liners of his career. That alone is what makes this movie so damn fun. it's not just a stereotype of an Arnie flick, it's a stereotype of an early action movie. It's got to be within the top 10, or maybe even top 5 action flicks of the 80s, and with good reason. This isn't something that keeps you on the edge of your seat so much as it makes you laugh along with it as well as cheer him on. It's cheesy, but it's what 80s action movies were all about. It would be fairly easy for someone to be new to this today and find that it hasn't aged well - but one should also know that's what makes it so good. In many ways, it captures the cheesy awesomeness that was 1980s action. Things were off the wall and dammit, we liked it like that. These are the same reasons I appreciate franchises like 'Fast & Furious' nowadays - yes, it's ridiculous, but sometimes reality isn't really asked for in these types of flicks. There's insulting the audience, but then there's just having fun with them, and that's what this does so incredibly well. It's an era of filmmaking I think a lot of us miss. They can get away with it now, sure, but it's not quite as tolerated as it used to be. This kind of thing, along with a lot of the corny 80s slashers, was just something to lose our minds and eat popcorn to. Well, it's a short review, but there's not much more to say about it than what I keep saying about it already. It's just awesome, mindless fun, and a good laugh. If you're on the lookout for almost definitive films of the 80s, I would highly recommend this title as a place to turn. It is pure Schwarzenegger through and through, and the man might as well have been a golden statue back in the 80s representing the action genre. If that statue had to hold the film that best represented him, this would be my pick.  Taking place in 1886, we meet adventurer Sir Lionel Frost (Hugh Jackman). Frosts specialty is the seeking out and proving the existence of modern mythical creatures, which could lead to his dream of being accepted into the Society of Great Men, lead by Lord Piggot-Dunceby (Stephen Fry). To prove himself worthy, Frost makes his next mission to prove the existence of the elusive Sasquatch, after receiving a letter that claims them to be real.
Frost then travels to the Pacific Northwest and soon meets the Sasquatch (Zach Galifianakis), who speaks perfect English and claims to be the one who wrote the letter that lead Frost here. His motivation is to have Frost help him find his relatives, the Yetis, so that he can find a home and not be so lonely anymore. Frost agrees to help, and get assistance from his old lover, Adelina Fortnight (Zoe Saldana), who has a map to the Himalayas, and along the way helps to develop Frost's character. On their tail, however, is a bounty hunter named Willard Stenk (Timothy Olyphant) who has been recruited by Piggot-Dunceby to seek out to kill Frost to ensure the views of the Society of Great Men go unchallenged. Though Stenk provides a constant threat through the film, a lot of the story is about accepting the "different", and looking past one's pride to see the good in that difference. This is perhaps most well-illustrated by the fact that Mr. Link (as Frost calls him) wants to change his name to Susan. On the surface, the simple reason he wants to be called Susan is that he remembers coming across an explorer named Susan who didn't freak out when she saw him, and she was therefore admirable enough to name himself after. It's played for laughs, but at the same time, it's LAIKA once again standing up for certain rights - Mr. Link wants to be referred to as a woman. Something similar comes up in 'ParaNorman' when we find out a certain character is gay, and to me, it's clear that LAIKA is a company that tries to do the right thing. They still have some ground to cover, but they do a better job than many. One thing all of the LAIKA films have had in common up until this point is playing with certain elements of horror. They all have something to fear in them, whether it be having button eyes, zombie attacks, mankind, the list goes on. In fact, "mankind" is a pretty common theme among them, but it's probably nowhere more evident than here. It's not so much about mankind being the hunter, as something like this would usually do, but mankind just being ugly altogether. Nowhere is that more evident than the "Society of Great Men", who are really just a bunch of snobby assholes who want Frost dead just so their conservative views aren't challenged - yeah, LAIKA can get pretty grown up. Of the collection, I'd have to say that this one is easily the most light-hearted (despite all that was just said) and easiest one to show the kids. LAIKA deals with mature subject matter a bit more to simply dub them as "family movies", but this one is also quite a nice story with a likable, well-developed lead. Somewhere between here and 'Boxtrolls', you have the LAIKA films that the whole family can pretty well watch with no real trouble. The others all have at least a little something that's very disturbing, but the storytelling is always great stuff. It's my humble opinion that LAIKA is easily one of the best animation studios out there, and year by year, they are robbed of a potential Oscar (generally by worthy movies), but it seems to go the way of Ghibli - often nominated, never winning, and even Ghibli got theirs for 'Spirited Away'. Regardless of awards, as we wrap up LAIKA month, I can fully admit that I would highly recommend any film within the LAIKA animation collection. 'The Corpse Bride', 'Coraline', 'ParaNorman', 'The Boxtrolls', 'Kubo and the Two Strings' and 'Missing Link' are all super high on my list for beautiful animation, wonderful storytelling, and above all else, not treating their youthful audience as a bunch of goofy, mindless kids. There are mature and even frightening themes within their list, and it may interest one to know that 'The Adventures of Mark Twain', whose Devil figure has pretty well become a disturbing meme nowadays, is theirs as well. LAIKA is a great company, not afraid to "go there", and I can't wait to see what they have in store for their next project.  While I consider 'ParaNorman' my favorite title in the LAIKA collection, 'Kubo and the Two Strings' provides that potential coin-flip for yours truly, in that I might consider it the best LAIKA film. It's my opinion that a "best" and "favorite" are separate entities - the "best" being the film you'd recommend anyone watching, and "favorite" being the one that you have a personal attachment with. I think this one gets overlooked far too much, and it's powerful stuff for those of us who don't tend to hide the emotion we get from a good story.
The directorial debut of one, Travis Knight ('Bumblebee'), 'Kubo' is the story of a 12-year-old boy named, well, Kubo (Art Parkinson), whose left eye was taken from his grandfather, the Moon King (Ralph Fiennes), Setting the stage for what's to come, the film lets you know right away that it's not messing around. Kubo takes care of his Mother through the nights, who is evidently suffering from Alzheimer's. He makes a living for them, playing his two-stringed shamisen (a Japanese string instrument, similar to a guitar) for the local villagers, and creating origami magic from his music. The paper and his words tell the tale of a samurai warrior named Hanzo; his father. He never finishes, however, as his Mother warns him not to stay out after dark due to the Moon King, and her two sisters, Karasu and Washi (both Rooney Mara) will get him and take his remaining eye. Kubo learns of the Bon Festival, where the living pay their respects and speak to the dead. Kubo goes to try to communicate with his father, and find out who he really was without all of his warrior glory. This keeps him out late, and Kubo is attacked by the two aforementioned sisters. With the sisters and his grandfather hot on his heels, going after his other eye (it is eventually explained why), Kubo ends up living out his own story, finding himself on a journey to find his father's magical armor, and fighting alongside a protective Monkey known as "Monkey" (Charlize Theron) and a bumbling samurai beetle known as "Beetle" (Matthew McConaughey). I know, unoriginal names, but wait until the end because there's even a reason for that. While 'Coraline' is the obvious fan favorite, I still consider this one to probably be the best overall. There's so much imagination and magic with so many underlying grown-up themes, it's one I feel the whole family could watch and get something out of, quite easily. Although, as LAIKA goes, I have to warn that there's some petty creepy stuff going on in this film - like a kid whose grandfather took his damn eye when he was a baby, and wants his other one for whatever the hell reason (again, explained eventually). So, like the whole "button eye" thing in 'Coraline', I could see things getting uncomfortable for the young ones. Still, that creepy plot-line aside, there's plenty of really beautiful animation, and awesome set pieces (including an underwater eye garden... Jesus, what's with LAIKA and eye stuff?), plus this has a really catchy soundtrack, using the shamisen. There's even a half-decent cover of 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' during the end credits. It earned two Oscar nominations, including Best Animated Feature and Best Visual Effects, losing them to 'Zootopia' and 'The Jungle Book', respectively (both well-earned). Finally, it's the highest-ranked LAIKA film on Rotten Tomatoes with a whopping 97%. So maybe all of that means very little nowadays, but one can still look at that and say that the film is, overall, well-liked. Accolades aside, I personally love it based on how much imagination was put into it. I consider it the idea of an anime-style film, but using LAIKA's stop-motion model. While that idea might turn a few people off, I just think it adds to the creativity of it all. Watching this film, at least for myself, is kinda like sitting through someone else's dream. It's beautifully shot, the characters are fantastical, the sets themselves are incredibly dream-like at times, and when it's all over, that cover song sends you off with a bit of a lullaby tone. It's a wonderful film, it gets deep, and I highly recommend checking it out if you're in the mood for a really cool adventure.  In the grand scheme of the LAIKA collection (at least the 6 full-length stop-motion features), I think it's safe to say that this one's likely my least favorite of the bunch. That's saying a lot about how much I enjoy LAIKA studios' creations though, because I still like this one quite a bit. It's just a touch more low-brow and gross-out than the others.
LAIKA likes to play with horror elements, while maintaining a light-hearted, comedic tone - this one uses gross-out stuff. 'ParaNorman' was a modern B zombie movie, 'Coraline' is a bit of a 'Body Snatchers' thing, and 'The Corpse Bride' is a little more of an old school 'Bride of Frankenstein' deal (very loosely). That's how I see them, anyway. They all seem to be a bit of a love letter to older styles. The rest will be covered as the reviews for the month continue, but this one is a neat way of doing the reverse fear factor, where the real person to fear is scarier than the "threat" at hand - which, by the way, 'ParaNorman' already did, but there IS more morality to this than just that. Based on the children's novel, 'Here Be Monsters' by Alan Snow, the film tells the tale of a human boy known only as "Eggs" (Isaac Hempstead Wright) who is raised by a community of creatures called Boxtrolls. These creatures come out at night, after curfew, in a town called Cheesebridge. They basically come into town, steal a bunch of seemingly useless stuff, and retreat into their underground home. What they steal helps their community function, and the mean no harm to anyone, least of all Eggs. The town hates them, however, and accuses them of stealing a baby referred to as the "Trubshaw Baby", who we realize from the get-go is Eggs. The town villain, Archibald Snatcher (Ben Kingsley) wants nothing more than a White Hat, which is a high class status symbol that will allow him to sit at a VIP table and taste cheese - even if it does make him react, shall we say, negatively. Lord Portley-Rind (Jared Harris) strikes a deal with him that if he can exterminate all of the "evil" Boxtrolls, he will receive his own white hat. Everything happens very quickly, earning the movie extra points for fast set-up that one can follow very easily. One by one, the Boxtrolls get captured, and before long, Eggs sets out into the light where, with the help of Rind's daughter, Winnie (Elle Fanning), he hopes to rescue his underground family, and bring to the attention of all the townsfolk that Boxtrolls are not to be feared. I claim this one as my least favorite due to a few things that are easier to nitpick about it. The big one, for me, is how the hell Eggs can speak English when he was raised from his baby years by a bunch of grunting, gibberish-talking trolls. There's a few other things, but none of it actually ruins the movie for what it's trying to do. It's like bowling and picking up a spare rather than getting a strike. It's good, but a little adjustment would have made it better. Again, nitpicks. The fact of the matter is, it's aimed at kids, so it works just fine. But maybe that's part of my personal disappointment as well. Up until now, these movies had a genuine creepiness to them, and this is where LAIKA starts to lighten things up a bit. There's more to appreciate here than criticize. The animation and the underground Boxtroll home provides the viewer with a strange and twisted fictional world straight out of a dream. 'Coraline' did it better, but still, this is a well-detailed film with well-detailed sets and characters. The voice acting is great, too. Snatcher is assisted by three people who, in my opinion, really make the film; Mr. Trout (Nick Frost), Mr. Pickles (Richard Ayoade) and Mr. Gristle (Tracy Morgan), all doing great voice work for their respective characters, including Morgan, which means a lot coming from yours truly. Last time I heard him do a voice, he butchered Captain Caveman in 'Scoob'. Then there's the Boxtrolls themselves, voiced primarily by Steve Blum, Dee Bradley Baker, Pat Fraley and Fred Tatasciore - voice actors whose resumes are so huge they're ridiculous. I suppose I look down on this one a little more because I feel like it borrows from things that LAIKA has already done, specifically the moral of unnecessarily fearing something, which 'ParaNorman' did better. But that's also what 'ParaNorman' was all about. This film goes deeper by also giving us a moral about status and whether or not someone really needs it to be happy. So I guess it's easy enough to overlook my nitpickiness on this one, because it's one of those films where as soon as you see a flaw, it's forgiven by something it does well, and the good really does outweigh the bad here. It may not be my favorite in the collection, but it could easily be yours if you give it a chance.  This month, I thought I'd leave an area for some light-hearted material by taking a look at the LAIKA library. In case some of you are wondering about the missing LAIKA titles, here's my review for 'Coraline', and as far as 'The Corpse Bride' goes, I figured it would be best saved for a Tim Burton Month, whenever I decide that will be. We kick things off this month with my favorite film from the studio, 'ParaNorman' - a film I have a strangely deep connection with, but I'll get into why in a bit.
Norman Babcock (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is a strange child. People on the streets see him talking to imaginary people, and his family and peers grow weary of his stories that consist of his strange ability to communicate with the dead. That's not so much in a Ouija, seance form as a 'Sixth Sense', straight up talk to them form. His father (Jeff Garlin) and sister, Courtney (Anna Kendrick) give him a particularly hard time with it, as he insists that he has convos with his grandmother, right there in the living room, as she watches B movies with him. However, soon, he makes a friend who accepts him for who he is, named Neil (Tucker Albrizz). Just when things are starting to look up for Norman, his deranged hobo-ish and dying uncle, Mr. Prenderghast, warns him about protecting his town from a witch's curse. Now that his time is almost up, he has to pass the torch to Norman, who he knows can communicate with spirits, and can therefore keep the curse at bay by reading a bedtime story at the witch's grave site. Upon reading from the book he gets from Prenderghast, however, he unleashes a horde of zombies who begin advancing on his hometown of Blithe Hollow. Now it's up to Norman, Neil, and Courtney, along with the aid of school bully, Alvin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) and Neil's big brother, Mitch (Casey Affleck) to put a stop to the zombie invasion, and put the witch to rest again. Going back to what I mentioned before about having a deep connection with it, I've always felt a few things about it. I feel like the child version of me can relate to Norman a lot in this, being the misunderstood outcast who's seldom taken seriously. But more than that, without going into it too much, my relationship with my Dad felt very similar to Norman's with his, and I had just lost my father a month before this was released. Something about it really spoke to me, and even taught me a thing or two, and one could say it even offered a bit of closure. Odd coming from a film like this, but that's how it all felt when I first saw it. Putting me and my stuff aside, however, there's plenty for anyone to like here. Neil is an extremely likable character who you really urge Norman towards, because he doesn't see him as a loser or a freak, and he's ever in his corner through the whole movie. His big brother is hilarious, being a sort of meat-headed jock type, with a lot of dumb moments. But what really makes his character is a twist about him in the end you don't really see coming. Everyone has a moment or two here though, it's a lot of fun watching such an odd team up once the film gets going. Perhaps the film's best overall message is to not judge a book by its cover, to keep it plain and simple. It's a theme that keeps popping up here and there, not limited to Norman's odd ability, and having people accept him. I like to tell people who are new to it, that it's essentially 'The Sixth Sense' for a younger audience, and instead of relying on scares, it relies on well-timed comedy. I highly recommend this title as a family watch for the Halloween season, being that it made my 20 Family Friendly Halloween Classics list in 2017. There's a lot here for just about anyone watching, complete with comedy, creepy atmosphere, funny characters voiced by talented actors, and it might even make one take a good hard look at oneself. Check it out. It's my highest recommendation on the LAIKA list - yes, even over 'Coraline'.  I tend to find for the most part that director Michael Bay is very hit or miss with audiences and critics alike. He embodies a hell of a lot of, what we could call, "dude porn" stereotypes. This is car chases, explosions, gunfire, women in skimpy clothing, the list goes on. For my money, this one represents Michael Bay at his best, embodying all of these stereotypes, but giving us a pretty interesting story all the same. In other words, it's not just noise.
A disillusioned war General, Francis Hummel (Ed Harris), and a few of his followers, plan to unleash a deadly chemical on the city of San Francisco. They set up shop when they take over the famous Alcatraz prison - famous for being inescapable. Their demands are for $100 Million in reparations to the families of his fallen army companions, or they otherwise launch nerve gas over the city. Meanwhile, FBI chemist, Stanley Goodspeed (Nicholas Cage) is called in to team up with John Patrick Mason (Sean Connery), a former Alcatraz inmate, known as the only person to successfully escape the inescapable prison, and has since had his identity swept under the rug. They must break into the prison with their combined expertise, and put a stop to Hummel's plans, and hopefully escape with their lives. The film has all the proper Bay-isms that you'll be looking for, so any action buffs out there won't be too disappointed. But it adds some flavor to his usual, with the lovingly crazy Nicholas Cage (who's actually kinda toned down here from his usual), and the just plain awesome and we all know it, Sean Connery - the original James Bond, himself. Truth be told, growing up, this was probably only the second thing I had seen Connery in, first knowing him as the little old man who was Indiana Jones' father. So I was pleasantly surprised at his badassery here. This is a good example of why I kind of enjoy Michael Bay. I get the same fun, popcorn action movie feeling I do from this than I do with the 'Bad Boys' movies, or to a lesser extent *cough* 'Armageddon' (go ahead and put that one with my guilty pleasures). There's still a few I haven't seen yet, but I feel that for the most part, Bay fails when he's trying to adapt something. If he can do something no one is familiar with, and make it his own, you can have a fun time with it. In my eyes, he's the last of a generation, and the torch has kinda been passed to... I dunno, Chad Stahelski ('John Wick')? This is another one that's just a lot of fun to put on if you want a taste of intense action, but with a villain you might be able to relate to. It's always interesting to come to an understanding as to why the bad guy is doing what he's doing. It's always very refreshing when films veer away from the scenarios of "because I can", and "I must rule this place" (not that I don't enjoy 'Batman' villains). Ed Harris does a great job here, and between the three lead actors, he's almost the most human aspect of the whole story. So, if you're in search of some good action from the 90's, with a few Cage-isms here, or a few Connery accents there, this one's for you. When you think Michael Bay, you think of a lot of things, but somehow this one manages to fit all of his cliches in a nice little package, and I find it quite possibly his best work next to the 'Bad Boys' movies. Give it a whirl, you might just have a fun ride.  before getting hit.Now, this is a film that hasn't gone down in cinematic history as any sort of critical hit. But at the same time, the audiences who do appreciate it, like it for the simple "popcorn" factor of it all. It's a movie about an alien invasion, reminiscent of 'War of the Worlds', most likely not to be taken as seriously as people tend to To each their own, but I do feel like this one gets a bad rap for no super good reason.
In Washington, President Whitmore (Bill Pullman), working with his most trusted adviser, Connie (Margaret Colin), receive a message about a mysterious signal, coming from around the distance of the moon. This is soon revealed to be several city-sized spacecraft, headed towards Earth. New Yorker, TV Cable repairman, and computer nerd, David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) eventually decodes this signal to mean a countdown to Earth's destruction. He then gets his Dad, Julius (Judd Hirsch to drive to Washington to try to warn the President before everything goes down. He has a former relationship with Connie, thus making it a little easier (and admittedly convenient) to get past White House security. Of course, if you know anything about this movie at all, you know that this deosn't help. But it does allow our main characters to survive on Air Force One, getting the hell out of there, before getting hit. Meanwhile, in LA Captain Steven Hiller (Will Smith) of the U.S. Marine Corps finds himself getting called back into action while on leave. This disrupts his time with a potential new family in a stripper named Jasmine (Vivica A. Fox) and her son, Dylan (Ross Bagley), and eventually he's seen is the most relatable badass of the movie. When everything goes down, he's called into action. This eventually brings our central characters together, and they become the central focus in organizing a counter-attack against the hostile alien species. In the midst of all of this, we have a good range of characters, ranging from redneck crop duster Russell Casse (Randy Quaid) to Steve's wingman, Jimmy Wilder (Harry Connick Jr.), and from the eccentirc Dr. Oken (Brent Spiner) to the President's daughter (a very young Mae Whitman). But the real star of this movie is the wide range of visual effects, blending the practical with a bit of early CG really quite smoothly. Historically speaking, the famous scene from the trailer of citywide destruction involving a massive wall of fire is easily one of the most memorable big screen moments from the 90's. I can still remember being in the theater being pretty blown away by what they managed to do. Now, upon rewatching it damn near 25 years later, most of it still holds up, and it has become a great, fun trip down memory lane. It's obviously not all great, though. There are some scenes in this that are kinda hard to watch, such as the physics of fire vs a dog's run to shelter. The elephant in the room for this has got to be the now infamous "virus", and it makes no damn sense. But I always got what they were attempting, so it never bothered me all that much, even if it's pretty off the wall nuts. As I said before, this is pretty much a modern 'War of the Worlds', and if you know how that ends, the concept is kinda just updated here... although, the original way makes a hell of a lot more sense. You have to take this movie for what it is, and it seems to be a challenge for many. Granted, my taste in movies is pretty widespread and forgiving. But I just never, ever saw this as taking itself very seriously. I recall studying 'War of the Worlds' in school, around the same time, or even a year before. But in knowing that, I went into this, accepting it for what it was right away. Nowadays, if I had to nitpick, I'd just say it's a little overrun with American pride, and some of the effects don't hold up. But even still, I see it as a fun, sci-fi, action, adventure movie, and not something that was aiming for any Academy Awards (although it did win for Visual Effects, and had a nomination for Best Sound). I encourage people to give this another shot with a new set of eyes. Grab your popcorn, sit back, and just have some fun with it.  I thought I'd cover another month full of fun action, and I figured I'd go with sequels, or "part 2s" that, according to many, manage to outweigh their predecessors. Combined with a replay through of PS4's 'Spider-Man', I really wanted to revisit 'Spider-Man 2', which many consider the best of the original, or Raimi trilogy.
If I'm perfectly honest, I still lean towards the first one, myself. But the idea that this is a sequel that does a better job than the origin story is completely understandable, and I recognize I'm in a minority. I kinda see the two films as equals, but each delivering something making me appreciate them individually. I would say that as far as getting things to feel like a 'Spider-Man' comic book unfolding on the big screen, this one nails it the best. The first one did a better job of making things feel like an epic movie version of 'Spider-Man'. As far as the third one goes, we're gonna pretend that it doesn't exist because it's pretty much the 'Batman & Robin' of the 'Spidey' franchise altogether. Of course, this is all just humble opinion, so one might not view them in the same differing lights that I do. But again, if this one nails the comic book feel the best, shouldn't that be the best reason to appreciate it as still one of the best comic book movies of all time? The story picks up where the first one left off, which can be read about here. Two years have passed, and Peter Parker's (Tobey Maguire) still trying to use his great powers for great responsibility. But it's interfering with his day-to-day life because crime never sleeps. He's falling behind in school, and can't commit to his friends, namely Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) who just wants him to attend her new play, as she's since become a Broadway actress. Meanwhile, Harry Osbourne (James Franco), now head of Oscorp's genetic and scientific research division, sponsors a project on fusion power, headed by Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina). During a demonstration using mechanical arms with an artificial intelligence, an accident occurs, breaking the arms' inhibitor chip, which gave Octavius control over them. Now, the arms controlling him, he becomes Doctor Octopus, hellbent on funding another experiment, hoping to show the world that one can create a self-sustaining fusion reaction. Most of this one represents that first example of the superhero trying to balance his two lives. Does he do what's right for him, or does he do what's right for everyone else? At the time, it was a fascinating take on a comic book movie, bringing in some real world problems instead of having it a simple good vs evil story. Yeah, the first film did that too, but so much of that was already familiar. There's even a great scene in here where it's Peter talking to an imaginary Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson) about the downside of what his superhero life has become. He has no time for the other people in his life that he loves. Even with Mary Jane aside, he still has to take care of Aunt May (Rosemary Harris), and try to be responsible with things like jobs, which we see him struggle with as the film opens. The film is well-balanced, keeping the deeper side of it contrasted with the fun comic book action we came to see. It's slow in parts, but when the action picks up, it's a lot of fun. Perhaps the most memorable fight takes place on a speeding subway train, and it was enough to earn the film an Oscar for its visual effects, against films like 'Prisoner of Azkaban'. As a whole, this is a great follow-up to its predecessor, and to this day has one of my favourite endings - before post-credit stingers were a thing. It's truly sad that the studio had to put their hands so deeply into the third film though, because the ending here still represents a whole lot of promise lost. In this day and age, we have a new, very much appreciated Spider-Man in Tom Holland, who plays the perfect combo of Pete and Spidey, and has pretty much been embodied in the role now. It's fun looking back on Tobey, but it's not the same now. You see someone who was in his late 20s at the time instead of the teenager that Holland eventually made him. Also, the dated melodrama of some of the dialogue here can be a little tough to get around at times. But at the same time, that's just Raimi's Spider-Man, which at the time I DID consider awesome. I guess with so many different incarnations, this has just become kinda dated. Nevertheless, if you find yourself curious about looking back at the 'Spider-Man' of the early '00s, it still totally holds up for what it is. While today's 'Spider-Man' is very much its own thing, these first couple of movies will give the hardcore comic book fans something a little closer to what they might want to see. For my money, the new Spidey has been the best Spidey, but if that's not quite the Spidey you want, this is where you want to look. |
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