TV Review: 11.22.63 (Hulu Original, 2016)

Stephen King is no stranger to having his books turned into miniseries. Some, like It, are considered classics. Others, like The Langoliers or the 1970s version of Salem's Lot, are kind of cheesy or even plain terrible. Still more, like the Steven Weber led The Shining, which is superior to the Kubrick film (Not sorry. That movie is awful and dull.), will never get their proper due. To me, most of King's works are told best in long form. It gives them room to breathe. This doesn't take away from the amazing features made from his books, but sometimes miniseries is bettah. See what I did there? I'm hilarious.

This is the case with 11.22.63. My wife and I just called it the Franco show, because while the numbers make the title look short, Eleven Twenty-two Sixty-three is a mouthful. The story is interesting. What if you could stop the Kennedy assassination? That's the task diner owner Al (Chris Cooper) gives to his friend Jake (James Franco). Al has tried many times, but every time he gets close, something goes wrong. Now he's at the end of a losing battle with cancer, and he's passing the torch. A portal exists in the back of his diner, and when you walk through it, you're in the same spot exactly three years before the assassination. Whatever you do in the past becomes part of the timeline when you come back, but if you pass through the portal again, time resets. This comes in handy if you screw up.

Movie Review: The Young Lions (1958; 20th Century Fox/Twilight Time)

...one really has to give prolific director Edward Dmytryk a respectably just comeuppance of appreciation, as far as his ability in not pigeon-holing himself into one particular film genre. When one considers his spectrum of film productions, we're talking about seeing him dip into just about every film genre under the sun, and then some...and prove himself respectably exceptional in each and every one. An under-appreciated filmmaker by name (...an infamous 'socialist blacklist' stigma took care of that, which in itself...encompassing a rather vast number of participants...is yet another provocative Hollywood story, altogether...a tale to be later told, to be sure), his films, nonetheless spark great acclamation and appreciation by sheer mention of their eclectically varied titles, alone. A little steamy intrigue, set in a New Orleans bordello, in 1962's "Walk on the Wild Side"...the classic horror of 'ape, into woman, into ape-woman', with 1943's "Captive Wild Woman"...corruption and crime in the boxing ring, as revealed in 1940's "Golden Gloves"...cleaning up a dusty, one-horse town, plagued by gun-toting cowboy thugs, in 1959's "Warlock"...the entwining, film noir-ish mystery and intrigue, found in 1944's "Murder, My Sweet"...blackmail and terrorism, on the cusp of a fledgling computer age, in 1975's "The Human Factor"...and the ever genre-shifting list goes on, and on, and on...

Movie Review: Mississippi Mermaid (1969; MGM/Twilight Time)

...braving the lambast-worthy gauntlet of losing some respectable points as one of many cult film auteurs out there, the respected 'comma, then title' moniker which this reviewer make an unabashed claim to...he...uh, he (...stutter, stutter)...he has to candidly, and...swell, quite shamefully admit, he...uh, he (...stutter, stutter) had never partaken of a film, produced and directed by the great Francois Truffaut...that is, until now. Admittedly, as a very young and budding embracee of cult films, this reviewer had heard of this extraordinarily masterful filmmaker, at least enough to know that his film artistry was, at the very least, something more than noteworthy, and he was even dimly privy to some of Truffaut's early film work (...'fancy-schmancy arthouse' films, I called them back then...and as a youth...well, perhaps it was understandable that I wasn't into 'fancy-schmancy', though indeed, such films were as yet beyond my level of understanding and appreciation, at the time), without actually having seen them...classics like "Fahrenheit 451", "Story of Adele H" and "Shoot the Pianist", amongst others...

...no siree...this reviewer's first exposure to Francois Truffaut wasn't even his prowess at film direction; rather, it was his authoritative, albeit language-hampered performance as Claude Lacombe, in the wonder, instilling 1977, Steven Spielberg-directed sci-fi classic, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind". However, even in that enigmatic performance alone, there was an aura of interest and fascination, which shone through...not in the character he played, but in the performer...or rather, the artist himself, the exposition of which could not be denied, nor ignored...

Movie Review: Kiss Me Deadly (1955; MGM/UA/Criterion)

...OK, people!! Let's get it right out there, and state the obvious...or rather, what will be the obvious, depending upon whoever has or hasn't seen this subtle and captivating potboiler...this invariably explosive powerhouse of a film, or at the very least, are aware of it's influence on a certain film director, amongst others. Ahem!! (...insert a clearing of the throat, and a rolling of the eyes) Yes, people...this is, without a doubt, one of many poignant and noteworthy films, which influenced eclectic cult film director Quentin Tarantino. Just how this film proves juxtapositioned as being influential...well, we'll get to that, as we move along here...

...now, how this curiously unseen film came to this unwary viewer's attention...as well as having since given cause for this dunderhead of a claimed seasoned and knowledgeable film fan to (...once again) kick himself in the buttocks, repeatedly, for having missed this one (...amongst others), all these years...well, those familiar with the nostalgic, over-the-airwaves digital broadcast channel, Antenna TV, may well be aware that in the quiet, star-studded wee hours of the morning, on Saturday and Sunday, this channel...a sort of TV Land wannabee, which during the waking hours, broadcasts the best of TV sitcoms and drama, from the '50's through the '80's...instead reels out the best of selected titles from the MGM and Columbia Pictures film archives, and...uh, hey Mr. Peabody!! Set the wayback machine to some weeks ago, when this viewer rose from the covers, knuckled the sleep from his eyes, switched on the tube, and caught a rather strikingly familiar sight...which culminated with a most explosively cataclysmic, 'what-the-f***' film ending. Or better yet, let's just throw in a little more fantasy, pressed an imagined 'rewind' button, and kicked things into gear, right from the beginning, 'kay??.....

Movie Review: What Richard Did (2012: Element Pictures/Tribeca Film)

...oh, those pesky, albeit invariable and inescapable life decisions; with spectrum-wide variance, they have the ability to merely move us through the day, and they have the profound effect of affecting our lives...our very destiny, years to come. The waking hours.....Should I have the cinnamon toast, or the Frooty Pebbles.....Sniff, sniff!! Whoa!! Better shower before I go. Gonna ask for that raise, today.....Hey, you moron!! Pick a lane, would ya'? I'm drivin', here, I'm drivin' here, I'm...Whoa!! Almost hit that pedestrian; that was close, whew.....Yeaaaa!! Won the election. Time to make those changes, which I promised the people...especially for the people that pay me the most.....Will she say yes?? Will she say no?? Oh God, if she says no, I might just have to kill myself.....Let's see, the bottle says 'wash, rinse and repeat'. Wash, rinse, repeat...wash, rinse, repeat...Uh oh, I'm balding back there. Time to call Hair Club for Men.....OK, doors and windows locked for the night, children tucked safely in their beds, alarm clock set for 6:00. Time for bed...Good night sweetheart...Smooch, and ZZZZZZZZ!!!

...and as much as we'd adhere to...or at least, claim to adhere to a level of control, when it comes to our feelings and emotions...well, let's just say that those self-same feelings and emotions are often times running the show, and as such, are...for the most part...in the driver's seat, when it comes to our making the decisions that affect our lives. Good. Bad. Scary. Elating and Satisfying. Effectual, for the moment. And yes, even Life-Changing. And again...yes, there's the desire to maintain a measure of control, when it comes to how our feelings and emotions affect our decisions making; but let's face it: there are moments where those feeling and emotions do get out of control, and...good or bad, like it or not...we have to deal with the repercussions and end result of those situations. In the end, it's how we deal with those decisions, and the resulting outcome, which makes each of us, the kind of person we are...

Movie Review: Tarzan (2013; Constantin Film/Lionsgate)

...yep, these days, the legendary Lord of the Apes...well, he ain't gettin' no love, film-wise. No siree, bob...in this day and age of super-powered, gadget-toting iron men, bat men and spider men, and/or other-worldly super men, ol' muscle-bound, grunting, vine-swinging Tarzan, for the most part, seems to be getting the ol' shaft-o-roonie. Eh, understandable, one might suppose, considering today's superhero-worshipping audience might well take one look at a celluloid-rendered version of Edgar Rice Burrough's classic literary character, shrug their shoulders, and think, '...eh, no powers?? Just muscle, animal 'magnetism' and the typical sense of right, wrong & justice...besides all that, who and what the heck is he, and what can he actually do, compared to...say, the likes of Wolverine, or The Hulk??" In fact, getting less respect, these days, than even the often heckled Aquaman...and heck, we don't even need to go there, right??...

...and to think, at one time, Tarzan was much more respectfully revered, as a savage 'hero amongst heroes'...at least, cinematically (...all due credit to athletically-vigorous Johnny Weismuller, or even via early TV broadcast (...oh, that muscle-bound Ron Ely). So what gives, as far as contemporary depiction of the once-iconic character, who pretty much hasn't seen proper representation, since...uh, can you say 'Christopher Highlander Lambert', in the heavily dramatic 1984 compeller, "Greystoke, the Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes"?? Who knows?? But in the advent of Disney, having let their rights to the character expire, and recently, those rights having been deftly picked up by a German computer animation production company...well, let's just say that our intrepid, vine-swinging Lord of the Apes, isn't exactly faring particularly well, of late, and has definitely seen better days...

Movie Review: Deadly Eyes (1982; Golden Harvest/Scream Factory)

...going into Shout/Scream Factory's recent release of the 1982 Canadian-produced 'nature-gone-amuck' horror chiller, "Deadly Eyes", sight unseen (...I missed it, when it was originally released theatrically, having instead been intensely engaged in the ol' 'hut-one, hut-two' 12-week-plus military boot camp 'game', at the time), this ardent and devoted viewer of the genre, to be quite honest, really didn't expect much. In fact, given the Fortune Star/Golden Harvest opening logos, I almost thought that I had inadvertently plugged in one of those cheezy chop-socky flicks, which for years, Golden Harvest was best known for. Sure, for a long time, it was dimly known by this unsuspecting fright film fan, that the movie had something to do with killer rats...that the film was based upon a best-selling page-turner, by genre author James Herbert...that, in a surprising genre switch, cult film director Robert 'Enter the Dragon' Clouse, handled the reins of the film. Heck, this viewer was even a bit privy to the concept, that inspiration for the outrageous special effects...especially those depicting the rats...was picked up and taken from that ol' class, notorious known as 'Killer Shrews 101'. Later on, even the dark and somewhat vague box art, displayed on the video shelves, didn't phase nor mesmerize this mega monster movie mogul, who often picked up said video rental from the shelves, took a quick & casual look at it, and with a shrug of the shoulders, placed it back, with an uninterested sigh. I mean, really...a killer rat movie?? What could I see in that, which I had not already seen in, say movies like 1971's "Willard" (...also based on a novel), it's 1972 follow-up, "Ben", or even the 1976 drive-in-flavored creature feature, "Food of the Gods"?? (...I could also mention the 1972 Andy Mulligan stinker, "The Rats are Coming...the Werewolves are Here!"...I could, but naw, scratch that...I won't even go there. Eh, forget I even brought it up...)

...boy, was I in for a big surprise...an understatement, to be sure...

Movie Review: Fever Pitch (1997; Channel 4 Film/Twilight Time)

...and now, a word on obsession. Not the type of obsession, where the crazy insane woman business executive is one-night-stand spurned by the horny, reckless and married guy business exec, and it all culminates with a well-boiled bunny in the pressure cooker, and a deftly fired bullet in the forehead...No siree, Bob!! Nor is it a gaggle of sale savvy she-la mall shoppers, who violently storm and mob the nearest department store, like nutzoid concert goers at a Cincinnati 'Who' concert...after hearing the sudden announcement on the PA system, "...boxes of exotic gourmet chocolates...one, for $2.50, or three, for $4.99!!" Can you say, 'Stampede!!', yippee kai-yay, stiletto stompers?? Nope to all of that; rather, we're talking about the phenomenon of sports obsession. The elating, rip-roaring, high-decibel cheers, when a team is doing good, or even wins. The dejection and deep depression that occurs, when the team is not doing so good, or outright loses. The fantasy sports aspect...yes, 'fantasy' to most, but to some, just as real as watching the actual players, themselves. And, oh yes...even going so far as to ardently follow a favorite team across the country, like a crazed groupie, forgoing all else...including...well, this brings us to "Fever Pitch". 'Fever Pitch', huh?? Oh, really?? Title sound familiar?? Let's set the wayback machine to...oh say, circa 1997, and a little romantic comedy/drama ditty, which may well draw forth an equal measure of familiarity, as well as a rousing measure of celebrative fervor, obsession, humor, relationships. and well inspiration of life, itself...even if what is depicted here, seems...well, let's face it, a bit one-sided...

Movie Review: "Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff" (1978, Vinegar Syndrome)

...this ardent and open-minded viewer, in engaging a review of the film you are about to be privy to, haplessly found himself at the indelible horns of a frustratingly interesting dilemma; having recently partaken of the controversial and rarely seen 1978 exploitation drama, "Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff" (...also known as "The Sin" and "The Shaming", in alternate theatrical re-release and broadcast cable venues), this viewer had afterwards placed the crust of director Marvin J. Chomsky's powerhouse of a film, and it's viscerally daring subject matter, on a mental display stand...indeterminately and indecisively circling the whole of the film...poking and prodding...the arduous challenge being, trying how best to approach it from an objectively critical standpoint. In the course of better understanding...historically, as well as literary, considering the source material, which this film is based (...in this case, the best selling novel of the same name, by author William Inge, who previously penned "Come Back, Little Sheba", "Bus Stop" and "Picnic")...this viewer especially could not help but feel thrice parallel divided and segmented, in the sense of desiring to be a fly on the wall on multiple levels, with regards to both the time & place of the film's events, the time & place when this movie itself was released, and finally, the ensuing aftermath thoughts of having viewed the film, in the midst of today's social climate. Amusingly enough, much like the film's evasive advertising campaign, this viewer has thus far avoided delving into exactly how provocatively powerful, traumatically explicit, emotionally distressing, and overall compellingly thought-provoking this film is. And at some point, dammit, one has to stop trying to say it, or stop trying to say around it, and just come out and say it, right?? So, enough of this pussy-footing, big-toe-testing-the-waters lolly-gagging; let's jump head first into these provocative waters, shall we...??

Movie Review: World War Z (2013, Paramount)

 ...good grief, George!!! In the 45-year aftermath of the macabre and gruesome concept introduced in the classic 1968 horror chiller, "Night of the Living Dead" (...as well as the countless incarnations of such, which have prolifically ensued, over the years...in movies, television and books), look what that concept has wrought...look what it has come to. What was once a unique, albeit graphically visceral, threshold-testing cinematic reinvention of definition (...the 'zombie'...once merely relegated to representation by one whose death is feigned, who is redrawn from the grave...thought still dead, but very much alive...and who is herbally enslaved to a master of the dark rituals of Voodoo.....now, a wayward viral infestation...origin varying, depending upon the story...whereby although the infected also rise from the dead, they instead are mindlessly frenzied, decaying, independently operating re-animations, driven to that one primal instinct, which indelibly remains in the fading vestige of their minds...to eat...or horrifically rather, to eat human flesh), has since become a world-wide, commercially recognized institution...like Twinkies...like Walmart...heck, like the very megastar of the following film to be reviewed herein, Brad Pitt. We've definitely come a long way, since genre fav George A. Romero's genre-changing horror classic...indeed, even since the deliciously over-the-top, stomach-churning 'spaghetti' horror days of Fulci, Bianchi and Mattai...so much so, in fact, that the 'zombie' concept in recent productions, like AMC's "The Walking Dead", seems to have taken an 'oh-by-the-way' back-seated backdrop, in favor of the suspense, tension and high-drama of having to survive in the midst of such apocalyptic turmoil. In a surprisingly tame and UN-visceral way, for better or for worse, such can be said for the recent entry in the well-worn horror sub-genre...the internationally intriguing, spansive and epic-sized apocalyptic "World War Z"...

Movie Review: Dangerous Liaisons (2012, Well Go USA)

...the...ooooof!!...oh-so deliciously diabolical, serpen-twining storyline that deftly makes up the sly and sensual 18th century Pierre Chodolos de Laclos novel, 'Les Liaisons dangereuses' is an intriguing odd-bird, as far as classic novels go, in that the ensuing events depicted therein, ideally coupled with the associated and sinister character cross-play within the story are just as intricately compelling and appreciative...perhaps even a bit more so...than the final outcome of the story, itself...the journey, more alluring satisfying than the destination, or the prize...you know, the old adage of 'getting there is half the fun'...very much comparably akin to that of not only appreciatively beholding  strikingly beautiful tapestry, as a whole, but also having an equally, if not higher regard for each and every stitch, in the tapestry's material. Reaching as far back as director Roger Vadim's 1959 rendition of the compellingly timeless tale (...the first, to take liberty in uniquely retooling the original story's proceedings and morality, to a different time and place...in that case, adeptly melding it into the social niche of a jazzy-accented, contemporary 1950's France), this literary observation is never more comparatively poignant, in noting the varied and eclectic cinematic renditions of the classic literary work, over the years...that is, with the added inclusive and engaging intrigue, associated with the performances, themselves...making the proceedings all the more engaging...the perfectly coupled performers, bringing with them, an equally adept and engaging character chemistry. To varying degree, this has effectively, assuredly & readily worked quite appropriately in previous, well-received and critically acclaimed filmed versions...and respectably joining that honored and revered fold, the exotically sensuous and devilishly sinister 2012 Chinese production, "Wi-heom-han gyan-gye"...otherwise known as "Dangerous Liaisons"...

Movie Review: The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002)

I'm pretty sure I just watched a guy blow himself for an hour and a half. Robert Evans is the producer of some of the greatest movies of all time including The Godfather, Marathon Man and, of course, Popeye. According to him, he is the greatest producer, lover and mind of the twentieth century and beyond. I heard about this movie over and over, and I had to finally sit through it. I discovered one thing. There are blowhards, and there is Bob Evans.

Buy The Kid Stays in the Picture on DVD

Movie Review: The Day Of The Triffids (1962)

by Greg Goodsell

Directed by Steve Sekely

"And I got really hot, When I saw Jeanette Scott, Fight a triffid that spits poison and kills -- "

“Science-Fiction Double Feature” from “The Rocky Horror Picture Show”

Buy The Day of the Triffids on DVD

Angry asparagus plants with tentacles threaten mankind with abject boredom in The Day of the Triffids, an eloquent demonstration of all that is wrong with British science-fiction. It’s really too bad, as the previous alien-invasion film based on a John Wyndham novel, “The Midwich Cuckoos” was rendered unto film as the Village of the Damned (1980) and has since reached iconic status. That story, about cold-blooded tow-headed children born in an isolated English village ratcheted up the suspense with all manner of subtle underpinnings. Wyndham’s “The Day of the Triffids” is a run-of-the-mill walking killer plant movie, a stale relic of the Fifties adjusted to the widescreen color films of the Sixties.