Review: Brandon Lee Gives "THE CROW" Staying Power

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 38 of 2024 (No. 1982) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Crow (1994)

Running time:  102 minutes (1 hour, 42 minutes)

MPAA – R for a great amount of strong violence and language, and for drug use and some sexuality

DIRECTOR: Alex Proyas

WRITERS:  David J. Schow and John Shirley (based on the comic book series and comics strip created by James O'Barr)

PRODUCERS:  Jeff Most and Edward R. Pressman

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Dariusz Wolski (D.o.P.)

EDITORS:  Dov Hoenig and M. Scott Smith

COMPOSER:  Graeme Revell

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/ACTION/CRIME

Starring:  Brandon Lee, Michael Wincott, Ernie Hudson, Rochelle Davis, Bai Ling, Sofia Shinas, Anna Thomson, David Patrick Kelly, Angel David, Laurence Mason, Michael Massee, Tony Todd, Jon Polito, Bill Raymond, Marco Rodriguez, and Kim Sykes

The Crow is a 1994 American superhero and dark fantasy film from director Alex Proyas.  The movie is based on The Crow comic book series and on the character that first appeared in the comic book, Caliber Presents #1 (cover dated: January 1989), all created by James O'Barr.  The Crow the movie focuses on a musician who returns from the dead a year after he and his girlfriend were brutally murdered to seek vengeance against their murderers.

The Crow is infamous for the death of its lead actor, Brandon Lee (1965-1993), the son of film icon, Bruce Lee.  On March 31, 1993, Lee was fatally wounded by a discharge from a prop gun.  At that point, Lee had completed almost all his scenes for the film.  Through the use of special effects, digital face replacement, stunt doubles, and rewrites, Proyas was able to finish the film, and it was released in May 1994.

The Crow is set in a crime-ravaged and decrepit city that is like Detroit, Michigan, and the story opens on October 30th, Devil's Night (an infamous celebration in Detroit).  It introduces rock musician, Eric Draven (Brandon Lee), and his fiancée, Shelly Webster (Sofia Shinas).  They are going to be married on Halloween.  Instead, Eric is beaten and murdered.  Shelly is brutally beaten and raped and later dies of her injuries.

One year later, Eric Draven rises from the grave as an avenging spirit, The Crow (Brandon Lee).  He has returned to killed the men who murdered him and Shelly:  T-Bird (David Patrick Kelly), Funboy (Michael Massee), Tin Tin (Laurence Mason), and Skank (Angel David).  Sarah (Rochelle Davis), a young girl who was Eric and Shelly's friend, and Albrecht (Ernie Hudson), and an outcast police officer, become personally involved in Eric's return as The Crow.  Waiting in the background, however, is Top Dollar (Michael Wincott), the crime lord who is connected to what happened to Eric and Shelley and who sees The Crow's rampage as a threat to his criminal empire.

Despite the notoriety it gained because of the onset tragedy, The Crow should also be known as a really good film.  It was Alex Proyas first major directorial effort, and that shows in the occasional clumsiness in the flow of the narrative.  However, Proyas unleashes a film that is highly-stylized and drenched in darkness that has a painterly quality.  In other films, this darkness would merely be a case of a poor lighting and mediocre cinematography.  Here, the film's production values and contributions from the cinematographer, production design/art direction team, hair and make-up crew, and film editors contribute to the creation of dark and gloomy cinematic art.

Proyas finds the film's substance in Eric Draven/The Crow's quest for revenge.  In this film, retribution has depth, weight, feel soul; in that, The Crow is like its comic book source material.  Proyas finds power and vulnerability in his lead character the way he finds power and juice in the violence that must happen before Draven can return to his grave.

Proyas, who would go on to direct Will Smith in I, Robot (2004), gets fine performances from a number of supporting actors, especially Ernie Hudson, Michael Wincott, and Rochelle Davis.  He gets the most out of his star, Brandon Lee, who was likely on the verge of blowing up.  In this film, Lee has his own charisma and presence, different from that of his father, Bruce Lee, who made his most charismatic turn in Enter the Dragon (1973).  Was The Crow going to be Brandon's Enter the Dragon?  I don't know, but Brandon makes The Crow feel solid in its slightest moments and grander in its biggest and most violent moments.

The Crow is a flawed jewel, but not a heavily flawed jewel.  Also, I imagine that it is a lot more influential than movie buffs realize.  I can see bits and pieces of it in later films like Blade (1998), The Matrix (1999), and The Dark Knight (2008).  The on-set death of its star cast a melancholy mood over The Crow, but the determination of the filmmakers, cast, and crew eventually brought it out to the public.  The Crow is not a morbid curiosity.  It is more like a rose that survived a deluge of misfortune.

A

8 of 10

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Thursday, August 22, 2024

The text is copyright © 2024 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved.  Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

----------------------------

----------------------------

Review: "HELLRAISER III: Hell on Earth" Raises Fresh Hell

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 59 of 2022 (No. 1871) by Leroy Douresseaux

Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth (1992)
Running time:  93 minutes (1 hour, 33 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong violence and sexuality, and for language
DIRECTOR:  Anthony Hickox
WRITERS:  Peter Atkins; from a story by Peter Atkins and Tony Randel (based on the characters created by Clive Barker)
PRODUCER:  Lawrence Mortorff
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Gerry Lively (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  James D.R. Hickox and Christopher Cibelli (supervising film editor)
COMPOSER:  Randy Miller

HORROR/FANTASY

Starring:  Terry Farrell, Doug Bradley, Paula Marshall, Kevin Bernhardt, Ken Carpenter, Peter Atkins, Peter G. Boynton, and Ashley Laurence

Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth is a 1992 supernatural horror and dark fantasy film directed by Anthony Hickox.  The film is based on characters and concepts taken from the 1986 novella, “The Hellbound Heart,” which was written by Clive Barker, who is the executive producer of this film.  Hell on Earth is also the third film in the Hellraiser film franchise.  Hellraiser III focuses on a young reporter who finds herself taking on the most powerful of the Cenobites.

Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth opens in the wake of the incidents depicted in Hellbound: Hellraiser II.  The Cenobite (demon) called “Pinhead” (Doug Bradley) has been split into two entities:  his former human self, World War I British Army Captain Elliot Spencer (Doug Bradley) and the manifestation of Spencer's id that has taken on the form of Pinhead.

In modern day New York City, J.P. Monroe (Kevin Bernhardt) visits the “Pyramid Gallery,” a creepy art gallery where he buys an intricately carved pillar, “the Pillar of Souls,” which depicts writhing figures and distorted faces etched into its surface.  J.P. installs the pillar at his popular nightclub, “The Boiler Room.” What Monroe does not know is that Pinhead is one of the figures trapped in the pillar, along with one of those puzzle boxes used to summon the Cenobites.

Meanwhile, Joanne “Joey” Summerskill (Terry Farrell), an ambitious young television reporter, is struggling to get respect and attention at the station for which she works, Channel 8.  However, an incident at a local hospital brings her into contact with Terri (Paula Marshall), a young homeless woman who has had a relationship with J.P. Monroe.  As Joey delves deeper into the the hospital incident, she learns that Terri has a puzzle box in her possession.  Now, the box is diving into Joey's dreams.  Trapped in limbo, Elliot Spencer needs Joey's help, because he is depending on her to send Pinhead and his new Cenobites back to Hell.

Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth is a direct sequel to the second film in the series, Hellbound: Hellraiser II.  That surprised me, as I have only seen Hell on Earth once, and that was when it was first release to theaters – 30 years ago!  I remember not liking it, but now, I can honestly say that Hellraiser III is much better than Hellraiser II.

The third film was the first to be filmed in the United States (specifically North Carolina), and it is more action-oriented than the previous films, including the original, Hellraiser (1987).  Hell on Earth also emphasizes that the Cenobites are denizens of Hell and are demons.  Previously, the Cenobites' “home” was a dimension called “Labyrinth,” and they could be angels or demons – depending upon the point of view.  The third film also has something the first two films did not have – a thumbing soundtrack full of good rock and heavy metal music.

The film has some interesting characters, especially the human characters:  Joey, Terri, and J.P., but it really does not do much with them.  As Joey, Terry Farrell does her best with weak character material, and Kevin Bernhardt adds a jolt to the film as the arrogant womanizer, J.P.  Doug Bradley does his best work in his dual role as Pinhead and as Capt. Elliot Spencer.  If there were ever any doubt, Hellraiser III makes it clear that Pinhead is the true star of this franchise, although Kirsty Cotton (Ashley Laurence), who makes a cameo here, is the film's “other star.”

To this day, Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth is the last film in the series that I have seen.  When I originally saw it, I did not care for it, and it finished the series for me.  Three decades later, I like it, and I really like the new Cenobites.  We are awaiting the debut of the franchise reboot, entitled Hellraiser, in early October 2022 on the streaming service, Hulu.  So, I feel comfortable recommending the heavy metal Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth for those interested in the original movies.

6 of 10
B
★★★ out of 4 stars

Monday, October 3, 2022


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

-------------------------

--------------------------

Review: "It Follows" is Old-Fashioned Scary Movie Gold

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 39 (of 2015) by Leroy Douresseaux

[A version of this review first appeared on Patreon.]

It Follows (2014)
Running time:  100 minutes (1 hour, 40 minutes)
MPAA – R for disturbing violent and sexual content including graphic nudity, and language
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  David Robert Mitchell
PRODUCERS:  Rebecca Green, David Kaplan, Erik Rommesmo, and Laura D. Smith
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Mike Gioulakis
EDITOR:  Julio Perez IV
COMPOSER:  Rich Vreeland (as Disasterpeace)

HORROR/MYSTERY/THRILLER

Starring:  Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto, Lili Sepe, Olivia Luccardi, Jake Weary, Debbie Williams, and Baily Spry

It Follows is a 2014 supernatural horror film from writer-director David Robert Mitchell.  The film focuses on a young woman who discovers that her life has taken a mysterious and sinister turn after a casual sexual encounter transmits a curse to her.  The film was released to North American theaters in March of 2015.

It Follows introduces Jaime “Jay” Height (Maika Monroe), a carefree college student living at home with her parents and sister in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan.  She starts dating a young man named Hugh (Jake Weary), who is determined to have sexual intercourse with her.  Eventually, Jay does have sex with Hugh in the backseat of his car, after which, he incapacitates her.

Jay awakens to find herself tied to a wheelchair.  Hugh explains that through sex he has passed on a curse to Jay.  A malignant entity that is visible only to those that have received the curse will now pursue Jay at a walking pace.  Even if Jay were to go far away, it would relentlessly pursue her at a walking pace and find her regardless of how long that would take.  The entity can take on many different appearances, and if it catches Jay, it will kill her.  To free herself of this entity, Jay must have have sex with a new partner and pass it on to that person...

It Follows is a kind of old-fashioned horror movie.  The directing, acting, plot, score, and cinematography, but not special effects is what makes this movie work.  I would say that the score, sometimes layered synthesizer and sometimes pounding keys, is some of the best film music in a horror film since John Carpenter's 1978 film, Halloween.  In fact, It Follows may be the truest heir to Carpenter's classic slasher flick.

It Follows is creepy, and when the music isn't making the viewer's skin crawl, the wide screen cinematography, with its matter-of-fact eye and its surreal interpretations, takes that viewer to the edge of his seat.  Mitchell, his cinematographer (Mike Gioulakis), and his editor (Julio Perez IV) are at their best when they blithely depict the approach of the entity as if it were delivering a candy-gram and not savage death.  I have to say that as good as the cast is, Mitchell, Gioulakis, and Perez could have achieved the same blood-chilling results with a wildly different cast.

The general interpretation of It Follows is that it is a parable about sex, concerning sexually-transmitted diseases (AIDS), the sexual revolution, and/or anxieties around intimacy.  The film can also be seen as thematically addressing mortality, with “it” or the entity representing the inevitability of death or perhaps, the existential dread of one's inevitable demise.

I think the film's Detroit and Detroit-area locales can open the film up to socioeconomic and political interpretations.  If the suburbs are a safe haven from the dangers of urban Detroit, suburbanites would naturally expect that they left or passed on the troubles, dangers, and problems of the city to “them,” those other people they left behind.  “It” the entity is a trouble that one passes on to another, like a problem that is out of sight or out of mind, except that it doesn't work that way.  “White flight” might allow one to ignore trouble, but that does not mean the trouble ceased to exist.

Eventually, the person who passes on the curse will have to deal with the trouble of the entity again.  Several times in It Follows, the story takes the characters through the abandoned, desolate, ruined landscape of Detroit “south of 8 Mile.”  One of the characters might be tempted to leave his troubles in the “slums,” but he knows that “it,” like many problems, cannot be stopped by walls or borders – real or imagined.

Ultimately, It Follows has dream or nightmare-like qualities that push it closer to the realms of horror and dark fantasy and a little away from social themes and artistic interpretations.  Although it stumbles a little in the last act, It Follows is a chilling contemporary thriller that harkens back to the stylish, classic horror movies of the past.  It is skillful rather than ironic (like the first Scream film).  It is scary and scary again.

7 of 10
A-

Tuesday, August 11, 2015


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

Review: "Starsky and Hutch" is Average Entertainment (Happy B'day, Snoop Dogg)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 27 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Starsky & Hutch (2004)
Running time:  101 minutes (1 hour, 41 minutes)
MPAA – PR-13 for drug content, sexual situations, partial nudity, language and some violence
DIRECTOR:  Todd Phillips
WRITERS:  John O’Brien, Scot Armstrong and Todd Phillips, from a story Steve Long and John O’Brien (based upon characters created by William Blinn)
PRODUCERS:  William Blinn, Stuart Cornfeld, Akiva Goldsman, Tony Ludwig, and Alan Riche
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Barry Peterson (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Leslie Jones
COMPOSER:  Theodore Shapiro

COMEDY/CRIME with some elements of action

Starring:  Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Snoop Dogg, Fred Williamson, Vince Vaughn, Juliette Lewis, Jason Bateman, Amy Smart, Carmen Electra, George Cheung, Chris Penn, Patton Oswalt, Jenard Burks, The Bishop Don Magic Juan, and Paul Michael Glaser and David Soul

The subject of this movie review is Starsky & Hutch, a 2004 crime comedy from director Todd Phillips.  The film is based on the 1970s television series, Starsky & Hutch, a police drama-thriller that was created by William Blinn and was originally broadcast on the ABC television network from 1975 to 1979.  The film is a kind of prequel to the original television series.  Starsky & Hutch the movie follows two streetwise cops who fight crime in their red-and-white Ford Torino.

With my refined tastes, I should technically be repulsed by film remakes of 70’s television programs, but repulsed or otherwise, I’ll generally see them.  Still, I’d planned on seeing the controversial Mel Gibson Jesus movie, but it was sold out, and there was the poster for Starsky & Hutch staring me in the face.  Though I had to settle on something I hadn’t planned on seeing at the time, it didn’t really affect my enjoyment of Starsky and Hutch.  It’s a fairly funny film, but you wouldn’t have missed a cinematic event that must be seen on the big screen if you’d waited for home video or TV.

Set in a sort of anachronistic version of the 1970’s, S&H is the story of two streetwise detectives who form an unlikely partnership.  David Starsky (Ben Stiller) is an anal by-the-books guy, who actually does nothing but screw up, despite his attention to rules.  Ken “Hutch” Hutchinson (Owen Wilson) is a genial kind of guy, always hanging loose, but he is also the kind of cop who breaks the law when it suits him.  Hutch robs bookies for their loot, and he uses illegal drugs.  The mismatched pair gets on the nerves of their boss, Captain Dobey (Fred Williamson), relies on tips from an omniscient street informer, Huggy Bear (Snoop Dogg), and busts crime in Starksy’s 1974 red-and-white, souped-up Ford Torino.  Their first big case together involves a respectable businessman, Reese Feldman (Vince Vaughn), who may be a big time cocaine dealer.  However, Starsky and Hutch’s bumbling and lack of hard evidence dog their case every step of the way.

Starsky & Hutch has some extremely hilarious moments, not as many as, say, Scary Movie 3.  S&H is structured like SM3 in that S&H’s plot, story, and script are basically an elaborate, but dumb, blueprint to layout jokes.  S&H’s script is, however, nothing like the disaster of that was SM3’s script.  S&H also reminds me of another of director Todd Phillip’s hits, Old School (2003): lots of funny scenes, but ultimately a lame, by-the-book, Hollywood yuck fest that plays it way too safe.

This is also one of the times that Ben Stiller’s shtick, that of the angry, quick-tempered nerd, works for the film.  Owen Wilson is a great screen presence; the camera loves him, and the role of the amiable Hutch easily fits Owen’s usually warm and generous film persona.

I generally enjoyed this film’s deep tongue in the tongue-in-cheek mode.  Starsky and Hutch is not to be taken seriously, nor does the film try to make you do so.  The quasi-70’s setting is a hoot, at least early on, but the film’s period atmosphere eventually dissolves into mere background noise.  There should have been much more Snoop Dogg because he surprisingly has good screen presence.  Also, Will Ferrell’s (who doesn’t get a screen credit) riotous turn as Big Earl, a man in the county lockup with serious man crush issues, is certainly a reason to see this film, at home or in a theatre.

5 of 10
B-

NOTES:
2005 Razzie Awards:  2 nominations: “Worst Actor” (Ben Stiller) and “Worst Supporting Actress” (Carmen Electra)

Updated:  Sunday, October 20, 2013

-----------------

Review: "Superhero Movie" a MAD Spoof of Spider-Man

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 18 (of 2008) by Leroy Douresseaux


Superhero Movie (2008)
Running time: 85 minutes (1 hour, 25 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for crude and sexual content, comic violence, drug references, and language
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Craig Mazin
PRODUCERS: Craig Mazin, Robert K. Weiss, and David Zucker
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Thomas E. Ackerman
EDITOR: Craig Herring
COMPOSER: James L. Venable

COMEDY/SUPERHERO

Starring: Drake Bell, Sara Paxton, Christopher McDonald, Leslie Nielsen, Kevin Hart, Marion Ross, Ryan Hansen, Keith David, Brent Spiner, Robert Joy, Jeffrey Tambor, Tracy Morgan, Regina Hall, and Pamela Anderson

The subject of this movie review is Superhero Movie, a 2008 comedy spoof film from writer-director Craig Mazin. The film stars Drake Bell as a teen-turned-superhero.

Superhero Movie, which spoofs (of course) superhero movies, is not in the vein of such classic spoof films as Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein, but is certainly a sibling of films like the Scary Movie series, Date Movie, and Epic Movie. In fact, Superhero Movie’s writer/director, Craig Mazin, co-wrote Scary Movie 3 and 4, and like Scary Movie, Superhero Movie has enough fart jokes and necrophilia to charm all preteen and teen male demographics.

High school loser Rick Riker (Drake Bell) pines away for Jill Johnson (Sara Paxton), the prettiest girl in school, but she hardly knows that Rick exists since her eyes are on Rick’s tormentor, the school bully, Lance Landers (Ryan Hansen). After being bitten by a genetically altered dragonfly, Rick develops superhuman abilities like incredible strength and armored skin. Deciding to use his new powers for good, Rick becomes a costumed crime fighter known as “The Dragonfly.”

However, any superhero needs a super villain, and standing in the way of Rick’s destiny is “The Hourglass.” After an experiment goes wrong, Lou Landers (Christopher McDonald) develops the power to steal a person's life force merely by grabbing that person’s hand. In a dastardly quest for immortality, Landers/The Hourglass plots to kill 1000 people in a single life force assault. Will Rick/The Dragonfly, with his unimaginable strength, unbelievable speed and deeply uncomfortable tights, be able to stop The Hourglass? And will he stay a virgin forever or get with Jill?

Although Superhero Movie pokes fun at the X-Men film franchise, and to a lesser extent Batman Begins, Fantastic Four, and Superman Returns, most of this movie is a comic riff on 2002 film, Spider-Man. Think of Superhero Movie as a MAD Magazine spoof of the first Spider-Man film, but with the kind of raw gross out humor that is way too much in bad taste to ever make it into the modern MAD. Talk about un-PC: Rick’s Uncle Albert (played in his inimitable style by Leslie Nielsen) humps the corpse of a pretty girl!

But is this movie funny? The answer is very much so. Craig Mazin’s script could be seen as inspired lunacy or being so shamelessly in bad taste that he should be shunned from polite society. Sometimes, it seems as if this movie has a thousand visual gags, clever and otherwise, but they trigger belly laughs – even the jokes that Mazin and his cast and crew can’t quite pull off.

5 of 10
B-

Sunday, March 30, 2008

Review: "Scary Movie 4" Just as Bad, but Less Funny

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 72 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux


Scary Movie 4 (2006)
Running time: 83 minutes (1 hour, 23 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for crude and sexual humor throughout, some comic violence and language
DIRECTOR: David Zucker
WRITERS: Craig Mazin, Pat Proft, and Jim Abrams; from a story by Craig Mazin
PRODUCERS: Craig Mazin and Robert K. Weiss
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Thomas E. Ackerman
EDITORS: Craig Herring and Tom Lewis
COMPOSER: James L. Venable
Razzie Award winner

COMEDY/HORROR

Starring: Anna Faris, Regina Hall, Craig Bierko, Anthony Anderson, Kevin Hart, Leslie Nielsen, DeRay Davis, Charlie Sheen, Chris Elliot, Molly Shannon, Michael Madsen, Carmen Electra, Dr. Phil McGraw, and Shaquille O’Neal

The subject of this movie review is Scary Movie 4, a 2006 comedy and parody film of science fiction and horror films. It is the fourth film in the Scary Movie franchise and a direct sequel to Scary Movie 3. Scary Movie 4 also ends the story arc that began in the original film, Scary Movie.

Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris), Brenda Meeks (Regina Hall), and the rest of the Scary Movie gang are back. Using a parody of the Steven Spielberg/Tom Cruise version of War of the Worlds (2005) as a framework, the gang sends-up movies like The Grudge (2004), Brokeback Mountain, The Village (2004), Saw and Saw II, and Million Dollar Baby along with other films, music and current events. Cindy has to solve the mystery of a little boy’s murder if she is going to stop the alien invasion and reclaim the new love of her life, Tom Ryan (Craig Bierko, spoofing Cruise in War of the Worlds).

Scary Movie 4 isn’t as funny as Scary Movie 3, not having nearly the same number of belly laughs 3 had. Director David Zucker, known for his work on such lampoon movies as Airplane! and the Naked Gun franchise, gives Scary Movie 4 a more coherent narrative than he gave the third film. This one actually has a story that attempts to make sense while at the same time satirizing of so many other films and pop culture. However, the determination to “make sense” tames any of the jokes that have potential for being really raucous humor.

The audience with which I saw this film was obviously uncomfortable with or not familiar with Brokeback Mountain, so the gay love jokes fell flat. However, the scenes satirizing The Grudge succeed because they capture that film’s scary weirdness. Still, I’ll never understand why the Wayans Brothers were summarily dismissed from the franchise, because Zucker’s films (3 and 4) are not nearly as good or as funny as Scary Movie and Scary Movie 2. Ultimately, Scary Movie 4 is a lame film that is nothing more than a cheesy video rental.

3 of 10
C-

Saturday, April 15, 2006

NOTES:
2007 Razzie Awards: 1 win: “Worst Supporting Actress” (Carmen Electra, also for Date Movie-2006)

Review: "Scary Movie 3" Quite Bad, but Funny

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 158 (of 2003)


Scary Movie 3 (2003)
Running time: 84 minutes (1 hour, 24 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for pervasive crude and sexual humor, language, comic violence and drug references
DIRECTOR: David Zucker
WRITERS: Craig Mazin and Pat Proft (based upon characters created by Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Buddy Johnson, Phil Beauman, Jason Friedberg, and Aaron Seltzer)
PRODUCER: Robert K. Weiss
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Mark Irwin (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Malcolm Campbell and Jon Poll
COMPOSER: James L. Venable

COMEDY with elements of fantasy, horror, and sci-fi

Starring: Anna Faris, Simon Rex, Regina Hall, Anthony Anderson, Pamela Anderson, Jenny McCarthy, Marny Eng, Charlie Sheen, Jeremy Piven, Camryn Manheim, Queen Latifah, Eddie Griffin, Leslie Nielsen, D.L. Hughley, Ja Rule, George Carlin, Master P, Macy Gray, Redman, Method Man, Raekwon, RZA, Fat Joe, and Simon Cowell

The subject of this movie review is Scary Movie 3, a 2003 comedy film and parody of science fiction and horror films. It is the first film in the Scary Movie franchise not to feature members of the Wayans family.

Scary Movie 3 has loads and loads of belly laughs, but it is shockingly lame, dull, and an all out boring film, which gets worse as its nearly incomprehensible story lethargically crawls to the end. This installment of the franchise mainly targets The Ring and Signs for a good skewering or is that screwing? The Matrix and 8 Mile also fall in for a manhandling; the former parody is mildly funny while the latter is surprisingly sprightly and hilarious. The film, however, is one long gag reel superimposed over a deplorably bad movie.

The story this time, as it may be, has Cindy (Anna Faris) and her lame heartthrob George (Simon Rex) investigating crop circles and a killer ghost from a haunted videocassette. Somehow, it’s all tied together, and Cindy also has to help President Harris (Leslie Nielsen) stop an alien invasion.

If this doesn’t sound like much, it’s because Scary Movie 3 isn’t very much. The presence of so many stars in small roles and cameos is very nice, and some, like Anthony Anderson, Pamela Anderson, and Jenny McCarthy, actually make the film worth seeing. The cast, like the raunchy humor and endless sight gags, don’t exactly save the movie, but they can make you laugh, and in the end, those laughs might be the only reason to justify seeing this lame duck. David Zucker, part of the team responsible for Airplane and Naked Gun, lavishes Scary Movie 3 with his trademark gag-a-minute style, and it works to an extent.

I must really emphasize that this film can cause some hard and deep laughing, but I was also very shocked at how often tasteless and tactless the film was. Jokes that involve violating a corpse at a wake and pedophilia on the part of Catholic priest cross the line. It’s not so much that this kind of humor seems desperate; it’s that the filmmakers seem so willfully shameless and tasteless. Some things are not funny. They are sacred or taboo for reasons that are important to a society. It’s not that such things cannot be discussed; it’s how they are discussed. To use them as jokes is the sign of a weak, unimaginative mind – a selfish and immature person determined and desperate to get what he wants at any cost.

That said – I laughed a lot, and I cringed behind my arms almost as much. Scary Movie 3 won’t ever be listed among the great comedies. At best, it’s a temporary and exasperating thrill that is forgotten as soon as the film fades to black.

3 of 10
C-

Review: "Scary Movie 2" Bad and Funny

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 9 (of 2002) by Leroy Douresseaux


Scary Movie 2 (2001)
Running time: 83 minutes (1 hour, 23 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong sexual and gross humor, graphic language and some drug content
DIRECTOR: Keenan Ivory Wayans
WRITERS: Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Alyson Fouse, Greg Grabianski, Dave Polsky, Michael Anthony Snowden, and Craig Wayans (based upon characters created by Shawn and Marlon Wayans, Buddy Johnson, Phil Beauman, Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer)
PRODUCER: Eric L. Gold
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Steven Bernstein (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Tom Nordberg, Richard Pearson, and Peter Teschner
COMPOSERS: Mark McGrath

COMEDY/HORROR

Starring: Anna Faris, Marlon Wayans, James DeBello, Shawn Wayans, David Cross, Regina Hall, Christopher Masterson, Tim Curry, Kathleen Robertson, Chris Elliot, James Woods, Andy Richter, Tori Spelling, and Natasha Lyonne

The subject of this movie review is Scary Movie 2, a 2001 comedy and parody film. Directed by Keenan Ivory Wayans, this movie is a sequel to the 2001 hit film, Scary Movie, and is a spoof of horror-thriller films.

The four survivors from the first Scary Movie: heroine Cindy Campbell (Anna Faris), gay jock Ray Wilkins (Shawn Wayans), pot head Shorty Meeks (Marlon Wayans), and his sister Brenda (Regina Hall) endanger themselves again when a college instructor, Professor Oldman (Tim Curry), and his wheelchair bound assistant, Dwight Hartman (David Cross), recruit them to spend the weekend in an old mansion called Hell House for a research project on insomnia. Cindy’s new admirer Buddy (Christopher Kennedy Masterson), Theo (Tori Spelling), and hottie Jamie Lee Curtisto (Kathleen Robertson) join them for the hijinks.

If a really bad movie can be really hilarious, this one is. How bad is it, one might ask? Well, that wouldn’t be a rhetorical question. The filmmakers nearly discard story and plot and replace them with dumb sight gags and gross humor, primarily of the bodily functions and bodily fluids type.

Directed by Keenan Ivory Wayans, Scary Movie 2 is at times quite funny, even hilarious; at other times, it is embarrassing in it over reliance on bodily fluids and sex jokes. After seeing a masturbation scene, simulated oral sex, an appearance by Lester “Beetlejuice” Green, one can only wonder if the filmmakers used a single 13-year-old American boy’s brain to create this film and passed it around during production.

Director Wayans specializes in taking scenes from other movies and parodying them with visual puns and gags, and he continues that here. He has become over time more skilled at stringing together longer strands of gags in lieu of story in his movies. He isn’t a strong storyteller. When the jokes run out, his movies rapidly run out of energy, as was the case in the I'm Gonna Git You Sucka.

Utilizing as many joke and gag writers as Walt Disney does for its animated films, Wayans turns his movie into a dirty joke book, and certainly doesn’t get the smart and sassy results Disney gets in one of its films. The plot, about a weekend experiment in proving life after death or some such lie, is merely a weak idea upon which to hang this film’s nasty proceedings. The story, if written, would only be a few lines in length, and the plot is merely a path by which Wayans and his accomplices laid out the yucks and giggles.

Small roles by James Woods and Chris Elliot are painfully embarrassing to watch, so filled with vileness and sickness as they are. Still, this movie has moments that are truly uproariously funny, and this makes the movie slyly attractive. The filmmakers certainly succeeded in making a funny movie, but they chase off many viewers with their determination to be hardcore funky. Most of the cast is actually up to the task of making the movie be what it’s supposed to be. Do we dare call that good acting?

What else is there to say? Scary Movie 2 is really bad and really funny. But beware; it is a humor that turns off many viewers.

5 of 10
B-

Review: Naughty "Bad Santa" is Quite Nice (Happy B'day, Billy Bob Thornton)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 170 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux


Bad Santa (2003)
Running time: 91 minutes (1 hour, 31 minutes)
MPAA – R for pervasive language, strong sexual content and some violence
DIRECTOR: Terry Zwigoff
WRITERS: Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, with contributions from Joel Coen, Ethan Cohen, Arnie Marx, and Terry Zwigoff
PRODUCERS: Sarah Aubrey, John Cameron, and Bob Weinstein
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Jamie Anderson (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Robert Hoffman
COMPOSER: David Kitay

COMEDY/CRIME with elements of drama

Starring: Billy Bob Thornton, Tony Cox, Brett Kelly, Lauren Graham, Lauren Tom, Bernie Mac, John Ritter, Ajay Naidu, Octavia Spencer, and Ethan Phillips

The subject of this movie review is Bad Santa, a 2003 crime comedy and Christmas movie from director Terry Zwigoff. Although Glenn Ficarra and John Requa are credited as the film’s only writers, Joel Coen, Ethan Cohen, Arnie Marx, and Terry Zwigoff performed various rewrites of the script, with the Coen Bros. also credited as executive producers on the film. Bad Santa was the late actor John Ritter’s last film appearance.

Some bovine in the media have already asked, “Is nothing sacred?” in response to director Terry Zwigoff’s (Ghost World) new Christmas movie, Bad Santa. They can get over it. Bad Santa is the Christmas movie for the rest of us – those who don’t buy all the must-be-happy hype, over consumption, and phony religious tradition. Besides, it’s so damn funny.

Willie (Billy Bob Thornton) is a department store Santa. He’s also a lecherous, nympho-manical alcoholic. For the past several holiday seasons, Willie and his dwarf partner, Marcus (Tony Cox), play Santa and elf in department stores. They case the businesses and eventually rob the store safes of tens of thousands of dollars. They move to Arizona for their next big heist, but they run into a few problems. One is fastidious store manager (John Ritter in his final film role). Another is a sly store dick (Bernie Mac) who discovers their scam and wants in on the action. The biggest stumbling block is when a lonely, strange boy (Brett Kelly) whom Willie calls The Kid, latches onto Willie for friendship.

The movie has a few rough and dry spots, but otherwise it’s hilarious. Bad Santa is dark, foul, and vulgar, but it’s not cynical. Many of the characters are just not the kind usually found in holiday fare. These are people who live on the periphery of society, lonely people, and criminals. Willie is depressed and suicidal. The Kid may not be mentally handicapped, but he’s a bit of a retard – euphemistically speaking. As dark as it is, however, Bad Santa is quite hilarious in the way it deals with frank sexual matter, people who are frankly sexual, and conniving criminals who’ll do whatever it takes to get what they want. Maybe the most frightening thing for many people is how much profane language is directed at children in the film. Willie consistently curses at The Kid, and as Santa, at children who come to the store to sit on his foul lap.

But Thornton is a fine actor with grand talent. His Willie is a living, breathing, and believable person whose life is falling apart. He and Zwigoff handle Willie’s transformation with subtleness and a kind of brazenness that surprises the viewer at each turn. In fact, Zwigoff masterfully directs the film, knowing, except for some poor moments, just when to hit the viewer on the head with blunt coarseness and when to gently splash the mire in our faces. Zwigoff pulls off the trick of making this film roughly anti-sentimental and sentimentally rough. In a way, Zwigoff does manage to make the typical Christmas movie, and it’s good that he does it the way he does.

I heartily recommend Bad Santa to anyone who can take it. This film also has one of the better Bernie Mac performances. This is the moment he proves that he is a comedian and an actor, and it’s in performances like this that he can find the road to being both a good comic and dramatic actor. Good Bernie Mac is always reason to see something.

7 of 10
A-

NOTES:
2004 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” (Billy Bob Thornton)

------------------------

Rob Zombie's "Halloween" Fueled by Brutal Violence

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 8 (of 2009) by Leroy Douresseaux


Halloween (2007)
Running time: 109 minutes (1 hour, 49 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong brutal bloody violence and terror throughout, sexual content, graphic nudity, and language
DIRECTOR: Rob Zombie
WRITER: Rob Zombie (based upon the movie written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill)
PRODUCERS: Malek Akkad, Andy Gould, Rob Zombie, and Andy La Marca
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Phil Parmet (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Glenn Garland

HORROR

Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Scout Taylor-Compton, Brad Dourif, Daeg Faerch, Sheri Moon Zombie, William Forsythe, Hanna Hall, Ken Foree, Lew Temple, Danny Trejo, Danielle Harris, Kristina Klebe, Pat Skipper, Dee Wallace, and Tyler Mane

In 2007, musician turned movie director Rob Zombie already had two brutal horror films to his credit, House of 1000 Corpses and its sequel, The Devil Rejects, when he unleashed Halloween, a remake and re-imagining of director John Carpenter’s 1978 classic horror film of the same name. Zombie’s film followed the now familiar storyline, but went into the past to reveal some origins.

It’s Halloween, and 10-year-old Michael Myers (Daeg Faerch) goes on a murderous rampage in the quiet town of Haddonfield, Illinois. He spends the next 17 years in the Smith’s Grove Sanitarium under the care of noted child behaviorist, Dr. Samuel Loomis (Malcolm McDowell). Loomis seems to be the only person who can truly understand the evil of Michael’s nature.

After 17 years, the adult Michael Myers (Tyler Mane) escapes from the mental facility on the day of Halloween and begins a bloody trek back to Haddonfield. He stalks a high school girl, Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton), and her friends, Annie (Danielle Harris) and Lynda (Kristina Klebe). When Dr. Loomis hears about Michael’s escape, he races to Haddonfield and joins Sheriff Brackett (Brad Dourif) to find Michael and to put an end to Michael’s reign of terror. There, Loomis discovers that Myers and Laurie Strode have ties to a similar past.

Rob Zombie’s Halloween is a prequel, a re-imagining, a reinvention, and a remake of the original film. This new film is partly a prequel because Zombie, as both writer and director, chose to begin the story earlier in Michael Myer’s life than the writers of the original movie, John Carpenter and the late Debra Hill, did. That the story begins before the scene in which Michael puts on the mask and kills his sister, which is where the first film began. Zombie’s film begins Halloween morning, at the breakfast table of a highly dysfunctional “white trash” family. The audience sees Myers the “perfect storm” as Dr. Loomis calls it: Myers’ destructive home environment and his murderous tendencies.

Zombie re-imagines the film in the way he presents Michael Myers. Michael is not something of supernatural force, as the first film suggest, but he is simply a human monster – a psychopath. In the original film and its sequels (in which John Carpenter was involved to some extent) Carpenter suggested that Michael Myer’s evil was in some way a reflection of the darkness that existed at the heart of small towns like Haddonfield. Zombie provides no such social context or metaphor. Myers is simply a bad-ass, evil killer dude.

The film is a re-invention of sorts because it presents the violent slasher film as sort of a reality show in which all the gushing fluids of violent murder must be on display before the voyeuristic audience. In the original Halloween, Carpenter showed no blood, although Myers’ attacks on his victims were quite violent. In Zombie’s hands, the attacks are rude and crude – exercises in blood and mayhem and in bloody mayhem.

This film remains a respectful remake. Scenes, sequences, and even certain shots are repeated from the original or are only slightly altered. Halloween 2007 can stand on its own. The acting wasn’t great, but Zombie chose a nice mixture of character actors for the major parts and some famous faces and somewhat cult figures to fill in the bit parts and cameos, and that works out well.

Towards the end, the film seems out of control, both in terms of Zombie’s usual excesses and the fact that the ending seems padded. Still, Halloween is a scary movie, a celebration of raw violent horror, and true to Zombie’s rebel spirit. It is scandalous and disrespectful of those “our values” about which so-called conservatives like to preach. It’s funny and scary – a black comedy and horror movie that is stained dark with a lot of blood.

6 of 10
B

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Review: "The Others" is Simply a Great Scary Movie (Happy B'day, Nicole Kidman)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 35 (of 2002) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Others (2001)
Running time: 104 minutes (1 hour, 44 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for thematic elements and frightening moments
WRITER/DIRECTOR/COMPOSER: Alejandro Amenábar
PRODUCERS: Fernando Bovvaira, José Luis Cuerda, and Sunmin Park
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Javier Aguirresarobe
EDITOR: Nacho Ruiz Capillas
BAFTA Award nominee

HORROR/DRAMA/THRILLER

Starring: Nicole Kidman, Fionnula Flanagan, Christopher Eccleston, Alakina Mann, James Bentley, Eric Sykes, Elaine Cassidy, and Renée Asherson

The bump in the night, the shadows and the dark spaces, and the thrill of dark atmospherics is back in Alejandro Amenabar’s The Others. Amenabar’s 1997 Spanish language film Abres los ojos (Open Your Eyes) was remade by Cameron Crowe as Vanilla Sky, starring the ex-spouse of this film’s star.

Grace Stewart (Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge!) lives in a darkened old home with her two photosensitive children, Anne (Alakina Mann) and Nicholas (James Bentley). After three new servants arrive, Grace begins to suspect that her house is haunted. Ms. Bertha Mills (Fionnula Flanagan), who seems to be the leader of the three, seems at first sympathetic to Grace’s fears, but as time goes, she and the other two come to regard, at least on the surface, Grace as problematic. The atmosphere becomes increasingly one of pure dread and fear, and much of the happenings are not what they seem.

The Others recalls Henry James short novel, The Turn of the Screw, but just that little fact can throw the viewer off the scent of who “the others” are. This film is actually closer, in its sense of mystery, to one of its horror and scary movie contemporaries, which shall remain unnamed.

Eschewing high tech special effects, Amenabar summons the spirit of Hitchcock, juxtaposing light and shadow and using shadow and space, fog atmosphere, quiet and the absence of sound, and those little bumps in the other room – everything that recalls older horror films before computer-generated imagery (CGI) stole imagination. The terror doesn’t come from a madman or monster stalking the characters. It is very much about what is and isn’t there and reality and the state of mind.

The acting by the entire cast is very good. The cast makes the audience play along with the terror and suspense, and this movie is as much a drama and a thriller as it is a horror film. The film industry needs an Amenabar. As long as the human element of filmmaking, of the hands on approach, remains his hallmark, we will be in good stead. It is a rare treat, and something like it won’t come around often, at least outside of the cable channel like Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and American Movie Classics (AMC). We can, however, enjoy The Others, this movie that deals with the fantastic and the supernatural without the aid of a hundred special effects.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2002 BAFTA Awards: 2 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” (Nicole Kidman) and “Best Screenplay – Original” (Alejandro Amenábar)

2002 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Nicole Kidman)

--------------------

Review: Video Game Adaptation, "Venom," is Surprisingly Scary Entertainment

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 12 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Venom (2005)
Running time: 86 minutes (1 hour, 26 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong horror violence/gore, and language
DIRECTOR: Jim Gillespie
WRITERS: Flint Dille & John Zuur Platten and Brandon Boyce; from a story by Flint Dille & John Zuur Platten
PRODUCERS: Scott Faye, Karen Lauder, and Kevin Williamson
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Steve Mason, ASC and ACS
EDITOR: Paul Martin Smith

HORROR/THRILLER with elements of action

Starring: Agnes Bruckner, Jonathan Jackson, Laura Ramsey, D.J. Cotrona, Rick Cramer, Bijou Phillips, Meagan Good, Method Man, Pawel, Szajda, Davetta Sherwood, Stacey Travis, Marcus Lyle Brown (as Marcus Brown), James Pickens, Jr., and Deborah Duke

A mixed group of teenagers, led by Eden (Agnes Bruckner) and her boyfriend Eric (Jonathan Jackson), find themselves stalked by a mysterious madman who has a key chain that makes a tinkling sound whenever he’s near. They discover that the killer is a recently deceased man named Ray (Rick Cramer), and his corpse now possessed by evil voodoo spirits. Eden and her friends run to the only one who can help them, their friend CeCe (Meagan Good), whose late grandmother, Miss Emmie (Deborah Duke), was a mambo/voodoo priestess and also the reason these evil forces are loose. As the final showdown looms, six teenagers are trapped in Miss Emmie’s house while the monster that was Ray waits outside for them.

Venom is the latest horror film based upon a video game, except that the game in this instance, named “Backwater,” is still in development. Venom is actually sort of a prequel to the game and explains how the game’s featured villain, “Mr. Jangles,” (Ray in this movie), came to be (He’s called “Mr. Jangles” because of the sound his key chain makes when he walks). Venom is actually a throwback to the horror films of the 1980’s, especially such slasher films as the Friday the 13th and Halloween franchises, where a (damn near) supernatural killer stalks teenagers and dispatches them in violently gory and bloody scenes that feature sharp implements and tools piercing or repeatedly slashing young flesh.

Venom is neither bland nor lifeless, and while it may look like a modestly budgeted Sci-Fi original picture (where many obviously have ultra low budgets), it’s fun, and the villain is (mostly) pretty scary. The Louisiana film locations (in swamps and rural areas) add a dreary, fear-inducing, Southern gothic atmosphere. Rarely has a hot and muggy atmosphere seemed so chilling and foreboding. Yes, the writing isn’t very imaginative; virtually every scene is copied or based directly on other horror movies, and in that Venom doesn’t hide that it is hackneyed. The cast stepped out of Abercrombie and Fitch. But as far as horror movies go, this is a straight meat grinder – soft on laughs, but dirt cheap and blunt on blood and guts.

The violence is proudly, rather than shamelessly, gratuitous. I enjoyed this trudge through the mud and muck because Venom is also some of the creepiest Hollywood-style voodoo scares I’ve seen in a while. Venom is like the 25-cent “Little Debbie” brownie that satisfies the chocolate urge when gourmet just isn’t available, and I’d like this brownie. I’d watch Venom again.

6 of 10
B

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

----------------------