Showing posts with label Juliette Lewis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Juliette Lewis. Show all posts
Thursday, April 9, 2015
Negromancer News Bits and Bites for the Week of April 5th to 11th, 2015 - Update #18
NEWS:
From Collider: How to get a Disney animation job.
------------
From Variety: Ryan Gosling in talks to star in Guillermo del Toro's "The Haunted Mansion."
------------
From THR: Cast set for Baz Luhrmann's Netflix series, "The Get Down."
-------------
From SlashFilm: Brad Bird writing "The Incredibles 2."
-------------
From TheWrap: Academy sets Oscar dates for the next three years.
-------------
From YahooMusic: Frances Bean Cobain on new "Kurt Cobain" documentary. She's not really a fan of Nirvana's music.
-------------
From TheWrap: There will be a "Need for Speed" sequel. It will film mostly in China, where it was a huge hit. Perhaps the success of Furious 7 got this project rolling...
--------------
From Variety: New episode of "Arrested Development."
--------------
From THR: "Tron 3" is a go.
---------------
From YahooTV: Nina Dobrev to exit "Vampire Diaries."
---------------
From CinemaBlend: William Shatner wants a 50th anniversary special for "Star Trek."
---------------
From Variety: The winner of the April 3rd to 5th, 2014 weekend box office is Furious 7 with an estimated take $143.6 million.
----------------
From Variety: Queen Latifah is playing Bessie Smith for HBO (May 16, 2015), and a full trailer is now available.
-----------------
From YahooSports: Wal-Mart won't sell Ronda Rousey's new book, "My Fight/Your Fight," because she is "too violent." Apparently, customers can pre-order the book, which is due May 12th, on Wal-Mart.com.
------------------
From YahooMovies: Critics says it is time to end "Fast & Furious" franchise.
COMIC BOOKS: Books and Movies:
From Variety: New Fantastic Four trailer.
STAR WARS:
From ScreenRant: Details about the upcoming "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" trailer #2.
OBITS:
From YahooCelebrity: One of my favorite actors, Geoffrey Lewis, has died at the age of 79. The character actor, who died on Tuesday, April 7th, 2015, was the father of Oscar-nominated actress, Juliette Lewis. He appeared in many Clint Eastwood movies, but I best remember him for the TV series, "Flo," which was a spin-off of "Alice." Negromancer sends condolences to Lewis' family.
--------------
From YahooTV: The actor James Best has died at the age of 88. Best was best known as "Roscoe P. Coltrane" on the CBS TV series, "The Dukes of Hazzard."
--------------
From DreadCentral: The actor, Tom Towles, has died at the age of 65. He was known for his work in horror films, such as the 1990 color remake of "Night of the Living Dead."
MISC:
From YahooPolitics: A great story - bipartisan basketball
Sunday, October 20, 2013
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
-----------------
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Review: "From Dusk Till Dawn" Still a Bloody, Glorious Mess
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 68 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux
From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)
Running time: 108 minutes (1 hour, 48 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong violence and gore, language, and nudity
DIRECTOR/EDITOR: Robert Rodriguez
WRITERS: Quentin Tarantino; based upon the story by Robert Kurtzman
PRODUCERS: Gianni Nunnari and Meir Teper
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Guillermo Navarro
HORROR/ACTION/DRAMA with elements of comedy and crime
Starring: Harvey Keitel, George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, Juliette Lewis, Ernest Liu, Salma Hayek, Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo, Tom Savini, Fred Williamson, Michael Parks, Kelly Preston, John Saxson, and Brenda Hillhouse
After a bloody bank robbery, Seth Gecko (George Clooney) and his younger brother, Richard (Quentin Tarantino), are on the lam. The brothers take Jacob Fuller (Harvey Keitel), an ex-preacher, and his children, Kate (Juliette Lewis) and Scott (Ernest Liu) hostage, in order to use the Fullers’ RV for their getaway. The Geckos and the Fullers escape the police dragnet across the border into Mexico, where the Gecko Brothers are supposed to rendezvous with a local drug kingpin at a biker and trucker cantina called the Titty Twister. What the quintet doesn’t know is that the bar’s owners and some of the clientele are bloodthirsty vampires.
Movies like Scream, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, or even Interview with a Vampire might make the list of great horror movies from the 1990’s, but the Robert Rodriguez directed, Quentin Tarantino scripted horror film, From Dusk Till Dawn is a horrifying, classic howler. Part dark comedy, part gore fest, part action horror, and part crime thriller, FDTD is hell of a film. It’s so blood soaked at times that it might give some people pause and grab their stomachs. Some of the monster and creature makeup and effects are way over the top and hilarious, but the film works.
From Dusk Till Dawn is actually like two movies in one. The first half is straight out of classic crime cinema – dangerous, murderous, cop-killing thieves are on the lam with hostages in tow. The second half is apparently an ode to outlandish Mexican horror films (of which I never seen a one). This mixture is something only genre storytellers do well, and two guys like Tarantino and Rodriguez are steeped in stuff like comics, pulp fiction, and lowbrow cinema to the point where they can make something like FDTD work.
The cast is obviously having a good time; the extras seem to have the best time. George Clooney’s cool and calm killer carries this film across two genres, and his movie star presence shines even in something like this. However, blaxtiploitation star Fred Williamson and horror movie makeup legend, Tom Savini, give sweet kicks to their small, but deliciously kooky parts.
8 of 10
A
Friday, May 20, 2005
From Dusk Till Dawn [Blu-ray]
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Review: "Due Date" is Good Product
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 28 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux
Due Date (2010)
Running time: 95 minutes (1 hour, 35 minutes)
MPAA – R language, drug use and sexual content
DIRECTOR: Todd Phillips
WRITERS: Alan R. Cohen, Alan Freedland, Adam Sztykiel, and Todd Phillips; from a story by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland
PRODUCERS: Daniel Goldberg and Todd Phillips
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Lawrence Sher
EDITOR: Debra Neil-Fisher
COMPOSER: Christophe Beck
COMEDY
Starring: Robert Downey, Jr., Zach Galifianakis, Michelle Monaghan, Jamie Foxx, Juliette Lewis, Danny McBride, and RZA
Due Date is a comedy and road movie from Todd Phillips, the director of The Hangover. It is the story of a high-strung father-to-be forced to hitch a ride with an oddball wannabe actor if he wants to make it to the birth of his first child on time. While it isn’t nearly as funny or as outrageous as The Hangover, Due Date is entertaining and offers some pretty hysterical moments of its own.
Architect Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) is on his way home from Atlanta to Los Angeles when he has an unpleasant encounter with another flyer, aspiring actor Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis), who is also going to L.A. Peter and Ethan’s meeting ends up with Peter being placed on the No Fly List. Desperate to get home for the impending birth of his child, Peter is forced to accept Ethan’s offer to hitch a ride with him and his dog, Sonny, cross-country. Thus begins a road trip to hell – the most agonizing, frustrating, terrifying, and physically painful journey of Peter’s life.
Due Date reminded me of another comedy road movie featuring a mismatched pair, Plains, Trains, and Automobiles (1987), the surprisingly poignant film starring Steve Martin and the late John Candy and directed by the late John Hughes. Due Date does have oddly touching moments, but the film really doesn’t deliver on the talents of the people involved, especially Downey, Galifianakis, and director Todd Phillips. It is a mixed bag. Sometimes, it is an action movie; other times, it is a raunchy comedy, and a few times, the film throws out some emotional moments. Due Date is funny, but for the most part, it just feels like big time Hollywood product. It entertains, delivering with the same reliability of an unspectacular Big Mac. Due Date is just average.
5 of 10
B-
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Due Date (2010)
Running time: 95 minutes (1 hour, 35 minutes)
MPAA – R language, drug use and sexual content
DIRECTOR: Todd Phillips
WRITERS: Alan R. Cohen, Alan Freedland, Adam Sztykiel, and Todd Phillips; from a story by Alan R. Cohen and Alan Freedland
PRODUCERS: Daniel Goldberg and Todd Phillips
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Lawrence Sher
EDITOR: Debra Neil-Fisher
COMPOSER: Christophe Beck
COMEDY
Starring: Robert Downey, Jr., Zach Galifianakis, Michelle Monaghan, Jamie Foxx, Juliette Lewis, Danny McBride, and RZA
Due Date is a comedy and road movie from Todd Phillips, the director of The Hangover. It is the story of a high-strung father-to-be forced to hitch a ride with an oddball wannabe actor if he wants to make it to the birth of his first child on time. While it isn’t nearly as funny or as outrageous as The Hangover, Due Date is entertaining and offers some pretty hysterical moments of its own.
Architect Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) is on his way home from Atlanta to Los Angeles when he has an unpleasant encounter with another flyer, aspiring actor Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis), who is also going to L.A. Peter and Ethan’s meeting ends up with Peter being placed on the No Fly List. Desperate to get home for the impending birth of his child, Peter is forced to accept Ethan’s offer to hitch a ride with him and his dog, Sonny, cross-country. Thus begins a road trip to hell – the most agonizing, frustrating, terrifying, and physically painful journey of Peter’s life.
Due Date reminded me of another comedy road movie featuring a mismatched pair, Plains, Trains, and Automobiles (1987), the surprisingly poignant film starring Steve Martin and the late John Candy and directed by the late John Hughes. Due Date does have oddly touching moments, but the film really doesn’t deliver on the talents of the people involved, especially Downey, Galifianakis, and director Todd Phillips. It is a mixed bag. Sometimes, it is an action movie; other times, it is a raunchy comedy, and a few times, the film throws out some emotional moments. Due Date is funny, but for the most part, it just feels like big time Hollywood product. It entertains, delivering with the same reliability of an unspectacular Big Mac. Due Date is just average.
5 of 10
B-
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
-----------------------
Review: Crazy "Old School" Ultimately Plays it Safe
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 119 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux
Old School (2003)
Running time: 91 minutes (1 hour, 31 minutes)
MPAA – R for some strong sexual content, nudity and language
DIRECTOR: Todd Phillips
WRITERS: Scot Armstrong and Todd Phillips, from a story by Court Crandall and Scot Armstrong and Todd Phillips
PRODUCERS: Daniel Goldberg, Joe Medjuck, and Todd Phillips
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Mark Irwin (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Michael Jablow
COMEDY
Starring: Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, Ellen Pompeo, Juliette Lewis, Leah Remini, Craig Kilborn, Jeremy Piven, Seann William Scott, Matt Walsh, and Artie Lange
When Mitch Martin (Luke Wilson) discovers that his girlfriend (Juliette Lewis) participates in group sex, it shatters his life. Under the guise of helping Mitch, his friends Bernard “Beanie” Campbell (Vince Vaughn) and Frank Ricard (Will Ferrell) hatch an idea to start their own fraternity so that they can relive the wild lives they lost when they got married. Of course, Martin reluctantly allows them to use his new house (conveniently located near a college campus) to stage their hijinks. It might be a bad idea for a number of reasons (and a good idea for a movie), not the least of which is that Mitch has his eyes on Nicole (Ellen Pompeo). Mitch had a high school crush on Nicole; she’s attracted to him, but finds their sorority boy activities immature.
Old School is very funny, and I laughed in spite of how dumb this movie is. It would have been even funnier if the movie hadn’t sold out in the end. The kind of guys that go to see a movie like this want the full raunchiness, but this movie plays it safe. By the end of the film, the horny thirty-somethings all return (for the most part) to their domestic tranquility without a notch on their belts to show for their wild times. I know that a lot of (stupid) people feel that movies should validate the American bourgeois’ value system, but this is a frickin’ comedy, and a lowbrow comedy at that, so all bets are off. Let there be no sacred cows; let the husbands screw around on their wives. This isn’t supposed to be smart and life affirming. If it were supposed to be intelligent, Old School wouldn’t have as a character one of the most tired stereotypes of film comedies set on college campuses, the evil dean of students (Jeremy Piven).
The scene I most anticipated was the one in which Vince Vaughn’s Beanie Campbell, who so wants to have sex with a co-ed, in spite of his alleged devotion to his wife and two young boys, would finally get a young lass alone with him in his room. What does Beanie do when he gets time with a co-ed? He chickens out, although the girl is quite willing. Still, a film like this is supposed to provide the yucks and lots of vicarious thrills. Beanie should have screwed her brains out. In fact, after that scene, the Beanie character loses all the intensity he had early in the film. Even Luke Wilson’s Mitch commits to a “serious relationship” by film’s end (in a very pat and neatly wrapped dénouement).
I recommend Old School for its many moments of awesome hilarity, but I pity the filmmakers for their lack of balls. This could and should have been so much funnier, so much more rebellious, and so much more subversive.
5 of 10
B-
-------------------
Old School (2003)
Running time: 91 minutes (1 hour, 31 minutes)
MPAA – R for some strong sexual content, nudity and language
DIRECTOR: Todd Phillips
WRITERS: Scot Armstrong and Todd Phillips, from a story by Court Crandall and Scot Armstrong and Todd Phillips
PRODUCERS: Daniel Goldberg, Joe Medjuck, and Todd Phillips
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Mark Irwin (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Michael Jablow
COMEDY
Starring: Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, Ellen Pompeo, Juliette Lewis, Leah Remini, Craig Kilborn, Jeremy Piven, Seann William Scott, Matt Walsh, and Artie Lange
When Mitch Martin (Luke Wilson) discovers that his girlfriend (Juliette Lewis) participates in group sex, it shatters his life. Under the guise of helping Mitch, his friends Bernard “Beanie” Campbell (Vince Vaughn) and Frank Ricard (Will Ferrell) hatch an idea to start their own fraternity so that they can relive the wild lives they lost when they got married. Of course, Martin reluctantly allows them to use his new house (conveniently located near a college campus) to stage their hijinks. It might be a bad idea for a number of reasons (and a good idea for a movie), not the least of which is that Mitch has his eyes on Nicole (Ellen Pompeo). Mitch had a high school crush on Nicole; she’s attracted to him, but finds their sorority boy activities immature.
Old School is very funny, and I laughed in spite of how dumb this movie is. It would have been even funnier if the movie hadn’t sold out in the end. The kind of guys that go to see a movie like this want the full raunchiness, but this movie plays it safe. By the end of the film, the horny thirty-somethings all return (for the most part) to their domestic tranquility without a notch on their belts to show for their wild times. I know that a lot of (stupid) people feel that movies should validate the American bourgeois’ value system, but this is a frickin’ comedy, and a lowbrow comedy at that, so all bets are off. Let there be no sacred cows; let the husbands screw around on their wives. This isn’t supposed to be smart and life affirming. If it were supposed to be intelligent, Old School wouldn’t have as a character one of the most tired stereotypes of film comedies set on college campuses, the evil dean of students (Jeremy Piven).
The scene I most anticipated was the one in which Vince Vaughn’s Beanie Campbell, who so wants to have sex with a co-ed, in spite of his alleged devotion to his wife and two young boys, would finally get a young lass alone with him in his room. What does Beanie do when he gets time with a co-ed? He chickens out, although the girl is quite willing. Still, a film like this is supposed to provide the yucks and lots of vicarious thrills. Beanie should have screwed her brains out. In fact, after that scene, the Beanie character loses all the intensity he had early in the film. Even Luke Wilson’s Mitch commits to a “serious relationship” by film’s end (in a very pat and neatly wrapped dénouement).
I recommend Old School for its many moments of awesome hilarity, but I pity the filmmakers for their lack of balls. This could and should have been so much funnier, so much more rebellious, and so much more subversive.
5 of 10
B-
-------------------
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Boston Society of Film Critics Love Them Some "The Social Network"
The 18-member Boston Society of Film Critics includes some oft-quoted critics, including Boston Globe writers, Ty Burr and Wesley Morris. This year, they beat the L.A. Film Critics in announcing their end-of-year prizes. Thanks to the blog Film Experience for the following information (because the Bostonians' website has not been updated as of this writing):
Picture: The Social Network
Runner up: Toy Story 3
Director: David Fincher for The Social Network
Runner up: Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan
Actress: Natalie Portman in Black Swan
Runner up: Annette Bening in The Kids Are All Right
Actor: Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network
Runner up: Colin Firth (The King's Speech)
Supporting Actress: Juliette Lewis in Conviction
Runner Up: Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
Supporting Actor: Christian Bale in The Fighter
Runner Up: Andrew Garfield in The Social Network
Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin for The Social Network
Runner up: Nicole Holocener for Please Give
Cinematography: Roger Deakins for True Grit
Runner up: Matthew Libatique for Black Swan
Editing (in memory of Karen Schmeer) Andrew Weisblum for Black Swan
Runner up: Lee Smith for Inception
New Filmmaker (in memory of David Brudnoy) Jeff Malmberg for Marwencol
Runner up: David Michôd for Animal Kingdom
Best Use of Music in a Film Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for The Social Network
Runner up: Carter Burwell for True Grit
Ensemble Cast: The Fighter
Runner up: The Kids Are All Right
Documentary: Marwencol
Runner up: Inside Job
Foreign Language: Film Mother (South Korea)
Runner up: I Am Love (Italy)
Animated Film: Toy Story 3
Runner up: The Illusionist
http://www.thebsfc.org/
Picture: The Social Network
Runner up: Toy Story 3
Director: David Fincher for The Social Network
Runner up: Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan
Actress: Natalie Portman in Black Swan
Runner up: Annette Bening in The Kids Are All Right
Actor: Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network
Runner up: Colin Firth (The King's Speech)
Supporting Actress: Juliette Lewis in Conviction
Runner Up: Melissa Leo (The Fighter)
Supporting Actor: Christian Bale in The Fighter
Runner Up: Andrew Garfield in The Social Network
Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin for The Social Network
Runner up: Nicole Holocener for Please Give
Cinematography: Roger Deakins for True Grit
Runner up: Matthew Libatique for Black Swan
Editing (in memory of Karen Schmeer) Andrew Weisblum for Black Swan
Runner up: Lee Smith for Inception
New Filmmaker (in memory of David Brudnoy) Jeff Malmberg for Marwencol
Runner up: David Michôd for Animal Kingdom
Best Use of Music in a Film Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for The Social Network
Runner up: Carter Burwell for True Grit
Ensemble Cast: The Fighter
Runner up: The Kids Are All Right
Documentary: Marwencol
Runner up: Inside Job
Foreign Language: Film Mother (South Korea)
Runner up: I Am Love (Italy)
Animated Film: Toy Story 3
Runner up: The Illusionist
http://www.thebsfc.org/
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Review: "Strange Days" is a Vastly Underrated Sci-Fi Movie (Happy B'day, Katheryn Bigelow)
TRASH IN MY EYE No. 78 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux
Strange Days (1995)
Running time: 145 minutes (2 hours, 25 minutes)
MPAA – R for intense disturbing violence, sexuality, and pervasive strong language
DIRECTOR: Kathryn Bigelow
WRITERS: James Cameron and Jay Cocks; from a story by Cameron
PRODUCERS: James Cameron and Steven-Charles Jaffe
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Matthew F. Leonetti
EDITOR: Howard E. Smith (and James Cameron who did not receive a screen credit)
DRAMA/CRIME/SCI-FI/THRILLER
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Michael Wincott, Vincent D’Onofrio, Glenn Plummer, Brigitte Bako, Richard Edson, William Fichtner, and Josef Sommer
Set in a quasi-futuristic or near future Los Angeles on the eve of the new millennium, Strange Days was, at the time, director Kathryn Bigelow’s most ambitious film. This is especially true from the technical and production standpoints, as special cameras were designed to shoot the film and filming certain sequences required complex production planning. Bigelow also collaborated on Strange Days with her then-former husband James Cameron (they were married from 1989-91) who wrote the film’s story, co-wrote the screenplay, co-produced the film, and edited the film’s final cut (although he didn’t receive a screen credit as an editor because he wasn’t at the time a member of the film editors guild).
This neo-noir thriller opens on Dec. 30, 1999 and introduces ex-cop, Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes). Lenny is a pusher of illegal virtual reality clips. This potent technology records everything a person experiences on a small disc. Later, a special player sends a signal straight into the cerebral cortex of the brain and allows the wearer to relive those sensations. Of course, recordings of sex, murder, and violence are the most popular clips. When Lenny gets a clip that captured the murder of Jeriko One (Glenn Plummer), a high-profile rap musician and anti-government activist, he finds himself ensnared in a manhunt in which he can never be sure of the hunters’ identities. With the help of Lornette “Mace” Mason (Angela Bassett) an old friend and limo driver who is quite the fighter, Lenny tries to stay ahead of the danger and protect his old girlfriend, Faith Justin (Juliette Lewis), a musician who is somehow part of this. All the while, Lenny is trying to figure out what to do with a clip that could ignite the power keg that is Los Angeles on the eve of the year 2000 and set a fire that won’t stop burning.
Strange Days is a top-notch sci-fi drama, and it starts off with a good script and concept, for most of which visionary filmmaker James Cameron (The Terminator, Titanic) is responsible. This was also the film in which Kathryn Bigelow’s potential paid off quite nicely. Her choice of filmmaking genres likely surprised people early in a career, but this movie shows that she is more than capable of mounting a big production and controlling it. She maintains the integrity of Cameron’s vision, while visualizing it with consummate skill. She presents Strange Days as a plausible quasi-future and presents a frame of reference the audience can recognize. While Cameron’s stories have generally dealt with a strong action heroine or woman who can move to action, Bigelow emphasized gender stereotypes and portrayed the male, Lenny Nero, especially weak and enormously dependent upon the female, Lornette “Mace” Mason, who doesn’t back down or take prisoners in a fight.
There are good performances all around, in particularly Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett. In Lenny Nero, Fiennes defines the noble criminal, a slick huckster constantly fending off his conscience. Bassett is a heavyweight, breathing life into Mace Mason, as she reveals so much about her in a subtle fashion. She helps us discover one side of Mace so quietly that it’s surprising to realize that by the middle of the film, we know Mace as well as we know Lenny. Then, Bassett will explode in a flurry of punches and whip out a pistol, and we’re looking at Mace as an entirely different person.
Looking back on Strange Days, Cameron’s script seems slightly prophetic and may yet reveal a few more prophecies. In the end, however, Bigelow guides her cast, in particularly her stellar leads, and creative crew into creating a vision of the future that wallows in the excesses of our present, showing us how social ills will likely get worse. Then, Bigelow tells us that the future promises hope and brings out the best of those who want to show their best.
7 of 10
A-
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Strange Days (1995)
Running time: 145 minutes (2 hours, 25 minutes)
MPAA – R for intense disturbing violence, sexuality, and pervasive strong language
DIRECTOR: Kathryn Bigelow
WRITERS: James Cameron and Jay Cocks; from a story by Cameron
PRODUCERS: James Cameron and Steven-Charles Jaffe
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Matthew F. Leonetti
EDITOR: Howard E. Smith (and James Cameron who did not receive a screen credit)
DRAMA/CRIME/SCI-FI/THRILLER
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Michael Wincott, Vincent D’Onofrio, Glenn Plummer, Brigitte Bako, Richard Edson, William Fichtner, and Josef Sommer
Set in a quasi-futuristic or near future Los Angeles on the eve of the new millennium, Strange Days was, at the time, director Kathryn Bigelow’s most ambitious film. This is especially true from the technical and production standpoints, as special cameras were designed to shoot the film and filming certain sequences required complex production planning. Bigelow also collaborated on Strange Days with her then-former husband James Cameron (they were married from 1989-91) who wrote the film’s story, co-wrote the screenplay, co-produced the film, and edited the film’s final cut (although he didn’t receive a screen credit as an editor because he wasn’t at the time a member of the film editors guild).
This neo-noir thriller opens on Dec. 30, 1999 and introduces ex-cop, Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes). Lenny is a pusher of illegal virtual reality clips. This potent technology records everything a person experiences on a small disc. Later, a special player sends a signal straight into the cerebral cortex of the brain and allows the wearer to relive those sensations. Of course, recordings of sex, murder, and violence are the most popular clips. When Lenny gets a clip that captured the murder of Jeriko One (Glenn Plummer), a high-profile rap musician and anti-government activist, he finds himself ensnared in a manhunt in which he can never be sure of the hunters’ identities. With the help of Lornette “Mace” Mason (Angela Bassett) an old friend and limo driver who is quite the fighter, Lenny tries to stay ahead of the danger and protect his old girlfriend, Faith Justin (Juliette Lewis), a musician who is somehow part of this. All the while, Lenny is trying to figure out what to do with a clip that could ignite the power keg that is Los Angeles on the eve of the year 2000 and set a fire that won’t stop burning.
Strange Days is a top-notch sci-fi drama, and it starts off with a good script and concept, for most of which visionary filmmaker James Cameron (The Terminator, Titanic) is responsible. This was also the film in which Kathryn Bigelow’s potential paid off quite nicely. Her choice of filmmaking genres likely surprised people early in a career, but this movie shows that she is more than capable of mounting a big production and controlling it. She maintains the integrity of Cameron’s vision, while visualizing it with consummate skill. She presents Strange Days as a plausible quasi-future and presents a frame of reference the audience can recognize. While Cameron’s stories have generally dealt with a strong action heroine or woman who can move to action, Bigelow emphasized gender stereotypes and portrayed the male, Lenny Nero, especially weak and enormously dependent upon the female, Lornette “Mace” Mason, who doesn’t back down or take prisoners in a fight.
There are good performances all around, in particularly Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett. In Lenny Nero, Fiennes defines the noble criminal, a slick huckster constantly fending off his conscience. Bassett is a heavyweight, breathing life into Mace Mason, as she reveals so much about her in a subtle fashion. She helps us discover one side of Mace so quietly that it’s surprising to realize that by the middle of the film, we know Mace as well as we know Lenny. Then, Bassett will explode in a flurry of punches and whip out a pistol, and we’re looking at Mace as an entirely different person.
Looking back on Strange Days, Cameron’s script seems slightly prophetic and may yet reveal a few more prophecies. In the end, however, Bigelow guides her cast, in particularly her stellar leads, and creative crew into creating a vision of the future that wallows in the excesses of our present, showing us how social ills will likely get worse. Then, Bigelow tells us that the future promises hope and brings out the best of those who want to show their best.
7 of 10
A-
Thursday, May 17, 2007
--------------------
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)