The Good, The Bad and the Ugly Films

Archive for March, 2009

What is wrong with this picture?

No. Really. What is wrong with it?

Is it the image of Daryl Hannah that somehow makes her look like Patricia Arquette? Or just that it manages to somehow look so damn bad, yet so damn good all at the same time. This is a cover that would make me take it off the shelf and give it the once over, and then read the synopsis…

While driving down a country road, Carrie Mitchell (Daryl Hannah) is en route to her new life in Salem, Maine. Suddenly, from out of the woods staggers Amy Singer, injured and scared! Carrie pulls over to help, and her young passenger begins to tell Carrie a horrifying story of what happened to her and her friends in the woods. Through a series of flashbacks we witness the horrific events of Amy and her colleagues, who days earlier were out on an environmental studies trip for college. Camped in the forest excavating what they believed was an ancient Indian burial site, they come across an arm bone, with a Rolex watch still attached around the wrist. It dawns on the group that they have discovered a burial ground, but not the type they were seeking! Carrie soon discovers that Amy carries a deadly secret, and the unspeakable horror that happened in the woods is far from over.

AND it’s “inspired by a true story”?!?

Now I am sold!

This looks so crap-tastic it is officially on my “Must-See” list!

Rating

• ! No… ! No… ! No… Damnit! I just don’t know! ¦¬)

The Devil’s Ground comes to DVD May 19th from Anchor Bay

The Star Trek reboot comes out on May 8th. While neither a Star Trek, nor a JJ Abrams fan, I have been admiring the roll out of the films campaign and think they have done a brilliant job of generating interest beyond the usual Star Trek fan-base, yet avoided the kind of frenzied fan-boy hype that would set expectations beyond anything that could be met. It’s the kind of buzz that if the film is any good at all should help it have some legs beyond its opening weekend.

It had me. I was genuinely looking forward to see the movie and had nothing but good will toward it.

And then Variety reports yesterday that Paramount is moving forward on a sequel with Abrams as producer (no commitment to direct as yet).

This is great news for fans of the franchise for sure, but it is the kind of news that chaps my ass a little. Let the movie come out and be successful before you start talking sequel! It leaves a bad taste in my mouth when studios cry sequel on opening weekend, but Paramount and Co. couldn’t even keep their pants dry that long.

It just comes off as smug – as though the studio has pre-determined the actions of the movie-going public – like we are lemmings that have no control over our fates, let alone that of the film. Don’t get me wrong, I do think the movie will do very well – it’s just a move like this makes me not mind if it doesn’t.

By contrast, David Cronenberg had announced interest in pursuing a sequel to “Eastern Promises”. This announcement comes 18 months after “Eastern Promises” is released. Time enough for all parties to decide if this material they really want to explore again and if their is an audience that wants to explore it with them. It seems an unlikely candidate for a sequel – not so much because the story and characters  haven’t got places it can go, as much as it managed a relatively light (to be talking sequel) $56 million worldwide. But this is a film that has picked up a sizable audience on home video, so perhaps it is expected that they can be brought out for a new theatrical  follow up.

Plus Cronenberg has waited long enough to make an audience really want a sequel – the characters from the original stay with you, especially that of Viggo Mortensen; I for one would love to see what brought him to the point where he began in “Eastern Promises”, or even where he would go and what he would do after. Unlike Star Trek, where we do not know yet if we will like the film or not, or if the new cast is up to the task of embodying the beloved characters so many people hold dear.

C’mon Paramount – would it really have killed you to wait until after opening day to make the announcement?

Rating

• Star Trek Sequel – – Give us a chance to see if we like it before dropping seconds onto our plates!
• Eastern Promises Sequel – – We can expect a thought-through follow up, not a hasty cash-grab!

The Hunger poster, presented to Allen by Ross

Another slow news week gives us opportunity to reflect on the posts made on the site, as well as talk about pre-school television, Will Ferrell’s comedy special and the upcoming Ghostbusters sequel getting under way.

Discussed This Week:

• Venture Bros BluRay Review
• Francis Ford Coppola’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula Review
• Renny Harlin
• Yo Gaba Gaba
• You’re Welcome America
• Ghostbusters 3
• All star casts ala Magnificent Seven

Download This Episode

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Francis Ford Coppola is a jerk. Yeah, he’s a jerk. An oafish, smug director who rides the wave of success he caught early in his film career with the ‘Godfather’ and ‘Apocalypse Now’. Like his protégé, George Lucas, Coppola became a bloated shell of what was once a great film-maker. Hoping to eclipse the zenith achieved with aforementioned ‘modern day classics’, the director plods into obscurity with occasional cinematic flops and stinkers to bide his time. Plus – He sued Carl Sagan… six days after Sagan died. I will never forgive him for that.

Bram Stoker’s Dracula is pretty darn cool. I think it was the last celluloid emission of Coppola’s that is actually tolerable. Can’t think of anything after ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’? That’s because the esteemed director changed his name to Francis Ford Crap-ola. Try to overcome the pain and envision such latter day travesties as: ‘Jack’ (with Robin Williams) and ‘The Rainmaker’. ‘Supernova’ was also directed by Coppola – Because In Space, No One Can See You Direct! Unless you’re Walter Hill. As an Executive Producer in the last 15 years, Coppola has lent his finely honed talents to create garbage as: “The Jeepers Creepers” franchise, and wait… “Marie Antoinette” was pretty good. So was “Kinsey” and “Sleepy Hollow” and “Lost in Translation”. Perhaps his best role is behind the scenes nowadays; instead of behind the lens.

Would you sue this charming and gentle man... after he dies?

For the horror enthusiast, the Blu Ray edition of ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’ starts with a bang. Behold! It’s Francis Ford Coppola sitting in some South Cali Coffee Wank Bistro where you can probably buy a cup of coffee for $8, but feel good about yourself in knowing the beans are Organic or grown in Llama Manure or something. “Good Morning, I’m Francis Ford Coppola!”, he decrees. What an asshole, telling us that it’s morning – when in fact most people will be watching this movie in the afternoon or evening. Coppola then tells a sad story of how his mighty Zoetrope Studios went bankrupt and poor old Francis was down to his last few dollars in the start of the 1990s. Lucky for Francis, Trilogies were En Vogue …and ‘Godfather 3’ coughed up a few bucks as audiences flocked to see if his daughter Sofia could act (she can’t). Apparently all the proceeds from that movie went to the expensive rehabilitation of audience members still in a coma induced by “One From the Heart”, because 1991 saw Francis broke again. Along came salvation in the name of Winona Ryder! Although Winona had dropped out of Godfather 3, she still wanted desperately to make a movie with Francis. Coincidentally, Ms. Ryder has in her possession a script for Dracula (she probably swiped it at a Writer’s Guild meeting). A script for Bram Stoker’s Dracula?! Who takes credit for such silliness? The sound in Hollywood of ‘thump, thud, thump, thud’ was Bram Stoker spinning in his grave.

Nic Cage, Sofia, and some asshole who wore a Hawaiian Shirt to a Black Tie event

The movie actually starts – as Francis was probably asked to leave the coffee bistro because he didn’t buy anything. Francis keeps talking, however, and the production anecdotes are actually pretty good. He talks a lot about his son, Roman Coppola, who was the director of Second Unit and created many of the brilliant effects in the film. I really like Roman Coppola. I thought his movie “CQ” was amazing. Not much else from this guy – other than Second Unit work and Music Videos. The opening scene with the vanquished army in silhouette was actually done that way because (you guessed it!) Francis ran out of money. I think the final effect works really well, and shows what can be done without costly extravagancies. The unique effects truly make this version of Dracula shine. It was a real treat to hear how the creative visions came to fruition. I learned quite a lot about the film – plus stuff that I wish I didn’t know. Francis lets the viewer know that Vampires are like the Mafia. Then he reminds us that he

Oldman symbolically acts out Ryder's future film career

doesn’t know anyone in the Mafia! Seriously! I’m not making this up. The acting by Gary Oldman and Sir Anthony Hopkins almost makes up for the zombie performances by Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder. I’d rather have Sofia Coppola take a shot at Ryder’s role. Heck, she could have done Keanu’s character with better aplomb. Always a pleasure to see Tom Waits in a movie… acting like… well Tom Waits.

The picture and sound in this version of ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’ is almost perfect. I noticed that some of the reds were bleeding on some shots – But maybe Francis purposefully added that effect because he’s such a brilliant guy and he knew that Blu Ray would someday allow him the medium to effectively bleed colours. There were also times the movie’s audio seemed to sputter, but closer examination revealed it was only Keanu Reeves trying to speak like a Brit.

Good:

• Excellent transfer of the film (except the bleeding parts – but Francis probably wanted the bleeding to be a metaphor)
• The Blu Ray package, and Disc itself, are artistically interesting
• A creative and sinister spin on the Dracula legend

"Have you heard about Alesse?"

Bad:

• Winona Ryder and Keanu Reeves put a stake through Method acting
• Coppola’s Occasional Ramblings on the Commentary
• Too many interior sets (my pet peeve)

Ugly:

• The last great Coppola Film! That was over 15 years ago.
• The idiot who decided that this movie should spawn a series… “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein” anyone?

Overall – ”Damn you COPPOLA!!!!” …. !

Release Date: October 7, 2007

This weekend the movie “12 Rounds” limped into the Top 10 debut position of #7. Ordinarily, I would have a sense of Schadenfreude over a WWE movie failing, but this time it is different. The man at the helm was one of my favourite directors, Renny Harlin.

Yeah, I know – you film snobs are now rolling your eyes and quietly judging me. And you know what? I am fine with that.

I am not a big fan of the action film on the whole, but Harlin’s films usually transcend the divide between me and said genre. I don’t know why really – his films are as noisy and trashy as most action films are, occasionally even more so, but there is a purity to them – they are so much fun! They are completely entertaining and usually spectacles for the senses. Harlin manages to always stay out of his own way and not weigh down his films with ham-fisted messages or overt lessons to take away. He just wants to entertain.

Harlin broke into North American cinema in a big way early on in his career. New Line enlisted him to direct their fourth instalment of the Nightmare series, “A Nightmare on Elm Street IV: The Dream Master.” While Nightmare IV is no cinematic classic, it did the seeming impossible by becoming the highest grossing film in the series to that point, when usually most sequels decline in returns.

20^th Century Fox was impressed enough with his work to commission him to direct the detective comedy “The Adventures of Ford Fairlane,” after courting him to do “Alien³” failed. They were in turn impressed again, enough to give Harlin the reins on “Die Hard 2: Die Harder” based on the dailies of Ford Fairlane. Both films came out within two weeks of each other and the success of Die Harder eclipsed the failure of Fairlane – whose failure could hardly be blamed on Harlin, as much as it could on its star, Andrew “Dice” Clay, whose popularity had nose-dived over the production of the film.

Harlin went to Tri-Star next to direct the Sylvester Stallone action-thriller “Cliffhanger,” which proved to be another financial success in spite of Stallone’s declining popularity. In fact, every film Stallone has headlined subsequently have grossed less than “Cliffhanger.”

Harlin’s winning streak would come to an end with his next project, the mega-flop “Cutthroat Island.” Über-producer Mario Kassar (Terminator 2, Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Cliffhanger) brought in Harlin to direct his pirate movie and got Harlin’s then girlfriend, Geena Davis to star. Production started without a finished script, and once the film was to be released little money was put out to promote it; after $98 million was poured into the picture it only grossed $10 million. In my opinion, the film is often judged by its theatrical performance and not the film itself – which is actually a really fun flick; lively with a charming cast, lead by Davis who proves herself up to the challenge of being an action hero.

The financial failure of Cutthroat didn’t shake New Line’s faith in Harlin as they financed his next project, the $65 million “The Long Kiss Goodnight.” An unprecedented $4 million was spent on Shane Black’s script about an amnesia victim, again played by Geena Davis (now Harlin’s wife), whose memories come back as her dangerous past catches up with her. The cast also includes Samuel L Jackson, David Morse, Brian Cox and Craig Bierko. This could very easily have been standard action fare under lesser directors, but the snappy dialog, and elaborate action sequences are guided by Harlin’s assured hand – coupled with the chemistry between Davis and Jackson make “The Long Kiss Goodnight,” again, in my opinion, one of the best action films ever made. Even Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a very solid 72%.

Somehow, with a wealth of great material to draw from, New Line managed to make an abysmal trailer for the film which failed to generate any interest in it. The movie barely managed to make $33 million in its domestic run, but overseas sales pushed the film into the black.

1999’s “Deep Blue Sea,” Harlin’s smart-shark thriller, was another success for the director. While being a rather silly, though entertaining movie, it grossed $164 million worldwide against its $60 million budget.

Warner Brothers, obviously pleased with the returns for “Deep Blue Sea,” bankrolled the $94 million budget for the Stallone starring and written “Driven.” With the thinnest of plots, “Driven”’s strengths lies in the amazing racing scenes and jaw-dropping crashes. But that wasn’t enough to draw in an audience, and ultimately the film only took in $55 million worldwide.

Harlin’s next project, “Mindhunters,” would end up languishing on the shelf for over two years before seeing a theatrical release. In fact, he filmed and released another film in the meantime. Harlin was brought in by Warner Brothers to re-shoot the “Exorcist: The Beginning” after Paul Schrader completed a version they were not satisfied with. Schrader had taken a more thoughtful approach to the material, but the studio wanted something more in the traditional horror vein. Harlin’s version would take a decent $42 million gross, but making two films drove Warner’s production costs up to over $80 million.

“Mindhunters” was caught up in trouble of its own. It was being distributed by Dimension Films, the popcorn arm of Miramax, which was trying to break away from its parent company, Disney. Several films got caught up in the push-and-pull that was going on, none of which got any better or worse treatment than “Mindhunters.” It was all very unfortunate, as it is a very cool little thriller with a solid ensemble cast including Christian Slater, Johnny Lee Miller, LL Cool J and Val Kilmer. The film eventually got a meagre 2005 theatrical release and was then rushed onto video.

2006’s “The Covenant” smacks of Harlin working as a gun-for-hire. This is essentially “The Craft” plus a Y chromosome, with a pretty cast worthy of a WB series. Harlin is better than the material here. None-the-less, he brought the film to a #1 opening.

Harlin will be following up “12 Rounds” with “Mannerheim”. The film is described on his website as “the true story of Field Marshall Carl Gustaf Mannerheim, whose quest for peace and liberty took him to the battlefields of Finland, Russia, and Poland, and on explorations of China and India.” This sounds like the kind of film that if is successful, could give Harlin the respect he has lacked from serious critics. However, given the films European interest and cast, it may pass by North American audiences unnoticed. The project is currently on hold, as financing has been difficult to aquire.

I have not seen “12 Rounds” yet. Solely because Harlin’s name is on the bill, I will. I have tremendous respect for the man as a film-maker. He has a unique way of making even the most ridiculous or clichéd material entertaining and fun. He deserves a better go at movie making that he has gotten in the 2000’s – but you have to admire his perseverance and willingness to take on projects that are beneath his experience and talent. He is obviously a man that loves making movies – any movie. I hope his spirit stays intact and he keeps making the best lemonade he can with the lemons he is given, and eventually make his way back to the top.

I know that writing this makes me a Harlin Apologist. And you know what? I am fine with that too.

Rating

• Renny Harlin –

I was all set for what looked to be a great week in DVD and Blu Ray releases, but a trio of dastardly double-dippers ruined it all for me. What is ‘double dip’, you might ask? I heard the term used a few times in the past, but it wasn’t until I started listening to ‘Hermaphobia’ (the former Good Bad Ugly podcast) that I began to hear it a lot. ‘Double dip’ is when a DVD collector needs to buy another copy of a movie or series in order to acquire new features on the latest release. For example (an EXTREME example): The Army of Darkness movie comes out on DVD. A year later, a ‘Special Edition’ is released with new commentary by Sam Raimi. Later on, there’s an individually numbered edition with even more new features. Then there’s another edition released in a ‘Necronomicon’ slipcase…. And so on! It’s really hard for a movie enthusiast to obtain a ‘definitive’ edition. Sometimes we are treated to a Complete & Definitive Edition, like the recent “Blade Runner” DVD set that came in its own GIJoe attaché case. Another worthy mention is “The Alien Quadrilogy” (likely on Allen’s list of things he’d bring to a desert island). That’s not to say Blade Runner and Alien had DVD and VHS releases before those sets. Once again, the sets were released only after ‘less inferior’ or ‘feature – lacking’ editions saturated the market for years. Heck, FOX decided to try something new this week: reverse-double dipping. They released all the Alien movies again, this time packaged with the Predator movies (minus much of the Quadrilogy Special Features).

So now it’s the last week of March 2009, and three sneaky culprits of double-dipping plopped into stores like a slippery bowel movement.

First off: “Watchmen Presents – The Black Freighter”. I think we already talked a bit about the “Watchmen” silliness on the podcast. A few weeks ago, the ‘Motion Comic’ came out – for those of us who find comic books a challenging medium… or maybe you can’t read. Now it’s the animated story of the ‘Black Freighter’, a predominant side-story in the ‘Watchmen’ saga. Director Zack Snyder was unable to insert ‘Black Freighter’ into his ‘Watchmen’ print due to time constraints. For an additional $25 – $35, you can now own this important piece of the ‘Watchmen’ movie – Even though Snyder let slip that an Ultimate Edition ‘Watchmen’ will be released down the road with all these features added to the set. This has all happened before with Snyder’s crap and sandals flick ‘300′, which has seen numerous incarnations over the last 2 years.

Next Up: James Bond. I really, really wanted to watch ‘Quantum of Solace’ this week – Having missed the movie in theatres (stupid sold-out trendy megaplex). I picked up the Blu Ray, only to notice the features were kinda scarce. There was no Director’s Commentary. What the hell?! How hard is it to sit the Director down for 2 hours while he yaks about the film? I then realized a ploy that would make Blodfeld jealous… MGM is now double-dipping its Bond Franchise. When ‘Casino Royale’ was released, it became the biggest selling Blu Ray to date. With all that money from Blu Ray enthusiasts, MGM decided to release ANOTHER Casino Royale edition – Now with more features and commentary. I betting that ‘Quantum of Solace’ is prepping for another edition within a year or so… probably close to the time that the new Bond movie arrives in 2011. So I didn’t buy ‘Quantum of Solace’.

Finally, the King of Double Dipping, George Lucas unleashes another blatent ‘double’ dip abomination – ‘The Clone Wars – Volume One’. Boy, was I excited about this one. I didn’t read the specs before the release, but I assumed that Volume One would at least include HALF the first season of Clone Wars. Instead, ‘Clone Wars Volume One’ comes in a slapped together DVD set which includes 4 episodes of the new series. And no Blu Ray!!! This reeks of double-dipping yet to come. I can just smell Lucas cobbling together new editions of the Star Wars universe (each slightly different), to capitalize on the fan base who faithfully snap up this stuff.

Sure there’s other double-dip offenders… Disney is a quasi-double-dipper …but that’s all for today. Until next time – Read each DVD and Blu Ray carefully before you buy them. Are all the features in that edition? Do you really need that movie in your collection today; or can you wait? Don’t get caught in the ‘double dip’ conspiracy

 DOUBLE DIPPING = UGLY!!!

On this episode we conclude our discussion of the films of 1997 by comparing Good, Bad and Ugly lists as well as our Top 5 films of the year. Films discussed include The Fifth Element, Waiting for Guffman, The Devil’s Advocate, The Postman, The Ice Storm and many more.

The next year in the Spotlight will be 2000.

Download Podcast here

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Good Bad Ugly Review: “The Venture Bros. Season 3″ Blu Ray

Release Date: March 24th, 2009

As I was picking up this new Season of The Venture Bros., another DVD shopper looked over to me and said “Dude, I think that show sucks.” I asked the impromptu reviewer what he thought made it suck. “I dunno… I think I saw, like a minute of it and it looked bad. No action”. This viewpoint doesn’t stray too far from what many people find confusing with The Venture Bros. Just by looking at the name of this animated series, you’d expect lots of adventure and exploring. If you knew its creator helped bring the Animated and Live-Action episodes of ‘The Tick’ to the small screen, you’d also think it might be a satirical spin on the ‘Jonny Quest’ franchise. Sure, those elements exist in ‘The Venture Bros.’, but the core of the episodes are the uproarious personalities of each of the main characters. Dr. Venture is the bumbling scientist/ explorer who never seems to climb out from the shadow of his famous father. Brock Samson, the manic family bodyguard with a cool-as-ice disposition. His two sons, both inept in maintaining the mighty Venture namesake, tag along to create havoc. Even better, are the great villains such as ‘The Monarch’ and ‘Dr. Girlfriend’. The majority of an episode might simply be about Dr. Venture entering the dating world as a single dad – as any ‘adventure’ elements slowly unravel in the background. The opener of Season 3 was all about ‘The Monarch’ recalling how he fell in love with ‘Professor Girlfriend’ (who looks like Jackie O, but with a man’s voice). You really can’t tell where each episode will take you – and the results are always a treat. 

I’ve watched The Venture Brothers since it began 5 years ago on the Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. There are tons of other shows on Adult Swim that try to emulate the ‘normal problems in a surreal world’ – The Brakk Show and Aqua Teen Hunger Force come to my mind in regards to this. I don’t find any of those as close as entertaining, and fulfilling, as Venture Brothers. I also enjoy the show’s evolution and continuity as the seasons progress. Things happen, and carry on to future episodes. It was something I also enjoyed during The Tick’s cartoon series many years ago. The Venture Bros. creator, Jackson Publick, also was heavily involved in the Tick series (both animated and live-action) – And his unique sense of humour is evident in every episode.  

The tech design and architecture in the show are very 1960s retro-future inspired, and the hand drawn animation is a pleasure for my eyes to absorb. I’ve noticed a lot of visual improvements from the first season, and it seems the creators are always trying to improve on their techniques.

The Season 3 Set is available on DVD and Blu Ray. Both sets look pretty much the same, except the Blu Ray also has a whole Soundtrack CD from the show. I immediately loaded the CD into my Media Drive and grooved to the fusion of Lounge Music & Surfer Tunes. The slip-cover of both editions feature a hilarious spoof of an Atari 2600 game… A perfect homage to the surreal paintings that appeared on early 2600 cartridges. On the Blu Ray at least, the slip cover is removed to give yet another great 2600 pic on the actual plastic clamshell case. This time it looks like a photo-real promotional poster from the late 1970s of a family playing the Atari Game (the family is… you guessed it).

Good:   Bonus Music CD (of stuff you’ll actually listen to)

            The Atari 2600 Homage on the DVD packaging (and menu screen)

Bad:     Season 3 has commentaries and deleted scenes, but that’s it

            Some episodes miss their mark

Ugly:    Why don’t more people know about this show?!

Overall: GOOD!

Apparently the noise from the net was heard by American DVD distributer Magnet over the Let The Right One In subtitle mess and have issued a statement regarding it…

“We’ve been made aware that there are several fans that don’t like the version of the subtitles on the DVD/BR. We had an alternate translation that we went with. Obviously a lot of fans thought we should have stuck with the original theatrical version. We are listening to the fans feedback, and going forward we will be manufacturing the discs with the subtitles from the theatrical version.”

How will you be able to differentiate the crap titles from the original? You will need to squint at the specs at the back of the disc – you know, that tiny print at the bottom that tells you the running time, aspect ration, etc – If it says under “Subtitles,” “English (Theatrical)” you’re good, otherwise it is the ridiculously watered down subs.

And will they exchange the disc you already own for the re-pressed corrected one? Um… no. You are stuck with it, unless you choose to double dip.

Previously viewed purchasers beware – the market is going to be flooded with junk discs!

Ratings:

• Magnet’s quick response to customer complaints –
• Magnet’s apathy for customers already stung by their (magnet’s) poor original DVD/BR release –

The first trailer for Where The Wild Things Are is out. It looks like it is going to be a lot of fun.

Rating:

• Where The Wild Things Are trailer –