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Reviews
Down Twisted (1987)
Pyun
For years, the only way to see Down Twisted was to catch it late at night on Cinemax. The movie was not available on VHS (except for $100 rental store copies), and isn't currently available on DVD, so you'll have to beg AMC to broadcast it.
Dumbo (2019)
Walt would be sad
Stripped down to visials effects and put a straight jacket on Tim burtons creativity the worst Tim Burton movie I have ever seen. The film has the word Disney dumbo on script but It was not supposed to mean it literally , it should be so much better, yes they change original story, but replaced with lackluster story and weak cast. The music score was very dull,as was the boxing commentator which replaced Danny Davito half way through movie. This was suppose to be a circus but failed to capture the magic. This is as pointless as the Jungle book film as they both soulless. Davito was the best actor in movie, which was no surprise.
The Thing (1982)
The wolf is great
The thing of 1982 is a marvel at the sci-fi/horror front. I grew up with this thing and used it to scare the guts out of my younger buddies at the videogettogethers we had from time to time. Its an antarctic based story, where strange things starts to happen at a norwegian science station. The americans at the neighbour site fly over to see whats going on, and are gobsmacked to see what has happened to the camp, all ruins,and noone alive. Flying back telling the story,strange things starts to happen there too. And well its the thing......
if you havent seen or dared to see this classic, the grumpy old man recommends this as one of the best horror movies of the 80's.
Halloween (1978)
The first and still the best
Co-writer/director John Carpenter's 1978 masterpiece of horror and suspense remains to be one of the greatest horror movies of all time. The simple story of a masked maniac going on a senseless rampage on Halloween night in a small suburban community and the determined psychiatrist hot on his trail still rings true even to this day. For the longest time, I avoided this movie, I'm not sure why. I don't normally like "slasher" movies, although I do consider "A Nightmare on Elm Street" (1984) to be the best of this particular genre. I would guess "Halloween" follows at a close second. This is often cited as the one that started it all, even though earlier slasher flicks such as "Black Christmas" (1974), "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (1974), and Alfred Hitchcock's classic "Psycho" (1960) could definitely be seen as influences on Carpenter's work here. Compared to the horror movies of today, what's most striking about "Halloween" is that the violence and gore is actually very minimal. The surreal, minimalist violence and gore is far more frightening than anything produced in the sequels or any of its countless knock-offs. Carpenter instead relies on his direction, actors (especially Jamie Lee Curtis as would-be female victim Laurie Strode), camera-work, and overall atmosphere and suspense to get his chills here. Rob Zombie's 2007 remake couldn't even compare! Carpenter's moody score (most effective in the opening sequence) sets the tone for the rest of the film, a series of relentless shocks and ever-mounting tension; "Halloween" is the sole reason why Carpenter is oft-cited as the master of suspense. What we have in "Halloween" is one of the greatest and scariest horror movies of all time, a horror movie that influenced an entire generation of filmmakers. Trust me, Halloween was never the same after that night when HE came home!
They Live (1988)
Chew bubble gum
An unemployed man in the 80s (of the WWF variety, complete with Mel-mullet) shows up in the big city looking for work, American Dream intact. He finds a "Hooverville"-like (perhaps Reaganville!) community that takes him in and finds work in construction. He notices that several of the providers are ostensibly up to no good and hold meetings at the local church. He stumbles upon a secret door and finds a stash of...80s sunglasses! After the community is destroyed by the police, our baffled working-class hero pops on a pair of the glasses, which allows him see the world as it really is, and wake up out of his sleeeepy false consciousness! Was Carpenter reading up on his Marx? Maybe! Either way, this sci-fi/action flick is fantastic, cheesy, and clever. "They Live" was obviously influenced by the excess of the 80s, but doesn't come across as dated and actually seems very relevant to the current cultural climate in the US. There are various flaws (namely, the creepy-in-a-bad-way Meg Foster and her character), but overall this is an excellent, amusing, and entertaining film. My.
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)
There you are
Whether you're a die-hard fan, or have never had the pleasure of enjoying this wonderful film, the newly released special edition DVD is the absolute best way to watch it and learn about the amazing world of Buckaroo Banzai.
Not only is the film quality fantastic, but the special features alone are worth every penny. Secret bios, cast and character commentaries - and one of the best features, "Pinky Carruther's Unknown Facts". This is a running subtitle of hilarious trivia throughout the film, about the making of the film, comments from B. Banzai and the Cavaliers themselves, and other tidbits.
If you're a fan of the film, you'll love the DVD even more for the background details it provides about the characters themselves - it puts an entirely new perspective and depth on the experience that makes it even more enjoyable.
Given the choice between the video and the DVD, there is only one way to go to truly know the best of Banzai - and the DVD is it! Get your copy today!!
Hannah and Her Sisters (1986)
Genius as always
Leonardo Da Vinci created awe inspiring paintings, Beethoven composed genius symphonies and Woody Allen writes the best dialogue on the planet, each man is a god in their field, but only one of them can boast 14 Oscar script nominations to his name. You talk about the Last Supper, I talk about Annie Hall and Hannah and her Sisters. Woody Allen's perennial love affair with Ingmar Bergman once again manifests itself in one of his films; Hannah and her Sister can draw great parallels with Bergman's seminal Fanny and Alexander, both films provide a turbulent decent into the lives of a dysfunctional family over the course of couple of years bookend by family gatherings, here in the shape of Thanksgiving while in Fanny and Alexander it is Christmas. In Hannah and her Sister we focus primary on the characters of three sisters Hannah, Holly and Lee, all connected by blood but in terms of personalities and success in life they are all diametrically opposed. Hannah (Mia Farrow) is the oldest, most successful and strong willed; while Holly (Dianne Wiest) on the other hand is in constant flux in life, never begin able to find her true calling, while Lee (Barbara Hershey) the youngest is an ex-alcoholic, student who always wears her heart on her sleeve.
The film opens up during Thanksgiving dinner, on the surface everything seems upbeat and festive, however Elliot (Michael Caine) the husband too Hannah finds himself deeply infatuated with her sister Lee "God she is Beautiful" are very first words spoken in the film, however even when we do find out that Lee harbors similar desires towards him in return and thus begins a secret love affair. It is never made abundantly clear where her feelings are true or if she is merely using Elliot as a stop gap for the whole left in her life during the decaying of her own relationship to Fredrick a self absorbed painter. But it isn't only Lee whose life is experiencing upheaval. Holly who never seems to be able to quite find herself, has lived in the shadow of her much more successful older sister Hannah, causing major underlining tension between the two characters. This tension eventually boils to the surface in probably the most distinct scene in the film where all three sisters sit down in a restaurant; with the main topic of discussion being Holly's need money from Hannah for what seems like the 100th time to fund her latest career path. Despite Hannah obligingly agreeing to do so, Holly still finds an excuse to play the victim stating that her sister only ever saw her as a "Loser". What I love the most about this scene, is that it deviates greatly from Allen's traditional technical approach to filmmaking, which is always subvert and naturalistic and rarely drawing attention to itself, however in this scene the camera slowly rotates around all three sisters as if circling the event horizon in a black hole before being engulfed by the dark abyss that is these sisters relationship. Unfortunately the only ever time Allen display this type of flare is in Annie Hall as we have the pleasure of seeing split screens, subtitles of the subtext of scenes and even breaking the fourth wall, which uses all these components so effectively and innovatively something regularly lacking in his work.
The last major plot element of the film features Woody Allen making his usual appearance in his own productions, playing here Hannah's ex-husband Mickey, a hypochondriac TV producer who finds himself in an existential life crises concerning the point and meaning of life, during his latest health scare. Unfortunately whilst his usual appearances are effective such as is Manhattan and in Play it Again Sam, which he delivers wonderful performances which are integral for each particular films, yet in Hannah and her Sisters I found his narrative arc to being rather to preachy, self-righteous and ultimately unnecessary because it would have served better to have delved even deeper into the sister dynamics, and we need to see a lot more from Hannah who appeared to be more of a boot sale ornament in each scene rather than an actual character.
When you consider Hannah and her Sister was attributed with two three of the big Oscars; both supporting Oscars a fete only equated by The fighter and Julia, whilst also receiving the Oscar for best original screenplay, it really defines Wood Allen as a director and writer, he's a fantastic actor's director who can illicit some of the most wonderful performances from his actors, and working with him is always a career highlight, just ask Penelope Cruz and Mariel Hemingway. Then you just have to look at the fact that he has been nominated 14 times for best screenplay to show adept he is at writing dialogue, however while Hannah and her Sister demonstrates his fantastic acting directing and sensational writing, for me the film doesn't break into my all time five best Allen pictures. This is mainly due to his inclusion into the story, which played to Allen's usual hypochondriac role that we have seen him playing way to many times before. I also felt his story also greatly subtracted from the time we should have been spending with the three main actresses, and despite drawing the film out to a mind numbing 2 hours +, I never felt we were ever able to see enough of them Hannah and her Sister ironically.
Vengeance Is Mine (2021)
High brow genre movie
A fantastic revenge thriller that uses literally every penny of its micro budget perfectly, as throughout this looks visually as well put together as any other multi million dollar Hollywood production. The way it unravels is nothing other than completely gripping as it is a fine example of pure unencumbered story telling that shows the audience the unfolding evens a lot more than it tells them. Performance wise its top of the line, with Con O'Neill giving one of the most timid, yet still perfectly relatable killer performances, but is the smart direction that sets itself apart as it's faultlessly sharp and immensely effective. A gritty must see that is high brow genre movie.