Ten years ago this week The Cell and Immortals director Tarsem released a film called The Fall, a gorgeous spectacle of cinema that gets zero recognition, even with its deep tie-ins to the beginning of film itself. To explain the plot loosely, the film’s main setting is a hospital in the 1920s where a film stuntman, with extensive injuries played by Lee Pace, lies in a bed. There he forms a bond with a young girl nursing a broken arm with a fantasy story of five mythical heroes on a legendary quest. The story keeps his mind focused on something beyond his excruciating pain and unlock her vivid imagination as, through her mind, we see the story play before our eyes.
One thing that is consistent in all of Tarsem’s films, even the understated thriller Self/Less, is his visual flare and his broad scope of color. We owe this, at least for this film, to cinematographer Colin Watkinson and art director Lisa Hart for their close collaboration with Tarsem to make our main man’s story so textured that you feel immersed in it. Watkinson is now known for his extensive work on The Handmaid’s Tale, a massive hit that speaks for itself so you can see his appeal to Tarsem in retrospect. Hart was and still is very new to the top tier art direction but The Fall should be the jewel on her resume just for the sheer scale of it.
Looking at the film, you would swear that the CG budget would be large but according to the director it was all done very practical, which is hugely impressive. Largely shot with his own money in 28 different countries over four years without the jus using pre-existing locations, The Fall is a real landmark of a film that gets no recognition. The only great thing to come out of it came within the industry when Peter Jackson cast Lee Pace in his Hobbit movies based on his performance but, at the video store level I was in at the time, this was a widely recommended movie. My hope is that maybe, just maybe, someone reading this will head to iTunes, Amazon or eBay to shell out some money for an inspiringly gorgeous exercise in storytelling.
THE CONVO: Harvey Weinstein was arrested in New York May 25 and today he was formally indicted by a grand jury, on two counts of rape and one count of criminal sexual acts. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.
Also, Roseanne’s show has been cancelled because of a racist tweet. She blames Ambien but the producers of the drug say racism is not a side effect. ABC has apologized and now Trump is grumpy because they’ve never apologized to him.
Also, speaking of Trump – he wants to pardon Martha Stewart and a few other white-collar criminals.
THE FLICK: Black Cop – A black police officer is pushed to the edge, taking out his frustrations on the privileged community he’s sworn to protect. Written and directed by Trailer Park Boys actor Cory Bowles, this is a blistering flip on the “hands up, don’t shoot” systemic racism across North American policing and it’s totally unforgettable.
THE BINGE: Arrested Development: Season 5 – A brand new season featuring the exploits of the Bluth family is now here, arriving with a bit of controversy due to co-star Jeffrey Tambor and Jessica Walter.
Solo: A Star Wars Story – Let’s get one thing clear. I’m going to be a bit harsh towards the second spin-off film in the Star Wars universe, not because it’s a terrible movie because it’s not. The reason it lands at the top of my dumpster before I light this fire is that it’s so damn mediocre. I feel this is directly due to the very safe direction of replacement director Ron Howard, who hasn’t made a visually interesting film, arguably, since Rush in 2013. The end product makes me wonder what the original filmmakers, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, wanted for this movie. Obviously a more comedic angle, which leads me to the lead, Alden Ehrenreich. I really enjoy the guy in other films but his Solo is missing something in execution, which leads me to believe he worked really well with Lord and Miller but Howard was saddled with an actor that needed to have acting teachers brought in. All my issues aside, Donald Glover made a perfect Lando Calrissian, even sounding spot on to Billy Dee Williams, but it wasn’t enough to save the movie as a whole.
Super Mario Bros. – Do I have any fellow Mario fans who were completely duped by the excitement the trailers for this film gave us? I have to admit, I was totally insane about checking out this movie, even though the ads were, well, confusing at best. The casting checked out. Bob Hoskins as Mario? Okay. John Leguizamo as Luigi? I’m cool with that too. Dennis Hopper as King Koopa? Now it’s a party. The reality is this movie is a big old pile of shit and everyone making it knew that. Hoskins was even quoted as saying this is the worst film he ever made, which led to his and Leguizamo getting plastered constantly on set to cope with the stinker they were making. Would anything have improved this film? Should Tom Hanks have played Mario like he wanted? Should they have gone forward with the plan of Bruce Willis cameoing by tunneling through the air ducts of King Koopa’s castle in a spoof of his role in Die Hard? Or adding that missing half hour of deleted footage to the runtime? Yeah, it’s probably better left alone.
Sex And The City – Ten years ago and ten years after the show debuted we got the big screen version of Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte in the big movie follow up to a massive television phenomenon. The result? Two and a half hours of aimless vamping from a cast of characters way past their expiry date. It sounds like I’m a bitter dude standing outside of the target market lobbing rocks but, believe it or not, I was actually a fan of the series and this movie cheapens the end it was given. Not only that, they beat the dead horse for even more cash with a second movie that I don’t want to waste any more than this sentence on. The only good thing to come out of this theatrical accompaniment to an HBO series is the paving of the way for my guilty pleasure Entourage film and the possibility of a Deadwood one. Let’s just pretend that this one doesn’t exist though. I know Kim Cattrall would…
Foot Fist Way – Danny McBride has made a career of playing a complete dirtbag that we unabashedly love, or at least it has found a soft spot with me. The beginning of this was this film, released ten years ago this week. Following a tae kwon do instructor with massive insecurities and bullying issues, McBride beats up kids and pumps up his own ego in a wild and obsessive rivalry with a fellow and far more successful instructor. The first film to be released under Adam McKay and Will Ferrell’s Gary Sanchez Productions, this movie is a hard sell for a lot of casual viewers but if you dug Observe and Report, Eastbound and Down or anything else director Jody Hill has made, you’ll be into this one.
Stuck – A twisted little film from Re-Animator director Stuart Gordon released ten years ago, the hardest thing to believe about this one is that it was based on true events. The story goes that a woman was driving home heavily under the influence of drugs and alcohol struck a homeless man, who went through her windshield and was lodged there. Rather than stopping and phoning an ambulance, she proceeded to go home and leave the man to die in her garage. Well, this is the darkly comedic retelling of that story through the visual style of one of the great horror filmmakers. Mena Suvari and Stephen Rea star as the perpetrator and victim respectively in a great blend of panic reaction thriller and almost survival horror. This one probably flew under a lot of radar but I definitely recommend it.
Wrong Turn – Keeping on the dark and sinister theme, this week marks fifteen years since this gory little gem was released. With creature effects by the legendary Stan Winston company, this road trip with inbred mutant cannibals is an unforgettable and insanely fun romp. Unfortunately, it spawned a few terrible sequels, one of those being a passable one directed by Joe Lynch with Henry Rollins, but it’s amazing that given the horror prowess that director Rob Schmidt showed off in this film that he never made anything else of note. The dedication to the making of this film is astounding as well, as Eliza Dushku did the majority of her own stunts, Desmond Harrington broke his right ankle in one scene and Emmanuelle Chriqui dislocated her shoulder performing a fall through the trees. You can hear her shoulder pop on the production track in the theatrical sound mix which I think adds to the atmosphere.
Annihilation – My current favorite film of 2018 is now on Blu-ray! There are so many reasons that this sci-fi film is the must-see film of this year and it all starts at the top with director Alex Garland. Following up his directorial debut Ex Machina with this adaptation of the first novel in Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach Trilogy, Garland solidifies himself as one of the best visionaries in science fiction today. The story has a meteor striking the earth causing an atmosphere “shimmer” that expands and starts engulfing large areas which are then classified as “Area X” by the military. Natalie Portman stars in the lead role as the wife of the leader of the first unsuccessful expedition and, really, beyond this synopsis that is as accessible as this film gets. In sort of a beautifully haunted version of “The Thing”, Garland leads us on a journey of discovery in a world we can’t even begin to understand. The most unfortunate thing is the studio and controlling producer didn’t understand it either, making the theatrical release of Annihilation one of the biggest blunders in recent memory. The fact that this film didn’t get a worldwide release is criminal.
The Evil Dead – This week marks thirty-five years since the original Sam Raimi film came out and as someone with a nickname like Stevil Dead, you know what kind of reverence I have for this movie. An absolute gross-out classic and the spark of a cult franchise, this film is fun through and through mostly because you can tell it was made by a group of friends that loved what they were doing. It’s also the launching point for both an iconic character, Ashley ‘Ash’ J. Williams, as well as one of the greatest B movie stars of all time, Bruce Campbell. Sam Raimi would, of course, go on to make many fantastic films in his career as well but producer Rob Tappert, who would produce shows like Xena: Warrior Princess, with his wife Lucy Lawless, and the more recent Spartacus series.
Menace II Society – “I got these cheeseburgers, man.” That’s the first thing I think about when it comes to this gangster classic which turns twenty-five this week. Not only was this the debut film for writing and directing duo of The Hughes Brothers but it was also the first starring role for one of their mainstays, Larenz Tate. Interestingly enough, of all the urban gangster films to come out during this time, Menace had to be the peak as it had many actors cast for authenticity, the set was shot up by the Hacienda Bloods at one point and the original lead, Tupac Shakur, physically attacked Allen Hughes on set before getting fired. This film will be long remembered as one of the best indie films of all time and the beginning of all great and not so great South Central thug movies to come.
Killer Klowns From Outer Space – The insanity of this Chiodo Brothers classic was unleashed on the world thirty years ago this week. The premise of this film is all in the title really but what is unforgettable is the terrifying look of all the creatures, especially my favorite, the King Klown, which was affectionately named Klownzilla on set. I’m amazed to learn that Stephen and Charles Chiodo spent the entire two million dollar budget on production costs and had to foot the creature effects themselves. Even crazier than that the cost was actually pretty small for them and, though not a hit when it was in theaters, the film has since become a cult classic and made revenue in action figures, DVDs, and t-shirts. It makes them sort of break even in the end, right?
Cliffhanger – With my love and adoration for action films of the 80s and 90s, there was no way I was missing out on talking about this Sly Stallone classic, especially with John Lithgow as the main villain. Released twenty-five years ago this week, this film is one of the best of director Renny Harlin’s career and features the costliest aerial stunt of the time, forcing Stallone to scale back his salary as the price tag was over a million dollars. This film may not age like a fine wine but it is still the exhibitor of the action tropes I grew up on and loved. The only thing that would have been better is if the originally cast Christopher Walken had made an appearance but WITH Lithgow as well. I ask for too much, I know.
This week Steve chats the new films with Drex and no, it’s not an easy second weekend for Deadpool 2 as Solo: A Star Wars Story is fresh on the scene. Steve gives the rundown on the two other releases of the week, The Gospel According To Andre and Birthmarked as well as the Blu-ray arrival of Game Night, Red Sparrow and Early Man.
THE CONVO: TransLink has dropped actor Morgan Freeman as its voice for bus and SkyTrain announcements, after CNN reports at least 8 women have come forward, accusing the 80-year-old actor of sexual harassment or inappropriate behaviour.
And on Twitter this morning, Vancouver-native Seth Rogan says TransLink should call him if it needs a replacement.
Also, Charlize Theron has been cast as Megyn Kelly in a film about Fox News! Awesome casting?
THE FLICK: Solo: A Star Wars Story – Another big Star Wars film hits theaters in a big way but this is an origin story of possibly the most iconic anti-hero turned hero of all time. After switching directors and rumors of unhappiness with the lead actor Alden Ehrenreich’s performance the expectations may be a bit lowered but Donald Glover AKA Childish Gambino as Lando Calrissian has Steve all excited.
THE BINGE: Steve Martin and Martin Short: An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life – Comedy icons Steve Martin and Martin Short team up for musical sketches and conversations about their legendary lives in show business and stand-up.
Every so often a film is made that really feels like it taps into why you yourself are a cinema lover. One of the plot devices that finds a way straight to my heart is a film about the love of film and the creation of films, which is why I adore recent ones like Be Kind Rewind and Super 8. The imagination in these movies is endearing and inspiring but even more so when it’s a group of kids discovering their art. Ten years ago this week, director Garth Jennings released his second film Son Of Rambow, a movie that is just that in a nutshell. Two kids banding together to make the one project that drives them and fuels them creatively or remakes it in this case as their obsession is Sylvester Stallone’s First Blood.
The story at its base is as simple as that. When you get on a deeper level with the characters it starts to open up more. Set in the 1980s, at the height of John Rambo’s popularity, our lead is Will, the oldest child of a single mother in a Plymouth Brethren family. The Brethren refer to themselves as God’s “chosen ones” and have a strict morality which keeps them isolated from television, movies and, to some degree, people. Everything changes in Will life when he crosses paths with the local bully Lee. Through a volatile first meeting, Will discover that Lee likes to make odd home movies and has a dream to recreate his favorite action film. After being shown a bootleg copy of First Blood, Lee easily convinces Will to be his stuntman and main star but must keep it secret from the rest of the Brethren.
Garth Jennings went from making his first feature film, the adaptation of Douglas Adams’ Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, which had a budget of about $50 million dollars, to this film made for a more modest $4.5 million. The style and ambition of Jennings is still on display as Son Of Rambow is a script he wrote alongside his longtime creative partner Nick Goldsmith, developed and written long before Hitchhiker’s Guide went into production. You could almost equate the filmmaking relationship between Will and Lee to Jennings and Goldsmith, who collectively call themselves “Hammer & Tongs”, which leads to even more inspiration. Stick together with that person that you feel most creative with and your project will be brought into reality.
Son Of Rambow is a film I revisit every few years as it is a mood improver and a gentle nudge to keep on the path of being driven to create. The story is a timeless one of two underdogs, fighting against their own establishment, childhood stereotypes and authority figures to achieve their dreams and, honestly, it’s a wholesome message that I need every now and then. The fact that it also includes one of my favorite childhood movies ever also helps sell this movie as one for me. I also did my share of First Blood cosplay and re-enactment. No, I don’t have pictures.
The 15:17 To Paris – When this film hit theaters I may have taken a couple shots at director Clint Eastwood saying that maybe his age might be muddling his filmmaking decisions and was reprimanded by Drex for being “ageist”. Maybe I was being a bit unfair but after another viewing on Blu-ray, I still stand by my opinion that this film is absolutely terrible and it all rests solely on Eastwood’s shoulders. The film follows three friends who took down terrorists who hijacked a train in Paris and rather than cast capable actors in these roles Clint decided that the three real guys would be perfect to re-enact their actions. This would be all well and fine if everyone was a real player but when you see Jenna Fischer, Judy Greer and Thomas Lennon at the start of the film who simply out act and outclass these three in a stark obviousness that’s hard to get over. Adding to that awfulness is dialogue written by someone clearly out of touch with how people talk these days so I suggest you skip this one.
The Hangover Part III – Last week I brought up The Matrix Reloaded, a film that kind of destroyed the path laid out in the first installment. Well, this week I bring focus to the third piece in the Hangover trilogy, a merciful end to a series that fell off the rails after a successful start. While this one isn’t as bad as the second movie, it’s a glaring reminder of how great this all started off and how sharply it plummeted. Released five years ago this week, this series is closed out by a film that digs into a darker brand of humor and adds John Goodman to the mix but is such a glaringly forgettable film that you have a hard time with the fact that it started from a blockbuster game changer. Way to go from a fireworks opening to a sparkler finish.
Fast And Furious 6 – It’s not often that a franchise has two points of their run that signified a down stroke in their quality but the Fast And Furious saga is definitely an offender. Now, it isn’t anywhere near the garishly blinding mess that was John Singleton’s 2 Fast 2 Furious but Justin Lin’s final outing in this series is a vast departure from how great Fast Five was. Like my previous dumpster fire, this film came out five years ago this week and I remember being so excited to see where Dominic Toretto, Hobbs and company would go next. What we got was an unutilized Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, an unfocused return of Michelle Rodriguez and a ridiculous finale with the longest airport runway in existence. This film is far from a dumpster fire (the next film in the series is closer) but this is when the fire was lit.
Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull – Obviously this is the biggest inferno of a dumpster fire I have covered on this blog so far. On the tenth anniversary, let’s reminisce about how terrible this movie was. The term “nuke the fridge” became synonymous with the term “jumping the shark” when it comes to ridiculous plot twists as Indy survives a nuclear bomb by hiding in a refrigerator. Horrible. Then there’s the entirety of Shia LeBeouf’s character Mutt Williams, who shows up looking like a greaser extra from The Outsiders, swings around with monkeys and then is revealed as our hero’s son. It’s like slowly sliding to a death in lava. You can see it all happening but can’t do a thing to prevent it. The elation of seeing Harrison Ford don the fedora and satchel again was so short-lived as everything was completely wasted in a losing effort of two guys trying for new relevancy with a classic and revered character. I can never wipe this film from my memory and neither can you. We’re in this together.
Manic – Fifteen years ago this week director Jordan Melamed released his only narrative feature, a look into the journey of a troubled and violent teen played by Joseph Gordon Levitt who is checked into a juvenile mental institution. This was the first onscreen pairing of Levitt and co-star Zooey Deschanel in a story that felt gritty and true to life, another side to the coin that James Mangold’s Girl Interrupted showed us. The film also features a brilliant performance from Don Cheadle as the psychiatrist tasked with trying to figure out the solution to their breakdowns by finding the root of how society wronged them. The contribution of a great soundtrack including Aphex Twin, Deftones and Sleater-Kinney definitely catapulted this one into the memorable category as well.
The Visitor – Tom McCarthy is known as the guy who made Spotlight in recent memory but ten years ago this week this film hit theaters, one that made the world really recognize actor Richard Jenkins. For me, I knew him already as Nathanial Fisher, the deceased patriarch of a funeral home proprietor family in the HBO series Six Feet Under but The Visitor made him an Oscar nominee. The story is pretty simple in nature, following a travelling college professor who returns home to find an immigrant couple squatting in his apartment. Rather than get all xenophobic, our professor embraces these new tenants, befriends them and takes an interest in their culture and daily life. As far as character growth films go, The Visitor is an astounding achievement and would work beautifully in today’s racial climate. It’s also interesting to note that Danai Gurira plays the lead, an actress enjoying massive pop culture success with The Walking Dead and Black Panther.
Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas – I’m so happy to give this movie a mention on its twentieth anniversary week because if it weren’t for this Terry Gilliam adaptation of the classic Hunter S. Thompson book I would only be partially the cinema hungry individual I am today. This film was and is everything to me, a story so complex and crazy that only a madman like Gilliam could take it on, and when you add the performances of Johnny Depp and Benicio del Toro to the mix you have a classic film that has been quoted to death by me. This is a film that defines my movie love now and will do so in another twenty years I’m sure.
Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid – One of my favorite of the legendary “no longer with us” filmmakers is Sam Peckinpah, a man whose volatile nature may overshadow his great body of work. There are absolute truths when it comes to his work and that is their ability to set themselves apart from the pack. Look at films like Straw Dogs, The Wild Bunch and The Getaway just to name a small few, all classics in their genres. Celebrating its 45th birthday this week, Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid is no different, a good guy meets bad guy story between two of the biggest personalities in the Wild West. James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson play their respective roles with a brooding brilliance that always keeps me on the edge of my seat, even though I know how it plays out. It’s not just these heavyweights taking the screen but Charles Martin Smith, Jason Robards, Slim Pickens make appearances as well as Bob Dylan who puts the cherry on this Sunday by contributing “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” to the soundtrack. Hell, I think I’ve just pushed myself to rewatch this gem.
Brooklyn Nine-Nine – It was a crazily uncertain couple days for the critically acclaimed comedy series as the network it has aired on for five seasons, Fox, gave it the axe in a confusing but slightly predictable move. The very next day NBC made the no-brainer move to save the show and while we won’t see the sixth season until the midseason the entirety of the recently ended season is now on Netflix. If you haven’t gotten on board but heard great things, believe the hype. This cast is incredible, including the proven talents of Andy Samberg, Terry Crews, Joe Lo Truglio and Andre Braugher as well as new favorites of mine Steph Beatriz and Melissa Fumero. Get caught up now and tune in for the midseason so this cancellation stuff doesn’t happen again.
Steve Stebbing 