Review: Friday the 13Th (2009)

If you've read some of my previous blogs, then you know that I am not a big fan of the remake machine that Hollywood has turned into lately. I think it shows a lack of fresh new ideas and has gotten completely out of control, especially in the horror genre. I'm not trying to get on a soapbox or take some big stand against it, there are many horror remakes that I like. Such as Halloween, The Hills Have Eyes, The Thing, Dawn of the Dead, and now Friday the 13Th. 

I liked Friday the 13Th because it feels more like a update or a continuation than it does a blatant remake. It stays true to the previous series but does it's own thing also. Jason runs now, and he's quick, but that makes him more intimidating to me. Not that I dislike the former Jason now, but he moved at the rate of a slug. But I guess if I died over ten times, I'd move a slower too. 

I was very skeptical about this though. I think most of us were. Especially after the debacle that is Freddy vs. Jason. Come on, you know it was silly! It seemed like a good idea at first glance but was ruined by bad writing and bad characters. You wanted the teens to get killed in this one. 

Friday the 13Th is a step in a better direction. The characters are a little more likable and it is written with much better thought into realism meanwhile staying true to the tradition of the Friday the 13Th legacy. 

I loved the opening to the movie. For me, the longer the scene before the credits, the better. I don't know why, I just like it. I don't want to spoil it if you haven't seen it, but I think the opening scene is very well done. Of course, the death scenes are cool too. 

I'm still not a big fan of the remake machine that Hollywood has turned into. I think they need fresh new idea via fresh new writers. However, some are good. Some pay tribute and bring a modern realism and integrity to a story with the love they had for it as a fan. I get that. But some are bad. Some just copy the formula that made money the first time and commercialize out any organic integrity the film ever had.

Friday the 13Th is one of the good ones. 

News: Eli Roth to make "Thanksgiving" a full feature film

In 2007, Eli Roth made a "fake" trailer for Quentin Tarantino's and Robert Rodriguez's Grindhouse double feature called "Thanksgiving", a horror movie about a Thanksgiving day killer. Roth said he got the idea because Thanksgiving was the only holiday he could think of that hasn't been used for a horror movie theme. 

After audience response and demand, Roth has decided that he will turn the trailer into a full length movie. It is rumored that Robert Rodriguez will do the same for his trailer from the same project called "Machete".

Roth is now shooting for his next film. His current project is a big secret but some say that he is adapting Stephen King's novel "The Cell". Roth said he wants to shoot this project and then extend the shooting for three weeks to film Thanksgiving and knock it out in those three weeks alone. 

I think this would be a good move. He can completely get away with shooting this cheaply and quickly because that will only ad to the authenticity of what he is going for anyway. With the buzz this has gotten since the few minute trailer, I can only imagine that they will make double if not triple back of what it will cost to make this. Better yet, they could put Thanksgiving and Machete on the same bill like they did the first time with Planet Terror and Death Proof. 

Together or not, I am looking forward to both of these. I was very glad to hear the Roth was going to be making Thanksgiving!

Flashback: Flight of the Navigator

Everyone has that one movie from their childhood. The one that you use to watch over and over again. Then as you grow up, your taste changes and you forget about it. Until one day when your going through your old things or stumble across it in a video store. Then for fun's sake you watch it again years later, to see what all the fuss what about. You watch it and even after all this time, you still enjoy it. The you realize that the child in you is very much still alive. Everyone has that one movie. For me, that movie is Flight of the Navigator. 

Flight of the Navigator is a 1986 Disney movie starring Joey Cramer, Paul Rubens(Voice of the UFO) and a young Sarah Jessica Parker. The story takes place in 1978. A boy is walking through the woods to go to a friends house to get his brother when he falls and hits his head, which knocks him unconscious. He wakes up after what seems like only a few minutes and heads back home. He returns home to realize that his parents no longer live there and he has been missing for eight years, it is now 1986. 

The couple who now lives in his home report him to the local police. They are puzzled because the boy has not aged and looks exactly like he did in 1978. He also thinks Jimmy Carter is the president. The police reunite him with his family, who have all aged. 

Meanwhile, NASA discovers a UFO that has crashed into power lines. After arguing with the police, NASA convinces them that the spacecraft is theirs and they take it to study it. 

The boy is taken to a hospital to help determine what happened to him. They run tests on his brain and find that he contains information about the spacecraft at the NASA base. 

After events, the ship telepathically calls for the boy to come to it. The boy eventually sneaks out of the nearby hospital and goes to the ship and they both escape. The ship has a personality and makes the boy it's navigator. They travel around and befriend each other as they are being chased by NASA.

Compared to most of the kids movies I know of today, Flight of the Navigator is very well written and a movie that I'm not ashamed to say that I still very much like. The special effects for the time are phenomenal. The spacecraft is very cool and the creature inside the ship are very well done as well. 

This is a good movie. The film has mostly been forgotten over time but is considered a cult or retro classic by film fans. It seemed like the makers of Flight of the Navigator tried to make a very good, well written, and visually pleasing kids movie. And they did just that. 

Whenever I feel the stresses of the adult world weighing down on me and I want to reminisce about the carefree days of being a kid, I watch Flight of the Navigator and it all comes rushing back. 

If you have children, spare them the crap that is made for kids now, and show them Flight of the Navigator!

DVD Review: Grindhouse Experience-20 Film Feature Collection

A few years ago they released this set of 70's and 80's grindhouse movies. I bought it back then and just thought about it for the first time in a while. If your a fan of the genre, some of these films were very entertaining. Some were not. 

On a business aspect, the idea is pure genius. This company called Fortune Five found all these old and somewhat rare movies from when the grindhouse genre actually existed. Since most if not all of these movies are available in the public domain, they are completely free and legal to distribute by anyone. So they gathered up 20 movies and put them in a set and sold the set for $20 a pop. Other than the cost of the box, disc, and cases, they are almost making 100% profit. Then they released it right after "Grindhouse (Planet Terror and Death Proof) hit the theaters. They obviously did something right because they released "Grindhouse Experience 2" shortly after.

 

So now I'm going to go through and talk about each of these films. Some of these movies have more than one name (Back then the theaters use to show the same movies under different names in order to get you to buy another ticket thinking it was a different movie. Pretty sneaky, huh?) So I'm just going to use the titles as stated in this set. Let's get started!

Women's Camp 119

I enjoyed this one! It's a good old fashion Nazisploitation and has a decent plot. It's almost a women in cages movie but with a nazi twist. These doctors do weird and horrible experiments on female prisoners but there are two doctors who are trying to shut the whole operation down. What I remember the most is this odd perverted guy named Kurt running around trying to rape and molest women the whole entire time. I'm not sure if he is suppose to be retarded or a experiment himself, but he is funny and the comic relief of the film. I'm not sure if the film makers intended on him being funny, but it's too late. He's hilarious! 

Strike of the Tortured Angels

This one was not bad either. As I recall, it's about these girls in a jail or boarding school. They are supposed to be "Tortured Angels" but don't have it nearly as bad as the girls in the first movie above. You have trouble feeling sorry for them if you watch the first movie first. Some of the girls escape and the main character finds out that her boyfriend has double crossed her. So she seeks revenge. As I said, this one is not bad...

Savage Man/Savage Beast

This one is interesting. It's a documentary that focuses on animal and human nature. It deals with violence, sex, rituals, and nature. I guess they use to show this in the grindhouses back in the day. While it is very graphic and in your face, it is also very entertaining and educational. There are some very weird, cool, shocking, and interesting images throughout Savage Man/Savage Beast. 

Raw Force

I wasn't very impressed with Raw Force. It's suppose to be a Kung-Fu cannibal movie. It does have a lot of poorly executed Kung -Fu, but not a lot of cannibals. I don't have a huge gripe against this one,  it just didn't do anything for me. 

Confessions of a Police Captain

This one was just alright. It was somewhat boring and seemed to drag on. It does have it's cool scenes but that involves sitting through the very slow parts. I don't hate this movie, it's just not my favorite. I just don't have much to say about it.

Executioner 2

I liked this one a lot. Of course it's cheaply made and poorly acted like most movies of the genre, but this one is bad in that good kind of way. It's about a Vietnam Vet that becomes a crime fighting vigilante. I thought it was fun and had it's moments. It kind of makes me want to see the first one!

Poseidon Explosion

This is one of two of the disaster movies in the set. I thought this one was just ok as well. It has all the effects and elements but it lacks cinematic suspense and action. I know that these are low budget movies, and I'm fine with that. But it doesn't cost anything to create suspense. 

Earthquake 7.5

I could almost say the same this for this one as I did for the one above. I did like this one a little more though. it seemed to have better characters and piled on the suspense a little better. 

Violent Professionals

This was a decent action movie. Some parts a little cheesy but that's to be expected. It's just you're good old fashioned run of the mill crime movie. I think they may have remade this one. I know there are a few movies with this same name, but maybe I'm wrong.

Frank and Tony

This is the only one in the set that I don't remember watching, but I know i did. Sorry. 

Kung Fu Punch of Death

This one is my favorite of the set. It's the most entertaining and just as good as many other famous kung fu movies. The story is simple. A young man learns how to fight to stop a kung fu gang that terrorizes his town. That's what I love about Hong Kong cinema of the 60's and 70's, they're straight to the point and arise our most basic emotions through the characters and story. These are tales of revenge, betrayal, and strength of will. This and many movies of the genre aren't about over complicating things or trying to make you think with some bold and larger than life story. They know that they are here to entertain and amuse. So many movies forget that.

Return of the Tiger

This one was pretty good too. It stars and martial arts actor named Bruce Li, obviously trying to capitalize of the success of another greatly know martial artist. That is what these grindhouse movies did though, they attempted to capitalize on the success of famous movies of the time. For every hit Hollywood had in the late 60's and 70's, there was a low budget version shortly after. Bruce Li is however, a fun and charismatic character and this movie is worth watching. 

Go Kill and Come Back

If you love spaghetti westerns as much as I do, than you'll enjoy this movie. This Italian western seems to be heavily inspired by Sergio Leone. Like it could be one of his early films before "The Stranger" Trilogy. This had a decent plot and is good gritty fun. And tell me that's not a great name for a movie, "Go Kill and Come Back". I love it!

Bounty Man

This one was alright. I didn't enjoy it as much as Go Kill and Come Back, but it was good. If you are a fan of spaghetti westerns then this one is worth a watch. 

Three Tough Guys

This is a blaxsploitation crime movie starring Isaac Hayes. Hayes makes this movie being the best actor in it. This one is very very slow starting out but picks up about halfway through. It is a blaxsploitation but is a little lighter about it compared to most of the genre. Not a bad crime movie overall.

Mandinga

This movie took blaxsploitation and tapped into a sub genre of it we could call slavesploitation. It proves that there is no limit to where these film makers would go. Nothing was too taboo. Mandinga is about a woman who is married to a slave owner. She sneaks off at night and has sex with her husband's slaves. Just about all of them I think. The story takes it's course when she ends up getting pregnant. Uh oh! Is it her husbands or one of the countless slaves she got it on with? You could also file this under a sexploitation as well. 

The Children

I really liked this one. One of my favorites of the set. It's about a school bus filled with kids that passes a cemetery where some kind of poisonous gas is spreading out. The bus drives through the gas and the children disappear. They are later found in the cemetery but now they are blood thirsty little killers. This movie asks the question that only these movies had the balls to. Would you kill a child? This is a good horror movie! Not bad all the way around.

Demon Witch Child

This movie is a blunt and shameless rip off of "The Exorcist". It's almost the same exact movie only with about one fourth of the budget. It doesn't really offer any other take or outlook on the Exorcist. Like they just wanted to remake it the best they could and change as little as they could without getting sued. 

High School Hitchhikers

I liked this one. It's a entertaining Sexploitation crime movie. Oh, and yes, there are lesbians and boobs. These two hot girls sneak into a random home where they get it on in a strangers bed. After being caught by the guy who lives there, a mobster, they have sex with him. Later on that day after the girls have left, the mobsters get together at the lucky guys house for business. They discover that a large amount of money is missing and he immediately assumes the girls stole it when they were there. So now he has to hunt them down. This is a fun movie and worth watching.

Carry on Emannuelle

Lastly, this is a sexploitation comedy. Emannuelle is this extremely sexual and horny girl who tries to get it on with this older rich man. She throws herself at him but he is scared and awkward. It is funny, some ways intentional and in some ways not. 

If you are a fan of this genre and know what to expect from it, this is a pretty good collection of otherwise hard to find movies. True to their roots, these films are grainy and rough. Some are straight film transfers and some are VHS transfers. My only argument or suggestion is that they should have put old vintage previews between the movies. I like the set up. How they have two movies from each sub-genre. That's how it was in the theaters then. A lot of the time they would show double features with movies that were similar. If it had previews it would be even closer to the true experience. So if you are like me and are a fan of exploitation or are interested but need a good place to start, then I highly recommend "Grindhouse Experience - 20 Film Feature Collection".

Must See Movie: The Deer Hunter

The Deer Hunter is such a great movie that I'm not sure where to begin talking about it. This is one of those times in film where all the stars align and every element is perfectly in place. Winning 5 academy awards including best picture, The Deer Hunter is one of the great films of the 70's. It's very appealing to all tastes and seems to have something for everyone. It has enough action to keep the guys happy and enough romance to keep the girls happy. Besides, we all love a good drama every now and then.

The over all appeal and broadness of the film is not forced though. It just kind of happens, like it wasn't written but has just always been there. Like we are dropping in on the lives of these people. To me, The Deer Hunter isn't just about steelworkers, love, friendship, war, Vietnam, insanity, loss, guilt, or deer hunting. It's about life.

Director Michael Cimino's masterpiece not only owes it's success to it's beautifully written story, but also to it's greatly talented cast.

Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken are steelworkers from Pennsylvania. When they're not working or at the bar with the guys drinking, they go deer hunting. The group spend one last drunken wild weekend together before De Niro and Walken's characters are sent to Vietnam. While there, they get captured by the Vietnamese, where they are forced to play Russian roulette.

Some argue that this movie is slow moving, and it is, but when it gets to the Russian Roulette scene, everyone shuts the hell up! You're so glued to the screen and engrossed in the movie that you realize that sitting through the slow parts and waiting this one out may be the best decision you've ever made in your life! This sequence is one of the best moments in film history!

After their tour in Vietnam, De Niro's character returns home. Walken's character is M.I.A. Walken leaves behind a young Meryl Streep, whom he proposed to right before he left. We get a strong sense that the two (De Niro and Streep) are very attracted to each other, but their conscience doesn't want to let them cross that line. 

I won't tell you anymore because I don't want to ruin anything for you if you haven't seen it.

This movie has balls. I compare The Deer Hunter to "No Country for Old Men" or "The Unforgiven" in the fact that it was a movie that had guts and grit but was so good that the mainstream recognized it's greatness as well. Films like these seem to come along once every decade or so. I think it needs to happen more often. 

Legends: Stanley Kubrick

I'm sure at one point in your life you have seen a Stanley Kubrick film. If not, please stop reading this and go do it! You are missing out on a lot and you need to catch up. Stanley Kubrick changed film forever. He was films abstract artist but at the same time his work made perfect sense. He thought outside the box but struck a cord inside a generation. 

It's written that some successful and well known painters gave up painting for good after they seen works from a young Leonardo Da Vinci. Claiming they lost their creativity because they would never be able to do what Da Vinci did.  When Jimi Hendrix started gaining fame, many famous guitarist including Eric Clapton and Pete Townsend said that Hendrix was so good that they considered giving up playing guitar altogether. Stanley Kubrick has done the same thing in film. Like Da Vinci and Hendrix, he took his art to another level. Raised the bar as far as what we can do in cinema. 

Stanley Kubrick was one of the most professional and well prepared directors to ever breath, but he also ignored the rules of conventional cinema and did it with such grace and beauty, that it became the new standard that directors then and now are to live up to.

I though I would go over some of the films of Stanley Kubrick. Unfortunately, I haven't seen all his films but I have seen most of them. (Only missing a few) We'll start from earliest on....

The Killing (1956)

The Killing is a crime classic about a race track robbery gone wrong. Groundbreaking in it's time for having a nonlinear storyline and a unhappy ending. It's very much a film noir. It was Kubrick's first full length feature. it didn't gain much commercial success but it did get good reviews from critics. The masks are very cool! They were used again in "A Clockwork Orange"

Spartacus (1960)

This was Stanley Kubrick's big epic. Spartacus was a huge commercial success and put Kubrick's name on the map. Though the film was a hit, the production was very difficult. Kubrick and the films star, Kirk Douglas, had constant creative differences and led to a rocky relationship between the two. After production, Kubrick largely disowned the film because of a lack of creative control. Years later, Douglas called Kubrick "a talented shit" in interviews.

Lolita (1962)

This is one of my favorite movies from Kubrick. A very controversial film in it's time, about a relationship between a middle aged man and his twelve year old stepdaughter. After many problems with the censors, the film was released to mixed reviews from critics but was nominated for many awards. Kubrick takes this taboo and uncomfortable story and delivers it brilliantly! 

Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Once a cult classic, this film is now a CLASSIC. Peter Sellers plays four roles in this nuclear war macabre comedy. Based on the novel "Red Alert" by Peter Bryant, Kubrick puts a comical spin on Bryant's serious novel. Kubrick said he found the conditions leading to nuclear war absurd and decided to change the format. All throughout Kubrick's career, many novelist whom he has adapted works from, have been angry about Kubrick's version of their work. Who's right or wrong? I don't know. That's to be debated. I just know a good movie when I see one.

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

To me, this is the greatest science fiction movie ever made! Period! Made one year before the U.S. moon landing, 2001 took us cinematicaly to a place we've never been before. Space! This film took science fiction to a new serious and evolved level! In the 50's and 60's, the science fiction genre was considered by some to be campy, cheaply made, and lightly written. 2001: A Space Odyssey raised the bar by being cleverly written, beautifully stunning visually, and by groundbreaking special effects for the time. Without 2001, would there have ever been Star Wars and countless other films today?

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

A great film that didn't get the respect it deserved until after Kubrick's death in 1999. Rated x upon release, this film caused a lot of controversy around Stanley Kubrick. He was forced to have the film removed in Britain completely after receiving death threats to him and his family. It was completely banned in all of the UK until 2000. This movie is wonderfully stylish and brilliant. Some would say it is Kubrick's most violent film, full of fighting and rape. It's based on the Anthony Burgess novel by the same name. While this movie is very violent, it is also about violence. It's almost a science fiction film but not quite. I really love this movie!

Barry Lyndon (1975)

This is probably my least favorite Kubrick movie, but it is still very good. Barry Lyndon was not a huge financial or commercial success for Kubrick. Many critics and moviegoers found the film to be lifeless and somewhat dull. With a running time of over three hours, many also found it to be too long. However, it was nominated for seven Oscars and won four. Not too shabby! Barry Lyndon is widely appreciated for it's spot on accuracy as far as sets and wardrobe. Kubrick pulled every little detail from paintings and writings of the era in which the film takes place. Every detail down to the napkins, buttons, floors, etc. Every single thing in this movie had to be accurate. I'm not a huge fan of period movies (I don't hate them, I like them, it's just not my big niche.) but i thought Barry Lyndon was very good and definitely is worth at least one viewing. 

The shining (1980)

I think this is a very underrated movie! It's beautifully directed and a great thriller. The shining gave rise to the legend of Stanley Kubrick as a megalomaniac perfectionist. He demanded hundreds of takes on certain pivotal scenes. Author of the book it was adapted from, Stephen King publicly disliked the film. He said that Stanley Kubrick was "a man who thought too much and felt too little". The film gained cult status in the eighties and nineties and is now considered a horror classic.

Full Metal Jacket (1987)

I've always found this film interesting because it is not anti-war and it not pro-war. Full Metal jacket shows war for what it is. The politics of it are for you the viewer to decide. I will admit, the first half of this movie is the best. Not that the second half is bad, it's just that the whole story in the marine training camp is so well done and gripping that it is what you remember from it. This is definatley in my top ten war movies list! (I may do a blog on my top ten war movies). 

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

This was Stanley Kubrick's final film. This film like many of his others, had problems with censors and the ratings board. Eyes Wide Shut is a tale of love, jealousy, sex, cults, and human nature. Starring Tom Cruise and Nicole kidman when they were a real life couple, they are both very good in this. There's a old legend that Kubrick use to joke about making a high budget, well written, well acted porno movie. Some argue that he did just that with Eyes Wide Shut. I don't know if I would go that far. It does have enough sex and nudity to compete with a softcore porn like you can see on Cinemax any late night. But unlike most of them, it's done very very well!

Stanley Kubrick died at 70 from a heart attack he suffered in his sleep. He passed away only 4 days after screening a final cut of Eyes Wide Shut. 

Stanley Kubrick will always be remembered as one of the greatest Directors and visionaries of the 20th century. He leaves behind a series of works that are still being discussed and still push the envelope of what film makers are capable of if they let their imagination lead the way and except no boundaries as to what is possible in cinema. 

Under the Radar: Hell Ride

If I told you nothing about this movie and played it for you without the credits, and then asked you to guess who made it, a few names would come to mind. You would probably say Robert Rodriguez or Quentin Tarantino. It seems like it could have been on the same bill as Planet Terror and Death Proof in the Grindhouse film back in 2007. 

While Robert Rodriguez had nothing to do with this project, Quentin Tarantino was the executive producer on "Hell Ride". An Action packed throwback to the rough and wild exploitation biker films of the late sixties. The film is directed by Larry Bishop. I'm not aware of any other work from Bishop that I know of, but so far so good! He brings a good style to this bloody and gunfighting revenge story. 

And if all that goes on deaf ears, the cast is a good enough reason to check this movie out. Starring Michael Madsen (Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill Vol. 2), Vinnie Jones (Kill Bill Vol. 2), David Carradine (Kill Bill Vol. 1&2), Eric Balfour (Texas Chainsaw Massacre - Remake) and this movie puts Dennis Hopper back on a motorcycle for the first time since "Easy Rider. The whole cast is amazing including the many strippers and biker babes we meet along the way. I really liked Vinnie Jones throughout this film! We see him in Kill Bill Vol. 2 as Bud's (Bill's Brother) boss at the strip club. You remember... "Take off that shitkicker hat". That guy! I'd like to see him in more things in the future. 

I liked and recommend this movie. It's a fun, stylish, and violent revenge story that would have been shown in a drive-In forty years ago. It's full of action but also has a twisting turning story as well. I found it at the cheap bin at Wal-Mart. (Yes, i know it's Wal-Mart, but politics aside...they have the best deals on movies, sorry) 

In summary, if you like the films of Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, then check this one out! I don't think you'll be disappointed!