Dark City and Other Quickies

Dark City ~ This is a flick that I have up until recently only seen once, on the night it came out, and have hated ever since. Despite it being written by a writer I like - David Goyer, and it having actors I like - Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connolly and Richard O'Brien, and it being pseudo-goth-cyberpunk... I still hated it.

A recent episode of a podcast I quite like, Better in the Dark, praised this flick, so because I respect the folks involved, I decided to give this movie another shot. And unfortunately, even though I respect the opinions of Derrick and Tom, it didn't do much to change my first impression.

Yeah, it looks cool, no denial there, but that's just not enough. Kiefer's weird halting speech pattern made me nuts. I wanted to reach into the screen and slap him every time he showed his face. Richard O'Brien is chilling and makes me wonder why he doesn't work more often. Perhaps the shadow of Rocky Horror has truly scarred the man, and that's a shame. And speaking of shames, Jennifer C. is plainly wasted here. Other than some interesting effects and O'Brien, it still doesn't impress me. Sorry, guys.

Portrait of an Assassin ~ More shameless plugs here. I was turned on to Maria Montez by my friend Dan's cool Cobrawoman Yahoo Group and when I saw this was available on Netflix I snapped it up. This French subtitled flick reminded me quite a bit of the old twist ending Tod Browning silents which charmed me right away. I liked this one quite a bit and can't wait for more Maria Montez flicks to be available. What's the hold up?

Mask of the Avenger ~ John Derek stars in this Italian retelling and relocating of Zorro, and it's actually not bad once you get over the borrowing aspect. And Anthony Quinn puts his usual brilliant performance despite the lack of originality in the rest of the movie.

Up, Up and Away ~ This may have been the precursor/pilot to Disney's more successful theatrical release Sky High. It's the same subject matter and the same story roughly and was originally made for the Disney Channel. Set squarely in a superhero world, taken seriously with just the right amount of wink-wink going on for us geeks. Also look for a young E from "Entourage" as the bad guy. If you get a chance to see this, check it out. If only all superhero flicks were this good.