Special Report: Journey to Mars

WON’T GET FOOLED AGAIN

A Review of "Special Report: Journey to Mars"

Copyright 2003 Glenn Walker

I looove stunts like this. I love Orson Welles’ "War of the Worlds" broadcast and have listened to numerous times. I even like the contemporary version NPR did using traffic reporters from a few years back.

When I ran a video store I took great delight in putting in a tape called Special Bulletin which was produced by NBC in the early 1980s. Special Bulletin told the story in nearly real time with real commercials interspersed of terrorists nuking Charleston, South Carolina. I thought it was a blast that we’d always get a handful of customers glued to the TV monitor thinking it was real.

So this is my kind of thing, that’s why I loved Special Report: Journey to Mars as well. Structured like CNN broadcasts of recent wars and other events we are live witness to the first manned mars landing in the year 2005. Of course they play down the time frame in case someone comes in in the middle and get sucked in.

It’s very easy to get sucked in. The drama is high as we find that the mission has been sabotaged by terrorists who want money spent on problems here on earth rather than the billions it took to get to Mars. The attack is both biological and technological as the mission’s captain is struck down by an infection and the ship’s navigation systems affected by a computer virus.

The effect of a real news broadcast is only ruined by the casting of Judge Reinhold and Alfre Woodard as journalists but otherwise it is an excellent illusion. I wish there were more shows like this. It runs on HBO from time to time. Catch it if you can.

Scooby-Doo

SCOOBY SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU?
RIGHT HERE ON THE BIG SCREEN…

A Film Review of Scooby-Doo

Copyright 2003 Glenn Walker

Being a comics fan there is a terror that I know only too well. It is the fear that a work from one genre (usually comics, but sometimes in this case a TV cartoon) will be brought to the big screen and altered in such a way to destroy it or make it unrecognizable. Ask any comics fan what they thought of Batman and Robin or Superman III and you might get some grasp of this terror. Hollywood hates comics and cartoons, that’s just the way it is.

Scooby-Doo is the exception. Its opening scene is the cartoon series. It’s as if the characters were lifted from Hanna-Barbera land and made flesh and blood – it is beautiful. And then the unthinkable happens. They evolve. The Scooby Gang grows up, they are changed by circumstances, they become three-dimensional. This is a win/win situation. The fans get the folks they’ve already fallen in love with and new movie people get real fleshed-out (pun intended) characters.



The story concerns the Mystery Inc. crew (Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and his CGI rendered talking pooch Scooby-Doo) reuniting to investigate a haunted theme park that seems to be brainwashing the youth of America. It pretty much could have been lifted right out of the cartoon and yet fits perfectly in the movie context. The cast is perfect especially Linda Cardellini as Velma when she trades in the bulky sweater for a low cut shirt.

There are lots of nods to the cartoon like references to Shaggy’s possible drug use, Fred’s strange fashion sense, Daphne always getting captured and Fred and Velma’s questionable sexuality. All in all this was a lot of fun and really, what more can you ask of in a movie? Go see it, you’ll enjoy it.

The Glass House

THE LATEST ABC MOVIE OF THE WEEK

A Video Review of The Glass House

Copyright 2003 Glenn Walker

Remember all those ABC movies of the week from the early to mid-1970s? You know, stuff like Trilogy of Terror and Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark? Or how about all those cautionary tales with teens babysitting for psychos, nannies who steal families and young girls who hitchhike with serial rapists? Wow, the 1970s were great, weren’t they? Sarcasm mode off.

The Glass House is a throwback to those movies of the week, but that’s not a bad thing. It is the story of two children orphaned in a sudden car accident and taken in by old family friends. *Spoiler Warning* As it turns out the whole thing was a scam to get money. The new foster parents are as evil as any that might be found in an ABC movie of the week.

LeeLee Sobrieski is amazing here as she is in most flicks. The only problem I have with her is one that can’t really be helped. She is such a dead ringer for Helen Hunt that it’s distracting. I wonder if they’re related? The brother is played by Trevor Morgan who did such a great job in The Rookie and The Sixth Sense.



The suspense is real and despite plot comparisons much more real than your average Lifetime Network flick or Afterschool Special. See it. An underrated thriller for all.

Regarding Henry

A Video Review of Regarding Henry

Copyright 2002 Glenn Walker

Harrison Ford is one of the best living actors today. Everything he appears in bears a certain standard of quality and his skill as an actor is always top notch. Such is the case with Regarding Henry.

Unlike other actors in similar roles; Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man, Tom Hulce in Dominick and Eugene, Sean Penn in I Am Sam, Adam Sandler in all his films; there’s an unwelcome urge to laugh at the mentally challenged. Here, with Harrison Ford, that doesn’t happen. Here you can only marvel at his performance.

Ford stars as Henry Turner, an evil lawyer (is there any other kind?), who is shot in the head and goes into a coma. Upon awakening and rehabilitation he becomes a new man, a kinder, gentler and much better husband and father. We watch him confront his past and his sins and make a new start.

Annette Bening as Henry’s wife and Mikki Allen as his daughter hand in equally excellent turns. Bill Nunn as Bradley the physical therapist gives the performance of his life and makes you wonder why we haven’t seen the like since.

This is an excellent film that should not be missed.

Eyes Wide Shut

THE WRONG COUPLE

A Video Review of Eyes Wide Shut

Copyright 2002 Glenn Walker

It is so sad that this Stanley Kubrick’s last film. While his style is apparent throughout – the story, what there is of it, is pitiful.

I also feel like a voyeur watching Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman touching and loving each other so intimately. It’s possible that I wouldn’t feel this way had I not known they were married in real life. That fact lends a rather disturbing edge to the film.



Nicole gives such a stunning performance that it makes Moulin Rouge (the worst film ever made) seem like a step up. Husband Tom has never been so wooden and deadly dull. Two other actors might have made something better of this.

We also get to see so damned much of Cruise and Kidman (yeah, I’m complaining about nudity, I can’t believe it but I am) that you get sick of it. It’s like the kid who gets caught smoking and as punishment is forced to smoke an entire carton. I don’t want to see Tom or Nicole nude ever again.

The film is also long, freakishly long. There are long sequences without music that make Meet Joe Black seem like a cartoon short. The silences are deafening in their length. These scenes might actually be part of Kubrick’s secret plan to make us feel like we’re eavesdropping, if so, it works only too well.

What this film has to say about relationships between men and women and trust and fidelity may be entirely viable but it’s defeated by the choice of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman in the lead roles.

Again, it is such a shame this is the master Stanley Kubrick’s final film. And especially that he couldn’t hire a composer who decided to practice the scales rather than write a score.