STYLE VS. SUBSTANCE
Video Reviews of "The Last Man on Earth" and "The Omega Man"
Copyright 2003 Glenn Walker
Both movies are based on Richard Matheson’s brilliant "I Am Legend." The Last Man on Earth is from 1964 and stars Vincent Price in one of his better performances. The Omega Man is painfully from groovy 1971 with Charlton Heston who in hindsight appears to have walked through the movie. One wonders how Arnold Schwartzeneggar will handle the role if he ever makes his take; he has acquired the rights.
It is the story of a man alone in a world full of vampires (or victims of a disease similar to vampirism) who want him dead. They stalk him by night and he thwarts them by day. Same story but the movies are miles apart in execution.
There are striking differences that hit you right away. The black and white Vincent Price entry has a more horror movie feel and the enemy is presented immediately as vampires who are reminiscent of the zombies from George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead due to the lack of color. Price spends his days cleaning up after and prepping for battle with his nocturnal enemies while Heston cruises the city in a convertible, seeing free movies and general just chillin’ out looking cool.
The Last Man on Earth spends quite a bit more time exploring Price’s character. His narration guides us through his world. We learn the whys and wherefors through his memories and flashbacks, a technique that would have lent more to its remake had they used it. The Last Man on Earth is the superior of the two and is a must-see for sci-fi and horror fans alike.
As for The Omega Man, Heston made a number of these slick sci-fi flicks with bizarre soundtracks and beware-the-future themes for the Woodstock generation including the classics Soylent Green and the original Planet of the Apes. They don’t hold up well today because of the injection of flower power sensitivities. The excellent performance of Rosalind Cash doing her Pam Grier best is a prime example of this approach. It’s a shame, they could have been good as the simple true approach of The Last Man on Earth from only a few years earlier proves that.
The title role in The Omega Man could have been played by any action hero of the era. David Jannsen, Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson, heck, even O.J. Simpson could have done it. Heston strides through this one with no frills or skills whatsoever save his machismo. He’s one of the few guys who can do this and he looks cool doing it.
Your turn, Arnold.
Thursday, June 05, 2003
Wednesday, June 04, 2003
THE THREE IN ONE
A Video Review of "A.I. Artificial Intelligence"
Copyright 2003 Glenn Walker
I don’t know how it happened but it did. This is three completely different movies with a very tenuous thread of continuity.
A.I. was to be Stanley Kubrick’s next film but he sadly passed away before it went into production. Steven Spielberg stepped in to complete the project. It is the story of well, unfortunately, Pinocchio, to cut it to the bone. It could have been much more complicated and sophisticated than that but fate, in the person of Steven Spielberg, intervened.
Part one deals with a robot boy trying to fit in with his new family. It feels very Kubrick, almost as if Spielberg had storyboards and direction notes to work from. The deft hand that made The Shining, 2001 A Space Odyssey and Eyes Wide Shut so creepy and disturbing is apparent in abundance here. The emotional motivation of all the characters involved is superiorly portrayed.
Part two is a mistake. The robot boy, now on a mission to become a real boy (a concept shown to him by the book "Pinocchio") enters the not-so-pedestrian cyberpunk world that surrounds the domesticity of family life he knew previously. This harsh environment is awkward and unnatural in Spielberg’s hands. Perhaps he doesn’t have the proper evil streak to understand or portray this type of future evil. His work on Minority Report after this proves he has learned little since. Who knows what Kubrick may have had in mind for this sequence. The mind boggles.
Part three descends into a conclusion that makes one suspect perhaps Kubrick had no ending. Spielberg goes for the obvious, the Pinocchio connection, directly for the obvious. The boy looks for the Blue Fairy herself who changes Pinocchio into a real boy. The silliness of this conclusion enraged me no end. The flick begins as Kubrick genius falls into typical uninspired cyberpunk and then into lame fairy tale madness.
What can I really say about the cast? With exception everyone does an adequate job. When acting robotic one has to wonder if talent or un-talent is involved. Being robotic or ‘wooden’ is a bad thing when it comes to stage skill. Had I not seen Haley Joel Osment in other roles I would have to wonder he is so good here. Jude Law however is truly robotic to the point where it is not a good thing. He can do so much better.
The film is pretty and the special effects are amazing. It’s a good rent, especially if you have your finger on the fast forward button. Don’t expect a story or the usual genius one might get from Kubrick or Spielberg, a true disappointment from men of their caliber.
A Video Review of "A.I. Artificial Intelligence"
Copyright 2003 Glenn Walker
I don’t know how it happened but it did. This is three completely different movies with a very tenuous thread of continuity.
A.I. was to be Stanley Kubrick’s next film but he sadly passed away before it went into production. Steven Spielberg stepped in to complete the project. It is the story of well, unfortunately, Pinocchio, to cut it to the bone. It could have been much more complicated and sophisticated than that but fate, in the person of Steven Spielberg, intervened.
Part one deals with a robot boy trying to fit in with his new family. It feels very Kubrick, almost as if Spielberg had storyboards and direction notes to work from. The deft hand that made The Shining, 2001 A Space Odyssey and Eyes Wide Shut so creepy and disturbing is apparent in abundance here. The emotional motivation of all the characters involved is superiorly portrayed.
Part two is a mistake. The robot boy, now on a mission to become a real boy (a concept shown to him by the book "Pinocchio") enters the not-so-pedestrian cyberpunk world that surrounds the domesticity of family life he knew previously. This harsh environment is awkward and unnatural in Spielberg’s hands. Perhaps he doesn’t have the proper evil streak to understand or portray this type of future evil. His work on Minority Report after this proves he has learned little since. Who knows what Kubrick may have had in mind for this sequence. The mind boggles.
Part three descends into a conclusion that makes one suspect perhaps Kubrick had no ending. Spielberg goes for the obvious, the Pinocchio connection, directly for the obvious. The boy looks for the Blue Fairy herself who changes Pinocchio into a real boy. The silliness of this conclusion enraged me no end. The flick begins as Kubrick genius falls into typical uninspired cyberpunk and then into lame fairy tale madness.
What can I really say about the cast? With exception everyone does an adequate job. When acting robotic one has to wonder if talent or un-talent is involved. Being robotic or ‘wooden’ is a bad thing when it comes to stage skill. Had I not seen Haley Joel Osment in other roles I would have to wonder he is so good here. Jude Law however is truly robotic to the point where it is not a good thing. He can do so much better.
The film is pretty and the special effects are amazing. It’s a good rent, especially if you have your finger on the fast forward button. Don’t expect a story or the usual genius one might get from Kubrick or Spielberg, a true disappointment from men of their caliber.
Tuesday, June 03, 2003
A JESTER’S TALE
A Video Review of "Black Knight"
Copyright 2003 Glenn Walker
Martin Lawrence is one part Three Stooges, one part Richard Pryor and one part Steppin Fetchit. He’s an idiot, a fool and a caricature of himself most of the time. He is the master of self-race-deprecating humor. One wonders how funny he might actually be if he wasn’t preying on his racial past and culture for his source material.
It is perhaps this tact that fuels the humor in Black Knight, yet another variation on the Mark Twain tale "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court." Martin is a streetwise brother who gets bopped on the head and journeys to the 14th century, the time of knights and ladies. The historically inaccurate 14th century one might add but then again who needs accuracy, especially in a Martin Lawrence comedy?
Once there he is mistaken for an expected messenger from a foreign nation and the whole "Stranger in a Strange Land" party begins as Martin’s hip-hop sensibilities clash with the ways of the day. One highlight not to be missed is when he teaches the court musicians to play Sly and the Family Stone's’ "Dance to the Music."
When the culture clash is getting old he begins to get involuntarily involved in the court politics and helps in a revolution and learns a lesson in standing up for what he believes in. Wow, from idiocy to decency, that Martin Lawrence is something else.
It’s a relatively harmless but entertaining film, not bad for ninety minutes if you’ve got nothing else to do. One wonders though what kind of parts await Mr. Lawrence in the future… butler? tap dancer? Perhaps a biopic of Steppin Fetchit?
A Video Review of "Black Knight"
Copyright 2003 Glenn Walker
Martin Lawrence is one part Three Stooges, one part Richard Pryor and one part Steppin Fetchit. He’s an idiot, a fool and a caricature of himself most of the time. He is the master of self-race-deprecating humor. One wonders how funny he might actually be if he wasn’t preying on his racial past and culture for his source material.
It is perhaps this tact that fuels the humor in Black Knight, yet another variation on the Mark Twain tale "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court." Martin is a streetwise brother who gets bopped on the head and journeys to the 14th century, the time of knights and ladies. The historically inaccurate 14th century one might add but then again who needs accuracy, especially in a Martin Lawrence comedy?
Once there he is mistaken for an expected messenger from a foreign nation and the whole "Stranger in a Strange Land" party begins as Martin’s hip-hop sensibilities clash with the ways of the day. One highlight not to be missed is when he teaches the court musicians to play Sly and the Family Stone's’ "Dance to the Music."
When the culture clash is getting old he begins to get involuntarily involved in the court politics and helps in a revolution and learns a lesson in standing up for what he believes in. Wow, from idiocy to decency, that Martin Lawrence is something else.
It’s a relatively harmless but entertaining film, not bad for ninety minutes if you’ve got nothing else to do. One wonders though what kind of parts await Mr. Lawrence in the future… butler? tap dancer? Perhaps a biopic of Steppin Fetchit?
Monday, June 02, 2003
NOT QUITE THE GODFATHER OR GOODFELLAS
A Video Review of "Casino"
Copyright 2003 Glenn Walker
It’s got all the elements. Mob, violence, gambling, DeNiro, Pesci, what more do you need? Casino is good, real good, but it’s no The Godfather or Goodfellas.
Martin Scorsese is a brilliant director and perhaps one of the most learned film experts who ever lived. I have infinite respect for the man. This why I am so conflicted over Casino.
Casino is an interesting experiment. It is an entire story; a history of two men and the management of a mob-run casino in the 1970s; as told through the narration of the two men. It is almost exclusively narration and only a few times falls into the normal convention of filmmaking. This alone, let alone for two plus hours, is impressive enough for me.
The principals involved; Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci and Sharon Stone; all give Oscar calibur performances and even James Woods in a throwaway Christopher Walken wannabe pimp role is good. The problem for me is that even with all this going for it, Casino really isn’t that good. It’s an okay film. It has great actors, great performances and a great concept. It’s long and you never notice. I heartily recommend it but it could be so much better.
A Video Review of "Casino"
Copyright 2003 Glenn Walker
It’s got all the elements. Mob, violence, gambling, DeNiro, Pesci, what more do you need? Casino is good, real good, but it’s no The Godfather or Goodfellas.
Martin Scorsese is a brilliant director and perhaps one of the most learned film experts who ever lived. I have infinite respect for the man. This why I am so conflicted over Casino.
Casino is an interesting experiment. It is an entire story; a history of two men and the management of a mob-run casino in the 1970s; as told through the narration of the two men. It is almost exclusively narration and only a few times falls into the normal convention of filmmaking. This alone, let alone for two plus hours, is impressive enough for me.
The principals involved; Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci and Sharon Stone; all give Oscar calibur performances and even James Woods in a throwaway Christopher Walken wannabe pimp role is good. The problem for me is that even with all this going for it, Casino really isn’t that good. It’s an okay film. It has great actors, great performances and a great concept. It’s long and you never notice. I heartily recommend it but it could be so much better.
Sunday, June 01, 2003
IT’S NO TWELVE MONKEYS
A Video Review of "La Jette"
Copyright 2003 Glenn Walker
This twenty minute long black and white compilation of slides with voiceover from France is supposedly the inspiration for Terry Gilliam’s brilliant Twelve Monkeys. If this is true it only verifies the genius of Gilliam to turn this dreck into a great sci-fi movie.
The stillframes at times seem random as if not even taken for this ‘movie’ and at best the story is a bad "Outer Limits" episode. Good twist, bad followthrough, bad production. The premise is a French prisoner after World War III subjected to time travel experiments where he travels to the past in his dreams.
The long breaks of silence, French dialogue that is untranslated and sleepy time music will only make what is a poor presentation more intolerable. By the time you get the gist and the twist you no longer care. If you’re still awake, that is. Quite an undertaking for a twenty minute film.
A Video Review of "La Jette"
Copyright 2003 Glenn Walker
This twenty minute long black and white compilation of slides with voiceover from France is supposedly the inspiration for Terry Gilliam’s brilliant Twelve Monkeys. If this is true it only verifies the genius of Gilliam to turn this dreck into a great sci-fi movie.
The stillframes at times seem random as if not even taken for this ‘movie’ and at best the story is a bad "Outer Limits" episode. Good twist, bad followthrough, bad production. The premise is a French prisoner after World War III subjected to time travel experiments where he travels to the past in his dreams.
The long breaks of silence, French dialogue that is untranslated and sleepy time music will only make what is a poor presentation more intolerable. By the time you get the gist and the twist you no longer care. If you’re still awake, that is. Quite an undertaking for a twenty minute film.
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