Glenn Walker is a writer who knows pop culture. He loves, hates, and lives pop culture. He knows too freaking much about pop culture, and here's where he talks about it all: movies, music, comics, television, and the rest... Welcome to Hell.
This film was brought back to my attention when I saw on the Facebook that my friend Rob Kelly was planning on watching it. A day later I saw that The Works was showing it. Curiosity piqued, I set the DVR and got ready to be dazzled.
As the title might imply, this 1961 black and white 'classic' is all about wild kids growing up too fast. Think more Eddie Haskell, or the Jets and Sharks without knives, as opposed to say Clockwork Orange or Class of 1984. The real selling points of this one however are the pre-Star Trek William Shatner and the post-Bad Seed Patty McCormack. Also look for Edward Platt, The Chief from "Get Smart," as the principal.
Shatner is the 'cool' teacher, and in trying to get the kids to talk about their problems, he invites an open discussion of sex in the classroom. Yeah, reality check, it's 1961. This was brave territory for the time. McCormack, who was a much more believable actress as an evil little girl, is a student with a problem.
All hell breaks loose when the parents get wind of what's been going on in the classroom. They lose their minds and try to put a stop to it. The whole business gets Shatner suspended and the students fight back with a good old-fashioned protest, of course in the days before such things were in vogue.
I dug the jazzy timely score by Hal Borne, who's also done such varied soundtracks for classics like Promises Promises and The Big Store, and later 1989's Family Business. And why yes, that is a baby-faced Beau Bridges as Mark, and the accent-less Stafford Repp, a few years before his Chief O'Hara from "Batman," as a police officer.
And yes, I'd seen this one a few times before, but forgotten. Heck, I had even forgotten I'd given it a quickie review back in 2009. Hopefully this is a bigger better review. Well worth a look.
Our opening this week, although brief, clears up a bit of a problem I've had with the character of R'as Al Ghul on "Arrow." The idea that he did not approve of the relationship between his daughter Nyssa and Sara, the first Canary, has always had a bit of an unspoken and icky anti-gay sentiment to it. Although a villain, it was always in my mind that R'as would be a bit more open minded, being immortal and all.
What is made clear in this short exchange between R'as and Nyssa is that yes, he did disapprove, but because he knew Sara would leave Nyssa (and him, and the League of Assassins) and hurt her. Also made clear is that R'as knows Oliver is alive, and that he did not kill Sara. Still, he must be dealt with. I also have to say that this opening is the first time that Matt Nable has made me believe he's R'as. He's good, but this is the first time he's struck me as that good.
The Arrowcave and the club have been fortified by Dig with A.R.G.U.S. tech, and given everyone inside a bit of time to catch up and get to know each other better for good or ill. Whether it's trading quips, training for battle, revealing even more secrets, or just the hostile environment caused by Malcolm's presence, it's just not pretty. I did love Malcolm's comment about Oliver bring a bow and arrow to a sword fight.
The thrust of the first half of the episode focuses on the mad obsession of Oliver's that Malcom train him to defeat R'as. Why is he so adamantly on Malcolm's side? As Dig says, there must be something to it, but Oliver is such a liar we'll never know it, until it's too late. When it does come up - while it's irrational male ego more than anything else - it makes more sense than 'trying to save Thea's soul.'
Laurel confronting Merlyn, followed by the assassins taking Merlyn, and Arrow fighting Nyssa are three excellent fight scenes in quick succession. For all the talking in the episode, this more than made up for it in the action column. I have to say however they are making much too fine a point on how good a fighter Malcolm is and how bad Laurel is. It's just not consistent.
Meanwhile Felicity has been distracted babysitting Ray Palmer. This A.T.O.M. suit sure is taking a long time to put together. Before his test flight I was beginning to wonder if we'll even see the Atom before he shows up on "The Flash" in "All-Star Team-Up." At least Felicity finally gets a real kiss from a bare chested man, even if it's not the bare chested man she really wants. I'm also starting to wonder what this Atom's powers are - he's more Iron Man or X-O than any version of the Atom. What I'm wondering now however is what the proposed spin-off pilot is about with the actors who've portrayed the Atom, Black Canary, Captain Cold, and Prof. Martin Stein…
What happens in "Arrow" this episode is that Malcolm is captured by R'as Al Ghul's forces, and Oliver and Diggle follow him back to Nanda Parbat. They're easily captured of course, but just when we think R'as will kill them, he instead makes an offer to Oliver. He asks him to become the next R'as Al Ghul. Now, despite various references to Bludhaven, it's been assumed that the Arrowverse is Batless. There are far too many bits from the Bat-family that have ended up here without a mention of the Batman for there actually to be a Batman. Of course that could be because of legal complications, but it still seems a stretch for R'as to groom Oliver just as he tried to with Batman. But then again, they did reconstruct the swordfight from Batman #244, so why not co-op the rest of the Batman/Demon story?
One last fun bit. William Shatner was live-Tweeting this episode the night it aired. Fun stuff, you can check out his feed here. Special thanks to super cool friend and fellow Biff Bam Pop! writer Leiki Vestimets for hipping me to it. You can check out the latest On… column at the site where she talks about "Saturday Night Live" here. And speaking of "Star Trek" and Biff Bam Pop!, please read our memorial of the late Leonard Nimoy here.
Back to the Arrowverse, I have more questions. Why does Oliver need Nyssa to tell him where Nanda Parbat is? Wasn't he there before? Isn't that where he faced R'as the first time? And after all the men that Oliver and Dig probably killed, how can R'as let them live? How can they live with themselves? I thought Oliver swore off killing.
Arrow returns March 18th, see you then...
And if you'd like to discuss this episode and anything else in the Arrowverse, please join the Arrow discussion group on Facebook.
After a short hospital stay last week, Leonard Nimoy died at his home in Los Angeles this morning. The cause was heart disease, brought on by a smoking habit he left behind three decades ago, but still too late. The man was many things in his eighty-three years, an actor, director, poet, musician, singer, writer, artist, photographer, and science fiction icon, but he was also a gigantic part of my life, my childhood, my education, and my love of the genre. And now he's gone.
I was asked earlier today to contribute to a memorial of the man at Biff Bam Pop!, and I had nothing. I was so stunned and silenced by his passing.
By the time I was aware of Leonard Nimoy, Mr. Spock, and "Star Trek," the show had left the network airwaves and was then currently running in syndication where it was experiencing a renaissance. Out of production for years and more popular than ever, I first saw "Star Trek" on Philadelphia's channel 48, which butchered the show mercilessly to fit more commercials in. It would be more than a decade before I saw all the episodes in their entirety.
My big sister loved the show, and so I watched it too. While I dug William Shatner as the mainstream good guy hero of the piece, I was drawn more to Nimoy's Spock. I guess that the way that Spock is alien, had pseudo-super powers, and was an outsider, almost a superhero, I connected to him more. And I think still today, the character is the best, and central to the show.
The first real Trekkie, or more accurately Trekker, I ever met was the big brother of the girl who lived across the street when I was a kid. Denis knew everything about "Star Trek,' everything. His knowledge of the show and the mythos was extraordinary, the type of minutia I knew well as a comic book fanboy, but somehow "Trek" seemed more important. He had all the books, the models, the Star Fleet Technical Manual, he knew how many decks were on the Enterprise. Yeah, I really looked up to him. Sometimes he picked on me, but it was okay, because he was cool, because of "Star Trek."
Around this time that I remember sitting through a thoroughly boring half-hour on PBS where Nimoy read his poetry, but I did it because I wanted to know more about the man. He was also hosting and narrating "In Search Of…" and doing the voice of Spock in the "Star Trek" animated series. And then the Star Trek film series began. He was never not on TV in some form or another for my entire life. Leonard Nimoy was always in my life.
There were missteps of course, like his recording career, perhaps done to compete with William Shatner's equally dismal musical forays, but sometimes we can forgive. And really, the stuff wasn't that bad in an ironic humorous way. Either way, none of us will ever forget "Ballad of Bilbo Baggins" once we’ve heard it. He did stage plays, voice work, movie serials, video games, audiobooks, almost every aspect of the business and left his mark in all. He was the man.
His portrayal of Spock bridged all versions of Star Trek, and influenced those who followed in his footsteps. Star Trek, the world, all of us… has lost a legend, an icon, a role model, a part of us all. Live long and prosper, my friend.
The Legend of the Lone Ranger ~ 1981, at a time when other heroes of yesteryear were being brought back from the dead and onto the big screen, like Superman, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon and Little Orphan Annie – the Lone Ranger might have seemed like a natural to the folks trying to cash in, but somehow I think the project may have been cursed from the start.
Much like the very recent Sherlock Holmes, the Lone Ranger suffers a recognition problem. You might know the name but there are clearly multiple generations that have gone by without knowing what that name is about. And of course, director William A. Fraker also made the tragic mistake of all superhero movies – boring the audience to death with the unnecessary origin instead of just telling a good story. Also at the time of the film, actor Clayton Moore, who had portrayed the Ranger for decades on television and in movies was banned by the Wrather Company, owners of the character, from appearing in public as the Lone Ranger. If the film had any audience interested in seeing it, this action alone alienated them. The string of bad luck did not end there. The young unknown hopeful-soon-to-be-superstar set to play the Lone Ranger, Klinton Spilsbury, was not only a terrible actor with bad seventies hair, but also had to have his voice dubbed throughout the film by the uncredited John Keach. He never went anywhere after this, his only acting role, and perhaps that’s a good thing. Spilsbury is probably better known as an obscure trivia answer than actually portraying the Lone Ranger.
Now that’s not to say that it’s all bad. The film has an old school 1950s-60s American western feel to it, except for the violence which alternates between excessive and over the top to fake and ridiculous (sometimes the blood is obviously strawberry jam). Christopher Lloyd does a surprising turn as villain Butch Cavendish and Jason Robards is as ever excellent in his role of President Ulysses S. Grant. Michael Horse, also a bad actor here as Tonto, is still miles better than Spilsbury in the title part. And for the most part the movie is more Tonto than Ranger, which acting-wise was a good idea, but an epic fail for a movie about the Lone Ranger. For the record, Horse became a better actor and went on to a recurring role on “Twin Peaks” and a career doing voicework in animation.
There are too many unintentionally funny moments. One, in what should be the most dramatic and triumphant moment, where John Reid finally puts on the mask and rides off into the sunset with Tonto to the beats of the William Tell Overture, is completely ruined as they ride past the mountain where Captain Kirk fought the Gorn. I know I laughed out loud.
And forgive me, but I love the theme song "The Man in the Mask" sung by Merle Haggard with lyrics by Dean Footloose Pitchford, someone else who went on to better things. This tune is the best thing about this movie in my opinion. This one is a miss unless you’re curious or a hardcore Lone Ranger fan.
Fanboys ~ Four Star Wars fans travel cross-country and have adventures on a quest to see Episode 1 before anyone else – the dream of one of them who’s terminally ill. This is a road picture plain and simple, chockfull of wonderful cameos like Billy Dee Williams, Carrie Fisher, William Shatner, Harry Knowles and a particularly hilarious one by Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes. Chris Marquette, late of “Joan of Arcadia,” is also good here.
While it’s respectful and infinitely knowledgeable of the genre, unlike previous mockumentaries like Trekkies, it doesn’t seem to know that it’s own title is somewhat derogatory in itself. Behind the scenes horror stories aside, and there are many, this is a fun homage to Star Wars and the entire genre.
In most cases when a celebrity actor or actress chooses to move into the music field, it ends in disaster. Witness Russell Crowe and Billy Bob Thornton for recent examples. It's true. For each mildly successful John Tesh and Shaun Cassidy there are more than two dozen William Shatners, Steven Seagals and Don Johnsons. Bad voodoo. Just don't do it.
However, after watching the film Blueberry, known in the States unfortunately as Renegade, a friend turned me on to the singing talents of Juliette Lewis who sings momentarily in the flick. For me, I thought she was a one note (pun unintended) actress, but was impressed with her here. Hearing she had a couple albums out, I checked into them, and I was very surprised. Juliette is a rocker, hardcore old school rocker, the likes of which we really haven't heard on the music scene since Queens of the Stone Age. Her three albums as Juliette & The Licks are awesome. Juliette's energy is frenetic and reminiscent of a young Mick Jagger, or Candy Slice come to life. Yeah, remember Gilda Radner's Patti Smith-esque punk rocker from the classic "Saturday Night Live?" This is her in the flesh.
So impressed with this energy I hunted down the tunage immediately and now look forward to many hours of rockin' enjoyment with my iPod Shuffle. The problem of course is that nothing lasts forever, especially if it's good. At the start of the new year Juliette announced a new band, the New Romantiques, a new tour, a new (and unsatisfying) sound, an album to drop in September and even a new website.
The good news is that she'll be returning to the States on this tour and be opening for old favorites The Pretenders and new favorite Cat Power. Maybe she'll do some of her old stuff. If so, guaranteed to be quite a show.
The Explosive Generation ~ It’s interesting to watch and review a William Shatner flick from 1961 in the midst of the current Star Trek buzz, and doubly interesting that he turned down a role in the new Trek yet he’s in this. I guess he couldn’t be picky back then. How times have changed. In this cautionary tale about coming of age, sex education and pre-protest student protests, Bill plays the ‘cool teacher.’ You know, the one who usually gets fired for teaching the wrong thing or ends up having an affair with a student – yeah, he’s that guy, only without the affair. Look for a slightly grown up Patty McCormack from The Bad Seed, a babyfaced Beau Bridges and Stafford Repp, Chief O’Hara from “Batman” playing a cop sans Irish accent. And engaging if predictable hour and a half. Tropic Thunder ~ Wow, was this flick 90% hype or what? Except for the hilarious fake movie previews at the beginning and a few moments of just over-the-top wrong humor, I found this to be tedious and downright boring for the most parts. Yes, I said boring – a damned hard thing to be with gunfire and explosions every couple of minutes, but they pulled it off somehow. Horrendous.
Gamers ~ This one’s very narrowcast, but hilarious if you get the references. It’s a mockumentary about a roleplaying group who’s about to break the world’s record for most hours played, and has videotaped every gaming session. William Katt, Kelly LeBrock and Beverly D’Angelo make hilarious cameos. This is Spinal Tap for gamers, but might go right over the heads of anyone who’s never played. You’ll never look at clown porn, paintball or horse breeding the same way again. Highly recommended for those who indulge. Special ~ Not only is this 2006 Michael Rapaport vehicle just an embarrassment in general but it’s also the same insult for the superhero and independent film genres as well. It might have flown well as a five-minute “SNL” skit but otherwise this is crap. Avoid.
Chariots of the Gods ~ In the 1970s this was something special or at least something to talk about with your friends. In the decades since, Erich von Daniken has been revealed to be a charlatan and it leaves this ‘documentary’ based on his books as a ridiculous leftover. An amusing relic that still runs as slow as it did when it was relevant.
Star Trek ~ There are numerous reasons why a major entertainment franchise would be rebooted. Perhaps it’s been forgotten a generation ago. Maybe the last film in the series did comparatively horrible at the box office to previous entries. Perhaps the last television attempt was on a flailing network and was badly promoted – and in some cases dissed by supposed fans of the franchise. For Star Trek, coming up on its 43rd anniversary, can count all of those reasons and more for its current reboot in theatres in just a week or so.
The powers that be have brought in J.J. Abrams, of “Alias,” “Lost” and Cloverfield to helm this eleven Trek film, with an all-new cast in a prequel/sequel/reimagining/reboot (yes, it is all of those things) to the original TV series. Trailers have brought nothing but controversy for Trek fans and interest in viewers with no Trek in their past. Surely, this flick will be a rite of passage.
Before I go any further, be warned that this is a spoiler-rich review. I saw the film nearly two weeks ago and have been trying to write a spoilerless review. It’s just not possible to do, and address the things I want to address – so if you continue reading, consider yourself warned. The flick begins with a bang, and the rollercoaster hardly stops from there on, which is a marked difference from Trek. The Treks before this have seemed pretentiously talky, so much so that is considered to be the way it should be - a point made by Trekkies when they haven't liked films with 'too much action,' like Nemesis, the last movie in the series that may have helped kill the franchise. And that's a point I'd like to bring up to the hardcore 'fans' out there - Paramount did not nearly kill the franchise - you did by not supporting it. I think this is the main reason this new film was made for the mainstream younger audience -and not those hardcore fans- to save the franchise.
And that's not to say that this new film is not for the fans. The writers, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, have taken great care to keep continuity and canon high on their priority list - despite the time travel alternate divergence mindgames that go on. They not only play by the rules, but they also get to play by theirs as well. There are moments, little nods, like the red shirt phenomenon, Admiral Archer's beagle, Kirk eating an apple during the Kobayashi Maru, Sulu's fencing, McCoy's signature catchphrases, and the timelost old Spock doing to young Scotty what the timelost old Scotty himself does to a young 20th century engineer in The Voyage Home, that are just brilliant. And although they are brief, I love the scenes of Kirk and Spock as boys. Beautiful, just beautiful.
The cast is near perfect. Yes, as hard as it is to believe, but twenty minutes into the flick I had forgotten about the original cast and was seeing the new faces as the characters. Chris Pine plays William Shatner as Kirk (rather than just William Shatner, which probably would have been disastrous) just as Zachary Quinto does Nimoy as Spock. Each though brings their own flavor to the part - a bit of James Dean for young Kirk and an alien outsider vibe to young Spock. Karl Urban is the perfect McCoy. That particular bit of inspired casting is a gift from God. I may have to wonder if DeForrest Kelley is his father, it's so close. The rest of the cast is rounded out well with the always entertaining Simon Pegg as Scotty, John Cho doing a wonderful intimidating impression of George Takei doing Sulu in the original series, as opposed to Takei's more satiric take of recent years thanks to his coming out and participation with the Howard Stern programs, and the highlight of the cast has got to be Zoe Saldana as Uhura - finally claiming the spotlight the character should have had decades ago. Zoe is an actress to watch for the future.
Conversely, Anton Yelchin who plays Chekov, is quite annoying, and one of the lowlights of the film. I have to wonder however if this is on purpose. If memory serves when the Beatle-esque character first appeared in the second season of the original series many fans hated him just as they did that other ratings bump Seven-of-Nine decades later in "Voyager." Maybe we're supposed to hate him?
It should be noted that it's not all wine and roses though. Along with Chekov there were other elements that didn't win me over. Star Wars is alive an well in the film. Things like the great Tatooine-ish bar scene and fight in which Uhura is introduced and Kirk looking at the Academy training center shaped like a starship work well, but it goes too far in the Hoth scene with Cloverfield's cousin - thankfully it's a brief departure. I also didn't care much for Kirk's allergy, but again, very brief. I'm torn by the slug scene. is it a rip-off or an homage to the similar scene in Wrath of Khan? The special effects are great. I like the new warp effect but no so keen on the new transporter effect. The music is amazing. Much like the powerful score of Tyler Bates in Watchmen, the music of Michael Giacchino more than makes this movie as great as it is. He dabbles in Philip Glass, brings on the Akira Ifukube, and even retunes a bit of the original Alexander Courage. I can't say enough about this score, other than I bought it, and for a soundtrack for me, that's saying a lot.
All that said, I think this new Star Trek will not only reignite the franchise, but will be the first summer blockbuster of the year, if not the summer blockbuster of the year. It's fresh, it's accessible, and it's exciting. And Trekkies will hate it.
Really, Bill? Come on, man, George's wedding was more than a few months ago. Why are you still fuming? Priceline and "Boston Legal" not keeping you busy enough?
The Ruins ~ Adapted by Scott B. Smith from his own novel, for a change, at this is supposedly a horror flick that might have some of the same bite as its book. The previews for The Ruins gave me the willies just seeing less than a minute of it, and as I watched the DVD I hoped I hadn’t seen it all. Well, I hadn’t seen it all, but I did guess most of it. And my original thoughts on the writing proved wrong as for whatever reason the author chose to change around a few characters and their names and fates. It has a few good scares, not counting Shawn Ashmore with a perm, and is quite graphic and gory, genuinely hard to watch in a few places – but just an average horror outing, nothing special.
Camp Rock ~ I have nothing against Disney trying to bottle lightning again in the High School Musical vein, except when it seems packaged and formulaic. Other than being an average Disney Channel movie, and an obvious vehicle for the Jonas Brothers, the biggest sin of this flick is its painful similarity to HSM in plot, characters and tone. Sometimes lightning just doesn’t strike twice. Harmless and entertaining, but it’s no High School Musical. Nice to see Julie Brown again though.
Don’t Worry We’ll Think of a Title ~ Written and produced by Morey Amsterdam and starring the lesser half of the old “Dick Van Dyke Show” suffers from a feeling that it would have been a bad 1940s soundstage comedy when in reality it was made in 1966. An early scene features Moe Howard staring January Jones right in the breasts. That’s about as funny as it gets, and that wasn’t in the script. I think, if I had been fourteen when I first saw this, I would have been in stitches. A case of mistaken identity, lots of classic cameos and one liner set-up after one liner set-up make this mediocre flick sometimes painful to watch. It would have been a great sketch but not a whole movie.
The Devil’s Rain ~ If you’re not a horror fan, most folks when they think of this flick will remember it’s John Travolta’s first film, but then gain, it’s nothing to get excited about because he’s barely in it. As far as acting goes, this is a great flick for seeing William Shatner and Ernest Borgnine overact, and to see some of Keenan Wynn and Tom Skerritt’s more embarrassing performances. Also look for Ida Lupino in one of her last roles. Eddie Albert is there, as is real father of the Church of Satan, Anton LaVey. Other than the above The Devil’s Rain is actually an above average devil worship B-movie for the time. Sone of the things that kick it up a level are things like the credit sequence featuring art by Hieronymus Bosch and the aforementioned LaVey as a ‘technical advisor.’ Good and scary popcorn movie for a Friday night with the lights out.
"Cops" on the Fox Network is one of my favorite shows, I rarely miss it, even in syndication. It literally began the reality television rage we're currently in and still can't be beat by its competition. The show is an endless source of entertainment, any given episode will have family fights, drunks and fun in trailer parks that'll make your home life seem tame. Who can forget the singing homeless woman who thinks she's married to the cop? The attempted suicide who wants to bring his houseplants along in the ambulance? The masturbating transvestite trucker? Or, my fave, the vampire purse snatch victim with the childhood photos?
Showtime wants to be "Cops" soooo bad.
It's a buddy cop movie in the vein of a Lethal Weapon or a Stakeout with the added bonus of a television camera crew following them around. Robert DeNiro plays a wannabe Dirty Harry who is hooked up with aspiring actor/cop Eddie Murphy. Rene Russo is the television producer out to make a hit TV series out of this. It's like rehab for actors who can't pick a good script.
Speaking of the script, it's co-written by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, the duo behind the WB's hit series "Smallville." There's no hint of that talent here in Showtime.
DeNiro must've taken quite a financial hit when his Tribeca offices were destroyed in the World Trade Center disaster to be taking roles like this. Murphy, who has never been known for his ability to pick appropriate roles, ends up playing the same character he plays in all his films - Eddie Murphy (dude should've stuck to stand-up). And Rene Russo? Rene Russo made The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (also with DeNiro), nothing more need be said.
We do get a few good scenes with William Shatner playing himself trying to teach the cops how to look better on camera a la "T.J. Hooker" but that's about it. Not worth the rental.
Reprinted from Project: Popcorn at: http://www.whitevioletpictures.com/popcorn
