Giant Turtle to the Rescue!
With 1998’s Godzilla getting so much attention, surely there’ll be wise guys in the crowd shouting out, “Hey! What about Gamera?!” Ah, yes. Gamera, the giant prehistoric jet-propelled fire-breathing flying turtle – friend to all children and butt of a thousand jokes on Mystery Science Theater 3000. Continue reading
The Fifth Element is – Fun!
In the year 2214, an ancient prophecy is fulfilled when a dark, devouring planet appears on the edge of the galaxy. It is composed of pure evil and it intends to destroy the Earth, then the rest of the universe. The only thing that can stop it is a legendary secret weapon shared with humankind by an ancient benevolent alien race – a weapon formed when stones containing the energy of the four known natural elements are aligned with an unknown fifth element. The aliens, in alliance with a secret sect of human priests, plans to bring the stones and the fifth element back to Earth – but when the precious cargo is lost en route in a pirate attack, all seems lost. Continue reading
Smith and Wesson’s High School Reunion
The Blank of the title is Martin Blank (John Cusack), a professional contract killer who, at the urging of his Girl Friday (Joan Cusack) and his reluctant shrink (Alan Arkin), decides to attend his high school reunion in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. Although Martin tells himself that he’s only going because his destination is also the site of his next assignment, he’s actually looking to get back together with his teen sweetheart Debi (Minnie Driver), and perhaps regain his soul in the process. Continue reading
Two On One
The latest in a series of Jean-Claude Van Damme action films that puts a slight twist on the usual bullets-and-badmen formula. This time the main gimmick – and the focus of all publicity – is the feature film debut of eccentric professional basketball player Dennis Rodman, who essays the role of an eccentric arms dealer with a strange penchant for making basketball jokes. Thus, modern journalism being what it is, most of the critical attention drawn by this film has really been a critique of Rodman’s acting ability (or lack of same). In truth, Rodman’s purpose in the film is to provide some color to the film at a point when it could really use some.
Expanding on the European flavor and setting of his previous film (the equally ill-titled Maximum Risk), Van Damme actually gets a part where they don’t have to explain away his accent. Here he plays an anti-terrorism expert secret agent who, upon failing to catch evil mercenary Mickey Roarke, is sent to The Colony – a “retirement” village for secret agents which should be familiar to fans of the old TV series The Prisoner (the main difference here is that Colony residents are still expected to work as a top secret think tank advising on terrorist incidents). Understandably miffed, J-C becomes extra anxious to escape when Roarke – who blames our hero for the deaths of his family – begins to make coded threats against his wife and unborn son. After making a quite daring escape, Van Damme looks up Rodman for help. They form a quick bond with each other (thus giving the film some reason for the otherwise ill-fitting title), and proceed to hunt down the wily Roarke and save the day.
Forget Rodman, who is serviceable at best and only intelligible due to careful dubbing. What makes Double Team significant is the fact that it continues Van Damme’s trend of recruiting directors from the vital ranks of Hong Kong cinema. Just as the German masters fled the Nazis to forever change the face of American cinema in the 1930s, the Chinese invasion of the ’90s has the potential to transform the Hollywood films of the next century. This time the director is the prolific and multi-talented Hong Kong legend Tsui Hark, who was responsible for the hit Once Upon a Time in China and Chinese Ghost Story series, as well as having a hand in most of what is thought of as innovative modern HK film. Though some of Tsui’s work has suffered from derivative repetition of late, his opportunity to work in an Anglo environment seems to have energized him, and Double Team benefits from his enthusiasm with a slick look and dynamic camerawork. Also, Tsui has been able to use a lot of his own people, and much of the excitement in the film can be directly attributed to the work of fight choreographer Xin Xin Xiong, who shows up to wreck a Rome hotel room in an explosive battle ballet with Van Damme late in the film.
Although I believe he’s grown as an actor and I’d like to see him try his hand at a supporting role in a straight drama sometime soon, for the time being Jean-Claude Van Damme continues to mine a rich vein of entertaining, above average but relatively unambitious action romps. Bang for the buck is what they’re all about, and Double Team delivers the goods.
In 1941, Bob Hope reteamed with his co-stars from The Ghost Breakers, Paulette Goddard and Willie Best, to make Nothing But the Truth. The zany comedy (filmed twice previously) had Hope playing a stockbroker who makes a bet that he can go 24 hours without telling a lie. This Jim Carrey slapstick extravaganza runs through the same course, but ups the emotional ante. Instead of just trying to win a bet (and the girl, of course), Carrey’s bout of truthfulness is brought on by the magical birthday wish of his neglected son. Throwing irony into the fire is the fact that his character is a weaselly trial attorney. Continue reading
“Beat” Cop Goes On
Sad to say, but “Beat” Takeshi Kitano is probably most recognized for his guest spots as villains in movies like Johnny Mnemonic and Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence. But to those in the know, Takeshi is the respected writer/director/actor responsible for a distinctive string of brutally violent and surprisingly serene crime films.
Though physically I’d say he has more in common with Harvey Kietel, Takeshi’s films have earned him the reputation as the Dirty Harry of Japan. Beginning with 1989’s Violent Cop, he always portrays basically the same character: a man with a high sense of honor that speaks little, but whose actions (and firearms) speak much louder than words.
Fireworks (aka: Hana-Bi) uses the character and format of his previous work and takes them into even deeper, more poetic territory. Takeshi plays Police Detective Nishi, an excellent cop with a penchant for sudden bursts of frightening violence. One day Nishi takes a break from a stakeout to visit his wife, who is dying from leukemia. While he’s gone, their quarry (a vicious mass murderer) shoots Nishi’s partner Horibe (Ren Osugi), and two other officers who try to apprehend him. While most cop movies would spend their remaining running time detailing Nishi’s quest for vengeance, Takeshi has another agenda in mind, and Nishi kills the bad guy immediately.
However, Nishi has lost face for his dereliction of duty and resigns from the force. Horibe survives the attack, but also must resign, forced to spend the rest of his days in a wheelchair. Buried in medical bills, Nishi must borrow heavily from yakuza, and finds himself constantly harassed by collectors (whom he always manages to brush off – quickly and bloodily). Driven to desperation, Nishi carries out a plan to help set things right for those he feels he’s wronged and give his wife one last happy holiday.
Many modern cop movies are comparable to samurai films, but Takeshi’s almost exactly follow the pace and atmosphere of the best of that genre. Though I came away from the film with images of Nishi’s savage encounters with the greedy criminals, also memorable are the many quieter scenes and themes in between, especially the subjects and results of Horibe’s emerging artistic talent (artwork also contributed by Takeshi), and playful moments spent with Nishi and his wife (Kayoko Kishimoto).
Like his predecessor Seijun Sezuki, Takeshi Kitano is an artist whose work continues to explore an ever deepening but interconnected contrast between sadistic fury and natural beauty. Whether you watch his work to contemplate the meaning of destiny, or just to see people get shot in the head, you’re sure to be rewarded for checking out one of his films.
Shot back in 1992, these shorts were made back before Nelson learned to sustain viewer interest for the length of an entire feature. Well, okay, so he still hasn’t learned that, but back then he could get to the point of the story in just a few minutes and still have plenty of time for some padding. Continue reading
Bill Pullman plays a nervous jazz musician, suspicious that his wife (Patricia Arquette imitating Bettie Page) has been having an affair. The vaguely unhappy couple suddenly has their lives invaded by a supernatural demon (Robert Blake imitating Bela Lugosi), who prowls around their house at night with a video camera, then leaves the tape on their doorstep for them to watch in the morning. While trying to come to grips with the situation, Pullman suffers a blackout, after which he is accused of his wife’s murder. He is quickly tried and sentenced to death in the electric chair. On death row, he disappears from his cell. Found in his place is a young local auto mechanic (Balthazar Getty imitating Brad Pitt). Then things start to get really weird (Vampyre imitating Carnival of Souls). Continue reading
A True Lava Story
About a year ago, I met a vulcanologist who had been assigned the task of reading the scripts for the two competing big screen volcano movies being released this year. He described Dante’s Peak as being “the least ludicrous” of the two. Continue reading
Chan, Jackie Chan
Although New line is trying to build excitement for their latest Jackie Chan film by using the tag line “Fighting for America for the first time”, the hype is only partly correct. Jackie’s by now familiar Hong Kong cop character spends only the first act working for the CIA on a special assignment, tailing a suspect aboard a jet flight from Hong Kong to the Ukraine. The original title for this film was CIA Story – it’s also known as Police Story 4 and Jackie Chan’s First Strike. Whatever the title, this is yet another Chan adventure full of awesome stunts and fight choreography. While it’s not the red, white & blue outing that New Line is trying to draw a crowd with, I can’t object too much to their marketing strategy. Any method that gets Jackie’s features released in this country is a step in the right direction. And I can’t say it’s totally dishonest, as each new Chan film seems to be more international in scope and flavor.
This one takes him well beyond the aforementioned Ukraine, as circumstances take our hapless hero into Russia and Australia, too. After the briefest of plot introductions, it’s not long before Jackie is snowboarding down a mountain, pursued by gunmen aboard skis, snowmobiles and helicopters. See Jackie dunked unprotected in a frozen lake! See Jackie pursued across the face of a building by brutish assassins! See Jackie fight off thugs under shark infested waters, without an oxygen tank! While these stunt sequences are thrilling in their subtle (or not so subtle) but very real dangers, Jackie is still at his most exciting while working with his own team of stuntmen in an excellently staged battle using chairs, poles, tables and ladders to good effect.
There’s also plenty of comedy, mostly involving Jackie being forced to don a series of strange costumes – or none at all! Chan, who controls all of his films himself (with the able assistance of fellow stuntman Stanley Tong in most of his recent films), is just as able to raise a laugh or a tear as anything else – but it’s his unique ability to do so much while taking your breath away with one piece of action after another that’s made him one of the biggest movie stars ever.
Oh, by the way, the story is all about a spy forced into becoming an arms dealer while sacrificing his family honor. Not that anybody cares.
There’s a whole bunch of Jackie Chan features awaiting U.S. release – the next few years should bring Drunken Master 2, Thunderbolt, Crime Story, Operation Condor, Mr. Nice Guy and many others to our shores in American versions, with the best dubbing available (considering that Cantonese is one of the most difficult languages to match dialogue with, so far so good), all while Jackie is preparing his first Hollywood feature in over ten years. I urge everyone not to miss a single frame of it all.
