trb@masscomp.UUCP (09/21/84)
I saw the movie "The Brother from Another Planet" last Tuesday night in NYC at a theater around 73rd and Amsterdam. I forget the name of the theater, but there was no air conditioning in it. What there was in it, was lots of people, and a fantastic movie. TBfAP features Joe Morton (?) as a black alien who lands on earth and ends up going to Harlem. I don't want to give any more away, but the movie is wonderful: charming, intelligent, hilarious, suspenseful, novel. The movie is directed and written by John Sayles, who plays one of the "men in black" (don't ask, just go see it). By the way, before this movie, there was a political advertisement which turned out to be a hoax, the audience booed and hissed first, and laughed quite a bit when we finally realized what was going on. The premise was a typical waspy looking politician promoting himself, in an ad that turned into something out of a men's fashion magazine. I forgot what it was called, "Political Advertisement" or something. Andy Tannenbaum Masscomp Inc Westford MA (617) 692-6200 x274
citrin@ucbvax.ARPA (Wayne Citrin) (10/11/84)
Before reviewing The Bro, I just want to say that I saw Buckaroo Banzai last week and enjoyed it. I found a great deal of wit and freshness, plus a fine performance by John Lithgow. It certainly looked like everyone concerned had a good time. This was an Indiana Jones film not loaded with pretention; that showed that you can make an adventure film without ranging any further afield than New Jersey. The ending promised a sequel, but I hope that that was just part of the comic book atmosphere that they were trying to invoke; a sequel would be a letdown and I don't think the concept could carry one without the jokes getting tired. Unfortunately the economics of movies dictates a sequel. Rating: *** (of ****). Now to "The Brother From Another Planet." Unlike Buckaroo Banzai, which was ultimately forgettable (as lightweight fluff usually is), "The Brother..." gets better each time I think about it. The Brother is a black extraterrestrial trying to escape slavery on his world and pursued by two white extraterrestrial bounty hunters. He makes his way to Harlem and the story takes off from there. The Bro is mute, although he understands all languages, and naturally becomes the sounding board for everyone's life story. It seems to me that this is what science fiction should be when it is at its best: a way of learning about ourselves from outside. The human interest is there, and there is a comic subplot concerning the bounty hunters, one of whom is played by director John Sayles. They are the ultimate honkeys in a Harlem bar and the original title of the film, "Assholes From Outer Space," gives you an idea of their characters. Joe Morton, as the Brother, gives an excellent performance without a single line. The other performances are uniformly good, there is a satisfying twist at the end (the full implications of which had to be explained to me later in a newspaper review), and the production gives the viewer no idea that the film cost only $350,000 to make. I never got around to seeing Sayles' other films, including "Return of the Secaucus Seven," "Lianna," and "Baby It''s You," but I plan to seek them out now when they come back to the Berkeley art houses. I give this film ***1/2*. Now, a request: Has anyone seen "Last Night at the Alamo" or "Le Crabe Tambour" and is willing to post a review? Wayne Citrin (ucbvax!citrin)
rogers@wivax.UUCP (10/15/84)
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This is my first posting to the net...I hope you will
forgive any errors (regarding the mysterious first line
for example). I think the group is great reading (for
the most part, although I must agree that Joe-Bob (or
whatever his name is) got old fast) -- lots of good
reviews, discussions, information, etc.
Now, the Brother. I really thought this movie was
excellent. It's right up there with Repo Man. It
succeeded in capturing the feeling of someone landing
someplace *really different* that Moscow on the Hudson
and Splash and the Wizard of Oz tried with varying
degrees of success to get. It was hilarious, and at the
same time captured the vulnerability, wonder, fear, and
strangeness felt by the stranger in a strange land.
It is quirky, but it is not a *special effects* movie.
You might like it even if you are not the Star Wars type.
A lot of *humanness* in this movie.
On the subject of best movies of the eighties:
The Stuntman Year of Living Dangerously
Tender Mercies Repo Man
I loved them all for really different reasons.
Life is more like it is now than
ever was.
- Brenda Rogers