gs@mit-eddie.UUCP (Gordon Strong) (07/02/84)
I've seen quite a few movies in the last few weeks (school ends, rather go see movies than work on my thesis ... you know the story). Here's some short reviews of recent ones: Indiana Jones / Star Trek Go see them and decide for yourself. I wouldn't touch this topic with a ten-foot pole. I personally liked them. Top Secret Not worth it. Too few laughs. It has a few good scenes, but much is overdone. Tries to be another Airplane and fails. Bachelor Party Funniest movie I have seen in a long time. Should be a big summer hit. The lead role is a Bill Murray-type role done very well by Tom Hanks (I believe). If you liked Animal House and Caddyshack, then you should like this. Go see it instead of Top Secret. Conan the Destroyer I liked it. Different from the last one in that it covers a shorter time period and has more of an adventure feel to it. The last one was based mostly on revenge. Good hack and slash flick with a fantasy-ish kind of plot (with magic and mythology). Good performance by Grace Jones as a fierce warrior (warriette?) allied with Conan. Mako returns as the wizard. The Karate Kid Nice, exciting story. Has received good reviews and is deserving of praise. This movie has a revenge kind of theme to it and yet manages to be touching. Funny in parts, serious in others. I dragged some skeptics with me to see it and they thoroughly enjoyed it. Suburbia Strange movie. I thought it was sort of a darker side of "Valley Girl", taken a step further. Won't win any awards, but it was an interesting slice of culture. Definately trying to make some kind of statement, though it's not clear what it was. If you are in a really wierd mood, you might want to stop in and see it. Ghostbusters A hit. Bill Murray has a role tailored for him and he carries it off extremely well. Great special effects. It will have you laughing on the floor in some parts and clinging to your seat in others. A "must see". Streets of Fire Good music. A simple story, but a good movie. Most of the movie was dreary (intentional). That aspect reminded me of Blade Runner. Everyone in the movie acts tough. That is a little difficult to get used to, but it is also intentional. Actually, it is funny to see Rick Moranis try to be tough. Has good action and better music. Check it out. (This is) Spinal Tap A subtly funny movie. An interesting commentary. You have to watch and listen closely to catch some of the hacks. The group is actually touring (they're playing in Boston soon). Thumbs up. Caged Women A dog. Claims to be an exciting prison kind of story (in the Penitentiary class), but is totally bogus. It is a foreign film (French-Italian, I think). The action scenes are phony. Characters are wooden. Story is non-existant. I felt robbed. All in all a generally favorable lot. It has been a pretty good month (or so) for movies. Gordon Strong decvax!genrad!mit-eddie GS@MIT-XX
Hamilton.ES@XEROX.ARPA (07/06/84)
From: Bruce Hamilton <Hamilton.ES@XEROX.ARPA> Monday night I saw a preview screening of THE LAST STARFIGHTER. This made-for-TV-style Star Wars ripoff manages to have some of the most boring spacefight scenes I've ever seen. AVOID THIS TURKEY! I couldn't even tell for sure when the climax was, or whether the bad guys had been defeated. The movie ends after a mere 95 minutes, with the most blatant invitation to a sequel I've ever seen. The "hero" is this jerk who lives in a trailer park, and whose major skill in life is playing video games. His girlfriend doesn't seem to be able to say anything except, "But what about Granny?" Then there's this dope called Centauri who recruits our "hero" to fight the bad guys, and manages to sound like a reject comic from the Tonight Show -- or was it Disneyland? Never in my filmgoing life have I experienced such total debasement of potential nobility into utter banality. The credits claimed a Digital Productions Cray X-MP and a dozen programmers, but as far as I could tell, all the graphics could have been done on an Apple. So I can't even call it a triumph of effects over plot. I'd rather watch a cheap, campy Roger Corman ripoff any day, compared to this sort of cutesy multi-megabuck major studio fluff. And I'm sick and tired of semi-cute, bipedal aliens that look just like humans except for the nose of an elephant or the skin of a lizard or something equally identifiably ridiculous. Let's see some ALIEN aliens! Looking back, I don't think anyone has made a SERIOUS scifi film since 2001. This fall we get to find out whether 2010 can live up to it. I approach 2010 with high scepticism. The trailer doesn't prove much one way or the other, except that MAYBE Roy Scheider can match Gary Lockwood's astronaut cool. -------------- GHOSTBUSTERS: Most of you have probably already seen it. This is the funniest film in at least a year. Words can't describe. Don't be turned off if you only saw the lousy trailer for it. -------------- THE POPE OF GREENWICH VILLAGE: The best serious film in several months. Eric Roberts does a variation on the incredible punk he played in STAR80. Mickey Roarke again proves to be one of the most impressive young actors, short of DeNiro. Daryl Hannah (SPLASH) is attractive as Roarke's girlfriend. But I thought the most impressive performance was Kenneth MacMillan, in an unusual role for him, as an old-time locksmith who's been in the joint and is ready to break the law again to provide for his family. -------------- FINDERS KEEPERS: A very solid, consistently funny chase comedy featuring Beverly D'Angelo. -------------- GREMLINS: Not particularly funny, or scary, or violent, or...? I sat in on an interview with director Joe Dante at a screening a couple of weeks ago, and I'd like to settle a couple of issues: first of all, Dante himself made it quite clear that he is less than pleased with the film. So don't beat up on him -- he probably agrees with you. The film started with a more or less standard gory script, but then Dante and crew tried to do a lot of comic improvisation. Secondly, NOT true that Speilberg had any particular creative control. He told Dante "Go do it", then Speilberg went off and did Indiana Jones. -------------- STAR TREK III: Yawn. Better than #I, not as good as #II. Trekkies will like it. The usual insipid, explicit, TV-esque philosophizing about war 'n friendship 'n loyalty 'n all that good stuff. -------------- Anybody seen TOP SECRET? I haven't. I keep having this fear that they blew all the best gags in the trailer, the way they did on AIRPLANE. -------------- BEAT STREAT: These Big Apple graffitti artists, breakers, and rap dj's make the LA dudes in "Breakin'" look like wimps. Cousin Brucie says check it out! -------------- footnote to Angelenos: YOU TOO can see over 50 free films a year, often including interviews with producers, directors, cast, and crew, by joining the ACADEMY OF SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY, AND HORROR FILMS. Send $25 for the rest of this year (regularly $40/ year) to the Academy at 334 W. 54th St., Los Angeles 90037. Most screenings are 10:30am weekends at either the Four Star Theater, Wilshire near La Brea, or at the Norris Theater at USC. --Bruce
breen.es@XEROX.ARPA (07/06/84)
FYI: SERIOUS Sci-Fi films since 2001 Silent Running (this certainly qualifies) Outland (not a great movie but it was SERIOUS) Alien (Or don't horror films count) THX-1138 (Lucas' first film. It might have been before 2001) Slaughterhouse Five (it doesn't have to have shoot-em-up effects to be Sci-Fi) Close Encounters I'm sure there are others. Maybe none of these live up to your opinion of 2001, but they all were SERIOUS Sci-Fi films. Movies to see: CONAN the Destroyer - Saw this at the Plitt Century Plaza on the 4th of July. Most comfortable seats in town and only about 50 people were there. Not Academy award material but it succeeds at what it tries to do. Marvel Comics come to life. Lots of posing and mugging really gave me the feel of looking at a comic book panel. Plenty of action and not too heavy on the gore. This one does not take itself seriously and succeeds on a pure entertainment level. Star Trek III - See this in a large theater. A "shoebox" theater is too cramped to give full impact to the special effects. I didn't think this was as good as II but is was better than I. Ghostbusters - A very Schizophrenic movie. The comedy and special effects never quite seemed to mesh (although both were well done). Not as funny as Stripes, but anything Bill Murray is in will get my money every time. Sixteen Candles - How would you have felt if your parents forgot your sixteenth birthday. A very funny premise that developed into a very funny movie. The characterizations are a little broad but capture exactly my memories of the jerks I went to school with (including myself). If you haven't seen it already I think it's worth the price of admission just for the scene where some sophomores are charging admission to freshman for a "special viewing" in the restroom. This is NOT a Porky's type sleaze film but there is quite a bit of sexual innuendo. Footloose - What can I say? I liked it. I don't know why. My wife was bored,but I thought it was good. Moscow on the Hudson - Robin Williams in a good role in a good movie. The Survivors - Robin Williams in a good role in a bad movie. That's all I've seen recently. I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has seen The Natural. I'm not really a Redford fan but I've heard some good things about this movie. - Michael
alex@sdcsvax.UUCP (07/11/84)
They may have been "sci-fi" films, but they most certainly were not science fiction. "sci-fi" is Space: 1999, Wishman, and other pap. SF is Heinlein, Clarke, and other lasting authors. There have been very few SF films.