Carol for Another Christmas (1964)

Carol for Another Christmas (1964)
I am a big fan of the Twilight Zone, and while it is Rod Serling's most famous creation, he also did a lot of other writing for TV and film. Carol for Another Christmas was written by Rod Serling and directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz (All About Eve, Cleopatra, and Sleuth, among other films). This 1964 TV movie special was produced by the Xerox Corporation to promote the United Nations and is a modern re-telling of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.
As a version of A Christmas Carol it is quite different than most I've seen. While we still have the three ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future and the Scrooge character (named Daniel Grudge) played by Sterling Hayden, there is no Jacob Marley or Tiny Tim. Instead Grudge has some live-in servants and a son who died in the war. As a Rod Serling fan this certainly feels like an extended Twilight Zone episode. Unfortunately it is too preachy at times, probably because it was made for the United Nations. Still it is an well made and interesting to watch as a product of its era, especially since it hadn't aired in 48 years before being shown on TCM this December.
Besides Sterling Hayden, the cast includes Peter Sellers (who would star in Dr. Strangelove with Hayden which also came out in 1964), Pat Hingle, Ben Gazzara, and Eva Marie Saint.
6/10

Weekly Wrap-Up (11/13)

Anybody who has read this blog can figure out that I have a pretty eclectic taste in movies. To be fair this is partially due to the fact that many I watch many popular movies I normally wouldn't seek out just to say that I've seen them and keep up with references to them. This week I watched five films and they are all pretty different so I'll just post my thoughts in the order I saw each movie!

The Invisible Man (1933)
After watching The Mummy (1932) this summer I wanted to see more Universal horror movies and finally got around to seeing another. The Invisible Man features groundbreaking special effects that hold up shockingly well for a film that is almost 80 years old. Claude Rains plays Griffin, our invisible man. I was impressed with his performance since we get to know this character quite well even though we never really see him. I had seen Rains before in Casablanca as Captain Renault. Griffin's lover Flora is played by Gloria Stuart, who is best known to modern audiences as old Rose in Titanic (1997). Having already seen that movie it was quite fascinating to see her at such a young age! The Invisible Man was directed by James Whale who also directed Frankenstein (1931) and its sequel Bride of Frankenstein (1935).
While the film's pace is a bit slow by today's standards, there is still more going on than in The Mummy (the only other movie of its time and genre I have seen to compare it to). In 2008 The Invisible Man was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
8/10

Footloose (1984)
While I was expecting this movie to be cheesy fluff, the tone is actually quite serious. However, the plot of a new guy in town who doesn't fit in and then gets in trouble because of it is pretty derivative. The movie tries to put a new spin on things with the strict local regulations on music and dance but it doesn't really work and still feels like I have seen it a million times before. Footloose is competently made and John Lithgow puts in a solid performance as the town minister, but at the end of the day the movie isn't anything special.
I knew that Lithgow and Kevin Bacon were in this movie but I was surprised to see Chris Penn and Sarah Jessica Parker in early roles. Ariel, the love interest of Kevin Bacon's character, was played by Lori Singer who is also a dancer in real life. I enjoyed the 80s soundtrack but think that this movie could have been better if it was a straight up musical instead of just featuring several montage scenes. Maybe the remake which came out earlier this year went in that direction? I don't know and frankly have no desire to see it.
5/10

I Eat Your Skin aka Voodoo Blood Bath aka Zombies (1964)
Despite the outrageous title there is no actually flesh eating in this movie. What a rip-off! This movie did not get released until six years after it was produced and was re-titled so it could be shown as a double feature with the unrelated film I Drink Your Blood. I had extremely low expectations coming into this movie and was actually pleasantly surprised. Now don't get me wrong, this is certainly an awful film, but its watchable and entertaining enough for a shlocky low budget flick. While watching this with some friends I remarked that it feels like a movie the TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000 would have featured. It turns out that I was pretty close since MST3K did riff the movie The Horror of Party Beach which was also directed by Del Tenney! This movie would have made great material for Joel/Mike and the bots to make fun. However, even if the MST3K crew were aware of this movie I bet they passed on it due to the unfortunate stereotypical portrayal of the island natives. If you like bad, campy old movies check this one out. Just be aware that it is a product of its time and doesn't feature zombies chomping on people.
2/10

Black Dynamite (2009)
While there are some great spoof movies out there (any Mel Brooks movie, Airplane) recently most of them have been historically bad (Date Movie, Epic Movie). The trailer for Black Dynamite is hilarious so I had to give it a shot. I am proud to say that Black Dynamite is up there as one of the best spoof movies of all time! This film parodies 1970s Blaxploitation films, and does it so well that it is arguably still part of the genre. While I haven't seen many Blaxploitation movies, that is not a requirement as long as one has a general familiarity of the genre and low budget flicks. Many of the jokes are intentional goofs. Some of these are humorously obvious while others are subtle but just as funny. The film stars Michael Jai White as the title character and he was also one of the screenwriters. Clearly White and those involved with making this movie love Blaxploitation (and B-movies in general) as Black Dynamite is as much a spoof as it is a loving homage. Although this movie is a silly comedy, it was painstakingly made to look, feel, and sound like it came straight of the 1970s and would probably fool people not in on the joke. If you have a sense of humor please do yourself a favor and watch this movie now! There is an animated Black Dynamite TV series featuring most of the film's cast in the works set to air in the summer of 2012 on Adult Swim. DYNOMITE! DYNOMITE!
9/10

Police Academy (1984)
Comedy is the most subjective genre of any medium, and film is certainly not an exception. I found this movie to be quite funny and wonder if its reputation has been tarnished a bit by the fact that there are seven movies in the series, with most of them said to be terrible. The plot is a mix of Stripes and Revenge of the Nerds but the reason the movie works is because the characters are fun to watch and we want them to succeed. Police Academy was Steve Guttenberg's breakthrough role and while I haven't seen him in too many movies, its ashame his career took a nosedive in the 90s. Shia LaBeouf reminds me of Guttenberg, but he is far more annoying and much less likeable than the Gutt! Former NFL player (a lot of football players became actors in the 1970s and 80s for some reason) Bubba Smith shines as Moses Hightower, while veteran actor George Gaynes plays the Commandant. The talented Michael Winslow essentially plays himself since his character Larvelle Jones can use only his mouth to create amazing sound effects with hilarious results. As much as I liked this movie I think I'll pass on the sequels.
7/10

Weekly Wrap-Up (9/11)

The Thing from Another World (1951)
Although this movie was re-made in 1982 by John Carpenter, that film is not really a re-make as it simply goes back to the source material and follows the 1938 John W. Campbell, Jr. short story much closer than the 1951 version. Now that I have seen both films I prefer Carpenter's vision, but did enjoy both. The two films start from a similar premise but go in different directions. The 1951 movie puts more of an emphasis on a monster stalking the crew, while the 1982 version is about the replication of those at the station. Both movies have a claustrophobic feel plenty of paranoia. The main title screen of this movie was later re-used in Carpenter's version.
You can read the original short story here
Here is a good comparison of Campbell's novella, this movie, and the 1982 version: The Thing
Now that I am done comparing the Thing films, let's get to my thoughts on The Thing from Another World. The movies starts without any opening actor credits which is unusual for a film from this time period. The pacing is slow at first as it takes awhile for the military crew and scientists to find the spaceship trapped inside the ice. However after the creature entombed in ice is taken back to the station the pace picks up considerably and doesn't let up until the end. Although the love story was not necessary, it gave us some funny situations and the couple did have chemistry. Viewers never get a good look at the alien, and don't see the monster at all for most of the film, which is always a good idea. The concept of the alien being a sentient creature with a different biological make-up (plant based life form) was interesting. It was kinda silly when the crew referred to it as a carrot or vegetable, but the point is that this is a totally different type of life.
The scientist who want to keep the alien alive in order to study it, even if the alien kills people, reminds me of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation from Alien and Aliens. I am sure both Ridley Scott and James Cameron saw this film, as well as other 50s science fiction/monster movies. The journalist, Scott, was good comic relief but also put in a different type of character from the military and scientists. This kept things fresh as his concerns, other than surviving, were different than the other characters he was surrounded by. The scene with the monster on fire was fantastic and is thought to be the first "full body burn accomplished by a stunt man." The music was good and helped sell the atmosphere. The movie was made during the Red Scare and the film incorporates a similar sense of paranoia with the scientists and military having different objectives. The use of the Geiger counter as a sensor to detect the creature was suspenseful and added the paranoia. There is a director controversy surrounding this film. Christian Nyby was credited as the director, but producer Howard Hawks is generally considered to have done extensive directing and writing for the film.
The Thing from Another World is one of the better 50s Sci-Fi/monster movies, but there are some much better ones (Forbidden Planet, The Day the Earth Stood Still, etc.) The film still holds up pretty well today, especially considering how many bad monster movies there were from this era.
6/10

Them! (1954)
This movie starts out with a bang as we have a nice fast-paced opening chase scene. At first the story begins as a crime/mystery tale before delving into science-fiction and horror. Them! was a big influence on James Cameron's Aliens. The similarities include a young girl survivor similar to Newt, a strong female character who knows more about the monsters than the military men, Queen monsters, saving children from a monster nest near the end, and flamethrowers destroying big eggs. Cameron's take on the Xenomorphs posits them as more insect like than Ridley Scott envisioned in Alien and he clearly borrowed some ideas from this film.
Like any good monster movie, we don't see the giant ants at first, only the havoc they have caused. Them! is the first big bug movie. While this was a trend that mostly stayed in the 1950s, we have seen a few in recent years such as Tremors (1990), Arachnophobia (1990), Mimic (1997) Starship Troopers (1997) and Eight Legged Freaks (2002). I am also guessing there are some crappy Sci-Fi Channel original movies hailing from this sub-genre!
Them! was nominated for an Oscar for best special effects. The ants might seem a little hokey to modern audiences but still hold up better than a lot of 50s monsters. The movie was both a critical and commercial success as it was Warner Bros. top grossing film of 1954. The acting is solid, not by not only the leads, but even minor characters such as the girl who survived the ants. However, the story runs out of steam about two-thirds of the way through and like The Thing from Another World has some pacing issues.
The opening title is in color with B/W background. While this adds to the great beginning of the film, it was a hold over from when the movie was originally supposed to be made in color and 3-D but scrapped at the last minute.
The movie has several uses of the Wilhelm Scream. The famous sound effect was first used in a 1951 film so this is one of the earlier examples of the Wilhelm Scream before it became a fun cliche.
Leonard Nimoy has an uncredited one line cameo as an Air Force Sergeant in one of his earliest roles, but blink and you'll miss it.
Them! deals with the nuclear fears of the time as that is how the ants grow to such an enormous size. This movie even came out same year as first Godzilla film which deals with a similar subject matter. The great final lines and closing shot hammer home this theme.
Them! is one of the better science fiction/monster movies from the 1950s and probably the best of the big bug sub-genre.
7/10

The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!? (1964)
This movie was one of those really boring bad movies. The MST3K riffs were good, but the movie itself was god awful. This MST3K episode is from the 8th season, the first season on the Sci-Fi channel. I'm not even sure what this movie was about. There was a fortune teller, an amusement park, strippers, and a Torgo wanna-be named Ortega.
The more I think about this movie the more it hurts so I'll just jump to one of my favorite riffs: (as Jerry, Harold and Angie have fun) "Outtakes from the Manson family Christmas!" - Crow T. Robot
1/10

Weird Science (1985)
Weird Science doesn't have much of a plot. Two sex-starved teenage nerds somehow use a computer to create a woman who turns out to have magic powers and wants to help the boys lead normal lives. However, this doesn't really matter as it is essentially a version of Mary Poppins for 16 yr old boys. There is even a direct reference to Mary Poppins at the end when the house goes back to normal. The age gap between the boys and Lisa might bother some viewers, but since I saw it as Mary Poppins type thing with as she was trying to help them straighten out there lives it didn't really bother me. The title "Weird Science" comes from the name of the EC Comics Science Fiction comic and the movie is apparently loosely based on a story from those comics.
Weird Science is zany, wacky, over the top fun. It never takes itself too seriously (after a joke one of the main characters looks directly into the camera like Ferris Bueller). However, it doesn't become so silly that we don't care about the characters or don't wonder if Lisa will be successful in her mission to help the boys improve themselves.
I guess because of the use of the computer (and the references to Frankenstein) this movie has been labeled a sci-fi/comedy. However, fantasy/comedy would be more appropriate as Lisa is just as magical, if not more so, than Mary Poppins. This is a departure for John Hughes as the movies he directed (and wrote) were usually grounded in the real world such as The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Uncle Buck and others. I must admit that this was better made (directing, camera work, special effects) than I would have expected, probably because John Hughes was at the helm. Kelly LeBrock was great as Lisa. Even though she probably got the role mostly for her body, she brings a confidence to the character that along with her powers and looks makes her quite memorable
Anthony Michael Hall had a ton of roles as nerds in the 80s. He eventually broke this typecasting in recent years (The Dead Zone TV show) but was still a precursor of sorts to current actors such as Michael Cera, Jesse Eisenberg, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse who are the movie teenage nerds of today.
Vernon Wells has a cameo where he plays "Lord General" who is basically his character from Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. Bill Paxton and Robert Downey Jr. have supporting roles and its fun to see them here after watching their other work. We even have a quick clip featuring Van Halen lead singer David Lee Roth! As fans of these actors it made this movie even more enjoyable to me. I also loved the eclectic 80s music (Oingo Boingo who performed the title track, Ratt, Killing Joke, etc.)
6/10

Summer Movie Round-Up Part 1 of 3

This will be the first of three posts covering the movies I have seen so far this summer. Each post will include 8 brief reviews. At the end of this post I'll go over my scoring system. Tomorrow (Saturday) will be my first film topic post, which will be a weekly feature. On Sunday I'll continue with Part Two.

Joel Schumacher's 1987 vampire flick, The Lost Boys, is a lot of fun. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the soundtrack. It was hard to believe that this movie was directed by the same guy who made Batman & Robin. The acting wasn't anything special, but just what was called for as this is a horror film geared toward teenagers that features plenty of humor. My favorite character was Grandpa (Emmy Award winner Barnard Hughes) who was hilarious and should have had his own movie. I saw this with a group of friends, some of whom had seen the movie before, and we had a blast. However, when it comes to 80s vampire movies I still prefer Fright Night (the remake starring Colin Farrell is coming soon!) and Near Dark (which is also reviewed in this post).
The Lost Boys bites into a 6/10!

The Untouchables, also released in 1987, is the second Brian De Palma movie I have seen. The first you ask? Well it is hard to believe, but this is the same guy who directed the mediocre at best Mission to Mars! Luckily this is much better as well as a much more enjoyable film. The Untouchables is based on the true story of government agent Eliot Ness as he tries to bring down the gangster Al Capone. Although there are some historical inaccuracies, it doesn't matter since the film is engrossing and makes you want to know more about the real story. Sean Connery is fantastic as Jim Malone, an older cop who helps Ness in his quest to defeat Capone. This role won Connery an Oscar (his only) for best supporting actor.  
The Untouchables shoots its way into 8/10!

At the moment Thor is the most recent movie I have seen in theaters, and I was lucky to see it with a group of friends which made for a fun experience. Thor is based on the Marvel comic book character which is in turn based on the Norse god of thunder and Norse mythology in general. While I was not too familiar with either before watching Thor, I enjoyed it. Sure there is a bit too much CGI and the romance between Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Jane (Natalie Portman) felt forced, but overall Thor has a solid blend of action and humor. Director Kenneth Branagh put his Shakespearean background to good use by giving the movie shades of King Lear, while the villain is not a one-sided bad guy but a complex, tragic figure. Thor is more on par with Iron Man 2 (which I still liked even though it was a bit of a mess) than the first Iron Man, but so far Marvel Studios has only made good movies. Hopefully this trend will continue with the July 2011 release of Captain America as well as the highly anticipated The Avengers in 2012.
Thor hammers a 6/10!

When Spike TV first started it would air two Jean-Claude Van Damme movies over and over again. One was Bloodsport (1988) and the other was KickBoxer. The movies share the same star, were filmed around the same time, and are both martial arts movies so you can understand why they always blended together in my mind. Luckily I got to re-watch this with a group of friends which is the best way to watch this flick. The fighting scenes are done well and Van Damme's facial expressions alone make this one worth watching. Don't expect much of a plot, even though it is supposedly based on true events. Donald Gibb is hilarious in a supporting role as Van Damme's friend who competes with him in a deadly martial arts competition. Bloodsport may not be a good movie, but it certainly is entertaining which is not something all movies can claim.
Bloodsport kicks and punches its way to a 5/10!

I first heard about Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964) from my Dad, who told me it was a movie he had seen as a kid. We watched it together and even though he had seen it before, it was so long ago that we both did not know what to expect. I was guessing it would be cheesy and campy but it was not. Instead the film is an interesting sci-fi adaptation of the Robinson Crusoe story with a quiet atmosphere as the main character (Paul Mantee) simply tries to survive while spending most of the film by himself. It is an older film but still looks stunning on the Criterion Collection Blu-ray released. Adam West appears in a minor role as one of only four characters in the film, one of whom is a monkey! The film was directed by Byron Haskin who is most famous for directing Treasure Island (1950) and The War of the Worlds (1953). This makes sense as Robinson Crusoe on Mars is sort of a combination of the two since it is a version of a classic adventure story as well as science fiction. The science used in the story is dated, but Mars is portrayed close to the science of the time and not simply as pure fantasy.
Robinson Crusoe on Mars blasts off into a 7/10!

I am a big fan of Predator and I liked Predator 2 so I had been cautiously optimistic about another Predator movie. And no, I don't count the Alien vs. Predator series as real Alien or Predator movies! Although we didn't get the Arnie cameo that all Predator fans wanted, this was an enjoyable sequel with some nice twists and turns. There are still no bad movies in the Predator canon. Adrien Brody is cast against type as a bad-ass soldier, but somehow it works. Topher Grace on the other hand is totally out of place, even when the true nature of his character is revealed. I loved the concept of having an alien planet as a game preserve and it was fun watching these dangerous characters having to work together. However, the jungle setting, as well as a few other aspects, tend to rehash the original a bit too much. The relationship between Royce (Brody) and Isabelle (the female lead, played by Alice Braga) worked, but felt too similar to that of Hicks and Ripley in Aliens. There were even some direct references to that movie such as the line, "If the time comes, I'll do us both" and the fact that at the end of both movies the characters finally share their names with each other. I still enjoyed it, but I just wish Predators spent more time being Predators instead of trying too hard to be Predator and Aliens. Predator 2 often gets ragged on, but at least it tried to do something different with its "urban jungle" setting. Considering how some sequels turn out, Predators is not bad at all though still the weakest of the series for me. I'm not counting the Aliens vs. Predator movies which I haven't seen.
Predators hunts down a 6/10!

Before the Roger Corman Blogathon kicked off, Nate told me to watch X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (1963). Starring Ray Milland as a doctor who gave himself x-ray vision, this was actually only the second Corman movie I had ever seen. While I obviously still need to see a lot more Corman movies, this is so far the one I consider to be his best. The acting is perfect for the tone and there is some great directing. My favorite scene had to be the dance party in which Dr. Xavier sees everyone naked thanks to his x-ray vision! It was fun to see some familiar faces (Harold J. Stone, John Hoyt, and Don Rickles) who appeared on my all-time favorite TV show, The Twilight Zone. "If thine eye offends thee... pluck it out!"
X: The Man with the X-Ray Eyes has the vision to get a 7/10!

Before Kathryn Bigelow won an Oscar for directing The Hurt Locker, which also won best picture, she made a fun little movie set in the American West about... bloodsuckers. You know, people who bite others and stay up all night. I'll stop, but the point is that Near Dark (1987) is a movie about vampires that never uses the dreaded v-word! Unfortunately this movie got overshadowed by The Lost Boys which came out the same year and was also about teenage vampires. However don't let success at the box office fool you, this is a better and more interesting movie. Jenny Wright puts in a haunting performance as Mae, a young female vampire who "turns" Caleb (Adrian Pasdar), a farmhand who works for his father. The other vampires are played by the cast of Aliens. I'm not kidding, we have Bill Paxton, Lance Hendrickson, and Jenette Goldstein as the older vampires. I guess it makes sense since Bigelow was married to James Cameron at one point. In addition to those actors, Joshua John Miller plays Homer. He appears to be about twelve years old and therefore the youngest in this group of vampires. However, since vampires can live forever, it actually turns out that he is the oldest with the other characters referring to him as an "old man." The synthesizer score by Tangerine Dream felt out of place, but I don't think it significantly detracts from the movie. This gritty vampire flick is criminally underrated and the perfect antidote for those Twilight movies!
Near Dark doesn't suck, as it gets a 7/10!

Here is how I do my rating system: It is not rocket science but merely a combination of how much I enjoyed the movie plus how well I felt it was made (acting, directing, writing, cinematography, etc.). A 10/10 would be a movie I absolutely loved and felt was incredibly made, a 5/10 would be about average in both respects, while a 1/10 would be totally boring and utter crap. Actually for this blog I'll make that a 0/10 although IMDB only goes as low as 1/10. I might also do .5 ratings (ex: 7.5/10) on this blog since I can't do that on IMDB. I don't give out 1's and 2's easily and 9's and 10's are even more rare. My ratings can change a bit over time, especially when I haven't seen a film in a while. I feel that the content of the review is more helpful and important than any number or grade, but I'll still include my rating for each movie.

On Sunday I will post Part Two, in which I review a Hitchcock film, another Corman flick, and three movies released in 2010!