Tag Archives: reviews

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

January 16, 2026

Posted under

Uncategorized

Comments

Leave a comment

Darkman (1990) Revisit

I have loved Sam Rami films ever since I discovered “the Evil Dead”. His style of film making is vibrant, eclectic and the stories that he tells are off kilter enough that they are memorable, even if they are buried in a genre that gets easily dismissed. He has a new film coming out in a couple of weeks that I am looking forward to, and this coming weekend, I will also be seeing my favorite Sam Rami film, “The Quick and the Dead”. Last weekend however, I got to see his 1990 Comic Book hero creation, “Darkman”, starring Liam Neeson in action mode, years before “Taken” launched him as a senior citizen tough guy.

This is a standard origin story, but it is about a character who is not standard at all. Peyton Westlake becomes the Darkman because of a vicious attack by gangsters, and an accident of medical intervention that results in rage generated strength while being largely impervious to pain. Because he was a scientist, working on artificial skin, he has the ability to create flesh masks of anyone he can obtain a photograph of. Thus he can disguise himself in a way that allows him to manipulate the men who disfigured him, in a way that turns them against each other. 

Westlake also has to create a mask of himself, to be able to reach out to his girlfriend, played by future three time Academy Award winning actress Francis McDormand. Neeson plays a tortured scientist, who pines for the life he lost, and also rages against those who mutilated him and murdered his colleague. Wearing his own face as a mask, there are several scenes where his interaction with Julie, McDormand’s character, go off the track. In an incident at a carnival, Peyton’s temper gets the best of him and director Rami amps up the situation with Dutch angles, zoom close ups, and intercutting of disturbing carnival images. It is very much like one of his Evil Dead movies for a moment. 

The main villain is played by Larry Drake, who was well known at the time as a benign character on “L.A. Law”, so here he was playing against type and he was great. Robert Durant is a confident bully who delights in removing the fingers from his victims, in a dispassionate manner. As if his lack of emotional display is a sign of professionalism rather than sociopathy. There were two direct to video sequels to this film, the first of which revived the character of Durant from the dead. This is a bit like killing the survivors of  “Aliens” to start the third film, it undermines some of the things that were great about the earlier film. 

The music score was from Danny Elfman, who had done “Batman” the previous year. This second dark hero has a theme that is familiar enough to echo the famous Batman theme, but distinctive enough to clearly fit with the aesthetic of a Sam Rami movie. Jenny Agutter shows up in a scene as the neurologist treating the injured Dr. Westlake, she reportedly did so as a favor to John Landis, who has a tenuous  connection to the film, including a part as an extra. There were a series of novels following the further adventures of Darkman, most of which were too dark to consider basing a movie on. This Alamo screening was a blast and I laughed with delight at a number of moments. The make-up effects are also pretty spectacular, you can see that Darkman is a forerunner of Two Face in the “Dark Night” Batman movie.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

January 16, 2026

Posted under

Uncategorized

Comments

Leave a comment

Dead Man’s Wire (2026)

We got an early peek the other night at one of the films that will certainly be a highlight of the first quarter of 2026. This movie features two stellar performances, and a very efficient reenactment of a real life event from 1977. I was in college in 1977, but I’d been doing quite a bit of traveling with the debate team, and at the time that this news event took place I was only vaguely aware of it. I’m glad that I didn’t have a complete memory of what happened, so although there was an actual historical antecedent I was surprised by the turnout of the events.

“Dead Man’s Wire” tells the story of a man frustrated by his inability to overcome economic forces that were crushing him. If you took the hostage drama of “Dog Day Afternoon” and combined it with the injustices that drive the characters in “Hell or High Water”, you would have a pretty good template for this movie. Tony Kiritsis takes a man hostage by looping a wire around the man’s head connected to a sawed-off shotgun with another wire connected to Tony. His goal is to recover economically from the dirty deed that a mortgage company has done to him, or at least that’s how he sees it. There’s been a long-standing dispute between Tony and the company over his mortgage on a piece of property that he hoped to develop in which he claims the mortgage company interfered with in order to force him into liquidation. It’s not merely the money however it bothers him. Tony is on a righteous crusade to get an apology from the president of the mortgage company who was his original target, but instead he is forced to take the vice president, who is the son of the president, as his hostage.

The real life incident took place in Indianapolis, and the filmmakers do a good job replicating the feel of 1977. The film stock seems to be from that era, with a good clear image, but a patina of shading it seems authentic to the time. Indianapolis is not a big city like New York, they didn’t necessarily have a hostage negotiator available, or a specialized SWAT team trained in all kinds of responses. Frankly the authorities are befuddled as to how to proceed. The suspense derives from the fact that any assault on Tony would result in the immediate death of his victim Richard.

Tony is played with gusto by the versatile Bill Skarsgård, who has become an obsession of my daughter. I think I saw three films starring Skarsgård last year. I can say however that this is his best performance without being under a pile of makeup. Tony has a righteous indignation, but he is not particularly cruel or vindictive to Richard. That helps keep him a sympathetic character which is exactly what the real Tony Kiritsis became to the public back in the day. He feels like a crusading Robin Hood trying to right a wrong that everybody else could identify as a thing they could easily have fallen prey to. The little guy against the system is the main theme of the film. Although the movie is very serious, like “Dog Day Afternoon”, there are moments of levity that occur because of the quirks of the characters.

Richard is played by actor Dacre Montgomery, best known for his portrayal of Billy in the show “Stranger Things”. He looks completely different in this role, and unlike the muscle bound preening Billy of the TV show, here he comes across as a bit of a nebish with a stoop and an awkward way of being polite that puts him at odds with Tony. These two actors account for most of the screen time but there is some other activity that’s worth mentioning. Richard’s father, the real villain of the piece, is played by Al Pacino with a little too much of that Foghorn Leghorn articulation that he’s developed over the years. If there is a weak link in the film, it’s from the most experienced of the actors. The father is equally self-righteous that he has done nothing wrong, to the point where he abuses his son Richard almost as much as Tony did.

The collection of local officials, some of whom knew Tony, as a local businessman, bar buddy, and occasional public nuisance. The undercover police officer who first arrives at the scene of the original kidnapping, is an acquaintance of Tony from a local bar. No one can believe that Tony is attempting this audacious Act of Justice, which violates the law and decency in an attempt to be treated decently. The cop is played by an unrecognizable Cary Elwes, and he is also terrific in the part. Even more impressive, once again, is Colman Domingo, who plays a local DJ, Fred Temple, who takes Tony’s call and helps mediate the crisis while trying to keep things cool.

There’s also a huge amount of social commentary in the way the news business handles this event. In the days before 24 hour cable news, local stations provided updates but not the continuous coverage that we would see today. The local news gets picked up for National presentation, so the two and a half days that this incident covers was closely watched by a nation that was not used to seeing crimes carried out live on TV.

As an audience, our sympathies are with both men, Tony for the Injustice done to him and Richard for the threat that’s being placed on his life. Neither man deserves what is happening. The police, and ultimately the FBI, arrange a deal with Tony, that you hope is going to resolve things. I won’t spoil the resolution for you, but I will say that it is a real world illustration of how the justice system can get something right even though they do so in the wrong way.

This movie deserves your attention, and it will command your interest through the performances of the two leads in the improbable but real life story. It’s hard to believe that it took 50 years to turn this into a movie, but first time screenwriter Austin Kolodney has done a nice job taking the unusual aspects of the real life story and turning it into a compelling narrative with an interesting theme. The movie is seamlessly directed by veteran Gus Van Zant. This may be the most accessible film he’s made since “Good Will Hunting”. Hopefully it’ll enjoy a good deal of success and bring attention to the actors who deserve credit for making us care.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

January 16, 2026

Posted under

Uncategorized

Comments

Leave a comment

We Bury the Dead (2025)

An interesting little drama disguised as a horror film, “We Bury the Dead” stars Daisy Ridley as a woman who may in fact be a widow but it’s not sure yet. The fact that she is an American becomes an issue because of the potential threat her husband faced. It seems that the United States was testing an electronic weapon in the southern seas when an accident occurred and the entire population in part of Australia was wiped out. Although it may be that they were not wiped out entirely, because this is something of a zombie film.

As a way to get to the distant location where her husband was located deep in the disaster area, Ava volunteers to be part of the National Emergency Recovery team, which basically consists of volunteers to collect the dead and identify those who have been damaged into a zombified state. As she engages in this volunteer work, she is also plotting a way to get the few hundred miles south to the resort island where her husband is supposed to be.

In a way all zombie films are meditations on grief, and our unwillingness to let go of our loved ones even in the worst of circumstances. There are other characters in this story, who are volunteering for their own personal reasons as well, and Ava forms an alliance with one of them to make her way South with his assistance. So, it is also going to be a road trip movie. Although we know that there are living dead in the affected region, this rarely becomes the traditional kind of horror film that features zombies. It is really only one jump scare that makes this a horror film, as usual, the real monsters in these stories are the living who take advantage of the circumstances.

The story is told with a series of flashbacks to the time before she and her husband were separated by this trip. We learn over several of these mediations that while they were in love, they did have problems. So this is also a film about the discovery in your love relationship. There are complications on the road, and a sense of foreboding haunts us through most of the movie, but there are only two or three moments of real tension. Those moments however were staged very effectively. Ava is viewed suspiciously a few times during the film because of her nationality, but politics is not really on the minds of the filmmakers, they are worried about our emotional psyche.

I thought the film was pretty efficient at telling its story and keeping it interesting. Those people looking for a zombie film that is filled with double taps, infected bites, and standoffs against hundreds of the Living Dead, will be disappointed. There are a couple of interesting turns during the film, one of which has already been explored in last year’s “28 Years Later”,.so this film is second to that theme. There is also an interesting reveal about the personal problems between Ava star and her husband, which comes at the start of the third act.

This must have been a moderately budgeted film, but the director is getting the most out of the resources that they were given. And even though it is a zombie infested Wasteland, the Tasmanian locations are still going to be an inviting tourist spot for those who take in the film. Ridley is solid, operating in a zone between the stupor of grief and the mania of trying to get to her husband. There are two other major characters, and they provide opposite ends of a story continuum, in an outcome that is more hopeful that is realistic.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

December 30, 2025

Posted under

Uncategorized

Comments

Leave a comment

Avatar Fire and Ash (2025)

Let me Begin by stating that I have nothing but admiration for James Cameron and his technical accomplishments with the Avatar films. From the very first film back in 2009 up through this most recent film, Cameron has been pushing the outside of the envelope reaching for greater and greater cinematic experiences to make movie going worthwhile. As far as I’m concerned an Avatar movie deserves to be on the biggest screen that you can find with the best sound system available and ideally in 3D. That’s because the Craftsman Behind These films are at the Apex of their talent.

I have to admit however that the Avatar films don’t hold my interest as far as storytelling is concerned. They are interesting enough while I’m watching them, and create enough suspense to engage me for the three hours or so, that they take up. On the other hand I have never felt the need to rewatch the films in any setting other than a theater. Unlike a film series like the Lord of the Rings, these stories do not feel essential. They are entertainments rather than universals. As a consequence I don’t find myself invested in waiting for the next movie to come out. It took more than a dozen years for the first sequel to show up, and I was fine with that. It’s only taken about 4 years for this second sequel to show, and to be honest I wasn’t even sure I was interested in seeing it. I’m glad I did because I enjoyed the spectacle, I just can’t seem to warm up to any of the characters or care much about what happens to the cultures being presented here. I’m not sure if that is a storytelling fault or simply result of the genre that is being developed, although I am strongly anticipating the third film Dune franchise.

Fire and Ash, continues the story of the navi and the metamorphized Jake Sully. I mostly don’t remember how it is that this human became a navi, and the fact that antagonist characters do the same thing is also somehow outside my frame of reference. And once again I don’t really care. The film is mostly a series of chases and battles fought in the lustly designed environments that have been created on the planet of Pandora. The jungles and oceans of that world are visually stimulating and filled with creatures and Flora that are spectacular to behold especially in 3D. Is one of my friends jokes the planet deserves to be in 3D because the characters are barely 2D.

Like the previous versions of the film series, fire and Ash feels like it comes to a stopping point, and then adds another 40 minutes. You are going to get your money’s worth no matter how unnecessary it is for the films to be as long as they are. Because of the plot line repeats itself so often in the same movie there’s not a lot of suspense about the story only about how the incidents that occur in the story are going to be resolved. From my point of view that’s not a great way to stay engaged with characters or long-term story arc,

One thing that I am grateful for in this new addition is the presence of antagonists who are not merely human exploiters but are instead, Renegade Navi who don’t really subscribe to the same Planet mysticism as the residents we’ve already met. I’m not quite sure why they can reject the authority of the planet, because they have the same ethernet port hanging off of them that our Heroes do. There is a little bit of mumbo jumbo about how this tribe was abandoned by the great mother, but we don’t really know what took place, and why the fault should have been laid in the center of the planet. They do however have some cool new designs including a headdress that probably is a form of cultural appropriation that Cameron and manages to get away with.

A smart person will never bet against James Cameron when it comes to box office success. This movie appears to be doing as well as the previous sequel and although there has been some talk of pausing the planned 4th and fifth films, can’t see that happening. I was a little surprised that the lamb community was not interested in a show on this particular film, which might have left me believing that there was going to be a serious drop off in interest. It certainly isn’t the case with the General Cinema audience, so maybe it’s just a function of the time of year.

As I’ve already said, the film is worth seeing if you are seeing it in a theater on a big screen with the purpose of enjoying a mass entertainment. If you’re looking for anything else however there are plenty of superior options. As most of you who’ve read these posts before probably know, I almost always want a movie to succeed, even those that let me down occasionally. Avatar fire and Ash is entertaining enough, but outside of the technical craft and look of the film, I think it’s flatlined.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

December 27, 2025

Posted under

Uncategorized

Comments

Leave a comment

Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang (2005) Revisit

We lost Val Kilmer this last year, and that is certainly a tragedy. He is best remembered by most as Iceman from the Top Gun films, and he was Doc Holliday in the best performance of his career in Tombstone. It is unfortunate that his role in “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” is sometimes overlooked . Gay Perry, the private detective, is one of the great sarcastic narrators in film noir. When you add Robert Downey Jr and his sardonic delivery to the narration, you have what should qualify as a classic.

Shane Black is created two of the best Neo noir films of the century. “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” along with “The Nice Guys”, is the perfect mix of mystery, thriller, and comedy. There’s a seemingly convoluted plot that is the basis of the mystery in this film . If you get to the end of the movie and you are still confused, don’t worry about it. The real joy in the film is just watching the characters be smart asses in the face of danger and their own stupidity.

The dialogue for this movie is pinnacle Shane Black. He should probably only write for action movies, and film noir. Although his version of the Predator does undermine his action credentials a little bit. Still,l this movie gives him enough excess status that he can burn a little bit of it on some failed outings.  Downey Jr plays Harry Lockhart, a loser and small-time crook who somehow gets caught up in the film business and is being mentored on how to be a private eye by Perry Von Schrieke, Kilmer’s character. When real murders start to happen, Harry insists on trying to solve them and tries to muscle Gay Perry into helping him. The by play between the two of them consists of some of the wittiest back and forth you will see on the screen since the days of the screwball comedies of Preston Sturgis.

Well not a parody in the pure sense of the word, “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang” certainly plays on the tropes of the traditional film noir. A detached detective, a femme fatale, and enough tough guy suspects to fill an arena for a fight to the death. We frequently get those fights as well. The deadpan delivery of the two stars, along with the outrageous plot points and coincidences, keep this film intriguing and lively.

One of the best illustrations of the biting and sarcastic dialogue comes when Perry in the fit of frustration asks Harry if he knows what he’ll find when he looks up the word idiot in the dictionary. Harry gives a smart-ass answer which would have been the end of it in the lesser film, but Gay Perry puts a button on the joke and dialogue rises to a new level.

Michelle Monaghan is also quite good in the film as the not quite good girl that Harry has always been in love with. She is both funny and sexy simultaneously. She is also pretty resilient in spite of her flighty character traits. As usual it’s not too hard to figure out the mystery, when a pretty substantial character actor is introduced early in the film, and then remains on the periphery during the exposition. Let’s just say that you will know who the bad guy is the minute he appears on screen. Again that isn’t really important, since the plot is mainly designed to put Harry and Perry in awkward situations and allow them to quip their way out.

It’s a little hard to believe that this film is 20 years old, and they’re only a couple of pieces of technology that give that away. Otherwise this movie remains as fresh as it was in 2005, and although I don’t think it quite qualifies as a Christmas film, it does its best to try.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

December 24, 2025

Posted under

Uncategorized

Comments

Leave a comment

Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair (2025)

 

When Kill Bill volume 1 and volume 2 came out in 2003 and 2004, we were pretty much Blown Away by the audacity Of The two movies. We knew that they were originally planned as one film but the practical circumstances dictated that they be divided into two parts. I have always felt that the cliffhanger at the end of Kill Bill volume 1 was a perfect way to keep us engaged and excited about the second film which was arriving just a few months later.

It was just last September that we saw both volume one and volume two on the big screen, hosted by Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino’s pal and frequent collaborator. He did great introductions for both films, and reminded us that it was his band that did the music for the second film. This seemed perfectly appropriate since much of the movie takes place in Texas and Mexico. We had heard that Tarantino was going to release this new version of Kill Bill, but we decided that we would probably see it again despite having just experienced it at the Paramount Theater.

Thank goodness we did come back, because Tarantino is edited the two films together seamlessly, and added a few bits and pieces here and there to make the movie feel fresh, in spite of the fact that we just seen it two months before. Someplace else can tell you about all of the changes that have been made. The extended anime sequence of Oren’s background is probably the most noticeable part of the film that has been enhanced. There may also have been a couple of shots in the House of Blue leaves fight that were not there before. Noticeably missing was the dialogue that David Carradine provided at the end of Kill Bill volume one, they provided the cliffhanger. Since the movie just continues the information about the bride’s daughter still being alive has been reserved for much later in the film then what it was previously.

Tarantino includes a couple of touches the throwback to the 1970s era that he so loves, as do I. Veteran moviegoers will know to sit through the credits to make sure they’ve seen everything that will be part of the film. Everybody else in the theater left before the final segment played out on the screen, but we were still there to see it. It’s an additional chapter done in an anime style using storyboard techniques that were probably used in the original film, for a segment that was eliminated. It was completely unnecessary but it was a lot of fun and we were certainly glad that we stayed to the very end.

Most of the rest of the story Remains the Same, and you could look at my notes from our September screening if you want to know more about what I thought of the films. It is also bittersweet that we lost Michael Madsen earlier this year, his Bud, is a key transition to the second segments of the movie. He will always be Mr. blonde in my head, but Bud is a great character that he brought to life for these films.

One of my online friends fervently hopes that the whole bloody affair is never released on home video, so it will always be a theatrical experience. I share that sentiment entirely, but I live in the real world and unfortunately this kind of screening maybe two infrequent to forgo a release to streaming or physical media. Believe me, if this version of the film does make it to physical media, I will be purchasing it.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

December 19, 2025

Posted under

Uncategorized

Comments

Leave a comment

SISU: The Road to Revenge (2025)

If you’re anything like me , you’re a sucker for a good revenge movie. 2 years ago I fell in love with a Finnish film where the star never speaks in the movie, does outrageous things that are not physically possible, and kills Nazis for 90 minutes. In other words it was a movie that was designed for people like me, and I hope for people like you.

When I heard that there was going to be a Sisu 2, I was immediately excited. More ridiculous violence and a stoic hero that we can admire for his fortitude, creativity, and relentlessness. This time he gets to kill Commies for the most part, although there is one Nazi who is directing things. Does that make any sense? Of course not. These movies are not meant to make sense, they are meant to entertain, and the road to Revenge is quite entertaining, although it can never achieve the delightful surprise that its predecessor was.

The setup for the film is simple: Our hero , Having been displaced by Soviet takeover of Finnish territory, returns to the home where his wife and child were murdered. His goal,  To tear it down and transport it to the new territory in Finland where he is now exiled to. The Soviet High command has determined that a Finnish Commando who has become a legendary hero is a threat to their status, so they release the Nazi commandant responsible for his family’s death, to deal with him in a manner that reflects their barbaric nature .

The Nazi war criminal , freed by the communists to do their dirty work is played by actor. Stephen Lang.  This is familiar territory for Lang,  As he has played villains in countless films, including the Avatar movies and Tombstone. Our returning hero is played by the same actor from the first film whose stoic countenance continues to be admirable, and ambiguous. Some of the action requires submersion underwater, acceleration through the air, and reckless speeds on highways that have been deteriorated by War conditions. All of which provides background for our hero to defend himself against the Relentless attacks of a plethora of Russian soldiers being directed by a Nazi war criminal. Like I said it doesn’t make a lot of sense but it is a lot of fun.

Sequels inevitably involve stepping up the special effects and amping up the action. Fortunately “SISU The Road to Revenge” does not skimp on the brutality. The Battalion of men who are eliminated at some point in this movie are dispatched with guns, knives, bombs, flames and we get to see most of it. So be prepared for a brutal good time, one that is satisfying although not quite as joyful as the first film. And rest assured the dog lives.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

December 13, 2025

Posted under

Uncategorized

Comments

Leave a comment

Hamnet (2025)

My immediate reaction to this film was to put it in the context of the award competing films for the year. It is of course a simple hyperbole to say that if “One Battle After Another” wins the Best picture award over this movie, I will burn Hollywood to the ground. This movie is so much more thoughtful, artful and well performed that it should be in it’s own category, to which the Paul Thomas Anderson movie is never given admission. I already said I did not care for that other movie in my review back in September, this film gives me another chance to diss that movie by making the unfavorable comparison.

Enough though of the movie I did not care for, let me sing the praises of this movie which I admire immensely. “Hamnet” tells us a two love stories and does so through a tragedy. Much like a Shakespearean work, the touching personal story of love is filtered through an event of tragic proportions. The screenplay divides the progress of the story into distinct acts, but they are not labeled that way in the film. Director Chloé Zhao, uses a simple black screen to transition from one segment to another, a technique that may seem alien to hyperkinetic films of this era, but one that keeps the focus on the characters and the story and not on the visual style of the director. There are plenty of other opportunities for Zhao to leave an impression elsewhere.

The first third of the film slowly introduces us to the two characters that form the center of the story. Paul Mescal plays William Shakespeare, who will one day be recognized as one of the most influential geniuses in history. The other is Agnes Hathaway, historically referred to as Anne and pronounced in the film as Annis. In a performance that defies the concept of  mere acting, Jesse Buckley inhabits this fierce woman, a healer from a woodsman background, who oozes supernatural maternal abilities and a romantic essence that far exceeds mere physical beauty.  I have been a fan of this actress since I saw her in “Wild Rose”, and although I have not cared much for some of the subsequent films she has appeared in, my qualms were never about her work. Here, she elevates the brilliant screenplay with a earthy personality and a strength of character that will live in you memory for a long time. That’s right, the spouse of the greatest playwright in history, is the character you will care the most about. That is not to diminish the performance of Mescal, who is also excellent, but to recognize that the character and the actress in this film are the core of the story. 

The love story between these two characters takes up the opening segments of the film. The second love story is the adoration that they have for their children and the love that the children have for them and one another. In spite of Will’s need to be in London for his profession, he maintains a strong relationship with the family he has left at home. That regular separation however becomes a keystone moment i the story when personal tragedy strikes. Will and Agnes are estranged by the bitterness that follows and the recrimination she bestows on him for his inability to be with them always. It is the hurtful expression of that failing that motivates the most well known and prolific plays, the tragedy of “Hamlet”. 

As usual, I don’t want to give too much away, but the two main characters have different coping mechanisms when facing death. Agnes has a naturalistic view of the afterlife that is not based in religion per say but in the folklore that she subscribes to.  There is a beautiful scene where the family commemorates the passing of her beloved hawk, a pet she has cared for over many years. That approach fails her when faced with an even larger loss. It is Shakespeare who finds a way for the two of them to remember their cherished loved one, in a way that keeps the promise that Agnes made to him. 

The story plays out slowly, with character details taking up more time than plot incidents. This is a film that is the antithesis of  action films these days, but also comedies and dramas. We have to understand the people in the story for the events to have their full weight. The methodical buildup of family relations, the measured pace of the life they lead, and the lingering moments of beauty in the film are not things that you will encounter very often in contemporary movies. Much to the detriment of the movie going experience. 

For more about this film, watch for this weeks episode of the LAMBcast.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

November 21, 2025

Posted under

Uncategorized

Comments

Leave a comment

The Running Man (2025)

The sense of relief I will have when this review gets posted is hard to explain. I have been as many as seven films behind in my goal to post on all my theatrical experiences. In addition to the number of films, there is the time delay from when I saw the movie to when a post finally went up, three weeks has been the longest I have ever fallen behind but now I am past that. This movie I saw two nights ago, and it will complete my most recent backlog of posts.

“The Running Man” was originally adapted for Arnold Schwarzenegger back in the 1980s. It was a pretty cheesy film, even for the times, but on a recent revisit, I thought it was much better than I remembered. The costumed killers that pursue Ben Richards were laughable, but they were fun. The themes of media manipulation and totalitarian control were however very nicely presented, and at least in the former, very prescient. This new version trods the same path, but with less wit and more complications than the original version had. It is however, still a lot of fun.

I have been a fan of Edgar Wright as a director for a while, the “Cornetto Trilogy” is a go to whenever I want to be entertained. I was disappointed when he walked away from “Ant-Man”, but I can still see the influence that he had on that film. I am a little surprised to say that the new version of the “Running Man” while certainly quite good, does not feel particularly like a Wright film. There are some particularly good stunt sequences in the film, but I did not find them as manically amusing as the chases in “Baby Driver” or the combat in “Scott Pilgrim”. They felt for the most part as if they could have been created by any of the talented action directors that churn out so many other films. My sense of heightened enjoyment was muted as a result.

Of the advantages that Wright’s film has over it’s predecessor, I would say the acting and the effects are the things that make this movie something you should see. I think Glen Powell is a solid actor, but his part here is too straight for the humor I was hoping for. Colman Domingo however leans into his role as the Network Host who can hype up an audience, bend the truth to stir emotions, and take what he is given and turn it into ratings. It was clear he was enjoying the part. The same can also be said for the most part for Josh Brolin, who as the network head with all the power, is venal, manipulative and gleeful while being so. Powell is not a weak link, his role is just not as strong during the chase sequences as it was in the first act of the film. 

The scale of the chase is vastly broader in this version of the story, and that helps quite a bit in making the film feel fresh. The special effects and video surveillance elements of the story are even stronger. While it does go over the top in the plane sequence in the third act, it was easy to believe a lot of the process of the chase in the main part of the film. The vehicles, weapons and media all project a near future that is believable.  The A.I. part of the story is to me, the most frightening element of the themes. Someone else can manipulate your persona with some technological wizardry. Unfortunately, that sort of technology is mostly available now and it is easily accessible. I see posts on Facebook that look like they could be Network Promos from this film. Reality is the victim in both the fiction of this story and in the contemporary world.

Because it lacks the outlandish characters of the 1980s film, this movie does not stand out from a bunch of other sci fi action films that have proliferated in the past couple of years. They are fine, but lack enough uniqueness to make them essential. This film is solid but you will find lots of films in the same milieu without even looking hard. 

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

November 8, 2025

Posted under

Uncategorized

Comments

1 Comment

An American Werewolf in London (1981) Panic at the Paramount

The “Panic! at the Paramount” series this year has featured several special presentations that required an additional admission fee past our membership subscription. That has been perfectly reasonable given the quality of the programming. This presentation of the John Landis classic, featured a Q and A after the movie with the film’s star David Naughton, who turned out to be quite the raconteur.  He told us a number of funny stories about the production and working with the special effects make-up of Rick Baker

This is another of the great 1980s horror films that initiated the practice of mixing humor in with the frights. Landis was the right guy to do this having a great background in comedy, having made both “Animal House” and “the Blues Brothers”. This film came out the summer I was working as a delivery driver for a photo supply company in Los Angeles.  One of the places I delivered to, printed movie posters, and I just could not manage to snag one for this movie from the stacks of them I had to walk by when making a delivery to the printing company. 

Jack and David are two college students, traveling through Europe on a summer excursion. They end up in a remote part of England, walking through a rural area, that is populated by a community living with a secret that casts fear over them. They are not particularly friendly natives and the boys are sent packing into the dark with a warning to stick to the road and stay off the moors. The humor had already started with the kibbitzing between the two young men, but it get more intensely humorous when they realize they have wandered off the road and they hear a howling animal near them. The tone shifts suddenly, and a horrifying bloody attack ensues. That is the pattern for the rest of the movie. A moment of levity is suddenly dashed by some horror, or a moment of terror becomes a joke in the hands of the actors and director. 

Rick Baker famously won the first Academy Award for the new make-up category, for the combination of prosthetics, puppetry and hair and make-up moments. The scene where David’s hand extends as it becomes a paw was shot one time. Landis called cut and print and was ready to go to the next shot, but Baker had spent months getting the effect ready and was not prepared to be done so quickly. As Naughton told it, Landis looked at Baker and asked, “Does it do something else” and the flummoxed make up master had to say no, and Landis simply said, “Let’s move on then.”

The use of pop tunes that evoked the moon was another early innovation. Tons of movies use “needle drops” these days, but in 1981, most films relied on original music for their cues. I can’t say that “America Werewolf in London” was the first to use them, but it is the earliest film I can remember that used previous record hits for the distinct purpose of highlighting a scene in the movie. Other films may have used popular songs as background, but this movie was using them as punchlines and energy points.

It might be fair to classify the movie as a romance as well as a horror-comedy. The lovely Jenny Agutter plays the nurse who takes a special interest in David after he is discharged from the hospital. Their love affair is a touching counter-point to the horror story that David is living through. His friend Jack makes frequent appearances in the film, after his character has died, and there are great visual jokes that go along with some gruesome imagery. This is another example of how gallows humor is injected into the story.

I have heard it said that the 1980s were the golden age of horror films. I think that may be a little bit of an exaggeration, but having experienced “Re-Animator”, Fright Night”, “The Fog” and this movie, all in the last month, I might be convinced.