Unknown, Unliked, and Unseen.
Side project during social distancing.
Saturday, December 12, 2020
Sunday, July 5, 2020
Fanboys – so far one of the few nostalgia movies about the 90’s
Title: Fanboys
US Release: 2/6/2009
Directed by Kyle Newman
Written by Ernest Cline & Adam Goldberg
Distributed by The Weinsten Company and Vivendi
Entertainment
Cast:
Sam Huntington – Eric Bottler
Chris Marquette – Linus
Dan Fogler – Hutch
Jay Baruchel – Windows
Kristen Bell – Zoe
David Denman – Chaz
Seth Rogan – Prime Trekkei/Roach/Star Trek convention alien.
The Skinny:
Set
about 6 months prior to the release of Star Wars Episode I – The Phantom
Menace, Eric (Huntington), is at a Halloween party where he stumbles upon his
childhood friends he’s fallen out of touch with since high school graduation 3
years prior. Linus, Hutch, and Windows
(Marquette, Fogler, and Baruchel respectively), are still a tight knit group of
not only sci-fi/comic book geeks, but do or die Star Wars fans. Though Hutch and Windows seem happy to see
Eric after so long, the relationship between Eric and Linus is apparently
strained. Mutual friend Zoe (Bell) is
also at the party, and proves to be the tomboy/geek girl who’s on the same
wavelength as the boys. Eric reveals
he’s become a car salesman and has somewhat fallen away from his passion of
Star Wars, though this is not the only the reason his friendship with Linus has
become strained.
At
midnight, the boys, along with Zoe, enthusiastically announce another day down,
bringing the opening of episode I one day closer. Linus recounts a plan he’s had since 5th
grade to road trip to Marin County California, break into Skywalker ranch, and
steal rough cut of Episode I as he can’t wait until the official release. Eric shoots down the idea, citing that
obviously they would be arrested. Linus
and the rest angrily walk out.
The
next day, we see that Eric sells used cars at his father’s dealership, and his
older brother Chaz (Denman) also works there, and still tortures him in
stereotypical older brother fashion.
Windows and Hutch make a surprise visit to inform Eric that Linus has
cancer, and will not make it to the official release date of Phantom
Menace. Distraught at the news, Eric
goes to Hutch’s garage (his place of residence, which he vehemently states is a
“carriage house” a running gag throughout the film) to try and patch things up
with Linus. Linus abruptly walks
out. Eric stops him and the two
argue. Its revealed that not only were
they best friends, but had plans to become “the next big thing in comics”. Eric defends his choices, saying that such a
goal was only a daydream, and he saw no choice but get a real job selling cars
for his father and grow up. Linus states
he is really miserable and that he abandoned his love for Star Wars for no good
reason. Linus drives away angry.
The
next day Eric surprises Hutch and Windows at their comic book shop and
challenges them to undertake the road trip to Skywalker ranch Linus had always
wanted to take. Through some prodding,
the two agree, and manage to talk Linus into coming along as well, though he
says it “won’t change anything” between him and Eric.
The
rest of the film is chocked full of Star Wars references, some Star Trek
references and a handful of other geek genre references. In road trip film fashion, the foursome encounters
odd and comical setbacks to their quest, such as:
·
Hutch detouring to Iowa, “future birthplace of
one Capt. James T Kirk” so he can “pimp slap” some trekkies. There he starts an ongoing feud with a die
hard Star Trek fan (Rogan, in one of his 3 roles in the film).
·
The van gets a flat tire, and the boys
unwittingly getting trapped in a gay biker bar to be saved by a Mexican-Indian
chief who gets them high on peyote and they all experience Star Wars
hallucinations.
·
Windows meeting his online girlfriend only to
find out she’s underage and her uncle nearly kills him until Linus pleads their
case, and he hooks them up with resources to break into Skywalker ranch.
·
The group try to outrun state troopers as they
speed to Las Vegas and Zoe ends up bailing them out of county jail by bankrupting
the comic shop.
·
Hutch and Windows unwittingly getting involved
with hookers and must flee their Pimp, a fellow Star Wars fan but psychotic
(Also Rogan) while Eric and Linus run into the Trekkies again.
·
Linus’s cancer flaring up almost derailing the
road trip when Eric, re-discovering his passion for Star Wars, rallies the
group to break Linus out of the hospital and head to California.
On the Surface:
Definitely a movie for Star Wars fans. A lot of movie goers would say this is a
movie for geeks in general but geekdom is not its own “tribe”. There
is a definite divide between Star Wars and Star Trek, making each fan base
unique to its own franchise. Though
there is overlap, geekdom is not all encompassing and some geeks will know all
there is to know about X (IE: Star Wars, Stargate, Highlander, etc.) but know
little to nothing, or not even care, about Y (IE: Star Trek, Babylon 5, Dune,
etc.) Though the film caters to Star Wars fans the most, Star Trek fans will
still get a lot of the jokes and references to their beloved franchise, and
other lukewarm or genre fans will get the one-off references to their own franchises
of interest.
Besides
the obviously high number of Star Wars references, and some references to Star
Trek (mainly as insults), there are a few references to other geek franchises:
- · THX-1138 (George Lucas’ student film from USC, which he would later make into feature film)
- · Thundercats-HOOO
- Wolverine (Hutch screams "Shik{the comic sound effect of the claws coming out his hands}, C'MON BUB!" as he tussles with the trekkies.)
- · Beverly hills cop
- · Top gun (Jerry Bruckheimer is mistakenly referred to “Terry Bruckheimer”)
- · Terminator 2 (“I will hunt you down like a T-1000”)
- · Scooby-doo
- · The Batman films directed by Joel Shumacher (“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard since Shumacher put nips on Batman”)
- · Dirty Dancing (“Nobody puts baby in a corner”)
- · Indiana Jones and Blade Runner (“Harrison Ford is the greatest actor of all time”)
- · Willow
- · Mario Kart (The game the group is playing on the Nintendo 64)
- · Back to the Future (“them 1.21 Gigwatts don’t come cheap”)
- · And of course Highlander (“there can be only one” is a dead giveaway)
Also are the many Cameos:
- · Carrie Fisher as the ER doctor
- · Billy Dee Williams as “Judge Reinhold” a play on the actor’s name from Beverly Hills Cop.
- · Ray Park as Carl the security guard at Skywalker ranch (who plays “Darth Maul” in Episode I. “Time for you to get mauled boy.”)
- · Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes at the rest stop.
- · Danny Trejo as the Chief.
- · Christopher McDonald as Big Chuck Bottler
- · Ethan Suplee as Harry Knowles
- · Danny McBride as head security guard at Skywalker Ranch.
- · Craig Robinson (of “The Office”) and Will Forte (SNL Alum) as additional Skywalker ranch security.
- · And William Shatner as himself.
Production Wise:
The
original cut of the film was well received, most importantly by George Lucas
himself, who gave it his seal of approval and even offered to let director Kyle
Newman use the original sound fx from the Star Wars films. Life long Star Wars fan Kevin Smith also
liked the original cut and was granted a cameo.
This generated more interest in the film which resulted in Newman
getting more money to shoot scenes he originally had to cut from the script
because of the limited budget.
Scheduling the reshoots was tricky as the cast
was involved in other projects and could only be reassembled for a less than a
month. For reasons unknown, Newman was
not available to direct the reshoots, and another director Steven Brill,
directed instead. His version completely
dropped the cancer subplot for Linus and changed the story to appear more like
a drunken road trip film for fun, not fandom.
Eventually
two separate cuts of the film were tested, with Steven Brill’s being received
poorly and even creating a lot of conflict online. Brill’s response was less than professional,
and the film’s official release was delayed many times as a result. Finally, Newman regained control of final cut
of the film and included as much of the new material as he felt helped the
original story of the film. Distribution
issues with the Weinstein Company cause further delays to its release before
finally getting a limited release in February 2009.
Why I like the film:
A big
reason I like this film is its set in the 1990’s. I really did like Episode I (I even did a blog
post on that film), and I remember it being a highlight of my 8th
grade year. I feel the 1990’s are very overlooked
in film. The 1980’s seem to get more
attention, and I remember there being retro 80’s movies being released as early
as 1996. So for very few nostalgic
movies about the 1990’s to be released even into the year 2020 seems like a
huge missed opportunity and so many serious stories or even fictious stories
about the 90’s are left untold. Seeing
the original Nintendo 64 and the song “Lump” by President’s of the United
States of America making their way into the film was an extra delight.
Truth
be told, I’m a child of both Star Wars and Star Trek. Saturday Night’s my family (yes my entire
family) would watch 3 hours of Star Trek on TV.
My Mom, a music teacher, would
play John Williams films scores on the piano from time to time, and Dad (for reasons
I can’t remember) always wanted to watch “A New Hope” for movie time. I got all the Star Wars jokes and all the Star
Trek jokes of the film. As for all the other film and tv references, I
noticed them on the first watch and laughed at a lot of them, so this film
spoke to my geekiness.
Dan
Fogler is a genuine comic talent; I keep waiting for him to start his own
comedy film franchise.
Sam Huntington is the clear choice
to play the main role of life long geek, but knows he needs a real job to
survive. An unfortunate truth I and a
lot of other geeks and nerds have to live with.
I sympathize with Eric Bottler’s struggle. The underlying message of comradery shown
through his relationship with Linus is also poignant: his best friend whom
he shares a common love for Star Wars with is dying, meaning his love of
geekiness is dying which would leave his life empty once it was gone. Eric’s geek “redemption” is the classic “find
yourself” schtick seen in so many films, but this film conveys it in a way that
geeks can understand and is far from sappy.
The many cameos and references make
this film enjoyable and constantly remind me that this is a film about Star
Wars fandom, not a film “explaining” fandom, which would have killed it. Casual movie goers will definitely lose interest
in the film before it’s done, but miss the opportunity to connect with geeks by
writing it off as a movie for “those people”.
Though Harvey Weinstein did not produce
this film, because it was distributed by his company bearing his name, it unfortunately
gets dismissed, as it gives the impression that to rent, buy, or even view it
supports his shameful actions. Harry
Knowles, who’s actions were exposed as part of the #metoo movement, also kills creditability
for the film, though he’s portrayed by actor Ethan Suplee in the film and does
not himself appear in the film.
This film can’t seem to get a
break, and has been relegated to a genre film only Star Wars and Star Trek fans
would know about. But, that might do the
film some good in the end since the truly faithful fanbase of both franchises
don’t bother with the watered down mainstream versions and would rather focus
on the true to form content and anything focusing on what makes geekdom so far
removed from mainstream, no matter what decade, but is also what makes it so
great.
The film is rated PG-13 for some crude humor, a scene of
drug use, and some other sexual jokes. Rent
or stream where available for some rare 90’s nostalgia and genuine appreciation
of Star Wars fandom for the shameless geek, casual geek, and closet Star Wars,
Star Trek, etc, geek alike.
Sunday, May 17, 2020
The Lost World – return to a different Jurassic Park.
Title: The Lost Word – Jurassic Park
US Release: 5/23/1997
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Written by David Koepp based on Michael Crichton’s novel
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Cast:
Jeff Goldblum - Ian Malcolm
Vince Vaughn – Nick Van Owen
Arliss Howard – Peter Ludlow
Pete Postlethwaite – Roland Tembo
Julianne Moore – Dr. Sara Moore
Richard Schiff – Eddie Carr
Peter Stormare - Dieter Stark
Vanessa Lee Chester – Kelly Curtis
Richard Attenborough – John Hammond
The Skinny:
Set
some years after the conclusion of the first film, a second island is
introduced, not far from original island that hosted Jurassic Park. This island is later revealed to be “Site B”,
the genetic breeding ground for the bulk of the dinosaur population of the park.
Meant to be a habitat to nurse the
dinosaurs to a certain age before moving them to park itself, it too was
abandoned after a storm struck the island, the same storm that lead to the
catastrophic failure of Jurassic park. Its
soon stumbled upon by a wealthy family vacationing on their private yacht. The only child of the family, a little girl
(Camilla Belle, in one of her earliest big film appearances), wonders off and
encounters Compsognathus, very small dinosaurs that appear cute and friendly,
but soon turn vicious as many more suddenly arrive and swarm the little girl.
Ian
Malcolm (Goldblum) is summoned to the mansion of John Hammond (Attenborough),
who’s lost control of his company Ingen after the failure of Jurassic Park, to
his greedy and pretentious nephew Peter Ludlow (Howard). Its revealed Ludlow used his extensive
influence to bury the tragedy of Jurassic park, leading the media and
ultimately the public believe that its failure was due solely to human error,
placing blame on Hammond, Malcolm, and the few other survivors of the
park. Now with the attack on the little
girl, her wealthy parents are suing Ingen.
Its assets almost gone from the massive loss of the original park, and fearing
bankruptcy, Ludlow intends to re-open Jurassic Park on Site B due to the higher
dinosaur population so the company can start generating revenue and start
turning a profit to become successful again.
Hammond sees this as his last chance to retake control of Ingen.
Needing to prove that the dinosaurs
still on the island have been living on their own without any outside help, and
with said evidence can lobby for a policy of non-interference from Ingen
investors and hopefully the public as well.
Hammond requests Ian lead a team on the island, based off his previous
experience at Jurassic park. The team
consists of photographer Nick Van Own (Vaughn) and heavy equipment specialist
Eddie Carr (Schiff), and assisted by field vehicles outfitted for the primitive
terrain and encounters with the dinosaurs.
Ian flat out rejects Hammond request, but is horrified when he learns
the 3rd member of the team is his girlfriend Dr. Sarah Harding
(Moore) who’s already on the island. Ian
reluctantly agrees, using the expedition as a rescue mission to get Sarah off
the island as soon as possible.
Ian’s
troubles get worse when his daughter, Kelly (Curtis), turns out to be on her
own when her mother (Ian’s ex-wife) leaves for Europe with her new boyfriend,
and ends up stowing away on one of the field vehicles. The team finds Sarah on the island, who,
along with Nick and Eddie, are awestruck at the sight of real-life dinosaurs,
much to Ian’s chagrin. The situation is
further complicated when they witness chinook helicopters bearing the Ingen
logo bringing another team to the island.
The
second team turns out to be a big game hunting party, lead by veteran hunter
Roland Tembo (Postlethwaite), and Ludlow in tow. Using their own specially outfitted vehicles
and weaponry, they set out to catch dinosaurs alive, and turn out to be very
efficient at it. Despite the
carelessness and incompetent attitude of Roland’s second in command, Dieter
Stark (Stormare), Roland’s hunting party captures enough live dinosaurs to
stage a teleconference with Ingen investors, straight from the island. Ian’s party, not wanting to see the dinosaurs
hurt or a repeat of the mistakes of Jurassic Park, set the dinosaurs free in
the middle of the teleconference, leading to panic, confusion, and destruction.
Roland,
wishing to kill a Tyrannosaurus Rex a trophy, wounds a T-rex hatchling to use
as bait. However, he must return to the
camp as the other dinosaurs were released.
Sarah and Nick rescue the injured baby rex and take it back to their
mobile base camp to patch up its wounds.
The baby rex’s parents however, follow them there. Seeking to save their offspring, they
overturn the vehicle and push it nearly off a nearby cliff. Ian, Nick and Sarah are trapped inside and
narrowly avoid falling out of the vehicle as the rear half dangles over the
side of the cliff. Eddie arrives with
another specialized SUV and attempts a rescue.
Securing a lead rope for the three to use to climb to safety, he also
has to rig a tow cable to the much larger vehicle as its slowly sliding off the
cliff. Flooring this much smaller
vehicle in reverse to keep the mobile base vehicle from falling off the cliff,
he’s soon beset by the male and female T-rex, who destroy his vehicle and
eventually eat him alive. The mobile
base and the smaller SUV slide over the cliff.
Ian, Sarah and Nick hold tight to the lead rope and climb up to safety
after the vehicles fall around them and down to the coast below. Found by Roland’s party, Ian must work with
Ludlow and his cohorts to get off the island before the dinosaurs descend on
them all and eat them alive.
Not
only will getting off the island be perilous, the reality of dinosaurs being
exploited for profit will prove to be a much bigger problem, one that will
follow the survivors even after they make it off the island.
On the Surface:
Obviously
with the huge success and visual breakthroughs of the first film, and a sequel
novel to the original novel written by Crichton himself, a sequel was pretty
much guaranteed for this film. Expanding
on the CGI techniques pioneered in the first film, along with partial scene compositing,
John Williams returning to score the film and Stan Winston’s animatronics, this
film was setup to be a bigger spectacle than the first. Like Spielberg’s first summer blockbuster
hit, Jaws, fans lined up for this sequel with eager anticipation, much like
Jaws 2 back in 1978 (though Spielberg wasn’t involved much with that sequel),
and would be successful at the box office.
Unfortunately,
this film couldn’t escape the curse that seems to beset most if not all sequels
of blockbuster hits. Critics and fans
alike felt the film tried too hard to one up its predecessor. The ending sequence with the T-rex loose in
San Diego felt too much like a rip off of Godzilla, and even a reference or two
can be found in some scenes. The formula
of leaving human characters without their modern technology to protect them as
they tried to evade the dinosaurs, was reused from the first film, but did
update it by adding more people, with most of them armed and not totally
without modern technology. With the
addition of more dinosaur species seen on the screen, other species had to be
cut, which die hard fans did not like.
For example, the velociraptors were the villains of sorts of the first
film, but in this film had only one sequence.
The underlying message, though it
felt more like an afterthought and haphazardly thrown into the script, of
preservation of nature and leaving it untampered came off as heavy-handed, and
still felt like a PSA in retrospect after many watched the film for the 1st
time. Fans were scratching their heads
asking what went wrong, and critics just thought that Spielberg was just having
fun with his success by making big-budget movies for the sake of making
big-budget movies.
Production Wise:
Some
parts of this film were shot in northern California, not far from the town I
grew up in. Even one of the extras was
the husband of a friend to my mom.
Additional shooting was done in Costa Rica, Hawaii, and the city of San
Diego for the ending sequence.
Mercedes-Benz
vehicles were used for Ian’s team, painting in jungle camouflage and outfitted
with top rack search lights, protection bars for the front and read lights, and
heavy-duty front-tow wenches. The mobile
base was an extra long Fleetwood Southwind Storm, with hinged bellows in the
middle for turning, was also painted in camouflage, and given an all-terrain
outfitting. Military grade Humvees were
also outfitted with elaborate “capturing” accessories: such as outrigger frames
on either side for seats, a sniper’s nest on top, and a giant containment claw
that would fold down in front. A
customized Jeep Wrangler YJ with a retractable side seat was also made up for
the film.
Spielberg
wanted more variety of dinosaurs in this film, after receiving many letters
from young fans asking why Stegosauruses were not in the first film. Other species of dinosaurs to debut in this
film are the Pachycephalosaurs, Compsognathus, and Pteranodon, along with
several others seen mostly in the hunting caravan sequence.
Why I like the film:
The
main reason I still like this film is because it combined realistic dinosaurs
with modern devices. The hunting party
was state of the art with their vehicles, hunting scopes, and weapons. I remember a former roommate saying he liked
the sequel Aliens more than Alien because it took a step further from the first
film. I think that’s what this movie did
as well. The dinosaurs were already
established as ferocious and ruthless predators, so to repeat leaving a small
group of humans at their mercy would have been stupid. So logically, other humans would need to be
introduced into the storyline. Make them
skilled, efficient, confident, equipped with the necessary vehicles and arm
them with the firepower to take down big game.
I still like the look of the Mercedes All terrain SUV’s, as well as the
military grade Humvees (this film was one of the first to use them in a
non-military setting, before that element was used to death in many other films
to follow).
Pete
Postlethwaite’s character as the veteran big game hunter was necessary for such
a plot. My only complaint is the
theatrical cut left out his best scene. So,
I recommend watching the extended version where available (which restores the
scene and a few others) or watching it in the deleted scenes menu if available
on your copy of the DVD. He’s introduced
at a bar where he defends the honor of a female waiter who’s being harassed by
stereotypical American tourists. His
performance of him defeating the much younger guy with his hand tied behind his
back is comical and on point, showing this guy is old but far from
defenseless.
Vince
Vaughn’s performance as Nick Van Owen was good.
His performance in “Swingers” impressed Spielberg which landed him the
role in this film, and his career took off as a result.
I still
love the sequence where the parental T-rex’s attack the mobile command and
nearly push it off a cliff. As I’ve said
in previous posts, adventure movies are a rare breed, and this sequence
definitely had an adventure feel to it.
Most wrote it off as over the top, I think it’s the right dosage of
adventure injected into the film. If I
don’t have enough time to watch the whole film, I will scene skip to this
sequence and watch all the way through.
It’s an underappreciated element that gets forgotten too easily by
regular movie-goers.
The film is rated PG-13 for sci-fi terror and violence,
namely dinosaurs eating and tearing people apart. Stream or rent where available for a Jurassic
Park movie with a slightly different feel.
The adventure tone and different mix of characters will entertain as
long as they are given an honest chance.
Wednesday, May 6, 2020
The Count of Monte Cristo – Abridged
Title: The Count of Monte Cristo
US Release: 1/25/2002
Directed by Kevin Reynolds
Written by Jay Wolpert – Based on the original literature
written by Alexandre Dumas
Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures
Cast:
Jim Caviezel – Edmond Dantes
Guy Pearce – Fernand Mondego
James Frain – Villefort
Dagmara Dominczyk – Mercedes
Richard Harris – Abbe Faria “Priest”
Luis Guzman – Jacopo
Michael Wincott – Armand Dorleac
The Skinny:
Edmond
Dantes (Caviezel), second mate of a French merchant ship, takes his sick
captain, along with the Ship owner’s representative and life-long friend,
Fernand Mondego (Pearce), ashore to the Island of Elba. Knowing Napoleon is currently exiled to the
island and under heavy guard by Royal British dragoons, Edmond is desperate to
save the life of his captain, and takes the risk to seek medical
attention. After a short skirmish,
Fernand and Edmond wound, but do not kill, a few dragoons before being met by
Napoleon Bonaparte himself (Alex Norton) who grants them use of his
physician. Before the captain passes
away, Napoleon requests Edmond take a personal letter to an old friend back in
Paris, but not to tell the dragoons or even Fernand about it.
Back in
Marseille, the crew delivers the body of the captain to the ship’s owner. When debriefed, the first mate blames Edmond
for the death of the captain and putting the ship’s crew and merchandise at
unnecessary risk. The Ship’s owner
disagrees, and commends Edmond for his selflessness. He gives Edmond the rank of Captain for the
merchant ship, passing over the first mate, much to his chagrin.
Edmond’s
fiancé, Mercedes (Dominczyk), meets with Fernand while he meets with the ship’s
owner. Fernand, a spoiled rich boy,
keeps pressing Mercedes to have an affair with him. Mercedes denies him, apparently not for the
first time. Edmond soon joins them with
the news he’s been promoted. No longer
having to wait to pay for a wedding to Mercedes, they are both over joyed. Fernand, however, feels his social status
should guarantee him such good luck, and walks away sullen.
As
Edmond celebrates his good news with his father and Mercedes, their dinner is
interrupted by the authorities. Arrested
without being told why, Edmond is forcibly removed from his Father’s house and
brought before Villefort (Frain), Magistrate of Marseille. Villefort tells Edmond he’s being charged
with treason as he agreed to deliver a personal letter from Napoleon, which
turned out to be a plan of escape.
Edmond knew nothing of the contents of the letter, as he’s
illiterate. Villefort believes him and
agrees to let him go, until Edmond reveals the name of the “friend” he was
supposed to deliver the letter to.
Villefort’s demeanor changes. He
burns the letter and offers give Edmond use of his personal carriage home,
which turns out to be a prison cart that takes him to the docks. Informed he’s not going home but to prison,
Edmond escapes and flees to Fernand’s residence, with more authorities in
pursuit behind him.
Fernand
seems willing to help Edmond out of his predicament, but turns on him once he
discovers he’s unarmed. Shocked at his
best friend’s betrayal, Fernand confesses to framing to him, with the help of
the first mate who was passed over for promotion. Authorities soon arrive and take Edmond to
the Chateau d’if.
Edmond
is introduced to the warden, Armand Dorleac (Wincott) a man driven insane from
years stuck on the island, who sadistically flogs the prisoners on the anniversary
of their imprisonment, to “remind” them of how long they have been there. Edmond tries to remain hopeful, but years of
solitary confinement and beatings for a crime he did not commit, breaks his
spirit.
While
eating his only daily meal in his cell, he’s surprised to find another prisoner
digging his way up from the floor. The
other prisoner turns out to be Abbe Faria (Harris), a former soldier who
deserted Napoleon’s army after burning a church filled with innocent women and
children under orders. Consumed with
guilt, he devoted his life to repentance and honest work as he apprenticed to a
wealthy yet humble nobleman. When the
nobleman died, Napoleon wanted his family fortune to fund his army, but Faria
claimed he didn’t know where it was hidden, so he was imprisoned in Chateau
d’if until he “remembered”. Nicknamed
“priest” by Edmond, he assists Faria in digging out of the prison to escape, in
exchange for learning how to read and write, and be trained how to fight, with
weapons and hand to hand combat.
While
digging, the tunnel collapses on Faria.
Fatally injured, he confesses to Edmond that he knows where the treasure
is, and even provides him a map to its location. Edmond swears he will use the treasure to
seek revenge if he ever gets out of prison, but Faria still admonishes him to
forgive and use the gold to serve others.
Soon passing away, Edmond sees an opportunity to escape by hiding in the
makeshift body-bag meant for Faria. He
narrowly escapes the island, being mistaken for a dead body in the body-bag and
swims to the nearest island. There he
meets a pirate crew about to punish one of their own, Jacopo (Guzman), for
hoarding stolen swag. The captain wants
to exert his authority, but fears killing Jacopo would cause the crew to
splinter and mutiny, so he challenges Edmond to a knife fight with Jacopo, the
winner allowed to be a part of the crew.
Using his training from Faria, Edmond gains the upper hand over Jacopo,
but doesn’t kill him. Requesting the
captain spare Jacopo, he offers to join the crew and work diligently before the
mast. The Captain agrees, and Jacopo,
out of gratitude for sparing his life, pledges to be Edmonds right hand man.
Soon
the pirate ship makes port at Marseille.
Having become good friends with the Captain and crew, Edmond his
released along with Jacopo to find work ashore.
Finding his old employer (though he does not recognize him after all the
years gone by) informs him that the first mate took control of the shipping
company in a hostile take-over, Villefort has become chief prosecutor of France
when his father was murdered by an unknown assailant, and Mercedes married
Fernand only a month after his imprisonment.
Further
consumed by revenge, Edmond sails with Jacopo and retrieves the treasure. Now with more than enough gold, Edmond devises
an elaborate plan to destroy the livelihoods of Mercedes, Fernand, Villefort,
and anyone else involved in his imprisonment.
On the Surface:
This
movie makes no excuses for being a very condensed and very Americanized version
of Alexandre Dumas classic piece of historical fiction, and a lot of dramatic
license was taken. To make the film more
marketable to American audiences, over 75% of the original story was compressed
or cut out altogether. Luis Guzman’s
character of Jacopo was a composite of several characters made specifically for
this film so as to keep the supporting cast short and easier for the audience
to follow.
The
Victorian era visuals of pre and post Battle of Waterloo (Napoleon’s last
effort to retake control of France) gave the film an almost high-brow feel, as
if you had to be educated or a connoisseur of classic literature just to buy a
ticket for the film. Even though the
films run time was around two hours, many movie goers avoided this film
thinking it was going to be long and boring.
Jay Wolpert, with collaboration from Director Kevin Reynolds, tried to
modify the story into a swashbuckler tale, instead of the epic long form that
Alexandre Dumas had written.
Production wise:
Screenwriter
Jay Wolpert added the element of the lifelong friendship between Edmond and
Fernand to make the revenge angle more believable. Kevin Reynolds, garnering a reputation for
directing period specific action/drama films, was tapped to direct for that
reason.
The
film suffered from many poor screenings, causing it to undergo many cuts and
script rewrites, even going through reshoots late into the year after the
seasons had changed, making most of the locations unusable. This also resulted in the film maxing out
its budget, and the studio would not pay any more money for the
production. Reynolds however, was able
to improvise in most of the scenes.
While reshooting the ending fight sequence, he used low angles and had
the production crew place virgin wheat stock close to the camera to cover up
the grass that had turned brown and dead because of the fall season. When panning around Caviezel and Pearce as
they fenced, the wheat passed very quickly at the bottom of the frame, giving a
much-needed sense of urgency to the sequence.
This
would be one of the last films veteran actor Richard Harris would act in before
his passing, even celebrating his 70th birthday on set.
Why I like the film:
This
film definitely has the Victorian era feel to it, but doesn’t play out in
longform as you would see in a masterpiece theater production: getting very
long, dull and boring as it played out over several weeks.
One of
my few peeves about the film (which I see in other films too) is how any
country in Europe, no matter what time frame or region, all the roles are
played by English actors with their natural English accents. It gives movie goers the impression that all
of Europe is British. So almost every
film set in any European country, weather Germany, Austria, and yes France, the
characters portrayed as natives still speak in English accents, which kills the
realism for me. Maybe Hollywood
producers assume the general movie going public will just accept that any
non-American character in a film naturally speaks in an English accent. I would like to see actors and actresses,
English or American, expand their range and/or rise to the challenge of
mastering the exotic accent of the country they are tasked to portray.
I liked
seeing Luis Guzman, known more for his comedic roles, portray a serious
character. His facial expressions and
tone conveyed a sternness that drove deep when he delivered his lines. Richard Harris, a master actor who had honed
his craft over decades, gave a moral authority to his role as the “priest” Abbe
Faria. In as much that his character
acts as Edmond’s conscience, while Guzman as Jacopo acts as the voice of reason
(ironic as his character is a pirate), admonishing Edmond to let go his lust
for revenge and take his fortune to live as a king elsewhere. This is one of Henry Cavill’s first big
studio films. Though he has a very small
supporting role, and is only 8 years younger than his on-screen mother Dagmara
Dominczyk, it’s still very weird to think of him as Superman having seen him
perform first in this film. Jim Caviezel,
though not employing any accent what so ever and sticking with his natural
American “Yank” accent, does portray the varying emotions of Edmond very
well. From naïve and hopeful, to shocked
and betrayed, to angry and scheming, to finally humbled and relieved, I did see
him as Edmond Dantes, not a yank playing a role outside his skillset. Dagmara Dominczyk portrays the female lead
very well. In a time when women were
seen as property, but regarded with some esteem if married or married into
nobility, her demeanor exemplifies the common mindset of women of the time. In a time,
long before women’s suffrage, if she did not marry, she had little to no
options to survive in such a time.
Clearly, she was in love with Edmond, and devasted when lead to believe
he was dead. Going further she was
depressed when she had to tolerate Fernand’s infidelity and reckless attitude
as her life wore on, but showed to be hopeful and over joyed when she sees
Edmond, (in disguise as the Count of Monte Cristo) thinking she would be freed
of her depression and reunited with true love.
Dominczyk needs to be in more dramatic films to showcase her abilities.
Michael
Wincott with his trademark raspy/growly voice, sets his character of the warden
apart from the rest. I don’t know why he
didn’t have more supporting roles in films, either as the main villain or the
head henchman, and the few times I’ve seen him as the villain, his work is
wasted on the subpar script and filming of the projects he was in. Its sad when good actors like Wincott have
mediocre careers due to poor material they (probably) are forced to work with.
Of
course, the moral end of the story is always present. Those who schemed, lied, bribed, stole and
murdered to rise up in social rank eventually had a life of anxiety: always in
debt, always needing money, and when finally getting it, illegally, only to
blow it on bad decisions and addictions of vice (gambling, drinking,
prostitution etc.) keeping them in a bad cycle which lead to either a long
overdue guilty verdict or death.
The film is rated PG-13 for the violence and Swordplay, some
sensuality though mostly implied on film and not really seen. Stream or rent where available for when the
mood calls for a good swashbuckling adventure, and ignore that it deviates
majorly from its namesake. Enjoy it for
what it is not what literary snobs say it should be.
Thursday, April 30, 2020
Quick and the Dead – Sam Raimi goes west
Title: Quick and the Dead
US Release: 2/10/1995
Directed by Sam Raimi
Written by Simon Moore (unaccredited rewrites by Joss Whedon)
Distributed by TriStar Pictures
Cast:
Sharon Stone – Ellen “The Lady”
Gene Hackman – John Harod
Russell Crow – Cort
Leonardo DiCaprio – Fee Harod “The Kid”
Keith David – Sgt. Clay Cantrell “The Shootist”
Lance Henriksen – Ace Hanlon
Gary Sinise – Marshall
Roberts Blossom – The Doc
Pat Hingle - Horace
The Skinny:
The
Lady, later revealed as Ellen (Stone) arrives in a remote town somewhere in the
Arizona desert, named “Redemption”. The town
seems almost deserted, and the townsfolk afraid to come out of their
homes. But the Lady is no stranger to danger:
taking no guff from the saloon owner Horace (Hingle) when he mistakes her for a
prostitute, rebuffs a recently escaped convict with ease, and keeps everyone
else at arms-length. She learns from the
blind shoe-shine boy that the town mayor, John Harod (Hackman), is merciless, taking
protection money from the poor townsfolk under threat of death. He organizes a quick draw competition for “entertainment”
for the town, and many gunfighters arrive in the town to show off their skills
and for chest of cash.
It’s
revealed that Ellen has history with Harod from her childhood, though he doesn’t
recognize her as an adult. She shows her
skills with a six shooter when she rescues a priest, Cort (Crowe, in his first American
film role) from being hanged in the saloon, but seems terrified of shooting
Harod, even when he strays away from his body guards and (later in the film)
has him completely defenseless in his own home with a gun aimed at him under
the table, but cannot bring herself to pull the trigger.
Cort is revealed to be an old
friend of Harod’s, and rode with his gang: robbing and killing without care. Cort changed his ways however when Harod
forced him to kill a Mexican priest, after the priest had cared for them and
nursed them back to health. Out of guilt,
Cort forsook the outlaw life and committed to the priesthood. Harod doesn’t believe he will ever change,
and has always wanted to see if he could out draw Cort, who himself is a
naturally fast draw.
First round
of the quick draw commences, with the winner declared after his opponent can no
longer fire his gun, but is still alive.
Cort, even with a rusted old pistol, still draws faster than lighting, eliminating
his opponent. He even advises Ellen on
how to draw faster, gaining the necessary split second to out draw her opponent
and move onto the next round. Harod’s illegitimate son, Fee “the Kid” (DiCaprio),
gunsmith of the town, is also a quick draw, eliminating a Swedish quick draw
champion, though Harod dismisses him as lucky.
Harod,
paranoid and arrogant, challenges Ace Hanlon (Henriksen) to a duel, whom he suspects
the townsfolk paid to kill him. Harod
outdraws Ace, mercilessly crippling both his hands with ease. In a sadistic show of his power over the
town, he degrades Ace as he forces him to dance in full view of the town by shooting
at his feet, before fatally shooting him.
The town quickly strips Ace’s dead body down to his long johns.
Ellen, progressing
through the rounds of quick draw, still cannot bring herself to kill. Even when she wounds an old man, Eugene Dredd
(Kevin Conway) for sexually assaulting a young girl, and has him at her
mercy. Cowardly pleading for his life on
the ground, she still cannot kill and walks away into the saloon. Horace, father of the little girl who was
assaulted, and himself unable to kill even he had the chance, pours her a drink
on the house. Eugene, still alive and
seeking revenge, stumbles into the saloon and nearly misses Ellen. Out of sheer reaction, she draws and shoots
him dead, moving onto the next round.
Harod, after
discovering the gun fighter who was hired to kill him, Sgt. Cantrell (David)
declares the remaining round of the quick draw will be to the death, and makes
an example out of Sgt. Cantrell in front of the town. In a fit of rage, he berates the town for not
submitting to his authority, and brutally shoots Sgt. Cantrell through the head. Ellen, shaken from her first killing, cannot
go on with the competition, and thinks of leaving, despite the pleads from Cort,
and the apparent broken spirit of the townsfolk. Harod,
now free to test his mettle against Cort, declares the town closed, with anyone
caught leaving to be shot on sight.
On the Surface:
I would
have to say this is as close to an American version of the spaghetti western there
is at this point in time with films. Western
films were turning more gritty, raw, and realistic ever since the 1980’s,
breaking away from the glamorized genre they started out as in the 1940’s and
1950’s. First seen as capitalizing on
America’s mythology, modern westerns have definitely tried to evolve into
almost historical fiction on film, showing the old west as the brutal and
unforgiving time in history it was. Spaghetti
westerns (westerns filmed in European countries, mainly Italy and Spain, with
mostly European directors, crews, and supporting cast with a few well-known American
actors playing the leads) were the first subgenre of westerns to deviate from “hero
beats villain”. Sam Raimi, who made his name in the film biz
with his low-budget “Evil Dead” horror films, and off kilter “Darkman” films,
brought his unique visual style to this film (to date his only attempt at
westerns). The smash zooms, pov shots of
the guns, and use of a female lead character is what made this film so not-traditional
for an American western. Seeing the
film, it’s obvious it’s a western, but watching the film, it doesn’t feel like
what a western usually is, much like watching a spaghetti western for the first
time. Audiences were definitely confused
by it, and critics praised the production value and performances, but disliked
the film as a whole for the end product it was.
The sometimes over the top violence and gunplay pushed it further
outside the norm for its genre, leading some to think it was almost parody of
sorts of spaghetti westerns themselves.
Production Wise:
Simon
Moore originally wrote the screenplay for the film as an homage to Spaghetti
westerns, namely the work of famed Italian director Sergio Leone. He sold the script to Sony Pictures (parent
company of Tristar). Wanting to use a
well-known actress for the lead role of Ellen, Sony signed on Sharon Stone, who
would also co-produce the film. With co-producer
authority, Stone wanted Sam Raimi to direct, impressed with his previous work,
and even threatened to drop out of the film if he was not given the director’s
chair. She further flexed her authority
by casting Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio.
She even paid DiCaprio’s salary out of her own pocket when Sony questioned
the casting.
Filming
was down in and around Tucson, Az at the request of Gene Hackman. All actors who played gun fighters went
through 3 months of quick draw training by a professional quick draw showman, with
Hackman becoming the fast draw of the main cast. Stone, who enjoyed horseback riding in her
free time, brought her own horse to the production to be used as Ellen’s horse
in the film.
Why I like the film:
Stone’s
performance as the steely eyed but scarred Ellen was good, and the resolution
of her character at the end of the film was well played. It gave her character the absolution she was
looking for and the absolution the audience was waiting for by the end of the
film. Crowe’s performance as Cort,
coming directly from Australian cinema, was also good, and he slid right into
the role and into American filmmaking with ease. It honestly didn’t feel “unpolished” or “uneasy”
like he was adjusting to anything. His
performance in this film was pretty much the same standard as Gladiator, or A
Beautiful mind.
It was
weird seeing a very young, very cocky Leonardo DiCaprio. I’ll admit I didn’t see this film until he
was already at the superstar status he’s known for, so that did cloud my view
of his performance in this film. Still, I
felt for his character: the young boy trying to earn his father’s respect (even
if it meant going so far to challenge him in a duel to the death) but not
wanting to appear weak, so he put on the cool persona, and drew his six shooter
with confidence and speed.
Its
always nice to see a veteran actor like Pat Hingle play outside his typecast
roles. Though he had been acting for decades
before this film, I’m pretty sure he will always be remembered as Commissioner
Gordon of the first run Batman films. Seeing
him in the role was a nice change. Lance
Henriksen as Ace, the showman/gunfighter, who fancied himself as high society,
was also a nice change from his typical Sci-fi roles he was known for. Keith David as the professional shootist,
with a serious handle bar mustache, was typical of characters you would see in
Sam Raimi films, though the angle of him having his pistol on a hinge connected
to his belt for a faster draw was a unique and captivating touch, and I wouldn’t
be surprised if real shootists of the old west did the same.
Gene
Hackman as the villain was perfect. I
love the scene where he yells at the townsfolk as he shoots down Keith David’s
character. A lot of critics said it was
one dimensional, but the intensity behind his delivery was anything but. The old west was a brutal, unforgiving
landscape. Not only did people have to
earn their living through hard manual labor daily, there was days almost weeks
between towns, and having social interaction was rare for a lot of people. His madness was believable, and his reasons
for being so tyrannical were made apparent in that scene. It showed his character was the bad guy of
the film, and why he needed to be defeated in the end.
The
main element that always draws me back to this film is Sam Raimi’s vision. Way before digital filming, the effort put
into giving it an artistic flair was long and sometimes misunderstood by the
crew and the studio. The smash zooms
were often laughed at as corny and parodying of spaghetti westerns, though I
saw them as building intensity. Though
few, the pov shots were the best parts of the film. Not used very often during the 1990’s because
of the logistics of developing camera’s to be mounted and focused in such a
manner, I enjoyed seeing them used in this film. It gave the film depth for a western,
showcasing the six-shooters the gun fighters used, and ultimately lived by in the
old west.
The
over the top characters didn’t last very long in the film, so they weren’t that
distracting, and climax rounded out the story for what it was. I think this was an odd western that is necessary
in a genre that seems to have grown formulaic by the 1990’s. An odd film every now and again is very
necessary indeed.
Rated R for western violence, some of it over the top and
some risqué though barely scandalous framing at one point, this film has the
serious feel with a light hearted touch.
Stream or rent where available for when the mood calls for a western,
but you don’t feel like watching the same thing as before.
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