Rockin Reindeer

 

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 5^th 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 8^th 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.

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 3^rd 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 1^st 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.

                                               

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 70^th 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.

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.