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Forgotten Films: Edgar Wright’s A Fistful of Fingers

Sean — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 13:23:50 +0000

Forgotten Films is a semi-regular feature on Film Junk where we explore interesting movies that have fallen off the radar or slipped through the cracks over the years. You probably know Edgar Wright as the man behind the camera for most of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's collaborations including Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead, and even before that, the TV show Spaced. However, with Scott Pilgrim vs. The World coming out this weekend, I thought it would be a good time to look back at his very first feature film, a hard-to-find low budget comedy made without Pegg and Frost called A Fistful of Fingers. Edgar Wright got his start making movies in England at a very young age, and by the time he was 18, he was already generating some fairly high quality stuff. If you have the Hot Fuzz special edition DVD or Blu-ray, you may have seen Dead Right, the 1993 short film that inspired Hot Fuzz. Around the same time, he also made another short called A Fistful of Fingers, which would eventually be remade as a feature-length project when he graduated from college in 1995. Looking at Wright's filmography over the years, it's clear that he loves working in comedy, but he is also a true cinephile who enjoys jumping from genre to genre. Hot Fuzz pays tribute to cop movies while Shaun of the Dead is an homage to zombie flicks, and he plans to eventually complete this trilogy with a sci-fi movie tentatively called The World's End. However, before all of those ever happened, Wright parodied the spaghetti western and, in particular, Sergio Leone's Dollars trilogy with A Fistful of Fingers. The movie was reportedly shot for £10,000 (about $15,000 U.S.), and stars his friend Graham Low in the lead role as "No-Name", a gunslinger who rides into Somerset aka Deadwood Town in search of his rival The Squint (Oli van der Vijver). (Low would later re-appear in Hot Fuzz as The Living Statue performance artist.) After the death of his loyal horse Easy, No-Name swears revenge and sets off to settle the score once and for all. Along the way he meets up with an indian named Running Sore (Martin Curtis), and they stumble across a buried treasure as well. The movie also features former EastEnders star Nicola Stapleton in a small role, and British TV personality Jeremy Beadle makes a cameo near the end of the film that will make no sense to anyone who lives outside of the U.K. One of the first things you notice about this movie is that it features a pretty cool animated opening credit sequence, which was created by his brother Oscar, a comic book and storyboard artist. (He also does a gory animated interlude in the middle of the film as well.) The score provided by François Evans is also a nice riff on Ennio Morricone's style. These elements all give the illusion that what you are about to see is actually much better than it really is -- an illusion that starts to fade after the first half hour or so. The film opens with a lot of energy and creativity, but by the end has been nearly reduced to wandering aimlessly through the English countryside. The sense of humour falls somewhere between Monty Python and The Naked Gun. Everyone rides pantomime horses, and there are tons of visual gags and self-refential comments littered throughout the dialogue. Some of the comedy is clever (the "token female" who asks if she has any lines) and some of it is cute (the musical montage of No-Name remembering the good times with his horse), but I have to admit that some of it is also pretty awful. Part of the blame falls on the acting (particularly Graham Low, who can't do a Clint Eastwood impression to save his life) but the writing is not all that sharp either. For example, one of the very first exchanges goes as follows:

Outlaw: "Draw!" No-Name: "I can't." Outlaw: "Why not?" No-Name: "I don't have a pencil."

Groanworthy puns are passed off with the expectation of being genuinely amusing, but at the same time, there is a tongue-in-cheek tone that indicates that they were aware of how bad some of it is. Clearly Wright's sense of comedy has matured a lot since this film, and most of his movies nowadays are no longer straight up spoofs. They usually aim to play as full-fledged entries in the genre they are poking fun at, which A Fistful of Fingers definitely does not do. It is much more a goofy joke-a-minute parody in the vein of the Zucker Brothers' films. Although there is much about the movie that feels clunky, you can definitely see Wright starting to establish his trademark quick-cutting style and energetic camera work (actually you could see a lot of that already in Dead Right). There's an early scene in a saloon where the clientele remain silent and motionless until No-Name enters, and it is cross cut in an exaggerated way that is both suspenseful and funny. Sure, the crash zooms and extreme close-ups are emulating Sergio Leone, but you can also see that some of these techniques have stuck with him right through to today. Either way, this movie is easily a step above a student film, and it was successful enough to get picked up for a limited theatrical release and broadcast on Sky Movies in the U.K. Most importantly, though, it landed Wright directing gigs with Paramount Comedy on the show Asylum and the BBC for Is It Bill Bailey?, where he met Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson who went on to star in and co-write Spaced. Wright was reportedly not fully satisfied with how the final product came out, which is probably why this movie has never been released on DVD. Currently the only way to get a copy of A Fistful of Fingers is on VHS or via bootleg DVDs and torrents. Perhaps one day Edgar Wright will decide to go back to the Western genre and draw inspration from this film much like he did with Hot Fuzz, but in the meantime, if you're a fan of his work, you might want to check this out. Blazing Saddles it ain't, but there are still some inspired moments, even if it was likely better served as a half-hour short film rather than an 80-minute feature.

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Forgotten Films: Matinee

Sean — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 03:14:47 +0000

Forgotten Films is a semi-regular feature on Film Junk where we explore interesting movies that have fallen off the radar or slipped through the cracks over the years. There aren't many filmmakers who have shaped the culture of an entire generation quite like Steven Spielberg and George Lucas did back in the '80s, but the truth is, they weren't alone. There is a whole second string of directors from the same era who followed their lead in creating iconic family adventure films, and Joe Dante would certainly be counted among them. From successful films like Gremlins and Explorers to quirky comedies like The Burbs and Innerspace, he brought his genre roots and special effects know-how to create some mainstream hits that almost everyone has seen. But if Dante was such a big presence in the '80s, then why has he faded from the public eye since then? The answer would seem to be a particularly impotent one-two punch: the self-deprecating yet unsuccessful sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch, and another film that absolutely no one saw, Matinee. Released in 1993, Matinee made just $9 million in its original theatrical run. Part of the problem, I'm assuming, is that the movie didn't have many stars except for John Goodman. Still... it had John Goodman! He was well known as Dan Conner on Roseanne at the time, and his last few theatrical releases had done okay (Arachnophobia and King Ralph, for example). However, the rest of the cast members were basically unknown then and remain unknown now. Matinee is a love letter to the b-movies of the '60s, with Goodman playing a schlock director named Lawrence Woolsey (based loosely on William Castle) who is promoting the release of his new film Mant! ("Half-Man, Half-Ant, All Terror!"). Way before Tarantino directed Grindhouse, this movie featured all kinds of mock trailers and arguably one of the best "films within a film", ending with a final act that takes place in a theatre, not unlike Inglourious Basterds. Goodman is slimy yet lovable as Woolsey, and watching him set up his elaborate network of gadgets and gimmicks such as Atomo-Vision and Rumble-Rama, the movie seems all the more relevant today with the resurrection of 3-D films. Although this is essentially a nostalgia-laden PG comedy aimed at a younger audience, there's a lot of other stuff going on in this movie too. For one, it is a period piece set in Key West, Florida in 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The main character Gene (Simon Fenton) has a father in the Navy, and everyone is on edge due to the threat of nuclear war. Gene also happens to be a fan of scary movies (in some ways his character seems to be almost autobiographical to Joe Dante), and it's interesting how the film juxtaposes the escapism of a horror movie with real world anxieties, examining how the two can feed off each other. The movie also touches on some other issues from the '60s like censorship and liberal parenting, and it offers plenty of little cultural curiosities in the same way that Mad Men does. However, at its core, this is a coming of age story. Joe Dante has always been good at capturing kids of a certain age group, where they are just starting to become adults but haven't completely lost their innocence either. Although the movie was always marketed as a John Goodman flick, the kids of Key West are definitely the main characters. The screenplay was written by Charles S. Haas, who also wrote Gremlins 2, along with a previous Forgotten Film, the cult teen rebellion flick Over the Edge. As mentioned earlier, Matinee doesn't have a ton of recognizable faces, but it's worth noting that frequent Dante collaborator Robert Picardo (who went on to play The Doctor on Star Trek: Voyager) has an amusing role as a paranoid theatre owner, while Gene's buddy Stan is played by Omri Katz, who also starred in the short-lived TV series Eerie, Indiana (which Dante directed several episodes of). Also, a 20-something Naomi Watts has a small part in the film within a film Disney parody The Shook-Up Shopping Cart. Matinee is not necessarily laugh out loud hilarious and it may be a little too cute for some, but it's definitely charming and well worth checking out for Goodman's performance alone. Anyone who has a penchant for old sci-fi and horror movies from the '60s is guaranteed to get a kick out of it. After being left out of print on DVD for a long time, Universal just recently re-released Matinee as a barebones disc. Take advantage and snag it while you can, or add it to your Netflix queue today! You won't regret it.

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Forgotten Films: Leonard Part 6

Sean — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 21:06:08 +0000

Forgotten Films is a semi-regular feature on Film Junk where we explore interesting movies that have fallen off the radar or slipped through the cracks over the years. I've been getting a bit behind on my Forgotten Films lately, but in a way, it's only fitting that I waited until now to write this column since there has been so much Cosby content on the Film Junk Podcast lately. While Jay has been busy going through every single season of The Cosby Show, a couple of months ago I rewatched one of Bill Cosby's less celebrated classics: the disastrous '80s spy spoof, Leonard Part 6. There once was a time when Bill Cosby could do no wrong. He made a name for himself doing stand-up comedy in the '60s, and his charisma and knack for storytelling and characterizations led to him being cast in I Spy alongside Robert Culp. His TV career continued to fluorish over the years, and his early jumps to the big screen were also fairly well-received. He re-teamed with Robert Culp on the gritty cop drama Hickey & Boggs (written by Walter Hill) in 1972, and then starred in a handful of Sidney Poitier comedies including Uptown Saturday Night, Let's Do It Again and A Piece of the Action. Of course, this is a side of Bill Cosby I've never really known. Growing up in the '80s, it was The Cosby Show that was universally watched and universally adored, and although this kept him pretty busy throughout most of the decade, he did find time to star in a couple of high-profile films, one of which was Leonard Part 6. Now, I don't want to say that this was Bill Cosby's first big failure, because I'm sure there were some earlier performances that received mixed reviews, but there's no two ways about it: Leonard Part 6 was a massive box office bomb and critics didn't think twice about tearing it to shreds. I can certainly understand why, as it absolutely bored me to tears, both then and now. As a kid, I was a big fan of detective and spy stories, and when I first heard about Leonard Part 6, I was pretty excited. I was even more excited about the promotional tie-in of a mini-spy camera that you could mail away for. Ironically, the advertising campaign is something that a lot of critics referenced in their reviews, thanks to the ridiculous amount of product placement in the film. It really does get out of hand with Coca Cola, Alka Seltzer, Palmolive, and many others ending up on display in the most blatant of ways. I like to think someone out there learned a lesson from the excessive shilling that goes on in this flick, as studios have at least learned to hide product placement a little better over the years. So here's the basic plot: Cosby stars as Leonard Parker, a legendary secret agent who is called out of retirement in order to stop evil vegetarian Medusa Johnson (played by Gloria Foster, aka The Oracle in The Matrix) from using a mind-control device that turns harmless animals into killing machines. Sounds kinda funny, right? Not so much. Along the way he must try to make amends with his ex-wife, who dumped him seven years ago when she caught him naked in a sauna with a 19-year-old. The title alone is an indication of how badly most jokes in this movie flop. They called it "Part 6" in order to be funny, but it just caused confusion since parts 1 to 5 do not actually exist. The pay off was Leonard's butler telling us that the first five installments were held back from the public for the purposes of world security. Hilarious. The movie then tries to be clever with some cryptic opening shots that only make sense later in the film (including part of the infamous ballet dancing fight scene). A few of the early death scenes are fun, including a rainbow trout attacking someone in a pool, and frogs bouncing someone's car into the water. From here, however, things go downhill... and they do so verrrrry slowly. The first half of the movie contains almost no espionage at all, and instead it attempts to create some moments of classic Cosby family humour, such as the scene where his daughter introduces him to her boyfriend (who is old enough to be her grandfather), and the dinner scene where his ex-wife slathers food all over him. Some of this might have actually worked if it didn't drag on for quite so long. Once we finally get to the action, the movie becomes even more incomprehensible. I can't possibly explain to you everything that happens, but it ends with Bill Cosby wearing his ridiculous astronaut/spy outfit throwing meat patties at henchmen and forcing them to eat hot dogs, which causes their heads to explode. He then rides an ostrich off into the sunset... or something like that. I know that probably sounds like campy fun, but Cosby just looks sweaty, bored and/or miserable the whole time. Other actors who turn up in the film include Joe Don Baker, who plays Snyderburn, the head of the CIA, and Grace Zabriskie (Big Love, Twin Peaks, Seinfeld) who also works for the CIA. It was directed by Paul Weiland, a first-time director that Cosby was quick to blame the film's failure on. Cosby publicly denounced the film before it was even released, appearing on talk shows telling people not to see it. He must have forgotten that he also produced it and wrote the story himself. Recently it seems that Weiland may have finally overcome this stain on his resume, as he directed the 2008 romantic comedy Made of Honor starring Patrick Dempsey! Leonard Part 6 won three Razzies and currently sits at #63 on IMDb's Bottom 100. The movie is mercifully short, but even at 85 minutes it's still painful to sit through. For those interested in bad movies, you may get some measure of entertainment out of the wacky ideas and strange imagery it contains, but I promise you this: you will not laugh. I'm afraid this one deserves to remain buried and forgotten, a sad footnote in the mostly illustrious career of Mr. Bill Cosby.

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Forgotten Films: Santa With Muscles

Sean — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 08:20:31 +0000

Forgotten Films is a semi-regular feature on Film Junk where we explore interesting movies that have fallen off the radar or slipped through the cracks over the years. Everyone loves a good turkey around Christmas, so this week we've got a very special movie to satisfy that holiday craving: Santa with Muscles, the 1996 crapterpiece starring Hulk Hogan! Sometimes movies become "forgotten films" for a very good reason, and in the case of Santa With Muscles, it seems perfectly acceptable that the majority of the world is blissfully unaware of its existence. Still, with a ridiculous title like that, I felt compelled to seek out a copy and investigate further. It had to be good for at least a few laughs, right? In recent years we've seen plenty of WWE wrestlers make the transition to questionable acting careers, but many people forget that a handful of the popular '80s wrestlers had significant roles on the big screen as well. AndrÃ© the Giant played Fezzik in The Princess Bride, for example, and Roddy Piper chewed bubblegum and kicked ass in John Carpenter's They Live. Then there's Hulk Hogan, who had a respectable performance as Thunderlips in Rocky III, before going on to headline two family comedies in the early '90s: Suburban Commando and Mr. Nanny. What you may not realize is that his movie career didn't end there. Oh no... it continued on with such direct-to-video duds as The Secret Agent Club, The Ultimate Weapon and Thunder in Paradise 1, 2 and 3. Somewhere in there, he also found time to make Santa with Muscles. The plot is so asinine that it almost seems too good to be true. Hogan plays Blake Thorne, an arrogant millionaire who has built an empire selling bodybuilding supplements. One day, while on the way to play paintball with his buddies, he drives a little bit recklessly in his Hummer and ends up getting chased by the cops. He heads to the local mall, where he ducks inside a storage closet and changes into a Santa costume in order to avoid detection. Unfortunately for him, he ends up getting a bump on the head and wakes up with amnesia, where a crooked mall elf named Lenny recognizes him and tricks him into thinking that he is actually Santa Claus. Now, here's where it gets even more ridiculous. An evil scientist (played by Ed Begley, Jr.) is trying to take over an orphanage (an orphanage that houses just three children, mind you) in order to gain access to the vault of magical crystals underneath it. He dispatches a team of three goons to tear the place down: a geologist with a brush, a dominatrix with electrical powers, and a chemist who uses stinkbombs. Blake becomes a superhero Santa of sorts in order to save the orphanage... unfortunately, (SPOILER!) the orphanage gets blown up anyway. Santa with Muscles was once ranked #1 on IMDB's Bottom 100, and currently remains somewhere near the #50 mark. There is apparently some debate over whether or not this movie truly deserves to be on the list, but I have to say that sounds about right. Everything about this movie is completely inept from the painful puns to the incompetent action scenes to the thick layer of sappiness that covers the entire affair. According to IMDB, the person who originally wrote the movie sued to have his name removed from the credits... good move! (The three still-credited screenwriters for this film have never written anything else either before or after Santa with Muscles.) Everyone knows that Hulk Hogan's acting is atrocious, but wow, I was dumbfounded by his performance here. It's almost like he's reading every single line off a cue card, and his eyebrows raise to emphasize every word that is spoken. It's actually kind of hypnotic. I mean, I know the guy's a wrestler, but he makes The Rock looks like an Oscar-calibre thespian by comparison. A 12-year-old Mila Kunis plays one of the children at the orphanage, and in a strange That 70's Show connection, Don Stark also plays Lenny the elf. Hogan's wrestling buddy Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake also has a brief appearance as a sumo thug. The only person who brings anything worthwhile to this movie is the always reliable Clint Howard, who plays a bumbling police chief. It's not a shock to learn that director John Murlowski has a number of direct-to-video sequels to his name including RiÂ¢hie RiÂ¢h's Christmas Wish and Amityville: A New Generation. What is pretty mind-boggling is the fact that Santa with Muscles did actually receive a theatrical release. The proof is right here on Box Office Mojo: 98 theaters, and a $220,000 domestic gross. It's a bit hard to imagine a studio wasting celluloid on such a terrible flick, but I suppose once upon a time a Hulk Hogan Christmas movie may have had a market (albeit a very tiny one). At any rate, if you find yourself bored over the holidays, and perhaps a little groggy after knocking back a few glasses of rum and egg nog, you just might be ready to experience the Christmas magic that is Santa with Muscles. The movie has never received a DVD release, but if you look hard enough, you might find it on cable somewhere. Otherwise there are various ways to find it online (including YouTube). As a general rule, I wouldn't recommend subjecting another human being to this movie, but if you need a substitute for putting coal in someone else's stocking, this little beauty just might do the trick.

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Forgotten Films: A Boy and His Dog

Sean — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 20:09:43 +0000

Forgotten Films is a semi-regular feature on Film Junk where we explore interesting movies that have fallen off the radar or slipped through the cracks over the years. With all the post-apocalyptic movies that have been coming out lately, I thought it would be a good time to look back at one of the lesser known classics of the genre, L.Q. Jones' A Boy and His Dog. Based on the novella by Harlan Ellison, the movie takes place in the year 2024, after not one but two additional world wars have been initiated by humanity -- the latter of which leaves the Earth devastated by nuclear missiles. As a result, a large part of the movie presents a familiar desert wasteland setting that has come to be associated with post-apocalyptic tales over the years. A young, pre-Miami Vice Don Johnson stars as Vic, an 18-year-old nomad who lost his parents in the war and now must forage for food to survive. His only companion is a highly intelligent, telepathic dog named Blood... yes, that's right, a telepathic dog. As cheesy as it might sound, the relationship between these two is quite compelling; Vic is young and impulsive, while Blood is wise yet cynical. Their witty rapport is enjoyable to watch, and works in large part thanks to voice actor Tim McIntire (who also composed the score for the movie). Rumour has it that James Cagney was originally considered for the voice of Blood, but was eventually ruled to be too recognizable. Nowadays a movie like this might have used CGI to create mouth movement on the talking dog, but the fact that Blood communicates only through voice over actually has an element of believability to it. Blood's telepathy is a result of genetic experimentation, which is only mentioned in passing in the film. His sole communication link is with Vic, but I guess we're supposed to assume this type of thing is fairly commonplace since none of the other characters in the film really find it that hard to believe. (Another feasible interpretation is that Vic is actually crazy and only thinks he can talk to the dog, but I'm pretty sure that's not what Ellison intended.) An amusing bit of trivia is the fact that Blood is played by Tiger, the same dog who appeared on The Brady Bunch. His performance is intriguing in and of itself, as this is one of the few movies I have seen where a real animal is given human character traits with actual depth and almost seems to be emoting at times. This makes it easy to forget that this dog is just responding to simple commands off camera. It also makes it that much more disturbing to later see a fight scene involving two dogs that seems relatively real and pretty harsh by today's standards. Also somewhat disturbing is the fact that the main plot involves Vic seeking out women to rape with the help of Blood's keen sense of smell. A Boy and His Dog has been accused of being misogynistic even by Ellison himself, but on the other hand, the movie was made back in 1975. There aren't many movies nowadays that would dare to put their hero in such a vile light. Still, this is a pretty dark and grim story to begin with and the world is an unforgiving one. The movie does not rely on special effects and visuals, and in fact, almost seems to make it a point to show as little as possible. For example, horrifying mutants called "screamers" roam the countryside, and although Vic and Blood have a close call with them, they are never shown on screen. This may be one reason why it still holds up today, but it's also why the movie may not play well to fans of big budget sci-fi films like Transformers and The Matrix. The story takes a weird turn in the second half when Vic decides to follow a woman down into a fallout shelter, where the last remnants of civilization are living under strict totalitarian rule and wear creepy mime makeup. This section of the movie plays out a little like A Clockwork Orange meets Hell Comes to Frogtown, and asks the question: which form of society is actually more savage? As with many science-fiction films from back in the day, there is a rather sinister twist ending, and although it strays from the original source material, it seems to fit the tone of the film. Ellison continued the story in a graphic novel called Vic and Blood, illustrated by Richard Corben (Heavy Metal), and claims that a movie sequel may happen one of these days. L.Q. Jones has never directed another movie since this one, only an episode of The Incredible Hulk TV series. A Boy and His Dog was also released under alternate titles that included "Apocalypse: 2024", "Psycho Boy and His Killer Dog", and "Mad Don", which is interesting because this movie actually influenced Mad Max, not the other way around. Deserving of its cult status, A Boy and His Dog has influenced many other post-apocalyptic yarns over the years including I Am Legend, the recent video game Fallout 3, and perhaps even The Road. If you're a fan of sci-fi, I recommend tracking down the DVD, which is currently available from First Run Features.

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Forgotten Films: BMX Bandits

Sean — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:47:54 +0000

Forgotten Films is a semi-regular feature on Film Junk where we explore interesting movies that have fallen off the radar or slipped through the cracks over the years. If you've seen the recent documentary Not Quite Hollywood, about the history of Australian b-movies and exploitation flicks, then you're probably familiar with the name Brian Trenchard-Smith. Trenchard-Smith directed some of the most beloved cult classics from down under including The Man From Hong Kong, Turkey Shoot, and Dead-End Drive In, before eventually going on to helm some of the later installments of the Leprechaun series. To the average person that might not mean much, but for hardcore genre fans, that basically makes him royalty. Back in the '80s, he also took some time away from the carnage and blood-soaked mayhem to direct a family-friendly film of sorts called BMX Bandits. The movie has an interesting claim to fame in that it stars a 15-year-old Nicole Kidman in one of her very first major acting gigs. Imagine my surprise when I stumbled across this movie as part of a 3-in-1 DVD at the local dollar store (the other two movies are Coach of the Year and The Great Dan Patch -- don't ask). The price was right, so I couldn't resist taking it home just to see what kind of retro wackiness it might have to offer. The story is quite simple, and pretty illogical by today's standards. Three young BMX enthusiasts (P.J., Goose and Judy) stumble across a set of walkie-talkies out by the local dock, which unbeknownst to them, were left by a gang of bank robbers planning to use them to eavesdrop on the police. When the crooks discover that their radios have been pilfered by some meddling kids, they dispatch a handful of goons to recover them at any cost. I suppose back in the '80s this might have made some sense, especially if these walkie-talkies were expensive and hard to find, but nowadays it seems pretty stupid that they would waste time chasing after a bunch of kids to get their walkie-talkies back instead of just buying new ones. It also doesn't make sense that they would secretly stash them at the dock like they are some form of illicit goods, but I guess that's not really the point. All that matters is the bad guys have a reason to chase these kids all over South Wales, Austalia... and chase they do. Now I have to admit, I still haven't seen any of Trenchard-Smith's other films, so I really had no idea what to expect here. Early on there is a pretty awesome robbery scene involving pig masks and a car driving straight through a store front window, plus some cheeky sexual innuendo, but this all quickly fades away as the movie becomes a little more age-appropriate. Still, a lot of the BMX stunts are impressive, even if the bumbling chase scenes are cartoony and EXTREMELY long and drawn out. The villains actually have guns and cars, but somehow the kids are able to ride circles around them! It's pretty obvious during most of the stunts that Nicole Kidman is not the one riding her bike, but the sight of an experienced rider in a hot pink BMX suit passing for Nicole Kidman is pretty amusing. Some standout scenes include a suspenseful (although not particularly terrifying) game of hide and seek through a cemetery at night, and a waterslide chase that is pretty damn awesome. Yes, they actually ride their bikes down the slides -- what kid wouldn't love that? The main characters are pretty generic, but like all good kids movies, there is also a spoiled brat fat kid played for comic relief (listed as simple "Fat Kid" in the credits). I have to admit that the movie is not quite as hilarious as I had hoped it would be, as it quickly gets repetitive, especially with that '80s synthesizer soundtrack kicking in every 2 minutes (it has now been permanently drilled into my brain). Still, I suppose that is part of the film's charm, as Trenchard-Smith does as much as he can with what appears to be a painfully low budget. His inventive camera angles keep it energetic and visually interesting, and at least there are enough clunky one-liners to elicit a few chuckles here and there. BMX Bandits predates RAD by 3 years, so if you have fond memories of that film or the '80s BMX craze in general, you'll probably get a kick out of this. It does share some elements of youth classics like Home Alone, The Goonies, and 3 Ninjas, although it's nowhere near as competent. The movie still has a strong cult following today, and there is even a Scottish band that have taken their name from it. The 3-in-1 DVD that I watched was pretty terrible quality (although in a certain sense it kind of added to the experience), so you'd probably be better off picking up the individual DVD release. At least that way you'll have actual chapter stops. It would have been cooler if they had used the original '80s artwork though, instead of this sneaky photo of a much older Nicole Kidman.

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Forgotten Films: The Daytrippers

Sean — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 05:02:21 +0000

Forgotten Films is a semi-regular feature on Film Junk where we explore interesting movies that have fallen off the radar or slipped through the cracks over the years. With the release of Greg Mottola's Adventureland on DVD this week, I thought I should finally get around to writing something about his very first feature film, the often overlooked The Daytrippers. When Adventureland hit theatres back in April, critics seemed very receptive to it, but a lot of moviegoers came away confused because they had been expecting another Superbad. To be fair, Superbad was Mottola's only well-known film, and the marketing for Adventureland did indeed play on that fact. But if you look at Greg Mottola's background as a filmmaker, you'll see that he isn't just another teen comedy guy. The reason why he fits so well within Judd Apatow's crew is because he favours relatable, character-driven films that have an emotional core. And that's exactly what The Daytrippers is... except that it's not about teenagers. The movie is about a married couple who are living a seemingly mundane life in the suburbs of New York. When Eliza stumbles across a strange love note behind her husband's dresser, she is dismayed and unsure what to do. Is he cheating on her? After going to her parents for advice, she soon finds herself piling into a station wagon with her parents, her sister Jo, and her sister's boyfriend Carl, destined for Manhattan in order to confront Louis at work. It turns into quite a hectic and unpredictable drive, with plenty of mishaps along the way, and in the end many relationships are put to the test and all the people involved learn something new about each other. The Daytrippers has a solid cast that includes Stanley Tucci, Hope Davis, Parker Posey and Liev Shrieber. Based on those names alone, I'm a bit surprised that more people haven't heard of this movie, although I realize that none of them are really big "stars" and continue to make a living primarily from indie films and supporting roles. The performances are all excellent on an individual basis, but it is the interaction between them that make it something special. For instance, Liev Shrieber plays Carl, the boyfriend of Jo (Parker Posey), who is an aspiring novelist. He wants to impress Jo's family, but whenever he starts to share his pretentious opinions and ideas, you can't help but wince (and laugh). Anne Meara plays Eliza's overbearing mother to perfection, meanwhile the tension between Eliza and Jo that slowly builds is totally believable. What I love most about this movie is that group car trips really do tend to bring out strange truths and exciting adventures. Just keep in mind that it's a fairly low key film, and if you sit there waiting for something massive to happen, you'll probably miss what's really going on. Just like with Adventureland, there are no big punchlines or pratfalls, just a lot of subtle comedy that comes from the authenticity of everything on screen. By his own words, when Mottola first started making movies, he was aiming to be more of an auteur, an art house type of guy who occasionally did a few mainstream Hollywood flicks as well. It just so happens, he had the perfect mentor for this kind of career, as Steven Soderbergh co-produced the movie and actually came to the set every day. The movie was shot for $30,000 over two weeks, and at times it almost feels like a student film, but yet, it is also surprisingly mature, and a bit darker than you might expect. It won the Grand Jury Prize at Slamdance, which was a bit of redemption after the movie failed to make the cut for Sundance. Eventually, it also went on to play at Cannes and scored a distribution deal with Columbia TriStar. It barely got a theatrical release though, and to this day, remains largely unknown. I will admit that the movie does feel a bit dated, 13 years later, and the twist ending plays as slightly cliched at this point (maybe it did back then too), but the key elements of the film still hold up. I also get a bit of a Seinfeld vibe from The Daytrippers, which kind of makes sense considering that it was released in 1996, right at the height of Seinfeld's popularity. (Then again, it could just be the New York setting, odd predicaments and the dysfunctional family dynamic.) Either way, with Greg Mottola quickly gaining a following, I think The Daytrippers is due to be rediscovered soon. The DVD was out of print for a while and ridiculously hard to find, although it looks like Amazon currently has copies in stock and now offers Video on Demand as well. Unfortunately, I think the only version that exists right now is a full frame pan and scan cut. There was talk at one point that Sony was contemplating a re-issue, so hopefully they follow through on that. The ironic thing is that we all know the DVD cover will boldly proclaim it to be "From the Director of Superbad!" Well, I guess sometimes you just can't escape your past.

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Forgotten Films: Dragonball – The Magic Begins

Wintle — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 04:07:49 +0000

The summer blockbuster roll-out starts early this year with the release of Dragonball: Evolution today. But this is hardly the first live-action adaptation of the manga series. Twenty years ago the world was blessed with the perverted pyrotechnic wonder that is Dragonball: The Magic Begins. In a quest to subjugate all Mankind, King Horn and his alien horde scour the world seeking the seven Dragon Pearls, artifacts which can summon a dragon which will grant one wish. King Horn is opposed by Monkey Boy, his friend Seetoe, and a motley assortment of creatures and warriors, all with their own personal agendas. Dragonball: The Magic Begins is an epic children's tale interspersed with non sequiturs and inappropriate content showing a little wear around the edges, not unlike a fever dream or a shroom binge. If you like pyro and wirework, you'll love this movie. It contains more explosions than any five other action movies I've seen combined. The blasts are detonated so close to some of the actors that I wouldn't be surprised if large groups of people were injured during the shoot. Life is cheap in Dragonball. And as much as I normally dislike wirework, its used to such excess here that it can't help but be endearing, and I would often get startled at the sight of a character walking normally down a flight of stairs instead of doing quintuple back flips to save time. The insanity of it all is grounded by the structure. After King Horn's minions destroy his home, Monkey Boy is forced to venture into a world he's never known, with each new environment bringing with it another companion until the group reaches its final destination. These characters' antics range from mildly musing to annoying, with one notable exception; Turtle Man, a powerful martial artist and incorrigible pervert. The character is played by Eddie Chan, one of the only actors in the movie with previous experience, and it shows. His performance is full of unique and distinctive physicality, from his walk to his wandering hands, and is the third good reason to check this out. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Dragonball: The Magic Begins. It's brisk, with plenty of action and some genuine surprises. And it has a sense of humour, something which the latest live-action iteration of Dragonball seems to be lacking if the trailers are anything to go by.

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Forgotten Films: Howard The Duck

Sean — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 17:34:13 +0000

Forgotten Films is a semi-regular feature on Film Junk where we explore interesting movies that have fallen off the radar or slipped through the cracks over the years. Say what you will about the Star Wars prequels and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, but George Lucas has been associated with far more dubious projects in the past -- movies like the 1980s Marvel comic book adaptation Howard The Duck. Fortunately for Lucas, he was able to erase this dud from our minds for over 20 years by foregoing any sort of official DVD release. Then just this year, for some reason, he had a change of heart. The most likely explanation is that he was running out of Star Wars special editions to re-release but maybe he realized that the movie did have a cult following and there was actually some sort of demand for it. Personally, I felt a need to revisit the movie mainly for the sake of nostalgia, and to see if after all these years it was really as terrible as everyone says it is. I must confess that I was surprised to find that Howard The Duck was actually pretty watchable and, while far from a masterpiece, it still makes a fun piece of '80s fluff. I guess it's important to note right off the bat that George Lucas didn't actually direct this -- he was merely the executive producer. The majority of the credit/blame falls on the shoulders of Willard Huyck (co-writer of American Graffiti and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom), who never did direct another movie afterward. Released back in 1986, the movie was based on the Marvel comic book series about a talking humanoid duck from an alternate dimension who finds himself accidentally transported to Earth -- "Cleve Land", to be exact. In some ways you might say the movie was ahead of its time, in the sense that it created a comic book movie that was more for adults than kids. True, it was still rated PG, and true, it's not nearly as edgy as the original comic book. But when you get a brief flash of bizarre duck nudity within the first 5 minutes you know you're in for something a little bit weird and demented. Indeed, the movie later flirts with the notion of a human-on-duck sex scene, and although it's mostly played for laughs, there is still something a little bit odd about seeing a sexy Lea Thompson in her underwear cooing over a guy in a duck costume. You've gotta give her credit, since she sells the scene (and indeed, a lot of the movie), but considering that she did this movie the year after Back to the Future, you have to wonder if it was the wisest career move. There's something I miss about movies like this and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, where they actually bring cartoon characters into a live action setting by using a man in a suit (Howard was voiced by Chip Zien, but the suit was actually worn by a variety of stunt actors). Nowadays this would all be done with CG, and I can certainly understand why, but it's still a little more satisfying to have something real there on screen for the other actors to interact with. I realize that the duck suit is the thing that makes most people instantly dismiss this movie, but for what it is, I think it works. I mean, he's a duck for crying out loud... how realistic do you want it to be? Yes, the special effects are a mixed bag. The stop motion for the dark overlord at the end is just as dated as the exoskeleton at the end of The Terminator, but it's imaginative and, for its time, technically impressive. Some of the make-up effects are also decent but then again, it did cost $37 million to make. What's even more interesting is that the commercial failure of the movie forced Lucas to sell his computer animation division to Steve Jobs, which would eventually go on to become Pixar! Perhaps the best part of the movie is Jeffrey Jones (Ferris Bueller's Day Off), who is both hilarious and creepy as the scientist who gets possessed by one of the dark overlords. (His performance might have been even more scary had we known he would eventually go on to become a registered sex offender.) The movie really picks up once it has a clear villain, and even if some of the action set pieces like the pedal plane chase never quite reach a Steven Spielberg level of grace, they are far from inept. It's also worth mentioning the fact that Tim Robbins has a pretty major role in the film as the nerdy Phil Blumburtt. It certainly wasn't a breakout role for him (he also starred in Top Gun the same year), but it's pretty surreal seeing him ham it up as an awkward lab assistant at such a young age. Howard the Duck is certainly a movie that is steeped in '80s cheese, from the corny puns to the big hair to the synthetic pop music, which carries over into the soundtrack featuring Lea Thompson's fictional band Cherry Bomb. Even if you can't stand the music in the movie, you have to admit that the grand finale featuring a killer guitar solo from Howard himself is so off-the-wall hilarious that it is the perfect conclusion. It certainly seems to have echoes of Marty McFly's shredding in Back to the Future, at any rate. In my opinion, the movie is equal parts Ghostbusters, TMNT and Men in Black, and I really think there are some redeeming elements that make it worth revisiting. I'm not saying it's a diamond in the rough, so to speak -- there's certainly a reason for the reputation that it has gained over the years. Still, it's not quite as terrible as you might think, and if you can appreciate a little "blast from the past", you might want to throw this on and test the waters for yourself. (By the way, you can also save yourself some money and watch the movie online in its entirely on Hulu.)

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Forgotten Films: Lifeforce

Sean — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:03:42 +0000

Forgotten Films is a semi-regular feature where we explore interesting movies that have fallen off the radar or slipped through the cracks over the years. Back in the late '80s and early '90s, there was always a pretty limited selection of VHS tapes in the sci-fi and horror section at my local video store. If you were a fan of either genre, you got to know most of these movies pretty well, and while they weren't always the best flicks, you forced yourself to like them anyway. When I think back to the rental shelves in those days, one of the movies that always seemed to be staring back at me was the 1985 film Lifeforce. From what I remember, the cover was a little misleading because it looked like the whole movie took place in outer space, when in fact, that's not quite the case. However, since the movie was written by Dan O'Bannon (Alien), it was marketed as another space horror flick. What's surprising is that Lifeforce was also directed by Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), who had just come off working on Poltergeist a few years previous. You'd think a movie of this pedigree would be a little bit better known, but nowadays it has all but faded away into obscurity. It's kind of a shame, because after revisiting it, I have to say that it contains more than enough fun moments to satisfy both horror and sci-fi fiends alike. Based on the book The Space Vampires by Colin Wilson, the story was tweaked for the big screen to tie in with the coming of the Halley's Comet in 1986. A space shuttle crew detects a ship hidden in the head of the comet with some weird bat-like creatures and three humanoids in suspended animation. Eventually the shuttle loses contact with Earth, and when a second team is sent to investigate they find all but one member of the original crew dead, and the aliens once again hibernating. The beings are brought to earth where it is revealed that they are actually vampires that suck the lifeforce out of humans. They wreak havoc on London, turning most of the population into zombie-esque hosts, while the only surviving crew member (Steve Railsback) and Major Caine of the British SAS (Peter Firth) try to find a way to stop them. The early scenes are tense and claustrophobic, and capture everything that is eerie about being in space including slow movement, silence, isolation, confinement, lack of oxygen, etc. I kind of wish more of the movie could have been spent here as it might have ended up as something in the vein of Alien, Event Horizon or Sunshine, but before long the setting shifts to Earth. Here the movie starts playing very similar to Species, mainly because you've got a voluptuous female alien who is completely nude for a large chunk of the movie. Played by French actress Mathilda May, she rarely speaks, but she manages to be both creepy and attractive at the same time. It's funny because I remember this movie freaking me out as a kid, but I'm not sure what was scarier at the time: the fact that the she was a vampire, or the fact that she was naked. Before long, the movie morphs into an Invasion of the Body Snatchers / The Thing type of thriller, as the vampires can transfer themselves from body to body. By the end, however, the genre mash-up is completed with an apocalyptic scenario where the people who are infected by the vampires have basically become zombies, leading to a viral outbreak. Perhaps one of the main reasons why Lifeforce was somewhat forgotten is that there aren't many big name actors involved and the characters themselves are totally forgettable. It's interesting to note, however, that the movie does star a pre-Star Trek:TNG Patrick Stewart, who gets possessed by the vampire and has to undergo an "exorcist" of sorts (complete with over-the-top moaning and screaming). This was amusing in and of itself, and I have to say, it was also a little surreal seeing him in a wheelchair like 15 years before the X-Men movie! The special effects are kind of hit and miss, but some of the stuff is still pretty mind-blowing, including a scene where Patrick Stewart's body disintegrates into a glob of blood that then morphs into a face. There's a lot of blue lightning used for the actual life drain (reminiscent of Poltergeist, I suppose), and some very grotesque (albeit dated) animatronics which alternate between horrific and hilarious. The movie also has a great score composed by Henry Mancini, although Michael Kamen apparently added some additional music when the studio decided to recut the film. The DVD release of Lifeforce is (I believe) the extended, international version of the film with all of Mancini's music intact, but I could be wrong on that. The frustrating thing is that the sole DVD release of this movie is, unfortunately, not enhanced for widescreen TVs. Come on people, it's time for a special edition re-release! In general, Lifeforce is one of those movies that bombed at the box office and later found an cult following on home video. While it's certainly a bit muddled and lacking in strong performances, the atmosphere and imagery left an impression on a lot of people who saw it back in the day, and it's unique and strange enough to warrant a viewing even today. Certainly fans of Dan O'Bannon and Tobe Hooper should check it out, and if you're in the mood for a wacky mix of horror and sci-fi, I don't think Lifeforce will disappoint.

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Forgotten Films: Crimewave

Sean — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:37:23 +0000

If there was an announcement made today that Sam Raimi was going to direct a movie from a screenplay written by The Coen Brothers (starring Bruce Campbell, no less), I don't think there's a film geek alive who wouldn't lose their mind. Based on their impressive filmographies and the cult followings that both have amassed, a collaboration of this magnitude would be a cinematic event like no other. But what if I told you that such a movie already existed, and not only did it bomb at the box office, but still remains to this day, exceedingly hard to find on DVD? Back at the beginning of their careers, Sam Raimi and The Coen Brothers were all a part of the same scene of up-and-coming Midwest filmmakers, and Joel Coen landed one of his first film gigs as assistant editor on The Evil Dead. A couple of years later, The Coen Brothers had written and directed their first film, Blood Simple, and Raimi was developing his next movie. He asked The Coens to write the script for him, and the result was Crimewave. Originally titled The XYZ Murders, this was Raimi's first time working with an actual studio, and it turned out to be a bit of a disaster. Raimi described it as the worst time of his life, and Bruce Campbell has not so fond memories of a miserable winter shoot in Detroit and all kinds of studio interference, as told in his book If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor: "Crimewave was a lesson about abject failure -- no matter how you slice it, the film was a dog, and everyone involved can pretty much line up and take forty whacks. As filmmakers, we failed to execute a misguided concept and our studio refused us the benefit of any doubt." The movie follows two psychotic hitmen who double as exterminators (played by Brion James and Paul Smith). They are hired by the co-owner of a security company to eliminate his partner, who is trying to sell the business behind his back to Renaldo aka "The Heel" (Bruce Campbell). Along the way a number of people accidentally cross paths with the hitmen, leading to a series of goofy chase scenes and cartoony murders, until they encounter a nerdy security technician (Reed Birney) who is trying to win the heart of a girl (Sheree J. Wilson). Raimi is known for his love of The Three Stooges, but I have never seen it shine through quite like it does in Crimewave. The movie is filled with all kinds of weird slapstick moments and cartoon sound effects. There are plenty of POV shots and silly set pieces, culminating in a pretty epic high-speed three car chase sequence. Some of the stunts are impressive, while others are pretty campy and fake-looking. This is Sam Raimi at his most hyper real, and I can see it turning off a lot of viewers. Anyone who disliked the dance scene in the jazz club from Spider-Man 3, for example, will probably hate this movie. I still had a lot of fun to watching all the camera tricks and the hammy performances from Bruce Campbell et al, however the movie itself is very nearly incoherent. It's hard to say how much influence The Coen Brothers actually had on this movie. Their quirky sense of humour seems to permeate some of the proceedings, although the dialogue itself is certainly not on the same level of cleverness that they are known for today. The Coens would go on to direct Hudsucker Proxy afterward, which Sam Raimi co-wrote and Bruce Campbell starred in (incidentally, Crimewave also has a prison in it called "Hudsucker Penitentiary"). Raimi would return to his independent roots to shoot Evil Dead 2. I can certainly understand why Crimewave has been sort of abandoned, and left hidden from the public eye. It's not a particularly brilliant movie, and it's easily one of the weakest projects that any of these great filmmakers have been involved in. I can also understand why the studio execs might have been a little bit unhappy with the final product, especially considering that it went over budget (the Columbia Pictures logo at the start of the film seems very out of place). Still, this is a movie that will certainly be of interest to hardcore Sam Raimi fans, and it has its share of fun moments. If you can get your hands on a copy without paying through the nose, I'd still recommend giving it a chance.

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Forgotten Films: Someone To Watch Over Me

Sean — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 02:43:23 +0000

Whenever you hear the name Ridley Scott, there are a few movies that instantly spring to mind: in particular, Alien, Blade Runner and Gladiator. There's certainly a good reason for this, since Alien and Blade Runner are both groundbreaking films in their own right, while Gladiator (although perhaps a tad overrated) won an Oscar for Best Picture. However, I like to think that Scott has a pretty impressive and varied filmography that he has built up over the years, and there are a lot of other underappreciated gems within that list. Sure there are a few misfires too (Kingdom of Heaven, Hannibal), but generally, he's a director who brings a slick visual aesthetic and a sense of restrained style to some pretty high profile projects. Recently I was skimming through some lists of the top movies from a number of directors, and among the recommended selections for Ridley Scott was a movie called Someone to Watch Over Me. I hadn't seen it before (which admittedly isn't a shocker), but what I found more intriguing was that I hadn't even heard of it. On top of that, it had come towards the earlier part of his career, just after Legend and Blade Runner. For some reason, my curiosity got the best of me and decided to track this mysterious movie down. Someone to Watch Over Me is a thriller starring Tom Berenger as Mike Keegan, a New York detective who is assigned to keep guard over a murder witness believed to be in danger. The witness is Claire Gregory, played by Mimi Rogers, who also happens to be a beautiful, rich socialite living in a massive Manhattan apartment. The main twist to the story (and there aren't many of them) is that Mike and Claire fall for each other, turning Mike into a conflicted man and bringing his marriage into question. It's true that the movie is rather simple and straightforward, and as Roger Ebert points out in his review, there aren't a lot of surprises to be found. However, there are still some noteworthy things about this movie that make it worth checking out. Once you get past the first couple of scenes, taking place at a house party and night club respectively (both of which are so 80's they hurt), you start to notice the Ridley Scott-isms taking over. For a concept that is rather ordinary, Scott manages to inject a lot of amazing cinematography and cool imagery into the flick. He takes high class Manhattan locations and makes them look sleek and futuristic but also dark and menacing, with the help of his immaculate lighting and penchant for smoky rooms. If you were to take some stills from this movie, it probably wouldn't be hard to convince someone that they actually came from Blade Runner. However, this movie was also a bit different for Ridley Scott, because it was one of the first times that he attempted to tackle a very down-to-earth, human story. Early on in his career, Ridley Scott was criticized for an inability to work with actors and actresses (Sigourney Weaver once talked about a time when she asked him for advice on a scene in Alien, and all he could do was compare her to a lens on a camera). You can certainly feel this in movies like Alien and Blade Runner, which are very cold and sterile -- although in both of those cases, it actually enhances the mood. Someone To Watch Over Me calls for a little more skill in dealing with emotions, and while it's still very clinical at times, I think the movie succeeds in communicating the internal struggle of Mike, his wife's heartbreak, and the pure terror of the final scene that supersedes everything else. A lot of the credit can go to Lorraine Bracco, who makes her first major on-screen appearance here as Mike's wife Ellie (she would appear in Scorsese's Goodfellas a few years later and get nominated for an Oscar). It's also interesting to note that the movie stars Jerry Orbach as a hard-nosed cop that predates his time on Law & Order by a few years. After seeing Someone to Watch Over Me, I can kind of understand why it has become a forgotten film. It feels a bit dated and formulaic, and it's certainly not as innovative as the movies that Ridley Scott directed beforehand. However, I think it marks an interesting transition point in his career, and there's enough talent on screen to make this worth seeking out even if you're not a Ridley Scott afficionado. Someone to Watch Over Me was previously released on DVD by Sony, but it's currently out of print. Netflix, eBay and the rest of the internet are probably the best places to look for it.

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