Welcome back to the newest installment of my weekly movie viewing gang. It is a wildly broad week in terms of genre. It's a good week too, with the worst movie still being absolutely watchable in a hilariously bad way. There are big things coming down the pipeline and it should be fun and epic in a way this blog hasn't done yet. So read this, share it, and stay tuned. It's been fun and should keep being fun. Enjoy.
Nosferatu The Vampyre (May 26th, 2014)
Director: Werner Herzog
Starring: Klaus Kinski, Isabelle Adjani, and Bruno Ganz
Here's another entry in the section of remakes that don't suck and are actually good. It's an argument that I can't really stand, as people who feel that way actively ignore movies like this to make a point. Now, is it fair to compare a movie directed by a German auteur like this to a work for hire job like the recent Robocop? Not really, but it's not a crazy comparison. Mainly because the real argument is letting artists with vision make movies, not hack jobs like Brett Ratner. And this one had a harder job than most remakes, taking on the earliest iconic horror movie. And he does a good job by making it work as a color movie with sound. Its really a straight up Dracula adaptation with some changes. But not so much that it isn't noticeable, Kinski being straight up called Count Dracula and all. The movie isn't really scary, but it has a very dreamlike/nightmarish tone to it. That was the best decision because it would be a fools game to try and be the same movie as the original, a movie of its time. Kinski is a good Dracula, never reaching the heights of Max Shreck. That's not fair though, seeing Shreck actually looked like that and was rumored to actually be a vampire. Theres only one bad element in the movie and it was the goofy dick that they had play Renfield. He is like a cartoon version of what a crazy person should be, a guy who looks like someone who should be on the Simpsons. While the movie doesn't reach any classic level, it is a solid across the board (exempting Renfield) movie with a really good performance filled with sadness by Kinski. It also has a very bittersweet ending which I really enjoyed. A good, dreamlike movie into a nightmare, there are many worse ways to spend two hours.
Rating: 8.5/10
Director: George P. Comsatos
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Brigitte Nielsen, Reni Santoni, and Andrew Robinson
This is just pure, unadultered 80s awesome/awful. The only movie that Stallone made that was more 80s was Rocky IV. Its like someone told Stallone and the director a basic outline of Dirty Harry, they did a few rails of coke and came up with this beautifully stupid movie. Stallone is Marion Cobretti aka Cobra (already I'm with ya). He's apparently on a squad in the LAPD that is called in when they just want to kill a perp quickly and efficiently with a quip delivered after a kill. When a gang of what appears to be anarchist gang members (it's not really clear what they are) start killing people for some plot that is, again, not very clear, Cobra comes in to protect a witness. This is not a good movie. I need to make that clear. But it is filled with such a wonderful amount of what the fuck were they actually thinking, that it plays like a great time capsule for the 80s. Stallone has made much better, but surprisingly made much worse. If you got the stomach for stupid action, this is a good time. If you can't deal with that, steer the fuck away from this.
The Color of Money (May 30th, 2014)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Leave it to Marty to take a work for hire job that is a 24 year old sequel about pool players and somehow turn it into something special. Following up on where Fast Eddie Felson is after all these years is a blast. Paul Newman is in fine form and rightfully deserved the Oscar nom/win. Now selling booze and living a life outside of the pool hustling game, he is awoken from a slumber when young hot shot Tom Cruise waltzes in to his life and re invigorates him. There is a wonderful sense of fun in the movie until Newman hits a point where he has a midlife crisis of sorts. He realizes he missed so much and doesn't want to miss it anymore. Cruise is ok in the role, still a bit too fresh to fully play the cocky idiot, especially next to Newman. Mastantonio fares better as the street tough girlfriend to Cruise. The movie doesn't feature too many surprises, playing like the usual sports/mentor movie. But Scorsese and Newman elevate the movie completely and help make the movie more than a cash grab.
Contact (May 31st, 2014)
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Skerrit, and James Woods
Now, this is a movie that took me completely by surprise. It is a movie that was Zemeckis' much anticipated follow up to his Oscar winning behemoth Forrest Gump. But it was a movie that seemed to disappoint alot of people and didn't have the greatest rep for a while. But it seems to have gotten a better rep as time went on and for damn good reason. It is a very interesting take on the Sci Fi genre. It follows Jodie Foster as a scientist who spends her time searching for life in the stars by searching for radio frequencies. She is obsessed with finding alien life so she can hopefully find meaning on Earth. When she actually finds signs of life, everything changes for her and for the earth. It is a very surprisingly engrossing movie that manages to feel realistic but very rooted in Sci Fi. And while Foster is good and anchors the movie, I'm more fascinated by McConaugheys character. He's the guy who ends up falling in love with Jodie. And while the relationship feels real where I can see them as a couple, it somehow feels a bit rushed. But thats not why I'm so interested with Matts role. The guy is a "priest", a man of god who isn't involved with a church but believes in the almighty. He also isn't against technology and science, but is wary of the way people have been increasingly reliant on technology to detriment of their lives/happiness/drive. It's such an interesting take, where in other movies he would be a bible thumping rube who is hates all science. But he is a realistic man who only wants to find the truth and keep things good for both sides of the equation. It's a refreshing character that shows how different the movie is. People are people and they aren't all falling into one type. This is a movie that pushes a scientific mind, an atheist into understanding why the spiritual believe. Without proof and a definite idea of what happened, belief is powerful and can't be explained sometimes. That's ballsy. It has some bad points though. There is a villain for some reason who is very mustache twirlingly bad. And there is the unfortunate 90s CGI in the climax which is a shame. But aside from some minorly bad elements, the movie soars for the most part. I was pleasantly surprised and have new found respect for Zemeckis. I highly recommend this movie.
- Tom Lorenzo
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