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Tight Action, Rear Traction or: Too Fast For Love (Eugeology Entry 24)

22 Thursday Jun 2017

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Salutations™!!

Sure, my love affair with Eugene’s choices waned a bit last week, but still, I’m having a winning record with the majority of stuff. And, it wasn’t a total waste, there were parts that I liked, right? Jon’s Monolithic Mega Month of Mayhem may be coming to an end and perhaps, just maybe he can get back on the train and catch up. Well, here’s this week’s take:

Too_Fast

©Elektra Records

 

#24 – Too Fast For Love by Mötley Crüe.

I didn’t even hear of Crüe until after Shout at the Devil came out in 1983. We were on a family trip to Virginia Beach and I was watching Night Flight on USA Network (that’s what it was called back then). The videos for “Looks that Kill” and “Too Young to Fall in Love” came on and I was in awe at the vids and dug the music. It was rough, raw and punchy. At least I thought so back then. I didn’t realize that Shout was a polished as it was. That’s not a bad thing, I like polished.

Then quite a few years later, which could have even been around the time the Decade of Decadence 81-91 greatest hits album came out, I realized there was something prior to Shout from the band. “Live Wire” and “Piece of Your Action” were on that. I thought they were decent songs, but they weren’t “Shout at the Devil,” “Ten Seconds to Love” or “Knock ‘Em Dead Kid.” It was too raw for me. I borrowed a cassette from an ex-girlfriend and really disliked that album. I didn’t like the production and I didn’t necessarily care for the tunes. Well, in my quest to be more accepting of things I don’t normally like, I purchased the CD in 2003 (okay, call it my need to collect). I still really didn’t care for it, even after it was remastered.

So, Eug had it up next on our list. I said, “yes!” because it was one of the few that I actually own or have owned. Eug was happy about that, and then I told him that I hadn’t listened to it but maybe once or twice. I sent me a virtual smack. I deserved that I guess. On to the album…

I still don’t really care for it. Well, let me clarify that. I still don’t like the production and Vince Neil’s voice is only slightly better than amateurish. Overall, it’s not awful. But, I hate the chorus to the title track because it sounds like the Ramones doing hard and heavy music. The “gang” vocals sound like two people yelling in unison instead of sounding like a gang. His voice is powerful in spots and really crappy in others. Now, I understand that when they originally released the album it was mostly self-produced and when Elektra Records signed them, they rerecorded some of the album. I’m thinking once Vince learned how to actually sound like a professional singer, that’s where they rerecorded.

Many of the songs sound like trial runs of Shout songs. “Take Me to the Top” sounds like a mix of “Looks that Kill” and “Too Young…” Not a bad thing but I’d rather have the finished product. Well, kind of. I haven’t really cared for “Looks that Kill” for the last 25 years or so (overplayed). I still like “Too Young…” though.

Besides the bad production, the one constant that I believe has always been the best asset of Mötley Crüe is Tommy Lee. He was the best thing for them. Both in “show” and in talent. He’s a fantastic drummer; a beast, if you will. I got tired of watching his antics over the years but I loved watching him play. Not that I ever saw them live, but on videos and such.

Mick Mars was just coming into his flashiness, even though he was 60 when this album came out (I’m kidding). And the main songwriter, bassist Nikki Sixx, actually plays some riffs that aren’t just mimicking the guitar parts. You don’t hear a lot of that in future Crüe albums. He just plays underneath the guitar parts in most of the songs from here.

I know it sounds like I’m poo pooing on the album, but really, I’m not. It’s not a bad album, just parts that peeve me. I came to that conclusion on the seventh listen through. I don’t usually listen to reissues or at least the “bonus tracks” but on this one, I made an exception. The original release had ten songs. The “official” version had nine. So, even though they released “Stick to Your Guns” as a single, it was omitted on the Elektra version. The 2003 reissue (and what’s on Amazon Music and Napster) has the song back on there as well as a decent cover of The Raspberries’ “Tonight” and “Stick to Your Guns” b-side, “Toast of the Town.”

If you take Vince’s crapola vocals out, this is really a good album and I’m glad I gave it another chance or was required to as part of the research. It’s no Shout at the Devil (my fave by the band) or Theatre of Pain (my second fave), heck nothing up to Generation Swine, but it’s decent. Thanks, Eug. I want to read your take and Jon will catch up someday.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Plug me in, I’m alive tonight. Out on the streets again. Turn me on, I’m too hot to stop. Something you’ll never forget. Take my fist, break down walls. I’m on top tonight. No, no! You better turn me loose. You better set me free cause I’m hot, young, running free. A little bit better than I used to be. ‘Cause, I’m alive. I’m a live wire.” – “Live Wire” (Sixx)

Say Anything… or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

10 Saturday Jun 2017

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Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Say Anything… (1989), starring John Cusack, Ione Skye and John Mahoney.

Say_Anything

©20th Century Fox

 

Per IMDb: “A noble underachiever and a beautiful valedictorian fall in love the summer before she goes off to college.”

Lloyd Dobler (Cusack) starts obsessing over Diane Court (Skye) at their high school graduation. She’s the valedictorian, and most assume she’s “out of his league.” She has won a fellowship to attend school in England and her father, Jim (Mahoney), couldn’t be happier. Jim is the owner of a retirement home and is his daughter’s best friend, after the divorce from her mother. They have a good bit of money and that adds to the ways that Diane and Lloyd are different, although neither of them cares.

Jim is worried that Lloyd may be a detriment to Diane’s upcoming matriculation in England; afraid that she’ll want to stay home instead of going. The more the two teens get involved, the more Jim becomes less tolerant of Diane’s “freedoms.” It doesn’t help that the IRS is investigating Jim on fraud charges through the retirement home.  Do the crazy kids stay together? Do they break up? What happens with the IRS? You’ll have to watch to find out.

As usual, Joan Cusack plays in the film with her brother, John. She doesn’t give any Oscar-winning performances but that wasn’t what she set out to do, in this film. It was so strange seeing John Mahoney with dark hair and playing a role outside of Martin Crane, Frasier’s father in the television series. There are times when you don’t like him and I’m not used to that with him, either. There are times when you certainly do like him, though.

The BCPF thinks Ione Skye got the part because she’s pretty while I think she is an awful actress and looks like a horse. As the film went on it was like she learned to act. The acting was less atrocious from her the deeper the film went. Beyond that, I think that she and Cusack (who can act) actually had good screen chemistry.

Another Frasier cast member, Bebe Neuwirth (she played Frasier’s ex-wife, Lillith), made an appearance here, as well. Other cameos include Jeremy Piven, Chynna Phillips, Eric Stoltz and Lili Taylor.

Probably the most notable thing about this film is its soundtrack. One of the most famous scenes of teen-driven dramedies happens in this film: the iconic holding of the boombox playing “In Your Eyes” from Peter Gabriel (off my favorite album of all-time). Cusack reenacted that onstage at a Peter Gabriel show a few years ago. In addition to PG, the soundtrack included Nancy Wilson of Heart (her husband, Cameron Crowe wrote the film), Depeche Mode, The Replacements, Cheap Trick, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Living Colour and Joe Satriani. It’s a great soundtrack and the songs fit well in the film.

Overall, I think it was a decent film. Not my favorite of teen films but it was pretty good. Rotten Tomatoes has it at 98% Fresh with an Audience Score of 85%. IMDb has it at 7.4 stars out of 10. We rented it from Amazon Prime and I will rate it 4 stars out of 5. Have you seen it? What would you like to hear/read me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“One question: are you here ’cause you need someone, or ’cause you need me?… Forget it, I don’t care.” – Lloyd Dobler

Dot Dot Dot or: Alexa, Good Morning

09 Friday Jun 2017

Posted by in Life as We Know It, Podcasting

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Salutations™!!51TmaDI8jRL._SY300_.jpg

I got one of the new Amazon Echo Dot things this week and I think The BCPF is worried about me. I think they made a movie about this kind of thing (Her (2013))? Anyway, from Alexa I get my “good morning” briefing, listen to whatever albums or songs that I want, I can play games, ask questions, access Wikipedia and have Alexa pull up podcasts.

That’s what I’m going to talk about right now, I suppose. Being as that’s what I do for a living, I check to see if my podcasts are available to people on any platform I can find. Alexa has internal apps that are called “skills” that dictate what she knows, how she interacts and so on. So, there’s a skill she has called AnyPod (there’s also TryPod and PodBuddy) that I emailed the developer to check the shows from The Less Desirables Network‘s availability. The Beer Dads and Sipping NC: The Art of Drinking both showed up but she was having trouble with The Less Desirables, The Man Who Ate the Town and Fan Interference podcasts.

Apparently, Alexa (and her “skills”) wanted to look for Les Diserables (as in Les Miserables) and Fan Interference went to a dozen other places when I asked for it. After getting AnyPod to check into it for me, the skill then picked up the right podcasts. Now, I have to play with it a bit and just say “less desirables” and “ate the town” to get it to work right, but they’re at least recognized.

So, if you have an Amazon Echo or Echo Dot, you can now find all your favorite The Less Desirables Network podcasts to listen there. So, if you enable the AnyPod skill, use some of the following phrases: “Alexa, ask AnyPod to play The Less Desirables,” “Alexa, ask AnyPod to play Fan Interference,” “Alexa, ask AnyPod to play The Beer Dads,” “Alexa, ask AnyPod to play The Man Who Ate the Town,” “Alexa, ask AnyPod to play Sipping NC: The Art of  Drinking.”

You may have to modify some of those phrases. Instead, ask “Alexa, ask AnyPod to play Less Desirables,” “Alexa, ask AnyPod to play Ate the Town,” and so on. You can play around with different ways to ask for it. Also, the AnyPod skill is great for playing other podcasts, as well. If you don’t have an Echo or Echo Dot, well, you need to have one. Enjoy!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“The device is capable of voice interaction, music playback, making to-do lists, setting alarms, streaming podcasts, playing audiobooks, and providing weather, traffic [sic] and other real time [sic] information. It can also control several smart devices using itself as a home automation hub.” – Wikipedia page Amazon Echo Dot

Good Morning Vietnam or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

20 Saturday May 2017

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Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor for The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Good Morning Vietnam (1987), starring Robin Williams, Forest Whitaker.

Good_Morning,_Vietnam

©Touchstone Pictures

Per IMDb: “In 1965, an unorthodox and irreverent DJ named Adrian Cronauer begins to shake up things when he is assigned to the U.S. Armed Services radio station in Vietnam.”

The late, great Robin Williams stars as a wacky,  on-the-fly and humorous DJ, who’s also an airman, sent from Crete to Saigon to host two shows daily on the USAF radio station on an army base. Immediately, he meets resistance as his immediate supervisor, Lt. Hauk (Bruno Kirby) has control issues and lacks any kind of real humor or musical tastes, but thinks he’s abundant in each and his supervisor’s superior is Sgt. Major Dickerson (late J.T. Walsh) who just has a stick up his rear end wants to make life heck for Adrian.

Adrian’s liaison around town is Eddie Garlic (Whitaker) who is truly a lovable but awkward fellow. Eddie shows him where the G.I. bar is, some sights around town and is even his driver on assignments. While Eddie is driving, Adrian notices a pretty Vietnamese girl and wants to talk to her. She tells him to buzz off but Adrian is persistent. He follows her to a school that teaches English and bribes the instructor to let him teach the class. That allows him to get closer to the girl (Chintara Sukapatana). Her brother, Tuan (Tung Thanh Tran) tells him to keep his distance, but becomes Adrian’s friend after a while. 

Every piece of news that comes across the news wire must be censored by a pair of twins in order to be read on the air and that rubs Adrian the wrong way. It is also a point of contention between him and his superiors. I can tell you more, but I’d be giving away all the highlights. Does he get the girl? Does he make it out of Vietnam alive? You need to see it for yourself.

Robin Williams was phenomenal in this film. Almost all of his radio broadcasts were improvised and minimally scripted. The rest of the acting in the film was great, too. The locals who got the English right enough to speak, really had it down like it was real and not a movie. The scenery was vivid and beautiful, even the destruction and blowing up of stuff in the film was perfectly shot.

I had the soundtrack on cassette. In fact, I wore out the first copy and got a second. I now have it on CD and the film on DVD. It’s currently only available through Netflix‘s DVD.com or you can rent it from Amazon Prime for $3.99. If you subscribe to Cinemax though Amazon Channels, you can watch this for free. Rotten Tomatoes has it at 89% Fresh with an Audience Score of 82%. IMDb has it at 7.3 stars out of 10. We watched this with 3B, on DVD and I will rate it 4.25 stars out of 5. Have you seen it? What did you think? What would you like to read or hear me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“The Mississippi River broke through a protective dike today. What is a protective dike? Is it a large woman that says ‘Don’t go near there! But Betty- Don’t go near there! Don’t go down by the river!’… No, we can’t say ‘dyke’ on the air, we can’t even say ‘lesbian’ anymore, it’s ‘women in comfortable shoes. Thank You.'” – Adrian Cronauer

Pretty In Pink or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

01 Saturday Apr 2017

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Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Pretty in Pink (1986), starring Molly Ringwald, Jon Cryer and Harry Dean Stanton.

Pretty_In_Pink

©Paramount Pictures

Per IMDb: “A poor girl must choose between the affections of her doting childhood sweetheart and a rich but sensitive playboy.”

Molly Ringwald plays Andie Walsh, a pretty girl who lives in near poverty after her mother leaves the family and her dad (Stanton) is too depressed, or lazy, to work to support the family. She has a fashion ingenuity about her and designs, and makes, her own clothes. She works in a local record store for an eccentric boss, Iona (Annie Potts) and they basically sit around and gossip and talk boys and troubles. Andie is picked on at school by the rich and popular girls, often to cruel measures, but Andie refuses to give up the antagonists, which makes her look even more like a goody-good-doer. Her main worry, though, is that she won’t get asked to the prom.

She has a not-so-secret admirer, though; two actually. First, there’s the lovable geek and outcast, “Duckie” Dale (Cryer) whose undying love for Andie has him hanging out with her father during the day, following and somewhat harassing her around at work and hanging out at her house in the evenings. They’ve been friends for a while and he’s smitten. She only sees them as friends. Then, there’s Blane (Andrew McCarthy). Blane  is a rich kid who struggles with his sensitivity and living up to the snobbish standards of his other rich friends. It’s a tough ride, really.

He takes an interest in Andie and that not only infuriates Duckie, it makes Blane’s best pal, Steff McKee (played by a pre-weight gain/still an a-hole James Spader), reveal his true a-hole self. It’s not pretty. Andie is skeptical of the whole thing because she worries that she’s out of Blane’s league, he’s rich, she’s poor. She’s somewhat embarrassed by it. They go on a date, Duckie flips out. How does the date go? Who takes her to the prom? You’ll have to watch to find out.

I’ll admit that for whatever reason, I never saw this all the way through until just a few years ago. I don’t know what it is about the rom-com John Hughes “Brat Pack” films that just escaped me, because I really enjoy them. I just didn’t see them. I think to some extent we all know someone like each of the characters and we can relate to them. While the times are different, the situations really aren’t. It’s typical coming-of-age stuff and it’s relative to us because of it.

We watched this film to introduce 3B to it. That’s part of the Sunday tradition, now. Cook and watch an older film. He seemed to really enjoy it. He’s in high school now and I can see, and I think he can, too, the relativity to his life. He laughed a good bit. That’s a good sign.

Jon Cryer plays the part of Duckie perfectly. Smart, witty but a lonely outsider who is just head-over-it with Andie. McCarthy shows good sensitivity and still has the pretty-boy look to fit what the part needed. Harry Dean Stanton, is still alive today and is 90 years old. He’s a great actor and played the part of Andie’s dad with compassion for his daughter but with the distraught disposition that the role called for. James Spader is always a great a-hole. Molly Ringwald grew up with John Hughes. She is what she is because of him. She has talent and it shows up in this film. She took the lead and ran with it.

John Hughes has a way with capturing what he’s looking for in a story line through his soundtracks. They always are more than just songs in the background. Take for instance the song “If You Leave” by OMD. It’s in the final scene. If you’ve seen the film you understand why that’s important. If you’ve not seen it, you will when you do. Other songs fit in perfectly, too. The title track, of course, “Left of Center” from Suzanne Vega and Joe Jackson, “Shellshock” from New Order, “Wouldn’t It Be Good” by Nik Kershaw (on the soundtrack as Danny Hutton Hitters), “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want” from The Smiths, and so on. It is considered by many to be one of the top movie soundtracks of all time. Huffington Post, Rolling Stone and Allmusic all rated it in their greatest soundtrack lists.

Rotten Tomatoes rates it at 80% Fresh with an Audience Score of 81%. IMDb has it at 6.7 stars out of 10. That’s a little lower than I though it would/should be. We watched this on Amazon Prime and I rate the film 4.25 stars out of 5 because I think it’s an important film for those living that age, now, for us that grew up in the one depicted in the film and because the soundtrack is awesome. Have you seen it? What did you think? What would you like to read/hear me review? I want recommendations, dang it!!!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“May I admire you again today?” – Duckie

Deadpool or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

14 Saturday Jan 2017

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Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Deadpool (2016), starring Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin, T.J. Miller. deadpool_poster

Per IMDb: “A fast-talking mercenary with a morbid sense of humor is subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers and a quest for revenge.”

Wade Wilson (Reynolds) is a bad arsed mercenary that just won’t shut up. He dispatches his quarry with extreme prejudice and I do mean, extreme. He meets the woman of his dreams, Vanessa (Baccarin), a woman who is tough as nails, just like Wade and just as beautiful as she is tough. He meets her at a shady underground bar that caters to mercenaries and other ne’er-do-wellers. At said establishment, they have a “dead pool” where the patrons of the bar place bets on when certain mercs will die. The bartender has a lot riding on Wade.

One day, as Wade and Vanessa are about to slap nasties, Wade keels over. It turns out he has cancer that has spread throughout his body. Word gets around to a secret company that says they can cure Wade of this cancer. Wade meets Ajax and Angel Dust, who turn out to be torturous a-holes and give Wade a hard time, which he, of course, smarts off to them about; insulting them, indeed. The company isn’t necessarily looking to help Wade but to make him an indestructible soldier for their bidding. Wade doesn’t know this and reluctantly agrees to go through with the procedure. Ajax injects Wade with a mutation and because each person’s DNA is different, they don’t know how it’s going to turn out. They deprive Wade of Oxygen which makes the mutation accelerate and it turns out, he becomes enhanced with strength and healing abilities. Sounds good right? Well, the bad part of that is it permanently scars Wade’s entire body. He ends up destroying the lab he was “made” in and sets out to find Ajax to get him to reverse the damage done to his body. Does he get Ajax? Does he go back to the way he was? Can he ever face Vanessa again? You’ll have to watch to find out.

It’s no secret that I have a love for comics and comic movies; I owned a comic store for a bit. But, I have to say for the most part, the later batches of superhero films have been let downs or not lived up to hype. This one, had many starts and stops along the way to production but then it happened and Ryan Reynolds became a producer of the film in addition to playing the “merc with a mouth,” Deadpool. I have always loved Deadpool. He had his healing factor, just like Wolverine, he was pretty awesome in a fight and he had the wit of Spider-Man magnified by 30. Add in vulgarity and for S’s & G’s magnify that by 100.

Reynolds plays this part perfectly. The action was good, the script was good, the acting was good. The special effects are fun to watch. We get Colossus (voiced by Stefan Kapicic), albiet all CGI, and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (played by Brianna Hildebrand) from the X-Men to help Wade fight against the “bad guys.” You certainly have to have a fair amount of suspension of disbelief for this to work and when you’ve done that, this is a really, fun film to watch. The violence is over-the-top. The jokes are nasty. The language is beyond vulgar. But, the fun? It’s all worth it for that. I was laughing hard throughout most of the film and 3B loved it as well. I can’t believe Disney signed off on something this lewd but I’m glad they did. I thought it was a great film, really. Oh, and the complete annihilation of the fourth wall, that doesn’t hurt either. 

Rotten Tomatoes has it at 84% Fresh with an Audience Score of 90%. IMDb rates it at 8.1 stars out of 10. I saw the film on Blu Ray, a friend let me borrow it, but you can watch it free on Amazon Prime with an HBO subscription. That probably means you can find it on HBO and you may be able to find it on demand, as well. I really liked it and I’m rating it 4.75 stars out of 5. Have you seen it? What would you like to read/hear me review? Let me know.

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Now, I’m about to do to you what Limp Bizkit did to music in the late 90s.” – Deadpool/Wade Wilson

Gremlins or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

24 Saturday Dec 2016

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Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Gremlins (1984), starring Zack Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Howie Mandel and Hoyt Axton.

Per IMDb: “A boy inadvertently breaks three important rules concerning his new pet and unleashes a horde of malevolently mischievous monsters on a small town.”

gremlins1

©Amblin Entertainment

A struggling inventor of total crap, Randall Peltzer (Axton) is in Chinatown trying to score a sale on his totally useless Bathroom Buddy All-in-One gadget. He is trying to sell to an old Chinese antique owner when he hears a noise. It’s the sound of a mogwai, which in Chinese culture and lore is a kind of demon that inflicts harm upon humans. In this film, however, it’s a cute little “furby-like” animal. He wants it to give to his son, but the old man isn’t having it. The old man’s grandson is flabbergasted that he won’t accept $200 for the creature. The kid goes behind his granddad’s back and sells the mogwai to Randall. The kid tells Randall that there are three rules about mogwai that cannot, under any circumstances, be broken: keep them out of the light, don’t get them wet and no matter what, no matter how much they beg, never, ever get them wet.

Of course, Randall says okay and journeys back home to give his son, Billy (Galligan) the gift and gives him the rules. Billy, although an adult who works in a bank, is a bit scatterbrained and aloof about much of anything. He has a hard time keeping the mogwai, named “Gizmo” (voiced by Mandel) out of the light. His little pal, Pete (Corey Feldman) spills a glass of water onto Gizmo, which spawns a new mogwai every time one gets wet. Stripe (voiced by the voice of Fred, Scooby Doo and Megatron, Frank Welker), the leader of the new batch of mogwai is a bit unruly and the rest follow him, except Gizmo. They eat through the power cord of Billy’s clock and he thinks it’s before midnight – it’s not. This turns the cute furry mogwai into green slimy monsters or “gremlins.” These gremlins wreak havoc on the town. How? And, do Billy and his friends stop the critters? You’ll have to watch and find out.

A few things that stand out about this film to me. First, the B list all stars that appeared in this film: Judge Reinhold (who had been caught flogging the bishop to this film’s co-star Phoebe Cates just two years prior in Fast Times at Ridgemont High), Corey Feldman, animation legend Chuck Jones, Peter Cullen (Optimus Prime), Michael Winslow (the sound effects guy) and Polly Holliday who played Flo (“kiss my grits”) on TV’s Alice. Second, I have come to realize that no era of film requires the suspension of disbelief more than any almost every film released in the 1980s. Don’t get me wrong, I love 80s movies but when I go back and watch them now, even beyond the primitive special effects, which are endearing, really, they reek of K-R-A-F-T… Not even Velveeta (yes, still made by Kraft), but the cheap-o kind of imitation cheese.

I haven’t seen this film since the late 80s/early 90s and I now know why. I asked The BCPF if she wanted to watch it with me, this morning, and she declined. She knew better. The story is campy. The acting, quite suspect. It’s not a great film. However, there’s a nostalgia factor that comes into play. I was 13 when the film came out and I thought it was hilarious and fun. It’s still fun, beyond the parts that are borderline stupid. So, great or not, I still “like” it. It was produced by Steven Spielberg and written by Chris Columbus. It was directed by Joe Dante.

Rotten Tomatoes has it at 85% Fresh with an Audience Score of 77%. I think the critic’s consensus from RT says it best: Whether you choose to see it as a statement on consumer culture or simply a special effects-heavy popcorn flick, Gremlins is a minor classic. IMDb has it at 7.2 stars out of 10. I picked this film because it’s considered a Christmas film and I wanted to do something that wasn’t an ordinary Christmas flick. I watched the film on Amazon Prime and rate it 3 out of 5 stars.

Have you seen it? What did you think? What would you like to read/hear me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Now I have another reason to hate Christmas.” – Kate Beringer (Cates)

Jurassic Park or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

19 Saturday Nov 2016

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Salutations™!!

a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Jurassic Park (1993), starring Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Richard Attenborough and Jeff Goldblum.

Per IMDb: “During a preview tour, a theme park suffers a major power breakdown that allows its cloned dinosaur exhibits to run amok.”

jurassic_park_poster

©Universal Pictures

Mr. Hammond (Attenborough) wants Drs. Grant and Sattler (Neill and Dern respectively), two prominent dino-era experts to endorse and deem his new dinosaur themed park, Jurassic Park, safe after a Velociraptor kills a staff member. It seems that Hammond’s scientists have found a way to extract DNA from amber-encased mosquito fossils and clone that DNA into various dinosaurs. Each taking on the characteristics of the depicted version; essentially becoming a real dinosaur.

Unbeknownst to Hammond, one of his employees, Dennis Nedry (Wayne Knight, Newman from Seinfeld), is stealing this dino embryos and selling it on the black market. While Drs. Grant and Sattler along with mathematician and chaos theorist Dr. Malcolm (Goldblum) along with the investors’ attorney, Gennaro (Martin Ferraro), and Hammond’s two grandchildren were on a test tour of the park, Nedry is in danger of losing money on his stolen embryo so he goes to steal more. Doing so, he has to turn off the security around the embryos and in doing so also turns off the electric fences that keep the dinosaurs from the tour guests. It leaves Hammond and one of his engineers played by Samuel L. Jackson, to try and reboot the systems. Yep, you guessed it, the dinos get loose and calamity ensues. To what extent and how many people die? Well, you have to watch for that info.

I had absolutely never seen this film before this. I really didn’t even know what the premise of the film was, outside of cloned dinosaurs and them going nuts. From 1993 until 1999 or so, everything was dinosaurs, dinosaurs, dinosaurs, just like a few years back everything was all about zombies. It was cliche, in your face and overdone. That being the case, I didn’t care to see it. So, I put it off. I am quite sorry for that decision.

The first thing that I had to gravitate to the CGI. I had to imagine myself back in 1993 when I watched this just a few weeks ago. This was probably the first hoorah for CGI and director Stephen Spielberg made sure to use it to its fullest extent, even though he was simultaneously filming Schindler’s List. There was stuff before, but not a lot in this scope. This was the CGI breakthrough. I can see, watching closely, the CGI layers and there was green screen stuff, and compared to today’s computer graphics, it’s somewhat primitive but it is really great stuff. The dinosaurs look so real.

But, there was so much more than the dinosaurs. The lush landscapes of Costa Rica (where which only a few outdoor shots were actually taken), Hawaii and Dominican Republic along with the Mojave desert were vibrant and large. The actors were all top notch. Some of the best acting I’ve ever seen in a film overall, this was amazing. Michael Crichton’s story (both novel and screenplay) was vivid and full. There were a few times I found myself finding ‘goofs,’ but for the most part, I let myself get lost in the story. It was intense and even though I knew that most of these characters were in the next (tw0?) made it to further sequels, I was truly scared for the characters. I will say, that I found my hair standing up on the back of my neck more than once. Edge of seat situations. And, any film with a John Williams score is automatically enhanced by 300%. The sound was nothing shy of the intensity of the scenes they represented.

This was one of the 400 nominations for AFI‘s 100 Years… 100 Movies list in 2007. In fact, it was the absolute last film on the list for me to complete it. By now, there’s already another post that covers me completing that list. It was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Sound Editing, Mixing and Visual Effects; winning all three. Rotten Tomatoes has it rated at 93% Fresh with an Audience Score of 91%. IMDb has it rated at 8.1 stars out of 10. It is currently only available streaming by rental from Amazon Prime. It was a handful of months ago that it showed up on Netflix and then disappeared just about two months ago. I’d venture to say that it will be back before too long. I own the whole Jurassic Trilogy (before Jurassic World came out) on Blu-Ray and that’s how I watched it. I highly recommend this if you’ve never seen it and I rate it 4.75 stars out of 5. Have you seen it? What did you think? What would you like to read/hear me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Big Tim, the human piece of toast.” – Dr. Alan Grant

Three Kings or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

22 Saturday Oct 2016

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a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, Three Kings (1999) starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Spike Jonze and Ice Cube.

Per IMDb: “In the aftermath of the Persian Gulf War, 4 soldiers set out to steal gold that was stolen from Kuwait, but they discover people who desperately need their help.”

When SFC Barlow (Wahlberg) and PFC Vig (Jonze) find a map in an Iraqi soldier’s buttocks, they, along with Chief Elgin (Ice Cube) and Major Gates (Clooney) embark on an unsanctioned, illegal and dangerous mission to steal from Saddam Hussein’s stash of gold, that he stole from Kuwait. After a bit of work, they find the gold but also find more than they bargained for in a group of Iraqi rebels that are being pushed around, tortured and

Three_Kings_(film)_poster_art.jpg

©Warner Bros.

killed by Saddam’s army. An errant exchange of gunfire leads to a mini war between the Americans and the factions of Saddam’s army. There’s a hunt, chase, destruction and apprehension. One of the main four is captured and the others, after paying the Iraqi rebels to help locate him, must attempt to rescue him. Do they find him? Do they die trying? You’ll have to watch to find out.

The first thing that stands out to me is, yes, it was 1999, but I believe that the US Army has a better tracking system than to just lose four soldiers, weapons and a humvee. Yes, it was supposed to be early, they grab what they are after and then back to camp. How were they going to get the gold out of the country? What would they have done with the gold? Who would buy it? There was a lot of weird ‘what ifs’ going on in this film. Now, all that being said and if I can put my suspension of disbelief to work, it was actually a good film.

It wasn’t what I expected. I thought it was just a war film. That’s okay but I don’t care anything about any wars that formulate, start and happen in my lifetime. The latest war I want to watch a film about is Vietnam, and even then, war films aren’t my thing. This, however, is more of a black comedy than a war film. Let’s call it a action-packed black dramedy. Yes, let’s. The acting was good. I know that George Clooney gets a bad rap sometimes, as does Mark Walhberg, but these guys can act, it’s just usually in some crap roles. Ice Cube is actually a good dramatic actor, too. His comedies are usually good if they’re not pointed at families; Friday anyone? Otherwise you’re stuck with Barbershop and Are We There Yet? This was my first experience with Spike Jonze that I know of. He’s not bad. A tad hick-ish, but not bad.

This was one of the 400 nominees for AFI‘s 100 Years… 100 Movies, the 2007 edition. As of this writing, I now have two more to go to complete the list of 400. It may be finished by the time this airs on the podcast. Rotten Tomatoes has it rated at 94% Fresh with an Audience Score of 77%, which is actually a large gap. IMDb has it at 7.1 stars out of 10. It’s not available on Hulu, Netflix or even DVD.com but it is available for rent on Amazon Prime, which is where I watched it. It used to be on Netflix streaming but it was removed some time ago. As I said, I thought it was a pretty good film and I’ll rate it 4 out of 5 stars. Have you seen it? Do you agree with me? What would you like to see/hear me review?

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Kaboom! Y’all see that cow’s head shoot up? It’s like a cartoon! It’s f*ckin’ crazy!” – Conrad Vig

 

2001: a Space Odyssey or: The Less Desirables Movie of the Week

08 Saturday Oct 2016

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a/perture cinema, the Official Movie Sponsor of The Less Desirables, presents The Less Desirables Movie of the Week, 2001: a Space Odyssey (1968), starring Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood and William Sylvester.

Per IMDb: “Humanity finds a mysterious, obviously artificial object buried beneath the Lunar surface and, with the intelligent computer H.A.L. 9000, sets off on a quest.”2001_a_space_odyssey_1968_theatrical_poster_variant

The film opens with the dawn of Man and shows the sudden appearance of a strange monolith among the ape-like creatures. And, soon they discover how to use large bones as weapons and tools. They defend themselves and conquer other tribes. Then all of a sudden, the cut scene shifts to 2000-2001 where Dr. Heywood Floyd (Sylvester) is on his way to an American moonbase where there’s a mysterious discovery that has been placed and hidden rather deep on the moon’s surface. It’s a monolith, just like the millions of years before that. When the sun and Earth lined up over the monolith, a ear-piercing shriek emits from it.

Eighteen months later we see Jupiter One on a mission to get to Jupiter. On board this ship, there are 5 scientists: Dr. David Bowman (Dullea) and Dr. Frank Poole (Lockwood) and three in cryogenic hibernation. Also, and most importantly, there’s a Heuristically programmed Algorithm computer named HAL9000 (voiced by Douglas Rain).”Hal” as he’s known, is in charge of almost everything that is mechanical on the ship. He believes that his line of computers is “foolproof and incapable of error.” Hal is an early example of Artificial Intelligence, using rational thought and decision making, even expressing emotion.

When Hal is shown to be less-than-perfect, he does anything he can to protect himself and his mission, or is he? It could be that he’s only following programming orders and is placating the humans to make them more comfortable? To get these and more answers, you’ll have to watch the film. Perhaps you’ll get it, perhaps you won’t.

I have stated before and will again that I’ve never done an illegal substance, not even smoked pot, but after watching this (for about the fifth time), I walk away wishing that I had; either while watching or afterward to bring my brain back from mush. Basically, it’s a story about evolution, although my primitive brain had a hard time grasping that, at first. It’s the way it’s told.

This film is classic Kubrick in that the visuals are larger than life. It’s really in that, the visuals, that are the full story, here. In fact, there’s no dialogue at all for the first 30 minutes or so. When there is dialogue it’s very minimal. There’s enough to get you familiar with the relationship between Dave and Hal. The visuals are important, too, with the special effects. It’s highly regarded as the best special effect in cinematic history, at least by most “in the know” people. Every single thing that happens in the film is done on film and not a single bit of CGI. Just Kubrick genius.

Sir Arthur C. Clarke was very into true space science and was hailed as prophetic in his description and depiction of humans in space as well as with futuristic (at that time) ideas such as videoconferencing and calling. Remember this before we went to the moon, it was 1968. Man’s only knowledge of outer space, at the time, was the astronauts and cosmonauts in rockets and other spaceships.

Sound is also very important, not only in what you hear (or don’t), but the use of classical treasures such as “Blue Danube” Johann Strauss II and “Also sprach Zarathustra” from Richard Strauss which most people know as “2001: a Space Odyssey” theme. The score creates tension and is the true storyteller of this film. Fantastic stuff. I will say that if you’re watching this film in surround sound, the sound effects and computer sounds are quite intense and also quite loud; be warned.

2001 was No. 15 on AFI‘s 2007 100 Years … 100 Movies (22 in 1998). The film was nominated for four Academy Awards: Best Director, Screenplay, Art Direction and Visual Effects, winning the latter. Rotten Tomatoes rates it at 94% Fresh with an Audience Score of 89%. IMDb has it at 8.3 stars out of 10. It is available on DVD.com and it can be viewed free on Amazon Prime, it is available to all Prime members. I own it on Blu Ray and watched it there. I rate it 4.25 stars out of 5; I highly recommend it. Have you seen it? Do you agree? What would you like to see/hear me review?