Point Break (1991)

Point Break (1991)

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze, Lori Petty, Gary Busey, John C. McGinley, James LeGros

Along with Michael Manns’ Heat (1995), Point Break is one of the greatest heist/action films of the 90’s. I mean, of course there were excellent action films like Speed (1994), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and The Last Boy Scout (1991) to mention but a few, but there’s something special about Point Break that sets it apart from all other action films from that decade. It has a certain magic to it, it has soul.  The upcoming remake made me want to revisit the original, to remind myself of its awesomeness, which I doubt the remake, directed by a guy called Ericson Core will be able to top. Why did Point Break set the bar so high? What exactly made this one such a memorable action film?

On Point Break, we meet Johnny Utah; an ex-quarterback turned FBI agent who is trying to gain experience in the field by attempting to capture a gang of thugs called ‘The Ex-Presidents’. These Ex-Presidents have never been caught and so, in order to make a name for himself, Johnny Utah takes it upon himself to bust them. The police suspect that these thugs are a gang of local surfers , so Special Agent Utah goes undercover and becomes one of them. Problem is he soon discovers these surfer dudes are actually cool people; when the time comes, will he have what it takes to take them down?

Point Break was the film that turned Keanu Reeves into a fully fledged action star. After this one he did Speed (1994) and voila! From there on in he became a bonafide action star; he’s never looked back. Still as I type this he’s making action films! Before Point Break Keanu was all about looking dumb and saying “whoa” but after the double whammy of Point Break and Speed, he transformed into an ass kicking, killing machine. Some of you younger readers out there might have always known Keanu Reeves as an action star, but for those of us who knew him from his Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989) days know what a shock to the system it was to see Keanu change his image that way. It was like a coming of age thing, now he was no longer a stupid teenager, now he was a “man”.  

What works so well about this movie is its spiritual side, spearheaded by Patrick Swayze in the role of Bohdi, a surfer/spiritualist who’s an anti-hero of sorts. Sure he and his crew of ‘Ex-Presidents’ rob banks, but Bohdi also preaches a very positive life philosophy. He wants to truly live his life, he doesn’t want to be a drone, he wants to squeeze as much as he can out of life. He’s an adrenalin junky, so he steals banks in order to have the money to skydive and surf the biggest waves on the planet. His crew doesn’t kill, they get their money and they are out. So this is where the conundrum comes in because agent Utah infiltrates Bodhi’s circle of thugs, and finds them to be for lack of a better word, awesome. These guys are the kind of guys you want to hang around and party with. So does he turn them in or help them? Kathryn Bigelow and crew really managed to carve out a crew of ambiguous characters. Are they good or are they evil? We’re never really sure, which makes the film that much more interesting. Will agent Utah end up becoming one of them?  

Speaking of the films spiritual side, Point Break has a certain magic to it that not a lot of films manage to acquire. Bodhi’s life philosophy doesn’t come off as phony; he’s the real deal, a real human being. The surfing side of the film portrays a connection with nature, a fascination with the beauty of it all. There’s this scene that I love, in which Johnny Utah is learning to surf and his out in the ocean, catching waves as the sun is setting and he’s all excited. As the spray of the ocean surf hits him he says “I can’t describe what I’m feeling” and you believe it when he says it, the visuals, the music and the emotions are palpable and believable. The film expertly captures that moment when you feel one with nature, when you connect with it and realize that cars, buildings and cement are crap next to the beauty of nature. This is what really makes the film special for me. Kathryn Bigelow directed this one, showing her trademark panache behind the camera. There’s this chase sequence that’s just amazing. Utah runs through a bunch of suburban houses while chasing one of the Ex Presidents, it’s an awesome scene that was shot with her trademark long takes. Awesome stuff. As an action film, it does not disappoint.

There’s a Point Break remake on the horizon, as I write this it hasn’t been released yet. But it was directed by a total unknown, starring equally unknown actors, so I don’t know what to expect from it. How exactly do they plan on surpassing Bigelow’s film? Will they manage to capture that magic? I seriously doubt it. Did they cast good actors in the roles? Who knows, but Patrick Swayze, Keanu, Lori Petty and Gary Busey really bring it on this one. They are part of what makes Point Break run without a hitch. So yeah, what we got here my friends is a great action film, and a great film all around. Check this one out for a taste of one of the greatest action/heist flicks of the 90’s.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Silver Bullet (1985)

Silver Bullet (1985)

Director: Daniel Attias

Cast: Corey Haim, Gary Busey, Everett McGill

Silver Bullet is a werewolf film that was released a few years after the success of two far superior werewolf films, An American Werewolf in London (1981) and The Howling (1981), the two films that all other werewolf films must look up to. And while Joe Dante’s The Howling is a nifty werewolf flick with great effects by the always amazing Rob Bottin, I have to say that as far as I’m concerned, no werewolf movie out there has been able to surpass what John Landis and crew achieved in An American Werewolf in London; the challenge to beat An American Werewolf in London in terms of makeup effects work is still up and running. The film is a great amalgamation of comedy, great effects, horrifying moments and a great story; it’s simply too good of a movie. It’s incredible that with the advancement of technology in the world of special effects, no computer generated images have been able to top the genius that make up effects guru Rick Baker achieved in An American Werewolf in London; which is why the werewolves in Silver Bullet pale so brightly when compared to Baker’s creations.  Still, a werewolf movie does not run on special effects alone, so how was Silver Bullet as a whole, especially when we take in consideration that it’s a Stephen King adaptation?

The world of cinematic Stephen King adaptations is an uneven one. Some are amazing like The Shining (1980) and Pet Sematary (1989), while others are mediocre, like Maximum Overdrive (1986) and The Lawnmower Man (1992), to name just a few examples. Is Silver Bullet one of the good ones? Well, it’s a strange sort of film in the sense that it seems to been aimed at kids, but it’s a hard ‘R’ filled with lots of gore. It feels like it’s aimed at kids because number one, it has a kid in the starring role in the form of a pre-teen Corey Haim, who plays Marty Coslaw, a kid bound to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Marty knows there’s a werewolf prowling about killing his neighbors in grizzly ways, but of course, same as in every single horror film of the 80’s, nobody believes the kid. The film even feels like it’s a family film, because at its core it’s about a kid’s relationship with his crazy, yet lovable, drunkard uncle. The whole film is tinged with that gee-whiz 12 year old mentality that so many of Stephen King’s novels are known for. King loves to center his horror stories around children. He did it in Silver Bullet (1985), It (1990) and again in Dreamcatcher (2003). King connects horror with childhood, which makes sense. It’s at that age that we are most susceptible to being scared; we know so little of the world. The problem with mixing children and horror on films is that your target audience becomes children, but then if you’re making a horror movie for kids it can’t be too scary or you risk getting an ‘R’ rating and losing your target audience…and then the film becomes a marketing nightmare. Who do you sell the movie to, kids or adults? This is probably the reason why Silver Bullet died a quick death at the box office.

I haven’t read The Cycle of the Werewolf, the novel on which Silver Bullet is based on, but I have seen the illustrations that accompany the novel, namely, Bernie Wrightson’s amazing art work. The sad part is that the werewolves in the film pale in comparison even when compared to Wrightson’s illustrations! Who’s to blame for the underwhelming werewolves on this film? Well, none other than Carlo Rambaldi, the Italian special effect guru best known for creating E.T. for Spielberg’s E.T. The  Extraterrestrial (1982). He also created the creatures seen in David Lynch’s Dune (1984). Rambaldi’s creature work has always been a bit uneven, on some films it can be amazing, like for example the Alien in Alien (1979), while on others not so great, like for example, his work on King Kong Lives (1986) is actually laugh inducing! For some reason, this is one of the films where his work was lackluster, the werewolf’s head looks as big as a refrigerator. If the filmmakers had employed the likes of Stan Winston, Rick Baker or Rob Bottin, this film might have turned out a bit better in terms of the werewolf effects.

Above Bernie Wrightson's illustrations for King's Cycle of the Werewolf, below, Carlo Rambaldi's werewolf for Silver Bullet (1985)

Werewolf effects aside, it’s not the worst werewolf movie I’ve ever seen; that would be Wes Craven’s Cursed (2005). No, Silver Bullet is actually watchable. Corey Haim and Gary Busey play likable characters who live in their own little world. Busey’s Uncle Red is always saying one liners and silly jokes to keep Marty’s spirits up and Marty, even though he is disabled, hasn’t given up on life and is actually very gung-ho about living it. The whole film, like many of King’s stories takes place in small town U.S.A., with a whole slew of townsfolk archetypes like the town asshole, the nice Sheriff who is lenient with the people he’s known his whole life, the violent macho man, the old lady, the unfaithful wife, the natural leader, all these archetypes that tend to inhabit Kings stories. So you definitely feel like you are watching a Stephen King movie. In terms of themes, well, the film does have a thing or two to say about catholic priests who like to chase little boys. Ultimately, I think what hurts this movie the most is the lack of direction. It has that television show feel to it, there’s nothing spectacular or eye catching about the way it was filmed, the direction is actually very banal. This was director Daniel Attias first and only cinematic effort, the rest of his career has been spent directing television, so I guess that explains a lot. Not one of King’s worst adaptations, it certainly deserves a watch if you’re a werewolf or Stephen King fan.

Rating: 3 out of 5

    

Lost Highway (1997)

Title: Lost Highway (1997)

Director: David Lynch

Cast: Patricia Arquette, Bill Pullman, Balthazar Getty, Robert Blake, Gary Busey, Robert Loggia

I’ve been re-watching all of Lynch’s films these past few days for my Lynch blog-a-thon and watching Lost Highway it dawned upon me how much Lynch had been playing with the same themes ever since he made Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992). You see, in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me Lynch told a story about a secret group of people hell bent on taking over other people’s bodies, kind of like possessing them, so they can live forever. Then there’s MulhollandDrive (2001) which some people seem to interpret the same way, Betty wants to turn Camilla into herself. So while watching Lost Highway (1997) I realized it also played with this premise of people taking over other people’s bodies. In many ways, Mulholland Drive was the result of Lynch playing with these themes for years, it was the culmination of many years of ruminating these premises, which is why Mulholland Drive is so damned perfect in my book. This of course is not to say that these films are all the same, in fact, they aren’t, they vary in mood and look, but they do play with similar ideas. In fact, Lynch stated in a recent interview that Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me and Lost Highway exist in the same universe, so I guess I’m not that far off with my assumptions. So what sets Lost Highway apart?

In Lost Highway we meet Fred Madison, a Jazz musician who’s experiencing marital troubles. Though not entirely obvious at first, little things let you know that they’ve grown apart. She won’t go to his Jazz shows because she’d rather stay home and read a book? We see she feels kind of sorry for him during sex when she taps him in the back while having it, as if saying “there, there”. Fred tells his wife “I’m glad I can still make you laugh” the key word being “still”. Finally, he remembers her walking away with some guy during one of his performances at the Jazz club, so he suspects she is also being unfaithful, which fires up a furious jealousy. All these negative feelings in his relationship bring forth an unusual situation in his life! A mysterious man dressed in black begins to visit him in his mind and his dreams. Who is this Mystery Man? And how and why does he keep sending ominous video tapes of Fred and his wife sleeping in bed? How does the Mystery Man invade their home?

So once again Lynch visits the world of relationships, Lynch has been commenting on the intricacies of relationships since his very first film, Eraserhead (1977) which was all about that awkward situation of suddenly finding yourself entangled with someone you do not love. On Lost Highway Lynch explores a similar subject manner, the little tattle tale signs that let you know something is just not right in a marriage, signs that let you know in an indirect way that though this person is still with you, she or he has already moved on to the next relationship and is actually already contemplating how to dump you. In Lost Highway Fred has already detected this in his wife Renee and so he welcomes a dark being into his mind, the creepy ‘Mystery Man’, the one who can help him escape and become somebody else, somebody younger! The difference on this film though is that Lynch focuses on how we don’t have to stay in this situation, Lynch actually comments on how we can and probably should change our life before the darkness takes over, but this being Lynch, well, he goes into dark, dark territory to tell this tale.

So once again we enter the realm of switching bodies and lives. Remember how in Mulholland Dr. Diane changed her dark depressive life as a wannabe actress, for the life of Betty, an up and coming actress who blows everybody away with her acting abilities? Something similar happens on Lost Highway with Fred the Jazz player. As we can see by these films, Lynch likes telling stories about people who aren’t happy with their lives and want to change them somehow. In Twin Peaks we get a whole group of people trying to posses others lives, but in that film these mysterious people want to posses bodies so they can live out their own lives. So this is actually a very positive thing about Lynch’s films, he tells us that we can become whoever we want to become, no matter how dark the situation.

Lynch transmits his ideas through a very dark and disturbing prism and that’s one of the funny things about Lynch, his films aren’t horror films, but they have horrifying elements to them that make them scarier than any horror film you’d see. I think this trio of films, Mulholland Drive, Lost Highway and Twin Peaks are some of his scariest ones, they all deal with supernatural elements, and they all stir up dark situations and emotions. Other similarities that these films share: females as central characters of the story, which is really a Lynch staple. In all three films women are either femm fatales you don’t want to mess with, or women in peril at the hands of abusive psychotic men. In Lost Highway’s case, it’s an incredible mixture of both; awoman in peril desperately trying to escape the grip of a gangster/mad man, but also, a femm fatale, a woman with great allure, leading men into dangerous situations. In Lost Highway’s case, the femm fatale is played by the beautiful Patricia Arquette. I want to take this time and point out just how obvious it is that Lynch loves and appreciates women. I mean, he not only makes them the central characters in many of his films and shows sympathy for them, he also chooses true beauties for his films. I mean, Laura Dern, Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, all bombshells in my book, we  can add Patricia Arquette to that list. On this film she looks incredibly beautiful; a woman that any man would do anything for. So out of Wild at Heart, MulhollandDr. and Lost Highway which one is the most erotic? That’s a tough one, I thought Mulholland Dr. would be it with it’s amazing sex scene between Watts and Herring, but after having seen Lost Highway, I think Lost Highway wins, Patricia Arquette is just too stunning. I can now see why Nicholas Cage proposed to her on the spot, the first time he saw her!

So anyhow, that’s my two cents on Lost Highway. It’s a very slow paced movie, but then again, that’s the way most of Lynch’s films are, slow, sultry and seductive, and then blamo, he hits you in the head with disturbing imagery. At the end of the day it’s a satisfying film. By the way, though Lynch usually works with the same group of actors, most of the actors on this film were working with Lynch for the first time. Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty, Gary Busey, Robert Loggia and Robert Blake are all Lynch rookies; the only Lynch regular that I spotted was Jack Nance in a cameo as a mechanic. By the way, this was Nance’s last performance before he passed away two months before the film was released. Look for an avalanche of amusing cameos from guys like Henry Rollins, Marilyn Manson, Giovanni Ribisi. Even Richard Pryor cameos here in his last on screen performance as a guy running an auto shop. Last words on Lost Highway: it’s another spooky unsettling gem in Lynch’s crown of masterpieces. My only true problem with it is the open ending; the film ends rather abruptly which leaves you sort of begging for more, this small quibble aside, Lost Highway is another Lynch masterpiece, I gotta say, I’ve yet to be disappointed by a Lynch film.

Rating:  5 out of 5  

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Title: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)

Director: Terry Gilliam

Cast: Johnny Depp, Benicio del Toro, , Tobey Maguire, Christina Ricci, Gary Busey, Ellen Barkin, Cameron Diaz, Flea

Review:

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas in one of these movies that you either “get” and love, or you don’t get and hate. I fall under the category of those who love it to death. I don’t know what it is that attracts me towards Hunter S. Thompson’s own brand of ‘Gonzo Journalism’ I think there’s something that feels so very genuine about his writing style, it just feels like he was streaming his thoughts straight onto his typewriter. The main idea behind Thompson’s ‘Gonzo Journalism’ was to experience things first hand, to immerse himself and experience whatever it was he had to write about and then write about it. He didn’t just research and write. He lived, he experienced, and he dove head first into the world he was writing about. With ‘Gonzo Journalism’ you almost feel as if Hunter was walking around with his typewriter, typing things down as they happened. For example, he lived with the motorcycle gang known as ‘The Hells Angels’ for a year. He later wrote the book based on his experiences called Hell’s Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of The Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs.

Hunter S. Thompson and the real Dr. Gonzo Oscar Zeta Acosta

He used his ‘Gonzo Journalism’ style for writing Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream. The main purpose of his explorations was to do a “gross, physical salute to the fantastical possibilities of life in this country”; and for that, he aimed his guns at Las Vegas, the epicenter of greed, lust and decadence in America. The result was a novel that captured the madness of what American was like post 60’s early 70’s during the Nixon era, during the Vietnam War, when all anybody ever wanted was for said war to be over. As a result of the madness the country was living in during those days, many turned to drugs to forget, to wipe their minds clean of the craziness that was going on in their country. Thompson’s novel perfectly captures this sub culture that surfaced during that time and explores what it was like to live during those chaotic days.

The film presents us with two very unique individuals: Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo. These two characters are the alternate personas of Hunter S. Thompson and his real life partner  in crime and attorney Oscar Zeta Acosta respectively. Together they take a trip towards Las Vegas so that Raoul Duke can write an article for Sports Illustrated Magazine on the Mint 400 motorcycle race. But in reality, Raoul and Dr. Gonzo couldn’t care less about the Mint 400. What Raoul and Dr. Gonzo are really after is finding “the heart of the American Dream”; that and experimenting with every single type of mind altering drug known to man. Will they every find The American Dream? Will they survive their drug filled journey alive?

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was not an easy project to get made. Let’s face it; this isn’t the kind of project that Hollywood studios are jumping to make. It’s not a commercial film at all, in fact, it’s quite the opposite. The film is an observation of an era; it attempted (successfully) to capture an era that was filled with revolt and general dissatisfaction with the way things were being done in America. On top of that, the films protagonists are drugged out of their minds through out the whole thing. Many filmmakers where at one point attached to direct this one, amongst them Martin Scorcese and Oliver Stone. For whatever reason they never got to direct the film. I have to be honest, I would have loved to see Oliver Stone’s version of Fear and Loathing, but ultimately, the film fell on the hands of Terry Gilliam, in many ways the perfect director to get this film made. Aside from the fact that many of Gilliam’s films have always had a subversive angle to them (Brazil (1984) is a great example of this) he also has that kinetic kind of crazy style of filmmaking. Hyperkinetic in nature, Gilliam’s camera movements and storytelling style have always felt to me like they come from a hyperactive child, always looking for something interesting, always walking away from boredom. This is a style of filmmaking that gels perfectly with Hunter S. Thompson equally scattershot, stream of consciousness style of writing. So Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (the film) is the perfect marriage of two like minded individuals; Hunter S. Thompson and Terry Gilliam.

Gilliam directs Depp

But with the wrong kind of actors, this film could have fallen apart. This project needed actors that would go all the way, that wouldn’t be afraid to get down and dirty; actors that would willingly explore the darker side of the human experience. Johnny Depp has always been a champion of Hunter S. Thompson’s work and actually still is to this very day, yet another Hunter S. Thompson film has been produced by him called The Rum Diary (2011), it’s playing in theaters as I type this. How gung-ho was Depp about getting Fear and Loathing made? Well, he lived with Thompson for four months, learning his movements and mannerisms, learning how the man thought and talked. A friendship blossomed from this experience between actor and writer that lasted long after the film was made. So much so, that it was Depp who fulfilled Thompson’s last wishes of having his ashes fired out of a cannon after his death! So Depp’s dedication towards this film (and getting Hunter S. Thompson’s name out there to the world) was always there from the beginning and it shines through in his performance. Del Toro wasn’t always a fan of Thompson’s work, but he’d heard of it. Still, his dedication on this performance is obvious. I’m a huge fan of Benicio’s. Aside from the fact that he is Puerto Rican (as am I) the guy is simply put, an awesome actor. Ever seen him in 21 Grams (2003)? Wow, you need to. And if you ever have a chance of seeing him in Fear and Loathing, well, you’re going to see one his most honest and bravest performances ever.

One of the best things about this film is its comedy, I mean, if you are a fan of that sarcastic, acid style of comedy, this one is a keeper. One scene has Dr. Gonzo about to pour some cocaine on top of a suit case, and suddenly a gust of wind knocks the salt shaker from his hand and the cocaine blows into the wind and he says “Did you see what God just did to us man?” with this Mexican sort of accent and Raoul answers him: “That wasn’t God! That was you! You’re a fucking narcotics agent! I knew it!” That type of comedy knocks me over! Speaking of lines from this movie, they are highly quotable! My favorite one is: “You took too much man, you took too much!” And everybody on this movie is freaking wired, I mean, everybody does their best to act all crazy and funny, even people with a short cameo will make you laugh. It seems it was a requirement in order to be on this movie.

Visually speaking the film takes advantage of filming in Las Vegas, and all the lights and the fakeness that comes with it. Most of the film takes place inside of hotel bars, casinos, hotel rooms, out on the streets of Las Vegas and in the dessert. There’s some beautiful cinematography on this one. I would rate this film amongst Gilliam’s best, no doubts. This film is the closest you’ll ever feel to using drugs, without using them. Other films have done this extremely well for example Gaspar Noe’s Enter the Void (2009) is one of the finest examples of this (and a total visual trip of a film) but that one is very dramatic and serious, Fear and Loathing explores the same themes, but with a biting sense of humor. Final words on this one? The film explores the insanity, the desperation, the madness that comes from drug abuse. It does not glamorize drug use one bit; it tells it like it is. And on top of all that, the film analyzes why America chose to indulge in so much drug abuse during the 60’s and 70’s. Why does a nation have to resort to ignoring themselves through drug abuse? What was going on in the world at the time and how can that be avoided? Can it be avoided or are we headed towards a new similar drug era of our own? Will this generation ever know revolt? Today’s generation reminds me of a David Bowie song called ‘Sons of the Silent Age’, while the 60’s and 70’s were filled with rebellion and revolt, today’s generation seems contempt to just sit back and let the chips fall where they may. Fear and Loathing in The Modern World in deed.

Rating: 5 out of 5