When movies are remade they are usually given a somewhat updated script and the sometimes the actors genders are swapped around. Here however the approach when for a remake is a little different, and very inventive. The original was a silent German film made in 1919 with some of the most eeriest sets ever to be filmed. Director David Lee Fisher's remake of this expressionist film was to digitally restore the backgrounds from the original and then inject the contemporary actors into the scenes. A dialog soundtrack of the actors was also added and this not only gives the story a new dimension but it opens the door for a new generation of viewers who might have backed away from the silent original.
When a string of murders plagues a small town a hypnotist, Dr. Caligari, and his clairvoyant sleepwalker seem to have the air of suspicion about them but it's clear that things are not what they appear to be, with the murders or the doctor. Keeping the feel of the original film with the backgrounds was a stroke of genius and short of a couple of spots where the overlay isn't perfect the audience is given a rare treat to see one of the groundbreaking films from the early days of movies. The likenesses between the actors from 1919 and this new film are strikingly similar and with the movements of the actors mirrored in the newer film from the old this current day audience is shown what the original felt like.
The original is one of my favorite films, and when I first heard that it was being remade I had a sour feeling in the pit of my stomach. But after seeing a documentary about the process that was used for the remake and the effort the filmmakers went to too keep the expressionist feel to the film it piqued my interest. Now after seeing it I can truly say that where the original was a piece of art, this remake disserves to be right there next to it. I know that there are a lot of people who don't like to watch silent films for one reason or another, but where this film has a dialog soundtrack it should bring some of those poor souls around to see one of the earliest horror films to date.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Seraphim Falls
Good westerns are sometimes hard to find, there have only been a handful of them made in resent years and out of those even a smaller amount are good enough to watch. Here we're given a journey of the soul for two men who are bound together by circumstances beyond their control. Liam Neeson and Pierce Brosnan star as the two combatants in this revenge story that torments each man to the point of madness. Even though there are quite a few character parts throughout the film none of them stand out the way Anjelica Huston's role does. When she appears as an evil spirit driving the two men to their irrevocable climax, we're treated to a performance that commands the screen.
Five years after the end of the Civil War, a former Confederate Col. is chasing an ex-Union officer through the American West for a wartime atrocity that forever binds them together. From the opening scenes to the startling conclusion, director David von Ancken keeps the story interesting as well as suspenseful with wonderful camera work and a series of situations that would normally do in any ordinary man. With symbolism throughout the story the audience is not surprised as each man overcomes the situations that are laid out in front of them to ultimately face each other in the end. Location shots from snowy mountains to sweltering desert only enhance this extremely character driven story.
As I've said before its hard to find good westerns now a days, but when one comes along you just have to tell people about it so that more people can enjoy it. Here we are given some classic characters that are on a road of revenge and self-discovery, and as the story progresses we wonder if we were put in the same situations would the outcome be the same. I enjoyed this film from beginning to end and would not have a problem watching it again, between a strong story, wonderful location shots and characters that you like to watch and see what happens to them, we're given a treat for the eyes and the mind.
Five years after the end of the Civil War, a former Confederate Col. is chasing an ex-Union officer through the American West for a wartime atrocity that forever binds them together. From the opening scenes to the startling conclusion, director David von Ancken keeps the story interesting as well as suspenseful with wonderful camera work and a series of situations that would normally do in any ordinary man. With symbolism throughout the story the audience is not surprised as each man overcomes the situations that are laid out in front of them to ultimately face each other in the end. Location shots from snowy mountains to sweltering desert only enhance this extremely character driven story.
As I've said before its hard to find good westerns now a days, but when one comes along you just have to tell people about it so that more people can enjoy it. Here we are given some classic characters that are on a road of revenge and self-discovery, and as the story progresses we wonder if we were put in the same situations would the outcome be the same. I enjoyed this film from beginning to end and would not have a problem watching it again, between a strong story, wonderful location shots and characters that you like to watch and see what happens to them, we're given a treat for the eyes and the mind.
The Host
Creating a new monster for a possible new franchise is tough, you're never quite sure if the effort that you put into the creature will hold the audience's interest and imagination. The use of a contaminated river to spawn a mutated creature isn't a really new idea but the creature itself is something to be amazed at. Here not only being mutated is enough, but the evolution of the creature is advanced to the point that it is able to exist in and out of he water for long periods of time as well as being able walk and swim. In the way of Korean films that have come out in recent years this ranks right up near the top of the list, with strong directing, acting, and effects that don't overwhelm the film or story.
A giant creature has made the River Han, in Seoul, its home and feeding ground, but when it takes the young daughter of a concession peddler a race against time to find and save her begins. The effects used for the creature are very well done and the design itself is very inventive. The creature appears to be an amalgam of a number of different animals, just from its looks, its abilities and actions within its surrounding environment. The layout of the story and the action is reminiscent of the early Godzilla films, but with a creature that is a more manageable size the character now becomes more interactive. Having the family relationships being the main focus of the story is nothing new in the way of Korean films but here we're given the view of a very dysfunctional family and how they come together in the end.
This film is setup perfectly to be continued into a franchise, and hopefully the producers and writers will do it justice and not try to commercialize it into toy line. Keeping the story and the action a little on the R-rated side of filmmaking gives it an edginess that takes the audience on a ride that doesn't seem to have an end. It will be interesting to see what happens next if this is truly taken into a franchise mode, after seeing this first film I would be willing to go out of my way to see the next films.
A giant creature has made the River Han, in Seoul, its home and feeding ground, but when it takes the young daughter of a concession peddler a race against time to find and save her begins. The effects used for the creature are very well done and the design itself is very inventive. The creature appears to be an amalgam of a number of different animals, just from its looks, its abilities and actions within its surrounding environment. The layout of the story and the action is reminiscent of the early Godzilla films, but with a creature that is a more manageable size the character now becomes more interactive. Having the family relationships being the main focus of the story is nothing new in the way of Korean films but here we're given the view of a very dysfunctional family and how they come together in the end.
This film is setup perfectly to be continued into a franchise, and hopefully the producers and writers will do it justice and not try to commercialize it into toy line. Keeping the story and the action a little on the R-rated side of filmmaking gives it an edginess that takes the audience on a ride that doesn't seem to have an end. It will be interesting to see what happens next if this is truly taken into a franchise mode, after seeing this first film I would be willing to go out of my way to see the next films.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
The Great Dictator
In the early days of film making one of the biggest stars was Charlie Chaplin, he became one of the comedy kings of the silent film era, and when sound was added to film he didn't shrink away from this new dimension of entertainment. This film shows how great his acting truly is and that with or without sound he shows that he can entertain the audience and still get a moral social issue into the limelight. This is film is the story of the prince and the pauper story set in a European country of Tomania, ruled by the anti-Semitic ruler Adenoid Hynkel. Obviously the whole film is patented after Nazi Germany and the way it treated it's own Jewish people, and how the whole world was in the gun sights of Hitler.
When a Jewish barber is released from the hospital, 20 years after the War, he comes home to a society that is very anti-Semitic being lead by a ironfisted leader who looks remarkably like himself. The situations that are setup for examination are so close to the truth that it's amazing that it didn't drive the film into obscurity. The way that Chaplin blends the two versions of film making into one is just great, there are times that you can tell that the movie is playing off of the silent era, and others when it is obviously from the talking period of film. Both characters use this to their advantage, and amazingly enough both with the use of a musical sound track. The similarity in looks between the real Hitler and Chaplin's Little Tramp character was not lost on Chaplin and he uses it here to keep the prince and the pauper storyline in focus.
This is a remarkable piece of historical film making considering that it was openly made before America entered the war in '41, and a gave the watching audience a glimpse at what the Nazis were doing to the Jews. Even though this film is a comedy it makes a powerful statement about the way things were happening over in Germany. To me this is one of Chaplin's best films, silent or talkie, he shows the audience the versatility of his acting and directing and brings to the viewing public, with some comedic prowess, the atrocities that were being committed in Europe at the time.
When a Jewish barber is released from the hospital, 20 years after the War, he comes home to a society that is very anti-Semitic being lead by a ironfisted leader who looks remarkably like himself. The situations that are setup for examination are so close to the truth that it's amazing that it didn't drive the film into obscurity. The way that Chaplin blends the two versions of film making into one is just great, there are times that you can tell that the movie is playing off of the silent era, and others when it is obviously from the talking period of film. Both characters use this to their advantage, and amazingly enough both with the use of a musical sound track. The similarity in looks between the real Hitler and Chaplin's Little Tramp character was not lost on Chaplin and he uses it here to keep the prince and the pauper storyline in focus.
This is a remarkable piece of historical film making considering that it was openly made before America entered the war in '41, and a gave the watching audience a glimpse at what the Nazis were doing to the Jews. Even though this film is a comedy it makes a powerful statement about the way things were happening over in Germany. To me this is one of Chaplin's best films, silent or talkie, he shows the audience the versatility of his acting and directing and brings to the viewing public, with some comedic prowess, the atrocities that were being committed in Europe at the time.
The Last Mimzy
Children stories that are brought to the screen are usually one way or the other, either their extremely successful or their flops. Here the problem isn't the filmmaking or the acting, it's the story itself, the injection of some very adult concepts just drive the story far over the edge of understanding for most children. What starts out as a fun children's story, with some very good looking CGI effects, fast becomes a science lesson that is even above some adults understanding.
Two young siblings find an odd box in the surf at their summer home and discover that the gifts that it offers have far reaching consequences. The storyline itself, about the relationship of the brother and sister, is fun and enjoyable to watch. But once the advanced science in entered into the story it becomes too cumbersome to follow and you soon lose interest in the outcome of the characters. The characters themselves seem a little stale, from the children to the parents to the teacher to the government officials they all seem like they have been used in other movies and just borrowed for this little tale. The CGI effects that are used here, and there aren't that many, are done well but they're repeated to often and are lost within the story that just seems to swallows them up.
If your in the right mind to explain how time travel is suppose to work and the mechanics of folding space and time in order to touch multiple timelines at the same time then you should enjoy this movie a lot. But considering the age group this story is targeted to, these concepts are a little above the normal everyday school science class. I didn't enjoy this film enough to say that its one of those hidden gems that people passed by while it was in the theaters, it just tried to give to much information for a kids film and not enough amusing things for those kids to have fun with.
Two young siblings find an odd box in the surf at their summer home and discover that the gifts that it offers have far reaching consequences. The storyline itself, about the relationship of the brother and sister, is fun and enjoyable to watch. But once the advanced science in entered into the story it becomes too cumbersome to follow and you soon lose interest in the outcome of the characters. The characters themselves seem a little stale, from the children to the parents to the teacher to the government officials they all seem like they have been used in other movies and just borrowed for this little tale. The CGI effects that are used here, and there aren't that many, are done well but they're repeated to often and are lost within the story that just seems to swallows them up.
If your in the right mind to explain how time travel is suppose to work and the mechanics of folding space and time in order to touch multiple timelines at the same time then you should enjoy this movie a lot. But considering the age group this story is targeted to, these concepts are a little above the normal everyday school science class. I didn't enjoy this film enough to say that its one of those hidden gems that people passed by while it was in the theaters, it just tried to give to much information for a kids film and not enough amusing things for those kids to have fun with.
The Neptune Factor
In the early 70s when you needed underwater footage with submarines you had very few choices at your disposal, archival footage and models were the most used in these cases. This film took an inventive approach to the issue; using models inside of a very large aquarium you get the impression of a deep-sea dive. Also the writers of this little sci-fi jaunt injected enough real science into the story to give the idea that what we are watching could be possible.
When a seaquake tosses around an underwater sea lab and pushes it down into a trench, an experimental submersible is used to try and reach them and discovers that some of the underwater phenomenons are beyond belief. With solid acting from some well known actors at the time, Ernest Borgnine, Ben Gazzara, and Walter Pidgeon, the pace of the movie is kept going from the beginning when all of the characters introduced to the very end when the sub surfaces. There isn't any harsh language so the younger children can watch it, and with all of the bright colorful fish that the crew encounters they'll enjoy the undersea sights. Granted there are times when you have to truly suspend your beliefs as the story progresses, but it's all done for the enjoyment of the audience.
Even though there are some situations that are complete beyond the known science of today's underwater divers, like the fact that the sub can keep going deeper and deeper and the divers don't need any extra equipment to keep the high pressure from killing them. But all in all this isn't a bad film, it's fun and enjoyable to watch, and it might spark the interest of some of the younger children to want to expand their knowledge of the sea that is all around us. So for a science fiction film from 1973 it's worth a look, as long as you don't look to closely at the mistakes on the technical side of the story, and you can live with some old fashion special effects you'll have another family movie that you all can sit, watch and enjoy.
When a seaquake tosses around an underwater sea lab and pushes it down into a trench, an experimental submersible is used to try and reach them and discovers that some of the underwater phenomenons are beyond belief. With solid acting from some well known actors at the time, Ernest Borgnine, Ben Gazzara, and Walter Pidgeon, the pace of the movie is kept going from the beginning when all of the characters introduced to the very end when the sub surfaces. There isn't any harsh language so the younger children can watch it, and with all of the bright colorful fish that the crew encounters they'll enjoy the undersea sights. Granted there are times when you have to truly suspend your beliefs as the story progresses, but it's all done for the enjoyment of the audience.
Even though there are some situations that are complete beyond the known science of today's underwater divers, like the fact that the sub can keep going deeper and deeper and the divers don't need any extra equipment to keep the high pressure from killing them. But all in all this isn't a bad film, it's fun and enjoyable to watch, and it might spark the interest of some of the younger children to want to expand their knowledge of the sea that is all around us. So for a science fiction film from 1973 it's worth a look, as long as you don't look to closely at the mistakes on the technical side of the story, and you can live with some old fashion special effects you'll have another family movie that you all can sit, watch and enjoy.
Zero Hour!
Sometimes it's a wonder that Hollywood has any new ideas to be made into movies, when you look back at some of the older films all you really see are a lot of remakes and sequels. And then there are times that the audience is watching a film and enjoying it, and then years later you find out that it was a complete remake of an old B-movie. That's the situation here, after years of watching and loving the two Airplane movies from the 80s and believing that they were parodies of the disasters from the 70s I found out recently that this is not completely true. The first Airplane movie was actually a spoof of this film Zero Hour!, and in some cases goes far beyond just being a parody, there are scenes, dialog and even character mannerisms that are copied in the 80s film. This takes nothing away from Airplane; in fact because of the success of that film this one actually comes off better than it probably did in 1957.
Still haunted by his World War II experiences, Ted Stryker must find it within himself to help land a commercial flight when the crew and many of the passengers come down with food poisoning. In all the ways that count this is a true B-movie, from the props to the acting to the way the situations are played out, but it is also a true disaster film and deserves to be placed in that genre for all intents and purposes. One of the actors that play a passenger on the plane is Jerry Paris, who is from 50s TV series The Dick Van Dyke Show. The script for this little adventure was co-written by Arthur Hailey who later wrote the book Airport, which was later turned into the classic disaster film from the 70s.
Watching the actors play all of these roles straight and not as a comedy is a little different, but it's enjoyable to see the original path that this story took before it became a comedy classic. I had never heard of this film until a few months ago when it was released on DVD, and had no idea of the connection that it had with the 80s film. But after seeing it I can honestly say that if you are a fan of the Airplane films this is a must see movie, and if you know enough of those films by heart you'll find this movie a pleasure to view this early aviation disaster film.
Still haunted by his World War II experiences, Ted Stryker must find it within himself to help land a commercial flight when the crew and many of the passengers come down with food poisoning. In all the ways that count this is a true B-movie, from the props to the acting to the way the situations are played out, but it is also a true disaster film and deserves to be placed in that genre for all intents and purposes. One of the actors that play a passenger on the plane is Jerry Paris, who is from 50s TV series The Dick Van Dyke Show. The script for this little adventure was co-written by Arthur Hailey who later wrote the book Airport, which was later turned into the classic disaster film from the 70s.
Watching the actors play all of these roles straight and not as a comedy is a little different, but it's enjoyable to see the original path that this story took before it became a comedy classic. I had never heard of this film until a few months ago when it was released on DVD, and had no idea of the connection that it had with the 80s film. But after seeing it I can honestly say that if you are a fan of the Airplane films this is a must see movie, and if you know enough of those films by heart you'll find this movie a pleasure to view this early aviation disaster film.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)