Category Archives: Blindspot

2023 Blindspot Pick #6: 8½ (1963)

28 Thursday Mar 2024

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Every life is a movie in pre-pre-production,
Awaiting the blockbuster stars and bestsellers.
We live building lives that await deconstruction,
In hopes we’ll get one of the good storytellers.

The artists and soldiers and key politicians,
The dazzling minds are all ripe for the picking.
They’ll woo the awards with their subtle omissions
And screw their renown to the places worth sticking.

But what of us peasants who lack reputations,
In search of that hook of the story to sell it?
I think even your life is worth celebrations.
My friends, it depends upon how well you tell it.
_______________________

MPAA rating:  Not Rated (PG-13 seems right, due to some sexual content)

I included Federico Fellini’s 8½ on last year’s Blindspot list for the same reason as I watched 2001 or Bicycle Thieves, because it’s one of those films that any self-proclaimed cinephile is supposed to see. Sitting through two-plus hours of an Italian director’s introspection and daydreaming isn’t exactly my idea of a good time, but 8½ has had such an impact on these kinds of life-summarizing stories that it’s worth watching if only for historical value. And, this being my first foray into Fellini’s filmography, I can certainly appreciate his eye for framing and innovative non-linear structure, fueled by self-analysis and dream logic.

The avant-garde plot follows Fellini’s self-insert, Italian director Guido Anselmi (Marcello Mastroianni), as he struggles to focus on directing an ambitious sci-fi opus that increasingly mirrors his own life and churning emotions. It weaves in and out of Guido’s past and present, particularly his relationships with various women, from his mistrusting wife (Anouk Aimée) and her level-headed friend (Rosella Falk) to Guido’s brazen mistress (Sandra Milo) and a prostitute known as La Saraghina (Eddra Gale), who danced for him and his friends when he was a child. Throughout the runtime, Guido wrestles with his strained relationship with the Catholic Church, the weight of expectation for his increasingly expensive film project, and what he wants out of female love, the last theme epitomized in an extended sequence where he fantasizes a harem of all the women in his life worshiping him before inevitably rebelling against his tyranny.

I know I’m supposed to fawn over Fellini and how his filmmaking is a surreal monument of life affirmation (which I suppose it is), but I must admit that I also found it rather boring and self-absorbed, the kind of art meant for critics rather than the common man. There is still plenty to appreciate, particularly the script’s incisive musings on the creative process and the final scene that makes a lovely metaphor for life itself, which has been emulated by other life-encapsulating features like All That Jazz. Perhaps I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind to fully connect with the artistry of 8½; it’s the sort of film that I’m glad to have seen but don’t plan to rewatch any time soon.

Best line:  (Guido, to his dream harem) “My dears, happiness consists of being able to tell the truth without hurting anyone.”

Rank:  Honorable Mention

© 2024 S.G. Liput
790 Followers and Counting

2023 Blindspot Pick #5: The Wiz (1978)

19 Monday Feb 2024

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Are you new in Oz?
I bet so because
You’ve the look of someone lost,
Exhausted, star-crossed,
Like you’ve never seen a witch
Or a road of yellow brick
Or a beast with perfect pitch.
Plus, you strike me as homesick.

But that’s no big deal;
I know how you feel,
Like a friend I miss a lot,
Distraught, but fear not.
See, we’ve done this all before,
She got home still safe and sound.
If what’s past is what’s in store,
I’ve no doubt you’re homeward bound.
_________________________

MPA rating:  G (though PG fits better with some of the imagery and costumes)

Since 2024 marks the 85th anniversary of The Wizard of Oz and the first Broadway revival of The Wiz since its original 1970s run, it seemed like a good time to finally watch and review the film version of The Wiz. (We’ll ignore that this should have been done last year for my Blindspot list.) A modern retelling of L. Frank Baum’s classic story with an all-Black cast and different music, The Wiz was a definite Broadway hit, as its seven Tonys can attest, but I knew nothing about the film, beyond Michael Jackson playing the Scarecrow. So it was interesting going in blind to this version of Oz that has gone from a bomb to a cult classic in the 46 years since its release.

While the core isekai story remains the same, The Wiz is quite visually distinct from the Judy Garland classic, relocating from Kansas to urban Harlem and making the child Dorothy into an adult schoolteacher (Diana Ross) nervous to move away from her family neighborhood. When a freak snow twister (happens all the time in Harlem, I’m sure) transports her and her dog Toto to the dystopian land of Oz, the timid girl gathers companions (Jackson, Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross) on her way to ask the Wizard (Richard Pryor) to send her back home.

The Wiz takes some time to find its footing because I was surprisingly bored through initial set-up, and Diana Ross’s affected diffidence was more annoying than sympathetic. It wasn’t until the arrival of Michael Jackson’s Scarecrow and especially Ted Ross’s Cowardly Lion that I began truly enjoying it as a musical. Jackson plays the Scarecrow as a bashful doormat, pulling quotes out of his stuffing like a burlap Mrs. Who from A Wrinkle in Time, while Nipsey Russell is an affable carny Tin Man with some repressed trauma. But Ross as the Lion truly steals the show, matching the mix of insecurity and self-puffery that Bert Lahr brought to the original film, so it’s no wonder he won a Tony for the same role on Broadway. He also proves to be the MVP of the journey, saving the whole group from a subway come to life, in one of several nightmare-fuel sequences that must have haunted some childhoods. Pryor is a decently mousy Wizard, though he doesn’t have enough screen time to make an impression and doesn’t even provide any insight to the other characters; in researching the Broadway production, I was mainly floored to learn that André De Shields of Hadestown fame played the same role on stage.

As for the music, “Ease on Down the Road” is the film’s most famous number, but “I’m a Mean Ole Lion” and “Don’t Nobody Bring Me No Bad News” are fitting showstoppers for the Lion and the Wicked Witch of the West Evillene (Mabel King), respectively. The disco “Emerald City Sequence” also has some gobsmacking set and costume design that illustrates the Wizard’s power as a trendsetter and contrasts with the urban decay of much of the production design. But the true star of the soundtrack is “Everybody Rejoice/A Brand New Day,” Luther Vandross’s utterly catchy and joyful group dance number with the ensemble celebrating Evillene’s defeat, even if it’s made a tad weird by the freed Winkies cavorting in only their underwear.

The Wiz has zero chance of replacing the 1939 film as the definitive Wizard of Oz musical, but it gives the material a worthy spin. I found some of the exaggerated acting a bit strange or overly childish at first, but the 1939 film was guilty of the same and simply benefits from decades of nostalgia, so I can see why time has been kind to people’s perception of The Wiz. It’s certainly uneven but not a total trainwreck, and its high points are worth the price of admission to its strange urban odyssey.

Best line: (Scarecrow) “Success, fame, and fortune, they’re all illusions. All there is that is real is the friendship that two can share.”   (Dorothy) “That’s beautiful! Who said that?”   (Scarecrow, modestly) “I did.”

Rank:  List Runner-Up

© 2024 S.G. Liput
788 Followers and Counting

2023 Blindspot Pick #4: Jerry Maguire (1996)

06 Tuesday Feb 2024

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When you’re on top of the world,
It’s a long way down,
And heavy is the haughty head that’s lost its crown.

When people fall from favor
And drink a bitter cup,
They’re likely to do anything to climb back up.

When rugs are pulled from under
Someone in mid-fall,
They start to prize stability (or alcohol).

When people face their falling,
They break or crack or bounce.
You don’t know which ahead of time, but that’s what counts.
____________________________________

MPA rating: R (for language and one sex scene)

I don’t know why I can’t seem to spit out reviews like I used to, but I’m finally back to continue last year’s overdue Blindspot series. It feels like movies nowadays don’t quite leave the same cultural impact as they once did, with famous lines that everyone recognizes, though there are still some (Hunger Games and Endgame come to mind). Jerry Maguire is the poster child of such an impact, a 1990s rom com that introduced not one but at least three iconic lines into pop culture. So it seemed only right that I should learn the context of the likes of “Show me the money!” and “You complete me,” the Tom Cruise hit that won Cuba Gooding, Jr. an Oscar and showcased the cutthroat world of sports agents.

Being a big fan of writer-director Cameron Crowe’s later film Elizabethtown, I was able to recognize how he recycled elements of Jerry Maguire into that film, which may have factored into why it wasn’t as well received. The set-up is essentially the same: a young hotshot excelling in his field is suddenly brought low by a misjudgment on his part that costs him his job and his shallow girlfriend. The difference is that most of that happens to Orlando Bloom within the first ten minutes of Elizabethtown, while the self-destruction of Maguire (Cruise) is far more gradual, as his attempt at reawakening his conscience leaves him with only one loyal client in football player Rod Tidwell (Gooding) and one sympathetic employee in Dorothy Boyd (Renee Zellweger in her breakout role).

In place of Kirsten Dunst’s manic pixie dream girl in Elizabethtown, Dorothy is a far more down-to-earth presence, a working single mother whose romantic relationship with Jerry carries more nuance while also being a bit hard to read at times. I feel like Bonnie Hunt’s role as her supportive sister is rather overlooked as well. Through all the lows and highs, from arguments over Rod’s obstinate demands to the uncertainty of dating a single mother and how to balance his devotion to both, Tom Cruise proves himself to be a winning leading man yet again, with a natural charisma that leaves no doubt as to how Jerry became such a superstar in his field. I do find it funny, though, that Cruise still hasn’t won an Oscar, while Gooding, Zellweger, Crowe, and fellow co-star Regina King have all gotten their golden statue eventually.

I can certainly see why Jerry Maguire was a hit, with an effective Cameron Crowe script full of passion and personality for its star power to embody, as well as a great soundtrack and plenty of fun cameos. Even though I see why the earlier film is more critically acclaimed, I can’t help but prefer Elizabethtown, which is more unrealistically quirky but also more streamlined in its character arc and generally cleaner and funnier. Maybe it’s just that I’m not into sports, but I’m still glad to have finally seen this ‘90s classic. It completes me (or at least my Blindspot list).

Best line (that I didn’t know originated in this movie): (Jerry, begging Rod to be more agreeable) “Help me help you.”

Rank:  List Runner-Up

© 2024 S.G. Liput
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2023 Blindspot Pick #3: London Road (2015)

21 Thursday Dec 2023

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Have you heard? Have you heard?
There are rumors running rampant.
Have you heard that there’s a murderer whose killing is undampened
By the increase in policemen
Or the neighborhood’s unease?
There’s a chance he could be anyone the average person sees.

No immunity for anyone
From danger or suspicion.
There’s a liar in our midst who lacks the basest inhibition.
Could be him. Could be her.
I won’t sleep until we know.
Though even when they’re caught, I fear the fear may not let go.
_______________________

Rating: TV-14 (equates to PG-13)

It’s no secret that I love musicals. I just said so in my last post. But that doesn’t mean I love all musicals by default; they have to earn it. An example of that love not coming easily is London Road, a 2015 drama based on a stage musical about the 2006 serial murders by the Suffolk Strangler, or rather about their impact on the surrounding Ipswich neighborhood. With the concept of a murder mystery musical and featuring actors like Olivia Coleman and Tom Hardy, I added the film to my Blindspot list with little other knowledge about it.

The locals of Ipswich were interviewed at the time about their fears and concerns about the murders, as were the sex workers being targeted by the killer, and the songs use this verbatim testimony as lyrics. Thus, all of the songs sound like real people speaking normally, complete with “um”s and “yeah”s and pauses that go with such realism. However, to make these interviews work as songs, there is quite a bit of repetition involved, hammering in less-than-eloquent points like “it’s ‘orrible, idn’t it, eh?” and “begonias and petunias and, um, impatiens and things.” Plus, this repetition is mostly done through talking along with the tune rather than actual singing, so if you thought Tom Hardy couldn’t sing, this won’t prove you wrong. The film’s cinematography tries to inject some visual interest into the musical numbers, but the lyric style largely yields rather dull songs that feel much longer than they are.

And yet I still rather appreciate London Road as an experiment, one that isn’t quite successful but still effective in its own way. It immortalizes these seemingly mundane conversations and frames them in a way that reflects how the community as a whole responds to tragedy, from doubt and fear to a desire for better things beyond. I probably wouldn’t listen to the songs on their own, but they often begin with that awkward talk-singing and actually do sound nice by the end as voices overlap amid violin or synthesizer. It’s highly unique, and I credit the inventiveness of the original play’s creators (Alecky Blythe and Adam Cork), as well as the producers of the film version for adapting a story Americans like me might not otherwise have been able to see on stage.

Rank: Honorable Mention

© 2023 S.G. Liput
785 Followers and Counting

2023 Blindspot Pick #2: Sunset Boulevard (1950)

24 Friday Nov 2023

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Before renown and everything,
I’d sit at home aspiring
And planning out my rise to fame,
To make the whole world know my name.

And as I dreamed, I followed through.
I sought the scenery to chew;
I earned the roles and accolades
And strode red carpets for decades.

I basked in viewers’ tears and laughs
And votive snaps of photographs.
I was a star, and stars will shine
Regardless of the bottom line,

Regardless of a flop or two,
Regardless of some new debut,
Regardless of unringing phones
Or dreaded birthday milestones.

A star’s above forgettably
Conveyor-belt celebrity.
Although I now more dimly burn,
A supernova I’ll return.

They’ll be reminded of my heights
When they behold my name in lights.
They may forget but can’t ignore
A star they’ve known and loved before.

They may forget but how can I
When I’m the one who’ll never die?
So, waiting for my phone to ring,
I sit alone remembering.
____________________________

Rating:  Passed (equivalent of PG)

I always try to include a few old classics in my Blindspots, since I don’t watch and review as many films from yesteryear as a cinephile probably should. Sunset Boulevard is one that has always slipped through the cracks, with Gloria Swanson’s iconic performance as washed-up starlet Norma Desmond overshadowing the film itself in pop culture. So it was worthwhile to see what else the film had to offer.

In typical film noir fashion, William Holden’s Joe Gillis delivers the story’s narration, though we see right from the start that his character is floating dead in a Hollywood pool before launching into a feature-length flashback. Gillis’s prospects as a screenwriter have dried up and, while fleeing from repo men, the starving artist stumbles upon the decaying mansion of former star Norma Desmond, cared for solely by her attentive chauffeur Max (Erich von Stroheim). Since Norma desires help with her own self-aggrandizing screenplay for a comeback film, Gillis sees her as a short-term meal ticket, but he’s unprepared for her increasing obsession with him and reclaiming her fame.

With director and co-writer Billy Wilder at the helm and boasting three Oscars out of eleven nominations, Sunset Boulevard deserves its status as a classic while also being rather overrated, in my view. Holden is an outstanding leading man, wrestling with the choice of humoring Norma’s whims or returning to poverty, and it’s no wonder his career took off after this. The Oscar-winning screenplay is also replete with good lines both clever and self-deprecating toward Hollywood, though I question the film’s Wikipedia classification as a “black comedy.” And then there’s Gloria Swanson herself, one of the titans of scenery-chewing, who was well-cast (alongside former silent director von Stroheim) for the film to have a semi-autobiographical element about ex-stars striving for relevance. As much as she fits the character and does well with the more vulnerable scenes, the ways Gloria/Norma mugs at the camera is distractingly extreme at times, which may have been the point but still comes off as utterly dated acting.

Sunset Boulevard is one of those cases where both “I get it” and “I don’t get it” apply. I can see how someone watching the film or reading the script would clap vigorously and proclaim that this is great cinema, but the most I can muster is agreeing that it’s well-written cinema. It ultimately left me with no other emotion but pity, pity for all the characters and their deluded forms of love and self-destruction. Thus, it’s not a film I can say I particularly enjoyed or would want to watch again, making the descriptions of it as one of “the greatest movies ever made” ring hollow. It’s not the first time I’ve disagreed with film critics, but I can still appreciate what Sunset Boulevard does well, now that I’ve seen its close-up.

Best line:  (Joe Gillis) “You’re Norma Desmond. You used to be in silent pictures. You used to be big.”   (Norma)  “I am big. It’s the pictures that got small.”

Rank: Honorable Mention

© 2023 S.G. Liput
782 Followers and Counting

2023 Blindspot Pick #1: The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)

15 Sunday Oct 2023

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“Parting is such sweet sorrow,”
Said the bard through Juliet.
It’s bittersweet
Till next we meet
Lest you or I forget.

But sweetness fades with waiting
While bitter amplifies.
By fits and starts,
Two hostage hearts
Will wear new love’s disguise.

And when the parting’s ended
And our hearts meet again,
The memory
Still sweet can be
But only as ‘twas then.
_____________________

MPA rating:  Not Rated (PG-13 seems right)

I’ll admit that October does seem a little late to start on that Blindspot series I announced back in January, but I at least haven’t waited this long to start watching them. I have already seen five of them, but my reviews have been painfully slow in coming. I need to get better at carving out time for them and not being afraid to keep them short. Since I’ve been knee-deep in writing a musical, it seems only right to kick off the Blindspot reviews with an acclaimed foreign musical called Les Parapluies de Cherbourg, or The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.

Sung-through entirely in French, the film follows two young lovers, mechanic Guy (Nino Castelnuovo) and umbrella store clerk Geneviève (Catherine Deneuve), whose swooning rendezvous are kept secret from Geneviève’s busybody mother (Anne Vernon). Yet their budding romance is foiled by Guy’s being drafted to fight in the Algerian War. As Geneviève’s mother impresses on her the importance of marrying well, the young girl is faced with a difficult choice and a heartbreaking regret.

I can certainly see why The Umbrellas of Cherbourg is so beloved among cinephiles and stands as one of the quintessential bittersweet romances. While opera had its own long-standing tradition, an original, sung-through musical was quite a novelty for the time and an artistic risk that might not have paid off with lesser artists. But Michel Legrand’s haunting melodies add a tender beauty to the sung dialogue, which would be rather mundane if just spoken. A behind-the-scenes featurette was quite interesting as Legrand was interviewed about his initial struggles developing a theme for each character, an important element of musical writing. I was impressed to learn that all the actors were lip-syncing to other singers’ voices, considering how well Deneuve and Castelnuovo acted in line with their “singing.”

While the music is key to the film’s fame, even earning a Best Original Song Oscar nomination for “I Will Wait for You,” the parting song between Guy and Geneviève (also somehow getting noms for both Original and Adapted Score), the sets and cinematography deserve just as much praise. Considering director Jacques Demy’s previous two films were in black and white, the colors here are as vivid and impressive as Dorothy stepping into Oz, like an interior designer’s wet dream. The rooms and stores have brightly variegated walls that often look freshly painted, Geneviève’s yellow jacket pops against the rainy blue streets, and every choice of paint, costume, and wallpaper feels intentional for the background to accent the scene and give it an iconic look. Rarely does the use of color feel so integral to a film’s identity and success, making the lack of any technical Oscar nominations feel criminal.

If I’m being totally honest, the music tends to sound the same after a while, lacking variety that would keep the middle section from getting rather monotonous and boring. The film’s interest and emotion are highest at the beginning and end, and its final scenes especially have a superb bittersweetness that clearly went on to inspire other films like La La Land. Ultimately, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg feels like a film everyone ought to see at least once, making it a perfect Blindspot pick, but it’s not the kind of musical I’d want to rewatch often or one I would recommend to those musical-haters out there (you know who you are). Even if its narrative loses steam, it is impressive art for both ear and eye and a laudable trailblazer for musical cinema.

Best line: (Geneviève) “Mother, he’s leaving. He’ll be away for two years. I can’t live without him. I’ll die.”  (her mother, Madame Emery) “Stop crying. Look at me. People only die of love in movies.”

Rank: List Runner-Up

© 2023 S.G. Liput
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My 2023 Blindspot Picks

08 Wednesday Mar 2023

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It’s that time once again, when I look through the long list of intriguing or recommended films I’ve been putting off watching and select twelve for the year ahead. My seventh year of this Blindspot series may be starting a little late, but I am determined this time to finish all of these movies before 2023 is over. It helps that I don’t have a trilogy like last year.

As with every Blindspot selection, I’ve tried to combine a mixture of various years and genres. I can blame my own project of writing a musical for why I’ve included three musical films on the list, but they all promise to be quite different. (Believe me, I was tempted to include more.) In addition, we have an old Italian classic, sci-fi both absurdist and epic, a horror favorite, a romantic sports comedy, a star-studded ensemble piece, and one of the last Studio Ghibli films I have yet to see. Time will tell if any of these movies end up being new favorites, but I can’t wait to find out.

In alphabetical order, my Blindspot picks for 2023 are:

8½ (1963)

Brazil (1985)

The Fifth Element (1997)

The Fountain (2006)

Jerry Maguire (1996)

London Road (2015)

Ship of Fools (1965)

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya (2014)

The Thing (1982)

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)

The Wiz (1978)

2022 Blindspot Ranking

07 Tuesday Mar 2023

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I’m thrilled to have finally finished my sixth year of this Blindspot series, even if this collection of cinema ended up spilling over into 2023. Overall, I think it was a largely positive year, with all twelve films being worth the watch and the top two being new entries for my Top 365 List. Going in, I never would have guessed this worst-to-best ranking, so it’s proof that a good Blindspot list should always have surprises. Now to pick out a new list for 2023…

12. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Campy but perverse horror musical with some solid tunes propping up an incoherent story

11. The Road Home (1999)

Slow but nostalgic tale of rural young love under Chinese Communist rule

10. Apu Trilogy (1955, 1956, 1959)

Classic Indian saga of Apu growing from a poor boy to young scholar to a father; not the most entertaining but artistically important

9. The Frighteners (1996)

Enjoyable Peter Jackson horror comedy with a muddled tone and impressive-for-the-time effects

8. Grand Canyon (1991)

Poignant ensemble of city dwellers facing crossroads in their lives; tries a bit too hard to be meaningful

7. Murder by Death (1976)

Silly pastiche of mystery novel tropes and characters with a splendid ensemble cast

6. Better Off Dead (1985)

Scattershot dark comedy that thrives on its 1980s-ness and John Cusack as a likable slacker with a death wish

5. Shutter Island (2010)

Ominous psychological thriller with DiCaprio in fine form and a predictably unpredictable plot

4. Chef (2014)

Feel-good culinary saga of Jon Favreau’s chef-turned-food-truck-operator finding the perfect outlet for his passions

3. Children of Men (2006)

Gripping dystopian thriller with piercing social commentary and brilliant direction from Alfonso Cuarón

2. Short Term 12 (2013)

Deeply personal, insightful, and well-acted glimpse into the shattered lives of troubled youth in need of trust and connection

1. National Velvet (1944)

All-time classic about an English country girl and the horse she believes in, bolstered by a family who believes in her

2022 Blindspot Pick #11: Grand Canyon (1991)

15 Wednesday Feb 2023

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For every moment of suffering,
For every moment of joy,
For every up or down you face,
Another’s felt it in your place.
Another’s felt that same heartache,
That grateful twinge, that give and take,
And you can trust you’re not alone
In every feeling you can’t shake.

Perhaps they’re a hemisphere distant,
Perhaps they are right down the street,
Perhaps you’ve met and couldn’t tell
How similar the parallel
Between the feelings that you share,
The craving dream, the silent prayer.
Perhaps you both look nothing alike,
But what you share is always there.
_________________________

MPA rating: R (mainly for language and brief nudity)

One of fellow blogger MovieRob’s favorite films (thanks for the recommendation), Grand Canyon is the kind of film I usually like, a wide-reaching glimpse into the lives of diverse people and how their individual stories intersect. This sort of ensemble picture can have varying levels of prestige, from the holiday charm of Love Actually to the sober drama of Yi Yi, but it can also go wildly wrong if too many of the stories themselves are uninteresting or off-putting, as with last year’s disappointing Blindspot Short Cuts. Thankfully, Grand Canyon is on the positive side of that spectrum, though there’s a distinct feeling that it’s trying too hard to hammer home its themes.

Advertised as a spiritual successor to writer-director Lawrence Kasdan’s The Big Chill (one of my VC’s favorite movies), the film’s main dynamic is sparked when lawyer Mack (Kevin Kline) narrowly escapes being mugged thanks to the cool-headed tow truck driver Simon (Danny Glover), after which Mack goes out of his way to befriend Simon and help him and his family. Alongside this plot are parallel threads about Mack’s wife (Mary McDonnell) wanting to adopt an abandoned baby she finds and his movie producer friend Davis (Steve Martin) second-guessing the violent content of his films after he is injured in a shooting. Add in the likes of Alfre Woodard, Mary-Louise Parker, and Jeremy Sisto, and you have an outstanding ensemble cast on hand.

On a purely narrative level, Grand Canyon deals with how people react to unexpected changes in their life – a near-death experience, a mid-life crisis, a change in scenery, the blossoming or ending of a love affair. In these aspects, the film excels in its realistic portrayal of different responses. Mack’s scare causes him to reach out and look further in the strata of Los Angeles society than he has before, even if he can’t shake some cluelessness of how his actions affect others. On the other hand, Davis’s change in perspective is short-lived, merely informing his decision to keep up his old habits. The film doesn’t end up giving complete closure to all these disparate threads (the storylines of Parker’s adulterous secretary and Simon’s gang-influenced nephew are dropped without a final resolution), but it is only a snapshot of these turning points, one that captures their dreams and anxieties in a world just as chaotic as it is thirty-two years later.

One can tell the effort that went into Kasdan’s Oscar-nominated screenplay, which is replete with insightful discussions about control and meaning and miracles and existence. And while these are laudable topics, I couldn’t help but think that normal people don’t talk about these universal concepts as casually as they do in this movie. While I appreciated the existential concerns raised (albeit without any religious dimension), the eloquence of it also kept reminding me that this is a script being delivered, quite well of course but not convincingly enough to completely connect with these characters. That could be my own personal gripe that wouldn’t bother other viewers, but it keeps Grand Canyon from being a new favorite ensemble flick. Still, as thoughtful all-star dramas go, it’s a well-made and perceptive piece that uses its particular time and place to ask timeless questions.

Best line: (Davis, to Mack) “That’s part of your problem, you know, you haven’t seen enough movies. All of life’s riddles are answered in the movies.”

Rank: List Runner-Up

© 2023 S.G. Liput
784 Followers and Counting

2022 Blindspot Pick #10: The Frighteners (1996)

04 Saturday Feb 2023

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If ghosts are really dead and well
And haunting us instead of hell
Or heaven, then it’s fair to ponder
What they’re up to when they wander.

Could it be their lifeless heads
Are in our bathrooms, in our beds,
Next to us when we’re alone
To judge us and what’s on our phone?

Could it be they find their fun
In terrifying everyone?
Just float a chair or whisper “boo,”
And while you scream, they laugh at you.

Or maybe they just do their schtick
Because the dead resent the quick
And all the things they can’t enjoy
And so endeavor to annoy?

Or maybe phantoms leave a trail
Of fear to flout the coffin nail,
To prove to us as well as them
That they exist by their mayhem.

It must be hard to be a ghoul.
To be invisible is cruel.
So next time you are all alone,
Turn to the ghost you might have known
And dare to share a friendly word,
Perhaps their first since being interred.
And if they don’t scare you away,
Just know you might have made their day.
_______________________

MPA rating:  R (for violence, mostly PG-13-level except for one scene)

Yep, I’m still here catching up on my 2022 Blindspots, but I have officially seen them all! So now it’s just getting the reviews out. Though I had intended it for last Halloween, next up is a little horror film with some unlikely bedfellows in director Peter Jackson before he hit the big time with Lord of the Rings and Michael J. Fox in his last starring role, shortly before announcing his Parkinson’s diagnosis. Between Jackson’s penchant for horror comedy (much toned down here) and Fox’s natural charisma, the two proved to be a good mix, finding both humor and pathos in a tale of a con artist who can see dead people and must battle a murderous phantom only he can see.

Fox plays Frank Bannister, a self-proclaimed banisher of ghosts, who gets help in faking the hauntings in a small American town (actually Jackson’s native New Zealand) from his spectral collaborators (Chi McBride, Jim Fyfe, and John Astin). He alone can see ghosts ever since a near-death experience, and after a run-in with a boorish jock (Peter Dobson) and his kinder wife (Trini Alvarado), Frank endeavors to stop a series of sudden random deaths that seem to be caused by the Grim Reaper.

After he’d earned a name through several strictly Kiwi projects of varying taste, The Frighteners was Jackson’s first Hollywood movie, and its mishmash of genres adds to it feeling like a turning-point film, the work of someone still perfecting their talent for mainstream audiences. Despite the twisty plot and colorful performances, it seemed to me that the real intended star was the special effects provided by Weta Digital (now Weta FX) to bring the ghosts to life, particularly the villain whose shape is often seen moving underneath solid surfaces like walls. By today’s standards, those all-CGI moments now have an inescapably dated and unreal look to them, but I can imagine they were a wonder in the mid-1990s.

While Fox’s natural likeability overshadows that of his character, he nails the dramatic moments and the interactions with characters that are not actually there, since all the ghost scenes were shot twice, with and without the ghosts present. As for the antagonists, while the shadowy reaper is a formidable threat, Jeffrey Combs is a scene-stealer as Miles Dammers, the intense FBI agent trying to tie Frank to the killings. Combs was clearly channeling a neurotic Jim Carrey and is a primary source of the film’s humor, which can be hit-and-miss.

Most of the film’s mixed reviews seem to consider it “tonally uneven,” which is true, never going for full-on belly laughs or deep-seated horror. The ending especially forgoes any of the light-hearted campiness in order to make events feel as hopeless as possible for the heroes while also overdoing explanatory flashbacks. Other issues include the rather shallow romance and the fact that the harrowing opening scene doesn’t make much sense in retrospect.

I don’t mean to sound overly negative; I very much enjoyed The Frighteners and actually watched it twice. It’s not high art nor an outright dud, so it’s hard to figure out in which bucket of appreciation to place it. But it’s an entertaining amalgam of influences that deserves its cult following, and I’m grateful that it served as a stepping stone for Jackson and Weta toward The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Besides, you can’t go wrong ending a movie with “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper.”

Best line: (Frank) “You are SUCH an a**hole.”
(Dammers, unhinged) “Yes, I am. I’m an a**hole… with an Uzi.”

Rank:  List Runner-Up

© 2023 S.G. Liput
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