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Brave (2012)

30 Wednesday Apr 2014

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Princess Merida’s expected always to be lady-like
By her mum Queen Elinor, who nags her constantly.
Weapons are forbidden on the dinner table too;
Merida must act the way that princesses should be.
 
Marriage is the straw that breaks the loaded camel’s back;
Merida can’t stand the fact that it must be arranged.
Archery decides the ugly clan chief’s son she’ll wed
Till she then outshoots him, hoping fate will now be changed.
 
Words are frightful weapons when they’re aimed at those you love;
Elinor and Merida prove this to be a fact.
Merida runs off into the forest in her grief,
Finding wisps that lead her to the way she will react.
 
Locating a cottage and a wood-engraving witch,
Merida finagles quite a vague and shady spell.
When she gives her mother this enchanted little cake,
Fate indeed is altered, for her mother isn’t well.
 
Elinor is changed into a giant, clumsy bear,
Merida insisting that it’s not at all her fault.
Siblings help them both to flee the castle right away,
Dodging their bear-hating father’s guaranteed assault.
 
Merida attempts to find the witch, but she is gone,
Nothing to assist her but a strange and cryptic rhyme.
Though her mother’s getting used to being more relaxed,
Merida is worried she won’t find a cure in time.
 
Learning that the spell brought down a kingdom long ago,
Altering a prince into the demon bear Mor’du,
Merida attempts to mend a tapestry she tore,
Thinking this will heal her mum, but quandaries ensue.
 
War among the clans is stopped when Merida decides
Everyone should get to choose their own selected spouse.
Happiness is short-lived, for her father finds her mum;
Fergus thinks she killed his wife and drives her from the house.
 
Elinor is hunted by her husband and his men.
Merida, however, will not let them follow through.
Suddenly they are assaulted by the demon bear,
Elinor defending them and vanquishing Mor’du.
 
As the sunrise dawns to make the spell a lasting change,
Merida can merely now apologize and wait.
Love succeeds in bringing back the Elinor she knows,
Changing both of them and truly bettering their fate.
_____________________
 

The second Pixar film on my list, Brave is a Scottish-set fairy tale that feels different from all previous Pixar projects. It’s a fine film to be sure with beautifully animated scenery that is alternately lush or barren, often extremely realistic, as well as lovely Celtic music and an exciting climax. Nonetheless, when people list off Pixar films (Toy Story, The Incredibles, WALL-E), Brave will almost certainly be one of the last to come to mind.

It’s an excellent movie, but it’s a strange mix of inspiration and unoriginality. The young hero/heroine straining to be themselves under the oppression of an overbearing authority figure has been overused in plenty of films, from The Sword in the Stone to The Little Mermaid to Ratatouille. The fateful bulls-eye that splits a previous arrow is borrowed directly from the Robin Hood stories. Plus, the plot twist of a bear transformation was already used in Disney’s earlier Brother Bear, as was the recycled line “I don’t speak bear.” Considering Brave was an original fairy tale, I wonder why Pixar didn’t think of something other than a rehashed bear. Brave was originally to be titled The Bear and the Bow (a better title, in my opinion), but it might as well be Mother Bear.

On the other hand, it’s refreshing to see a strained parent-child relationship that doesn’t call on the parent alone to change. Everything is set right only when Merida owns up to her mistake and accepts that all of this is her own fault. The part with the woodcarver witch has the funniest scenes, and the buildup to the transformation is nicely handled. While the Scottish accents were previously applied to the Vikings in How to Train Your Dragon, here the Scottish brogue is more than just a way of talking but a way of life, along with colloquialisms like “dinnae” and “gammy,” as well as realistic highland games.Also, not many films have a touching mother/daughter relationship with both parties being at fault and sympathetic at the same time.

Brave may not be Pixar’s best, but it is a gorgeously rendered addition to their string of hits. Ignore the uninventive elements, and you’ve got another Pixar classic.

Best line: (King Fergus, to Elinor) “Pretend I’m Merida; speak to me…. [in a girly voice] I don’t want to get married, I want to stay single and let my hair flow in the wind as I ride through the glen firing arrows into the sunset.”

 
Artistry: 6
Characters/Actors: 6
Entertainment: 6
Visual Effects: 10
Originality: 3
Watchability: 6
 
TOTAL: 37 out of 60
 

Next: #250 – Citizen Kane

© 2014 S. G. Liput

92 Followers and Counting

 

Jumpin’ Jack Flash (1986)

28 Monday Apr 2014

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Miss Terry Doolittle works for a bank,
Where her conversations are casually frank.
A friendly, disheveled, productive commuter,
She spends her days typing into a computer.
Then one day, her life takes a turn unforeseen
When “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” says hello on her screen.
 
At first, she assumes it’s a practical joke,
Some wisecracking trickster who wants to provoke,
But soon she discovers this analog stranger
Is some British spy trapped in Europe in danger!
He gives her instructions which don’t make much sense
And only cause threats on her life to commence.
 
The contacts he gives her just end up deceased
Or don’t seem to care for poor Jack in the least,
And every attempt to find Jack a way out
One Jeremy Talbot is eager to rout.
With help from the wife of another lost spy,
She learns that the KGB is the bad guy.
 
She grows close to Jack in their shared conversation;
A date with this spy is her one expectation.
When she has success in releasing her chap,
She’s captured by foes and is told it’s a trap.
With desperate shenanigans, she gets away
And tries to warn Jack of sly Talbot’s foul play.
 
She narrowly makes it with aid from a spy,
Who helps bring Jack home and, you know, not die.
Though Terry’s expecting their subsequent date,
Jack doesn’t show up, leaving Terry to wait,
But, at Terry’s office, Jack finally shows,
Fulfilling his promise, and off the pair goes.
___________________
 

Jumpin’ Jack Flash was only Whoopi Goldberg’s third film, and, immediately following her star turn in The Color Purple, it was a return to her comedic roots. Other actors lend their talents as well, from respected thespians to popular comedians, including Stephen Collins, John Wood (WarGames), Jim Belushi, Carol Kane, Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz, and Jonathan Pryce as Jack, who is only heard throughout most of the film. The computer element of the plot may date it, like Cloak and Dagger or Tron, but Terry’s typed conversations with Jack are well-edited, as if they’re talking to each other over the phone.

The script and direction supposedly went through a lot of issues before the film was completed, but the final result is a comedic gem, despite receiving several negative reviews upon its release. Whoopi Goldberg is just plain cute as Terry Doolittle, and her reactions, whether to good-natured workplace banter or to threats against her life, are hilarious. As typical of spy films, there are the usual creepy or threatening scenes but nothing really violent, and the comedic touches throughout strike just the right balance between tension and humor, leaning more toward the latter. My VC and I love the part where Terry tries to decipher the lyrics to the Rolling Stones’ song “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” and the phone booth scene and Terry’s subsequent drugged rant is hilarious, one of those great laugh-a-minute sequences.

Unfortunately, as with Trading Places, Jumpin’ Jack Flash is heavy on the language with Whoopi Goldberg especially having a foul mouth, which various characters comment on. Considering that the violence is minimal, it’s a shame that this alone warranted an R rating. As with other movies on my list, catch a cut version on TV some time. You’ll be glad you did.

Best line: (a drugged Terry, when stopped by a spa security guard named Earl) “You see this face, Earl. This is the face of a woman on the edge.”
(Earl) “I know, my wife’s got the same face.”
(Terry) “Now, you gotta decide, Earl. Do you wanna work here, or do you wanna live?”
(Earl, intimidated) “I quit. I quit.”

 

Artistry: 6
Characters/Actors: 8
Entertainment: 9
Visual Effects: 7
Originality: 8
Watchability: 8
Other (language): -10
 
TOTAL: 36 out of 60
 

Next: #252 – Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey

© 2014 S. G. Liput

87 Followers and Counting

 

Gettysburg (1993)

27 Sunday Apr 2014

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Gettysburg! The town where North and South did chance to meet,
The peaceful hills and meadows that became a battlefield.
Both Yankee blues and rebel grays would not accept retreat
Until the farms of war had offered up their bloody yield.
Although Lee’s troops fought bravely, he was forced to face defeat;
With Pickett’s devastating charge, the battle’s fate was sealed.
 
Heroism shone amid the guns and cannon fire;
Of note was Colonel Chamberlain on Little Round Top’s heights.
They fought with different reasons but the same innate desire,
To end this brothers’ battle, fought for freedom or for rights.
 
May this inspire.
_________________________
 

Gettysburg is long, and I mean looooooong (thus I went with a short poem, a curtal sonnet). At 4 hours and 14 minutes, it is one of Hollywood’s longest movies, originally conceived as a miniseries but bumped up to feature film status by studio backer Ted Turner (who has a cameo in the finished film). History lovers like me will enjoy this meticulously crafted Civil War epic based on Michael Shaara’s historical novel The Killer Angels. There are so many characters and so much time spent detailing Lee’s strategy that it’s not what I would call a casual watch. I love tales of the Civil War, but even I can only watch it occasionally, considering the time investment necessary to view it in its entirety.

The film is almost too ambitious in trying to present such a well-rounded depiction of the famous battle. The first 40 minutes or so before the first battle scene could have been edited down significantly, and some scenes of the explosions and such go on too long. Two sequences, though, stick out as truly awesome in both scale and excitement: Chamberlain’s stand on the wooded slopes of Little Round Top midway through and Pickett’s disastrous charge near the end. Both have that real cast-of-thousands aspect from the old Cecil B. DeMille epics, which have been replaced in modern films with CGI.

While all the actors do a fine job, from Tom Berenger as Lieutenant General James Longstreet to Martin Sheen as Confederate General Robert E. Lee, again two performances emerge as the best. Richard Jordan (in his last film role) is excellent as Confederate “Lo” Armistead, who regrets having to fight an old friend on the opposite side, and Jeff Daniels gives an Oscar-worthy portrayal of Union Colonel Joshua Chamberlain of the 20th Maine regiment. Their stories are the most interesting, and both give stirring pro-American speeches that make Gettysburg perfect for July 4 viewing (plus the battle was fought from July 1-3, 1863).

One thing I much appreciate is that, despite the 53,000 lives that were lost at the battle of Gettysburg, the film manages to be almost entirely bloodless. Some think war films ought to be more realistic in their portrayal of violence, but this film captures the right balance between being fittingly intense without getting gruesome.

If you are easily bored by long films or have little interest in history, Gettysburg probably isn’t the right film for you, but every now and then I feel it’s important that we remind ourselves of the hardships and horrors of war that went into securing freedom for all and keeping this country together.

Best line: (Brigadier General James Kemper to Pickett) “I gotta hand it to you, George. You certainly do have a talent for trivializin’ the momentous and complicatin’ the obvious. You ever considered runnin’ for Congress?”

 
Artistry: 8
Characters/Actors: 8
Entertainment: 5
Visual Effects: 9
Originality: 7
Watchability: 2
Other (length): -3
 
TOTAL: 36 out of 60
 

Next: #253 – Jumpin’ Jack Flash

© 2014 S. G. Liput

83 Followers and Counting

 

Silverado (1985)

26 Saturday Apr 2014

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When three would-be killers close in on a derelict shack,
One Emmett succeeds in shooting them down in a flash.
He later meets Paden, who’s also endured an attack
But didn’t fare well, having lost both his hat and his cash.
 
The two journey on to a town where the cocky young Jake,
Emmett’s brother, is locked up for murder, awaiting the noose.
When Paden joins him behind bars for his stolen hat’s sake,
He helps the self-confident rogue and himself to break loose.
 
They flee the town’s sheriff with help from a black man named Mal,
And aid a poor wagon train, also the victims of theft.
They ride to the town Silverado, a dusty locale,
Controlled by the rancher McKendrick, with few good men left.
 
The sheriff in town is an old friend of Paden’s named Cobb,
Who brings him to Stella, the small owner of the saloon.
Cobb shoots down a manager, then awards Paden his job,
But Cobb is corrupt and works for the ranching tycoon.
 
Mal’s father is punished for spurning McKendrick’s land grab;
His prostitute sister is likewise in danger in town.
McKendrick hates Emmett, whose presence removes an old scab,
And orders his various henchmen to bring Emmett down.
 
McKendrick’s men take Emmett’s nephew and ride off on horses,
And Cobb lets it happen, an act Paden cannot condone.
So Emmett and Mal, with both Paden and Jake, combine forces
To stop this corruption and pick each particular bone.
 
Jake shoots down his rival, and Mal saves both Stella and sis,
While Emmett surprises McKendrick and brings the man low.
At last, Paden faces down Cobb and is too good to miss,
Defeating the foe and enacting a new status quo.
 
For Emmett and Jake, California is beckoning still,
And Mal will rebuild his old farmstead McKendrick brought down,
But now Silverado’s in need of a leader with skill,
And Paden steps up as the trustworthy sheriff in town.
_____________________
 

I’ve already stated that I’m not a big fan of Westerns since so many share the same themes and character motivations. Revenge, outlaws, rogues with hearts of gold, and standing up for the defenseless are just a few of the western clichés that Silverado employs, but it puts them all together so entertainingly that I don’t mind as much. As Roger Ebert put it, “This is a story, you will agree, that has been told before. What distinguishes [director and writer Lawrence] Kasdan’s telling of it is the style and energy he brings to the project.” Considering Kasdan’s previous film was the well-cast The Big Chill (one of my VC’s favorite movies, not mine), I’d say he also has a knack for assembling impressive ensembles with good characterization as well.

Unlike so many other stock westerns with only one or two memorable characters, if that, Silverado has an excellent cast, including Kevin Kline, Jeff Goldblum (who were both in The Big Chill as well), Scott Glenn, a young Kevin Costner, Danny Glover, Brian Dennehy, Linda Hunt, John Cleese, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera! There’s also (Lost alert) the wild-eyed Jeff Fahey, who portrayed Frank Lapidus on my favorite show. While not every character is entirely developed, whether sympathetically or otherwise, every actor fills their role well enough to definitely be memorable.

Even though the film’s convoluted plot is full of the aforementioned clichés, it has some highly entertaining parts, like the canyon scene and the stampede rescue sequence. That being said, the final showdown between Cobb and Paden felt unoriginal and rather anti-climactic following a couple more inventive death scenes. All in all, Silverado is a fun, well-written, and fairly clean modern western that sadly didn’t quite revive the genre as much as some had expected. There’s a fine line between a cliché and a reinvention, and Silverado walks it pretty well.

Best line: (Cobb) “We’re gonna give you a fair trial, followed by a first class hanging.”

 
Artistry: 6
Characters/Actors: 9
Entertainment: 8
Visual Effects: 7
Originality: 4
Watchability: 6
Other (brief language and anti-climax): -4
 
TOTAL: 36 out of 60
 

Next: #254 – Gettysburg

© 2014 S. G. Liput

82 Followers and Counting

 

Treasure Planet (2002)

25 Friday Apr 2014

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Jim Hawkins grew up with the stars in his head
And the dread pirate Flint sailing all round his bed.
He’d dream of the treasure, while he was a kid,
Which this space pirate took to a planet and hid.
But twelve years have left, as his father did too,
And Jim’s a delinquent with little to do.
 
But that will soon change; Jim’s adventures begin
When Billy Bones enters the old Benbow Inn.
He gives Jim an orb before joining the morgue
And warns him about an impending cyborg.
The inn is attacked then and burned to the ground,
But Jim and his mom flee with what they have found.
 
Jim opens the sphere with a twist and a tap
And finds that it’s Captain Flint’s lost treasure map.
Their friend Dr. Doppler is wholly entranced,
Agreeing a voyage be quickly financed.
They’re off to the spaceport, as hastily planned,
With Captain Amelia, a cat, in command.
 
Jim then meets John Silver, the garrulous cook,
Who has more prosthetics than ol’ Captain Hook.
He’s wary at first of this cyborg-y one,
But soon they are bonding like father and son.
A close supernova makes their escape narrow
But swallows the trusty first mate, Mr. Arrow.
 
While Hawkins is hidden, he hears Silver talk
With the crew of a mutiny, which causes him shock.
As Jim tells the captain and Doppler of this,
The mutiny begins because something’s amiss.
The three journey down to the planet they’ve found,
Escaping the pirates by ramming the ground.
 
While searching for shelter, Jim meets up with B.E.N.,
A robotic castaway who shares his den.
With B.E.N.’s manic help, Jim goes back to the ship
To get back the map which he lost his first trip.
Back down on the planet, they all end up caught,
But Jim wields the map because Silver cannot.
 
The sphere leads the band to a portal of sorts,
That must have been used by Flint and his cohorts.
The right portal leads to the planet’s own core,
Where treasures abound, as recorded in lore.
They have a brief moment to revel in gold
Before a sly booby trap starts to take hold.
 
The planet begins to break up and explode,
And Silver saves Jim at the cost of his lode.
The heroes attempt to escape from the blast
But see they won’t make it when they lose the mast.
So Jim turns them round to the portal they saw
And sailing right through it, they barely withdraw.
 
It takes them back home just before certain death
And gives them a moment to re-catch their breath.
While Silver shoves off and Jim lets him retreat,
The cyborg is proud of “Jimbo’s” awesome feat.
Now that he’s done something to earn admiration,
Jim has a bright future in space navigation.
_____________________
 

Treasure Planet should have been a hit, but, despite fairly good reviews from critics, it never gained much of an audience and sadly joined a string of Disney flops that led to the canning of their traditional animation department. I don’t understand the chilly reception since the film has much going for it. It’s a futuristic telling of Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island, with spectacular cutting-edge visuals that combined hand-drawn and CGI animation, funny and likable characters, and some truly touching scenes. It’s also Disney’s most exciting animated movie, in my opinion, and was nominated for an Oscar (unfortunately losing to Spirited Away).

The voice actors suit their characters perfectly. The roles of Captain Amelia and Dr. Doppler were written with Emma Thompson and David Hyde Pierce in mind, but Brian Murray as Silver and an up-and-coming Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Jim Hawkins fill their roles equally well. Martin Short is at his most frenetic as B.E.N., the castaway who has literally lost his mind, at times making Robin Williams look like a Type B personality. The script ranges from tear jerking to hilarious, and I love a few well-timed references to Star Trek and Jaws.

With all this going for it, why then did the movie bomb? I can’t say. Roger Ebert claimed it was too “gimmicky” to futurize the classic adventure novel, but I don’t think this gimmick is any worse than, say, The Great Mouse Detective, in which Disneyreimagined a Sherlock Holmes mystery with rodents. Then again, John Musker and Ron Clements did direct both films. Hmm.

It’s true that the concept may not be as original as it at first seems. Don Bluth’s even less-successful Titan A.E. was released just two years earlier and featured a heavy mix of traditional animation and CGI and a science fiction plot involving a fatherless young rogue following a map through the stars. In addition, there was even an Italian miniseries in the 1980s entitled Treasure Island in Outer Space or Treasure Planet. I don’t know if anything in Disney’s film was drawn from that, but it’s interesting to note.

As much as I’ve defended Treasure Planet, I must admit that, compared with most of Disney’s films, it just doesn’t stick out like others do. I may just like other movies better, but Treasure Planet is nonetheless a wondrous retelling of a classic story that anyone can enjoy.

Best line: (Captain Amelia to Dr. Doppler) “Doctor, to muse and blabber about a treasure map in front of this particular crew demonstrates a level of ineptitude that borders on the imbecilic! And I mean that in a very caring way.”

 
Artistry: 6
Characters/Actors: 7
Entertainment: 9
Visual Effects: 10
Originality: 5
Watchability: 8
Other (I just like other films more): -9
 
TOTAL: 36 out of 60
 

Next: #255 – Silverado

© 2014 S. G. Liput

81 Followers and Counting

 

Spy Kids (2001)

22 Tuesday Apr 2014

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Young Carmen and Juni Cortez do not know
That their parents are settled-down spies.
While Juni is friendless, his sister skips school,
And both tell their parents some lies.
 
When spies from the OSS start to go missing,
Both Ingrid and Greg are called in.
Reluctantly, they leave their children behind
With Felix, their uncle and kin.
 
The parents are soon apprehended by Floop,
The host of a weird children’s show.
This Floop has turned agents he’s caught into freaks
And proves a formidable foe.
 
He sends out an army of thumb-composed thugs
To seek out the rumored Third Brain,
Which he needs for the army of mechanized kids
He’s built so that evil can reign.
 
While Carmen and Juni are minding their business,
Their house is attacked by Thumb-Thumbs.
So their Uncle Felix, who isn’t their uncle,
Fights off the robots but succumbs.
 
The children escape to a safe house for spies,
And try to absorb what they’ve learned,
But soon their un-safe house is changed to a trap
By a spy girl that must have been turned.
 
They flee with the Brain to a city nearby
And argue of what they should do.
But soon the Brain’s taken by their doppelgangers
Who fly away into the blue.
 
The children seek out their real uncle Machete
Who builds lots of gadgets for spies.
He hates his own brother but shows them a plane
That is both fast and just the right size.
 
They fly to Floop’s castle, where Floop has been having
Some quite bothersome second thoughts.
His minion named Minion then locks Floop away
And begins to start calling the shots.
 
Both Carmen and Juni free Ingrid and Greg,
And Juni brings Floop to their side.
They fight off the Spy Kids till Floop can reprogram
The robots with fun as their guide.
 
At last, the Cortezes are honest and true,
And even Machete forgives.
A family of spies is a dangerous thing,
As long as togetherness lives.
_______________
 

Spy Kids was a hit when it first came out in 2001 with a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, and, though the series devolved into the terrible Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over, it started off with an entertaining bang. The action is often exaggerated to the point of being campy, and Carmen and Juni’s realistic bickering gets old after a while, but the film is a wonderful endorsement of being honest as a family, much like the admittedly better The Incredibles a few years later.

Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara, who have definitely grown since their roles here, are very convincing as two quarreling siblings who learn their parents are superspies. Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino are also wonderful, if rather ineffective for the most part, as said parents, and I must say both look strikingly attractive. Other roles are filled by Alan Cumming as Floop, Robert Patrick (the T-1000 in Terminator 2) as Mr. Lisp, and Tony Shalhoub (who was just in yesterday’s Galaxy Quest) as Mr. Minion. Plus, there’s a great cameo and sight gag at the very end. Danny Trejo also appears as Machete Cortez, originating the role he would reprise in Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror, Machete, and Machete Kills, all films that are decidedly not kid-friendly.

Floop is sadly a weakness, in my view. While he as a character is fine, his bizarre TV show and mutated extras are things I would expect to see from Tim Burton (not one of my favorite directors), and the fitting score from Danny Elfman strengthens that comparison. My VC and I just don’t care for overly weird films, and a few scenes push into that territory. Also, while the special effects are good, in several parts, like the jet pack scene, it is obvious that the actors are in front of a green screen.

Still, Spy Kids is a Latin-flavored family film that has humor, action, cool gadgets, and all-around fun. Whether you see it with kids of your own or not, it’s an adventure worth taking.

Best line: (a boy in the park, after seeing the robot kids take off with rockets in their feet) “¡Yo quiero los zapatos como esos!” (translated: “I want shoes like that!”)

VC’s best line: (Carmen, at the very end) “Spy work, that’s easy. Keeping a family together, that’s difficult. And that’s the mission worth fighting for.”

 
Artistry: 4
Characters/Actors: 7
Entertainment: 7
Visual Effects: 6
Originality: 7
Watchability: 7
Other (some weirdness): -2
 
TOTAL: 36 out of 60
 

Next: #258 – The Great Mouse Detective

© 2014 S. G. Liput

77 Followers and Counting

 

Cloak and Dagger (1984)

16 Wednesday Apr 2014

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Young Davey Osborne loves computer games,
Especially the exploits of Jack Flack,
A superspy who’s known by many names.
 
While on a “secret” escapade with Jack,
His own imagined friend who looks like Dad,
The boy observes a murderous attack.
 
The cops assume that Davey might be mad;
His mother died, and games are his escape.
Not even Davey’s father trusts the lad.
 
He gives his gamer friend Morris a tape,
A Cloak and Dagger game the victim gave
Him right before he got into this scrape.
 
This game is what the secret villains crave.
They kidnap Davey’s younger playmate Kim,
And urge a trade before they dig her grave.
 
He rescues her, but Morris, on a whim,
Finds hidden plans that cost the man his life,
And Davey learns the villain Rice shot him.
 
Rice has the cartridge, which could kindle strife,
But Davey manages to get the game,
Thanks to a helpful old man and his wife.
 
When Dave sees Rice and is chased by the same,
Jack’s help provokes the armed young boy to fire,
And Davey, sick of games, gives Jack the blame.
 
Once Jack fades out, unneeded like times prior,
The boy pursues the bad guys to their plane
And ends up as a hostage, not a liar.
 
His father joins him, as the spies ordain,
And helps to get him out ere things go bad.
A hidden bomb kills those spies that remain,
 
And Davey doesn’t need Jack Flack, just Dad.
_______________________
 

Cloak and Dagger is a film I fondly remember watching and loving every minute of as a child. Henry Thomas (in one of his few good roles after playing Elliott in E.T.) is highly believable as the imaginative but overwhelmed Davey, and Dabney Coleman turns in a great dual performance as both Davey’s father and his more dashing counterpart Jack Flack.

Jack’s invisible advice to Davey, totally unseen by everyone else, is reminiscent of similar themes in films such as Harvey and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, and such imperceptible characters have been used since in other movies like Heart and Souls and Ghost Town. Yet, unlike most of these, Jack Flack is not a ghost but an imaginary friend that may not be imaginary. His sometimes physical assistance for Davey and his direct intervention near the end open the possibility that he was real, a theory heightened by his mention of Davey’s father outgrowing him too. While the film doesn’t go into this, I tend to think that Jack is the living embodiment of various children’s imaginations, assigned to certain kids until they “stop believing.” This seems very similar to the likewise age-and-belief-restricted status of fairies in Nickelodeon’s show Fairly OddParents. If Jack was alive, I do wonder what became of him; perhaps he went to live at Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends. 🙂

The sight of those old computers and Atari game cartridges certainly dates the film overall, but the movie itself is enjoyably tense and intricate in its tribute to espionage and covert missions. A big reveal (which I won’t divulge) really took me by surprise, and the end is sure to keep anyone on the edge of their seat. Though several people are killed, the film manages to be mostly family friendly, with gunshots obviously muted and most deaths being bloodless or off-screen. Plus, the filmmakers must have been trying to appeal to younger audiences as well since they threw in hardly any language, which I applaud.

While these elements may have been used in earlier films I haven’t seen, I did think certain scenes may have inspired other spy films. For instance, Davey’s insistence about a murder that is cleaned up before authorities can find any evidence was reused in Whoopi Goldberg’s Jumpin’ Jack Flash two years later, and the part in which a wounded man fleeing bad guys bestows something important on the nearest unsuspecting bystander is akin to a similar scene in 1987’s Innerspace.

Part of a 1980s video-game trend that also included Tron, WarGames, and The Last Starfighter, Cloak and Dagger is a twisting spy film that can appeal to adults and children alike, combining intrigue, action, and a good moral (see below) into a highly entertaining adventure.

Best line: (Davey’s father Hal) “Heroes don’t just shoot bad guys. They put supper on the table, they fix bicycles, they do—they do boring things, real things, not make-believe. And you’ll understand that when you get a little bit older.”

 
Artistry: 5
Characters/Actors: 7
Entertainment: 9
Visual Effects: 5
Originality: 7
Watchability: 8
Other (I just like other films more): -6
 
TOTAL: 35 out of 60
 

Next: #264 – Amazing Grace

© 2014 S. G. Liput

 

100th Poem! The Hunt for Red October (1990)

15 Tuesday Apr 2014

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Jack Ryan, a writer on tactics of war,
Gets word of a threat that he needs to explore.
He flies to his CIA boss to expound
On a new Russian sub of which photos were found.
 
More research reveals that the foe could arrive
Off the coast unbeknownst to us, due to a drive,
A unique “caterpillar” that keeps the sub quiet,
And government leaders are disheartened by it.
 
The captain named Ramius may be en route
To bomb us and trigger a worldwide dispute,
But analyst Ryan has come to suspect
That the great Marko Ramius wants to defect.
 
Indeed, Marko leaked to Moscow in a letter
That the sub Red October will go someplace better.
Though Ramius’ officers want to leave too,
They’re not necessarily sure of the crew.
 
So Russia’s fleet frantically searches the sea
For a trace of this sub they built so secretly,
But the USS Dallas is solo in knowing
Or having a clue where this covert sub’s going.
 
Meanwhile, ol’ Ramius soon is quite sure
That a sailor on board is a spy saboteur,
So his officers fake a bad nuclear leak
That gets the whole crew off, a clever technique.
 
When Ryan realizes the Dallas’s status,
He’s dropped from a chopper with some apparatus.
The Dallas’s crew helps to bring Jack aboard,
And Ryan soon proves that he won’t be ignored.
 
Though Captain Mancuso, still hot in pursuit,
Has orders to find Red October and shoot,
He listens to Ryan, who says they must talk,
And both steer a rescue sub over to dock.
 
On board Red October, Jack hunts down the spy
Before he can blow the whole vessel sky high.
A Russian sub also attempts to destroy
The renegade craft that has left its employ.
 
October’s maneuvering with not a flub
Diverts the torpedo to hit the bad sub.
The Russians believe that October was hit,
So Marko and Jack can relax for a bit.
______________________
 

I’ll be honest that I have not seen any of the other movies featuring Jack Ryan, Tom Clancy’s less-glamorous answer to James Bond, so I have no idea how successfully Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck, or the recent Chris Pine have carried on the role that Alec Baldwin began in The Hunt for Red October. My VC, however, loves Red October with a passion and considers it to be the best role of Baldwin’s career; Rotten Tomatoes also indicates that it was the best of the Jack Ryan adaptations, with a significantly higher 95%.

It’s a taut thriller to be sure, though it does take a while for events to heat up. Much of the first hour is spent with guesswork about what the sub is, where Ramius is going, and what his intentions might be. Some cool underwater effects highlight the midsection, but once Ryan gets aboard the Dallas, things really get good. The finale featuring a sub battle and Ryan’s confrontation with the spy simultaneously is among the most gripping climaxes of any thriller.

There are also quite a few recognizable names I had forgotten in the credits. Aside from Baldwin and a brief cameo by Gates McFadden (Dr. Crusher from Star Trek: The Next Generation), we have Scott Glenn (The Right Stuff, The Silence of the Lambs)as Captain Mancuso of the Dallas; Jeffrey Jones (Principal Rooney in Ferris Bueller) as a bearded sub expert; James Earl Jones (Darth Vader) as Ryan’s boss; Tim Curry, Stellan Skarsgard, and Sam Neill as Russians with varying loyalties; and the ever-distinguished Sean Connery as Captain Ramius. Connery bestows a unique dignity to all of his films, proving himself a thespian of the highest order. Plus, my VC loves the scene in which he eats with his officers, claiming that he has “chewable lips,” which she read in a magazine some years ago. Women.

While many were skeptical how well the convoluted Clancy novel would fare on the big screen, The Hunt for Red October surpassed expectations and even won an Academy Award for Best Sound Editing. It certainly deserves a place on my list and any list of great political thrillers.

P.S. Today I am celebrating my 100th poem in this year-long challenge!!!!!!!!! While I’m a tad behind, I plan to catch up somewhere along the line. Thank you to all of you who have liked and followed my blog along the way, and I ask that you continue to push that “like” button whenever you can. Every “like” fills me with satisfaction that I’m doing something right anyway. Feel free to comment as well about any movies you enjoy or if you disagree with anything on my list so far. Here’s to the next 265!

Best line: (National Security Advisor Jeffrey Pelt, when the Russian ambassador says that they have lost contact with the sub sent to destroy Red October) “Andrei, you’ve lost another submarine?” (And he’s eating jelly beans!)

 
Artistry: 7
Characters/Actors: 8
Entertainment: 7
Visual Effects: 7
Originality: 7
Watchability: 6
Other (language): -7
 

TOTAL: 35 out of 60

 

Next: #265 – Cloak and Dagger (1984)

© 2014 S. G. Liput

 

#270: Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

11 Friday Apr 2014

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In 1914, Milo Thatch
Has got a hare-brained scheme to hatch,
A trip to find an ancient book
To reach Atlantis, but the hook
Is none will pay him to dispatch
A team to reach this awesome catch.
 
But, led by one Helga Sinclair,
Thatch meets a quirky millionaire,
Who lost a very costly bet
To his granddad. To pay the debt,
He’s funded Milo’s whole affair
To find Atlantis deep somewhere.
 
Aboard the great sub (quite a feat),
The linguist has a chance to meet
Commander Rourke, who heads the mission;
Vinny, who likes demolition;
Mole, a burrower; and Sweet,
The kindly doctor for the fleet.
 
Deep underwater, soon they find
A monster that comes from behind.
This huge Leviathan attacks;
The sub is wrecked, but they make tracks
And reach a cave that is designed
To reach Atlantis, once it’s mined.
 
Once more is said of those with names,
Strange fireflies burst into flames.
The fire spreads; to flee from it,
They find an old volcano’s pit.
From there, within a couple frames,
They reach the truth of Milo’s claims.
 
They’re welcomed to Atlantis by
The Princess Kida, who’s not shy.
Impressed at what Milo can read,
She takes him to a sunken screed
That notes a crystal power supply,
But Rourke butts in as our bad guy.
 
He and the crew start acting rash;
They’ll sell the crystal just for cash.
Once Rourke has hurt Atlantis’ king,
He still locates that crystal thing.
It bonds with Kida in a flash,
And giant stones fall with a splash.
 
They pack up Kida to depart,
But Milo’s pleas to have a heart
Create misgivings in the many;
Rourke and Sinclair haven’t any.
Before the city falls apart,
They must bring Kida back, to start.
 
Thatch leads a team of those who stayed
On flying fish ships, unafraid.
They battle Rourke, who’ll get out soon
If he escapes in his balloon.
When Thatch flies in to Kida’s aid,
Rourke’s killed by his propeller blade.
 
That same volcano starts to wake,
So all our heroes make a break.
When Kida’s back, she forms a shield,
And soon the lava has congealed.
The crystal, which can give and take,
Lets Kida go for Milo’s sake.
 
Though most died in this enterprise,
We still have all the named good guys.
While Milo stays, his friends return,
Concealing what their group did learn.
The crystal on which life relies
Now floats above Atlantis’ skies.
­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­_____________________
 

Atlantis: The Lost Empire is an outlier among Disney movies. It has no princesses, no musical numbers, and no cute and funny animal sidekicks. Mole doesn’t count. It also has a different kind of animation, more angular and intentionally reminiscent of old pulp magazine tales. While there’s much humor throughout, Atlantis is more mature than most Disney films, with hundreds of people dying, albeit off-screen. This large number of redshirts makes it almost funny that only the good characters with names end up living.

The characters are actually what attracted the most criticism when Atlantis was released. The film is like Indiana Jones crossed with a caper film, and the latter’s habit of collecting a team of uniquely skilled individuals for the mission is well utilized. While I personally like all the characters, it’s true that most of their backstories, if any, are glossed over so quickly that any development is relegated to humorous character moments, like Cookie’s grease-based cooking or Dr. Sweet’s chiropractic assistance for Milo’s neck. The voice acting, though, is spot-on, with Michael J. Fox as Milo, James Garner as Rourke, Don Novello (“Fr. Guido Sarducci”) as Vinny, Phil Morris as Sweet (Disney’s first animated African American character), and Corey Burton as Mole being the stand-outs.

Watching it again, I was reminded of other films, particularly Prometheus. The scene in which Milo gives a presentation about their mission’s goal to the unimpressed crew, which was commissioned by an eccentric millionaire, is suspiciously similar to the same scene in the much later Ridley Scott film. As for the action scenes, they are extremely well-done, if implausible at times, and critic Roger Ebert wrote that the finale “stands by itself as one of the great animated action sequences.”

The main issue for me is the whole “explanation” for Atlantis itself. The advanced power source Milo seeks turns out to be a sentient New Age-y crystal thing that protected Atlantis against the flood, which its misuse supposedly caused. Using this New Age crystal as the film’s MacGuffin is just not as successful as, say, the Biblical ones of the first and third Indiana Jones movies.

There are many unanswered questions. Where did it come from? If it’s sentient, why would it allow itself to be misused so terribly? Why did it give Kida back but not her mother? On top of these questions, there are others. The crystal was under Atlantis, which was underground, so what provided daylight? Even if Atlantean was the root of every language, how could they speak perfect English, having not been exposed to its modern development? If Atlantis sank 10,000 years ago, how did Plato know about it?

Despite these problems, Atlantis: The Lost Empire was an entertaining new direction for Disney that sadly didn’t deliver as executives had hoped. It remains a cult classic and a worthy addition to my list.

Best line: (Packard, over the intercom, like something from MASH) “Attention: Tonight’s supper will be baked beans. Musical program to follow.”

 
Artistry: 5
Characters/Actors: 7
Entertainment: 8
Visual Effects: 8
Originality: 6
Watchability: 8
Other (New Age themes) -8
 
TOTAL: 34 out of 60
 

Next: #269 – The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

© 2014 S. G. Liput

 

The Rocketeer (1991)

10 Thursday Apr 2014

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The year is 1938.
An L.A. airfield sees
The handsome pilot Cliff Secord
Take off into the breeze.
 
But down below two thieving thugs
Are fleeing from the feds.
They try protecting what they stole
As lead flies round their heads.
 
When Cliff’s new plane is shot and wrecked,
The feds simply maintain
The gear was trashed, but rather it was
Hidden in a plane.
 
Then Cliff and his pal Peevy learn
What every viewer knows:
They find that it’s a jet pack, which
Might solve their money woes.
 
An air show headed for a crash
Prompts Cliff to join the fray
By strapping on the rocket pack
To bravely save the day.
 
But Neville Sinclair, an acting star,
Desires that rocket pack
And tells his gangster henchmen to
Directly bring it back.
 
Unsure that they can do it,
Sinclair calls one of his staff
Named Lothar, who is very skilled
At folding men in half.
 
But Sinclair learns Cliff has the pack,
And, skilled at being fake,
He starts to woo Cliff’s girlfriend,
The most lovely Jenny Blake.
 
The FBI and Lothar start
To close in on the pair,
Who flee with their new rocket pack,
Which Peevy can repair.
 
While Cliff enjoys the jet pack,
Being dubbed the Rocketeer,
His friend insists the risks demand
They get it out of here.
 
Confronted by the mobster gang,
Cliff’s friends defend their chum.
He flies off with a bullet hole
Patched up with chewing gum.
 
He reaches Jenny, on a date
With ever suave Sinclair,
And warns her to escape posthaste
Before the mob gets there.
 
Cliff’s almost trapped but breaks away,
Yet Jenny’s caught nearby.
When she awakes, she’s shocked to learn
Sinclair’s a Nazi spy.
 
The feds take Cliff to Howard Hughes,
Who built the rocket pack,
But Cliff says he must save his girl
Before he gives it back.
 
The planned exchange, the girl for it,
Becomes an odd affair.
The gangsters dislike Nazi spies
And turn against Sinclair.
 
A shootout ends up with Sinclair
And Lothar in a blimp,
With Jenny as their captive still,
But Cliff Secord’s no wimp.
 
He flies aboard yet gives Sinclair
The rocket for his dame.
When Cliff takes off the chewing gum,
Sinclair bursts into flame.
 
The airship quickly burns away,
Erasing Sinclair’s crime,
But Hughes and Peevy hover in
To save them just in time.
 
Since Cliff and Jenny are both safe,
Hughes gives a new plane back,
And Peevy plans perhaps to build
Another rocket pack.
____________________
 

The Rocketeer is unique among superhero movies because it is also a period piece, complete with vintage art and antique cars and planes. Indeed, the only similarly retro superhero film I know of is the much more recent Captain America: The First Avenger, which coincidentally enough shares the same director, Joe Johnston. Basing the characters and several scenes off of The Rocketeer comic book, Johnston (who must like rockets, having also directed October Sky) managed to weave together the nostalgia of the 1930s with some interesting action scenes and a surprisingly complex plotline. The motives of Neville Sinclair, played by the ever sophisticated Timothy Dalton, are not immediately evident, and the final reveal does come somewhat as a surprise. The final showdown with the awesome destruction of the dirigible is the best set piece of them all, and the last action scene is truly breathtaking.

The acting is serviceable at best. While Billy Campbell as Cliff Secord, Jennifer Connolly as Jenny Blake, and Alan Arkin as Peevy do a decent job, the characters themselves are rather forgettable and don’t really measure up to those in Marvel’s films. That being said, (Lost alert!) I loved seeing Terry O’Quinn as Howard Hughes, having seen him as John Locke in all six seasons of Lost. Typical of comic book films, Dalton as the villain is the most memorable of the cast.

As with some other recent movies on my list, the pacing is a tad slow. Heck, Cliff doesn’t actually take off with the jet pack until 41 minutes into the film! The sheer number of characters also makes the plot hard to follow at times. I nevertheless applaud Disney for not filling the movie with unnecessary language or violence; their absence made it much more enjoyable to watch. While it certainly isn’t among the very best superhero movies, The Rocketeer has enough action, humorous moments and lines, and singular nostalgia for the old pulp serials of yesteryear to deserve a place on my list.

Best line: (Cliff, putting on his rather silly-looking helmet) “How do I look?” (Peevy) “Like a hood ornament.”

 
Artistry: 6
Characters/Actors: 4
Entertainment: 7
Visual Effects: 7
Originality: 7
Watchability: 7
Other (pacing): -4
 
TOTAL: 34 out of 60
 

Next: #270: Atlantis: The Lost Empire

© 2014 S. G. Liput