Tag Archives: Drama

Brother Bear (2003)

10 Friday Oct 2014

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(Best sung to Phil Collins’s “On My Way”)
 
When Kenai’s totem is named as love,
The thing that will make him a man.
He thinks that the spirits who shine above
Are messing up his life’s future plan.
 
One small mistake gets his brother killed,
And he’s quick to blame a hostile bear.
His thirsting for vengeance is soon fulfilled,
And the spirits lift him in the air.
 
He is given a chance to discover anew
The life that he took through its eyes.
As a bear now, Kenai must
Team with a cub,
Who is vocal for his size.
 
As they are headed for the spirits’ mount,
His other brother hunts the pair.
As they journey, he and Koda make the miles count,
And they bond on the trip that they share.
 
Kenai’s soon shocked to learn the bear he slew
Was Koda’s missing mother, long gone.
Though the heartache they’re both feeling splits them up,
They need each other;
They’re now brothers worth relying on.
 
Upon the mountain, his human bro
Attacks to have revenge as well.
As Kenai is nearing a mortal blow,
The spirits abolish their spell.
 
They reunite as the changes fade,
Assisted by their brother above.
Kenai stays as a bear yet a man is made,
Through the totem that he’s now proud of,
A brother’s love.
______________
 

Whereas my opinions of WALL-E agreed with the critical consensus, Brother Bear performed poorly among critics and audiences, but I consider it one of Disney’s most underrated successes. From the mountainous vistas in a painterly art style to “all that cuddly bear stuff” which is both heckled and embraced, Brother Bear is a beautiful film that stands as Disney’s last great use of traditional animation.

Phil Collins may have declined in popularity since then, but his music for Brother Bear added so much to an already great film. As with Tarzan, his songs play over various montages, such as the opening scenes of brotherhood with Tina Turner singing the lovely and catchy “Great Spirits.” “On My Way” during the cross-country journey and “Welcome” during the salmon run are also unsung masterpieces, so to speak.

The pagan spirituality is taken more seriously than, say, the comedic ghostly ancestors of Mulan, but unlike the New Age crystals of Atlantis: The Lost Empire, the spirits of Brother Bear have some cultural basis in real Native American tradition. I found their incorporation in the story to be a respectful nod to a unique people, as Disney had previously done with Lilo and Stitch.

The animation is among Disney’s best, and I love the character designs, particularly Kenai’s bear form, which matches Joaquin Phoenix’s voice better than his human form. Young Jeremy Suarez as Koda has the same garrulous, road-tripping insistence as Shrek’s Donkey while embodying all that is cute about a teddy bear. As for comic relief, Disney couldn’t have done better for this Arctic film than Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas as a moose version of their McKenzie Brothers comedy act (gotta love their game of “I Spy”).

In addition to the animation, comedy, and music, Brother Bear packs a powerful emotional punch that left me crying in the theater the first time I saw it. The entire message of the film is to see life from a different perspective, through another’s eyes, literally. Kenai misses this point throughout most of the film, only caring about his own loss, but when he realizes the far-reaching consequences of his actions, the sorrow is palpable, punctuated by Collins’s song “No Way Out.” While this tune is utterly depressing, sitting through the end credits is rewarded with an uplifting rewording of the song, which deserves a place in my End Credits Song Hall of Fame, along with the single “Look Through My Eyes.”

In addition to the much worse Home on the Range the next year, it’s a shame that Brother Bear’s poor reception spelled the end of Disney’s traditionally animated excellence. It’s exciting, moving, amusing, and able to bring my VC to tears every time. It’s an underprized gem about the value of love and brotherhood which deserved much better, eh.

Best line: (Koda, drowsily, when Kenai is waking him up) “Two more months, Mom….”

 
Artistry: 8
Characters/Actors: 8
Entertainment: 9
Visual Effects: 10
Originality: 7
Watchability: 10
 
TOTAL: 52 out of 60
 

Next: #102 – On Golden Pond

© 2014 S. G. Liput

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The Green Mile (1999)

07 Tuesday Oct 2014

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Paul Edgecomb was somehow scarred,
For he was once a prison guard
Upon the “mile” painted green.
The death row cells it ran between
Held prisoners awaiting there
The just and fair electric chair.
 
Upon this mile, he and his guys
Secured those sensing their demise:
An Indian with life’s regret,
A Cajun with a rodent pet,
And big John Coffey, dense but tame,
Who barely knows to spell his name.
 
One guard named Percy savored grief
And mocked the prisoners’ belief.
At every chance, with clear disdain,
He’d add unneeded extra pain,
But he was swiftly terrified
When “Wild Bill” disturbed his pride.
 
Though Billy’s antics were insane,
John Coffey proved much less profane.
He somehow healed a pain-filled Paul,
As well as Mr. Jingles small.
Both man and mouse were touched by John,
And their afflictions soon were gone.
 
Since Paul was freed of his torment,
He thought John might be innocent.
Although John seemed harmless throughout,
Nobody else held any doubt:
He killed two girls, or so they said.
He would be punished for the dead.
 
Paul’s friend and boss Hal wished that life
Would spare his cancer-stricken wife.
Paul’s guards agreed to transport John
To heal the tumor ere the dawn.
He did so and employed her trial
To punish sinners on the mile.
 
Paul saw that John was doing time
For Wild Bill’s appalling crime,
And though he wished to let John go,
He could not free him from death row.
Once John was dead with many tears,
Paul lived well past one hundred years.
Both he and Mr. Jingles wait
Upon the mile that is their fate.
_____________
 

Steven King’s preoccupation with horror and violence unfortunately detracts (for me) from most of his work, but in certain cases his talent for drama supersedes these aspects to create a truly memorable story. Misery and The Shawshank Redemption are such stories, and so is The Green Mile. As with Shawshank, The Green Mile deals with a prison of the past, but though there are fleeting glimpses of work details nearby, it depicts the even more somber area known as death row, or the Last Mile.

The main guards are uniformly either admirable or despicable, but all are well-cast. Tom Hanks as Paul Edgecomb yields a Gump-ish Southern drawl and even gets a brief reunion with Lieutenant Dan…I mean, Gary Sinise. David Morse, Jeffrey DeMunn, and Barry Pepper play Paul’s sensitive and respectful good ol’ boys, while (Lost alert!) Doug Hutchison convincingly portrays sadistic Percy Wetmore, who disregards life and hates mice, people, and not getting his way. Michael Clarke Duncan’s Oscar-nominated performance as John Coffey is the stand-out, that of an innocent soul too simple to defend itself and too oppressed by the world’s ill will to desire a protraction of this life. While his origins are ambiguous, scenes like the “flicker show,” in which the projector forms a halo around his head, confirm his innate goodness and miraculous legacy. The other prisoners are likewise skilled actors: Dancing with Wolves’s Graham Greene as the remorseful Arlen Bitterbuck, Michael Jeter as mouse-trainer Eduard Delacroix, and a frightening Sam Rockwell as the perverse Wild Bill Wharton. (Rockwell’s comedic role in Galaxy Quest that same year attests to his versatility as an actor.) Bonnie Hunt, Patricia Clarkson, and James Cromwell round out the surprisingly large cast.

Despite all the characters, the film’s plot progresses methodically, developing most characters gradually, such as the scope of Coffey’s mysterious powers and the extent of Percy’s and Wild Bill’s malice. Each subplot, with both drama and comic relief, is woven beautifully into the overall narrative: Paul’s urinary tract infection, Percy’s desire to work at a mental hospital, Hal’s dying wife, Coffey’s wrongful conviction, etc. Most of the credit goes to King, but director Frank Darabont, who also adapted Shawshank, deftly handles the various story threads with visual mastery. Aside from readers of the book, the viewer doesn’t know what will happen next, making scenes like the comeuppance of the two villains both shocking and brilliant.

With all this praise, The Green Mile could have made it into my top 100 if not for its many detractions. Profanity is plentiful, as is violence. Del’s botched execution scene in particular is as disturbing as the C-section in Prometheus and continues for far too long just to sicken the audience, as well as the characters. The family of his victim wanted him to suffer, but I doubt they intended for such an atrocity. Pair these issues with a preoccupation with urinating and an overall depressing atmosphere, and the film falls short of something truly uplifting.

Yet, while critics can nitpick and delve into the themes and details for social and spiritual meaning, the film works on the surface as a proficient supernatural tragedy. The death of gifted innocence is always sad, and The Green Mile achieves a poignancy that most films only dream of.

Best line: (John Coffey, speaking for all decent people nowadays) “Mostly I’m tired of people being ugly to each other. I’m tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world every day. There’s too much of it.”

 
Artistry: 10
Characters/Actors: 10
Entertainment: 7
Visual Effects: 9
Originality: 9
Watchability: 8
Other (language, violence): -2
 
TOTAL: 51 out of 60
 

Next: #104 – WALL-E

© 2014 S. G. Liput

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Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

06 Monday Oct 2014

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As patriotism is reaching a high at the time of the Second World War,
Steve Rogers is eager to join with a corps,
Since freedom and goodness are worth fighting for,
But since he is sick, he is not their first pick
And simply could not get his foot in the door.
 
One Abraham Erskine, a German defector whose serum can better a man,
Gives Rogers a chance at the Army’s new plan:
This serum could take down the whole Nazi clan.
Although Steve is weak, he’s courageous and meek,
And Erskine picks him to do what few men can.
 
Assisted by Howard Stark, Erskine transforms the weakling he’d luckily found
To quite the he-man, unimpaired, muscle-bound.
They praise his success until Erskine is downed;
The serum’s destroyed by an agent employed
By the evil Red Skull, who is now gaining ground.
 
The Red Skull, who once used the serum himself, has found the arcane Tesseract.
He’s planning to harness its power intact
And conquer the globe and the Third Reich, in fact.
Meanwhile, Steve’s stuck selling war bonds with luck
But hopes to make more of a worthy impact.
 
He hears his pal Bucky was captured by HYDRA and sadly is most likely dead.
Both Stark and the fair Agent Carter are led
To get Steve past enemy lines with no dread.
He frees prisoners and his friend is no worse
So Steve’s private team gets the glad go-ahead.
 
Brave Captain America, Bucky, and team attack the Skull’s depots and bases,
But when they catch one of the Skull’s science aces,
Arnim Zola, poor Bucky falls with no traces.
Then Cap’s purposeful to take down the Red Skull
And rid the world of his most dreadful of faces.
 
Assaulting his headquarters, Cap follows closely aboard an explosive-filled plane.
The Skull is dissolved by the Tesseract’s strain,
But Cap sees his efforts to land are in vain.
Despite the steep price, Rogers crashes in ice…
And wakes up years later where S.H.I.E.L.D. must explain.
__________________
 

Yes, I consider Captain America: The First Avenger the best pre-Avengers Marvel film, as does my dad. Director Joe Johnston had already attempted a retro superhero flick in 1991’s The Rocketeer, and his treatment of Cap’s origins feels both familiar and fresh. The cinematography and the recreation of 1940s New York have the faded nostalgia of an old photograph, and the spectacular explosions and stunts set against this background (plus an Alan Menken musical number) make it uniquely entertaining.

Plus, the film boasts the unexpected star power of Chris Evans, whose gung-ho patriotism and intrinsic goodness are surprisingly convincing following his bad-boy impudence as the Human Torch in the lackluster Fantastic Four films. His goody two-shoes persona could easily have been boring, yet another hero we ought to cheer for just because, but the ways in which his character displays his selflessness gain the audience’s sympathy even before the famed experiment that transforms him into a beefcake. The effects used to diminish Evans’s physique are impressively seamless. Supporting players are alternately amusing and poignant, including Stanley Tucci as the Yinsen-esque motivator Dr. Erskine, Tommy Lee Jones as swift-tongued Colonel Phillips, Hayley Atwell as love interest Peggy Carter (who will soon have her own mini-series appropriately titled Agent Carter), Dominic Cooper as Iron Man’s father Howard Stark, Toby Jones as HYDRA scientist Dr. Zola, and Sebastian Stan as fallen friend Bucky Barnes. As far as comic book villains go, Hugo Weaving excels as the Red Skull, whose makeup could easily have become absurdly cartoonish but succeeds as an outward manifestation of his sanguinary intentions. The Matrix proved Weaving’s talent for villainy, but here his German accent and Nazi origins enhance his malevolence. The film also features an assassin played by Richard Armitage, who would go on to play Thorin Oakenshield in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy.

In addition to Barnes’s sorrowful fall from the train, the thrilling climax aboard the Red Skull’s plane is deftly imagined. The villain’s “death” from the Tesseract is sufficiently ambiguous to make one wonder if he was really killed or perhaps transported elsewhere (you never know), and the film ends with one of the most credible instances of the he’s-dead-no-wait-never-mind cliché. I’ve mentioned this cliché before: used in countless films, many animated, it milks often contrived pathos from a character’s apparent death before resurrecting him, sometimes right away for a cheer, sometimes near the end as a deus ex machina. This doesn’t necessarily hurt a film overall; it just hampers its originality. The reason Captain America’s version of it works so heartbreakingly well is that, from the perspective of everyone he knew, Cap really did die, just as most of them had died by the time he was awoken. The final scene brings him up to speed with S.H.I.E.L.D. and the contemporary Avengers, but his sense of loss provides a somber conclusion to an otherwise rousing adventure. As the last film in Phase One of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe, Captain America: The First Avenger completed the cast for the subsequent Avengers team-up (even though Cap was not a founding member in the comics; just sayin’).

Best line: (Colonel Phillips, after Cap kisses Agent Carter and glances at him) “I’m not kissin’ ya!”

 
Artistry: 8
Characters/Actors: 8
Entertainment: 9
Visual Effects: 10
Originality: 7
Watchability: 9
 
TOTAL: 51 out of 60
 

Next: #106 – Air Force One

© 2014 S. G. Liput

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#110: To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)

01 Wednesday Oct 2014

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When Scout was only six years old,
The Great Depression on the rise,
Her brother Jem and she were told
The mad Boo Radley lived next door.
Their father Atticus so wise
Forbade it, but they’d still explore.
 
A lawyer, Atticus was sent
To represent a colored man
Accused of rape but innocent.
Bob Ewell, father of the victim,
Hated them and soon began
To stalk the man who’d contradict him.
 
Scout and Jem and their friend Dill
Stuck up for Atticus one night.
Despite the backlash, Finch would still
Defend despised Tom Robinson.
In court, he put up quite the fight
But could not convince everyone.
 
Although he could not save poor Tom,
Finch nonetheless gained much respect,
But Ewell still could not stay calm
And tried assaulting Scout and Jem.
Then someone turned up to protect,
Dispatching Ewell and saving them.
 
Their rescuer turned out to be
The “maniac” they knew as Boo,
And for his gracious gallantry,
Both Sheriff Tate and Finch concurred
That they would hide Radley from view,
To spare him, like a mockingbird.
_________________
 

Among all the sci-fi blockbusters and upbeat comedies on my list, To Kill a Mockingbird is a thoughtful step back into the past, to a time when schoolyard arguments and slamming screen doors were a child’s main worries.  As readers can probably gather from my list choices thus far, I’m not much for old black-and-white movies, usually because they are overacted, boring, or both.  Yet certain films exude classic-ness and create stories and characters that truly deserve all the accolades they received.  Based on Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird is such a film.

Gregory Peck won his lone Oscar for his captivating turn as Atticus Finch, whose gentle guidance for his children and dauntless stand for justice earned him the number one slot on AFI’s best Heroes list.  It’s a quietly persuasive performance, and his stirring soliloquy at the end of the trial is an effective discourse urging the jury to buck expectations as he did, not for the sake of rebellion or sanctimony but for what is clearly right.  My VC considers Peck the film’s greatest strength, whereas his children are its weakness.  Mary Badham and Philip Alford (“the boy” in Shenandoah) as Scout and Jem are cute and believable as a pair of inquisitive youngsters, but as admirable a father as Atticus is, he hasn’t imparted to them the importance of obedience.  He tells them not to bother the Radleys, not to stay with him at the prison, not to fight at school, not to attend the trial, all rules they flout. Call it realistic juvenility, but their constant sneaking around in the first half wears on one’s patience. That being said, the children’s scenes include both warmhearted nostalgia and surprising tension that mostly make up for their mild misbehavior. Other actors are in fine form, including James K. Anderson as the menacing Bob Ewell, an Oscar-worthy Brock Peters as the defamed Tom Robinson, and a silent Robert Duvall in his first film role as Arthur “Boo” Radley.

One point on which I want to expand is the similarity and superiority of To Kill a Mockingbird’s denouement with that of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight.  (Spoiler alert)  In the second film of Nolan’s Batman trilogy, DA Harvey Dent went mad as Two-Face, murdered multiple victims, and was finally brought down.  Yet Batman and Police Commissioner Gordon believed that his prior image of resolute justice was more important than the truth, and they lied, turning Dent into a martyr and Batman into a criminal.  This strange decision of what they thought was right irked me, but the similar decision about Boo Radley made clear to me the reason why.  Whereas Dent slaughtered people who supposedly deserved it (according to the flip of a coin) in cold blood, Boo killed one man who had proved himself a liar and a likely child beater and who was in the act of attacking two innocents. The decision to cover-up Boo’s crime was likewise made by the hero and the head of police, who did so not because the town couldn’t handle it but to protect a sincere guard from the wrath of good-ol’-boys who surely would not understand.  The choice made by Batman and Gordon seemed arbitrary, covering up unjustifiable actions of a dead man for the sake of a sterling reputation that had been undermined.  They didn’t know what would happen if the truth had simply been broadcast; it certainly would have been better coming from them than from a demagogue like Bane in The Dark Knight Rises.  On the other hand, Atticus’ decision is more defensible because he knew from immediate experience how townspeople would react to the murder of one of their own, and he agreed to the deception to save the life and peace of a man who had rescued his children. I cannot see myself agreeing to Batman’s dishonesty; Atticus Finch’s I can.

To Kill a Mockingbird is undeniably classic, and I personally consider it a better film and more deserving of the Best Picture Academy Award than that year’s Lawrence of Arabia, despite the latter’s epic portrayal of a real-life character, which is typical Oscar fodder.  My VC summed up the film’s message as the clichéd “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” or a recluse by rumors, or an accused Negro by societal convention.  Though its titular comparison doesn’t precisely fit Boo’s situation, Mockingbird’s sentimental depiction of down-to-earth fatherhood and judicial defense of what’s right continue to make it a must-see drama.

Best line: (Reverend Sykes to Scout, after witnessing Finch’s fruitless but laudable efforts in court) “Miss Jean Louise.  Miss Jean Louise, stand up.  Your father’s passin’.”

 
Artistry: 10
Characters/Actors: 10
Entertainment: 7
Visual Effects: N/A
Originality: 9
Watchability: 6
Other (admirable depiction of fatherhood and what’s right): +9
 
TOTAL: 51 out of 60
 

Next: #109 – The Iron Man Trilogy

© 2014 S. G. Liput

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The Untouchables (1987)

28 Sunday Sep 2014

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When Prohibition was the law
And Al Capone Chicago’s king,
The liquor and the violence raw
Pervaded nearly everything.
 
When Treasury agent Eliot Ness
Arrives to bring Al’s business down,
He fails to make the least progress,
For rackets fill this crooked town.
 
Considering his efforts vain,
He meets a cop out on the beat.
This James Malone converses plain,
And Ness refuses to retreat.
 
Soon after, Ness recruits Malone,
Accountant Oscar Wallace, and
Italian novice cop George Stone,
Who plan to make a daring stand.
 
The four complete a couple raids,
Impounding booze and shooting skulls.
Capone enlists his lethal aides
To slaughter these “Untouchables.”
 
Ness hopes to put Capone away
For hidden income tax evasion,
But leads and Ness’s men fall prey
To Al’s nefarious persuasion.
 
When Ness and Stone succeed at last
In capturing Capone’s bookkeeper,
He testifies of misdeeds past,
But Ness perceives that bribes run deeper.
 
Despite the deck he stacked so well,
Capone is sentenced, thanks to Ness.
Although some valiant lawmen fell,
The justice-minded found success.
___________________
 

The Untouchables isn’t the kind of movie I would expect to enjoy:  it has plenty of foul language and some shockingly violent scenes, which isn’t surprising considering director Brian De Palma’s prior films like Carrie and Scarface. I’m not exactly fond of the gangster genre either, as evidenced by my placement of The Godfather at #300 on my list, due to the acting and production quality rather than the story. Yet, The Untouchables matches its impeccable period sets and costumes and doesn’t just focus on the gangsters but on the coppers too. Whereas acclaimed films like The Godfather and Goodfellas are all about crime bosses’ violent actions leading to their downfall, The Untouchables features the justice-seeking lawmen in addition to the violent criminals. To me, the latter without the former tends to be depressing and excessive, regardless of the artistry with which it is done.

Kevin Costner found a great role in Eliot Ness, displaying both a kind, family sensitivity and a fierce dedication to justice. Sean Connery won his lone Oscar playing shrewd policeman Jimmy Malone, and his final scene with Costner is genuinely moving.  (The two would reunite briefly in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves four years later.) Charles Martin Smith as Wallace and Andy Garcia as Stone round out the quartet of Untouchables, and Robert De Niro owns the slimy arrogance of Al Capone, having already played a young Vito Corleone thirteen years prior.

On an artistic level, the drawn-out arrest scene overuses slow motion, but De Palma’s penchant for long shots is expertly enacted in the invasion of Malone’s home, creating palpable tension, intensified by Ennio Morricone’s Grammy-winning score. The infamous baseball bat scene may be heinous, but it attests to the kind of man running Chicago during Prohibition and why he had to be brought down by any means necessary. It’s based on a true event, though the film frequently departs from the actual accounts of Ness’s success, such as the fact that none of his men were actually killed. Ness’s revenge on Capone’s henchman is both unnecessarily brutal and sickly gratifying, but Capone’s comeuppance is the moment of triumph that The Godfather sorely lacks: good triumphing over evil. The Fugitive is often singled out as a surprisingly exceptional film based on a ‘60s TV series; let’s not forget that The Untouchables achieved that excellence first.

Best line: (Malone) “You wanna know how to get Capone? They pull a knife, you pull a gun. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to the morgue. That’s the Chicago way! And that’s how you get Capone.”

 
Artistry: 10
Characters/Actors: 10
Entertainment: 9
Visual Effects: 7
Originality: 8
Watchability: 8
Other (violence, language): -2
 
TOTAL: 50 out of 60
 

Next: #112 – Ghostbusters II

© 2014 S. G. Liput

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The Right Stuff (1983)

26 Friday Sep 2014

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Test pilots were the fastest men alive,
And Chuck Yeager was famous as the best.
But soon man found a new frontier—to strive
Toward space, and certain valiant men impressed.
Shepard, Grissom, Slayton, Cooper, Glenn,
Carpenter, Schirra—these were their names.
America was smitten with these men,
Who dared for fame which could well end in flames.
When countless tests had readied them for flight,
They blasted skyward. Shepard was the first;
The next was Grissom and his slip and slight;
And then Glenn and the orbits he traversed.
These seven proved ideas are not enough;
Achieving dreams requires the right stuff.
_______________
 

I believe The Right Stuff should have won Best Picture for 1983 (over Terms of Endearment, a VC favorite). No other film that year and few films since have provided such a sweeping, mostly accurate, and entertaining view of turning points in history. It also boasts an ensemble of ‘80s heavyweights, including Dennis Quaid as Gordon Cooper, Ed Harris as John Glenn, Scott Glenn as Alan Shepard, Fred Ward as Gus Grissom, and Sam Shepard as Chuck Yeager, plus smaller roles for Barbara Hershey, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Shearer, and Jeff Goldblum (who also appeared in The Big Chill that year).

As I stated in my Apollo 13 review, my grandfather was directly involved with the space program and was present for many of the sometimes humorously unsuccessful rocket tests shown in a montage halfway through. Though the film doesn’t celebrate the men behind the scenes, as Apollo 13 did, it pays homage not only to the seven initial astronauts who braved the unknowns of the Mercury program but also the test pilots who paved the way by risking their lives to break down barriers, as Yeager did on October 14, 1947, when he hit Mach 1.

Yet The Right Stuff isn’t just an affectionate tribute to the early space program. It also testifies to the fortitude of pilots’ long-suffering wives; to the camaraderie of men daring to face a challenge together; to the ridiculous chutzpah of the media and how they whitewashed anything unsavory or unfavorable; to the wonders and thrills that drive men to risk life and limb, push envelopes, and go where no one has gone before (yes, I like Star Trek).

Beyond that, it’s also great fun to watch, particularly the rigorous testing the would-be astronauts endured. The beginning with Yeager is a tad slow and Levon Helm’s drawling narration a bit discordant, but once Shearer and Goldblum’s bumbling recruiters step in, the over-three-hour film passes quickly. A few scenes were unnecessary, such as the fan dance toward the end, and an unscientific and rather silly “explanation” for the fireflies John Glenn witnessed, but overall the film rarely misses a beat. Each game-changing event is given ample attention, with both humor and grief involved, such that one feels uniquely educated by the film’s end. The Oscar-winning score by Rocky’s Bill Conti matches the subject matter beautifully, aided by Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” and Holst’s The Planets. Though lesser-known players, such as Lance Henriksen’s Wally Schirra, are not given much screen time, The Right Stuff recreates the original real-life “star voyagers” who captured America’s collective imagination and prepared the way for future leaps for mankind.

Best line: (Jack Ridley, after Gus Grissom’s perceived fault with the second Mercury splashdown) “Nothing these guys do is gonna be called a failure… But you’d think the public’d know that they’re just doing what monkeys have done….”   (Yeager) “Monkeys? You think a monkey knows he’s sittin’ on top of a rocket that might explode? These astronaut boys, they know that, see? Well, I’ll tell you something, it takes a special kind of man to volunteer for a suicide mission, especially one that’s on TV. Ol’ Gus, he did all right.”

 
Artistry: 9
Characters/Actors: 9
Entertainment: 9
Visual Effects: 7
Originality: 9
Watchability: 8
Other (language): -1
 
TOTAL: 50 out of 60
 

Next: #113 – The Untouchables

© 2014 S. G. Liput

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The Hunger Games (2012) and Catching Fire (2013)

23 Tuesday Sep 2014

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(Major spoilers ahead)
 
The land of Panem has twelve districts or so,
Who all rose up seventy-four years ago.
The Capitol beat them and since has drawn names
Of two teens from each district to fight Hunger Games,
A televised, glamorized duel to the death,
Which only ends once a lone victor draws breath.
 
In poor District 12, Katniss Everdeen wants
To help sister Primrose and mom, so she hunts.
She goes with young Prim and her handsome friend Gale
To the annual Reaping, where all their hopes fail.
The vain Effie Trinket draws Prim, who had fears,
But Katniss steps forward, and she volunteers.
 
Once Peeta Mellark, the town baker’s son,
Is picked as the male and goodbyes are all done,
They leave on a train that is meant for the rich
And meet the lone victor from 12 named Haymitch.
He may be a drunk, but he gives them advice:
To earn sponsors, they have to act friendly and nice.
 
Like Effie, the Capitol’s full of vain posers,
Multi-hued, glossily shallow brownnosers.
Their stylist Cinna can’t help but admire
Brave Katniss. His clothing designs can catch fire;
This earns welcome praise as both tributes hold hands,
Making 12 the new favorite for those in the stands.
 
As Peeta and Katniss are lavished with pleasures,
They’re rather uncomfortable with all these treasures.
In training, they both earn some slight recognition
From twenty-two others, who’ll be competition.
While Peeta can paint camouflage and is strong,
It’s Katniss the archer who shines all along.
 
In televised interviews, Peeta admits
That he’s loved Katniss secretly, giving her fits,
But this makes them popular, letting folks delve
Into tales of the two star-crossed lovers from 12.
Though scared when the day of the contest arrives,
Both Katniss and Peeta will fight for their lives.
 
A forest environment is their terrain,
And both avoid being the first of the slain.
While Katniss runs off to try hiding from view,
Her counterpart Peeta joins with 1 and 2,
Who’ve teamed up to hunt down the weak that remain
Before they start fighting each other again.
 
The gamemaker Seneca Crane uses flame
To drive Katniss back to the heart of the game.
When cornered by tributes, she takes out a foe
By dropping a wasp nest on those down below.
Assisted by District 11’s young Rue,
She blows up the enemies’ food supply too.
 
When Rue meets her death and her friend is grieved by it,
The men in 11 start causing a riot.
To give people hope, Crane adjusts what has been
So that Katniss and Peeta can both perhaps win.
She finds him and helps save his life and, what’s more,
Confesses her love, just as he had before.
 
Attacked by Crane’s beasts, they seek refuge until
They’re assaulted by one last opponent to kill.
When they are alone and they think that they’ve won,
They’re told that the earlier change is undone.
With poisonous berries, they bluff suicide,
But needing a victor, Crane’s fit to be tied.
 
Crane lets them both win, a choice sure to cause strife,
And for this decision, he pays with his life.
Both Katniss and Peeta, relieved from the threat,
Return to 12, maybe to try and forget.
But threats exist outside the Hunger Games, though,
And they have displeased mighty President Snow.
_______________________
 
Though Katniss and Peeta have safely returned
To bleak District 12 with the prize that they’ve earned,
Though they now have comfort they never have known,
Poor Katniss feels guilt with no way to atone.
 
They now have to go on a victory tour
To give people hope, which is misery’s cure,
But President Snow knows that Peeta and she
Were faking their love for the districts to see.
 
He says that they’d better convince with their act
And make folks believe, to keep Panem intact.
He shows her a picture to say, if they fail,
He’ll punish their loved ones, including friend Gale.
 
Yet, by the people, they are not endorsed;
They’re not in the mood for a love that seems forced.
They want to rebel, just as Katniss had done
When she used the berries to spoil Snow’s fun.
 
They mingle and mix at a Capitol ball,
And how people live cannot help but appall.
There Katniss runs into Plutarch Heavensbee,
The newest gamemaker who took the job free.
 
When Katniss suggests she and Peeta be wed
To keep people happy, though strife is widespread,
This Plutarch tells Snow that they ought to crack down
To make people hate her in her wedding gown.
 
Snow’s soldiers attack on a much larger scale,
And Katniss steps in when they start whipping Gale.
This open defiance leads Snow to desire
The victors destroyed to extinguish the fire.
 
The seventy-fifth Hunger Games will excel
At granting his wish; it’s a rare Quarter Quell,
And Snow soon announces that tributes will come
From the group of contestants who’ve already won.
 
Since Katniss is 12’s only female to win,
It’s Peeta or Haymitch who’ll also be in.
When Haymitch is picked, Peeta does volunteer
To fight beside Katniss just like the last year.
 
They meet prior victors, like Finnick Odair,
Who’s friendly but cocky and acts debonair,
And Beetee and Wiress, who let science fight,
And 7’s Johanna, who’s forward all right.
 
They train as before, but the tributes are sore
For having to fight for survival once more.
They try to subvert the support for the games
But are not successful at thwarting Snow’s aims.
 
For using his fashions to rouse and incite,
Her stylist Cinna is dragged from her sight.
The Games then begin, as the tributes all rise
And figure out who are their chosen allies.
 
They fight on a lake and then everyone hides
In the jungle that stretches away on all sides.
Both Katniss and Peeta join Finnick of 4
And run into force fields and dangers galore.
 
First near-deadly shocks and then poisonous mist
And then killer monkeys, and all they resist.
They flee to the center and find, through a yell,
Johanna and Wiress and Beetee as well.
 
They realize this place is set up like a clock,
With dangers in sections and force fields that block.
Soon Wiress is killed, and the whole clock is spun
To mess up their plan and confuse everyone.
 
Still, Beetee decides they must go to a tree,
Where huge lightning bolts strike regularly.
From there they can shock all the foes that remain,
And what follows that is not made very plain.
 
The group is ambushed as they try Beetee’s route;
Johanna cuts Katniss’s tracker right out.
She’s cut off from Peeta and goes to the tree
To find Beetee hurt to an unknown degree.
 
Confused at what’s happening, Katniss is given
A chance to shoot Finnick; instead, she is driven
To shoot up an arrow connected to wire,
Which shocks the arena and causes a fire.
 
The whole dome shuts down, leaving Snow quite aghast,
And Heavensbee’s gone, having gotten out fast.
Though Katniss is injured, she still is okay
And sees a ship swoop in and lift her away.
 
She wakens to learn Heavensbee’s on her side,
And half of the tributes were slyly allied.
The plan all along was to get Katniss free,
And take her to District 13 covertly.
 
But Katniss is mad at Haymitch and distraught,
For Peeta, as well as Johanna, were caught.
She further learns Gale and her family are fine,
But District 12’s gone, and now Snow’s crossed the line.
____________________
 

I was initially dubious about The Hunger Games, viewing a tale of juvenile gladiatorial games as a new low in a culture craving “bread and circuses.” I had not read Suzanne Collins’s books and had only heard rumors about their violence and unfortunately young fan base. Once I finally saw the film, I was impressed, not only at how relatively restrained the bloodshed was but also at how the themes of violence were subtly denounced and subverted by stronger themes of compassion and sacrifice. For instance, Katniss only kills in self-defense (and even that haunted her afterward), and her grief at Rue’s death includes a beautiful tribute both to the fallen friend and to extinguished innocence itself. It still bothers me that a seven-year-old at my church was singing its praises, but The Hunger Games is certainly a worthwhile story for young adults and up.

Then the second film made it even better. Not only did it avoid the kids-killing-kids concerns (I know, adults killing adults isn’t much better), but it provided a much stronger freedom-fighting angle while retaining the positive themes and laudable characters. Not to mention the action of the Games themselves, at once clever and frightening, with a touch of paranoia, moral quandaries, and relieving humor. In both films, it takes an inordinate amount of time just to reach the titular tournament, but this setup is necessary for the characters and the drama to build to the climax, which doesn’t disappoint.

I probably admire the second film more, thanks to its more detailed arena and its game-changing twist ending, but my VC enjoys the first more because it develops its characters further. Catching Fire does suffer from a host of new secondary characters that we aren’t given quite enough time to trust, much less grow fond of, such as Finnick and Johanna. Yet I was distressed by Cinna’s fate, even though he only had some brief scenes in the first film; I expect the other characters will grow similarly in the next two installments of the series.

The love triangle is uninspired, but there’s little negative to say about Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, and Liam Hemsworth as Katniss, Peeta, and Gale, respectively. At this point, I believe these will be their most enduring roles. Supporting players are also at the top of their games, including Woody Harrelson as drunk but faithful Haymitch, Elizabeth Banks as vain but surprisingly caring Effie Trinket, Donald Sutherland as the menacing President Snow, and the late Philip Seymour Hoffman as turncoat Plutarch Heavensbee.

Post-Harry Potter, The Hunger Games remains the shining example of a young-adult-book-sensation-turned-movie-series. Twilight tried and failed; Percy Jackson tried and didn’t exactly succeed; and further attempts to match its success have continued this year with Divergent, The Giver, and The Maze Runner. It’s not every film that features some pop culture-worthy lines and an instantly recognizable whistle. The quality of acting, script, and overall production sets The Hunger Games apart and manages to overcome its less pleasant aspects. I’m not one to jump on many band wagons, and, not having read the books, I’m unsure how the next two films will work without the integral Games, but I’m definitely looking forward to Mockingjay – Part 1 (even though Part 1 = the Quest for More Money). Who isn’t?

Best line from The Hunger Games: (President Snow, speaking for any authoritarian dictatorship) “Hope. It is the only thing stronger than fear. A little hope is effective. A lot of hope is dangerous. Spark is fine, as long as it’s contained.”

Best line from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire: (Katniss) “Nobody decent ever wins the games.”   (Haymitch) “Nobody ever wins the games. Period. There are survivors. There’s no winners.”

 
Artistry: 8
Characters/Actors: 9
Entertainment: 8
Visual Effects: 10
Originality: 8
Watchability: 8 (surprisingly)
Other (violence): -1
 
TOTAL: 50 out of 60
 

Next: #114 – The Right Stuff

© 2014 S. G. Liput

209 Followers and Counting

 

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

21 Sunday Sep 2014

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John Connor is ten and a bit of a punk
And thinks his mom’s tales of the future are bunk,
But two Terminators time-travel there still,
The one to protect him, the other to kill.
 
One looks like the cyborg from ten years ago,
Who sought Sarah Connor, but now he’s no foe.
The other’s mimetic and liquid-metallic
And has his sights set on the fledgling smart aleck.
 
The good Terminator saves John from the other,
And John then insists that they rescue his mother,
Who’s gone off the deep end with her apprehension
And had to be locked up in mental detention.
 
They barely escape and intend to head south,
But Sarah learns more from their cyborg’s own mouth.
She plots to dispatch Miles Dyson, the man
Developing Skynet according to plan.
 
She cannot go through with her cruel homicide,
But when Miles hears of destruction worldwide,
He helps them to enter his lab that same night
To wipe out the research that leads to their plight.
 
They blow up the lab, which is Dyson’s undoing,
And flee with the bad T-1000 pursuing.
Within a steel mill, he is shattered to bits
But reintegrates since he can’t call it quits.
 
A chase and assault and grenade to the chest
At last leaves it melted and un-coalesced.
John’s faithful protector knows this won’t suffice;
To stave off the future, he pays the last price
And stops Judgment Day with a brave sacrifice. (or so it seems….)
________________
 

The first Terminator was an effective combination of sci-fi, horror, and action, but its acclaimed 1991 sequel pitches the horror in favor of all-out, jaw-dropping action (sort of like Cameron’s Aliens, though that still had plenty of nightmare fodder). I’m sure it was tricky turning such an iconic villain into a force for good, but James Cameron did just that, earning Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 a spot on both AFI top Heroes list and their Villains list.

The film starts out with mounds of human skulls, so the audience will know they’re in for a good time. This bleak future provides a goal for the characters, namely to prevent it, and the setup with the two time travelers keeps it unclear who belongs to the dark side. Robert Patrick as the T-1000 acts human enough at first, leaving doubts as to whether he’s another cyborg or a freedom fighter like the first film’s Kyle Reece (though the trailers gave that away from the start).

The robots are perfectly cast, but the humans are less than ideal. Edward Furlong has the required leadership potential for John Connor, but he’s a foul-mouthed delinquent who doesn’t deserve termination but certainly prosecution. Likewise, Sarah Connor is no longer an attractive waitress but a haunted, violent nutcase whose tales of the future have gotten her committed. Their cause is admirable, but they’re hardly admirable as people.

The film itself has plenty of brief but deep themes (women create life while men tend to destroy; the potential and need to value human life), though it doesn’t even try to address the paradoxes they create in attempting to change the future. It’s also interesting how Sarah Connor’s extreme concern for life becomes a disregard for life when she sets her sights on Dyson, practically turning her into a Terminator before she remembers her humanity. T2 contributed some famous lines to pop culture, like the kick-butt “Hasta la vista, baby” while also offering a unique reversal of lines from the first film, such as “Come with me if you want to live,” which I actually attributed to this film before I was reminded that Reece said it first. Let’s face it: Arnold does say it better than Michael Biehn.

And I haven’t even mentioned the Oscar-winning, cutting-edge effects. The water column in The Abyss was impressive enough, but the malleable T-1000 is a true achievement in special effects and a huge leap forward compared with films even a couple years before. Honestly, the visual effects are still Oscar-worthy by today’s standards, even 23 years old. As with the first film, the chase scenes are a main focus but are ramped up to epic heights with helicopters and trucks carrying liquid nitrogen. The first half contains most of the objectionable content, including some shockingly violent scenes, but the second half is nearly perfect, with ultimate action, awesome explosions, and a lower body count.

Terminator 2 could easily have ended the franchise, and, as yet another reboot is being prepared for a 2015 release, it’s hard to imagine any Terminator film topping it. I’d much rather see it cut, but it’s one heck of a sci-fi joy ride.

Best line (avoiding the obvious): (Sarah, in a voiceover) “Watching John with the machine, it was suddenly so clear. The terminator would never stop. It would never leave him, and it would never hurt him, never shout at him, or get drunk and hit him, or say it was too busy to spend time with him. It would always be there. And it would die to protect him. Of all the would-be fathers who came and went over the years, this thing, this machine, was the only one who measured up. In an insane world, it was the sanest choice.”

 
Artistry: 8
Characters/Actors: 9
Entertainment: 10
Visual Effects: 10
Originality: 10
Watchability: 9
Other (language, violence): -6
 
TOTAL: 50 out of 60
 

Next: #115 – The Hunger Games and Catching Fire

© 2014 S. G. Liput

209 Followers and Counting

 

The Mask of Zorro (1998)

19 Friday Sep 2014

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Don Diego de la Vega is the hero of the poor
Known as Zorro, who has allies and sworn enemies galore.
When the governor Montero learns of his identity,
He arrests him and abducts his child Elena wickedly.
 
Twenty years go by before Montero seeks his captive foe,
Bringing his adopted daughter back with him to Mexico.
De la Vega then escapes, intent on his revenge and hate,
But the sight of his Elena causes him to hesitate.
 
In the meantime, Alejandro Murrieta is well-known
As a bandit with his brother, but he soon is all alone.
Army Captain Love attacks and cruelly claims his partners twain,
Prompting in him dreams of vengeance, which at this point are in vain.
 
Zorro takes young Alejandro, seeing some potential there,
And he trains him in sword fighting in his secret Zorro lair.
After lessons hard and long, the newest Zorro tries his hand,
Posing as a wealthy don to learn of what Montero’s planned.
 
Alejandro is intrigued by beautiful Elena, who
Cannot help but be enamored of this masked intruder too.
When Montero tells his plot to buy the nation with bravado,
He shows off poor peasants forced to labor in his El Dorado.
 
Alejandro steals a map and fences in the poor’s defense,
Even as the bad guys try mass murder to hide evidence.
Both the Zorros, old and recent, battle their respective foes,
And Elena helps their struggle, thanks to shocking truths she knows.
 
Alejandro takes revenge, and de la Vega follows suit,
Though the latter man is wounded, dying worthy of salute.
Alejandro weds Elena now that justice has been won,
And he shares their grand adventure with Joaquin, their infant son.
_________________
 

The Mask of Zorro isn’t exactly an origin story, but a changing of the guard from one Zorro to the next, a difficult endeavor that was amazingly satisfying. The opening action scene of Errol Flynn-style derring-do conveys a lifetime of such heroics, and expert thespian Anthony Hopkins as the elderly Zorro pulls it off, even if his accent is out of place. Antonio Banderas fits in perfectly both because he is actually Hispanic and because his swashbuckling swagger is one of the film’s main pleasures. Banderas was a natural at sword fighting, according to fight choreographer Bob Anderson, and I’m not surprised. Another big draw is his on-screen chemistry with Catherine Zeta-Jones, who manages a seductive Latina allure despite being Welsh.

The film is basically a revenge tale set against a historical backdrop. Historical events, such as the Mexican-American War, are mentioned in passing, and Alejandro’s brother and accomplice were real Mexican bandits who met the same grisly fate (more or less) as in the film. Any historical inaccuracies are not as glaring as in the 2005 sequel The Legend of Zorro, which pales in comparison to the drama of this original.

Though a few scenes during de la Vega’s prison escape recall Spartacus and The Count of Monte Cristo, the film is still dashingly original while paying tribute to its many predecessors from the first half of the century. At a time when overblown reboots were just starting to become the Hollywood norm, The Mask of Zorro favored practical stunts and emotional narrative over gimmicks or cinematic extravagance. It’s a thrilling and mostly clean film (aside from one or two scenes) that brings to life one of the original “superheroes” of pulp fiction.

Best line: (Diego, referring to Alejandro’s sword) “Do you know how to use that thing?”   (Alejandro) “Yeah, the pointy end goes into the other man.”

 
Artistry: 8
Characters/Actors: 9
Entertainment: 9
Visual Effects: 9
Originality: 7
Watchability: 8
 
TOTAL: 50 out of 60
 

Next: #116 – Terminator 2: Judgment Day

© 2014 S. G. Liput

209 Followers and Counting

 

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)

18 Thursday Sep 2014

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When ten-year-old Elliot hears things behind
His house but his friends don’t believe,
He has an encounter (it’s of the third kind),
Which makes him stay up the next eve.
 
He welcomes an alien into his home,
Since it doesn’t seem dangerous,
And stays home from school to attend to the gnome,
Who’s hungry and quite curious.
 
Once Elliot’s siblings uneasily meet
The squat little creature from space,
They keep him a secret, and yet ‘cross the street
The government watches the place.
 
A croaker dissection debacle in class
Reveals Elliot and E.T.
Both share a connection, but E.T., alas,
Is rapidly growing sickly.
 
The extra-terrestrial makes a transmitter
They set up on Halloween night,
But when they next find the unfortunate critter,
He’s nearing his death, a pale white.
 
The government moves in to monitor him
But cannot save Elliot’s friend.
It’s not till his spaceship is close that his vim
And vigor return in the end.
 
A chase upon bicycles races and flies
From those scientists’ interfering,
And E.T. and Elliot say their goodbyes
Before his ship soars from the clearing.
________________
 

Often considered one of the finest science fiction movies ever made, I tend to think E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a little overrated. Nevertheless, it’s one of those timeless friendship stories that captured people’s hearts much more than another alien film The Thing, which was released the same month.

The majority of films in general feel like simply a paycheck for the filmmakers, but E.T. is one of those in which director Spielberg’s palpable affection for the material is obvious. Inspired by his own childhood imaginary friend, E.T. himself is a wonder of practical effects. Nowadays he would have been a CGI creation (and was for a few scenes of the 2002 re-release), but the use of puppetry gives him a more realistic presence, aided by the amalgamation of sounds and voices Ben Burtt used for his vocalizing.

There have been plenty of critical deconstructions of the film, with analysts comparing it to Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz, and even the story of Jesus. I believe there’s a point where one can dig too deep, though some of these ideas are interesting, such as both E.T. and Elliot being “alienated” in different ways, E.T. by his abandonment and Elliot by the absence of his father. The film doesn’t actually say some familiar wildlife clichés, such as “He’s as scared of you as you are of him” and “He must be free to live,” but it obliquely applies them in an alien pet context. Along with these potentially deep themes, the film throws in a good deal of humor, such as some sly Star Wars references and Elliot’s drunken reaction when E.T. drinks a beer. Henry Thomas as Elliot and a young Drew Barrymore as Gertie got most of the praise, but I very much liked Robert MacNaughton as older brother Michael, who delivers some of the funniest lines.

It’s not quite perfect: Peter Coyote’s involvement is never fully explained, nor is why he went out to the forest at the beginning or why he began surveillance of Elliot’s house. Also, the space suit invasion scene has got to be one of the cheesiest sequences in an otherwise sterling film. Even so, with an iconic, high-flying John Williams score and a number of classic scenes (the moon scene even became Spielberg’s logo for Amblin Entertainment), E.T. is a time-honored heart-tugger that successfully pulled off the he’s-dead-no-wait-never-mind cliché and reminded audiences that not all visitors from space are unfriendly.

Best line: (Elliot) “He’s a man from outer space, and we’re taking him to his spaceship.”
(Greg, one of Michael’s friends) “Well, can’t he just beam up?”
(Elliot) “This is reality, Greg.”

 

Artistry: 9
Characters/Actors: 9
Entertainment: 8
Visual Effects: 7
Originality: 9
Watchability: 8
 
TOTAL: 50 out of 60
 

Next: #117 – The Mask of Zorro

© 2014 S. G. Liput

209 Followers and Counting