INCEPTION




Saw INCEPTION over the weekend, having managed (barely) to avoid much hype, anti-hype and Nolan Backlash that apparently, will be SOP with every Christopher Nolan film from now on.

I liked it.

But then, I've liked much of Nolan's work that I've seen - I'd prefer if he stuck more to doing films like this and THE PRESTIGE rather than Batman Movies; but then, if he didn't do the Batman films so well and work the crowd up to a frenzy, then he wouldn't get to do films like INCEPTION.

Such a conundrum... which is so fitting. Nolan's quickly become somewhat of a polarizing figure, having come from the Indie world and diving into the Hollywood Blockbuster - being able to deliver on the box office AND making films almost too smart for Hollywood... obviously, something must be amiss.

I can say that INCEPTION is one of the best films of the year - time will tell if it fits in with the 'Best of the Decade' lists that people will be making over the next couple of years.

I also think that a good portion of the criticism against this film, such as the dream states not being very imaginative, exposition as dialog, not enough character development, totally misses the point of the film. For me, INCEPTION also functions as a metaphor for what Nolan does - filmmaking. Where you bring in an architect (screenwriter), and various specialists to create a world that can function on various levels... and usually extract money; but in the best scenarios, one can also implant ideas.

That's my take on it, anyway... and in this climate, it's a rare thing to go to a summer movie that actually allows you to chew over its connections and ambiguities. As much as I enjoyed this film and cast, I hope that any attempts to sequelize/prequelize this will be murdered in its sleep.

Observations on Jonah Hex, Solomon Kane, Paranormal Activity... and some asides



Two things first:

The people behind the summer series PERSONS UNKNOWN (created by THE USUSAL SUSPECTS/THE WAY OF THE GUN writer ChristopherMcQuarrie) have a far better sense of what it takes to do an updated 'bounce' on THE PRISONER than the people who were responsible for the misguided attempt on AMC.

Watching the films in Pasolini's "Trilogy of Life" - THE DECAMERON, THE CANTERBURY TALES, and THE ARABIAN NIGHTS help add an added dimension of understanding what his intent was with SALO, the first in what was intended to be a "Trilogy of Death".

OK - onward...




Took a look at PARANORMAL ACTIVITY on DVD... I did see it during its theatrical release, but didn't really much care for it. This time around, I watched the alternate ending, and ended up liking it much better. Watching something that is obviously meant to mirror a home video, on your television screen puts it in a much better context. The alternate ending was much more unnerving than the ending in the theatrical version, which is such an obvious pander to the audience, and a setup to justify the inevitable sequel.

It's a better film than BLAIR WITCH was, in terms of concept and execution; but the problem I have with these films is "Stupid White People Syndrome"... in order for the story to work, it's necessary that the characters HAVE to do something so monumentally stupid. And in horror films, most specifically films involving hauntings and such, SWPS is pretty much part of the basic DNA of the story, otherwise there IS no story. If there were ethnic characters in this, the movie would be about 10 minutes long, because they'd have too much sense to intentionally antagonize the Inexplicable.



Which, to me, is sort of a major flaw - although, I suspect that a major reason why this was a hit with audiences, besides delivering the goods, is that the movie can be read as sort of a metaphorical look at a deteriorating relationship. The actors are extremely believable as a real couple, and the supernatural elements are just vague enough to support a poltergeist theory rather than demonic... and the alternate ending does keep that question rather open-ended.

I would have preferred if they had actually tried to get away, only to have the phenomenon follow them, as is stated several times in the film. If they had tested that out, only to find that there was no escape, that would have helped justify most of the dickishness of Micah's character.


Also got to see JONAH HEX and SOLOMON KANE recently, which provided a effective illustration of adaptation, good and bad. HEX is based on the DC Comics character, and SOLOMON KANE is a creation of Robert E. Howard, the creator of CONAN THE BARBARIAN. As I write this, HEX is in the process of disappearing from theaters, due to dismal box office and bad critical reception, while SOLOMON is still awaiting a release in the U.S. by Lionsgate... and still no word, although it is available on DVD overseas.



I'm familiar with Jonah Hex, having been introduced to him via Joe Lansdale's version of the character... originally an extremely grim and violent character when introduced in the 70's, Lansdale did add supernatural elements, in the style of his 'weird Westerns' - the series continues on, scaling back those elements, but they haven't entirely disappeared. So I was initially excited when hearing about a Jonah Hex movie.

That excitement diminished as reports of a troubled production leaked out... and now having seen the finished result, it just ends up being another disappointment.
Instead of adapting JONAH HEX, the movie is an uneven combination of THE OUTLAW JOSEY WALES, THE ADVENTURES OF BRISCO COUNTY, JR. and THE WILD WILD WEST movie monstrosity. The only extended bit of actual source material 'Jonah Hex' that's onscreen is roughly 2-3 minutes after the main title comes up, as Hex rides into town to claim his bounty... and that only lasts until the double gatling-gun on Hex's horse opens fire.

Yes, you read that correctly.

WTF!?!?!?!?

And the supernatural element involved - Jonah Hex now has a superpower of sorts - he can talk to the dead. Literally.

WTF!?!?!?!?!?

I suppose I wouldn't mind these things, and even more idiocy, if they just didn't have the guts to call it JONAH HEX, because it certainly AIN'T. You can't blame the actors - Thomas Jane actually does try, and does well; and the rest of the cast is good with what they've got to work with... although I have to say that I don't really understand what Megan Fox is doing in this picture. Not through fault of her own... she gives it her best shot, but the role as Hex's love interest is pretty unnecessary.

No, the fault lies with the makers of this film, who obviously didn't understand JONAH HEX - the writers (and re-writers -- not having seen the original draft by the CRANK/GAMER duo who were supposed to write and direct this, and who left the project due to 'creative differences', it's hard to tell - yet - whether this pooch was screwed from the start, or if it got screwed later), producers and director.



For all that JONAH HEX does wrong, SOLOMON KANE gets RIGHT. Word on this has been mixed, so I went in with diminished expectations - and was surprisingly rewarded with a fantasy film that took the character seriously, and was GOOD. I mean, on the level of John Milius' CONAN THE BARBARIAN, because, unlike the creative team of the Jonah Hex movie, and like Milius, director/writer Michael Bassett (DEATHWATCH, WILDERNESS) GOT IT.
He didn't attempt to 'improve' the character, or to make him 'relatable' to modern audiences -
He and his creative team looked at the Howard stories and simply tried to bring the character and his world to life, as Howard wrote it. And for my money, they succeeded. I'm certain that a die-hard Howard fan could probably pick things apart, but my interest was held and I was thoroughly entertained. That this film isn't in theaters while JONAH HEX is, is simply an artistic crime. The names aren't as known as the HEX cast - James Purefoy (ROME) is the title character, and familiar faces from British films such as Pete Postlewaite, Alice Krige and Jayson Fleming play major parts. Well worth your time to search for a copy - hopefully, SOLOMON won't become another 'Lionsgate Dump' casualty into dollar theaters located near Bumblefuck, U.S.A.

Some thoughts on THE BOX






Richard Kelly's THE BOX is not the end of the world as we know it, as some critics seemed to hint at during its release... but not as strongly as they felt that SOUTHLAND TALES was the End of the World, and probably the End of His Career - which is ironic considering that all of Kelly's films are definitely about The End of the World As We Know It. It's certainly not a career-killer, but it certainly was not the commercial property it was touted to be - although I bet it looked that way after the reception SOUTHLAND TALES got at Cannes, and he was pondering the choices available to avoid Movie Jail.

THE BOX is a much better movie than you'd think - like all of Kelly's films, it's bound to find more appreciative audiences watching it at home and other venues than it found in theatrical release. I liked this film - after the sprawling, overstuffed intentional train-wreck that ST was, Kelly scales things back to DONNIE DARKO size, character wise and plot wise. Kind of.

THE BOX is an adaptation of the Richard Matheson short story, "Button, Button". That story focuses on a wife who is presented with a mysterious box by a mysterious man who has a very simple proposition: if the wife or her husband presses the button on the box within 24 hours, they will receive a million dollars - and someone who they don't know will die. If you were around in the mid-80's, you'll remember that the story was adapted for the revived 1980's TWILIGHT ZONE series, with Mare Winneham and Brad Davis as the couple.

Go ahead and check it out... I'll wait.






In THE BOX, that couple is Cameron Diaz and James Marsden, both of whom are perfectly fine in the roles; and the mysterious stranger is Frank Langella, who's also very good. The adaptation of the story pretty much wraps up in the first 35 minutes of the film... actually, it's more like 25, if you strip away some extraneous scenes that have nothing directly to do with the story. The remaining 1 & 1/2 hours (it's just under a 2 hour film) concern themselves with the consequences of that action - Diaz presses the button, they get a million dollars, and someone dies, yes - but there's also Langella's bizarre deformity from a lightning strike, Diaz's club foot deformity, NASA, the Viking Mission to Mars, possible alien infiltration, glowing portals of water (yet again!), some self-conscious 70's referencing and science shotgun-wedded to the spiritual/biblical.

In other words, it's a Richard Kelly film melded to a Richard Matheson source, and as much as I do like the final product, it seems that the former overwhelms the latter. Which, is not really surprising, considering that a straight adaptation just really doesn't support a feature length film. What's curious to me, is that both adaptations really miss the point of the story.

"Button, Button", the Twilight Zone episode, would seem to be a perfect fit - but the only thing that connects, besides the really annoying performances by the leads is that ending. THE BOX gets the tone of the story right, for the dilemma presented to have some sort of weight, but muffs the story's ending in order to launch into the second part of the movie, where Kelly's main concerns are. Go look up Matheson's story - it's quite easy to find - to see that original ending and compare it to both adaptations.

I'd be willing to bet money that Kelly had his story - the one with the NASA stuff - already in mind, but couldn't find financing; and at some point, encountering the Matheson story, thought that it provided a strong enough hook to graft the other story onto. It's not done badly; that it works as well as it does proves that there was some skill involved. There's just something about it, though, that makes it clear that it's not a natural grafting of stories.

Which makes me think that Kelly just needed another source that would match up better with his creative concerns...



Unless you're a science-fiction fan of obscure movies, you know nothing of THE 27TH DAY. It hasn't been released in the USA in any format, although if you're under the age of 45, you might have caught it on television, in late night/early morning (when black and white movies instead of infomercials ruled the airwaves). Made and released in the late 50's, this always received glowing mention in most of the books about science-fiction films.

Written by John Mantley, (a writer who also produced shows such as 'Gunsmoke' and the second season of 'Buck Rogers' [The Disco Years], among others) based on his novel, THE 27TH DAY is about five people, from various countries, who are chosen by aliens from a dying world to be given a 'gift' - a capsule that, if activated within 27 days, will destroy all human life on the planet, leaving it open for colonization. If the capsules are not activated within that time, then life on the planet will be spared and the aliens will die. However, the aliens are certain that the capsules will be utilized, humans being what they are, and the people are returned to their countries to let the drama play out.


An obvious Cold War parable, THE 27TH DAY is memorable - director William Asher (who did the "Beach Blanket" movies and the BEWITCHED television movies in the 60's) makes the most of a limited budget and effects, and puts the emphasis on characters, Gene Barry (WAR OF THE WORLDS) and his co-stars' attempts to figure their way through this cynical game they've been placed into.

The movie is available on Spanish DVD -- but you can watch it in its entirety on YouTube in eight parts.


This, to me, seems like material that would have melded better with Kelly's intentions, and may have made for a more balanced viewing experience. Although, I'm not certain that anything that Kelly did would have been 'commercial' - his work isn't quite as easy to niche, which is what I do like about it, but the SOUTHLAND TALES experience coupled with the lukewarm response to THE BOX may have squelched anything to come from him for awhile.

I hope not.

In Which We Do Some Coastal Log-Rolling, And Make More Promises That We Probably Won't Keep...



First things first, I wanna remind those of you in the L.A. and NYC areas that there are several films screening that were shot here in the Midwest. Those of you in the NYC area can attend the Hoboken International Film Festival, which kicks off this weekend - THE ONLY GOOD INDIAN screens on Saturday, June 5th, if you'd like to see it on the big screen (instead of, say, on your t.v. via Starz VOD; or on your computer screen via Netflix streaming).

THE ONLY GOOD INDIAN




Monday, June 7th is the date for THE BATTLE FOR BUNKER HILL, Kevin Willmott's new film (though, actually it was shot before INDIAN). It previously screened at the Atlanta Film Festival in April - here's a podcast featuring an interview with Kevin about the film, and Dan Hoyt's review on the Helium website.

THE BATTLE FOR BUNKER HILL



Those in the L.A. area planning on attending the Dances With Films festival may want to reserve some tickets for the screening of LAST BREATH on Tuesday, June 8; Ty Jones' thriller/drama that's starting to hit the festival circuit after winning the Audience Favorite award at the Omaha Film Festival.


I slacked on the blog a bit mainly due to so many other things; mainly looking for work... paying work. I've also been working on a couple of feature scripts and other things, but those are ventures that may potentially pay off Some Bright Day - Way.... WAY Off In The Future, where things can look pretty bright or dark, depending on how good the coffee is in the morning. In The Right Now, it's pretty fucking Hard -- but then, it usually has been.

I've also been watching a wide variety of films at home, since it's way cheaper than going out and the selection is much better than what's in the theaters. So, I turn to what the unemployed and obnoxiously vocal do in Tough Times -- blog about movies. Yes, I know -- how original. You're lucky that it's not about music... now that I've reached the plateau of Bitter Old Man, I no longer recognize what or who the Hell is playing in the clubs that the kids are listening to.

It's pretty fun no longer trying to be Cool...

So for the few of you following my rantings (THANK YOU every last one of you!), I should repay your kindness by providing more content a bit more often -- Facebook has largely been the recipient of the quick hit & run snark, illustrated by link - maybe a little of that will still get here, but I have to try harder - especially when I demand it from others.

THE ONLY GOOD INDIAN Broadcast Premiere




If you have access to most of the Starz channels... like Encore, or Movieplex, then you'll have the opportunity to see TOGI several times during the month. The broadcast premiere is today, May 4, on Encore Westerns at 11:20am, and 8pm - and additional showings on Encore Westerns May 5th @ 4pm; May 8th @ 10am and 5:10pm; May 20th @ 10:05am & 11:10pm; and May 5th on Movieplex @5am.

Times listed are Eastern/Pacific, so adjust accordingly if you're in Central or Mountain time.

Check the Starz page for more info. It should also be available for VOD later in the month, also.

SCARFACE - School play version






Simultaneously wrong and awesome -- when recommending supporting the Arts in schools, this may not what they had in mind.


UPDATE: Sure 'nuff, it's a hoax - well, satirical, anyway. These guys did a great job, but this is a great example why post-mortem on humor is a bad idea:

Coming in April...

Screenings! An excuse to get out of the house and see something that was intended for people over the age of 14!! Granted, that may not be incentive for most people, but I'm sure there's at least a few of you still around out there...



Starting this Friday, April 2, THE ONLY GOOD INDIAN (award-winning western drama directed by Kevin Willmott) will have public screenings at Screenland Armour Theater in North KC beginning Friday, April 2 and running through Thursday April 8th. Kevin Willmott is scheduled for a Q&A after the first screening Friday, April 2. After this, it'll go into blackout, prior to its debut on Starz, so this will be your last chance to see it on the big screen for awhile.



April also brings the Kansas City FilmFest (merging of the KC Filmmakers Jubilee and the Kansas City Film Society Film Festival) - this is the second year under the FilmFest name, and it looks to be a good one. Among those in attendance is director/actor L. Q. Jones, who will be screening the classic A BOY AND HIS DOG as a special presentation.

Very appropriate since KC artist Richard Corben did a graphic adaptation of the Harlan Ellison story; and the latter part of the film is set in an odd environment called 'Topeka'...

Making its premiere is San Francisco filmmaker Chris Brown's new feature, FANNIE, ANNIE & DANNY -- I worked on Chris' first feature film, DAUGHTERS some years ago - and attend some of the seminars, parties, after-parties, etc.




A little further away - Atlanta, GA to be exact - BUNKER HILL (now with 'The Battle For' appended to the title) will screen at the Atlanta Film Festival in mid-April. BUNKER will be playing more dates on the festival circuit this year, and I'll pass 'em along as soon as I hear about them. It recently screened at my old, abandoned college stomping grounds SIU-C, at their annual Big Muddy Film Festival.