Recent Flix

Well, no one guessed all of yesterday's titles, but kudos to Darrell for (correctly) guessing one of them. The loose connection, which likely no one would have guessed anyway, was that these were all things I'd watched in the last few weeks. One was in the theater, while two I'd seen before a long time ago but revisited through Netflix. Here they are, along with some observations and comments:

1) The Stand.
Yes, I saw the miniseries when it first aired back in the ‘90s. A few years ago, I even read the extended edition of the book, which of course was so much better. Effects notwithstanding, the epic tale of a new world order forged by the survivors of a deadly, government-engineered flu was every bit as compelling as I remembered it. The Stand is really what introduced me to the mind of Stephen King, and both the characters and the actors portraying them made six hours and two disks fly by. When I was a kid, I thought for some reason I'd missed a night, but it was all there. There's just a jump between the second and third installments and we don't pick up with some characters exactly where we left them. There are a lot of recognizable names and faces in the cast, more than I remembered. Before I knew him from Scrubs, Ken Jenkins played the father of Molly Ringwald's character. The dad from A.L.F. plays a doctor as does Sherman Howard who seems to have appeared in everything once. Sam Anderson's been around a while and at the time I knew him from various sitcoms and tv shows, but he went on to be more recognizable to me as Holland Manners on Angel and now Bernard on Lost. Even Sam Raimi appears in The Stand! I could go on, but there are nine other movies to comment on.

2) Idle Hands.
I remember the trailers for this ridiculously fun horror comedy, but for the life of me I don't know how I never got to it. A friend reminded me about it this week. It has everything from a wisecracking undead Seth Green to a hot young Jessica Alba, to a murderous severed hand using a pencil sharpener to make its fingers deadlier. It's also a cautionary tale against the dangers of marijuana smoking, because people who are stoned can miss some important details like murder.

3) Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
I reviewed it. I like this sort of thing. And the more I reflect on the film, the more I like it in spite of my criticisms. Michael Chiklis also told a great anecdote on the Tonight Show this week about filming a scene with a bear while wearing a heavy rubber costume, and being told not to touch it because the creature's chew-toys were made of the same material.

4) Blood Diamond.
This is a powerful movie. DiCaprio is flawless as a diamond smuggler, playing a great anti-hero and never breaking character. I love Jennifer Connelly. She plays a reporter. She looked a little different in this movie for some reason, and at times I thought it was someone new who looked like her. Maybe her hair was a little lighter or something; I'm not sure what it is. Did I mention I love her? And finally, Digimon Hansolo managed to both break my heart and scare the crap out of me at different points in the film. The dude is a solid actor and you feel his anguish as a father separated from his family as well as his wrath toward those responsible.

5) Akira.
I thought this one would be easy since I reviewed it so recently. I can't add much, other than to reiterate that it's the jumping-on point for anyone who wants to get into anime.

6) I-Spy.
It wasn't great, but it wasn't terrible and had a few laugh-out-loud moments. There's not much in the way of plot but Owen Wilson was funny and Famke Janssen was fun to look at. Eddie Murphy basically played his comic relief sidekick persona ”Donkey” , but as a boxer and in front of the camera. Maybe he should stick with voice acting; his brother Charlie is a lot funnier and edgier these days. (And sweet jumping grandma on a pogo stick, they're making Beverly Hills Cop IV?! Is there any movie from the ‘80s that isn't getting a fourth installment in this decade? And didn't he sort of unofficially make that movie already?)

7) Collateral Damage.
Horrible. A fireman becomes a one-man scourge of Colombian terrorists after losing his family. He does surprisingly well with an axe against trained soldiers. When a film's strongest asset is Elias Koteas(Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; Some Kind of Wonderful), you know it's in trouble. This was the worst Schwarzenegger movie since Eraser, though not his worst role. I would have retired from acting and taken up politics too.

8) Gangs of New York.
DiCaprio was intense and Diaz was especially hot with fiery red hair and a fierce Irish accent, but Daniel Day-Lewis completely owned his devilish antagonist role. I also liked seeing Manhattan before the days of skyscrapers. I've found myself on those old cobblestone streets before, the neighborhoods that are remnants of another era, but so much of the towering and the modern dominates that it's hard to imagine New York any other way.

9) Weird Science.
I'd seen it many times at a friend's house when I was a kid, but apparently it was on broadcast television since a lot was cut from the version I remember. It reminded me how filmmakers didn't always strive for realism, to be convincing even in complete fantasy. I wonder how many teenage boys hooked a doll up to their computer and ancient modem after seeing this. I wonder if this was what inspired me to build a time machine using a toy car, a no parking sign, and a frayed extension cord. I wonder how I survived my childhood....

10) The Color of Money.
It's one of many iconic ‘80s movies I'm just getting to now. Paul Newman of course is solid, and I had no idea he was reprising an earlier role until I read about the film afterwards. Those critical of this one claimed the original was better, so I'll have to check that out.