Having returned to
my pattern of following one movie with an older one which the first brought to
mind, I’ve observed the following movies flicker on large and small screens in
the past month. Tangentially, I’m curious to see how the different business strategies
work out for the two movie theaters which, being the closest to my house, I
most commonly frequent, including for two of the films below. Bow Tie Cinema in
Succasunna offers low prices (by today’s standards) and standard seating, while
AMC in Morristown offers spacious leather recliner seats but higher prices. The
two theaters don’t always show the same films (only AMC offered Ex Machina), but when they do I personally
pick price over seats. Not everyone does the same though.
The Age of Adaline (2015)
Agelessness is a
fantasy as old as the first mirror. In this movie it is also a hook for hokey
romance and sentiment – yet Adaline gets
away with being hokey. I’ve mentioned before that modern cynicism doesn’t jibe
very well with romance in the movies. Nowadays we prefer to take romance out of
everyday life before we’re willing to credit it. Christopher Orr in an Atlantic article said much the same
thing: “The premises grow more and more esoteric: She’s a hooker. He’s a
stalker. She’s in a coma. He’s telepathic. She’s a mermaid. He’s a zombie.
She’s pregnant. He’s the president.” In the case of Silver Linings Playbook, they’re crazy; this allows us to say, “Ah,
that explains it.” Setting a movie far enough in the past works too, apparently
on the assumption that people looked at things differently then. Effectively
that is what The Age of Adaline does.
Adaline retains 1930s/40s sensibilities even though much of the film is set in
the present day.
Adaline has a freak
accident in 1937 at the age of 29. As time goes by she eventually realizes she
isn’t aging. Her permanent youth comes at a cost. Whenever her appearance
mismatches her official age too obviously, she has to change her ID and start
over, leaving friends and family behind. They, of course, age and die while she
doesn’t. There are good performances by Blake Lively and Harrison Ford. The
sentimentality works fairly well despite (or because of) the contrivance.
Thumbs Up.
The Picture
of Dorian Gray (1945)
There is no
shortage of films about extended youth: In
Time, Peter Pan, Tuck Everlasting, and for that matter almost every vampire
movie. I opted for the most obvious.
This stylish adaptation of the Oscar Wilde novel contains enough of the author’s
verbiage and wit to be entertaining, and we get to see a young Angela Lansbury
as Sybil Vane. In late Victorian London, Dorian (Hurd Hatfield) is a handsome –
“pretty” might be a better word – young man who is corrupted by the clever immoralist
philosophy of Lord Henry. But whereas Lord Henry is an intellectual armchair
immoralist, Dorian chooses to act on his impulses. The wages of sin do not show
on Dorian’s own face, but on his portrait; the portrait ages while he does not.
Today, a similar film likely would display graphically the lead character’s
depraved acts. Here we merely get obscure hints as to the bulk of them, though
we do see mistreatment of Sybil and a murder. Although the 1945 critic for The New York Times chuckled at the “mawkish
pomposity of the film,” modern critics generally have been kinder. I rather
like it, though be aware that it paces more leisurely than most contemporary
flicks. Thumbs Up.
**** **** **** ****
Ex Machina
(2015)
Nathan, an
eccentric tech genius, invites Caleb, an employee, to visit him at his isolated
home/research facility. Caleb learns he is there to run a Turing test on an AI
robot named Ava. Nathan wants to know if Ava (Alicia Vikander) is conscious or if
she only simulates consciousness. We soon suspect Ava of running a test of her
own on Caleb. She wants out of the facility – not least because Nathan might
deactivate her – and Caleb might be open to manipulation.
Ex Machina
has a well written script that questions the nature of consciousness and
ethics. Is the fact that Ava is manipulating Caleb for her own ends proof of
consciousness? What are Nathan’s obligations to Ava, if any, if she is
conscious, and what are hers to him and to Caleb, if any? The performances are
good, with Oscar Isaac doing an exceptional job as Nathan. Anyone who ever has
met an eccentric genius will recognize Nathan. The fx are good without
overwhelming the script. Thumbs Up.
Bicentennial
Man (1999)
Based on the novel The Positronic Man by Isaac Asimov and
Robert Silverberg, Bicentennial Man
is another instance of swathing sentiment in the esoteric in order to make it
acceptable, this time in circuitry.
Andrew (Robin
Williams) is a household robot for the Martin family. Through some glitch, Andrew
shows evidence of conscious behavior. Before long his consciousness is
indisputable, and eventually he asks for his freedom. Over decades his
upgrades, many of them of his own design, bridge the gap between the biological
and mechanical – his artificial organs will work as replacement parts in humans,
which blurs the distinction between humans and robots. The generations of
Martins age and die, but Andrew loves and begins to romance one young Martin
woman. (Tangential note: Apparently in anticipation of such a real eventuality,
Calvin Klein has trademarked “Technosexual.”) Andrew’s final upgrade makes him
mortal, which doesn’t seem like a good bargain to me, but he is cool with it. The
film is family friendly with all the good and ill that entails. Thumbs Up, but
only slightly.
**** **** **** ****
April Fools
Day (1986)
You know the drill.
Eight college friends spend spring break in an isolated island mansion. Of course
they can’t get off the island during their stay. Pranks are expected on April
Fools Day, but one by one the students meet with foul play. I don’t really need
to explain further. The movie repeats all the clichés without irony. The
ending, however, does succeed at being just a little different than the usual. If
you like this genre, there is no reason not to like this; if you don’t, this
film won’t change your mind. Thumbs Sideways.
Teenage Zombies (1960)
The isolated-teens-in-trouble
plot has a long pedigree. In this one, the water skiing vacation of teens Reg,
Julie, Skip, and Pam turns bad when they come ashore on an island where
diabolical scientist Dr. Myra (Katherine Victor) has a research facility. She
wants to be able to turn people into zombies because…well, it would just be
cool, that’s all. Especially if you’re power-mad. She captures the teens for
her experiments. Oh yes, she has a gorilla, and why wouldn’t she? The sheriff
is on the case of the missing kids but he is corrupt. This movie is so
incredibly awful that it is enormous fun for those of us with a taste for campy
bad movies. For the general viewing public though, I can’t in conscience give
it anything but a Thumbs Down.
**** **** **** ****
Into the
Woods (2014)
Into the Woods
intertwines the Rapunzel, Red Riding Hood, Cinderella, and Jack and the Beanstalk
fairy tales into a musical with star performances by the likes of Meryl Streep
and Johnny Depp. Lapine's and Sondheim’s Into
the Woods was a long-running hit on Broadway. To my mind, musicals work
better on stage as live performances than on screen, and this one is no
exception. Nonetheless, the Disney production is about as good as one
reasonably might hope. The movie takes an odd turn in the third act that might
take viewers unfamiliar with the play by surprise. The characters have to face
loss, betrayal, second thoughts, and their own moral ambiguity. Jack, for
example, is not really such a hero; he is a thief who killed the husband of the
giantess who has come to earth seeking revenge. Be aware that this is a musical
with some dark elements, not primarily kids’ fare, but Thumbs Up.
The Glass
Slipper (1955)
This musical
adaptation of Cinderella is the best of the bunch to date in my book. Leslie Caron
gives an atypical but utterly appealing interpretation of the role. While her
stepmother and stepsisters are evil enough, Ella (taunted with the name Cinderella)
herself is a flawed character. She is feisty, suspicious, and hot-tempered. The
Prince disguises his identity on their first accidental meeting during which
she gets angry and pushes him into a pond. He later invites her to the Ball,
but Ella believes he is the son of the palace cook. Ella’s benefactor Mrs. Toquet
apparently does have unusual abilities, but she doesn’t display them openly.
The movie requires a little patience from the viewer during the extended
voice-over set-up at the beginning, but all-in-all it’s a charming film. Thumbs
Up.
**** **** **** ****
The Voices (2014)
Ryan Reynolds is
Jerry. Jerry by state-mandate must visit his psychiatrist weekly. She insists
that he stay on his meds, but he is much happier when he is off them. Without
them, the world is bright and colorful. When he is on them, depressive realism
sets in: he sees the world as it grimly is. Unsurprisingly, he throws away the
medications. Also, when he is med-free his animals talk to him; the cat urges
him to indulge his vices and the dog urges him to be good. Jerry’s life seems
OK, but then he accidentally kills his date. Fearing his mental status and
personal history will cause people to conclude the worst, he dismembers the
body in order to hide it, and he puts the head in the fridge. The head talks to
him too. The second killing is half-way accidental – she hits her head when she
falls during a struggle – but after that only the cat is on his side.
Kidnapping the psychiatrist doesn’t help. I enjoyed this dark comedy but a sizeable
proportion of viewers surely won’t. Thumbs slightly up.
Dementia 13 (1963)
Even in this very
early low-budget film, Francis Ford Coppola is in good directorial form. The Halorans
have money, secrets, an unexplained death, a contestable will, motives for
murder, and a killer with an axe. Finding/figuring out who did what to whom is
much of the fun in this twisted tale, so I’ll leave it at that. Thumbs Up.
Even on the small screen we prefer to delegate
romantic sentiments to otherworldly creatures. From Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Spike the vampire, spurned by his toothy
inamorata, discourses on love in a way uncommon in human characters during the last two decades.
I want to see Ex Machina, but will probably just wait for it to appear on disc thru NF. Though the concept seems to be a little more than an Outer Limits episode, critics have given it good reviews however. Speaking of The Outer Limits, I wish someone would rebroadcast the newer Outer Limit episodes that showed in the 90's. I missed a bunch of them, and would like to see them again, but they're unavailable other than shoddy dubbed copies on YT. That's something you'd think the SyFy channel would show, other than wrestling or Sharknado.
ReplyDeleteI saw a play of Into the Woods here, and although it was put on locally, it was done pretty well with an orchestra, and the singer were really good. I was impressed with the production, but couldn't follow the storyline very well. I assume the movie adaptation flows better, that said though, I'm not in a hurry to rent it.
I wondered how The Voices would have been without the black comedy aspects, done in a old school slasher type way. Sort of like the old movie Maniac. Dementia usually rolls around here showing up on Halloween and if I'm not busy generally will watch it. It's pretty good for a shoestring budget.
I remember Bicentennial Man being watchable, though it seemed many critics panned it. I'm with you, why go mortal? If you become human enough, but are basically immortal, why go that extra step? He should just invent a prozac chip for things that bother him that way. :)
Dorian Gray is a little slow, but it's good if you're in the mood for it. Some of the others I haven't seen or will have to wait to see them later.
Usually when a marketable property isn't marketed, there is some unresolved royalty, residual, or copyright issue. I don't know if that is the case here, but I agree The Outer Limits -- original or 90s -- would beat much of Syfy fare. Some series, while available, also seem underutilized, such as Ray Bradbury Theater.
DeleteI believe that both versions of the Outer Limits are available on Hulu. I've been watching the older series for the first time (and really enjoying it). But I swear I've seen the other one go by in the "you might like" section. I believe MGM owns the rights to both shows, which may be the issue. They seem to be picky with what they put out digitally.
DeleteThe original Outer Limits is a great show. The budgets and fx are laughably cheap, even by the standards of the day, but with few exceptions the scripts are well-written.
DeleteI keep hearing really good things about "Ex Machina" and with Oscar Isaac in particular. Sounds like one I should seek out.
ReplyDeleteMy parents saw "into the Woods" in the theater, and didn't know a thing about it. They found it to be a bit too strange for them. My dad isn't a big musical fan anyway, so it wouldn't be his cup of tea. My wife used to sing in high school, so she is very familiar with the play. It is one of her favorites. I even watched the filmed stage version of it. Not exactly my cup of tea either, but I appreciated it more than liked it.
"The Voices" sounds deliciously demented. I might need to check that one out. But "teenage Zombies" really sounds great. MST3K fodder for sure. :)
I think a lot of people who were unfamiliar with the play found "Into the Woods" to be completely different from what they were expecting -- especially given recent fairy tale treatments including Disney's own "Maleficent." It wasn't a welcome difference. I'm not keen on movie adaptations of stage musicals either, though I appreciate some of them on live stage. Strangely, stage is less realistic than film -- you don't get lost in it in quite the same way -- so not all of the conventions transfer to film well. Still, some including this one, are done as well as can be expected.
DeleteBy all means check out "Teenage Zombies." Like me, you're part of the right audience for it.