26 Films: World Gone Wild

World Gone Wild is a 1988 post-apocalypse which is based on the model of the classic Western The Magnificent Seven. It's got a pretty simple plot, a village in the desert is being pillaged by a roving cult which takes the young men. The village needs to hire protectors and well you can pretty much guess the rest. 


I saw this film in the theater when it was released and have owned my VHS copy for a number of years. It's not a great film, but it's watchable and entertaining in it's own way. Stars Bruce Dern and Michael Pare carry the film with enough grit to keep it real, and of course Catherine Mary Stewart is always a welcome addition to any 80s film. As far as I know this is not on DVD and it's likely to be (but it would be a great double disc with Neon City) any time soon.


So this is the last of the films I am covering for 2011. I am not planning to keep the same every other week film write up, but I will have some movie coverage in the coming year.

26 films: Off Beat

The best dancing cop film ever… maybe the only one I know of as well.  The plot is kinda on the wacky side. After messing up a undercover drug bust, Joe Gower (Judge Reinhold) is pressured by his buddy police officer Abe Washington into taking his place at the try out for a charity dance performance. Shocking I know but Joe gets caught up in the moment and manages to get selected for the dance… in part because he has fallen for Meg Tilly.

It’s a kinda strange film; on the one hand you have this comedic set up with the whole dance bit, which has some fun moments and elements. There is a waiting for Guffman tone to that part of the film. Also the classic getting tough guys to do something girly trope is deployed in those scenes.  The other hand is a story of a man who has let life happen to him and finally is able to take charge of his life and step up and take control.

The two story elements don’t completely gel, and there is a fair amount of humor that is very dated. However the performances are solid, and both Reinhold and Tilly are likeable enough to leave me wondering why they didn’t have more leading roles and why have both seem to have vanished from film in the last couple of decades. I honestly didn’t have a lot of hope for this one when I started it, but found it to be a charming, fun little romp.

26 Films: Rolling Thunder

 

from imdb:

from imdb:

Plot: Major Charles Rane comes back from the war and is given a number of gifts from his hometown because he is a war hero. Some greedy thugs decide that they want to steal a number of silver dollars from him. In the process they also manage to kill his wife and son and destroy his hand. The Major wants revenge so he enlists the help of his war buddy Johnny to meet the thugs in a final showdown

The 70s were of course the era of not only the revenge film but also post Vietnam film. Co- written by Paul Schrader, the film has a tie to Taxi Driver in that it deals with men who have been thought a change in not only of the culture around them, but with in.  William Devane is not an actor that I have ever been a big fan of, although I dig his role in the  Jesse Stone  films, but he carries this film hitting just the right notes of knowing how to give Rane a public face and a private face. I don't have a whole lot to say about the film other than it is well worth checking out and re-watching.

26 Films: The Annihilators

 The 80s was the era of the big action flick… what people forget was that there were also the smaller action flicks. The Annihilators was one of those, a revenge film featuring a small squad of Nam vets who reunite after one of there own, Joey who saved all of their lives, is killed by the local gang. They fight back and get the residents of the neighborhood to stand up for themselves as well.

    The films isn’t any great shakes, it’s pretty straight forward. It never gets boring, and moves along quickly enough. There are a few things to recommend the film. Solid acting from Christopher Stone and Gerrit Graham, and there is a nicely played and shown but not dwelled upon element of the plight of veterans of Vietnam. The action and the film making are just enough above average to recommend it.

26 films: Ed's Next Move

        Ed’s Next Move is one those rare rom-coms where the man in the couple is not a complete moron. In fact Ed is a scientist who after getting dumped by his girlfriend back in Wisconsin, moves to New York to take a new job. As with Love and Other Catastrophes Ed’s Next Move the story of a Gen X guy who is looking for a new life in the city, a place to live and of course a woman. All this is pretty standard territory so it’s how it’s played that matters, and Ed’s Next Move plays it better than most.

            The film not only get’s the Com side of things right with several laughs, mostly of the situational variety, but it get’s the Rom side of the form right with a light touch. The film presents us with two people who are genuine and real, who stumble though their first couple of meetings and when Ed asks her out she doesn’t say no exactly, just indicates that she thought he was nice, and he back pedals and shuts down his request and hangs up… only she keeps popping up, and finally Ed stumbles onto her band, a quirky indie group called Ed’s Redeeming Qualities (who I am thinking came before the film), they are one of those bands who could only exists in the 90s (ok maybe in the 60s also, but mostly the 90s).

            I need to pause here and talk about the music in the film. The films score is mostly a fun up beat jazz, and are a nice change from the more common string arraignments. The real story here is the songs, which we will get to later this week as I am covering the soundtrack for the Thursday post (there are a couple of film/soundtrack parings that I am going to be covering in the near future)… but sufficient to say that I liked the soundtrack enough that I own it. Callie Thorne, who plays the female half of the duo, acquits herself well as Lee, a musician even taking lead on a song or two.

            I should also add that, the VHS tape starts off very wisely with a ad for the soundtrack --- more videos/DVDs should take the time to advertise the soundtrack, or the books the film is based on or what ever that is tied to the film and not just the other flicks that the company is currently releasing.

            Which leads me to talk about Callie Throne who was the reason that I saw this film in the first place. I have to admit that I was smitten when she arrived on the series Homicide: Life on the Street as former Seattle Detective Ballard. She’s likely best known these days for her roles on The Wire and Rescue Me where she plays an middle age woman who’s life is in flux. Here she is younger, more naive, un jaded, fresh and adorable beyond belief. She’s a charming presence and her performance here is enough to make me wish that she had gotten more opportunities to play these kinds of roles. I also like that just as Ed is socially awkward, she has her moments of less than complete composure.

            Speaking of Ed, he’s played affably by Matt Ross (best known for Big Love), and he also has a presence that makes me wish that he’d been able to play more leading men in light comedies.  I wonder what the entertainment world would be like if he had become the kind of leading man that Matt Damon or Brad Pitt have?  He carries the mid-west kid in the city with just the right touch.  He’s not a complete rube, but has several moments where he’s obviously a stranger in his new world.

            There is a lot of things I could write about the film, but I would just like to point out the comedy bits about relationships that Woody Allen might have included in his early funny roles. There are couple of little asides which are fun in a first season of Six Feet Under way. The film also contains the realist date from hell I have ever seen. It’s not that it is a complete failure because of contrivances, but due to a few little, and very funny moments. I am sure that someone somewhere had once of the reasons happen to them.

             It had not dawned on me that there are a couple elements the film shares with Love and Other Catastrophes. The montage of roommate hunting and the overly verbal women who spend their time at parties going on about some out there theory appear in both films.  There is also a spirit and sense of youthful energy and creativity that carries the few thiner points in the film.

     As with so many of the films from the 90s that I have covered this is very much a time capsule of at time and a place and a way a generation lived and loved…. but really I just want to encourage people to take the time and seek this great flick out, only it’s not on DVD.

Check back Thur for a full review of the soundtrack

26 Films: Bandits

“They Always Wanted to be Famous… They never knew they would be wanted!”

1997  110 Minutes German

As I have noted one of the great things about the VHS world of the 90s was that it was open of foreign films much more so than in the 80s. I don’t know if it was that most of the Hollywood back catalog of note had been mined, or that the indie boom (which was really in a lot of ways like the director driven films of the 70s) opened peoples eyes and wallets to films from other places… but luckily a lot of films made their way into our VCRs.

            Bandits, from Germany was one of those films. The plot is about a band formed in prison that finally gels and when sent out to play a gig at the policeman’s ball manages to escape. After seeing a news report about escaped male prisoners and up set about nothing being said about their escape they call up Blitz TV (a German MTV like channel… I’d watch it) and perform for a camera crew on top of a parking structure and give an interview before fading into the city. This of course brings them to the attention of not only the police who have been looking for them, but the public at large and they find an audience for their alt rock sounds.

 The band is made of up of strong women, most of whom are in prison for standing up to, conning, or fighting back against abusive men in their lives. They each have their own creative side and their own issues, which leads to a dynamic of conflict, but also of creative inspiration. They are not easy people to like and the film never asks the viewers to forgive them for their crimes, or makes them out to be victims of those they committed their acts against.

            Once out of prison and on the run they make plans to escape the country, but have to wait for their boat to leave, and during that time they have a series of adventures which also give them an excuse to play music live, and have musical numbers similar to what was found in classic musicals of the 40s and 50s. It’s worth noting that like Altman’s Nashville the actresses created a large number of the songs they sing and perform in the film.

 I recall liking the film a lot when I saw it back in the 90s and have looked for it on DVD since. Re-watching it now I didn’t love it as much, but I suspect that was due to my own distractions while trying to watch it. I think it’s a solid film and one that I wish more people had latched onto and discovered. It’s a film that really should sit along side Beyond the Valley of the Dolls and Ladies and Gentlemen The Fabulous Stains (and the Running Kind, but we are going to get to that) in showcasing that women can and always have been able to rock, and portraying flawed strong women making their way in a hostile world.

Here is another look at the film over at  Prison Movies  and one from Beyond Hollywood.

26 Films: Kiss Or Kill

Kiss Or Kill

1997

97 Minutes

Somewhere in hell and gone Austriala damaged young grifters Matt Day and Francis O’Conner are working their trade when something goes wrong and they end up with a dead mark. Along with the mark they also end up with a video tape that would be very damaging to a sports celiberty. Now all this is a pretty standeard Noir set up, young people with fucked up lived doing fucked up stuff headed for a fucked up end….. only in case, after a life full of bad descissions, a good one is made, get the hell out of dodge. Thus we have the start of a nice little nourish road film that at once has elements of the Not Quite Hollywood era of austrialian cinema with the great Road Games as a major touchstone, but also the DNA of such well reguarded more current Aussie crime films like Animal Kingdom (and if you saw that and liked it, I recommend that you seek out the amazing Noise).

I saw this film for the first time when it was relased in the states n DVD, I think it was a favorable review from Siskel and Ebert that lead me to the film, but I recalled enjoying it, and likeing at least the not what you expected story. I also really really like the leads, Matt Day has long been one of those actors who I am not sure why he didn’t become a big star in the states. He has a nice presence and great rockabilly hair. If you don’t know his name, I assure you that you have seen his work, as he had a small but pivitoal roll in Muriel’s Wedding.

Francis O’Conner is best known for her work in Mansfield Park in 1999. I think she is super cute and has a presence that is joyful and has a depth. I espically like that while both her charcter and Day’s charcter are damaged, it’s only her trauma that we really get to see and experience… mostly because she is the films narriator and focus. She also gets the silent moments of reflection and doubt in the film.

The rest fo the cast is filled with no one who I recognized, but I want to give a special mention to the pair of cops that are hot on the trail of the progatinists. They have a weird fun chemistery, and there is a moment centering around the eating of Bacon that is right up there with the Sam Jackson and John Trovolta moment in Pulp Fiction. Along the way there is a cast of charcters, a tracker, and the afore mentioned sports celiberty (who gives just a slight Buffllo ’66 feel to the film).

I have to say that I really liked the film a lot, I liked rediscovering it and I liked seeing it in the context of where it stands in the history of Austrialan film. Matt Day and Francis O’Conner will return in a future installment of this series covering one of my favorite over looked 90s gems…. A film where O’Conner plays the grilfrind of Radda Mitchel… but we will get to that soon enough. Sufficide to say that I think that this film got it’s US release because of the same interest in odd ball crime films that allowed I Went Down a release, as far as I can tell there isn’t a US domestic DVD or Bluray release, but it’s still worth seeking out.

26 films: Shame

Shame

1987

95 Minutes

Shame is one of those films that I picked up because it sounded like a interesting little exploitation flick. The plot is pretty simple; Asta Cadell is out driving her motorcycle though the back roads of Australia when she stops to fix her bike she gets caught up in the gender and class politics of the town she has landed in. She is treated with hostility by the locals at first, but slowly becomes friendly with several of them, including Lizzy the daughter of the mechanic she has been staying with. Lizzy has been date raped, and many in the town seem to think that she deserved. Asta at first just wants to be on her way, but finds that she is has been pulled into the gender dynamics of the town, and steps up and encourages Lizzy to bring charges.

The film moves along pretty swiftly, and despite a more than a little melodrama comes to a conclusion without over staying it’s welcome. In many ways it is a time capsule of a time and a place. The attitude of many adults towards the victim of the date rape is of the puritanical 80s blame the victim variety that might seem out of date, but I am sure is still held in many quarters. There is also an undercurrent of class privilege threaded through the film, as the main date rapists is son of local factory owners. This element isn’t really explored very deeply, but is simply acknowledged.

Over all I was underwhelmed by the film, although I give it points for tackling the subject of date rape. I also liked that it was a strong female who is able to inspire the young women of the town to stand up for themselves. That said I don’t know that I am going to revisit it any time soon.

26 Films Boiling Point

Boiling Point, 1992

93 minutes

Tag line: He’s a Cop that has reached the… Boling Point

The boiling point of lead is 2022 K and the boiling point of Treasury agent Jimmy Mercer is the murder of one of the agents on his team. The box art for my VHS copy of this film we see Wesley Snipes with his Smith and Wesson Model 13 .357 Magnum pointed outward, his badge barely visible below the pistol. The image is very telling. It’s an outdated duty weapon (or thought to be) from an outdated era of Law Enforcement, or I should say the dregs of the era, as the torch was being passed from the Greatest Generation to their children and the madness of the 80s and 90s.

This is a noir via the James Ellroy explanation of Noir as being ‘Your Fucked!’. The criminals are going to get caught, but so are the treasury agents who after a buy goes wrong find themselves with just 24 hours to catch the killers. In many ways it’s a throwback and a different era of crime film.

The film stars a very miscast Wesley Snipes who can’t seem to pull off the world weary at the end of his rope treasury agent. It’s not that Snipes is bad in the film, just that the role really calls for someone more gritty more worn out.

On the other hand the late Dennis Hopper is perfect as the recently released old school con man with big plans and big ideas. He’s a man out of time a man who has been passed by and who has at least a idea of what is right and wrong. Stealing the film is Viggo Mortensen, playing a psycho thug, the new breed.

The film unfolds as Red and Mercer are set on a path to collide. Along the way the film drags a bit in the middle and there is a muddled sub plot or two that get a little more screen time then they should. Over all it is a solid B Crime film with a couple of great moments, including a final shot that is one of the most pure noir moments in film during the 90s.

This will be on the test

11 VHS tapes (most of which are not on DVD.... as far as I know) that I picked up for $2 each. Some that I saw back in the day, some that I have heard of and some that just looked like they were worth checking out