Review: "American Graffiti" is Still Crusin' to Rock 'n' Roll 50 Years On

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 45 of 2023 (No. 1934) by Leroy Douresseaux

American Graffiti (1973)

Running time:  110 minutes (1 hour, 50 minutes)

MPAA – PG

DIRECTOR:  George Lucas

WRITERS:  George Lucas and Gloria Katz & Willard Huyck

PRODUCERS:  Francis Ford Coppola and Gary Kurtz

CINEMATOGRAPHERS:  Jan D'Alquen (D.o.P.) and Ron Eveslage (D.o.P.)

EDITORS:  Verna Fields and Marcia Lucas

Academy Award nominee

DRAMA/HISTORICAL/MUSIC

Starring:  Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, Wolfman Jack, Bo Hopkins, Manuel Padilla Jr., Beau Gentry, and Harrison Ford

American Graffiti is a 1973 coming-of-age, music-driven, comedy and drama film directed by George Lucas.  Lucas, who co-wrote the screenplay with the husband and wife team of Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz, based the story on his experiences in the cruising, and street-racing, and rock 'n' roll cultures of his youth.  American Graffiti focuses on a group of teenagers and their adventures over the course of one summer night in 1962.

American Graffiti opens in the Summer 1962.  The location is California's central valley, apparently in and around the city of Modesto.  There, through a series of vignettes, we watch as a group of teenagers enjoy the last evening of their summer vacation.

For recent high school graduates and friends, Curtis “Curt” Henderson (Richard Dreyfuss) and Steve Bolander (Ronny Howard), this is their last night in town before they board a plane the next day and go “back east” for college.  Steve doesn't believe that he can achieve the goals his wants by staying home, even if leaving means parting from his girlfriend, Curt's sister, Laurie (Cindy Williams).  However, Curt, who has recently received scholarship money from a local business group, isn't sure that he wants to leave.  Besides, tonight, he wants to chase the mystery woman who has caught his eye, a blonde driving a white Ford Thunderbird.

Curt and Steve's two friends are also having a big night.  The first is John Milner (Paul Le Mat), the central valley drag-racing king.  He has just learned that someone wants to challenge him for his crown, a confident ladies' man named Bob Falfa (Harrison Ford).  Meanwhile, the second character is the unpopular, but well-meaning Terry “The Toad” Fields (Charlie Martin Smith), who has just come into possession of Steve's car.  He is supposed to protect it until Steve returns from “back east” for Christmas.  Tonight, however, Terry hopes the car will help him land a date.  Meanwhile, in the background, the popular disc jockey, Wolfman Jack (himself), plays an array of rock 'n' roll hits.

As “DVD Netflix” prepares to shutdown, I've been racing to catch up on certain films that I have never seen or have not seen in a long time.  I recently decided to sample some films in which 2023 is the fiftieth anniversary of their original theatrical releases.  That includes such films as Walt Disney's Robin Hood, (hopefully)Woody Allen's Sleeper, and the Bruce Lee classic, Enter the Dragon.

As a kid, I was aware of American Graffiti long before I ever saw it.  I was and still am a huge fan of American Graffiti director, George Lucas's most famous film, Star Wars (1977).  So, as a kid, I read every article I could find about Star Wars, and they often mentioned his two earlier feature-length films, THX-1138 (1971) and American Graffiti.  [I also vaguely remember the release of the sequel, More American Graffiti.]

I also knew that a few film and television stars that I liked had starred or appeared in American Graffiti, specifically Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, and Harrison Ford.  Besides that fact that American Graffiti was a George Lucas movie, Ford was the other reason I most wanted to see the film.

I finally first saw American Graffiti on television, and though my memory is hazy on the facts, I'm sure I saw it at least a few years after the release of the sequel.  I remember liking it, enough that I planned on watching it again.  Decades later, this recent viewing is the first time that I've seen the film since that first viewing.

I still like it a lot.  I'm still a fan of Ford, Howard, and Dreyfuss, and along the way, I became a fan of some of its other young stars, including Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, and the recently-deceased Bo Hopkins (1938-2022).  The truth is that I'm crazy about the Hollywood icon, Harrison Ford, and, as for as I'm concerned, any movie with Ron Howard and Charles Martin Smith as actors is cinematic porn.  [Both Howard and Smith are also film directors.]

Watching the film this time, I was initially annoyed by Lucas' method of telling this story in a series of vignettes that constantly moved from one character to the next.  The film essentially has four plots that revolve around one of four characters, Curt, Steve, John, or Terry.  It took me nearly half the film to realize that the vignettes allow Lucas to depict and to reveal each one of these four young men's goals, conflicts, and fears.  This depiction of their inner selves makes them more interesting to me.  Not only did I root for them, but I also wanted to know more about them.  I wanted to know what was going to happen to them, both in the immediate and far future.

American Graffiti apparently helped launch a wave of nostalgia for and interest in the culture and times of the 1950s and early 1960s or at least an idealized, trouble free, white-washed version of it.  The film apparently renewed the ABC network's interest in what would become one of its most popular sitcoms, “Happy Days” (1974-84).  That long-running and popular television series also presented an idealized, trouble free, white-washed version of the 1950s and early 1960s.

Thus, as much as I enjoyed this viewing of American Graffiti, and as much as I'm interested in its characters, I done with it.  I'm not done with its lovely soundtrack – played in the background so that both the characters and audiences can hear these early classics of rock 'n' roll.  These musical recordings make this special night in the summer of 1962 really special.  Still, American Graffiti is an ode to George Lucas' memories.  It is a cinematic dream he fashioned from the varied experiences of his privileged youth.  I don't really relate to it the way I do other films that are also far from my experiences – such as The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) or Licorice Pizza (2021).

I wouldn't call American Graffiti a great film, so much as I'd call it a unique and important American film.  Why is it important?  Well, American Graffiti is a prime example of the fantasies that the Hollywood dream factory can make of real moments in time.  It's George Lucas' story – his story – presented as a fairy tale about one unforgettable night that will never be repeated.

8 of 10

A

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Thursday, September 28, 2023

You can buy the American Graffiti film and soundtrack at AMAZON.

NOTES:

1974 Academy Awards, USA:  5 nominations: “Best Picture” (Francis Ford Coppola and Gary Kurtz), “Best Actress in a Supporting Role” (Candy Clark), “Best Director” (George Lucas), “Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced” (George Lucas Gloria Katz, and Willard Huyck), and “Best Film Editing” (Verna Fields and Marcia Lucas)

1975 BAFTA Awards:  1 nomination: “Best Supporting Actress” (Cindy Williams)

1974 Golden Globes, USA:  2 wins:  “Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” or “Most Promising Newcomer – Male” (Paul Le Mat); 2 nominations: “Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical” (Richard Dreyfuss) and “Best Director - Motion Picture” (George Lucas)

1995 National Film Preservation Board, USA:  “National Film Registry”

The text is copyright © 2023 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: Steven Spielberg's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (Countdown to "The Fabelmans")

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 64 of 2022 (No. 1876) by Leroy Douresseaux

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Running time:  135 minutes (2 hour, 15 minutes)
MPAA – PG
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Steven Spielberg
PRODUCERS:  Julia Phillips and Michael Phillips
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Vilmos Zsigmond (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Michael Kahn
COMPOSER:  John Williams
Academy Award winner

SCI-FI/ADVENTURE/MYSTERY/DRAMA

Starring:  Richard Dreyfuss, François Truffaut, Terri Garr, Melinda Dillon, Bob Balaban, and Cary Guffey

Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a 1977 science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg.  The film follows an everyday blue-collar worker from Indiana who has a life-changing encounter with a UFO and then, embarks on a cross-country journey to the place where a momentous event is to occur.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind opens in the Sonoran Desert.  There, French scientist Claude Lacombe (François Truffaut), his American interpreter, David Laughlin (Bob Balaban), and a group of other researchers make a shocking discovery regarding a three-decade-old mystery.

Then, the film introduces Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss), an rural electrical lineman living in Muncie, Indiana with his wife, Ronnie (Terri Garr), and their three children.  One night, while working on a power outage, Roy has a “close encounter” with a UFO (unidentified flying object).  The encounter is so intense that the right side of Roy's face is lightly burned, and it also becomes a kind of metaphysical experience for Roy.  He becomes fascinated with the UFO and obsessed with some kind of mountain-like image that won't leave his mind.

Roy isn't the only one who has had a close encounter.  Single mother Jillian Guiler (Melinda Dillon) watches in horror as her three-year-old son, Barry Guiler (Cary Guffey), is abducted, apparently by a UFO.  Now, Roy and Jillian are headed to a place they have never been, Devils Tower in Moorcroft, Wyoming, where they will hopefully find answers to the questions plaguing their minds.

As I await the release of Steven Spielberg's semi-autobiographical film, The Fabelmans, I have been re-watching and, in some cases, watching for the first time, Spielberg's early films.  Thus far, I have watched Duel (the TV film that first got Spielberg noticed), The Sugarland Express (his debut theatrical film), and Jaws (which I have seen countless times).  I did not see Close Encounters of the Third Kind when it first arrived in movie theaters, but I finally got to watch it when it debuted on television.  I recently watched a DVD release of what is known as Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Special Edition, a shortened (132 minutes long compared to the original's 135 minutes) and altered version of the film that Columbia Pictures released in August 1980.

The truth is that I have never been as crazy about Close Encounters of the Third Kind the way I have been about such Spielberg's films as Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Jurassic Park.  I liked Close Encounters the first time I saw it (a few years after its theatrical release), but I had expected a lot from it after hearing such wonderful things about the film from acquaintances who had seen it in a theater.  I was a bit underwhelmed,.  I liked Close Encounters, but was not “wowed” by it, and was less so the second time I saw it a few years after the first time.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a combination of science fiction, adventure, drama, and mystery.  The drama works, especially when Spielberg depicts the trouble that Roy Neary's obsession causes his family and also the terror of the “attack” on Jillian Guiler and her son, Barry.  Roy's adventure and journey are quite captivating and result in the events of the film's final half hour, which is the part of the film that many consider to be marvelous.  Close Encounters' last act certainly offers an impressive display of special effects and a dazzling light show.

I am attracted to the sense of wonder and discovery that infuses much of Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  I think my problem is that it seems like three movies in one:  Claude Lacombe and Davie Laughlin's story, Roy's story, and the the big “close encounter” at Devils Tower.  None of them really gets the time to develop properly, so the film's overall narrative and also the character development are somewhat shallow.  There is a lot to like about Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and it is an impressive display of Spielberg's filmmaking skills.  However, I am done with it.  I don't need to see it again, although I am a huge fan of UFO-related media.  I simply cannot warm to Close Encounters of the Third Kind the way I have with other Spielberg films.

7 of 10
B+
★★★½ out of 4 stars

Thursday, October 27, 2022


NOTES:
1978 Academy Awards, USA:  2 wins: “Best Cinematography” (Vilmos Zsigmond) and a “Special Achievement Award” (Frank E. Warner for sound effects editing); 7 nominations: “Best Actress in a Supporting Role” (Melinda Dillon), “Best Director” (Steven Spielberg), “Best Art Direction-Set Decoration” (Joe Alves, Daniel A. Lomino, and Phil Abramson), “Best Sound” (Robert Knudson, Robert Glass, Don MacDougall, and Gene S. Cantamessa), “Best Film Editing” (Michael Kahn), “Best Effects, Visual Effects” (Roy Arbogast, Douglas Trumbull, Matthew Yuricich, Gregory Jein, and Richard Yuricich), and “Best Music, Original Score” (John Williams)

1979 BAFTA Awards:  1 win: Best Production Design/Art Direction (Joe Alves); 8 nominations: “Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music” (John Williams); “BAFTA Film Award     Best Cinematography” (Vilmos Zsigmond), “Best Direction” (Steven Spielberg), “Best Film,” “Best Film Editing” (Michael Kahn), “Best Screenplay” (Steven Spielberg), “Best Sound” (Gene S. Cantamessa, Robert Knudson, Don MacDougall, Robert Glass, Stephen Katz, Frank E. Warner, Richard Oswald, David M. Horton, Sam Gemette, Gary S. Gerlich, Chester Slomka, and Neil Burrow), and “Best Supporting Actor? (François Truffaut)

1978 Golden Globes, USA:  4 nominations: “Best Motion Picture – Drama,” “Best Director - Motion Picture” (Steven Spielberg), “Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Steven Spielberg), and “Best Original Score - Motion Picture” (John Williams)

2007 National Film Preservation Board, USA:  1 win: “National Film Registry”


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site or blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: Steven Spielberg's "JAWS" is Still Hungry For Your Ass (Countdown to "The Fabelmans")

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 54 of 2022 (No. 1866) by Leroy Douresseaux

Jaws (1975)
Running time:  124 minutes (2 hours, 4 minutes)
Rated – PG by the Classification and Ratings Administration
DIRECTOR:  Steven Spielberg
WRITERS: Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb (based on the novel by Peter Benchley)
PRODUCERS:  David Brown and Richard D. Zanuck
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Bill Butler (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Verna Fields
COMPOSER:  John Williams
Academy Award winner

DRAMA/THRILLER/ADVENTURE

Starring:  Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert Shaw, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Carl Gottlieb, Jeffrey Kramer, Chris Rebello, Jay Mello, Lee Fierro, Jeffrey Voorhees, Robert Nevin, and Susan Backlinie

Jaws is a 1974 adventure drama and thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg.  The film is based on the 1974 novel, Jaws, by author Peter Benchley, who also wrote (with Carl Gottlieb) the screenplay adapting his novel. Jaws the film is set in and around a beach community that is dealing with a killer shark and focuses on the police chief who leads a team to hunt down and kill the creature.

Jaws opens in the New England beach town of Amity Island.  During a nighttime beach party, a young woman, Christine “Chrissie” Watkins (Susan Backlinie), goes skinny dipping in the ocean.  While treading water, something unseen attacks Chrissie and pulls her under the water,  The next day, local police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) and Deputy Hendricks (Jeffrey Kramer) find the partial remains of Chrissie's body on the shore of the beach.

The medical examiner concludes that Chrissie died due to a shark attack.  Still, Amity's Mayor Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) is more concerned with the town's summer economy, which is wholly reliant on tourism, and does not want the beaches closed.  Then, the fact that a shark, specifically a “great white shark,” is hunting the waters off the island becomes reality when the shark attacks and kills a boy named Alex Kintner (Jeffrey Voorhees).

After another attack, Chief Brody takes matters into his own hands.  He joins Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss), a marine biologist who specializes in shark, and Quint (Robert Shaw), a crusty old shark fisherman, on a seafaring mission to hunt and kill the shark.  But that mission proves more difficult than any of the many realized.

I have seen Jaws so many times that I have lost count.  Still, the movie seems eternally fresh to me, in a semi-sepia tone kind of way.  Jaws fascinates me because it seems to me, at least, to be like three short films merged into one film.  The first section introduces the shark attacks and Chief Brody's misgivings and investigations.  The second section pits Brody against the town fathers, led by money grubber, Mayor Vaughn, who want the beaches open at all cost.  The film's final section focuses on the boys' adventure of Brody, Matt Hooper, and Quint going shark-hunting and ending up being the hunted.  As much as I enjoy the film's final act, I find the first section of the film to be the most intriguing because of its sense of mystery.  What is really beneath the waves, coming up to chomp on young folks?

Jaws is essentially the prototypical summer blockbuster, a kind of film that is designed to get as many people into movie theaters and chomping on popcorn and guzzling soda.  The blockbuster, especially the summer kind, is the cinema of the sensations:  thrills and chills to make the viewer's body tingle and get the heart racing.  The bracing action scenes keep the viewer on the edge of his or her seat.  Steven Spielberg turned out to be the perfect director of summer blockbusters – at least for awhile.  He could press all our emotional buttons and ensnare our imaginations so that all we thought about was what he wanted us to think about – for two or so hours.

Still, Spielberg's prodigious skills as a filmmaker are evident.  He is a superb film artist and a consummate cinematic entertainer.  He gets the best out of his cast and crew and creatives – from composer John Williams' iconic and ominous shark-presence theme to Bill Butler's expansive cinematography that turns this movie into a vista of natural wonders.  Plus, Spielberg allows his talented cast to really show their dramatic chops, especially Richard Dreyfuss as Matt Hooper and Richard Shaw as Quint.  Even Lorraine Gary gets to make the most of her moments as Ellen Brody.

If I am honest, however, Spielberg has a co-captain on this ship.  Roy Scheider (1932-2008) brings the film together and at times, holds it together.  Steady as a rock, Chief Brody epitomizes the small town law man who has to save the town not only from the bad guy – a shark in this instance – but also from themselves.  I think serious movie lovers and film fans recognize both the breath and depth of Scheider's talent and that he was a mesmerizing film presence.  If Jaws is the film that shot Spielberg's career into the stratosphere like a rocket, Scheider can certainly be described as the rocket booster.

9 of 10
A+
★★★★+ out of 4 stars

Friday, September 23, 2022


NOTES:
1976 Academy Awards, USA:  3 wins:  “Best Sound” (Robert L. Hoyt, Roger Heman Jr., Earl Madery, and John R. Carter), “Best Film Editing” (Verna Fields), and “Best Music, Original Dramatic Score” (John Williams); 1 nomination: “Best Picture” (Richard D. Zanuck and David Brown)

1976 BAFTA Awards:  1 win: “Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music” (John Williams for Jaws and also The Towering Inferno); 6 nominations: “Best Actor”(Richard Dreyfuss), “Best Direction” (Steven Spielberg), “Best Film,” “Best Film Editing” (Verna Fields), “Best Screenplay” (Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb), and “Best Sound Track” (John R. Carter and Robert L. Hoyt)

1976 Golden Globes, USA:  1 win: “Best Original Score - Motion Picture” (John Williams); 3 nominations: “Best Motion Picture – Drama,” (Best Screenplay - Motion Picture” (Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb), and “Best Director - Motion Picture” (Steven Spielberg)

2001 National Film Preservation Board, USA:  1 win: “National Film Registry”


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site or blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: "James and the Giant Peach" a Delight

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 105 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

James and the Giant Peach (1996)
Running time: 79 minutes (1 hour, 19 minutes)
MPAA – PG for some frightening images
DIRECTOR: Henry Selick
WRITERS: Karey Kirkpatrick, Jonathan Roberts, Steve Bloom (based upon the book by Roald Dahl)
PRODUCERS: Denise Di Novi and Tim Burton
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Hiro Narita (live action) and Pete Kozachik (animation)
EDITOR: Stan Webb
COMPOSER: Randy Newman
Academy Award nominee

FANTASY/ANIMATION/MUSICAL and ADVENTURE/COMEDY/FAMILY

Starring: Paul Terry, Simon Callow, Richard Dreyfuss, Jane Leeves, Joanna Lumley, Miriam Margolyes, Pete Postlethwaite, Susan Sarandon, and David Thewlis

The subject of this movie review is James and the Giant Peach, a 1996 British-American stop-motion animation film and musical fantasy from director Henry Selick. The film is a co-production of Walt Disney Pictures and the British film production company, Allied Filmmakers.

Stop-motion animation director Henry Selick followed up his 1993 collaboration with Tim Burton, The Nightmare Before Christmas, with James and the Giant Peach. Based upon a children’s book by Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Matilda), James and the Giant Peach is a mixture of live-action film and stop-motion animation.

While not as well done as Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach is a beautiful film full of flights of fancy and imagination, and Randy Newman’s Oscar-nominated score (“Best Music – Original Musical or Comedy Score”) provides the delightful backdrop and joyous songs to carry the narrative forward. This film is also more for children than Nightmare Before Christmas (which has a large cult following among adults), but the magic of the filmmaking will still impress older viewers.

After a rogue rhinoceros kills his parents, James (Paul Terry) is forced to live with his nasty Aunt Spiker (Joanna Lumley) and Aunt Sponge (Miriam Margolyes), who make him work hard, go hungry, and bar him from having any fun, but when magic causes a giant peach to grow in his aunts’ backyard, James climbs inside the massive fruit to find adventure (at this point the film goes from live action to stop-motion animation). He befriends a group of giant insects that used to live in his yard; the same magic that grew the peach has made them human-like. Together with his new friends, James embarks on a great adventure to the place his parents had planned to take him, New York City.

Paul Terry is strong and engaging as the film’s central character, and the voiceovers are a treat. Listen for Richard Dreyfuss’ delightful turn as the brash and pugnacious Centipede.

7 of 10
A-

July 3, 2005

NOTES:
1997 Academy Awards, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Music, Original Musical or Comedy Score” (Randy Newman)

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Review: Fun "Piranha" Paints the Town Red

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 7 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux

Piranha (2010)
Running time: 88 minutes (1 hour, 28 minutes)
MPAA – R for sequences of strong bloody horror violence and gore, graphic nudity, sexual content, language and some drug use
DIRECTOR: Alexandre Aja
WRITERS: Peter Goldfinger and Josh Stolberg
PRODUCERS: Alexandre Aja, Mark Canton, Grégory Levasseur, and Marc Toberoff
CINEMATOGRAPHER: John R. Leonetti
EDITOR: Baxter

HORROR/COMEDY/THRILLER

Starring: Elisabeth Shue, Ving Rhames, Steven R. McQueen, Jessica Szohr, Adam Scott, Jerry O’Connell, Kelly Brook, Riley Steele, Christopher Lloyd, Eli Roth, Brooklynn Proulx, Sage Ryan, and Richard Dreyfuss

It was called “Piranha 3D” when it was released last summer, but Piranha, the latest film from horror movie director, Alexandre Aja, is a remake. In 1978, director Joe Dante unleashed a campy horror flick entitled Piranha that was a spoof of Steve Spielberg’s Jaws. I didn’t see the new film in 3D, but I doubt I would have liked it more if I had seen it in 3D instead of the way I did – regular D on DVD.

It’s Spring Break on Lake Victoria in Arizona. Scantily clad girls are shaking their melon-like ta-ta’s, swinging their curvy hips, and bouncing their ample asses. Strangely, as healthy as the girls look, the guys are scrawny, but they will still provide good meat for the waterborne death soon to come.

Sheriff Julie Forester (Elisabeth Shue) has her hands full trying to maintain order with an influx of rowdy college students. What she doesn’t know is that a small earthquake has split open the floor of Lake Victoria. From that chasm, a school of piranha has emerged from a subterranean lake. Sheriff Forester’s son, Jake (Steven R. McQueen), envies the fun everyone has while he has to baby sit his younger sister, Laura (Brooklyn Proulx), and younger brother, Zane (Sage Ryan). Fate has other plans for Jake, his family, his friends, and the visitors to Lake Victoria. The piranha are about to turn the lake into a bloody, killing field.

After the first 20 minutes or so of Piranha, I wanted everybody to die (even the two Forester children) because the movie seemed like it was going to be a disaster. By the time the piranhas really begin their killing spree, I was cheering this movie on and fretting over the fact that, at 88 minutes long, the movie would be over fairly quickly. As far as filmmaking merit goes, Piranha is trash, but as a horror movie willing to deliver bloody mayhem, it is pretty successful.

As a comic horror movie, Piranha is also winning, which isn’t all that common among films that mix comedy and horror. Director Alexandre Aja and his writers take the Spring Break movie set on the water and the wall-to-wall gore of a George Romero zombie movie and mix them into a death-by-trauma spectacular. There is so much blood in this movie that it often looks as if someone set off a cherry jello dirty bomb. The underwater shots of piranha pulling eyeballs out of sockets and stripping off flesh like pulled pork thrilled me – with my gleeful laughing as my own personal soundtrack.

Some viewers will consider Piranha a guilty pleasure. Others will wish more horror comedies could deliver the bloody goods the way Piranha does.

5 of 10
B-

Friday, January 21, 2011

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"Red" is Riotous, Entertaining and Damn-good

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 100 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

Red (2010)
Running time: 111 minutes (1 hour, 51 minutes)
MPAA – R for intense sequences of action violence and brief strong language
DIRECTOR: Robert Schwentke
WRITERS: Jon Hoeber and Erich Hoeber (based upon the graphic novel by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner)
PRODUCERS: Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Florian Ballhaus
EDITOR: Thom Noble

ACTION/COMEDY with elements of drama and romance

Starring: Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Mary-Louise Parker, John Malkovich, Helen Mirren, Karl Urban, Brian Cox, Richard Dreyfuss, Rebecca Pidgeon, Julian McMahon, Jacqueline Fleming, James Remar, and Ernest Borgnine

Bruce Willis is one of the world’s biggest movie stars of the last quarter century. Perhaps, that status makes people forget that not only is Willis a great action movie star, but he is also a fine actor, also comfortable with character drama and comedy. At least, I think so. In his recent, Fall-released action comedy, Red (based upon the comic book miniseries of the same name by Warren Ellis and Cully Hammer), Willis shows all his sides – subtle drama, deadpan humor, and action flick stud.

Red focuses on Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), a former black-ops CIA agent living a quite, idyllic life of retirement in the suburbs. When he feels lonely, he chats with Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker), a customer service agent at the office that sends out Frank’s pension checks. When an assassin squad comes gunning for him, however, Frank is forced to go on the run, with Sarah in tow. Frank is RED – retired, extremely dangerous, and someone powerful wants him dead. Frank needs answers.

To survive, Frank tracks down members of his old black-ops squad. There is his old mentor, Joe Matheson (Morgan Freeman), living in a retirement home in New Orleans, someone who can give Frank information. Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich) is a paranoid conspiracy theorist, who can give him more information. Victoria (Helen Mirren), a wetwork agent (assassin), can give comfort and aid. Then, there is William Cooper (Karl Urban), who is the CIA agent assigned to hunt and kill Frank. Cooper is kind of like a younger version of Frank, and he won’t let anything stop him.

Red is one of those films that can be described as “a non-stop thrill ride,” which it is for the most part. The car chases, shootouts, fights, and other action scenes are quite good, and often funny, not because they are parody, but because the action always manages to embody the absurdity of this story.

The characters are okay, but the actors are the ones that make them better. Performers like Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, and John Malkovich are so good that they can both give life to flat characters and play up the comic aspects of a scene or situation with ease. They make the often-extremely violent Red seem witty and effervescent. Yes, even Bruce Willis has done this kind of character (the killer) in other movies (like The Whole Nine Yards), but here, he is cool like a movie star should be. This is the kind of movie that needs a movie star lead, and Willis provides that.

Red is not perfect. Sometimes, it doesn’t know if it wants to be extremely dangerous or extremely funny, but action comedies like this: more snarky than smart and filled with comic violence that actually looks like real action movie violence, don’t come around often enough. Red is probably the best action comedy of the year.

7 of 10
B+

Monday, December 06, 2010