The Flesh Eaters of Lucio Fulci's "Zombie" Still Scary

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 168 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux


Zombi 2 (1979)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Italy
Zombie (1980) – U.S. release
Running time: 91 minutes (1 hour, 31 minutes)
MPAA – R for horror violence/gore and nudity
DIRECTOR: Lucio Fulci
WRITER: Elisa Briganti (Dardano Sacchetti, uncredited)
PRODUCERS: Fabrizio De Angelis and Ugo Tucci
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Sergio Salvati
EDITOR: Vincenzo Tomassi

HORROR

Starring: Tisa Farrow, Ian McCulloch, Richard Johnson, Al Cliver, Auretta Gay, Stefania D’Amario, Olga Karlatos, Ugo Bologna, and Dakkar

The Italian film, Zombi 2, was made to capitalize on George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead (1978), which was titled Zombi for its Italian release. The filmmakers tried to make Zombi 2 kind of a sequel to Romero’s DOTD, which is apparently why Zombi 2’s opening and closing scenes are set in New York City.

A flesh hungry ghoul murders a New York harbor patrolman aboard an abandoned yacht. Anne (Tisa Farrow), the daughter of the yacht’s missing owner, teams up (reluctantly, at first) with newspaper reporter, Peter West (Ian McCulloch), for a private investigation into Anne’s father’s whereabouts. They eventually travel to a small Caribbean island where the dead apparently refuse to stay dead, and join up with a vacationing couple for the trip to the island.

Dr. David Menard (Richard Johnson), who runs an island hospital out of an abandoned church, is allegedly trying to find a scientific cause for why the dead walk. His wife believes Dr. Menard’s experiments are the cause for the walking dead. The natives (whom we never see) apparently believe that the zombies are the result of a voodoo curse wrought by an unseen voodoo priest somewhere in the island’s interior. Either way, Anne, Peter, and a couple who helps them get to the island must fight the ever-increasing number of blood thirsty zombies if they are to survive the zombies.

Zombie (its American release title) is a creepy and chilling (especially at the end) old-fashioned zombie movie that is as good as anything outside Romero’s original trilogy. It features some of the best zombie makeup I’ve ever seen, and these zombies, made up to look as if they were way into a state of decay, or probably the scariest looking zombies you’ll see on screen. The film’s problems, however, are major. The characters are ciphers; we don’t know much about them or get to know them, and it’s hard to sympathize with them beyond hoping that they don’t become zombie snacks. The plot is simple, but the script is a clumsy attempt to get from one scary scene to the next. Still, I recommend this to fans of zombie movies and horror films in general because the creature makeup and costumes make these zombies convincing ghouls and this film an effective fright flick.

5 of 10
B-

Review: "Blades of Glory" Spoofs Sports and Figure Skating

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 61 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

Blades of Glory (2007)
Running time: 93 minutes (1 hour, 33 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, language, a comic violent image, and some drug references
DIRECTORS: Will Speck & Josh Gordon
WRITERS: Jeff Cox & Craig Cox and John Altschuler & Dave Krinsky; from a story by Craig Cox & Jeff Cox and Busy Philipps
PRODUCERS: Ben Stiller, Stuart Cornfeld, and John Jacobs
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Stefan Czapsky, ASC
EDITOR: Richard Pearson

COMEDY/SPORT

Starring: Will Ferrell, John Heder, Will Arnett, Amy Poehler, Craig T. Nelson, William Fichtner, Jenna Fischer, Romany Malco, Nick Swardson, Rob Corddry, Scott Hamilton, and Jim Lampley

In his latest comedy juggernaut, Blades of Glory, Will Ferrell joins rising comedy star Jon Heder in a story of a pair of rivals who clown themselves out of their chosen sport and end up stripped of their gold medals. As he usually is, Ferrell’s at the very top of his game, and even Heder adds a new flavor to his own routine.

Male figure skaters Chazz Michael Michaels (Will Ferrell) and Jimmy MacElroy (Jon Heder) are champions on the ice and fierce rivals on and off the ice, and their feud is coming to a head at the World Championships. Michaels is a swaggering, macho rock star who skates hard and loves and leaves his female fans in his wake. MacElroy is a driven former child prodigy and the only competitor who can match Micheals’ scores. The personal project of wealthy champion athlete-maker, Darren MacElroy (William Fichtner), Jimmy is all poise and technical brilliance. When Chazz and Jimmy’s bitter rivalry erupts into a no-holds-barred fight, the ensuing brawl sets the World Championship’s helpless mascot on fire. Called before figure skating’s governing board, the pair are stripped of their gold medals and banned from the sport for life.

Three and half years later, both men are struggling to find their way without competitive skating. Jimmy’s old mentor, Coach (Craig T. Nelson, playing to the slapstick hilt the kind of role for which he’s best known) has a revolutionary idea. There is a loophole that will allow Chazz and Jimmy to return to skating, but only in pairs figure skating. With the help of dance teacher, Jesse (Romany Malco, surprisingly adept at creating characters), Coach whips the enemies into shape. In spite of their festering hatred for one another, Chazz and Jimmy become the first male/male figure skating pair. The sport’s not quite ready for them, and neither are the reigning gold medal team of brother and sister, Stranz and Fairchild Van Waldenberg (Will Arnett and Amy Poehler). The duo’s sister, Katie (Jenna Fischer), however is ready for Jimmy, and they’re all headed for a showdown at the World Wintersports Games.

I never expected Blade of Glory to make me laugh so much, but I certainly felt happy after seeing it. It’s one of those films where everything seems to come together. This is a good script pokes fun at a sub-culture that has many ardent supporters, but also a perhaps even larger group of people who deride it, which describes figure skating. The script fell into the hands of a directing team, Will Speck & Josh Gordon (of the Geico Insurance Cavemen TV commercials), that understands the rhythms and timing necessary to make a great comic film. Even costume designer Julie Weiss creates attire, gear, and uniforms that perfectly captures the flashy over-the-top grandeur of skating and mixes in costumes that lampoon the sports innate ostentatious flair.

Great comedy, however, needs great comedians, and Blades of Glory has that. Will Ferrell has the resilience of a Spartan when it comes to fashioning ridiculous comic creations and then sustaining them for the duration of a film shoot. Chazz Michael Micheals is Ferrell’s typical deadpan moron who is completely oblivious to how much he annoys and irritates everyone around him, and like Ferrell’s other film creations, Michaels is a riot. Jon Heder seems to have dug himself into a hole playing the lovable nerd, but he spins Jimmy MacElroy giving him the confidence of a champion athlete, as well as the lovable nerdy innocence we’ve come to expect from a Heder character.

The rest of the cast is equally good. Will Arnett and Amy Poehler are pure, mad genius as the creepy and evil Van Waldenbergs. Jenna Fischer takes what could have been a one-note character and makes her fun by giving Katie Van Waldenberg spice and a bit of edge. Even the announcing team of real-life skating champion Scott Hamilton and veteran TV sports announcer Jim Lampley add a touch of dry humor and drool wit in their deadpan delivery as the color commentators.

Still, I’m astounded that Blades of Glory made me laugh so much. Maybe this is what happens when a talented comic cast joins the right creative team and crew. They make a comedy be what it should be – as funny as possible.

8 of 10
A

Tuesday, April 03, 2007

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Disney Cartoon Short "Aquamania" Has Goofy Dad

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 57 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

Aquamania (1961)
Running time: 8 minutes
DIRECTOR: Wolfgang Reitherman
WRITERS: story by Vancy Gerry and Ralph Wright
PRODUCER: Walt Disney
LAYOUT ARTISTS: Dale Barnhart and Basil Davidovich
ANIMATORS: John Lounsbery, Dick Lucas, Dan MacManus, John Sibley, and Art Stevens
BACKGROUND ARTIST: Ralph Hulett
Academy Award nominee

SHORT/ANIMATION/COMEDY/FAMILY

Starring: (voice) Pinto Colvig

Disney’s cartoon short, Aquamania, was a 1962 Oscar nominee in the category of “Best Short Subject, Cartoons” (with the nomination going to Walt Disney). Goofy is Mr. X (Pinto Colvig), a suburban husband and father who is also an “aquamaniac,” which as the narrator informs us is a boat aficionado. One weekend, Mr. X takes his son, Junior, to the beach for an afternoon of boating. However, Mr. X and son inadvertently end up in a water ski race, and an unlucky octopus gets dragged along on Mr. X’s wild ride.

Aquamania is a Chuck Jones-influenced short, but the animation isn’t nearly as pretty as Disney cartoon shorts that the company released less than a decade earlier. There is, however, outstanding animation in terms of physical comedy and also the animation of characters and objects in rapid and constant motion. The torturous obstacle course through which the filmmakers put Goofy is a wacky wonder.

7 of 10
B+

Friday, March 30, 2007

Review: "Zoolander" is Smart and Silly

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 4 (of 2001) by Leroy Douresseaux

Zoolander (2001)
Running time: 89 minutes (l hour 39 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 on appeal for sexual content and drug references
DIRECTOR: Ben Stiller
WRITERS: Drake Sather & Ben Stiller and John Hamburg, from a story by Drake Sather and Ben Stiller (based upon characters created by Sather and Stiller)
PRODUCERS: Stuart Cornfeld, Scott Rudin, and Ben Stiller
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Barry Peterson
EDITOR: Greg Hayden
COMEDY

Starring: Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Christine Taylor, Will Ferrell, Milla Jovovich, Jerry Stiller, David Duchovny, Jon Voight, and Judah Friedlander with cameos by Christian Slater, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Tommy Hilfiger, Natalie Portman, Fabio, Lenny Kravitz, Gwen Stefani, Paris Hilton, David Bowie, and Tyson Beckford

In Stiller’s uproarious satire, Zoolander, he plays Derek Zoolander, male model and three-time winner of the “Male Model of the Year” award until he loses to a virile young rival named Hansel (Owen Wilson, Shanghai Noon). In a bit of soul searching, Zoolander returns to his coal-mining hometown in South New Jersey only to be rejected by his clan, which includes his stone faced father (Jon Voight) and a largely silent brother (Vince Vaughn). A gay fashion maven Jacobim Magutu (Will Ferrell, who is increasingly being revealed to be a talented character actor with each film) recruits a spiritually lost Zoolander to kill the Prime Minister to Malaysia. The PM’s child labor laws threaten a shadowy cabal of clothing manufacturer’s, of which Magutu is part.

Clearly, the filmmakers mean this film to be a satire of the fashion industry, but it is a thin, superficial satire, which relies on poking fun at and holes in stereotypes of which the audience is familiar. If satire preaches to the already converted, Zoolander’s brand of satire will reap boffo box office. The movie does not focus so much on the industry as it does on what the general public perceives to be the fashion industry. This is not an insiders view like Robert Altman’s Ready to Wear. This movie really satirizes vanity, self-centeredness, selfishness, and ignorance more so than fashion, clothiers, designers, models and such.

Stiller’s Zoolander is a harmless buffoon, a clown for whom one can feel love and sympathy and at whom one can feel annoyance. Although he is the lead, Zoolander is not one of those super ego characters that act like a black hole and sucks the charm and life out of interesting supporting characters. This is why Wilson can shine so much as the postmodern, globetrotting adventurer, Hansel. The secret of Hansel’s charm is not his looks but rather his disdain for the obviously superficial Zoolander. Hansel successfully feigns disdain for fashion, but forwards a public persona of one who loves rugged manly adventure. Hansel is Zoolander’s foil and provides a nice dynamic of tension that the movie needs and does not get from its assassination plot line.

Clearly the filmmakers doubted that an entire movie could be made around Zoolander’s and his cronies’ lives, so they attached the thin genre thread of international intrigue to the story. It is a concession to the idea of plot and high concept. Movies can hang on characterization and characters’ charms and quirkiness. However, many movie producers believe that a movie has to be about “something.” The belief is that it is easier for a studio to sell a movie that is described as “vain supermodels must stop an assassination attempt planned by an evil fashion designer” than, say, a movie described as “a hilarious send-up of the fashion world.”

Zoolander also fairly bursts at the seems with superstar cameos, but the main cast is so good that one quickly forgets each cameo appearance as soon as it comes and goes, the exception being the nice surprise appearance by Wynona Ryder. Stiller and Wilson are really good, and there is a bite to their rivalry and a realness to their later reconciliation. Will (“Saturday Night Live,” The Ladies Man) can bury himself in a part and make it very good, although his character Magutu did seem a bit dark for this movie.

Christine (who played Marcia Brady in the Brady Bunch movies of the 1990’s) Taylor is a competent, if under utilized, foil for the two male models, and one gets the feeling that she could have added so much more to the movie had a little attention been turned her way. Milla (Fifth Element) Jovovich is lost in make up and in a perpetual scowl, but that doesn’t hide Jovovich’s immense talent. Stiller’s father Jerry Stiller (“Seinfeld”) plays an agent; it is an awkward forced part that is at times funny and at other times, fat that can be trimmed.

The movie is very funny and snide to the point of excess. Stiller, who proved to be a capable director is Reality Bites, fills each frame to the brim in order to create the atmosphere of his comedy. From wall hangings, to signs, sculptures, and costumes, he uses the visuals to establish his humor. A scene at a gas station is so funny and so well staged that it almost guarantees us a future of excellent comedy from Stiller, and it was worth at least half the admission price.

An excellent effort by all and well worth the time.

7 of 10
B+

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The Chronicles of Narnia 3 Preview

I had read that Walt Disney bowed out of The Chronicles of Narnia film franchise after the disappointing reception of the second film, Prince Caspian.  I seem to remember that rights holder Walden Media had moved onto 20th Century Fox.  Now, this Box Office Mojo preview of "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" confirms my hunches.  Voyage is due in December 10, 2010.

Review: "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 179 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005)
Running time:  143 minutes (2 hours, 23 minutes)
MPAA - PG for battle sequences and frightening moments
DIRECTOR: Andrew Adamson
WRITERS: Ann Peacock, Andrew Adamson, and Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely (based upon the book by C.S. Lewis)
PRODUCERS: Mark Johnson and Philip Steuer
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Donald M. McAlpine, A.S.C./A.C.S.
EDITORS: Sim Evan-Jones and Jim May
Academy Award winner

FANTASY/ADVENTURE/ACTION/FAMILY

Starring: Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell, Tilda Swinton, James McAvoy, Jim Broadbent, James Cosmo, Kiran Shah, and the voices of Liam Neeson, Ray Winstone, Dawn French, and Rupert Everett

Sent out of London by their mother because of the German bombing of the city (circa World War II), the Pevensie children: youngest child Lucy (Georgie Henley), troublesome Edmund (Skandar Keynes), practical Susan (Anna Popplewell), and eldest child Peter (William Moseley) find themselves at the country estate of Professor Kirke (Jim Broadbent). Playing hide and seek one day in the Professor’s large home, Lucy stumbles upon an enchanted wardrobe, the back of which leads to a parallel universe known as Narnia. There, at lamppost in the forest of Narnia, Lucy meets and befriends a faun named Mr. Tumnus (James McAvoy). Before sending Lucy home, Mr. Tumnus warns her of an evil sorceress that has cast a spell over Narnia, putting the land in the grip of a perpetual winter that has lasted 100 years.

Later, Lucy cannot convince her siblings that Narnia is real, but circumstances eventually lead all four Pevensie children through the wardrobe to Narnia. There, Edmund falls under icy spell of the White Witch Jadis (Tilda Swinton), while Lucy, Peter, and Susan join Narnia’s rightful ruler, the wise and mythical lion, Aslan (voice of Liam Neeson). The Pevensie children must discover their strength and learn the power of family and courage as they join Aslan and lead the forces of good into a spectacular battle against Jadis and her forces to free Narnia of the White Witch’s eternal winter.

Walt Disney and Walden Media, the studio and media entity respectively behind The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the film adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ famed children’s book and Christian allegory, have tried to sell this Narnia film as The Passion of the Christ for children. The film, which brings the book’s Christian symbolism, as well as its plot, to the screen, does a have a few Passion-like moments, but this is more a less affluent second cousin of The Lord of the Rings than it is Passion-like. After a listless first 30 to 45 minutes, Narnia becomes an action, adventure epic that can be compared somewhat favorably to LOTR. However, Narnia’s chase and battle sequences, filled as they are with peril and the threat of death, are less like The Passion of the Christ and more like another Mel Gibson film, Braveheart.

What’s bad about Narnia? Some of the CGI and computer animation is of a low quality for a prestige release from a studio like Walt Disney. The opening sequence, which depicts the bombing of London, might be okay for a video game, but it looks painfully phony in the context of a film like Narnia. Many of the CGI animals and creatures would be perfect in a bad Sci-Fi Channel original pitting dueling giant snakes, but here it’s embarrassingly bad. This occasionally looks as rushed as it looks cheap, and the viewer can practically see the seams between computer generated fake reality and real humans and locales.

Also, the film opens too slowly and film feels mechanical early on. It is as if director Andrew Adamson (Shrek, Shrek 2) is trying, by showing how bad off the Pevensie children were before they discovered Narnia (their father is off at war and their mother sends them away from their London home because of the bombing) to establish that The Chronicles of Narnia is a serious adult drama about the hardships of real people. If he’s trying to tell us that this is more than just a film about kids have a grand old adventure in a magical land, he’s wrong by half. This is as much about imagination and wonder as it is about serious issues and moral imperatives.

The good: First and foremost is the stellar performance of Tilda Swinton as the White Witch. If a monstrously icy persona could be said to simmer, then Ms. Swinton’s portrayal of a stone, cold wicked sorceress is white-hot. I couldn’t get enough of her, and she genuinely scared me.

After a shaky start, the script gives the cast good material with which to play. Each of the actors playing a Pevensie child can give his or her character a unique personality. That’s why the audience will believe that these diverse personalities clash as often as they love. Ray Winstone and Dawn French as the voices of the CGI Mr. and Mrs. Beaver provide light comic relief. By far the best supporting creature character is the live action Ginarrbrik, an assistant to the White Witch, splendidly played by Kiran Shah.

The final epic battle, a lengthy one between the forces of good led by the Pevensie boys against the White Witch and her legions is pretty exciting. However, it is also surprisingly violent for a film rated “PG” by the MPAA. Did Disney and Walden Media influence the MPAA in order to get such a low rating for scenes of battle violence that are at the very least “PG-13?” Perhaps, the ratings board cut the film some slack because so many Christian religious leaders and pundits proclaimed that it was absolutely necessary that children see Narnia, because the film is, beneath the magic and fantastical creatures and settings, Christian. So graphic depictions of combat in film are “PG” when it’s in the service of Jesus Christ?

Ultimately, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is a good film. In addition to the movie’s religious undertones, it is an ode to family. That the Pevensie children decide to help a kingdom under siege and learn about sacrifice is second to the fact that, in the end, they have each other’s back. For me, the sibling bonding makes Narnia rise above its clumsiness and the sometimes mediocre visual effects.

7 of 10
B+

Sunday, December 11, 2005

NOTES:
2006 Academy Awards: 1 win for “Best Achievement in Makeup” (Howard Berger and Tami Lane); 2 nominations for “Best Achievement in Sound Mixing” and “Best Achievement in Visual Effects”


2006 BAFTA Awards: 1 win for “Best Make Up/Hair” (Howard Berger, Tami Lane, and Nikki Gooley) and 2 nominations for best visual effects and best costume design


2006 Golden Globes: 2 nominations for best original score and best original song in a motion picture

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Review: "Couples Retreat" Finds Good Humor in Marital Problems

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 4 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

Couples Retreat (2009)
Running time: 113 minutes (1 hour, 53 minutes)
MPAA – on appeal PG-13 for sexual content and language (originally rated R for some sexual material)
DIRECTOR: Peter Billingsley
WRITERS: Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn & Dana Fox
PRODUCERS: Scott Stuber and Vince Vaughn
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Eric Edwards (D.o.P.)
EDITORS: Dan Lebental

COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Faizon Love, Jon Favreau, Malin Akerman, Kristen Bell, Kristin Davis, Kali Hawk, Tasha Smith, Carlos Ponce, Peter Serafinowicz, Temuera Morrison, and Jean Reno

In the film, Couples Retreat, four Midwestern couples embark on a journey to a tropical island resort, where one of the couples will work on a failing marriage. What starts out looking like a typical, Vince Vaughn snarky/slob comedy turns into an awkward comedy about the marriage blues. This movie not too subtly says that the work and effort that it takes to keep a marriage intact are themselves a reward.

Dave (Vince Vaughn) and Ronnie (Malin Akerman) are a happy couple with two adorable children, but they don’t seem to notice that they’ve stopped doing things together that they enjoy. Their friends, Jason (Jason Bateman) and Cynthia (Kristen Bell), are having problems. Jason talks Dave and Ronnie and two other couples: Joey (Jon Favreau) and Lucy (Kristin Davis) and Shane (Faizon Love) and his 20-year-old girlfriend, Trudy (Kali Hawk), to travel to Eden West, a resort that promises to help couples fix marriage problems.

While Cynthia and Jason are there to work on their marriage, the other three set out to ride jet skis, get spa treatments, have fun in the sun, and generally enjoy some down time. However, they are informed that participation in the resort’s couples therapy program, led by the wise Marcel (Jean Reno), is not optional. Much to their chagrin, they find that their group-rate vacation comes at the price of examining all their marriages, and Cynthia and Jason aren’t the only couple with problems.

The funny moments that appeared in commercials for Couples Retreat practically comprises most of what can be described as the film’s belly laughs. There are certainly many other laughs, but that comedy and humor is derived from this movie’s central truth: all couples have problems. This movie is not about juvenile laughs. It is actually a grown up comedy about the complications of adult life. As depicted in this film, even the most painful moments in a marriage can illicit laughs because genuine, meaningful comedy can come from truths. The script allows the characters to confront each other with painful truths that might be uncomfortable to hear in the real world, but are funny when said in the context of this movie.

Under the uneven direction of Peter Billingsley, Couples Retreat drifts and stumbles, as if Billingsley can’t quite get a grip on what the soul of this narrative is. Too many moments that are meant to be thoughtful or introspective end up being graceless. However, the sharp observational and relationship comedy by screenwriters, Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, and Dana Fox combined with some quality comic acting make Couples Retreat an enjoyable film. Faizon Love and Kali Hawk, whose characters were likely meant to be mere Negro comic relief, actually steal the show, and the underrated Love gives, by far, the best performance in Couples Retreat.

6 of 10
B

Friday, February 12, 2010

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