martin-217 Reviews

Push (2009)

Unexpectedly Great? Yeah, actually.

[9/10 · 7 September 2009]

Saw that heading on another review, and it fits. First viewing was from an airline choice set, so expectations were rock bottom. The reality was instead an engrossing two-hour ride. Second viewing was an HD rental a month later. Same verdict. The pacing is brisk, the setting is eye-catching, the characters are easy to get to know, and the plot is complex without being unfathomable. The "lazy" will insist things are too hard to understand, and the "ubernerds" will cry Foul that some elements don't strictly obey the fine print of some unwritten Starfleet Technical Manual (do read their Comic Book Guy laments, "Worst...Plot...Ever...", straight out of Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi-Con, and pity them). That's exactly the kind of balance many of us like rather a lot!

Comparisons to "Heroes" are really counterproductive. Rip-off? Imitation? No, sorry, this one came first. Action? Characterization? Over dozens of on-screen hours, "Heroes" often manages to go almost nowhere and reveal almost nothing of real interest; they don't have that luxury here.

The closest comparison that springs to mind, if sci-fi comparisons there simply must be, is to the PsiCorps operation on "Babylon 5". Agent Carver and Agent Bester (Walter Koenig's role on B5) have much in common.

So, is this a "Bourne" film, minus the budget and with half the mayhem? in some ways, that fits. The protagonist is really not enough of an icon for that, though; it is more of a team scheme at heart, more of a supernatural "Ocean's Eleven" than anything else. Well, given the timing of events, and the budget limitations, more like "Ocean's Twelve". That perhaps explains the balance of the voting falling the way it has: Danny, Tess, Rusty, Linus, Reuben, Saul, and company, please meet Nick, Kira, Cassie, Hook, Emily, Pinky, etc. We're bound to be due at least as many movies from each group...

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964)

Well, not the worst ever but awful nevertheless

[2/10 · 7 January 2008]

Ah, the dangers of too much Earth TV... makes Martian children behave worrisomely and their parents Earth raiders kidnapping Santa.

Even a child in the original audience would have known enough of Mars for this setup to be laughably silly. Even so, there is a campy creativity at work here that saves the film from being the worst ever, or even worst Santa movie ever (that distinction being firmly reserved for Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny).

With gaggles of martians bumbling around like Marx Brothers, Martian June Cleavers producing Chocolate Layer Cake Pills as special family treats, a Mrs Claus blushing that "Television" has come to her house, a set of pipe-smoking toy-making Little People as elves, and Pia Zadora as child of the red planet, there is enough to keep your brain in question mode for a long time.

Don't ask questions. Liquor up and enjoy...

The Long Good Friday (1980)

a classic that invites re-viewing

[8/10 · 28 November 2006]

There are so many things to appreciate in this movie. First and foremost, Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren give outstanding performances as the First Couple of London's underworld. He, with the Cockney-made-good aspirations for status and the "class" he can never attain, epitomizes the hands-on manager overtaken by larger events. She, the cool-headed savvy- tough-and-sexy moll, is almost on top of things enough to redeem the situation but not quite. The key elements of the underworld ruling coalition-- dirty councilor and policeman, lieutenants of varying backgrounds both tough and educated-- make you believe in how this man has achieved peace through strength.

The film's plot is Byzantine whodunit, with gangland-style violence as an accent piece that seems downright tame in the age of "Pulp Fiction". The real hidden star, though, is late-70's London-- oh so run-down and yet full of the potential that drives Harold's ambitions. The views from boating on the Thames are unrecognizable to those who have only seen modern London--- the sole landmarks in common are Tower Bridge and the Savoy hotel. The towers of the City and modern Docklands are just a twinkle in dreamers' eyes.

Overall TLGF is a modern tragedy in the true land-of-Shakespeare tradition, somewhere between Macbeth and Hamlet and King Lear: ambition, betrayal, and the sweep of history interact richly without being heavy-handed in symbolism or over-artiness. This is a satisfying and complex film that invites re-viewing and reflection.

Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993)

sequel+star+singers=surprise!

[7/10 · 25 November 2006]

such a pleasure, albeit a guilty one! The original wasn't good enough to warrant a sequel. Nonetheless, the choirs are so talented; their acts never get tired no matter how many times this piece re-runs on cable. Whatever her other pros and cons, Whoopi plays to the ensemble in this one, never the scene hog. What a pleasure to see an icon like Maggie Smith so thoroughly and obviously enjoying herself---ditto Mary Wickes, after being such a steadfast fixture of a supporting character on screen for nearly 70 years, her penultimate screen appearance.

and really that's the whole point here isn't it? simple enjoyment, by actors and audience, in a meld of plots so familiar and comfortable, especially at holiday time. Among them--- Hey Kids Let's Put on a Show and Save Grandpa's Farm... Fish Out of Water Makes Good... Stick Together and Win the Big Game...

Eye of the Beholder (1999)

good acting can't save bad surrealism

[2/10 · 19 November 2006]

if you want "surreal" that works, then go back to the basics with Altman's "Three Women". this is wannabe-surreal, a project that forgets the first requirement of "serious" films--- have the main characters be people whom the audience cares what happens to, wants to show empathy with. these main characters are despicable people, but they're not the anti-hero type an audience might understand or even want to. The people one wants to know more about are the ancillary characters, such as the doctor and the wine-maker, perhaps even the drifter...

The acting is actually very good, in fact that's the thing that makes this better than a '1'. Some of the cinematography is effective, like a symmetrical bath shot, but most shots are framed in an uninspiring manner. The "HQ" set at the embassy is the least convincing of all, a mixture of high-tech equipment, bad old movies, and long-haired cats.

arrgh. not even good enough for a lazy rainy Saturday afternoon.

Hudson Hawk (1991)

pathetic and has not aged well

[2/10 · 26 May 2003]

Non-serious movies are my favorites. But being outlandish does not excuse being as pathetically awful as this piece of garbage. How bad does a film have to be to make Sandra Bernhard look unconvincing in evil? Well, it sinks further-- try the undercover nun approach with Andie McDowell, complete with underground flashing-crucifix intercom system. ouch.

it misses the point to say this film is in the same *category* as Groundhog Day or Blues Brothers. So what? some members of the un-real/un-serious comedy category work, and most don't. For crying out loud, Police Academies 3 to 7 are funnier than HH. Waste the 2 hrs only if you're stuck on the couch with a hangover and there's only infomercials on as competition.

Auntie Mame (1958)

I can't tell you how pleased I am to make its acquaintance...

[10/10 · 12 June 2000]

These days the PC establishment has pretty much blacklisted Mame, which is rather ironic for the story of a woman [mame is another direct antecedent of the modern movies' heroic single mom, yet] who scandalized and delighted in deflating the pompousness of the "ancien regime" of the USA's Northeastern 1920's and 30's aristocracy.

I would not call the story dated, in the usual sense of the word as tired and overdone. It is, I would maintain, a reasonably accurate "time capsule" view of an era-- it should be, as it is based on actual memoirs. In fact, I think it's all too human, for example, that while Mame is happy to flout "restricted" anti-jewish zoning, she is still aloof and perhaps snobbish toward her social inferiors. Less snobby than the other aristocrats, but hardly the common touch...

As a film, Auntie Mame is built on solid performances and timing. Rosalind Russell is masterful in her portrayal, and makes Lucille Ball look as graceful as a musk ox by comparison. The script is a mixture of clever comedy-of-manners banter with crucial, more slapsticky moments. The minor parts are well played, from the nouveau-riche aristocratic-wannabe Upsons, to their empty daughter, to the artsy set of Mame's friends, to the introverted and whining secretary played by Peggy Cass. The indoor settings are adequate, but the outdoor ones are laughably cheap-- don't expect eye-popping cinematography.

I admit to hating most movies that a lot of people love, but not this one. It's a 10.

Are You Being Served? (1977)

"Cash In" Syndrome?

[4/10 · 29 May 2000]

Ignore the gargantuan ballot-stuffing--median 10.0 indeed!

For fans of the tv show this is somewhat amusing, but as a movie it's just shamefully inadequate. In terms of pedigree, this is truly the progenitor of all those later scenarios where five-minute SNL skits had to come out as full-length movies. In the 1990's this would have gone direct-to-video.

The regular cast all play as well as ever, but a surprising guest turn is Andrew Sachs who appears as the hotel manager... an amusing irony given his lasting fame as hotel lackey Manuel in "Fawlty Towers".

The Red Violin (1998)

predictable boring and pretentious

[3/10 · 18 May 2000]

Never in films like this is there any doubt exactly who will wind up dead, inconsolably miserable, and/or insane. Using inanimate objects to link otherwise unrelated scenarios can work (see e.g., the intriguing Finnish work, "Night on Earth") but in this movie it's just annoying. The RED violin is supposed to embody the continuity through time of human bleeding and suffering and striving and so forth, but the tool is so blunt it might as well just be a laughably "cursed" object as in the old tv series Friday the 13th. Although photographed well, the dialog and drama play out like cheap imitations of PBS made-for-tv historical drama.

Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny (1972)

Foremost of awful Christmas movies...

[1/10 · 28 March 2000]

In my town, this film was seen almost solely by all the town's daddies who had been given charge of the young kiddies for a day at Christmastime in order that the mommies could get Christmas ready.

The film itself is appalling, easily would be a contender for Worst Ever, if only more people had seen it.

Santa, in a sleigh stuck in the sand, fanning himself at being faint in the heat... the pointless side stories... the even more pointless Ice Cream Bunny, complete with firetruck??

It boggles the mind.