Misery (1990) Review:

With every plus there's a minus. Life comes with scales and scales require balance. People want success but don't know how to handle it once they do. Being rich is great unless one doesn't know how to be fiscally responsible. The same goes for fame. It's great being the center of attention, but sometimes it's not so great. This film is a great example of that, despite the actual story being an allusion to the author's alcohol addiction. Ordinary people are capable of extraordinary things. Sometimes those things are of no benefit to anyone. So how could being a famous writer lead to such a situation? Try meeting a deranged fan who won't let up on the harassment.

The plot is about famous author Paul Sheldon (James Caan) who just finished a new book he's ready to publish. On his travels he has a car accident and is rescued by a devoted fan named Annie Wilkes (Kathy Bates). At her place she nurses him back to health, only for Sheldon to realize Wilkes is more than a fervent fan. Her desire is to be Sheldon's next character of focus. Meanwhile, Sheldon's family and agent Marcia Sindell (Lauren Bacall) are concerned about his disappearance. For help, they contact the local sheriff Buster (Richard Farnsworth) and wife Virginia (Frances Sternhagen) to see what they can do. Based on the novel by Stephen King and written by William Goldman who'd later pen Chaplin (1992) and Maverick (1994), makes this quite a watch.

It's interesting that viewers get to know quite a lot about the main characters just by the trailer alone. Even with all that being revealed, there's still much to see that will keep viewers on the edge of their seats. With Rob Reiner directing in this genre for the first time, it's all the more captivating. Before this Reiner had also directed Stand By Me (1986) and The Princess Bride (1987). Like mentioned before, the film has a balance between the high strung and more pleasing moments believe it or not. Seeing Paul Sheldon trying to find a way to escape his captor's home is beyond nerve racking because of how unhinged Annie Wilkes is. But then there's also the scenes involving Buster where his deductive skills play a major part in the story.

However, a weak point in the story occurs when a plot device is used to tie two different plot threads together. These two plot threads share the plot device, but when looking at it from a bigger point of view, it seems very convenient. Almost like the probability of such a thing happening is completely unlikely. This doesn’t take away the performances from the cast members. While Kathy Bates had been acting prior to this feature, it was here she made her breakout role. She plays her character well alongside veteran actor James Caan who was in hits like The Godfather (1972) and Rollerball (1975). The more intriguing scenes are delivered through Sternhagen and Farnsworth’s characters. Farnsworth is also known for starring in The Grey Fox (1982).

The camerawork is also well done. Shot by Barry Sonnenfeld, who would later on direct The Addams Family (1991) and Men in Black (1997), the camerawork here is shot competently for the film. The viewer truly gets to see how mentally unhealthy Annie Wilkes is in her home and the stress that Paul Sheldon develops because of it. The music was another great component. Composed by Marc Shaiman, the film score again has a stable mix of tones in different areas of the story. There are unsettling cues with piano and strings for Sheldon’s hardship, as well as softer easy going motifs using horns for Buster’s investigative scenes. Unfortunately, the score is a bit short in material but still captures the feel of the movie.

Taking out one convenient particular part of the story that helps move the plot, this thriller will hold its viewers’ attention. The tension only cranks up as time goes on thanks to the acting, camerawork and music.

Points Earned --> 8:10

Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night (1987) Review:

Once Walt Disney and his film studio made a name for themselves after making several animated movies, it's no surprise that other people wanted to capitalize on those properties by either making their own version or creating cheap knock offs. For Filmation Studios, the company had even more ambitious plans which was to make sequels to Disney's popular films. However, due to the massive legal advantage Disney probably had at the time, Filmation didn't get far in this. Despite this though, the studio did release two of the fifteen they had in their lineup. One of which was this movie. Some won't likely see this a legit movie to bother watching, yet there are components to this feature that make it worth at least one viewing. Of course the things that may make it worth watching could be for the wrong reasons.

The plot takes place after the events of the original Pinocchio story. Now that he's a real boy, Pinocchio's birthday has come and wants to help his father Geppetto (Tom Bosley) deliver a special package. On his travels though he comes across several obstacles in the forms of bandits Scalawag (Edward Asner) and Igor (Frank Welker), the carnival ran by Puppetino (William Windom) who has a more sinister boss known as the Emperor of the night (James Earl Jones). The script was written by Robby London, Barry O'Brien and Dennis O'Flaherty, who had credits to shows like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and the less popular Ghost Busters show. Directing for the last time for this feature was Hal Sutherland, known for also working on Sabrina the Teenage Witch and Star Trek: The Animated Series.

For the story that's presented, it's not strong at all, but it's not terrible either. Due to Pinocchio's innocence, one could argue he's still very gullible. But after going through his first adventure before becoming a boy, you'd think he'd remember some things. The narrative just seems to have a number of useless characters. Most of which these characters have a parallel side plot that feel unnecessary as well. Aside from Pinocchio's fairy god mother (Rickie Lee Jones), there's Grumblebee (Jonathan Harris) and Gee Willikers (Don Knotts) who help, but it feels so small by comparison, no pun intended. The bandit characters Scalawag and Igor are also not that likeable. This is most likely due to them being able to persuade Pinocchio more than once to make a bad decision. It's cases like these that make the thin development of the characters feel that much more flimsy.

The same could be said for the villains and their motivations. Despite this though, the voice acting is performed well by everyone. Scott Grimes the voice of Pinocchio sounds good and would later go on to be voices for Steve Smith in American Dad and Kevin Swanson in Family Guy. Edward Asner would go on to voice J. Jonah Jameson in Spider-Man: The Animated Series and Carl Fredricksen in Up (2009). But the fact that this production was able to nab James Earl Jones and Frank Welker is amazing. Just considering how many credits Welker has and what Jones would best be known for less than a decade later under the actual Disney banner. The actor who steals the show was William Windom as Puppetino, this is due to the nightmare inducing design of the character and the memorable voice he was given.

For an animated film, the movie is decently produced. With supervising animators like Kamoon Song, Chuck Harvey and John Celestri, majority of the scenes have fluid and expressive movements. Unfortunately, some of the character designs are what gave young viewers such scarred memories. There are some fairly dark moments in this feature. Specifically, the first scene of the film and when Pinocchio first meets Puppetino. The music sadly is also largely forgettable despite having talents like Rickie Lee Jones doing a song. The score composed by Brian Banks and Anthony Marinelli who would a year later score for Young Guns, make adequate music. The problem is, the film itself isn't completely memorable and that's because of how stock the music felt. That's not to say it's boring, it's just not memorable.

This animated film hits straight down the middle. The story isn't very strong, the characters themselves don't develop much and the music is marginally forgettable. However, this film does deserve a view out of curiosity because of its decent voice cast, acceptable animation and uniquely disturbing character designs.

Points Earned --> 5:10

Maniac (1980) Review:

Horror films, no matter what the focus can be scary. Perhaps what makes people more frightened is when they realize what they're watching is more likely to happen in real life. Supernatural entities, other worldly creatures or scientific abominations are all monstrous by design, but the likelihood of coming across something like that is slim to none. Maybe the person who just walked by is your average citizen. They also could very well not be the average citizen one would expect them to be. Sometimes people have alternative activities when no one's looking. This is the feeling a viewer can have after watching this flick, because it does feel very grounded. One never knows what another person does behind closed doors.

The story is about what seems to be an ordinary person by the name of Frank Zito (Joe Spinell). From the outside, he's not the classiest looking person, but he's not a slob. That is until viewers see what he does for a hobby, which is murdering random women and scalping them after. Written by C.A. Rosenberg and Joe Spinell himself, the script gives its viewers a twisted look at a disturbed person. This feature would also be what director William Lustig was best known for until he created the Maniac Cop (1988) franchise. While that horror film was unique its own way, it is completely unrealistic. However, the possibility of this scenario happening is much higher.

Think of it this way. What's more popular for the execution of horror films? Most of the set ups require a bunch of random characters that don't receive proper development and end up becoming fodder to the villain. This feature though, focuses on the villain as the main character. This allows the viewers to see Frank Zito when he's the killer, when he's playing a regular guy other people and how he is when he’s by himself. It's definitely a different way of showing the audience the story and not blatantly exposition dumping everything at key plot points. That doesn't mean the script doesn't have its problems. One thing that's missed is explaining why Frank scalps his victims. What's the purpose? What does it represent?

Then there's also the supporting cast which is very small but understandable since it is a low budget flick. Unfortunately there, one of the characters that begins to get development is abruptly dropped. But that's where the issues end. The supporting cast has very few recognizable names but they all act decently. Spinell gives a creepy performance as Frank, considering he also played Rocky Balboa's boss Gazzo in Sylvester Stallone's franchise. There's also Anna (Caroline Munro), a professional photographer. Munro was also in Dracula A.D. (1972) and The Spy Who Loved Me (1977). Even Dawn of the Dead (1974) makeup effects artist Tom Savini has a brief role to play.

Visually speaking, the film has a very raw feeling to it. This is most likely due to the film equipment at the time but it's because of that realistic feel to the movie that helps make the story that much more frightening. Shooting for this feature was Robert Lindsay as cinematographer. Prior to this Lindsay had worked on adult films, which is as far as I'm going to go there. Special effects were also handled by Tom Savini so the violence is definitely credible. As for the film score, this would be the first debut for Jay Chattaway who would also later be known for his compositions to Maniac Cop (1988) and Maniac Cop 2 (1990). Here, Chattaway's music is just as creepy and provides interesting cues using synthesizers.

Something this horror film does right is changing the focus of the story to the villain. This allows the viewers to get a better understanding of who they are. While the cast is bare bones and a true reason as to why the killer kills the way he does goes unexplained, the music is appropriately unsettling, the acting is good and the gore effects are noteworthy for the time.

Points Earned --> 7:10

RED 2 (2013) Review:

The inevitable curse of sequels coming with a diminishing return is more or less expected by familiar moviegoers. For some reason, capturing lightning in a bottle can be as hard as it physically sounds. The original RED (2010) was a unique action comedy that was very much a lighter toned version of Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables (2010). A dangerous mission involving lethally trained old people who still pack a punch. Based on an obscure DC Comic of the same name, the film managed to be successful either way thanks to its leads and execution of the story. While three years is about average for sequel output, it is no surprise that RED 2 (2013) doesn't meet its original in the same way. However, considering the changes in crewmembers, the decline was not profound.

Continuing roughly where the last film ended, Frank Moses (Bruce Willis) and Sarah Ross (Mary-Louise Parker) are now together trying to live a normal life as intended. Until they are visited once again by their past, this time being Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich). It is there they are pursued by Jack Horton (Neal McDonough) looking to lock them down over a missing nuclear device. Apparently, the device was reported during an earlier time in Frank's career trying to protect a physicist named Dr. Bailey (Anthony Hopkins). Written again by Jon and Erich Hoeber, the screenplay is probably why the experience of watching this sequel doesn't feel like such a misfire; since they worked on the first entry. Directing this time though was Dean Parisot, known for his work on Galaxy Quest (1999), Fun with Dick and Jane (2005) and most recently after this film Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020).

For what it’s worth, the overall execution is fine. Willis, Malkovich, and Parker as the main three still work well off each other. What feels to be one of the drawbacks to this entry, is the relationship between Frank and Sarah. Even for the first film, old man Moses paired up with Ms. Ross just seemed like a mismatch in age. Here, Sarah continues to try and connect with her ex-CIA partner, which comes with very common tropes seen in other rom-com sub-genre movies. When traveling the world, it is revealed that Frank was swooned over by another field agent by the name of Major General Katja Petrokovich (Catherine Zeta-Jones). Want to guess where that subplot goes? Another problem with the story is that more characters were thrown in as well. There's also appearances from David Thewlis, Byung-hun Lee, as well as returns from Brian Cox and Helen Mirren. It just feels very cramped.

And with the amount of characters put into play, there's one scene that seems be edited in the wrong order. This actually messes with the execution when realized and it’s unfortunate. Instead of one character chasing the protagonists like in the first film, now there's almost three times as many. It's unfortunate when Neal McDonough is pretty much a copy of Karl Urban's character in the first film. Aside from this though, the actors still play off each other well. Some of the comedic lines are delivered adequately, while other times it falls flat. This is mainly due to the relationship plotline. Anything outside of that thread though tends to work better. The action still entertains though, featuring similar things that have been shown before such as gunfights, explosions and other goofy antics. There's a scene with a helicopter that's pretty hilarious.

As for visuals, this time camerawork was shot by Enrique Chediak. Sadly, this crewmember has well-known credits to this name like 28 Weeks Later (2007), 127 Hours (2010), Intruders (2011), The Maze Runner (2014), Deepwater Horizon (2016), Bumblebee (2018) and the Lady and the Tramp (2019) remake, but this sequel is not really one of them. Not to say it's shot badly,...by no means. But it's just nothing out of the ordinary, just like the first film's cinematography. Music though was an acceptable element to this sequel. Again, this also had a change in hands. Instead of Christophe Beck's clicky synthetic percussion based score from the first film, comes Alan Silvestri doing his best to mimic that style. While the sound is more organic using more classic orchestra, there are still jazzy motifs viewers will hear that keeps to the tone of the first movie. Not bad considering Silvestri isn't really cut from the same cloth as Beck.

For a sequel, it's okay. It's not an average follow up since the actors still have the chemistry, the music still fits the tone and action comedy elements still entertain; to an extent. Like the first film though, camerawork is still nothing to talk about, the romcom elements feel too familiar and the amount of characters packs the story more than necessary.

Points Earned --> 6:10

The Fly (1986) Review:

The 1980s was known for many things. It cranked up several avenues of which people were not used to. Music became fiercer. Hairstyles became more wild. Clothing became more over the top. Violence seemed more like trend than an event. The movies also experienced similar traits. However, the one thing people tend to remember the 80s film industry for, were the horror films. More specifically the remakes of older ones. While many enjoy an original like The Fly (1958) with Vincent Price, many people cannot deny just how much the 80s remake truly helped define horror. Despite is critical success and the imprint it left, it does have one thing viewers may find obnoxious.

Adapted from George Langelaan's short story with writer Charles Edward Pogue and director David Cronenberg, this horror remake has several things going for it. The story is about a scientist who is in the process of completing a breakthrough that could change the future. Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum) has managed to discover the possibility of matter transportation using uniquely designed teleportation pods. Showing this to his new found journalist friend Veronica (Geena Davis), viewers learn along with her that the process has one flaw - transporting living matter doesn't work. Meanwhile, Veronica's on and off again boss Stathis (John Getz) fiddles between professional and personal flirtations. On the whole, the story is very simple and that's good.

The fact that the plot only has three main characters to focus on really helps viewers give them something to care about. The issue with it is that while the internal conflicts are what help drive the plot forward, some of the decisions made by certain characters come off questionable. For example, Veronica gave her apartment key to Stathis, but now she wants him out. For him though, he says he'll hold onto the key for "old times sake". That's already a red flag. So what does Veronica do? Nothing. Really? Either change your apartment lock or get that key back! It's strange because during the 1980s maybe people were laxer in their privacy, but nowadays, that kind of crap don't fly. Why take the risk? These kinds of moments don't happen too often though.

Despite the point above, the acting is still well performed. John Getz as Stathis shows just how self-centered he really is, even though there are points where he sort of redeems himself. Geena Davis as Veronica is exceptional aside from one of her decisions making no sense. Whether she's happy or horrified, her expressions look very genuine. As for Goldblum, who went from a nobody to very quickly a somebody gives an interesting performance. The reason for calling it an interesting performance is that counter to what you'd think, the progression of Brundle is a mixture of disturbing behavior that comes across awkward and comical at the same time. Perhaps that's just the Goldblum charm.

The visuals to this picture are top quality too. The practical effects and gore are pretty much what Cronenberg is well known for as well as for this remake in general. Cinematography was handled by Mark Irwin and it looked good. There are some neat camera tricks used for Brundle's transformation. Irwin would also shoot for Dark Angel (1990), RoboCop 2 (1990) and Showdown in Little Tokyo (1991). Lastly the film score composed by Howard Shore is unique. As a horror film, a fan would expect creepy supernatural themes. Here, Shore provides a much more grounded approach giving the experience a human aspect, which also cranks up the dread. While the motif itself is slow, it is memorable.

The one thing viewers may wonder is why some of the main characters don't act on things that require immediate closure. It doesn't happen a lot, but it does seem silly. However, one cannot dismiss the prowess of the crew behind this movie. From the effects, to acting, music and cinematography - it is a remake that has been hailed as one of the best.

Points Earned --> 8:10