The Blob (1988)

Title: The Blob (1988)

Director: Chuck Russell

Cast: Kevin Dillon, Shawnee Smith

Review:

Back when I was 12 years old I was really into reading movie novelizations. For those not in the know, movie novelizations come to be when a studio hires a writer to write a novel based on a films script. Usually, the novelization is released months before the actual release of the film, in this way, the film makes a little money off of the film even before it is released. Now when I was reading novelizations, it was a time when I was discovering just how much I could enjoy reading a book for pure pleasure. Novelizations aren’t necessarily considered the highest form of literature, on the contrary, they are considered the ‘bottom rung’ of literature, low brow entertainment; but to a fertile 12 year old mind like mine, they were awesome! Coolest part is that these little novelizations were released a month or two before the actual film was released, so I thought it was just fantastic to be able to read a film before anyone had even seen it. This was a time before internet, so reading novelizations was a way of knowing what a film was about even before it came out and for that reason alone, it was a special thrill for me to read these novels. The novelization for the 1988 remake of The Blob was one of the first few novels I read because I actually wanted to read it, not because I had to for homework. It was through this little novelization that I discovered the wonderful world of science fiction novels! They took my fertile imagination to previously unimagined places! From then on, I was hooked on sci-fi! To this day I still read science fiction novels, I am currently exploring the DUNE novels, I have made it to the fourth one so far! I’ve stopped reading movie novelizations since then (I find them too redundant) but I thank those novelizations for opening the doors to other forms of literature, and to the joys of reading a good science fiction novel.

This is the novelization that started me off on sci-fi when I was a kid

When I finally got around to seeing The Blob (1988), I was thrilled to see the film I had read come to life on the silver screen. Did the film live up to what I had imagined? It sure did! This movie did not disappoint! The Blob begins in typical sci-fi movie fashion: a meteor containing a parasitic living organism falls to earth. At first, the organism is no bigger then a basketball, but as it continues feeding, it gets bigger and bigger, until by the end of the film the pink and slimy Blob is as big as a mountain! The first person to encounter The Blob is a curious homeless person who decides to investigate the meteors crash site. Unfortunately for him The Blob decides to jump out of the meteor and adheres itself to the homeless mans hand! It then begins to feed on it! Then, as the homeless guy runs scared onto the road, a couple of teenagers accidentally run him down with their car! They don’t realize that the Blob is attached to the homeless man’s hand so they take him to the local hospital to be taken care of. The Blob ends up eating the old man and one of the teenagers in the hospital! Soon after that The Blob escapes the hospital and begins to roam free through the little town of Arborville looking for more humans to devour! Will anyone believe the teenagers before it’s too late?

Let’s get right to the point, what I loved the most about this movie were the make up effects. After The Blob starts slithering around town feeding on people, this movie is a non stop roller coaster ride of gore and gooeyness! Every single death in the film is its own gruesome spectacle. Want to see what a guy looks like when The Blob sucks his entire body down a kitchen sink? Look no further! How about seeing the Blob devour an entire audience inside of a movie theater? Or how about watching The Blob swatting humans like they were flies? Or maybe you’d be interested in seeing bodies dissolve inside The Blob’s slimy mass? It’s all here to titillate your desire for gruesomeness! Only a film from the 80’s could have this much slimy gory fun in it. And damn it, this movie made me miss the good old days when CGI was not king. In fact, in fact CGI was nothing more then a zygote in the belly of cinema! By that time, CGI had only been used in films like TRON (1982), Young Sherlock Holmes (1985), Flight of the Navigator (1986), The Last Starfighter (1984) and Willow (1988). Because of this absence of CGI, the effects in The Blob have a tangibility to them, they look organic, alive. An effect that I doubt could have been achieved as effectively with CGI. A friend of mine said it best while watching this one “they just don’t make them like this anymore!” Everyone was commenting how much they missed films from this era of filmmaking.

There is not much in the way of themes with this movie, this more of a straight forward monster movie. There were no pretentions here of making a deep film, this is just a film about a monster making its way through a small towns population. And speaking of small towns, the fact that this film takes place in a small town U.S.A. is what makes this film so eighties. For some reason, many movies from that era took place in the suburbs, or in a small town where everyone knows each other. Movies like Gremlins (1984), Explorers (1985), E.T. (1982), The Goonies (1985), Killer Klowns from Outerspace (1988), where films where cops are nice guys who used to be somebody’s boyfriend, where the sheriff is this ultra sweet dude, and there’s always a homey diner where the waitresses are like moms. You know the kind; these are films where the town treats each other like family and when impending doom comes along, the face it together! By the way, the whole diner sequence where the blob comes out of the kitchen sink was completely stolen by the guys who made Alien Vs. Predator: Requiem (2008). That film copy pasted a lot from many other films and one of those films it stole heavily from was this remake of The Blob! There’s a whole scene in AvP:Requiem which takes place in a diner that plays out exactly the same way it did in The Blob. Just switch The Blob for an Alien and you’ll see what I mean. Then again, do yourself a favor and skip AvP: Requiem, it’s a really sucky movie anyways.

Performance wise this movie did pretty good. Kevin Dillon plays Brian Flagg, the rebel without a clue who dresses like James Dean and wears his hair like Paul Stanley from KISS. He has some of the funniest lines on the whole damn movie. For example, at one point Shawnee Smith, who plays Meg Penny wants to hide from The Blob in a building and she tries to open the door, but realizes it is locked. Brian Flagg’s answer? “That’s okay, I have the key!” and he throws a brick to the glass door! Hilarious! Another scene that had me cracking up was when Flagg is taken to the police station because he is blamed for the homeless mans murder. He tells the cops he wants to leave because he has done nothing wrong and that either way, he wants these cops out of his face! Then, one of the cops gets close to his face and says something like “this close enough for ya?” and then Flagg proceeds to lick the cops face in total disrespect of authority! Flagg’s lines are the funniest! Shawnee Smith plays the quintessential 80’s daddies girl. She seems total innocent and naïve, but when her family and town is threatened by The Blob, she grows a pair and kicks some ass! Along with Sigourney Weaver in Alien (1986), Shawnee Smith in The Blob is one of those cinematic babes that kicks butt and takes names. Another performance I enjoyed was Del Close's 'Reverend Meeker'. I like the world play on that name, it refers to the bibles teachings about the meek inheriting the earth. On this film Reverend Meeker belives that The Blob is part of Gods Day of Reckoning and that somehow, the slimy creature is part of the fulfillment of bible prophecies! He’s character is played like a religious fanatic gone mad, I loved it. Plus, the character forms a cool part of the films creepy cliffhanger ending, gotta love those cliffhanger endings! Bill Mosley has a blink or you’ll miss it cameo in this movie as a paranoid member of the CDC.

Now, speaking of the creative team behind this flick; The Blob was directed by Chuck Russell a director who’s also responsible for my favorite entry in the Nightmare on Elm Street films: Dream Warriors (1987). He also made The Mask (1994) with Jim Carrey. Chuck Russell as a director was on a roll for a while, he even made Eraser (1996) with Arnold Schwarznegger, which isn’t Arnies best film, but it isn’t his worst either. Sadly, the guy hasn’t made anything worth watching since those days, unless you liked Bless the Child (2000). The screenplay for this remake was a collaboration of many writers. Two writers did early screenplays, but the final script, the one that they used for shooting the film was written by both Chuck Russell and Frank Darabont, so I guess in total, this film had four writers. Darabont’s one of my favorite directors, he knows a thing or two about what makes a good horror film, or just a good film period. He wrote and directed The Mist which was my favorite horror film of 2007. He also wrote the screenplay for The Fly II (1989), which to me is a great sequel to Cronenberg’s 1986 remake. He had collaborated before with Chuck Russell in Dream Warriors, on that project they both worked the same way they worked on The Blob, Darabont wrote the script, and Russell directed. So it’s good to know we have a solid creative team behind this film.

Finaly words about The Blob: this movie is pure fun from beginning to end. It wont bore you because every five seconds there’s some sort of slimy gory death going on. I consider this remake as one of the good ones, along with remakes like John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982), The Fly (1986) and Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead (2004) this is a remake that both brings something new to the table, and at the same time improves on the originals flaws. The make up effects are very imaginative and numerous, once The Blob is on the role, the movie is non stop till the end. Sadly, this movie wasn’t a huge hit. It cost 19 million dollars to make, and it didn’t make as much in theaters, sadly. But as it often happens with good movies (and this is a good movie within its genre) this film later discovered its audience on VHS and DVD. Look for reviews of this one on the internet, and more often then not they will be positive ones. Bad part about this movie not making much bank at the box office is that we never saw the sequel that was promised with the films cliffhanger ending. Bummer. A couple of years ago Rob Zombie was interested in making a remake of this film, and I got excited about that, unfortunately, the project still lingers in development hell. But we still got the film on dvd to watch and enjoy, so if you haven’t seen it yet, and your feeling like watching an effects filled monster movie, with funny dialog and cool deaths, look no further than The Blob.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Fast Five Behind the Scenes Video (Shot and edited by The Film Connoisseur!)

Hello my dear readers, today I offer you a special treat, a little video I shot while they were shooting Fast Five in Hato Rey Puerto Rico. This is the biggest money making movie at the moment, and 90% of it was shot right in front of my job! Check it out, hope you enjoy it! I know I enjoyed seeing such a big budget film being shot right before my eyes! There was more to that day, but I ran out of batteries! Sorry about the titles being in spanish, but you can still enjoy the visuals. 

THOR (2011)

Title: Thor (2011)

Director: Kenneth Branagh

Cast: Natalie Portman, Anthony Hopkins, Chris Hemsworth, Stellan Skarsgard, Kat Dennings, Rene Russo

Review:

Thor is the second big summer movie of 2011 (first one was Fast Five) and honestly it’s one of the ones I was most looking forward to seeing. I’ve been a life long comic book fan and I love all things related to the wonderful world of sequential art, I love comics as an art form almost as much as I love movies. When we get down to it, comics and films are extremely similar in many ways. In Thor’s case, I was curious to see how they would translate all the cosmic grandness of the city of Asgard and the Gods that inhabit it. The previews gave me a good sign, I liked what I saw, and the fact that Keneth Branagh was directing the film gave me good vibes since Branagh is a director that has made films that can be considered some of the best films based on Shakespeare’s most important works like Hamlet (1996) and Henry V (1989) among others. So the film was in the hands of a guy who understood drama and stories about family feuds between royalty. The cast was shaping up to be nothing short of impressive, Natalie Portman and Anthony Hopkins? Awesome! Plus this Chris Hemsworth guy really looked the part! Still, the question remained: how would all this translate to the world of films? Would the transition be a smooth one? Would it work?

Thor and his brother Loki

Story wise, Thor sticks pretty close to the kind of stories we could find in Marvel’s comic books, mainly, the eternal fight between Thor and his brother Loki. On this film we first meet Thor when he is about to be crowned King of Asgard by his father, King Odin, played by Anthony Hopkins. Problem comes when the Frost Giants of Jutenheim decided to crash the party and steal the Casket of Ancient Winters, an ancient relic that is the source of the Frost Giants chilling powers. Thankfully, the Frost Giants are stopped before they manage to steal the trinket. The event ignites an anger in Thor who from that point on wants to do nothing more then go to Jutenheim and kick the Frost Giants collective asses! Odin advices against it, because he being the wise King that he is, would rather preserve the truce between both kingdoms instead of starting another war. Thor doesn’t agree with that course of action and so he convinces some of his warrior friends to go to Jutenheim anyways to stir up some trouble. When Odin hears of Thor’s disobedience, the Mighty Odin’s anger is stirred and so he ends up not naming Thor King of Asgard after all! Instead, he rids Thor of his god like powers, takes away his magic hammer (called Mjolnir) and banishes Thor to earth. Odin hopes that this banishment will teach Thor a lesson or two on humility and what makes a good king. Will Thor learn his lesson? And what evil scheme does his envious brother Loki have in mind?

So finally I got to see Thor, sadly, it was not all I hoped it would be. Mind you, I didn’t think it was an awful movie, I just thought it was kind of a disjointed tale. Not all together, kind of a mish mash of ideas not well strung together. Maybe what this movie suffered from was having too much story to tell in too little time. The story is epic in scale, yet at times you feel that things are happening way too fast, as if the movie was going through some beats to simply keep things going at a brisk pace, so the kiddies won’t get bored with lots of babbling. I have to admit, I didn’t like how fast the movie was going. I mean, the film had everything it needs to be epic, the story deals with Gods! Unfortunately, the film doesn’t give us any breathing room and because things happen so fast, events just don’t come off as believable. To me this was meant to be the Gone with the Wind of superhero movies, you know, a grand old tale taking its time to hit those beats, but with some character development, some depth. Instead, things happen briskly and fast, you don’t have time to absorb it all. Ladies and gentlemen, meet the first Marvel movie suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder! Movie goes something like this: Thor’s going to be King! Boom! Bad guys crash the party! Boom! Thor is banished! Boom! Thor learns humility! Boom! Thor gets his powers back! Boom! He goes back to Asgard to kick ass! Boom! Movie is over! Boom! Boom! Boom! We go from one beat to the next in a very unbelievable pace. I mean, yeah most films cut a few corners here and there to go through their story, but this one was ridiculous.

Yet, in spite of this the movie has many positive things going for it. First up, Chris Hemsworth as Thor was the best choice they could have made, I mean the guy IS Thor! He’s plays the role with the right level of arrogance, but at the same time, he’s got a likability to him. A lot of what makes the character work is the wardrobe which is excellent, they really nailed the look for Thor. He looks like he could have leapt off the comic book page and on to the screen, literally. Same goes for the wardrobe of the Gods, impressive stuff! Cool looking helmets, awesome capes, armor with muscles…I mean these guys look powerful, and at times, the design of their armor reminded me of something Jack Kirby (comic artist legend) could have cooked up himself. Actually, he did cook these characters up back in the 60’s when the first issue of Thor was printed. He worked alongside Stan Lee in creating these stories based on the Norse God of Thunder. By the way, Stan Lee has a hilarious ‘blink or you’ll miss it’ cameo in the film.

In terms of art direction, the film excels as well. I mean, I loved the way Odin’s throne room looked! In fact all of Asgard looks appropriately gargantuan. A city filled with huge glistening statues and steps upon steps upon steps! Loved how everything is so spacious and gigantic, pretty impressive film in terms of art direction. Same goes for the visual effects which were pretty astounding. In fact, in spite of the films flaws, I think I will be seeing it again simply to enjoy its visual flair. Aactually, the films art direction and all those scenes with Thor fighting other Gods reminded me of those scenes from Master of the Universe (1987) that took place in Eternia, that was a film that also had Gods fighting each other over ultimate power.

These Marvel films have all enjoyed a connectivity to them. They all end up connecting with each other somehow, like one big cinematic comic book! This one is no different. On this one they mention Tony Stark and Bruce Banner a.k.a. The Hulk. We get to see the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. trying to make sense of Thor and his Hammer, plus, as in most of these Marvel movies, Samuel L. Jackson shows up as Nick Fury. We even get to very quickly meet Hawkeye (played by Jeremy Renner) a character we will no doubt be seeing a lot more of in the upcoming The Avengers film which is being filmed as I type this. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you guys to stay after the credits role for that extra tacked on ending that connects us to The Avengers, which should be premiering summer 2012 if the world doesn’t end first! That was a joke by the way. But seriously folks, that Avengers movie better be something awesome, they’ve been hyping it in every single one of these Marvel movies!

Natalie Portman plays Jane Foster, an astrophysicist who discovers Thor when he first falls from Asgard. This isn’t the performance of her life, but I’m sure you guys weren’t expecting that either. I wish they would have given her a meatier role on this film, something more intense, something that involved her a bit more in the proceedings. She deserved something more dramatic and intense. Unfortunately, she gets lost in the shuffle between Asgard and Earth and all the Gods. Same can be said for Kat Dennings. She’s cute as hell, but her character is only in the film to make facebook and IPod “jokes”. Honestly, she’s one of the most worthless characters in the whole film.

Kenneth Branagh directs a scene

My final word on Thor is that it was a good superhero movie that could have been better had it not been shy with its running time. Sadly, many of these summer movies gotta play by that rule of making the film short enough to squeeze as many showings as possible in a day. The studios gotta squeeze these films for all the can and a short running time assures them that a film will make as much money as it can in theaters. In the end, that’s the only problem I had with this flick which is kind of weird because Thor is a film that comes to us from a director who knows a thing or two about character development in films. If only he hadn’t succumbed to the pressures of making fast paced film to please the studio! Still, its worth the price of admission for the spectacle it offers. 

Rating: 4 out of 5

The Car (1977)

Title: The Car (1977)

Director: Elliot Silverstein

Cast: James Brolin

Review:

I recently did a Monster Blog Post on 40 Memorable Movie Cars (which you guys loved!) and I placed the Continental Mark III car used in The Car on that list for a good reason, this movie has a killer car with lots of personality! Watching this movie, you get the feeling that the evil car is alive and breathing, sometimes, even speaking. This film came about during the 70’s when satanic themed films were all the rave. I mean, this was the day and age when films like The Devils Rain (1975), The Omen (1975), The Exorcist (1973), Werewolves on Wheels (1971), and Race with the Devil (1975), were thriving in theaters. Since these Satanic themed films were so popular with audiences, studios (smelling cash waiting to be made) didn’t waste any time in capitalizing on the fears of the people, same as Hollywood has always done. People are afraid of nuclear apocalypse? Make a movie about that! People are afraid of viruses? Make a movie about that! People are afraid of the end of the world? Make a movie about that! In the 70’s, people were fascinated (and scared) with films that had Satan laced into their storylines somehow. And let’s face it; Satan has always had a way of drawing people towards himself, especially when it comes to entertainment. Music, movies, books…anything dealing with old Beelzebub will more then likely sell; no matter how afraid people are of the idea of Satan. So the time was ripe for a film like The Car to get made.

In The Car, the town of Santa Ynez is suddenly terrorized by a shinny black killer car! Nobody knows where it came from, and nobody knows why it’s here. The only thing they know is that it likes to kill people! Slowly but surely the people of Santa Ynez come to realize this. And suddenly, everyone in town is afraid of the black car that’s roaming its streets! The big question on everybody’s mind is: who the hell is driving this murderous vehicle? Is anybody driving it? Well, if you listen to the ramblings of an old Indian lady who was an eye witness to one of the cars attacks, nobody is driving it. And the car has a weird vibe to it! Every time it appears, a strange supernatural wind precedes it! On top of everything, the car appears to be indestructible! Even its tires are impervious to bullets! How will the people of Santa Ynez stop this evil car from killing more innocent people?

Most people are of the mind that in order for a horror movie to work, it has to be rated ‘R’. I don’t subscribe to that point of view because I have seen many horror movies that are rated ‘PG’ or ‘PG-13’ and are just as effective (sometimes even more so) than any ‘R’ rated motion pictures. The Ring (2002) is always an example I like to mention. To me, that film was ultra eerie and extremely spooky. I don’t know about you guys, but the first time I saw The Ring, it really got under my skin! Yet when I left the theater I was amazed to discover that this extremely effective horror flick was rated ‘PG-13’! I am always amazed when a horror film can do that without an ‘R’ rating. Such was the case with The Car, a horror film about a satanic killer car that I was surprised to find out was rated ‘PG’! There’s not an ounce of blood on this picture, and the kills are mostly suggested and off screen, yet this car manages to crawl under you skin. You’ll get to hate it. And here in lies the success (in my humble opinion) of this movie.

What makes this film work is the personality that the filmmakers infused into the ominous vehicle. We never get to see who is driving the car because the car has these black windows that don’t allow you to take a look at who’s behind the wheel. There is this one truly awesome moment in this film when the car allows a cop to get close it. The car taunts him by opening the driver’s window just a bit, enough for us to take a peek at the darkness inside. The door opens up as the cop gets closer, and just when we think we are about to get a peak at who’s driving the monstrous vehicle the door slams shut and the car starts to rev up it’s engine as if saying “Ha! You’re never going to know who I am! Ha ha ha ha haaa!” It was a great moment, and it really got me, for a second there, I actually thought I’d see the face of Satan pop up, or two red eyes glowing inside of the vehicle, but no, the film chooses to leave the driver a mystery, which I loved. Not knowing who is driving the car makes the whole ordeal more mysterious. Though we do get the idea that someone is behind the wheel because at times we actually get to see the driver’s point of view, and the drivers vision is tinted in red, which kind of gives us the idea that maybe it is Satan doing the driving? Because if Satan were to have vision, I’m sure it would be red. But seriously, this is the type of situation you will see a lot of in this movie. You’ll feel as if the car is actually talking, taunting, and defying its enemies. One scene has the car actually driving around a group of people, like a wolf surrounding its prey! The vehicle is portrayed as a predator, hunting the people it wants to kill. This is the reason why a lot of people compare this film to Jaws (1975), calling it “Jaws on Wheels”. In fact, even the musical score imitates the music from Jaws a bit.

I thought it was great how this film has a formidable villain who doesn’t even say a word through out the whole film! I love that kind of a movie where the villain is a complete mystery all through out. It makes the villain that much more ominous, that much more of a mystery. On this film, the car isn’t just ominous, he’s also practically indestructible. One awesome scene has the car ramming itself in a head on collision against a group of police cars, bashing them up with its own body, and then falling right back on the road, as if nothing had happened to it! Awesome sequence! It reminded me of a similar scene in The Wraith (1986) where the exact same thing happens. I’m sure this film was very influential on that one. Another awesome sequence has this lady hiding from the car in her house. She locks herself up, afraid that the car might have followed her. As she talks on the phone, we can see on the window behind her that the car is steadily approaching; little by little it gets closer. We hear the engine getting louder until finally blamo! The car drives right through the house! Like a bullet, the car drives right through her house and completely obliterates the lady! I have to say that out of all the killer car movies that I’ve seen like Christine (1983) or The Wraith (1986) this is the one with the most personality; it’s the one I felt was most alive.

This was an effective and entertaining horror film every step of the way. I applaud it for having a great villain that manages to get on your nerves without saying a single word through out the whole movie! Plus, the car just looks freaking evil. The front side of the vehicle looks like a face, its headlights peering like two big evil eyes staring at ya! Then there’s that blaring horn! It sounds the same as the horn on that truck that The Creeper drives in Jeepers Creepers (2001). One thing is for certain, mysterious villains work! Not many horror movies can say they have achieved all that on a PG rating, so yeah, hurray for The Car.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Gojira (1954)

Title: Gojira (1954)

Director: Ishiro Honda

Review:

This is my first real incursion into the world of Godzilla films, and I find it fitting that I start at the very beginning, with the first Godzilla movie ever made. I’d also seen Godzilla 1985 many years ago, but that was it, I don’t remember it that well, so I feel as though I’ve never really seen it. Truth is, I never really swam down to the depths of the many Godzilla films that have been produced over the decades. Yeah, I’d seen the American remake directed by Roland Emerich, and truth be told, I didn’t hate it as much as everyone else did. I mean, it’s a giant monster movie and that is exactly what we got; a giant monster rampaging through the city, fighting the military. I think what pissed people off with that movie was the fact that Godzilla didn’t look like the classic Godzilla from the Japanese films, so people immediately disconnected. Or was it that the film didn’t take itself too seriously? Or was it the baby Godzilla’s that people didn’t like? Was it that it was a souless showcase of special effects? Whatever the reason that ignited people’s hatred towards that 1998 Godzilla remake, I haven’t seen it in years; chances are that there are many other reasons why people didn’t like it. I seem to remember thinking that it felt too much like a Jurassic Park movie towards the ending, and because of that it felt too much like I’d been there and done that. But whatever, we are here to talk about THE classic Godzilla movie from the 50’s, the one that started it all! Gojira! How was it?

The story starts out with a fishing boat in the middle of the ocean. A flash of blinding light that emerges from the depths of the ocean obliterates the entire ship! And it’s happening to every ship in that area! To top things off, fishermen are complaining that the fish are disappearing from the ocean! What could be causing all this? Well, if you ask an old man who resides in the Island of Odo, this is all happening because of ‘Gojira’, an ancient creature that the elders of the island used to feed virgins to in order to appease it. But who’s going to believe a crazy old man? Well, it doesn’t matter if they believe him or not because Godzilla shows itself anyways and lays waste to the island before quickly disappearing into the ocean once again. Now, Gojira is headed towards Japan itself! The military tries to stop the creature, but with no success! Apparently nothing can kill it!

First time we see Gojira, it looks something like this

In the film, a scientist explains how the ocean floor still has many unexplored depths that could easily harbor such a creature. On top of it all, he mentions that there is radiation on the sand that Gojira leaves behind, which let’s us know that Gojira is actually a mutated prehistoric creature. The fact that Gojira is a mutation caused by the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki let’s us see that Gojira is a film that comments on these nuclear attacks and the damage that it inflicted upon the thousands of Japanese people who died during the actual nuclear explosion or where affected by the radiation that was left behind. Any intelligent individual can see that Gojira represents the U.S. coming to annihilate the Japanese with its weapons of mass destruction. If you are still uncertain of this, just remember that Gojira fires a ray from its mouth that burns and disfigures the people horribly, same way the radiation from a nuclear blast would.

Watch out for those rays!

The whole nuclear fallout angle goes even further with this film. Yes, the film is commenting on the attacks on Nagasaki and Horishima, but it also comments on another nuclear event that happened on the same year that the film premiered. The film opens with a three fishing boats getting wiped out by Gojira’s radiation blasts, this opening sequence is actually a reflection of a series of nuclear tests that the United States conducted near Japan in 1954. This nuclear test was called ‘Castle Bravo’, basically, this secret military test consisted of the U.S. blowing up nuclear bombs in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. The U.S. government thought that the explosion would yield a 4 to 5 megaton explosion, but instead, thanks to a theoretical error made by the designers of the device; the bomb actually yielded a 15 megaton explosion! Castle Bravo ended up being the most powerful nuclear explosion ever detonated by the United States. It contaminated a large part of the Pacific Ocean; in fact, Castle Bravo went down as the most powerful accidental radiological contamination ever caused by the United States. Sadly, the nuclear fallout (aka radiation dust) that came as a result of the explosion contaminated people in nearby islands with large amounts of deadly radiation. The crew of a local fishing boat called ‘Lucky Dragon No. 5’ was fishing in the area (which had been declared safe by the U.S. government) but since the explosion was so huge, it ended up affecting the crew members of the ship, including the ships captain who died seven months later due to acute radiation syndrome. So as you can see, this film has a lot more reality laced into its story than people believe. It’s more then just a film about a giant monsters, it’s a film commenting on the results of mans obsession with trying to control nuclear power.

Castle Bravo in action

But all that aside, was it a good monster movie? Hell yeah it was! What I enjoyed most about it was how the director chose to handle most of the scenes where we see Gojira the same way you would handle a horror film. Most of the time we see Gojira, it during the night, beneath the shadows, which instantly makes the creature look more menacing, even if it is just a man in a suit. And speaking of the ‘man in a suit’ angle, this is the kind of movie where a healthy dose of 'suspension of disbelief' is suggested in order to enjoy the movie. So what if it’s a guy in a suit, you have to believe it’s a monster destroying the city in order to enjoy the film. If not, you wont have any fun. The director does his best to hide the monster in the shadows,  for example, when Gojira first attacks an island, it happens during a storm, and so everything looks spooky, like a horror film, which for all intents and purposes is what Gojira is: a perfect marriage of sci-fi and horror that leans a bit more towards the sci-fi angle of things. The makers of Gojira were inspired by various films similar to Gojira, the two that first come to mind are King Kong (1931) and The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms (1953), which by the way had been released only a year before Gojira. One could say that Gojira is actually Japans answer to King Kong. This makes perfect sense when we take in consideration that Gojira actually ended up fighting King Kong in one of its sequels called King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962). Kong and Gojira's first films both have similar storylines that include virgin sacrifices, mysterious islands, and massive destruction of public property.

The miniature work on this film was decent. Gojira works its way through Japan, destroying buildings, train tracks, electrical towers, you name it and Gojira destroys it. The creativity involved in this film is amazing, especially when we take in consideration that this was the first time that Japanese cinema attempted to make a giant monster movie. That’s right; this was their first big monster movie! After this film, giant monster movies would become a norm in Japanese pop culture. Making the film was a trial and error thing. A monster suit of this kind had never been created, so they went through various suits and designs before they finally came to the one we know. The actor who wore the Gojira suit could only wear it for three minutes at a time or else he would risk passing out from heat and dehydration! There are more interesting anecdotes to the whole making of this film, which can all be seen in the making of featurette that comes with the dvd. I highly recommend checking it out after you see the movie. It was a real pleasure seeing everything these guys had to go through in order to make this grand daddy of monster movies.

An actor shooting footage of Gojiras feet destroying Japan

On a final note, the film offered up some moments I never thought I’d see. For example, I never thought I’d see Godzilla walking through the depths of the ocean like some underwater God or something! That was a cool image! Also, the ending, when the good guys decide to go down to the depths with a bomb called ‘The Oxygen Destroyer’ brought to mind the ending in James Cameron’s The Abyss (1989). Actually, after seeing the ending for Gojira, I was convinced that Cameron stole that whole sequence and used it on The Abyss. The similarities are just too obvious! So anyways, that’s my review for Gojira, a grand old monster movie that has a lot more going for it than most give it credit for.

Rating: 5 out of 5

P.S. If your hunger for more info on older sci-fi movies like Gojira, then head on over to The Celluloid Highway where my good buddy Shaun Anderson is conducting a month long sci-fi themed series of articles, he's been writing some really interesting and informative articles about sci-fi movies from the 50's, go on over and check em out, you wont be dissapointed!  

The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

Title: The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

Writer/Director: George Nolfi (based on Phillip K. Dick’s novel)

Cast: Matt Damon, Emily Blunt

Review:

The idea that our destinies are written in stone somewhere and that our lives are predetermined for us is one I am personally against. Why? Because, the question always arises: exactly where is our destiny “written” and who exactly is the one that chooses where our life is going to go? Is somebody watching over me making sure that every step I take is going according to some “preordained plan”? What if suddenly I want to walk left? Did I just change my predetermined destiny? It’s a stupid idea, the way I see it, we are the ones that choose where our lives are going, nobody chooses it for us. I am of the mind that if everything was already chosen and predetermined for us, there wouldn’t be any surprises in life. Things would be boring. What would be the point of living our lives? Of making choices? If everything is chosen for us already, we should just sit back and let life role the way it’s preordained to. I refuse to believe that. I'm the one driving this doom bugy. I make my own destiny, and I live and die by the choices that I make. But what if…just what if there was someone making sure our lives went “according to plan?” These are some of the ideas that The Adjustment Bureau plays with.

Matt Damon plays an up and coming politician named David Noriss who is hard at work on his campaign speech. While practicing it in a public bathroom, he stumbles onto a woman named Elisse, who was hiding in one of the stalls, listening to him practice his whole speech. When he asks what she thought of his speech, her advice to him is to be sincere, to go with something from the heart. Right there and then, David and Elisse are immediately attracted to each other. So much so, that they end up sharing a random kiss. After that, they depart, but David can’t forget Elisse, apparently, there was something in that kiss! Something special! Problem is, that according to 'The Adjustment Bureau', he isn’t supposed to see her ever again. It’s just not “part of the plan” for him to fall in love with her, destiny has other plans for David Noriss. And soon after, David discovers just who and what the The Adjustment Buerau is. He discovers that they are a group of individuals (actually angels) who make sure people follow their predetermined path in life. If you are deviating from your predetermined path, they make sure you get right back on track, fulfilling your destiny. Since David has altered his plan by pursuing his encounters with Elisse, it’s up to the Bureau to stop him! Will they get him, or will David and Elisse manage to live life the way they choose?

This movie touches upon a lot of themes that I find personally interesting. First up, the idea that our lives are predetermined; that God has a plan for each one of us and that we simply have to sit back and let it happen, cause it’s all written down somewhere that that’s the way it has to play out. What David and Elisse are fighting against is precisely that idea. They want to take control of their own lives, whatever the risk might be. This film also plays with Judeo Christian ideas of God and Angels, but it doesn’t do it so bluntly. In fact, God is never referred to as ‘God’, in this film he is called “The Big Chief”. The agents following David and Ellisse are actually angels making sure they are doing what they are supposed to be doing. By using the idea of God and Angels in the film the filmmakers can address the idea behind destiny and free will, which poses some very interesting questions. The biggest question the film brings up is: should humans be allowed to decide their own fates? What happens when humans start making their own decisions? World War II? The Holocaust? The Holy Inquisition? I enjoyed how the film addresses the idea that if we want to be making our own decisions, they better be damn good ones. Because choosing our own path in life has its consequences and we’re going to be the ones paying for whatever choices we make, be they good or bad.

Another question the film asks is: what happens when we interact in someone else’s life? This was an idea that was touched upon in Tom Tykwer’s Run Lola Run (1998), where in one scene Lola bumps into a lady and we see a succession of pictures that let’s us see how that ladies life changed simply because Lola bumped into her. Something similar happens on The Adjustment Bureau. David is presented with the possible futures for both him and Elisse. Would he rather fall in love with her? Or would he rather focus on his political career which would eventually lead him to become the President of the United States? Would she rather fall in love with him or become a world famous Ballerina? Love or career? A similar question was also asked in Powell and Pressburger’s The Red Shoes (1948) where the main character, a dancer by the name of Victoria Page had to make the same choice between love or career.

I also noticed some similarities with The Matrix (1999). The whole film is structured in an extremely similar fashion. For example, David Norris works in an office, he stumbles upon these strange individuals who are after him. Kind of like in the same way that Agent Smith comes looking for Neo at his office job. These mysterious individuals all look and dress the same, and they follow him relentlessly. Kind of like how Agent Smith and all the other agents in The Matrix all look and dress the same and follow Neo to the ends of the earth. At one point David Norris is awoken to the reality of things, and now he must live with this knowledge of the way things really are. Kind of like when Neo took the red pill. True love saves the day. The similarities go on and on, the only difference is the Judeo Christian connection, which isn’t so evident in The Matrix. And yet another film that The Adjustment Bureau has similarities with is Wings of Desire (1987), with the whole idea of angels watching over people all the time.

What we got here ladies and gentlemen is a fantasy film that plays with some very interesting themes. The angels in this film have books that marks the way your life is supposed to be going, like some map. But what happens when you go against the rules in that magic book that you’re supposed to play along too? In the film, if you take a different path, little lights start blinking pointing out that your going the wrong way! Corrective measures have to be taken! This reminded me of how Christians use the bible to guide their lives?  I guess the biggest question the film asks is: do we need religion and its guidelines? Are we so stupid that we need someone else telling us the way our life should go? Or are we mature and intelligent enough to choose a good path for ourselves? I say we can choose our own paths. All we have to do is make sure that our choices come from a good place, and that they affect us and our fellow human beings in a positive way, to me that’s all it really boils down to.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Fast Five (2011)

Title: Fast Five (2011)

Director: Justin Lin

Cast: Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Paul Walker, Jordana Brester, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Tego Calderon, Don Omar, Elsa Pataki

Review:

Most of the time, when a series of films hits its fifth entry, it is almost a given that quality will take a nose dive. By the fifth film on any franchise, if the appropriate measures are not taken to make a good film, usually stories are watered down versions of their previous selves. Usually by that point, any passion or creativity is thrown out the window and the studio is simply cashing in on the franchises popularity rather then genuinely interested in making a good film. There’s no better genre to give an example of this than the horror genre. Take for example Friday the 13th part V: A New Beginning (1985) and Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers (1989), both considered to be the worst in their respective franchises. By the time SAW V (2008) rolled into theaters, story had been spread so thin that it became a complete bore. So when word came down that the fifth installment of the Fast and the Furious franchise was being filmed, I wasn’t expecting a great film. I was expecting a by the numbers sequel. Well, I’m happy to report that I was wrong; this fifth installment has proven to be the best film in the whole series! Not a bad way to kick off the summer blockbuster season!

On this film, Dominic Torreto and his crew of misfits have gone to Brazil running away from the authorities. But moving to Brazil doesn’t solves the fact that Torreto and crew are in desperate need of money to survive. Things are tight and it’s getting hard to survive with no cash, specially when we take in consideration that Paul Walker’s character (Brian O’Conner) is on his way to becoming a dad. So when a “job” comes along where they can steal a bunch of expensive cars and get some good moolah for them on the black market, they take it. Unfortunately for them, these aren’t just any old cars, and they get themselves involved in a plot that involves, drug trafficking, corrupt government leaders and 100 million dollars. Torreto and his crew decide to beat the system, and become free by going after the 100 million for themselves.

So how did Fast Five end up being the best film in the whole Fast and the Furious series of films? A lot has to do with a feeling of familiarity with the characters, I never thought I’d be saying this about a Fast and the Furious film, but you kind of feel like you know these guys. I mean, what the filmmakers got right is that they make us care for these characters by adding a lot of genuinely warm situations and scenes, where the characters become close, like family. So on top of the cool action sequences, and fast cars, we get some genuine warm characters we can connect with. Like many people right now in the world, these guys are struggling to survive, looking for a way to become financially free from the system, from the corruption and from economical woes. Let’s face it, in the modern world we live in, you might have a job, but you still feel like a slave, and it’s because of the way things are set up in society. And it’s the poor people who suffer the most because they don’t have that cash! I mean, if the cost of living keeps going up, it wont be long before we have to pay five bucks for a freaking can of soda.

So what this film does is it turns its main characters in to a gang of Robin Hoods. At times when governments are economically strangling their people, Robin always pops up somehow. That’s why it didn’t surprise me when Ridley Scott decided to make his recent take on the character. Robin Hood is a character for our times. So much like Robin of Loxley, Dominic and Co. steal from the corrupt government that lies to its people and bleeds them dry, to give to the poor, to those in need; and of course, to themselves. I liked that about the film, it addresses how badly people are in need of money right now, and it plays with that idea: what if the poor actually got away with stealing 100 million? They are anti-heroes because they are stealing, but this is a twisted world we live in, and sometimes the good guys are the bad guys, and vice versa. There are a lot of gray areas on this movie, morally speaking. But then again, the world we live in isn’t exactly black and white. So the film addresses themes of poverty, the way the system is set, and how the poor are trapped and left to suffer at the hands of corrupt governments, which is very true in many parts of the world. Hey, I live in Puerto Rico, I know a thing or two about corrupt governments who steal money and use the police force to opress their people instead of protecting them. I live and breathe this every day, so of course I connected with the story.

Then there are the awesome action sequences that this series of films is so well known for. I’ll just step right in here and say that in this area, the film does not disappoint one bit, it does contain some of the best action sequences (if not THE best) in the whole series . When there isn’t any action, we get the funny characters and dialog to hold us off. And it does get pretty funny at times; actually, there were a couple of instances where I literally laughed out loud. But back to the action, don’t know how many of you guys know this, but 90 % of this movie was shot in Puerto Rico, where I live. In fact, it wasn’t only shot in Puerto Rico, a huge chunk of the action sequences where shot right in front of the building where I work at every day! So I got to see how a huge Hollywood Blockbuster gets made. For a full article on this go to this link and read about my adventures walking around the set of Fast Five. It was pretty exciting for me, since I am in my own small way a filmmaker myself. But it was great to see this huge production unfold before my very eyes. Actually, at one point I got to meet Paul Walker’s stunt double and was actually standing right next to Elsa Pataki at one point while they were shooting a scene! I wasn’t aware that it was her (she had glasses and a hat covering her face) but that birthmark in her upper left lip is hard to miss. When I saw the film I realized that it was her I was standing next to all the time! So anyhows, the action sequences are spectacular. The whole last big bombastic action sequence where the good guys steal the vault with the 100 million dollars inside of it was shot in front of my job, and it’s the best freaking sequence in the whole film! Pretty impressive stuff, I loved the way they edited the whole thing, it looks so exciting up on screen! It was great to see so many familiar places in a big Hollywood film, of course, its all made up to look as if it’s all taking place in Brazil, but whatever. It’s was fun as hell!

Another plus that the film has going for it is that Dwayne Johnson (a.k.a. The Rock) is now part of the cast. On this film, he plays a cop hot on Torreto’s tail. I’m glad to see Dwayne Johnson finally returning to action films, in my opinion, he still has to make that “great action film” that he will be known for, so I’m glad he hasn’t given up on this. In fact, if you ask me, he has returned in full force to action films. This year he has released not one, but two big action films! Faster (2010) which also starred Billy Bob Thorton and now Fast Five where he actually goes “mano a mano” with Vin Diesel. Two me, these two guys are the modern equivalent of the 80’s big action stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone. Big dudes with huge muscles who like to scream, punch and shoot their way of any situation. Testosterone flies high in this movie! One scene has them both going at each others throats and all I could think of was that Arnold and Stallone never had a film like this where they kick each others asses. In my humble opinion, Dwayne Johnson looks more bad ass in the film. Their big fight was another highlight of the film, the big question being “who’s the toughest hombre of the two?” Watch the movie and find out.

On the negative side of things, the acting is not so great. But hey, this movie is not one of those movies you go to see for performances, this is the kind of movie you go to see to see fast cars, and lots of destruction of public property, which is exactly what you'll get. Still, it's kind of funny to see Vin Diesel try and act all serious and emotional in certain scenes. By far, the most kick ass character in this movie is Dwayne Johnson. In that scene where its Vin Diesel vs. Dwayne Johnson, my money was on The Rock for sure. The dude looks like a freaking tank on this movie! Other negative points: the film has some gargantuan loop holes and gaps in logic. I mean, stealing those cop cars was waaaay too easy! And then they run them down the street and no other cop seems to see them doing these high speed races in stolen cop cars? Also, where did these poor dudes get the money to buy a second vault with which to practice their heist? That thing must have cost some serious cash, yet, they magically get it in a matter of days. Who put the money up for that vault? And yet another weak link in the film is the films villain, who is dispatched by the good guys without even letting the bad guy have his moment of glory. But ultimately, I didnt give a crap about these things because I was having fun with the film. 

All in all, a great action flick. It had me laughing and entertained all the way, something I never thought these Fast and the Furious movies would do. I guess its official, this sequel won me over. Word of advice, stay a couple of minutes after the credits for a logic defying ending (which stars Eva Mendez by the way) that will have you coming back for the sequel, which will no doubt get made. After all, in its first three days in theaters, Fast Five pulled in 83 million dollars at the box office! This no doubt assures us another entry in the series, and no doubt will get director Justin Lin that Terminator sequel he wants to direct. An excellent action film every step of the way, highly recommend it.

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5

I took this picture on the set, right after they had yelled "Thats a Wrap!"