Welcome to 5 Favorites. Each week, I will put together a list of my 5 favorites (films, performances, whatever strikes my fancy) along with commentary on a given topic each week, usually in relation to a specific film releasing that week.
Another week with a lackluster array of potential featured actors. Not that Ben Foster or Wendie Malick deserve the designation lackluster, because both are wonderful actors, but the remaining three, Zach Galligan, Justin Long, and Thomas Mann certainly fit that description. I’m choosing a single film from each of five actors’ filmographies. For Long, Malick, and Mann, their films aren’t noted for their presence. This week, Ben Foster stars in one of the week’s wide releases, Medieval; Zach Galligan stars in Bad Candy, a minor release; Justin Long appears in two films, one wide and the other limited, Barbarian and House of Darkness, respectively; and Wendie Malick and Thomas Mann both appear in About Fate, which features Mann as the romantic lead opposite Emma Roberts.
Gremlins (1984)
There were so many iconic films in the 1980s that it’s hard to settle on just one that is emblematic of the era of creativity that flourished. Horror and science fiction had shifted from the realm of B-movie to popular mass entertainment where films like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and Goonies were the norm rather than the rarity. Into this period came a unique little sci-fi/horror/comedy gem written by future director Chris Columbus (Home Alone, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone). Directed by Joe Dante, the film starred Zach Galligan as the son of a struggling inventor (Hoyt Axton) who gives him an unusual Christmas gift, a furry little creature called a mowgai, which means “devil” in Cantonese. There are three important rules: don’t expose it to sunlight, don’t get it wet, and don’t feed it after midnight. Through the course of the film, each of the rules is broken to varying degrees of trauma.
The concept is completely original and the adventure that unfolds is a hell of a lot of fun with Alice supporting actress Polly Holliday appearing as the town’s Grinch-like malcotent and Phoebe Cates as Galligan’s bank co-worker and burgeoning love interest. Dante’s genre bona fides were burnished by this film’s release, but would never quite reach this film’s crazy brilliance, though Innerspace comes closely behind. It’s a film that delighted families of all ages and while the franchise that attempted to grow out of this one film’s success collapsed after the second entry (for the same reason as co-1984-release Ghostbusters‘ sequel issues), the film remains a prime example of ’80s cinematic inventiveness.
No original review available.
Scrooged (1988)
Speaking of 1980s cinematic inventiveness, 1988’s modernized take on Charles Dickens’ immortal classic A Christmas Carol was another prime example. While it wouldn’t match the originality of Gremlins, Ghostbusters, or E.T. by its nature as an adaptation, there’s no question it’s one of the decade’s many creative successes. The film stars Bill Murray in the Ebenezer Scrooge role, renamed Frank Cross. He’s a TV executive who’s forcing his staff to work on an elaborate production of A Christmas Carol to air on Christmas eve. Obviously, the narrative is only loosely based on Dickens’ novel, which is probably why it felt so fresh.
Carol Kane plays the Ghost of Christmas Present and delivers a hilarious performance while Bobcat Goldthwaite, Karen Allen, John Forsythe, Robert Mitchum, Michael J. Pollard, and Alfre Woodard provide able support. Wendie Malick has a small part as Murray’s brother’s wife. While the effects were strong in the film, it was the production’s makeup design that earned the film its only Oscar nomination. While some prefer to watch one or more of the myriad direct adaptations of Dickens’ novel or any number of other films for their Christmas traditions, it’s worth considering adding this picture to the rotation because it’s a hell of a good time and Murray is at his manic best.
No original review available.
Idiocracy (2006)
If you’re looking for a good movie from the mind behind Beavis and Butt-Head and Office Space, then you aren’t going to find it. If you want an incisive commentary on the war on education among right wing conservatives, then perhaps you have an option. Idiocracy is directed by Matt Judge and stars Luke Wilson as a presumably average American who has just woken up in the future after a top secret government hibernation project kept him asleep through the world’s seeming collapse. When he awakes, he finds himself in a nation where the ignorant run the country and it’s a truly terrifying sight. Justin Long has a small role in the film that doesn’t have a lot of impact on it.
Filmed well before the rise of Donald Trump in American politics, Idiocracy asks the question: what would happen if scientists and other intelligent and reasonable folks were drowned out by the ill-informed? While Wilson’s character isn’t the brightest bloke out there, the society he finds himself trapped in is significantly dumber than he is. What’s so terrifying about the film isn’t how outlandish the future is. The climate-changed environment has been wrecked and the leaders have let a sports drink maker convince them that plants crave electrolytes and yet the they still can’t figure out why their crops aren’t growing. What’s frightening is that while each of these outcomes is an extreme reaction, they are nonetheless reactions to real world issues that are being demeaned and diminished by a batch of uninformed malcontents who think scientists are shills and steadfastly refuse to listen. While these individuals might be a minority, it’s not a small minority, suggesting our culture’s continued decline is a result of an assault on intelligence and that’s truly a horrific world that few of us really want to live in. So, you can watch the film as a comedy and it has some funny moments, but watch it more for its prescient glimpse of how society could buckle under if it foregoes its reliance on facts and evidence rather than feelings and slapdash research.
No original review available.
The Messenger (2009)
A challenging aspect of military service that rarely gets tackled in cinema is the officers who must bring the bad news of death to a soldier’s family. While the opening to a film like Saving Private Ryan can showcase this situation for the briefest of moments, The Messenger brought audiences into the challenging dynamic of two soldiers (Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson) whose job it is to present devastating news. Harrelson and Foster are tremendous as they abide by military doctrine of how to relay these notices to soon-to-be-grieving families. We are presented several such situations with a gamut of reactions from wailing sadness to physical violence to detached acknowledgement. It’s the kind of situation that can take its toll on those who must perform the task.
Director Oren Moverman wrote the script for the film with Alessandro Camon and earned Oscar nominations for their efforts. Harrelson was also recognized, but the film was otherwise ignored. It’s really a shame as the performances in the film were terrific and Foster was certainly deserving as was Samantha Morton in a supporting role as one of the recipients who eventually forms a relationship with Foster’s character outside the strict confines of military regulations. It’s not an easy film to watch as subjecting oneself to regular sorrow is challenging to the psyche, but it’s so important to give these kind of soldiers their due, especially when it’s a very thankless job that is rivaled by few professions that have to deal with death on such a regular and prolonged basis.
Beautiful Creatures (2013)
Based on the first novel of Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl’s popular series of books, Beautiful Creatures came out at a time when studios were trying to harness the popularity of young adult literature like The Hunger Games and Twilight and turn them into successful features. Unfortunately for Oscar-nominated writer Richard LaGravanese (The Fisher King), who also directed the film, the film’s paltry $60.1 million box office take in the U.S. was disappointing and future plans for follow-up features were scrapped.
That’s a bit of a shame because the film is subtly charming and with a cast that includes Jeremy Irons, Viola Davis, and Emma Thompson, there’s plenty of talent involved and they all bring their skills to bear on the production. Alden Ehrenreich is a wonderful lead, an affable presence that carries much of the film. Thomas Mann is unexceptional as Ehrenreich’s friend and so too is Alice Englert in the female lead. The premise is somewhat similar to a lot of YA literature, which might have been one of the reasons for its box office failure, but it’s an involving tale set in the deep south where the battle between dark magic and light magic is a fascinating journey to follow. It’s not a great film, but it’s an interesting one.
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