Final Elm Street sequel? Not by a long shot

FREDDY'S DEAD: THE FINAL NIGHTMARE (1991)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

"Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare" is a guilty pleasure for me considering how many people hate it. It's silly, stupid and more self-parodic than it should have been, but it has a looseness and a fast pace that distinguishes it from most horror fare.

This time, pizza-faced, maniacal Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund) is back in Springwood, Ohio, looking for some fresh blood after killing off all the Elm Street kids and being sent back to his mother's womb by the formidable Alice in "Elm Street 5." The main plot is about a kid suffering from amnesia (Shon Greenblatt) who comes to believe that Freddy is his father. How he came to that realization, I am not sure! Enter a teen psychiatrist/counselor (the sullen Lisa Zane), who is the only one that listens to this seemingly creepy kid. She follows him to Springwood to find that the town has turned into a loony bin where parents are all left without any children or teenagers to care for (Freddy wiped them all out). Eventually, this psychiatrist discovers that she is Freddy's daughter, and he uses her to get to the kids at a youth shelter. Only a fellow psychiatrist and dream expert (Yaphet Kotto, who should have dominated the film beyond giving a few baseball bat hits to Freddy's body) can help her with her traumatic emotions.

"Freddy's Dead" is more funny than scary and there are too many half-hearted attempts at humor (watch for the cumbersome cameos by Tom Arnold and Roseanne Barr), and there are mostly bloodless performances by a largely emaciated cast. However, despite its rushed, washed-out look and lack of real production values, it is always watchable. There are also subtle themes of incest, child abuse, neglect, and adoption which is intriguing, to say the least, for a film of this type. A few nightmare sequences truly deliver the chills, such as a hearing aid on one teen or the marijuana haze that leads to a video game beat down! The 3-D finale is well-done, as we are taken on a thrilling trip through Freddy's twisted brain but the extra dimension is a bit unnecessary.

As for surprise cameos, be sure to look out for a drooling Alice Cooper as Freddy's father, and Johnny Depp in a hilarious drug commercial! Worthwhile time-filler overall (Freddy is reduced to a weather-beaten comedian and the film does have the stamp of one too may trips down the same well) and never less than fun. Still, beware Freddy fans, hardly scary!

The story of my life, again

DIE HARD 2 (1990)

Reviewed By Jerry Saravia

The subtitle for "Die Hard 2" is Die Harder. Thankfully that was omitted but it wouldn't have mattered. "Die Hard 2" is an exciting, nail-bitingly suspenseful action flick that is as good as, if not better, than the claustrophobic original.

Bruce Willis is back as John McClane, seen in the opening scene at Dulles Airport where he gets a parking ticket and his car towed away. It is the beginning of a bad day for McClane, the police detective who foiled a terrorist plot at Nakatomi Plaza in the original film. This time, some nasty, murderous mercenaries are taking control of Dulles flights thanks to Colonel Stuart (William Sadler). Stuart's objective is to allow a Fidel Castro-type drug lord, Esperanza (Franco Nero), to land safely at Dulles without intervention. McClane catches wind of these mercenaries up to some dirty business, and it begins with a fight scene that involves not only luggage and a ten-speed bicycle but also a spray can! Naturally, when McClane fails to foil the terrorist plot, nobody believes one word he says. This includes the airport chief of police, hilariously played by Dennis Franz, who thinks McClane is making it up as he goes. The leader of the air-traffic control tower (Fred Dalton Thompson) has his doubts but then there is a disturbing plane crash, caused by the terrorists, that is about as horrific as plane crashes get, at least back in 1990.

For action scenes, there are slow-motion gunfights, a chase scene involving snow mobiles, a fiery exit from a plane by ejector seat, and a fistfight on a plane wing. As directed by Renny Harlin, there are also some gory bits of violence, including clever uses of a propeller and an icicle. Some of this may seem relatively tame today but back in 1990, an audience I saw this with found it a tad too violent for its own sake. If you recall, the summer of 1990 was full of ultraviolent action pictures like "Total Recall" and "Another 48HRS."

"Die Hard 2" is a highly improbable action-thriller with a few too many neat coincidences and contrivances. And watching John McClane running around an airport using underground tunnels in freezing temperatures may produce unintentional chuckles. And yet this movie is spectacularly entertaining, concentrating more on dialogue to further its narrative than on various large-action set pieces of which this film has blessedly few. Bruce Willis makes for an invigorating John McClane and William Sadler is an appropriately cold-blooded villain. There is a nicely extended cameo by Bonnie Bedelia, reprising her role as McClane's wife who is aboard a flight that may be in danger. There are also some precious digs at the press, including another reprisal by William Atherton as the reporter who hopes to get a Pulitzer. Like I said, it is fun but you won't believe a moment of it.

Hit me with your best shot

BEYOND THE MAT (1999)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

There are two things I dislike more than anything: rap and wrestling. Well, at least my feelings of rap were true ten years ago. Since then, I have enjoyed some of Eminem's music but I do not pretend to be a rap fan. Wrestling, however, is a sport that never interested me. I do not see the fun in watching barechested guys throwing each other around a ring (and boxing is not any better). But watching guys not only throw and pummel each other but also fling chairs and use barbed wire and fire as tortuous devices doesn't make it any more exciting to watch. I have seen some underground live wrestling shows recently but nothing can compare to what I have witnessed in this documentary. "Beyond the Mat" is a compelling document of what goes on behind the scenes at wrestling shows such as the WWF and the ECW, and how it affects those who participate in entertaining the audience.

Director Barry Blaustein, an active Hollywood producer, shows us the roots of his interest in wrestling. We see a California wrestling school where wrestlers may make 25 dollars in one day, and that is if their promoter likes what he sees. The main purpose of this school is to establish experience in the ring, and the promoter need not be nice in their criticisms. Some of these wrestlers may get a lucky break if they show up on the WWF.

The main wrestling event exposed is WWF. We see the WWF owner Vince McMahon, a smooth-talking man who has his enemies in wrestling as well as his supporters. He has fired executives and particularly wrestlers who can't make it to one of their shows. The job of being a wrestler, as explained by Jake "The Snake" Roberts, is grueling and occupies most of your time. The average wrestler works 26 days out of the month, twice on weekends. It is no wonder that Jake admits crack use is what keeps him going. Never mind that he has slept with many women, admonishes his father (an ex-wrestler), and has limited communication with his daughter whom he sees once every four years. This man can only take so much abuse but when wrestling, he feels anew and knows enough about "ring psychology" to keep fans watching.

Jake's story is the dark side of wrestling with his own demons to battle outside the ring. Then there is Mick "Mankind" Foley, a man who can absorb more pain than anybody. He has a beauitful wife and two wonderful children. When he is around them, he is playful and polite. On the ring, he is an animal who takes quite a bit of abuse, especially in his match with "The Rock." A tough scene to watch is when he invites his wife and children to ringside seats at the event. The kids have been told that the match is scripted and rehearsed. Nevertheless, there is Mick getting hit on the head severely with a metal chair while the kids cry profusely. When Mick sees the footage, he decides to stick to his "sock" routine than getting heavily beaten by objects. No kid should have endure watching their dad get beaten.

"Beyond the Mat" is at its best dealing with Jake and Mick, the polar opposites in terms of how wrestling infects and affects their lives. I also found some interest in the 50-year-old Terry Funk, a legend in the business who decides to quit (though we later learn he continued to wrestle afterwards). His reasons for quitting are mostly because of bad knees and his family's pleas. Yet Terry is unstoppable and proves to be as adept as any fresh young wrestler. There is some brief enjoyment watching Chyna, a female wrestler, trying to convince her parents she is not a lesbian. Sadly, little is said of her status as a wrestler and we barely get to see her strut her stuff on the ring.

"Beyond the Mat" raises the question of why wrestling is so popular. It is a show with millions of fans who pay to see their favorites get bloodily beaten and abused on the ring, the modern-day equivalent of gladiators. It is all spectacle and all entertainment but it is decidedly not a show for kids. There are injuries and sometimes near-death struggles, but is it really worth it? I can't say I know for sure but the wrestlers, shown as average human beings with families to support, must get something out of it besides the paycheck.

What a difference a day makes for Lola

RUN LOLA RUN (1999)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

(Original review from 1999)

German director Tom Tykwer's "Run Lola Run" is the first truly great pop fantasy since Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction," a high-octane, bizarrely moving, sensual, energetic film of such distinct purity that it is impossible to put it out of your mind.

The film stars Franka Potente as Lola, a flaming red-haired drug dealer's girlfriend whose life always seems to be on the go. Within the first couple of minutes, Lola is engaged in a frantic search for 100,000 marks to save her boyfriend, Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu), from getting killed by gangsters. It is money that Manni owes to a gangster but he inadvertently left it in a subway, where it might have gotten in the hands of a homeless person! Lola has precisely twenty minutes to come up with the money. She tries to consult her father, who works as an executive at a bank, and he may or may not be of any help to her. In the meantime, Manni considers robbing a supermarket, which is a post-Tarantino cliche to be sure...but writer-director Tykwer has some sly tricks up his sleeve.

"Run Lola Run" is not content with all things formal and conventional, and so in a shrewd move, the 20-minute event is repeated twice. What? How can this be interesting? Well, instead of just merely repeating the timely events at random as "Pulp Fiction," "Go" and the noir classic "The Killing" did, we get different outcomes, realizations, and coincidences with each interval. Tykwer operates under the theory that Lola imagines there are alternating time lines, and likewise, so does Manni. In a sense, it closely resembles "Groundhog Day"...avoiding the same problems and sidestepping others each time the desperate Lola runs trying to find the inordinate sum of money.

"Run Lola Run" has plenty of visual tricks and superbly crafted camera moves in every frame, and plenty of surprises along its festive way. We get the homeless man who becomes a major character in one event, Lola (who does enough running to qualify for the Olympics) always managing to run past a group of nuns, and there are the people on the street she almost runs into. Each time Lola marches past them, a different life is mapped out shown in unobtrusive flash cuts. There is Manni's decision to rob a supermarket if Lola does not make it on time, though something always manages to occur to intrude upon that possibility. So we get car accidents, animated intervals of Lola running, banks held up, fierce dogs, astonished casino gamblers, shootings, lifelong decisions involving parentage, bicyclists trying to pitch bike sales, and plenty of heart-pumping songs and sounds to emphasize Lola's fervent task at hand. Each timely event is played out with unpredictable twists and at the end, there is a greater sense of optimism that supersedes that of "Go."

Franka Potente is a startlingly alive newcomer, brimming with a substance and energy unseen in cinema screens this year. Her flame-red hairdo has already inspired may German girls - even the title has proved inspiration for Hillary Clinton's race for senator. Ponette has sweet, delectable chemistry with the soft-spoken Moritz Bleibtreu - their bedroom chats highlighted by bright red hues is as touching and heartrending as any Julia Roberts romance. Those scenes comfortably reminded me of some of the flashing red color flashes at the beginning of Bertolucci's "The Conformist."

From the incredible overhead shot where a crowd forms the title of the film, "Run Lola Run" is a masterpiece of cinematic invention and circumstance - actively playing the audience like a piano. It is indeed the most pleasurable pop film of the year. And Potente is the shining moral force of the film - in her desperation and her surefire confidence, she makes us believe there are alternatives to any life-threatening event. Bravo, Lola, Bravo!

Past as prologue in film blanc

DEAD AGAIN (1991)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

"Dead Again" is one of the most eccentric of all noir thrillers I've seen. It's a crafty, cunningly suspenseful thriller, but its climax rushes and ends abruptly. It's a great movie but that ending vexes me.

Kenneth Branagh is an L.A. private detective named Mike Church, always on the lookout for missing heirs - he also has a knack for parking on the wrong side of the road. He also hates his loud piano-playing neighbor. Church's latest assigment is to identify an amnesiac (Emma Thompson) whom he calls Grace - she had been cared for at a church. Mike can't divulge much from her since she doesn't talk and has consistent nightmares. He asks his newspaper contact and friend, Pete (Wayne Knight), to publish her picture in the hopes that someone can identify her. Mike gets nowhere until a hypnotist, Franklyn (Derek Jacobi), offers to help mostly by hypnotizing her and discovering any hidden secrets from her past. She has secrets alright, though they are not her own - they belong to a 1940's woman named Margaret Strauss (also played by Thompson). In great detail, she tells the story of Margaret's marriage to Roman Strauss (played by Branagh), a famous, distinguished composer who hated writing music for the movies. Then we also learn of Roman's financial troubles, his maid and her son, and of a gossip-mongering reporter (Andy Garcia) who misses the war.

To be fair to those who have not seen this film, I will not reveal much more. "Dead Again" is full of surprises and clever twists. It is a film noir where daylight plays a more central role than a nocturnal setting, hence "film blanc." The movie plays like a thriller with a noir feel only in name. It is more of a love story between Mike and Grace juxstaposed with the Strauss couple. "Dead Again" also contains some of the most offbeat characters in quite some time. I will not reveal who plays an ex-psychiatrist who works at a grocery store, but it is an odd type of character. There is also the aforementioned hypnotist, Franklyn, who mostly runs an antique shop and hypnotizes his clients to find where their antique items are hidden. And there is the loudmouth Pete who says memory doesn't fade for long, using the story of an axe murder as evidence. We also see a decadent party in the 40's sequence with masked dancers and the like - those who loved "Eyes Wide Shut" might appreciate this sequence in its ornate quality.

Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson do a brilliant job at playing their dual characters. Branagh is especially good at a German accent and an American accent. At times, Thompson may struggle with her American accent but she certainly is convincing as the modern amnesiac and as the distressed Margaret. Their relationship works and we want them to be together, but her past and the possibility that Margaret Strauss has been reincarnated threatens it.

As I said, I will not reveal much more about "Dead Again." The movie has great atmospheric detail and little clues strewn throughout that suggest the parallels between the past and the present. I also like the use of color to dictate the present, black-and-white for the past (a cliche to be sure but it still works). I'll also say there are red herrings galore and enough melodrama for ten thrillers, but as the movie builds for more surprise and revelations, it ends in a slightly cheap way. Having seen the film three times, "Dead Again" has such terrific, rhythmic flow that it ends in a way more reminiscent of "Fatal Attraction" than a sophisticated noir thriller. The violent climax has several close-up shots of scissors everywhere (a nod perhaps to Hitchcock's own "Dial M For Murder" and also the film's motif) but instead of dwelling on the plot, it ends crudely and unimaginatively. Watching Wayne Knight uterring "Whew!" after a crucial character meets his demise had me cowering in disbelief. The movie deserves a more fitting resolution than something as hackneyed as a slasher film finish.

Don't get me wrong. "Dead Again" is a wonderful film and a beautifully mounted production as only Kenneth Branagh can make. As a love story, it is exquisite and very moving. But its rush to settle and finalize its surprising revelations in a frenetic mode weakens the narrative somewhat. Despite getting lost in its profundities and its excessive melodramatic strokes, it is still a thrilling ride getting there.

A Confluence of Comic-Book Movies

A CONFLUENCE OF COMIC-BOOK MOVIES: DC vs. MARVEL

By Jerry Saravia

So at the San Diego 2013 Comic-Con, more news broke about the plethora of future comic-book movies (in addition to TV's "Breaking Bad" - what does that have to do with a comic-book convention? - and more sci-fi movies than one can count, such as 'Ender's Game" with Harrison Ford). A new "Amazing Spider-Man" movie with villains Electro and the Rhino have emerged fighting against our favorite web-slinger (Electro being among my favorite of Spidey's foes) in a new, startling teaser with a blue-hued Electro (Jamie Foxx) strapped to some gurney with dozens of electrical wires attached to him (Incidentally, Rhino will be played by Paul Giamatti). "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" has emerged as the sequel to the "First Avenger" (among my favorite of the current crop of Marvel films). Expect a new "X-Men" flick from director Bryan Singer called "Days of Future Past" with a young Magneto confronting his future older self (Ian McKellen).

Jamie Foxx as Electro

And that is just Marvel - lest us not forget the surprising union of the Dark Knight and the Man of Steel in the Zack Snyder-directed sequel, "Batman vs. Superman." At Comic-Con, Zack Snyder made the announcement by having introduced it with a line of dialogue by actor Harry Lennix (who played General Swanwick) and a logo on the screen, namely the S sign and the Bat signal merged as one which made the audience go bananas. The Batman vs. Superman flick interests me because it was an on/off again project for many years, and who wouldn't want to see these two DC titans share the screen (no doubt a team-up that is in direct, obvious competition with "The Avengers" - DC and Marvel battling for mega box-office dollars). Also, it will be interesting to see who plays the Dark Knight since Christian Bale swore off donning the suit after three terrific Batman flicks. And will Christopher Nolan still be producing after he also swore off making any more Batman flicks, despite his prodigious involvement in "Man of Steel" (a review of that is coming soon)? As for the competing rival Marvel, the first "Amazing Spider-Man" flick was cumbersome and mediocre and completely unnecessary so I have little interest in seeing a sequel, at least in theaters (wait for DVD is a definitive despite my love for the web-slinger and Electro). 

Jennifer Lawrence in X-Men: Days of Future Past

My issue with comic-book movies is that there are too many glutting our cinemas, virtually on the heels of one that is released comes another ("Iron Man 3" this past May, "Man of Steel" in late June, a new "Wolverine" flick in July of 2013, followed by November's new "Thor" sequel). Don't get me wrong: I enjoy most of the comic-book films out there but seeing every one of them in a theater might prove to be much of a good thing. 

Even new comic-book-type films like the very entertaining "Pacific Rim" by Guillermo Del Toro (the sci-fi monster flick is an homage to the kaiju flicks from the Far East rather an actual comic-book per se) bears little distinction visually from say "Thor: The Dark World." (The preview I saw for it was in 3-D and looked reasonable but nothing earth-shattering or new from what we have seen this Norse god do). I do not know how many more of these movies I can take in such a short amount of time - how many Thors can we handle after already seeing this stubborn Norse god wield a hammer in the first "Thor" and "The Avengers" in the last two years? Same with "Captain America 2" - couldn't they have just eradicated a stand-alone sequel in favor of seeing him suit up with his armored shield in the hotly anticipated "Avengers 2: Age of Ultron" in 2015? I am sure some of these filmmakers and writers will find new ways to keep our interest from waning but the surprise element might disappear. Beware because if the writing and direction are not up to par beyond wowing us with dozens of special-effects and techno-super-duper explosions, these movies will become interchangeable rather than distinct.   

Sparrow and company in flat swashbuckler

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: 

THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL (2003)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Maybe I never liked pirates. I have a fondness for Captain Blood, memorably played by Errol Flynn. I also enjoyed Disney's animated version of Peter Pan. I also liked "The Crimson Pirate." But then there was the horrendous "Pirates" by Roman Polanski, a film that was as dimwitted as its characters. The less said about "Cutthroat Island," the better. "Pirates of the Caribbean" is a horribly boring picture with a boorish bore as its central character. It is full of razzle-dazzle effects and it is as ear-splittingly loud as any picture, but it crashes and burns long before the last reel is unspooled. All I could ask myself was why the Disney theme park ride was more fun?

Johnny Depp, wearing deep black eyeliner, is Captain Jack Sparrow, the former captain of the Black Pearl ship. He is a revered pirate, but his exploits have been exaggerated. Nevertheless, he wishes to reclaim his ship but it is now run by the undead and its leader, Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush). That is right, the undead. You see, once upon a time, these pirates were placed under an ancient curse and if they can find a relative of a former pirate, they can use the relative's blood and some ancient medallion to restore their humanity, or something like that. Meanwhile, Captain Sparrow is intent on reclaiming his ship and runs afoul of the blacksmith Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and there's some sort of sword duel, and many more to follow. The undead pirates, by the way, can be seen in all their ghostly, cadaverous glory when the moonlight shines on them.

"Pirates of the Caribbean" is chock full of adventure and swordsmanship, but it falls short of being a spirited swashbuckler. There is no joy to be had from one frame of this atrocity, not even with Depp's praised performance that shockingly earned him an Oscar nomination! Depp is an actor I admire more for his daring than for truly inhabiting his characters - with the exception of "Donnie Brasco," he seems to play characters with no inner life. At least in Jim Jarmusch's underrated and existential western "Dead Man," he was a wanderer who had no idea where he was headed. But in this fiasco, he plays a pirate who seems to think he is a pirate. That conceit works for the inept Jack Sparrows but, for me anyway, it is a waste of an actor who seems to be in drag and waves his arms when he has nothing else to do. Sadly, a line like, "Are you a eunuch?", is less funny when Depp says it. He is a vapid cartoon caricature that keeps reminding us he is in the movie.

Orlando Bloom has the look of a dashing blacksmith, if there is such a thing, but it is a look, nothing more. Even Keira Knightley, the brightest spot in "Bend it Like Beckham," is mostly on automatic pilot as Elizabeth, the typical damsel in distress - her main distinction is that she occasionally collapses from exhaustion? Narcolepsy? Only Geoffrey Rush has the right attitude as Captain Barbossa - you feel his lust for evil dripping from his corroded mouth. Jonathan Pryce as Elizabeth's mother is reduced to another background stick figure, like most of the cast.

As directed by Gore Verbinski ("The Ring"), "Pirates of the Caribbean" is gorgeously shot but it is as spiritless and nonsensical as any gibberish from Disney these days. Overlong to the point of dragged-out, tedious, joyless and frenetic with cannon blasts and gunfire every few seconds, "Pirates of the Caribbean" makes me long for the simplicity of Errol Flynn.

Tell her I am old-fashioned

THE AGE OF INNOCENCE (1993)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

(Original review updated from 1993 viewing)

Martin Scorsese's "The Age of Innocence" did not sweep at the Oscars back in 1994 as I had expected. "Schindler's List" and "The Piano" stole some of its thunder, not to mention the similar tale of repression, "The Remains of the Day." "Age of Innocence" was also a major departure for Scorsese, who is known mostly for the whirling intensity of "Mean Streets" and "GoodFellas." What the hell is this raging bull doing making a film about the social class structure of the 1870's by way of Edith Wharton? Good question, yet Scorsese has proven to be diverse in the past, from filming concert footage of the Band to dealing with a feminist heroine like Alice from "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore." "The Age of Innocence" is ironically among Scorsese's greatest films, a sumptuous, delicate tale of repression and repressed emotional violence.

Daniel Day-Lewis stars as a New York lawyer, Newland Archer, who romantically yearns for the sexy, open-hearted Countess Olenska (Michelle Pfeiffer) despite his plans to marry her cousin, the childlike, innocent May Welland (Winona Ryder). But problems arise such as Olenska's unsettled scandalous divorce, and Newland's inability to cope with his deep feelings because of the strict class order of practically all of New York. People seem to repress their feelings because of fear of being ousted from family and friends - Olenska comes dangerously close to being one of these people. As a tearful Olenska says in one scene, "Does nobody want to hear the truth Mr. Archer? Everyone asks you to pretend." She then follows that line with: "Does nobody cry in New York? I suppose there is no need to."

I wasn't sure how Scorsese would direct this tale, or why he wanted to do it. This is a director who seems to deal with characters that let go of their emotions rather than keeping them bottled up. A tale of this kind is often handled by the Merchant Ivory production team or David Lean. I think it is finally the elements of tragic love, repressed feelings, and internal emotional violence that attracted Scorsese to the project, and he fuses those elements flawlessly. There are the minute, carefully chosen details such as the three-course dinners, manners of etiquette, and paintings that illustrate the bravado of certain characters, such as Beaufort (Stuart Wilson), a playboy that shames the family - his selection of nude paintings directly reflects his character. Not to mention the grandly ostentatious gossip-monger Mrs. Mingott (Miriam Margoyles), and her plethora of paintings of dogs and a savage "Last of the Mohicans-type" painting.

Scorsese brings this world alive as he did with the world of gangsters in "GoodFellas" - you almost feel as if you went back in time to a more innocent era and a sumptuous lifestyle. The cinematography by Michael Ballhaus captures every single nuance and is particularly attentive to subtle details, even in human behavior. There are throwaway moments that capture glimpses of character, such as May Welland making a quick glance at Newland when he says his goodbyes to Countess Olenska at Mrs. Mingott's house. There is also the tender, touching, underplayed scene where Newland is told by his son that May knew all along about his love for the Countess. Any other director might have played up the symphonic score or used distracting close-ups, but Scorsese films it in one long take and as a two-shot. Less is definitely more in terms of finding the right visual cues for this story.

The actors are all perfect and understated, probably more than they ever will be. It is a romantic tale of society that warrants such restraint, though some may feel bored. I mean, we are not talking about the bawdy adventures of Tom Jones here. Daniel Day-Lewis astutely captures Newland's longing and growing sense of desperation for what he cannot have. Michelle Pfeiffer is both sensual and far more pragmatic than at the onset - she magnificently captures Olenska's frail side and her need to be accepted, though her behavior is unconventional. But the biggest surprise is Winona Ryder, capturing the innocence of the title - the seemingly naive May Welland who provides the emotional center. Her frozen smile of recognition is haunting in the film, suggesting that she is far more knowledgeable of her surroundings than she lets on. There are also colorful supporting turns by the aforementioned Miriam Margoyles, Richard E. Grant as the sarcastic Larry Lefferts, Alec McGowen as the expert on gossip regarding all the families, and Michael Gough as the important head of the van der Luyden family who orchestrate a formal dinner to matriculate Olenska into society.

There is so much to love and take in from this film that you have to see it more than once. See it once for the beautiful settings, the elegant music score by Elmer Bernstein and the extraordinary camerawork, and the second time for the finely tuned acting and the emotions that threaten to explode in every one of the characters. A brilliant tragedy in the style of Orson Welles's "The Magnificent Ambersons," "Age of Innocence" will sweep you off your feet and it will stay with you.

A desperate return

ANOTHER 48 HRS.

Reviewed By Jerry Saravia

Desperation and greed mark Walter Hill's "Another 48 HRS." It is the kind of movie that assumes glass breakage, gunshots, loud music and truly thumpingly and obscenely amplified punches are the equivalent of entertainment. For some they may be. For others, beware.

"Another 48 HRS." is one of several sequels released in the summer of 1990. That summer also featured "Gremlins 2," "The Two Jakes," "The Exorcist III," among others. Not the greatest company, though Nicholson and writer Robert Townshend at least attempted to make a different kind of sequel to "Chinatown." So then came the sequel to "48 HRS.," and it was assumed that it would be as funny as the original. Actually, it is more violent and nasty, and hardly funny. The film was made quickly and dispatched to theatres without a hint of what made the original tick.

For starters, Eddie Murphy looks like a carbon copy of himself, delivering his lines as the Armani-suited Reggie Hammond with the attitude of a robot. He only has a few choice moments, particularly when talking to the phone to his old buddies. It is also nice to hear his trademark laugh, but there is no pizazz, no energy in his performance. Even a recap of the bar sequence from the original (which is what made Eddie a star) feels perfunctory and delivers on the payoff of a gunshot as a punchline, not a joke.

Nick Nolte returns as the cop Cates but he seems exhausted by the proceedings, which makes no sense since his character is no longer the alcoholic he was in the original. He hardly brings any integrity to the movie - shoot one villain, beat up Reggie, shoot another, get hit with a basketball, and so on. His scenes with Murphy have no consequence or action or sense of urgency. They seem to return for the sake of returning for a sequel, not for a new original story.

Cold-hearted and wholly unbelievable from start to finish, not to mention having one of the most surprisingly crude endings in eons, and featuring several anonymous villains (including a funny cameo by Bernie Casey), "Another 48 HRS." does have some merits. Kinetic action-director Walter Hill stages moments of brutal, gory action with verve - his images move with crispness and detail. And even if they are a few choice moments, Eddie Murphy at least makes me smile when I hear his rendition of Sting's "Roxanne." Of course, we heard this same rendition in the original, so this sequel basically smacks of replicated desperation.

A new sheriff in town

48 HRS. (1982)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Eddie Murphy was only 19 when he made "48 HRS.," the truly exciting buddy-buddy cop flick that ignited his career. It did not take long when he followed his debut with "Trading Places," "Beverly Hills Cop," and the rest is history. Eddie is only part of what makes "48 HRS." a success - it helps that he is cast along with Nick Nolte, the primal force to be reckoned with.

Nolte stars as booze-swilling San Francisco cop, Cates, who can't seem to hold on to his girlfriend (Annette O'Toole), a bartender. He frequently forgets to call her. Of course, starting his rough day as a cop with liquor in his coffee doesn't help matters. One of his partners is killed in a brilliantly intense shootout in an apartment building. Cates need to recruit someone from the inside to find the killers. So he finds Reggie Hammond (Eddie Murphy), a former thief who belonged to this group. The trick is that Cates only has 48 hours to locate this gang or else he is out of a job. So begins the buddy-buddy cop formula that was the inspiration for "Lethal Weapon" and many other clones.

Reggie and Cates don't get along. Cates hates Reggie for many reasons, and engages in a fistfight that is among the funniest I have seen in a long time. The idea is that Cates is racist but, nevertheless, he has to work with Reggie in gathering information. What happens between the two macho, smartass guys is that a certain respect develops, despite their differences. Cates even allows Reggie to have sex with a hot dancer by paying for his room. Eventually, the handcuffed Reggie is allowed by Cates to bring a gun into a bar and intimidate an entire redneck crowd with the attitude of a sheriff.

"48 HRS." has two formidable villains, one is a coarse thief named Ganz (James Remar) and the other is his partner, a Navajo named Billy Bear (Sonny Landham). They have a lot of terrific scenes where their macho-istic behavior results in numerous chases and shootouts, including one in a metro bus! And Ganz is barely interested in sex with a prostitute - sometimes a bad guy only thinks with his other guns. And I should not fail to mention David Patrick Kelly as a hapless thief who is mostly concerned with the Porsche he has kept parked in a garage for three years!

Tough, exciting as hell, nailbiting, chock full of macho bull and damn funny, "48 HRS." is a cop movie with balls and a hell of a lot of attitude - the movie gets off on it. Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte are memorable and their camaraderie adds to the overall excitement. I would not put this movie above "The French Connection" or "Serpico" or perhaps "Dirty Harry," but it comes close.

De Palma's jokey, dreamy noir

FEMME FATALE (2002)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Just when you thought sex was not sleazy anymore comes Brian De Palma back in fine form with "Femme Fatale," a highly erotic, stylish film that is really a noir comedy at heart. It is "Double Indemnity" crossed with "Vertigo" and De Palma's own "Obsession." It is loud, crude, high-pitched, self-parodic and a huge mess. It is also entertaining and absorbing, a truly dazzling cinematic treat.

Rebecca Romjin-Stamos stars as Laure Ash, a seductress that would give most seductresses in this decade a run for their money. This woman means business. At the start of the film, she poses as a photographer at the Cannes Film Festival to divert attention from a diamond heist. Laure has a tryst with a French model in the bathroom that is among the most erotic sex scenes ever filmed. This includes the removal of gold braces embedded with jewels which Laure cleverly removes and drops to the floor underneath the bathroom door so they can be whisked away by an accomplice. The robbery, the tryst, the scheduled film at a theatre and a cat toying with some snakelike microphone are all scored to the beat of a remake of Ravel's "Bolero." This sequence alone is so damn good and suspenseful that you hope this is the opening of one of De Palma's best thrillers. Ah, but if that was the case, this film would not be the guilty pleasure it finally aspires to be.

Laure escapes from the festival intact. Her accomplices know of her betrayal and want her and the jewels. Laure is then photographed in France by a professional paparazzi (Antonio Banderas), though we are not given the information immediately as to why. Then Laure is mistaken for another woman at a local church. She narrowly escapes certain death from her accomplices who want the jewels. Laure is taken in by the kind family who assume she is someone she is not. A suicide takes place. Laure (or her double) is on a plane to the United States where she meets an American ambassador (Peter Coyote). Seven years pass. Laure, now Mrs. Watts, is married to that ambassador. Banderas turns up again, involved in a double-crossing that keeps getting more and more complicated until we have given up. The key to this mystery is not clear until we get to an ending that asks us to determine what our fates might have been if we could turn back the clock.

The ending is silly and anticlimactic, but so is most of "Femme Fatale." The difference lies in the execution, and De Palma knows his notes of suspense and cross-cutting between parallel actions better than anybody since Hitchcock. "Femme Fatale" is more in line with "Dressed to Kill" and "Body Double" in its sleazy, sexual factor. Romjin-Stamos has a few nude scenes and some scenes of highly charged eroticism. She also adorns various styles of dress and hairstyles - a sort of homage to "Vertigo" times 10. Stamos's Laure is so amoral that Linda Fiorentino could take lessons from this true femme fatale. Speaking of Fiorentino, I admired her performance in "The Last Seduction" but this Laure is such a seductively sexual, sleek creature that I will not soon forget her. Stamos is not exactly a terrific actress but she has high energy and oodles of charisma - consider her a true siren in the film noir canon.

"Femme Fatale" is not a serious work nor a serious noir at all. It is a playful digression on noir - a pop carnival of heightened emotions and double twists in the form of a dream. It is a strange dream indeed, combined with De Palma's flair for whirlwind camera moves and excellent tracking shots that nobody can wield better than the master himself. It is also De Palma enjoying his parodic bent on suspense and noir, not to mention his own classic thrillers (I can only think of a Hitchcockian comparison in the playful "Family Plot," which was Hitch's joke on thrillers). As "Raising Cain" was a joke on horror, "Femme Fatale" is a joke on suspense. Don't listen to the naysayers. De Palma is back and better than ever.

I like to watch

BODY DOUBLE (1984)

An Appreciation By Jerry Saravia

 My initial review of "Body Double" went something like this: "Brian De Palma's stylish yet empty-headed exercise in thriller mechanics from the Hitchcock school of 'Vertigo' has little to offer beyond stylish mechanics. Not that it is a bad film, far from it, it is putrid but so cheaply entertaining and rudely exploitative that it is hard to forget." Well, this was a review I had written two years prior to this one but never posted or published since. Seeing the film again a few times since, I can honestly say it is a truly stylish, erotic film that offers something unique from De Palma (which he usually manages to accomplish without reservation) - he knows how to keep you hooked into the story and it is definitely hard to forget.

Craig Wasson is Jake, the listless, wan and unintelligent hero of the film, playing an actor fired from a low-budget vampire flick thanks to his outbreaks of claustrophobia. His wife is sleeping around with other men and so now he needs a place to crash. Another aspiring actor offers a UFO-shaped house on stilts as accommodation. This house also has another distinguishing feature - a telescope allows one to spy on the sexy neighbor who stripteases every night with the blinds open. Wasson is so intrigued that he watches her every night, until tragedy strikes. Of course, I would not dream of revealing any more of the plot except to say that if you've seen Hitchcock's excellent "Vertigo," then you'll know how this turns out. Even then, De Palma has a few tricks up his sleeve.

"Body Double" was one of my favorite films of 1984. When I saw it again two years ago, I thought it was a slipshod, mediocre thriller that at least kept one interest in seeing how much De Palma blatantly borrowed from good old Hitch. And I can't say I agree with that assertion anymore. "Body Double" grows on you and makes you want to watch what happens next (a phrase used by the Wasson character during a porno shoot sums it up: "I like to watch."). De Palma has that hook that grabs you tight and won't let go. Many great directors have it, including Stanley Kubrick, and even if all their films are not masterpieces, they keep you watching.

There is no reason for this film to work but Wasson's uncharacteristically strange, voyeuristic Jake (who becomes a temporary porn actor at one point) is watchable enough, particularly his trip into the porn industry where he discovers a sexy starlet (Melanie Griffith). She describes in a pre-"Boogie Nights" monologue all the acts she will and will not perform for the camera. Griffith is a dynamo to watch on screen, sizzling here with more pizazz than in any of her 90's screen efforts.

What else there is to enjoy is De Palma's fabulous tracking shots inside a mall (echoes here of "Dressed to Kill"), an ugly murder involving a power drill, Frankie Goes to Hollywood's "Relax" performed as a musical backdrop for a porno flick, Guy Boyd as Detective McLean who calls Jake a "peeper," Wasson's hilariously overdone claustrophobic acts, a ponytailed Native America who follows the sexy neighbor (played with true sex appeal by Deborah Shelton) everywhere, and Dennis Franz's sleazy independent director who is ready to fire Jake at any moment.

Though this is not as monumentally good as De Palma's "Dressed to Kill," it does have plenty of style to spare and has more interesting characters than "Blow Out." I just do not know how to describe the feeling I have every time I see "Body Double." Perhaps its story of Hollywood scandal and murder, and its peek into the world of pornography, is akin to the stories that interest me ever since reading "Hollywood Babylon." In light of the masterful "Mulholland Dr.," "Body Double" certainly holds some interest in contrast. All I know is I like to watch.

Get off my plane!

AIR FORCE ONE (1997)

Reviewed By Jerry Saravia
(Original review from 1998)

Most action thrillers nowadays rely on countless explosions, dozens of special-effects, wall-to-wall cartoonish violence, and enough gunfire to give Schwarzenegger a headache. The idea is to essentially give the audience a relentless assault on the senses and nothing more; some succeed such as "Mission: Impossible" and others fail like the mediocre "Broken Arrow" and the absurd "Ransom." Then there are the rare, humanistic, character-oriented thrillers like "The Fugitive," the original "Die Hard," and the spectacular "La Femme Nikita" and "The Professional," the latter two directed by action whiz Luc Besson who also helmed the offbeat "The Fifth Element." At least those films offered more than the usual slam-bam-thank-you-mam action. "Air Force One" is exactly what you might expect - explosions and action unashamedly standing in for character and plot.

"Air Force One" is an incredulous thriller; an occasionally exciting yet overbearing, feeble-minded piece where Harrison Ford plays the President of the United States as a straight, righteous man with no flaws. As he boards the Air Force One plane, Russian terrorists hijack it and hold all the presidential aides and staff members hostage in exchange for the release of an imprisoned Russian leader (Jurgen Prochnow). Ford is the kind of President who does not believe in negotiating with terrorists, especially not one played by Gary Oldman, so he fights mano-a-mano with them instead (imagine Abraham Lincoln going mano-a-mano with John Wilkes Booth). The First Lady and her daughter are also on the plane, and their lives are in danger if Ford does not comply with the terrorists.

Except for the novelty of having the President as the hero, "Air Force One" is strictly a "Die Hard"/"Under Siege" rip-off taking place on a plane, e.g., "Passenger 57," "Turbulence," and the others before it. There's nothing here that we haven't seen before and, most definitely, better. Harrison Ford makes a decent hero, as always, Gary Oldman is terrifying to watch, and there's a wonderful supporting cast including Glenn Close, Philip Baker Hall, Dean Stockwell, etc. Let's be honest, though: what we have here is a lot of machine gunfire and a high body count as compensation for a threadbare story, and a scenario as ludicrous as the one in Clint Eastwood's "Absolute Power." Close, but no cigar.

Size is all that matters

GODZILLA (1998)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
(Original review from July 1998)

Writer-director Roland Emmerich has produced some of the biggest box-office champs in history, particularly the grossly silly though often fun "Independence Day." Back in 1998, he produced and directed the most overhyped movie event of all time, "Godzilla." "Godzilla" was so overhyped in its marketing campaign (which started a year earlier) that there was no point in seeing the movie at all - you already had. In the previews, there were glimpses of Godzilla's enormous foot destroying half of New York City's streets and close-ups of its reptilian eye, and that's about all you see in the movie, folks. After Godzilla invades New York, he inexplicably and implausibly hides in the sewer and plays hide-and-seek with army helicopters. The footage is shot at night, and it is so poorly photographed that you can barely see the huge lizard at all, only a big, blurry shadow. And then there are Godzilla's numerous babies on the loose in typical velociraptor/"Jurassic Park" fashion.

For such a lavishly expensive production with state-of-the-art special effects, you would think we would at least see this creature. Godzilla stampeding through the city of New York is a great, wondrous and scary idea but the movie never follows suit. His foot is seen crushing cars, potholes, etc. How about Godzilla knocking over the Statue of Liberty or climbing the Twin Towers or lashing his tail against Times Square billboards? Nope, the filmmakers never use their imagination in conveying the destructive nature of the beast. He mostly runs through the city and often yells, and that is about it. How does this creature hide though? How does it change size and shape throughout? And how dare they allow us to develop sympathy for the monster only to then ask us to hate it at the end when all you hear is its heart beating (a lift from 1976's "King Kong")?

Another fact lost by the filmmakers is the genesis of this creature. Godzilla was a Japanese creation, a symbol of America coming on their fort and starting a war, namely World War II and the counterattack on Pearl Harbor. This new Godzilla is simply a special-effects blur with no personality and no purpose. This is Godzilla for the 90's with anemic co-stars such as Matthew Broderick, Hank Azaria and the shrill-voiced Maria Pitillo to boot? I'll stick with the original 1955 black-and-white version with Raymond Burr, thank you. At least the fire-breathing monster of that film was destructive.

Sad end for Heather O'Rourke

POLTERGEIST III (1988)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Heather O'Rourke, the cute child of the "Poltergeist" movies who died before the release of "Poltergeist III" of intestinal stenoisis, is one of those wonderful child stars who certainly had a career ahead of her. Her Carol Anne character embodied the fears of a child plagued by evil forces. The first "Poltergeist" movie was a glorious success. The second film a complete failure (though it racked up some dollars at the box-office), and the third film a complete fiasco at the box-office and with the critics. No surprise there since "Poltergeist III" is a failed experiment in subtle horror, though it is a marked improvement over the second chapter.

This time, Carol Anne (Heather O'Rourke) is a twelve-year-old girl sent by her parents to live with her aunt and uncle (that explains the disappearance of both Jobeth Williams and Craig T. Nelson). The setting is a high-rise building in presumably Seattle, but I can't say for sure. Uncle Bruce Gardner (Tom Skerritt) loves little Carol Anne and loves his real daughter, Donna (Lara Flynn Boyle, in her first film role). He also loves his new wife, Patricia (Nancy Allen), referred to as Aunt Trish by Carol Anne. Patricia is the sister of Carol Anne's mom. What we have is one happy family, right? Wrong. Patricia despises Carol Anne and calls her a brat, particularly when things start going bump in the night. Uncle Bruce always kisses Donna on the lips, even when trying to calm her down during one of many endless climaxes towards the end of the movie (there is a hint of incest here, even if there isn't). To make matters worse, Carol Anne goes to a school for kids with emotional problems. One of her doctors assumes that Carol Anne induces mass hypnosis on people to make them think they are seeing poltergeists (!) Shall I re-read that last sentence? How can a doctor assume that? Where did he get his degree?

Lo and behold, Carol Anne is revisited by ghosts after going through some hypnosis by the good doctor, and one determined character, Kane (Nathan Davis, replacing the late Julian Beck from Part 2), who wants her to join them in the light. The light is the Other Side (coincidentally the subtitle of Part 2). It also involves endless shots of mirrors reflecting ghosts and other happenings. There are shots of parking garages with puddles leading to another world. And a lot of smoke and light flashes materialize. And then there are the shenanigans of Donna wanting to party with her friends instead of babysitting Carol Anne. And so on.

No imagination in terms of cinematography or real scares exists in this dull movie. High-rises can be scary but there is more character and color in those antiquated apartments in "Rosemary's Baby," made two decades prior to this movie. Skerritt and Allen seem to go through the motions. Heather O'Rourke overacts and seems too mature to wear her hair the same way she did in the first film (call it child abuse). Boyle looks like she would rather be somewhere else. Zelda Rubinstein returns yet again as the psychic Tangina, and gives a piss-poor performance. The saddest part of this film is that O'Rourke died before she could complete all her scenes. This lends further credence that Part III should not have existed.

Diluted hauntings

POLTERGEIST II: THE OTHER SIDE (1986)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Steven Spielberg and Tobe Hooper did not return for seconds when a sequel was announced to the original fright film that became a box-office hit. They must have read the script and puked their own vomit monsters. "Poltergeist II: The Other Side" is an uninspired, flat sequel that will make you choke with unintentional laughter. It is a travesty.

The Freeling Family returns but with no trace of pizazz or humor. Steve Freeling (Craig T. Nelson) has grown his hair long, fancies himself a hippie, sells vacuum cleaners and wants nothing to do with televisions. Diane Freeling (Jobeth Williams) merely exists and points out to Steve that they are broke ever since leaving their haunted domicile. Carol Anne (the late Heather O'Rourke) and Robbie (Oliver Robins) are about the same, though Robbie has braces and Carol Anne talks to mysterious strangers (and how come there is no explanation of Dominique Dunne's Dana character from the original? Never mind that Dunne was tragically murdered shortly after the original's release.) They all live with Diane's mother (Geraldine Fitzgerald, in a wasted role) and before you know it, the poltergeists are back. This time, though, we get lots of smoke and fire, braces with a life of their own, a mysterious preacher named Kane (played by the late Julian Beck) , and an enormously ugly worm creature courtesy of H.R. Giger. Oh, yes, and a Vomit Creature.

"Poltergeist II" is a senseless, witless, numbingly mindless movie with no real sense of terror or purpose. The Freelings do little to provoke any sympathy as they did in the original. There is an Indian shaman (Will Sampson) and the thick-accented, terminally annoying psychic (Zelda Rubinstein) returning from the original, who are both aware that dark forces still prevail in the Freelings's original domicile. All this smacks of desperation and is similarly contrived to most horror sequels (providing an explanation, no less, of why the dark spirits wanted Carol Anne in the first place.) It is a good thing that the sweet, talented Heather O'Rourke went to the other side herself or she would have been stuck making movies like "Poltergeist II."

Godzillas vs. Transformers (in a good way)

PACIFIC RIM (2013)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

The giant robots who are roughly the size of half of a skyscraper are what initially intrigued me about the trailer for "Pacific Rim." They are massive and they walk with precision, and can run like the wind. Two pilots are necessary to operate one robot and manipulate its moves and its ability to swing a punch or use a steel sword against massive sea creatures. "Pacific Rim" is that kind of monster movie we do not see much of anymore - its added pluses are that it has a little heart and some noble heroes.

The Kaiju are the flying sea creatures who are roughly the size of one Godzilla and a half. They cause major destruction to almost every city on Earth. The Kaiju emerge from the sea with a roar that is pure Tyrannosaurus Rex X 1 million decibels and a bite that can cause real damage, not to mention a deadly acid that spews from their mouths. What are the humans to do? Build technological marvels of robotic destruction, of course, known as Jaegers (not the alcoholic drink that one imbibes, but you might like to have one after seeing this film, and I do mean that in a good way). These robots could give the Transformers a run for their Michael Bay dollars - when they stomp on the city streets, you feel it. Same with the Kaiju.

A former pilot named Raleigh (Charlie Hunnam, minus his "Sons of Anarchy" beard), who lost his brother during a dangerous combat mission with the fierce Kaiju, is commisioned by Commander Stacker Pentecoast (Idris Elba, who suffers the occasional nosebleed) to fight these raging beasts. Raleigh is reluctant until he finds a suitable, untested and ambitious pilot, Mako (Rinko Kikuchi), who as a child encountered one of those beasts. The two pilots have to have their minds in unison to operate the mammoth robots - they must be locked in a neural bridge called "drifting" (a psychic linkage).

Most of "Pacific Rim" is filled with Kaiju fighting Jaegers and vice versa. I saw the film in 3-D and the effects are truly astounding and eye-opening - there are times that you might have to grab the arms of your chair when these titanic monsters fight each other on the screen. Guillermo Del Toro (who previously helmed "Pan's Labyrinth," "Cronos" and the "Hellboy" pictures) never lets the action up though he does pause for character moments and various idiosyncracies. Still, the name of the game is unrelenting action, explosions and, eventually, a self-sacrifice. There is a chilling, nightmarish moment where Mako as a screaming, crying child hides in terror from the Kaiju in a near-apocalyptic moment of almost Hiroshima-like extremes. It is this memory that prevents her at one point from operating the Jaeger as she is ready to use its weapons to destroy the beast.

"Pacific Rim" could have used a lot more moments like that one, punctuated with traumatic memories to make us cling closer to the characters. Still, the characters are all sharply defined personalities, not automatons. Charlie Hunnam's Raleigh is a soldier who does his best to ignore his brother's death; Kikuchi's Mako wants revenge for the loss of her family but has a hard time suppressing her past trauma, and Pentecoast tries to be more calculating and remote but his past memories also sneaks up on him.
Adding to all the noise, CGI and practical effects (and 3-D effects that make helicopters look like Ed Wood's toys when placed against the monsters) is the film's disarming sense of humor (a Del Toro trademark) thanks to the two geeky scientists who seemingly have a P.h.D on the Kaiju. They are Charlie Day as Dr. Newton Geiszle (channeling Sam Rockwell), who suspects that these beasts are being cloned and may have an idea of how to defeath them, and Burn Gorman as Dr. Hermann Gottlieb who just feels that Newton is a manic personality. And the piece de resistance is Del Toro regular Ron Perlman, wearing gold-stripped shoes that have to be seen to be believed, as an underground black-market salesman named Hannibal Chau who buys Kaiju body parts!

"Pacific Rim" is an upbeat sci-fi epic that is tons of fun to watch. The film is a hark back to the old Godzilla flicks and other Japanese monster flicks with a touch of, pardon the comparison, Transformers except the Jaegers are far more impressive and almost grandiose. It does help that we sympathize with the characters enough to hope they survive all the wrath and fury of these winged sea creatures. I only wish I could spend more time with them - maybe in the sequel (reportedly, one hour of the film was cut by Del Toro that featured more character nuance). But whom am I to complain because I had a blast with "Pacific Rim." Forget "Transformers" and its sequels, Del Toro gives a summer blockbuster what it needs - a shot of adrenaline mixed with heart and pathos. A good summer cocktail, indeed.

They are here!

POLTERGEIST (1982)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

I first saw "Poltergeist" in 1982 in a packed movie theatre. It was an unnerving experience for me, and far too gory and violent to qualify for a PG rating. Mind you, I was only 11 at the time. I have seen it a couple of times since but only now do I see what a humane horror film it is. Like "The Exorcist" and others of its ilk, "Poltergeist" is a superb ghost story that makes us care for its characters because they are allowed to be themselves, and they play it straight in the face of both good and evil forces.

The characters are the Freelings, a close-knit family in suburbia. There is Steve (Craig T. Nelson), a successful real-estate agent who reads Ronald Reagan biographies and watches "A Guy Named Joe" at the same time! There is his wife, Diane Freeling (Jobeth Williams, in one of the two best roles of her career), who loves Steve and her kids deeply. The three kids include the teenage daughter, Dana (the late Dominique Dunne), who stays up at night on the phone, her younger sister, Carol Anne (wonderfully played by the late Heather O'Rourke) who has a habit of staring at the television screen, and the young brother, Robbie (Oliver Robins), who has trouble counting before the sound of thunder strikes. This is a close-knit family, but there are those nicely understated touches of humor that show more humanity than the average cutesy family you might see on Lifetime. When Diane finds Carol Anne's dead bird in the cage, she says, "Oh s**t. Couldn't you have waited until after her birthday?" Then there is the terrific scene where Diane rolls a marihuana cigarette while Steve listens to her story about how as a child, she was inadvertently kidnapped. But something is about to happen to this family, some kind of unseen force is ready to strike. The rolling clouds in the ominous sky are beginning to set in. The tree outside Robbie's house is certain to strike terror soon enough. And Carol Anne should know better than to stare at television screens for so long.

"Poltergeist" sets up its characters so well that when the inevitable evil strikes, it truly scares us. And, boy is it scary. The first indications are almost funny in a way. Chairs pile up in pyramid fashion on the table. A force pulls chairs and little Carol Anne across the kitchen floor. Lights flicker and burn with intensity. And, then the real terror begins as little Carol Anne disappears into a closet, and is somewhere in the house. Robbie is almost sucked into a tree. Steve is having trouble sleeping. Diane can smell her daughter nearby. "Poltergeist" feels like a funnier, wicked, jolting freakshow than a horror movie, and it puts "The Amityville Horror" to shame. The latter film had a sense of eerie mood but this movie really delivers with moments that will require you to cover your eyes.

Though it is directed by Tobe Hooper ("The Texas Chainsaw Massacre"), "Poltergeist" feels like a Steven Spielberg production (he co-wrote the screenplay). In fact, there is a lot of the mood and atmosphere of "E.T." in this film (coincidentally released the same year). Even the kids play with "Star Wars" action figures just like Elliott does in "E.T." The genial tone also recalls Spielberg's sentimental flourishes but I have the feeling that Hooper has infused it with some of his own playfulness and humanism. The scene where Diane feels Carol Anne has made contact with her soul is exquisitely rendered, delivering an emotional crescendo that will make your heart melt. That feels like a Hooper scene whereas Spielberg might have laid it on a little too thick. And Hooper's wickedness is evident in the scene where one of the paranormal investigators imagines ripping his flesh from his face thus exposing his skull.

The Freeling family feels like a real family, people you may see in your neighborhood. All the details of their lives feel right, and Craig T. Nelson and Jobeth Williams instill the parents with the right mixture of pathos and believability. Heather O'Rourke has many eerie scenes, particularly when talking to the television screen or when she notices things that her parents (and, we, the audience) do not see. Dominique Dunne has a small role but there is a funny moment where she tells off some leering construction workers with obscene body language, while her mother smiles approvingly. Oliver Robins has those precious looks of bewilderment and shock, especially with a toy clown who possesses a crooked grimace.

Emotionally involving, humanistic, magical, often terrifying, "Poltergeist" is one sensational movie, a roller-coaster ride that delivers its thrills and laughs in equal measure. But how could anyone rate this PG is beyond me. It is decidedly not for the kiddies.