If...you...men...only...knew, part 1

EYES WIDE SHUT (1999)

A complete shot-by-shot analysis (or mere description to some) of Stanley Kubrick's last film

By Jerry Saravia

 

  There were outstanding films in 1999 such as Magnolia and American Beauty, but there was nothing quite like Stanley Kubrick's final masterpiece, the superbly fascinating Eyes Wide Shut. This film, like most of the late director's work, merits close introspection and patience and needs to be seen more than once since it unearths many meanings, coincidences and extreme subtleties in every single frame thereby evoking its dreamlike power. Over time, a decade plus, it is hard to say how others perceive Kubrick's last film, since it was not meant to be his last hurrah. The film also would've been further editorialized by Kubrick, as he famously re-edited many of his films even after a premiere (2001: A Space Odyssey, The Shining, for starters). This analysis is an attempt at understanding what is going in each and every frame of Kubrick's most beautiful film since Barry Lyndon. 
First, we have the title credits indicating that this is a Stanley Kubrick film starring two glamorous Hollywood actors, Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. The music playing in the soundtrack is from Dmitri Shostakovich's "Waltz from Jazz Suite II." Then there is a cut to a lovingly composed, highly erotic shot of Alice (Nicole Kidman) who walks into a room where there is a large-scale mirror and two tennis rackets. Her backside is shown to us as she slowly removes her black dress baring all. We see that she is centered between two pillars, the curtains that barely close a window are red, and the whole shot itself is in warm yellowish tones. Right away, there is a cut to the title of the film, "EYES WIDE SHUT." This shot is a tease, as is the whole film - a game of foreplay where we can see but not touch, much like the highly touted trailer.

Next we have Dr. Bill Harford (Tom Cruise) who is dressed in a tuxedo ready to leave while looking for his wallet (and meanwhile picks up a handkerchief in a chest drawer, a mobile phone, and a set of keys on a table). He asks his wife, Alice, the whereabouts of his wallet. She tells him offscreen that it is located on the bedside table. He finds it and tells his wife, who is sitting on the loo, that they need to get to the party soon since they are running late. She asks him how she looks as she stands up from the loo. He says, "Perfect." She continues to ask if her hair is okay. He says, "It looks great." Then she says another important line that is the summation of one of the film's strong themes about marriage: "You are not even looking." The line is simple and direct but so damn honest, as indicated in the adjoining moment where, ultimately, his response to Alice is "It's beautiful. You always look beautiful." As they are about to leave, Alice asks Bill if he has given the babysitter, Roz, the phone and pager numbers. He says that they are on the refrigerator door. Bill shuts off the music on the stereo, which is incidentally the Shostakovich music we had been listening to from the beginning. They leave the bedroom and shut the lights. Next shot is a slightly canted Steadicam tracking shot (and there are many) of the couple walking down the hallway as Bill helps Alice put her coat on. Bill asks her the name of the babysitter. She says "Roz", a name he had forgotten already. They approach the living room where Helena, their seven-year-old daughter, is sitting next to Roz, and we get our first glimpse of a Christmas tree next to the sofa. Roz compliments Alice on her looks, while Helena asks her mother if she can stay up to watch The Nutcracker. Alice agrees to it, and they wave their kisses and goodbyes to Helena. The scene dissolves to an exterior night shot of Victor Ziegler's mansion in New York City.

Bill and Alice are inside the mansion, walking through a corridor filled with display cases and works of art. They walk past a decorative, star-shaped light fixture as they are greeted by Mr. Ziegler himself (played by Sydney Pollack), a millionaire, and his wife Ilona (Leslie Lowe) inside a large marbled hall - a Christmas tree laden with decorations is seen next to a staircase illuminated by a curtain of light. There are the customary greetings and then a line is said by Ziegler later reflected in Alice's monologue.

Ziegler: "Alice, look at you! God, you're absolutely stunning."
Alice: "And I don't say that to all the women, do I?" (motioning to Ilona)
Ilona: "Oh, yes, he does."

Ziegler then mentions to Bill that the osteopath Bill recommended has fixed his arm and that his tennis serve is better than ever. Meanwhile, Alice and Ilona briefly complement each other on their magnificent dresses. Bill and Alice leave as Ziegler and his wife greet the other incoming guests. The scene dissolves to a slow-zoom out long shot of the interior ballroom where two chandeliers of light are shaped as if they were breasts while below is an orchestra playing. Bill and Alice dance and Alice asks him if she knows any of Ziegler's guests. Bill's reply that exemplifies Kubrick's dreamlike approach of dragging out every syllable is: "Not...a...soul." Suddenly Bill recognizes the piano player, who was studying to be a doctor before dropping out. He asks Alice if she will accompany him to say hello. She says she needs to go to the bathroom. Alice walks away from the ballroom and gets a glass of champagne from a waiter and drinks it in one gulp - giving the impression that she does not take such parties seriously.

Cut to Bill greeting Nick Nightingale (Todd Field) whom we see standing next to his piano. They keep tapping and patting each other on the shoulder and on the stomach. Nick jokes that he was never cut out to be a doctor because he is used to walking away. They laugh and drink until Nick is interrupted (the first of many interruptions in the film) by Ziegler's secretary that Nick is wanted. They pat each other again and Nick reminds Bill that he will be playing at the Sonata Cafe.

Dissolve to Alice at the bar having another glass of champagne. She sets it on the table and a suave, tall, elegant man picks up her glass. Alice notices this yet the man drinks from her glass anyway. He then introduces himself as Sandor Szavost (Sky Dumont), a Hungarian playboy, perhaps. Alice introduces herself, and she accepts his invitation to dance. They leave the ante-room and there is a dissolve to the ballroom where they are seen dancing. They make small talk about art galleries until Alice gazes and smiles upon seeing Bill with two gorgeous women in the ante-room. Sandor asks her the identity of the man she is staring at, and she responds, "My husband." Sandor asks her why she should be married if she can have any man in the ballroom.

Cut to Bill conversing and giggling with two models, Nuala and Gayle (Stuart Thorndike and Louise Taylor) who have their arms draped around each other. Nuala flirts with Bill, spelling out every syllable of her name. Gayle reminds Bill that they had met at a photo session at Rockefeller Plaza and that he gave her a handkerchief for something she had caught in her eye (the handkerchief that Bill puts in his shoulder pocket at the beginning of the film).

There is then a cut back to the ballroom with Sandor and Alice as they continue to dance (the steadicam shots that follow them around are gracefully and almost inhumanly stable). Sandor, who must hold a doctorate degree on the history and art of love (Ovid's Book of Love is used as a reference), tells Alice that women used to get married to lose their virginity and thus, they could have any man they wanted.

Cut to Bill walking with Gayle and Nuala headed for the marble hall. At one point, while Gayle mentions how knowledgable doctors are, Bill looks at Nuala who then makes eye contact with him. At that precise moment, Bill turns away. As they arrive in the marble hall, Bill asks where they are going, and Gayle says they are headed where the rainbow ends.

Bill: (smiling) "Where the rainbow ends?"
Nuala: "Don't you want to go where the rainbow ends?"

Then comes another interruption, this time Ziegler's personal assistant. He tells Bill that he is needed by Ziegler. Bill leaves the two women indicating that their flirtatious byplay will be continued. Bill and the assistant walk up the staircase illuminated by the curtain of light.

Cut to a barechested Ziegler putting on his suspenders in long shot standing next to a nude body traipsed on a dark red sofa. In this very same shot, you'll notice a glass partition on a bathtub which seemingly obscures the vagina of a nude woman in the background painting. There is a knock on the door and it is Dr. Bill. Ziegler tells Bill that the girl on the sofa, Mandy (Julienne Davis), has been shooting up speedball ("It is heroin and coke," says the nervous Ziegler. Interestingly, Ziegler doesn't seem to remember her name and repeats it twice, as if he is waking up from a shock of reality.) Another interesting point is the framing of Ziegler in close-up - he is standing in front of the very same nude painting and again obscures the vagina right in the center - shades here of similar framing shots in A Clockwork Orange such as Alex's boa constrictor just barely covering a nude woman's vagina in a painting. Finally, Bill wakes up Mandy.

In the meantime, Alice continues dancing with the Hungarian who suggests they go to the upstairs sculpture gallery to look at some Renaissance bronzes. Alice responds in another dreamlike state by pausing between each word:

Alice: "Maybe...not...just...now."

We return to Ziegler in the bathroom, putting on his shirt as he looks at Mandy who is now covered with a blue towel. Ziegler reaffirms the shock of reality by indicating to Mandy that she gave him one hell of a scare. Ziegler takes Bill aside and asks him to keep the situation just between them, entrusting Bill as if he was one of his own personal assistants.

Alice and the Hungarian continue dancing. Alice's eyes are closed and they suddenly open as the background music ends. She tells the Hungarian she needs to go. He asks why. She says, "Because...I am married.", as she shows her wedding ring to him. Last shot of Alice is framed against the warm-toned star in the background as she kisses her index finger and plants it on his lips.

There is an abrupt cut to a naked Alice wearing glasses and removing her earrings in front of her bedroom mirror. She is gently swaying supposedly to the beat of the song playing in the soundtrack, Chris Issak's "Baby Did a Bad, Bad Thing." Bill appears next to her, naked as well (they are both shot from the waist up), as he kisses her. She smiles, removes her glasses, and kisses him as she places her arms around him. She stares at herself in the mirror, and at him, and there is a fade to black. We are again denied the opportunity of watching a lovemaking session as Kubrick teases us yet again.

It is the morning after, as Bill arrives at his office from an elevator. He is greeted by his secretary (who does speak in a New York accent, more on accents later). As he goes to his office, we notice that there is a blue seating area, red tinsel along the desk area, a blue carpet leading to his office, and a Christmas tree with the requisite colored lights, plus the yellow star. There is something cold and sterile about the environment, as later evidenced in the morgue scene. This whole sequence plays like a montage as Kubrick crosscuts between Alice and her daughter and Bill's examination room scenes.

First shot following Dr. Bill's arrival is of Alice and her daughter, Helena, at breakfast time in the kitchen, as the daughter eats her cereal and watches a Bugs Bunny cartoon, while Alice reads the paper - there is also a green book on the table, which again showcases the importance of representing all the colors of the rainbow in almost every shot. You'll notice that the scene has that "shock of reality" again since Alice is not made up to look like the beauty she was the night before - a noticeable aspect during the confession scene later in the film (this scene echoes Shelley Duvall's breakfast with Danny Lloyd in the early morning light in The Shining). Light blue is the dominant color in these scenes with Alice. There is also another "tease" shot of Alice naked, shown from her backside as she puts on her black bra. Another shot follows of Helena wearing a red dress as Alice, in her blue bathrobe, combs Helena's hair with a blue hairbrush.

Dr. Bill first examines a woman who is seated on a hospital bed naked - he is checking her heart. Next he examines a young boy's neck glands as his mother stands in the background silently observing (the mother is played by Katharina Kubrick, Kubrick's daughter). Another examination scene is of Bill examining a man lying on a bed as he lifts the man's leg. All these scenes are virtually monochromatic - cold and sterile once again. White fills every shot, from the white walls to the white bed and gowns, with dark blue only slightly represented.

The crosscutting ends as Bill and Alice listen attentively to Helena, who reads from a children's book. There is a cut to Alice in the living room as she asks Bill, who is watching football on television, if they should continue wrapping the presents. Bill says it can be finished another time. Alice then goes to the bathroom and removes a Band-Aid tin from the cabinet which has a bag of marijuana in it.

This leads to one of the most important scenes in the film - the first confession scene. Alice is seen smoking a joint on their bed. The bed sheets and bed posts are a faded red color. Finally, as she chuckles to herself, Alice asks Bill if he had sex with the two models at the party. Bill is nonplussed to hear her asking such a question, dissuading himself by downplaying his flirtatious behavior with the models. He grabs Alice's breasts and counterattacks by asking if she had sex with the Hungarian - she admits she did not yet he understands why this man would want her wife. The "shock of reality" sets in yet again, interrupting a possible lovemaking session as Alice tries to understand Bill's statement.

Alice: "So...because I'm a beautiful woman the only reason any man wants to talk to me is because he wants to fuck me! Is that what you're saying?"

Bill: "Well, I don't think it's quite that black and white, but I think we both know what men are like."

Alice (seen leaning against the door frame as dark blue light fills the back room): "So, on that basis, I should conclude that you wanted to f*** those two models?"

Bill: "There are exceptions."

Alice: "And what makes you an exception?"

Bill: "What makes me an exception is that...I happen to be in love with you and because we're married and because I would never lie to you or hurt you."

Alice starts to walk to the other side of the room past the red curtains. She then says: "Do you realize that what you're saying is that the only reason you wouldn't fuck those two models is out of consideration for me, not because you really wouldn't want to."

What follows is Alice's intention to understand her husband's flirtations, thereby testing his faithfulness. She even laughs at him, giggling uncontrollably - an unusual occurrence in any Tom Cruise film for a female lead to be laughing and mocking the lead movie star. Bill, wearing black underwear, is sitting hunched over and shot in close-up with some headroom - a rather unflattering, vulnerable portrait of Bill. As he listens to Alice's story of their past summer in Cape Cod, she admits that she fantasized of having an affair with a naval officer she had seen in a restaurant. Her confession also further underlies the fragility of their marriage - Alice says she would have left Bill, their future together, all for one night of ecstasy. Bill sits in silence, starting to swell up when the phone rings (one of many repeated interruptions in the film, and here it is accompanied by Jocelyn Pook's musical score). It is a phone call from a patient's daughter.

We see Bill in a cab out to the patient's house. Part of the dreamlike power of these scenes is that rear-screen projection is used, as it used to be with films from the past to save money from shooting on location. In the case with Kubrick, who had never returned to New York since leaving the United States back in 1960, it was a matter of recreating New York in England. During this scene, Kubrick makes it clear that it is Bill's story by taking a subjective stance - we are, in effect, inside Bill's mind. The first of three flashbacks of Alice's supposed infidelity with the naval officer takes place - we see in black-and-white, the naval officer lying on top of Alice in bed as he removes her panties. Cut back to Bill, who is obviously affected by Alice's confession. Interestingly, in the novella by Arthur Schnitzler from which this film's screenplay is based on, Bill (Fridolin) also tells Alice (Albertina) of a fantasized love affair he had.

Bill enters the apartment of the patient, Nathanson, and we see blue windows in the background. He is let in by the maid, and finally arrives at the patient's bedroom where Marion Nathanson (Marie Richardson) is seen. The corpse of Lou Nathanson, Marion's father, lays on her bed, which has blue bedsheets. A small Christmas tree is seen at the entrance of the bedroom with a faded pinkish glow. Bill and Marion sit down and talk, he tries to comfort her. She speaks of moving away with her fiancee, Carl, but she is barely able to comport herself. Suddenly, Marion kisses Bill on the lips, and he pulls away. She admits she is in love with him, and he tells her that they barely know each other. Another interruption comes in the form of a doorbell. It is her fiancee, Carl (Thomas Gibson). Marion hesitates kissing him, and when Carl approaches Bill and thanks him for coming and for his support, Bill wipes his mouth while talking to Carl. There is a close-up shot of Marion, as she stands waiting for Bill to acknowledge her before he leaves. She is about to say something to him when she is interrupted by Bill, who says "good night", as he abruptly walks out.

Dissolve to the night life of Greenwich Village, as Bill is seen walking the crowded streets (one of the few shots in the film where New York is shown to be crowded as it normally is). He sees a couple necking at one point, and immediately there is a flash to Alice's B&W sex fantasy - this time the naval officer is reaching his hand down to her vagina. Cut back to Bill, walking faster and far more furious, as he punches his hand in frustration (if you look quickly, you'll notice a red glow from the bottom of the screen as he punches his hand, more noticeable in the trailer). Bill walks past several Christmas shops as he sees a gang of youths walking on the street talking about some "Mexican lap-dance." As they approach him, they taunt him with sayings like "Looks like the pink team,"and one of them elbows Bill who falls next to a dark blue car. They continue taunting him, telling him to go back to San Francisco where all homosexuals belong. Bill looks back angrily, and slowly you start to notice a slight rainbow effect form just below his chest. This scene is misunderstood by many but it is another example of how each one of Bill's encounters borders on the sexual or, in this case, sexually demeaning.

Bill continues walking, and is stopped by a woman in a fur coat who asks for the time. He tells her it is past midnight, and continues walking. She follows, asking if he would like a "little fun." They pass a neon blue video store and a red neon liquor store, which can be seen across the street, as well as a hotel neon light sign in yellow. Bill is surprised at her request and she insists it will be alright and that they will not be bothered. She shows him the entrance to her apartment, which has a prominently red doorway.

They enter her apartment, which of course has yet another Christmas tree (the lights are off and only a strong blue light comes through from her windows). A bathtub can be seen in the kitchen as she turns on the lights and apologizes for the mess. What follows is an extraordinary long take where she removes her fur coat revealing a purple dress, and they discuss what will be done for fun and for how much. Christmas lights are blocked in the background by a pillar. A pair of bras and red packaged Christmas gifts are seen above the bathtub (only in Europe do they have bathtubs in the kitchen, certainly not in any New York apartment I know of). She reassures him that she does not keep track of the time.

Cut to Alice sitting in her kitchen, surrounded by the ethereal blue light from outside, watching Blume in Love on the television. She is seen drinking a glass of milk and smoking a cigarette - isolated in her own home while her husband is out enjoying the night life. There is a dissolve then to a close-up shot of Bill with the woman in the apartment (at this time, she remains unnamed but is later referred to as Domino, played by Vinessa Shaw). She kisses him sweetly and softly, as faded red and blue lights can be seen in the background. She asks him, "So, shall we?" Before he can answer, there is yet another interruption, this time Bill's mobile phone is ringing. He gets up from her bed and turns the jazz music down on her radio. It turns out to be his wife Alice calling, who inquires when he will be back. He is not sure as he lies about still being at Nathanson's apartment and waiting for relatives to arrive. Alice tells him she is going to bed. He hangs up, as Domino asks him if that was Mrs. Dr. Bill. Worth noting in the medium shot of Domino, lying on her bed, is that her purple dress appears to be crimson red, no doubt caused by the reflection of all the Christmas lights. Bill leaves, paying for her services though all she did was kiss him. This scene is as erotic as they come, again in the hands of Kubrick who continues to tease us. Whoever thought that there could be a romantic, electrifying scene with a prostitute that did not show sexual happenings or gratuitous nudity. Kubrick's teasing game continues.

Cut to Bill now walking the streets again. He sees a Sonata cafe sign with white letters and a red background, and the Sonata Jazz sign above in blue neon lights. Bill smiles and enters the cafe. He passes an entrance full of yellow lights and we hear Nick Nightingale, whom we met at Ziegler's party, playing with his band. Bill sits at a table just as Nick finishes his piece. Another shot of sexual suggestiveness is apparent when there is a low-angle shot of Nick sitting at the piano holding a microphone with a cable extending from it - it is as if he is receiving oral pleasure or giving it. Nick is called over by Bill at his table, and they talk about their current life situations. As they talk, Nick tells Bill he has a gig later that night, unaware of where or when he will play. Bill is nonplussed by this strange gig, and Nick tells him it is a place where he plays the piano blindfolded and has learned that incredible women attend the gig. There is another interruption, as Nick's cell phone rings. We do not hear the conversation but Nick does write the word "Fidelio" on a napkin. Bill asks Nick what the word is, and Nick tells him it is the cryptic password to the gig. Bill asks to go to this gig, and Nick is reluctant to give him any more information. Bill insists, and learns that all he needs is a cloak and a mask to get in, as well as the password.

Cut to Bill arriving at a costume shop called "Rainbow." A man named Milich (Rade Sherbedgia) answers in the intercom, though Bill was expecting to see the previous owner. He explains to Milich that he is a doctor and shows his State Medical board card (a running gag through most of the film), as a way of getting a costume at such late-night hours. Milich lets him in knowing that Bill will pay extra.

Milich and Bill enter the costume shop through a red gate - the inside of the store is dark and that ethereal blue light again comes in through the outside windows. They enter an inner room where mannequins are on display - red curtains are in the background and yellow lights. Bill requests a black cloak, a mask and a tuxedo. While Milich is looking through the costumes, he hears a noise. Bill hears it as well, as Milich walks into a room with a glass wall and finds a bra and leftover Chinese food. He hears someone giggling and finds two practically nude Japanese men and a young girl in bra and panties, who is in fact Milich's daughter (played by a young Leelee Sobieski). While Milich berates the men, Milich's daughter stands behind Bill and whispers into his ear, "You should have a cloak lined with ermine." She walks backwards and gives him a suggestive look.

Cut to Bill driven in another taxi, this time to Long Island. Close-up of Bill in cab closing his eyes, as Jocelyn Pook's music starts again and he has another flash of his wife Alice engaging in more sex with the naval officer, all in black-and-white. There are a few dissolves as Bill arrives at a mansion called Somerton (the nighttime scenes in the cab and the sign of Somerton outside the mansion recall Alex's rampage at a place called simply "Home" in "A Clockwork Orange.") Two men are seen outside the mansion, which has a blue fence at the entrance. Bill pays the cab driver to wait for him. Bill walks to the two gate men and gives the password. He is driven to the front of the mansion in a red jeep.

Once inside the mansion, Bill gives the password to a masked butler, and promptly puts on his own mask and cloak as he walks on a red carpet leading to the ante-room, surrounded by red curtains. He walks past another masked man and sees a ceremony given by some man in a red cloak and mask (known in the credits as "Red Cloak" and played by Leon Vitali, Kubrick's long-time personal assistant). The Red Cloak is leading the ceremony of naked masked women who form a circle around him. He is holding an incense burner on one hand and a staff on the other. The blindfolded Nick can be seen playing the piano. Bill is then seen by two masked figures on the balcony, and one of them with a tricorn mask bows to Bill as if he recognized him. Bill gives a returning bow, unaware of who this masked figure is (my guess is that it is Ziegler, as we later find out that he attended this very same ceremony). The masked naked women in the circle leave and each of them arbitrarily picks one man from the spectators to accompany them, all of whom are dressed in black cloaks and wearing Venetian Carnival masks of different designs. Each woman kisses the masked men while wearing their masks. One mysterious woman (Abigail Good) comes up to Bill, kisses him and then they leave hand in hand.

The woman asks Bill what he is doing and why he is there. Bill feels she has mistaken him for someone else but there is yet another interruption - this time it is a man wearing an oversized mask who takes her away. Bill is left alone, and begins looking around. What follows is the controversial sequence that was censored by the MPAA for apparently gross nudity and visible genitalia. Instead of seeing all these sex acts that transpire on Bill's journey through the mansion, we see digitally created nude figures (!) blocking all the sex acts that should be seen from Bill's point-of-view - it is all subjective in endless tracking shots but the point is lost when we cannot see what Bill has been waiting to see, as has the audience at this point - it is another tease but perhaps not in the way Kubrick intended since he was forced to censor these acts. In 1999, for the MPAA to think that the audience is not ready to see an innocent little orgy, which anyone can see in HBO films to X-rated fare in any video store, is incomprehensible. More than likely, it is due to the nightmarish intensity of it, especially after having viewed the original footage intact. An essential moment since it is shaping Bill's own sexual awakening, as well as showing sex as purely animalistic and devoid of emotion.
Nevertheless, Bill admires one sexual act of a masked man on his hands and knees while on his back is a naked woman having sex with another man. An objective shot follows of the tricorn masked man and another masked nude woman entering this room, unbeknownst to Bill. He signals her to get Bill's attention. Bill notices her standing next to him. She asks if he is enjoying himself and would accompany her for a more private room. Before this goes anywhere, there is another interruption by the mysterious masked woman he was walking with earlier. She leads to him a small hall and tells him that he has to leave, warning him of imminent danger. The mysterious woman flees while a tall masked butler tells Bill that the taxi driver wants to talk to him. Bill and the butler leave.

We then see the blindfolded Nick led across a dance hall by a masked man - the dance hall is full of naked men and women dancing to an instrumental version of "Strangers in the Night." All these masked principals, the ballrooms, and the music suggest the atmosphere of the ballroom scenes from "The Shining."

Bill is led back to the ante-room where Red Cloak is seen seated in the middle of the room between two blue-costumed guards. All the other spectators that were seen earlier are there, and all are staring at Bill while the ominous piano theme in the soundtrack begins to play (it is Musica Ricercata II by composer Gyorgy Ligeti - a favorite of Kubrick's who used some of his musical compositions in "The Shining"). As Bill walks toward the middle of the room, his black cloak suddenly changes into a dark blue color, particularly when he passes an overhead flood light. The Red Cloak asks Bill for his password and the password to the house. Bill does not know the latter and lies, admitting he had forgotten it when there never was such a password. Bill is taunted by the Red Cloak who asks Bill to remove his clothes. Suddenly, there is another interruption - this time it is the mysterious woman who is seen above in the balcony and says she will "redeem him." She is then escorted by a bird masked man and taken away, though we are not sure what will happen to her. Bill asks about her plight, but the Red Cloak only warns him of dire consequences, especially with his family, if he is ever to speak of what he had seen at the mansion.As played Leon Vitali, Red Cloak (who is not referred to as such) has a sarcastic tone and is quite polite in his requests ("May I have the password, please!"). He never shouts or utters obscenities, as perhaps other less imaginative filmmakers might have if they had written the dialogue. The politeness and sarcasm make his requests that much more threatening or as Vitali explained in an interview, "It's almost like a sadistic English schoolmaster talking to his unfortunate pupil." 

>>>>CONTINUED at http://jerrysaravia.blogspot.com/2012/08/ifyoumenonlyknew-part-2.html

My f---in heart is in my throat

MORTAL THOUGHTS (1991)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

"Mortal Thoughts" is hardly a typical Alan Rudolph production - it is more like a slow jazz version of a Mike Figgis picture. The movie, a glum morality play set in 1990's Bayonne, N.J., is not written by director Rudolph (William Reilly and Claude Kerven penned it) thus it does not contain his ability to sneak up on characters and make them vivid, as in his vastly underrated "Trouble in Mind."

At a haircut place called "Clip and Dye" (not subtle!), two hairdressers, Joy (Glenne Headly) and Cynthia (Demi Moore), go out one night to a carnival with a loudmouth, cruel and unkind man, Joy's husband, Jimmy (an atypical and deliciously evil turn by goateed Bruce Willis). Jimmy doesn't work, uses duct tape to hold his child's diapers together, gets drunk and snorts coke, and ingests way too much sugar in his coffee. At the carnival, Jimmy is killed by Joy in their van. The motive is unclear but now these New Jersey women are faced with a dilemma: call the cops or dump the body in a ditch. Which choice do you think they will make?

"Mortal Thoughts" uses a flashback structure framed against its never-ending interrogation scenes between Cynthia and two detectives (played by Harvey Keitel and Billie Neal). The only issue I have with these scenes is that they are not as effective as the story being told from Cynthia's point-of-view. Keitel is a magnetic actor and there are some solid uses of humor (powdered donut covering his lips, the Honeymooners reference) but the dialogue is often repetitive, at least until the closing scenes where a twist occurs that negates some of what preceded the film, to a certain extent. Billie Neal's detective is mostly the silent observer, though I am not sure what purpose that serves.

On the plus side, Demi Moore gives the most powerful performance of her career. Her Cynthia is a vulnerable wife and mother who tries her damnedest to be the dutiful best friend to the haywire personality of Joyce. Moore does seem like a force-of-nature, especially in her scenes with Keitel when the dialogue isn't stilted or too dry. Glenne Headly also dominates as the suffering wife of a loser like the volatile Jimmy. And Bruce Willis is about as far gone from any role he has ever played - his trademark smirks, his singing songs like "Kung-Fu Fighting" and a terrific line, possibly improvised, where he says "My fucking heart is in my throat" gives the character a lovable loser quality that Paul Newman could have played in his prime. We discover that Jimmy, Cynthia and Joyce are, however, not quite what they seem.

"Mortal Thoughts" is my kind of suspense thriller but it has elements that feel forced, as in the various slow-motion shots and overuse of melodic, slow jazz by Mark Isham amidst some dutch camera angles. Alan Rudolph lends the film atmosphere but its interrogation scenes do not quite connect as they should have, again with certain exceptions. But Demi Moore, Glenne Headly, Harvey Keitel, John Pankow (an understated role as Cynthia's husband) and Bruce Willis are pure dynamite on screen and worth catching. They just deserved a more nuanced screenplay.

It is the Power of Love

BACK TO THE FUTURE PART III (1990) 
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia 

After the dark overtones of "Back to the Future Part II," "Part III" (filmed back-to-back with the first sequel) returns to the lightness and simplicity of the original. It settles in the Old West as its setting and dwells on relationships rather than complicated paradoxes (though I admit to liking the complications of Part II). No, it is not superior to the original but it is vastly entertaining and funnier than the second film.

"Part III" begins precisely where the last film left off. If you recall, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) went back to 1955, encountered his double, and tried to convince Doc Brown (the 1955 counterpart) that he needs to get back to the future. Doc faints and Marty tries to revive him. After some nifty explanations, Marty decides to go back to the Old West but he needs his time-traveling DeLorean, which of course proves unavailable. Apparently, Marty and Doc discover that Doc's 1885 counterpart died at the hands of a gunslinger over a matter of money owed. We see the tombstone and they eventually find the Delorean left in some mine, nicely preserved. Thanks to Doc's help, Marty manages to go back to 1885, meet his Irish grandparents (played by Fox and Lea Thompson), gets shot at at a bar where he does the "moonwalk," gets nearly hanged, and meets up finally with Doc Brown who saves Marty from evil cowpokes. Lo and behold, Marty is ready to take Doc back (or forward rather) to 1985 when he sees that the DeLorean has a ruptured fuel line and thus lacks the ability to go 88 miles per hour - the necessary mileage to travel through time. Doc comes up with a brilliant plan - have the DeLorean pushed by a train going at the requisite speed. There are some funny complications such as the bridge where the train will be passing through had not been completed, the trains of that era did not necessarily go so fast, there are the gunslingers, particularly one who wants Doc's hide, and a more novel complication: Clara (Mary Steenburgen), a schoolteacher, has taken a gander at Doc and finds that they share the same love for Jules Verne. Love at first sight, indeed, and it will cause problems for those who travel from one time period to another.

If "Part III" has a major star performance, it is Christopher Lloyd who succeeds in finding all the right notes of lunacy and lovestruck innocence in Doc Brown. He is a madman who has found his inner peace in the good Old West, a place to spend his retirement years as he indicated in "Part II." The sweet love scenes between Lloyd and Steenburgen also have the right balance of chemistry and comedy ("I've never, ever, met a man like you before," says Steenburgen). In many ways, especially due to the casting of Steenburgen, the film is a hark back to the wonderful 1979 charmer, "Time After Time" which also had a sweet love story at its center.

Lloyd clearly steals the show from Michael J. Fox, who is left in the desert winds in practically a supporting role. Interestingly, McFly was lectured about life by Doc in the first two films whereas here, he helps Doc understand that love can be lost when meddling with the future and the past. I still wish the filmmakers gave Fox more to do rather playing second banana to Doc. And the final scenes involving Marty's wandering girlfriend, Jennifer (Elisabeth Shue), and some business about playing "chicken" will only serve to confuse those who are not fans of the original two films.

As directed once again by Robert Zemeckis and co-written by Bob Gale, "Back to the Future Part III" is still loads of fun, a high-powered comic adventure that utilizes the Old West setting for several, blink-and-you'll-miss in-jokes and some desperate gags (like Marty stepping on some horse dung or mimicking the "You talkin' to me" line in front of a mirror). But the silliness and momentum keep one's interest and never flags. The performances all hit the right notes and the ending is a stunning surprise with a wonderful visual gag that echoes the original. Not as rich or as weighty as the original, or as frenetic as the sequel, but it is a deft blend of comedy and adventure overall guaranteed to leave you in high spirits.

Paradoxical paradoxes

BACK TO THE FUTURE PART II (1989) 
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia 

It is often the middle parts of trilogies that are the darkest and most unsavory. "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom" was a darker, more graphic adventure in the Indy trilogy. Also shrouded in gloom was "The Empire Strikes Back," the best "Star Wars" movie ever that had no ending. "Back to the Future Part II" has none of the sunny disposition or joy that the original "Back to the Future" possessed. It is more of a carnival of frenetic, action-packed, time-traveling sequences than a movie and about as straightforward as a David Lynch film.

Originally titled "Paradox" and directed by Robert Zemeckis, "Back to the Future Part II" picks up exactly where the original ended. Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) is kissing his high-school sweetheart, Jennifer (Elisabeth Shue replacing Claudia Wells), when out of the blue arrives the crazed, wild-haired inventor Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd) in his time-traveling DeLorean. Brown has seen the future and it is not pretty, and warns Marty that there is a problem involving Marty's future kids! And so they speed off into the year 2015 to the same picture-postcard town of Hill Valley. There are flying cars that leave from ramps, a theater showing "Jaws 19," cafes that play Michael Jackson's "Beat It," hoverboards and so on (and plenty of advertising, including the Roger Rabbit doll from Zemeckis's own "Roger Rabbit" movie). Marty makes a mistake and buys a sports almanac that has scores from the years 1950 to 2000. And who else but good old Biff Tannen (Thomas F. Wilson), the bully from the original film, happens to be eavesdropping on Marty and Doc's conversations about rupturing the space time continuum and making money on predicting future game scores. Needless to say, after Marty's kids are saved from a ludicrously contrived mini-disaster, Marty and Doc head back to 1985 and find that it is a very different place. It turns out that Marty's house is not his own, his father, George, is dead, and the town is presided by a seething, evil billionaire none other than Biff himself who is married to Marty's mother! Yep, this is a cold, ugly world not unlike the alternate reality depicted in "It's A Wonderful Life."

For those who have not seen "Part II," it would be unfair to reveal much more except that this is one of those rare sequels that manages to revisit the original film. It does so in clever ways and the paradoxes and breaks in space time continuum contribute to an ingenious if rather headache-inducing screenplay. You'll need a road map to keep track of all the characters and time lines, and even then it is still confusing. As much fun as it is to make sense of all the contradicting paradoxes in the film, "Back to the Future Part II" desperately lacks joy or at least some sense of human involvement that we should feel in an adventure of this kind. It is often amusing but also repetitive and hollow - we learn plenty about Marty's family but there is never any true insight into his character. The same can be said of Doc Brown, a scientist trying to make sense of the universe and alternate timelines they occupy but there is not a whisper of much else in him - he is simply not just mad but comically mad, in the Jim Carrey vein.

The character of Marty's father, George (played by Jeffrey Wisseman, not Crispin Glover), is basically a cipher who floats around upside down (done on purpose presumably so we wouldn't notice that it isn't Glover). But what of his death in the alternate 1985 by the evil Biff? And what about Marty's mother, Lorraine (Lea Thompson), who in the alternate 1985 looks more haggard and drunk than in the 1985 that the original "Back to the Future" began with (I hope this is making sense). Yes, we learn about their possible futures but, again, they ring hollow at best. They are like Norman Rockwell caricatures from the 1950's that have been demonized by outside forces, namely Marty and Doc.

The first time I saw this movie, I greeted it with groans as did the audience (and the groans got louder when we saw the trailer for the upcoming "Back to the Future Part III"). Seeing it a few times since, "Back to the Future Part II" has an addictive mentality - director Zemeckis and co-writer Bob Gale keep your interest because you have no clue where their ideas will lead you and you want to keep revisiting to make some sense of the plot. It is a frenzied, hyperkinetic nightmare of a movie, an assault on our senses that places its paradoxes and mind-bending logic on overload. But the original "Back to the Future" was a human comedy of manners, a juxtaposition of the 1950's crossed with the value system of the 1980's. The point was that the relationships were at its center and provided the heart of its story. This sequel has the same characters but insists on engaging us with paradoxes, not people. Having said all that, Part II is a creative continuation, not just a rehash of the original's gags and plotline. It says an awful lot about greed in the 1980's and it has a disturbing, nightmarish quality to it. On that level, definitely worth seeing and it improves with repeated viewings. Aside from the fabulous "Back to the Future Part III," how many other sequels invite that much curiosity and revisiting?

Smelly, ugly, nasty trolls

TROLLHUNTER (2010)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

 Audiences are used to a steady diet of freaky gore shows that claim to be horror that anything else won't do. Fangoria magazine covered a preview of this movie in early 2011, a mag that often covers horror films that are not resolutely pure gore. André Ovredal's "Trollhunter" is a quixotic delight, a funny and irreverent social commentary on Norway's environment, its circular power lines, the nature of government cover-ups, etc. Okay, I am be overdoing it on subtext but it is also a scary picture because seeing oversized trolls who sniff and kill without remorse is a little terrifying.

A documentary crew is investigating a series of bear killings in the Norwegian countryside. A suspected bear poacher named Hans (Otto Jespersen, a comedian) is followed by the crew into mountainous Norwegian regions, seeking not to kill a bear but those fantastical mammals of folklore - trolls. The difference is that these trolls are nasty, smell bad, kill livestock, make loud snarling noises and are infected with a form of rabies. Hans' job is to kill them with flashes of light that turn the trolls into stone.

The movie is told from the point-of-view of found footage from filmmakers. I might have preferred a more sound approach where we are just following a crew making a documentary, as opposed to edited found footage ("Blair Witch Project" clones have been harping on this cliche for a decade). Still, it doesn't make a big difference - the movie is smooth and quick with moments of sheer terror (Hans in medieval-like armor confronting a troll), comical brilliance (like the three-headed troll that scratches its leg or Hans filling out a troll kill form) and government cover-ups that are exceedingly funny (such as a paint van service that provides dead bears from Croatia so that nobody suspects trolls are responsible for killing animals, or the power station where an occupant has no idea why the power lines run circular in the snowy landscape). Speaking of sheer terror and gravitas, nothing beats a scene where a gigantic troll in the frozen tundra of Norway stars chasing the crew while Hans plays some hymns from his vehicle (I think earlier in the film he sings "Danny Boy" but I could be wrong).

"Trollhunter" is a marvelous, original, often hilarious film, containing more thrills and laughs than the average Hollywood picture. I also like the crew though they are not as memorable as Hans - a hunter who is sick of chasing and killing trolls (he keeps their tails and troll entrails to make himself smell like a troll). Hollywood is wanting to churn out a remake but I say, uh, uh. The movie is so inundated with Norwegian origin and with the visuals of its countryside and woodland areas that only someone from Norway could have made this film.

Jill Schoelen: Don't think twice, it's alright

I remember Jill being very vulnerable...her emotions always on her sleeve...which makes her not only compelling but beautiful...I still smile when I think of her....

- Don Michael Paul on Jill Schoelen

Artwork by Troy Foote

By Jerry Saravia

Nicolas Cage (credited as Nicolas Coppola) and Jill Schoelen in "Best of Times" (1981) Courtesy of Jill Schoelen

In the late 1980's thru the 1990's, actress Jill Schoelen could've been a bigger movie star than Winona Ryder. After all, Ms. Schoelen recently disclosed in an interview with Fangoria magazine that she had been considered for two Steven Spielberg productions, "Back to the Future" and "Young Sherlock Holmes," and had been passed over for both. The films she did star in ranged from the sublime (The Stepfather, "When a Stranger Calls Back") to the standard slasher type (Cutting Class) to the patently absurd and horrifically misguided (Curse II: The Bite). To this day and with her attendance at recent horror conventions, she is regarded as a former scream queen yet she actually did fewer horror films than non-horror. We should not exclude her dramatic work in films and TV shows that Jill Schoelen fans often disregard (she also appeared on stage in plays such as "Hurlyburly" with Sean Penn and "Pepper Street"). One such film is "Not Again!", a romantic comedy that had no actual theatrical release (one reason I suppose that few have seen it aside from a showing at a film festival). Few have heard of 1992's "State of Mind," Jill's foray into Troma territory that saw no actual U.S. theatrical release - it was released on DVD in 2005.

Jill Schoelen (wearing a denim jacket) in the unreleased 1996 film, "Not Again!"

This page is devoted to non-horror films (excepting the TV-movie "Chiller," which is hardly mentioned in the same breath as Wes Craven's "A Nightmare on Elm Street" or "People Under the Stairs") and some TV appearances that are not regularly mentioned in any capacity. Some nitpickers will notice no reviews for a 1983 TV-movie called "Happy Endings," a TV episode of "Sara" where Ms. Schoelen played Bill Maher's girlfriend (Maher had also appeared with Jill in "D.C. Cab"), or for an episode in the TV series, "The Heights" for good reason - no footage seems to be out there on youtube nor do I know anyone with a copy. Other nitpickers might wonder why there is no mention of "Babes in Toyland," the muted and occasionally diverting fantasy picture she made with Drew Barrymore and Keanu Reeves. Truthfully, "Babes in Toyland" is better-known than some of the other selections below. There are other surprises in here and some shockers, all in an yearly order.

Jill Schoelen in her debut role as Jill in Best of Times

Courtesy of Jill Schoelen

Courtesy of Jill Schoelen

THE BEST OF TIMES (1981) -  An ABC pilot that never aired, it was meant to be a comedy-musical with a touch of "Laugh-In" added to its mildly amusing skits, peppered with meaningful monologues by teenagers breaking the fourth wall by talking to the audience. Intriguing enough, "The Best of Times" was left behind.

Told from the perspective of seven teenagers in California, hopscotching Jill Schoelen playing Jill (in her debut role) is the presumed lonely one of the bunch who mostly talks to her cat and dog, and hesitates going away to college (she wants to get married in a hot-air balloon). Still, she seems to cavort with her three girlfriends and is asked out on a date by Crispin Glover, who had a dream about asking her out. Suffice to say, her role as the sweet, husky-voiced girl next door-type had become standard-issue in some films for Jill long after 1989's "Cutting Class."

Crispin Glover says it best about teenagers: "Without us, there is no future." I would agree. He narrates the entire episode. Nicolas Cage (known at the time as Nicholas Coppola) mimics Stallone's Rocky in scenes where the famous pugilist punches slabs of meat, and mimics his own nerdy friend (it is funny in a way that only Nicolas Cage's wacky personality can allow). The rest of the teens are not nearly as memorable. The plus is we are left with Jackie Mason as a convenience store owner who is reluctant to buy empty soda bottles, culminating in a bizarre scene of syncopated rhythm with the young lads creating their own music by tapping on anything in the store. Talk about bizarre, there is a car wash montage set to the song "9 to 5" and several other dance numbers peppered with discussions on jeans, going off to war to become a man, a failing student smitten with her teacher, and much more.

"The Best of Times" is not great television nor will you remember much of it. It is fascinating, though, to see a young Nicholas Cage and a very youthful Crispin Glover, who tries very hard to be a normal teen who loves the Talking Heads. He almost succeeds.

Courtesy of Mitchell Bilus

T.J. HOOKER (1983 Episode: "Sweet Sixteen and Dead"): Jill Schoelen plays a different part here - a 16-year-old prostitute named Kelly Hobbs out and about on the Boulevard, far away from her home in Fresno, California. One night, she is asking anyone on the street for a date for a mere twenty dollars! I guess I had forgotten how far twenty dollars can get you back in 1983. Kelly is stopped by Star (Toni Hudson), a former prostitute and teenage runaway, who encourages Kelly to go to a shelter called Irene's and get the help she needs to stay away from the streets. Better late than never until her pimp, Eddie Pearl (Paul Kent), is caught by Kelly and Star giving money to a politician who is supposed to keep the police off the Boulevard. Mr. T.J. Hooker (William Shatner) and his partner, Office Vince Romano (Adrian Zmed), are parading around the Boulevard and witness Eddie Pearl's car run over poor Kelly. Yep, this may be the only occurrence in Jill's career where she plays a character who dies within the first twenty minutes.

Jill Schoelen as Kelly Hobbs in TJ Hooker

"T.J. Hooker" is one of those cheesy police shows that I could never take seriously. William Shatner is too stiff in this role and the criminal situations, like in most hour-long episodes, are resolved a little too neatly. I suppose The Shat does a competent job of directing "Sweet 16 and Dead" maybe because the subject means something to him - 16-year-olds should never be prostituting themselves. Instead, they should be selling girl scout cookies.

First of all, I got the part of Barry almost by accident. Someone else auditioned for another role and they saw me on his tape! While we were shooting Hot Moves, my first film, Private School, opened so this was a very exciting time for me. And while we were shooting I was cast in the Gene Wilder film, The Woman in Red. All of those things are stamped in my mind as are the people I worked with on Hot Moves. They were all great people and I remember Jill Schoelen well. While we were not in many scenes together, I remember her as being quiet and professional. She had that wonderful voice and a great quality about her. I remember thinking that her acting was way above what the movie called for and that she was destined for bigger and better things. She was very nice and genuine.
       
  - Michael Zorek on working with Jill Schoelen in the film Hot Moves.

HOT MOVES (1984) - An average high-school-virgins-looking-to-get-laid sex comedy laced with a certain amount of sweetness. Not as foul or as gross as any of today's counterparts, the movie is still virtually indistinguishable from "Spring Break," "Fraternity Vacation, "Hot Dog: The Movie" (avoid that one at all costs) and countless others from the 1980's. More often than not, we get hot, nude blondes on the beach, Venice Beach activities that include weight lifting and breakdancing that seemed to have been lifted from a documentary (plainly put, they hardly mesh with footage of the actors), one teen seeking sex from someone who is not a prostitute, hornier-than-thou Barry (Michael Zorek), and little Julie Ann (Jill Schoelen) who doesn't want to just get in bed with her anxious boyfriend of six months, Michael (Adam Silbar).

Jill Schoelen's part is small but almost too good for a film like this - she is perceived as some sort of wholesome, morally correct angel. She has one terrific scene where she yells and smacks a sleazy guy who wants his way with her - it is in this scene where she really comes alive. Although I do not profess to know Jill Schoelen personally, I sense this Julie Ann character and her Stephanie Maine character (from "The Stepfather") are pretty close to the real Jill Schoelen. Perhaps, without sounding crude, she really liked to keep guys waiting so she could separate the wheat from the chafe.

CHILLER (1985)- Michael Beck is a cryogenically frozen man who has remained in an ice cube state for 10 years. His mother (Beatrice Straight) gets wind that he has awakened. Only problem is that the dog dislikes him and barks at him; he has an uncomfortable, very slightly incestuous hold on his cousin (Jill Schoelen); the local priest (Paul Sorvino) doesn't trust him; Beck treats one of the elder employees of the firm with disdain and causes him to have a heart attack, and the freezing chamber leaves the door open for a sequel.

Jill Schoelen in "Chiller"

"Chiller" is infrequently eerie thanks to Michael Beck who projects an enigmatic, untrustworthy quality. But his performance is one-note all the way and completely unsympathetic. It might have helped if some light was shed on who he was before he came back as some sort of inhuman monster. The cast does as well as it can with the material and director Wes Craven knows where to put the occasional shock to the system. When all is said and done, the movie fails to grip us and leave us with that chill to the bone.

Jill Schoelen and Robert Blake in Hell Town

HELL TOWN (1985 - Episode: "The People vs. Willy the Goat") - "Hell Town" is an NBC TV-series that barely lasted one season. Robert Blake played Father Noah ("Hardstep") Rivers, a scrappy former convict who is turned into a sappy, sentimental fool who need only finger point at the authorities to keep away from his precious parish and orphanage, that being St. Dominic. St. Dominic is in a rough part of town, which is why the show has its namesake. Father Noah  is on a crusade to get drugs and crime out of the town he was brought up in.

In the "Willy the Goat" episode, there is a goat running around his parish. Lord knows that Father Noah can't get hold of him, nor can his nuns with names like Sister Angel Cakes. A boy is left on his church's steps by some unknown girl, who it turns out is a 14-year-old prostitute turning tricks for twenty dollars! Sound familiar? It is none other than Jill Schoelen as Shelley, who speaks in the third person a lot ("Nobody cares about Shelly. Shelly's got things to do"). She has a big emotional scene at the end with Father Noah and tries to reform herself, if only for her catatonic brother who blinks only when the goat is around.
"Hell Town" is Baretta without guns, only attitude. And it has a sentimental inclination by way of Father Noah. This particular episode is campy but still sort of watchable, if only for Robert Blake's tough-guy demeanor. The goat subplot simply gets old and repetitious but I suppose there are worse ways to spend 49 minutes.

Jill Schoelen as 14-year-old going on 15 Shelley in Hell Town

THUNDER ALLEY (1985) - Hair metal bands do not impress me, they vex me. And a band that calls themselves "Magic" may be asking for trouble. Nevertheless, "Thunder Alley," a largely forgotten 80's flick (and still unreleased on DVD), has its moments amidst its relatively muted story and thin characters.

Roger Wilson ("Porky's") is Richie, an Arizona farm boy and aspiring guitarist/singer who reluctantly joins his friend Donnie's band (Donnie played by Scott McGinnis) - it is this band that is named Magic. Leif Garrett is the arrogant lead singer, Skip, who feels intimidated by Richie's guitar and songwriting skills. The band finds a tough-as-nails manager named Weasel (perfectly cast Clancy Brown) who has them go on tour, essentially to get out of town because the band is too good (better than the real-life band, Surgical Steel, who never produced an album). Depends on whom you ask because, aside from the song "Heart to Heart," Magic is a mediocre band that would not survive in any club on any given night but that is just my opinion. Along the way, we see the realities of the club scene that include ramshackle motels, rough cowboy types, sleazy managers, and drugs. Donnie becomes a cokehead but, and this seemed a little too unbelievable, none of the other band members partake, including Skip.

Jill Schoelen has that standard girlfriend-type again (Richie's girlfriend, Beth) and she is not allowed to sing one note. This would have made a more interesting journey in hindsight had Schoelen's Beth aimed to be in a band and prove she was a better musician than Richie. As it is, she is just made to look pretty - a love object for Richie so he can come back to his farm and live the good family life. Richie's character does take a rather ridiculous turn towards the end that felt completely uncharacteristic. It is almost as if he tries to become Donnie by having a romp in the hay with a blonde groupie, but the writer-director J.S. Cardone botches it by not giving us enough time to absorb such an action from a goody-goody farm boy (J.S. Cardone later wrote the screenplay to the even more mediocre "The Stepfather" remake).

I am not a fan of the music in "Thunder Alley" but the movie is enjoyable enough on the surface. What makes it sing is Clancy Brown, who seems to occupy a real world of grit and hardcore reality. He saves the picture from drowning in its cliches and obligatory happy ending. Roger Wilson is pleasant enough, McGinnis provides a dose of tension, and Schoelen is simply appealing. Two years later came "Light of Day" and, despite the preposterous casting of Michael J. Fox as a rock n' roller, it felt more honest and alive.

Footnote: Of all the Jill Schoelen films discussed here, I have had the pleasure of meeting one member of the Jill Schoelen universe, Mitchell Bilus, who was the apprentice editor on this film.

GAMBLER (1988 - CBS Schoolbreak special episode) - A CBS Schoolbreak special's intent was to remind teens of the hazards of suicide pacts, driving while intoxicated, the impact of money on a marriage, coming out when you are gay, Nazism, racism and, in this example, gambling.

Nicholas Kallsen is Jim Jennings, a high-school football player who is deep into sports gambling. He is in so deep that he owes thousands of dollars! He tries to sell one of his prized trophies to no avail. Jim also has to use his car as collateral. How can a high-school kid keep piling up debt and keep it a secret from his parents and his girlfriend, Amy (Jill Schoelen)?

"Gambler" evokes its moral code rather simply yet lucidly. You still kinda wish Jim would get away with it, but this is not a Ferris Bueller at work here. George Dzunda adds a lot of spice as Jim's dad and they have a fascinating little moment where Jim confronts his dad about his own football pool at work - is that not a form of gambling too? At least here, the screenwriters aim for a little touch of complexity. Adding strong support is Troy Winbush as Ty, Jim's best friend; Jennifer Warren as Jim's mother (she had the best role of her life in 1975's "Night Moves"); journeyman actor Matt Clark as a sympathetic pawnshop owner, and Dan Florek ("Law and Order") adds grit with his smooth-talking loan shark. As for Jill Schoelen, she is, once again, the girlfriend-type. What's fascinating is that she is more of a gal pal - any time she sees Jim, they simply hug but never kiss. I know this was a schoolbreak special for kids, but not even one kiss?

Jill Schoelen and Angela Lansbury in Murder, She Wrote

MURDER, SHE WROTE (1989 episode - "Truck Stop") - I always found the irresistible Angela Lansbury as Jessica Fletcher, the mystery novelist and amateur sleuth who can solve any murder, to be the main reason "Murder, She Wrote" worked. She made the show, and there were several guest stars throughout its run. I never bought the premise because most of the shows from the 80's seemed to think that real police detectives in the homicide unit were completely clueless ("Diagnosis Murder" being another example) yet mystery novelists somehow had a keen sense of solving real-life murders.

"Truck Stop" episode has Ron Karabatsos as Pete, a hard-bitten owner of a truck stop in the middle of the L.A. desert. Elizabeth Ashley is Pete's wife and truck stop waitress, Vera, and mother to her sassy daughter, Flora (Jill Schoelen), who dates dangerous, rebellious motorcycle enthusiasts. Enter author Jessica who is passing through with her friend (Mike Connors) who knows a thing or two about Vera. Before you can say, welcome back Mannix, there are three murders, a tape recorded confession, a lawyer from out of town with a surprising will beneficiary, and a lot of noirish, black-and-white flashbacks with Mike Connors' reliable narration.

Jill's character, Flora, is more of a wild card than her Stephanie Maine character from "The Stepfather." She disrespects her mother and father and takes money from the cash register without hesitation. This was further proof that Jill could play a bad girl, not just a nice, homely girl you would want to take home to meet your father (unless that father was a Motorhead fan).

The denouement is not a twist you haven't seen a million times but the cast makes it seem new all over again. Thanks to Elizabeth Ashley's token raspy voice and idyllic manner of holding a cigarette (she had appeared with Mike Connors in an episode of "Mannix" back in the day), she makes Vera very real and there is a heartbreaking quality to her performance. That and the movie-movie noir look give the episode a higher pedigree than most of the others.

ADVENTURES IN SPYING (1992) - An innocuous time-waster at best with one of the strangest casts for a family movie ever. G. Gordon Liddy as a high-end drug dealer? Director Henry Jaglom's brother, Michael Emil, as a professor? Leather-jacketed hooligan Michael Bowen as a drunk assistant to Emil? And we also got Bernie Coulson (who had a small sympathetic role In "The Accused") as our small-town/fishing community hero, Brian, a newspaper delivery boy. He recognizes Liddy's drug dealer, presumed dead, who is alive and well and living in a big house next to the one that Julie Converse's family (Julie played by Jill Schoelen) is buying. Perfect opportunity for Coulson to photograph Liddy and to prove to the newspapers that this notorious criminal is alive and well. Jill almost plays a Nancy Drew-type to Coulson's Hardy Boys-type. I shouldn't leave out the always watchable Seymour Cassel as the cop who believes Liddy is alive (Cassel also appeared as the Pops owner in "There Goes My Baby").

 The movie gets sillier as it ends with a minor shoot-out on a boat and Coulson pretending to be his younger brother (a cringe-worthy moment). The movie aims for a comedic bent on the thriller genre by way of "Rear Window" and "Body Double" mixed with juvenile tactics, notably Julie successfully making Bowen drunk and having him admit to his "extracurricular activities" with the professor. Not bad for a Saturday afternoon viewing, provided it is raining and if you live in Connecticut or Gig Harbor, Washington, which is where this was filmed.

Jill Schoelen as Courtney in Rich Girl

RICH GIRL (1991) -  Advertised as a "Pretty Woman" for the 90's in its VHS debut (when in fact there was already a "Pretty Woman" for the 90's), "Rich Girl" is more of a 50's melodrama where the rich girl from a Bel Air mansion in California wants to make it on her own, without the aid of her demanding father (Paul Gleason) who practically owns Bel Air. Jill plays Courtney, the poor little rich girl who settles for a job as a waitress at Rocco's, a low-grade nightclub where a blue collar, Springsteen-type lead singer (Don Michael Paul) becomes smitten with her, and vice versa. By the way, Courtney seeks other jobs, like a secretarial position, but she can't type worth a damn. And since her father breaks off any financial ties with her (well, not completely), I wondered how she was able to afford an apartment for more than 1,000 dollars a month.  And there is also the matter of breaking off an engagement to her cheating fiance (Sean Kanan, playing a far more insidious character than in "Karate Kid Part III").

"Rich Girl" barely had a chance at theaters. It opened in over a 1,000 theaters (more than "There Goes My Baby" which was given even less of a push), was ubiquitously advertised but it sank without a trace with one of the lowest per-screen averages ever. This reminds me of Jill's superior effort released earlier that same year, the postmodernist horror/slasher flick "Popcorn" that in some markets bypassed first run cinemas completely and was booked directly into second run/discount cinemas (according to IMDB).

"Rich Girl" is the kind of movie you love to hate or hate to love. Its redeeming features are few but almost enough to warrant a viewing.  Ron Karabatsos has ample charm and real-life grit as Rocco (he played Jill's father in the "Murder, She Wrote" episode), more of a real father figure to Courtney than her own father. There is spectacular support from former Runaway band member Cherie Curie, playing the back-up singer who is thrown to the wind due to her endless coke-sniffing.

My main issue is that very film directors knew how to handle Jill Schoelen. One critic made a snide remark that "she had the personality of coral" (according to Rita Kempley of The Washington Post). I wouldn't go that far but it is a blander part than she had in even "Hot Moves." Schoelen's Courtney shows that she loves the lovable rocker but her performance is light on other shadings (that may be more of a screenwriting fault than her own). Schoelen does hold her own in her two brief scenes with the late Paul Gleason. "Rich Girl" is merely OK, light fare but it needed a lift and a real shot of adrenaline. Still, part of me says that this movie is disarming and relatively entertaining, and another part of me wants to gag.

Jill Schoelen and Lisa Gaye in State of Mind
STATE OF MIND (1992) - This review says it all

Jill Schoelen as Babette in There Goes My Baby

THERE GOES MY BABY (1994) - Floyd Mutrux's "There Goes my Baby"  is full of cliches and aims to hit every note known to people who graduated high school in the 1960's. And it works beautifully because it strikes notes of nostalgia and adds counterpoint - an affluent, practically all-white high school that has reality slapping its face. Vietnam hits home, as one is ready to go to war (Rick Schroder) and another had a brother who died in the war (Shon Greenblatt). One student, Mary Beth (Lucy Deakins), refuses to listen to her conservative parents, hoping to attend the progressive Berkeley. Noah Wyle is the poet and realist, Finnegan, who is honest about everything he does and says, whether remaining silent about his relationship to his girlfriend, Tracy (Kristin Minter), or torching a soldier statue outside his school as protest against the war. Delmot Mulroney is Pirate, the guy who longs to play his guitar and fondle his girlfriend, Sunshine (Kelli Williams), yet sees little else in his future aside from driving thru Route 66. The sole black student, Calvin (Kenneth Ransom) who gets a scholarship to Princeton, has his own realities to face, namely family members who are getting harmed during the dreadful Watts riots of 1965. Jill Schoelen is Babette, a singer in love with the Crystals band who wants a spot on the show Shindig! Flower power, abortion, hippies, sex, rock and roll gig at the Shindig, riots, violence, war, burning your draft card and Pops Paradise, the hangout cafe, is about to replaced by a shopping mall - seems like this is the movie that "More American Graffiti" should have been.

As written and directed by Floyd Mutrux ("The Hollywood Knights"), "There Goes My Baby" has dialogue that seems a bit forced at times - there is a lot of talk from the elders about Vietnam being a "police action" and World War II being a real war. The implied message is that Vietnam is a war you go fight for because it is your patriotic duty. The real war seems to take place in the streets, whether it is on a high-school campus or in Watts (as observed by Stick's father played by J.E. Freeman, who feels the blacks should go fight in the jungles of Vietnam which is where they are from. Such a line of dialogue may make some cringe but it shows the narrow-mindedness).

Interestingly, as stilted as the adults sound in this film (Andrew Robinson's line about communism for one), the younglings seem fresh and animated about their lives - they see a future that the adults do not see. Kelli Williams is like a delicate flower in this film - her thoughts on the importance of "I Love Lucy" on her life will make the most jaded person tear up. She expresses pure love, and smiles when she is sad. Noah Wyle's Finnegan merely wants change and hopes that poetry will lead the way of the future. Lucy Deakins' Mary Beth is a realist who wants her conservative parents to wake up.

Where does that leave Jill Schoelen? She is a dynamo in this movie - she struts, she sings, she curses, she flips her fellow classmates the bird, etc. But like most of the characters in this film, at 95 minutes plus, you do wish you saw more of them. Most of the situations are truncated, perhaps due to excessive trimming by the now defunct Orion Pictures - who knows. Robert Altman could have mastered a mosaic like this with more cunning and more flair.

"There Goes My Baby" ends with a tinge of sadness, not just about losing your own high-school friends and moving on to adulthood, but about facing an uncertain future that will get progressively uglier (assassinations of political leaders, Nixon and Watergate). The sadness is that they do not know, and we wonder how they will deal with it.  Don't think twice, it's all right.

Footnote: Director Floyd Mutrux has written two Broadway jukebox musicals, "Baby, It's You!" and "Million Dollar Quartet," both of which Jill Schoelen had been actively involved in as a producer.

DIAGNOSIS MURDER ("Shaker" episode, 1994) - Dick Van Dyke proves to the master of the light touch as Community General's own Dr. Sloan who works with the police in solving cases. This episode deals with an earthquake and its aftershocks, leaving his staff working overtime to help victims. One such victim, Martin Garfield (Allan Miller), is found dead under an armoire. Dr. Sloan realizes with incredible intuition that the victim was killed prior to the earthquake. Sloan's son, homicide detective Steve Sloan (Barry van Dyke, Dick's actual younger son), helps with the investigation.

Jill Schoelen has a very brief role as Becky Garfield, future sister-in-law to the naive Ilene (Liz Vassey). Jill has worked with Allan Miller before in the TV movie "Billionaire Boys Club."  A tight, droll, engaging episode though I think I prefer "Murder, She Wrote" in general.

Jill Schoelen as Yalena in She Kept Silent

SHE KEPT SILENT (2004) - "She Kept Silent" is proof that past directors did not know what they had with Jill Schoelen. She plays a sullen mother named Yalena who takes a taxicab to a train station on a cold night. When she wipes the foggy cab window, she is reminded of her son who wiped the foggy window at their home. When Yalena sees some guys playing basketball, she is reminded of her son also playing basketball. It was on that day, inside of some basement workshop, that we see Yalena who planned on leaving her abusive, alcoholic husband and presumably wanted her son to go with her. The husband lets her leave, but not with her son. She is torn, conflicted.

Jill Schoelen displays textured sullenness with her added vulnerability - she is as unglamorous here as she was in "When a Stranger Calls Back" and never displays that trademark smile. Though the film is short, director Svetlana Cvetko gives us a glimpse of a withering, soulful mother who wants her son back. The question is: will she ever get him back? Is she running away at the end? This short is so damn good that you wish it would go on longer than 10 minutes.

Jill Schoelen and Dee Wallace at Horrorhound - a "Popcorn" reunion

Is sex all there is?

EASY A (2010)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Taking Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" and updating it to the 2010 high school years is a smart move. But even in 2010, couldn't the filmmakers have opted for something else more humiliating than being marked with an A because you had sex? In high-school?

That is the issue I take with "Easy A"; it assumes that sex is still something to rave about in high-school. I know I am older and I was only a teenager in the 1980's, but sex was rarely an event that had to be broadcast around school. Since "American Pie" in 1999, teen comedies dealt with sex as the main plot twist when, in fact, I would have hoped teenagers have something else to talk about. And when you get an electrifyingly winsome actress like Emma Stone playing a teenager named Olive Penderghast, who is ignored by schoolmates and Google Earth (!) until it is leaked that she had sex with some guy (which she did not), it makes you wonder how far astray Hollywood is from reality.

Once Olive is heard in the bathroom by the religious-minded Marianne (Amanda Bynes) making a false confession to her best friend, Rhiannon (Aly Michalka), all hell breaks loose. Olive starts getting sex proposals from nerds and jocks and the like (including her harassed gay buddy), and gets money offers and/or $100 gift cards in exchange (like to Bed, Bath and Beyond and Home Depot). She doesn't have to have sex with these guys, just get paid for letting some loser broadcast it to everyone. That in itself is a great comic idea and it is milked for what it is worth. Things get shaky, however, when it involves her favorite teacher, Mr. Griffith (Thomas Haden Church) and his wife, a guidance counselor (Lisa Kudrow), and the morality of such an unethical practice gets more interesting but it is never truly dealt with.

The best scenes in "Easy A" are between Olive and her liberal, supportive parents (crisply acted by Patricia Clarkson and Stanley Tucci), but most of "Easy A" avoids any issue that isn't sexual. In a film like Alexander Payne's "Election," the high-school teens in that film focused on politics, love, getting ahead, cheating, etc. Even the John Hughes films "Easy A" references had more complexity, not to mention a non-John Hughes film, Cameron Crowe's "Say Anything" which this film shamelessly steals its most iconic moments.

I'll put it simply: Emma Stone is a an adorable actress who I am sure will go on to great things. But a movie like "Easy A"only hints at her talent. The last thing she needs is to be stuck in Lindsay Lohan's "Mean Girls"-ish waters.