Lifetime is a little clueless

THE BRITTANY MURPHY STORY (2014)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

It is an impossible task to cast an actress who has the puppy dog eyes and glimmer of danger that the late Brittany Murphy had. Brittany was a unique, quirky actress who had a face that spoke of love and warmth, but with a slight edge. You could love the girl as she showed us naked honesty, but you also sensed that you could not wrong her or you could end up in trouble. She was the girl who could listen to music by, say, the Beatles but you might believe she was a closeted Ramones or Clash fan at heart. Amanda Fuller plays Brittany but Fuller looks too sweet, too wholesome minus the edginess - she looks more like an innocent Ellen Page. There ya go, Lifetime, cast this actress for the Ellen Page Story.

Amanda Fuller and Simon Monjack

"The Brittany Murphy Story" purportedly tells us about the rise and fall of the actress who hit her stride with films like "Clueless" and "Don't Say a Word" and hit her low with "Just Married" (a rom-com with Ashton Kutcher whom she had a brief relationship with). Most of this Lifetime biopic focuses on Brittany's loving, devoted relationship to her mother (Sherilyn Fenn) and her topsy-turby relationship with Simon Monjack (Eric Petersen, who appears more jovial than the real Simon who also passed away), a con-artist who happens to be a screenwriter and occasional press photographer (his screenwriting duties on the film "Factory Girl" have been disputed and settled out-of-court). Far more interesting is Adam Hagenbuch as Ashton (and boy is the resemblance uncanny), showing he had really cared for Brittany, but he disappears far too soon.

The real Brittany and Simon - see the spark?

"Brittany Murphy Story" could have used an infusion of energy - most of the film is flat and flatly photographed in monochromatic tones. It is almost as if Brittany's life is depicted as one of lost hope from the beginning and the allegations of drug abuse are mentioned again and again, but there is precious little attention attached to the films she made (not a word on "Girl, Interrupted" or "Sin City"). I wanted to see actress Amanda Fuller spring to life with the dynamic gusto that Brittany Murphy showed in her own films. Fuller infrequently casts a spark in the role - she is mostly dour and unflatteringly photographed. Though the film does not skimp on Brittany's dizzy spells or doldrums or bipolar condition, it makes no real distinction between early Brittany and down-in-the-dumps-curtains-closed Brittany. It only shows her in a dizzy spell from start to finish.  

In Space, there is only more Space

GRAVITY (2013)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Make no mistake about it - "Gravity" is often edge-of-your-seat suspenseful and has amazing visuals of space that really envelop you. It is a film about a terrible accident at a space shuttle, and it is often astounding and marvelous to see the panorama of the Earth as we and the characters orbit around it and try to keep breathing amid chaos. But, at the end of the day, the movie ends too soon, leaving us with fewer impressions than we had. It is an entertaining footnotes kind of movie, lacking anything tangible to latch onto.

Sandra Bullock is Dr. Ryan Stone, a Biomedical engineer aboard her first space shuttle mission, the Explorer. George Clooney is Lt. Matt Kowalski, the leader of the Explorer team. They are fixing the Hubble Space Telescope as Kowalski does his spacewalk in circles. It is an astounding sequence, filmed in what seems like an unbroken shot that runs forever. It is transfixing and there is a terrifying beauty about it - the idea of hovering above the planet Earth while engaging in matters that are beyond normal human means. In a sense, director Alfonso Cuaron ("Y Tu Mama Tambien") is also implying how Earth is not within anyone's grasp when you are running on oxygen for a short amount of time, hovering over the home planet where no one else can see you. Was mankind meant to be hovering in space? Then Mission Control in Houston warns the crew that flying debris from a destroyed Russian satellite is making its way in the astronauts' direction. It is time to abort the mission but complications ensue - Dr. Stone and Lt. Kowalski feel the impact of the debris as it strikes the Telescope, the shuttle and the space station. The shuttle is beyond any repair and the entire crew is also dead. The Space Station has only one malfunctioning module. Their situation now is really dire.

I rather not give away much more of this 91-minute science-fiction thriller but I can say it involves more explosions and space stations. Bullock's Stone also has one rather absurd hallucination, thoughts of her long-lost daughter and her need to get back to Earth. She expresses little emotion about the other dead astronauts, and that is rather odd considering it is her first space shuttle mission, nor does she shed tears for Kowalski who performs an action in the film that has been criticized by scientists for reasons I cannot spoil. As I had mentioned earlier, "Gravity" is quite a cinematic experience and in an IMAX theater in 3-D, it might be even more thrilling.

The issue is the movie is only 91 minutes long, or maybe it is too long to tell a tale that could've been shortened to a half-hour. Or maybe too short to tell a tale that could have used more character exploration. "Gravity" feels like the last thirty minutes of "2001: A Space Odyssey" expanded to feature length. It does the job of entertaining the audience but I expect more from a Clooney-Bullock-Cuaron team up.  

Surviving 9/11

WORLD TRADE CENTER (2006)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Oliver Stone is known for his fire and brimstone approach to filmmaking where every point is made with a hammer yet loaded with an emotional ferocity. His best films ("Platoon," "Born on the 4th of July," "JFK," et al) pop with such exuberance and emotional power that they become more than films - they are vivid portraits of calamitous events painted with a human face. "World Trade Center" is definitely a powerful film but its approach is not as incendiary or full of layered images upon images in the typical Stone style post-"JFK." This time, Stone takes a backseat to visual and aural overload because this survival story doesn't need it.

Set on the early morning hours of 9/11/01, we follow two Port Authority cops, Will Jimeno (Michael Pena) and John McLoughlin (Nicolas Cage, at his restrained best), as they prepare their daily routine of awaking in the wee hours of the morning and traveling from Long Island, NY and New Jersey to Manhattan. Jimeno is the average cop on the lookout for a missing person. McLoughlin is the sergeant who commandeers his unit, and has kept a close eye on the World Trade Center since the infamous 1993 bombing. Of course, he has never dealt with the enormity of the situation at hand - two planes have flown into the World Trade Center. A major rescue mission is at hand but how on earth can they rescue people when the towers implode and crumble to dust while they are in the WTC lobby? Both Jimeno and his partner and friend, Dominick Pezzulo (Jay Hernandez), are stuck with McLoughlin under the rubble of smoke and debris and the occasional fireball. Pezzulo is eventually crushed to death, leaving only Jimeno and McLoughlin to talk to each other about their families so they don't fall asleep and possibly die (keep the brain active, as they say, so you don't fall into a coma).

Oliver Stone has not made a conspiracy film about 9/11, so don't go expecting a paranoid, political twist on modern events on the order of Stone's "JFK" or "Nixon." Stone has crafted something here that is akin to "Platoon" and "Salvador" in its individual story of survival. The difference, in the case with this film, is that it is an apolitical story of two protagonists who serve to protect and are in dire need of protection from certain death. Stone and writer Andrea Berloff also evoke the complications of almost losing someone on that dreadful day through the protagonists' wives. Jimeno's loving pregnant wife (astutely and honestly played by Maggie Gyllenhaal) is an emotional wreck who is waiting for the call that says Jimeno is alive and has been rescued. McLoughlin's wife (exceedingly well-played by Maria Bello, sporting striking blue eyes) tries to distance herself from the catastrophe, hoping McLoughlin is alive yet realizing that their love of each other might have soured prior to 9/11.

"World Trade Center" is essentially a story of strength and survival in the most dire and inhumane of catastrophes. It doesn't exploit the 9/11 tragedy but merely embodies it, as seen through the eyes of two heroic cops who did their damnedest to help others. The scenes of Jimeno and McLoughlin trapped in the rubble are about as intense as you might expect in an Oliver Stone film (despite discussions on "G.I. Jane" and a vision of Jesus, which the actual Jimeno saw). And also as expected, the scenes between the wives and their families glued to the TV screens, waiting to hear good news, are emotionally devastating. In fact, Bello and Gyllenhaal have scenes of such unparalleled power that you will grow more than misty-eyed - they are affecting in such a deep way as to make you remember how the day affected just about everyone.

I am a fan of Ollie Stone's critical dissent on politics but, this time, I can say I am glad he found the nerve to tell a simple survival story through the prism of 9/11. Some say Stone may have lost his touch and cleaned up his paranoiac fervor. Not so. How many filmmakers would dare to make a film about 9/11? Exactly.

The Day the World Changed

UNITED 93 (2006)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

(Originally reviewed in 2006)

I am thankful that the filmmakers of "United 93" did not exploit the 9/11 tragedy and turn it into an "Airport" version of the story. "United 93" is a white-knuckled, thoroughly intense and emotionally devastating movie - it is so intense that many viewers could easily pass out. We all know what will happen and the eventual outcome, and it is that knowledge that makes the film almost unbearable and riveting from start to finish.

"United 93" begins with a recitement of the Koran by two of the suicide hijackers before they board the United 93 flight from Newark. One of them shaves all the hair from their body, and another one remains almost unsure of himself. They board the plane without a problem. We see all the passengers on board, including the flight attendants, stewardesses and the airline pilots. There is a 30-minute delay which makes the hijackers nervous, including the leader. We almost don't want that plane to take off but it does, and the intensity begins. We see the military commanders in a station getting ready to conduct a NORAD test. There are also air-traffic controllers in airport towers and at a control center in Ronkokoma, NY. It is business as usual, making sure all flights are in communication with the air-traffic controllers. Then, a hijacking is reported. Then one of the flights disappears in a radar scope (we know what's happened at that moment) and all hell breaks loose. The World Trade Center has been struck by aircraft, the Pentagon is in flames, the President is nowhere to be found, and the F-16's are not getting any confirmation on what to do or where the missing aircraft is. Communication is at a standstill, and Flight 93 is unaware of the hysteria until the hijackers attack the passengers and take control of the aircraft.

You know what you are in for when watching "United 93." What makes the film riveting and involving is director Paul Greengrass ("Bloody Sunday") who has employed a hand-held camera immediacy to the proceedings. Hand-held cameras are often used in manufacturing a documentary-look to a fictional recreation of a historical event. What Greengrass and writers have done is make us bear witness to a tragedy unfolding in real time without ever truly knowing the passengers. This is an inspired stroke, in a sense, because the audience will feel as they are aboard that plane with them (and how often do you get to know the passengers when you board a plane). The immediacy places you squarely in this infamous day's events in ways that not even the newscasts could ever accomplish. We feel for the passengers and their anxieties and fears, especially when they learn the pilots are dead and that they are part of a suicide mission. It becomes relentless because we feel helpless and want to do something.

All the actors perform as credibly and realistically as possible, and some of the air-traffic controllers and other personnel are played by the actual participants (Ben Sliney plays himself as the chief of air-traffic control). In fact, there is not one frame of "United 93" that feels false or inaccurate. And the movie doesn't inflate the patriotism of our first freedom fighters (as the passengers on board this plane have been known as), especially a key moment where Todd Beamer says the famous words, "Let's roll." When the moment happens, it is caught as a glimpse rather than a grandstanding moment where the audience can cheer.

"United 93" is a controversial film largely because of the subject matter. Was it too soon to have a film depicting the events of 9/11? I would say no: a film like this, as honest and intensely emotional as it is, is never premature. A bad, exploitative, dishonest take on these events would've been premature. Thankfully, "United 93" is the former.

Hefty trash bag...scary!!

CREEPSHOW 2 (1987)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Horror sequels generally do not work. A sequel to a horror anthology can work because as long as the spirit and sense of macabre is intact, then you have creative freedom to come up with just about anything, free of formula restrictions. The fault with "Creepshow 2" is that the spirit and sense of macabre fun from the first "Creepshow" is missing and so we get yet another routine piffle of a movie. Someone call the Creeper and ask for a refund.

Three stories circulate this hastily-produced and edited mishmash of an anthology, unlike the first "Creepshow" which had five stories. First one works some of the magic of EC comics as it has George Kennedy as the proprietor of a general store that is losing business. He keeps the store open because he helps some friendly Native American folk who promise they will reward him for his generosity (he also keeps an old Indian statue named Old Chief Woodn'Head in front of his store). His wife (Dorothy Lamour) is wishing for retirement so they can live the few years they have left in peace. One night, three thieves decide to rob the store, kill the owner and his wife, and make off with the loot and head to Hollywood! Old Chief Wood'Head, armed with his machete, comes to life and exacts revenge. Nothing truly special in overall content, but the story moves along briskly and I enjoyed George Kennedy's brief performance.

The second story is the weakest and the most laughably stupid. Based on a Stephen King short story, "The Raft" has four younglings swimming at a lake, resting their laurels on a raft and smoking pot, until an oil slick approaches them and tries to eat them! This instantly reminded me of the atrocious "The Blob," only worse because it can't seem to take too long to swim back to land and outlap a floating Heft garbage bag! But there is always time for hanky-panky on a raft - a scene that screams the 1980's by way of "Meatballs" (to be fair, most of this is in the King story published in the "Skeleton Crew" anthology). This segment has about as much suspense as watching a Hefty garbage bag floating in the water.

The third and final story is superior to the second but grows wearisome. Lois Chiles is an amoral adulteress and housewife who is involved in a hit-and-run accident. She hopes it is forgotten since there are no witnesses, except for the hitchhiker himself she ran over! He is in relentless pursuit of her, screaming a lame line ("Thanks for the ride, lady!"), and this story is torpedoed by its own tediousness. There is nothing inventive or horrific about it, and it makes one yearn for the old classic "Twilight Zone" episode where a car pursues the hit-and-run driver. All we get here is Chiles looking uncomfortable and the occasional glimpse of a rotting corpse.

"Creepshow 2" has its merits with the old wooden Indian statue segment, and the sneakily creepy and eerie prologue and epilogue with the Creeper (Tom Savini) and a kid who is bullied and gets revenge with man-eating, well, I don't want to spoil it for you. These moments capture the black-humored ghoulish fun of the original "Creepshow." On the whole, however, "Creepshow 2" is neither ghoulish nor black- humored nor much fun, not to mention far less than creepy. It is as wooden as the Indian statue.

E.C. Comics Final Exam

CREEPSHOW (1982)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

"Creepshow" is vintage E.C. Comics horror, with the emphasis on comic-book. Sometimes there are those dutch angles with key lighting changes from one shot to the next, and sometimes the shot changes into various panels from a comic-book page. It is not a scary film but it is a devilishly funny film, one that is sure to remind many of the old horror anthologies from the 1970's, such as "Twice Told Tales" or "Tales From the Darkside."

The five horror tales involve aspects many of us can relate to. A crate holding a werewolf in a cobwebbed basement does two fundamental things - it establishes a setting that is normally unwise for anyone to peruse in, and it establishes that curiosity about a packed, sealed crate that can lead to trouble. Another rather offputting yet vivid tale deals with the lonely Jordy Verrill (Stephen King) who unwisely touches a piece of meteorite that slowly turns him into Plant Thing (the sound effects of unseen plant life growing will give a good fright, especially for those who live in a farm). Even better is the rich Wall Street germophobe (E.G. Marshall) who lives in a high-rise apartment and keeps finding cockroaches infesting his home.

Two tales fall a little flat though they are still somewhat memorable. One involves the wealthy Rich Vickers (Leslie Nielsen, proving he could play sociopathic men better than anyone) who discovers his wife is cheating on him with another guy (Ted Danson). Rich forces Danson's character to be buried in the beach up to his neck, forcing the tide to drown him (Rich's wife undergoes the same torture). Some of this episode is far meaner than I expected (the beach scenes are too overcast) but it does give you goosebumps despite its few lulls.

Lastly, "Father's Day" has Aunt Bedelia (Viveca Lindfors) visiting her father's grave - she killed the stingy bastard with a marble ashtray. The reasons have to do with Bedelia falling in love with a man whom her father had killed. Mixed in this episode is some atrocious acting by Ed Harris (his dance routine proves white men can't dance) and some rich, whiny folks waiting for Bedelia to come home. Easily the worst of the bunch but four decent stories out of five isn't too bad.

There is an inexplicable prologue and epilogue with a devoted Creepshow comic-book fan who despises his overbearing father (Tom Atkins) so much that the kid mail-orders a voodoo doll. Something about those scenes falls somewhere between the comical and the macabre. "Creepshow" is often nasty fun but some of it, as strong and vivid as director George Romero makes it, can feel like needles penetrating your tongue. It is comic-book macabre but you might not respect yourself in the morning. On the other hand, that may be precisely the point. 

A delicate souffle of laughs

THE CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION (2001)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

(Originally reviewed in 2001)

There is no way to explain my constant fascination with Woody Allen. He is one of the few comedy geniuses of the 20th century. From masterful comedy-dramas like "Annie Hall" and "Manhattan" to somber, Bergmanesque dramas like "Interiors" and "Crimes and Misdemeanors" to self-portraits that are as acrid and alive as any of his early works like "Husbands and Wives" and "Deconstructing Harry," Woody has maintained a body of work that reflects his philosophy and psychology of general relationships on Manhattan's Lower East Side. And he can be hard on himself when he deconstructs his own life, but always with an edge and a distance that may not always appeal to everyone who is not from New York. I would never confuse Woody for a mainstream comedy director in this jaded day and age. That is why it is a pleasure to report that "The Curse of the Jade Scorpion" is a delightful souffle, spiked and stinging with wit from all corners of the screen. It is as smarmily funny as "Small Time Crooks" and "Manhattan Murder Mys tery" and as affectionate and buoyant as "Bullets Over Broadway" and "Zelig."

"Curse of the Jade Scorpion" is set in Manhattan in 1940 where C.W. Briggs (Woody Allen) is a fraud insurance detective who cracks nearly every case with sheer luck and ingenious instinct. He is admired by his co-workers, which includes Dan Aykroyd as his professional boss Magruder and Jill (Elizabeth Berkley), a secretary who will let someone rub her chest as long as they bring a ring. The one exception to this staff is Betty Ann Fitzgerald (Helen Hunt) who is hired by the company to make it more efficient and workmanlike (she also considers condensing the private detective agency). She hates C.W. and sees him as vermin and as a dinosaur (there are probably as many synonyms used to describe Woody negatively in this film than in any other). C.W. hates her too and you can see it will probably lead to a romance at some point. One night at a birthday party, C.W. and Betty Ann are asked to participate in a magic act by the great Voltan (David Ogden Stiers). They are put in a trance where the names like "Madagascar" and "Constantinople" are uttered and where they are apparently lovers. Once snapped out of the trance, C.W. continues to hate Betty Ann. However, precious jewels begin to disappear from wealthy estates and C.W. might be a prime suspect thanks to the trance-like powers of the great Voltan.

"The Curse of the Jade Scorpion" reminds me of the great 40's romantic comedies where a bickering couple would trade insults and engaging repartee with ease ("His Girl Friday" is my favorite of that period). Woody Allen and Helen Hunt are a match made in heaven and show love and hate for each other with aplomb. Their chemistry works well - Hunt is all professionalism and Allen simply cracks wise. What is ultimately satisfying and unusual is to see Allen in a role that would have been suited for someone like Cary Grant or James Stewart. Seeing Allen as a short man with a milder neurosis than usual is simply startling and hilarious - consider the opening sequence where he arrives at his office in a trenchcoat and felt hat as if he were Humphrey Bogart. Similarly, Hunt cleverly assumes the role of a 40's working woman with authority and great energy - I am not crazy about Hunt overall but in the right role, this actress sizzles and holds her own with Allen.

"Jade Scorpion" has the customary Allen quips but it also has an informal, chaste, elegant atmosphere. A romantic comedy like this in the 1940's would have been rapid fire in pace and language. Here, Allen chooses to slow it down somewhat, as if inviting us for a cup of tea rather than coffee. To some, this may be offputting but I was positively entranced. The irradiating glow from the cinematography by Zhao Fei enhances the elegance and brings a nostalgic tone to the proceedings.

As always, Allen knows how to choose the right actors. Can you recall Sean Penn being as faultless and knowing as in "Sweet and Lowdown"? Can you recall Winona Ryder ever being as bewitching as in "Celebrity"? Well, "Jade Scorpion" has Helen Hunt at her best as aforementioned. There is also Dan Aykroyd as a businesslike romantic interest (I never thought Aykroyd would share a kissing scene with Helen Hunt) with choice lines - he delivers a performance every bit as nuanced as anything he has ever done. Elizabeth Berkley is actually tolerable on screen, shedding any leftover negative vibes from "Showgirls." David Ogden Stiers, an Allen regular, vibrates with stinging ardor. Everyone is perfectly cast and seems to occupy a time in history credibly, unlike say "Pearl Harbor."

"Curse of the Jade Scorpion" is a hoot and a half and tightly written and directed. They say Woody Allen is not worth caring about anymore, and that he is way past the comic highlights of his career. Some may say he is simply marking time, making one film a year to keep himself busy. He may not create a masterpiece like "Crimes and Misdemeanors" or "Annie Hall" but who cares. He still makes films and let us be glad his wit lives on. The real curse would be to avoid him.