Check your fun at the door with prehistoric beasties

JURASSIC WORLD (2015)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

1993's "Jurassic Park" was a tremendous thrill ride of a movie, a literal walk in the park with dinosaurs - some friendly, some not so friendly. What also made the movie were the colorful characters, a motley crew of scientists who saw this park as a troubling future capitalist venture. I recall the chaos theory mathematician, Dr. Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), arguing about the ethics of bringing back dinosaurs to the late Richard Attenborough's Dr. Hammond - Sam Neill and Laura Dern were on hand as paleontologists who were in agreement with Malcolm. Granted, Michael Crichton's book was more in-depth and brutal but the original film had the humor and fright factor down pat. Sequels came and went, though Spielberg's own "The Lost World" was a decent flick with an ecological theme of preserving the dinos' habitat. The third film, the less said the better. This new "Jurassic World" has no real distinction or novelty and the surprise is that, though superior to the third film, it has little fright value and almost no sense of humor.

Jurassic World is the literal name of a fully functioning theme park with real, live dinosaurs. The theme park is on an island, Isla Nublar, the very same Costa Rican one from the first film. Bryce Dallas Howard is Claire Dearing who is on board this dino theme park as its operations manager, hungering to fulfill the audience's demands for bigger, louder dinosaurs! Apparently, she casually mentions a poll that people attending this park don't want the same old, same old. This might be the screenwriters' (five of them, this time) own ironic commentary on audiences that attend this movie - bigger and louder don't necessarily mean better. But these are real dinosaurs in the world of this movie - how much better can it be than to see creatures from a prehistoric time. Naturally, the genetics lab has bred a new kind of dinosaur, part raptor and part T-Rex, called the Indominus Rex. It is a ferocious 50-foot creature that is smarter than most humans. The raptors are also smarter and quicker yet they can be tamed, thanks to Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) who is capable of holding them at bay.

Naturally, things go awry at Jurassic World. Indominus Rex runs loose around the park, and has camouflaging capabilities. Pterosaurs break free and fly from their own domed enclosure, snatching up the park's customers and flinging them in the air. There is also a Mosasaurus, an aquatic prehistoric lizard that eats a shark for the spectators, sort of a bloodthirsty take on the Orca. Interestingly, there is not as much dino action as you might think. We are mostly saddled with Chris Pratt's rather bland heroic gestures and his zero rapport with Bryce Dallas Howard - both deserve better scripts. There are secondary and tertiary characters introduced who give us a little background and off they go before some get chomped by raptors and such. The most fascinating character is Vincent D'Onofrio as Vic Hoskins, the villainous head of security operations who was hoping for the shite to hit the fan. Why? Military applications of raptors in a time of war, that is why. Sadly, his character's own dinos-in-the-military ideas are never explained. When one scene shows the terror of these Pterosaurs wrecking havoc, all he can do is stand back and smile. Huh? B.D. Wong is also back, the only returnee from the original "Jurassic Park" series, as the geneticist who has conspired to create a monster with "more teeth." Also on board for dino bait are Claire's nephews who mistakenly travel in a gyrosphere (a sphere-shaped ride on wheels) through the thick of the jungle despite the red alerts.

The main flaw is that director Colin Trevorrow (who is no Steven Spielberg) doesn't offer much in the way of suspense or genuine thrills, even for a silly monster movie. The movie coasts along but it has no real momentum and no sequence is ever shaped well enough to induce the heebie-jeebies. Spielberg could craft one of these in his sleep but he also gave you goosebumps and real terror. Not one scene in this film comes a tenth close to the T-Rex rampage from the original. Pauline Kael once said it best about Spielberg - "Great Spielberg action is so brilliant it spooks you." "Jurassic World" doesn't have enough jeopardy, inspire much awe or wonder, and has no real moral dilemmas about the existence of a theme park even on the most rudimentary level - basically no real ideas at all. It is not just a movie where you check your brain at the door. It is a check-your-fun-at-the-door type movie too.   

Surveillance on Abbie Hoffman

STEAL THIS MOVIE (2000)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

(Originally reviewed in 2001)

Abbie Hoffman or his Yippie days back in the counterculture era of the 1960's must have been far more troubling and chaotic than the simplistic treatment provided in this film. If it were not for two key performances by Vincent D'Onofrio and Janeane Garofalo, I would have dismissed "Steal this Movie" as a foolhardy and empty film biography.

D'Onofrio is Abbie Hoffman, the imaginative, creative political force of the 60's who began as a civil rights activist in the South and worked his way into the anti-war movement, with particular attention paid to the Vietnam War and his staunch defense against it displayed in front of the Washington Monument. He made headlines for conjuring up absurd events such as the levitation of the Pentagon or his throwing dollar bills at New York Stock Exchange workers. It was performance theater designed to provoke a response in the population about America's capitalist system.

None of this would mean much unless we saw the man behind the imagination. Hoffman robs a bus in ridiculous Western attire and meets Anita (Janeane Garofalo), who comes to his "Free Store" to get back her stolen jacket. She is intrigued and fascinated by him, and they eventually get married and have a son. However, J. Edgar Hoover and Richard Nixon are after Hoffman and invade his privacy with FBI surveillance. It gets so hot that Hoffman leaves his family and goes underground, finally giving an interview in the late 1970's and exhibiting a bipolar disorder. He also meets and falls in love with Johanna Lawrenson (Jeanne Tripplehorn), and Anita eventually grows to accept the double life Abbie has lead.

"Steal This Movie" has a fragmented narrative and visual style, thanks to the tired cliche of the reporter interviewing the subject about his past victories and losses. This cliche began with "Citizen Kane" and has been used in everything from "Lenny" to "Chaplin" and beyond. It may allow for some experimentation with narrative but it can also give the idea that we are merely watching glimpses of the biographical subject without getting too close. That is what happens with "Steal This Movie," which glides from one event to the other giving it a disconnected flow - it is like watching a "Biography" segment complete with badly used, pseudo voice-overs from Nixon and Hoover.

D'Onofrio is a revelation as he gives a beautifully modulated performance of extreme highs and lows, showcasing Hoffman's improvisational delivery in nearly everything he does yet also showing a man living in paranoia and fear about his family, friends and foes and his insular life. Janeane Garofalo also gets a chance to develop an empathetic and compassionate side to Anita, who also has her doubts about Hoffman's other lover and his insularity yet she deeply loves him.

"Steal This Movie" is nothing extraordinary and the film limits Hoffman's struggle and paranoia to that of a mere outcast, a shadow of the man who made people listen to his view on the world. Still, the 60's scene is thrillingly depicted (complete with typical tunes in the soundtrack) and there are shades throughout of Oliver Stone's "Born on the Fourth of July" in its view of how the young revolutionaries were not always taken seriously by the conservatives. The only difference is that everyone paid attention to Abbie Hoffman.

Toothless Hollywood lyricism

STATE AND MAIN (2000)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

"State and Main" is smart, funny and lyrical and one wishes it were so much more. Here's a movie that has a great idea - using a Rockwellian small town as the setting for a Hollywood movie - and it comes up short in fulfilling expectations. It's as if writer-director David Mamet felt it was enough to skewer the Hollywood system - a business that has been skewered to death.

Film director Walt Price (William H. Macy) has arrived with his film crew in Waterford, Vermont to film their latest project, "The Old Mill." Problems being to surface when the old mill itself is discovered to have burnt down thirty years ago. The lead actress, Claire Wellesly (Sarah Jessica Parker), refuses to do a nude scene unless she is paid an additional 800,000 dollars. The laid-back screenwriter, Joseph White (Philip Seymour Hoffman), has writer's block, particularly since he needs to change the setting of the movie. He gets some help from a local bookstore owner, Ann Black (Rebecca Pidgeon), who falls in love with him and keeps saying to other locals, "Go Husskies!" And to top it all off, the leading actor Bob Barrenger (Alec Baldwin) has a predilection for underage girls.

"State and Main" focuses on the complications that ensue in shooting a film in a small town. My favorite moment is when the hot-headed producer (David Paymer) tells Walt that he will have to do a product placement of an Internet company. "How can we do that when the story is set in 1895?," asks Walt. The payoff is finally delivered and I was all smiles when the solution was shown. The problem is that I feel Mamet did not focus as much on his targets as he should have. He neither stays long enough on the Hollywood satire or on the negotiations and deals that a film crew has to make with the locals and with the mayor (Charles Durning). A great scene could have developed with the mayor and his wife as they anxiously wait for Walt and Bob to arrive for dinner - the mayor's wife went so far as to have their wallpaper changed for the event. But there is no payoff and Mamet refuses to have any payoffs in the film. Some are more subtle than others but the whole film feels undernourished as a result.

The best subplot of the film deals with the sensible, morally correct Joseph and his developing romance with Ann. Joseph would rather spend time with Ann than work on the script. There is one moment that fuses all the elements of satire and comic relief perfectly. Joseph and Ann get locked out of the bookstore. It is raining. Joseph tries to kiss Ann but is interrupted by the local sheriff. The sheriff offers Ann an umbrella and to walk her home. Joseph is left alone at the store in the rain. It is as evocative of how a small town operates as anything I've seen in recent years. Simple lives in a simple existence where simple folks simply help others in need.

If "State and Main" had stuck to the notion of how a Hollywood film crew is out of place in a small town that feels trapped in a time warp, it could have been a winner. As it is, the film made me smile throughout and I enjoyed all the asides tossed at Hollywood. The performances are superb, as always in a Mamet film. But there are no real payoffs and the film never quite makes it as a truly biting farce or comedy. It flows smoothly and it is lyrical but it lacks weight.

Furiosa is the Road Warrior

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (2015)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Rebooting the pumped-up and hallucinatory apocalyptic power of the "Mad Max" films of thirty years ago might seem like a risky venture, especially when Mel Gibson is no longer on board as the one and only Road Warrior. Still, there is good news for Mad Max fans because "Fury Road" is a deranged, even more apocalyptic and thunderously emotional film in the series that can stand on its own two dirty, muddy feet as the finest action film in many years. It easily outclasses "Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome" and comes very, very close to the solemnity of the masterful "The Road Warrior."

The chameleonic actor Tom Hardy is Max, the former cop who became a dust bowl avenger of a post-nuclear apocalyptic era where everyone is a scavenger for gas and water. In this story, he is held prisoner by the War Boys, an army of bald, pale-faced, sickly men who are led by Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne, formerly Toecutter in the original "Mad Max" film from 1979), a figure of torment who needs an elaborate breathing apparatus just to speak to the poor people of the desert. Joe even tells the crowd of what appears to be thousands that if they want water, they better not get addicted to it - then he releases the levers and gives them what they want in desperation albeit in short triple gallon spurts. Meanwhile, one-armed Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron - simply amazing) is sent to acquire gas but then decides to veer off-course - her plan is to go to the Green Place, her home, along with five other women impregnated by Joe. Joe is mad as hell and wants his women and their babies. Furiosa is no less angry herself, and Max simply tags along.

 Director George Miller (who helmed the first three "Mad Max" films) doesn't disappoint in terms of white-knuckled action scenes that astound and terrify at the same time. The movie doesn't just add chases on the road - you are immersed in them and feel we are riding along with everyone else at breakneck speeds. I saw the film in 3-D and I can say that it enhances the experience of the thrill of the chase and the debris of broken vehicles thrust in your face. Helping to make the chases fresh, one vehicle carries drummers and a guitarist whose own guitar shoots flames! But Miller has deeper issues than enthralling the audience with the visceral - he never forgets to stay close to the characters so we can feel we are in a soulful action movie, not in the latest cartoonish gimmicks of a "Fast and Furious" sequel. Furiosa is our female-empowered Road Warrior with great aim and even greater driving skills at handling a rig the size of two eighteen wheelers (at one point, Max gives her the gun to shoot to kill the imposing marauders in the distance). Furiosa also wishes for redemption, to get away from a blood-soaked desert world where sand is all there is between her and her weaponry. She is strong, tough, resilient and carries a vulnerable side particularly with her prosthetic arm. She is a lone warrior on a mission to rediscover her humanity. It is an awe-inspiring breakthrough for Theron, proving her worth as the real hero of the movie.


If there is one glaring though hardly destructive flaw in "Mad Max: Fury Road," it is the casting of Tom Hardy as Mad Max. His character is virtually a catatonic creation who wears a muzzle for a while before being rescued by Furiosa and reluctantly engaging in battle. Hardy is not a bad choice to play Max but not the most fitting - he speaks more in the opening narration than in the entirety of the film. Missing in action is the charismatic, fiery presence of Mel Gibson who played Max as someone who had seen it all and showed little fear. Hardy's Max is a mute and somewhat expressionless Road Warrior and is given little to do besides being Furiosa's second banana. Males have been up in arms over this, that is Furiosa being practically the main lead in the movie, but I can't quibble - women don't get stalwart roles like this in the silver screen often. As I said, Hardy might be catatonic...but he is not boring.

"Mad Max: Fury Road" is a beautifully dusty, roughly hewn and inspired action movie and it is an overpowering assault on the senses. The feeling of desperation and despair in this vast wasteland is felt in every frame. Every flying bullet, spear, arrow and fiery projectile is felt - when people die, we feel the loss and the impact. What it also conveys is that there is still some measure of hope and solace from greedy dictators who use humans as cattle to feed and manipulate. The odd thing about this "Mad Max" film is that gas and water are not the necessities this time (though they are sorely needed) - breeding healthy human babies with no deformities is the hope from the enemy. Furiosa just wants solace. Max wants to go his own way. And we are caught in the middle of one of the most imaginative action films in history. 

Atari's biggest failure

ATARI: GAME OVER (2014)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

"Atari E.T. Dig- Alamogordo, New Mexico (14036097792)" by taylorhatmaker - Atari E.T. Dig: Alamogordo, New Mexico. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Atari_E.T._Dig-_Alamogordo,_New_Mexico_(14036097792).jpg#/media/File:Atari_E.T._Dig-_Alamogordo,_New_Mexico_(14036097792).jpg

I am always intrigued by fanciful urban legends, especially one as ludicrous as the burial of Atari consoles and game cartridges in the middle of a New Mexico desert. Who could ever believe that a gaming company would bury their products deep underground? Alamogordo was apparently the site of such a burial, along with the burial of hundreds of returned and unsold E.T. game cartridges. That's right, shortly after the release of Steven Spielberg's "E.T.", a game cartridge was quickly hashed out in time to cash in on the film's success. I think I may have played this game once but I have little recollection of it. Needless to say, the E.T. game is considered one of the worst video games in history. "Atari: Game Over," a very entertaining though slightly disjointed documentary by Zak Penn, seems to indicate the failure of the E.T. game was chiefly responsible for the demise of the Atari company. 

"Atari: Game Over" is a documentation of the dig on April 2014 in Alamogordo where a portion of the game cartridges, including "E.T.," were excavated. Director Penn also focuses on Atari's past as the video gaming company of its time. Although sales were dipping, there was great confidence that an E.T. video game would be an instant hit because, well, E.T. was a phenomenal box-office success in 1982 and the pressure was on to have a game ready as a Christmas toy. Howard Scott Warshaw, a video game designer who had created "Yars' Revenge," had to have E.T. ready in five weeks when traditionally designers had six months to work with at least. It turns out that Spielberg loved the game when it was finished, but had hopes for something akin to Pac-Man! So maybe an E.T. that ate Reese's Pieces as it was chased by, um, Eliot or FBI agents? I dunno. Nevertheless, 4 million cartridges were created but only 2.5 million sold. A colossal failure to be sure.

For a while, most of the 66-minute running time for "Atari: Game Over" is fascinating and rivets the attention. I could have lived, however, without references to "Back to the Future" or the endless digging scenes where crowds of people attend out of sheer curiosity. Most riveting is the video game designer now known as the Silicon Valley Therapist, Howard Scott Warshaw, describing Atari as a fun company to work for despite its eventual demise - he points to a time when Atari was a cultural phenomenon that we all thought would never go away. That makes the film somewhat bittersweet.

Bloodless Hauntings

HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL (1999)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

(Originally reviewed in 1999)

It is a telling sign of how times have changed when the William Castle horror flick from eons ago, "House on Haunted Hill," passes for restraint in this jaded, anything-goes era of cheap thrills and gory violence. Sadly, this gore-laden remake of the original classic is another example of why the horror genre is dying - bloodless thrills are never a substitute for character or plot.

Set in the 90's, we now have Stephen Price (Geoffrey Rush), a rich amusement park expert who knows how to draw screams from his customers, and relishes and prides himself on the visceral thrills he creates. His beautiful yet conniving wife, Evelyn (Famke Janssen), is having a birthday and Stephen plans to hold the bash at the House on Haunted Hill, formerly a mental asylum where the bloodiest, most savage murders took place this side of the Charlie Manson moon. Evelyn is not receptive to Stephen's morbid plans, nor to his inviting five unknown guests to spend the night at this house for 1 million dollars each. The catch is that they have to spend the entire night in the house, no matter the consequences.

A splendid premise, as it was in the original, but the five-person group is hardly inviting company. There is Eddie Baker (Taye Diggs), a former athlete; Melissa Marr (Bridgette Wilson), a videographer who is fascinated by the house and its interiors; Donald Blackburn (Peter Gallagher), a doctor with a hidden agenda, and Sarah (Ali Arter), impersonating her boss with an agenda to just get the dough. Since these five characters barely ignite our interest, we are left with Price and his wife, but their obscene shrewdness is a far cry from Vincent Price. Put simply, Rush overacts to the nth degree yet Janssen at least would have a field day if she was cast in a remake of "Double Indemnity" - she has fire, passion and a heart of coal. The dynamic Famke puts the rest of the cast to shame.

The house at least has some character but the shots of the interiors and the hallways are rendered so darkly that it may as well be Freddy Krueger's boiler room. Contrast this house with its 1958 counterpart, and at least the latter was somewhat inviting yet a sense of dread enveloped the place. Oh, my, how I miss the glory of black-and-white.

The biggest difference between the original and this remake is the introduction of the asylum and the horrors that once inhabited it. There is a curious 1931 prologue with Jeffrey Combs ("Reanimator") as some mad doctor who conducted grisly experiments, shown in docu-style, black-and-white footage. Sadly, none of this is really followed up on. Instead, we get high-pitched screams and fits, lots of canted angles, and a few gory deaths, not to mention a highly laughable special-effects monster that would barely scare Sigourney Weaver's Ripley. No wit, no scares, no purpose, and as with most recent remakes, no need.

Critters got nowhere to go

OVER THE HEDGE (2006)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

(Originally reviewed in 2006)

I approach current animated films with trepidation. After all, I grew up with Warner Brothers and Disney cartoons and, putting it mildly, I favor the old more than the new. Still, 2004's "The Incredibles" was an amazing achievement and the best superhero movie in many moons. "Over the Hedge" is the latest from Dreamworks and what a fun time I had. It is far from greatness but any person aged 7 to 70 will enjoy it (though I suspect the tykes will enjoy it the most).

In the opening sequence, a raccoon named RJ (voiced by Bruce Willis) is trying to get a bag of nacho chips from a vending machine. We know the feeling when a bag of chips get stuck in the machine and we bang the dang thing mercilessly to no avail. RJ's fruitless attempts lead to a wagon of food that belongs to a giant bear named Vincent (voiced appropriately by Nick Nolte). RJ takes the food but it ends up on the main highway and trashed to smithereens by a truck. He has to get all this food back to Vincent or else he'll be eaten. This takes RJ to a small critter family consisting of a turtle named Verne (voiced by Garry Shandling) whose tail tingles when trouble is nigh, a highly caffeinated squirrel named Hammy (voiced by Steve Carell), a skunk with a low opinion of herself named Stella (Wanda Sykes), a family of possums led by the papa possum (voiced by William Shatner) and his daughter (Avril Lavigne), and finally a porcupine family led by the father, Lou (voiced by Eugene Levy), and the mother, Penny (voiced by Catherine O'Hara). Don't expect a return of Mitch and Mickey.

Based on a comic strip, the plot has to do with an oversized hedge, nicknamed Steve by the critters, that has been built during the winter season, the time of their hibernation. Now the critters have no chance of getting any decent food, only some tree bark. RJ needs help to get the wagon of food back to Vincent so he hoodwinks the furry creatures into stealing food from the humans. Along the way, there are some pointed jabs at the unhealthy junk food diet, the tossing of welcome amounts of food in trash receptacles, the enormity of SUV's, THX sound systems (perhaps a little jab there at George Lucas), the fixation on modern technological devices, and much more. To top it all off, we have a hysterical and truly EVIL woman with a cell phone attached to her ear (voiced by Allison Janney) who wants those critters decimated as "inhumanely as possible." Enter the Verminator (voiced by Thomas Haden Church) whose job is to do just that, not to mention devise contraptions to trap the critters if they ever enter her backyard.

"Over the Hedge" is a partly satiric tale of suburban encroachment, though it never truly dwells on the evils of suburban development. The movie seems to say that junk food and technology is evil because the humans consume both, and largely because both do a disservice to nature. But the critters enjoy both equally, including gorging on junk food and watching cable and DVD's in their own land, so I am unclear on what the message is. Perhaps it is an anti-deforestation tale but the filmmakers lose any real focus.

None of this matters in hindsight because "Over the Hedge" is dazzling to watch with some eye-opening visuals and lots of laughs. The critters are all fun personalities and, well, what can I say, Bruce Willis, William Shatner, Wanda Sykes and Nick Nolte's booming voice lend greatly to the film's success. The tykes will love it and will want to see it again and again on DVD. Whatever message is delivered will surely fly over their heads.