Put a Little Love in Your Heart

 SCROOGED (1988)

Reassessment by Jerry Saravia

Umpteenth renditions and adaptations of "A Christmas Carol" have existed since the silent era but a modern-day variation with Bill Murray as a Scrooge-like miser is unusual. Richard Donner's "Scrooged" is also the exception in that it is often crass, mean-spirited and blackly comical yet I was a little more elated by it than I had been when I first saw it. It may be my age but I relate to Murray's Scrooge more than I did before and share his message of universal love where every day can, and should, feel like Christmas. When you are in your teens, a message like that seems forced and counterproductive. Now, it seems genuine and something I slowly believed in ever since.

Make no mistake: this is not the classiest nor one of the best versions of Dickens' novel, not even close (Alistair Sims and George C. Scott rule as the definitive versions). Some of "Scrooged's" humorous takes are not that funny, especially the Richard Pryor joke that will not make sense to anyone who might not even know who Pryor is (sacrilege). Murray is Frank Cross, the president of IBC TV productions who wants to advertise a live-taping of "Scrooge" as if your life depended on it. There is satire there with the TV ads including regaling cameos by Robert Goulet ("A Cajun Christmas") and Lee Majors saving an armed Santa in "The Night the Reindeer Died." The satire hits its over-the-top meter with Bobcat Goldthwait as a worried executive who thinks the latest ad designed by Cross goes too far - well, the executive is hastily fired at a record-breaking 4 minutes! At the soundstage rehearsals, Cross tells a guy to staple antlers on a mouse while possibly trying to reconcile with his ex-girlfriend, Claire (Karen Allen), whom he has not spoken to in 15 years. She calls him Lumpy.

"Scrooged" works best with the satisfying chemistry between Murray and Allen (the flashbacks to their initial encounter and the gift he gives her on Christmas, a set of kitchen knives, are as warm and romantic as you might expect). I also found an unsettling and darkly comical feel to the different ghosts Cross encounters, from the slapstick "Three Stooges"-variety of Carol Kane as a sprightly and improperly violent Ghost of Christmas Present (she almost knocks Frank out with a toaster oven), to some pretty mildly funny exchanges between Frank and his old "dead" boss, to some truly unnerving scenes with the Ghost of Christmas Future where we see Claire as some rich woman who pooh-poohs some Oliver Twist urchins and wears ten pounds of white makeup. Kudos to Alfre Woodard as a female version of Bob Cratchit who has to put up with Frank's taskmaster of a boss (Frank even crumples a drawing made by her son that felt cheap and unnecessary - we are supposed to be on Frank's side through the course of this story and making him that tyrannical is too realistic for this fantasy). Woodard has priceless moments, though, of disbelief over her mean boss and her eyes of wider disbelief towards the end that really help make her character believe in the power of Christmas - we believe it too.  

"Scrooged" fittingly ends with a message of hope and unity and only Bill Murray can make that work and make you believe in Christmas as more than just a consumerist holiday. For this mildly old geezer, the ending makes me want to put a little love in my own heart...every day.  

You will want to visit the North Pole

 THE POLAR EXPRESS (2004)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Swooshing by with elegance and joy in every frame, "The Polar Express" is something of a minor miracle in 21st century Christmas movies - it is actually fun! There is a sense of fun and wonder to it all and, despite shortcomings in the CGI department with face-recognition technology, I still bought the trip and would definitely repeat it.

A young kid lays in bed on Christmas Eve, he is known in the credits as Hero Boy (Daryl Sabara), and suspects that Santa Claus may not exist. His younger sister still believes, but he doesn't. Hero Boy hears something rattling the roof and wonders if it could be Santa's galloping reindeer and those jangling sleigh bells. When he checks the milk and cookies downstairs in his house, they still have not been consumed. Then there is a more substantial rattling and practically the feeling of an earthquake when a train arrives outside his doorstep. It is the Polar Express with its chief conductor (Tom Hanks) asking the kid if he wishes to come on board and go to the North Pole. Reluctantly, he boards this magical-looking train.

Quite a few kids are on board, most still wearing their pajamas and their homes have been personally selected for this magical experience. The destination is the North Pole where they will meet Santa Claus, his reindeer and thousands of elves with a special toy given to one child on the express train. I say express but the train does make a couple of unscheduled stops, like the dozens of caribou blocking the tracks or the dangerous ride through a lake of ice where the railway can't be seen! Heading north will be dangerous with freezing temperatures to boot.

"The Polar Express" is a bit offputting at first with its CGI rubbery faces of adults and children; there is not enough nuance or emotion in their facial expressions. Still, I bought it and was along for the ride. I love the world of the North Pole with its many intricate passageways through its town. I love the giant red toy bag where the kids find themselves in accidentally, or how the elves make their determinations about who is naughty or nice with a final word by the Elf General! I also enjoyed the brief appearances of Hobo who is riding on top of the train cars, looking like some 1930's Depression-Era hobo who has been on this trip before (of course, Hero Boy only imagines he's seeing Hobo who comes equipped with hot coffee and skis).  

My biggest compliment to "The Polar Express" is that it makes me wish I could go to the North Pole. It brings back that youthful feeling, the feeling of being a kid again and wanting to believe in the impossible.  

Don't take over someone's holiday

 THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (1993)

An Appreciation by Jerry Saravia

Though director Tim Burton did not helm this stop-motion masterpiece of unparalleled imagination (the director is Henry Selick), you still feel it is unmistakably Burton all the way. The kooky, creepy aesthetics aside, "The Nightmare Before Christmas" is not just an incredible animated film in its own right, it is also wondrously inventive and oodles of fun for all its 77 minutes. Not one shot is wasted, not any one shot has less detail than expected for stop-motion animation. Everything and everyone moves - motion is consistent in the background as well as the foreground so that you feel you are a part of this strange new world. Strange it is. I am not joking.

The strange new world is Halloween Town where a skeletal Pumpkin King reigns with new surprises and horrors every Halloween. He is Jack Skellington (voiced by Chris Sarandon), a truly bony skeleton who has long legs that resemble sticks and no eyes in his black sockets. He is tired of Halloween, all the shock and awe has withered away for him. Sally (Catherine O'Hara), a Frankenstein-type creation and a rag doll, feels sorry for Jack. One day, Jack discovers a set of trees in the woods for different portals to other holidays. Thanksgiving is one (with a turkey as its symbol) and a curious Christmas tree symbol as another. Jack enters the Christmas tree portal and falls accidentally into Christmas Town where elves make toys, there is a jolly fat man named "Sandy Claws" (I always laugh at that one), and there is an abundance of snow and merriment. Everything is bright, cheerful and colorful with this crazy notion of putting multi-colored lights around a tree! To us, this is normal but to Jack, this is odd and surreal. Well, you know the rest and I am not joking! You're joking, you're joking, if you have not seen this Burton masterpiece in the last thirty years. Okay, so Jack has three little Ooogie Boogie misfits kidnap Santa so Jack can dress up as St. Nick and give the kids Halloween gifts of the eerie, distasteful kind such as severed heads, a slithering big snake and other deadly toys that chase kids around the house!

"The Nightmare Before Christmas" is a wickedly riotous, fun-filled and supremely Gothic delight that puts its own stamp on Christmas and still preserves its universal meaning (remember Jack's heart warms up earlier on in his visit to Christmas Town). Jack is not a threat nor does he mean to cause disruption - he just does like all the other denizens of Halloween Town. It takes a stitched-up Sally to save him from complete destruction. Awesomely staged musical numbers ("What's This?" might be my favorite) with memorable characters every step of the way (including the Oogie Boogie Monster and those Draculas playing on a field of ice, not to mention the sad/happy face of the local mayor), no other movie aside from "A Christmas Story" brings me more joy in the Yuletide season than this one. A true keeper. 

Space Oddity

 THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH (1976)

Retrospective by Jerry Saravia

Before 1977's "Star Wars," science-fiction films were of a different breed. They were contemplative, bizarre, intellectual and also entertaining. "Silent Running" often comes to mind, and so does Nicolas Roeg's "The Man Who Fell to Earth." "The Man Who Fell to Earth" is no ordinary science-fiction fantasy and, coming from the mystical hands of Roeg, you can't expect normalcy. Doubly expect the bizarre when casting the androgynous, slender David Bowie as the man who fell to earth.

Thomas Newton (David Bowie) is an alien who has crash-landed on Earth and is left wandering the desert, though we do not know his purpose yet. He appears to be lost and confused and, before you know it, he has wads of cash. Where did he get it? His mission is to acquire wealth beyond $330 Million  through several patents of his own advanced scientific inventions. Essentially, Thomas wants the money to build a spaceship to bring water to his dying wife and children who live in an unnamed barren, desert planet. The visions he has of his planet are reflected in the New Mexico region he lives in (shot not far from White Sands). Still, despite his ambitious plans which he wishes to be expedited, human frailty succumbs Thomas. He becomes fascinated by television, to the point that he has five of them in his hotel room and they all have to be turned on. He meets a hotel worker named Mary Lou (an exceptional Candy Clark), and she falls deeply in love with him. Thomas has no real feelings towards her, certainly not love, yet sex is not exclusive. He seems to like it yet TV's are his obsession and it drives Mary Lou mad. They live as a couple in a gorgeous New Mexican countryside. When he finally gets the chance to leave Earth, Thomas is instead held prisoner in an elaborate hotel with a big TV screen and copious amounts of alcohol, subjected to various tests. Everyone throughout the years ages except Thomas (that includes Rip Torn as a professor with a predilection for younger women who is hired to work for Newton - it is an intoxicating performance that has to be seen to be believed). Newton also ch-ch-ch-changes and transforms into a Howard Hughes recluse and, due to forced exposure to X-rays, cannot remove his contact lenses that make him look somewhat human. 

"The Man Who Fell to Earth" is a remarkable, troubling and fascinating film with overpowering images that will stay with me such as Newton's walk down a dilapidated hill, the TV's that form half of his bedroom, the mirror reflections in the bathroom when Newton is fixated on looking at his redheaded self, the house down by the lake as seen from Newton's point-of-view and Mary Lou's, and much more. I saw the film in the 1980's and was always taken by it - its conveyance of beauty where you least expect it is memorably etched and has informed many of Roeg's films before and after this one. Every shot is luminous and striking, evoking a sense of otherworldliness that mirrors Newton's planet with Earth - that includes the soundtrack which employs extraneous, chime-like sounds coupled with old tunes like Louis Armstrong's rendition of "Blueberry Hill." This is not an upbeat sci-fi film but rather a sad and despairing look at humanity's follies that includes greed and corruption. Newton may or may not see their follies yet he keeps a blind eye, resorting to alcoholism and a preoccupation with TV - this alien being has been corrupted by humanity's flaws. He ironically becomes human.  

Allegedly a Book of Vampire Job

 THE REVEREND (2011)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Seemed like a distinct trope for a short while in the 2010's to have a man of the holy cloth as some avenging supernatural character rooting out the evils of the world. Some like 2011's "Priest" were based on graphic novels and so is this flat, heavy-handed and thoroughly insipid movie called "The Reverend." The idea is sort of promising but the delivery is threadbare at best.

In an idyllic English village that looks harmless, the new Reverend (Stuart Brennan) is holding court fast as there is an increasing number of churchgoers at his parish. Before such good news comes his way, a blonde woman standing in the rain, dressed in a slinky white outfit, pounds on his door. He helps her and then she bites him viciously on the neck. The moral is that even a man of the cloth should selectively choose who enters his parish. The Reverend clearly becomes a vampire, biting everyone on the neck including dogs! His mission as a righteous man, selected by God and the Devil, is to rid of the evil in this village. The evil comes from truly dispiriting characters like the owner of the village, the local pub barman, a despicable and foul-mouthed pimp, and a bizarre dominatrix who violently tortures her clients' crotches with live electrical wires! 

"The Reverend" begins rather slowly and I started to be taken in by it, especially early dialogue scenes between the Reverend and the organist and the berated prostitute (Emily Booth) who holds screenings of black-and-white horror films at the pub! Yet this Book of Job adaptation never comes to fruition since this Reverend is not mad at God nor does he grapple with his piety - he just becomes a Dirty Harry enforcer of good triumphing over evil. The other problem is that the evil characters are so one-dimensionally violent and abusive and hateful that there is no one to latch onto - you just wait for them to be bitten, staked and finally erupt in flames. There are scorching cameos by Rutger Hauer and Doug Bradley and they are so vivid to watch that you wish the film was rewritten to focus on them. 

Hauer is a cut above the rest

 BLIND FURY (1989)

Retrospective by Jerry Saravia

"Blind Fury" is one of the goofiest action movies I have ever seen, lighthearted humor at times mixed with a slightly R-rated bent and some breathtaking action that will give you pause and marvel at how they did it. Based on the "Zatoichi" movies and produced by none other than Tim Matheson, it also has a sympathetic hero who is, pardon the pun, a cut above the rest.

Rutger Hauer is Nick, a Vietnam Vet who lost his sight in the war and has been MIA and presumed dead. He's taken in by villagers who nurse him back to health and teach him to swordfight! I guess Oliver Stone did not have that advantage when he was in Vietnam. Cut to 20 years later and Nick is walking the streets with sunglasses and a presumed walking stick. The stick is actually a sword and comes in handy in knocking out some bullies at a restaurant who pour too much hot salsa sauce on his food. Don't do that to Nick since he loves hot sauce! Think of that scene as a slight wink to Spencer Tracy in "Bad Day at Black Rock."

Meanwhile, Nick is looking for his Nam buddy, Frank Deveraux (Terry O'Quinn, though in the credits he is inexplicably referred to as Terrance), who is not just a gambler in Reno but he's also an organic chemist. When Nick meets Frank's ex wife (Meg Foster, who appeared with O'Quinn in "Stepfather II"), all hell breaks loose with some goons looking to kidnap Frank's son. Nick practically slaughters everyone except for the hellbent hellraiser, Slag (Randall Tex Cobb), who keeps appearing and reappearing in "Raising Arizona"-style like some avenging angel. 

"Blind Fury" is a heady, fast-paced chase picture smoothly directed by Philip Noyce with goons chasing Nick and Frank's son either through endless cornfields or trying to run them down the road. Most of these goons are clumsy and plain stupid, and one of them is even named Popcorn! Hauer shows sensitivity as Nick and projects a calmness in his Buddhist ways - he won't resort to violence unless necessary. He tells the kid that real men do cry. How often have you heard an action hero say that? Maybe not even Zatoichi. 

Male bonding has its limitations

 HUSBANDS (1970)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

Unlike director Cassavetes' other films, "Faces" or "Shadows" or the masterful, unblinkingly personal "A Woman Under the Influence," "Husbands" is far too long (and was cut from an even longer running time at 154 minutes). I was on board watching three married adult males dealing with the loss of a male friend and then the film falls apart a little, picking itself up for a truly moving last scene. It ain't perfect but it is not supposed to be, just like life itself, but I do feel a measure of squalor enters the picture during its final half-hour or so that undermines just a tad what we have witnessed.

The opening sequence shows a series of freeze-frames of four male buddies who bond by flexing their muscles - they all stand in macho-istic unison. One of these guys dies of a coronary, and the three other men (John Cassavetes, Ben Gazzara and Peter Falk) deal with the trauma after attending the funeral. Archie (Falk) questions why the pastor did not mention their deceased friend's sense of humor. He also reminds Gus (Cassavetes), a dentist, that telling lies will kill you sooner than any heart disease or cancer. A mostly serious-minded Harry (Ben Gazzara) lets loose when they all drink at a bar and each one in attendance sings a song. One older woman is dismissed and bullied for not singing her song with any "real heart." She keeps trying, and failing. That is the story of these husbands in a nutshell - they try and fail to reconnect to their emotions, to their heart. Excessive drinking and smoking does them no favors. Harry arrives at an instinctual need to take off for London, and hoping his buddies will come with him. 

Harry's home life is the only one we are privy to as he arrives home, in an earlier dramatic scene, to a loveless wife who attacks him with a knife! Harry's mother-in-law is attacked by Harry in scenes that are as raw and dispiritingly honest as anything Cassavetes has ever filmed. Going to London is probably the better option than to be sent to jail. 

When the trio arrive in London and gamble and find a woman for themselves, "Husbands" falls off the meter for me. The endless gambling scenes just show the guys in medium shots with no shots of the table as they enthusiastically play craps and keep winning, until there is a loss. Same with the women they pick up - enthusiasm gives way to indifference. Hard to tell if Harry is having any real fun - the man is lost in his middle-aged, awkward fits of rage and finds comfort with an English woman who gives him back massages. Archie is the most curious soul, in bed with an Asian woman who doesn't speak a hint of English but knows how to say "Coca-Cola." They kiss and she gets into it until she gives him the tongue and Archie disapproves. Gus's fling with a statuesque blonde runs into hot-and-cold territory and, by the next morning, it is hard to say if they had sex. Gus makes a non-joke when they are at a cafe, giggling and feeling comfort with each other, claiming he doesn't like aggressive women. That is the end of that chapter.

"Husbands" is at its New York-centric freewheeling best and most animated when the guys are on their odyssey of drinking binges, playing basketball, and swimming. The film lost me a bit when they continue their binge in London and it just did not strike the same chords though it remains resolutely honest. When Gus and Archie finally decide to come home to their families and jobs and Harry decides to stay in the U.K., the loss is even greater than it was at the beginning. Family is all you have got, but friends do not last forever. Male bonding and camaraderie may have its limitations.