Seconds (1966)
Glad I finally had an excuse to watch this. It plays like a cautionary tale of morality and the grass is always greener type themes, but also has themes of happiness, paranoia, materialistic values, life choices and love. And is also pretty terrifying.
I really enjoyed the smart camera fixpoints and dutch angles throughout – it gave the viewer a sense of dread and claustrophibia at times. The performances were fine. I related quite a lot to this movie – especially the lead character’s realisation that he never chased his dreams, and even after being given a second chance was unable to.
But the best thing about this movie? It lets us do the thinking. It doesn’t hold our hand and explain why the lead character is unhappy. It doesn’t explain why the end shot is the end shot. It just lets us find our way in the dark and come out the other side to reflect. That is great directing, because it must have been tempting to explain a few things on the way. Plus it really makes you think….why are most of us reaching middle age sitting in an office most of the day, settling for routines that only serve make us about as happy as zoo animals.
There’s a clear lineage here between this and films like ‘Vanilla Sky’ & ‘The Skin I live in’. And I can imagine Jordan Peele being inspired by this. Great nomination.
Aliens (1986)
Right, first off let me say that ‘Alien’ (1979) is one of the greatest Hollywood films ever made. It’s pioneering dark terrifying horror / sci-fi themes are amazing to watch unfold. With Ridley Scott absolutely nailing the aesthetics of both the monsters and the spacecraft.
I haven’t seen the sequel in about 20 years but re-watched it, and while it had some good moments, I’m afraid it just didn’t hold up as well as I thought it might. Where Alien was balanced towards the SciFi and horror with less action, Aliens concentrated more on the action.
Good: Ripley (obviously), the facehuggers, the ship. Michael Bien.
Bad: The dialogue. Man the dialogue has really aged in this movie. The first movie had barely any schmaltzy, corny lines; it was tonally perfect. And while we all love a Bill Paxton “Game over man” quote, it was the absence of these type of lines that made the first film so good, and therefore it just feels like the movie was pitched to a wider audience. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it didn’t sit well with me on this viewing………”You’re dogmeat pal!”.
Entertaining, and good to re-watch - but nowhere near as good as I remember, and I just felt James Cameron’s poor script didn’t help.
'Videodrome’ (1983)
This has been on my list for years but I never got round to it. Wish I had sooner. It's a pretty great sc-fi, horror, thriller, mindbender mash up which gives the feeling of being "ahead of it's time". James Woods is excellent as the sleazebag tv executive. Even Debbie Harry’s performance is intriguing enough to stick with.
What's it all about? Probably a mixture of messages involving faux outrage at TV/movie violence and corporate greed. Really good ending too. Cronenberg was a proper visionary. Good nomination.