JayDee's Movie Musings

This little spell of shorter reviews also happened to coincide with me having a fairly low mood at the time which meant I wasn't really in the place for any films that were too taxing. So daft, easy watches were the order of the day. Such films don't always inspire much of a review however but I kept writing a little just to keep my eye in.

So how about this Sexy, can you manage this? In fact this should perhaps come under the title of one of my medium or middle musings of whatever I called them a while back





Plot - New York bike messenger Wilee (Gordon-Levitt) is given an envelope by a young woman at an uptown Manhattan college and is told he has 90 minutes to deliver it to an address in Chinatown. Complications ensue when undercover police office Bobby Monday (Shannon) appears and demands the envelope on special grounds. The truth, hidden motivations, and the life-and-death stakes on all sides are revealed through a series of flashbacks as the cop and the messenger engage in a length-of-Manhattan chase, racing against time after the messenger discovers the precious nature of the envelope’s slender contents.

As a huge fan of action films I'm always intrigued by a film which appears like it's going to bring something new to the genre. So when I saw the promos for Premium Rush, a film which appeared to confine its action exclusively to bicycles, my interest was piqued. While it perhaps didn't quite reach the full potential I thought such a daft, B-movie premise had it was still good fun. For me the film really can be split into two distinctive areas. When the action is set on the bikes I found it to be a terrifically entertaining piece of nonsense with really impressive and thrilling action sequences that seemed to channel a sort of Looney Tunes kind of sensibility. I really was impressed with how they were able to construct and film such elaborate chases on the actual streets of New York, while some of the stylistic, music video-style tricks and effects that were used just heightened the entertainment.

When the film goes on foot and attempts to dispense an actual story however my interest began to wane. It's actually quite a bizarre, involved story all things considered. It places us in a world that we're not overly familiar with. That can work two ways. On the one hand it can create quite a level of intrigue, but on the other hand your unfamiliarity means you can struggle to be draw into it. And sadly for me this fell into the later. I did however enjoy the whole biker subculture the film is immersed in, even if it does come off as rather daft. It kind of reminded me of the biking equivalent of Point Break, treating its world with a kind of soulful, noble, mythical approach which makes you roll your eyes a little bit but is also rather fun and endearing.

Alongside its unique action style the other aspect of the film that caught my attention was its cast. I'm a fan of both Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Michael Shannon (especially Levitt) and both men put in good showings here. Levitt is really likeable as Wilee (as in Coyote), playing the part with no short amount of warmth, passion and charm. While Shannon is quite a hoot as he hams it up as the despicable villain of the piece. His over-the-top, unhinged performance brought to mind the likes of Gary Oldman for his work in films such as Leon. Everyone else is stuck with fairly one-note characters but generally give quite fun showings all the same. I particularly enjoyed a running feud that Wilee has with a NYPD bicycle officer. Sadly Jamie Chung and her character Nima, whom the whole story actually revolves around, are extremely flat.

David Koepp made a smart move with the film's running time. The credits begin to roll with a mere 85 minutes on the clock, meaning that even with its daft, fairly uninteresting story the film is able to remain a brisk, lively experience. Oh and look out for a mid-credits out-take that shows the dangers of those aforementioned bicycle chases. It shows the aftermath of a crash that Joseph Gordon-Levitt had; he crashed into the back of a taxi, flew into the rear windscreen and cut up his arm so badly that it required 31 stitches. Ouch!

Conclusion - As silly as Premium Rush is I still found it to be an entertaining diversion thanks to impressive action sequences and engaging performances from Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Michael Shannon, two talented actors who are above this type of material but enter into the spirit of things with gusto. And for however daft the film is I found it to have a bit of an underdog spirit to it, and a goofy charm.

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Totally agree, although the plot is a bit silly and some of the acting is a bit over the top (although I love Michael Shannon, so I enjoyed it and thought it fitted the role well), I thought it was a decent enough, enjoyable little film.

Maybe we can be friends after all

Even though I'm a fan of JGL and Michael Shannon, I thought Premium Rush was a very poor film. Or maybe I'm just a hater since I never learned how to properly ride a bike without the assistance of training wheels.

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I can manage looking at it.

I thought Premium Rush was pretty lame and forgettable.

I'm also lukewarm on JGL; I think he's ok, but I don't see a lot of star-power there.

Haven't seen Premium Rush, and probably never will. Glad you liked it though.

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Fear and Loathing in MoFo... The Gunslinger 45's Top 50 Favorite Films

In the 10 Ring: Gunslinger45's reviews

Another slice of McConaughey, though this time it's pre-McConaissance





Plot - Fenton Meiks (McConaughey) walks into an FBI office late one evening and announces that he has information about a serial killer known as the God's Hands Killer, but that he will only talk to the lead investigator on the case, Agent Wesley Doyle (Boothe). When Doyle arrives, Fenton tells him that he believes his brother Adam, who has just died, is the killer. Initially skeptical about his claims, Doyle becomes more and more convinced the longer Fenton talks. After admitting to stealing his brother's body and an ambulance so that he can fulfil a promise to bury him in the "rose garden", he goes on to tell him a tale of their childhood. He describes how his father (Paxton) came to believe that God had talked to him and given him a divine mission to become an demon-slayer. Completely convinced by the delusions, their father began to enlist the two young boys as accomplices in his demon slaying ways. While Fenton rejected his father as being insane his brother saw his father as a hero and bought into his delusions. And Fenton now believes that his brother is carrying on their father's work.

A subtly creepy and unnerving little film this one. It really is a very eerie and atmospheric effort. Much of that can be attributed to the excellent performance of Bill Paxton. Paxton, an actor I've always enjoyed watching and who I think deserves a lot more plum roles, plays the part of the father with such conviction that you really start to question your initial assertions that his visions are purely the result of mental illness. Paxton seems to believe in their authenticity with such unshakeable belief that he makes us wonder ourselves. His character is actually quite a complex one because despite of the atrocious acts he commits he is not a completely evil individual. We see that he is a loving father who believes he's doing the right thing with a genuine sincerity. He just happens to be a man who has become lost in his delusions. Through his character the film also highlights the hugely detrimental effect that mental illness can have not just on the individual, but those surrounding them. Additionally the film is an exercise in the dangers of religious obsession and fundamentalism.

I was slightly disappointed to find how minimal the screentime of Mathew McConaughey actually was. I was under the impression that he was the main star here but unfortunately he is relegated for much of the film to the role of narrator. In his sadly brief time on screen however McConaughey is still able to make a sizeable impression. His Fenton Meiks is a tremendously brooding figure, one with the haunted nature of someone who has gone through such an ordeal. Special mention too has to go to both young boys in the film, Jeremy Sumpter and Matt O'Leary. Performances from child actors are always very hit-and-miss at the best of times, but when you take into account the difficulty present in this particular situation then I think they both deserve to be commended, particularly Matt O'Leary as young Fenton. Credit also to Paxton for the performances he was able to draw out of them.

Alongside Paxton's efforts in his day job as an actor, just as if not even more impressive is his work behind the camera. This film marked his directorial debut but I certainly don't think you'd be able to guess it. It's a terrifically assured and accomplished effort that when combined with the cinematography of Bill Butler and his moody lighting makes for a very atmospheric venture. In a way it's quite a deceptively simple, even old-fashioned tact he adopts. The material could very easily call for a more lurid interpretation but Paxton instead underplays it for a more restrained film. It makes the potentially trashy story more realistic and a great deal more unsettling. His pacing is quite deliberate, his camera generally quite static and very controlled and its score fairly minimalist though undoubtedly haunting. For a 2001 film it's quite surprising to find that Frailty wasn't conceived in a much flashier, more MTV kind of style. By avoiding this however, Paxton created a film of great tension and suspense that is never alleviated by a cheap scare.

Paxton realises that the horror is not to be found in the actual killings; as a result the series of axe murders all occur offscreen and there is an almost total absence of blood. He instead realises that the real horror lies in the situation that the boys find themselves trapped in. The film initially presents the Meiks' as a normal, happy family with the two boys living perfectly normal childhoods. With the arrival of their father's first vision however their lives quickly descend into a nightmare. While the resulting story may stray into quite outlandish territory, the core concept really is quite a nightmarish one. Trying to imagine what you'd do if you were placed in such a horrible, unbearable situation is an uncomfortable notion to consider.

My only major complaint about the film was its twist conclusion. Alongside the fact that I saw it coming quite a ways off it also felt just a little bit forced to me. It felt like the film had been forced into having a requisite shock at the end because it was the expected thing in the climate of thriller/horror films of the time, a notion that could easily be attributed to M Night Shyamalan and his work on The Sixth Sense.

Conclusion - The issue over its ending aside, I found Frailty to be a very impressive debut effort from Bill Paxton behind the camera. With strong direction and performances it's an unsettling little film that just reeks with a terrific Gothic atmosphere. And based on this evidence the fact that Paxton has seemingly abandoned his directorial aspirations seems like a great shame.

That review isn't that long.

Frailty is a solid movie; I didn't love it, but it was good.

Nice review JayDee!

It's always nice to see words of praise for Frailty. It's such an effective film for me, like most films which really create and build an atmosphere. I'm not a fan of Paxton the actor, despite this and Near Dark, but I was longing to see more of him as a director, given this debut.

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5-time MoFo Award winner.

Surely you're not actually complaining about a review being too short! And I did say that we were in a stretch of shorter reviews. Don't worry, we'll be back to my long ass ramblings in good time

Oh, no, no, no, no. No complaints. Just noting that it wasn't that long.

Have not seen it but might check it out.

Whats with the short reviews? I saw Frailty one night late on TV, was quite good with a surprise ending that I didn't see coming.

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Well I already mentioned we were in a little phase of shorter reviews. There were a few reasons; people saying they liked the shorter reviews which sort of made it ok in my mind, the mood I was in at the time meant I didn't really feel like writing out my big long reviews but I did just enough to keep my eye in and also quite a few of the films (like Premium Rush and some others to come) didn't really have enough about them to inspire a full review. But don't worry, normal service shall be resumed before too long.

And it's not like they're really short. My Frailty review was just short of 800 words. Shorter for me perhaps but for most people that is still quite substantial.

Did you see my Jurassic Park review? That was a long ass rambling!

Hmmm....I don't think so. I've been keeping an eye on your favourite movies list and I just don't see it!

At a stretch maybe we could be frenemies. In fact that should be new category at the Mofies - "I Hate Your Guts But in a Fun, Bantery Kind of Way - Frenemy of the Year"

I quite like Frailty as well, although not quite as much as you did. I really must give it a rewatch.


Great review, as always.

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"George, this is a little too much for me. Escaped convicts, fugitive sex... I've got a cockfight to focus on."

I enjoyed Bill Paxton's performance, but other than that nothing about the movie particularly drew my attention as anything special. A decent movie overall.

Plot - The year is 2084. Technological advances have allowed humanity to make many great leaps forward, including the colonisation of Mars. Things are not all rosy on the red planet however as the governor, Vilos Cohaagen (Cox), faces a revolt by a group of rebels. With scenes of violence and destruction a regular fixture on the TV news, Mars does not seem like the most inviting of holiday destinations. Unless your name is Douglas Quaid (Schwarzenegger). He has always had a fascination with the planet. Unable to convince his wife Lori (Stone) to take the actual trip, Quaid settles for visiting Rekall Inc, a company capable of implanting memories of ideal vacations. Purchasing a Mars secret agent package things go horribly wrong and he is left confused and running for his very life. It turns out his wife isn't really his wife, but an agent working for Cohaagen. According to her he isn't really Quaid and his whole life is a fake. Managing to avoid the men who are trying to kill him Quaid heads to Mars to try and uncover the truth about who he really is, in the process becoming embroiled with mutants, a mysterious woman (Ticotin), Cohaagen's thugs and a secret hidden with the planet's mines.

I've always enjoyed a slice of trashy, pulpy sci-fi. And they don't come much pulpier than Total Recall. In fact right at this moment I'm struggling to think of another film that has quite as many moments and scenes that revel in such a lurid and gaudy nature. Even if you've only seen Total Recall just the once I imagine there will still be moments from it locked in your memory; the decompression scenes on the surface of Mars, the 'fat lady' disguise and the reveal of who it really is, the extraction of a tracking device through Arnie's nose, the three breasted hooker etc. Although given whose at the directorial helm it really shouldn't come as any kind of surprise.

There are a lot of things you can say about Paul Verhoeven and his approach to filmmaking throughout his career; 'purveyor of good taste' probably wouldn't be all that high on the list however. He has always been a director who is comfortable getting down and dirty in the filth and the sleeze of cinema. And Total Recall ticks off many of the boxes that make for a classic Verhoeven flick. Garish violence and lurid death scenes? You got it. Copious amounts of blood spurting all over the place? Absolutely. Gratuitous sex? Oh you bet ya! What is also common in the films of Verhoeven however (perhaps RoboCop most noticeably) is that beneath the flashy surface lies a substantial element of intelligence, very often that of a satirical and subversive bent. On the most basic of levels the plot is an absolute labyrinth, just a terrifically cryptic little puzzle which keeps you always guessing as to which direction it's heading in and is forever pulling the rug out from under you. Just when you think you've got a handle on its mysteries and the motivation of its characters the script will throw you another curveball. In fact Total Recall has more twists and turns than a twisty-turny thing (a little nod for Blackadder fans there). Verhoeven uses this mystery and its themes of identity, paranoia and unreliable memory to create what is actually quite a classic piece of noir cinema, albeit one populated with all manner of mutants and advanced technology.

Go deeper however and you find that the film covers similar ground to RoboCop in terms of its themes and issues. Just as with that Peter Weller-starrer, Total Recall uses its futuristic setting to provide some commentary on our own current society, most notably on large corporations and the stranglehold they have on our lives. It's about how these corporations have been able to gain a monopoly on the necessities of our lives, and how these greed b*stards put their own personal needs above the needs of the people. For us it takes the form of fossil fuels and life's necessities (oil, electricity, heating etc). For the inhabitants of Mars it takes on the form of life itself; Ronny Cox's Vilos Cohaagen controls the supply of breathable air for the entire populous of the planet. If you don't play ball, you die. It's an issue that was relevant back in 1990, it's an issue that is relevant today, and is an issue that will most likely be relevant for mankind's foreseeable future.

So the film is still relevant and in fact if anything the film has actually gained an additional level of relevance in recent years with the rise of social media, smart phones and ever more immersive technology. Just as Douglas Quaid does to his great detriment we are losing ourselves in technology; choosing to live vicariously through our gadgets than to experience actual reality. We are not actually experiencing life, just an imitation of it. An additional link between Total Recall and RoboCop is Paul Verhoeven's apparent fascination with American consumerism. In the Earth set sequences when Quaid is out and about, and being pursued by his would be captors, we find him absolutely swarmed by all manner of brands and advertising all around him. And I love the sequence where the sales agent at Rekall attempts to sell Quaid on the virtues of their services in a style reminiscent of a dodgy used car salesman.

Now when it comes to the acting of Total Recall, let's just say that it's....interesting. The performances here certainly haven't been honed at RADA or Juilliard; it's a series of individuals who are either hamming it up for all they're worth or who just can't particularly act. However I'd argue that it's a perfect fit for the material. If someone was to actually start 'acting' with any kind of subtlety or restrain in the midst of all this sensationalist, over-the-top trash it would stick out like a sore thumb. It would be akin to Arnie hamming it up in a film by Fellini or Tarkovsky. Speaking of Schwarzenegger, he is of course the film's star. Now no-one is ever going to accuse him of being a great actor, but as is frequently the case, in his own inimitably Arnie kind of way he's sort of awesome. This film was released towards the end of Arnie's true golden era and it really is the perfect kind of role for him; a role which requires him to kick ass and throw out the odd one-liner here and there. And to be fair to him he does stretch himself a little from his typical action hero, displaying a more vulnerable and confused side to his character. As his 'wife' we have Sharon Stone who is actually quite a lot of fun in this film. As someone who has usually been relegated to simply being a sex object that entices the protagonist throughout her entire career, she seems to be having a blast in a role that allows her to be quite a cunning, diabolical temptress. Oh and what a bitch! I mean she hits Arnie in the crown jewels not once, not twice, but THRICE!!! That's true evil.

The real star turns of Total Recall however come from its villains, meaning that it once again mirrors RoboCop. In RoboCop, Peter Weller's police officer turned robotic avenger comes up against a double threat; a materialistic and sadistic boss and his vicious lackey that takes care of the dirty work. In both films the role of the boss is actually played the same man, the great Ronny Cox. In this instance he is Vilos Cohaagen, the corrupt and ruthless governor of Mars who is basically a dictator; stopping at nothing to achieve what he wants and sacrificing anyone that gets in his way. And as his brutal lieutenant this time out, replacing Kurtwood Smith, we have Michael Ironside as the relentless and merciless Richter. Both men just absolutely kill it in their respective roles, making us truly despise them to the point that we can revel and delight in the brutal deaths that befall them both. There are also a series of great performances in the film's smaller roles, helping to ensure that Total Recall has one of the most colourful casts of supporting characters you're ever likely to find; individuals like Mel Johnson Jr. as Benny the cab driver, Roy Brocksmith as Dr. Edgemar, Debbie Lee Carrington as the dwarf hooker Thumbelina, Dean Norris as the disfigured mutant Tony, Ray Baker as the Rekall sales agen and of course Lycia Naff as Mary, aka the three-breasted prostitute.

I love how highly detailed and realised the world of Total Recall is; it's just brimming with visual wit and creativity. The production design team really do seem to be have given free reign just to let their imaginations run wild. Alongside the elaborate sets (the oppressive Earth-set scenes, Mars' communities and its red light district) and impressive work with miniatures (the surface of Mars) I love all of the gadgets and technology they created for the film which don't actually have any great importance to proceedings other than to just flesh out the world and convince us of both its futuristic and alien nature. Just little small things like the pen that can instantly change the colour of someone's nail polish, the holographic tennis instructor or the automated, robotic Johnny Cab. Or how about the screens at this world's equivalent of a subway that provide full body X-ray scans to check for weapons; technology that seemingly anticipated the TSA and the current airport climate.

At the beginning of this review I noted the large number of vividly memorable moments and scenes that Total Recall has in its arsenal. Most of the moments are a result of special effects and while Paul Verhoeven certainly deserves a great deal of credit for how he handles and incorporates the effects into the film, the real praise must go to the film's F/X maestro Rob Bottin. When people think about the great visual effects artists in cinema the names that generally come up are individuals like Stan Winston (the Terminator series, Jurassic Park, Predator etc), Ray Harryhausen (Jason and the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans, 7th Voyage of Sinbad) and Rick Baker (American Werewolf in London, Men in Black, Harry and the Hendersons). Rob Bottin doesn't seem to have quite the same standing and level of respect that is afforded to those illustrious artists and I think that's a real shame. Throughout his career he has crafted some astonishing creations and added immeasurably to the likes of The Thing, Innerspace, RoboCop and The Howling. And Total Recall is another wonderful showcase for Bottin's prodigious talents. From the terrific make-up applications that bring to life the many mutants of Mars (most astonishingly the mutant leader Kuato) to the exceptionally realistic puppets and animatronics that allow for such moments as the bulging eyes and swelling tongues on Mars' surfacem and the instance at the airport where Quaid's malfunctioning mask opens up to reveal its occupant.

There is of course the big talking point of the film, one which people continue to discuss and argue over even a quarter of a century after its release; is it all a dream? Does the entire film just spool out of Quaid's memory as a result of his visit to Rekall? There's certainly a lot of evidence to suggest that this is indeed the case. Near the start of the film when Quaid visits the Rekall offices the sales agent tells him what the package consists of, and in the process gives away the exact plot of the film to come pretty much verbatim. When he's undergoing the process one of the technicians notes of the programme that there is a “blue sky on Mars” (or something to that effect), predicting the final images. When Dr. Edgemar tries to talk Quaid out of the supposed delusion he predicts that if he doesn't the walls of reality will come crashing down. Seconds after Quaid shoots him the walls do literally come crashing down and Richter's troops storm the room. And then there's the fact that the film ends in atypical fashion, fading to white instead of black. However the film isn't satisfied to just settle for this simple conundrum. It goes darker than just the notion of whether it's a dream or not. It ups the stakes by positing that if he doesn't escape from this mindf*ck then he will be lobotomised. So when we get that flash of white at the end of the film perhaps that is Quaid actually having his brain wiped whilst still sitting in the chair at Rekall. That would be a pretty dark way to end a big Hollywood blockbuster starring Arnold Schwarzenegger; exactly the kind of subversive move that Paul Verhoeven would delight in.

Conclusion - Total Recall has a bit of a reputation as a guilty pleasure for a number of people. While that may be somewhat understandable in purely visual terms I think it's got way too much going for it to fall into that category. Yeah it may be rather pulpy, and on occasion even a touch campy, but it's also a slyly intelligent movie capable of melting your mind if you really think about everything and try to work it all out. The film is an absolute visual treat, not least because of the work of Rob Bottin, and Verhoeven directs it all with an incredible energy. Just an absolute blast.

Which interpretation do you take? Reality or the dream and the lobotomy?

Objectively the dream/lobotomy option seems most likely given the evidence and particularly the involvement of Verhoeven. However I watched it for years in complete ignorance before hearing about that theory and just enjoyed it straight up. And whilst watching it I still generally like to do so