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Highlander, 1986

Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) is a Scottish warrior who was born in the 1500s and, after an unfortunate experience in a battle, discovers that he is one of a group of immortal men. These immortals find themselves drawn into battle, where beheading one's enemy means inheriting his powers. Mentored by a man named Ramirez (Sean Connery), Connor learns that "there can be only one"--one final immortal left standing. As he adapts to his new reality, Connor is hunted by a ruthless Russian immortal named Kurgan (Clancy Brown). In the present day, Connor is implicated in a murder and investigated by forensics expert Brenda (Roxeanne Hart).

This movie is on this site's top list of sci-fi movies and . . . um . . . hmm.

Normally I like to say what I like about a film and then what I didn't love so much. But I find myself with stunningly little to say. So I guess this review will just be a list.

1) I knew, by reputation, that the accents would be bad. I was not prepared for how bad and stupid they would be.

2) The "comedy" in this movie was so bad. And the only genuine laugh I got was Lambert and Connery gamboling along the beach like some alternate reality period gay 80s romance. Oh, wait. I also laughed when one of the cars got so excited about Connor winning a duel that it pooped itself.

3) The music was fine. I'm not saying anything bad about the music.

4) The most frequent subtitle for this film in the closed captioning was "Music and noise." Correct.

5) How can a movie about immortals hunting each other through time and also one of them is a crazy warrior with safety pins stuck in his neck be boring? It's almost like a magic trick.

6) The gap in this film between neatness of concept and quality of execution is enormous.

7) Might as well go all in and say I enjoyed(ish) the 90s TV series of the same name (a reason I have a fondness for the music here, as some of it was used in the show), and I dare say I'd rather rewatch the TV series than rewatch this film.

8)



My favourite thing about Highlander is that they cast Sean Connery in a movie where the main character is a Scottish nobleman...and have him play a Spaniard.


But yeah, looks great, but not nearly energetic enough for its entire duration.




Repeat Performance (1947)

An unusual noir with
a time looptwist, it stars Joan Leslie, Louis Hayward, Richard Basehart and Tom Conway; directed by Alfred L. Werker for Eagle-Lion Films.

The title is somewhat misleading. It sounds like a story set
around a Broadway stage production, but in fact it refers to a wish fulfillment given to a woman who believes she has killed her husband on New Year’s Eve, and wants to live the year all over again to prevent her supposed crime. At the stroke of midnight on New Year’s Eve she’s granted that wish, which causes her to be transported back one year to repeat it. But will the same things occur? Will she be able to change them? Do we learn anything new? The story is helped with the use of John Ireland as narrator.

Director Werker (He Walked by Night) and DP L.W. O’Connell (The Power of the Whistler) fashion a creditable noir which predates by 12 years a type of story device ala The Twilight Zone. During the year’s repeat we learn that her husband is a weirdo heel who is the actual villain. It’s interesting that the novel had the wife as the scheming dame, but Joan Leslie’s image was so chaste and cheerful that they had to switch the roles for the film.

It’s an enjoyable story, but the main detraction is Louis Hayward’s over the top scenery chewing. He had lots of experience playing swordsmen and swashbucklers, so perhaps he was unable to take his foot off the gas.
Still this picture is a bit of a unheralded gem, which inspired several pictures afterwards.

Available on YouTube and various streaming sources.

Doc’s rating: 6/10







SF = Z


[Snooze Factor Ratings]:
Z = didn't nod off at all
Zz = nearly nodded off but managed to stay alert
Zzz = nodded off and missed some of the film but went back to watch what I missed
Zzzz = nodded off and missed some of the film but went back to watch what I missed but nodded off again at the same point and therefore needed to go back a number of times before I got through it...
Zzzzz = nodded off and missed some or the rest of the film but was not interested enough to go back over it





The Shop Around the Corner, 1940

Alfred Kralik (James Stewart) has worked at a gift shop for almost a decade under the mercurial ownership of Mr. Matuschek (Frank Morgan). Things get shaken up when an outspoken new shop worker, Klara (Margaret Sullavan) is hired. The two clash frequently, and Kralik finds himself totally stunned when he learns that a woman he's corresponded with to the point of almost proposing is none other than Klara. Unsure of what to do with this new information, right as his relationship with Mr. Matuschek becomes inexplicably strained, Kralik must sort out his professional life and his love life.

I watched this film on an airplane (thanks, Delta!), so not the most ideal circumstance. At the same time, however, its gentle humor was absolutely the thing that I needed to soothe some flight nerves.

At this point, the whole hate-becomes-love dynamic in romantic comedy is a very, very familiar trope. And my response to it is always a bit tepid. In this case, though, there is enough interesting stuff happening around the central couple's sparring that I enjoyed it on the whole.

For example, despite the focus of the film obviously being the inevitable romance between Alfred and Klara, a lot of time and attention is given to the dynamics between the different store employees. The cast playing the co-workers are great, and their interactions give the central story a real-feeling context and backdrop against which to play out.

Stewart and Sullavan are really well matched in this film. Usually in "enemies become lovers" stories, I find myself really irritated by one half of the central couple. It's hard to get the balance quite right----you want the central couple to fight, but you don't want one or both of them to be nasty or hateful or bigoted, or anything else that would make you not root for them. By adding in some external pressures for Alfred and Klara, the film gives them both an excuse to be a bit on edge.

One part of the film that slid a little too far away from charming for me was the last stretch of Alfred knowing that he's Klara's lover, but not the other way around. It gives him an unreciprocated access to Klara's thoughts and emotions. For a while, this is an understandable move on his part. One of the things that I like about the film is the vulnerability it shows for both characters. We see how nervous Klara is to meet her beau, but we also see how concerned Alfred is that he won't live up to her image of him. But very late in the film, Alfred's actions start to feel more manipulative, and in one sequence he's just straight up messing with her. To me it fell into the territory of being not cute.

Overall this was a very sweet, very funny little rom-com. And many aspects of it are just straight up heartwarming.




My favourite thing about Highlander is that they cast Sean Connery in a movie where the main character is a Scottish nobleman...and have him play a Spaniard.


But yeah, looks great, but not nearly energetic enough for its entire duration.
(I didn't even think it looked that great---some of the scenes in the flashbacks, yes. The modern day stuff? Nope.)

I've still never seen one second of Highlander.


I don't even think I've seen a trailer.
I just told you that a car poops itself in excitement. Who needs a trailer after that?!



(I didn't even think it looked that great---some of the scenes in the flashbacks, yes. The modern day stuff? Nope.)
Oh, I don't know, I think there are some pretty nice looking shots in the modern sections.











Although if I wanted to watch something nice looking from Russell Mulcahy, his Duran Duran videos are like two hours shorter.








That elusive hide-and-seek cow is at it again
The Eternals

Awkward casting, awkward directing, awkward plotting, and awkward dialogue. This movie seems to want to model The Watchmen by jumping to past moments for each character to explain motivation for current scenes. The difference, in my opinion, is that there's nothing too serious happening to anyone leaving me to ask, "Why is this a conflict enough to need explaining?"


WARNING: spoilers below
One character is introduced as a potential love interest conflict but is quickly abandoned only to oddly appear again in the final 10 minutes of the flick. Even that felt forced only to spur a possible future story path. Action was pretty great but all ended with super hero group posing as the camera pulls back, which was fine if not just a bit overused. Character motivations change often so there is little consistency enough to stay invested in why anyone is doing anything in any give timeline. "The reason I left was because controlling humans took away the thing that made them human!" Says the guy currently living in a secluded village while controlling the minds of his cult followers.

As to the box office opening drama here in the south, I feel like that was played up a lot. There is one scene in which a male couple kiss. I guess whoever protested the release were OK with the opening text declaring that a comic book character created the universe and a scene later in which a two people had an odd spontaneous sexual encounter in the desert only to technically marry some 150+ years later. All that to set up another awkward shot of hand-holding in order to be able to recall the shot later in the movie. Twice.


I am no fan of Angelina Jolie, but this movie was saved by her casting and her acting stood out well against her co-stars. The action was pretty good for the most part, the creature effects were rather nice, but the visual effects were hit or miss. Perhaps in 3D, the golden gadgets used all throughout the movie would have looked great, but as it is they looked superimposed, too vivid, and lacking in color corrections for each scene in which they appeared.

This movie is silly and does not belong in the MCU for quality alone. I don't mean playful silly. It's just a mess, in my opinion near levels of any Fantastic Four attempt. It doesn't drop to that level, but had I expected that going in then I might not have been so dumbstruck walking out. I literally laughed out loud and shouted, "Come on!" at one point. My apologies to the two others sharing the cinema with me. I was able to hold it in for rest of my viewing.

There are two added scenes at the end. One mid- and another post-credits. In for a penny, in for a pound; so you might as well stick around for that too. All I can say is, "What are the odds?" Oh, that's right. The writers wrote it.

In summary of how obvious and silly this movie was that the writers apparently never considered this one line to play as odd as it did, I offer what I imagine must have been in the script at some point. John Snow: "I love you, Sersi."

Wait. What?







Lake Bodom, 2016

Friends Ida (Nelly Hirst-Gee) and Nora (Mimosa Willamo) accompany their boyfriends Elias (Mikael Gabriel) and Atte (Santeri Helinheimo Mäntylä) on a camping trip near Lake Bodom. But it quickly becomes clear that things are not right in these woods. Who, if anyone, will survive the night?

Oh, very mixed feelings about this one.

Overall, this is a decent horror film with some moments of genuine suspense and some good character work in terms of the two female leads. The isolated setting (the film takes place in a pre-cellphone era of the 1960s) is spooky, and good use is made of the woods and the dark lake.

What the film falls victim to, especially in the last act, is a case of too many twists. About halfway through the film there is a really neat reveal, and then some good fallout from it. But soon the film feels the need to throw in another big twist. And then another. And then, just for good measure, one more.

The acting is all fine, and there are some memorable moments of imagery. Probably worth a look if you're a horror fan.




1) I knew, by reputation, that the accents would be bad. I was not prepared for how bad and stupid they would be.


No, it fits. Immortals would be dialectically confused. Consider what happened to Gary Oldman.







These poor souls have wandered the Earth for centuries, so it makes sense that they're dialectically out of place. As for Connor sounding odd in his village origin story, we must remember that he comes from Planet Zeist, and should we really be surprised that a planet with a funny name wouldn't also have funny accents?


2) The "comedy" in this movie was so bad. And the only genuine laugh I got was Lambert and Connery gamboling along the beach like some alternate reality period gay 80s romance.


Gayer than this?






Can't be mad at a film for being from its decade.



Also, being immortal get lonely.


Oh, wait. I also laughed when one of the cars got so excited about Connor winning a duel that it pooped itself.


If you didn't like this scene,






then you are not worthy of Crimewave.


3) The music was fine. I'm not saying anything bad about the music.


Of course you aren't. It would take courage to criticize a sacred cow (i.e., Queen). And it would also be foolish as the music is awesome.


4) The most frequent subtitle for this film in the closed captioning was "Music and noise." Correct.

What more do you want? Music, noise, and chips?!?


5) How can a movie about immortals hunting each other through time and also one of them is a crazy warrior with safety pins stuck in his neck be boring? It's almost like a magic trick.


The only trick was the method by which you missed the magic. And it is a kind of magic.





6) The gap in this film between neatness of concept and quality of execution is enormous.

It is perfect 80s schlock. It is exactly as it should be.



7) Might as well go all in and say I enjoyed(ish) the 90s TV series of the same name (a reason I have a fondness for the music here, as some of it was used in the show), and I dare say I'd rather rewatch the TV series than rewatch this film.


Not a total fun hater. A but a fun hater, nonetheless.



You really need to see Highlander 2. Highlander will seem like a memory of heaven.



Oh, I don't know, I think there are some pretty nice looking shots in the modern sections.








Maybe my copy was just a bit murky.

I guess I should also add that I thought the editing was really weird.

I was hoping for something fun and easy, but boy did the movie make it hard to like.



Victim of The Night
I wouldn't go out of my way to recommend The Mummy's Hand to a newcomer, but I've always given it some credit for managing to have a distinct personality from the rest of the series. Curse, Tomb and Ghost are all virtually indistinguishable from each other, even for me who's watched them many times since 1990 or so. To this day I don't have the correct sequence memorized, and when I want to watch the series I have to rely on the packaging to remind me which comes next. On the other...hand...Mummy's Hand has always been the one I can recognize on sight. Like Babe Jenson or not, I at least remember who he is.

And now it's time for my semi-annual plug of The Mummy's Curse, which includes one of my favorite rising-from-the-dead scenes in all of horror films, from any decade.
Wait, I was wrong, it is The Mummy's Curse that was my favorite of the series, my bad and cheers to you.



Victim of The Night


Highlander, 1986

Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) is a Scottish warrior who was born in the 1500s and, after an unfortunate experience in a battle, discovers that he is one of a group of immortal men. These immortals find themselves drawn into battle, where beheading one's enemy means inheriting his powers. Mentored by a man named Ramirez (Sean Connery), Connor learns that "there can be only one"--one final immortal left standing. As he adapts to his new reality, Connor is hunted by a ruthless Russian immortal named Kurgan (Clancy Brown). In the present day, Connor is implicated in a murder and investigated by forensics expert Brenda (Roxeanne Hart).

This movie is on this site's top list of sci-fi movies and . . . um . . . hmm.

Normally I like to say what I like about a film and then what I didn't love so much. But I find myself with stunningly little to say. So I guess this review will just be a list.

1) I knew, by reputation, that the accents would be bad. I was not prepared for how bad and stupid they would be.

2) The "comedy" in this movie was so bad. And the only genuine laugh I got was Lambert and Connery gamboling along the beach like some alternate reality period gay 80s romance. Oh, wait. I also laughed when one of the cars got so excited about Connor winning a duel that it pooped itself.

3) The music was fine. I'm not saying anything bad about the music.

4) The most frequent subtitle for this film in the closed captioning was "Music and noise." Correct.

5) How can a movie about immortals hunting each other through time and also one of them is a crazy warrior with safety pins stuck in his neck be boring? It's almost like a magic trick.

6) The gap in this film between neatness of concept and quality of execution is enormous.

7) Might as well go all in and say I enjoyed(ish) the 90s TV series of the same name (a reason I have a fondness for the music here, as some of it was used in the show), and I dare say I'd rather rewatch the TV series than rewatch this film.

8)
It has been 25 years since I last saw this movie but you have hurt 24 year-old Wooley's feelings.



Victim of The Night


The Shop Around the Corner, 1940

Alfred Kralik (James Stewart) has worked at a gift shop for almost a decade under the mercurial ownership of Mr. Matuschek (Frank Morgan). Things get shaken up when an outspoken new shop worker, Klara (Margaret Sullavan) is hired. The two clash frequently, and Kralik finds himself totally stunned when he learns that a woman he's corresponded with to the point of almost proposing is none other than Klara. Unsure of what to do with this new information, right as his relationship with Mr. Matuschek becomes inexplicably strained, Kralik must sort out his professional life and his love life.

I watched this film on an airplane (thanks, Delta!), so not the most ideal circumstance. At the same time, however, its gentle humor was absolutely the thing that I needed to soothe some flight nerves.

At this point, the whole hate-becomes-love dynamic in romantic comedy is a very, very familiar trope. And my response to it is always a bit tepid. In this case, though, there is enough interesting stuff happening around the central couple's sparring that I enjoyed it on the whole.

For example, despite the focus of the film obviously being the inevitable romance between Alfred and Klara, a lot of time and attention is given to the dynamics between the different store employees. The cast playing the co-workers are great, and their interactions give the central story a real-feeling context and backdrop against which to play out.

Stewart and Sullavan are really well matched in this film. Usually in "enemies become lovers" stories, I find myself really irritated by one half of the central couple. It's hard to get the balance quite right----you want the central couple to fight, but you don't want one or both of them to be nasty or hateful or bigoted, or anything else that would make you not root for them. By adding in some external pressures for Alfred and Klara, the film gives them both an excuse to be a bit on edge.

One part of the film that slid a little too far away from charming for me was the last stretch of Alfred knowing that he's Klara's lover, but not the other way around. It gives him an unreciprocated access to Klara's thoughts and emotions. For a while, this is an understandable move on his part. One of the things that I like about the film is the vulnerability it shows for both characters. We see how nervous Klara is to meet her beau, but we also see how concerned Alfred is that he won't live up to her image of him. But very late in the film, Alfred's actions start to feel more manipulative, and in one sequence he's just straight up messing with her. To me it fell into the territory of being not cute.

Overall this was a very sweet, very funny little rom-com. And many aspects of it are just straight up heartwarming.

I have tremendous affection for this film and I will be watching it next month and feeling warm Holiday fuzzies (even though I am a devout atheist). I do know and agree about the part you're talking about but I forgive it because the movie overall makes me feel good at a time when that's really all I want from movies.



“Sugar is the most important thing in my life…”


Highlander, 1986

Connor MacLeod (Christopher Lambert) is a Scottish warrior who was born in the 1500s and, after an unfortunate experience in a battle, discovers that he is one of a group of immortal men. These immortals find themselves drawn into battle, where beheading one's enemy means inheriting his powers. Mentored by a man named Ramirez (Sean Connery), Connor learns that "there can be only one"--one final immortal left standing. As he adapts to his new reality, Connor is hunted by a ruthless Russian immortal named Kurgan (Clancy Brown). In the present day, Connor is implicated in a murder and investigated by forensics expert Brenda (Roxeanne Hart).

This movie is on this site's top list of sci-fi movies and . . . um . . . hmm.

Normally I like to say what I like about a film and then what I didn't love so much. But I find myself with stunningly little to say. So I guess this review will just be a list.

1) I knew, by reputation, that the accents would be bad. I was not prepared for how bad and stupid they would be.

2) The "comedy" in this movie was so bad. And the only genuine laugh I got was Lambert and Connery gamboling along the beach like some alternate reality period gay 80s romance. Oh, wait. I also laughed when one of the cars got so excited about Connor winning a duel that it pooped itself.

3) The music was fine. I'm not saying anything bad about the music.

4) The most frequent subtitle for this film in the closed captioning was "Music and noise." Correct.

5) How can a movie about immortals hunting each other through time and also one of them is a crazy warrior with safety pins stuck in his neck be boring? It's almost like a magic trick.

6) The gap in this film between neatness of concept and quality of execution is enormous.

7) Might as well go all in and say I enjoyed(ish) the 90s TV series of the same name (a reason I have a fondness for the music here, as some of it was used in the show), and I dare say I'd rather rewatch the TV series than rewatch this film.

8)
It’s been established on this very site, everyone agrees, chiseled in stone, that Highlander: The Quickening is hands down, without a doubt, the high point of the series. 🤗



Maybe my copy was just a bit murky.

I guess I should also add that I thought the editing was really weird.

I was hoping for something fun and easy, but boy did the movie make it hard to like.
It's been too long for me to remember specifics around the editing, but I suspect any awkwardness would have been the result of Mulcahy trying to adapt a music-video-influenced style for the movies. I don't think there was much precedent for that transition at the time, so I'm willing to be a bit more generous here.



It’s been established on this very site, everyone agrees, chiseled in stone, that Highlander: The Quickening is hands down, without a doubt, the high point of the series. 🤗
Prime has been trying to entice me with a "director's cut". Do I dare take the plunge?



And now it's time for my semi-annual plug of The Mummy's Curse, which includes one of my favorite rising-from-the-dead scenes in all of horror films, from any decade.
Here's a guy who agrees with me about the Princess Ananka scene, although he kind of ruins it by talking over the entire thing so those of you who haven't seen it maybe should watch it with the sound off first. The film isn't great, but I just think this moment is a great physical performance by a non-famous actress that's buried in the 4th sequel to a B franchise, so I like to call attention to it. Often. I think it's legitimately creepy but also kind of beautiful (?) but maybe that's just me.

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