Citizen Rules...Cinemaesque Chat-n-Review

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Weird Science (1985)

'Funny at times, but one of John Hughes' most inept films.' CR

John Hughes was on a roll in the 1980s writing and directing such critically acclaimed hits as: The Breakfast Club, Pretty in Pink, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Uncle Buck and Plains Trains & Automobiles. All those films have one thing in common...they accurately delve into the psyche of outsider teens. Those films excel at creating character depth which then drives the story forward, thus making those films great.

But John Hughes wrote Weird Science in a mere two days and it shows. Instead of insightful teen angst, that comes from real world type situations, we get fart, boob, crap and bra jokes, in lieu of anything more introspective. The first 20 minutes is pure spectacle as the boys hack into a Pentagon super computer and thereby create the woman of their dreams. I have to say the first 20 minutes was pretty dull, but once Kelly Le Brock shows up things do improve. Oh sure Miss Le Brock was hired for her pouty lips and hot bod, but she's also real good in her role as Lisa, the dream woman with spirit!

Anthony Michael Hall fresh off The Breakfast Club shows he still had the chops to delivery fast dialogue imbibed with his style of jittery quick speech. And he's good too, especially in the blues bar scene when he's drunk and trying to be oh so hip.

On the other hand, his side kick Wyatt played by Ilan Mitchell-Smith, is just plain lack luster with a whiny voice that makes you want to see him get his ass kicked by the mutant bikers that show up at their party.

And speaking of mutant bikers, it was cool to see Australian actor Vernon Wells recreate his role from The Road Warrior (1981) as a mutant biker dude. They even get the mohawk and leather studded costume down pat. I've got to give a shout out to the great Bill Paxton. He was one helluva a colorful bad guy here and a really talented actor too.

Despite a few good actors and a few good laughs, Weird Science main claim to fame for me is the title song by Oingo Boingo.






Grease 2 (1982)

'If I could only watch one movie, Grease 2 might just be it!' CR

I love this movie! It's fun and energetic! It's light & bouncy and full of energy like an 80s music video. It's got great song numbers, that are more 80s pop rock than they typical movie musical songs. The cast is awesome and everybody looks like they're having a blast going back to school at good ol' Rydell!

I love that much of the filming was done on location and not in a studio. I love that
Michelle Pfeiffer did her own singing and her own stunt riding on the motorcycle too. The motorcycle ride scene has got to be the craziest stunt put onto film. She was nuts for doing that

She's amazing in this and makes the movie, so did the leader of the T-Birds Johnny (Adrian Zmed) who's a blast riot...All of the T-Birds were pretty darn colorful. So were the Pink Ladies, what a fun cast! Many people consider Michael (Maxwell Caulfield) the lead because he gets top billing and yes he's not that exciting, but he's not suppose to be, as he's a square and the male equivalent of Sandy from Grease. His onscreen time is actually limited with Johnny the leader of the T-Birds getting most of the good lines, and that's why the movie works.

I loved the songs: Back to School that one had nice choreography. Michelle Pfeiffer's song Cool Rider and damn she can actual dance too! Loved the part on top of the high ladder, she's fearless. Reproduction is a hilariously naughty & sexual charged song. The bowling alley number is great visually too.




Are we revisiting the 80s?

Perhaps in the future another HOF ??
I'd love to do another 80s Hof, there's a ton of neat 80s teen films I've never seen or haven't seen in a long time.



Oh these last two reviews, they are from the 80s Teen Hof. I was just bored and had a few minutes and thought I'd add them to my review thread.




My Bodyguard (1980)
Director: Tony Bill
Writer: Alan Ormsby
Cast: Chris Makepeace, Adam Baldwin, Matt Dillon
Genre: Comedy Drama


"When a boy comes to a new school and gets harassed by a bully, he acquires the services of the school's most feared kid as a bodyguard."

I enjoyed this. I had seen it too but only once and that was decades ago, so I hardly remembered anything other than the motorcycle project scene.

It's weird in that it feels like two different films...That photo I used is of Martin Mull the hotel manager, who trys to keep the hotel running smoothly while keeping his free spirited mom, Ruth Gordon out of trouble...that part felt like another movie. I actually liked the hotel scenes and the going-ons of the hotel more than the high school bully story. But I did like the high school stuff too.

Matt Dillon was a stand out, he's so good at being so crummy! Him and Ruth Gordon were the best. I especially appreciated the actual on location street scenes, that was very nice to see as it was like being there. I wish there had been more interaction and story line between the bodyguard Adam Baldwin (not a Baldwin brother) and the boy (not Wesley Crusher)...I wish there had been another scene after the fight in the park, where the character's story arches are all wrapped. I wanted to see what happened with Martin Mull and Ruth Gordon, but we never got back to them.





Stand by Me (1986)
Director: Rob Reiner
Writers: Stephen King (novel), Raynold Gideon (screenplay)
Cast: Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Kiefer Sutherland
Genre: Adventure Drama


"After the death of one of his friends, a writer recounts a boyhood journey with his friends to find the body of a missing boy."

I've seen Stand By Me before and always have liked it. The last time I seen it I was on a ship at sea in a heavy storm, the sea was pitching and so was the ship...and so was I! Still in between puking I have to say I liked the movie! This last time was a much more pleasant watch and I enjoyed this nostalgic look at the past.

First thing I noticed was just how nicely shot Stand By Me was, and that really added to the film's appeal. I enjoyed seeing the country side and the small town. I've been to one of the areas where they filmed, Cottage Grove Oregon...and having a connection to a locale in the film always helps me feel more connected to it.

All the kid actors were excellent in this. Really they did an amazing job at acting. I wish there had been more character arcs for the four leads and less time spent with the bigger teen bullies (Kieffer Sutherland and his gang). The teen bullies added nothing to the film IMO and took away from the more important coming of age story of the younger kids. The film was already short at 90 minutes so I don't think the teen bullies were needed subplot was needed at all. When the older bullies were in the film it felt more like a Hollywood entertainment film and I thought they were silly too.

But I did like the story of the boys going on a distant journey through the deep woods and finally traveling down the railroad tracks, that was symbolic for them growing up. Good movie.

+




After Hours (1985)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Writer: Joseph Minion
Cast: Griffin Dunne, Terri Garr, Rosanna Arquette, Verna Bloom
Genre: Comedy Drama

I though After Hours was clever and well made, the movie hooked me quickly and kept me interested throughout the entire film. That alone is a big plus!

Griffin Dunne was perfectly cast. He was both likable and interesting. I could relate to his character as the everyday guy just trying to make it through the night. He sure fit well into the quirky world of New York City after hours when a whole lot of crazy stuff befalls this poor guy! The only other movie I recall seeing him in is An American Werewolf in London and he was likable in that too. I'm not sure why he didn't have a bigger career.

All of the supporting cast was great, and this might be my favorite Rosanne Arquette movie. Can't say I've seen her in much though, Pulp Fiction mainly. I wish we could've seen more of her but then again there's a lot of other people in the film too.

My favorite was Terri Garr. It was so funny when they first showed her, because instantly I noticed the 60s fashion style. I remember watching Terri on Late Night with David Letterman, Letterman had a crush on her and she was a regular on his show. A good guest too and always fun to watch her. I remember she often would talk about being a young adult in the 1960s. Also she'd talk about being in the 1968 movie Head which starred The Monkeys. So I got her character! as soon as I seen her in that beehive hair do with that dress and go go boots. I mean damn she really looked like she belonged back in the 60s! Even funnier when back at her apartment she does her little dance and ask him if he likes The Monkeys? It just seemed like something Terri Garr would do.









[center]
After Hours (1985)
[left]Director: Martin Scorsese
Writer: Joseph Minion
Cast: Griffin Dunne, Terri Garr, Rosanna Arquette, Verna Bloom
Genre: Comedy Drama
It's been at least a couple of decades since I watched this and wasn't really impressed...I may have to give it a e-watch since you like it Citizen. Not to mention that it seems to be a very popular film on this site, there's a lot of love out there for this movie and I plan to figure out why at some point.




My Bodyguard (1980)
Director: Tony Bill
Writer: Alan Ormsby
Cast: Chris Makepeace, Adam Baldwin, Matt Dillon
Genre: Comedy Drama

OMG, I almost watched this a few days ago and was interrupted. I'll definitely have to try it again.




Farewell My Concubine
(1993)

Director: Kaige Chen
Writers: Pik Wah Lee (novel) & (screenplay)
Cast: Leslie Cheung, Fengyi Zhang, Li Gong
Language: Mandarin

I really liked the premise of the film: the telling of the lives of two Peking opera stars set against the dramatic changes that took place in China during the mid 20th century.

I liked how the film showed the two men much later in life and foreshadowed the idea that there was much friction between them...Then flashes back to the beginning, to tell their intertwined stories starting at early childhood in the opera training school. I liked the actors/characters too, and I liked the historical aspect...I even liked the soap opera style drama...

...but I found the film lacking in it's scene construction and pacing. Even though I was interested in the story of the two men and the women in their lives, I struggled as it's a very slow paced movie. The scenes felt overly long without ever coming to much fruition. The individual scenes had this odd pacing that made me feel like I didn't get the emotional story that I should of. They didn't flow in the way they fit into the overall story, but felt like they were pieced together in a patchwork.

I got a feeling this was an ambitious film made by a director who hadn't quite perfected his craft. Or maybe the weird scene pacing could have been fixed in the editing room. Orson Welles once said movies weren't made on the set, they were made great in the editing room. I do like slow cinema but it took me two nights to get through the 3 hour movie which felt very long to me.

I can't say I enjoyed the opera scenes, just not my thing. Though this was made for a Chinese audience and not me, so I can't really complain about that. The opening 40 minutes was mostly in the orphanage where despite the amount of film time spent on it, all I really got was the head master liked to beat small children. Couldn't that message been done in 10 minutes? The film really felt like it needed to be re-edited.

I wasn't a fan of the score either, I don't mean the opera scenes, I mean the background instrument they used which sounded like a wind chime and was reused with the same note over and over.

The costumes and sets were colorful but yet I didn't get a sweeping epic sense from the cinematography. However I am glad I watched it.








Memento (2000)

Director: Christopher Nolan
Writers: Christopher Nolan (screenplay), Jonathan Nolan (short story)
Cast: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano
Genre: Mystery Thriller

"A man with short-term memory loss attempts to track down his wife's murderer."

I guessed the outcome of the movie at the 4 minute:56 second mark, I did! I actually checked the time and the film had just started. I didn't know the particulars of the ending of course, but I did get the who-done-it part right. That's unusual for me as I never usually can guess who the killer is in these murder mystery movies.

I really don't know how to review this as I don't like bloody thriller crime movies, maybe it was well done but it's sure not for me.

Guy Pearce looked more like a leading man from a soap opera, than the part he was playing. I'd cast someone like Paul Dano, or Ryan Gosling instead. Both of them have this odd out of touch feeling about them.

After an hour I got real tired of the 'I won't remember you bit', it just seemed like the director was milking it instead of exploring it. And the whole mind trip thing that Nolan is known for, I could care less about that. I thought the reasoning at the end of the film for what happened with Guy Pearce felt somewhat inorganic to the rest of the story.

I'm not a big fan of Nolan anyway, but this is one film I just didn't care for.








Ed Wood (1994)
Director: Tim Burton
Writers: Rudolph Grey (book), Scott Alexander
Cast: Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker
Genre: Biography, Comedy, Drama

Ed Wood.
..the movie, is great fun and that's enough for me! Johnny Depp who I always liked as an actor is in great form here as Ed Wood Jr. I just love the light hearted and enthusiastic way Ed Wood goes about life, that's my life philosophy too...only without the angora And of course Ed Wood admires Orson Welles and so that's another connection too.

You know Ed Wood Jr reminds me of Orson Welles in that both went for their dreams and did it their own way! Ed Wood might have been voted worst director but the guy had a lot of unique film ideas that were way ahead of there time.

Back when I first seen Ed Wood (1994), I then watched the DVD box set of Wood's movies, The Ed Wood Collection - A Salute to Incompetence, I hate that title but it was a great set with Ed's most inspired films. The DVD box set hasa total of 6 movies and a really cool documentary: The Ed Wood Story...Anyway this movie originally got me interested in Ed Wood's movies so that's another reason I love it.

Back to the film...Tim Burton does a wonderful job and I read this was the first time he didn't use Danny Elfman for the music score. Elfman is of course well respected but I loved the music score choice for Ed Wood and the use of the theremin to create some really cool sounds! And I loved that Tim Burton believed in his vision so much that he refused to shoot this in color, but instead switched studios so that he could do it his way. In watching the documentary about Ed Wood Jr, I learned that all of these people depicted in the film, were real. So the film is pretty close to the actual events of Ed's life.

I did feel like Bill Murray was showing off a bit and playing it like he was doing a comedy skit on Saturday Night Live. Criswell the psychic (Jeffery Jones) was one of my favorite secondary roles. He has one of the best lines in the movie when he lets Ed in on the secret of ballyhoo. Sarah Jessica Parker as the 'horse faced actress' Dolores Fuller was real good. God! they actually said that about the real actress. Martin Landau as the aged Bela Lugosi won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and it's easy to see why. Martin Landau's Lugosi really helps make Ed Wood special. And of course my favorite scene is in the bar when Ed meets Orson.





Ed Wood (1994)
Director: Tim Burton
Writers: Rudolph Grey (book), Scott Alexander
Cast: Johnny Depp, Martin Landau, Sarah Jessica Parker
Genre: Biography, Comedy, Drama
[i]
So pleased to see your review of this film...I agree with everything you've said, I think it's Tim Burton's masterpiece.



Yeah, Memento's not a movie for you. I love movies that put together murder mysteries and psychological thrillers, especially unique ones. And being a Pulp Fiction fan as I love the structure, so I have to disagree with the whole review.




Memento (2000)

[font=Arial Narrow]Director: Christopher Nolan
Writers: Christopher Nolan (screenplay), Jonathan Nolan (short story)
Cast: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano
Genre: Mystery Thriller
I'm surprised you watched this Citizen, doesn't strike me as your kind of movie.



I'm surprised you watched this Citizen, doesn't strike me as your kind of movie.
It was an HoF movie so that's why I watched it. Buy yeah, not my kind of movie and I don't usually like Nolan films.