Randomness

Total Recall (1990)

Watched 6/25/05 This is another good SciFi film worth re-watching every decade or two. When you first see this movie, it's fast paced enough that you just go along for the ride and you buy the whole thing as they feed it to you. It's upon second watching that you see all the details of the vacation that Doug buys, you hear all the little comments made by the technicians in the lab, and then you get to see the movie like new, from a different angle. The angle in which the man appearing and telling Doug that he's still in the lab and he's had a psychotic break, and this is the only way they know how to save him, please take this pill, is telling the truth. As usual, the one point upon which it is difficult to suspend disbelief, is Arny, and that we are supposed to believe that Mr. Muscles is just an average Joe construction worker. Oh Well. I suppose if I have to swallow that sort of detail to see more SciFi movies get made since then, I will deal with it. (Especially, since I am right now happily awaiting the coming of Serenity.) Movie Reviews 2005 item Posted: 7/17/05; 2:08:38 PM

Heathers (1989)

Watched 6/24/05 This one is definitely looking a bit dated now, but I still enjoyed watching it again. Christian Slater looking very young, and doing his best Jack Nicholson is always amusing. And the whole movie is a wicked fantasy fulfillment for anyone out there who hated even one 'popular' girl in high school. Of which I am certainly guilty. I mostly had no use for the popular kids, but one overly ambitious and self center girl really got in my way senior year, and while I nor anyone else I've ever known would hand such a girl a cup full of drain cleaner, I suspect many have secretly wished for just one second that they could. And when you watch Heathers you get a bit of fantasy satisfaction out of seeing them do it. Movie Reviews 2005 item Posted: 7/17/05; 1:58:52 PM

Return of the Jedi (1983)

Watched 6/22/05 Frankly, I think this is the best of the movies in the original trilogy. A lot of people say it's the middle one, but they always follow that up by saying it's because they hate the cuddly Ewok's in the third one. Well, I don't think it's so smart to let a detail like that ruin your opinion of an entire movie. I like what he was doing with the Ewok's in the sense that these primatives help the rebels defeat the empire with all it's advanced technology. Mind you, I do believe that he was playing to the kids by making the primatives look like teddy bears, but I do think they serve a purpose besides that. I still find the story a bit stilted, and I think Lucas was too focused on all his breakthrough technologies. I wish that he would have let someone improve the script a bit. It needed a little polish and smoothing, some improved dialog in a few places. And in the end, I can respect the whole Star Wars set for what it is, but the plot and acting are not good enough that I care to watch them repeatedly. Maybe in ten years I'll get the urge to watch them all again, but probably not sooner. There are just so many good movies that I haven't seen even once yet. Movie Reviews 2005 item Posted: 7/17/05; 1:52:07 PM

Closer (2004)

Watched 6/19/05 Four real people and their screwed up relationships. The tag line says something about love at first sight, which I don't believe in exactly, so there's probably something lost on me in the basic premise. On the other hand it is a bit of information about the central character who screws everything up for everyone, it helps inform us about his motivations I think. The characters were very real people, and the actors all did a marvelous job. It was especially wonderful to see Jude Law play a character with low self esteem, an average Joe with little charm, right after seeing Alfie. It shows what good actor he is. One problem I had with the whole thing was that somewhere in the middle they start slinging accusations about how this guy is a 'mama's boy', and that gal has a serious guilt complex, and while it might be true, I don't think they actually developed the characters in that way for the audience to see, so it was a bit disconnected. For awhile it seemed that I couldn't sympathize with any of them. But in the end I had respect for Larry's intelligence and his ability to go after and get what he wanted. I didn't like him, but at least he was working with a purpose, and he knew exactly what he was doing at every turn. On the other hand, Dan was completely dispicable and just floundering. I had no use for Anna what-so-ever. And Alice/Jane turns out to be the one I like and respect, because she gets a clue and makes the best choices in the end and takes care of herself. Movie Reviews 2005 item Posted: 7/17/05; 1:30:04 PM