Movie Review: Spacehunter: Adventures In The Forbidden Zone (1983)

Genre: Science Fiction  

Director: Lamont Johnson  

Starring: Peter Strauss, Molly Ringwald, Ernie Hudson, Michael Ironside  

Running Time: 90 minutes  

Synopsis: A tourist spaceship explodes in a faraway galaxy, and an escape pod carrying three surviving women crash-lands on a dangerous planet. Space adventurer Wolff (Peter Strauss) is interested in the reward money and races to rescue them, but after partnering with scrappy local girl Niki (Molly Ringwald), he faces competition from fellow-rescuer Washington (Ernie Hudson). The planet is full of dangers, but the biggest threat is Overdog (Michael Ironside), a half-man half-machine crazed scientist who rules over the forbidden zone and wants the captured women for his pleasure.

What Works Well: Some of the garage-level hardware is imaginative, and Elmer Bernstein's music score deserves an entirely different movie. Sidekick character Chalmers (Andrea Marcovicci) enlivens the opening 20 minutes.

What Does Not Work As Well: Filmed in 3-D, this soulless mix of Star Wars and Mad Max is hampered by a low budget and the mis-casting of Peter Strauss and Molly Ringwald: he is charisma-free, and she is whiny and annoying. The flat script lacks wit and anything that resembles character depth or a thematic arc, surrendering instead to a choppy episodic structure overwhelmed by cheesy sets and stiff derivative action. The three captive women are vacuous non-entities, while Michael Ironside as the antagonist looks impressive but barely features apart from some cartoon-level villainous hollering.

Key Quote:

Niki: Us loners got to stick together.



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Movie Review: Phantom Of The Paradise (1974)

Genre: Musical Drama  

Director: Brian De Palma  

Starring: Paul Williams, William Finley, Jessica Harper  

Running Time: 91 minutes  

Synopsis: All-powerful music producer Swan (Paul Williams) owns Death Records and is looking for the next big sound to open his Paradise theatre. He spots potential in the elaborate Faust-inspired music of unknown composer Winslow Leach (William Finley), and decides to steal the compositions. Winslow doggedly attempts to reclaim his music, leading to violence, disfigurement, and a love triangle involving aspiring singer Phoenix (Jessica Harper).

What Works Well: With plenty of panache, writer and director Brian De Palma mixes The Phantom Of The Opera, The Picture Of Dorian Grey, and Faust into a contemporary music drama. Paul Williams wrote the operatic rock-pop soundtrack, yielding a music-driven modern tragic fantasy about the exorbitant price of fame and death as the meaning of life. The songs and gothic soundtrack are good, the sets and costumes imaginative, and Williams delivers a chillingly understated performance as the smug double-crossing impresario wielding enormous power over the lives of others.

What Does Not Work As Well: With many songs played in their entirety, the narrative portion occupies at best about 60 minutes. The music performances feature Phoenix; a nostalgia band called the Juicy Fruits; and a dim rocker known as Beef. As characters they are barely relevant to the drama, but they all erode screen time away from Swan and Winslow, who are often notable for their absence.

Key Quote:

The Phantom: My music is for Phoenix. Only she can sing it. Anyone else who tries, dies!



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Movie Review: Godzilla Minus One (2023)

Genre: Monster Horror  

Director: Takashi Yamazaki  

Starring: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe  

Running Time: 125 minutes  

Synopsis: Towards the end of World War Two, Japanese kamikaze pilot Shikishima (Ryunosuke Kamiki) lands at a small base on Odo Island after failing to fulfill his suicide mission. Beset by guilt, he freezes when the Godzilla monster emerges from the sea and destroys the base. In Tokyo after the war, Shikishima meets fellow survivor Noriko (Minami Hamabe), who is looking after an orphaned baby thrust into her care. They forge a family, and their fortunes improve when Shikishima finds an ocean mine-clearing job. But fueled by radiation, Godzilla is now bigger, more powerful, and intent on destroying Tokyo.

What Works Well: Despite working with a relatively meager budget, director Takashi Yamazaki delivers an astounding special effects extravaganza. Whether at sea or on land, the elaborate sequences of Godzilla wreaking (bloodless) havoc and destruction are marvelous achievements filled with monster fury and mayhem. The quieter moments explore themes emerging from a decimated national psyche and personal guilt awaiting retribution, the post-war forced redefinition of family, and a once-proud populace finding a new cause unshackled from governmental ineptitude.

What Does Not Work As Well: Godzilla's origins and motives, other than just being really angry and made more dangerous by radiation, are left to folkloric imagination. The emotional states of the key characters, including Shikishima, are established early and evolve slowly, not helped by melodramatic acting.  

Key Quote:

Noriko (to Shikishima): Is your war finally over?

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Movie Review: Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris (2022)

Genre: Dramedy  

Director: Anthony Fabian  

Starring: Lesley Manville, Isabelle Huppert, Lambert Wilson, Alba Baptista, Lucas Bravo  
Running Time: 115 minutes  

Synopsis: In London of 1957, middle-aged cleaning lady Ada Harris (Lesley Manville) finally comes to terms with the wartime death of her husband. After spotting an expensive Dior gown in a client's wardrobe, Ada saves every penny and travels to Paris, intent on buying a haute couture dress for herself. Her planned one-day quest extends into a whirlwind week, as she gets involved with House of Dior staff members including the stern directress Mme Colbert (Isabelle Huppert), thoughtful accountant André Fauvel (Lucas Bravo), and unhappy model Natasha (Alba Baptista). Ada also attracts the attention of widower Marquis de Chassagne (Lambert Wilson).

What Works Well: The adaptation of Paul Gallico's 1958 novel is a winsome collection of good intentions traversing cultural and class divides. Definitely sweet and fluffy but without stepping over sentimentality limits, the narrative explores later-in-life opportunities for romance, unlikely friendships, the role and meaning of expensive fashion, and the economic and sometimes exploitive realities behind glitzy facades. Impressively, Mrs. Harris' adventure even encompasses the business imperative to evolve. Lesley Manville's central performance stems from subtle yet pragmatic steeliness, while the pleasing aesthetics of late-1950s London and Paris neighbourhoods add visual appeal.

What Does Not Work As Well: Some sequences surrender to Dior advertorials, while the running time unnecessarily drags towards the two hour mark.

Key Quote:

Mme Colbert: A Dior dress is designed to astonish. How would you do that, Mrs. Harris?



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Movie Review: Crimes Of The Heart (1986)

Genre: Dramedy  

Director: Bruce Beresford  

Starring: Diane Keaton, Sissy Spacek, Jessica Lange, Tess Harper, Sam Shepard  

Running Time: 105 minutes  

Synopsis: In the small town of Hazlehurst, Mississippi, the three Magrath sisters reunite. The insecure Lenny (Diane Keaton) never married and still exhibits immature behaviour. The brash Meg (Jessica Lange) moved her life to Hollywood in pursuit of a singing career. And youngest Babe (Sissy Spacek) may suffer from mental health issues and has just shot her husband. The siblings reminisce about their mother, who committed suicide when they were young, and grapple with their snooty cousin Chick (Tess Harper). Meanwhile, a young lawyer crafts Babe's defence strategy and Meg considers reigniting a romance with the now-married Doc (Sam Shepard).

What Works Well: The attempt to tackle the insidious and often poorly understood impacts of mental health issues is laudable, and Sissy Spacek's performance touches delicate heights of comic fragility. 

What Does Not Work As Well: Writer Beth Henley adapts her own play and struggles to find cinematic notes, resulting in a fairly colossal waste of a dream cast. The dialogue is weighed down by theatricality, and neither Diane Keaton (almost ridiculous in her mannerisms) nor Jessica Lange (carrying a singular jaded attitude throughout, mostly focused on lighting cigarettes) ever find their footing. With the forced acting close to the surface and the attempted funny moments registering high cringe readings, director Bruce Beresford's customary efficiency generates neither empathy nor momentum.

Key Quote:

Chick, shouting: I've just about had my fill of you...trashy McGraths! And your trashy ways!

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Movie Review: Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016)

Genre: Action Thriller  

Director: Edward Zwick  

Starring: Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders, Danika Yarosh, Patrick Heusinger  

Running Time: 118 minutes  

Synopsis: Nomadic retired Military Police Major Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) busts a human trafficking ring, then establishes a telephone relationship with his successor Major Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders), who is then suddenly arrested. Reacher suspects she is being silenced for uncovering a weapons smuggling conspiracy in Afghanistan, and helps her escape. They are pursued by a contracted assassin (Patrick Heusinger), and Reacher's efforts to prove Susan's innocence are complicated by teenager Samantha (Danika Yarosh), who may be his daughter.

What Works Well: The quieter and better moments feature Reacher reflecting on whether Samantha could possibly be his daughter, her quick thinking and resourcefulness fueling his suspicions. Reacher also finds a good sparring partner in Susan, who combines professionalism with a refusal to bow to misplaced notions of male superiority.

What Does Not Work As Well: This checklist-driven sequel fails to find a spark. Lacking wit and originality, the action scenes are inserted at numbingly predictable intervals, and executed with mechanical familiarity. The plot is listless, with Reacher and Turner always successfully leaping to the next correct conclusion and destination dispute a scarcity of facts and resources. The enemy-from-within is supposed to be a large and dangerous corporation, but Reacher's only notable on-the-ground rival is a stock hissing villain with no name, supported by an endless army of interchangeable goons.

Key Quote:

Turner: Some folks still wonder why you left.

Reacher: Let's just say I woke up one morning and the uniform didn't fit.

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Movie Review: Ordinary Angels (2024)

Genre: Drama  

Director: Jon Gunn  

Starring: Hilary Swank, Alan Ritchson, Nancy Travis  

Running Time: 118 minutes  

Synopsis: The setting is Louisville, Kentucky, in the 1990s. Sharon (Hilary Swank) is a middle-aged hard-drinking hairdresser, and through the media she learns about roofer Ed (Alan Ritchson), who is struggling to raise his two daughters after the death of his wife. His five year-old younger daughter Ashley suffers from a rare disease and needs a liver transplant, and the medical bills are mounting. Sharon decides to help, starting with a modest fundraising campaign, but her own demons threaten to get in the way.

What Works Well: Based on actual events (with some embellishments), this is an uplifting drama about one woman reaching out, and a community rallying to support a family in need. The story carries the inherent emotions of profound loss, struggle against a rare disease, and a crushing financial burden, but the characters propel the narrative. Hilary Swank finds all the human corners beneath Sharon's brassy exterior as she embraces a cause as an alterative to drowning her failures in alcohol, and Alan Ritchson brings stoic pride to the decent working man reluctant to accept outside help. The faith elements are present but subtle.

What Does Not Work As Well: The sentimentality dial is occasionally turned to eleven, and the climax piles on the (sometimes literal) obstacles on the way to the pre-ordained ending.

Key Quote:

Sharon: I'm good at plenty of things. Taking no for an answer ain't one of 'em.

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Movie Review: Rebel Ridge (2024)

Genre: Drama Thriller  

Director: Jeremy Saulnier  

Starring: Aaron Pierre, Don Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, James Cromwell  

Running Time: 131 minutes  

Synopsis: While biking to the small town of Shelby Springs to pay the bail money for his jailed cousin Mike, Terry Richmond (Aaron Pierre) tangles with local police officers who wrongly confiscate his money as proceeds of crime. He appeals with no success at City Hall, but finds an ally in junior clerk Summer (AnnaSophia Robb), who hints at a culture of judicial corruption involving the local judge (James Cromwell). Terry confronts police chief Sandy Burnne (Don Johnson), and when Mike's fate is compromised and Summer is targeted, Terry's feud with Sandy intensifies.

What Works Well: This is a slow-burning yet sustained drama, always hinting at the potential for violence but impressively seeking cerebral off-ramps. The protagonist Terry is forced to innovate in the face of hostility, and Aaron Pierre's physical dominance is an intriguing contrast with his character's preference for words and negotiations. He is matched by Don Johnson as a police chief leading a local force tinged by racism and tainted by hide-in-plain-sight fraud within a middle-of-nowhere setting. The action scenes, when they arrive, focus on the clumsiness of aggression rather than stylized violence.

What Does Not Work As Well: The running time is 20 minutes too long, and some sloppy scripting leaves behind plenty of questions. Terry's connections to a Chinese restaurant remain murky, the police corruption details get tied up in an incomprehensible knot, and a key covert character is lost in the shuffle. The climactic showdown unleashes sudden interventions and is more confused than effective.

Key Quote:

Summer: Was that your plan?

Terry: I ran out of plan.

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Movie Review: Palm Springs (2020)

Genre: Romantic Comedy  

Director: Max Barbakow  

Starring: Andy Samberg, Cristin Milioti, J.K. Simmons, Peter Gallagher  

Running Time: 90 minutes  

Synopsis: In Palm Springs, Nyles (Andy Samberg) is stuck in a daily time loop, forced to re-live the wedding of Abe and Tala. Nyles' relationship with his girlfriend Misty (the bridesmaid) is rocky, and in one of the loops he romances Sarah (Cristin Milioti), the bride's troubled sister. A mishap traps Sarah with Nyles in the loop, and they start spending every similar day together. Love eventually blossoms, but complications include vengeful wedding guest Roy (J.K. Simmons), who has a good reason to hunt down Nyles.

What Works Well: Riffing on the Groundhog Day theme with extra doses of surrender (from Nyles) and resistance (from Sarah), this romantic comedy offers an audacious edge in underlining love's capacity to emerge anytime - even if it's always the same time. The wedding context offers plenty of targets, including an already-in-trouble bride and groom, but director Max Barbakow and writer Andy Siara maintain focus on the central couple. Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti embrace their characters' imperfections with sharp dialogue about life's oddities, and the serenely mysterious desert surroundings animate the fantasy elements.

What Does Not Work As Well: Despite the determined search for originality, the rom-com trap of contriving inflated emotions as an artificial obstacle still prevails. A desire to explore metaphysical time loop explanations (and solutions) is ultimately half-hearted.

Key Quote:

Sarah: But what is this? When is this?

Nyles: Yeah, 'bout that. So, this is today. Today is yesterday. And tomorrow is also today.

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Movie Review: Mr. Mom (1983)

Also Known As: Mr. Mum  

Genre: Comedy  

Director: Stan Dragoti  

Starring: Michael Keaton, Teri Garr, Martin Mull, Ann Jillian  
Running Time: 91 minutes  

Synopsis: When Detroit automotive engineer Jack Butler (Michael Keaton) is laid off, his wife Caroline (Teri Garr) leaves behind her stay-at-home life and enters the workforce at an advertising firm. Jack faces a steep learning curve caring for their three kids and running the household, and attracts the lustful attention of neighbour Joan (Ann Jillian). Meanwhile Caroline excels at her job, but also becomes the romantic target of her boss Ron (Martin Mull).

What Works Well: With Michael Keaton and Teri Garr carrying the easy harmony of established couplehood, the John Hughes script gives equal opportunities for mom and dad to discover the hazards on other side of front yard fence. Comedy is the primary objective, and enough jokes and funny sequences find their target to maintain a steady stream of fun, with vacuum cleaner "Jaws" a highlight. But the semi-serious commentary about Jack finding pride in housework registers, as does Caroline's journey through the thrills and dangers of the corporate world.

What Does Not Work As Well: For an engineer, Jack sure does stupid well, managing to wreck a supermarket and a house with mindless effort. Some of the failed humour attempts are from the bottom slapstick drawer, while the visual style does not stray far from television movie-of-the-week fare.

Key Quote:

Caroline (to her kids): Look guys, take it easy on daddy. Remember, he's a rookie.



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