The Princess Bride (1987)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Princess Bride (1987) – R. Reiner

So, I have to admit that I was never really a part of the cult of The Princess Bride, quoting its ridiculous (but yes, highly quotable) lines at every opportunity (but I know many of you are). Nor have I read William Goldman’s original book which he adapted for director Rob Reiner (a fan of the book). Nevertheless, I thought this would be a fun movie to watch as a family. Especially since it is an embellished exaggerated fairy tale and my kids already know the form. It was even funny that they moaned and groaned at the start when the film begins with some romantic “true love” scenes between Westley (Cary Elwes) and Buttercup (Robin Wright) given that young Fred Savage (to whom the story is being told by his grandfather Peter Falk) also complains about the same (ugh, kissing).  But soon enough there was enough action, far-fetched and lampooned as it is, but still action and enjoyable from the kids’ point of view (even as some of the witty banter may have flown over their heads).  At any rate, there are many adventuresome moments as Dread Pirate Roberts… I mean Westley… attempts to rescue Buttercup first from kidnappers Wallace Shawn, Andre the Giant, and Mandy Patinkin, and then later from Chris Sarandon (the Prince who seeks to marry her) and Christopher Guest (evil Count). There’s also torture and even despondency with a risk of suicide – but it’s all so broad and even zany (i.e. Billy Crystal and Carol Kane’s bit) that it’s hard to be concerned, even in a family film.  We enjoyed it but I can’t say that I’m fully converted – I prefer something even more over the top (such as Monty Python and the Holy Grail – but that’s not for kids!).

The Killing II (2009)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Killing II (2009) – S. Sveistrup

A couple of years after the first series, creator Søren Sveistrup brought police detective Sarah Lund (Sofie Gråbøl) back for a return engagement in this highly watchable Copenhagen drama that skilfully mixes detective work and politics while maintaining aspects of the thriller genre.  At the end of the last series, despite solving the case, Lund was basically sacked for breaking the rules; so here we find her working at a border security centre, far from the homicide squad.  But not for long, her old superior Brix soon calls her in to help with a case that has them stumped – a lawyer found murdered in a military memorial park who just might be a victim of an Islamic terrorist group. In a parallel plotline, we meet the new Department of Justice minister who has been appointed by the Prime Minister to shepherd an anti-terrorism bill through the parliament by negotiating with a far-right party and also a soldier who has been confined to a psychiatric institution upon his return from the war in Afghanistan.  At first, as before, these plot lines don’t quite line up – but of course they eventually entwine.  With only 10 episodes (rather than the 20 of series one), series two is more punchy than series one but also doesn’t get quite as deep into the lives of its characters as before. Gråbøl plays her character as wearier than before and seemingly unsure of herself – that is, until she can’t help following her instincts and doing what she thinks is necessary, regardless of the rules or other people’s feelings. The supporting cast are uniformly strong, playing more than just red herrings, fleshing out the plot with nuance and colour. I might check out series three sometime.

 

King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

King Kong vs. Godzilla (1963) – I. Honda

Amon really wanted to see Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) – but it is rated M here in Australia and he is only 8 going on 9 years old.  Imagine his surprise when I dug out this oldie – the original Kong vs. Godzilla!  But imagine my surprise when Kong was a man in a monkey suit rather than stop-motion animation!  I guess I should have realised this would be the case, given that Godzilla is generally always a man in a rubber suit back in the day.  Apparently, the original Japanese version of this film was designed as a comedy and there are still some traces of this – but the American version rewrote the script and recut the movie to eliminate aspects that didn’t translate well and to add some stock US characters whose sole role is to explain the plot.  Not that it is complicated!  Basically, Godzilla is found inside an iceberg near Antarctica. Then, an unscrupulous TV production company decides to get their own “monster” because of the great ratings Godzilla is providing to the news.  They find Kong on a South Seas island where he is placated by the natives with intoxicating red berries – unfortunately, the scenes with the natives are upsettingly racist (not surprising for the era). Kong is soon captured and taken away by ship.  Of course, he escapes en route to Japan, setting up a classic confrontation with Godzilla.  Not unlike a classic World Wrestling Federation bout, albeit on the slopes of Mount Fuji, with Japanese houses being trampled underfoot.

Total Recall (1990)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Total Recall (1990) – P. Verhoeven

There’s a definite Cronenberg vibe to this Philip K. Dick adaptation, possibly due to the presence of Michael Ironside (Scanners) as a villain or the body horror in the depiction of rebel leader (and mutant) Kuato. In any event, this has that B-movie vibe that many of his earlier low-budget films also radiated.  So, I was surprised to find out a) this was one of the most expensive films of its day (must be the pre-CGI effects and sets); and b) it was directed by Paul Verhoeven (Robocop, Basic Instinct, but also Starship Troopers).  Cronenberg was involved in the early stages but dropped out when the film changed into a vehicle for action star Arnold Swarzenegger – apparently, his vision (and that of screenwriter Dan O’Bannon of Alien fame) was originally closer to Dick’s original story. That said, Arnold does carry the film well and seems to revel in its weirdness – in one classic scene, he has a dialogue with a version of himself (from the past) and of course, he’s full of his usual one-liners.  Swarzenegger plays Doug Quaid who has dreams of going to Mars and signs up for a “virtual” trip in which false memories are to be implanted in his brain – he chooses the “secret agent” package which promises that he will fight bad guys, win the girl, and save the planet.  But things go horribly wrong and he soon discovers that he’s part of a big conspiracy (also involving his wife, Sharon Stone) that has involved erasing his brain and also oppressing the settlers on Mars, settlers who are reliant on the government for the air that they breathe.  The film does devolve a bit into a standard action flick (with a lot of violence) but to Verhoeven’s credit he manages to retain a bit of teasing ambiguity in the plot.  So, is this all just Doug Quaid’s implanted memory/dream or is it real? Fun stuff.

Batman (1989)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

Batman (1989) – T. Burton

When Amon (almost 9 years) pulled this off of the shelf at the library, I thought “uh-oh” -- but then it didn’t turn out to be that bad.  Michael Keaton is a very subdued hero underneath all that moulded rubber and when he appeared as Bruce Wayne, Amon thought he just didn’t look right (and I agree – we both prefer Adam West).  This first film set itself the challenge of telling Batman’s origin story (in flashback) as well as The Joker’s -- and fortunately, they are intertwined, at least here (I’m not familiar enough with the original texts).  Jack Nicholson plays the villain as a kind of daggy dad, embarrassing you by his bad dance moves – but of course, unlike your average dad, The Joker is evil (and there is some mean-spirited but cartoonish violence here).  Without Nicholson’s goofing, the film would likely be deathly dull, marked only by its cool (but dated) set design and art direction. Should we have known already that director Tim Burton was all style with no sense of pacing? Kim Basinger (as photog/love interest Vicki Vale) and Robert Wuhl (remember him? as a reporter) are not the right calibre of actor for their parts to be interesting.  That said, Amon truly enjoyed it and I ultimately didn’t mind this return to the 80s. However, I’m afraid that Amon is the only one who can get me to watch superheroes these days…I’m not otherwise inclined.

 

Oculus (2013)

 ☆ ☆ ☆

Oculus (2013) – M. Flanagan

I feel like I’m slumming it when I dip my toes into the horror genre these days – too few pearls in these oysters. Yet, Oculus had some fairly positive reviews and I enjoyed director Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting of Hill House (2018) mini-series (but not his update of The Shining called Doctor Sleep, 2019). I guess I was willing to take a risk on a film about a haunted mirror due to my undying love of Ealing Studios’ horror anthology Dead of Night (1945) which included such a story directed by Robert Hamer; there is also a haunted mirror episode in Amicus’ From Beyond the Grave (1974) starring David Warner.  Oculus doesn’t quite follow from these (or other genre clichés) but instead seems to take place after one of these episodes with a haunted mirror has already taken place. Indeed, the movie shows us current events – when a sister (Karen Gillan) and brother (Brenton Thwaites) manage to find a suspected haunted mirror from their youth (that led to some horrible outcome for their parents) and attempt to document its supernatural properties and/or destroy it. Half the movie is flashbacks to the original events and these are far scarier than the “framing” story involving the adult kids (which is a little confusing because the mirror is able to alter what they perceive). Yet somehow the theme that the director seems to want to discuss (childhood trauma and its effects on adults) isn’t really explored and the film opts to tie up its conclusion in a neat (and foreshadowed) bow.  I guess this makes it better than the many horror outings with incomprehensible plots.  However, Flanagan seems to need more time to fully develop his themes (as in Hill House).

 

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018) – B. Persichetti, P. Ramsey, & R. Rothman

Admittedly, I was distracted during the family viewing of this one, so consider this review with that in mind.  Also, I haven’t really been keeping up with the many comic book adaptations in recent years (nor was I a dedicated comics reader back in the day).  That said, this animated film (from the team that made The Lego Movie, 2014) is clearly a new take on old material. First off, there is the style – and there is heaps of style here, from the hip-hop accented soundtrack to the frenetic out-of-control visuals that are clearly inspired by the more out-there Japanese Anime releases (not Ghibli) with some comic book stylings (thought bubbles etc.) to add to the craziness.  It’s all colour, noise, and flash.  Second, this is a multi-cultural New York City and our lead, Miles Morales, is an African-American (with Latina mother?) who is bit by that damn radioactive spider to become another version of Spider-Man – but that’s surprising and confusing, until he meets the real Spider-Man who tries to explain things, until he meets another Spider-Man from another dimension who tries to explain things.  So, yes, Third, there are a lot of different spider-heroes from different dimensions (including Nic Cage for some reason) and they all need to stop arch-villain Kingpin who has created some sort of giant supercollider that has brought them into Miles’ dimension (which may not actually be our own, viewers) in order to get back to their own dimensions.  There’s a subplot with Miles’ Uncle and his police officer Dad, but as I said, I was distracted and quickly lost the thread of the plot, which might be easy to do.  But wow it is fresh.