Month: June 2018

Released: September 1987

Director: William Fruet

Rated R

Run  Time: 96 Minutes

Genre: Horror

Distributor: Columbia Pictures

Cast:
Steve Railsback: Det. Jim Bishop
Gwynyth Walsh: Dr. Rachel Carson
Don Lake: Elliot Jacobs
Susan Anspatch: Dr. Judith Glass

The 1980’s was a very unusually active decade for movies.  Obviously, we had some really huge movies released that decade: Star Wars, Indiana Jones, The Terminator, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Friday The 13th just to name a few.  There were so many movies released in that 10 year period that a lot of smaller and lesser-known films ended up being forgotten.  There were a number of cult-classics like Blade Runner, Evil Dead and other films of that nature, but when it came to horror movies, there were a great number of little gems that got lost in the shuffle, and while it’s mostly for a good reason, there were some small horror flicks that were genuinely pretty good.  In 1986, James Cameron released one of the biggest and best sequels of all time: Aliens.  If you guys thought that The Asylum was the first film studio to release blatant movie rip-offs, you would be wrong.  In 1987, there was a little-known but goofy horror flick that was obviously a rip-off of Aliens.  The film was called Blue Monkey.

Blue Monkey opens as an old man, Fred visits a local greenhouse where he accidentally gets stung by a new species of plant, only to quickly fall ill.  Shortly after, he’s whisked away to a nearby hospital where a police detective’s partner was also taken after being shot.  Detective Jim Bishop is currently waiting for news of his partner when Fred is brought in.  Fred convulses and there is a small object that comes out of his mouth is put into a secure room.  Later, Bishop and several doctors including Rachel Carson try to inspect this…organic object, only to find a nasty little critter inside.  Encasing it in a glass jar, the group tries to investigate what happened when other people start getting sick.  Meanwhile, a couple of kids sneak their way into the room and inadvertently feed this insect with an experimental growth hormone.  When the thing busts out, it’s up to Bishop, Rachel and insect expert Elliot to find this thing before it’s too late.  It’s a pretty basic setup for a monster movie and it gets the job done.  It’s very clear that James Cameron’s movie was an influence in MANY ways.  A character named Bishop?  Strange coincidence don’t you think?  Now you have a monster movie that takes place in tight and dark corridors, featuring a massive monster that you don’t really see until about half-way through the film.  It’s absolutely silly and not particularly great as monster movies go.

It’s funny:  As a kid, I wasn’t necessarily scared of the dark until I started watching movies like Alien 3, then I was kind of….concerned.  But honestly, the movie that really scared the hell out of me when it came to basements, despite the fact that I was living in one at the time, was Blue Monkey.  This was a dimly shot movie that took place in the corridors of an abandoned insane asylum, so you can imagine the terrors that could lurk around the corner.  This movie spooked the hell out of me when I was younger.  Looking back at it now, it still has a pretty creepy vibe to it that sends shivers down your spine.  Does the film actually scare me today?  No.  It’s far too hokey and cheesy to have that kind of an effect on me any more.  These days, creature features use a lot of CGI to animate their monsters.  During the 80s, this technology really wasn’t available or good enough to do that, so everybody had to rely on old-school tricks like miniatures and puppets.  In the case of Blue Monkey, a man in a suit.  Basically, the creature is nothing more than an overgrown praying mantis in terms of its design, but you have to admit, a ten-foot tall praying mantis would be pretty freaky.  Some of the smaller creatures are genuinely pretty creepy, but they are obviously puppets and such.  Some of the effects in the film were actually not half-bad considering the obviously low-budget nature of the film.  While the film definitely owes a lot to bigger and better films, it still manages to be pretty thrilling, and that’s not bad for a film that’s over thirty years old.

The acting is pretty much on par with what you would expect from a movie of this sort.  So…mostly not great, but you have a pretty solid lead in Steve Railsback as Detective Bishop.  It’s one of the few roles that I’ve seen him in that he plays a good guy.  Gwynyth Walsh plays Rachel Carson, does a decent job in the role, even though, she’s nothing more than a potential love interest for Bishop.  One of the guys that really steals the show is Don Lake as the nerdy insect specialist Elliot.  This guy pretty much rules the screen every time he shows his face.  He’s a really good actor and this was one of his more interesting roles that he’s taken over the years.  Overall, the acting isn’t too shabby, but it’s not Oscar-worthy at the same time.

While I definitely enjoyed this film, there were definitely some issues.  Some of the effects really don’t age that well.  There was a scene where the creature decapitates one of the patients and the obvious dummy is obviously obvious.  Again, with the film being of a low-budget fair, it’s not a movie-killer, but it does stand out, especially in today’s world.

Blue Monkey was one of many movies that really kind of disappeared around the turn of the decade.  It was on VHS for a good long while, and there was a DVD released at some point.  I managed to find and order a copy, but aside from that, the film is out of print, meaning it’s a very rare film if you can find it.  Is it worth looking for?  In my opinion, it is.  It’s one of the lesser-known gems in a genre that was already becoming over-crowded with slasher films.  I would really love to see this film get a proper Blu-Ray release with commentary and vintage special features, but it doesn’t seem like there’s a lot of interest in the film.  I’m hoping to change that with this review.  Is it a great movie?  Nope.  Is it a good movie?  Not really.  Is it a fun B-movie?  Hell yes, it is.

My Final Recommendation: Don’t feed insects experimental growth hormones.  Nothing good can come of that.  8/10.

I know that the title of this post might seem a little like “click-bait,” but please bear with me on this.  I’ve been a massive fan of George Lucas’s Star Wars since the day that I could crawl.  Initially it was all about the flashy visual effects and Darth Vader.  But as I grew older, I began to understand the nuances of the stories that were being told and how incredibly epic the Original Trilogy was.  To this day, I still feel that the Original Trilogy is one of the most epic film series of all time.  I will never get tired of watching them.  It wasn’t just the films that got me hooked.  It was the whole universe that was created.  George Lucas wasn’t entirely ready for the huge success that his film would become.  It ended up being the biggest movie of 1977.  People lined up for blocks just to get in to see the film.  It was a massive hit.  When Empire Strikes Back opened in 1980, audiences were somewhat split down the middle because Lucas took a huge risk with the characters.  He wasn’t just satisfied with putting the Rebel Alliance on the ropes, with the Empire winning this round, he also revealed that Darth Vader was Luke’s father.  That blew people’s minds and remains one of the greatest film twists in history.  Ultimately, Empire would go on to become known as the best film in the entire series.  Return of the Jedi was not as good as the previous films, but it was still a damn good movie.

Between 1983 and 1999, the Star Wars universe exploded in ways that George Lucas could never have imagined.  Not only did we get books, but we also got comic books, video games, soundtracks and entire fan conventions dedicated to Star Wars.  During the mid-90’s, Lucas was preparing to create the backstory to the Original Trilogy with Episodes I,II and III.  While most people would point to the Special Editions of Star Wars as the point in which the film franchise went downhill, it wasn’t until The Phantom Menace was released in 1999, that we began to see that the franchise was not what it used to be.  However, at the same time, the Expanded Universe was thriving with games like Tie-Fighter, Dark Forces and Super Star Wars for the Super Nintendo.  It was clear to a lot of people, myself included that after Episode III, the future of Star Wars would not be in the hands of George Lucas, but the hands of fans and authors that worked so hard to create the vast amount of novels and video games that resonate so well with people today.

In 2012, Walt Disney Pictures acquired the LucasFilm company and with it the Star Wars license.  It was sold for the massive sum of 4 billion dollars, most of which was donated by George Lucas to various charities.  When Disney got their hands on Star Wars, we knew that more movies were coming.  What we didn’t know was that Disney would basically pull the plug on the Expanded Universe and make all those stories non-cannon, much to the dismay of many a fan.  To be fair, half of those stories were garbage.  We would essentially be getting a clean slate with Star Wars……or so we thought.  Instead of doing something original with the franchise, Disney/LucasFilm teased us with the announcement of Episode VII, which would eventually be released in 2015 with the title of The Force Awakens.  Here’s the thing though, the episodic movies weren’t the only Star Wars films that Disney was planning.  Oh, no.  Disney had grand plans for expanding the Star Wars universe in its own way with spin-offs.  The first of said spin-offs was Rogue One which released in December of 2016, a year after Episode VII.  The plan was to release a new film every year, as opposed to the old way which was three years between films in a trilogy.  Last December, we got Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, directed by Rian Johnson, a self-professed Star Wars fan.  The audience reaction was literally split down the middle with people either loving the film, like me, or absolutely hating it.  It was not the kind of Star Wars film that people were expecting.  I sure as hell wasn’t expecting it to turn out the way it did, and that added to my enjoyment of the film…..at least for a while.

One of the other spin-off films that Disney had cooking was the origin story of Han Solo, the lovable rogue from the Original Trilogy and Episode VII.  Problems with the film’s production became very, very clear when the film’s original directors, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, were summarily dismissed from the film with 70 percent of it filmed due to “creative differences” with Kathleen Kennedy, the current president of LucasFilm.  Ron Howard of Apollo 13 fame was brought in to “fix” the film, as it were, with massive re-shoots.  There was also the issue of Alden Ehrenreich getting an acting coach, because he was not doing well enough with the role.  Now, before I point my finger at the person responsible for this whole mess, I would like to say that there were moments that I really liked in the movie.  It wasn’t a complete waste of time, but it was clearly a very substandard and generic film, and those are two terms that really shouldn’t be associated with Star Wars.  It’s been reported that due to massive re-shoots and the hiring of Ron Howard, that the budget of Solo ballooned to about 300 million.  Looking at the current numbers at Box Office Mojo, Solo has only managed to earn about 150 million dollars world-wide.  That’s 10 days after the film was released.  What that means is that Solo is the first Star Wars film to bomb at the box office.  It may have something to do with the fact that the film was released only 5 months after The Last Jedi.  People were still dealing with how to react to The Last Jedi, and now we have another to deal with.

Solo’s lackluster performance at the box office highlights a MASSIVE problem at Disney and LucasFilm:  They don’t have a plan for the franchise.  They’re making it up as they go.  The proof is in the pudding with The Last Jedi, as it basically tosses everything we learned in The Force Awakens out the window.  Again, I had no problems with the unpredictability of the film.  The problem is that the film had no direction in which to go.  Disney didn’t have an endgame planned for characters like Luke, Rey and Kylo Ren.  While most people had problems with the social commentary in the film, that wasn’t my issue.  My issue is with the decision to release one Star Wars film a year.  I was worried when they announced that plan, that something like Solo was going to happen.  I call it, “Star Wars Overload.”  Disney and LucasFilm are doing too much with too little time.  Part of what made the Original and Prequel Trilogies successful was the amount of time between films.  That built up anticipation, which was almost as intense as finally seeing the films, regardless of their quality.  That made them event movies.  Now, they’re going to be routine, and routine is…..boring as far as movies go.  Between the social commentary bullshit that was forced into the films and the complete lack of planning and direction, Star Wars is not in a position where it can suffer another failure.  Disney can, as they’ve got more money than God, but the franchise can’t handle another blast.  This is basically putting all the pressure on J.J. Abrams and Episode IX when the film releases next year.

I don’t hate the Disney Star Wars films.  Far from it.  I really enjoyed them, apart from Solo.  However, the difference between Disney’s Star Wars and George Lucas’s Star Wars is night and day.  Lucas had an outline and a direction that he wanted to take his films in.  While the Prequel Trilogies didn’t quite work the way he wanted them to, they still mostly worked story-wise because he had a plan and he followed through with it.  He had it all planned out decades ago, he just didn’t have the technology to achieve it until the late 90’s.  Say what you will about the Prequel Trilogy, at least the prequels had a cohesive story-line that made sense.  It all played out in a way that made sense.  Do we see that from Disney’s films?  No.  I have no idea where they’re going to go with the franchise.  Last I heard, they were going to allow Rian Johnson to write and direct a completely new trilogy of films.  Okay.  THAT sounds like a plan, but what’s their excuse for how these other movies ended up?  I’m pinning the blame on Kathleen Kennedy, whose need to pump movies full of social commentary is going to cause irreparable damage.  People thought that George Lucas was going to destroy Star Wars.  Oh, no.  It’s going to be Ms. Kennedy that does the deed if she doesn’t get things under control.  If Episode IX bombs at the box office, I can almost guarantee you, that Bob Iger, the CEO of Disney, is going to step in and Ms. Kennedy will lose her job.  Ultimately, that may have to happen.  If it doesn’t, I honestly don’t know how much longer I can continue supporting Star Wars.  I will go and see Episode IX, but that may be the last Star Wars film I ever see.    I don’t want to see that happen, as I’m a huge fan of the franchise.  It means so much to so many people, that to see Kennedy dragging it through the mud like this, pisses me off to no end.  Those are just some of my thoughts on the situation.  Agree? Disagree?  Feel free to comment below.

Released: January 2018

Director: Nicolai Fuglsig

Rated R

Run Time: 130 Minutes

Distributor: Warner Bros.

Genre: Action/Drama/History

Cast:
Chris Hemsworth: Captain Mitch Nelson
Michael Shannon: Hal Spencer
Michael Pena: Sam Diller
Navid Negahban: General Dostum
Trevante Rhodes: Ben Milo
Geoff Stults: Sean Coffers
Thad Luckinbill: Vern Michaels
William Fichtner: Colonel Mulholland

When the terrorists struck New York on September 11, 2001, the entire world knew that we were at war.  While it wasn’t the first terrorist attack, it was by far the most devastating.  Yet, despite the enormous tragedy of the situation, the people of the United States and from around the world came together.  While it didn’t last, the only thing that 9/11 really proved was that by coming together, the United States and a huge chunk of the world became a force that Al-Quaida could never hope to defeat.  It wasn’t very long before the US Armed Forces were deployed to the Middle East, specifically Afghanistan and Pakistan, because that’s where military intelligence and the CIA figured that Bin Laden was hiding.  Say what you will about the war in Iraq, but it was the war in Afghanistan that I feel that most people were okay with.  The movie that I bring you today tells the story of the first Special Forces unit that was sent into Afghanistan: The ODA 595 of the 5th Special Forces Group.  The movie: 12 Strong.

The film opens with Captain Mitch Nelson as he moves into a new house with his wife and daughter on September 11, 2001 when he sees on the news that the World Trade Center was hit by planes.  Afterwards, he volunteers to lead the first group of American soldiers into Afghanistan.  Aided by CWO(Chief Warrant Officer)Hal Spencer and a handful of other soldiers, Nelson heads to Afghanistan to meet up with General Dostum, who leads a third of the fractured Northern Alliance.  Their mission: To liberate the Taliban-occupied city of Mazar-I-Sharif.  I never read the Horse Soldiers book, upon which this movie was based, but I did do some research into the actual mission that would eventually cause the Taliban to lose control.  According to some of the soldiers that were there as well as other sources, 12 Strong is surprisingly accurate.  Obviously, with a movie that deals with history, you would expect there to be some artistic and dramatic liberties taken to keep audiences engaged and entertained.  12 Strong is no different.  While I wouldn’t necessarily say that the film is deep in any way, it does highlight one of the most important events in the early days of the War on Terror.  I decided to actually look it up.  It’s really cool that we had Special Forces troops riding horses into battle.  The last time US soldiers rode into battle on horses was 1942.  So, yeah.  That’s awesome.

There were some details that were changed for the movie like some of the soldiers’ names, mostly to protect the soldiers’ identities.  Some of the timeline was not accurate, but again, pacing and keeping the audience engaged were important.  They also got a lot of details right, right down to the hair color and personality of one General Dostum, who would go on to become the vice president of Afghanistan.  The whole scene where they give vodka as a gift to Dostum actually happened.  There were a huge number of details that they got right.  I won’t go into the ones that they got wrong, because those were actually not a huge nitpick.  At least, not for me.  The acting in the film is pretty good with Chris Hemsworth leading the charge as Captain Mitch Nelson.  I have to say, I’ve really gotten to like Chris Hemsworth as an actor, because he really puts everything into whatever he does.  Yeah, he’s known for Thor, but he’s really come into his own as an actor.  Michael Shannon has quickly become one of my favorite actors with roles in Man of Steel and The Shape of Water.  He brings a unique intensity that you tend to gravitate towards, and he is just fantastic as Hal Spencer.  Navid Negahban plays General Dostum, and is genuinely delightful in the role.  You know that the character is a warlord and has changed sides in the past, so you have no idea what he’s going to do.  Once you begin to understand the character’s story, you really begin to understand where he’s coming from and why he is the way he is.  Overall, the acting is really good here.

The action sequences in the film are incredible.  But that’s where I have some minor gripes.  This is a stunning movie.  It’s got some really incredible cinematography.  Apparently New Mexico makes for a pretty decent substitute for Afghanistan and the ruggedness of the terrain is incredible.  This is a Jerry Bruckheimer production, so a lot of the shots and action are pretty slick.  However, I think it’s a little too slick for my taste, especially when you’re dealing with desert warfare with horses.  It’s not as gritty and violent as I think it should be.  Don’t get me wrong, the film is definitely violent and earns its R-rating, but it comes across as a little too clean.  That being said, when things blow up, they blow up.  I would not actually characterize 12 Strong as a war movie.  It’s not gritty or brutal enough.  It’s an action movie through and through.  Depending on how you look at it, that could be a bad thing.  Ultimately, I don’t, because it is a lot of fun to watch and most of the effects and explosions are real.  While there are some slight issues with the action, it’s still pretty solid.

I was rather surprised at how engaged I was with this film.  It really drew me in with its performances, action and overall story.  This was not a story that I had heard before with the Horse Soldiers.  It sounds too incredible to be true, but as they say: Truth is stranger than fiction.  The care and attention to detail that is shown in the film surprised the hell out of me.  This is one of those stories that could have ended up like say….Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor.  Thank god it didn’t, but it could have.  I regret not seeing this one in theaters, but it is one that is worth seeing.  It’s an incredibly true story that needed to be told, and while the actual mission was declassified shortly after it happened, not a lot of people knew about it.  There is a monument to the Horse Soldiers of the 595 in New York City.

My respect and admiration for the US Armed Forces will always be there, regardless of where our politicians send them.  I hope it’s for the right reasons, but even so, knowing that they put their lives on the line to protect our way of life is not a feeling I can describe.  I just hope that they earn the respect and admiration of the American people, regardless of politics and creed.  12 Strong is a movie about the courage of 12 men who went up against incredible odds and succeeded, and I think that’s something to be proud of.

My Final Recommendation: 9/10