Project Grizzly

Dir: Peter Lynch

1996

*****

Project Grizzly is one of my favorite documentaries of all time, although it takes certain liberties. I’m not sure how well Troy Hurtubise was treated either, although he has become a hero to everyone who has seen it. Hurtubise is a scrap-metal merchant turned inventor, a successful man but still somewhat troubled by an encounter with a grizzly bear during a camping trip in 1984. Since said encounter, which he was lucky to survive, he has become obsessed with developing a bear-proof suit. The film follows Hurtubise for five months as he finally develops the "Ursus Mark VI” through its final stages. The Ursus Mark VI is a huge suit of amour inspired by the film RoboCop, although it looks a lot more like the ED-209 had a baby with Metal Mickey (google it kids). It cost $150,000 to make and is fast becoming an obsession gone too far. As he finishes the suit, it goes through a vigorous set of resilience tests. This sees Hurtubise throwing himself in front of moving cars and standing in front of giant logs that are swung from trees (Ewok style). These tests, while important, seem to get bigger, sillier and go on for some time, as if Hurtubise is stalling. Eventually, Hurtubise sets off to the forest to look for a bear to attack him, leading to a humbling and hilarious conclusion. At this point it should be said that this is all true and not a faux-documentary (or Mockumentry). It’s clear that director Peter Lynch is in it for the human interest side of the story and he does make the most of Hurtubise’s colourful nature. Hurtubise would later criticise the film for making fun of him but a legion of fans reminded him that he is a legend soon after. A year following the film, Hurtubise was awarded the 1998 Ig Nobel Prize for Safety Engineering by the scientific humor journal Annals of Improbable Research, which he accepted in good humour. To be fair to Hurtubise, the Ursus Mark VI isn’t his only invention. He also invented Firepaste and Angel Light. Firepaste is a white paste that, when dry, is flame and heat resistant. It has a consistency and texture similar to clay when wet and dries into a gray ceramic material which resembles concrete. The impetus for firepaste came from a failed fire test with the Ursus Mark VII where the metal exoskeleton heated up, popped the air bags and left Hurtubise with numerous burns. For a demonstration for the media and military in summer 2004, he made a thin mask of the material, put it over his face, and aimed a specialized blowtorch at thousands of degrees directly at the mask. The temperature was intentionally much hotter than the temperatures reached by the Space Shuttle on reentry. A thermometer located between his face and the mask measured no appreciable temperature change below the mask after nearly ten minutes, and the integrity of the material stood strong. Angel Light, according to Hurtubise, is a device that makes walls, hands, stealth shielding, and other objects transparent. He claims that beams from the device have the side-effects of frying electronic devices and killing goldfish. After testing the device on his own hand, Hurtubise claims he could see his own blood vessels and muscle tissue as clearly as if the skin had been pulled back, but the beam caused numbness and he began to feel ill. He also claims to be able to read the license-plate on a car in his garage from his workshop and see the road salt on it. There are no pictures or any sort of objective, verifiable evidence to support these claims made by Hurtubise but at this stage I could never doubt the man, I totally believe in him. He’s Canada’s finest. You know you’ve done something right when you’re parodied in an episode of The Simpsons anyway. This film is hilarious and full of entertainment value but it also has a lot of heart. Hurtubise is an endearing character, full of energy that it is impossible not to feed off. I feel that he might have been taken advantage of somewhat but I believe he has profited from it, at least, it has been advantageous towards some of his later projects. It’s a glorious film, overlooked by most but adored by all who see it.

Howard the Duck
Dir: Willard Huyck
1986
****
Howard the Duck has been referred to as one of the worst films of all time. It isn’t. Sure it was nominated for seven Razzie Awards but then so was Saturn 3, Megaforce, Jaws: The Revenge and Cobra. None of these films were meant to be masterpieces (although all of them are) and none of them are the worst of worst (far from it) and over time each film has become a cult classic. In fact I would probably rather watch these films over whatever film won the Oscar in the year they were released. That said, Howard the Duck was slightly different than those other films. Howard was already a popular Marvel comic character at this point with a steady following of fans who enjoyed his surreal adventures and silver-tonged insults. What made Howard the Duck a bad film in the technical sense was that it was a poor adaptation. Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz were lucky in that they went to film school with George Lucas. Don’t get me wrong, they were both talented and their scripts for American Graffiti and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom are both classics, it’s just that they would probably been unable to get Howard the Duck made if it weren’t for Lucas. No one liked their script but they remained determined to get it made. I love THX 1138 and of course Star Wars but there was a whole lot of luck and outside involvement that made those films as great as they are. Huyck and Katz strongly felt that the film should be animated but when Lucas went to Universal Studios he had a contractual obligation in place that required him to provide a live-action film. It was of course made through ILM, Lucas’ own company. Huyck and Katz still wanted an animated film but had to swallow the live-action idea – it was all or nothing. The film was optioned by Universal Studios after a partnership with Marvel Comics. Sidney Sheinberg lobbied very hard for Howard the Duck because the studio had passed on previous projects in which Lucas was involved, which had been very successful. Sheinberg denied that he never read the screenplay but Universal Studios picked it up anyway, banking on Lucas’ good fortune. In the comic Howard was wise-cracking and a little obnoxious. The comic appealed because it featured absurdist surrealism and was totally unique at the time, making it one of Marvel’s great alternative characters. The new ‘nice’ version of Howard was worlds apart from the Howard of the comics, the only thing them having in common was the fact that they were both ducks. Making the film live-action was Lucas’ bad but everyone involved was guilty of something. Huyck and Katz wrote the worst story they possibly could, bizarre when they both admitted to being hard-core fans of the comics and had talked about making the film for many years. Katz hired the legendary John Barry to score the film but at the last minute she deemed it too old-fashioned so hired Sylvester Levay to re-score the whole thing. They must have had money to burn, don’t get me wrong, I love Sylvester Levay and his Airwolf theme is one of the greatest ever written but you don’t simply hire the great John Barry and then bin him and his work because it’s old-fashioned. You have to wonder whether how many great films haven’t been made since thanks to the thrivelous behaviour of these semi-talented mavericks from the 1980s who cost the studios millions. It seemed that everyone involved were so caught up in the details that they totally forgot the fundamentals of film making, the story being the most important. However, every bad film has a shot at redemption and Howard’s charm is impossible to resist. I was a kid in 1986 and I loved it. My parents watched it with me with twisted faces but I loved it and still do today. I love it despite its very obvious faults and old lady nostalgia embraces me once more with every watch. Howard reading Playduck still makes me chuckle and I’m still strangely attracted to the naked lady duck in the bath. It was Lea Thompson’s worst film at that point after classics such as Back to the Future, Jaws 3D, Red Dawn, All the Right Moves and Space Camp and her career took a huge hit because of it (NB - People who say it’s her worst film clearly haven’t seen 2014’s Left Behind). George Lucas also took a hit and Huyck and Katz haven’t been involved with that much since. I thought it was pretty low to nominate the actors that played Howard for worst performers at the Razzies but then I have little respect for them anyway.Tim Robbins came out of it unscathed somehow but generally it was a financial and critical disaster. I would argue that us kids, the film’s target audience, loved it. I think Lucas knew this too and he always said that it would be considered a classic thirty years later and he is sort of right. No 1986 adult will change their mind about it and I don’t expect kids today to understand but we seven year-olds of ’86 stand firm and agree that it isn’t the worst film ever made, no sir, it isn’t even close.

The Stranger

Dir: Orson Welles

1946

*****

The Stranger is a great noir thriller that is very much a film of its time, its subject matter making it a rather fascinating piece of historical fiction. Released and set in 1946, the film starring Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young and Orson Welles followed the investigation of a war crimes investigator who tracks a high-ranking Nazi fugitive to a New England town where he has changed his identity and hides in full view. It is noted to be the first Hollywood film to present documentary footage of the Holocaust and would have been the first time many had seen such images. Produced by Sam Spiegel The Stranger was the last International Pictures Production distributed by RKO Pictures. Spiegel initially planned to hire John Huston to direct but Huston entered the military, so Orson Welles was given the chance and prove himself able to make a film on schedule and under budget - something he was so eager to do after issues and a reputation he had made for himself following his previous work. He was so keen in fact that he accepted a disadvantageous contract that saw he and his wife Rita Hayworth sign a guarantee that he would owe International Pictures any of his earnings, from any source, above $50,000 a year if he did not meet his contractual obligations. He also agreed to defer to the studio in any creative dispute. A huge commitment to a creative genius such as Welles but it worked, although The Stranger is never regarded as highly as his other works. He later spoke of editor Ernest J. Nims who was given the power to cut any material he considered extraneous from the script before shooting began. "He was the great supercutter," Welles said, "who believed that nothing should be in a movie that did not advance the story. And since most of the good stuff in my movies doesn't advance the story at all, you can imagine what a nemesis he was to me.” Welles still managed to re-write the script and many of the ideas he came up with made it into the final cut. The film follows Mr. Wilson (Edward G. Robinson) of the United Nations War Crimes Commission as he hunts down a Nazi fugitive Franz Kindler (Orson Welles), a war criminal who has erased all evidence which might identify him, with no clue left to his identity except a hobby that almost amounts to a mania - clocks. Wilson had released Kindler's former associate, hoping that he would lead him to Kindler. Wilson follows him to the United States, to the town of Harper, Connecticut, but loses him before he meets with Kindler. Kindler, who has assumed a new identity and is known locally as Charles Rankin, finds his former associate and kills him in the woods. He has become a prep school teacher and is about to marry Mary Longstreet (Loretta Young), daughter of Supreme Court Justice Adam Longstreet and is involved in repairing the town's 300-year-old clock. As Mr. Wilson gets to know those around him, Kindler gets more and more panicked, leading to a climatic conclusion. Unlike most war films, The Stranger directly acknowledges the atrocities committed by having Mr. Wilson play film reel to the other characters to show them just what the man he is searching for is capable of. It’s a stirring scene that hasn’t softened any after all these years. The story is notable for many historical reasons and the directorial techniques used in the film were unique at the time. In the shot where Wilson plays checkers with Potter the pharmacist (and town gossip in some respects), you can look behind Potter and see a mirror behind him, and through the mirror see Potter and Wilson again, and then see the window behind the camera, and see through that window to cars, buildings and natural sunlight. It was something truly radical in film at the time and just one of many fascinating techniques used in the film. International Pictures backed out of its promised four-picture deal with Welles. No reason was given, but the impression was left that The Stranger would not make money but it did. It was to be Welles’ only box office hit in his entire career but the critics of the day were rather cold about it. However, after all these years of reflection it is seen as a classic, a fascinating and unique film noir that broke new ground without anyone noticing it seems until years later.

Kenny

Dir: Clayton Jacobson

2006

****

Kenny was quite popular when it came out in 2006 but somehow it’s become almost forgotten. While it may have been influenced by The Office, I would argue that Shane Jacobson’s mockumentary is somewhat superior as it features just one subject throughout the course of an entire feature film, while The Office dealt with many separate issues that just so happened to happen within an office. Kenny came across as something of a refreshing change from the usual ‘Aussie bloke’ comedy and as well as being consistently funny, there is also something weirdly captivating about the subject matter and some truth to what Kenny tells his audience. Kenny is ‘The Dalai-Lama’ of Waste Management, eternally optimistic and always ready to put others before himself. The film, shot like a documentary, follows the fictional Kenny through his daily life. His work and his personal relationships are explored as he goes about his day-to-day activities and speaks directly to the camera and his audience. Kenny provides a most basic service to the community, portable toilets. The audience sees Kenny interviewing potential clients and working at major public events. The film has great detail to it and is far from the ‘poo jokes only’ comedy it may appear to be. It is important to Kenny to know the kind of food and drink to be served at these events as this will determine the level of service he provides. Never ashamed of his job, despite the disparagement of some (including his own family), Kenny regards himself as a professional. Even at the most prestigious events for which he caters, Kenny realises that the most glamorous will need his portable toilets. He sees life in all of its complexities through the need of his services – at the end of the day and no matter who you are and where you come from, we all need to poop. It’s one of life’s levelers. When Kenny travels to Nashville to attend a toilet convention, he is thrilled to travel outside his native Melbourne. His ingenuity, friendship and commitment to his profession opens business opportunities in Japan and the potential for a new relationship with Jackie, a flight attendant, but he must return home prematurely when his father suffers a medical emergency. In an early scene we see Kenny take his son Jesse to visit his father, only to be hampered by his ex-wife's uncooperativeness and his father's bitterness towards him. In an attempt at bonding, Kenny and his father and his wealthy brother David go camping. After half a day, David leaves in disdain, to which Kenny tries to defend prompting his father to tell Kenny to step out of his brothers shadow and stick up for himself, a conversation with his father back in the tent prompts Kenny to consider his life. He reveals that his success in Nashville has led to the offer of a promotion, and though his father urges him to accept, Kenny is unsure. When Kenny's ex-wife unexpectedly leaves him with Jesse on the day of the Melbourne Cup, his busiest day of the year, Kenny finds Jesse to be an able and cheerful assistant. However, prejudice against his work again appears, with customers complaining that a child should not be made to clean toilets, and Kenny remands Jesse to the office. When he returns to find Jesse gone, Kenny searches the venue in a panic and eventually finds Jesse at the toilets, wanting to help again. That night, as he is about to drive away in his septic tank truck after a long and exhausting day, Kenny's way is blocked by a luxury car whose driver insensitively brushes off his requests to move. Kenny eventually breaks habit to fill the man's car with human waste, a suggestion that perhaps Kenny has decided to stick up for himself a little bit more. It’s genuinely one of the most heartwarming comedies of the last few decades. Shane Jacobson is charming and about as likable as anyone can be as Kenny. What I also liked about the film is that it was for the little man, the blue collar worker and every-man. The film is quite unusual in that almost all of the events, companies and products referenced are actually real. Kenny's company Splashdown is a preexisting business that inspired creation of the film who also cooperated in its production. The Pumper and Cleaner Environmental Expo International exists just as shown, and the magazines, companies, and products shown at the show weren't creations for the film. So in many respects the film, even though a comedy, actually pays homage to the people and acts as a jokey tribute that rings true for many. It’s about as likable as you can get and damn near impossible to fault. If the film doesn’t tickle you then maybe the fact that Kenny’s first screening was held in the Southern Victorian town of Poowong will.

Push

Dir: Paul McGuigan

2009

*

2009’s Push is a fantasy action film of sorts that features people with special powers fighting with one another. It’s not a superhero film, it’s not much of a thriller, it has action in it but isn’t the best action film and it is about as formulaic as it gets. An exciting premise but a woefully dull film. Chris Evans plays Nick, a guy in his late twenties who has been on the run and in hiding ever since his father was killed by a secret government agency that likes to experiment on people with secret superhuman abilities. These superhuman abilities are separated into categories. They include; Watchers – who have the ability to foresee the future to varying degrees enhanced by consumption of alcohol; Movers – people with telekinetic powers basically, they can throw stuff at you without having to lift their arms; Pushers – people with the ability to implant memories in others, leading to the film’s only good bit; Bleeders – the most bizarre of all the powers, Bleeders have the ability to smash glass and burst people’s blood vessels when they scream (they have a tendency to break fish tanks); Sniffs - Sniffs are highly developed psychometrics who can track the location of people or objects over varying distances just by sniffing objects they have come in contact with (they have a penchant for tooth brushes); Shifters – they can temporarily alter the appearance of an object by manipulating patterns of light interacting with it, like changing the colour of a suitcase; Wipers – the most unfortunately named of the superhumans, Wipers are skilled at either temporarily or permanently erasing other people’s memories; Shadows - trained to block the visions of other clairvoyants, such as Sniffs, by diverting the attention of the target radius so that they "flicker" through different locations other than the subject's actual whereabouts; Stitches - psychic healers trained to quickly reconstruct cells to their previous or healthy state. Cool super abilities you might think, but the problem is that the Watchers are rubbish at predicting the future; the Movers don’t move much; the Bleeders are hilarious, when they are supposed to be feared; the Sniffs come across as pant-sniffing deviants; the Shifters have a woeful lack of imagination; the Wipers are a bit rubbish and a bit redundant compared to the Pushers; the Shadows are a bit boring and the Stitches make everything seem less dangerous and therefore less exciting. The Pushers are the most interesting of the super persons but again, their lack of imagination lets them down. There is one great scene whereby a Pusher gets one up on a Sniffer but it is short and the level of excitement is never repeated. The story is thin and full of holes, director Paul McGuigan – a director I really like – said that he did a lot of research into secret Cold War experiments and that there is a lot of truth to the film. I call bovine fecal matter on that. He set the film in Hong Kong, saying that he was inspired to do so by the classic 1940s film Casablanca – Casablanca being a den for scoundrels in the 1930s. McGuigan suggested Hong Kong in the 2000’s was the Casablanca of the day, insulting seven million people in one go. McGuigan also stated that he kept the special effects to a minimum, recalling the great directors who didn’t have such effects at their disposal but made up for it with their imaginations. He also film much of the film guerrilla-style, making it look like it was directed by a bunch of kids on their Dad’s video camera. It is possibly the most uninteresting action-thriller I’ve ever seen. The story is convoluted and puzzling but I didn’t feel too upset about feeling a bit lost because after just a few minutes I realised that I really didn’t care that much. The problem with having so many characters with various different abilities is that the writers forgot who could do what and why they were doing what they were doing. For instance, Nick’s ex-girlfriend is looking for him to seek his help. As soon as she finds him she starts shooting at him until he manages to stop her. Later in the film she is convinced by a Pusher that he is the bad guy, and one begins to realise that the film is so poorly edited and so ridiculously convoluted, that the writers have clearly confused themselves, all continuity has gone out the window and what is left is a huge mess of running around, lifeless action scenes and a load of exploding fish tanks.

Ocean's 8

Dir: Gary Ross

2018

**

It’s impossible for me to review 2018’s Ocean’s 8 without addressing the issue around the hype the film has acquired regarding its all female cast. It’s ridiculous really. Much like 2016’s Ghostbusters, Ocean’s 8 caused rifts within the film watching/reviewing community. I, like many, suggested that a remake was not needed and was largely unwanted. I didn’t care that the cast was all female. Ghostbusters made no sense, the original was a classic and you don’t mess with classics. However, as far as Ocean’s 11 went, I was fine with it, especially when Steven Soderburgh’s first Ocean’s film was a remake itself. Actually, that’s not quite accurate, I’m against remakes in general but when I learned that Ocean’s 8 was actually a spin off I was absolutely fine with it. The link between Soderburgh’s Ocean films is far from tenuous and it works, or at least it works as much as you can believe George Clooney and Sandra Bullock are brother and sister. I don’t use the word ‘actress’ in my reviews, I use the word ‘actor’. I review films based on merit rather than on the sex, race or persuasion of the the actors/characters and what the story is about. Isn’t it tragic that in 2018 I feel I have to explain this before my review? As colour blind and, erm, sex-blind as I am in my reviews, I am still bothered by the lack of diversity and the roles and character many groups get given. I hate stereotype and I call it out for what it is whenever I see it. I’m all for a black James Bond – I can think of quite a few black actors who would be great in fact – but I wouldn’t want a female James Bond. I would want a female actor to create their own version of James Bond, with their own world and character traits. Simply switching male and female roles while telling the same story is stupid and far from empowering. It’s like being handed second-hand roles, how is that a positive for women's rights? Ghostbusters 2016 should have been a spin off, it would have caused far less fuss if it had been. Ignore the idiots on social media, some people just have little imagination and far too much time on their hands. I’m going to tell you in a minute how I didn’t like Ocean’s 8 and I’m going to explain why I didn’t like it – it has nothing to do with the all female cast. In fact, I’m going to be honest and say that Ocean’s 8 is on par with 2001’s Ocean’s 11, that is, it is bland, full of holes and not as great as the sum of its parts. That said, it’s far better than Ocean’s 12 but not quite as satisfying as Ocean’s 13. Would an all male cast have made for a better film? No, not at all, it would have been just as uninteresting and predictable. If anyone thinks that Ocean’s 8, that comes a whole seventeen years after Ocean’s 11 I might add, is an empowering film for women and female actors then they need their heads checked because it is nothing of the sort. There were many moments of the film that I really liked but each one was met with a moment I really hated which immediately cancelled it out. I thought the structure was way too formulaic and the characters didn’t have enough development – just like in 2001. I liked the chemistry between Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett and they were both great in their roles. Mindy Kaling was criminally underused and her character underdeveloped – weird when she had stated she would love to be in a female version of Ocean’s 11 years before it was a thing. Sarah Paulson was great during the heist scenes but her character made little sense overall. Awkwafina’s character made less sense as the skill she was hired for was never really used. I remain unconvinced by Rihanna and Helena Bonham Carter’s characters and performances. Anne Hathaway played the diva quite well but I hate how her character entered the story and the fact that the heist takes place at the Met Gala and is opened by Anna Wintour. It was too close to The Devil Wears Prada and I couldn’t get it out of my head because of her casting. The heist itself is full of holes but then so are all the Ocean films. Maybe if the film had tried something a little different it would have had more of an impact. I loved the Elliott Gould cameo, it brought the films together cleverly, but I hated that in the end they had to reply on Shaobo Qin’s character to pull off the robbery. Qin’s stunt at the end of 2001’s Ocean’s 11 is the sense that ruined that film for me, so it was disappointing to see it done again here. I’m glad the Matt Damon cameo that was filmed was cut from the finished film as the film really should have been left for the new cast but I am sad that the scenes Carl Reiner shot were eventually axed. I was on the fence at this point and overall it was just about a three star film in my opinion but then James Corden happened. I despise him and have no idea why he’s famous and successful. He brought a three star film down to a two star film, ironic that a male actor would ruin a film hyped as an empowering female-led movie (and a male director with no panache for that matter). The budget clearly went on the actors salaries and not on the set or script. Apart from one wonderful line where Sandra Bullock’s Debbie Ocean (sister of George Clooney’s Danny Ocean – who is supposedly dead) says something along the lines of not doing the job for the money or for themselves but for every little eight-year old girl who lies in bed dreaming of one day becoming a criminal, the script is forgettable. The screenplay is so simple its shocking, particularly of a heist film. The huge problem with it is that its predictable. You can argue about equality and representation all you want but at the end of the day a heist film has to be: Clever, full of suspense and unpredictable. Ocean’s Eight is none of the above. The only good thing about it is its main cast – who are given a rubbish script and undeveloped characters to work with. I gave Ocean's 11 a three star review and the truth is that Ocean's 8 is just as good, however, it has had seventeen years to improve the format and it hasn't, so it automatically becomes a lesser film, thus a two star rated film.

Black Mama, White Mama

Dir: Eddie Romero

1972

****

Many Exploitation and Blaxploitation films blend into one, indeed, the women in prison sub-genre featured the same stories and the same actors. Pam Grier had made several tropical prison films, including The Big Doll House (also with Sid Haig), its non-sequel follow-up The Big Bird Cage and Women in Cages, while Margaret Markov had appeared in The Hot Box. Both would go on to star along each other once more in The Arena (aka Naked Warriors) where they played prisoners who would have to fight like gladiators for their survival. These films are pure  Exploitation and are for the titillation of men. Most of these films, love them or hate them, tend to follow the same structure and you’d be forgiven for mistaking one for another. However, I believe that Eddie Romero’s 1973 women in prison film Black Mama, White Mama has far more going for it than the others. I’m a huge fan of the genre and guerrilla film making in general and like it or not, modern cinema was built on Exploitation films, learning what to and what not to do. It’s influence can be seen everywhere. Black Mama, White Mama is women in prison, Exploitation and Blaxploitation but its also very much about empowerment. Male Blaxploitation films are generally about taking power, while most female Blaxploitation and or course Exploitation films, are about female submission. The girls often get revenge in the end but again, a lot of the time the punishment they inflict on their male keepers is there to titillate the male viewer. In Black Mama, White Mama there is a strong feminist and Black Power message. It certainly passes the Bechdel test which asks whether a work of fiction features at least two women who talk to each other about something other than a man even though the film’s tagline was "Chicks in chains... and nothing in common but the hunger of 1,000 nights without a man!”. I’m not sure whether the intention was for the film to be misleading with a strong black and feminist message – I hope it was – but it remained overlooked for some years by critics of the day who still only saw it as more Exploitation trash. In retrospect its actually a significant piece of historical cinema – I kid you not. Both of the films' leads are strong women. Moreover, Karen Brent is a guerrilla fighter and Lee Daniels masterminds a scheme to screw over the misogynistic pimp Vic Cheng. Although Karen is the only female present in the guerrilla force, she is essential to their cause, as she is the only one that has the connections to the weapons dealers, and the only one those dealers trust. She also is seen firing a gun right alongside Ernesto, the guerrilla leader. Throughout the film, Pam Grier is an intriguing mixture of pugnacity and femininity, with a heavy dose of world-weary cynicism" despite the movie itself being somewhat listless and the strength of both women outshine most of the male characters. Grier's screen presence overshadowed the one-dimensional roles that focused on her physical attributes and the weak story-lines in most typical Exploitations. Pam Grier's character Lee also escapes from her former pimp with $40,000 of his money, while the pimp and his henchmen are all killed. Not only that, but when the pair is sexually assaulted by Luis in his work shed midway through the film, Lee stabs him to death. These victories of a strong woman over her misogynistic abusers is nothing short of feminist. Grier is now a cult figure and one of the very few women who has had films developed with her in mind that emphasizes her physical beauty and also her ability to take retribution on men who challenged her – no more so than in Black Mama, White Mama. The title makes reference to both women’s colour but this film is about feminism, it’s subtle and obvious at the same time. The overall structure of the film is modeled on the Sidney Poitier/Tony Curtis film The Defiant ones that saw two men, one black and one white, overlook their prejudices and work together in order to escape prison. However, in Black Mama, White Mama, Grier and Markov don’t just escape, they flourish and right some wrongs. I really don’t know how much of this was intentional or serendipitous but the fact remains that Black Mama, White Mama is a more prestigious Exploitation film and in another league than the other women in prison films.

Ingrid Goes West

Dir: Matt Spicer

2017

****

Matt Spicer and David Branson Smith’s 2017 comedy Ingrid Goes West is a delicious little dark comedy that is all the better for it’s subtlety. The story’s conclusion is about as troubling as it gets, and yet, it feels like a happy ending and that our protagonist has finally succeeded in doing something positive when the opposite is true. A true test of our society and the the type of people the film is dealing with would be to know just how many of them understood it and recognised it as a satire. If the youth of today understand Ingrid Goes West then maybe satire isn’t dead after all. I’ve seen Aubrey Plaza in a few films now – and I have always liked her – but here she really proves herself worthy of playing a leading character. She carries the film, every other character – although all played well – are easy, while her’s clearly wasn’t a walk in the park to get right. She convinced me that she was a functioning girl with a mental illness, something that is almost always treated badly in Hollywood. The mentally ill are pretty much always either depicted as dribbling loons in straight jackets or wide-eyed potential murderers who live next door. Plaza’s Ingrid had a desperation about her, she’s actually no different than characters seen in films such as The Devil Wears Prada or Confessions of a Shopaholic – characters with clear mental health issues which are never addressed. Ingrid’s illness is far more interesting here as it is believable and connected with modern society and the generation known as the millennials. Now I don’t like labeling people (it’s a Generation X thing), but the Instagram gang are a worrying bunch who seem to think they’re part of a movement, when they are in fact consumers buying into a corporate entity. Taking a picture of one’s self is nothing new but it has turned into something disturbingly self-centred and now the awkward teenager has been replaced with the ultra-confident, over-enthusiastic, self-loving, self-serving narcissists. Ingrid just wants to be loved, and yet she is the mentally ill one. Although she certainly isn’t without her faults. The story begins with Ingrid discovering on Instagram that an unrequited friend of hers named Charlotte did not invite her to her wedding. Ingrid races over there and crashes the reception and pepper sprays her in the face and calls her a c-word for not inviting her. It’s one hell of an introduction. She then undergoes treatment and has a brief stay at a mental hospital. She certainly seems better. With her mother now dead, no job and living in a big empty house, Ingrid becomes bored. Ingrid then learns of a social media influencer named Taylor Sloane (Elizabeth Olsen) while reading a magazine article. Beguiled by her seemingly perfect life, Ingrid comments on one of her photographs and receives a slight response from Sloane. With an inheritance of over $60,000 from her deceased mother, Ingrid decides to move to Los Angeles to become friends with Taylor. Upon arrival, she rents a house in Venice from Dan Pinto (O'Shea Jackson Jr.), an aspiring screenwriter with an obsession for Batman Forever. She visits Taylor's regular hangouts and restaurants, and gets a makeover in her style.Then, after randomly running into Taylor at one of her favorite book stores, Ingrid follows her to her house and kidnaps her dog Rothko. She returns Rothko to Taylor the next day, officially meeting her and her husband Ezra. Ingrid accepts their offer to stay for dinner, where they become acquainted. The next day, Ingrid borrows Dan's truck to help Taylor move some items to her home in Joshua Tree (the same location where they filmed the terrible The Howling: New Moon werewolf fans!). Later that night, Taylor reveals she wants to buy a small house in Joshua Tree and convert it into a boutique hotel. Soon after, Ingrid damages Dan's truck while driving under the influence. She returns late, causing Dan to miss a table read of his screenplay. Ingrid promises to reimburse him and take him out to dinner. Later that night, after bonding over their past losses, the two have sex and begin a relationship. The next day at Taylor and Ezra's house, Ingrid meets Taylor's brother Nicky, a recovering drug addict. Taylor dismisses her previous plans with Ingrid to attend a party with Nicky, furthering Ingrid's disdain for him. Later, at a get-together at fashion blogger Harley Chung's (played by a silent Pom Klementieff) house, Ingrid becomes envious of Taylor and Harley's relationship. Ingrid also begins to realize that several aspects of Taylor's persona are fabricated. Nicky finds Ingrid's phone with incriminating photographs that reveal her obsession with Taylor. He blackmails her, in exchange for money. As retaliation, Ingrid devises a plan to feign domestic abuse and blame Nicky. Telling Dan that Nicky beat her, she begs him to not tell the police in fear of what Nicky may do to him; she instead convinces him to kidnap and terrorize Nicky to keep him quiet. Nicky escapes his bindings and attacks Dan, leading Ingrid to attack Nicky with a crowbar. After Dan is hospitalized, Ingrid tries to call Taylor, but Ezra answers and tells Ingrid that Nicky has told them what happened. He relates that Taylor does not want to hear from Ingrid again and that she would have been arrested if Nicky had not been trying to hide his own crimes. Desperate, Ingrid moves into the small house next door to Taylor – the one she so desperately wanted to buy for herself - using the last of her inheritance. Unable to pay the bills, she eventually loses power at the house. After noticing a nearby Halloween party at Taylor's house, she dons a bed sheet and wig and crashes the party to charge her cellphone. When discovered, Ingrid berates Nicky, Ezra, and Taylor. Taylor responds by saying that because of her façade, the two were never truly friends, and suggests Ingrid seeks professional help. Bereft, Ingrid retreats to her home surrounded by lit candles and records a video for her Instagram page, confessing her loneliness before overdosing on pills. Ingrid survives the suicide attempt because Dan saw her video and called emergency services. She wakes in the hospital to learn that her video has gone viral, and thousands of strangers have responded to her hashtag #iamingrid to show support. Feeling loved, Ingrid smiles, leaving the audience with a feeling of joy that she survived and an awkward feeling of elation because she has suddenly got everything she’s always wanted but also feeling disturbed by the fact that what led to her suicide in the first place isn’t addressed and her illness will only be fueled more. It’s the perfect depiction of how a lot of social media works and the people who use it more than they should. It’s a dark comedy but there is also something quite profound about it. Social media might not be your thing but Ingrid and her situation raises many ethical questions about society in general, how people are treated and what people desire. Everyone wants to be loved, but is it harder these days to build meaningful relationships or are we all just fairweather friends? Is everything now virtual rather than real? It’s a question that isn’t pushed but rather teased into the story. I think you get as much out of the film as you allow yourself to but the conclusion is far from open to interpretation, it is wonderful, dark and deliciously disturbing.

Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay

Dir: Sam Liu

2018

****

The DC films made by Warner Bros. Animation are sometimes hit and miss but moreover they are average. Sam Liu seems to be their director of choice and I have to say his films are generally the best of the bunch, although you can never really match the greatness of the early Batman animations of the 1990s. Since then the characters have had their ups and downs and many of the direct graphic novel adaptations have been questionable. It’s always best to have an original idea in my opinion and if you do adapt something, make sure it isn’t anything too popular or iconic. Instead of basing the story on anything that already existed, the story ties-in with Justice League: Flashpoint Paradox but is its own thing. I would argue that it is the best Suicide Squad film so far, making far more sense than the 2016 live-action version. It wasn’t afraid to dabble in a bit of ultra-violent and the characters felt right. The legendary DC animation writer Alan Burnett wasn’t afraid to pull and punches on his last project before his retirement and, apart from a few dodgy moments of animation, Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay is one of the best DC films from Warner Bros. Animation from the studio yet. It’s the 4th DC animation to get an adult rating and so it should, I’m pleased that everyone involved realises that this is how it is in the comic so this is how it should be in the animated films. I would argue that it is their most authentic film yet. I certainly never thought I’d ever see Punch and Jewelee make it to the screen that’s for sure and it was nice to see Professor Pyg make an appearance. Having Doctor Fate now working as a male-stripper was a mark of genius and the sort of thing Suicide Squad should be all about, rather than what we saw in 2016 in the big screen. The film start off with Amanda Waller dispatching the Task Force X, consisting of Deadshot, Count Vertigo, Black Manta and criminal couple Punch and Jewelee to recover a flash drive containing leaked intelligence from Tobias Whale. Vertigo and Jewelee betray the team and kill Punch - an unexpected twist that made the film interesting from the outset. Having become lovers in jail, they plan to copy the flash drive and sell it but Waller overhears everything through Deadshot's communicator so Waller detonates Vertigo's head bomb and Deadshot mercy-kills Jewelee. Bang - cue the intro credits. Meanwhile in Gotham City, Professor Pyg is just about to do a touch of plastic surgery to Harvey Dent (AKA Harvey Two-Face) to make the evil side of his face the same on both sides, but is kidnapped by Scandal Savage and Knockout before be can begin. It’s nice to see relatively new characters such as Scandal Savage and Knockout make their animated debuts and it nice to see that their characters are authentic, particularly that they are lesbians in a relationship with one another. Meanwhile, Waller discovers that she is diagnosed with a terminal illness and reassembles Task Force X with a new roster: Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, Killer Frost, Copperhead, and Bronze Tiger. Once again, the characters are authentic and I would argue that this is the best representation of Copperhead for a long time. Their mission: to find a man named Steel Maxum and retrieve a mystical black card emblazoned "Get Out of Hell Free." In order to remain undercover, the team embarks on their trip in a large RV and I have to say there is nothing more satisfying than watching Copperhead driving a large family automobile while the other sleep and play cards (DC does have a sense of humour after all). The humour doesn’t stop there either, for when the team discover Steel Maxum they discover that not only is he a male stripper, but he was also once Doctor Fate. The strip-club soon gets invaded by Professor Zoom, Silver Banshee and Blockbuster who are also after the magic card. The squad escape with Maxum and he explains that the card allows the user to bypass Hell and gain access to Heaven but it can only be used once. Scandal and Knockout stole the card from the Tower of Fate, which resulted in Maxum being stripped of his title by Nabu. Upon finding Scandal and Knockout's apartment, the team acquires the card, but they are intercepted by Vandal Savage and his men. Savage retrieves the card but leaves the wounded Knockout to die despite Scandal's pleas. As Savage escapes, Zoom places a tracer on his ship. Deadshot visits his estranged daughter Zoe but is forcibly retrieved by Tiger. Next day, Zoom's henchmen kidnap Frost at a gas station. Zoom removes Frost's bomb by waving his hands over her head really fast and convinces her to join him. Zoom lures the Squad into a trap and detonates the bomb. They manage to escape, but Tiger is heavily injured in the blast. Scandal covertly informs Deadshot of Vandal's location and the Squad infiltrates his lair but are captured. Savage reveals that he had Pyg surgically implant the card into his chest cavity so they can’t kill him, otherwise he will go to heaven and the card would be useless. Zoom and his henchmen attack and remove the card from Savage's body with Zoom’s super fast hands, killing him. Zoom explains that he was killed by Batman in another timeline and reveals a massive hole in the middle of his head. He managed to stay alive by calling on the Speed Force, the same force that makes him do the speedy hand thing. Frost double-crosses Zoom, killing Silver Banshee and Blockbuster and stealing the card for ransom. Copperhead fights Frost until Waller detonates his bomb and kills them both. Captain Boomerang attempts to steal the card but is incapacitated by Zoom. Tiger battles Zoom, but Zoom slices him multiple times with a small dagger. Tiger, dying from blood loss, uses the last of his strength to cut the card from Zoom's fingers. Deadshot kills Zoom and gives the card to Tiger, who dies and ascends to Heaven. With only Captain Boomerang and Harley Quinn remaining alive in his team, Deadshot gives the now-useless card to the unsuspecting Waller before leaving. Having served his time, Deadshot visits his daughter Zoe as a free man. The only thing that was predictable about the film was that Deadshot, Captain Boomerang and Harley Quinn would survive, I’m glad to say that everyone else died magnificently. The animation was patchy in places but overall it was good. The voice acting was also good but I didn’t recognise Christian Slater’s voice at all as Deadshot. I thought Tara Strong was just right for Harley Quinn and I’m glad her character didn’t take over the show too much. I confess that my attention often wonders with these DC animations – they are much better than the Marvel offerings but it isn’t until now that one of them has had my full attention.

Space Truckers

Dir: Stuart Gordon

1997

****

I thought Space Truckers was fairly awful when it first came out but I still liked it. Watching it now in retrospect I find I love it even more. I’m certainly a paid up member of the church of Stuart Gordon though, so that probably has something to do with it but I think when you realise that it is a joke – a low budget B movie space opera that's a parody of low budget B movie space operas – its easier to like, understand and ultimately enjoy. Written by Former "National Lampoons" editor Ted Mann, the film intentionally features "no scientists, no techies, none of the unusual polished, sanitary environments” because, as he put it “Space is like anywhere else - the people who are there are underpaid and poorly regarded." I see Harry Harrison as Mann’s clearest influence, the film being more Bill the Galactic Hero rather than The Stainless Seal Rat though. I think it failed at the box office and has subsequently been branded as one of the worst films in modern cinema due to poor marketing and total misunderstanding. It’s intentionally cheap and ridiculous but its heaps of fun. It begins in the future at a corporation's base on the Neptunian moon of Triton. Mercenaries are desperately setting up a defense perimeter to try to hold off an unstoppable cyborg warrior. The commander Saggs and scientist Nabel, seal themselves inside the control room. The cyborg destroys the soldiers' tank and then attacks a helicopter—which crashes into said control room. The soldiers are killed one by one, until Nabel finally deactivates the cyborg with a remote control. The remaining corporate employees discover that the cyborg was created by Nabel for company owner E.J. Saggs. Saggs takes the remote from Nabel. He reactivates the cyborg and orders it to kill Nabel. A devilish early twist made all the better by Nabel being played by Charles Dance and Saggs being played by the most iconic ‘uncredited’ actor of all time Shane Rimmer. The story then turns to, John Canyon (played by Dennis Hopper who is clearly having the time of his life), one of the last independent "space truckers", as he drops off his cargo of square pigs at a "truck stop" space station (the square pigs are one of the films more notorious scenes – pigs bread in squares to make transport easier – the pigs look like they’re made out of sweaty rubber or Muppets gone wrong if you will. This is the point whereby many people either walked out of the cinema or gave up liking it). He soon becomes embroiled in a brawl with the trucking company head, Keller, who is suddenly – and most hilariously - sucked out into space. He and his two passengers – Cindy (played by Debi Mazar), a waitress who has promised to marry him in exchange for a ride to Earth to see her mother, and Mike (Stephen Dorff), an up-and-coming space trucker working for the company - take on a deal to transport a stock of alleged sex dolls to Earth. Chased by police investigating Keller's death, John takes his rig into the "scum zone", a region controlled by space pirates. The rig takes damage, leaving them adrift and they are soon captured by the pirate ship Regalia, commanded by the company-hating Captain Macanudo. Cindy agrees to have sex with him if he would take the cargo and let them go. The captain is soon revealed to be Nabel, who has rebuilt his grievously-injured body and has gone into piracy as revenge against Saggs for betraying him. Charles Dance clearly revels in his inventive and ridiculous character and it’s a joy to watch. The cargo that John's rig is carrying is in fact a full supply of the cyborg warriors Nabel designed and built for Saggs' company. One of the cyborgs comes alive, kills most of the crew, and severely damages the ship. John, Cindy and Mike take their rig and escape as the Regalia explodes. As they make their way back to Earth, John and Mike find a mortally-wounded Macanudo in the hold, who reveals the true nature of the cargo to them. John releases Cindy from any obligation of marrying him, and tells her and Mike to take the escape pod while he releases the cargo in the atmosphere, where it will burn up on re-entry. Cindy and Mike land safely, but the rig is unable to return to space and explodes in the sky, however, John manages to escape before the explosion. John, Cindy and Mike go to the hospital to see Cindy's mother, who became sick twenty years earlier and was frozen until a cure was found; John is smitten with her at first sight. Meanwhile, Saggs - now President of Earth after the government was privatized - visits John, Cindy and Mike in the hospital, where he offers John a new rig and gives the trio a suitcase full of money to keep them quiet about his cyborg invasion plan. John agrees to the deal, but Mike angrily throws the suitcase out the window. Below, Saggs re-enters his presidential limousine; having planted a bomb in the suitcase, he triggers the detonator just as the suitcase lands on his limousine's roof, killing him. With Saggs dead and Earth safe, Mike, Cindy, John and Cindy's mother blast off in their brand new rig. It’s as hilarious as it is ridiculous, like a 1930s melodrama, a 1950s b-movie and a 1980s space opera had a kid together but didn’t have enough money to feed it. You can either love the film because its ‘so bad its good’ or you’ll appreciate the intended parody but either way there is plenty to enjoy but particularly for Stuart Gordon fans. If anything, you can’t help but enjoy watching the ensemble cast clearly having the times of their lives, never once taking any of it seriously. It’s a cult classic, it’s a small cult but it’s a classic none the less.

Night of the Comet

Dir: Thom Eberhardt

1984

****

Night of the Comet is a cult classic that did what it wanted to do, rather than what it was supposed to. It is what you get when you mix Day of the Triffids, Dawn of the Dead and Cyndi Lauper’s ‘Girls Just Want To Have Fun’. It’s easy to see how it became the core influence for Joss Whedon’s Buffy The Vampire Slayer. If the film were made today it would be formulaic and you’d know what to expect, but Night of the Comet goes off on its own tangent, makes little sense and is all the better for it. When writing the script, director Thom Eberhardt wanted to merge the idea of strong female protagonists with his love of post-apocalyptic films set in empty cities. Further inspiration came from real-life teenage girls whom he met while filming PBS specials. Without telling the girls details about the script's premise, he asked them to describe how they would react to an apocalyptic event. The girls saw the scenario as an exciting adventure and only saw a downside to the experience when Eberhardt brought up the subject of dating. Using their answers, Eberhardt wrote the script to be lighthearted and adventuresome. The studio didn’t love the idea but decided to give Eberhardt as little money as they could to make the film, following the success of Valley and Repo Man. It was a troubled production but ultimately Eberhardt triumphed and made the film that way he wanted it, making a $14.4 million profit on a $700,000 budget. There is a lot to love about the film but at its core the best thing about it is Catherine Mary Stewart and Kelli Maroney. Stewart was already on everyone’s radar after starring in The Last Starfighter earlier that year – cult favorite Heather Langenkamp was due to play along side her but it is now impossible to see anyone but Kelli Maroney play Samantha Belmont. The story begins with 18-year-old Regina "Reggie" Belmont working at a movie theater in southern California. She’s too obsessed with the cinema’s arcade machine to do any work and knowing that her step-mom is holding a party later that day, she takes advantage of the fact she won’t be missed and decides to spend the night with her boyfriend in the cinema’s projection room. Meanwhile at home, Reggie's 16-year-old sister Samantha argues with their nasty stepmother Doris, who ends up punching her in the face for not helping with the party arrangements. She decides to leave home that night but doesn’t know where to go so spends the night in the backyard shed. The party in question is being held to celebrate the Earth passing through the tail of a comet, an event which has not occurred in 65 million years and coincidentally with the extinction event that wiped out the dinosaurs. On the night of the comet's passage, which takes place eleven days before Christmas, large crowds are gathering outside to watch and celebrate together. In true Day of the Triffid style (but without the killer plants) all those who witness the comet die and turn to dust. Those that don’t watch but are effected by the comets rays are turned to zombies and die a few days later. However, because Reggie slept in a steel-lined projection booth and Sam spent the night in a steel shed, the two sisters are unaffected. They wake to find they are pretty much the only people left in southern California. After figuring out what has happened, they hear a disc jockey on the radio and race to the radio station, only to find it was just a recording. They come across another survivor there, Hector Gomez (played by Star Trek’s Robert Beltran), who spent the night in the back of his steel truck. When Sam talks into the microphone, she is heard by researchers in an underground installation out in the desert. As they listen to Reggie, Sam and Hector debate what to do, the scientists note that the zombies, though less exposed to the comet, will eventually disintegrate into dust themselves. Hector leaves to see if any of his family survived, but promises to come back. Reggie and Sam then do the only thing teenage girl can in such a situation and go shopping at a local mall – Dawn of the Dead style. Unfortunately they come into trouble with some late-night shelf-stacking employees who have declared the mall as their own but are eventually rescued by the scientists. The girls are then split up, Reggie is taken back to their base while Sam is left with Audrey White, a disillusioned scientist whose actions become more and more questionable. Reggie, Sam and Hector all end up working separately to defeat the scientists who end up being the enemy rather than friends but in the end, California ends up as their playground. The soundtrack is full of now classic 80s pop and the special effects are cheap but amazing. You can clearly see all the films it was influenced by but all these years later you can see all the new films it has influenced itself. It was nearly named after a line in the movie whereby Sam is at the radio station and uses the radio to say "calling all you teenage mutant comet zombies out there". The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles would be created soon after. There is a comic book sensibility about the film, the low-budget forced the production to be far more inventive and some of the best moments came from Eberhardt telling the cast to react to any unexpected occurrences as their characters would do, as time and money were tight and they needed to avoid unnecessary retakes. It’s something of an overlooked 80s classic and a positive example of women’s independence at a time when most films depicted women as the silent wife or the bikini-wearing object of desire. It's an 80s cult classic, a mainstream b-movie and a brilliant sci-fi oddity.