Tales from the Darkside: The Movie.

Review #2129: Tales from the Darkside: The Movie.

Cast: 

Wraparound segment: Deborah Harry (Betty) and Matthew Lawrence (Timmy)

"Lot 249" segment: Steve Buscemi (Edward Bellingham), Julianne Moore (Susan Smith), Christian Slater (Andy Smith), Robert Sedgwick (Lee), Donald Van Horn (Moving Man), and Michael Deak (The Mummy)

"Cat from Hell" segment: William Hickey (Drogan), David Johansen (Halston), Paul Greeno (The Cabbie), Alice Drummond (Carolyn), and Dolores Sutton (Amanda)

"Lover's Vow" segment: James Remar (Preston), Rae Dawn Chong (Carola), Robert Klein (Wyatt), Ashton Wise (Jer), and Philip Lenkowsky (Maddox) Directed by John Harrison.

Review: 

Well, when you have a good film going for you, why not do a television series? The success of Creepshow in 1982 led to the creation of Tales from the Darkside with a pilot (as written by show creator George A. Romero) in 1983 and a syndication run that started the following year, which ran until 1988 in displaying stories of sci-fi or fantasy that adapted various authors such as Stephen King or Harlan Ellison to go with narration, that, well, "Man lives in the sunlit world of what he believes to be reality. But ... there is, unseen by most, an underworld ... a place that is just as real, but not as brightly lit. A darkside." I went on a lark and watched the DVD boxset of the series roughly four years ago. It was...decent if not very wavering in quality, but somehow, I found myself comparing it to the other show that followed the lead of EC Comics in Tales from the Crypt, which started its run on television almost immediately after the end of Darkside. Perhaps it makes perfect sense that the show's success would inspire a feature film in 1990. This was the feature film debut for director John Harrison, who had started in film as a first assistant director on Creepshow (1982), which he also composed the music for. He also wrote and directed a handful of episodes on Darkside. Richard P. Rubinstein (who also produced Creepshow) and Mitchell Galin (who produced with Rubinstein the Darkside spinoff Monsters) produced the film.

Oh, but what anthology isn't worth mentioning unless it has a framing device? The wraparound (taking up eleven of the 93 minute film) is a suburban housewife...and modern-day witch preparing a dish made of a kid she has locked up in her house, but the kid tries to stall by reading three stories from, well, "Tales from the Darkside". Needless to say that the story goes better than it does for the main characters of the real three stories, although I could do without the 4th wall moment at the end. "Lot 249" (28 minutes) is based on a short story by Arthur Conan Doyle first published in 1892 that saw Michael McDowell (a novellist and also most notably the writer of Beetlejuice) serve as screenwriter. The ending of the story is the most changed from the original and likely for the better, since it involves more than just being on the run. Besides, the story wisely lets the one we like the most mostly off without a hitch. Buscemi makes a suitable presence to strike revenge upon such confident jerks that come with Slater (a moderately convincing goof), Moore (this was her film debut), and Sedgwick. The mummy stuff is decent for a yarn, but yeah, go with gore. "Cat from Hell" (23 minutes) is based on a 1977 short story of the same name by Stephen King with Romero as screenwriter. The premise is as such: a man hires a hitman to kill a cat that apparently led to the deaths of three people. A good chunk is spent on telling said story of the cat, but it is at least spent with a darkly amusing Hickey, talking about a cat that seems like an assassin due to the nature of his work (drugs affecting poor little black cats). Besides, the conclusion of what happens when cat meets the mouth is a nice and grisly conclusion to see play out. "Lover's Vow" (29 minutes) is based on the Japanese folk story "Yuki-Onna", as originated by Lafcadio Hearn, which you may recognize because that story was adapted into Kwaidan; McDowell wrote this story with gargoyles taking the helm, in this case one that happens to strike on a bunch of drunks that have an artist survive and swear his life on not telling what happened. Remar is at least where on expects him to be when it comes to being good for middle material, which contrasts against the bare minimum of mystery provided by Chong for a story that, well, can only go one way, I guess. It's a decent story but somehow it feels lacking in that build to the inevitable, although the final moment is at least somewhat poignant. As a whole, the film is basically about on par with the show that it arose from: halfway entertaining if not exactly a great successor to Creepshow. It is basically a notch above Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983), to put it bluntly. The stories are decently handled with a few recognizable names, but one would be hard-pressed to say just which story is the real showstopper when it comes to such varying tones. It has a few fun moments for being an ordinary anthology that would probably fit just fine in the latter recommendations for any October, so take that for what it's worth.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.

Next: A John Carpenter film - 25 years later!

The Color Purple.

Review #1478: The Color Purple.

Cast:
Danny Glover (Albert "Mister" Johnson), Whoopi Goldberg (Celie), Oprah Winfrey (Sofia), Margaret Avery (Shug Avery, Táta Vega as singing voice), Akosua Busia (Nettie Harris), Adolph Caesar (Old Mister Johnson), Willard E. Pugh (Harpo Johnson), Rae Dawn Chong (Squeak), Laurence Fishburne (Swain), and Carl Anderson (Reverend Samuel) Directed by Steven Spielberg (#126 - Close Encounters of the Third Kind, #168 - Raiders of the Lost Ark, #169 - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, #170 - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, #302 - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, #351 - Schindler's List, #480 - Jaws, #563 - The Sugarland Express, #573 - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, #642 - Jurassic Park, #958 - Always, #1068 - Ready Player One, and #1305 - Catch Me If You Can)

Review:
"Storytelling is the most important aspect of anything I've ever done. It's how the story is told. That's all I've focused on. If something doesn't tell a story or if it's confusing, I either don't shoot it or I cut it out."
"The way I played Celie was to stand back from her. There's a theory that an actor should identify with the character. Well, I loved her, but I didn't identify with her. Celie is so far away from me, it was easy to allow her pain to be there, because her life has so little to do with mine.”

Who better to do a tender and touching in humanity than Steven Spielberg? He grew into a filmmaker through shorts as a teenager with an 8mm camera. His first film that he made released to any sort of cinema was Firelight (1964), a $500 film released in his local cinema made at the age of 17 (made with the help of his family and high school students). His short subject Amblin' (1968) impressed numerous people and led to a deal at Universal in their television department, with the most notable contribution being the second segment of the 1969 Night Gallery pilot "Eyes", and he spent four years doing direction in television, with his theatrical debut being a expanded version of his TV film Duel (1971). Over the course of the next couple of years, Spielberg would generate success in captivating entertainment such as Jaws (1975, often cited as the first blockbuster), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977, his first sci-fi feature that he also wrote), and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981, likely one of the greatest adventure films). The two people who helped bring the film to attention and convince Spielberg to do the film was Kathleen Kennedy (who brought the book to his attention) and composer legend Quincy Jones, who helped produced the film with Spielberg, Kennedy, and Frank Marshall while also doing the music composition (however, a dispute came about with certain music aspects that led to eleven musicians being listed as score contributors when it came to a nomination for its score at the Academy Awards). The film was adapted to the screen by Menno Meyjes from the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name that had been written by Alice Walker in 1982 (I remember Walker from her short story "Everyday Use", which I read in college).

It is a film of resilience and humanity through and through a story that spans several years that features numerous distinct characters that we find quite a bit to resonate with, even with how tragic it might get, a film involving discussion upon race, gender, and class that eventually leads to hope. It makes the most of its 153 minutes in capturing a tale of adversity with a worthy cast. The one who deserves the most credit for making the film come alive on screen is Goldberg, making her second film appearance after having been noticed by Spielberg because of her one-woman Broadway show (1984-85), and she had written a letter to Walker upon reading the novel about appearing in a film version. It is evident from the very first scene she appears on screen that she is going to deliver a touching performance. There is something about her that strikes at our soul with how true the performance seems in running the gamut of developing inner strength with a fully-fledged performance of conviction. Glover, a city administrator-turned-actor in an early prominent role before appearing in further celebrated films, proves just as tremendous on the other side of the coin, one with stark presence of oppression and fear that manages to not escalate into full caricature. News anchor-turned talk show host Winfrey proves just as worthy in striking power, which also applies to the free-spirited and clever Avery in generating riveting moments. Others to appreciate include the distinct Caesar and an interesting Pugh.

It was a film that attracted controversy because of percieved stereotypes against African Americans (which can come from people who either can't or won't face reality when it comes to perceived slights without reading the film further). There were others who thought that the relationship between Shug and Celie was not given enough emphasis, to which the easiest statement to make to that is this: It was 1985, and one can only do so much in a PG-13 film, and it isn't like the two don't kiss or anything (heaven forbid someone try to do subtlely without needing to go explicit). We are talking about a film (and book) that involves pedophilia, incest, and spousal violence, for God's sake - we may not wish to ever have to deal with these problems, but they exist for all races that we as a society have to still confront, with film being an interesting medium to show these problems in a meaningful way. In that sense, I believe the film does fine with making an interesting story about race and gender without falling prey to too much sentimentalism or heavy-handedness. It never feels too long for its own good, instead moving with poetic pace that earns its many moments, with the climatic reunion being especially well done in emotion.

Walker, when asked about the film, generally has stated that while it may not follow her vision, it does have "its own gift", while noting the differences in translation from novel to book, such as the reduced elements of the lesbian relationship of Celie and Shug or with its tinkering of certain elements of its ending. Spielberg himself noted the fact that he was "shy" about depicting some of the aspects of the Shug-Celie relationship without alienating audiences, saying that he may have been the wrong director to do their encounters. I suppose one could also note that the novel was also turned into a musical two decades later, having two runs on Broadway. For what it is worth, while it is not a perfect film, it generally reaches the heights it sets out to do with a stark tale of hope within a period drama that has a captivating cast alongside music and directing that make the grandest of ventures worth seeking out as a fascinating drama that holds its heart strong in what matters most: hope of the human spirit.

Overall, I give it 9 out of 10 stars.

Movie Night: Commando (1985).

Review #324: Commando.

Cast
Arnold Schwarzenegger (John Matrix), Rae Dawn Chong (Cindy), Alyssa Milano (Jenny), James Olson (General Kirby), Dan Hedaya (Arius), Vernon Wells (Bennett), Bill Duke (Cooke), and David Patrick Kelly (Sully) Directed by Mark L. Lester.

Review
Conan-*Record suddenly changes* What? Oh, right. Commando was an 80s flick (right in the middle of it, no less), and it is easy to tell. But does that make it just a regular "meh" action film? Not entirely. Schwarzenegger does a fine job, it's almost like he is doing a satire version of heroes. The supporting cast is fine, ranging from decent to...odd. It does has a decent length, running only an hour and a half. Surprisingly, there is a good amount of decent humor. Actually the whole film feels like it has some sort of subtlety, with action put in. And of course like most action films, it has...well, action. Is it any good? I kinda like it, it doesn't necessary have much realism (I wonder if the main character is wondering how all those soldiers missed hitting him considering his size and the fact he's nearly right in front of them.), but it isn't something that hurts the film. I do like some of the lines in the film ("Remember when I promised to kill you last?  I lied" "And if you want your kid back, then you gotta co-operate, right?" "Wrong!"), which are a (welcome) fixture for Arnold by this point. In the end, the film is allright, not bad, not great, but...good. Fun stuff. Kind of a guilty pleasure.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.