Hell In The Pacific (1968)

Dir: John Boorman
MGM DVD

Even though this is my third entry on the films of John Boorman, I've watched 6 so far and the main thing I can say about his early films is that they are about genre deconstruction. Every film is technically a genre film; Zardoz is sci-fi, Point Blank crime, Deliverance a thriller, and Hell in the Pacific is a World War II movie, but with those broad genre tags you would have no idea what kind of film you were actually about to see. With Hell in the Pacific we're not even explicitly told that it is set during WWII. This is one of the many strengths of the film as we are never given any real information on anything. The story begins with two men, Lee Marvin and Toshiro Mifune (what a cast!), stranded on an island with shredded uniforms and nothing else. Their relationship starts contentious enough with the two trying to kill each other over some fresh water. The attempts are half-hearted enough and after some back and forth power plays, the two start to form a bond for mutual survival. I am always interested in films that can express drama and tell their story without relying on dialog. This is a prime example as the only two characters in the film don't speak each others language and there is never a foolish attempt to magically make them understand one another. My only complaint is the very abrupt and silly ending that I would have to imagine was not Boorman's idea. The only special feature on the disc is an "alternate ending" that I now imagine in my mind to be the real ending. The disc is not anamorphic, which is quite a shame, it's also one of the only early Boorman films that he doesn't provide audio commentary on.

8/10

Zardoz (1974)

Dir: John Boorman
20TH Century Fox DVD

It seems that Zardoz doesn't have the best reputation. That's fair enough, it's not a film for everyone. I do believe it provides insight into Boorman's personal predilections more than any of the other films I have watched up to this point. The story takes place in the distant future where civilization has been divided into two factions. One group are the intellectuals who have discovered how to become immortal and the other are simple folk that are being exploited for labor and population control by the actions of one immortal who poses as the god named Zardoz. What we learn is that the workers aren't as simple as they seem and the immortals aren't very happy living forever. Sean Connery leads the rebellion against the desensitized, deathless, philosophers that are manipulating him and, rising from a pile of wheat, kills the man he believes to be his God. This sets Connery on a path to discovery that his religion is all make-believe and only he can set the world right. I think it would be easy to dismiss the film just from the outfit that Connery wears, but it's ultimately a rewarding watch due to it's lofty ideas and deconstruction of organized religion. The effects are a product of the seventies but frankly I prefer them to a lot of modern tricks. The visuals are outlandish and add to it's cult movie appeal. Thematically, it fits in nicely with other films in Boorman's early work as we follow a man on a singular mission, even if the mission here is pretty grand.

8/10

Deliverance (1972)

Dir: John Boorman
Warner Bros. Blu-ray

Firstly, I am about a week behind in writing this entry. This stems from a combination of laziness and design. I had decided to go with a unifier and chose to re-explore the films of John Boorman. I just watched the movies he made from 1967 - 77 (minus Leo The Last) and thought it was a good time to start putting my thoughts down. I started with Deliverance because I wanted to see the Blu-ray transfer and it had been too long since I had watched it, it looks fantastic. As for the movie, I believe that sometimes a moment in a film can overshadow the entire piece. I am, of course, referring to the "squeal like a pig" moment. The scene is often referenced and joked about and sometimes by people, whom I believe, haven't even seen the movie. This really is a testament to it that it can become part of the popular consciousness. The scene itself though, if we may get right to the elephant in the room, is utterly terrifying. Boorman's direction is patient and non-exploitative. As a viewer we feel just as helpless as Jon Voight and Ned Beatty do as these demented hillbillies terrorize and abuse them. So now that I've jumped right to the obvious moment, I will start from the beginning. In case you haven't seen Deliverance, it is about four friends that go on a rafting trip in the backwoods in the deep south before the woods are destroyed by developers. Voight plays the everyman, Beatty is the smart-ass, Burt Reynolds is the man's man and the reason for the trip, and Ronny Cox is the amiable, moral center. We find out through natural dialog and the subtle shifts in the actors' performances all we need to know about their characters so Boorman is never force feeding us information and nothing ever feels like exposition. Everything about Deliverance is about giving the viewer just enough, we're trusted to ascertain what's happening. There is almost no score during tense moments so we are never manipulated by an outside presence. Once the journey has gotten us to the harrowing scene I already mentioned, the film shifts to a feeling of paranoia. Our heroes fight back, but are never sure if they are in the right. Like many of the other films that Boorman made at this time, these men have to accomplish one very simple task laid before them, survival. It's a pitch perfect movie that is brilliantly composed and paced. It's an essential film that everyone should see.

10/10

Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (2009)

Dir: Betty Thomas
Theater

I have kids! We start this one off with the Chipmunks on a world tour showing off that they are international super stars. The tour ends with Alvin accidentally injuring their guardian/manager Dave (Jason Lee). He is stuck in a hospital bed for the rest of the film making it an easy payday for Mr. Lee. His wish though is for the Chipmunks to go to high school like normal kids (?) so they travel back to the states where Dave's cousin (Zachary Levi) ends up having to care for them because of some wacky events. So once in school, they are asked to join in a music competition that, if they win, will give $25,000 to their school's music program. Now my question is, why don't the Chipmunks just give the school the money or play a benefit show? If they win (and why wouldn't they?), isn't that just stealing money from another deserving school? Am I over-thinking this? Probably. The Chippettes (female counterparts) are introduced, there's some conflicts to over come, David Cross is back, it all ends up like you'd expect. My kids liked it.

6/10

Bank Shot (1974)

Dir: Gower Champion
MGM HD Channel

I would be pretty excited to see a heist movie from the seventies, starring George C. Scott, and based on a novel by Donald Westlake, that is until you told me it was a comedy. This is a fairly miserable experience with Scott hiding behind giant eyebrows and a lisp bumbling his way through a low rent bank job, or Bank Shot! It has wacky music and silly characters just full of personality quirks, yeah! The story would probably work quite well if taken seriously, this one's prime for a remake if you're looking for such things.

2/10

Quantum of Solace (2008)

Dir: Marc Forster
MGM Blu-ray

I was skeptical of this latest installment in the Bond franchise, mainly due to the involvement of director Forster. I am not a big fan of the director's films and couldn't understand the choice to follow up something as exemplary as Casino Royale with such a lackluster helmsman. The film starts almost immediately where it's predecessor ends with Bond driving away from some baddies while having Mr. White tied up in his trunk. It's at this point I wanted to give up on the film, the editing is so rapid that I had no idea what was going on. I thought I was headed for seizure-ville, but I struggled through and was pleasantly rewarded. I didn't feel like this chapter lived up to what was set in motion with Casino Royale, but it was an enjoyable yarn with Bond delving deeper into the secret organization that has not only infiltrated the governments of the world, but also does business with them. At the same time, he is seeking revenge for the death of Vesper from the first film. I had lots of little problems along the way, particularly in the use of almost every character that is on Bond's side, and I didn't like the idea of equating the villain to an Eco-friendly energy company (an energy company sure, but aren't there enough opponents to the environment that we need to scare people with attacking an Eco-conscious one?). Overall worth seeing but hopefully the next outing will be a step up.

6/10

Moon (2009)

Dir: Duncan Jones
Sony Classics Blu-ray

I knew just enough going into this one to be surprised by the intricate plotting. The need to knows are that Sam Rockwell plays a man, named Sam, that works alone on the dark side of the moon mining Helium3 for energy consumption on Earth. He has a three year contract that is about to come to an end. His mind starts to play tricks on him, and that's all I will say. Jones' feature film debut is a confident, restrained work of intelligent sci-fi that is worth multiple viewings. It would be hard to buy anyone else in the main role besides Rockwell who pulls off the the nuances of his character with ease. The film looks outstanding, from the production design to the cinematography. It is also worth mentioning the score as one of the better ones I have heard in recent memory. So really I have nothing to do but gush over this one.
The Blu-ray looks impeccable, as you'd expect, and it includes two commentaries and Jones' short film, Whistle.

9/10

PS - Matt Berry has a small role!!