Movie review - "Gremlins" (1984) *****

 So much fun. It simply works. The concept, the rules, the anarchy, the cast. Zach Galligan is warm and likeable, Phoebe Cates is wonderful, the creatures full of personality, Dick Miller steals every scene he's in. Joe Dante really brought it all together. Jerry Goldsmith's jaunty score.

Movie review - "Looney Tunes Back in Action" (2003) **

 Joe Dante's last big budget studio feature (to date) - I wish he'd have the chance to do a few more but anyways... This has it charms, particularly some excellent animation, but doesn't quite work. Maybe too frantic or something. Maybe the real world is as cartoony as the cartoon world? Too noisy?

The human characters aren't that well defined. Brendan Fraser is an affable lunk and... that's it - a little more character wouldn't have hurt. (When he plays himself at the end, he has a real character... that had a lot of potential.) Ditto Jenna Elfman's exec... she's very undefined. Fraser is never believable as Timothy Dalton's son. Why not have an American actor play this part? There's no real core emotional relationship to anchor it.

 I think that's the issue - it lacks chaacter and relationships.

Movie review - "Twilight Zone The Movie" (1983) **1/2

A film totally overshadowed by the accident, which is fair enough, people died (though more people die on films than you might think).

Interesting people constantly pop up in the cast - Steven Williams from Jump Street, John Larroquette as a Klan member. 

The Landis segment is in the spirit of the show - heavy-handed but effective, and Vic Morrow is very good. The Spielberg one isn't very much - he does his tricks, all that, it's just meh. 

Joe Dante's with the powerful kid is better, even if Kathleen Quinlan seems bored. The George Miller segment is, as commonly agreed, the best, helped with the strongest story, John Lithgow going for it, and high stakes.

Movie review - "The Hole" (2009) **1/2

 Horror for kids, I guess, more Val Lewton than Final Destination, nicely directed by Joe Dante. It's about a family that moves to a house where there's a big hole in the shed out back. The shed unleashes manifestation of everyone's fears.

The film probably gets serious too late in the piece and needed life or death stakes - I had exactly the same notes for Dante's The Burbs.  I think people needed to die.

There's a lot of reliance on the charms of lead Chris Massoglia, who is fine, but not a star; Haley Bennett looked really familar - I thought she was young Emily Van Camp but she's the singer in Music and Lyrics. Nathan Gamble is fine as the little brother as is Terri Polo as a another in Dante's long line of single blonde moms. Bruce Dern is fun as a creepy neighbour.

Movie review - "The Burbs" (1989) **1/2

Joe Dante was ideal to direct this combination of horror, fantasy, comedy and mystery about neighbors who are convinced a newbie is a killer. It's directed with typical Dante skill and enthusiasm and the cast can't be faulted - everyman Hanks, Carrie Fisher in a weirdly suburban role as his wife, Bruce Dern having fun as a nutter married to hot Wendy Schaal, a big role to vaguely familiar Ric Docummun.

The main problem with this is it doesn't t have enough story for a feature. It felt like an hour long TV ep, if that. I think it we'd found out Gibson was bad at say the end of act two it would have had more stakes and more menace.

Characters feel as though they duplicate functions. There's nothing for women to do. You could have consolidated the characters

Still, I acknowledge this is a cult movie that people like and it may benefit from re-watching.

Movie review - "Explorers" (1985) ***1/2

 I remember when this film came out it seemed to be such a natural hit with its concept - three kids build a spaceship - but the public didn't go for it (though it developed a fan base). It's has a wonderful tone, affectionate and fun, with the trio of young leads including Ethan Hawke and River Phoenix.

It may have treated the topic too lightly - it's very easy to build the ship and fly and go into space, and meeting the aliens is perfunctory rather than awe inspiring. Maybe it needed a firmer antagonist - genuine threat. The shaggy dog ending does have its integrity - it makes sense. There is some emotion lacking.

Also I think one of the three boys should have been a girl it would've given female interest. Drew Barrymore plays a key role in ET. (Amanda Peterson, of future early death, is a girl Hawke has a crush on but she doesn't go on he trip).

I don't want to be critical I'm just trying to understand why the film wasn't a bigger hit, made with skill, affection and love.

Movie review - "Burying the Ex" (2014) **1/2

 This film has a bright high concept idea but couldn't they have made the ex more of a psycho? As played by Ashley Greene she's a bit forthright but she's hot, loves sex, wants Anton Yelchin to (gasp) eat tofu and soy, and is (gasp) into the environment and (gasp) redecorates their place and has doubts about his business acumen... I mean why not make her an abusive bitch? Really manipulative? Because in this version it's sad when she dies. 

Then when Anton finds his manic pixie dream girl, Alex Daddario (dancing on her own, into Val Lewton movies, running ice cream store, just wants to have sex) we are meant to go "yay them"?

The movie this reminded me of was My Super Ex Girlfriend  - like that I sense the male writer and director thought they could do a riff on bitches be crazy but like in that movie the sympathy goes to the bitch. 

I mean, Greene gets run over, she doesn't have any family apart from Yelchin, then she comes back from the dead, and he was going to dump her, then plans to kill her... Yes, she wants to kill him and Daddario but it's kind of hard to care too much about them.

There is still a lot to like about the film. The actors are winning, Oliver Cooper is heaps of fun as Yelchin's dodgy mate, it is directed with pace and affection by Dante. 

I think the script just needed another draft. There's all sort of interesting ideas that aren't explored, like Greene coming back and being horny, and cooking food, and the zombie lore. And also I think they needed to be clearer who we had sympathy for. 

Nice to see Dick Miller again even if he is awfully old.

Movie review - "Matinee" (1993) ***1/2

 A film that's impossible to dislike though you can also see why it didn't make many waves comercially - a William Castle type filmmaker visits Key West during the Cuban Missle Crisis. The characters are interesting - a beatnik poet JD, a kid whose father is in the services, a monster mad kid, the Castle filmmaker (John Goodman), his startlet girlfriend (Cathy Moriarty), an anti war kid and her woke parents. I'm not sure the plots are that great - Castle needs some money, there's some young romance. They throw in a spectacular cinema collapse at the end - I'm not sure that was worth the money. They should have had real aliens invade.

But there's so much love for film, filmmakers, buffs, and a recall of the period - like I say it's a real sweetheart of a film. Goodman and Moriaty in particular are great fun. Cameos from Dick Miller and John Sayles.

Movie review - "Piranha" (1978) **** (re-watching)

 Like this movie the more I watch it. Its competence, the solid structure of Sayles' script, the charm of the rural setting (shot in Texas - it has a lovely atmosphere), the engaging Heather Menzies, the skill of Bradford Dillman, the stock company (Paul Bartel, Barbara Steele, Dick Miller), the fact the film has both a sense of humour and a genuine emotional wallop  a kid sees his father eaten, kids are killed, a really nice counsellor is eaten - the attack on the kid's camp is truly shocking and at the end Dillman is catatonic), the film buff in jokes, the polticial commentary. Even Menzies' stand in breasts are funny.

The New World Pictures Stock Company

 Surely one of the strongest stock companies ever in studio history? Up there with Warners in the 40s?

The key players:

1) Paul Bartel - a skilled director and marvelous scene stealing actor, big, bald, funny and warm, absolutely splended

2) Mary Woronov - leggy, spectacular camp, huge fun, always good

3) Dick Miller - good luck for Joe Dante and Jonathan Kaplan and for good reason, always a pleasure to see him

4) Roberta Collins - I count her as a stock company because she rarely played the lead (unlike say Pam Grier and Candice Rialson) - gorgeous, and fun

5) Don Steele - DJ who I'm sure was a big deal and all but who means nothing outside the US other than these films which is fine as he's fun

6) Other directors - routinely roped in for bit parts in New World films (I exclude Bartel from this, despite being a director, because he was a proper actor): Jon Kaplan, Chuck Griffith, Joe Dante, etc.

7) Barbara Steel - the black haired beauty lived up several New Worlds with her campy enigmatic appearance

Movie review - "Small Soldiers" (1997) ***

Not as big a hit as it should have been, like so many Joe Dante films, even though this had many elements of Gremlins - to wit, boy and girl battle small creatures in small town, some good others bad. Maybe it lacked a Gizmo. I do think the opening sequence with Jay Mohr and Dennis Leary could've been cut and they could've just gone into the kids (I'm sure this was discussed). Also maybe the nice animals lack a bit of personality.

But when the soldiers go on the rampage it's a lot of fun. Kirsten Dunst is a star - the male not so much. The computer screens and fringes and flannos date it in a 90s way.

Book review - "Surely You Can't Be Serious: The True Story of Airplane!" by ZAZ

 Flying High was a seminal film in my life. I hadn't given that much thought to how it was made but I'm glad I read this book. Some cool stuff:

* ZAZ made a living out of showbusiness quite quickly with their stage show - they put in a lot of work but it paid off for them quite quickly: the power of three people working for a common cause

* there was another key guy in the group who quit because they wouldn't let his girlfriend join

* it was still really really hard to raise finance for this despite Kentucky Fried Movie and hard to raise money for that

*they pay tribute to John Landis while also admitting there were lots of stuff they would've done differently on Kentucky Fried

* major studios didn't want to make it but minors did - Robert Rehme (an under appreciated head of production) wanted it for Avco Embassy but they had finance issues and AIP wanted it but then head of production Jere Henshaw wanted comedians not TV stars and ZAZ were willing to walk so good on them

*Paramount behaved magnificently, it sounds - I know this is looking back at at a hit, but they did everything right: tested ZAZ but also backed them, assigned them a pro script editor who got to work on the screenplay (ensuring the love story remained solid), assigned them a pro producer who got it to work on the film (Howard Koch)... the crucial things was those executives "got" it... Michael Eisner also insisted in colour so it covered 70s disaster films. All these decisions were spot on.

*They pitched a sequel Airplane Meets the Godfather which Hayes visits Hegart's family and they're the mafia. That would've been fun.

There is a lot of love for Steven Stucker, whom the gang attribute much of the stage show's success to. Also affectionate comments about Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges etc and appreciation for Hegarty and Hayes.   I would've liked to have heard more about Lorna Patterson. No one talks about her much and she added a lot to the film.

There are quotes from famous people of today like Bill Hader about how much the movie means to them. I get why it's there ("you gotta get the kids") but it is annoying especially as they are the usual suspects (Judd Apatow, Adam Mackay, Maya Rudolph). Also Tim Allen almost wrecked the book for me with his stupid "couldn't say that now God I miss comedy" schtick.

Top Ten Three Girl Movies

 (I'm also including ones with four girls)

1) Three on a Match

2) How to Marry a Millionaire

3) Where the Boys Are

4) The Student Nurses

5) Summer School Teachers

6) Valley of the Dolls

7) Beyond the Valley of the Dolls

8) Hollywood Boulevard

9) Night Call Nurses

10) 9 to Five

Movie review - "Hollywood Boulevard" (1976) *** (re-watching)

 I've seen this a lot. I have such affection for it.

Random thoughts

- the rape sequence is very unpleasant but it does show Candice Rialson to be genuinely traumatised by it. And later on when watching the film at the drive in she's traumatised again. And then is almost raped again in a scene played for comedy

- likewise in the scene where Tara Strohmeier is shot dead it has a real impact - ditto when Rita George is killed

- the love for movies is so endearing, the injokes, the names, the cut in footage, the whole vibe.

- the drive in sequence drags and isn't fun - rape played for gags isn't great

- the camraderie between the three girls is very lively and a shame there isn't more

- the romance between Jeffrey Kramer and Rialson is sweet

- the ace in the hole were the actors - everyone is good,Rialson is wonderful, Kramer amiable, but Mary Woronov and Paul Barrel are the stand outs. I really liked Rita George too she's very pretty and competent I'm surprised she didn't have more of a career

- sometimes the exploitation is awkward (the wet T shirt scene), other times offensive (the rape sequence), other times very effective (the producer in bed with two girls, the three girls lying around topless) - I know Dante and Arkush didn't have their hearts in exploitaiton but they could do it well (eg slasher scene)

- the basic mystery is fine with clever leading that we think the killer is Kramer

Movie review - "Rock n Roll High School" (1979) **** (re-watching)

 Saw this again because I read the book about it. It's just fun. Such a good heart. The film is about love. PJ Soles loves The Ramones, Joey Ramone loves pizza, Dey Young loves Tim Van Patten, Paul Bartel comes to love the Ramones, Mary Woronov loves Facism and is defeated. So much energy. Blowing up schools is probably less funny now with all these shootings but this is a great time.

Book review - "I Want You Around: The Ramones and the Making of Rock ‘n’ Roll High School" by Stephen B. Armstrong

 Affectionate, thorough account of the making of the cult classic. It had, as is generally well known, quite a turbulent birth, evolving from the "three girls" template at New World, then becoming a disco musical, before emerging as a rock musical, through the passion of Alan Arkush who really knocked it out of the park. It combined his irreverence towards authority and love of rock and old movies (like If, Marx Brothers and Hard Days Night). 

The film was blessed with luck in many ways - the script got progressively better, it seems, as opposed to worse; Arkush was the perfect director; PJ Soles the perfect star (though it's her and Dey Young who are the heart and soul of the film); New World had developed an excellent stock company by this stage including Dick Miller, Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov; they got the ideal band with the Ramones (apparenrlty Cheap Trick were considered... that might have worked).

Lots I didn't know - like Rosanna Arquette was up for the lead and tried to alpha Soles into not doing it ("well I'm going to get the part"), Young was last minute, the film previewed badly

I felt the writer was a little unfair to the writing of Charles Griffith (there's reference to "another Griffith stinker" - did Griffth write Deathsport?). Maybe his sccripts for this film were bad but the man is a genius. Or was.

Movie review - "Hollywood Boulevard" (1976) *** (re-watching)

 Fun, breezy, energetic, especially in the first half. The second half isn't as good. There's two really unpleasant rape sequences - one where Candice Rialson is being filmed, the other where a drive in operator has a go. This is not fun. There's the murder of Tara Strohmeier which feels nasty because she's such a warm person and she's so terrified and dies bloody - it's an effective slasher sequence I admit (Dante's tribute to Mario Bava) it just felt mean spirited.

Candice Rialson is splended, Strohmeier is great too and I also liked Rita George as the third girl. Jeffrey Kramer is an affable romantic lead but the breakouts are Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov. Dick Miller is solid as always and there's fun turns from people like Jonathan Kaplan.

Its love for filmmaking is so endearing that its faults are forgiven.

Movie review - "Rock n Roll High School" (1979) **** (re-watching)

 Lighting in a bottle. They got the Ramones, who are so perfect, but also PJ Soles, Mary Woronov, Paul Bartel, Clint Howard (hilariously balding student... perfect), Dey Young. The film has so much anarchy but also heart - more than say Get Crazy which I also saw. because Soles loves the Ramones but it also a good friend to nerdy Young who is a good friend to her - they have a sort of Marilyn-Jane Russell bond. Everyone raves about Soles from this film, deservedly, but Young contributes heaps too - as does Tim Van Patten and Clint Howard and the magnificent Woronov.

Great music, energy., finale. Every now and then the rough edges really show but it's made with heart.

Movie review - "The Howling" (1981) ***

I don't think Joe Dante is a great visual stylist - not up with say Spielberg or Carpenter - but his films always have a lot of neat stuff in them. They tend to be smart because he uses good writers like John Sayles, there are plenty of film in jokes (eg several characters here named after werewolf movie directors, cameos from Roger Corman), and there's lots going on. So you forgive the odd dodgy blocking of scenes.

The basic story isn't bad - reporter Dee Wallace is almost killed in a sting operation so to recover she goes to a colony run by doctor Patrick Macnee. There is a central theme of natural instincts vs being able to control them which actually could have been treated seriously and been entertaining but the film only touches on it - there's more satire of self help movements, which does fit in the theme.

Wallace shares hero duties with three others - the couple Dennis Dugan and Belinda Balaski who have surprisingly large roles, and Chris Stone, who plays her husband. Stone turns, giving the piece good drama - though it's Dugan who becomes the hero at the end. Progressive Sayles ensure the women have plenty to do.

The first half is slow but there's plenty of werewolf action at the end. The leads are solid but the stand out parts are the support cast - Dick Miller as a book salesman who lists the rules, Elisabeth Brooks as a nympho (I swear she was nude in some versions but wasn't in the one I saw), Patrick Macnee as the doctor, John Carradine as a crazy old codger, Robert Picardo as a rapist. I can't believe Brooks didn't come back for any sequels she has a great horror movie presence.

Rob Bottin's effects are fun.

Seeing Joe Dante and John Sayles Talk - Egyptian 14 Feb 2020

They gave a chat introducing Piranha then did a Q and A in between that film and The Howling. Both are very experienced Q and A people and told stories with the skill of old vaudevillians. I had heard a lot of the stories but it was still fun to hear about Dick Miller, how Sayles wrote it (mainly process of elimination), the joy of working with a pro like Bradford Dillman who knew how to match all his shots, shooting test scenes at USC pool in a wetsuit. Sayles talked about writing The Mummy and Jurassic Park 4. It was fun and there was deservedly a lot of love in the room for the filmmakers.