:: Saturday, June 19, 2004 ::

One of the Films which need to be released as a special edition DVD: "Santa Sangre" directed by Alejandro Jodorowsky (El Topo), and starring his son Axel as Fenix, a traumatized mental patient whose life, told in alarmingly bright Mexican colors, is a sad tragedy of circumstance, starting when he is a "circus boy" with a knife throwing father and a religious fanatic mother. This is one of those "lost films" which used to wow my friends when I would show them the laserdisc, which I still have.

I've seen most of the summer blockbusters so far. Backwards from last week:
"Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" 8 of 10 on the Mikometer. The best in the series so far, and Dumbledore has such a small presence the viewer doesn't even miss Richard Harris. Emma Thompson is deliciously funny. David Thewlis is eerily creepy. The kids are not "outgrowing" the series yet, but are getting there fast. The hippogriff is the best digital character since Gollum.

"The Stepford Wives" remake by Fozzie Bear, er, I mean Frank Oz. The best thing about this film is the credit sequence, which uses old 50s advertisements and trade show films showcasing "modern kitchens" with shiny new appliances and models dressed in gowns. The movie itself is flat, uninteresting and a waste of time. All the actors, Nicole Kidman, Matthew Broderick, Bette Midler, Glenn Close, Peter Bart, Jon Lovitz, and Christopher Walken, are all slumming terribly, and with all the acting talent, it's a damn shame that the film works so poorly, or, really, not at all. The original was always "lacking" but at least it had the ending of the book. This one changes not only the ending, but the name of the character "Diz" whom I thought was being played by Walken. He's even boring in this film.
Having one of the couples be "gay" and the "prissy" one (Bart) becomes the "stepford wife" is rather in bad taste and isn't funny to boot. 4 of 10 on the Mikometer.

"The Day After Tomorrow" Roland Emmerich's latest attempt to cinematically destroy the world, is more of the same in tone and execution, but special effects have gotten better since his last effort "Godzilla" and you really "see" New York freeze, Los Angeles decimated by tornadoes, Tokyo being hit by hailstones the size of soccer balls, and Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Sela Ward, and Emily Rossum ("Mystic River", "Songcatcher") trying their hardest not to crack a smile as the northern part of the United States becomes increasingly colder. According to the film, global warming causes "super storms" which are like "ice hurricanes" overtaking the Earth with little time to prepare or survive. This being an Emmerich picture, a lot of strategically placed plot points keep the action moving, and I wasn't bored, like, say, with "Stepford Wives" which I wanted to see. No, that's not true, I wanted to see "Day After Tomorrow", the previews looked great, and the imagery did not disappoint. I'll even buy the DVD. Cheesy Science Fiction Film like "The Core".


:: Michael Nyiri 11:20 PM Leave a Comment on this Post ::
...