Zardoz: Hard To Say Whether 70s Science Fiction Was Daring Or Just Plain Weird...

Probably both.  Yes, that is Sir Sean Connery in a red Speedo.  I avoided this film for a number of years, because...c'mon, Sean Connery in a red Speedo.  Could the movie really be worth that?  Well...then I saw who directed, John Boorman, who brought us the amazing Excalibur, a great take on the Arthurian legend.  So...yeah.  Alright.  For the sake of 70s cinematic science fiction literacy...sure. 

So...opening up, I see this...

Yep.  A floating stone head.  This is after a prologue with some guy ranting on and wondering if God is the ultimate showman or something along those lines.  Could be brilliant or pretentious, hard to tell at this point.  So anyway, the stone head lands, gives a lecture about evil penises and good guns and tosses out a bunch of guns.  The primitives worshiping the stone head pick them up and rejoice.  Then we see our first look at Zed (Connery), one of these Brutals.  These are Exterminators, who do the bid of Zardoz (the stone head), mostly involving culling the Brutal populations and keeping them from overrunning the now fragile world with their out of control babymaking.

Later, we see Zed suddenly emerging out of a pile of sand inside the stone head, which is again airborne and headed for a "Vortex".  A Vortex is a protected area ruled by Eternals, a society of near immortal scientists and intellectuals who seemingly have become totally about calculation and data.  Their passion, emotion and more abstract or primitive elements of the human soul atrophied.  They look at the world and the other humans who live there with a detatchment.  Only a few of them seem to give a damn about anything, and those tend to be regarded as outsiders and heretics, kept separated from the rest of the group.

They find Zed in their midst and find him a wonder, this primitive in their midst.  Little do they know that there is more to this man-ape than they think and that plans are underfoot to break this sociological cul-de-sac the Eternals have found themselves in.

This thing is weird.  And not the most optimistic film.  However, it is strong in ideas and imagery, about how too much emphasis on one culture, one way of doing things, how a lack of variety can ultimately doom a society.  Sometimes, you just have to shake things up a bit.  That when you get too insular and complacent, you weaken yourself.

Sometimes you need a "primitive" ape-man to come in and remind you of the essentials of life.

Zardoz, a strange one but a good one.

Fury: Male Bonding Has It's Costs...

It is 1945 and the Allied Army is rolling up Germany.  Staff Sergeant Don "Wardaddy" Collier (Brad Pitt) is the tank commander (TC) of the stalwart crew of the Sherman tank "Fury".  They've been through the hellfire of war together, starting in North Africa.  They are now an elite armor crew, knowing how to move and fight their machine with lethal efficiency.  They can be put in odds stacked far against them and make the enemy, a fearsome foe, pay in blood and steel many times over.  But the war has taken its toll on this team of American soldiers. 

When the film opens, Fury has apparently just been through a vicious engagement and we see Wardaddy take out a German officer in a hand to hand ambush.  They seem to be the lone survivor on a carnage laden battlefield.  They also just lost their assistant driver and will need a new troop.  They get one, PVT Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman), a rear echelon soldier trained as a staff clerk, with the lethal skill of typing "sixty words a minute".  He has the privilege of taking the assistant driver position.  Initially, the tight knit crew, not surprisingly, is not that welcoming to the new soldier.  In the first engagement Ellison participates in, the horror of what is asked of him overwhelms him, and Wardaddy takes some drastic measures to try to cure him of it, as his reticence is a liability to Fury and its crew.

Later, we see scenes of the crew of Fury taking some RnR in a German village, and we get more of a look at where the minds and souls of Fury's crew are at in this stage of the game.  This war and what they have had to do to play their part has had its cost.  However, it is made plain that they aren't entirely unaware of this.

And when it is all said and done, even with the Germans, it is plain that for the most part, we aren't talking about monsters here.  We are talking about men trained to do a deadly serious job.  Prosecuting that job costs.  War costs.  Not just in money in blood, but in damage on the inside that haunts one long after the shooting is done.

And that is what Fury depicts, despite on the surface appearing to take on the trappings of a traditional Hollywood war movie.

 

 

 

War is indeed hell, a place where demons dwell.  And they will have their payment in humanity, one way or another.

 

 

Good flick, for both that and some awesome tank on tank action.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles...the cinematic version of Putin's Russia...

Let me explain...

Looks like 'em.  Mostly.  The lips and the noses are kind of freaky.  Sort of throw a viewer off.  Then, you see them in the film, and they tower over the humans, as opposed to the way they are portrayed through most of their assorted media history, going all the way back to Eastman and Laird's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #1 from Mirage Studios in 1984 (now quite the collector's item book, if you can get a 1st printing in mint condition).  That is the thing that is the big seller for them, besides the contradictory concept of reputedly slow critters as speedy masters of stealth and martial arts.

Now, that aside, on the surface, you have the elements there.  The personalities seem intact.  Once you get past the physical differences, charm should take you a long way.  However, they aren't on there enough.  This turns into the April O'Neil extravaganza, with Megan Fox as the titular reporter on the case.  We are here to see the Turtles, though, so this gets out of balance pretty quickly.

Oh yeah, they are into pizza.  We got it.

And, well...now that we've gotten past the obligatory characterization, Michael Bay (producer) has gotten bored and muscled the irrelevant director aside to blow some stuff up.  And some more stuff.  And yet, some more stuff.

Frankly, I'm tired of Michael Bay taking nostalgia, transmuting it to greenbacks and using them to perform personal hygiene after unsightly bodily functions take place.

The Turtles are better than that.  Oh, the Putin comparison?  There is a director on there, who has a decent body of work so far.  Battlefield Los Angeles was a decent alien invasion flick.  But it is clear that he was kind of pushed aside by the stronger personality of Michael Bay, just as Medvedev gets from Putin.  Even when Putin isn't "in charge" of the Russian Federation, he is.  So...if you see Michael Bay in the "producer" role...don't believe it for a second.

Not in the movies anyway.

But, poor Turtles, they get the abuse, and probably more, because the movie has made money, has muscled Guardians of the Galaxy out of the top spot (though all indications show that Guardians likely has the far longer legs, and the smart money shows that not only will it probably retake the top spot, it is going to be the big money maker of the year, so that's ok) and a sequel has been greenlit.

Well, the original film is still on disc and I've still got my comix.

Damn you, Michael Bay.  Viva la Turtles.

Better for you Turtle fans, enjoy...

History of Future Folk-Hondo Means So Much

I could have sworn I had reviewed this film already.  But going through my list, I'm not seeing it, despite owning it for quite awhile.  It was one of the films I viewed and added to my collection while based in Korea.  Ah well, now having seen the duo perform live, let's talk about it all.

I first heard about this as a film from a writeup I read on Harry Knowles' Ain't It Cool News.  Being an indie film fan, especially science fiction and looking for different stories, off the beaten path, a tale describing itself as the first sci-fi, folk, musical, comedy...well really, it is uncategorizable, this film definitely occupies a unique realm by itself.  I batted this around in my head a bit myself and came up with "A Mighty Wind" meets "The Day The Earth Stood Still".  Not quite there, but close.

But what you have is the tale of the mightiest warrior from the planet Hondo (HONDO!), General Trius (Nils Daulaire), sent to Earth to prep it for colonization via a bio doomsday weapon.  But right when he was about to set it off, he experienced something he never had before.  Music.  See, on Hondo, they don't have music, and when he heard it, it gripped his heart something fierce.  He could not go through with it.  So he settled on Earth, found a wife, had a kid and pursued a triple life of musician/engineer/groundskeeper.  All the while, he attempted to communicate with his world to let them know what he had found.  One day, they send an "assassin", (Mighty) Kevin (Jay Klaitz), to apparently kill Trius and finish the job, but Kevin proves a somewhat inept assassin.  But a GREAT musician and partner to Trius' act, which is what he needed to take him to the next level.  So, the Hondonians come together and attempt to, quoting Dee Schnider's character, "Rock this joint!", while dealing with a series of crises of interstellar threat as well as the heart.

The band came first and the movie was intended to be a way to introduce them to the world, formalizing the Hondonian mythology building itself around the concept art band, kind of like DEVO in that respect. 

What you will get?  A fun science fiction story with lots of heart and great tunes.  It is true indie filmmaking, but makes good use of its budget and shooting location (mostly New York City).  Also, the fellas have a Marvel/Zack Schnyder connection, in that their composer for the soundtrack, Tim Williams, lists such cinematic compositions as 300, Watchmen, and Guardians of the Galaxy.  Yeah.  They ain't playing around here.

Go see the trailer, get a feel of it for yourself...

Plus, these guys have real serious musical chops and do all their own tunes and just put on a show live something amazing.

 So check them out when they come to your town.

Guardians of the Galaxy-Why Read This? Go See It. Now. But Read This Later.

Why do you need to see this?  First off...a raccoon with a machine gun...

I go all the way back to 1985 with this guy...

Then, you have these guys...

 

 

 

 

 

The originals from 1969, who get representation in the new film...

 

 

 

 

What is the point of all this, besides me playing around with the graphics stuff on this blog engine and getting some well needed practice?  The point of this is, dear reader, is Marvel Studios has done it again.  They have taken a concept that comic fans and other "knowledgable" sorts swear that "it can't be done/too obscure/too weird/too different/too big a risk", took all that defeatist sentiment and dunked it into a nearby toilet and flushed it.  Again.

 

 

Here is the thing...a great story is a great story.  And America, the world, LOVES well told superhero tales, adventure stories and spacegoing sagas.  We know this.  The well known ones with "Star..." in their titles weren't always well known.  They had to start somewhere.  Marvel Studios has managed to do what it has done through a combo of things.  Sure, canny marketing, yes.  But before that, they have picked great concepts, matched them with the kind of talent that "gets them" and can write them with distinct voices, yet have them speak to mainstream audiences...and trust them to do the work.

 

 

We get what we get, and so far, they have defied both critics and "fans".  To the benefit of us all.

 

 

And now, it is the chance of a renegade team of space adventurers who not only have a chance to show a wide audience what their comic fans have known all along, but open a window onto the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe, which really is a world unto it's own.

 

 

Big, cosmic adventure, yet through a group of alien characters who give us a human side to it all.  We go on a voyage.  And it matters to us.  We feel it.  We experience it with Peter Quill (Starlord), Rocket Racoon, Groot, Gamorra and Drax. 

 

 

Grand adventure.  Cosmic wonder.  And lots of laughs and fun.  Guardians of the Galaxy has it all.

 

 

Of course, if you followed instructions, you know this already.

 

 

I could give you a rundown of the story, which opens up with a kid listening to 10cc (I'm Not In Love) and getting abducted by aliens, after which things get weird.  But...what would be the point?  Just go see it.

 

 

Oh, biggest surprise?  Glenn Close as Nova Prime.  I liked her, a lot.  Grand space adventure, Marvel style.  With much bigger implications for the coming Marvel cinematic U.  Still here?  GO SEE IT.

 

 

Tell 'em Stoney sent you.













Brothers-just because we are done with the war, doesn't mean the war is done with us

I had some friends recommend this one to me.  It is one I always meant to see, but just got around to it finally, so many films, so little time.  Brothers, about the experience of war on one family, was based on a Danish film.  For those who know that, it points out the Danes also sent soldiers to Afghanistan and have their own war experiences and trauma from that conflict.  I probably need to seek that film out. I saw many non-American soldiers in my time "over there" and I'm very curious about that conflict from their perspective.

This version of the film has Tobey Maguire as Marine Captain Sam Cahill.  He's about to head over to da 'Stan for his fourth tour of duty.  He is husband to Grace (Natalie Portman) and brother to Tommy (Jake Gyllenhall), who is a bit of a layabout, avoiding steady employment, but not jail.  So he suffers under his own inferiority complex as well as the disapproval of their Vietnam War Marine father.   When Sam's unit is attacked shortly after they arrive and he vanishes, presumed dead, a suffering Grace and the daughters welcome Tommy, who bonds with his brother's family during their time of crisis.  He helps around the house with handyman tasks and assists in caring for the girls.  There is even temptation, as a lonely Grace and a slightly drunk Tommy almost give into temptation.  But they both pull back before things get too out of control.

Then comes one day when they find out Sam did not die in Afghanistan.  He is coming home.  But when he arrives, it is clear that something is weighing on his mind.  His family can tell, his fellow Marines can tell.  He experienced something horrible over there and the psychic wound bleeds continuously.  Tommy, the ne're do well, will be instrumental in helping to bring back his brother from Afghanistan, in mind and spirit as well as body.

And there it is.  War is hell.  For some veterans, they don't get to leave.  Not without help.  This film picked its actors very, very well, depicting these characters in this situation that some families are experiencing for real after a decade of two wars.  The devastation doesn't take place only on foreign soil.  Special kudos go to Mr. Maguire and his devastating depiction of a brave soldier coping with wounds too big for one man to bear, yet having no idea how to heal.

This film is worthwhile.  Check it out.

Lucy-A Tale of Living Data

What are we, really?  That is the question ultimately asked in the new film Lucy, written and directed by French director Luc Bessen.  What are we really?  Wrestling with the "hard problem", "what is consciousness", Lucy coyly suggests an answer revealed by the adventures of the titular character.  Initially starting out as a girl who has bad choices in boyfriends, she ends up being a drug mule for some shady Asian organized crime types.  But this new stuff ends up getting inadvertently released into her system in doses far bigger than intended. And, rather than killing her, she begins to change.  Her brain is "accelerated" and begins using more and more of its potential.  This not only has the effect of making her smarter, her mind and body begin to work faster.  She begins developing powers of various kinds, at first physically improved, but becomes sublime as apparent control over spacetime.  However, she also feels her humanity is slipping away.  Eventually, she reaches out to Professor Samuel Norton (Morgan Freeman), a cutting edge neurologist, for some guidance.  After a certain point, she's in unknown territory, even for him.

I'm not going to tell you how it all ends, of course.  But this is one mad, wild ride.  Some have made hay of its improbable "science", but like most protests, it misses the point, as the movie is less about rigorous scientific accuracy and more about an ongoing cinematic thought experiment.  What if you could accelerate a person like that?  What would happen?  There have been similar explorations.  Cinematically, it would be Bradley Cooper's character in Limitless, but really, a closer approximation would be Dr. Manhattan from Alan Moore's The Watchmen.  For those who don't know, Manhattan is a scientist who was involved in an accident which utterly transforms him into something post human.  He seems to lose touch with his humanity and his ability to "feel", to connect, though we find out later, some capacity does indeed seem to still be there.  Likewise with Lucy.  She believes herself slipping away, but there are moments where it does seem something human is still there nonetheless.  However, the film does seem to take the opinion on the question on "What are we?", in that it seems to assert we are all "living data" somehow sentient, that consciousness is an emergent property from information itself and that our highest evolved form will be as pure information.

Not sure I buy that.  I think the "soul", which is what we are really talking about, is something far more sublime and profound than that, and probably is above and beyond mere data crunching.

Still, it is an interesting though.

Mad, a bit daring, different.  Lucy is a thinker's summer science fiction actioner.