HAPPY HALLOWEEN everybody…only 40 movies to go until the dawn of 2008. Since I’m dangerously close to falling a full year behind, I will attempt to “Finish the Forty” – or, in AP-style, “Finish the 40” in the next 2 ½ hours…the grammar, the logic, the reasoning may all go out the window as I write – but that’s when the terror really begins…hold on the final moviegoing months of 2007.
It started with horror a year or more ago…and its name was
The Roost (2005) – Gonna have to look this up…OK, now it’s coming back to me. Low-budget little thriller with a group of young’uns behaving pretty intelligently against a threat the title suggests – writer/director Ti West is one to watch. Tom Noonan is the biggest name, in a funny cameo as a ghoulish horror host presenting us the film. Grade: B-
Fido (2006) – Good performances help lift this horror/comedy about a world where zombies become servants, but while the central conceit is fitfully fun, it’s never once scary. A shame, because the candy-colored production design looks perfect, all is needed was more scary stuff looming around the corners. Billy Connelly is very committed as the title creature. Grade: C
Silent Night, Deadly Night (1974) – Low-budget horror with shaky production values, muddled story and eclectic cast has some clever ideas but the movie never adds up. Mary Woronov, Candy Darling, Patrick O’Neal (who vanishes after half an hour) and John Carradine appear. Grade: C
The Day the Fish Came Out (1967) – Now this is a true horror movie, an unfunny comedy shot on location with zero laughs, a confused-looking cast and a premise that can’t even work up the energy to be offensive. A classic turkey that is as bad as advertised, and not at all so-bad-it’s good. Grade: F
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007) – FADE IN: A naked, sweaty Phillip Seymour Hoffman on top of Marisa Tomei, humping away, I mean, really going to town. Scary, isn’t it? Tomei is soon seen, and that makes it OK for a moment. Sidney Lumet proves he’s still got the juice with the dark, black-hearted tale of family greed and betrayal. Zippy pacing for the 82-year old director, with a powerhouse cast all working at their peaks. With Ethan Hawke and Albert Finney. Grade: B+
American Gangster (2007) – Slightly disappointing, still mostly arresting biopic of the title character (Frank Lucas in real life) who took over the Harlem drug trade until loner cop Russell Crowe and his band of misfits team to take him down. Essentially two movies here, the gangster’s rise and the cop’s hunt. I preferred the latter, and really liked the grungy ‘70s vibe Crowe was projecting. It never really adds up to more than good moments but there are plenty of those. Good support from Ruby Dee as Lucas’s mother (Oscar nods for her but she needed one more scene at least) and from Josh Brolin being bad with an evil stache. I’m sure no moralist but this movie does glorify Lucas and really soft-pedals the man’s crimes to humanity and his own neighborhood.
Grade: B
Beowulf (2007) – This one made my Top Ten for the year, but only in the 3-D theatrical version we saw at the Arclight. I think the CGI wonder shrunk to two dimensions and even 50 inches would be too much for the lumpy script to handle. Labor of love for Robert Zemeckis, who really doesn’t want to work with people in the flesh anymore I guess. Used Cars was very, very long ago. Grade: B
I, the Jury (1982) – I only watched this because it was on and I was mildly curious to see the odd casting of Armand Assante as Mike Hammer in this very 1980s adventure. Cheesy and crude, with TV-level production values at times (the action-packed conclusion takes place in the woods for reasons that seem more budgetary than esthetic). Assante does capture a certain joie d’ouchbag here, but he’s no Ralph Meeker. Grade: D
Cruising (1980) – Controversial upon release, and still a touchy subject today, this cop-undercover-in-the-S&M-gay world is worth seeing. Al Pacino gets risky as the cop recruited to track down a killer of homosexuals by becoming the prey. New York activists hated this, thinking that it made all gay people out to be freaks and weirdos. Those elements are in full view, but William Friedkin used many actual clubs and actual patrons to round out his vision. Many effective moments as Pacino loses himself in his undercover role, though other key elements stay obscure – we follow Pacino but he remains a mystery at times too. An interesting documentary on the DVD actually made me like this muddled mystery more, because it seemed like Friedkin crafted this misdirection on purpose. Grade: B+
Feast (2005) – Scary winner of Project: Greenlight’s attempt to make a movie that people would actually want to see. Clu Gulager’s a crazy bastard these days, and the director/writer here is his son. He fills a remote diner with stock characters (Literally names “” as a post-mod nod to something) and gore breaks loose without much rhyme or reason. Judah Friedlander is here though, along with Balthazar Getty and Henry Rollins, and at least Clu gets a cameo. Grade: D
3:26 p.m. now and only ten down…30 to go…
It gets scarier with a bunch of grim noir (plus one Cary/Audrey classic)
Stakeout on Dope Street (1958) – Great little sleeper noir follows a trio of teens who find a drug dealer’s lost bag and decide to go into business for themselves, with predictably awful results. Unheralded but damn effective, with crisp direction by Irvin Kershner. Grade: B+
Murder by Contract (1959) – I didn’t like this much when I first watched it years ago, but this understated L.A. noir works well, with great location work and a unique voice. Vince Edwards is a hired killer who gets nervous when he learns his next target is a woman. Unpredictable, with memorable, oft-kilter dialogue and a sweaty sense of impending doom. Maybe that was the pressure of the 7-day shoot. Grade: A-
Charade (1963) – Bouncy spy fun with Cary Grant and Audrey Hepburn matching up nicely. Stanley Donen directs with his dancer’s eye intact, moving the players here with clear and precise skill. Much better than the follow-up Mirage in 1965. Grade: A
The Lineup (1958) – “See the sensation of Baby Doll as a killer!” – that’s Eli Wallach they mean, and he’s great as the lead in this lean and mean noir about the heroin trade. One of Patton Oswalt’s faves too, he screened it as part of his New Bev fest even. Grade: B+
Termination Man (2000) – We met Steve Railsback of Helter Skelter and The Stunt Man fame at an autograph convention, and that’s why Don Borders sent us this. It’s awful, with Railsback looking 20 years too old for his role as a super secret agent trying to stop…something or other. James Farentino is the other name here, but he mostly works behind a desk. Grade: F
Two Fs up there – now that’s scary! 15 down, 25 to go…not bad for a sneaky Halloween blog.
CP
