Short Attention Span Review - Black Rain (1989)

Short Attention Span Review - Black Rain (1989)

Black Rain is a real mixed bag.  It has so much going for it, but it is also littered with glaring flaws.  The visuals are a treat, with director Ridley Scott making the most of every environment the film inhabits.  He also delivers some riveting action setpieces, and star Michael Douglas shines in one of his grittiest and most physical roles.  I liked that the movie wasn't shy about venturing into some grey areas, with our dogged hero admitting to being on the take in one of Black Rain's most powerful scenes.  I really dig Yusaku Matsuda in the the last part he would ever play (unbeknownst to Scott, Matsuda was in the latter stages of a battle with cancer, and would perish weeks after the film premiered) as the villainous Sato.  He really delivered in a huge way, snarling and sneering without overplaying his hand.  He doesn't steal scenes with his bravado, but ratchets up the excitement with every appearance.  That's a lot to enjoy, and I almost forgot to mention Andy Garcia having way too much fun as the clearly doomed sidekick with a big heart and a great smile.  The producers must have realized just how obvious his ultimate fate was--they featured his decapitation in the theatrical trailer. So what went wrong?  First off, the song (no, I'm not going to bother looking it up--better that it go unnamed herein) that plays over the opening and closing credits is an unforgivable offense.  Secondly, the script drops the ball repeatedly where logic is concerned.  I mean, there are maybe a dozen total fails on this front.  This happens so often that our hero begins to seem like a very intense and equally conflicted buffoon.  Dude would have lasted about ten minutes in Japan.  He basically veers from one situation to another that should have led to either the loss of his job or his life.  It would be safe to consider him rather fortunate, for while he emerges unscathed, his behavior does result in his Japanese cohort losing his job and his American partner losing his life.  Those are the breaks when you sign up to be a sidekick.  Thankfully, the former does salvage his career, and in the end, he and Douglas find honor and even receive medals for an unsanctioned sting operation that results in a catastrophic loss of property and life.  Yeah, Black Rain has its good points, but it is pretty damn dumb.

Final Grade: C

Douglas proves more than capable in the role of a rugged action hero.  Having said that,  a problematic script  nearly steals his thunder.

Short Attention Span Review - Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Short Attention Span Review - Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Blade Runner is a film that I cherish, and I avoided this belated sequel for some time.  Honestly, I didn't think there was anything worthwhile left to say where this property is concerned, and I love the questions and discussion that the 1982 masterpiece from Ridley Scott generated.  Last night, I decided to take a look at Blade Runner 2049 in spite of my misgivings.  I'm not really sure why, and I admit that I fully expected to find myself at odds with the material.  From the onset, however, I realized that while Denis Villeneuve may not have matched Scott's brilliance, he authored a dazzling spectacle of his own.  The visuals are extraordinary, the sound is amazing, and the script is equally impressive.  While it is a bit slow, the methodical approach serves the intricate plot well, and allows the viewer to bask in all the breathtaking artistry on display.  It really is a treat for the eyes, with both the design elements and the special effects representing the best that the film industry has to offer.  Mind-boggling stuff, peeps.  The performances are just as compelling, with Ryan Gosling carrying the picture, while Harrison Ford is fully invested in a smaller role that gives the proceedings a strong center.  Jared Leto's extremely creepy work as an icy villain also warrants praise, and Sylvia Hoeks is a veritable powerhouse as his devious vessel of destruction.  Most importantly, like the original, Blade Runner 2049 grapples with difficult questions and big ideas--and it encourages us to explore many of the most important threads on our own.  Less a sequel than another distinct story inolving a shared vision of the future and many of the same characters, it doesn't tarnish what came before in any way.  In fact, I am shocked to admit that I feel that Blade Runner 2049 adds to this stirring landscape.  The pace and the runtime are likely to present issues for some viewers, and many others will long for more action.  This isn't for everyone, to be sure, but those who hope to discover invigorating science fiction ripe with dangerous ideas will find much to enjoy.    

Final Grade: A

Dark and introspective, Blade Runner 2049 is a brooding opus that features some of the best effects you're apt to see. 

Fabulous Faves - Blade Runner (1982)

Fabulous Faves - Blade Runner (1982)

Blade Runner is a film that remains spellbinding better than thirty years after hitting the scene.  It remains a thorough yet quizzical offering that paints a complex picture, exploring some epic questions with pain-staking attention to detail.  Yet it leaves the viewer to ponder many of these questions, and that is what makes it so majestic.  It has so many strengths, to include visionary director Ridley Scott's most creative work, one of Harrison Ford's best performances, and mind-boggling special effects.  Yet I find this beloved film's most potent draw to be dear departed Rutger Hauer's stunning portrayal of one of the cinema's most compelling villains.  Hauer's Roy Batty is as tragic as he is fearsome, and the actor owned the role.  He brought subtlety and introspection to the table, and he also brought brute force and a fiendish zeal.  He was explosive and yet utterly relaxed; it is a completely natural showing that displays remarkable theatrics.  When Hauer recently passed and I paused to look back on his body of work, I couldn't stop thinking about his poignant demise in Blade Runner.  That sequence is truly sublime, and it is merely one of the many vibrant flourishes that make this 1982 production so profound.  All these years after being released, it continues to provide viewers with a fully realized escape into a stark and strangely hypnotic vision of a future that did not come to pass.  It boasts incredible drama, excitement, and stimulation that lasts until the final frame--and beyond.  Blade Runner remains a stunning achievement that surely ranks among the finest motion pictures ever made.

Final Grade: A+

Blade Runner is overflowing with riches, but if I were to single out any one element of this landmark science fiction production as being the most spectacular, I would point to Rutger Hauer's work as Roy Batty.  Roy is the primary antagonist, and he's also the heart and soul of the picture.  You don't often see that.

The Alien Anthology

The SuperFox (my wife) hooked me up with the Alien Anthology set during the holiday season, so I recently had a chance to watch all four of the original Alien films.  I greatly enjoy the franchise, but mostly because of the strength of the first two entries.  I always felt that Alien was a really good horror film, and I think of Aliens as a genuine masterpiece.  Upon my first (and only) viewings of the third and fourth film prior to this endeavor, I found the third to be good but overly somber and the fourth to be total garbage.  Would I view things differently upon a second viewing?

First off, I still rank the first two pictures the same way.  Alien is a solid horror film, but it's probably not in my top ten.  I love the talent involved, the atmosphere, and especially the cinematography, and it is surely a fantastic movie--but it isn't a great one, at least not in my humble opinion.  Aliens is positively incredible.  It's easily the best sci-fi/action picture of all time, and if you want to look at it solely as an action film, it might rule that list as well.  It's tense, it's exciting, it's a lot of fun, and I just don't know that movies get much better than Aliens.  I love it.

Now, Alien 3 is a different story.  Talk about a buzzkill.  The overly bleak nature of the piece is so much more evident if the picture is viewed right on the heels of Aliens.  It can't help but suffer by comparison.  Honestly, this time out, I found that I enjoyed Alien 3 far less than Alien Resurrection--and it's a much better movie.  It's just such a downer.  I'm trying to do this whole thing spoiler-free, but suffice it to say that elements of the plot that are disclosed in the opening reel drag the whole thing down, and it never gets any happier.  The direction is fine, the action setpieces (few though they may be) are riveting, and there are a couple of likable characters in play, but the whole thing is a major downer.  If Aliens is as much fun as you can have watching a movie, Alien 3 is aiming squarely at the other end of that spectrum. 

So is Alien Resurrection any good?  No, it's not.  To be completely honest, it's rather awful.  But hey, it is colorful, and a bit unpredictable, and the direction is genuinely unique.  Despite a multitude of flaws, it's a lot of fun, and it has some incredibly creative sequences that are deserving of a better picture, but the plot is lacking and the closing reel is so bad that it's damn near offensive.  Having said that, at least it isn't a total pisser like the third entry in the series. 

The Anthology set itself is beautiful, and packed with value.  It contains two versions of every feature and two discs full of bonus content.  Anyone looking for the inside scoop on the Alien franchise will find all they could hope for and more included in this gorgeous set.  All in all, I was greatly pleased, and any fan of sci-fi, horror, or action must spend some time with these movies.  Of course, if it was up to me, the series would end with Aliens, and I may try to convince myself that Alien 3 and Alien Resurrection don't exist.  I'm fairly confident that I won't ever view them again. but that's okay--I'll continue to rock with Ripley, Dallas, and the Space Marines for as long as I live.