B Plus Movies

Finding myself making my first post in days at the end of the Yuletide season, I am tempted to dip into the deep well that is bad, Christmas/Winter themed horror movies. There is certainly a plethora to choose from, from the seminal and protested Silent Night to the more recent and less probable Jack Frost. Almost all of them fall into B+ territory.

But I haven’t seen any of them. I have, however, seen The Breed.

If I were to boil The Breed down to its essentials, I think I could make a case for this being a solid and underated picture: A genetic offshoot of humanity, vampires, has revealed itself in secret to the government, just as a single vampire serial killer threatens to destroy the fragile peace. A pair of cops attempt to get to the bottom of the killings before things spiral out of control. One cop is a cynical wisecracker, played by Bokeem Woodbine, who lost his partner to the vampire serial killer. The other is a vampire, played by Highlander: The Series star Adrian Paul.

Where the problems start for this picture is in the bucket of details that aren’t essential. For instance, the fact that it’s the near future. For a second, that there’s an oppressive, dictatorial one-world government which apparently forces everyone to wear jack boots and use 1960’s technology. There’s the interspersed head shots of various vampires stating their political afflilation (taken from a database of the world’s vampires that is the one nod to the fact the movie isn’t set in modern day). Don’t get me started on the vampire panther.

The Breed is ambitious in that it attempts to make vampires the more sympathetic of the two branches of human evolution, asking questions about what it means to be a monster and sheding new light on the subject of racism. With better writing and a bigger budget, they might have effectively told that story but instead ended up spinning a pretentious yarn in which one moment our vampiric hero/sidekick is worldly wise from having survived WWII and the next is unaware of what the adjective phrase “big ass” means.

If there is any saving grace in this film, it comes from the acting of Adrian Paul and Bai Ling (who plays a Dominatrix/Vampire/Plot Device/Love Interest). They both avoid camping up their characters, delivering their lines with conviction and playing it completely straight despite a weak script and regretable costuming decisions. It’s through their acting that we see the glimmers of what this movie could have been.

Which is a shame, because The Breed ended up only getting a C from me. As vampire movies go, I’m sad to say this one sucks.

I apologize for the un-announced vacation. This week, B+ Movies will be getting new installments Teusday (today) and Thursday Jan. 1st. You’ll be seeing the blog back to it’s regular MWF schedule beginning next week. Thanks for reading.

The early seventies saw an explosion of enlightened self interest as millions of Americans were starting to lose a little of their national identity and start asking who they really were. It seemed for a time like it might turn into a real raising of consciousness, riding on the enthusiasm and hopefulness of the late sixties, but instead turned into a kind of an indulgent mess. While self help gurus got rich, disco became popular and superficiality became acceptable the seeds of the movement did survive, but only barely.Proof: The original Rollerball.

The movie revolves around the sport of Rollerball, in which men roll around a track on roller skates, occasionally being towed by guys on motorcycles, chasing after a heavy metal ball which they attempt to scoop up and put in a goal before the opposing team beats them into a mushy wet spot. This is all produced, funded and run by the nameless, faceless mega-corporations much the same way that the NFL or NASCAR is run today if Wal-Mart was also the government. The star player of this team sport is Jonathan E., played by James Caan.

After putting his team within tasting range of the championship, Jonathan is approached by the team’s sponsor and told he’s not to compete. Not taking this too well, Jonathan continues to play. In response, the game starts to lose rules about unnecessary roughness and personal fouls. As the game gets deadlier, Jonathan gets more determined and eventually we get to find out why it is that they want him not to play.

Rollerball looks dated, from the old style skates to the 70’s era “futuristic” decor. If you look past that, you get to see a powerful tale about the triumph of the individual, something akin to the core of what the “me” movement in the 70’s was trying to accomplish at it’s best. The message remains relevant, especially today as more arenas get named for cell phone companies than war heroes and advertising becomes more and more inescapable.

The pace of the film suffers a little from the passage of time and no doubt people watching this in the 21st century will find their patience tried a little, but beyond that there’s little to criticize in this movie.

Rollerball, I proclaim the B+. I recommend checking this out, even if you saw the critically panned 2002 remake. I can understand why a director might want to redo this movie, just for the wide collared polyester suits alone, but there is no reason to update this movie’s message. Like Gloria Gaynor, it will survive.

One of the more tragic losses to the world of martial arts and acting was when Brandon Lee died all too young. As an actor, he was eloquent and passionate. As a martial artist, he was a joy to watch. From the few interviews I’ve seen, he also appeared to be quite a person and the world is sorrier for his absence.

Before his last film, The Crow, Brandon did a few B movies which are considerably more watchable for his participation. Exhibit A: Showdown in Little Tokyo.

While its title suggests that it might be a sequel to Big Trouble In Little China, it is in fact a Onezuh film. As in Onezuh American Asian cop ignorant of his heritage, Onezuh Anglo American cop with a fetish for things Japanese. Brandon Lee plays the first part and comes in as the ignorant rookie, wet behind the ears but still ready for action. The second, seasoned part is played by Dolph Lundgren.

The movie’s plot revolves around the Yakuza and them doing horrible, horrible things. I go into no more detail because, well, it doesn’t matter. The reason one queues this movie up on Netflix is because you’re looking for some butt-kicking and explosions. Thankfully, this movie delivers.

Lundgren flips over a car. People get shot. There are sword duels, fist fights and gun battles. There’s unnecessary nudity and smart/bad ass one liners.

When you pop this one in, bring popcorn and just strap yourself down.

The movie is more comic book that gritty cop film and it will be better for you if you go in expecting no more than that. There is some decent acting in the film in places, mostly from Brandon and the extra grizzled bad guy played by Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, but it’s overshadowed by things like Lundgren flipping a car by brute force alone or the short, pre-climax montage that ends in someone stepping out in a kind of bad samurai outfit carrying an M4 rifle.

Showdown in Little Tokyo is brilliant cheese and a hair’s breadth away from me ranking it as a B+ movie, missing mostly because of the suspension of disbelief required in order to enjoy the film. It only gets a B from me, but it gets a very solid B. I own it and have no qualms in doing so, and not just in an attempt to own anything that has Brandon Lee’s name on it.

Walking down the aisles of my local movie rental store recently, I was amazed at how many direct to video titles I saw with Val Kilmer in them. Being a fan of Real Genius, Top Gun and his outstanding performance in Tombstone, I just can’t think of Kilmer as a B Movie actor. But then again, perhaps the mainstream’s loss is the fringe’s gain.

Case in point: The Salton Sea.

In this small release film, Kilmer plays a man who lost his wife and thereafter descends into the world of crystal meth, a drug that makes heroin look kind of glamorous by comparison. The character also rats dealers out to the cops and keeps an apartment where he keeps what shreds he has left of his former life. In the first ten minutes of meeting the character, I felt like I had a working knowledge of what it would be like to be a meth junkie and despite this, I liked him.

When the movie begins to intensify is when Kilmer’s character decides he wants to make one big score to get the hell out of town.  In the process, he enters into business with a noseless psychopath played by the incomparable Vincent Donofrio. Things begin to go from ugly to uglier and pretty soon, the guns start going off.

There is a lot to this movie, a kind of tragic chic that makes you feel sorry for people who are basically snorting the spam of amphetamines. Each person you meet, no matter how outlandish or odd, seems believable, interesting and vital to the story. The movie doesn’t shy away from the horrific but at the same time doesn’t seem to inject shock for the sake of it. It’s a movie featuring drug addiction that doesn’t leave you feeling icky and has a story that makes the drugs a feature as much as a focus.

Check this one out. B+, from beginning to end.

I recently saw a list of 19 films that would make great “Midnight Movie” features. For those reading this that don’t know what a Midnight Movie is, I’m not talking about the early showing on Thursday night for a movie out on Friday. I’m talking about movies like The Rocky Horror Picture Show or Eraserhead, movies so weird that theaters wouldn’t run them during respectable hours and so they ran them at midnight when no one was out but the freaks and weirdos. Those freaks and weirdos turned these films into cult classics and the watching of them into an event. How many times you’d seen one was a badge of honor, back in the days where you actually had to leave your house for two hours plus to see a movie.

The whole “Midnight Movie” thing still lives on, but it’s not quite what it used to be, now the domain of those who are determined to keep it cool on purpose rather than those who made it cool by accident. One of the movies that might have an audience with this crowd is Memento.

Memento is about as above ground as an underground film can get. It was an Oscar and Golden Globe nominee as well as a commercial success. Still, I think most people didn’t hear about this movie until it was already on DVD.

If you still haven’t heard about the movie, here’s the basic plot: Guy Pearce plays a man who has no short term memory. He can hold onto about fifteen minutes of time at a stretch. To compensate for this, he takes pictures and writes notes to himself,  but some important things he keeps tattooed on his body. He’s searching for the man who killed his wife.

What sets this movie apart from it’s fellows was that the director, Christopher Nolan (you know, from Batman Begins and Dark Knight), decided to tell the story backwards. We start at the end and work our way forward, leapfrogging back in time one bite sized chunk of story after another. We see the world as Pearce’s character sees it: confusing, disoriented and sudden with just enough of a theme running through it to keep it all together.

Memento is a pretty impressive film for the sheer balls it took to make. It also showcased Carrie-Anne Moss (Trinity from The Matrix trilogy) and Joe Pantoliano (also in The Matrix plus about a thousand other movies), their performances providing a set of solid counterpoints to the central perspective of Guy Pearce. The movie is worth watching more than once and to some extent may even be required, just to catch all the nuances that the unique telling offers.

I want to point out this film’s flaws, but to my amateur eye I found none. The story is compelling, the direction well done and the acting outstanding. This movie is worth renting, worth owning and perhaps worth committing to memory (which is ironic).

Memento is a B+ movie and you might not need me to tell you that, but let me do so anyway. It might help you remember.

Back before HBO pumped out Emmy nominees on a regular basis, they would pad their schedule with a variety of accquired and in-house films that ranged from schlock to inspired. They seemed to pull on the both the outstanding as much as whatever was at hand to produce intersting and watchable television, sometimes giving a glimpse into the heights they would later touch with bold and poingant stories.

One movie that had shades of greatness in the folds of it’s script was Beyond the Law.

Proving that Steven Segal doesn’t have the monopoly on three word titles, Charlie Sheen stars in this picture about an cop who goes undercover, working his way into a bike gang in the American southwest. He takes on the part whole cloth to the point that the line begins to blur between cop and the biker persona he’s created for himself. In the end, our hero has to fight to keep himself as much as he has to fight to bring the outlaws to justice.

There’s a lot to like in this film. In addition to Charlie, we have Michael Madsen (Mr. Blonde from Resivoir Dogs) as a gang leader. Linda Fiorentino (frequent femme fatale and star of Dogma) stars as the very believable love interest and Leon Rippy (Saving Grace) as a burnout biker who guides Charile Sheen’s character along the way. All of them give amazing performances. The movie is made, though, by the Charlie Sheen’s dedication to his role; he really comes across as on the edge, half crazy and seriously in danger of losing himself.

The well crafted tension and drama drives the story but sometimes does it in spite of some of the choices made by the director. There’s a few places where the movie seems confused as to weither it’s going to be an action movie or a cop thriller. Also, there’s a subplot about an incident in the cop’s past, one that suggests he may have been abused by someone dressed as a police officer, which seems truly tacked on to the movie. Given that the movie is based on a true story, it could be a historical fact, but it still seems irrelivant to the character’s flirtation with madness.

I went back and forth, but in the end I have to give Beyond the Law a B+, just for the sheer, raw power that gets conveyed in the performance of the star and the dilemmas faced by the main character. The one bit of trivia I’ve read about this movie is that the real cop the movie is based on appeared as an extra in the film and I hope he was happy with how his story was told. The makers of this film could have easily let it degenerate into a bullet ridden thrill ride, but instead we get a genuinely powerful tale, a look into the mind of a man trying hard to keep himself together in the a high pressure situation that would cause weaker souls to crack.

If you find this one in the $5 bin, get it. You’ll watch it more than once. I know I have.

Every once in a while, I have to go to a video store whether I intend to rent anything or not. I just want to know what’s out there, how many hours of films I’m behind on. I look for the unexpected, gems that I’d have never heard of online, only by stumbling upon the hard copy. Sometimes, I find one that screams of such potential that I have to rent it, regardless of what my original intentions were. It has to be seen; it has to be measured.

This weekend, that movie was Sukiyaki Western Django.

The bumper sticker description of this movie would be a “Japanese made Spaghetti Western” but of course that doesn’t convey the essence of the film any more that “Visualize World Peace” constitutes a foreign policy. Sukiyaki Western Django has both saddlebags full of standard western tropes: A town held by two violent gangs, a nameless gunman willing to stir things up, a treasure in gold and townspeople who are caught in the middle, but aren’t just what they seem. There’s even a cute, somewhat damaged kid.

Then it gets weird.

We’ve got a town sheriff that seems to have multiple personality disorder. We’ve got one gang leader who idolizes Shakespeare and Henry V. We’ve got another gang leader who is a samurai at heart in addition to being the genuine bad ass we know is going to stand on one side of the final showdown.

Watching, I was constantly trying to figure out if this was a comedy, a parody or a tribute. It would be funny one moment, then throw something at me that might still haunt my nightmares.  It had places where the Japanese actors would do lines straight from scripts of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood with sincerity, but at the same time it felt like the characters were playing at cowboys, not just the actors.

The visual style of this movie is bold and shocking in places. There’s brutality mixed with visual comedy; displays of beautiful violence mixed with filth and horror. It’s over the top, the sort of movie you are glad you’ve seen the first time, but the second time when you’re showing it to your friends, you’re wondering if maybe you missed something.

The only problem I had with this movie was that it sometimes seemed to substitute visual impact for poignancy and as a result be interesting in places where it could have been unforgettable. The slow pace of the dialogue is forgivable, the uses of cliche understandable attempts at homage but the opportunities this movie has to make you say “Holy Crap!” are missed, leaving you instead muttering “that was kind of odd.”

Sukiyaki Western Django get’s a B from me. If it weren’t for the last 15 minutes of the movie, I’d give it a C. If you’re a fan of oddball cinema, bright red blood splatters and sex scenes of questionable ethics and eroticism, it’s worth it to check this one out.  If not… why are you reading this blog?