The Butterfly Effect (2004)

Directors: Eric Bress & J. Mackye Gruber
Starring: Ashton Kutcher, Melora Walters, Amy Smart & Elden Henson

* * *

Man, it's a shame when a good idea sells out like this one did. I can safely say that these filmmakers sold-out without a guilty conscience on my part because I watched the interviews on the disc. They sprinkled their speaking time with bullshit phrases like "high concept script" and how child abuse means so much to them. Here's some advice: don't make a film about fucking time travel if you want to deal with child abuse. You also don't let Ashton Kutcher play your leading man. I could understand casting him if it was his TV-to-film debut. The kid wants to prove his chops. He's got more riding on it. By the time this movie started filming, however, Kutcher had already proven himself as kind of a one-trick pony. Perhaps it was fitting casting, though, because the script has the same kind of one trick gimmick going itself. A great premise that turned into a mediocre script with a bad actor, The Butterfly Effect should have been so much more than it turned out to be. The DVD rubs this fact in the viewer's face, too, as it has several documentary-like features where prominent scientists in various fields speak passionately about the possibilities of chaos theory. The butterfly's wings that led to this one getting made should only get cancer.

March 10
apartment TV, afternoon

* * *

D

Walkabout (1971)

Director: Nicolas Roeg
Starring: Jenny Agutter, Luc Roeg & David Gulpilil

* * *

A father takes his two children out to the Australian Outback and tries to kill them. Unsuccessful, he sets fire to his vehicle and shoots himself in the face. Now the children must face the harsh environment of the Outback in their quest to make it home. An aboriginal boy finds the children and helps them on their sojourn as he gradually makes explicit his romantic feelings for the sister.

Walkabout features several graphic and explicit images of animals getting killed by both each other and by human beings. It's not uncommon for the main characters to be scantily clad or fully nude. It's a primal and unapologetic film, and it's jaded as hell.

The aboriginal boy is clearly meant to be filthy and repulsive to the viewer. This portrayal may be meant to mirror the sister's impression of the stranger, but despite its possible intent, the film just reeks of racism. The sister--a young English lady living in Australia--is stubborn and absurdly tries to impose a code of proper British conduct in one of the harshest and most competitive landscapes in the world. Her younger brother is intentionally obnoxious, just as a young boy would be in such a situation. Not understanding the extreme danger his group is in, he treats their journey like an adventure or a game. No one comes out looking good in Walkabout, especially not the English girl.

Walkabout makes a point about dichotomous (un)civilization, modern convenience/barren landscape, etc., but it's such a bitter message. The film is incredibly frustrating and not for those that are put off by senseless killing and stubborn fools.

March 9
apartment TV, morning

* * *

D

Laurel Canyon (2002)

Director: Lisa Cholodenko
Starring: Frances McDormand, Christian Bale, Kate Beckinsale & Natascha McElhone

* * *

Another quiet film by the writer/director of High Art, Laurel Canyon seeks to describe a way of life in the Los Angeles canyon country that exists between Hollywood and the Valley. Unfortunately Cholodenko stretches her story and her characters too far. Characters take actions a regular human being never would. The plot is ambiguous. The motivating factor behind the film is vague if it even exists. It's a fun film to watch if you're a Frances McDormand fan. Unfortunately, there's not much more to the film other than her great performance. It has too many characters with too little motivation and a plot that doesn't hold up even under the most preliminary examination. Watch High Art instead.

March 8
apartment TV, morning

* * *

D

The Right Stuff (1983)

Director: Philip Kaufman
Starring: Sam Shepard, Scott Glenn, Ed Harris, Dennis Quaid, Fred Ward, Barbara Hershey, Kim Stanley, Veronica Cartwright & Pamela Reed

* * *

Here's a guy's movie. Machines. Drinking. Manly men slapping other manly men on the back as they secretly plan to one-up him the next day. Competition and dreams. From sound barrier to the barrier of the atmosphere, The Right Stuff follows the men who test the most advanced technology in the world from their puddle-jumping days to the days of becoming American heroes. A brilliantly-paced three-hour survey, The Right Stuff has dead-on acting, great effects and a story that's OUT OF THIS WORLD!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

But seriously, it's really good. Check it out.

March 8
apartment TV, morning

* * *

D

Madonna: Truth or Dare (1991)

Director: Alek Keshishian
Starring: Madonna & company

* * *

Let's just get through this one, shall we? Truth or Dare is a black & white documentary following Madonna and her troupe of dancers on Madonna's Blond Ambition tour in 1990. It's great that a woman of Madonna's celebrity (especially at that time) would allow such an intimate documentary to be filmed--and then not censor it--because it really just shows how shallow she is. She creates dramas in her life because...well, people are supposed to have drama, right? She simultaneously craves attention from those that surround her while driving them away to the best of her ability. Truth or Dare is equal parts fascinating and repulsive. Here is the celebrity life with all its superficiality, fake drama and coarse personality. It's the prettiest train wreck you're likely to see.

February 18
friend's apartment TV, night

* * *

D

My Life Without Me (2003)

Director: Isabel Coixet
Starring: Sarah Polley, Amanda Plummer, Scott Speedman, Deborah Harry, Mark Ruffalo & Leonor Watling

* * *

Here's a beautifully acted tragic but uplifting film (How many times have you heard that one in just one week's film reviews? It's true here nonetheless.) about a woman (Polley) whose doctor announce to her that she only has six months to live. She keeps the information to herself and goes about making and executing a "list of things to do before death". We follow her as she makes a man--besides her husband--fall in love with her. We watch her bring her neighbor over in hopes that her husband will fall in love with her. Some scenes are hard to watch, but the film provides plenty of levity. Here is a character freed from the grind. Here is a character who must enjoy the time she has left. My Life Without Me is a quiet film with a great script and a great cast, and should be enjoyed in an environment and mindset conducive to that.

February 17
friend's apartment TV, evening

* * *

D

What About Bob? (1991)

Director: Frank Oz
Starring: Bill Murray, Richard Dreyfuss, Julie Hagerty, Charlie Korsmo & Kathryn Erbe

* * *

It seems I can take Bill Murray being the sarcastic jerk more than I can take his playfully dumb roles. In films like Ghostbusters and Groundhog Day, Murray's sarcasm is either a charming quirk of his character's personality or a trait whose eventual absence signifies the terminus of his character arc. In What About Bob?, the Bob character doesn't have an arc of his own. His character remains the same as the rest of the world develops around him. It's essentially a one punch-line film where Murray does something annoying and Dreyfuss reacts. The chaos of the specific events escalate, but nothing else really changes. This is not Oz's best work, nor is it Murray's.

February 17
apartment TV, early afternoon

* * *

D

The Manchurian Candidate (2004)

Director: Jonathan Demme
Starring: Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber, Jon Voight, Kimberly Elise & Meryl Streep

* * *

Here's a thriller that's a worthy adaptation of its original source material. What you trade off in great black & white photography you make up for in acting. Everyone's top notch and seeing the original is a bonus as the remake drops references and red herrings from the original fairly often. Entertaining and intelligent, The Manchurian Candidate is enjoyable even without a viewing of the original film.

February 16
apartment TV, early evening

* * *

D

Basketcase (1982)

Director: Frank Henenlotter
Starring: Kevin Van Hentenryck, Terri Susan Smith, Beverly Bonner & Robert Vogel

* * *

The acting in this one...terrible. The premise, however, is so bad and absurd that it's worth watching despite (or maybe because of) the poor performances. It involves a mutant Siamese twin being carried around in a basket by his twin brother killing the doctors that separated them years after their birth. It also involves the brother talking to his mute mutant brother and a sexual attack by the mutant (who, by the way, has no genitals). Absolutely absurd.

It's because of this absurdity that this film is worth watching. It's like the director got the worst actors he could find to say the worst lines and then gleefully through the poorly made-up mutant brother on the only woman who would get naked in his film. Unbelievable and hilarious. Worth seeing in a bad movie marathon but not recommended watching alone and/or by one's self.

February 14
friend's apartment TV, late night

* * *

D

American Gothic (1988)

Director: John Hough
Starring: Rod Steiger, Yvonne De Carlo, Sarah Torgov, Janet Wright, Michael J. Pollard & William Hootkins

* * *

It's amazing. One can actually see Rod Steiger thinking as he performs...I was in fucking On the Waterfront. His performance, though solid, doesn't make up for the (expectedly) poor script and acting. The film follows a group of young promiscuous adults (naturally) that land their plane due to engine troubles on a deserted island (naturally). They (naturally) soon discover that the island is, in fact, inhabited by a family of backward, hillbilly psychopaths (do I even need to say it at this point?).

The killings aren't terribly bloody, but the family is predictably quirky and murderous. No points for originality, but the Ma and Pa characters go far enough to make this film worth watching for connoisseurs of low-budget horror. Not a must watch, but as stated before Rod Steiger turns in a decent performance despite the material.

February 14
friend's apartment TV, late night

* * *

D

The Gate (1987)

Director: Tibor Takács
Starring: Stephen Dorff, Christa Denton & Louis Tripp

* * *

Awww, little Stephen Dorff! He still had that fox-look to him even as a 12-year-old. In this film, however, he's not playing the fox-faced bad guy. He's the scared-for-his-life-but-must-save-the-day-for-the-love-of-his-sister good guy. As a bonus, there are some genuinely scary moments in the film. Creepy zombies steal children through the walls. People's faces get bashed in and melt. Dead mothers turn into dead dogs. The walls crawl.

All in all, it's not a terrible 80's horror movie. The effects--even by today's standard--are quite good. Any movie that incorporates meddling kids, Cthulhu references and heavy metal is okay in my book.

February 13
friend's apartment TV, late night

* * *

D

The Witches of Eastwick (1987)

Director: George Miller
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Cher, Susan Sarandon & Michelle Pfeiffer

* * *

Good lord. I'm not sure I've mentioned how much I like Jack Nicholson, but I do. Very much. Chinatown remains one of my favorite movies despite it being one of the first I watched when I took the plunge my freshmen year of college. His "Jack playing Jack" performance always entertains me. Large mansion, multiple partner sex (three women, one man), a town scandalized, and Nicholson spouting just the right vulgarities to get it all. I joked with the person I watched this witht that Nicholson probably thought they were just filming a documentary about his life. The Witches of Eastwick was entertaining as hell and had surprisingly deep messages about modern conservative religion, the Feminine and modern male mating ritual. Good stuff, as Nicholson being Nicholson always is.

February 13
friend's apartment TV, night

* * *

D

Mannequien (1987)

Director: Michael Gottlieb
Starring: Andrew McCarthy, Kim Cattrall, Estelle Getty, James Spader & Meshach Taylor

* * *

The cheese...the cheese is overwhelming. Here's another example of an "80's movie". We can define this as a film that would never, ever be made outside of a certain decade. I mean, this lady met and inspired the greatest minds in history, but she ends up falling for Andrew McCarthy? Nothing against the brother, but he isn't Michaelangelo. I think we can all agree to that, no? Bad fashion, bad acting, ridiculous premise. Entertaining movie, if you can bear everything terrible in the movie. That's a lot, by the way.

February 13
friend's apartment TV, late evening

* * *

D

Sixteen Candles (1984)

Director: John Hughes
Starring: Molly Ringwald, Justin Henry, Michael Schoeffling, Gedde Watanabe & Anthony Michael Hall

* * *

Another John Hughes 80's classic. I'm ashamed to say that my viewing the other night was my first full viewing of the film, but whataya going to do? I led a sheltered life. Sheltered from the joy that John Hughes brought to millions of others while I was still reading Jack London novels. Hurray for nerds and the underappreciated. This anthem's for you.

February 13
friend's apartment TV, evening

* * *

D