[Freya-dæg] Nicolas Cage Month Pt. 4: Seeking Justice Review

{Seeking Justice's movie poster, found on Wikipedia.}

Introduction
Plot Summary
The Good
The Bad
Judgment
Closing

Introduction

We close off Nicolas Cage month with a movie very similar to the one with which we opened. Seeking Justice, though not film noir and not a movie featuring a terribly over-the-top Nicolas Cage, is strikingly similar to Deadfall in that it's plot also tries to be a complex of twists and deceptions.

Both of these movies were veritable flops (taking in $12,355,798 out of a $30 million budget and $18,369 out of a $10 million budget respectively), but let's see just what's so bad about Seeking Justice - and what's good about it.

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Plot Summary

Wil Gerard (Cage) is just another high school English teacher in the modern city of New Orleans. He's married to the musician Laura Gerard (January Jones), friends with his school's principal (Harold Perrineau), and an all-around good guy.

But then the unthinkable happens - his wife is brutally attacked and raped. A strange man (Guy Pearce) asks a shaken-up Wil if he wants to wreak vengeance on the criminal responsible for his wife's condition, and he says yes. The hit happens and Wil has his vengeance, but the man who offered it can now ask a favor from Wil whenever one is needed.

As the mild-mannered English teacher gets deeper and deeper into this network of vigilantism, will he be crushed by its ever-encroaching presence or will he come out as the only one who's truly Seeking Justice?

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The Good

Seeking Justice is definitely an action/thriller that runs very much by the book. But, it has rigorously highlighted some key parts of that book.

Most rigorously of all, perhaps, the movie does a great job of making the viewer despise its villain. The precise moment when he reveals himself for what he is comes fairly late into the movie, but not so late as to make his getting his comeuppance any less satisfying. This underlines the hatred stored up for the character throughout the film.

The movie's major twist is also amazing, though if you're familiar with Lost it might be less of a surprise, since Perrineau is at the twist's center.

Also to the movie's credit, though it plays by the book, it knows well enough how to keep an audience's attention even amidst its clichés. For example, it becomes clear that Wil is going to be blackmailed at one point, but how the blackmail plays out is quite ingenious.

The movie also uses what it establishes, namely the network of vigilantes, in an excellent way.

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The Bad

Yet, at the same time, Seeking Justice does little to keep its pacing even.

The first and third acts are fine, but things sag in the movie's middle. This sag is caused mostly by things becoming too convoluted - it becomes unclear just who is a part of the network that Wil stumbles into and who isn't, not to mention why this should continue to matter as much as it does.

While this convoluted storytelling is definitely a good way to show the character's confusion, it isn't useful when it lasts as long as it does and makes little effort to connect with the rest of the movie. The second act would be greatly helped by a line like: "That Simon guy is no good, we want to get him out - permanently." Instead of being given such a signpost though, things just remain unclear.

Although his English teacher cred is definitely restored by a scene late in the movie, all of the other scenes involving this aspect of Wil's character just aren't that great. Instances of him teaching especially seem only to be used to show aspects of the character but without any kind of subtlety.

Ultimately, the movie's ending also lacks subtlety, as loose ends aren't tied off so much as they are cauterized. Major details that should have been addressed for proper closure are entirely ignored. In particular, Wil isn't called in to clarify the circumstances of a death that turns out to be a suicide and not a murder.

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Judgment

Seeking Justice is a fine example of a movie that can really reach an audience. It's also an example of a movie that doesn't try to remain aloof from the audience in that characters are easy to relate to. Though, empathy and sympathy are generated more by their situations than characters' individual traits or personalities.

Nonetheless, it's a movie that presents a good use of the elements that it introduces, and that can get you empathizing with the characters and their plight - if you let it.

It's not a great one, but it's messiness can be excused. So, Freya, when next you swoop for one nobly worthy, also grab this worthy one from the field of fallen films.

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Closing

That's it for Nicolas Cage month, but don't miss next week's short fantasy tale, editorial, and the search for the good in a generally frowned upon flic. Plus, watch for Annotated Links #12 and #13.

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[Freya-dæg] Nicolas Cage Month Pt. 3: Trespass Review

{Trespass's movie poster, found on Wikipedia.}

Introduction
Plot Summary
The Good
The Bad
Judgment
Closing

Introduction

For part three of Nicolas Cage Month Trespass is on the block. A film that came out to terrible reviews peppered with a few passing grades, Trespass was pulled from American theatres after only 10 days (in which it made back less than $25 000 of its $35 million budget). Let's see just how bad this movie is, and how Cage fares.

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Plot Summary

The Miller's are a wealthy family, living on a secluded wealthy estate where security is tantamount. Not just because Kyle (Nicolas Cage) is a diamond trader, nor just because Sarah (Nicole Kidman) is an architect - it's all about family.

But the Miller's notion of family comes under threat when a group of thieves invade their home, demanding that Kyle make the most dangerous trade of all - his money for his and his family's lives. Does he do the deal? Or do the robbers double cross him? Just who is in the right and who is in the wrong is hard to tell when everyone involved is bound to Trespass.

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The Good

Trespass offers some chilling moments that showcase the brutality of people when they're at their most desperate. It includes some strong performances from Kidman and Cam Gigandet (Jonah). But, most importantly, it showcases Nic Cage's specially adapted variety of acting.

{Move over, John Hodgman, there's a new Deranged Millionaire in town.}

Cage really shows what he's capable of in this movie. Every line of his dialogue is excellently delivered, and pitched excellently. Plus, Cage gets matched with a line that must have been written for his special brand of over-the-top acting: "That your filthy lust invited them in?"

The film is also plush with style and a smooth finish that are the result of the soundtrack, lighting, and camera work.

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The Bad

But, beneath those performances, and that style, beneath the lovely veneer, this movie is rotted through.

The core elements of any thriller, are suspense and tension. Trespass offers neither.

Aside from the home invasion element of the movie, its other focus is the strength of the Miller family.

Throughout the movie the bonds between Kyle and Sarah and them both and Avery are tested. Mostly, however, the fact that Kyle is always away on business is thrown at the audience and through the use of oddly placed flashbacks, we're told that Sarah may just have gotten a little too involved with the security system maintenance guy, who just so happens to be Jonah.

This could make for a compelling family drama, except for the fact that there is never anything at risk.

The flashbacks show nothing that is explicit about Sarah and Jonah having an affair, except for one picture which is shown to be the result of a set up shortly after it has first been displayed.

What's more, in an early scene Sarah wonders aloud about how much longer she'll have to wait before she stops caring that Kyle is never around - an indication that things aren't going well between them, but that she, up to this point, still cares enough about him to not cheat on him.

The movie's plot is also sluggish and built on a shakey foundation. The introduction to the Millers is fine, but the thieves are simply a group of ne'er-do-wells when they first arrive on the scene. They do a good job of this, definitely, but they constantly change their story, and this not only clouds their motivation, but frustrates rather than interests.

By the time the invaders' true reason for being there is revealed it's hard to really care.

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Judgment

Trespass scores high on two fronts: Acting and being very aptly titled. For this movie is indeed a trespass against interesting, suspenseful storytelling.

It has a handful of moments, both legitimately good and so bad that they're almost good, but so few moments do not a movie make.

Though it may try to talk you out of it, fly high over this one, Freya. Let it linger longer in that field of fallen films - perhaps a green shoot or wide-boughed tree will raise from where it lay.


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Closing

Next week is the last week of July, and so, the last part of Nicolas Cage month. The set of special reviews will be rounded off with a look at Seeking Justice, the story of how far a grief-stricken man will go to exact vengeance.

Plus, next week there will be a new piece of creative writing, an editorial article, and Annotated Links #10 and #11.

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[Freya-dæg] Nicolas Cage Month Pt. 1: Deadfall Review

{The Deadfall movie poster, found on Wikipedia.}

Introduction
Plot Summary
The Good
The Bad
Judgment
Closing

Introduction

Co-written, directed, and produced by Christopher Coppola, Nicolas Cage may have gotten such a big role because of the family connection (Nic Cage is, after all a Coppola). Upon its initial release, the movie grossed $18,369 at the box office (and took 10 million to make), and critics panned it. As of this writing, the movie sits at a 0% among critics and a 29% among fans on Rotten Tomatoes - though Wikipedia notes that the Cage's role is among the best of his work that isn't supposed to be taken seriously.

So, it seems like Cage might be a high point, but what about the rest of the movie? Let's find out.

{Is Nicolas Cage a bad enough dude to save this movie?}

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Plot Summary

Meet Joe Donan (Michael Biehn), an all American boy with a secret: He's a con man. Joe's been running cons with his father Mike (James Coburn) for years, but when one of their grifts goes fatally wrong Joe follows his father's final wish and finds his twin brother. Joe meets his Uncle Lou (James Coburn) on the West Coast, along with his flunky Eddie (Nicolas Cage) and the mysterious Diane (Sarah Trigger).

Everything seems to be going well for Joe until jealousies and wild ambitions threaten to lead him into the same situation and even the same con that lead to his father's death. Will Joe be able to face up to his past in order to find his future? Or will he only stumble into the Deadfall?

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The Good

Staying very true to the form of the film noir, Deadfall is a very stylish movie. It's full of clean visuals, an excellent (if periodically ill-picked) soundtrack, and great lighting.

As per the movie's content, it also hits all of the necessary noir notes. It has a brooding hero with a past he'd rather forget, a mysterious strong-willed woman (played excellently by Trigger), a wild criminal, a calculating mastermind, and a plot that is all around sound.

Nic Cage also adds to the movie, though less through subtlety than through crazed abandon. Although we seldom see his character taking them, it's definitely clear that he's taking drugs, but what's curious about his performance here is that if the modern internet were around in the early 90s it would have been bristling with memes based on his performance here.

Cage's wild hollering, his strange intonation and word stressing, his unplaceable accent and mannerisms. In Deadfall, Nicolas Cage is practically a walking meme. Even *spoilers* his death */spoilers* could be made into a meme, or at the least could be used in a YouTube mashup with a voice over by the Mortal Kombat "Toasty!" guy.

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The Bad

It's unfair to say, but it must be said. This movie was made in 1993 and it shows. But, not in the production values, or in the special effects, more in the style and the atmosphere that it creates.

Film noir from earlier decades (China Town, Detour, The Manchurian Candidate, etc.) relied on subtlety and grit to keep their characters from becoming larger than life or unbelievable.

These elements are cast aside in Deadfall in favour of characters and situations that can only be described as *cue guitar riff* EXTRE-E-EME!

Cage himself is a good example of this, but so too are Dr. Lyme (Angus Scrimm) and Morgan "Fats" Gripp (Charlie Sheen).

Because these characters make the fiction of the movie that much larger, they make it seem a little more far-fetched than some may be willing to believe.

However, much more manifest in the movie is a problem with pacing. Thankfully it doesn't come up until the very end, but the way in which the history of Joe's parents and Uncle is revealed seems too rushed.

It's not until the last few minutes of that movie that we learn what happened between the brothers and the woman who is Joe's mother, and this is just far too late to really develop what could have been a great means of giving Joe and his father and uncle much more depth and intricacy.

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Judgment

Deadfall is a movie that deserves a second chance, a movie that was dealt with too harshly by its initial critics.

Showcasing the ham talent of a young Nicolas Cage, and encapsulating the spirit of driving things to the extreme in the 90s, its a movie that definitely should be watched by anyone interested in film noir, Nicolas Cage's career, or 90s film in general.

It's not perfect - it's definitely no Detour - but it tells its story in a competent fashion and features some great acting and actors.

So, Freya, part the glossy cloak of 90s style in which this one is wrapped and lift it up from the field of fallen films. This movie is one to be saved.

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Closing

Check back here next week for another piece of creative writing, another editorial on the newest news, and a hunt for the good in Season of the Witch. Also, be sure to check this blog on Tuesday and Thursday for more annotated links.

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[Freya-dæg] Handling One of the Worst -- Manos: The Hands of Fate

Plot Summary
The Good
The Bad
Judgment
Closing

{No B horror movie is complete without a picture of Frank Zappa during his experimental mustaches phase. This image is a self-made screen grab.}

There is a handful of movies that are truly and absolutely terrible movies, but Manos: The Hands of Fate definitely puts up a good fight for the title of worst. Nonetheless, this blog’s not about reviewing things only on reputation, or even on the general common sense that guides most other reviewers. No, sir (or ma’am). So, let’s just get right to this piece of American cinema history and see what good we can find in it.

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Plot Summary

This plot summary contains spoilers. You have been warned.

Mike (Harold P. Warren), Margaret (Diane Mahree), and their daughter Debbie (Jackey Neyman) are driving through the desert of Texas on their way to a fabulous summer home vacation. However, they get lost and instead wind up at a creepy old house watched over by a hunched up man named Torgo (John Reynolds). After some convincing Torgo allows the family to stay the night even though Torgo fears that it will displease his Master (Tom Neyman).

Strange things start happening to the family in the house, and eventually it is revealed that The Master is the leader of a cult that sacrifices hapless men that stumble onto the house and that takes the women that come to the house as his wives.

The family makes a daring attempt at escape, but will it be enough to break free from...Manos: The Hands of Fate?

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The Good

In spite of this movie’s reputation, it’s low production values (if you ever graphically represented them, you might have to answer to some angry mole people), and its amateurish cast and crew, there are some things that shine through.

The character of Torgo is a strangely intriguing one. Perhaps this is because he is the one character who’s given the most story. It isn’t a complex one, but it’s much more background information than we’re given for any other character. Simply put, Torgo is upset with The Master for leaving him out of the wife acquisition game. Torgo’s lusting after a woman is made more poigniant by the factoid that he was originally supposed to be a satyr (according to Wikipedia).

Further, the conflict between Torgo and The Master is the most interesting one in the movie because it can be related to (we’ve all had bosses that we feel mistreat/don’t appreciate us), and because they're the two most competent male actors in this movie.

Now, as a B horror movie it’s a backhanded compliment, but this movie also has some moments that are just so bad they’re funny. Frank Zappa was charmed by the cheesiness of 1950s monster movies, and Manos is definitely a nod in this direction, intentionally or otherwise. In either case, you're likely to bust a gut watching this one, maybe even two if you watch the Mystery Science Theatre 3000 riff track version of the movie.

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The Bad

As hinted at above, this is a movie filled with amateurs. Of course, according to Wikipedia that’s exactly who was behind this movie from its conception through to its handful-of-theatres release. Warren directed on a bet, wrote it, and hired locals from a modelling agency to fill parts. He filmed it on a wind-up 16mm Bell-Howell camera that could only record video or audio and just for 30-32 seconds at a time. All of these factors, and possibly more (Hotel Torgo might enlighten further) work together to make this an all around bad movie.

It’s dully written and has some stilted dialogue that’s delivered so monotonously you’ll wonder just how desperate the Emerson Releasing Corporation was as its first distributor.

It has terrible cinematography that is limited to two shots: a tight zoom on speakers (and even those that are just supposed to be looked at in certain scenes), and a wider shot that shows the actors in the same way that they’d be viewed from the front row of a playhouse. The camera itself is of poor quality, and artificial lighting is virtually non-existent.

But, most egregious of all of its faults, is that its story is so disjointed and poorly told as a tale of terror. Instead of blending the story of the family on vacation, the kooky cult, a pair of constantly necking teenagers, and the cops that try to nab those crazy kids each story is off on it’s own and the only connection appears to be coincidence - not fate.


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Judgment

So, Manos, the hands of fate. There’s menace in Torgo’s performance, and in The Master, but there’s so little background provided.

Why does the cult of Manos perform human sacrifice? What are the powers that one of The Master’s wives is constantly on about? Why are these powers supposedly weakening? How is it that this house is hidden from the rest of the world, or, why does everything think the road leading to it ‘goes nowhere’? Why would a family want to vacation in the desert?

You need to assume so much just to be terrified, and the terrifying shots are held for far too long.

Terror and horror are based on the unknown. Something that we’re supposed to be afraid of needs to be on the edge of our knowledge or understanding either because it’s so bizarre (think David Lynch) or because it’s obscured (literally or by other elements of the story/setting/characters/description) but still just barely visible. So much of the horror genre relies on our own imaginations, and giving no information at all is just as bad as giving too much.

That said, if you ever have a spare hour and eight minutes and are looking for some laughs, or if you have a strange drive to find out what a 1960s insurance and fertilizer salesman thought was scary, then watch this movie. If you want to be a film critic or even just a casual reviewer, watch this movie. It’s a bad movie in every respect, and that’s exactly why you should watch it. It is a great movie to use as a “zero position” for any ratings scale.

So, Freya, grab this one and bring it up to the hallowed halls. For even a place of eternal battle populated with the worthy needs to have a jester in attendance - and on that note, make sure that The Master’s robe isn’t damaged, he might not be fated to find another one like it.

{Dat robe! Image from The Enemy Below.}

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Closing

Come back next week for a new take on the four part series of the past, an article on the newest news, and a hunt for the good in the 2011 remake of The Three Musketeers.

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John Carter: The Poor Labelling Continues with "Flop"

According to Disney (as reported by the Globe and Mail), John Carter is a flop. A movie that cost the studio $200,000,000,000.

Some critics have panned it as a corporate product (as James Kendrick has it) or as a movie that's like a bad mattress, firm at either end but saggy in the middle (Rick Groen of the Globe and Mail). It definitely can't be denied that the movie's got a shiny polish, or that it does have a middle section that involves a lot of zigging and zagging about.

But, having just seen the movie, it's clear that neither of these qualities take away from a movie that's as pulpy as its source material. Things are fantastical, and there's a lot of wandering around the world of Barsoom in the movie's middle, but the characters are fine - surprisingly deeper than what you'd expect from an big-budget action movie.

Plus, unlike another sci-fi/fantasy romp that involves a 19th century American (*cough* Jonah Hex *cough*), John Carter's main character, John Carter, actually develops and changes as a human being.

And the sets and effects don't take away from the story since they match the overall feel and atmosphere quite nicely. Heck - even the alien characters don't go Jar Jar and upend the whole movie by being obnoxiously pandering.

So with an intriguing plot that's at home among the epic stories of Final Fantasy III/VI or Breath Of Fire II, pretty impressive sets, costuming that makes the Barsoom society real, fight choreography that is entrancing to watch, and two strong lead characters, what went wrong? Why is John Carter an official "flop"?

Marketing. And, possibly, timing.

At the theater last night the first showing of the Hunger Games was sold out, though the movie was playing on three screens.

Granted, John Carter came out two weeks ago. But, even that is too close to the buzz behemoth that is the Hunger Games.

Stepping away from sheer timing, ask yourself, before John Carter hit the screens did you hear anything about it? See any previews that really grabbed your attention?

Just compare this official trailer posted on youtube:

With this fanmade trailer from The John Carter Files: Granted, it may be difficult to remember seeing anything for a movie with a name that sounds so generic (taking "Of Mars" out of the title is another stroke against the movie's marketing), but the Disney trailer puts the emphasis on the wrong places. The Disney trailer hypes the movie's action and makes no mention whatever of the legacy that Burroughs created with his novels, possibly their most interesting aspect to non-fans. And using whatever was at hand in the movie's content and source material was necessary to really get people out to see this one, since the movie doesn't have many big stars to boast of. In fact, Willem Dafoe (as Tars Tarkas) is really the only big name in the movie's roster (sorry David Schwimmer!). Setting that aside, Taylor Kitsch (as John Carter) and Lynn Collins (as (Princess) Dejah Thoris) both play their parts well enough to ensure that they'll get more gigs. In the end, John Carter's lack of star power is really the only sturdy stroke against it. Though, when you're someone who recognizes the name Michael Chabon in the list of screenwriters, things like a movie's star power really don't matter as much as marketing execs may think. Back To Top