PaulyFidgets's Reviews

Bug (2006)

8/10

3 January 2023

I remembering seeing "Bug" in the second-run theater. The audience was full of dumbasses expecting a movie about killer bugs. Too bad for them. Pretty much the entire audience spent the last 40 minutes of this film laughing and guffawing. I felt like a damn alien, as I was so captivated and swept up in this story of psychological madness.

This was one of the first films that made me aware of the brilliance of Michael Shannon (this and "Shotgun Stories"). He then impressed me again with Herzog's "My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done," in which he played a similarly deranged character.

"Bug" isn't a stupid horror movie about killer bugs. I'd compare it to other character-driven psychological horror films like "Clean, Shaven," "Spider," and "Jacob's Ladder." If you know those films, you know what to expect from "Bug." Pretty much the entire movie takes place in a seedy motel room as two people go insane and start to share the same delusion. It may not be fun, but it damn sure is intense.

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Narc (2002)

5/10

Good performances can't overcome cop movie clichés

26 July 2022

"Narc" is an all-too-familiar police drama, filmed in the same hyper-realistic jitter-cam style as the much better "Training Day" and "End of Watch." The plot concerns Jason Patrick burned-out cop as he tried to solve another cop's murder. He teams up with Ray Liotta, a grizzled veteran who of course doesn't play by the rules.

The two leads are very good, especially Ray Liotta. Unfortunately the plot is never surprising, and the "twists" rely on flashbacks and exposition that just feel clunky. All the cop movie tropes are here, including the nagging wife who doesn't understand or approve of her husband's job. Just once I'd like to see a cop movie wife who is supportive and tough, simply because I am sick of this same boring movie character who cries and pouts and yells every time the husband is late for dinner. Yawn.

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Natural Born Killers (1994)

9/10

I think it holds up pretty well after nearly 30 years

25 July 2022

I've seen Natural Born Killers many times over the years. There's something about it that just holds your attention. There's a haunting poetry to the violent imagery. Many critics disliked the film when it came out, but a few (Siskel & Ebert, Owen Gleiberman) praised the film very highly.

It's not hard to understand why so many people hate it: it's overly violent, it's lurid, it's trashy, it's over-the-top, it's pretentious. All these things are true, but they are the very reasons the film works. It's like the world's most expensive experimental b-movie. It's hard for me not to like it simply because it takes so many stylistic risks. Oliver Stone doesn't care if you like his movie or not. It's almost designed to piss people off: it rubs our noses in violence and excess, and then stands back and points the finger at us. Kubricks's "Clockwork Orange" and Michael Haneke's "Funny Games" did something similar.

NBK purposely makes Micky and Mallory larger-than-life scumbags. Make no mistake about it, they ARE scumbags, but Stone makes the supporting characters (Robert Downey, Jr., Rodney Dangerfield, Tom Sizemore, Tommy Lee Jones, etc.) just as bad, if not worse than the two main characters. Here we have a violent and perverse film with no redeeming characters that seems to ridicule its audience. It's incredibly nihilistic, and it's actually a perfect film for the times.

I don't find the violence in NBK disturbing, to be honest. It's way too cartoonist to be disturbing. I think a lot of people took the movie seriously, when it's actually a comedy. None of these characters feel like real people. They are caricatures. I have to give NBK a 9 out of 10 because no matter how many times I've seen it, it still has a visceral sort of power. I always notice something new when I see it. And although I don't like any of the characters, I do enjoy the crazy wild ride the film takes me on.

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Pacific Heights (1990)

6/10

Silly but entertaining enough

22 July 2022

Warning: Spoilers

"Pacific Heights" is a '90s Yuppie Horror flick in the same mold as "Unlawful Entry", "The Hand That Rocks The Cradle", and "Single White Female." It's not the most original movie, but it's decent enough if you like these kinds of flicks...and I do.

The story concerns a young couple, played by Matthew Modine and Melanie Griffith, who buy an expensive fixer-upper in the trendy Pacific Heights neighborhood in San Francisco, and who make the mistake of renting to a psychopathic con artist, played against type by Michael Keaton.

The psycho does things like change the locks, hammer at all hours, destroy the property, breed a colony of roaches, and...wait for it...not pay the rent! He's a landlord's worst nightmare, and his game is to drive the young couple insane, get all the other tenants to move out, and force the couple into foreclosure. It turns out he does this all over country, picking unsuspecting couples and terroizing them until they do things like beat him to a pulp (as we see happen in the opening scene), before he sues them and takes possession of their property.

Yeah, it's far-fetched, but Keaton is great in the role. Modine and Griffith are so unlikable that you sort of enjoy watching their lives fall apart at the hands of this cunning con artist. Sure, the movie follows a predictable formula of Keaton doing something creepy and Modine getting increasingly unhinged and Griffith trying to be the voice of reason, but John Schlesinger's slick direction keeps you involved even though you know exactly where the story is going.

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Runaway Train (I) (1985)

8/10

Not your ordinary action flick

21 July 2022

Warning: Spoilers

"Runaway Train" has a a simple setup: two convicts break out of prison only to escape onto an unmanned train. The engineer has just keeled over from a heart attack and fallen off the train just as it starts moving, leaving the two convicts stuck in a crisis both dramatic and existential. The film is quite thoughtful and philosophical for a an action movie. The ridiculous premise could have been played for laughs (like the similarly plotted "Speed"), but Andrei Konchalovsky is a serious director, known for critically acclaimed arthouse fare (he wrote several of Andrei Tarkovsky's films) as well as the camp action classic "Tango and Cash."

Since the plot of "Runaway Train" is so simple, Konchalovsky can focus on the characters and the the way they view their predicament. The younger con, played by Eric Roberts, is dimwitted but has a youthful enthusiasm and spark, while the older one, played by Jon Voight, has nothing but hatred for world and everyone in it, and would rather die on the train than go back to prison. Amidst all of this, a sadistic prison guard will go to any length to catch the two convicts, and a battle to the apocalyptic end plays out as the train speeds away into oblivion.

Everything about the film is boiled down to its essence. Most of the plot devices have to do with either trying to slow down the train or prevent it from crashing, but the train can't be stopped. The action and suspense are just as relentless as the story suggests. Both of the lead performances feel charged with electricity. The special effects and stunts don't feel staged at all, and happen so quickly that you don't even question their authenticity, unlike today's CGI fests which try so hard but never manage to convince. In the end, what makes the film good is that it's not about action, it's about people. The action is in service of the characters, not the other way around. The ending is exactly as it should be, and there is a stark poetry in the last image. "Runaway Train" may not be to everyone's taste, but it certainly is not your run-of-the-mill action flick.

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Breakdown (I) (1997)

6/10

Pretty good until the final act

20 July 2022

"Breakdown" is one of those '90s thrillers that I've passed by so many times, both at the video store and on the streaming services. I finally decided to watch it and it's not bad. It reminded me of several other films: The Hitcher, Joyride, Duel, and The Vanishing. The story concerns a couple on a road trip to California to start a new life, who end up tangling with several creepy truck drivers. The wife disappears and Kurt Russell has to find her. Not terribly original, but the story keeps you guessing for about 45 minutes or so.

The setup of "Breakdown" is way better than the payoff. For a while, the suspense is quite intense. The film does well with the Yuppie Paranoia theme that was common in '90s flicks (Think "Unlawful Entry," also starring Russell, and "Pacific Heights."

Unfortunately, the film goes to pot in the third act, as Russell gets closer to tracking down his wife. What could have been a good gory and gruesome revenge plot turns into a safe, generic action pic. The baddies in the movie are so despicable that you want to see Snake Plissken go into baddass mode, but that never really happens. You keep wanting the ending of Breakdown to go into violent, gory B-movie mode, and it never does. It's still worth a watch if you have nothing batter to do, though.

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Call Me by Your Name (2017)

8/10

Good filmmaking

5 July 2022

"Call Me By Your Name" is romantic drama about 17-year old Elio, who lives in a picturesque Italian village, and his passionate romance with a slightly older man named Oliver, who comes to stay with his family for one summer as an acolyte to Elio's professor father.

The film is beautifully photographed, thoughtfully scripted, and has a refreshingly unhurried pace. Over the years I haven't watched nearly as many foreign or art films as I once did, but this one is a nice change from the shallow Hollywood garbage that I am exposed to living in America.

I like that "Call Me By Your Name" doesn't really have much of a plot, and there isn't much conflict other than the unspoken desire between the two main characters that takes up most of the first half of the film. This is a film about a gay relationship, so homophobes beware. It is refreshingly devoid of gay stereotypes.

It's nice to see a movie that doesn't rely on forced dramatic conflict to make things exciting. In a typical Hollywood film, for example, Elio's father would find out about Elio's and Oliver's relationship, and there would be a big fight and lots of clichéd drama. No such thing happens in "Call Me By Your Name." Elio's father is compassionate and understanding, and is almost quietly envious of Elio's and Oliver's friendship. In fact, all the characters in the film are kind and compassionate, and the film is filled with sweet little moments of the two main characters swimming, exploring an old church, dancing to The Psychedelic Furs (the film takes place in 1983), etc. The characters are shown being sexually intimate, but the sexual intimacy isn't the primary focus.

"Call Me By Your Name" was directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by James Ivory (one half of Merchant/Ivory). It's full of sumptuous scenes of the Italian countryside, the dialogue is literate, and the characters are smart. So many films (especially ones I'm used to in the U. S.) are about dumb characters doing awful things to one another. It is nice to see a film about intelligent, passionate people. For most of the film, I watched Elio and Oliver as if I were watching real people interact and form a relationship. If that sounds like something you'd hate, I feel sorry for you. The next Marvel movie is being assembled at this very moment.

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Green Room (2015)

7/10

A fun thriller that calls to mind early John Carpenter

5 July 2022

"Green Room" is a bloody and gruesome thriller about a a punk band who find themselves playing a show at a compound run by neo-Nazi white power skinheads, and who have to fight their way out of the place after walking in on a murder-in-progress. The story is simple, and is somewhat reminiscent of John Carpenter's "Assault On Precinct 13." It takes place in one location, in one night, and is very tense all the way through. It is bloody and violent, and has a nice cheap B-movie vibe. It's not the greatest movie, but I do recommend it.

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Candyman (2021)

2/10

An unworthy sequel to a horror masterpiece

5 July 2022

Warning: Spoilers

Bernard Rose's 1992 "Candyman" is one of my all-time favorite horror movies. When I first heard it was being rebooted, I was skeptical. Then when the positive reviews started pouring in, I actually got excited to see Nia DaCosta's "re-imagining."

But, oh my, where to start. Okay, first off, the original film explores many of the same issues of racism and classicism, but with a subtlety and depth that adds to the terror and intensifies the horror. Bernard Rose's film doesn't bash you over the head with the message. DaCosta's version is very much made for modern audiences who do not understand nuance.

It bugs me when I read reviews on here by right-wing wackos who see "PC wokeness" in every little thing. Seriously, though, Peele's screenplay is oftentimes little more than woke talking points. I'm pretty liberal, and even I find this annoying, and it's one of the things that ruins Candyman 2021." The original film didn't have to beat you over the head with the message.

Another annoying aspect of the new "Candyman" is that it tries to reinvent the mythology behind the Candyan character without understanding what made Tony Todd's vengeful demonic spirit so special. In DaCosta's film, there are multiple Candymen, all spirits of black people who have been unjustly murdered. It's just so obvious that the film is trying to make allisions to George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Sandra Bland, etc. And also by having the gallery piece be called "Say My Name." Everything about this film feels forced.

Tony Todd's Candyman was scary and brutal but also seductive, and that was kind of the point. Clive Barker's work has always flirted with S&M, especially this film and "Hellraiser." "The pain will be exquisite," Tony Todd's Candyman all but sings to Virginia Madsen in the first film. Pleasure and pain are intermingled in the original Candyman, and Madsen's character Helen is enraptured and seduced by Todd's hook-handed killer. This new version doesn't even hint at the kind of merging of sensuality and sadism that Rose's original film embodies.

It's just an overly didactic, intellectually shallow attempt to modernize a film that doesn't need it. Why? Because the themes and ideas of the original film are still relevant today. Peele and DaCosta have only succeeded in dumbing them down. Nor is the film scary. How can it be scary when it hardly even cares about being a horror film at all?

It would be unfair for me to not at least mention some positives. The acting is good and the cinematography is perfectly fine, I suppose, although it isn't particularly memorable. The music is pretty much completely meh...it's nothing compared to Philip Glass's haunting score for the 1992 original. I guess there really aren't any positives besides the acting. This should never have been made.

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Before Sunrise (1995)

9/10

Wonderful

3 July 2022

"Before Sunrise" is a great example of a film that engages you with nothing but great writing and acting. There is no plot. Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy meet on a European train and walk around Vienna. They talk. They go to old cathedrals. They talk some more. They go to cafes and bars and restaurants and talk and talk and talk. Boring, right? Nope, not at all.

Richard Linklater's first film in the "Before" trilogy is as radical in its own way as Louis Malle's "My Dinner With Andre" in that it has no "story" and uses almost nonstop dialogue to entertain and enlighten. The characters in "Before Sunrise" are eloquent. They are articulate. They feel like real people. "Before Sunrise" is a film of beautiful moments, and it is a refreshing antidote to both the mindless Hollywood garbage and the cynical modern indie hipster trash that passes for art cinema these days.

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The Worst Person in the World (2021)

4/10

Not very interesting

3 July 2022

I heard about this film on NPR. It got great reviews, so I was expecting a lot more. It was slow and tedious, for the most part. There were moments of beauty, for sure, but it just dragged on and on. The main character was so self-absorbed irritating.

I just watched Noah Baumbach's "Francis Ha," starring Greta Gerwig. That film also centered on self-absorbed millennials, but it was funny and engaging, even though the characters were unlikable. I can't say the same for "The Worst Person In The World." I think people overuse the word "pretentious," but that's exactly the adjective that came to mind during the scene where Julie kisses Eivind for the first time and every bystander is frozen in time. It was like some whimsical scene out of "Amelie," only it did not fit the downbeat tone of the film.

This wasn't the worst movie in the world, but it definitely tested my patience and did not live up to the hype.

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Licorice Pizza (2021)

1/10

A turd of a movie by a great director

21 May 2022

Man, this was definitely Paul Thomas Anderson's worst movie. It was kind of a cross between Almost Famous and Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, but just not engaging at all. The two unknowns who played the leads had zero charisma (Cooper Hoffman is PSH's son), it was full of random weird diologue...I just flat out didn't like it. It seemed like it was full of meaning...but only to Paul Thomas Anderson. I'll describe this flick as Auteur Jackoff-ism. There was one standout, and that was Bradley Cooper as the sociopathic Hollywood producer Jon Peters, but it would have been a much more interesting movie if it were just about him. I was expecting a good, maybe very good movie, and it wasn't.

I know I'm being really negative, but I'm curious...can you think of any movies that you were excited about that ended up being total turds? "Licorice Pizza" is one of those movies.

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Inland Empire (2006)

8/10

Lynch's most experimental feature film

3 February 2020

"Inland Empire" is a surreal and strange film, one that only Lynch fans will appreciate. It's sort of a continuation of, or a variation on, "Mulholland Drive," also dealing with a troubled actress, a corrupt and evil Hollywood system, multiple identities, films-within-films, etc. If you have seen "Mulholland Drive," you know what you're in for.

I really like "Inland Empire," but for me personally, it doesn't ever hit the highs of "Mulholland Drive." I still really like it, but it is extremely demanding and difficult to get through. I still have yet to watch the entire three hours in one sitting. Also, from a purely aesthetic angle, it just isn't as pretty to look at as Lynch's other films, and for me, cinematography is a major part of why I love his work so much.

I must add that Laura Dern has never been better than she is in this film. It's also filled with familiar faces from other Lynch films, and the creepy atmosphere that we all know and love is on full display. Bottom line: recommended for fans, not so much for mainstream viewers.

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Lords of Chaos (2018)

5/10

Watchable But Shallow And Corny

20 November 2019

There are many things wrong with 'Lords of Chaos.' First, casting American actors in these roles just makes the whole movie feel inauthentic from the start. Second, the movie never finds a consistent tone, veering from almost Spinal Tap levels of parody to docudrama pseudo-realism to horror movie violence and gore. Worst of all, it does a poor job of getting across why black metal was important or why anyone should care about it. Black metal fans will be disappointed, and those who have never heard of Mayhem or Burzum will come away from 'Lords of Chaos' with the impression that the scene was populated with only small-minded people doing stupid and horrible things to one another. Despite all this, the movie is definitely watchable, and I rather enjoyed its overall corniness, so I give it a 5 out of 10.

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Zodiac (2007)

9/10

Fascinating And Clever

12 June 2019

For me personally, David Fincher's "Zodiac" is one of the best crime films of all time. I think it's up there with "Silence of the Lambs," "L. A. Confidential," "Chinatown," and "Heat." Not that those films are really similar at all, but what I mean is that "Zodiac" is one of the best of the genre.

You are probably aware that the Zodiac Killer stalked the streets of San Francisco from 1969 on into the '70s. Although Fincher's film does depict the Zodiac murders in disturbing, but non-exploitative, detail, the film is more of clue-sniffer/whodunit centered around real-life S. F. Chronicle cartoonist Robert Graysmith (Jake Gylenhaal) and his obsession with the case. The other major players are crime reporter Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.) and detective Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo).

The film follows the twists and turns of the case in loving detail for a period of about 25 years. The film is beautifully edited, scored, and shot. It is smart and clever, and trusts that the audience is intelligent enough to keep track of the minutiae of forensic evidence. You feel like you are right there next to the characters, solving the mystery along with them. The only partially conclusive ending is haunting.

There is only one (and pretty minor) flaw in the film: a red herring that makes the film lose focus for about 15 minutes. Other than that, the film never loses tension for 2 1/2 hours. "Zodiac" is a must-see for true-crime buffs or anyone with the patience to enjoy an old-school dialogue and character-driven crime drama. A good film. Highly recommended.

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Bad Times at the El Royale (2018)

7/10

Not A Bad Way To Kill A Few Hours

9 June 2019

"Bad Times at the El Royale" is a dark thriller set in a bizarre hotel that sits right on the California-Nevada border. When the guests check in they are asked which state they want to stay in. What's the difference? The California rooms cost a dollar more per night, and you can't drink alcohol in the Nevada rooms. The guests include a priest (Jeff Bridges), a vacuum salesman (Jon Hamm), a hippie (Dakota Johnson), and a struggling soul singer (Cynthia Erivo). There is a lot of plot in this movie, so I won't go into detail other than to say that each character has his and her skeletons in the closet.

Many reviewers on here have compared this to a Tarantino film, which is pretty apt. It is not, as one reviewer suggested, anything like a Jean-Luc Godard film, though. The wry dialogue, multiple perspectives, and sudden violence are all Tarantino hallmarks, and they are nicely done here. The movie is intriguing and engaging. My only real quibbles are that it's too long, and that this sort of thing has been too many times. It's a perfectly enjoyable watch if you are holed up with a broken ankle and nothing to do, though.

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Donnie Brasco (1997)

8/10

A Different Kind Of Mafia Movie

8 June 2019

It may not be as good as "Goodfellas" or "The Godfather," but this is an extremely underrated gangster film, and it has one of Al Pacino's best performances. He plays Benjamin "Lefty" Ruggiero, a sad old wiseguy who has been passed up for promotion in the organization again and again. Pacino is so good in this film. He perfectly captures the resentment and disappointment of a man who just wants to be respected. He's always broke, lives in a sorta shabby apartment, and is treated with scorn by some of the other gangsters.

Lefty doesn't have the best judgment, which is part of why his life has turned out the way it has. His biggest mistake is to befriend "Don The Jeweler," whose alias is Donnie Brasco, but who is actually an undercover FBI agent named Joe Pistone. The film is based on the real Joe Pistone's story, and Johnny Depp plays him in the movie.

This film is not like other gangster films. It is slow-moving, melancholy, and does not glamorize mob life at all. We see Lefty after 30 plus years and the life has been sucked out of him. There is not a whole lot of violence in the film, although there are one or two scenes that are pretty gruesome. One really cool thing about the movie is that it gives you an insider's view of the daily minutiae of mob life. There are some neat scenes of Lefty explaining to Donnie how to act like a wiseguy, how to dress, how wiseguys carry their money in a roll and not a wallet, etc.

"Donnie Brasco" does have a few negative aspects. Some of the scenes between Donnie/Joe and his wife are the same old clichés, and the film becomes less compelling toward the end. Still, it's well worth watching for the brooding drama and the terrific performance by Pacino.

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Catch-22 (2019)

5/10

Doesn't Always Capture The Tone Of The Book

1 June 2019

This Hulu miniseries is a more successful adaption than the Mike Nichols film version of Joseph Heller's classic, but only because it's a six-episode series rather than a two-hour film. The problem, for me, is the tone. While the book struck a perfect balance between satirical comedy and drama, this adaption is usually too light or two melodramatic (Snowden's death scene, for example). Some characters who are a major part of the book (Chaplain R.O. Shipmann, for example) hardly get any screen time here, and other characters (like Aarfy) have almost zero character development.

The series does have some good points. The actor who plays Yossarian does a good job, as does Grant Heslov as Doc Daneeka. George Clooney, unfortunately, is kinda annoying as Scheisskopf, and far too much screen time is devoted to Milo Minderbinder's business schemes. In the end, the series is too disjointed. Even though each episode was only 45 minutes, it felt long. I'm guessing this has to do with the source material being difficult to adapt, and Heller's wry style of writing just doesn't translate very well to the screen.

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Blue Steel (1990)

5/10

A few things going for it

30 April 2019

I remember first seeing "Blue Steel" on HBO when I was a little kid. My dad made me turn it off because it was too violent (I think it after the scene where Ron Silver kills a prostitute and rubs her bloody sweater all over his naked body). Needless to say, that is one of the few memorable moments in this otherwise dull psycho thriller. The plot is standard creep-stalks-vulnerable-woman-through-the-streets-of-New York fare. In this case, the stalkee is a rookie cop played by Jamie Lee Curtis, and the psycho is Wall Street commodities trader Ron Silver.

The flick has a few things going for it: slick direction by Kathryn Bigelow, who would go on to direct better movies than this one; some decent action scenes; moody lighting and cinematography, and an eerie synth score by Brad Fiedel. Put simply, I really do like the aesthetic of "Blue Steel." Pretty much everything else is abysmal, though. The script is terrible, the pacing is extremely awkward, and it struggles to hold any kind of tension. It starts off fairly well but then devolves into a series of endless scenes in which the psycho killer appears at random, disappears, is arrested and/or injured, disappears, reappears, etc. The first half is actually pretty good, as we see the Wall Street psycho lose his grip on reality and start a murder spree, all the while hearing voices telling him he is god. Unfortunately, the film becomes less interesting and more predictable as the minutes tick by.

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