AWN Blogs

Think ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW as a maudlin message film and you’ll get an idea of the joys of THE APPLE. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a film so bad and loved every minute of it. This film pretty much fails on all levels.

The film starts with a big rock competition where Bibi (Catherine Mary Stewart, THE LAST STARFIGHTER) and Alphie (George Gilmour, only film performance) win over the hostile audience with a cheesy love ballad until the evil record producer/government dictator Mr. Boogalow (Vladek Sheybal, RED DAWN) tells his crony Shake (Ray Shell, VELVET GOLDMINE) to disrupt the performance. After losing the competition, Bibi and Alphie are invited to Mr. Boogalow’s party of sex and drugs where he uses his stars Pandi (Grace Kennedy, only film performance) and Dandi (Alan Love, GREGORY’S GIRL) to seduce them into signing record contracts with his BIM records. Bibi signs, but Alphie is scared away when he has demonic visions.

From director Robert Wise (WEST SIDE STORY, SOUND OF MUSIC) comes arguably the most influential sci-fi film of all time. This 1951 classic seems to hearken in the dawn of smart science fiction. The influences it had on future films is undeniable. The design of the 8-foot robot Gort (Lock Martin, INVADERS FROM MARS) is borrowed in films like THE IRON GIANT, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and the upcoming SKY CAPTAIN. The atmospheric black-and-white photography and moralistic tale must have been a huge influence on THE TWILIGHT ZONE. ARMY OF DARKNESS uses EARTH's secret phrase "Klaatu verata niktu" as the phrase Bruce Campbell can't remember.

The story begins with a flying saucer racing to Earth at 4,000 mph, finally landing in Washington D.C. A tension grips the planet waiting for something to happen. Then we meet Klaatu (Michael Rennie, THE ROBE) who has come to Earth to give all its nations' leaders a message. The film makes an intriguing comment about human nature and our inhumanity to each other. There's a great sequence where Klaatu pretending to be a human named Mr. Carpenter is interviewed by a reporter about the aliens and because his answer isn't the scared and dramatic response the reporter is looking for, Klaatu is quickly sidestepped.

This horror film is like a Chinese/Singapore SIXTH SENSE. Not that there is some big twist, but because the main character Mun (Angelica Lee, SUNSHINE COPS), after having a corneal transplant, starts seeing dead people.

Mun hasn't seen since she was two, so at first she can't tell the difference between real people and dead people. As her eyesight gets increasingly better, her dread, and that of the audience, begins to increase. There's a scene in an elevator that is truly frightening. The only person Mun has on her side is her handsome young psychiatrist Dr. Wah (Lawrence Chou, HEROES IN LOVE). A great surprise midway through the film leads Mun and Dr. Wah to search out more information about the corneal donor.

More and more documentaries are getting theatrical distribution in the States. It's the area of cinema that is most concerned with important cultural events. And the recent success of FAHRENHEIT 9/11 shows that if the topic is right; people will pay money to go see docs on the big screen.

BUS 174 is a film from Brazil, which chronicles Rio's most famous hostage situation. Sandro do Nascimento was cornered robbing a bus and ended up taking the passengers hostage. The film goes into depth about Sandro's life and what led to this incident. Sandro's mother was murdered before him when he was very young. He ran away from his aunt's house soon after and lived on the streets, which pushed him into the slippery world of drugs and robbery. The film, which uses amazing news footage of the crisis, pretty much proves that Sandro had no intention of hurting anyone on the bus; he just wanted to get away. After you see the scenes of Brazilian prisons you'll truly understand why.

This film was the first theatrical release in the popular Japanese horror series and now it has come to theaters in the States (but a good indie video store may have an import to rent). Having seen the two preceding direct-to-videos in this series, I'm very aware of how this haunted house story came to be. This film recaps the murder that started the curse then jumps into how it continues.

Rika (Megumi Okina, ST. JOHN'S WORT) is a volunteer social worker, who is sent to the haunted house to check on an old woman (Chikako Isomura), who seems to be petrified with fear. Having seen the first two films in the series, I know what Rika is in for, but the film does a great job of creating its own dread. Once Rika is infected with the house's curse – the curse moves from person to person. As the film goes along, we learn more about the old woman's family and what happened to them inside the house. As the bodies pile up and others go insane, detective Toyama (Yoji Tanaka, TABOO), who has connections to the murders that started the curse, is assigned to investigate.

This musical biography of Cole Porter is the first film that really deals with his bisexuality, which is good and bad at the same time. It's good because it is interesting to see a real life person from the '30s and '40s who was not ashamed about his sexuality. However, the film ends up dwelling on the struggle between Porter's homosexual urges and his love for his wife Linda (Ashley Judd, HEAT). Nonetheless, Kevin Kline (IN & OUT) leads a solid cast, which is lifted up past its problems on the wings of Porter wondrous songs.

The film has an ingenious structure having a dying Porter watching an otherworldly stage production of his life's story. Likewise, the film uses tons of Porter music as dramatic montages of the events in Porter's life. As the screenwriter Jay Cocks (THE AGE OF INNOCENCE) said at the screening I went to, "Porter said it better than I could." In many cases the Porter songs take on more complex meaning knowing they were probably not written solely about a woman. Porter was a worldly man who lived life for all its vices without an ounce of shame. This often made him come off as insensitive, though he never seems to have cruelty in his heart, or apologies on his lips. Cole and Linda had an arrangement, but it seems to be very one sided with Cole able to write emotional lyrics, but not understand them fully. In some way it seems he is in a desperate search of the ultimate love that he can only find in his songs.

Biopics are sometimes tough to make. Sometimes, they're just a highlight reel of the person's life. This film suffers from the opposite problem and seems stuck in first gear about Cole and Linda's relationship. This would be okay if the underlying themes were stronger like in the Iris Murdoch biopic, IRIS. Therefore, DE-LOVELY keeps an audience, which may not know much about Porter, in the dark about what made him so special in context to his place in history. One thing the film implies was that writing hit songs was no more difficult for him than signing his name.

The film is still enjoyable on a surface level. Kline and Judd are quite convincing in their roles and make you care about the characters. Then you get the music, which is the main reason to see this film. Big musical stars like Alanis Morissette, Elvis Costello, Diana Krall, Natalie Cole and Sheryl Crow all perform some of Porter's greatest tunes. I especially liked Morissette's rendition of "Let's Do It, Let's Fall In Love." In the end the film works as a tribute to Porter as a songwriter and an unashamed lover of life in general.

M. Night Shyamalan became a name director with this film and hasn't looked back since. The film starts with psychiatrist Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis, DIE HARD) and his wife Anna Crowe (Olivia Williams, PETER PAN) as they celebrate Malcolm winning an award for his work, which has consumed his life. Then comes a tragic event that puts a bigger wedge between the couple. Malcolm seeks redemption in helping troubled child Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment, SECONDHAND LIONS), who claims to see dead people.

The core theme of the film is people learning to communicate with each other — Malcolm with Anna and Cole with his mother Lynn (Toni Collette, JAPANESE STORY). If you know anything about Shyamalan's films there is always a big "twist" revelation at the end. Knowing the twist and watching the film a second time, I was surprised at how engaging the film still was. It's because the twist is based in the characters not the plot. It's a revelation to the characters as much as it is to the audience.

This psychological thriller from Stephen King presents a common protagonist for the writer — an author whose mental state is challenged. Based on a short story from King's collection FOUR PAST MIDNIGHT, writer/director David Koepp crafts his best directorial effort after writing scripts for such films as JURASSIC PARK, CARLITO'S WAY, SPIDER-MAN and PANIC ROOM.

Mort Rainey (Johnny Depp, ED WOOD) is a successful writer, who finds himself confronted by a man named John Shooter (John Turturro DO THE RIGHT THING), who claims that Mort stole his story. If this isn't enough to deal with, Mort is going through a divorce from his wife Amy (Monica Bello, THE COOLER), who he caught having an affair with Ted Milner (Timothy Hutton, ORDINARY PEOPLE). Mort is depressed and sleeps a lot. He talks to his dog and himself and begins to drink and smoke again. All of this is exaggerated by the increasingly creepier behavior of John Shooter. Eventually, Mort hires P.I. Ken Karsch (Charles S. Dutton, GOTHIKA) to find out more info on Shooter. All of this just makes Mort more and more paranoid.

Stephen Herek has a sketchy resume with films like DON'T TELL MOM THE BABYSITTERS DEAD and CRITTERS along with MR. HOLLAND'S OPUS. But if he is remembered for anything it will probably be BILL & TED. But really this isn't a director's film. It launched the career of Keanu Reeves as Ted Theodore Logan. Along with Bill S. Preston Esp. (Alex Winter, THE LOST BOYS), the two characters have joined the lexicon on pop culture stars. When was the last time you saw BILL & TED and when was the last time you referenced it? Most often it's the later no matter how long it has been since the former.

The story goes as follows: Bill and Ted have formed the band Wyld Stallyns. However, they're about to fail history, which will lead to Ted being sent away to military school in Alaska. This "tragedy" needs to be prevented because Wyld Stallyns' music will one day bring peace to Earth with its message of being excellent to each other and partying on. So Rufus (George Carlin, DOGMA) is sent back in time to give the boys a time machine so they can pass their history report. Bill and Ted decide to collect various historical figures and have them check out their modern hometown of San Dimas, California. Craziness and mishaps ensue as they do this.

When I reviewed PASSION OF THE CHRIST, I said God bless Mel Gibson for making a movie that spurred people to talk about religion. So in turn I say God bless Michael Moore for making FAHRENHEIT 9/11, spurring people to talk about the other topic you don't bring up in polite conversation – politics.

Moore is a liberal and makes no bones about it. The controversy surrounding this film and Moore is pretty much unwarranted due to the fact that there is nothing in the film that hasn't been covered in the mainstream media before. Moore just highlights the things that in his opinion are damning evidence that president George W. Bush is beholden to Saudi money, leading the U.S. in the wrong direction and otherwise a complete moron. The movie is quite convincing. Moore makes his argument clear and backs up what he says. This isn't a "fair and balanced" documentary; it's a 2-hour op-ed piece. It will make you laugh, cry and angry (what makes you angry may depend on what your political leanings are). I urge everyone to see this film with an open mind, especially if you are even thinking for a slight moment to vote for GW. I would love to see the other side counter the points that are brought up in the film. Moore has an army of lawyers ready for any charge. If this film doesn't make you want to run GW out of the White House then nothing will.