Tag: Ralph Foody

Quick Thoughts – Christmas Classics

They just don’t make ’em like they used to.

Gremlins (1984)

June 8th, 1984 saw the release of one of the greatest movies ever; a comedy-horror classic that’s had an indelible impact on pop culture.  Naturally, I’m taking about Ghost Busters, but Gremlins was released on the same day, and is a very strong effort in its own right, not to mention it has one of the best title sequences ever thanks to Darlene Love.

Written by Chris Columbus (who we’ll come back to shortly) and directed by Joe Dante (who I’ve praised before), Gremlins is another one of those 80s movies that you couldn’t do today.  Sure, everybody loves a cuddly little hero, but can you imagine the audience reaction to the 3 Rules (“Uh, they don’t make any sense; nitpick, nitpick, nitpick!”)?  Or imagine how much action schlock they’d pack in since the Mogwai/Gremlins would be CGI (and probably look terrible)?  Or how awful the comedy would be?

Gremlins works because the comedic elements and serious elements are in good balance, because it uses animatronic creatures which allows the actors to give more natural performances, and because we know who’s good, who’s bad, and what their motivations are.

Also, Jonathan Banks (aka “Mike” from Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul) is the Sheriff’s Deputy.

Rating: ★★★★½

 

Home Alone (1990)

It’s amazing how much your experience of a movie can change over time.

I’ve always enjoyed Home Alone.  I remember myself and a couple other guys would play Home Alone during preschool fun time or whatever (don’t ask me how it worked, my memory isn’t that good).  When you’re a child and you watch Home Alone, you totally want to enjoy the run of the house like Kevin McCallister, not to mention take down some burglars with some sweet booby traps.

Now that I’m older, I appreciate the sentimental moments a lot more.  I mean, what kid can really appreciate the Old Man Marley subplot?  But, as a mature adult, it gets me all emotional.

Written by John Hughes (who wrote way more movies than he directed) and directed by Chris Columbus (remember him?),  Home Alone is simply a wonderful family comedy that also uses violent slapstick to full effect, and is best enjoyed while eating some plain cheese pizza.

If you haven’t seen it, what are you waiting for, ya filthy animal!?

Rating: ★★★★½

 

It’s a Wonderful Life (1946)

I hear a lot of people dismiss this movie as saccharine schmaltz.

That was my impression as well, until I actually went to see it.

There’s no doubt that It’s a Wonderful Life is an emotional film designed to tug at your heartstrings, but what makes it so successful in that regard is that it’s not afraid to get real, and to go places most movies wouldn’t go.  I mean, how many “family movies” made today would ever show a main character preparing to kill himself?  My guess is not too many.

Sure, I can understand someone seeing the end of It’s a Wonderful Life out of context and thinking it’s way over the top, but when you’ve been there for two hours and experienced the depth of the story, and the sacrifice involved in George Bailey’s life, my friends, that is an ending well earned.

So, please, do yourself a favor and give this movie another chance next Christmastime.

Rating: ★★★★½

Quick Thoughts – Summer Round-Up, Part 5 of 5

Whew, we finally made it.  The last bit of backlog left from the summer.

Best in Show

‘Best in Show’ (2000)

As far as I know, Woody Allen invented the comedic “Mockumentary” with ‘Take the Money and Run’ back in 1969, but it was Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer who took it to the next level with ‘This is Spinal Tap’ in 1984.

Christopher Guest writes, directs, and acts in this pastiche of dog shows, and the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in particular.  Every Guest regular (Eugene Levy, et al.) is in the film, save for Harry Shearer, and everybody gets their moment to shine and give the audience a good laugh.

What makes movies like this so tremendous is that there’s not a single bit of written dialogue.  Every line is improvised by the actors and the reactions are equally on-the-spot, like watching a bunch of great jazz musicians playing together.  Not only that, but the details in this production’s design are spot on as well; I mean, I think the filmmakers pretty much had to put together a reasonable facsimile of a dog show in a real venue, which gives the movie a grounded sense of realism, even when the dialogue is getting over-the-top silly.

I can’t say if ‘Best in Show’ is the best of Guest, but it’s definitely worth seeing.

Rating: ★★★★☆

 

Maniac Cop 2

‘Maniac Cop 2’ (1990)

I can’t lie, I think this one got a little overhyped for me.  People were saying it’s definitely better than the first ‘Maniac Cop’, but I don’t know.  To me, both movies work fine as a continuous story, and seeing as how they’re both 90 minutes or less, you could easily watch them back-to-back in a single evening (I have yet to see the third installment, but will definitely check it out one of these days), but the first one has Tom Atkins, so, I’m hard pressed to say the sequel is superior.

‘Maniac Cop 2’ is pretty good for a late-80s B-horror flick, and, like its predecessor, an interesting time capsule for New York City, but it’s hardly any sort of required viewing in my opinion.  The one sequence of particular note is the police station shootout, which rivals an analogous scene in ‘The Terminator’.

Performance-wise, Robert Davi is strong as usual, and Bruce Campbell and Laurene Landon do a fine job continuing their roles from the first movie.

Other than that, not much else to say.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

 

Above the Law

‘Above the Law’ (1988)

This isn’t the best Steven Seagal movie, but it is the first, which makes it somewhat important.  It’s also the first of two collaborations between Seagal and director Andrew Davis, who would later reunite for arguably Seagal’s best movie, that being ‘Under Siege’.

‘Above the Law’ is far from perfect.  Seeing it now, many of the performances come off as rather hackneyed, but, it does offer some quintessential Steven Seagal martial arts action, and some signature Seagal one-liners.  My personal favorite: “Ever notice how clean babies smell? Like nothing in the world has touched them yet.”

‘Above the Law’ is also a very Chicago movie.  Not only was it mostly shot on location in the Windy City, but every working Chicago actor of note is in the movie.  You’ll recognize them from other movies such as ‘The Blues Brothers’, ‘Backdraft’, ‘The Fugitive’, even ‘The Dark Knight’.

If you’re a Steven Seagal fan, this one’s a must see; otherwise, it’s hit or miss.

Rating: ★★★☆☆