Flix Chick

Clerks is my favourite film of all time. I would never suggest that it is the highest quality film of all times but there is something about Clerks that has always struck a chord with me. Despite being a Rocky Horror fan, it isn’t generally my thing to see a film over and over again but Clerks is one of the few films that I put on and I feel at home. The characters in Clerks speak like my friends at that time spoke, I grew up in the state next to New Jersey and generally know the kind of people that existed in the world in which Clerks took place.

Through Clerks, I became such a Kevin Smith fan girl that on my last journey back over the Atlantic to visit my family in the Philly area, I took three of my UK based friends, who are also Kevin Smith fans, on a pilgrimage to Redbank (yes, we bought Gatorade from the Quick Stop). I have also been fortunate enough to attend two ‘Evenings with” sessions that Kevin Smith has done. One in Boston just before Mallrats came out and another some years later in London when he was over here promote Jersey Girl (which wasn’t AS bad as people say).

When I heard that they were making Clerks 2 I was like a little girl waiting for Christmas morning to finally arrive. It was made even worse by the traditional delay between films coming out in the United States and finally being released in the UK. I wanted to spend more time in the Clerks world and revisit two characters for which I had a great deal of affection. Clerks 2 was finally released in the UK this Friday and I went to see it this afternoon. Frankly, a big part of me wishes I hadn’t gone.

It started out well with Dante showing up to the Quick Stop and finding it on fire. For that brief moment I felt back in the Clerks universe but that sense of comfort was broken not long after when Dante and Randall turned up for their new jobs at Mooby Burgers. Perhaps it was a case of the characters feeling out of place but something just didn’t feel right from that point on. Out of nowhere, Randall lets us know that it is not only Dante’s last day on the job (despite that we haven’t seen him there at all) but that it is also his last day in New Jersey as he is getting married and moving to Florida. At this point I usually try not to say too much so that I don’t give away the ending but in reality there wasn’t really much of a plot so it is hard to really tell what ending I would be giving away.

However, with that said, it is true that the original Clerks didn’t have an overwhelming plot but what it lacked in plot it made up for as a character study and by having some of the best dialogue of a generation. For the majority of Clerks 2 I was trying to figure out what was missing that was keeping me from feeling a connection with the film like I had with the first and I didn’t really figure it out until about the last 10 minutes of the film. In those last ten minutes Kevin Smith finally had Dante and Randall deliver dialogue that was on par with that in Clerks. Not only did it feel like words that the characters I felt I knew so well would say but it took me back to the position they held in the world that had first allowed me - and thousands of others - to see a bit of myself in them. I also noticed that Clerks 2 lacked a good deal of the inside jokes that had been littered throughout the rest of the Jersey Trilogy (yes, I know they aren’t really a trilogy) that helped to created a sense of community amongst those who had seen them all. I came to the cinema to feel that way for a whole movie and instead I got barely enough of it to fit into two music videos.

Perhaps part of the problem is that when Kevin Smith first wrote Dante and Randall he pretty much was Dante and Randall. However, well over a decade later he lives on a different planet than the Dante and Randalls of this world. He deserves every moment of the successful life he now has because he did make the choice to shit or get off the pot. He simply doesn’t know what it is to be approaching his mid 30’s and not being anywhere near success. At one point I heard Kevin Smith say that he was leaving the Jay and Bob world behind because it was time for him to write about the world in which he now lived rather than where he used to live. The reception Jersey Girl had may have knocked him back a bit but I think that is the correct path for Kevin’s future work. I still hold him up as my favourite director and I will always love Clerks. I am just going to pretend that the last ten minutes or so of Clerks 2 was a dvd extra on Clerks X and forget about the rest of the film.

A Scanner Darkly

No doubt I will lose a few geek points for admitting that I didn’t know much about the Philip K. Dick book, A Scanner Darkly. I don’t know why but it just passed me by and that meant that I didn’t really know what to expect when I was taken to see A Scanner Darkly Sometimes though, I think it is actually good to go into a film without knowing too much about it. These days most films have been reviewed so many times before you see them that you almost know too much to make your own unbiased opinion of the film. Anyway, I am glad I was taken to see A Scanner Darkly because I have to say that it may well be the best film I have seen so far this year.

The real star of the film is the style in which it was shot. The rotoscope method of animation used really does bring the film to life in an amazing way. From the first moment of the film I felt as if I had jumped into a graphic novel and that feeling stayed with me until the final frame. The characters felt real as they were moving with the real timing of the actors and in some ways their movements actually felt less stifled than those often provided by an actor in a normal film.

The gist of A Scanner Darkly is that in the not too distant future, the city of Los Angles is in the middle of a battle against a highly addictive drug called “D”. “D” it taking hold of the minds of the population and a drug squad has been set up to try to tackle the problem. Keanu Reeves plays Bob Arctor, a undercover drug officer that has been given an alternative identity where he is known as “Fred” and sent in to spy on a house occupied by drug users. Bob Arctor’s identity is hid from even his employers through the use of a scramble suit that prevents his true image from being seen. While spying on this groups, Arctor has himself become addicted to “D” and the film follows his growing paranoia and the effect it has had on his mind. It is difficult to say much more without giving away too many spoilers.

Oddly, Keanu Reeves is more animated (in more ways than one) in A Scanner Darkly than he has ever been. I thought for a bit about this and figured out that it was because the animimator moved the face muscles that Reeves doesn’t use when he normally acts. It is amazing how just a little bit of facial movement can change an actor’s performance. However, the real stars of the film are Robert Downey, Jr. and Woody Harrelson who both play members of the drug house. Some of the conversations between their two characters are good that they will no doubt be quoted by geeks throughout the world in coming months. It was interesting to watch Robert Downey, Jr. in a film about drug usage because every time I watch him act I curse him for doing so many drugs and not acting enough. He is simply a fantastic actor.

A Scanner Darkly is going to be one of those films that isn’t going to be for everyone. As the end credits started the woman sitting behind me said “I, don’t get it”. I didn’t think it was at all hard to get but I am sure that for everyone that thinks it is a classic there will be two that hated it. I think it is destine to be a cult classic and I am going to be sure to read the book and gain back my geek points.

Interestingly, I see from reading IMDB that George Clooney is one of the executive producers of A Scanner Darkly. Yet another case that is showing that George Clooney is connecting himself to some the most interesting film projects going. I never would have guessed all those years ago when he was in Return of the Killer Tomatoes that he would turn out to be such a visionary.

I just hope that when Oscars time comes around that A Scanner Darkly gets the attention it deserves for special effects and doesn’t end up like Sin City that got snubbed in the nominations last year.

This is an old review that was on Flix Chick before it became a blog. 

The Opposite Of Sex (1998)

Let’s face it, as much as we love movies, it would be foolish not to admit that most Hollywood flix are a bit sameish. Boy meets girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl until five minutes before the end credits when he grabs her, plants a forced kiss on her that changes her mind about what a dork he has been to her. So, when a Hollywood film tries to break the mold it is always worth checking out.

Right from the start the writer and director, Don Roos, tries to show us that The Opposite Of Sex is going to be different. In fact in the opening scene, he tells us directly, through the narration of the lead character Dedee Truitt that this isn’t your typical coming of age movie. Not much further into the film we also know that Deedee, played by Christina Ricci, also isn’t the typical movie heroine. She’s 16 years old trailer trash, with a foul mouth, bleached blonde hair and a serious attitude problem.

We meet her on the day of her step father’s funeral where she tells us that him dying of cancer of the ass was poetic, just before she causes a scene at graveside by throwing her chair on the coffin instead of dirt. Sounding more and more loveable by the minute isn’t she? Oh, she gets better (or worse..yours to decide). Shortly after the funeral she runs away to her half-brother Bill’s, played by Martin Donovan, house. Bill is a school teacher who happens to be gay. In the recent past he lost his long term partner to AIDS and is currently living with a new lover, Matt played by Ivan Sergei. Deedee introduces us to Matt by informing us that he didn’t, in her own words, “look life a fairy”.

From that moment on her narration and the main action is filled with homophobic, stereotypical comments. I can just vision Roos sitting at his word processor and thinking, “right, I will throw in every stereotype I can think of..yeah that will be deep and witty.” Well, within a few days of staying at Bill’s home Deedee manages to show Matt that he isn’t really gay, he just hasn’t found the right woman to turn him on. She flashes her breasts at him and the next thing we know they are ravishing each other while Bill is busy doing an honest days work. Despite the film trying to be original, she unsurprisingly declares her pregnancy.

The pair admit their affair to Bill and the ever present sister of his dead partner, Lucia played by Lisa Kurdow. Fireworks fly and Deedee and Matt take to the road aided by money they stole from Bill’s savings. Matt’s absence comes as a shock not only to Bill but also to a local highly camp teenager Johnny, played by Johnny Galecki (David from Rosanne for you TV fans). Johnny tells Bill that he too had an affair with Matt and that if he wasn’t told where to find him he would do the uproariously funny thing of falsely claiming that Bill abused him when he was his teacher. Oh, let me take a time out, my side hurts too much from laughing. I mean, what is more funny than playing on the stereotype of gay men not being able to work with kids.

From this point on the film is based around the trio, Bill, Lucia and Johnny searching for the runaway couple. Lucia is along for the ride because our loveable heroine has stolen her brother’s ashes from Bill’s house.

I didn’t totally hate the film. In fact, there are some really good things about the movie. Most notable of these things is the cast. Ricci is very good as Deedee. She does away with her trademark Wednesday Addams looks and tries her hand at sex kitten. When the film came out it was part of her attempt to shed her image as a child star. On that level she is very successful. The rest of the cast is just as solid. Even Kudrow isn’t that bad. Despite the fact that she doesn’t quite shake the ditzy Friends image she does manage to play a character that is a stretch for her public image and for that I give her credit. I was actually pleasantly surprised by the performance of country music singer and ex Julia Roberts flame Lyle Lovett as Bill’s friend and local sheriff. It is a bit part but he pulls it off better than I had expected for a singer turned actor.

Some of the more unique storytelling techniques are enjoyable as well. In particular when Deedee’s narration points out how easily filmmaker’s can manipulate the audience’s perception of characters. It’s enjoyable even if i does teeter on the edge of being a bit to smug about such devices.

So, my main issue with The Opposite Of Sex isn’t in the mechanics. As a film it is decent. The first and last half hours are the strongest with a bit of a wobbly middle but nothing so bad as to make it unwatchable.

What did, however, make it difficult to watch was the almost nonstop homophobic comments from Deedee’s narration. I am fully aware of the success that can be had in using stereotypes to make a point. Sort of like saying something bad to accomplish something good by using extreme stereotypes to show how silly they appear. However, if Roos’s intention was to create the kind of tongue in cheek, ‘its okay to laugh at yourself’ feeling as something like Jeffery or even In and Out then he has failed.

What both of those films and other’s like them had in common was a character, somewhere in the story that you liked and therefore could excuse from the phobic dialogue. This is where The Opposite Of Sex falls flat on its face. There are so many characters in this film but there isn’t one that I actually fully liked. It’s infuriating enough when Deedee spouts her views on AIDS by saying people reap what they sew and on gay men by saying, “They look better than straight people. They are cleaner too, if you don’t count viruses”.

I as an open minded viewer was looking for a character to counter act that attitude, to show it was wrong. However, even Kudrow’s character who otherwise espouses acceptance and loving for her dead gay brother, combats Matt’s declaration of bisexuality with the line, “Who says that bisexual sh*t besides gay men”. Not even Bill, the guy being falsely accused of abusing a student ever rages against these attitudes. Regardless of how much water you have let go off your back there has to come a time when you slam your foot down and stand up against what is happening to you. Apparently, child abuse allegations based solely on your sexuality is not one of these times.

Overall, The Opposite of Sex is worth seeing as it is a genuine attempt at being different and Ricci is a shinning light in the otherwise failed attempt at a dark comedy. However, if you have a low tolerance for homophobic stereotypes masquerading as social commentary you may want to sprinkle valium on your popcorn rather than salt.

This is an old review that was on Flix Chick before it became a blog.

Strange Days(1995)

Every once in a while you stumble across a film that you think is a solid, highly entertaining piece of cinema that for some reason has been all but ignored by most of society. Strange Days is one of those films.

Strange Days takes place on the eve of the millennium. So, when it was released it was portraying the future but only four years in the future. The streets of Los Angles are a mess, amongst the celebrations there is also riots and general chaos.

Amongst all of this chaos lives Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes). Lenny was once a police officer but after being thrown off the force he has become a dealer. A drug dealer? Well, not exactly. As he says, what he sells is much stronger than any drug. He sells memories.

The basic concept of selling memories is central to the film. Lenny supplies people with a device that they wear on their head that plugs in to their cerebral cortex and records what they are seeing through their own eyes. These experiences are recorded onto disks that then can be played back into some one elses brain through using the same device. This process is called jacking in. For the person jacking in they feel as if they are experiencing these events as if they are the person involved. It appears as if they are seeing it with their own eyes and along with the vision comes the feelings involved, In a nutshell you can , for a few moments, actually see and feel the world through another person’s eyes. These experiences are called clips.

So, Lenny is a clips junkie turned dealer. He sells everything from sexual encounters to tapes of someone robbing a restaurant. Whatever someone wants to experience he supplies. When he is reviewing one of the clips given to him by a supplier he is shocked that it is of a prostitute being murdered. He is seeing this through the eyes of the murderer. To top it off he knows the prostitute.

Lenny is a junky but he is still a good guy at heart and he needs to find out more about the murder and make sure it doesn’t happen again. The more he looks the deeper and deeper he gets until he uncovers a major police conspiracy. What follows is a face paced, science fictionish thriller interwoven with the stories of Lenny’s longing for his ex-girlfriend Faith (Juliette Lewis) and his relationship with his best friend Mace (Angela Bassett).

Finennes acting is spot on. It is often difficult to remember that this sleazy American street life really speaks with an extremely posh English accent. He is very belivable as his character. He plays Lenny as the kind of guy you like despite all of his faults. The play between Finennes and Bassett is one of the real joys of this film. Bassett playing a strong, grounded, black woman who happens to be a widdowed mother that has strong feelings for a white man, breaks so many on screen stereotypes that she had a lot to live up to with this character. She more than does that with a very solid performance.

The behind the scenes aspect of the film has a lot of pedigree as well. The script was written and produced by produced by James Cameron. The same person behind Terminator and Titanic (for his sins). The director is Kathryn Bigelow, who did films such as Point Break.

Bigelow manages to create a distinct feel for this film. It feels gritty and underground, just like the characters in her film. The final scene of the film shows her true directing talent. It involves thousands of people in an outdoor party atmosphere. She, like her film, is underrated.

At the time that Strange Days was released, I was working in a Cinema in the United States and the trailer for it ran in our lobby about twenty times a day. I think that part of the reason that few people saw the film is that the trailer made it out to be something it wasn’t. Watch the trailer on the DVD to see what I mean. It makes the film out to be a shoot em up action film akin to Rambo or something. While it is true that there is a lot of violence in this film it is more of a science fiction thriller and that was all but totally ignored in the promotion of the film.

So, if you enjoy face paced thrills with a bit of science fiction fantasy thrown in than you should give Strange Days ago.

This is an old review that was on Flix Chick before it became a blog.

Dogma (1999)

Dogma is a prime example of people condemning a film without seeing it or honestly trying to understand it. I have a feeling that the same people that hate Jesus Christ Superstar (which is nothing like Dogma..don’t let the comparison scare you!) are the ones that decided to protest Dogma. It didn’t matter what was actually in the film. The mere fact that someone dared to discuss religion in an environment that didn’t involve donkey’s or stigmata was offensive for these people. So, if you are one of those people perhaps this is not the film for you. However, If you are capable of sitting back and watching a piece of art for what it is then continue reading.

Of all the films that Kevin Smith has done (and Clerks is my fave film and I have been with him since then) Dogma is the one that is going to last. It is pure and simple a a brilliant piece of writing. In his interviews Smith said that he had been working on this screenplay in one form or another since his teenage years and it shows.

The story of Dogma surrounds two fallen angels who have discovered a loop hole that will force God to allow them back into heaven. These angels are played by Matt Damon and Ben Afleck. A woman that appears to be a normal everyday abortion clinic worker, Linda Florentino, is recruited by a heavenly messenger, Alan Rickman to stop the angels from reentering heaven. The reason they need to be stopped is that if they use the loophole they will prove that God is fallible and the world as everyone knows it will just stop. Everything will end.

Along the way they pick up a forgotten apostle - Rufus- played by Chris Rock (Jesus owes him money) and the ever present Jay and Silent Bob (if you don’t know who they are you really need to watch Smith’s other films).

The journey between is indeed very funny but more importantly it is intelligent and witty. Smith is Catholic and the film is like a modern day tutorial on the characters of the Bible. I grew up a religious household ( I am reformed) and it was teaching me things. He looks at the characters and tales from the Bible from a fresh angle..often literally translating them.

The acting in the film is rather good. Alan Rickman is always good but look out for a scene in the woods between him and Linda. It had the hair on my arms standing up. Chris Rock actually did a good job and didn’t annoy me with his yelling of lines like he normally does.

I felt the film was in many ways more pro religion than anti. It was just a good natured offbeat look at biblical tales. Just enjoy what is a one of the few truly unique and quality films of the past decade.

NOTE FOR KEVIN SMITH FANS: if you are a fan of the Jersey Trilogy there is lots of things for you to pick up on in this film. Obviously Jay and Silent bob are in it but a lot of the actors return (yes Dante is in it but you have to watch carefully). I felt they were done as good inside jokes rather than forced in like in Chasing Amy.

This is an old review that was on Flix Chick before it became a blog.

Boys Don’t Cry (1998)

I went to this film, uncertain of what to expect. I grew up in and lived in the US until 1996 and I can vaguely remember this real life story being in the news. Beyond the very basic bits of the story I didn’t know anything about the tale.

The story surrounds a character named Teena, that was born female but has desires to have a female to male sex change. As part of this desire, Teena lives most of her life as her ‘alter-ego’, Brandon. Brandon has a compulsive desire to chase women and act as ‘manly’ as possible. It is this desire that often landed him in trouble. While running away from his most recent troubles he fell in with a crowd from a nearby town. The story from there is the tale of what happens when Brandon, hiding his true gender, falls for one of the girls that is also hanging around with the crowd.

Parts of the film are quite intense. This is the kind of violence in films that leaves me cold. I had a similar feeling when I watched Schindler’s List for the first time. Cartoon like violence that is found in action films has little effect on me because it is obviously fake. However, in the case of films such as this one I know that what they are showing on the screen actually happened. There was actually a real human being who thought it was okay to brutalise and kill a person in such a horrible way. Sometimes, living in a metropolitan area such as Philadelphia (where I grew up) and London (where I now live), it is easy to forget that the sort of the bigotry displayed in this film still exists.

The actress that plays Teena/Brandon (Hillary Swank) does a very convincing job. There were times that I had to actually remind myself that a female playing Brandon. She definitely deserved the Oscar she won for the role. That is said despite being one of the few poor souls who actually saw her in The New Karate Kid. The old kid was fine, thank you.

The only problem I had with some of the actors was nothing that was directly their fault. If you are a TV and film junkie such as myself, you sometimes run across actors and actresses that you have trouble separating from roles they have played in the past. Boys Don’t Cry has a couple of actors like this but in particular the actress that plays Candace. She was previously seen in the American television sitcom , Rosanne, playing their daughter Becky. She played that role for nearly 10 years and as hard as I tried I kept thinking it was Becky acting in a film and not the actual actress. I spoke to my sister back in the States and she said that she had the exact same reaction. I hope for her sake she manages to separate herself from her previous roles. I guess that is part of the problem of growing up on a successful television show.

All in all Boys Don’t Cry is a good film. The beginning was a bit slow but eventually it grabbed me. It is not a feel good movie but it is a brave film. I can’t think of any other film that has dealt with female to male gender identity ‘problems’. Don’t plan on coming out of the cinema feeling good. My advice is to not go if you are feeling down or depressed.

This is an old review that was on Flix Chick before it became a blog.

Vanilla Sky (2002)

Right from the start I am going to draw a line in the sand. If you are the type of film goer that goes to the cinema to be able to turn your brain of and let the actors and director do all the work for you, then straight off I will say that Vanilla Sky is not the film for you. This is not Top Gun or Mission Impossible. However, if you enjoy films that try to be a bit different and make you kick your brain into a higher gear than it may be worth reading further.

Vanilla Sky is the latest pairing of Tom Cruise and director Cameron Crowe. They were together previously in the guise of Jerry Maguire . However, this film has absolutely nothing in common with Jerry Maguire . The film is a remake of the 1997 Spanish thriller Abre los Ojos ( Open Your Eyes) and even carries with it an actress from the original cast in form of Penélope Cruz.

Tom Cruise plays David Aames, a wealthy New York bachelor that inherited a publishing empire from his father. He seems to have it all: money, social status, a great apartment and a beautiful occasional lover Julie, played by Cameron Diaz. At his birthday party he meets and falls in love with Sofia, played by Cruz, who also happens to be his best friend Brian’s, played by Jason Lee, object of lust.

It isn’t only Brian that takes objection to David getting closer to Sofia. Julie goes into full fledged stalker mode and after talking David into going for a ride in her car she turns suicidal and drives the car off a bridge.

Now, this is where Vanilla Sky becomes a very difficult film to review. In all of the reviews I read prior to seeing the film they all gave a similarly vague outline of the opening plot and then stopped and started talking about things such as the off screen relationship of Cruise and Cruz. I wasn’t quite sure why they were so vague. However, now I know it is because it is virtually impossible to say anything else about anything beyond the car accident with out giving away bits of the story. Either that or they were too confused to summarize any further.

So, all I can say is that from the point of the car crash the whole film becomes very surreal. Just when you start to trust your own mind you are taken for a mental spin.

The question is: does the film work? Well, the funny thing is that as the hours pass since I saw it I like it more and more. All the components of the film are settling themselves down in my brain and I am appreciating the film for the intellectual brain teaser that it was surely meant to be. However, with that said when I was sitting in my cinema seat I was more than a bit frustrated by the sudden sharp turns. Still I am glad that I saw it because I am always happy to see mainstream Hollywood tackling challenging material. Even if they did have to take a story from Spain to do it.

Vanilla Sky does have a number of flaws. Firstly it gets a bit lost about a half hour until the end. However, I guess if you set out to confuse the audience you mine as well do it as fully as you possibly can.

At times I felt that it was fairy obvious that this production had hidden agendas. It all boils down to being a talent showcase for Cruise and Crowe with the added bonus of properly introducing Cruz to English speaking audiences. After all, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin and Blow were hardly attended in droves.

It isn’t unheard of for foreign language film stars to reprise their roles in the Hollywood remake. Gérard Depardieu, for example did just that when he reprised his role in My father, ce héros in the far inferior Hollywood produced My Father the Hero.

Cruz is perfectly fine in the roll of Sofia but I think this is a cased where is it a real shame that we are not able to see her act in her native tongue. There is evidence of some trouble with the English language that stands in they way of her showing her true talent. Again, this isn’t unusual with foreign stars. When Depeadieu acts in English he often comes off as bumbling but see him in a French film (please if you only see one of his films make it Jean de Florette) and he is just a joy to watch.

With every scene Cruise is trying to prove to us that he can act. Yes, Tom, you can act. I saw Magnolia and so I know that he does indeed have occasional flashes of great acting. However, a great performance here and there does not make you a great actor.

The prime example of the difference between a good actor and a great actor can be seen in the “You can’t handle the truth” scene in A Few Good Men. In that scene Cruise delivers each line with full competence. However, saying the line as they were written is all he does. Jack Nicholson, on the other hand acts with every inch of his body in that scene. The blood vessels in his neck are throbbing, his face is red and his hands are shaking. That is a great actor. It is very similar in Vanilla Sky. Cruise delivers each line straight from the script but there was that bit of life that was missing from his performance.

Jason Lee turns out to be the real scene stealer of this film. Those of us who are major Kevin Smith fans have been watching him since he first popped up in Mallrats. In Vanilla Sky he shows that he has come a long way. I really enjoy Jason in most of his projects but my only little niggle has been his habit of almost shouting his lines. Crowe managed to calm him down and give us his witty delivery without the higher decibels.

Vanilla Sky is one of those films that is doomed to be either loved or hated. Most will hate it but it will become a cult favourite to those who love it. What is certain is that it will benefit greatly when the DVD comes out. It will allow it to easily watched over and over again by enthusiasts trying to pick up on every little clue.

Until that time, I am off to try to find an English subtitled of Open Your Eyes. After all, history shows us that Hollywood never improves the original.

This is an old review that was on Flix Chick before it became a blog.

Men In Black (1997)

Okay, I am sitting here preparing to write the normal plot summary that goes before my review of the actual DVD. Then it dawns on me that after all the years that Men In Black has been out and all the merchandise it has spawned I would be hard stretched to find some one who doesn’t know what the film is about. Still, though I suppose there might be someone reading this that recently returned from many years spent on the polar ice caps. So, while they thaw out, here is a quick rundown.

Tommy Lee Jones works for a secret government agency that polices the large population of real alien immigrants that live on Earth. His partner retires and Will Smith is recruited to take his place. Just in the nick of time too because something is wrong in the alien underground. One of their leaders has been assassinated and it has caused a mass exodus of others that fear for their own lives. Smith and Jones are set the task of finding out why and to do something about the situation.

What follows is a fun light hearted movies that enchants younger audiences and keeps adults laughing at the same time.

DVD Extras

The Men In Black collector’s edition is a two disc set that shows just how a top quality DVD should be made. The commentary is done by director Barry Sonnenfeld and Jones. A nice touch to the commentary is that the pair are silhouetted in front of the film to give it a Mystery Science Theater 3000 feel.

The extras package also goes out of its way to show off the angle feature of the DVD. Most notably in a dissection of the tunnel scene and the Edgar bug fight scenes. With the use of the angles you can see the scenes in various stages of production starting with the basic story boarding.

Those extras alone are more than are on most DVDs but they are just of the tip of the iceberg with this collection.

The disks includes all of the following:

* Character animation studies using angles
* Extended and alternative scenes
* Story board comparisons
* Documentry: Metamorphosis of Men In Black
* Music video featuring Will Smith and Mikey the alien
* Theatrical trailers including teaser for MIB 2
* Production notes
* Talent Files
* DVD-ROM and web links
* Wide screen and full screen presentations
* Art gallery featuring over 1,000 images of conceptual art and production photos
* Technical audio commentary with Barry Sonnenfeld, Rick Baker and Industrial light and magic
* Three scene editing workshops that allow you to become the filmmaker by piecing together various shots from a selected scene, and then re-play your own version.
* More bits and pieces

All in all Men in Black’s collector’s edition dvd is one of the finest examples of an extras package I have scene. One could watch an extra a day and still be entertained months down the road. Not only does it contain the commentaries and technical information for the adults but the scene editing workshop keeps the kids entertained too.

A must have for any fan of the film.

This is a review that was on Flix Chick before it was a blog

Pacific Heights (1990)

We have all heard the tales of landlords from hell. Pacific Heights turns this on its head and examines what its like to have the tenant so evil that even hell put up the no vacancy sign.

Patty Palmer played by Melanie Griffith and Drake Goodman played by Matthew Modine are young happy couple that purchase an old run down Victorian style home in order to turn the ground floor into apartments. They are nervous and inexperienced at the real estate game but they worked hard to turn the home into a picture of modern minalism. So, unsurprisingly as soon as the flats are on the market their phone is ringing nonstop with people interested in viewing the flats.

The first of the two apartments is rented easily enough to a friendly Asian couple. That leaves just the other flat to rent. Enter Michael Keaton in the guise of Carter Hayes a smart looking man who rode in on his swanky high priced automobile. He swarms his way into viewing the apartment despite not making an appointment. Within moments of setting foot inside he tells them he will take the apartment.

When Modine’s character insists on a credit check prior to accepting him as a tenant Keaton offers him three months rent in cash. Well, what self respecting young start up wouldn’t accept that much money when it is being waved in your face? Well apparently a kind of a stupid one as he still asks him to fill in the form and agrees to have the rent wired into his account. Still, sounds like everything is going smoothly though , doesn’t it?

Well, what kind of sorry excuse for a suspense thriller would this be if things went smoothly. Griffith’s character is woken in the early morning to the sound of hammering. She wonders down to investigate to find that despite not being given a key, as he has not yet moved in, Keaton has let himself in and is doing work on the flat. Keaton explains this away by saying the door was open a bit and that he had cleared with Modine. Of course, they talk to each other and he never talked to Modine about it at all.

So, he is a bit strange but still he is still charming and hey what trouble can a well heeled white man be? Funny you should ask, things go down hill rapidly. Keaton changes the locks on the apartment and barricades himself in the flat. The hammering continues and a strange man is in the flat day and night. Just when Griffith and Modine think they have had enough it turns out that he has never transferred the money for the rent.

Naturally, when you have someone squatting in a property you own, you try to get them to leave. The lovely couple try to do just that but it turns out to be the biggest mistake of their lives. Apparently, US property law is as such that it is very tricky to force him to leave and Keaton knows it. As they weave through the legal and emotional web they discover more and more about Keaton and the film gets darker and darker.

I really like the plot concept of Pacific Heights, there is some room to carefully examine the make up of the Keaton character. However, what could have been a brilliant thriller is let down on a few fronts.

Casting seems the most glaring area. Keaton, assisted by the most evil eyebrows in the business does a decent enough job as a psychotic yet smart villain. Almost a bit like the non dead version of Beetlejuice. Hey, maybe Beetlejuice is his Ghost. However, the feeling that the others, particularly Griffith, are miss-cast is hard to shake. The female lead in this script screams for a strong actress the exudes intelligence and self confidence. Instead we get Griffith and her high pitched voice that squeaks even when she is angry.

However, despite the fact that Pacific Heights fails at being what could have been a great film it is still a good thriller. Perfect for those nights when its raining outside, your curled up on the sofa and you just want something to help the popcorn go down easier. It will never end up on a critic’s best films list but still well worth searching out if you are fan of the Single White Female school of suspense thriller.

This is an old review that was on Flix Chick before it became a blog. 

Kids (1995)

I saw KIDS when it first came out a couple years ago. I had just turned 18 and my friend and I were so excited that we were going to see a movie that was NC-17 (an American film rating somewhere between an R and an Xrating..basiclly it is too strong for kids but it isn’t porn). We were suppressed American youth and thought it was very grown up to go see a film like this.

We left the cinema thrilled that we had grown up supressed teenagers.

The film is done in such a way that it is sometimes easy to forget that it is a film and not a documentry. The actors doing a very good job of acting in a nautral way. Most of the film feels like you are over hearing a conversation between a group of ’street wise’ New York teenagers. I always knew there was a reason that my parent’s wouldn’t let me go into New York on the weekend and this film seemed to back up her reasoning.

The main character - Telly - is one of those characters that you just hate. It isn’t even a matter of loving to hate him. In the very first scene he is in we watch him lie to a young - and I mean young - teenage girl in order to take her virgnity. We then find out that it is goal in life to take the virginity of all the girls he knows.

What follows is a day in the life of his group of friends as they stagger between drugs, sex, drink, skate boarding and more sex.

The most disturbing thing I can remeber about the experiance of watching the film was the rest of the audience. My friend and I sat there stunned by the behaviours on screen and the rest of the youths in the audience were laughing at all the most disturbing parts.

A very well done film but emotionally draining. I want to say that no one really lives their lives like those on the screen but I know that I would just be fooling myself. I am by no means squeaky clean but they make me look like a saint.