Reviews
Space Cowboys
- Details
- Written by Matthew Toomey
| Directed by: | Clint Eastwood |
| Written by: | Howard Klausner |
| Starring: | Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, James Garner, James Cromwell, Loren Dean, Donald Sutherland |
| Released: | October 5, 2000 |
| Grade: | B+ |
Clint Eastwood is back in the director’s chair for Space Cowboys and he’s had no trouble assembling a stellar cast. It’s the story of four guys known as “Team Dateless” who in 1958 were to become the first Americans in space. However, after a long running feud with NASA head Bob Gurson (Cromwell), they were taken off the mission, replaced by a monkey and never flew again.
Some forty years later, NASA has a problem. A Russian satellite has developed a small glitch and will fall to Earth in 35 days. Should this happen, Russian communications will be thrown into chaos and so the U.S. has stepped in to fix the problem to help increase their relationship with the Russians. It so happens that the technology on the satellite is primitive and the only man capable of understanding its technics is Frank Corvin (Eastwood), the former leader of Team Dateless.
So we find ourselves in an interesting situation. Gurson, who is still chief at NASA, has to call upon the guy he screwed 40 years ago to come save the day. Frank says he’ll do it but on one condition - if all of Team Dateless gets to go up in the shuttle. Gurson gives him an ultimatum - they can go up but only if they pass the same physical and mental examinations set for all astronauts. And so, the training begins...
I have seen better storylines than that offered by Space Cowboys. We all know how things are going to pan out and the twists thrown at you are predictable. At the initial NASA meeting, two items are discussed - (1) how a Russian satellite has American technology aboard, and (2) what is actually on board the satellite? Neither question is answered at the time, which makes it painfully obvious that the answers will be given to us later, but if you connect the dots, you’ll know already.
What makes Space Cowboys such entertaining value is the awesome cast. The same script with a weaker cast would have not have worked and it’s the class of all these “elderly” stars that give the film its draw. It’s unfair to single out any character because they’re all so good. Clint Eastwood and Tommy Lee Jones have some dynamite dialogue. Donald Sutherland has put on a lot of weight for the role and is the funniest of the team. James Cromwell has the tough job of playing the villain and is surprisingly effective. My favourite had to be William Devane with his laid back portrayal of NASA mission director Eugene Davis.
Sure it’s popcorn stuff mixed with a dash of sentimentality but Space Cowboys has plenty going for it. It’s not breakthrough material but it is certainly above average when compared against the current crop of Summer blockbusters.
Bootmen
- Details
- Written by Matthew Toomey
| Directed by: | Dein Perry |
| Written by: | Steve Worland |
| Starring: | Adam Garcia, Sophie Lee, Sam Worthington, William Zappa, Lisa Perry, Anthony Hayes, Susie Porter |
| Released: | October 5, 2000 |
| Grade: | A- |
Sean (Garcia) and his brother, Mitchell (Worthington), are two popular guys who work at a Newcastle steelworks. Their mother has passed away and they still live at home with dad who’s a former Rugby League great and synonymous amongst the community. Both share a love for tap and have done so since they were kids but as time as matured them, little has been made of their talents.
On a spur of the moment decision, Sean decides to audition for a tap show in Sydney and his flair catches the eye of the talent scout who decides he’s the right material. At the same time, he meets and instantly falls for Linda (Lee) but Sean’s trip to the big city is eminent and they soon find themselves apart.
In Sydney, things don’t go as expected. Sean quits and heads back to Newcastle where things go from bad to worse. The steelworks are to be shut down and all the employees retrenched. So to help get the staff back on their feet and create a retraining program, Sean and his mates decide to put on a tap concert to help raise much-needed funds.
Bootmen is a very likeable film particularly for its fast pace. No scene seems wasted and the whole story flows at a rapid rate that heightens the interest and suspense making the surprises harder to anticipate.
Adam Garcia will boom onto the worldwide stage with this role continuing the world’s obsession with new Australian actors. Sophie Lee also shows that she can play more than a dumb blonde (as in Muriel’s Wedding and The Castle) with her subtle performance. The real stars of this film though are the tap dancers that have put on a fantastic show thanks to years of effort and practice.
Dein Perry is a newcomer to filmmaking although he knows a thing or two about the craft having been a member of Tap Dogs, the tap group from which this movie was inspired. He uses inventive camera angles and lighting to increase our appreciation for these entertainers. The film’s closing number is fantastic but the whole film is attractive as we see the demanding training and other hardships that went into pulling the dream off.
Bootmen is not to be missed. It’s a tribute to Australia’s super talent both on and behind the cameras. A touching, sentimental and uplifting film, Bootmen has all the right ingredients so take the time and go see it.
The Kid
- Details
- Written by Matthew Toomey
| Directed by: | Jon Turteltaub |
| Written by: | Audrey Wells |
| Starring: | Bruce Willis, Spencer Breslin, Emily Mortimer, Lily Tomlin, Chi McBride |
| Released: | September 28, 2000 |
| Grade: | B |
Bruce Willis’s career was on the crossroads in 1997. Through 1994 to 1997, his major roles included North, Color Of Night, Last Man Standing, The Jackal and Mercury Rising. In other words, he was struggling. Willis was set to star in a big action film of 1998 but massive financial problems caused production to cease and the film was never finished. To bail Willis out of jail, Buena Vista stepped in and offered him a deal. They would pay his way out of the troubled film if he agreed to star in three of Buena Vista’s films.
The first film was Armageddon, which grossed $201m in the U.S. They had made their money back and then some. The second film was The Sixth Sense, which earned $293m and received 6 Academy Award nominations. The final film was The Kid, which managed a not-so-sluggish $67m and capping off one of the best deals in Hollywood history. Buena Vista made more than one billion dollars worldwide and Willis had his career back.
The Kid is simple family entertainment. It’s the story of an image consultant, Russ Duritz, who is about to turn 40, is unmarried, and has few friends due to his grizzly nature. Then in a bizarre twist of events, he finds an 8-year-old boy in his house that looks strangely familiar - it’s himself at age 8. He’s definitely real but the question remains - what is he doing here?
Newcomer Spencer Breslin takes all the laughs from Willis but they make a funny duo. The film is designed to have us reflect on our own childhoods and how much we miss them and wish we could return to them. There are some touching tear-jerking moments near film’s end but not quite enough detail to carry the film for the full length.
Backed by a strong film score by Marc Shaiman, The Kid is a film that will provide entertainment for all ages. Just don’t go expecting spiritual enlightenment.
Urban Legends: Final Cut
- Details
- Written by Matthew Toomey
| Directed by: | John Ottman |
| Written by: | Paul Harris Boardman, Scott Derrickson |
| Starring: | Joey Lawrence, Matthew Davis, Jenny Morrison, Loretta Devine, Anson Mount |
| Released: | September 28, 2000 |
| Grade: | C- |
At 1pm on Monday, February 17, 1997, I went to the Birch Carroll & Coyle cinemas at Maroochydore and saw one hell of a film - Scream. It was sharp, witty, scary, original and worthy of the praise it received. However, if I was to know of the utter garbage it would spawn, I feel we’d all be better off if Scream had never been created.
Long ago I’d never heard the term “teen horror film” but now those three words make me cringe in my seat. I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream 2, Halloween H20, Phantoms, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, The Faculty, Disturbing Behaviour, Idle Hands, Urban Legend, Jawbreaker, Teaching Mrs. Tingle, Cut, Final Destination, Scream 3, The Skulls... That’s a lot of movies in a three-year stretch and a lot of bad memories to go with them.
I have spoken of and written about all of the above films with contempt. I have used every negative adjective that both my mind and this computer can imagine and I have nothing left. There are no words that can express my feeling for this film so I feel the best thing is to just leave it at that. I know it stinks, you know it stinks, end of story.
Tell me if you’ve heard this one before. A girl at an exclusive film school comes up with an idea to make a movie - one about a serial killer who kills people based upon urban legends. So, she makes the movie and one by one, her crew are killed off and you’ll never guess how - by an actual serial killer who kills people based upon urban legends. Wow!
Now make sure you brace yourself for the big finale. Like most every other teen film, the ending defies all logic with a ludicrous motive created to make the killer seem like the last person you’d expect. There’s no thinking involved because the motive is so convoluted, it’s impossible to both predict and substantiate. I’m tempted to tell you right now who the killer was just to spoil the movie so you can avoid the trauma of having to see it.
If I can say one thing for the film - I enjoyed the interesting twist in the final 20 seconds. To save you the trouble, the movie ends with the killer being escorted around a hospital in a wheelchair by a nurse who happens to be Rebecca Gayheart (the killer from the first Urban Legend). A nice touch but it’s the only one.
This is as low as we can go. There is no coming back from here. This film has set filmmaking back so far, it must surely lead the demise of this genre. This is a farce.
A Pornographic Affair
- Details
- Written by Matthew Toomey
| Directed by: | Frederic Fonteyne |
| Written by: | Phillippe Blasband |
| Starring: | Nathalie Baye, Sergi Lopez, Jacques Viala, Paul Pavel |
| Released: | September 21, 2000 |
| Grade: | A- |
Culture is something one never fully appreciates until you experience that of another. We sit and watch the constant surge of movies from home and the States and comment on their freshness and originality. A Pornographic Affair is from France and is indicative of what we in Australia are missing out on.
The film stars Nathalie Baye as a lady in need of having her fantasy fulfilled. She’s been with many men in the past but none have satisfied her ultimate dream. Determined not to let it escape her, she submits an ad is a pornographic personals magazine and waits for a reply.
That reply comes from Sergi Lopez and the two agree to meet at a cafe. After small introductions, the two head to a nearby hotel room where they disappear. The two continue for months, meeting every week and escaping to the seclusion of the hotel. Everything was “good”, until things got complicated and the two find themselves falling in love.
A Pornographic Affair is a superb film for what it doesn’t tell us rather than what it does. Hollywood films are always compromised by studio executives thinking the public has a single digit IQ. Movies are oversimplified, contain no thought process and wrap up in a nice neat package.
It is the intrigue factor that makes this film worth watching. There is a man who interviews the two all during the film and listens to them as they comment on the relationship. We never see who he is or why he does what he does. The names of the two lovers are never revealed as they never during the whole film refer to each other by name. And then, there’s the question of the fantasy...
This is what storytelling in the real world is all about. Two characters dominate the entire 80 minutes and there is no room for any other characters. Romance stories are churned out every week in cinemas but this is totally different - it’s enchanting.
Winner of the best actress award at the 1999 Venice Film Festival, A Pornographic Affair is a film to be seen to be completely understood. Disregard the misleading title because this film has more plot than any “porno” could provide.
Battlefield Earth
- Details
- Written by Matthew Toomey
| Directed by: | Roger Christian |
| Written by: | L. Ron Hubbard, Cory Mandell |
| Starring: | John Travolta, Barry Pepper, Forest Whitaker, Kim Coates |
| Released: | September 28, 2000 |
| Grade: | C+ |
It was impossible to give this film a fair chance given the reviews that preceded it from the United States. Here’s some examples: "A million monkeys with a million crayons would be hard-pressed in a million years to create anything as pretentious as Battlefield Earth." (Washington Post), "A bloated sci-fi monstrosity...we are now spared the sleepless nights of wondering which gobbler will dominate the next Razzie Awards for worst turkey of the year." (Toronto Star), "[The script is] deeply dumb, depressingly derivative." (USA Today), and "In the post-apocalyptic adventure genre, Battlefield Earth makes Waterworld look like a masterpiece." (Los Angeles Times).
Where do I start? It’s based on a best-selling novel by L. Ron Hubbard that has quite a cult following. The problem with the film is not the storyline. In fact, there were moments I enjoyed which showed particular strength in the screenplay. It may be similar to the standard sci-fi thriller about saving mankind from alien domination but at least it was mildly amusing.
What is severely lacking is any direction and help from the cast whatsoever. Roger Christian has turned in one of the worst directing efforts I have been forced to witness. The action scenes are edited very quickly which is annoying for two reasons: (1) you can’t really see or understand what is going on, and (2) it’s a cheap way to cut corners. For example, when a guy’s head was blown off, the camera cuts away just as it’s about to happen and we see nothing.
The special effects are mind-blowingly unspectacular. I’ve seen Playstation games with better graphics. The first scene we see of the big dome and it’s enclosure is clearly a model and it’s a wonder how a film costing $73m could use such mediocre effects. Every shot I saw of an alien transport vessel was yet another reminder of the distraction the effects provided.
Why John Travolta was cast I will never know. Paying his standard $20m seems pointless given he’s hardly recognisable with make up on and that goes for the whole cast. Clearly he is used as the big-name drawcard appearing on posters and TV ads to lure the customer in. Based on its performance in the U.S., few people were sucked in. The film made $11m in the first 3 days of release before finishing with a grand total of $21m. That is a big loss.
Battlefield Earth is a sad tale where everything went wrong. It’s like a 500 piece jigsaw puzzle with 490 pieces missing. I think for everyone’s sake (especially Travolta’s) we’ll all just forget this ever happened and never speak of it again.