Species II (R) - Review
"Geiger counter at zero"
A dumber, cheaper, sleazier retread of a pretty iffy SCIFI franchise. The cardboard-rocketship exploring Mars somehow gets infected with alien DNA, mutating the crew who are now returned to Earth to breed tentacled sex killers. This time most semblance of science is left behind, leaving just nudity, gore and a far less talented script. The libidoed menace is now male, leaving Madsen and his half-hearted team of whoevers to unwisely reinvent Henstridge's iconic Alien as a heroine. Unfortunately the ending leaves opening to another entry, when anyone could see extinction of the species is for the best.
2.5 Slimy Puppets Rubbing Together out of 10 (BAD)
Showing posts with label 1998. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1998. Show all posts
SLC Punk! (1998)
SLC Punk! (R)
An anarchic duo recently graduated from college try to find meaning and inebriation in their 1980s era Regeanomics American Utah Punk scene in Writer & Director James Meredino's semi-autobiographical film, SLC Punk!
Of all the post-Trainspotting inspired flicks that were made, SLC Punk! is the truest to harnessing it's internal spirit. It's an independently made slice of life film about the underbelly of a culture that not many people would openly discuss, entertainingly made and acted, well scripted with snappy dialog and situations, with a punch in the gut about conformism and society itself. Using it's young stars (not only does Matthew Lillard star, but Jason Segal is a very young, very memorable baby-faced Mike) in just the right way, SLC goes through the entire scene bit by bit very organically and breaks a few fourth walls on it's way through Mods, Skin Heads, UK Punks, Junkies, Euro-weirdos, Straights, Shit-kickers and even their own parents. The cliques and societal constructs fall like domino's before the films wit and humor, especially when Lillard is joined by Micheal Goorjian as Heroin Bob, so called because he is afraid of needles and who's portrayal often steals the show from Stevo's own frantic portrayal. Their relationship is the central core to the movie, from childhood to adulthood, and thrusts home the final nail in Punk's coffin.
Shot in a rugged mixed media style, told through the drug addled recollections of Lillard's Stevo shouted to us the viewers like a host over the stereo at a raucous party, the look of the film matches it's name, it embodies the Punk Rock "I Don't Give A Shit" mythos. The humor is loud and relate-able, the music is stylish yet loudly nostalgic, the sex drugs and rock n' roll pathos is loud and tragic. All this, added to the sociological interest of the time period, the perceived Mormon oppression of a minority group, the ex-Hippy yuppies and homeless mental cases, SLC Punk! humorously and sarcastically encapsulates everything that made being a Punk so attractive in the 1980s, especially to young attractive intelligent youths who were very far from the weirdo unwashed trash their appearance made themselves out to be. It is a short, timeless look at another side of American life that will never be again, but at least we have SLC to remind us.
9 "It's New" out of 10 (GREAT)
An anarchic duo recently graduated from college try to find meaning and inebriation in their 1980s era Regeanomics American Utah Punk scene in Writer & Director James Meredino's semi-autobiographical film, SLC Punk!
Of all the post-Trainspotting inspired flicks that were made, SLC Punk! is the truest to harnessing it's internal spirit. It's an independently made slice of life film about the underbelly of a culture that not many people would openly discuss, entertainingly made and acted, well scripted with snappy dialog and situations, with a punch in the gut about conformism and society itself. Using it's young stars (not only does Matthew Lillard star, but Jason Segal is a very young, very memorable baby-faced Mike) in just the right way, SLC goes through the entire scene bit by bit very organically and breaks a few fourth walls on it's way through Mods, Skin Heads, UK Punks, Junkies, Euro-weirdos, Straights, Shit-kickers and even their own parents. The cliques and societal constructs fall like domino's before the films wit and humor, especially when Lillard is joined by Micheal Goorjian as Heroin Bob, so called because he is afraid of needles and who's portrayal often steals the show from Stevo's own frantic portrayal. Their relationship is the central core to the movie, from childhood to adulthood, and thrusts home the final nail in Punk's coffin.
Shot in a rugged mixed media style, told through the drug addled recollections of Lillard's Stevo shouted to us the viewers like a host over the stereo at a raucous party, the look of the film matches it's name, it embodies the Punk Rock "I Don't Give A Shit" mythos. The humor is loud and relate-able, the music is stylish yet loudly nostalgic, the sex drugs and rock n' roll pathos is loud and tragic. All this, added to the sociological interest of the time period, the perceived Mormon oppression of a minority group, the ex-Hippy yuppies and homeless mental cases, SLC Punk! humorously and sarcastically encapsulates everything that made being a Punk so attractive in the 1980s, especially to young attractive intelligent youths who were very far from the weirdo unwashed trash their appearance made themselves out to be. It is a short, timeless look at another side of American life that will never be again, but at least we have SLC to remind us.
9 "It's New" out of 10 (GREAT)
Miracle Mile (1988)
Miracle Mile (R)
"Forget everything you just heard, and go back to sleep"
A young man suddenly finds the love of his life in the Los Angeles' La Brea Tar Pits museum. His perfect day turns into nightmarish night as he oversleeps his alarm and misses their first date. It goes from bad to worse (and leaves stereotypical story telling behind) as he answers an incessantly ringing Telephone outside a midnight diner in writer/director Steven De Jamatt's pre-apocalyptic film Miracle Mile.
This is not your usual new romance in danger film. Playing off the decades Atomic annihilation hysteria that gripped the United States since the 50s, Miracle Mile pulls of a miraculous feat of low budget enrapture. The visuals are brightly stunning neon at night, the scripting is highly literate and the acting is wonderful characterization. The leads Anthony Edwards (Top Gun) and Mare Winningham (St. Elmos Fire) have a dynamically palpable chemistry, and their LA late night co-stars are an ensemble casting wetdream of top-tier character actors and soon-to-be stars. The twists and turns of the story follow a twisting dream logic that leads you down nightmarish tunnels while holding your hand with a warm, friendly hopefulness. All the while featuring an under-your-skin soundtrack by Tangerine Dream, Miracle Mile is a film that encapsulates that final fearful decade of the Cold War. The obvious love and attention on a shoestring budget makes the film more than just an admirable yet forgotten cult classic, but instead something to be studied and revered. And where it homages other LA psychedelic jaw droppers like Day of the Locust, it's immense influence on more modern day LA epics like Drive, Magnolia or Crash are unmistakable.
Miracle Mile lives up to its name and reputation with its own optimistic nerdy charm in the face of the utter bleakness of humanities fate.
It is uniquely of the 1980s, by the 1980s, and simply one of the best of the 1980s.
9.5 Goose with a Trombone, Coals into Diamonds out of 10 (OUTSTANDING)
"Forget everything you just heard, and go back to sleep"
A young man suddenly finds the love of his life in the Los Angeles' La Brea Tar Pits museum. His perfect day turns into nightmarish night as he oversleeps his alarm and misses their first date. It goes from bad to worse (and leaves stereotypical story telling behind) as he answers an incessantly ringing Telephone outside a midnight diner in writer/director Steven De Jamatt's pre-apocalyptic film Miracle Mile.
This is not your usual new romance in danger film. Playing off the decades Atomic annihilation hysteria that gripped the United States since the 50s, Miracle Mile pulls of a miraculous feat of low budget enrapture. The visuals are brightly stunning neon at night, the scripting is highly literate and the acting is wonderful characterization. The leads Anthony Edwards (Top Gun) and Mare Winningham (St. Elmos Fire) have a dynamically palpable chemistry, and their LA late night co-stars are an ensemble casting wetdream of top-tier character actors and soon-to-be stars. The twists and turns of the story follow a twisting dream logic that leads you down nightmarish tunnels while holding your hand with a warm, friendly hopefulness. All the while featuring an under-your-skin soundtrack by Tangerine Dream, Miracle Mile is a film that encapsulates that final fearful decade of the Cold War. The obvious love and attention on a shoestring budget makes the film more than just an admirable yet forgotten cult classic, but instead something to be studied and revered. And where it homages other LA psychedelic jaw droppers like Day of the Locust, it's immense influence on more modern day LA epics like Drive, Magnolia or Crash are unmistakable.
Miracle Mile lives up to its name and reputation with its own optimistic nerdy charm in the face of the utter bleakness of humanities fate.
It is uniquely of the 1980s, by the 1980s, and simply one of the best of the 1980s.
9.5 Goose with a Trombone, Coals into Diamonds out of 10 (OUTSTANDING)
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About Me
- Kevin Gasaway via HardDrawn
- Turlock, California, United States
- Media and Reviews by Kevin Gasaway