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Robert R Jackson
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Grateful Dead: Ticket to New Year's Eve Concert (1987)
My first Dead show.
I like to revisit this one from time to time. I have a hard time being objective about it, though.
On the afternoon of December 31st, 1987 I was leaving The Bass Center in Calabasas. I owned a couple of Alembic basses and had a 'Steal Your Face' sticker in the back window of my car. A guy on the freeway (whose license plate was "SYFROYH" for "Steal Your Face Right Off Your Head") pulled me over and said he was sick and headed to the airport to see if any Deadheads heading north wanted his ticket, but saw my sticker and wondered if I was interested. Oakland for New Year's. As I had some lunch in Hollywood and looked at a map I realized I'd just taken a ticket to a show that I'd have to break a lot of speed laws to make. And with that I started my career as another one of the annoying "Touch-heads" (though my timing was essentially random and not intentionally related to the phenomenon...honest).
This is a great, exuberant show. Watching the video you can see that the band was really in good spirits. The groundswell of attention following Jerry's illness and the subsequent release of 'In the Dark' was still in its novelty stages. The crowds weren't quite the unmanageable mess that they'd be a year down the road. The band was making money hand-over-fist and enjoying actual radio airplay for the first time in many moons. In 1989 Paul McCartney was asked why he was mounting a tour and said, "I've been inspired by The Grateful Dead, man! Jerry Garcia!" The sense that everybody in the world suddenly wanted to be a Deadhead hadn't played itself into a cultural sickness quite yet and the guys seemed to be riding a wave of euphoria. Watch the Mickey-as-Mr.Spock or Cooking with Jerry segments from the set break and you can see guys having the time of their lives.
This show also highlights the band performing a "real Grateful Dead show" complete with amps on the stage, Dan Healy out there mixing the sound, Candace Brightman's lighting...the old crew. None of the new guys had come along yet. No MIDI-sequences running during Space to "help make the band trippier" or anything. Things were still essentially just like the early 80's only scaled up in size a little.
Brent Mydland, who was generally hated by long-time fans of the band for being too "pop" and seeming like a Gregg Allman clone, was at the peak of his powers and really driving the band with his B-3 a lot of the time.
Jerry had bounced back from his collapse amazingly well and was in the best form he'd seen in several years.
Bobby still seemed like a kid. Just a couple of years later he looked like he'd aged a couple of decades.
This is a good show for people who want an introduction to the 80's Grateful Dead lineup. It's not the same band you'll see in a more notable film like Sunshine Daydream, but this is an excellent example of what they were at the moment they caught the nation's attention. By the time Jerry died in 1995 the Dead had been the highest-grossing touring act for pretty much every year since this show. If you were ever curious about where that mess all got started this is Exhibit A.
Alien Resurrection (1997)
A Hollywood franchise gutted by an echo of the French New Wave.
I've been waiting for years for someone more articulate than myself to tackle this, but I still haven't read the review of this film that I've been waiting to see. I guess I'll have to write it myself.
I believe there's ample evidence on the screen in Alien: Resurrection to suggest that Jeunet had ulterior motives when he put this film together. While Scott, Cameron and Fincher all had the intention of making seamless Hollywood films that pull the audience into their world of horror and sci-fi for a cathartic and engaging experience, I do not believe that was the intention of this film. I believe Jeunet was using a method well-known to fans of the French New Wave that is often referred to as "laying bare the device." The intention was to make the moviegoers aware that they were watching a movie by allowing continuity errors or allowing the cameraman to catch his own reflection in a mirror. It was supposed to pull you out of the moment and make you aware that you were watching actors performing. What Jeunet does in this film is actually more subtle. He sets up scenes that parody conventions of Hollywood blockbusters and he pushes them just far enough so we know as an audience that we're in on the joke before continuing on. For a moment we're taken out of the film and given time to reflect on how ridiculous the genre can be, but before casual moviegoers can throw up their hands the film begins to take itself seriously again and we proceed. It's like Jeunet was taking potshots at Hollywood on their dime.
There are dozens of examples of this technique in the film. An example is when Dan Hedaya's General Perez is attacked from behind and he reaches around and grabs a piece of his brain to examine. Another is when Michael Wincott's Elgyn is led down a corridor by a trail of guns which he picks up one by one as he walks into a trap. Or the whole gag about the door locks keying on the breath of the people with access. Or when Ron Perlman delivers his "Waste of ammo...must be a chick thing" line (which holds the convention of the action- hero one-liner up to the light). You can go on and on with these examples. Some have suggested it was just bad writing, but I feel like there are too many clear signs that this was Jeunet's attempt to murder a Hollywood franchise by milking its own conceits until it drowned in them.
The next Alien film will undoubtedly be "back on track" as far as the intent of the filmmaker goes. Paul Anderson isn't exactly known for the layers of subtext in his films. I think it's very interesting that Alien: Resurrection was made at all. I also wonder if Fox ever had any idea (or has any idea to this day) that Jeunet made this film to ridicule and destroy the Alien franchise.
Open Range (2003)
Smart script.
I haven't read the novel that Open Range is based on, but right off the bat a few things strike me about this script. The local cattleman in Open Range speaks passionately about why he hates the type of "free grazing" cattlemen played by Duvall and Costner. This character is very reminiscent of Ryker from the 1953 George Stevens classic, "Shane." That's a good character to lift, if you're going to Frankenstein a script together because he's one of the most interesting bad guys in the history of westerns. Also, the fate that befalls the herd and hand left out on the range while the main characters go into town really reminds me of the setup in the 1946 John Ford film, "My Darling Clementine." Again, a pretty sweet bit of business to grab if you're going to assemble a western from great bits out of the history of westerns. Who knows, those two earlier films may owe a debt to the original novel that Open Range is based on. What's important is that it works great here. Sure, "Open Range" is a little too talky and it should probably end about ten minutes before it actually ends and the love interest seems a little over-worked, but despite any of that this comes off as one of the better westerns of the last 20 years. Without going too far overboard, Costner really seems to be one of the few men with a real respect for the western as an American form and he just keeps making valuable contributions to keeping it alive and vital. He really deserves a little more respect than he seems to get.
Barbarosa (1982)
Obscure epic.
Back when this movie came out Siskel and Ebert were still on PBS doing "Sneak Previews" and I remember them recommending it. Back then I frequently went to see less mainstream films on their recommendation and this was one that always stuck with me. Recently it came out on DVD and I picked up a copy. It has managed to stand the test of time pretty well over these last couple of decades.
The story is almost Shakespearean in scope and the pacing isn't as fast as most audiences seem to demand, but there's a lot there for the patient viewer.
Barbarosa (played by Willie Nelson) and Karl (played by Gary Busey) have both been involved in killings that have turned families against them. They meet in the wilderness and slowly form a friendship, each having some empathy for the life the other leads as a hunted man. As the movie progresses we learn more about the situation each man finds himself in. The movie doesn't offer any easy answers and it doesn't wrap things up neatly and address every question an audience might have. In the end, it becomes more of a meditation on how these men have lived their lives than any kind of morality play (which seems to be what the western is often used to convey).
The acting is all top-notch, the sets, locations and costumes are perfect. Even little things like the way Busey calls, "Hello to the house." in one scene are perfect (my grandmother told stories of her father approaching homes that way back in 'horse and buggy days'). The movie also features Gilbert Roland in his last role.
This is a film that reconciles the legend of the old west with its realities and becomes more powerful as a result. It meets somewhere in the middle and works in a style all its own. It's a pity the DVD is only available as a pan-and-scan disc, but it's still certainly worth owning. At the very least, see if you can rent it. I notice Netflix has it in stock.
If you love westerns, you're sure to enjoy this one.
28 Days Later... (2002)
Requiem for Mini-DV
This may be the pinnacle of Mini-DV. In the past few years a number of directors have tried their hands at making feature films using Mini-DV and each has had a different vision of how the medium is best used. Mostly, though, they've all tried to exploit it as a nimble and cost-effective alternative to film. With this movie the medium is used for its unique visual appeal and the cinematographer and editor have worked together to exploit those qualities in a way I haven't seen anyone else work. Years from now I feel like this will come to be regarded as the high-water mark for Mini-DV. Now that High Definition consumer camcorders are starting to become available for about the same price as Mini-DV I think the days of the Mini-DV feature are numbered, but leave it to Danny Boyle to show everyone else how it could be done.
Danny Boyle brings us an $8 million zombie movie where every penny is up on the screen. The acting is all top-notch. The locations are all well-considered. In the middle of another summer full of swollen special-effecs films, Danny Boyle brings us the antithesis of hollow summer fare. Here's a film where the story and the performances are more important than the special effects budget or starpower and the end result is a movie that outclasses efforts with 20 times its budget.
Finally, there's the place in history this project earns as a zombie movie. Ever since George Romero wanted to make I Am Legend, couldn't acquire the rights and changed the vampires to zombies, we've had sort of an international zombie underground. Eventually, even a remake of I Am Legend decided to follow Romero's lead and The Omega Man featured its own variant of zombies. This project falls into the techno- zombie category of films like The Omega Man and Warning Sign and it proves to be the best contribution to the genre in decades. Boyle has given the world its first great zombie movie of the new millennium. Thanks Danny.
Galaxy of Terror (1981)
Everything a cheap genre film should be.
Most commentary on this film is limited to noting that it was one of James Cameron's early effects jobs. That's worth noting, only in that Cameron's effects work was very traditional at this stage in his career. Part of what makes watching this film or the first Terminator film so much fun is that there's an abundance of stop-motion, latex and composite shots full of models. This movie is from a time in America when cheap films like this could still get distribution. Now it would go direct-to-video if it got made at all. Roger Corman's New World films were frequently a delight. My friends and I would read about them in fanzines and hit the midnight movies or the drive-in the weekend they were released. This is a great one. It's full of Cameron's great, cheap effects work, for one thing, but the cast is great, too. The always-wonderful Grace Zabriskie really shines here. Ray Walston is great, too. Then you've got Robert Englund a few years before his Freddy Krueger role and Erin Moran being popped by a worm. Yes, it's a cheap horror/sci-fi and it steals ideas and even sets from discarded pre-production material from Alien, but if low-budget genre films like this mean anything to you, this is one you'll really enjoy. It's a real gem from a by-gone era.
Lawrence of Arabia (1962)
Epics don't get any bigger.
David Lean was born to direct "big" films. His mastery of working with his DP to compose for the widescreen aspect ratio still stands as the definitive work in the idiom. Of his three most ambitious films; The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957), Lawrence Of Arabia (1962) and Dr. Zhivago (1965); this stands out as his most flawless accomplishment. It's a shame that all the audio tracks were lost to the ravages of time. Just two years before his death, Lean re-assembled the original cast in 1989 to replace *all* the dialogue when he set about restoring the film. That he was able to pull it off is quite a feat, but it's a shame to have lost all the original production dialogue. The restored film is a wonder, though. Almost every frame looks like a beautiful still photograph. The images that play across the screen are a wonder to behold and the skill with which the film is assembled is genius. Shots follow each other and build with a purpose and structure beyond the abilities of most filmmakers. And the story. The character of T.E. Lawrence is a misfit. He's not understood by the Arabs and he's not understood by the British. O'Toole's performance as Lawrence is powerful and poignant. Forty years after its initial release Lawrence of Arabia is more impressive than ever. It is one of the true wonders of 20th Century cinema.
Laserblast (1978)
The Drive-In era
This may be the ultimate late-70's drive-in movie. I saw it at the Silver Moon Drive-In in Lakeland Florida with an indecipherable Japanese space opera when it was released. That was the roll of the dice on any given weekend back then. You'd catch a pair of low-budget sci-fi or horror films at the drive-in and hope that at least one of them was watchable. Laserblast had been promoted in Fantastic Films, Starlog and several other sci-fi rags that I read religiously back then and I was psyched by the time it came out. It starred the late Kim Milford of the Jeff Beck Group, who really had a certain 70's B-movie panache. Between turning green and using the Laserblaster in this film and driving the extremely cool Trans Am with Formula scoops in Corvette Summer, Kim forever earned himself a place in the Drive-In pantheon. Just the classic scene where Billy Duncan (Kim's character) shoots a Star Wars billboard makes Laserblast worth the rental (if you can find someplace that stocks it). Bad cinema at its best. Double it up with Galaxina, Starcrash, Galaxy Of Terror or your favorite B-movie of the era and enjoy the trip back in time.