Cocaine Cowboys (2006) (Doc) - Director: Billy Corben - 7/10.
Blackmail (1991) - Director: Ruben Preuss - 6/10 - There is no denying the motion picture sets the bar higher than other efforts in this niche in that it apparently strives towards more lofty aspirations. The admittedly manipulative machinations of the plot as well as the kind of nihilistic outlook that typifies the whole range of A-grade neonoirs of the era are clearly reminiscent of more renowned genre examples and this work clearly sets out to touch upon a lot of similar thematic motives and shticks. Notwithstanding, the moment the movie strives to break away from its DTV conventions and rise to a higher stature also marks the point at which Preuss’s modest direction starts to feel somewhat insufficient and readily attests to the firmly sensationalistic and tawdry foundation of its story. Be that as it may, its internal inadequacies prove to be rather negligible as long as you’re willing to accept film’s obviously two-bit status and as a matter of fact, this extra degree of sardonicism and pungency apparent in the writing ultimately amplifies the core of the story beyond the realm of cliches, endowing it with a level of twistedness rarely existent in other low-budgeted ventures of this kind. Additionally, we get a generous array of snappy sax solos as well as the same effing villa used by a number of other early 1990s DTV neonoirs, so it adheres to the stylistic proclivities of its period all right. The flick possibly features one turnabout too many, shall we say, and employs manipulative direction too frequently for its own good, which might’ve been remedied by a redraft or two, but it all eventually worked for me and I ultimately found it engrossing enough to overlook some of its secondary flaws.
Moonraker (1979) - Director: Lewis Gilbert - 7/10 -> 6/10 - A re-watch.
Beyond the Rising Moon (1987) - Director: Philip J. Cook - 8/10 = 8/10 - A re-watch.
Die Another Day (2002) - Director: Lee Tamahori - 3/10 -> 2/10 - A re-watch.
The Poseidon Adventure (1972) - Director: Ronald Neame - 8/10 = 8/10 - A re-watch.
The Towering Inferno (1974) - Director: John Guillermin - 7/10 = 7/10 - A re-watch.
Waco: The Rules of Engagement (1997) (Doc) - Director: William Gazecki - 9/10.
The Monopoly on Violence (2020) (Doc) - Director: Chris Cofer - 5/10.
The California Reich (1975) (Doc) - Directors: Keith Critchlow, Walter F. Parkes - 4/10.
Phase IV (1974) - Director: Saul Bass - 8/10 - While the sci-fi picture does seem a little rough around the edges as far as its storytelling goes, it easily compensates for its narrative brusqueness with its striking visual imaginativeness. Bass’s underlying aptitude for visualizing abstract concepts such as the microcosm of insect life and especially its relation to the human world turns out to be absolutely engrossing and completely makes up for deficiencies in other aspects of the effort. Oddly enough, some of the imagery here is slightly reminiscent of Lynch’s treatment of Dune which is something that fits this film’s ambitious theme to a T and makes it a genuine pleasure to watch on a purely aesthetic level. Needless to say, its philosophical deliberations would’ve benefited greatly from a more sturdy structure capable of encapsulating its intellectual musings more effectively, nevertheless, the movie works fine as it is and remains quite fascinating in the teeth of its flaws. It is such a shame it is Bass’s only feature-length opus inasmuch as it clearly points to his remarkable flair as a visual stylist and in fact, his shorts achieve more in terms of visual sophistication than a lot of full-length films with inordinately bloated budgets.
Quest (1984) (Short) - Directors: Elaine Bass, Saul Bass - 7/10.
The Solar Film (1980) (Short) - Directors: Elaine Bass, Saul Bass - 6/10.
Soylent Green (1973) - Director: Richard Fleischer - 6/10 - While the apocalyptic vision the endeavor sets out to portray is duly gruesome and quite lurid, Soylent Green regrettably turns out to be a movie whose primary premise has outlasted all of its other facets. The main issue with the whole endeavor is that once you strip the work of its postapocalyptic decor and its excessively thespian appeals to “the good, old times”, there is nothing left other than a fairly trite tale set in an alternative, futuristic-looking version of the 1970s. The central storyline merely feels like a pretext to embark on a series of sequences intended to present a certain vision of the possible dystopian future as well as to preach about the consequences of inadequate attention to climate preservation; the reason why I specifically use the word “preach” is because that’s exactly what the whole affair feels like: preachy, sanctimonious and excessively heavy-handed in its delivery. As a consequence of all this, the motion picture has a distinctly episodic nature which manifests itself in its inordinately lax narrative and severely attenuated focus of the story.
Money for Nothing: Inside the Federal Reserve (2013) (Doc) - Director: Jim Bruce - 6/10.
Death Wish (2018) - Director: Eli Roth - 6/10 - It’s way better than it has any right to be. While the movie doesn’t really attempt to diverge from its source material or try to come up with something new and original, it does manage to recontextualize the whole story without ever feeling too derivative and tedious. I never thought I would use the word “slick” to describe an Eli Roth flick, but well, here we go. There is nothing particularly original or groundbreaking about the way Roth goes about the whole tale, granted, yet there is something really neat and slick about the whole endeavor. I guess it kind of reminds me of The Getaway remake from 1994 in that it doesn’t really introduce any new constitutents and instead, hones in on the basic story as well as the overall execution, which turns out to be quite adequate and satisfactory thanks to its taut storytelling and unpretentious narrative framework. And yes, there is no disguising the fact that the final product is sort of short on originality, but it doesn’t really matter in the sense that the end result happens to be entirely satisfactory on account of the aforementioned advantages. It’s agreeably crude, but also slick, smoothly narrated and doesn’t really flex or attempt to be something it isn’t, which is enough in this case.
The Andromeda Strain (1971) - Director: Robert Wise - 7/10 - While the motion picture does feel rather dry and somewhat monotonous in its development, it’s got be one of the starkest sci-fi pictures I’ve ever seen and I mean in a good way; it truly smacks of science and instead of relying on some gratuitous gadgetry to an excessive degree, it gives off a uniquely unadorned, unapologetically industrial vibe, which is not something you see in science fiction films as often as you’d expect and which is something I happen to like quite a lot. Admittedly, it doesn’t feature all that much action, which is something that may put off some folks, but it really exudes a kind of sterile quality that goes really well with the milieu of the military laboratory, where the action of the movie is set, and this is something that sets it apart from other old-school sci-fis out there. All in all, I truly appreciate how much it oozes with a sense of some kind of foreboding mystery coming from the outer space and I genuinely cherish its unique atmosphere, but I wouldn’t go so far as to call it one of my all-time favorites, as it also happens to be kind of on the slow side, which blunts the final impact to some degree.
Aspen (1991) (Doc) - Director: Frederick Wiseman - 7/10.
The Omega Man (1971) - Director: Boris Sagal - 7/10 - An odd combination of blaxploitation, vampire (kind of) as well as postapo genres that happens to work a lot better than one could expect from such a ridiculous outing. That is not to say that it is anything particularly grand or astute or that it has anything all that interesting to offer, however, one thing you definitely cannot say about it is that it is tedious to watch. With all that being said, there is no escaping the fact that the whole effort is kind of goofy. For one, the idea of luddites being draped in Victorian clothes doesn’t make much sense and looks kind of cheesy when you really think about it; likewise, I find the fact that there are no animals roving around such an expansive, desolate city quite dubious and unrealistic. Notwithstanding, once you set reason and logic aside, the flick kicks some serious ass and turns out to be exceedingly enjoyable regardless of its intrinsic ineptitude. In other words, don’t overthink it, just sit back and enjoy the ride. If you want to view more of a more brooding, pensive kind of a postapocalyptic adventure though, you’ll be better off tracking down something else instead of this charming, yet pretty asinine venture.
C.H.U.D. (1984) - Director: Douglas Cheek - 7/10 - A very gratifying, grungy sci-fi picture with terrific practical special effects, some genuinely good performances and an engaging story to boot. While the movie does suffer from a slightly out-of-focus, frenetic narration, this characteristic actually comes to enhance the overall flavor of the whole offering in the sense that it acquires a somewhat feverish quality, which is further intensified by some fairly gruesome and legitimately impressive practical special effects; the creatures coming from the depths of the sewage system are truly scary and oddly enough, quite “real”, which only goes on to show how excellent well executed practical special effects can look even in comparison with today’s cutting-edge CGI technology. The sinister atmosphere the flick is brimming over with is further reinforced by film’s splendid electronic score and very nice performances given by John Heard and Daniel Stern among others. It might not be one of the most illustrious sci-fi pics of all time, however, it succeeds in overcoming some of its flaws thanks to its scuzzy aesthetics, enjoyable soundtrack and action-packed second half.
The Terminal Man (1974) - Director: Mike Hodges - 6/10 - It’s probably one of the slowest sci-fi outings I’ve ever seen. The dilatory pacing, brooding dialogues as well as its quaint script endow it with a distinctly arthouse feel. While the work definitely has a quite distinctive visual identity readily apparent in multiple shots, I cannot say I took as much pleasure in it as I would’ve liked to. However, one component that makes it extremely enjoyable regardless of the inner workings of the plot is the extraordinary performance by George Segal; he plays his part with remarkable subtlety and elegance, which is very important and necessary for such an ambivalent as well as demanding role. With regard to the languorous pace, I have to say that despite some of my reservations regarding the overall rendition, The Terminal Man kept my attention throughout its entire duration and I never really found it boring even if I failed to connect with it on any meaningful level. I wouldn’t categorize it as one of the most significant sci-fi pictures of all time, but it’s definitely worth a look or two as a curiosity.
Aspen Extreme (1993) - Director: Patrick Hasburgh - 4/10 - Although the film touches upon certain social phenomena such as societal disparity and the issue of upward mobility apart from succumbing to predictably consumerist fantasies, it ultimately doesn’t stray away from the sports formula all that much and ultimately plunges into mediocrity. It’s true that it doesn’t glorify the vision of tourist resorts like certain sports movies tend to do and that it attempts to diversify the bigger picture with some darker subplots, however, most of this unfortunately gets bogged down by the lazy portrayal of time passage as well as the flaccid composition. I guess there might’ve been a better motion picture buried somewhere in the script or the general concept, but none of it unfortunately ever got really fleshed out, eventually getting obfuscated by its internally amorphous structure. Things come and go, but consecutive events do not seem to build up to their logical conclusions and consequently, the whole tale is strung together in the way you’d expect from a TV commercial, expect all of it is pieced together in a more cinematic fashion. One thing it definitely doesn’t fail at is its skiing footage, that’s the definite highlight of the movie and one of the primary reasons to track this thing down, I mean duh.
Night Angel (1990) - Director: Dominique Othenin-Girard - 4/10 - I really don’t know what to write about this one, it’s got to be one of the most extreme cases of B-grade filmmaking in the sense that everything therein is so preposterously over-the-top it’s even hard for me to determine whether I liked it or not. In theory, it should be regarded as just a regular piece of trash, but the extent to which this trashiness is amplified here makes it kind of unique and bewildering in its own right. You don’t get just your standard batch of inane characters and awkward interactions, there is a certain kind of hyperbolic attitude about the way all cliches are overblown beyond any reasonable measure. Hence, the plot isn’t just sleazy and trashy, it’s super-duper sleazy and super-duper trashy with characters sucking on bottles in a suggestively pseudo-sensual fashion and males exhibiting their harebrained mentality in a hysterically exaggerated manner and so on; the bromidic goofball character isn’t just stupid, he is super-duper stupid and this aggrandized quality applies pretty much to every other aspect of the movie. Furthermore, the whole venture is ridiculously overstylized with all sorts of colors and hues thrown at the screen and with everything shrouded in the artificial mist and the likes. Likewise, the film is overlit insofar as you can sometimes see the source of lighting just staring you in the face. All in all, the motion picture is overly trashy, overly sleazy, overly goofy, overstylized and literally overlit. While I found this ubiquity of cinematic lunacy somewhat absorbing, there is no disguising the fact that this singularly sleazy and gory phatasmagoria also happens to be quite exhausting, I mean what the heck was this shit.
Streetwise (1984) (Doc) - Director: Martin Bell - 6/10.
