INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS

1956 (Black & White)

1988 (Colourised)

DIRECTOR: Don Siegel

It’s been about 20 years since I saw this as a teenager for the first time. Then, I thought it was okay but obviously I wasn’t that taken with it as 20 years in long time between viewings. I opted for the black and white original version this time, which was presented in 1.66:1 widescreen, though I believe that the original SuperScope prints were 2.00:1. This is now, a well-worn story of a man fighting to prove that everyone else in his small Californian town has been replaced by an alien plant, which is capable of replicating any human it comes into contact with.

The alien’s goal, is to replace the entire population, but the upside is that the people’s consciousness of whom it replaces, will be transferred to the replicant. The downside is that emotions are not and though everyone is happy with their new existence, they are all emotionless drones, all equal and productive. Or, a thinly veiled 1950′s view of Communists if I’m not mistaken!

The metaphor is great, subtly played at first in best Science Fiction tradition but let out to play in the final act. The story follows a local doctor, Miles Bennel, played well by Kevin McCarthy, who upon discovering this, is left to try to escape with his childhood sweetheart, Dana Wynter. Both are fighting a losing battle to escape the both malevolent and benevolent force, but as the two are now very much in love, the prospect of losing their emotional attachment is unbearable. They are also faced with another primal problem, as their consciousness can only be transferred to the pods when they fall asleep, so in a tradition maintained by A Nightmare On Elm Street, 30 years later, they cannot fall asleep or all will be lost.

I understand that since its original exhibition, the wraparound story and the supposed “Happy Ending” were attached to fend off the negative reviews from the audience. I didn’t mind the tag on ending, as even though it might have ended better with what was clearly the original, with McCarthy ranting on a freeway, trying to explain the world’s plight like a raving loony, the new ending was far from happy.

My main issue with this film and the reason for the low rating is that it bored me. I liked what was there, the plotting, direction and metaphors but they were all held together by an episodic plot and some very slow pacing. It just didn’t take me as other films from the era such as, The Incredible Shrinking Man, This Island Earth or the brilliant Forbidden Planet.

I then had a flick through the Colourised version, which was adapted in 1988, I presume for a video release as the print is a poor Pan and Scan version, possibly without the scan! The running time is five minutes longer but the Colourisation process is rubbish. I also see NO point is this, certainly as the print is cropped.

Overall, this is clearly a classic but in my opinion, not as justified as others such as the afore-mentioned The Incredible Shrinking Man, which does not enjoy as much notoriety but delivers equal, if not a superior metaphorical messages. It appears that The Invasion Of The Body Snatchers struck the right political chord in its day which clearly, didn’t do it any harm.

THE BIRDS

1963

DIRECTOR: Alfred Hitchcock

1960 saw the release of Psycho, Hitchcock’s signature work, but Psycho is not the only film that people think of when talking about his work. The Birds, made three years later, has a warm place in film fans hearts and a much larger fan base than people seem to think.

I know more people who dislike Psycho compared to those who like The Birds and I feel that this is most defiantly Alfred Hitchcock at his best. Rear Window and Vertigo are also up there but this film offers the right blend of shocks and a disturbing sense of dread, that makes it accessible by many, whilst still being fun to watch.

The birds have turned. Nature is taking her wrath upon man for a brief moment, but the sheer scale of the idea that nature could turn on us is a primally frightening concept. I do feel that this was the vain in which M. Night Shyamalan’s dismal The Happening was attempting to tap into decades later, but Hitchcock got this right first time, for all time.

The effects are dated but their impact is still strong, as the ideas are so pronounced that there’s little need to show anything. The acting  is decent and the direction, though not as perfect as many would argue for Hitch, still doing the job well. This is a timeless and more accessible Hitchcock classic than Psycho, yet often dismissed and I wonder why?

Both films are clear genre pieces and are still being drawn from today. This is a textbook thriller with a natural twist and a dire tone. But the image of the crow massing on telegraph poles is a simple as it it frighting, just because it happens every day…

BAD BOYS II

2003

DIRECTOR: Michael Bay

Contains Spoilers!

“What ya gonna do… this time?”

Whilst the first outing of the Bad Boys shocked me by how good it actually was, this one left me a little disappointed. I was hardly expecting an Oscar winning deal here, as this was always going to be a Michael Bay adrenalin rush, but for a film with a two and a half hour running time, the adrenalin came in too short a bursts.

Bad Boys was Bay’s first film and was but a taster of his over the top film making, which first arrives in The Rock a year afterwards, but this made eight years later was obviously going to take this to the next level, if not several levels further than that. But to me, it didn’t. Granted, the action was thrilling, outrageous and very enjoyable, but the character development was barely visible. They bicker, Lawrence moaned a lot and Smith was cool and likable but there was just a shell of what there should have been. The entire story, including what’s left of their character dynamics are only present to set up the next great action sequence.

Then, the was the taste issue. The crux of the plot as it developed was that the drug dealing villains where using corpses to smuggle drugs, and this was used to “Comic Effect” in two major set-pieces. Though in the first, a car chase, it was black comedy as bodies came thick and fast from the back of a van to be run over by the pursuing cars, the second was pushing the boundaries in a to a more disturbing area.

A criticism levied at Michael Bay by British critic Mark Kermode has been that he is a filmmaker with “pornographic sensibilities”. Not just in the literal sense, but in the way that he views everything from cars, women and explosions for example. But this was no more clearly re-enforced than in a scene about 90 minutes in, when our two ‘bad boys’ are searching a morgue and after pulling back the sheets on fat white guys, they reveal a large breasted young woman, who is refer to as “The Bimbo” if my memory serves. It’s worrying because I don’t know whether this was being played for laughs or was supposed to be a titillating shot of a well endowed woman? Is it right to show a dead woman, who looks to have been strangled to death and referred to a bimbo in a mainstream 15 certificated movie?

I don’t want to sound like a prude but the tone of this and pretty much every scene with the bodies being used, seemed to be in plain Bad, BAD taste and though this humour can play well in the right genre of movie, this just simply wasn’t the film to do it in, in my opinion. But, that criticism aside, my main issues are the pacing. It was just too hollow to sustain its running time and my mind was beginning to wander from time to time between the spectacular action and the few moments of decent comedy.

It just didn’t have the magic of the 90′s actioner, a genre which had faded considerably by the early 2000′s, and without offering anything new besides improved action, which was worth the ticket or DVD price in its own right, or even retaining the original character of the original, this was a sequel failed to hold its own.

THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR

2008

DIRECTOR: Rob Cohen

NOT A PART OF MY COLLECTION

Will we be adding this to our collection? NO

May Contain Spoilers!

The third of The Mummy franchise, helmed so far by Steven Sommers, has now changed hands and the directorial duties have now fallen to action director, Rob Cohen. The difference was noticeable, as Cohen’s, the man behind such films as Daylight, xXx and The Fast And The Furious, tone was slightly harsher than Sommer’s effects heavy work. Also the recasting of Rachel’s Weisz’s lead, Evelyn with Maria Bello was jarring. Bello did a great job of taking her accent off, but clearly, she didn’t make the best effort to embody the character and the hole left by Weisz was emphasised greatly. I presume that she declined to reprise her role, as Rachel’s career has grown in integrity, rather than series regular’s Brendon Fraser and John Hannah’s, who clearly have not.

That’s not to say that I dislike Fraser, quite the opposite but lighthearted meathead roles suit him down to ground and he was a pleasure to watch but entertainment is the limit of his range. I was impressed with the casting of Luke Ford though, as Alex O’Connell, Fraser and Bello’s screen son. His striking resemblance to the younger version who starred in the Mummy Returns was uncanny to the point that I just HAD to confirm that it wasn’t the same lad!

The film was certainly watchable, but was lighter on plot than the previous two, relying on effect heavy-set pieces to take us through the motions of this Boys-own adventure, but there was little meat to this. Not to suggest that Summer’s was much better… The opening exposition as to who the Dragon Emperor was, was long and boring, with what seemed like an eternity of back story and narration being laid out before us.

There were some good ideas here and it wasn’t bad but it wasn’t particularly good either, offering no real justification as to why we needed a THIRD installment, and with Cohen’s tone being slightly less playful than his predecessor, it was hard to take this a seriously as Cohen seemed to want us too. This was disposable but far from unwatchable and this did in some ways impress me, simply by being much better than I expecting… Bit that is saying much though…

But again, no more please…

BAD BOYS

1995

DIRECTOR: Michael Bay

“What ya gonna do…”

What a surprise, a pleasant one mind, this film was. Michael Bay’s first feature and collaboration with the late Don Simpson and the very much alive Jerry Bruckheimer, I’ve never really been interested in this franchise. But in the effort to complete the Bay cannon, Bad Boys and Bad Boys II are hot on my watch list.

This was funny, sharp and reasonably action packed, a real 90′s blockbuster. This was, by today’s standards, ‘Michael Bay light’, or toned down, with much less action than today, but what was there, was classic, with ridiculous explosions, slow motion and magic hour all day!

Very enjoyable, with good performances all round, even from Martin Lawrence who I’m not fan of. Looking forward to Bay Boys II and have yet to find a Michael Bay film which I actively dislike.

HOT TUB TIME MACHINE

2010

DIRECTOR: Steve Pink

Gross ain’t the word for this high concept time travel caper, starring John Cusack. Three middle-aged men and Cusack’s nerdy nephew, are pining for the good old days when there lives still had hope and end up in the eponymous hot tub. Sent back to the 1986 in their younger bodies, they are told by the mysterious Chevy Chase, not to change their behaviour and do as they did in past until they can travel back to the present.

This lasts for about 15 minutes then the gloves are off. They go through motions of male bonding, learning more about themselves and having sex, but all in all this fails to live up to the film’s brilliant title. I must admit that I laughed throughout but I felt that I was laughing at it rather that with it as I was just grossed out more than amused.

I didn’t really like the characters, though I don’t hate them either. There was very little going on here, apart from some savvy references to other time travel films and the 1980′s. I think that it wanted to be geek-sheik but ends up being a mish-mash of ideas, jokes and concepts and though it may amuse and gross you out in equal measure, there’s not too much left to take home with you afterwards. A missed opportunity if ever there was one.