RETRO REVIEW: “Escape from New York” (1981)

March 1, 2023 by Keith Garlington

For years now John Carpenter’s 1981 sci-fi action classic “Escape from New York” has tickled me by being set in the “near-future dystopia of 1997”. Here we are in 2023 and it’s still amusing to look back on movies that were looking forward towards the future. But in a lot of cases, a closer examination of the movies and their inspirations gives you a better sense of where they are coming from. For example, “Escape from New York” was written in 1976 and had its roots in the nation’s cynicism following the Nixon Watergate scandal. In other words, these films often had more on their minds than just genre treatment.

At the time, Kurt Russell was best known for his roles in Disney comedies such as “The Strongest Man in the World”, “Charlie and the Angel”, and “The Barefoot Executive”. To try and break from that mold he starred in the made-for-television movie “The Deadly Tower” and Robert Zemeckis’ black comedy “Used Cars”. But it was “Escape from New York” that did it for him. The very next year he reteamed with Carpenter in “The Thing”. The next year it was “Silkwood”. The next year it was “Swing Shift”. The next year it was “The Mean Season”. And the next year it was “Big Trouble in Little China”. Kurt Russell was on his way.

While the film’s backers wanted Charles Bronson to play the iconic anti-hero role of Snake Plissken, Carpenter insisted on Russell who put in a lot of effort to get into the character. As for the location, shooting in East St. Louis proved cheaper than New York City. Transforming a New York neighborhood into the run-down, decaying urban wasteland the film required was too pricey for the minuscule budget. So they shot a big portion in East St. Louis which had entire blocks of dilapidated buildings left vacant after a huge fire years earlier. Other memorable scenes were shot at St. Louis’ Union Station and on Liberty Island.

Carpenter co-wrote the story with Nick Castle who’s known best as playing Michael Myers in the original “Halloween” film. The movie is set in 1997, nearly ten years into a devastating war between the United States and the allied Chinese and Soviets. As a result, the nation’s economy has plummeted and crime has risen 400% which has led the US government to convert the ravaged Manhattan Island into the country’s lone maximum security prison. A 50-foot wall is built around the island, bridges are sealed off and mined, and heavily armed helicopters patrol the surrounding waters.

While flying to a crucial peace summit in Hartford, Connecticut, Air Force One is hijacked by a domestic terrorist/guerrilla fighter (played by another “Halloween” alum, Nancy Stephens). Unable to take back control of the plane, Secret Service agents rush President John Harker (Donald Pleasence – yep, another “Halloween” fixture) to an escape pod and jettison it over Manhattan just as the plane crashes to the ground. Police Commissioner Bob Hauk (the ever great Lee Van Cleef ) dispatches a rescue team to retrieve the President, but they learn he’s been abducted by a powerful gang leader named Duke (Isaac Hayes).

With his team forced to withdraw, Hauk calls on the growling, eye-patched Snake Plissken, a decorated former Special Forces soldier recently convicted of robbing the Federal Reserve. Snake has been sentenced to a life term on Manhattan Island, but Hauk offers him a deal. Sneak in, rescue the President, and bring him out alive within 24 hours and he’ll be given a full pardon. Without much choice, Snake reluctantly accepts.

The bulk of the story takes place within the ruins of Manhattan as Snake encounters an assortment of threats including the deranged and starving “crazies” and of course Duke and his violent gang of miscreants. But he also finds some unexpected allies played by a fun assortment of names. There’s a cheery taxi driver fittingly called “Cabbie” played by Ernest Borgnine. And a wormy old acquaintance named “Brain” played by Harry Dean Stanton along with his main squeeze Maggie who’s played by Adrienne Barbeau.

While rewatching “Escape from New York” I was reminded that, despite it’s reputation, it’s not the all-out action movie that you might think. It’s a genre exercise no doubt, and it still has a certain B-movie grindhouse appeal. But this tried-and-true favorite is more than a buffet of blood and bullets. And it has the restraint and focus to avoid being tagged as trashy exploitation. Instead, Carpenter created something that I’m sure even he didn’t expect. From Kurt Russell immortalizing the lead character to the comic books, action figures, and board games that followed, “Escape from New York” still excites its fans and has earned its status as a time-tested cult classic.

VERDICT – 4 STARS

REVIEW: “The Quiet Girl” (2022)

February 28, 2023 by Keith Garlington

Let me just say, “The Quiet Girl” crushed me. Based on a 2010 Claire Keegan novella called “Foster”, this tender, absorbing feature debut from Colm Bairéad follows a young girl named Cáit who experiences a warm, stable, and loving home for the first time in her life. It’s a simple premise. But with the precision and patience of a seasoned filmmaker, writer-director Bairéad shows remarkable restraint, allowing his story the room to unfold organically while trusting his instincts and his audience. The results are sublime.

As its title may hint, “The Quiet Girl” basks in the richness and simplicity of movie quietude. Everything including the beautifully understated performances, the deftly written screenplay, and the compelling visual language shows how a movie can relay an extraordinary amount of information and emotion by simply turning down the volume and observing. It’s not as easy as it sounds, but Bairéad’s shrewd control of the storytelling (both narratively and visually) keeps us locked in and communicates everything we need to know about his characters and their circumstances.

Nine-year-old Cáit (Catherine Clinch in her remarkably delicate and earnest debut) is practically invisible to her neglectful family which includes her sad and melancholy mother Marie (Kate Nic Chonaonaigh) who’s pregnant with yet another child, her cold and detached father Dan (Michael Patric) who blows money gambling rather than investing in their struggling farm, and her three rowdy sisters who overlook her both at home and at school. It’s far from a joy-filled life which is why Cáit prefers hiding in the tall grassy fields, alone with her thoughts rather than being around those who are supposed to be closest to her.

Cáit is surprised when she’s unceremoniously sent to stay with some relatives for the summer while her mother prepares for their new baby. The childless couple, Eibhlín (Carrie Crowley) and Seán (Andrew Bennett), have a much more even-tempered and ordered life. It’s a far cry from the cold and prickly ‘home’ Cáit is used to. The kindhearted and motherly Eibhlín seems especially happy to have Cáit around while Sean seems more uncertain (our first hint at the couple’s backstory which fully surfaces later and adds a touching emotional layer).

Though shy and trepidatious at first, Cáit slowly begins to warm up to her new surroundings, not used to such stability and compassion. Over time she even begins to thaw Sean’s icy exterior. Bairéad spends a big chunk of the film building these new relationships and showing us both the beauty and the power of human kindness. His unhurried and uncomplicated storytelling allow the characters to open up at their own speeds. And as they inevitably draw closer, we can’t help but be moved thanks to how honestly Bairéad depicts everything we see.

But “The Quiet Girl” is also a film about finding the courage to communicate. And that’s a theme not just designated for the young title character. Eibhlín and Sean (we learn) have their own suppressed feelings they keep bottled up deep inside, unwilling to share them with Cáit or each other. But again, its acts of kindness, here more often shown rather than spoken, that nurture a sense of letting go and moving on.

Cinematographer Kate McCullough is crucial, especially in a film that leans so heavily on our observation. As sumptuous as they are revealing, her images are shot in Academy aspect ratio (which is suddenly popular again, especially on the indie circuit) and help express what the characters can’t bring themselves to say. Also, McCullough frames and shoots Eibhlín and Sean’s rural farm in a way that helps us (much like Cáit) feel at home, with her camera often returning to their long beautiful driveway shaded with tall overhanging trees, their small but cozy 80s-era kitchen, their tranquil path to a nearby slurry, etc. And her images are often bound together by the gentle chords of Stephen Rennicks’s score – minimal, but exactly what the film needs.

Some might be tempted to call it slow or even slight. But doing so dismisses so much of what makes “The Quiet Girl” special. First-timer Colm Bairéad clearly understands there is poetry in silence and his film embraces it to the fullest, building towards what’s arguably the most affecting final shot I’ve seen this year or in recent years. It’s such a perfect punctuation mark for a movie that doesn’t need pages upon pages of dialogue or cranked up melodrama to convey emotion and truth.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS

New on Home Video: “Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody” on BLU-RAY and DIGITAL

February 27, 2023 by Keith Garlington

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced the release of “Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody” on Blu-Ray and Digital. This handsome new home video release lets fans visit and revisit the story of one of America’s greatest singers, chronicling the ups and downs of this once-in-a-lifetime talent. From singing in her church choir to singing live in front of millions of people around the world, Whitney Houston was both inspiring and tragic. “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” brings her story to life with honesty and respect.

This new Blu-ray and Digital edition of “Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody” hit shelves February 28, 2023. See below for a full synopsis and breakdown of the bonus features.

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS:

Year: 2022

Rating: PG-13

Runtime: 144 minutes

Director: Kasi Lemmons

Starring: Naomi Ackie, Stanley Tucci, Ashton Sanders, Tamara Tunie, Nafessa Williams, and Clarke Peters

“Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody” is a powerful and triumphant celebration of the incomparable Whitney Houston. Directed by Kasi Lemmons, written by Academy Award® nominee Anthony McCarten (Best Adapted Screenplay, “The Two Popes”, 2019), produced by legendary music executive Clive Davis and starring BAFTA Award® winner Naomi Ackie, the film is a no-holds-barred portrait of the complex and multifaceted woman behind The Voice. From New Jersey choir girl to one of the best-selling and most awarded recording artists of all time, audiences are taken on an inspirational, poignant—and so emotional—journey through Houston’s trailblazing life and career, with show-stopping performances and a soundtrack of the icon’s most beloved hits as you’ve never heard them before. Don’t you wanna dance?

BONUS FEATURES:

BLU-RAY and DIGITAL

Whitney’s Jukebox
Deleted Scenes
Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes:
- Moments of an Icon
- Becoming Whitney
- The Personal Touch
1080p High Definition / 2.39:1 | Audio English, Spanish 5.1 DTS-HD MA, French (Doublé au Québec) | English & French (Doublé au Québec) – Audio Description Track 5.1 Dolby Digital

DVD

Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes:
- Moments of an Icon
- Becoming Whitney
- The Personal Touch
2.39:1 Anamorphic Widescreen | Audio English, French (Doublé au Québec), Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital | English & French (Doublé au Québec) – Audio Description Track Dolby Surround

REVIEW: “War” (2019)

February 27, 2023 by Keith Garlington

The third installment in the now expanding TRF Spy Universe is the aptly titled “War”, a brawny Bollywood blockbuster that rivals any big-budget tentpole movie Hollywood puts out today. It’s a bit like “Mission: Impossible” meets “Fast and Furious” but with its own special sauce that fans of Indian action cinema will immediately recognize. It makes for a movie that’s exhilarating from start to finish and one with enough pizzazz to keep its audience glued to every eye-popping frame.

“War” is directed with style and verve by Siddharth Anand who more recently has directed the universe’s fourth film, 2023’s “Pathaan”. In “War”, Anand went BIG with his action scenes and clearly spared no expense. Taking place in stunningly shot locations all around the world, his set pieces are second to none and include a wild shootout in Tikrit, a killer pursuit across the rooftops of Marrakesh, a jaw-dropping motorcycle chase through Lisbon (that must be seen to be believed), and a sports car showdown in the Arctic Circle.

Adding to film’s list of strengths are the terrific lead performances from its two leads, Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff. Both have leading man charisma as well as the gritty physicality their roles demands. But they also have the ability and the smarts to dial their performances down whenever a scene needs them to. Ultimately it adds a level of believability to their characters, even in the instances when the delightfully over-the-top action sticks them in some pretty wild and crazy situations.

The story moves at a propulsive pace and is full of twists and unexpected turns. Shroff plays Captain Khalid Rahmani, a RAW agent desperate to regain his family’s honor after his disgraced father betrayed his country and was killed as a result. Khalid was trained by one of RAW’s best agents, Major Kabir Dhaliwal (Roshan). Kabir was hesitant to take Khalid into his special unit, because of his father’s bad name. But Khalid proves himself in the field and earns Kabir’s trust. Kabir agrees to train Khalid, and the two develop a friendship.

But when Kabir suddenly assassinates a high ranking RAW official, it’s left to a shocked and hurt Khalid to hunt down and eliminate his former mentor. But that proves to be easier said than down as Kabir always seems to be one step ahead of Khalid and his team (much like the movie is with its audience). Every time we feel we have a grasp of where things are going, Anand throws us a curveball. Admittedly, a couple of the twists are utterly preposterous. But they’re also wildly entertaining.

While its story (written by a team of four that includes Anand) earns its spy thriller stripes, there’s so much more that makes “War” click. I mentioned Roshan and Shroff who are in perfect tune with their characters and each other. And again, there’s the incredible vistas that are exquisitely shot by DP Benjamin Jasper. There’s also the remarkable fight sequences put together by South Korean martial arts choreographer Se-yeong Oh. The extraordinary production design, the (mostly) incredible digital effects, the energetic but not overbearing score – all key ingredients that Anand uses to the fullest.

“War” is a thrilling ride built on a big vision and even bigger ambition. There’s not a dull moment to be found in the film’s hefty 154-minute runtime, and it does a great job leaving its audience hungry for more. As for its standing in the growing TRF Spy Universe, it’s hard to tell right now. A sequel to “War” is said to be in the works, and its connection to “Tiger 3”, the fifth film in the universe due out later this year, remains to be seen. But even on its own, “War” delivers everything action fans will want, plus some. “War” is available on VOD and streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

VERDICT – 4.5 STARS

REVIEW: “Cocaine Bear” (2023)

February 24, 2023 by Keith Garlington

It’s hard to go into a movie called “Cocaine Bear” without having at least some sense of what you’re getting into. And if you’ve caught even a glimpse of the trailer, it’s even clearer what director Elizabeth Banks and her attractive cast of friends are going for. But no amount of self-awareness can make this schlocky, gore-filled dark comedy as fun as it desperately wants to be. Not even close.

“Cocaine Bear” is a movie that begs to be judged by the “it knows exactly what it is” standard. Sure it has its moments, and Banks tosses out all the rules. But it works so hard at being wild and irreverent that it seems to forget everything else. Stuff like good characters, a remotely interesting story, genuine humor, or even the slightest reason to care about anything we’re seeing. “Just go with it” is sure to be a common response, and I’m happy for those who are able to do it. But I needed more out of Jimmy Warden’s threadbare script.

It’s true that “Cocaine Bear” is open and unapologetic about its intentions (again, just look at its title). And if you stretch it far enough you might get lucky and find an actual theme. But for the most part, whenever the movie departs from its undeniably goofy and entertaining central conceit, the cracks start to show. In other words, whenever the film’s blitzed CGI American black bear isn’t gnawing off human limbs or slicing open abdomens, the movie crumbles.

The story is very loosely based on true events. In December of 1985, former narcotics officer turned drug smuggler Andrew Carter Thornton II (played briefly in the film by Matthew Rhys) was transporting cocaine from Columbia in a Cessna 404. Feeling his plane was overloaded, Thornton began dumping packages of coke and eventually jumped out himself. But his parachute malfunctioned and he fell to his death near Knoxville, Tennessee. Three months later a dead black bear was found in the Chattahoochee National Forest, surrounded by opened packages of blow. It has been nicknamed the Cocaine Bear and is currently on display at the Kentucky for Kentucky Fun Mall in Lexington.

All of that (except the part about the bear dying) takes place within the first two minutes of the movie. From there it’s all make-believe as the coke-craving bear slashes, maims, and mauls a gaggle of bland, disposable characters as it looks for its next fix. And that’s the film’s bread and butter. The problem is, we don’t get much of that at all. I only remember three noteworthy scenes of delightfully over-the-top bear savagery.

That means most of our time is spent stuck with the patently uninteresting and remarkably unfunny human characters. Paper-thin story aside, no one we meet are given an inch of depth and there’s barely a human trait to be found. It’s hard to even refer to them as sketches considering how shallow and fruitless they all are (and I do mean ALL of them). There are some really good names wasted here – Keri Russell, Alden Ehrenreich, Margo Martindale, O’Shea Jackson Jr, Ray Liotta (in his final role). They’re all trapped inside a movie that spends more time aping other ideas that building on its one original one.

Russell plays a mother looking for her daughter (Brooklynn Prince) and her young friend (Christian Convery). Ehrenreich and Jackson Jr play smugglers sent by a drug kingpin named Syd (Liotta) to find and retrieve the cocaine. Martindale plays a forest Ranger while Jesse Tyler Ferguson plays an animal rights activist. Isiah Whitlock Jr plays a police detective trying to bring down Syd’s organization. Through their own simplistic and convenient reasons, all find themselves in the Chattahoochee National Forest with the eponymous bear running wild. And that’s the story. All of it. Seriously.

The bar for “Cocaine Bear” was pretty low meaning this should have been a slam dunk. It could have really went wild with the B-movie schlock. It could have worked great as a Hollywood satire. As it is, everything hinges on the one big joke, and that would be fine except Banks doesn’t do nearly enough with it. That leaves us in the company of a dull and witless collection of human characters, none of whom register as interesting or (more importantly in this case) funny. Their low-rung, force-fed attempts at humor land with a deafening thud. Yet another thing that left me thinking of the many ways that this could have gone better. But hey, at least it “knows exactly what it is”. “Cocaine Bear” is now showing in theaters.

VERDICT – 1.5 STARS

REVIEW: “Jesus Revolution” (2023)

February 24, 2023 by Keith Garlington

(CLICK HERE to read my full review in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)

In recent years there’s been a noticeable maturation of “faith-based” movies. It’s been visible in both the quality of the filmmaking and the depth of storytelling. Not only are their characters becoming more rooted in the real world, but they’re demonstrating a more lived-in faith. And filmmakers are finding that they can still convey their faith-centered messages without pounding their pulpit or speaking to their audience in platitudes. Obviously these welcomed shifts don’t guarantee great movies. But they do help these films to be seen and judged by a more equal standard.

The latest example is “Jesus Revolution” from co-directors Jon Erwin and Brent McCorkle. Based on Greg Laurie and Ellen Vaughn’s book of the same name, the movie tells of the Jesus Movement and its growth in Southern California during the early 1970s. The Jesus Movement was a Christian counterculture revolution that emerged in the late 1960s and exploded across the country in the early 1970s. Born out of the burgeoning hippie sub-culture, the movement wasn’t just restricted to disillusioned flower children. Young people from around the country left their traditional church settings and joined fellow “Jesus Freaks” in the many communes along the West Coast.

Some within the Christian ranks have celebrated the Jesus Movement as the last great “spiritual awakening”. Many have praised its use the culture to draw young people; how its anti-establishment roots helped redefine church services; and how it gave birth to today’s lucrative contemporary Christian music industry. Critics saw it as more of a cultural movement than a biblical one. And they noted its emphasis on signs and experience over doctrine and theology. There’s certainly no doubting which side the movie lands on.

“Jesus Revolution” is taken from megachurch pastor and producer Greg Laurie’s early experiences as a member of the Jesus Movement. It’s a well made, well directed, and well acted mixture of biographical, coming of age, and faith-based elements. The “based on a true revolution” story (written by Erwin and Jon Gunn) covers a lot of ground and does so by focusing on three key characters: Greg Laurie (played by Joel Courtney), Chuck Smith (Kelsey Grammer), and Lonnie Frisbee (Jonathan Roumie).

The film opens in 1968, a time when you couldn’t turn on your radio or television without hearing about the growing peace-and-love hippie movement bursting out of San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district and across Southern California. It’s here that we meet a young Greg Laurie who lives in Newport Beach with his hard-drinking and hard-living mother (Kimberly Williams-Paisley). Greg gets a good taste of hippie culture after meeting and falling for a spirited and beautiful girl named Cathe (a terrific Anna Grace Barlow).

Meanwhile, Pastor Chuck Smith has watched his Costa Mesa church’s numbers dwindle down to a faithful few. His first inclination is to blame the culture, specifically the shaggy-haired, barefoot, drugged-out hippies who are all over the news. But when Chuck meets a traveling hippie street-preacher named Lonnie Frisbee, he’s immediately captivated by what he hears. He invites Lonnie and some of his Jesus-loving friends to his church. Of course it initially upsets Chuck’s congregation who the movie paints as a bunch of old starched and stuffy squares. But soon the church is drawing hippie youth from all around, including Greg and Cathe.

The movie’s blinding affection for the Jesus Movement ultimately shapes how it’s portrayed. The filmmakers don’t offer any real critique and there’s certainly not much interest in a biblical assessment. It even comes through in their treatment of the real-life characters, most notably Lonnie Frisbee. He was undoubtedly a central figure in the Jesus Movement but also a complicated one. The movie touches on some of his later missteps but dodges the more controversial parts of his life.

But despite its obvious lean, “Jesus Revolution” still makes for an diverting look at a more recent slice of America’s spiritual and cultural history. The impressive production value, costume design, and needle-drops create a vibrant and authentic late 60s and early 70s atmosphere (although I did chuckle at a character in 1968 singing along with a song that actually came out in 1970). And there are moments that inspire, both spiritually and socially. There’s a good chance it’ll speak to those whose faith needs recharged or to those who simply need a reminder that people from different camps can come together in meaningful ways. Now there’s a message that we certainly need today. “Jesus Revolution” is out now in theaters.