My ultimate prognosis: “Eh.” Or perhaps that should be, “Why?”
Of course, we know why – money. Even with a few great Hollywood movies lately (Star Trek, for example), money as motivation still clouds the handling of some of the better fanchises – including this one. Sadly, good acting, fair direction, and slick effects couldn’t save this movie – I left feeling like this should have been a TV special, IF THAT, and only in a universe where The Sarah Connor Chronicles hadn’t raised the bar so high. I recommend Terminator fans spend your money on the DVDs of that sadly canceled show, rather than suffer the disappointment you’ll feel at the end of this movie. It is a serviceable Sci-Fi action movie, and will please general action/big robot fans, but fans of this specific franchise can spend their money better elsewhere. See this when it’s on cable.
There may be mild SPOILERS below, so read at your own risk if you care about such things.
I was just thinking about how great this movie is the other day (minus homophobic slurs). I was just now looking for something in Ben Templesmith’s blog archives when I came across this there:
I especially <3 the rap integrating movie dialog into the rhyme scheme
I recently saw two adaptations of Stephen King books by two classic horror directors, and had very different reactions to them: Tobe Hooper’s ‘Salem’s Lot, and John Carpenter’s Christine. I haven’t read either book in more than a decade. The post about ‘Salem’s Lot ran long, so I split them; it is the last post. This post is about Christine.
My reaction to Christine was nearly the opposite to that of ‘Salem’s Lot; if anything, its 110 minutes could have been expanded to 3 hours. The acting was on the whole engaging and believable, the cinematography and pacing even, the script solid. The film followed the novel well, hitting all the major plot points. I did get the feeling that all good adaptations give me, where occasionally they have to skip over time a little too quick and I want to know what happened in the jump. Overall, John Carpenter is great at creating an atmosphere of normal teenage life infiltrated by some relentless obsessed horror, as was on display in Halloween. Like that film, Carpenter’s score is vital – I’d buy a cd of his compositions, but it would give me nightmares.
I especially found the friendship between the two male leads touching and effective. At first I questioned why Dennis (played by John Stockwell) would be friend with Arnie (played by Keith Gordon) due to their different high school social strata. After a few key scenes it seemed to make sense though, and I still remember how there were those people who would reinforce social groups in some settings and transgress them in others at my high school. Dennis and Arnie’s scenes in Dennis’ car feel like real friendship, and at times even an honest exploration of how boys can be made uncomfortable with their own affection for each other. Other important keys to their friendship are the scenes with Dennis’ other friends; they are classic “knuckleheads”, and pressure him in ways Arnie never would. The scene with Arnie making fun of a girl who is flirting with and obviously annoying Dennis is key too.
Overall, this film is scary less of the time than ‘Salem’s Lot, but engaging throughout – scared and interested is always better than scared and waiting for something to happen for an hour.
I recently saw two adaptations of Stephen King books by two classic horror directors, and had very different reactions to them: Tobe Hooper’s ‘Salem’s Lot, and John Carpenter’s Christine. I haven’t read either book in more than a decade. This post ran long, so Christine is the next post.
Tobe Hooper (he directed the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre) adapted ‘Salem’s Lot into a TV mini-series in 1979 (the year I was born!) Consequently, it’s 3 hours long, and it shows conceits of the 70’s in tone, length, style and wardrobe. The plot is engaging, but the acting is spotty; there are scenes where an actor just spits out an awkward or downright ridiculous line at a moment that should be sexy, or dramatic, or terrifying. That said, David Soul (Hutch!) is consistently good.
There are points where I was genuinely terrified, but by an hour and a half in, I was fooling around on the internet while watching (something I almost never do). I think Tobe Hooper can be a great director, and his careful attention to sound is on display here in some very important parts. Generally, though, I wonder if he was unhappy with the script or not given enough time to make the thing right; there are takes that should have been done again. When some real action finally came in hour 2, the show picked up considerably, but until then the plot dragged. Tobe Hooper seems to excel in a shorter format – the original Chainsaw Massacre is only 83 minutes, but lasts much longer in one’s imagination, in a good way. If you watch this version of ‘Salem’s Lot, keep an eye out for the pleasingly-over-the-top vampire makeup and the bizarre freeze frames.
I saw I’m Not There today at the Film Forum, and I do not hesitate to say that it is one of the cinematic events of our time. It’s all the things that a great film, great song, and all great art, should be: poetic, beautiful, historical, mythic, a journey, chaotic, instructive, and reflective of both past and very current concerns and cultural dialog. I don’t even think you have to know or care about Dylan to enjoy and appreciate it. I’ve always liked Todd Haynes for his ideas and for the cinematic conventions he both loves and defies. All the glimmers and occasional bright bursts of promise in his earlier work are completely realized here.
The only thing that stuck out as remotely wrong were one or two lines delivered falsely, but these were immediately forgotten; any great, far-reaching piece of art must consume vast resources to reach its goal, which is bound to show in a spot or two. On second thought, in a movie so much about persona and acting and identity, those one or two lines may not even by flaws.
