The Thing (John Carpenter, 1982)

Directed by John Carpenter

Written by Burt Lancaster

Starring Kurt Russell

Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert once described the summer of 1982 as the "summer of Steven Spielberg," and with good reason too. Spielberg produced (and according to some others, also directed) the Tobe Hooper horror film Poltergeist, and then later released the alien film E.T, which became the highest grossing movie of all time during its initial release.

However, there was a film that had an alien in it and also incorporated themes of horror in it, and that was John Carpenter's The Thing. This film centered around an alien that could take the shape of an actual human being, thus causing paranoia among a group. The film was overshadowed by the two Spielberg films at the box office. However, perhaps the box office performance was inevitable, once a person factors in the facts.

(1) The Thing was rated R, E.T was rated PG and therefore had secured the children market.
(2) Spielberg was a much bigger star than Carpenter, although I'd rather watch Halloween (1978) and Escape From New York (1981) over Jaws (1975) and Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) myself.
(3) Perhaps somewhat restating point 1, Carpenter's film was less optimistic and family-friendly, thus having less appeal.

The Thing was the second Carpenter film I saw, after Halloween. Much like the critics, I too thought the movie was nothing more than a special effects showcase. My Carpenter-fan buddies kept telling me to just to keep re-watching it, but even that didn't seem to work. Recently, I got to see this film on the big screen at the Aero theater in Santa Monica. Seeing this film on the big screen finally made me appreciate it for the masterpiece that it is.

Kurt Russell and a group are in an arctic area, where a parasite alien appears. The Alien can take the form of any of the humans. Thus the humans all become distrusting of each other and must find out...who is The Thing?

The strength of the movie is Carpenter's direction. Its impossible to guess which human is secretly the Thing, thus Carpenter keeps us in suspense in this sci-fi horror masterpiece.

Starman (1984)

Starman (1984) - *** (A Must-See)

Directed by John Carpenter
Written by Bruce A. Evans & Raynold Gideon
Starring Jeff Bridges & Karen Allen

Whenever I mention John Carpenter to people, those who are even aware of who he is talk about how he is a horror director. While there is no denying that Carpenter's filmography has a strong amount of horror films in there, he has also some fine action films (Escape From New York & Big Trouble in Little China) and Sci-Fi films (The Thing, Memoirs of an Invisible Man) that should elevate him to a higher status then being just a horror director. This 1984 Oscar-nominated movie Starman is another strong testament that Carpenter could direct outside of the horror genre.

An extra-terrestrial crashes into the house of a woman, played by Karen Allen. The alien then precedes to take the form of her deceased husband (Jeff Bridges) and asks her to help him return to his homeland. During their quest the two embark on a romance, something that you don't really see in a Carpenter film.

Sure, reading the plot you see a lot of similarities to Spielberg's E.T (1982), but Starman is kind of  a more grown-up version of that story. And as I've always been just lukewarm to Spielberg's films, I'd take Starman over E.T any day of the week.

Batman Forever (Joel Schumacher, 1995)

Batman Forever (1995) - * (Has Redeeming Facet)

Directed by Joel Schumacher

Written by Akiva Goldsman

Starring Val Kilmer, Nicole Kidman, Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey, & Chris O'Donnell.

After Steven Spielberg's Jaws (1975) opened the doors for summer blockbusters to take over the box-office, one of the earliest summer blockbusters was Richard Donner bringing the comic book character Superman to life in Superman: The Movie (1978). After four Superman movies, the franchise had run out of steam with critics and audiences. Distributing company Warner then chose to bring DC's other major superhero to life - and that became Tim Burton's Batman (1989).

The sequel to Burton's 1989 film, Batman Returns, was deemed too dark for kids and thus Warner made sure its third film would be made for a broader audience. Batman 3, released as Batman Forever, captured Warner's dream of being a huge financial success. That is until the next Batman film drowned at the box office and made the franchise lay doormat for eight years (why is it always the 4th entry that is the killer here?)

So where does Batman Forever rank up in terms of artistic merit? My favourite critic, Jonathan Rosenbaum, said that  he couldn't even tell the difference between the McDonald's advertisement for the film and the actual movie itself. Considering the movie opens up to Batman telling his butler that he'll get drive-through to eat, it's easy to agree with Rosenbaum here.

Batman Forever has Val Kilmer stepping in the shoes of the Dark Knight, who brings the same prestige that Michael Keaton brought to the role. Nicole Kidman is the femme-fatale of the film, who is surprisingly one of the highlights of the film. I initially expected her to be nothing but a James Bond-esque woman who is only on the film for eye-candy. But her role as the psychiatrist opens the doors to the first villain of the film...Two-Face. Portrayed by Tommy Lee Jones, Two-Face is a insane split personality criminal out to get Batman.

When I think of multiple personalities in film, I tend to think of Norman Bates in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960). If you seen the film, you know why...and if you haven't, you better rent that film as soon as possible and give it a watch. Two-Face only role is to play an emulation of Jack Nicholson's role in Tim Burton's Batman (1989), and falls short of having any conflicting traits. The other villain, The Riddler (Jim Carrey), aspires to become the smartest man by draining people's minds via TVs. The Riddler is perhaps the more believable villain with a better goal, after all, TV does rot your brains. But even The Riddler is only brought to life by a Jim Carrey performance that emulates every other Jim Carrey performance of that era.

Batman Forever also brought Robin to the big screen, who wants to aid Batman after Two-Face kills his parents. Batman however is against Robin wanting to get revenge on Two-Face, as he believes that "killing wont take the pain away" and that revenge was not the answer. The social commentary would be the redeeming facet of the film, but even that one is defeated by the fact that Batman ends up killing Two-Face himself. I wonder if perhaps it was Batman himself who suffered from multiple personality disorder?

Personally, I would like to see a Batman Forever re-cut. My re-cut would include turning the film into black and white (thus getting rid of the neon colours), removing Two-Face/Robin, and reinserting the scene where Batman has an amnesia and remembers why he became Batman. Sure, the result may be wacky, but I'd still want to watch it.

Psycho II (Richard Franklin, 1983)

"Psycho II features a boy and a girl who sneak into the basement of the Bates house to get busy. The boy lights a joint and proceeds to not smoke it. Wait, why light it in the first place, then? Oh right...because they're in an '80s horror movie. In fact, that's the only reason those two characters exist at all. They're not REAL characters...no one in the audience cares if they have actual LIVES. They enter the movie less than five minutes before their deaths, for the sole purpose of taking a toke, fooling around, and getting murdered.

Shit like this is the reason I refuse to place Psycho II anyway near the original. A film which was better off with no sequels even more so than Halloween. After dumping Halloween in the wake of H3's perceived underperformance, Universal tried to turn Psycho into a slasher franchise. And fuck them very much for doing so. I don't like any of the Psycho sequels very much, but Psycho IV is at least somewhat better than it's misbegotten predecessors."
- A man, who much like me, watches way too many films.

I haven't seen Richard Franklin's 1983 sequel in eight years, and although I remember liking it, the reason I posted here is the rant about characters. So many garbage horror films I seen where the characters are just there to die, lame.

Memoirs of an Invisible Man (John Carpenter, 1992)

Although John Carpenter's 1978 horror film Halloween was rightfully loved by critics and forever changed the horror genre, most of Carpenter's films were initially met with negative reviews and were box office failures. Even 1982's The Thing, his other major film, was roasted to box office failure by critics and moviegoers. However, I differ from this view. Memoirs of an Invisible Man, much like the title implies, is a film in where literally invisible man (portrayed by Chevy Chase) giving memoirs of his life.  

Growing up, I always wanted the idea of being able to turn invisible. The ability to do anything and get away with it because no one can see us was a dream that I'd love to embrace. However, Carpenter here shows the dark-side of invisibility. Imagine walking through the streets not being able to talk to anything or even do anything with an external object without a few eyebrows being raced.

Perhaps being Invisible is a stand-in for Carpenter himself. Here you have a man who was a jack of all trades (directed, wrote, scored, etc. his own films) and was a master of all. This man is my all time favourite director and not once have I ever seen him or any of his films on a best of all time list. Well, on my list, Carpenter will always be ranked #1 in the list of greatest film-makers.

On the Waterfront & The Godfather

                                                             (Elia Kazan, 1954)

The movie that forever changed acting, and the story of a bum who decided to stand up to his brother and snitch him out. On the Waterfront from my experience has always been compared to The Godfather.  This is no surprise, as both films are considered two of the best films ever, won the Oscar for Best Picture, and are both of Brando's Oscar Winning performances (although Brando rejected to accept his second Oscar). However, upon my viewing of Kazan's classic today, I have found that the film is better off compared to The Godfather Part II.

(Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)

Coppola's sequel lacks Brando, and therefore the comparison factors fall short.  However, this sequel also somewhat serves as an anti-thesis for On the Waterfront. Both films have a storyline with an element of a brother snitching on another brother. The interesting aspect of this is that On the Waterfront is told from the perspective of the snitch, and The Godfather Part II follows the perspective of the corrupt brother.

Despite these films are highly acclaimed (a status they deserve), they are not my favourite in each directors catalog. I prefer East of Eden in Kazan's catalog and prefer Apocalypse Now & One From the Heart over The Godfathers.

The Aviator (Martin Scorsese, 2004)

With costume designs that perfectly manage to capture the time era and a performance from DiCaprio that brings the OCD, obsessive personality of Howard Hughes to the big screen makes Scorsese's almost three hour biopic one of the best films in his catalog.

I'm curious to why this film isn't mentioned among Scorsese's best. DiCaprio and Scorsese have made four movies together, which besides this film are (1) Gangs of New York (2002), (2) The Departed (2006), and (3) Shutter Island (2010). I saw Gangs of New York at a young age and highly enjoyed it, however my tastes have evolved highly since then and I'd have to give it a re-watch before I can give it a final verdict. Number #2 and #3 I have no desire to watch again. The Departed just came across as "another Scorsese gangster film" and "another Jack Nicholson being Jack Nicholson performance." The critics and Oscars ate the film up, however to me it seemed more out of sympathy. The same type of sympathy that are awarded Al Pacino a best actor award for Scent of a Woman instead of The Godfather Part II and Dog Day Afternoon. Shutter Island's dark and eerie atmosphere is defeated by the cliche and predictable ending that was taken out of the 1920 Robert Wiene masterpiece The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

I stand by the opinion that The Aviator is not only the best of the Scorsese/DiCaprio films, but also one of Scorsese's best films. A must-see!