Only now does it occur to me... ENEMY MINE

Only now does it occur to me...  that ENEMY MINE is one of the great, largely unsung 1980s science fiction flicks.

Let me give you the rundown– as a kind of brilliant combination of ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS and THE DEFIANT ONES, ENEMY MINE has got all the requirements for solid 80s sci-fi:

#1.  Critters.


Courtesy of the creature shop of FX legend Chris Walas (GREMLINS, THE FLY, DRAGONSLAYER, ARACHNOPHOBIA, SCANNERS).  Pictured above is a kind of Sarlaac-y thing that nearly devours Dennis Quaid, but Walas' finest work is on the Draconians, the lead alien species in the film

(demonstrated here by the always fantastic Lou Gossett, Jr.), whose pulsating nodules and detailed reptilian skin is a testament to the genius of practical effects and the patience of actors.

Also, as more Draconians appear throughout the film, I realized that the species was obviously a trial run for Walas' work on the Mugwumps six years later in David Cronenberg's NAKED LUNCH:



#2.  Heart.

Though marketed to a younger, thrill-seeking demographic, ENEMY MINE is a thoughtful rumination on a number of subjects, including racial and religious tolerance, the rigidity of gender roles, war profiteering, and institutionalized hate.  Like Peterson's prior THE NEVERENDING STORY– which trumpeted the power of imagination in a period of rank consumerism– ENEMY MINE has a big heart, and it's in the right place, too.  I was about to ask why this film isn't more widely known, and I think I just answered my own question.

#3. Dennis Quaid with a beard.

Like Kurt Russell, he's one of the rare actors who fits his beard like a glove.  Which just gave me the wild thought that this could have easily worked as a Kurt Russell vehicle with Keith David as the Draconian.

#4.  Brion James.

 'Cause it's just not a sci-fi actioner without him.  Playing a savage slaver/bandit kingpin, he's directly responsible for more than 90% of the crazy-eye in ENEMY MINE.


 James menaces Dennis Quaid.

Above, he's even 'replicating' (pun intended, I suppose) the pose and delivery of the famous "Wake up, time to die" scene in BLADE RUNNER:

James menaces Harrison Ford.

And though this film is more intellectual than the usual mainstream genre fare, it still manages to embrace the subtle joys of, say, Brion James dangling a child from a cyberpunky catwalk above a stream of lava, or whatever.

Also, Brion James probably should have been in TERMINATOR 2.

 Anyway, I suppose my point is this:  come for the social commentary, stay for the Brion James.

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Junta Juleil's EVERLASTING VINTAGE at Flux Fest!

My latest film (in association with RKP Productions), THE EVERLASTING VINTAGE, will debut on July 28th at Flux Fest, a festival featuring ten short films about time travel.

THE EVERLASTING VINTAGE's synopsis is as follows:  "A champagne aficionado stumbles upon a mysterious gateway to the past."  It stars Joe Stipek and Michael Porsche, features original music and artwork by Jesse Carlson, costumes and art direction by Rachel Klein, taxidermy and other design by Daisy Tainton, and was written, directed, and edited by Sean Gill.

When:  July 28, 2013  /  Doors at 6:00 P.M.  /  Screening at 8:00 P.M.

Where:   Sandbox Studio Brooklyn, 154 Morgan Avenue in Brooklyn (Off the Morgan Ave. L stop, or the Flushing Ave. M stop).

What:  Flux Fest!

How:  Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door, include a six hour open bar, and are available here!

From the press release:

"Flux Fest challenges a group of young filmmakers to produce high-quality short films about time-travel. JOIN US JULY 28th!

With only eight weeks to take their projects from concept to completion, each team works tirelessly for the duration of the challenge to make the best short film possible, all culminating in a one-of-kind night of movie-watching and celebration.

From Spooky Fest (in which filmmakers were commissioned to make horror shorts in time for Halloween 2012) to Love Fest (romantic-comedy shorts for Valentine’s Day 2013) festival attendance grew by more than three-times and Flux Fest promises to expand upon its predominantly Brooklyn-based audience even further. Just as the number of participating filmmakers and exhibited films offered has grown, so too has the following of this impressive community of filmmakers who work to support eachother in spite of the fact that they will eventually compete against one another for a variety of awards, including an Audience Choice Award, an award for Best in Show, and an award for Creative Ambition. Both Best in Show and Creative Ambition honorees will be chosen by a distinguished panel of judges.

By purchasing a ticket to Flux Fest, audience members will also receive a six hour open bar and the chance to enjoy a variety of live entertainment acts throughout the night.

Flux Fest participants include: Maurice Caicedo, Chris Cipriano, Grier Dill, James Gannon, Joe Gannon, Ryan Garretson, Brett Glass, Sean Gill, Tessa Greenberg, Philip Henken, Cale Hughes, Christine Kecher, Lit Kilpatrick, Rachel Klein, Carl Conway Maguire, Alex Meyers, Robyn Nielsen, Shaun Seneviratne, Megan Stein, Michael Tosner, Jarrod Zayas, and many more."

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Only now does it occur to me... NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD '90

Only now does it occur to me...  that this is one of the best credit titles that ever was!

That's right:  the 1990 NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD remake was co-executive produced by zombie legend Romero and post-Globus Cannon films impresario Menahem Golan.  Brilliant!

As for the film, it's a mediocre but watchable Tom Savini-helmed retread of the original that contains a few nice flourishes (and a near-Shakespearean performance by Tony Todd of CANDYMAN fame), but in the end is the kind of disposable 80s horror that's best suited for the background of a party.

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Only now does it occur to me... SCREAM 3

Only now does it occur to me...  the seven faces I did not expect to see in SCREAM 3.  And, no, I will not be referencing the Jay and Silent Bob cameo appearance, because that would be just silly.  As for the film itself, it's fairly enjoyable– at it's best it feels like WES CRAVEN'S NEW NIGHTMARE, and at it's worst, well, it feels like SCREAM 3.  Anyway, on to those unexpected faces:

#1.  Legendary producer/schlockmeister Roger Corman as one of the producers on the fictitious film-within-a-film, STAB 3.

#2. Lance Henriksen as "John Milton," another one of STAB 3's producers.

You wish he had more screen time, but he still gives a touch of weight and a lot of "evil eye" to what is basically a throwaway role.  I think he's supposed to be the bizarro, low budget James Cameron or something, because there's a poor man's TERMINATOR-style robot in his office (Lance also appeared in THE TERMINATOR, ALIENS, and PIRANHA II).

#3.  Patrick Warburton– aka Elaine's on-again-off-again boyfriend "Puddy" from SEINFELD.  

He plays a short-lived bodyguard who is, basically... Puddy.

#4.  Heather Matarazzo, aka Dawn Wiener from WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE.

Definitely one of those actresses whose first high-profile role was so raw and real that she will forever be identified (at least with me) as that character.  She has a fun, bit part as a former flame of the Jamie Kennedy character from SCREAM and SCREAM 2.

#5.  A Whit Stillman lead.  (Matt Keeslar, from THE LAST DAYS OF DISCO.)

Longtime readers of this site know that I'm a Whit Stillman fanatic, and there's such a tremendous specificity to the scripts and casts of Stillman films that it's extremely strange to see the actors in different contexts, especially when said context is the third installment of a self-referencing turn-of-the-century madcap slasher series.  Anyway.

#6.  Parker Posey.  

One of the patron saints of 90s American indie film, it's always a pleasure to see Parker Posey.  Even in the worst of films, she brings a manic, bitchy, metropolitan energy to her roles which surely brings a smile to the lips of even the most hardened and cynical of filmgoers.

Her presence here– as the onscreen alter-ego of Courtney Cox in the fictitious STAB 3– goes a long way to making SCREAM 3 an extremely watchable movie.  Without her, it wouldn't have half the charm.

#7.  Carrie Fisher.

She makes a rare appearance (now with a more pronounced Kathleen Turner/Lauren Bacall-esque smoky vocal intonation) as a woman working in the bowels of the studio archive who happens to look a lot like Princess Leia– only she lost the part to "the one who slept with George Lucas."  Well played, and truly unexpected!

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Only now does it occur to me... CANNERY ROW

Only now does it occur to me...  that if you've been wondering all this time what a Nick Nolte Indiana Jones would have looked like (Nolte notably passed on the roles of Han Solo in STAR WARS and Jones in RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK), then you need look no further than this freeze frame from the John Steinbeck adaptation, CANNERY ROW:

As for the film itself, despite nice turns from Nolte, Debra Winger, and M. Emmett Walsh, it fails to capture the ever-amusing humanism of the novel (and its sequel SWEET THURSDAY) ...and is fairly unwatchable.

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Only now does it occur to me... SCREAM 2

Only now does it occur to me...  okay, four quick things.

#1.  During an incredibly self-reflexive (and occasionally eye-rolling) Kevin Williamson-penned scene about horror movie sequels, HOUSE II: THE SECOND STORY actually gets mentioned as a sequel that improved on the original.  This is followed by a series of well-deserved groans.  


 
As an aficionado of the HOUSE franchise (though not specifically the second installment) this still makes me pretty happy.

#2.  Apparently the briefly-glimpsed scenes of "STAB"– the fictitious film-within-a-film which adapts the events from the first SCREAM– were guest-directed by Robert Rodriguez, who was working concurrently on THE FACULTY, another Williamson-written horror flick.

 Heather Graham is standing in for Drew Barrymore, and it looks like Rodriguez had some fun with a couple of Hitchock homages.  In all, not too spectacular, but just the sort of footnote-worthy curiosity this column's all about.

#3.  David Warner! 

Genre legend and Junta Juleil Hall-O–Famer David Warner (THE OMEN, WAXWORK, BODY BAGS, IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS, TALES FROM THE CRYPT, TWIN PEAKS, MY BEST FRIEND IS A VAMPIRE, TRON, TIME BANDITS) shows up for one brief scene as Neve Campbell's college drama professor, whose productions look something like this:

He doesn't have much screen time, but it's definitely a welcome surprise.

#4.  The soundtrack from BROKEN ARROW.

This is a real head-scratcher.  Off and on, throughout the entire duration of SCREAM 2, excerpts from Hans Zimmer's soundtrack to BROKEN ARROW can be heard.  And the movie already has a soundtrack, composed by two-time Oscar nominee Marco Beltrami!  Now, I've probably seen BROKEN ARROW way more than the average moviegoer, but it's a fairly distinctive soundtrack and as such, when the action theme is playing, I'm imagining John Travolta laughing maniacally and Christian Slater running around willy-nilly, but instead I'm looking at Ghostface stalking a victim.  When the love theme plays, I'm visualizing the Slater Factor making out with Samantha Mathis, but then I'm seeing Courtney Cox and David Arquette on the screen in front of me.  The whole thing is pretty discombobulating.  Was Wes Craven a big John Woo fan?  Did Miramax accidentally buy the rights to the soundtrack and then insist that it be used?  Is it fodder for some kind of composer's rivalry between Zimmer and Beltrami?  It's jarring to me in 2013 as a bona fide BROKEN ARROW fan, but back in '97 a whole hell of a lot of people would have just seen BROKEN ARROW, which came out the year previous, thus increasing it's chances of being recognized.  Regardless: it's strange.

Anyway, SCREAM 2 is a pretty fun slasher that doesn't take itself too seriously– it's not as good as the original, but I was sort of surprised at how well it held up, some sixteen years later.

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Only now does it occur to me... THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN

Only now does it occur to me...  that if William Castle had ever directed a James Bond film, it definitely should have been THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN.

What would the gimmick have been?  Flying skeletons?  A full-on working fun house in the lobby?  13 GHOSTS-style Scare-o-manga-vision?   A free novelty rubber nipple with admission? (Christopher Lee's character Scaramanga has a notable extra nipple.) Something to do with a gang midgets at the theater?

Of course, with the latter, I'm alluding to the irrepressible Hervé Villechaize (FANTASY ISLAND, FORBIDDEN ZONE), whose measured performance as "Nick Nack" reaches levels of subtlety previously reached in a Bond movie only by Bruce Glover in DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER.  I'm going to choose to believe that the incongruous beauty of a little person in a Bond flick is what sparked the imagination of the makers of FOR Y'UR HEIGHT ONLY, the first of many glorious Weng Weng Agent 00 movies from the 1980s.

As far as Bond flicks from the Moore era go, this is one of– if not the– best.  I have some fond memories from childhood of seeing this on TV, and though that may color my opinion, it's got a taut storyline, a great villain in Christopher Lee's titular assassin,

those great "Dark Carnival" sets on Lee's private island, a solid 70s Bond girl in Britt Ekland (best known for THE WICKER MAN and being Peter Sellers' wife)

and it even has Bond doing an embarrassing  loop-de-loop bridge jump like something out of a DUKES OF HAZZARD episode or a Burt Reynolds movie, complete with a slide whistle sound effect.  Whew!

[Also, despite the fine opening song collaboration between John Barry and Lulu, I can't help but think Alice Cooper's unused title track would have been a nicer (and more rockin') fit.  That is all.]

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