Rest in Peace, Neil Simon

Neil Simon (1927-2018)

THE NAKED AND THE DEAD: User-Friendly Norman Mailer

Starring Aldo Ray, Cliff Robertson, Raymond Massey, William Campbell, Barbra Nichols, Richard Jaeckel, James Best, Joey Bishop, Robert Gist, L.Q. Jones, Lili St. Cyr, Jerry Paris. Directed by Raoul Walsh. (1958/131 min). 

AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY FROM 
WARNER ARCHIVE COLLECTION

Review by Mr. Paws😸

I once took an American Lit class from a professor with a serious man-crush on Norman Mailer. We were subjected to several of his novels, including The Naked and the Dead, which was inspired by the author's own experiences in World War II. While I admittedly harbored a bit of resentment from being forced to read a 700 page novel during the first goddamn week - in addition to the workload of my other classes - I didn't share my professor's enthusiasm. Personally, I found Mailer's prose ponderous and pretentious. Worse yet, with no Cliff's Notes available, I had to power through the thing by sheer will and lots of caffeine.

Had I known it was adapted into a movie back in 1958, I might have been tempted to bluff my way through class discussions and my subsequent analytical essay. But I would've likely been rewarded with an F because the film jettisons most of the novel's heavier themes - stuff that lit professors love - in favor of focusing on its basic story and the main characters. Perhaps because film is a completely different medium - not-to-mention I wasn't forced to watch it for a grade - I found The Naked and the Dead to be very engaging, one of the better World War II action epics of the era. It's also the last good movie from director Raoul Walsh, certainly an improvement over his previous war effort, the sudsy, jingoistic Battle Cry.

Aldo Ray in time-out.

After a woefully shaky start - some pointless flashbacks and a gratuitous opening scene in a strip club - the basic story focuses primarily on the Army's attempt to take a Japanese-occupied island. Commanding the operation is General Cummings (Raymond Massey), who believes fear and hatred of his superiority motivates the men. It's a philosophy not shared his aide, Lt. Hearn (Cliff Robertson), whose overt empathy for the soldiers prompts Cummings to put him in command of a dangerous recon mission out of sheer spite. The platoon Hearns is assigned to is usually commanded by Sgt. Croft (Aldo Ray), a career soldier known for his ruthlessness and cruelty. Needless to say, Croft resents being forced to take orders from an inexperienced officer.

The unfolding relationship between these three is fascinating and the film does a masterful job revealing their true natures. Cummings turns out to be a vindictive megalomaniac, more than willing to sacrifice others to satisfy his own ego. Hearns is selfless and compassionate, the only one who seems mindful of war's human attrition. But it's Croft who proves the most compelling. At first, he simply comes across as coldly effective at his job. He may not be loved, but his actions get results. As the narrative unfolds, however, Croft is not only violent, but hatefully sadistic with no qualms about killing, enemy or otherwise. The dichotomy between Croft & Hearns is remarkably similar to that of Barnes & Elias in Oliver Stone's Platoon.

The last hour is gripping and emotionally intense, with a final act that probably had my professor fuming indignantly, but very satisfying from a cinematic standpoint. A winning music score by the great Bernard Herrmann - which is oddly reminiscent of his sci-fi scores - wonderfully enhances the tension.The Naked and the Dead may not help you pass your American Lit class, but it's user-friendly and a terrific (anti?)war film worth rediscovering, especially on this great-looking Blu-ray.

EXTRA KIBBLES

TRAILER

KITTY CONSENSUS:

PURR-R-R...LIKE A GREAT SCRATCH BEHIND THE EARS

SKYSCRAPER on Digital 9/25 and 4K Ultra HD, 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray & DVD 10/9

VISIT THE OFFICIAL SITE

Courage has no limits in the heroic action-packed film Skyscraper, arriving on Digital and via the digital movie app MOVIES ANYWHERE on September 25, 2018, and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand on October 9, 2018. The global blockbuster from Legendary Pictures and Universal Pictures is a non-stop, emotionally visceral thrill ride following Dwayne Johnson’s (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Fate of the Furious,“Ballers”) character as a real-world hero who will stop at nothing while trying to save his family from a deadly blaze. With over 30 minutes of never-before-seen bonus content – including deleted scenes and exclusive bonus clips, Skyscraper is a jaw-dropping, heart-pounding, palm-sweating, visually stunning film that keeps viewers on the edge of their seat from start to finish.

Fueled with adrenaline and high impact verticality, Skyscraper is led by superstar Dwayne Johnson who plays former FBI Hostage Team leader, U.S. war veteran and amputee Will Sawyer. While on assignment in Hong Kong as an assessor for security in skyscrapers, he comes to find the tallest and safest building in the world suddenly ablaze, and he has been framed for it. Wanted and on the run, Will must find those responsible, clear his name and save his family who is trapped inside the building… above the fire line. Hailed as “thoroughly irresistible” (Justin Chang, LA Times), Skyscraper is written and directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber (Central Intelligence, We’re the Millers) and produced by Beau Flynn (Rampage, San Andreas), Hiram Garcia (Rampage, Jumanji, San Andreas) and Johnson. The action-packed film also stars Neve Campbell (Netflix’s “House of Cards,” Scream franchise), Chin Han (The Dark Knight), Roland Møller (Land of Mine), Pablo Schreiber (Starz’s “American Gods,” 13 Hours) and Hannah Quinlivan (Moon River).

NEVER SO FEW: Steve McQueen Goes to Cool School

Starring Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford, Steve McQueen, Richard Johnson, Paul Henreid, Dean Jones, Charles Bronson, Philip Ahn, Brian Donlevy, Robert Bray, Kipp Hamilton, George Takei, James Hong. Directed by John Sturges. (1959/124 min).

AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY FROM

WARNER ARCHIVE COLLECTION

Review by Mr. Paws😺

Steve McQueen is the coolest guy who ever lived. It's been scientifically proven and anyone arguing otherwise is probably a Flat-Earther, too. Ever since Mom & Dad brought took me to see Le Mans eons ago, McQueen has been one of my heroes. Whenever one of his old movies showed up on TV or a new one arrived in theaters, I'd be there. While I acknowledge he didn't really have a ton of range, McQueen was always the coolest guy on the screen...and he knew it, which somehow made him even cooler.

But not even Steve McQueen was born cool. He had to learn it somewhere, and I'm certain one of his mentors was director John Sturges. If The Magnificent Seven and The Great Escape is where McQueen graduated to being the King of Cool, then the first film he and Sturges did together, Never So Few, might be considered his training ground.

Frank Sinatra is actually the film's star, playing Tom Reynolds, a maverick captain who commands a eclectic troop of OSS soldiers and Burmese natives during World War II, fighting the Japanese by attacking their outposts. In between raids, he woos a wealthy trader's high society girlfriend, Carla (Gina Lollobrigida). Sinatra's charming and Gina is gorgeous, of course, but their love story is pedestrian and slows the story to a crawl.

To his consternation, Frank realizes he is out-cooled.

However, whenever Reynolds is with his team in the jungle, Never So Few is unpredictable, exciting and often pretty intense (Reynolds shoots one of his own mortally-wounded men because they have no doctor or morphine). Surrounding him is a great cast, including Charles Bronson as a tough-as-nails fighter (of course), Peter Lawford as a reluctantly-recruited doctor, Richard Johnson as Tom's closest friend and a young Dean Jones playing way against type.

But even though he's essentially a peripheral character, McQueen steals every scene he's in. Never So Few isn't his first film, but it is where he's just beginning to hone the persona that would be his bread & butter for the rest of his life. As newly-recruited Corporal Bill Ringa - who Reynolds admires for his brashness - we can catch early glimpses of the devil-may-care "Cooler King," the earnestness of Vin Tanner and even some of Frank Bullitt's unflappability.

So God bless John Sturges for helping Steve McQueen learn how to be Steve McQueen. He's easily the best part of Never So Few and even Sturges knew it at the time, which is probably why they worked together two-and-a-half more times (the 'half' being 1971's Le Mans, which Sturges eventually quit). The movie itself pales in comparison to Sturges' best work, but as a harbinger of things to come, it's quite fascinating.

EXTRA KIBBLES

TRAILER

KITTY CONSENSUS:

NOT BAD. A MUST FOR McQUEEN FANS 

Ever Heard of CRAZY SIX?

Starring Rob Lowe, Burt Reynolds, Ice-T, Mario Van Peebles, Thom Matthews, Ivana Millicevic, Blanka Kleinova. Directed by Albert Pyun. (1997/94 min).

AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY FROM

MVD MARQUEE COLLECTION

Review by Tiger the Terrible😼

Perhaps you're like me...checking out this cast and asking yourself, "How come I've never heard of this movie?" After all, it's two decades old, and while none of these guys were ever mistaken for Daniel Day Lewis, they've all made their fare share of entertaining, low-ball action flicks. Well, maybe not Rob Lowe, who's never been the star of anything worth seeing twice.

Still, the idea of gathering these straight-to-video heroes for some gratuitous gunplay sounds like time well-spent on the sofa, even if the titular character is played by Lowe.

But only twenty-minutes in, it was clear why I had never heard of Crazy Six.

In an unnamed Eastern European country where crime runs rampant, Crazy Six is a crack addict hired by gangster Dirty Leo (Mario Van Peebles) to steal cash and plutonium (!) from rival Raul (Ice-T). But Leo is actually setting him up take the fall when the job goes south. While trying to recover what he rightfully stole, Six becomes infatuated with sultry lounge singer (and recovering junkie) Anna (Ivana Milicevic). Cynical American lawman Dakota (Burt Reynolds), who once busted Anna, eventually gets involved, cowboy hat and all.

Ice-T phones it in.

Sounds like the makings of a decent - if unoriginal - action thriller. Instead, the plot and motives of its villains are murky at best. After the initial robbery, the action slows down to a crawl...almost literally. Prolific cult director Albert Pyun goes way overboard with slow-motion and montages set to pulsating industrial music, trying in vain to pad-out his flimsy story by creating an illusion of urgency.

We spend a majority of the time with Crazy Six and Anna. In between breathlessly - and endlessly - crooning techno-ballads onstage, she falls inexplicably in love with this guy, who looks like a vagrant that wouldn't even be allowed to enter the neon nightclub where she sings. Lowe may to be trying to shed his pretty-boy image here, but his idea of intense and gritty consists of scowling behind a porn star mustache and moving like he pooped his pants.

Since this was made just before Boogie Nights briefly resurrected his career, one can assume Reynolds took the role because he needed the work (or simply fancied a trip to Europe). Still, he's enjoyable in a role that seems tailor-made for him. Despite being prominently featured on the cover, Ice-T hardly shows up at all and does little more than glare (I doubt if he has ten total lines of dialogue). Van Peebles comes of worst, decked-out like a pimp and continually lugging around a trembling chihuahua while unintelligibly mumbling his lines with a godawful French accent (in Van Peebles' defense, I'm sure none of this was his idea).

The whole thing comes to an abrupt and underwhelming conclusion. A shame, really. With a cast like this, Crazy Six should have been 90 minutes of mindless fun. While there's mindlessness in abundance, the fun is conspicuously missing, even for fans of any of these actors. Dull and forgettable, the film has earned its anonymity.

KITTY CONSENSUS:

MEH.

Ryan Reynolds Gets a Diaper Change in New DEADPOOL 2 Video

THE DEADPOOL 2 SUPER DUPER $@%!#& CUT
ARRIVES ON 4K UHD AND BLU-RAY 8/21

THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS 25th Anniversary Edition on Digital and Blu-ray Sept. 2

Tim Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” the stop-motion animated musical-fantasy following Pumpkin King Jack Skellington’s misguided mission to make Yuletide his own, was hailed as a macabre masterpiece when it debuted in 1993 and holds a 95% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Twenty-five years later, fans can relive the merry misadventure—and sing or shriek along in brand-new sing-along mode—with the 25^th Anniversary Edition of “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” Viewers can get their spook on instantly via Digital, Movies Anywhere and on Blu-ray Sept. 2.

The new edition audiences to experience “The Nightmare Before Christmas” two different ways: the original, full-length film, in which the holidays collide with chaotic and comical consequences, and all-new sing-along mode, which includes pop-up lyrics to 11 unforgettable songs like “What’s This” and “This Is Halloween.” The Multi-Screen Edition of “The Nightmare Before Christmas” includes a Blu-ray and Digital Code giving viewers the flexibility to watch the film on different devices.

BLAST (1997): Die Hard at the YMCA

Starring Linden Ashby, Andrew Divoff, Kimberly Warren, Rutger Hauer, Tim Thomerson, Yuki Okumoto, Jill Pierce, Sonya Eddy. Directed by Albert Pyun. (1997/105 min). 

AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY FROM 
MVD MARQUEE COLLECTION

Review by Tiger the Terrible😼

Unbelievably, Blast is a Die Hard knock-off.

That itself is nothing new, of course. We've been subjected to "Die Hard on a..." ever since the Holy Grail of action movies was released back in 1988. You know the drill: A heavily-armed group of elite terrorists/mercenaries, led by an arrogant, cold-blooded mastermind (either a rogue terrorist or disgruntled employee), lay siege upon a skyscraper/bus/plane/train/ship/stadium/government building. Unless their demands are met, they'll kill their hostages/launch a nuke/destroy a city. But they didn't count on ONE MAN...usually a disgraced or troubled cop/soldier/agent/ex-Navy Seal, who single-handedly takes on the bad guys to save his wife/kids/buddy/country/beloved housepet.

Here's the unbelievable part: Despite the Die Hard-inspired cover, the terrorists in Blast take over a swimming complex, the hostages are a team of five whiny teenagers and the ONE MAN is the facility's janitor.

Okay, okay...it does take place during the Olympics, but Jack (Linden Ashby) really is just a janitor, whose job consists of gathering towels from the locker room. He has the obligatory troubled past, of course. Jack once won a Bronze medal in gymnastics before an injury and hard living ruined his life. That's his entire background. Yet in an effort to save his estranged wife (Diane Colton, as the team's coach), Jack squares-off against this heavily-armed crew with the skills of supersoldier.

"I found who peed in the pool."

But I suppose if we can swallow a rotund Steven Seagal as a stealthy Navy Seal, maybe even brooding janitors deserve a shot at glory. However, the setting for Blast is as dull as it sounds. A swimming complex, no matter how many concrete hallways and basements it has, is just not all that cinematic, especially since none of the low-wattage action even requires a pool. Not helping matters is a hero with the personality of a vanilla cone and cookie-cutter villains who give no indication they're very formidable. Even the great Rutger Hauer is wasted as Leo, an anti-terrorism expert. He spends most of the movie in a dimly-lit room, barking orders while seated behind a control panel.

Unfortunately, Blast seldom sinks to the level of unintentionally funny (well, at least until the climax). The film is competently made for its budget, but so blandly executed that a little technical ineptitude would have boosted its entertainment value. This one is strictly for those who've seen every other Die Hard knock-off and still can't get enough.

KITTY CONSENSUS:

MEH. 

The Excess of THE US FESTIVAL 1982: THE US GENERATION

Featuring Steve Wozniak, Stewart Copeland, Mick Fleetwood, Mickey Hart, Kate Pierson, Bill Graham, Derek Power, Eddie Money, Sherry Wasserman. Directed by Glenn Aveni. (2018/96 min). 

AVAILABLE ON BLU-RAY/DVD FROM 
MVD VISUAL

Review by Fluffy the Fearless😸

I remember the US Festival being a pretty big deal at the time. Organized and funded by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, everything about it was huge...the stage, the manpower, the technology, the hefty sums that artists - some of the world's biggest - were paid. And of course, there was the crowd of nearly a half-million people.

I also remember that it was a financial debacle and Wozniak lost over $12 million on the first concert alone (which is somewhat downplayed in this documentary). Historically, the US Festival was not the cultural milestone that Woodstock became, nor did it briefly unite the world like Live Aid a few years later. The entire event was simply the whim of a billionaire who thought it would be fun. In that respect, the US Festival could be viewed as the touchstone event of a decade that's often defined by excess.

Though there were actually two US Festivals, this film focuses exclusively on how Wozniak - with considerable assistance from others, such as legendary concert promoter Bill Graham - planned and put together the inaugural 1982 event. Even with Wozniak's bottomless checkbook, this was obviously a tremendous undertaking. Through interviews and behind-the-scenes footage, the film chronicles the requirements and complications they faced trying to assemble a show this massive, including technical achievements that made it possible.

When Donald Trump dreams.

Interspersed throughout the technical details is footage of the concert itself, featuring performances by the likes of Fleetwood Mac, The Police, Talking Heads, The Ramones, The B-52's, Tom Petty, The Cars and Santana. The concert footage is the best part of the film, so it's a shame we get only one song each by the biggest artists (the rest are featured in short clips). But since quality footage of the 1982 US Festival is hard to come by these days - legally anyway - I guess this'll have to do.

Some of the artists are interviewed, all of whom fondly reflect on how big the whole thing was (for most, it would be the biggest show of their careers). Speaking of fond recollections, we hear almost nothing negative about the entire event. Aside from a few brief comments on Bill Graham's clashes with the concert staff, no one has anything but gushing praise for Wozniak and his vision. Which is fine, I guess, but both Wozniak and the festival had their share of detractors. Hearing some contrary viewpoints would have made more compelling viewing.

As it is, though, The US Festival 1982: The Us Generation is a decent time capsule of an event few people seem to remember. A full blown concert film would have been preferable - perhaps with this documentary as a bonus feature - but we are reminded of how massive this undertaking really was.

EXTRA KIBBLES

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By Director Glenn Aveni.

ADDITIONAL INTERVIEW FOOTAGE - Featuring Stewart Copeland, Mick Fleetwood, Steve Wozniak.

DVD COPY

KITTY CONSENSUS:

NOT BAD. LIKE CAT CHOW.

Rest in Peace, Aretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin (1942-2018)