SMILEY FACE KILLERS: Facts Optional

SMILEY FACE KILLERS (Blu-ray Review)

2020 / 96 min.

From LIONSGATE

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

The film touts to be “inspired by true events,” which should be taken with a grain of salt. 

It’s true that dozens of young men had been found in the water across the Midwest over the course of a decade, supposedly drowned. Since smiley face graffiti was found near some of the bodies, a few folks suggested all the deaths might be the work of a gang of serial killers. While the theory has largely been debunked, it’s still a pretty nifty idea for a movie, even if none of the “events” in Smiley Face Killers ever really happened.

In fact, the only part of the film that appears to be related to those unsolved cases is the main character, Jake (Ronen Rubinstein), who is young, good-looking and athletic, like many of the bodies that washed ashore. The rest is the work of screenwriter Bret Easton Ellis, the guy who unleashed American Psycho on the world (the novel, not the film), and director Tim Hunter, responsible for River’s Edge, one of the bleaker teen films of the ‘80s. You’d think this meeting of unsound minds would result in something darkly funny or revealing. Instead, Smiley Face Killers pretty much a straight horror film, and for the most part, a drab & depressing one. 

The premise has Jake being stalked by a hooded figure (an unrecognizable Crispin Glover), who hacks his phone and breaks into his apartment to leave ominous signs of impending doom. Since Jake has psychological issues but refuses to take his medication - to the chagrin of his friends - the smart narrative move would have been to keep the viewer wondering if it’s all in his mind. However, it’s made almost immediately clear the hooded figure is real, which sort-of defeats the purpose of making Jake so mental in the first place (especially since he's unaware he's being hunted until it's too late).

"I am the Great Cornholio!"

Even that would be fine if the story actually moved, but after numerous false starts, it’s nearly an hour before anything truly exciting happens, with a brutal, gory final act that reveals who’s stalking Jake and why. But in the interim, we spend way too much time watching dull characters party, bicker and worry about Jake, who’s not particularly likable to begin with. Hunter certainly appears infatuated with him, though, never passing on an opportunity to show Jake in the buff (including the entire climax).

The real-life smiley face murders never made it past the theory stage, meaning the entire movie is fabricated, which ain’t necessarily a deal-breaker. After all, Tobe Hooper pulled the same stunt with The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. The difference is Hooper knew the genre inside and out, while Ellis and Hunter confuse horror with dull nihilism. Ultimately, Smiley Face Killers is likely to leave the viewer more bummed-out than horrified. 

EXTRA KIBBLES

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FEATURETTE

TRAILERS

DIGITAL COPY

KITTY CONSENSUS:

MEH...LIKE SHARING THE BED WITH THE DOG.

RIO GRANDE is "Quietly" Important

RIO GRANDE - Olive Signature Edition

1950 / 105 min

From OLIVE FILMS

Review by Mr. Paws😽

As John Ford/John Wayne collaborations go, I wouldn’t rank Rio Grande among their best. However, this is the film that made The Quiet Man possible, which is one of their best (if not their greatest). Republic Pictures would only agree to green-light Ford's longtime pet project if he agreed to direct Rio Grande first. So in a roundabout way, the film has a certain amount of  historical importance. 

Watching the film today with 20/20 hindsight, one suspects maybe Ford was a little less invested in this one than Fort Apache and She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (the other two films of his unofficial “cavalry trilogy”). That ain’t to suggest it’s a bad film by any stretch. Rio Grande actually features one of John Wayne’s more down-to-Earth performances, where he appears to be playing a real character rather than an extension of himself. As Colonel Kirby Yorke, Wayne convincingly portrays an honor-bound career soldier without wrapping himself in the American flag. Considering Wayne’s larger-than-life persona, there’s a weariness to Yorke that’s oddly endearing.

Someone could use some Head & Shoulders.

Elsewhere, a very young Ben Johnson is amusing in one of his earliest credited roles as a horse thief who joins the cavalry to evade the law. And of course, Maureen O’Hara is once-again affecting and radiant, playing Yorke’s estranged wife. The story itself is mostly pretty slight, almost meandering at times, particularly during a first half which has the Yorkes butting heads over teenage son Jefferson (Claude Jarman Jr.), who joins the Army after washing-out at West Point. Things pick-up a bit in the second half with a mission to rescue some children kidnapped by Apaches.

But despite an overall lack of real action - and a rather dubious depiction of Native-Americans -  Rio Grande remains watchable. The performances are good and the direction is typically solid. The film just isn’t as memorable or exciting as Ford & Wayne’s more storied collaborations. Still, its history is very interesting, which Olive Films nicely encapsulates with this re-issue. Part of their ongoing Signature Series, the disc comes with a big batch of new bonus features, along with an archival making-of featurette carried over from the 2012 release, all of which make this recommended to fans of the two Johns. And if it weren't for Rio Grande, we might not have gotten The Quiet Man, which would have been criminal.

EXTRA KIBBLES

NEW: “BIGGER THAN LIFE” - interview with co-star Claude Jarman Jr.

NEW: “STRENGTH AND COURAGE” - Interview with Patrick Wayne (John’s kid), who’s first film this was.

NEW: “TELLING REAL HISTORIES” - The best of the new bonus features, actor/tech-advisor/choreographer Raoul Trujillo discusses the depiction of Native-Americans in Rio Grande and other films.

NEW: “SONGS OF THE RIO GRANDE” - Historian Marc Wanamaker discusses the songs by Sons of the Pioneers.

NEW: VIDEO ESSAY - By author Tag Gallagher

NEW: AUDIO COMMENTARY - By author Nancy Schoenberger

NEW: ESSAY - By Paul Andrew Hutton, featured in a supplementary booklet as well as the disc.

“THE MAKING OF RIO GRANDE” - Vintage feature hosted by Leonard Maltin and featuring numerous interviews.

TRAILER

KITTY CONSENSUS:

NOT BAD. LIKE CAT CHOW.

HAVEN'S END: The Economical Apocalypse

HAVEN’S END (DVD Review)

2018 / 91 min

From MILL CREEK ENTERTAINMENT

Review by Tiger the Terrible😽

When you don’t have the financial resources of, say, Roland Emmerich, you gotta compensate.

Haven’s End is a low budget apocalyptic thriller with cheap special effects and - with the possible exception of Catherine Taber - pedestrian performances. Like a lot of films made with more ambition than money, it mostly takes place in the woods, essentially reducing the production design budget to zero.

Through histrionic newscasts and a few dubiously-rendered CGI explosions, we learn that every major city around the world has been simultaneously attacked. Disgraced doctor Alison (Taber), fiance Derek (Anthony Nguyen) and pregnant pal Jessi (Megan Hayes) high-tail it out of Atlanta to her dad’s old trailer. Her slacker brother, Kevin (Alex Zuko) and his shrill girlfriend, Hannah (Hannah Fierman) have already been squatting there for some time. Angry and combative from the get-go, Kevin initially refuses to believe the world’s going to hell, but evil doings in the woods ultimately kill that argument.

Catherine Taber: Tree Wrangler.

This drab setting is where most of the story happens, but what makes it interesting is what writer Michael H. Harper and director Chris Ethridge do with the premise. The story is actually pretty well written and one of the more intriguing narrative aspects is that it’s never made quite clear what exactly has happened to the world. At first we suspect a global terrorist attack, then maybe something extraterrestrial or perhaps a demon-influenced zombie outbreak. There are even moments when we entertain the notion that some of these survivors are simply going nuts. 

Such deliberate ambiguity might frustrate some viewers, but I personally found it to be a refreshing creative decision: Since you can’t afford to effectively show what’s going on, why not keep the audience just as in-the-dark as the characters? In a way, that uncertainty contributes to the tension. While Haven’s End is technically underwhelming, it compensates with a story that keeps you guessing.

EXTRA KIBBLES

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By director Chris Ethridge, writer/producer Michael H. Harper, producer Stacet Palmer & actor Catherine Taber

TRAILER

DIGITAL COPY

KITTY CONSENSUS:

NOT BAD. LIKE CAT CHOW.

POSSESSOR (Uncut): Just Like Papa Used to Make

POSSESSOR Uncut (Blu-ray Review)

2020 / 104 min

From WELL GO USA

Review by Fluffy the Fearless😸

Writer-director Brandon Cronenberg is David’s son. After seeing Possessor, it’s obvious the acorn hasn’t fallen far from the tree. That’s ultimately a good thing, since the film embraces the type of nasty, sci-fi tinged body horror dear ol’ Dad has long-since left behind.

Tasya Vos (Andrea Riseborough) is an assassin who doesn’t actually do any physical killing herself. The company she works for has the technology to implant her consciousness into somebody else, controlling their thoughts and actions (essentially ‘possessing’ them). She then uses that person to kill her targets. The film opens with one such job, a jarringly violent sequence which establishes the tone and braces the viewer for a wild ride.

However, Tasya’s next job doesn’t go so well. She’s instructed to enter the mind of Colin Tate (Christopher Abbot), whose fiance Ava (Tuppence Middleton) is the daughter of powerful CEO John Parse (Sean Bean). This will allow her to get close to Parse so Tate can kill him, allowing a corporate takeover. While she’s successful, Tasya is unable to force Tate to take his own life afterwards - standard procedure - because his own consciousness starts fighting back. Since they’re sharing the same brain, Tate learns where her family lives and heads there to find out where she is. The second half of the film dishes out a heaping helping of literal internal conflict.

When vacuum cleaners attack.

Explicitly dark and extremely gory, Possessor achieves a surreal, hallucinatory tone not-unlike Videodrome. Cronenberg takes a cue from the old man by providing just enough pseudo-science for the premise to seem plausible, as well as offering a bevy of morally-questionable main characters, including the protagonists. While we may not be too invested in them, the narrative they inhabit is consistently fascinating. Its brain-bending concept is bolstered by a lot of visual flair and oddball details which intentionally disorient the viewer, such as production design that is simultaneously futuristic and archaic.

A chip off the old block, Brandon Cronenberg also demonstrates a penchant for uninhibited, wince-inducing violence, marvelously rendered with good ol’ fashioned practical effects and completely convincing. Since the gore scenes are in service of a sharp, challenging story, those with strong stomachs will consider them icing on the cake. A potential cult classic, Possessor is a superlative example of sci-fi body horror, courtesy of a director who probably grew up around it.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTES - “A Heightened World” (making-of); “Identity Crisis”; “The Joy of Practical” (the best of the bonus features, this one covers the impressive in-camera - an often icky - special effects).

3 DELETED SCENES

3 TRAILERS

KITTY CONSENSUS:

MEE-OW! LIKE BEING TURNED LOOSE IN A BIRD SANCTUARY.

THE GODFATHER, CODA: THE DEATH OF MICHAEL CORLEONE Pulls You Back In

THE GODFATHER, CODA: THE DEATH OF MICHAEL CORLEONE (Blu-ray Review)

1990 / 157 min

From PARAMOUNT

Review by Mr. Paws😸

This marks the third time in the last couple of years that Francis Ford Coppola has decided to tweak one of his old films. But unlike George Lucas, he’s had good reason to. Apocalypse Now Final Cut is now as close to perfect it’s ever gonna get, while The Cotton Club Encore is longer and more narratively cohesive. So it comes as no surprise that he’d set his sights on the most maligned chapter in the Corleone saga.

The Godfather & The Godfather Part II remain the greatest one-two punch in movie history. Even today, they’re supreme examples of timeless storytelling and provide a strong argument that the 70s may have been Hollywood's true Golden Age. If you don’t agree with this assessment, you’ve obviously never seen them.

As for The Godfather Part III...well...

There was once an NFL quarterback named Archie Manning. Two of his sons, Payton and Eli, not only became NFL quarterbacks themselves, but won two Super Bowls each (something even their dad couldn’t accomplish). Archie’s third son, Cooper, never got any closer to a pro football career than being a broadcaster on Fox Sports (I’ll bet those family reunions are awkward). If director Francis Ford Coppola is cinema’s Archie Manning, creating his own Payton & Eli with the first two Godfather films, then Part III is definitely his Cooper.

That ain’t a slam against Cooper Manning or Godfather III. Cooper was also a talented ballplayer with a promising football future before nerve damage cut his career short. The Godfather Part III, despite a lot of retro-hate thrown its way, is actually an excellent film. It simply doesn’t compare to the first two because a third chapter was never really necessary. It was also made for the wrong reasons and probably a decade too late.

But even though Coppola needed the money, The Godfather Part III never played like a cynical cash-grab. He and original author Mario Puzo obviously put a lotta love into its complex story (inspired by real events happening at the time the film takes place), while cinematographer Gordon Willis returned to give it the same unique look as the other two. Coppola managed to squeeze-in as many familiar characters as possible and nabbed most of the surviving original cast. Even some of the new characters, like Andy Garcia as Vincent Corleone, fit right in with the old guard. The film wasn’t without its faults, most notably the infamous miscasting of Coppola’s daughter, Sofia, in the pivotal role of Mary. Additionally, Robert Duvall was sorely missed and simply replacing him with George Hamilton was like The Beatles deciding to fire Paul McCartney in favor of Gene Simmons. 

But all-in-all, it was a solid film, arguably Coppola’s best since Apocalypse Now, though certainly not perfect. 

"YAHTZEEE!"

Now we have a new cut, retitled The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone, which is what Coppola wanted to call it in the first place. While the film still has flaws that keep it from being mentioned in the same breath as the first two, is it at-least an improvement? In many ways, yes. The new title is definitely more accurate. From a narrative standpoint, it never quite worked as a stand-alone story because Coppola never intended it to. Most of the other changes are subtle, and if you’ve only seen Godfather III once or twice, perhaps unnoticeable.

There’s no new or restored footage. In fact, this cut actually runs a few minutes shorter. However, Coppola has re-edited the film by rearranging certain sequences, trimming some scenes and completely removing others (such as the entire opening, where Michael is being honored by the Catholic Church). Most of the changes occur during the first and final acts - including the ending - meaning the basic story and all its threads remain intact. So while Godfather Coda is not a director’s cut or special edition, it does play more like the tragic epilogue Coppola and Puzo always meant it to be.

The result is a better overall film. Whether or not one agrees is one of the fun debates that makes The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone worth checking out. Additionally, the Blu-ray transfer is excellent; both the picture and sound are huge improvements over any previous Godfather III release. For lovers of all-things-Corleone, this is a disc you can’t refuse.

EXTRA KIBBLES

NEW INTRODUCTION BY FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA

KITTY CONSENSUS:

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

Rest in Peace, Hugh Keays-Byrne

Hugh Keays-Byrne (1947-2020)

BLADE Brings the Darkness to 4K

BLADE (4K Ultra HD Review)

1998 / 120 min

From WARNER BROS

Review by Tiger the Terrible😺

Black Panther may have been the first African-American comic book hero, but Blade beat him to the screen by nearly two decades. And though Logan and Nolan’s Batman Trilogy defined the term to the masses, Blade was dark & gritty long before it was fashionable. 

Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like Blade doesn’t get enough credit for how groundbreaking it really was for the time. Despite some visual effects that might seem a bit archaic today, it’s still a ton of kinetic, kick-ass fun and provided the first convincing argument that the superhero genre wasn’t necessarily kiddie fare.

The story itself remains compelling, with Wesley Snipes as the titular anti-hero - half-human-half vampire - who has it in for Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff), a cocky young bloodsucker plotting to end the human race by awakening an ancient Blood God. Also interesting is the complex and powerful vampire organization that exists beneath our noses. I only wish that aspect of the narrative was explored in a little more detail, rather than just tease us with glimpses of this intriguing underworld.

Another thing that elevates the film are the performances. Snipes has never been what I consider a great actor, but the role suits his unique ability to grunt and sneer his way through a script, which is probably why the Blade franchise ended up being the high point of his career. As the main antagonist, Dorph is good, though his sidekick, Quinn (Donal Logue), is more entertaining. His repeated beatdowns at Blade’s hands - not-to-mention his sword, a flash grenade and a speeding subway - is a great running gag.

Blade steps on a Lego.

Elsewhere, Blade has a unique look, sound and tone, with sharp direction by Stephen Norrington (whatever happened to him?), creative production design and effective use of nighttime LA locations. Speaking of which, I still don’t think 4K is suitable for every movie, but the transfer for this one is excellent, especially noticeable during the night sequences, which is most of the running time. It does, however, tend to render the already questionable CGI a bit more wonky.

Other than that, Blade has held up pretty well over the years and is certainly worth checking out by younguns weaned on the likes of Hellboy and Deadpool (though it’s far less comedic). For old school action buffs who remember their history, this 4K release makes it look and sound almost brand new. As “dark” comic book films go, Blade may not be one of the best, but it is one of the first. 

EXTRA KIBBLES:

4K, BLU-RAY & DIGITAL COPIES

FEATURETTES (Blu-ray) - “La Magra” (interviews about how the film was developed and produced; includes deleted scenes and an alternate ending [though the FX are unfinished]); “Designing Blade” (production design, special effects, costumes & weapons); “Origins of Blade: A Look at Dark Comics” (Screenwriter David S. Goyer, Marvel’s Stan Lee and magazine editor Gareb Shamus discuss the evolution of comics toward darker themes); “The Blood Tide” (kind-of a cool doc about the role of blood in history, literature and culture).

AUDIO COMMENTARY (4K & Blu-ray) - By Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, writer David S. Goyer, producer Peter Frankfurt, designer Kirk Petruccelli & cinematographer Theo van de Sande.

TRAILER

KITTY CONSENSUS:

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

THE POOP SCOOP: 2020 Homestretch Edition

THE WAR WITH GRANDPA, starring Robert De Niro, Arrives to Digital 12/15 and Blu-ray 12/22

Ring in the holiday season and get ready to laugh-out-loud with an all-out prank  battle the whole family can enjoy, in the hilarious comedy, THE WAR WITH GRANDPA, now available to own for the first time on Digital on December 15, 2020 and on Blu-ray™, DVD and On Demand on December 22, 2020 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Based on Robert Kimmel Smith’s multi-award-winning beloved children’s book of the same name, the film follows a series of escalating shenanigans that ensue when a grandfather (Academy Award® winner Robert De Niro, The Irishman, Meet the Parents franchise) moves in with his daughter, forcing his grandson (Oakes Fegley, The Goldfinch, This Is Where I Leave You) to begrudgingly give up his bedroom. Packed with heart and hysterical hijinks from start to finish, THE WAR WITH GRANDPA is the perfect “family-friendly comedy” (Pete Hammond, Deadline) everyone can enjoy during the holiday and beyond.

THE CALL releases on Blu-ray & DVD December 15

Set in the fall of 1987, a group of small-town friends must survive the night in the home of a sinister couple after a tragic accident occurs. Needing only to make a single phone call, the request seems horribly ordinary until they realize that this call could change their life…or end it. Led by horror icons Lin Shaye (Insidious franchise, Ouija) and Tobin Bell (Saw, Jigsaw), THE CALL has been a hit with both audiences and critics alike with The Digital Journal saying, “Tobin Bell is a revelation” and “Lin Shaye is irresistible.” Strong word of mouth helped THE CALL become one of the top preforming horror films of the season and the buzz is sure to continue when it releases this December on Blu-ray and DVD. Special features on both formats include deleted scenes, as well as a behind-the-scenes featurette that takes audiences into the minds of cast and crew and venture deeper into their nightmarish world. 

 

HONEST THIEF on Blu-ray & DVD 12/29

They call him the In and Out Bandit because meticulous thief Tom Carter (Liam Neeson) has stolen $9 million from small-town banks while managing to keep his identity a secret. But after he falls in love with the bubbly Annie (Kate Walsh), Tom decides to make a fresh start by coming clean about his criminal past, only to be double-crossed by two ruthless FBI agents. From the co-creator of Emmy-nominated series Ozark, thriller Honest Thief showcases Liam Neeson in a heartfelt tale of redemption, packed with fights, chases and explosions centered on one man's mission to make things right for the sake of love. Honest Thief is written and directed by Mark Williams and stars Liam Neeson (Taken), Kate Walsh (Grey's Anatomy), Jeffrey Donovan (Burn Notice), Jai Courtney (Suicide Squad), and Anthony Ramos (Hamilton). The ensemble cast includes Robert Patrick (Terminator 2: Judgment Day) and Jasmine Cephas Jones (Blindspotting). A Briarcliff Entertainment/Open Road production.

THE PARALLAX VIEW on Blu-ray from Criterion 2/9/21

In the second installment of Alan J. Pakula’s celebrated Paranoia Trilogy, he offers a chilling vision of America in the wake of the assassinations of the Kennedys and Martin Luther King Jr. and about to be shocked by Watergate. Three years after witnessing the murder of a leading senator atop Seattle's Space Needle, reporter Joseph Frady (Warren Beatty) begins digging into the mysterious circumstances surrounding the killing—and stumbles into a labyrinthine conspiracy far more sinister than he could have imagined. The Parallax View's coolly stylized, shadow-etched compositions by acclaimed cinematographer Gordon Willis give visual expression to a mood that begins as an anxious whisper and ends as a scream into the void. The disc includes a 4K Restoration, along with the following bonus features: New into by director Alex Cox; Two interviews with Alan J. Pakula; Gordon Willis featurette; Interview with Pakula assistant Jon Boorstin; Essay by critic Nathan Heller.