No Huddle Reviews

"So come up to the lab and see what's on the slab."

It was 1975. Teamsters President Jimmy Hoffa goes missing. South Vietnam falls. The Superdome opens in New Orleans. Elizabeth Seton becomes the first American saint. Patty Hearst ends her fugitive run. George Carlin hosts the first episode of Saturday Night Live. Phil Collins replaces Peter Gabriel as the lead in Genesis. And The Rocky Horror Picture Show opens to absolutely terrible box office numbers. Under normal circumstances the Rocky Horror story should have ended there. Thirty-five years later, it should have been just one of thousands of films that came and went with hardly a whimper or notice. Today, that most assuredly would have been the case. But things were just a little bit different in 1975. When a film finished its first run, there were plenty of theaters that ran dollar matinees and midnight showings of these movies. There wasn't a home-video industry at the time. The next step for these films, particularly the big losers, was a run in these "second run" venues where the studios provided them inexpensively in an attempt to recoup some of their money. It was no different for Rocky Horror. It appeared all over the nation at midnight screens. But something rather extraordinary happened at these screenings. People began to turn these screenings into events. They started to bring props and costumes. Eventually entire amateur troupes were performing shadowcasts of the film during the screenings. Theaters began to take advantage of the growing trend, and Rocky Horror events began to spread like wildfire. Before long the rituals became somewhat standardized, and an entirely new form of entertainment was born. Now this box office failure of a movie is the longest-running film in box office history, and not by a little bit. It's been 50 years, and the film is still playing at movie houses all over the world. Shadowcast groups have turned into generational organizations as the traditions have been handed down and passed along. It was 1975. A cultural phenomenon was born. So let's do The Time Warp ... thanks to the release of Strange Journey: The Story Of Rocky Horror now out on Blu-ray from Magenta Light Studios.

"This is your captain speaking ... Prepare for impact."

It's been 50 years since Steven Spielberg made his bones on a hot summer movie called Jaws. Based on a Peter Benchley bestseller, the film made millions of people all over the world think twice before dipping their toes into the wild environment of their local beach. We all think about it. We go anyway, but Spielberg made us think about it for the rest of our lives. The trend spawned a flurry of 1970's nature-attacks films from bees to grizzly bears. When cable came about, we got Shark Week every year for decades. There's just something about that 1975 film that continues to impact our entertainment. Now we have the "shark" movie as a genre, and for all of those 50 years everyone has been chasing that one movie's atmosphere and excitement. It should be rather easy when you think about it. Spielberg bit off more than he could chew by taking on the film. He was a young, rather inexperienced director, and he soon discovered shooting out in the water is one of Dante's layers of Hell. They created a large lifelike mechanical shark they called Bruce. And as realistic as Bruce looked, he kept breaking down, so that we ended up seeing much less of him than was planned. That's what filmmakers now call a fortunate disaster. Now filmmakers can create anything we can imagine. Someone has got to be able to deliver goods that Spielberg couldn't even dream of delivering. But so far no one has. Accomplished director Renny Harlin can be called many things. Inexperienced isn't one of them. Could he be the one to finally break through that saltwater wall? It's time to find out with the Blu-ray release of Deep Water, out from Magenta Studios this week.

"We try to walk that line between high-tech thriller and workplace comedy."

It all started so long ago that many of you reading this were likely not even a thought in your parents' brain. JAG appeared way back in 1995. It was created by Donald P. Bellisario, and it took us behind the scenes of the United States Navy's prosecution of crimes under their military jurisdiction according to the Navy's Service Code. The series lasted 10 years, and toward the end of that run a new character was introduced. He was Leroy Gibbs, played by Mark Harmon. The episode served as a backdoor pilot for a new franchise called NCIS. You could say that NCIS is the Order to JAG’s Law. The NCIS is a real government agency that deals with criminal activity inside or involving the US Navy or Marine Corps, but now for the investigation and catching of the bad guys. The show has proven even more popular than its parent series. That means branching out like the CSI and Law & Order franchises have done so well in the past. For a while it was other places like L.A., New Orleans, Hawaii, and Sydney, Australia. For the most part these shows have come and gone, and a new kind of spinoff was started. After Mark Harmon left the show, we knew he wasn't gone forever. Along came NCIS: Origins, which is in its second year and follows the exploits of a much younger Leroy Gibbs. This allowed a very popular character to continue beyond his involvement with the mothership now enjoying its  upcoming 25th year. But Leroy Gibbs wasn't the only beloved character to leave the show. Of course, I'm talking about Michael Weatherly's character, the obnoxious but lovable Tony DiNozzo.

Been seeing a lot of Josh O’Connor lately, and I’m glad to see it. Prior to his performance in Challengers, I had only a mild awareness of him, but since then, it’s been impossible to escape his presence. Speaking of presence, I feel like O’Connor brings something different with every role. In the case of The Mastermind, O’Connor deadpans comedic irony, quiet domestic desperation, and a deeply flawed, delusional masculinity. Given how the situation works out for his character, the title is more than a bit ironic. I’d go so far as to consider this an anti-heist movie if it weren’t for the fact that bumbling thieves managed to accomplish the task. The heart of the film resides in the aftermath of the heist and the hijinks that transpire. Rounding out of the cast were Hope Davis, Bill Camp, Alana Haim (One Battle After Another), and John Magaro (The Bride!). The film is a bit of a slow burn, but the character performances are the driving force of the film, as the plots debunks the idea of a smooth-talking American criminal in favor of an everyman, or better yet, an amateur trying to head up an art theft.

Set in a sedate Massachusetts suburb in 1970, the film follows O’Connor’s James Blaine “J.B.” Mooney, an unemployed family man and failed architect who concocts a plan to rob a local art museum. Alongside a couple of amateur accomplices, he manages to successfully steal four Arthur Dove paintings. Rather than lingering on the suspense of the theft, film director Kelly Reichardt sped through the heist itself and focused primarily on the fallout. As previously mentioned, the ironic title becomes clear as J.B. proves to be anything but a mastermind; he is an inept, privileged oaf who spends his time floundering on the run, hiding canvases in barns, and testing the patience of those around him.

There are definitely notes of the bard in this film. Adopting the star-crossed lovers’ motif, Lovelines hinges on the rivalry that peaked at an annual Battle of the Bands contest, where Rick (Greg Bradford), the lead singer of the rock band Racer, fell for Piper (Mary Beth Evans), the frontwoman for the rival group The Firecats. To keep their forbidden romance alive against the wishes of friends, rival musicians, and Piper's massive, protective brother, the pair relied on "Lovelines". This specialized local dial-in telephone party line served as a 1980s analog precursor to modern internet dating. As I met my wife via modern internet dating, I was intrigued by the premise, which highlighted this old school predecessor, and its use as a covert communication mechanism for the lead characters. There weren’t a lot of recognizable faces for me in this one or remarkable performances, outside of Miguel Ferrer who played a punk rocker named Dragon. However, on the plus side, the film does feature a prank war, and I do love a good prank war.

“They're the two hottest tickets in a red-hot Battle of the Bands ... and now they've got the hots for each other.”

“I'll drink to that.”

Directed by the legendary Sidney Poitier, Fast Forward was part of a cycle of mid-late 1980s dance movies which included Fame, Flashdance, Footloose, Dirty Dancing, Breakin' aka Breakdance, Electric Boogaloo: Breakdance 2, Salsa, Beat Street, Heavenly Bodies, Rappin.'  In this addition to the mid-1980s dance movie craze, a tight-knit group of eight high school students from a small town in Ohio form a dance troupe called "The Adventurers". Driven by pure ambition, they pack their bags and head to New York City to chase their big break. The film served as the debut theatrical feature film for most of the cast members, though there were a few recognizable faces. Such as Debra Varnado (All the Right Moves), who played Debbie Hughes, and Don Franklin, who played Michael, who I recognize for a host of tv show appearances. The movie wasn’t really the breakout film it was hoped to be, particularly given the stiff competition during its era. And unfortunately, while I did find it intriguing at times, I’m skeptical that the film will find new life amongst this newer generation.

"And that's the way it happened. Give or take a lie or two."

That oft-used phrase in the film Sunset is a pretty good way to describe the entire production. Blake Edwards  had a pretty good run with his Pink Panther franchise until Peter Sellers died and the franchise became somewhat of a spoof of itself after his death. That might have worked, except the franchise was already pretty much a spoof. But Blake Edwards has also had some luck with more serious subjects, and Sunset is likely the best example of such an attempt. That doesn't mean the film doesn't deliver plenty of humor and light moments. But for Blake Edwards, this was as serious as it gets. He bought the rights to an unpublished novel by Rod Amateau, who had mostly written for television. The film was set to star James Garner as Wyatt Earp and Robert Duvall as Tom Mix. The production budget couldn't handle the demands of both stars, and Garner was retained while Edwards would pass on Duvall. Bruce Willis was mostly a television star at the time and could be had on the cheap. Of course, that soon changed, but Edwards didn't get a bounty here, because Willis wasn't quite as good as he would become. In fact, James Garner went on record that he would never work with Willis again because he treated his job like he was in high school. And he never did. Julie Andrews was also once signed, but skipped because she didn't want to play the mother of a grown son. The film was also going to showcase a new kind of cinematography called the Introvision system. The idea was that you could insert your iconic locations into the background, but it ended up costing more than going to the real locations, and no one was ever really happy with the results. The system has faded into memory, but unfortunately Sunset has not. Thanks to Mill Creek's Retro-VHS releases, this film gets another chance for you to catch it. Trust me when I say it's worth the effort.

On and on goes the debate. Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? I have always come down on the no side. It appears like such an odd thing, but there have literally been books about the subject, and Bruce Willis himself has gone from no to yes over the years. If that kind of debate is of interest to you, then you should enjoy playing the same game with Cold Steel. It's a bloody action movie that also takes place at that jolly time of the year. Of course, not so jolly for the characters in the film. The original story for Cold Steel was developed and written by Dorothy Ann Puzo. You might not recognize her, but I'm sure you are familiar with the last name. Her father is the celebrated author and screenwriter for The Godfather movies. And if the Godfather movies have taught me anything (I mean, beyond not letting anyone outside the family know what you're thinking), it's that daughters don't necessarily inherit the abilities of the father.The casting of Sofia Coppola by her father in that franchise's third film made that very point. But Dorothy Ann Puzo isn't quite the dramatic drop in talent that Coppola was, and the film certainly has its moments. Coppola also directs, and this is her first and last feature film as either writer or director, so I think we can safely say this film didn't set any box office records, and this is actually the first time I've seen it.

Brad Davis plays Johnny Modine. He's a cop who plays it a little loose with the rules, and we discover that right out of the gate when he's flying in his police cruiser with sirens and lights and even jumping over a moving train. Just what kind of bad guys was he chasing? He wasn't. He was trying to set a record delivering quality booze to the police Christmas Eve party at their favorite watering hole. So we know exactly the kind of cop Johnny happens to be. Jay Acovone plays his suffering partner Cookie. After all of the cheers for his death-defying stunt to deliver the goods, he begs off early to go to his parents' house for a Christmas Eve meal. What he doesn't know yet, but we know, is that his father Sam (Lanteau) was shot and killed at his store by a ruthless killer with an English accent and "charm" who calls himself Mick, played by music's Adam Ant. Mick is part of a gang of bad guys that is led by a guy they call Iceman, played by Jonathan Banks. This wasn't his first shot at an iconic bad guy. He went up against Eddie Murphy three years earlier in Beverly Hills Cop, and that same year he would be a regular on the television series Wiseguy by Stephen J. Cannell, best known for The Rockford Files. When Johnny finds out about his father he goes a little crazy, and so much so that he gets suspended. We've heard that tune enough times before to know that isn't going to stop him from tracking down the gang.

"It's funny how much training I've had in taking a life. Years with the 3rd Calvary, the Regiment, Special Ops. A lifetime of experience. I can tell you to the exact second how long it will take you to bleed out if I make an inch-long incision in your carotid artery. Tactics. Weapons. Munitions. Covert ops. Black ops. Battlefield triage. The logistics of death. I've studied it all in great depth and detail. I've been taught all there is to know about taking a life."

If any of this sounds like something you've heard before, you're not too far off. It calls back to Liam Neeson talking to the guys who are in the process of kidnapping his daughter. He's telling him all about that "specific" set of skills he happens to have to make their brief remaining lives pretty brutal. That's what we get from Milla Jovovich. She's a highly trained killer, and now some bad guys have kidnapped her daughter. She gets there almost in time to stop it, but just not quick enough, and you don't have to read this or any film synopsis. You don't need to read any spoilers to know you're about to go through 90 minutes of this one-woman army trying to save her daughter and leaving a lot of gory destruction in her wake. That's what we get from director Adrian Grunburg's Protector. But haven't we seen all of this before?