Alternate Universe Summer Blockbusters
June 16th 2008 19:57
Can a director return to his former glory? Is the latest installment in a beloved series a cheap cash-in? Or does it stand tall with its predecessors? Why haven't I posted in over a month?
Yes..Maybe...Not really...and, we'll get to that.
Though some of the aforementioned questions could apply to films everyone's seen and talked about...and talked about, the films I'm talking about are two that appeal to a decidedly smaller segment of the population. Unfortunately.
First up,
Mother of Tears
"The Third Mother" - this mother of a movie is the last in horror icon Dario Argento's trilogy that began with Suspiria and continued with Inferno. If none of that means anything to you, skip right on down to the next review. If it does mean something to you, I think I have some bad news for you - Mother of Tears, is in nowhere near the same league as the other two. It does have its charms, though. Argento still shows very little regard for story or character development, something that wasn't such a stumbling block in his earlier films (let's not even mention the majority of his recent work). Style almost always triumphed over substance, and sometimes that's fine. Here, not so much. Argento's daughter Asia plays maybe the least interesting role of her career. Her character Sarah Mandy (even the name is dull) finds herself in possession of a relic, the Mother of Tears wants it, the Mother chases her around through various dull set pieces, and...that kinda sums it up. There's some mumbo jumbo about the "Second Fall of Rome" that the Mother of Tears is bringing about and some VERY cheap-looking ways to show what one would think is a pretty monumental event. Also, Sarah Mandy's own mother's ghost pops up every once in awhile to look silly and hint at some psychic power that Sarah herself has (but never proves to be terribly useful). I guess I'm making it sound worse than it is, because I did find myself enjoying Mother of Tears several times - in spite of everything I just mentioned. There are some pretty interesting moments of violence that bring to mind earlier, better Argento films; there's loads of boobage (the Mother of Tears herself and her followers are largely clothing-averse); and at times Dario's kookiness just can't help but win you over. And there's a monkey. A mean monkey. If anyone who's been looking forward to this isn't at least a little disappointed, though, I'd be shocked. (6/10 - subtract a point or two if you're not already a fan)
Not so with Poultrygeist
which I capital-L Loved. It's a triumphant "f- you" shouted in just about every direction by director Lloyd Kaufman, and it's probably my favorite Troma movie since Toxic Avenger. Come to think of it, I liked it even better than that one. Sure Tromeo & Juliet and Terror Firmer had their moments, but Poultrygeist cooks all the way through. Starring no one you've heard of (unless you count a cameo by Ron Jeremy - on second thought, don't count that) and made on the cheap, Poultrygeist is the tale of a fast-food chicken restaurant built on a Native American burial ground. It's silly, it's giddily stupid, it's gross as hell, and it's the most fun I've had watching a movie in a long, long time. (8/10 - add a point if you're going to watch with friends and intoxicants)
So, there are two alternatives. I'm not saying everything at the multiplex sucks. Some of it's pretty good (Iron Man), some of it's okay (Indy, Hulk, etc.) None of them have really inspired me to post anything about them; besides, you can read about them anywhere. And none of them have chicken zombies OR the crazy-monkey, baby-killing spirit of Mother of Tears.
Yes..Maybe...Not really...and, we'll get to that.
Though some of the aforementioned questions could apply to films everyone's seen and talked about...and talked about, the films I'm talking about are two that appeal to a decidedly smaller segment of the population. Unfortunately.
First up,
Mother of Tears
which I capital-L Loved. It's a triumphant "f- you" shouted in just about every direction by director Lloyd Kaufman, and it's probably my favorite Troma movie since Toxic Avenger. Come to think of it, I liked it even better than that one. Sure Tromeo & Juliet and Terror Firmer had their moments, but Poultrygeist cooks all the way through. Starring no one you've heard of (unless you count a cameo by Ron Jeremy - on second thought, don't count that) and made on the cheap, Poultrygeist is the tale of a fast-food chicken restaurant built on a Native American burial ground. It's silly, it's giddily stupid, it's gross as hell, and it's the most fun I've had watching a movie in a long, long time. (8/10 - add a point if you're going to watch with friends and intoxicants)
So, there are two alternatives. I'm not saying everything at the multiplex sucks. Some of it's pretty good (Iron Man), some of it's okay (Indy, Hulk, etc.) None of them have really inspired me to post anything about them; besides, you can read about them anywhere. And none of them have chicken zombies OR the crazy-monkey, baby-killing spirit of Mother of Tears.
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