DailyView: Day 99, Movie 167

Stephen King movies tend to be hit or miss for me. Today’s DailyView will put that to the test as I watch the killer dog movie, Cujo.

When I started this movie, I, of course, knew that Cujo was a large killer dog, but I was not aware of how it came about to be. Most Stephen King movies have some element of supernatural to them, but I was surprised to find out that Cujo was not a magical beast, but he was only a rabid dog. Of course, I say ‘only’ but it does seem to be enough. Now, clearly the dog is exaggerated some in order to be the threat that he was.

In the movie, Dee Wallace played Donna, who was married to McCormick from Hardcastle and McCormick, Daniel Hugh Kelly and they were the parents to Angela’s little son Jonathan on Who’s the Boss, Danny Pintauro. You can see how my mind works during movies with faces that I recognize (In the movie, Kelly played Vic and Pintauro played Tad). Donna and Tad wound up trapped inside her broken down car, stalked by the blood soaked St. Bernard that had already killed several people.

I was thoroughly enthralled with Cujo. I found myself yelling at the screen and trying to figure out ways for Donna and Tad to get out of the scrape that they found themselves in, and, honestly, I was not sure what I would have done either. There were some absolute steps I would have taken that would have helped the situation including SPOILER when after stabbing the dog and getting her hands on the police officer’s gun, I would have immediately plugged that unconscious dog with a bunch of bullets right to the head. You just knew that dog was coming back at the end. END OF SPOILER.

The secondary story was compelling too as the relationship between Donna and Vic was tested with Donna’s affair with the totally unlikable Steve Kemp (Christopher Stone). If anybody should have become dog food, it was this guy. Although it felt like a tacked on plot point to fill out the time, I found the plot effective and it was important to why Donna and Tad wound up stuck in that car hiding from Cujo.

Although not much of a horror movie, the thriller aspect is certainly here. Cujo is tense and exciting and you feel the claustrophobic atmosphere that those two poor characters have to endure. I would absolutely put this into the category of positive King adaptations.

DailyView: Day 98, Movie 166

The DailyView heads all the way back to 1944 for a classic detective noir film from director Otto Preminger, Laura.

Laura starred Gene Tierney as Laura Hunt, a woman split between two men which led to her apparent murder. Detective Lieutenant Mark McPherson (Dana Andrews) had the case and began trying to piece together the riddle of the woman’s death. Her two suitors, Waldo Lydecker (Clifton Webb) and Shelby Carpenter (Vincent Price), both seemed to be on a short list of suspects.

As McPherson was trying to understand the kind of woman Laura was, he would stare at the portrait of Laura in hier apartment, finding that he was developing feelings for the victim.

Then, one night, the case was turned upside down.

This movie is a lot of fun. It was filled with suspense and tension and the performances, especially from Vincent Price and Clifton Webb, were excellent. I can’t help but think Price is the culprit from the second that I hear that iconic voice of his. Price and Webb do a wonderful job of keeping us all uncertain about who the primary suspect should be, and as the case reveals more, we wonder if there was yet another option than the two of them.

The black and white film helped create the mood of the picture and built the suspense. As McPherson continued on spouting theories, the audience could not help but think he was wrong. Up until the very end of the film, I was not sure of whom the killer was. In fact, I was confident that the answer to the riddle was going to have another twist. My theory turned out to be as inaccurate as most of McPherson’s. I like being unsure of a mystery.

The film has great pacing and flies by as you watch it. With some classic performances, Laura was a wonderful surprise. If you like a good noir, Laura is one of the best you will find.

DailyView: Day 98, Movie 165

With his role of Mobius on the Marvel Studios show Loki, I became a big fan of Owen Wilson. So much so that I was willing to go and visit some movies of Owen Wilson that never felt like my cup of tea. Wedding Crashers always seemed like this loud and abrasive film with unlikeable characters and I was not into it.

I still think that critique is close to accurate, but I liked this movie more than I thought I would.

Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn play two longtime friends John and Jeremy who crash weddings together looking to sleep with girls. Crashing the wedding of a daughter of the Treasury Secretary, Secretary Cleary (Christopher Walken), John was caught off guard when he fell hard for another daughter of Secretary Cleary, Claire (Rachel McAdams). Unfortunately, Claire was already engaged to Sack Lodge (Bradley Cooper).

While I do think some of the film was sophomoric, there was actually some realness to the film. The friendship between John and Jeremey felt real and there were some great scenes between Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams. Bradley Cooper was about as big of a jerk as you could be. Christopher Walken is always epic.

The whole Cleary family was nuts. Sex crazed Gloria (Isla Fisher) who clings onto Jeremy turned into some really funny moments. Grandma Mary (Ellen Albertini Dow) was a hoot. Jane Seymour had a couple of memorable scenes that would never be forgotten. There is a great cameo from Will Farrell. The cast was top notch.

And the story itself, though fairly predictable, had some heart. Both Jeremy and John learned lessons and their characters grew from the beginning. Plus, it was a funny movie and that helps.

Wedding Crashers was an entertaining romp, at times raunchy, but usually funny. There is an A+ cast that have chemistry with each other and displays its share of sweetness.

DailyView: Day 97, Movie 164

Today, Amazon Prime is offering up a documentary for the DailyView binge. It is a documentary that was made by a son, trying to look deeper at his father and the career that his father had chosen. Thing is… that career was as a CIA spy.

Carl Colby put together the documentary about his father, William Colby, and much of the history of the CIA.

The personalized sections of the documentary, with Carl Colby interviewing people close to his life, his mother, his sister, people who knew his father and could give him some information of the man that he did not really know was the most effective aspects of the doc. When they go into the more details of the CIA and the world at large, the doc meanders. When Carl is able to tie William into the events of the world, the movie is much more interesting.

Some of the most intriguing parts of the documentary were the interview with William’s wife, Barbara. She carefully chose each word that she said with precision and specificity. She gave the impression that she knew more than what she was saying.

I would have liked to go into the death of William Colby more because it sounded like a fascinating time. The doc touches upon it at the beginning and the end of the film, but it does not go into great detail.

Looking at this with now with the knowledge of Donald Rumsfeld, Henry Kissinger etc. really makes you wonder what was going on in truth.

There are areas of this doc that I wanted more of, but other parts that I would have preferred to have less details on. It was a interesting watch either way.

DailyView: Day 96, Movie 163

I’m not sure how to start this review off.

The Green Mile does not really have a plot. It is a string of scenes together to tell the narrative of the time during the Great Depression when John Coffey (Michael Clarke Duncan) was in prison awaiting his execution for the rape and murder of two young girls. Paul Edgecomb (Tom Hanks) was the head officer in charge at death row, managing the inmates and trying to make their final days as peaceful as possible.

However, as it turned out, John was special. He had a special gift that made Paul and the other guards question the scheduled execution.

This was powerful. I had tears several times over the 3 + hour run time. Even now as I sit here trying to type this up, I have that knot in my stomach about what I had watched. It is an emotional and absolutely transcendent film with some of the top performances you’re going to find.

Michael Clarke Duncan will break your heart with his work in this film. He had such a pureness to his character. An aura that totally played opposite the image of the gigantic man that stood before the others. Tom Hanks is the perfect foil for Duncan as this pairing is so believable, despite the sensationalism of the story. You can see the conflict within Hanks and how much he carried himself with respect for everybody, even these convicted murderers.

There are several other notable performances including David Morse, James Cromwell, Michael Jeter, Doug Hutchison, Sam Rockwell, Bonnie Hunt, Patricia Clarkson, Jeffrey DeMunn, Harry Dean Stanton, Barry Pepper, and Dabbs Greer.

There was one scene in particular, involving Michael Jeter and Doug Hutchison during an execution that is just about the most horrific thing that I have ever seen. It was devastating to watch and will stick with me for a long time. If you have seen The Green Mile, you know to which scene I am referring. I’m not sure that I could watch it again.

There is such life to the movie despite it being about tragic circumstances. The performances are astounding and do not fail to grasp you every time. It is over three hours, but it did not seem like it. Those three hours flew by. I can think of plenty of 90 minutes movies that feel much longer than this.

The Green Mile is another triumph on Tom Hanks’ resume and deserves every bit of positive credit it can receive.

DailyView: Day 96, Movie 162

I have been following the Fast Saga since the arrival of the Rock in Fast 5. I had not seen the previous four movies. They had never been something that appealed to me. In fact, the last few films in the franchise have not been films that I liked. Still, I wanted to go back and look at how it started. So I pulled up Fast & Furious on Peacock. You see, I thought this was the first film of the franchise, but, about 20 minutes in, I realized that it was not. Doing a little research, I discovered that this was actually Fast 4.

This film was mainly involved in bringing back together Dom (Vin Diesel) and Brian (Paul Walker) from, apparently, previous installments where they had a falling out. Brian is back working for the FBI and Dom is still involved in criminal activity.

When Leddy (Michelle Rodriguez) is killed, (don’t worry… she’s back later in the franchise) Dom goes on a revenge tour to kill the person responsible. This sends him into some kind of drug cartel storyline that crosses paths with Brian.

I don’t know. It is all just an excuse to drive fast and to crash a bunch of cars.

Gal Gadot is here too. What was missing was the whole “Family.” We see some of them at the beginning, but there is a definite lack of crew in this film. In fact, I believe the word “family” is only uttered once, and it was by Dom’s sister (Jordana Brewster). I guess no one thought about calling John Cena.

I can see why they needed to bring in The Rock to resurrect this franchise. This was pretty weak, with a lackluster villain and an uninspiring story.

DailyView: Day 95, Movie 161

Well, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is back at it again this week, showing a classic movie that I would not have known about or watched without this network. This week, the movie featured Bette Davis and one of her most iconic performances in Jezebel.

It was 1852 in New Orleans and Julie Marsden (Bette Davis) was a spoiled and stubborn Southern belle, whose bad behavior cost her the love of her fiancé Preston “Pres” Dillard (Henry Fonda). After a year in the North on business, Pres returned with his new wife Amy (Margaret Lindsay) causing Julie to become even more conniving.

This film is an intriguing portrait of live in the South pre-Civil War. The film swept everything dealing with slavery under the rug and only slightly touch upon the rivalry between the North and the South, reducing it to ‘political’ talk as it was mentioned a few times. Black characters were shown as servants and not in the manner as one might expect for the time period. However, they were more focused on the Yellow jack fever epidemic that gripped the people of New Orleans in the 1850s.

Bette Davis was great in the role, as she would win her second Academy Award for her performance in Jezebel. There was a glimmer of misbehavior in her eyes that was there the whole film, until the final scenes where she was redeemed. Her powerhouse performance carried the weight of this film and truly set Davis up as a major leading actress of the time. She was given the role, according to rumor, because she had not gotten the role of Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind.

Once again, I am happy that TCM continues to show movies that I have not heard of or that I hav eyet to see. They have helped out the DailyView quite a bit.

DailyView: Day 95, Movie 160

This morning’s DailyView heads back into the decade of the 1960s for the classic film, The Graduate, starring Dustin Hoffman and directed by Mike Nichols.

Ben Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) was a disillusioned graduate who wound up being seduced by an older woman, Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft). They continued their secret affair behind her husband’s (Murray Hamilton) back. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson were friends with Ben’s parents and both Mr. Robinson and Ben’s parents were pushing Ben to ask out the Robinsons’ daughter Elaine (Katharine Ross). Mrs. Robinson was completely opposed to it. When Ben took out Elaine to get his parents off his back, he fell for her, leading to a confrontation with all the parties.

Easily my favorite part of the film is the Simon and Garfunkel music that is played throughout The Graduate. The Sound of Silence, Scarborough Fair, and Mrs. Robinson were included and are great.

I have to say that I had a difficult time accepting the relationship between Ben and Elaine at the second part of the film. I can understand why he fell for her, but what possible reason would she have for falling for him after finding out about the affair he had had with her mother? It certainly did not feel as powerful of a connection as the film seemed to imply. Because of that, the second half of the film felt too forced for me.

Solid performance by Dustin Hoffman, but I did have trouble finding the support of the character, who seemed pretty selfish and self-absorbed. I have to say that, even with the big wedding escape at the end, Ben did not look to be happy. I have this feeling that he is destroying his life and he is taking Elaine with him.

Mrs. Robinson is an even worse character than Ben. Mrs. Robinson seduced a young college graduate, has an affair with him, threatened him to stay away from her daughter, accused him of rape when it all came out and tried to marry her daughter off to someone she did not love. She is anything but a sympathetic character.

Mike Nichols won an Academy Award for his direction of The Graduate and Hoffman, Bancroft and Ross were all nominated for acting awards. I would enjoy this more if you were watching it with the idea that all of the characters are rotten people and that we are seeing them all wind up unhappy.

I still loved the Simon & Garfunkel songs

DailyView: Day 94, Movie 159

Jackie Chan’s First Strike is leaving HBO Max today so I thought I would watch it for the DailyView on a last chance viewing. I have not seen much in the filmography of Jackie Chan, but after seeing First Strike, I can say one thing for sure, Jackie Chan is awesome.

Now, the movie? Not so much. The plot was messy and the characters were all over the place. It was a dubbed film and I have historically not liked those. The acting and the dialogue were both simplistic and cheesy.

And yet the film was fun.

It all boils down to the amazing Jackie Chan. The action sequences are so smooth and choreographed so brilliantly that these scenes are all that really matter in the movie. And Jackie Chan is doing his own stunts. There was a scene where Jackie is fighting a group of men with staff while Jackie uses a ladder and the choreography on that action scene is breathtaking. There is an underwater scene that is perfectly constructed and is as original as you are going to find. Then, if you have not seen Jackie Chan on stilts, well, you have not been living. The fact that Jackie Chan does his own stunts is just impressive and buys into the mystique that he has about him.

Jackie Chan also displays a remarkably strong comedic timing that you might not expect. Jackie Chan’s First Strike is certainly as much of a comedy than it is adventure and Chan feels natural in the situations, even as ridiculous as they may be.

Jackie Chan’s First Strike is not the deepest or most intricately developed story or plot, but who cares when there is so much fun to be had with the action sequences. As a last chance on HBO Max, this was an engaging film.

DailyView: Day 93 Movie 158

This DailyView is coming late today as the day had been reserved for mostly new material, so I looked for something to fill the void tonight. On HBO Max, I looked at a film called Logan’s Run. It’s funny because I tease my friend Todd who works at my comic book shop, ComicWorld, because he had a group of the Marvel Logan’s Run comics bundled together on the table. Every week I make a silly comment about Logan’s Run, the comic. Now I want to make a silly comment about Logan’s Run, the movie.

However, I can’t because I actually enjoyed this quite a bit. I found Logan’s Run to be a well done piece of science fiction, albeit with some 70s camp and designs. That was the time of the film. The ideas and the concepts explored by the movie were top notch.

I think a good comparison is the old Sid and Marty Krofft TV series Land of the Lost (not that horrid movie with Will Farrell). Land of the Lost looked silly with its poor stop-motion dinosaurs and wooden acting. However, if you get past the weak special effects, the stories on that TV show were exceptional sci-fi. Logan’s Run feels very much like that.

In the year 2274, Logan-5 (Michael York) is a Sandman, security who prevents people from running by terminating them. The whole society lived beneath a dome and when they turned 30 years old, which is shown by a color of a jewel on their palm, the people would gather together in a religious ceremony called Carrousel, where the thirty year-olds would be renewed. However, as it turned out, no one is ever renewed and they are just killed.

When Logan is scheduled to try and find a place called the Sanctuary, a location where missing runners escaped to, he was actually aged and his own jewel began flashing. This caused him to reassess everything that he had been doing and, along with a woman named Jessica-6 (Jenny Agutter), he escaped from the dome. Once outside, Logan and Jenny found some surprising truths that shook their beliefs to the core.

There are still some moments in the film that are really unintentionally funny, but that falls into the time it was released in. There are multiple science fiction themes available in Logan’s Run including the Utopia concepts, the old age vs. youth, human beings destroying themselves, free will among others.

The biggest laugh I had is that it sure seemed as if Logan-5 was as good a shot with his blaster as the Stormtroopers were in the Star Wars franchise. He never hit anything!

Peter Ustinov appeared in the movie and his character was a real hoot. He took the movie in a totally different direction and I bought it completely.

Logan’s Run was much better than I ever thought it was going to be. I pictured nothing more than a bad 70s movie, but the sci-fi elements are exceptional and the overall film was wonderful (although the cameo with Farrah Fawcett-Majors could have been left out).