Reviews

#140RVW

Plays just as well 30 years later. Well, except for that Long Duk Dong stuff, although I don’t think it worked very well at the time either.

What’s more:

John Hughes wrote this movie/part especially for Molly Ringwald. Seldom has there been a more perfect pairing of a director and muse. Sixteen Candles is undisputedly Ringwald’s movie. Sam Baker is her breakout role and it makes this film timeless.

Sixteen Candles isn’t John Hughes’ best film, but I find it the among his most enjoyable. It’s a pretty straightforward comedy. It’s not a subversive piece. But the real emotion and thoughts of teens are expressed so well that it feels very fresh, even now.

After writing the ridiculously successful Mr. Mom & National Lampoon’s Vacation, this was his directorial debut. (Despite having such an enormous impact and single-handedly creating the “John Hughes” genre of teen films, he only directed 8 films. Of those, only 4 were high-school movies.) It is very well assembled, in addition to the great writing, and if it doesn’t stick out for visual impact or arty shots, it doesn’t need to. He did a great job of expressing the story he wanted to tell.

Of course, by modern sensibilities, some of the movie strikes the wrong tone. In addition to the offensive Long Duk Dong character, the Jake Ryan character comes off as a real jerk. He entrusts a non-driving freshman with his car and more importantly his drunk girlfriend, implicitly inviting the kid to do whatever he wants with her. And this is the love interest of the protagonist?

In addition to Ringwald’s star-making performance, Anthony Michael Hall is brilliant to watch as Farmer Ted. Paul Dooley provides some needed adult connection as Sam’s dad; their late-night talk is among the best scenes in the film.

Sixteen Candles is a rite of passage movie for teenagers. It will probably continue to be for a long time.

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test:

The Representation Test Score: B (8 pts)

(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)

Main Cast	Molly Ringwald Samantha Baker, Anthony Michael Hall The Geek, Justin Henry Mike Baker, Michael Schoeffling Jake Ryan
Rating	R
Release Date	Fri 04 May 1984 UTC
Director	John Hughes
Genres	Comedy, Romance
Plot	A young girl’s “sweet sixteenth” birthday becomes anything but special as she suffers from every embarrassment possible.
Poster
Runtime	93
Tagline	This is Samantha Baker and today is her 16th birthday. The problem is, nobody remembers.
Writers	John Hughes (written by)
Year	1984

#140RVW

Now that’s more like it. Truly lives up to title; amazing. Still too long & not particularly original, but few missteps; very well executed.

What’s more:

From all of the previews and trailers, this looked awesome. But then I started hearing negative buzz on it and got nervous and downgraded my expectations. (I partially blame this on the curious decision to release the film several weeks early in England. No reflection on England, of course, I just still don’t get why they did this. I’m a big believer in same day release worldwide.) Anyway, this may have worked to my advantage, as I was pleasantly surprised by just how good this movie was. I don’t care what reviews you’ve read – The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is a great movie.

I’m frankly a bit stunned by the poor response the movie has gotten. I’m beginning to see a trend in opinions on recent genre movies of the past five years, though. It seems to come down to whether you liked the Star Trek reboots or not. I have found myself on the opposite side of opinions with people who disliked the new Trek movies. It seems as though you’re either in the Zack Snyder camp or the J.J. Abrams camp. I don’t know what this means, but I’m going to have to give it some more thought. I loved Star Trek Into Darkness and hated Man of Steel, and I’m finding a lot of people splitting on those two films. Just an observation.

Back to the movie. If you read my review of The Amazing Spider-Man, you’ll know that I found it mostly enjoyable but mostly an unmemorable and unnecessary reboot. Fast forward two years and I found this one worlds better, even though a lot of the same criticisms are probably valid. It’s far too long, it isn’t hugely original, it does suffer a bit from superhero fatigue, the CGI is excessive and the endless action scenes lack any physical or emotional weight as a result. These criticisms could and probably should be leveled at virtually every action picture of the past 10 years.

So what else is wrong? Let’s get all the bad stuff out of the way first:

• Paul Giamatti is completely wasted in this. It feels like he’s in the picture for about four seconds. Strictly sequel-bait. It would have been better to have him be an uncredited cameo. (Of course, the only reason Rhino isn’t counted among the stupidest Marvel villains is that they have decades of bigger mistakes, so less Rhino isn’t problematic for me.)
• Makes the same “too many characters” mistake that all of these movies make, going back to at least Batman Returns, possibly longer.
• If you didn’t like the leads in the first movie they aren’t going to win you over now.
• There is an excessive amount of time spent on the whole “I don’t have a dad” angst. This would have been the best place to edit.
• The product placement is so excessive it that my ticket should have been subsidized.
• There is a character named Dr. Ashley Kafka that is so unbelievably over the top as a morally-deficient German scientist that it brought to mind nothing so much as John Glover’s role in Batman & Robin.
• By the way, Ashley Kafka in the comics is a woman, but they gave the part to a man for the film. This should give you some sense of how much representation females receive here.
• Faceless corporate bad guys; the next filmmaker who populates their movie with cold, mean-looking white guys in bespoke suits who talk about the effects on investors and stock prices should be made to do community service until they promise never to do it again.
• There are a few other things but this is a spoiler-free review.

Quite a damning list, no? So what was good about The Amazing Spider-Man 2? Well…

• The humor. This is the Spidey we’ve been waiting for. Finally the right balance of jokey irreverence and sarcasm, not just the occasional smart-ass remark. Good physical comedy and prop gags. Garfield is a good Peter Parker, but he’s a great Spider-Man.
• The suit. I didn’t dislike any of the suits that have been done before, but this is the closest to the comic yet. The big white eyes is absolutely the final piece to help enhance the Spidey personality and remind us all that this is supposed to be fun, not just a bunch of actiony-angst.
• The look of the film. ASM2 was shot on film instead of the Red digital cameras of the first film. I don’t know if this was the big difference or the change in DPs was, but it looks much better. And while the 3D is still gimmicky, I thought it was better.
• The moral dilemma of involving Gwen. Peter’s promise to Captain Stacy to stay away from his daughter seemed to have no weight in the first picture. Bringing back visions of the character to show Peter’s guilt and misgivings works well. That being said, the on again off again thing drags on.
• While the movie was too long, the pacing was just about right. Sure, it could have used a haircut, what movie couldn’t? But it moved along at a good clip – for the most part.
• I may be in the minority here, but I really liked Jamie Foxx’s Electro. Sure, the dialogue wasn’t very good – this isn’t Ibsen. But he provided an intensity that was expected and a vulnerability that was not. His coming out scene in Times Square is great because you really feel his hurt and that things could have gone another way.
• The Electro effects are surprisingly good. I thought the character design was questionable from the early stills and previews, but it works well in the film.
• Dane DeHaan is a good choice as privileged yet neglected Harry Osbourne. His descent is more believable than most villains.
• Sally Field takes it up a notch as May and she and Garfield have some nice scenes and create a relationship that is much more believable than in the first film.
• I preferred the Hans Zimmer score to that of James Horner’s score for ASM1.
• J. Jonah Jameson does not appear on film, but he and the Daily Bugle are a presence. Yes. I hope they bring back J.K. Simmons…
• Plenty of Easter eggs and teasers for future films.
• There are a few other things but this is a spoiler-free review.

Oddities:

• Big changes in the final cut; I may be wrong, but it seemed as if more than 50% of the spoken lines in the various trailers were missing from the final film. I wonder how much rearranging went on in the editing booth.
• Mid-credits scene. There isn’t one. Instead there is a confusingly scattered scene from the new X-Men movie. It’s really jarring. You’re watching the credits and wondering what cool little stinger you’re going to get and then BAM – you’re dropped right into the middle of a scene in the Vietnam War with no preamble, just instant action – and then it’s over just as fast. It’s not a trailer, it’s not a sneak peek. It’s like the projectionist just accidentally loaded the movie playing in the theater next to you halfway through and then noticed their mistake. It’s bizarre and confusing. It makes you think they’re hinting at a Spidey/X-Men crossover, which they’re not. So why is it there? I found out later that it was a concession Sony made to rival studio Fox to advertise the picture for free in exchange for letting director Marc Webb do ASM2 before fulfilling his previous contract with Fox. Are you kidding me? I’m calling shenanigans…

Could it have been better? Yeah, probably. These things generally could be. But this is a very good movie. It isn’t going to crack the top 5 comic-book movie list or anything, but I really enjoyed ASM2 and I think you will too, if you let yourself.

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test:

Pass

The Representation Test Score: C (6 pts)

(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)

 

Main Cast	Andrew Garfield Spider-Man/Peter Parker, Emma Stone Gwen Stacy, Jamie Foxx Electro/Max Dillon, Paul Giamatti Aleksei Sytsevich
Rating	PG-13
Release Date	Fri 02 May 2014 UTC
Director	Marc Webb
Genres	Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Plot	Peter Parker runs the gauntlet as the mysterious company Oscorp sends up a slew of supervillains against him, impacting on his life.
Poster
Runtime	142
Tagline	No more secrets.
Writers	Alex Kurtzman (screenplay) &, Roberto Orci (screenplay) …
Year	2014

#140RVW

Good not great little film featuring the show-stopping Jane Horrocks. Great British comedy, but I suspect this made a better play than film.

What’s more:

Playwright Jim Cartwright apparently wrote his play “The Rise and Fall of Little Voice” specifically for the immensely talented singer Jane Horrocks, a fact that is completely believable once you hear her. (Future Oscar-winner Sam Mendes directed the play, which was then adapted for the screen by writer-director Mark Herman.)

Little Voice (so nicknamed due to her extreme shyness) shuts herself away in her overbearing mother’s house, obsessively listening to her deceased father’s record collection and perfectly mimicking the singers. Her mother (Brenda Blethyn) is a loud, brash tart, always looking for a successful man. When she brings home never-been promoter Ray Say (Michael Caine), he instantly recognizes LV’s talent and he plots to finally hit the big time behind this unexpected miracle. If he can only get her out of her room…

Little Voice is a neat little movie, although its origins as a play are incredibly apparent. It may be a tale best told on stage, as all the best thrills come from hearing Horrocks sing. It doesn’t really seem fully baked, frankly. Ewan McGregor has a nice little role as a shy pigeon-fancier who is sweet on LV, but there really isn’t any particular need for the love story – it isn’t relevant and doesn’t advance the plot. There’s a ton of great acting going on, but no one character really gets a worthwhile story to tell. Horrocks is simply masterful as LV, and has some lovely scenes with Caine, but the story is in a terrible rush to get to her performances and feels underdeveloped. I’m nitpicking a bit, but only because I enjoyed the movie so much, I just hoped it could be a bit more. It’s still highly recommended.

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test:

Pass

The Representation Test Score: B (7 pts)

(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)

 

Main Cast	Brenda Blethyn Mari Hoff, Jane Horrocks LV, Michael Caine Ray Say, Ewan McGregor Billy
Rating	R
Release Date	Fri 04 Dec 1998 UTC
Director	Mark Herman
Genres	Comedy, Drama, Music, Musical, Romance
Plot	The pathetically shy LV lives the life of a recluse listening to her late father’s old records in her room and in the process driving her abusive…
Poster
Runtime	97
Tagline	Finding your own voice can be magic.
Writers	Jim Cartwright (play), Mark Herman (screenplay)
Year	1998

140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

It’s the 100th anniversary of the opening of Wrigley Field, but I’ve already reviewed a lot of Cubs films. This has the one great Cub scene.

Spoiler-free Movie Review of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off:

The rare movie that is exactly as good as its reputation, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is one of John Hughes’ most beloved films for good reason. Yes, the actors are far too old to be playing high school students. That’s it. That’s my criticism.

It’s just a hell of a good time. Not as insightful or meaningful as his other teen comedies, it’s a much more straightforward ride. And there’s nothing in the world wrong with that.

As is typical in his films, the teens have all the great lines, and the adults are a bit underwritten, but that’s not really a problem for this story. Hughes wrote the screenplay in less than a week!

Matthew Broderick is ridiculously charming in what would have been a star-making role – if he wasn’t already a star. As Cameron, Alan Ruck is absolutely fabulous in what was only his third film. The two have a easy-going camaraderie made believable by their previous experience working together on Broadway. Mia Sara completes the trio capably as Ferris’ girlfriend Sloane. Would their roles have been better filled out by alternate choices Emilio Estevez and Molly Ringwald? I don’t think so.

The supporting cast is excellent, led by Jeffrey Jones as the Dean of Students. Jennifer Grey & Charlie Sheen are good, but no one approaches Ben Stein’s economics teacher.

There are so many quintessential Chicago scenes. The film really is Hughes’ love letter to his city. It’s great when a filmmaker lets their obvious love for a place so deeply saturate their art.

Alright, that’s enough. Go watch it again – you know it’s been too long. Enjoy Ferris breaking the fourth wall and reacquaint yourself with quotes you’ve known for so long you forgot they were quotes. #SaveFerris

Poster:

Trailer:

Bechdel Test:

Pass

The Representation Test Score: C (6 pts)

(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)

[schema type=”movie” name=”Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” description=”A high school wise guy is determined to have a day off from school, despite of what the principal thinks of that.” director=”John Hughes” actor_1=”Matthew Broderick” actor_2=”Alan Ruck” actor_3=”Mia Sara”]

Main Cast	Matthew Broderick Ferris Bueller, Alan Ruck Cameron Frye, Mia Sara Sloane Peterson, Jeffrey Jones Ed Rooney
Rating	PG-13
Release Date	Wed 11 Jun 1986 UTC
Director	John Hughes
Genres	Comedy, Drama
Plot	A high school wise guy is determined to have a day off from school, despite of what the principal thinks of that.
Poster
Runtime	103
Tagline	While the rest of us were just thinking about it…Ferris borrowed a Ferrari and did it…all in a day.
Writers	John Hughes (written by)
Year	1986