Mikey Rourke & Willem Dafoe Crossover DVDs

Jason and I had a Mickey Rourke Willem Dafoe crossover DVD party tonight. Jason gave the films we watched tonight to me for Christmas last year, I believe it was, that or my birthday, but I’m pretty sure it was for Christmas. I’ve been waiting since then to watch them, because there were four movies altogether, and we had to wait until a time when we could start early instead of the usual 10:00 at night. Which we don’t have that much time to do since the only night we can is Monday, and I usually give piano lessons until late Monday night. So I was thankful for the holiday so that way I could tell my students, take the day off, while I was really conspiring to spend some QT with brother Jason.

First we watched Point Blank (new), a low budget action flick that is beneath star Mickey Rourke, and co-stars Kevin Gage, Frederic Forest, and James Gammon. It’s not a bad flick when one takes into consideration the type of movie it is, it’s just disconcerting that a fabulous actor like Rourke would be in a flick like this. Although his presence does elevate the drab and laughable acting by the local Texans who make up the hostages in the mall that a group of escaped cons, lead by Ruddy’s (Roake) brother (Gage). To make sure his brother doesn’t get hurt, Ruddy, an ex-Texas Ranger/ex-merc, makes his way into the mall to take out the bad guys before the Texas Rangers go in, or the FBI comes in to screw things up “like they did in Waco”. His brother ends up dying anyway, at the hands of the sleaze ball who was behind the whole breakout anyway (Paul Ben-Victor). This is where Rourke escalates the acting, not only in this movie but in pretty much every action flick that’s ever been made, as he breaks down and actually cries real tears (as opposed to the scrunching of the eyes seen in most of these flicks whenever emotion is called upon).




Next up was A Prayer Before Dying (new), a “thriller” according to the cover, which turned out to be more a very interesting drama about an IRA operative (Rourke) who decides to quit after one of his bombs blows up a school bus full of children instead of its intended military target. But to get out of the country with a new identity, he has to pull a hit for a local mobster, who runs a mortuary/crematorium-not as a cover. Rourke’s character does the hit, but it’s witnessed by a priest (Bob Hoskins) who’s in the cemetery where the assassination takes place. Rourke later takes refuge from the mobster in the priest’s parish where he meets and falls in love with the priest’s niece. A little convoluted, but very entertaining and well executed all the same.

Third on the list, as well as the film which brought together the fabulous actors showcased in our DVD marathon tonight, was The Animal Factory (new). As far as prison flicks go, this one (directed by Steve Buscemi) is excellent. Even Edward Furlong isn’t bad in it. The film is follows Ron Decker (Furlong) who gets sentenced to five years in the penitentiary for possession of marijuana (harsh much?). Being a young, skinny kid, he’s obviously going to be the apple of some poop chute banging residence of the state. So he falls in with Earl Copen (Willem Dafoe) and his buds who take care of the new kid, without him having to worry about them turning him into their broad. Willem Dafoe gives a terrific performance in this movie, he totally embraces the character. And unrecognizable and hilarious in this film is Mickey Rourke as Jan the Actress, I think the name and setting of the film explain the name. Jan is Ron’s cellmate to start with until Copen gets Ron moved to his block. Rourke is spot on with the mannerisms, as he never over plays it, making the portrayal (which could have been played way over the top) so believable that I’m still can’t believe it was the buffed up Mickey Rourke. Copen and Ron develop an almost father son relationship, which seeing Ron’s real father (John Heard) in a few scenes, it’s obvious why Ron cleaves so strongly to this new older male figure in his life. The title (taken from the novel the film is based on) is all but lost in the film, however. It’s supposed to mean that prisons are factories that turn people into animals, instead of rehabilitation centers for the criminally deranged. However, since the two main characters, Ron and Copen, are shown as caring and sympathetic, as are most of their circle of friends-the only deranged people are the rapists who try to butt plug little Ron-this theme does not really come across.

Ending the night was To Live and Die in L. A. (new). Willem Dafoe is absolutely marvelous as the artist/counterfeiter villain of the film. William Peterson (CSI) is also good as the Secret Service agent who tries to take him out. The film itself, however, is rather messy, with subplots running here and there seemingly in a hurry to get nowhere. The death happens too suddenly, and the impact of bullets look like someone is throwing rotten tomatoes at the actors’ faces. The performances by Peterson and Dafoe, however, make this flick worth the time to watch.

It wasn't until The Animal Factory that I realized how many movies these two guys have been in together. There's The Animal Factory, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, and White Sands. And if you add Danny Trejo into the mix you get three movies too, Point Blank, Tha Animal Factory, and Once Upon a Time in Mexico (all three with Mickey Rourke and the last two with Willem Dafoe).


Two episodes of Roswell.

Willem Dafoe

William Peterson

Kill Chiba

We had a Sonny “The Street Fighter” Chiba marathon last night. I was a little hesitant about it, because it was a boxed set of three films, entitled The Kill Chiba Collection. The box is yellow with a black racing stripe down the right margin, with a picture of Sonny Chiba next to it .I was worried because I figured it’s just some company putting together some crummy movies to make some dough off of the very well made, Kill Bill films. I figured they’d be awful, terrible films worse than Full Circle. But my favorite guy in the entire world, my brother Jason, bought it for me so I would never ever voice this opinion out loud and risk hurting his feelings. My fears turned out to be totally unfounded, and I had a really great time.

First up was The Bullet Train. It was okay, not my favorite flick in the set or ever, but not bad. Imagine Speed on an extremely fast train, without Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Daniels, and last but not least the villainous Dennis Hopper (soon to be seen on NBC’s-I think- E-Ring). Which is where this movie fails, by not having actors like the ones mentioned above to keep us entertained. That and the filmmakers couldn’t seem to decide whose story they wanted to tell, the good guys’ or bad guy’s. The villain in this flick actually turns out to not be so bad, and is one of the more likeable characters in the film. When the railway authorities inevitably track him down, I found myself wishing that he would get away, which he almost did, but goes out in a fashion similar to that of my uncle, Bobby DeNiro’s character does in Heat.

Second was, The Executioner, aka Hell Fist. This was an awesome flick, not great in the sense that it’s a great film, but great in the fact that I had a really great time watching it. The plot is kind of complex for a film that’s meant to be a straightforward martial arts flick. It’s hilarious though. If Hollywood put out more action flicks like this one, they wouldn’t have lost so much money this year. The action sequences are great, I can totally see where Quentin Tarantino was coming from now, with all the gore and eye gouging etc. Plus it is so funny, and not in a stupid or retarded way that only gets those under thirteen to laugh and not groan with the anxiety of wasting six bucks on a flick that seems like preschoolers put together on a day off-see Dukes of Hazzard and the Walking Tall remake. This movie has some truly great moments, a lot of it character driven, another thing Hollywood could learn to add to its flicks. Plus there’s a little gratuitous nudity, which in flicks like this goes a long way.

The third and final film of the night was Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon. Not a bad movie, but not as good as The Executioner. Sonny Chiba plays Golgo 13, taken from the Bible-Golgo for Golgotha, and 13 because the “13th man gave Christ the crown of thorns-a hitman who goes around killing people, or trying to for most of the movie. His motivation is never really revealed, but in flicks like this, also with a little gratuitous nudity, who cares. Right? Anyway, much to the chagrin of the cops, Golgo 13 kills off the baddies and gets away, to fight another day.

Roswell: Crazy and sex, lies, & videotape

Is Puberty the End of Talent?

Is there something about puberty that just ruins an actress’s talent? Now, I’m not trying to be sexist or anything like that-I’d be bitching about male actors if there were any talented actors under the age of thirty working in relatively accessible films or television, except for Hayden Christensen-it’s just something that I’m noticing more and more.





First of all there was last week when I saw Natalie Portman's marvelous performance in Beautiful Girls. She also does great in Leon and later on in her career in Anywhere But Here-both excellent films. But then in movies like Star Wars it’s like all of that wonderful natural talent has disappeared. Granted, she doesn’t have the best dialogue or character to work with, or director for that matter, but still, some of that old talent should show through. Come to think of it, pretty much everyone but the CGI characters are wooden in that movie. Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor have excuses though as the Jedi aren’t supposed to show emotion and remain passive. And Jake Lloyd, the kid who played Anakin is one of the worst and annoying child actors I’ve ever seen. So that leaves Ms. Portman as the only human character to empathize with. And, unfortunately, it’s just not there in her performance. Of course, she does pick up in the other two installments, but the naturalistic nuances of style are still not like her earlier work. Maybe it’s the daunting task of being in a movie with such high expectations from the entire global community and whatever extraterrestrial life forms may have picked up the signal when the films were broadcast. Of course, I haven’t seen Closer, or anything non Star Wars she’s done since Anywhere But Here, so maybe the Star Wars performances were just a fluke.



Which brings me to my next point. I’ve never been a huge fan of Reese Witherspoon; I didn’t really care one way or the other. I’d only seen her in a few movies, and while she wasn’t bad, I didn’t see anything spectacular in her performances. Her role in Pleasantville, for instance, anyone could have done. Last night (Monday) I was watching the first two things she did, The Man in the Moon (not to be confused with the Jim Carrey flick) and Wildflowers and I was completely blown away. While Wildflowers is a so so made for TV movie, Withersoon, along with Patricia Arquette, bring the movie up. But what really got me, and has forever contracted me as a Reese Witherspoon fan is The Man in the Moon, her first film. She’s terrific, and such a natural that I forgot I was watching a film and felt like I was experiencing it as the character Witherspoon plays in the film. There are no mannered affectations in her performance, just a simple and naturalistic style that I wish more actors had. Even some of the greats could learn a thing or two from her performance in this movie. Then a few years later she’s in Freeway, not a bad film, but her performance lacks the naturalness of her earlier work. Here’s hoping she has some movies coming out that showcase this talent instead of the crappy flicks she’s been in lately.

And that’s the way it is at the Rabbit Hole.

Film Update

I just finished watching the final rough cut of my film, The Interrogation. And with legal pad in hand, I am prepared to make a few minor adjustments, and after years of waiting, should have a cut ready to show people.

Family Affair

Jason and I had another DVD and pizza party last night.

We started the night with Dangerous Curves (new), a Carradine family affair as it starred brothers David and Robert, and Marina Carradine (David’s wife). The film isn’t that great, but don’t tell my brother as he’s the one who bought it for me. Robert Carradine plays a lawyer, John Burnside, who spies an ex-lover, Stella (Maxine Bahns), in the background of a photo he’s researching for another case. What exactly she did to spurn him I’m not sure and why exactly he drops his big case to go off to Ireland/doubling for who knows where in America, looking for her, I’m not sure; but all of this he does. Once he arrives in this mysterious locale, Burnside discovers that Stella is mixed up with all kinds of baddies, what exactly they do is not clear, except for the arms dealer with the fake Russian accent who’s two female lackeys have a disturbing love for chopping off penises and keeping them preserved in glass jars. There’s an empty jar on their shelf with John Burnside’s name on it. Involved in all this is Stella’s neighbor who thinks Burnside is a murderer because he sees Burnside standing over the dead body of some dude in Stella’s apartment, Stella has conveniently fled the scene. Another wacky character in the mix is Lemmy (David Carradine) who is head over heels in love with Stella. David Carradine must be good friends with Roger Corman, because he makes a total fool of himself in this flick. Although it’s a nice change from the hard edged characters he’s played recently and adds several humorous and touching scenes to the wanna be film noir flick. Maxine Bahns, who was Ed Burn’s leading lady till he broke up with her, is delightful at Stella, who screws both of her suitors in the end, although not in the way they hoped. Throughout the entire movie I was trying to figure out who she was, and didn’t find out until the end when I checked the Bio extra feature on the disc.

Since the next movie, Knocking on Death’s Door, is a horror flick, we decided to wait until it got darker to watch it, to bide our time we watched the last episode of the first season of 21 Jumpstreet. Tom Hanson, Johnny Depp’s character, goes undercover in a gang of “punks”-we’re talking 80’s punks here guys-to disband the gang and get the dirt on their leader so he can be put in prison and his influence taken away from the simple minded teenagers of his gang. Let’s face it; Johnny Depp’s earlier work isn’t that great. Anyone who has seen this series or Nightmare on Elm Street can testify to that, but in this episode, the talent that he has cultivated and made him the artist he is today, is finally becoming apparent. It’s really cool to watch him grow as an actor on the show. Included on this disc were some “bonus” interviews. The most interesting interview was the one with the show’s creator, in which he explains how the show got started and how Johnny Depp almost never got his break with this show.

The next flick on the night’s schedule was, Knocking on Death’s Door, another David Carradine/Roger Corman project. The problem with this film is that the filmmakers take it seriously and there’s none of the campy humor that makes these flicks fun, and turning it into an average horror movie. Once again, characters appear and disappear for no apparent reason, and several minor plot points don’t make much sense. There’s nowhere near enough nudity, although there is a hot masturbation scene, in which the lead female, (Kimberly Rowe) does herself, although all we get to see is her hand moving beneath her jeans.

Jason took a little nap during Knocking on Death’s Door, and was feeling refreshed enough to suggest watching another movie, so I popped in G. I. Jane, which I was going to watch anyway, whether he had woken up or not. Jason’s seen it before and has a copy of is own, so I didn’t think it would matter. The films not bad, but all I can say is who cares? I mean, Demi Moore’s character is not really likeable.

The real story, I think, is with Viggo Mortensen’s character. He’s the interesting one; he’s the one I want to know more about. Why does this actor not get more work? He’s a terrific actor. The whole poetic side to his character in the movie was his own invention. The book of D. H. Lawrence poems he gives to Demi Moore’s character at the end is his own, personal copy, or was until he passed it on. It adds a totally new and different side to the character and the film. He picked the perfect poem to use considering the element and themes of the film. Besides, what other actor working today could make playing the typical military hard-on into such an interesting and complex character. Even the great Robert DeNiro does not do as well in Men of Honor. And I have it on good authority that in The Lord of the Rings movies, each actor was given two swords, a “stunt” sword which was light to make it less tiring on them for the fight sequences, and a “hero” sword which was used for all the close ups and was the weight of a regular sword, i. e. pretty damn heavy. Guess which one our Viggo used the entire time. That’s correct, the hero sword, no wussy stunt swords for this actor. He used the hero sword, by the way, to capture the fatigue that his character would really be feeling. Oh, if only other actors would take lessons from this guy, Hollywood might actually be making some money.

Viggo Moretensen in G. I. Jane

Movie of the Week: 8 Femmes

8 Femmes, or 8 Women to my non French speaking readers, is a delightful comedy/murder mystery from across the sea. The film is based on a French musical, which is apparent in the film from the dialogue and more obviously from the musical numbers.
Marcel is the man of the house and has eight women (hence the title) in his life, all of which have some motive for killing him. I won’t go into the details here, as many of them will give away important plot points that I will leave you to discover on your own. One morning, Marcel’s youngest daughter rushes downstairs shouting that she has just found her father in his bed, a knife sticking out of his back. Mayhem ensues as each character’s motive for murder is revealed in classic fashion. Each revelation is done with such style that the melodramaticness of the film is willingly overlooked. That’s about as much I can write about the film without giving the ending away, so to find out more, you’ll just have to check the movie out, which I highly recommend you do.
The musical sequences are all executed with a unique style that fits the character singing. All eight of the women serenade us in a theatrical style befitting their character. The lyrics of each song reveal much about the character who sings them, and helps to make these women sympathetic to the audience. My favorites include the songs performed by Emmanuelle Beart and Ludivine Sagnier.
I was surprised that an American studio had not attempted to adapt this charming and hilarious film into a big budget American film. However, I am glad that no such thing has occurred and hope that it never does. 8 Women could never be pulled off as an American film; it just wouldn’t work. Part of the magic of the film is its European flavor. It might possibly work if the songs were left out, but the musical numbers are such a darling part of the film and the characters that it would be like hacking the film to pieces to leave them out. And America, unfortunately, does not have the wide range of talent in the many generations the film would need. 8 Femmes has talent from the older Catherine Deneuve and Fanny Ardant to the younger generations such as Ludivine Sagnier and Virginie Ledoyan. I cringe just picturing in my mind the cast an American studio would put together, ruining this wonderful film.

4 stars out of 5