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Fantastic Fest 2018: LUKAS (aka THE BOUNCER): A Top Tier Late JCVD Eurocrime Thriller
Sullen and wizened JCVD might be the best JCVD
The wizened, silent hero with some blood on his hands is a classic trope in crime and action cinema. We cherish our William Munny’s from Unforgiven, our Jack Reachers, our John Wicks. Then there’s the ascendance of the modern Dad action subgenre popularized by Taken and carried through to Blood Father and dozens of others. Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Lukas brings us a gloriously meditative and dour hybrid of these subgenres and gets that recipe just right.
Lukas is a bouncer, as the US title of the film implies. A former bodyguard, we know very little about the man except that he loves his daughter, he’s behind on her school payments, he’s got some secrets in his past, and he’s very good at violence. When we meet him he’s keeping his head above water, but a chance confrontation with a powerfully connected scumbag at a club costs him his job. Soon enough he finds himself at a job interview for a crooked club owner where the job goes to whoever is last man standing. Further complicating his life, Detective Zeroual (French tough guy actor Sami Bouajila) brings him in regarding the initial incident at the club, and he then finds himself forced into the investigation surrounding his new corrupt boss. Boxed in by his need to keep himself and his daughter afloat, the increasing criminal activity he’s being pushed into by his boss, and Zeroual’s relentless push to capture that boss (a major counterfeiter), Lukas has no other options other than to fight to survive.
Directed with a quiet but confident style by French filmmaker Julien Leclercq, this film rises above the quality level of many of Van Damme’s late-career projects. Leclercq draws his inspirations from those strong silent types of cinema’s past to flesh out Lukas as a character. And this film wouldn’t be what it is without someone like Van Damme in the lead role embodying those past heroes. Leclercq referenced filmmakers like David Fincher and Darren Aronofsky (notably Americans, despite how French the final film feels) as inspirations. His camera follows Lukas around in a style inspired by The Wrestler, and it’s quite effective. The script felt like it had much in common with another recent French crime thriller called A Bluebird In My Heart. I shouldn’t have been too surprised, then, when I discovered that the writer/director of Bluebird, Jeremie Guez, had also written The Bouncer.
As far as action set pieces go, The Bouncer is explosive and effective without packing the runtime with violence. This is a character-based crime film that ratchets up tension in an effort to really box in Lukas. There’s a glorious long-take where the camera is once again following Lukas as he enters a drug den and navigates the winding hallways until he locates and pulls out a meth cooker his boss commands him to kidnap. It’s a fantastically tense sequence that was very complicated to pull off. There’s also an expertly executed chase and shoot-out in a parking garage, the aforementioned “job interview” fight, and a final standoff that are all very satisfying.
The ultimate piece of the puzzle that really elevates Lukas is the throbbing and tense score. Reminiscent of a relentless heartbeat, score becomes entwined with character and Lukas’ circumstances combined with the hopeful beat of his heart keep us rooting for a man to prevail against all those in the way of him getting his family to a place of safety and stability. It’s a great device for an aging hero, reminiscent of the “fire in the belly” that Sylvester Stallone is often referencing in later Rocky films… the unrelenting will to live and prevail despite age and the grind of life. And all of that comes through simply through the intentional throb of the music.
Lukas’ (and in turn Van Damme’s) age is overtly acknowledged throughout, which helps to lend credence to the film. It does strain credulity that such an older man would have QUITE that young of a daughter. But when his counterfeiter boss comments on Lukas prevailing in the brawl/job interview, he wonders aloud whether Lukas is insane, or simply a born survivor, adapting to whatever form he must in order to protect what is his. Lukas comments that it must be a little of both. It’s fantastic to see a performer like Jean-Claude Van Damme continuing to crank out respectable and boundary-pushing work long past when many of his contemporaries have faded into obscurity or crank out consistently lazy work. Between the self-reflective JCVD, the hilarious Jean-Claude Van Johnson series, and now The Bouncer, Van Damme proves he’s a committed and gifted performer willing to mine the depths of his flaws for great characters and still willing to put in the physical work to be a credible aging bruiser.
If meditative thrillers about aging heroes is your bag, then Lukas (the superior European title of The Bouncer) is the crime film for you. I enjoyed it so much I plan to track down some of the earlier films of director Leclercq, and I personally recommend A Bluebird In My Heart for those looking to get a taste of The Bouncer to tide them over until this film gets a release in their region of the world.
And I’m Out.
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JACK RYAN 4K Collection Part 2 — The Reboots
The Sum of All Fears and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit on 4K UHD Blu-ray
The Jack Ryan 5-Film Collection is now available on 4K Blu-ray. Please note the screenshots used in this article are Blu-ray sourced and do not represent the superior 4K transfers.
This article is the continuation of a review of the Jack Ryan film series, which was recently released on 4K Blu-ray in a new box set. You can read the previous article covering the 1990s Jack Ryan trilogy here:
https://cinapse.co/jack-ryan-4k-collection-part-1-the-original-trilogy-6860fbd72dca
After the trilogy, the property was revived twice for reboot movies in 2002 and again in 2014, each an origin story of sorts that ignored all previous entries, but without remaking any particular novels.
THE SUM OF ALL FEARS (2002)
Director: Phil Alden Robinson
I vaguely remember watching this when it first hit DVD, hating it, and then putting it out of my mind completely. I was irritated that it ignored the continuity of the previous films, and didn’t much care for Ben Affleck in general, and certainly not as a fitting replacement for Harrison Ford. Why the hell weren’t we getting a reunion of the Clear and Present Danger cast doing Executive Orders or Rainbow Six? The groundwork of introducing novel mainstays John Clark and Ding Chavez was already done. Now that would be something truly incredible.
Clearly, this was a missed opportunity, and those movies still would’ve been preferable to this one, but the simple truth is that I never gave this film a sporting chance. I’m still disappointed by what it’s not, but what it is — isn’t bad.
Releasing just months after the 9/11 terror attack, but finished before it, The Sum of All Fears — which is in a large part about a foreign bomb being used to attack Baltimore — is oddly both prescient of the real terror act and, chronologically, overshadowed by it.
Ever the smartest guy in the room, Jack believes the attack, attributed to the Russians, is actually a strategic play by an unknown third party to goad the two superpowers into war. With the help of CIA Director William Cabot (Morgan Freeman playing a spiritual successor to James Earl Jones’s Greer) and field man John Clark (Liev Schreiber), he sets out to prove his theory, clear the Russians, and prevent an all-out war which could quickly escalate into mutually assured annihilation.
The Sum of All Fears is probably the least of the series. Affleck’s version of the character feels a little dopey, and the CG effects hold up poorly. Despite these criticisms, it is much better than I allowed myself to give it credit for. It’s a huge missed opportunity that things didn’t progress with Harrison Ford and company doing the further Jack Ryan stories with the established cast, but taking this film for what it is, rather than resenting what it’s not — it’s fine. Most critically, the important thematic thread and core of the character — doing what’s right despite the immense pressure to give up — is still intact.
JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT (2014)
Director: Kenneth Branagh
I’m not sure what forces of judgment and persuasion could possibly have led to Irishman Kenneth Branagh taking on the quintessentially American Jack Ryan, but by gosh does it work like gangbusters.
It’s (sigh) yet another reboot, but that’s perhaps the only real downside in this well-made film that brings believable everyman Chris Pine to the role.
Unlike The Sum of All Fears which was post-9/11 only in terms of its calendar release, Shadow Recruit is a response to it. The opening finds a college-age Jack Ryan arriving at his campus to find that everyone is numbly gazing at TVs, watching the developments as planes crash into the Twin Towers. This was immediately disarming for me, the exact experience that I, and many people my age, remember vividly.
Despite being nearly finished with his doctorate, Ryan exits college and enlists in the military to fight the terrorists, eventually getting injured in combat and sent home to recover. Equally impressed by his resilience are his therapist Cathy Muller (Keira Knightley), who becomes his wife, and CIA Agent Thomas Harper (Kevin Costner), who recruits him to serve his country in a new way: using his skills as a financial analyst, operate as a CIA mole in crooked Wall Street corporations, spying on his employers and clients, looking for suspicious activities, like terrorist funding, lurking in the numbers.
Ryan makes just such a discovery, uncovering some business transactions by his employer’s Russian partner which point to some scary implications — by coordinating a terror attack on Wall Street with responsive trading, a foreign agent could both devastate the US economy and stand to make a massive profit.
Under the pretense of a routine business audit in his role as a compliance officer, Ryan heads to Russia to investigate Viktor Cherevin (Kenneth Branagh) — and quickly finds himself in way over his head dealing with people who are ready to kill him, and trying to hack their state-of-the-art security systems in order to divine the nature of a terror attack he’s now certain will come. Things go from bad to worse when his wife Cathy, unaware that he’s a CIA agent, makes a surprise visit and becomes a pawn in the deadly game.
To come right out with it, Shadow Recruit strays away from the franchise’s roots with a radically different style and a story that’s not based on any established Tom Clancy novel. But as a result, the filmmakers gave themselves the freedom to make what’s probably the most exciting film in the series, leaning more in the heisty, action-packed direction of a Mission: Impossible or Bourne film than the studious, political Jack Ryan films past — while still playing things smart.
It’s not the best of the series, but it could very well prove to be the most rewatchable, thanks to its quicker pacing, a personified villain, and a constant escalation of suspense. But the most unique aspect of this new vision is that it is the job of Ryan and his division to prevent another 9/11 from happening, and the echoes of that event meaningfully bookend the story in a way that is both reverent and resonant.
The Package
I posted an unboxing of the 4K box set which shows the packaging in detail, available here:
https://cinapse.co/jack-ryan-4k-collection-part-1-the-original-trilogy-6860fbd72dca
These films look gorgeous in 4K, with a noticeable upgrade for The Sum of All Fears, which previously had a weak Blu-ray transfer. Shadow Recruit on the other hand already looked amazing on Blu-ray, so its upgrade is less apparent (IMDb also notes that it has a 2K intermediate, so it’s likely this disc is simply an upscale). That said, if you’re going to to get slight to moderate upgrade, a box set is by far the best way to justify it.
The 4K discs each are each dedicated to a movie-only presentation, while all special features except commentary are housed only on the Blu-ray discs.
Special Features and Extras — The Sum of All Fears
- Commentary by director Phil Robinson and cinematographer John Lindley
- Commentary by the director Phil Robinson and novelist Tom Clancy
- The Sum of All Fears: A Cautionary Tale — Production (17:00)
- The Sum of All Fears: A Cautionary Tale — Casting (12:55)
- The Sum of All Fears — Visual Effects (27:48)
5-part featurette analyzing 5 major effects — The Carrier Attack, The A-4 Jet, The Hospital, The Motorcade, and The Helicopter
Special Features and Extras — Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
This is a very solid set of featurettes that incorporate interviews with many cast and crew members.
- commentary by director/actor Kenneth Branagh and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura
- Deleted & Extended Scenes (5:03)
- Jack Ryan: The Smartest Guy in the Room (13:37)
On adapting the character for a new generation, with the previous context of the character as a template
- Sir Kenneth Branagh: The Tsar of Shadow Recruit (9:49)
A featurette about Branagh, who both directs and play the film’s villain
- Jack Ryan: A Thinking Man of Action (5:19)
A look at this young and untested version of the character, with a focus on the hotel fight.
- Old Enemies Return (21:13)
30 years after the publication of the Hunt for Red October, the Russians continue to make good movie villains. This featurette focuses on global politics and intelligence with insights from expert commentators.
A/V Out.
Get it at Amazon:
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All 16:9 screen images in this review are direct captures from the Blu-ray disc (not 4K) with no editing applied, but may have compression or resizing inherent to file formats and Medium’s image system. All package photography was taken by the reviewer.
https://cinapse.co/jack-ryan-4k-collection-part-1-the-original-trilogy-6860fbd72dca
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JACK RYAN 4K Collection Part 1 — The Original Trilogy
The Hunt For Red October, Patriot Games, and Clear and Present Danger on 4K UHD Blu-ray
Jack Ryan 5-Film Collection is now available on 4K Blu-ray. Please note the screenshots used in this article are Blu-ray sourced, not from the 4K transfers.
With a new Jack Ryan series on Amazon Prime and more Clancy on the way to screens — Michael B. Jordan was recently announced to star in a new franchise as another beloved character, John Clark — the “Clancyverse” property is starting to catch fire again after a couple of lesser appreciated films (stay tuned for Part 2 where I’ll cover those).
I’m a longtime reader of Clancy who was once a big fan, but became a bit disillusioned. I loved his novels and his commitment to a world of characters like Jack Ryan and John Clark, but with time his name ceased to hold any meaning — “Tom Clancy” became little more than a brand, mostly used on militaristic video games, and even new books that bore his name in huge letters were no longer written by him. Similarly, I enjoyed the original Jack Ryan movies when I was younger (and a bit action-starved) but returned to them a few years ago and found them kind of boring and lacking in action, with their focus on intrigue and espionage. I despised The Sum of All Fears which axed the series continuity, and didn’t even bother with 2014’s “yet again” reboot, Shadow Recruit.
But with the new release of all 5 films in the Jack Ryan 5-Film Collection on 4K Blu-ray (and rediscovering some reverence for Tom Clancy, who passed away in 2013), I decided to wipe the slate clean and watch all five films with new eyes, ignoring any fanboyism or personal prejudices and just taking them on fairly. What I found was that, now a little older and hopefully wiser, I really enjoy the political intrigue as well as the action. The short version: this is an incredible set of five great films and is absolutely worthwhile, especially in 4K. Here are my thoughts on the first three, which form a single continuity.
THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER (1990)
Director: John McTiernan
Both the first Clancy novel and movie, The Hunt For Red October introduced the world to CIA Analyst Jack Ryan (Alec Baldwin), a brilliant desk jockey and military vet who gets embroiled in a major international incident. A high-tech Russian nuclear submarine, capable of evading detection, is making a beeline for the US. Familiar with its Captain, Marko Ramius (Sean Connery), Ryan becomes convinced that the sub is on a mission not of destruction, but defection.
While Jack Ryan would soon become the unchallenged star of his stories, Red October is a bit different in that it’s first and foremost about the conflict, with Ryan sharing focus as co-protagonist with Marko Ramius. In the movie, Connery is clearly the star.
The two-headed film that emerges is a taut and suspenseful thriller in which Ramius tries to evade detection from both sides and dupe his crew at large into performing what amounts to treason, while Ryan must convince his superiors, starting with his boss Admiral James Greer (James Earl Jones) that his theory — which is just a theory — has validity, and that the best approach is not to engage with violence, but diplomacy. With no effective means of communication, this ultimately means flying out to the USS Dallas to arrange a sub-to-sub meeting with an unknown enemy, on the hope that that enemy is a friend.
Director John McTiernan is known for action first and foremost, with undeniable classics like Die Hard and Predator atop his filmography, but he handles this heady uthriller expertly, finding the excitement in diplomacy. The incredible cast also includes Sam Neill, Tim Curry, Joss Ackland, and Stellan Skarsgard among the Russian characters, and Scott Glenn, Fred Thompson, Richard Jordan, and Jeffrey Jones on the American side.
PATRIOT GAMES (1992)
Director: Phillip Noyce
Probably my favorite of the novels, Patriot Games also makes for a killer movie. Jack Ryan, now played by Harrison Ford, is in London for a speaking engagement when his family is suddenly beset by a gun battle on the street. On impulse, Ryan jumps into action and fights the attackers, killing at least one of them.
As it turns out, they were domestic terrorists putting a hit on members of the royal family, and Ryan is hailed as a hero. But foiled attacker Sean Miller, whose brother Ryan killed, swears revenge. Despite being arrested and sentenced, the mentally unhinged Miller is freed by his peers and vanishes, and soon after nearly succeeds in an attempt to kill Ryan’s wife and daughter (Anne Archer and Thora Birch).
Miller’s motivation — putting aside his politics in favor of revenge, is the film’s most unique angle. It’s probably the most straightforward of the films, and while it does have a lot of political themes, they take a backseat to the more straightforward narrative of fear and intimidation for a purely personal vendetta, countered by instinct of a good man to defend his family.
Miller’s threat sends Ryan back to the CIA, where he sets to his job with newfound vigor, leading the charge to destroy his enemy using all available intel, and leaning hard on a stateside IRA leader (Richard Harris) who might have critical information.
With a little help from Ted Raimi! The sole R-rated entry in the franchise, Patriot Games is the most primal of the series, focusing on two evenly matched men, pushed to their limits, each vowing to destroy the other, culminating in an all-out attack on the Ryans and their friends (including pal Samuel L. Jackson) at a dinner party at their home. But despite being the darkest and most bloodthirsty of the films, it doesn’t betray the character or his values — it gives meaning to them.
CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER (1994)
Director: Phillip Noyce
Both the director and star of Patriot Games returned for Clear and Present Danger, my favorite of the movies. This is the one that goes deepest into the mythology of the books, introducing two beloved recurring characters from the novels.
The slaying of an American tourist and his family by drug runners spurs the US President to crack down on the cartels, but this setup gives way to a deeper mystery — the murdered man, a friend of the President, was deeply embroiled in the drug business, and this was no simple random thrill kill.
With longtime friend and boss Adm. Greer (James Earl Jones) being ravaged by cancer, Jack Ryan finds himself promoted to his job — and immediately set up as the scapegoat in an elaborate and illegal war that goes all the way up to the top.
Ryan’s not the only victim of this political manhandling. In Colombia, this plot is affecting men in the field – fan favorite characters from the novels. American shadow operative John Clark (Willem Dafoe) has been tasked with deploying a team to destroy the operations of the cartels, including spec ops sharpshooter Ding Chavez (Raymond Cruz), and his commander (Benjamin Bratt). When the pressure of an illegal war gets too hot, all comms are cut off and the squad is abandoned and left to die with no support.
Make that one last line of support — Ryan heads down to Columbia and teams up with Clark on an unsanctioned mission to brings the boys back home, and clear his name in the process.
When I was younger I never really understood the film’s political corruption themes and just loved all the action stuff in the cities and jungles of Colombia, and the inclusion of recurring characters I knew from the books. Watching this now, I appreciate so much the theme of doing the right thing even when surrounded by deceit and corruption.
The Package
I posted an earlier unboxing pictorial which goes over the 4K release’s packaging in detail, which you can check out here:
https://cinapse.co/unboxing-the-jack-ryan-4k-5-film-collection-box-set-4323200c9f
These films look gorgeous in 4K, particularly since, as the Blu-ray screenshots in this article show, some of the previous discs were quite poor. Clear and Present Danger gets the clearest present update, while Patriot Games probably looks the most impressive overall. (Hunt For Red October continues to have a solid transfer, but was shot considerably softer than the other two so its upgrade is less noticeable).
The 4K discs are each dedicated to a single movie-only presentation, while all special features (except commentary) are housed solely on the Blu-ray discs.
Special Features and Extras — The Hunt For Red October
- Commentary by director John McTiernan
- Beneath the Surface (29:00) — Behind the Scenes Featurette
- Trailer
Special Features and Extras — Patriot Games
- Patriot Games Up Close (25:14) — Behind the Scenes Featurette
- Trailer
Special Features and Extras — Clear and Present Danger
- Behind the Danger (26:34) — Behind the Scenes Featurette
- Theatrical Trailer
Continue to Part 2: The Reboots
https://cinapse.co/unboxing-the-jack-ryan-4k-5-film-collection-box-set-4323200c9f
Get it at Amazon:
If you enjoy reading Cinapse, purchasing items through our affiliate links can tip us with a small commission at no additional cost to you.https://cinapse.co/unboxing-the-jack-ryan-4k-5-film-collection-box-set-4323200c9f
All 16:9 screen images in this review are direct captures from the Blu-ray disc (not 4K) with no editing applied, but may have compression or resizing inherent to file formats and Medium’s image system. All package photography was taken by the reviewer.
https://cinapse.co/unboxing-the-jack-ryan-4k-5-film-collection-box-set-4323200c9f
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Fantastic Fest 2018: THE NIGHT COMES FOR US is the Gnarliest Action Film in the History of the…
Indonesia can’t be touched as Timo Tjahjanto teams with The Raid stars for an action all-timer
When attending a festival, one must be cautious to use qualifiers and tamper excitement as the festival environment can often amplify your experience and make one prone to grand, sweeping claims. This particular issue need not apply to The Night Comes For Us, the latest action opus to hail from Indonesia. This isn’t simply the most violent film at Fantastic Fest (or of 2018)… it’s the most gory action film I’ve ever seen in my entire life as an action cinema aficionado. And it’s not even close. Truly, writer/director Timo Tjahjanto has crafted an action film for the ages, giving the Indonesia-produced Raid franchise a legitimate run for its money.
The most successful final product I’ve seen from Tjahjanto to date, The Night Comes For Us is, much like other works of his I’ve seen, a little meaner than the output of his frequent collaborator Gareth Evans. In Evans’ films, there tends to be a real good guy fighting against hordes of villainy. Tjahjanto gives us some anti-heroes at best, and then makes sure virtually everyone suffers grievous injuries for their crimes. Here it’s Joe Taslim in the starring role as Ito, an elite and revered enforcer for the Chinese Triads’ legendary Six Seas. In this world, it is the mysterious Six Seas who keep the balance in check throughout the Triad criminal empire by committing unspeakable massacres. After years in the Six Seas, Ito glimpses a vision of redemption in the eyes of a little girl who’s the last survivor of one of these massacres, and takes her on the run. The entire Chinese Triad comes calling.
Fleeing to his hometown, Ito will have to begrudgingly rely on his former friends to keep the little girl alive and face off against the endless waves of street soldiers coming for them. One friend, however, Iko Uwais’ Arian, finds himself in line to fill Ito’s slot in the Six Seas, and must kill Ito if he wants to survive. Other mysterious characters will enter the fray, such as Julie Estelle’s (I believe nameless?) motorcycle riding badass whose loyalties are unclear but whose abilities are never in question.
But let’s get around to that action. Because while the screenplay actually does a good job of providing the John Woo-style melodrama that keeps us endeared to our characters that used to be brothers now having to fight and die alongside of or at one another’s hands, we’re here for that action, and Tjahjanto aims to deliver. First, the set pieces. Another product of a strong script, there are set pieces all across an array of environments and featuring all different kinds of weaponry from guns to fists to signature weapons that certain characters wield. A criticism often leveled against ultra-violent action films is that a repetitive “sameyness” can creep in. I’d argue that all of that is avoided here and Tjahjanto’s script and pacing go a long way towards achieving that. However, it’s ultimately the direction and the cast who truly light the fuse here.
Far and away the most ambitious and successful camera work I’ve seen yet from Tjahjanto, he’ll make sure we truly SEE the action. Sometimes the camera is frenetic, mounted to guns or to actors, but that dynamism never comes at the expense of actually seeing the goods. The actors are doing their own fight work and the choreography is designed to make this clear. These folks are going all out to entertain us, and they deserve all the credit the camera work and choreography give them.
Raid breakout sensation Iko Uwais handled that fight choreography for the film, and it’s absolutely spectacular. Fights have character, rhythm, and distinctive elements that allow each one to stand out, bring forth character traits, and distinguish various characters from the masses.
Finally, the practical effects team needs a massive shout out. I’m sure some CGI was used in the film, but I believe the vast majority of the stabs, bullet hits, slices, impalings, grindings, crackings, gurgles, limb severings, crashes, and explosions were accomplished practically with either in-camera effects or old school gore rigs and prosthetics. And let me tell you, this film is truly awash in viscera. Every act of violence is shown to have a physical consequence. No body part is spared. It honestly borders on body horror and the squeamish will need to turn their heads. But let’s be frank: The squeamish should never come anywhere close to watching this film. It’s a revelation of gore.
We’re always keenly aware that a final confrontation between Ito and Arian is looming. But before we get there we’re treated to such a wide array of standoffs and assaults and flat out wars that we almost can’t believe there is any gas left in the tank for the final fight. But then it comes, and it’s a fight for the ages. The team indicated that it took 2 full weeks of production to capture the final brawl, and it shows.
The Raid films have a place in my heart forever, and have become somewhat of a benchmark for what modern action cinema can achieve. Those films also essentially birthed an industry in Indonesia and put a host of Indonesian talent out there onto the international market for all of us to experience. The Night Comes For Us is the remarkable next level for that group of talent. We’ve already known that several breakout careers were born out of The Raid. But this film reshuffles the deck, doubles down on its inherent Indonesian-ness, and inherits the title as the latest international contender to show the world what action cinema can be. It’s hard to say where this film will rank among the action pantheon, but it’s certainly a new benchmark in rip-roaring, crowd-pleasing, on screen violence.
And I’m Out.
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Fantastic Fest 2018: HOLD THE DARK Because It’s Just Outside the Windows and It’s Coming For You
Jeremy Saulnier and Macon Blair continue to be a filmmaking duo par excellence
Directed with the calm assurance of a master, Jeremy Saulnier is only gifting us with his fourth film and appears to be running laps around most other practitioners of his craft. His frequent co-creator Macon Blair also rises to a new level with his adaptation of William Giraldi’s novel of the same name. To be clear, I haven’t read that novel, but the screenplay for Hold The Dark is fantastic regardless. A bit of a slow burn mystery/thriller, the film explores the life and religion of Alaskan people at the very edges of civilization. What’s beyond does not appear to be a friendly or inviting place.
Jeffrey Wright’s Russell Core is a wolf expert and a lonely man, distant from his adult daughter and separated from his wife. Alaskan mother Medora Slone (Riley Keough continuing a hot streak) writes to Core, asking him to come, hunt, and kill the wolf who snatched her son and took him into the wilderness. Soon Medora’s husband Vernon (Alexander Skarsgard in a terrifying performance) returns home from the war to news of his son’s passing, and, after the grisly discovery of young Bailey Slone’s body, lawman Donald Marium (James Badge Dale having a banner year) comes in to handle the case. Wolves have set off a chain of events that are more or less apocalyptic to the small town, and things aren’t going to end well for anyone involved.
Alternately gorgeous and foreboding, Saulnier deftly doles out breadcrumbs for a tense and dark mystery while also exploring the unfamiliar religious practices of the Alaskan natives, the peculiarities of the people who live on the fringes, and the ultimate nature of true wilderness. Hold The Dark shares much in the way of visuals, setting, and genre with last year’s Wind River. But Saulnier’s film deals much more explicitly in the supernatural, with characters’ deeply held and mysterious beliefs driving much of the mystery forward.
It’s definitely going to be a movie that rewards rewatches. Saulnier and Blair aren’t giving up the answers to the mystery with a bunch of exposition dumps or Oscar speeches from our characters. There’s a subtlety that makes the mystery even deeper and leaves some viewers uncertain as to what they’ve seen or what it means. This yielded great post-screening discussion and debate, and brought me some alternative theories to meditate on. This type of thing could frustrate many viewers, or leave them feeling disconnected from the material. There are different ways one could read the ending, for instance. Or different understandings of the motivations of the Slones, especially.
Hold The Dark offers a kind of existential dread that permeates the tragic story and even cuts into the gorgeous landscapes. We’re asked to question if the unknown is, at its core, chaos? There are explorations of generational trauma, and just how much damage we do to our children in the process of raising them in an unforgiving world. Keogh and Skarsgard as grieving parents provide the greatest mystery of the whole film. Who are these blonde white people living in an otherwise Native village? In perhaps the most unsettling early sequence, a clearly traumatized Medora enters Core’s room wearing nothing but a wolf mask in the middle of the night. The score and the situation made me so tense it was almost unbearable. Medora says and does things we don’t understand, and soon the same becomes true of Vernon. Wright’s character is perhaps the most relatable, as a bit of a cypher for us into an unknown world. And yet, his isolation from his family and regret over a life unlike what he’d wanted perhaps allow him to fit right in amidst this chaotic investigation.
What I simply can’t get over is the direction on display. There’s aerial work, massive shootout set pieces, wolves, and a knockout cast all captured with a master’s hand (credit where it’s due: Magnus Nordenhof Jønck served as cinematographer). So much of Hold The Dark is elevated by Saulnier’s brilliance. Small moments that we’ve seen a thousand times before, like a man being shot unexpectedly, are captured in such a way as to feel fresh and new and unlike what we’re used to seeing. That the film is coming to Netflix is somewhat of a disappointment as it deserves the big screen treatment. But they also financed it, so perhaps it wouldn’t exist at all without them? I also sincerely hope to be able to own it on Blu-ray someday, but that’s neither here nor there.
Hold The Dark posits a number of questions, and withholds some of the answers. Or, at best, simply offers some hints and asks you to do the legwork of connecting the dots. It asks of its audience, and in turn it will reward with repeat viewings and spirited conversations among friends. It may not be as commercial or straightforward as either Green Room or Blue Ruin, respectively, but it represents a next level of filmmaking for Saulnier and Blair. From pulse pounding thrills to existential nightmares, Hold The Dark delivers something masterful and nuanced that will keep you guessing long after the end credits roll (or after the dark takes you, whichever comes first).
And I’m Out.
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Fantastic Fest 2018: In DONNYBROOK, Modern America Already Is The Post-Apocalypse
Jamie Bell and Frank Grillo bare knuckle box as the world burns
If I’m being honest, it was Frank Grillo and “bare knuckle boxing” that got me in the door to see writer/director Tim Sutton’s Donnybrook at Fantastic Fest. The programmers had done enough to dissuade me of the notion that this was some kind of heroic action film, so my expectations were in check. But nothing can probably prepare you for the bleak depths that this film is willing to go to in order to portray the broken humanity of its characters and these United States in which our characters find themselves.
I’m going to go ahead and share my beefs with Donnybrook right up front, because then I can spend most of my time singing its praises. Beef number one is that while I love Frank Grillo and actually feel he did a great job as an absolute monster in this film… the team didn’t do enough to make Frank Grillo fit into this rural Ohioan(?) hellscape. He just looks and sounds like Frank Grillo, trademark peacoat and all, and doesn’t quite fit in with everyone else’s look in the film. Sutton argued that this was intentional in the film’s Q&A, making Grillo’s Angus character an outsider even among his own people. I’m glad it was intentional but it didn’t work for me. This could have been an opportunity for Grillo to try a different look, get a little uglier, or at least dress like a blackhearted hick-monster instead of a tight t-shirted hunk.
Beef number two is simply that the film perhaps lays on one layer too thick its social commentary. One of the first spoken lines includes a character opining “the world has changed”, and a few other instances occur where characters more or less verbalize the ideas that the film is otherwise doing a great job of showing us visually and through its script. It’s a minor beef, and honestly removing just a few of those “too overt” lines would have sent Donnybrook into “greatness” territory.
Enough with the criticism. Because Donnybrook is a powerful film that throws punches and pulls none.
Jarhead Earl (Jamie Bell in a riveting lead performance) is a veteran, husband, and father. We meet him on his way to the Donnybrook in a small boat accompanied by Delia (Margaret Qualley in perhaps the film’s most remarkable performance). The Donnybrook, we come to understand, is a bare knuckle tournament that take $1,000 to enter, with the winner taking home the pot. It’s whispered about around the region, and it appears to be just about the only ticket out of the economic despair of our characters. We jump back in time from the boat and watch as Earl robs a store to collect his entry money. When he arrives home he finds Grillo’s Angus in his home supplying his wife with the meth she’s addicted to, accompanied by his sister Delia. Earl and Angus’ initial violent clash sets the stage for what will come after, and it’s all quite effective. We follow Earl and his family, and Angus and Delia through a fateful few days in which each are committing multiple crimes. It’s clear, however, that Earl fights for his family and simply to survive. Angus, on the other hand, represents the truly monstrous, surviving only by destroying. On Angus’ trail is James Badge Dale’s Marshall Whalen. Donnybrook is the kind of film that seeks to remind you that a badge does not a hero make, and Whalen is shown to be just as broken as the rest of our ensemble.
Tim Sutton clearly has a lot on his mind about America today. Adapted from a novel of the same name by author Frank Bill, Donnybrook is anything but a heroic action film offering cathartic, redemptive violence. In Sutton’s America (an America I recognize all too well despite my own privilege) the law as represented by Whalen is not only amoral, but an empty void. Whalen is intent upon catching and killing Angus, but wreaks as much havoc on those around him as he can in the process, and ultimately proves to be completely ineffective. The law isn’t going to help you here.
The drama and character work that comes through in the script and performances is actually enough to sustain the vast majority of the film’s runtime, to the point where I began to believe we’d never even get to the actual Donnybrook. But we do, and that’s where the film truly plays its entire hand. I won’t spoil much in the way of plot, but I will say that it’s here where we understand the full weight of what Sutton has to say. Here we realize that the America we’re living in today has already fallen so hard that we don’t even need some calamitous nuclear war to experience post-apocalyptic cinema. Grimy, rainy, barb-wiry, and on fire… the Donnybrook is hell and no one is getting out unscathed. And gott-damn if the neo-Nazi who runs the Donnybrook won’t stop everything to make sure the national anthem is sung before the wholesale slaughter for entertainment begins.
More traditionally, we do find ourselves rooting for Earl and his family, and it’s clear that Earl is an otherwise good person forced into Donnybrook’s hellscape by the system that has ensnared him. Qualley’s Delia is remarkably complicated as the younger sister of a human monster. She’s victimized, forced to do unthinkable things (but still does them), and seemingly occasionally allows herself to dream of something different. She’s unpredictable in a film replete with surprises and seemingly no bottom to hit in the black hole. All of our main characters are born out of the broken country in which they were raised. We encounter them on some kind of march towards their ultimate fates, but in all the years before we met them, the hardscrabble fight to survive shaped them, and ultimately Sutton reminds us that these individuals are more real and tangible than the high flying ideals of our pledges, creeds, and anthems. The Donnybrook is the consequence of the America that we’re currently allowing to exist, rather than the America those increasingly hollow ideals upon which we’re supposedly founded promise. There’s little hope to be found in Donnybrook, but there is an inherent will found within Earl, Delia, and many of us to fight. That base instinct to fight propels Earl and compels us to perhaps escape the Donnybrook with our lives and try to do what we can to right the ship.
And I’m Out.
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Fantastic Fest 2018: ONE CUT OF THE DEAD: World’s Longest Set Up To Surprisingly Great Meta Pay Off
Pom!
It’s not really en vogue to utilize the term “meta” any longer, it seems. But wow, does One Cut Of The Dead take us to profound new levels of meta-narrative storytelling.
It’ll be a challenge to review this film without spoiling it, but I’m going to do my best. That said, this is a film that would best be experienced going in cold, and I recommend that you do so if you think you’d like to see it. I’m going to dive into the 3 act structure of the film, and even that might spoil some of the experience for you if you’re sensitive to that kind of thing. Just know that it is smarter than it appears to be, is full of heart and laughs (and zombies), and is also a bit of a love letter to filmmaking.
Beginning exactly as you would expect with this title, One Cut Of The Dead is a single-take zombie movie about a filmmaking team who is making a zombie movie. So you’ve got actors in zombie makeup, a tyrannical director, some sloppy filmmaking allowed in an attempt to capture it all in one take, and then some real zombies breaking in on the whole business. It’s funny and already attempting to be somewhat meta, though sloppy and unremarkable. Oddly, the end credits roll some 30 minutes in, and we’re really unsure what to expect from there.
We’re taken back in time to the inception of this live, single take broadcast, and we begin to meet the “real” characters who made up the cast and crew of this film we’ve just seen. In a frankly brilliant feat of screenwriting, we’re efficiently introduced to a core cast and family that we’ll shortly come to empathize with, understand, and root for. I just can’t believe how effectively this movie switches gears to make us care about the people who made a crappy zombie short. But they do this with a seeming ease, and we’re shortly in the corner of our main characters, rooting for their success. The clock is ticking, and ready or not, all of these characters are going to get swept up into this hurried, live, single-take broadcast. Will they be ready?
In the third act, One Cut Of The Dead truly sings. It may be one of the longest setups I’ve ever seen, and it turns into a wholly satisfying payoff. It’s also an absolute love letter to the chaos and anarchy of film production, and you’ll want to cheer by the time the actual end credits roll. And you know what? You don’t tend to expect swelling emotions and goodwill towards men in your heart when you watch zombie movies. That’s what really sets this film apart and makes it bearable in a world overrun by zombie IP.
One Cut of the Dead appears to be director Shinichiro Ueda’s first feature length film and second feature length screenplay after having directed several short films. The restraint and willingness displayed here to delay gratification in a first feature portends a bright future for a filmmaker able to elicit scares, laughs, heart, and complexity out of possibly the most tired subgenre in pop entertainment right now.
And I’m Out.
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Unboxing The [🔴REC] Collection Box Set
A look at Scream Factory’s upcoming release of the acclaimed Spanish horror franchise
Scream Factory will release The [🔴REC] Collection 4-Film Box Set on September 25, 2018.
The first two entries in the series were co-directed by Paco Plaza and Jaume Balagueró, and are frequently cited as two of the very greatest examples of “found footage” style horror films. The third and fourth entries shed that style to in favor of more cinematic storytelling, with the two directors each taking a turn at the helm to craft their own follow-up.
Let’s check this bad boy out.
All four titles are included in Scream Factory’s new box set. Each movie is packed in its own individual standard Blu-ray case, collected together in a sturdy slipbox.
A full list of the bonus features abbreviated above can be found at the end of this article.
Each movie’s individual case features the original poster design as well as internal artwork.
Bonus Features
Here’s the official list of bonus features (taken from Scream Factory’s product listing).
DISC ONE: [REC]
- In Spanish With English Subtitles And English Dub
- Audio Commentary With Writers/Directors Jaume Balagueró And Paco Plaza (In Spanish With English Subtitles)
- The Making Of [REC] (40 Minutes)
- Crew Interviews (46 Minutes)
- Extended Scenes
- Deleted Scenes
- Behind The Scenes Footage (43 Minutes)
- Teaser
- Theatrical Trailers
- TV Spots
- Still Gallery
DISC TWO: [REC] 2
- In Spanish With English Subtitles
- Audio Commentary With Writers/Directors Jaume Balagueró And Paco Plaza (In Spanish With English Subtitles)
- The Making of [REC] 2 — In An Affected World (118 Minutes)
- Behind The Scenes
- Deleted Scenes
- Extended Scenes
- A Walkthrough Of The Set
- [REC] 2 On Tour
- Sitges Film Festival Press Conference
- Theatrical Trailers
- TV Spots
- Still Gallery
DISC THREE: [REC] 3: GENESIS
- In Spanish With English Subtitles
- [REC] 3: Genesis — Preparing A Bloody Wedding (117 Minutes)
- The Making Of [REC] 3
- Deleted Scenes
- Outtakes
- Theatrical Trailers
- TV Spots
- Still Gallery
DISC FOUR: [REC] 4: APOCALYPSE
- In Spanish With English Subtitles
- The Making Of [REC] 4: APOCALYPSE
- Theatrical Trailers
- TV Spot
- Still Gallery
A/V Out.
Update: my colleague Jon has posted his review of this box set. Check it out!
https://cinapse.co/press-play-on-the-rec-collection-from-shout-factory-blu-ray-b9ec706d9030
Get it at Amazon:
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All package photography was taken by the reviewer.
https://cinapse.co/press-play-on-the-rec-collection-from-shout-factory-blu-ray-b9ec706d9030
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Spinema Issue 22 — FULL CIRCLE: THE BIRTH, DEATH & REBIRTH OF CIRCLE OF DUST
Circle of Dust is an artist that most people haven’t heard of, but you’ve definitely heard their influence. In certain circles this band is legendary — an industrial metal pioneer with a massive sound and far-reaching imprint.
While the group had touring members in its heyday (including “Klank”, who went on to become a great frontman in his own projects), the man behind the music was Scott Albert. These days he has settled on “Klayton” as his central identity, but over the years he established a presence that was difficult to measure, particularly in pre-Internet times. Similar to hip-hop’s MF Doom, he has worked under various pseudonyms, sometimes even appearing under multiple names on the same project — among them Brainchild, Klay Scott, Dread, Deathwish, Celldweller, and Scandroid, not to mention numerous side projects, collaborations, and producer efforts with Argyle Park, Chatterbox, Criss Angel, and Klank, among others.
In 1998, frustrated by years of bad record deals, financial strain, and the sensation of constantly getting screwed and going nowhere in a cesspool music industry, Klayton put out a final album (and sonic masterpiece) as Circle of Dust, Disengage, and then dissolved the project.
Working for himself and focusing on his new project Celldweller, Klayton achieved success as an artist, producer, and businessman — he launched his own record and merch label, which has become one of the most respected brands in electronic and industrial music, and with the onset of the “post-album” age and music industry downturn, managed to find a new niche, complementing traditional distribution with major licensing and commercial music efforts, providing music for films, trailers, and video games.
Two decades after Disengage, Klayton had acquired the rights to all his old albums and finally found success as an artist — and decided to bring things full circle, resurrecting Circle of Dust with deluxe remastered re-releases of the entire classic catalogue, and even a new record.
Full Circle is his way of telling the whole story, as Klayton combs through his archives and narrates three decades of music history.
Along for the ride are many guest interviewees from the band’s history — including bandmates, fellow artists, and even the record label execs who are part of the fabric of the tale. The interviews vary in production quality (many are simply Skype videos), but the story is a fascinating one.
While many voices lend themselves to this tale, this is still a first-party documentary created by the artist, so we’re definitely getting his specific perspective on the story. That’s not necessarily a bad thing — I want to hear that story — but there’s some stuff that doesn’t really get touched on, most notably any commentary on how Circle of Dust was (inadvertently?) linked to the Christian music industry by their association with REX Records, and the huge negative and positive impacts this had on both the band and their audience. It’s a big part of the band’s story (if also a sore point), and a more objective approach should’ve covered this.
As a huge and longtime Circle of Dust fan it’s difficult for me to gauge how much appeal this would hold for someone who isn’t, but it’s definitely a fascinating story that would be of relevance to anyone who has an interest in music industry tales, or of heavy metal and electronic music — and the intersection thereof. If you enjoy hard music in general and are not a fan, this film will probably make you one.
For the fans, this is an absolute must-own release, and the bonus-packed DVD edition is a career-spanning collection of material that pretty much serves as the band’s definitive video representation.
The Package
The DVD package is a handsome region-free 2-disc set with the documentary and ample bonus features, as well as a 12-page booklet with photos and discography.
The notable bummer here is that this is on DVD and not Blu-ray, though I can understand the thought process behind that decision — between vintage footage and webcam recordings, a lot of the video is of lower quality sources to begin with. The good news is that if you purchase the DVD from the FiXT Store, you’ll get an HD digital copy as well.
Special Features and Extras — Disc 1
A pair of mini-docs or extra segments that follow a similar format to the film on a couple of tangential subjects:
- “Argyle Park: Misguided” (11:58)
One of the Klayton’s coolest side projects, Argyle Park boasted a ton of guest artists and eventually became a highly sought-after record in fan circles (fun story — I paid a king’s ransom for a copy on eBay, then soon after found one locally at a used record shop for $7). This discussion doesn’t really fit into the documentary, so I’m glad it was still included as a side narrative.
- “Making The Music: The Gear & Production of Circle of Dust” (32:47)
Klayton is joined by BlueStahli on a tour of his studio; intriguingly the focus is on his creative and technical processes with the older gear used on the classic records — samplers, synthesizer soundbanks, ADAT recorders, a comically tiny Macintosh Classic, and hundreds of DATs and floppy disks. This one’s fascinating for hardcore fans and gearheads; casual viewers will probably tune out.
Special Features and Extras — Disc 2
Disc 2 Content is DVD-exclusive material not included in the VOD edition of the film.
- Circle of Dust Live: VHS Bootlegs (1:31:44)
Live recordings of 17 songs from various classic Circle shows. The audio quality on these fan-submitted bootlegs varies from very poor to surprisingly decent, but for anyone who’s never seen them live, these are probably the closest thing we’ll ever get. Standouts include well-shot multi-angle videos of “Dissolved” and “Rational Lies”, and an acoustic performance of “Consequence”.
- Music Videos
Classic videos of “Deviate” (3:58) and “Telltale Crime” (4:21), as well as the new ones from the Rebirth era: “Machines of our Disgrace” (5:25), “alt_human” (5:00), and “Contagion” (5:24)
It’s worth noting that while all the Rebirth era music and lyric videos are available on Circle of Dust’s YouTube channel, the classic ones are not. It’s not like they really got any distribution back in the day, so even longtime fans may be seeing these for the first time.
- Lyric Videos
“Dust to Dust” (5:49), “Embracing Entropy” (6:52), “Hive Mind” (5:56), “Humanarchy” (4:59), “Neurachem” (4:43), “Outside In” (6:10)
A/V Out.
Get it at FiXT:
Circle of Dust – Full Circle: The Birth, Death & Rebirth of Circle of Dust (Documentary)
Except where noted, all 16:9 screen images in this review are direct captures from the disc(s) in question with no editing applied, but may have compression or resizing inherent to file formats and Medium’s image system. All package photography was taken by the reviewer.
Circle of Dust – Full Circle: The Birth, Death & Rebirth of Circle of Dust (Documentary)
- “Argyle Park: Misguided” (11:58)
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Back to School Series: Two Cents has a Most Triumphant Time with BILL & TED’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE
Two Cents is an original column akin to a book club for films. The Cinapse team will program films and contribute our best, most insightful, or most creative thoughts on each film using a maximum of 200 words each. Guest writers and fan comments are encouraged, as are suggestions for future entries to the column. Join us as we share our two cents on films we love, films we are curious about, and films we believe merit some discussion.
The Pick
It’s been almost 30 years since the release of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, but strange things remain afoot at the Circle K. The low-fi sci-fi epic was a modest production back in the mid-80s, with many of the parties involved assuming the film, a cheerfully dimwitted trek through time starring two unknowns (Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter) would never see the light of day. Indeed, Bill & Ted sat on a shelf for a couple years after production before finally getting release by Orion Pictures in 1989.
Despite these humble origins and expectations, the Stephen Herek-directed, Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson-written romp cleaned up nicely at the box office and lives on as an oft-quoted cult item. That’s due to the ongoing star power of Reeves, ageless highlander that he is, in part due to the presence of comedy icon George Carlin as time-tripping guide Rufus, and in part due to the amiable vibe the film projects as its titular cheerful dudes wreak havoc on the space time continuum.
Bill (Winter) and Ted (Reeves) are soft-headed, kindhearted high school kids more concerned with their nascent band, Wyld Stallyns, than school, putting them in danger of flunking out and killing the band as a result. Things seem awfully hopeless until Carlin’s Rufus arrives in a time-traveling phone booth. It seems that Wyld Stallyns’ music is hugely important to the creation of a utopian future, so Bill and Ted must pass that history class.
From there, the film skips all across time as Bill and Ted round up every historical figure they can get their hands on. Napoleon runs amok at a water park, Billy the Kid and Socrates strike out with the babes at the food court, and it turns out there are actual negative connotations to “iron maiden”.
Find out more with the team and guests below!
Next Week’s Pick:
We can’t very well do a Back to School series without it. Our final pick is Back To School! The classic comedy follows the goofy exploits of an obnoxious but lovable lug (65 year old Rodney Dangerfield) who enrolls in college alongside his adult son. Back to School is currently available streaming on Amazon Prime.
Would you like to be a guest in next week’s Two Cents column? Simply watch and send your under-200-word review to twocents(at)cinapse.co anytime before midnight on Thursday!
Special Guest — Sam Van Haren
We invited our friend Sam, a movie nerd who loves Keanu Reeves, to join this week’s film club as our special guest. Sam is an Assistant Editor over at Talk Film Society, but more relevantly a podcast host at the TFS Network, currently exploring Keanu Reeves’ filmography in the all-Keanu podcast Keanu Believe It, with new episodes every Friday. Find him on Twitter at @SamShotFirst!
Sam:
What better way to finally join the Two Cents ranks than talking about the movie that started my unceasing love of Keanu Reeves, Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure. I can’t rightly say exactly how many times I watched this movie on cable as a kid, it’s endlessly watchable and honestly smarter than it’s often given credit for. As good as Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon’s script is, and it’s damn good, this movie would not remotely work without the station chemistry between Keanu and Alex Winters. They are clearly fond of each other in real life and that allows us to instantly connect with the lovable slackers.
Watching Bill & Ted visit the past is an absolute joy, but what makes the film a classic is third act which finds them bringing their historical pals to 1980s San Dimas. What’s not to love about Joan of Arc leading an aerobics class, Genghis Khan wrecking up a sporting goods store, or Sigmund Freud holding a corn dog (A+ visual gag there). My absolute favorite scene of the film sees Bill & Ted using illogical time travel rules to their advantage in a jail break. It encapsulates the entire film in one wacky scene, as things just kind of work out for Bill & Ted and we’re cool with it because they are just good dudes. (SamShotFirst)
Our Guests
Karou Negisa:
Stripping this movie of nostalgia is difficult, particularly since by all rights it’s a film that we should love only for its association with our childhood. It’s a fun movie about two dumb guys destined to save the world through rock music if they can only pass history class.
However, the fact of the matter is that B&T is tightly written with a lot of subtle dialogue and a unique take on what was becoming a tired premise by 1988. The title characters are both highly likable and have amazing chemistry. The soundtrack is absolutely killer, filled with great deep cut tracks that tell the story as much as anything else.
But more than anything, other than one homophobic joke, it’s a story about two guys with really good will. Their message is one of love and kindness, and their destiny is to help make the universe a place where we communicate meaningfully, care about one another, and find the balance between responsibility and fun. It’s about pursuing your dreams, even if you’re not totally solid on how to get there. We need more Bill & Ted in the world. (@Moonpanther22)
The Team
It’s hard to know what to say about Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure. I feel like it’s all been said, but that doesn’t change the fact that I love the film as much today as when it first came out. Without this film, our world would be a far different one. I doubt Keanu would ever become Keanu and I’m sure we’d never have had Alex Winter’s Freaked. This isn’t even to mention the influence the film had on so many future comedies and filmmakers.
It’s dumb at times and brilliant at others. No matter what, though, it’s wall to wall fun. No matter what anyone ever says, it’ll always be a masterpiece to me.
In other words, bring on the new one. I’ll be first in line. And, till the end of my days on this Earth, I’ll watch this one regularly and fondly. Even if I didn’t love both Bill and Ted, Rufus alone makes this one an all time great.
In closing, be excellent to each other, everyone! If nothing else, let’s take that advice to heart in this age of anger and contradiction. (@ThePaintedMan)
Outside of one groan-inducingly ugly homophobic moment (which I’m sure all involved regret), Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure is about as lovable as films from this era get. Even the best of 80s comedies are marred by intermittent bouts of sleaze, racism, or the ol’ “date rape played for yuks” ploy you saw all the time back then. Instead the movie takes its cues from the central dudes, and both Reeves and Winter are a delight as the bone-headed but eternally sunny Bill and Ted. There’s an innate sweetness to both these actors that they imbue their characters with, and it carries over across the entire film.
In general, Bill & Ted is lacking in explosive belly-laughs, instead settling for a steady stream of chuckles. Maybe that makes it deficient from other comedies, but Herek, the writers, and the cast all succeed in striking a tone that is thoroughly amiable, and that goes a long way. And if the film’s slangy banter isn’t at the level of polish of something like Clueless, it’s still clever enough on the page and in the hands of Reeves and Winter to score repeatedly. Excellent all around. (@TheTrueBrendanF)
While credit for concept, dialogue, and the banterish humor goes to writers Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon, along with director Stephen Herek, much of the cult status of the film is owed to the two leads, Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter. Stoner/slacker types, they’re imbued with a genuine likability, a harmless sweetness that makes them so endearing. Reeves brings a gangly innocence, while Winter is brimming with joy and affability.
Much of the humor in the film plays off their ‘dumbness’ or the fish out of water aspects of their travels, but it’s never mean spirited. The bond between them is also sweetly done. They’re in this together, not just the assignment and travels through time, but in many of their actions and decisions throughout the film. They seem inseparable, like genuine brothers; pairing them with twins in the romantic subplot seems a necessary step to service their own relationship. Reeves and Winter built unlimited goodwill from their work here, a palpable affection between these two teens, then built on in Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, in my opinion a far weirder, bolder, and superior outing. (@Texas_Jon)
(Excerpted from Jon’s review of the film’s Steelbook release.)
Unlike most who adore this film, I didn’t watch it as as kid. There’s no nostalgic component to my huge affection for Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure — it’s just great. If anything, my appreciation has only grown after many rewatches, as this is a really smart and joyful movie that feels fresh every time.
I love that Bill & Ted are such good-natured dudes.
I love George Carlin’s presence as Rufus.
I love that all the historical figures are immediately game for this nonsense and actively help with additional abductions.
I love the weird comradeship between Socrates and Billy the Kid.
I love Beethoven jamming an impromptu piano-rock concert upon discovering electronic keyboards.
I love that blaxploitation legend Bernie Casey has a supporting role (and that this thread continued with Pam Grier in Bogus Journey).
I love that there’s no central villain, nor is one necessary.
…
I love the time travel hijinks and payoffs.
…
I definitely love the climactic and most victorious presentation of the history report.
…
…
SAN DIMAS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RULES! (@VforVashaw)
Next week’s pick:
Further reading:
Next week’s pick:
