Movie Flashback: The Shadow

Summer 1994 was a busy one for movies. I spent many days parked at my local theater with friends. After all, this was the summer that saw the releases of “Speed,” “The Lion King,” “Forrest Gump,” “True Lies,” “The Mask,” Beverly Hills Cop III,” and more. But there’s one movie from that summer that is always forgotten: “The Shadow.”

Based on the pulp fiction character created by Walter B. Gibson in 1931, “The Shadow” was directed by Russell Mulcahy. The film boasted an impressive cast featuring Alec Baldwin as the titular character, John Lone, Penelope Ann Miller, Ian McKellen, Jonathan Winters, Peter Boyle, and Tim Curry.

Sadly, I wasn’t able to see “The Shadow” on opening day because of an Aunt’s visit. But I made plans with my friends to go see the 12:30 movie the following Tuesday. And since the movie was playing in the theater next to my apartment, I decided I would just meet everyone there a few minutes before the movie started.

I got there as planned, but with only five minutes to go, there was still no sign of my friends. Not wanting to miss anything, I got my ticket and my popcorn, and sat in the back row so my friends could see me when they walked in. By the time the trailers started, my friends were still missing in action, and by the time “The Shadow” began, I realized they weren’t coming.

Oh well, screw my friends. I was there and I was still excited to see the movie.

I suppose Universal Studios was hoping “The Shadow” would be the beginning of a new cinematic franchise, something to rival Warner Bros. successful Batman franchise. Universal likely wanted a hit movie, but also all the merchandising the Batman movies got.

Unfortunately for everyone involved, “The Shadow” landed with a massive thud. The film was on the  receiving end of bad to mixed reviews and flopped badly at the box office. I think audiences ignored the movie in part because there was so many other option that summer.

Yet, I’m one of the few people who saw “The Shadow” in the theater and really loved what I saw. “The Shadow” was pure popcorn entertainment in a summer that had more serious films getting all the attention. “The Shadow” is a comic book adventure that embraces its silliness, complete with one-liners, over-the-top villains, and fun supporting characters.

The film did not deserve to get savaged by critics the way it did, and I still believe this film deserves more credit than it gets. The cinematography is beautiful, and so are the costumes. The villain probably gets the best outfits, but the leading lady has some nice outfits as well.

The 1930’s set also serves the film well, and I like how the agents of the Shadow communicate with one another. But almost none of the critics mentioned any of that when they savaged the movie.

The cast in “The Shadow” is pretty great too. Alec Baldwin plays Lamont Cranston like he’s having an absolute ball. Whether he’s dark and brooding, while saving innocents from criminals. Or when he’s charming a new lady in a club, Baldwin was perfectly cast as Lamont Cranston. Seeing him in “The Shadow” made me wish he’d played Batman at least once.

The rest of the cast is solid too. But every hero must face a unique challenge, and the Shadow gets his in the powerful psychic warrior Shiwan Khan (John Lone). He’s determined to destroy New York unless the city bows to his rule. There are moments were Khan seems better suited for a part in “Batman and Robin,” but the flamboyant he got, the more I liked the character and the performance by John Lone.

As Cranston sets out to stop Khan, he also meets a burgeoning telepath named Margot Lane (Penelope Ann Miller). Cranston likes her, but because she’s a telepath he doesn’t immediately pursue a relationship with her. However, fate throws Cranston and Lane together when her scientist father (Ian McKellen) is under Khan’s control, and on the verge of creating a powerful weapon that will ann but ensure Khan’s victory.

Maybe critics and audiences thought “The Shadow” looked like a Batman ripoff, but that’s not the case at all. The Shadow began in the pages of pulp magazines back in the early 1930s, and later made the jump to radio. The character actually predates Batman by a several years, and its more than likely that the Shadow influenced the Caped Crusader and not the other way around.

Not that it mattered in summer 1994. Audiences and critics didn’t give the new Shadow a chance when the movie came out,  so we never truly got to see what else Alec Baldwin could do with the character and his world.

“The Shadow” also proved that not every comic book type movie needed to the an origin movie. At most, the film spends 10 minutes showing us how Cranston became the Shadow. After that, the main story is off tot he races. Also, nearly all the main characters are given backstories, and all plot threads are resolves by the time the film ends.

Over twenty-four years since its release, I still enjoy watching “The Shadow” a couple of times a year. Alec Baldwin shines as the hero of the night, and as the rich playboy Lamont Cranston. The sets are beautiful, and the musical score always gets the blood pumping. The action is nicely done, and there are a couple of great set pieces like when the Shadow is nearly drowned. In the end, I believe “The Shadow” is one of the truly underrated comic books movies.

As for my friends? They simply “forgot” we had plans. Sure they did…

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Flashback Review: The Return of the Vampire (1943)

I’ve been a movie fan for most of my life, and I’m willing to try just about any kind of movie. Lately though, I’ve been watching more and more classic movies. More specifically, since this past summer, I’ve been trying to watch classic horror and sci-fi movies, some of which I’ve never heard of before this year.

So far I’ve watched a couple of Frankenstein movies, the Gill-man trilogy, and
a few others flicks. But one classic horror topic I hadn’t really touched until recently was vampires. That all changed a few days ago when I sat down and watched 1943’s “The Return of the Vampire.”

The film stars Bela Lugosi as the vampire Armand Tesla; Frieda Inescort as Lady Jane Ainsley; Nina Foch as Nikki Saunders; Roland Varno as John Ainsley; Miles Mander as Sir Fredrick Fleet; and Matt Willis as Andréas Obry. The story revolves around an Englishwoman’s two encounters with a vampire. The first encounter takes place during World War I, and the second during the blitz in World War II.

“The Return of the Vampire” begins with Lugosi and his werewolf assistant (Matt Willis), who are currently terrorizing a victim in London. The person gets taken in by Lady Jane Ainsley (Frieda Inescort) and Professor Walter Saunders (Gilbert Emery). Saunders figures out that the patient has been bitten by a vampire, and his suspicions are confirmed when Lugosi shows up that night to finish the job.

However, Lugosi gets distracted by Saunders’s young granddaughter, Nicki. Since he’s already there, Lugosi attacks her as well. This one-act sends the old man and Lady Jane on a quest to hunt down the vampire’s resting place and end his existence once and for all. But they clearly failed, because Lugosi returns a couple of decades later in war-torn Britain thanks to some grave robbers and some German bombers.

The good news is that Lady Jane is still kicking around, and knows exactly what she’s up against. Unfortunately, little Nicki is also around, and all grown up. But she has no memory of her earlier encounter with Tesla. Lugosi on the other hand, remembers Nicki quite well and quickly sets plans in motion for a reunion.

“The Return of the Vampire” wasn’t the first time Bela Lugosi played a vampire of course, but by 1943 it had been nearly a decade since he’d donned the famous fangs. The time off shows, as Lugosi looks older and a bit heavier than usual. But it doesn’t matter in the end. The man still gives the part his all, and nobody has ever played a vampire as well as he did.

Lugosi even gets to play two parts in “The Return of the Vampire.” For much of the film, he assumes the identity of a doctor that Lady Jane helps to recover from a concentration camp. Its a simple plot device, but it gives Lugosi a chance to show off that debonair front he so masterfully displayed in “Dracula.” His mix of charm and menace is greay throughout the film and makes for some eerie scenes.

As good as he was though, I found Lugosi’s infatuation with Nicki to be a little creepy. After all, he first meets her when she’s very young. He becomes infatuated by her then, and is still after her decades later. This entire situation must have been quite race back in 1943 due to Lugosi’s predatory behavior toward Nicki. But maybe audiences were too distracted by Lugosi’s shadow looming over and eventually descending upon the poor sleeping girl.

One of the things that made me want to watch “The Return of the Vampire” was the wartime setting. Most of the vampire movies up to that point took place centuries in the past, so it must have been something to have one film set in present day. However, war-torn Britain doesn’t play much of a role in the movie. I was hoping to see more of the city and how people dealt with the blitz. But other than one bombing sequence in the third act, we don’t get much information about the war.

The movie has a few plot issues as well, like two bumbling detectives who are not very good at their jobs. Every time the movie cut to them, it slowed down the main plot. I suppose they were there for comic relief, but it didn’t work for me. I actually thought the grave diggers were funnier because their humor was subtle. One of the detective’s voice sounded familiar, and it turns out he played Alfred in one of the Batman serials from the 1940’s.

“The Return of the Vampire” also has some pacing issues in the middle part of the film. At least a few scenes could have been cut out which would have made the things move faster. Then we get to the moment when one of the main characters breaks the fourth wall, which easily could have ruined the movie for some people. I didn’t mind it too much, only because the scene came right at the end, but it was a little odd for sure.

I don’t think Columbia Pictures spent a ton of money on this flick, but the filmmakers used fog and shadow-drenched set-pieces rather well, and the cemetery was really scary. Some of the performances are terrific, and the movies does possess a face-melting sequence, and a nice done one at that. This might have been a first in vampire movies, but I’m not too sure.

Vampire movies have been around almost since movies began. Everything you can possibly imagine has been done with the genre. But the truth is, its been decades since I saw what I would call a good vampire film. The more I think about it, I believe the best vampire movies came out during the black and white days of cinema, and despite a few issues, “The Return of the Vampire” is one of them.

Film Guff Episode 26: “Ketchup II: Electric Boogaloo”

Like me, you may think you’re dreaming (or having a nightmare). But guess what? This is not a dream, nor a hoax… the Film Guff podcast is really back with another new episode!

In Film Guff’s 26th episode, the boys take a little break from their daily routine of ruling the world to talk about the 2018 film “Blue Iguana.” This recently released comedy stars Sam Rockwell, Ben Schwartz, Phoebe Fox, Amanda Donohoe, Simon Callow, and Peter Ferdinando, and was written and directed by Hadi Hajaig.

Besides discussing the movie, this episode features a crazy mix of topics including (but not limited to): comic books, Russian Dolls, Snatch Wars, and whatever else the hosts have been up to in recent days.

As usual, this episode of Film Guff is hosted by the three-time WCW tag team champions, the irredeemable Ali and the astonishing Cev. They’re joined by TNU’s own Nick Jones. But please don’t confuse him with Nick Jonas, who I think we can agree is far better looking and more talented.

By the way, Nick and I have been friends for nearly thirty years, but in this episode of Film Guff, he seems to have forgotten that. Anyways,  this episode has some very naughty words in it, usually courtesy of Nick. So be careful where you listen to it. But its still a lot of fun, so be sure to enjoy!

Episode edited by: Cevin Moore
Music: “Asteroid (A Corruption)” By Peter & Cevin Moore
Info: filmguff.net
Twitter @FilmGuff

 

 

Trailer Park: Glass trailer 2

 

I can’t remember the last time I was excited to see an M. Night Shyamalan film. Might have been “Signs” way back when. But I gotta admit after seeing this trailer, I’m very optimistic about “Glass.”

I like the cast from top to bottom, and the action looks solid. Plus January might just be the perfect time for a movie like this.

Film Guff Podcast: Two new-ish episodes!!

Not a hoax nor a dream: There are two brand spanking new episodes of the Film Guff Podcast available now for your listening pleasure!

That’s right boys and girls, the three amigos of Film Guff got together and recorded not one, but two episodes. First up is episode #24 “Beirut: The Director’s Cut.” where the gang deeper look at 2018’s The Negotiator (AKA Beirut).

That’s followed up by episode #24, “Hoopstinker Pixies.” In this episode, the boys are joined by he jetsetting comedian and podcaster Rivers Langley to talk about New Kids On The Block, sandwiches, speech therapy vegan options, and the film “The Hudsucker Proxy.”

As usual, Film Guff is hosted by Ali and Cev, two British gentlemen who may have or may not have competed in “Strictly Come Dancing.” They’re joined by Nick, a man whose love is required, whenever he’s hired, It comes just before the kill. No one can catch him, no hitman can match him
For his million dollar skill.

The point is, go listen to Film Guff.

Venom Review

Possible spoilers ahead!!

“Venom” tells the story of Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy), an investigative reporter who’s finally found success in San Francisco as the host of his own network news show. Brock’s personal life is also doing well as he lives happily with his fiancé Anne Weying (Michelle Williams).

However, after Eddie betrays Anne’s trust and ignores explicit instructions from his boss in order to go after the leader of the Life Foundation, Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed), Eddie is fired from his show. Within hours Eddie Brock is essentially blacklisted from working in journalism, and Anne breaks up with him.

Months later, Eddie is still down on his luck, until he’s approached by Life Foundation scientist Dr. Dora Skirth (Jenny Slate). She explains that Carlton Drake had been experimenting with alien creatures called symbiotes. These symbiotes must bond with an Earthen host in order to survive on the planet, and Drake means to fuse symbiotes with humans as a way to survive in space. But more often than not, the symbiotes end up killing the human hosts.

Hoping to stop the symbiote experiments by making them public, Dr. Skirth sneaks Eddie into the Life Foundation. Once in the lab, one of the symbiotes named Venom bonds with Eddie and the pair help to each other alive. But, when Venom informs Eddie of a plot by another symbiote – Riot, who bonds with Drake – that endangers Earth, Venom and Eddie must set aside their differences and work together to take down Riot.

I’ll be honest with you: I had very low expectations for “Venom.” I just didn’t see how a live action Venom movie could work without Spider-Man. After all, Venom’s origin is forever linked to Spider-Man. But the filmmakers did something very smart by turning “Venom” into a buddy comedy between Eddie and Venom. This not only made me forget about Spider-Man’s absence, but it also made the origin changes seem organic, rather than forced.

The buddy aspect between Eddie and Venom also lead to some of the film’s funniest moments. Some of which had the entire theater laughing. Another nice thing about the script for Venom is that the writers recognize how wild and crazy the premise is. They poke fun at it here and there, but in a fun way. The film never takes itself too seriously, and I liked that.

I thought the script and the directing were pretty solid throughout. But one thing that was noticeably was the pace of the film, or rather, the slow pace. The first act is very interesting and shows how good Tom Hardy is at playing crazy, creepy, and weird. But I’d be lying if I didn’t say the first act of “Venom” could have moved faster, or been cut down by 10-15 minutes.

However, Tom Hardy’s performance had me from his first scene. Instead of focusing just on Venom, the movie is all about Eddie Brock, his life, and how he’s adjusting to this new situation. Hardy made Brock funny, charismatic, and relatable. But most important of all, Hardy made the character someone I could root for. For the first time ever, I gave a damn about Eddie Brock. And for someone that’s been reading comics for 30 years, that’s saying something.

Michelle Williams also did a good job as Anne. I liked how even after the breakup, she never judged Eddie. She was mad and hurt of course, but she never stopped caring for him. When things hit the fan in the movie, Anne is the only person Eddie can trust, and she sticks with him through it all. Anne even saves him a couple of times and has one really cool scene where she bonds with Venom.

I do wish the filmmakers had done something else with Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed). The performance wasn’t bad by any means. Ahmed can play a cool exec with a heart of steel, but he looked so young compared to everyone else. I kinda wish they’d given him a goatee, or glasses, or even a Blofeld scar. Anything so he didn’t look like a 12-year-old.

Perhaps “Venom” isn’t as good as an MCU film, but it isn’t trying to be. “Venom” is trying to tells its own story, with brand new characters, and they pulled it off. “Venom” was much better than I expected thanks to plenty of laughs, good action, and a great lead in Tom Hardy. The special effects on Venom were stunning, and beter than anything we saw in “Spider-Man 3.”

Maybe its due to my low expectations going in, maybe not. Whatever the case may be, by the time the credits rolled, I was ready for “Venom 2.”

“Venom” score: B+

Movie Flashback: Date Movie

By the time February 2006 rolled around, I was working a 4:30 a.m. shift. This new work situation was great since I barely slept at night, but it made going to the movies on weeknight kind of rare. But now and then I’d still head out for $5 Tuesday Movie Night with my best friends. On one Tuesdays, I’d even take in a double feature.

On one of these occasions, I saw “Date Night” and “Firewall” with my friends Nick, Ali, and her sister Caitlin. I’ve written about “Firewall” before, but as disappointing as that movie was, the clunker of the day was without a doubt, “Date Night.” I don’t even remember why we chose to see it in the first place, there must have been better movies out at the time. I only went because I’d get to see my buddy Ali, who I didn’t see as often as I would have liked.

Anyways, “Date Movie” was directed by Aaron Seltzer, and stars Alyson Hannigan, Adam Campbell, Sophie Monk, Tony Cox, Jennifer Coolidge, Meera Simhan, Eddie Griffin, and Fred Willard. The plot of the movie, (if you can call it that) is a weird mix of the movies “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and “Meet the Fockers.” But at the end of the day, “Date Movie” is a spoof of romantic comedies in general. I think they even spoofed a few commercials.

Sitting in a theater watching “Date Movie” was strange. Other than the four of us, there were maybe five other people in the theater. Sure it was a matinée, but the theater was eerily quiet. As the movie went on, I don’t recall anyone in the room laughing at anything int he movie itself. It was as if every joke in the movie fell flat and there was nothing that could stop it. It didn’t help that none of the characters were the least bit interesting.

Alyson Hannigan is a good actress when she’s given the right material. This type of movie though seemed like a step down for her after her stint on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” You knew this movie was going to be rough going right from the start when Hannigan appears in a fat suit dancing to that awful Milkshake song of the early 2000’s. There are, of course, plenty of “jokes” about her weight, but none of them are funny.

Whoever wrote “Date Night” decided that everything needed to be a punchline. The guy that Hannigan’s character meets and falls for is named Grant Fonckyerdoder. Why? I guess because it sounds funny, like in “Meet the Fockers.” I know you spoofing someone else’s material, but surely you can do better than Grant Fonckyerdoder. At the very least, make it fun and not cringe-worthy for the audience.

As I said earlier, I don’t remember anyone in the theater laughing. However, I do remember Nick laughing maniacally because he was throwing popcorn at Ali and me. I guess Nick didn’t get the reaction he was hoping for, because a few minutes later, he started throwing M&M’s our way. As it turned out, everything Nick did to us was funnier than anything in “Date Movie.”

When done right, a spoof movie can be comedy gold: “Airplane,” Naked Gun,” and “Space Balls” are classics in the genre. It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen a good spoof flick. And stuff like “Date Movie” turned me off from any future spoofs. Oh well, at least I got to sit next to Ali.