Tag Archives: Bruce Willis

1994 Films, Best Feature- Independent Spirit Award Winners, Comedy, Crime Drama, Dark Comedy, Drama, Favorite Film of the Year, Independent, Top 100 Films, Top 25 Films, Top 250 Films, Top 50 Films

Pulp Fiction-1994

Leave a comment

Pulp Fiction-1994

Director Quentin Tarantino

Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson

Top 250 Films #23

Scott’s Review #242

880640

Reviewed May 12, 2015

Grade: A

Pulp Fiction (1994) is one of the most influential films of the 1990s and single-handedly kicked the film industry in the ass.

It inspired an entire generation of filmmakers starved for creative work after the largely dull 1980s.

The film’s creative and critical success helped ensure edgier, more meaningful artistic expression would continue.

The leader of the charge, of course, was director Quentin Tarantino.

With Pulp Fiction, a black-comedy crime film, Tarantino mixes violence, witty dialogue, and a 1970s cartoonish feel to achieve a filmmaking masterpiece.

The plot is non-linear, and the story centers on three intersecting storylines—a filmmaking style that has become commonplace in modern cinema but was novel at the time was a novel approach.

Set in Los Angeles, the film features Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta as hitmen named Jules and Vincent, who work for a powerful gangster, Marsellus Wallace, played by Ving Rhames.

We meet them as they interrogate four college-aged youths who double-crossed Marsellus, all while discussing fast-food hamburgers and adventures in Europe.

On another front, Butch (Bruce Willis) is hired by Marsellus to lose a fight to another boxer. Later, Marcellus instructs Vincent to take his wife, Mia (Uma Thurman), a former, unsuccessful television actress, out to dinner and a night on the town.

Finally, we meet Pumpkin and Honey Bunny (Tim Roth and Amanda Plumber), two small-town robbers plotting a heist at a local diner. As the film develops, these plots intersect in unique ways.

The film is quite stylistic, resembling a 1970s production in its look; the diner, in particular, feels very much like that era, and the car in which a death occurs is a 1970s Chevy Nova.

The film, however, is set in the present time.

The dialogue throughout Pulp Fiction is immensely impressive to me. Long dialogues occur between characters, usually over a meal, as they discuss the meaning of life, religion, fast-food burgers, and other wonderfully real conversations.

I love the many food references, from Butch’s girlfriend salivating over an impending meal of blueberry pancakes to the French version of the Big Mac being discussed to the price of a shake; they make the characters’ conversations rich, unique, and oh so creative.

My favorite sequence is the one between Vincent and Mia, mostly set at a trendy 1950s-themed diner named Jack Rabbit Slim’s, where the staff dress in costumes impersonating their favorite stars of the day, such as Marilyn Monroe.

After winning a dance contest (and a possible homage to Saturday Night Fever), the two go back to Mia’s place, where she accidentally overdoses on heroin, thought to be cocaine.

The song “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon” by Urge Overkill is both integral and haunting to the scene.

An intense and shocking scene of male gay rape is extremely violent, and the hillbillies involved could be straight out of Deliverance from 1972, despite being in Los Angeles.

This scene is disturbing yet mesmerizing, and, might I say, even darkly comedic.

Pulp Fiction is not a mainstream affair and has its share of detractors and plain old non-fans.

But for film-goers seeking a fun, entertaining, cleverly delicious work of art that has influenced Hollywood and Independent filmmakers alike, Pulp Fiction (1994) is a film to watch over and over again and admire for its style and creativity.

Oscar Nominations: 1 win-Best Picture, Best Director-Quentin Tarantino, Best Actor-John Travolta, Best Supporting Actor-Samuel L. Jackson, Best Supporting Actress-Uma Thurman, Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen (won), Best Film Editing

Golden Globe Nominations: 1 win-Best Picture-Drama, Best Director-Quentin Tarantino, Best Actor-Drama-John Travolta, Best Supporting Actor-Samuel L. Jackson, Best Supporting Actress-Uma Thurman, Best Screenplay (won)

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: 4 wins-Best Feature (won), Best Director-Quentin Tarantino (won), Best Male Lead-Samuel L. Jackson (won), Best Supporting Male-Eric Stoltz, Best Screenplay (won)

1999 Films, 90's Horror, Ghost Story, Horror, Psychological Horror, Psychological Thriller, Thriller, Top 20 Horror Films, Top 250 Films, Top 40 Horror Films

The Sixth Sense-1999

Leave a comment

The Sixth Sense-1999

Director M. Night Shyamalan

Starring Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment

Top 250 Films #106

Top 40 Horror Films #20

Scott’s Review #182

Reviewed October 8, 2014

Grade: A

The Sixth Sense is a psychological thriller/horror film directed by M. Night Shyamalan, released in 1999, about ghosts, and was an incredible box-office and critical success at the time of its release, making the line “I see dead people” universally imitated.

Bruce Willis stars as Dr. Malcolm Crowe, a successful and admired child psychologist who lives a perfect life with his wife, Anna, in Philadelphia.

Enjoying a romantic night at home, Malcolm and Anna are interrupted by a deranged former patient, played by an unrecognizable Donnie Wahlberg.

Malcolm is shot by the patient, who also shoots himself, and the story picks up a year later as Malcolm takes an interest in Cole, a troubled 9-year-old boy, played by Haley Joel Osment.

Cole is a peculiar boy- an outcast taunted at school- who can see the dead.

He’s worried about his overworked mother, Lynn, who Toni Collette plays.

Meanwhile, Malcolm and Anna appear to be experiencing marital problems and lack meaningful communication with each other.

Anna begins to be pursued by a new beau, much to Malcolm’s chagrin. Malcolm and Cole develop a special bond as Malcolm convinces Cole to speak to and help the ghosts that he sees rather than be terrified of them.

As the plot slowly unfolds, Cole helps a recently deceased girl named Kyra Collins, who is around his age. Kyra gives Cole a videotape that reveals she was murdered and proves who killed her.

The subsequent scene is my favorite- there is a haunting quality to it, and the camera follows the events interestingly, slowly, and sedately.

The setting is a service at Kyra’s house, where family and friends gather to pay respects and support Kyra’s parents. Malcolm and Cole arrive and present Kyra’s father with the plain videotape.

The entire scene is powerful in its simplicity, yet it carries great emotional weight. It is slow, but devastating in its climax and reveals. Small nuances are revealed- why is Kyra’s mother wearing bright red when the other guests are all wearing black? Will Kyra’s younger sister be the next victim?

Superlative filmmaking.

A scene involving Cole’s teacher is riveting: sensing aspects of his teacher’s past, Cole realizes his teacher had a stuttering problem as a child.

When his teacher is condescending towards Cole, the young boy explodes with rage and begins a chant of “tuttering Stanley,” which reduces the teacher to childhood traumas.

Yet another powerful scene involves Cole and his mother sitting in a car caught in traffic- Cole admits the truth of his skill of seeing dead people to her and introduces an emotional story to her as proof.

This is a scene where Toni Collette shines brightly.

Well over a decade since The Sixth Sense was released, most people know the twist and the subsequent surprise ending, and it is such a joy to go back, see the manipulations in the story and in individual scenes, add them up, and revel in the clever way Shyamalan puts them together.

The Sixth Sense is not dated and is quite fresh, holding up tremendously well, and I still get chills during the big reveal all these years later.

But beyond this pleasure, the film is beautifully written. Somewhere between horror and psychological thriller, it successfully tells a ghost story with interesting characters and jumps-out-of-your-seat thrills that are not contrived or predictable in the traditional horror-film way.

From an acting perspective, Bruce Willis is amazing and under-appreciated as Malcolm- he is calm, cool, and collected. His performance is quite understated as the inquisitive and pensive psychologist.

More praise should have been reaped for Willis.

Haley Joel Osment gives an astounding performance of a lifetime- he emits an image to the audience of being strange yet sympathetic, and he relays his very frightening fear of the ghosts so well that the pain and conflict he endures are evident on his face.

Toni Collette is effective as the scared, concerned, haggard mother. Collette and Osment were rewarded with Academy Award nominations- sadly, Willis was not.

Shyamalan was subsequently ridiculed for his later films (The Village, 2001, and Unbreakable, 2001) – perhaps the manipulation and trickery from The Sixth Sense angered some people.

The Sixth Sense (1999) is a film that remains with you for days, weeks, even years, and can be revisited and rediscovered for an intelligent, chilling good time.

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director-M. Night Shyamalan, Best Supporting Actor-Haley Joel Osment, Best Supporting Actress-Toni Collette, Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen, Best Film Editing

1992 Films, Best Feature- Independent Spirit Award Winners, Best Picture-Comedy or Musical Golden Globe Winners, Comedy, Dark Comedy, Drama, Independent, Independent Drama, Los Angeles, Satire, Top 250 Films

The Player-1992

Leave a comment

The Player-1992

Director Robert Altman

Starring Tim Robbins

Top 250 Films #181

Scott’s Review #601

Reviewed January 11, 2017

Grade: A

The Player (1992) ranks alongside other Robert Altman classics such as Gosford Park (2001), Nashville (1975), and Short Cuts (1993).

The film is an excellent piece of Hollywood satire and centers on a jaded movie executive, played by Tim Robbins, who does an incredible job.

Robbins plays Griffin Mill, a man with no scruples. Feeling usurped by a younger executive, played by Peter Gallagher, as well as receiving death threats, he goes on the hunt for the person he feels responsible for, which leads to murder.

Thanks to Robbin’s performance, the audience is unsure whether to love or hate Mill. He is snarky, but also vulnerable and a tad sympathetic.

The film contains a slew of real Hollywood celebrities (Cher, Malcolm McDowell, Bruce Willis) playing themselves and is largely improvised (as many of Altman’s films are).

Whoopi Goldberg and Lyle Lovett star as odd police detectives.

The plot is nothing new, but it’s the realism and direction that make this movie a must-see, especially for Robert Altman fans.

The Player (1992) is a hidden gem.

Oscar Nominations: Best Director-Robert Altman, Best Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published, Best Film Editing

Golden Globe Nominations: 2 wins-Best Picture-Musical or Comedy (won), Best Director-Robert Altman, Best Actor-Musical or Comedy-Tim Robbins (won), Best Screenplay

Independent Spirit Award Nominations: 1 win-Best Feature (won)

1988 Films, Action, Christmas, Guy Films, Los Angeles

Die Hard-1988

Leave a comment

Die Hard-1988

Director John McTiernan

Starring Bruce Willis

Scott’s Review #1,458

Reviewed December 28, 2024

Grade: B+

Die Hard (1988) is one of the best action films of the late 1980s and 1990s. Because of its success and mainstream appeal, it spawned dozens of copycat films.

It features hunky Hollywood star Bruce Willis in his breakout role, propelling him to a box-office stronghold that lasted for many years.

He would later appear in more cerebral offerings like Pulp Fiction (1994) and The Sixth Sense (1999), but Die Hard put him on the map.

Is it a Christmas film, or is it not? It can be debated.

Depending on one’s socioeconomic leanings, Die Hard can be seen as a film that puts the working-class Joe in the driver’s seat and makes yuppies or corporate types look like incompetent fools.

The film, watched decades after its making, is guilty of stereotypes and clichés. It is riddled with nearly every action film standard one-liner intended to evoke laughter, which now seems silly and contrived.

Hokey? Yes, but it’s also fun and a chance to watch the muscular, sweaty Willis run bare-chested for most of the run.

Like Friday the 13th (1980), the film produced several sequels, all subpar to the original.

New York City policeman John McClane (Willis) is visiting his estranged wife (Bonnie Bedelia) in Los Angeles on Christmas Eve. He joins her at a posh holiday party in the headquarters of the Japanese-owned business she works for.

The festivities are quickly interrupted by a group of terrorists led by the crazed but calm Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), who take over the exclusive high-rise and everyone in it.

McClane realizes that he must save the day.

John McTiernan, who directs, knows his way around the action genre, and Die Hard is easily his best. Other notable works include Predator (1987) and The Hunt for Red October (1990), so he also knows how to create an action star.

The season, the setting, and the villain are other high points of Die Hard.

The perfect setup is a glossy high-rise in downtown Los Angeles at a glitzy corporate party on Christmas Eve. Drizzling with possibilities, McTiernan adds the German terrorists for good measure and a slice of necessary Americana, a fixture of the 1980s ‘USA good, Europe bad’ mentality.

Naturally, McClane is a good old-fashioned American boy. While he initially wants his successful wife, Holly (Bonnie Bedelia), to be a traditional homemaker, he realizes she’s good at her job as a corporate officer.

But the traditional and conservative mindset still shines through.

In a stroke of genius and authenticity, the real Fox Plaza in Century City was used for the skyscraper rather than an ineffectual mock set. This adds a lot to the enjoyment, and glimpses of The Towering Inferno (1974) crossed my mind.

In standard fashion, the feds, detectives, television reporters, and police officers are primarily incompetent, except for McClane. This adds to the earlier notion that the working-class guy is the movie’s hero.

Actor Paul Gleason, well-known for a similar curmudgeonly role in 1985’s The Breakfast Club, bears much of the brunt. As he callously shouts at police officer Powell (Reginald VelJohnson), he also frets at the mayor’s reaction to the handling of the situation with repeated ‘the mayor will have my ass’ remarks.

Interestingly, Powell, who bonds over the radio with McClane, is the only character to receive a competence award. The relationship between the two male cops is warm, respectful, and a high point.

The other well-written character is the main villain, Hans. Played deliciously by Rickman, he’s a baddie for the ages, cold and calm, and his deadly tumble from the top of the enormous building is satisfying to patient fans.

Die Hard (1988) centers on a good hero cop besting the bad guys from Germany, with a definitive pro-American theme popular at the time.

While the terrible 1980s hairstyles, clothes, and cheesy dialogue do not hold up well, the action is, and the film can surprisingly be watched repeatedly.

Oscar Nominations: Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Sound

2000 Films, Science Fiction, Super Hero, Thriller

Unbreakable-2000

Leave a comment

Unbreakable-2000

Director M. Night Shyamalan

Starring Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson

Scott’s Review #1,260

Reviewed May 29, 2022

Grade: A-

Following the brilliant and massive critical and commercial success of The Sixth Sense (1999), M. Night Shyamalan hit his stride and became a household name for blending supernatural and psychological elements into a web of compelling storytelling.

Following 2002’s Signs, credibility tapered a bit, but Unbreakable (2000) is an overlooked gem falling in the shadows of The Sixth Sense, which everyone remembers best when they talk about the director.

The Sixth Sense and Unbreakable are also strong counterparts because they both star Hollywood legend Bruce Willis, who, it can be argued, began to gain respectability within the industry with the former.

He continues his superior acting and calm character approach.

Unbreakable is part thriller, science fiction, and superhero film, so I have categorized it accordingly.

It’s part of an Unbreakable film series and was followed by Split (2016) and Glass (2019), which took years to develop and were decent if underwhelming projects.

Unbreakable is by far the best of the bunch.

David Dunn (Willis) is a regular guy who works as a security guard at a college football stadium. He is a former star college quarterback whose dreams of stardom never materialized because of a car accident.

He lives a somewhat melancholy yet decent life with his wife, Audrey (Robin Wright), and son Joseph.

One day, David boards a train. The train experienced a devastating derailment with an enormous casualty number. David awakes in the hospital to find that he is the sole survivor of the wreck. He is left unscathed.

Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson) arrives on the scene as a mysterious comic book expert who takes a liking to David and his experience. He offers a bizarre explanation as to why David escaped without a single scratch that counters Elijah’s health- he is a frail man who is constantly at risk of breaking his bones.

Elijah and Joseph begin to believe that David is a superhero. At first, David rebuffs this notion but slowly begins to realize he has extrasensory perception.

What is the link between David and Elijah?

I’m not always a big superhero fan, and sometimes the storylines are riddled with cliches, stereotypes, and predictability.

But Unbreakable is fascinating and unpredictable. It’s also dark and cerebral, with a surprise ending, leaving me to summarize it as a different sort of superhero film with layers of cool elements.

It’s a non-traditional superhero film, and I love that quality.

There’s a suspension of disbelief, of course. The idea that one character can rig a train accident and other crimes is a bit of a stretch. Still, the characters David and Elijah are compelling enough that I forget those pesky little plot holes and enjoy the experience.

If the story sometimes falters, the riveting train sequence more than makes up for it. We see David quietly enjoying the train ride until all hell breaks loose.

The shattered glass, derailment, and chaos are fabulous entertainment, as well as a source of wonder about what comes next and what the sequence means for the rest of the story.

There are plenty of twists and turns in Unbreakable.

Almost as riveting, though in a different way, is the opening scene of Unbreakable, which will immediately grab the viewer.

It is 1961, and an African American woman is told that her baby’s arms and legs are broken. This is later a key to the story, but at this time, we know not what this intrigue has to do with anything.

Unbreakable (2000) is incredibly fresh and original. It can easily be watched as a double feature with The Sixth Sense, but it is nothing like that film except for its director and actor.

But, they are M. Night Shyamalan’s best films, and Unbreakable provides tremendous thought and conceptualization while creating daring camera work long remembered after the first viewing.

2004 Films, Action, Comedy, Guy Films, Heist, Vegas

Ocean’s Twelve-2004

Leave a comment

Ocean’s Twelve-2004

Director Steven Soderbergh

Starring George Clooney

Scott’s Review #1,157

Reviewed June 30, 2021

Grade: B-

The casino heist gang is back together again for more action and adventure in a film that was only made because of the success of its predecessor, Ocean’s Eleven (2001).

The uninspiring title of the film, Ocean’s Twelve (2004), is a letdown compared to the fantastic and enthralling 2001 film.

What felt like a purely original idea, even though it was a remake, now feels like stale bread that was fresh only yesterday.

Thankfully, Steven Soderbergh returns to the fold, adding some style and solid direction.

The story is slow to kick off and provides an implausible and unconventional ending that doesn’t work, nearly negating most of the previous activity.

There is something a bit irritating about watching a film knowing it was made for only one reason, and that the plot seems rushed and poorly thought out.

But that’s Hollywood.

Undoubtedly, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Julia Roberts, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and other top talent enjoyed hefty paychecks.

This is also concerning, as the performances come across as ho-hum and seem to be driven by the big bucks being deposited into big bank accounts for services rendered.

The inauthenticity all around is evident in lazy acting and writing.

The foil and mark, Terry Benedict, once again played by Andy Garcia, realizes that the gang has robbed him of millions and demands the money back with interest.

Unfortunately, much of it has already been spent.

Unable to come up with the cash, the crew must come together to pull off another series of heists, this time in Europe.

Presumably, they are not well known there.

Being “forced” to do what the career criminals love to do is far-fetched.

Danny (George Clooney) and the gang hatch a plan to swap a Fabergé Imperial Coronation Egg for a holographic recreation. Linus (Damon) comes up with a second plan involving Danny’s wife, Tess (Julia Roberts), posing as a pregnant woman to get close to the Egg and swap it.

They are foiled by Lahiri (Catherine Zeta-Jones), and coincidentally, Bruce Willis, and the rest of the group is captured.

While it’s slightly clever having Willis and Roberts appear as themselves, especially when Julia Roberts plays another character in the film, it doesn’t work as well as it sounds on paper.

The story is way too convoluted, and Ocean’s Twelve quickly turns into the sort of film you tune out of, enjoying the non-story points more than the written word. In this case, that’s not a positive aspect.

The film’s successes, mainly the return of the A-list cast, are also negative.

While it’s fun to reconnect with familiar characters like Danny Ocean, Rusty (Pitt), and Linus, we know the characters too well, and they become caricatures. Meaning they behave exactly as one would expect.

Still, it is admittedly juicy and exciting to witness so many A-listers on one big screen, especially when there is trickery, scheming, and just a hint of romance to be had.

I’ll also take part in just about any film that goes on location in Paris, Rome, Monte Carlo, and Amsterdam. It’s an orgy of European history and goodness, adding cultural trimmings to a sub-par storyline.

Particularly inviting are the villa scenes set in the lush Lake Como.

Ocean’s Twelve (2004) will please only those who are obsessed enough with the franchise to enjoy what is a retread of the 2001 film, set in various parts of Europe rather than Las Vegas.

It isn’t nearly enough for me, as most cleverness and bright, crisp writing are gone.

2016 Films, Psychological Thriller, Thriller

Split-2016

Leave a comment

Split-2016

Director M. Night Shyamalan

Starring James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy

Scott’s Review #821

Reviewed October 18, 2018

Grade: B-

Split (2016) is the second part of a planned trilogy; the first is Unbreakable (2000), and the third is to debut in 2019.

This point confused me because I did not notice any correlation between the films until the final scene, which was unclear.

Split has its ups and downs, mainly because of James McAvoy’s spectacular performance, the highlight, but the film is sadly riddled with plot holes and nonsense.

I don’t think the film will be remembered for long.

Casey (Joy) is a withdrawn teenage girl with an abusive past at the hands of her uncle, who raised her after her father died. She, along with two other girls, is accosted by a man (McAvoy) who chloroforms them and takes them to a hidden basement.

The girls quickly learn that their abductor is Kevin Wendell Crumb, a man suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID).

His personalities range from a nine-year-old child to an effeminate artist, a well-dressed woman, and Kevin.

The audience (but not the girls) learns that Kevin is in therapy with Dr. Karen Fletcher (Betty Buckley), an established Philadelphia psychiatrist. Fletcher knows about Kevin’s other personalities, including one called “The Beast.”

She assumes this is a fantasy superhero figure.

Karen slowly pieces together the frightening depth of Kevin’s disorder and must race against time to save the girls.

McAvoy, best known for his outstanding performances in The Last King of Scotland (2006) and Atonement (2007), is also a central figure in the X-Men film franchise (2011-2019). He knocks it out of the park.

What a challenging role (or roles!) for the handsome Scottish actor.  He is as convincing as the stoic, confident Kevin and brings the perfect swagger to “Patricia” and “Dennis.” Finally, he plays nine-year-old “Hedwig” with childhood innocence and insecurities.

McAvoy’s casting is a treat and a success.

How lovely to see film and television stalwart Betty Buckley back in the game with a central film role. The actress is a legend in other genres, not to mention her stage achievements, play after play.

Eagle-eyed horror fans will undoubtedly remember Buckley’s role as the sympathetic gym teacher in Carrie (1976).

In Split, she portrays another benevolent character, concerned for her patient’s well-being, unaware of the sinister sides he keeps hidden. The role is perfect for the warm Buckley.

Written, co-produced, and directed by the acclaimed M. Night Shyamalan, Split is no masterpiece like The Sixth Sense (1999) or even on par with The Village (2004).

Instead, the result is a peculiar, uneven effort; the fascination lies in McAvoy’s twenty-three different personalities, even though we see only four or five of them.

The film misses the numerous backstory scenes of Casey and her uncle hunting in the woods. These scenes slow the action and feel overly long. She was abused and can now handle herself- we get it.

The story could have conveyed this point in one scene.

The relationship between the three girls is okay, but the point about Casey being an outcast and different from the other two girls feels unnecessary and tacked on.

The final scene with Bruce Willis (as Dennis Dunn from Unbreakable) is a nice nod to the previous film, but it’s lost on anyone who hasn’t seen it since it premiered well over a decade ago.

The film should have featured more of a connection between the two stories.

In addition to McAvoy’s impressive performance, a positive is that no male characters are designed to “save the day,” which is still typical of mainstream films.

The film’s heroes are Casey (a teenage girl) and Karen (a woman in her sixties). Despite the story pieces not aligning, Split deserves credit for trying to be a more progressive-minded film.

The film’s result is fair to middling. Split (2016) is not a great effort but a decent watch.

The highlights are McAvoy, a worthy role for veteran Buckley, and some good tension and moments of good peril.

The story is not the highlight, and Shyamalan has made better films.

1995 Films, Science Fiction

12 Monkeys-1995

Leave a comment

12 Monkeys-1995

Director Terry Gilliam

Starring Bruce Willis, Madeline Stowe, Brad Pitt

Scott’s Review #804

Reviewed August 21, 2018

Grade: B+

Bruce Willis stars in a 1995 science-fiction thriller named 12 Monkeys that is sure to confuse even the keenest of viewers.

With an impossible-to-follow plot (at least on a single watch), the film is quite novel and filled with edge nonetheless.

With this film, Willis came into his own and proved to some naysayers that he is more versatile than a one-note action hero. He would develop even more as the years passed- think Sixth Sense (1999).

If I may begin to summarize the complex plot, 12 Monkeys is a film about time travel (confusing enough) that traverses from the year 2035 to the year 1990, then to the year 1996, with a bevy of dreams or memories thrown in, but I am still not crystal clear on that.

The time involved threw me for a loop, and I was not able to comprehend where things shifted to……or was part of it a memory possessed by Willis’s character as a little boy?

Nonetheless, in 2035, James Cole (Willis) is a prisoner who is selected by “the powers that be” to go back in time to find a cure for a deadly virus that has wiped out a large part of the world.

He is transported to 1990 instead of 1996 and ends up in a psychiatric hospital, where he meets the fanatical Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt).

Dr. Kathryn Railly (Madeleine Stowe) appears in both the 1990 and 1996 stories as a respected psychiatrist and author. Both she and Goines become central to the plot, and the story twists and turns as events unfold.

The intention to make Willis and Stowe a romantic couple did not seem to quite work at first, but their chemistry grew on me.

The duo never received a “happily ever after” finale as they deserved, nor was their troubled romance ever fully realized, to say nothing of consummated.

The flirtation and bond they share felt more like a tease than anything else, or rather, having two Hollywood heavyweights forge some sort of romance.

Regardless, “romance” did not seem to be the point of this film.

Brad Pitt was nominated for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars for the film. While he provides a quirky, showy, multirole (or multi-personality) performance, complete with tics resembling those of a Tourette’s syndrome patient, the role is not one of his best.

At this time (1995), Pitt was a rising star, and the recognition helped him tremendously. But he seems slightly overacted, making the character too over-the-top.

I much prefer his more subdued work in Seven (released the same year), or future roles in Babel (2006) and Moneyball (2011).

Appealing in parts are the frequent exterior shots of the cities of Philadelphia and Baltimore, where the film is set.

Treats include the Baltimore-Washington International Airport, the Pennsylvania Convention Center, and the Eastern State Penitentiary filming locations, as well as numerous highway and bridge shots that add tons of authenticity.

A major score for the film, and Alfred Hitchcock fans everywhere, is the incorporation of classic film clips, specifically the mysterious Vertigo (1958), into the story.

As Kathryn and James camp out in a rustic movie theater and disguise themselves as different people, they watch a marathon of Hitchcock films (as evidenced by the many titles on the marquee).

It’s clever that the characters James and Kathryn begin to mirror the actions of Vertigo’s Scottie and Judy.

Blondes anyone?

12 Monkeys (1995) does come together after the film as the dreams/memories are laid out pretty clearly. As we have witnessed these sequences throughout, it leads to a semi-satisfying conclusion.

A bit of a beautiful mess, the film has clever tidbits and is well-acted, and the bearing of both Willis’s and Pitt’s butts might get some additional viewers.

I need to watch the film again to understand, perhaps, and connect all of the dots better.

Oscar Nominations: Best Supporting Actor-Brad Pitt, Best Costume Design

2007 Films, Action, Comedy, Horror, Horror-Comedy, Zombie

Grindhouse: Planet Terror-2007

Leave a comment

Grindhouse: Planet Terror-2007

Director Robert Rodriguez

Starring Rose McGowan, Freddy Rodriguez

Scott’s Review #692

Reviewed October 15, 2017

Grade: B-

The umbrella title “Grindhouse” is part of a 2007 double feature: one film directed by Quentin Tarantino (Death Proof) and the other by Robert Rodriguez (Planet Terror).

The gimmick was part of an attempt at something novel and also bookending fictional trailers within the films.

The term “grindhouse” refers to a cinematic specialty of either B movies or exploitation films, largely during the 1970s.

While Planet Terror gets credit for being unique and fun, it is often too cartoon-like and rather over the top throughout.

The premise of Planet Terror is not one to be taken seriously- as our heroine, Cherry Darling (Rose McGowan), quits her stripper job, vowing to move on to bigger and better things.

She runs into her ex-boyfriend, El Wray (Freddie Rodriguez), and the two team up to lead a group of rebels, who are fleeing for their lives after a vicious zombie outbreak.

The attack was caused by a group of military officials, led by the vicious Lieutenant Muldoon (Bruce Willis).

The film contains an undeniable retro feel- the sets and the props traverse back to the 1970s in style and look; however, characters do use cellular phones.

Rodriguez attempts to make the film an homage or a throwback to a different time in cinema- this feat is quite impressive, and the film is a marvel from a stylized perspective.

Another positive is that the film, through its camera styles and angles, is reminiscent of a 1970s film, with grainy elements and a comforting old-style texture, which works.

The plot, though, is the source of frustration, and many aspects of the film are just plain silly.

The actors play way over the top, as Rodriguez probably directed them to, but the result is too much like watching a cartoon rather than a piece of art.

Rodriguez appears to be copying many aspects of Quentin Tarantino films- specifically, the mixture of violence with camp, although these attempts do not always work.

The acting and casting are fine.

Bruce Willis shines in the lead villain role, playing demented to the hilt. Unquestionably “borrowed” by Rodriguez through Tarantino, Willis, who was dynamic in Pulp Fiction, knows how to do his thing well in films such as this.

Muldoon is quite a different character from boxer Butch Coolidge in 1994’s masterpiece, Pulp Fiction, but the acting style is the same.

Stars such as Josh Brolin, Kurt Russell, and Rosario Dawson also make appearances, so the film is assuredly a star-studded affair.

The casting of McGowan and Freddy Rodriguez as the leads is acceptable, and the pair make a decent screen couple.

Still, her artificial leg, which doubles as a deadly machine gun, and his maniacal persona seem somewhat forced and, again, way over the top.

Planet Terror was a moderate box office success upon release in 2007, but watching the film in 2017, ten years later, unfortunately, some of the clusters have been tarnished, and the gimmick is not as catchy as it was at the time of release.

Still, a decent offering in the horror, cartoon, and campy genres, but there are many better films, like anything by Tarantino.