The Movie Journal

  iZombie: Season 1, Episode 6 "Virtual Reality Bites" April 21, 2015 iZombie is on all a roll! It looks like I’m in the series for the long haul after the delightful “Virtual Reality Bites.” Even though I am not familiar with Rob Thomas’s Veronica Mars , I see why that show was so popular. Thomas and Diane Ruggiero plus the writers develop interesting, creative ideas to inject in their characters each episode. This episode, Liv embraces an agoraphobic persona and she allows Ravi to help her with this episode’s case because he is such a gamer. The look on his face as he becomes immersed in the world of gaming, which I do not know much about myself. Also, Blaine! He is prevalent here and if no one caught he is the main evil guy yet…well it becomes public now. His conversations are light but menacing with almost everyone he interacted. Clive almost became Blaine’s next menu item with his poking and prodding. Yeah, things are going well!   In the previous episode, Major was ...

  iZombie: Season 1, Episode 5 "Flight of the Living Dead" April 14, 2015 While the first four episodes of iZombie’s first season are good, solid fun, the show comes into its own with its fifth episode, “Flight of the Living Dead.” How does it come into its own? Liv is given a personal connection in more ways than one, which ups the stakes. While the cases of the week have been good but nothing fancy, having Liv know this week’s deceased person adds some emotion. There was a nice moment when Liv was holding the victim’s hand as Ravi procured the brain for Liv to eat. Also, Liv is finally given another love interest…and not just any love interest. Lowell Tracey (played by the charismatic Bradley James) is a musician…and a zombie. The first “good-guy” zombie outside of Liv we met! Also, Major is given more to do this episode as he sheds the image of the thankless role that is Liv’s former lover.   In this episode, a former sorority sister of Liv’s dies when her parachute fa...

  Shane (1953) George Stevens, the film auteur behind Giant and A Place in the Sun , revolutionized the ‘Western” genre in his 1953 feature, Shane . Like many westerns, it follows the tropes which gives it a level of predictability at times. However, the film was different in other ways. Do you think you would get the graphic violence from Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch without this film? I think not. Stevens came up with ways to show how horrid violence can be from gunshots, so the intensity factor increased. Also, he developed the main character in a unique way. Shane is not your typical, masochist leader. He is a more mysterious, feminine type which of course goes against Western mythology. All of the changes allowed for changes to be made in a dying genre.   At the time of release, the movie was the most expensive Western ever produced. A miniscule budget by today’s standards, but it did carry a hefty three-million-dollar price tag which it did eventually recoup at the...

  Children of a Lesser God (1986) 1986’s Children of a Lesser God spoke volumes to me. The film’s subject moved me deeply in ways that other subjects do not, mainly because I can relate…to a degree. The film centers around a woman who is deaf. People are surprised when they discover that I am hard of hearing myself and always has been. I understand the struggles of what its like to live in a functional society despite not having perfect hearing skills. For the most part, the film captures what life can be like. It is an extremely well-acted film with instantly believable characters. Some people may find the love story trite, but I found it heartwarming. Even disabled people can still find love!   The idea for the movie came it fruition in 1977 when playwright Mark Medoff wrote the play as a star vehicle for a deaf Broadway actress. The curtain opened in 1980 and the play became a rather big hit on Broadway. Medoff decided to adapt his play into a movie. He changed the stor...

  Stand by Me (1986) Rob Reiner’s Stand by Me is a wonderful, inspiring coming-of-age drama. Do not expect this film to be like a Disney film as it truly earns its R-rating. But you know, Reiner captures the essence of the teenage spirit. Humans, especially teens, curse all the time. Thankfully, Raynold Gideon’s screenplay is incredibly realistic when it comes to depicting teenage friends with different personalities. I cried, I laughed, and I embraced the film. Although I was not yet born when the film was released, nostalgia hit me like a train. I was reminded of my own childhood and in particular could relate to the movie’s main character, Gordie.   The film was adapted from Stephen King’s novella “The Body.” The film’s title was changed because it felt like the name of a raucous comedy or a horror film from King himself. Rob Reiner came up with the title and it stuck. King himself believed this is the first work of his that was adapted to the screen the right way. Ever...

  iZombie: Season 1, Episode 4 "Live and Let Clive" April 07, 2015 “Live and Let Clive” is a solid episode. iZombie is about to get pretty complicated in a hurry. The episode moves at a brisk pace but keep in mind that this episode is jam-packed with some goodies. The episode turns its gears and pays more attention to Blaine and his schemes of extortion. It is made clear that Blaine is definitely evil despite his charm. The episode starts off with a riveting sequence where we see how zombies hide themselves; spray tans, hair dye, and brain smoothies (bleh). Blaine has a zombie army in charge of his business which is selling brains for more money; he even has a restaurant to use as a store front. This is all very interesting and descriptive. This moves Liv to the back, where she has some interesting moments herself.   Of course, we finally see the extent of Blaine’s business. We also learn that zombie henchmen need to be wary of him because they can easily be replaced. For...

iZombie "Season 1, Episode 3 "The Exterminator" March 31, 2015 “The Exterminator” continues iZombie’s strong first season in an emotionally-layered episode that gives us more insight on who these characters are and how they are connected to one another. With Liv eating the brain of a cold-blooded contract killer, her personality becomes emotionally numb which is helpful to have when she learns that Major is seeing someone else. Major continues to play the “typical hunk” dude, but his charisma is earning him points and I feel like he may be a major player in episodes to come. We get to learn more about Blaine and see what his evil plans are. We see more insight in Liv’s relationship with her roommate, ADA Peyton Charles (played by the wonderful Aly Michalka). The case of the week is interesting, but the characterization is more interesting.   In this week’s episode, Liv eats the brain of an emotionless sociopath which dulls her senses of humanistic feelings. He was al...

  It Happened One Night (1934) Frank Capra’s It Happened One Night is the little engine that could. It was a smallish romantic comedy produced on a modest budget from a minor studio. It would be a film, despite starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, that would vanish as time progressed, right? Guess again! The movie happened to be the table-setter for a new kind of film, and it is a movie that resonates well with people, even to today’s modern audience. Personally, I found much to enjoy. Despite my misgivings on the screwball genre, Capra gets it right. The situations are zany, fast, and witty. The performances are excellent, and Capra is on the top of his game following his usually formula in the world of comedy.   The making of the film could have been its own film. This picture was produced by Columbia, which was seen as a minor picture at the time. Frank Capra lacked two major stars to appear. He previously worked with Claudette Colbert, but their experience toget...

  Aliens(1986) When Alien was released in 1979, it was a monumental success. The horror film garnered high praise as its often, rightfully so, regarded as one of the best horror films of all time. 20 th Century Fox took a long time to even think about producing a sequel because they felt the first film did not rake in the cash despite the accolades. We should all be saying a prayer of thanks they finally came to their senses because 1986’s Aliens is bigger, better, and more intense. While Alien was a slow-moving film that builds up horror, it is successor is a brutal action/horror hybrid with a soul-sucking last hour due to its intensity. The film focuses more on the terror rather than the horror and it absolutely works. Aliens is one of those rare sequels that is better than the original, and it also happens to be one of my favorite all-time films. One that received the extremely rare perfect score from me.   The film took a long time to get into production. The studio ...

  Big Trouble in Little China (1986) John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China is a campy thrill ride that is bound to please fans of genre B-filmmaking. Yeah, it is not the greatest film of all time, but it is an hour-and-a-half romp with cool king fu moves, an interesting mythical background story, and a wisecracking Kurt Russell. The visual effects and stuntwork are excellent and well-choreographed. The story itself is interesting enough to hold my attention as I love all things fantasy and mysticism, but it could have been better developed. In other words, this is your quintessential summer blockbuster action movie.   Preproduction did not get off to the best start. The original draft of the screenplay was written by first-time screenplay writers Gary Goldman and David Weinstein. Their draft was considered so bad that it was unreadable despite having interesting ideas. 20 th Century Fox hired veteran script doctor W.D Richter to overhaul the script. The original wr...

iZombie: Season 1, Episode 2 "Brother, Can You Spare a Brain?" March 24, 2015 In “Brother, Can You Spare a Brain?,” we finally get to meet Liv’s antagonist and the dude who turned her into a zombie, Blaine DeBeers. On the outside, Blaine seems like a pleasant enough person. Do not be fooled. Blaine is gonna be hard work for episodes and seasons to come. David Anders truly knocked it out of the park. Playing a bad person can be so much fun! I loved the introduction where he comes to the morgue and silently lies on the table hoping to catch Liv off guard. This episode expands on the pilot and explains everything in more detail. Watching Liv as a zombie in a human world is so much fun.   In this episode, Liv finally meets Blaine but there is more than what meets the eye. He may be involved with the drug Utopium which may be why Liv is now a zombie rather than a human. He also seduced a woman across town, turned her into a zombie, and now is blackmailing her for brains. Ravi ...

iZombie Season 1, Episode 1 "Pilot" March 17, 2015 If you believe that iZombie is the next Walking Dead , guess again! The show is basically a police procedural with the spiciness of zombies….and I am all here for it. The series was created by Diane Ruggiero-Wright and Rob Thomas whom created the very popular Veronica Mars . The show has a nice blend of humor, action, and drama. I really enjoy the dialogue. It seems like the head of the morgue department, Ravi will be given some juicy lines over the course of the show. The pilot episode, although it packs a lot of information, is a blast ands the proper introduction of this CW series. Zombies in the media was a mania, so I am not exactly sure if it was needed. Well, I changed my tune based on this wonderful, fun episode.   Olivia Moore (Rose McIver) had the perfect life. She was a driven doctor-to-be with the perfect boyfriend, Major Lilywhite (yes, real name and played by Robert Buckley). Everything was sailing smoothly…...

  A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) Before director Elia Kazan and superstar Marlon Brando teamed up for the unforgettable On the Waterfront , they worked together on the brilliant film based off Tennessee William’s award-winning play, A Streetcar Named Desire . When the film was released, people branded it as vulgar and immoral along with similar adjectives. The film was heightened due to its sexual tension and dark characters. The move was censored by the Production Code. Kazan valiantly fought to keep his cut intact but ultimately failed. His version was not restored until 1993. This is the kind of film that people were not accustomed to. There is hardly any niceness within our characters. If anything, this is a movie that touches the subjects of domestic abuse and mental illness-two things that were overlooked or not worried about in the 1950’s. This film is a great character study and a powerful film with an ending you shall never forget.   Tennessee Williams wrote the ...

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.” Ah, wise words from our new young friend, Ferris Bueller. In John Hughes’s 1986 film, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off , all Ferris wants to do is take a day and have fun. That is the most simplistic theme the movie has. You can go deeper, but the main takeaway is that it is okay to have fun. That is a motto I have taken to heart. I really loved the film. People consider The Breakfast Club to be Hughes’s best and most important movie. That’s a fine statement to make, but I would personally rank the film number two behind this particular one. The teen characters are instantly relatable, it has a memorable antagonist for the children, and this is basically a thirty-year-old travel guide for Chicago. Just how Woody Allen creates his movies as love letters for New York, this is applicable for John Hughes. A Chicago love letter!   Like all of his films, Hughes wrote...

Top Gun (1986) Even though 1986’s Top Gun received mixed reviews from critics upon release, it is one of those feel-good movies that is fun, fun, and even more fun. Imagine it is 2010 and you are in the midst of watching a Michael Bay movie. A movie with striking cinematography, expertly crafted action scenes, but middling human character development. Yeah, this film is one of the precursors to Bay-directed movies, but this film definitely works. Some people may complain about the film’s machismo or pro-military stance, but I always been told it is one of those required viewings for any male. It definitely was in my household. Even though the characters are middling and not fully developed, they are really memorable. After all, the film launched Tom Cruise’s Hollywood career. The action sequences, more specifically, the aerial dogfights are incredible. They are expertly shot, and it made you feel like you were a part of the action.   The film received its humble beginning from ...

West Side Story (1961) How on earth did I miss the juggernaut of a musical, West Side Story ? As soon as the aerial footage of New York City came on the screen, I was drawn in and captured by the magic of this excellent musical. Funnily enough, I knew a majority of the songs (such as “I Feel Pretty”) but I never associated them with this production of course. At two-and-a-half hours, the movie flew by because it has a fast tempo. I became enamored with the characters on both sides of the rival gang war and I felt for them despite their differences. The music is fantastic! You cannot have a great musical without excellent songs and dance! The film was adapted to the screen by the great screenwriter Ernest Lehman. Prior to the film, the story was a bestselling novel from Arthur Laurents and was a huge success on Broadway thanks to the talents of Jerome Robbins. Robert Wise, a much-respected studio veteran, came on to direct this adaptation. Because he lacked the skills and exp...