Last Few Movies: Comfort Re-Watches for Dark Times

I watch a lot of new movies, but this pandemic lockdown has me seeking some familiarity. So I’ve been revisiting a few more movies I know (and introducing them to my roommates) to stay sane. Some new ones to me too though.

23. I found Jean-Jacques Annaud’s WWII epic about snipers during the Battle of Stalingrad, Enemy at the Gates (2001), to be kind of tedious despite some solid production value.

22. The Amazing Bulk (2012) feels like a superhero origin story made entirely on 20 square feet of green screen and just chock full of free animated elements. It’s shockingly lazy, ugly, and stupid, but I did laugh at the title character’s adorable little trot.

21. The Protector (1985) might be my least favorite Jackie Chan movie. First action scene Jackie is gunning down people while their blood paints the walls. There’s a lot of nudity in it too. Jackie is cursing a lot more than usual. His partner (Danny Aiello) is kind of a gross creep. And not much actual hand-to-hand combat. Feels like American filmmakers had no idea how to use their talented star.

20. What if a Guy Ritchie movie had less charm and style? Matthew Vaughn’s Layer Cake (2004) is a bit of a convoluted British crime drama with a great cast, but not enough character.

19. I used to love this movie. Gave it a re-watch. Young Sherlock Holmes (1985) is so dumbed down it’s like Sherlock Holmes for children. Oh, I get the title. At least the special effects are still fun and scary and I dig the theme song.

18. More wacky sight gags and sendups of movies like Rambo in Jim Abraham’s Hot Shots! Part Deux (1993). Fun cast and most of the silliness lands, although it’s no Airplane.

17. This is one weird time travel adventure. The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988) directed by Vincent Ward. The Plague has come to a small village and one boy has a vision of them placing a cross on a steeple. Arty and atmospheric Australian flick.

16. Guy Ritchie adapts Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous sleuth into a rough-and-tumble action flick in Sherlock Holmes (2009). We had to see this again after the Young Sherlock Holmes debacle and, although it is a bit more fun, it’s too long and messy to be a true classic. Jude Law and Robert Downey, Jr. are fun and it has a few exciting scenes. The convoluted mystery’s intrigue takes a backseat to the spectacle, probably because they knew it wasn’t that interesting.

15. Visually, Animal World (2018) is speaking a whole other movie language. A desperate nobody is caught up in a secret underground game of rock-paper-scissors. I don’t know what the aliens and clown fight scenes have to do with anything, but they are fun to look at. It ends on kind of an anti-climactic note, but it functions as set up for a sequel that, frankly, I’d be down to watch.

14. In honor of Sir Sean Connery’s passing, we gave Dr. No (1962) another go. Originating a lot of the 007 tropes we’d come to know and love and roll our eyes at, this British spy flick set in Jamaica gives its suave star plenty of time to shine amidst all the campy silliness of the plot. It gets really dumb by the final act, but it’s never boring and Ursula Andress is a pleasure to behold.

13. An alcoholic cop is trying to solve a string of grisly murders townsfolk are attributing to a werewolf in Jim Cummings’ The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020). The great cast and well-balanced levity throughout make this chilly police investigation an engrossing tale from start to finish.

12. Nicolas Winding Refn gives Tom Hardy space to flex his acting muscles in the prison biopic, Bronson (2008). I am always interested to see what newcomers have to say about it, because structurally it can be a bit frustrating and unpredictable. It’s on its own wavelength. But it works because its subject, Britain’s most famous prisoner, is an erratic and strange beast on his own sort of evolving quest for meaning.

11. Jean-Jacques Annaud gets to make up for Enemy at the Gates with The Name of the Rose (1986) starring Sean Connery and Christian Slater. I recalled this 14th century monastic mystery fondly, and it does hold up. The gritty atmosphere, grotesque clergy, and paternal Connery performance make this a memorable film experience. Ron Perlman also shines as a crazed hunchback.

10. I revisited Werner Herzog’s Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972) and, while it wasn’t my viewing partners’ favorite, the slow lyricism resonated with me more than it had in past viewings. There is no glamor here. Sweaty conquistadors are lost in the jungle, drifting aimlessly down the Amazon as their numbers dwindle and their hope and sanity wanes. Send in the monkeys. Klaus Kinski, with his craggy, maniacal face, is perfectly cast as the greedy author of their misfortunes.

9. The Gentlemen (2019) plays like Guy Ritchie’s greatest hits. All of the sharp action, folding plot, and tough-guy dialogue you’d expect from Lock, Stock, and Two-Smokin’ Barrels, Snatch, RocknRolla, and the rest, but distilled here to perfection, aided by a fantastic cast. If you love quick-witted British gangsters guided by their own sort of rigid principles then you’ll definitely enjoy this slick caper.

8. Peter Watkins faux-documentary Punishment Park (1971) paints an America where political dissidents (artists, civil rights activists, pacifists, etc.) are tried in a tented kangaroo court and released into a fatal desert hell. The thing that struck me most was how literally every single issue the prisoners are confronting are things that haven’t gone away. This movie is as applicable now as it was in the early 70s.

7. Panos Cosmatos’ Mandy (2018) exudes a cosmic darkness. A truly psychedelic cinema experience. It’s a revenge thriller that feels like a surreal horror. I’ve seen it a couple times now and it is never less than captivating. Brutal, but captivating.

6. I have loved Nobuhiko Obayashi’s Hausu (1977) since I first stumbled upon it over a decade ago. This gleeful, candy-coated nonsense is exactly my speed and its unabashed zaniness makes it my all time favorite haunted house movie.

5. Watching NeverEnding Story (1984) again as adult is like confronting some serious demons. Beneath the special effects and AMAZING music is a deeply existentially heavy journey through depression and the horror of identity. This movie has more layers than Layer Cake. It holds up. The bleakness is matched only by its imagination. This is a movie that respects kids and wants to scare them. Of course, it’s a German production.

4. The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) remains my favorite Wes Anderson film. He achieves maximum style, symmetry, and comedy in this gorgeous living cartoon that pits the lavish excesses of pre-war mentality (embodied wonderfully by Ralph Fiennes’ foppish and promiscuous concierge) against the onset of fascism and its eventual decay. The story celebrates how goodness, even if ultimately short-lived, can echo throughout the passage of time. Worth a re-watch these days.

3. Comfort food doesn’t get tastier for me than Stephen Chow’s Kung Fu Hustle (2004). The music, the action, and the comedy are all perfection. Brilliant writing and emotional impact if you let it take you away. Honestly, this and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon might be favorite kung fu movies. And yes, I put them on the same level.

2. The perfect film for a snowbound quarantine doesn’t exi— John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982) has been written about to death. It’s brilliant. Just watch it if you haven’t or watch it again if you have.

1. Always a favorite, Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits (1981) gets deeper with every viewing. On its surface, it’s a silly time travel adventure with wacky situations and funny characters (also another great appearance by Sean Connery), but it was the nihilistic depictions of God (Sir Ralph Richardson as a stuffy, aloof schoolmaster) and the Devil (David Warner as an insecure pseudo-intellectual) that I found most revealing this time around. Gilliam appears to be wrestling with some deeply ingrained religious ideas and reducing them to parody was perhaps therapeutic. Lord knows I can relate. John Cleese as Robin Hood is laugh out loud funny, as are the Shelley Duvall/Michael Palin bits. Like NeverEnding Story, it’s a movie for kids that doesn’t really care if it traumatizes them.

Ghosts

It’s October. Time to get spooky.

THE 80s!

Scatman Crothers up at night worrying about the Overlook Hotel.

Steven King may hate what Stanley Kubrick did to his story, but The Shining (1980) holds up as one of the all time great horror movies. A writer (Jack Nicholson) takes his wife (Shelley Winters) and son to a remote mountain hotel where they are to be caretakers and he is to write his novel. It soon becomes a nightmare as they descend into haunted insanity.

Melvyn Douglas ascends a fiery staircase.

George C. Scott plays a man who has recently lost his wife and daughter and ends up moving into an old, giant house that is haunted as all hell in The Changeling (1980). It’s got some good creepy scenes and the mystery is fun to unravel.

No relation to The Mist.

John Carpenter’s The Fog (1980) is kind of a schlocky ghost pirate yarn with a fun seaside town location. It’s not my favorite Carpenter movie, but it’s still pretty fun.

OK. Now THAT’S a ghost.

Poltergeist (1982) puts its special effects department to work. A family slowly realizes that their home is chock full of angry ghosts. And they’ve taken their daughter into the phantom zone or whatever. Luckily, creepy, little Zelda Rubenstein is there to help.

Who you gonna call?

Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver, Rick Moranis, and lots of weird Lovecraftian ghosts. Ghostbusters (1984), directed by Ivan Reitman, has all the right moves for a perfect ghost comedy. I don’t think there’s been a more sarcastic movie.

Now that’s a ghost.

Possibly the weirdest and most novel take on the haunted house genre is Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice (1988). When a couple (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) dies in a car crash, they learn just how bureaucratic and confusing the afterlife really is. Enter Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), a ghoul-for-hire to scare the living family out of their house. Visually wild and inventive. Also stars Catherine O’Hara, Winona Ryder, Jeffrey Jones, and more.

Funny Phantasms

Classic comedy and haunted house hijinks

Classic comedy duo, Abbott and Costello get stuck in a spooky old house in Hold That Ghost (1941). Classic haunted house elements alongside the goofy slapstick and wordplay of the comic actors. It’s one of my favorite movies featuring these guys. Maybe also check out The Time of Their Lives for a story where Costello and a lady (Jess Baker) get murdered and framed for treason during the Revolutionary War, come back as ghosts, and have to get Abbott and a modern day crew of folks to solve the mystery and clear their names so they can get to heaven.

A recently ghosted Michael J. Fox guns down the Soul Collector.

Michael J. Fox can see ghosts in Peter Jackson’s The Frighteners (1996), but uses his powers to con people. Until he has to battle a serial killer’s ghost and the Grim Reaper himself. Watch this one for the fun special effects and most especially for Jeffrey Combs absolutely owning every scene he’s in.

Ossie Davis plays a man who believes he is JFK with a birdseed brain.

Mummies are ghosts. Deal with it. Bruce Campbell stars as a bound geriatric Elvis impersonator (or perhaps someone who only thinks he’s Elvis) who protects a nursing home from an ancient butt-sucking mummy in Don Coscarelli’s Bubba Ho-Tep (2002). And if you need more than that to hook you, you’re on the wrong website.

Kathleen Turner’s voice was a nice surprise.

Something’s up with the creaky, dilapidated house across the street. Monster House (2006), directed by Gil Kenan, is a fun animated haunted house movie with humor and delicious Halloween atmosphere.

Vintage ghosts from Japan

A moody and heartbreaking romance.

Kenji Mizoguchi’s Ugetsu Monogatori (1953) is a tragic period drama of war, family, and seduction. Two peasants leave their wives during the war. One winds up in a strange relationship with a spirit. It’s a beautiful and complex morality tale.

This may be the best mother-in-law from hell story ever told.

I absolutely love Kaneto Shindo’s Onibaba (1964). Set in feudal Japan, a woman awaiting her husband to return from the war. Her mother-in-law awaits her son with her. Both strongly suspect he is dead. Together they kill lost samurai to sell their armor. When the woman falls in love with another man, the mother-in-law panics about losing her only companion and dons a haunted mask to keep her from escaping their life. It’s spooky, sexy horror-drama at its best.

An eerie snow spirit tucks a man in for the night.

Why settle for one ghost story when you could have a whole bunch? Kwaidan (1965) is a beautiful anthology of Japanese ghost stories and folklore. Some stunningly colorful sets. I need to watch this one again.

A parasol ghost? Why yes.

Ghouls, ghosts, spirits, and sprites all feature heavily in Yokai Monsters: 100 Monsters (1968). When nobles threaten to destroy some poor villagers’ homes, a host of angry monsters is unleashed. It’s more wacky than scary, but it has an abundance of different creatures to enjoy.

A ghost leads a samurai through a gorgeous bamboo forest.

Kaneto Shindo makes the list again with Kuroneko (1968), a rich folk tale full of wicked samurai and vengeful, lustful ghosts. Sumptuous cinematography and classic Japanese melodrama.

She may never play the piano again.

Nobuhiko Obayashi’s Hausu (1977) is legit one of my all time favorite movies. Visually, thematically, stylistically, whatever — the whole shebang is balls to the walls bonkers. A group of teenage girls spend the night in spooky Auntie’s house…which proceeds to bump them off in cartoonishly creative ways. Put on the popcorn, enjoy the music, and strap in for the wild ride this aggressively weird flick is.

Miscellaneous

Deborah Ker tries to maintain some decorum amidst all the spooky goings on.

Deborah Ker plays a governess in charge of two mischievous children in The Innocents (1961). It’s classic and atmospheric and reminds me that I need to see the 1963 version of The Haunting.

Christopher Walken doesn’t even need a head to be awesome.

Turning the Washington Irving tale of Ichabod Crane into a supernatural steampunk detective thriller was maybe a weird move, but what Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow (1999) lacks in a clean story, it more than makes up for with its rich Halloweeny art direction. Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, Miranda Richardson, and a whole mess of classic faces.

An orphan boy makes friends with a dead child.

Few filmmakers seems to love monsters more than Guillermo del Toro. The Devil’s Backbone (2001) puts sympathies squarely on the ghost who haunts the orphanage. Like Pan’s Labyrinth, the story takes place during the Spanish Civil War.

A horror movie for the skeptic.

A paranormal debunker (Andy Nyman) investigates a series of alleged supernatural encounters in Ghost Stories (2017). Some humor, some tragedy, some twists, and just some good, clean ghost scares lurking in this modern horror movie. Martin Freeman co-stars.