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Film & TV on DVD - John Doe News & Reviews

Greetings Film Fiends and welcome to John Doe's Film Blog. 30 years of dedicated celluloid obsession has meant that I have seen a few films. Drawing attention to some of the lesser discussed gems that I love. Cult classics, obscure curios and quality genre pictures. This blogs purpose is to translate some of my passion for these films and with luck, inspire you the reader to go check em out.

Science Fiction - Film & TV on DVD

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The Twilight Zone: Seasons 1 to 5 (1959 – 1964)

July 18th 2008 00:05

Take A Leap of Intellectual Faith.

Each Season available individually in Australia. Box Set available on amazon.com

“There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man's fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone” – Rod Serling

Omnipetent Lord Rod Serling

The Twilight Zone is the classic sci-fi anthology series that opened fervent minds and fed ravenous imaginations. Designed to twist consciousness, confronting audiences in the 1950’s and 60’s now it stands as a monument of inventiveness.

Premiering on network television in 1959 The Twilight Zone was the brainchild of former pugilist and WWII paratrooper turned television playwright Rod Serling (Planet of the Apes, Seven Days in May). Serving as your host to an alternate dimension Serling carried psychological and physical battle scars, sharing his own complex existence on the page by penning 92 of the 156 episodes made.

Rod Serling opens The Twilight Zone

Demanding the viewer think about philosophical and sociological conundrums very much a part of our own real world. Seldom venturing into space, most of the stories take place on Earth in the mid 20th century, the same time as production.

Upon release it was never the ratings bonanza that its prestigious vintage suggests, in fact it was cancelled twice. Reworked and adapted numerous times since inception each stand alone 27 minute tale seems to have become the foundation for endless streams of movies, books and television series.

William Shatner in Nightmare at 20,000 Feet and other classics

John Doe says:
An elixir for inquisitive minds, watching the show in reruns as a child triggered an explosion of fresh brain cell activity, leaving young Doe obsessing over each episode’s riddles until the following week’s surreal injection. (The Outer Limits also deserves a mention here)

Shot in moody black and white, the stylistic tone shifts from bleak to magical, macabre to spiritual and between many other adjectives. What’s amazing is the sneaky optimism that sometimes shrouds the revelations in each slight of hand conclusion. There is a soothsayer quality in the subject matter that often makes the show truly prophetic.

Attracting a varied cavalcade of talent in front and behind the camera, Serling’s, regular writing collaborators included Richard Matheson (I Am Legend, Duel) and Charles Beaumont (The 7 Faces of Dr Lao).

Commanding the set as Directors were names like Richard Donner (Superman, Goonies, Omen, Lethal Weapon), Don Siegel (Invasion of the Body Snatchers, The Killers, Dirty Harry) Stuart Rosenberg (Cool Hand Luke, The Amityville Horror) Lamont Johnson (The Ground Star Conspiracy), Jack Smight (Harper) and Elliot Silverstein. (A Man Called Horse)

Future stars and respected character actors are frequently centre stage. A few personal highlights: Lee Marvin (The Dirty Dozen, Point Blank), Warren Oates (The Wild Bunch, Two Lane Blacktop) Cliff Robertson (Spiderman, Three Days of The Condor), Burgess Meredith, (Rocky, The Penguin on Batman) Jack Klugman, (Quincy) William Shatner (Boston Legal, Star Trek) and Martin Landau (Ed Wood, Mission Impossible).

Selecting an outright favourite episode is as futile as the ability to see your own unchangeable destiny. As a kid JD procrastinated on The Monsters are Due on Maple Street, now again he finds himself doing the same. A study of the human races primal destructive mechanism that dwells on our evolved reliance on technology to keep suburban packs civilized.

The pot boiling Monsters Are Due on Maple Street

Also from Season 1 Mirror Image stands out. It’s all about a smart, independent woman (Vera Miles) who is either going insane or has an identical counterpart ghosting her as she waits in a bus station.

From Season 4, He’s Alive starring Dennis Hopper as a needy extremist NAZI who gets an audience also seems to be wedged between the gray matter.

To Serve Man arrives in Season 2, Aliens come to Earth and promise peace and a sharing of ideas and technology. Hoping to better comprehend the visitors intentions a linguist attempts to translate their language using a book that could be titled “To Serve Man”.

Hail the opening 10 minutes of "To Serve Man"

Johnny was taken by surprise when he revisited Season 1 on DVD. Firstly the much parodied memorable opening score is nowhere to be seen until the following year. Watching each new series in succession you notice that Rod Serling’s enchanting monologue alters annually, becoming shorter, punchier.

All preconceptions of golden age quaintness were removed the instant the disc glided into the player at 1Am on a Saturday night. Every yarn dealing with timeless issues, many of the morality themes more prevalent today than the era they originally catered for. Some of the more confronting concepts may have been more richly mined since, but still the intelligent simplicity, economic telling and resonating effect remain as admirable and powerful as ever.

Now if only Rod Serling’s gothic and ghoulish counterpart Night Gallery can get a release.

A Top 20 compilation compiled by a diligent Twilight Zone fan

Plummett with the opening 10 minutes of a Nightmare at 20,000 Feet

Steal a glimpse at Time Enough

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Posted By: JohnDoe - Category: Science Fiction, Television, Thriller

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Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) – Trailer Included

May 23rd 2008 00:01

The Crystals of Fond Memories Skeleton

Thank you to the wonderful people at Paramount Pictures who were nice enough to send me a red carpet ticket to the premiere. Seeing Cate Blanchett and Jack Thompson was a fun bonus

Indiana Jones 4 is here

Director:Steven Spielberg
Starring: Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Ray Winstone, Cate Blanchett, Shia LaBeouf, Ray Winstone, Jim Broadbent, John Hurt

“This isn’t going to be easy” - Mac

It’s been 19 years since Indy rode off into the sunset at the end of The Last Crusade and now the hero returns. This installment is a tongue in cheek and foot in mouth comic book film that whizzes along at the pace we expect from the adventures of Dr Jones.

Set in the 1950’s, Elvis Presley’s Hound Dog blares over the opening credits as a supped up hotrod toys with a convoy of military vehicles. On board the trucks as prisoners are the “obtainer of rare antiquities” himself (Harrison Ford) and an old pal named Mac (Ray Winstone).
"I have a bad feeling about this" - Indiana Jones

“Quicker than you can say Dr Jones you have a telegram from Cairo” the bullwhip is out and the fists are flying. Escaping the deadly clutches of a band of Cold War stereotype Russians led by Irano Spalko (Cate Blanchett) the intrepid archaeologist is intercepted by a tenacious Brando wannabe named Mutt. (Shia LaBeouf)

What the kid has is enough information to launch this latest roller coaster ride towards clues that will see them embark on the journey of discovering towards the legendary Crystal Skulls of the Ancient Incans.
"Legend says that a crystal skull was stolen from a mythical lost city in the Amazon, supposedly built out of solid gold, guarded by the living dead. Whoever returns the skull to the city temple will be given control over its power." - Indiana Jones

Age shall not weary them...

John Doe says:
Before JD begins the review I think its important to put some perspective on what kind of fan boy walked into the land that hides the Crystal Skull. Raiders of the Lost Ark and its sequels rank right alongside George Lucas’ other mythic tales in the Star Wars trilogy as the two most influential films of young Johnny’s life. Indiana Jones and Han Solo, the greatest characters that a twelve year old boy could ever hope to worship.

Aware of the inherit danger of hyped up expectations Mr Doe managed to breath through the excitement. Realising it would take a real radical error to quash the nostalgic appeal, the sentimental attraction.

He was partly right, what John D received was an uneven experience that had as many dips, turns and jumps as an out of control mine cart. In the appropriately fast paced story there were moments of magic, some impressive action set pieces and varied success with gags.

Sinking to the level of its imitators (Eg: The Mummy, Tomb Raider) this doesn't feel like an authentic Indiana Jones adventure, it was familiarity that saved it from being a monumental disappointment. There is something sadly generic, or is that geriatric about this chapter of the saga. If it were a stand alone film with no history attached it may have been viewed as a wasted opportunity that slips into parody.

Stuffed with references to both the preceding trilogy and Star Wars this is a movie that tries very hard to please everyone. The in jokes are laid on thick and fast in an attempt to please geek boy fans. Some work others are just clumsy. It is strange that all the witty lines in the trailer worked, but when they were in the context of the scenes they seemed to mostly fall flat.

Steven Spielberg (Emperor of The Sun, Jaws) is in his element here, doing what he does best escapist entertainment. Credit has to go to the restraint used that tapers glaring CGI FX, the camera is always in movement and technically is brilliant. Still embracing modern cinema technology and exploiting it to its full visual potential, by doing so though, the film has an uneasy aura that doesn’t quite sync with the earlier films.

George Lucas (THX 1138)has said that this film is like a “a B Science Fiction film from the 1950’s”, you can see what he is talking about and it succeeds sporadically. Other times its just to silly. The ludicrous conceits pile on way to swiftly. Sure all the series had its impossible achievements, (Eg: Indy swimming to the sub in Raiders, Jumping out of a plane with an inflatable raft in Temple of Doom etc) but here there is little effort to achieve suspension of disbelief.

Lucas’ influence is also felt with an American Graffiti era opening 15 minutes that over sells giving the audience a sense of time and place. What should come naturally is punctuated to early and a haphazard similarity to the preceding films often feels forced and changes the whole tone.

The script does its best to acknowledge Indy’s age and hence passes a lot of the more daring-do to Shia LaBeouf. Unfortunately, Harrison Ford does look like a man in his 60’s and so his ability to get in down and dirty fist fights with men much younger or perform some unbelievable physical stunt contradicts what we are seeing in downtime. Effectively replacing any excitement with a farcical air, it felt like a pair of aging cinema lords decided to try and be new millennium hip.

Harrison Ford (Witness, Mosquito Coast, Frantic) does manage to retain his dignity despite the unintentional mocking, but his delivery is so lethargic and wooden that he fails to capture the characters essence. The body language is different too, when not evading commie scum or plummeting down ridiculously large waterfalls we suddenly see the old man of action disappear.

Part of the problem with the film not fully engaging is the part of the villain as played by Cate Blanchett (I'm Not There, Lord of the Rings, Coffee and Cigarettes). Rightfully she apologised for her lousy Russian Accent that drifts into a British and Aussie twang repeatedly, but this is not a fatal flaw. There is a crucial element to her portrayal that is missing, she carries absolutely no threat or menace. There is never any question of danger, she seems inferior and never makes the audience quiver like Major Arnold Toht or Mola Ram. Worse still one second she realises she is in a cheesy actioner, then blinks into taking it all deadly serious, its like a lesson in flaky character continuity.

It takes a real skill to remove all of Ray Winstone’s (Sexy Beast, Scum, The Proposition, The War Zone) frightening testosterone soaked teeth, but that’s exactly what happens. Miscast, its like they have removed his spleen and replaced it with crazy putty, his character should have been a Peter Lorre type, what we get is more akin to Tom Hanks. (That’s a bad thing by the way)

Thank god for Karen Allen (Animal House, The Wanderers, Cruisin) as Marion Ravenwood. Everytime she smiles you see the same dame from 20 year earlier, just not drinking men under the table anymore. Though the screenplay does its best to remove her independence and take away her spark, vying to make her a romantic damsel Allen still manages to let you know its their in her eyes.

John Hurt (Elephant Man, Ten Rillington Place) too is his usual splendid self, eccentric and unfettered by ego he happily plays along as a brain wiped professor. Of all the cast he is the one who seems the happiest to be there. Unlike Shia LeBeouf (A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, Holes)who didn’t exude the giddy thrills you know he had off camera.

Writing this review has been very painful for John Doe, it isn’t unlike writing an essay on “Why My Mother is a Slut”. Such is his attachment to this fictional universe that just like The Phantom Menace in time he hopes to appreciate it for its nostalgic positives, rather than try and compare it to what he perceived as the celluloid Holy Grail when he was a much younger movie lover.

If you haven't already seen it - The mighty teaser trailer for Indiana Jones 4

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Posted By: JohnDoe - Category: Action, In Cinemas, Fantasy/Adventure, Science Fiction

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The Mist (2007) - Trailer Included

April 22nd 2008 23:57

The Unseen Villiany Within

The Mist is due to be released on DVD in Australia on the 19th of June

Writer/Director: Frank Darabont
Based on the Novella by: Stephen King
Starring: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, William Sadler, Sam Witwer, Toby Jones, Laurie Holden, Andre Braugher, David Jensen

“As a species we're fundamentally insane. Put more than two of us in a room, we pick sides and start dreaming up ways to kill one another. Why do you think we invented politics and religion?” - Ollie

Stephen King is one of the most prolific writers of any era. He has penned in excess of 50 novels that have in turn been translated into more than 75 movies, TV Shows and mini series. Not counting his excursions into drama (Eg: Hearts in Atlantis, Stand By Me) most of his Horror/Thrillers have been mediocre at best. There have been three cinema adaptations that are masterpieces, Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, David Cronenberg’s The Dead Zone and Brian De Palma’s Carrie. Several mediocre efforts that hold some merit like John Carpenter's Christine, Rob Reiner’s Misery and Bryan Singer’s Apt Pupil. For the most part sadly the majority of celluloid excursions have wasted opportunities and ended up sub par or worse as downright trash.

Hitting cinemas last year, The Mist is a supernatural horror film that can proudly become the fourth exercise in terror to be confidently deemed a cinema gem. Based on a novella from The Skeleton Crew it’s taut, disturbing and painfully clever. This is a journey into nerve wracking trembles spearheaded by humanity’s destructive reaction to fear of the unknown.
“I can't accept that. People are basically good; decent. My god, David, we're a civilized society.” – Amanda

A lazy synopsises would be that it’s the Cube and Lord of the Flies cross bred or is that in bred with a traditional Twilight Zone monster movie. It’s not John Doe’s style to be lazy though, hence the 100 plus words before he even gets around to discussing the film in question. So here is a brief introduction to this tale that hopefully remains spoiler free.
“The end of times has come. Not in flames, but in mist.” – Mrs Carmody

David Drayton (Thomas Jane) is a movie poster artist, as the camera focuses on him working the nods to the stories original author and the tone of the film are immediately present. David is presently painting illustrating a film version of the Gun Slinger, part of King’s Dark Tower western trilogy. As a violent electrical storm rages lightning flashes revealing that on the walls are posters for John Carpenter’s The Thing and The Fog.
“Now listen people. We are experiencing some kind of disaster. I don't know whether it's man-made or natural, but I do know that it's definitely not supernatural. Or biblical. And no offense Mrs. Carmody, but the only way we're going to help ourselves is to seek rescue. We're going out.” - Brent

Abandoning his work as nature’s fury is unleashed, Drayton takes his family into the basement as a massive tree is uprooted and shatters the window where he was seated only moments earlier.

The next day all his calm, a heavy mist sits at the foothills of the surrounding lake. An olive branch is offered to Brent Norton (Andre Braugher), his obnoxious lawyer neighbour and so David, his young son Billy and Brent drive into town to get supplies to repair the damage to their respective houses.

En route police and army vehicles blast by towards a mysterious military science base known as Arrowhead located in the mountains just outside of the sleepy town in Maine. The subject of gossip and folk lore little is known about the experimental compound and unconcerned the trio continue onto the local hardware store.

Once inside more activity erupts as a frantic man bursts into the confines of the warehouse store with a bleeding nose. Startling the customers with claims of his companions swift and unseen fatal encounter within The Mist….suddenly an air raid siren blares and the threatening mist engulfs the shop….it begins.
“It appears we may have a problem of some magnitude.” – Bud Brown

I have a bad feeling about this

John Doe says:
So you don’t get the wrong impression, this film does have faults. It’s not perfect and the first half an hour misleads you into believing it’s just another “B” grade horror. It’s easy to settle into believing that you are in for a dose of enjoyable schlock entertainment.

The early FX shots are a little on the tongue in cheek side, but all that changes once its true purpose is revealed. The velocity increases and a claustrophobic study of the fundamentals of a clawing paranoia and desperation emerge. Comparisons to The Thing and Invasion of the Body Snatchers are much more appropriate.

Misconceptions are abruptly removed when suddenly the tension snowballs, the terrifying special effects improve and importantly you become invested in the plight of these trapped characters. By the time the story hits its apex there are few equals to its superior visuals and heart exploding suspense. There is the imminent doom and cold menace of a great white shark rolling it eyes into the back of its head for an inevitable attack.

Now is probably a good time to mention how much JD despised Writer/Director Frank Darabont until this point in his career. He was a man who even managed to bleed any sense of menace or danger from prison (The Shawshank Redemption) and like Spielberg had a saccharine quality to his work that left me repulsed for all the wrong reasons.

In The Mist Darabont’s knowledge of cinema language and deft audience manipulation finally becomes apparent. There is a restrained expertise in the staging and pacing. Cleverly minimising the soundtrack, don’t expect to be warned in advance of impending destruction here. The minimal score is supported by unpolished cinematography that frames shots for maximum impact and urgent editing from the technical team behind The Shield. The result is a social commentary of realism that is inescapable, a tone that salutes the dense atmosphere of his inspirations.

Best of all the film follows through on its pitch dark promises with a finale of such melancholy devastation that Johnny refuse to discuss it with those who have not yet witnessed it for themselves.

The script tightens and the imaginative FX accelerates as each scene proceeds, it’s akin to bamboo shoots up the fingers nails. None of these peripherals would coagulate without the dedication of the cast who are committed to convincing us this is all really happening.

Thomas Jane (Thursday, The Velocity of Gary) backs up his charismatic performance in the under seen real life cop thriller Stander and scene stealing turn in Boogie Nights. You believe his on-screen intelligence and obsessive survival instincts.

Marcia Gay Harden (The Dead Girl) is truly repulsive as the religious zealot all to eager to believe in Gods blood thirsty desires. Inspiring such hatred in the pit of your stomach that it’s hard not to reach into the screen and throttle her. This is a fearless performance that embraces the pack mentality with a fervour that should be rewarded.

All the players including William Sadler, David Jensen and Andre Braugher excel in there parts.

Johnny D loves being surprised by films and when he saw the trailer for this, frankly it looked derivative and judged it to be a poor mans version of The Fog. How wrong he was. Under estimation can sometimes lead to excitement, it wasn’t until about half way through that he realised he had read the original novella, but this didn’t detract from the shocks that the film offered.

The DVD release will have both the original version and also Darabont’s intended cut that is black and white, which I can only imaging adds another level to the creepy feel. So next time your looking for a frightfest on a rainy night, switch all the lights out and prepare for some quality chills in The Mist.

If you would like find out some of the stories secrets, then visit Bryn’s brilliant review over on horrorphile.net

Spoiler Warning - The trailer for the Mist that hints at where the story goes.

Frank Darabont introduces his Black and White version that will be available on the DVD edition.

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Posted By: JohnDoe - Category: Science Fiction, Thriller, Horror

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Supanova 2008 - A Preview

March 10th 2008 00:01

Supanova Nirvana Returns.

Hands on and completely interactive, this year “Supanova” returns to Australia with a cavalcade of familiar faces that have John Doe ready to attack the nearest clone if it sped up the events arrival.
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Posted By: JohnDoe - Category: Animated, Coming Soon, Film News and Views, Science Fiction

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eXistenZ (1999)

February 18th 2008 00:01

The sins of Virtual Reality.

Disclaimer:Taking advantage of eXistenZ structure is an opportunity to mix up John Doe's established reviewing format for this one.

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