Classic films mingle with a lesser King
By Bruce R. Miller Journal staff writer | Posted: Sunday, March 23, 2008
Back in the '60s, audiences hadn't seen anything like "Bonnie and Clyde." Brash, openly violent and stylized, it gave Warren Beatty instant credibility and, to a large extent, changed the way filmmakers did business.
A slo-mo death scene still serves as the gold standard and the film's use of bluegrass music easily inspired something like "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
The film was a flop when it was first released. Then, producers changed the campaign, it grew in stature and went on to be a strong contender for Best Picture. "In the Heat of the Night" won -- but "Bonnie and Clyde" continues to rank among the decade's best.
Now, it's arriving in a couple of DVD versions and it's a must for any collector. Watch it and you'll realize just how lame some of the new dramas are.
Also getting the extended-version treatment: "Walk the Line," the Johnny Cash biography that netted Reese Witherspoon a Best Actress Oscar. It features more content than you could possibly digest but a couple of performances that still resonate. Joaquin Phoenix is fine as Cash and Witherspoon (as June Carter) just gets better with age.
Also: 'The Mist'
After a heavy storm whips through a little lake community, folks head to the grocery store to get, well, groceries. When a mist rolls in, they feel trapped and start doing strange things. Like lighting mops on fire and stacking dog food against the store's windows.
They're sure something is out there. But what?
Don't fret. "The Mist" is such a silly film it doesn't deserve to be on a list of Stephen King thrillers. Yet, there it is, boasting Frank Darabont -- the guy behind "Shawshank Redemption" -- as its director.
Perhaps enamored with "Children of Men," Darabont tries to make this more than a '50s mutant flick. He hits the irony pedal hard and nearly goes through the windshield of camp in the process.
Thomas Jane stars as a movie poster artist who takes his son to get groceries. They're trapped at the store where all sorts of odd ducks find refuge. Instead of eating everything in the place (a logical choice, right?) they listen to a woman who thinks the end is at hand and begin to arm themselves for armageddon. Folks who venture out in the mist don't come back. Those who take precautions don't either. So, instead of enjoying the store's bounty, they huddle in masses, then plot their escape. In no time, huge insects divebomb the windows. Then flying reptiles appear. Then residents start killing themselves.
By the time Jane decides to lead a posse to the pharmacy next door, it's clear "The Mist" was written by someone in a fog. Marcia Gay Harden gets several opportunities to overact (as the religious zealot); William Sadler gets a chance to do his impersonation of the angry mob at Frankenstein's gate.
Darabont has several chilling moments in his film, but "The Mist" looks like such a throwback it's a shame it wasn't. Jane is nothing more than a utility player; Frances Sternhagen, Jeffrey DeMunn, Toby Jones and Andre Braugher are simply second-tier players in a third-tier disaster film.
Interestingly, King's hand can be seen in several places. He references moments from his own life and, if you look closely, he has his name on one of the storefronts.
The ending, though, smacks of a lesser episode of "The Twilight Zone." It isn't all that clever and it isn't worthy of the Darabont/King tag team.
The guerrillas in "The Mist" are simply pawns for a political statement that lands with the same thud as a flying insect shot at point-blank range.
Also this week:
TV: "Baldwin Hills," season one; "Battlestar Galactica," season three; "The Invisible Man," season one; "John from Cincinati," season one; "Party of Five," season three; "Sliders," season four; "Wings," season six
Movies: "Bonnie and Clyde"; "Jimmy Carter: Man from Plains"; "Kings of the Sun"; "Lost Highway"; "Taras Bulba"; "The Unknown Soldier"; "Walk the Line"
A slo-mo death scene still serves as the gold standard and the film's use of bluegrass music easily inspired something like "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"
The film was a flop when it was first released. Then, producers changed the campaign, it grew in stature and went on to be a strong contender for Best Picture. "In the Heat of the Night" won -- but "Bonnie and Clyde" continues to rank among the decade's best.
Now, it's arriving in a couple of DVD versions and it's a must for any collector. Watch it and you'll realize just how lame some of the new dramas are.
Also getting the extended-version treatment: "Walk the Line," the Johnny Cash biography that netted Reese Witherspoon a Best Actress Oscar. It features more content than you could possibly digest but a couple of performances that still resonate. Joaquin Phoenix is fine as Cash and Witherspoon (as June Carter) just gets better with age.
Also: 'The Mist'
After a heavy storm whips through a little lake community, folks head to the grocery store to get, well, groceries. When a mist rolls in, they feel trapped and start doing strange things. Like lighting mops on fire and stacking dog food against the store's windows.
They're sure something is out there. But what?
Don't fret. "The Mist" is such a silly film it doesn't deserve to be on a list of Stephen King thrillers. Yet, there it is, boasting Frank Darabont -- the guy behind "Shawshank Redemption" -- as its director.
Perhaps enamored with "Children of Men," Darabont tries to make this more than a '50s mutant flick. He hits the irony pedal hard and nearly goes through the windshield of camp in the process.
Thomas Jane stars as a movie poster artist who takes his son to get groceries. They're trapped at the store where all sorts of odd ducks find refuge. Instead of eating everything in the place (a logical choice, right?) they listen to a woman who thinks the end is at hand and begin to arm themselves for armageddon. Folks who venture out in the mist don't come back. Those who take precautions don't either. So, instead of enjoying the store's bounty, they huddle in masses, then plot their escape. In no time, huge insects divebomb the windows. Then flying reptiles appear. Then residents start killing themselves.
By the time Jane decides to lead a posse to the pharmacy next door, it's clear "The Mist" was written by someone in a fog. Marcia Gay Harden gets several opportunities to overact (as the religious zealot); William Sadler gets a chance to do his impersonation of the angry mob at Frankenstein's gate.
Darabont has several chilling moments in his film, but "The Mist" looks like such a throwback it's a shame it wasn't. Jane is nothing more than a utility player; Frances Sternhagen, Jeffrey DeMunn, Toby Jones and Andre Braugher are simply second-tier players in a third-tier disaster film.
Interestingly, King's hand can be seen in several places. He references moments from his own life and, if you look closely, he has his name on one of the storefronts.
The ending, though, smacks of a lesser episode of "The Twilight Zone." It isn't all that clever and it isn't worthy of the Darabont/King tag team.
The guerrillas in "The Mist" are simply pawns for a political statement that lands with the same thud as a flying insect shot at point-blank range.
Also this week:
TV: "Baldwin Hills," season one; "Battlestar Galactica," season three; "The Invisible Man," season one; "John from Cincinati," season one; "Party of Five," season three; "Sliders," season four; "Wings," season six
Movies: "Bonnie and Clyde"; "Jimmy Carter: Man from Plains"; "Kings of the Sun"; "Lost Highway"; "Taras Bulba"; "The Unknown Soldier"; "Walk the Line"
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