Netflix And Chill: The Untouchables (1987)

Perhaps enough time has passed now, perhaps I was just being a bit too harsh and/or swayed by the opinions of others years ago, but I have finally reached a certain level of acceptance when it comes to The Untouchables. I always enjoyed the movie itself, and it's another great example of just how great director Brian De Palma can be when able to put considerable resources alongside his not-inconsiderable talent, but it's time to finally admit that I think, yes, Sean Connery actually deserved his Oscar for his performance here. Is that admitting that he's great in it? Is he giving the best performance of his career? No. There are a number of other roles to look at in that regard. But he's the absolute highlight in a film that is stuffed full of treats, and he's the one you remember for a long time after the film is over and done. It also helps that he gets most of the best lines of dialogue from writer David Mamet.

Kevin Costner is the legendary Eliot Ness, a Treasury agent looking to battle against those breaking the prohibition laws, and someone unafraid to go up against the ruthless Al Capone (Robert De Niro). Not knowing who he can trust, especially after being burnt during what should have been his first major operation, Ness assembles a small and capable squad that includes beat cop Jim Malone (Connery), an agent who also does accountancy (Oscar, played by Charles Martin Smith), and a hot shot youngster from the Police Academy (George, played by Andy Garcia). They intend to disrupt Capone's operations until they can bust him, but that gets them a lot of unwanted attention. As well as a number of anonymous threatening individuals, a dangerous man named Nitti (Billy Drago) aims to get rid of Ness and his colleagues, and aims to show that they're most certainly not "untouchable".

It's hard to think of where to start when praising The Untouchables, almost every individual element is as good as you'd expect. Mamet's script is snappy and entertaining, the camerawork and visuals are as wonderfully lush and stylish as they always are in any De Palma movie, and the score from Ennio Morricone feels like some kind of collage of the wonderful work he did over the years with director Sergio Leone. Production design is gorgeous throughout, and there are a couple of fantastic set-pieces that I am sure people have thought about way before getting to this part of my review.

The casting is spot on, for the most part, although I have never been completely convinced by De Niro in the role of Capone. He's fine, but it feels too close to a number of other roles he's already closely identified with. If he'd managed to nail the accent, Hoskins (the second one signed on when De Niro initially couldn't play the part) could have perhaps given us a more interesting portrayal. Hey, at least Hoskins got to enjoy a large paycheck for not doing anything. Costner is a good solid figure at the heart of everything, the kind of thing he has excelled at in a number of features, and he's somehow able to get the focus back on himself after spending time sidelined by more interesting supporting characters. Connery is brilliant, as I've already said, and both Smith and Garcia liven up scenes by bringing very different energies into their performances. Drago is entertainingly villainous, and I'll also mention how much I enjoyed seeing Patricia Clarkson, despite the fact that she's given little more than a token role of "worried wife of the hero".

(Re)watching a great Brian De Palma film always reminds me that I should make the time to watch his entire filmography. They're not all absolute greats, and not all as good as this one, but his best work is enough for me to never begrudge giving some time to the films that didn't work half as well. And I can always come back to something like this if I end up disappointed by too many others.

9/10

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Invasion U.S.A. (1985)

Richard Lynch is a bad man. A very bad man. Well, that's how he is in the role of Mikhail Rostov, the main villain in Invasion U.S.A. Thank goodness that we all have Chuck Norris to protect us from the evil people of the world. He's the man who can repel invaders with nothing more than the right denim clothing and his fists. Oh, and guns. And some grenades. And lots of other weaponry.

That's pretty much all there is to this movie. Rostov brings his men over to America, and sends them off to do lots of bad stuff, while Matt Hunter (Norris) does his best to stop their evil deeds. As the invaders impersonate cops and army personnel, American citizens become rightfully paranoid and mistrustful, making the job more difficult for anyone trying to offer them genuine help. Will Hunter be able to stop the madness before it becomes impossible to fix? Well, he IS Chuck Norris. What do you think?

Directed by Joseph Zito, this is a movie that puts fun ahead of everything else. Well, by fun I actually mean gunfire, explosions, and the endangering of human life. Which, in this context, is fun. The screenplay, by James Bruner and Chuck himself, is as clunky, at times, as you'd expect, but it does all that it needs to do in between some fantastic, riotous set-pieces. Who needs thoughtful, character-building dialogue when you can have Chuck driving a truck into a building, killing off numerous bad guys, and handling Uzi submachine guns like he's been holding them since birth.

Lynch is very good as the main villain, ably supported by Alexander Zale as his right hand man, and Norris stays well in his comfort zone as the one-man army able to keep America safe as it stands on the very brink of disaster. Melissa Prophet is alternately amusing and irritating as the reporter trying to figure out just what exactly is going on, and what Norris has to do with it all, and Eddie Jones is a perplexed cop. Elsewhere, there are small roles for James Pax and, best of all, the ever-brilliant Billy Drago.

Joseph Zito may not have directed too many movies in his career, but with films such as this, and the superior Red Scorpion, he guaranteed himself a place in the hearts of many action fans. Grab the beverage of your choice, wear your most comfortable denim ensemble, and enjoy.

7/10

http://www.amazon.com/Invasion-U-S-Chuck-Norris/dp/B00005O06W/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1406004304&sr=1-1&keywords=invasion+usa

Children Of The Corn: Genesis (2011)

To my surprise, Children Of The Corn: Genesis (the eight instalment in the Children Of The Corn franchise - not including the 2009 remake/reinterpretation) managed to defy the odds and not be a complete stinker, like most of the movies to have come before it. It's not a good film, but the fact that it's almost passable for 90 minutes is pretty amazing. Or should that be . . . . . a-maize-ing? Sorry, I'll try never to make that gag again.

Tim Rock and Kellen Coleman play a young couple, Tim and Allie, who end up stuck in the middle of nowhere after their car breaks down. Allie is expecting their first child, so Tim wants to get them safe and comfortable as quickly as possible. When they knock on the door of a stranger (Preacher, played by Billy Drago) they are hoping for kindness, but instead encounter mild hostility and then some disturbing revelations about the man's wife (Barbara Nedeljakova), and child. But it quickly becomes difficult to figure out what's true and what's false. All Tim and Allie know is that they're not getting to go anywhere soon.

Writer-director Joel Soisson has been slogging away for a while now in the world of franchise sequels (his past efforts include movies in the Prophecy series and the follow-ups to the Pulse remake) and this is in line with his previous directorial outings. He manages to make movies that are watchable, even if they're not movies that you'd rush to rewatch.

He's helped here by the cast. Rock and Coleman do well in the lead roles, they may not be star names or overly endowed with talent, but they're far better than anyone given the leading role in the previous few movies in the series. Billy Drago does his usual good work, Nedeljakova is adequate in her role and Duane Whitaker is good to see when he pops up for one or two scenes.

At this point, after enduring so many of them, I'd be hesitant to recommend any of these movies, but if you absolutely have to watch them all, as I did, then "Genesis" is one of the best of a bad bunch.

4/10

http://www.amazon.com/Children-Of-The-Corn-Genesis/dp/B0052XU4BK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1381779805&sr=8-1&keywords=children+of+the+corn+genesis

Vamp (1986)

Written and directed by Richard Wenk (who was helped by Donald P. Borchers in coming up with the story), Vamp is one of those movies that I know isn't for everyone . . . . . . . . . yet I recommend to everyone anyway. It's a favourite of mine and the more people who come around to my way of thinking, at least in this matter, the better.

After almost being bored to death while pledging to a fraternity, Keith (Chris Makepeace) and AJ (Robert Rusler) offer to get the guys anything they want instead of being made to go through the usual humiliations. The frat guys, somewhat predictably, want strippers. So our two young men borrow a car from Duncan (Gedde Watanabe), and also allow him to join them, before setting off to procure some dancing girls. After a few wrong turns, a fair bit of lost time and a run in with an albino punk (Billy Drago), they get inside the After Dark club. At last. The After Dark club is quite a place. There's the guy who looks after the place but dreams of Vegas (a superb turn from the ever-brilliant Sandy Baron), a waitress who keeps trying to get Keith to remember her (played by the lovely Dedee Pfeiffer) and a star turn from the mysterious and animalistic Katrina (Grace Jones). Unfortunately, there is a side to the club that people only see if they're not getting out again. A vampiric side.

Yes, as you may have guessed, years before the enjoyable From Dusk Till Dawn used the strip club setting for some monster mashing, Vamp had already paved the way. Was Vamp the first? No, but it remains one of the best (especially when compared to, for example, The Monster Club, which I think contains a few similiar elements).

The performances from everyone involved really help lift this above numerous other vampire movies of the decade. Robert Rusler and Chris Makepeace play off each other superbly, Gedde Watanabe is great comic relief and Dedee Pfeiffer is adorable - like an '80s Meg Ryan but a Meg Ryan that I'd actually contemplate trying to hit on. The villains are just as good, if not better. Billy Drago is his usual intimidating presence, Grace Jones is her . . . . . . usual intimidating presence and Sandy Baron steals pretty much every scene that he's in.

The special effects don't overwhelm the movie but they're very well done and the same can be said for the score from Jonathan Elias. Wenk may do a great job as director but he's helped no end by a very talented team, including Alan Roderick-Jones in the role of art director and cinematographers Elliot Davis and Douglas F. O'Neons. I don't usually mention art directors and cinematographers in my movie reviews for a number of reasons. First of all, I usually KNOW more about the cast, writer and director. Secondly, a movie is always a collaborative effort and I worry that if I start to single out too many people I end up having to go down the list of credits to include absolutely everyone (which, in an ideal world, is as it should be). But Vamp has such a unique and wonderful visual style that I have to mention the guys who helped to get that onscreen.

At times it's a surreal, off-kilter world. It's very much a cinematic horror landscape - nobody helpful is around when the sun goes down, the sets are full of deep shadows and often lit with pink and green colouring, there's a lot of dry ice around - but it's one that just uses the artificiality of everything to make things more interesting and entertaining throughout. There is always the risk that these elements can pull a viewer out of the experience but it's a worthwhile risk when the viewers that go along with the whole thing can take so much away from it.

I can still recall, even to this day, looking at that garish VHS box and being both impressed and curious. Those feelings stayed with me as I watched the film for the first time and by the time the end credits rolled I wasn't curious any more but I was still impressed, mightily so. It's a horror movie that's easy to dismiss and forget about, it's a horror comedy with some teen elements that I'm sure will annoy quite a few fans who like their horror adult and serious, it's a film that will even have some viewers switching off by the halfway mark. But it's also a film that really delivers some great vampire moments, it somehow made Grace Jones even scarier than she already was at that time (and, by god, she was already terrifying) and it made such a great impression on me that I will always step up to defend it in front of those who don't appreciate its magnificence.

9/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vamp-Blu-ray-Grace-Jones/dp/B0041H9N4W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1353981297&sr=8-1