Noir-vember: The Hot Spot (1990)

I've watched many a hot and steamy neo-noir in my time, as those who know me will already know, but very few of them felt as hot and steamy as The Hot Spot, a Dennis Hopper film that leans so heavily into the tropes of noir that it borders on parody and outright silliness. The fact that it works as well as it does is mainly down to the brilliant cast, but they're helped by Hopper and the writers (Nona Tyson and Charles Williams, working from the source novel, "Hell Hath No Fury", by Williams) having absolute faith in the material. That could have backfired spectacularly, and one character almost shatters the "illusion" every time they're onscreen, but it doesn't. It works, and everyone benefits from the feeling of unabashed gleefulness inherent in the material.

Harry Madox (Don Johnson) is a stranger in town. He's not there long before he gets a job as a car salesman by, well, selling a car and then speaking to the owner of the lot (George Harshaw, played by Jerry Hardin). It's clear that he's a fast-talker and can ladle on the charm. It doesn't take Harry long to notice the beautiful Gloria Harper (Jennifer Connelly), a woman who is getting grief from Frank Sutton (William Sadler). It also doesn't take him long to notice how vulnerable the local bank is when any local emergency requires the staff, all volunteer firemen, to leave the premises. Things could get interesting, especially when Harry is viewed as a potential conquest by the wife of his boss (Dolly Harshaw, played by Virginia Madsen). 

Before I get carried away with my praise for the cast of The Hot Spot I think I should start with some of my minor criticisms of the film. Hopper directs the thing well enough, but he could have worked harder to tighten up the runtime. He could also have livened up the soundtrack, and maybe even the score from Jack Nitzsche. The film is elevated by the performances, and the fact that most of the main players deliver their hard-boiled dialogue with a straight face, but it should have had more reasons to make it worth your time. The production design does well at times when scenes are dark and/or steamy, but there are times when it's a bit nondescript. The town never feels like a potential spring-loaded bear-trap, but we noir fans know that every small town in the middle of nowhere is exactly that for our main characters.

I could try to say that Johnson has never been better than he is here, but that wouldn't quite be true. He's a perfect fit for the role, and he delivers his performance with gusto, but it doesn't feel like a stretch for him. He has given better performances in other movies, but this may well be his best lead turn. The same goes for Madsen, who tears through the entire film ready to chew up both the scenery and any man she thinks could taste good enough. Hardin is very good, Sadler delivers another in a long line of his excellent supporting turns, Barry Corbin always feels very right when he's playing a Sheriff, and Charles Martin Smith does well to remain relatively normal while everyone starts manipulating one another around him. And Jack Nance is welcome in a small role. The weak link is Connelly. She sure looks the part, but she is the only one who doesn't seem able to commit to the tone of the piece, perhaps unhelped by the fact that her character isn't written to be as interesting or complex as the others. It's a shame, especially when the third act falters slightly due to her inability to convince viewers that she may be worth whatever price Johnson's character may have to pay for his interest in her.

I've had The Hot Spot recommended to me many times over the years, and I'm surprised it took me this long to finally get around to it. It's very enjoyable stuff. It's easy to see why so many people would mention it when asked to recommend some noir fare from the more modern era. It's just a shame that a couple of things don't work as well as they could. The success of many moments is thanks to the cast. The minor failures would seem to be thanks to Hopper (for his choices while overseeing the casting, visuals, and music departments). Nothing drags it down too much. It's just hampered enough to stop it from being considered a full-blooded classic.

8/10

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Noir-vember: Red Rock West (1993)

You know your small town is about to see some shit go down when Nic Cage comes rolling in, surely, and that is how Red Rock West starts, a fantastic neo-noir from John Dahl (contender for the director with the most overlooked filmography of the past few decades, everyone goes on about The Last Seduction and forgets he has done so many other greats).

Cage is Michael, a military veteran looking for work. He has a job lined up, but that doesn't go anywhere when he tells the prospective employer about his wounded leg. So he ends up in a bar, which is being tended by a barman (Wayne, played by J. T. Walsh) who is expecting an employee. Pretending to be the expected party, Michael ends up with a job. But that job involves killing Wayne's wife (Suzanne, played by Lara Flynn Boyle). Thinking that he can warn Suzanne, run off with some money, and alert the local Sheriff, Michael finds his situation getting a whole lot worse when he finds out that Wayne is also the head authority figure in the area. And the real killer is still due to arrive soon.

Coming out a year before the film that really made movie fans sit up and take not of him, Red Rock West is a perfect mix of real thrills, tension, and lighter entertainment. The script, written by Dahl and his brother, Rick, lines up the familiar noir tropes and absolutely embraces them, even as our hero watches events unfolding around him with a mixture of disbelief and bemusement, and even a hint of wry amusement when he's resigned to his fate at the hands of various individuals who have managed to keep hold of him amidst their immoral dealings.

Cage is excellent in the lead role here, perfectly portraying someone who doesn't seem too bright, or to have too many prospects, but has a history and an intelligence that belie his outward appearance. Walsh gives yet another one of his superb performances that saw him almost steal a number of movies throughout the '90s, a nasty piece of work who tends to try a smile and a modicum of charm first, right before revealing his true nature to those who get in his way. Boyle is also just the right casting for her role, the potential victim who may have her own cunning plan at work, and there's a lot of fun to be had once Dennis Hopper appears onscreen. Can you guess which character he plays?

It's interesting that the Dahl brothers have crafted an enjoyably small film with an backstory that could easily have opened up the scope of the tale. Obviously waved away for the sake of keeping the budget and focus of the film much easier to handle, viewers are instead dropped into this maelstrom of events alongside Cage, who is teased more and more information until all becomes crystal clear in a third act that then builds to a wonderfully atmospheric finale.

The more I think about Red Rock West, the less I can find fault with it. You have the tension, you have a good measure of black comedy, and you even have a couple of decent action moments. It's not quite perfect, and I understand that some people just can't bring themselves to watch Cage in anything nowadays (their loss), but it comes surprisingly close.

9/10

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Waterworld (1995)

If there was one movie that came to symbolise the excess, and potential waste, of blockbuster movie productions of the 1990s, it was Waterworld. Supplying cinema fans with plenty of gossip before we'd even seen one main scene, it was the film that caused more strife between star Kevin Costner and director Kevin Reynolds, the film that had the biggest budget of all time (until James Cameron gave us Titanic, which then opened the floodgates, no pun intended, for budgets to go up and up and up), and the film that allowed everyone to (unfairly, in my view) knock Costner down a peg or two.

The sad thing is that the film itself, without taking everything else into consideration, is actually pretty good. I'd go so far as to call it a great action adventure. But that's easy to forget when the final product has been long overshadowed by that troubled reputation.

The plot is pretty simple. Costner plays the Mariner, a lone traveller on an Earth that has long been covered in a deluge of water, so much so that any notion of dry land is nothing more than a legend. But one little girl (Enola, played by Tina Majorino) may have the location of dry land, in the form of a skin tattoo, and she ends up on the Mariner's boat, along with her guardian, Helen (Jeanne Tripplehorn). This makes them of interest to a marauding gang, the Smokers, and their leader, Deacon (Dennis Hopper).

I thought long and hard about this, I think long and hard about every statement I make in my reviews (even if it doesn't appear that way), and I stand by the fact that Waterworld MAY be a contender for the best physically-realised movie environment onscreen. A lot of the screentime is taken up by our leads floating on the water, true, but there's an astonishing atoll set that is the focus of the action in the opening third of the film, fantastic design work on the main vehicle that belongs to Costner's character, and a wonderful reappropriation of the Exxon Valdez as a main HQ for the villains. There's not one moment in this movie that takes you out of it, in terms of the look and the production design, no matter how silly some of the plotting may be.

The script, by Peter Rader and David Twohy, may be little more than Mad Max on water, but that's not a bad thing to aim for when you're out to deliver some post-apocalyptic, stunt-filled, action. And everything is directed well by whichever Kevin you want to give the most credit to. This may have been the most expensive movie of all time, for a while, but you have to admit that you can see pretty much every dollar onscreen (well . . . apart from the thousands of dollars that it cost for every night that Costner stayed in his villa, which also had a chef and butler, apparently). Every set-piece is grand and impressive, without tipping over into the overdone and tiresome style we so often see in modern movies that have no limits on the spectacles they can provide, thanks to the computer tools at their disposal.

None of the cast members are doing their best work, but neither are they doing any of their worst. Costner does the strong and silent type well, Tripplehorn does as much as she can while not being given a lot to do, and Hopper is just about as fun a villain as you could wish for in this kind of fare (a scene with him trying out a replacement eye still makes me laugh harder than many big gags in comedy films). Majorino acts well opposite the adults, Michael Jeter is fun in a small role, and Gerard Murphy is another crafty villain in league with Hopper and co. The list of people in much smaller roles also includes a number of familiar faces: Leonardo Cimino, Robert Joy, Jack Black, Kim Coates, and one or two others.

Does it have flaws? It sure does. It's overlong, even in the shortest version available, it often misses the mark when it comes to the moments that aren't full of action, the computer effects, when on display, are mid-90s computer effects, and the ending is, well, it's a bit anti-climactic. But none of that is enough to spoil a movie that aims to provide viewers with a thrilling cinematic adventure. If you haven't seen it, or haven't seen it in years, then do check it out.  Maybe you'll agree with my opinion of it. Maybe enough time has passed, and the tide has turned for Waterworld.

8/10

You can buy this fantastic set here.

Sci-Fi September: Space Truckers (1996)

Ahem, any fans of Stuart Gordon may also like to check out this lengthy interview HERE.

From the wonderfully demented mind of Stuart Gordon comes this wonderfully demented sci-fi film, boosted by a great cast and a few fun ideas that help to overcome the relatively low budget and occasional-not-so-special effects. The emphasis here is on entertainment rather than any final polishing, and that's just fine with me.

Dennis Hopper plays John Canyon, a space trucker with a fairly reliable, albeit slow, rig. He's a bit behind schedule when he drops off a load of square pigs (for your square meals) and ends up arguing over his fee due to him from company man Keller (George Wendt). One fight later, John ends up having to get away in a hurry. He's joined by the lovely Cindy (Debi Mazar) and a lad who has just passed his test for the trucking life, Mike Pucci (Stephen Dorff). He also has a new cargo, which is supposed to be a whole load of sex dolls . . . . . . . . . . but that's highly doubtful, considering the built-in security protecting it. And did I mention that Charles Dance plays a semi-cyborg psychopath?

Written by Ted Mann, adapting a story that he and director Gordon came up with, Space Truckers is a loving mix of old sci-fi romps - the kind of stuff with bright colours and killer robots - and the blue collar approach to a life spent in space that came along in the 1970s (most notably, I guess, in Alien).

Hopper is great in the lead role, grumpy and set in his ways but not without the sense to see what's right under his nose at times, while Dorff is enjoyable wide-eyed and innocent, and Mazar is tough and cute. Dance is a semi-cyborg psychopath, which I may have already mentioned, and I'll be damned if I didn't love seeing every minute of his over the top performance. Other names in the cast include Sandra Dickinson, Vernon Wells, and Mr. Wendt. Everyone seems to be having a blast, which transfers to the audience.

Gordon directs with his usual steady hand. I'm a fan of the man, having seen how he can make the most of every dollar on every movie that he makes, and this is even more interesting to watch when placed in amongst his filmography. In a way, it seems far removed from most of his other movies (although he has, of course, done relatively straight sci-fi with Fortress and Robot Jox), but it's also absolutely in line with the sensibilities shown in almost everything that he's done. There are some dark moments, there's plenty of humour, and Barbara Crampton graces the film with her lovely presence, in a brief cameo role. There are deadly robo-aliens and other trappings of the genre, of course, but it's almost impressive to see just how far Gordon can shape the material to his own ends.

I'm not sure if others will enjoy this movie as much as I did, but I hope that some people at least give it a viewing. It's certainly not dull, even if you only decide to watch it for that Charles Dance performance.

7/10

Price-wise, Region 2 is the way to go - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Space-Truckers-DVD-Dennis-Hopper/dp/B00030ERYC/ref=sr_1_1?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1409730107&sr=1-1&keywords=space+truckers

Super Mario Bros. (1993)

Mario Mario (Bob Hoskins) and Luigi Mario (John Leguizamo) are a pair of plumbers who don't seem to be having much luck lately. After losing out on another job to a competitor they end up stopping when their van temporarily breaks down. And that's when Luigi meets Daisy (Samantha Mathis), a young woman working on an archaeological dig. Move forward a couple of scenes and, for reasons I won't go into right now, Daisy has been whisked away into an alternative dimension, and Luigi and Mario set out to rescue her in a strange land overruled by the harsh, power-hungry King Koopa (Dennis Hopper).

It's hard to pin down just where Super Mario Bros. went so wrong in the transition from videogame to big screen outing, but the main thing to point out, surely, is that the film does absolutely nothing to please fans of the game. Taken just as a film, it's an interesting failure. Taken as a film version of the Nintendo property, it's just a failure.

Leguizamo is the better of the central pairing, having some fun as the open-minded and optimistic Luigi, while Hoskins does okay, wobbly accent aside. He at least looks the part. Mathis is there to be put in peril, and she does that. Thankfully, Hopper livens up every scene that he's in. Film fans know that Hopper can be a great villain, and this is a family-friendly baddie that he portrays with gusto. Fisher Stevens and Richard Edson both provide some amusement as a couple of idiotic goons, and Fiona Shaw is just as good as she always is in the role of Lena, the woman by the side of Koopa who also has plans of her own.

Perhaps it's because this was the first major theatrically released movie based on a videogame, but it's hard to think of what writers Parker Bennett, Terry Runte and Ed Solomon were thinking when they cobbled this script together. Yes, there are videogame elements incorporated into the movie, but they're not prominent enough and at no time does this film actually feel like Super Mario Bros. It may have been difficult, admittedly, but the groundwork for more creativity was easily laid out when the premise involved throwing the characters into another dimension.

Directors Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel don't help. Super Mario Bros. may well be one of the drabbest, ugliest "big" movies to ever see the inside of cinemas. The design, the colour scheme, even the shot choices, almost every decision just feels wrong. It's all so wrong that it's hard to believe that Morton and Jankel weren't on some kind of mission to sabotage their own movie.

But that cast, thank goodness for that cast. There IS fun to be had here. Yes, you have to sit through a lot of rubbish to get to the good bits, but I disagree with anyone saying that this movie is entirely worthless. It's bad, no arguing with that, but it's not unwatchable. If only I'd been writing this blog back in 1993 perhaps I could have allowed them to quote me on the posters: "Bad, but not unwatchable".

4/10

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True Grit (1969)

John Wayne. He was the ultimate macho man to many people and could always be relied upon to show the very best assets of being a man completely in line with the will of Uncle Sam. I have never been a fan but that's just because I've never seen any clips of his acting in which he wasn't just the swaggering bull of a man that he so often portrayed. Finally seeing the original True Grit after I'd enjoyed the remake so much, I realise that I should make an effort to watch the films of someone who made such a big impact on cinema audiences. He's an icon and icons are usually icons for good reason.

True Grit is a wonderful film with some fine performances in there and the turn from Wayne, as grizzled and oft-drunk Rooster Cogburn, is the highlight of the film. In fact, it gave him his only Oscar win. There may have been worthier candidates that year but it's hard to begrudge him the win after he gave audiences so much pleasure over the years.

The story here is all about young Mattie Ross (Kim Darby) looking to hire someone who will hunt down the murderer of her father. She gets Rooster Cogburn and offers him some money to do her bidding. He takes her up on the offer but then tries to get her to stay behind and wait while he heads off with a Texas Ranger named La Boeuf (Glen Campbell) to catch some crooks and collect some rewards. However, young Mattie isn't going to stay put and she wants everything resolved her way. It doesn't take long for anyone who meets this young woman to realise that she often gets what she wants.

Based on the novel by Charles Portis, True Grit has a fine screenplay from Marguerite Roberts and capable direction from Henry Hathaway yet it's hard not to think that the movie is really lifted by all of the performances. Wayne is fantastic, being both a hero and sometimes a drunken ass. Darby is superb as Mattie Ross, a young girl easily able to shame and correct anyone trying to pull a fast one on her, and Glen Campbell is perhaps the weakest of the trio but an essential part of the group dynamic. Jeff Corey is the main man being hunted but film fans will probably get more enjoyment from watching a young-ish Dennis Hopper in a small role and the great Robert Duvall playing the villainous Ned Pepper.

The cinematography and visual style may be indistinguishable from the hundreds of other Westerns made during this decade but that doesn't detract from the fact that so many people hold up True Grit as a classic because it IS one. See, and enjoy, it for yourself.

9/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/True-Grit-Blu-ray-Region-Free/dp/B004E10Q9G/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1353517747&sr=8-5

Ticker (2001)

A Steven Seagal movie that ranks at the very bottom of the pile, if this isn’t his worst film then I despair at the depths he has reached.

Seagal plays a bomb disposal expert, Frank Glass, who teams up with a detective (Tom Sizemore) to try and save the city from the schemes of a mad bomber (Dennis Hopper). Jaime Pressly plays a young woman caught up in the midst of things while Peter Greene is the antagonistic detective who only serves to keep rubbing Sizemore up the wrong way.

Pretty appalling in almost every single way, Ticker is almost worth watching for the laughs it can provide but all involved should be embarrassed by the final product.

The script by Paul B. Margolis wouldn’t be out of place in any “McBain” segment of The Simpsons while director Albert Pyun fills out the movie with footage from other films, constantly makes careless mistakes and puts himself forward as an untalented hack for hire. It seems that his career best will remain the lesser Van Damme movie, Cyborg.

Seagal finally gets some action in the last 10 minutes or so but, overall, this is an unsatisfying watch for fans of his fight moves. Sizemore does okay but is hampered by ridiculously clichéd characterisation and motivation (including an enduring memory of lost loved ones that shows them turning and waving to him about half a dozen times, with love glistening in their eyes and radiating from every pore, before getting killed). And I could watch Jaime Pressly if she was showing me paint dry. Dennis Hopper, however, goes completely over the top and drags things down further with an accent that veers between American and Irish, depending on how he seems to feel at the time. The fact that the soundtrack is often full of lilting, Celtic music in the background whenever the bombers are onscreen is just another reason to dislike the movie – if I were easily offended then this movie would have hit the spot. Kevin Gage, Nas, Joe Spano, Romany Malco and many others step onscreen to take part in this debacle. There’s even a fleeting, and completely unnecessary, role for Ice-T.

Destined for a future that includes bargain bins, repeated showing on channels aimed squarely at undemanding males and inclusion in cheaply-priced “explosive” action boxsets, Ticker deserves to be seen by as few people as possible. 

2/10. 

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