Category Archives: Films Released in 2000
BEDAZZLED
BEDAZZLED-United States/Germany-2000
Brendan Fraser as Elliot Richards/Jefe/Mary
Elizabeth Hurley as The Devil
Frances O’Connor as Alison Gardner/Nicole Delarusso
Directed by Harold Ramis
Screenplay by Larry Gelbart, Harold Ramis and Peter Tolan
Based on a 1967 story and screenplay by Peter Cook and Dudley Moore
I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “John, have you lost your ever-loving, modestly intelligent mind?”
Nope.
“But Bedazzled is a comedy!”
Yep.
“So why are you reviewing it? You write a horror film blog.”
Because I want to, because it has the devil in it; and that kind of sort of if you grade on the curve sort of way puts it into my territory. But there is one other main reason I wanted to write about this movie; besides the fact I got to see Elizabeth Hurley in all those fantasy inducing outfits. Hmm, scratch the ‘one other main reason’ part and make it ‘two other main reasons’. The other, other main reason is simply that I love this movie.
Hey, I know; it’s as stupid and ridiculous a movie as you’re ever going to see and I could care less. I’ve watched Bedazzled countless times and I laugh out loud (lol) every time. I personally think this is the best movie Brendan Fraser has ever done. His chance to portray so many characters with so many different characteristics is essentially the cherry on the whipped cream of his career. As for Elizabeth Hurley as the Devil; all I can say is that my reactions changed with each new outfit she wore.
Red Dress: Reowwwwrrrr!!!
Black Bikini (while walking Doberman Pinschers on the beach): Arf! Arf! Down boy!!
Cheerleader: Nice Pom Poms!!!
Traffic Cop: So, tell me officer, do those handcuffs come in fuzzy style?
School Teacher: I have been so bad, Miss Hurley. I really think I need to stay after school.
Nurse: I got a boo boo. Kiss it and make it better.
*Sigh* Huh, what? Oh, sorry. I got drool all over my keyboard.
Anyway, the plot of Bedazzled is this. Brendan Fraser (George of the Jungle, Encino Man) is Elliot Richards, a nerd, dweeb, and loser; just pick one because they all apply. Elliot is in love with Allison (Frances O’Connor, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, and Timeline); a girl who barely even knows that he exists. When Elliot says aloud that he would do anything to be with Alison he sparks the interest of Old Scratch, Beelzebub, Lucifer (well, “Lucy”-fer); you know, the Devil (Hurley, Serving Sara, Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery). Appearing to Elliot in the various aforementioned fantasy inducing ensembles, the Devil grants him 7 wishes in exchange for-you guessed it-his soul. Now, of course, with the Devil and wishing with every wish there comes a curse and Elliot soon finds himself getting a lot less than he bargained for out of this agreement.
If you take Bedazzled seriously as a piece of cinematic art then there is really something wrong with you. The only way that you can take this movie and get any sort of enjoyment out of it is to see it for what it is: good, sexy, dumb as bricks fun.
TRIVIA
The Devil’s dogs in the beach scene are named Dudley and Peter, a reference to the writers and stars of the original Bedazzled, Dudley Moore and Peter Cook.
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SCREAM 3
SCREAM 3-United States-2000
Courteney Cox Arquette as Gail Weathers
Patrick Dempsey as Det. Mark Kincaid
Lance Henriksen as John Milton
Matt Keeslar as Tom Prinze
Emily Mortimer as Angelina Tyler
Parker Posey as Jennifer Jolie
Deon Richmond as Tyson Fox
Patrick Warburton as Steven Stone
Directed by Wes Craven
Written by Ehren Kruger
Based on characters created by Kevin Williamson
I actually considered re-posting my review for “Scream 2″ as my review for “Scream 3″. All I would have to do is change the main setting from a college campus to a movie studio and toss in the names of a few new supporting cast members and there you have it; the plot of “Scream 3″. “Scream 3″ is more of the same old same old that “Scream 2″ was and to be honest I am running out of shit to say. Neve Campbell returns as Sidney Prescott blah blah blah yada yada yada. David ‘I was WCW champion, dammit!’ Arquette returns as Dwight ‘Don’t call me Dewey’ Riley and Courteney Cox returns as Gail Weathers, about whom I have nothing witty to say. Toss in Patrick Dempsey, Jenny McCarthy, Patrick Warburton, Parker Posey and a few supporting characters that I could care less about as well as a killer that has become a complete joke and I am now in horror movie hell. Oh wait, I almost forgot. There’s still “Scream 4″ to watch and review. Kill me now, please.
TRIVIA
Throughout Scream 3 the actors of Stab 3, the movie-within-the-movie, complain about rewrites and three different scripts. The complaints actually originated with the actual cast of Scream 3, because of frequent rewrites and three different endings.
Wes Craven agreed to direct Scream 3 only after Miramax allowed him to direct the inspirational drama Music of the Heart.
“Scream 3″ never had a public test screening. The cast and crew only had their first chance to see the finished product at the premiere because of fears of spoilers being put out on the Internet.
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BATTLE ROYALE
BATTLE ROYALE-Japan-2000
Aki Maeda as Noriko Nakagawa
Taro Yamamoto as Shogo Kawada
Kou Shibasaki as Mitsuko Souma
Masanobu Ando as Kazuo Kiriyama
Beat Takeshi as Kitano-sensei
Directed by Kinji Fukasaku
Screenplay by Kenta Fukasaku
Based on the novel by Koushan Takami
If there is anyone out there who knows Chris Jericho personally would you please tell him that I said thank you? Five or so years ago I was reading his commentary on his web site and he mentioned two films. The first was Takashi Miike’s psychopathic masterpiece “Audition”; a film that was everything “Fatal Attraction” could only dream of being. The other was “Battle Royale”; a film that “The Hunger Games” owes a great deal of gratitude to.
The plot of this Japanese tour-de-force is as simple as it gets; everything has gone to shit and the grownups blame the youth for all their troubles. So, every year they randomly select one 9th grade class out of thousands to participate in the Battle Royale; a game of kill or be killed that makes the TV show “Survivor” look like an episode of “Gilligan’s Island.” The object of the game is this: each student must fight to the death to be the last person standing at the end of three days. They are given supplies befitting their genders; in other words the girls get tampons and stuff like that, and each of them is given a weapon that may or may not be beneficial to them. In addition, each student has a remote collar around their neck that will explode if they are in a danger zone or if they try to forcibly remove it. At the end of three days if there is no sole winner then the surviving students are irreversibly screwed because that will also cause their collars will explode. There can be only one Battle Royale survivor.
The first thing to grab me by the balls about this film was the beautiful brutality of the whole thing. Each kill is a danse macabre that surpasses the one before it. Guns, knives, crossbows, stun guns and poison all come into play and none of them seems ridiculous or mundane. The other thing that I loved about the film was the way the hierarchy stayed in place outside the confines of the school. All the cliques and friendships and rivalries that were a part of school are a part of the Battle Royale pecking order. Had that not remained the case it would have lessened the impact of the film.
To put it mildly, “Battle Royale” is a film that should never be re-made by any studio, American or not. You can’t improve on perfection and this is as close to perfect as you’re going to get. I still intend to see “The Hunger Games”; but I will tell you it has some mighty big shoes to fill.
Oh, and thank you, Chris Jericho.
TRIVIA
Kiriyama, the film’s main villain, does not utter one word throughout the entire film. He does, however, make a noise through a megaphone at one point.
The magazine containing bomb-making instructions that is used by Shinji Mimura and his gang is titled “Hara Hara Tokei” (“The Ticking Clock”). This magazine is a real bomb-making magazine published by an anti-Japanese-Government activist group called Higashi Ajia Hannichi Buso Sensen (East Asia Anti-Japanese Armed Front) from the 1970s.
One of the top-10 highest-grossing films in Japan.
Despite the belief that this film was banned in the United States, it is not the case. There are, however, several conflicting if plausible explanations as to why it hasn’t been released there as of yet. The first is that Toei refuses to license the movie for North American distribution and has already rejected offers from several American companies. The second is that Toei’s licensing fee is unusually high for this kind of film, so smaller independent distributors can’t afford it and larger distributors that can afford it refuse to pay it. A third story was that no distributor was willing to pick the film up after the Columbine school shootings, due to the plot line of high school students killing each other.
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UNBREAKABLE
UNBREAKABLE-United States-2000
Bruce Willia as David Dunn
Samuel L. Jackson as Elijah Price
Robin Wright as Audrey Dunn
Spencer Treat Clark as Joseph Dunn
Unbreakable is M. Night Shyamalan’s best film. Why do I make such a bold statement when most people are going to argue the point and bring up The Sixth Sense, which in itself is a masterful motion picture? I argue that Unbreakable is Shyamalan’s best film because he takes the conventions of the comic book and makes a quiet subtle superhero film that is unlike any that has ever been seen. In this film about an ordinary man with an extraordinary power, Shyamalan pays homage to the things we take for granted in comic books. How many of you know that most comic book superheroes first and last names begin with the same letter (Peter Parker, Bruce Banner, Reed Richards); or that there are two types of villains in the comic book universe, the villain who uses his mind and the one who uses his strength. Did you know that every super hero has a weakness? For David Dunn, the character portrayed with a quiet, unassuming charm by Bruce Willis, his weakness is water. He is virtually indestructible, hence the title of the film, but like the rest of us he can drown if too much H20 gets into his lungs. It seems like a lame weakness at first, but is actually quite appropriate considering his abilities.
Then there is Elijah Price. Portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson, here is a man who is intelligent, arrogant (he wears purple, the color of royalty) and mysterious. Elijah is the total opposite of David Dunn. Where David’s bones are rock solid, Elijah’s bones break at the slightest provocation due to a debilitating ailment. A comic book geek, Price takes David under his wing and mentors him, hoping that what he has always believed is true and that superheroes exist in the real world. There is way more to Elijah Price than meets the eye; and this being a Shyamalan film there is of course the obligatory twist in the tale. Of course, I’m not going to tell you what that is. I mean, for heaven’s sake I wouldn’t reveal my secret identity to you, would I? You can’t expect me to give away the ending of an amazing motion picture.
So why do I like this film so much? It came and went in theaters in 2000 and was given a so-so once over by critics. I guess the main reason is that it is Unbreakable and The Sixth Sense that clearly show the world that there was once a great director named M. Night Shyamalan.
TRIVIA
Several camera angles were chosen to simulate the comic book device of a frame around each scene.
Elijah asks David what made him choose protection as a career out of all the things he could have done, such as “founding a chain of restaurants”. In reality, Bruce Willis is one of the founders of the Planet Hollywood restaurant chain.
- as a newborn, he’s primarily seen reflected in mirrors
- as a young child, he’s seen reflected in a blank TV screen
- he leaves his calling card on the windshield of David Dunn’s car
- he’s reflected in a glass frame in his art gallery
- his walking stick is made of glass
- comic books seen behind him in one scene are of Thor, who for a time in the 1980s, had a curse upon him where his bones were brittle and would break easily.
FINAL DESTINATION
FINAL DESTINATION-United States and Canada-2000
Devon Sawa as Alex Browning
Ali Larter as Clear Rivers
Kerr Smith as Carter Horton
Tony Todd as Bludworth
“You can be a king or a street sweeper, but everybody dances with the grim reaper.”-Robert Alton Harris‘ final words before his execution in 1992.
If there is one thing that is 100% inevitable in this world, it is the fact that we all will one day leave this world. Some people say that there are two things that are inevitable in life; death and taxes. I don’t find that to be a very accurate statement. I don’t have to pay my taxes. I’ll go to jail, of course, but that would be my choice to make. When it comes to our appointment with Death, we have no choice in the matter. We may escape the scythe one day, only to be decapitated by it the next day, or the next after that. That’s the premise behind Final Destination. A group of high school students are about to embark on a plane trip to France when one of them has a premonition of the plane exploding, killing everyone on board. He freaks out, of course, and is swiftly escorted off the plane, accompanied by a handful of his classmates who assume that the cheese has slid off of the boy’s cracker. That is until the plane goes up in a fireball in mid-air. After that the film takes us through a series of Rube Goldbergesque scenes as death slices through the survivors one by one.
Final Destination was originally intended to be an episode of The X-Files television series. It would have been quite interesting to see Agent Mulder and Agent Scully arguing their respective cases.
“Mulder, everyone dies, even Bruce Springsteen said that in ‘Atlantic City’”.
“There’s a conspiracy here, Scully, I can feel it, and I prefer Bob Dylan.”
But anyways, that never came to be and the script was made into the film that is being reviewed right before your very eyes. I admit I wasn’t too turned on by the movie the first time I saw it. I felt like the death scenes were just a little too convenient (or is it coincidental?). But it’s kind of grown on me with repeated viewings and I find myself watching it every now and again. Besides, it’s got Tony Todd in it. He plays a mortician. There’s no way you can go wrong if you have Tony Todd playing a mortician in your movie. The dude could keep ice cubes frozen in the Sahara desert.
TRIVIA
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GINGER SNAPS
Image via Wikipedia
- Emily Perkins as Brigitte
- Katharine Isabelle as Ginger
Directed by John Fawcett
Written by Karen Walton
Story by JohnFawcett and Karen Walton
I believe I have said before that I’m a sucker for werewolves. Movies, books, you name it. One thing I have always believed is that the werewolf could be seen as metaphor for certain things. Warren Zevon‘s classic hit “Werewolves of London” is about alcoholism and the effect it has on a person. So, it’s clear that lycanthropy can be seen as metaphor for addiction.
Director John Fawcett and writer Karen Walton see lycanthropy as symbolising the female side of puberty. That time of change that a girl first experiences on her journey to womanhood. The bleeding, the cramps, the irritable behavior could be seen as signs of transformation. Any way, the girl is never the same after that. She sees the world in a different light and vice versa. Short of actually transforming, she has become a different beast altogether. I knew a girl like that when I was growing up. Her name was Alice, and I knew her from first grade to twelfth, and when summer vacation was over after ninth grade and we settled into new lives as high school students, she was no longer the same Alice I had known before. Gone were the frilly dresses, replaced by the tightest of blue jeans and t-shirts cut off at the mid-riff revealing a taut belly and quite perky young breasts that, to quote Lt. Frank Drebin, said “Hey, look at these!” Her attitude was different, too. No longer sweet and innocent little Alice, she was boy hungry Alice who pursued them every chance she got. Yes, just like Ginger, she had fallen victim to ‘the curse’.
Okay, so I got off on a little tangent there. But, let me just say that Ginger Snaps, like The Howling and Dog Soldiers, is a pretty damn good little werewolf movie. Emily Perkins and Katharine Isabelle are both excellent as the two sisters. Perkins you may remember from Stephen King’s IT mini-series, and Isabelle you may remember from Freddy vs Jason.
Anyway, you wanna see a good metaphorical werewolf film? You can’t go wrong with Ginger Snaps.
Trivia
Among the students paged over the school’s PA system by an uncredited Lucy Lawless are Samuel and Theodore Raimi. Ted Raimi is Lawless’ co-star on “Xena: Warrior Princess” (1995); Ted’s brother Sam Raimi is the show’s executive producer.
Although Katharine Isabelle is supposed to be playing Emily Perkins’ older sister, she is actually five years younger than Emily in real life.
Due to the fact that the film features teenagers in violent situations the production had difficulty getting funding because the Columbine massacre and other school shootings had recently occurred.
P.S. If I got anything wrong about the woman stuff, go easy on me. I never claimed to be an expert.
