The New Years Marathon

Over the New Year weekend, I began a marathon of movies with my friend Mike Columbo (among others who filtered in and out of the theater room at my friend Dave's).

6 movies in all. Starting with Total Recall, The Limey, King of New York, Toxic Avenger, Romper Stomper and 12 Monkeys. A very eclectic group, to say the least.

I'm going to review 3 of them

Total Recall
I've always loved Shwarzenegger. The first film I ever saw him in was Commando. I even bought one of those 6 foot posters, I thought that film was the end-all-be-all of action (at the time... I was 12). Ever since Robocop, I've been hooked on Paul Verhoeven.

Now, let me give you some details as to how I got to first see Total Recall.

In 1989 I was in highschool, roughly 10th grade... and I was a big Piers Anthony fan. Huge. The Adept series is still one of my favorite reads. So, at the time I worked in the Syosset Public Library. Syosset is on Long Island, pronounced sigh-os-et. So, working in this library, I got some choice reads. One of them was the new Piers Anthony book, Total Recall.

Well, little did I know that Total Recall was to be a movie. But, it being an Anthony book, hell yes I read it. And let me tell you something, I was blown away. The story is different, with the main character Douglas Quail (then changed to Quaid because Quail was in the White House) having some kind of spiritual connection with the erased memory. It was a very strange story, with great characters, a great plot and a hell of a lot of action.

The moment I put the book down I knew it should be a movie. A few days later I found out it was to be one. And I'll tell you something, for the first show at the Syosset Triplex, at 7:15, I was the first one on line at 4:00pm. And I fucking loved it then, and I loved it Saturday night.

To begin with, working with a Philip K. Dick story, it's hard to go wrong (though they did with Screamers.) We Can Remember It For You Wholesale is one of the most brilliant short stories I've ever read, and it's a departure from the film. Dan O'Bannon (Dark Star, Alien, among others) helped write the script for Recall and wrote the script for Screamers. His second time was no charm on the P.K. Dick front. Too bad.

The story is wrought with twists and turns to keep the audience guessing about whether or not the story is real, or the work of Rekall, Inc. the fake memory company. One also notices that there isn't more than four or five minutes between action/special effects that are really quite stunning. Thanks to the genius of both Verhoeven and Rob Bottin.

Rob Bottin, for those of you who don't know him, is one of three make-up geniuses out there in the field in Hollywood. Bottin is responsible for the incredible work on Piranha, The Fog, The Howling, The Thing (fucking brilliant work there), Explorers, Inner Space, Robocop, Se7en, Mission:Impossible and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. His work is legendary and made this film a joy to watch.

Verhoeven is the last piece of this triple puzzle, making this movie a lot of fun to watch. (For me, Robocop is the best science-fiction movie out there.) With dazzling direction and such attention to detail in action and gore, from start to finish Total Recall works on most, if not all levels.

I will admit, though, that it seemed there were times when 'production' had to bend the rules here and there, or there wasn't enough money in the budget for things to be just right. Like when Benny takes his prosthetic arm off to show he's a mutant, and the mutant appendage comes out, there was nothing to attach the fake hand to... weird.

Or when the tunnel diggers crashed into the walls of the rebel headquarters... it looks really fake.

Or that 'tracking' system Richter and Helm use to find Quaid in the beginning. Whew, super cheesy.

Or the cars, those plastic cars that 'look' like they're from the future.

But, the security screen that turns people into x-rays... the fat woman costume that Quaid uses to get to Mars, the hologram 'watch' that Quaid uses to fool the bad guys, or the choking scenes that show Cohaagen and Melina and Quaid choking in the Mars atmosphere... these all make up for it.

So, for me, great movie.

The Limey
We then moved on to The Limey. For me, this was the second best movie of 1999. Steven Soderbergh's time travel machine back to 60's characters. A brutal journey at times, a great soundtrack, great action and incredible editing by Sarah Flack (her first official editor job).

There is not one thing wrong with this film. The acting, the plot, the characters, the editing, the music. There's nothing. Terence Stamp is incredible as the ex-con father who wants revenge. He's fucking brilliant. It's funny, but his acting turns the volume down on everyone else. You can't get enough of him on the screen. His speech, his mannerisms, it's all right on. Written by Lem Dobbs, who helped write Dark City, Kafka and the upcoming The Score... Dobbs did a great job with the dialog and the scenes themselves. I would be interested how he structured the story originally because, if you've seen it, the editing changed the dynamic of the storytelling completely.

Besides the 60's soundtrack, the music itself, done by Cliff Martinez, was eerie and beautiful. Martinez has done the soundtracks to other Soderbergh films, such as The Underneath, King of the Hill, Gray's Anatomy and the upcoming Traffic (which I cannot wait to see)!

Another interesting tidbit about The Limey is one of it's co-producers, Michael Stipe from R.E.M. Stipe has also had his hand in such films as Velvet Goldmine, American Movie, Being John Malkovich and two films slated for 2001, Stranger Inside and 13 Conversations About One Thing.

With Lesley Ann Warren, Luis Guzman, Barry Newman, Nicky Katt (who was great as Stacy) and Peter Fonda, it was a really well rounded cast. But, like I said, Terence Stamp drowned them out with his incredible work.

The Toxic Avenger
The last film I'm going to review is The Toxic Avenger.

This film came out in 1985. I saw it on video with my dad (who let me watch just about anything). I'll tell you that I was the most popular guy in school the next day. The head crushing scene, I must have told that story a dozen times before lunch.

Still a classic today, this movie is just off the wall nuts. I mean, with a character named Nipples, there has to be some redeeming qualities. There's much more with Toxic Avenger.

From the over the top special effects to the hysterical voice-over for Melvin, The Toxic Avenger, to the gruesomely imaginative death scenes, this was the 80's Dead Alive.

The DVD cover states "The One That Started It All". Troma has gone on to make some of the most disgusting, perverse films ever. And thank God.

One gets the sense that characters were taken from the crew at the last minute, like the coke snorting truck drivers carting the toxic waste through Tromaville. Or the two fast food chefs at the restaurant who continually cross their eyes while Toxic kills the three robbers. They all look like they're having a fucking blast, and that's half the fun of this movie. I don't know about others who've seen it, but it's the kind of movie I would love to work on, with people who are psyched about the idea of making a fucked up, over the top horror movie. And these guys pulled it off, which is the best part.

The sex shots, the blood, the bubbling skin, that one eye slightly off to the side, the goat... they all make for a spectacular 87 minutes of fun.

If you're into horror and cheese, rent it, you won't regret it.

Until next time, when I have 13 hours to kill...

J.P.