Ebert Presents at the Movies [Fridays; PBS. Check local listings.]

A Television Review by Steve Anthony

It’s true we can never go home again: Home changes, the landscape around it is altered by the sands of time, and most importantly, the people that made it home - including ourselves - morph and mature, move away, or pass on. Every-now-and-then however, we can recapture the flavor of home and provide the mind with enough familiarity and memories to make it content. Such is the case with PBS’ “Ebert Presents at the Movies” that premiered January 21, 2011. It is only fitting that "At The Movies" returns home to PBS where it all started, and continues to provide us with not only an entertaining look at today’s movies, but opinions about them that are well rounded and informative.

For those familiar with the original, “Sneak Previews” that began in 1976 with Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel, and later became “Siskel and Ebert at the Movies,” it seems like old times as the new show opens with bright lights and music, combined with warmly reminiscent pictures of Roger and Gene in the balcony; cleverly snapped from an animated reel of film. When the end credits roll, a brief clip of them from 1975’s “Opening Soon at a Theater near You” which was locally aired in the Chicago area, leaves us wanting more and seems apropos as it wraps up a show presented by new and youthful hosts, Christy Lemire and Inatiy Vishnevetsky.

For variety, the show even ventures outside the balcony to hear from correspondents and a film technical expert. Even the master himself, Roger Ebert, makes a brief Hitchcockian appearance in his own show; content to leave the new hosts to their work as he introduces them and others involved with the new program.

Lemire and Vishnevetsky are apt hosts and fit nicely in the balcony setting as they, like their predecessors, narrate clips on the big screen before them, then discuss each film good-naturedly but not always agreeably. One might not take to such youthful hosts speaking to what is most likely a largely mature audience; however there is no mistaking their professionalism and ability to communicate the good and bad points about each film, and do so pleasantly.

Make no mistake; this is not some re-imagining, remake, sequel, or even a prequel that didn’t need to be made. “Ebert Presents at the Movies” is familiar yet fresh and it serves a purpose, particularly in today's economy where movie goers need the ability to spend their entertainment dollars wisely. There have been many movie review programs on television, including several incarnations with Ebert, but this program is a direct descendant of the real McCoy and rightly deserves to wear its name.

There are literally hundreds of channels and thousands of programs on television but few make us really not want to miss them each week. Television and movie fans ultimately make their own choices on what to watch on TV or what movies to see at the theater, but “Ebert Presents at the Movies” is well worth watching or at least a reminder on the cable box or DVR, and a weekly trip home to PBS before turning off the TV to go out to the movies.

Jonah Hex (2010) Movie Review

My review of "Jonah Hex."

Jonah Hex (2010)

There's an atmosphere and look to "Jonah Hex" that is far from the appearance of modern Hollywood fare. It took me a few minutes of its outdoor cinematography to realize that it looks almost like a 1960s Technicolor western with rich colors not often used today in films. Intentional or not, and I suspect it was, it's what makes this movie just different enough to be appealing. Add a scar-faced Clint Eastwood type anti-hero (Josh Brolin), with the ability to speak to the dead and the fighting skills and luck of Jim West from "The Wild Wild West," (the television series, not the abysmal big screen venture), and you have Jonah Hex.

Jonah was accused of betraying his regiment and killing the son of Quentin Turnbull, played with delightful villainy by John Malkovich. He is hung on a St. Peter's cross (X shaped) and forced to watch his family burn to death in their home by Turnbull. Turnbull then brands Jonah's face and leaves him hanging on the cross to suffer, until he is found and nursed back to health by Crow Indians. From his near death experience, he gains the ability to speak with the dead, and he uses it to hunt Turnbull for revenge. After believing Turnbull killed in a hotel fire, Jonah becomes a bounty hunter to work out his anger and hatred issues. He is eventually called upon by the President of the United States (Aidan Quinn), when danger and destruction from a super weapon threaten the country.

I find most films that don't look like every other film, or follow the same Hollywood formula, interesting. This one, based on a D.C. comic book, fills the bill perfectly. It is most likely the fact it was made from a comic book and not a video game that gives it a richer story, with better developed characters, than could possibly come from any video game gone rogue on the big screen.

I was pleasantly surprised to find the always underrated Aidan Quinn in the role of the President in "Jonah Hex." Though not on screen very long, Quinn, as usual, believes the role he is playing. Generally, if the actors believe in their characters, you can have a good movie even when other elements fail. Brolin and Malkovich also play their roles as if they really are in the old west, providing the necessary belief system to transport the audience there as well.

There is one exception to the actor's believability in "Jonah Hex," and that is Megan Fox's "Lilah," who seems terribly out of place here. There are a couple of reasons for this, one being that her makeup is so perfect, she seems airbrushed. I realize that as the town's working "lady of the evening" she should look more made up than the other women in town, but we are talking flawless skin, eyelashes, and lips here; not likely for the period she is playing. She literally looks like she stepped right out of the classroom in "Transformers," put on some period frilly things from wardrobe, and magically appeared in the old west. For a moment, I actually wondered if she refused to appear on camera in less than perfect makeup. If so, shame on her for being difficult and demanding on the set. It could cost her a role in a sequel someday.

The other reason Fox doesn't really work here, is her age. She seems to be the only actor in the movie who plays the role like she's still in high school in the year 2010, and with the all-too-familiar fighting skills of a Hollywood teenaged crime fighter. Although Lilah is intended to be the softness in an otherwise rough cut cast of characters, she should have been a little older and not quite as soft, to fit in better with the other characters. This would have made her fighting seem more realistic and not just an added "Hollywood" gimmick. I'm thinking of the Karen Allen type from the Indiana Jones films.

"Jonah Hex" isn't a perfect movie, but neither is it mundane or boring. There are plenty of action scenes and explosions for anyone, and just enough of the supernatural to offer something different in western film fare. Its biggest mistake may have been opening against "Toy Story 3" and in the second week of "The Karate Kid." I suspect as more people see the former films and look for something else to watch, "Jonah Hex" will pick up more box office receipts to be at least in the top five next weekend, possibly #3 as "A Team" gets old with the summer audience.

Buy at least a matinee ticket or you'll miss the wonderful visuals, even later on your home big screen.

Excerpt From "Star Drifter" Chapter 4

[Excerpt] Star Drifter, Chapter 4, "Pursuit" ©1991 Steve Anthony

An excerpt from "Star Drifter." This is in Chapter 4 where Jason Garrett's ship has come out of a sudden jump to light drive in an unexpected place. Since I work full time as a technical writer, and always have several creative writing projects in the works but limited time to actually pursue them, “Star Drifter” has been a years-long project of mine. This particular portion was written in the early 90s and I was a little put out at myself for not having finished it as I sat in a movie theater and watched the USS Enterprise NCC-1701-D crash in “Star Trek: Generations” nearly re-creating the crash of the spaceship Transient from my story visually before me. What could I do, challenge the makers of "Star Trek" for using a scene from a book written by an unknown author that wasn't finished and no one had ever read? Not likely. It's not like they could even know about it. They say if you have idea someone else has it as well. That was the case with the two books, "The Glass Inferno" and "The Tower" that became "The Towering Inferno" but at least the authors of those had finished their stories.

I’m not even sure if this is ready for anyone to see, and it probably needs work, but here it is. I guess the biggst question here is, "Does it make you want to read more?"

She smiled back at him and wished he would take her into his arms. Finally he did, and her heart started pounding as he reached out to pull her close, starting to kiss her. As her senses blurred into the moment, a loud, alternately rising and falling tone pierced the silence, and the ship lurched, nearly throwing them to the floor.

"What's that!?" She was startled at the noise.

"It's an alarm. We're entering the atmosphere of a planet." He tried to remain calm.

The ship lurched again. He carefully made his way forward and crouched below the main viewport that stretched along the front of the control room. Reaching out, he pressed a button and the alarm went silent. Then he unlatched a small panel and reached inside.

"Get to a control lounge. There are belts inside the armrest. Slide them out and strap yourself in."

He struggled unsuccessfully with a lever inside the panel, then turned around and sat down with his back to it. Reaching up behind his head with both hands, he grasped it again. Pain from his injuries registered in his face and he groaned as he stretched, pulled down with all his strength, and finally managed to pull the lever free. He stood up and stepped back, intently watching the viewport. The metal plates covering it silently divided in the middle and began to slide to each side, gradually revealing a planet bathed in beautiful brilliant blue. It nearly filled the entire viewport.

"Behold the handiwork of God," he said in the midst of his awe. "I've seen a lot of planets, and man has made his share of artificial moons and colonies, but there's only one that looks like this."

"Earth!" exclaimed Letha. "It's beautiful! I've heard stories, but I never imagined it was like this!"

"You mean you've never been to Earth?" His eyes never left the viewport.

"Never. I was born and raised on Stevenson's Colony. I've never even been in space before."

He finally turned and made his way to the other lounge, stretching the belts across his chest as tightly as possible and buckling them. Then he shook his head from side-to-side and chuckled.

"For a first timer, you certainly know how to put in an exciting day.” He looked at the viewport again. "Take a good look at it, because it may be the first and last time you see it."

The ship began to lurch and shake more violently, seemingly ready to burst apart at any moment, as it rapidly accelerated toward the blue mass in front of it.

"We're going down fast and hard. I may have restored enough power to keep us from burning up from friction, or totally disintegrating on impact, but it's not going to be pretty in any case."

"Jason, will you have any control over where we land?" There was urgency in her voice.

"Not enough to get you within a hundred kilometers of wherever it is you think you want to go. Auto guidance is out. The best I can hope to do is keep us upright and as steady as possible. The hydraulics will do most of that with a little prodding from me. If you want to go somewhere specific, I suggest you call another shuttle."

As his fingers nimbly pressed buttons with each new jolt of the ship, an orange glow began to surround the borders of the viewport and rapidly fill it, becoming so bright that they had to shield their eyes. One of the control panels he had repaired suddenly shorted out, startling them and sending a shower of sparks in their direction before erupting into flames. Above it a cloud of vapor hissed down and when it stopped, the flames were gone. Then, as rapidly as the glow had appeared outside the viewport, it died away, leaving them with the view of an ocean's surface sliding far beneath them at a dizzying speed. A land mass appeared before them on the horizon and grew larger with each passing second.

"Jason, have you heard of a place called ‘The Ring’?"

"I'm surprised you have."

"Can you get us there?"

"So this is where you wanted to come all along." He turned his head and looked at her intently. "Why Earth? Why the Ring?"

"I'll explain later. Just do what you can to get us there, okay?"

As he gazed into her striking blue eyes she had him with one word; one pitifully spoken plea, "Please."

"All right, but I can't promise anything. I hope you understand."

"Yes."

"I'm familiar enough with the land masses to recognize them, but we're already in our last orbit and frankly, I was going to use it to slow us down a little. If you really want to do this, it'll lower our chance of survival considerably."

"I know."

He hesitated, trying to be sure that she really did understand, "All right then. Let's do it."

Looking intently at the viewport, he poised his fingers just above a lever and at what seemed like the right moment, slid it down, and pushed a button. The view port shields slowly closed together again and they stared at them until they could no longer see the rapidly approaching ground beneath them.

He punched one final button and yelled, "Hold on!"

A loud humming emanated from the Transient’s power pods as it struck the ground with its belly and bounced back up into the air. From what seemed like another reality, he thought he heard a scream. Letha? The ship came down again and slid several hundred feet where it struck a large tree and glanced off it to the left, sending a shower of wood splinters, gravel, and debris into the air. Another tree sent it back to the right, where it smashed rocks apart and ripped through several large bushes, tearing them out of the ground by their roots. It continued sliding, dragging rocks, brush, dirt, and the bodies of a few unfortunate birds and small animals with it, finally coming to rest only a few feet from the edge of a cliff, as a huge pile of debris and dust hurtled past it, and crashed into the bottom of the canyon below with a thunderous roar.

Less than fifty kilometers away, the Guardians awoke from their synthetic sleep, and prepared to make their way to the site to investigate the intrusion.

On Eagle's Wings

A poem written a few months after 9/11 as a college English Comp assignment.

On Eagle’s Wings ©2002 Steve Anthony. All rights reserved.

In an instant,

the flames are lit,

on the forge of a thousand memories.

Fanned white hot,

with bellows of terror,

they forever sear the minds of the masses.

Delirious in their fever,

the monoliths reel,

and stagger to the earth from which they sprang.

Eternal and phoenix like,

liberty rises from the ashes,

to soar triumphantly on eagle’s wings.

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) A Review

My review of "A Nightmare on Elm Street” 2010. (Note: I've outlined the basic plot of the Nightmare on Elm Street movies below. This may provide some minor spoilers. As of this writing, “A Nightmare on Elm Street” is #1 at the weekend box office.)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) Nightmares are common, especially among children and creative adults, but unless someone suffers from post-traumatic stress, or makes movies in Hollywood, recurrent nightmares are infrequent events for most of us. In the case of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" the latter is the reason for this reborn, rehashed, refranchised, and thoroughly reheated, Freddy Krueger vehicle.

I confess I went into this movie curious, wanting to be entertained, yet daring it to do so. First of all I didn't like Freddy's voice in the previews and thought he sounded like Batman. Secondly, I wondered why it needed to be “re-imagined.” After all, the original Wes Craven project (same title, 1984) was almost unique in its day with its interwoven dream-reality sequences that were very effective at making us wonder which we were watching. For a 'big-on-special-effects' 1980s film with many effects that had not been seen on screen before, it still holds up very well on DVD. As often happens with movie themes, 1984 also saw the release of another film that relied on dreams as effective visuals; "Dreamscape," starring Dennis Quaid. That movie is a much better film, but I digress, and that’s another review somewhere in the back of my mind.

"Re-imagined" films should probably stand alone and not be compared to their predecessors, but it's difficult not to compare when you have two films that might easily stand alone in different movie going generations, if neither were aware of the other film. Where Craven is a master of terror and suspense ("Last House on the Left"; "The Hills Have Eyes"), and wrote and directed the 1984 movie as well as being involved in the 3rd film, 'Dream Warriors,' and "Wes Craven’s New Nightmare,” this latest film is produced by Michael Bay. Bay’s productions (“Transformers I & II”; Armageddon”; “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” 2003) tend to up the ante on whatever is involved, whether action, gore, visual shock, or sudden heart stopping sound that can make you jump in your seat. But sometimes the ante can be too big and ruin an otherwise good game. The bigger ante here is a more intense and brutal film, rather than a goose bumps horror story.

The basic storyline of the ‘Nightmare’ films involves teenagers who die in real life when killed in their dreams by a horribly burned and disfigured terror named Freddy Krueger. Freddy’s favorite way to kill young people is tossing them against walls, pipes, and other hard objects, until he can get them stunned enough to slash them with his glove made of knives that Ginsu would be proud of. One by one they are killed in their sleep, as worried friends and parents begin to wonder what exactly is happening on Elm Street. Eventually the friends begin to realize they are all having the same dreams, and facing the same nightmarish killer.

Make no mistake, this is not a film for kids and is rated R for bloody gore and violence. Craven’s Freddy was a child murderer; a bad enough crime in any decade. Here, Freddy is a child predator; an unnecessary and disgustingly hard to watch downgrade of an already twisted mind in the scenes that allude to it. He doesn’t start murdering the kids until years later when they are grown because they came forward with the truth as small children. This led their parents to trap Krueger in a warehouse, take justice into their own hands, and set the place on fire with him still inside.

The Freddy that emerges from the flames here, as portrayed by Jackie Earl Haley (Rorschach in “Watchmen”), is cruelly creepy and threatening. Haley can be multifaceted and with burned and twisted flesh make-up covering all but his eyes, he manages to conjure up a terrifying image we would not want to meet in a nightmare of our own. Craven’s Freddy, played by Robert Englund is fun in a horror movie way; Haley’s more brutal, and the one-liners as he cuts into his victims barely compensate for the brutality. I saw this movie with my 20-something son, and he made an interesting comparison as we left the theater. Where Englund’s Freddy might be Jack Nicholson’s likeable ‘Joker’ in 1989’s “Batman,” Haley’s is Heath Ledger’s heartless and cruel villain in “The Dark Knight.” I'm talking strictly character comparisons here. In no way do I mean to imply that Englund is another Nicholson or that Haley has the depth that Ledger had as an actor.

The new film is almost effective at making us guess which sequences are dreams and which are reality for its characters. I say almost, because we've seen it before and at times it deliberately indicates a dream sequence with flickering lights or other surreal imagery. In other scenes, the clichéd action taking place on screen makes us realize the character is really dreaming and about to be confronted by their nightmare. In THX digital sound (is there any other kind?) the scraping and clanging of Freddy’s glove against pipes and chalkboards truly gets our attention, and is actually quite, pardon my audionerdness, cool. But then I get chills when they play the THX logo tones, so go figure.

I want to be clear; had 1984’s movie not been made and this movie was the first time the audience knew of Elm Street, I think there would have been more surprises. The current generation seeing this story for the first time will most likely enjoy it as much as the 1980s crowd did the original. Still, each generation will probably prefer its own film. There are definitely enough startles here for an older teen date movie and snuggling in a dark theater with that special someone. But there's enough disgust at the reason for the new Freddy being burned that you may feel it well after you've left the theater.

Buy a ticket if you like horror films in a darkened theater, or wait and Rent/stream it when available for a lights-out disgustingly creepy evening at home.

Better yet, rent the original but stop after the first one.

My rating choices:*Buy a ticket* *Rent or stream* *Wait for cable* *Wait for network* *Just want to watch a movie and don't care what it is*

I get inspired by many things; a word, a phrase, a situation, something I see. This poem about relationships that end was inspired by one word of hope.

Remember ©2002 Steve Anthony All rights reserved.

If you left because of love

to bring me to my senses,

you forgot to come again

when I awoke.

If you left because of thoughts

that you weren't good enough,

you forgot that love judges nothing

but the heart.

If you left because of anger

to hurt me only for a season,

you forgot that love is forever

and you are gone.

Remember.

Poseidon (2006) A Review

My review of the movie, "Poseidon" (2006) starring Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell, Richard Dreyfuss.

Poseidon (2006) ©2006 Steve Anthony. All rights reserved.

One would think that with Sheila Allen, widow of the late great action director Irwin Allen, at the helm as Executive Producer of this latest installment of Paul Gallico’s book “The Poseidon Adventure,” that the filmmaker’s would never violate Mr. Allen’s first rule of a good script and subsequently a good movie. That rule, which he stated one evening in a television interview prior to the premiere of the 1972 film, was something like, “You don’t kill people on page 10 of a script. You get to know them first and then kill them on page 30.”

In “Poseidon,” which runs 19 minutes shorter than 1972's adventure, there is no time to develop great characters before disaster occurs, and although the acting is very good, without memorable characters the film is not as good as it could have been. Perhaps the filmmakers assumed we already knew the characters, but that’s not true when you change the actors portraying them or their circumstances within the story as is the case here. Sure, we know them to a degree, but not well enough to go beyond the classic roles we are so familiar with.

Also missing on this boat ride is any real interaction between the main characters; and the great one liners of the original that relieved the tension of the situation. You won’t hear lines like Stella Stevens as Mrs. Rogo, mocking her policeman husband, played by Ernest Borgnine, with, “Maybe you can just yell, ‘THIS IS THE POLICE!’ and it’ll open right up!” or just generally griping, “I’m going next, so if old fat ass gets stuck in there, I won’t be stuck behind her,” as the journey to find safety takes them through a cramped air duct. In fact, one of the biggest problems with "Poseidon" is the lack of any real humor to break up the drama and terror the characters face from scene to scene, which deprives the audience of the chance to relax. But, you can't have humor during a disaster if no one knows anyone else, and unlike the survivors of the original, who banded together, these people really couldn't care less about each other.

Once this Poseidon is capsized by a rogue wave, now known to be a natural phenomenon, instead of a tsunami generated by an undersea quake as it's predecessor was, there’s hardly time to take a breath, and the adrenaline never stops for the remainder of the film. This actually adds to the claustrophobic effect of corridors and crawlspaces filled with fire, water, and dead bodies. In fact, it leaves us feeling as rushed as the actors to find a way out.

One has to wonder what lies on the cutting room floor of “Poseidon,” which, like most films, probably holds some great unseen work by the actors, and maybe the extra 19 minutes needed to make us sympathize more with their characters, as we enjoy the roller coaster ride up to the bottom of the ship. I suspect, however, that even with restored footage we wouldn’t have a character with as much depth as Belle Rosen as portrayed by Shelley Winters; Rogo fleshed out by Ernest Borgnine; or Reverend Scott, courtesy of Gene Hackman.

The movie does provide a visual extravaganza of the stark realism typical of movies of the last few years, and when people are cut, crushed, drowned, burned, or electrocuted, you can almost feel their blood dripping on you, their aching lungs gasping for air, and smell their flesh burning.

Poseidon is worth seeing if only for the adrenaline filled ride and realistic special effects it offers, but with Lucas, Russell, and Dreyfuss on board, it could have been a much better film if we had had more time to get to know the people we were taking the ride with.