Review – Extreme Measures

Tense medical drama a la Coma, complete with evil doings involving helpless research victims. I suspect this looked a little better in the treatment stage than it turned out to be once it was in the can, and at least part of the problem is the script. Though where this film is going is always fairly clear, the plot moves in fits and spurts (wasting a lot of time on the sinister destruction of the Hugh Grant character’s reputation). An occasional good moment, but otherwise this is mostly fodder for ethics professors looking to throw in a videotape for their classes to save them a lecture or two. Mildly amusing

Review – Poltergeist 2

Though it has its moments, this sequel doesn’t have much of the punch of the original. The old guy who plays the evil preacher character does an excellent job, but he’s creepy at least in part because in real life he was suffering from a serious illness (at least if I recall the Hollywood gossip correctly). The writer and/or director devoted way too much time to touchy-feely family togetherness themes, and not enough time to the scary stuff. I mean come on, this is supposed to be a ghost story, right? Even the infamous Puke Monster, designed by H.R. Gieger, doesn’t inspire much beyond a temporary gross-out (even Gieger disowned it). Mildly amusing

Review – Poltergeist

One of the all-time great cinematic ghost stories, even if it does start out as little more than a movie version of the old “Little Girl Lost” episode of The Twilight Zone. This film combines Steven Spielberg’s ability to capture suburban banality with Tobe Hooper’s ability to disrupt suburban banality with his sense of the macabre. The two make a good combination, inasmuch as Hooper keeps the film from becoming ET-syrupy sweet, and Spielberg helps Hooper overcome his abysmal sense of pace and timing. The effects aren’t knock-down terrific, but they’re good sight gags. Of course, the real nightmare was actually having the what-if-the-forces-of-evil-stole-your-house question on a real estate final in law school (no doubt the professor’s largely unsuccessful attempt at humor). Oh, and then there’s the curse (two of the actors who played the kids are dead, one the victim of a bizarre crime and the other the victim of a bizarre medical mishap). Buy the tape

Review – The Howling

Although this is one of the better werewolf flicks to come out of Hollywood in recent years, it still suffers from some of the traditional werewolf setbacks. The biggest among these is the dreaded transformation scene, where the plot drops dead for a couple of minutes while the audience is forced to behold one of the actors acquiring enough makeup appliances to become a giant dog. Sure, it’s well done here (for the most part; a couple of shots look like broom handles pushing latex, and transforming Dee Wallace into a great big Pekinese dog probably wasn’t the world’s brightest idea), but it’s still a show-stopper in the not-good way. Once the werewolves actually assume their lupine forms, however, the creatures in specific and the film in general work pretty well. Of course, having a script by John Sayles never hurts. Worth seeing

Review – The Bodyguard

They must’ve wanted someone besides Whitney Houston for this role. I mean, Kevin Costner does a pretty good job (mostly because I think he’s pretty well suited to the straight-laced, conservative stiff role). But Houston? Here she’s cast as an egotistical celebrity rather than the sweet girl-next-door that’s served her as a persona throughout most of her musical career. They must have wanted Madonna or something, but I guess that wouldn’t have worked out after the thing between her and Costner in Truth or Dare. In any event, the whole idea of the awkward relationship between the spoiled singer and her gritty bodyguard was a pretty good plot concept, but somehow it just doesn’t seem to work here. Again, my guess is bad chemistry between the stars. Mildly amusing

Review – Supercop

Low production values. No plot to speak of. Awe-inspiring stunt work. Athletic, acrobatic flying fists of kung fu death. In other words, yet another typical Jackie Chan movie. This one finds Chan working undercover as a Hong Kong cop cooperating with his female counterpart from the PROC. Worth seeing

Review – Howard Stern’s Private Parts

Wow, the world’s most repulsive mental-and-emotional-ten-year-old jerk has a human side. He’s a good family man, not a racist and a pervert. It’s all just an act. Who would have guessed? Wish I’d skipped it