The Last Voyage of the Demeter

 

Earlier this year, we got a variation on the Dracula legend that followed the supporting character of Renfield. That film was primarily a comedy, but the twist of focusing on a secondary story component as the basis of a film is what seems to have produced this movie as well. The film directly gives credit to the Captain's Log from the original Dracula novel. If you have never read Dracula, you might be surprised to find that it is structured not as a singular narrative, but as a series of letters, journal entries, legal communications, telegrams and such. The Captain's Log is one such document that fills in the story. This film attempts to fill in the log.

The set up of the story is pretty effective with a group of Roma men delivering a set of crates to be delivered to England, dockside. Their are anxious to leave before sundown and will not assist in loading the crates. A young man, anxious to get back to England, ultimately hires on as a hand to set things in motion. The story telling convenience is that he is a doctor. Why would a medical professional have to join the crew of the Demeter to get back to England?  The plot creates a reason that he is unable to get work as a doctor, because he is a black man. These two contrivances are the only things at the start of the story which feel a little forced. Otherwise, it all works at building the situation pretty well with a little bit of mystery. 

We get a plotline that has been pretty well established over the years in horror films. The crew gets wiped out one at a time by a malevolent evil on board (I just saw Alien again last week, and the parallels are obvious). Unlike some previous films, like Alien, we don't quite get to care about the crew as much as we might need to. The manner in which they are dispatched is usually pretty interesting and creepy, but it does not feel particularly surprising. Maybe that's because of the prologue at the start of the film that lets us know from the beginning that everyone is dead.

"The Last Voyage of the Demeter" is a good looking film, with a production design that convincingly shows us the environment and operating of the ship. The CGI effects are pretty heavy and the vessel in the long shots from the sea is not quite as convincing as the moments on the deck or down in the hold. The creature effects are fine but we see Dracula too soon and too often in the film. The only surprise that comes in the climax are the wings, but we were tipped to that earlier and that also diminishes the horror effects. There is a coda section that does not make much sense, and it seems designed to justify a sequel, which also does not make any sense. 

It is not an essential film in the Dracula portfolio of films. I was mildly entertained by the film but I was not impressed by it. I like the idea of trying a variant on the story while using a part of the original plotline, but it seems a bit ambitious for what is ultimately a simple story. When I see it in the five dollar blu ray bin at Wal-mart or Best Buy, I will add it to my collection, but I won't feel compelled to buy a special edition 4K release, it just is not that special. 

Clash of the Titans-Paramount Summer Classic Film Series

 

I have been a fan of Ray Harryhausen since I can ever remember seeing a movie. "The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms" played on the Saturday Night Creature Feature on KHJ TV Channel 9, sometime in the mid-sixties and that's where it started. "Mysterious Island" was always my favorite although "Jason and the Argonauts would give it a fierce fight in my heart. The stop motion effects in movies always felt magical to me, even when they were not always convincing, I think that's what a child's imagination can fix. I still prefer the motion effects tauntauns in "The Empire Strikes Back" to the CGI monsters of the Star Wars Prequels. 

Yesterday at the Paramount Theater in Austin, the Summer Classic Film Series offered Harryhausen's final film, "Clash of the Titans" as a matinee feature, and it was part of the 🎬 Robert Rodriguez Presents, series where Austin based filmmaker Robert Rodriguez introduces the films he has chosen and shares some information about the movie and the people who made it. As part of his presentation, he had a set of pictures that he shared with the audience, from one of his film sets, where Ray Harryhausen had come by to watch him work. Seeing the smiles on the faces of the people making the movie, including Quentin Tarantino and Tom Savini, as well as Rodriguez,  tells you everything about how these contemporary movie people felt about Mr. Harryhausen and his work. He also shared some clips from his soon to Debut on Netflix Spy Kids Movie. It features several scenes with creatures that are clearly inspired by Harryhausen's work. 

"Clash of the Titans" tells the story of Perseus, the favored son of Zeus, who has been cast adrift with his mother by an angry grandfather, the King of Argos. Zeus intervenes, and has Argos destroyed and Perseus saved, so that he can meet his ultimate destiny. The gods and goddesses of Olympus are played by well known actors, including Laurence Olivier himself portraying Zeus. Jealous Goddesses play tricks on the character, putting him in a series of dangerous situations but also providing him with tools to face those situations with.

Basically, the film is a set of events that allow Harryhausen to show off his technique. Perseus battles Calibos, each of them captures Pegasus at some point, a giant Vulture picks up and delivers Andromeda in her dream state,  scorpions and other monsters need to be defeated. The ultimate goal is for Perseus to obtain the head of  Medusa to use against the Kraken which will soon be set on the city of Joppa, home to Andromeda and her mother Cassiopeia. It's all very convoluted with the actors on Olympus doing very little except standing around on the set. There is plenty of wanton destruction in the film and the loyal soldiers of Joppa who accompany Perseus on his mission are decimated by the time the climax of the film shows up.

Magic helmets that create invisibility, swords that can cleave marble and a mechanical owl with intelligence are all assets that Perseus uses and that Harryhausen gets a chance to integrate into the action at times. The pace of the film seems to lag between the animated pieces, and the actors are not particularly dynamic, but any moment something wonderous will show up so be patient, your eyes will be rewarded.

The 35mm print that was used to show the film has some color inconsistencies that have resulted from aging, but the effects look pretty vivid on film. The audience was appreciative and the host was excellent. My praise for the host is maybe a little biased, he asked the audience about when they had first seen the film and which other Harryhausen films we'd seen. I am not a shrinking violet, so I shouted out my answers and Rodriguez asked me in particular some follow ups. He then called me down to the front of the proscenium and awarded me a book on the Art of Ray Harryhausen. I am grateful for the gift and I was even more pleased when I got home and found that Mr. Rodriguez had signed the book as well. This was a terrific cap to my afternoon at the Paramount, which has essentially been my summer home this season. Still looking forward to some great films to finish August.   

Alien-Paramount Summer Classic Film Series

 

Many have said the trailer above is the greatest film trailer of all time. It establishes that there is a mystery, that it involves horror, that there is action, and it shows tidbits of information without giving anything away about the plot. It also has the greatest tagline of a movie, ever. Last night, at the Paramount Theater, you could hear the screams. "Alien" continues to be one of the best fright films ever made, with a stellar cast, a terrific production design and the tension ratcheted up by director Ridley Scott. When we got on the elevator in the parking structure to go over to the film, two guys saw our shirts and knew we were headed to the film. We chatted very briefly, and one of the young men said he was seeing the film for the first time. I envied him. This is a movie with surprises and scares and seeing it for the first time in a theater is the best way to experience it.

The premise of the film is that Earth Conglomerates have started mining the universe for minerals and that they are also interested in other valuable properties as well. If you have not seen the movie, proceed with caution because I am going to dance around a couple of potential spoilers here. The crew of the Nostromo, a towing vehicle with a full load, is awakened from their interplanetary slumber, to investigate a signal that cannot be natural but must have some kind of intelligent design, maybe an SOS. The crew are working stiffs with their own hierarchy, reflecting a chain of command but also the jobs that they perform. There are some normal resentments about pay and working conditions, but everyone shares the discomfort of the job and wants to get home. The detour to a nearby planet to investigate the signal, results in a series of events that are catastrophic but also may be deliberate. As a late 70s film, the plot is thick with conspiracies, suspicions about the motives of the corporation, and distrust of various crew members. If it were not a science-fiction/horror film, it could easily have fit in with other conspiracy based movies of the era.

Slow burn set up was typical of movies in those days and that is what we get here. All the characters are introduced, we know a little about them. The routines of the job are shown and the work space is mapped out for us a bit. All of that is needed and it takes a half hour before we get to the first terrifying moment of the film. Of course the score by Jerry Goldsmith has been building up the tension from the beginning, but it is not until Dallas, Lambert and Kane are on their expedition to the derelict ship, that we know it is time for our sphincters to tighten.

Sigourney Weaver dominates the film, in spite of being third billed because her character has the biggest story arc. She has to be a hard ass bureaucrat, then a tender hearted animal lover, and a inquisitory third in command who is rapidly moving up to a position of even greater authority. She is a character who gets mocked at one point, ignored at a critical junction and then has to take charge. The suspicions that she develops about one of the crew come from legitimate questions about procedure and not just personal animus. It's a little ironic because the Weylan-Yutani Corporation might have sabotaged their secret agenda, if everyone followed the rules the company had set up in the first place. Ripley is a great character, who expands even more as a compelling presence in the sequel film. I've said it before, when people ask me which film I like the best, "Alien" or "Aliens", the answer always depends on which one I saw last. So for today, Alien is my favorite. 

There is only one shot in the film that struggles to work for me, and it is an aggressively obvious transition shot that just could not be done except with an awkward edit. It is over quickly though and the remainder of the scene is really creepy and effective. Sure, in the end, the film is about the elimination of the crew one by one, but the journey is filled with great characters, funny moments, some great jump scares and a lot of technical detail. On the way out of the theater last night, I heard someone saying that the film worked well for an older movie. I'll take the practical effects and gritty sets over CGI imitations anytime. That "old" movie line was used in "Infinity War" and it got a laugh, because people who remember the film, don't see old, they see "classic". 

KAMAD Throwback Thursdays 1975: Jaws

 Throwback Thursday #TBT

Throwback Thursday on the KAMAD site will be a regular occurrence in the next year. As a motivational project, to make sure I am working on something, even in a week where I don't see a new film in a theater, I am going to post on movies from 1975. Along with 1984, this is one of my favorite years for movies and it is full of bittersweet memories as well. 1975 was my Senior Year in High School and my Freshman Year in College. The greatest film of the last 60 years came out in 1975, as well as dozens of great and not so great cinematic endeavors. Most of the films in this weekly series will have been seen in a theater in 1975, but there are several that I only caught up with later. I hope you all enjoy.

Jaws 

This was a hectic day and I didn't get a chance to rewatch a film for the project, so I'm sharing with you some of the material from the past on the greatest film of 1975. 

I had two theatrical presentations of Jaws this year, one in May, and the second in July.  Of course I have seen the movie at home a couple of times earlier in the year. Frankly, I could watch this movie ten times a year rather than the four or five that have been standaard for me over the last couple of decades. This is the movie that I know I have seen the most and it is also the one I have written about the most.

Back in 2015, on the fortieth Anniversary of the film, I did an extensive set of posts celebrating the four decade long reign of this film as my favorite (At least of the second half of the twentieth century). 

Here are some links for you to go back and see from that time frame.

A list of non-shark shark sightings in the film.  

Everyone knows the most famous line from the film, here are some other good ones.

We have probably added a dozen to the collection in the last eight years, this was Amanda's Closet in 2015.

The three leads are not the only great characters in the picture.

Here's to swimming with bow legged women.

Ferris Bueller's Day Off-Paramount Summer Classic Film Series

 

Let's face it, "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" only pretends to have a social value buried in it somewhere. It is not really there. Cameron is a puppet, Sloane is a trophy, and Mr. Rooney is the Coyote to Ferris's Roadrunner. It's a live action cartoon set in Chicago, featuring misbehaving high school kids against the world. We root for them because their antagonists are so exaggeratedly drawn that you want them to succeed in spite of how obnoxious they can be.  Ferris is an entitled brat, Cameron is a put upon drone and Sloane is the eye candy they drag along with them. That said,  he's very popular. The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wastoids, dweebies, dickheads - they all adore him. They think he's a righteous dude, and for the most part so do I.

Ferris is living out a fantasy of a day skipping school. You get your best friend, your best girl, in the coolest car possible, and you lead them on an adventure that will be talked about the rest of their lives. Of course we love it, we all wish we could do some of those things, and boy do John Hughes and Ferris Bueller sell us on that dream. I remembered the review from Siskel and Ebert when Gene complained that the kids didn't do anything very interesting on they day off. They went up in the Sears Tower, ate at a fancy restaurant, went to a Cubs game at Wrigley field (Gene's big complaint was that they didn't sit in the bleachers), spent time at the Art Institute of Chicago, hijacked a parade in an elaborate fantasy moment, and outwitted their nemesis at every turn. He had a pretty high standard for what a good day in Chicago would be. He also complained that the breaking of the fourth wall was not funny. Before it was used in every comedy show in the 2000s, it was not typical for characters to address the situations they were in from a third person perspective, now that is everywhere, Hughes was just ahead of his time.

When Ferris addresses the audience, he says things that the target audience will relate to. "I'm not going to live in Europe so why do I care if they are socialist?" He is the unstoppable force that is impervious to the barriers that are thrown up against him. Cameron points out the fantasy at one point, "He never gets caught".  We see that superpower played out repeatedly and we are in on the joke. We know it is a fantasy and that's what helps make it so much fun. Of course Ferris did not choreograph the parade watchers and participants in the dance sequence in downtown Chicago, that is just the dream and it is an enjoyable one. 

Matthew Broderick was becoming a big star at the time and this role sent him to the top. He was never lumped in with the brat pack actors of his era, and he managed to play a lot of parts that showcase him as the star, not just one in an ensemble. His supercilious delivery of his lines and attitude to everyone else in the film is right, but it could easily be off-putting. Broderick manages to wald the line between everyman and arrogant snot pretty well. The sort of tacked on relationship advice he gives to Cameron seems plausible only because he is a kid as well. 

The parade, the good natured theft and return of the Ferrari, the intricate tricks Ferris used to fake out his parents and anyone else questioning hi illness are all humorous moments that are not meant to be taken literally. It's not really a film about empowerment, it's a film that embraces a philosophy of fun, regardless of how difficult the dream would be to attain. Life moves pretty fast, maybe we ought to enjoy it while we are here. 

I had this poster on the wall of my office at school for several years. 

Animal House-Paramount Summer Classic Film Series

 

Another great comedy to start wrapping up the summer with. Technically, this is the 45th anniversary of "Animal House" but that can't be right can it? This movie feels eternal. I know that sounds strange given that today's climate would not be tolerant of a lot of the things that are used as comedy plotlines here. This movie features cheating, stalking, peeping, underage sex, racial profiling, animal death, theft, drunk driving, shooting guns at others for fun, you know, all the stuff that would put you in Twitter (X) jail forever.

Somehow, it still feels relatively innocent because it is set in a time that was even more repressive than these, and it throws all of this in the face of authority that would try to contain it. It certainly doesn't hurt to have John Belushi as the chaotic dervish at the center of many of these shenanigans. Belushi managed to make even the most twisted sort of behaviour feel like impish fun with his head tilt, shoulder shrug and raised eyebrows. Probably everyone who went to college, at some point knew a loser who was not malicious, but simply clueless as to how they impacted the world around them, Bluto is that guy.

Tim Mathison as "Otter", is the one who really has a story arc, but progress on the plot is not what this movie is about. These are comic character sketches and "Otter" is the slick operator with a pithy comment and detached attitude about the mayhem going on around him. It's interesting that we still sympathize with him when the rival fraternity ambushes him, after all, he just executed the cruelest manipulation to get a date that you are ever likely to see. It is his jovial, devil may care attitude that lets him get away with being a total ass and still we are damn glad to meet him. 

The hovel that is the Delta House is also not too unfamiliar. If you are in the right college town, there is always a dump that will pass as student housing, and it is a two way street, the house gets abused by the residents, sure, but the residents are often behaving in a way that seems befitting of the place they live. Which is the cause and which is the effect? Also, all you have to do to spark stupidity is add alcohol, and kids in college seem to take that as an obligation sometimes. The rituals of a passage in their life. Fortunately, in the movies, it results in minor comic moments as opposed to tragedies. That's another reason we give this a pass, we know it is a story designed to evoke laughter, it doesn't pretend to have any life lessons buried inside of it. 

I wrote about this film in my original project and you can read those comments here. It was also part of a TCM Film Festival Program I attended and there is some information on that screening Here. "Animal House" is politically incorrect, vulgar, anti-authoritarian, and as funny as hell, almost fifty years later. 

Valley Girl Redux (2023 2nd Edition)

 

Having written about the film just a week ago, I'm not ready to write any new insights but I did see the film again in the theater and I think I will share a couple of things with you. The video above is a few years old but it does an excellent job of re-visiting the filming locations for "Valley Girl". I ran across it this week and I think you might enjoy. 

Here is a little taste for you of The Plimsouls in the movie. 

It's not the clip from the movie, but the original music video for the song.

Bitchin'! Is this in 3-D?

No, but my face is.

And the montage that makes a grown man cry. Love you Dee.