Pet Sematary (The Remake)

Pet Sematary (2019)

 

59% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 201 reviews)

Runtime: 101 minutes

Directed by: Kevin Kolsch/Dennis Widmeyer

Starring: Jason Clarke, Amy Seimetz, Jete Laurence, John Lithgow

From: Paramount

The climax to this dark, serious horror film almost made me literally laugh out loud a few times...

As I mentioned in the review to my original Pet Sematary, I've never read the Stephen King novel. I did hear that the second trailer to this revealed a big change, and I was hoping to avoid viewing it, and I was ALMOST successful... even after that came out, I only saw the original trailer and this scenario was A-OK with me. Then it played last month when I was at a screening, and I was all “Damn it!” because being surprised by this would have been far preferable.

I won't recap the plot again, except that there is at least one big change from the '89 film and the novel. I know some things were added that were part of the book and weren't in '89, yet when the story itself is different from the original work, of course some will be up in arms concerning those choices. As a few have noted already, this has a more breakneck pace than the original, which means that some moments were left out and I wish they wouldn't have been as it probably would have helped in the storytelling department. And I won't reveal why the last 5 or so minutes of this film made me laugh.

This was more creepy than scary, although I was glad that it was not cheap jumpscare-heavy, although yes some jumpscares are present. If you can see this in an auditorium that has a Dolby Atmost setup (such as a Dolby Cinema at AMC, which is how I viewed this) then you will note how the sound mix was well-done with sound coming from all over the place, including the speakers above you. PS '89 isn't a masterpiece so I was not offended that there was a remake and it is lamentable how this has different strengths and weaknesses to '89 and thus I can't say this was any better or worse overall. At least I can praise the acting and how as a whole, it was better than in the original film. Jason Clarke, Amy Seimetz, Jete Laurence, & John Lithgow all deliver quality performances, and even the twins who played Gage was fine.

I did not love the previous film from directors Kevin Kolsch & Dennis Widmeyer (Starry Eyes) although it wasn't due to their direction and not the performance of star Alex Essoe-it was the nonsense storytelling-and while this could have been better if it wouldn't have gone in those silly directions, at least this wasn't yet another aggravating or worthless remake.

I Revisited Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows

Perfect because tonight is Wrestlemania... and what occurred last night.

Before yesterday I wasn't sure what I would view this afternoon. Then an incident happened at the WWE Hall of Fame. Retired pro wrestler Bret Hart was on stage giving an induction ceremony as The Hart Foundation (a tag team he was in w/ the late Jim “The Anvil” Neidhart) went into the HOF this year. Suddenly, some fan in his 20's for some reason jumps up on stage and attacks Bret, who has had a variety of health maladies in the past 20 years, including concussions, a stroke and he has even survived cancer. A bunch of wrestlers literally bum-rushed the stage and delivered a sweet beating on that punk.

This documentary I had seen once before, long ago. It covered Hart for one year as he returned to the then-WWF for a year after taking a short sabbatical. He was one of the WWF's biggest stars at the time and that year was quite the time period for him; he turned down a lucrative offer from rival promotion WCW to stay in the federation he's been a member of since the mid 80's. A longtime fan favorite, he became a heel as the fans of a harder-edged WWF now started cheering anti-hero Stone Cold Steve Austin; Bret was beloved in his home country of Canada and still was even after the turn. There was the unique phenomenon for most of '97 where Canadians still cheered Hart as they agreed with his valid points of the fans turning against his traditional babyface mannerisms and instead cheered a foul-mouthed, crude rebel like Austin.

Wrestling with Shadows is not only about that year in the WWF but it also shows his wife & kids, along with his parents; note that his seven brothers were all involved with pro wrestling and all four sisters married pro wrestlers... talk about insanity. Then there was The Montreal Screwjob... I could go on for paragraphs about it, but to be brief: a legit double-crossed happened. The WWF at the time had money troubles so they couldn't pay Bret's contract; he decided to go to WCW, but had to lose the WWF Championship first. He was supposed to lose to Shawn Michaels but he did not want to drop the title in his home country to someone who he legit did not like (for a variety of reasons; at the time Shawn had power and also a bad substance abuse problem). They agreed to a not clean finish but suddenly, WWF owner Vince McMahon came out and ordered the bell rung when Bret was in a submission hold.

It was quite the stroke of luck that there were cameras present from a film crew to capture this lunacy and I know a few still think that the event was “fake”, but it was all real. The end result: Vince turned into his evil owner “Mr. McMahon” character, feuded w/ Steve Austin, and the WWF was white-hot for a few years. WCW was also popular at the time (before they bungled things so badly, they went out of business in early 2001) and I was a wrestling fan for years before this time period but the late 90's was quite exciting experiencing all that throughout high school. Anyhow, that night in Montreal... after the match, it was pandemonium backstage and while it was not captured by any cameras, Bret punched Vince and knocked him out.

I do not know how Wrestling with Shadows will play for those not a fan at the time or don't like professional wrestling at all. I won't get into why I don't watch modern wrestling or why I think most of it is bad... for me, it was great reliving and remembering this fun time in my life. Oh, and it took years but Vince and Bret eventually made amends, which is why Bret was at the Hall of Fame ceremony last night.

Naqoyqatsi

Naqoyqatsi (2002)

Runtime: 89 minutes

Directed by: Godfrey Reggio

Starring: This is a documentary

From: Miramax

Oof:

Boy has THIS not aged well... if it ever was fine wine to begin with.

In the past I've watched both Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi as they were very interesting and worthwhile 1980's documentaries which had great scores from Philip Glass and without saying a word, it was up to the viewer to figure out what director Godfrey Reggio was trying to say. The effect of technology was one interpretation with the first two movies, and whether or not that's right, that was made explicit here.

Instead of lovely scenery and interesting images from around the world that expertly showed many different aspects of living on planet Earth and will be forever timeless, this has... a lot of computer graphic images that look pretty terrible by 2019 standards, random footage which seem utterly pointless, and footage which for some reason has ugly, ugly filers all over it. The movie was not even aesthetically pleasing to look at.

I know that the message was supposed to be “technology has now fully taken over the world” (which I say was true in the early 2000's, and incredibly so now with the advent of smartphones, people using less and less physical cash to pay for items, and the rise of such sites as eBay and Amazon) and there's also some half-assed message about violence but to me, this falls in the “pretentious claptrap” bucket and is far less successful than the first two films in this trilogy. Philip Glass's score was cool... it's on YouTube if I want to hear it separately, although I couldn't help but think of how disappointed I was with this film if I were to ever do such a thing.

Pet Sematary (The Original)

Pet Sematary (1989)

Runtime: 103 minutes

Directed by: Mary Lambert

Starring: Dale Midkiff, Fred Gwynne, Denise Crosby, Brad Greenquist, Miko Hughes

From: Paramount

Viewing then discussing this film now was a must: 

Sheena is a punk rocker.

I do not know on which day but I eventually will watch the 2019 Pet Sematary on the big screen; henceforth, watching and reviewing this first was a must. Note that I haven't read the Steven King novel. I imagine that most are familiar with the plot even if they haven't seen the film adaptations nor have gone through the book, whether it was general pop culture knowledge or the trailers... I wish the second trailer for the new film wouldn't have delivered a major spoiler, but for years now I have rightfully carped about how bad most trailers are. BTW, I don't consider it sacrilegious that this was remade.

Anyhow, the Creed family (Louis, Rachel, and kids Ellie and Gage) move from Illinois to rural Maine, at a house where large tanker trucks often drive by going way fast. Fred Gwynne is their neighbor, and he tells Louis of a special plot of land nearby. This proves to be a mistake... a tragedy happens and as “the ground has turned sour”, dad does something bad-despite warnings from both the material and spirit world-& it leads to an unforgettable finale.

I understand that the book is a tough read-not due to its quality but rather how it's all about dealing with death & grief. I am sure it is much more detailed and intense in the novel. The movie does have some moments that (to be frank) at best are kind of goofy; what happens at a funeral is the chief example that comes to my mind. I imagine the book goes into more detail as to why Rachel's parents hate Louis. I mean, why she hates her parents becomes obvious, but how they feel about him was a little unclear to me. Yet at least the general story is pretty creepy-and dark as hell, for sure-dealing with death & grief is still the most important aspect of the film and the scariest moments are some moments in the finale & I'll just mention one name: Zelda.

As people generally say, when it comes to acting it was Gwynne who delivers the best performance, with his unique accent and overalls. I have to note that toddler Miko Hughes did swell for a little kid; I am not surprised he continued acting for awhile there. The Ramones and their title song is cool, albeit it doesn't exactly sound like one of their typical tunes; at least Sheena is a Punk Rocker is in a pivotal scene and that is one of their classic songs

Enter The Dragon

Enter the Dragon (1973)

Runtime: 102 minutes

Directed by: Robert Clouse

Starring: Bruce Lee, John Saxon, Jim Kelly, Ahna Capri, Shih Kien

From: Warner Bros./Golden Harvest

I do not want to get into the whole rigmarole of why I have been all discombobulated since yesterday, why April hasn't had the best start so far, or why I did not have time to watch anything from Monday night until Wednesday night, or why I am doing this review differently from the norm... I'll just state that hopefully things will return to normal starting tomorrow. This is yet another film I hadn't seen in many, many years. Now to give some bullet points about it:

* The plot is simplistic yet it's still entertaining. Bruce Lee is given more than one reason to seek revenge against Han, the villain.

* John Saxon and Jim Kelly are the main supporting players, and like Lee they also have honor and pride. Sure, Kelly loves women and Saxon loves to gamble/bet, but they still have integrity, making it easy to like all three. BTW, Saxon has actual martial arts skills so it was cool he was able to use them here.

* With other actors I could complain about how they are mostly unstoppable and how only one person really inflicts any sort of damage about him, but considering Bruce's reputation, his rigorous training, diet and exercise & stories about him that may not be as apocryphal as they would be if they were attached to another person, I have no trouble believing the man or the character could easily defeat dozens of opponents.

* It was nice seeing some faces that became famous in later years, like Bolo Yeung, Sammo Hung, and for about five seconds, Jackie Chan.

* The Hong Kong scenery looked absolutely lovely, and also lovely was the score from Lalo Schifrin.

This is not the best martial arts film of all time by any means yet it's still fun as there were elements added to make it more accessible to the West, which worked so well that this was the main reason we had a Kung Fu craze in the mid 70's... not to mention, turn its star into the icon that he still is today.

Big Brown Eyes

Big Brown Eyes (1936)

Runtime: 77 minutes

Directed by: Raoul Walsh

Starring: Cary Grant, Joan Bennett, Walter Pidgeon, Lloyd Nolan, Alan Baxter

From: Paramount

Here's a random movie from the 30's which you probably haven't heard of. It did give me something to talk about: 

The cheeriest movie there will ever be about... a baby accidentally being shot and killed?!

This was a film I had in a collection of various early Cary Grant works; I knew of the plot point where this is usually a light tale where cop Grant and beautician turned newspaper reporter Joan Bennett unwittingly team up to at first track down jewel thieves, but then s*** escalates when a meeting with a fence goes wrong and someone accidentally commits manslaughter against a baby in a carriage. Talk about tone issues; I was also surprised by that plot point as this was during the Hays Code era so I just would have presumed they wouldn't have allowed such a horrific act to happen.

All that said, I can still say that this is fine. There is the expected old movie snappy patter between the two leads; the cast as a whole is fine, but naturally it is Grant who is the highlight with his effortless charm. I am just unsure if lead girl Eve is right for Cary's character. I mean, she has pined for him for years yet she on several occasions freaks out when... he talks to the middle-aged rich lady whose jewels were stolen?! Huh? Personally, I wouldn't want to have a romantic relationship with a lady who freaks out when I talk to another woman when it's required for my job.

Eve does assist with the case so it's a shame she had such severe trust issues. I can say that the movie is well-shot by Raoul Walsh-there are some creative shots-and if you ever wanted to hear Cary Grant be dubbed by a woman in a scene as a gag concerning him being a ventriloquist...

Threads

Threads (1984)

Runtime: 118 minutes

Directed by: Mick Jackson

Starring: Karen Meagher, Reece Dinsdale, David Brierley, Rita May, and the voice of Paul Vaughan

From: BBC/Nine Network/Western-World Television Inc.

I've known of the infamy of Threads for years now; after last night... its reputation isn't a lot of hot air:

People across the pond in the UK may be surprised to hear that I had never seen this before. I mean, it was shown in the United States on television in the 80's and it could be purchased on video... I just never got around to it. Although, hearing that it traumatized many people at the time due to its incredibly bleak nature was another factor, as I'd have to psyche myself up to view something so depressing.

Turns out, this was indeed a stone cold bummer. The first half of this (done as a docudrama, with occasional narration) sets everything up and it begins with several different characters being followed in the blue collar town of Sheffield, England.. the families of a young couple who have to deal with an unexpected pregnancy and the poor sap who was chosen to lead the operations in case of national emergency... even though he's only had a few classes and everyone involved there would be woefully unprepared if the worst does happen. The escalation of hostilities between the United States and USSR is only expressed via newspaper, radio and television reports. Pretty soon, that news moves from the background to foreground as panic rises over the worst possibly happening. There is a lot of dread already as chaos reigns supreme over rioting and general chaos. Once the bombs are dropped... My God.

The film was designed as an anti-war piece and a bold message over fears of a nuclear war. Threads is unflinching in showing how everyone will be absolutely miserable as there's nuclear winter, people dying of radiation sickness, looting, there is martial law... this is among the bleakest, most depressing movies I've ever seen. I can only compare it to Come and See in terms of tone. Things only become sadder as it's not just the immediate aftermath that is shown, but the timespan is months then years. Then there's the conclusion...

Like with Come and See, it's a worthwhile motion picture which I probably will never watch again as the entire process was pretty grueling and I do not know if I want to put myself through that again. There was a contemporary to this film, an American made for TV movie called The Day After which I understand is less explicit as American broadcast TV standards were pretty stringent at the time yet is rather morose in its own ways; one day I'll review that. For now, I'll state the obvious and say that I hope nuclear weapons are never used in battle. I understand why they are around and stockpiled (as a means to prevent any other country from using them) but this film alone is a message that the entire planet would be ruined forever if the unthinkable ever occurred.