Friday the 13th

 Year:  1980

Director:  Sean S. Cunningham

Screenplay:  Victor Miller

Starring:  Betsy Palmer, Adrienne King, Harry Crosby, Laurie Bartram, Mark Nelson, Jeannine Taylor, Robbi Morgan, Kevin Bacon

Running Time:  95 minutes

Genre:  Horror

Camp Crystal Lake is preparing for it's grand reopening after being closed for twenty years.  The camp, however, has a bad reputation town, where it is nicknamed "Camp Blood" due to it's history of mysterious deaths and disappearances.  The local eccentric, Crazy Ralph (Walt Gorney), claims that the camp has a "death curse".  However, six teenage camp counsellors have arrived at the camp, along with the new owner (Pete Brouwer), to prepare for the opening in two weeks time.  When the owner leaves the camp to get some supplies, the counsellors enjoy themselves. However, the fun soon turns to terror as they are brutally murdered one by one by an unknown prowler.

Producer and director Sean S. Cunningham was known to horror fans for producing Wes Craven's notorious debut film The Last House on the Left (1972).  Prompted by the success of John Carpenter's Halloween (1978), Cunningham decided to do his own take on what would become known as the "slasher" genre.  Sticking to the calendar theme of Halloween, the title "Friday the 13th" seemed like a no-brainer for a horror film title, and Cunningham was in fact concerned that the title might already have been used, and so while the script was still being drafted, he took out a full page ad in the film industry trade magazine Variety announcing Friday the 13th as being in production, partly to raise additional financing for the project, and partly to ensure that no-one objected to them using the title.  The film sticks closely to the Halloween story structure, which would become the standard for slasher films.  Beginning with a short prologue set in 1958, most of the film takes place over a 24 hour period in the "present day", on Friday 13th June.  During the scenes set during the day, the first half hour or so of the film, we are introduced to the characters, thinly sketched as they are, and there is one murder, which the main characters are unaware of.  It's at night, during a torrential rain shower, that the fun really starts.  There is nothing particularly memorable in the script, and the performances are variable at best, if effective enough for this type of film.  Future Hollywood star Kevin Bacon has an early appearance as one of the camp counsellors, and a memorable death scene.  The score by Harry Manfredini is obviously inspired by Bernard Herrmann's score for Psycho (1960), but it does have the memorable "ki ki ki, ma ma ma" motif, that represents the unseen killer.  The gore effects are by legendary special effects artist Tom Savinvi, who had previously worked on Dawn of the Dead (1978), and they are impressive.  After the controversy surrounding The Last House on the Left, Sean S. Cunningham wanted to make. film that was, as he put it, "a rollercoaster ride", the film its directed effectively, aside from some quite jarring transitions, and both script and direction suffer from some real lapses in logic (the killer always seems to know where the counsellors will wander off to on their own, and be ready with a variety of different weapons, and also seems to be able to travel from one place to another very quickly without being seen or heard).  The scenes where the camera takes the killer's point-of-view, lurking behind trees and observing the characters from a distance, are effective.  For a fun horror movie, however, it works almost as the cinematic equivalent of a campfire ghost story.  Simple, gruesome, silly and fun.  The film was a huge success, kickstarting the slasher movie boom of the early 1980s and launching a franchise which has, to date, clocked up eleven film, including a cross-over with the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, a remake, a TV series, comics, novels and video games.    

Jeannine Taylor, Harry Crosby and Adrienne King in Friday the 13th

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

 Year:  1987

Director:  John Hughes

Screenplay:  John Hughes

Starring:  Steve Martin, John Candy

Running Time:  92 minutes

Genre:  Comedy

Uptight advertising executive Neal Page (Martin) is desperate to get from his business meeting in New York City to spend Thanksgiving with his family in Chicago.  However, when his plane is diverted to Wichita, Kansas, Neal embarks on a race against time, packed with disasters and misadventures.  To make matters worse, he is in the company of good-natured, but very irritating, salesman Del Griffith (Candy).

Writer/director John Hughes made his name with teen films such as Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985), Weird Science (1985) and Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), and this was seen as something of a change of pace, but the plot and structure are fairly similar, in many ways, to National Lampoon's Vacation (1983), which Hughes wrote, and which also deals with a disastrous road trip.  The film starts off with a very realistic and relatable situation.  Steve Martin as Neal Page is desperate to get back to Chicago from New York, but the business meeting is running frustratingly long due to his indecisive client, then he has to get to the airport, but the streets of New York are chockablock with people trying to get away for their Thanksgiving weekends, and then when he finally does get on to the plane, which is delayed, he s downgraded from first class to coach, and has to sit next to overly friendly salesman Del Griffith, and the plane is diverted to Wichita due to a snow storm in Chicago.  Then the situations become ever more absurd and farcical as Neal desperately tries to get back to Chicago by any means necessary before Thanksgiving, which is three days away.  Also he is unable to shake off Del, who both helps and hinders his efforts.   This is a road movie and, like most road movies, is very episodic, but the jokes and comical situations come thick and fast, even if they don't always land, enough of them do to make it consistently funny.  Steve Martin and John Candy were both great comedians and they bounce off each other very well.  Martin has a fine line in seething, buttoned down frustration, and Candy, of course, is the chatty slob who is lovable, but who you know would drive you to distraction after awhile.  The film has it's silly moments, which don't really sit with the more realistic tone of the earlier scenes, but it still works, and the inevitable friendship that springs up between Martin and Candy is well drawn and quite believable.  While it may not be a classic, it is a fun comic romp.  Kevin Bacon has a cameo early in the film as a businessman racing Steve Martin for a taxi.  

Steve Martin and John Candy in Planes, Trains and Automobiles

Sleepers

Year of Release: 1996
Director:  Barry Levinson
Screenplay:  Barry Levinson, based on the book Sleepers by Lorenzo Carcaterra
Starring:  Kevin Bacon, Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Bruno Kirby, Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, Brad Renfro, Minnie Driver
Running Time:  147 minutes
Genre:  Crime drama

In the summer of 1967 four boys growing up in the tough Hell's Kitchen neigbourhood of New York City, accidentally injure a pedestrian in a thoughtless prank.  They are sentenced to do time at the Wilkinson Home for Boys, a brutal reform school where they are regularly abused by sadistic guards.  By 1981 the four friends, all affected in different ways by their experiences at Wilkinson, have drifted apart until they are reunited by a violent act of revenge.

This stylish crime drama is based on a controversial bestseller by Lorenzo Carcaterra, which he insists is autobiographical, although there are disclaimers at the end of the film denying the events ever took place.  This is an entertaining, if unwieldy film, which is almost like three in one.  The opening scenes of the film depict the boys (played by Joe Perrino, Brad Renfro, Geoffrey Wigdor and Jonathan Tucker) growing up in Hell's Kitchen, under the watchful eyes of suave local crime boss King Benny (Vittorio Gassman) and tough but kindly Catholic priest Father Bobby (Robert De Niro), and is kind of a coming of age street movie, kind of a cross between Mean Streets (1973), which also starred De Niro, and Stand By Me (1986), with shades of the De Niro directed A Bronx Tale (1993).  The second, and by far the most disturbing passage, which depicts the boys' abuse at the hands of the sadistic guards (headed by Kevin Bacon) feels like a mix of Scum (1979) and The Shawshank Redemption (1994).  In the third and longest section, the film turns into a legal drama, with the boys bow adults (played by Jason Patric, Brad Pitt, Billy Crudup and Ron Eldard).  It's a stylishly made film with the opening section having a bright sun-dappled "summer of innocence" look, and the second section has  bleak, wintery look, with muted colours.  The abuse that the boys suffer is depicted an almost impressionistic way, while it is obvious what is happening, none of it is really shown.  The film's tonal changes are sometimes jarring, but it is an entertaining and involving film, with a fantastic cast, although Brad Pitt fans may be disappointed that he doesn't appear until about an hour into the film. 

Jason Patric and Robert De Niro in Sleepers

Super

Year: 2010 Director: James Gunn Screenplay: James Gunn Starring: Rainn Wilson, Elliot Page, Kevin Bacon, Liv Tyler, Michael Rooker, Nathan Fillion, Andre Royo Running Time: 96 minutes Genre: Superhero, action, comedy, drama Summary: Diner cook Frank D'Arbo (Wilson) has had two perfect moments in his otherwise miserable life: One was marrying recovering addict Sarah (Tyler), and the other was pointing a policeman in the direction of a fleeing purse-snatcher. When Sarah leaves him for sleazy local drug pusher Jock (Bacon), Frank falls into despair. After becoming fascinated by a TV show about a religious superhero called The Holy Avenger (Fillion), Frank experiences a divine vision in which God touches his brain. Inspired by this Frank puts together a home-made costume and sets out to fight crime as The Crimson Bolt. His favourite method is to hit criminals on the head with a pipe wrench. However, as well as drug pushers and child molestors, he also attacks people who happen to push ahead of him at the movies. Frank's activities attract the attention of excitable comic-book store clerk Libby (Page) who becomes his sidekick, Boltie. However it turns out that she is even more violent than Frank is. Opinions: Let's get the obvious thing out of the way first: With it's concept of an ordinary person becoming a superhero despite having no powers or real abilities is bound to be compared to Kick Ass (2010) which was released a year earlier and has a very similar theme. In fact in both plot and style the films are very different. Super is a darker film, and more ambiguous. Frank D'Arbo is pretty obviously unhinged right from the start, while Dave Lizewski (the protagonist of Kick Ass) is basically a guy who has read a few too many comic-books. The film is basically a dark comedy but there are several genuinely disturbing violent scenes which pull the laughs up short. The scene where Frank almost beats together a guy and a girl for cutting in line at the movies is really disturbing because it is both funny and very shocking. As the intense, deranged but starngely likeable oddball at the centre of the film Rainn Wilson does a brilliant job with a character who is not too far removed from his most famous role as Dwight Schrute in the US version of The Office. The scene where he breaks down into a self-hating rant is a superb performance. Ellen Page, however, comes close to stealing the film as the psychotic comic-book store clerk and superhero fan who sees in Frank the chance to live out her fantasies. She also has a genuinely creepy seduction scene. By the way, this movie convinced me that if they ever make a movie of the X23 comic-book Ellen Page would be perfect for the lead role. This movie is bound to be a big cult movie in years to come. Some audiences will probably be put off by the uneasy tone, shifting from laugh out loud comedy to intense violence, and some may find the lead characters difficult to warm to, but for superhero fans looking for something edgier this is a must-see. I enjoyed the hell out of it. "Actually, the guys kinda got a point. I mean, I wonder all the time why no-one's never just stood up and become a real superhero." - Libby (Ellen Page) in Super "Shut up, crime!": Elliot Page and Rainn Wilson in Super

X-Men: First Class

Year: 2011
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Screenplay: Ashley Edward Miller, Jack Stentz, Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn, from a story by Sheldon Turner and Bryan Singer, based on characters created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby and Chris Claremont
Starring: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Rose Byrne, January Jones, Jennifer Lawrence, Oliver Platt, Kevin Bacon
Running Time: 132 minutes
Genre: Science-fiction, superhero, action

Summary: Poland, 1944: Young Eric Lensherr (Bill Milner) is put in a concentration camp and, being forcibly sperated from his mother, Eric's pain, rage and fear cause the metal gates to buckle and distend. The event is witnessed by Nazi scientist Dr. Schmidt who tries to force Eric to demonstrate his powers, however when Eric is unable to Schmidt forces him to watch as he kills his mother, which triggers a devestating display of Eric's power.
New York, 1944: Young Charles Xavier (Laurence Belcher) is fully comfortable with his telepathic abilities. One night he meets a young shapeshifter named Raven (Morgan Lily), who in her natural form is a blue-skinned girl with golden eyes, stealing food from the kitchens. Charles befriends her.
1962: Eric (Fassbender) travels the globe, using his power to manipulate metal objects in his search to find and kill Schmidt.
Charles (McAvoy), studying at Oxford University, achieves success with his thesis on mutation, while Raven (Lawrence), who is now his foster sister, is working as a waitress.
CIA agent Moira McTaggart (Byrne) discovers that Sebastian Shaw (Bacon) is the leader of a team of mutants and is playing both the USA and the USSR against each other in his plan for domination. She approaches Charles and Raven who join the CIA's covert mutant operation along with Eric who has discovered that Shaw is in fact Schmidt. Soon Eric and Charles are recruiting mutants for their own team to combat Shaw's. However, Eric becomes increasingly resentful of the fact that they are helping a world that both hates and fears them.

Opinions: This is the fifth feature film based on the X-Men comic books. It's a prequel to the other films and showcases how the X-Men came to be as well as the souring of the initial frienship between Charles Xavier (aka Professor X) and Eric Lensherr (aka Magneto). Magneto was always one of the most interesting "villains" in comics because it's hard not to feel sympathy for him and his motivations. A survivor of the Nazi concentration camps, he sees history repeating itself in humanity's attitudes towards mutants. Michael Fassbender gives a superb performance as the complex and tormented Lensherr.
As Charles Xavier, James McAvoy has a less interesting character to work with. He is perfectly comfortable and in control of his ability right from the start and his main character development is showing him turning from a feckless and egotistical student to become a more responsible, if still somewhat egotistical, leader.
The rest of the large cast doesn't really have much of a chance to shine, and the message of racial tolerence and prejudice is hammered home quite heavily, even though the film's only two black characters in one case is killed after about five minutes of screentime and is never mentioned again, and in the other case almost immediately swops sides to join the villains.
Despite this the film is hugely entertaining and benefits from a complex plotline that puts a fantasy spin on real world recent history. The special effects are spectacular and director Matthew Vaughn keeps the action moving along well despite the daunting two hour plus run time.
While falling short of being a great film, this is still a very good one and should provide plenty to interest and entertain non-comic fans. Also the fact that this film in the first in a proposed trilogy makes for a very enticing prospect.
Fans will probably notice Hugh Jackman appearing in a brief cameo as Wolverine.



Caleb Landry Jones, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Rose Byrne, Nicholas Hoult, James McAvoy and Lucas Till in X-Men: First Class