brodiebruce_405
Entrou em out. de 2001
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Classificação de brodiebruce_405
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Classificação de brodiebruce_405
The blonde Lance Henriksen was supposed to be Omar Goopta/L. Ron Hubbard's character, not Jose Chung's, as the other reviewer stated.
However, everything else he said is right. This is another Darin Morgan masterpiece, but I prefer his second Millennium episode, "Somehow Satan Got Behind Me", which is the perfect lead in to the finale of Season 2 (and what should have been the series finale). It's funny (with Charles Nelson Reilly once again shining for the last time in the role, which should have been spun off if you ask me), clever, disturbing in the right way...it's a really great departure and every bit as fully formed and intelligent as you'd expect from Darin Morgan, the only TV auteur who drifted from show to show, never creating one but always with his own unique voice.
However, everything else he said is right. This is another Darin Morgan masterpiece, but I prefer his second Millennium episode, "Somehow Satan Got Behind Me", which is the perfect lead in to the finale of Season 2 (and what should have been the series finale). It's funny (with Charles Nelson Reilly once again shining for the last time in the role, which should have been spun off if you ask me), clever, disturbing in the right way...it's a really great departure and every bit as fully formed and intelligent as you'd expect from Darin Morgan, the only TV auteur who drifted from show to show, never creating one but always with his own unique voice.
I was lucky enough to see this based on the fact I was a huge fan of the team's first feature, FREAK OUT, also written by and starring Dan Palmer and directed by Christian James. This is not quite more of the same - Freak Out was a handmade, home-made movie taking years to film and has confident-low-budget-feel that comes from that kind of production and the somewhat leisurely pace of it. By virtue of it's setting and plotting, STALLED lacks the scope of FREAK OUT which, in the long tradition of horror/monster movies, functioned almost as a travelogue for small towns in general, but it gains in every other area because it is clearly a more professional production, shot on a tight schedule (almost all of it on one set), with more of a cohesive whole.
The writing is a lot more confident - if Freak Out was driven by an infectious craziness - a low-budget British attempt at an early Joe Dante film - this is more like Joss Whedon's writing. There's a heavy emphasis on character, a lot of fun with words and clichés, gratuitous pop culture references (including some very important ones to "Jingle All the Way") and a sweet natured affection throughout. Palmer has called it a cross between "Career Opportunities", a much maligned and neglected John Hughes production about coming of age (it was sort of a riff on both "The Breakfast Club" and "Home Alone", but with a love relationship at the core) and George A. Romero's original "Day of the Dead". The latter influence is almost exclusively on the (extremely) confined environment and the zombie presence - none of that film's ugly nihilism is really present, but much of the former's charm is present and in this day and age, that's more impressive to me. Anyone can now fill the screen with zombies and gore, but how many can actually make you care about the characters, especially when there are really only two of them that matter? With an ensemble cast, peripheral characters can alienate us - with only two characters (one of whom is barely seen, more on that in a sec) the audience is potentially stuck with people they hate - the film pulls this off completely.
Our main character is W.C. (that's an abbreviation of "Water Closet", a term for a toilet in case you missed it...it's a throwaway joke, the film is funnier than that) played by Palmer. I don't want to spoil the movie but he's basically a crook with some reasons - selfish, immature but understandable ones. This movie doesn't really want to be "Attack the Block" (which is fine with me, I hated it) and make some bold social statement, but it does use the underlying tension of that for some neat character business. Think more along the lines of Dante's infidelity in "Clerks" than interpreting the zombies as the supernatural guilt manifestations as in an Edgar Allen Poe story.
The other character is "Evie", and I'm somewhat limited about what I can say about her without spoiling the film. Some of the film she functions as an avatar for W.C. to speak to sight-unseen (think "Wilson" in "Castaway"), and in other scenes has a more profound interaction with W.C. (now think "Wilson" in "Home Improvement", barely glimpsed over the fence). She has an arc of her own that it's not fair to spoil, but let it be said it does get you in the heart and speaks to a pretty neglected section of society. In a sea of "Strippers VS Zombies", "Strippers VS Vampires", "Vampire Zombie Strippers" and "Strippers VS Hookers", this stands apart from the noisy soft-core "dvd premiere" zombie toilet.
There are some problems in the film - the movie was shot digital and has a bit of a synthetic look to it, but the story and writing worked well enough that I didn't mind. The set's convincing, the music fantastic (a Tangerine Dream/Mark Isham's score for the original "The Hitcher" feel) and the zombies serviceable.
There is a moment where I have to wonder why the zombies all exclaim "Brains" in one key scene, not in evidence in the rest of the picture, in the manner of the "Return of the Living Dead" zombies (and every zombie parody from 1985-2000, including The Simpsons and South Park).
I do also think the ending, which most people liked, could've stood to lose the last 20 seconds or so. There's a phone call which wraps up the plot quite neatly and nothing more needed to be done, I have to say I thought it was a development too far, but I'm probably in the minority there. My feeling is simply that when the movie was over, what stayed with me wasn't the brilliance of the concept (epic apocalypse, most mundane and awful seat to watch from) but the writing and characterisation wrung out of such a limited situation and cast. To have that final image felt incongruous with the, yes, journey I went on with the characters. In other words, those final few moments ruined the entire film for me and retroactively made me hate their first film...JUST KIDDING.
The writing is a lot more confident - if Freak Out was driven by an infectious craziness - a low-budget British attempt at an early Joe Dante film - this is more like Joss Whedon's writing. There's a heavy emphasis on character, a lot of fun with words and clichés, gratuitous pop culture references (including some very important ones to "Jingle All the Way") and a sweet natured affection throughout. Palmer has called it a cross between "Career Opportunities", a much maligned and neglected John Hughes production about coming of age (it was sort of a riff on both "The Breakfast Club" and "Home Alone", but with a love relationship at the core) and George A. Romero's original "Day of the Dead". The latter influence is almost exclusively on the (extremely) confined environment and the zombie presence - none of that film's ugly nihilism is really present, but much of the former's charm is present and in this day and age, that's more impressive to me. Anyone can now fill the screen with zombies and gore, but how many can actually make you care about the characters, especially when there are really only two of them that matter? With an ensemble cast, peripheral characters can alienate us - with only two characters (one of whom is barely seen, more on that in a sec) the audience is potentially stuck with people they hate - the film pulls this off completely.
Our main character is W.C. (that's an abbreviation of "Water Closet", a term for a toilet in case you missed it...it's a throwaway joke, the film is funnier than that) played by Palmer. I don't want to spoil the movie but he's basically a crook with some reasons - selfish, immature but understandable ones. This movie doesn't really want to be "Attack the Block" (which is fine with me, I hated it) and make some bold social statement, but it does use the underlying tension of that for some neat character business. Think more along the lines of Dante's infidelity in "Clerks" than interpreting the zombies as the supernatural guilt manifestations as in an Edgar Allen Poe story.
The other character is "Evie", and I'm somewhat limited about what I can say about her without spoiling the film. Some of the film she functions as an avatar for W.C. to speak to sight-unseen (think "Wilson" in "Castaway"), and in other scenes has a more profound interaction with W.C. (now think "Wilson" in "Home Improvement", barely glimpsed over the fence). She has an arc of her own that it's not fair to spoil, but let it be said it does get you in the heart and speaks to a pretty neglected section of society. In a sea of "Strippers VS Zombies", "Strippers VS Vampires", "Vampire Zombie Strippers" and "Strippers VS Hookers", this stands apart from the noisy soft-core "dvd premiere" zombie toilet.
There are some problems in the film - the movie was shot digital and has a bit of a synthetic look to it, but the story and writing worked well enough that I didn't mind. The set's convincing, the music fantastic (a Tangerine Dream/Mark Isham's score for the original "The Hitcher" feel) and the zombies serviceable.
There is a moment where I have to wonder why the zombies all exclaim "Brains" in one key scene, not in evidence in the rest of the picture, in the manner of the "Return of the Living Dead" zombies (and every zombie parody from 1985-2000, including The Simpsons and South Park).
I do also think the ending, which most people liked, could've stood to lose the last 20 seconds or so. There's a phone call which wraps up the plot quite neatly and nothing more needed to be done, I have to say I thought it was a development too far, but I'm probably in the minority there. My feeling is simply that when the movie was over, what stayed with me wasn't the brilliance of the concept (epic apocalypse, most mundane and awful seat to watch from) but the writing and characterisation wrung out of such a limited situation and cast. To have that final image felt incongruous with the, yes, journey I went on with the characters. In other words, those final few moments ruined the entire film for me and retroactively made me hate their first film...JUST KIDDING.
Totally unconvincing as an actual view at the future, New Gladiators (aka: "Rome 2072: The New Gladiators" or "Fighting Centurions") is none the less an extremely entertaining Sci-Fi action programmer from Lucio Fulci. At times gory, action packed (full of exploding-for-no-reason vehicles), cheese-tastic dialogue ("Go to Hell!", "I would - if I thought it would increase my ratings!") and delicious scenery reused from other Italian sci-fi films, giving the film the feel of an episode of Doctor Who circa 1983 as directed by slow-minded aliens.
Jared Martin, of the 1980s War of the Worlds series and Fulci's own AENIGMA, is our hero - the star Killbike champion. It's hard to tell if he is the star of the TV show Killbike BEFORE he's framed for murdering the Clockwork Orange-esque gang who murdered his wife, or if that is a flashback (as indicated by the commentary from Fulci-fan Troma staff) and that's how he became a Killbike star. I think it's the former, though. He finds himself in a prison cell (a one room riff on Stuart Gordon's FORTRESS which had yet to be made) with Fred "The Hammer" Williamson (From Dusk Till Dawn, Black Caesar, New Barbarians etc), Hal Yamagouchi (from "Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou") and Al Cliver (dubbed again by the guy who did Zombie for him), among others. They are trained in hilarious strobe-lit scene with mentally-projected holograms to become more effective killers (this has very little to do with the game show they ultimately compete in), there's a love story, in-fighting, a sadistic guard...You get the picture.
No, words cannot describe the joys of the picture - small model sets, actually entertaining sci-fi ideas (almost universally executed beneath their value) and Riz Ortolani (orchestral composer and film composer for "Cannibal Holocaust" and Fulci's "Don't Torture a Duckling" and "Perversion Story/One On Top of the Other") contributes a scruzzy New Wave rock score which is a total, rip-roaring triumphant cheesefest. Sure, there's only three pieces of music and they loop constantly, but by the end you'll be so happy it won't matter!
The DVD is a fairly typical early 21st century Troma disc - fullscreen video master, stereo, minimal extras. A commentary from the "FBI" (Fulci Benevolant Institution) is just Trent "Killjoy, Dead Girl and Terror Firmer" Haaga and Troma's then-DVD producer Ronni Raygun riffing on the movie. It's unclear whether only some of the affection for the film is sarcastic, or all of it, but it's entertaining enough. There's a short interview with the beautiful Antonella Fulci (not as good as on the "Zombie" blu-ray or Arrow "Gates of Hell" Daughter of Darkness interviews) apparently filmed by herself or a friend (note the Divine "Love Reaction" vinyl prominantly displayed...did she think John Waters owned Troma?), a Dario Argento interview (not a lot involved here, but mention is made of Fulci and how he didn't play a part influencing Dario, at all), a short Robert Englund interview about...Dario Argento, and the usual introduction and trailer. There's also some Troma extras with nothing to do with the film.
Considering it's a full screen video master, and the film is clearly missing some information (yes I would prefer a 1.85:1 transfer but fortunately New Gladiators was not a cinemascope production, so we're not missing too much), the transfer is pretty good. Once you get used to the idea that in this dystopian future, a particular shade of dark green has replaced the colour black, you'll notice it upscales just fine.
Overall, it's the best version of the movie out there I'm aware of (apparently the US Media release cuts out some of the violence) and it's pretty cheap, so pick it up.
Jared Martin, of the 1980s War of the Worlds series and Fulci's own AENIGMA, is our hero - the star Killbike champion. It's hard to tell if he is the star of the TV show Killbike BEFORE he's framed for murdering the Clockwork Orange-esque gang who murdered his wife, or if that is a flashback (as indicated by the commentary from Fulci-fan Troma staff) and that's how he became a Killbike star. I think it's the former, though. He finds himself in a prison cell (a one room riff on Stuart Gordon's FORTRESS which had yet to be made) with Fred "The Hammer" Williamson (From Dusk Till Dawn, Black Caesar, New Barbarians etc), Hal Yamagouchi (from "Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou") and Al Cliver (dubbed again by the guy who did Zombie for him), among others. They are trained in hilarious strobe-lit scene with mentally-projected holograms to become more effective killers (this has very little to do with the game show they ultimately compete in), there's a love story, in-fighting, a sadistic guard...You get the picture.
No, words cannot describe the joys of the picture - small model sets, actually entertaining sci-fi ideas (almost universally executed beneath their value) and Riz Ortolani (orchestral composer and film composer for "Cannibal Holocaust" and Fulci's "Don't Torture a Duckling" and "Perversion Story/One On Top of the Other") contributes a scruzzy New Wave rock score which is a total, rip-roaring triumphant cheesefest. Sure, there's only three pieces of music and they loop constantly, but by the end you'll be so happy it won't matter!
The DVD is a fairly typical early 21st century Troma disc - fullscreen video master, stereo, minimal extras. A commentary from the "FBI" (Fulci Benevolant Institution) is just Trent "Killjoy, Dead Girl and Terror Firmer" Haaga and Troma's then-DVD producer Ronni Raygun riffing on the movie. It's unclear whether only some of the affection for the film is sarcastic, or all of it, but it's entertaining enough. There's a short interview with the beautiful Antonella Fulci (not as good as on the "Zombie" blu-ray or Arrow "Gates of Hell" Daughter of Darkness interviews) apparently filmed by herself or a friend (note the Divine "Love Reaction" vinyl prominantly displayed...did she think John Waters owned Troma?), a Dario Argento interview (not a lot involved here, but mention is made of Fulci and how he didn't play a part influencing Dario, at all), a short Robert Englund interview about...Dario Argento, and the usual introduction and trailer. There's also some Troma extras with nothing to do with the film.
Considering it's a full screen video master, and the film is clearly missing some information (yes I would prefer a 1.85:1 transfer but fortunately New Gladiators was not a cinemascope production, so we're not missing too much), the transfer is pretty good. Once you get used to the idea that in this dystopian future, a particular shade of dark green has replaced the colour black, you'll notice it upscales just fine.
Overall, it's the best version of the movie out there I'm aware of (apparently the US Media release cuts out some of the violence) and it's pretty cheap, so pick it up.