Day Seventy-Nine: The Lathe of Heaven (1980) - Rank 4/5

This film serves as a prime example that good science fiction need not be saturated with space battles or aliens as so many screenwriters in Hollywood believe. My statement might seem a little hypocritical and ironic, for there are aliens present in "The Lathe of Heaven," but their presence is in no way the crux of the film. In short, Bruce Davison plays George Orr, a man sent to obligatory analysis sessions after his drug abuse problem was discovered. His reason for taking various prescriptions? He wants to suppress his dreams, for he's prone to lucid visions that alter reality, a change that is never perceived by others for it changes them as well as their surroundings. At first his therapist doesn't believe him, but once he does, he keeps putting George into a state of hypnosis to control how reality is altered for his own personal motives.

A possible inspiration for Alex Proyas' "Dark City," though it lacks a major budget (it was a made for television film - though I can tell that the production had some pretty decent funding). The special effects are pretty good for both the era as well as the resources the crew had available. Many of the dream sequences were comparable with segments of "Altered States." The sets required constant alterations as George modified reality.

I was also impressed with the script. Such a premise sounds like the fodder for a half-hour episode of "The Twilight Zone," and not a feature length film. But is works and Davison works perfectly in the role of the socially-inept introvert with super powers (ten years earlier and the role probably would have been filled by Don Knotts - later, and it would have been Crispin Glover). Kevin Conway puts in an excellent performance as well as George's egotistic controller. The film serves as a great example of what a good script can do for a low-budget endeavor.

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Day Seventy-Eight: House (1985) - Rank 3.5/5

What a silly movie. That's all you can think after it comes to a conclusion. I'm sure at one stage is was intended to be a legitimately scary, horror film. The problem is the special effects and creatures are so over the top, it's tough to regard "House" as anything but a dark comedy, very much in the vein of "Evil Dead II" or "Dead Alive."

For starters, our "hero" Roger Cobb (William Katt) is an alleged Vietnam War veteran, suffering from post-war trauma. This trauma could possibly be the cause of the strange things he's seeing, for the monsters and flying objects often stir him into a flashback (the jungles of Vietnam bear an eerie resemblance to a gorilla exhibit in a zoo). Such an angle would definitely be David Cronenberg inspired. Yet, the manner in which he "spazzes" about anything slightly weird occurs makes you wonder how he ever made it through the war alive. In addition, when demonic creatures attack him, he kills them and goes back to his daily routine as if nothing ever happened. A peculiar individual indeed.

The film has one other major asset: George Wendt. Yes, TV's lovable "Norm" shows up every night at Roger's door at the stroke of one o'clock with a six pack of Miller High Lives in hand and a conversation full of sorrows. I suppose Wendt is showing us the cruel side to being a solitary alcoholic, devoid of true friends. Now that's funny!

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Day Seventy-Seven: Don't Go in the House (1980) - Rank 2.5/5

As if Hollywood hadn't made enough Ed Gein-influenced pictures at this point, we get another formulaic tale of a man with a recently-deceased, overbearing mother, who realizes that the proper way to cope is to begin killing women and propping their dead bodies up about the house. The lead, Dan Grimaldi, is less appealing in his role as were his predecessors in similar parts (Anthony Perkins, Roberts Blossom, etc.). What the film does have going for it is a couple of new twists to the tried-and-true tale.

First of all, our starring sociopath, Donny Kohler, was tortured as a child. There are several flashbacks which seemed reminiscent of the child abuse scenes in "Sybil" (thankfully, there were no button hooks present). Donny's mother would punish her son my holding his arms over the lit burner of the stove, leading to a mild moral to the story: don't treat your offspring like prisoners during the Inquisition and they won't aspire to be the next John Wayne Gacy (one of those life lessons often overlooked in parenting classes in high school I suppose).

Second, our serial killer develops a pyromaniacal fetish as a result. He constructs a steel-plated "furnace room" in his home for the sole purpose of luring coquettish tarts in and scorching them to death with a flamethrower. Admittedly, I found myself thinking: "Well, I've never seen that before." Overall, the film was the general schlock that Hollywood has been cranking out en masse for decades. Had I not been with a group of friends, "MST3King" the film as it went, I shudder to think how tedious it may have truly come across.

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Day Seventy-Six: Meet Me in St. Louis (1944) - Rank 4/5

Within the past two months, I've had three friends recommend this film to me. Stranger is the fact that they're all guys. Stranger still is that they're all straight (allegedly), despite a love for Judy Garland musicals. While I can't say that I disliked the film (in all honesty, I find it hard to dislike anything filmed in three-strip technicolor), I don't see what's to love about it. It's simply a pleasant film, nothing more. A true exercise in cinematic happiness.

Actually, I think it's worth noting that the story excels in obsequious pleasantness. There are no antagonists, no climaxes, and no real conflicts (though when the premise of the film surrounds a popular song created two scores before the film, I shouldn't expect anything too complex). The toughest obstacles the characters must overcome is worrying whether the family's youngest daughter was abused, whether Judy's beau will have a tux in time for the Christmas dance or whether the family will move away from St. Louis before the world's fair. Each dilemma has about a two minute period of "tension" before everything is declared to be alright once more. Though it is worth noting that the film takes a very surreal turn as children "kill" their neighbors on Halloween shortly before a declaration of their disdain felt towards the victim. And no, I'm not making that last bit up.

The appeal to the film, I suppose, is its music. A number of songs, from "The Trolley Song" to "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" have a catchy quality about them, not unlike a fever. You want to get it out of your head, but you cannot. It's just best to let the song run its course (though none of them were as infectious as the smallpox of the movie world - "Mr. Peacock"). No, "The Trolley Song's" coming back! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

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Day Seventy-Five: Fanboys (2009) - Rank 3/5

I want to begin by saying that this film is a fabulous concept: a road trip film about a group of Star Wars fans who decide to break into the George Lucas' Skywalker Ranch, so their friend that's dying of cancer can see Episode One before he departs the Earth. After waiting patiently for the film's legal troubles to settle over the past year, I was quite pleased to see it. However, the sensation I felt was bittersweet - ironically, similar to my initial impression of Episode One: Phantom Menace. While each film had their highlights and were an enjoyable watch, they each left me feeling a little flat - as if they could have been so much more, but never lived up to their potential.

As crazy as it might sound, I felt like there weren't enough Star Wars references. The jokes that cracked me up were the subtle gags (and the numerous guest cameos), where a character would effortlessly work a line from the original trilogy into their conversation. Most of the humor in the film was done with an inferred wink at the audience - a beat after a "good line" to let the viewers know that something funny was just said. I think the writers/creators were afraid of creating something that would be too much of a "fan film" if they peppered it with an abundance of "inside humor," so they made something a little more conventional - and as a result, something a little less unique.

The film would have worked well had the entire script been a parody of a Star Wars episode. Instead, it's merely a fair road trip/buddy comedy with Star Wars as a central, though not overwhelming, theme. I was also a little disappointed that the film didn't have more of a "90's feel." There were a couple of acceptable song entries and touches, but for the better part, it felt like a film set in modern day. Pity. Thankfully, there was talk of "What if Phantom Menace sucks?" within the film, giving the proper cynical nod to all Star Wars fans who walked away from theaters deflated in May1999. And in answer to the aforementioned question, I'll ask you to look up what happened on September 11, 2001, for that is truly the consequence of a weak resurrection of a beloved franchise. i just shudder to think of the aftershocks that will arise from "Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull."

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Day Seventy-Four: Detonator (1993) - Rank 2.5/5

When I was watching this film, something felt off. I could never place what it was. I was too distracted by the fact that an awesome cast was giving mediocre performances. Patrick Stewart, Peirce Brosnan and Christopher Lee should not leave me feeling bored (I suspect it was definitely a situation of "wanting a paycheck" rather than a role in the film). It wasn't until I went to Imdb that the truth became evident - it was a made for TV movie.

Granted, there's no rule that says that such films are guaranteed to be lackluster. "Gargoyles" and "Trilogy of Terror" both stand out in my mind as excellent films. However, the action scenes in this film feel like fledged out segments from episodes of "MacGuyver" that were never aired. There's no characteristic style to the camerawork, the score is forgettable, the plot is so-so...in short, the film could be best summed up in one word: conventional. It's not that the film is intolerable - the concept of smuggling a nuclear bomb across continental Europe in a hijacked train is a lot of fun (though it does feel like an unnecessary rip-off of "The Taking of Pelham 123" at certain parts). I just think it was in the wrong hands when it came to direction.

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Day Seventy-Three: Last House on the Left (2009) - Rank 3/5

I've never seen the original version of this film, but if the sequel closely mirrors its predecessors basic story and atmosphere, I can pass. "Last House on the Left" pushes the envelope, not for what can be shown on screen, but for what can be in a film and it still receive an R rating. Between brutal murders and graphic rape, its scarcely a bring-the-family chucklefest. Yet, to my surprise, as well as to the surprise of the rest of my party (or should I say Eagle's party, since it was his "burfday") there were parents with toddlers and other young children present. Yes, have fun explaining why the "lady bled down there" or how "the microwave made man's head go boom." Actually, there were a couple of vocal individuals about two rows behind us who could easily do the job. Let me predict what the explanation would sound like...

Girl #1: "Shit! There was this girl Mary and this big-ass white dude who wanted all up in her so he took the girl and you wanna know somethin'? Ain't no man gonna touch me like that unless he wanna pull back a stub. You know what I'm sayin'."

Girl #2: "Mmmm-hmm"

Me: "That's straight up. You ain't trippin', gurl. Dat shit's of da hook, off da chain, off da wall, off da cuff, off da deep end and off da wagon."

Yeah...you can't tell that I'm white and socially inept. Nevertheless, this streaming, over-zealous logorrhea was prevalent through our screening. Had the plot been complex, I'm sure I would have been lost as a result of the distraction. I was not though, for the movie is about a gang of psychopaths torturing a family for two hours. If you didn't get the gist of that from the trailer, then ask the scarred toddlers who were in the audience to explain it to you.

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