Straight Up Reviews: Color Out of Space

 

What do you get when you have Nicolas Cage, the writings of H.P. Lovecraft and the director of Marlon Brando's Dr. Moreau? Probably the most fucked up experience in cosmic horror.

Now before I get into this, let's get the elephant out of the room. Yes, H.P. Lovecraft is racist.  However the man's been dead for nearly a century at this point and you're bringing the shit up now? Are you really that insecure about your lives that you like to figuratively and literally piss on corpses? If you want to fight injustice, seek out those currently causing it if they're still alive. Who gives a fuck if a guy who is literally dust and wormfood right now was racist back then. Shut the fuck up and move on.

Color  Out of Space was based off the short story "The Colour Out of Space" written by Lovecraft in 1927. A work he personally considers his favourite and for good reason.

Color Out of Space was filmed in 2019, was distributed in the same year at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival and was one of the last known theatrical releases in January 2020, before the Covid-19 outbreak became international.  What a way to end an era of movie going and I'll explain why later.  

The movie stars Nicolas Cage going back to his roots as the crazy bastard we know and love.  He plays Nathan Gardner the patriarch of the Gardner Family who live on a vast farmhouse in Arkham Massachusetts. A recurring town in Lovecraft's works. The family consists of five including him.  his Wife Theresa played by Joey Richardson. A business woman who survived a mastectomy while recovering from breast cancer. Their daughter Lavinia played by Madeline Arthur. A Wiccan teenager who is desperate to get out of both the land and the town.  Their oldest son Benny played by Brenden Meyer. A stoner who is obsessed with astronomy.  Their youngest son Jack played by Jullian Hilliard. A naive, imaginative child who is very close with everyone else in the family.  They all live here, because the farmland is owned by his late father.  Part of which so Theresa can go back to work while continuing to recover, while Nathan tries to wing it as a farmer.  Raising fruits, veggies and Alpacas.  The latter of which, he's convinced are the animals of the future in terms of meat and dairy.  They are met by Ward Phillips played by Elliot knight. (A play on H.P.'s real name. Howard Phillips.) A hydrologist who was doing a survey on the land the Gardener's house is on, as part of a project to construct a dam for Arkham's drinking water supply. While also housing a squatter named Ezra played by Tommy Chong. A former electrician who lives completely off the grid and serves as the oracle of the story.  

As Ward camps out near the farmland, a meteor hits the ground. Causing an explosion of Color unlike anything anyone has seen before.  However the result of which starts a slow downward spiral of this once somewhat functioning family.  Ward discovers through Ezra that the well water that currently supplies the land, has been tainted with a film like substance. Which causes anyone and anything in contact with it various unpredictable and uncontrollable events. From hallucinations, to mutations of the local flora and fauna. To even the perception of time.  In an attempt to stop these events, Lavinia consults the Necronomicon, only to make things worse.  Nathan starts to slowly unravel mentally. While Jack and Theresa become fused together into some horrible monstrosity. As things begin to fall apart, Ward discovers the source of it.  The Color, whether by accident or incident has latched onto and fed on the lifeforce of any who came into contact with the well water.  Sucking the life, nutrients and even natural color of the flora and fauna that consumed it. Those unlucky enough to keep drinking the water through various ways, be it tap water, or in Nathan's case, ice cubes for his bourbon, eventually die and become white ash. Provided they didn't get killed before hand by other means.  Such as Nathan putting down the monster hybrid of Jack and Theresa, Benny getting disintegrated by the Color's full blast while trapped in the well, Nathan getting shot by the police, Lavinia sacrificing herself to the Color. The latter of which happens after she shows Ward the Color's planet of origin. A tentacle filled planet that may or may not be connected to the ruins that Lavinia carved on her body, but most of all may or may not most likely be R'lyeh.  As the Color begins to leave the area, it starts warping everything around it. Ward in a desperate attempt to ride it out safely hides in the farmhouse. After fending off a resurrected Nathan, he locks himself in the wine cellar while the Color destroys everything around it.  The farmland now completely devoid of all color.  In a bid to halt what's left of the Color that lingers behind, Ward convinces the mayor to have the dam water be put over what was left of the land. Vowing to never drink it. 

The movie has everything. Cage going nuts, disturbing music from Colin Stetson, astonishing special effects and lot's of surprises.

For example, up until I seen his performance, I've often been used to Tommy Chong's stoner comedy roles.  Yet his final recording while Ward and the Sheriff discover his dying corpse burned right into my mind. You heard it folks, Tommy Chong scared the hell out of me.  

The movie was also meant to be part of a larger cinematic universe.  A Lovecraftian world meant to rival that of DCEU and MCU. I say go for it. Give these horrors from The Color to Herbert West a chance to shine in their own world. 

Also be sure to check out the other stories and movies based on Lovecraft's works. They're worth the wait. 

Take care, stay safe and whatever you do, don't drink the water. It sucks and it burns.

Straight Up Reviews: Tusk

 

With April Fools only a day away I thought I'd do a review that's in the Dark Comedy side. And what better way to do so, than to talk about one of what I believe to be the best horror comedies in the 2010s.  A movie  loved by some, but hated by all.  A movie that has the average moviegoer say "I cannot fucking believe Silent Bob made this."  This is Tusk.

Tusk, was written and directed by Kevin Smith. Whom you may know as the famous funny stoner Silent Bob.  A man of a few words, but when he speaks, it's often elegant and wise. Paired with the ever talking Jay, played by Jason Mewes.  The movie itself started out as a joke idea, by Smith and his longtime producer friend Scott Mosier discussed in their podcast known as Smodcast. They were discussing an article of an ad on Gumtree.  The ad specifically stated that it offered a lodging free of charge in exchange for the occupant to dress up as a Walrus.  Smith stated that it would be a very stupid idea to make a movie out of that.  So naturally he and his crew made it.  This was around 3 years after he worked on his first horror film Red State. Which I have yet to watch, but after watching this I may consider it.  The movie itself was as it's core was meant to be a parody of the then popular Sadist Horror genre. Movies like Hostel, Saw and of course the granddaddy of all WTF: Human Centipede.  Now I'll go on record and say I fucking hate Human Centipede. It's not just disturbing, but downright disgusting. So disgusting that I refuse to watch any of the movies. Let alone give it any attention by reviewing it, even in the negative. However if there was a silver lining about that movie's existence, is that the parodies made in it's wake were extremely hilarious, my personal favourite being Human Cent-Ipad on South Park.  However while it does parody this genre as a whole I find that it also serves as an affectionate send up to many horrors, going way back to the Universal Monster movies of the 1930s.  

The movie itself stars Justin Long who is no stranger to horror, since he debut in that Genre through Jeeper's Creepers. Which I will not review or talk about either for other reasons.  While I've seen the first two movies and I must admit I've enjoyed them, I refuse to give the movies further support due to the accusations of their creator Victor Salva. To make it short, since one of his early movies Clownhouse, he's been accused of molesting a young actor. I had no idea about all this until I looked it up years after watching Jeeper's Creepers. I don't believe in separating art from the artist. Which is sad, because before the accusations flew one of my favourite movies, created by him was Powder. 

Moving on.

Long plays a Podcaster named Wallace Bryton. A host of a Podcast channel known as the Not See Party. A satirical play on the words Nazi Party, which even if it was nothing but that, was I admit a brave choice considering this was during 2014 when Cancel Culture was on the rise, so a show like his based on the title alone would never fly to this day.  The show itself is a trashy program in which he looks at obscure videos and stories and makes fun of them for his audience to hear. He hosts the show with Teddy Craft played by Haley Joel Osment. If you do not know that name by now, then you officially live under a rock.  Their recent episode featured a kid who accidentally cut off his leg with a Katana during a video demonstration. Said kid hailed from Manitoba Canada.  So naturally the all American Wallace, would break out the Canadian jokes.  He flies to Manitoba to personally interview the kid, presumably to mock him at every turn only to find that the kid had committed Seppuku. Killing himself with the same sword.  Frustrated that he was robbed of an interview, Wallace discovers an add posted on a bulletin board, offering free lodging. The person offering, Howard Howe, played by the late Michael Parks. A wheelchair bound man, who simply wishes any who take, to do basic chores and listen to his many stories.  Seeing a goldmine, Wallace goes to the house. After being offered some tea, Wallace listens to Howards stories. The ones that intrigue him being his meeting with famed author Ernest Hemmingway as well as an affectionate story of a Walrus who saved his life when he was lost at sea. Unfortunately the story was cut short when Wallace collapses. The tea being drugged.  Upon waking up, he discovers his leg's been amputated with Howard claiming that it was due to a Spider Bite.  However later on, Wallace discovers that not only did Howard lie, not only was he faking his disability, but he intends to turn Wallace into a human Walrus, using surgery and a skin suit, that makes Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb's look like a casual jogging suit. Upon reaching a phone, he was able to call Teddy for help. Whom at the time was having sex with his girlfriend, Ally Leon, played by Genesis Rodriguez, in revenge for Wallace cheating on her.   Upon discovering the messages, Teddy and Ally flee to Canada to search for him.  Meeting Guy Lapointe, played by Johnny Depp.  A former Quebec Inspector who has been searching for Howe for a long time. His stake in this is regret for not catching Howe while he was right under his nose. While they search for him, Howard tries to teach Wallace how to be a Walrus, much to the latter's disgust and later annoyance. Making him swim and eat nothing but mackerel.  Howard later reveals his reason for making such a drastic measure was due to his own regret.  When starvation hit, he was forced to kill and eat his Walrus friend, mere moments before a rescue party finds him. He reveals his endgame to Wallace.  Donning a suit of his own, Howard challenges Wallace to a fight to the death. Hoping to die and be free of his self proclaimed sin against his dead friend. As well as trying to strip away what's left of Wallace's humanity. Wallace, not missing an opportunity, kills Howard just as Guy, Teddy and Ally come in. Initially Guy was gonna kill him to put him out of his misery, but at the pleading of Ally, Wallace is placed in an exotic Animal Sancutary. Where Ally and Teddy come by to feed him fish. It would seem that Howard won and Wallace is now more animal than human.  However after invoking a memory about how crying separates humans from the animals, Wallace sheds a tear. Ending the movie.

Where to begin.  First off, the movie itself does deliver what it promises, a parody of the Sadist Horror genre and part of the comedy, is how serious the movie takes itself in the horror scenes, while visually showing how over the top they are, through deadpan acting.  Drawing inspiration from comedy legends such as Zucker Abrans Zucker or ZAZ.  After watching it first hand, I can honestly say, I don't see why some dislike the movie.  Don't get me wrong, I understand their reasons. They think that some scenes drag on while purposefully giving the monster as little screentime as they could. Their biggest complaint surprisingly being from an unlikely source. Johnny Depp.  Now I've seen Johnny Depp do some shit movies, with his performance usually being the saving grace. So I could understand why they'd consider him a low point here, but at the same time I never saw that.  

The way I see it, on top of doing a straightforward story even in the dark comedy aspect, each part of it, seems to affectionately lampoon many horror cliches.  From meeting a stranger in the middle of nowhere, to a monster that could fit very well with monsters like The Wolf Man and The Creature from The Black Lagoon.  Even Depp's performance as Guy, plays a pivotal part in that.  In his case, he ticks off many cliches. The first being the police being useless.  A lot of serious horror movies have played with that one, but this is one of the few that didn't seem intentional. And as an extension of that, the killer slipping through the cop's fingers.  As shown when Guy, met Howard in the past, not knowing he was the killer, until it was too late for the person he was looking for. As well as doubling as the monster hunter cliche. For those that don't know what I'm talking about, since the dawn of movie monsters there is often one individual, usually an old man. Who has been implied to have been enemies with the titular killer or monster before meeting people associated with the recent victims and as a result of said monster's atrocities, the hunter sees them as the ultimate hunt and treats every slip away like a victory on the monster's part.  Which Guy is not exception. However, his meeting of the monster while treated as such, is hilariously exaggerated. No confrontation, no threats with exotic weapons, just two American actors, playing Canadian Caricatures, in a somewhat polite if not crude conversation and seeing who can out Canadian the other. I am one of the few that actually sees Guy's moments as essential as the rest of the movie and I think without that balance, the movie would have fared a lot worse.

The movie itself later became the first of a horror trilogy created by Smith, called the True North Trilogy.  With Depp and a few other cast members reprising their roles including Smith's Daughter Harley Quinn Smith and Depp's daughter Lily-Rose Depp.   Their second movie called Yoga Hosers, which I have yet to see, with the third movie on the way called Moose Jaws. Which is basically Jaws with a Moose in place of a shark.  

All and all the movie does have a good place in horror and comedy.  I believe it should be given more praise than it  has. Take care. Stay Safe and watch out for old Canadians in Wheelchairs offering Tea.

Straight Up Reviews: Doctor Sleep (2019 Film)

 

7 years ago I did a video review of Doctor Sleep. The 2013 sequel to the Shining by Stephen King.  Because there was no adaptation, I relied on animation to tell the story. Then I got attacked by a ghost that represented all of Kubrick's crazy fans. The less you know the better.

Needless to say when I heard Doctor Sleep was being adapted I was excited, but I didn't go see it.  Mainly out of insecurity regarding the trailer.  It seemed that it was gonna pick up more where the Kubrick Film left off rather than make a movie based on the novel.  Which is ok, because most people got introduced to the Shining, myself included, through said movie. Though in my case it was the Simpson's parody of that movie called "The Shinning."

Now before I--

 S.T.: Hey straight up, has anyone bought my music yet?

Straight Up: Aside from one very loyal and supportive fan, no, but your advertising on Newgrounds seems to work better in your favor. 

S.T.: Great. Let me know if you need anything.

Straight Up: S.T. let me explain something to you. Whenever you come in here and interrupt me, you're breaking my concentration. You're distracting me. And it will then take me time to get back to where I was. You understand?

S.T.: Straight up are you ok?

Straight Up: I'm fine. We're gonna make a new rule. When you come in here and you hear me typing or whether you don't hear me typing or whether the fuck you hear me doing, when I'm in here I'm working. Now you think you can handle that?

S.T.: Wow that Kubrick-geist really got you worse than I thought.

Straight Up: Just get the fuck out of here.

Now where was I?

Now I have nothing against the Kubrick movie as a stand alone movie.  I will strongly fight for the novel and the mineseries' merits more than movie simply because it was King's book first. This wasn't the reason why I didn't watch it until now.

What made me hesitate to watch this movie, is because while I like the Novel and Mini-Series better, doing a sequel to the Kubrick Shining would seem much more complicated due to the following factors:

In the Kubrick Movie, there was little to no reference to Jack Torrance's Alcoholism within it. Instead Kubrick and Jack Nicholson made the conscious decision to make it seem that Jack was unhinged and abusive from the start and that the booze only destroyed inhibitions of his deepest desires. Whereas in the Novel, the booze was the main cause of his problems and Jack's temptation aside, he was a caring and loving father. So when you write a novel that depicts mostly the struggles with alcoholism as a huge plot point and a sequel as a follow up to that, it kind of derails what Kubrick intended. 

However that's just minor.  The major cause for concern was the ambiguity in the Kubrick movie. Whether or not the ghosts and the overlook haunting were real or hallucinations of minds slipping into delusion. In the novel and the miniseries, they made no such ambiguity, that the ghosts were real and only a minor part of the problem compared to the entity of the overlook itself.  Whereas in the Kubrick movie there was more ambiguity.  Kubrick himself does not believe in spirits because he thinks Life after Death is something to look forward to even if you're going to hell. So naturally he'd reflect that on his work.  Even the subtle proof that they are real, such as the scene where Delbert Grady let's Jack out of the pantry, has been the subject of debate.  So naturally any sequel that picks up more from the movie than the book would have to answer that ambiguity.  Now it would have been interesting if Mike Flannigan did go the other way and insist there were no ghosts, no supernatural stuff whatsoever and that Danny may have inherited Jack's madness.  However needless to say I'm glad he had as much respect for King as he did for Kubrick because he flat out says the ghosts in the first movie were real after all.  

Without further adieu let's talk about the movie.

The movie itself in a surprising twist, begins the exact same year the Shining took place in 1980.  While Jack and his Family are currently in the Overlook, a little girl with special powers is lured into a forest by a mysterious woman named Rose The Hat. Who entertains her through magic tricks.  However much like a certain psychotic clown located in Derry Maine, it's all a ruse for Rose and her gang The True Knot, to kidnap her for nefarious purposes. 

Not long after the events of the Shining, Danny and Wendy Torrence are living somewhat peacefully in Florida. The events have caused Danny to become mute and while he's away from the Overlook, residents of the Overlook continue to haunt him. The first being the rotten bathtub woman that strangled him.  Dick Halloran appears to him, much like in the book. Only where he survived in the book, he appears in spirit due to his death in the movie.  He gives Danny a box and explains to him other uses of the Shining.  Such as using it to trap evil spirits in his own mind.  He also informs him that one day he'll have to meet someone else and teach them the ways of the Shining and protect them like Dick tried and failed to protect Danny.

Danny begins to speak to Wendy after capturing the first ghost. Turning the hunter into the hunted.

The movie then flashes forward to 2011. While Dan, now played by Ewan McGregor was able to capture the ghosts of the Overlook as the years went by, he never got over the trauma of the Overlook and after his mother died, he resorted to drinking, drugs and fighting.  Slowly turning into the man his father once was.  He eventually hit rock bottom when he robbed and left a drunk, drugged out and dying single mother.  Heading to New Hampshire to start anew.  He meets and befriends Billy Freeman who makes and maintains a tiny town model and recognizes Danny as a fellow recovering alcoholic.  Freeman sets him up with an apartment and sponsors him at AA. The head of the branch gives him a job at a hospice as a custodian. As a result he meets a very peculiar resident. A cat named Azzy who has a knack for telling people which old person is dying.  Using his abilities, Danny comforts a scared old man before it's his time to go, earning him the name Doctor Sleep.  Meanwhile he gets into telepathic contact with a little girl named Abra Stone. Whose Abilities exceed his own. At the same time the True Knot is scouting for a new member.  Snakebite Andi, a teenage man-hating, woman whose moniker comes from the marks she leaves on the face of her victims.  Mostly men who prey on teenagers, whom she subdues with her ability to "Push" an ability similar to that of Andy McGee in Firestarter. In which her victims follow every word she says with the power of suggestion.  Rose recruits her which is pretty hypocritical and I'll tell you why later.

8 years fly by and Danny earns his 8 year token.  Around the same time, Abra's parents are slightly aware of not only her powers, but her talks with her imaginary friend Dan. They take it in stride at first, but worry she may be going crazy over various traumas she refuses to explain. One day, the True Knot, stalk a little league prospect who can shine and uses his abilities to win at Baseball. Here we find out what exactly the True Knot has intended for not just him, but the little girl they kidnapped in the beginning. The True Knot are essentially psychic vampires that feed off what is known to them as "Steam" a vapour-like byproduct of those with psychic abilities expel when they're exposed to sever trauma.  The way these Vamps extract it is through physical torture.  Which they've inflicted on the little girl 39 years ago along with other kids, centuries before and after.  Any left over is placed in specialized cans, that look similar to that of a group vape session.  Now here's where things get hypocritical.  Snakebite Andi, should by all intents and purposes question the True Knot in their practices, since if you take the supernatural element out, their tactics are similar to that of Child Molestors, Human Traffickers and murderers. The kind of people she herself has been using her abilities to destroy, before the turn.  However not only does she partake in the True Knot's crimes, she is the one that lured that poor kid into the van.  This is especially jarring, when you consider her backstory in the novel. Her hatred of men came from being molested by her father and her swearing revenge on all men as the result of it.  Now you could argue, that because it's a boy, it made it more easier for her to do so, because in her mind it would mean one less future man.  However two things wrong with that.  One, this was 8 years after she got recruited.  Meaning in those 8 years she herself has personally preyed on children, men and women alike. Two, I'll get to right now.  During the torture, Rose discovers that Abra has been watching her the entire time.  Because she was shining from a far distance, Rose sees this as a potential chance to have an abundance of steam.  Believing months, maybe years of prolonged torture, would give them enough to last for more centuries. So naturally after extracting the steam from the baseball kid, she sets her sights on Abra.  

Taking a chance, Abra goes to meet Dan to inform him about the True Knot and the baseball boy and asks him for help finding is body, so they could track them through Psychometry.  Dan refuses and advises her to hide her shine. However after Azzy alerts him to Dick Halloran's presence, Dick urges him to rescue Abra as repentance for his dark past.

 

Rose tries to enter Abra's mind through astral protjection, but Abra set a trap for her. Locking her hands in a filing cabinet while she invades Rose's mind instead.  Causing Rose to panic and flee while Abra gets the information she's looking for.  The location of the Baseball kid, which she sends to Dan through her own projection.  Dan in turn recruits his friend Billy Freeman, who didn't believe him at first, but upon finding the body, offers to help him further.  They go to Abra's house, but Abra's father, Dave Stone, mistakes Dan for a pedophile and tries to harm him. Forcing Abra to use her powers to show what happened to the boy.  Leading to one of my favourite parts in the movie.  The man at first pours the biggest drink he could find in his kitchen.  Which is especially hilarious for the following reasons:

In reality if you discovered your kid had psychic powers, you'd want to drink to.  Even if you're 100% a teetotaller, that shit would make you want to drink.  That's hilarious enough, but what makes it even more funnier, is that he does it in front of two people who are known recovering alcoholics.  To top it off, while they're normally supposed to discourage drinking, said two have a look on their faces that says "I don't blame you man." And before you all say how this is not funny because Recovering Alcoholism is a serious business.  I agree it's serious, however bare in mind this was based on a book written by Stephen King, a known recovering alcoholic and drug addict, whom even post sobriety has no qualms taking the piss out of organizations like Alcoholics Anonymous. While at the same time talk about their merits. Hell the Shining miniseries had Steven Webber's Jack Torrance go on a long comedic impression of the meetings he attended. 

Moving on.  They stage a plan to trap the members of the True Knot.  Said plan apparently involves Abra sitting on a park table waiting for them. The only one seemingly left behind is Rose, due to the injury she sustained in her last encounter.  Snakebite Andi leads the charge trying to use her Push Abra. And this is my Reason Two. She's going after a little girl using the same tactics the people she despises used on little girls like herself. So no fucking sympathy.  She tries to Grab Abra, only to find that it's a stuffed Rabbit that Abra projected her astral self onto.  The trap is set.  Danny and Billy fire on the group reducing their numbers and making them suffer, knowing that Rose is feeling the pain of each one of them dying.  The last one remaining is Snake bite Andi.  She makes Dan sleep, but Billy gets the drop on her.  In her dying moments, she makes Billy shoot himself with her own rifle.  Danny barely awake in time to stop her.  However, while they know Rose has stayed behind, Abra and Danny realize there's only one person left.  Crow Daddy, who got the drop on her and her father.  Killing the father and drugging Abra.  This was a bit of a Peeve of mine because they survived in the book, but a lot of people lived in one King book to die in a King movie, so I'll save my anger for the worst parts. Which I'll get to later. 

After Danny discovers Dave dead and unable to find Abra both physically and telepathically, he gets tempted to drink once more.  However his need to save her outweighs his addictions and he uses his shine to tune into her weak signal. After finding her, he possesses Abra and has a conversation with Crow Daddy. Letting him know he killed his friends and informing him that he didn't put his seatbelt on.  Danny, through Abra forces Crow Daddy's car to hit a tree killing him.  Leaving Rose for last. Rose in a fit of rage, drinks the remaining steam canisters and in the words of the Major, gets White Girl Wasted off psychic energy.  Danny finds Abra. Knowing that Rose is tracking them, Danny takes Abra to the one place where he knows they have a fighting chance against her.  The Overlook Hotel.  Now since the hotel was intact in the Kubrick movie, it was merely condemned, meaning that it still has the entity responsible for the ghosts inside.  To wake it up, Danny goes in. Taking a stroll down memory lane.  He meets the ghost of his father in the form of Lloyd The Bartender.  Who tempts him into going off the wagon and tries to persuade him to kill Abra so the Overlook can have her steam.  Much like the True Knot, the Overlook has a craving for psychic energy.  Rose approaches the hotel and Abra goes inside with Dan.  They wait for her in the common room with Danny armed with Jack's axe.  Their plan initially was to try to trap Rose into another box. Like he did with the Overlook Ghosts.  However she proves too strong for the track and Danny forces Abra to run while he tries to fight her off.  She wounds him in the leg with his own axe and discovers, Danny too had an abundance of Steam even in his adult age.  Upon looking trough his memories, she discovers the boxes.  Which was Danny's back up plan.  He unleashes the Overlook Ghosts upon Rose, who proceed to feast upon her until she's nothing left but steam.  However, still starving for more, they go after Danny, feeding on him and possessing him like they did Jack.  Abra finds the Ghosts loose and is confronted by the heart of the Overlook possessing Danny.  However Abra informs them that Danny set the boiler to blow. Allowing Abra to escape. Fearing for their unlife, they flee to the boiler and find it too late to stop it, while Danny stays to die, reuinting with his mother's ghost as the Overlook finally goes up in flames.  Abra is back at home and Danny visits her one last time. Advising her to shine on and look for others like her.  The story ends with her dealing with the Bathtub Woman, that Danny trapped in 1980.

The movie as a whole is not bad, but there are a few things I didn't like about it.

For starters, the ending.  In the Novel it was implied that Jack's Ghost helped Danny and Abra destroy Rose.  Now that can be easily justified, because that version of Jack was more loving and caring than the Kubrick version.  So it'd make no sense for him to suddenly try to save his kid. That I can let slide.

Second off, this one is minor too, but it needs to be said.  Abra's relation to Danny.  In the book Abra was Danny's niece, where in the movie she isn't.  Now it would have not bothered me because of the obvious reason why she isn't related to him. When I saw the trailer, I initially assumed, that because she was played by a POC actress, that her parents were both POCs.  And it could easily been explained that she was one of the many rare kids like Danny that have a better shine than most other people.  Or if you really wanna go there, they'd be distant relatives of Dick Halloran, in an effort to explain the Shine hereditary in a different way.  However, her mother is white. Now this also wouldn't be a problem, because I don't hate interracial couples and even to this day it's rare to see any both straight, gay and bi in terms of media.  To go even further, if not for interracial couples, greats like Brandon Lee and Vin Diesel wouldn't exist. That there isn't why I have a problem with that.  However, in the book, it's mentioned that Abra's mother, is Danny's half sister and that both got the shine from their father Jack.  Storywise it would have made a lot of sense if they were still related and it would have kept Dave from punching Danny in the face if he knew that the guy posing as her uncle was really her uncle the whole time. He'd even probably welcome the guy with open arms had he lived through the movie. 

Which leads me to my third reason. Why the fuck did you kill Danny Torrance off?  I mean if you wanted Ewan McGregor to play a psychic mentor who will eventually die, you should have just watched Star Wars instead.  This was a man who experienced unspeakable traumas when he was a kid, from ghosts haunting him, to his dad trying to kill him and his mom to his dad killing a man he became fast friends with.  A man who after 8 years, managed to rid himself of his own demons and used his powers to help people.  A lot of King characters have already gotten enough shit end sticks before death since he first established himself as an author: Carrie White, John Coffee, Eddie Kasperak, Andy McGee, you name it.  All haunted with special powers, all had to endure abuse and trauma all ending up killed for their trouble.  If anyone though deserves the mother of all breaks it's Danny.  King takes a lot of shit regarding the endings of his own books and adaptations, yet this is the one time where I preferred the book ending more than the movie ending.  The book ended with Danny not only living, but having more to live for. And the fact that on top of taking away any relation between the two and killing him, I feel like he's been done dirty in this movie.

Take care, and remember. All work and no play makes Jack a Dull Boy. All work and no play makes Jack a Dull Boy. All work and no play makes Jack a Dull Boy. All work and no play makes Jack a Dull Boy. All work and no play makes Jack a Dull Boy. All work and no play makes Jack a Dull Boy. All work and no play makes Jack a Dull Boy. All work and no play makes Jack a Dull Boy. All work and no play makes Jack a Dull Boy. All work and no play makes Jack a Dull Boy.All work and no play makes Jack a Dull Boy.All work and no play makes Jack a Dull Boy. All work and no play makes Jack a Dull Boy. All work and no play makes Jack a Dull Boy. All work and no play makes Jack a Dull Boy. All work and no play makes Jack a Dull Boy. All work and no play makes Jack a Dull Boy. All work and no play makes Jack a Dull Boy. All work and no play makes Jack a Dull Boy. All work and no play makes Jack a Dull Boy. All work and no play makes Jack a Dull Boy. All work and no play makes Jack a Dull Boy. 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RedruM

Straight Up Reviews: The Outsiders/Rumble Fish Movies

 

If you ever went to school between the late 60s to the late 2000s in North America, odds are you were at least assigned one or both of two books, by famed Author S.E. Hinton. The Outsiders and Rumble Fish.  Two coming of age stories about teenagers growing up in the gang life of the 1960s and 1970s. However if you're lucky enough to have fans of the stories in your own home like I was, from parents to older relatives, you'd see the movies first.

Myself I first caught wind of The Outsiders through the short lived TV series that picked up where the movie left off.

S.E. Hinton wrote the book when she was around 15 years old and much like J.K. Rowling after her, purposefully made her name more masculine, because she wrote it at a time when no man expected a woman to write about gang life in that era. However her gambit paid off and she's one of the greatest best selling novelists of all time.  The books themselves got adapted into movies in 1983 by Francis Ford Coppola, who was fresh off of Apocalypse Now and One From the Heart. While Outsiders became just as successful as the book, thanks to a stellar cast among most things, Rumble Fish wasn't as well received. With the exception of the late Roger Ebert, many moviegoer and critic alike were confused by the movie and compared it too harshly to Outsiders.  So to help better understand it, I decided to review both.

Outsiders stars C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon and the up and coming Ralph Macchio as the central characters, Ponyboy Curtis, Dallas "Dally" Winston and Johnny "Johnnycakes" Cade. Three friends who are a member of the Greasers.  A gang based on poor and working class individuals known for their beat up cars, leather jackets and long pomade styled hair.  They reside in the North side of Tulsa Oklahoma and are at constant war with the Socials or Socs (pronounced Sohsh not Sock) for short. Rich kids from the south side or Tulsa who hate the Greasers with a passion. The Greasers don't even have to pick fights with them as they would gang up on them every chance they get. Ponyboy and Johnny being the most hunted down out of them.  After Dally takes Ponyboy and Johnny to a drive in, they meet two Soc girls named Sherry "Cherry" Valance and Marcia played by Diane Lane and Michelle Meyrink.  Upon getting to know them, Ponyboy realizes that while they are the rich kids with all the breaks, the Socs have their own problems, no different than the Greasers. The whole thing coming off as a modern Romeo and Juliet.  However just when things get good with them, her boyfriend Rober "Bob" Sheldon, played by Leif Garret and his gang of Socs, show up drunk accosting the two for flirting with the women.  Cherry diffuses the fight and things seem cool for now. After hanging out all night with Johnny, Ponyboy realizes he was out too late and gets into an argument with his brother Darryl "Darry" Curtis. Which turns into a threeway fight between him, Darry and their brother Sodapop Curtis. Darry accidentally hits Ponyboy in the heat of the moment, causing him to run away with Johnny to the nearest park to cool off. As if things couldn't possibly get any worse, Bob shows up with the Socs and tries to drown Ponyboy.  Johnny, desperate to save his friend, pulls a switchblade on Bob, stabbing him to death. Rescuing Ponyboy and causing the others to flee. Realizing they'll be wanted for murder soon, they turn to Darry for help. Who gives them money, a gun and instructions to go to Windrixville and lay low until he meets them there. They do so, even going so far as to gut and degrease their hair to change their appearance. While they wait, Ponyboy, starts giving a suicidal Johnny reasons to keep on living. Reading him Gone With The Wind, teaching him poetry by Robert Frost and showing him sunsets. When Dally comes to check on them, he takes them to Dairy Queen for a bite to eat, while Johnny contemplates turning himself in so that Ponyboy doesn't get caught up in a crime he didn't even commit. Upon returning to the church, they see that it's on fire with kids stuck inside. Ponyboy and Johnny against Dally's orders go in there and save the day, however just as Johnny was trying to get out a beam strikes his back, breaking it and immobilizing him. Darry gets him out before the church collapses and they all go to the hospital to recuperate.  Ponyboy survived with only soot all over him, Darry got second degree burns on his arms. Poor Johnny however has third degree burns over most of his body, while paralyzed from the waist down.  Ponyboy reunites with his brothers and their daring rescue makes the papers, giving them some hope that the Judge would be lenient on them.  Two-Bit Matthews, played by Emilio Estevaz, takes Ponyboy to visit Johnny who laments his previous suicidal tendencies.  Realizing there are so much more to live for.  After a stressful fit regarding his mother, Johnny passes out, forcing Two-Bit and Ponyboy to leave, but not without giving him a new copy of Gone With The Wind, which he requested earlier.  Upon leaving they visit Dally who vows to get even with the Socs during the upcoming rumble.  A skin against skin free for all street fight, that was talked about throughout the whole movie. The Greasers win the Rumble and Dally takes the opportunity of Ponyboy being injured to sneak into the hospital to visit Johnny.  After lamenting the pointlessness of fighting, Johnny tells Ponyboy "Stay gold." before dying in his hospital bed. Dally, who cared about Johnny the most, loses his mind over the death and goes on a rampage.  Robbing a convenience store and having the cops after him.  He arranges it so the Greasers watch him die, when he bluffs the cops into shooting him using an unloaded gun.  The stress of both events causing Johnny to collapse in shock.  After recovering, Ponyboy finds Johnny's copy of Gone With The Wind and finds a note attached to it from Johnny. Who tells him among most things, his understanding of the Robert Frost Poem, how saving the kids was worth it and to introduce Dally to the little things in life that kept Johnny living.  Ponyboy takes the words to heart and as part of his school assignment writes the entire story. 

The movie itself in it's theatrical version, is not bad and was very successful, but I felt it left a lot of things open-ended.  Such as whether or not Ponyboy would face trial in Johnny's stead as well as how the Curtis brothers could patch up their dysfunctional life. However my prayers got answered when Francis Ford Coppola Re-Released the movie in 2005, calling it "The Complete Novel Edition". With the only major complaint from purest fans being that they changed the tracks from the score by Carmine Coppola to a bunch of stock 60s music, to better fit in with the theme of the movie. Personally I like the extended version for the following reasons:

1. It expanded on some key moments perfectly.

2. The music for the Rumble Scene was much better. The original version made it look like something out of a horror movie. (No offence to Carmine.) 

3. We get to see Two-Bit tell off Johnny's mother. 

All in all, the movie has put up a lot of high expectations for future adaptations of Hinton's works as followed. 

Which brings me to Rumble Fish. Now unlike Outsiders I never really fully seen or read Rumble Fish in my entire life until just a few days ago.  And I'm not gonna lie, while I love Outsiders, I kinda love Rumble Fish better.

The movie takes place in Tulsa in the mid 1970s around 10 years after the events of Outsiders. Despite it being labelled as the sequel to Outsiders, in both movie and book, there are no returning characters and very little references to the previous story.  Some of the cast from Outsiders do return.  Matt Dillon, plays the main character Rusty James.  A teenager whose brother, Motorcycle Boy, played by Mickey Rourke, is practically gang royalty in Tulsa. Rusty James struggles to live up to his brother's reputation, but often pulls reckless stunts. Such as starting fights, when his brother specifically forbade gang wars. They both put up with an Alcoholic father played by Dennis Hopper and a police officer named Patterson, played by William Smith (Not that William Smith) who has it out for Motorcycle Boy.  After being gone for two months and assumed gone for good, Rusty James assumes command of his gang, comprised of Midget played by Lawrence Fishburne, Steve a nerd childhood friend of Rusty James played by Vincent Sprano, B.J. played by Chris Penn and Smokey, played by Nicolas Cage. The latter of which in a surprising twist is the sane one compared to Rusty James.

Upon words of Motorcycle Boy's absence, a gang-banger by the name of Biff Wilcox, played by Glenn Withrow, challenges Rusty James to a fight. Which Rusty accepts. While he kills time for the upcoming fight, Rusty shacks up with his then girlfriend Patty played by Diane Lane.  So ya Dally x Cherry fans, Cherry did eventually fall in love with him.  He arrives at the fight, assuming it would be skin against skin. Only to find Biff has been popping pills and instead pulls a knife on him. After an intense fight, Rusty gains the upperhand only for Motorcycle Boy to arrive. Causing the gangs to back up and Rusty's guard to go down.  The latter of which causing Biff to cheapshot him with a shard of glass.  Earning him a well deserved rundown from Motorcycle Boy's bike. As Motorcycle boy and Steve help patch Rusty James up, Rusty James explains that Motorcycle Boy is partially deaf and colorblind. This becomes important in my review later on, so bare with me. He also notices that Motorcycle Boy is surprisingly dissonant since he last saw him.  Although he's happy to see his brother again, things start to fall apart for Rusty James. He gets kicked out of school, he cheats on Patty at a house party, causing her to break up with him and leave him for Smokey.  Whom is implied to manipulate the events, because he is tired of the way Rusty James leads the gang and worried he may get himself and the others killed. Motorcycle Boy also shows little interest in resuming his gang activities, despite Patterson thinking otherwise. Looking for any excuse to catch or kill him.  His behavior, leading Rusty James and many others to believe he's gone crazy. As they frequent the bars together, Motorcycle Boy explains to Rusty James, that the reason he left for 2 months was because he was searching California for their long lost mother. A person they both thought was dead.  After bailing Rusty James and Steve out of a mugging, he explains that he's grown disillusioned with the gang life even during the old days which Rusty James holds in high regard. At a pet store, he reveals the reason for his return.   Motorcycle Boy, shows him, his fascination with Siamese Fighting fish, the titular Rumble Fish that have been shown throughout the movie. The only thing so far in a mostly monochrome movie to be shown in full color. While the tank is separated to prevent the fish from killing each other, Motorcycle Boy theorizes that if the fish were given more room to move, like say being put in a river, that rather than fight, they'll leave preferring their own freedom.  Implying that's how he wants the gang life to be from now on. No more fighting, just making space for each other so they can be free to do as they please.  Upon seeing their father one more time, the father explains to Rusty James that Motorcycle Boy is not crazy. That he, much like their mother sees the world differently than most people and it comes across as crazy to others.  Motorcycle Boy robs the pet store in order to test his theory and Rusty James tries in vain to talk him out of it.  He frees the pets and grabs the tanks, demanding that whatever happens, Rusty James must take his Motorcycle to the pacific ocean.  The cops are alerted to the noise of the robbery and Patterson leads the charge against Motorcycle Boy. Shooting and killing him just as he was heading for the river with the fish. This part I hated, because while I understand Motorcycle Boy had a dangerous reputation, I could not for the life of me comprehend why a cop would kill an unarmed man.  It wasn't until I realized, that Patterson was gonna kill him no matter what. Doesn't make it right, but it makes sense, he wanted to end their feud one way or another.   Just when it seemed hope was lost for Rusty, he takes the fish and put them in the River. Proving his brother's theory right as each fish swims away from each other uninterested in fighting. The cops grab him with intent to arrest him as an accomplice and in a surprising twist of compassion, Patterson orders them to let him go. Rusty James rides the motorcycle fulfilling his brother's last wish and makes it to the Pacific.

To the average moviegoer, the movie would seem confusing, but to someone like myself, whom like Motorcycle Boy has a different perspective on the world, I understand the meaning of it and will take you through what most people found difficult to understand.  

First off Motorcycle Boy being colorblind.  Any average moviegoer would think it was some kind of in joke since the movie is mostly in black and white, with the exception of the fish.  Rusty James himself even tells a similar joke, by mentioning that the inner-city has no color to it. However it becomes a great plot point and an even greater meta point.  While the fish are in color, only Rusty can see the color between the two. Motorcycle Boy laments that he can't see the color. Which leads me to believe that rather than it just be an artistic choice by Coppola and Cinematographer, Stephen H. Burum, it also serves as a visual representation of Motorcycle Boy's perspective. When Motorcycle Boy dies and Rusty James is being pinned by the cops, he sees his reflection in the police car window. It is in full color, but when he attacks the window in a grief stricken rage, it goes back to monochrome. I believe this means that we get a brief glimpse of Rusty James' perspective, before he angrily rejects it, finally seeing things Motorcycle Boy's ways.  Further proven that when if you watch carefully after he runs by his brother's corpse, he gives him a brief fist bump salute before taking off. 

The second is the significance of the fish.  While in the original Novel the fish died and Rusty James doesn't make it to California, Francis Ford Coppola and S.E. Hinton, who screenwrote the movie on top of writing the book, made the conscious change of showing what would happen if Motorcycle Boy put his theory into play.  When Rusty James pours the tank into the river, all the fish swim off. Proving Motorcycle Boy right.  All of them except one lone red fish.  That fish, is Rusty James.  The fleeing fish representing everyone he knew that left in one way or another. His mother abandoning him, Motorcycle Boy fleeing for two months and eventually dying, his friend Smokey and girlfriend Patty leaving him for each other. Leaving him all alone.  One of his greatest fears as he mentions while spending time with his brother.  It showed that if he didn't try to break out of things like his brother tried before, he'd die alone. Which prompted him to heed his brother's last wish to go to the Pacific. So that once he goes to California himself, he may one day, try to reunite with his estranged mother.  

The third and final is Steve.  This one is minor compared to the others, but it deserves mentioning.  A running gag regarding this character, on top of being the only other sane person besides Smokey, is that he has a tendency to write down everything he sees out of habit.  Much like Ponyboy in The Outsiders, Steve is S.E. Hinton's author avatar.  If anyone's gonna survive long enough to tell the story, it'd be him. 

Rumble Fish is a severely underrated movie and I believe that most of it is the failure to understand what it's about, while being wowed by the visuals.  Yet once understood, as shown when it eventually developed a cult following, it gained a new love from those that do understand it.  

I understand the movie very well and I hope others would do the same. 

Also, if you don't like it for the story, watch it for the sole reason to say "I cannot believe Mickey Rourke looked like that back then. What the fuck happened?" 

Take care and Stay Gold.  

Oh ya I almost forgot. Anyone who says that S.E. Hinton is a homophobe is full of shit. Just because she said you were wrong about your interpretation of the characters, does not mean she's against Homosexuals or any orientation for that matter. It means that she has say on what her characters are regardless. You can interpret the characters however you wish, but that doesn't mean you're always right. And FYI, most of the people that complained about it, were not shipping Ponyboy and Johnny or Dally and Johnny. They were trying to promote incest ship by shipping Ponyboy, Darry and Sodapop and exploited LGBTQ outraged to do it. Anyone that agrees to that oughta be ashamed and owe S.E. an apology right fucking now. In the words of Rusty James, take a fucking swing at me if you think I'm wrong.