I suspect one of the reasons why “Sky Captain” failed to bring in any money and make any profits was because a movie such as this only appeals to a certain audience. Director-writer Kerry Conran is a lover of old serials and comic books, so when he created Sky Captain in 1998, he had in mind only a certain audience for the movie. Also, it was poorly advertised, but aside from that, there’s an exclusive audience who loves pulp novels and serials, and yes, I’m one of them. I love it all; serials, pulp superheroes, comic books, and anyone who loves either of these genres will appreciate “Sky Captain” as I did. Taking nearly ten years to make, this was a personal project for Conran who hit a basic luck streak casting people such as Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow on its bill. But great casting is only one of this film’s main achievements.
Mean Creek (2004)
If you could snap your fingers and make your school bully disappear, would you? That is the question posed here in this chilling tale of revenge called “Mean Creek”. Sam is beaten by the school bully George one time too many, and now Sam’s brother and his friends are intent on seeking revenge on George by luring him out to the river and playing a nasty prank on him, but things go horribly wrong. Much like “Deliverance” being a tale of paranoia and the mind becoming the worst enemy after a tragedy, “Mean Creek” is a younger more contemporary tale of an incident spawning a tragedy which has dire consequences.
Starsky & Hutch (2004)
Unlike “The Brady Bunch”, “Starsky & Hutch” was a show that tried to be taken seriously, but clearly warranted spoofing. I mean seriously, how can you take a cop show seriously when it’s two inept cop characters ride around “undercover” in a very noticeable conspicuous large bright cherry red gran turino? It was a fact that caused many television viewers to make fun of, and it’s also very focused on here with an exaggerated sequence that brought the spirit of the show very well. Now, the teaming of Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller would be very funny to see had it not been the thousandth time they’ve teamed up together as partners as seen in movies like “The Royal Tenenbaums”, and the awful “Zoolander”.
Three Days of the Condor (1975)
Surely, this is one of those obscure classics that people should know more about, and should really talk more about, but alas, it isn’t, and that’s a damn shame. My favorite heroes be it literary, cinematic, or otherwise, were the brainy heroes, and the reluctant heroes, two of which are represented here in this Redford classic about espionage, action, adventure, and government paranoia.
Species III (2004)
After the sequel to Species, the army is now transporting her body to the morgue for testing, but discovers she’s not exactly dead and has given birth to two offspring. Sil, the original species (cameo by Natasha Henstridge) is killed, but not before she gives birth to a child which is stolen by a soldier and taken in. The name of the child is Sara a brand new species/half-breed. Sara is played by the beautiful and angelic Sunny Mabrey, who pulls in a good performance as the new creature forced to discover the world. She presents the same sexual appeal predecessor Henstridge did, and is just as threatening.
Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
Though the film is clearly lacking in many things, what it doesn’t lack is an opening that is bland. I liked the beginning more than the film as a whole, mainly because it succeeds in setting forth what is about to happen despite robbing us of terror. The opening is very close to what the opening of the remake of “Dawn of the Dead” was except it doesn’t take the same risks and supply the same frantic nihilism, however it does succeed in tension from the workers going back into the hive being overrun by zombies, right down to the calm neighborhood interrupted by a car crash which essentially sets the stage for the “plot” of the missing daughter of the scientist of the hive and fades away to Jovovich in her delicious glory on the stretcher where we last left off from the ending of “Resident Evil.”
The Station Agent (2004)
The reason why I love independent movies and prefer them over any big-budget event movie is simply for that reason: independent movies are movies, and not events, thus they do not become gimmicks. Independent movies have the advantage of having a low budget because a low budget helps separate the men from the boys. With an independent movie you learn whether the writers and directors shouldn’t even be in Hollywood or have created a work of art. Like someone once said, “just because you can work a film camera, doesn’t mean you should be behind one”, and that’s exactly it. With Indies you either have a pretentious work of crap, a work of schlock, or a work of art; low budget productions help cut through the bullshit and expose real actors, real filmmaking and real writing. Our story “The Station Agent” is all of the above: a real work of art, real filmmaking, real writing, all with real acting.