You can almost sense the series winding down as the writers almost seem to be running out of villains for Dirty Harry Callahan to face down. “Sudden Impact” is probably the weakest of the Dirty Harry series not because it suffers from a lack of villains but because it has too much going on. There are so many sub-plots thrown our way that it’s almost too much to keep up with at times. Dirty Harry is considered a dinosaur among a new generation of officers who don’t believe in excessive force as a means of justice and Harry almost always faces consequences for his rash violent behavior. It’s almost comical in “Sudden Impact” where Harry does something and the next scene involves some police official chewing Harry out.
Tag Archives: S
Surviving the Game (1994)
Yet another adaptation of Richard Connell’s fantastic short story, “Surviving the Game” takes the premise of his short “The Most Dangerous Game” and fixes it for modern times with a modern sensibility. While it’s often been derided mainly because it was a straight to video feature mostly, this 1994 feature is one of my favorite action thrillers of the decade. This time Ice T takes on the role of Jack Mason, a homeless man who has an unusual ability to survive even the harshest conditions on the street, and spends most of his days trying to find food to eat and live to see the next day. One fateful afternoon he’s confronted by aristocrat Walter Cole who refers him to big game hunter Thoms Burns who tests Jack’s agility and physical dexterity in exchange for money. What seems like an isolated game by a bored rich man turns in to an endeavor for Jack who is invited by Thomas and his friend Walter Cole (Charles Dutton in a rare villain role) to go along on a hunting trip with them and their group of business associates for a weekend hunting trip in the wilderness to act as their hunting guide.
Screaming in High Heels: The Rise & Fall of the Scream Queen Era (2012)
Like pretty much any documentary involving the video age and golden age of horror “Screaming in High Heels” is a love letter to the genre, and a requiem for a period of horror and filmmaking that is dead and buried. Granted there is the occasional Danielle Harris and Diora Baird, but the facet of the scream queen is defunct, thanks to a new wave of horror directors who feel they’re above such elements. Scream Queens were once upon a time a big lure for potential horror audiences to a new title. Director Jason Paul Collum sets the spotlight on three of the most beautiful women to ever rule the horror world, and examines the highs and lows of being a scream queen.
Spawn (1997)
I just never saw the hype behind Spawn when I was a kid in the nineties. While everyone sang the praises of Todd McFarlane, and everyone I knew ate up the Spawn comics with a shit eating grin, convinced Spawn was the second coming of comicdom, I just could never understand the big deal. Throughout the decade of the nineties I’d be like that guy in the museum who’d have to take four steps back to try to understand a painting and then just shrug in confusion and move on to something else. That was me with Spawn. Everyone I knew loved it, I’d take four steps back time and time again to re-evaluate if I was missing something key to it, shrug and move on to something else. Even with the meticulous collectible action figures being released for collectors, and the spin-offs of the comic being doled out for fans, I just could never quite grasp why this title in particular struck a chord.
Swelter (2012)
One of the most interesting aspects of “Swelter” is that even though the film is basically animated and without dialogue, you can sense the character’s struggles and efforts to survive. There’s not a lot of extrapolation on why the world is suddenly a sweltering wasteland at record hot temperatures, but that doesn’t need a lot of focus. We meet a father and a son in the middle of a deserted tundra who seek the remains of a well where they’re able to sap water that’s fit for at least half a day.
Superman vs. The Elite (2012)
I understand what “Superman vs. The Elite” is trying to say and what it’s attempting to convey. We’re in a world where the boy scout in tights in longer in vogue. Now we have a bunch of misanthropic homophobic thugs in colorful outfits who are calling themselves superheroes. And the public is eating that crap up with a spoon. I’m one of the few hold outs who actually love his superheroes like Superman and less like the cynical crapola Garth Ennis spews on to the page. Ooh, he said “faggot,” ooh his superheroes have sex with guys, ooh he’s mocking Batman, he’s so edgy and unique!
Skull Heads (2009)
I understand at a certain point there has to be caution drawn about the budget, but would it hurt to have a film about characters that can do something other than stare in to the camera and make miniscule movements? “Skullheads” is a story about the worst guardians of all time, guardians of a large castle who do nothing but appear in mirrors every so often and watch the owners of the castle inflict horrible pain on one another. Beyond that, “Skullheads” is basically a ninety minute melodrama that draws the concept for the skull heads but has no idea what to do with them until much later on in the film.