Only now does it occur to me... that in Junta Juleil's proud tradition of presenting awkward dance sequences involving our favorite actors, from Ed Harris in CREEPSHOW to James Remar in RENT-A-COP to Jean-Claude Van Damme in KICKBOXER to Linda Hamilton in CHILDREN OF THE CORN to Michael Moriarty in TROLL to Lorenzo Lamas in BODY ROCK... we can now throw the hat of a new contender to the ring. May I proudly present Robin Wright in Sean Penn's THE CROSSING GUARD (in a scene that exudes 1995 from every pore):
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
Sunday, September 17, 2017
R.I.P., Harry Dean Stanton
It is with a heavy heart that I reflect on the death of Harry Dean Stanton. He may have been 91, but I was sure he'd never die. He seemed to remain the same age––about fifty?––from circa 1960 to 2010. He wasn't simply one of the finest character actors to ever live, he was one of the finest actors, period. And he could do more with the briefest of appearances than some actors can achieve in an entire career. He brought a vulnerability to every role. A mystery. Not necessarily a joie de vivre, but something approaching the pure animism of existence. Consider his "avenge me" scene in RED DAWN. Or his beaten-down hangdog delivery of "That godammed trailer's more popular that Uncle's day in a whorehouse,
you see what I mean? It just means I've....more shit I gotta do now," in TWIN PEAKS: FIRE WALK WITH ME (a character he reprised to great effect in TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN).
Hell, for the few minutes he's on screen, he even makes DOWN PERISCOPE and MR. NORTH watchable.
His rare appearances as a leading man (PARIS, TEXAS, REPO MAN, and presumably the forthcoming LUCKY) show us the vastness of the human soul. Hell, most of his performances show us the vastness of the human soul.
His collaborations with John Carpenter (ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and CHRISTINE) are full of scuzzy Americana underbelly charm.
His work with Lynch (the aforementioned TWIN PEAKS, THE STRAIGHT STORY, INLAND EMPIRE, THE COWBOY AND THE FRENCHMAN, WILD AT HEART) is strange and sad and somehow capable of plucking at our heartstrings even when he's just muttering "gaaaad damn" or "what the heehhhl?' or yipping and yapping at hyenas on a television.
A string of charlatan, thief, outlaw and sleazy cop roles in the 60s and 70s (DILLINGER, STRAIGHT TIME, FAREWELL MY LOVELY, WISE BLOOD, PAT GARRETT & BILLY THE KID, THE MISSOURI BREAKS, FLATBED ANNIE AND SWEETIE PIE: LADY TRUCKERS, THE FORTUNE, COCKFIGHTER) were all infused with a similar, downbeat existential energy. I swear nobody else can say "Things ain't workin' out for me today..." with such pained authenticity and hillbilly mysticism.
We were always lucky to see his musical performances too, and he worked them in whenever he could––in from "Hand Me Down My Walking Cane" in STRAIGHT TIME to the eerie hymns in BIG LOVE to the sloppy drinking songs in AGAINST THE WALL to the trailer park ballad in TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN.
Then there's the appearances you'd never expect––like PRETTY IN PINK, THE AVENGERS, THE ANIMAL. Shit, the man's got the saddest death scene in ALIEN. Not even the cat cares.
He was one-of-a-kind, that's all I know. And I wouldn't know how to end this any better than to leave you with a few thoughtful words from the man himself:
Hell, for the few minutes he's on screen, he even makes DOWN PERISCOPE and MR. NORTH watchable.
His rare appearances as a leading man (PARIS, TEXAS, REPO MAN, and presumably the forthcoming LUCKY) show us the vastness of the human soul. Hell, most of his performances show us the vastness of the human soul.
His collaborations with John Carpenter (ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK and CHRISTINE) are full of scuzzy Americana underbelly charm.
His work with Lynch (the aforementioned TWIN PEAKS, THE STRAIGHT STORY, INLAND EMPIRE, THE COWBOY AND THE FRENCHMAN, WILD AT HEART) is strange and sad and somehow capable of plucking at our heartstrings even when he's just muttering "gaaaad damn" or "what the heehhhl?' or yipping and yapping at hyenas on a television.
A string of charlatan, thief, outlaw and sleazy cop roles in the 60s and 70s (DILLINGER, STRAIGHT TIME, FAREWELL MY LOVELY, WISE BLOOD, PAT GARRETT & BILLY THE KID, THE MISSOURI BREAKS, FLATBED ANNIE AND SWEETIE PIE: LADY TRUCKERS, THE FORTUNE, COCKFIGHTER) were all infused with a similar, downbeat existential energy. I swear nobody else can say "Things ain't workin' out for me today..." with such pained authenticity and hillbilly mysticism.
We were always lucky to see his musical performances too, and he worked them in whenever he could––in from "Hand Me Down My Walking Cane" in STRAIGHT TIME to the eerie hymns in BIG LOVE to the sloppy drinking songs in AGAINST THE WALL to the trailer park ballad in TWIN PEAKS: THE RETURN.
Then there's the appearances you'd never expect––like PRETTY IN PINK, THE AVENGERS, THE ANIMAL. Shit, the man's got the saddest death scene in ALIEN. Not even the cat cares.
He was one-of-a-kind, that's all I know. And I wouldn't know how to end this any better than to leave you with a few thoughtful words from the man himself:
"I'm 87 years old...I only eat so I can smoke and stay alive. The only fear I have is how long consciousness is gonna hang on after my body goes. I just hope there's nothing. Like there was before I was born. I'm not really into religion, they're all macrocosms of the ego. When man began to think he was a separate person with a separate soul, it created a violent situation. The void, the concept of nothingness, is terrifying to most people on the planet. And I get anxiety attacks myself. I know the fear of that void. You have to learn to die before you die. You give up, surrender to the void, to nothingness. Anybody else you've interviewed bring these things up? Hang on, I gotta take this call... Hey, brother. That's great, man. Yeah, I'm being interviewed... We're talking about nothing. I've got him well-steeped in nothing right now. He's stopped asking questions."
Saturday, September 2, 2017
Only now does it occur to me... GORGEOUS (1999)
Only now does it occur to me... that Jackie Chan has some opinions about Jean-Claude Van Damme.
First off, GORGEOUS is a one of Jackie's lesser-known ventures, and for good reason. When a movie, A. stars Jackie Chan and Tony Leung and B., is written, choreographed, and produced by Jackie Chan––a viewer might assume they were in the proximity of greatness. However, this particular film was made near the apex of Jackie's international stardom (in 1999, fresh off of '98's RUSH HOUR), and I believe he was in the, shall we say––"George Lucas/PHANTOM MENACE phase" of his creative output, in that no one was willing say "no" to his more questionable ideas. Consequently, what we have here is a part children's movie/part romantic comedy that is––for the most part––about CGI dolphins, fashion, recycling, a semi-creepy April/September romance, and questionable gay stereotypes.
One of the CGI dolphins in question.
Tony Leung is doing his best, it's true.
In that description, I've probably made it seem a little more fun than it actually is, but rest assured that for the majority of its runtime, GORGEOUS is dull and uncomfortable. [For context, my favorite '90s Jackie Chan films are RUMBLE IN THE BRONX, THE LEGEND OF DRUNKEN MASTER, and SUPERCOP. I have genuine love for WHO AM I?, SUPERCOP 2, CRIME STORY, and TWIN DRAGONS. And despite everything, I do enjoy RUSH HOUR.]
In any event, I come to you today, not to rip on Jackie Chan (whose filmography has brought me endless joy) but to interpret two glorious action sequences which appear in the latter half of the film.
First, I'll set the scene. Within the film, Jackie Chan plays a recycled paper magnate named "Jackie Chan," who is pursuing a young lady half his age (Qi Shu of THE TRANSPORTER)
which leads to many groan-inducing romantic scenarios, but it does inspire a few genuine laughs, like when a man follows Qi around with an electric fan to give her perpetually wind-blown hair:
and when Jackie is overwhelmed by the size of his snifter glass:
This is a highlight.
In any event, Jackie's also been navigating a volatile friendship with his childhood best bud, who is now a gangster. Because Jackie keeps getting the best of him (and humiliating his hired thugs), the gangster decides to import some outside talent from Europe:
When the fighter arrives, he's played by a Jackie Chan-ensemble stuntman named Bradley James Allan, who bears a remarkable resemblance to Jean-Claude Van Damme, in appearance, physique, and fighting style:
(not to be confused with Daniel Bernhardt, the original Jean-Faux Van Damme)
As if this were not immediately obvious, the gangster quickly cracks a JCVD-reference about his new Euro muscle:
I'm surprised they didn't say he was a master at "bloodsport."
And they proceed to make fun of him for being short
and I was certain that Jackie had included him to send him to some ignominious fate and thus get in some gentle JCVD ribbing, á la the Schwarzenegger vs. Stallone "feud"...but then it's Jean-Faux Van Damme II who defeats Jackie in their boxing/kickboxing duel. The entire exchange is very good-natured––more Roddy Piper vs. Keith David in THEY LIVE than JCVD vs. Bolo Yeung in BLOODSPORT, for instance.
This leads to a training montage and a subsequent rematch at Jackie's recycled paper factory. This is when Bradley James Allan truly gets his chance to shine. In a movie that is largely devoted to dolphin fondling, clichéd jokes, and first dates, this final action setpiece is a mini-masterpiece of kinetic martial arts insanity. The speed at which Jackie and Bradley ply their craft is jaw-dropping––and the stylistic similarities to JCVD action scenes are plain:
Jackie puts his own spin on it, however, and by the end the duel has evolved into a ballroom dance-fight with balletic lifts and other slapstick absurdities:
Whereupon they proceed to punch and kick each other silly until they go cross-eyed in a tableau even Jerry Lewis might deem unsubtle:
but they depart as friends.
Much like, apparently, in real life:
And here I had no idea. While I've since learned that they've both appeared in KUNG FU PANDA sequels, here's hoping that one day they actually make a movie together...
First off, GORGEOUS is a one of Jackie's lesser-known ventures, and for good reason. When a movie, A. stars Jackie Chan and Tony Leung and B., is written, choreographed, and produced by Jackie Chan––a viewer might assume they were in the proximity of greatness. However, this particular film was made near the apex of Jackie's international stardom (in 1999, fresh off of '98's RUSH HOUR), and I believe he was in the, shall we say––"George Lucas/PHANTOM MENACE phase" of his creative output, in that no one was willing say "no" to his more questionable ideas. Consequently, what we have here is a part children's movie/part romantic comedy that is––for the most part––about CGI dolphins, fashion, recycling, a semi-creepy April/September romance, and questionable gay stereotypes.
One of the CGI dolphins in question.
Tony Leung is doing his best, it's true.
In that description, I've probably made it seem a little more fun than it actually is, but rest assured that for the majority of its runtime, GORGEOUS is dull and uncomfortable. [For context, my favorite '90s Jackie Chan films are RUMBLE IN THE BRONX, THE LEGEND OF DRUNKEN MASTER, and SUPERCOP. I have genuine love for WHO AM I?, SUPERCOP 2, CRIME STORY, and TWIN DRAGONS. And despite everything, I do enjoy RUSH HOUR.]
In any event, I come to you today, not to rip on Jackie Chan (whose filmography has brought me endless joy) but to interpret two glorious action sequences which appear in the latter half of the film.
First, I'll set the scene. Within the film, Jackie Chan plays a recycled paper magnate named "Jackie Chan," who is pursuing a young lady half his age (Qi Shu of THE TRANSPORTER)
which leads to many groan-inducing romantic scenarios, but it does inspire a few genuine laughs, like when a man follows Qi around with an electric fan to give her perpetually wind-blown hair:
and when Jackie is overwhelmed by the size of his snifter glass:
This is a highlight.
In any event, Jackie's also been navigating a volatile friendship with his childhood best bud, who is now a gangster. Because Jackie keeps getting the best of him (and humiliating his hired thugs), the gangster decides to import some outside talent from Europe:
When the fighter arrives, he's played by a Jackie Chan-ensemble stuntman named Bradley James Allan, who bears a remarkable resemblance to Jean-Claude Van Damme, in appearance, physique, and fighting style:
(not to be confused with Daniel Bernhardt, the original Jean-Faux Van Damme)
As if this were not immediately obvious, the gangster quickly cracks a JCVD-reference about his new Euro muscle:
I'm surprised they didn't say he was a master at "bloodsport."
And they proceed to make fun of him for being short
and I was certain that Jackie had included him to send him to some ignominious fate and thus get in some gentle JCVD ribbing, á la the Schwarzenegger vs. Stallone "feud"...but then it's Jean-Faux Van Damme II who defeats Jackie in their boxing/kickboxing duel. The entire exchange is very good-natured––more Roddy Piper vs. Keith David in THEY LIVE than JCVD vs. Bolo Yeung in BLOODSPORT, for instance.
This leads to a training montage and a subsequent rematch at Jackie's recycled paper factory. This is when Bradley James Allan truly gets his chance to shine. In a movie that is largely devoted to dolphin fondling, clichéd jokes, and first dates, this final action setpiece is a mini-masterpiece of kinetic martial arts insanity. The speed at which Jackie and Bradley ply their craft is jaw-dropping––and the stylistic similarities to JCVD action scenes are plain:
Jackie puts his own spin on it, however, and by the end the duel has evolved into a ballroom dance-fight with balletic lifts and other slapstick absurdities:
Whereupon they proceed to punch and kick each other silly until they go cross-eyed in a tableau even Jerry Lewis might deem unsubtle:
but they depart as friends.
Much like, apparently, in real life:
And here I had no idea. While I've since learned that they've both appeared in KUNG FU PANDA sequels, here's hoping that one day they actually make a movie together...
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