Pardon the non-Fridayness of this Friday Movie Roundup. There was a technical issue with Eric’s brain on Friday that caused it to seize up and not do anything.
But there aren’t any movies anyway, so whatever. “Saw 3D” (review at Cinematical), one of Hollywood’s Shameful Secrets®, opened Thursday night for the paying public and went about the way these things usually do. Note that in addition to reviewing this entry, Eric composed a brief roundup of the entire franchise for Salt Lake City Weekly, an actual newspaper that is printed on trees and strewn through Utah’s streets, and somehow this is legal.
“Conviction” (review at Film.com) went into wide-ish release. It’s the average story of an average inspiring woman who does an average inspiring thing.
In limited release, there’s the Sundance docudrama “Howl,” about the Beat poet Allen Ginsberg and his fondness for howling.
At Film.com: “What’s the Big Deal?” is about “Dr. Strangelove,” a movie that makes Eric laugh very hard. “Eric’s Bad Movies” is about “Double Team,” starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dennis Rodman, and a jungle cat. Eric also came up with a list of things that could theoretically stop the train in “Unstoppable.”
At Cinematical: Word got out a couple weeks ago that the “Alien” prequel now in development has a scene where some dumb aliens use mind control to get their enslaved humans to breed, except the humans in question are both male, which the aliens didn’t realize would be a problem. Since this sounds less like a plot device for a sci-fi movie and more like a premise for a comedy sketch, Eric wrote a comedy sketch.
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2 of my favorite movies of all time were chosen in back to back weeks in your “What’s the Big Deal” segment. What are the odds of that?
Dr. Strangelove:
I think a huge part of the success of the film’s message is the President. Playing the straight character as a foil to the buffoonery of Turgidson, Strangelove, Sadesky and the rest, this makes him the last sane man in the War Room.
Very significant that the last sane man in the War Room is also the most powerful, and a man of astonishing nerve and character. A handy protagonist as a fish out of water among the uniforms of the war room. He is exactly the sort of man we would want in that dreadful position. He at least can see the humanity of people on both sides, and not only resolutely refuses the Faustian bargain pushed on him by his generals, but also unhesitatingly collaborates with the Soviet enemy to destroy the planes that the US was unable to recall.
Firm, decisive, humane, and impervious to the bullying of the warheads in the War Room – what a man! By making the President of the US hero material, audiences feel like Kubrick is playing fair despite all the satirical elements. Even the best President imaginable was not up to the challenge and still reaped the whirlwind.