Movie – Spy Kids (2001)

After making a string of popular, but violent films writer/director Robert Rodriguez decided he wanted to make a movie that his children would be able to watch.  The result was the intelligent, entertaining family film Spy Kids.  And I’m using the term ”family” in the best sense, not just as “only for kids”.  Adults, especially ones with kids of their own, can certainly identify with the parent characters in the movie.  The film is intelligent, too.  It doesn’t talk down to the adults or the kids; there’s no scatological humor to be found.  The result was that Rodriguez’s fans just killed this film on IMDB.  “Where’s the blood and guts?  Where’s the naked chicks?  Where’s the guns?  How dare my favorite director make a, a, a family film?!!!”  (The last sentence should be read in the high pitched tones of a child not getting their own way.)  Luckily there’s a far larger audience out there than just fans of Robert Rodriguez.  The movie was both a winner with critics (93% Fresh at Rotten Tomatoes) and with the general public, who made it a box office hit.

Movie – Iron Sky (2012)

Iron Sky is a very tongue in cheek kind of movie.  So much so, in fact, that a sizable number of people took it way too seriously and got offended by it.  When you’ve got a partially fan funded Finnish film, starring Germans and Americans, shot in English, and filmed mostly in Australia, you know right there it’s going to be at least a little different from the norm.  And if that isn’t enough of a clue, then the basic premise should have screamed “we’re having fun here”.  It’s about Moon Nazis who attack Earth.  I was in the right mood when I saw this.  I had a grin on my face for much of the film.

Movie – Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)

When most people think of “monster movies” they have images of fun but dumb movies, standard characters, perhaps cheesy special effects, bad accents, etc.  Academy Award level acting probably is not something most people expect when they sit down to watch one.  (Yes, the 2003 film Monster earned Charlize Theron a Best Actress Oscar, but the title refers to her character’s actions, not a physical monster.)  Well, in the perhaps unique case of the 1931 film Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, based on the Robert Louis Stevenson 1886 novel The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, lead actor Fredric March won the Best Actor Oscar for his performance in both title roles.  Off the top of my head I can’t think of any other Frankenstein, Dracula, Wolfman, Invisible Man, Jekyll/Hyde, Zombie, Godzilla, etc. film that had someone win an Oscar for their acting in it.

Movie – Spider-Man 2 (2004)

When Spider-Man came out in 2002 it was wildly successful.  I thought it was very entertaining and watched it more than once.  The questions began almost immediately – would the inevitable sequel be able to keep up, or would it disappoint?  As it turns out, the sequel didn’t just match the first one; it surpassed it.  It had all the right elements in it, some great acting in key scenes, and a very satisfying ending.  In fact, until The Avengers was released in 2012 I considered Spider-Man 2 to be the best superhero movie that had been made.

Note: this review will contain spoilers for Spider-Man (2002).

Movie – The Invisible Man (1933)

James Whale is probably best known for directing Frankenstein (1931) and The Bride of Frankenstein (1935), but he also brought to the screen another of the classic horror characters – The Invisible Man.  Unlike the two Frankenstein movies, this 1933 adaptation was much more faithful to H.G. Wells’ 1897 short novel.  The movie not only pioneered some special effects techniques, but it also launched the film career of Claude Rains who “appeared” as the title character.  The film was a sensation and has spawned over a dozen versions of the concept since it was released, including comedic, horrific, and even erotic ones.

Movie – Burke and Hare (2010)

Burke and Hare is a dark comedy from director John Landis (Animal House, An American Werewolf in London).  It was his first feature film in more than ten years.  The film uses the real life case of William Burke and William Hare and how they “procured” cadavers for Dr. Robert Knox, a professor at Edinburgh Medical School in Scotland in 1828.  There had been a 1970s movie on the subject, but I had never seen it.  I had also never heard of this case, so the film was entirely new to me.  While it did play some with motivations, my understanding is the principal facts are generally accurate in this.  I like twisted humor, so this movie was right up my alley.  The subject and tone of Burke and Hare also fits in well with its other Ealing Studios counterparts such as Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) and The Ladykillers (1955).

Movie – The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)

Years ago I was in a store and came across The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari on a bargain DVD.  It cost me next to nothing so I bought it even though I had not seen the movie and knew nothing about it other than it was old and I recognized the title.  Predictably, the DVD transfer wasn’t in very good shape, but I was still able to watch it. And what I saw was quite a surprise to me.  I was not expecting much and instead I got what may very well be the oldest film there is with a surprise twist/reveal in it.  I did not see it coming at all.  Don’t worry. I will not be spoiling it in this review.

Movie – The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

My first experience with The Rocky Horror Picture Show was not a positive one.  When I was in college VHS tapes of movies were exploding in popularity, but the people who owned the rights to this film refused to release it in order to keep people going to the theaters that were showing the midnight movies.  Somehow my college got the film and showed it on campus one evening.  I went in knowing NOTHING about either the film or the audience participation.  When it started and people were yelling “lips!” I thought it was a little funny.  I soon caught on that the people who did know the movie had all these rituals.  Unfortunately, I knew none of them in order to play along, so I just sat there kind of irritated because I couldn’t hear any of the dialogue or the songs.

Movie and Book – Frankenstein (1931)

Both the 1931 Frankenstein film and the book on which it was based – Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel Frankenstein: or, The Modern Prometheus – were massively influential in their respective media and in pop culture.  The amazing thing is that the two bear little resemblance to each other.  In the film the monster is a creature of low intelligence whose physical appearance is markedly different from humans.  In the novel the creature becomes an intelligent, albeit hideously ugly, man whose main physical difference is his great size.  It’s interesting to note that the common mistake of referring to the creature himself as “Frankenstein” pre-dates 1931 and had already started from the popularity of the novel.  It was the film (and the follow-up 1935’s The Bride of Frankenstein) that cemented that misconception in people’s minds.  Both the novel and the film are worth checking out.

Movie – Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Thor: The Dark World does not really fit into the spirit of this Evil Doctors and Mad Scientists category that I am currently doing, but it was so entertaining that I wanted to write about it now instead of weeks from now.  And it does literally have a “mad scientist” in it: Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) is much the worse for wear after the events of The Avengers (2012).  Having had Loki in his head for so long has left him a little bonkers.  He’s raving about “convergences” and such.  But is he mad, really?

This film is a worthy successor to The Avengers.  It is definitely better than the first Thor film and I would rank it just below The Avengers and equal to Iron Man (2008) in regards to the best Avengers-related films.  Joss Whedon’s hand is definitely on display. No, he didn’t write or direct this film, but Marvel has placed him in charge of all of their Phase 2 films, which are the post-Avengers ones.  I detected some definite “Whedonisms” in this film and it is the better for them.

Movie – The Skin I Live In (2011)

The Skin I Live In is a very interesting film from Pedro Almodovar.  It’s sure to surprise many, upset some, and maybe even traumatize a few.  It was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Golden Globe and won the BAFTA for Best Film Not in the English Language, beating, among others, A Separation (2011).  It was nominated for 16 Goyas (the “Spanish Oscar”), winning four of them.  It’s a film that may challenge you with the moral and ethical questions it raises, but it is definitely worth your time.

Movies with Evil Doctors and Mad Scientists

“She’s the Dr. Doom to my Mr. Fantastic, the Dr. Octopus to my Spider-Man, the Dr. Sivana to my Captain Marvel.  [pause as realization hits]  You know, it’s amazing how many supervillains have advanced degrees.  You’d think the Masters programs would do a better job of filtering them out.” – Dr. Sheldon Leonard, The Big Bang Theory

I’m doing this category only after a little bit of hesitation, and partially because I just really like the quote above.  I hesitated because as someone with an interest in science and knowledge it often bothers me in films when a similar character almost inevitably ends up being evil, or at least led astray and harmed by his/her thirst for knowledge.  The evil scientist is as much a stock character as the bad guy with a foreign accent.  Unlike the latter archetype, nobody is out there protesting when smart people turn out to be evil.  It’s apparently okay to dump on them because, well, they’re smart.  Beat them up in school, see them suffer in movies; it’s all connected. 

One of the reasons I like the film Contact (1997) so much is that it is the rare film that treats science and scientists with respect.  It’s also a rare film that treats faith with respect.  To have both together in one movie is nothing short of remarkable.  You can read my review of it here.

Films have used these kinds of evil characters almost from the first days of the invention of the movie camera and they have continued right up to the films that are still being released today.  That doesn’t mean that all movies that use it are bad, though; far from it.  I will be reviewing some of the classics of the genre.  And the fact that the mad scientist is such a cliché makes it ripe for parody and reinvention.  I will review a couple of those kinds of films, too.  In all, I will be posting ten new reviews.

I won’t be including any James Bond movies since almost all of them would qualify and this category would end up being one on Bond instead.  I also won’t be including Bond parodies like Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965) – starring Vincent Price and Frankie Avalon, no less!  I do like the title, though.

You will not find any torture porn horror movies such as The Human Centipede here.  I haven’t seen it, but I know what happens and you couldn’t pay me to watch that.

Finally, you may be expecting me to include the film Dr. Strangelove (1964), but Peter Sellers’ mugging for the camera as the title character is actually my least favorite part of that movie.  I will be including a film which references that character, though.

As I review the films I will come back and add the links for them here.

The Skin I Live In (2011)
Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Frankenstein (1931)
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
Burke and Hare (2010)
The Invisible Man (1933)
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931)
Iron Sky (2012)
Spy Kids (2001)

The City of Lost Children (1995) – posted January 11, 2011

X-Men: First Class (2011) – posted June 11, 2011

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) – posted July 26, 2011

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) – posted August 21, 2011

Iron Man 3 (2013) – posted May 3, 2013

Young Frankenstein (1974) – posted September 5, 2013

On to the reviews…

Movie – Young Frankenstein (1974)

How about the year Mel Brooks had in 1974?  He directed what are now known as two genre spoof comedy classics – Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein.  While the sendups of western clichés and the “meta-ness” of Blazing Saddles are fun, I prefer Young Frankenstein’s take on the monster movie genre in general and the Frankenstein’s monster movies in particular.  Brooks and the film’s star, Gene Wilder, co-wrote the film and you could tell they had a blast making it.  They received an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, but lost to The Godfather Part II.  “Adapted” is a bit of a reach.  There’s not a lot of connection between this film and Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel, other than the concepts.  Young Frankenstein actually is closer to the Frankenstein movies that it is making fun of.  Regardless of what it is based on, it is a very funny movie.

Movie – Iron Man 3 (2013)

I’ll answer the biggest Iron Man 3 question that all of you want to know the answer to: yes, there is a post-credits scene.  What’s that?  That’s not the question you had?  You want to know how this movie stacks up to the first two Iron Man movies, and to The Avengers?  Well, Iron Man 3 is a big improvement over Iron Man 2.  I would still pick the first Iron Man as the best of the three, but the third one is almost as good.  And no, it’s not going to touch The Avengers on how entertaining it is.  However, considering that The Avengers is the best superhero movie yet made, and that Iron Man is one of the best, saying that Iron Man 3 is not as good as them still leaves a lot of room for a really fun movie.

Movie – Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow was originally intended to be a big summer movie in 2004.  To avoid bumping up against Spider-Man 2 it was moved to the end of September, where movies are sent to die (see also Serenity.)  It didn’t quite end up making back its budget, which was small for a summer movie, but large for a fall movie.  Based on this, some people consider it a flop.  I am not a studio head, so I could care less what the box office was for a movie.  I just care if it was entertaining and this one was.

Movie – Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Captain America is the last of the movies Marvel Studios is releasing prior to next May’s Avengers movie.  This movie introduces the last major character for the coming film.  Captain America: The First Avenger has something that none of the other lead in movies had – an honest to God hero.  This is a big, old-fashioned superhero movie, one where the good guy is actually worthy of being called a hero.

Movie – X-Men: First Class (2011)

This movie is a semi-reboot of the X-Men franchise.  It takes place in 1962 when Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) became friends and gathered their first group of mutants to train.  1962’s Cuban missile crisis plays a big part in the climax of the movie.  I’ll explain what I mean by “semi-reboot” a little lower in the post, but the key thing you should know is that you do not have to have seen the prior three X-Men movies, or the Wolverine movie, to understand who people are or what is going on in this movie.

Movie – The City of Lost Children (1995)

The best way to describe this movie is that it is a dark fairy tale; far more Brothers Grimm than sweet innocent story.  A modern day equivalent might be the stories of Roald Dahl. 

It stars Judith Vittet as brave little street orphan Miette and Ron Perlman as a kind circus strongman named One.  The two of them are opposed by a mad scientist who is kidnapping children to take their dreams from them, since he cannot dream himself.