robinson-w-walsh Reviews

War Party (1988)

A flawed yet unique and daring film

[7/10 · 28 May 2013]

I remember going to the video store in '89 or so and seeing the poster for War Party on the wall. It depicted a group of young Native American braves holding their tomahawks high as flaming wreckage burned in the background. I could only assume it was an action movie about a modern Native American rebellion of sorts. It wasn't until 20 years later that I saw the film On Demand.

War Party does become a neo-Western in some ways, but it is not a slam-bang action flick. It is actually a very raw and thought provoking tragedy that sheds light on life in a native reservation and the conditions and attitudes indigenous people have faced and continue to face.

The film opens with the aftermath of a battle in Montana between the Union cavalry and a war party of Blackfoot warriors. In a very skillful use of allegorical transition, three of the natives' stallions ride away from the cavalry and into present day. Sonny Crowkiller(Billy Wirth, "The Lost Boys")is a descendant of the chief who led the charge in that battle. He's a teenager in love who, like many in his community, is caught between two worlds and is unsure of his future. The native and white communities have agreed to put on a recreation of the historical Battle of Milk River, and the racial tension between the two groups is so thick you can cut it with a knife. In particular, there's Calvin(Kevyn Major Howard, "Full Metal Jacket"), a hateful redneck who has beef with a friend of Sonny's.

On the day of the re-enactment, Calvin brings live ammunition and spitefully murders Sonny's friend, which prompts Sonny to cut him down with a tomahawk. Soon the battle becomes a REAL battle, and Sonny and his mixed-ancestry friend Skitty(Kevin Dillon "Entourage") and Warren(Tim Sampson) are on the run from racist vigilantes, clueless law enforcement, a Crow tracker and even the National Guard.

It is at this point where War Party feels like a familiar throwback to "on the lam" themed Westerns, but with a different modern context and subtext. Sonny and his friends aren't looking to kick paleface ass, they're just kids trying to escape and live free and who only take up arms to defend themselves. Meanwhile, their families and the community at large struggle to make sense of the terrible misunderstanding. The film's depiction of the native community was one not often seen in Hollywood, and is sobering to say the least.

The problems that beset War Party is that it often struggles to make sense of what type of film it truly wants to be. A protest film? An adventure film? It could have been all of these things if the writers had honed their end product down to a finer edge. While some of the acting and dialog is very good, some people are miscast. Kevin Dillon is a great actor, but I simply couldn't accept him as a partial Blackfoot. When he's dressed in war paint and full Blackfoot garb, he looks like a Celtic warrior off to fight the Romans instead of the US cavalry. His heavy East Coast accent didn't help either. There is also Tim Sampson, the son of noted Native American actor Will Sampson. Supposedly, he's the third member of this band of brothers, but his character is barely fleshed out. We don't really know much about him, so its hard to connect with him.

Two years after this film was made, Canada experienced a tense confrontation between the Canadian military and Mohawks in Quebec in what became known as the Oka Crisis. Looking back, its interesting to see how War Party fits in both the cinematic depictions of indigenous peoples of North America and the consciousness of both native and non-native peoples in the greater public. While Dances With Wolves might get the lion's share of attention, I think War Party was willing to go where few would dare.

Evil Dead (2013)

Another throw-it-in-the-pile generic modern horror remake with no identity of its own

[3/10 · 5 April 2013]

There was a time that I gave horror remakes the benefit of the doubt. The Dawn of the Dead remake wasn't so bad for what it was. The Fright Night remake actually did a decent amount of justice for its source material. But then, you stop and realize how short Hollywood has come up in terms of original ideas and cool scares. Nowadays it seems to be a) remakes b) torture porn c) possession movies(these have got to go) d) more remakes. Heck, the last original and clever horror movie I saw was Cabin in the Woods, which was actually a horror themed comedy rather than a true horror film.

Sadly, the Evil Dead remake turned out to be just as disappointing and toothless as I expected it to be. No, this film does not improve on the original. No, it does not become a good horror film in its own right. Yes, you have seen pretty much everything in this film before. Yes, you're better off watching anything from the original trilogy.

I read an interview with director Fede Alvarez which had him say something along the lines of "When I saw the 80's Fly, I didn't care about the original 50's version. That was the Fly to me" OK Fede.....point taken. But the 80's Fly was directed by David Cronenberg, who at that point was already a seasoned director who had over 10 years of experience under his belt and who is known for innovative styles and concepts. Alvarez has none of that. As I understand it his background is mainly short films. Perhaps I should familiarize myself with his previous work, but let me just say he does nothing to make Evil Dead his own movie. All I saw were some nifty lighting choices and camera angles.

But then again, there's nothing about this Evil Dead that makes it it's own movie. You have impossibly hot actresses who still look hot even when they're shivering and drenched in gore. You have the same hyperactive MTV-style editing that any supernatural or slasher film these days has. You have poor attempts at making this a "serious" film. Seriously, the original was about rapist trees and crazed demons! How "serious" does it have to be? You have any number of tropes and clichés which make this an ultimately forgettable affair. And on top of that you have no actors or characters who grab the eye. Imagine that Ash's sister Linda was an irritating coke addict instead of a weird psychic girl. Then subtract Ash. There's your Evil Dead.

One thing that made the original have such charm is that it wasn't just a low budget film, it was practically a student film! I know....it's a big fanboy gripe, but I found myself longing for the original whilst sitting through this Bruce Campbell-less bore fest.

The hype machine and rent-a-critic tactics will likely make this a relative box office success. I hope it is a last gasp.

Quest for Fire (1981)

So far, it's the best movie ever made about prehistoric man

[8/10 · 17 January 2013]

Quest For Fire has interspecies sex, plenty of grunting and gesticulating, cannibalism, lions with fake saber teeth, elephants with wooly mammoth costumes and more grunting. Yet this joint French-Canadian-American production never feels shlocky and has a fairly professional feel to it. Someone actually did a decent amount of research in making this film and genuinely wanted to give a realistic glimpse into the ancestry of our species. In a genre that is known for fur bikinis and battles with non-contemporaneous dinosaurs, QfF is probably the best film dealing with prehistoric humanity. It is certainly far better than the godawful Clan of the Cave Bear and the not-worth-mentioning-but-will-anyway 10,000 B.C.

Somewhere in prehistoric Eurasia, a Neanderthal tribe called the Ulams are going about their daily Neanderthal business(grooming each other for insects and non-concensual sex) when they are savagely attacked by a tribe of ape-like Homo Erectus, called the Wagabus. The Wagabus are after their fire and their women, and after a brief rumble the Ulams flee into the forest and are then chased by a wolf pack into a swamp. They lose the fire, and as they are unable to make it, the tribe is melancholy and fearful, and their survival seems in doubt. The Ulam elder elects three men - Naoh(Everett McGill, "Dune", "People Under the Stairs"), Amoukar(Ron Perlman, "Hellboy" , "Ice Pirates") and Gah (Nicholas Kadi, "Sleeper Cell, "Congo")-to retrieve fire. They embark on a journey to find fire and save the tribe.

First and foremost, QiF deserves praise for its actors. This movie made me realize how portraying a prehistoric human is a very challenging role for any actor to undertake. Perlman, McGill and Kadi apparently did extensive research on great ape behavior and give performances that are never campy. There are no subtitles, which prompts them to put more effort into expressing these characters. The cinematography is impressive and the prehistoric landscape is well displayed. The use of real animals and both imagined and established linguistics also gives them film a degree of realism. Rae Dawn Chong also gives a believable performance as a young Cro Magnon girl the trio encounter on their quest.

The film is, of course, flawed in some ways, but until someone has the motivation to make a REAL prehistoric epic that doesn't involve bad acting and CGI smilodons, CfF is as good as it gets.

Last Days Here (2011)

Hard to watch, impossible to turn away from

[8/10 · 6 January 2013]

Many musicians I've met over the years have proudly proclaimed "Music is all I have man, it's all I know". But what happens when the years pass by, the success is few and far between and the musician is reduced to a withered husk waxing nostalgia? After a while, that declaration becomes a sad one, and it leaves said person in a questionable state. Last Days Here is an intense and unflinching look at the life of Bobby Liebling, lead singer for underground doom metal legends Pentagram. For many this will feel familiar, either like an episode of the reality show Intervention or along the lines of "from obscurity to greatness" rockumentaries, but there's something else to it. It's extremely raw.

Last Days Here will inevitably draw comparisons to Anvil: The Story of Anvil, but there are major differences. First and foremost, unlike Anvil, Pentagram was actually a good band in their day. Anvil were lauded by some as being pioneers of thrash metal of sorts, but watching that film it became apparent that the reason they never made it big was simply that they weren't very good, and that their music was far too cheesy and badly dated to be taken seriously. Bobby Liebling actually had considerable songwriting skills and came very close to securing a deal with Columbia Records. I could easily see old Pentagram songs such as "Forever My Queen" and "Wheel of Fortune" being played on classic rock radio stations alongside Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple. Second, while the people in Anvil were struggling, they were not in the state that Liebling was. And third, The Story of Anvil turned out to be a rather dishonest film in terms of the continuity editing, whereas Last Days Here plays out from start to finish, and the stakes are much higher.

After decades of drug abuse and failure, Bobby spends his days consuming crack, heroin and whatever else in his parent's basement in rural Maryland. He's an awful sight, looking just as ghastly as the ghouls he sings about in his songs. His parents, though well meaning, are profoundly naive and gutless. He has no real friends left. But then we meet Sean "Pellet" Pelletier, a die hard music fan and employee of the highly respected record label, Relapse Records. Pellet is the secondary protagonist of this story, a die hard fanboy who worships Pentagram and wants to share their music with the world. He becomes Bobby's manager, friend and number one supporter. For the duration of the film, Pellet does his best to wrangle Bobby into some kind of productivity of sorts, but it's an EXTREMELY bumpy ride.

What makes this documentary compelling is the position the viewer is put in while watching Bobby. It's strange, because most of the time you don't really feel sorry for him. He is his own worst enemy and is the main saboteur of Pentagram's success. He has burned countless bridges, destroyed many relationships, ruined promising opportunities of major label deals and has ripped a lot of people off. There's no real back story of childhood abuse or any personal tragedy to warrant his self-destructive lifestyle and arrogant behavior. Indeed, if anything his family is too supportive of him and are enablers of his addiction. What makes you believe in Bobby is the fact that Pellet believes in him. In many ways Last Days Here is about an unusual friendship between musician and fan rather than a narrative of a rocker's resurrection.

Things get more intriguing when Bobby has a romance with a very attractive 20 something music fan named Hallie. It presents both a boon to his existence and a challenge to Pellet's efforts to get him on the right track.

As a Washington DC native, I had never heard of bands like Pentagram or the Obsessed growing up. To me DC was all about hardcore punk and Go Go. But today, people of all ages are hungry again for solid heavy rock, and a lot of obscure bands are finally seeing their dues. Bobby may have been a jerk and junkie for most of his life but his art does stand on its own and redemption appears possible. Last Days Here is often not easy to watch, but it has its rewards.