Summer Cinema: Independence Day Resurgence

Last Friday night we checked out Cinemark's Reserve Seating, where you sit in the top of the theater with reclining seats along with food and drink service. Or their version of AMC Dine-In or say Alamo Drafthouse. Unlike those other brands, at Cinemark, they want your orders in and done by the time the film starts which means no in-film refreshment refills. While the idea of eating and dranking during a flick seems like a solid notion, the execution across the board at any establishment has not been perfected. AMC's is awkward as you're paying the check during the film and there's no easy way to have your Stubs membership updated in the dark. But their menu is pretty big and food tasty enough with decent lighting so you can see what you're doing and still be in a movie. Alamo is a little more low tech in the sense of you write down what you want and a person runs by and picks it up. Cinemark was probably the worst of these dine-in experiences because it was so freaking dark it was difficult to eat/drink.

Anyways, 20 years later, Independence Day: Resurgence comes to us from original creators Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin. After making their Hollywood splash with Carolco's Universal Soldier starring our guys Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren, the duo would go on to bigger budgets and successes with 1994's Stargate and 96's mammoth hit Independence Day where Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman and crew defeated an alien invasion. Two decades on the film drops us into the new world of alien fused technology where man works on the moon and there's flying vehicles galore. With Will Smith not returning we get a trio of new young characters played by the likes of Liam Hemsworth, Jessie T. Usher and Maika Monroe are faced with a new invasion threat, bigger and badder than the last. Alas the writing and their improv skills are no match for Will Smith's original charm or chemistry with Jeff Goldblum.

Visually interesting and a little too fast paced for it's own good, Emmerich and Devlin blend the light disaster flick ensemble with all out sci-fi warfare. While the first relished in practical f/x composited with computer images, Resurgence looks great when it's on set and indoors but horrible when the action moves outside and everything is CGI. I also can't stand the fact that films no longer shoot outside. Whether it's ID4:R or Captain America: Civil War, it's glaringly obvious outdoor scenes are shot on greenscreen. It's nice to see Pullman back in the mix as the scarred former President but Brent Spiner's Dr. Okun, a kooky highlight of the first film, is near annoying comic relief this time out. The end is pretty open and indicates intergalactic war, so hey, sign me up for third. Resurgence isn't a great film but it has it's moments. Less fun than this summer's X-Men: Apocalypse but way more enjoyable and less frustrating than Warcraft. After a ho-hum $41 million opening weekend, the $165 million flick made up ground overseas and is nearing $200 million globally so only time will tell if we get that part 3.

4th of July Favorite: The Great Escape

Independence Day.  What does it mean to you?  A Roland Emmerich alien invasion film?  BBQ's and baseball games?  Fireworks?  Or thinking back to 1765 when the 13 Colonies decided they'd had enough of the British Empire's absentee ruling?  Rejecting monarchy and aristocracy in favor of liberalism and republicanism, The Colonies set out to change their fate and separate from the British Empire.  Combat troops were deployed to the US in a bid to reestablish control, leading to the American Revolutionary War that lasted from 1775-1783.  In July of 1776, Congress finalized the Declaration of Independence and the independent United States of America was born.  Here we are a few years later where you'll see plenty of American flags, picnics and displays of patriotism if you're fortunate enough to have the day off.  For those in the service industry and Military, keep on keeping things running smoothly.  With so much history directed at our independence, it really irked me when the royal wedding took over the world a few years ago.  Hundreds of millions of dollars spent on what?  Pomp and artificial majesty?  What exactly does the Royal Family do for its country?  Didn't the citizens of 1776 give up their lives so you could be free from royal rule but there we were, celebrating a now hollow monarchy?  I dunno, I just don't get certain things.

Anyways, relaxing over a long weekend after an 11 day work week, I celebrated part of July 4th with a viewing of 1963's World War II POW Camp classic and arguably my favorite film of all time, The Great Escape.  I've managed to see the John Sturges flick twice on the big screen since moving to Los Angeles thanks to The American Cinematheque's Egyptian and Aero Theatres.  Basically, I frigging love this movie.  Really quick: the German Luftwaffe (aerial division) create Stalag Luft III, a giant, new age prisoner of war camp housing only captured officers and built in a remote area where escape by tunneling would be difficult with barracks built off the ground and sandy, weak soil easily noticed and difficulty hidden.  The X Organization commits itself to performing their duty as prisoners to harass, confound and confuse the enemy in order to have more troops and resources dedicated to watching them instead of fighting on the front lines.  A motley prisoner crew of English, American, Australian and more band together to attempt a large scale escape that will have German troops scattered all over the country trying to round them up.

The major American characters, Hilts and Hendley are played by superstar in the making Steve McQueen and oh so handsome in his white turtleneck TV star James Garner.  In what could be the most macho or manliest cast of all time, joining McQueen and Garner are Richard Attenborough (Jurassic Park), James Donald (Bridge on the River Kwai), Charles Bronson (The Magnificent Seven), Donald Plesance (Halloween), James Coburn (Our Man Flint) David McCallum (The Man From U.N.C.L.E.) and many more.  They're not 80's macho or manly in the Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, Sonny Landham, Jesse Ventua mold from Predator.  Instead, they're men who are physical, capable, intelligent, responsible and driven.  The Americans are particularly funny in a smart ass kind of way and from the very moment we're introduced to our cast, they're all scheming and itching to get out.  Each character has a particular skill or trait such as scrounging, dispersal, tunneling, forging, diversions and tailor.  McQueen is good at getting into trouble and riding motorcycles.  As we watch our guys plot their escape through clever, dangerous and amusing ways, the message of the film becomes clear: fight the man, at all times, at all costs.  The enemies of freedom must be opposed no matter what and the movie's depiction of real life events and the escape's execution in the face of a small probability of success shows the guts of our previous generations.  And at it's core, it's just about a bunch of cool guys getting shit done, no matter the odds.  And making moonshine out of potatoes to celebrate Independence Day.

Directed by vaunted yet seemingly forgotten "tough guy" director John Sturges, The Great Escape is a 3 hour ride that rarely lets up.  There's thrills, smarts and heart all the way through.  Watching it on the big screen last year, I realized I actually enjoyed the build up of the escape a little more than the actual action and chase filled finale where our crew is scattered across the enemy laden territory, trying to get out of Dodge via planes, trains, buses and bicycles.  The planning of the escape, the ingenuity of their techniques, puts a smile on your face while firing up your brain.  Based on the book by Paul Brickhill with a screenplay by future Shogun writer James Clavell and W.R. Burnett, The Great Escape was a hit upon release, grossing nearly $12 million dollars on a $4 million budget, good enough for #17 on the year's highest earning list.  Come Oscar time the film was nominated for Best Editing.  The film cemented McQueen as a bonafide box office star and he would go on a tear of hits that included The Cincinnati Kid, Nevada Smith, The Sand Pebbles, The Thomas Crown Affair and Bullitt.  Director Sturges already had several hits and an Oscar nomination for Best Director under his belt but would never find the same level of success.  Ice Station Zebra was still in his future, an ensemble cold-war spy thriller that reached #1 at the box office it's 2nd week of release.  And of course Richard Attenborough, James Garner, Coburn, Charles Bronson and company all went on to have lasting, movie star careers.

Summer Cinema: Godzilla

Godzilla.  What does that name mean to you?  For me, it brings back memories of catching parts of the various 28 cinematic chapters on TBS as a kid, guys in suits stomping on miniatures, early special f/x, his little kid Godzilla trying to blow blue fire breath and of course, the all famous Godzilla roar.  At the time of his release in Toho's 1954's Godzilla, the King of Monsters was seen as a metaphor for nuclear weapons like the ones dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.  Since then, The Big Green has defended and terrorized the population of Japan fighting against and alongside the likes of Jet Jaguar, King Kong, Megalon and Mothra.  While Godzilla mean "gorilla" and "whale", his appearance and history has always come from the prehistoric age and mixes Tyrannosaurus, Stegosaurus, alligator, etc.  In 1998, then kings of the special f/x driven disaster/sci-fi flick Roland Emmerich and Dean Devlin brought Godzilla to America proper but the results were less than legendary.  Cut to 16 years later and Legendary Pictures has brought Godzilla back to America with a big budget, summer tent pole that will crush nearly $100 million opening weekend.

Following The Amazing Spider-Man 2 as 2014's latest action packed spectacle of the sequel/reboot/revamp variety, Godzilla employs another young director not accustomed to huge Hollywood budgets, Gareth Edwards.  Fresh from the success of his under $1-million dollar indie flick Monsters, Edwards does a great job making the leap to studio fare.  The film starts in Japan where engineer Joe Brody (Bryan Cranston) has discovered a strange, earthquake like phenomenon occurring near a nuclear reactor.  Something beneath the surface awakens and the reactor is destroyed and the area turned into a quarantined zone.  Cut to 15 years later and Brody's now grown up son Ford (Aaron-Taylor Johnson) has to go bail pops out of prison because he's been lurking around the Q Zone for the last 15 years trying to figure out what happened.  We find out that the cause of the nuclear reactor destruction all those years ago was from the reawakening of a giant, mantis like creature dubbed Muto that has survived from the prehistoric era when the Earth was radioactive.  As the surface leveled out, Muto and others like him retreated to the depths of the sea to be closer to the Earth's radioactive core.  But the rise of manmade radioactive hot spots has drawn him to the surface.  Dr. Serizawa (Ken Watanabe) has been following these creatures for decades, one in particular, Godzilla.  Big Green arises from the ocean to hunt and take on Muto to give the world balance once again.

Edwards and writers David MacCallum and Max Borenstien approach new Godzilla with an old school touch like a disaster film where we follow a few protagonists on their journeys to safety and family reunion.  There's only a few human characters to keep track of so we don't have to delve too deeply into the backstory of a dozen characters a la The Towering Inferno or Independence Day.  But the approach sadly back fires to a degree as the characters are thinly sketched and not overly interesting or compelling, we don't root for them, we're not concerned with their safety, they're all just there to let us know what's going on.  Sure there's carnage, destruction and monster on monster crime galore but the film takes so long to build up to it that by the time it happens it's a little underwhelming.  The choice to delay Godzilla's appearance is a smart one but once he shows up to take care of business, the film cuts away to some human issue right before a monster mash is about to go down and that happens several times.  Don't get me wrong, there's some great stuff in the film from the Incredible Hulk like opening of news clippings and footage of nuclear tests and the rise of the mysterious beasts and cover ups, Godzilla's amazing appearance and movement, fluid action scenes, iconic shots of the monster, a flaming French kiss, nods to the original series, a nice pace, a trim 2 hour runtime and a penchant for actual sets and props VS total CGI environments. There's a familiar, low-watt, movie star free but capable cast involved who all do fine jobs no matter how brief their appearance.  In the end, it's not that Godzilla is boring or ponderous, it's just not very exciting, sadly.  And it's no Pacific Rim.  Elbow Rocket!

We saw the flick in 3D at The Chinese Theatre in Hollywood on their fake IMAX screen.  There's a great statue in the courtyard of the big beast as well as posters in the lobby etc.  If you haven't been to the Chinese IMAX, it's quite a nice place, beautifully decorated and of course a huge screen and giant speakers.  I can't say I noticed too much 3D difference but then I usually never do because it's a sham.  Just have stuff hurtling at the audience already so we know we're getting our money's worth!  I can't be totally immersed in the movie when I can see the edges of the screen and the tops of everybody's heads.

Born Ready: Kurt Russell

Not only was this past Monday St. Patrick's Day, it was also the birthday of one titan of cinema and life: Kurt Russell.  While Russell didn't inspire me the way Jean-Claude Van Damme or Arnold did as a kid, his films and attitude were definitely a big part of my formative movie watching years.  Always a perfect mix of funny and physical with a rough around the edges charm, Russell just effortlessly comes off as a cool guy.  After hearing stories about him and then seeing him in person last year, I can definitely say I still believe it to be true.  A few weeks ago I opined that America doesn't have many leading men of the durable and capable variety and I would argue that Russell was one of our last.

Coming off a string of television work and Disney features, Russell transitioned to Hollywood leading man the help of directors like Robert Zemeckis, John Carpenter, Mike Nichols, Garry Marshall, Ron Howard and Roland Emmerich while playing a multitude of iconic characters like Snake Plissken, R.J. MacReady, Jack Burton, Gabriel Cash, Captain Ron and Wyatt Earp.

Let's take a trip down memory lane, shall we?

Used Cars - Probably Russell's funniest and most dialog heavy role of all time where he plays salesman Rudy Russo, a small time hustler/charmer trying to raise enough money to join the Senate and skim all the graft he knows is waiting.  Socially irresponsible with some great practical car stunts.

Escape From New York - The B-Movie classic that helped launch his career and a character that has lived on through a sequel, comic books, toys and more.  The ultimate wise ass anti-hero before there were wise ass anti-heroes.

The Thing - Drinks whiskey, plays computer chess, flies a helicopter, wears a huge sombrero and blows shit up.  What more could you ask for from an arctic set, alien thriller with Cold War paranoia?

Big Trouble In Little China - Arguably my favorite Russell flick since the time I saw it late night on TBS then bought the VHS at Saturday Matinee in the mall.  Russell's turn as blowhard trucker Jack Burton is hilarious and shows his gameness for not giving the audience what they expect as he's actually the sidekick but doesn't know it.

Tango & Cash - A beautiful love story between two hard working men just trying to make it in life.

Captain Ron - Good times.  Again shows his willingness not to be pigeonholed as he seemingly plays a buffoon in this broad family comedy who isn't actually an idiot.

Tombstone - The master class example.  Russell plays legendary lawman Wyatt Earp in this popcorn western action classic that nearly fell apart but was saved and came out a winner unlike the bloated attempt by "serious" actor and Oscar winner Kevin Costner.

Executive Decision - Showcases Russell's ability to play heroic but not cartoonish as an intelligence analyst thrown into a combat/hostage scenario after leader Steven Seagal plunges to his death aboard a Stealth Bomber 1/3 of the way into the movie.

Breakdown - Russell plays regular here, very regular as a guy moving cross country with his wife and becomes the target of a kidnapping scheme run by truckers out in the middle of nowhere.  Very freaky and became my mind's worst case scenario when thinking of pulling up stakes and driving cross country to California.

Soldier - Is it a good film?  That's debatable.  Is Russell awesome in it?  Yes.  As a silent career soldier facing his younger replacement, Russell is built like a tank in this science fiction action flick set on a near deserted trash planet in the same universe as Blade Runner.

Mr. Russell had taken a hiatus from filmmaking as he and life partner Goldie Hawn have been busy running a winery and producing their own label.  He's slowly coming back as Canadian heist flick The Art of the Steal has rolled out this year and a part in the latest Fast and Furious chapter is in the works.  Russell had already turned down an offer from friend Stallone to appear in The Expendables, citing he wasn't interested in ensemble acting or looking back.  While it would be nice to see him in one of the 90's reunions, you gotta respect the fact he doesn't need the work and is still setting out to do his own thing.

Ask Me a Question: Independence Day

It was another great day at the LA Times Hero Complex Film Festival as today's lineup started with a screening of 1996's Independence Day.  I remember seeing this as a teen and owning a VHS copy complete with groovy hologram cover.  The last time I tried to watch it was several years ago as a drinking game.  Ya know, every time someone says "Mr. President" or Jeff Goldblum's character's failed marriage is mentioned, take a drink.  Trust me, it ain't easy.

Once again, moderator and host extraordinaire Gina McIntyre let us know they had a couple treats in store for us.  With writer/director Roland Emmerich (Universal Soldier, Stargate (Van Damme AND Kurt Russell alert as I saw them both in the last week.  Full circle.  Rambo reference # 225)) scheduled to speak I figured they'd show us a little something from his upcoming White House Down.  We were also informed that former writing partner Dean Devlin would be joining us as well.  Seriously, the duo's work on Universal Soldier, Stargate, Independence Day and The Patriot had influenced my formative years something fierce .  The 90's were just 2 sweeeeet!

The lights went down and the 20th Century Fox fanfare filled the theater.  Watching ID4 again was great, it has that soothing, cold and smoky 90's cinematic look and feel to it.  I was surprised at how well it holds up; the characters are built up and memorable from Bill Pullman's steadfast President to Jeff Goldblum's eccentric yet brilliant communications expert to Will Smith's cocky Marine pilot to Randy Quaid's drunk, abducted by aliens and returned to Earth father/crop duster.  There's humor, emotion, excitement and of course, a mess of destruction!  The special effects still look great with their mix of practical gags, miniatures, matte paintings and computer generated images.  I thought it might play a little cheesy with a bit of eye rolling but no, you're in it to win it.  The emotional beats grab you and the action scenes excite you.  What can I say?  It's still a bombastic, rousing, crowd pleasing disaster meets alien invasion flick that doesn't pummel you with spectacle while ignoring story and characters.  Did I mention how much I miss the 90's?

After the credits rolled, a what I think was new trailer for White House Down played.  It contained a little more build up and much more humor than what I had seen already.  Most of the scenes showcased stars Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx.  If it's half the action-buddy comedy/invasion yarn the trailer makes it out to be, we're all in for a good time at the movies.  The kind of time when you feel copacetic with paying the freight and not cheated you got some low budget, supposed to be clever genre flick (cough, Zombieland, cough).

Joining sirs Emmerich and Devlin was none other than star of the movie, Jeff Goldblum!  It was a very informative affair and the trio were joined by a member of the effects crew whose name escapes me.

- ID4 came from a meeting Emmerich had with Warner Brothers who wanted him to direct an "escape from prison" movie with Harrison Ford.  He politely asked the budget and was told it was $75 million.  Emmerich was flabbergasted that a simple prison movie would cost that much.
- On the drive home he said he could do an alien invasion movie for $75 million...
- Writing and producing partner Dean Devlin was skeptical of the idea but Emmerich sold Devlin on the scope in his mind, saying that if you looked up in the sky, the space ship would take up all of it.
- Ashamed to admit the script only took 3 weeks to write.
- Put it up auction style with a script and set budget.
- Write with actors in mind, nodding to Mr. Goldblum who mentions how good White House Down looks and how he is a fan of WHD co-star Maggie Gyllenhaal.
- Shot in 70 some days and across several neighboring sound stages.
- The way Emmerich and Devlin work is that they sit on opposite sides of a long table with Devlin doing a pass of a scene while Emmerich sketches out his ideas.
- This way they roughly had the entire movie storyboarded.
- Goldblum described the set as always moving but not in a frantic, Emergency Room kind of way.
- Enjoyed E/D's working style as they would continue rolling after scene was over to let the actor's add anything they wanted.
- Devlin recalls taking Goldblum to a sci-fi convention and comparing Goldblum's reception to having Elvis in the building due to his SF cred with The Fly, Buckaroo Banzai, Jurassic Park...
- One of Emmerich's most memorable moments on set came from actor Robert Loggia being concerned the movie was a spoof and nobody told him.  Devlin said they were trying to make Airport but said Airplane.
- Built up the characters and didn't have an explosion right away because they had studied many 70's disaster movies where you always got to know the players before the carnage started.
- Devlin directed much of the aerial footage and they employed old school techniques like using models on sticks and having the background on a wheel to create illusion of movement.
- ID4's main competition was Warner Brothers' Mars Attacks from Tim Burton.  They had already started production but part of the auction agreement was that ID4 be released on July 4th, a month ahead of Mars.  Even though they're different movies, Hollywood lumps types together.
- Leads to talk of White House Down in comparison to Olympus Has Fallen.  While cast was coming together for WHD, Emmerich was told no director was attached to OHF, all of a sudden they had a director and were going to start shooting in 5 weeks.

- First audience question was mine, asked what memories they had of making Universal Soldier and working with young Jean-Claude Van Damme and Dolph Lundgren.
- Emmerich says it came about because he quit the Sylvester Stallone lead project Isobar after 9 months of prep.  Studio/financier head Mario Kassar was impressed with his decision and offered him Universal Soldier which had already been in heavy pre-production.
- Emmerich told Kassar he wanted to keep the general concept and two actors involved but throw away the rest.  Kassar said yes but they had to bring it in under $20 million even though studio had already spent $7 million on it.
- Only fond memories of Unisol, was great for him and Devlin and launched their careers.

Some slick homeboy with an accent was on the verge of pitching them something but luckily, Mrs. McIntyre shut him down.

As always, lots and lots more was talked about but I think I've told you enough.  It was a lot of fun seeing ID4 up on the big screen and the panel afterwards was fantastic.

See ya next year, Hero Complex!  Until then check out this awesomely bad trailer that by today's standards nearly looks fan made.