Movieline Online

THE FLICKS: The appeal surrounding “atom age” films of the ‘50s is difficult to explain. Loaded with ridiculous special effects, hammy “C”-list actors, and copious amounts of stock footage, quite often the sensationalistic advertising used on the poster was the best thing about the film. It’s obvious these movies weren’t meant to be studied (although they have been...extensively), they’re movies to be enjoyed with the same sense of Saturday matinee fun in which they were made. But I don’t think anyone would have expected them to attract the attention of the folks at Criterion, who’ve added The Atomic Submarine and First Man into Space, along with two superior Boris Karloff films, as part of the Criterion Collection 4-disc box set Monsters and Madmen. The original advertising for The Atomic Submarine seriously downplayed the sci-fi plot element, but there’s no mistaking the one-eyed alien from outer space taking shots at America’s submarine fleet. The U.S.S. Tiger Shark is sent in to de...

THE FLICK: Many critics bemoan the recent trend of re-making 70’s horror classics like Texas Chainsaw, The Hills Have Eyes and Rob Zombie’s upcoming Halloween as overproduced, hyperkineticly edited updates that only serve to cheapen the reputation of the original. All of which is true, of course. But these same critics are conspicuously overlooking the fact that most of these films were franchised into irrelevance long before now – sold down the river by their original writers, producers and directors for a quick buck in the ‘80s – often with much worse production values, marketing and media attention. So at the very least this “new generation” of horror franchises provide the sort of polished, professional, “A”- movie attention the genre has lacked since it’s hey-day in the early ‘30s. Even Texas Chainsaw: The Beginning (which I’m sure 70 years ago would have been called Son of Leatherface) for all it’s ugliness and brutality is glossy enough to pass for a Lexus commercial between mur...

THE FLICK: With quiet efficiency Jason Statham has fulfilled the ancient prophecy of the second-coming of Jean Claude VanDamme. I'm not sure if he would appreciate the compliment but it's true. So much so that I can barely remember the actor who delivered such a blistering dialogue-driven performance in Guy Ritchie's Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels before that. Since then, Statham has ascended to the top of the white-guy kickboxing throne with his Transporter double-feature (and you just know it'll be a trilogy soon) and a bit part in the remake of The Italian Job. Now comes Crank, another over-the-top, out-of-control exhibition for Statham's angry bald head and muscular flexibility. The only difference is, this time it's a whole lotta fun! Lifting elements of DOA and any number of Tarantino films, writer/director team Neveldine/Taylor turn in a bouncy, devil-may-care crime-comedy that's like a spitball in the eye of most tired studio ac...