Movieline Online

When crap like Xanadu earns itself a two-disc DVD release (the magical, musical edition in case you’re interested) you might be wondering if we’ve hit the saturation point. Are there are actually any titles left that haven’t hit video...and if so, should anyone be allowed to see them? I prefer to see the cup as half-full rather than half-empty. Sure, what’s left is a hodgepodge of martial arts flicks and lazy foreign erotica, but if you dig deep enough into the pile you’ll find a few curiosities left in the bin. Phase IV (Legend Films, 84 min) is the only feature-film from Saul Bass, the man who designed the most memorable title sequences in cinema history, most notably Hitchcock’s Psycho and North By Northwest. His take on intelligent ants who wage war on a pair of scientists in the New Mexico desert is ripe for ridicule (it even got the MST3K treatment), but also insanely ambitious. With long dialogue-free stretches of macro-photography following these min-mental giants into their ne...

THE FLICK: One can’t help but wonder how different Sylvester Stallone’s career might have been without John Rambo. As the creative force behind Rocky, he entered Hollywood as a hyphenate writer-actor with grand ambitions and a punching bag full of potential. But three bad film choices later (FIST, Paradise Alley, Victory) he was riding on the coattails of the same character and wondering if lightning would ever strike twice. Go figure, it did. But there was a catch. First Blood and its sequels earned Stallone his next big franchise, but at the cost of his artistic freedom. He became an action-figure rather than an actor; a prisoner of a pop-culture he helped create. So after 20 years of passive-aggressive roles in bland shoot-em-ups (Cobra, Assassins) and ill-conceived comedies (Stop Or My Mom Will Shoot, Oscar) the actor finally saw fit to revisit both franchises and test the waters of cultural relevancy. Rocky Balboa is the easier sell. I mean, how many other fictitious characters ha...

THE FLICK: “Hi, my name is Greg and I’m a Roland Emmerich apologist.” While it might not have the same stigma as alcoholism or sex addiction, said confession can still be downright embarrassing in social situations. Sure, anyone can champion Independence Day or Stargate as “guilty pleasures. But imagine trying to defend Godzilla or The Day After Tomorrow at a crowded table. Before you know it, forks are dropping, throats are cleared and a pitiable hush falls across the room. Trust me, I’ve been there...I know. Yet I stand by my defense of Emmerich and his particular brand of oversize filmmaking. No idea is too grandiose, no explosion to big, no catastrophe too far-fetched to attract his interest. So 10,000 B.C. would seem to be the next logical step in his oeuvre: a sprawling prehistoric adventure flick populated with wooly mammoths, saber-toothed tigers and warring cave-tribes fighting for the future of civilization. It’s a beautiful pitch on paper. But could the king of cinematic bli...