The Natural

Directed by: Barry Levinson

Written by: Roger Towne, Phil Dusenberry (screenplay); Bernard Malamud (novel)









Some movies have good plots.  Some movies have quotable lines.  And some movies have scenes which transcend film and become iconic.  The climactic sequence of "The Natural" has become one of those scenes.

It's too bad that the rest of the film doesn't live up to that final moment.  "The Natural" isn't bad, but it's not as great as the final scene that punctuates it.

The fact is, most of the movie is slow and dry.  Even some of the more exciting moments - Bump Bailey crashing through the wall - don't feel organic or alive.  Once each step of the plot unfolds, there is only one possible direction to the next step, so there's a sense of inevitability rather than surprise.  Meanwhile, none of the characters are terribly vibrant despite what is a very strong cast, so there is really nothing left to keep the story floating.

As if that were not enough, the film is very heavy handed.  There are two very clear sides: good and evil.  The good side is perfect and pure.  The evil side is totally rotten and twisted.  There is no middle, and it is almost always obvious as to who is on which side.  All of this leads to some very obnoxious symbolism.

Still, all of this absolutely worth sitting through to get to that final scene.  That final sequence - with Roy Hobbs stepping to the plate with so much on the line, his side bleeding (there's that symbolism again) - makes the entire film an instant classic.

That iconic scene expressed the spirit imagination of every little boy who ever dreamed of playing professional baseball.  It's almost embedded in the American subconscious at this point - the swing, the crack, the lights shattering, the silhouette of Hobbs rounding the bases as he's showered in sparks.  The climax evokes the magic that makes movies worth seeing.

The Terminator

Directed by: James Cameron

Written by: James Cameron, Gale Anne Hurd; William Wisher Jr. (additional dialogue)









This is it: the film that launched the "Terminator" mini-empire.

Apparently, in the future, humans are at war with machines (and we're losing, I might add).  Our only hope is a man named John Connor, who is leading the resistance.  The machines decide to send a Terminator (Schwarzenegger) back in time to kill Connor's mother Sarah (Hamilton).  Connor sends his right-hand-man Kyle Reese (Biehn) back to ensure his mother's survival, with some interesting consequences.

Aside from the prominence of the 1980's clothing and hair styles, this movie has held up pretty darn well.

The Terminator - especially once stripped of his fleshy exterior - is still a terrifying image.  The pre-CGI stop motion animation of the skeletal robot is a little clunky at certain moments, but is mostly seamless as the jerky motion fits well with the movement of the machine.

The action is paced out well to keep the film moving without reducing the film to a mere chase film (which, at its essence, it is).  The beginning of the film strings the viewer along, tugging us toward the inevitable convergence of Reese, Connor, and the machine.  Even after that, there are enough breaks in the action, including some flashback / flashforward sequences, that the movie doesn't feel like one long pursuit.

For the most part, this is a pretty straight-forward sci-fi flick.  Perhaps the hardest part to wrap your head around is the time-travel element, which only occurs twice but plays a massive role in the long-term Terminator mythology.  Why did John Connor choose to send Kyle Reese back in time?  (Spoiler ahead.)  Because Kyle Reese is John Connor's father.  Think too much about this, and there's a major paradox waiting to explode, especially if you ascribe to the time-is-linear way of thinking.  How did Reese end up in 1984, if John Connor didn't send him back until the 2000's?  Unless Reese always existed as a time-traveller in 1984, meaning that John Connor's existence was inevitable and that time is not able to be altered.  Except, if time cannot be altered, then the Terminaor's attempt to, ahem, terminate Sarah Connor was futile?  Wait, what?  Yes, exactly.  It's the stuff like that which makes science fiction so fun.

This film is a little more brutal and violent than the typical sci-fi fare.  Perhaps not more violent, but definitely more brutal and visceral.  First time viewers be warned.

Come with me if you want to live...

Ghostbusters

I went to see "Ghostbusters" and the local "indie" theatre last night, and somehow it took me by surprise at how good of a movie it actually was. Even after 25 years, the jokes are still fresh, the characters still seem real, and even the effects have held up pretty well.

The four main Ghostbusters, Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Ray Stantz (Dan Akroyd), Egon Spengler (Harold Ramis), and Winston Zeddmore (Ernie Hudson) are perhaps the most believable team of Ghostbusters that could have possibly been assembled. Stantz and Spenger represent the heart and the brains of the operation (respectively), with Venkman being the salesman who can actually deal with the public. The small details of their characters are perfectly formed, and their interactions throughout the film do not seem forced but feel as though they've been friends and colleagues for years - except for Winston, who fits in well as the new guy who gets caught up in the storm. The hardest character for me to believe this time around was Dana Barrett (Sigourney Weaver) - she comes off as too cold and simple, and misses some of the finer touches of a well-defined character.

On the big screen, I noticed some interesting details that I had never seen before. In the kitchen scene (when the eggs cook on the counter), a bag of Stay Puft Marshmallows can be seen on the counter. Later, when panning the city skyline, a billboard for Stay Puft Marshmallows can be seen on the side of a building. Although these details are largely unnoticed, they subtly set the stage for the climactic appearance Gozer the Destructor in the form of The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

To say that I grew up on this film (and its many franchises) would be a gross understatement - I just recently got the video game for Wii, fulfilling a life long dream of blasting ghosts! I look forward to watching this movie again and again, through its fiftieth anniversary, and warmly embracing any new additions to the series.