CS Film Club II

As tempting as the Youtube video looks...coincidentally, I just received Tremors from Netflix, so it looks like Tremors it is.  Although, I might be willing to double up and check out One Cut of the Dead as well, see what all the fuss is about.

I'll scrounge together a list for you soon.

Movies about drugs and drug addicts can be VERY hit or miss for me -- if they're comedies, then more miss than hit -- but I can consider Drugstore Cowboy one of the hits, mainly because director Gus Van Sant's approach to the material. That approach being much more simplistic and straightforward than the majority of other films about similar subjects you're likely to see. Van Sant just puts the focus on the characters rather than trying to employ any fancy filmmaking tricks to stylistically portray the effects of drugs -- something which I'm honestly grateful to him for. Because despite the film having a relatively thin plot, the characters are all interesting enough to carry it. Sure, all of them display a lot of the typical traits/characteristics of people so far down the rabbit hole of addiction, but the performances themselves are always compelling. Matt Dillon's especially feels true to the kind of person someone like his character would be in real life, and I liked how the film didn't shy away from the destructive qualities, of both the outward and inner kind, that drugs bring down on those who use them. And yet, I very much appreciated how Gus Van Sant didn't turn this into another Trainspotting or Requiem for a Dream-style experience, where the stylistic expressions of addiction become too overwhelming to the point of making the film hard to watch. Some story aspects, such as the detective played by James Remar pursuing the gang, didn't strike me as all gthat interesting, but overall, I found Drugstore Cowboy really quite effective in what it set out to do. It's a sobering depiction of addiction that doesn't need to resort to overly stylized directing tricks to get its point across and instead relies on the strength of its characters to do so -- and luckily, these characters (and the film built around them) are mightily effective.

Tremors is a movie I quite honestly was previously in no hurry to see...until a couple of people started going off about how much fun it was. Now having seen it, yeah, I have to agree there. This is very much in the tradition of those old school monster B-movies, and that quality is a large part of what ultimately makes it a success. While my own experience with those kinds of movies is admittedly limited, it's easy to pick up on the love, joy and care that director Ron Underwood and co-writers S.S. Wilson and Brent Maddock have for this genre/type of film. They pour every ounce of that love into the final product, and the result is a movie with an undeniable and infectious sort of cheesy charm. But for as enjoyably goofy as the film can get overall, Tremors also recognizes the value in taking the time to establish genuinely likable and charming characters. It all starts with Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward, who play the two main heroes. They have a good, natural and believable chemistry together that translates to a strong rapport and string of scenes that really highlight their personalities. Bacon in particular is pretty fun here if for no other reason than we're not used to seeing him like this. The rest of the cast is populated by equally memorable and fun characters, and it proves to be a joy watching them interact and figure stuff out together. The movie also spends just the right amount of time highlighting and developing these characters before the monster mania breaks out. And speaking of, the nature of these creatures leads to some pretty inventive set pieces that keep the energy up (no pun intended) and the pace flowing smoothly. I know it's been said many times before, but this really is a well-realized high-concept movie version of The Floor is Lava! Which just adds to the charm of it, in my opinion. Tremors knows exactly what to do and how to do it, and that translates into a movie well worth your time.

I still plan on watching One Cut of the Dead as well, and heck, I'll even throw in Wait Until Dark too.