Film Review: E.T.: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982)

Director: Steven Spielberg
Writers: Melissa Mathison
Running Time: 115 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): U

Genre: Adventure/Drama/Family
UK Release Date: 9^th December 1982

Watched on Sky+ Friday 20^th July 2012.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

A film I have seen many times before, I decided to give it another viewing for old time’s sake. I had forgotten just how compelling a storyteller Spielberg can be; by the time you get to the final third you’re totally engaged with the characters and find yourself completely enthralled! That’s not to say there aren’t a few flaws here and there, but still a very worthy watch. Here’s a brief summary before I give you my thoughts.

When an extra-terrestrial (E.T.) becomes stranded on Earth, he befriends a young boy, Elliott. At first he can’t communicate but Elliott takes him into his home and looks after him. He has to tell his older brother, Michael, and his younger sister, Gertie also finds out about him. Elliott and E.T. develop a kind of symbiotic relationship where Elliott can feel what E.T. feels (particularly funny when E.T. finds some beer). This cannot last because E.T. knows he can’t survive for long on Earth for too long, he has to go home. To this end he constructs a kind of radio… but is it too late? The authorities are closing in and E.T.’s health is beginning to fail! I guess I’d better leave it there of the Spoiler police will have me scanning the airways for signs of intelligent alien life (again).

The thing that struck me as I sat down to watch this film was, although I’ve seen it several times before, I never realised just how good the musical score, by John Williams, was. I’m not just talking about the well known themes, it goes without saying that these are epic, I’m on about the much quieter themes, particularly at the beginning of the film, they are very subtle, but fit the on-screen action perfectly.

It’s not a film with any great performances, although everyone did a pretty good job; Henry Thomas as Elliott was pretty annoying at times, but it has to be said, he was also pretty good at the emotional stuff. Dee Wallace as Mary, the mother, did a pretty good job, as did Robert MacNaughton as Michael. Also worthy of note was Peter Coyote as the government agent, Keys; although he didn’t have an awful lot to do he did it pretty well. For me, the star of the show was a very young Drew Barrymore, who was quite adorable as Gertie.

I said earlier there were a few flaws which, for me anyway, prevented this film getting a higher score. One of these was the design of E.T.; yes I know he’s quite iconic now but I always felt it looked like a small man in a plastic suit. He’s also far too cute. The other thing that lets it down a bit is the CGI, I know it’s only really used in a couple of scenes and the technology was in its infancy back then, but I’m afraid modern equipment does show it’s limitations. As far as the story, the production and the direction of the film goes, all top notch and well worthy of all the praise it’s got over the years. And even with these ‘flaws’, as I’ve called them it’s still well worth the couple of hours it takes to watch!... RECOMMENDED.

My Score 8.4/10

IMDb Score: 7.9/10 (based on 155,657 votes at the time of going to press).
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0083866/

MetaScore: 94/100: (Based on 26 critic reviews provided by Metacritic.com at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Tomatometer’ Score: 98/100 (based on 92 reviews counted at the time of going to press).

Rotten Tomatoes ‘Audience’ Score: 65/100 ‘Liked It’ (based on 30,829,669 user ratings counted at the time of going to press).
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/et_the_extraterrestrial/

If you’re crazy enough… You can find me on Facebook at:
http://facebook.com/andy.steel3

FAVOURITE QUOTES:
Michael: Maybe it was an iguana.
Elliot: It was *no* iguana.
Michael: Maybe, um - You know how they say there are alligators in the sewers?
Gertie: Alligators in the sewers.
Mary: All we're trying to say is, maybe you just probably imagined it. It happened...
Elliot: I couldn't have imagined it!
Michael: Maybe it was a pervert or a deformed kid or something.
Gertie: A deformed kid.
Michael: [mockingly] Maybe an elf or a leprechaun.
Elliot: It was nothing like that, penis-breath!
Mary: [laughs in shock] *Elliot!* Sit down.

Michael: [as Yoda] You have absolute power! Yes!

Elliott: I'm keeping him.

E.T.: E.T. phone home.

Michael: We're all going to die and they're never going to give me my license!

Elliot: He's a man from outer space and we're taking him to his spaceship.
Greg: Well, can't he just beam up?
Elliot: This is *reality*, Greg.

LINKS:
(Note: All were working at the time of going to press)
Official Site: http://www.universalstudiosentertainment.com/et-the-extra-terrestrial/
Trailer:

Film Review: SCREAM (1996)

Director: Wes Craven
Running time: 107 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 18

Genre: Horror/Mystery/Thriller
UK Release date: 2nd May 1997

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 28th May 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I have been recently reading a lot of reviews of the latest film in this series, Scream 4. Now, for one reason or another I have never seen any of the ‘Scream’ films before… well not all the way through anyway. Time to change that I thought and so here we are with the first one, Scream. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would, it doesn’t take itself all that seriously and there’s an awful lot more humour than I expected.

We open with a mysterious voice calling up a girl called Casey, who is home alone about to watch a scary movie. She tries to blow him off but he is persistent and eventually begins to creep her out. Things don’t end too well for Casey, or her boyfriend, Steve, after a masked assailant has finished with them. We then switch to another girl, Sidney, her mother had been murdered almost a year ago and her father is about to leave on a business trip. All the talk the next day at school is about the murder and on returning home Sidney receives a call from a man with a mysterious voice. She isn’t so easily scared, but still she is attacked by the same masked assailant. Having fought him off, her boyfriend, Billy turns up just before Deputy Dewey. Having found a cell phone on him, Dewey arrests Billy and Sidney goes to stay the night with Dewey’s sister, Tatum. As time goes by the bodies begin to mount up and this attracts the media, particularly ambitious reporter, Gale Weathers. It’s only a matter of time before Sidney is to be the next on the list, and anyway, there’s a score to settle and an awful lot of suspects.

This made a refreshing change for me, a horror film that doesn’t take itself too seriously but at the same time has all the scares and shocks of a more serious one. I liked it! Decent performances all round; Neve Campbell did a good job as Sidney, as did Skeet Ulrich as Billy. Also of note were Courteney Cox as Gale Weathers, David Arquette as Deputy Dewey and Matthew Lillard as Stuart. Also nice cameos from Drew Barrymore as Casey, Wes Craven very briefly appeared as Fred the Janitor and Henry Winkler as Principal Arthur Himbry.

There is a great soundtrack too, including an interesting acoustic rendition of ‘Don’t Fear the Reaper’ when Sidney and Billy are first seen on screen together (very nicely done). I suspect, unfortunately, that the other films in the series may not live up to this rather good beginning, but we shall see… If you haven’t seen it, it’s definitely worth a viewing, even if you’re not really a fan of teen horrors (like me)… Final verdict: Recommended.

My Score: 7.5/10

LINKS:
(RT = Rotten Tomatoes)
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0117571/
RT Page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1074316-scream/
Trailer:

Film Review: WHIP IT (2009)

Director: Drew Barrymore
Running Time: 107 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12A

Genre: Drama/Comedy/Sports
UK Release Date: 7th April 2010

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 16th April 2010.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

I have been wanting to see this one for a while, I was interested to see just how Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut would turn out. Not too bad is the answer, a little rough around the edges, but not a bad first effort all in all. It’s entertaining, very funny, in places, and I found it a laudable effort. Here’s a brief summary before I give you my thoughts (summary haters, and those that don’t wish to know about the plot, please lace up those skates while I write the next paragraph).

Bliss Cavendar is a teenage girl living in Bodeen, a small town in Texas. Her mother, Brooke, encourages her to take part in beauty pageants, but you can tell her heart isn’t really in it. She works at a diner with her friend Pash and one night they decide to go out to a Roller Derby in Austin. They discover the team are having try-outs and so Bliss decides to give it a go. She’s under age and so tells them that she’s 21. At first she’s not very good, but with practice she gets better. Of course she has to lie to her parents about where she’s going and what she’s doing. All the players have pseudonyms and Bliss chooses ‘Babe Ruthless’ as her moniker. She eventually gets good enough to take part in a match and, after a baptism of fire, she soon finds her feet. Their coach, Razor, discovers that Bliss is a very good player; she’s small, agile and can score them lots of points… If only he could get them to use his playbook! Eventually it comes down to the play-off game and Bliss must face her nemesis, Iron Maven. Add to this the turmoil at home and a love interest, a boy from a band, Oliver, (of course there’s got to be a love story) and that’s a potted version of the film. No more, or the Spoiler Police will be after me.

I really enjoyed this one, yes, it’s a bit rough around the edges, but you can see they had a lot of fun making it. The performances are all very good, especially Ellen Page as Bliss and Marcia Gay Harden as her mother Brooke Cavendar, both were very good. Both Kristen Wiig as Maggie Mayhem and Drew Barrymore as Smashley Simpson did a good job as Bliss’s teammates. Also Juliette Lewis put in a good shift as Iron Maven. Honourable mentions go to Alia Shawkat as Pash, Jimmy Fallon as 'Hot Tub' Johnny Rocket, Andrew Wilson as Razor and Landon Pigg (great name!) as Oliver.

Credit goes to all the stunt people, this must have been a tough one to pull off, but they did a very good job. I also enjoyed the soundtrack, some good tracks are used, mostly indie stuff, but if you include ‘Sheena is a Punk Rocker’ by The Ramones then you’re always going to get my vote! It’s not prefect, as I’ve already mentioned, but I did find it pretty entertaining, and so… Recommended.

My Score: 7.9/10

LINKS:
(RT = Rotten Tomatoes)
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt1172233/
RT Page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/whip_it/
Official Site: http://www.foxsearchlight.com/whipit/
Trailer:

Film Review: EVERYBODY’S FINE (2009)

Co-Writer/Director: Kirk Jones
Running time: 96 mins (approx)
Certification (UK): 12A

USA release date: 4th July 2009

Watched on Sky+ Sunday 22nd January 2011.

PLEASE NOTE: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

This is based on the 1990 Giuseppe Tornatore film “Stanno Tutti Bene” which I’ll admit I haven’t seen. It’s has a gentle pace that slowly unfolds the story of a man trying to make a connection with his children after his wife has sadly died. Here’s a very brief summary before I tell you my thoughts (summary haters please look after the garden while I’m away writing the next paragraph – thank you).

Frank Goode is waiting for his children to come and visit. It is the first time the family has all been together since his wife passed away eight months ago. Giving one excuse or another, the children all cancel, but Frank is determined to see them. He doesn’t like flying, and has a lung condition that prevents it anyhow, and so he gets on a train and a bus and goes to see all four of them. They are all in different parts of the United States and so it is quite a trip for a man of his age. The four children are; David, an artist in New York, Amy, an advertising executive, Robert, a musician on tour with an orchestra and Rosie, an actress in Las Vegas. I won’t go into details here, but none of them are telling Frank the entire truth and he soon realises that it’s going to be tougher than he thought to connect with them all.

Although it has quite a slow pace, I don’t mind because it gives the viewer a chance to become invested in the characters, particularly Frank. I love the way that he always sees them as little children rather than the grown-ups that are before him. Great performances all round, particularly from Robert De Niro as Frank; he reminded me what a fine actor he really is. Drew Barrymore did a fine job as Rosie, as did Kate Beckinsale as Amy and Sam Rockwell as Robert. You may think I’ve forgotten the other son, David, well, that’s a mystery I’ll leave for you.

The gentle pace may not be for everyone, I think you have to be in the mood to watch this one, but if you are, it’s worth it. There is a really good pay-off at the end which I found both satisfying and heart-warming. I like the cinematography and it has a very appropriate soundtrack, including a song by Paul McCartney that I haven’t heard before. It’s not perfect and it won’t be to everyone’s taste, but I quite enjoyed it… Recommended.

My score: 7.1/10

LINKS:
(RT = Rotten Tomatoes)
IMDb Page: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0780511/
RT Page: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1211197-everybodys_fine/
Official Site: http://www.everybodysfinemovie.com/
Trailer: http://uk.imdb.com/rg/VIDEO_PLAY/LINK/video/imdb/vi2944533529/