COPYCAT

Siigourney Weaver

COPYCAT (1995). Director: Jon Amiel.

Helen Hudson (Sigourney Weaver), a psychologist who specializes in serial killers, is attacked in a restroom after one of her lectures and nearly killed. Her assailant is Daryll Lee Cullum (Harry Connick, Jr.), who is arrested, but Helen turns into an agoraphobic who is unable to leave her home. In spite of this she assists two detectives -- Monahan (Holly Hunter) and Reuben (Dermot Mulroney) -- in tracking down a new serial killer, Peter (William McNamara), who is copying the crimes of famous monsters such as Son of Son, Jeffrey Dahmer and others. But will Helen survive when the killer comes after her with a plan to fatally reenact her near-death experience in the college restroom?

William McNamara

Copycat could be picked apart for plot holes and illogical moments but it improves as it goes along, building genuine suspense, despite the fact that the killer is revealed early on. Weaver [Prayers for Bobby] is quite good, and although Holly Hunter [The Burning] would hardly be my first choice for playing a homicide detective, she generally acquits herself nicely as well. Mulroney is perfect as her cocky and ill-fated partner; Connick is positively terrific as the slimy and gross Cullum; and McNamara [Dario Argento's Opera] certainly makes a positive impression as the diabolical and sadistic Peter. One of the best sequences in the film has to do with the unexpected death of a major character, and there is an admirable attempt to flesh out these characters as well. This was one of the big 90's films about serial killers that led to such programs as Criminal Minds. However, those programs look into the lives of the victims a lot more than this picture does.

Verdict: Flashy and slick and quite entertaining. ***. 

ALIEN RESURRECTION

Isn't she pretty: an alien-human hybrid

ALIEN RESURRECTION (1997). Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet.

"I used to be afraid to dream, but no more. No matter how bad the dream gets, when I wake up it's worse."

"I should have known -- no human being is that humane."

Hundreds of years after the events of Alien and Alien 3, a crew of rather rambunctious technicians bring a certain sinister cargo to a humongous U.S. military medical research vessel, where the Army has taken over research into the strange alien species that so bedeviled Ripley. The "cargo" turns out to be kidnapped humans who are deliberately exposed to the alien parasite in an attempt to create more monsters that the military can control. But they make one big mistake: when some of the aliens turn against one of their number, tearing it apart, its acid-blood burns through the floor and releases the aliens! Now it's a fight for survival for the cloned Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), who turns out to be part-alien; General Perez (Dan Hedaya); and the technicians, including Call (Winona Ryder); Johner (Ron Perlman of Pacific Rim); Elgyn (Michael Wincott), among others; the nasty Dr. Wren (J. E. Freeman); and the terrified Purvis (Leland Orser of The Guest), who is one of the poor souls with an alien egg implanted within him. Now the ship is about to crash land on earth with all those nasty critters on board! There is not much attempt to create any kind of realistic "future," with the characters using twentieth century slang, and there are other borderline campy moments and dumb dialogue that work against the movie -- no wonder, the screenplay was written by Joss Whedon [Marvel's The Avengers], who did the silly Buffy the Vampire Slayer -- and the pic is terribly cold-blooded to put it mildly, but it is also suspenseful and exciting. The acting is very good from all concerned. Relentlessly downbeat even to the infinitely bleak conclusion. Attempts to create erotic tension between Ripley and the alien queen don't really work.

Verdict: Can't keep those aliens down! ***.

ALIEN 3

Alien checks out Sigourney Weaver

ALIEN 3 (1992). Director: David Fincher. NOTE; This review is of the special expanded edition/assembly cut.

After the end of Aliens, Lt. Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) escaped from LV-426 with the child, Newt, and Corporal Hicks. Unfortunately, it turns out that there was an alien on board, and the ship crash lands on Fury 161, a closed prison planetoid whose inhabitants have chosen to remain on this dismal world. As if she hadn't enough heartbreak, Ripley learns that Newt and Hicks have died, and discovers something even more horrifying about her medical condition. The company is still after a specimen of that dreadful alien species, and nothing else seems to matter, leading Ripley to make a moving sacrifice to save the lives of millions. Not overly loved at the time of its release, and with undeniable flaws, Alien 3 is actually a very good horror sci-fi flick with some excellent performances, interesting psychological elements, and adroit characterizations in the screenplay by Giler, Hill and Ferguson. The supporting characters include the medical officer, Clemens (Charles Dance), who has his own secrets; Dillon (Charles S. Dutton), who has turned the other cons into religious converts; the crazy Golic (Paul McGann), who sort of "bonds" with the alien; Aaron (Ralph Brown), a kind of warden who only wants to get back to his wife and kids; and others, who are vividly brought to life both by the script and the performances. Some creepy and suspenseful sequences as well. Elliot Goldenthal contributed an effective score; a nice touch is the way the 20th Century Fox fanfare at the opening ends on an ominous, sinister and sustained down-note. Followed by Alien: Resurrection.  Fincher also directed Gone Girl and Zodiac.

Verdict: A highly interesting mix of genres and characters with some fine performances. ***1/2.

ALIENS

Sigourney Weaver and Michael Biehn

ALIENS (1986). Director: James Cameron. Extended edition/director's cut.

After the climax of Alien, Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) has drifted in space for 57 years. (In a scene omitted from the theatrical version, we learn Ripley had a daughter who grew up and died while she was away, which intensifies her feelings for the little girl, Newt, that she meets later on.) The powers-that-be, including corporate employee, the slimy Burke (Paul Reiser), first "disbelieve" Ripley, but then they learn that a colony that was established on LV-426, from whence Ripley escaped, is no longer in communication with earth. Stripped of her rank, Ripley is promised a promotion if she returns with Burke, android Bishop (Lance Henriksen), and a contingent of marines to LV-426 to see what's up. Naturally they find a whole host of alien monstrosities, along with the sole survivor, Newt (Carrie Henn), and a monstrous mother queen who is laying more eggs on a regular basis. Unlike the first film and in spite of its sci fi/horror trappings, Aliens is more of a war movie/action film than anything else, but on that level it is extremely exciting, although, as in the first movie, there are too many long scenes of Ripley running and running through smoky corridors. One especially good and scary scene has Ripley and the child discovering that a face-hugger (the creature that wraps itself around your face and deposits a parasite) has gotten into their quarters and they're locked inside with it. The acting from Weaver [Tadpole], Reiser [One Night at McCool's], Henricksen [AVP] and Henn is excellent -- I rarely like Weaver in anything but the Alien movies -- and there are also noteworthy performances from Michael Biehn as Corporal Hicks, William Hope as his commanding officer, Lt. Gorman, and especially Bill Paxton as the overtly cocky but understandably terrified Private Hudson, with some nice work from Jenette Goldstein as the tough, Hispanic Private Vasquez. This vision of the future is already dated, and the movie has several illogical moments, but it is very, very entertaining. Followed by Alien 3.

Verdict: Like quite a few people, the aliens have acid for blood. ***.

VANTAGE POINT

Dennis Quaid, Eduardo Noriega and Richard T. Jones

VANTAGE POINT (2008). Director: Pete Travis.

During a summit on terrorism with western and Arab leaders, the president of the United States (William Hurt of Mr. Brooks) is apparently shot when he addresses the crowd in the square. Moments later there's an explosion. The film then repeatedly goes back in time to show what happened just before, during and after the crisis from the viewpoint of several different characters: secret service agent Thomas Barnes (Dennis Quaid of Legion); tourist Howard Lewis (Forest Whitaker); a mother and her little girl; and others. Eventually the details of the plot are revealed, as well as its architect and the traitor who is helping the conspirators. Richard T. Jones and Matthew Fox are other agents; Eduardo Noriega is a man caught up in the conspiracy; and Sigourney Weaver [Death and the Maiden] is a news director. Vantage Point holds the attention and is an interesting idea, but it doesn't have any real resonance.

Verdict: Okay thriller with some suspense. **1/2.

ALIEN [2003] "DIRECTOR'S CUT"

The crew of the Nostromo make an amazing discovery -- but things get worse.

ALIEN (1979). Director: Ridley Scott.

"This place gives me the creeps."

When Twentieth-Century Fox re-released Alien, they asked director Ridley Scott to prepare a new version incorporating footage that had been excised when the film was first released. Scott complied, but had always liked the original cut, and found the new cut to be too long and lumbering. So he did a final edit and came out with an alternate version that was a minute shorter than the original. But any way, you slice it, this is Alien, and it's good.

The crew of the Nostromo are awakened early by what they assume is a distress signal and land on a foreboding, stormy planet wherein they discover a derelict spaceship with a dead economy-sized navigator [see photo]. In the bowels of the derelict ship they find a mass of strange eggs, one of which unleashes a creature that attaches itself to the faceplate of crewman Kane (John Hurt). Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is concerned about admitting Kane to the ship due to possible contamination -- it turns out she's right to be concerned -- but compassion overrides directives and Kane is taken to the medical center. From then on it's a mounting spiral of horror as the alien creature proves to be deadly and nearly unkillable. Alien admirably sustains tension throughout and works up a beautifully creepy atmosphere. The acting is good, with the ladies Weaver and Veronica Cartwright (who was in The Birds as a child) taking top honors. H. R. Giger's biomechanical alien design is intriguing and the film has superior art direction and scenic design. Dramatic license allows for the sounds of explosions and so on in space even if the ads claimed "In space no one can hear you scream." Jerry Goldsmith's musical score is a plus.

New scenes include one in which Cartwright gives Weaver a smack in the face and calls her a bitch. And one late in the movie when Ripley comes across cocoons containing some of the crew members, and toasts Captain Dallas (Tom Skerritt) when he begs her to kill him.

Alien was an influential movie, even as it was itself influenced [in script, incident, and design] by such B movies as It, the Terror from Beyond Space! and Mario Bava's Planet of the Vampires. It was followed by Aliens. In 2012 Ridley Scott made a prequel entitled Prometheus.

Verdict: Very well-dressed and absorbing popcorn movie. ***1/2.

AVATAR

AVATAR (2009). Director: James Cameron.

Wheelchair-bound ex-marine Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) takes the place of his dead twin brother, a scientist, in an unusual mission on the world of Pandora. The Omitacaga people, the indigenous natives of Pandora, have made their home right on top of a generous supply of oil -- uh, I mean, "unobtanium," a rare element-- and the company that wants this element hopes to either get the natives to cooperate and move, or will simply wipe them out if they don't. Jake is one of several people who transfer their minds into artificial life forms [called Avatars] that are a cross between human and native. While in this form Jake bonds with a native woman named Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), and is accepted by her people even as he falls in love with her, her tribe, and the beauty and simplicity of Pandora. But he learns that there are reasons why these natives can never be talked in to leaving their home, and tragedy ensues. Writer/director James Cameron has taken various elements from sword and sorcery epics and melded them to a rather heavy-handed allegory that evokes everything from American treatment of Original People to intervention in Afghanistan. On the plus side the film is well-directed and fast-paced [if definitely overlong, repeating itself and its ideas], and it is full of beautiful images and wonderful FX and photography. [A particularly memorable moment has Jake and Neytiri soaring through the air on pterodactyl-like lifeforms.] On the debit side, Avatar is simplistic, drawn out, and at times there are so many composite FX elements that it just seems like a particularly cluttered, if ingenious, cartoon. Worthington is noteworthy, and there are also good performances from Sigourney Weaver, Giovanni Ribisi, and especially formidable Stephen Lang as the ferocious bad guy who heads the mercenaries.

Verdict: Eye-popping and intriguing for some; tedious for others. **1/2.

TADPOLE

TADPOLE (2002) Director: Gary Winick. Screenplay by Heather McGowan and Niels Mueller.

An intelligent fifteen-year-old who fancies himself more sophisticated than he really is develops an infatuation on his middle-aged stepmother (Sigourney Weaver, pictured) and has little interest in girls his own age. At one point he has sex with his stepmother's forty-ish friend, played by Bebe Neuwirth. When the parents, including father John Ritter, find out about this, they hardly react the way they would in real life, although at least Weaver seems a little bit appalled. She, too, winds up kissing her stepson, although this – fortunately – does not lead to another bedroom scene. In the way of the immature, the boy gets over his crush pretty fast, and the movie is left without a climax or any real resolution. The only point of Tadpole seems to be to present pedophilia – and make no mistake, that's what this is – as an acceptable option to women who can't find sensitive boyfriends their own age. Neuwirth's choice to molest the boy seems determined by the fact that her current beau is not attractive to her [then why is she bothering with the man at all?]. The scene where she rationalizes her actions to Weaver takes place in Central Park near the statues of Alice in Wonderland characters – a rather heavy-handed reference if ever there were one. One can only imagine the outcry this film would have gotten had the youngster been a girl instead of a boy, and if the molester were male. [Or if both adult and child were males!] Despite some good acting [by adult performers who should have known better] and an excellent performance by Aaron Stanford as the boy, this is pseudo-sophisticated pedophilic junk and not memorable at all.

Verdict: Forget it. 1/2*.

PRAYERS FOR BOBBY

PRAYERS FOR BOBBY (2009 telefilm/Lifetime). Director: Russell Mulcahy. Based on a true story. Teleplay by Katie Ford from a book by Leroy Aarons.

Bobby Griffith (Ryan Kelley) comes out to his family in 1979 California, and they all seem to take it well except for his overly religious mother, whose well-meaning but homophobic attitude only adds to his sense of isolation when he sees his boyfriend with another man -- leading to his suicide at 20. Mary Griffith (Sigourney Weaver) makes it her business to learn why not all churches and religionists believe that homosexuality is a sin, and discovers that what she was taught was based on bigotry and distortion. This is a "safe" gay film that, while admirable and well-intentioned, is also a bit patronizing -- and like something made thirty years ago. In one scene at a meeting of PFLAG --Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays -- the parents all talk of how they knew their children were "different." Not only does this help foster stereotypes about the very diverse gay community, but isn't the whole point that gay people aren't different? Although Weaver of the Aliens series is a little self-conscious at first, she eventually manages to give a first-rate performance -- probably the best of her career. Kelley and the rest of the cast are all on target.

Verdict: Gay Lite, perhaps, but not without value. ***.

THE VILLAGE

THE VILLAGE (2004). Director: M. Night Shyamalan.

This tedious film should have been entitled Hoaxes, for the massive hoax that alleged thriller director Shyamalan keeps playing on his audiences. The Sixth Sense was a fairly credible, if derivative, horror film, and Unbreakable, despite its obvious flaws, was at least unusual. Signs was a big shaggy dog story with some tense moments and a really dumb ending. But The Village takes an interesting premise and gets too clever – or rather not clever enough – for its own good. Never has Shyamalan appeared more over-rated than with this picture.

SPOILER ALERT: We're led to believe that this is a period film and that the action takes place in an early American village. The people in the village are afraid to ever leave because they must walk through a wooded area where monsters (”those we don't speak of”) supposedly dwell. Halfway through the film we learn that the monsters were sort of cooked up just to keep people from leaving. At the end of the film – although to most viewers this will come as no surprise – we learn that the story actually takes place in the 21st century (big whoop – hasn't Shyamalan ever heard of the Amish, for instance?) Apparently a group of people who lost loved ones to big city crime were so disheartened that they decided to “drop out” and go back into the “past” and a simpler era. [The fact that there is not a single Black, Hispanic, or Asian person in the village makes us wonder if this is a satire on white flight or merely inherently racist?] At the end there's some dialogue which tells us that the government prevents planes from flying overhead – but why? None of the original “settlers” seem that rich or influential. If some people want to drop out, fine, but why would the government aid or give a damn about them? Even more peculiar is the fact that the character played by William Hurt lets his – get this – blind daughter go off into the woods to get medicine, never giving the poor girl even a hint of what she's going to find when she gets to the other side. The one person chosen to go through the woods is blind? Supposedly compassionate, Hurt's character must be the worst father in the world. There are some eerie, well-directed, if derivative, scenes in the movie, and many others that are simply awkward. Some of the acting is quite stilted, but heroine Bryce Dallas Howard (the blind Ivy) makes a good impression. She and Joaquin Phoenix have a splendid scene wherein they confess their mutual love on a porch. William Hurt has one big moment succumbing to passion and anger in which he is quite good, but otherwise his acting is unimpressive. Sigourney Weaver is miscast but she, too, has her moments. Adrian Brody is excellent as the mentally deficient Noah. A lot of people found this film to be charming and romantic – it does play like a fairy tale – but there just isn't that much to it. Shyamalan had better come up with something better than bad feature-length Twilight Zone episodes if he wants to keep getting financing from the studios. Even if he had simply made a real period piece with settlers fighting off “those we don't speak of,” it would have made a better film than this.

Verdict: The movie is being hyped as being “like the best of Hitchcock.” Don't you believe it! *1/2.

DEATH AND THE MAIDEN

DEATH AND THE MAIDEN (1994). Director: Roman Polanski.

In a country that is probably meant to be Chile, a chance encounter leads a doctor (Ben Kingsley) who possibly tormented and raped a political prisoner (Sigourney Weaver) years ago to her door on the very eve of her husband (Stuart Wilson) being appointed to a commission to track down those guilty of such abuses. Unfortunately, the commission only plans to target people who actually killed their victims, so Weaver is afraid her own tormentor will never be brought to justice. To her husband's consternation, she captures Kingsley and puts him on “trial.” But could Kingsley possibly be innocent as he says? Although this is clearly based on a three-character stage play, Polanski “opens” it up as much as possible, and there are moments of suspense and tension. Unfortunately, much of the picture rests on the shoulders of heroine Weaver, who is simply not up to the challenge. Weaver can be quite effective when she's all “butch” and no-nonsense in those Alien horror films [she was probably cast in this because of the scenes wherein she has to play all tough and menacing] but in more serious movies her limitations are all too obvious. While she does have her moments, to be fair, she is nowhere on the level of the masterful Kingsley, and neither is Wilson. Still, the story is powerful and the ending – in its own quiet way – horrific. This is another illustration of the “banality of evil” and the loathsomeness that can hide behind the surface of the so-called kind and loving family man.

Verdict: Paging a more powerful actress! **1/2.