Movies you should know

Today's movies that you should know are two that have been on my mind lately...don't know why. My mind is an extremely random place. One is from the 90's and is a horror comedy while the other is an action-adventure flick from the 80's...both lost to obscurity. Shall we begin?



The Frighteners

This is one of those movies that Hollywoodland clearly had NO idea what to do with. Yet it has only gotten better with age.

Directed by Peter Jackson before he found RING power and produced by Robert Zemeckis before he found the Anti-Christ created mo-cap method, this is a horror movie slash extremely black comedy with a still in top form Michael J. Fox.

Fox plays Frank Bannister a man who can see spirits and uses it to his advantage. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. The reality is that Frank was a once budding architect who has been utterly wrecked by a tragedy that occurred in his past and that has altered his perception quite literally. He starts seeing a Grim Reaper-like figure that is killing people and has been for quite some time. But things aren't always as fantastic as they seem. Turns out, this town has some demons in it's closet and one of them is a serial killer. Without giving anything away, let's just say that things aren't what they appear and everything is connected.

It's a different sort of movie. Part fun, part serious, part kooky, and part oft-humor, it's an entertaining roller coaster ride of genre's, notions, and emotions. From any one moment you could laugh and then shriek or even groan in sadness when something bad happens. At one point you could write Frank off as a hack but then you'll see him risk life and limb for someone he barely knows and therefore can't help but root for the guy.

From any angle, you could totally tell that this was a hard movie to sell. But like so many good movies that are tough sells, this one was marketed POORLY. So while more people should have seen it and be aware of it, it pretty much tanked at the box office and was mostly forgotten. Apparently the studio loved the movie...that's great, but when you advertise your movie like this:

You do no one any favors.

Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins


I'm not going to post the trailer for Remo Williams because it frankly doesn't do it justice. Instead I'm going to opt to play one of the major things that makes this movie so amazing, and that's the score:

You have to go to about 55 seconds in to get to the coolness.

Oh all right, here's the trailer. But it won't really do you any favors...you'll have to read my pseudo-review after that in order to properly understand:

So Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins is a story about a cop and ex-war veteran who is violently recruited (unwillingly) by such a top-secret Government unit that is so secret less than a handful of people know about it, allowing them to operate with such impunity and secrecy to make them nearly untouchable. They give him the alias Remo Williams and even go so far as having his face reconstructed via plastic surgery. He is then handed over to a Yoda-like martial arts expert (named Chiun) who will instruct him in how to become the perfect assassin. 

The movie is based on the Destroyer series of novels that I have never read so I can't comment on (although I do intend to read at least one of them someday). It was set-up to be franchise (hence the Adventure Begins subtitle) but didn't do to well at the box-office. Yet someone upstairs still wanted the story to go somewhere so a Pilot for a TV show was made but again, never went anywhere.

It's a damn shame the movie never got a sequel because it's damn entertaining. It's pulpy and FUN. The character of Remo is a total everyday dude that just wants to kick back with a beer and watch football. However, he's paired with Chiun (played by Joel Grey who earned a Golden Globe Nom for this role) who is of the utmost disciplined nature and a total ball buster. Their unique relationship which goes from reluctant trainee and dissatisfied teacher to an almost father and son bond is equally hilarious as it is enjoyable to watch. The characters are really what make this movie stand-out from the normal 80's action-flick we are used to. 

That AND the awesome score and set-pieces.