The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) ****

What are the things that we value in a good movie? The list includes good cinematography, good acting, a riveting, believable story, and special effects good enough to seem real and allow us to forget that we are watching a movie. How then to explain the phenomenon of Cult Classics, movies that are beloved by a vocal minority despite lacking most of those qualities?

“The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension“ (usually shortened to “Buckaroo Banzai“) is a Cult Classic in every sense of the term, sporting laughable special effects, a disjointed narrative, and over-the-top performances by unknown actors and stars alike. While loved by its adherents (myself included), the film is totally unfit for a mass audience. Show this to a normal girl on a first date, and there will not be a second date! The sad thing is that this isn’t even necessarily a “low-budget” film. To put this in perspective, the first Star Wars movie was made in 1977 for $11 million, and “Return of the Jedi” in 1982 cost roughly $33 million. Modern-day sci-fi classic “District 9” cost $30 million in 2009. These are all slick-looking, well-produced sci-fi films. “Buckaroo Banzai,” with a budget of 12 million 1983 dollars, is a complete mess. And yet, like an abused lover, I can’t help loving it.

The titular hero, Buckaroo Banzai (Peter Weller), is a mild-mannered polymath, a leading neurosurgeon, physicist, racecar driver, and rock star. World-famous due to a series of comic books based on his exploits, Banzai has a loose, worldwide network of friends and short-wave radio operators who help him in his battles with evil. He surrounds himself, Doc Savage-style, with a small team of gun-toting Renaissance-men who also make up his rock band.

What can I say about the plot? There is one, but it is so bizarre, and the film is edited so poorly, that it takes a long time to figure out what is going on. Basically, the Earth gets caught in the middle of a fight between two alien species. The more warlike species, the Red Lectroids, are secretly exiled on earth. When Buckaroo Banzai makes news by crossing into the 8th dimension and back, the Red Lectroids decide to steal his invention and use it to get back to their home planet, where they plan to destroy the Black Lectroids. When the Black Lectroids get wind of all this, they give Buckaroo Banzai an ultimatum: Stop the Red Lectroids, or the earth will be destroyed in order to prevent their escape.

As I said, it takes a long time for that plot to come together, and meanwhile the audience is treated to a series of slapped-together scenes that don’t make much sense. They are, however, hilarious if you just relax and enjoy the ride. Peter Weller plays a great straight-man as Buckaroo Banzai, while a bunch of bizarre characters and events revolve around him. John Lithgow is delightfully manic as a scientist whose brain has been possessed by one of the Red Lectroids. Jeff Goldblum struts around in a ridiculous cowboy outfit. Christopher Lloyd plays a Red Lectroid named John Bigboote (emphasis on the last letter). Ellen Barkin sports a dreadful haircut but still manages to be sexy as hell.

Eventually, the whole thing turns into a slap-happy space-Western. Everyone in the film appears to be having a fabulous time. If you can put aside your usual expectations of a comprehensible narrative, then you’ll have a good time, too!

1 or 4 stars out of 5, depending on how you look at it.

Roman Holiday (1953) ****

Anyone who wants to understand the allure of Audrey Hepburn need only watch “Roman Holiday,” the movie that made her a star. With her refined, elfin features and devastating smile, there isn’t a man alive who wouldn’t want her for his girlfriend. Hepburn is so charming in this film that as a Hollywood newcomer she won the Best Actress Oscar for the role.

Hepburn plays Princess Ann, a bored royal who accidentally escapes from her handlers while on a diplomatic mission in Rome. She is befriended by a handsome American, Joe (Gregory Peck), who recognizes her, but pretends to believe her story of being a student who slipped out of school. Joe convinces her to enjoy her freedom by spending the day in Rome with him and his friend Irving (Eddie Albert). Little does Ann know that Joe and Irving are actually a reporter/photographer team, secretly documenting Ann’s adventures around Rome for what they hope will be a scandalous, exclusive story.

Gregory Peck, Eddie Albert, and Albert’s smooth-looking beard are all excellent, although Peck has to stretch a bit to play a money-hungry reporter. (Somehow I doubt that Peck ever played a real villain.) It is Audrey Hepburn who makes the film, however. She just lights up the screen. This is not the deepest character, but Hepburn lends real humanity and dignity to Ann while displaying some decent physical comedy chops.

Ultimately, “Roman Holiday” is a fun little comedy about Duty, about people paying the price to do what they know is right. It’s an odd mixture, but it works.

4 stars

Withnail and I (1987) ****

“Withnail and I” is sort of a British “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.” It’s the story of a couple of absolute reprobates drinking and drugging away their youths in a filthy London flat. Having dirtied every single dish in the house, and faced with the possible and unsurprising presence of vermin in the kitchen, the two decide that a vacation is in order. They secure the use of a country house from Withnail’s uncle Monty and embark on a hilarious weekend in which they display their complete unsuitability to exist anywhere outside of the city. Dealing with a wood stove, cooking for themselves, and negotiating muddy trails is entirely outside of their skill set, and the pair are saved only by the appearance of Withnail’s uncle.

It is never clear whether Withnail and Marwood are gay, but Monty certainly is, and the dirty old man takes an aggressive shine to Marwood. His advances border on the criminal, and the boys are ultimately forced to retreat back to the city.

I’ve been seeing a lot of British stuff lately, and “Withnail and I” may be the Britishest. It definitely isn’t for everyone, but I found it hilarious. Withnail (Richard E. Grant) is the most incorrigible character, completely oblivious to consequences, and always full of good/bad ideas. Owing to the English accents, the dialogue can be hard to follow, but even if you only catch half of what is said, it’s still twice as funny as most of what is out there. I highly recommend checking it out.

4 stars out of 5

Hellboy (2004) ***

The thing about comic-book movies is that most of them suck. They are assembled by committee to appeal to the lowest common denominator of the PG-13 universe. Still, the nerd inside me wants these movies to be good, so if there is any chance of a comic-book movie being worthwhile, I will usually check it out. Sometimes it’s a complete disaster, like “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.” Sometimes the product is brilliant, as with the X-Men movies. “Hellboy” fell somewhere in between for me, although probably more on the positive side overall.

I think the key to enjoying this movie is to just go with it. The bizarre premise is that the Russian sorcerer and advisor to the Czar, Rasputin, is not dead, but lives on through the power of some multi-dimensional, Cthulhu-like, destruction god. During one failed attempt to bring his god into our world during WWII, Rasputin instead brings over a baby demon with a stone hand. When Rasputin and the Nazis are foiled by Allied troops, the demon falls into the hands of an American paranormal expert. Instead of being raised to help bring about the end of the world, he is raised by a loving father and trained to save the world from various paranormal threats. Hellboy (Ron Perlman), along with a centuries-old, bibliophile fish-man, lives in a secret government facility, brought out Ghostbuster-style to fight the occasional demon, and sneaking out from time to time to visit his pyrokinetic girlfriend, Liz(Selma Blair). Meanwhile, Rasputin hasn’t given up his plans for Hellboy and his tentacled god.

“Hellboy” would be an absolute disaster if it weren’t for some excellent performances, particularly on the part of Ron Perlman as the cigar-smoking, gruff, stone-fisted Hellboy. He lends a world-weary humor and humanity to the character that allows the ridiculous plot to be fun rather than stupid. Rupert Evans is not particularly interesting as the government agent trying to learn to manage Hellboy, but the rest of the cast provides more than adequate support. Jeffrey Tamboor is his usual crackling self, and Selma Blair actually exudes enough sarcasm to hold her own with Perlman. Actually, one of the best performances comes from a guy named Ladislav Beran, playing a clockwork, Nazi assassin who doesn’t say a word, but moves in the creepiest way possible.

“Hellboy” doesn’t elevate the comic-book movie as a genre, but it does show how the genre looks when it is done right.

3 stars

Limitless (2011) *** ½

Within 60 seconds of the start of “Limitless” I was asking, “Did David Fincher direct this?” Turns out it was a guy named Neil Burger, but he is clearly influenced by Fincher movies like “Fight Club” and “Phone Booth.” I mean that as a compliment. “Limitless” is not quite up to the level of “Fight Club,” but it has that kinetic, intelligent action feel.

Bradley Cooper plays Eddie Morra, a failing writer who stumbles into a stash of experimental, intelligence-enhancing pills. The results are astounding. Not only can he recall everything he has ever seen or heard and synthesize all that data into useful conclusions; his writer’s block is completely cured, and the drug improves his ambition and confidence. Eddie cleans up his apartment, writes a bestseller, then moves on to the stock market. The future is wide open, but other people want the drug, too, and then of course there are the side effects…

The thing about watching “Limitless” is that it makes you feel smart, kind of like watching a porno makes a guy feel well-hung. It’s the opposite of what you would expect, but it happens, and it just adds to the fun. Otherwise, the movie is edge-of-your-seat thrilling, with excellent performances all around. I have to admit that I have been a bit slow to get on the Bradley Cooper train. I guess I just think the guy looks like he would be a dick. I’m ready to declare myself a fan, though, because he is excellent in “Limitless.”

As enjoyable as “Limitless” is, the plot is not quite as tight as it should be. The “big twist” is something you see coming from miles away. Also there are a couple of scenes that strain credulity to the breaking point, such as when Eddie gets a much-needed dose of the medication by drinking the blood of a crook who is on the drug. The final scene also felt a bit off; not bad enough to ruin the movie, but it wasn’t up to the level of the rest of the film. Still, it’s a fun ride, and a vicarious look at what it might be like if you could unlock the full potential of your brain.

3.5 stars out of 5

Never Let Me Go (2010) ****

“Never Let Me Go” is a science fiction story of sorts set in an alternate present that is different from ours only in that the science of organ and tissue transplantation has been perfected so that it is widely used to greatly extend and improve most people’s lives. To meet the demand for organs, cloned human beings are created and raised in special schools so that their organs can be harvested when they reach adulthood. This heartbreaking film is their story.

The tale starts with Kathy (Carey Mulligan), Tommy (Andrew Garfield), and Ruth (Keira Knightley) as children. They have no idea that their life in a boarding school is any different from anyone else’s reality. They just know that they are never allowed off the school grounds, and that a couple of times a year a truckload of used toys, books, and clothes is brought around…a very exciting time for them. Kathy and Tommy develop a natural bond and seem destined for young love, but Kathy’s jealous friend, Ruth, steps in and makes Tommy her boyfriend first. Locked in this unyielding love triangle, the three grow into young adults, and the time approaches for them to start making the organ “donations” that will weaken and then kill them.

Interestingly, the young clones never openly question their status as cattle. They are allowed to wander freely, but none seem to attempt to escape their surgical fate. Still, their yearning for a human identity comes out in various ways, such as their widespread desire to find their “original,” the person from whose genes they were cloned. There is also a widespread myth among the clones that if a young couple can prove that they are truly in love with each other, they will be given a deferral of a few years to live together before beginning their donations.

As a young woman, Kathy is given the job of a “carer,” a clone whose donation time is delayed while they help other clones recover from their operations. This system presumably helps maximize the number of healthy organs that can be used from each clone before they die. In this job, Kathy is reunited with her old friends Tommy and Ruth, both weakened from organ removals, and the three get a chance to resolve some of the issues of their youthful friendship against the bitter backdrop of their foreshortened adult lives.

The question that immediately comes to mind is, “How can people allow a system like this to exist?” The answer, of course, is to look at slavery or segregation. Seemingly good people will do incredible ethical acrobatics to justify to themselves an arrangement that benefits them. In “Never Let Me Go” we eventually learn that there was initially some public outcry against the cloning, but that the public was so pleased with the health benefits of the transplants that such resistance eventually subsided. Meanwhile, one would think that the clones would try to escape their fate, but it seems that a lifetime of being told what their place is keeps them quiescent enough.

“Never Let Me Go” is an atypical sci-fi movie, set as it is in a gray, quaint, recent-past England, but parallels can be drawn to “Bladerunner.” Like the replicants in “Bladerunner,” the clones are created for the uses of others, and they face an untimely death surrounded by an uncaring world. Their desperate efforts to love and live as much as they can in the little time they have, and to make some sense of their cruelly short lives is, of course, a mirror of our own struggles. In the joy, regrets, bitterness, and even acceptance of Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth we see our own lives.

“Never Let Me Go” is a wonderfully made, well-acted film. It isn’t something to watch if you are looking for a barrel of laughs, but when you are ready for a thought-provoking drama, this is one to check out.

4 stars out of 5

The Trip (2011) ****

The thing you need to know about Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon is that they are beloved comic actors in the U.K., and have frequently worked together. As such, they often play off of their own public personas in their work, presumably exaggerating and playing off the public perception of Coogan as a bit of a self-important jerk, and of Brydon as the humbler, long-suffering friend. I have no idea what these two would be like in real life, but in “The Trip” they play these stylized versions of themselves as they travel around the English countryside, trying out country restaurants for an article Coogan is supposedly writing.

No need to worry too much about the plot of “The Trip,” because the important part here is all the little things that happen on the journey itself. The conversations, jokes, and songs that pass between these two had me rolling, and you can tell that much of it is improvised. In one particularly brilliant scene, the two bicker over their competing Michael Caine impressions (with Rob Brydon clearly the winner to my ear.) There are also some very poignant insights, as in this exchange:

Brydon: “Don’t you find it exhausting chasing and bedding all these young women?”
Coogan: “Don’t you find it exhausting taking care of a baby?”
Brydon: “We’re forty; everything is exhausting.”
Long silence.

As much as I loved “The Trip,” it is clearly not for everyone. It is very talky, very British, very dry. It’s the sort of thing you will like, if you like this sort of thing.

4 stars

Starter for 10 (2006) ***

“Starter for 10” is weighed down by the worst title since “The Forty-Year-Old Virgin.” Outside of that, it’s a charming, if formulaic, romantic comedy.

James McAvoy plays Brian, a lad from a working class, Essex family who gets an opportunity to attend a prestigious London university. Essex is sort of the New Jersey of England, so he’s a bit lost in the big city at first, but he quickly adapts. He joins the school’s University Challenge team, which is a quiz competition where the best teams compete on TV. Brian also finds himself vacillating between two gorgeous girls. The first is a lanky hippy named Rebecca (Rebecca Hall) and the other is a posh, blond bombshell with a thing for dangerous men named Alice (Alice Eve). While these beauties distract Brian from his academic goals, his thuggish Essex buddy Spencer (Dominic Cooper) shows up at college to explain that he may have to go to jail for theft and fraud.

If you can’t guess what happens next, then I’m not gonna tell you, but the main weakness of “Starter for 10” is that every plot twist is completely predictable for anyone who has seen a couple of movies before. For such a well-acted movie, it couldn’t be more formulaic. There are the meet-cute scenes. There are a couple of classic, running headlong through the university campus scenes. There’s even some older-people-naked humor, a staple of British comedy.

Other than having a plot that is exactly the same as every other romantic comedy/coming-of-age movie, “Starter for 10” is quite enjoyable. The jokes are good, the acting is excellent all around, and the lead actresses are very easy on the eyes. It’s a British movie, but the accents are mostly understandable, and really the only thing standing between this movie and an American audience is the title, which I think refers to something the quiz show announcer might say.

3 stars

Paul (2011) ***

In “Paul,” nerdy, British comic/sci-fi fans Graeme (Simon Pegg) and Clive (Nick Frost) take their dream vacation to the U.S. to visit Comic-Con, then RV around to different fabled UFO sites. Near a place called the Black Mailbox, they encounter an actual alien, escaped from a government base. The alien, Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen), hitches a ride, and the trio find themselves running from government agents (Jason Bateman, Bill Hader, Joe Lo Truglio), rednecks, and the crazy father of a girl (Kristen Wiig) whom they accidentally abduct.

I think the key to watching “Paul” is having reasonable expectations. I saw some negative reviews of the movie, and I think those folks may have suffered from looking at the awesome cast list (see above) and thinking, “Whoa! Best. Comedy. Ever!” “Paul” is clearly not the best comedy ever, although with that cast, you couldn’t be blamed for expecting a bit more than you get with this movie. Nick Frost and Simon Pegg wrote it, and it must be said that their script is a rather straightforward, sophomoric, ’80’s-style alien comedy. The all-star comedic cast is so good, however, that the movie is still highly entertaining. The film relies a bit too heavily on bathroom and stoner humor as well as non-stop homages to sci-fi films past, but at the end of the evening it’s a pretty good time. The one caveat is that the portrayal of Kristen Wiig’s character and her father as creepy, fundamentalist Christians is typically over-the-top and will probably offend a lot of people of faith.

There isn’t much more to say about “Paul.” No new ground is broken here. This is a formulaic, but fun comedy with a great cast. Don’t expect the moon, and you won’t be disappointed.

3 stars

Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001) **

Netflix’s “watch it now” feature is almost as bad as cable for inducing a person to re-watch movies of questionable worth. You know what I’m talking about. You flop down on the couch, pull up the menu, and you’re like, “Hey, ‘Meet the Fockers’ is about to start.” Next thing you know you’ve lost 2 precious hours of your life. “Watch it Now” does the same thing to me. Just this year I have suckered myself into re-watching “Ghostbusters” and “The Running Man,” and now I can add “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” to the list.

Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) are the stoner characters who loitered outside the convenience store in “Clerks,” then showed up in the next few Kevin Smith movies, including “Mallrats” and “Chasing Amy.” They are really hilarious in small doses, but the fact that these guys are essentially the comic relief in movies that are already comedies should tell you something about how broadly drawn they are. I found that an entire movie about these characters is a bit too silly for me.

The story is that Jay and Silent Bob learn that their old friend Banky (Jason Lee’s character from “Chasing Amy”) is making a movie based on them and their pot-dealing exploits. The pair initially want to get some money out of the deal, but when they get a look at the negative internet comments circulating about them (“These guys are too stupid to live.” “F--- Jay and Silent Bob. F--- them in their stupid a-----s!”) they decide to try to stop the movie, hoping to silence the internet name-calling. What follows is a wacky road trip as the guys hitchhike from New Jersey to Hollywood, hooking up along the way with Shannon Elizabeth and her gang of hot babe heist artists, including Eliza Dushku wearing all the blue eye shadow in the world. The movie features cameos from a ton of characters from the previous Kevin Smith movies, which is fairly fun, but there are too many instances of winking at the camera to let us know they are in on the joke.

“Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” has some laughs, but never reaches the level of Kevin Smith’s better films. What fun there is here is strictly for Kevin Smith fans who have seen his other films, and I definitely wouldn’t recommend sitting down for a second viewing.

2 stars out of 5