MIDDLE-AGED MATINEE! #19 - 'RoboCop' (19987)

5/5 Stars

When I was a kid, my parents rented “RoboCop”, probably not knowing just how violent the movie was at the time. Thankfully for them, I understood at a pretty young age that movies were fictional stories and not real. Besides, the violence in “RoboCop” is more than a little over-the-top at times so it’s hard to take it too seriously.

When I originally watched the movie, I was stunned with how violent Alex Murphy’s death was and it stuck with me for many years as I did not know up to that point that a movie could be that violent. Overall, though, I ended up watching a movie that I’ve loved for decades.

Peter Weller plays the ill-fated Alex Murphy, a cop that is transformed into RoboCop by Omni Consumer Products (OCP), a mega corporation that owns the Detroit Police Department. OCP is trying to transform Old Detroit into Delta City, a clean metropolis where citizens can feel safe. But first, they have to clean up the crime on the streets and that is where RoboCop comes into the picture.

Nancy Allen and Peter Weller star as Ann Lewis and RoboCop in 'RoboCop'!

There’s only one hitch. Nancy Allen plays Anne Lewis, Alex Murphy’s former partner and she triggers a memory from when RoboCop was Alex. Soon, RoboCop begins to remember more about his former family and those who killed him, which includes a ruthless gang leader named Clarence Boddicker. This sends RoboCop on a quest to recover his humanity and on a crash course with the very company that built him.

First off, I want to talk about Weller’s stellar performance as RoboCop. When he initially took on the job, he trained for weeks on how RoboCop should move. Unfortunately, the suit Weller had to wear didn’t allow for any of his training to be used and they had to quickly go back to the drawing board to see how he could move in the new suit.

Thankfully, he created a fantastic physical performance in spite of the limitations the suit forced upon him. Also, he had to go from being a devoted cop and family man to an emotionless machine until he began to recover his memories. It’s a balancing act that not many actors can pull off but Weller knocks it out of the part.

Hey, remember that time when RoboCop shot a man in the dick?

Now let us talk about the now iconic RoboCop suit. The costume was designed by special-effects master Rob Bottin and it still looks incredible to this day. I’ve always been especially impressed with the make-up job on Weller after he takes the helmet off later in the movies.

Our primary villains for this piece are Kurtwood Smith as Clarence Boddicker and Ronny Cox as Dick Jones, a senior president at OCP who hates RoboCop because it upended his own project. A project that involved building a massive walking tank known as ED-209. Cox has always been a dependable villain, but I think this may be one of his more sinister roles.

Smith’s Boddicker is the more colorful villain, though, and I feel like he is the true villain of the movie. He is the one that killed Alex Murphy and the one that Alex wants to go after the most once he begins to remember what happened to him.

Kurtwood Smith plays the villainous Clarence Boddicker in 'RoboCop'!

The story has two major plot points. The first is the obvious one of a man who was turned into a machine and is trying to recover his identity. The second is showing a world where consumerism is running rampant with a corporation owning a police force and there are several news segments that show us that not only is Old Detroit in the gutter, but this is also a world where they sell games about nuclear warfare and cars with the shittiest gas mileage.

Sadly, this exaggerated view of unregulated capitalism and corporate greed is still relevant today. Thankfully, while “Wall Street” took a more serious look at this problem, director Paul Verhoeven takes a more satirical look at the topic.

He also does this with the violence in the movie. The action sequences are fantastic and bloody as hell. By upping the violence to a certain degree, you enjoy it but you also can’t take it too seriously. I’m sure some people in the world could and have complained about the amount of violence in this movie, but I say again that the action is well done and more satirical in nature than something to be that is meant to be looked at as real violence.

The movie was a smash when it hit theaters in ‘87 and it was an even bigger smash on home video. It spawned a franchise and while I can recommend the second film also starring Weller, I would say avoid pretty much everything else beyond that. If anything, if you love gritty dystopian sci-fi action, you can’t do much better than “RoboCop”!

MIDDLE-AGED MATINEE! #18 - 'The Matrix' (1999)

5/5 Stars

In 1999, my brother recommended to our dad and me that we rent a movie that had just come out earlier in the year. Dad and I rented “The Matrix” and we were instantly hooked by its cyberpunk appearance, awesome fight choreography, and brilliant storytelling.

The movie follows Thomas Anderson, a hacker who also goes by the alias Neo. He feels like there is something off about his world and this is not helped by the fact that a mysterious group is trying to reveal something to him about said world. The leader of this enigmatic group is Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and eventually Neo meets with him.

Morpheus reveals that the world around Neo is a simulation known as the Matrix. In the real world, humans are in pods where they are harvested for their bioelectric energy for the AI Machines that overthrew humanity decades, maybe even centuries ago. Morpheus pulled Neo out because he believes that Neo is “The One”, a man prophesied to bring about the destruction of the Matrix in order to free humanity.

Carrie-Ann Moss and Keanu Reeves prepare to fight against the Machines in 'The Matrix'!

That is if they can escape the Sentinels in the real world and the Agents in the Matrix. The Agents are programs built to hunt down those who know the truth and are part of the human resistance outside of the Matrix. The most sinister of these is Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving), a program that actually hates humanity and being in the Matrix. He believes if he can find a way to stop the Resistance, then he’ll be freed from the simulation himself.

25 years later, this movie still holds up, though I will admit that the soundtrack does date it somewhat. The special-effects are surprisingly still good and it is all helped by the fast paced choreography of the action scenes. Of course, to anyone who has seen this movie, who can forget “bullet time”?

Apparently, Neo can dodge bullets in 'The Matrix'!

This effect, where time slows down to a crawl and you can see the ripple-effect of bullets flying through the air, impressed filmmakers so much that it was featured in other movies, video games, and commercials. It was even parodied in the first “Scary Movie” film in 2000. We’ve since gotten over the effect, but its impact was very real at the time.

The Wachoskis created a film that was also a thinking person’s film. It made us question the very nature of our reality and what it means to be human. The movie has philosophical underpinnings, but thankfully we weren’t beaten over the head with these themes like we were in the later sequels.

The cast is also great, including Reeves as our primary protagonist, Neo. At first, he is seemingly a man without purpose but soon learns his larger role in the universe. Fishburne is great as his “mentor” as Morpheus guides Neo through the new rules and what is real and what is not. Then, there is Carrie-Ann Moss as Trinity, the female protagonist that also helps Neo throughout his new path.

Laurence Fishburne's Morpheus attempts to teach Neo about 'The Matrix'!

Finally, you can’t have a great hero without an equally great villain. Weaving is perfect as the monotone yet sinister Agent Smith. He is a formidable threat and has the look of a slightly psychotic man who couldn’t care less about humanity itself. His interactions with our characters and other Agents is always worth watching.

The tone and atmosphere of the movie definitely give off cyberpunk vibes that would make William Gibson proud. However, with all of the gunplay and Kung-Fu featured throughout in highly stylized fight sequences, the movie also feels like a live-action anime. The now famous lobby shootout is high-energy and a hell of a lot of fun. I remember dad and I rewound the tape so that we could watch the sequence again before moving on with the rest of the movie.

“The Matrix” has been out for a quarter of a century now, so I think I can say that its status as a classic film is secured. The Wachowskis made a movie that was a genuine blockbuster with fantastic action and performances. They also didn’t forget to tell an engaging story that keeps you thinking long after you’re finished with it.

MIDDLE-AGED MATINEE! #17 - 'Batman' (1989)

5/5 Stars

It’s 1989 and I’m heading to the Rialto theater with my dad. Outside, there is a man dressed as Batman to entertain the kids outside because even in a small place such as El Dorado, Arkansas, the new movie known as “Batman” was an event to behold!

At the age of four, this was the first movie that I ever saw in theaters and I had a big smile on my face the whole time. Now, 35 years later on what is affectionately known as Batman Day, I find myself sitting in a theater getting ready to watch it on the big screen yet again. When the credits begin to roll and that familiar Danny Elfman theme song begins, the smile quickly returns and almost never leaves my face.

I think that it goes without saying that I have loved “Batman Begins”, “The Dark Knight”, and even the latest rendition of the character found in 2022’s “The Batman”. However, director Tim Burton’s version of the character will always hold a special place in my heart because of that initial viewing over three decades ago.

Michael Keaton and Kim Basinger star as Batman and Vicki Vale in 'Batman'!

In this movie, Batman is still a largely unknown vigilante that is lurking in the shadows ready to strike any criminals who want to do harm to others. This includes Jack Napier (Jack Nicholson), a criminal enforcer who Batman attacks at a chemical factory that Napier was trying to raid. At first, it seems that Batman loses Napier into a vat of chemicals but soon both Batman and the city of Gotham are introduced to Napier’s new alter ego, the Joker!

The first thing that I love about this movie is the film noir setting that Burton gives the whole piece. The criminals that Batman faces beyond the Joker feel like they belong in film noirs from the 1950s. The Joker doesn’t really care to take over these crime families, though. He wants to just take them out so he can begin a whole new reign of terror that justifies having someone that dresses up like a bat in order to stop him.

The story is helped by the fact that the Joker was played by Jack Nicholson, an actor that seemed born to play the role. The producers wanted to cast Nicholson so they would have a star to bank on. This is like when the filmmakers cast Marlon Brando in 1978’s “Superman” as Jor El, Superman’s biological father. Thankfully, it just so happened that Nicholson was up to playing the role and accepted the part.

Jack Nicholson stars as the psychotic Joker in 'Batman'!

Another person who is perfect for their role is Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne/Batman. When he was cast back in ‘88, the internet before it was the internet lost their collective minds. At the time, all they remembered was the campy 1966 television show starring Adam West so they were afraid that Burton, hot off the success of the hit comedy film “Beetlejuice” that also starred Keaton, wasn’t going to take the new Batman movie seriously.

Their fears turned out to be unfounded as Keaton proved to be perfect as Batman and, to this day, he is honestly my favorite live-action Batman. He has a charming yet awkward Bruce Wayne, a reclusive millionaire that is able to attract Kim Basinger’s Vicki Vale but only subtly hides Wayne’s tortured past.

As Batman, he is the perfect brooding no-nonsense Batman that comes in to take out the bad guys. Now, I must admit that he has no problem killing the bad guys in this movie and I know that rubs purists the wrong way, but I would simply remind them that there were past versions of the comic when Batman was quite a bit loose with his whole “no kill” rule so I’ve learned not to care if filmmakers ignore it so long as the movie is good.

Finally, there is Elfman’s iconic score that has to be the definitive Batman score of all time. When the theme begins to play, you know that Batman is on the way and that things will indeed get nuts.

This is a movie that I’ve watched dozens of times since its release 35 years ago. Yes, other great and not so great Batman films have come along since. Where those films stand in the franchise will continue to be debated, but one thing's for sure. Burton’s “Batman” helped set the stage and, more importantly, the tone for the better Batman films and, overall, it foreshadowed the eventual rise of the modern day superhero film in Hollywood.

MIDDLE-AGED MATINEE! #16 - 'Beetlejuice' (1988)

5/5 Stars!

Now that I’ve expanded the list for “Middle-Aged Matinee!” to cover films ranging from 1984 to 1999, I can now cover more titles in my quest to get to 40 reviews! Today, I took a look at Tim Burton’s classic, “Beetlejuice”, since the sequel, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”, has opened this past weekend.

It’s hard to think about it now, but when writers Michael McDowell and Larry Wilson first wrote what would become “Beetlejuice”, it was a far more sinister and graphic film. The deaths of Adam and Barbara Maitland (Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis) were far more graphic and Betelgeuse (Michael Keaton) was far more demonic and murderous. It was when writer Warren Skaaren tackled the script that it changed into the comedy horror film that we know and love today.

Director Tim Burton had worked with McDowell and Wilson in television and Burton had just directed the smash hit “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure”, so he was now a sought after director. He had already started to develop “Batman” with Sam Hamm, but Warner Bros. was initially reluctant to greenlight the movie, so Burton decided to make “Beetlejuice” instead.

The movie begins with Adam and Barbara living in a house that overlooks the small town of Winter River, Connecticut. Adam needs some supplies for his model of the town so they head out. When they head back to their house, they end up crashing into a river and dying. They then come back to their house as ghosts where they discover that a rich family from New York has bought their house and the mother, Delia Deetz (Catherine O’Hara), wants to renovate the home with a more “modern” look.

The Maitlands request the assistance of Betelgeuse in "Beetlejuice"!

Adam and Barbara try to scare them out of the house, but they’re not very good at being ghosts. They end up summoning a “bio-exorcist” named Betelgeuse (pronounced “Beetlejuice”), a perverted demon who eventually sets his sights on marrying Charles (Jeffrey Jones) and Delia’s daughter, Lydia (Winona Ryder), so he can escape back into the real world permanently.

This is one of the most solid horror comedies ever created. That’s why it surprised me to learn that writer Wilson presented the script to Universal and he said that the unnamed executive told Wilson that he thought the script was a piece of shit and that Wilson shouldn’t be trying to get it produced. It was not long after this that Wilson and the other producers sold it to The Geffen Company.

All of the performances are great including Baldwin and Davis as the Maitlands, our “hero” ghosts that you want to cheer for due their wholesome nature and their relationship with Lydia who can actually see them while others can’t.

Then there is O’Hara as Delia Deetz, a character that you initially despise but you also understand that she has been ripped away from her New York lifestyle by her husband who wanted to get away from the big city. While you hate that she’s trying to “modernize” the Maitlands’ home, you get that she’s just wanting to bring a little bit of her old lifestyle to the new house while trying to support her husband so her motives are not completely sinister.

Betelgeuse attempts to scare Lydia and her family in "Beetlejuice"!

Ryder had her true breakout performance in this movie after Burton had seen her in 1986’s “Lucas”. Lydia is a semi-goth kid that hates her stepmother Delia and it is her weird personality that allows her to see both Adam and Barbara while others cannot. While she is goth, she is also a decent kid that wants to help Adam and Barbara and when you think about this movie, you almost instantly think about Ryder and her performance as Lydia.

Of course, we’re not here simply for the story of Adam and Barbara trying to scare the Deetz family out of their house. We’re here for the demon they summon to help them get the job done. I’m talking about Michael Keaton as the ghost with the most… Betelgeuse!

It surprises me every time that I watch this movie that Keaton is only onscreen for a little over 15 minutes of the movie. It probably feels like he’s in here more than that because he makes every single scene that he’s in count for something. He has a manic and improvisational performance that leads to genuine hijinks and even more genuine laughs.

The role was originally written to be played by a small Middle Eastern man and thank the makers that they didn’t go in that direction. It was Geffen that suggested Keaton for the role and while Burton was unfamiliar with his work, he was quickly convinced to hire him after meeting with him and seeing what he wanted to do with the role.

"It's showtime!"

Of course, there is also the look and style of the movie. This is the movie where we truly got Burton’s distinct visual style and direction for the first time. Knowing that he had a limited special-effects budget, he intentionally decided to do most of the effects with a B movie sensibility and it works like gangbusters with cool stop-motion effects and great make-up jobs and detailed sets that look like they came out of a 1950s B movie rather than something from the ‘80s.

At the end of the day, “Beetlejuice” was a massive success and today, it has earned its status as a genuine classic. It convinced Warner Bros. to move forward with Burton’s “Batman” film in ‘89 and Burton would go on to cast Keaton in the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman. There was also an animated series that ran for 94 episodes from ‘89 to ‘91.

Over the years, there were several attempts at getting a sequel off the ground but none of the scripts appealed to Burton or the stars. Director Kevin Smith remembered that when he came in to work on the ill-fated “Superman Lives” script, they initially gave him a script to work on called “Beetlejuice Goes Hawaiian”. It sounds like the studio initially wanted a sequel that was more in line with the kids show.

Now, 36 years later, Burton has finally returned with Keaton, Ryder, O’Hara, and newcomer Jenna Ortega for “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice”. As of this writing, I haven’t seen the movie yet, but if it is just half as good as this original masterpiece, then I think it’ll work out.

MIDDLE-AGED MATINEE! #15 - 'Wall Street' (1987)

5/5 Stars

Now that I've expanded the criteria for 'Middle-Aged Matinee!' from 1984 to any film from 1984 to 1999, I've decided to take a look at director Oliver Stone's "Wall Street". As always, I hope you enjoy the article.

Surprisingly, when I was a kid, my dad introduced me to films made by Oliver Stone. He was a fan of “Platoon” and “JFK”. After watching those movies, I finally watched “Wall Street”. While I may not have understood the financial jargon (let’s face it, I still don’t understand much more today than I did then), I understood the story of good and evil that was going on here.

Charlie Sheen plays Bud Fox, a young broker who wants to break into the big leagues on Wall Street. Namely, he wants to work for Gordon Gekko (Michael Douglas), the most successful broker on Wall Street. The only problem is that while Gordon is charming on the outside, he’s a corrupt person who screwed everyone around him in order to get where he is.

He plays with a desperate Bud in order to get the young man to go out and get Gordon illegal insider information so they can manipulate the stocks in their favor. At first, Bud gets more money than he’s ever had, he starts dating a beautiful art designer (Daryl Hannah), and he’s able to finally pay back some of the money that he’s borrowed from his dad (Martin Sheen) over the years.

Michael Douglas plays the charming yet absolutely corrupt Gordon Gekko.

I will say that there is one weak point in this movie and that is Hannah as Bud’s love interest, Darien Taylor. Hannah gives a dreadfully bland performance with barely any emotion. On top of that, Bud and Darien’s “love” story is the weakest part of the movie overall.

The other performances outside of Hannah are fantastic. Sheen gives a good performance as Bud, a character that you know is doing wrong things but you hope that he’ll realize the error of his ways and come back to the light. Unsurprisingly, he has great chemistry with his real-life father Martin who plays his father here.

The father, named Carl, is a blue-collar mechanic working for a small airliner who just wants Bud to do right and be proud of himself instead of seeking the approval of others. Then, of course, there is the other, darker father figure in Bud’s life.

Gordon Gekko is the role that got Douglas an Academy Award for Best Actor and for good reason. Douglas knows when to throw on the charm. A charm that shows us that Gordon could have been, and probably was at one point, a good and honest broker. However, the love for money and how to get more of it overrides anything good that may be within Gordon.

Charlie Sheen's real-life father Martin Sheen plays his blue-collar dad in 'Wall Street'!

Douglas shines when he’s the “charming” Gordon, but he truly excels at being the downright sinister and ultimately corrupt Gordon. When a deal goes bad, the monster comes out as Gordon yells at his people to destroy whoever crosses them. He is also a great manipulator.

Bud’s way into Gordon’s business was by giving Gordon privileged information he received from his father at the airline. When Gordon calls Bud out for this, he simply tells bud what he wants and that is to get coveted insider information. At one point, he tells Bud, “You were able to get into my office. Now, you have to prove you have what it takes to stay.” This manipulation pushes Bud over to the dark side and Douglas’ performance is perfect all around.

Sadly, the story of a corrupt Wall Street and capitalism run amok is still relevant today. I would like to say that this movie was simply a product of its time in 1987, but sadly this movie could probably be made today and you wouldn’t have to switch too many things around to make it just as effective as it was 37 years ago.

My opinion of Stone has cooled over the years as I don’t always agree with the views and messages that he has in several of his films. However, “Wall Street” is a movie where I feel that Stone hit the bullseye and the movie, for better or worse, is still as effective today as it was when it was originally released.