034. Spasms

034. (27 Jan) Spasms (1983, William Fruet) 40



Spasms finds its way near the film's end with an awesome snake attack against three girls, marking the start of its real rampage. Unfortunately, this still has way too many plots going. It's a dumb creature feature mainly because we never see the killer snake in any convincing capacity until the finale, stuck with a terrible snake's eye view whenever it's on the prowl before then. Oliver Reed is having a good time here, at least, as a man with a telepathic link to the snake. An overly serious Peter Fonda sucks the fun out of his scenes, but this really isn't focused enough to give anyone much screentime. Despite its flaws, Spasms is never less than weirdly watchable.

Oliver!

Oliver!, 1968
Directed by Carol Reed
Nominated for 11 Oscars, Won 5
Up Against: Funny Girl, The Lion in Winter, Rachel, Rachel, Romeo and Juliet

This musical was one of my favourite musicals growing up. My grandparents owned it, and whenever we traveled north and stayed at their house for the weekend, we frequently would watch this movie. So naturally, I was excited when I read that it had won Best Picture. It's funny, realizing movies that you liked as a child or even a teen turned out to be Best Picture nominees/winners.

This musical is "freely based" on the classic book, Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens. It's about a young boy, named Oliver Twist. He's an orphan, and after asking for more gruel (he lost at drawing straw rope), he is sold to an Undertaker. After a short while of being abused and living miserable still, he escapes and heads to London to "seek his fortune" as he so puts it. Upon his arrival, he means Jack Dodger (The Artful Dodger- or just Dodger). Dodger is a young boy also, maybe Oliver's age or a bit older. He tells him he knows where he can get lodgings, and Oliver follows. But Dodger doesn't seem as innocent as he is. He's part of a band of crooks, run by a man named Fagan. Fagan lodges dozens of young boys, who pick-pockets for him. And with this group is a few adults, namely Bill Sykes (the crook everyone aspires to be), and Nancy (Bill's girlfriend, and friend to all the children in the ring).

Like I've stated before, this movie is a personal favourite, as I've grown up with it. So I've got a bit of a bias but I'll try to be good.

I've got to say, this film is pretty underrated in terms of Movie Musicals. Nowhere will you see it on top 10 lists, or hear people covering these songs. Yet this is probably my number 2 favourite musical. This song has some fantastic numbers. The opening, "Food, Glorious Food" is just so fantastic, and really shows the desperation of these orphans. And then Consider Yourself, and Who Will Buy? really show London as it was for Dodger, Oliver, and simply how it was back in the 1800's. It captured the different jobs and lifestyles people had so well, and showed just how different the rich and the poor/middle class were. And anything with Ron Moody (Fagan) was just brilliant. He has such incredible charisma, and just likeability (yet you hate him too), and he just is so crazy. Things like "Be Back Soon", "Pick a Pocket or Two", "Be Back Soon" and "Reviewing the Situation" are all so great too.

The story is really well done, pairing the story about a young, innocent boy escaping his miserable life, alongside the story of Bill Sykes, Nancy and Fagan's ring of young crooks. It is by no means a "children's musical" though it is about children. The story is a bit complex, which is what makes it such a winner. It's not overly complicated and dramatic and serious, but brings a bit of complexity and seriousness without losing the humour and the innocence of Oliver.

There were 2 acting nominations for this film. The first was for Lead Actor, for Ron Moody (Fagan). The second was a supporting actor nomination for Jack Wild (Dodger). Again, having grown up with the movie, it seems so funny to me that these 2 were Oscar nominated. But having watched it again today (after several years) I can completely see why. Ron Moody totally lights up the screen in all of his musical numbers, and is great as the not-so-tough crook. As for Jack Wild, he was also great as Dodger. He carried the air of a young child, though not innocent whatsoever, and a bonified crook. He was demanding, and tried hard to impress. He was the perfect choice for Dodger and he played him so well.

Overall I don't have anything negative to say about this movie. It's always been a favourite, and continues still to be. And currently has the top spot on my favourite Best Picture winner's that I've reviewed so far.

9/10

Z.P.G.

“Z.P.G.” (1972) is one of those ecologically-themed science fiction movies that enjoyed a brief burst of popularity in the 1970s. These movies painted a grim future for mankind, a society where pollution and overcrowding have made large cities all but uninhabitable, where people eat artificial food, breathe the air in smog-encrusted atmospheres, and, oddly enough, all wear the same style and color of clothes.

One of the first of these pollution-disaster movies was director Cornel Wilde’s “No Blade of Grass” (1971). “Z.P.G.” (which stands for Zero Population Growth) followed, but the granddaddy of these films is “Soylent Green” (1973), thanks to a star-studded cast including Charlton Heston, Chuck Connors and Edward G. Robinson in his final role. Even today, any suspicious tasting food is cause for Soylent Green jokes.

“Z.P.G” is suitably dour, painting a society so over-crowded that women are not allowed to have babies for an entire generation. Women that don’t follow this edict and tracked down and captured, and have their babies taken away from them. Instead couples are given remarkable life-like dolls that can emote, get sick and presumably poop. Oliver Reed and Geraldine Chaplin play a couple who want the real thing. She gets pregnant, hides away for nine months and gives birth to a baby boy. They ultimately share the news with their neighbors, who eventually decide want the baby for themselves.

Everyone walks around with gas masks outside, where it’s perpetually foggy, thus saving money on set decoration. It’s one of the most humorless movies I’ve ever seen; understandable given the setting, but if memory serves even “Soylent Green” gave us some gallows humor.

It’s all mildly interesting, but not much more than that. There’s very little action and it just seems to sit there. Reed is his typical dour self, but Chaplin provides the film with some much needed humanity.

This cycle of films reached its peak (or its nadir, depending on who you’re talking to) with “Logan’s Run” (1976), which offers the solution to overcrowding – you die when you reach your 30th birthday.

I bet “Logan’s Run” would be a favorite of Al Bundy. One of my favorite bits on “Married with Children” is when the Bundys and their neighbors are going to have a video night. The women suggest “Beaches” the story about a lifelong friendship between two women. That’s fine with Al. He says, “We’ll watch it until they turn 30.”

Come to think of it, Al would have probably liked “Z.P.G.” as well.

Rating for “Z.P.G.”: Two stars.