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PACIFIC HEIGHTS (1990)--Directed by John Schlesinger.
Stars Michael Keaton, Melanie Griffith, Matthew Modine. I didn't like this tenant-from-hell thriller starring Keaton as a
psychopath who moves into a big Victorian house owned by a normal married couple. Griffith and Modine can't get rid of him,
the cops and courts are ineffectual, Keaton overacts, and Griffith can't act. I wondered why they didn't just sell the house
and split. Also with Beverly D'Angelo, Laurie Metcalf, Dan Hedaya, Mako, Tracey Walter and Melanie's mom Tippi Hedren. Filmed
in San Francisco. From the director of MIDNIGHT COWBOY.
THE PACKAGE (1989)--Directed by Andrew Davis.
Stars Gene Hackman, Tommy Lee Jones, Joanna Cassidy, John Heard. Slick, complex thriller about a career Army sergeant (Hackman)
assigned to transport prisoner Jones (a package) from Germany to the United States. Hackman is told that Jones is a troublemaker
on his way to prison for slugging an officer. Nothing is what it seems, and, after Jones escapes during an assault by soldiers
in an airport restroom, Hackman finds himself in the middle of an assassination plot and pursued by agents from the Soviet
Union and the U.S. Cassidy, an underrated actress, plays Hackman's ex-wife, an Army colonel to whom he turns for help
when he finds he can trust no one else. As is the norm for a Davis film, the screenplay (by John Bishop) is made up of many
layers, as we try to put together the pieces of the puzzle along with Hackman, who is given just about as much information
as we are. Davis also makes excellent use of Chicago locations. Also with Dennis Franz, Thalmus Rasulala, Pam Grier, Joe Guzaldo
and Ralph Foody. Music by James Newton Howard. From the director of CHAIN REACTION.
PAINT YOUR WAGON
(1969)--Directed by Joshua Logan. Stars Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood, Jean Seberg. I'd like to shake the hand of the guy brave
enough (or stupid enough) to cast Marvin and Eastwood in a Lerner-Loewe musical. Plot concerns a grizzled prospector's (Marvin)
mail-order marriage to a pretty Mormon girl (Seberg). However, she's more interested in Marvin's partner (Eastwood). Highlights
include Lee's warbling of "Wanderin' Star" and Clint's renditions of "Gold Fever" and "I Talk to the Trees". At 164 minutes,
you probably should miss this one. Also with Harve Presnell, Ray Walston and The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band ("Mr. Bojangles").
Script by Paddy Chayefsky (!)
PALE RIDER (1985)--Directed by Clint Eastwood. Stars Clint Eastwood,
Michael Moriarty, Carrie Snodgress, Sydney Penny, Christopher Penn, Richard Dysart, John Russell. Clint's first western in
nine years was this blatant supernatural remake of SHANE. Eastwood plays the mysterious "Preacher", who rides into a small
mining colony and helps the residents fight an evil strip-mining land baron (Dysart). Also reminiscent of HIGH PLAINS DRIFTER.
Not one of Clint's best, but the action is good, Bruce Surtees's cinematography is striking, and it's always good to see Eastwood
on the back of a horse. Screenplay by Michael Butler and Dennis Shryack, who also penned Clint's outrageous cop movie THE
GAUNTLET.
PALM SPRINGS WEEKEND (1963)--Directed by Norman Taurog. Stars Troy Donahue, Connie Stevens.
A copy of AIP's BEACH PARTY series starring Warner Brothers contract players. Connie and Troy meet on spring break and fall
in love. Everybody parties and sings, including Ty (BRONCO) Hardin, Stefanie (THE GIRL FROM U.N.C.L.E.) Powers, Jerry Van
Dyke and even Robert (HAWAIIAN EYE) Conrad as an obnoxious preppie! Andrew Duggan and Billy Mumy don't sing, but the soundtrack
(on Warner Brothers Records) is pretty wild. Taurog directed eight Elvis movies, all of them more-or-less as good as this.
THE PANDORA PROJECT (1998)--Directed by John Terlesky.
Stars Daniel Baldwin, Richard Tyson, Erika Eleniak. Not much to recommend this routine DTV action thriller produced
by Jim Wynorski. Agent Baldwin is assigned to track down his former partner, ex-commando Tyson, who has stolen a top-secret
weapon that kills everyone in its target radius, but leaves structures intact. And he has to finish his mission before
his marriage to Eleniak on Saturday! Talk about pressure… You might recognize stock footage from CLEAR AND
PRESENT DANGER (most prominently a Colombian druglord’s exploding house) and wonder why you aren’t watching it
instead. The supporting cast looks culled from auditions for a Wynorski movie: Tony Todd (CANDYMAN), Robert Hegyes
(WELCOME BACK, KOTTER), athlete Bo Jackson, Jeff Yagher, Steve Franken, Nikki Fritz, Richard Gabai and Lenny Juliano.
PANIC CITY (1974)--Directed by William Girdler.
Stars Austin Stoker, Hugh Smith, Jim Pickett. Louisville, Kentucky writer/director Girdler's most obscure feature is
also one of his best, surprisingly so, in fact, considering his amateurish debut horror film ASYLUM OF SATAN. Drawing
from DIRTY HARRY and the popular blaxploitation movies of the period, PANIC CITY plays loose with its plot, but offers some
excellent performances and a properly sleazy atmosphere.
Louisville is under siege from a serial killer who calls himself
"Mac" and leaves notes at every murder scene. His victims include an apartment of nurses who were strangled, sliced,
disemboweled and raped, a family of five blown up in their station wagon and a cleaning lady pushed down a flight of stairs.
Two homicide detectives, black Frank Savage (Stoker, the lead in ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13) and white Marty Wilson (assistant
director Smith), investigate the bizarre slayings, which are being committed by a white man (Pickett) wearing blackface and
an Afro wig! If you thought Andy Robinson's Scorpio Killer in DIRTY HARRY was despicable, wait 'til you get a load of
Pickett, who spews a sundry string of racial epithets and shows no remorse for any of his evil deeds, even to the point of
telling one of his victims, post-mortem, that she's an "ugly nigger."
Girdler clearly had little money to spend (reportedly coming from
Chicago investors including DETROIT 9000 director Arthur Marks, who "presented" the film in its initial U.S. release), but
puts it all on the screen, managing several suspenseful chase scenes and shootouts. Cinematography and sound are quite
rough around the edges (some dialogue is rendered almost unintelligible and could have used some post-production sweetening),
but Girdler's script contains enough raw energy and humor to make up for the technical drawbacks. As written, Frank
Savage is a pretty dumb cop, failing to follow through on promising leads and not seeming to care very much when his girlfriend
is kidnapped by Pickett, but the charismatic Stoker makes him a hero to root for anyway, trading good-humored racial barbs
with his white partner ("Why do you smoke those (cigars) anyway?" "Because cigarettes are white.") and expressing rage
at his enemy's antagonistic bigotry.
The most surprising aspect of PANIC CITY--even more than its quality--is
its PG rating. Originally filmed and released by Marks' General Film Corporation as THE ZEBRA KILLER, it was later titled
COMBAT COPS and handed a PG, despite its graphic portrayals of violence, rape and racial language. The (presumably British)
print I watched was titled PANIC CITY, was released by Lancair Films, Ltd. and carried a BBFC certificate of X. To the
best of my knowledge, PANIC CITY--under any of its titles--has never received an American home video release, nor much of
a theatrical one. That's a shame, because it's a feather in the cap of the late Girdler, who died tragically at
age 30 and whose reputation as a filmmaker might be improved if word of this outrageously blunt thriller was spread.
PANIC IN THE STREETS (1950)—Directed by Elia
Kazan. Stars Richard Widmark, Paul Douglas, Jack Palance. Suspenser shot in New Orleans is a real nail-biter.
An illegal immigrant is gunned down by ne’er-do-well Blackie (Palance, billed as Walter Jack Palance). At the
morgue, it’s discovered he had pneumonic plague, which sends Navy doctor Widmark and police detective Douglas to the
streets to find out who killed him and prevent the plague from spreading across the city. The use of real locations
and what appear to be actual New Orleans non-actors in small roles add immensely to the film’s authenticity, which in
turn makes it a lot scarier. Zero Mostel, already fat and balding at 35, shows off dramatic and surprising physical
dexterity as Palance’s nervous flunkie. Story by Edna and Edward Anhalt won an Oscar. Also with Barbara
Bel Geddes and Tommy Rettig (LASSIE) as Widmark’s family. PANIC IN THE STREETS was Palance’s film debut.
Two years later, SUDDEN FEAR earned him the first of three Academy Award nominations.
PAPARAZZI (2004)--Directed by Paul Abascal.
Stars Cole Hauser, Robin Tunney, Tom Sizemore, Dennis Farina, Daniel Baldwin. Believe it or not, this trim exploitation
movie played in theaters. A glance at PAPARAZZI's grim plot, B-level cast and TV-experienced director would appear to
scream "direct-to-video", and, truthfully, a better film would have resulted if it had been intended for video release.
Financiers would likely have demanded more action and an R rating, which prevent this old-school revenge flick from attaining
its dramatic potential.
Bo Laramie (Hauser, son of B-movie legend Wings Hauser) is Hollywood's
hottest new action star, albeit with a name like Bo Laramie, he isn't likely to be appearing in costume dramas. The
success of ADRENALINE FORCE hasn't gone to Bo's head, thankfully; he's still a humble guy from Wyoming who's friendly to the
teenagers at the local market and dotes on his wife (Tunney) and young son. What Bo isn't prepared for is the press'
intrusion into his life, especially the ruthless paparazzi led by the sleazy Rex Harper (Sizemore). After Bo slugs Harper
at his son's soccer game, the cameraman makes it his mission to annoy the piss out of Laramie, stalking his family and hounding
the actor day and night. Eventually, the paparazzi go too far, causing an accident that gravely injures Bo's wife and
son and setting the star off on a roaring rampage of revenge.
Basically a wish-fulfillment fantasy by producer Mel Gibson, who
also slugged a photographer back in the 1990's, PAPARAZZI feels watered down, either in an attempt to land a PG-13 rating
or to keep Hauser's character likable. Perhaps what Abascal, a former Hollywood hairstylist making his first feature,
didn't realize is that Sizemore and his goons are portrayed so unsympathetically, the audience is already on Laramie's side,
no matter what he does. The lack of characterization in the movie's heavies is almost comic; Rex Harper is not just
greedy and obnoxious, but unabashedly evil, and the casting of Sizemore and Baldwin, two actors who have experienced well-documented
public scandals, adds to the fun. What PAPARAZZI needs is more edge to Hauser's character. The actor is fine,
making the most of his first major film lead, but most of his revenge is handled either indirectly or off-screen. I
think we needed to see Laramie handling his vengeance in a more hands-on manner.
Farina warms up for his regular LAW & ORDER gig by waltzing
through PAPARAZZI like Peter Falk, allowing a taste of threatening suspicion creep into his amiable performance as the detective
investigating Laramie's accident. Gibson, Vince Vaughn, Matthew McConaughey and Chris Rock pop up in unbilled cameos,
while veteran character actors Clyde Kusatsu and Tim Thomerson (who worked with Abascal on the LAND'S END TV series) appear
briefly. Fine score by Brian Tyler.
THE PAPER (1994)--Directed by Ron Howard. Stars
Michael Keaton, Marisa Tomei, Glenn Close, Randy Quaid, Robert Duvall. One of Howard's most underrated films, this black comedy
covers 24 hours in the life on a New York City tabloid newspaper and the people who work there. Keaton gives one of his best
performances as NEW YORK SUN Metro editor Henry Hackett, who faces a moral dilemma when two black teenagers are arrested for
a double murder. His boss Close wants to run the story, but when Keaton finds out the two boys are actually innocent, he finds
that sometimes in journalism getting the story first is considered more important (and cheaper) than getting the story right.
More importantly to the movie, almost every character is well-drawn and interesting, and even the bit players are given a
good line or two. Keaton is always best when he is able to talk fast; he projects tremendous energy as Hackett, and he is
a great joy in this movie--it's one of his best performances. Tomei is very cute as Keaton's pregnant wife, Close has a fistfight
with Keaton in the (overly silly) climax, Quaid is great as a gonzo columnist, and Duvall overacts as Keaton's cancer-stricken
superior. Also with Jason Alexander, Jill Hennessy, Jay O. Sanders, Clint Howard and Jason Robards. Music by Randy Newman.
David Koepp (JURASSIC PARK) scripted with his brother Stephen, a TIME staffer.
THE PAPER CHASE (1973)--Directed
by James Bridges. Stars Timothy Bottoms, Lindsay Wagner, John Houseman. Houseman won a Best Supporting Actor in what was--for
all intents and purposes--his film debut (he had appeared sporadically in bit parts since his days with Orson Welles' Mercury
Players). He's outstanding as Professor Kingsfield, a Harvard contract law professor who strikes terror in the hearts of his
students. One, James Hart (Bottoms), is a first-year law student who is originally intimidated by Kingsfield, but then tries
to impress the old man, much to the frustration of Hart's girlfriend Susan (Wagner), who is later revealed as Kingsfield's
daughter. The adversarial relationship between stern teacher and obsessive student drives this well-written drama, as well
as Hart's relationships with his fellow students. Bridges' screenplay was also nominated for an Academy Award, as was the
sound. Gordon Willis' stark cinematography probably should have been, while John Williams provided the score. Also with Graham
Beckel, James Naughton, Craig Richard Nelson, Edward Herrmann, David Clennon and Blair Brown. Based upon a novel by John Jay
Osborn Jr., THE PAPER CHASE later became a critically acclaimed yet low-rated television series with Kingsfield reprising
his role and James Stephens playing Hart.
PAPER LION (1968)--Directed by Alex March. Stars Alan Alda,
Lauren Hutton, Alex Karras, David Doyle. Journalist George Plimpton (Alda) plans to write an article about life in the National
Football League, so he goes undercover as a quarterback in a Detroit Lions' tryout camp. Alda isn't totally believable as
a pro football player, but the film, although dated, is interesting, and several Lions (including Karras, who made the leap
from athlete to actor) appear as themselves. A true story.
PAPILLON (1973)--Directed by Franklin
J. Schaffner. Stars Steve McQueen, Dustin Hoffman, Victor Jory, Don Gordon, Anthony Zerbe. Epic adventure details the life
of Henri Charriere, a French gangster who was imprisoned at, and later escaped from, the notorious Devils' Island prison off
the coast of French Guiana. McQueen accurately captures Charriere's rebellious spirit, as "Papillon" endures years of harsh
conditions, solitary confinement and even a brief stay at a leper colony before attempting his desperate stab at freedom.
Hoffman equals McQueen as a fast-talking counterfeiter who becomes Papillon's friend and helper. Its brutal action scenes,
Jerry Goldsmith's exciting score, and the performances of its leads propel this box-office smash. Dalton Trumbo and Lorenzo
Semple Jr. adapted the screenplay from Charriere's best-selling book.
PARADISE (1981)--Directed by
Stuart Gillard. Stars Phoebe Cates, Willie Aames. Columbia actually sued the makers of this very blatant BLUE LAGOON ripoff.
Teens Cates and Aames are stranded in the desert, and spend most of their time running around naked and having sex. Cates
is gorgeous, and she even got to sing the title song for this dull movie. Her uncle, Gil Cates, produces the Academy Awards
telecast.
THE PARALLAX VIEW (1974)--Directed by Alan J. Pakula. Stars Warren Beatty, Paula Prentiss,
Hume Cronyn, William Daniels, Bill McKinney. Another good political thriller by director Pakula (ALL THE PRESIDENTS MEN).
A paranoid news reporter (Beatty) goes undercover to infiltrate an organization that he believes is training political assassins,
not knowing he's being set up as the patsy in an upcoming assassination. Good script by Lorenzo Semple Jr. and David Giler
is full of twists, and Pakula's jittery direction will keep you on the edge of your seat. Photographed by THE GODFATHER's
Gordon Willis. Beatty made a lot of good movies during this period.
PARANOIAC (1962)--Directed by
Freddie Francis. Stars Janette Scott, Oliver Reed, Sheila Burrell, Alexander Davion, Liliane Brousse. This effective Hammer
thriller opens twelve years after the deaths of John and Mary Ashby in an airplane crash and eight years after the apparent
suicide of their teenage son Tony. The Ashbys are survived by sensitive daughter Eleanor (Scott); Simon (Reed), her cruel
yet charismatic alcoholic brother; and John's spinster sister Harriet (Burrell), who raised the Ashby children after their
parents' death. Eleanor has been slipping closer to the brink of insanity ever since Tony's death, which is just fine by Simon,
who stands to inherit his sister's share of the estate if she is institutionalized. Simon's plan to drive his sister crazy
is working just fine until a monkey wrench arrives in the form of Tony (Davion), who claims to have faked his death and run
away. At first, Tony's return is a godsend for Eleanor--her emotional attitude brightens immensely--but when she finds herself
falling in love with him, she fears her incestuous feelings towards Tony prove her insanity. As for Simon, his drinking becomes
even more pronounced than before, as Tony's resurrection from a watery grave and the return of his sister's mental faculties
push him towards a murderous solution.
Hammer and screenwriter Jimmy Sangster attempted to adapt Josephine Teys' novel
BRAT FARRAR for the screen as early as 1955, but it wasn't until the summer of '61 that the film, by this time a very loose
adaptation, finally went into production. The result is one of Hammer's best non-monster thrillers and probably the best directed
by Freddie Francis. PARANOIAC's opening scene, set in a church, is an excellent example of Francis' skill, as he, using fluid
camerawork and dramatic lighting, smoothly establishes the main characters (especially Reed's), setting and backstory without
resorting to plodding expository dialogue. Unlike many Hammer features, which sometimes have a tendency to drag somewhat,
PARANOIAC is always interesting, since Sangster's clever script introduces a new twist every few minutes to keep the audience
guessing as to the characters' motivations and mental stability.
Oliver Reed is the movie's biggest asset. His Simon
Ashby is alternately callous, charming, suspicious and ultimately deranged, and Reed carries the role flawlessly. I like the
way he kicks Tony's bag as he welcomes his brother into the house and the manner in which he teases both his lover, live-in
nurse Franoise (Brousse), and his aunt Harriet, with whom he seems to share more than filial affection. Reed, of course, soon
moved on to bigger films--OLIVER!, WOMEN IN LOVE, THE JOKERS--but rarely better ones than PARANOIAC. He died while shooting
GLADIATOR in 1999.
Scott, whose main claim to fame these days is as a lyric in THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, is fine
as the confused Eleanor, while French-born Davion, who appeared in many British and American TV shows and returned to Hammer
in PLAGUE OF THE ZOMBIES, is handsome and credible as two-faced brother Tony. The lovely Brousse can take a rightful position
as a member of the Hammer Glamour club in good standing. Also with Maurice Denham, John Bonney and Euro-cult star Jack Taylor
(THE NINTH GATE). Music by Elisabeth Lutyens. Francis next directed the similar NIGHTMARE for Hammer.
PARASITE
(1982)--Directed by Charles Band. Stars Robert Glaudini, Demi Moore, Luca Bercovici, Al Fann, James Davidson. This slow-moving,
very low-budget 3-D horror movie is probably remembered today for two reasons only: it kicked off a mini-trend of 3-D genre
flicks that lasted for a couple of years in the early '80s (and included such classics as METALSTORM: THE DESTRUCTION OF JARED-SYN,
JAWS 3-D, AMITYVILLE 3-D and COMIN' AT YA!) and it was the major film debut of 19-year-old Demi Moore, who landed a regular
gig on the TV soap GENERAL HOSPITAL before making it big.
Glaudini (in a very somniferous performance) plays Dr. Paul
Dean, a former government scientist on the run in the post-Apocalyptic future of 1992. While working for the government, Dean
created a series of deadly, slimy parasites, which attach themselves to their victims, gruesomely sucking the life out of
their bodies. Sometimes they burrow inside their victims, bursting out in a bloody explosion a la ALIEN. Only two parasites
are left; one is safely contained inside an airtight cylinder, the other lives inside of Dean. He can control its growth with
drugs, but it will eventually burst through his stomach and kill him unless he can find a way to destroy it in time. Stopping
in a rundown desert town, Dean makes the acquaintance of Patricia (Moore), a spunky young lass who grows lemons, which she
sells to local storeowner Collins (Fann). He also mixes it up with a gang of punks, led by the brutal Ricus (Bercovici), a
former government slave. Dean is pursued by Wolfe (Davidson), a merchant (re: government stormtrooper) who wears a laser gun
strapped inside his sleeve and is pretty ruthless when it comes to procuring information.
Besides Demi's appearance
and director Band's often comical methods of shoving something--anything!--directly into the camera in order to achieve a
3-D effect (what is that goofy chain link thing hanging in Ricus' hideout?), PARASITE doesn't really contain much of interest.
Mac Ahlberg's 3-D cinematography might actually contain some clever flourishes, although it's impossible to tell from Wizard
Video's out-of-print tape (which reproduces PARASITE in a dark and very grainy cropped image), and, as is often the case in
projects with which he's involved, Richard Band's score belongs in a better film. The acting is pretty atrocious, the screenplay
(co-written by Alan Adler, who penned the story for FORBIDDEN PLANET!) is pretty flimsy (whatever happened to that nasty cut
on Dean's arm?), and the cheapjack effects (created by Stan Winston), which are more than slightly reminiscent of--you guessed
it--the creature in ALIEN, are pretty phony looking.
Also with Tom Villard, Scott Thomson (who appeared in FAST TIMES
AT RIDGEMONT HIGH the same year), Cherie Currie of The Runaways, Miss Vivian Blaine (GUYS AND DOLLS) and Cheryl "Rainbeaux"
Smith. Glaudini's actress daughter Lola was a semi-regular on NYPD BLUE; he appeared in a memorable guest turn as the killer
of Sipowicz's (Dennis Franz) wife. Bercovici went on to direct lame low-budget horror movies as well as star in them. Charles
Band owned Wizard Video, as well as Empire Pictures and Full Moon Pictures. His next film as a director was the afore-mentioned
METALSTORM 3-Der.
PARDNERS (1956)--Directed by Norman Taurog. Stars Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Agnes
Moorehead, Lori Nelson. My favorite Martin & Lewis film as a kid is still pretty funny. Rugged Dean and cowardly Jerry,
as sons of famous western heroes, head out West to battle outlaws. Also with great heavies Lee Van Cleef and Lon Chaney Jr.
Script by Sidney Sheldon!
PARENTHOOD (1989)--Directed by Ron Howard. Stars Steve Martin, Mary Steenburgen,
Dianne Wiest, Jason Robards, Tom Hulce. Outstanding comedy with an all-star cast anchored by Martin in the film's center.
Film concerns a middle-class family of husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles and cousins, all led by
crusty patriarch Robards and all with their own subplots. Wiest was Oscar-nominated as a nervous divorced mother dealing with
her teenage daughter's marriage to a boy she doesn't approve of. Terrific cast includes Rick Moranis, Harley Jane Kozak, Martha
Plimpton, Keanu Reeves and Leaf Phoenix. Funny and poignant script by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel.
THE
PARK IS MINE (1985)--Directed by Steven H. Stern. Stars Tommy Lee Jones, Helen Shaver, Yaphet Kotto. OK thriller
starring Jones as a troubled Vietnam vet who takes New York's Central Park hostage. He wires the park with booby traps to
protest the public's treatment of the soldiers who fought in Vietnam. He befriends a lovely TV reporter (Shaver) while contending
with tough cop Kotto. Jones is intense as always, and film's message is always relevant. Made for HBO.
PART 2 WALKING TALL--See WALKING TALL, PART
2.
PARTNERS (1982)--Directed by James Burrows. Stars Ryan O'Neal, John Hurt, Robyn Douglass,
Kenneth McMillan, Jay Robinson. While this slight comedy amused few viewers during its original release, its comedic portrayal
of homosexuals would surely offend the "politically correct" among us today. A homophobic cop (O'Neal) goes undercover with
a gay cop (Hurt) as a gay couple to investigate the murders of male models. Director Burrows goes for broad laughs rather
than satire; he later directed the long-running series CHEERS.
PARTS: THE CLONUS HORROR (1979)--Directed
by Robert Fiveson. Stars Tim Donnelly, Dick Sargent, Keenan Wynn, Peter Graves. PARTS: THE CLONUS HORROR is about
Clonus, a Utopian society populated by beautiful, bland white people and a bunch of doctors, technicians and security types
who keep an eye on them. All of the young people have spent their entire lives isolated in Clonus and know of no other existence.
They all have the same goal: to advance in their physical training enough to be allowed to leave the community and go to "America".
To be chosen to go to America is the ultimate reward. One of the citizens, Richard (played by Tim Donnelly, a regular on EMERGENCY!
who also appeared in THE TOOLBOX MURDERS), begins to question authority, something none of them has ever done before. Using
his newfound curiosity to snoop around Clonus, he discovers "America" is nothing more than a glorified meat locker where his
colleagues are murdered, stripped and kept in cold storage. He escapes to the outside world and eventually discovers that
Clonus is a clone farm, where human beings are bred scientifically to use as organ banks for the wealthy. Peter Graves (MISSION:
IMPOSSIBLE), Dick Sargent (BEWITCHED) and Keenan Wynn add name value to this independent production, which was made in 1979
in 18 days for $257,000 by a former documentary filmmaker named Robert Fiveson. The story has a few holes in it, but there's
no faulting its ambition, and it was unusual in the immediate post-STAR WARS years to see science fiction films that relied
more on ideas than visual effects. It was not a hit--the clunky title and the relative lack of exploitable material in the
R-rated feature probably contributed to its anemic box office--but it is an interesting little film. Also with Paulette
Breen, David Hooks, Lurene Tuttle and Frank Ashmore.
PAT GARRETT AND BILLY THE KID (1973)--Directed
by Sam Peckinpah. Stars James Coburn, Kris Kristofferson, Bob Dylan, Jason Robards. Confusing but beautifully photographed
version of the classic tale of the notorious outlaw (Kristofferson) and the friend-turned-lawman (Coburn) who tracks him down
and eventually kills him in 1881. For some reason, the story is told from the point-of-view of Dylan, who plays a mysterious
onlooker named Alias, and is terrible in his acting debut. Contains typical Peckinpah violence and some offbeat performances
by Coburn and Kristofferson (and Dylan, I suppose). Dylan performed the soundtrack. Also with Richard Jaeckel, Slim Pickens,
R.G. Armstrong, Jason Robards, Katy Jurado, Chill Wills, Jack Elam, L.Q. Jones, Dub Taylor, Harry Dean Stanton, Rita Coolidge,
Luke Askew, John Beck, Gene Evans, Elisha Cook Jr. and Charles Martin Smith. Monte Hellman was originally set to direct. Was
drastically edited by the studio before its original release, which greatly angered its director. The video version has been
restored to Peckinpah's original cut.
PATERNITY (1981)--Directed by David Steinberg. Stars Burt Reynolds,
Beverly D'Angelo, Norman Fell, Paul Dooley, Lauren Hutton. Burt plays a womanizing bachelor who is yearning to become a father,
yet balks at taking a wife. He interviews various applicants, and finally signs a pretty waitress (D'Angelo) to a contract
to bear his child. Of course, Burt and Beverly soon fall in love. Lightweight comedy has its share of laughs, and Burt is
charming. Written by Charlie Peters.
THE PATRIOT (1998)--Directed by Dean Semler. Stars Steven Seagal,
Gailard Sartain, L.Q. Jones, Camilla Belle. After a series of increasingly preachy and action-less action movies--including
ON DEADLY GROUND and FIRE DOWN BELOW--audiences relegated this Seagal vehicle to cable and video, bypassing theaters altogether.
The Ponytailed One is Dr. Wesley McClaren, a former CIA immunologist who has moved--with his daughter Molly (Belle) and his
rancher sidekick Frank (Jones, crusty as ever)--to a sleepy little Montana town where he cures his patients aches and pains
using holistic medicine. After a local survivalist (Sartain) poisons the town with deadly nerve gas stolen from the U.S. Government,
Seagal is pressed into service to find a cure before the town's population all drops dead. There are very few action scenes
in this thriller, and those that exist are filmed very indifferently, as if Seagal (who also co-produced) and director Semler
were more interested in their heavy-handed environmental message that in presenting a decent movie. Seagal the actor attempts
a light, breezy delivery in scenes with his young daughter and patients, but just doesn't have the charisma to back it up.
Semler betrays his background as an Oscar-winning cinematographer (DANCES WITH WOLVES) with some gorgeous Montana location
footage. Also with Silas Weir Mitchell, Dan Beene, Whitney Yellow Robe, Leonard Mountain Chief, Brad Leland and Seagals lovely
daughter Ayako. Music by Steve Edwards.
PATRIOT GAMES (1992)--Directed by Philip Noyce. Stars Harrison
Ford, Anne Archer, Sean Bean, Patrick Bergin. Ford took over for Alec Baldwin as CIA man Jack Ryan in this sequel to THE HUNT
FOR RED OCTOBER. On a family vacation in Ireland, Ryan runs afoul of IRA terrorists, who follow him back to America and attack
his family. Archer doesn't do too much as Ryan's wife, and Thora Birch plays their daughter. Good cast includes James Earl
Jones, Samuel L. Jackson, James Fox and Richard Harris. Based on a Tom Clancy bestseller. From the director of THE SAINT.
Ford, Archer and Noyce reteamed for CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER.
PAYBACK (1999)--Directed by Brian Helgeland.
Stars Mel Gibson, Gregg Henry, Maria Bello, Deborah Kara Unger. The directorial debut of the Oscar-winning screenwriter of
L.A. CONFIDENTIAL was a troubled one plagued by reshoots, poor test results and a power struggle won by star Gibson (whose
company, Icon Productions, produced the film). The result is a nifty thriller based upon the same Donald Westlake novel that
spawned John Boorman's 1967 existential revenge pic POINT BLANK with Lee Marvin. I won't compare the two movies, but PAYBACK
delivers as a brutal and downbeat noir.
Gibson is Porter, a thief who, with his partner Val (Henry) and junkie wife
(Unger), robs a Chinese gang of $140,000. Unfortunately for Porter, he is double-crossed, shot in the back and left for dead.
Five months later, he returns to the city for revenge and his share of the loot, which Val has used to buy himself into the
mob (referred to here as The Outfit). From this point, PAYBACK is essentially a series of beatings, trash-talking and colorful
character performances as Gibson kills off most of the cast in his quest (one running joke is that no one can believe Gibson
would go to all this trouble for only $70,000). Gibson strikes just the right note as Porter, a completely pissed-off guy
with a certain moral code who feels very at ease with violence. Henry (his biggest and best role since BODY DOUBLE) and Lucy
Liu (ALLY MCBEAL) as a Chinese dominatrix practically steal the movie, while David Paymer (as a sleazy cab dispatcher), an
unbilled James Coburn (as an Outfit kingpin) and Kris Kristofferson as the top mob boss deliver excellent support. The tone
is very '70s all around, with the cinematography lending the proceedings a bluish hue and capturing the gritty surroundings
(filmed in Chicago) in high style, and Chris Boardman's score steeped in Lalo Schifrin's classic urban soundtracks like DIRTY
HARRY and ENTER THE DRAGON.
Also with Bill Duke and James Conley as corrupt cops. Angie Dickinson, who played the
Unger character in POINT BLANK, originally played the Kristofferson role (as a voice on the telephone only), but she was cut
out when Gibson assumed control of the film and brought in ROAD WARRIOR scribe Terry Hayes to write some new scenes and a
new ending, after the original was reportedly thought by test audiences to be too downbeat.
PAYCHECK (2003)--Directed by John Woo. Stars
Ben Affleck, Uma Thurman, Aaron Eckhart. Former Hong Kong legend Woo's Hollywood stock continues to drop with this uninspired
Christmas release for the 2003 season. Based on a story by noted SF author Philip K. Dick, PAYCHECK stars the bland
Affleck as Michael Jennings, a brilliant computer expert who agrees to relinquish three years of his life locked away in the
laboratory of industrialist Rethrick (Eckhart) creating a brilliant new invention certain to change the world. When
the experiment is completed, Jennings will have his memory erased back to the point where he started and will receive an eight-figure
"paycheck". After the memory wipe, however, Jennings discovers that the FBI and assassins in the employ of his former
friend Rethrick are on his tail, and the only clues to the puzzle that haunts him are in an envelope he mailed to himself
before his memory was erased containing twenty seemingly innocuous objects, including a silver dollar, a matchbook and a subway
pass. Thurman is ill-used as a woman Michael fell in love with while in Rethrick's employ, but doesn't remember.
PAYCHECK is slick and blessed with a good John Powell score, but Dean Georgaris' screenplay doesn't hold water very well,
and Woo's mastery in concocting imaginative action scenes isn't evident. It's too bad, because the concept is excellent,
but Affleck is too lightweight to hold it together convincingly. Also with Paul Giamatti, Joe Morton, Kathryn Morris
and Colm Feore. Mostly filmed in Canada.
THE PEACE KILLERS (1971)--Directed by Douglas Schwartz.
Stars Clint Ritchie, Jess Walton, Michael Ontkean, Paul Prokop. It’s hippies vs. bikers in this typically sleazy
motorcycle picture. A vicious biker gang led by Rebel (Ritchie) invades a peaceful commune when he discovers his former
“old lady”, Kristen (Walton), is living there. Reb despises her for running away from him, and sends his
goons in to snatch her and gangrape her. Alex (Prokop), the pacifist leader of the commune, plans to use diplomacy and
calm chat to change Reb’s mind, but Kristen’s brother Jeff (Ontkean) is ready to kill the whole gang against Alex’s
wishes. THE PEACE KILLERS is probably more interesting to look at from the perspective of “what have these people
done lately?” Director Schwartz and writer Michael Berk created BAYWATCH. Ritchie and the gorgeous Walton
(who does a topless scene) went on to big soap opera careers, and Ontkean found prime-time stardom on THE ROOKIES and TWIN
PEAKS. Some gore and nudity keep things interesting, but THE PEACE KILLERS has nothing new to offer the biker genre;
in fact, it bears a strong resemblance to ANGEL UNCHAINED. Ruthann Friedman wrote and performed the songs. Also
with Albert Popwell, Lavelle Roby and Robert Cornthwaite (THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD).
THE
PEACEKEEPER (1997)--Directed by Frederic Forestier. Stars Dolph Lundgren, Michael Sarrazin, Montel Williams,
Roy Scheider. This "DIE HARD in a missile silo" may not be completely original, but it does make an admirable attempt
at a "No Nukes" message, and features a terrific car chase in which one car pursues another across a series of roofs--jumping
from the top of one building to another until there's nowhere else to jump.
Air Force Major Frank Cross (Lundgren) becomes a national hero after
he airdrops a planeload of rice to hungry refugees, but he's facing court martial within his own ranks for his lone wolf move.
He's granted a reprieve when the President (Scheider) of the United States selects him to carry the "black bag", the top-secret
briefcase containing the country's nuclear launch codes that always stays by the Commander-in-Chief's side. On his first
day on the job, while staying in a Chicago hotel (where the President follows up a rousing speech by dallying with a gorgeous
prostitute), Cross is ambushed and the black bag stolen (leading to the afore-mentioned spectacular car chase). Managing
to infiltrate the gang, Cross accompanies them to their main target: a missile silo which has been taken over by terrorists
led by Lt. Colonel Murphy (Sarrazin), a decorated veteran who vows revenge on the Chief Executive who ordered him fragged
by friendly fire in Desert Storm. Teaming up with Northrup (talk show host Williams), the silo's commander, Cross creeps
around, hoping to eliminate the terrorists and defuse the warheads before Murphy can use them to annihilate Washington, D.C.
Filmed in Montreal, THE PEACEKEEPER is an above-average action movie
that was released directly to video, but is in fact much better than several big-budget Hollywood blockbusters I could name
(*cough*SWORDFISH*cough*). Lundgren is never going to compete with DeNiro for roles, but he's relaxed and good-humored
here, even partaking in friendly banter with Williams, who also isn't a great actor, but doesn't embarrass himself any.
Scheider is very good in a role that eventually has some depth to it, and Sarrazin wisely doesn't ham it up as the villain,
but instead plays Murphy with a fiery intensity. Forestier, who I assume is a French-Canadian filmmaker, is a director
to look out for, even though most of his output is little seen outside of Quebec.
Also with Christopher Heyerdahl (who also appeared with Dolph in
SILENT TRIGGER), Monika Schnarre, Allen Altman and Ken Rush. Music by Francois Forestier, who must be related to the
director. Writers James H. Stewart and Robert Geoffrion previously combined on a Thomas Ian Griffith DTV called HOLLOW
POINT.
PEACEMAKER (1990)--Directed by Kevin S. Tenney. Stars Robert Forster, Lance Edwards, Hilary Shepard.
This empty-headed but entertaining B-pic is a pretty typical example of the kind of stuff Forster was forced to work in before
his Oscar nomination for JACKIE BROWN. He still isn't appearing enough in major studio films, but he isn't doing exploitation
either. In PEACEMAKER, Forster and Edwards play aliens who are trying to kill each other. The film opens with Edwards spaceship
crashing into the Pacific Ocean near L.A. Although there are some cheap but effective visual effects at the beginning, the
ship conveniently sinks underwater, much to the production manager's relief. The alien, who calls himself Townsend, gets into
a chase with police, and is apparently (and eventually, after amazing the cops with his amazing dexterity, strength and invulnerability)
killed in a barrage of gunfire. He has the ability to rejuvenate, however, and comes back to life on the autopsy table, barely
escaping his enemy Yates (Forster) and taking pretty medical examiner Dori (Shepard) as a hostage. Townsend claims to be some
sort of space cop--a peacemaker--who was pursuing Yates through outer space when they hit some sort of space time continuum
wormhole and ended up crashing on Earth. Dori agrees to help the attractive young alien and eventually even falls in love
with him--decisions she begins to regret when she's captured by Yates, who tells her that he's the peacemaker and Townsend
the killer
Tenney's a better director than writer, although his idea of direction is mainly just staying out of the
way while the stunt doubles and special effects guys do their thing. Not more than a few minutes ever pass before a big action
scene takes place, with many of the stunts looking very dangerous. Burning men, explosions, gun battles, car crashes, pedestrian
hit-and-runs, falls--they're all here. Tenney's script contains far too many holes (why doesn't Forster simply snap those
handcuffs--surely that must be easier than the bloody choice he makes instead?) and too many lame one-liners (although Shepard
delivers them like a sport), but the stuntwork and Forster's performance make PEACEMAKER worth a look. Like the professional
he is, Forster worked just as hard for Tenney or William Lustig as he ever did for Quentin Tarantino and John Huston, and
he manages to keep us guessing about Yates' loyalties. While Edwards stays at more or less the same note from beginning to
end, Forster adds an extra dimension to his character, making it harder to guess which alien is the good guy and which is
the bad.
Robert Davi (TV's PROFILER) plays a macho detective with a yen for Dori, and Bert Remsen (CODE OF SILENCE)
appears briefly as Dori's boss. Dennis Michael Tenney---aka somebody related to the director--composed the dull synth score.
Wayne Crawford and Andrew Lane (JAKE SPEED) produced. Edwards had a decent year, also appearing with David Caruso and John
Mahoney in the ABC adventure H.E.L.P., but faded back into obscurity by 1991. Shepard gained some fame as a character in the
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers movie.
THE PEACEMAKER
(1997)--Directed by Mimi Leder. Stars George Clooney, Nicole Kidman, Armin Mueller-Stahl. First movie released by Dreamworks
SKG (owned by Hollywood powerhouses Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen) is kind of a bore. Clooney is a
maverick Army officer who is assigned to recover some nuclear weapons that have been stolen by a renegade Russian. Besides
one pretty thrilling car chase, there isn't too much action here, and the climax features still another of those movie bombs
with big red numbers counting down until the hero can figure out which wire to cut. Yawn. Leder's big-screen directorial debut;
the daughter of exploitation filmmaker Paul Leder, the Emmy winner had directed Clooney in many episodes of ER. Hans Zimmer
turns in another uninteresting musical score. Screenplay by Michael Schiffer.
PEE-WEE'S BIG ADVENTURE
(1985)--Directed by Tim Burton. Stars Paul Reubens, Elizabeth Daily, Mark Holton, Diane Salinger. Burton's first feature stars
TV's Pee Wee Herman on his cross-country quest to find his missing bicycle. Full of quirky humor, bizarre visuals, goofy characters
and completely original concepts. Pee Wee makes a most unlikely screen hero. Reubens wrote the script along with Michael Varhol
and NEWSRADIO's Phil Hartman. Just what you'd expect from watching Pee Wee's TV show. James Brolin and Morgan Fairchild are
great in cameo roles. Music by Oingo Boingo's Danny Elfman.
PEGGY SUE GOT MARRIED (1986)--Directed
by Francis Ford Coppola. Stars Kathleen Turner, Nicolas Cage, Barry Miller, Maureen O'Sullivan, Catherine Hicks. Turner plays
a fortysomething housewife with two children in an unhappy marriage to salesman Cage. At her 25th high school class reunion,
she passes out and wakes up back in 1960 with all her memories intact. She has the chance to live her life all over again,
but will she change things or follow the same path? Coppola's film has its moments, but it's too similar to BACK TO THE FUTURE.
John Carradine is in it, though, and look for a pre-stardom Helen Hunt. Turner received a Best Actress Academy Award nomination;
Cage seems miscast.
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