Damien: Omen II (1978) - Mimicking follow-up is a true turkey

♥

A poster for Don Taylor and Mike Hodges' successful Damien: Omen II

QUICK REVIEW:

Seven years after the events of the first film, (the masterpiece The Omen (1976)), devil-boy Damien lives with his rich, initially unsuspecting uncle and his family, until he is to go away to a military school.

Rarely has a phenomenal first film been followed by as poor a sequel as is the case here. The awfully titled Damien: Omen II is a big production, justified by the massive success of the original film, led by William Holden (The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)), who was there for what must have been a hefty paycheck, (let's not kid ourselves.) He was offered the Thorn-part in the original The Omen but turned it down due to his distaste of starring in a film of the devil, - but after the film's incredible success, he made sure to agree to do the sequel...
The tentative chills of the film are soon replaced by a sense of 'who-dies-next', which isn't scary at all, and worse is that the death scenarios are almost ridiculous more than once, SPOILER with the scene of the man who dies under the ice, - which changes from being glass-like to completely white and nontransparent between shots, - being the worst.
The promising premise of Omen II is wasted in what turns out to be nothing more than a stupid rehash, which attempts to match the brilliant first film as if filmmaking was nothing more than a can factory.
Stanley Mann (Firestarter (1984)) wrote the script, based on Harvey Bernhard's (Omen IV: The Awakening (1991, TV movie)) story and David Seltzer's characters (Bird on a Wire (1990)), and the film was initially directed by Mike Hodges (Flash Gordon (1980)), who was thought slow and therefore got replaced by Don Taylor (The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977)). The film is a case of the fatal combination; bad start, middle and end. - Damien: Omen II is just plain bad!

Willam Holden applies a stern face in Don Taylor and Mike Hodges' Damien: Omen II

In lieu of a trailer for the movie, not currently on Youtube, here is Jerry Goldsmith's (The Omen) opening theme

Cost: 6.8 mil. $
Box office: 26.5 mil. $ (North America only)
= Big hit (at least)
[Damien: Omen II was released June 9 and runs 107 minutes. The only returning actor is Lew McKern (The Blue Lagoon (1980)) as Bugenhagen, who, however, went uncredited. The film is mainly set in Chicago, and the Thorn Industries building is in fact Chicago's city hall, but filming also took place in Wisconsin. The film opened #1 in North America in just 525 theaters to an astounding 3.8 mil. $ first weekend. The franchise continued with The Final Conflict (1981), Omen IV: The Awakening (1991, TV movie), The Omen Legacy (2001, TV movie) and The Omen (2006, remake). Damien: Omen II is rotten at 41 % with a 5 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Damien: Omen II?

Delicatessen (1991) or, The Brown Quirk

♥

A stripped-down version of the poster for Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Delicatessen

QUICK REVIEW:

A former clown moves into a building owned by a butcher as its new janitor. He falls in love with the butcher's wide-eyed daughter and learns that the widespread hunger in the war-torn town that the building is situated in is fought in the building by acts of cannibalism.

Delicatessen is the feature debut of French co-writer/co-director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Alien: Resurrection (1997)), who co-wrote with Marc Caro (The City of Lost Children (1995)) and Gilles Adrien (La Reine Soleil (2007)) and co-directed with Caro.
My fascination with the production's initially impressive span was short-lived, whereupon I yawned myself through Delicatessen's countless unpleasant scenes, most of which are held in off-putting brown and yellowish hues. The film creates a strange, nightmarish atmosphere, which isn't in its own favor, because it is a supposedly funny comedy. The relentless quirkiness that permeates every aspect of Delicatessen gets strenuous fast. Jeunet and his co-creators have here created a universe entirely without consequences for its audience.
Full disclosure: One of my all-time least-liked filmmakers here debut with what is in my mind a terrible film that is obsessed with its own infantile brand of creativity.

Related review:

Jean-Pierre Jeunet: Amélie/Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain (2001) - Pretentious French fluffy-puff poop
Alien: Resurrection (1997) or, Queen of the Goo Massacre!

In lieu of a trailer for the film, not currently on Youtube, here's a 2-minute clip from it, which gives you a sense of its distinct, brown-yellowish, highly irksome visual design

Cost: Reportedly approximately 4.25 mil. $
Box office: Reportedly approximately 15.34 mil. $
= Big hit
[Delicatessen was released April 17 (France) and runs 99 minutes. The film was reportedly devised as an homage to Terry Gilliam by Jeunet as he vacationed in the US in 1988 and was appalled with the food he was served in the American hotels. The film made 1.7 mil. $ (11 % of the total gross) in North America, where it was released one year after its French premiere. It likely made most of its gross in France and Italy. It was well-received critically and won a slew of awards, including 4 César awards (France's Oscar), out of unbelievable 10 nominations. Delicatessen is certified fresh at 88 % with a 7.7 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Delicatessen?
What critical and commercial hit movies get severely on your nerves?

Top 10: The best true story movies reviewed by Film Excess to date

1. In Darkness/W Ciemności (2011) - Agnieszka Holland

2. Casino (1995) - Martin Scorsese

3. The Impossible/Lo Imposible (2012) - J. A Bayona

4. Badlands (1973) - Terrence Malick

5. The Sessions (2012) - Ben Lewin 

6. The Good Lie (2014) - Philippe Falardeau

7. Pride (2014) - Matthew Warchus

8. Beautiful Boxer/บิวตี้ฟูล บ๊อกเซอร์ (2004) - Ekachai Uekrongtham 

9. Bernie (2011) - Richard Linklater

10. The Intouchables/Intouchables/Untouchable (2011) - Eric Toledano; Olivier Nakache

Other masterpiece true story movie reviewed by Film Excess

The Boy in the Plastic Bubble (1976, TV movie)

Other great true story movies reviewed by Film Excess to date (in alphabetical order)

Argo (2012) 
The Believer (2001) 
Bloody Sunday (2002) 
The Conjuring (2013) 
The Danish Girl (2015) 
The Desperate Hours (1955) 
Donnie Brasco (1997) 
Kon-Tiki (2012)
Lone Survivor (2013)
Machine Gun Preacher (2011)
Moneyball (2011) 
Spotlight (2015) 

Good true story movies reviewed by Film Excess to date (in alphabetical order)

Animal Kingdom (2010) 
Behind Enemy Lines (2001) 
Bonnie and Clyde (1967) 
Bronson (2008) 
Capote (2005) 
Coach Carter (2005) 
Dallas Buyers Club (2013) 
Death of a Cheerleader (1994, TV movie)
Fruitvale Station (2013) 
Margin Call (2011) 
Mesrine: Killer Instinct + Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1/Mesrine: L'Instinct de Mort + Mesrine: L'ennemi public n°1 (2008, two-part movie) 
Timbuktu (2014)

Mediocre or poor true story movies reviewed by Film Excess to date (in alphabetical order)

Big Miracle (2012) 
The Bling Ring (2013) 
Bloodsport (1988) 
Blow (2001) 
The Changeling (2008) 
Chisum (1970) 
Domino (2005) 
Gangster Squad (2013) 
The Iceman (2012) 
The Monuments Men (2014) 
The Revenant (2015) 
This Life/Hvidsten Gruppen (2012) 

[47 titles in all]

Previous Top 10 lists:

The best action movies reviewed by Film Excess to date  
The best adapted movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The best adventure movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
The best B/W movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

What do you think of the list?
Which true story movies would be on yours?   

Daisy Diamond (2007) - Staho's feel-bad baby drama

♥♥♥♥

+ Best Feel-Bad Movie of the Year

The elegant and ominous poster for Simon Staho's Daisy Diamond

QUICK REVIEW:

Anna is a single mother with her baby girl Daisy. She attends auditions, but Daisy disrupts with her screams, and there is no one there to help Anna out.

Daisy Diamond is the 4th feature from Danish writer-director Simon Staho (The Miracle/Miraklet (2013)), co-written with Peter Asmussen (Bridgend (2015)). It is a relentlessly gloomy, unpleasant film, which plays with our perception of the narrative's reality more than once at Anna's auditions that mirror her personal misery.
It features an impressive ensemble of fine Danish actors headed by Swede Noomi Rapace (The Drop (2014)), who gives herself over to her part and Staho to an impressive degree.
The film is wild, daring and uncompromising. Everyone is a bastard, which also comes over a bit one-sided. - The colossal Weltschmerz that drives through Daisy Diamond is somewhat sophomoric, and its seemingly unending close-ups are at times vulgar. Also, the confessional scene with Dejan Cukic (Borgia (2011-14)) doesn't work.
Still, Daisy Diamond is an intensely nightmarish, subjectively realistic drama.

Related posts:

2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Watch a preview for the film with English subtitles here

Cost: Reportedly 1 mil. $
Box office: Unknown
= Unknown (but undoubtedly a mega-flop)
[Daisy Diamond was released November 23 and runs 99 minutes. It was shot in Brøndby Strand, Denmark. Only 2,337 bought admission to the film in its native country. It has been shown at 6 international film festivals, and Rapace won the two top actress honors in Denmark of the year, the Bodil and Robert awards, for her portrayal of Anna. Trine Dyrholm (The Celebration/Festen (1998)) was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress at both functions for her acting in the film. Controversy arose in Sweden due to possible abuse of the babies used as actors in the film, without any response given from Staho or Rapace. Daisy Diamond has been given a 6.1 rating by 829 IMDb-users.]

What do you think of Daisy Diamond?

The Disorderly Orderly (1964) or, Lewis in a Hospital

♥♥♥

The splashy, busy poster for Frank Tashlin's The Disorderly Orderly

QUICK REVIEW:

Jerry Lewis (The Errand Boy (1961)) is presented to us as Napoleon, a mountain climber and a medic (all equally ridiculous identities for him), before we get to see him as the latter: In an exclusive hospital, he goofs and tumbles around for the duration of the film.

Disorderly Orderly might appeal more to American taste than Scandinavian. I saw most of it mostly as a curiosity of its time period, a pretty bizarre curiosity, I might add. Lewis grimaces, screams, tumbles, yell, tumbles again and then screams some more. His brand of slapstick comedy is often nearly cringe-worthy, and to me it's a far cry from the disciplines' masters like Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin.
But Disorderly Orderly is also an exuberant, colorful and highly energetic work, (even if its plot could fit in a teaspoon.)
It is written by writer-director Frank Tashlin (Son of Paleface (1952)), based on a story by Norm Liebmann (The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1977-79)) and Ed Haas (The Jerry Lewis Show (1967-68)).

 Watch the original trailer for the film here

Cost: Unknown
Box office: 2.7 mil. $ (North America only)
= Unknown
[The Disorderly Orderly was released December 16 and runs 89 minutes. It was filmed at Greystone Park and Mansion in Beverly Hills, CA. Sammy Davis Jr. sings the opening song. Besides the above number, the film drew 1.4+ mil. admissions in France, but those are the only numbers I have found on its release. I suspect it was a box office success. The Disorderly Orderly has been given a 3.5/5 rating by 2,214 users on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Disorderly Orderly?

Dark Water/ 仄暗い水の底から (Honogurai Mizu no Soko Kara) (2002) - Nakata expertly spins a horror yarn around the eerie element of water

♥♥♥♥♥

The clammy poster for Hideo Nakata's Dark Water

QUICK REVIEW:

A single mother has to move herself and her daughter into a water-damaged flat and try to balance work, her custody case, motherhood and the mystical occurrences taking place in the building.

Dark Water is an imperceptibly working, economically told horror that gets under your skin with steely determination, SPOILER especially shown in the scenes where the mother accidentally neglects her daughter due to a job interview that draws out.
The film is build up strangely around its water effects, which gradually freezes its audience until put in a state of positively icy horror. In the third act, I found myself on the edge of my seat, and the ending combines shock, inventive horrors and tristesse impressively.
Dark Water is written by Takashige Ichise (Talk to the Dead/Tôku tu za Deddo (2013)), Yoshihiro Nakamura (Miracle Apples/Kiseki no Ringo (2013)), Ken'ichi Suzuki (Elevator Trap/Akumu no Erebêtâ (2009)) and the great Japanese co-writer-director Hideo Nakata (Ring/Ringu (1998)), based on a same-titled story by Koji Suzuki (Ring/Ringu (1991)). It certainly seems to be inspired by both Stanley Kubrick (The Shining (1980)) and Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho (1960)), but it still remains a decidedly Japanese horror gem.

In lieu of a trailer for the film, not currently on Youtube, here is a video of Nakata talking of his journey as a director (in English)

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Reportedly 3.56 mil. $
= Unknown
[Dark Water was released January 19 (Japan) and runs 101 minutes. The original title translates to 'from the bottom of dark water'. It grossed 0.9 mil. $ in Japan. It was remade in the US by Walter Salles as Dark Water (2005) with Jennifer Connelly, which is also recommendable. I have not been able to find more numbers on the film, but I suspect it should count as a box office success, although it is conjecture. Dark Water is fresh at 77 % with a 6.8 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Dark Water?

Due Date (2010) or, Riding with Tremblay

♥♥♥♥

Robert Downey Jr. and Zack Galifianakis are the odd couple of Todd Phillips' Due Date

QUICK REVIEW:

A businessman is caught in the countryside, when he finds himself on a 'no-fly' list due to a moron he runs into, who subsequently becomes his driving partner back to Los Angeles.

I had to give in to Due Date pretty early in the film. - It's funny. Funny writing and amusingly played by Robert Downey Jr. (Wonder Boys (2000)) and Zack Galifianakis (Youth in Revolt (2009)) with Juliette Lewis (August: Osage County (2013)), Danny McBride (This Is the End (2013)) and Jamie Foxx (Django Unchained (2012)) doing great in funny supporting roles.
The film is co-written by Alan R. Cohen (American Dad (2010-12)), Alan Freedland (King of the Hill (1997-02)), Adam Sztykiel (Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip (2015)) and great Brooklynite co-writer/director Todd Phillips (The Hangover (2009)), inspired by the classic comedy Plains, Trains and Automobiles (1987)). 
Once again Phillips is putting something out in the world about the great difficulties of being a middle-aged, well-off, white male in America. - It's incredible he can make it float! Meanwhile there's a dark, almost misanthropic core to Due Date, - in which every one is simply ridiculous. I found it frequently hysterical.

Related review:

Todd Phillips: The Hangover Part II (2011) - Phillips & Co. follow up their sensational comedy hit with a disappointing sequel

Watch the trailer for the film here, - if you don't find it amusing at all, the film isn't for you

Cost: 65 mil. $
Box office: 211.7 mil. $
= Box office success
[Due Date premiered October 31 (at the Night Visions film festival in Helsinki) and runs 95 minutes. Due Date was shot on location in New Mexico, Georgia and Alabama. The movie opened #2, behind Megamind, to a 32.6 mil. $ opening weekend in North America, where it grossed 100.5 mil. $ (47.5 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets for the film were the UK with 16.3 mil. $ (7.7 %) and Germany with 13 mil. $ (6.1 %). Due Date is rotten at 40 % with a 5.2 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Due Date?

Carol (2015) - Haynes' romance adaptation is a triumph

♥♥♥♥♥♥

+ Best Adaptation of the Year
+ Best Romance of the Year

The nearly eatable poster for Todd Haynes' Carol

Carol is the 6th feature from master Los Angeles filmmaker Todd Haynes (Far from Heaven (2002)), a long in the works and highly anticipated adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's groundbreaking novel The Price of Salt (1952), (later re-titled Carol), written by Oscar-nominee Phyllis Nagy (Mrs. Harris (2005)). It might be the best Highsmith adaptation to date.

Therese is a young woman working in a department store in New York in 1952, when she meets the older woman Carol, who is in the middle of a difficult divorce, and the two fall in love.

Carol is a magnificent film and a first class adaptation, a simply delicious love story that is impeccably accomplished in every aspect. It is curious that two of 2015's best films thus turn out to be spirited romances set in New York in nearly the same period, about young women working in department stores. (The other film, of course, being Brooklyn.)
I first imagined I saw Oscar-nominee Cate Blanchett (Truth (2015)) channeling Joan Crawford here, (which wouldn't have been a bad role-model to channel at all), but I don't think she does. Carol is all her, and she displays a remarkable balance between strength and touching vulnerability in the empowering role. Young Oscar-nominee Rooney Mara (Side Effects (2013)) cements herself as one of the most gifted young actresses around today beside her, and you'll catch yourself falling for her waif-like sweetness in Carol, where she resembles Audrey Hepburn quite a lot. There's a powerful, universal humanity to their relationship in the film that makes it soar and touch us, and perhaps remind some audience members of their lives' past romances.

Rooney Mara is stunning in Todd Haynes' Carol

The structure of the film pays homage to David Lean's great Brief Encounter (1945). The romance is cute SPOILER and platonic for very long, - I was nearly beginning to worry, - but once sex finally enters, it is elegant and tenderly depicted.
The production design, Oscar-nominated costumes, hair, makeup and visual concept, presenting a big palette of strong foundational colors, is striking and sumptuous as could be expected from the maker of the equally delicious, if colder Far from Heaven. It is shot by Oscar-nominee Edward Lachman (I'm Not There. (2007)) on 16 mm film and plays with obscuring its images through reflections, glass etc., which only heightens the sensuous rendition of the story. Oscar-nominee Carter Burwell's (Mr. Holmes (2015)) score is poignant, if not quite as masterful as Elmer Bernstein's (The Shootist (1976)) classical Far from Heaven score.
The supporting cast is superb: Sarah Paulson (12 Years a Slave (2013)), John Magaro (The Big Short (2015)) and Jake Lacy (Obvious Child (2014)) all bring strong portrayals, and Kyle Chandler (King Kong (2005)) is spectacular as Carol's husband, a desperate and miserable husband and father, who - through Chandler's empathic performance - comes to be more than the monster he otherwise might have been. He is an imperfect man who acts in a time of bigotry and darkness.
Carol is a film you shouldn't for anything miss seeing in a cinema. A rare treat that is bound to live on.

Related posts:

Todd Haynes: Top 10: Best gay-themed titles

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Mildred Pierce (2011, miniseries) - Haynes' spin on the Cain classic is a luxury

Watch the trailer for the film here

Cost: 11.8 mil. $
Box office: 40.3 mil. $
= Box office success
[Carol premiered May 17 (in competition in Cannes) and runs 118 minutes. Development of an adaptation had been active since at least 1996 and made impossible until now due to lack of willing financiers, scheduling difficulties (a long line of directors have been involved before Haynes assumed the job), rights issues as well as Nagy's stubborn and laudable insistence that the film SPOILER not be turned into a tragical gay story, - which have accounted for most of the major gay stories that have previously attracted the interest of the mainstream. Shooting lasted 34 days in March - April 2014 in Ohio and Kentucky, with 7 months of post in NY. Carol's wide-release, in just 780 theaters, opening weekend came in #15 with 1.4 mil. $ in North America, where it has grossed 12.6 mil. $ (32.3 % of the total gross.) Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets have been the UK with 3.9 mil. $ (10 %) and France with 2.3 mil. $ (5.9 %). The film received a ten minute standing ovation at its Cannes premiere, where it won the Queer Palm Award, and Mara tied Best Actress with Emmanuelle Bercot of Mon Roi. At the Oscars, the film was nominated 6 times, but went home empty-handed, sorely overlooked. There was also controversy over its being left out of the Best Film and Best Director categories. Carol has rated high on countless Top 10 lists of the year and won scores of awards around the world. Carol is certified fresh at 93 % with a 8.6 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Carol?

Death Takes a Holiday (1934) or, The Mysterious Prince Sirkin

♥♥♥♥♥

Add Fredric March's pose to the tagline in the top left of this poster for Mitchell Leisen's Death Takes a Holiday, and you've got a pretty funny example of pre-code movie publicity salaciousness

QUICK REVIEW:

We are with some very classy people, where a young girl is getting courted by a young man, when Death pays them a visit, in the guise of the mysterious Prince Sirkin.

Death Takes a Holiday is based on Alberto Casella's play La Morte in Vacanza, written by Maxwell Anderson (So Red the Rose (1935)) and Gladys Lehman (The Lady Objects (1938)) and directed by great Michigander filmmaker Mitchell Leisen (Stranded in Paris (1938)).
There's a warm and touching core to the story of love-starved, lonely Death, splendidly played by Fredric March (Inherit the Wind (1960)), who heads a batch of lovely actors' performances. The film is handsomely photographed by Charles Lang (Charade (1963)) and well-written. It is an unusual and beautiful picture.

 

Related post:

 

Top 10: Best fantasy movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

In lieu of a trailer for the film, not currently on Youtube, here's the Lux Radio Theatre version of the story, with March reprising his role as Prince Sirkin

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Unknown (but reportedly a big hit)
[Death Takes a Holiday premiered February 23 (New York) and runs 79 minutes. The film was reportedly a great success and among Paramount's highest-grossing films of the year. Leisen later recounted how 7-8,000 people from all over America subsequent to the film's success send letters to the studio, writing about how the film had cured them of their fear of death. Casella's play has been adapted several times since, most recently as Meet Joe Black (1998) with Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins. Death Takes a Holiday has a 7.2 rating on IMDb, based on 1,162 user ratings.]

What do you think of Death Takes a Holiday?