Howard the Duck (1986) - Legendary flop is more duck than turkey

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The duck called Howard is lounged with a Rolling Stones magazine on this colorful poster for Willard Huyck's Howard the Duck

From Duckworld lands Howard the Duck on earth, where he gets a girlfriend from a rock band and tries to get back home. - But a dark emperor stands in his way!

Howard the Duck is written by co-writer/producer Gloria Katz (American Graffiti (1973)) and co-writer/director Willard Huyck (French Postcards (1979)), based on the Marvel Comics character created by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik in 1973.

It is a really strange and childish vision, which has become an incredibly thorough but completely demographic-less explosion of color with groundbreaking visual effects, a rad villain (Jeffrey Jones' (Valmont (1989)) character becomes Dark Overlord of the Universe) and monster. There's also an impressive ultralight flight chase sequence and many fine, bizarre moments, even if the duck-related humor is likely to cause a mild headache. Howard the Duck is a unique film to be sure.

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 37 mil. $

Box office: 37.9 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 1.02 times its cost)

[Howard the Duck was released 1 August (North America) and runs 111 minutes. Executive producer George Lucas was reportedly the one who drew attention to Marvel's duck character and suggested to make the film as a live-action rather than an animation. Shooting took place from November 1985 - March 1986 in California, including in San Francisco. The film opened #3, behind holdover hit Aliens and fellow new release Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives, to a 5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 16.2 mil. $ (42.7 % of the total gross). Universal production chief Frank Price was reportedly fired over the film's disastrous flop; and Lucas had to sell his company's CGI animation arm to Apple Computer's Steve Jobs, - the company which later became Pixar Animation Studios. The film made in excess of 1 mil. $ on its 2011 DVD release. Huyck never directed again but did write a few screenplays, mostly for TV movies. Lea Thompson (Thin Ice (2011)) returned in Some Kind of Wonderful (1987); Tim Robbins (Dark Waters (2019)) in Saturday Night Live (1986, TV-series) and theatrically in Five Corners (1987); and Jones in The Pest (1997). Howard the Duck is rotten at 13 % with a 3.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Howard the Duck?

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) - Hughes' perfect movie of youth

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Matthew Broderick sports his boyish charms on this simple poster for John Hughes' Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Ferris Bueller is a high school senior rebel who is about to take a wild day off in Chicago. He takes his introverted, anxious friend Cameron and attractive girlfriend Sloane into joining him on an adventure in Cameron's father's prized 1961 Ferrari.

For thousands upon thousands of people the world over, Ferris Bueller's Day Off is a sweetly nostalgic treasure that won't ever lose its magic. It is the perfect movie about youth, made by the great auteur of teenage portrayals, 1980s champion, Michigander master filmmaker John Hughes (Curly Sue (1991)), who wrote and directed the film.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off strikes a rare balance between being funny and serious, but in the first place it is hugely entertaining throughout.
Matthew Broderick (The Last Shot (2004)) is Ferris, and the supporting parts are also all brilliantly cast. Among the most memorable are Alan Ruck (Hot in Cleveland (2013), TV-series) as Cameron, who undergoes the great change in the film, effectively getting saved by Ferris into seeing the life and promises of the world all around him; Jeffrey Jones (Sleepy Hollow (1999)) as the sadistic principal and Charlie Sheen (Postmortem (1998)) in a prophetic role as a junkie. Although carpe diem is closely associated with Peter Weir's Dead Poets' Society (1989), - also a good film, - the film that truly earns the title as the seize-the-day movie of all time is Hughes' Ferris Bueller's Day Off. - Simply a blast of a film.

Related post:

John Hughes: The Breakfast Club (1985) - John Hughes' detention classic

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 5.8 mil. $
Box office: 70.1 mil. $ (North America only)
= Mega-hit
[Ferris Bueller's Day Off was released 11 June (USA) and runs 103 minutes. Hughes wrote the script in less than a week and shot his first draft. He intended the film to be more about characters than plot. The first cut was 2 hours and 45 minutes. Broderick and Ruck were friends and had acted together before in Biloxi Blues on Broadway. Shooting took place from September - November 1985 in Illinois, including in Chicago, and in California, including in Los Angeles. Hughes made a point of getting as much of his beloved Chicago in the film as he could. The '61 Ferrari (today one of the most expensive cars ever sold) in the film was the real deal in insert shots and reproductions in wide shots SPOILER and for the destruction scene in the end. The film opened #2, behind fellow new release Back to School, to a 6.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another week in the top 5 (#5) and scored a triumphant 70.1 mil. $, becoming the year's 10th highest-grossing title in North America. Unfortunately, its world gross is not listed. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, translating to two notches harder than this review. The film was nominated for a Golden Globe (for Broderick). Hughes returned with Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987). Broderick returned in Project X (1987). An NBC Ferris Bueller TV-series (without Hughes or Broderick - but with Jennifer Aniston) ran a single season in 1986. Ferris Bueller's Day Off is certified fresh at 79 % with a 7.7 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Ferris Bueller's Day Off?

Deadwood - season 2 (2005) - Milch's dirty frontier West continues to entertain thorougly

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The not very aesthetically pleasing poster for the second season of David Milch's Deadwood

The second season (out of three) of creator David Milch's (NYPD Blue (1993-05)) lavish, historical HBO series set in the titular town in 1877 begins about 7 months after the first season and spans 12 ca. 45 minute-long episodes.
The show continues to be a joy to watch due to its endearing characters, the general perfidy of the camp and the rare instances of greatness among its tough residents. Mayor Farnum (well-played by William Sanderson (Blade Runner (1982))) and newspaperman Merrick (Jeffrey Jones (Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986))) grow into a couple of really funny characters in season two. But it continues to irritate that the main character, sheriff Bullock, is played so stoically jaw-clenched by Timothy Olyphant (Die Hard 4.0 (2007)).
The minor problem of Deadwood's at times snail-pace plot might be that it seems like it, apart from its general direction, is sort of made up as it rolls along, without any real sense of underlying necessity.

Ian McShane (Cuban Fury (2014)) continues to be a huge part of David Milch's Deadwood's attraction as the boss of the town, Al Swearengen

The details:

The following plot summary contains SPOILERS:

The season's main subject is the annexation of Deadwood into Dakota state territory. Some of the details of this become too muddy as it moves along, and the mistrusted Pinkerton family from the first season send out a snakelike agent by the name of Isringhausen, whose ulterior motives also remain somewhat unknown for the entire season. On the more positive side, the violent town receives an enthusiastic Stephen Tobolowsky (Groundhog Day (1993)) as a Dakota commissary.
Another agent, this one for the wealthy Hearst, Wolcott, turns out to be a perverted killer of women, who in turn lays bare the cynicism of the town's original, secondary power figure Cy Tolliver (Powers Boothe (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014))).
When Swearengen finally recovers from serious illness, Sol (John Hawkes (The Sessions (2012))), Bullock and Alma Garret (Molly Parker (Hollywoodland (2006))) have opened a bank. Bullock's wife arrives, and his relationship with Garret ends in agonizing silence, while he and his wife's pretty son expire in a tragic horse accident.
Joanie's (Kim Dickens (Gone Girl (2014))) brothel Chez Amis closes following a triple murder. Calamity Jane (Robin Weigert (Mississippi Grind (2015))) receives some much needed help and gives some in return. The town's Chinese boss Wu (Keone Young (Men in Black 3 (2012))) makes a vendetta over a brutal Chinese gangster from San Francisco, and Alma gets engaged to Ellsworth (Jim Beaver (Crimson Peak (2015))).
As the season draws to its end, Wolcott gets a death sentence from Hearst; Deadwood is annexed into Dakota territory for a substantial prize; Farnum's hotel gets sold to Hearst; Tolliver gets stabbed in his stomach by the new priest in town, - a bitter, old acquaintance, - and an election is announced.

At the season's exciting end, one looks greatly forward to the third season.

Best episode:

3: New Money - written by Milch, Elizabeth Sarnoff (Lost (2005-10)), directed by Steve Shill (Rome (2005-07))
Al Swearengen is operated for gallstones, - and rarely has a TV scene been more excruciating to behold!

Related review:

David Milch: Deadwood - season 1 (2004) - Milch presents a new f-ing take on the old frontier West

 In lieu of a trailer for the season, not currently available on Youtube, here is a video with the great opening theme of the show, by David Schwartz (Arrested Development (2003-13))

Budget: Reportedly 4.5 mil. $ per episode, or 54 mil. $
Box office: None - TV-series
= Unknown
[As with the first season, the viewer ratings for the show are not to be found online. Metacritic reports that the 2nd season is the best reviewed of the show's 3, with 93 % good reviews, 'near universal acclaim'. The season was nominated for 11 Emmys, winning 5, which were all technical, episode-specific ones. After several years mull, HBO has as of January 2016 commissioned Milch, who is today reportedly 17 mil. $ in debt due to obsessive gambling, to write scripts for two TV-movies that are to conclude Deadwood, which ended prematurely with season 3. Deadwood is #69 on IMDb's Top 250 TV-shows, where 61k+ users have given it an 8.8 average rating.]

What do you think of the second season of Deadwood?

Beetlejuice (1988) - Burton and team serve the ultimate horror comedy

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Genna Davis, Michael Keaton and a beheaded Alec Baldwin in festive, otherworldly spirits on the poster for Tim Burton's Beetlejuice

QUICK REVIEW:

A young couple move into their dream-home in Connecticut, - but soon die tragically. As ghosts who haunt the house, they then try desperately to rid it of the New York-modern, atrocious Deetz family who replace them as residents.

Beetlejuice exhilarates with creativity in highest gear and wildly impressive effects, even though master director Tim Burton (Batman Returns (1992)) has said about overcoming the obstacle of the small 1 mil. $ effect budget (considering all the effects in the film): "I wanted to make them look cheap and purposely fake-looking."

"Purposely fake-looking" effects in Tim Burton's Beetle Juice

Danny Elfman's (Milk (2008)) score is eminent, and the performances are out-of-this-world loony, especially Michael Keaton's as the title character is vulgar, funny and creepy:

Yes, this is actually Michael Keaton. He's unlike himself in any other picture in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice, which was Oscar-nominated for its make-up effects

The cast also includes memorable turns from Winona Ryder, Glenn Shadix, Jeffrey Jones, Catherine O'Hara (Home Alone (1990)), - besides Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin as the deceased couple.
Beetlejuice is fun on fun horror comedy at its best; with eerie effects, fresh handling of heavy material (death, namely), slapstick and gags aplenty, this one is recommended for anyone over age 12. It is the type of horror comedy that accepts the absurdity of life and death and chooses to embrace it and celebrate it, culminating in the phenomenal ending. - A masterpiece.
Talks of a sequel has raged since not long after Beetlejuice became a big, beloved hit, and finally it looks like it might be happening, as Burton-Keaton has talked together about it, possibly based on a Hawaii-set script that has been around for a long time. 

Related review:

Tim Burton: Batman Returns (1992) - Burton gives us the ultimate, Gothic spin on Gotham City and its sinister characters

 Watch the fun trailer here

Budget: 15 mil. $
Box office: 73.7 mil. $
= Big hit

What do you think of Beetlejuice?
I miss raucous horror comedies, - where have they gone today?