I Love You to Death (1990) - Great ensemble fire up Kasdan's true-crime comedy

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Co-star Kevin Kline looks moronic in white pajama piece on this poster for Lawrence Kasdan's I Love You to Death

Joey is a hard-working family man in New York, who keeps his steam up by cheating voraciously with different women. When his wife discovers this, she and her mother wish Joey dead!

 

I Love You to Death is written by John Kostmayer (Simon & Simon (1984, TV-series)) and directed by Lawrence Kasdan (Body Heat (1981)). It is based on a true story from Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Kevin Kline (Beauty and the Beast (2017)) has his skin darkened for the Italian-American role of the worry-free Joey, who thinks of the US as an Italian country, and who admits to 12 counts of infidelity in 14 days in the film's funny first scene. Once again, this film proves that Kline is simply a comedic talent to reckon with. Tracey Ullman (Howard's End (2017, miniseries)) is sweet as the wife, and Joan Plowright (Rock My World (2002)) is also funny as the quick-witted mother-in-law with double standards. River Phoenix (Little Nikita (1988)) is lovely as the new-age indeterminate Devo, and Keanu Reeves (The Devil's Advocate (1997)) and John Hurt (The Village (2004)) appear as authentic, hopeless drug addict assassins. 

The focus on a (very) unfaithful husband, who nevertheless still loves his family and is good with them, can inspire debate about marriage, monogamy and so forth. The steam doesn't last all the way through the picture, but there is plenty to laugh at and like about I Love You to Death.

 

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2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Dreamcatcher (2003) - Kasdan's career-crippling King adaptation 

Continental Divide (1981) - Unpersuasive Belushi comedy (writer)

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - Spielberg reasserts himself with tremendous boyish adventure (co-writer)

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Uncertain

Box office: In excess of 16.1 mil. $ (North America alone)

= Uncertain but likely a box office success (projected return of 2.81 times its cost)

[I Love You to Death was released 6 April (USA) and runs 97 minutes. Plowright was paid 250k $ for her performance in the film. Shooting took place from April - July 1989 in Washington. The film opened #6 to a 4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it grossed 16.1 mil. $. If we estimate an 8 mil. $ budget and a hesitant foreign reception a 22.5 mil. $ final gross could be projected, which would rank as a box office success. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Kasdan returned with Grand Canyon (1991). Kline returned in Soapdish (1991); Ullman in 6 TV and video titles prior to her theatrical return in Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993). I Love You to Death is rotten at 58 % with a 5.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of I Love You to Death?

Something's Gotta Give (2003) - Meyers, Jack & Diane are a killer combo

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+ Best Screen Couple of the Year: Jack Nicholson & Diane Keaton

Few stars are established enough that marketing their major film relies solely on their first names, but in the case of Nancy Meyers' Something's Gotta Give, the confidence is understandable

A middle-aged playwright gets an unexpected visit in her house in the Hamptons by her daughter and her much older boyfriend. SPOILER He has several heart attacks; she falls in love easily; he does not...

Something's Gotta Give is written and directed by great Pennsylvanian filmmaker Nancy Meyers (The Parent Trap (1998)).
It is a wonderful film of a rare breed that I don't mind admitting being a sucker for. It features grand acting from Diane Keaton (The Godfather: Part II (1974)), Jack Nicholson (The Rebel Rousers (1970)), Frances McDormand (Bleeding Hearts (1994)), Amanda Peet (Identity Thief (2013)) and Keanu Reeves (Ellie Parker (2005)). It is completely sweet and smartly written and directed. Meyers' grip on the romcom genre is eminent. My only (small) qualm is that the third act is a little long.

Related post:

Nancy Meyers: It's Complicated (2009) - Meyers' delightful romcom star vehicle

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 80 mil. $
Box office: 266.7 mil. $
=  Box office success (returned 3.33 times its cost)
[Something's Gotta Give was released 12 December (USA) and runs 128 minutes. Nicholson and Keaton had previously starred together in Reds (1981). Shooting took place in Paris, France and in California, including Los Angeles, and in New York from February - July 2003. The film opened #1 to a 16 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it stayed in the top 5 for another 4 weeks (#3-#4-#3-#5) and grossed 124.7 mil. $ (46.8 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Germany with 22.2 mil. $ (8.3 %) and the UK with 12.6 mil. $ (4.7 %). The film was nominated for 1 Oscar: Best Actress (Keaton), lost to Charlize Theron for Monster. The film won 1/2 Golden Globe nominations, a National Board of Review award and several other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3½/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Meyers returned with The Holiday (2006). Nicholson returned in The Departed (2006); Keaton in The Family Stone (2005). Something's Gotta Give is fresh at 72 % with a 6.6/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Something's Gotta Give?

The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008) - Unduly bashed sci-fi drama

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+ Best Remake of the Year + Best Science Fiction Movie of the Year

Keanu Reeves plays the emotionally vacant Klaatu in Scott Derrickson's The Day the Earth Stood Still

QUICK REVIEW:

Something strange lands on Manhattan, which turns out to be the exterminator of an alien civilization. Our harmful exploitation of Earth, it turns out, has put us on an erase list.

SPOILER Jennifer Connelly (Phenomena (1985)) and Jaden Smith (The Karate Kid (2010)) manage, with their charm and inherent humanity, to convince Keanu Reeve's (Knock Knock (2015)) version of the alien exterminator Klaatu that we can change and that we're worth saving, in spite of everything.
The Day the Earth Stood Still is a remake of the 1951 movie of the same name, both based on the sci-fi short story Farewell to the Master (1940) by Harry Bates (The Slave Ship from Space (1931)). The basic idea is terrifically exciting, and here in the second adaptation of the story great stars like John Cleese (A Fish Called Wanda (1988)) and Kathy Bates (Misery (1990)) help the exciting core sustain itself into a good film, - despite the fact that the beginning and the end of the film are weaker than its middle.
Scott Derrickson (Sinister (2012)) directed, and David Scarpa (The Last Castle (2001)) wrote the screenplay.

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2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
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2008 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2008 in films - according to Film Excess

Watch the trailer for the movie here

Cost: 80 mil. $
Box office: 233.1 mil. $
= Box office success
[The idea for a Reeves-led remake of the film originated way back in 1994. Global changes since the first film made the change to a more environmentally focused premise happen. Scarpa reportedly wrote 40 drafts of the script before shooting. The film was shot in December 2007 - March 2008 in Vancouver, mostly on sets. Its release was moved from May to December for post production and scheduling reasons. It opened to a 30.4 mil. $ first weekend in North America, with 12 % coming from IMAX screens, the reportedly highest IMAX share for a two-dimensional title at the time. The film only stayed in the top 10 domestically for 4 weeks, grossing 79.3 mil. $ (34 % of the total gross) there. The international markets were crucial for the success of the film: The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 26.2 mil. $ (11.2 %) and the UK with 10.9 mil. $ (4.7 %). The film got nominated for the Razzie award for Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel, but 'lost' to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The Day the Earth Stood Still is rotten at 21 % with a 4.1 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Day the Earth Stood Still?
Compare it to the original, if you've seen it

Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) - Coppola goes for the jugular with unsubtle, overlong adaptation

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An alluring, highly detailed, gothic poster for Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula

QUICK REVIEW:

A count from Transylvania gets a young gentleman visitor in his castle, because he wants to purchase properties in London. He later arrives to the great city in a coffin and begins biting women there.

I wish master filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola (Apocalypse Now (1979)) had made a really good Dracula, but I don't think he has. The film is written by James V. Hart (Muppet Treasure Island (1996)), adapting Bram Stoker's (The Mystery of the Sea (1902)) legendary 1897 novel.
With few exceptions, the film stays loyal to Stoker's novel. The greatest difference is that the film in no way pursues the art of suggestion, and that turns out to be a big shame in my mind. Coppola's Dracula is also too long, and I also surmise that it must be even harder to engage with for audiences who haven't read Stoker's novel.
More than one of the film's castings seem distinctive or odd, and some just don't work. Two do, however, stand out as well-integrated: Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight (2008)) as the count, and Keanu Reeves (John Wick (2014)) as the innocent Mr. Harker. Although the latter's performance in Dracula has been widely criticized and ridiculed, especially his attempt at a British accent in the part, I quite enjoy him in the film, which certainly doesn't fail because of him.

Related reviews:


Top 10: The best adaptations reviewed by Film Excess to date 
Francis Ford Coppola: Apocalypse Now (1979) redux version - The horror of war  
Dementia 13/The Haunted and the Hunted (1963) - Coppola's gothic AIP castle horror 

Watch the trailer for the film here

Cost: 40 mil. $
Box office: 215.8 mil. $
= Big hit
[Bram Stoker's Dracula became an impressively big hit both at home and abroad: It opened strong to a 30.5 mil. $ opening weekend in North America, where it grossed 82.5 mil. $ (38 % of the total gross) and won three Oscars: Best Costumes, Makeup and Sound Design. It was also nominated for Best Art Direction. It was the 15th highest grossing film in North America of the year and the 9th worldwide.]

What do you think of Bram Stoker's Dracula?

The Devil's Advocate (1997) or, Satan the NY Lawyer

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The two stars in slick suits against an ominously red color scheme adorn this poster for Taylor Hackford's The Devil's Advocate

 

A young, hot Florida defense lawyer, Kevin Lomax has an uncanny knack for getting guilty a-holes off the hook. He now gets lured to New York by a major law firm there. Inattentive of his wife's growing mental problems as a result of the move, he rises to the stars in the firm with unusual speed and takes on a high-profile triple murder case for the firm's charismatic boss. But something isn't quite right.

 
The movie is adapted from a same-titled 1990 novel by Andrew Neiderman (In Double Jeopardy (1998)), stars Keanu Reeves (The Matrix (1999)) and Al Pacino (Heat (1995)) as the two leads and is directed by Taylor Hackford (Ray (2004)) as a fairly anonymous Hollywood mega-production.
It starts off well with an introductory pedophilia case involving a victimized Heather Matarazzo (Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995)). It then builds slowly, as Lomax is warned against the sins of 'Babylon', - the Big Apple in this interpretation, - by his fervently religious mother, but decides to go there anyway.
SPOILER Pacino is good as Satan himself for most of the film, playing off his macho charms and energy, although his speeches get longer and longer, and by the end, he is shouting most of his lines, and his charm ebbs out as a result, while a painting comes to life lengthily in a terrible effect. It all ends ambiguously and uses a film student ploy to make its ends meet, which I didn't like. It seemed like its writers, Jonathan Lemkin (Lethal Weapon 4 (1998)) and Tony Gilroy (The Bourne Identity (2002)), had some difficulties with finishing the film, and that this was their best bet.
The Devil's Advocate does have quite a few good scenes, especially in its first two acts, as the rooftop scene, in which Lomax is introduced to and interviewed by his new employer, or some of the eerie scenes of his wife's (Charlize Theron (Tully (2018))) seeing 'things'. Rick Baker (Missing Link (1988)) has created some nightmarish, diabolical effects for the film.
The Devil's Advocate also has a very sexy Connie Nielsen (Gladiator (2000)) as a redhead drifting around the office and Jeffrey Jones (Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)) in another juicy office role. There's also a sex scene between Reeves and Theron/Nielsen that might excite some.
But in the end Advocate sits between chairs and never succeeds; partly law thriller, partly religious horror, its slow pace dissolves in a long third act that becomes flat out boring. I was almost certain the film was going to end somewhat anticlimactically after an empty city crane shot, but it turned out that it still had a good many scenes left. The pic is at least 20 minutes overlong but still nearly a good film.

Watch a clip from the film here

 

Budget: 57 mil. $
Box office: 152.9 mil. $
= Box office success (returned 2.68 times its cost)

[The Devil's Advocate premiered 13 October (California) and runs 144 minutes. Reeves turned down 11 mil. $ for Speed 2 in favor of a change of pace and 8 mil. $ for his performance in The Devil's Advocate, a pay cut reportedly necessitated by Pacino's higher salary demand. Shooting took place from October 1996 - February 1997 in Florida, New Jersey and New York. The film opened #2, behind I Know What You Did Last Summer, to a 12.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 6 weekends in the top 5 (#2-#3-#4-X-X-#3-#3-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-#3), grossing 60.9 mil. $ (39.8 % of the total gross.) Roger Ebert gave it a 2.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Hackford returned with Proof of Life (2000). Pacino returned in The Insider (1999); Reeves in The Matrix (1999). The Devil's Advocate is fresh at 63 % with a 6.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The Devil's Advocate?

A Scanner Darkly (2006) - Dick and Linklater's drug-infested vision of the future

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+ Best Adult Animation Movie of the Year + Best Drug Movie of the Year

Sexy Winona Ryder and three male stars that look like bums peak through shades on this somewhat esoteric poster for Richard Linklater's A Scanner Darkly

 

In a near future, drugs have increased their grip on society, and society fights back with informant culture and surveillance.

 
A Scanner Darkly by Texan master filmmaker, writer/director Richard Linklater (Boyhood (2014)) is a really psychedelic, innovative and exciting drug movie visually speaking. - It is a bit like hanging out with trippy junkies for 90 minutes,  but, mark you, junkies created by one of the greatest sci-fi minds of all time. The plot unfortunately drags itself into motion.
The film is an adaptation of Philip K. Dick's (Counter-Clock World (1967)) same-titled 1977 novel, one of his more personal, it is claimed, (perhaps also since he himself was a drug addict and got permanent pancreatic damage as a result.)
A Scanner Darkly doesn't reach the top with the greatest Dick adaptations (which are Blade Runner (1982), Total Recall (1990) and Minority Report (2002)), but it does hold killer performances from Rory Cochrane (A Kiss Before Dying (1991)) and Robert Downey Jr. (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)) as a paranoid rambling addict, and the other cast members are also good. The film uses the unusual technique 'interpolated rotoscoping', meaning that digitally recorded footage was then animated by frame-by-frame outlining, a difficult and long process.
But the resulting film looks really cool, but is definitely also not for everyone. But followers of drug movies, Dick-adaptations and/or weird science fiction should find it highly interesting.

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2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2006 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

School of Rock (2003) - Best school movie ever! 

Dazed and Confused (1993) - Linklater's stoner youth nostalgia is a blast

 

 

Check out the wild style of A Scanner Darkly in its trailer here

Cost: 8.7 mil. $
Box office: 7.6 mil. $
= Huge flop (returned 0.87 times its cost)

[A Scanner Darkly premiered 25 May (Cannes Film Festival, Un Certain Regard section) and runs 100 minutes. Linklater obtained permission from Dick's daughters to make the film. Shooting took place from May - June 2004 in Texas, including Austin, and in California. The animation process dragged out and required extra funds. The film opened #19 to a 391k $ first weekend in North America in 17 theaters, where it peaked at #10 and in 263 theaters, grossing 5.5 mil. $ (72.4 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 1.1 mil. $ (14.5 %) and Australia with 186k $ (2.4 %). Linklater returned with Inning by Inning: A Portrait of a Coach (2008, documentary) and theatrically with Me and Orson Welles (2008). Keanu Reeves (John Wick (2014)) returned in The Lake House (2006); Winona Ryder (Girl, Interrupted (1999)) in The Ten (2007)); Downey Jr. in Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus (2006); and Woody Harrelson (Bunraki (2010)) in Nanking (2007). A Scanner Darkly is fresh at 68 % with a 6.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of A Scanner Darkly?