Anaconda (1997) - Limited fun in slick jungle escapade

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A giant anaconda lurks in the dark on this effective poster for Luis Llosa's Anaconda

A documentary film crew on the Amazon river quickly meet resistance, which gets them to turn around. - With a monster anaconda on their trail!

 

Anaconda is written by Hans Bauer (Komodo (1999)), Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr. (Top Gun (1986), both) and directed by Luis Llosa (Crime Zone (1988)).

It is a very silly and flat studio invention, - almost more package than film. The different actors are more so in the picture to activate certain demographics than for any other reasons, pick up a paycheck and maybe have a laugh or two. None of them get to show what they can in this stupid story: Ice Cube's (Three Kings (1999)) character is laughable; Jonathan Hyde (The Tailor of Panama (2001)) as the sneering Brit, who doesn't seem to serve any function on the trip, is also ungainly.

The giant snake is very well-made, and that is what gives Anaconda its bite of entertainment value. SPOILER Also this is the place to go, if you were wondering where to see Jon Voight (Rosewood (1997)) gobbled up and then thrown up by a giant snake!

 

Watch a very short trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 45 mil. $

Box office: 136.8 mil. $

= Box office success (returned 3.04 times its cost)

[Anaconda was released 11 April (USA) and runs 89 minutes. Jennifer Lopez (My Family (1995)) was paid 1 mil. $ for her performance. Shooting took place from May - August 1996 in Brazil, Las Vegas, Nevada and in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #1 to a 16.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another weekend at #1 and then another weekend in the top 5 (#3), grossing 65.8 mil. $ (48.1 % of the total gross). Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 3 notches over this one. 3 sequels and a 2015 crossover movie (with Lake Placid (1999)), all without the involvement of any of the filmmakers and stars of the first film, have been made. Llosa returned with La Fiesta del Chivo (2005). Lopez returned in U Turn (1997); Cube in two music videos prior to his theatrical return in The Players Club (1998); and Voight also in U Turn (1997). Anaconda is rotten at 38 % with a 4.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Anaconda?

Earth (2007, documentary) - Fothergill/Linfield's incredible nature spectacle is one to watch

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+ Best Nature Movie of the Year

 

Highlighting our planet and the three central animal families that Alastair Fothergill and Mark Linfield's Earth follows, this poster goes for the heart and takes it

 

From the polar bear's incredibly tedious walk for survival near the North Pole to the African Kalahari Desert, our planet's highest mountain peaks, greatest waterfalls and into the wonders of its rainforests, Earth takes us there.

This nature documentary, based on the popular BBC/Discovery documentary TV-series Planet Earth (2006), is technically impressive, made with state-of-the-art digital equipment. It uses only few overt editorial manipulations of its footage (like the changing of the seasons), which makes these stand out as somewhat ostentatious, and they could have been left out in my opinion.

The scene of the leopard's hunt on the savanna reaches mythical heights, whereas the later slow motion elongation of the whale footage only serves a wow-effect.

Still, there are only these minor quibbles to attach to this overall staggeringly beautiful, hypnotizing, simple and utterly human-less film, which leaves it up to its audiences to acquit or accuse humanity for the dire climate changes, it also portrays, (except for a few notes it gives towards the end.) In this subdued way, Earth chooses to stress the mysteries and beauties of nature over indignation at our sins against it.

The film's narration is written by Leslie Megahey (The Advocate (1993)), and the film is directed by Alastair Fothergill (Bears (2014)) and Mark Linfield (Monkey Kingdom (2015)).

 

Related post:

 

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

2007 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 47 mil. $

Box office: 108.9 mil. $

= Minor flop

[Earth premiered 14 July (Liechtenstein's Vaduz Film Festival) and runs 99 minutes (UK version) and 90 minutes (US version). The budget made Earth the most expensive documentary production ever, until Oceans (2009). Filming lasted from 2004-06. The two versions have different narrators: Patrick Stewart did the 9 minute longer UK version, while James Earl Jones narrated the shorter US version, which also uses a more dramatic score. The film has been called a 'companion' to the TV-series, which it relies heavily on for its footage. Reportedly around 30 % of Earth's footage is previously unseen. The film opened #5, behind fellow new release Obsessed, holdover hit 17 Again and new releases Fighting and The Soloist, to an 8.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its second week and grossed 32 mil. $ (29.4 % of the total gross). While the film had no Russian or Chinese release and flopped incredibly in its native UK and in Australia, it made hefty business in other markets: The 2nd and 3rd biggest were Germany with 29.2 mil. $ (26.8 %) and Japan (where it was the most successful documentary in 10 years) with 23.2 mil. $ (21.3 %). It became the 2nd highest-grossing nature documentary of all time, behind March of the Penguins (2005) with 127.4 mil. $. It was nominated for a BAFTA. A celebrated Planet Earth II TV-series was made and released in 2016. A sequel, Earth: One Amazing Day (2017) has been released to a much smaller reception. Fothergill returned with African Cats (2011) and Linfield with Chimpanzee (2012). Earth is certified fresh at 86 % with a 7.2/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Earth?

The Lost City of Z (2016) - Gray's grand, adventurous Amazonia epic

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+ Most Undeserved Flop of the Year + Best Adventure of the Year + Best Jungle Movie of the Year + Best Ensemble of the Year

One of the tantalizing, beautifully realized posters for James Gray's The Lost City of Z

The Lost City of Z is written and directed by James Gray (The Immigrant (2013)) and based on the non-fiction book by David Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Mayhem and Obsession (2010)).

Ambitious, adventure-seeking British officer Percy Fawcett is contracted by London's Royal Geographical Society early in the 20th century for a mission to the Amazon jungle of Bolivia to make surveys for mapping the area. This leads him on a quest for the mythical, ancient city of Z, which swallows up his life.

For every exploration and jungle-fascinated person out there, The Lost City of Z is an offering that should not be passed up. It is a grand work, an epic and a mighty good film.
Centrally stands Charlie Hunnam (Queer as Folk (1999-00)) as Fawcett. An inspiration both for Gray's visual direction and for Hunnam's performance may have been Luchino Visconti's masterpiece Death in Venice/Morte a Venezia (1971)) and Dirk Bogarde's supreme performance in it. Hunnam's incredibly well-shaped body moves with a calm grace, and his character is withheld in a remarkably composed state for most of the film. The story veers off to Fawcett's duty during WWI for a time, and in these scenes, I found myself struggling to believe in the cool composure of the man, coupled with the relatively well-looking company of soldiers he serves with in the trenches, which simply doesn't align with my understanding of the war.
Sienna Miller (High-Rise (2015)) is good as Fawcett's strong wife; Tom Holland (In the Heart of the Sea (2015)) is good and appropriately well-cut himself to be believable as their oldest son; Robert Pattinson (How to Be (2008)) is well cast as Fawcett's exploratory companion, and Angus MacFadyen (Assassins Run (2013)) brings a chill down one's spine as a wolf in sheep's clothing. The impressive cast also has Murray Melvin (Barry Lyndon (1975)) and Franco Nero (Bad Inclination/Cattive Inclinazioni (2003)) in tiny parts, and Ian McDiarmid (Sleepy Hollow (1999)) as a leader in the RGS.
Darius Khondji (Funny Games (2007)) is behind the absorbing photography. There are thrilling jungle scenes that quench the hunger for exoticism and Indians, but I found that the best scenes of the film are those taking place in the RGS in London, where Fawcett's ideas of a civilization among the South-American 'savages', which may well predate Western civilization, raises ridicule, outrage but eventually also makes for a reevaluation of the world and human beings. The epic, incredible story doesn't follow the usual three act structure, as Fawcett travels out and comes home more than once, but especially for fans of epics, this will simply be part of the treat that is The Lost City of Z. 
Gray's film stands in the territory of films such as Francis Ford Coppola's masterpiece Apocalypse Now (1980) and Werner Herzog's Cobra Verde (1987), which was also the scene for Ciro Guerra's recent masterpiece Embrace of the Serpent/El Abrazo de la Serpiente (2015). It does not achieve the great or masterful, but it is still very worth seeing and a huge undertaking impressively well done.

Related posts:

2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 30 mil. $
Box office: 17 mil. $ and counting
= Not certain yet, but looks like a huge flop
[The Lost City of Z premiered 15 October (New York Film Festival) and runs 141 minutes. Plan B Entertainment sent Gray a copy of Grann's book before it was published. Brad Pitt and Benedict Cumberbatch were considered for the lead but both dropped out for other commitments, though Pitt remained onboard with his Plan B Entertainment company, acting as an executive producer. Filming took place in Colombia and in Northern Ireland, UK, including in Belfast, starting in August 2015. The film opened #28 in 4 theaters to a 110k $ first weekend in North America, where it peaked at #10 and in 866 theaters (different weeks), grossing a disappointing 8.5 mil. $ (50 % of the total gross). The international performance was similarly underwhelming; the 2nd and 3rd biggest markets where France with 2.5 mil. $ (14.7 %) and Spain with 1.8 mil. $ (10.6 %). The film enjoyed the luxury of a release in China, its 4th biggest market at 1 mil. $ (5.9 %), a highly unimpressive turnout. The film has yet to open in Australia (24 August), South Korea (21 September) and Argentina (28 September). It looks like it is continuing Gray's long history of flops (none of his 7 films have been theatrical hits), which makes it quite a gamble that Pitt has chosen Gray to direct his coming starring sci-fi movie Ad Astra. The Lost City of Z is certified fresh at 87 % with a 7.4/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Lost City of Z?

The Jungle Book (2016) - Favreau's great, widest appealing movie to date

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+ Best 3D Movie of the Year

The truly irresistible poster for Jon Favreau's The Jungle Book

The Jungle Book is a new adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's (Soldiers Three (1888)) same-titled 1894 book, written by Justin Marks (Rewind (2013), TV movie) and directed by great New-Yorker filmmaker Jon Favreau (Elf (2003)).

Mowgli is a 'man cub', who has been raised by wolves in the Indian jungle, but the brutal tiger Shere Khan has now run out of patience and will no longer accept his presence as a non-animal in the jungle. Should Mowgli return to the humans, whom he doesn't know?

Against my initial doubts, Jungle Book proves to be an excellent retelling of the familiar, great story. The 3D animation and many wonderful animal characters are executed in a highly immersive, strikingly beautiful way that moved me quite a lot, especially in the film's beginning. The sound design also does its ample part here.
The dramatic emotionality of the film stays strong throughout and peaks more than once, which is the definitive mark of success for the film. SPOILER My personal favorite moment is the scene in which Mowgli uses his 'tricks' to save the elephant baby from a pit.

What adds to the excitement of watching Jungle Book, - especially for adults, - is that an unusually strong voice cast is assembled in it: Idris Elba (Zootopia (2016)) is fierce as Shere Khan, Christopher Walken (Gigli (2003)) as King Louie and Scarlett Johansson (The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)) as Kaa, (though her performance is restricted to a single, but very good scene), are especially excellent. Bill Murray (Lost in Translation (2003)) is, perhaps, the ensemble's biggest ace as the jovial bear Baloo.
Neel Sethi (Diwali (2013), short) makes his feature debut as a nimble, jangly Mowgli and is very cute, hitting all the right notes.
The film is a big step away from the original, beloved Disney animation, The Jungle Book (1967), which is more of a jazzy, completely upbeat favorite and perhaps Disney's most subversive film really, (and, as I understand, also very far removed from Kipling's original stories.) The new Jungle Book is a more serious adventure, - a true adventure story, - which nevertheless retains two of the former film's famous, beloved songs: The Bare Necessities and I Wan'na Be Like You. They are musical treasures and small highlights, but it is the orchestral score that drives the film musically.

Related posts:

2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2016 in films - according to Film Excess

Watch the trailer for the film here

Cost: 175 mil. $
Box office: 393.7 mil. $ and counting
= Too early to say
[The Jungle Book was released April 4 (El Capitan theater, Hollywood) and runs 105 minutes. It began development in 2013, with Favreau and Co. early on looking to Avatar (2009) and Life of Pi (2012) for inspiration as to the film's visual concept. It was shot entirely in LA. The animals are entirely key frame animation, assisted by loads of footage of their real counterparts in nature. Approximately 70 species are depicted in the film. Jim Henson's Creature Shop created puppets for Sethi to act against. The Jungle Book opened #1 to a 103.2 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it has grossed 147 mil. $ to date. It is the second PG-rated release ever (following Alice in Wonderland (2010)) to open to over 100 mil. $ domestically. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets are China with 68.3 mil. $ and India with 25.5 mil. $ so far. The film has become the highest-grossing Hollywood film in India ever already. The Jungle Book is certified fresh at 94 % with a 7.8 critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Jungle Book?

Congo (1995) - Popcorn and Coke advised for this corny, fun killer gorilla rampage

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A cool, well-composed poster for Frank Marshall's Congo

QUICK REVIEW:

A diamond mission disappears in the Congo, and the greedy father of its leader sends a new mission off, which partners up with a scientist with a talking gorilla. ... - But the jungle keeps a murderous secret: SPOILER Grey killer gorillas!

Congo is an adaptation of a Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park (1990)) novel. It is essentially a trashy lowbrow story (that, as is often the case with such fare, also contains a super laser!), but this one is lavishly produced by Kathleen Kennedy (Lincoln (2012)) and Sam Mercer (Things We Lost in the Fire (2007)).
Congo features enormous sets, set pieces that wooed me, impressive gorillas by effects and creature whiz Stan Winston (Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)) as well as a killer cast:
Laura Linney (Hyde Park on Hudson (2012)), Delroy Lindo (The Cider House Rules (1999)), Joe Pantoliano (The Sopranos (2001-04)), Joe Don Baker (The Living Daylights (1987)), a screaming Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead II (1987)), Grant Heslov (Good Night, and Good Luck. (2005)), who is funny as a slacker American with no real purpose in the film, and finally Tim Curry (It (1990), TV miniseries) as a Romanian diamond maniac. - Yes...!
Congo is one of the four films directed by 5-time Oscar-nominated producer Frank Marshall (Arachnophobia (1990)). It is written by John Patrick Shanley (Doubt (2008)), who has supplied it with lots of goofy lines, - but what of it? - They seem entirely appropriate here in Congo, a highly entertaining, amusing, wacky 90s ride of a movie.

Tim Curry has a loony part in Frank Marshall's Congo

SPOILER (sorry...) - This happens! In Frank Marshall's Congo

Watch the corny trailer for the film here

Cost: 50 mil. $
Box office: 152 mil. $
= Box office success
[Congo was a summer release, fresh in the tracks of the spectacular and spectacularly successful Jurassic Park (1993). It opened #1 in the US with 24.6 mil. $. It ended up making 81 mil. $ domestically (53 % of the total gross). The gorillas were not CGI, because hair could not be rendered credibly artificially yet, which reportedly disappointed some of the fans of the book, (although it was a good job and undoubtedly the right thing to do.) Congo received generally negative reviews, but Roger Ebert got it and gave the film 3 out of 4 stars (equal to Film Excess' 4 heart rating here) and called it 'hilarious'.]

What do you think of Congo?

Cannibal Holocaust II/Natura Contro/The Green Inferno (1988) - Climati's outrageous jungle adventure

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Barbarism and adventure exudes from this original Italian poster for Antonio Climati's Cannibal Holocaust II, [the Italian title means 'against nature']

QUICK REVIEW:

A professor gone missing in the Amazon must still be alive! - A sensationalist reporter and a group of adventure-seeking fellows set off on a danger-filled rescue mission.

Cannibal Holocaust II is a totally unrelated follow-up to Ruggero Deodato's original masterpiece Cannibal Holocaust (1980). This film is even missing cannibals!
Unsurprisingly, co-writer/cinematographer/director Antonio Climati's (This Violent World (1976)) original Italian title doesn't include any mention of the non-existing cannibals, and indeed the Cannibal Holocaust II-title was devised solely for the (somewhat appropriately exploitative) distribution-purpose of cashing in on the notorious earlier film.
Still, the English nonsense-title is actually somehow well in line with the entire film at hand, which is impressively produced with vicious animals of all kinds (a panther, crocodiles, piranhas, snakes galore etc.) and plenty of exotically presented adventure.
The film also has a bizarre 80s-style score (by Maurizio Dami (Top Line (1988)) in the jungle-context and extremely irregular editing.
Cannibal Holocaust II is silly, funny and not-so-disgusting. It is sometimes referred to as the film that ended the Italian cannibal exploitation sub-genre.

Watch a funky, short original trailer for the film here that showcases some of its many qualities

Cost: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Uncertainty

What do you think of Cannibal Holocaust II?
Other such nonsense-titled films that you can think of?

Bride of the Gorilla (1951) or, Jungle Obsessions!

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Sensationalist poster for a rather dull film, Curt Siodmak's Bride of the Gorilla

QUICK REVIEW:

One night deep in the jungle, an unpopular man of wealth dies under mysterious circumstances. His wife remarries quickly; - unfortunately with a man, who soon will only stay in the jungle, persuaded by black magic and plant-toxins that he is a gorilla!
Despite this fascinating obsession, Bride is a luckless acquaintance. Cover images are inter-cut with unconvincing studio jungle-trash and squarely dumb lines such as the police commissioner's (played by Lon Chaney, Jr.): "I know my jungle!"
Raymond Burr (Perry Mason (1957-66)), however, does a nice job in the gorilla lead.
The film is one of the more suggestive creature features, as you never really see anything much in that department, which will disappoint many audiences, and the film has also mostly been revived for ridicule since its creation.
A shame, since it has some nice talent involved, besides Chaney, Jr. and Burr, the film is directed by German Curt Siodmak, who wasn't much of a director, but who wrote great scripts for many films, most notably The Wolf Man (1941).

Raymond Burr and Barbara Peyton in Curt Siodmak's Bride of the Gorilla

Watch this trailer, with director Joe Dante (Gremlins (1984)) talking interesting, lurid trivia about Bride

Budget: Unknown
Box office: Unknown
= Unknown

What do you think of Bride of the Gorilla?

Bloodlust! (1961) or, The Mad Island Doctor!

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Powerful horrors seem to be promised on this savage poster for Ralph Brooke's Bloodlust!

   

4 people and a drunken captain step ashore on a jungle island ruled by an evil hunter of animals and humans alike. A man driven by bloodlust! - Will they survive him?

Bloodlust is written, co-produced and directed by debuting Ralph Brooke (Our Hearts Were Growing Up (1946, uncredited actor)). It is a boring and uninventive little horror movie based on Richard Connell's (The Mad Lover (1928)) short story, The Most Dangerous Game (1924).

The villain is a boring, mad doctor, and the rest of the characters are just as boring.
Bloodlust! features unnecessary amounts of screaming, and the line 'So long, suckers!', which is one of the only moments that it approaches being anything mildly enjoyable. (Fortunately, it only runs 68 minutes.)

Watch a 4-minute video with clips of the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain 

[Bloodlust! was released 13 September (USA) and runs 68 minutes. Shooting took place around January 1959 in Los Angeles, California. The film was released on a double bill with The Devil's Hand (1961). It was also released in Canada, Mexico and the USSR. Details concerning its budget and gross numbers are regrettably lost. The film is in public domain and can be seen and downloaded free and legal right here. Brooke only returned with two shorts but never again a feature. Wilton Graff (Surfside 6 (1960, TV-series)) returned in Tales of Wells Fargo (1958-61) and theatrically in Sail a Crooked Ship (1961); Lilyan Chauvin (Catch Me If You Can (2002)) in Back Street (1961). 2.5k+ IMDb users have given Bloodlust! a 3.6/10 average rating.]

 
What do you think of Bloodlust!?