We watch several movies a week. Every Friday, we'll talk a little about some of the movies we watched that we felt were Worth Mentioning.
DEATHSTALKER II: DUEL OF THE TITANS (1987)
When legendary B-movie producer Roger Corman decided it was time to make a sequel to his hit 1983 sword and sorcery movie Deathstalker, he turned to director Jim Wynorski, fresh off of making the Corman-produced sci-fi horror film Chopping Mall. Wynorski headed down to Argentina to make the movie, taking his Chopping Mall cast member John Terlesky along to play the sword-wielding “Prince of Thieves” known as Deathstalker – but neither one of them liked the straightforward sword and sorcery movie script that had been written by Neil Ruttenberg, so Wynorski and Terlesky proceeded to rewrite the script together throughout production, turning the film into a comedic adventure that drew inspiration from the 1934 screwball rom-com It Happened One Night. For many viewers, the irreverent sense of humor Wynorski and Terlesky brought to Deathstalker II: Duel of the Titans makes it the best entry in the franchise... and while I do get a lot of enjoyment from the first movie, I think I might like this sequel even better.
For starters, Terlesky makes for a more entertaining Deathstalker than his predecessor Rick Hill did, and he’s paired with Monique Gabrielle, who turns in a great comedic performance as Reena the Seer, who is actually Princess Evie, a deposed royal who was replaced by an evil clone created by the sorcerer Jarek (John LaZar). Due to this, we get to watch Gabrielle play dual roles; quirky good as Reena and petulant evil as the clone Evie. The movie is actually a great showcase for both Gabrielle and Terlesky.
The story finds Reena fooling Deathstalker into joining her on a quest to challenge Jarek and her clone so she can reclaim the throne and he can become a legend. He has actually already caught the attention of Jarek’s right-hand woman Sultana (Toni Naples), who sends a team of assassins after him – but he’s such a capable badass, they don’t stand much of a chance against him. As the quest goes on, Deathstalker and Reena also have to deal with zombies, crushing walls equipped with spikes, pig-men, a tribe of women that’s headed up by María Socas of The Warrior and the Sorceress and includes Champion Wrestler Gorgo (played by Dee Booher / Queen Kong), lascivious creeps, a resurrected enemy, a seductive clone, and a rather ineffectual sorcerer.
Wynorski and Terlesky took the irreverence to a questionable level while putting the scenes together, dropping in references to historical figures and Conan the Barbarian, naming a character after someone from the Bible, referring to an assassin as a “mad Prussian,” and having Reena / Evie and Deathstalker look forward to the movie that will be made about their adventures in a thousand years. Some of this is jarring to hear in a movie that’s set in a mythical land – but it’s all meant to be part of the fun. Deathstalker II is not a movie to be taken seriously at all. There’s even a blooper reel during the end credits!
Deathstalker II: Duel of the Titans’ sense of humor isn’t for everyone, but I think it’s a blast to watch, and John Terlesky and Monique Gabrielle are awesome in it.
DREAM SCENARIO (2023)
I was hesitant going into the comedy drama Dream Scenario. It was an A24 release, produced by Hereditary and Midsommar writer/director Ari Aster, written and directed by a filmmaker I had no familiarity with, Kristoffer Borgli. I was concerned that it would dull and off-puttingly strange... but while it certainly is a weird movie, I ended up feeling that it was interesting and entertaining overall.
The entire reason I wanted to watch the movie, despite not being sure about it, is the fact that it stars Nicolas Cage as Paul Matthews, a bald, milquetoast professor of evolutionary biology who discovers that he has been appearing in the dreams of others. At first, it makes sense that he would be appearing in the dreams of these people; the first one is his daughter, the next is an ex-girlfriend. But then, it’s revealed that Paul has been appearing in the dreams of hundreds of random strangers around the world – and he usually appears to be completely passive and unhelpful.
The best sequence of the film comes when Paul gets involved with a marketing firm in an effort to capitalize on his newfound notoriety and crosses paths with Dylan Gelula as Molly, an assistant at the firm. Molly has been having wet dreams about Paul that she wants to bring to life... but Paul is not the type of guy who can just hook up with an attractive stranger, and Molly’s attempt to make her dreams come true goes hilariously wrong.
Eventually, the dreams people are having about Paul turn scary and violent – and there are shades of A Nightmare on Elm Street in here, as at one point we see Paul wearing a glove that has knives on the fingers, much like the genre icon Freddy Krueger (who also gets directly referenced in the film).
Dream Scenario is a very quirky movie, but I found it to be fun rather than dull – and watching Nicolas Cage in the role of Paul Matthews was just as enjoyable as I hoped it would be.
BLINK TWICE (2024)
Actress Zoë Kravitz made her feature directorial debut with the psychological thriller Blink Twice, which was originally announced under the unforgettable title of Pussy Island, working from a screenplay she wrote with E.T. Feigenbaum – and she delivered a movie that Amazon MGM felt needed to have a trigger warning at the start, as it deals with, as the trigger warning describes it, sexual violence.
Naomi Ackie stars as nail artist / cocktail waitress Frida, who has a fascination with billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum), who recently resigned as CEO and went on an apology tour for some kind of bad behavior. He still has his private island, though – so when Frida and her friend Jess (Alia Shawkat) cross paths with King and get invited to his island, they jump at the chance. When they arrive on the island, it appears that they’re about to experience one long party, boozing and smoking it up with King, his right-hand man Vic (Christian Slater), his private chef and childhood friend Cody (Simon Rex), former child star Tom (Haley Joel Osment), and employee Lucas (Levon Hawke), as well as fellow invitees reality star Sarah (Adria Arjona), app developer Camilla (Liz Caribel), and lawyer Heather (Trew Mullen). King’s personal assistant Stacy (Geena Davis) is also lurking on the periphery, always seeming high-strung.
At first, the girls have fun partying it up with the guys. But as time goes on, there seems to be something disturbing under the surface of all of this. The girls have lapses in their memory. They feel bad, but they don’t know why. Then Jess disappears...
I won’t say what’s going on on this island, although the trigger warning does spoil things a bit, but I will say that answers are soon revealed. And when the truth about Slater King’s island comes to light, the situation turns quite openly violent.
Kravitz did a good job with her first movie, and I found Blink Twice to be a thoroughly entertaining viewing experience – at first because I was intrigued to find out what was happening, and then because the violent climax was both fun and intense. I kind of wish they hadn’t wimped out and changed the title from Pussy Island, but Blink Twice is a good movie no matter what you call it.
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