It’s a Dog Eat Dog Soldier Movie Night

 

Nick heads to the bathroom, but detours into Anthony’s bedroom.

Ant: Nick, get out of there. Erica, tell your boyfriend to get out of there.

Nick: Where’s your bed?

Ant: Nick…

Nick: You know, you don’t have a bed?

Ant: It was all broken down so I got rid of it.

Nick: So, get a new bed.

Ant: I don’t have the room. Where would I put it?

Nick: Where the old bed was.

For this movie night, I’ve brought half-a-dozen movies from which to choose. Nick greets Red with a two-handed slap on the back, reminiscent of Dutch and Dillon’s testosterone pumped grip in predator. Red: Nick, you know I like it rough. Maybe, it’s a bit more like 50 Shades of Grey. Erica displays them like a spokes model from the Price is Right. We all sit down to discuss our options and I mean everyone: Nick, Erica, Big Red, Anthony, Craig and myself.

Watchman? It’s three hours.

Warriors? Eh.

Krull? Is that the one with Kevin Sorbo?

Remo Williams? Really?

Looks like Dog Soldiers. Dog Soldiers it is. Who here is a horror fan? All hands go up.

Erica: I like the suspense.

Nick: I like the gore.

Red: I like when Craig shuts up.

Craig: I’ll like when you break that chair you’re sitting on.

Okay, we’re ready for movie time.

Nick: What movie are we watching?

Ant: Want to give Watchmen a try?

Red: Where have you been? We just chose Dog Soldiers. Why would he be asking us about horror movies?

No one listens.

Dog Soldiers stars Kevin McKidd as a top notch solider who leads his company out of a training mission and into a real life kerfuffle with some werewolves in the glens of Scotland. I remember enjoying the movie a great deal when I first saw in on television years ago, but now, I’m interested in what the club thinks.

Less than five minutes into the movie, Red has figured out the ending and Nick wants to bail.

Red: We all know the guy who didn’t kill the dog is going to kill the werewolves with the silver blade.

Nick: I’m feeling kind of sad already.

 

So, I’ve lost them already, but we continue to march onwards because like the soldiers in the movie we have a goal in mind: Survival. However, very much like the movie, the members of the club are picked off one by one. Instead of werewolves, the audience is done in by unmet expectations.

Trouble starts with a nonlinear sequence in the beginning where the movie starts and then travels two hours back and then three weeks forward. I guess we won’t be watching any Steven Soderbergh any time soon.

This man has suffered a fate worse than disemboweling by werewolves.

The scrutiny intensifies as the audience abandons its connection with the narrative of the movie. We start losing viewers over the most innocuous events.

While we’ve already lost Nick, Red takes command often filling in plot holes and answering questions for those lost in plot points in order to see us through the movie, but then the soldiers whistle.

Ant and Craig are bothered by the soldiers whistling. Red reminds them that these are soldiers still training or as Erica puts it “They’re still learning. They’re stupid.” Ant and Craig can’t envision soldiers on a mission whistling.

 

Bridge over the river Kwai

The sudden introduction of a carcass gets a rise out of the club, but my hopes for a reinvigorated interest are dashed.

Nick: “Dead flying cow.”

Nick haunts the rest of the movie. He audibly sighs and says it sucks. It’s tough to say how much of an influence he is. He’s a lot like Liam Cunningham’s character in the movie, a Special Forces commander found by our heroes in the woods. He’s no werewolf, but he’s no friend to anyone trying to survive the mission.

The other obstacles we encounter are trivial, but remain sticking points for the audience.

The Sgt. turns his gun, why?

Red: Because he’s a thug.

Nick: Because the site is in the way of his close range shot otherwise.

The soldiers shred a werewolf with gunfire.

Ant: I sure hope they (the werewolves) don’t regenerate.

Nick: They just told us they did.

Red: Anthony, what don’t you know about werewolves?!

The soldiers meet a woman in the woods.

Nick: I don’t like her.

Red: Maybe she’s a witch.

Still, despite the poor relationship between the movie and the crew, the guys start thinking in terms of movie logic.

Red: If you turn into a werewolf, I’ll shoot you, Nick.

Nick: Thanks.

Then, as chance would have it, someone runs up the stairs outside the apartment. Could it be a werewolf?

Nick: Who was that?

Ant: My neighbors.

Red: Might be dangerous.

Nick: Go check, Craig.

Craig: I think we should throw Red out there.

Red: I’d like to see you try.

 

So, we stagger to our destination with a room full of unhappy faces. Craig feels unsatisfied that we don’t see the human side of the werewolves. Ant found the story a little slow at first, a recurring theme with his reviews, but deemed it “not the worst movie.” Red found it predictable, but found a way to relate to it, “It’s one of those movies you watch at 1 a.m. when you’re drunk.”

Nick just felt let down. Turns out he heard from a friend that this was a great movie. He caught it a while back midway through. It didn’t stand up to his expectations then or now. It was no An American Werewolf in London.

But Erica liked it and so did I. It’s like Predator again and Dutch and the rebel girl have made it through. Now, that’s a movie I love, and maybe that’s the problem. Like this one, it’s not a horror movie but an action movie with horror elements. But, I don’t like every action movie either, so what works for me with this movie?

The Setting: It did nothing for the club, but I find Scotland, so close to my ancestral homes, an intriguing environment.

Even with an alarming lack of kilts.

Characters: Not one of the soldiers made a strong impression on the guys. I loved Kevin McKidd and thought Spoony was a role model for how to face a desperate situation.

Do not go gentle was originally titled stab a werewolf

Transparency: Foreshadowing, symbolism, structure, all worked against the movie as far as the club was concerned, while I commended the effort that the movie makers exhibited in a low budget effort.

Werewolves: Everyone had a clear idea of what a werewolf was to them, but these lanky, quiet, low budget creatures didn’t fit the model enough.

 

Cheap but effective

Foreign: Erica suggests the others didn’t like it because it was foreign, though Nick didn’t see the British Isles as so far off from us. Still, I’m the only one with Northwestern European ancestry in the room. Did it help me relate better than the others?  As Red said early on, “I’m still trying to figure out what the f*** these people are saying.”

Nick: Thanks for ruining movie night, Jim.

So, while I’m disappointed to lose my fellow club members along the way, I’m happy to have survived the tense night of drama around the movie and I left satisfied with one lesson learned, one lesson not learned and one mystery. One, don’t go to the highlands of Scotland without an ample supply of silver. Two, I can’t figure if the club is more like the soldiers or the werewolves. Three, will Anthony ever get a new bed?

Yes We Khan

This summer we saw the return of two iconic 80s villains to the big screen in new guises. General Zod dropped the British sinister/suave for some all American bellicosity.  Khan Noonien Singh on the other hand, dropped his sexy charm for erudite exposition. For part of the movie, he even dropped his name, until he “dropped his name” in the big reveal.

Did the changes work?

Well, we’ve already discussed two versions of Zod, so we decided to take a look at Khan’s first appearance in the Star Trek episode Space Seed as well as his first return 15 years later in the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Erica brought a fresh pair of eyes to the experiment, joining Anthony (a bona fide Trekker), Nick (a Khan enthusiast) and myself.

 

We start with a warning from Nick not to touch Erica because it “weirds her out” to which Erica counters Nick is the one that gets weirded out when someone touches his girl. We’re off!

Space Seed

In his debut, Khan is discovered by Kirk and company floating around space in a derelict ship, the Botany Bay. They wake him up from his cryogenic sleep and as any genetically enhanced megalomaniac would, Khan takes over the Enterprise and demands capitulation or execution. Like any Star Trek episode, the high concept conflict is resolved in a fistfight this time with the help of a prop. Never has an inanimate rod garnered such heroic treatment.

The appeal of the episode resides in Ricardo Montalban’s charisma. He’s tall, dark and handsome with a voice predestined to sell leather car interiors. And as Bill Murray reminded us, he is Macho.

In less than an hour, Montalban and the creators (Director Marc Daniels and writers Gene Coon and Carey Wilber) teach us all we need to know about Khan through Semiotic shortcuts and concise storytelling. He’s cunning. He tricks Kirk into giving him the tech manuals he will need to take over the ship. He’s smart. He devours the manuals and takes over a ship 200 years more advances than any ship he’s ever seen.. Khan’s Indian. He does isometric exercises and deep breathing. Sure, why not. Khan’s tough. Our fighting-hero Kirk only bests Khan with the less than chivalrous use of a foreign object.

Seems fair to me

And the justice he is served is poetic eliciting a citation from Milton to underscore how appropriate it is and the substance of the character.

A great villain brings out not only the best of the hero, but the elements that make him the best. The creators establish Khan as a charismatic character but not at the expense of the subdued brilliance of Spock (Leonard Nimoy) or the clever and tenacious Kirk (William Shatner). McCoy (DeForest Kelley) gets a chance to prove his bravery when Khan pulls a knife on him. Uhura (Nichelle Nicholls) endures a brutal slap but refuses to submit. Scotty (James Doohan) sucker punches a goon. Supporting characters get only moments to shine, but this can be enough. The moments collect over the course of episodic adventures and the fans can paint quite a portrait of their beloved heroes.

As a one shot character Marla McGivers (Madlyn Rhue) is free to evolve and change. She goes from forgotten part of the crew (the normally congenial Kirk refuses to recall the historian’s name and barks at her early and often) to a would-be queen. When Khan shows interest in her, we can see why she falls for him – he cares what she thinks and even remembers her name.  Oh, and she has this emperor fetish that she sublimates into portrait painting.

Hey baby, remember me?

So, McGivers is a pretty complex character, right Erica?

Erica: She’s stupid.

She does something really stupid for love, but as was the case in 60s adventures shows (see Wild Wild West) the bad girl often redeems herself, this time saving kirk’s life.  She isn’t evil, just imperfect which makes her human, a nice counterpoint to Khan the superhuman who may be perfect. So is he evil?

A great villain also intrigues the imaginations of the audience. What will Khan do on his new planet? Spock said there were 90 supermen unaccounted for, but Khan and company represent 73. Where are the others?

While leaving a despot on a planet to rule seems like a bad idea, the logical flaw allows for greater drama and future stories.

Erica, can you see why fans took to Khan?

Erica: It’s that voice. He worked in radio.

Erica researched Ricardo Montalban on her phone while we watched the episode. A fan is born.

 

Nick: What is this?

Ant: Coke.

Nick: Where’s my Coke Zero?

Ant: I brought you a Diet Coke.

Nick: I brought over a whole case of Coke zero.

Ant: All right.

Nick: I even put some in the refrigerator and he brings me Coke.

Ant leaves.

Nick: This guy.

Khan

The appeal of Star Trek II hinges on Khan’s popularity among the fans. Producer Harve Bennett sought to spice up the movies after a listless first effort by grabbing a villain of worth from the television series. The other noteworthy addition is that of a certain Vulcan/Romulan named Lt. Saavik.

Erica: Is that the woman from Cheers?

 

Don’t forget Veronica’s Closet

Khan with his white mullet and stark cleavage retains his charisma and quotes liberally, even from Klingons who he somehow learned about. We’ll fill the whole because the line is cool and later quoted in Kill Bill. But are those his real pecs?

Silicone for men? Nope, pure Montalban

However, Khan’s charm is gone, replaced with rage, but it is an anger we can all understand. He wants revenge for the death of his beloved wife, Marla, the Starfleet officer who chose banishment from the Enterprise rather than court-martial. He also wants revenge because his people have suffered unnoticed for 15 years after living lives as kings and queens. If you don’t buy either of those excuses, and I don’t blame you, then he just wants revenge for the humiliation of his first, and possibly only, defeat at the hands of Kirk.

A relentless revenge-machine once again provides an opportunity for the heroes to shine. We learn a lot about Kirk, his dalliances spawned at least one offspring. He’s aged and need glasses and he cheated to win on the Kobiyashi Maru because he doesn’t believe in the No Win scenario. I guess he forgot the 2008 Detroit Lions.

We consistently came in second.

And of course there is Spock who bends the rules about lying and then makes the noble sacrifice of his life and a declaration of friendship in the most logical manner.

Special guest star, Big Red arrives to movie night. He’s not much of a fan, but he’s not a hater.

Red: It’s not even Picard?

After viewing, the movie maintains its place as one of our favorites thanks to an informative James Horner score (You can’t trust the Reliant, listen to the music), memorable jokes (Did she change her hair?) and revelations (Kirk has a son? Call Morey Povich!). While the men in the room love the movie because Khan is dangerous and totally bombastic in his threats, Erica prefers Khan in Space Seed seducing his future wife and outfoxing the crew.  It reminds her of something.

Erica: It’s like that thing we saw.

Nick: What thing?

Erica: That space thing.

Nick: What space thing? There are lots of space things Where did it take place?

Erica: In space.

Nick: …

The movie does rely on action, but with our familiarity with the world it can still develop the characters in a short amount of time. This is probably one of the appeals to working on established characters, but it also presents major problems as it did for me in the most recent Star Trek movie.

Star Trek Into Darkness

The new movie tries to have its cake and eat it, too. After a vigorous denial and obfuscation campaign as to whether or not Khan appears in the movie, we get him, but not the Khan we have come to love.

This Khan is strong. You can smash him in the face with heavy weaponry. He’s smart. He’s “hired” to build advanced weaponry even though he’s been asleep for 200 years. And he’s British. Look, the original Khan was supposed to be Indian and Ricardo Montalban is not, but  it might have been nice to give an Indian actor a chance at the role.

I’m a big fan of Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes, a character with many actors to its name and I’d never normally compare him to Ricardo Montalban, but I did it the whole movie because of what came before. Ditto goes for the talented Michael Shannon as Zod who is just not Terrence Stamp. It is hard for the actors to compete with performances flavored with a mixture of charisma and nostalgia and the fact that other actors got their first. This is a major problem for the new Star Trek and all its characters and the story doesn’t help them.

We’re told Spock (Zachary Quinto) is logical, though he doesn’t do anything logical in the movie. He endangers himself in violation of the Prime Directive. He squabbles with his girlfriend and then he goes batshit crazy, again, because his new best friend is dead, temporarily.

I’m not emotional and if you disagree with me, I’ll bash your head in

Right, Khan’s blood is magic and can bring people back to life. It’s moments like these when I bristle at the conceit that modern movies (comics, books, TV shows) are better than old ones. Kirk comes back robbing the movie of the dramatic punch of its predecessor and any sort of understandable reality.

An obsession to appeal to a fan base (and their spending money) winds up alienating and offending that same audience. If the creators do something new, they’re not being true. If they do something old, they’re just rehashing in a diluted form.

In the case of Star Trek the fans are willing to see new adventures with beloved characters if they get something out of it that they do not already have. While I was happy to see Khan return, I wanted to see him travel into new territory because I’ve seen his old adventures and I’m already a fan.