RufusT

Finally, finally, finally a worthy alternative to the ruthless, cookie-cutter Disney stranglehold on feature animation; this film is not only thoughtful, entertaining, and technically excellent, it avoids all the assembly-line pitfalls the Disney features have fallen into lately. No lame "comic" relief (and even better, no Rosie O'Donnell), no attempts to "update" the story with a "nineties twist", no terrible songs, no multiple story climaxes . . . in short, everything that's wrong with Disney push-button dreck is right about THE IRON GIANT.

The story is told simply, with very little extra embellishment, and with genuine warmth, humor and sincerity, so it's a shame more people didn't see it in the theatres (but, honestly, those are probably the very reasons they didn't). The main character, Hogarth, is a likeable little boy, realistically portrayed. It's a credit to the filmmakers that they didn't feel the need to have the character be hip, flippant or disrespectful, a sad trend in movies. He's very much like a real little boy.

Forget TARZAN, with its main character surfin' through the jungle with his Brooklynite talk-show host gorilla sidekick for painful "comedy" relief (where's the relief from the comedy relief, I'd like to know), and do yourself and your kids (and your brains) a favor, and check out this underrated gem. We took our kids to TARZAN, and they couldn't tell you a thing about it (I'm sure it's blurred together with all the Disney flicks since LION KING), but wouldn't stop talking about THE IRON GIANT.

An absolute treat.

APOCALYPSE NOW if often criticized for not being a very accurate representation of the Viet Nam war, but this misses the point. It's not really a war movie, nor is it an anti-war movie, really. It's a surreal examination of madness and evil, with the conflict in Viet Nam as a backdrop. Movies like PLATOON and FULL METAL JACKET are ABOUT the Viet Nam war, and probably more accurately portray it, but this film is more chilling, more disturbing, and more surreal.

The ending is often criticized as well, as being cerebral, confused, inconclusive and murky, but after all the madness that precedes it, what other ending would you want? John Milius' RAMBO-ish proposed teaming of Kurtz and Willard to battle the Viet Cong, shooting down the helicopter sent to rescue them? Come on. Maybe in PLATOON. But as slightly muddled as it is, the ending is just right.

Marlon Brando's enormous bulk (though relatively slender compared to the Brando of late) has been criticized as well, but in portraying a man who knows no restraint, has gone way over the edge, his girth works. Sure he's not the skeletal, etherial Kurtz Joseph Conrad envisioned, but he does look like a man who doesn't know when to stop.

Scary, exciting, funny, disturbing, APOCALYPSE NOW is quite a journey, a trippy journey into the Heart of Darkness.

Forget all that "The Worst Movie of All Time" and "Golden Turkey Award" nonsense, PLAN 9 is far from being that! Most of Wood's other output would qualify for those titles more than this little gem does.

One of the most berserk, weirdest, funniest and gosh-darned entertaining movies you could find, this little beauty holds up to countless viewings with new treasures to be unearthed each time. Whether it's new heights of ineptitude on Wood's part to new lows of inadequacy from much of the cast, this movie just gets better and better. Listen to the soundtrack without the visuals, and it's downright psychedelic.

Apparently, whoever wrote those awful "50 Worst Films" pieces of garbage never saw the likes of MANOS THE HANDS OF FATE, MONSTER A-GO-GO, or THE BEAST OF YUCCA FLATS, films so bad, even the likes of MST3K couldn't make them tolerable to sit through.

Not the Worst Movie of All Time, but one of the best times you'll ever have watching bad filmmaking. A delight!