Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, February 18, 1995 TAG: 9502220002
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
The best of the bunch, hands down, is "Reckless Kelly," from the fertile imagination of Australian auteur Yahoo Serious. If Buster Keaton had made "`Crocodile' Dundee," he might well have come up with something like this. It's a free-wheeling satire on Hollywood conventions, greed, violence, videos and beer.
The title character, played by writer-producer-director-music designer Serious, is a contemporary descendent of the famous Australian outlaw, Ned. From his headquarters on "Reckless Island," he continues the family tradition of robbing the rich and giving to the poor. The island is a peaceable kingdom, complete with a pub/video store, populated by aboriginal Kellys and hundreds of critters. (The kangaroos go boing, boing when they hop, and for some reason that simple sound effect is funny all the way through.)
Despite the fact that Reckless's motorcycle is in a state of continual self-disassembly, things are going swimmingly until an evil banker (Hugo Weaving, from "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert") decides that he's had enough of the outlaw. He arranges to sell the island to Japan if Reckless can't come up with a million bucks. Since family tradition demands that money taken from Australian banks go to the poor, Restless heads to America, "the land of opportunity for bank robbers." But once in Hollywood ...
Serious fills the screen with visual jokes and some terrific special effects, particularly at the end. But the best parts of this comedy are based on the same stuff that Chaplin and Keaton used, and Serious deserves to be compared to them. He's telling a story of the ingenious, resourceful little guy pitted against the establishment, and he spins it out with a warmth and sweetness that's seldom seen in comedy these days.
If "Reckless Kelly" isn't in your local video store, call around and find one that has it. This one's worth an extra effort.
The same might be said of "...And God Spoke," but only for the most devoted movie aficionados. It's the "This is Spinal Tap" of low-budget movie making, a documentary about the making of an "epic" that turns out to be anything but.
Director Clive Walton (Michael Riley) is reaching for the brass ring with his independent production based on the Bible. There are still a few problems to be worked out with financing and casting, but his partner-producer Marvin Handelman (Stephen Rappaport) assures him that his vision will make it to the screen. Yes, they've had to scale back the script - Jesus is out - and the actress who's supposed to play Eve has a rather prominent tattoo, but they can work around that.
Of course, those turn out to be the least of their problems. Writers Gregory Malins and Michael Curtis and director Arthur Borman probably don't stray too far from the everyday reality of the industry. Outside the studio system, low-budget filmmaking is a hand-to-mouth business. Nothing is certain; from the seemingly simple matter of who's in charge of the morning meeting to building an Ark.
I suspect that the more you know about the actual mechanics of film production, the better the movie is. But anyone with a taste for dry, deadpan humor will appreciate it.
"Back Fire" is a parody of Ron Howard's "Backdraft" with a curious sexual role reversal. It's about a boy (Josh Mosby) who dreams of growing up to follow in his mother's footsteps as a firewoman, ... uh firefighter, whatever. But he has to break the department's all-female tradition. Actually, most of the film is a "Naked Gun"-type spoof with appearances by swimsuit model Kathy Ireland, Robert Mitchum, the late Telly Savalas and Shelley Winters. The combination of a modest budget and location shooting in Bayonne, N.J., gives the film a gritty look that's somehow appropriate.
"The Silence of the Hams" does similar things with horror movies. It is in part an Italian production - financed by ex-President Silvio Berlusconi - that's more silly than funny. When the main characters are FBI agent Jo Dee Fostar (Billy Zane) and Dr. Animal Cannibal Pizza (Dom DeLuise), and the first sight gag involves a flaming toilet, you know you're not dealing with refined material.
The high points (if they can be called that) are an extended parody of "Psycho," with Charlene Tilton in the Janet Leigh role, and lots of cameo appearances by such second-tier comics as Larry Storch, Rip Taylor, Shelley Winters again and Phyllis Diller looking for all the world like the ghost of Estelle Getty. No one involved took a second of it seriously, giving the entire production a slap-happy, laid back quality.
New releases:
Fresh ***
Starring Sean Nelson, Giancarlo Esposito, N'Bushe Wright, Samuel Jackson. Written and directed by Boaz Yakin. Buena Vista. 110 min. Rated R for violence, strong language, subject matter, brief nudity.
Here's a new version of Clint Eastwood's "For a Few Dollars More," itself a remake of Akira Kurosawa's "Yojimbo." All three films are about a hero who's caught between rival gangs and must set them against each other to survive. In writer-director Boaz Yakin's telling of the story, the setting is Brooklyn and the protagonist is a 12-year-old black kid (Sean Nelson, in an impressive screen debut) who's involved in the drug trade. Disturbing but recommended.
Time Cop ***
Starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Ron Silver, Mia Sara. Directed by Peter Hyams. MCA/Universal. 95 min. Rated R for violence, strong language, nudity, sexual content.
This is your basic martial-arts-science-fiction-shoot-'em-up-action flick; in other words, a feature-length comic book with Jean-Claude Van Damme protecting the past from the present. If it doesn't make complete sense, well, neither do most comic books. That's not the point. The film is well-crafted, violent escapism with a sense of humor.
Reckless Kelly *** 1/2
Warner Home Video. 81 min. Rated PG for comic violence.
... And God Spoke ***
LIVE. 82 min. Rated R for strong language, brief nudity.
Back Fire **1/2
A-Pix. 93 min. Rated PG-13 for bathroom humor, comic violence, strong language.
Silence of the Hams **
Cabin Fever. 85 min. Rated R for strong language, comic violence, bathroom humor.
by CNB