Witches of Eastwick

The Witches of Eastwick (1987) dir. George Miller
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Susan Sarandon, Cher, Michelle Pfieffer, Veronica Cartwright

**

By Alan Bacchus

Time warp back to 1987. One of the higher profile summer movies of that year was the Witches of Eastwick based on the 1984 novel by John Updike. It was a lavish production, very expensive for its time, with some 80’s dream casting of Nicholson, Sarandon, Cher and Pfieffer. It brought decent numbers, $63million, which in 1987 ranked it as the 10th highest grossing movie of the year.

Looking back, the film is mostly forgettable a silly horror/sex/comedy, which ironically is neither funny, horrific, and features no sex or nudity. What cinema fans should take home from this film is its place in the body of work of the great Aussie director George Miller. For Miller, known best for his Mad Max trilogy, it was his first feature in Hollywood. His first taste for La La Land was his segment for Twilight Zone the Movie, arguably the best episode, a remake of Terror at 20,000 Feet starring John Lithgow.

But with Eastwick, it was his first crack at the money, toys and stars of Hollywood in the feature realm. Those familiar with his work will recognize his trademark visual flare – a constantly moving camera, with expressive crash dollies and creative compositions, and lavish production design reminiscent of his later work on Babe: Pig in the City.

Unfortunately, other than these technical elements, there’s not much of a story to latch onto. The trio of lovely ladies, dressed in full on big curly 80’s hair play three sullen single gals who fall victim to the seduction of Daryl Van Horn, a handsome ponytailed stranger played by Jack Nicholson. It’s not overt but the ability of Van Horn, despite his chauvinistic attitude, is able to easily swoon the women with a power presumably derived from Satan himself. Soon the ladies form a sort of coven, who don’t really do much other than hang with Daryl and his luxurious mansion. When the local cynic played by Veronica Cartwright is killed off, the coven suspect Daryl is the cause leading to a violent and over-the-top finale featuring some cooky effects from The Thing’s Rob Bottin.

I still can’t be sure if Witches of Eastwick is a feminist or anti-feminist film. In the beginning the ladies desperately desire to find men in the lives to replace their divorced or dead former husbands, and the one who comes along to claim them happens to the devil himself. The decadence of the 80’s is front and centre, with Van Horn portrayed as the ideal 80’s bachelor – a successful businessman with all the luxurious fixings, Mercedes, Mansion, Matisses et al. Naughty sexual innuendos and double entrendres fly back and forth associating sexual conquest with business and money. Religion is mostly kept out of the hijinx, with the exception of Veronica Cartwright’s character who is characterized as the Evangelical zealot, but who unfortunately gets killed off for her beliefs. Sounds pretty misogynistic to me.

There’s isn’t much about 80’s cinema that is memorable, if anything it’s the quality of cinematography from the likes of Vilmos Zsigmond. And Zsigmond’s work on Eastwick is typically lush, a beautified look, dense and textured frames and full of rich colours. The 80’s produced some memorable film scores as well. And Eastwick has John Williams at his best, turning in a romp of a score which skips along complimenting the tone of fun naughtiness.

But if you're looking for 80’s nostalgia, stick with Wall Street or Back to the Future. Witches of Eastwick is for George Miller, John Williams and Vilmos Zsigmond fans only.

Witches of Eastwick is available on Blu-Ray from Warner Home Video in a two-pack with Griffin Dunne’s Practical Magic

THE ROAD WARRIOR

The Road Warrior (1981) dir. George Miller
Starring: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence

****

“Two days ago, I saw a vehicle that would haul that tanker. You want to get out of here? You talk to me”

In 1981 Steven Spielberg’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and George Miller’s “The Road Warrior” were released. Both films have a kinship of grandiose childlike cinematic action and are the best examples of the highest quality of adventure cinema. George Miller’s film takes the character he created in 1979’s “Mad Max” and places him in a new world, a post-Apocalyptic outback – a dangerous land where gangs fight to survive after all semblance of government and authority has been wiped out. “The Road Warrior” was so creative, so exuberant, so much fun to watch it stands the test of time as one of the great action films and ranks right up beside Spielberg’s “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”

Max is the prototypical anti-hero, a former policeman whose wife and child were brutal murdered by a brutal gang of hooligans. Max now lives in a world of hooligans. He remains a loner, an anti-hero outcast, with only his car, his shotgun and his dog as his possessions. His sole purpose in life is to find more gasoline so he can drive farther and farther away from civilization and distance himself from his own personal demons.

A piece of narration opens the film over a montage of images summarizing the time and place. (Note: the Australian version did not use this prologue). The near future world has gone through nuclear war, most of the land is barren and most forms of social civilization have been destroyed. The currency of this new world is gasoline, and the opening action sequence shows what lengths people are willing to go to get the ‘petrol’. Just like the first “Mad Max” George Miller opens with a brilliant car chase set piece. Max is super bad-ass and outsmarts and out drives the gang, led by a motorcycle-riding apocalyptic punk with his chained homosexual boy slave. After the incident Max escapes a trap set by a helicopter pilot named gyro (Bruce Spence). Before he’s about to be killed he tells Max about a tanker filled with gallons and gallons of gas. Max and the pilot enter into a unique partnership that will continue over the next two films.

Max is led to a commune of white-clad idealists who continually fight off a horde of maniacal warriors. Max makes a deal with the group to drive the tanker out of the compound and through the gang’s attack so they can escape to a civilized oasis thousands of miles away.

The visual design of Miller’s wasteland Australia is one of the highlights. Made in 1981, the costumes, props, vehicles and nihilist attitude reflect the punk culture of the day. Though different in genre it has much in common with “Blade Runner”, “Brazil” and “1984”. It’s a makeshift world created from the destroyed elements of a broken society. The film also has strong elements of the Western and Samurai genres – a lawless society and an unscrupulous lone reluctant hero hired to protect the innocents.

The other highlight are the tremendous chase sequences which stands up to anything done today. Miller edits his perfectly framed camera angles to accentuate the speed, intensity and danger of the chase. And amid all the crashes, explosions, ass-less chaps, and feral children is the tragic but noble heart of Max that he just can’t turn off.

Steven Spielberg and George Miller have a lot in common. They are both natural born filmmakers with both an accomplished technical acumen and an instinctual ability to entertain their audience. “The Road Warrior” will never cease to kick ass. Enjoy.

P.S. Spielberg himself saw the commonality of their work and hired Miller to direct the final (and best) chapter of “Twilight Zone: The Movie” (1983).

Buy it here: The Road Warrior

HAPPY FEET

Happy Feet (2006) dir. George Miller
Voices by: Elijah Wood, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Robin Williams

***

If you’re a cinephile, and want to take a break from Bela Tarr or Krzysztof Kieslowski, rent George Miller’s wonderful “Happy Feet” –a visual and auditory treat that’s like a good old bowl of Count Chocula in the morning or a blue ‘freezie’ on a hot summer day. It’ll bring the child-like joy back to your scowling face.

“Happy Feet” won an Oscar for Best Animated film. It’s not necessary as Oscar-worthy feat, considering there’s only a dozen or so animated films made in a year, but I’m just glad the great George Miller has a statuette for anything on his mantel piece.

As with any animated feature the production process is usually a 3-4 year journey, which means its genesis was before “March of the Penguins” and “Madagascar” – so it’s not a copy-cat film. The film takes place mostly in Antarctica; a group of emperor penguins are making their journey with their eggs back home to their colony. If you’ve seen “March of the Penguins” you’ll know how arduous the journey is and how the penguins must keep their eggs protected from the harsh environment in between their legs and under their fur. But “Memphis” (voiced by Hugh Jackman) briefly loses grip of his egg causing it to roll down a slope into the open snow. He quickly recovers it, but the damage is already done. Will the penguin-fetus survive? Yes, and its hatched out by our main character Mumble (voiced by Elijah Wood). From infancy Mumble is different, he’s not just the runt of the group, he can’t sing, which for the colony is the unifying characteristic. Every Penguin has their own “heartsong” which distinguishes them as part of the group. Mumble’s only talent is for tap-dancing, which is misunderstood by the elders and so, he is shunned by everyone. Mumble also has an innate sense of curiosity. When he meets a group of birds, one of whom has a tracking tag on its foot, it piques his interest in the so-called “aliens” who live over yonder. He theorizes that these aliens may be causing the decrease in fish in ocean, which ultimately supplies the sustenance for his fellow penguins.

Mumble proceeds to go on a journey outside of his environment to find the mysterious aliens. It’s no secret that the aliens are the human population. Mumble meets a group of smaller, shorter penguins (a slightly different species) who help him in his journey. Mumble and the group proceed to get into a series of adventures on their way to discovering the human world.

For much of the film it’s all about the cute penguins and the American Idol-influenced song and dance routines. I was admittedly skeptical about hearing cover versions of classic pop songs sung by Penguins. Perhaps it was my film-snob ego getting the way, but after the first sequence, I let my guard down which allowed me to enjoy the fun.

Visually the images are stunning – the photo-realism is almost perfect, especially the water and skyscapes. The moments of action and peril the penguins eventually find themselves in also a visual delight. The attack of the seal from underneath the ice is terrific and the killer whale sequence is also a classic. Warning: Spoilers coming up…The final act freshens the film from potential monotony by adding the human element into the film. The careful incorporation of live human characters into the animation is handled well.

Overall, the film doesn’t necessarily rise above the Pixar-benchmark for computer animation, but thankfully it saves us a sappy third act emotional resolution which plagues the Pixar films. And it’s too bad much of its thunder was stolen by “Ice Age”, “March of the Penguins” and “Madagascar”, because without those films “Happy Feet” would have been a more unique film. But nonetheless I still recommend checking your ego at the door and open yourself up to a fun musical extravaganza. Enjoy.

Buy it here: Happy Feet (Widescreen Edition)

LORENZO'S OIL

Lorenzo’s Oil (1992) dir. George Miller
Starring: Nick Nolte, Susan Sarandon

***1/2

George Miller is a great filmmaker with one of the most eclectic bodies of work. The man who created the “Mad Max” series, the "Babe" series and won on Oscar for an animated film, “Happy Feet”, also directed the compelling and emotional drama, “Lorenzo’s Oil”. He pretty much is a visual genius, able to adapt his visual panache to whichever story he chooses to tell.

“Lorenzo’s Oil” has no action scenes, talking animals, or dancing penguins, it’s a film based on the true story of Augusto and Michaela Odone’s fight to save the life of their son, Lorenzo from arare degenerative brain disease. The film literally jumps right into the story when Lorenzo, as a young child, has his first collapse and is diagnosed with adrenoleukodystrophy within the first 5 minutes of the film. ALD affects the brain, resulting in frequent collapses, loss of hearing, memory loss and eventually complete loss of motor skills. It’s so rare, it had only been identified as a disease 10 years prior and very little research is available. The doctors therefore cannot treat the child nor give the Odones any hope for a cure. When they meet other parents with similar children in more advanced stages of the disease the shock and awe causes them to go on a 10 year long search for a cure.

The Odones travel across the world to gain knowledge and insight about the disease. A few doctors have tinkered with it, almost as a hobby, but no one is a definitive expert, and no one has the funds to make it a full time effort. With that, the Odones take it upon themselves to learn the science of the disease and its effects on the body and develop a cure themselves. Their journey is remarkable. They are not doctors, but by the end of the film they have soaked up as much knowledge that short of having a diploma in their hands they become unofficial specialists in hematology and neuro-anatomy.

The film never dumbs down to the audience. As the Odones learn the chemistry of the disease so does the audience. Miller, who was a doctor before turning to filmmaking, explains the important details of cell biology with succinct clarity. At times the information passed through the screen makes it feel like biology 101, but education is never a bad thing, and it's remarkable how much more knowledgeable of the human body you will be after the film.

The intrinsic details of their scientific journey eventually consume and dominate their life at the expense of likeability and common decency. Michaela turns into a stark raving mad obsessive bitch. Eventually she turns all of her nurses away, leaving Michaela with the full burden of administering the palliative care for her increasing ailing child.

The building blocks of research eventually results in a partial cure. Miller doesn’t give us a magical deus ex machina discovery; instead it’s derived from a logical progression of their research, which I’ll leave to the audience to discover themselves.

Though the story is emotional due the extreme nature of the disease, Miller tells the story using fact and science as its basis, and therefore the characters are all business when it comes to moving the story forward. The Odones are moving too fast to pause and grieve. If they do, they themselves might shut down and give up the fight. It’s also interesting to note that we never really get to know Lorenzo as a character, he is diagnosed too quickly into the story and we’re in fourth gear right from the start.

George Miller’s fast-paced and uniquely quirky directing style fits surprisingly well with the subject matter. Where the camera could have become a static observer instead becomes a dynamic visual delight. The only major fault of the film perhaps is the casting of Nick Nolte as Augusto. Although Nolte’s trademark intensity is appropriate for the character, I never could get past his Italian accent, which at inappropriate times did bring a chuckle or two to my face.

The film doesn’t really end. Research is ongoing and Augusto Odone continues his journey toward a full cure. You have to visit the Myelin Project website to see the current status of the story. Enjoy.

Buy it here: Lorenzo's Oil

Unfortunately no suitable youtube clips exist. But here’s an interview with Miller: