duanem Reviews

She's Having a Baby (1988)

A Classic of the Era

[10/10 · 18 June 2005]

I actually saw this film in the theaters (one of a handful of people in the world, I believe). Most people weren't prepared for John Hughes to break into more grown-up fare after his successful films about teens (Ferris Bueller, Pretty in Pink, etc.), and this film's failure (along with the failure of Planes, Trains, and Automobiles) forced Hughes into making commercially successful but artistically bankrupt crap like Home Alone.

Although I was in college when the film came out, I instantly fell in love with the story of this fictionalized version of Hughes own early married life. Kevin Bacon did some of his best work in this film, and Elizabeth McGovern is simply radiant as the "she" of the title. Alec Balwdin is thin and disgusting as the "best friend" who has an unrequited lust for his pal's wife.

Filled with surreal moments (which are par for the course today, in shows like Scrubs) where Bacon's character imagines his response (or the response of others) to various situations, several stand out. The wonderful suburban lawnmower scene, the moment when he imagines his in-laws giving sex advice ("Get your butt a little higher, Jake!"), etc.

As a young father, I have felt everything Jake felt as they ventured into parenthood. Fear, wonder, and a weird sense of losing your wife's body to something you don't quite understand. And as funny as the film is, it is also quite poignant at moments and full of heart.

The use of classic late 80's bands (a Hughes specialty) is excellent and quite extensive. Gene Loves Jezebel, Love and Rockets, XTX, Bryan Ferry, Everything But the Girl, and Kate Bush (whose song is used most effectively to tug at heart strings) are all used to highlight, comment on, and bring the story to life.

Highly recommended and easily Hughes' most heartfelt film.

Alien vs. Predator (2004)

Joel and the Bots would have loved this film.

[1/10 · 17 August 2004]

Saw this opening night. Loved the original Alien movies, liked the idea of the Predators. Knew we were in trouble when the main female character is introduced answering a cell phone while hanging on Mt. Everest...and no steam comes from her mouth. She's on the side of an ice wall on the highest mountain on earth...and her breath doesn't show up. It was downhill from there. Literally. Set in a buried ancient temple in Antarctica, the filmmakers didn't bother to make the sound stage the thing was filmed on cold enough to see the actors' breath. Doesn't matter how much snow you have, how big your parka is...it's clear that it's NOT really cold. Loses whatever "realism" the film has.

It gets worse. I won't spoil it for you, suffice to say the main female character is a LAME EXCUSE for a Ripley ripoff. Her partnership with the remaining Predator (when he fashions a weapon and shield from an Alien skull for her, you will think..."how the hell did she know where to put her hands") smacks of Beauty and the Beast (I swear that the first time she walks by him, the camera catches him saying "Damn, baby!") and all I could think of at the end was "Tale as old as time..."

Add the fact that the only likable character is killed off too quickly, that the "heroine" ends up alone, wearing only a t-shirt and jeans IN Antarctica, the lame camera-work, the bad use of two of sci-fi's best villains, a pathetic "chariots of the gods" basis for pyramids,...

I started quoting from MST3K's treatment of EEGAH halfway through the film. As the heroine and friend walk down a hallway, all I could think of was "Watch out for snakes!"

As the predator would say, "Damn, baby!"