THE HONEYMOON KILLERS (1969) on Sundance Channel for the first time. I rarely come across a movie like this that has me split down the middle as to whether I liked or despised it (which gives me the perfect excuse to watch it again down the line). The low-budget filmmaking and bad (i.e. not by professional actors) supporting performances give its subject matter raw authenticity, yet the bad acting distracts and undermines what should have been powerful scenes (i.e. the hammer killing). The lack of "Bonnie & Clyde"-type Hollywood romanticization of the despicable lead characters is a plus (Shirley Stoler and Tony LoBianco sell the lead pair's unpleasantness real well) and yet, unlike "Bonnie & Clyde," this movie is not the least bit entertaining or fun to watch (as drama or even an 'fly on the wall' dramatization of real-life events) except when LoBianco is front and center. Music cues from Mahler compositions and bad audio are supposed to highlight the dramatic points and/or suck you into the authenticity of the moment; in reality they're both annoying as s***, ill-timed technical distractions. Basically I can understand why others like and appreciate "The Honeymoon Killers" (it's miles removed from the contemporary school of serial killer glamorization) but it just never spiked my pulse (except for the scenes when Martha mistreats her mother, which were powerful stuff) or felt like anything other than a low-budget "Bonnie & Clyde" ripoff with uglier (i.e. more realistic) people.
Rewatched Michelangelo Antonioni's THE PASSENGER (1975) on DVD twice on the same night, first by itself and the second time with writer Mark Peploe's (and friend) commentary track because I just had to see it again right away (plus I'd already seen it with the Nicholson commentary track). What a weirdly hypnotic road trip flick (Antonioni's most accessible one) in which a lot of stuff happens but actors and director take their sweet time getting to where they're going and (like us) get to soak up the great views along the way. Between this and his movies with Forman, Polanski and Rafelson Jack Nicholson f***ing owned the 1970's like few actors have dominated any movie decade before or since. Seen it four times and I'm still finding little things here and there to enhance each viewing, plus Maria Schneider is such a cute and mysterious woman you can't help but fall for her the same way David Locke/Robertson does: at first sight.
MST3K: THE CRAWLING EYE (1989/1958) on DVD for the first time. The first nationally-televised "Mystery Science Theater 3000" experiment has all the tell-tale signs of a work-in-progress: no button to push, badly-rendered silhouettes in the theaters, long silent pauses without riffs and very stilted (almost verbose) jokes. And yet the movie being made fun off is so ridiculously goofy, the lead actor ("F Troop's" Forrest Tucker) so wooden in his heroism and the climax (with every 'eye' pun you ever heard in the shoolyard crammed into the last 15 minutes) so OTT that, by the time the credits roll, "The Crawling Eye" looks/feels/smells like the "MST3K" we've all known and loved.
MST3K: THE ROBOT VS. THE AZTEC MUMMY (1989/1958) on DVD for the first time. The little seed planted on the first "MST3K" episode grows a tiny branch (which would eventually become the tree trunk that is "MST3K" fandom) with this Mexican import that is as frenetic as the "Commando Cody" serial that precedes it. There's almost too much crazy plot (virtually all of it in rushed flashbacks) crammed into its short running time, which almost leaves no room for the title's namesakes to duke it out until the movie is almost over (boo!). The 'five years ago' line had me rolling on the floor with laughter, and it wasn't even a riff from Joel & the bots (who were too busy dealing with the 'demon dog' invasion to come up with funnier riffs) but the baby steps this episode takes toward the "MST3K" formula/pace we know and love are indeed small.
And, last but not least, HBO's THE PACIFIC (2010) on HBO-HD for the first time. After seven episodes (more than enough to give this $250 million mini-series a chance) I'm close to bailing out. Spielberg and Hanks are practically doing World War II porno at this point with the same filming techniques, stories, gore, music/credits (so full of themselves it's bordering on Tom Brokaw-caliber suckiness), character types, etc. that have been shown to death on movies and videogames post-"Saving Private Ryan" but with constantly-diminishing returns. Everything this mini-series wants to say about the Pacific theater of operations has been done better already in movies like the Spielberg-produced "Letters from Iwo Jima" (from a different cultural perspective to boot). With precious rare exceptions like the 'skull' scene from 'Peleliu Hills' (the single moment this miniseries actually gripped me like the better-and-more-frequent moments from "Ryan" or "Band of Brothers") and the culturally-interesting 'Melbourne' episode (covering a place/time of WWII rarely covered by even historians) "The Pacific" looks/feels like the most expensive exercise in redundancy ever committed to film. Although hard at first to distinguish between all the lookalike Caucasian actors kudos to Joseph Mazzello (the kid in Jurassic Park!), James Badge Dale (Private Lecke), Jon Seda (Basilone) and Rami Malek (in a star-making performance as 'Snafu') for at least committing to the lost cause they're in with standout performances.
