Saturday, April 20, 2013

SURPRISE RENTAL RECOMMENDATIONS: The Crow and Dark City




Both of these films were directed by Alex Proyas---so, apparently he knows how to catch my interest. The thing is, I would never have independently chosen to watch either of these films. Yet, I certainly enjoyed them.

The Crow always struck me as sort of a "B" movie that garnered most of its attention from the fact that its star, Brandon Lee (Bruce's son), was tragically killed on set in a terrible accident. However, in watching it---which I truly did not want to do---I was completely (and quite surprisingly) taken with it. It is by no means perfect. It's corny in spots. The acting, overall, is not great. The story is kind of hokey, if I have to be really honest. But Brandon Lee's performance is truly engaging and endearing, and the directing is....awesome.  I was just completely taken with the look of the film and the way scenes were shot.  I also really enjoyed the look of the characters, especially some of the 'bad guys'. In some ways it's like an extended music video from the golden age of MTV. It's just way better.

I haven't seen the film recently, so I'm not sure how well it holds up to the test of time, but I'd recommend checking it out. Dark City, on the other hand, probably holds up well over time.


I definitely would not have chosen to see this film on my own volition. I owe this one to the late, great Roger Ebert. He ranked it as numero uno on his list of the top ten films of 1998. He piqued my curiosity with this uncommon choice.

This is a dark movie, both literally and figuratively. During some scenes I actually felt I was struggling to see. The movie is sci-fi, but has a period piece feel. I sometimes go for the latter genre, but rarely go for the former, hence my surprise at how much I liked this movie. Acting-wise, the leads do a good job. Kieffer Sutherland gives a weird, almost goofy performance, but he's quite enjoyable. Again, the direction makes the film quite engrossing. It's a very interesting looking film. Also in common with The Crow, the look of the 'bad guys' was kind of enchanting in that dark sort of way. I love the end of the movie. It has a Planet of the Apes-ish pay-off.

So, you may want to give these two films a shot, though I suspect they may fall into in the 'love 'em or hate 'em' category. But I think that mostly applies to your tolerance for 'dark', if ya get my meaning.

Let me know what you think!