Cinematic Throwbacks: June 1982/1992/2002/2012

1982:

I was a big Star Trek fan as a kid. I even had some toys. I don't have any idea though what order I saw anything in. I know the original series itself came first, but by the time I got into this thing there had been probably 4 movies. Plus that old animated series from the 70s.

So basically I don't know when I first saw The Wrath Of Khan. But even as a young'n I knew this was a great movie. This is largely agreed upon as the best of the Trek films. I have always loved The Search For Spock (a direct sequel to this) and I think the newer ones were all excellent, but yeah, it's hard to make a case against The Wrath Of Khan.

It just has it all. Everyone from the original ensemble is in fine form. I know he's kind of let himself become a punchline in later years, but William Shatner was still an effortlessly charismatic actor back then. The villain is the spectacularly theatrical Ricardo Montalban as Khan, one of the template performances for an over the top villain. 

It has a really simple story, centering around the "Genesis" machine that can literally create a planet. Khan wants it, just cause he knows it can lure his old enemy Kirk, which it does, leading to a series of standoffs.

Yeah it's 1982 technology but those few space battles we get here are just riveting. A huge asset is the incredible score by James Horner. I mean this is one of the absolute best scores of all time. I really miss having these kind of films where the score was such a big deal.

The film has many iconic moments (the "KHAAAAN" scream, "buried aliiiive") but the ending is most famous, in which Spock sacrifices himself to save the Enterprise, after which Kirk has to watch him die. Now, the next movie resurrects Spock, and hell I may have even known that already when I first saw this, but it's still a very emotional finale. Spock's death, that wonderful final Kirk scene, and the Spock voice-over leading into more Horner brilliance. It's as good a final 10 minutes as just about any film has ever had. 

1992:

I have some memory of the big Batman summer of 89. I didn't see that movie til later but I do remember how big it was, and how the merchandise was everywhere. But the blockbusters were not what I went out to see. I saw comedies, occasionally kids movies.

Batman Returns was one of the first summer blockbusters I ever saw in theaters. (Does Back To The Future 3 count? That might have been the first)

Now, while I will admit that at the time I basically thought the Schumacher Batman films were its equal (😬), time has certainly revealed Batman Returns to be the best of those original 4 films.

Batman 89 is a little clunky. Returns is just seamless, really. Everything comes together. Tim Burton's then still unique visual style shines. Yeah it's obviously fake but it's really great to look at and immerses you into Gotham.

This movie features two of the most iconic comic book movie villain performances of all time, by Danny Devito (who got a Razzie nomination....WHAT?) as Penguin, and Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman. Now, while this did kick off the iffy trend of having 2 villains and having them team up (even Nolan did this), it worked here because both performers are so good. Devito is willing to be way over the top gross and revolting. Does it make sense he could be a Mayoral candidate? No, but he could surely win a GOP district.

Pfeiffer remains the gold standard on big screen Catwomen (though Hathaway and Kravitz were both excellent too). She's just the right balance of crazy and sexy (and cool too, guess she could be in TLC). It makes sense that Batman would kind of be into it.

Oh right, Batman. Yeah it's hard to argue the point that Batman is kind of a supporting figure in his own movie here (both Burton films have this issue). Michael Keaton's great of course. His scenes with Pfeiffer are all great fun.

We also get Christopher Walken here sharing pre-title billing as Max Schrek, the guy who kind of sets everything in motion by "killing" Catwoman and setting up Penguin's campaign. I don't think I even knew who Walken was before this movie.

In a true sign of the times this movie was really controversial because it had dark, sometimes violent, sometimes sexual stuff in it, while also having all the kids promotional tie-ins. That stuff went over my head pretty much. I don't have an S&M fetish because of Catwoman.

But that controversy directly led to the next 2 Batman films going in a much brighter, sillier, campier direction. 

2002:

In 2002 this was a huge deal that, after years as the biggest stars in their fields, finally Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg were teaming up.

I think that at the time this movie kind of disappointed people. They wanted a typical big summer blockbuster. Instead they got a blockbuster, sure, but a darker, more serious one. And its vision of what could be called fascistic government overreach seems a lot more realistic and scary now than it did in 2002.

The premise has DC as the ground zero for a new policing system called "pre crime" where 3 psychic "precogs" predict murders before they happen. Victim and perpetrator are named, and the cops (led by Cruise) race to stop it.

Cruise's character is a true believer, but then he is named as a future murderer and must go on the run. So the whole middle of the movie is one long chase (and Cruise does love to run). The world building opening act is pretty excellent, but that middle is really where we get most of the most memorable sequences. Top tier action, sure, but also some incredible suspense. That scene of Cruise hiding in the bathtub from those robotic spiders? You can't do it better than that.

This film would be unquestionably top tier Spielberg, but man, that last 20-30 minutes is not that good. For one, Cruise is kind of gone from the movie for a while. But I'm also not sure the particulars of why Cruise was framed and by who and why are all that interesting. Minority Report is deep down a noir mystery, but the action and sci-fi elements are what really work here. And those parts are executed masterfully. 

2012:

One of the big movies of the summer of 2012, the hype around Prometheus was massive. Ridley Scott returning after decades to make a new Alien film. Or was it an Alien film? The marketing was very coy about it. 

Yes, it's an Alien film, but it's a prequel about not just how the aliens were created but how humans were, and who made both. 

It's more high minded than most of the films in this franchise. It takes a while to get to some of the more expected monster stuff. It follows a space expedition to track down what is believed to be our creators, but they find a sort of factory where the xenomorphs were created. And they of course get loose, and a lot of bad things happen.

Yeah it's somewhat generic from here, but Scott stages it all very well. That surgery sequence is one of the great spine-tinglers of the last decade. The score is terrific. All the visuals are great. 

The cast is over qualified. Noomi Rapace is the lead, and this is the best thing she has done in English. Michael Fassbender is very unsettling. Idris Elba supplies some gruff charisma. Charlize Theron does her steely thing.

I think Scott was going to use this film as a launch for a new series of films dealing more with the Alien lore, but there was a lot of backlash to this film so by the time the next film in the series got made it was more back to a standard monster movie. 

The world is going to end in a couple weeks. A comet is going to crash into earth and kill everyone, and there's nothing anyone can do but wait to die. Oh and it's comedy.

This movie is kind of great. It made very little impact during its release, and wasn't huge critically either. But it's a gem, both very funny and deeply touching.

Steve Carell is a sad sack living out his last days alone after his wife bailed. But then he meets neighbor Keira Knightley, and through circumstances the two of them end up going on a road trip, during which they fall for each other. But what's the point of it when everyone's about to die?

This was one of Carell's first stabs at something a little more serious, and he is terrific, but man alive is this ever a showcase for Knightley. She would surely be one of my absolute favorite actresses if she only did more good movies. This is one of her very best. She is completely irresistible in this, cute and funny and lovable. And she digs into her dramatic chops when needed.

The movie is full of fun appearances by name actors, from Patton Oswalt to Connie Britton to Derek Luke to Martin Sheen. Even TJ Miller is legitimately funny in it.

The end of the world thing is a great hook, and enhances the meaning of everything. And the finale is kind of perfect, hitting just that right note of bittersweet. 

Another quirky comedy with some unexpected drama to it, this movie now is probably most notable as the breakout for director Colin Trevorrow, who went right from this to Jurassic World and then (almost) Star Wars. 

Not sure why studios saw this and thought "yeah give him a tentpole." The charm of this movie is how small and low key it is, even with time travel being a major plot device.

The inimitable Aubrey Plaza has never been better utilized in a movie. Loved her arc from being her usual sarcastic self to something deeper. Good performances too from Mark Duplass and Jake Johnson. 

Other non-deep dive flicks:

1982:

-E T.: Okay, so this was one of the big movies on my "never watched" list. So I finally watched it and yeah, it's really good. Sentimental without being cheesy. Terrific child performances (aww little Drew is so cute). And for a 40 year old animatronic, E.T. himself really holds up and feels real. 

-The Thing: I'm not 100% sure I have ever seen this. Maybe it's a franchise thing. They remade this like a decade ago and am also unsure I ever saw THAT. 

-Blade Runner: I was very late to seeing this film. I liked it but it didn't astound me or anything. 

-Grease 2: I believe this famously bad sequel was the debut of Michelle Pfeiffer. Never seen it. 

1992:

-Class Act: I watched this movie a ton back in the day. Kid and Play from the House Party movies have their identities switched. 

-Housesitter: I saw this Steve Martin-Goldie Hawn comedy in theaters. Not one of the greats, but it wasn't bad. 

-Unlawful Entry: Ray Liotta (RIP) plays a psycho cop stalking a married couple (Kurt Russell, and the gorgeous Madeleine Stowe). I watched this a bunch back in the day. Mostly because of Stowe and puberty. 😏

-Patriot Games: Probably my least favorite of the early Jack Ryan flicks. 

2002:

-Bad Company: Right in the middle of the great Jerry Bruckheimer run of the late 90s-eary 2000s, he produced this complete dud of a spy thriller with the "what?" pairing of Anthony Hopkins and Chris Rock. 

-The Bourne Identity: The beginning of the Matt Damon spy franchise. I was never huge on this one, but it was well made. 

-Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood: Did I even see this? It had Sandra Bullock, so I might have. Further investigation may be needed. 

-Scooby-Doo: Yeah this sucked. 

-Mr. Deeds: We had not quite reached the decline phase of Adam Sandler comedies yet. This was still pretty good. 

-Lilo & Stitch: A weird creature and a little girl bond. It was cute. 

-Windtalkers: A disappointing John Woo war film starring Nicolas Cage. 

-Pumpkin: I think this rated as my worst movie of the year. A dreadful "comedy" where Christina Ricci has a romance with a mentally disabled boy. Nothing is worse than a dark comedy that misses the mark. 

2012:

-Snow White and the Huntsman: Ehh. I of course dug Kristen Stewart in this, and Chris Hemsworth was fun, but this wasn't memorable. 

-Madagascar 3: They made 3 of these? 

-That's My Boy:

-Rock Of Ages: I believe I said at the time that this film was like listening to a mediocre cover band for two hours. 

-Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter: How did they take this silly idea and make such a dull movie? 

-Brave: One of Pixar's lesser works. 

-Magic Mike: Of course I didn't see this in theaters. I did see it later and recall it being an okay film. 

-Ted: You could see it coming that this was going to be a big hit. It mostly worked. 

-To Rome With Love: A pretty forgettable Woody Allen movie starring TAFKA Ellen Page. 

-Take This Waltz: A charming little movie with Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen. 

Coming in July...

The Dark Knight Rises turns 10, along with the now somewhat redeemed (maybe?) Amazing Spiderman.

Two of my 1992 faves, Boomerang and A League Of Their Own, turn 30.