A Reel Review: KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

Over the years, Famed director Martin Scorsese has brought stories to the big screen centered around obscure, forgotten, somewhat minor or ignored history. GOODFELLAS (1989), hung out with east-coast gangsters, GANGS OF NEW YORK (2002), did battle with the original east-coast gangsters, and WOLF OF WALL STREET (2013), counted the coins of a Wall Street crook. Here in 2023, Scorsese turns his attention to the grisly, tragic, and outrageous treatment of American Indian women in KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON. 

Ernest (Leonardo DiCaprio), returns home from WWI to live with his uncle Hale (Robert DeNiro), on the Osage Nation in Oklahoma…where Native Americans are becoming the richest people in the country thanks to the production of oil on their land. Hale encourages Ernest to marry Mollie (Lily Gladstone), who is heir to an oil fortune…just as other Native American women are mysteriously murdered. 

Directed by Scorsese and based on the book of the same name by David Grann, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON is a film designed to make our skin crawl. Ernest falls in love with Mollie and begins a family, while slowly entering the dark conspiracy at play: white men are marrying Native American women who are heirs to an oil fortune…and after the children are born, murder the wives and inherit the cash and oil rights. The murders range from gunshots to poisoning, and even hired private detectives are powerless against the dark plotters…led by Hale. Greed is the name of the game here, and Ernest is caught in the middle of it all as he has truly fallen in love with Mollie. Scorsese is exploring the moral boundaries of a man set firmly between a chance at lifelong wealth or a life of love. 

There is a commitment to being true to history here, as KILLERS pulls no punches in exposing one of America’s darkest histories. Seeing Native American women killed and their justice denied is hard to watch. This perspective is shown through the Mollie character, which is a surprising shift and leads to the Ernest character kept at a cold distance. There are some mental gymnastics to be taken as the audience needs to realize that the story is not about the white-man lead actor/character. 

KILLERS is a gorgeous-looking film, and some of Scorsese’s long-takes are some of the best of his career. The blood and gore is not too bad. The editing is sharp but the film does feel every bit of its massive 206 minute run-time (that’s 3 hours, 26 minutes for you savages). The soundtrack by Robbie Robertson is tremendous. 

Also tremendous is the acting. Leonardo DiCaprio turns in another powerhouse, and he and DeNiro match up well. The show is stolen by Lily Gladstone. Jesse Plemons appears in the third act as the lead Federal investigator and is excellent. The film is laced with great cameos by Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson, Jack White, Pete Yorn, John Lithgow, and our reigning Best Actor…Brendan Fraser. 

By the time we get to the third act (at about the third hour), the film curiously resembles GOODFELLAS…as things shift to courtrooms and legal proceedings as the Law finally closes in and the conspirators begin to turn on each other. It’s a very drawn-out conclusion and KILLERS feels like it could have been a lot tighter. Despite this, it ends on a powerful note (including a breathtaking closing shot), and every bit of its weight can be felt. This isn’t just a look at ignored history but a revelation of devasting history. It is eye-opening, it is sobering, and it is colossal. 

BOTTOM LINE: See it 

 

A Reel 100: Walt Disney Animation Studios

This month marks the 100^th anniversary of Walt Disney Animation Studios. 

 

Founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy O. Disney, it was originally founded as a cartoon studio dedicated to producing animated short films. In 1928 they had their breakthrough when they produced STEAMBOAT WILLIE; their first cartoon with synchronized sound. WILLIE would skyrocket the popularity of its lead character, Mickey Mouse…who would become a worldwide icon and the symbol for Disney for all time. 

 

The Studio would push the boundaries of animation techniques, but recognized the value of classic, simple storytelling. In 1937 they would create SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, the first feature-length animated film in history. SNOW WHITE was an instant success, and for a time became the highest grossing film of all time before being surpassed by GONE WITH THE WIND two years later. 

 

The 1940’s saw even further advances in animation, while providing short-films which gave Mickey some new pals: Donald Duck and Goofy. Feature films during this time included PINOCCHIO (1940), FANTASIA (1940), DUMBO (1941), BAMBI (1941), SALUDOS AMIGOS (1942), and THE THREE CABALLEROS (1944). CINDERELLA arrived in 1948, and led the Studio into the 1950’s, which gave us ALICE IN WONDERLAND (1951), PETER PAN (1953), LADY AND THE TRAMP (1955), and SLEEPING BEAUTY (1959). This decade also saw Walt move his attentions to live-action films along with the Disneyland theme park. In 1964, Disney would bring animation and live-action together in one of the Studio’s grandest films, MARY POPPINS. 

 

Walt Disney would pass away in 1966. But the Studio would still produce future classics such as ONE HUNDRED AND ONE DALMATIONS (1961), and THE JUNGLE BOOK (1967). Disney World would open in 1971, and with the success of Disneyland, the parks and films began their own circle of life: the parks would promote the films, and the films would promote the parks. In this decade the Studio would deliver ROBIN HOOD (1973), and THE RESCUERS (1977). 

 

By the 1980’s the Disney name and the shape of Mickey Mouse had become international symbols. This alone helped along films such as THE FOX AND THE HOUND (1981), and THE GREAT MOUSE DETECTIVE (1986). 

 

The decade would close with THE LITTLE MERMAID in 1989, which would usher in the magnificent era now known as The Disney Renaissance. Films in this period would include THE RESCUERS DOWN UNDER (1990), BEAUTY AND THE BEAST (1991), ALADDIN (1992), THE LION KING (1994), POCAHONTAS (1995), THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME (1996), HERCULES (1997), MULAN (1998), and TARZAN (1999). 

 

The early part of the new millennium would deliver TREASURE PLANET (2002), and BROTHER BEAR (2003). THE PRINCESS AND FROG would close the decade in 2009. The Studio would make the transition into 3D computer-animation with success, and in 2010 would bring one of their best all-time films to the big screen, TANGLED. 

 

More hits in the new 3D era would be on the way: WRECK-IT RALPH (2012), FROZEN (2013), ZOOTOPIA (2016), MOANA (2016), and ENCANTO (2021). 

 

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In the last 100 years, Walt Disney Animation Studios have produced 61 feature films, winning 135 Academy Awards (including 32 by Walt personally), with several of their films sitting as some of the highest grossers of all time. Their name has become synonymous with terms such as magic, fun, adventure, and cinema. Their films may have been made for children, but as adults we can appreciate the effort and beauty of the animations, and deep down the grassroots-style of storytelling makes a deep connection with everyone. 

The success of Walt Disney Animation Studios enabled the company to become the empire that it is today. As a huge entity that seems to own or have a piece of everything, it is easy to lump it in with the Amazon's and the Apple's of the world. But their contributions to cinema, in art and technology, has stood the test of time...while their characters and stories have become parts of our every day lives. There is no other studio that can strike up swelling emotion when their opening logo lightens up the screen.  That’s the way Walt dreamed it in 1923, and that’s the way they will do cinema for the next 100 years. 

 

 

A Reel Review - THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER

Nearly every horror franchise has fallen into the same pattern: A tremendous start, a bunch of decent-to-awful sequels, a remake, and eventually a Legacy Sequel which may or may not ignore everything that came before it. The famed HALLOWEEN franchise just had that treatment, and next on deck, THE EXORCIST. 

 

Two twelve-year-old girls, Angela (Lidya Jewett), and Katherine (Olivia O’Niell), go missing while playing in the woods. When they are found, they bring something evil back with them which eventually takes over their bodies. Angela’s father Victor (Leslie Odom, Jr.), seeks out the assistance of Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), who had once battled the same evil. 

 

Produced by Blumhouse Productions and directed by David Gordon Green (both of which are coming off the disastrous HALLOWEEN sequel trilogy), THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER follows the familiar path that the most possession films take: the victims enter to bizarre and disturbing behavior which baffles medical science, and the parents give up on their stubborn faithlessness and seek a miracle. While the path is familiar, BELIEVER takes a refreshing turn by including more than one faith in the battle to free the possessed girls. Where the original THE EXORCIST treated Catholic Priests and the Vatican like Jedi, BELIEVER allows other denominations to come in. Opening the door to other cultures and beliefs finally gives us something new.

 

The first two acts of BELIEVER are as good as it can get. Victor and the other bewildered parents are put to the test, and we empathize with them from the moment their kids go missing. Unfortunately, it’s in the third act where everything goes downhill. The themes of different cultures coming together is half-baked and is treated too lightly, and the final showdown to free the two possessed girls is a letdown: devoid of any real scares or shock. 

 

David Gordon Green imitates the directing style of the original THE EXORCIST helmer, the late great William Friedkin. Green copies his style with the transitions and impressive long takes, and there are many sequences that feel like they could have come from Friedkin himself. But again, by the third act all that goes out the window, and the film loses its personality. 

 

Acting is very good. Leslie Odom Jr. plays the role of a troubled parent very well, and we can feel the weight on his shoulders. The two young girls, Lidya Jewett and Oliva O’Niell, are tremendous. Ellen Burstyn, at 90 (!) years old, is an absolute warrior and hasn’t lost any of her bite. Unfortunately, her character amounts to an extended cameo and doesn’t serve much of a purpose…despite the emotional ending that she gets.

 

THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER is yet another Legacy Sequel that chooses to ignore all sequels that have come before it, and serve as a direct follow-up to the 1973 classic. The light involvement of the MacNeil character makes the film feel inconsequential, and there isn’t much that happens here to justify its existence. There’s a lot to like, but a lot that can go to hell. 

 

BOTTOM LINE: Rent it 

A Reel Preview: The Year in Film 2023 - Episode X

The season for ghosts and goblins has arrived. This October has a light amount of horror to roll out on the big screen, along with the return of cinema legend. Here’s what’s coming to theatres this month: 

 

 

THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER – David Gordon Green, who did a shit job in rebooting the HALLOWEEN franchise, helms this legacy sequel to the 1973 classic. Ninety-year-old Ellen Burstyn reprises her EXORCIST role as Chris MacNeil, who assists two families whose daughters have been possessed. Leslie Odom Jr. co-stars. 

 

 

FOE – Saoirse Ronan stars in this sci-fi thriller about a wife who is informed that her husband will be sent into space, while she is left in the company of a robot. It is directed by Garth Davis, who helmed the Oscar-nominated LION from 2016. 

 

 

FREELANCE – In this action comedy, John Cena stars as a Special Forces Op called into service to protect a journalist who gets caught up in a rebellion. 

 

 

 

KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON – Martin Scorsese returns to the big screen with this epic drama about the series of murders in the Osage Nation after the discovery of oil on their land. The all-star cast includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert DeNiro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, Brendan Fraser, and John Lithgow. 

 

 

BUTCHER’S CROSSING – Nic Cage stars in this drama about an Ivy League dropout who decides to live in the Colorado wilderness. 

 

 

FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S – The long-awaited supernatural horror film based on the popular video game of the same name. Josh Hutcherson stars as a security guard working at an abandoned family entertainment center, where the animatronic mascots come to life. Matthew Lillard and Mary Stuart Masterson co-star. 

 

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Next month, Reel Speak previews the packed month of November. 

 

 

 

A Reel Review: SAW X

Some backstory is needed before discussing SAW X; the tenth film in the bloody, gory, preachy, yet somewhat philosophical horror series that started way back in 2004. The first film was a horror masterstroke of twists and turns. The first sequel, SAW II (2005), was clever and effective enough. After that, it became a convoluted mess of timeline-hopping and extended flashbacks, with each film presenting deadly traps that got more and more ridiculous. Now for SAW X, they go back to the approach of timeline-hopping for one more slash at it. 

 

Set between the first and second films, John Kramer (Tobin Bell), is suffering from brain cancer and takes on an experimental treatment. After flying to Mexico for surgery, he discovers that he was a victim of a scam…and decides to hold all those behind it responsible. 

 

Directed by Kevin Greutert, SAW X is committed to the theme of the original film that has driven the franchise: people not appreciating the gift of life and eventually paying for it dearly in cruel yet ironic fashion. It is no spoiler to say that Kramer is the Jigsaw killer who (with some help), has been putting his selected victims in his deadly traps to make them pay for their sins. This time, with Kramer a victim himself, the mission is more personal. As a man knocking on death’s door himself, this is the first SAW film where Jigsaw finally feels justified. 

 

Kramer’s illness and falling for the ruse takes up the first half of the film, and it’s a horror film that plays out as a drama for what seems like a very long time. But it’s human, and it works. Eventually Kramer, along with his loyal assistant Amanda (Shawnee Smith), round-up the bastards behind the medical scam into an abandoned factory, where they must play his deadly games of survival. Here the film gets back to its gory roots. The traps this time are as horrifying and bloody as ever, although some of them push the realm of believability and border on impossible. 

 

Tobin Bell puts in one of his best performances not only as Kramer but in his entire career. There’s an emotional weight that he carries that really works. Shawnee Smith is excellent, and the supporting cast of victims also very good. 

 

The question everyone wants answered is, how is the big twist at the end? Well, it’s not so big, can be seen coming from a mile away by anyone who is vaguely familiar with how movies work, and also relies on an insane amount of luck to happen. SAW X seems to exist to give Kramer/Jigsaw more backstory (most of which we were given VI movies ago), but instead it plays out more like a side-quest. On its own it is functional and delivers the promised blood and guts, but in the broader picture (which SAW likes to pride itself on), it’s kinda pointless. That imbalance doesn’t cut it. 

 

BOTTOM LINE: Rent it 

 

A Reel Review: THE CREATOR

Director Gareth Edwards has an uneven record on the big screen. In 2010 he had his breakthrough with his excellent indie film MONSTERS. Then in 2014 he did a baffling GODZILLA film where the big guy barely showed up. Then in 2016 came the outstanding ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY, where he started off directing before production issues had him eventually moved to the background. Here in 2023, Edwards gets a chance to rise above all that with THE CREATOR. 

 

The year is 2065, and mankind is at war with androids powered by artificial intelligence (A.I.). Former special ops agent Joshua (John David Washington), is called back into service by Colonel Howell (Allison Janney), to lead a mission into the heart of A.I. territory…where a world-ending weapon is being developed. 

 

Directed by Edwards who co-wrote the screenplay with Chris Weitz, THE CREATOR is a twisting and turning sci-fi flick which borrows many elements from some classic sci-fi films over the past many decades. Here, there are elements of STAR WARS, BLADE RUNNER, ALIENS, and STAR TREK…while also taking pages from APOCALYPSE NOW or even AVATAR. It’s familiar territory, but there are several things at work that makes it feel fresh and new. The first is the excellent work in world-building. In this future world, robots were invented to assist mankind…before they literally went nuclear and wiped Los Angeles off the map. Now the U.S. is hellbent on eliminating them all, while in Asian countries the robots live at peace with humans…while taking on personalities and artificial skins which basically gives them souls. 

 

The next element at work are the many twists and turns. It is no spoiler to say that eventually Joshua finds the weapon: an A.I. with the human form of a six-year-old girl. Unable to blast it (her), into little metal shards, Joshua goes (ahem), rogue with her…even naming her Alphie (Madeleine Yuna Voyles). Ultimately, it’s a film about what is human and what isn’t; asking profound questions while Joshua and Alphie are chased across the county. 

 

THE CREATOR has some excellent action scenes during those chases. Set-pieces ranging from an underground laboratory to a giant floating weapon are edge-of-your-seat greatness. Weapons and vehicles are futuristic yet realistic, and the design of the robots is stunning. Overall visual effects are nothing short of breathtaking. 

 

John David Washington (son of Denzel) puts in his best performance. He is matched well with Gemma Chan, who plays his wife and may have a tie to the future of the A.I. Allison Janney is a huge surprise as a military bad-ass. Madeleine Yuna Voyles steals the show and is a revelation. 

The real magic of THE CREATOR is that it messes with our heads by making us question who to root for: mankind or the robots? It’s minor-shock ending doesn’t offer any conclusions, but will have us pondering long after we stagger out of the theatre. Gareth Edwards has notched one in the win column: THE CREATOR is his best creation. 

 

BOTTOM LINE: See it 

 

A Reel Opinion: Shut up, Marty

Famed director Martin Scorsese once again went off the top rope in his tired old bout against blockbuster filmmaking. The 80-year-old filmmaker, whose new film KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON opens next month, was part of a new profile feature at GQ, in which he spoke about franchise films. He said: 

“The danger there is what it’s doing to our culture, because there are going to be generations now that think movies are only those – that’s what movies are.

They already think that. Which means that we have to then fight back stronger. And it’s got to come from the grassroots level. It’s gotta come from the filmmakers themselves.

And you’ll have, you know, the Safdie brothers, and you’ll have Chris Nolan, you know what I mean? And hit ’em from all sides. Hit ’em from all sides, and don’t give up. Let’s see what you got. Go out there and do it. Go reinvent. Don’t complain about it. But it’s true, because we’ve got to save cinema.”

His quotes fall in line with the shots he fired at the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) a few years back, calling them “not cinema”.

First of all, who wants to tell him that (Christopher) Nolan, once spent nearly a decade making Batman movies? And besides that, Scorsese seems to be overlooking the history of Hollywood. The movies have always…repeat, always latched onto a genre and kept at it until it was no longer profitable. How many WWII and Westerns were made in the first 60 years of cinema? How many kung-fu flicks in the 1970’s? And how many rom-coms in the 1980’s? Did our culture suffer because of all that? Certainly not. What is happening now with superhero flicks and other franchises such as STAR WARS is exactly how Hollywood has stayed in business for over 100 years. As Dennis Quaid once quipped in THE RIGHT STUFF: “No bucks, no Buck Rogers”. 

To be fair, Scorsese seems to be mad at the state of Hollywood more than the guys with capes and masks. The movie business has always been a balance of art and profit, but in recent years there has certainly been a shift towards profit. It has become harder for high-art films to be made as studios favor the films that have the potential to hit that billion dollar box office mark, or at the very least make their production costs back. As Bill Murray once quipped in THE LIFE AQUATIC: “he hogs up all the grant money.” 

What Scorsese is overlooking is that franchises are what is saving cinema right now. It was only a year ago theatres were on their death bed before the legacy sequel TOP GUN: MAVERICK gave them a supercharged shot of adrenaline. Superheroes may be getting all the money now, but it is certainly possible that one day they will exhaust audiences just like the Western did…and Hollywood will be on to the next big thing. 

Movies have always been an open universe. There should be room for dramas like Scorsese’s KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON, Christopher Nolan’s OPPENHEIMER, and the next film in the MCU (THE MARVELS, coming in November). But when the day comes that we say the movies should only be one thing and one thing only…that’s when cinema is going to need saving. So, Marty, please shut up. 

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Scorsese’s KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON (which cost $200 million to make), opens October 20^th. 

 

 

 

 

 

A Reel Review: EXPEND4BLES

For THE EXPENDABLES franchise, there was an idea…to bring together classic action stars from the 1980’s with names such as Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Norris, Gibson, and Van Damme on the big screen to recapture the glory of that shoot-em-up era that made them famous. The first problem they had was getting everyone on stage at the same time, so they did a hack-job of editing to try and make it look like they were. The second problem was the screen-time of those action legends was sacrificed for young no-names that no one cared about. For the fourth and final (ha), film, EXPEND4BLES, they don’t even bother with that idea in the first place. 

The Expendables team, led by Barney (Sylvester Stallone), and Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), are sent to Libya to keep mercenary Rahmat (Iko Uwais), from stealing a nuclear bomb. When the mission goes badly and one of the team-members is killed, the splintered team gets a new leader (Megan Fox), and heads out to sea to try again. 

Directed by Scott Waugh, EXPEND4BLES plays out as a generic action film with the most basic plot and the most basic characters. After a disastrous mission in Libya, the reassembled team moves on without Christmas, who decides to tail the team anyway. The mission leads them to a cargo ship in the China Sea which is carrying the nuke headed for Russia…ready to detonate and start WWIII. The film clicks on every action-film trope there ever was: world-wide threat, tough-guys, sexy girls, lots of guns and explosions, and tough-talk. There is nothing new here with no effort to make things feel fresh. 

The cliches just keep on coming. Loud motorcycles, check. Noisy bar fight, check. Guy with a toothpick, check. Sunglasses in the middle of the night, check. The film is following a template and nothing more. Once the action starts things are dull and un-inspired, the CGI is horrible, the green-screen scenes un-convincing (got to love the scenes out on the fake ocean where no one’s hair moves in the wind), and the dialogue right out of a stockpile. 

Acting is all over the place. Sylvester Stallone has limited screen-time and he amounts to an extended cameo. His absence makes it a Jason Statham show, and although he carries the film fine, it’s the same-old, same-old from him. Megan Fox and her partner Levy Tran nearly steal the show, but their outfits (tight butts, crop-tops with plenty of cleavage), make them look like they’re headed out clubbing instead of a combat mission. Andy Garcia shows up as a CIA operative and just grunts his way around. Dolph Lundgren is getting harder and harder to understand. Iko Uwais takes the prize for the most boring bad guy of all time. 

The last act has two attempted twists, both of which can be seen coming from miles away…with one of them doing disservice to an early setback with a character. The old idea for THE EXPENDABLES is thrown out here, as there are only a meager handful of 1980’s action legends who bother to show up. That may have been forgivable if there was an actual movie built around the cast we did get. This is bargain-bin crap and the final nail in a franchise that never came within a whiff of its grand idea. 

BOTTOM LINE: Fuck it 

 

A Reel Review: A HAUNTING IN VENICE

To borrow a sportsball term: Acclaimed director and actor Kenneth Branagh has a .500 average in adapting famed mystery novelist Agatha Christie to the big screen. First came his most-excellent, ensemble-driven MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS (2017), and then the most-crappy, lack-of-ensemble DEATH ON THE NILE (2022). Here in 2023, Branagh takes some big swings with A HAUNTING IN VENICE. 

 

Venice, 1947. Famed detective Hercule Poirot (Branagh), is coaxed out of retirement by his friend and mystery novelist Ariadne (Tina Fey), to attend a séance held by Mrs. Reynolds (Michelle Yeoh), to try and disprove her supernatural abilities. 

 

Directed by Branagh and based on the 1969 novel Hallowe’en Party by Christie, A HAUNTING IN VENICE is a twisting, turning, slow-burning murder mystery sprinkled with a healthy dose of old-fashioned horror. Poirot is brought to a creepy old Palazzo which was once home to children who died during a plague. Eventually, as we would expect, a guest winds up dead…and Poirot switches back to famous-detective mode to try and solve the murder. 

 

As a whodunit, there are things that we expect to keep the plot moving. The murder that comes is expected, although the guest that gets it is a huge surprise. Everyone is then trapped in the building thanks to a (in)convenient storm, and as Poirot peels back the many layers of the mystery…we as the audience are left guessing over and over. 

 

What makes the usual cliché stuff work is the setting and the horror elements. Poirot has his disbelief in the supernatural challenged when he starts seeing and hearing apparitions, and the film has no lack of scares. The real star here is the Palazzo itself, which is packed with Gothic horror elements: shadows loom large by candlelight, ghostly figures appear in lighting flashes, and we are left constantly scanning the surroundings for something to come at us. The production and cinematography are excellent. Characters seem small up against the spectacular architecture, and the film has a great sense of atmosphere thanks to extreme high and low angles. There is also not a spot of CGI to be found, giving the film an old-school feel that is timeless. 

 

Branagh gets a solid performance out of his entire cast. The actor/director is excellent as always, and he is matched toe-to-toe with Tina Fey who is a huge surprise. Michelle Yeoh seriously gives off some creepy vibes. 

 

Most whodunits live or die by its ensemble cast. The draw to most of them is that the audience is on the edge of their seats waiting to see which one of their favorite actors or actresses are the culprit. The lack of this is partly what sank DEATH ON THE NILE. A HAUNTING IN VENICE also goes low in its cast, but it works better because of the wonderful mashup of mystery and horror. To borrow a sportsball term: Branagh has improved his average by way of a grand slam. 

 

BOTTOM LINE: See it 

A Reel 25: RUSHMORE and RONIN

This month marks the 25^th anniversary of two of the best films to come out of the 1990’s: Wes Anderson’s RUSHMORE and John Frankenheimer’s RONIN. 

 

Premiering first was RONIN. Helmed by acclaimed director John Frankenheimer, who had directed classics such as BIRDMAN OF ALCATRAZ (1962), and THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE (1962), RONIN followed a team of special operatives hired to steal a heavily guarded briefcase leading to a web of international espionage. 

 

The idea for RONIN came from writer John David Zeik, who was inspired by the novel Shogun. The novel gave him background on the ronin, masterless samurai who roam looking for purpose. The theme was incorporated into disavowed CIA and international government operatives, all in the game for the mysterious case. 

 

With a modest budget and a shooting schedule of 78 days, RONIN was filmed across locations in Nice and Paris. The cast would include Robert DeNiro, Jean Reno, Natascha McElhone, Sean Bean, Jonathan Pryce, and Stellan Skarsgard in one of his first major roles. The film would be noted for its action, with two multiple car-chases a highlight. RONIN would earn good reviews, and finish as 1998’s 11^th-highest grossing R-rated film. 

Later in the month, Wes Anderson’s RUSHMORE would have its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Only the second film from Anderson and creative partner Owen Wilson, RUSHMORE followed a 15-year-old boy who has a mad-crush on one of his teachers, leading him to trouble at school. 

 

Written by Anderson and Wilson, RUSHMORE was conceived before Anderson’s first feature film, BOTTLE ROCKET from 1996. The idea was inspired by Wilson’s own expulsion from his prep school. Anderson also took inspiration from Charles Schultz’s famed Peanuts comic strip, with the main character in RUSHMORE similar to lovable loser Charlie Brown. 

 

The cast would include Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman, Olivia Williams, Connie Nielsen, and Luke Wilson. Much of the cast would become frequent collaborators with Anderson over the years. Filming began in Houston in the Fall of 1997. 

 

RUSHMORE would open at several prestige festivals and draw acclaim. It would win two Independent Spirit Awards: Best Director for Anderson and Best Supporting Actor for Murray. Murray was also nominated for a Golden Globe. In 2016, it was selected for preservation by the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. 

 

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RONIN and RUSHMORE are two films that could not be more different. The former is an espionage thriller, while the latter is a quirky comedy…yet both over time have become respected and beloved in their own ways. RONIN stands as one of the last great action films before the CGI age took over, while RUSHMORE laid down the groundwork for the style that Anderson would embrace for the rest of his career. These are two excellent films that have lasted the test of time, and feel right at home when viewing in the cooler month of September.