views: green mile, jeepers creepers, rollerball ('75)

[mr. henry]

caught up on some more rentals this week...

The Green Mile - 1999 (R). Directed by Frank Darabont. Tom Hanks stars as a sympathetic prison guard working the "green mile," the inmates' nickname for the green stretch of corridor leading from death row to the electric chair. Things get strange when a gigantic new inmate convicted of murder begins to exhibit a mysterious power over others and the world around him. Based on the novel by Stephen King, this prison movie's surface may first appear like "The Shawshank Redemption" but it's actually a completely different effort that succeeds in telling it's own supernatural brand of engaging and inspirational story. A RECOMMENDED potboiler.

Jeepers Creepers - 2001 (R). (DVD) Written and directed by Victor Salva. Two teenagers driving home for spring break along a desolate country road are terrorized by a mysterious truck, apparently decended from the truck in Steven Spielberg's classic tv movie Duel. After witnessing the truck's hulking driver discarding a humanoid parcel at an abondoned roadside church, the two youngsters are soon stalked by the terrifying trucker. They quickly learn the driver, a cross between Darth Maul and a gargoyle, is not your average trailer jockey. This well directed movie has some genuinely tense moments and is RECOMMENDED over the current crop of teen scream flicks.

Rollerball - 1975 (R) - (VHS) Directed by Norman Jewison. A young James Caan stars as Jonathan, the star player in a futuristic sport called rollerball. Rollerball is played on a giant roullette-looking wheel and is a ridiculous combination of roller derby, motocross, ultimate fighting, and pinball (with a king size ball bearing). Problems start for Jonathan when the league's executives want him to retire as the game becomes more brutal due to a new "no penalty" rule. This sporting 70s sci-fi is dated and surprisingly slow by today's standards but it still makes more sense than the majorly senseless 2002 "remake." Only RECOMMENDED over the 2002 version.

NOTE:  (my Rollerball (2002) view is posted under another message board post entitled "the horror that is ROLLERBALL (2002)...)

-mr. henry

[Scott]

Mr Henry I liked all of those films and JEEPERS CREEPERS  is one of my favorite suprise films that I have seen this year.

[J.R.]

The Green mile is good, but did it need to be three hours?

Jeepers Creepers, again, would have benefited from being shorter. Say, forty minutes.

[mr. henry]

SCOTT: i was also pleasantly surprised by Jeepers...with the lingering camera work, you could tell right away that it was something a little better than your average teen scream flick...i was a little let down by the indestructability of the demon, a plot device that seemed to cheat a little after the "realistic" scenes with the truck and the suspenseful scenes with "the tube." i also liked that it ended on a down note with the monster still alive. i may actually check out the sequel in the theatre...

J.R.: regarding Green Mile at 3 hours...i was in the right frame of mind to get my money's worth out of a long flick...i watched it in bed and almost finished the whole thing. i started to snooze with about 15 minutes left...didn't seem to drag too much. kudos to the director for his work on "Shawshank..." and this one---similar but different flicks. I hope he continues his trend of doing justice to stephen king projects...

-mr. henry