The Fly (1986)

Film of 2012 #67


The David Cronenberg remake of the 1958 body swap horror film, sees Jeff Goldblum as Dr Seth Brundle a genius who is creating the next big thing. He meets Geena Davis at a party, they get together and she sees what he is creating. In his hurry to show off and impress her he uses his machine and he tele-ports from pod 1 to pod 2 in the first human tele-portation, however something goes wrong. You follow him in his discovery as he realises what has happened and he tries to come to terms with it.

This is a classic, from the master of body horror and it sees the transformation from Dr Brundle to the Brundle-Fly of the Jeff Goldblum character and you have him trying to understand it and document it. The best part is the fact that he does not actually do that much to try and fix the problem. You have that realisation from the Geena Davis character and the fact that she can do nothing as Jeff Goldblum does not want any help. This captures the horror of science gone wrong and is really gory and think that it is a modern classic.


I am disappointed in myself that it took that long for me to get around to watching this film but I am really glad that I finally did. If you enjoy David Cronenberg's other films or just horror in general then it is really worth seeing and a 4 star recommend from me.

The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996)

Film of 2012 #56

Geena Davis stars in this film that hints a little at the Bourne Films, at the start of the film she knows she has amnesia and to a certain level has accepted this. She has hired private investigators to try and find her past, one of these investigators is played by Samuel L Jackson in a post Pulp Fiction role. He starts as a fraudster just trying to take Geena Davis for all he can, to then becoming her partner as she tries to piece together her life. As with these things there is a secret from her past that comes back to haunt her in her new life and as with all these stories there is a decision to be made whether she wants to return to her old life or the new life she has found since amnesia.

As with a lot of these films there is a point where you have to suspend your disbelief about the situation and what actually could and does happen but overall this is a lot of fun. You pretty much stay with the Geena Davis character and as she finds out things so do you as the watcher. I think that there is a level where they felt back in the 80's and 90's that small stories did not work and they need to be bigger and bigger and push the levels all the way. It works in this film as it sort of runs along the fantastical and gets more and more unreal for everybody involved. There is a nice point when it switches from the Geena Davis character on to the Samuel L Jackson character and he ends up the one not knowing what is happening.

This is a fun film without being anything mind-blowing, it is well worth watching especially if you like the Bourne films it is an older female role that I think is a different take but very similar to these stories. Overall this is a 3 star film that I think you should watch.

Cutthroat Island (1995)

A strange film it has been on my want to watch list for a very long time and on countless occasions I nearly went with it but never did. However I have instigated a new viewing policy and added it nearly at the top of the watch pile so when it came around I just watched it. I was probably very disappointed as I seemed to have from nowhere developed very high expectations from this Pirate film before Pirates of the Caribbean. Geena Davis, Matthew Modine and directed by Renny Harlin about the exploits and treasure seeking of a female pirate in Geena Davis. 

There was not an awful lot wrong with the film but again nothing really right about it, the story was quite complicated in a simple fashion with really obvious cliches and results. You knew what was going to happen and how it was going to happen so very little in the way of surprises. The performances were adequate with Davis trying to pull off the hardened pirate rather than the helpless woman and she failed at it quite badly but I think it was more to do with the story and the direction than her. 

This is a 2 star disappointment I have to say that the first Pirates of the Caribbean film is the film that this wishes it was even if it was made years before, I would love to know where my determination to see this film actually came from, maybe one day I will remember why I wanted to see it so badly.