Showing posts with label Michael Douglas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michael Douglas. Show all posts

Friday, September 13, 2013

FATAL ATTRACTION (1987)

Michael Douglas is a lawyer in NYC who doesn't like home security systems.  He loves his wife and little daughter, but one weekend when his family goes out of town he lets his balls get the better of him and he hooks up with a Dee Snider impersonator.  If that wasn't already bad enough it turns out that she's also completely insane.  Whoops.  Things quickly turn from bad to holy fucking shit bad when this psycho decides show him the true meaning of "not gonna take it".

I've never seen FATAL ATTRACTION before and I was kinda shocked at how shocking his film was.  I can only imagine that back in 1987 it had people tripping out!  Things start out innocently enough and I thought Douglas was an idiot for hooking up with Close.  I would have felt a little more sympathy for him if he'd been drunk or something, but whatever, he does what he does thinking that both parties involved are responsible adults....but ohhhhh no this chick starts stalking him the very next morning!

Lackluster nudity, 80's fashions, strong direction, cute dog, cute rabbit, NYC street scenes, good pace, I really enjoyed FATAL ATTRACTION.  The story is pretty much timeless.  Even nearly 30 years later this shit still happens everyday.  Recommended.

Friday, August 16, 2013

COMA (1978)

Tense medical thriller about a doctor (Genevieve Bujold) who starts to notice strange things going on at her hospital.  It seems that an unusual number of healthy people are going into a coma after seemingly normal procedures.  Any efforts to investigate or take the matter up with the hospital management are met with resistance.  She then starts investigating on her own.

COMA is a very well-made film.  It looks great and the acting by the impressive cast is top-notch, the only thing that threw me off was why didn't Genevieve's character ever contact the police or even a local news station or newspaper?

COMA fits in well with other paranoia films of the time (THE STEPFORD WIVES, INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS), but unlike those films (where the main victim was pretty much helpless or unaware) the victim here has many, many chances to contact outside help.  Other than that aspect, I liked the film and found the story idea to be really creepy.  Worth watching for fans of 1970's Cinema.

Pointless observation: If you look up the location of the Jefferson Institute on Google Maps (191 Spring St. Lexington, Massachusetts), as of August 2020, they really fixed up that building to look way less sinister and creepy.  Lots of new windows and a new outdoor sitting area. They even got rid of that awful pointy curb that people were probably blowing their tires out on.
Camera crew in reflection.