Classic Movie Review: Westworld (1973)

What better way to connect the recent release of The Magnificent Seven remake and HBO's TV show of Westworld, by reviewing the original sci-fi classic. Now if you're wondering why I mentioned The Magnificent Seven, well Yul Brynner was the star of that original movie and he's one of the creepiest robots you'll ever see in this movie. Westworld is also the first movie ever to use CGI and while not at all what we're used to now, it's still very impressive.

The Delos Resort is an adult amusement park where guests can go to three seperate worlds and live an immersive experience for one thousand dollars a day. The three worlds are Roman World, Medieval World and West World. The amusement park is inhabited by androids that are programmed to do whatever the guests want to do. Peter Martin (Richard Benjamin) is a first time visitor, being shown around by his friend John Blane (James Brolin). Initially Peter and John have a great time, getting into gunfights with the Gunslinger (Yul Brynner) and going on the run from the law. But soon the scientists behind the scenes, including the chief engineer (Alan Oppenheimer), find a computer virus that is making the androids go crazy. As things get worse and worse for the guests, Peter and John realise they shouldn't have hassled the Gunslinger so much.

On the surface, Westworld could easily be dismissed an old school sci-fi movie that isn't too good. It isn't until the end of the movie that any action really happens and it wraps up all too quickly. If it wasn't for the TV show that is currently airing on HBO, I doubt many people would even know about it. Indeed a friend of mine was surprised to hear that it even was a movie, he just thought it was a cool show. But dig a little deeper and it's actually quite a revolutionary movie. It is the first movie to use CGI sequences. There are a few times when we get to see through the eyes of the Gunslinger. It is only very basic pixels where coloured blocks represent actual things (and later a primitive version of infrared). While most action blockbusters today have some element of CGI in them, back then this was an unknown thing. It's little surprise to hear that this movie has a direct connection with Jurassic Park, the movie that pioneered the technique two decades later. Michael Crichton wrote and directed this movie, while inspiring himself to write Jurassic Park.

The performances in this movie are of note too. While Richard Benjamin does give a very bland performance in the lead, Yul Brynner and James Brolin do their best to shoulder the weight. It would be terrible to describe Yul Brynner's performance as robotic, but that's exactly what he is. It is so much fun to watch a classic actor to show no expression, no emotion, just movement. That adds a level of fear to his performance. This thing is capable of anything and you believe it. He is also dressed in the exact same costume as his character in The Magnificent Seven and acts in a total antithesis to that character. To me James Brolin looks like Christian Bale in American Psycho. There are definite parallels between the characters too. Both John Blane and Patrick Bateman do things with a disregard to the world around them. At least John Blane does it with the knowledge that the world around him is fake.

Westworld is a forgotten gem of the sci-fi genre, even though it has influenced so much of today's entertainment. Everything from the types of things we watch to the way they make them owe a lot to this movie. And while it may seem clunky and robotic for a modern audience, it's still an exhilarating action movie.

Sisters

On the surface, Sisters may seem like a basic and sometimes crass comedy and you know what? It is. But it has something that most generic gross-out comedies don't have, two of the funniest women ever in it. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler reunite on screen for the first time since 2008's Baby Mama and it is well worth the wait.

Maura (Amy Poehler) has been told by her parents Bucky and Deana (James Brolin and Dianne Wiest) that they are selling their house that she grew up in and that she and her sister Kate (Tina Fey) need to come and clear out the bedrooms they haven't lived in since they were teenagers. They want Maura to tell her sister because they are scared of how she would react. Kate meanwhile is struggling to keep a job and keep in contact with her daughter Haley (Madison Davenport) when she is lured down to Orlando by Maura. When Kate finds out the house is being sold she convinces Maura to have a big party there like they used to have when they were teenagers. Kate also convinces her to invite James (Ike Barinholtz), their cute neighbour from down the street.

This movie is really dominated by the comedy chops of both Fey and Poehler, leaving little room for the overall message of the film, something about how family is a feeling rather than a physical thing. The much bigger theme that I got out of this movie was have fun while you're young because there's a point where you get to when adult parties just become sitting around talking to each other. Unless that is your party is attending by a whole bunch of Korean partygirls and one big buff drug dealer. All of the jokes in the movie revolve around this or the fact that Maura and Kate are still living in their teen years of the 80s.

As I said, both Fey and Poehler are understandably fantastic, but what I was surprised at was the role reversal that they went through. For years I have seen Tina Fey as the voice of reason between the two because of roles like Liz Lemon in 30 Rock, but now Poehler is the responsible? It's a change I loved. Ike Barinholtz is lovably goofy as James and gets into a very uncomfortable situation and Maya Rudolph as super bitchy Brinda is hilarious. The stars of the supporting cast that stuck out for me were John Cena who was a lot funnier than his role in Trainwreck and Bobby Moynihan and Greta Lee make a great unlikely couple.

If you're a fan of both Fey and Poehler and want to see them reunite like I do then this movie is for you. If you're not then the take home message might not be enough to get you through it.

Elsa & Fred

After a very delayed release, Michael Radford's romantic comedy Elsa & Fred has made it here to Australia. The film stars two giants of cinema, Shirley Maclaine and Christopher Plummer in the titular roles. But with a cheesy love-story about an elderly couple, this may be a case of wasted talent.

Set in New Orleans (although you'd never know it), Elsa & Fred follows Elsa (Shirley Maclaine) and Fred (Christopher Plummer), two elderly residents in an apartment building that are opposites in every possible way. Fred is a recent widow and has been forced to move by his daughter, Lydia (Marcia Gay Harden), he's bitter and takes a morbid view on life. Elsa, who's next door, often seems to live in her own dreamy romantic state. She consistently lies to paint a better picture of herself, and dreams of Rome, taking the persona of Anita Ekberg in the film La Dolce Vita. After what seems like an incredibly short period of time, these two opposites attract (*spoiler alert* if you haven't seen the poster.)

This is one of the corniest movies I've ever had to sit through. It tells a story that's been told a thousand times before, the elderly couple hitting it off, opposites attracting etc, and it's been told better before. Clearly I'm not the intended audience, but similar films like The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel series manage to pitch down to a broader audience. The film is a remake of a Spanish-Argentine film of the same name, perhaps it's better, I don't know. They try to draw attention away from the clichés by subverting the stereotypes to make it more interesting. Look at Elsa, she's an eccentric elderly woman who listens to rap music, how original! Give me a break, you can feel the manipulation. The climax of Elsa & Fred I actually quite liked, but it's still extremely corny. The romantic story is a sweet premise but the delivery is appalling. At one point in the film, Elsa's artistic son unveils a painting that he calls "explosion of pain". Watching the film is not far off.

There are a lot of well-established actors attached to this feature. Not the least of whom, Shirley Maclaine and Christopher Plummer. I must say, they do extraordinarily well for the content they're provided with. But this pales in comparison to many of the memorable films they've starred in over the years. Marcia Gay Harden is one of those incredible talents who sadly gets underused in a lot of films, and once again she is here. Chris Noth, Scott Bakula and James Brolin are all similarly talented but they bring about as much to the story as their equivalent cardboard cut-outs would. All of the great talent here push it as far as the material will allow, unfortunately it's just not very much.

The message of Elsa and Fred is that 'It's never too late'. Unfortunately, if you've entered the cinema for this one, it already is.