NOMADS

Written and Directed by John McTiernan. Starring Pierce Brosnan, Lesley Ann-Down, Mary Woronov. 16:9 enhanced. 1.85:1 widescreen.

The plot of NOMADS is this: Lesley-Anne Warren is a doctor who treats a crazed Pierce Brosnan one night in the ER. Right before he dies, he whispers something in her ear and somehow transfers his memories to her. After he is dead she starts to experience flashbacks of what happened to him in the last two days of his life. Brosnan was a french anthropologist who had spent the previous 10 years in the field, and was taking a teaching job as a concession to his wife. On the first day in their new house he notices some shady looking people who vandalise his house. Intrigued by their look, he slips into anthropologist mode, grabs a camera and starts to follow them.



He follows them for 31 hours straight. They don't sleep and are always moving from place to place. Ultimately, they notice him so he breaks off his study. They are Nomads, of a type that is not quite human. The point is made that they are spirits who roam the earth. Most people do not notice them (probably cannot physically see them), but a few unlucky one do notice them. Once noticed by the nomads, they are generally killed by them in a violent manner. Because of the manner in which they die, they become Nomads themselves, which is kind of similar to the whole Ju-on concept I suppose. As I said, it was an interesting idea, but handled too abstractly.

He is visited in a dream by a nun who warns him to run from them, but of course he doesn't.



The film is "arty" and generates an effective atmosphere, but the framing structure doesn't work well. The idea is gripping enough that a linear approach following Brosnan's character would have worked better. I have a novelization of this by Chelsea Quinn-Yarbo that is quite good and have always meant to catch up with the movie itself. It's generally bad reviews didn't help me to become motivated to tracking it down. Anyway, overall I quite liked it. It also features a tremendous dream sequence (that may not have been a dream). The major problem is a needlessly abstract and disjointed narrative.

Notice the capture of the man/nomad falling. McTiernan would use the shot to better effect in DIE HARD.

FAIR GAME (1986)

Directed by Mario Andreacchio. Written by Rob George. /> Starring Cassandra Delaney, Peter Ford, David Sanford
1986, 86 minutes, Color, Rated R, 1.85:1
Umbrella Entertainment, released 2018

This is an Australian/New Zealand movie that seems to have taken it visual cues from RAZORBACK (1984), which is to say it looks a lot like early MTV but with a fair amount of nudity. The plot is a standard "pretty girl harassed by thugs then gets revenge" tale, but the girl in it is attractive and can act reasonably well so it's easy to get involved. The overall plot is more than a little bit pseudo-misogynistic--at one point the thugs strip the girl naked, strap her to the front of their truck and take her for a ride. I say "pseudo" only because the lead actress is openly gawked for almost the entire film, so it's not like it should have come as a surprise. Overall, the film was mildly diverting but I will never watch it again.

The DVD I saw ages ago was full frame.  The more recent Blu-Ray from Umbrella Entertainment is 1.85:1 and is a big improvement compositionally. The combined picture below is from a slow horizontal pan of the lead actress. There was also a slight pan upwards as well, which is why there are areas of white spots. Enjoy. I wasn't able to easily recreate this from the 1.85 Blu-Ray.

Quick Reviews - part 1

Some quick DVD reviews, some a few years old at this point.

***

THE RATS (2002)

Directed by John Lafia. Written by Frank Deasy. Stars Mädchen Amick and Vincent Spano. 16:9 enhanced. 1.85:1 widescreen.

This was a 2001 TV movie (Fox, I believe) that stars Mädchen Amick. The DVD is actually rated R due to some astoundingly gratuitous nudity and (literally) a couple of seconds of gore. Long story short: I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. Good characterizations, so we care about the people on the screen. Good, atmospheric scenes of suspense (including an extended search of an abandoned basement in New York city), and most importantly truly decent CGI rat effects. There was a rat attack where I didn't realize until it was almost over that I was watching CGI. Cheesy? You bet, but fun.

***

SECRETARY (2002)

Directed by Steven Shainberg. Written by Erin Cressida Wilson. Starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader. 16:9 enhanced. 1.85:1 widescreen.

This is an astonishing movie in many ways. Maggie Gyllenhaal is simply amazing in the lead role, and James Spader is equally as good in a much more difficult role. I enjoyed this movie more than anything else I've watched in a very long time. Very highly recommended (though only if you're in an open frame of mind--it's a bit odd, but it's odd in the RIGHT way.)


***

LANTANA (2001).

Directed by Ray Lawrence, written by Andrew Bovell. Starring Anthony LaPaglia, Barbara Hershey, Geoffrey Rush. 16:9 enhanced. 2.35:1 widescreen.

I had never heard of this before I put the DVD on. The movie opens with a very stylish camera move into a tangle of brambles until we see a body of a woman, who we assume to be dead. Wethen jump back in time and see what leads up to it, sort of. I say "sort of" because it is not clear until much later that we have jumped back in time, and also because the final resolution does not come until after that. We are introduced to several characters who over the course of the movie turn out to not quite be what we thought. More of a drama than a mystery, this is very well acted by all involved and quite moving. Good cinematography.

***