Image © Universal Pictures
The Last Voyage of the Demeter
The Last Voyage of the Demeter
The Last Voyage of the Demeter
(In Theaters August 11)
Adapted from a chapter in Bram Stoker’s Dracula, this narrative is drawn from the captain’s logs, found aboard a battered, crewless ship arriving on England’s shores. The ship, named the Demeter, is hired to ferry 50 unmarked wooden crates from Transylvania to London. Liam Cunningham appears as Captain Elliot, slowly becoming aware something evil is afoot when livestock and crew members disappear night after night during the Demeter’s voyage. Portraying Dracula in his hybrid human-bat form, Javier Botet delivers a truly frightening performance in this two-hour, R-rated horror fest directed by Andre Ovredal. Botet, known for portraying monsters, uses his extremely thin body and extra-long limbs (resulting from Marfan Syndrome) to chilling, unforgettable effect. (Lisa Miller)
McBain
(Synapse Blu-ray)
This 1991 movie stars a morose Christopher Walken as Robert McBain, a Vietnam veteran who believes in duty and honor. He was a POW freed in fire fight during the last moments of the war by a team of GIs lead by Santiago (Chick Vennera). The screenplay reflects disenchantment with the war as well as Green Berets jingoism. The enemy is depicted as less than human.
Most of the movie takes place 18 years later when Santiago leads an idealistic revolution against a smarmy, gold-braided Latin American dictator and is summarily executed. When Santiago’s widow (Maria Conchita Alonso) comes to McBain for aid, he launches a vengeance quest with his middle-aged buddies as the commando crew.
Putting the impossibilities aside, McBain is interesting for its sideways glance at the transnational trade in illegal narcotics and the distinction between street dealers (an alternative to McDonald’s) and the fat cats making millions from the addiction of entire societies. The primary audience, however, were the people who cheered on Rambo. (David Luhrssen)
Jules
(In Theaters August 11)
Sinking ever further into dementia, 78-year-old widower Milton (Ben Kingsley) remains living independently in his home. Then, a small flying saucer crash lands in his backyard and Milton discovers a small, blue-gray alien being, injured and laying on his grass. He takes in the visitor, providing bushels of apples it happily scarfs down. Milton names the extraterrestrial Jules (played by Jade Quon in prosthetics and makeup). He tries to keep Jules hidden from officials, but can’t help randomly talking about Jules with others, like the grocery store cashier.
Zoe Winters appears as Milton’s concerned adult daughter, striking the right familial notes within a pitch perfect tone created by director Marc Turtletaub. Jules, who never speaks and sits contently on Milton’s couch watching “Judge Judy,” is far more powerful than anyone realizes. Kingsley plays Milton with the flat effect of one feeling increasingly disconnected, until he meets Jules. Sweet if less challenging than it ought to be, this PG-13 film incorporates ordinary conundrums with extraordinary events, pleasantly “burying the headline.” (Lisa Miller)
