The Contractor (In theaters & streaming on VUDU, April 1)
Having been involuntarily discharged from the U.S. Army Special Forces, James Harper (Chris Pine) is hired by a private contracting organization, alongside his best friend (Ben Foster). Dispatched overseas, their clandestine operation is supposedly authorized by POTUS. However, during the mission, Harper witnesses corrupt acts carried out by his group. This prompts the unit leader (Kiefer Sutherland) to order Harper’s assassination before he reports what he’s seen. This military actioner marks the English language film debut of director Tarik Saleh. (Lisa Miller)
“Drive-in Retro Classics” (Corinth Films DVD)
This is Mystery Science Theater material—some of it anyway—featuring three science-fiction flicks from that glorious down market of ‘50s B-pictures.
The Hideous Sun Demon (1959) has all the earmarks of Hollywood’ Poverty Row including a cast of decidedly mixed talent playing stock characters and a monster played by a man in a rubber mask. The unevenness is striking with clunky expository dialogue lifted by an occasional sharp line. Sex occurs while waves crash onto the beach.
The Brain from Planet Arous (1958) is better. Not only are its production values on par with well-made ‘50s television but the creative minds play it with just the right light touch. Aware that their screenplay is ridiculous, they use the alien invasion scenario to comment on Earth’s social mores. The sexually voracious alien monster (Arous=Arouse?) is an inflatable balloon in the climactic finale for control of our planet.
Rocketship X-M (1950) depicts an attempted U.S. moon landing with inconsistent scientific veracity. The mission involves a multiple stage booster rocket propelling a cabin considerably larger than those of the Apollo missions. The X-M has a crew of six—including one woman battling sexism (albeit finally succumbing to Hollywood’s demand for a love story)—representing the military and various scientific disciplines. Their mission is essentially secret with minimal updates for the press.
Like the other films in this set, fear of atomic radiation is a plot-point of Rocketship X-M. Diverted to Mars through a series of mishaps, the crew discovers a society that had bombed itself from the atomic age to the stone age. Blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo was an anonymous cowriter of the screenplay. (David Luhrssen)
To Sleep So as to Dream (Arrow Video Blu-ray)
Kaizo Hayashi was a film buff who had never directed a film before To Sleep So as to Dream (1986). The sleep may well represent waking reality and the cinema the dream in this black and white production—silent (dialogue subtitled) except for sound effects. On one level it’s a comedy adaptation of a noirish drama: a rich old woman hires two private detectives (working from a shabby office) to find her kidnapped daughter.
The daughter is apparently trapped inside a reel of celluloid film and the plot winds in and out of the history of early Japanese cinema—including a recreated silent samurai flick and the use of the country’s oldest movie theater as a setting. To Sleep is a masterpiece of time and human consciousness that brought Hayashi international attention and a long career at art houses and on Japanese television. (David Luhrssen)
Morbius (In theaters April 1)
It’s good to have super powers, unless having them also requires drinking copious amounts of human blood and interferes with your moral code. While attempting to cure a rare blood condition in himself and his good friend Milo (Matt Smith), Dr. Michael Morbius (Jared Leto) unintentionally afflicts them both with a form of vampirism. They are now super-strong, and able to fly. Morbius attempts to use his powers against the bad guys, but Milo embraces the opportunity to become and unstoppable villain. So far, critics have not been kind, describing the film as “boring and uncalculated” and “lacking consistency.” Leto reportedly considered Morbius’ personality close enough to his own to forgo his usual (and legendary) method-acting preparation. Directed by Daniel Espinosa, the PG-13 production features Michael Keaton, Adria Arjona and Tyrese Gibson in supporting roles. (Lisa Miller)
