Labyrinth

Labyrinth (1986)
Jim Henson

If you are a true child of the 80’s that likes to embrace all that is .. well ... 80s you can’t go past a flick that combines the creator of The Muppets and David Bowie in tights.
Labyrinth follows the story of 15 year old Sarah (Jennifer Connelly) as she tries to retrieve her screaming baby brother from the King of the Goblins, Jareth (David Bowie) who is at the centre of a Labyrinth which was set as a trap.

Within the Labyrinth Sarah acts a total ditz while running into some interesting characters, all of which are puppets created by the genius Henson, as well as some sticky situations (or stinky if you are talking about the Bog of Eternal Stench) that are the typical “throw in a few moral dilemma stories” about family and friendship. But aside from that namby pamby there are some great scenes that truly bend the mind, such as the Escher-inspired castle and the masquerade ball on acid. And this is all before one even begins to talk about all that is Bowie.

This movie is really about Bowie. He appears throughout the entire film covered in glitter, hair FULL of product and his package bulging out of his super tight tights, rolling a crystal ball around in his hand. Fair to say this is how most of us imagine Bowie hangs around home in his spare time anyway. Bowie wrote and performed all the music that appears in the film specifically for the film, so prepare for some really awkward moments when it is just him on screen singing a song and playing with his crystal balls. Especially the one where there is a fleeting moment of sexual tension/desire between his character (assuming his age would be mid 30s) and Sarah, who we have established is 15 ... Jail bait.

This movie defines my childhood so I am pretty keen on it, but if you haven’t seen it and are in for a bit of a laugh and the possibility of completely loving it, please do.
9/10

Alicia Grinch

Sea of Love

Sea of Love, 1989

After the roaring success of Scarface in 1983, Al Pacino had a mid 80's lull. He starred in the disappointing Revolution in 1985 before his longest film hiatus in the last 40 years. It wasn't until Sea of Love in 1989 that he returned to movie theatres.

Directed by Harold Becker (Malice, Mercury Rising), Sea of Love's leading man is Frank Keller (Pacino) - a hard drinking New York detective on the hunt for a serial killer with a penchant for rhyming love poetry. His partner on the case, Sherman (John Goodman), is full of beans and together they invent an orgininal way of setting a trap. But mid investigation, a scarlet woman (Ellen Barkin) enters the frame and poor old Frank is sent into a tailspin.

The build up in this movie is terrific - sharp writing and vibrant characters make it buzz along. Pacino is very good with this sort of material - goading colleagues, wooing women etc. and Goodman is just as enjoyable.

There's a scene between Pacino and Barkin that would be better suited in a David Attenborough doco but I'll let you decide whether it's really good or really bad.

There is nothing too remarkable about Sea of Love but it did mark the start of an incredibly busy period for Pacino. Between 89 & 93 he made 8 films including Godfather III, Scent of a Woman, Glengarry Glen Ross & Carlito's Way. I wonder what a complete disaster would have done to his career ? Instead it was a confidence builder for a movie legend.

6/10 Nutbuckle

AVP: Alien v. Predator

AVP: Alien v Predator, 2004

Snap reviewed the original Alien films and heaped them with praise so I thought I'd pick up from where he left off. AVP brings together two of the most ruthless killers the big screen has ever seen.

The Predator first bobbed up with Arnie and Carl Weathers in 1987 - stalking, killing and skinning its prey until its heart was content. It's a calculating, dangerous mother fucker who combines state of the art technology with old fashioned rat cunning. Think Lote Tuqiri on Proton Pills.

Eight years earlier, where no one could hear you scream, we laid eyes on The Alien. Not a Marvin the Martian type extra terrestrial but a toxic, vicious, heartless slut of a thing. Not even as an infant is The Alien to be trusted. Let's face hug it out bitch.

These two cinematic serial killers first met up in comic books and video games in the mid nineties but it took a few false starts before they combined on film.

AVP is directed by Paul Anderson - not P T Anderson of There Will Be Blood fame but P W S Anderson who was in charge of Mortal Kombat and the very watchable Event Horizon.

After a giant pyramid is discovered under Antarctica the race is on to get there first. But when the hand picked team turns up - a trail has already been blazed for them and alarm bells start going off. Turns out The Predators have had a vested interest in the place for a long time and would prefer the maintenance of the building was left to them. The Aliens lurk deep in the pyramid's bowels - ready to be hunted like rabid clay pigeons.

This is good - and if you avoid the Alien's blood - clean fun. Both the Aliens and Predators look great and a convenient mid-movie explanation paints a fairly clear picture of what's going on.

It can't be compared to the first two Alien films of the first Predator but there's many worse ways to spend 90 minutes.

5/10 Nutbuckle