My favorite Michael Mann Mode (MMM) is crime movie mode. Or guy chasing another guy mode. Moody guy looking out a window talking to another guy across the city mode. The mode you can feel coming in the air tonight, oh lord.
FERRARI is obviously not that mode. It’s biopic mode, I’ve got a 496-page biography to recommend to you mode, I’ve been obsessed with this guy for years and hopefully I can articulate some of the reasons why plus some side info about car engines and racing teams mode, Ferrari started manufacturing in 1947 and the events depicted here take place in 1957 but we’ll have some text at the end explaining what happened to everybody later mode. Not my favorite MMM, no, but the nice thing about his modes is that he’s good at all of them. (read the rest of this shit…)
These days it’s pretty common for people to say that SPEED RACER is an overlooked gem – or even a masterpiece – that was misunderstood at the time. So give credit to your old Uncle Vern for praising it from day 1. I didn’t misunderstand that shit! I understood the hell out of it. I am a real good understander in my opinion. Not to brag.
But this is the second time I’ve watched it and actually I liked it alot more this time. I didn’t have as many reservations about the aggressively shiny and video gamey pixelscapes it takes place in. It’s still not my favorite look, but my brain has adjusted. I don’t know, maybe the rainbow colored kaleidoscope spinning around the studio logos at the beginning hypnotizes you when you see it on Blu-Ray. It starts to look amazing.
What really impressed me is the next level filmatism within that artifical world. The camera (or “camera”) soars through, over and around these space age racers as they zoom, drift, bounce and fly through loopty-loops, giant pinball machines and monster-faced ice caves, and despite all the speed and freneticism I think this mayhem is really easy to follow. (Judging from my original review maybe the smaller screen helps.) Characters’ heads constantly float away, wiping into the next scene, a more evolved version of Ang Lee’s best moves in HULK and, now that I think about it, one of a long list of ways that this movie must’ve influenced the shit out of SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD. There are fight scenes, Speed and Racer X vs. practicioners of nonjitsu, and you get a glimpse of the MATRIX era Wachowskis. Then it bounces into a more candy colored, silly-anime type of style with abstract backgrounds and even more exaggerated physics. (read the rest of this shit…)
Wow, I never would’ve predicted this: THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS has aged well. Or maybe I just wasn’t ready for it back when I first saw it. Skimming over my intentionally pretentious and off-topic original review I can see that I saw it as an attempt to exploit a fad. This is supported by all the old dvd extras (now on blu-ray) which make a huge deal about it being based on a Vibe article about street racing, and how they went to watch races and ran from the cops and all the cars and extras in the car show scenes are real racers who responded to a web posting. They wanted us to know this “street racing” was a real thing happening somewhere at night, and director Rob Cohen and friends are on the front lines ready to show us what’s going down. (read the rest of this shit…)
DRIVEN is a weird footnote in the overlapping filmographies of Sylvester Stallone and Renny Harlin. It’s no CLIFFHANGER, and it’s not trying to be. If anything maybe it wants to be the ROCKY V of Formula 1 race car driving. Or whatever type of race cars they’re driving in this one. They’re not NASCAR I can tell.
Okay, stop the presses, I just looked it up (it turns out I’m on the internet right now). I guess Formula 1 is very secretive like the Masons so Stallone couldn’t get enough info on them and switched the movie to be about “ChampCar” racing. I guess that’s why they didn’t make a big deal of what type of racing it was in the movie, ’cause nobody was gonna get excited about something called “ChampCar.” (read the rest of this shit…)
WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT THE SHIT OUT OF VERN & OUTLAWVERN.COM
if that's your thing:
1. Patreon
Toss me a couple bucks a month, support the good shit, also get access to a bunch of exclusive writing. This is my primary source of writing money that has allowed me to cut down to part time at the day job. Thank you!
2. Buy my books from your local bookseller or somebody
(NOTE: My ten year contract has passed on the Titan books, so I don't get residuals on them like I do WORM ON A HOOK and NIKETOWN, but I would love for you to read them because I'm proud of them)
EXTRA CREDIT: Review them on Amazon! That would really help me out. Unless you didn't like them, in which case forget I said anything.
3. If you ever buy from Amazon, go through my links or search engines
(you pay the same amount you were gonna pay anyway they cut me a little slice)
I also have an Amazon UK one:
(I can't get the search box widget to work anymore, so click on MOONWALKER and then search for what you want.)
4. My exciting line of fashion and leisure products
(I get a couple bucks per item, you get a cool t-shirt, mug or lifestyle item)
5. Spread the word
Tell your friends about my reviews and my books and everything. Only cool people though please, we don't need a bunch of suckers and/or chumps around here.
THANKS EVERYBODY. YOUR FRIEND, VERN
* * * *
Recent commentary and jibber-jabber
June on Wicked City (1987): “I’ve never seen this but I saw the live-action version long ago and thought it was decent fun. I don’t…” Mar 26, 06:29
Mr. Majestyk on Black Bag: “I don’t think Marvel killed spy movies. Streaming did. It seems like every month a new movie or show about…” Mar 26, 05:58
Borg9 on Black Bag: “If it’s good serious spy movies you want, the Koreans, inevitably, have your back. I already posted somewhere about HUNT,…” Mar 26, 03:08
Glaive Robber on Black Bag: “As a comic reading kid, I always imagined if you ever did a show or movie about SHIELD, it should…” Mar 25, 22:38
VERN on Black Bag: “My expectations aren’t high for anything Marvel these days (so far I’ve skipped Brave New World), but after the Hawkeye…” Mar 25, 22:27
Aktion Figure on Wicked City (1987): “The only flick that I wish actually had a “censored” version. I get it, I know; Japan. I just bought…” Mar 25, 17:56
Toxic on Black Bag: “From the comments I’ve seen it looks like their fans really feel vindicated by seeing how a cool scrappy underdog…” Mar 25, 15:15
Curt on Black Bag: “Toxic, there is an official trailer for THUNDERBOLTS* that is an homage/ripoff/parody of A24 trailers. The titles adopt a “the…” Mar 25, 14:16
CJ Holden on Wicked City (1987): “Honestly, that sounds like the movie that an anime nerd would recommend to someone who accused anime of being nothing…” Mar 25, 13:51
Toxic on Black Bag: “It’s weird, I was the youngest person (and I’m 47 so no spring chicken) and one of only two men…” Mar 25, 11:24
Glaive Robber on The Huntsman: Winter’s War: “I was reading the NY Times for a few years, and they had the funniest TV listings. It was a…” Mar 25, 11:09
zikade zarathos on Wicked City (1987): “NINJA SCROLL holds up better but I can’t imagine sharing any of these with anyone not extremely forgiving of extremely…” Mar 25, 10:30
Mr. Majestyk on Three O’Clock High: “The most important thing you need to know about PARKER LEWIS CAN’T LOSE is that it made me start buttoning…” Mar 25, 10:01
Pacman2.0 on Three O’Clock High: “I basically know 2 things about PARKER LEWIS CAN’T LOOSE 1) Sega of America named the pig character who appeared…” Mar 25, 07:37
My favorite Michael Mann Mode (MMM) is crime movie mode. Or guy chasing another guy mode. Moody guy looking out a window talking to another guy across the city mode. The mode you can feel coming in the air tonight, oh lord.
released June 22nd, 2001
released April 27, 2001
