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.)
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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
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Recent commentary and jibber-jabber
CJ Holden on Avatar: Fire and Ash: “Dude, I LOVE the old Harryhausen fantasy flicks, but let’s be honest, Christopher Nolan is the kind of filmmaker who…” Dec 27, 05:18
Skani on Avatar: Fire and Ash: “Nolan is one that exists in that gray zone, where I can’t always be sure how much of my resistance…” Dec 27, 04:55
KayKay on Avatar: Fire and Ash: “Hehehe… as our patron saint of barroom philosophy and Ace Cooler Dalton once grunted: Opinions vary. Mine? I’m downright stoked…” Dec 27, 04:14
Curt on Alphabet City: “RIP Amos Poe. The films of his I’ve watched so far include THE BLANK GENERATION (essential), THE FOREIGNER (which I…” Dec 26, 18:45
CJ Holden on Trancers: “Likewise. Don’t think I ever heard anything bad about her personally, but she is sadly someone who started out in…” Dec 26, 09:16
Dreadguacamole on Trancers: “CJ – I’m not much of a TV person, so all I had to be judgemental about was her post-TRANCERS…” Dec 26, 09:02
CJ Holden on Avatar: Fire and Ash: “Eh, I liked the first two AVATARs a lot, but the last Nolan joint that I actually enjoyed was THE…” Dec 26, 09:00
KayKay on Avatar: Fire and Ash: “CJ, unless you’re into paying premium prices for cinematic Ambien, skip this dud. Pocket your cash and wait for Nolan’s…” Dec 26, 07:47
CJ Holden on Avatar: Fire and Ash: “You guys, 22€ to see the movie in IMAX 3D HFR? And that’s just the cheapest seat! I feel like…” Dec 26, 02:13
Skani on Avatar: Fire and Ash: “I find myself in the same position as Adam and Chuck*, where almost the only thing I have to say…” Dec 25, 20:46
KayKay on Avatar: Fire and Ash: “I will admit Walter Chaw’s outrage can overwhelm his obvious talents as a film critic sometimes, but the man does…” Dec 25, 18:45
Chuck on Avatar: Fire and Ash: “I am glad the people who like these movies can enjoy them. They are aggressively not my thing. Don’t even…” Dec 25, 17:37
Skani on Worm on a Hook: “Season’s greetings, Vern and Denizens of Verlandia! About two weeks ago, tragedy struck our household. I set down my eight-year-old…” Dec 25, 09:37
VERN on Avatar: Fire and Ash: “Well, he also co-directed a 3D concert film with Billy Eilish.” Dec 25, 09:00
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
