Fantastic Voyage (1966)
Working in the Soviet Union, scientist Jan Benes has discovered how to miniaturize items permanently. He escapes to the west to share this information, but an attempted assassination causes a blood clot in his brain and leaves him comatose.
A submarine containing several scientists is shrunk to a micrometer and placed inside Dr. Benes to remove the clot. The team has one hour to complete the task before the submarine will return to its full size. Complications arise when one of the team members is revealed to be a double agent.
Raquel Welch, who plays Cora, one of the scientists on the ship, is a name everyone knows, but most people have never seen a movie with her in it. She’s adequate here, but not particularly memorable.
Donald Pleasance is most famous as Dr. Loomis from the Halloween films and Ernst Stavro Blofeld in You Only Live Twice (1967). He’s good as Dr. Michaels, the duplicitous double agent, but nothing special.
Edmond O’Brien, who plays General Carter, won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for The Barefoot Contessa (1954), but unfortunately Oscars don’t come with a stipend, so winners sometimes have to accept work beneath their talent.
In a vacuum, this is a passably entertaining B Movie, but the look of this film and its ideas about the unlimited possibilities of science have been so influential, it’s worth seeing.
Starman (1984)
After receiving an invitation from Voyager 2, an alien (Jeff Bridges) comes to earth to explore our planet, but the US government shoots his craft down during entry. While looking for a way home, the alien encounters widow Jenny Hayden (Karen Allen), takes the form of her recently deceased husband, and forces her to help him. As they avoid government agents and make their way to the rendezvous point, they inexplicably fall in love. Eventually, the alien returns to his home planet, but not before impregnating Jenny as a parting gift.
Karen Allen’s performance as Marion Ravenwood guarantees she’ll be remembered as long as people watch movies, and I found her performance as Claire, Bill Murray’s love interest in Scrooged (1988), endearing, but Jenny Hayden is a forgettable, shallow character. I was expected to believe because the alien looked like her dead husband she would logically sleep with him and bear his miracle baby, but I didn’t.
Why are movie aliens so rational? Why is it assumed advanced races have inevitably conquered their emotions? Jeff Bridges is so cold and removed from humanity I could not believe the central romance between the alien and Jenny.
John Carpenter has directed some interesting films including Halloween (1978) and The Thing (1982), but this hollow, joyless film disappointed me. It plays a like a grown up version of E.T. (1982), and suffers from the comparison.
The Myth of Garrincha (2014)
While Pelé was clearly the most talented player on the Brazilian soccer teams of the 1950s and 1960s, Garrincha may have been the most popular. His rise from humble beginnings, misshapen legs, and happy-go-lucky attitude endeared him to millions.
Part of ESPN’s 30 for 30: Soccer Stories, this short film asks why some athletes form a rapport with their fans while others do not.
Ceasefire Massacre (2014)
In the 1994 World Cup, Ireland defeated Italy for the first time. While some fans were watching the game in a pub in Loughinisland, a Protestant paramilitary group stormed the pub and killed six civilians.
Ireland’s greatest soccer victory suddenly became one of the nation’s darkest moments, and this despicable act proved to be a turning point in The Troubles, which led to the creation of the Republic of Northern Ireland.
Part of ESPN’s 30 for 30: Soccer Stories, this film reminds us of the long association of sports and politics.