Tropic Thunder (2008) – Beyond all the normal paeans to the brilliance of this cutting satire of actors and movie-making (and, I suppose, all the de rigueur handwringing over Robert Downey Jr’s role in “blackface”), I want to point out two points of extra brilliance that you may have missed:
- The “director” character, Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan), is a dead-on doppelganger of Richard Stanley, the buzzed-about indie director who was given The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) as his first studio feature, and who then infamously crashed and burned under the weight of studio expectations and stars’ egos. The 2014 documentary Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau would be most non-Hollywood peoples’ introduction to the circumstances and personalities involved, which was several years after Ben Stiller made Tropic Thunder; in other words, that entire plotline is nothing but an Easter egg to those “in the know” in the industry. (After the trauma Stanley suffered there, he didn’t direct another feature until 2019’s The Color Out of Space.)
- Jack Black’s role as “Jeff Portnoy,” a comic actor whose claim to fame is a series of fart comedies, explicitly plays off a reality which I’m surprised more people haven’t grasped: Jack Black isn’t funny.
Deathstalker (1983) – The last time I saw this was at least thirty years ago, and it was the TV-edited version, too. So I partially forgot/partially never knew just how lame it is. The titular hero (Rick Hill) is a Conan ripoff with blow-dried hair who simultaneously (a) is a mercenary who only looks after himself, and (b) is trusted by a witch woman to bring together the three most powerful religious items — a sword, a goblet and an amulet — which, when combined, will make him the most powerful force on earth. Granted, the current other contender (who possesses the goblet and amulet already) is a necromancer with a spider painted on his bald head who drones on and on about the power of evil… but there really are other choices besides those two, aren’t there?
Only the presence of Playboy model and Fantasy Island/Love Boat regular Barbi Benton puts this above Ator the Fighting Eagle. (And nothing even close to the scene on the poster ever happens.)
Tarantula (1955) – A small-town doctor (John Agar!) and a cute lab assistant (Mara Corday!) vs. a tarantula gigantified by an experimental growth nutrient!
This boasts some pretty good FX for the time period, both in the giant spider department (one of the first uses of “blue screen”-style matte shots, as opposed to rear-screen projection or simple forced perspective) and in the makeup by Bud Westmore of the humans to whom the growth nutrient gives a form of fast-acting acromegaly (the impressive part is that as Prof. Deemer (Leo G. Carroll) is distorted by his facial bones’ rapid growth, he still looks like himself).
So, probably the best movie teaming John Agar with a giant spider. For what it’s worth.
Abandoned movies:
Demons (1985) – People always say this is a “classic” Italian horror. If a bunch of unlikeable people trapped in a mysterious movie theater while cheap monsters come out of the movie and do stupid monster stuff is a “classic,” I’ll cheerfully remain a Philistine.
Back when Tropic Thunder came out, there wasn’t much noise about Downey Jr.’s blackface. Seems the vast majority of us could take a joke back then.
At the time, the real problematic part was apparently the use of “retard” in the movie. Robert Downey Jr. talked about it a while back on Joe Rogan’s podcast and said something along the lines of Ben Stiller getting any flak that was directed at the movie. I wouldn’t recommend the rest of that episode, as super-famous actors are some of the least interesting people in the world, but that bit is worthwhile.
And that’s the bit that became a meme — “Never go FULL [whatever we’re talking about]” — so…
Jack Black is funny in some things. I’m not sure if I’ve found him funny in any of his movie vehicles (though I vaguely remember enjoying the “Tenacious D” movie) but I’ve found him funny in sketch comedies like “Mr. Show” and when he hosted “Saturday Night Live.” I especially enjoyed the fictional trailers near the beginning of the film, including Jack Black’s “The Fatties: Fart 2!”
The lack of negative heat “Tropic Thunder” got from Robert Downey Jr. being in blackface might have been because the movie was careful to give the impression it was the character who was doing it and not the real-life actor; also. the (actual) black character raises objections. Hence the exchange “What do you mean ‘you people’?” / “What do YOU mean ‘you people’?!” which I always think of when I’m watching “Blade Runner” and Roy Batty says “I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe…”
Did the first “Deathstalker” employ the device of the hero being a cocky young guy who talks in modern slang and breaks the fourth wall, or was that only in the sequels? I appreciated that they were trying to liven up a genre that had become tiresome, but that aspect didn’t work for me. That same actor also appeared in “Chopping Mall” which IIRC was also a Jim Wynorski joint.
Re “Tropic Thunder”: I think you’re attributing awareness of nuance to people who don’t let nuance stand in the way of their hate boner. I seriously don’t think that movie could be released now, just a few years later.
No, the first “Deathstalker” didn’t have that particular lameness to it, thank Crom.