Category Archives: Movies

Back to Cracked…

A couple of fun/funny lists via Cracked.com, both dealing with movies…

First up, 6 Mind-Blowing Easter Eggs Hidden in Famous Movies…

http://www.cracked.com/article_20649_6-mind-blowing-easter-eggs-hidden-in-famous-movies.html

Perhaps my favorite bit is #5, the many references in Toy Story (Particularly Toy Story 3) to, of all movies, The Shining!  A curious choice to make references to an “R” rated horror movie in a “G” rated (primarily) kid’s movie!

As for some of the other items, the one I was most familiar with (and which most fans of the Evil Dead movies already know as well), is the famous Oldsmobile featured in several Sam Raimi directed/associated films.

Next up, 5 Clever Movie Schemes You Didn’t Realize Were Stupid:

http://www.cracked.com/article_20659_5-clever-movie-schemes-you-didnt-realize-were-stupid.html

I was more familiar with several of these.  The Django Unchained one, in particular, I couldn’t agree with more.  When I originally reviewed the film, I noted that so much pain and possible death could have been avoided by, of all damn things, simply shaking a person’s hand.  But the reality is that the whole entire climax made very little sense.  As noted, there was no reason for Django himself to be involved in the entire climax, and Dr. Schultz could have come up with a far less bloated plan to buy Broomhilda from her owner.  Then again, had they used a far more logical means of getting to this end, the movie wouldn’t have had its “explosive” climax.

Still…

As for the #1 entry, the latest James Bond film Skyfall, I likewise agree with the points being made.  I have to admit enjoying the film as it moved along and it was only afterwards and as I thought about what I had just seen that I realized how nonsensical the whole thing was.  Case in point was the whole climax, as noted in the Cracked entry.  Why was Judi Dench’s M there at all?  She didn’t need to be.  There was no way the villain could have known if she was when he attacked.

And the bottom line is this: The villain essentially accomplishes everything he set out to do, despite Bond.

Way to go, James!

Prince of Darkness (1987) a (very) belated review

Bear with me on this…

The first -and until yesterday- last time I ever saw the John Carpenter directed/written Prince of Darkness was in a theater with a friend back in 1987 during its initial theatrical run.  I remember both of us walking out of the theater in disgust at having wasted a perfectly good afternoon watching a perfectly wretched film.

Fast forward to last week, when I had to buy some stuff via Amazon and, to make the delivery free (I’m cheap that way! 😉 ), I added a few items to meet the minimal free shipping total.  For whatever reason I was thinking of the 1967 film Quatermass and the Pit (aka Five Million Years to Earth)…

…but had never seen the supposedly better TV show it was based on (this according to several people who had seen both), also titled Quatermass and the Pit, that aired nearly a full decade before in 1958.

So, being in an adventuresome/curious mood, I ordered the 1958 Quatermass and the Pit but still needed another order to make that all important free delivery (Yes, in order to save $5 in postage I was willing to spend another $20 for merchandise…never said I was logical!).  Anyway, I looked around the DVD/BluRay sections and, having been pleasantly surprised by SHOUT! Factory’s BluRay release of John Carpenter’s The Fog, a movie I didn’t think all that highly of but proved quite the revelation on BluRay, I decided to bite the bullet and, after 26 years (!!!) revisit Prince of Darkness.

The order arrived a few days ago and yesterday, finally, I had a chance to take a look at Prince of Darkness.  Watching those first few minutes of the film proved a pleasant surprise.  The establishing mood was good, almost deliciously Lovecraftian, and Jameson Parker, who I didn’t recall thinking all that much of when I originally watched the film ages ago, proved to be compelling…at least in those initial moments.

Without giving away too much of the plot, Prince of Darkness involves a fraternity of Catholic Priests who have been tasked for centuries to secretly guard a container of glowing green liquid that, they fear, holds a great evil.  The last of the Priests to oversee the material has passed away, and the Priest investigating this order (played by the always interesting Donald Pleasence) contacts Professor Howard Birack (Victor Wong) a teacher of high level theoretical physics at a University to assemble a team of students and professors to find out what this container actually holds.

Spoiler Alert: It isn’t anything good.

The students, teachers, and Priest hole up in the old rundown church hiding this liquid and soon experience odd sensations while noting an odd assortment of apparently homeless people surrounding the church, intent on keeping them there and, should they try to leave, doing them great harm.  The killings soon start and, yes, the film becomes a “siege” tale, something director/writer John Carpenter has worked on plenty of times before and since.

By the time the movie reached its climax and I realized Mr. Carpenter was using a familiar element from one of my favorite films, 1949’s Orpheus (the mirrors) and another familiar element related to the legend (the loss of Orpheus’ lover, Eurydice)…

…I abruptly came to another realization: Prince of Darkness was essentially a remake or reimagining of Quatermass and the Pit!  Basically, Mr. Carpenter (writing under the alias of –how could I miss this?!– Martin Quatermass) took all the main elements of Quatermass and the Pit -the strange object found in a run down area of the city, the impulses it creates in people around it, the world level threat, the bizarre “mind transmissions”, and, especially, the sacrifice of one of the major characters to end the threat- and added a few other elements (perhaps a pinch of the Exorcist) and, voila, he created Prince of Darkness!

What are the odds?!

I purchase Quatermass and the Pit (the TV version) and Prince of Darkness on the same day via Amazon and come to the stunning realization that one film very much influenced (or, if you’re less forgiving, was ripped off) the other!

Ok, now the big question: Is Prince of Darkness any good?

Before I get into that, let me state that many consider this movie John Carpenter’s last truly “great” film, even though he followed it up with They Live and a little later, Into the Mouth of Madness, both works which are considered “good,” if not “great” Carpenter.  There are others, however, who consider Prince of Darkness Mr. Carpenter’s first really big misstep and a harbinger of the lesser works that followed.

Myself?  Well, after watching the film once again I find myself in middle.  I have to admit I didn’t hate Prince of Darkness quite as much as I did when I first saw it in 1987.  On the other hand, I certainly didn’t walk away loving it.  The story features too many characters who are bland and ultimately unrealized.  The script really could have used some tightening and the direction, while decent, wasn’t quite as interesting as I’ve seen in other Carpenter works.  A good example of this is the attack of the green water.  Though it pains me to say this considering how much I admire so many of John Carpenter’s films, this proves to be quite laughable.  Unintentionally so, alas.

So in the end, I can only recommend this film for someone like me who has a fondness for Quatermass and the Pit and is curious to see John Carpenter’s reinterpretation of the themes/story.  SHOUT! Factory’s BluRay is a beauty and features razor sharp images and clarity probably not seen in the film since its initial release.  If you’re interested in seeing it, this is certainly the way to go.

For Halloween…

Two lists.  First up, 10 Scariest Movies You May Have Never Seen, at least according to Time magazine:

http://entertainment.time.com/2013/10/28/hidden-halloween-10-scary-movies-youve-never-seen/slide/the-vanishing/

I’ve seen seven of the listed films and, for the most part, their inclusion on the list is good.  However, I would disagree about at least two of the items: the original Evil Dead and the 1922 Nosferatu.  I suspect many people have seen at least bits of either film and certainly they’re well known.

In a list like this, I expected more oddball/unknown features.  In this case, the one that most intrigued me was the French film Inside.  Sounds pretty creepy…

Next up, Time Magazine again, this time offering a list of the 10 Greatest Stephen King movies:

http://entertainment.time.com/2013/10/21/the-big-chills-10-greatest-stephen-king-movies/

Once again, a decent list that few will probably argue with.  If there is one film on the list I might not include it is The Secret Window.  Much as I enjoyed Johnny Depp’s acting in the film, to me the movie unraveled when the revelations came in the climax.

Then again, that’s me.

This Is The End (2013) a (mildly) belated review

Dying is easy.  Comedy is hard.

Now this is a tough one to grade.

On the one hand, there were many scenes in This Is The End, the Seth Rogen/James Franco/Jay Baruchel/Danny McBride/Jonah Hill/Craig Robinson film that had me laughing out loud…

…yet there were an equal number of moments that tested my patience.  Eventually I had more than my fill of the movie and turned it off perhaps a half hour before its end (no pun intended!).

Once I shut the film off, I didn’t think I’d return to it.  That’s how tired I was of the whole thing.

Nonetheless, I knew there wasn’t much left to see so I decided to finish the film off.  Lo and behold, I greatly enjoying the movie’s climax/last act.  I’m certain the one day rest away from the film greatly helped as I found these parts fun and very funny.

The moral of the story?  Watch This Is The End in at least two sittings.

So that’s the crux of the movie’s problem:  While quite humorous at times, the film feels way, waaaay too long at 107 minutes.  The film’s concept, by the way, is this: Seth Rogen and his Hollywood friends play Looney Tune versions of themselves and while partying at actor James Franco’s house the Apocalypse hits Earth and their numbers dwindle as they ineptly fend for themselves.

Had the boys brought a good editor with them, s/he might have trimmed down the film’s excesses while sharpening the admittedly funny jokes and giving us an overall better product.

A good example of this is the sequence involving Emma Watson beating the boys up and stealing their food/water supplies.  This sequence, as presented in its abbreviated form in the theatrical trailer below, is hilarious.  In the movie, we get this extended -and not as funny- bit where the boys let Emma Watson back into James Franco’s house and then get into a discussion of the fact that she’s the only female in this house full of men…and of course the dialogue gets into the potential for one or more of them getting the urge to rape her.  Emma overhears this conversation and this is why she ultimately splits.

But the joke, to my mind, works better in the abbreviated form of the trailer: Emma breaks into the house, intimidates and beats the boys up before stealing their supplies and they lament the fact that they got their asses kicked by “Hermione”.

As I said before, the film does have its share of very humorous sequences.  The problem is the film is way too overindulgent and could have used more judicious pruning.  A shame.  Had the film run perhaps 90 minutes or so it might have been far better.

5 Movie Deaths…

…that should have been really easy to avoid:

http://www.cracked.com/article_20651_5-movie-deaths-that-should-have-been-really-easy-to-avoid.html

Hilarious!

Was particularly amused by the first entry, regarding the death of the villain in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.  I never thought of it that way, though the author makes a terrific -and accurate- point.  I suppose in my defense I was enjoying myself so much in the movie that I didn’t even realize how silly the premise of what he does is.

(And, yes, they do mention the ridiculous death-by-rolling-starship in Prometheus).

27 Insane (But True) Early Versions of Famous Characters

Fun list from Cracked.com featuring both early concepts and originally considered actors for some truly memorable roles/characters:

http://www.cracked.com/photoplasty_591_27-insane-but-true-early-versions-famous-characters_p27/#27

Some of the early actor considerations, like Burt Ward (TV’s Robin) originally considered for the role made famous by Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate, was known to me.  But John Travolta for Forrest Gump?  Interesting!  (I’ll repeat for the umpteenth time my favorite bit of original casting: Frank Sinatra as Dirty Harry!  Reportedly a painful finger injury made Mr. Sinatra bow out of the film as he didn’t think he could handle firing that massive 357 Magnum.  The role was offered to many other interesting names with various degrees of interest/disinterest, from Burt Lancaster to John Wayne to Robert Mitchum.  Eventually Clint Eastwood took over the job and Dirty Harry the movie and character arguably became the most famous/iconic role he ever played!)

Also like the revelation that Krusty the Clown was originally supposed to be Homer Simpson himself!  Makes sense as he did originally look an awful lot like Homer and the idea that Homer was secretly the character might have been an interesting concept for a few episodes.

Just goes to show that the creative process is rarely a very direct one.  People can come up with concepts and ideas but they are refined and changed over time and circumstance…sometimes giving far, far better results than were originally conceived!

 

Europa Report (2013) a (mildly) belated review

Heard about this low budget thriller a while back and was intrigued by what critics said, specifically that this was a “realistic” thriller involving an expedition to Europa.  For those unfamiliar with Europa, it is one of Jupiter’s moons and a source of great scientific curiosity.  The moon has ice on its surface and liquid water below and, therefore, may well have some kind of life forms within.

Anyway, I was intrigued.  Would the film live up to the critic’s kind words?

To this I would say yes.  For the most part.

Europa Report is a “found footage” type film.  We watch the story unfold in “real” time (to a degree) via cameras positioned within the spacecraft as well as “contemporaneous” statements by the people behind the mission, one that we are clued in from the very beginning met a very bad end.

The ship features an international crew (the best known of the actors playing the crew, to me at least, is Michael Nyqvist, who made a villainous turn in Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and was Mikael Blomkvist in the European version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy).

The group’s trip to and eventual arrival and exploration of Europa -and the mysteries they encounter there- form the backbone of the story.  I don’t want to get into too many spoilers, but suffice to say the mission encounters plenty of problems on their way to discovering if Europa contains life forms.

The film is a very low budget affair but manages to get a maximum for its money, at least in the early going.  The effects are way more than adequate for the space flight and even the arrival on Europa.  Unfortunately, as the movie closes in on its climax the small budget hurts the film’s revelations.  I suspect the screenplay asked for more than the budget could effectively show, and while director Sebastian Cordero did a pretty good job with what he had, there came a time when the movie demanded more spectacle and it simply couldn’t deliver.

It was also during the later half of the the film that I realized…well, this might get into SPOILER material, so I’ll get into it after the trailer below…

Still there?  SPOILERS FOLLOW!

Ok, so after the astronauts reach Europa I come to the realization that this film, like The Blair Witch Project and a few other “found footage” thrillers I had seen before, was building up to a final, shattering image as its conclusion.  I was even more certain I knew what that image would involve.  And, when it came, I was disappointed.

That final image, meant to fill us with equal parts awe and terror, was simply…ordinary.  The image wasn’t bad, mind you, but I’ve seen far more chilling and startling effects in many movies and video games.

Too bad.

In the end, I do recommend the film, but with the caveat that this is a low budget affair and that low budget does hurt the overall product.

Iron Man 3 (2013) a (mildly) belated review

Robert Downey Jr. returns as Tony Stark/Iron Man in Iron Man 3 (I’ll refer to it as IM3 from here on out).  After the general disappointment with 2010’s Iron Man 2 and the euphoria over 2012’s The Avengers, would this film be a keeper?

To my mind, yes…and no.  No, no, no.

Robert Downey Jr. remains an absolute joy to watch and absolutely commands the screen and our attention with his continuing quirky characterization of Stark/Iron Man.  This alone makes the film worth watching.  Then again, Mr. Downey Jr.’s take on Tony Stark made the far more meandering Iron Man 2 eminently watchable as well.

While Iron Man 2 was meandering and felt out of focus, IM3 moves like lightning, hitting us with something new and interesting every few seconds while giving us plenty of Mr. Downey Jr.’s characterization.  Thing is, as great as the ride is, the moment IM3 was over and you find yourself thinking about the story that just play out…the more of a mess you realize it is.  Ironically enough, IM3 wound up hitting me almost the same way as fellow 2013 summer blockbuster Star Trek Into Darkness did:  I enjoyed it while it played out, but afterwards was left decidedly less impressed.

Now, in the interests of not spoiling anything, I’ll stop here and get into story details in a second.  The short review is this:  Iron Man 3 is an incredibly entertaining “popcorn” film that most people should enjoy.  Just don’t think -or focus!- too much about the story.

SPOILERS FOLLOW!

Still here?  Ok, let’s get to this.

The movie begins with a flashback to 1999 and a science convention where a then much wilder/partying Tony Stark simultaneously meets up with an off-putting (and geeky) Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) and a beautiful Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall).  Stark ditches Killian, who wants investors for some high tech he’s developing, while one-night stand bedding Hansen.  But not before she reveals she is working on a formula to re-grow plant limbs.  Naturally, these two elements are important for what follows…

Fast forward to today and a mysterious terrorist named the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) appears on TV claiming credit for several mysterious -and gruesome- explosions he claims to have set off around the world.  He is now targeting the United States and it is increasingly clear the Mandarin’s endgame involves the President of the United States himself.

Meanwhile, Tony Stark is an emotional mess and is experiencing anxiety attacks -or perhaps even post traumatic stress- related to his experiences in The Avengers movie.  At one point, he tells his lover Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), he’s a “hot mess”.

Past and present collide when Killian reappears, much handsomer than before, still seeking an investment in his company.  Meanwhile, Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) is nearly killed in another of the Mandarin’s explosions while following one of Killian’s henchmen.  This leads Tony Stark to personally call out the Mandarin through the media.

That day, Hansen shows up at Tony Stark’s home to warn him that she thinks her boss -Killian- works for the Mandarin.  Stark’s home is assaulted at that moment and Potts, Stark, and Hansen barely make it out alive while the home is destroyed.

Ok, so the plot is a little convoluted to this point but it makes a certain logical sense.  It is roughly after this opening that things start to go a little…bonkers.

I don’t want to go over every beat and element of the film that follows and assume those still reading have already seen the film.  Thus, the problems start:

Why exactly were the badguys in that small town where the mysterious (apparently non-Mandarin) explosion took place?  Didn’t the explosion happen a long while before?  And if so, why didn’t they take away all evidence beforehand and not the very moment Tony Stark is there?

While in that town, Tony Stark winds up downloading some incriminating video over the net.  Were the badguys really stupid enough to leave material accessible -though granted thanks to high level encryption- over the net showing their criminality?

While I don’t mind the reveal of who the Mandarin really was -on the contrary, I think it was a very clever bit- it also is hard to believe that there could be someone that dumb out there willing to go along with that plan, knowing their face would subsequently be public enemy number one.  Seriously?

Then there’s the character of Maya Hansen.  She’s good, she’s bad, then she’s good again.  I don’t mind shifty characters, provided their allegiances/betrayals make sense.  Hansen’s first “modern” time appearance, however, involved her almost becoming a victim of the Mandarin’s attack on Tony Stark’s home.  But if, as we later find, she was bad all along (and was aligned with the Mandarin), why would she choose to endanger her life that way?  Likewise, why did the Mandarin’s forces attack knowing she was there?  Couldn’t they have timed the attack for the moment after she left the home and was away from mortal danger?

But all these above problems pale compared to this:  Pepper Potts being kidnapped by the villain who sadistically shows off this fact, via video, to Tony Stark.  Instead of simply torturing and/or killing Potts before Stark, the villain instead injects her with his formula…which makes her, like the other villains, a superpowered creature capable of kicking major ass.

Seriously?!

Can you not see the…uh…wrongheadedness of doing this?  Can the villain not see how a superpowered Pepper Potts just might –might!!!!– come back to bite him in the proverbial ass?!  (Note: She does)

I could go on (trust me, there’s more!) but I really don’t want to engage in overkill.

My initial comments remain:  IM3 is a fun “popcorn” film that whizzes by and entertains…provided you don’t think about it too much.  Otherwise, your opinion may suffer.

Eyes of Laura Mars (1978) a (incredibly) belated review

There are certain movie posters from the past that have stuck with me.  The poster for Jaws is certainly a classic…

Jaws

Though I’m not huge fan of the film (one of the very few, I admit), this one is pretty memorable, too (I know, I know, I’m a master of understatement)…

Star Wars

I could go on and on, but I’ll get to the point:  There is another movie poster that is perhaps not as memorable to the general public yet has stuck with me for many years, and that is the one of the (for the most part) forgotten 1978 Faye Dunaway starring film The Eyes of Laura Mars

Eyes of Laura Mars

Unfortunately, the graphic above doesn’t quite do the poster justice as it looks way too dark.  Other images I’ve found online (check them out here) tend to overly lighten up Ms. Dunaway’s face, so this is about as close to the original piece as I could find.

I first saw the film many moons ago, probably right around the time it was released in the late 1970’s or shortly thereafter in the very, very early 1980’s.  There were bits and pieces of the movie I remembered, the bloody murders, the sleazy kinkiness (this movie, to my then very young mind, featured an awful lot of nudity!), and the general dreaminess/nightmarish tone.  Other than that, the image of that movie poster was what I recalled the best.

Until yesterday, when I gave the film a whirl for the first time in over thirty years.

The movie’s story (brought to you by John Carpenter!) involves controversial fashion photographer Laura Mars (Faye Dunaway) “seeing” crimes as they are committed through the eyes of a serial killer…a serial killer who is targeting her friends and associates.

The movie starts with just such a killing as “seen” through the killer’s/her eyes.  In this scene the killer looks through an advanced copy of a book featuring Mars’ work and finds his target, the publisher.  She is killed with an ice pick and Laura Mars is introduced, waking up from a sleep with those violent images going through her mind.

Unsure what if anything they mean, she heads out to a well attended, glitzy art gallery showing off her latest work and promoting this upcoming book.  Here we find that Laura Mars’ photography is very controversial as it includes very sexy images merged with very violent images.  Laura Mars wanders the floor of the gallery and bumps into John Neville (Tommy Lee Jones in one of his very early movie roles), a New York detective who, she will find out shortly, is investigating the death of the publisher of her book.  We are also given a glimpse of the many people in her life, all of whom could be the mysterious killer…

Shocked that her publisher is indeed dead, Laura Mars abruptly leaves the show.  Shortly afterwards and during a wild daytime photography shoot on the streets of New York, Laura Mars has another vision.  She rushes away from the shoot and arrives at her friend’s house…but it is too late.  Her friend becomes another victim of the serial killer Laura Mars can “see” through.

I won’t go into too many more details of the plot, but suffice it to say that some of the shocks I felt upon first seeing this film way back when are much more muted today.  Upon re-seeing it I realized the movie was very much an American version of the Italian Giallo horror/thriller.  This definition, presented in the Wikipedia, effectively defines The Eyes of Laura Mars:

Giallo films are generally characterized as gruesome murder-mystery thrillers that combine the suspense elements of a Hitchcock film with scenes of shocking horror featuring excessive bloodletting, stylish camerawork, and often jarring musical arrangements. The standard plot, used in countless films, involves a mysterious, black-gloved psychopathic killer who stalks and butchers a series of beautiful women. The killings are invariably violent and gory, including throat-slashings and decapitations. These murders often occur when the victim is most vulnerable (showering, taking a bath, or scantily clad). The literary whodunit element is retained, while being filtered through Italy’s longstanding tradition of opera and staged grand guignol drama. There are also stories that involve supernatural forces, ghostly spirits, etc. Giallo films often include liberal amounts of nudity and sex, with several actresses becoming strongly associated with the genre such as Edwige FenechBarbara BachDaria NicolodiBarbara BouchetSuzy KendallIda Galli, and Anita Strindberg.

Gialli typically introduce strong psychological themes of madness, alienation and paranoia.

Check…check…and check.

The Eyes of Laura Mars is all that, though in comparison to some of the better Giallo films out there, isn’t quite on their level.  Nonetheless, it is a stylish film that is very much of its time, offering an intriguing look at a far more sleazy New York than most may find today.  And because the film is about fashion, we also get to see plenty of late 1970’s fashion trends, and they’re a hoot!  The music is also very much of its time, featuring some memorable disco songs, including “Let’s All Chant”.

As for the plot and the identity of the mysterious killer, it is pretty easy to figure out.  With the very second killing most of the suspects are at Laura Mars’ side when she experiences her “vision”.  Given that her “visions” are concurrent with the actual crimes, all those around her are thus eliminated as suspects in one quick swoop and we are left with only two possibilities…and one of those suspects is so strongly presented as likely to be the killer that you immediately discount him for that very reason…and therefore all is revealed.

The Eyes of Laura Mars was directed by Irvin Kershner and his work here apparently so intrigued George Lucas that it is rumored he hired him to direct The Empire Strikes Back on the basis of this movie.  Mr. Kershner manages to retain a good level of tension but sometimes the acting is really over done to an almost comical soap opera level.  Still, despite its age the film is very watchable if not a “classic”.

In the end, The Eyes of Laura Mars is what it is, an American Giallo complete with blood, murder, sex, and psychology, along with a delicious late 1970’s visual vibe.  If those elements alone intrigue you, you could do far worse than spend a bit of time with Laura Mars.

One little note:  Actor Tommy Lee Jones, intriguingly enough, has appeared in two films written, but not directed, by John Carpenter:  The Eyes of Laura Mars and the 1986 thriller Black Moon Rising.  He has yet to appear in any film John Carpenter has directed!

5 Movies that Cut Insane Twist Endings…

…at the last minute:

http://www.cracked.com/article_20637_5-movies-that-cut-insane-twist-endings-at-last-second.html

Interesting list and I was familiar with several of the examples.

Of the ones presented, I was most drawn to the alternate ending of Die Hard With A Vengeance.  I know there are plenty of people who view that film as the only Die Hard film that stands up with the classic original..but I’m not one of them.  I have the “Special Edition” version on DVD, but haven’t looked at it and didn’t realize that among the bonuses was the alternative ending presented in the article above.  Now having seen it, I can agree with the reasoning for not using that ending.  It’s rather downbeat and confusing…the whole spinning the rocket launcher on a table thing was odd and didn’t exactly build up the suspense as I’m certain the director hoped.  Ah well!

One film not mentioned is the James Cameron directed The Abyss.  While I suppose one can’t view the theatrical or director’s cut ending as a “twist”, it was strange enough in either version to perhaps qualify.

Thing is, I feel both endings were terrible.  Then again, there are plenty of people who defend the film, so your mileage, as they say, may vary…