November 2010

NEW MEXICO IN THE MOVIES
Movies You Hate to Love

Perhaps too cheesy to be critically acclaimed, these 10 New Mexico movies offer Grade A entertainment value in the form of a Pat Boone nude scene, a soundtrack by Neil Diamond, plus cowboys, aliens, and Jedi Warriors.

By Stephen Ausherman

Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)

Clues inscribed in a strange rock lead Professor Oliver Lindenbrook (James Mason) and his star pupil, Alec McKuen (Pat Boone), to an Icelandic volcano containing a gateway to the Earth’s core. En route, they team up with a rival scientist’s widow, a Nordic jock, and the latter’s pet duck. The five intrepid explorers commence the titular expedition and soon discover that the underworld is plagued with supersized lizards, deadly plants, and a deranged Swede determined to be first to reach the core. The spires of Carlsbad Caverns add a gothic touch to the Technicolor underworld in director Henry Levin’s interpretation of Jules Verne’s classic novel, which was nominated for three Oscars, for best special effects, sound, and art direction (all of which it lost to Ben-Hur, based on the novel by Lew Wallace, a Territorial Governor of New Mexico). Despite Pat Boone’s nude scene and the violent demise of two scientists and a duck, this campy action epic is family friendly.

Carriers (2009)

Finally—a viral pandemic flick for tweens. Determined to elude lethal microbes, four kids speed across the Southwest in search of refuge. They soon discover that the only thing deadlier than the virus is the darkness within themselves. Brian (Chris Pine) and his girlfriend, Bobby (Piper Perabo), lead the escape, and lend an air of OC stylishness to the meltdown of civilization. Even downtown Albuquerque looks fabulous in the wake of total desertion, and Edgewood, Moriarty, and Santa Fe hold up nicely under infection. But don’t be fooled: despite its PG-13 rating, Carriers is gruesomely frightening. Credit the scares to Spanish writer-directors David and Àlex Pastor. Not bad for their first feature film.

The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)

Brokenhearted reporter Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) follows special agent Lyn Cassady (George Clooney) across Iraq to learn the secrets of a military unit trained in paranormal tactics. A self-proclaimed Jedi Warrior, Cassady soon demonstrates remarkable ineptitude in the field. To fully appreciate director Grant Heslov’s project, it helps to believe, as the opening credits state, that “more of this is true than you would believe.” The implausibility factor stems from actual accounts of the U.S. Army’s absurd attempts to become “the first superpower with super powers,” including the ability to kill goats by staring at them. In this farcical war comedy, the New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell stands in for Fort Bragg, and White Sands National Monument doubles for Iraq.

The Spirit (2008)

The litany of guilty pleasures from Albuquerque Studios includes
Let Me In, The Book of Eli, Terminator Salvation, and our most shameful entry, The Spirit. In director Frank Miller’s adaptation of the comic book by Will Eisner, rookie cop Denny Colt (Gabriel Macht) returns from the dead as a masked hero who vows to fight the forces of evil in Central City, which his powerful nemesis, The Octopus (Samuel L. Jackson), is bent on destroying. A highly stylized noir satire, The Spirit is loaded with goofy one-liners (“Toilets are always funny!”) and sizzling femme fatales with comical names like Sand Saref (Eva Mendes) and Silken Floss (Scarlett Johansson). Recommended for those who don’t take comic books too seriously.

Red Dawn (1984)

Director-screenwriter John Milius reignites the Red Scare of the 1950s with an obviously fictional account of the Soviet invasion of Colorado. Red Dawn might also be fondly remembered as a warning shot from the impending Brat Pack attack. Patrick Swayze, Charlie Sheen, and C. Thomas Howell lead the Wolverines, a group of mostly high school students who rely on guerrilla tactics to lead the resistance to the Soviet occupation. Our own Las Vegas stands in as the idyllic American hamlet under siege. Featured local landmarks include Memorial Middle School as the commie landing site, and Fort Union Drive-In as the internment camp. Lincoln Park is the spot where (spoiler alert!) the top teen guerrillas die in a brotherly embrace. So why, in 2010, did MGM film the remake in Michigan?

2010 (1984)

Trivia buffs take note: 2010: The Year We Make Contact begins with a dramatic sunrise at the Very Large Array near Socorro. The scene was filmed 13 years before—but takes place 13 years after—Jodie Foster made contact via the VLA in Contact (1997). 2010 also attempts to unravel the many mysteries left unsolved in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Nine years after abandoning the U.S.S. Discovery, Dr. Heywood Floyd (Roy Scheider) joins an American-Soviet mission to reactivate HAL, a homicidal computer that might know the secrets inside an impenetrable monolith. The cooperative mission is jeopardized when war erupts between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. Director Peter Hyams’s interpretation of the space saga by Arthur C. Clarke isn’t quite as trippy as Kubrick’s, yet both now raise the ponderous question: Shouldn’t we be on Jupiter already?

Convoy (1978)

In Sam Peckinpah’s ode to truckers, Rubber Duck (Kris Kristofferson) and his good buddies just can’t keep their big rigs down to 55 mph, and after a few speeding tickets, the drivers decide to retaliate against “the Man.” Their rebellion grows into a mile-long convoy screaming though New Mexico, and culminates in a showdown with a heavily armed National Guard unit at the U.S.-Mexico border. This is drive-in fare at its finest, all decked out in the fashions of the late ’70s. Those raised on text messaging might not understand the archaic C.B. radio lingo, but Convoy has enough fights, crashes, and explosions to keep everybody entertained.

The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)

Yet another UFO crashes into New Mexico, this time plunging into Fenton Lake. Alien pilot Jerome Newton (David Bowie) is on a mission to find water for his arid home planet, but first he needs about $1 billion to rebuild his spacecraft. He raises funds by selling patents for high-tech toys from his advanced civilization, but soon succumbs to women and booze. He’s also prone to long spells of brooding in scenic locations. (The British actor/rocker really seems lost in thought as he wanders places like Artesia and Madrid.) There’s more art than action in director Nicolas Roeg’s experimental sci-fi film. We recommend it for its meditative effects, but with a caveat: The uncensored Restored Version exposes more “loving the alien” than you might want to see.

Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1973)

Jonathan feels the need for speed, but the other gulls disapprove of his unique flying skills. Ousted from his flock, the nonconformist seabird soars off in search of himself. His quest for New Age enlightenment takes him to (where else?) Santa Fe. Along the journey he meets other misfit gulls who admire his abilities, and he in turn becomes their mentor. Though its free-to-be-me message is deficient in subtlety, JLS was rich enough in visuals to be nominated for Oscars for cinematography and film editing. And if that doesn’t make you love it a little, then crank up its soundtrack, which won Grammy and Golden Globe awards. Come on, admit it—Neil Diamond totally rocks.

Hang ’Em High (1968)

You can’t go wrong with a title that promises a vengeful lynchin’, and director Ted Post delivers right from the get-go with the hasty hanging of Jed Cooper (Clint Eastwood). Unfortunately for the posse, “they hung the wrong man and they didn’t finish the job.” Cooper survives, becomes a federal marshal, and sets off to hunt down his executioners. But is his quest for justice or for revenge? Either way, it nearly gets him killed again and again. Though set in the Oklahoma Territory, Hang ’Em High was filmed near Las Cruces and at White Sands. Seasoned with Spaghetti-Western flavor, this was Eastwood’s first cowboy film following the Dollars trilogy, which itself was set primarily in New Mexico, though it was filmed in Italy and Spain.