Monkey Shines

by Pa Rock
Film Reviewer

My first thought when the title Monkey Shines came up on the television screen was that this must be some Marx Brothers movie that had escaped my notice. Nope. Turns out this is a classy little horror picture starring an eerily talented monkey.

George A. Romero, the screenplay writer and director of Monkey Shines, has a long history in the horror and psychological thriller film genre. Some of the cinematic works that bear his unique stamp include The Crazies, Creepshow, Tales from the Darkside, Night of the Living Dead, Day of the Dead, and Dawn of the Dead - and dozens more - you get the idea, this is one seriously dark dude!

Monkey Shines is vintage 1988. It focuses on a young, healthy male law student (Jason Beghe) who crawls out of bed one morning, leaving his beautiful girlfriend (Janine Turner) snoozing while he goes off for his morning run. Unfortunately, he is hit by a car while running and wakes up later in a hospital as a quadriplegic. The girlfriend promptly leaves him for his doctor, and his needy mother takes over his care - some of which is entrusted to a slovenly and evil nurse. The young man seemingly does not have a life worth living.

But things appear to get better when the quadriplegic's best friend (John Pankow), a young and somewhat warped scientist working with monkeys in a college laboratory, gives him a lab monkey named Ella. The friend has farmed Ella out to be trained by a beautiful researcher (Kate McNeil) who just happens to specialize in training monkeys to work with quadriplegics. What the friend fails to tell the trainer or the patient is that he has been injecting Ella with a serum that he has concocted from human brain tissue.

The patient and Ella fall in love, almost literally and physically, and he soon begins to have dreams that indicate that their minds may be melding. When the patient becomes angry with anyone, Ella takes over - often with fatal results.

That's enough plot. Just take my word for it - this little movie is a gem, and deeply disturbing. I'm definitely not a fan of horror flicks, but I was transfixed by this Romero effort. Ella, whose real name is Boo, was the star of the movie in every sense of the word - and she owned every scene that she was in. Monkeys have come a long way since Reagan's Bonzo or Ellie Mae's chimp, and this one is the Glenn Close of her species!

Coming Attractions

by Pa Rock
Entertainment Writer

Though I can't reveal my sources, it is my understanding the some amazing films are scheduled to be released by Hollywood prior to next spring's various film awards. What follows is a sampler of what to expect at your local multiplex:

Gee Wee’s Big Adventure:

Yes, the news has already leaked – former president George Bush has been signed to make a movie for MTV. The worst President in the history of the United States couldn’t score a book deal, and there were few offers for lucrative speaking engagements, but not to worry – he’s going Hollywood!

The ex-Pres will be taking on the goof-ball character created by world-class fisherman and master baiter, Pee Wee Herman, in a spoof of life in the White House. The plot focuses on Gee Wee having a few too many Harvey Wallbangers at the bar at the Watergate one evening, and deciding to revisit the White House. He gains entry through the same steam tunnels that Kevin Kline and Sigourney Weaver used to exit the place in Dave. Gee Wee stumbles around the halls of the White House and tells the various night porters and cleaners that he is a guest staying in the Lincoln bedroom. The fun starts when he enters the War Room and discovers that the Obama administration has inexplicably forgotten to change the nuclear codes. Well…so much for France!

If you’re looking for some good, old-fashioned entertainment, Jug Ears the Nitwit will capture your heart!

Daughters of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane:

Glenn Close and Meryl Streep give it their best as the aging daughters of the macabre Hudson sisters in this bush league sequel of the cult classic from the 1960’s. Unfortunately, they start off as too old and crotchety, and only get worse as the movie drags on. Rumor has it that Betty White was too busy to rescue this film, and Bea Arthur was too dead. Director Sean Penn might have saved his bacon and his celluloid if he had given those juicy roles to Goldie Hawn and his ex-wife, Madonna.

Die Hard with a Pacemaker:

Bruce Willis is back as the tough-as-nails John McClane, a former police officer who has a penchant for getting involved in daring rescues. This time McClane is out to save his two good buddies, Clint Eastwood and Tommy Chong, from the evil machinations of the staff at the Hasta La Vista Nursing Home. The job won’t be easy, however, because the hospital’s chief administrator, Arnold Schwartzeneggar, isn’t about to let them go without a fight – a good fight! If you are a fan of flying bedpans, runaway wheelchairs, and geriatric food fights, this movie won’t disappoint!

Rumor has it that television personality Ann Coulter is being considered as the lead in a female version of this same film concept. Ms. Coulter, ever the corporate lackey, will reportedly launch a venomous attack on a group of liberal biddies who are protesting the forced consumption of Metamucil at Shady Pines. Tentative title: Die Hard with a Vibrator.

Silence of the Clams:

Disney’s new underwater extravaganza shows the kid in all of us how Mother Nature really works. The clever mixture of schools of shimmering fish doing choreographed swimming in their own excrement, dancing squid and octopi, swirling streams of poisonous pollution, and a little lighthearted cannibalism – all artfully synchronized to the music of Queen – is a sure-fire winner! Look for a special guest appearance by Sponge Bob Square Pants.

Rocky 15:

Everything sags in this sad ending to the Rocky series. Sly Stallone crawls out of the ring for the last time, packs his bags, and hitchhikes to Arizona where he rents a trailer on the hot edge of nowhere and spends his golden years breeding scorpions and punching his pointless views into a daily blog. He may be permanently punchy, but he keeps right on typing!

See you at the movies!