I'm returning to the non-dairy "milks" well once again. A while ago I was passing through that section of the Shop-Rite when I saw some that I hadn't had before. So I rectified that quickly. For the record, I got the Milkadamia kind from Jindilli Beverages, LLC, the Banana Wave one from the Fresh Start Beverage Company, and the Rice Dream Horchata from the Hain Celestial Group. (Plus, if you're curious, I did a post about an oat milk, a hemp seed milk, and a pea/tapioca/potato milk back on June 16, 2018.)
Jindilli Beverages, LLC is the baby of the bunch, only having been around since 2016. The farm itself is actually located in Australia, but attempts to start marketing their non-dairy products there were thwarted, as potential investors, etc., didn't think such things would sell well. So CEO Jim Richards and co-founder Morgan Roy decided to try it in the U.S., near Chicago, Illinois. And it did work. Aside from the milk alternative I tried, they also make non-dairy fare like creamers, buttery spreads, and other flavors of macadamia milk. Also, evidently using another brand, they make cooking oils and skin care products. As might be expected given their product line, Jindilli is aggressively into environmental causes, and against the consumption of meat, eggs, and dairy. In addition to having no dairy products, their website noted that their wares are free of gluten, GMOs, and cruelty. Also, potential customers who are observant Jews can rest assured that Jindilli's products are kosher. One final point--I learned that the macadamia nut's point of origin was Australia.
Fresh Start Beverage Company is also fairly recent, having begun in 2013. It's a family affair. Claudette Patron is the chairman of the board, her son H. E. Neter Kush Ben Alkebulan is the co-founder/chief beverage officer, and his then fiance (presumably now wife) Trendolyn Hopkins is the chief brand officer. The official company website states that they are the first to market non-dairy banana milk, and I for one can not dispute this. There are four Banana Wave flavors--the original, the mango, the chocolate, and strawberry. All these "milks" are made from a combination of bananas and oats as their main base ingredients. As for an independent reviewer comment (aside from my own, below), the website sarasorganiceats.com reportedly said, "Banana Wave is by far the only dairy free milk that is delicious to drink on its own."
The Rice Dream horchata manufacturer started as the Morning Dew Organic Food Market in the early 1970's, founded by Robert Nissenbaum. By 1982 Nissenbaum expanded his operation, and started making his own products, which then proved to be very popular at a 1982 food industry trade show. Currently the company is part of the Hain Celestial Group, which specializes in organic and natural foods. Like the Jindilli Beverage company, they are very big into environmental sustainability. One way they accomplish this is by using minimal but shelf stable packaging. Alternate products include other Rice Dream flavors, Soy Dream, Almond Dream, Coconut Dream, and Dream Oat kinds of drinks, based on what the non dairy base is. Also, horchata is an ancient drink--a precursor form of it was made from the wonderfully named tiger nuts in Mali and Nigeria, and by about 1000 A.D. it was introduced into Spain. It's popular throughout the Mediterranean, and in Latin American countries. There are many variants, but horchata generally is flavored with vanilla and cinnamon.
1) Fresh Start Beverage Company, Banana Wave, original flavor: Came in a quart bottle (or 946 mL) made of heavy paper, and had a brownish-yellow color. I should remind readers up front that I don't enjoy bananas much at all, either as a fruit, or as a flavoring, with the odd exception of some wheat beers. This one had a distinct banana-y odor. The taste was....alright. Since the other base of the drink was oats, which I love, this probably offset the banana flavor enough to make it okay. I had this plain, and on Cheerios cereal, and both were decent, if unspectacular. I don't think I'll buy this again, but I was surprised that it wasn't repellent. And if you like bananas, of course, you might be dazzled by this concoction.
2) Jindilli Beverages, LLC, Milkadamia macadamia milk, original flavor: Same size, and type of packaging as the previous. Had a very cow's milk like color. Maybe slightly off-white, but basically looked identical. Didn't have a really strong taste. Flavor was similar to milk, with maybe a slightly different after-taste. So it was solid, but not great. I also had this one plain, and on Cheerios. Once again, I don't think I'll get this one again, but it was decent. I can certainly see its appeal to vegans or those who are lactose intolerant.
3) The Hain Celestial Group, Rice Dream horchata: Same size and type of container as the others. Had a brownish-white hue, less brownish than the Banana Wave kind. I liked this one the best. I had it plain, and on Cheerios once more. It had a sweetness that the others lacked, probably from the cinnamon, I suppose. It really enhanced the cereal. Unlike the others, I think I will get this one again. I should note, that this better taste came with a price--it had at least double the calories of the others. (Although, oddly, the milkadamia one has the most fat.)
So, all in all, these non dairy milks were at least okay. It's nice that people who don't want, or can't have, regular cow's milk have some decent alternatives. To end on a negative note, I did see that the Hain Celestial Group apparently got into trouble for mislabeling some of their products as being organic when they weren't, and reportedly had to pay customers a settlement of over $10,000,000 in total. Also, this wasn't related to the Jindilli company, but if you want to read a macadamia-related news event that's both infuriating and absurd, check out the so called "nut rage" airline incident of 2014.
This is apropos of nothing, but I think the title "chief beverage officer" is cool, and I'm a little jealous of it.
Saturday, April 25, 2020
Saturday, April 18, 2020
Anthology Writing News!
I have another writing update to report. Above you'll see the cover for the upcoming "Welcome to the Splatter Club" anthology, from Blood Bound Books. I think the editor and author names, including my own, of course, are readable, so I won't repeat them down here. The book's "blurb" is as follows:
Splatter (adj.) Characterized by extreme or excessive gore or violence.
Punk (adj.) Often referring to a musical genre of short, fast-paced songs with hard edged melodies and singing styles, stripped-down instrumentation, and often containing subversive lyrics and social and political commentary. Welcome to the Splatter Club is thirteen stories of hyper intensive horror with no limits! Editor K. Trap Jones guides this initiation into our favorite genre of dark fiction: splatterpunk. The ceremony includes black magic curses, encounters of the fourth kind, and bizarre office politics. Story settings range from a dystopic United Kingdom down to a convenience store stocking a very malicious product.
The scheduled publishing date is September 1, 2020. However, interested customers can pre-order the anthology as an ebook on Amazon for only 99 cents at this time. And I'll of course include more information in the coming months. Stay tuned!
Saturday, April 11, 2020
Exotic/Disgusting Foods and Beverages Forum--Canadian Cookies
I came upon these while nervously shopping in my local Shop Rite supermarket last Saturday. My folks had tried these before, but I hadn't. I recalled them as being Canadian, and therefore, qualifying as "exotic" for my blog. Since they were indeed from our friendly neighbors to the North I got some--three varieties of their sugar-free cookies. For the record, I bought the almonette, oatmeal, and pecan shortbread kinds. All were made by Voortman Bakery, out of Ontario.
The Voortman Bakery was started in 1951 by two brothers of Dutch ancestry--William and Harry Voortman. By 1956 their wares were being sold in a local grocery store. And currently the company is huge, exporting to over seventy countries worldwide, employing over 200 full time employees, and having reported annual sales of $100,000,000 (in U.S. dollars, I think) as of 2015. Their ownership has changed a couple of times in the last decade. Swander Pace Capital acquired them, but only a few months ago Hostess Brands bought them, for a reported $320,000,000 (again, in U.S. dollars).
Like a lot of the companies whose products I tend to report on, Voortman has also been active lately in making their products be more natural and healthy. In 2004 they eliminated trans fats. In 2017 they nearly completely eliminated artificial colors, artificial flavors, and high fructose corn syrup. (I say "nearly completely" because some of their sugar-free baked goods still contain these substances.) Their products are all vegetarian-friendly, but some are not appropriate for vegans. Also, it's almost weird to see this in 2020, but their cookies and such are NOT gluten-free. Finally, I was morbidly amused to read a warning on the label of the cookies I got. It stated that the sugar substitutes they use can have a laxative effect in sensitive people. I don't think this is as extreme as the "olestra can cause anal leakage" warning from the WOW potato chips/crisps of the late 1990's, but still.* At the risk of being crass, (and medically unsound), maybe if you're constipated and can't afford Ex-Lax or Dulcolax, you can fix your problem in a decidedly tastier way!
1) Voortman Bakery, sugar-free oatmeal cookies: These were round, with a diameter of about 6.5 cm. (about 2.5 inches), with a brown color, and lumpy texture. I should mention I love oatmeal in general. These were a little dry, and not very sweet. Not terrible, but kind of average, or "meh."
2) Voortman Bakery, sugar-free pecan shortbread cookies: Same size and shape as the oatmeal ones. Yellow color, with occasional bits of pecan visible. Tasted good, like a typical pecan sandy. That happens to be one of my favorite kinds of cookies, and these were a good example. I didn't notice the lack of sugar--the sweetness level was fine, and they were nicely rich.
3) Voortman Bakery, sugar-free almonette cookies: These were about 3 inches by 2 inches (about 7.5 cm. by 5 cm.), with a roughly oval shape, with a scalloped pattern on the top and some icing streaks. Yellowish-brown color. These were good--almond-y, and again, decently sweet despite the lack of sugar. Not great, but better than average.
So, all things considered, the Voortman sugar-free cookies I tried were fairly impressive. Even the weakest variety was still okay, and the other two were quite good. I remember trying sugar-free products when I was younger, in the 1980's and 1990's, and most of those were absolutely inedible, horrendous garbage. Therefore, Voortman's concoctions were pretty skilled in comparison. I also am willing to try their other baked goods if/when I get the chance. For some reason, my Shop Rite is only stocking the sugar-free ones at the moment.
Also, this is only indirectly related, but the mentioning of Hostess reminded me of a couple of anecdotes. The food product line of this company is famous for several baked goods, including Ding Dongs and Sno Balls. But by far the flagship brand is the Twinkie. Aside from being a beloved treat for decades in the U.S., Twinkies are arguably most famous for two things. On the negative side, I would encourage readers interested in true crime to learn the history behind the "Twinkie Defense," used by Dan White's lawyers in his trial for killing San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk in 1978. To be fair, the story has been misinterpreted over the years, with many thinking that White's defense was claiming that eating things like Twinkies caused White to go insane and do the shootings. Actually, his lawyers were claiming that his crime wasn't first degree murder due to diminished capacity, because of depression, and White's change in diet to eating junk food like Twinkies was a symptom of his depression, not the cause. Anyway, the strategy worked, and White was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, and given a seven year sentence (of which he served five years). However, many people think that White was indeed guilty of first degree murder, and should have gotten a much longer sentence, such as life. I actually learned about this case from a song by the great punk group the Dead Kennedys, a version of "I Fought the Law" with altered lyrics.
The other thing Twinkies are famous for is supposedly being so chock full of preservatives and unnatural ingredients that they can still be edible for years, or decades. I've heard many jokes (and told them, before I knew the full story) over my life about how Twinkies and cockroaches are the only things that will survive a nuclear catastrophe and the like. Well, it turns out that a Twinkie's "lifespan" has been exaggerated enormously. Their shelf life ranges from 25 days to a high of 45 days. Which makes sense, since they're baked goods--their main ingredients include such mortal substances as flour and eggs. So, when the zombie hordes are massing around your bunker, better eat your Twinkies during the first month, and save the canned goods and military MRE rations for the long haul.
* I was very surprised to learn that olestra is still used in chips. Sales of WOW chips plummeted after the first year or so (they started in 1998), so by 2004 Frito-Lay changed the name of the chips to Lights, but continued using olestra. (Maybe these use less of it now?) As far as I can tell, they're currently being sold. So if you eat those chips, be forewarned--probably don't eat the whole bag!
The Voortman Bakery was started in 1951 by two brothers of Dutch ancestry--William and Harry Voortman. By 1956 their wares were being sold in a local grocery store. And currently the company is huge, exporting to over seventy countries worldwide, employing over 200 full time employees, and having reported annual sales of $100,000,000 (in U.S. dollars, I think) as of 2015. Their ownership has changed a couple of times in the last decade. Swander Pace Capital acquired them, but only a few months ago Hostess Brands bought them, for a reported $320,000,000 (again, in U.S. dollars).
Like a lot of the companies whose products I tend to report on, Voortman has also been active lately in making their products be more natural and healthy. In 2004 they eliminated trans fats. In 2017 they nearly completely eliminated artificial colors, artificial flavors, and high fructose corn syrup. (I say "nearly completely" because some of their sugar-free baked goods still contain these substances.) Their products are all vegetarian-friendly, but some are not appropriate for vegans. Also, it's almost weird to see this in 2020, but their cookies and such are NOT gluten-free. Finally, I was morbidly amused to read a warning on the label of the cookies I got. It stated that the sugar substitutes they use can have a laxative effect in sensitive people. I don't think this is as extreme as the "olestra can cause anal leakage" warning from the WOW potato chips/crisps of the late 1990's, but still.* At the risk of being crass, (and medically unsound), maybe if you're constipated and can't afford Ex-Lax or Dulcolax, you can fix your problem in a decidedly tastier way!
1) Voortman Bakery, sugar-free oatmeal cookies: These were round, with a diameter of about 6.5 cm. (about 2.5 inches), with a brown color, and lumpy texture. I should mention I love oatmeal in general. These were a little dry, and not very sweet. Not terrible, but kind of average, or "meh."
2) Voortman Bakery, sugar-free pecan shortbread cookies: Same size and shape as the oatmeal ones. Yellow color, with occasional bits of pecan visible. Tasted good, like a typical pecan sandy. That happens to be one of my favorite kinds of cookies, and these were a good example. I didn't notice the lack of sugar--the sweetness level was fine, and they were nicely rich.
3) Voortman Bakery, sugar-free almonette cookies: These were about 3 inches by 2 inches (about 7.5 cm. by 5 cm.), with a roughly oval shape, with a scalloped pattern on the top and some icing streaks. Yellowish-brown color. These were good--almond-y, and again, decently sweet despite the lack of sugar. Not great, but better than average.
So, all things considered, the Voortman sugar-free cookies I tried were fairly impressive. Even the weakest variety was still okay, and the other two were quite good. I remember trying sugar-free products when I was younger, in the 1980's and 1990's, and most of those were absolutely inedible, horrendous garbage. Therefore, Voortman's concoctions were pretty skilled in comparison. I also am willing to try their other baked goods if/when I get the chance. For some reason, my Shop Rite is only stocking the sugar-free ones at the moment.
Also, this is only indirectly related, but the mentioning of Hostess reminded me of a couple of anecdotes. The food product line of this company is famous for several baked goods, including Ding Dongs and Sno Balls. But by far the flagship brand is the Twinkie. Aside from being a beloved treat for decades in the U.S., Twinkies are arguably most famous for two things. On the negative side, I would encourage readers interested in true crime to learn the history behind the "Twinkie Defense," used by Dan White's lawyers in his trial for killing San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk in 1978. To be fair, the story has been misinterpreted over the years, with many thinking that White's defense was claiming that eating things like Twinkies caused White to go insane and do the shootings. Actually, his lawyers were claiming that his crime wasn't first degree murder due to diminished capacity, because of depression, and White's change in diet to eating junk food like Twinkies was a symptom of his depression, not the cause. Anyway, the strategy worked, and White was found guilty of voluntary manslaughter, and given a seven year sentence (of which he served five years). However, many people think that White was indeed guilty of first degree murder, and should have gotten a much longer sentence, such as life. I actually learned about this case from a song by the great punk group the Dead Kennedys, a version of "I Fought the Law" with altered lyrics.
The other thing Twinkies are famous for is supposedly being so chock full of preservatives and unnatural ingredients that they can still be edible for years, or decades. I've heard many jokes (and told them, before I knew the full story) over my life about how Twinkies and cockroaches are the only things that will survive a nuclear catastrophe and the like. Well, it turns out that a Twinkie's "lifespan" has been exaggerated enormously. Their shelf life ranges from 25 days to a high of 45 days. Which makes sense, since they're baked goods--their main ingredients include such mortal substances as flour and eggs. So, when the zombie hordes are massing around your bunker, better eat your Twinkies during the first month, and save the canned goods and military MRE rations for the long haul.
* I was very surprised to learn that olestra is still used in chips. Sales of WOW chips plummeted after the first year or so (they started in 1998), so by 2004 Frito-Lay changed the name of the chips to Lights, but continued using olestra. (Maybe these use less of it now?) As far as I can tell, they're currently being sold. So if you eat those chips, be forewarned--probably don't eat the whole bag!
Saturday, April 4, 2020
Underrated Horror Gems--"Jacob's Ladder"
(It seems evident from my blog stats that readers prefer my food-related posts to the ones about sports, horror movies, or writing updates. Well, I have some bad news. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, like much of the world, I've been stuck at home. I'll try to find new foods and drinks to write about as I can, but for the next few weeks (months?) I'll be doing more of the horror movie reviews and sports posts than usual. Just so you know.)
"Jacob's Ladder" came out in 1990 and didn't do well at the box office, only earning about 26 million dollars off a reported budget of 25 million. (I've heard in the convoluted world of film finance, that a movie generally needs to triple its reported budget just to break even.) It received mixed reviews, but it's generally regarded as a decent cult film. Anyway, the same structure will be used today--short spoiler-free synopsis, then a long spoiler-rich recap, followed by a discussion of the movie's strengths, themes, and some info about the cast and crew.
Postal worker Jacob Singer is going through a rough time lately. He keeps seeing odd things and weird people, and is unable to tell if they're real or not. He also keeps flashing back to his days in Vietnam, where he was wounded in a brutal attack. Jacob reaches out to his old war buddies, but ultimately they're not able to help him. His chiropractor Louie is more helpful, much more so than Jacob's girlfriend Jezzy, or his ex-wife and sons. The bizarre events and characters seem to accelerate, throwing Jacob into confusion. Who or what is behind this conspiracy?
(SPOILERS AHEAD UNTIL MARKED) "Jacob's Ladder" opens in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, on October 6, 1971. Jacob and his unit are lolling about. Suddenly many of the soldiers are struck down by severe headaches or convulsions, while simultaneously a vicious attack starts from the jungle, which culminates in Jacob being bayonnetted in the torso. Then Jacob wakes up--he's been sleeping on the subway, on the way home from his job at the post office. As he disembarks he thinks he sees a homeless man with a strange tail. He has to cross the tracks when the usual exit is padlocked, and he's nearly run down by a subway car out of nowhere, driven by and ridden by weird looking people.
Back at his apartment, Jacob talks to and then makes love to his girlfriend Jezzy. The next morning she gives him a package from his ex-wife and two kids. It's a collection of photos of his old family, including shots of his deceased son Gabe. Periodically Jacob flashes back to Vietnam, as the medics are searching for him after his wounding. A visit to his chiropractor Louie makes Jacob feel better, both physically and psychologically. After a stranger warns him, however, while walking home Jacob is nearly run over by a car full of strange-looking people. A trip to the V.A hospital goes poorly. The receptionist has no records of him being a patient there, and after Jacob forces his way inside he learns that his physician, Dr. Karlson, was killed in a car explosion.
Jacob and Jezzy go to a house party, but things are weird there, too. A woman reads Jacob's palm, and says that his life line indicates that he's already dead. Then Jacob sees more ominous things--figures with vibrating heads, and then Jezzy being sexually penetrated by a winged demon. He collapses and screams, causing a scene. Back at home, Jezzy takes Jacob's temperature, and it's a scalding 106 degrees. She summons the neighbors, and together they use an ice bath to reduce his dangerously high fever. Abruptly Jacob wakes up in bed with his wife Sarah. He tells her that he dreamed he was living with Jezzy, a coworker. Then their son Gabe comes in, and Jacob puts Gabe to bed, and talks to his other sons, too. Then Jacob regains consciousness again, in his bathtub. A doctor says he alright now, and Jezzy says he was talking to his ex-wife and dead son.
Jacob's home, reading up on witches, the afterlife, and demons. It's been two weeks. Jezzy implores him to leave the apartment, before appearing to become a demon for a moment. A phone call comes from an old soldier friend, Paul, who demands a meeting. He tells Jacob that he's being stalked by unknown creatures, and that he's going to Hell. Jacob reveals his experiences, and Paul seems comforted. However, as Paul starts his car it explodes, killing him. Jacob barely struggles away, aided by the same mystery man who warned him about the car attack before. At Paul's funeral Jacob's fellow soldier friends also report having weird experiences. They all go to a lawyer, who will try to question the Army to find out what happened during their attack in Vietnam. But soon after Jacob's friend drop out of the inquiry, and brush Jacob off. The lawyer, Geary, says that Jacob and his friends were never in Vietnam--they were psychologically discharged after war games in Thailand.
Outside of the courthouse some men in suits push Jacob into a car. They're angry that he's questioning the Army. After a vicious fight Jacob succeeds in jumping out of the speeding car, re-injuring his back. His time at the hospital grows strange. Jacob's progress takes him into a decrepit, disturbing hospital wing, one with filthy conditions, body parts strewn everywhere, and non-human patients. A doctor tells him that he's dead, and there's no way out, before Jacob loses consciousness. Sarah and his two surviving sons visit, and now the hospital seems normal. Louie shows up and angrily removes Jacob, and helps him using back exercises. Louie tells Jacob about a famous writer's experience with the Afterlife. This man claimed if you were afraid, and clung to your life and memories, you'd see demons. But if you were willing to let go, they'd appear to be angels. Back at home Jacob receives a phone calls, and agrees to meet a man. It's the same guy who warned him previously. He's Michael Newman, who was forced to create mood-altering drugs for the Army in Vietnam. A drug called "The Ladder" was put into the food of the Jacob's unit, to increase their aggression. Unfortunately it worked in a chaotic way--the unit killed each other, not their enemies. and Jacob was stabbed by a fellow soldier.
Jacob hails a cab, and goes to the home where Sarah and his kids live. No one's there. After a while, he sees Gabe. Gabe comforts his father, and leads him upstairs, as the screen goes white. Then there's a final shift, back to Vietnam. The doctor pronounces Jacob dead. He notes that Jacob seems peaceful, but he "put up a Hell of a fight." Text on the screen notes that the Army used mood-altering chemicals on the soldiers during Vietnam, but the Pentagon denies this. (The End)
"Jacob's Ladder" was heavily inspired by a 1962 French short film called, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." (Which I'll also spoil.) In that film, set during the American Civil War, a man is condemned. He breaks free of his noose, falls into the creek, has some adventures, and finally makes it home, where he goes to embrace his wife. Whereupon the scene abruptly shifts to the man dying, as the rope breaks his neck. Most of the film is the man imaging getting free in the split second before he's dead. "Jacob's Ladder," of course, is the same type of story, only extended--Jacob is mortally wounded in Vietnam. During the time he's lying there, discovered by the medics, and treated by them, he imagines years of going back to the U.S., leaving his wife for another woman he knows at work, and the final events of the film. As Louie tells him, if someone is holding onto their life, and their memories and emotions too much, they'll see the spiritual figures as demons attacking them. If they instead let go and accept death, these creatures will then appear to be angelic beings helping them make the transition. This theory of death and the afterlife was influenced by screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin's studies of Eastern religions in particular. Probably the key takeaway, though, is that the message of the movie is hopeful, rather than pessimistic.
Now readers may well be exclaiming something like, "He was dead the whole time?! What a cliche cop out!" And it's true, this type of plot point has been overdone in fiction, especially horror stories and movies. But, the way it happens in "Jacob's Ladder" is well done, and earns this explanation. Mediocre or bad attempts at this plot point often fall apart when you reflect upon them. Even "The Sixth Sense," which I enjoy overall, makes little sense when you think about it--how did Bruce Willis's character not notice that he was dead, when literally no one but the kid ever spoke to him or even noticed him during the weeks or months after he died? Not his wife, not the kid's mother, not a single person? But "Jacob's Ladder" handles it better. The setting of the movie constantly shifts, from snippets of Vietnam, to later New York with Jezzy, to later New York with Sarah and his kids, to a vision of Hell, to time with Louie--on and on. It keeps the audience off balance, unsure of which setting is real, and which are dreams, or hallucinations, or whatever. Several different characters give Jacob clues that he's dead--the V.A. nurse, the palm reader, the doctor in Hell--but then Jacob is still walking and talking afterward, so the message seems invalid. The demonic figures could be hallucinations, or fever dreams, or just fits of morbid imagination. One of the changes that director Adrian Lyne made was to have the monsters and weird settings be more realistic. Screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin wanted the creatures to look like traditional Judeo-Christian demons, with red skin, horns, and forked tails, his vision of Hell was the Dante's Inferno type place, and the path to Heaven a literal ladder in the sky, with harp-playing, haloed angels, etc. Which would have been silly, and too on the nose, in my view. Plus it would have given up the twist too soon, too obviously. So it was better to make the "demons" just unsettling, be more organic, and "Hell" be just an odd hospital, and the way to "Heaven" be up the staircase in Jacob's home. There are a few plot holes, of course--why are the World Trade Center towers the way they are in reality, even though Jacob has never seen them? And how does he know about "The Ladder" drug's details when he never was a chemist, or met the real people who worked on it? (Assuming the drug was real, and not just his imagination again, clearly.) But these few issues aside, "Jacob's Ladder" holds up after you've watched it, and makes sense in the movie's universe, so to speak.
Paranoia is another theme of the film. Fear of losing one's mind is certainly prevalent in it. Jacob's constantly worried--is he going crazy? He keeps seeing things that arguably aren't really there. And his identity is threatened. Does he exist, or not? There's even the classic delusion that powerful governmental agents are conspiring against him. The Army drugged his unit, and is then covering up the horrific aftermath of their failed experiment. Official records are changed, and his fellow soldiers are intimidated into abandoning an attempt at justice. The car of suited men are even apparently going to kill him, before he escapes. So not only are supernatural creatures coming after him, there are normal human government agents plotting against him as well. Who can Jacob trust? His friends, his love, his family--all may be against him. He can't even trust himself fully.
Also, unlike many of the movies I discuss on my blog, which are often very low budget, and made by inexperience cast and crews, the acting in "Jacob's Ladder" is top notch. The story is very emotional, and a poor leading actor in particular would have sunk the story. But Tim Robbins is very effective. He's likable, has a sense of humor, and you really care about his plight. We're able to understand his confusion, and frustration, during the perplexing events of the movie. Elizabeth Pena (Jezzy), and Danny Aiello (Louie) are experienced and effective, too. As are the actors with smaller roles, or even cameos, as I'll get into further later on.
The special effects are more than competently done as well. The "demons" are great--fleshy, but just a little bit "off." The "vibrating heads" effect is new, and very disturbing. (I recall when I first saw this in the theater, some of my friends were literally sickened by the strobe light party scene. They had been drinking, but still.) The body parts and gore scenes are few, but when they're seen, they're terrifyingly realistic. Another thing the film does well is to not linger on these shots. We see the monsters only in quick glimpses, or in shadow, or during the strobe light sequence. If the filmmakers had shown these shots too long they would have looked fake, or even mundane.
Not being a filmmaker myself, aside from a few brief, inept attempts at skits with a camcorder as a kid, I usually don't notice cinematography that much, unless it's really innovative and cool (like say in the original "Evil Dead"( 1981)) or horrendous (such as in "Battlefield Earth" (2000)). But even I noticed it in "Jacob's Ladder." The camera is often moving, and we get shots from different character's points of view, such as during the "Jacob in the ice bath" scene in particular, when we see it from his perspective, from the other characters, and even from under the water at times. Or we see Jacob being lifted up in the helicopter from the pilot's viewpoint, and then from within the gurney itself. The descent into the hospital Hell scene stood out, too. Much of the scene is from the perspective of the gurney's wheels, as they cross into the nightmarishly filthy hallway, past disfigured creatures, and literally over scattered amputated body parts. These innovations help keep the viewer confused and unsettled, which really helps with the movie's scary tone.
(END OF SPOILERS--SAFE FOR ALL READERS) Director Adrian Lyne has had an extensive career, and his films are often about sexual themes. He's surely best known for "Fatal Attraction" (1987), but he also directed such movies as "Flashdance" (1983), "9 1/2 Weeks" (1986), "Indecent Proposal" (1993), "Unfaithful" (2002), and the upcoming "Deep Water" (2020). Screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin's most notable script was for 1990's "Ghost," for which he won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Other credits include "Brainstorm" (1983), "Deadly Friend" (1986), "Deep Impact" (1998), and "The Time Traveler's Wife" (2009). He also directed 1993's "My Wife." Tim Robbins, who played Jacob Singer, has also had a long, distinguished career. Acting highlights include roles in "The Sure Thing" (1985), "Top Gun" (1986), "Bull Durham" (1988), "The Player" (1992), "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994), "Mystic River" (2003, for which he won the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award), "War of the Worlds" (2005), and "Dark Waters" (2019). He also wrote, acted, and directed 1992's "Bob Roberts" and received a Best Director Oscar nomination for "Dead Man Walking" (1995). Elizabeth Pena (Jezzy Pipkin) was in such movies as "Down and Out in Beverly Hills" (1986), "La Bamba" (1987), "Rush Hour" (1998), "Stangeland" (1998), and "Transamerica" (2005). Danny Aiello (Louie Denardo) had a long career as well, often in character roles. Highlights include stints in "Bang the Drum Slowly" (1973), "The Godfather Part II" (1974), "The Stuff" (1985), "Moonstruck" (1987), "Do the Right Thing" (1989, for which he was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar), and "Leon: The Professional" (1994). The lawyer, Geary, was played by Jason Alexander, who was in such films as "The Burning" (1981), "The Mosquito Coast" (1986), "Pretty Woman" (1990), and "The Last Supper" (1995), but is best known for playing George on television's "Seinfeld" (1989-98). Two of Jacob's soldier friends are recognizable faces, too. Eriq La Salle (Frank) was in movies like "Cut and Run" (1985), "Coming to America" (1988), "One Hour Photo" (2002), and "Logan" (2017), as well as starring on television's "ER" (1994-2002, 2009). Ving Rhames (George) was in another Vietnam movie "Casualties of War" (1989), as well as such films as "The People Under the Stairs" (1991), "Dave" (1993), "Pulp Fiction" (1994), the "Mission: Impossible" series, the "Dawn of the Dead" remake (2004), the "Piranha 3D" movies (2010, 2012), and "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" (2017). Jacob's son Gabe was uncredited, but he was played by Macaulay Culkin, who was in such movies as "Uncle Buck" (1989), "Home Alone" (1990), "The Good Son" (1993), "My Girl" (1991), and "Saved!" (2004). The palm reader, Elsa, was played by S. Epatha Merkerson, known for roles in "She's Gotta Have It" (1986), "Terminator 2: Judgement Day" (1991), "Black Snake Moan" (2006), "Lincoln" (2012), and 388 episodes of television's "Law & Order" (1993-2010). Suzanne Shepherd (the hospital receptionist) was in "Mystic Pizza" (1989), "Uncle Buck" (1989), "Goodfellas" (1990), "Requiem for a Dream" (2000), and television's "The Sopranos" (2000-07), among others. Finally, two guys most noted for entertainment besides acting had tiny roles, both in the Jacob's fever and subsequent ice bath scene: Comedian Lewis Black was the doctor who treats Jacob, and Kyle Gass, part of the "Tenacious D" musical group, was one of the assisting neighbors.
So, if you get a chance, give "Jacob's Ladder" a look. It's a combination of scary, moving, disturbing, and thought-provoking. And done in a very accomplished way.
"Jacob's Ladder" came out in 1990 and didn't do well at the box office, only earning about 26 million dollars off a reported budget of 25 million. (I've heard in the convoluted world of film finance, that a movie generally needs to triple its reported budget just to break even.) It received mixed reviews, but it's generally regarded as a decent cult film. Anyway, the same structure will be used today--short spoiler-free synopsis, then a long spoiler-rich recap, followed by a discussion of the movie's strengths, themes, and some info about the cast and crew.
Postal worker Jacob Singer is going through a rough time lately. He keeps seeing odd things and weird people, and is unable to tell if they're real or not. He also keeps flashing back to his days in Vietnam, where he was wounded in a brutal attack. Jacob reaches out to his old war buddies, but ultimately they're not able to help him. His chiropractor Louie is more helpful, much more so than Jacob's girlfriend Jezzy, or his ex-wife and sons. The bizarre events and characters seem to accelerate, throwing Jacob into confusion. Who or what is behind this conspiracy?
(SPOILERS AHEAD UNTIL MARKED) "Jacob's Ladder" opens in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam, on October 6, 1971. Jacob and his unit are lolling about. Suddenly many of the soldiers are struck down by severe headaches or convulsions, while simultaneously a vicious attack starts from the jungle, which culminates in Jacob being bayonnetted in the torso. Then Jacob wakes up--he's been sleeping on the subway, on the way home from his job at the post office. As he disembarks he thinks he sees a homeless man with a strange tail. He has to cross the tracks when the usual exit is padlocked, and he's nearly run down by a subway car out of nowhere, driven by and ridden by weird looking people.
Back at his apartment, Jacob talks to and then makes love to his girlfriend Jezzy. The next morning she gives him a package from his ex-wife and two kids. It's a collection of photos of his old family, including shots of his deceased son Gabe. Periodically Jacob flashes back to Vietnam, as the medics are searching for him after his wounding. A visit to his chiropractor Louie makes Jacob feel better, both physically and psychologically. After a stranger warns him, however, while walking home Jacob is nearly run over by a car full of strange-looking people. A trip to the V.A hospital goes poorly. The receptionist has no records of him being a patient there, and after Jacob forces his way inside he learns that his physician, Dr. Karlson, was killed in a car explosion.
Jacob and Jezzy go to a house party, but things are weird there, too. A woman reads Jacob's palm, and says that his life line indicates that he's already dead. Then Jacob sees more ominous things--figures with vibrating heads, and then Jezzy being sexually penetrated by a winged demon. He collapses and screams, causing a scene. Back at home, Jezzy takes Jacob's temperature, and it's a scalding 106 degrees. She summons the neighbors, and together they use an ice bath to reduce his dangerously high fever. Abruptly Jacob wakes up in bed with his wife Sarah. He tells her that he dreamed he was living with Jezzy, a coworker. Then their son Gabe comes in, and Jacob puts Gabe to bed, and talks to his other sons, too. Then Jacob regains consciousness again, in his bathtub. A doctor says he alright now, and Jezzy says he was talking to his ex-wife and dead son.
Jacob's home, reading up on witches, the afterlife, and demons. It's been two weeks. Jezzy implores him to leave the apartment, before appearing to become a demon for a moment. A phone call comes from an old soldier friend, Paul, who demands a meeting. He tells Jacob that he's being stalked by unknown creatures, and that he's going to Hell. Jacob reveals his experiences, and Paul seems comforted. However, as Paul starts his car it explodes, killing him. Jacob barely struggles away, aided by the same mystery man who warned him about the car attack before. At Paul's funeral Jacob's fellow soldier friends also report having weird experiences. They all go to a lawyer, who will try to question the Army to find out what happened during their attack in Vietnam. But soon after Jacob's friend drop out of the inquiry, and brush Jacob off. The lawyer, Geary, says that Jacob and his friends were never in Vietnam--they were psychologically discharged after war games in Thailand.
Outside of the courthouse some men in suits push Jacob into a car. They're angry that he's questioning the Army. After a vicious fight Jacob succeeds in jumping out of the speeding car, re-injuring his back. His time at the hospital grows strange. Jacob's progress takes him into a decrepit, disturbing hospital wing, one with filthy conditions, body parts strewn everywhere, and non-human patients. A doctor tells him that he's dead, and there's no way out, before Jacob loses consciousness. Sarah and his two surviving sons visit, and now the hospital seems normal. Louie shows up and angrily removes Jacob, and helps him using back exercises. Louie tells Jacob about a famous writer's experience with the Afterlife. This man claimed if you were afraid, and clung to your life and memories, you'd see demons. But if you were willing to let go, they'd appear to be angels. Back at home Jacob receives a phone calls, and agrees to meet a man. It's the same guy who warned him previously. He's Michael Newman, who was forced to create mood-altering drugs for the Army in Vietnam. A drug called "The Ladder" was put into the food of the Jacob's unit, to increase their aggression. Unfortunately it worked in a chaotic way--the unit killed each other, not their enemies. and Jacob was stabbed by a fellow soldier.
Jacob hails a cab, and goes to the home where Sarah and his kids live. No one's there. After a while, he sees Gabe. Gabe comforts his father, and leads him upstairs, as the screen goes white. Then there's a final shift, back to Vietnam. The doctor pronounces Jacob dead. He notes that Jacob seems peaceful, but he "put up a Hell of a fight." Text on the screen notes that the Army used mood-altering chemicals on the soldiers during Vietnam, but the Pentagon denies this. (The End)
"Jacob's Ladder" was heavily inspired by a 1962 French short film called, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." (Which I'll also spoil.) In that film, set during the American Civil War, a man is condemned. He breaks free of his noose, falls into the creek, has some adventures, and finally makes it home, where he goes to embrace his wife. Whereupon the scene abruptly shifts to the man dying, as the rope breaks his neck. Most of the film is the man imaging getting free in the split second before he's dead. "Jacob's Ladder," of course, is the same type of story, only extended--Jacob is mortally wounded in Vietnam. During the time he's lying there, discovered by the medics, and treated by them, he imagines years of going back to the U.S., leaving his wife for another woman he knows at work, and the final events of the film. As Louie tells him, if someone is holding onto their life, and their memories and emotions too much, they'll see the spiritual figures as demons attacking them. If they instead let go and accept death, these creatures will then appear to be angelic beings helping them make the transition. This theory of death and the afterlife was influenced by screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin's studies of Eastern religions in particular. Probably the key takeaway, though, is that the message of the movie is hopeful, rather than pessimistic.
Now readers may well be exclaiming something like, "He was dead the whole time?! What a cliche cop out!" And it's true, this type of plot point has been overdone in fiction, especially horror stories and movies. But, the way it happens in "Jacob's Ladder" is well done, and earns this explanation. Mediocre or bad attempts at this plot point often fall apart when you reflect upon them. Even "The Sixth Sense," which I enjoy overall, makes little sense when you think about it--how did Bruce Willis's character not notice that he was dead, when literally no one but the kid ever spoke to him or even noticed him during the weeks or months after he died? Not his wife, not the kid's mother, not a single person? But "Jacob's Ladder" handles it better. The setting of the movie constantly shifts, from snippets of Vietnam, to later New York with Jezzy, to later New York with Sarah and his kids, to a vision of Hell, to time with Louie--on and on. It keeps the audience off balance, unsure of which setting is real, and which are dreams, or hallucinations, or whatever. Several different characters give Jacob clues that he's dead--the V.A. nurse, the palm reader, the doctor in Hell--but then Jacob is still walking and talking afterward, so the message seems invalid. The demonic figures could be hallucinations, or fever dreams, or just fits of morbid imagination. One of the changes that director Adrian Lyne made was to have the monsters and weird settings be more realistic. Screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin wanted the creatures to look like traditional Judeo-Christian demons, with red skin, horns, and forked tails, his vision of Hell was the Dante's Inferno type place, and the path to Heaven a literal ladder in the sky, with harp-playing, haloed angels, etc. Which would have been silly, and too on the nose, in my view. Plus it would have given up the twist too soon, too obviously. So it was better to make the "demons" just unsettling, be more organic, and "Hell" be just an odd hospital, and the way to "Heaven" be up the staircase in Jacob's home. There are a few plot holes, of course--why are the World Trade Center towers the way they are in reality, even though Jacob has never seen them? And how does he know about "The Ladder" drug's details when he never was a chemist, or met the real people who worked on it? (Assuming the drug was real, and not just his imagination again, clearly.) But these few issues aside, "Jacob's Ladder" holds up after you've watched it, and makes sense in the movie's universe, so to speak.
Paranoia is another theme of the film. Fear of losing one's mind is certainly prevalent in it. Jacob's constantly worried--is he going crazy? He keeps seeing things that arguably aren't really there. And his identity is threatened. Does he exist, or not? There's even the classic delusion that powerful governmental agents are conspiring against him. The Army drugged his unit, and is then covering up the horrific aftermath of their failed experiment. Official records are changed, and his fellow soldiers are intimidated into abandoning an attempt at justice. The car of suited men are even apparently going to kill him, before he escapes. So not only are supernatural creatures coming after him, there are normal human government agents plotting against him as well. Who can Jacob trust? His friends, his love, his family--all may be against him. He can't even trust himself fully.
Also, unlike many of the movies I discuss on my blog, which are often very low budget, and made by inexperience cast and crews, the acting in "Jacob's Ladder" is top notch. The story is very emotional, and a poor leading actor in particular would have sunk the story. But Tim Robbins is very effective. He's likable, has a sense of humor, and you really care about his plight. We're able to understand his confusion, and frustration, during the perplexing events of the movie. Elizabeth Pena (Jezzy), and Danny Aiello (Louie) are experienced and effective, too. As are the actors with smaller roles, or even cameos, as I'll get into further later on.
The special effects are more than competently done as well. The "demons" are great--fleshy, but just a little bit "off." The "vibrating heads" effect is new, and very disturbing. (I recall when I first saw this in the theater, some of my friends were literally sickened by the strobe light party scene. They had been drinking, but still.) The body parts and gore scenes are few, but when they're seen, they're terrifyingly realistic. Another thing the film does well is to not linger on these shots. We see the monsters only in quick glimpses, or in shadow, or during the strobe light sequence. If the filmmakers had shown these shots too long they would have looked fake, or even mundane.
Not being a filmmaker myself, aside from a few brief, inept attempts at skits with a camcorder as a kid, I usually don't notice cinematography that much, unless it's really innovative and cool (like say in the original "Evil Dead"( 1981)) or horrendous (such as in "Battlefield Earth" (2000)). But even I noticed it in "Jacob's Ladder." The camera is often moving, and we get shots from different character's points of view, such as during the "Jacob in the ice bath" scene in particular, when we see it from his perspective, from the other characters, and even from under the water at times. Or we see Jacob being lifted up in the helicopter from the pilot's viewpoint, and then from within the gurney itself. The descent into the hospital Hell scene stood out, too. Much of the scene is from the perspective of the gurney's wheels, as they cross into the nightmarishly filthy hallway, past disfigured creatures, and literally over scattered amputated body parts. These innovations help keep the viewer confused and unsettled, which really helps with the movie's scary tone.
(END OF SPOILERS--SAFE FOR ALL READERS) Director Adrian Lyne has had an extensive career, and his films are often about sexual themes. He's surely best known for "Fatal Attraction" (1987), but he also directed such movies as "Flashdance" (1983), "9 1/2 Weeks" (1986), "Indecent Proposal" (1993), "Unfaithful" (2002), and the upcoming "Deep Water" (2020). Screenwriter Bruce Joel Rubin's most notable script was for 1990's "Ghost," for which he won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. Other credits include "Brainstorm" (1983), "Deadly Friend" (1986), "Deep Impact" (1998), and "The Time Traveler's Wife" (2009). He also directed 1993's "My Wife." Tim Robbins, who played Jacob Singer, has also had a long, distinguished career. Acting highlights include roles in "The Sure Thing" (1985), "Top Gun" (1986), "Bull Durham" (1988), "The Player" (1992), "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994), "Mystic River" (2003, for which he won the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award), "War of the Worlds" (2005), and "Dark Waters" (2019). He also wrote, acted, and directed 1992's "Bob Roberts" and received a Best Director Oscar nomination for "Dead Man Walking" (1995). Elizabeth Pena (Jezzy Pipkin) was in such movies as "Down and Out in Beverly Hills" (1986), "La Bamba" (1987), "Rush Hour" (1998), "Stangeland" (1998), and "Transamerica" (2005). Danny Aiello (Louie Denardo) had a long career as well, often in character roles. Highlights include stints in "Bang the Drum Slowly" (1973), "The Godfather Part II" (1974), "The Stuff" (1985), "Moonstruck" (1987), "Do the Right Thing" (1989, for which he was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar), and "Leon: The Professional" (1994). The lawyer, Geary, was played by Jason Alexander, who was in such films as "The Burning" (1981), "The Mosquito Coast" (1986), "Pretty Woman" (1990), and "The Last Supper" (1995), but is best known for playing George on television's "Seinfeld" (1989-98). Two of Jacob's soldier friends are recognizable faces, too. Eriq La Salle (Frank) was in movies like "Cut and Run" (1985), "Coming to America" (1988), "One Hour Photo" (2002), and "Logan" (2017), as well as starring on television's "ER" (1994-2002, 2009). Ving Rhames (George) was in another Vietnam movie "Casualties of War" (1989), as well as such films as "The People Under the Stairs" (1991), "Dave" (1993), "Pulp Fiction" (1994), the "Mission: Impossible" series, the "Dawn of the Dead" remake (2004), the "Piranha 3D" movies (2010, 2012), and "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" (2017). Jacob's son Gabe was uncredited, but he was played by Macaulay Culkin, who was in such movies as "Uncle Buck" (1989), "Home Alone" (1990), "The Good Son" (1993), "My Girl" (1991), and "Saved!" (2004). The palm reader, Elsa, was played by S. Epatha Merkerson, known for roles in "She's Gotta Have It" (1986), "Terminator 2: Judgement Day" (1991), "Black Snake Moan" (2006), "Lincoln" (2012), and 388 episodes of television's "Law & Order" (1993-2010). Suzanne Shepherd (the hospital receptionist) was in "Mystic Pizza" (1989), "Uncle Buck" (1989), "Goodfellas" (1990), "Requiem for a Dream" (2000), and television's "The Sopranos" (2000-07), among others. Finally, two guys most noted for entertainment besides acting had tiny roles, both in the Jacob's fever and subsequent ice bath scene: Comedian Lewis Black was the doctor who treats Jacob, and Kyle Gass, part of the "Tenacious D" musical group, was one of the assisting neighbors.
So, if you get a chance, give "Jacob's Ladder" a look. It's a combination of scary, moving, disturbing, and thought-provoking. And done in a very accomplished way.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)