Revisits (1 Viewer)

[SteveGon]

Chuck, I agree with you on Frenzy but I'll have to part ways with you on Dreams. True, it's not Kurosawa's best work, but you have to remember that he was quite elderly when he made it - the thoughts and visions expressed in Dreams are in keeping with someone in their twilight years. Not only that, but you have to remember the traumatic experiences Kurosawa faced throughout the course of his life - the devastation suffered by Japan as a result of WWII obviously weighed heavily on his mind and I wasn't surprised to see those thoughts reflected in his....dreams. In any case, it's a nice film to just look at.

 

[ChuckDeLa]

It's not the subject matter I object to, it's the utter lack of finesse with which he approaches it. It feels like the rushed, clumsy gesture of a man who has realized he hasn't said everything he wants to say, but knows his time is running out. Being elderly might be a reasonable excuse, but that doesn't make it a better film.

It is rather nice to look at, sometimes. The scenes of "I" running through Van Gogh paintings are very awkward, the explosions of "Mount Fuji in Red" just look wrong, and the post-apocalyptic landscape of "The Weeping Demon" is, well... kinda silly. But the rest of it is very lovely.

 

[SteveGon]

The scenes of "I" running through Van Gogh paintings are very awkward, the explosions of "Mount Fuji in Red" just look wrong...

Well, those sequences worked for me. The Van Gogh scenes evoked a sense of childish joy (I's delight in literally experiencing Van Gogh's art). And while the Mount Fuji explosions had a cheesy "Toho" quality to them, they still managed to be quite frightening.

 

[Hunter P]

Searching for Bobby Fischer Damn I love this movie. I haven't seen it in at least three years. The final match was just awesome.
The Natural AMC is showing this movie now. Best sports movie ever. For all you Hoosiers fans...:p) Anyhoo, I always seem to find some new nuance every time I see it.

 

[SteveGon]

A recent viewing of Andrzej Wajda's Siberian Lady MacBeth prompted me to revisit his acclaimed War Trilogy:
A Generation (1954)
Directed by Andrzej Wajda.
For young Stach and his friends Zyzio and Kostek, the Nazi occupation of Poland in World War II doesn't seem all that serious. That is, until they try and steal coal from a moving train: at the moment of success, Zyzio is shot dead by a sentry. Deserted by Kostek, a terrified Stach escapes to an abandoned brickworks. It is there that he meets a mysterious man who will set him on the road to joining the Resistance. He is soon given a job as an apprentice at a factory where, among other things, bunks are made for the Nazis - bunks possibly slated for use in the concentration camps. But little do the Nazis know that the factory owner is giving money to the Resistance - even though he objects to them storing outlawed guns in his storeroom. Stach discovers the cache of weapons and helps himself to a pistol - a move that makes him feel more confident, if not quite ready to join his fellow Poles in defying the enemy. Then he spies Dorota, the local - and beautiful - Resistance leader...
A place in the Resistance secured, Stach and his new comrades, also recently recruited, treat their exploits as a game, never really comprehending the fatal potential inherent in their cause. Stach is also preoccupied with romancing Dorota. Surprisingly, she returns his affections - perhaps wanting a bit of happiness in what will in all probability be a short life. Sure enough, the Warsaw Ghetto uprising presents them with their first real opportunity to prove themselves. They are assigned to help escapees - a dangerous game indeed since the Nazis are hellbent on exterminating the defiant Jews. It is under a pall of smoke from the burning buildings of the Ghetto that Stach's world begins to fall apart. One friend is cornered by the Nazis and takes the only way out. Others escape to fight another day. Then Dorota is captured and Stach can only watch helplessly as she is led away. Distraught by this turn of events, he is nonetheless resigned to uphold the cause. Even when his new recruits are but smiling children...
A Generation marked Andrzej Wajda's feature film debut and as such, has some of the earmarks of a novice filmmaker - a few awkward transitions and some too-obvious dramatic flourishes. Still, it's an important and powerful film. Notable is a very young Roman Polanski who is featured as one of Stach's fellow Resistance fighters.
:star: :star: :star:
Kanal (1957)
Directed by Andrzej Wajda.
Warsaw is being strangled by the Nazi war machine and the uprising is nearly finished. A weary, whittled-down band of Resistance fighters is cornered in a bombed-out building. Will it be their last stand?
They are led by the disenchanted Lieutenant 'Splinter' who awaits the end with a grim resignation. His second-in-command is Lieutenant Wise who despite the circumstances, manages to successfully romance the naive messenger girl Halinka. There is also Sergeant Major 'Bullet' who is determined to keep accurate records for the sake of posterity. Meanwhile, Officer Cadet 'Bearing' is visited by his beautiful girlfriend Daisy. Despite the fact that she risked her life to visit him, he remains unconvinced of her love. And entertaining the men is a composer who has just recently joined them. There is something not quite right about him. Could he be mad?
Poised for one last fight, Splinter is informed that he is to retreat with his men - they will escape their predicament by descending into the sewer system. He finds this off-putting as it smacks of running away. But orders are orders and he leads his company into the dark and stinking tunnels. Unfortunately the sewers are a maze that few can navigate with ease and amidst the confusion, the men are quickly scattered. Adding to their misery are the noxious fumes given off by decomposing waste matter disturbed by their passage. At least the Nazis do not follow them - the sewers are one place they will not go - but they do take delight in lobbing hand grenades down shafts and booby-trapping openings.
It is at this point that Kanal reaches an intensity rivaling other notable films that feature such close-quarters combat: Das Boot and Aliens spring to mind. A faltering Lt. Splinter is kept on track by the stalwart Bullet who assures him that his men are right behind him. Daisy must keep a seriously wounded Bearing from giving up. Lt. Wise makes a confession to Halinka which prompts her to commit a tragic act. The composer finally loses his mind and wanders aimlessly through the tunnels, playing his harmonica. Will any of them escape?
Kanal is a step up from A Generation, marking Andrzej Wajda as a director to be reckoned with. Don't miss this one!
:star: :star: :star: 1/2
Ashes and Diamonds (1958)
Directed by Andrzej Wajda.
The war is over, the Nazis vanquished. But for the Poles, the bloodshed has not ended for the members of the Resistance continue to fight....one another. Some are communist, some are not. Both sides will kill for their beliefs. Maciek is one such individual. The war has been over for barely a day when he participates in the graveyard assassination of a Communist party official and his assistant. (In a memorable scene, one man is shot at point-blank range with a machine gun, the red-hot bullets catching his shirt on fire.) But as it turns out, Maciek and his compatriots killed the wrong men. Though disheartened by this, Maciek is determined to carry out his orders by killing the right man. Then he happens to meet Krystyna, a pretty barmaid. Contrary to his playboy antics, Maciek is smitten with her and becomes intrigued by the possibility of a life without guns and death - can he walk away from his 'duties' to the Resistance?
Ashes and Diamonds closes Andrzej Wadja's War Trilogy in fine, if despairing, fashion. There were no easy answers in post-war Poland and the film does not conclude as we would like it to. Sometimes, there is just no escaping the violence. The only film of the trilogy to be shot in widescreen, Ashes and Diamonds further cemented Wajda's reputation as a major talent. It's also the film that brought Zbigniew Cybulski to the world's attention. His ebullient acting style seems a bit out of place here, but it's easy to see why he was a star. Dubbed the 'Polish James Dean,' he likewise met a tragic death that cut short a promising career.
:star: :star: :star: 1/2

 

[Jan H]

Good read, Steve. Is Wajda's work ever going to get released on DVD in Region 1? I know Siberan Lady Macbeth is available, but practically nothing else. Who owns the rights?

 

[SteveGon]

The VHS editions of Danton and the War Trilogy are from Home Vision which I suppose doesn't rule out Criterion releases. I emailed them some time ago concerning the latter, but have heard nothing. That's a shame as Wajda is still around to provide insight into his films.

I believe New Yorker has Man of Marble and MGM Man of Iron. Those are the Wajda's I'm familiar with though I'd love to see more of his work.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

2001: A Space Odyssey
Directed by Stanley Kubrick

- cinematography
- special effects
- editing
- musical score

- shot redundancy
- editing
- dated production design
Movie Score: C+
Film Score: A-
Overall Score with Reviewer's Tilt: B+
I first saw 2001: A Space Odyssey my sophomore year in college (1999 or 2000). My roommate wondered why I rented it, and I simply told him that it was considered one of the greatest science fiction films, and I had to see what all the hype was about.
I can honestly say I hated it the first time. I thought it was boring, and I felt cheated out of the space odyssey part. All you got left with is a nature video without the narration and psychadelia only the principle cast of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas would appreciate.
Skip to about two years later when I joined the Home Theater Forum. Instead of discussing the dubious and questionable circumstances under which I joined ( ), I thought I'd put in my thoughts about the HTF. There's no doubt in my mind I've always loved movies, but I never had given some thought to taking film as a serious hobby. Seeing how some of the more experienced members watched film, I decided to take a closer look at movies.
I took a introductory film class at UK, joined the HTF AFI challenge, and in the process discovered folks like Kurosawa, Bergman, Fellini, and that K guy who did the Colors trilogy.
After developing a better sense of watching film as both art and entertainment, I vowed I would watch 2001 again and this time in its OAR. However, it wouldn't be until March of 2003 before I got around to it.
I received the remastered Kubrick box set sometime after the New Year. 2001 came with it, so I decided I'd have to watch it since I vowed I'd give it a second chance, and I wanted to watch all the Kubrick films.
To be honest, it was a lot better the second time around. Normally, I would discuss the negatives of the film first, but I'll leave that till later.
Editing is very, very interesting in this film. Every film buff pretty much knows about the graphic match involved with the bone tossing, but I thought it was pretty interesting with what happens earlier in the film. Rather than using a traditional dissolve to present the passage of time, Kubrick made use of jump cuts to transition from one scene to the next. This creates a jarring sense in the audience. I didn't realize why he did that until I looked outside my window and looked at this tree out here. With the exception of the guy that is fixing the septic tank, if you were to take two seperate shots taken at different times of that tree, you would notice that not much has changed. In a sense, the editing ties in very well with one of the motifs of the film. Other instances involve Dave's aging.
Except for a few noticeable matte lines, the special effects are still astounding to this very day. The floating pen still looks very good. What's even more amazing is that some of it looks a lot better than today's CGI, the tool of today that's supposed to mimic realism.
I'm a little hesitant to talk about cinematography because in spite of my base knowledge of what good cinematography is supposed to be, I'm still a little awestruck at how pretty things look. That, and I sometimes get it confused with editing to how a certain scene looks, works, and feels. But I still have this feeling that there's something at work here that I'm instinctively aware of, but can't put my foot on it.
I'm not a Kubrick expert, but I noticed he loves first person camera perspective, whether it's the moment before getting crushed by a penis sculpture or falling from a window. It's less obvious with 2001, but there's a huge use with it, particularly with HAL 9000 as he observes Dave and the other guy in the pod. Another use is whenever somebody addresses HAL, and we get a reverse shot of HAL "looking" at the person he speaks with. It's interesting because people always talk about how much more "human" HAL is than the rest of the cast.
The music, like the first time I watched it, is still my favorite part of the film.
Onto the controversial part of my review, the negatives. If you'll look at the back of the box of the film, you'll notice that the running time is close to two and a half hours. I make no apologies for this, but if feel the film is too long, and the two biggest offenders involved are oddly enough editing and its cousin, shot redundancy.
I don't know who said it on this forum (credit to them whoever it is) but they made a very good point. I get the feeling that people confuse slow, languid pacing with intellectual thoughtfulness. IMO, that's total pretentious horse shit. Does a whole extra five to ten seconds (or even a minute) say anything more about the human condition? Five or ten seconds might not seem much in one moment, but add it up and compound it over an entire film and you're left with a whole lot of filler. Not to fault Kubrick or anything, but I think he had a love/hate relationship with technology in general. On one hand, it's pretty evident how he concerns himself with technology and how it hasn't really changed man for the better. On the other hand, he was probably much like most folks who had a scientific curisosity and love affair with the space program. That would probably explain why we the audience saw every single facet of space travel.
Shot redudancy, a result of editing, is another thing I still don't like about 2001. One prime offender/example is the Stargate sequence during the Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite chapter. I understand that the use of color and strange imagery represents shock and disorientation to David. Hell, I wouldn't know about space travel through the imagination. But did that really necessitate the need to go through all the colors of the rainbow and showing the same mountains over and over? The points been made, and there's no need to dwell on it.
A minor and pretty much insignificant quip I have is the production design, particularly the costuming. I attribute this problem more with the bland clothing and nature of the sixties and seventies. There's only so much beige and pale baby blue I can handle. I still don't know why the seventies were so obsessed with orange and poop brown.
Having said all of this, is this still one of the greatest films of all time? Yes, and I certainly appreciate its status as one of the most revolutionary films ever made. But it's certainly not my cup of tea. On the other hand,
I actually like this film now on second viewing. I can't say the same for The Haunting or Three Colors: Blue. I get what's being said for those two. I just don't fucking like the how of it.

 

[Lew Crippen]

I remember in one of your posts somewhere you made a comment as to presenting the view of a reguler guy.

Dome, I think that you have lost your ‘regular guy’ card. Good points (including those with which I disagree—such as the pacing of this film).

 

[SteveGon]

Treasure Island (1950)
Directed by Byron Haskin.
Just rewatched this and I think it's one of Disney's best live action films, ranking up there with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I've never read the novel so I can't say how faithful it is to Robert Louis Stevenson's vision, but what we do have is excitin' stuff. You've got pirates aplenty, swilling rum and plotting against each other. You've got stalwart heroes to fend them off. Caught in the middle is young Jim Hawkins, in for the adventure of his life - if he survives! And really, is there any better Long John Silver than Robert Newton?
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
:star: :star: :star: 1/2

 

[Scott Weinberg]

Day of the Dead - 3.5 out of 5 - Several stunningly gory moments enliven a generally dreary and SHOUT-LADEN flick. Lacks the humor and insight of its predecessor and is missing the overall creepiness of the original - but certainly a worthwhile 100 minutes for horror fans.
Man's Best Friend - 2 out of 5 - Ally Sheedy is howlingly bad (but Lance Henriksen is always fun to watch) and the flick's got more slow spots than anything else...but there are a few spots of intentional humor that help out, plus a few nasty dog bites. The humor and the horror don't really gel too well ("Puppy Love" canine romance scene aside) but there are a few isolated moments of goofy entertainment.
Session 9 - 4.5 out of 5 - Viewing #1: rented from Netflix. Viewing #2: on cable. Viewing #3 will be on my own DVD, as I just ordered the damn thing. This one's been well-covered by now; just add me to the "I really really dig it" camp.
Ravenous - 4.5 out of 5 - See above. The more I see this movie the more I love it. Brutal and stark and almost a physical chore to sit through...but I consider those good points and not bad. The score is simply fantastic, Pearce and Carlyle are excellent, there's lots of graphic nastiness for horror freaks like me, and the liberal doses of bizarre dark humor help out a lot. Got the DVD for 9 bucks: it has 11 deleted scenes and three audio commentaries! (Yet another reason Fox is far and away my favorite studio....)
Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone - 1 out of 5 - I was bored. It was starting. I'd seen it as a kid during its 3-D theatrical run and was curious to see it again. Hilariously and overwhelmingly bad. In a fun way.

 

[Andy Olivera]

And one unbelievably bad puppet during the cat-eating scene.
The chameleon moment is great, though. One of my guilty pleasures.

 

[SteveGon]

Rhapsody in August (1991)
Directed by Akira Kurosawa.
Generally dismissed as a slight entry in the Kurosawa canon, Rhapsody in August has never failed to engage me. Based on a novel by Nabe No Naka, the film covers a few weeks in the life of Kane (Sachiko Murase), an elderly Japanese woman who is watching over her four grandchildren during their summer vacation. That there is a generation gap between the children and their grandmother would be putting it mildy. Her ways are quiet and formal. They wear American clothes and love to goof off. But there is another factor at play here, one that will either bring them closer or push them apart.
Kane comes from a large family: she had many brothers and sisters, all of whom she had thought were dead. But it turns out that an older brother is still alive, albeit barely. He had long ago emigrated to Hawaii where he married an American woman and made a fortune growing pineapples. (Apparently he escaped being sent to an internment camp during World War II, but this is never touched upon.) The children are excited at the prospect of having rich relatives in America while Kane seems singularly unimpressed. She barely remembers this brother and while he may have escaped WWII unscathed, she did not: her husband died in the atomic blast that all but leveled Nagasaki. The memory of that fateful August day haunts her still.
Meanwhile Kane's son and daughter have flown to Hawaii to visit with their ailing uncle and his family. The pictures they send back, of their cousin Clark and his family in their expensive home, prompt the kids to action. They are determined to convince their grandmother that she must reunite with her long-lost sibling. This they feel, will garner them the good graces of their newfound (and wealthy) family. Kane refuses. Though she claims no hatred of the United States - she blames "war" more than the ever-changing combatants - one gets the impression that a visit to America would be too painful for her.
The children aren't quite sure what to make of Kane's reluctance for they are far removed from that horrific day that saw the death of their grandfather and so many others. It isn't until three of them visit Nagasaki on an outing that they finally understand. On a whim they decide to visit the spot where their grandfather died. He was a teacher and the school where he taught was near ground zero. The building they are told, was completely destroyed, the occupants obliterated. All that remains now is a monument to the victims: a twisted jungle gym melted by the fierce heat of the explosion.
Despite this sad revelation, the kids decide to keep at it. The eldest boy even dashes off a letter to his uncle Clark. A letter wherein he innocently mentions how his grandfather died.
Soon after the letter is sent, Kane's son and daughter return. They are then joined by their respective spouses. The four proceed to ignore Kane and the children, preferring instead to ponder the possibilities of having rich relatives. Then they find out about the letter and its contents (during their visit, they chose not to inform Kane's brother of how his brother-in-law died). They are shocked by such a breach of etiquette. Not only that, but relations with their wealthy uncle could possibly be strained! They really begin to despair when they receive word that Clark has decided to come to Japan. Could he be bearing bad tidings?
Clark (Richard Gere) arrives but he brings with him no ill will. Having had no prior knowledge of his uncle's fate, he wishes to smooth things over with his aunt. Perhaps then she'll visit his father before it's too late...
Rhapsody in August is a quiet and reflective film, one that I would expect from a director in his twilight years. Keep that in mind and you'll find this to be a modest little gem. And though the direction is restrained (as befits the subject matter), Kurosawa still manages some striking visual cues. As for the oft-maligned Richard Gere, he acquits himself quite nicely in his small role as Clark. Aside from Martin Scorsese's turn in Dreams, he's the only well-known American actor to appear in a Kurosawa film. He's lucky in that.
:star: :star: :star:

 

[Brad Porter]

Being John Malkovich (1999)
I caught part of Death to Smoochy on pay cable the other day and I once again found myself trying to figure out just what it is about Catherine Keener that I find so alluring. That combined with my continuing affection for Adaptation prompted me to put BJM in the player.
When the awards season rolled around in early 2000, I remember being rather disappointed that it wasn't nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award, since I considered it at the time to be the best film of 1999. I'm not sure if I can draw a meaningful quality distinction between this film and my other favorites from that year (Election, Office Space, The Straight Story, Toy Story 2, Magnolia), but I definitely enjoy it more than The Matrix, American Beauty, Fight Club, The Sixth Sense, and The Green Mile. I still haven't seen The Cider House Rules. I watched BJM again when it first came out on DVD, but this was my first rewatch since that time.
I still love this movie. A large part of my enjoyment is attributable to the films stunning originality. It's so unpredictable at every step along the way, and it's best moments are probably the least expected ("Malkovich Malkovich", Elijah's flashback, the chase through Malkovich's subconscious). I'd love to see a documentary about Charlie Kaufman's screenwriting process, just to know how many rewrites it takes to get to the finished product. If everything in Being John Malkovich and Adaptation was complete in the first draft then he needs to be locked away in a lab and studied to benefit mankind.
I really enjoy the humor of the film. It's never obvious or broad (with the possible exception of Lester's bawdy sex talk). Most of the funnier moments are when the actors are mocking themselves or the acting business (Charlie Sheen's bald head for example). Mary Kay Place is hilarious.
None of the lead characters are really sympathetic, which is usually a problem for me. Craig is an obsessive loser. Lotte is a whiny, bleeding heart. Maxine is a complete bitch. But I'm fascinated by them throughout the film. Somehow Spike Jonze sets the right tone and pacing that keeps me from losing contact with the characters. Or maybe it's the presence of John Malkovich that makes it all work. The whole film may have just seemed stupid if it were "Being John Goodman" or "Being Adam Sandler". It needed a compelling dramatic actor to make it work, and Malkovich has the proper pedigree.
What flaws are there? I've always thought that Lotte's transformation occurs too quickly. Perhaps this is because her character isn't well developed before she enters Malkovich. I also would have liked the film to maintain the manic pace of the chase through Malkovich's subconscious into the following scenes, including the portions where Lester and company enter Malkovich. It goes from energetic to poignant far too quickly. Finally, the passing motorist who chucks a can at Malkovich's head is tough to explain.
And I still don't really know what it is about Catherine Keener that I find so attractive, but she's got a bunch of it, whatever it is.
Brad

 

[JohnRice]

I think it's time to resurrect the Revisits thread with a short bit on:
The Ring.
I saw this shortly after it came out on DVD and wasn't too impressed. I had heard over and over about this mystical, horrifying foreign film called Ringu for several months and I knew this was the tired old American remake. I also heard over and over how it paled in comparison to the original. Well, now I own both of them and I can say honestly that for two films with such similar story lines, they are quite different, but I do not think the original is better. The remake, in Hollywood tradition, is faster (though it is about 20 minutes longer) and much louder at times, but I personally like it better. The main reason is, it maintains the constant feel of dread that is so critical to a good horror film, rather than resorting to constant "jumps" without any real fear, like most Hollywood "Horror" films do these days.
The first time I saw it, I was seriously put off by the similarity to The Changeling in the "punch line" of the film. Later, it didn't bother me anymore. In the end, I think The Ring succeeds better than most horror films. One particularly disturbing scene, for me, came on the ferry ride. It also reaches a climax of sorts with one of the freakiest scenes I think I have ever seen. Very similar to, but I think superior to the same scene in the original. The only complaint I can think of compared to the original is that the original had one fairly important scene fleshing out Samara's character that was missing in the remake. There was a sort of replacement scene in the remake, but it was far more vague than in the original. In the end, I think both films are made better by seeing the other.
I am curious about the sequal and particularly the prequel that have been made to the original Ringu, though I'm not optimistic about the quality of any possible American versions of those.

 

[Andy Olivera]

John, what scene are you referring to that "fleshed out" Samara's character? I haven't seen the original, yet, but I'm very curious.

 

[JohnRice]

John, what scene are you referring to that "fleshed out" Samara's character? I haven't seen the original, yet, but I'm very curious.

 

[JohnRice]

Also, I finally watched the outtake reel last night. Despite opinions I have heard to the contrary, I think there were some important things in there that should have been left in the film. Probably a minute or two of Samara's background is all that was really needed and it would have strengthened the film.


BTW, how on earth did this film get a PG-13 rating? I think Ebert is right. The MPAA has lost their minds. A rather tame film like My First Mister gets an R for some language and this gets a PG-13. The inmates are running the asylum.

 

[SteveGon]

Since we're on a "horror" kick...
The Tenant (1976)
Directed by Roman Polanski.
Does Roman Polanski have some sort of apartment phobia? The Tenant is his third suspense film set in an apartment building. First came Repulsion wherein Catherine Deneuve went slowly insane, then came Rosemary's Baby with Mia Farrow popping out the son of Satan. Polanski himself stars in The Tenant as Trelkovsky, a mild-mannered clerk who lucks into a hard-to-find apartment after the previous tenant jumps out of a window. Not surprising really, considering how unfriendly the other residents are. The stern landlord warns Trelkovsky that he's expected to be quiet and not bring any women home. And Shelley Winters is the concierge - never a good sign. Now Trelkovsky is curious about the former occupant of his apartment so he visits her in the hospital where he's joined by her friend Stella (Isabelle Adjani, trying in vain to look frumpy). But the would-be-suicide, encased in a full body cast, is out of her head: one look at Trelkovsky and she screams bloody murder! What the hell is going on?
It isn't long before the tense and hostile atmosphere of the apartment building starts to wear on Trelkovsky. Paranoia sets in as he becomes convinced that the other tenants are out to get him. And why is there still a dress in his closet? His dementia becomes so pronounced that he even rebuffs Stella's romantic advances (you know you're crazy when you blow off a babe like Isabelle). It isn't long before he decides to take a swan dive as well...
To further elaborate would ruin the surprise of the truly twisted climax. Not to mention that bizarre ending which will have you scratching your head!
This is one of Polanski's best - don't miss it!
:star: :star: :star: 1/2
A Double Life (1947)
Directed by George Cukor.
The great Ronald Colman is Anthony John, a successful stage actor who is known for really getting into his roles. That's okay as the play he's currently starring in is a comedy. Nothing wrong with being too funny. Life is so good that Anthony and his ex-wife Brita (Signe Hasso) are even considering getting remarried. Then his agent dusts off Anthony's production of Othello. With his client's career on a high note, the agent feels the time is right for Anthony to play the Moor. Anthony resists the idea at first as a sense of foreboding washes over him. But he eventually relents and decides to stage the show. Naturally he's going to play the lead. And Brita will play Desdemona...
Things start off well. Anthony John's Othello opens to wide acclaim and the run goes on for years. Anthony even dallies with a floozy waitress (Shelley Winters again). But that habit Anthony has of getting too deep into character starts to get the better of him. And one of the women in his life will pay the price. Maybe both of them will...
Not much else needs to be said. A Double Life is a superb thriller highlighted by Ronald Colman's Oscar-winning performance. He was one of the greats and if you're not familiar with his work you owe it to yourself to check out his films. Miklos Rozsa's fine score also won a much-deserved Oscar. Don't miss this one!
:star: :star: :star: 1/2
Note: the DVD editions of The Tenant and A Double Life are both cheap and well worth a purchase.

 

[SteveGon]

Targets (1968)
Directed by Peter Bogdanovich.
"Hardly ever missed, did I?"
For my money, the low-budget directorial debut of Peter Bogdanovich is one of the best movies of the sixties. Targets is tense, unsettling, and sad. It is also, unfortunately, more relevant than ever.
Bobby Thompson (Tim O'Kelly) is as his name would indicate, an all-American boy. He's good-looking. He tools around in a Mustang convertible. He's got a pretty wife. His mother is sweet. Okay, so his father is a domineering dick - you can't have everything. One thing Bobby has in common with his dad is his love for guns. All kinds of guns. They hunt and target-shoot together. What a way to bond! But beneath Bobby's polite suburban demeanor lies a roiling sea of angst. He'll either implode or explode. And with all those guns around...
Meanwhile, in a nearby Hollywood screening room, aged horror movie star Byron Orlok (Boris Karloff, ostensibly playing himself) dismisses his latest film (Roger Corman's The Terror!) and announces his retirement. His kind of gothic horror can't hope to compete with the terrors of the modern world (can you say Charles Whitman or Vietnam?). Earnest young movie director Sammy Michaels (Bogdanovich, ostensibly playing himself) is shocked by Orlok's intent to retire - he's got a crackerjack script that would be perfect for his idol. He's also got the hots for Orlok's cute assistant Jenny (Nancy Hsueh). Where Orlok goes, Jenny goes. Sammy doesn't want to lose either of them so he takes it on himself to convince Orlok to rethink his decision...
Meanwhile, back in pastel surburbia, Bobby Thompson has gone off the deep end. After typing out a farewell note, he calmly shoots his wife, mother, and the grocery delivery boy. Then he packs a lunch, grabs a duffel bag stuffed with rifles and handguns, and heads out to the highway. After situating himself atop a storage tank, he proceeds to pick off one motorist after another. When that becomes untenable, he takes refuge in a drive-in theater...
Now it just so happens that Byron Orlok has agreed to make one final public appearance at that very same drive-in. And Bobby still has plenty of bullets. What will happen when an icon of gothic horror confronts the one thing that frightens even him?
As we all know from the nightly news, there are many Bobby Thompsons out there. What causes them to act as they do? Targets itself has no real answers - it merely shows. But by ultimately making us care about Bobby, it perhaps saves us from hating such people outright. I no longer see guys like Bobby as evil. I see them as deeply troubled individuals who have easy access to ways in which to vent their frustration in deadly fashion. I'm of the opinion that Targets should be screened in every high school in America. If it turns one lonely and troubled soul from a predilection for violence, it'd be worth it. If anything, that final haunting shot would do it.
"Is this what I was afraid of?"
:star: :star: :star: 1/2
Note: as with The Tenant and A Double Life, the Targets DVD is inexpensive and definitely worth a purchase.