Track the Films You Watch (2007) (1 Viewer)

[Mario Gauci]

12/01/07: AS YOUNG AS YOU FEEL (Harmon Jones, 1951) :star::star:1/2

Though released on DVD as part of Fox’s “Marilyn Monroe Collection”, her role – playing the spirited, though obviously dumb, secretary at a printing factory headed by Albert Dekker – is actually very brief. The film is an amusing, Capraesque comedy about 65 year-old printer Monty Woolley who refuses to accept the age imposition which sends him into retirement. The plot involves him impersonating the President of the corporation which owns the factory, paying them an unexpected visit and making a speech in which he retracts the current policy – thus enabling Woolley the printer to get back his job! Complications arise when David Wayne (fiancé of Woolley’s niece Jean Peters), who also works at the factory, recognizes him – but also with the attentions given Woolley by Dekker’s neglected wife Constance Bennett. The film features a solid supporting cast which includes Allyn Joslyn (as Woolley’s son), Thelma Ritter (as his wife, who’s proud of her Brooklyn origins), Clinton Sundberg (as Wayne’s ambitious colleague at the plant who could blow Woolley’s cover at any moment), Minor Watson (as the real President of the conglomerate) and a young Russ Tamblyn (playing Dekker and Bennett’s confused son). It’s a pleasant enough diversion – adapted by Lamar Trotti from a Paddy Chayefsky(!) story – given Fox’s typically polished (if fluffy) treatment.


12/01/07: WE’RE NOT MARRIED! (Edmund Goulding, 1952) :star::star:1/2

This is another early Marilyn Monroe picture; in this case, it’s a compendium of stories involving a handful of marriages – presided over by reliable Victor Moore – which are discovered to have been illegal because his term of office hadn’t yet officially started when the ceremony was performed! So, he’s made to send each of these a letter explaining the awkward situation and, according to where they stand at that particular moment in their married life, see how they decide to act upon it. The couples are played by Fred Allen and Ginger Rogers, David Wayne and Marilyn Monroe, Paul Douglas and Eve Arden, Louis Calhern and Zsa Zsa Gabor, and Eddie Bracken and Mitzi Gaynor. The least episode is the one with Douglas and Arden, where the latter becomes suspicious of just what goes on during the former’s business trips; the Calhern-Gabor episode is mildly interesting for having her turn out a schemer – planning to appropriate her husband’s fortune with the help of shyster lawyer Paul Stewart…until he’s saved by the propitious arrival of Moore’s letter!; Wayne has a hard time adjusting because of Monroe’s triumph in a “Mrs. Mississippi” contest – believing his troubles over when the marriage is revealed to have been null, his ‘wife’ promptly enrolls in a “Miss Mississippi” competition (which, naturally, she wins); Bracken is a soldier who goes AWOL in order to consolidate his wedding vows when it transpires that his child (whose birth is imminent) may be declared illegitimate – Lee Marvin appears briefly as Bracken’s buddy in this, one of the two most satisfying episodes; the other is the one featuring constantly-bickering pair Rogers and Allen, which unbearable situation threatens to sink their early-morning radio show (where they’re ironically billed as the ideal married couple)! Again, the film is handled with utmost professionalism – and is undeniably entertaining while it’s on – but which now feels dated and undistinguished.


12/04/07: PITTSBURGH (Lewis Seiler, 1942) :star::star:1/2

The star trio of THE SPOILERS (1942) – Marlene Dietrich, Randolph Scoot and John Wayne – were re-united for this one, but the resulting film isn’t as satisfactory or as well-regarded as that brawling Western saga. However, PITTSBURGH (which, naturally, deals with the coal industry) is still quite entertaining and, indeed, somewhat better than Leonard Maltin’s unflattering :star::star: review would suggest – he even calls it “slow” when, if anything, I’m of the opinion that the epic narrative involved (spanning several years) felt rushed in the film’s standard 91-minute duration!

That said, the film has problems: for one thing, Dietrich isn’t believable as a coal-miner’s daughter; also, being a wartime effort, it resorts to flag-waving in order to smoothen the conflicts between the various characters. In fact, Wayne is depicted as something of a tyrant (anticipating but not matching his role in Howard Hawks’ classic Western RED RIVER [1948]). Finally, reading the film’s credits through, I couldn’t help noticing the curious connection it has with the horror genre – not only would three cast members (Louise Albritton, Frank Craven and Samuel S. Hinds) appear together again in SON OF DRACULA (1943), but cinematographer Robert De Grasse later shot the Val Lewton masterpiece THE BODY SNATCHER (1945), while editor Paul Landres eventually graduated to director and helmed both THE VAMPIRE (1957) and THE RETURN OF DRACULA (1958)!


12/04/07: KING KONG ESCAPES (Inoshiro Honda, 1967) :star:1/2

KING KONG VS. GODZILLA (1963; which I recall having rated BOMB) had been my introduction to cult director’s Honda work; this one isn’t necessarily better – it’s just that I’ve learned to be more tolerant towards such intrinsically lowbrow fare!

Here, we actually get two Kongs for the price of one: an ugly and dopey-looking giant ape and a robot variation of it which looks even worse! The simian creature lives on the island of Mondo(!) – where it’s shown fighting a couple of other monsters, and befriends a trio of humans. Naturally, it falls for the blonde (and bland) heroine; in fact, more intriguing is a femme fatale in cahoots with the film’s villainous mad genius – called Dr. Who and sporting the anemic look and cape usually associated with a vampire!!

He kidnaps King Kong and hypnotizes it in order to retrieve the Element X, which is embedded in the icy wastes of the North Pole; apparently, the giant ape is more impervious to radiation than its mechanical counterpart (and, to ensure its full co-operation, Who even captures its three ‘companions’)! The female agent then has a change of heart, helps the heroes (one of whom, typically, is a nondescript American) and is killed by Who. Kong eventually escapes and makes it to Tokyo, where it has a final showdown with the robot. The doctor flees the ensuing mayhem in his sub – which, on a request by Kong’s dreamgirl, is summarily trashed by the giant ape.


12/06/07: LATITUDE ZERO (Inoshiro Honda, 1969) :star::star:

This is a bigger budgeted film than usual for genre director Honda (with more evidently elaborate sets) – though the special effects still have that distinctive cheesiness to them (witness the giant bats and rodents on display). It also utilizes a surprising number of American actors: Joseph Cotten playing the visionary scientist looks ill-at-ease and frail (but, then, his character is supposed to be 204 years old!), an innocuous Richard Jaeckel is the photographer hero while, as chief villains, we get Cesar Romero and Patricia Medina (both essentially campy). As I’ve often said, I grew up watching English-language films dubbed in Italian…but hearing Hollywood actors in Japanese is another thing entirely!

The film feels like a juvenile version of a typical Jules Verne adventure, and is fairly entertaining on that level; indeed, it’s preferable to Honda’s low-brow variations on the monsters-on-the-rampage formula because of the inherent quaint charm of the set-up in this case. The plot involves the kidnapping of a famous scientist by Romero – he was intended to establish himself in the underwater, technologically advanced city devised by Cotten (to which the world’s foremost minds are being recruited). We’re treated to plenty of silly battles between the rival subs, but the most amusing scenes are certainly the raid on Romero’s cave – in fact, Cotten doing somersaults and fending off men in rubber suits (via flames and laser emitted from his glove!) must surely count as the nadir of his acting career; the other elder in the cast, Romero, is more in his element – after all, he had been The Joker in the BATMAN TV series and movie of the 1960s! Cotten has a scantily-clad blonde physician on his team, and is assisted by a hulking Asian; Romero, on the other hand, is flanked by an Oriental femme fatale – who, however, ends up getting a raw deal for her efforts (the girl’s brain is eventually transplanted into a hybrid of lion and condor…which is among the phoniest-looking creatures you ever saw!). Apparently, a 2-disc set of this one from Media Blasters streets on this very day!!


12/07/07: RODAN (Inoshiro Honda, 1956) :star::star:

Being an early Toho monster film, I was particularly disappointed by this one – which, despite the addition of color, is a definite comedown from GOJIRA (1954). To begin with, it’s padded with irrelevant scenes (involving mine accidents and grieving widows – but, especially, the presence of another monster in the form of a clutch of giant caterpillars!). Also, it seems to me that Rodan’s look here differs from the pterodactyl’s later incarnations (judging from its appearance in DESTROY ALL MONSTERS [1968], which I’ve just watched); besides, its capacity to achieve supersonic speed in flight is rather laughable!

All things considered, the monster’s inevitable rampage on a Japanese city is spectacular enough…but, then, the film resolves itself in a frustratingly blah ending – with the pterodactyls (yes, we get two for the price of one) deciding to commit hara-kiri during a volcanic eruption! The version of RODAN that I’ve watched features the original Japanese dialogue: at 83 minutes, it’s longer than the 72-minute release prepared for U.S. consumption; even so, the accompanying Italian subtitles seem to have used the English version as source, since several lines of translated dialogue appear on screen (usually during longshots) when no one is actually speaking!


12/08/07: FRANKENSTEIN CONQUERS THE WORLD (Inoshiro Honda, 1965) :star::star:

If King Kong got to do battle with Godzilla, I guess that a Frankenstein vs. Baragon match is not that much of a stretch! We open with a crazy WWII prologue in which Nazi troops (on the verge of defeat) storm into a mad doctor’s lab, steal the container with Frankenstein’s heart still a-pumpin’ and drop it into the lap of their still-kicking Japanese allies stationed at Hiroshima!!

The creature (referred to as Frankenstein by virtually everybody throughout – even though it is made clear from the outset that this was in fact the name of its creator) starts off at normal size but grows to be a massive giant by the end of the film, which may be a new angle to the Frankenstein theme but seems to have been allowed simply in order to make the final showdown between the titans plausible! As can be expected, the latter delivers plenty of action but it goes on far too long; even worse, this (in which Baragon emerges the loser) is followed by yet another combat between the Frankenstein monster and a giant octopus (presumably the “Devilfish” referred to in one of the film’s alternate titles) – which creature comes out of nowhere (this sequence was actually cut from the U.S. release version)!

American star Nick Adams is once again the hero (as was the case with Honda’s own MONSTER ZERO [1965]) – he and a couple of other scientists (one of them a beautiful girl, naturally, and whom the creature seems to trust most of all) spend most of the running-time trying to convince the authorities that the Frankenstein monster is a testament to the art of science and that he should be allowed to live. Throughout the course of the film, it’s accused of being the perpetrator of a good deal of mayhem – until it transpires that Baragon is the real culprit! One of the funniest moments in the film is when the creature tries to catch a bird by hurling a tree at it(!), misses the target and lands on a cabin which is summarily flattened (to the gasping reaction of its owner standing nearby)!

As with a few of the other Hondas I watched recently – presented in the original Japanese language and accompanied by Italian subtitles – I missed out on a sizeable chunk of dialogue because the translated lines weren’t given sufficient time to register! Finally, watching the film I was reminded of other vulgarizations of classic horror myths made around this same time – such as BILLY THE KID VS. DRACULA (1966), the various Paul Naschy werewolf entries, and even Jess Franco’s DRACULA – PRISONER OF FRANKENSTEIN (1971) and THE EROTIC RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN (1972)…


12/08/07: THE WAR WAGON (Burt Kennedy, 1967) :star::star::star:

In the mid-1980s, an Italian TV channel showed a vintage Hollywood Western every Saturday night, which is where I first watched this enjoyable light-hearted genre caper. Although writer-director Kennedy would score an even greater success at the box office with his subsequent SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHERIFF (1968), this is arguably his best film. Incidentally, he was so adamant that Kirk Douglas should co-star in his movie that he gave away half his salary in order to appease the opposing studio chiefs! For the record, Kennedy would re-unite with his other leading man here, John Wayne, on the similarly-themed THE TRAIN ROBBERS (1973).

While Wayne and Douglas were on opposite sides with respect to political issues in real life, this was their third film together in as many years – following IN HARM’S WAY (1965) and CAST A GIANT SHADOW (1966). Wayne is his usual laconic and “big as life” self, but Douglas enjoys himself tremendously as a peerless safecracker with a grudge against Wayne – who allows himself to be hired by Cabot to gun down Wayne, all the while being in cahoots with the latter to rob Cabot’s heavily-guarded gold deposits! As a matter of fact, while Douglas was a much more versatile actor than his co-star, he did his fair share of Westerns himself over a period of 30 years – from Raoul Walsh’s ALONG THE GREAT DIVIDE (1951) to the Australian production THE MAN FROM SNOWY RIVER (1982) – and which include such notable examples as THE BIG SKY (1952), GUNFIGHT AT THE O.K. CORRAL (1957), LAST TRAIN FROM GUN HILL (1959), LONELY ARE THE BRAVE (1962) and POSSE (1975), in which Douglas directed himself and another co-star from the film under review (Bruce Dern).

Apart from the two Hollywood legends, THE WAR WAGON features a good cast of character actors – Howard Keel (amusing as an Indian crony of Wayne’s), Keenan Wynn (as the most ill-tempered member of the gang), Wayne regular Bruce Cabot (as a villainous tycoon) and Gene Evans (as a corrupt deputy); among the younger actors, then, we find Robert Walker Jr. (as the drunken explosives expert) and the afore-mentioned Dern (as one of Cabot’s henchmen). Dimitri Tiomkin’s score is suitably stirring in the right spots – and the title tune is quite pleasant, too. The last half hour, in which the robbery takes place, is the film’s most spectacular and exciting segment – culminating in that deliciously ironic conclusion.

THE WAR WAGON forms part of Universal’s “John Wayne: Screen Legend” set, and shares disc space with the much earlier but equally engaging Western THE SPOILERS (1942); overall, it is a more dignified and representative collection than the same studio’s previous set – “John Wayne: An American Icon” (both of which are 2-Discers each containing five of The Duke’s films).


12/08/07: DON’T TRUST YOUR HUSBAND (Lloyd Bacon, 1948) :star::star:1/2

Frankly, I was surprised to learn that the two stars of this obscure but engaging comedy – Fred MacMurray and Madeleine Carroll – had starred in four previous films together (all of which are, for that matter, even less well-known than this one and, curiously enough, directed by the same – here it comes again – little known director!). In fact, this was not only Carroll’s fifth and final teaming with MacMurray but also her penultimate film; that said, the two stars display a nice chemistry throughout.

The plot itself recalls to a certain degree the classic THE AWFUL TRUTH (1937), where a married couple starts divorce proceedings (and new affairs) but then decide they’re best suited for each other at the end. MacMurray is an advertising executive (a lot of comedies from this era were set in this milieu) and Carroll his somewhat neglected wife – he says that his constant delays at work involve business meetings, but she suspects the presence of another woman (being the type of comedy it is, she turns out to be right…and, to make matters worse, the girl – played by Louise Albritton – concerned is none other than an ex-flame of MacMurray’s!). In order to make her husband jealous, she hires an actor through an agency to flirt with her at a restaurant – but a waiter’s mistake lands her in the arms of a Southern tobacco tycoon (Charles “Buddy” Rogers)!

Anyway, the comic situations that ensue (typically, these usually involve misunderstanding and embarrassment) make for a pleasant and unassuming hour and a half; highlights include Rogers explaining to MacMurray how he applied logic to arrive at the name “Kim Zezyzle” for his brand of cigarettes, and Alan Mowbray – posing as Albritton’s husband during a dinner engagement for MacMurray’s benefit – constantly interrupting the sensitive conversation (even after Carroll has joined the table) to boorishly ask, “When do we eat?”


12/08/07: GUNG HO! (Ray Enright, 1943) :star::star:1/2

This fact-based war film (detailing the first ground assault on Japan following the attack on Pearl Harbor) is neatly divided into two parts – showing, first, the specialized training session of the carefully-chosen platoon (which is quite interesting) and the mission itself (displaying fairly standard heroics but well enough done nonetheless).

The film has been criticized for glamorizing what was essentially a band of cutthroats (Leonard Maltin even describes it as “a jaw-dropping experience”). Still, there was no doubt that any war picture made during this time wouldn’t ram propagandist slogans down the audience’s throat (witness Randolph Scott’s final straight-into-camera speech); ironically, even if the latter was the film’s nominal star, he’s rarely involved in the action proper – being there mainly to co-ordinate things, and repeatedly instigate his men to kill every Jap on the island!).

The supporting cast is good, made up of veteran character actors – J. Carroll Naish, Sam Levene – and newcomers – notably Robert Mitchum; however, a fair share of the running-time is unwisely devoted to the romantic triangle involving a girl and two soldiers who happen to be half-brothers (one of them played by Noah Beery Jr.) – all of which has a quite deadening effect on the main narrative! Despite being a relatively early WWII film, the action sequences are surprisingly gutsy – though accentuated on occasion by obvious stock footage.


12/09/07: BATTLE ROYALE II: REQUIEM (Kinji Fukasaku and Kenta Fukasaku, 2003) :star::star:

I recall liking BATTLE ROYALE (2000), finding it original and surprisingly hip for a veteran director like Kinji Fukasaku. Its success guaranteed an eventual sequel – which came about three years later. Unfortunately, the director passed away prior to the end of shooting and the film was completed by his son Kenta.

However, the result is hardly worth the effort: beginning well enough, with a busload of rebellious students kidnapped and forced at gunpoint to enroll in the second installment of the “Battle Royale”, they’re later taken to the island where the survivors of the first ‘game’ have taken refuge and built an army to eliminate all grown-ups. The ragged and frightened platoon starts out at 42, but their number is decreased by more than half soon after they land. After an initial confrontation with the ‘enemy’, the two armies decide to join forces and take on their collective ‘oppressor’!

The tiresomely long film alternates between violent action sequences – shot in the dizzying hand-held style which has, regrettably, become the norm – speechifying, sentimentality, and a few flashbacks to the soldiers’ past lives (including the daughter of the Takeshi Kitano character from the first film: the popular actor/director himself puts in a very brief appearance here). All of this makes for a confused and pretentious outing – rendered even more ludicrous by the outrageously over-the-top performance of the actor playing the kids’ teacher.

 

[PatW]

Shallow Ground (2004) :star: :star:

I should stay away from horror movies. They just aren't my cup of tea. This one was almost watchable until I found out who was committing the murders.

13 Going on 30 (2004) :star: :star: :star: 1/2

A sweet movie made watchable by Jennifer Garner's engaging performance. Nothing new here but a good family film.


Snow Cake (2006) :star: :star: :star: :star: 1/2

What an amazing film. Alan Rickman plays an emotionally wounded man who gives a lift to a teenage hitchhiker. After being involved in an accident where the young woman is killed, Alex goes to visit the mother played by Sigourney Weaver who happens to be autistic. Alex agrees to stay long enough to help with the funeral arrangements.

A co UK/Canadian production, this is an amazing piece of work. Weaver gives a wonderful performance as Linda the woman suffering from autism.
She really encompassed the part and it wasn't as mannered as the performance that Dustin Hoffman gave in Rainman, another amazing movie. My heart nearly broke for her when she calmly seems to accept her daughter's death matter-of-factly because that's all she capable of feeling. The best performance though was Alan Rickman as Alex a man with a terrible secret in his past. You can feel his loneliness and heartbreak. A wonderful performance by a gifted actor. I had never heard of this one before and it's well worth checking out.


Van Helsing (2004) :star::star::star:

I know this is an unpopular opinion but I enjoyed this movie. I know that it is ridiculous and over the top most of the time but I view it as campy fun. I guess you could say it's so stupid but I view it as a guilty pleasure of mine.

 

[Michael Elliott]

12/09/07

Frosty the Snowman (1969) :star::star::star:1/2

Jimmy Durante narrates the story of Frosty and how he came to be. This is one I've seen several times before and it's just as delightful now as it was when I was a kid. The animation is good, the story great and Durante does a terrific job with the title song.

Frosty Returns (1992) :star:1/2

Poor follow up has Frosty (John Goodman) returning but he's threatened by a scientist (Brian Doyle Murray) who invents a snow melting spray. Jonathan Winters narrates this film, which is incredibly dull throughout. The story is weak and unfunny, the characters boring and the songs are horrible.

Rural Hungary (1939) :star::star:

Traveltalk short, which shows how Hungary moves forward for the future while still remaining true to their roots. I've seen around ten of these Traveltalk shorts and I'm sure they were good when released but today they just feel dated and have been replaced by better documents. The Technicolor locations are certainly the highlight.

Elephant (2003) :star::star::star::star:

Gun Van Zant's haunting and powerful look at a handful of teenagers at school leading up to a deadly shooting clearly inspired by the Columbine massacre. I'm not sure if I'd call this a flat out masterpiece but it's pretty damn close. The non-actors used was a terrific decision by Van Zant because it adds to us getting to know them and we're not distracted by any named actor who would clearly become the star of the film. The poetic camera movements just pulled me into this hypnotic imagery, which is somber at every turn and just grows sadder as the film moves along since we know where it's going to end. Van Zant also wisely doesn't glamorize any of the characters, which is important since I personally didn't see any type of message here. I think this film could have been used to display all sorts of messages but instead it's just a filmmaker with a camera and telling a story. The film isn't about weak kids taking revenge or about innocent kids being killed. The film isn't really about anything except for the sudden outbreak of violence, which can pop up at anytime and anywhere. The way Van Zant takes all the stories and blends them together is something we've seen countless times before but the director makes it all seem very original and unique here. A lot of films would try to answer questions but this one doesn't, which I think is another great move because we can never really understand the reasons behind these violent outbursts. It could have been the bullying, it might have been depression or it might have just been something to do for fun. To say this film is brave would be an understatement but balls isn't something common among films today and this one here certainly has them.

12/10/07

They Call it Sin (1932) :star::star::star:

A New York business man (David Manners) goes to a small farm town to close on a deal and meets a young woman (Loretta Young). Even though he has a fiance back in NY, the two quickly fall in love but when he has to go back the woman follows him, which just leads to more problems. This is a rather charming romantic drama, which features some fine performances as well as several nice romantic touches. Both Young and Manners are terrific together with Young bringing that beauty to the screen, which always works well with her tender touch as an actress. This is also the best I've ever seen Manners who manages to be very charming and sweet without going over the top. George Brent and Una Merkel add nice support. Being a Warner film, there's an added murder subplot added on towards the end, which really wasn't needed but the film ends in an unexpected way, which makes up for that silly turn.

Stephen Fry: HIV & Me Pt. 1 (2007) :star::star::star:1/2

Actor Stephen Fry does a personal journey through Britain trying to understand why HIV infections are going up. The documentary focuses on gays, straights and various other groups including teenagers and their thoughts on safe sex. It's rather shocking how stupid a lot of people are towards this disease and it's more shocking when you hear from some of these people on why they don't protect themselves. One woman is interviewed about sleeping with various men a week and yet she sees no reason to protect herself. Fry does a great job asking all the right questions and at times he lets his anger go towards the people who are making the problem worse.

Island in the Sky (1953) :star::star::star:

William A. Wellman directed this suspenseful disaster film about a pilot (John Wayne) who must keep his crews spirits up after their plane crash lands in the Canadian arctic. This is certainly one of the better disaster films out there due to the director bringing a lot of suspense and a screenplay, which is a lot smarter than what we normally see in this type of film. The film's one big flaw is some humor, which really isn't needed but other than that this film is near the top of the genre. The performances are all terrific and a lot of fun due to the terrific supporting cast, which includes Lloyd Nolan, James Arnest, Harry Carey, Jr., Sean McClory, Wally Cassell and Robert Keys. Andy Devine nearly steals the film as the big guy in the search group. Then there's John Wayne who people will debate on how good of an actor he really was. I think he's always great playing that John Wayne persona but there are a few cases where he breaks out of that and really brings a truly great performance and I think that's the case here. It was great seeing Wayne play emotions like desperation, fear and his crying scene was highly moving. I think this is one of his better performances as he showed several emotions, which were a real stretch from what we normally see. Even the simple scenes of him saying a prayer pack a real punch due to the heart and feeling in his voice. The most impressive thing Wellman brings as a director is how realistic everything seems. The opening scene with the plane falling apart as ice builds up was brilliantly done and the way the director makes you feel the cold that the characters are going through really nails the coffin down.

10/11/07

Boob, The (1926) :star::star:

William A. Wellman directed this comedy about a farm boy (George K. Arthur) who has his dreams dumped on when the girl he loves (Gertrude Olmstread) falls for a bootlegger. This film is heavily influenced by Keaton, Lloyd and Chaplin but it never reaches those heights because it's just not that funny. The funny joke is that the film takes place in the 1920s and an old cowboy makes the farm boy dress up as if it were the 1820s. There are a few funny moments but for the most part all the jokes fall flat on their face. Arthur makes for a rather poor leading man but Joan Crawford is good in her small role. Olmstread is decent in her role but it's another role where our hero falls for a woman who is a bitch throughout the movie. The one thing that sets this film apart is that Arthur's best friend in the movie is a small black boy and the film never plays down to racial jokes or racial stereotypes, which is certainly rare for this era.

Into the Wild (2007) :star::star::star::star:

Sean Penn's magical film based on the life of Christopher McCandless (Emile Hirsch) who after graduating college donated his life savings to charity so that he could go on a tour year tour of the country, which would leave him alone and dead at the age of 24 in the wilderness of Alaska. With both The Indian Runner and The Crossing Guard Penn showed signs of greatness but both films were highly flawed. With The Pledge he showed that he could create a masterpiece and he's done that yet again with this film, which is one of the most refreshing, spiritual and magical films of recent memory. I guess you could call this a message film but that might be an insult since the movie is so much more than that. I'm not sure I could put into words all the meanings behind the movie but it certainly makes you think about your life as the character is doing as he's going on with his journey of trying to find something, which he might have had all along but just didn't notice it. Penn's direction is terrific throughout as he tells the story of this young man and the director doesn't hit a wrong note throughout the 150-minutes. The music score contains classic songs as well as new acoustic material by Eddie Veddar and really captures the mood and freeness of the film. The cinematography is downright beautiful from start to finish and really captures the beauty of the various locations. The greatest thing are the performances, which are all very rich and certainly worth of Oscar talk. Hirsch goes through a lot of changes both physically and mentally and the actor perfectly captures all of this. The way he goes from the free child to simply a child lost in the world was incredibly touching. The supporting performances are just as great and features William Hurt and Marcia Gay Harden as his parents, Brian Dieker and Catherine Kenner as a hippie couple and Vince Vaughn as a hard drinking man who gives Hirsch a job. Hal Holbrook is also very touching as an old man who realizes that he hasn't fully lived his life after tragedy hit him. As with Penn's previous films, this is a very serious look at life, love and the meaning of it all and the director doesn't pull any punches. Penn has been given credit for being one of the greatest actors of his generation but he's quickly becoming one of the greatest directors out there. This isn't a movie for dummies as it forces the viewers to think and there's not a better movie out there for that.

 

[42nd Street Freak]

It's the Black man vs. the White Klan in "Brotherhood of Death"!

http://www.beardyfreak.com/rvbrotherhood.php

Black Vietnam vets takes on the local KKK crackers in his cult Blackploitation effort that, despite some good acting and a fun (if often surprisingly serious) and solid script, ultimately fails to deliver what it could, and should, have delivered given that great premise.

A lack of action, a dreadful scrubby forest 'Nam stand-in, and a general shortage of exploitation thrills would have been okay (as the build-up is engaging enough) if only the promised 'Brothers takes on The Klan' greatness we have been waiting for was longer than 10 minutes!

When it arrives the anticipated showdown delivers a bit of bloodshed and some great sights of KKK guys blasting away with shotguns in the night, as our GI Joe's take them on...but ultimately it's all too little, too short, too late given how much our appetites have been wetted.

Could have been a classic but manages only to be mostly average fare with a couple of stand-out moments buried within.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

The Ringer (2005) :star:

Pretty awful movie about a young man (Johnny Knoxville of "Jackass" "fame") who needs to make big cash to help out a friend, so he pretends to be a mentally challenged person to gain admission into the Special Olympics to win the prize money. I am actually surprised this movie got made and released at all, given how uptight the politically correct world is today. Truthfully though, I was hoping it would be at least funny in the daring way a film like BORAT had been, and it's not very. Among the cast are some mentally challenged actors. Edward Barbanell, an actor with Down Syndrome, is quite good in his part. I couldn't take my eyes off that adorable Katherine Heigl, who I fell in love with recently after seeing KNOCKED UP, and who plays a counselor here working with the "special people". This would have easily ranked a Zero for me if not for her cuteness.



Skyjacked (1972) :star::star:1/2

Very much in the vein of the AIRPORT disaster films of the '70s, this one has Charlton Heston as the captain of a Boeing 707 who must contend with a crazed Vietnam vet (James Brolin) who takes over the flight. Pretty good if nothing outstanding, with Brolin the standout in his part. Of course there are also celeb passengers on the flight who were popular in the day, like Roosevelt Grier, Susan Dey, Mariette Hartley, Walter Pidgeon, and Leslie Uggams.



The Last Hard Men (1976) :star::star:1/2

Pretty ordinary western with Charlton Heston as an aging lawman who goes back in the saddle to capture a former rival of his who's just escaped from a chain gang (James Coburn). Barbara Hershey plays Chuck's daughter who is kidnaped by Coburn to keep Heston on his toes. There are some graphic sequences here and there, and I did like composer Jerry Goldsmith's main theme.



Fred Claus (2007) :star::star::star:

My wife and I took our niece to the theater for this and it was a good time. Vince Vaughn plays the lead role of Fred, the grouchy and disgruntled brother of the real Santa Claus (Paul Giamatti). When things get tough one year up at the North Pole where Santa lives, he sends for his estranged brother to visit him and help out. It seems a nasty efficiency man (Kevin Spacey) is about to shut Santa's massive toymaking operation down permanently if certain standards are not maintained, and this low-life is doing everything he can to make sure things never straighten out. I usually don't like Spacey, but he was perfect for this part and I enjoyed the whole cast too, in fact. I found this funny and festive, with something to say about what hurt feelings and mistreatment can do to turn good people bad. I especially got a kick out of a scene featuring a "Syblings Anonymous" type of meeting for disgruntled brothers, where some famous faces made cameos. Good music throughout as well, and not all of it necessarily being Christmas tunes.



Miracle on 34th Street (1973) BOMB

I love the original 1947 film and I just despised this totally needless made-for-TV rehash. Sort of fitting to have Sebastian Cabot as Kris Kringle (but he can't match the delight of Edmund Gwenn), and I always like an appearance by Roddy McDowall (trying his best here to little avail as the psychiatrist)... but Jane Alexander and TV personality David Hartman were just TERRIBLE as the bland leads. Same holds true for the boring young actress who plays the crucial role of little Susan (that being the rather plain Suzanne Davidson). These three dead weights can't hold a candle to the original's Maureen O'Hara, John Payne and Natalie Wood. Elements of the original classic are just covered routinely out of obligation, and this is one boring and non-festive experience which doesn't even feel like Christmas much of the time.

 

[Brook K]

I watched Brotherhood of Death a few months ago. One of the interesting things about it is that the billboard advertising the KKK was real. They found it in the town when they showed up to shoot.

 

[42nd Street Freak]

Yeah i mentioned that in my review...what I don't know though is why there are 4 K's on it?
It says KKKK.
Anyone know what that other 'K' is??

 

[PatW]

Written on the Wind (1956) :star: :star: :star: 1/2

This soap opera like story is about the reformed drunk son of an oil tycoon who suspects that his best friend is having an affair with his wife.

Both Dorothy Malone and Robert Stack give wonderful performances as brother and sister. Marylee played by Malone is in love with Mitch played by Rock Hudson but through jealousy tells her brother that Mitch may be having an affair with his wife, played by Lauren Becall, another good performance. Both Hudson and Becall are adequate but not up to the acting chops of Malone and Stack at least in this movie. Directed by Douglas Sirk this type of movie must have been quite popular in the 1950's but it's nothing more than a glorified soap with great acting.

 

[42nd Street Freak]

"An Innocent Man" -

Criminally underrated Tom Selleck flick made when he was trying to push away from his family friendly "Magnum" image.

Despite this it's very well acted by all concerned (David Rasche is particularly excellent as the corrupt Cop with a very short psychotic fuse and shows, when compared to his equally excellent turn in "Sledge Hammer" how good and underused an actor he is), is very well made, intelligent and with a well paced and believable plot-line as far as the change in Selleck's character is handled as he succumbs to being set-up and thrown in prison for 3 years.

Very nice support as well by the infamously underused F. Murray Abraham who never fails to deliver and has perhaps suffered one of the worst post Oscar winning (for a genuinely superb performance in the majestic "Amadeus") career profile dive in history.

Well worth a look.

 

[PatW]

Dune (2000) :star: :star: :star: :star:

Well made mini-series of my favourite series of Sci-fi books. Though I have alot of affection for David Lynch's Dune, I do prefer this version.

I think the acting on average is better. Though I prefer Kyle Maclaughlin as Paul Atreides, Alec Newman did an adequate enough job. I can't for the life of me understand why they had him drop his accent when everybody else seemed to keep theirs. Saskia Reeves and Ian McNiece were especially effective in their respective roles. I have friends that find this series quite confusing. I disagree, but then I have the benefit of having read the books.

The worms were magnificiently done. Exactly the look I would expect them to have. I felt the sets were well done too, though an annoying reddish glow was present at times. All and all, a well done mini-series.


Talk of the Town (1942) :star: :star: :star: :star:

One of my favourite Cary Grant comedies that has a message. The dialogue is witty and intelligent and the acting of the three leads couldn't be better. Though bringing up baby is my favourite Grant movie, this one is a close second.

 

[Michael Elliott]

12/12/07

Lions for Lambs (2007) :star::star:

Robert Redford directs this political thriller about the war in Iraq, which takes a look at the war through three different sets of eyes. Story one: A school teacher (Redford) tries to talk a talented student that he could do something special to change the future in our country. Story two: A hot-shot Senator (Tom Cruise) does an interview with a smart journalist (Meryl Streep) as he lays on her his new plan of attack in Afghanistan. Story three: Two of Redford's previous students (Michael Pena, Andrew Garfield) are now fighting in Afghanistan and are caught behind enemy lines. These three small stories make up the majority of dialogue, which is all political and all of which comes off rather boring and childish. There are some tough questions asked but for the most part the film doesn't offer anything we could see and hear on CNN, Fox or MSNBC. The film is incredibly disappointing since Redford's previous films were mostly great but I'm really not sure what happened here. The movie runs a short 88-minutes and stays to the point throughout but in the end there really wasn't any point at all. Nothing is said, done or learned at the end of the movie and I walked out wondering what the point of the movie was. For the most part Redford and the screenplay treat both sides fairly with both given good and bad points. Another shocking thing is that three great actors like Redford, Streep and Cruise don't really give that memorable of performances. Both Pena and Garfield as the soldiers steal the film and are in the best moment of the movie when they stand up in Redford's college class and talk about poor kids entering the war and why a draft is needed. Redford and Streep both get one scene where they shine but for the majority of the film they are on standard mode. Cruise is one of my favorite current actors but he's really out of place in his role and his scenes with Streep certainly drag the film down badly. The music score is one impressive thing but that's not enough to keep this movie going, although the ending is handled nicely by Redford.

United States Navy Band, The (1943) :star::star:
United States Service Bands, The (1943) :star::star:

Two shorts, the first from Warner and the second from MGM, which shows bands performing as we also see some stock footage of various battles. These two shorts are almost identical in content and entertainment value. The music is pretty good in both but the stock footage shown really doesn't pack that much of a punch since there are better documents out there with this footage.

Eyes of the Navy (1943) :star::star:1/2

Pretty good short from MGM shows the daily routine of men preparing to enter war. There's some pretty good footage of the men training in various machines that will get them ready for flight. There's a great sequence of how the men learn to fly in stormy weather.

12/13/07

I'm Not There (2007) :star::star:1/2

Bob Dylan is without a doubt my favorite musician so I should probably mention this first. I've read countless books, have all the albums and at one time I owned every live concert that he had done (and was available) from 1961-2004. I've watched every documentary and I've even seen him live seventeen times over the past eight years and plan on seeing him more this upcoming year. With that said, I was highly looking forward to this film but at the same time I was a little worried at what they were going to do with it. As with Dylan the man, the legend and his music, this film is 100% weird and I'm not saying that in a good way. Bunuel, Fellini and countless other foreign directors who work on the words surreal and weird would probably also be confused by this film.

The film tells seven different stories in Dylan's life and all seven periods are played by a different actor. You have the pre-fame farm boy (Marcus Carl Franklin), the folk singer (Christian Bale), the man who settles down with a family (Heath Ledger), the 'jerk' who dared to go from folk to rock (Cate Blanchett), an actor playing Billy the Kid (Richard Gere), the sunglass wearing guy being interviewed (Ben Whishaw) and the born again Christian (Bale again). These various stages of Dylan take over the film, which is full of songs from throughout the legends career and we get to see various historical events from the Newport Folk Festival to his "Judas" concert to his eventual divorce and his motorcycle wreck. We also see him turning The Beatles onto grass, hanging with Joan Baez and just about everything else.

I'm really not sure where to stand because I really appreciate the balls writer/director Todd Haynes brings to the film. We've seen countless bio pics of musicians since the early days of cinema but there's certainly never been anything like this. The entire film plays out like an acid trip and it never really makes a bit of sense unless you know your Dylan history from start to finish. I appreciate all the various technical things done with the film from the director trying to make the 60's footage look like Don't Look Back and capture the drug state mind of Dylan. I also appreciate all the performances, although they quite often come off as weird but this is to be expected since Dylan is a pretty weird guy anyways. Blanchett is getting a lot of praise, which is certainly deserved but I think Ledger gives the best performance of the bunch. The stuff dealing with Dylan and his wife Sara (here called Claire ala Dylan's Renaldo and Clara) is clearly the best story being told. It's not shocking that this story is the one that doesn't go all out on the weirdness but instead tells a pretty good love story. The music, needless to say, is great and features some of Dylan's biggest hits as well as some lesser known titles. There are a couple covers used, which were perfect for the film and greatly captures the mood that their set.

Even with all that said, I'd be lying if I said this movie entertained me. I'm really going to need at least one other viewing to make my mind up but the film was really frustrating and for the life of me I'm not sure who is going to eat this film up. Unless you know your Dylan history from start to finish then I'm sure you're going to get lost or not see everything that's going on. I know all about the history of events being played here so I followed the movie very easily but at other times things were thrown in that I really had to think hard about what it was. Richard Gere gives a very good performance but I think this segment is the weakest. This takes place during Dylan's retirement of 1967-1973 and it really pushes things too far. The point of the protest singer hiding and not fighting anymore is fine but the way the film is told just doesn't work. Another thing that doesn't work is in fact the entire film, which is very uneven to say the least. Everything on the screen is great but at the same time it really doesn't add up and hold itself together. I'm sure some people might walk into this expecting to finally get a chance to understand Dylan but they'll leave disappointed.

Haynes uses some big moments in Dylan's life but he also throws in some very small stuff from dialogue from unpopular songs to even borrowing some shots from lesser known Dylan movies. The way he introduces the legend of Dylan turning The Beatles onto weed is rather funny as is the scene where Dylan pukes, which is borrowed from Eat the Document. As much as I admire this film I can't help but really be turned off by it as well. Perhaps I was too busy catching all the small nods, which most people will miss and this took away from me enjoying the film more. I'm not sure but that's why another viewing is needed. However, I just can't imagine someone with little knowledge of the man walking out of this understanding what the hell is going on. On a technical side, the film is brilliant but in the end it just doesn't add up.

Safe in Hell (1931) :star::star::star:

Warner Pre-Code from director William A. Wellman about a prostitute (Dorothy Mackaill) who kills a former lover and then takes off with her current lover (Donald Cook). The sailor/lover takes her to an island where she can live without fear of being arrested since the local sheriff gives shelter to criminals. This sounds good but it isn't because she's the only white woman on an island full of criminals and all of them have ideas for her. What really stands out about this film is all the sexuality that Wellman throws out the screen and this film is certainly one of the dirtier films of the era. As expected, there's a scene with Mackaill undressing for the camera and a see through night gown. We also get a scene where the men spread their legs out as they watch the woman with a high sexual tone. Not to mention another scene where the men look up her dress as she walks up some steps. Mackaill is very, very good in her role as she blends sex and a toughness, which makes these films so memorable. The supporting cast is also very good but the story is pretty standard and lacking. There's not too much drama as the screenplay seems a tad bit lazy but this is still worth watching due to all the sexuality.

12/14/07

Romantic Riviera (1951) :star::star:1/2

Traveltalk short showing off the French Riviera, which includes looks at Nice, Cannes and Villefranche. This is a mildly entertaining document of the times which this takes place but that's about it. Again, I'm sure this short was great when first released but today it just seems a tad bit dated.

Purchase Price, The (1932) :star::star:

Pre-Code from Warner has Barbara Stanwyck playing a cabaret singer who goes on the lam to escape her gangster boss (Lyle Talbot). The singer eventually signs on to become a mail order bride and ends up on a South Dakota farm married to a man (George Brent) who doesn't know what he's gotten into. William A. Wellman directed this film but he brings very little flare to the film but most of the movie's issues are due to the screenplay, which never gets too exciting and it seems the writer didn't know what type of movie he wanted. The film goes from comedy to drama in a way that it seems like the screenplay was all over the place and didn't know which way to go. The comedy mostly comes from stereotypes of people in South Dakota, which makes it seem like they just crawled out of bed with their mothers. The drama comes from Stanwyck and Brent not being able to work out their marriage even though she eventually falls in love with him. This here is a big problem because Brent plays an incredible jerk throughout the movie so it's hard to believe this woman would fall for him. The three leads all give good performances and we get your typical Pre-Code stuff with Stanwyck undressing. The best scene in the movie is a terrific fist fight between Brent and Talbot.

 

[Mario Gauci]

Mike,


We haven’t talked in a while, so there’s quite some ground to cover:


Re: Early John Ford

As I’ve said in the past, my long-held estimation of John Ford as the all-time greatest American film-maker has been overtaken (in the last decade or so) by that of his still underrated rival, Howard Hawks…which perhaps explains why I only have about half-a-dozen of his films on DVD. Still, I am very much interested in that massive (and massively bold, I might add) set from Fox which ought to provide me with the chance to finally catch up with several major (but lesser-known) Ford films like THE IRON HORSE (1924), THREE BAD MEN (1926), JUDGE PRIEST (1934), WEE WILLIE WINKIE (1937) and TOBACCO ROAD (1941)…not to mention that rare, early, maligned, one-off screen teaming of Humphrey Bogart and Spencer Tracy, UP THE RIVER (1930)! Of course, the purchase price of the whole 21-Disc Set, my storage capabilities and the fact that I have to unload a few of the Ford titles I already own will all play a part on when I will eventually spring for this collection but the best of intentions are there...


Re: THIS LAND IS MINE (1943)

Of Jean Renoir’s five official Hollywood movies, this is probably the least talked about so it’s nice to know that you thought so highly of it; personally, I’d still say it’s his least interesting of the bunch but I do think it is a good film nevertheless; incidentally, I’ve just picked up Renoir’s THE SOUTHERNER (1945) via the VCI DVD (which was on sale from their website along with their entire catalogue) but I’ve yet to receive it. Besides, while I do have Renoir’s two Hollywood dark horses (and arguably his most fascinating studio work) on VHS – THE DIARY OF A CHAMBERMAID (1946) and THE WOMAN ON THE BEACH (1947) – I do hope that they will eventually make it to DVD, if only to get them more widely seen, noticed, discussed and re-evaluated.


Re: ISLAND IN THE SKY (1953)

Surprisingly, the long-unavailable Batjac releases from Paramount were very nicely-stacked DVDs – and I’ve only just added PLUNDER OF THE SUN (1953) and William A. Wellman’s unique TRACK OF THE CAT (1954) to my collection a short while ago, while passing on the two lesser, bare-bones discs from the “Suspense Collection”; while I had no big expectations of ISLAND IN THE SKY, I actually preferred it to its more celebrated, influential, award-winning companion piece, THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY (1954), despite giving them both a :star::star::star: rating…and I’d much sooner revisit the former than the vastly overlong latter.


Re: Bob Dylan

I never cease to be amazed (not to mention envious of having seen him in concert so many times) with your passion for everything Dylan and your ardent review of I’M NOT THERE (2007) only serves to elucidate this further; while I am aware of the major phases and incidents in Bob Dylan’s long and illustrious career, I’m not sure I can lead myself unguided through the labyrinthine narrative of Todd Haynes’ film…but I’m sure it’s worth a try when the thing, hopefully, makes the theatrical circuit over here. Ironically, I did miss out on the would-be The Beatles’ extravaganza ACROSS THE UNIVERSE (2007) despite the high praise lavished on it by a Maltese friend of mine!



Joe,


Re: Charlton Heston

Earlier this year I too had a hankering for Chuck’s films and, as a matter of fact, I acquired several of them for my personal collection – RUBY GENTRY (1952), ARROWHEAD (1953), THE NAKED JUNGLE (1954), DIAMOND HEAD (1963), THE OMEGA MAN (1971), SKYJACKED (1972; the only one from this bunch which I haven’t seen yet), SOYLENT GREEN (1973), AIRPORT 1975 (1974), EARTHQUAKE (1974), MIDWAY (1976), TWO-MINUTE WARNING (1976), GRAY LADY DOWN (1978), THE AWAKENING (1980) and IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS (1995).


Re: MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET

When director Bob Clark died tragically earlier this year, I promised myself that this year at Christmas-time I’d finally add to my collection some of the perennial Yuletide favorites on DVD, namely the original MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947), the Alastair Sim version of SCROOGE (1951), Clark’s A CHRISTMAS STORY (1983) and GREMLINS (1984); unfortunately, the only one of these I actually did acquire was SCROOGE…but, by the looks of it, VCI’s 2-Disc Set won’t even reach me in time for the festivities!! However, at the local DVD rental shop, I recently noticed another TV version of MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET – shot by Walt Disney regular Robert Stevenson in 1955 and starring Thomas Mitchell as Kris Kringle…of which I wasn’t aware at all until now; I guess that version will have to do for now…


Re: Inoshiro Honda

Frankly, I am surprised you haven’t commented yet on my recent spate of reviews of Inoshiro Honda’s films…unless you missed them, was not personally familiar with those films or perhaps chose to ignore them because, evidently, I did not enjoy them as much as I was supposed to but rather went on about their technical deficiencies and that sort of thing…

 

[Michael Elliott]

My mother's fiance and I passed up on ACROSS THE UNIVERSE, which was at the dollar theater, in order to watch I'M NOT THERE because we feared it might be out of the theater by the end of last week but it turns out it stuck around another week while ACROSS is now out of the city. Needless to say, he couldn't follow the film. There were eleven others in the theater and it seemed they too were lost in the story because towards the final hour they gave up and started talking to one another trying to figure it out. I'm really shocked by all the great reviews this film is getting because there's some very rare things in this movie that the majority of people aren't going to pick up on. I mean, some of the stuff won't be known unless you have various bootlegs to where this stuff is mentioned.

Either way, I plan on trying to hit the theaters more in the upcoming weeks to check out these "Oscar" movies. GONE BABY GONE, LARS AND THE REAL GIRL and MICHAEL CLAYTON all started at the local dollar theater this weekend so I plan on watching all three.

Re: ISLAND IN THE SKY or Wellman in general

I've been recording all of Wellman's films from TCM and watched three more last night including the very good HEROES FOR SALE and WILD BOYS OF THE ROAD. I'm really starting to enjoy the director's work a lot more and have more titles lined up including THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY.

Re: Christmas titles

I've been trying to catch up on some of these but as of now I'd say the 1983 version of A CHRISTMAS CAROL is my favorite.

Re: Ford

Once again, I've got several more of his titles lined up here but I'm not sure when I'll get to them. I've had a boot of UP THE RIVER sitting here since the start of the year but never watched it due to rumors of it being included in the box set.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

The reason would mostly be the latter (though I am not familiar with LATITUDE ZERO or even the original RODAN). What more is there for me to say, really? I mean, you just don't seem to be able to have a fun time with these types of movies, which I've already suggested a few times in the past. Different strokes for different folks, and all that. However, when you say above that perhaps I felt you didn't enjoy them "as much as you were supposed to", I'd have to say that, on the contrary, if anything you were more in line with following the "supposed to" guideline by NOT enjoying them!

 

[42nd Street Freak]

"Black Christmas" (orig)

This is not so much underrated as overrated.

**SPOILERS**

So many problems:
The humour is all used in the wrong places and context and takes up whole scenes for no purpose.

The entire time spent with the missing girl's father should be serious and suspenseful...Instead Bob Clarke seems to have decided to make "Porkys" a bit earlier;
The uptight older guy who looks like a headmaster tutting in disapproval at the drunken, naughty goings on and rude posters.
OOOOH! Scary stuff.
Intercut with shots of said girl's corpse though...
Yeah, but who cares!??
If the director is not going to care about the dead girl or take her death seriously enough not to make a comedy film in-between the close-ups of her dead face, why the hell should we care?

An entire 5 minute scene is also spent watching the annoying house mother bitch and moan and put her hat on (!) which exists purely so she can swear at the end as 'comedy father' pops his head up to hear her.

Please! Is this a horror film or not?

Hell fire! We have just had the corpse of a 13 year old girl found murdered, in the middle of the night, in the middle of a plot with a killer stalking girls and a corpse in the attic and what happens????
WE HAVE JOKES BETWEEN THE COPS ABOUT ORAL SEX !!

Terrifying.

And of course the real BIG ONE.
The Police are having a mass search for the girl.
All stops pulled out. Time, money, resources....
But hey! Did no one simply think of actually looking in the house where she was staying and that she was never seen leaving!!??
And even at the end they never check the house and leave THE witness to the case, who has just killed a man, lying asleep in her bed completely alone in the house!

I also disliked Hussey's character (which is not good for how the film plays, she is meant to be the one we really care for) as she followed this fetid 70's feminist line about the father of a child not mattering or having any valid input into the abortion of his baby!
If she does not want it...then simply give birth then hand it over to the Father who does.

There are some groundbreaking moments here (not that many though...See "Silent Night, Bloody Night" for the phone bit, heavy breathing, killer POV shots and short sharp deaths) and a few effective scares and creeps and the no answer ending works, but only because it's so downbeat.

And if only the film as a whole was even remotely as effective as disturbing as those aforementioned phone calls.
They work.
Billy works.

Nothing else does.

 

[Mario Gauci]

12/13/07: THE FROZEN LIMITS (Marcel Varnel, 1939) :star::star::star:

I had never read much about (or even seen stills of) the six-man British comedy group The Crazy Gang, but my positive experiences with their contemporaries Will Hay and Arthur Askey – and especially Graham Greene’s high praise of THE FROZEN LIMITS itself (“The funniest English picture yet produced…it can bear comparison with SAFETY LAST and THE GENERAL”) – made me take the plunge with the bare-bones R2 DVDs from Network of this and their subsequent film GASBAGS (1941; see below), both of which were released earlier this year with virtually no fanfare.

A British-made Western is a rarity, but a British Western spoof is rarer still (CARRY ON COWBOY [1965] was still some 25 years away). Incidentally, going back to the Silent classics mentioned by Greene, the film seems to me to be more obviously indebted to THE GOLD RUSH (1925) and WAY OUT WEST (1937). Besides, it also plays like a variation on the “Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs” fairy-tale (which had just been immortalized on the screen via Walt Disney’s animated masterwork) and where the seventh member is played by ancient comic and frequent Will Hay foil Moore Marriott; the Gang actually call pretty heroine Eileen Bell by that name throughout, and there’s even an amusing sequence with the six of them preparing to go to bed and whistling the dwarfs’ song from the Disney film!

Six comedians (three sets of comedy duos: Flanagan & Allen, Nervo & Knox and Naughton & Gold) may be the largest such grouping on film – though not all of their personalities emerge here: my favorites were big Bud Flanagan (looking a bit like Jim Backus), straight man Chesney Allen and moustached, squeaky-voiced Teddy Knox; however, bald Charlie Naughton often took the limelight – since he’s the one on which the others always seemed to pick on. Still, it’s Marriott who steals the film from his very first scene – where he contrives to impersonate every official in the dilapidated theater of a ghost town!; a very young Bernard Lee is also notable as the villain of the piece.

The Ore routine between Flanagan and Allen actually anticipates Abbott and Costello’s famous “Who’s On First?” (the film, in fact, hinges on a lot of wordplay for its humor – which doesn’t necessarily travel, especially at this juncture). Nevertheless, there are several hilarious sequences throughout – a few of which even brought tears to my eyes: the opening scene where the Gang are defrocked by a band of angry creditors; their dressing up as Indians once they hit the Yukon; the Gang’s ruse to make everybody rich with the same piece of gold; they all impersonate the sleepwalking Marriott to confuse the villains (a gag which may owe its origin to the Marx Bros.’ hilarious mirror sequence in DUCK SOUP [1933]); the spot-on theater sketch which pokes fun at hoary melodramas; the surreal moment when, pursued by the villains, one of the Gang climbs a staircase that is part of the painted scenery in the theater; and especially towards the end, when a group of singing Mounted Police gallop ever so slowly to the Gang’s rescue (despite being egged on by the increasingly impatient Ranger hero).

The thinny soundtrack and the frantic nature of the gags themselves made it hard for me to get all the jokes sometimes – subtitles would certainly have been welcome in this case. The Crazy Gang only made five films – with the first two also being well-regarded, OKAY FOR SOUND (1937) and ALF’S BUTTON AFLOAT (1938), and a much later reunion (though Allen had, by this time, bowed out due to ill-health and been replaced by Eddie Gray) called LIFE IS A CIRCUS (1960; directed by Val Guest who, incidentally, co-wrote both Gang films I purchased as well as some of the afore-mentioned Hay and Askey vehicles!).


12/13/07: THE DEATH OF A BUREAUCRAT (Tomas Gutierrez Alea, 1966) :star::star::star:

Although I have consciously kept my foreign film viewing to a minimum during this Christmas season, I couldn’t resist purchasing this one (whose release on R2 DVD from Network came literally out of left field) and watching it instantly, given its opening dedication to many an exponent of cinema (more on this later). As far as I can recall, it also marks my introduction to Cuban cinema – which, as can be surmised by the title, deals with the country’s social structure; considering the political situation of the time in which it was made, this is hardly a surprise…but, what is unexpected is the fact that it treats the subject matter as black comedy!

The plot resolves itself in a succession of ironic developments with respect to the pension coming to the widowed wife of a veritable working-class hero (his sculpting endeavors and unfortunate demise are depicted via a stylized animation sequence): to get it, she needs her husband’s union card – but his equally proletarian comrades had it buried with him as a symbolic gesture. Her milquetoast nephew, who’s really the hero of the film, decides to have the body exhumed – but, officially, two years have to pass before this can be legitimately done; so, he hires two men to steal the body and then proposes to have it buried once more – but, since there’s no record of it having been exhumed in the first place, technically, this isn’t possible either. And so on and so forth, with numerous episodes involving legal red tape (which ought to bring a smile and a strong sense of empathy to anyone who has ever dealt with a government entity)…until the young man is literally driven to madness and murder! The film, then, ends with the funeral of this other bureaucrat…

Going back to that dedication I mentioned earlier, the full text (typed onscreen along with the film’s full credits at the very beginning and signed by the director) reads thus: “The film is dedicated to Luis Bunuel, Oliver Hardy, Stan Laurel, Ingmar Bergman, Harold Lloyd, Akira Kurosawa, Orson Welles, Juan Carlos Tabio, Elia Kazan, Buster Keaton, Jean Vigo, Marilyn Monroe and all those who, in one way or another, have taken part in the film industry since the days of Lumiere.” This is no faint praise, either, as THE DEATH OF A BUREAUCRAT features a handful of Bunuelian dream sequences and a general mockery of Christian burial services (one highly amusing little scene is when the nephew pilfers ice cubes for his drink from his aunt’s supply – who is forever breaking ice in order to preserve her husband’s body!); a delightful tit-for-tat routine of wanton destruction occurring, of all places, at the cemetery (and which even develops into a Laurel & Hardy-style custard pie fight!); and, at one point, we’re also treated to some Harold Lloyd-type antics on a ledge when our hero finds himself locked inside an office building!

Director Tomas Gutierrez Alea is himself generally considered to be the finest Cuban film-maker and among his other works worth mentioning are THE TWELVE CHAIRS (1962; which is also available on R2 DVD from Network and the 1970 Mel Brooks version of which, incidentally, I’ve just acquired), MEMORIES OF UNDERDEVELOPMENT (1968), THE LAST SUPPER (1976) and the Oscar nominated STRAWBERRY AND CHOCOLATE (1994); the local DVD shop has the latter available for rental and, as a result of this positive experience with Cuban cinema, I will certainly be giving it a spin one of these days…


12/14/07: GASBAGS (Marcel Varnel, 1941) :star::star::star:

The Crazy Gang followed THE FROZEN LIMITS (1939) with this, their take on Nazi Germany; it’s a fairly inspired comedy on a serious subject, though one couldn’t sensibly compare it to Chaplin’s THE GREAT DICTATOR (1940) – or, for that matter, Lubitsch’s TO BE OR NOT TO BE (1942).

The film starts with them as billeted soldiers who still manage a clandestine fish-and-chip business on the side; caught by their superior officer, the balloon advertising their activity flies off into the air in the ensuing frenzy, taking with it the entire stall – and the Gang itself! After climbing on top of the balloon, Naughton falls inside and inhales all of its air – causing them to land in a foreign country (one of the film’s brightest gags occurs here as four members of the Gang pump the physically inflated Naughton in order to take the air out of him, with which Flanagan is able to light a stove on which to cook their breakfast!) which they first take to be Ireland because of the greenery, then France when they meet a group of French soldiers. However, their rash decision to join the French army turns out to be unwise – because it transpires that the latter are, in fact, P.O.W.s (GASBAGS was certainly at the forefront in depicting a concentration camp)!

Being one of the first films to poke fun at the Nazis, its attack is merciless: for instance, the Gang’s balloon lands in a field, and Allen says there must be some prime manure under their feet – just then, we pan down to the reveal the Nazi headquarters below the surface!; later on, during a dinner engagement – in which Knox (who sports a moustache) is made to pass off as Hitler, he can’t understand why nobody around him is eating – to which one of the others snaps, “They’re all waiting for you, you twerp!” Just as in THE FROZEN LIMITS, Moore Marriott lends invaluable support – even if the somewhat overbearing Naughton is, once again, often the center of attention; however, we do get a charming song here from Flanagan and Allen.

Other great gags in the camp include: the way the Gang are continuously deposed from their bunks by the mass of other P.O.W.s; the side-splitting appearance of Hitler at their window – it then transpires that the Hitler impersonators of Germany have gone on strike in tandem, and they’ve been sent to the camp as punishment! Hence, when a plot is hatched to ‘assassinate’ the Fuhrer to deceive the Allies and a double is needed, the Gestapo settle on Knox (still, it was improbable to allow the entire Gang to take part in the ‘mission’, the others offering themselves up as bodyguards – plus Marriott, who has a map tattooed on his back indicating the site of a secret weapon that could win the war for the side which lays its hand on it). The various attempts on Hitler’s life, of course, all go hilariously awry – a booby-trap flower arrangement, cannon-fire, poison, acid, a platform gives out under him during a speech to the crowd (with Knox mimicking the words of the real Fuhrer, speaking safely from his headquarters).

The last third of the film finds the Gang attempting to retrieve the secret weapon while dodging pursuit by the Gestapo (at one point, they even disguise themselves as forest trees!); when our heroes find the shuttle-like burrowing device, it takes them via earth and water to safety back home – where they emerge through the floor of their own barracks, much to the consternation of the Gang’s superior officer! While the quality of the audio throughout the film on the Network DVD is slightly better than was the case with THE FROZEN LIMITS, the print here is rather dark. GASBAGS, then, is a good vehicle for this wacky (and unfairly neglected) comedy team – though I tend to prefer its predecessor overall; incidentally, the only other major WWII British comedy made during this time was Basil Dearden’s THE GOOSE STEPS OUT (1942) – Will Hay’s penultimate film, which he also co-directed.

 

[42nd Street Freak]

Nice to see some very English comedy being enjoyed here Mario!

I ADORE Will Hay. He stands as a favourite of vintage comedy of mine along with Laurel and Hardy and The Marx Bros.

Askey's take on the oft filmed "The Ghost Train" is also well worth a look and at times it's memorably creepy despite being a music hall style comedy.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

I Am Legend (2007) :star::star:1/2

On the positive side, I thought Will Smith was VERY good, and there were some touching emotional moments. He was quite believable as the last man left alive on Earth. The chilling effect of a desolate New York City was nicely realized. I liked the strong scenes featuring Smith's dog, who is his only companion.

On the negative side, the film comes crashing down like lead every time we are subjected to the fake-looking night monsters on the prowl. There's that awful and overused modern day trend of needlessly depending on CG renderings. Why is it considered necessary to have these cartoon-like ravenous creatures zipping and zooming and ricocheting all about at lightning speed, loudly roaring with their extra-wide mouthes agape a la Stephen Sommers' MUMMY? This is a damn shame because it trashed what was otherwise shaping up to be a fine film indeed. Also missing from the film is a strong sense of motivation. Both THE LAST MAN ON EARTH as well as THE OMEGA MAN each had that ingredient.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Interesting. I didn't think you were going to see the remake but I'm going to try and watch it sometime during the Christmas break since the girlfriend wants to see it. What are the "monsters" in this version? Are they more vampires or zombies or mutants or albino or what?

 

[Joe Karlosi]

I'd say they're CGI cartoons.
Actually, who knows what they are? They're certainly not vampires. They're just rabid, ravaging bald creatures that like to roar and open their mouthes wide. It really ruined the film for me.

I usually like end of the world films, and that's how I approached going into this one -- at least it was called I AM LEGEND instead of THE OMEGA MAN or LAST MAN ON EARTH, to give it a separate identity all its own.