Track the Films You Watch (2009)

Except for Watchmen, From Hell is Alan Moore's best comic book. Your biggest gripe with the movie is definitely present in the comic but whether it's true or false (I'm not inclined to believe in Masonic conspiracies... though that's probably what they want me to think), the comic is a masterpiece.

42ndStreetFreak

Here's a stupid question......is the Ripper you mention Ripper: Letter From Hell from 2001?  I wanted to check as I might give it a watch.

I agree with all aspects of your review of From Hell.  I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed this one for it being a big(gish) budget Hollywood movie.  On the special features of the DVD it is hilarious how they go and on about how accurate their depiction of Victorian England is and yet this authenticity is completely undermined by Heather Graham's look.  It's a small but telling detail about Hollywood works.  As for the inaccuracy in the Royal conspiracy, should that really affect our enjoyment of the story?  I don't tend to believe in conspiracy theories anyway so it never really bothered me (as long as no-one believes it to be true).  It did bother me that (again on the special features) they presented the film's theory as "new" and gave little or no credit to Murder by Decree which is a superior film in atmosphere and acting.  But again, that's the way Hollywood works.  As for Study in Terror wasn't that supposed to come out on DVD?  It's a good colorful version.

Anyway one of the reasons I wrote this post is that I just rewatched Jack the Ripper from 1959.  It's a hopelessly inaccurate rendering of the story but again that does not lessen the enjoyment.  The focus is on an American detective (for the US audience) who works with the British inspector (Eddie Albert) to solve the crimes which seem connected with the doctors at a hospital (one of whom is played by John Le Mesurier).  The solution depends on a big coincidence but at least it is somewhat believable psychologically.  There is also some condemnation of the lynch mob mentality.  I think the ultimate Ripper movie is still to be made although I would like to see the 1988 Michael Caine TV series which also leans towards a Royal solution.

Yeah...But as far as I know Moore just has the Royal theory as the background.  He does not make the book an investigation into it, he simply has it there, already known, as he follows The Ripper (who the book is really about) ala "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer".

The film though simply re-does "Murder by Decree" once again and makes this achingly over-used idea the basis of the entire film...including finding clues about it and having Abberline the main character as he investigates it.  

Thus what was simply background in the comic book story Becomes the whole story in the film.

Hi

Yeah, it was "Ripper: Letter from Hell", sorry.


It's not that the Royal theory is inaccurate that bothered me (though I do wish it would curl up and die already!) just that its use destroyed any suspense in the film.  As anyone even slightly interested in things 'Jack' has read and watched the thing to death.
As such,  basing a film around the investigation and revealing of someone so widely investigated and already revealed sapped the energy from the film for me.
Not sure I like the fact that they had (even Knight did not go this far!) Queen Victoria not only know about the killings, but approved of them (only disapproving of The Ripper's grotesque way of doing them).  We know it's a film and a fiction, but that did seem a rather dubious slight against Victoria!

And as for hiding the identity of The Ripper...Again, as soon as Prince Eddie was brought into it and then  a certain character also appeared...the killer was revealed right away.
And as said, even if you had no idea of this theory, hearing the actor's distinctive voice as the killer spoke also blew it.

No idea why they added the non-Moore 'visions' angle to Abberline either (more supernatural bollox?) as they actually have no baring on the case or plot as far as solving it (or stopping it) goes.

This plot also opens a truly HUGE plot hole.
Seeing as they have Abberline learn who is being targeted so early on, at least you can say its his one and only line of enquiry, (including what they look like and their names!!) how are the women (one of which he has constant contact with!) just allowed to walk around completely alone, with not a single Policeman (of the many on the case) watching them!?
Abberline literally does nothing for them as they, as he suspected, are killed off.

Not seen this '59 version.

I forgot about the Caine version.  Is that the damn Royals as well?  Add another to the list then.
It's actually okay...but flawed to buggery by two things;

One;  the utterly pointless, achingly tedious, romantic plot between Caine's Abberline and Jane Seymour.  Seymour may be yummy, but her unneeded character really slows the film up.

Two;  The awful psychic subplot and wacky actor angle.  
The psychic stuff is amped up to silly degrees and (as the black orbs in "From Hell") is played as some supernatural fact. and why they had this actor suspect's face literally bubble (via much bladder FX work) when on stage as he supposedly turns into a killer is a mystery indeed!
How on God's earth can a Victorian actor, live on stage, do this?  Worse it's not even explained away AS an, impossible to achieve while on a Victorian stage, effect...it's treated as if he really can make his face change like this!!

Madness!  And again just another (as with Seymour and the psychic angle) saggy sub-plot of no baring that bloats the thing.

The actual Ripper stuff is done well though and the cast is a fine 'un!

"Pathology"  -  6.5 / 10

Mark Neveldine & Brian Taylorhe, the writer/director's of the "Crank" movies push the boundaries again, only with not a trace of humour (black or otherwise) or comic strip craziness to be found.
Here they are only the writers, so perhaps the utter darkness seen here is down to the director Marc Schölermann.

A group of pathology students create a game where each commits a murder and the others have to autopsy the body to work out how the death was carried out.

True the story has a few possible plausibility issues but as a wallow in nastiness, nihilism and body fluids it's a well crafted slice of modern horror.
The fact it does not have any real energy or kinetic set-pieces means there is not any real excitement here and when added to the utter darkness, grit and grim content you can see why this basically vanished onto DVD. A fun night at the flicks this is not.

The FX are fantastically well done and the film clinically embraces the human corpse as a biological jigsaw, filled with foul stenches and stinking liquids.
And the attitude of the truly warped lead characters here (which means the film basically has no nice or sympathetic characters for most of its running time..another audience pleasing problem) is grotesque as far as any kind of sanctity or respect for human remains goes.
Brief flashes of violence and gore, or explicit sex romps on autopsy tables with the corpses lying a few feet away, are not the real uncomfortable aspects of the film...it's this attitude of someone's loved one being a macabre game where every part of them is a bloody playing piece.

There is no light here at all.  It's a relentlessly grim wade through madness, callousness and pitch darkness.
That such a bleak and nihilistic, dour film got a few million dollars thrown at it (FX are top notch, the film looks glossy and chic and all is well crafted with solid, professional actors) is a miracle and shows that despite what many think there is a real up-turn in extreme horror filmmaking at the moment that's very welcome.

Well worth checking out if you are in the mood to wallow in the grimness of it all, just don't expect to be conventionally entertained or look forward to any fast paced thrills.

Head Cheerleader, Dead Cheerleader - 3 / 10


Heather Connelly is the head cheerleader for the Cats cheerleading squad and is, along with her fellow pom pom wavers, getting ready for the
big college football game.
But when someone starts chopping up her cheerleading squad Heather is caught up in a web of murderous town secrets….



Writer/director Jeffrey Miller certainly has a old school horror fan’s love of the Slasher sub-genre and puts it to good use in the first half of his ultra low budget movie, where only the cheapjack FX and general ‘home grown’ look of the film letting the side down.
A stock company of Slasher cliché characters are trotted out (the creepy male coach, the douchebag boyfriend, the bitchy cheerleading honeys, the weird old guy with a past, the bumbling Sheriff and the angry - flatulence filled - handyman) as are the old school stalking scenes and (cheap) gore moments, like a good old severed head discovery scene.
It may be cheap, generally badly acted and anything but original but there is an energy here, lots of incident and a fun 80’s attitude to the proceedings.
Though there are far too many ‘false scare’ scenes!

The film is rather too fast and lean for its own good actually.
Killings seem to happen with no sense of time and seem to get relayed via phone gossip. Characters are just bumped off only to be mentioned in dispatches a few minutes later with no linking footage to explain how people even know the murders have taken place and even then occasionally the news of a murder is known by some of the characters but not others, again making you wonder how the news of them is actually relayed.

As we have a film about cheerleaders we must surely have nudity? Indeed we do, but only two topless scenes are provided (one by minor cult sctress Debbie Rochon) so there is not the amount of gratuity we would have all liked, but hey, at least we have something!

As far as the violence goes, there’s a very childish, bad taste sexual aspect to the otherwise bog standard axe attacks due to the fact the killer has a marvelous aim as far as breasts go.
Rubber mammaries fall like autumn leaves here and only the joke shop comedy boobs used for the chopped off appendages keeps the grossness at bay.
The rubber globes are joined by an equally rubbery head and foot so as not to feel lonely.

Sadly after a good couple of these ‘so bad they’re good’ axe murders the rest of the killings happen not just off screen, but off screenplay as it later turns out that most of the cheerleaders have all been bumped off, yet the audience had no idea and were shown absolutely nothing.

One bewildering aspect of the film is that it is meant to be set on Halloween, but you really wouldn't know it as there is zero Halloween atmosphere or even any basic trappings to be seen.
Suspects and red herrings are thrown at the screen in almost parody level numbers and are as subtle as a flying crimson tit.
To say that almost everyone in this town is whacked out 'n' weird is an understatement.

Far too many times the film also gets bogged down in scary phone calls that are not remotely scary and far too long. And they are the root of all evil that now smother the last half of the movie.
At one point the film suddenly decides to stay in Heather's house for the remaining running time as she takes endless weird, plodding, phone calls from the killer and opens the door to all known local weirdo’s.
Now all of a sudden the trashy energy the film had has been sapped by walls of nothingness filled dialogue as the film imprisons itself, in Heather's living room.
This screams that the budget was almost gone so the director just set up camp in the bland living room for the rest of the movie.

The big reveal of who is doing the killing is once again just some characters talking in that damn living room as well.
And when I say talking...I mean talking!
The motive for the slayings was so long-winded and unstructured I had to wind the film back twice to give myself any chance of trying to follow the reasoning on display here.
But wait! Even after all that talk there seems to be yet another twist to explain...with yet more talk!

Now the trailer for “Head Cheerleader…” may crassly use the theme from “Halloween” on it, but the finale of the film itself is now as far from the violence filled, tension drenched scare fest that made up the finale of Carpenter's classic as you can get!
And this dialogue heavy finale would be deadening enough anyway, but coming right after spending 15 odd minutes of watching a person sitting on a couch answering the phone it reaches hellish heights of tedium.

To be fair there is a very brief 'trying to escape the psycho' sequence at the very end (though here escaping means just moving into the kitchen!) that delivers some possibly intentional humour in the
way it plays out and the use of choice dialogue.
At last some of that energy and fun re-appears but it's far too little far too late and yet again we need another weighty monologue at the end of it to explain this new plot twist before the (final, final) ending reveals that actually something else was also going on but we are left, even with all that dialogue we just sat through, with no idea what it was or whom it involved!

So a cheap but fun homage to 80’s Slasher films turns into a maddeningly dull phone conversation on a couch.
How frustratingly tragic.

What Do You Think? (Number Three) (1938)
 

Jacques Tourneur

Third film in the series has Carey Wilson doing the narrating in the story on whether or not the dead really communicated with the living.  A concert violinist is married to his one love but a year after the wedding he dies from a strange disease.  Before his death he mentions to his wife that a violin's high note could break a glass but not if it has any liquid in it.  Soon after his death the wife decides to kill herself but then something happens.  I won't ruin the surprise but the entire film is pretty much built up for this twist and I personally didn't think it worked as strongly as I'm sure the filmmakers wanted.  This is the first film in this series that I've seen so I can't say how strong or weak it is compared to others but it's a decent time killer and I'm sure fans of the famous director will want to check it out.  There's a lot of stock footage in the film so you won't get to see too much of the directors style but there is one nice sequence where the wife is walking alone after the death where you'll be able to see some of the director's famous touch.  The story itself is decent at best but that's pretty much the same thing that could be said about the entire film.
 

Story of 'The Jonker Diamond', The (1936)
 

Jacques Tourneur
 

Extremely interesting short has Pete Smith telling us about the title diamond, which at the time was the biggest stone ever found.  After word of the large diamond got out, thousands of people went searching for it in Africa but one family finally found the thing after eighteen years of digging.  Once the diamond was sold, a professional cutter had to decide the best way to get a profit out of the thing that was bought for one million dollars.  I love coming across shorts like this that tell a very interesting story and that's the reason why I constantly record them because you never know when you'll get a real gem like this.  I had never heard of this story so perhaps that's why I found it so interesting but I thought the first half of the film, dealing with the digging, was made very well but so was the second half when we learn what it takes to actually cut a diamond.  Director Tourneur using this second half to create a great scene of tension when they go to make the first cut, which, if done wrong, could destroy the diamond.  Fans of his will certainly like seeing this early example from the master but even those not familiar with his work should find plenty to enjoy here.
 

Killer-Dog (1936)
 

Jacques Tourneur
 

Nice short from MGM and Pete Smith has a dog put on trial for the murder of a couple sheep.  It turns out that the dog, Major, has some wolf blood in him and his own father had to be shot for killing sheep.  The dog eventually has to go on trial where he has to be defended by his owner (Ralph Byrd).  This is a pleasant little short that manages to tell a pretty good story that doesn't try to do anything special except to just entertain.  I thought the story was a good one that managed to keep the viewer wondering if the dog was innocent or guilty but I think everyone will know the outcome.  The ending is a pretty good one as Tourneur's dark style is evident in a very good sequence that I won't ruin for anyone reading this.  Byrd is best known for the role in various DICK TRACY movies but he's quite good here even though he doesn't get any speaking lines.  Babs Nelson is also in the cast and she's best remembered for being one of the folks who led their voices to Bambi. 
 

King Without a Crown, The (1937)
 

Jacques Tourneur
 

Another nice entry in MGM's "Historical Mysteries" series with Carey Wilson doing the narration and Tourneur behind the camera.  This time out we hear the mystery surrounding the true identity of a preacher from Wisconsin who claimed to have been the lost Dauphin and perhaps should have been the King of France.  The story goes back to Louis XVI and whether or not he died as a child or was snuck out of the prison he was in, taken to America and left there until he could go back to France and claim his crown.  This series is one of my favorites and this here is yet another example of why the conspiracy theorist in me loves it so much.  I hadn't really heard of the mystery here so I found the entire set up to be a rather interesting one.  At the same time, I can't comment on how true the story was or where the truth actually lied.  I will say that this short does a nice job at giving out the "evidence" surrounding this story and director Tourneur does a good job at bringing it to life.  He made another film in this series, THE MAN IN THE BARN, about John Wilkes Booth, which is a lot better and certainly worth searching out but this too is good. 
 

"The Lodger" -  4.5 / 10

Hitchcock's 1927 silent adaptation of the book of the same name by Marie Lowndes, based roughly around the Jack the Ripper killings.

Someone is killing off blond haired women on the foggy London streets.
A mysterious lodger (the now legendary Ivor Novello) takes rooms at the house of an old couple who have a the pretty,blond, daughter named Daisy.
As the lodger steps out into the dark streets...another murder occurs....


Not remotely in the same class as true silent classics, Hitchcock's first real public success is hampered by many (of course mute) conversational scenes that fall dead without any words bar a few short inter-titles.
Novello's acting at first is also too sinister and overwrought to make us believe he would ever have got through the front door, let alone be  taken in as a lodger and there is little incident in the story.

There are positives here though.
We have some fun 'sinister' visuals, most famously the scene where Novello appears at the lodging house, framed in the doorway,  with his only his eyes showing above his scarf shrouded visage and with that iconic (though utterly erroneous) Ripper black medical bag clasped in his hand, and a few shots effectively based on German Expressionist cinema.
And the plot is interesting enough to hold the attention (just) as Hitch piles on the fog, Cockney 'salt off the Earth' characters, shocked bystanders, dumbfounded Bobbies on the beat and best of all the angry mob in the genuinely tense and pretty tough finale.
The film needlessly goes on for a couple of sequences after this finale for no good reason though and so the effect of the subsequent 'angry mob' sequence is weakened.

Worth a look from any historical point of view and for those few effective scene, and  it's surprising to think that this was in cinemas just 40 years after The Ripper prowled London's streets, this closeness adds to the film's fascination as many of those who may have sat in the audience in 1927 would have lived through the slayings.



"Fear 2: Halloween Night" - 3 /10

Dopey wooden supernatural guy aside, this has nothing to do wth the first "Fear" and stands on its own.
The film is a very slow builder and no red stuff is seen until well passed the hour mark.  But the acting is fine, the film is generally well made and the unfolding plot manages to just about hold the attention.

The later killings are pretty weak, but one is quite violent and a few dollops of crimson get splashed around.  But it has one of those nonsensical finale frame twists that serves no purpose and really the entire thing is too low key for its own good.
Worth a look if you can get it very cheap (which it is).



"Time after Time"  - 8 /10

Amazingly this gem has slipped though the cracks of time (ho ho) and is generally forgotten about now.
This is a travesty that needs addressing.

A great plot has Jack The Ripper (essayed by a brilliantly on form David Warner) turn out to be a Dr Stevenson, a close friend of none other than author H.G. Wells (Malcolm McDowell in a superb, non-hammy, performance).
With the Police on his heels 'Jack' flees in Wells' very own time machine and ends up (where the machine ended up) in San Francisco circa 1979!

Without a special key, that Wells has, the time machine goes back whence it came and so H.G steels his nerves and goes after The Ripper.
While looking for 'Jack' he meets bank employee Amy (A wonderfully cute, slightly spaced but strong and wilful turn by Mary Steenburgen) and finds himself falling in love with her, even as he reallses the violence of future society makes The Ripper look like a novice.  And soon the murdered bodies of prostitutes start turning up in San Francisco...

A cuttingly astute mix of the comic, the whimsical and the deadly serious Nicholas Meyer's film juggles these ingredients perfectly and the move from the 'man out of his time' humour that plays a big part in the first half of the film into straight ahead thriller territory for the tense final third of the movie  is seamless.
The screenplay makes much of Wells' being not only from another time but also being English and there are some lovely comedy sequences here to enjoy all perfectly played by McDowell who bounces off Steenburgen wonderfully.
Warner's role is always serious and his strong delivery, voice and presence ensures that we never crucially forget, 70's denim get-up or not, what a dangerous killer his character is and again his scenes with McDowell are superb.

Despite the topic, violence is pretty tame due to the fact that at it's heart the film is as much a fish out of water love story as a hunt for a serial killer flick,  but Meyer brilliantly manages to crank up the tension and threat during Jack's brief killings and the occasional splash of blood (and in one case a severed arm on the floor) effectively add much needed darkness to the rest of the movie's lovable lightness of touch.

Highlight of the thriller aspects of the film must be a brilliantly staged, edited and acted (McDowell is simply amazing) extended sequence involving Well's trying to stop Stevenson's next murder but finding himself a prisoner of disbelieving Police as The Ripper closes in on his victim.  Cleverly using what we have already learned from a future newspaper about the murder this sequence will stick in the mind of anyone who sees it as we are truly put through the emotional wringer.

You can pick a few holes in the plot (as is basically the folly of all time travel stories) but that aside, "Time after Time" is a classy, clever,  funny, charming, tense, exciting and strongly emotional journey through time that is exquisitely acted and highly memorable.

Edited by 42nd Street Freak - 10/29/09 at 5:19pm

"Aenigma" -  1 / 10

Oohhhhh....Oohhhhh....Ohhhhhhhhhhhh.
What the hell ever happened Lucio Fulci?
What went wrong?
What?

Completely, utterly, numbingly tedious drivel.  When the best scene in the movie involves a rubber slug and snail shit, you know you  have real problems.

Jared Martin teams up with Fulci again 3 years after "Fighting Centurions" to far lesser success as Lucio bores us to tears with that old chestnut the 'revenge while in a coma' plot.

Virtually goreless this plods from tedious dialogue scene to tedious dialogue scene (with crap dialogue) until a stupendously weak and bloodless death scene arrives......then it's back to the tedious dialogue again.

We have some unattractive breasts and a colossal bit of writhing booty to give us at least something to stare at and the famous 'death by snail 'n' slug' scene works on a gross-out gonzo level as (rubber slug in the mouth aside) these are indeed tons of real snails really oozing and dripping and crapping their way over the actress's body.
But hey!  Anyone with a camcorder, lots of snails and a very forgiving female friend could make that scene work!  So not much praise for Fulci there either.

OH boy...Can this really be the same Fulci that gave us such magnificent Gothic Gore Gems as "City of the Living Dead", "House by the Cemetery"  and the truly iconic "Zombi 2"??
Hell, this makes "Door to Silence" look like "The Beyond"!

Lay down the slug pellets and kill this monstrosity!!  Never let this festering sore of a film anywhere near your precious eyes!
Save your brain and indeed your very soul and walk away...no, run away...if you ever see this thing cluttering up a DVD shelf.

Sport Slants #3 (1931)
 

A rather bland short from Vitaphone features famous radio broadcaster Ted Husing as he discusses sports that most people might not know too much about.  This time out we take a look at cricket and polo.  I must admit that there's some minor entertainment to be had here as we get to see actual footage of these games being played back in the day and it is mildly entertaining to see how the sports have changed over the years.  Outside of that this thing here is pretty bland from start to finish.  Husing has a great voice but it really doesn't do any good here as the dialogue written for him is so confusing that those who do understand the sports will probably find themselves getting confused at what is being said.  We really don't learn a single thing about any of the sports and the narration doesn't try to spoof them either so I'm not sure what the point was.
 

Believe It or Not #12 (1931)
 

Mildly entertaining entry in Robert L. Ripley's long-running series.  This time out he takes us to Africa where we're told many bizarre stories including a town made out of tin cans, the Meeting Place of the Dead and perhaps best of all, a jail for nagging wives.  The stories this time out aren't as interesting as some of the previous films but there are still a few good ones here.  I found the jail for the nagging wives to be the most interesting one.  Apparently, in the past they would just have the wife's head cut off but now, for eight cents a day, they throw her in jail.  The Meeting Place of the Dead is another interesting one as it was originally where runaway slaves were killed but today it's one of the biggest meeting places in the country.  We also get some other minor stories about farmers eating the grasshoppers who eat their plants but these aren't nearly as interesting. 

Black Cats and Broomsticks (1955)
 

RKO/Pathe Screenliner short is perhaps the best I've seen from them.  The short deals with the topic of superstitions and how times really haven't changed much since the days of black magic, witchery and various other forms of dark mysteries.  The short talks about walking under a ladder, crossing paths with a black cat, the "dead man's hand" in cards and of course everyone's favorite day, Friday 13th.  We also hear about people who die yearly because they take the advice of a "wizard" instead of that of a doctor.  This film has a lot in common with another short, WHO'S SUPERSTITIOUS?, which was a pretty good Pete Smith short made nearly a decade earlier.  This film takes a serious and spoof like look at the subject and really manages to be fun throughout the running time.  The best stuff deals with the way farmers might search for a place to put a hex on another farmer's cattle.
 

Law and the Lab, The (1956)
 

Mildly entertaining short from RKO/Pathe has a woman being found dead inside her car so the police have to go to work without any suspects or witnesses.  The short then tells how the crime scene unit must gather small bits of evidence, which can then point the police in the right direction to catch the killer.  Considering MGM's Crime Does Not Pay series told countless stories like this, this short here really doesn't offer anything new or overly original.  The storyline is extremely out of date when compared to today's science but I'm not so sure this stuff wasn't out of date when the film was first released.  We really don't get too learn very much about the stuff being used as the short runs a quick 9-minutes and the majority of that time has the narrator simply telling us what's going on but never really saying how any of it is being done.  The movie at least moves at a nice pace and the action is pretty good considering what's going on. 

Larry Clinton and His Orchestra (1938)
 

Lloyd French
 

Larry Clinton might be forgotten today but apparently he was pretty big back in his day, which is why I always enjoy this musical shorts when they pop up on Turner Classic Movies as it's a nice little history lesson.  'College Humor', 'Stop and Reconsider' and 'Military Madcap' are the three numbers performed by Clinton and his orchestra.  Carol Bruce joins the band for a couple songs including the first one 'College Humor', which is a mildly entertaining one in a campy sort of way.  The lyrics are quite silly but they're simple enough to be enjoyable.  Carol's voice certainly mixes in well with the bad and she's really delightful with her constant smile and dancing.  Clinton's music wasn't the greatest I've heard through these old shorts as he isn't quite in the same league as someone like Vincent Lopez. 
 

First Aid (1943)
 

Will Jason
 

Pete Smith short has the dimwitted Mr. Krumb (Dave O'Brien) always hurting himself around the house so he, along with his wife, go to a first aid class where they try to learn how to treat cuts, wounds and various other issues.  These Smith shorts often take a humorous look at their subjects but that's not really the case here as one can't help but think the majority of what's being trained here is the same type of things folks in 1943 were learning because of what was going on throughout the world then.  The middle segments of this short take the subject pretty serious as we get to learn where pressure should be made for various injuries as well as learning how to make a stretcher or warm the body whenever there's no fire.  Even though the subject is handled in a serious fashion, there's still some time to play around and O'Brien once again shines as the dimwit who can never stay out of trouble.  His flirting with a girl in his class gets one of the best jokes when he realizes that his wife is watching the entire thing.  Another nice sequence is at the end when we see what type of injuries can be avoided.  Smith's narration is good as usual so fans of his will certainly want to check this one out. 
 

Wrong Way Out, The (1938)
 

Gustav Machaty
 

The twentieth episode in MGM's Crime Does Not Pay series is one of the weakest I've seen but there's still enough that works here for fans.  In the film, young adults Wendy (Kenneth Howell) and Ann (Linda Perry) want to get married but their parents refuse so they decide to elope.  Once out on their own they realize it's not easy to make a living and soon they are forced into a life of crime.  A lot of reviewers call this series over dramatic but I've never agreed with that except for right here.  The entire "warning" this film offers is against eloping and having too much of an ego to return home to your parents.  The film takes that and turns out two teens into a Bonnie and Clyde type, which is a tad bit over the top as the film never gives them any real motivation in doing what eventually happens here.  I also find it rather funny that both sets of parents are shown as good people yet they too are actually rather mean spirited when the kids first come to them for advice.  The parents turn their backs and then they wonder why, later in the film, the kids don't come back to them for help.  The over the top antics of the film would make me recommend newcomers to the series to start somewhere else but I think fans will still want to check it out.  The performances are all rather mixed with Howell coming off rather lame as the good turned bad guy.  The scene with the drunk singing "Happy Days Are Here Again" gets a mild laugh as does the ending that goes way too far.
 

Last Installment, The (1945)
 

Walter Hart

Small time criminal Clyde Peeler (Cameron Mitchell) is set to be released from prison the following day when his cell mate offers him a job in his gang.  Peeler says he'll think about it but he finally accepts the job after reading about the life of a famous gangster in a magazine.  What Peeler doesn't know is how that story ends but the warden is going to tell him.  This is yet another good entry in MGM's Crime Does Not Pay series and once again we learn the downside of being bad.  This episode is a little different from some earlier ones as there isn't any introduction at the start of the film and the majority of the film is a flashback.  The main guy, Mitchell's character, is only briefly seen, although he ends up doing the narration from start to finish.  The movie has a pretty good story, although I do think the gangsters could have been built up a little better.  We do have some good scenes with the two different sides doing battle over the West Side and this includes a couple shootings.  The moral of the film is pretty easy to swallow here and the way the ending is handled was pretty good and effective. 
 

To the Coast of Devon (1950)
 

Pleasant entry in the TravelTalks series has James A. FitzPatrick traveling to the British Isle where we get a great look at the village of Bath, which was discovered by the Romans as they would use it thanks to the hot springs, which they'd eventually turn into a resort.  We learn that in 1770 is when they start to let residents into the village and then we see various other things including the buggy they used for transportation as well as the Abby Church.  We also see a rather amazing ladder that was created with angels trying to climb their way to the top.  This is another entertaining entry in the series that once again benefits largely from the Technicolor that really shows off the sea here as well as a couple other beautiful resorts that we see.  One of the most interesting things here comes towards the end where we see the shores, which, at the time of filming, had just had some fences taken down from WW2 and protection against an invasion. 
 

West Point on the Hudson (1942)
 

James A. FitzPatrick
 

Another entry in MGM's TravelTalks series, this one taking a look at West Point.  We get to learn the history behind the military site, which began as an important factor in the Revolutionary War as both sides knew the importance of its location on the Hudson River.  We also learn about various famous people who have lived there including Robert Lee.  At the time this short was shot, a new group of recruits were entering the location so we get to see what they have in store on their first day.  This is a pretty good entry in the series as its important to remember that this was shot shortly before the U.S. would enter the second World War.  While watching all the young men you can't help but wonder how many might have given their life during the war.  We do get to learn quite a bit about the place and some of the visuals are quite beautiful in all the Technicolor glory. 

Flicker Memories (1941)
 

George Sidney
 

Pretty poor short from the one and only Pete Smith is perhaps the worst I've seen from him.  The film has Smith narrating a "fake" story on top of a silent movie, which is given the title of PASSIONS OF THE HORSE-PISTOL PETE.  That's pretty much all there is to say in terms of the story as the film has a man abusing his wife and he eventually has to save her life.  The added narration and sound effects by Smith are extremely poorly written and that's the main reason this turns out to be the worst short I've seen from him.  He's usually quite reliable but that's certainly not true here because the film is a complete misfire from start to finish.  The entire "screenplay" of "jokes" for Smith to tell are all very badly written and for the life of me I can't see what Smith or anyone else would have found funny in them.  Just listen to the joke about the Academy Awards and you'll hear the perfect example of bad writing.
 

October Recap

51 films seen, 32 for the first time

Best films seen for the first time (out of )

Deadgirl 1/2
Oliver Twist (1948) 1/2
Woman in Black
Resurrected
Children, The (2008)

Edited by Sandro - 11/1/09 at 4:22pm

October Re-cap

76 movies seen in October

59 movies seen for the first time

Favourite movie seen in October - The Quiet

Other notable new movies seen - The Tingler; Return of the Living Dead; Perfect Creature.

10/01 Brides of Dracula (1960)
10/02 Voodoo Moon (2005)
10/03 Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
10/03 Curse of the Werewolf (1961)
10/03 Vampires (1998)
10/04 Atom Age Vampire (1960)
10/04 The Haunting at Sorority Row (2007)
10/04 The Mummy Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
10/05 Stranger From Venus (1954)
10/05 Invisible Ghost (1941)
10/05 The Alligator People (1959)
10/06 The Child (1994) 
10/07 Phantom of the Opera (1962)
10/07 Darklight (2004)
10/08 Paranoiac (1963)
10/08 Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959)
10/08 Alien 3 (1992) 
10/08 In Her Mother's Footsteps (2006) 
10/09 The Incredible Petrified World (1957)
10/09 Kiss of the Vampire (1963)
10/09 Dead Men Walk (1943)
10/10 The Reaping (2007)
10/10 Predator (1987)
10/10 Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (1965)
10/10 Nightmare (1964) 
10/10 Maniac (1934) no stars
10/11 Omega Man (1971) 
10/11 Screamers: The Hunted (2009)
10/12 Kong Island (1968) no stars
10/12 Van Helsing (2004)
10/13 Shaun of the Dead (2004)
10/13 Thralls (2004)
10/13 Attack of the 50 ft. Woman (1993)
10/14 Night Creatures (1962)
10/15 Darkness (2002)
10/15 King of the Zombies (1941)
10/15 Teenagers from Outer Space (1959)
10/16 End of the World (1977)
10/17 The Quiet (2005)
10/17 The Haunting in Connecticut (2009)
10/17 The Uninvited (2009)
10/17 Curse of the Living Corpse (1964)
10/17 Earth vs. The Spider (1958) 
10/18 Tales of Terror (1962)
10/18 Alien Contamination (1980) 
10/19 Alien Resurrection (1997) 
10/19 The Corpse Vanishes (1942)
10/20 48 Land of the Lost (2009)
10/20 Pit and the Pendulum (1961)
10/20 Theatre of Blood (1973) 
10/21 Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon (1964)  
10/21 Darkwolf (2003)
10/21 Warriors of the Wasteland (1983)
10/21 Someone is Watching (1999)
10/22 Mr. Sardonicus (1961) 
10/22 Drag Me to Hell (2009) 
10/22 Madhouse (1974)
10/22 The Return (2006) 
10/23 Mesa of Lost Women (1953) no stars
10/23 The Howling (1981)
10/24 The Tingler (1959) 
10/24 Return of the Living Dead (1985)
10/24 All the Kind Strangers (1974)
10/25 Twice Told Tales (1963)
10/25 Wind Chill (2007)
10/26 Tremors (1990)
10/27 The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)
10/28 Android Apocalypse (2006)
10/29 And Now the Screaming Starts (1973)
10/29 Perfect Creature (2006) 
10/30 Amityville Curse (1990) no stars
10/30 End of Days (1999)
10/31 The Fly (1958) 
10/31 Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972)
10/31 The Innocents (1961)
10/31 Outlander (2008)

I Am Waiting - Satisfying but spotty Japanese noir. While waiting to hear from his missing brother, an ex-boxer with a guilty conscience gets involved with a girl in trouble. The two threads are connected, but only by coincidence, and thus the film has two distinct and unmatched halves. The first (with the girl) is more engaging... the quest for the brother has its moments, but is fairly routine and doesn't have much of a payoff. The revelation that it seemed like it was building up to was far more interesting than the one that was delivered. But the film has a lot of flashy noir style, with some wonderfully framed shots, and the two leads are quite personable. Rating: 7


Assault on Precinct 13 - Meh. Another overhyped and disappointing John Carpenter film. I do like his synth-tastic score, and the technical aspects -- editing, camerawork -- are well done. And the movie does have a couple tense moments and sometimes manages to be fairly suspenseful. But so much of it is riddled with nonsensical actions, unanswered questions, characterization that rarely rings true (talk about forced romance!) and plot holes. And I love it when movies have roving gangs ("Street Thunder"! ooh how intimidating) of improbably multi-racial psychotics who seem to have no plan for profitable crime, just randomly murdering ice cream vendors and driving away. The main premise is basically a rip-off of Night of the Living Dead except with an explanation even less plausible than zombies. I wouldn't be bothered by how little sense it all makes if only it was a little more fun. But it's not fun enough, not really anything enough. Pretty bad acting, too. Rating: 5


The Virgin Spring (rewatch) - Over and over again I've found that Bergman's films get even better on subsequent viewings (or perhaps I'm just becoming more fanatical). My earlier criticisms of this film were against its ending and its simplicity. I no longer have a problem with the ending... I don't subscribe to the belief, but it definitely sets the stage for the upcoming "faith trilogy". And besides, without it the title wouldn't make a lick of sense. As for the simplicity, yes, the film does have a fable-like quality to it, but it also has a richness and ambiguity of purpose. Bergman never points and says "this is what I'm trying to say". The period authenticity is completely immersive, never once did I feel removed from that time and place. It's also an intensely harrowing experience, even more so when you know what's coming. Rating: 9


Drowning By Numbers (rewatch) - I gave up on ever getting a legit region 1 release of this movie, so I caved in and bought a Taiwanese edition which I suspect is also a bootleg. At least it's widescreen, although not properly encoded, and the color palette is drab and faded. Better than nothing, though, especially for my favorite Greenaway. While watching, I wondered if I would think as highly of it if this had been my first time. I suppose a lot of my enjoyment comes from the nostalgia factor, as it was a period when I was discovering more and more film outside the usual Hollywood fare. But I don't think it's a major factor... there are a number of movies I discovered during the same period that I'm now not so keen on (Harold and Maude and The Dark Backward come to mind). And it is a brilliant and highly entertaining movie. Rating: 10


Fear of Drowning - I also watched this short companion piece, which explains some of the themes, symbols and influences behind Drowning By Numbers. Some of it is pretty obvious, but some of it was enlightening. He pointed out that some of the numbers occur in the dialogue, which had never occurred to me. No wonder I couldn't spot them all. This kind of thing is so much better than the usual "working with so-and-so was wonderful" behind-the-scenes puff piece you usually see, I wish all movies had something like this. Then again, most directors don't put as much thought and layering into their work as Greenaway does. Rating: 7

October Recap

25 new discoveries (plus 2 shorts)
9 revisits

Best new discovery: George Washington
Worst new discovery: The Wizard of Oz (1925)

Bit of a slow month, but I did take some time off from movies.

The Story of Louis Pasteur (1936)

I always expect to see Paul Muni in gangster films so he was a revelation here. I also thought he had more films to his credit but I see he divided his time between film and stage work. This is a fairly good historical movie dealing with the life and work of Louis Pasteur. Here we see him dealing with outbreaks of anthrax and the vaccine he developed and rabies. He also championed sterilization in childbirth and surgical procedures. He was a chemist that was ridiculed and scorned by the medical community at least in France but was instrumental in advancing medicine with his study of bacteria and diseases. It's curious that they didn't touch on pasterization which of course he's most famous for. No matter, good movie with great performances from everyone involved. 

A Night to Remember (1958)

Though I have alot of affection for James Cameron's visual masterpiece this is by far my favourite rendition of the Titanic disaster. This film tried to deal with just the facts and is based heavily on the account of 2nd officer Lt. Lightholler who went on to distinguished service in the Royal Navy in both the first and second World Wars. The filmmakers were able to gather other accounts from survivors and many were interviewed. Also a large number of people who had been on the ship, showed up when filming started. Most of the characters are treated with respect, especially the Captain. I hated how he was protrayed in  James Cameron's version. All the acting is top-notch, the documentary-like feel and the overall excellence does great service to the people that perished on that night. Great movie.

That's totally untrue... it's a rip-off of Rio Bravo.

And it's a damn fine film too!  Shocking!

Yeah, I love Assault On Precinct 13. I think Assault is one of John Carpenter's best (and I'm a big fan of all his work) but I think he would be among the first to say that it owes a debt to Rio Bravo.

Most definitely.  Intentionally actually, JC mentions it on the DVD.

That Martin!  He needs a spanking!  A spanking I tells yer!!

I didn't pick up on the Rio Bravo connection, but yeah I guess I can see that.  I'd say it has more in common with NotLD, or maybe equal parts.

Each one is much better than Assault anyway.

OCTOBER UPDATE

Ouch, couldn't even pick up the pace for Halloween horror month. Fell well short of the Challenge number. Too many distractions etc, etc. Also while I saw a number of very good movies, surprisingly several of these were newish horror movies, I didn't see anything new that really wowed me.

I would recommend ESPN's 30 for 30 documentary series for any sports fan or doco fan. Featuring topics from the last 30 years of sports that were big deals at the time, but either not well remembered or for which an interesting new angle was found, the series has been very good so far.  Though I unfortunately cut the end off Peter Berg's take on the Gretzky trade, King's Ransom.

Movies Watched: 20

Best 1st Time Viewing: The Band That Wouldn't Die

Honorable Mentions: Drag Me to Hell, Four Flies on Grey Velvet, A Short Film About Killing, The Strangers, What Have They Done With Solange?

2009 Films (Based on NY/LA Release)

The Band That Wouldn't Die (2009, Barry Levinson) (ESPN DVR) - A-
Drag Me to Hell (2009, Sam Raimi) (DVD Rent) - B+
Friday the 13th (2009, Marcus Nispel) (DVD Rent) - D 
The Last House on the Left (2009, Dennis Iliadis) (DVD Rent) - D
Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL? (2009, Mike Tollin) (ESPN DVR) - B


2008 Films Viewed in '09 (Based on NY/LA Release)

The Strangers (2008, Bryan Bertino) (DVD Rent) - B+


Pre-2008 Films Seen for the 1st Time

The Bad Seed (1956, Mervyn LeRoy) (DVD Rent) - C+
The Call of Cthulu (2005, Andrew Leman) (DVD Rent) - B
The Fly (1958, Kurt Neumann) (DVD Rent) - B
Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971, Dario Argento) (DVD Rent) - B+
From Beyond (1986, Stuart Gordon) (DVD Rent) - B-
The Fury (1978, Brian De Palma) (DVD Rent) - B+

The Kingdom (1994, Lars Von Trier) (DVD Rent) - B-
A Short Film About Killing (1988, Krzysztof Kieslowski) (DVD Rent) - B+
The Werewolf (1956, Fred F. Sears) (DVD Rent) - B
What Have They Done to Solange? (1972, Massimo Dallamano) (DVD Rent) - B+
Zombies of Mora Tau (1957, Edward L. Cahn) (DVD Rent) - B


Re-Visits (All DVD's owned unless otherwise noted)

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993, Henry Selick) - A-
Suspiria (1977, Dario Argento) - A
The Wicker Man (1973, Robin Hardy) - A

Edited by Brook K - 11/3/09 at 9:57am

I started watching some of the 30 for 30 documentaries a few nights ago.  I've been impressed so far but I missed out on the Levinson episode.  I had it recorded and went to watch it but the dumb NASCAR event before hand ran over so I'm going to have to look online to see if I can find it. 


Night Patrol (1984)
 

Jackie Kong
 

Tasteless junk is how many people talk about this POLICE ACADEMY rip off and that might be fair, although this is certainly trash of the highest level in terms of bad movies from the 80s.  The movie has a dorky police man (Murray Langston) getting put on night patrol with a new partner (Pat Paulson).  The dork not only has the desk girl (Linda Blair) wanting him but he also has the secret of being The Unknown Comic.  Okay, this movie is a complete disaster from start to finish but after about thirty-minutes your brain will go numb and this here will allow you to laugh at some of the incredibly stupid jokes.  The film starts off with Langston getting abused by an escaped homosexual and then moves on to him having birds poop on him, stepping in dog crap and then having that dog pee on him.  This all happens within the first five minutes so you know what type of film this is going to be.  The jokes from here on out include a midget Captain who is constantly farting and telling lies.  We've got countless jokes at various stereotype groups including lesbians wearing hard hats and playing pool without balls (get it?), gay men and various racial jokes including a Japanese man shooting up a neighborhood because he can't find a sushi bar.  It's funny that something like POLICE ACADEMY, a movie I like, could get countless rips but this one here must be one of the worse.  As I said, after a while your brain will finally lose all control and you'll probably find yourself laughing at some of the dumbness, which at times is so dumb you really have to give POLICE ACADEMY credit for staying under control.  The performance are all a mixed bag but Langston gets a few mild laughs as does Paulson as the sex addict partner.  Blair, showing off some nudity again, is decent but doesn't get to do too much.  The supporting cast includes Pat Morita, Sydney Lassick (ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST) and Andrew Dice Clay in an early role.  This film seems to have gotten a notorious reputation and cult following over the years, which is pretty easy to understand once you've seen the film.  The movie is a complete disaster but it's a rather fascinating one but the majority of people will certainly want to skip it.

I Promise to Pay (1937)
 

D. Ross Lederman
 

A ripped from the headlines drama from Columbia has Chester Morris playing a working class man who wants his family to get out of the heat on his week of vacation.  He decides to borrow $50 from some loan sharks but he doesn't realize that they expect him to pay 1000% interest.  Soon he can't afford to pay them and they decide to turn to violence.  A couple years after this film, the MGM series "Crime Does Not Pay" would do a film on the same subject (MONEY TO LOAN) and while it was overall the better movie, this one here manages to be quite entertaining due to the nice performance by Morris.  The subject matter was certainly ripped from the headlines because I'm sure many people were blindly going to these loan sharks considering the shape that the country was in at the time.  I can't help but this a moral story like this one was meant to make people a tad bit wiser but also give them the courage to stand up and fight.  Morris is the main reason to watch this film as he once again turns in a strong performance.  James Stewart always gets credit for being that "guy next door" type but Morris was also very good at this and he perfectly captures the spirit of his character.  Whenever his character is scared Morris makes you feel it.  Whenever he's had enough and is determined to fight you can feel it too.  Leo Carrillo is pretty good as the shark leader and Helen Mack is nice as the wife.  Thomas Mitchell (Uncle Billy in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE) turns in a nice performance as well as the District Attorney.  The film runs a short 68-minutes, which flies by for the most part even though some of the pacing isn't as good as it could have been.  Director Lederman does a nice job at keeping the film moving and building some nice suspense at the end, which is all you can ask for in a "B" picture like this.  Fans of Morris will certainly want to check this film out but fans of the low budget picture will also want to.

 

From Kino's Gaumont Treasures Disc 1: The Films of Alice Guy

Fisherman at the Stream, The (1897)
Bathing in a Stream (1897)
Serpentine Dance by Mme. Bob Walter (1897)
 

Three early films from Gaumont Studios and director Alice Guy.  The first film, THE FISHERMAN AT THE STREAM has a group of boys playing a prank on a fisherman by pushing him into the water.  BATHING IN A STREAM, apparently shot at the same time as our first film, has the boys taking a bath in that stream while SERPENTINE DANCE BY MME. BOB WALTER, running the longest at 107-seconds, is pretty much a direct remake of ANNABELLE SERPENTINE DANCE from Edison.  Out of the three films from this year in Kino's collection, the first one is probably the best but none of them really feature Guy breaking out onto her own as all three seem to "borrow" a lot of previous films from Melies and Edison.  The third film is probably the weakest of the bunch as we've seen in from various studios and it has probably already grown quite tiresome even in this early part of cinema, although people back then were obviously eating it up. 
 

Turn-of-the-Century Blind Man, The (1898)
At the Hypnotists (1898)
Burglars, The (1898)
Disappearing Act (1898)
Surprise Attack on a House at Daybreak (1898)
 

Five more films from Alice Guy from the Gaumont Treasures box set from Kino.  THE TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY BLIND MAN is a pretty simple and straight-forward prank film as a homeless man is pushed off a park bench by a police officer.  The poor man then puts his outfit on a rich man sleeping in that same chair just to see the officer go after him.  AT THE HYPNOTISTS has pretty much what you'd expect from a film with its title as a hypnotist makes a man do various funny things.  THE BURGLARS takes place on a rather obvious but funny set as two crooks try to break into a house as a couple cops come after them.  DISAPPEARING ACT is a poor man's Melies wannabe as a magician makes a woman turn into a devil then turns it back into a man.  The final film, SURPRISE ATTACK ON A HOUSE AT DAYBREAK is without question the most impressive of this group as soldiers close in on another group of soldiers held up in a house.  This short, running a brief 50-seconds, is without question the highlight here as we get a pretty good battle sequence that was years before the work of Griffith would come into play.  Guy handles the material quite well and manages to make the film feel a lot bigger than it actually is.  The other four films are all a mixed bag as the middle three come off as lesser copies of films we've seen from both Edison and Melies.  The first film also doesn't come off very original and only works as a mild interest to those who enjoy these early films.
 

At the Club (1899)
Wonderful Absinthe (1899)
 

Two more early films from Alice Guy and the Gaumont Studios.  AT THE CLUB features a group of men sitting around a table playing a game when a fight breaks out.  WONDERFUL ABSINTHE has a drunk getting bumped from behind when, sure enough, a fight breaks out.  The best of these two films is certainly AT THE CLUB as there's an all around innocent feel to it that really comes off as if Guy is having some fun showing what she perceives to be what happens to men at these clubs they go to.  On that level the film is pretty funny as nothing much happens but the way the fight breaks out makes for a nice laugh.  The second of the two films is pretty bland and I have to wonder if it was a one-shot production because it appears a lot of the action takes place off camera.  While watching the film I wondered if this is what Guy wanted or if the actors simply missed their mark and did their thing off the frame. 
 

Avenue de l’Opéra (1900)
Automated Hat-Maker and Sausage Grinder (1900)
At the Photographer's (1900)
Dance of the Seasons: Winter, Snow Dance (1900)
Landlady, The (1900)
 

AVENUE DE L'OPERA is a nicely done gimmick film that shows up a busy street but the film is played backwards, which gives the illusion of everything moving backwards.  AUTOMATED HAT-MAKER AND SAUSAGE-GRINDER comes off as something Melies would do as two men crank their machine to deliver what the title offers.  AT THE PHOTOGRAPHER'S is a decent little comedy as a man getting his picture taken but he can't sit still long enough for the thing to be taken.  DANCE OF THE SEASON is a rather "adult" film for 1900 as a woman does a little dance while (fake) snow falls on her.  THE LANDLADY has a group of kids ringing the bell of a landlady then running off.  Then a man comes up and rings it but this time the landlady has some water for him.  This group of films once again feature a mixed bag from director Guy as we get some items that were clearly meant to copy other films from other studios.  AVENUE DE L'OPERA is pretty good in terms of these gimmick films that everyone was releasing back then.  The entire gimmick of running the film backwards was certainly a lot more entertaining back then than it is today but it's still nice.  AUTOMATED HAT-MAKER is a straight comedy but one can't help but see more magic would have been worked by someone like Melies.  AT THE PHOTOGRAPHER'S is a decent comedy for its time as we get the annoying man constantly messes up the plans of the photographer.  DANCE OF THE SEASONS is perhaps the most interesting film here as there's a brief sequence where someone, using a stick, holds out an attempt at a copyright notice but who knows how well this worked back in the day.  The woman's dress is also hiked up pretty high, which I'm sure didn't sit well with many people back then you felt the movies were dirty entertainment.  THE LANDLADY is yet another comedy that really didn't feature that big of a pay off or enough of a laugh. 
 

Turn-of-the-Century Surgery (1900)
Pierrette’s Escapades (1900)
At the Floral Ball (1900)
Cabbage-Patch Fairy, The (1900)
 

This group of films from Alice Guy takes a pretty big step up from her previous features as not only the running times go up (to a whopping two-minutes each) but they also features more attempts at actual story telling.  TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY SURGERY is in the same mode as the films of Georges Melies, although I don't recall seeing anything this graphic from him.  We see a doctor use a large knife and a saw to remove the arm and leg of a patient.  They then put him into a wheelchair only to have him jump up and dance around.  The scenes of the doctor sawing into the body parts is certainly something I haven't seen in any other movie from this era but the tricks at the end, done with editing, are certainly inspired by the work of Melies.  PIERRETTE'S ESCAPADES is a nice attempt at hand tinting, which doesn't tell much of a story but we see two women getting ready for something and eventually dancing around.  The real reason to watch this short is for the hand tinting, which is pretty ugly by today's standards but I always love watching films that used this early technique.  The film ends with the two women kissing on the lips, which might be another first for this type of film.  AT THE FLORAL BALL is another hand tinted short, which features two women dancing at what appears to be, as the title says, a ball.  THE CABBAGE-PATCH FAIRY will put a smile on the face of anyone who has heard of this tale or in later times seen the actual Cabbage Patch dolls.  A fairy, in her cabbage patch, picks a few babies out from the weeds and sits then on the steps in front of her.  I'm not sure how good it was to put the babies on the ground the way they did here but this is a pleasant little film that will certainly make you smile. 

Serpentine Dance by Lina Esbrard (1902)
Midwife to the Upper Class (1902)
An Untimely Intrusion (1902)
Miss Dundee and Her Performing Dogs (1902)
 

Four more early works from female director Alice Guy from the recent Kino's collection of Gaumont Studio shorts.  SERPENTINE DANCE BY LINA ESBRARD features the lady doing a dance, which really isn't too different than the countless other serpentine dances being done by various studios as well as an earlier one by Guy herself.  MIDWIFE TO THE UPPER CLASS is a "spoof" of rich people as a couple (with the man being played by a woman) visits a cabbage patch to buy a kid.  This comedy doesn't really feature any true laughs but it remains fun thanks in large part to the sets, which are quite creative in their own way.  It's also worth noting that the film has two different settings, which might not seem like much today but back in 1902 this was something rather new (and refreshing).  The movie has a rather typical and racist joke where the couple are shown a black baby but they turn their heads in disgust so the sensitive types should be warned.  AN UNTIMELY INTRUSION is another comedy about a husband and wife fighting in their room when their landlady walks in just as the husband throws something across the room.  Of course, it nails the landlady and soon there's an even bigger fight.  This one here actually does manage to get a rather nice laugh as all the action, in the tight 55-seconds, manages to be rather violent and quite funny.  The print from Kino is missing several frames and it appears that some footage is slightly missing.  MISS DUNDEE AND HER PERFORMING DOGS is exactly what the title says.  Dog lovers will certainly get a kick out of this short but so will those not overly friendly with the animals.  This films runs just under four-minutes and features around twelve dogs doing all sorts of jumping tricks but the highlight is when one dog plays dead while another, dressed as a nun, kneels down besides him and says a prayer.
 

How Monsieur Takes His Bath (1903)
Faust and Mephistopheles (1903)
 

These two films from Alice Guy feature her obviously trying to capture the joy and spirit of a George Melies film but neither one really lives up to being anything overly special.  HOW MONSIEUR TAKES HIS BATH is one big gimmick as a man keeps trying to take his clothes off for a bath but each time he gets a piece off another takes its place.  This here is actually a remake of a 1900 Melies film called GOING TO BED UNDER DIFFICULTIES, which featured a man trying to get his clothes off to go to bed but having them replaced by more clothes.  This Guy film really doesn't capture any of the spirit of that Melies film, which in my opinion is one of his best.  This film contains a few nice effects but there's just no heart or soul in anything we see so you'd have to ask yourself why would you bother when you could simply watch the Melies film.  FAUST AND MEPHISTOPHELES is yet another version of the Faust story with this time it being told in the same fashion of Melies as the man signs the contract and soon Faust has various demons taking shape.  This short is decent but once again you really have to wonder why you'd spend time with it considering Melies was doing the same time of work and making the films much more enjoyable.  The effects here are fairly good but the overall feel of the film just can't compare to that other French master.
 

The Green Promise (1949)
 

A farm family moves to a new community and purchases a new farm. Unfortunately the father played by Walter Brennan refuses to incorporate new methods and ideas putting his farm in peril.

This film is one big promotion of the 4-H clubs in the US. The movie had some good moments with a few effective scenes but for the most part it left me cold. The father was just too unlikable and unyielding and the middle child too much of a brat for me to warm up to this film. I think if their characters, Walter Brennans in particular, were more balanced it would have made for a better film and the ending more believable.

Michael, you definitely have to check for possible runover programs. That's how I missed the last part of King's Ransom. There was a Cfootball game on before which of course ran over. I can't DVR it when it's actually on at 7pm CT Tuesday nights because my wife is already recording 2 shows in the same slot, so I've been recording at 10pm on ESPN2 the same night, but that has had problems with runover programming so I set it to record the show afterwards too. Now I'm going to start recording it at a different timeslot later in the week when it looks like there are just several hours of highlight shows on before so it shouldn't have a problem with runovers.

Also, I'm pretty sure they will eventually be out on DVD if you miss some.

I haven't had a chance to watch Maysles' Ali - Holmes doc but it should be good. Apparently he's had the footage stored away for 30+ years because nobody wanted to buy it in the wake of Ali suffering such a bad defeat in his declining years. Excited for the Len Bias one tonight. I was around 13 when it happened, so I kind of remember it, but I'm sure there was a lot of background about it I didn't know. You just didn't have the comprehensive info about every draft pick like you do today and I was a Lakers fan back then and hadn't really gotten into college hoops yet so I wasn't going to read a bunch of articles about a Celtic.

I watched the Maysles documentary last night and I fell in love with it.  I've seen quite a few documentaries on Ali but this here is without a doubt the best and I really hope that the film gets an extended version on DVD because the footage is quite amazing.  The intro with Maysles talks about how CBS, NBC and ABC didn't want to touch the footage he shot so he had been sitting on it for all these years.  Early in the film someone calls the fight a Greek tragedy and the movie hits an incredibly sad and brutal end with me really questioning Ali's trainers for not stopping the massacre.  Living in Louisville, I've been up close to Ali a couple times and to see that end result might have fallen back on this fight just hit me as being incredibly depressing.  On a technical level the doc is a masterpiece because it will have you feeling every emotion that is possible so hopefully people will check the film out.  Even if you hate boxing you'll still love this thing. 

ESPN2 is showing it again this Thursday at 10:30pm for those who might want to check it out.

WITHOUT BIAS is on tonight and should be another good one as I've heard quite a bit about this guy and seen countless stories on him so it'll be interesting to see what the director comes up with. 

I'm seeing Dylan tonight in Columbus so I won't be home to watch it live but I'm going to try and view it when I get home and post my thoughts on the series so far.

October Recap

Movies seen: 24 (First timers: 22)
Average rating = 2.56/5
Median rating = 2.5/5

Catching up with all the movies based on toys.  (I missed my August & September re-caps, so I'll just say that "In the Loop" and "District 9" were the best movies I saw for those months.)

ALL RATINGS OUT OF (FIVE) STARS

First time viewings in bold.

10/01- Good (2008)

10/02- My Blueberry Nights (2008)
10/05- Year One (2009)

10/06- Goodbye Solo (2009)

10/07- Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)

10/08- Away We Go (2009)

10/09- In The Realm of the Senses (Ai No Corrida) (1976)

10/11- Blood: The Last Vampire (2009)

10/13- I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With (2007)

10/13- The White Diamond (2005)

10/15- In the Name of the Father (1993)
10/16- Harakiri (Seppuku) (1962)
10/17- Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

10/21- The Girlfriend Experience (2009)

10/21- The Great Buck Howard (2009)

10/22- Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)

10/24- Angels and Demons (2009)

10/24- G. I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009)

10/25- Land of the Lost (2009)

10/26- Orphan (2009)

10/28- The Quick and the Dead (1995)

10/30- Whatever Works (2009)

10/30- South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut (1999)

10/31- Public Enemies (2009)

Favorites (first timers): Goodbye Solo, In the Name of the Father

ESPN has a 30 for 30 website with individual pages for each doc where you can see a schedule of when the episodes will be reshown. Found the solution for the program overrun problems. These are also shown on ESPN Classic later in the week which should not suffer from those issues. The website also features statements from the directors, director bios and some additional info and video stuff.

Looks like we only get a couple more this year and then the bulk of them will be coming in 2010.

Levinson's The Band That Wouldn't Die was terrific. Really captured what sports can mean to people and a whole city and the passion that fans have for football. Also just a good story, with the Baltimore Colts band remaining together all the years that the city was without an NFL team and there's all kinds of great nostalgic old footage of the Colts and the city.

I liked Berg's Gretzky doc quite a bit too, never really thought about how devastating the trade must have been for Edmonton and the interviews with the team owners at the time are excellent.  I was mad at myself for missing the last 15m. Looks like it won't be reaired until December.

The USFL doc has some great moments (the modern day interview with Trump, Rick Neuheisel's hilarious story about racing "Gumball Rally" style to a small town bank to cash paychecks before they bounced), but I thought too much of the story of the league was lost in the director, Mike Tollin's, intent to place everything on Trump, when clearly there were lots of other poor decisions and bad financial management from many of the other owners. That one probably suffered from the 52 minute time restriction. Just too much story to tell.

30 at 30: King's Ransom (2009)
 

Peter Berg
 

The first film in ESPN's series has director Peter Berg taking a look at the 1988 trade that sent Wayne Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings.  This trade is considered to be the biggest in sports history as the Edmonton owner got around $15 million in cash and sent the entire face of hockey packing bags, which causes him countless death threats from the people in Edmonton.  The documentary takes a look at both sides of the trade and shows what impact it had on  the cities moving forward.  Gretzky is in the film and gives his thoughts and feelings on the trade years after it all went down and it's interesting to hear him say he wouldn't change a thing considering he wouldn't win another Stanley Cut but the team he left would win another two years after the trade.  No one will ever question the greatness of Gretzky but I do wonder if he's telling the truth here when he said he wouldn't do anything over.  The two owners are also interviewed and you can't help but understand why the trade was done even though fans are still going to cry foul.  Berg does a very nice job at getting all the details out there and this includes new interviews as well as the original news conference as well as other footage from various stations covering the event. 

30 for 30: Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL? (2009)
 

Michael Tollin
 

Fun filled and sometimes heated documentary about who killed the USFL, the springtime football league, which seemed to be doing decent until Donald Trump bought a team and soon, after three seasons, the league was no more.  It's interesting to note that director Tollin was actually working for the USFL when they started up so he's certainly got some insight as to what was going on and I think for the most part this documentary is quite open and honest about the events that would bring the league down.  It's also worth noting that everyone interviewed blames Trump.  What was most fascinating about this documentary, for someone not too familiar with it, is how many legends of the NFL started their careers in this "under" league.  Jim Kelly, Steve Young, Herschel Walker and Reggie White are just a few of the people who started in the league and coaches Jim Mora, Lee Corso, Rick Neuheisel and Keith Jackson were also working there.  All of these folks are interviewed here and again, they all blame Trump.  The old hair piece Trump is also on hand here and it shouldn't shock anyone that he doesn't take a bit of the blame.  It's clear he isn't too fond about this story and eventually ends the interview without offering too much up.  It's pretty funny to see what a great villain he makes here especially with a former player, still highly upset, talking about how many people lost their job over his greed.  There's plenty of footage from the old games as well as original news reports of various games, stories and of course that infamous court case where the league went after the NFL. 

30 for 30: Muhammad and Larry (2009)
 

Albert Maysles
 

Legendary documentary director Maysles (GIMME SHELTER, THE BEATLES: FIRST U.S. VISIT) dives head first into this episode of ESPN's series and ends up delivering one of the best of its kind.  The film takes a look at the 1980 fight between friends Larry Holmes and Muhammad Ali, which ended with Ali being beaten to a pulp and many thinking it ended up putting him where he is today in terms of his health.  This is a rather remarkable documentary that should have been given a theatrical release as it's that good and I might go even further and call it one of the best boxing documentaries I've ever seen.  The amazing thing to hear happens right at the start of the film when Maysles says that all of the footage we're going to see was actually shot in 1980 as both boxers were getting ready for the match but no one wanted to released the footage until now.  The documentary does a masterful job at showing the disaster that happened inside the ring but it also captures everything that was going on with the two fighters leading up to their match.  Early in the film someone calls the fight a Greek tragedy and that's pretty much how it plays out as we learn right from the start that Ali gets massacred in the ring.  We then flash to their story with all the footage that was shot in 1980.  It's funny to see no one surrounding the champion Holmes but at the Ali camp, everyone is there daily to check him out.  This old footage includes Ali playing with children, signing things for them, doing card tricks and just shows why so many people loved it.  It also features several scenes of his famous mouth running.  The film contains a lot of funny moments but it also turns deadly serious when it comes time to show the fight, the beating Ali took and what effect it might have had on his current health situation.  Seeing Holmes crying after the fight and thinking about what happened really makes one think and want to point fingers for Ali's corner not stopping the fight a lot earlier.  Maysles has several great films under his belt and you can add this one to the list.  Boxing fans will certainly love it but I think the film is great enough to appeal to those who don't know the sport or like the sport.

30 for 30: Without Bias (2009)
 

Kirk Fraser
 

Documentary covering the quick rise and quicker death of Maryland star Len Bias who would see his dreams come true when drafted by the Boston Celtics only to die of a cocaine overdose soon after wards.  It seems the death of Bias has been told from every angle and that's somewhat true here, although this documentary takes it a step further and looks at the fall out that would follow his death as well as the tragedy that would strike his family four years later when his brother would be shot to death.  As one of the talking heads says in the film, people always want to punish someone for a death and the documentary does a great job at showing what happened to the school, head coach "Lefty" Driesell and various other players including the man who brought the cocaine to the party.  There's a question brought up on how these kids got a hold of pure cocaine but this is never really followed through on but I do think the film itself doesn't point the finger at Bias enough.  It gets the greatness right.  It gets the tragedy surrounding his death right.  I think the film should have been a tad bit tougher in blaming his death on no one but himself.  Various reporters, players and coaches are interviewed and all tell wonderful stories and really bring to life Bias' and his tragic life.  I think it gets summed up pretty well when someone says that everyone deserves a second chance in life but Bias didn't get that and in the end one mistake took everything away.    

 

The Last Temptation of Christ - A very, very interesting spin on the Jesus tale. It's almost up there with Pasolini's for me. I'm sure some of the theological implications flew over this atheist's head, but I found the portrayal of his human side, full of doubt and fear, to be fascinating and revealing. And in many ways, far more inspirational than the "totally calm and peaceful and in control dude" we usually see. I thought it got a little too "Greatest Hits of the New Testament" at times, especially in the middle section. You might think this would be mitigated by Scorsese's (or Schrader's, or Kazantzakis') "tweaking" of the gospel in these cases, but after a while that started to seem a bit self-conscious. Besides this, and one spot where Peter Gabriel's score didn't really work, I don't have any complaints. Even the casting which bothered me the first time I tried to watch it wasn't a problem this time. Maybe Harvey Keitel, but only at certain points. Rating: 8


The Girlfriend Experience - Reading through the iMDB comments on this film, I'm truly stunned by how many people completely missed the point... that this is a film about the economy. Soderbergh doesn't exactly make it obscure, characters are constantly referencing the economic crisis, the importance of the election, investments, business, and assorted financial transactions (it's kind of similar to Eyes Wide Shut in this way). Granted, the ideas could have been better developed, but at least give the man credit for making more than just a "slice of hooker life" movie. I thought it was really interesting on both counts, but then again I also really liked Bubble and no one else did, so what do I know? Like Bubble, this one features a lot of improvised dialogue from non-professionals (except, in a sense, porn star Sasha Grey in the lead) and the results feel quite authentic. The fragmented timeline didn't confuse me at all and I was pretty engaged throughout. Very few of my favorite films are by Soderbergh, but he almost always satisfies. Rating: 8


Cela s'appelle l'aurore (That Is the Dawn) - Only a few Bunuels left that I haven't seen. It's hard for me to say I've seen this one, though... the subtitles were really rough and very much out of sync. Still, I managed to get the gist of it. Nice guy doctor, boring wife, intriguing mistress, asshole factory owner, exploited worker. Kind of a ho-hum melodrama but the camerawork was nice and the performances seemed pretty good. One of his least "Bunuel" movies, but you see parts of him shining through. Not one of his best, but he definitely did worse. Rating: 6