Track the Films You Watch (2006) - Page 50

Joe Karlosi · 09-15-2006, 05:04 PM

I have no use for THE TOWERING INFERNO, precisely because it doesn't delve enough into the characters. It was a disappointment. Then again, I don't much care for TITANIC either.

Now, THE POSEDION ADVENTURE on the other hand -- there's the champ. Just enough of both, not too much of either.

Brook K · 09-16-2006, 01:36 AM

Leaving for St. Louis tomorrow so my posts will be even fewer and farther between than they already have been lately.....Quick thoughts just to catch my sig up to date.

L'Enfant (2005)
Dardennes Bros. Palme D'Or winner about a small time hood who sells his and his girlfriend's infant, then gets in a mess o' trouble when he tries to get the child back. Interesting in spurts but I have yet to find the Dardennes films as engaging or provocative as the filmmakers they are often compared to or even contemporaries with similar styles like Dumont and Moodysson. - B-

Black Mama White Mama (1972)
AIP made a cottage industry in the early 70's of filming women-in-prison flicks in the Phillipines. A takeoff on The Defiant Ones, this stars Pam Grier as a prostitute who overheard the wrong conversation and Helena Markoff as a revolutionary; both on the lam and chained together after a prison escape, they have to avoid the police and predatory males. Generally fun, especially when Sid Haig shows up to steal the show, though this is pure exploitation with a so-so script and lacks the care that Jack Hill brought to the genre. - B-

When The Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Chapters (2006)
Spike Lee's 4 hour documentary on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina premiered on HBO. It is a passionate essay that gives voice to people who, rightly or wrongly, feel ignored by their government. Along with the people stuck in the muck, Lee lets hurricane experts, engineers, activists, authors, and assorted other people from all walks of life with ties to New Orleans have their say. This is powerfully emotional material, from the sad, sad stories from the immediate aftermath of the hurricane, the rage of the survivors, and perhaps most damning, testimony from engineering experts that makes it seem as if nothing was learned from the disaster. Well worth the time investment if you have a chance to see it. - A-

CSA: Confederate States of America (2005)
Faux "what if" documentary presents a scenario in which the Confederacy won the Civil War. Interesting here and there, but as someone with a pretty deep knowledge of the history discussed in the film, I thought the filmmakers really didn't do anything challenging and only illustrated the most obvious events in predictable ways. Might have been better as a 30m program than padded out to feature length. The "commercial breaks" with commercial parodies is a gimmick that wears out very quickly, even considering the "shocking" revelation that the products were real. Also I find it hard to believe that even in modern times people would still use 1860's era slave phrases and mock pidgin English, as if a Confederate victory would halt the normal process of language evolution. - C+

Willie Dynamite (1974)
Willie "D" (played by Roscoe Orman aka Gordon from Sesame Street!!!) is a successful pimp with a stable of beautiful babes. But after refusing to join a cartel with his fellow pimps, he's targeted for elimination by the others. He fights tooth and nail to hold on to what he has, but is up against long odds. Unlike films like The Mack and Dolemite, Willie Dynamite doesn't glamorize "the Game" (or prostitution for the unhip). Willie has the hilariously flashy clothes and tricked out car you'd expect, but the movie eschews the usual rise to power, and is almost entirely a downward slide. The film plays as tragedy, without ever asking the audience to truly side with Willie as it doesn't shy away from describing the brutal, exploitative role of the pimp.

As I had hoped, my trek into "blaxploitation" is already turning up a number of worthwhile gems unfairly tossed aside. I'd rate Willie even higher if it wasn't for a tepid subplot that takes over the film towards the end involving a social worker who keeps trying to reform Willie. - B

Looking at IMDB, this was the only movie of this sort that Roscoe Orman was in. He started his role on Sesame Street the same year.

Roll Bounce (2005)
Entertaining comedy that weaves together elements of Saturday Night Fever , sports movie cliches, and weightier emotional material with a period setting during the roller skating craze. Satisfying on several levels with solid performances from the cast and the skate dancing scenes are top notch. - B

Kicking and Screaming (1995)
Noah Baumbach's debut film about a group of characters unsure of where to go with their lives after graduating from college. This is one of those movies like Clerks, Office Space or Dazed & Confused where if you identify with the characters or recognize elements in the film from your own life, it plays as the highest of high comedy and becomes a film you watch over and over. Me, I found the film dismally unfunny and the sort of distasteful tripe that wallows in angst only made possible by the affluence of the characters. Only the caustically endearing presence of Chris Eigeman makes the film even watchable. - C

Sketches of Frank Gehry (2006)
The impressive artistic qualities of Gehry's buildings and an insight into his creative process are the chief attractions of this bio-documentary by Sydney Pollack. - B

Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005)
Rapper 50 Cent stars in this story of a drug dealer who wants to quit the criminal life to become a rapper. Mostly stays in a more violent action vein and never comes close to the heights of the similarly themed Hustle & Flow. Still, Get Rich's familiar arc provides just enough entertainment and propulsive style to keep the audience moderately interested. - B-

The Ballad of Narayama (1983)
Shohei Imamura's film is set in a 17th century Japanese village caught in the grip of poverty so grinding that it has become custom for adults who reach the age of 70 to climb a nearby mountain and wait to die, thereby leaving fewer mouths to feed. The film contains two riveting, powerful episodes of sacrifice and some occasional sexual humor, but much of the rest of this overlong film is spent on the familiar subplots of marriage-seeking and the shifting relationships among villagers. Only a couple of the actors make much of an impression, leaving most of the film dry as a bone. - C+

Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World (2005)
Comedian Albert Brook's latest film has him playing himself, as a comic hired by the goverment to go to India and Pakistan to compile a report on what makes muslims laugh. The film shines in it's early portions when it attacks bureacracy and the sort of myopic thinking that ventures into verboten HTF discussion. Once in India, the film never rises to those same heights, but remains consistently entertaining and while not "laugh-a-minute", is consistently chuckle worthy if one can become attuned to Brook's extra dry, mocking sense of humor. - B

OK, this catches me up to September. In addition to the smattering of films I've had time to see this month listed in my sig, I also got through all 3 Godfather commentaries as well as the extras disc.

Take care all!

Adam_S · 09-16-2006, 06:03 AM

Mario, I found Hallelujah I'm a bum to be a terrific film as well, it constantly surprised me and never failed to entertain me and keep me interested and it was beautifully crafted on all technical levels.

I revisited Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire -

I still think this is the best of the Harry Potter films. It's definitely the best adaptation. The film has an effortless ease with comedy that is remarkable. I was surprised at how much I was laughing throughout the film on a second viewing. on the other hand, what the film is missing is a touch of miyazaki grace. it never has a chance to pause and take a breath. It's missing potential powerful moments by sacrificing all to a propulsive narrative that compresses everything into a relatively straitforward cause and effect. Because the four trials Harry undergoes in this experience are so spectacular and epic we get no sense of the quest he needs to undergo to overcome them. So we're left with only the barest bones of the story, but a lot of heart and more fleshed out main characters. We care a lot more about this movie, in my opinion.

Cleverest thing about the movie was putting Barty Crouch in the dream at the beginning, Neville providing gillyweed, and combining the two trials we see in the pensieve. silliest thing was the tongue. Biggest loss is the training for the summoning charms, Sirius-as-father-figure scene in the cave, Hermione saying exams don't matter in order to help Harry learn as much magic as possible for the maze, the actual challenges of the maze, and little bits and pieces of Voldemort's return, Dumbledore's interrogation, Fudge's waffling and the dementors kiss.

I can't wait for the next movie, I hope they let it run a little longer in terms of pace and breathing room--we don't need a head on rush to get to the ministry of magic.

The movie holds up beautifully and only falters in that I recently reread Goblet and have all these issues fresh in my mind.

Mario Gauci · 09-17-2006, 05:17 PM

09/15/06: SONG OF THE SOUTH (Harve Foster and Wilfred Jackson, 1946) ***

I recorded this “notorious” Disney film off Italian TV (only the second time I recall it ever being shown over the years) on the strength of the heated online discussions which turn up from time to time in such Forums as this one and, in fact, I immediately sat down to watch it when I came home from work to see what all the fuss was about. Well, in my modest opinion, this is yet another case of “much ado about nothing”…

True, the film (including most of the songs) was dubbed in Italian so, I guess, some of the offending “racist” content has necessarily been toned down as a result but, having watched it, I don’t buy into the objection that the film minimizes – or even glorifies in any way – the hardships of black slavery inflicted by their Southern masters. If anything, the character of Uncle Remus (perfectly essayed by Honorary Oscar recipient James Baskett) is depicted as being an intelligent, literate and even independant soul with a terrific imagination in his dreaming up the world of Brer Rabbit and his cronies (enacted in the film in cartoon form). Where is the offence? Is the Uncle Remus character any less formidable or any less representative of his people than Rex Ingram in THE GREEN PASTURES (1936) and Hattie McDaniel in GONE WITH THE WIND (1939)? And yet those two movies have never been subjected to all the fuss – not to mention withdrawal from public view - made over this film…

In any case, the film is a pleasant, folksy tale which is highlighted by the animation sequences (directed by frequent Disney animator Wilfred Jackson), superb color cinematography by the legendary Gregg Toland, a catchy Oscar-winning song, “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah" and is also notable for introducing young Bobby Driscoll to the Disney stable.

09/16/06: TARGET (Guido Zurli, 1979) *1/2

This is surely one of the lamest poliziotteschi I’ve ever come across, with just about the only thing going for it being the unusual and exotic Istanbul locations. Even nominal star Luc Merenda is underused; in fact, a lot of the running time is devoted to a Turkish family man who happens to be an infallible sharpshooter, and is unwillingly recruited by the mob in order to eliminate narc cop Merenda (whom he has actually just befriended!). One of the funniest things in the film is the fact that every male in Turkey is seen to be sporting a moustache! Otherwise, the concoction is the same as before: tough hero (heroes in this case), above-the-law financiers discussing their criminal business around a dinner table, their vicious thugs and abused molls, kidnappings, fisticuffs, shoot-outs, a bit of gratuitous nudity, bad disco soundtrack, etc.

09/16/06: TENDER SCOUNDREL (Jean Becker, 1966) **

I mistook this colorful, location-filled adventure fluff for a light-hearted caper – and, therefore, I couldn’t help being disappointed by the lack of a definite plot and the general silliness of the whole enterprise! Becker is the son of Jacques Becker – who had made classics like CASQUE D’OR (1952), TOUCHEZ PAS AU GRISBI (1954) and LE TROU (1960) – but he demonstrates little of his father’s attention to detail, where the style actually served the plot and the characters rather than being merely surface gloss. In fact, the film leans completely on the charms of leading-man Jean-Paul Belmondo – who’s accompanied off-screen by a bouncy Michel Legrand score and on it by the likes of Robert Morley, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Philippe Noiret and Marcel Dalio…not forgetting a bevy of beauties (though second-billed Stefania Sandrelli is wasted and actually appears only in the film’s final third), including Orson Welles’ future wife Oja Kodar! I’d still love to watch Becker’s award-winning erotic drama ONE DEADLY SUMMER (1983), starring luscious Isabelle Adjani…

09/16/06: THE CHILDREN ARE WATCHING US (Vittorio De Sica, 1944) ***

De Sica’s first Neo-Realist film had been neglected over the years and, so, it was a surprise to see it being added to “The Criterion Collection”. Ultimately, it’s not up to his later more celebrated quartet – SHOESHINE (1946), THE BICYCLE THIEF (1948), MIRACLE IN MILAN (1951) and UMBERTO D (1952) – but, taken on its own modest merits, it’s a reasonably effective work coming from an actor best-known for light fare!

As indicated by the title, the narrative is seen through the eyes of the sensitive young son of a working-class couple; the mother is having an affair and the boy is witness to – and the victim of – the inevitable disintegrating family ties, being bounced around from the household of one begrudging relative to another. The couple make a determined effort to stay together for the sake of the child (having to contend, besides, with the nosy and gossiping tenants of their condominium) – but the impetuous young man who has come between man and wife won’t give her up so easily, and he finally manages to tear her from them for good. In desperation, the husband commits suicide…

The plot is pretty melodramatic and the film is infused with a good deal of sentimentality (there are plenty of close-ups of the boy weeping his heart out, for instance); clearly, De Sica’s hand isn’t confident as yet in juggling the various elements that comprise such slices-of-life – for one thing, he has used actors rather than the non-professionals who would come to serve him in good stead in his subsequent Neo-Realist classics. Even so, the three leading performances are undeniably excellent…while the film’s real coup is to be found in its devastating – and truly uncompromising – conclusion.

Mario Gauci · 09-17-2006, 05:25 PM

Adam S,

Even if the film has been in the back of my mind ever since it's been released on DVD, I won't be stretching it too much when I say that your HTF write-up on HALLELUJAH, I'M A BUM (1933) - and the fact that it was discounted from Deep Discount DVD - served as a catalyst for my ultimately picking it up! Thanks

.

Steve,

I'm pleased to see that you've finally gotten hold of SWAMP WATER (1941) and that you've liked it as much as I did. Now I'm looking forward to reading your comments on one of my favorites, Luis Bunuel's THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL (1962). I need to pick up that Australian R4 SE of this one even if it's a tad overpriced

! Should it turn up from Criterion in the future, it's bound to be a pretty bare-bones affair as had been most of their Bunuel offerings (with two obvious exceptions, of course)...

george kaplan · 09-17-2006, 06:02 PM

Mr. Hulot's Holiday

Working my way up to watching the new Criterion of Playtime, I rewatched the first film of the trilogy. This remains my favorite, though I think as time goes on my esteem for the films becomes closer and closer, but that's due to more greatly appreciated the others, not any diminishment of this one.

Ted Lee · 09-17-2006, 06:53 PM

title: the wild parrots of telegraph hill
rating: c
comments: an interesting enough documentary, but it just felt too ... by-the-bookish.

title: ghosts of the abyss
rating: b
comments: i really enjoyed some of the technical aspects of this one, especially how they super-imposed the real image with what was on the botton of the ocean - it really helped me identify what i was looking at. even the "robot-rescue" was kinda fun.

Mario Gauci · 09-18-2006, 07:46 AM

Double Post

SteveGon · 09-18-2006, 12:31 PM

The Comedy of Terrors (1964)

Viewed 9/11/2006

Middling horror comedy about a funeral home director who turns to
murder to increase his buisness. Penned by Richard Matheson, directed
by Jacques Tourneur, and starring Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Peter
Lorre and Basil Rathbone. All that talent and you only get so-so
results?

out of

The Raven (1963)

Viewed 9/11/2006 (first viewing)

Flaky supernatural tale has two sorcerers (Vincent Price and Boris
Karloff) dueling for supremacy. Slight but fun. A young Jack
Nicholson also stars, though he never quite fits in. Inspired by the
classic Edgar Allan Poe poem.

out of

To Die (Or Not) (1999)

Viewed 9/12/2006 (first viewing)

Interesting Spanish film on the possibilities of life and death. The
first half of the movie consists of a series of black and white
vignettes, each ending in the death (via accident, murder or suicide)
of a central character; the second half details in color the survival
of all concerned after a pivotal event in one story has a different
outcome.

out of

The Fifth Horseman is Fear (1964)

Viewed 9/12/2006 (first viewing)

Czech New Wave classic about a Jewish doctor reduced by the Nazis to
working in a warehouse for confiscated Jewish property. Forbidden to
practice medicine, he undergoes a crisis of conscience after being
asked to treat a wounded resistance fighter. Will he risk hi