Track the Films You Watch (2008) - Page 37

Bob Turnbull · 06-04-2008, 12:37 AM

Yep, I understand your view George...It's what you look for in film and what you base your reviews on. Fair enough.

Just giving you another perspective though...I think there's a number of other ways to look at the artform of film than just as a method of telling a story. Doesn't mean you have to like them all, but sometimes there's a great deal to be said for a new way of making you think about an idea or concept (like say, oh I don't know, Blow-Up

- change the ending to resolve the mystery and it might be a terrific story; keep it as it is and it's a terrific study of how your perception defines your reality - uh, for me it is anyway...).

As for stuff I've seen of late...Yoips. May was slow for me, but April had the Hot Docs film fest and I saw 16 different docs - all but one (OK, maybe two) were damn good. In particular, search out Anvil! The Story of Anvil and Nursery University. Also Jennifer Baichawal's 2002 doc about photographer Shelby Lee Adams was fantastic.

Some DVD viewings in short:

Funky Forest - The First Contact - Just as insane, silly, confusing and funny as the first time I saw it with an audience.

Jean De Florette / Manon Of The Spring - Oh, that's what everyone has been raving about...Got it.

L'Enfant - Good and certainly of interest in the way it was made, but Cannes winner? Really?

The Funeral - Juzo Itami made more than just Tampopo. His first film is also damn good, even in its butchered full frame existence...Sigh, maybe Eclipse could release a bunch of his stuff properly?

Michael Elliott · 06-04-2008, 12:16 PM

Mario, I personally loved FACTORY GIRL and felt that it did feature some of the best performances of the year. With the exception of Christensen who was just downright terrible.

The music rights were never going to be given by Dylan because he claims to have never had an affair with her. She was dating people in Dylan's group but there were never any claims that she dated Dylan. Dylan sued to filmmakers to get his named removed from the film and this is the reason why none of the music was used. Before seeing the movie I thought Dylan wouldn't like the way he was shown but that's certainly not the case as he comes across as the good guy and Warhol is seen as the jerk. If Dylan went all the way to court I'd say it was because they had no relationship (or at least not to the point the film makes).

Mario Gauci · 06-04-2008, 03:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael Elliott

Mario, I personally loved FACTORY GIRL and felt that it did feature some of the best performances of the year. With the exception of Christensen who was just downright terrible.

The music rights were never going to be given by Dylan because he claims to have never had an affair with her. She was dating people in Dylan's group but there were never any claims that she dated Dylan. Dylan sued to filmmakers to get his named removed from the film and this is the reason why none of the music was used. Before seeing the movie I thought Dylan wouldn't like the way he was shown but that's certainly not the case as he comes across as the good guy and Warhol is seen as the jerk. If Dylan went all the way to court I'd say it was because they had no relationship (or at least not to the point the film makes).

Hi Mike,

It took a post about Bob Dylan to catch you 'live' on HTF once more!

As far as modern movies go, I thought FACTORY GIRL (2006) was pretty good: Sienna Miller and Guy Pearce were indeed outstanding as you said but I felt that the film could have delved deeper into Sedgwick's very last years and I shouldn't have had to search on the Internet to learn what really happened to her.

The situation about the music rights might as well have been like you put it but it doesn't take away from the fact that the relevant songs were sorely missed.

By the way, thanks for reading.

Michael Elliott · 06-04-2008, 03:40 PM

The last few weeks have been rather crazy. The Saturday before last I bought a laptop and I haven't got internet on it yet. The following day I had a Sheryl Crow concert and returned home afterwards from my girlfriend's house. Then, last Thursday, I was helping my mother move when a cabinet fell on my hand, which left me with a fracture. A cast is on my hand and I had to fight my way out of having to stay at the hospital. Why fight? Because I had Eric Clapton tickets for Sunday, which I thankfully made, although the six hour drive sucked. I'm back at my girlfriend's house so I was able to get online. It's very hard to type so I haven't been posting much. I also finally got a couple movies on but it's a pain to type with one hand.

Mario Gauci · 06-04-2008, 04:52 PM

06/01/08: RUNAWAY (Michael Crichton, 1984)

I recall this being released theatrically and even an Italian-TV broadcast of it some time later; being available for rental on DVD locally and myself a sci-fi fan, it was inevitable that I’d check it out – even if it doesn’t have much of a reputation within the genre (in spite of writer/director Crichton’s involvement, author of such effective yet diverse fare as THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN [1970], WESTWORLD [1973], THE TERMINAL MAN [1974], COMA [1978] and JURASSIC PARK [1993]).

This is one of a number of early 1980s sci-fi actioners – including TRON (1982), BLUE THUNDER (1983), WAR GAMES (1983), THE LAST STARFIGHTER (1984), etc. – which seemed to promote technology, often at the expense of narrative and characterization, but which evoke tremendous nostalgia for someone who was a kid at the time. Still, the film serves as a reminder that cinema was in a definite rut throughout the decade – when you had to rely on a T.V. star for the lead (MAGNUM P.I.’s Tom Selleck) and a rockstar for the villain (Gene Simmons, bassist of KISS)! In itself, though, it’s harmless enough and certainly enjoyable – even if the plot (once all the scientific jargon and gadgetry is by-passed) is pretty routine.

The action sequences (plentiful in number) are O.K. if a bit silly – such as the situation where Selleck has to save a hostage infant from a squat gun-toting robot gone amok, Simmons shooting missile-like bullets, a car chase in which the passengers change vehicles in motion (a stunt which has just been replicated in the latest Indiana Jones adventure!), etc. Plotwise, we get complications in the relationship between widower Selleck and his immediate family (comprising a young son and a garrulous robot maid!) – which set in with the appearance of his new (and naturally female) cop partner; Selleck’s also fraught with vertigo (in the past, this had cost the life of a number of people when he backed out of following a suspect because of the heights involved) – a hindrance which is predictably played upon during the climax, where he has to take on Simmons’ army of acid-spouting robot spiders in an elevator at a construction site!

The film seemed to have its heart in the right place – what with employing cinematographer John A. Alonzo and composer Jerry Goldsmith (though his contribution results in a shoddy electronic score), both of whom had worked on the noir revival par excellence CHINATOWN (1974) – though conditions were hardly as congenial this time around…

06/03/08: THE WINDOW (Ted Tetzlaff, 1949)

This classic noir about a boy’s lying ways catching up with him has lost some of the edge it once possessed with the years (due to its low-key nature, but also a plethora of imitations); however, it remains a satisfying and very well-made ‘B’ movie – despite the simplistic attitudes displayed by some of the characters involved.

Bobby Driscoll is impressive in the leading role, and deservedly won a Special Oscar for his performance; his parents, then, are played by Barbara Hale and Arthur Kennedy. The boy witnesses a murder from the fire-escape of his tenement building one night, but nobody believes him…except that the couple responsible (Paul Stewart and Ruth Roman, who are both excellent here) can’t take any chances and decide to silence him for good! As I said, some of the situations defy credibility – though one has to take into account the fact that it was made in more innocent times: okay, so the boy tends to allow his imagination to get the better of him…but his parents’ blind trust in their neighbors, the Police’s apparent unwillingness to act, or the mere notion that people living in an apartment building would own a passkey seems a bit much!

With this in mind, the second half makes amends with a number of solid suspense touches (often tinged with irony) – such as the incident when a letter arrives necessitating Hale’s absence from the house, which would leave Driscoll all alone (since Kennedy works nights): the boy believes it to have been sent expressly by the villains, but it turns out to be genuine. Similarly, at his wits’ end, the boy decides to run away but soon after hears a key turning in the lock of their front door – fully expecting Stewart to appear, the caller emerges to be his own father who was worried about the boy and has come home to literally bar Driscoll inside his room!; then, when the neighbor really does show up, he even helps him (unbeknownst to the boy) to come out of confinement…so that he can deal with him! After a near-escape for the villains when Driscoll causes a commotion in a cab with a police officer looking on, the plot resolves itself in a hair-raising chase inside a condemned building (where the murderous couple had previously conveniently hidden the body).

To be honest, I prefer the fatalistic and denser approach to the genre – but this nevertheless is given a real shot in the arm by its remarkable New York locations (having been a cinematographer, director Tetzlaff displays an enviable eye for detail throughout)…not to mention the fact that its depiction of life-threatening goings-on behind closed doors resonated with me personally due to a recent tragedy.

PatW · 06-04-2008, 09:47 PM

License to Wed (2007) zero stars

I watched this one with my daughter today. If I was alone I would definitely have turned this one off. It was pretty lame as well as boring. Robin Williams was amusing a few years ago but lately he just irritates. This is suppose to be a romantic comedy but I don't think there was one humourous moment in this whole movie. Comedy has taken a new low when the minister (Robin Williams) bugs the young couples apartment, I imagine for laughs, to find out if they are having sex. Pretty dreadful.

george kaplan · 06-05-2008, 06:00 AM

Send Me No Flowers

Watched this with the family. The last, and not the strongest, of the Rock Hudson/Doris Day comedies, but still pretty funny throughout.

PatW · 06-05-2008, 10:35 AM

A Man to Remember (1938)

Directed by Garson Kanin, this film studies the life of a small town doctor who's unselfish devotion to the wellfare of the people, rich and poor helped stem the growing epidemic of polio in that town. John Abbott isn't wealthy like other doctors, because he's the type that will take a suckling pig or a bag of potatoes as payment for his services. Though quite sentimental, this is one to watch for the fine performance of Edward Ellis. I had a couple problems with the script. John Abbott adopts an infant girl already having a young son. As adults there seems to be a love interest between the two. Now these two were raised together as brother and sister and it just seems so wrong. Also the character of John Abbott seemed too passive at times lacking the spirit to defend himself against the town council, county medical board etc. Still it was quite a pleasant watch.

Mario Gauci · 06-05-2008, 03:36 PM

06/01/08: BLOOD AND ROSES [Edited U.S. Version] (Roger Vadim, 1960)

Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s classic horror short story “Carmilla” (which I own and have read) spearheaded the trend for cinematic tales of lesbian vampires. This is the second film adaptation of it – the first, a very loose one, was Carl Theodor Dreyer’s magnificent VAMPYR (1931; soon to be regaled with two fully-loaded SE DVDs on both sides of the Atlantic) and it was followed in quick succession by the Spanish/Italian co-production CRYPT OF THE VAMPIRE (1963; starring Christopher Lee, a quite good version, of which I foolishly erased a VHS copy I had recorded off Italian TV – the only edition currently available is the Retromedia R1 DVD which, unfortunately, presents the film dubbed in English), the Amicus/Hammer collaboration THE VAMPIRE LOVERS (1970; starring Ingrid Pitt and Peter Cushing) and Vicente Aranda’s eerily erotic THE BLOOD-SPATTERED BRIDE (1972).

Director Vadim is better-known for having had great tastes in women (counting Brigitte Bardot, Catherine Deneuve and Jane Fonda among his discoveries/lovers) than for his film-making talents; I myself have only been truly impressed by one of his movies – THE GAME IS OVER (1966) – out of the seven that I’ve watched so far (including this one). BLOOD AND ROSES could well have been the second…were it not for the fact that the edited 74-minute version I watched – prepared for U.S. home video consumption and sporting the Anglicized original title AND DIE OF PLEASURE – is a bit of a mess (the full-length French version is 87 minutes long), English-dubbed (naturally), panned-and-scanned (of course), and preceded by one of the phoniest credit sequences I’ve ever witnessed (that said, a reasonable photo gallery was included with the DivX copy I acquired, which starts automatically soon after the main feature). Needless to say, I’d long wanted to watch this – but, bearing in mind the state of the edition I ended up with, in spite of its many pictorial rewards, it wasn’t an ideal viewing experience…and one can only hope that, given the amicable relationship between Paramount (who owns the U.S. rights for BLOOD AND ROSES) and Criterion, the film will turn up someday – in the original French language and uncut – on a decent official DVD (after all, the latter’s vast and considerable collection already numbers Vadim’s debut feature …AND GOD CREATED WOMAN [1956] among its releases).

Anyway, the cast is an interesting combination of international movie stars (Mel Ferrer – who, coincidentally, has just died aged 90 – and Elsa Martinelli), newcomers (Annette Vadim nee` Stroyberg) and even a director (Marc Allegret, who had given Vadim an early start when he engaged him as his assistant). The film makes a fair attempt to update the LeFanu original to contemporary times – though, rather than make Carmilla and Millarca one and the same, we get the former being possessed by the latter: this is quite subtly done (at least in this reduced form) as Millarca’s personality in Carmilla manifests itself in her suddenly knowing the steps to an ancient dance and her incongruous preference for a classical record! As a matter of fact, this medieval quality permeates the whole film – thanks also to Jean Prodromides’ haunting melancholy score (which is then effectively speeded-up during the ‘horror’ sequences). Incidentally, the film was clearly intended for the Arthouse crowd (resulting in being fairly talky for the first two-thirds) – even if it’s not quite in the same league as Georges Franju’s EYES WITHOUT A FACE (1959), an altogether more accomplished and successful marriage of the highbrow and the exploitative.

That said, it contains any number of striking sequences: the costume party (with a fireworks display for backdrop) in which Ferrer dons a bat mask fitted with a pair of wings!; Stroyberg’s wraith-like pursuit of her first victim (her stilted performance is actually just right for the character) – despite its being obviously shot day-for-night; the wilted rose on Carmilla’s white dress turning to a huge blood stain (incidentally, this vampire registers in a mirror!); Stroyberg’s seduction of Martinelli on a rainy night inside the Karnstein family greenhouse (both women also love Ferrer, though he and Stroyberg are related!); Martinelli’s surreal, erotic and blood-spattered black-and-white dream sequence towards the end (in which, among other things, Stroyberg as Millarca operates on her naked self as Carmilla!) – which is the film’s undeniable tour-de-force; Carmilla’s demise as she gets staked during an explosion (the location being a cemetery holding remnant shells from WWII); and the very last image when another wilted rose betrays the fact to the audience, but not the oblivious Ferrer, that Martinelli has herself been turned into a vampire (the latter starts off as an ingénue but slowly, and believably, matures through her attachment to Carmilla).

By the way, some weeks back I happened upon a recent TV interview with Martinelli; she seemed deservedly proud of her cinematic legacy (including a successful stint in Hollywood) but, unsurprisingly, this film – or another good one where she was also involved in lesbianism, Lucio Fulci’s giallo ONE ON TOP OF THE OTHER aka PERVERSION STORY (1969) – wasn’t mentioned at all…

06/02/08: FOOTPRINTS (Luigi Bazzoni, 1975)

I first heard of this one while searching the ‘Net for reviews of another Italian giallo/horror effort, the contemporaneous THE PERFUME OF THE LADY IN BLACK (1974; whose R2 SE DVD from Raro Video, by the way, I recently acquired) – where it’s referenced as being in a similar vein but also just as good. Having watched FOOTSTEPS for myself now, I can see where that reviewer was coming from – in that both films deal with the psychological meltdown of their female protagonist. Stylistically, however, this one owes far more to Arthouse cinema than anything else – in particular, the work of Alain Resnais and Michelangelo Antonioni (and, specifically, LAST YEAR IN MARIENBAD [1961] and THE PASSENGER [1975] respectively); accordingly, some have accused it of being “deadly boring” – an epithet often attached to such ‘pretentious’ (read: cerebral) fare!

Anyway, the film involves the quest of a woman (Florinda Bolkan) to determine her movements in the preceding three days – of which she seems to have no recollection. Following a series of cryptic clues, she travels to the ‘mythical’ land of Garma (nearby locations, then, bear the equally fictitious names of Muda and Rheember) – where she encounters several people (including Lila Kedrova as an aristocratic regular of the resort) who ostensibly recall the heroine staying there during her ‘blackout’! Most prominent, though, are a young man (Peter McEnery) and a little girl (Nicoletta Elmi, from Mario Bava’s BARON BLOOD [1972]) – the former always seems to happen on the scene at propitious moments, while the latter apparently confuses Bolkan with another woman (sporting long red hair and a mean streak!).

While essentially a mood piece, this is nonetheless a gripping puzzle: inevitably, vague events transpire at a deliberate pace – and where much of the film’s power derives from the remarkable central performance (which can be seen as an extension of Bolkan’s role in the fine Lucio Fulci giallo A LIZARD IN A WOMAN’S SKIN [1971]). However, there’s no denying the contribution of cinematographer Vittorio Storaro (who provides any number of sweeping camera moves and an effective color scheme – adopting orange/red/blue filters to create atmosphere and coming up with a saturated look for the disorientating, bizarre finale) and Nicola Piovani’s fitting melancholy score (the composer is best-known nowadays for his Oscar-winning work on Roberto Benigni’s Holocaust-themed tragi-comedy LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL [1997]).

With this in mind, it’s worth discussing how FOOTSTEPS was presented in the version I watched: well, being apparently hard-to-get in its original form (I can’t be sure whether it’s uncut here or not, except to say that the film ran for 89 minutes while the IMDB – hardly reliable when it comes to obscure titles such as this one – lists it at 96), this edition is culled from a fairly battered English-language VHS (the dubbing is surprisingly good, given the international cast) with burnt-in Swedish subtitles to boot (besides, the DivX copy froze for a few seconds at a crucial point in the story around the 82-minute mark)! Still, we do get a welcome bonus i.e. a 9-minute ‘Highlights From The Soundtrack’ in MP3 format.

I realize I haven’t yet mentioned the moon mission subplot, to which Klaus Kinski’s presence is restricted: incidentally, around this same time, he had a similarly brief but pivotal role in another good arty thriller with sci-fi leanings (and also set in a distinctive location) – namely, LIFESPAN (1974). As I lay watching the film, I couldn’t fathom what possible connection this had with the central plot…except that Bolkan mentioned a rec