09/26/08
Men O'War (1929)
Lewis Foster
Laurel and Hardy play sailors on leave who pick up two girls and take them for a soda. Once at the fountain the boys discover that they only have money for three drinks so Hardy must try and convince Laurel not to order one. This is a pretty good, early sound short from the boys and it has plenty of laughs, although I wouldn't call it one of their best films. The highlight of the film has to be the scene where Hardy tries to get Laurel to understand that they can't afford to buy four drinks. Laurel's final answer on what he wants, when he isn't suppose to get anything, gets a loud laugh. The second half of the film has the four going on a boat ride, which includes a few minor laughs in the form of the boys not knowing how to row and of course a fight breaks out with other boaters. James Finlayson is terrific in his role of the soda jerk but I didn't care too much for the two girls in the film as they come off more annoying than anything else.
09/27/08
Hud (1963)
Martin Ritt
Paul Newman plays the title character, a rebellious cowboy who is looked up upon by his nephew (Brandon De Wilde) but battles with his aging and old timed father (Melvyn Douglas). This is one of the first classic movies I ever watched and it really impacted the way I looked at movies as well as how I looked at certain things in life. Having not watched it in five years or so it had an even stronger impact on me now due to me being closer to the Hud character's age. This is certainly a magnificent film on all levels from the tremendous screenplay to the brilliant acting. I've always seen the film more of a Greek tragedy with its three lead characters as well as the maid played by Patricia Neal. The depression of the story really is soaked in very deep with the help of the beautiful B&W photography and I think this film is a great example of why B&W can bring out a lot more in a story than color. The use of shadows during the scenes where Douglas confronts his son Newman are very heartfelt and the ugliness of the truth really gets the added strength due to the B&W. The story is incredible strong and to me rings very truthful but what really pushes the film are the terrific performances by the entire cast but especially that of Newman's. It's hard to really say what his greatest performance is as he's been in so many great films and delivered so many memorable characters but this one here is certainly near the top. Going back to the scene between Newman and Douglas when the father tells the son what he really feels, the answer revealed here rings so hauntingly true because Newman's performance has perfectly captured that throughout the movie. The way this rather dark and ugly character can use his charm to bring people in is something Newman works perfectly. Douglas rightfully deserved his Oscar and gives a tour de force performance with that scratchy voice and calm but stern delivery. Neal also shines in her Oscar winning role. There have been countless films dealing with ugly people but this one here is certainly among the greatest out there.
Righteous Kill (2008)
Jon Avnet
Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino play NYC detectives who are trying to crack a case where multiple bad guys are being killed off but soon it appears a cop is behind the killings and DeNiro is the prime suspect. Well, it took nearly forty years for the two legends to finally team up in a film where they are together from start to finish but the end results aren't as good as I would have hoped for but I think fans of the two will remain entertained. We've pretty much got a two-star plot with four-star fun of seeing the two stars working together. I wouldn't say either actors give great performances but I think both of them are having fun working off one another. The supporting cast includes Carla Gugino, John Leguizamo, Donnie Wahlberg and Brian Dennehy with all of them turning in fine work. The biggest problem here is the direction and screenplay. Director Avnet proved earlier this year with Pacino's
88 Minutes that he really couldn't handle suspense and the same is true here. There are a few tense moments but I think the director and screenplay were going for tension from start to finish and that doesn't happen. There's several twists and turns thrown around the screenplay with many red herrings coming up but they're all fairly easy to spot. You can tell the film is trying to show off the two legends working together but one wishes a better screenplay had been written. In the end the film is mainly going to appeal to fans of the two stars and for the most part I was entertained from start to finish because of them. This film certainly won't replace any of their classics but it's a decent effort, which will hopefully lead to another collaboration.
09/28/08
Slap Shot (1977)
George Roy Hill
A junk minor-league hockey team is about to close down so their coach (Paul Newman) decides to get people into the seats by offering them what they want and that is outrageous fights. It seems like over the last five or ten years that this film has jumped into that classic territory after several years of not getting too much discussion. To me the movie is very funny and has some great moments but I'm not sure I'd call it a classic. I think a lot of its charm comes from Newman who you wouldn't expect to see in a vulgar film like this. Some of the four letter words coming out of Newman's mouth are rather shocking but they're very funny including one sequence where he's messing with an opponent whose wife is a lesbian. The Hanson Brothers are also on hand and they too offer up plenty of laughs in their wild fighting style. Director George Roy Hill does a very good job with all the material and manages to keep the film moving but I think the screenplay tries to do too much and in the end the thing runs too long.
Grand Melies, Le (1952)
Georges Franju
Documentary short from Franju (
Eyes Without a Face) tells the story of French pioneer Georges Melies who helped create what would become known as movies only to die poor and forgotten. This is a fairly interesting short as we get Melies' son Andre playing him and we also get to see his 90-year-old widow towards the end of the movie. The film really doesn't tell us too much so if you come into this expecting a lot of information then you're going to be disappointed. The film looks incredibly good style wise with some very nice camerawork and some even better shots including one of two boys running away from Melies and one of his tricks.
Verdict, The (1982)
Sidney Lumet
Masterpiece drama about a washed up, alcoholic lawyer (Paul Newman) who gets one more chance when he takes on a malpractice case and takes it to trial instead of settling out of court. This has always been a great movie to me but it's also always been a strange one. I was somewhat put off by the rather strange way Lumet shot it by having nearly all the big scenes that place in a long or medium shot but over time I have come to really love this little trick that the director uses throughout the movie. You'll notice that in each speech or important scene for Newman's character, we usually get to see it through a long shot where we can pretty much only hear what Newman is saying and hear the emotion of which he is saying it. I'm not sure why Lumet selected to do this but it really makes for some great drama and of course we get Newman in one of his greatest roles. There's a scene in the movie where the alcoholic lawyer thinks that the case has been lost so he goes into the bathroom, shuts the door and breaks down with an anxiety attack. The way Newman pulls this off is a great credit to him as an actor but this isn't his only masterful scene. There's another one where he faces off before the trial with the judge (Milo O'Shea) and the other lawyer (James Mason) and an even better scene later in the movie where Newman fights for a fair trial. I've heard many people call the film slow because it doesn't move like other courtroom films but I think there's a reason to that. This isn't a thriller in the courtroom genre but instead a character study taking place in a courtroom. This is Newman's show from start to finish and we see his character take many different turns and the actor nails each of them perfectly. Jack Warden also shines in his supporting role as Newman's helper and Mason is brilliantly chilling in his role.
