Big update to finish off January:
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973)
Viewed 1/23/2006
I know this film has its fans, but as far as I'm concerned Sam Peckinpah said everything he needed to say with
The Wild Bunch (making
Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid come off as exit music). Much of the focus here is on the embittered Pat Garrett, but he's so full of contempt for everyone that his character quickly wears out his welcome. And Billy the Kid is your typically idealized badguy - something I've just never cared for in movies. There
are some good things here: Bob Dylan's songs (though his role in the film is superfluous) and the numerous Western character actors that dot the impressive scenery. Worth a look if you haven't seen it, but I just don't get all the fuss.
out of
Bullet in the Head (1990)
Viewed 1/23/2006
First time seeing John Woo's action epic uncut (saw an edited version years ago). Three Hong Kong friends go to Vietnam during the war, hoping to make it big as smugglers. But they're soon caught up in the turmoil and their friendship is put to the test. Lots of outrageous shoot-'em-up action compliments Woo's usual themes of friendship and honor.
out of
Oliver Twist (2005)
Viewed 1/24/2006 (first viewing)
Roman Polanski's superb version of the classic Charles Dickens tale. I didn't hear much press on this so I was surprised to find it as good as it is. Highly recommended.
out of
Junebug (2005)
Viewed 1/24/2006 (first viewing)
Quirky little flick about an art gallery owner trying to woo an eccentric Southern artist. At the same time she and her husband visit his nearby family - the inlaws she's never met... Familiar material is handled with reserve and insight.
out of
Don Juan (1998)
Viewed 1/25/2006 (first viewing)
Interesting French take on the legend of Don Juan has the great lover and his servant wandering the Spanish countryside, trying to avoid the wrath of a jilted love's family. More talk than love here, and very French. (Given that he dumps Emmanuelle Beart, perhaps he should have been called Dumb Juan?)
out of
Art of the Devil (2004)
Viewed 1/26/2006 (first viewing)
Thai supernatural revenge movie has a woman using witchcraft to knock off the family of the man who impregnated and then abandoned her. Not much new here, but entertaining, with two hot lead actresses.
out of
Three Extremes (2004)
Viewed 1/26/2006 (first viewing)
Three-part Asian horror anthology with films by Takashi Miike, Fruit Chan and Park Chan Wook. The title sums it up, with Fruit Chan's gleefully sick story of youth-restoring dumplings being the centerpiece. Miike's third is an intriguing tale of a woman haunted by visions of her dead twin sister, while Park Chan Wook's twisted story of revenge has a demented movie extra holding hostage a director and his wife.
out of
Address Unknown (2001)
Viewed 1/26/2006 (first viewing)
Rambling story of various Koreans in the aftermath of the Korean War. A wounded girl is wooed by a troubled American soldier, disappointing her shy, would-be boyfriend. Meanwhile, the illegitimate son of a long-gone G.I. houses pent-up anger and frustration that he takes out on his wacky mother. Engrossing, but hard to take at times.
out of
How Green Was My Valley (1941)
Viewed 1/27/2006
John Ford's heartfelt story of a Welsh mining family. Very good, but goes overboard on the sentiment at times.
out of
The Cat's Paw (1934)
Viewed 1/27/2006 (first viewing)
Odd, Capra-esque Harold Lloyd vehicle finds the comedian playing a hapless missionary who returns to his hometown in search of a bride. Instead he's elected mayor and must deal with a constituency rife with corruption.
out of
Bed and Board (1970)
Viewed 1/27/2006 (first viewing)
Fourth installment in Francois Truffaut's Antoine Doinel series finds our hero married with child. But Antoine's wandering ways soon land him in hot water. Pleasant entry features a cameo by Jacques Tati as Monsieur Hulot.
out of
Body and Soul (1947)
Viewed 1/28/2006 (first viewing)
John Garfield nearly loses everything in his quest to become a top boxer. The same story (more or less) was retold several years later with Kirk Douglas in
Champion.
out of
The Mysterious Lady (1928)
Viewed 1/28/2006 (first viewing)
Entertaining silent has Greta Garbo as a Russian spy torn between love and country.
out of
Never Weaken (1921)
Viewed 1/28/2006 (first viewing)
Harold Lloyd short has Harold trying various ways of suicide after he sees his fiancee with another man. Naturally he ends up on a high rise under construction...
out of
Face (2004)
Viewed 1/29/2006 (first viewing)
More Korean horror. A troubled face reconstruction expert is convinced by a mysterious young woman to work on the skulls of the victims of a serial killer. But how does this connect with his very ill daughter?
out of
Love on the Run (1979)
Viewed 1/29/2006 (first viewing)
Wistful finale to the Antoine Doinel series finds Antoine divorced from his wife, meeting up once again with long-lost love Colette, and visiting his mother's grave.
out of
Together (2000)
Viewed 1/29/2006 (first viewing)
Lukas Moodysson story of a woman who takes her two children and leaves her abusive husband. With nowhere else to go they end up living with her brother and his friends at their hippie commune. Familiar story, well-done.
out of
Talk (1997)
Viewed 1/29/2006 (first viewing)
Lukas Moodysson short about a desperately lonely man and his tragic encounter with a visiting Hare Krishna. Interesting note: the same actor played a character with the same name in
Together.
out of
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
Viewed 1/30/2006
Revisited Steven Spielberg's adventure classic. My only quibble with this is the too-liberal use of John Williams' main theme.
out of
The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
Viewed 1/30/2006
Revisited this superb Hollywood biopic featuring Gary Cooper as the tragic baseball hero Lou Gehrig. Only caveat: the scene with the little boy in the hospital is a bit too much.
out of
Smoke (1995)
Viewed 1/31/2006
Top shelf indie slice of life picture revolving around a New York City tobacco shop. A writer can't get over his wife's death, a young man searches for his father, the tobacco shop manager is paid a visit by an old girlfriend...
out of
Spider Baby (1964)
Viewed 1/31/2006 (first viewing)
Sixties cult horror classic has Lon Chaney presiding over a house of deranged "children" - adult members of a wealthy family cursed with a strange, regressive brain disorder. Naturally they're paid a visit by money-grubbing victims...er, relatives. Thanks to Brook for the heads-up on this one.
out of
My feelings and comments don't change, just the way they're represented on the ratings code. If I were using half stars I may have nitpicked and given NORTH BY NORTHWEST ***1/2 (see my comments later). But without the increments, I gave NORTH **** because I considered it "exceptional" (not necessarily meaning "perfect").
! However, I've never read anything but the highest praise for the film; in any case, I loved my first (and, so far, only
) viewing of it, so I could only give it the highest star rating in my book.
