Track the Films You Watch (2008) - Page 19

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2/20/08

Witness To Murder (1954) Dir: Roy Rowland

Cheryl Draper (Barbara Stanwyck) is stirred from her sleep by the wind through the window. Getting up to close it, she witnesses a man strangling a woman to death in the apartment directly across from hers. Cheryl immediately calls the police. Meanwhile, the murderer quickly moves the body to the vacant apartment next to his just before the police get there. The man is a writer of dubious reputation (he’s a former Nazi), his name is Albert Richter (George Sanders). Albert, with the body safely stashed, suavely tells the police they must be mistaken. Satisfied (rather easily I might add), the police then convince Cheryl she must have been dreaming it all. But Cheryl won’t let it go. Unfortunately for her, Richter can explain what she saw and there’s no other real evidence. Did she imagine it? Now aware of his accuser, Richter fiendishly embarks on a plan, playing to Cheryl’s doubts, designed to either drive her crazy or convince the police that she should be committed. Or if he must, get her out of the picture permanently.

Imagine Witness to Murder as someone taking a bunch of noir conventions, putting them in a hat and composing a story out of what they pick out. The murder seen through a window, the witness nobody believes, a woman in peril, involuntary commitment to an institution, the Nazi whose mission is more important than someone’s life. And yet it’s all well done for sure. Stanwyck is fine, although reminiscent of her Leona Stevenson from Sorry, Wrong Number. Sanders is a tad hum-drum, but has a good scene near the end where, confronted by Cheryl, he reveals his misanthropy and madness by compulsively breaking into German and barking no doubt inspiring slogans at her! Gary Merrill doesn’t add much as the detective working the case who falls for Cheryl. There are also a few wonky plot devices that were annoying; breaking into apartments and taking evidence seemed to be a favorite way to move the story forward – Richter doing it is one thing, he’s a criminal, but Cheryl does it and so do the police (I may be mistaken, but I believe the Fourth Amendment was firmly in place by 1954).

The photography is also of interest, the film is shot by perhaps the noir lensman, John Alton. From the film’s opening shot to the early scene of Richter hiding the body before the police arrive is prime choice chiaroscuro. When Cheryl is ordered by the police captain to be examined in an asylum, the institution is suitably an expressionistic nightmare. (An aside, one of the other patients is played by Juanita Moore, her character is identified in the end credits as ‘Negress’ – yikes!) The denouement, a chase through a building in construction, is also bathed in high contrast light and shadow.

This late entry in the noir cycle ultimately plays too familiar, like a pastiche with no new angles, from its story to Stanwyck’s role among other things, thus robbing it of any impact.

out of 4

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Of Human Bondage (1934)

Mildly interesting movie about a medical student who falls in love with a girl from the wrong side of the tracks.

Plenty of melodrama here but this movie is worthwhile only for Bette Davis's brilliant performance. Why she didn't win an oscar, I'll never guess. I think this would have been a much better movie if they had picked a different actor for the role of Philip Carey. He added nothing to the character, had very little chemistry with Davis, and she acted circles around him. The more movies I see, the more I'm convinced that she's the greatest actress of her generation.


American Gangster (2007)

Well done crime drama set in the late 60's, early 70's about a New Jersey cop who is determined to bring down the top rank drug dealers in New York and New Jersey. Based on a true story Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) is hired to set up a narcotics task force. He is an honest cop surrounded by many corrupt cops, his partner included. Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) is a New York gangster, a drug importer who goes to the source and in effect cuts out the middle man. He is able to release a purer drug on the streets resulting in some deaths. Richie Roberts is determined to clean up the streets, arrest the top drug importers and make a clean sweep of the corrupt cops.

This is a well told crime story, intriguing from beginning to end. The two main characters are interesting and well drawn out. Both Crowe and Washington give superb performances. There are alot of characters in this movie and alot of them are under utilized. For instance, Cuba Gooding Jr's character was little more than a glorified cameo. What was the sense of that. I like him as an actor but his character added nothing to the story. I imagine there is alot of his footage on the cutting room floor. Also Ruby Dee's performance was almost a cameo yet she was nominated for an academy award. But then again so was Judy Dench for Shakespeare in Love. Ridley Scott has fashioned himself another involving thriller. My family thought it was overlong. We watched the unrated extended version and someday I'd like to watch the theatrical version just for comparison.


Michael Clayton (2007)

A great suspense movie that sucks you in and doesn't let go. I don't mind saying that I was totally confused at the beginning. Maybe I was tired or probably old age is starting to set in but most everything did eventually come clear. This has brilliant performances from both George Clooney as Michael Clayton and Tom Wilkinson as the chief litigator for the firm that Clayton works for. During the course of the movie, Clayton begins to understand what's going on and we the audience with him. This is where the movie gets you. What seems like a confusing mess turns out to be quite a well thought out story, one that keeps you watching to the very end just to figure it all out. I'll have to watch this one again when I'm less tired.


Starter for 10 (2006)

Entertaining British film about a working-class boy who gains entry to an exclusive university and learns some lessons about life and love. The success of this movie is due in a large part to James McAvoy who captivates us from the very beginning. He's one minute smart and witty and then faced with love, awkward and shy. Though James McAvoy is probably about 10 years older than the character, he pulls it off quite well. Though I'd not heard of this movie before, it was a pleasant watch.

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Atlantic City

Probably Malle's second best after Elevator to the Gallows, this is good, though it doesn't hit the heights of that film. I found the ending weak, with most of the characters doing things I didn't buy.

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2/21/08

The Woman on Pier 13 (1950) Dir: Robert Stevenson

Originally released as I Married a Communist, this is a fine, if overly sensational, thriller that attempts to exploit the “red scare” of the era.

When we first meet newlyweds Brad and Nan Collins (Robert Ryan and Mrs. Leo Durocher herself, Laraine Day) on their honeymoon and find out they married after a whirlwind courtship, we suspect one of them is hiding a deep, dark secret. When Nan says to Brad, “But you know absolutely nothing about me”, it’s clear she’s not the one we should be worrying about. Later that night when Christine Norman (Janis Carter), one of Brad’s old girlfriends, shows up where the Collins’ are having dinner, it’s perhaps a little too much coincidence. Christine is in fact a card-carrying member of the Communist Party USA. See, Brad is now a successful VP at the Cornwall Shipping Company. He started as a stevedore and worked his way up. But when Christine knew him, he was a hot-headed, alienated idealist named Frank Johnson. And a commie! Back in his labor-agitating days for the party, Brad/Frank over-enthusiastically busted some heads and killed a man. While Brad’s turned the page, the CP hasn’t. They send their top man in San Francisco, a Mr. Vanning (Thomas Gomez), to convince Brad to pick up where he left off with the party. Or else. While Brad initially resists, his self-preservation instinct kicks in when Vanning threatens to go to the police with evidence of the murder. It’s only a matter of how far and how long Brad’s willing to go, especially when his new life, including Nan and her brother Don (John Agar), is threatened.

While The Woman on Pier 13 was more or less used by Howard Hughes as a hammer to establish his anti-communist bona fides, it exists rather comfortably as a noir. Consider the universal theme of a man running away from his past, or a mistake that he tries to live down, but can’t. He can still be a sympathetic figure by gaining some measure of redemption. In other words, while it’s a propaganda piece, that’s merely the trappings. There’s a solid noir buried in here.

Hughes, scoundrel that he could be, apparently used the script as a kind of loyalty litmus test; work on this or you’re fired. It’s interesting then to think of Ryan and Gomez, two notable ‘progressives’, doing this film to either save their jobs or as a sort of preemptory strike, knowing they would be targeted, against those who would question them. Or perhaps they weren’t bothered by the story at all. Regardless it’s good to see Ryan as a (somewhat) normal person, with failings and weaknesses like everybody else and not just an unhinged psycho. Laraine Day is plucky enough when needed. Gomez is always terrific. Janis Carter is dynamite in the first half of the film as the woman with the ulterior motives. Eventually her character falls in love with Don and unfortunately loses her edge. Rounding out a fine cast is William Talman as the commie hit man who runs an amusement park shooting gallery as a front (he wastes one stooge by bounding his arms and legs and then hurling him into the water – nasty!). John Agar is the one sour note.

Photography is by the excellent Nicholas Musuraca. The film takes place in San Francisco and there are some fine location shots. There is also a beautifully lit final shoot-out in a warehouse.

As a noir - suspenseful, well acted and well shot - but if communist paranoia makes you queasy, skip it.

out of 4

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02/19/08: AWAY FROM HER (Sarah Polley, 2006)

I’m not usually one to watch films dealing with diseases of any type – believing them to be maudlin, manipulative and even somewhat morbid – much less mental illness, but since this is expected to earn Julie Christie another Oscar (which would probably make it the longest gap between the first and second win), I decided to check it out in time for the upcoming awards ceremony.

Christie’s character has been struck with the debilitating Alzheimer’s Disease but, thankfully, she – or, more precisely, writer-director Polley (a likeable actress in her own right, though not appearing here herself) – doesn’t bemoan her fate; rather, she accepts it with grace and even treats the condition with mild humor (which is the way these things should be approached but, I guess, one has to really be going through them himself to really know). Incidentally, I find extremely silly and unwarranted the recent warning by some hysterical group when, in her acceptance speech at the SAG awards, Christie joked that if she forgot the name of anyone it’s because she was still in character!

The film is undeniably moving as we see the aging heroine degenerating to the point that she can’t even recognize her own devoted husband (Gordon Pinsent) and even attaches herself to a fellow patient (Michael Murphy) at the clinic to which she’s eventually admitted. Ironically, considering the accolades showered upon Christie, I feel that it’s Pinsent who’s the real protagonist here: quietly despairing yet brave in coping with the heartbreaking situation (unsurprisingly, he strikes up a friendship with Murphy’s own wife – played by Olympia Dukakis). On the other hand, the viewpoint of the younger generation (obligatory in our zealously-PC world) is present here – though in a somewhat idealistic manner, if you ask me – via a teenager who chats with Pinsent during one of his visits to the clinic (and, in a deleted sequence, is revealed to be a neighbor of Dukakis and occasionally takes care of Murphy for her).

Actually, this isn’t the kind of film one would expect an emerging young director to make – particularly since it has aspirations of being a Bergman-like chamber drama which, while fairly compelling and austere (aided with respect to the latter by the snowy Canadian setting), clearly lacks the necessary depth which a master craftsman would otherwise bring to such material.


02/20/08: COOL WORLD (Ralph Bakshi, 1992)

To begin with, I’ll admit that I haven’t been as taken with Bakshi’s adult animated films (of which I’ve now watched six) as I had anticipated myself – but this mix of live-action and cartoon is easily the most unsatisfying of the lot! Striving to recapture the magic of WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT (1988), it doesn’t really have the necessary in terms of plot (despite the generous length of 102 minutes) – whereas the animation too often resorts to pointless zaniness in the style of (but a long way from) Tex Avery!

Gabriel Byrne is a cartoonist who gets thrown into the world of his own creation (a` la the equally dispiriting BRENDA STARR [1989]); his star character – Holly Would(!) – is, unsurprisingly, a voluptuous nymphomaniac (modeled after Kim Basinger, who also plays her in live-action form). Brad Pitt is another human (called “Noids”) who has made the transition to “Cool World” and is free to roam among the cartoon characters (“Doodles”): actually, he represents the law over there and is hostile to any intruder from the ‘other side’ – much less the man who invented it all and who, he believes, wants to bring their ‘way of life’ to an end!; he’s also involved with a ‘local’ girl and, at the end, joins their ranks himself.

As I said, the narrative doesn’t amount to much: apart from relentless disco dancing and her attempts to bed Byrne, Holly goes looking for a Doodle scientist – who has crossed over to the world of the Noids (acquiring the nickname “Vegas Vinnie” in the process) – in the hope that she can retain her human appearance. Incidentally, the effect starts to wear off just as she’s turning audiences’ heads at a casino with her rendition of Marilyn Monroe’s “Let’s Make Love”!; Basinger is ideal casting here but seems somehow uncomfortable within this hybrid environment, and the same is true of her co-stars. Ultimately, while not always outstanding, Bakshi’s other films – and not just the more ambitious stuff such as THE LORD OF THE RINGS (1978) and AMERICAN POP (1981) – are clearly superior.


02/18/08-02/21/08: QUATERMASS (TV) [Episodes 1-4] (Piers Haggard, 1979)

I viewed this as part of a two-film retrospective of John Mills titles (the other being THE SINGER NOT THE SONG [1961]) to commemorate the centenary of his birth on the 22nd of February. Incidentally, I’d purchased the R4 DVD edition – and two other Nigel Kneale-scripted made-for-TV efforts, THE YEAR OF THE SEX OLYMPICS (1968) and BEASTS (1976) – following the death last year of that noted sci-fi literary figure, one of my favorite exponents of the genre, but hadn’t yet gotten around to watching it until now!

Of course, this is the fourth (and last) of Kneale’s serials revolving around Professor Bernard Quatermass – submitting yet another scary (but totally persuasive) scenario to challenge our established notions of humanity, the world and beyond. Interestingly, the protagonist was played by a different actor each time: here, Mills turns in a typically excellent (albeit low-key) performance. However, the muddled apocalyptic plot – in which space missions go horribly wrong, Britain is reduced to a wasteland, a mass of fanatical but deluded youth is “harvested” (read exterminated), senior citizens are forced to literally live underground, etc. – is somehow insufficient for the film’s 200-minute length; this eventually gives rise to a fair bit of repetitiveness throughout (particularly with respect to the gibberish chants of the Planet People).

The serial does culminate in an intense and moving finale in which Quatermass meets up with his missing granddaughter, who has joined the ranks of the Planet People, just as he’s set to fire a nuclear missile at the death ray from outer space; about to perish himself (from a heart attack!), it’s she who guides his movements in saving the world. One of the definite assets here is the effectively moody synthesizer score; besides, the supporting cast is led by Simon MacCorkindale (from JAWS 3-D [1983] and the MANIMAL [1983] TV series) – who’s good in his role of the young scientist aiding Quatermass understand the extraterrestrial phenomenon; a histrionic Barbara Kellerman appears as his wife, who soon falls victim to the devastation; Margaret Tyzack (2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY [1968]), Brenda Fricker (future Oscar winner for MY LEFT FOOT [1989]) and actress/rocker Toyah Willcox also appear.

While not up to Kneale’s earlier QUATERMASS scripts in the long run, this is still quite good – with the 20-year gap since that character’s last TV appearance enabling a far smoother production. In fact, there was no need to adapt it for the cinema as Hammer had done with the first three; rather, the serial was probably made with this in mind (director Haggard had made another cult-based supernatural horror piece – THE BLOOD ON SATAN’S CLAW [1971]) and subsequently got reduced to about half its length for theatrical exhibition. Originally shot in Panavision, the four episodes are however presented here open-matte so as to preserve the standard TV format; the Australian 3-Disc Set I purchased, then, thoughtfully includes both versions.


02/21/08: PUMPKINHEAD (Stan Winston, 1988)

This is another popular horror outing of the 1980s; it’s not too bad, and actually manages a reasonable atmosphere throughout. Even so, the design of the titular creature is rather disappointing – given that it’s just another ALIEN (1979) clone – but admittedly its rampage is creepily effective. Lance Henriksen stars as a man whose son is killed in a motoring accident and, having witnessed an attack by Pumpkinhead as a child – this particular boogeyman is usually conjured up for purposes of revenge – he now makes it go after the group of teens (ex-Superman Jeff East among them) involved in the boy’s death. Interestingly, Henriksen is able to ‘feel’ the creature’s wrath (and, eventually, has second thoughts about the request he made to the witch who revived it); however, the final suggestion that it may have been him all along is rather baffling – since, as I said, Henriksen winds up confronting the monster himself! Director Winston is best-known as a special effects wizard, though the film isn’t particularly gory. As is the norm for such “boogeyman” fare, it was later followed by a host of obscure sequels.

Re: Track the Films You Watch (2008)

Spy Game (2001)

Smart action thriller directed by Tony Scott with a stand-out performance from Robert Redford.

This is a complicated plot and it is laid out for us in a series of flashbacks. We learn about the CIA's recruitment of Tom Bishop, his relationship with Elizabeth Hadley and how he became a prisoner of the Chinese. This is an exciting piece of filmmaking with a good performance from Brad Pitt but this movie belongs to Redford and he shines here.It is filmed in several different locations with outstanding cinematography. The music is haunting at times with a great score by Harry Gregson-Williams. This is a good political spy movie that will satisfy any fan of that genre.


The Faculty (1998)

I was surprised that I enjoyed this one. One of the better horror sci-fi entries.

A group of students suspects that their teachers are gradually being taken over by aliens. From the director of from Dusk to Dawn this is not a bad little horror film. When I first started to watch all I thought was Oh no, not another teen horror movie but the reputation of the director kept me watching. This reminded me alot of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and though not as good, still effective enough to keep me watching.

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2/22/08

Crack-Up (1946) Dir: Irving Reis

The rough and tumble New York art world is laid bare in this thriller that is unfortunately subverted by its muddled storytelling.

The story opens with a wild-eyed man crashing through the front door of a New York art museum before being subdued by a police officer. The man is George Steele (Pat O’Brien), a member of the museum’s staff. When he comes to, now surrounded by the museum’s board including Dr. Lowell (Ray Collins), who’s treating him, and George’s lady fiend, Terry Cordeau (Claire Trevor), George tells a story of a train wreck he was in before blacking out. The only problem, as Lieutenant Cochrane (Wallace Ford) tells him, is that there was no record of a train wreck. In a flashback, George tells his story of what he remembers that night. We see him as a kind of populist critic, drawing big crowds to a lecture and dismissing modern art. Later, whilst out for a drink with Terry, George gets a call telling him his mother is sick. He catches the earliest train possible to go to her. It is on the train ride where George catches in the window another train coming toward his train, getting closer and closer, seemingly about to crash head on. Then George blacks out. But he’s told there was no crash. Is he cracking up? And why did the board just dissolve their ties with George, given his popularity?

The are a number of elements in Crack-Up that lend themselves to good noir. There’s the vet suffering a blackout or amnestic episode (with an obligatory connection to Nazi misdeeds, this time forgeries of great paintings). There is the art world as a backdrop (the lesson, as in The Dark Corner, remains - always suspect the elitists). The innocent man on the run for a murder he didn’t commit trying to clear his name. The problem is that you are constantly out of the movie trying to figure out small details or minor characters and then having to catch up. I suspect I might even think better of Crack-Up after another viewing, but that shouldn’t be necessary. Characters are thinly drawn or do things with no apparent motivation. Other characters turn up and are never heard from again. Major plot points are explained with the barest of detail, and upon examination fall to pieces. Frustrating, because there’s a good story in here, somewhere.

Crack-Up does feature a nice cast. By ’46 Claire Trevor was an old pro at this racket and she’s still the best thing here. O’Brien doesn’t seem right, though. I normally like Herbert Marshall, but his role is so weak that it does him a disservice. Ray Collins however excels. The best scene in the film is wisely done two times. It is the ‘train wreck’ sequence. In an effort to find out what happened to him that night, George retraces his steps and takes the same train, hoping that someone will recognize him. The crash plays out again and it’s still edge-of-your-seat stuff.

Crack-Up had the potential to be a real corker, but it felt more like an admirable miss.

out of 4

Re: Track the Films You Watch (2008)

I also found Honeymoon Killers incredibly boring and turned it off halfway (if that) through, with no interest to watch the rest.

It's a film that tries to be funny. it tries sarcasm. It tries irony. It tries bleak and black humor. None of it works, you just notice it trying to be funny and feel sort of sorry for the film for failing so miserably.

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I agree. I was pleasantly surprised by this when I saw it years ago (*** out of ****). And yes, there are elements of Body Snatchers in there (I'm sure Michael's ears will sprout up on that ).

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Bug (2006)

This is one of the craziest movies I've ever seen. It's always a pain in the neck when you're confused as to what type of rating to give a picture, and this one was especially difficult for me to nail. I was going to rate it much lower at first, but there are some things about it which I had to respect enough to consider it at least a bit more of a curio. These allowances begin with a great performace from Ashley Judd, who almost could have come close to an award nomination if the movie wasn't such a forgotten oddity and improperly misidentified as a "horror movie" when in fact it's more of a psychological drama.

Directed by William Friedkin (THE EXORCIST), Judd portrays Agnes, a broken and lonely waitress who lives like trailer trash (this actress is ordinarily very pretty but looks like a total filthy wreck throughout the film) in a very small and run-down motel room isolated somewhere in the heart of Oklahoma. She is separated from her controlling jerk of a husband (Harry Connick Jr.) and she also lost her son in a supermarket many years ago and has been unable to know whatever became of him. While in such a despondent state she meets a laid back and gentle war veteran named Peter (Michael Shannon) who provides her with just the comfort and companionship she needs. But we grow to learn that there is another side to Peter's personality, and that he has also developed a severe problem with microscopic bugs that have entered into his bloodstream. Soon Agnes herself becomes infested, and the narrow borderline between reality and delusion takes over and becomes the focal point of a very bizarre love story.

I know what director Friedkin was trying to accomplish here, and as a character study on paranoid schizophrenia this scores big. However, what kills the experience is that it takes a very long time for us to get to the meat of this movie, and I've read that theater patrons even walked out early on, and it's not at all hard for me to see why. This is the type of film which drives you crazy for a long time in waiting to get to see some sort of a point, and up to then we are bombarded with irritating ringing telephones and claustrophobic scenes all occurring within the cramped hotel room between Judd and Shannon. Some of the dialogue is ridiculous, and there are unintentional laughs.

I'm sure many a Blockbuster patron has rented this thing and turned it off within the first half hour wishing they could get a refund, especially if they were expecting some creepy and slimy horror experience. I think the name of this film is a misnomer, and it doesn't help that we've already had a few movies with the same generic and bland title. I can't in any way consider this a good movie, but I have to say that it ultimately succeeds in getting to its destination, realizing its point, and making you uncomfortable. There's just too much gunk thrown in along the journey for most viewers to want to bother.

Re: Track the Films You Watch (2008)

Angel Heart

This film is part excellent neo-noir and part bad Lynchian bullshit. For most of the film, the neo-noir wins out and it's pretty good, if dragged down here and there by the bs. But at the end, the bs wins out completely, and what could have been a great film deteriorates into nonsense. It's not that a different kind of film couldn't have worked, but this is the same bullshit as Blow Up, where it's one thing for 95% of the way, and then you want to completely change it at the end, and it just ruins it. However, let me be clear, as badly as this film is mangled by it's ending, it remains a far better film than Blow Up.

Re: Track the Films You Watch (2008)

Only Angels Have Wings (1939)

Another superb performance from Cary Grant. This role is different from what I've seen him do before. Though there is a love interest, this is more an adventure story involving treacherous flying in the Andes in South America. Cary Grant is the fearless leader of a small group of pilots who deliver the mail by having to cross a dangerous mountain pass. Well directed by Howard Hawkes, this has some stunning aerial photography. This is well-paced and kept me involved all the way through.


Rendition (2007)

I was surprised that I enjoyed this movie more than I thought I would. Though we've seen this kind of movie before this is a well acted thriller.
The stand-out performance for me was Omar Metwally as our young torture victim.

Anwar El-lbrahimi is on business in South Africa and in the course of returning back to the USA he is abducted and shipped to an Arab country where he is tortured until he confesses to belonging to a terrorist group.
CIA man Douglas Freeman (Jake Gyllenhaal) is witness to these proceeding and while agreeing at first gradually becomes uncomfortable with what he is witnessing. Reese Witherspoon plays Anwar's wife, who is desperately trying to discover the location of her husband.

This is a well-thought out movie. There is a scene at the beginning that is repeated close to the end of the movie with some differences. At first, I was confused but then I understood what the director was trying to do.
There seemed to be parallel stories going on here and the back and forth got alittle tiresome after awhile. Jake Gyllenhaal's character seemed to have no emotion at all especially at first. I suppose that's the way the character was written but I just wanted to give him a good shake and yell "React". This movie most aptly illustrated that sometimes the one we should fear is in our own back yard. Good movie.


No Reservations (2007)

Harmless fluff piece about two warring chefs in an exclusive restaurant.
Catherine Zeta-Jones plays a career-driven humourless chef who discovers that she is the sole guardian of her young niece. While off on bereavement leave the restaurant owner hires a new Italian chef to take up the slack. At first they don't get along, no surprise there, but eventually his charm and nerve wins her over. Aaron Eckhart does a great job as the Italian chef. Though I wasn't convinced of the attraction between the two main characters Eckhart had great chemistry with the little girl Abigail Breslin. Though totally predicable, it was an enjoyable watch.

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02/23/08: INSIDE (Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury, 2007)

The French – they are a blood-thirsty race…or so would an uninformed moviegoer think judging simply by their latest trend for ultra-gory slasher movies. I’m not sure when it actually started or why but, if Alexandre Aja’s relocation to Hollywood after the box-office and critical success of HIGH TENSION aka SWITCHBLADE ROMANCE (2003) is anything to go by, nowadays making low-budget, “artistic” horror movies seems to be a surefire ticket for filmdom’s capital – at least when it comes to helming updated versions of modern horror “classics” since, apparently, this film’s director combo are already at work in revisiting Clive Barker’s HELLRAISER (1987) for a new generation. Oh, well…

Anyway, the friend through whom I acquired this one (which I hadn’t heard of before his mentioning it to me a few days ago) described it as the goriest movie he had ever seen and, boy, was he ever more right!! There is little point in listing here the extremely violent acts perpetrated by the characters on each other during the course of the film’s mercifully brief 83- minute duration as, divorced from the admirably oppressive mood created (and sustained throughout) by the film-makers, they would seem merely sick – and gratuitously so, at that. Therefore, I’ll just say this and move on: both gorehounds and horror film fans looking for a more emotional core to their thrills will not be disappointed in this one by a long shot (as the red stuff flows here by the bucketfuls)!

Virtual newcomer Alysson Paradis is impressive as the vulnerably pregnant but resourceful lead and the controversial Beatrice Dalle is perfectly chilling as her enigmatic tormentor who keeps one guessing till the end as to her true identity and the reason for the truly appalling mistreatment of Paradis: is she her dead boyfriend’s mother or perhaps mistress? her boss’ jealous wife? a rejected lesbian acquaintance? a childless neighbor? The structure and style of the film, while (perhaps thankfully) not particularly flashy, leaves one in the dark about their relationship for the longest time and when the revelation finally comes, it packs the required wallop; to be perfectly honest, my twin brother – who was watching the film along with me – reached that conclusion much earlier than I did but, given that he was less enthusiastic about the film as a whole, maybe his not being taken in by the narrative as much as I was gave his mind more time to think about that, as it were! One minor quibble I had with the film in its latter stages is that a minor character (who should ostensibly be dead – at least, two point-blank shotgun blasts, albeit fired off-screen, would normally do the trick!) comes back to life before being dispatched yet again (although, admittedly, there is a twist to this here)…but, seriously, this unexpected “resurrection” business has by now become such a tired cliché that I don’t know why film-makers keep coming back to it!

Ultimately, my own personal taste in horror may be closer to Franju than Fulci…but, even so, this was a quite remarkable – and remarkably visceral – piece of work which, in my humble opinion, soars miles ahead of the aforementioned (and, in hindsight, overrated) HIGH TENSION. Suffice it to say that this film’s closing shot – of Dalle holding the baby in a rocking chair – may prevent me from looking at D. W. Griffith’s celebrated linking device in his magnum opus INTOLERANCE (1916) in the same way ever again!


02/23/08: RAMBO (Sylvester Stallone, 2008)

The fourth Rambo movie has been a long time coming – 20 years – and is the first one to be directed by Stallone himself; like ROCKY BALBOA (2006), this is a surprising return to form for Sly – and, in this case, emerges as perhaps the best in the series.

Even so, the storyline is pretty thin – Rambo is hired to free a group of doctors taken prisoners in the war-torn jungles of Burma – and the film atypically short for contemporary fare (the end credits start rolling around the 80-minute mark!). However, Stallone makes up for these with a thoroughly unflinching portrayal of the cruelty and gruesomeness of war – which, instead of a modern Hollywood blockbuster, brings to mind those objectionable Italian-made jungle adventures or even the notorious “video nasties” of the 1980s! As a result, it would be interesting to see how the previous entries in the series stack up against this no-holds-barred bloodthirsty update but, alas, presently I don’t have enough time on my hands to find out!

What is certain, however, is that Stallone’s “Planet Hollywood” pals – Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis – must be gnashing their teeth in envy…as Rambo unequivocally proves here that he truly is “The Last Action Hero”. Incidentally, one is never really sure why the atrocities on the Burmese villagers are being perpetrated (and on whose orders) which, if one isn’t bothered to come up with the expected metaphors, rather makes the relentless display of carnage throughout seem somewhat pointless and altogether less than entertaining – despite the familiar strains of Jerry Goldsmith’s stirring Rambo theme!


P.S.By the way, the print I watched sported the JOHN RAMBO title which, bafflingly, was shortened for the U.S. – as it would have tied in well with ROCKY BALBOA itself.

Re: Track the Films You Watch (2008)

Yeah, I believe they're called 'CAIR'.


"Witness for the Prosecution". (1957)

Billy Wilder's almost masterly adaptation of the famous Agatha Christie play sees the great Charles Laughton (with delightful, Oscar nominated, support by his Wife Elsa Lanchester as his fussy Nurse) as a cigar and whiskey consuming English Barrister hired to defend an American man (Tyrone Power) accused of bumping off an elderly spinster for her money.

The man's wife (Marlene Dietrich, in uber-firey form) is summoned by Laughton to support her Husband but he is surprised to find out she's actually hostile to him. And the case gets more and more complicated from then on...

A fine cast indeed and Laughton (in a role that was one of my most memorable filmic moments as a youngster) is an absolute joy.
All the players work well off each other and Laughton's comedic jousting with lanchester's Nurse are as effective as his rather more serious jousting with Dietrich's hostile witness, as the well scripted case unfolds.
The failings then come mostly from Power's turn as the accused.
But I'm not sure if it even is a failing!
If you know the outcome then you will know what I mean, but Power seems so theatrical and overwrought in all that he does you can't help but come to the conclusion the guy's as guilty as sin and have to wonder why Laughton does not think the same.
But I'm truly not sure if this entire performance is meant to be like that to make the plot twist mechanics work. Either way Power becomes an air grasping, lip quivering, ranting annoyance.

Dietrich is wonderfully memorable as the wife with a scheme and truly radiates sexual power while at the same time coming across as vulnerable.
Una O'Connor (sadly in her last role) is also a complete joy as the bad tempered, untrusting old Scottish housekeeper to the murdered woman, and is representative of the perfect mix of comedy and murderous drama that Wilder does so well.

The outcome is fun if rather melodramatic (as well as having to rely on a less than convincing bit of dated movie audio trickery) but sums up the twist upon twist convolutions of the case perfectly as, even as the film ends, the plot carries on in the same 'all is not how you imagined it to be' fashion.

Re: Track the Films You Watch (2008)

The Seven-Ups (1973)

Another film I watched in memory of Roy Scheider. I'm sure I've seen most of it on TV before, but I'm considering it a new experience seeing it straight through here. Scheider is one of a small group of NYC cops with unusual methods, called The Seven-Ups. One of his partners is murdered and he sets out to find and kill the thugs who were responsible, while at the same time discovering that they're involved in a plan to kidnap mobsters to extort ransom money. The way the plot plays out has always struck me as a little disjointed, and while Scheider is good in his part as hard-nosed detective, something sketchy just barely keeps me from awarding this three out of four stars. The film is most noteworthy for an excellent balls-to-the-wall car chase with Scheider in vengeful pursuit of the bad guys (one of them played by Richard Lynch who in real life set himself on fire several years earlier after taking LSD). It's the highlight of the movie and worth the price of admission all on its own.


The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (1967)

Helmed by low budget independent filmmaker Roger Corman, this was a pleasant surprise and perhaps the best directed film I've ever seen of his. Corman pulls no punches in delivering a brutal and action-packed account of organized crime war in the 1920s, centering on the friction between Al Capone and "Bugs" Moran, and ultimately leading up to the historical title climax. Featuring a good cast, including: George Segal, who's rarely better than he is here -- Ralph Meeker (Moran) --Corman's standby Dick Miller, Bruce Dern, and the intensified Jason Robards as Al Capone, in a part many feel he was miscast for. I thought Robards was a hoot, and a lot of fun in the part. One detriment for me was the frequent narration which began to get irritating, needlessly telling us the birthdate of every character onscreen.


Black Caesar (1973)

Pretty good seventies fare about a black kid who was wronged by a racist white cop in the ghetto as a boy and grows up to be a vengeful crime boss (Fred Williamson) in Harlem as a result. There is a steady diet of racial slurs and random violence on display here, the type of movie they just can't make anymore. Good payoff at the end.


I Think I Love My Wife (2007)

I think Chris Rock can be very hard-edged and hilarious, but boy oh boy did I make a bad call on this one. He plays a married man with a wife and child and a good job in Manhattan, but finds himself fantasizing about other women. Now, I expected this to be an edgy comedy with Rock spotlighting the daily rigors of married life, but instead I got only sporadic morsels of humor set against a boring story of Chris becoming obsessed with another beautiful woman (Kerry Washington) and straying from his responsibilities as a husband. Washington is drop-dead gorgeous, so at least we can understand his infatutation, but this was a waste of ninety-some-odd minutes of my life that hooked me in with false advertising.

Re: Track the Films You Watch (2008)

I love the narration on "St Valentine's Day Massacre". I feel it adds an historically tinged doom to the whole thing.
"On the last day of his life..."

Re: Track the Films You Watch (2008)

I agree with your assessment of this one and, while I would have liked to revisit it in tribute to Roy Scheider’s passing, I didn’t record the film when it was shown on Cable TV some years back, nor is it available to rent on DVD over here. By the way, I still need to pay tribute to the late actor but I am currently commemorating Alain Robbe-Grillet and will get to Kon Ichikawa before the month’s end.



I’ve been meaning to get this one on DVD for some time because, although I was very disappointed by it on first viewing many years ago, I was later surprised – and not a little intrigued – to find it included in the British Film Institute’s “360 Classic Feature Films” (roughly one a day, see) list:

Top 100 Movie Lists - BFI's 360 Classic Feature Films

Anyhow, I’m very surprised by your rating and, in particular, that comment about Corman’s direction but, if anything, it only makes me look forward to that inevitable next viewing all the more!



Being a fan of Larry Cohen’s early pictures – especially the remarkable BONE (1972) and GOD TOLD ME TO (1976) – I’ll eventually get around to watching this one, too…especially since it’s readily available locally as a DVD rental (along with a handful of other vintage blaxploitation flicks).

Re: Track the Films You Watch (2008)

Although I have had this one on VHS for some time now and, naturally, am aware of the existence of that Criterion disc, I still haven’t seen the film myself; all I know is that I found out years ago in one of my father’s film magazines that this was a cult item and had been a particular favorite of Francois Truffaut’s and, for starters, that is more than enough to spark my interest. Now that you’re saying that originally Martin Scorsese was going to be the director is another reason for me not to dismiss it (despite the negative posts above).



Yet again, the wonders of TCM availability instills feelings of anger and envy deep within me! A couple of stills in two of my father’s movie books is the closest I ever got to this one which, apart from the unique triple casting of the legendary Barrymores, is of interest to me because of its subject matter (Rasputin and his hold over Czarist Russia).

As a matter of fact, fairly recently I got hold of three other movies dealing with the infamous “holy man”, namely RASPOUTINE (1954; a French production with Pierre Brasseur in the title role), NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRA (1971; a British-made epic featuring Tom Baker as Rasputin) and AGONY – THE LIFE AND DEATH OF RASPUTIN (1981; the inevitable and long-banned Russian version with Aleksei Petrenko). NICHOLAS AND ALEXANDRA is the only one I’m already familiar with but, as usual. It’s been years since I’ve seen it. Then, of course, there is that 1966 Hammer version…



I’m glad that you’ve managed to catch up with this one and that your reaction to it was so positive; of course, as I said in my own review a few pages back, I don’t agree with you that it’s superior to its predecessors and I also felt that Asia Argento’s performance here was surprsingly weak...but, yes, overall it’s better than a highly expected and much belated conclusion to a legendary trilogy has any right to be in this day and age – and from an Italian film-maker to boot! You may not be completely aware of it but, in general, the decline of the once mighty Italian cinema over the last 20 years or more has been one of the most depressing and complete in the annals of film history.

Re: Track the Films You Watch (2008)

HI Mario.

I meant to answer your posts and well...er...forgot.

"Cottage to Let" is a must for any John Mills fan. It's not the norm.

I'm a big Abel Ferrara fan and rate "Driller Killer" more than most because of my love of underground extreme cinema in general and Ferrara in particular.
I think it gets a bad rap because people come to it (for very good reasons actually) thinking it's a Slasher flick and not a Grindhouse psycho-drama about the underbelly of life and those that dwell there.

Ferrara is very hit and miss and is such a unique talent that consistent output seems almost impossible for more than a run of 2 films. But even his failures have a certain something.
After making such an impression with "Driller Killer" and the masterly "Ms.45" (far more to this than some people would oh so mistakenly say) it would be a long wait until we got the dreadfully average "Fear City" (even uncut it's not the film it should be) and he would follow that up with a high profile, but artistically anonymous, stint on “Miami Vice”, then the dreadfully flat, and just as artistically anonymous, TV movie “The Gladiator” would follow.

A return to form would appear in the form of the excellent “Crime Story” TV pilot but the disappointing (though still with some effective aspects) “China Girl” came next and Hollywood compromise would raise it’s unwelcome head big time to scupper “Cat Chaser”, though again that was another movie with some effective moments.

Thankfully 1990 (indeed the 90's would turn out to be a gold decade as far as extreme thrillers went in general) would deliver the magnificent “King of New York” and some excellent work would follow (not least of which was the stunning “Bad Lt.”) before another slump would hit this most personal and unique of Directors.
Though at least this time the slump would be in the profile and distribution Ferrara’s movies would get, rather than an artistic one, as "The Blackout" and even "R Xmas" would be artistically far better than higher profile drudge like "Body Snatchers".

I've not got around to seeing his recent "Mary" though.

I have a section on Ferrara films on my site.
Pretty much gold if I say so myself for any Ferrara fan because I cover his ultra rare feature debut (especially rare in it's uncut version looked at here) "9 Lives of a Wet Pussy" as well as the very rare uncut print of the aforementioned "Fear City", his 2 "Miami Vice" stints and even his excellent music video for Mylene Farmer's superb "California".
Beardy Freak Reviews - FERRARA

Re: Track the Films You Watch (2008)

I'll certainly be ordering COTTAGE TO LET (1941) the next time I came across an online sale on Network titles.

Thanks for the exhaustive reply and the link to your personal Abel Ferrara shrine, Dave. As I said earlier, I'm not really a fan of his work but, for better or worse, he is a director who cannot be ignored and, as you say, one finds something of interest in each of his films. Given their controversial nature, it was only a matter of time before I caught up with THE DRILLER KILLER (1979), MS. 45 (1981) and BAD LIEUTENANT (1992); I don't exactly recall the circumstances which led me to watch 'R XMAS (2001) on Italian TV a couple of years ago, but I was certainly pleasantly surprised by it. At this juncture, I'd say that THE FUNERAL (1996) is the best I've seen from him but that one is also perhaps the "safest" choice for me to make! Incidentally, his DANGEROUS GAME (1993) is being shown on Cable TV this coming Friday and I was planning on taping it even before this little conversation of ours!

Re: Track the Films You Watch (2008)

I also take my wife into consideration when renting things for a movie night for us, and she wanted to see the Chris Rock movie as well. I hope this meets with your approval. You'll be much happier to know that I also rented one of those "high brow respectable new movies" that I'll be getting to as well in the next batch.

Here's a kicker for you -- I've been wanting to see NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN for some time now, and I thought it would be good to see it today before the Oscars... so the wife and I had plans this afternoon to go to a 1:45pm showing at our theater... but we've just gotten a call from my in-laws, and we're needed over their house at 2:00, so it looks like that isn't going to happen. I was very disappointed I wouldn't get to see it today, and then I have to read your post. Such is life.


Remember now, this is supposed to be fun...

Re: Track the Films You Watch (2008)

"The Funeral" is a very good film yes, it was made back to back almost with the far more experimental and far less accessible "The Addiction" and when taken with "King" and "Bad Lt" this was by far the most high profile period of Ferrara's career from a critical, distribution and media coverage view.

Are you sure it would be okay about "Cutthroats 9" by the way? Do you want some money sending?
I'll PM my address. HUGE thanks for this my friend.

Re: Track the Films You Watch (2008)

I thought the same thing. It would have been more appropriate and not as linked with the other more standard "RAMBO" sequel titles.