Track the Films You Watch (2008) (1 Viewer)

[Joe Karlosi]

No problem... for those particular titles I'd be very interested in reading your (and your twin brother Roderick's, if I'm not mistaken?) joint effort in your opinions... and if I find too much padding in there for my taste, I'll just skim past those parts.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Quantum of Solace (2008) :star::star:

I don't say this loosely when I designate this new entry as the LEAST of all the James Bond films of the past 46 years. I loved CASINO ROYALE and thought it was near the top of the standings and a return to form for this aching series, and Daniel Craig fit the bill perfectly. But with QOS, this is a very much run-of-the-mill action film with little heart, and probably the most "un-Bond" installment yet. Those action sequences are badly shot to the point where it's impossible to tell what is going on as we're assaulted with too-quick cutting and confusion.

Much as I liked Daniel Craig last time, his tough act of being his own man who breaks all the rules and does what he chooses by not giving a damn about what his boss M thinks, is getting all too familiar by now. And Judi Dench, whom I used to enjoy as the head commander, is becoming a one-trick pony with her tired routine of loathing Bond's disobedient ways one moment, but then actually admiring him the next... this has been going on since the earliest of the Pierce Brosnan films. It's time for her to move away from this franchise.

This isn't a "bad" movie, but there's nothing here I haven't seen already, and there's not much of a feeling of retaining 007's true trademark persona on hand, either. When it comes to ranking a series of 20-something movies, there has to be one at the bottom. For me it's now QUANTUM OF SOLACE.

 

[Mario Gauci]

Joe,


I won’t be saying here that I didn’t have you in mind when I made that “not watching TCM” remark because you won’t believe me – but I’m sure there are many other HTFers who have TCM capability but, at least to me, seem not to make use of it because, apart from Michael, Jim K and, yes, sometimes even you and good ol’ George Kaplan, I don’t see many people here writing about those movies that are typically shown on TCM.

Believe me when I tell you that I’m past the point of caring if you ‘broaden your cinematic horizons’ (or whatever you want to call it) or not; the reason I keep picking up this subject from time to time is mainly because I don’t have that possibility myself. Had TCM USA been available to me, there’s just no way that my DVD collection would have been as large as it is today because anything from old Warner Bros. movies to arthouse fare would have been watched this way instead of my having to fork out dough to acquire it. I really don’t mind spending part of my salary on DVD collecting but, on the other hand, I hate the sheer fact that my crappy day-job deprives me of 8 solid hours (of movie-watching or writing or reading or listening to music or just be with my 10 pets!) for 5 days straight a week!! Basically, it’s a double-edged sword: if my bank job didn’t pay so good, I wouldn’t have been able to afford my huge VHS/DVD/DVD-R collection for the past 13 years, but if I didn’t work I’d then have been able to watch much more of it, bought less and consequently have had less backlog! So, please, think of me whenever you turn on (or rather off…zzzzzzzz) your TV set!

By the way, I should also say here that I don’t drive so I don’t have car expenses (maintenance, licences, etc.) to pay and, apart from large-scale events like the Midsummer and Christmas parties at work, I’m not much of a party animal. In fact, I just hate it whenever somebody at work comes up with that much-dreaded “let’s organize an extra-curricular activity” idea – which is generally a dinner engagement or some such useless social outing. Frankly, my colleagues are just my colleagues and only a handful of them over the years (usually just as anti-social as yours truly) have really made it into my close circle of friends. Besides, I’m not a fan of any sport (which doesn’t preclude me from enjoying sporting movies, however) so I don’t devote any time to following the fortunes of this or that team in some championship or other. In a few words: I breathe, think, sleep, dream, drink, eat, burp, fart cinema (heck, I even take the bloody Leonard Maltin/Leslie Halliwell guide with me whenever I go to the crapper). Some people (even among you folks) might think of my lifestyle as being pretty blah but, hey, at least I (generally) don’t let some job I thoroughly despise tire me out so much that I’m unable to exercise (and, I assure you, enjoy) my hobby during the spare time to which I’m entitled! In fact, I wish I had insomnia like Mike does because I sure think sleep is another useless occupation most of the time.


P.S. Roderick sez “Hiya, Joe!"

 

[Joe Karlosi]

"Hi" right back. Does he write all your reviews with you, or just some?

 

[Michael Elliott]

Bob: What's the point?

Jane: The point is everyone does it so why take it so personal man.

Bob: Gee, I never thought of that Jane. Want a smoke?


Big Dog House, The (1930) :star::star: Jules White, Zion Myers

One of nine "Dogville" shorts from MGM with this one spoofing their prison drama The Big House. A department store working gets accused of murder and is sent to prison even though in truth it was his boss who did the killing. In case you don't know, these Dogville shorts were basically spoofs of various MGM films with the only catch being that dogs act everything out. This movie really isn't funny but I found it interesting as to what must have happened in order to get the dogs to act all of this stuff out. It's very clear that there's a ton of editing being done in each scene just to pull off the talking or walking but at other times, like when a dog changes another dog's diaper, you can see their hands moving and I'm going to guess strings or something was attached to them. Either way, the movie isn't a total success but it's certainly not bad but I'm sure kids would get more of a kick out of it today.

Who Killed Rover? (1930) :star::star: Jules White, Zion Myers

Another in MGM's "Dogville" series, a wealthy man leaves all his money to a nephew who is eventually kidnapped. Detective Phido Vance (get it) is called in to try and find out what's going on. Naturally it's the Philo Vance series being spoofed here but the title really doesn't make any sense because of how the events unfold in the movie. I won't spoil anything but a different title or a different set up were needed. The mystery to the film is pretty weak but I guess there's a reason for that but the main draw here is seeing the dogs move and talk like humans. This gimmick is neat to watch but once again I didn't really find it funny. There are certainly some cute moments but not enough to really keep the film moving like it should. The best part is during the title sequence when the card reads "An All Barkie Murder Mystery".

Until They Sail (1957) :star::star: Robert Wise

WW2 melodrama about four sisters (Jean Simmons, Joan Fontaine, Piper Laurie, Sandra Dee) living in New Zealand and not having much going on since all the men are fighting in the war. Their one shot at meeting new men is when American soldiers come in and the widow (Simmons) gets another shot at love with one played by Paul Newman. Considering the wonderful cast and great director, I was somewhat surprised to see how rather lame this movie was. Lame might be the wrong word but it's certainly very flat compared with other WW2 films out around this time and in the end the movie has way too much soap for it to be fully entertaining. While the screenplay isn't the greatest that's not the biggest problem I had with the film. The biggest problem for me was that I never believed the settings of the film as in it taking place during WW2. There was never any real atmosphere to the film nor was there any real attempt to make it feel authentic. Another problem is that we're dealing with four different women's love lives and the film never really knows if it wants to center on Simmons or Fontaine and in the end there seems to be a lot of stuff missing. The film would have been much, much worse if it weren't for the incredible cast. The four women really come off as sisters and I loved how the screenplay at least gave them different characters with different problems. Simmons steals the film with her touching and mature performance but Fontaine is just as good as the more hard and bitter sister. Dee, in her film debut, does a very good job at playing the youngest and naive sister. Newman is still a little rough around the edges but he does remain fun to watch and even at this early point in his career he has his smile commented on by one of the women.

 

[Mario Gauci]

LOL


By the way, thanks for the exhaustive reply, Joe. Frankly, I wasn't expecting it but I sincerely appreciated it. I don't have time to reply right now (I have to get some more non-essential movies under my belt

) but let's see what you make of (at least, one of) the following:


11/13/08: LEFT HANDED JOHNNY WEST (Gianfranco Parolini, 1965) :star:1/2

This was still early days for the Spaghetti Western, so the plot clearly looked to the basic American formula for inspiration; besides, there’s the constant intrusion of comedy relief (via three scruffy, good-natured but belligerent individuals – two of them ex-boxers and the other the obligatory town drunk) rather than a general self-mocking tone, which the genre would go through on its way out.

The hero, then, is a dour and somewhat enigmatic half-breed (a white girlfriend of his ends up dead on his account, while he rejects the doe-eyed advances of a child-like squaw); he’s either referred to as Johnny Cherokee or Left Handed Johnny West throughout (the latter is crushed, HUSTLER-like, at one point – but, soon enough, he learns to become as deadly as ever with his other hand), and is constantly accompanied by an amiable white-haired mutt called Gypsy which even sacrifices itself for him at the climax. One mildly interesting point is that the villainous figure here is actually twin brothers, with the more vicious of the two identified solely by his dark attire and pencil moustache; also, when one of them is killed off and his coffin is brought to the town square to ‘witness’ Johnny West’s own demise, the other is ingeniously hidden behind a revolving panel inside it! Incidentally, the actor’s face seemed oddly familiar to me and, when I looked at his filmography on the IMDb, I realized he was the male lead in Cesare Canevari’s Nazisploitation effort GESTAPO’S LAST ORGY (1977) – which I watched not too long ago!

A subplot revolving around the appropriation of a gold mine and the revenge sought by its murdered proprietor’s hotheaded but inexperienced young son is as dreary as it sounds. The passable score is by veteran Angelo Francesco Lavagnino, which comes with a typically emphatic (yet pointless) theme tune complemented by wailing female vocals. For the record, the film was co-written by French exploitation producer Robert De Nesle – a valued Jess Franco collaborator, but who was also involved with Georges Franju’s sublime JUDEX (1963). Director Parolini is perhaps best-known for the three “Sabata” Spaghetti Westerns, none of which I’ve watched – though all are readily available for rental (albeit in English-dubbed editions) via the MGM/UA R1 Box Set. In conclusion, the lowly rating for this one is chiefly due to the fact that it has more brawls than gunfights – while the treatment is, at best, indifferent: a bad combination.


11/15/08: THAT DAMNED HOT DAY OF FIRE (Paolo Bianchini, 1968) :star::star::star:

I’d never heard of this one before its recent late-night Italian TV screening; on a hunch, I looked the film up on the “Spaghetti Western Database”, where it’s given a favorable write-up – and I’m glad I did, because this is a solid entry within the genre. I also wasn’t familiar with director Bianchini – but, then, the same also held true for Mario Lanfranchi of DEATH SENTENCE (1968), another unconventional Spaghetti Western I was impressed by of late.

The film is enjoyable, reasonably stylish and displays plenty of invention throughout; at the same time, we have to contend with some resistible (albeit brief) humor. It’s also quite a violent offering: the hero is dragged by a horse, tied to a tree and beaten-up en masse, buried alive and shot at a number of times (the film’s single most startling moment – which I’m amazed wasn’t cut for TV – involves the graphic extraction, in gloating close-up, of a bullet from his hand!). The action scenes are undeniably well-staged – with the hero always managing to outwit the villains and emerge victorious (despite being greatly outnumbered).

Having mentioned all of this, it’s interesting that I should be following the film with the newest James Bond adventure – I may be wrong here, but this Western seems to have been inspired to some extent by that highly popular franchise (then in its heyday): the complex plot (involving espionage at the time of the American Civil War, having a Gatling gun for the obligatory “McGuffin”, and where one of the characters is revealed to be a ‘defector’), dour womanizing hero (with the leading lady typically picked out from the opposite side and another who’s dispatched by the villains for her involvement with him), etc. Casting, too, is more than adequate: Robert Woods (who would feature in a dire Spaghetti Western I’d watched not too long ago, SAVAGE GUNS [1971], but also six Jess Franco movies – including the haunting THE OTHER SIDE OF THE MIRROR [1973]), John Ireland (excellent as an uncouth half-breed bandit who can throw a deadly knife with his toes[!] and, to feign a tough exterior, lights a match against his bare feet and eats an onion raw – though there’s also an anti-racist angle surprisingly attached to his character), Evelyn Stewart, George Rigaud and Gerard Herter.

With respect to the soundtrack, apart from an effectively atypical jazzy score by Piero Piccioni, there’s a nice atmospheric touch in the constant buzzing of flies (due to the oppressive heat). For the record, the framing on the edition I watched was slightly compromised by being opened up from the original Techniscope (2.35:1) to the 1.85:1 ratio. By the way, an alternate title for the film is GATLING GUN – another Western by that name was made in 1973 (and one which is readily available for DVD rental locally).


11/15/08: QUANTUM OF SOLACE (Marc Forster, 2008) :star::star:1/2

Daniel Craig has had to face almost as tough an opposition as James Bond does in his movies when he took on the role of everybody’s favorite British secret agent two years ago but CASINO ROYALE (2006) had effectively silenced his critics by being, for my money, one of the all-time Top 5 entries in the long-running series. However, I can see an onslaught of bad vibes creeping up again following his second stab at the role. Actually, he’s not really the one to blame as his is a good performance under the circumstances; clearly, the major culprits here are the screenwriters and director for not really understanding (or caring enough) who James Bond is – and has been for practically the last half-a-century – and the producers (who should have known better) for letting them tamper with the beloved character far too much.

Before I sat down to watch this, I skimmed through online film forums to gauge the general reaction to the new Bond outing and, being a largely negative one, I prepared myself for the worst. While the film didn’t prove to be as bad as all that, it’s still inferior to its direct predecessor to such a dispiriting extent that the production team decidedly need to go back to the drawing-board fast if the next installment is to keep the momentum brought on by the breath of fresh air that CASINO ROYALE had been. It’s well-known by know that, uncharacteristically for the series, QUANTUM OF SOLACE is a continuation of that film’s storyline in that Bond is more interested in rooting out the man responsible for the death of his precious Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) – despite his all-too evident bitterness (read emotionless brutality) at her betrayal of him – than he is in catching the bad guys in this one.

And, frankly, who can blame him when he’s saddled with a potentially impotent wimp of a villain (Mathieu Almaric) – with an even more effete right-hand man – whose nefarious crimes extend merely to controlling the water supply of Bolivia to the detriment of the perpetually poor populace? Besides, Vesper Lynd had conclusively proven not to be just another Bond girl in more ways than one – being a woman whose death Bond was still mourning and a memorable character in her own right. Despite the beauty of her substitute here (which still comes up short, if you ask me, next to the stunning Miss Green), the character of Camille (Olga Kurylenko) is so one-dimensional that Bond doesn’t even entertain the notion of making love to her (a first for a Bond film for sure) and the one episode where he does go to bed with a girl – a red-headed M16 desk clerk (Gemma Arterton) that goes by the name of Strawberry Fields (‘tis pity she didn’t wear flowers in her hair, though) – seems like an afterthought merely intended to make her death scene a welcome tribute to Shirley Eaton’s iconic fate in GOLDFINGER (1964)!

After the extended, breathlessly-paced opening action sequence, I wasn’t too bothered by the rapid cutting which is said to imitate the BOURNE trilogy (but I wouldn’t really know since I’m not familiar with it and have little interest in finding out) but, apart from a good sequence at the Opera House, even the action set-pieces seemed indifferent to me. Equally pointless were the cameo appearances of both Giancarlo Giannini and Jeffrey Wright from CASINO ROYALE but the low-point of the movie must surely be the fact that the villain – lame though he might be – gets his come-uppance off-screen (which must be another first for this series)! The obligatory title song (performed by Jack White and Alicia Keys) has also received a lot of flak but, again, I didn’t find it as painful to listen to as others seem to have. Significantly, however, while QUANTUM OF SOLACE is, at 106 minutes, officially the shortest-running Bond movie ever (which is all the more remarkable because it follows the longest entry of all), it feels much longer than that – which is never a positive sign. One final thing: I still don’t quite know what to make of the film-makers’ decision to go back in time with Bond – making him a still up-and-coming secret agent that has yet to earn M’s complete trust – and yet have him operate in this advanced technological age of ours (represented by mobile phones and touch-screen graphics).

 

[Michael Elliott]

That's actually a quote from a movie and if anyone can guess the title then I'll send you a copy of REEFER MADNESS.

Here's something else about watching "everything". You do eventually run out of new things to watch, which is kind of a drag. I've still got countless foreign films to watch so I've still got several gems to look for. When it comes to American classics, I've got very few left and in some ways I'm putting the remaining few off just because I know it's the "last" that I need to see. WEST SIDE STORY is a "classic" that I haven't watched but I recorded it a couple days ago.

Another case in point is Lon Chaney. I just watched THE BLACKBIRD, which is the last Chaney picture I need to see. I've seen all of his features and all of his shorts, which aren't lost. There are (I think) six more shorts out there with Chaney but all of them are in the hands of private collectors so I won't be seeing them anytime soon. I had to search them out hard in terms of some of these Chaney titles but there aren't any more for me to search for and it's somewhat sad that I'm at the end of my search.


I'm not much on Bond, although I haven't seen anything after Connery and before ol' Pierce but I loved CASINO and was looking forward to this new one but I'm not sure now. I was going to go this week (along with the Eastwood and Smith flicks) but I might just wait for DVD.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

Nice review there, Mario (which is easy for me to say because I pretty much agree with you word for word). There were some things I left out while jotting down my notes here, but I've fleshed it out a bit over at the IMDB.

 

[SteveGon]

The Band's Visit (2007)

Viewed 11/11/2008 (first viewing)

An Egyptian police band accepts an invitation to play in Israel but ends up in the wrong town. There they make connections with the townspeople that they wouldn't have thought possible. Then they leave. Decent enough, but I'm not so sure it's deserving of all the acclaim.

:star: :star: :star: out of :star: :star: :star: :star:


The Counterfeiters (2007)

Viewed 11/12/2008 (first viewing)

Various Jewish criminals, including a master forger, are forced by the Nazis to make counterfeit money in order to fund the flagging German war effort. Interesting story is well told, but frankly we've been to this well a few too many times for it to be very memorable.

:star: :star: :star: out of :star: :star: :star: :star:



Short Order (2005)

Viewed 11/14/2008 (first viewing)

Flat, meandering, wannabe Jean-Pierre Jeunet film about a pretty young female chef who takes a job as a short order cook in order to avoid the responsibilities that go along with being a maser chef. A fine cast (including the engaging Emma de Caunes) can't save this dark comedy about food and death.

:star: :star: out of :star: :star: :star: :star:


The Art of Travel (2007)

Viewed 11/15/2008 (first viewing)

A man jilts his unfaithful fiancee on their wedding day and jets off to South America to find himself. There he joins up with an expedition that plans on crossing a near-impenetrable jungle. Engaging characters highlight this otherwise slight indie effort that lacks the gravity necessary to convey its philosophical message.

:star: :star: 1/2 out of :star: :star: :star: :star:

 

[Tarkin The Ewok]

11/15: Rocky (1976) :star::star::star: out of :star::star::star::star::star:

Rocky is both a Best Picture winner and a part of our popular culture in America with multiple sequels, so I was probably expecting a bit too much from it. The filmmakers wisely limited the boxing scenes to major bookends of the film instead of having several fights interspersed throughout the movie. Boxing is not an extremely popular sport with me (and probably a good segment of the population), and a little goes a long way.

Rocky Balboa himself comes across as a very real person just trying to get by in life. Just about every scene fleshes out his character a little more and shows him dealing with problems that we all can relate to. The dialogue sounds very true to the setting and characters, but it's a little too naturalistic and repetitive for my taste. Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind are from the same period and also use this dialogue technique, but Rocky does not have Spielberg at the helm to make it work for the scene. The most interesting and/or likable characters are Rocky, Adrian, Apollo, and Mickey. Paulie and Mr. Gazzo do not come across as particularly nice or sympathetic, and I expect that they cause complications in the sequels. For example, that $500 has to have some strings attached.

Rocky is a decent movie with a smile-inducing ending, but I have a hard time believing it was the Best Picture winner of 1976. I haven't seen the other nominees or many other movies from that year, but I have to believe that I would give at least one movie of 1976 more than three stars.

11/16: To Catch a Thief (1955) :star::star::star::star:1/2 out of :star::star::star::star::star:

As one of the supplements said, this movie really has a bit of everything that made Hitchcock so popular as a director. What stood out for me were the casting and the writing. Cary Grant and Grace Kelly had amazing onscreen chemistry, and the supporting actors all had great faces and voices. The banter between the leads is full of wit, double entendre, and charm, and it makes every scene of theirs a joy to watch and listen to.

This may become clearer on a second viewing, but I was unsure exactly what actions the "mastermind" was taking to move things along. The Cat seemed plenty capable of doing everything. My other quibble is that some of the French-accented English was hard to make out, but the plot is easy enough to understand without hearing every word.

To Catch a Thief is an easy recommendation and a movie I will seriously consider purchasing someday. I know what I said earlier about having higher standards for adding a DVD to my collection, but Hitchcock at his best can meet those standards. I definitely want to see more films by Hitchcock, Cary Grant, and Grace Kelly (obviously in separate pictures).

 

[Michael Elliott]

I haven't seen it in a while but I always felt TO CATCH A THIEF never got enough credit. It might not be one of the greatest films ever made but I think it, ROPE and DIAL M FOR MURDER are just downright fun, highly entertaining and overlooked films.


Corsair (1931) :star::star: Roland West

This is a rather interesting movie as it would turn out to be the final film for director West. The director would take time off after this film to do other business but of course this would end in scandal as his girlfriend, Thelma Todd, would be murdered and a lot of fingers pointed at West. Todd also appears in this film under the fake name of Alison Loyd. A former football star (Chester Morris) can't cut it on Wall Street and after being fired he swears to make money no matter what it takes. He decides to become a pirate and hijack boats carrying alcohol so that he can re-sell it on the streets. When the film finally ended after 74-minutes I was asking myself if that was it because there's really not too much going on. The film has a low budget, which keeps it from being more epic like I'm sure the director and stars wanted but West's direction keeps things floating throughout. The screenplay is pretty standard without many twists or turns in terms of the story. Being from the pre-code era and considering how much trouble West and Morris got into with Alibi I was expecting more in terms of grittiness but that's not here. The entire film plays pretty safe with the exception of one death scene on a hijacked boat but everything is pretty much lost with the really bad ending. I was also rather disappointed with the performance as Morris who has become one of my favorites. He really seems to sleepwalk through the role and doesn't have any of his normal charm. Todd, I'm guessing, tried a dramatic turn here, which might explain the name change but she doesn't come off any better. She certainly isn't bad in the film but she can't fill that Jean Harlow type role too well. Cagney's buddy Frank McHugh steals the film playing a drunk. Fans of the director might want to check this out since it turned out to be his last movie but I doubt too many find it that entertaining.

Glimpses of Kentucky (1940) :star::star:1/2 No Director Credited

Another entry in MGM's TravelTalk series but this one is more interesting to me as I come from the state. We start off with a trip down the Cumberland River as well as visiting the grave site of Daniel Boone, visit certain sites of the Indian war and get a lot of talk about various horses. I guess since I'm from the state I'm going to scratch my head as to some bigger stuff that doesn't get talked about or mentioned but overall this is just like many other shorts in the series. I'm sure at the time these were very important to get information out to people who might not know about a certain state but today this comes off rather bland since we have better information out there.

Decalogue: Five, The (1989) :star::star::star::star: Krzysztof Kieslowski

"Thou Shalt Not Kill" is the main setting for this fifth and so far best film in the series. The film tells the story of a young man (Miroslaw Baka) who wonders the city bored and not doing much. Out of no where he jumps into the back of a taxi and brutally murders the driver (Jan Tesarz) who begs for his life. The young man is sentenced to death, which doesn't sit right with his lawyer (Krzysztof Globisz) who doesn't understand why one murder is right but the other wrong. I'll be honest up front and admit that I do not take the same political view as the director or his message here. I'll be honest and say that I feel the young man deserved to die but that doesn't mean I can't still be amazed at what the director does here. This is certainly the best film I've seen from the series so far and it's also one of the best movies I've seen period. The way Kieslowski tells the story is a masterpiece in its own right just because of how everything is set up. I loved how he let us see and get to know both characters before the events which lead to murder. An added twist is that both the killer and the victim are both rather obnoxious and neither men could be considered good. I guess one could say that the death of the taxi driver didn't really matter but I think that would be preaching against what this series preaches for. On the other hand, are we suppose to take pity on the killer just because he didn't kill a good person? Are we suppose to feel sorry for the killer before of the tragic events earlier in his life? For me, I felt sorry for the obnoxious guy who was begging for his life only to be tortured and eventually killed. I do respect the director for asking so many questions and his handling of the subject is brilliant done from a technical point of view. Even greater are the three performances from the actors who really do amazing work. This is especially true for Baka who must go through a wide range of emotions from the bored teen to the man facing his own death.

 

[Adam_S]

1976 is the strongest lineup of best picture nominees in the history of the oscars. And I'd still give it to Rocky.

 

[Michael Elliott]

Bad Lieutenant (1992) :star::star::star: Abel Ferrara

Harvey Keitel gets the title role in what is probably the greatest performance in his career, which is saying quite a lot when you look at everything he's done. He plays a morally corrupt and soul less detective who starts to think about his life while investigating the rape of a nun. Ferrara and controversy go hand and hand together and this film certainly hit theaters with a storm of it. I remember the release of this film very clear and how there were some protests and while critics disagreed on the actual film there was no question about the power of Keitel. Over the years I've come to see this film to be quite campy due to an incredibly bad story and some really silly dialogue. It's really amazing at how over the top this story goes yet not too many people ever bring it up. I understand we're dealing with a "bad" guy but Ferrara takes that badness to a whole new level. Within the first twenty-minutes we see him doing three types of drugs, stealing money, gambling, going off on a profane rant towards his kids and that's just the beginning because more follows and all of this is at the start of the movie. We then get the infamous scene where he pulls over two teen girls and sexually assaults them and at some point you have to ask yourself where the director is going with all this badness. If this guy had been this bad then he would have been dead a lot sooner than the events in this movie. What was the point of all this stuff? Why go on such an over kill? I have no idea the reasons behind it but I just can't take the film as serious as the director wants me to because of it. The main and only reason to see this film is because of the hard hitting and incredibly brave performance by Keitel. He certainly goes places most actors wouldn't dare and one must applaud him for that. The way he slowly but surely cracks and breaks down is hard to watch but Keitel hits all the right notes. His confrontation with Jesus is a very haunting scene and you really feel as if this character is at his last wits and destruction.

Police Academy 5 (1988) :star:1/2 Alan Myerson

Cmndt. Lassard (George Gaynes) is forced into retirement but he does get a trip to Miami Beach and of course his gang goes along. Lassard picks up the wrong luggage at the airport and soon jewel thieves are after him. The series was going downhill pretty fast here and with the absence of Steve Guttenberg there's really not too much anyone can do. Not to mention that the look and feel of this has TV movie written all over it. The biggest problem is that the jokes just aren't here. The screenplay is full of childish moments but none of them gets laughs and I might go even further and say the film is lazy by recycling more jokes from previous films. The best sequence is when Harris (G.W. Bailey) falls into the water and gives a loud scream when an alligator starts to come after him. Smith, Graf, Winslow and Easterbrook are all back but there's no lead here strong enough to carry the picture and none of these actors can do it on their own. I'm sure fans of the film, including myself, will get a few grins out of the movie and the cast members do have a certain amount of charm but this should have been it for the series.

How to Vote (1936) :star: Felix E. Feist

A political candidate comes down with laryngitis so he can't talk about the city's water dam so he sends Robert Benchley to do it instead and of course things don't go as planned. I've seen quite a few of these Benchley shorts over the years thanks to Turner Classic Movies and I think this one here has to be the very worst of the group. There wasn't a single scene here that made me laugh and in fact the entire film made me appear stoneface just like Buster Keaton. The attempts at humor deal with Benchley not knowing what he's talking about and not knowing how to do anything else.

Indie Sex: Taboos (2007) :star::star::star: Lisa Ades, Lesli Klainberg

Documentary taking a look at Hollywood and various sexual taboos. The director would go onto make three more of these documentaries and she certainly handled and researched the material a lot better then. This film here has a lot of good information but at the same time there's a lot of films overlooked. The other documentaries in this series did a great job at covering Hollywood, foreign films and underground films but this one here pretty much just looks at Hollywood. There's mention of Luis Bunuel in terms of sexuality influences America but that's about it. There are countless foreign movies that tried real sex in films yet this documentary basically covers later day films that did it and called them ground breaking. Naturally Last Tango in Paris gets some discussion as well as the recent Shortbus. If you're new to this type of thing then I'm sure you'll learn a lot here but there's a lot more out there to learn and not all the information here is too accurate.

Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956) :star::star::star: Robert Wise

Paul Newman crashed through the doors of Hollywood in this biopic of boxer Rocky Graziano. In the film, Rocky starts out a common criminal and finds himself going through the court systems and jail when he finally catches a break and ends up in the boxing ring. It's rather amazing at how similar all these boxing pictures are going back to the silent days to Body and Soul and up to future pictures like Raging Bull. This film really doesn't offer up anything new or original but it remains highly entertaining due to the wonderful performance by Newman. It's rather shocking at how this was only Newman's second film because he perfectly nails this character and really delivers a memorable performance. What really stood out for me was his accent, which I found to be quite flawless. These thick New York/Italian accents are often overdone but I thought Newman's was very realistic and hit the spot. Pier Angeli is equally good as Newman's wife in the film as is Eileen Heckart as his mother. Sal Mineo and Steve McQueen have small roles and are fun to watch even though their characters aren't anything special. It's well known that James Dean was to do this film before his tragic death but in all honesty I really don't see him in this role but you do have to wonder what would have happened to Newman had the other legend not been killed. This film is far from perfect but it does have a certain flair that makes it quite memorable compared to other boxing/rebel films of the era.

Track of the Cat (1954) :star::star: William A. Wellman

Strange but ultimately disappointing family drama hiding behind the Western/Adventure genres. The film tells the story of a dysfunctional family stranded on a ranch during the 1880s. The family is bullied around by the middle son (Robert Mitchum) and his mother (Beulah Bondi) but the others begin to rise up as Mitchum is out tracking a deadly mountain lion. Okay, this is a film I had been wanting to watch for many years but within twenty-minutes I knew I was in trouble and the film never picked up. I was really shocked at how boring this film was considering Wellman was directing it and apparently this was a pet project of his. I'm not sure where to start but I guess we can mention all the family drama stuff, which naturally gets blamed on a bully and a religious freak. All of the drama here lacks any real drama and in fact all the characters just come off so obnoxious that I didn't care what happened to them. Another problem is the entire "track of the cat" with Mitchum wondering around without much to do. It seems Wellman never tries to build any tension in these scenes and one has to wonder why it was even in the story. I'm going to guess the cat was used to throw out that "good vs. evil" theme but it never works. I was also pretty disappointed in Mitchum's performance, which was dry and rather dull but then again I didn't care for any of the other performances either. It was strange seeing Carl 'Alfalfa' Switzer in the role of the elderly Indian and he certainly comes off the best. What does keep the film going is its beautiful cinematography captured in all its 2.55:1 glory. The scenery is another reason to watch the film with the snow covered mountains really coming off quite beautiful.

Payment Deferred (1932) :star::star::star: Lothar Mendes

A bank clerk (Charles Laughton) decides to kill his rich nephew (Ray Milland) so that he can steal his wallet and pay off his families debt, which is about to put them in the poor house. After the murder Laughton sends his wife (Dorothy Peterson) and daughter (Maureen O'Sullivan) on a trip and enters an affair. This is a rather interesting film, which has certainly been forgotten over the years but it's tale of a father murdering due to becoming poor might work just as good today as it did in 1932. The film is based on a famous play and for the most part the film plays out like you'd see it on stage but this is also a weakness as there's way too much talk going on. The screenplay seems to bounce back and forth from a serious drama to a crime film and even at times coming off like a black comedy. Laughton turns in a very good performance, although he does take it a bit over the top at times. You'll notice this whenever he begins to freak out that someone is going to find the body that he's buried in his back yard. This part of his performance might lend itself to the black comedy aspect. Milland doesn't have much of a role as he gets killed off rather early on but he's playing that jerk of a bad guy that we'd see him play throughout his career. O'Sullivan has a pretty thankless role but it's nice seeing her anyways.

Tropic Thunder (2008) :star::star::star::star: Ben Stiller

Hilarious spoof of Hollywood and war movies has a group of actors making a Vietnam film when one of them are kidnapped by real terrorists and the rest must try and save him. This here is without question one of the best comedies in recent decades as the screenplay hits all the right marks and the spoof of Hollywood is just downright hilarious and more truthful than any actor would probably have you believe. I guess you could also call this movie brave on the part of many of the actors and that includes Downey who is playing a black man and probably gets the most laughs of anyone. The constant jokes of him acting and trying to speak like a black man are priceless as are the countless jokes at Stiller's character who played a retard in an earlier movie that critics hated. The comedy goes even further to make fun of just about everything in Hollywood from actors taking drugs to getting caught in the tabloids. I really loved how Stiller kicked off the movie with three fake trailers making fun of the type of movies being made in Hollywood today. The movie Grindhouse used this joke to great success but I'd say it's done even better here. What really sells this movie are the great performances from the entire cast with Downey stealing the film as the Australian actor who had his skin dyed so that he could try to win an Oscar playing a black character. The politically incorrect nature of this is always done in good taste so no one should worry about being offended. I'm not a fan of Jack Black but he too shines here as the heroin attic fat man who made a career out of farting. Then there's Stiller who really gets to have fun as the washed up action hero who tried to do something more dramatic with the role of a retard. Finally you also have to mention the supporting performances by Matthew McConaughey, Nick Nolte and Tom Cruise. All three give their best performances in many, many years but it's Cruise who really stands out as the evil, rap music dancing producer. His performance here is so incredibly crazy and out there you can't help but wish he'd get an Oscar for it. There are countless other cameos by famous people, which get some nice laughs as well. There have been countless spoofs of Hollywood but this one here certainly ranks as one of the greatest just because of the balls it shows in doing anything for a laugh.

 

[george kaplan]

Le Boucher

I'm struggling to find the best description of this film - Hitchcock-lite, the Chinese food of mysteries, the bubblegum pop of French films, etc.

Basically, it's all style and no substance. It's pleasant enough to watch, and it's not like 'nothing happens', though it would be true that what does happen is so predictable that it's almost a surprise, cause you can't believe that there's not going to be some kind of a twist.

How about 'a foreign-film version of the bare bones of a Hitchcock film turned into elevator muzak for cinephiles'?

 

[Martin Teller]

The Fall (Blu-Ray) - Like The Cell, this is a film with very striking images, but not terribly original... in fact, it's actually a remake of an obscure Bulgarian film called Yo Ho Ho. In the simplest terms, it's kind of a cross between Baraka and Pan's Labyrinth (or Spirit of the Beehive) and Princess Bride, with a heaping handful of stuff that you've seen in plenty of other movies (sometimes as homage). As a plus, however, this movie doesn't take itself too seriously. But it's an odd balance between the tongue-in-cheek world of the imagination and the more serious goings-on in the real world, and it's a balance that doesn't gel and neither side seems to strike the right tone. I appreciate the effort, but I found it difficult to become very engaged. When the weepy climax came, I was literally rolling my eyes. The images ARE striking (especially in hi-def), but too often calculatedly so, like a series of "money shots". And too much slo-mo. Lee Pace's performance is passable but uninspired. Still, it's a step in the right direction for Tarsem Singh... who also needs to drop the incredibly annoying schtick of crediting himself as simply "Tarsem". Rating: 6

 

[Michael Elliott]

Last night my girlfriend and I went to see the Eagles in Cincinnati. Due to me being laid off again I just bought the cheap seats. We got there an hour early and discovered that the cheap seats I bought ended up being the very last row and the two very last seats in the arena. The seats still had a pretty good view so I wasn't too mad but about a half hour before the show a man come up to us wearing a "Eagles Pass" on his shirt and offered us better seats. I jumped at the chance without asking questions but my girlfriend asked why and the guy said "just a gift from the Eagles".

We got to our new seats (the $150 seats) and noticed that the entire two rows were being filled up by people who were originally sitting in the "back rows" across the venue. The funny thing was that the person behind us brought their three year old daughter who kept everyone entertained before the show by asking if they were going to play certain songs. What was really funny is that at the end of the main set the band did "Heartache Tonight". On the giant screen they were showing various clips from silent movies where the men were being beat up by the women. I noticed the majority of the clips but the funny thing was the 3-year-old behind us shouted out: "Look dad, there's Lloyd and the Tramp guy".


Locked Door, The (1929) :star::star: George Fitzmaurice

Dry crime melodrama about a woman (Barbara Stanwyck) who gets herself arrested while on a rum boat with the lavish Frank Devereaux (Rod La Rocque). Eighteen months later she is married to another man (William Boyd) but she soon learns that his sister is now involved with Frank. This early talkie from United Artist has pretty much been forgotten with the exception that it will stand the test of time as being Stanwyck's first major role as her previous film had her in a bit role. As with many early talkies, the technology leaves a lot to be desired and I can't help but think that the director wasn't too worried with what was happening on the screen as he was making sure everyone could hear what was going on. The film is incredibly dry of any humor, suspense or drama and that's a real shame because the story is actually pretty good as all four characters get involved with a possible murder towards the end of the film. This murder happens an hour into a 74-minute film so the payoff comes rather quickly but the ending is certainly the best thing about the movie. Stanwyck comes off fairly good in her role but there's no doubt she still had some rust around the edges. La Rocque comes off incredibly over the top as if he was playing in some sort of strange comedy and I can only compare him to what people would see decades later in John Waters. Boyd is pretty good in his role and actually steals the film, although Zasu Pitts has a few good scenes as a telephone operator.

Hunchback of Notre Dame, The (1939) :star::star::star: William Dieterle

RKO's big budget remake of the 1923 Lon Chaney film has Charles Laughton taking over the role of Quasimodo, the deformed hunchback who falls the beautiful Esmeralda (Maureen O'Hara) with tragic results. There's no question that this version is a lot better than the previous one but I still wouldn't call this a classic. There are many great things here but, as with the original, I found this version goes on and on and on and could have benefited from about ten or fifteen minutes being cut. I think the greatest thing about this film is its visual look ranging from the sets to the costumes to the beautiful cinematography. The amount of extras is what really stuck out for me this time as it was a grim reminder that an epic like this would never be done today due to budget concerns. The film has no problem getting the viewer in the mind frame that we're in the 1480s, which is a great achievement on itself. Laughton's make up is also very well done and ranks among the best out there from this era. His performance is just as good as he does a very good job at getting his torment across. I've always felt that O'Hara stole the film with her beauty, charm and incredible personality that jumps off the screen. Again, as much as I enjoy certain things in the film I can't help but think it should have been a whole lot better.

D.W. Griffith: Father of Film (1993) :star::star::star::star: Kevin Brownlow, David Gill

This first episode covers the years of 1876-1915 in the life of maverick filmmaker D.W. Griffith. The documentary shows Griffith's early life in Kentucky up to The Birth of a Nation being released with various folks ranging from Frank Capra, Lillian Gish, Blanche Sweet and various others commenting on the man. The documentary does a great job at breaking down Griffith's early career and that includes the four-hundred plus movies that he made at Biograph and his reasons for leaving the studio to make bigger pictures. The main draw here of course is going to be the discussion of The Birth of a Nation and it's rather amazing at how many different stories can be told about one thing with such wide range of opinions on what actually happened. There's some great stuff that separates this version of the events as we get to hear from a black man who watched the movie in 1916 and hearing his stories on what happened were quite chilling. The other side is also well represented without letting the director off the hook. President Wilson is pretty much thrown under the bus with an original note he wrote to Griffith about the film. Another thing that was nicely pointed out is that four years prior to this film Griffith released a movie where the KKK were the mortal villains. While nothing new can really be said about the topic the film does shine a light on one thing that everyone, including myself, seemed to overlook and that was the fact that Griffith would stop at nothing to get the perfect scenes on film and it didn't matter what happened afterwards as he put no thought into it.

Episode two covers 1915 through 1921 in the director's career as the controversy of The Birth of a Nation lingers on as Intolerance was going into production. After that film turned into a commercial flock, Griffith, the original independent filmmaker, set out overseas to capture WW1 only to return home with one more shot at a masterpiece in Way Down East. This second episode is just as good as the first one and once again a lot of different opinions and views are discussed. Having read several books about Griffith and his films there were new things to be learned here including the truth before the box office results of Intolerance and how it actually was a hit until the roadshow screenings, which Griffith spent too much on. Also we learn about Hearts of the World and how big of a hit it was. The most interesting stuff happens on the making of Way Down East, which at the time was the most expensive movie ever made just by Griffith paying nearly two-hundred-thousand for the rights to the play. Anyone who has seen the movie will never forget the incredible ice scene at the end and thankfully this documentary goes into nice detail about how this was done. The best scene happens with Gish finally get fed up of lying on the ice so she demanded a stunt double. Griffith gave it to her but the double quit after one day and this forced Gish back out there. The double is interviewed here and is a lot of fun. We also get to see the actual locations of the shoot, which just makes the scene all the more amazing.

Episode three starts off in 1922 and follows up to Griffith's death in 1948. Once again we get a lot of talk about the rest of Griffith's career, which ended up being over with in 1931 after The Struggle was released to disastrous reviews. People also tend to forget that this was one of the biggest disasters in movie history up to that point but I guess this viewpoint gets overlooked now as the film seems to get better reviews. The most interesting aspect from this era are how Griffith failed going back to the studios and his career could never rebound. The Sorrows of Satan was a major flop and Lady of the Pavements couldn't connect either. These stories have been told with different views from various books but this documentary takes a different stand as well. They seem to think that Griffith's career pretty much ended because certain majors didn't want to deal with him not just because he was difficult but because he was too big for them. In other words, the name Griffith was simply too powerful that they feared him as did the budget studios who didn't think they could get him. The final portions of Griffith's life are rather depressing and this is the one thing everyone seems to agree on. The most fascinating aspect is that I've read Griffith didn't have anyone attending his funeral but the footage here proves otherwise as both DeMille and Chaplin appeared and spoke. Another great bit of footage is of Griffith's Honorary Oscar where there's some newsreel footage of him joking around with Bette Davis.

In the end those interested in Griffith's career will find a lot to enjoy here as Brownlow and Gill do a very good job at going through nearly five-hundred films and showing what the man was all about. As is the fact, the documentary is fair and balanced as it shows Griffith didn't really invent a lot of the stuff he gets credit for but he did use it better than everyone else. As I said earlier, I've read countless books on the man and they all offer different opinions and that holds true here. It seems there will never be one final word on Griffith but this here, running over two and a half hours, comes the closest.

Encounters at the End of the World (2007) :star::star::star::star: Werner Herzog

Herzog's latest documentary takes us to Antarctica where we get to see and experience what the scientist and researchers there are like. I've read a few reviews that put this film down because, in their words, it comes off as something you'd see on Discovery but I find these reviews rather strange since this documentary was produced by Discovery. I also think it's quite unfair to say that because this is a Herzog documentary from start to finish. Having gone through the majority of Herzog's filmmography I just love the way you could show something and a million different people would see the same thing yet Herzog would look at it as something different and tackle that different side of things. That's pretty much what he does here as a lot of documentaries will tackle the Global Warming side of things or they might look at the penguins. Herzog does look at these things, among others, but he also looks at them and asks questions that you haven't seen before. Herzog also seems to read reviews as others have mentioned his talent for looking at things in different ways and he makes a few jokes about this throughout his narration in the film. The best example are various remarks about making a movie with penguins and when it comes time to discuss them his first question is if there are gay ones. What sets this documentary apart is that half of it honestly looks at the people living at the South Pole. Herzog wants to know why these people would walk away from a normal life to live somewhere where it doesn't get dark for five months of the year. We meets some rather strange people and even some even stranger stories but this comes off very fresh and original. On the visual side of things we get all sorts of wonderful visuals but the highlight for me were the scenes underneath the ice. I'm sure this stuff has been filmed before but the opening shots are rather breathtaking as are many other scenes. The stuff on the side of the volcano looking down at the lava lakes are also quite chilling. I'm sure nature buffs will be entertained by the film but I think it works best for fans of Herzog who once again get to see a master work his way through a familiar subject but making it all his own. I would also add that the dedicated to Roger Ebert was a classy touch by the director.

 

[Mario Gauci]

11/16/08: BELLE TOUJOURS (Manoel De Oliveira, 2006) :star::star::star:

To be honest, despite Portuguese director Oliveira’s considerable reputation (I was privileged to see the still-sprightly centenarian at the 2004 Venice Film Festival: by the way, this is the first among nine of his efforts I’ll be watching to commemorate this rare upcoming occasion), I was skeptical about this sequel to one of Spanish surrealist master Luis Bunuel’s greatest works – BELLE DE JOUR (1967); once I had accepted that premise, however, I was still disappointed that the earlier film’s protagonist, Catherine Deneuve, had refused to participate which – her understandable reluctance to tamper with her signature role notwithstanding – is even more curious given that she had already worked three times with Oliveira since 1995! Now that I’ve watched the film for myself – which is remarkably brief, a mere 68 minutes, for this day and age! – I realize that Severine (played now by Bulle Ogier, who had herself been delightful in Bunuel’s THE DISCREET CHARM OF THE BOURGEOISIE [1972]) isn’t really the main role here, but rather Husson (a returning and still bemused Michel Piccoli, where he seems to have gotten over his perennial feeling of coldness by becoming an alcoholic!); for the record, Piccoli had himself been a regular of Bunuel’s (7 films) and, by this time, also of Oliveira’s (6 films).

Anyway, though the film (unsurprisingly) omits the seamless blurring of dream and reality that made BELLE DE JOUR so fascinating, it works better than a sequel to an undisputed arthouse classic 40 years after the fact has any right to – or I would ever have imagined myself (given my oft-declared admiration for Bunuel’s oeuvre). That said, we do find in here some definite nods to his past achievements – which clearly emerge to be among the most pleasing elements in the entire film: not only the retrieval of the famously mysterious buzzing box displayed by the heroine’s Japanese client in BELLE DE JOUR itself (though one can’t quite fathom how Husson was even aware of it in the first place, this was certainly a nice touch); the sardonic waiters during the ‘climactic’ meal recall their defecting counterparts in THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL (1962; which has, happily, just been officially announced as a 2-Disc Criterion edition for next February!); Severine’s fate can ultimately be seen as a reversal of that experienced by VIRIDIANA (1961), going from lasciviousness to piety rather than the other way around; plus, of course and just as accidentally, the sheer fact that the leading lady of the original has now ‘morphed’ into a different other recalls the duality of the female protagonist of THAT OBSCURE OBJECT OF DESIRE (1977).

There is plenty of interesting character detail and amusing situations besides: Severine’s constant and nervy attempts at avoiding Husson (she still hasn’t forgiven him for spilling the beans on the girl’s “cathartic” vice to her now-deceased husband); Piccoli’s revealing conversations with a young sympathetic barman – played by Oliveira’s own grandson and frequent actor Ricardo Trepa – where, in spite of his obviously advancing age, Husson’s erudite distinction still catches the eye of two lonely prostitutes, regulars of the spot; Husson’s fascination with the gold-tinted statue of a female warrior on horseback in a Parisian square; not to mention, lovely views of Paris (by day and night) which are employed throughout as transitions between scenes. Eventually, the mismatched couple do get to run into each other – though, somewhat perversely, we’re kept in the dark as to their actual initial exchanges; they at least make an appointment for a candle-lit dinner, which is consumed in utter silence…but, then, the two gradually open up. Still, Husson’s evasiveness – giving a cryptic reply to Severine’s query (which has continued to haunt her ever since) about the exact nature of his confession to her husband all those years ago, in order to determine the meaning behind the tears she had noticed on Pierre’s cheeks soon after – so infuriates the woman that she storms out in disgust!


11/16/08: THUNDERBALL (Terence Young, 1965) :star::star::star:

To begin with, I hadn’t watched this one in probably 15 years or thereabouts and, so far, I only own the first seven entries in the popular James Bond series on DVD: somehow, I hadn’t gone through it or the YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967) edition back when I first purchased them, so I took the opportunity to do so now on the heels of the newest and, sadly, disappointing 007 adventure – QUORUM OF SULLENNESS…er…QUANTUM OF SOLACE (2008). It’s still considered the most commercially successful outing in the franchise (the one where Bondmania reached its zenith) – and, while perhaps not among the very best of the lot (for reasons I’ll get to later), it’s highly representative of the phenomenally popular series.

Sean Connery’s somewhere near peak form here, the obligatory Bond girls (chief among them Claudine Auger and Luciana Paluzzi) gorgeous – like Olga Kurylenko from QUANTUM, the former’s character is given an extra edge by making the girl ultimately decide to aid Bond in order to exact revenge on her own jealous yet cold-blooded ‘guardian’ – and the villain (Adolfo Celi) appropriately imposing as well as sinister (sporting an eye-patch and keeping sharks in his private pool!); incidentally, it was nice to see again Celi and Paluzzi playing their signature roles after encountering the two Italians in so much native product over the years. While the narrative itself meanders somewhat throughout the hefty 130-minute duration (requiring extensive underwater footage), the plot involving SPECTRE’s appropriation of atom bombs for extortion purposes is both topical (in view of the recent Cuban missile crisis and the ongoing Cold War) and suspenseful.

The action – injected by the now-trademark witty repartee (including an in-joke regarding a pre-stardom Connery film, ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER PLACE [1958]) and sexual innuendoes (never more blatant, perhaps, than in the rack-gone-wild incident), which have unaccountably and regrettably gone missing from the latest incarnation of the super-agent – is big and brutal; for anyone who claims Daniel Craig’s ruthless persona was a departure for the series, one need only take another look at Connery’s seminal and iconic tenure in the role (especially the pre-credits fist-fight with a ‘widow’)! As always, Bernard Lee’s belligerent “M” and Lois Maxwell’s bemused Miss Moneypenny make an appearance – though the role of C.I.A. operative Felix Leiter is rather anonymously filled by Rik Van Nutter – as, of course, do Desmond Llewellyn’s gadgets: that said, the most memorable of these (the flying kit) is actually relegated to the prologue! Ditto, for the lush/exotic backdrops: here, we don’t just have the usual resort to casinoes, beaches and boats but a colorful Mardi Gras event and, as I implied earlier, a full-blown and superbly-staged underwater death match between heroes and villains (the film-makers’ peerless prowess in this department was subsequently rewarded with a Best Visual Effects Oscar).

Incidentally, along with “Casino Royale”, this is the one Ian Fleming novel which was owned by other hands (or, in its case, jointly) until some time ago: the former was filmed no less than three times, while THUNDERBALL itself (overseen by co-story author Kevin McClory, with regular producers Harry Saltzman and Albert R. “Cubby” Broccoli maintaining a merely executive position) eventually resurfaced as the jokily-titled NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN (1983) – for which Connery, who had abdicated the role ‘for good’ 12 years earlier, would be persuaded to make a ‘series’ comeback!


11/16/08: A YANK IN THE R.A.F. (Henry King, 1941) :star::star:1/2

This watchable flagwaver (made prior to the Pearl Harbor attacks) – actually the first of seven films I'll be watching to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Tyrone Power's death – has a cocky American mail flyer itching for action and joining the R.A.F. in England; though his first mission consists in merely spreading anti-Nazi leaflets across Berlin skies, he then hits upon the idea of throwing out the packages outright in order to smash the German searchlights underneath!

While stationed in London, he conveniently runs into dancer-cum-nurse Betty Grable (amusingly drawing her attention by affecting a Cockney accent – conveniently filmed from behind, so that the actor could be dubbed! – soon after his arrival) and, despite the girl’s ‘reluctance’, rekindles their affair from back home. Of course, during the course of the film, she also contrives to perform a couple of brief musical numbers and show off her famous legs a lot. Equally predictable, though, is the romantic complication wherein Power’s British superior (John Sutton) also falls for the heroine, going so far as to propose to her – while amiably pompous/cynical sidekick Reginald Gardiner provides the comedy relief (just as obligatory in films of this era).

Even if the film is nowadays rightly criticized for the unrealistic depiction of war-torn England, the film succeeds well enough at what it set out to do – entertain (via action, drama and laughs), but also instill in home-grown audiences a sense of duty for the war effort in Europe. During aerial sequences, shots of the actors in the studio are skillfully blended via special effects with stock footage of actual battles; still, having Power bloodily shot down at Dunkirk and then making a mockery of his so-called war wounds simply to dupe Grable into submission is a bit much! Director King helmed several of the best vehicles tailored for Fox’s reigning male star of the era but, being essentially lightweight, this isn’t one of them – if still emerging to be “not essential but very enjoyable” (to quote a line spoken by John Sutton in the film in respect to his invitation to walk Grable home) and that’s mainly due to the undeniable Power-Grable chemistry displayed via their comic/romantic banter throughout the film.


11/17/08: I’M GOING HOME (Manoel De Oliveira, 2001) :star::star::star:

This is another low-key yet compelling latter-day offering from the indefatigable Portuguese film-maker; given that it deals with a famous but ageing actor (Michel Piccoli once again) who decides to give up his boots, it was probably meant as such by Oliveira himself – though he’s still going strong seven years later, having not only made some half-a-dozen other films in the interim but, at nearly 100, has two more productions already lined up for 2009!

The plot starts off with Piccoli and his theater troupe (including a nice cameo by Catherine Deneuve) performing a Eugene Ionesco play about a mad king (with Piccoli being very funny at playing a doddering and dreamy fool), while later on they also put on Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”. Soon after the initial performance, however, Piccoli learns that his wife, daughter and son-in-law have all been killed in a traffic accident; this is a wonderfully directed sequence as the people who have come to inform Piccoli of the tragic events are forced to wait for the play to finish before intervening and, consequently, are seen pacing nervously backstage as the actors’ voices boom in the distance spouting droll lines concerning the impending death of Piccoli’s own character. As a result of the accident, the elderly actor is left with a young grandson solely in his care; though the two can’t afford to spend a lot of time together – due to the nature of Piccoli’s work and the boy’s own schooling – they display genuine affection for each other.

The repetition of certain scenes – Piccoli watching the child leaving for school or going to a café (this, then, becomes a nice running gag involving another habitual client who likes to sit at the very same table as the protagonist) – may be a nod to Luis Bunuel’s THE EXTERMINATING ANGEL (1962), meant as a reflection on the way one’s life tends to become a series of routine chores. Having mentioned the Spanish surrealist master, as in Oliveira’s later direct homage to him – BELLE TOUJOURS (2006), which I’ve just watched – the film has several bits showing Piccoli just walking around town; these don’t merely serve to give us scenic views of the city, but also to crystallize Piccoli’s bemused character: however, we’re not spared the ugliness either, illustrated by the incident where one night he’s held-up by a junkie and deprived of his beloved newly-purchased yellow shoes (which, in the preceding sequence, ostensibly depicting a conversation between Piccoli and his over-eager agent, had themselves amusingly been the ‘protagonists’)!

The second half of the picture involves the flow of TV and movie work which Piccoli’s agent tries to set up for him: they immediately clash over an action-packed TV series (where the actor’s asked to play a dupe for a much younger woman!), but does accept the proposal of a renowned American film director (John Malkovich, another past alumnus of Oliveira’s) to take a small role in a new rendition of James Joyce’s “Ulysses” – for the record, I own Joseph Strick’s 1967 film adaptation myself but have yet to check it out. Still, their collaboration (Malkovich had initially felt privileged in obtaining the services of such a distinguished actor) isn’t a felicitous one: Piccoli has difficulty in both remembering and fluently delivering the heavy-going English prose, while Malkovich proves an exacting director – insisting on a rigorous fidelity to Joyce’s text. Tired of the whole set-up, Piccoli quits with the soft-spoken yet unequivocal interjection of “Je rentre a` la maison” (I’m going home), and staggers out onto the streets of Paris still ‘in character’ and period costume (baffling passers-by and the patrons at a pub no end); when Piccoli arrives at the house, he even ignores the grandson’s presence in the yard and goes straight up to his room. Had this been Oliveira’s last film, it would have been a wonderful tribute to the actor’s profession and an insightful reflection on old age and approaching death but, as I said before, the ceaseless Portuguese director still had (indeed has) other aces up his sleeve…


11/18/08: MASTERS OF HORROR: INCIDENT ON AND OFF A MOUNTAIN ROAD (TV) (Don Coscarelli, 2005)
:star::star:1/2

The first entry in this popular series isn’t especially remarkable – being too derivative of THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (1974), for one thing – if still quite watchable (largely thanks to a good leading performance by Bree Turner).

A woman driving her car on a mountain road by night is involved in a traffic accident; noticing a figure in the vicinity, she thinks it may be hurt and offers aid – this, however, turns out to be a monstrous-looking homicidal maniac! As she’s pursued deep into the woods by him, the woman thinks back (shown in intermittent flashes) on her troubled relationship with a cynical and patronizing husband fixated on survival tactics. Ironically, this rigorous training at his hands turns out to be very useful to her during the present arduous situation – since the heroine surprises her hulking assailant by demonstrating an ability to defend herself and even lay traps for him (though one actually immobilizes the female driver of the car she had run into, which obviously dooms her!).

However, the woman is still captured and taken to the killer’s underground lair – which is filled with the usual glut of rotting corpses (a number of whom have even been crucified and are proudly displayed in the front entrance). Therein, she also meets another ‘prisoner’ – an old man who, having gone mad in the interim, hinders more than helps the heroine’s attempts to get free of her own shackles! Eventually, she manages to overcome the maniac and coolly executes him; the denouement, however, is something of a mixed bag – coming up with one twist too many (the revelation concerning the ultimate fate of Turner’s husband at least is a nice touch, albeit still ripping off Mario Bava’s superb poliziottesco RABID DOGS [1974]).


11/18/08: PARTY (Manoel De Oliveira, 1996) :star::star:

This was a disappointment: I had expected something sophisticated along the satirical lines of Jean Renoir’s THE RULES OF THE GAME (1939), given its backdrop of an aristocratic fete. Instead, we’re treated to a pretentious drama – basically a four-parter in which the main characters are named after the respective actors playing them! It’s also set on an island to drive further home the idea of an allegory – but whose point is obscure, with the stream of ambiguous and heavy-going chatter being interrupted only by the occasional lyrical moment (the film, at least, looks good)!

International stars Michel Piccoli and Irene Papas appear as the elderly couple, while lovely Leonor Silveira (a recurring presence throughout the latter phase of Oliveira’s career) is the younger woman and Rogerio Samora her jealous husband. They all try but are defeated by a meandering script – which eventually sees Piccoli expressing his love for Silveira: naturally, this gives rise to arguments…which are brought to an abrupt end by a gust of wind that ruins the younger couple’s garden party. Five years later, things resume at a castle where the two couples are newly gathered: as before, there’s no happy ending in sight for any of the characters – plus nature puts in a disruptive appearance yet again by way of a downpour.

Having to do perhaps with the impossibly advanced age of the director himself, what I’d watched of Oliveira’s recent work prior to this had been imbued with a sense of calm meditation – which, unfortunately, has been replaced here by an unwieldy (and, frankly, tedious) rhetoric!


11/19/08: BREAD (Manoel De Oliveira, 1959) :star::star::star:

This ‘celebration of the working people’ documentary short evokes memories of films in this vein made by the great Soviet film-makers some thirty years before. It’s a thorough, strikingly-directed and, hence, absorbing look at the myriad processes which go into the making of ‘our daily bread’ – from the sowing of seeds by farmers to the growth of wheat, its grounding via machinery to produce flour, the mixing with water to form dough and, finally shaped in round masses and baked, is made ready for mass consumption.

While clearly the film’s main concern is the harmonious collaboration between man and machine towards the nourishment of one’s body, the fact that bread is similarly employed (via the consecrated host) to symbolize the sustenance of one’s soul doesn’t entirely escape Oliveira. Incidentally, the version I watched (recorded off late-night Italian TV) runs for a mere 24 minutes – whereas it’s listed as being 51 minutes (itself cut down from an original of 58) on the IMDb!

 

[Martin Teller]

Encounters at the End of the World (Blu-Ray) - Henry Kaiser's under-the-ice footage served as the inspiration for two Werner Herzog films: the first was The Wild Blue Yonder, which was dull and shabby (the underwater stuff was easily the highlight). I'm happy to report that this one is much better. It's a loose, roaming documentary, similar in that sense to The White Diamond. The rambling nature of it does make it feel unfocused but it also serves as a springboard for a number of interesting tangents. From beautiful, otherworldly images to intriguing characters with amazing stories to philosophical rants, things are kept pretty engaging for the most part. The rogue penguin strutting toward the mountains -- and certain death -- is one of those classic Herzog images. And he's often displayed a sly sense of humor in his films, but some of his comments in this one are actually laugh-out-loud funny. Rating: 8

 

[Mario Gauci]

11/19/08: THE LUCK OF THE IRISH (Henry Koster, 1948) :star::star:1/2

Mildly entertaining romantic comedy with a touch of whimsy, rather too slight to live in the memory – but, nevertheless, worthwhile for Cecil Kellaway’s delightful Oscar-nominated performance as a mischievous leprechaun.

Newspaperman Tyrone Power is on his way to meet gruff boss Lee J. Cobb (with a bicarbonate-of-soda bottle never far from reach!), who harbors political ambitions and wants to appoint the hero as his ‘ghost writer’ – even if their views on the matter are on a different wavelength! Actually, Cobb’s daughter (Jayne Meadows), who’s also Power’s fiancée is the one pulling the strings; the trouble is that, while passing through Ireland, he falls for inn-keeper’s daughter Anne Baxter…not to mention running into ‘cobbler’ Kellaway by a waterfall (although the residents deny the existence of both man and location!).

Back in the States, Power beckons to the will of Cobb (or rather Meadows); he’s even given a plush apartment to live in…but, when calling for a manservant, it’s Kellaway who turns up! Besides, a chance encounter – actually ‘arranged’ by the genial leprechaun – with Baxter (who has come to America for some private family business) relights his interest, obviously reciprocated, in the girl; consequently, he begins to neglect his work in order to be with her. Eventually, though, Cobb is ready to appoint Power as editor of his old newspaper if he’s elected to the Senate himself – a position he politely declines; realizing she’s beaten, Meadows gives him up and Power and Baxter are free to return to carefree Ireland.

In the last scene, Power – now married and living at Baxter’s father’s tavern – is shown following a local custom (which he had himself witnessed the old man perform earlier on) by placing a whisky bottle outside the tavern door…which is then said to be picked up by a leprechaun (and, just as he had done before, the prancing and giggling Kellaway appears soon after to retrieve it).


11/20/08: I’LL NEVER FORGET YOU (Roy Ward Baker, 1951) :star::star::star:

I’d been looking forward to this one, in view of its time-travel/reincarnation theme (released as part of a 10-movie set of minor Tyrone Power vehicles, I had opted to acquire it through ulterior sources – though I may still get my hands on some of the other titles). Still, I was surprised by how well this implausible yet fascinating theme is handled here – surely making for one of the star’s most underrated (and unusual) efforts.

Made in Britain, the film was based on John L. Balderston’s romantic fantasy play “Berkeley Square” (the literate adaptation here is by Ranald MacDougall) – already brought to the screen in 1933 under that name (while the original title of this one is actually THE HOUSE IN THE SQUARE); the first version is virtually impossible to see nowadays, though it did land Leslie Howard an Oscar nomination – the ultimate irony, given that the transcendental narrative essentially bestows its protagonist with immortality, is that an untimely demise was in store for the leading man of both cinematic renditions!

Anyway, Power is an American scientist working in England (the initial radiation experiment is intriguing but superfluous and misleading under the circumstances) who lives in a house belonging to an ancestor of his and who conveniently looked just like him. Finding the latter’s diary, he learns that he had been persecuted for his strange beliefs and practices and was eventually locked up in an insane asylum – he becomes convinced that, by some quirk of nature, the two had actually exchanged places and, soon enough, he’s hit by a bolt of lightning and wakes up in 1784!

He meets the family of his forebear including the latter’s future wife (Beatrice Campbell); thanks to letters which had been preserved and that he had read, Power’s initially able to comfortably fill his shoes – however, he then meets and falls for Ann Blyth, Campbell’s sister and of whom he was unaware! Soon, the hero begins to commit other gaffes by which he demonstrates to be perceptive of things that hadn’t yet occurred or, at least, weren’t common knowledge (from the gift of a shawl for Campbell which Blyth hadn’t even unpacked, the secret and subsequently famous portrait of a Duchess – played by Kathleen Byron – by the painter Gainsborough, delivering the lady’s own obituary at a ball, not to mention ‘feeding’ Dr. Johnson with some of his own celebrated epigrams[!], etc). This doesn’t sit at all well with either Campbell (who’s unwilling to keep up her engagement to Power, not least because of his constant attentions for her sister) or the vindictive Raymond Huntley (Blyth’s much older suitor). The hero, finding himself increasingly out-of-touch with the times, retires to a basement in a poor quarter of town to ‘recreate’ future inventions such as the light bulb and the model of a steam-ship; when these are discovered, they’re branded the handiwork of a sorcerer by eminent scientist Felix Aylmer – the place is destroyed there and then, while Power is on his way to perpetual confinement in Bedlam!

Other notable cast members are Dennis Price (playing an amiable rake, as was his fashion during this time – the relentless and rather effeminate pursuit of etiquette by the aristocrats, in fact, is just about the sole blemish on the picture) and Michael Rennie (as Power’s pragmatic scientist associate in the modern-day sequences). Incidentally, the film utilizes moody black-and-white cinematography for these bookends – while soft but attractive color is employed throughout the central ‘fantasy’ section; both are courtesy of Georges Perinal, a top French cameraman resident in Britain for over thirty years. Similarly, Power effectively tackles both facets of his character: the film, ultimately, can be read as both a morality play (the hero’s decision to tempt Fate which, as often happens, subsequently threatens to unbalance the order of the things) and a celebration of that well-worn Surrealist concept – l’ amour fou – in his relationship with a radiant Blyth (herself playing a dual role, the second as Rennie’s sister who had cared for the Power’s even more bewildered ancestor in his unseen tenure in the 20th century).

Given my appreciation for THE HOUSE IN THE SQUARE (the title I’m partial to myself), I’m all the more interested now in one day catching the original version. Finally, this was one of British director Baker (a future horror regular)’s brief four-movie brush with Hollywood – I’d already watched DON’T BOTHER TO KNOCK (1952; which I also own) and INFERNO (1953), but not the minor noir NIGHT WITHOUT SLEEP (1952).

 

[Michael Elliott]

Tramp and the Dictator, The (2002) :star::star::star::star: Kevin Brownlow

Charles Chaplin and Adolf Hitler were born days apart from one another but the two would collide in 1940 when the legendary director decided to make a spoof in The Great Dictator. The wonderful documentary digs into the making of that film and the impact it had on Chaplin for the rest of his career. It seems that every controversial movie ever made features different opinions on what actually happens as I've read that this film helped put a nail in Chaplin's career but this film points out that the movie did very well at the box office and much better than the director's previous films. Whatever the truth might be this is a very interesting documentary that features some great stories about the making of the film and Chaplin's opinions on making the movie had he actually known what Hitler was doing to millions of people. There's also some great stuff about Hitler apparently watching the film twice. One can only imagine seeing Hitler in a dark theater laughing at the spoof. Opinions seem to be mixed about the actual film but I think it's another great one from a director who made countless great movies. This documentary is a nice tribute to the movie and also features some behind the scenes footage, in color, showing Chaplin at work.

Edgar Allen Poe (1909) :star::star::star: D.W. Griffith

Short, seven-minute film on the life of Poe (Herbert Yost) sees the author suffering as the woman he loves his slowly dying. Poe goes out to try and sale his stories but ends up getting rejected. You'll notice that the writers name is misspelled in the title and according to the notes on the DVD, historians believed this was the fault of Biograph who rushed this out to capture crowds on the celebration of Poe's centenary birthday. As for the film, it's pretty good as long as you know what not to expect. Those expecting a full bio will be disappointed but Griffith handles the seven-minutes pretty well and delivers a quick and by the numbers picture. Yost does a very good job as Poe and what's shocking is how much they look alike.

Andy Hardy's Dilemma (1938) :star::star:1/2 George B. Seitz

Andy (Mickey Rooney) wrecks his car so he asks the Judge (Lewis Stone) for two-hundred bucks so that he can get a new one. The Judge was planning on donating that money to charity so he must convince Andy that needy people need the money more. This is a fairly good education film that was clearly meant to teach rich people that the poor need help. I think the film started to lose its power at the half way point because it drops the comedy and goes for more over the top melodrama. The first part of the film does a good job at mixing comedy in with the serious nature of the topic with Rooney and Stone working great together.

Comanche Station (1960) :star::star:1/2 Budd Boetticher

Randolph Scott saves a woman (Nancy Gates) who was captured by Indians. Scott, wanting the reward, goes to take the woman back home but several problems pop up making the journey harder than he expected. I believe this was my fourth or fifth Boetticher/Scott film and this one here is clearly the most disappointing. That's not to say this is a bad film because it certainly isn't but it also doesn't come close to the duo's best movies. I think the biggest problem I had with the film is that it doesn't have much action drama but instead tries to build its tension in a psychological manor but I think it fails here. The entire build up deals with Scott and Gates riding with three other men and one of them plan on killing the woman (and Scott) because the award for her is dead or alive. I had a hard time believing the film would take any twist to where this would be possible so this here killed off some of the drama. Scott gives a pretty good performance here but, as with the film, we've seen better from him. Gates and the supporting players are decent but really don't stand out. The film runs a short 74-minutes and there's really not too much happening in that time. The nice 2.35:1 aspect ratio captures some beautiful scenery though.

Day the Earth Stood Still, The (1951) :star::star::star::star: Robert Wise

One of the all time great sci-fi films has an alien (Michael Rennie) landing in Washington D.C. hoping to talk with the world leaders warning them that the Earth will be over if they continue doing bad things. This here is probably the film that kick started the countless sci-fi flicks that would follow throughout the decade. While there have been countless imitators there's no denying that this is the greatest of them all and the simple nature of the story also makes it one of the best films ever made. The simple nature of the story is the reason I think the film works so well because instead of some silly, over the top storyline we've got something that comes off as real and not fiction. The simple nature of the storytelling also makes the film seem all the more realistic and, again, this here makes the film come off more as drama than some silly fiction. The thought of the world's fighting could cause damage to other planets and then having those planets attack is a pretty easy thing to think about and understand. Rennie never gets enough credit but his performance also brings realism to the film that helps it. He has to give several speeches about how bad things could get on Earth and a lesser performance would have had these scenes come off as campy but that's not the case here. Patricia Neal also comes off very good in her supporting role. Another amazing thing about this film is how it's story is pretty much timeless and could work in any decade. The film also benefits from Bernard Herrmann's brilliant music score, which in my opinion is one of the greatest ever made.

Citizen Kane (1941) :star::star::star::star: Orson Welles

The rise and fall of newspaper tycoon Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles) is told through the eyes of his second wife (Dorothy Comingore) and a friend (Joseph Cotten) as a reporter tries to find the meaning of his final word "rosebud". I think it's impossible for anyone to walk into this movie without knowing its reputation as being the greatest film ever made. Do I think it's the greatest? That's hard to say as it probably wouldn't get my vote but at the same time I wouldn't argue with anyone who called it the greatest. In fact, as I watched the film again I noticed that every single shot in the film is so grand and beautiful that I too might in fact call it the greatest. If not the greatest then perhaps the grandest film ever made as everything from the acting to the direction just stands out as something truly incredible. Everyone reading this will already know all the historic achievements this film reached in 1941 so there's no point in going over them. The visual style Welles brought to the film certainly makes it the greatest looking of any classic film. The editing from future director Robert Wise also stands out in its excellence From the visual viewpoint there are so many great moments but I'd have to say my favorite is the political rally, which just amazes my eyes no matter how many times I see it. Another great thing about this film, and one I don't think gets talked about enough, is the opening newsreel and how this was such a brilliant idea to get the viewer interested in what was to come. The newsreel was so well done that the viewer immediately gets drawn into the film and then we get to see that story filled in with the feature itself. The screenplay by Herman J. Mankiewicz and Welles is also one of the greatest ever written due to how it actually tells the story at hand. The amount of time the film covers is also a rather nice achievement by the duo screenwriters. Some people think that new viewers might be hurt by walking into this film knowing its large reputation but I'd somewhat disagree as I think the movie is so beautiful that it would be hard for people not to see its importance.

Hard Times (1975) :star::star::star::star: Walter Hill

Depression-era film has a drifter (Charles Bronson) hooking up with a con man (James Coburn) to try and score money by bare knuckle fighting. This film certainly isn't one of the greatest ever made but I do think it's one of the most underrated ever made. The fact that this film would turn out good alone is somewhat of a miracle but director Hill does wonders and most of the grit behind the film starts with the very good screenplay. There have been hundreds if not thousands of films that dealt with either the depression or boxers but this one here comes off very realistic for various reasons. For one the detail in the old-fashioned look and scenery comes off very well. You could watch films that were made in the 1930s and not tell a difference between them and this. Another added bonus is there are several scenes where the depression and hard times are actually talked about and these sequences come off very real. The real key however is Bronson who delivers in one of his greatest roles. As with the film, I've always found Bronson to be very underrated when it comes to an actor and this here is proof of that. There are countless movies out there people could watch to get their boxing fixes and the majority of them feature great performances but the difference here is that not only does Bronson deliver the performance but he also has the perfect look for the film. He can walk, talk and look exactly like what you'd expect from this type of character and he doesn't miss a beat. Not only do the fighting scenes come off very realistic and great to watch but the actor also delivers in the many dialogue sequences. Hill even manages to get a good performance out of Jill Ireland in her supporting role. Coburn is as cocky and slimy as you'd expect him to be and Strother Martin also shines in his role.