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

Martin Teller

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NOVEMBER RECAP

20 new (+7 shorts)
13 rewatch

Best new discovery: Le Bonheur
Worst new discovery: Fanfan la Tulipe


Fairly slow month for me, and December should be even slower as I concentrate more on other interests.
 

Mario Gauci

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11/26/08: UNTAMED (Henry King, 1955) :star::star::star:

This is surely one of the Tyrone Power vehicles that’s most shown on Italian TV (in fact, it was re-proposed just last week) – but I’d somehow never bothered to watch it. Having had a recording of the film for some time, I now opted to check it out as part of my brief tribute to the popular matinee idol on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of his untimely demise. Well, I must say that I really enjoyed the film for reasons I’ll get to later – which makes its absence on DVD more than a little baffling; incidentally, it was the tenth of Power’s eleven collaborations with director King (the following effort, THE SUN ALSO RISES [1957], is perhaps the one I’d love to watch most of the star’s remaining titles) as well as the second and last in which Power is co-starred with Susan Hayward (after the excellent suspense Western RAWHIDE [1951]).

Anyway, the film is an interesting (and mainly successful) mishmash of genres: part offbeat Western (with a wagon train beset by Zulus rather than Indians!), part epic adventure (even if the widescreen aspect ratio in the edition I watched wasn’t quite the full 2.55:1 format of its original presentation), and part ‘woman’s picture’ (despite Power’s top billing, he’s off-screen for long stretches at a time, so that Hayward emerges as the real protagonist – given also that she’s involved with three men and undergoes many a hardship during the course of the film). While the plot is thoroughly predictable (and, yet, therein lies part of its appeal), it’s made with the customary professionalism one associates with the golden age of Hollywood; thus, we’re treated to a handsomely-shot large-scale entertainment – complemented by a fine Franz Waxman score which goes from lush to emphatic or rousing, depending on the mood of any given scene.

Among the undeniable highlights in the episodic narrative (which spans several years) are: the opening fox hunt in Ireland, which sees hero and heroine alternating between squabbling and loving; the afore-mentioned ambush of the ‘pioneers’ in which Hayward’s staid husband John Justin is killed; Power (who neglects Hayward through his struggle for the Boers’ independence) engaging in a whip-wielding duel with his romantic rival and former best friend Richard Egan (himself lusted after by a young Rita Moreno); Egan having his leg crushed by a tree he’s trying to fell (symbolizing Hayward’s affair with Power) during a thunderstorm; and the climactic clash between bitter, peg-legged Egan’s outlaws and the natives led by the obviously virtuous and rugged Power. The finale, then, has the hero relinquishing (not without a certain remorse) his political career to make up to the long-suffering heroine – especially since their past dalliance had borne him a son (with whom he also shares his name) he was unaware of.


11/28/08: CROSSPLOT (Alvin Rakoff, 1969) :star::star:1/2

While this has been likened to a James Bond adventure (which star Roger Moore was still four years away from first tackling), it actually plays more like a tenth-rate copy of an Alfred Hitchcock suspenser – and, specifically, NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)-meets-THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (1956).

In fact, Moore is an advertising executive who unwittingly runs into a person involved in deadly political games – model Claudie Lange (who, amusingly, is depicted as being constantly famished!). Incidentally, her equally attractive aunt (Martha Hyer) is revealed to be the chief villainess of the piece (along with Bond-Moore’s future superior ‘M’ himself, Bernard Lee!) intent on assassinating a visiting South African leader – as always in the most public of places (in this case, Hyde Park) and synchronized to take place during the customary 21-gun salute. Two other very obvious borrowings from NORTH BY NORTHWEST are a helicopter chase (imitating the legendary crop-dusting sequence) and the rather funny disruption of a church wedding recalling the auction scene in the Hitchcock classic where Cary Grant was similarly drawing attention to himself in order to stall his pursuers!

Also in the cast are Alexis Kanner as a would-be decadent lord who actually advocates peace and ultimately emerges to be on the side of the good guys, as well as Hammer regular Francis Matthews playing a hit-man for Hyer [sic]. Moore having just come off “The Saint” (a series in which director Rakoff was also involved), this still has that bland TV look to it – despite the rather incongruous Swinging London backdrop. The film includes mild dollops of style, wit, sexiness, action and suspense – all of which were prime features of NORTH BY NORTHWEST in particular, but which were also part and parcel of the Bond saga. In the long run, taken on its own merits, CROSSPLOT is a harmless time-waster but one that has added value if seen as a transition between Moore’s trademark personae i.e. Simon Templar aka “The Saint” and James Bond aka 007.


11/29/08: THE REPENTER (Pasquale Squitieri, 1985) :star::star:1/2

Serious-minded (i.e. not low-brow) yet obscure Mafia movie inspired by real events; I happened upon its Italian DVD at one of my local rental outlets. As expected, it’s highlighted by extensive (and reasonably well-staged) shoot-outs ‘interrupted’ by (not exactly gripping) police detection and (all-too-familiar) domestic scenes.

The film does have has the benefit of a good cast – led by Franco Nero as the Magistrate standing in for the real-life Giovanni Falcone (he had tackled a similar role in Damiano Damiani’s CONFESSIONS OF A POLICE CAPTAIN [1971]: here he’s generally restrained apart from a dream sequence in which he’s ambushed by gangsters) and Tony Musante as “Il Pentito” of the original title (an option suggested to him by Nero in order to put a stop to the ongoing gang war between two gangland factions: old-style/honorable and new/vicious).

The latter are typified by Erik Estrada who, at one point, is even sprung from jail but, at the end, is allowed to go free. Max von Sydow is both miscast and underused as the New York-based banker whose financial debacle blows the cover on the whole underworld operation, while the sensual Rita Rusic, future wife of tycoon Vittorio Cecchi Gori, plays his and Musante’s contemporaneous lover. Ex-Bond Girl Claudine Auger is also briefly on hand as Musante’s Sicilian wife, Marino Mase` appears as Nero’s carabiniere sidekick, whereas Venantino Venantini turns up as one of the Mafia family heads.

The concluding moments are fairly interesting: Nero realizes that Musante had merely used him to get lawful revenge on his opponents – with a nice final shot which has a series of doors closing in front of our hero, symbolically depicting him shut inside a prison of his own making!


11/26/08-11/29/08: DOOMED LOVE [Episodes 1-6] (TV) (Manoel De Oliveira, 1979) :star::star::star:

This is a made-for-TV ‘Romeo & Juliet’-type period melodrama in six episodes, totaling nearly five hours; the last installment was marred somewhat by bad cable reception, which has unfortunately plagued a number of titles in my retrospective honoring writer/director Oliveira’s upcoming 100th birthday. A deliberately low-key and theatrical approach results in static film-making (mostly confined to interiors) and a verbose script (being literally a picturization of the source novel – previously brought to the screen in 1943) which, however, effectively emphasizes the piece’s inherently intimate nature. Interestingly, its combination of classical music (Handel), constant narration and tableaux-like imagery had also been a distinguishing feature of Stanley Kubrick’s BARRY LYNDON (1975).

The teenage off-springs of two rival families fall in love; they’re kept apart by their obstinate and duty/tradition-bound parents. Eventually, an act of violence (the boy kills the girl’s cousin, for whom she only has contempt but whom her father is adamant that the heroine should marry) dooms their romance; the hero ends up in prison – while the girl’s sent to a convent, eventually gets sick and dies. To complicate matters further, the attractive but mild-mannered daughter of an underling of the boy’s family – who takes care of him when ambushed by his rival for the heroine’s affections (a lengthy scene in Episode 2 which is so dark that one can hardly see anything throughout!) – also falls for him. When her father is killed and the boy’s exiled, she accompanies him; however, unable to live without his true love, he too succumbs to illness during the voyage – and, in a scene strikingly shot in slow-motion, his servant/admirer follows him into the ocean when the coffin is buried at sea!

Each episode is introduced by a straight-to-camera summation of preceding events by the hero’s younger sister (who, however, barely figures at all in the ensuing narrative). Obviously, the film can be hard-tack for most viewers given its extreme length (myself included); still, the classical plot generally holds the interest and, in any case, one has to admire the effort – not only in undertaking such an essentially archaic but ambitious venture in the late 1970s but pulling it off with this kind of singularly rigorous (and personal) treatment.


11/30/08: WORD AND UTOPIA (Manoel De Oliveira, 2000) :star::star:1/2

The latest issue of Britain’s oldest film magazine, “Sight and Sound” – to which I’m subscribed – features a 5-page article commemorating the upcoming centenarian birthday of Portugal’s finest film-maker, Manoel De Oliveira. In it, writer Jonathan Romney describes WORD AND UTOPIA as “grueling…austere…one of the most willfully uncommercial films ever”.

In fact, this ‘modest epic’ (my words) feels remarkably like one of Roberto Rossellini’s latter-day made-for-TV biopics of important medieval figures, dealing as it does with a controversial 16th century Jesuit priest from Portugal, Fr. Antonio Vieyra. He stood up for the exploited natives of the New World, which didn’t go hand in hand with the Church practices of the time but nonetheless earned him a devout following. He was also a respected theologian and orator (as amply displayed by the philosophical script); at one point, he’s brought before the Queen (Oliveira regular Leonor Silveira) in a speechifying ‘duel’ with another well-known speaker of the era!

The film follows his life and career – from inexperienced novice to missionary, to luminary and martyr, up till his final days of progressively failing health and eyesight (during which he still strives to assemble for posterity both his past speeches as well as the history of his order). While the subject matter clearly isn’t the most enticing and Oliveira’s customarily unassuming style doesn’t allow for much dramatic development, this still emerges a fairly interesting character study (with a suitably ardent lead performance) – though it’s a decidedly long haul at 130 minutes.


11/30/08: THE UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE (Manoel De Oliveira, 2002) :star::star:

Along with the even more disappointing PARTY (1996), this is the least Oliveira I’ve watched so far. The film is an interminable two-and-a-quarter hours talk-fest of a family saga in modern-day Portugal; while featuring a couple of fine performances by its lovely leading ladies (Leonors Baldaque and the ubiquitous Leonor Silveira), the narrative is never as gripping (or even engaging) as its makers seem to think. Incidentally, it has a deliberately stilted (read: archaic) feel to it redolent of the final works of various master film-makers – such as Carl Theodor Dreyer’s GERTRUD (1964), Robert Bresson’s L’ARGENT (1983) and even Stanley Kubrick’s EYES WIDE SHUT (1999); the irony is that Oliveira, 94 at the time of filming this, is still at it six years later and, on the contrary to THE UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE, those above-mentioned films had all been remarkable movies!

Anyhow, the narrative involves Baldaque, member of an impoverished family, being married off to a crippled boy of aristocratic lineage; their relationship is troubled, however, due to her being pursued by the husband’s best friend but, even more so, by the boy’s own affair with his friend’s female associate (Silveira) – owner of a chain of brothels! The girls are effectively played up as opposites – with Baldaque the saint and Silveira (clearly) the sinner; for obvious reasons, they don’t get along…though, at one point, there’s a surprising suggestion of Silveira being a lesbian given her (ufortunately for the viewer but not unexpected in this company) unfulfilled longing for her rival! Similarly, the final scene sees Baldaque bafflingly rejecting a lawyer/admirer’s claims of her being a good girl!

By far, the film’s most incongruous moments are those set inside Silveira’s discotheque – especially the one in which a group of masked revelers casually spill alcohol on the floor as they dance and then set fire to the place (as it happens, a deliberate attempt by the owners to claim insurance money in order to pay off a debt to their ruthless financiers!) and during which Baldaque’s drunken husband perishes. Besides, the film is intermittently accompanied by a strident violin-led score which grows more annoying with the passage of time – not to mention pointless and, alternately, static and moving transition shots of the landscape which add little except length to the film.
 

Bill McA

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Oct 18, 2000
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November Recap Total Seen: 55

Theatrical Viewing in RED

Best 1st Time Viewing: Let the Right One In, WALL·E

Also Notables: The Nines, Close To Leo, Lake of Fire, Sabotage

2008 Films

The Happening (M. Night Shyamalan) (DVD Rent) 2/5
High School Musical 3: Senior Year
(Kenny Ortega) (Cinema) 1/5
Let the Right One In (Låt den Rätte Komma In) (Tomas Alfredson) (Cinema) 5/5
Presto (Doug Sweetland) (DVD, Own) 3/5
Quantum of Solace (Marc Forster) (Cinema) 2/5
Role Models (David Wain) (Cinema) 3/5
Saw V (David Hackl) (Cinema) 3/5
Tropic Thunder (Ben Stiller) (DVD, Own) 4/5
WALL·E (Andrew Stanton) (DVD, Own) 5/5

2007 Films Viewed in '08

Enchanted (Kevin Lima) (DVD, Library loan) 3/5
Naked Boys Singing (Robert Schrock) (DVD Rent) 1/5
The Nines (John August) (DVD, Library loan) 4/5

Pre-2007 Films Seen for the 1st Time


Band of Ninja
(Ninja Bugei-cho) (1967|Nagisa Oshima) (Cinema) 1/5
Candy (2006|Neil Armfield) (DVD, Library loan) 3/5
The Catch (Shiiku) (1961|Nagisa Oshima) (Cinema) 3/5
Close to Leo (Tout Contre Léo) (2002|Christophe Honoré) (DVD, Own) 4/5
A Day at the Beach (1970|Simon Hesera) (DVD, Own) 3/5
Dorm (Dek Hor) (2006|Songyos Sugmakanan) (DVD, Own) 3/5
It! (1966|Herbert J. Leder) (DVD, Own) 3/5
The Journey to Kafiristan (Die Reise nach Kafiristan) (2001|Fosco Dubini, Donatello Dubini) (DVD Rent) 2/5
Just a Question of Love (Juste une Question d'amour) (2000|Christian Faure) (DVD Rent) 3/5
Lady Snowblood (Shurayukihime) (1973|Toshiya Fujita) (DVD, Own) 3/5
Lake of Fire (2006|Tony Kaye) (DVD, Library loan) 4/5
The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927|Alfred Hitchcock) (DVD, Own) 3/5
Madeleine (1950|David Lean) (Cinema) 3/5
Mulberry Street (2006|Jim Mickle) (DVD, Library loan) 2/5
No Ordinary Love (1994|Doug Witkins) (DVD Rent) 3/5
Out of Season (1998|Jeanette L. Buck) (DVD Rent) 2/5
Party Monster (1998|Fenton Bailey, Randy Barbato) (DVD Rent) 3/5
The Passionate Friends (1949|David Lean) (Cinema) 3/5
Sabotage (1936|Alfred Hitchcock) (DVD, Own) 4/5
Sacred Silence (Pianese Nunzio, 14 Anni a Maggio) (1996|Antonio Capuano) (DVD Rent) 2/5
Same Sex Parents (Des Parents pas Comme les Autres) (2001|Laurence Katrian) (DVD Rent) 2/5
Scenes of a Sexual Nature (2006|Ed Blum) (DVD, Library loan) 3/5
Schizo (Shiza) (2004|Gulshat Omarova) (DVD, Own) 3/5
Seven Notes in Black (Sette Note in Nero) (1977|Lucio Fulci) (DVD, Own) 2/5
Shutter (2004|Banjong Pisanthanakun, Parkpoom Wongpoom) (DVD, Library loan) 1/5
The Shuttered Room (1967|David Greene) (DVD, Own) 3/5
Sing a Song of Sex (Nihon Shunka-kô) (1967|Nagisa Oshima) (Cinema) 2/5
Skinwalkers (2006|Jim Isaac) (DVD, Library loan) 2/5
The Sun's Burial (Taiyo no Hakaba) (1960|Nagisa Oshima) (Cinema) 3/5
Ten Nights of Dreams (Yume jû-ya) (2006|Akio Jissoji, Kon Ichikawa, Takashi Shimizu, Atsushi Shimizu, Keisuke Toyoshima, Suzuki Matsuo, Yoshitaka Amano & Simmei Kawahara, Nobuhiro Yamashita, Miwa Nishikawa, Yûdai Yamaguchi) (DVD, Own) 2/5
Transfixed (Mauvais Genres) (2001|Francis Girod) (DVD Rent) 1/5
Voodoo Island (1957|Reginald Le Borg) (DVD, Own) 2/5


Re-Visits


20 Million Miles to Earth (1957|Nathan Juran) (DVD, Own) 3/5
The Deadly Bees (1967|Freddie Francis) (DVD, Own) 3/5
The Double Life of Veronique (La Double vie de Véronique) (1991|Krzysztof Kieslowski) (DVD, Own) 4/5
Hairspray (2007|Adam Shankman) (DVD, Own) 5/5
In the Realm of the Senses
(Ai no Corrida) (1976|Nagisa Oshima) (Cinema) 4/5
Looker (1981|Michael Crichton) (DVD Rent) 3/5
The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959|Terence Fisher) (DVD, Own) 3/5
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983|Nagisa Oshima) (Cinema) 5/5
Parents (1989|Bob Balaban) (DVD, Own) 4/5
Pulse (2006|Jim Sonzero) (DVD, Library loan) 2/5
The Ruling Class (1972|Peter Medak) (DVD, Own) 4/5
 

Michael Elliott

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Am I going blind or did you make a mistake? Did you drop your star rating on this one? I seem to recall it being a 4-star film for you or did you watch the alternate (original) version and rate it differently?



Billy Joel in Concert (1978) :star::star::star: Tom Corcoran

Billy Joel performs on the British TV show "The Old Grey Whistle Test" to promote his album The Stranger. Fans of the artist or just the album will get a special kick out of this concert as it's always nice to hear someone play a lot of songs off one album. 'Miami 2017', 'Movin' Out (Anthony's Song)', 'Just the Way You Are', 'New York State of Mind', 'The Entertainer' and 'Only the Good Die Young' are among the songs played so you can tell that there are a lot of hits. The concert itself is very good with Joel being quite animated in his singing and you certainly can't take away from his piano skills. The band he's with are also quite good in staying in the background and keeping the main focus on Joel. The biggest problem I had with the film was its direction, which is all over the place and in my opinion he never really gets a good vibe going on. This is certainly just my opinion but I never really enjoyed how these Whistle Test concerts were shot.

Hasher's Delirium, The (1910) :star::star::star: Emile Cohl

aka Songe d'un garçon de café, Le

Animated film from France has a man sitting in a circle where he sees various visions of "bad things" like alcohol and absinthe. Soon after the words are spelled out they turn into demon faces. I'm going to guess this minute short was original meant as some sort of anti-drug ad but it remains pretty fun for what it is. The animation looks quite good for its time and it also quite funny. The various demon heads were nicely drawn and I'm sure fans of avant-garde would find this entertaining.

Frogs Who Wanted a King, The (1923) :star::star::star: Wladyslaw Starewicz

aka Grenouilles qui demandent un roi, Les

French puppet/animated short has a group of frogs asking for a King so that they can live better. God sends something down but the frogs begin to ask questions so God seeks revenge. This was a rather interesting little film as it certainly isn't for kids and it does fit the "weird" label where you can find it on countless compilations. This was originally meant as an anti-government thing where the director, having been kicked out of his own country, asks the viewer why would they want their government to step in when you can handle things on your own. The story is told is a rather dark and bleak manor with only light touches of comedy thrown in. I doubt kids of today would enjoy a silent, animated film but if they were to watch this then I'm sure they'd break down into tears.

Alice the Toreador (1925) :star::star::star: Walt Disney

Another entry in Disney's "Alice" series has Alice and Julius entering a bullfight but they exchange the bull for an old cow. They put some roller skates on it but things don't turn out too well. I believe this is my fifth or sixth film from this series and I must admit that I think they're very underrated in terms of early animation. I'm sure these have their good amount of fans out there but more people should really check them out. The mixture of animation with the live action Alice makes for some very nice stuff but comedy is what the film really goes for and there's plenty of that. The best moment happens when Julius tries to sneak some baby cats into the fight but gets busted by a cop.

Hold Anything (1930) :star::star: Hugh Harman, Rudolf Ising

Early animated film from Warner before they gave us their more memorable (and better known) characters. Bosko is doing construction where he tries to do everything as if it were a note of music. I know Bosko was probably Warner's biggest character at the time but I don't think he holds up too well (and who knows if he did in 1930). The biggest problem I had with this short was that the music numbers weren't all that memorable and even though this ran under ten-minutes you can't help but feel like it's longer. There are some mice in the film, all looking like Mickey Mouse, which I guess should be expected since the director's originally worked at Disney.

Little Black Sambo (1935) :star::star::star: Ub Iwerks

This animated short, even though directed by a legend, has become known for its racial stereotypes, which has caused the film to be pretty much thrown in the vaults and hidden except for various public domain releases showcasing controversial shorts. Sambo, a black kid, has his mother washing him, throwing black baby powder on and warning him to stay away from the tiger who likes "black meat". The family dog decides to scare the kid by dressing up as the tiger but sure enough to real one shows up. I think a lot of these banned cartoons are just victims of an overly politically correct country but you can certainly see why this one crosses the line. It's rather shocking to see how much stuff was allowed back then because there are some pretty crazy scenes here including one where the black boy turns white after seeing the tiger. Outside the racial stuff this is still a pretty good cartoon with some very good animation and even better laughs. The dog really steals the film as he's constantly trying to start trouble but finds himself getting more into it.

Scrub Me Mama with a Boogie Beat (1941) :star::star::star: Walter Lantz

Welcome to Lazy Town, home of various lazy black people who sit around sleeping and drawing flies all day or if they do work they work so slowly that nothing gets done. All of this is about to change when a sexy, big breasted woman from Harlem shows up to teach everyone what rhythm is. As you can tell, there's certainly a reason this cartoon, from the same man who would later bring us Woody Woodpecker, has been taken out of circulation. Once again it's rather shocking at how over the top this thing is in its stereotypes of black people. A lot of movies from this era feature negative portraits of black but this thing here is just so incredibly over the top that it comes off rather shocking. We have big lips, watermelon and that's just the start. The one thing that stuck out to me, like Warner's Coal Black and De Sebbin Dwarfs, is the sexuality behind the main female character. She's constantly swinging herself in a sexual way and her breasts are always shaking. Due to the Hayes Code this type of sexuality was never seen except in these racial shorts. What makes this film worth watching outside the history lesson is the music, which is downright terrific. The movie is certainly going back to the swinging jazz of the 20's and makes it worth watching.

Inki and the Minah Bird (1943) :star::star: Chuck Jones

Another Warner cartoon that won't be seeing a legit DVD release anytime soon due to the racial nature of the title character Inki. Inki, a black girl, and her pet bird go out into the jungle where they run into a lion who wants to eat them. I think this one here falls into the category of being convicted for no reason in a politically correct world. There's really nothing too offensive here but I'm sure that's not going to keep warning from giving this an official release. It's not even really worth an official release because the film itself isn't that good. There aren't too many laughs and I thought the animation was rather weak considering it was from the master Jones.

Bambi Meets Godzilla (1969) :star::star::star::star: Marv Newland

This animated short is considered one of the greatest ever made even though it barely runs over a minute and the majority of that running time is just the credits. I'm going to reveal what happens so if you don't want to know then go see the film first. Bambi certainly meets Godzilla but it's when the big lizard steps down killing the deer who was just minding his own business eating grass. That's pretty much the whole film but it's so damn funny that you can't help but love it. I certainly understand why this thing has gained a legendary status and it deserves it.

Son of Bambi Meets Godzilla (1999) :star::star::star: Eric Fernandes

Thirty years after the mean Godzilla killed Bambi, the deer's son has revenge on his mind. The deer is out eating his grass when the big lizard shows up but Bambi isn't scared. This short doesn't work nearly as well as the original but there's still plenty of laughs here. The computer animation is a tad bit on the rough side but that makes the film just as enjoyable. The meeting between the two is very little but, as with the original, that's why it works so well.

Gabriel Over the White House (1933) :star::star::star: Gregory La Cava

Political fantasy has President Judson Hammond (Walter Huston) taking office and from day one turning his back on the American people who are facing hunger due to the Depression. After an auto accident the President comes back as a new person; one that cares for the country and plans on making it better. Watching this film a couple weeks after the 2008 election makes it rather shocking at how close this movie is to current events in this country. The change that is expected in our country now that we're getting a new President is the same type of change that was needed in this film so it's rather funny that this movie plays out as a complete fantasy. William Randolph Hearst produced this film and his political side, as seen in Citizen Kane are on full display here as the message of simple and honest is smeared all over this film. This is a hard film to judge because on one level this is so over the top that you can't really take it serious. I mean, nothing that happens in this film is even possible and that includes a scene where the President wages war on a gangster. However, with that said, this movie is a fantasy, it was sold as a fantasy and if looked at as a fantasy then you have to take everything with a grain of salt. What really holds this film together is the incredible performance by Huston. The actor delivers a very strong performance, which a lot of is due to that incredible voice of his. He has to give several speeches in the film and not once does he not bring the house down. Karen Morley, Franchot Tone, Dickie Moore and Arthur Byron all deliver fine supporting performances. Again, if you go into this film taking it message too serious then you're going to be bowled over by its naive look at politics and the way to make the country better. If you look at the film as a fantasy then I think there's enough here to keep you entertained. Fans of Huston are going to enjoy it no matter what due to his great performance.

Grumpier Old Men (1995) :star::star:1/2 Howard Deutch

Sequel to Grumpy Old Men have Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau returning with more fights and foul language. This time out Lemmon is still happily married but Matthau is on the move and takes a special interest in an Italian woman (Sophia Loren) who has just moved to town. I think the most remarkable thing about this film is how well Loren looked. Even at 61 she's still a head turner and her comic timing isn't too bad either. I'm sure this film was only made because the first one made money but it doesn't really matter as no one should take this too serious as it's just a silly comedy meant to make you laugh. There are plenty of nice laughs here but I don't think it's as good as the original. This certainly isn't in the league as The Odd Couple but we do get a pretty good throwback to that film here as there's a scene where Lemmon has to spend the night with Matthau but can't put up with his dirty house. Ann-Margret returns but is pretty much wasted as is Daryl Hannah and Kevin Pollak. The perverted Burgess Meredith is back and steals the scene everytime he's in it. Both Matthau and Lemmon are naturally very good and they easily slip back into their roles. It's priceless watching the two men work together even when the material isn't as strong as one would hope. Lemmon gets a special notice here due to a very touching scene with Meredith. Another problem is the direction, which has one of those "made for TV" feels to it. In the end this film could have and should have been a lot better but the cast make it worth watching.

Five Minutes from the Station (1930) :star::star:1/2 Arthur Hurley

Vitaphone short has a man (Lynne Overman) bringing his boss (Berton Churchill) home even though his wife (Sylvia Sidney) doesn't want him there. The poor couple have to beg for food in order to serve the boss and both are heartbroken when they learn that the job the husband wanted is going to someone else. This is a rather dry early talkie that feels like half an hour instead of the fourteen-minute running time. That's not really a bad thing because the director gets a lot of stuff into the short running time and while the film isn't a total success it does work as a history lesson as the movie comes off very realistic of the Depression-era. The performances are very good with the still unknown Sidney standing out. Churchill had a pretty long career but he's probably best remembered for being one of the founding members of the Screen Actors Guild.
 

Joe Karlosi

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No, this one was always the same:

Kill Bill Vol. 1 - ***
Kill Bill Vol. 2 - ****

I will sometimes change ratings upon re-viewings, but not this time.
 

Michael Elliott

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I can't say I have too much desire to go back through them before that "Ultimate" set but I do have the original version still sitting here. I might get to it at some point since it seems the long version isn't going to be released anytime soon.
 

Brian.L

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November Recap

Movies seen: 22 (First timers: All of them!)
Average rating = 2.84/5
Median rating = 3.0/5


Some good docs this month. And I'm starting to see all the cartoons everyone saw during the summer. Wheeee.

ALL RATINGS OUT OF :star::star::star::star::star: (FIVE) STARS


First time viewings in bold.

11/01- Mongol (2008) :star::star::star:
11/03- Chain Reaction (1996) :star::star:
11/04- Baby Mama (2008) :star::star:
11/06- The Brown Bunny (2004) :star:
11/07- Wild at Heart (1990) :star::star::star:
11/08- Roman Holiday (1953) :star::star::star:1/2
11/08- The Incredible Hulk (2008) :star::star::star:
11/09- Burn After Reading (2008) :star::star::star:1/2
11/10- Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (2008) :star::star::star:1/2
11/10- The Visitor (2008) :star::star::star:
11/13- Taxi to the Dark Side (2008) :star::star::star:1/2
11/13- WALL·E (2008) :star::star::star::star:
11/15- Street Fighter (1994) :star:
11/15- Up the Yangtze (2008) :star::star::star:1/2
11/16- War, Inc. (2008) :star::star:
11/19- Sophie's Choice (1982) :star::star::star:1/2
11/21- Kung Fu Panda (2008) :star::star::star:1/2
11/21- Chungking Express (Chóngqìng Senlín) (1994) :star::star::star:
11/23- Tropic Thunder (2008) :star::star::star:
11/25- Postal (2008) :star:1/2
11/29- Quantum of Solace (2008) :star::star::star:1/2
11/29- The Postman (Il Postino) (1994) :star::star::star:


Favorites (first timers): WALL·E, Burn After Reading
 

Pete York

Supporting Actor
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NOVEMBER Recap - 19 total

Best First Viewing:
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three Dir: Joseph Sargent
This is as good a snapshot of a time and place as The French Connection with a great cast of New York actors. The film's heist crew are known to each other by nicknames; Brown, Grey, Green, Blue--sound familiar?

Least First Viewing:
The Mad Miss Manton Dir: Leigh Jason
Uninspired mix of The Thin Man and My Man Godfrey. Way to waste Stanwyck and Fonda.


11/04/08: Shao Lin san shi liu fang / The 36th Chamber of Shaolin (1978) Dir: Chia-Liang Liu :star: :star: 1/2
11/05/08: Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble (1944) Dir: George B. Seitz :star: :star:
11/07/08: Air Force (1943) Dir: Howard Hawks :star: :star: 1/2
11/08/08: Cloak and Dagger (1946) Dir: Fritz Lang :star: :star: :star:
11/11/08: Pork Chop Hill (1959) Dir: Lewis Milestone :star: :star: 1/2
11/14/08: Seems Like Old Times (1980) Dir: Jay Sandrich :star: :star: :star:
11/15/08: 20th Century-Fox: The First 50 Years (1997) Dir: Kevin Burns :star: :star: :star:
11/15/08: Iron Man (2008) Dir: Jon Favreau :star: :star: :star: 1/2
11/18/08: Ride the High Country (1962) Dir: Sam Peckinpah :star: :star: :star:
11/19/08: Tropic Thunder (2008) Dir: Ben Stiller :star: :star: :star:
11/19/08: Sahara (1943) Dir: Zoltan Korda :star: :star: :star:
11/20/08: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) Dir: Joseph Sargent :star: :star: :star: 1/2
11/20/08: The Horn Blows at Midnight (1945) Dir: Raoul Walsh :star: :star: 1/2
11/20/08: The Mad Miss Manton (1938) Dir: Leigh Jason :star: :star:
11/22/08: Broadway Melody of 1940 (1940) Dir: Norman Taurog :star: :star: 1/2
11/23/08: Ball of Fire (1941) Dir: Howard Hawks :star: :star: :star: 1/2
11/27/08: Holiday Inn (1942) Dir: Mark Sandrich :star: :star: 1/2
11/29/08: Woman on the Run (1950) Dir: Norman Foster :star: :star: 1/2
11/30/08: Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) Dir: Peter Weir :star: :star: 1/2
 

Brook K

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November Update

Fairly good month of viewing though one of my lighter months of the year. My sleep schedule has been even more messed up than usual such that I've found it a struggle to even get through 1 movie in a night. I've also now gone more than 2 full months without seeing a movie at the theater, which may be the longest I've gone in, well maybe ever. Thanks to my wife and Black Friday sales, I've joined the ranks of Blu-Ray owners and look forward to my first viewing tomorrow when some discs arrive. I also took advantage of some of the recent software sales and ordered my first new DVD's since the beginning of the year. (coincidentally, 1 of these was Kill Bill v1 on Blu, I vastly prefer 1 to 2 myself)

Movies Watched: 22

Best 1st Time Viewing: An Autumn Afternoon (rented for this viewing, but have now bought. The crowning achievement of a director with complete mastery of film making aesthetics. Utterly sublime)

Honorable Mentions: Le Deuxième Souffle, Late Autumn, Missing, Fanfan la Tulipe, Springtime in a Small Town

2008 Films (Based on NY/LA Release)
Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008, Nicholas Stoller) (DVD Rent) - B
Get Smart (2008, Peter Segal) (DVD Rent) - C-
Hancock (2008, Peter Berg) (DVD Rent) - B-
Paranoid Park (2007, Gus Van Sant) (DVD Rent) - B
Penelope (2008, Mark Palansky) (DVD Rent) - B
Run Fatboy Run (2007, David Schwimmer) (DVD Rent) - B
Snow Angels (2007, David Gordon Green) (DVD Rent) - D-
Transsiberian (2008, Brad Anderson) (DVD Rent) - B
Tropic Thunder (2008, Ben Stiller) (DVD Rent) - B

2007 Films Viewed in '08 (Based on NY/LA Release)
Evan Almighty (2007, Tom Shadyac) (DVD Library) - C
Rendition (2007, Gavin Hood) (DVD Rent) - B-

Pre-2007 Films Seen for the 1st Time
An Autumn Afternoon (1962, Yasujiro Ozu) (DVD Rent) - A
Le Deuxième Souffle (1966, Jean-Pierre Melville) (DVD Rent) - A-
Le Doulos (1962, Jean-Pierre Melville) (DVD Rent) - B-
Fanfan la Tulipe (1952, Christian-Jaque) (DVD Rent) - B+
Flicka (2006, Michael Mayer) (DVD Rent) - C+
Late Autumn (1960, Yasujiro Ozu) (DVD Own) - A-
Missing (1982, Constantin Costa-Gavras) (DVD Rent) - B+
Mon Oncle Antoine (1971, Claude Jutra) (DVD Rent) - B
Springtime in a Small Town (2002, Zhuangzhuang Tian) (DVD Rent) - B+

Re-Visits (All DVD's owned unless otherwise noted)
Bicycle Thieves (1948, Vittorio De Sica) - A
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993, Henry Selick) - A-
 

Joe Karlosi

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I've given up hope on ever seeing the "Whole Bloody Affair" extended roadshow version of KILL BILL, which is why I cashed in my chips and re-bought the two volumes on Blu-ray the other day. I hope I'm wrong, though; I think the complete version of KILL BILL would be a masterpiece.
 

Michael Elliott

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Are Blu players region free? If so you could always order the uncut version from various places. I'm not sure if it would be worth the price to you or not though as that Japanese set is rather high. Tarantino's new remake appears to be even more of an epic than KILL BILL so he'll be busy with that for a while. Who knows when he can start working on the complete KB.
 

Mario Gauci

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12/01/08: MURDER, HE SAYS (George Marshall, 1945) :star::star::star:

I had always wanted to check out this black comedy – a rare thing for Hollywood during this era (off-hand, the only other one I can recall is ARSENIC AND OLD LACE [1944]). However, it’s never been available to me until now…so that, in compiling a list of lightweight titles I most wanted to watch throughout the Christmas season, it’s no surprise the film ended up at the top of the list. Even so, this has more of a cult than classic reputation – but it was certainly a delight: incidentally, while I’m usually somewhat queasy watching movies centering around hillbillies, their inherent eccentric nature works perfectly within the context of MURDER, HE SAYS’ bizarre plot.

By the way, the greedy/homicidal-family-after-a-sum-of-money involved harks back to the popular ‘old dark house’-type comedy-thrillers – which undoubtedly gives the whole added appeal. With this in mind, the location of the loot being hidden within the nonsensical verses of an old ditty is a much-used device in this kind of picture – as is the presence in the house of both a secret passageway and a mysterious assailant (whose identity actually isn’t hard to guess). Similarly, the fact that the moribund crone (justifiably) suspects her relatives’ motives and opts to confide in a stranger is particularly reminiscent of the wonderful Sir Roderick Femm scene in my favorite subgenre entry – the appropriately-titled THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1932).

That said, the original elements here are no less engaging – with the unlikely albeit effectively-handled ‘glowing poison’ expedient a recurring motif (which reaches its zenith in the hilarious dinner sequence around an inconveniently revolving table). The most side-splitting visual gags, then, both feature bodily contortions: the hero being tied up in a most awkward position to be grilled by the Fleagles and his own later pretense as a midget in order to conceal one of their two identical sons lying unconscious at his real feet! For the record, there’s even an amusing in-joke in the film’s reference to THE GHOST BREAKERS (1940) – the marvelous Bob Hope comedy-horror vehicle, also made by director Marshall at Paramount!

Fred MacMurray makes for an ideal lead – suitably bewildered and out-of-his-depth at first, but who eventually contrives to outwit the crazy clan by employing his ‘superior’ city-slicker ways. Apart from a whip-cracking Marjorie Main (perhaps the quintessential female hick) and mad scientist(!) Porter Hall as the respective heads of the backwoods brood, the remaining cast members were unknown to me – though all enter gleefully into the offbeat spirit of the thing. The twins were obviously played by the same actor and, unsurprisingly, leading lady Helen Walker turns out not to be vicious/demented after all (since she’s only impersonating a convicted member of the dysfunctional family, with the real character herself surfacing towards the end).

Maintaining a frenzied pitch virtually for the entire duration (leading to an extended chase finale that’s capped by an inventive come-uppance for practically the entire main cast) makes the film seem longer than its 94 minutes – but it’s an inspired ride all the way, and great fun to boot. The quality of the copy I acquired (derived from VHS) isn’t optimal if still quite passable under the circumstances…at least until Universal (who now owns the film) sees fit to give it a decent – and much-deserved – release on DVD. I guess HD-DVD is out-of-the-question for such an obscure little item and, in any case, I’m not yet willing to give in to the format just yet owing to the undue hassle and expense this would clearly entail!


12/01/08: CARRY ON LAUGHING!: ORGY AND BESS (TV) (Alan Tarrant, 1975) :star::star::star:

This is one of the funniest entries in the alternate TV comedy series, most of which were period spoofs of famous historical events and figures; it’s also notable as being the “Carry On” swan-song for both Sid James and Hattie Jacques – they play Sir Francis Drake and Queen Elizabeth I respectively.

The script includes such a barrage of (typically) vulgar puns and topical gags (some of them fairly obscure at this juncture) that one’s barely able to keep up with it! As was to be expected by now, too, one of the central characters – Sir Walter Raleigh – is depicted as outrageously effeminate; latter-day series regular Jack Douglas, then, appears in two roles for no very good reason. Of course, the ubiquitous “Carry On” siren – diminutive, buxom and plucky Barbara Windsor – is on hand to divert Drake’s attentions from the corpulent queen, so that his position as the latter’s chief confidante can be usurped by Douglas’ scheming Lord Essex!

When caught in the act, Jacques immediately forgives James…except that, just then, her intended suitor appears on the scene – Kenneth Connor as King Philip II of Spain (made to speak gibberish when delivering lines in his ‘native’ language: incidentally, much is made of the fact that the two monarchs share their names with England’s own current royals!); this affront, of course, throws the two countries into war – fought and won off-screen by the ‘heroic’ Drake…the direct result of which is the promise set up by the risqué title (obviously derived from the celebrated George Gershwin musical “Porgy And Bess”) though, of course, the only thing we’re allowed to see is the queen’s chambers being filled by prancing courtiers!
 

Michael Elliott

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Crazy Town (1932) :star::star:1/2 Dave Fleischer

Betty Boop and Bimbo travel to Crazy Town, a place where everything happens in a way it's not suppose to. Birds swim. Fish fly. Lions are pets. Mice are dangerous. This was included on a "crazy cartoons" collection and doesn't really feature too much crazy or controversial things but it's a nice little short none the less. Fleischer has a nice imagination at work as we get all sorts of things not working or acting the way they should. This makes for some nice visuals but I never really laughed at any of it. Boop certainly is the highlight here as she sings and dances a few times in the film.

Betty Boo's Crazy Inventions (1933) :star::star:1/2 Dave Fleischer

Betty and Bimbo are working at a tent show where new inventions are being shown off. Everything's going fine until a self threading sewing machine comes to life and starts sewing everything up. This film is short and sweet, which makes it worth sitting through at least once. The first part of the film isn't the strongest but we do get to see some rather unique inventions with the best being the egg hatcher then cooker. The second half was the best as the sewing machine does all sorts of damage including sewing up a river and a duck, which then flies off with various other creatures sewed to it. As with most Fleischer cartoons, the animation is great with a lot of imagination behind it.

Make 'Em Move (1931) :star::star:1/2 Harry Bailey, John Foster

Interesting "documentary/spoof" animated film has a woman taking a tour of a studio when she comes across the animation department. She decides to take a look inside just to see how the films are made. What follows I'm sure has a tad bit of reality behind it but for the most part it's just a spoof of itself as we see one character draw a head while the next draws an arm and so on. There's also a nice section showing how the music is added as well as how the camera eventually picks everything up and takes it to the theater. I'm sure this was meant to be a comedy but it never made me laugh, although this didn't take away too much entertainment.

Whipsaw (1935) :star::star:1/2 Sam Wood

Myrna Loy is in with jewel thieves when she runs into another mug (Spencer Tracy) who's actually an undercover cop. Loy, knowing his real identity, plays along and the two hit the road with Tracy hoping she'll lead him to her gang. Considering the talent involve you have to put this one down as a minor disappointment even though there's still a lot of stuff to enjoy. The biggest problem with the film is that it's rather flat and doesn't contain too much energy outside of the performances. It seems the film never knew if it wanted to be a drama, a romantic comedy or perhaps just a romantic melodrama. It doesn't really do any of them things very well as there aren't too many laughs and the drama isn't really there as the story is pretty predictable. What does work is the romantic angle thanks in large part to the wonderful performances by Loy and Tracy. Loy makes for a terrific leading lady and comes off quite sensitive to the point where you have no problem seeing why the agent Tracy would fall for her. Tracy plays it pretty tough and believable but has no trouble sinking into his wonderful charm. The two of them together makes for a great couple and they certainly keep the rather standard screenplay going. John Qualen plays a farmer who the leads meet half way through the film and he delivers nice work as well. While there's no question a stronger screenplay would have done wonders with the film there's also no doubt that Loy and Tracy really shine here. Fans of the stars will probably find themselves enjoying this a lot more due to them.

Abbott and Costello Meet Captain Kidd (1952) :star::star:1/2 Charles Lamont

Two waiters (Bud Abbott, Lou Costello) come across a treasure map, which belongs to the mean Captain Kidd (Charles Laughton). The waiters force the evil pirate to take them with him as he sails towards Skull Island. At one time I voted this one of my least favorite Abbott and Costello films, which is the reason I only watched it once before this viewing here. I must say that the film struck me as being a lot better than I remembered but it's still not one of the duo's best movies. I think the real key to enjoying this film is your appreciation of Laughton. I'm not sure why he did this movie but he certainly steals the film with his stern but mocking performance. Laughton's 1945 film Captain Kidd was a major bust for many people so perhaps the actor wanted a second chance at the part. He certainly adds a lot of class and charm to the role including some very funny sequences at the start when Costello is waiting on him. Both Abbott and Costello are good in their roles but these aren't among their best performances. If you've seen all of their films like I have then you're going to notice that many of the jokes are repeated from earlier films and these do come off rather lame here. They still have plenty of nice moments including a great sequence where Lou starts messing with Kidd after he thinks he has the pirate chained up. Of course he isn't really chained up and this leads to some nice laughs. I doubt people not fans of the cast are going to enjoy anything about the movie but fans should get enough charm out of its 70-minute running time to make it worth viewing.

Zenobia (1939) :star::star:1/2 Gordon Douglas

Oliver Hardy plays a country doctor's whose life gets turned upside down when his daughter is about to marry into a rich family that doesn't want her. To make matters worse, the doctor is asked by a circus man (Harry Langdon) to look at his sick elephant. The doctor cures the creature but then the elephant refuses to leave his side. This was Hardy's first and only starring role without Stan Laurel but the screenplay really seems like it was originally meant for the two. Langdon, a silent screen star, fills in for Laurel and one can't help but think the duo could have made this film together but didn't for whatever reasons. The film takes place during the Old South and features a lot more than just laughs as the doctor always talks about he Declaration of Independence and how important that is to him. The battles between rich and poor as well as black and white are dealt with in a pretty honest manor considering the type of film this is. There's one sequence where a black boy asks Hardy if he'll ever be white so that he will be able to do more things. The response Hardy gives him makes for some good drama but it's also interesting in what's said. I was surprised at how honest they looked at the racial tensions but some of them are nearly thrown to the side with Step'n Fetchit playing his normal slow slave character. He's certainly very good at what he does but the performance does go against some of the speeches in the film. Hardy proves that he could carry a movie on his own and delivers many laughs including a very funny sequence where he tells Langdon that he isn't an elephant. Langdon's comeback is great and he also manages to do his part quite well and add plenty of laughs. I didn't care too much for any of the other supporting performances as I found them very annoying due to how they were written in the screenplay. This film certainly isn't a masterpiece or even a classic but it makes for a mildly entertaining 70-minutes.

Happy Times and Jolly Moments (1943) :star::star:1/2 No Director Credited

Documentary short on Mack Sennett and the many comedies he made during the silent era. After a few nice shots of Sennett studios we then get to see various clips from his films, which include stars like Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle, Mabel Normand, Ben Turpin, Buster Keaton and various others. A handful of compilations about silent films were produced around this time and it was good to see one that didn't make fun of the pictures. Sennett and the actors are all shown respect and Warner even touched up the film by adding some pretty good music to the clips. Since these films weren't too old when this movie was made most will be shocked at how good the print quality is on the silents shown. These films today all look pretty poor so it was nice seeing them look so good.

Broadway Melody, The (1929) :star::star::star: Harry Beaumont

This film is best known for being the first musical and talkie to win the Best Picture Oscar. The movie tells the story of two sisters (Bessie Love, Anita Page) who move to New York City to make it big on Broadway but soon they fall in love with the same man (Charles King). The younger sister (Page) soon gets caught up with a dangerous playboy and it's up to the older sister to try and rescue her. This film has gathered a rather negative reputation over the years, which I think is pretty unfair as it seems many reviews seem to forget this was made in 1929. I've heard some say that the film isn't original in its story but they fail to mention that it was this film everyone else ripped off. I've even heard the music numbers and recordings being bashed but I found the sound technology here to be pretty good for 1929. I also thought the music numbers for the most part were very good and the dance sequences even better. The real reason to watch this film is for the wonderful performance by Page who clearly steals the film with her sexy looks, nice comic timing and that lovely voice. The pre-code elements of her dressed in rather skimpy clothing is another bonus and she certainly knows how to shake her body. Love is also good in her role and delivers several laughs. King on the other hand is rather bland due to a rather annoying voice. Kenneth Thomson plays the bad guy and doesn't come off any better. Eddie Kane probably comes off the worst as one of the Broadway producers. There are all sorts of stereotype characters here including the gay costume designer. The film certainly isn't one of the greatest films ever made but it's certainly a lot better than its reputation.

So You Want to Build a House (1948) :star::star: Richard L. Bare

Joe McDoakes (George O'Hanlon) is about to be evicted from his apartment because he can't pay rent so he decides to get a loan and build a house. Of course nothing goes as planned as soon one issue after another comes up. MGM made sixty-two of these shorts but this one here is a lesser entry in the series. The biggest issue is that there really aren't too many laughs as the screenplay really felt rushed as if someone thought of decent ideas but never tried to make them funny. O'Hanlon is his usual, goofy self and narrator Art Gilmore was always a nice addition.
 

Martin Teller

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Léolo - A distinctly awful film. Even when something ugly or horrible ISN'T happening, you're just waiting for it to come. Lauzon hamfistedly tries to lighten it up by piling on unearned whimsy... whimsical characters, whimsical black comedy, whimsical soundtrack choices. It doesn't work, it only feels incredibly forced, like Gaspar Noe trying to co-opt Jean-Pierre Jeunet's style. With all the overwrought narration (and the wise old character who happily pores over the protagonist's discarded writings), I got the feeling that Lauzon is a frustrated poet. Or should I say WAS a frustrated poet. He died in a plane crash. Gee, what a shame. Rating: 3


Mon Oncle Antoine - Here's another French-Canadian coming-of-age film, but this one's got a lot less shit-trading, meat masturbation and cat-raping. I wouldn't call it "Canada's best film"... I haven't seen a whole lot, but I prefer The Sweet Hereafter and Guy Maddin, for all his faults, is pretty damn interesting. But it's very good, authentic and bittersweet. The film's final anecdote involves a family losing their eldest child on Xmas Eve (not a spoiler, it's not a major character). The same thing happened in my family, so I found this section exceptionally moving. I also thought the acting was superb, the music very nice and restrained, and the cinematography was good and occasionally even stunning. My only complaint is that there isn't much here that you haven't seen before. But even if it's a somewhat familiar story, it's still quite well told. Rating: 8
 

Michael Elliott

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Diabolique (1955) :star::star::star::star: Hans-Georges Clouzot

aka Diaboliques, Les

French masterpiece about a wife (Vera Clouzot) and her husband's mistress (Simone Signoret) who plan on killing the husband. After the murder the two women dump his body in a swimming pool so that someone else can discover it but when the pool is drained the body is gone. What's so great about this film is that the described plot isn't the story but instead just the set up as director Clouzot uses this to build tension from the start of the film to its end. The funny thing is that the wife in the movie has a heart condition that is constantly troubling her whenever more mystery surrounds her husband's death and the tension she is feeling is also what the viewing is feeling. I saw the remake when it was first released but couldn't remember a thing about it so this all came as a new viewing for me and I think the movie's reputation of being one of the most suspenseful films ever made rings true and then some. Starting with the beautiful murder sequence, the movie has an unnerving and unsettling mood and feel that last the entire movie. The director builds up a wonderful, tense atmosphere and never lets it go. A lot of filmmakers go for various jump scares but that's not the case here as the movie instead just builds a minor tension and slowly keeps it rising. There aren't any humor scenes to calm things down because the subject matter is handled very seriously and the terror of the wife is what comes across. Everything she feels in the movie is the same thing the viewer is feeling so it's refreshing not having fake humor thrown in. What really makes the film move are the wonderful performances with Clouzot, the director's wife, leading the way. A lot of actresses have had to play being terrified but I must admit that I think this is one of the best. I won't ruin her scene at the end but it's quite breathtaking just watching her work. Signoret makes the perfect mistress as she comes across as quite the bitch yet also gains some sympathy of her own. Paul Meurisse is also very good in the role of the husband and has no trouble coming across as someone you want to see the women kill. I've heard some complain that the ending is silly but I have to disagree as the movie really keeps you guessing from start to finish. The level of suspense is top-notch throughout and I think the ending delivers as well.

Mr. Hulot's Holiday (1953) :star::star: Jacques Tati

aka Vacances de Monsieur Hulot, Les

French comedy has the dimwitted Monsieur Hulot (Jacques Tati) going to a beach side hotel for a vacation but no matter what he does chaos follows. I know this has the reputation for being a classic but the film just didn't work for me. This is a rather strange film as its put together unlike any comedy that I've seen. It really doesn't seem like Tati is trying to make a hilarious movie but instead just a movie with various memories and some of them contain laughs. Most comedies try and move at a fast pace with the jokes coming left and right but that's not at all what happens here. It seems Tati likes to build up a laugh by having a scene go on and on yet when we get to the laugh there isn't a big one to be had. He likes to let scenes go on and then end them without even trying for a laugh. This here is what makes the film play out so strange for me but then again after reading some review it seems this is why many love the film. A few of the things I do like is how it seems no one really notices Hulot no matter how much trouble he is getting into. He seems to be like a person your eye catches but you never really pay any attention to him. There's a nice scene where his boat gets broken in half and the people on shore think it's a shark. There's another funny scene where Hulot is trying to paint this boat but the tide keeps switching which side the paint bucket is on. These two scenes featured the biggest laughs for me but they weren't laugh out loud moments. Tati is certainly good in the role of Hulot and this really comes off as a one man show. Even though there are plenty of supporting characters none of them really jump out to stick in my memory. His style of directing is something I hit on earlier but he certainly as a memorable, if not totally enjoyable, way of filming the comedy.

Eyes in the Night (1942) :star::star::star: Fred Zinnemann

A woman (Ann Harding) fears that her stepdaughter (Donna Reed) is involved with an evil man so she goes to his apartment to ask him to leave her alone. Once at the apartment she finds the man dead and the step daughter catches her there and believes that she did the killing. The mother goes to her blind detective friend (Edward Arnold) who starts to investigate and learns that German spies were behind it. This was the first of a two part series for MGM and I'm really not sure why more weren't made as both proved to be good films. This film features a very attractive cast, a nice story and some very good direction by Zinnemann, which makes this a must see for fans of detective movies. Arnold is very good in his role making it very believable that his character is actually blind. The actor plays the part very well and has good chemistry with everyone in the cast. Harding comes off quite strong as well even though her character isn't the best written in the film. Stephen McNally, Katherine Emery, Allen Jenkins and Reginald Denny all add nice supporting performances as well. Reed actually steals the show as the 17-year-old step daughter with an attitude. Her attitude is so dead pan perfect that you'll have no problem hating the young lady who thinks she knows everything. Mantan Moreland is wasted in his few scenes though. The German subplot just works itself into the story and there's never a spotlight shined on it due to WW2, which is a nice twist for this type of film. Most movies from this era beat the war stuff to death but this film stays away from that.

Rack, The (1956) :star::star::star: Arnold Laven

Paul Newman, in his third film, plays Korean War vet who was a POW for three years. When he returns home he's brought up on treason charges and faces a court marshall. This film is based on a Rod Serling teleplay so the material makes for a good movie, although in the end I'm not sure what type of message it's sending out. The POW was tortured, not physically but mentally, and the film takes a look at this and what one's breaking point is. A lot of questions about loyalty to your country is brought up during the court scenes but some might be confused by what the ending tries to say or the complete turn around that seems to happen half way through the film. There's also the added plot of Newman's character not being able to connect with his hard boiled father (Walter Pidgeon) and connecting to his dead brother's girlfriend (Ann Francis). The film's screenplay has a lot of great sequences in it but it never really becomes clear on what it's trying to say. Is the film trying to claim that everyone has a breaking point? Is it trying to say that everyone should reach a breaking point but keep going for your country? The film seems to want to have its cake and eat it too as both sides are given credit yet neither takes the stage over the other. What works the best here are the performances with Newman stealing the film with his passionate character. The torture Newman displays is very striking and wonderfully done, which is rather amazing considering this was only his third film. Pidgeon has some equally impressive scenes as does Cloris Leachman. Lee Marvin, playing a tortured vet, also comes across very good in his few scenes. Wendell Corey and Edmond O'Brien are also very good. While the film's message might be someone confusing the film still works as a nice drama with plenty of good performances.

One Million B.C. (1940) :star::star: Hal Roach, Hal Roach, Jr.

Prehistoric tale of a member (Victor Mature) of the Rock people who is kicked out of the group after standing up to their evil leader (Lon Chaney, Jr.). Soon he finds himself with the more peaceful Shell people but various battles are about to follow. This here is basically a remake of D.W. Griffith's Man's Genesis and its sequel Brute Force. Both of those shorts are better than this film but there are some very interesting ideas here. It's worth noting that Griffith himself was hired to oversee the production of this movie but apparently him and Roach had a falling out after the legendary director thought he was being brought in to direct. One can only wonder what Griffith would have done with the film but Roach or his son weren't the right choice. I loved the idea at how they pretty much made a silent film as there is very little dialogue throughout. The only problem is that they don't know how to do a silent and this makes the picture drag along at several spots. What does work however are the wonderful special effects, which still hold up fairly well today. The volcano erupting is the highlight of the movie but the battle scenes are well done too.

Ghost Story of Yotsuya (1959) :star::star::star: Nobuo Nakagawa

aka Tokaido Yotsuya kaidan

Japanese horror film has a samurai (Shigeru Amachi) killing his wife (Kazuko Wakasugi) so that he can marry into a rich family. Soon after the second wedding the ghost of the dead wife seeks her vengeance. I haven't seen many of these Japanese ghost films but I've read this one has been made over eight times so it's apparently pretty popular. Since I haven't seen any of the others I can't compare them but I was still pretty impressed with this one. The movie runs a short 75-minutes but the first 55-minutes are devoted to the backstory of the samurai and his wife. Her murder doesn't happen until very late in the film and then it switches gears to the actual haunting, which takes place very fast. Some might say the film spends way too much time with the dramatic stuff but I think this is the reason the film works so well. Instead of just killing the wife at the start we get to know each character and we get to understand why the husband decides to kill her. We also see how the greed gets other people involved and how their lives are destroyed as well. When the hauntings do begin to happen they come at us very quickly and this here gives them a rather unsettling atmosphere, which works very well. It seems this film was influenced by the look and feel of the Hammer films out at the time since they were very popular in Japan. The violence of those Hammer films made their way into this as we get a pretty ghoulish murder of the wife where she's poisoned and pretty much has part of her face melt off. The performance by Amachi is extremely good as we certainly believe his breakdown once he begins to get haunted. It's Wakasugi who steals the show however as the tortured wife who will eventually seek revenge.

Jigoku (1960) :star::star:1/2 Nobuo Nakagawa

A college student (Shigern Amachi) has his life literally go to Hell after he and a buddy accidentally run down a drunken gangster who jumps out in front of their car. Soon afterwards everyone in the student's life begin to die and his guilt eventually leads him to Hell. This is certainly a very strange and surreal film that has the same structure as the director's previous film Ghost Story of Yotsura as it gives us a lot of backstory before it gets down to the meat of the film. Perhaps because I'm from a different religious background I couldn't get overly involved with the story because I had a hard time believing so much evil and bad would come to our main guy just because of the accident that happened. He didn't do it on purpose, he felt bad about it and all the blame would go to his friend that was driving. For the student to be damned to Hell for what he did and to have to suffer through various deaths just seemed a bit too much for me and this dragged down the first hour of the film for me. After the hour mark when we finally get to Hell is when things begin to pick up with the bizarre visuals and (for the time) graphic death scenes. I've heard a few call this the first gore film and perhaps that's true as we get some rather bloody violence including a man getting cut into pieces, an eye ripped out and hands being ripped off. This stuff certainly isn't as graphic as the stuff of today but I'm sure it caused quite a commotion back in the day. The various stages of Hell were perfectly done and contains a lot of imagination. I loved the various stages that our student has to go through and many of them managed to be quite creepy. The scene where the people of Hell are begging for water was beautifully done. Perhaps a second viewing would change my opinion on the start of the film but as for now I felt it really dragged too slowly.
 

Martin Teller

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Don Quijote de Orson Welles - Without doing some research, it's difficult to know what to blame on Welles, on schlock director Jesus Franco (who "completed" the film), or on the fact that this is an unfinished project. So without laying blame, I'll just say that this is damn near unwatchable. Poor dubbing has occasionally plagued Welles' project, but never as badly as this mess. Sometimes Quixote and Panza are dubbed by Welles (or perhaps an imitator) and sometimes by other actors. It's wildly inconsistent, amateurly acted, and pretty much never comes close to matching the lip movements. The film stock is all over the place, mostly lousy. There are dreadful "effects" that I suspect were added by Franco. The editing is choppy and it's all so sloppily slapped together.

As for the adaptation, it's an unusual situation. I read 40% of the book, got to a surprisingly dull section and told myself I'd finish it later. Even so, I know of several lengthy anecdotes that are missing or severely truncated. But Welles isn't going for a straight adaptation (which, even being conservative, would have to be many, many hours long to be remotely faithful). If you can get past the dreadful acting/dubbing, you can see flashes of genius in the choice to drop our heroes into modern society. At first it seemed like a silly idea, but when Welles himself shows up as a director shooting a movie about Don Quixote, it's a fairly clever bit of self-reference. From there the story goes on this insane tangent that includes Sancho Panza discovering television, some documentary footage of the running of the bulls in Pamplona, and Welles rhapsodizing about Quixote's place in history. It's weird and it certainly needs a lot of retooling, but it's a glimpse of what could have been. Sadly, we'll never really know. What we're left with is deeply flawed but occasionally fascinating. Rating: 4
 

Michael Elliott

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Great review on that one Martin. I almost bit the bullet and watched it two nights ago but kept putting it off until I could read a better review for it. I came across the film in my "research" on Franco and I never really understood why he took the blame for the films failure. As far as I know, Welles did EVERYTHING directing wise. Franco was just the editor. People say he didn't put it together the way Welles wanted but how in the hell does anyone know what Welles wanted considering it was never finished and a lot more footage is out there but in private collector's hands. From what I've read the project had to be done cheaply and no one had everything to work with so it seems like a rush project to at least let people see some of the stuff. However, even if the stuff in the collector's hands is released, it still won't be a finished movie and never will.

Franco even said at one point that Welles never had any intention of completing the film and instead just wanted to keep adding onto it every few years.


Respect the Law (1941) :star::star::star: Joseph M. Newman

Thirty-third entry in MGM's "Crime Does Not Pay" series with this one taking a look at minor crimes and how they can be just as dangerous as major crimes. In the film, a ship dock owner (Richard Lane) buys off a Health Inspector so that he can avoid cleaning the rats off his dock. This doesn't seem too big at the time but soon the rats bring in a plague that starts killing hundreds of people. This isn't the best film in the series but it's another good entry that gets its point across even though it's pretty heavily handled at times. As with most films in the series, I'm really not sure how much good they did as I'm sure people forgot the message as they walked out of the theater but perhaps these did leave their mark on a few. Lane, from Columbia's Boston Blackie series, turns in a good performance and you can also look for a young Hugh Beaumont from Leave It to Beaver fame.

Man of a Thousand Faces (1957) :star::star::star:1/2 Joseph Pevney

Bio pic has James Cagney playing silent screen star Lon Chaney from his early days on stage up to his untimely death in 1930. This is a rather hard film to judge as a lot of stuff has been made up but at the same time there's no doubt that the movie is dramatic and entertaining. It's even weird talking about Cagney because he gives a terrific performance yet it's still rather hard to see him as Chaney since the two have very little in common. Their size, their look and the way they act are completely different so sometimes you have to wonder if you're watching Cagney be Cagney or doing a Chaney impersonation. Even with that said I think this movie hits all the right marks, although people should know that the movie focuses on Chaney's personal life more than his professional. Most of the drama comes from his first marriage to Cleva (Dorothy Malone) and his eventual relationship with another woman (Jane Greer). Most of the drama comes from whether or not the deadbeat first wife should be able to see her son. The Miracle Man, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and The Phantom of the Opera have scenes re-enacted here and Cagney perfectly captures them even though, yet again, he doesn't look like Chaney. Both Malone and Greer add strong performances as does Robert Evans as Irving Thalberg. This bio pics are always going to be mixed with truth and fiction and since there are plenty of excellent documentaries out there Chaney fans can look at them for more truth. For entertainment however, this film hits on many levels and for that reason it's highly recommended despite the flaws.

Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The (2008) :star::star::star:1/2 Mark Herman

Holocaust drama seen through the eyes of eight-year-old Bruno (Asa Butterfield) who moves with his German soldier father (David Thewlis) to a new house. What Bruno fails to realize at first is that what he believes to be a farm behind his house is actually a concentration camp and across the fence is a Jewish boy (Zac Mattoon O'Brien). There are so many interesting things brought up in this film that it's hard to believe that director/writer Herman got everything in under 90-minutes. The movie is devastating, shocking, depressing and it never holds back any punches in showing what horrors were being done due to hatred. I've seen message boards where people asked if we needed another film that dealt with the Holocaust and after seeing this I'd have to say yes. What I loved most is that often time serious subjects are held away from children and parents will debate when children are old enough to knows the horrors of the world. The Holocaust here is seen and learned through the eyes of a kid and the movie does a masterful job at showing everything as innocent as it can as if a child was seeing it. The German boy is being taught to hate Jews even though he's not sure why. The boy sees a broken down Jewish man being beaten yet he doesn't understand why. He doesn't understand why his new friend has to stay behind the fence. The German boy only knows that he's suppose to hate yet he's curious as to why. Not only are the two kids characters fully written but so are the German parents. The father risking everything to be a good soldier and his wife (Vera Farmiga) a person against the slaughter of the Jews. Both are given their reasons in believing what they do and they will have to face these thoughts at the end of the movie. The effect is also seen through Bruno's older sister, someone who doesn't stop to think about why she hates and instead just hates those different than her. I won't spoil the ending but I will say it's downright shocking how everything plays out and I couldn't help but walk away from the film feeling devastated and sick to my stomach. The amount of guts the director shows will be the reason this movie will probably be around fifty years from now even though there are a few shortcomings at the start of the film. The performances by the main four characters are all brilliantly done and should be remembered at Oscar time, although I doubt they will be. This isn't an easy film to watch as the majority of it is downright depressing and the only uplifting moment, shared by the two boys, happens in the most horrific event.
 

Joe Karlosi

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I like this movie myself and I still have the new DVD, which I believe is still sealed. I grew up with this one and for many, many years before I knew otherwise, I just assumed this was the REAL story of Chaney verbatim. Which is why I think so many of these fabricated "biography films" are very misleading. Most of the people who'll see this and who are not rabid Lon Chaney followers will have no desire to go to the library and read the "truth" about the Man of a Thousand Faces; they'll just go around thinking this is the way it was. It's a major part of the reason I'd give it a slightly lower rating, at three stars.
 

Michael Elliott

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According to Michael Blake the film was very close to Chaney with the exception of the movie centering on his personal life. Blake is the one and only expert on Chaney out there and he mainly objected to him being shown as a "depressed" person when in truth he was very outgoing. The obvious goof was that Chaney handed over his make up kit on his death bed. Another obvious goof was that his son was handed over to a orphanage. All three of these were done to push the drama because I reckon there's not too much drama in someone rising to the top when, in 1957, people were still very much aware of what Chaney did in his time. If the film was made today, when people know less, I'm sure it would have centered more on the film stuff. Heck, LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT isn't even mentioned outside a poster yet today this would probably be the film we spent the most time with.

Another problem are various myths Chaney Jr. put out there, which makes an interesting side story to this. There were rumors that Chaney, Jr. tried to get the film pulled from theaters and then there were rumors that he tried to tell everyone that it was nothing but a lie. Accoring to two different authors as well as early screenplay drafts, Chaney, Jr. was brought in to consult on the picture, okay'd the picture but then changed him mind and went against the film after he wasn't going to have a major say in it.

The interesting thing is reading his interviews from this time period. As you and I very well know, he was sadly a dying alcoholic at this point so believing anything he says is pretty hard to do. He is on record as to saying he and his father didn't get along. He was on record as saying he was on set to several of Chaney's movies. He was on record as saying his mother was a great woman. At the same time, different interviews have him saying his father was great and that his mother was evil. He's on record as saying various things that have been proven wrong. If you look at the Chaney documentary on that Warner set you'll hear even more stories.

What I said in regards to the film is that Chaney was a tall man. Cagney is short. Two very different actors. This has nothing to do with how Chaney was in person as we've got different stories but from Blake, I'd say the film got that wrong. Loretta Young, Boris Karloff and countless others said he wasn't nearly as dramatic as he was in the movie so perhaps that's where some truth was. I can only imagine that it must have been very difficult for Chaney, Jr. to see his mother shown as a crazy woman whether it was true or not.

But in the end, if someone gives a shit about Chaney then there are books, documentaries and several of his films available. If people don't want to get to know him then they can watch MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES and move on. As with other bio pics, this one here helped bring new fans to Chaney who probably only knew him from mags or from what their parents told them. Michael Blake makes a very good point that the majority of people your age or older today became to love Chaney not because of Chaney but because of Cagney. This is true for me as well because when I was growing up very few Chaney movies were available for viewing so if you wanted to see a clip of THE MIRACLE MAN you had to watch this. If you wanted to see how it was in the silent era of shorts then you had to watch this.

Either way, the ending is pure B.S. done for dramatic reasons but the important thing is that this film made thousands go out and get interested in Chaney. This film also means that Chaney will alway be out there somewhere simply because Cagney is a big star that will draw more fans each and every passing year. When these fans start going through Cagney's work they'll eventually get to this movie and hopefully this movie will get them interested in checking out the work of Chaney.
 

Joe Karlosi

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I have to agree that MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES gave me some interest in Chaney. Up to that point (it used to play on TV a lot when I was growing up) I hadn't seen ANYTHING of Chaney's actual films. But I always liked the Cagney film.

But along with MOATF, it was also Forrest J. Ackerman (who has just passed away at the age of 92, last evening) who carried the torch in his FAMOUS MONSTERS magazine. Ackerman always featured Chaney in the zine, and on the covers. He always proclaimed "Lon Chaney Shall Not Die!" and there was even an extensive issue of FM with all the rare stills from LONDON AFTER MIDNIGHT. This may seem like nothing special now, but it was a big deal in the late '60s/early '70s.
 

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