Sunday 27 September 2015

1991 Page Added

Best Movie-Viewing Experiences 14/09/15 - 27/09/15  

FRIED GREEN TOMATOES (1991)
A-   SECOND VIEWING
d: Jon Avnet
CAST: Mary Stuart Masterson; Kathy Bates; Mary-Louise Parker; Jessica Tandy; Cicely Tyson
> soft and gooey, but that's all right (this time); while I could do without the incessant soundtrack orchestra tugging at me to feel now, the sentimentality of the film is cut back somewhat by the shaggy dog quality of the tale being told; Mary Stuart is terrific as the tomboy heroine as is Jessica as the old lady doing the telling; Kathy Bates is never subtle, is she?; the lesbian relationship is alluded to once then mysteriously abandoned; feel good film without audience guilt...which is as rare as hen's teeth
Award-Worthy Performances
Mary Stuart Masterson; Jessica Tandy




RUNNING ON EMPTY (1988)
A-  FIRST VIEWING
d: Sidney Lumet
CAST: River Phoenix; Christine Lahti; Judd Hirsch; Martha Plimpton
> while the basis of the film is a family on the run from the FBI (which is obviously loaded with dramatic possibilities), it is the sweet romance between River and Martha which reels you into the movie...rarely has a teenage first love been so beautifully and honestly presented; the rapport between the two kids is just so natural; Martha doesn't appear to be performing; River is an absolute revelation - just so openly emotional and torn between his potential and his past, which is the definition of growing up; a great acting partnership 
Award-Worthy Performances
River Phoenix & Martha Plimpton 




ROADGAMES (1981)
A-   FIRST VIEWING
d: Richard Franklin
CAST: Stacey Keach; Jamie Lee Curtis
made-in-Australia thriller with Yank stars (who thankfully don't bother trying to do an Aussie accent); very quirky serial-killer-pursuit flick with dollops of humour, eccentric side-characters and unexpected plot twists; the Nullarbor moonscape setting is just perfect for this type of yarn: a long-haul truck driver tracking a sinister green van; Jamie Lee has little to do (she doesn't even scream!); yet another Stacey Keach film which shows he is one of filmdom's great lost character actors; and not a gun in sight - refreshing!





THE COMPANY YOU KEEP (2012)
A-   FIRST VIEWING
d: Robert Redford
CAST: Robert Redford; Shia LaBeouf; Julie Christie; Susan Sarandon; Brendan Gleeson; Anna Kendrick; Terrence Davis; Richard Jenkins; Nick Nolte; Chris Cooper; Sam Elliott; Richard Jenkins; Stanley Tucci; Stephen Root
> how did this pass me by?; I'd never even heard of it before; suspense / thriller about Weathermen revolutionaries all grown-up suddenly forced out of cover; perfect performances from everybody in big-name cast; wish Susan Sarandon had been around longer; interesting premise which keeps you involved every step of the manhunt; critically undersung





WOMAN IN A DRESSING GOWN (1957)
A-   FIRST VIEWING
d: J. Lee Thompson
CAST: Yvonne Mitchell; Anthony Quayle; Sylvia Syms
> film is raised above its done-a-million times soapie premise (dowdy housewife loses her husband to a younger woman) mainly by the performance of Yvonne in the title role; similar to Sally Hawkins in Happy-Go-Lucky, Yvonne is the drive-you-up-the-bloody-wall type by being so damned "up" all the time (talking incessantly; tirelessly muddled; self-amused), whose optimism is as lightweight and fragile as gossamer; so, like her hubbie, you are dying to tell her to piss off but aware that it would destroy her: manacled by guilt & obligation
Award-Worthy Performance
Yvonne Mitchell



THE MAN IN THE MOON  (1991)
B+  SECOND VIEWING
d: Robert Mulligan
CAST: Reese Witherspoon; Sam Waterston; Tess Harper
> good little movie which goes exactly where it should without any unsavoury deviations; all the biggies are covered though: birth, sex, death, swimming; Reese is amazing; the only onscreen coming-of-age kid I can think of who actually seems to grow up right in front of you; look at how she runs (do 14 year olds run anymore?); some sappy dialogue which juts out because it's not natural patter; still Reese's best?
Award-Worthy Performance
Reese Witherspoon




FOR ME AND MY GAL (1942)
B+   SECOND VIEWING
d: Busby Berkeley
CAST: Judy Garland; Gene Kelly; George Murphy
> got a soft spot for films about the Vaudeville days - trains, trunks and troopers; gorgeous voiced / faced Judy with soft-shoe heel Gene are one of the great movie-musical partnerships; he outdances her and she outsings him, but put together they're on an even keel; the performance of the title-song is one of my very favourite scenes; unusual WWI setting adds the necessary pathos; could've done without the pop-opera warblings of Martha Eggerth; a shame that some of the dialogue is (quite understandably for the times) pro-war  
Award-Worthy Performances
Judy Garland & Gene Kelly



DOGPOUND SHUFFLE (1975)
B+   FIRST VIEWING
d: Jeffrey Bloom
CAST: Ron Moody; David Soul
my Dad put me onto this little Canadian movie, and it's one more thing I am thankful to him for; modest story of a drifter who tries to raise money so he can get his beloved dog out of the pound; some good ol' soft-shoe shufflin' like you don't see anymore from Ron (why didn't he do more movies after Oliver!?); a couple of times I worried that it was going to go dark, but it steered away from that and winds up being consistently pleasant; nice to be in Vancouver for a change
Award-Worthy Performance
Ron Moody



GRAND CANYON (1991)
B+   SECOND VIEWING
d: Lawrence Kasdan
CAST: Kevin Kline; Danny Glover; Steve Martin; Mary McDonnell; Alfre Woodard
> film whirls if-only fantasy into harsh urban reality (with, as usual, guns playing a significant role); every one of the central characters is a NICE PERSON but they are all mischievously and maybe unjustly manipulated by Fate (aren't we all?); no tragic deaths which makes for a nice change; the flying dream sequence is too much; wants to talk about the Human Condition but does so too quietly: even the horrors are subdued; The Meaning of Life still comes down to connecting with each other apparently...which is hard to argue with
Award-Worthy Performance
Danny Glover



NIGHTFALL (1957)
B+  FIRST VIEWING
d: Jacques Tourneur
CAST: Aldo Ray; Anne Bancroft; Brian Keith; James Gregory
> neat little B-feature with Aldo being pursued by two thugs and an insurance guy for a bag of money; Anne is softer and subtler in this early performance compared to the broader and louder actress she became in her later years; Aldo's ham-fisted, oafish quality gives him the necessary everyman persona without much effort; competent direction very much in the Fifties TV-drama style with blaring soundtrack; attractive snowy mountain setting contrasts nicely with the usual urban streets; beautiful cinematography; love the climax with the snowcrusher!




Worst Movie-Viewing Experiences 14/09/15 - 27/09/15 

MINE OWN EXECUTIONER (1947)
B-   FIRST VIEWING
d: Anthony Kimmins
CAST: Burgess Meredith; Dulcie Gray
> it means well, but is unfortunately so much of its time that now, it can't even be charitably called quaint; early psychoanalysis thriller with Freudian imagery (extension ladders, anyone?) and mental illnesses such as depression and schizophrenia scattered about like a rigged scavenger hunt; typical physician-heal-thyself backstory that aims for adult sophistication but seems to be more like an adolescent giggle; unexpectedly grim finale boosts things somewhat but is followed by a cutesy postscript





ANGELS OVER BROADWAY (1940)
D   FIRST & LAST VIEWING
d: Ben Hecht
CAST: Douglas Fairbanks Jr; Rita Hayworth; Thomas Mitchell; John Qualen
> talk, talk, talk...but whaddya expect from a film written, produced and directed by Ben Hecht?; a little man in big trouble is helped by an alcoholic playwright, a barfly and a cynical conman; Doug Jr makes for a lousy tough guy with a soft centre; Rita is pretty pretty and pretty woeful; Thomas does his drunk act for the umpteenth time; but thankfully John Qualen doesn't do his Swede shtick; the fight action sequence is laughably bad; at least the B&W cinematography is finely done (Art Deco motifs; shadows & smoke etc.)




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