Best Movie-Viewing Experiences 7/2/16 - 18/2/16
CRIMSON TIDE (1995)
A- FIRST VIEWING
d: Tony Scott
CAST: Denzel Washington; Gene Hackman; Viggo Mortensen; James Gandolfini
> The Caine Mutiny cranked up a couple of notches; love LOVE the bold message the movie hits out with: "just blindly following orders is blatantly moronic"; was initially worried that this was gonna be another bloody ra-ra wave-the-flag pro-war brick but, despite the pesky Russkies being the bad guys, the movie avoids (pretty much) all that crap; tense action-thriller that, as usual, is enhanced rather than hindered by its cramped setting; both Denzel & Gene are mighty fine; is that weird banter about white Portuguese horses which are born black supposed to suggest an underlying racist motive??
GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER? (1967)
A- MOVIE JUKEBOX
d: Stanley Kramer
CAST: Spencer Tracy; Katharine Hepburn; Sidney Poitier; Cecil Kellaway
> just finished reading an excellent biography of Spencer Tracy by James Curtis and had to re-watch this (the backstage story of the film's making is movingly described in the book); while I admit that the film is mushy and as false as a seven dollar note, the final big-speech scene where Spencer stares semi-smilingly into Katharine's quivering eyes is where Life and Art meet; boy, it sure is a 60's film!; I know I've been charitable with the grade, but it's a good-hearted entertainment and a sentimental gift for us old-movie-star fans
Award-Worthy Performances
Spencer Tracy & Katharine Hepburn
ANOMALISA (2015)
A- FIRST VIEWING IN-CINEMA
d: Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson
CAST: David Thewlis; Jennifer Jason Leigh; Tom Noonan
> it's not part of this blog's brief to review animated films, but this one is too special to shrug away; an exploration of the Human Condition (feeling alone / being disillusioned / what does it all mean? / am I the only weird person who feels like this? / etc) using sort-of puppets; quite affecting, especially after you get used to and understand the point of the unusual stuff; the puppets resemble stringless Thunderbirds (one in particular is a dead ringer for Lady Penelope); a very adult film with a few laughs, something significant to say with a downbeat but realistic ending; openminded, compassionate & smart
CRY, THE BELOVED COUNTRY (1995)
A- FIRST VIEWING
d: Darrell Roodt
CAST: James Earl Jones; Richard Harris; Charles S. Dutton
> very moving anti-Apartheid movie which is surprisingly gentle despite featuring a murder and an execution; peculiar elements in this movie (stilted, formal dialogue & a ceaseless pastoral soundtrack) shouldn't really work, but somehow do; risky performances by both leads - James plays a genuinely good, wise priest (ho-hum) and Richard is an old racist who abruptly corrects his bad attitude (how do you make that convincing?) but both rise to the occasion - it's their best work; a genuinely warming tale
Award-Worthy Performances
James Earl Jones; Richard Harris
BROOKLYN (2015)
A- FIRST VIEWING IN-CINEMA
d: John Crowley
CAST: Saoirse Ronan; Domhnall Gleeson; Jim Broadbent; Julie Walters
> lovely, old-fashioned romantic flick with the (Bias Alert) stunningly-pretty Saoirse in top form as a poor Irish girl living in a place as wild and wonderful as 1950's Brooklyn; migrating, adapting, missing home dreadfully, but returning there reluctantly; despite being the eponymous feature, Brooklyn itself is not as much of a character in the film as, say, someone like Woody Allen or Martin Scorcese would've made it; a weepie chick-flick of sorts sure, but refreshingly straightforward and free of sensationalism; makes a nice change
Award-Worthy Performance
Saoirse Ronan
DALLAS BUYERS CLUB (2013)
B+ FIRST VIEWING
d: Jean-Marc Vallee
CAST: Matthew McConaughey; Jennifer Garner; Jared Leto; Griffin Dunne
> another one of those films which impressed me far more than what I was expecting; usually don't like spending too much time with characters who seem to be taking a crash-course in debauchery, but this was different; Matthew's lowlife scumbag really does become a noble hero without a whiff of the holier-than-thous (I've always been a pushover for stories of redemption); love the compassion the filmmakers show for these desperate people; not pleasant viewing of course, but certainly enriching
Award-Worthy Performance
Matthew McConaughey
SPOTLIGHT (2015)
B+ FIRST VIEWING IN-CINEMA
d: Tom McCarthy
CAST: Michael Keaton; Mark Ruffalo; Rachel McAdams; Liev Schreiber; Stanley Tucci
> one of those movies which, if you didn't like it, you feel as if you have done something wrong; ignoring the topic, this is a pretty good investigative journalism film which is not up to the standard of All the President's Men or Zodiac; my biggest gripe is that the offending priests remain faceless men throughout the movie - surely a terrific climax would have been confronting one of these guys and posing the question "How could you?", so...an opportunity for a powerful scene has been missed; adequately engrossing, but a bit thin overall; certainly not "Film of the Year" material...so, therefore, watch it win the Oscar
Award-Worthy Performance
Mark Ruffalo
ANOTHER YEAR (2010)
B+ FIRST VIEWING
d: Mike Leigh
CAST: Jim Broadbent; Ruth Sheen; Lesley Manville; Peter Wight
> I'm slowly warming to Mike Leigh's movies but I still wish MORE would happen in them plotwise and this film is no exception; a compassionate hand on the shoulder of relationships, it is graced with an absolutely stunning performance by Lesley Manville as the desperately lonely Mary; whilst conflict exists, it seems to be muffled and is quickly reined in, so I never know if I care about some, all or none of the characters; I kept expecting a tragedy like a car-crash or overdose or something; the central married couple is the movie's soul and gives tonic to the enduring sadness; it lingers, but just barely
Award-Worthy Performance
Lesley Manville
ANGEL BABY (1995)
B+ SECOND VIEWING
d: Michael Rymer
CAST: John Lynch; Jacqueline McKenzie; Colin Friels; Deborra-Lee Furness
> sad tale of two schizophrenic (bi-polar? manic depressive?) people who fall in love, move in together (despite vehement opposition) and become pregnant; as an acting couple, John & Jacqueline are sweet and totally convincing; not many laughs in this, as you would expect, and it throws a doomed-before-they-even-try pall over the story; MAJOR GRIPE: the director resorts to age-old cinematic cliches to show mental illness (slow motion / tilted camera angles / 360-degree pans / severe and distorted close-ups / multi-tracked incoherent whisperings) rather than just trusting the actors to act
Award-Worthy Performances
John Lynch & Jacqueline McKenzie
LIBEL (1959)
B+ SECOND VIEWING
d: Anthony Asquith
CAST: Dirk Bogarde; Olivia de Havilland; Robert Morley; Wilfred Hyde-White
> okay courtroom drama which spins on the always unconvincing & contrived two-strangers-who-look-identical device; both Dirk (supplying his neurotic routine, which Michael Redgrave was always better at) and Olivia (she of the "oh darling, darling" wifey-mantra) are merely perfunctory in the leads; Robert & Wilfred as bickering barristers should be charged with the theft of the movie (which must have been anticipated as soon as they were cast); the ending is inevitable but tidies things up nicely; a pleasant movie to have on while you are doing the Sunday crossword
Worst Movie-Viewing Experiences 7/2/16 - 18/2/16
DOLORES CLAIBORNE (1995)
B RE-EVALUATION / ORIGINAL GRADE: C+
d: Taylor Hackford
CAST: Kathy Bates; Jennifer Jason Leigh; David Strathairn; Christopher Plummer
> first time I saw this movie I thought it was overwrought and turgid, with a typically blustery, yelling performance by Kathy Bates; upon second viewing, I have managed to pick up a couple of positives (the eclipse sequence is pure Hitchcock; supporting performances impress) and I think I nearly enjoyed watching it; Kathy & Jennifer still strike me as being too mannered though and they don't match up as mother & daughter; the plot tilts into artificiality but not disastrously so (it is a Stephen King story after all); sitting on the fence, possibly leaning slightly forwards I guess
Award-Worthy Performances
Judy Parfitt; Ellen Muth
DEADPOOL (2016)
B- FIRST VIEWING IN-CINEMA
d: Tim Miller
CAST: Ryan Reynolds; some other people
> I am a child of the 60's, so the character of Deadpool doesn't have the nostalgic grab for me that old-school superheroes like Cap, Spidey and the FF have; film shoulda been funnier, even though it plays around with an extreme version of slapstick (smashstick?); quite appropriately, it's very violent with impalings, dismemberments and beheadings, but minimally gory; not a big Ryan fan - I find him too self-impressed - but he's a good fit for the Merc With a Mouth; lotsa pop-culture jokes that won't mean a thing in 5 years time; the romance and origin-story are draggy appendages; the (I assume) franchise has got potential, but they need to ditch the remaining superhero-movie cliches and boldly go where...etc
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Best Movie-Viewing Experiences 18/1/16 - 6/2/16
TESS (1979)
A MOVIE JUKEBOX
d: Roman Polanski
CAST: Nastassja Kinski; Peter Firth; Leigh Lawson
> Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy is one of my very favourite pre-20th Century novels; I read it for the first time when I was 17, and its belief that all of life is rigged before you even get here, mixed with luscious, pastoral imagery triggered something in my adolescent soul; Roman THE perfect director to turn it into a film and he did a superb job; it looks gorgeous (as does Nastassja) and some of the images (the growing bloodstain; eating a strawberry) will stay with you; shame the two male characters are so totally reprehensible; one of those rare tragedies which never slides into brow-beating melodrama; the film is pre-empted with a dedication to Sharon Tate, which is very moving
ROOM (2015)
A FIRST VIEWING IN-CINEMA
d: Lenny Abrahamson
CAST: Brie Larson; Jacob Tremblay; Joan Allen; William H. Macy
> emotionally powerful film which somehow manages to successfully combine two disparate plot elements: the aftermath of an appalling crime, and the world seen as new & wondrous by a little boy; Brie is a totally real person living through the unthinkable; Jacob gives what must be the greatest cinematic performance by a child actor under 10; even the tiniest of roles don't appear to be acted, and this, in combination with the handheld camerawork (which, for once, is not overdone), gives the film a documentary feel - you are there
Award-Worthy Performances
Brie Larson; Jacob Tremblay
THE FOUR FEATHERS (1939)
A- SECOND VIEWING
d: Zoltan Korda
CAST: John Clements; Ralph Richardson; C. Aubrey Smith; June Duprez
> another British Empire movie, in the same quality company as Gunga Din / The Lives of a Bengal Lancer / Zulu / Breaker Morant / North West Frontier; lots of derring-do and boy's-own-adventure antics; gorgeous 1939 Technicolor; apart from C Aubrey's splendid old-soldier routine, the acting is merely serviceable, but I guess it doesn't have to be much more than that; Ponderous Question: why hasn't there ever been a movie made about the Siege & Relief of Mafeking? In the right hands (Ridley Scott?), it could be as good as this, doncha think?
Award-Worthy Performance
C. Aubrey Smith
PLACES IN THE HEART (1984)
A- RE-EVALUATION / ORIGINAL GRADE: B
d: Robert Benton
CAST: Sally Field; Danny Glover; John Malkovich; Lindsay Crouse; Ed Harris
> third viewing and I have mysteriously taken to this movie after years of ignorantly dismissing it; I find it quite touching and am impressed by qualities such as the set design (the smalltown houses in particular, right down to the screen doors slamming and the paint peeling off the weatherboard) and the acting of the support cast; I've always thought Sally Field's talents are generally overrated, but she does a respectable job here; love LOVE the open-hearted ending, a true classic final scene
Award-Worthy Performances
Danny Glover; John Malkovich
ACT OF VIOLENCE (1948)
A- FIRST VIEWING
d: Fred Zinnemann
CAST: Van Heflin; Robert Ryan; Janet Leigh; Mary Astor; Phyllis Thaxter
> exciting post-WWII thriller about a Nazi informant (he really did it - no misunderstanding here) being tracked down for payback-killing by one his fellow POW inmates; Robert plays the typical Robert Ryan role (very well, of course); standout is Mary (playing way against type) as front-bar floozie who doesn't have a heart of gold but does have the smarts to recognise and flee from trouble; effective noirish imagery and techniques employed throughout; ending is predictable but still makes an impact (great car crash!)
Award-Worthy Performance
Mary Astor
THE LODGER (1944)
B+ SECOND VIEWING
d: John Brahm
CAST: Merle Oberon; Laird Cregar; George Sanders; Cedric Hardwicke; Sara Allgood
> still the best of the Jack the Ripper movies; creepy foggy shadowy streets of 1880's London beautifully done; George & Cedric were born for stories set in this era; Laird proves that his death soon after this film at the age of 31 (heart attack brought on by the stress of crash dieting) was a great loss to cinema; Merle proves yet again that her film stardom was a enigmatic fluke; music is too heavy at times and stomps on a number of scenes that would have benefited from silence; John Brahm was an interesting director and some of his choices of shots and camera positions here are inspired
Award-Worthy Performance
Laird Cregar
YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (1967)
B+ FIRST VIEWING
d: Lewis Gilbert
CAST: Sean Connery; Donald Pleasence; Bernard Lee
> I'm not much of a Bondophile but I believe this to be slightly underrated in the 007 universe; it has a number of things going for it: Sean of course (although he looks pretty silly with a Ninja makeover) / the Japan locale is appropriately exotic and interesting / the campy stuff is kept to a minimum (as are the stupid sex-quips) / the mini-copter is fun (I love the Dymo labels on its dashboard!); pace is a bit slack for an action flick though; Donald comes across more as an eccentric cat-person than an evil genius; love the the subterranean lair!
CAN YOU SPOT: the guy who was the narrator in The Rocky Horror Picture Show? / the guy who played Inspector Clouseau's always-on-the-attack houseboy? / the guy who was the voice of Scott Tracy in the original Thunderbirds?
THE RAILWAY CHILDREN (1970)
B+ FIRST VIEWING
d: Lionel Jeffries
CAST: Jenny Agutter; Dinah Sheridan; Bernard Cribbins
> yes, yes, it holds six teaspoons of sugar, but as a temporary antidote to cynicism, if you can keep it down, the film works a treat; episodic in structure and as inevitable as dental work, the story meanders along, using every opportunity to show how just-plain-good-and-decent these three children are (like everybody else in the quaint little English village); nice to see Dinah Sheridan (of Genevieve fame) and hasn't Jenny Agutter had an interesting career (did you spot her in Captain America: Winter Soldier?); overall, it's pretty naff of course, but it still gently warms a few cockles; I wonder when & why we started sneering at depictions of kindness?
ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ (1979)
B+ SECOND VIEWING
d: Don Siegel
CAST: Clint Eastwood; Patrick MacGoohan; Fred Ward
> nifty suspense flick directed by one of the action-movie-masters; breaking out of jail is an instant buzz-thrill, especially if the good-bad guys can beat the bad-good guys by using intelligence rather than violence; both Clint and Patrick are not much more than cardboard cut-out characters, but this film doesn't need any more than that from them to be effective; love the music score: tension-producing industrial-lite, used with such subtlety that you aren't conscious of it even playing half the time; the build-up to the escape is superior to the rather rushed outcome unfortunately, so there is a slight feeling of anticlimax
FRIENDLY PERSUASION (1956)
B+ RE-EVALUATION / ORIGINAL GRADE: A-
d: William Wyler
CAST: Gary Cooper; Dorothy McGuire; Anthony Perkins; Marjorie Main
> hadn't seen this since I was a kid but inspired to re-view it after reading William Wyler biography; not as good as I remembered it, but still fairly enjoyable; humour is often too broad and there's too much of it; message is "fighting is bad, but sometimes you just gotta", but it takes far too long to get there; Gary & Anthony (pre-Psycho mannerisms) match up as father & son and are quite endearing; one of the rare films that needs more rather than less explicit violence - the climactic river battle ends too quickly and its aftermath is brushed over; best battles are the buggy races and boy vs. goose
Award-Worthy Performances
Gary Cooper; Anthony Perkins
Worst Movie-Viewing Experiences 18/1/16 - 6/2/16
AGATHA (1979)
B- SECOND & LAST VIEWING
d: Michael Apted
CAST: Dustin Hoffman; Vanessa Redgrave; Timothy Dalton; Helen Morse; Timothy West
> hard to tell what the director's intentions were for this movie - it maintains an awkward tone right throughout, as if the story wasn't being told in its native tongue; the four main actors reflect this: they just don't agree with each other; Dustin seems to be acting in a drawing-room farce / Vanessa is in an "Ugly Duckling" romance / Timothy is in a straightforward bio-drama (and comes across as the only participant who seems to know what he is doing) / and Helen seems to be suppressing the urge to suddenly break out into the Charleston; the story itself is not particularly mysterious and is only briefly (and halfheartedly) interested in suspense; an all-round waste of everybody's time, money and talent
BEAR ISLAND (1979)
C FIRST VIEWING
d: Don Sharp
CAST: Donald Sutherland; Vanessa Redgrave; Richard Widmark; Lloyd Bridges
> an action thriller with little action and no thrills; starts off with interesting acknowledgment of climate change (in 1979!) and even comes complete with a scoffing sceptic; big name stars unsuccessfully attempt a range of accents which they drop in and out of; music score has been composed with a sledgehammer; backdrop of Arctic wasteland is initially impressive then becomes monotonous; constant traversing across snowy mountains becomes as boring as watching deep-sea scuba-diving; the big avalanche scene is pathetic and too many things are suddenly blown up just for a change of pace; who the bad guys are is too obvious right from the get-go; evil Nazi bastards + illicit gold...not again...
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