A+ = Masterwork A = Excellent A- = Very Good B+ = Pretty Good B = Nice Try B- = Tolerable
C = Barely Tolerable D = Intolerable E = Looking Into the Void F = The Void
THE MAN IN THE BACK SEAT (1962)
d: Vernon Sewell
CAST: Derren Nesbitt; Keith Faulkner; Carol White
> one of the British "Quota Quickies" which manages to jump up a class or two in quality; based on an Edgar Wallace story (one of the world's most prolific, wide-ranging writers ever...he even wrote the original script for King Kong), the film is virtually a How-To guide in making an exciting, meaningful movie on the slimmest of budgets (small cast & minimal number of sets & keep it dark); a couple of newbie thieves attempt to rob a bookie of his takings...but the bag is handcuffed to his wrist...and there's no key...; clearly born to lose, the two petty villains stumble from one misfortune to another, trying to out-maneuver the inevitable; the direction is taut, wasting no time in conversational character analysis...you get to know everyone through their actions; the ending is perfection
THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN (2016)
d: Tate Taylor
CAST: Emily Blunt; Rebecca Ferguson; Haley Bennett; Justin Theroux; Allison Janney
> no, I haven't read the book; pretty good murder-mystery story which unfolds its details gradually, flashing back and forth without ever becoming confusing; masterful performance by Emily as the alcoholic protagonist (to be fair, it's a great part which any reasonable actress would've looked good in); once the culprit and the motive are revealed, the film dawdles in its winding up, thus robbing us of a powerhouse, tense finish; it had my attention right through its two hours, but according to the three women sitting behind me, it's not as good as the book...who would've guessed? BTW...Emily is hardly a girl. Woman. She's a woman.
Award-Worthy Performances
Emily Blunt; Allison Janney
MULHOLLAND FALLS (1996)
d: Lee Tamahori
CAST: Nick Nolte; Chazz Palminteri; Jennifer Connelly; Melanie Griffith; Treat Williams; John Malkovich; Michael Madsen; Andrew McCarthy; Chris Penn; Bruce Dern; Louise Fletcher
> mysteriously over-looked and under-valued modern film noir in the style of Chinatown; set in early 1950's L.A. and centred on a squad of detectives with the rapport between them being a highlight of the film; Chazz stands-out as an aggressive cop trying to improve himself through therapy; gruesome murder of a woman, intimately known to Nick, leads them to the Atomic Energy Commission; well-told story with little injections of humour here and there; while the soundtrack music is a bad fit, the vast cast all fit fine; film deserves rediscovery
Award-Worthy Performance
Chazz Palminteri
THE GIFT (2000)
d: Sam Raimi
CAST: Cate Blanchett; Giovanni Ribisi; Keanu Reeves; Katie Holmes; Hilary Swank; Gary Cole; Greg Kinnear; J.K. Simmons; Rosemary Harris
> a Southern Gothic (so therefore contains the obligatory rednecks, sudden violence, religion + the supernatural and creepy swamp trees draped with vines) which has been underrated by most critics...not sure why; the murder-mystery aspect is well-handled (even if the true culprit is pretty obvious) and Sam knows how to crank up the scares; all-star cast is engaging with Cate the stand-out and Keanu a surprisingly-effective husband-from-hell; can't make up my mind if Giovanni is excellent or OTT but he can sure get angry; a serviceable thriller
Award-Worthy Performance
Cate Blanchett
CHARLIE CHAN AT THE OPERA (1936)
d: H. Bruce Humberstone
CAST: Warner Oland; Boris Karloff; William Demarest
> often referred to as the best Charlie Chan movie in the Warner Oland run...while I'm not able to go that far (haven't seen them all yet), it is obvious that it's a notch above many of the others; certainly lifted by the presence of Boris (in creepy / obsessed mode) and William (exasperated and loud as ever...and nobody can take a pratfall like Bill...great fun); when the murderer is revealed, it is a genuine surprise; film has quite a number of amusing one-liners sprinkled throughout (mainly delivered via Warner & William's parle); plot moves along at the usual cracking pace and there are blessed few operatic warblings to have to endure; a good parlour-game mystery movie of the old type, before smartypants forensics took over
THE QUARE FELLOW (1962)
d: Arthur Dreifuss
CAST: Patrick McGoohan; Sylvis Syms; Walter Macken
> a small but powerful anti-capital punishment story; life in a Dublin prison circa late 50's where most of the crims have that Irish twinkle & blarney goin' on; Patrick is the newbie guard who starts out as a by-the-book type but soon changes his outlook as he begins to view the prisoners as men; biggest weakness is the ridiculous sub-plot of this new guard dallying with the wife of the condemned-to-death man (and it's the shortest love affair in celluloid history...blink and you'll miss it); great pub scenes with two terrific brawls; you never meet or even see the face of the victim ("the quare fellow" is apparently an Irish term for condemned man) and the actual hanging itself is suitably cold and efficient; annoying & frustrating mystery...what does the note on the door say??
WOMAN ON THE RUN (1950)
d: Norman Foster
CAST: Ann Sheridan; Dennis O'Keefe; Robert Keith; Ross Elliott
> nifty B-Movie which manages to mine a unique plot point: witness to a murder runs away and is sought by 1) the police 2) the murderer 3) his wife; the wife tries to track him down and is followed by everybody else; Ann is my absolute favourite wisecrackin' dame from the Old School and this was her last good role of that ilk...and she is terrific; monetary concerns dictate plot locales and sets, but none of that matters with a good script and a skilled director and this film has both; snappy dialogue camouflages some of the necessary repetition of action; wonderful big finish in an amusement park complete with thundering rollercoaster
Award-Worthy Performance
Ann Sheridan
THE TWO FACES OF DR JEKYLL aka HOUSE OF FRIGHT aka JEKYLL's INFERNO (1960)
d: Terence Fisher
CAST: Paul Massie; Dawn Addams; Christopher Lee
> one of the under-regarded and certainly overlooked Hammer Horror movies from the studio's great 1957-1976 run; as usual, budgetary concerns dictate the production values, but costumes and sets still somehow manage to appear top quality; focus in this retelling of the Jekyll & Hyde classic is that Mr Hyde is the handsome, suave, charismatic brute (Jerry Lewis must have taken notes for his 1963 The Nutty Professor) and that his aim is power-through-sex; the usual body transformations occur offscreen (shame...how does Jekyll's beard grow inwards?) but they aren't overly missed; psychological horror wins out (it's cheaper) and makes the premise more interesting as a result; a little dull in patches with a weak finish, but still rewarding viewing
OYSTER FARMER (2004)
d: Anna Reeves
CAST: Alex O'Loughlin; Jack Norton; David Field; Kerry Armstrong; Jack Thompson
> just like there are quintessential American films (westerns & musicals & gangster flicks) and British (comedies & kitchen-sinkers), there are archetypal Aussie movies...and this is one of them; a blend of rough characters with good hearts & an emotional attachment to the land & struggling to make ends meet but she'll be right, mate & a joking distrust of strangers until they prove themselves; slight tale of a small river community eking out a living by farming oysters...romance, crime, broad humour and hard physical work all happening in gorgeous surroundings; good, natural acting by all with an assortment of fascinating faces sliding in and out of shot; low-key and human
ROBINSON CRUSOE ON MARS (1964)
d: Byron Haskin
CAST: Paul Mantee; Victor Lundin; Adam West
> very much a kids' film of its day because today's kids would call it stupid; thus, ex-kids who were 8 at the time would probably be its biggest fans; me, I missed seeing it as a kid (I was never much of a space guy anyway), so I can be objective...meh...it's okay, but I prefer 1959's Have Rocket, Will Travel featuring the Three Stooges; I was most absorbed by the first half, right up until he found company and immediately took a fascistic-approach to friendship..."I am the boss man around here and don't you forget it"...and that's even after he found out that Friday was an abused slave; must have been the inspiration for Ridley Scott's superior (but not by much) The Martian; I have a question: why didn't the guy eat the monkey once he had someone else to talk to?
MISS PEREGRINE'S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN (2016)
d: Tim Burton
CAST: Asa Butterfield; Eva Green; Samuel L. Jackson; Chris O'Dowd; Terence Stamp
> disappointing; based on the trailer, I was expecting a cross between the cartoon series Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen graphic novels but no such luck; applause for the sheer cleverness of the ideas and the depth of the imagination on show, but so little has been done with it; it dazzles visually (it's a Tim Burton film after all) but sags in the storytelling; slow build-up after intial shock-scene (very Harry Potter) but the characters aren't established...they are defined by their quirks, and that's all; Stan Lee's & Jack Kirby's X-Men and The Inhumans tramped similar ground but with more gravitas; the big showdown looks spectacular but really is just another superhero slugfest
LIMELIGHT (1952)
d: Charles Chaplin
CAST: Charlie Chaplin; Claire Bloom; Nigel Bruce; Buster Keaton
> a hefty wallow in self-pity, sentimentality and, most off-putting of all, martyrdom; hard to know where to begin, so substantial is my dislike of this movie; it seemed to just go on and on and on, slopping over from one serve of melancholy to another; Charlie plays a washed-up music hall great who rescues a ballerina from suicide; an unlikely romance based on gratitude develops; Charlie's on-stage acts are tedious and not even vaguely amusing, so no wonder the old guy was down & out; even the much-vaunted appearance of Buster only really stands out because it's a break from the monotony of it all; I have no doubt that this was Charlie's most personal film...but, mate, for the rest of us...boring is just boring
Got something you want to tell me?
Go right ahead.
