Movie-Viewing Experiences 5/11/16 - 13/11/16
A+ = Adored Masterwork A = Excellent A- = Very Good B+ = Good B = Nice Try B- = Tolerable
C = Below Par D = Quite Awful E = Truly Dreadful: Looking Into the Void F = Vile & Offensive: The Void
HACKSAW RIDGE (2016)
d: Mel Gibson
CAST: Andrew Garfield; Sam Worthington; Teresa Palmer; Vince Vaughn; Hugo Weaving
> quite possibly the greatest WWII movie ever made; vastly superior in every way to 1941's much-heralded Sergeant York, with which it shares a central theme (conscientious objector wants to serve his country without killing); the film gets the balance exactly right between showing the overwhelming horror of war and the would-I-do-that courage of ordinary men who fight in it; the violence is appropriately graphic and confronting (although I could've done without the slow-mo sequences...they tend to glamorize carnage); don't care at all about Mel's personal problems or beliefs...he is an artist behind the camera
Award-Worthy Performances
Andrew Garfield; Hugo Weaving; Vince Vaughn
THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD (1935)
d: Stuart Walker
CAST: Claude Rains; Douglass Montgomery; Heather Angel; Francis L. Sullivan
> satisfying (and hard to track down) film of Charles Dickens' last and unfinished novel; unusual subject for a Dickens story: focusses on sexual obsession to the point of psychosis; film unfortunately lacks the to-be-expected eccentric & memorable side characters which are a Dickens trademark; Claude plays the murderer devilishly-well although the blatant contradictions in the character (opium addict + choirmaster for example) make it an actor's dream; well-staged with some shots reminiscent of early Germanic cinema; a bit of a find
Award-Worthy Performance
Claude Rains
PIERREPOINT aka PIERREPOINT: THE LAST HANGMAN (2005)
d: Adrian Shergold
CAST: Timothy Spall; Juliet Stevenson; Eddie Marsan
> necessarily grim but fascinating bio-pic about England's last public executioner, Albert Pierrepoint who, between 1932-1956, hanged 435 people; Timothy is pretty much the whole show in this and he is genuinely stunning...he lets you see the emotional tumult building inside; his portrayal is of an ordinary man (whose father and uncle were executioners too) who tries to convince himself that he is just doing a job the best he can; credit to all that at no point does the film get bogged down with displays of "opening-up" and "sharing" (until the very end); depressing as hell of course, but still riveting
Award-Worthy Performance
Timothy Spall
NOCTURNAL ANIMALS (2016)
d: Tom Ford
CAST: Amy Adams; Jake Gyllenhaal; Michael Shannon; Aaron Taylor-Johnson
> a true mess-with-your-mind thriller which had me thinking of parallels to Hitchcock's Vertigo and Marnie; two different stories going on: 1) financially-successful woman wonders about her relationships with men (a little bland and ordinary) and 2) new novel written by the woman's long-ago-jilted ex-husband (violent and terrifying revenge story); Michael is fantastic as the Texan cop who wants to track down and punish the brutal offenders (in the novel); director Tom is in masterful control of the movie and of us...just like Hitch; PS...watch the opening credits and never eat another cheeseburger in your life
Award-Worthy Performance
Michael Shannon
HULK (2003)
d: Ang Lee
CAST: Eric Bana; Jennifer Connelly; Sam Elliott; Nick Nolte
> far better than I originally thought, this is really a King Kong / Jekyll & Hyde hybrid in the garb of a superhero movie; more a DC-style than a Marvel-formula movie (no jokes...quite tragic), it is greatly enhanced by the topnotch job by the main cast (Jennifer is the definitive Betty Ross); this is a motion-comic movie, as effects such as split-screening, fancy wipes and editing choices make clear (even to the use of Comic Sans font); while the Hulk character doesn't look quite right (his legs are too short for starters), the SFX are better than I remember (particularly the transformations); great final line!; made 5 years before the MCU-starting Iron Man, this movie was clearly ahead of its time
ARRIVAL (2016)
d: Denis Villeneuve
CAST: Amy Adams; Jeremy Renner; Forest Whitaker; Michael Stuhlbarg
> multiple alien visitations send understandable shockwaves across the planet as a way to communicate with the guests is sought; the aliens look like dirty-water squid crossed with Thing from the Addams Family; standard near-catastrophic response from the usual aggressors: Russia / China / rogue element in the US military; Amy is warm and natural as the linguist who tries to establish an inter-species dialogue whilst grappling with Life issues (relationships / parenthood); a cross between Spielberg's Close Encounters and Malick's Tree of Life and a little pretentious with it, but not too bad
Award-Worthy Performance
Amy Adams
LADY GANGSTER (1942)
d: Florian Roberts (pseudonym for Robert Florey)
CAST: Faye Emerson; Frank Wilcox; Julie Bishop; Roland Drew; Jackie Gleason
> a proud little B picture that punches above its weight; female bank robber is sent to prison...she has the "dough" safely hidden away which is actively sought after by her fellow inmates, her childhood sweetheart and her ex-gang members; Faye was one of the more striking-looking (and under-heralded) actresses of her day...she has a long, equine face which is exaggerated by having her hair brushed back off her forehead; baby-faced Jackie is surprising to see in an early serious role; a couple of stand-out scenes: male criminal in drag visits Faye in jail & the big finale punch-up...the staircase is totally demolished!; why director Robert "King of the B Movies" Florey camouflaged his name for this nifty movie is a mystery
THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS (2016)
d: Derek Cianfrance
CAST: Michael Fassbender; Alicia Vikander; Rachel Weisz; Bryan Brown; Jack Thompson
> old-fashioned romantic story which is slow in the telling...not that there's anything wrong with that; a bit Thomas Hardy Lite, so you get Passion, Human Frailty, Crime, Retribution and lots of interventions by Fate (or, as I like to call it, Amazing Coincidences); still, it's set, for the most part, on a lighthouse island (doncha love lighthouses?) just post-WWI and the ocean vistas are gorgeous to gaze upon (which you do often); one of the few films which really portrays in depth the agony of multiple miscarriages; Michael & Alicia are wonderful as the doomed lovers; brazenly goes for the heartstrings, but it's a tragic love story...that's its job
Award-Worthy Performances
Michael Fassbender & Alicia Vikander
THOR: THE DARK WORLD (2013)
d: Alan Taylor
CAST: Chris Hemsworth; Natalie Portman; Tom Hiddleston; Anthony Hopkins
> this is usually considered to be one of the subpar Marvel movies, but I'm not sure why...while it's not as good as Guardians of the Galaxy or The Avengers, it's better than Iron Man 2 and just as good as Ant-Man or Age of Ultron...it's about average as these things go; as with most fantasy world stories, I never know entirely what is going on but it all sure looks and sounds wonderful; smart use of side characters as comic relief; Chris & Tom are better in their roles in this than in the previous installments; always preferred Thor on Earth...my favourite comicbook image (Jack Kirby drawn, of course) is of Thor drinking a milkshake in a diner surrounded by adoring teenyboppers...ahh...I used to love my comics...
SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE VOICE OF TERROR (1942)
d: John Rawlins
CAST: Basil Rathbone; Nigel Bruce; Reginald Denny; Thomas Gomez; Henry Daniell
> the first of the "Let's Employ Sherlock Holmes to Fight the Nazis" movies; most of the traditional Holmes icons appear (violin & pipe & magnifying glass & "Elementary, my dear Watson") but the movie is not much more than wartime propaganda; sort-of based on Lord Haw-Haw with a swirl of Arthur Conan Doyle's "His Last Bow" Holmes story; not sure about the deliberate use of a "common girl" as live-in sex bait for a Nazi bastard (would Holmes really stoop that low?) and the use of underworld crime figures to help out dear old England in its hour of need is also suspect (and corny); Watson comes across in this as being too foolish and even cowardly and Sherlock needs a haircut; I guess it serves its purpose
MOONLIGHT AND VALENTINO (1995)
d: David Anspaugh
CAST: Elizabeth Perkins; Whoopi Goldberg; Gwyneth Paltrow; Kathleen Turner
> a film supposedly about grief but is more about sisterhood between weirdos; just like the incessant strength-of-strings soundtrack demands, this film is cynically designed to make you feel GOOD about your feelings, your fear of being different, your spiritual/sexual/emotional self; woman's husband unexpectedly dies and she is supported by her quirky sister, quirky best friend and quirky stepmother; we are manipulated to adore them because they are all so damned NICE; kudos to Gwyneth who is the film's performance-saviour...she is adorable; watch Million Dollar Baby or Old Yeller instead if you absolutely must have a cry
Award-Worthy Performance
Gwyneth Paltrow
NIGHT MONSTER (1942)
d: Ford Beebe
CAST: Bela Lugosi; Lionel Atwill; Don Porter; Leif Erikson; Irene Hervey
> a variation on The Old Dark House, this wannabe-thriller hands out yawns rather than frights; while Bela & Lionel are the headliners, they are barely in it; murderous creature is killing off doctors all of whom are conveniently staying in the creepy mansion of one of their "unfortunate" patients; poorly put together, the scenes have no flow into each other; a couple of effectively-designed scenes (love the enlarging shadow of the killer blotting out the victim and filling up the room) are the movie's only highlight; Leif is dreadful as the sleazy chauffeur and the other actors are barely adequate; no touches of humour anywhere (not even unintentional) which are a must in these kind of things; very not a lost horror gem
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