Movie-Viewing Experiences 13/12/16 - 7/1/17
A+ = Adored Masterwork A = Excellent A- = Very Good B+ = Good B = Nice Try B- = Tolerable
C = Seriously Flawed D = Pretty Awful E = Truly Dreadful: Looking Into the Void F = Vile & Offensive: The Void
PATERSON (2016)
d: Jim Jarmusch
CAST: Adam Driver; Golshifteh Farahani; Barry Shabaka Henley
> I'm a sucker for movies that enticingly highlight how extraordinary ordinary lives can be...this is one of those; a bus driver named Paterson lives & works in a town called Paterson and his hobbies are writing poetry and observing life...his wife creates in black & white patterns...and they have a bulldog who is more than he seems; it takes a bit of getting used to the film's calm rhythm and methodical structure, but once you've settled in, any changes to the routines are a shock; images and attributes (twins & William Carlos Williams & water falling) ripple throughout like pebbles thrown into a fluid universe; a true beauty
Award-Worthy Performances
Adam Driver
PARKLAND (2013)
d: Peter Landesman
CAST: Paul Giamatti; Zac Effron; Marcia Gay Harden; Billy Bob Thornton; Jacki Weaver
> JFK assassination film, but this time it's not about the conspiracy, but rather, the chain of events which took place in the murder's immediate aftermath: the desperation and chaos at the Parkland Hospital & the extreme pressure and badgering that Zapruder experienced & the clumsy removal of the President's coffin & the ignobility suffered by Oswald's family & the panic shown by the FBI & the spartan burial of Oswald; mysteriously underrated, this movie manages to combine a you-are-there feel (via mannered handheld camerawork) with a high-impact understanding of the human tragedy; significantly underrated
Award-Worthy Performance
Jacki Weaver
THE FLESH AND THE FIENDS aka MANIA aka THE FIENDISH GHOULS (1960)
d: John Gilling
CAST: Peter Cushing; Donald Pleasance; Billie Whitelaw; George Rose
> another retelling of the Burke & Hare murders, with all the necessary grime & gloom of early 19th Century Edinburgh; a semi-graphic and up-close-and-violent production which, of course, is totally appropriate considering the sordid subject matter: you get drunken sluts & naked bosoms mixed in with stranglings, hangings and eye-burnings; Donald manages (for once) to rein in his tendency to ham the weirdness up and his scenes are suitably nasty; while the film ends too late (should've stopped after the little girl delivered her one-liner zinger to the Doctor), this is the only real weakness in an otherwise gripping, unsettling, well-acted and effectively staged horror-piece; surprisingly, not one of the House of Hammer films, but just as good
DARK COMMAND (1940)
d: Raoul Walsh
CAST: John Wayne; Claire Trevor; Walter Pidgeon; Roy Rogers; George "Gabby" Hayes; Marjorie Main; Porter Hall; Raymond Walburn
> likeable minor Western based around the infamous American Civil War exploits of Quantrill's Raiders; Big John channels his "Ringo Kid" Stagecoach persona into this performance of a pro-Union Texan (!) who becomes Marshall of a small Kansas town...war breaks out and previously-mild-mannered schoolteacher Quantrill plays one side against the other to serve his own agenda; Claire is the pretty & feisty love interest of both men; usual Raoul mixture of terrific action scenes and sly, you-gotta-be-quick humour (mainly courtesy of old man Gabby); strong character actors fill in the supporting roles and the whole thing is quite entertaining without being especially riveting
LA LA LAND (2016)
d: Damien Chazelle
CAST: Emma Stone; Ryan Gosling; John Legend
> charming romantic musical with Emma & Ryan both at their absolute best...Emma's eyes and Ryan's voice could melt the hardest heart when they are cranked up into 100% Raw Emotion Mode; as with most romance stories, this starts out being pissed off with each other...love ensues...argument & a break-up...back together...y'know...the usual; the ending is surprisingly different (and effective) though; Biggest Gripe: the songs/tunes are anonymous and hardly up to the classics from the 30's & 40's musicals...you won't be humming any of these afterwards; I had a nice time but it's no Cabaret or Swing Time
Award-Worthy Performances
Emma Stone & Ryan Gosling
WHO'S MINDING THE MINT? (1967)
d: Howard Morris
CAST: Jim Hutton; Dorothy Provine; Walter Brennan; Milton Berle; Joey Bishop; Bob Denver; Jack Gilford; Victor Buono; Jamie Farr
> another dip into the It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World barrel, but whereas that nutty caper flick had everything tossed into it in the hope that it would end up being funny, this one shows that less is more... but not that much more; I enjoyed this B-Grade version of an all-star cast (particularly Jim who holds the whole shebang together... he was an underrated actor) and the silliness gradually builds rather than keeping its hand on the throttle throughout; the colour is day-glo bright and luscious, the ending is appropriately ha-ha ironic and there are set pieces which are mildly amusing... but hilarious it ain't
MADIGAN (1968)
d: Don Siegel
CAST: Richard Widmark; Henry Fonda; James Whitmore; Inger Stevens; Harry Guardino
> time & television have turned this kind of cop movie into a virtual corny cliche: maverick, takes-no-bullshit cop who follows his own rules and will do anything to "get his man"; this comes across as a movie-length pilot for a TV series (which Madigan turned out to be for one season...hey, it was worth a try), right down to the soundtrack (blaring jazzy horns), font & positioning of the opening credits and the use of sexually-needy women as love objects for the grizzled men; Richard & Henry both put in effective turns as principles-clashing lawmen, but it's nothing you haven't seen them do before, younger; the baddies are really bad (and sleazy of course) and the garbage-can alleys of New York are where all the action is; okay but absolutely zero surprises...except the ending...
ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES (1959)
d: Bernard L. Kowalski
CAST: a whole bunch of people who must be friends of the producers
> no, no...it's actually not that bad...quaint "creature feature" that was all the rage in the 1950's drive-ins; title is self-explanatory (the gigantism caused by pesky atomic radiation of course); pretty funny leech costumes which look like three-mitted floor polishers wrapped in rubber; so...what is there to like?...well, it is set in a Florida bayou which is always creepy + the filmmakers use the murky water and shrouding vines and shadows to full advantage, hiding the tight budget and cranking up the atmosphere + the actors aren't actually too bad + the Baby Doll / The Postman Always Rings Twice side plot is something different in this type of movie + the monstrous sucking by the leeches is quite amusing; if only the drained corpses didn't appear to still be so fat 'n' healthy afterwards
THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS (1987)
d: John Glen
CAST: Timothy Dalton; Maryam d'Abo; Joe Don Baker; John Rhys-Davies; Jeroen Krabbe
> hmm...James Bond Movie #15...let's see: Pre-Title Sequence = 6/10; Title Sequence = 3/10; Song = 1/10; Timothy as Bond = 6/10; Bond Villain = 3/10; Bond Girl = 5/10; Recurring Characters = 3/10; Intrigue & Plot Twists = 7/10; Fight Scenes = 6/10; Chase Scenes = 7/10; Exotic Locales = 7/10; Gadgets = 6/10; Humour & Puns = 4/10; Blowing Shit Up = 9/10; Big Climactic Stunt = 8/10; Overall Mindless Fun Quotient = 6/10; Average Score = 5.5/10; not one of the best Bonds (Skyfall; Goldfinger; Goldeneye) & not one of the worst (any of the Roger Moore ones apart from The Spy Who Loved Me)...but I'm sure you already knew that
BLACK FURY (1935)
d: Michael Curtiz
CAST: Paul Muni; Karen Morley; John Qualen; Barton MacLane
> this is one of those Warner Brothers social-dramas, this time about unionism & corruption in a coal mine; hard to tell if it's union-bashing or union-patting but at least it's blatantly anti-fascist-swine; Paul Muni gives yet another one of his over-mannered / exaggerated / hammy-as-hell-when-he-tries-to-be-cute performances, bleating out one of his most ghastly Middle-European accents (Polish? Swiss? Russian? Greek?)... how was this guy considered one of the great cinematic actors?; to make matters worse, John Qualen is his best friend and contributes his grating schtick of faux-European (Swedish? Portuguese? Belgian? Dutch?); while the intent is commendable (I think...the guy resorts to blowing up the mine... hmm) the story is turgid and certainly not as rousing as it should be; an acceptable left-wing fairy tale
BLUE RUIN (2013)
d: Jeremy Saulnier
CAST: Macon Blair; Devin Ratray; Amy Hargreaves
> another Ameri-Indie movie which believes that an almighty wallow in US Gun Culture will throw up a thriller; competently made (nice cinematography), this is the story of a lost man hellbent on killing his parents' killer and when the killer's family tries to kill him, he kills them; violence is graphic (heads blown open & knives rammed into skulls) and influenced by video game imagery... nobody seems to be all that upset when brains are spilled; nice performance by Macon in the lead, especially in the early parts when he is homeless & hopeless; film's biggest flaw is the total lack of suspense... Tarantino has shown how to extend a scene with quirky dialogue, keeping us on tenterhooks 'cos we just know an explosion of violence is coming soon... the mumbly hero in this has nobody to talk to
FIVE CORNERS (1987)
d: Tony Bill
CAST: Jodie Foster; Tim Robbins; John Turturro
> one of the most downright painful films I have ever seen; comes across as some inept Film School student's catch-up project; tries to tell the stories of intermingled young lives in The Bronx circa 1964...sorta like Short Cuts crossed with More American Graffiti; it clearly means to be a dark comedy, but it is too sick and ghastly to be even vaguely humorous (a penguin gets its head bashed in fer chrissakes...a penguin!!); Jodie & Tim are their usual uninspired selves and John as the neighbourhood psycho fails to fascinate you with his weirdness; awkwardly paced, confusingly themed (how did the Peace Movement & Civil Rights get into the mix?) featuring murder-by-archery, glue-sniffing and a son who throws his mum out the window; the only saving grace this mess has is that the second penguin made it out alive
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