Movie-Viewing Experiences 15/5/17 - 30/5/17
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 & Repugnant: The Void
FARGO (1996)
A+ MOVIE JUKEBOX
d: Ethan & Joel Coen
CAST: Frances McDormand; William H. Macy; Steve Buscemi; Peter Stormare
> clocking up what must be my sixth viewing, this masterpiece just never loses its lustre, never fails to hang on to you; watching it with someone who had never seen it before, I was keen to have created another worshipper...but no...his comments were that it was too slow and a little dull...hey, what do teenagers know?; this time round I noticed how the film grows increasingly sad as the consequences of the crime play out; and yet, its overriding theme is that beauty and warmth exist in the ugliest and most bitter of circumstances... and that humour will always sit alongside despair, even on that final ride home
Award-Worthy Performances
Frances McDormand; William H. Macy; Steve Buscemi & Peter Stormare
BLESSED EVENT (1932)
A- SECOND VIEWING
d: Roy Del Ruth
CAST: Lee Tracy; Mary Brian; Allen Jenkins; Ruth Donnelly; Dick Powell
> wow! one of the fastest-talking and fastest-paced films I know; based on a stage play (which the zippiness helps camouflage), the film is centred on an all-ego gossip columnist who stirs up the New York citizenry (I assume...aren't these sorta things always in NY?) with his tell-all or make-it-up scandalous & highly personal news items...the inevitable gangsters-in-nightclubs get involved; Lee is an impressively-verbal dervish with his rat-tat-tat-patter and Ruth is a bemused hoot as his secretary; wisecracks abound, many of which still have life in 'em; the film even says something relevant to us about tabloid journalism
Award-Worthy Performances
Lee Tracy; Ruth Donnelly
VON RYAN'S EXPRESS (1965)
A- MOVIE JUKEBOX
d: Mark Robson
CAST: Frank Sinatra; Trevor Howard; Raffaella Cara; Edward Mulhare
> the many WWII actioners produced during the Sixties (The Guns of Navarone & The Great Escape & The Dirty Dozen...y'know...) have unfortunately overshadowed this terrific movie; this is Frank's coolest performance in his Rat Pack years; POW's are freed from an Italian camp then recaptured by the Nazis, transported by train into the heart of Germany...but Colonel Frankie has a cunning plan...; add creative camerawork, gorgeous Swiss Alpine scenery, the ol' British pomposity vs Yankee cut-the-crap and a genuine shock ending and you have a brutal war film which thrills rather than just appalls
Award-Worthy Performance
Frank Sinatra
THE SEA HAWK (1940)
A- RE-EVALUATION Original Grade: B+
d: Michael Curtiz
CAST: Errol Flynn; Claude Rains; Brenda Marshall; Flora Robson; Donald Crisp; Henry Daniell; Una O'Connor; Alan Hale; James Stephenson; Gilbert Roland
> nobody can buckle swash quite like Errol and this film (a hilariously phony depiction of the Spanish Armada) is his most action-packed; clearly a follow-up of sorts to 1938's The Adventures of Robin Hood, it features many of that classic's cast (with Brenda attempting to replace Olivia de Havilland...who is missed); lotsa rousing big music, lotsa slap-on-the-back humour amongst nice pirates and lotsa icky romance to give you a breather between the lotsa fights; Claude & Henry are suitably oily villains and Flora is a crafty Queen Liz #1
Award-Worthy Performances
Flora Robson
THE AGE OF INNOCENCE (1993)
A- SECOND VIEWING
d: Martin Scorcese
CAST: Daniel Day-Lewis; Michelle Pfeiffer; Winona Ryder; Miriam Margoyles
> stunning use of colour (very 1940's Michael Powell-ish) is the highlight of this lovely movie; story of rich society folk in 1870's New York and how their rules / morals / judgments manipulate and tamp down lives; the genteel-est of emotional violence is on display as the nasty and the petty weave their mesh; performances are all top-notch with no one particularly standing out or letting the side down either; while the film is the essence of slowburn with no unbridled outbursts of rage or breathy lust to beef proceedings up, it somehow never drags, despite the 139 minute run-time; so lush are the settings that you can see every cent of the $57500000 (2017 adjusted) it cost; and food has never looked so architecturally-designed
THE BITTER TEA OF GENERAL YEN (1933)
A- SECOND VIEWING
d: Frank Capra
CAST: Barbara Stanwyck; Nils Asther; Walter Connolly; Toshia Mori
> unusual setting (1920's Chinese Civil War) for what is essentially a miscegenation story...I guess the turbulence of war reflects the inner-turmoil of a love which is not meant to be...or something; well...it works...the general & the missionary woman ruin themselves with lust; Frank's best directed film... beautifully staged (war & love scenes) and strikingly lit (shadows & gloom used like paint); sole weakness is the casting of Barb... tough 'n' sassy she can do, but naive and subservient she struggles with; well-supported by Walter as a money-behind-the-throne Yank opportunist; a tragic love story with a bit more grit to it than usual
Award-Worthy Performance
Walter Connolly
THE ENFORCER aka MURDER, INC. (1951)
B+ FIRST VIEWING
d: Bretaigne Windust
CAST: Humphrey Bogart; Ted de Corsia; Zero Mostel; Everett Sloan; Roy Roberts
> plenty tough police procedural based on the Murder Inc. trials of the 30's & 40's; if anything, the film is TOO tough...not a drop of human kindness or compassion to be seen anywhere, including from the police and the innocent bystanders...consequently, there is no contrast between characters...they all just seem to have a job to do; complex structure - flashbacks within flashbacks - but the storytelling is never convoluted; Bogie wears a suit and carries a badge and reveals nothing else brewing inside, which for him is unusual; having said all that, the film excites, moves with a rush and is a precursor of 1970's police/crime classics like The French Connection and Across 110th Street
VICEROY'S HOUSE (2017)
B FIRST VIEWING IN-CINEMA
d: Gurinder Chadha
CAST: Hugh Bonneville; Manish Dayal; Gillian Anderson; Huma Qureshi; Michael Gambon
> historically interesting and educational (to me anyway...I knew very little about the partitioning of India / creation of Pakistan) film which looks great (grand British Empire buildings and trappings) but gets bogged down somewhat by a seen-it-a-hundred-times Romeo+Juliet subplot with a gimme-a-break tearjerking finale; all actors do their bits effectively but aren't able to lift the dialogue above a hohum BBC costume drama level...not that there's anything overly wrong with that...; curious lack of any mention of the assassination of Gandhi which, given the film's scope and intent should have been at least acknowledged, surely; highlights how much deliberate division of people just breeds prejudice and hatred (unfortunately, a lesson we must repeatedly be taught)
ALIEN: COVENANT (2017)
B FIRST VIEWING IN-CINEMA
d: Ridley Scott
CAST: Michael Fassbender; Katherine Waterston; Billy Crudup; Daniel McBride
> the most sumptuous looking space film I have ever seen...an absolute gourmet feast for the eyes; I had a good time but there's not a single surprise in any of it...you've seen it all before (aliens bursting out to and fro & a stronger-than-the-men heroine & a false ending & a devious android etc); Katherine is not up to snuff as the no-way-am-i-dying action-woman (just not as physically imposing as Sigourney for a start); plot is more straightforward than the previous Prometheus and, in fact, helps to clarify some of that prequel's murkier points; this addition to the canon remains exciting and tense-at-times, and its freeze-frames would be worthy of framing, but methinks the creative cow is close to dry
NO TIME FOR COMEDY (1940)
B- FIRST VIEWING
d: William Keighley
CAST: James Stewart; Rosalind Russell; Charles Ruggles; Genevieve Tobin
> Act I is a light friendly comedy which does a costume change in Acts II & III and becomes troubled-romantic slop; country-hick playwright has a hit on Broadway with his first play, marries the leading lady, is struck by writer's block, and turns to another woman to help him get those creative juices flowing; Jimmy just does his Mr Smith routine (and does it well, of course) but is outflanked by Ros who gives one of her most appealing, unmannered, natural performances, even when things get a bit turgid; Charlie always gives a film a boost but Genevieve is a goggle-eyed pain; a real shame that the warmth and humour of the first part was frittered away...it coulda been a good one
THE FUGITIVE KIND (1960)
B- FIRST VIEWING
d: Sidney Lumet
CAST: Marlon Brando; Anna Magnani; Joanne Woodward; Maureen Stapleton; Victor Jory
> a lesser Tennessee Williams stageplay shoehorned into a movie...and everybody just talks and talks and talks...; a real snoozer in parts, you feel obligated to stay awake because the dialogue is so ornate and sooo deep & meaningful that you think you might learn something about the Human Condition if you keep listening; the saving graces of all this dramatic verbiage are the performances which range from impassioned & moving to inventive & challenging; beautifully lit with some gorgeous close-ups...if only it moved more...
Award-Worthy Performances
Marlon Brando; Anna Magnani; Joanne Woodward; Maureen Stapleton; Victor Jory
EMPEROR OF THE NORTH aka EMPEROR OF THE NORTH POLE (1973)
B- FIRST VIEWING
d: Robert Aldrich
CAST: Lee Marvin; Ernest Borgnine; Keith Carradine
> I love trains and the one in this is a ripper; I used to hop wheat trains when I was kid between Stockwell and Truro, so I have a sentimental interest in the hobos-riding-the-rails of mythical Americana (mythical as in it was really a vicious and degraded existence); this tells how A-No.1 Hobo wants to ride a train and a sadistic trainguard wants to keep him off...that really is pretty much the entire plot...so the film unfortunately pads itself out to achieve a respectable running time; Lee as the Hobo Hero / Ernest as the Bastard is perfect typecasting but Keith is very annoying (deliberately maybe); crap music sounds like instrumental Glen Campbell; read the Kings in Disguise graphic novel by Jim Vance and Dan Burr instead
Got something you want to tell me?
GO RIGHT AHEAD: masted59@gmail.com
FARGO (1996)
d: Ethan & Joel Coen
CAST: Frances McDormand; William H. Macy; Steve Buscemi; Peter Stormare
> clocking up what must be my sixth viewing, this masterpiece just never loses its lustre, never fails to hang on to you; watching it with someone who had never seen it before, I was keen to have created another worshipper...but no...his comments were that it was too slow and a little dull...hey, what do teenagers know?; this time round I noticed how the film grows increasingly sad as the consequences of the crime play out; and yet, its overriding theme is that beauty and warmth exist in the ugliest and most bitter of circumstances... and that humour will always sit alongside despair, even on that final ride home
Award-Worthy Performances
Frances McDormand; William H. Macy; Steve Buscemi & Peter Stormare
BLESSED EVENT (1932)
d: Roy Del Ruth
CAST: Lee Tracy; Mary Brian; Allen Jenkins; Ruth Donnelly; Dick Powell
> wow! one of the fastest-talking and fastest-paced films I know; based on a stage play (which the zippiness helps camouflage), the film is centred on an all-ego gossip columnist who stirs up the New York citizenry (I assume...aren't these sorta things always in NY?) with his tell-all or make-it-up scandalous & highly personal news items...the inevitable gangsters-in-nightclubs get involved; Lee is an impressively-verbal dervish with his rat-tat-tat-patter and Ruth is a bemused hoot as his secretary; wisecracks abound, many of which still have life in 'em; the film even says something relevant to us about tabloid journalism
Award-Worthy Performances
Lee Tracy; Ruth Donnelly
VON RYAN'S EXPRESS (1965)
d: Mark Robson
CAST: Frank Sinatra; Trevor Howard; Raffaella Cara; Edward Mulhare
> the many WWII actioners produced during the Sixties (The Guns of Navarone & The Great Escape & The Dirty Dozen...y'know...) have unfortunately overshadowed this terrific movie; this is Frank's coolest performance in his Rat Pack years; POW's are freed from an Italian camp then recaptured by the Nazis, transported by train into the heart of Germany...but Colonel Frankie has a cunning plan...; add creative camerawork, gorgeous Swiss Alpine scenery, the ol' British pomposity vs Yankee cut-the-crap and a genuine shock ending and you have a brutal war film which thrills rather than just appalls
Award-Worthy Performance
Frank Sinatra
THE SEA HAWK (1940)
d: Michael Curtiz
CAST: Errol Flynn; Claude Rains; Brenda Marshall; Flora Robson; Donald Crisp; Henry Daniell; Una O'Connor; Alan Hale; James Stephenson; Gilbert Roland
> nobody can buckle swash quite like Errol and this film (a hilariously phony depiction of the Spanish Armada) is his most action-packed; clearly a follow-up of sorts to 1938's The Adventures of Robin Hood, it features many of that classic's cast (with Brenda attempting to replace Olivia de Havilland...who is missed); lotsa rousing big music, lotsa slap-on-the-back humour amongst nice pirates and lotsa icky romance to give you a breather between the lotsa fights; Claude & Henry are suitably oily villains and Flora is a crafty Queen Liz #1
Award-Worthy Performances
Flora Robson
THE AGE OF INNOCENCE (1993)
d: Martin Scorcese
CAST: Daniel Day-Lewis; Michelle Pfeiffer; Winona Ryder; Miriam Margoyles
> stunning use of colour (very 1940's Michael Powell-ish) is the highlight of this lovely movie; story of rich society folk in 1870's New York and how their rules / morals / judgments manipulate and tamp down lives; the genteel-est of emotional violence is on display as the nasty and the petty weave their mesh; performances are all top-notch with no one particularly standing out or letting the side down either; while the film is the essence of slowburn with no unbridled outbursts of rage or breathy lust to beef proceedings up, it somehow never drags, despite the 139 minute run-time; so lush are the settings that you can see every cent of the $57500000 (2017 adjusted) it cost; and food has never looked so architecturally-designed
THE BITTER TEA OF GENERAL YEN (1933)
d: Frank Capra
CAST: Barbara Stanwyck; Nils Asther; Walter Connolly; Toshia Mori
> unusual setting (1920's Chinese Civil War) for what is essentially a miscegenation story...I guess the turbulence of war reflects the inner-turmoil of a love which is not meant to be...or something; well...it works...the general & the missionary woman ruin themselves with lust; Frank's best directed film... beautifully staged (war & love scenes) and strikingly lit (shadows & gloom used like paint); sole weakness is the casting of Barb... tough 'n' sassy she can do, but naive and subservient she struggles with; well-supported by Walter as a money-behind-the-throne Yank opportunist; a tragic love story with a bit more grit to it than usual
Award-Worthy Performance
Walter Connolly
THE ENFORCER aka MURDER, INC. (1951)
d: Bretaigne Windust
CAST: Humphrey Bogart; Ted de Corsia; Zero Mostel; Everett Sloan; Roy Roberts
> plenty tough police procedural based on the Murder Inc. trials of the 30's & 40's; if anything, the film is TOO tough...not a drop of human kindness or compassion to be seen anywhere, including from the police and the innocent bystanders...consequently, there is no contrast between characters...they all just seem to have a job to do; complex structure - flashbacks within flashbacks - but the storytelling is never convoluted; Bogie wears a suit and carries a badge and reveals nothing else brewing inside, which for him is unusual; having said all that, the film excites, moves with a rush and is a precursor of 1970's police/crime classics like The French Connection and Across 110th Street
VICEROY'S HOUSE (2017)
d: Gurinder Chadha
CAST: Hugh Bonneville; Manish Dayal; Gillian Anderson; Huma Qureshi; Michael Gambon
> historically interesting and educational (to me anyway...I knew very little about the partitioning of India / creation of Pakistan) film which looks great (grand British Empire buildings and trappings) but gets bogged down somewhat by a seen-it-a-hundred-times Romeo+Juliet subplot with a gimme-a-break tearjerking finale; all actors do their bits effectively but aren't able to lift the dialogue above a hohum BBC costume drama level...not that there's anything overly wrong with that...; curious lack of any mention of the assassination of Gandhi which, given the film's scope and intent should have been at least acknowledged, surely; highlights how much deliberate division of people just breeds prejudice and hatred (unfortunately, a lesson we must repeatedly be taught)
ALIEN: COVENANT (2017)
d: Ridley Scott
CAST: Michael Fassbender; Katherine Waterston; Billy Crudup; Daniel McBride
> the most sumptuous looking space film I have ever seen...an absolute gourmet feast for the eyes; I had a good time but there's not a single surprise in any of it...you've seen it all before (aliens bursting out to and fro & a stronger-than-the-men heroine & a false ending & a devious android etc); Katherine is not up to snuff as the no-way-am-i-dying action-woman (just not as physically imposing as Sigourney for a start); plot is more straightforward than the previous Prometheus and, in fact, helps to clarify some of that prequel's murkier points; this addition to the canon remains exciting and tense-at-times, and its freeze-frames would be worthy of framing, but methinks the creative cow is close to dry
NO TIME FOR COMEDY (1940)
d: William Keighley
CAST: James Stewart; Rosalind Russell; Charles Ruggles; Genevieve Tobin
> Act I is a light friendly comedy which does a costume change in Acts II & III and becomes troubled-romantic slop; country-hick playwright has a hit on Broadway with his first play, marries the leading lady, is struck by writer's block, and turns to another woman to help him get those creative juices flowing; Jimmy just does his Mr Smith routine (and does it well, of course) but is outflanked by Ros who gives one of her most appealing, unmannered, natural performances, even when things get a bit turgid; Charlie always gives a film a boost but Genevieve is a goggle-eyed pain; a real shame that the warmth and humour of the first part was frittered away...it coulda been a good one
THE FUGITIVE KIND (1960)
d: Sidney Lumet
CAST: Marlon Brando; Anna Magnani; Joanne Woodward; Maureen Stapleton; Victor Jory
> a lesser Tennessee Williams stageplay shoehorned into a movie...and everybody just talks and talks and talks...; a real snoozer in parts, you feel obligated to stay awake because the dialogue is so ornate and sooo deep & meaningful that you think you might learn something about the Human Condition if you keep listening; the saving graces of all this dramatic verbiage are the performances which range from impassioned & moving to inventive & challenging; beautifully lit with some gorgeous close-ups...if only it moved more...
Award-Worthy Performances
Marlon Brando; Anna Magnani; Joanne Woodward; Maureen Stapleton; Victor Jory
EMPEROR OF THE NORTH aka EMPEROR OF THE NORTH POLE (1973)
d: Robert Aldrich
CAST: Lee Marvin; Ernest Borgnine; Keith Carradine
> I love trains and the one in this is a ripper; I used to hop wheat trains when I was kid between Stockwell and Truro, so I have a sentimental interest in the hobos-riding-the-rails of mythical Americana (mythical as in it was really a vicious and degraded existence); this tells how A-No.1 Hobo wants to ride a train and a sadistic trainguard wants to keep him off...that really is pretty much the entire plot...so the film unfortunately pads itself out to achieve a respectable running time; Lee as the Hobo Hero / Ernest as the Bastard is perfect typecasting but Keith is very annoying (deliberately maybe); crap music sounds like instrumental Glen Campbell; read the Kings in Disguise graphic novel by Jim Vance and Dan Burr instead
Got something you want to tell me?
GO RIGHT AHEAD: masted59@gmail.com
