Movie-Viewing Experiences 31/7/17 - 22/8/17
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
25th HOUR (2002)
A SECOND VIEWING
d: Spike Lee
CAST: Edward Norton; Philip Seymour Hoffman; Barry Pepper; Rosario Dawson; Brian Cox
> Self-Righteous But Truly-Believed Disclaimer: drug-dealers are the scum of the earth and deserve all the retribution they get; this movie about a convicted scumbag's last 24 hours of liberty before he gets locked up for 7 years is surprisingly richly emotional...the soft-breath soundtrack haunts the conversations, the admissions, the regrets, the anger coming from all the people in the guy's life who are now impacted by his imminent absence; as much a New-York-as-leading-character movie as anything by Woody Allen; the ending is absolute perfection; still, I don't feel any pity for the greedy, arrogant criminal...so why does the film move me this much?
Award-Worthy Performance
Barry Pepper
GOODFELLAS (1990)
A MOVIE JUKEBOX
d: Martin Scorsese
CAST: Ray Liotta; Robert De Niro; Joe Pesci; Lorraine Bracco; Paul Sorvino
> this is where Martin Scorsese shows off his cinematic mastery; the 145 minute runtime just flies by as we enter the career of a gangster, from childhood rise to drugged-up fall; never less than totally entertaining throughout with a seemingly-neverending soundtrack which brims with great choices (The Stones! Phil Spector! Doo Wop!); the violence is graphic & confronting but is never exciting or cool; while everyone raves about Loonie Joe, I always thought that the standout is Ray who is absolute perfection...he takes what he can from the lifestyle but tiptoes around the edges of true psycholand, loving his friends and not trusting any of 'em, ever
Award-Worthy Performances
Ray Liotta; Joe Pesci
BATMAN BEGINS (2005)
A- THIRD VIEWING
d: Christopher Nolan
CAST: Christian Bale; Michael Caine; Liam Neeson; Cillian Murphy; Gary Oldman; Katie Holmes; Morgan Freeman; Tom Wilkinson; Rutger Hauer
> an epic kick-off to the terrific Nolan Bat-Trilogy, the initial longwindedness seems to have dwindled with repeated viewings...with Bale being better as Bruce / Batman than I remember (still not as good as Kevin Conroy though); a couple of questionable casting choices (Katie is too much of a simp to be a tough D.A. and Pommy Tom as an Italian crime-lord is silly) are the only significant flaws; action is well-staged and edited, and the changes to the Batman mythos are only minor and are no threat to the originals; would've preferred more to have been made of the Arkham Asylum (Bedlam on meth) setting but that's just a private preference; Personal Aside to Fanboys: is there any significance to the little boy? Is he...Jason Todd?
MOTHER NIGHT (1996)
A- SECOND VIEWING
d: Keith Gordon
CAST: Nick Nolte; Sheryl Lee; John Goodman; Alan Arkin; Kirsten Dunst
> described in the Wikipedia entry as a "romantic war film", this movie of Kurt Vonnegut's 1961 novel is anything but that (yes, sure, the protagonist adores his wife, but this is not A Farewell to Arms); a Nazi war criminal awaits trial in an Israeli prison and writes his memoirs, revealing that he was really a spy for the Americans; flashback & forward structure built on usual Vonnegut blend of oppositions: brutality and tenderness & ice-cold reality and flights of fantasy; always interesting but never exciting, the story inevitably remains on a bleak level but somehow avoids being only heavy; it's pretty much a one-man Nick show with special guest stars popping in and out of his detailed tale; definitely better on the second viewing with some lines and images quite haunting; most haunting of all...is the guy telling the truth?
THE BIG SICK (2017)
B+ FIRST VIEWING IN-CINEMA
d: Michael Showalter
CAST: Kumail Nanjiani; Zoe Kazan; Holly Hunter; Ray Romano
> aw gee...a light-but-nice feelgood romantic-comedy-with-sad-bits like they used to make before the world turned cynical & scared; Kumail is a standup comedian who uses his Pakistani heritage as grist for his act...he meets a nice American girl and they fall in love...but then...; most impressive is the very natural chatty way Kumail and Zoe carry on, with sarcastic wisecrack following biting oneliner with the occasional dig of brutal honesty...you really do get the sense of an actual couple forming right in front of you; while all the cast members are spot-on, special mention must be made of Zoe...very Annette Bening-ish; the end-credits (with photos) reveal that it is based on a real-life story which adds emotional texture (in hindsight); while the story does drag out the "will they, won't they?" finish, it remains heartfelt
A MONSTER CALLS (2016)
B FIRST VIEWING IN-CINEMA
d: J.A. Bayona
CAST: Lewis MacDougall; Sigourney Weaver; Felicity Jones; Toby Kebbell; Liam Neeson (voice)
> imaginative pre-teen boy has an awful life: gets bullied and beaten-up at school + his father moved out and lives overseas + his grandmother is cold 'n' fussy + and, oh yes, his mother is dying from cancer; grief therapy & coping strategies are dished out to the poor kid by a tree monster which lives in the nearby graveyard; film is an odd mixture of live action, CGI fantasy and animation which, for the most part, works; comes across as a motion-version of one of those children's picture books which are much beloved by school librarians & are winners of annual literature awards, but are never actually borrowed by kids to read...too much of a downer; unavoidably teary, and the boy is good, but the story is a little predictable
GEORGY GIRL (1966)
B- SECOND VIEWING
d: Silvio Narizzano
CAST: Lynn Redgrave; James Mason; Alan Bates; Charlotte Rampling
> the story would like to be "homely girl seeks true love but finds happiness instead" but is better summed up with "girl with a chin like a mallet thinks she wants to be loved but really just wants to be a mother"; while Alan overdoes the wild crazy guy routine, Lynn (ugly duckling), James (dirty old man) and Charlotte (selfish 'n' shallow cow) are terrific; swingin' Sixties tenets of "screw-who-you-want, baby" and "abortion-is-a-form-of-contraception" are on full display here and instantly make it a historical curio...and a little uncomfortable (the euphemism used for "abort" is "destroy"...a cringer); certainly pleasant enough but made trivial by time
Award-Worthy Performances
Lynn Redgrave; Charlotte Rampling
HARPER (1966)
B- SECOND VIEWING
d: Jack Smight
CAST: Paul Newman; Lauren Bacall; Arthur Hill; Julie Harris; Shelley Winters; Robert Wagner
> really just a rejig of The Big Sleep or Farewell, My Lovely, but not in the same league; from Fast Eddie to Sully Sullivan, Paul Newman was always cool, but he was never entirely hip (which is what a groovy 60's P.I. calls for...like Elliott Gould in 1973's The Long Goodbye) so Paul doesn't always seem at ease here, despite incessantly chewing gum (a substitute for the more-usual chainsmoking); the missing-rich-person turning into conspiracy-with-many-murders plot allows for a number of well-staged scenes (punch-ups & shoot-outs of course) and the locations are attractive (in a sunlit L.A. kinda way); main weakness is in the supporting characters...nobody here is of the caliber of a Kasper Gutman or a Carmen Sternwood or a Moose Malloy...they are instead a rather dreary lot, adding no spice and immediately forgettable
THE BIBLE: IN THE BEGINNING (1966)
B- SECOND VIEWING
d: John Huston
CAST: George C. Scott; John Huston; Ava Gardner; Peter O'Toole; Richard Harris
> I am a fallen Christian (finding out about the Holocaust at the age of 12 knocked me off the pedestal), so this collection of old short stories has no spiritual significance for me; a number of the Bible's Greatest Hits are presented: Adam & Eve (nothing to see here) + Cain & Abel (potentially chilling but you wouldn't know it) + Noah's Ark (easily the best one of them all and a ripping yarn) + Tower of Babel (visually impressive but told too quickly) + Sodom & Gomorrah (Millicent on a Friday night is more debauched) + the Pillar of Salt (I told you so, woman) + the Story of Abraham (dramatically impressive but told too slowly); John the Director has given himself the best role as Noah...he is a twinkle-eyed grandpa and comes across as comic relief to compensate for all the stony, and sometimes tedious, reverence
MY SON, MY SON! (1940)
C FIRST VIEWING
d: Charles Vidor
CAST: Brian Aherne; Louis Hayward; Madeleine Carroll; Laraine Day; Henry Hull
> plausibility-stretching melodramatic slop which is partially rescued by a couple of pretty good performances; listen to this plot: up-from-the-slums writer spoils his son rotten + grown son ruins doting father's marriage-to-be by sexually harassing his stepmother-to-be + son impregnates daughter of longtime family friend then deserts her + doting father offers to marry mother-to-be who is carrying his grandchild + mother-to-be kills herself rather than allow such a sacrifice by a man who she is secretly in love with; by the time WWI elbows its way into this mess, all you want is for the spoiled-rotten son to get his bollocks blown off...but he unfortunately reforms instead; Louis plays the total shit well and Brian is an ideal 100% sap...everybody else is just about the place, wringing hands and keeping their faces straight
ARABESQUE (1966)
C FIRST VIEWING
d: Stanley Donen
CAST: Gregory Peck; Sophia Loren
> a classic example of how inappropriate casting can sink a movie...this romantic comedy spy chase thriller cries out for the comic suavity of Cary Grant and the endearing charm of Audrey Hepburn...instead, we get lumped with Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren, neither of whom are anything much more than good-looking; the convoluted plot has so many twists & turns & red herrings & double-crosses that you give up trying to understand it, so you are left with a succession of perils which our cardboard couple has to survive; the support cast is filled with anonymous, zero-charismatic duds rather than interesting, quirky, memorable characters such as those played by, oh, I dunno, Walter Matthau or James Coburn or George Kennedy...Hey! I know! I'll watch Stanley Donen's 1963 Charade instead! And you should too.
I DECLARE WAR (2012)
D FIRST VIEWING
d: Jason Lapeyre; Robert Wilson
CAST: Gage Munroe; Siam Yu; Michael Friend; Mackenzie Munro; Alex Cardillo
> the boast on the DVD cover is that this is reminiscent of Lord of the Flies...it must mean the 1990 American remake (which is awful...Snap!); group of kids "play war" and take it very seriously...they drop blood bombs & the f-bomb, shoot to kill, torture with rocks and knives, smoke because it's cool and even suffer from sexual jealousy...heady stuff for kids who seem to be 12 years old, tops; film jaggedly shifts mood, throwing in romance, comedy, fantasy and theology all whilst supposed children are supposedly playing; it's all good fun until someone loses an eye...so bring back unarmed chasey...and childhoods that last past 10 years old
Award-Worthy Performances
Gage Munro stands out, but the entire cast is terrific...just wish they were in another movie
Go something you want to tell me?
GO RIGHT AHEAD: masted59@gmail.com
25th HOUR (2002)
d: Spike Lee
CAST: Edward Norton; Philip Seymour Hoffman; Barry Pepper; Rosario Dawson; Brian Cox
> Self-Righteous But Truly-Believed Disclaimer: drug-dealers are the scum of the earth and deserve all the retribution they get; this movie about a convicted scumbag's last 24 hours of liberty before he gets locked up for 7 years is surprisingly richly emotional...the soft-breath soundtrack haunts the conversations, the admissions, the regrets, the anger coming from all the people in the guy's life who are now impacted by his imminent absence; as much a New-York-as-leading-character movie as anything by Woody Allen; the ending is absolute perfection; still, I don't feel any pity for the greedy, arrogant criminal...so why does the film move me this much?
Award-Worthy Performance
Barry Pepper
GOODFELLAS (1990)
d: Martin Scorsese
CAST: Ray Liotta; Robert De Niro; Joe Pesci; Lorraine Bracco; Paul Sorvino
> this is where Martin Scorsese shows off his cinematic mastery; the 145 minute runtime just flies by as we enter the career of a gangster, from childhood rise to drugged-up fall; never less than totally entertaining throughout with a seemingly-neverending soundtrack which brims with great choices (The Stones! Phil Spector! Doo Wop!); the violence is graphic & confronting but is never exciting or cool; while everyone raves about Loonie Joe, I always thought that the standout is Ray who is absolute perfection...he takes what he can from the lifestyle but tiptoes around the edges of true psycholand, loving his friends and not trusting any of 'em, ever
Award-Worthy Performances
Ray Liotta; Joe Pesci
BATMAN BEGINS (2005)
d: Christopher Nolan
CAST: Christian Bale; Michael Caine; Liam Neeson; Cillian Murphy; Gary Oldman; Katie Holmes; Morgan Freeman; Tom Wilkinson; Rutger Hauer
> an epic kick-off to the terrific Nolan Bat-Trilogy, the initial longwindedness seems to have dwindled with repeated viewings...with Bale being better as Bruce / Batman than I remember (still not as good as Kevin Conroy though); a couple of questionable casting choices (Katie is too much of a simp to be a tough D.A. and Pommy Tom as an Italian crime-lord is silly) are the only significant flaws; action is well-staged and edited, and the changes to the Batman mythos are only minor and are no threat to the originals; would've preferred more to have been made of the Arkham Asylum (Bedlam on meth) setting but that's just a private preference; Personal Aside to Fanboys: is there any significance to the little boy? Is he...Jason Todd?
MOTHER NIGHT (1996)
d: Keith Gordon
CAST: Nick Nolte; Sheryl Lee; John Goodman; Alan Arkin; Kirsten Dunst
> described in the Wikipedia entry as a "romantic war film", this movie of Kurt Vonnegut's 1961 novel is anything but that (yes, sure, the protagonist adores his wife, but this is not A Farewell to Arms); a Nazi war criminal awaits trial in an Israeli prison and writes his memoirs, revealing that he was really a spy for the Americans; flashback & forward structure built on usual Vonnegut blend of oppositions: brutality and tenderness & ice-cold reality and flights of fantasy; always interesting but never exciting, the story inevitably remains on a bleak level but somehow avoids being only heavy; it's pretty much a one-man Nick show with special guest stars popping in and out of his detailed tale; definitely better on the second viewing with some lines and images quite haunting; most haunting of all...is the guy telling the truth?
THE BIG SICK (2017)
d: Michael Showalter
CAST: Kumail Nanjiani; Zoe Kazan; Holly Hunter; Ray Romano
> aw gee...a light-but-nice feelgood romantic-comedy-with-sad-bits like they used to make before the world turned cynical & scared; Kumail is a standup comedian who uses his Pakistani heritage as grist for his act...he meets a nice American girl and they fall in love...but then...; most impressive is the very natural chatty way Kumail and Zoe carry on, with sarcastic wisecrack following biting oneliner with the occasional dig of brutal honesty...you really do get the sense of an actual couple forming right in front of you; while all the cast members are spot-on, special mention must be made of Zoe...very Annette Bening-ish; the end-credits (with photos) reveal that it is based on a real-life story which adds emotional texture (in hindsight); while the story does drag out the "will they, won't they?" finish, it remains heartfelt
A MONSTER CALLS (2016)
d: J.A. Bayona
CAST: Lewis MacDougall; Sigourney Weaver; Felicity Jones; Toby Kebbell; Liam Neeson (voice)
> imaginative pre-teen boy has an awful life: gets bullied and beaten-up at school + his father moved out and lives overseas + his grandmother is cold 'n' fussy + and, oh yes, his mother is dying from cancer; grief therapy & coping strategies are dished out to the poor kid by a tree monster which lives in the nearby graveyard; film is an odd mixture of live action, CGI fantasy and animation which, for the most part, works; comes across as a motion-version of one of those children's picture books which are much beloved by school librarians & are winners of annual literature awards, but are never actually borrowed by kids to read...too much of a downer; unavoidably teary, and the boy is good, but the story is a little predictable
GEORGY GIRL (1966)
d: Silvio Narizzano
CAST: Lynn Redgrave; James Mason; Alan Bates; Charlotte Rampling
> the story would like to be "homely girl seeks true love but finds happiness instead" but is better summed up with "girl with a chin like a mallet thinks she wants to be loved but really just wants to be a mother"; while Alan overdoes the wild crazy guy routine, Lynn (ugly duckling), James (dirty old man) and Charlotte (selfish 'n' shallow cow) are terrific; swingin' Sixties tenets of "screw-who-you-want, baby" and "abortion-is-a-form-of-contraception" are on full display here and instantly make it a historical curio...and a little uncomfortable (the euphemism used for "abort" is "destroy"...a cringer); certainly pleasant enough but made trivial by time
Award-Worthy Performances
Lynn Redgrave; Charlotte Rampling
HARPER (1966)
d: Jack Smight
CAST: Paul Newman; Lauren Bacall; Arthur Hill; Julie Harris; Shelley Winters; Robert Wagner
> really just a rejig of The Big Sleep or Farewell, My Lovely, but not in the same league; from Fast Eddie to Sully Sullivan, Paul Newman was always cool, but he was never entirely hip (which is what a groovy 60's P.I. calls for...like Elliott Gould in 1973's The Long Goodbye) so Paul doesn't always seem at ease here, despite incessantly chewing gum (a substitute for the more-usual chainsmoking); the missing-rich-person turning into conspiracy-with-many-murders plot allows for a number of well-staged scenes (punch-ups & shoot-outs of course) and the locations are attractive (in a sunlit L.A. kinda way); main weakness is in the supporting characters...nobody here is of the caliber of a Kasper Gutman or a Carmen Sternwood or a Moose Malloy...they are instead a rather dreary lot, adding no spice and immediately forgettable
THE BIBLE: IN THE BEGINNING (1966)
d: John Huston
CAST: George C. Scott; John Huston; Ava Gardner; Peter O'Toole; Richard Harris
> I am a fallen Christian (finding out about the Holocaust at the age of 12 knocked me off the pedestal), so this collection of old short stories has no spiritual significance for me; a number of the Bible's Greatest Hits are presented: Adam & Eve (nothing to see here) + Cain & Abel (potentially chilling but you wouldn't know it) + Noah's Ark (easily the best one of them all and a ripping yarn) + Tower of Babel (visually impressive but told too quickly) + Sodom & Gomorrah (Millicent on a Friday night is more debauched) + the Pillar of Salt (I told you so, woman) + the Story of Abraham (dramatically impressive but told too slowly); John the Director has given himself the best role as Noah...he is a twinkle-eyed grandpa and comes across as comic relief to compensate for all the stony, and sometimes tedious, reverence
MY SON, MY SON! (1940)
d: Charles Vidor
CAST: Brian Aherne; Louis Hayward; Madeleine Carroll; Laraine Day; Henry Hull
> plausibility-stretching melodramatic slop which is partially rescued by a couple of pretty good performances; listen to this plot: up-from-the-slums writer spoils his son rotten + grown son ruins doting father's marriage-to-be by sexually harassing his stepmother-to-be + son impregnates daughter of longtime family friend then deserts her + doting father offers to marry mother-to-be who is carrying his grandchild + mother-to-be kills herself rather than allow such a sacrifice by a man who she is secretly in love with; by the time WWI elbows its way into this mess, all you want is for the spoiled-rotten son to get his bollocks blown off...but he unfortunately reforms instead; Louis plays the total shit well and Brian is an ideal 100% sap...everybody else is just about the place, wringing hands and keeping their faces straight
ARABESQUE (1966)
d: Stanley Donen
CAST: Gregory Peck; Sophia Loren
> a classic example of how inappropriate casting can sink a movie...this romantic comedy spy chase thriller cries out for the comic suavity of Cary Grant and the endearing charm of Audrey Hepburn...instead, we get lumped with Gregory Peck and Sophia Loren, neither of whom are anything much more than good-looking; the convoluted plot has so many twists & turns & red herrings & double-crosses that you give up trying to understand it, so you are left with a succession of perils which our cardboard couple has to survive; the support cast is filled with anonymous, zero-charismatic duds rather than interesting, quirky, memorable characters such as those played by, oh, I dunno, Walter Matthau or James Coburn or George Kennedy...Hey! I know! I'll watch Stanley Donen's 1963 Charade instead! And you should too.
I DECLARE WAR (2012)
d: Jason Lapeyre; Robert Wilson
CAST: Gage Munroe; Siam Yu; Michael Friend; Mackenzie Munro; Alex Cardillo
> the boast on the DVD cover is that this is reminiscent of Lord of the Flies...it must mean the 1990 American remake (which is awful...Snap!); group of kids "play war" and take it very seriously...they drop blood bombs & the f-bomb, shoot to kill, torture with rocks and knives, smoke because it's cool and even suffer from sexual jealousy...heady stuff for kids who seem to be 12 years old, tops; film jaggedly shifts mood, throwing in romance, comedy, fantasy and theology all whilst supposed children are supposedly playing; it's all good fun until someone loses an eye...so bring back unarmed chasey...and childhoods that last past 10 years old
Award-Worthy Performances
Gage Munro stands out, but the entire cast is terrific...just wish they were in another movie
Go something you want to tell me?
GO RIGHT AHEAD: masted59@gmail.com
