Movie-Viewing Experiences 6/9/17 - 21/9/17
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
THE ENGLISHMAN WHO WENT UP A HILL BUT CAME DOWN A MOUNTAIN (1995)
A- FIRST VIEWING
d: Christopher Monger
CAST: Hugh Grant; Colm Meaney; Tara Fitzgerald; Ian McNeice; Kenneth Griffith
> what a lovely movie; in the great tradition of The Titfield Thunderbolt, Local Hero and Waking Ned Devine comes this piece of uniquely-British whimsy; set during WWI, a pair of English cartographers arrive in a little Welsh town to measure the topography...a mountain is classed as 1000 feet & the town's piece of high ground pride 'n' joy is only 980 feet...hence merely a hill...and the good people are having none of it; gentle and quietly eccentric comedy stiffens its mix with a nod of respect for shellshocked young men of the war and those who will never return home...and is all the better for it; gorgeous cinematography frames the stirring scenery and the story is supported by spot-on acting and an overall irresistible charm; makes you remember how endearing Hugh Grant was before he committed career-icide
MICKI & MAUDE (1984)
B+ SECOND VIEWING
d: Blake Edwards
CAST: Dudley Moore; Amy Irving; Ann Reinking; Richard Mulligan
> a comedy built on bigamy...and it's actually reasonably funny; Dudley loves and marries Ann and then Amy...and they both become pregnant about the same time; you just know right from the outset that the big comedic climax will be simultaneous births; Dudley does a good job as a dwarfish Cary Grant (it's his best movie performance...he comes across as more than just an Arthur / "10" clown...slapstick plus charm) and he plays well with the two actresses; the film cries out for a stronger (quirkier) supporting cast and the resolution is too drawn out and a bit too soft 'n' cuddly, but for a 1980's attempt at a screwball comedy, it's not bad
Award-Worthy Performance
Dudley Moore
D.O.A. (1949)
B SECOND VIEWING
d: Rudolph Mate
CAST: Edmond O'Brien; Pamela Britton; Luther Adler; Neville Brand; Beverly Campbell
> highly-regarded by those all-film-noirs-are-Art aficionados, I have always thought this movie was overrated...the first 15 minutes are quite tedious (slide-whistle wolf-whistles? really? and so many? was that ever funny?) + the dialogue is as corny as hell (especially when it deals with the yawnful lurv scenes) + the acting can be generously described as inconsistent (Neville as the obligatory psycho-hoodlum is painfully cartoonish); still, the film picks up a head of steam once the admittedly-brilliant gimmick is revealed: a man is poisoned with some slow-acting-but-still-fatal stuff and tries to track down his killer before he keels over...a walking dead man after payback = instant suspense; with a stronger cast and a more unforgiving whack at the script, this could have joined the ranks of Out of the Past...but it remains a wannabe
LOST IN AMERICA (1985)
B SECOND VIEWING
d: Albert Brooks
CAST: Albert Brooks; Julie Hagerty; Garry Marshall
> I've always found the standard Albert Brooks persona (whiny loser) to be more annoying than amusing, but he has been compared to Woody Allen in comedic stature...and this film is often referred to as his most successful (artistically rather than financially); story is about a high-paid executive and his wife who quit their jobs, buy a motorhome and do an Easy Rider...drop out of the rat race and attempt to find themselves through freedom; Julie is endearingly quirky (easily the best thing about the movie) while Albert softly mopes around...even his outbursts of sarcastic hysteria are muffled; the Las Vegas gambling catastrophe is the duo's performance highlight (and sardonic Garry is a laugh riot!); film finishes with a great punchline and is mildly pleasant without ever coming close to entering the Wonderful World of Woody
THE LOCKET (1946)
B FIRST VIEWING
d: John Brahm
CAST: Laraine Day; Brian Aherne; Robert Mitchum; Gene Raymond; Katherine Emery
> pretty fair psych-drama that is interestingly constructed: flashback within flashback within flashback; the story is about a lying, thieving, violent woman who has a thing for jewellery (all because she was falsely accused of stealing a coveted locket when she was a child)...her obsession becomes illness and she leaves men's lives ruined in her wake; all the usual psychiatric-babble has been fortunately left out and we are given a near-Hitchcock quality drama which intrigues without ever actually being absorbing; fundamental flaw is that a lead female role involving psychosis & subterfuge & murder requires a far stronger actress than dear Laraine (Olivia de Havilland immediately comes to mind), thus the central premise is never entirely convincing; a commendable effort nonetheless
TIME BOMB aka TERROR ON A TRAIN (1953)
B FIRST VIEWING
d: Ted Tetzlaff
CAST: Glenn Ford; Maurice Denham; Anne Vernon; Victor Maddern
> okay little thriller (about a bomb on a rail carriage) which would've been better if the train had been kept moving; British film which features a Yank big-name star for no apparent reason other than to pander to the U.S. market (Aussie films have been doing that for years); dreary personal-life-stuff of lead character does its usual job of dragging the suspense to a halt at various points (his wife, fretting and turning up at the worst possible time of course); the problem with bomb-defusing stories is that the audience feels vaguely cheated if there isn't an explosion at some point; film scoots along under 80 minutes and has the blessed bonus of Brit character actors to lift proceedings and add humour; nicely effective in a small way
BEG, BORROW OR STEAL (1937)
B- FIRST VIEWING
d: Wilhelm Thiele
CAST: Frank Morgan; Florence Rice; John Beal
> I could watch Frank Morgan do his dithering routine for hours, so perfect is his comedic timing and control of body language...it's a treat (for me anyway) to watch him in a rare leading role; Frank is a conman who plies his trade amongst the rich American visitors to France...his stateside daughter takes him up on his written offer to have her wedding at his (non-existent) chateau...so another con must be put into place; threadbare story is bolstered by wonderful character actors (E.E. Clive & Reginald Denny) but there aren't enough of them to counteract the rather bland young lovers and their boring flirtations; while Frank remains a delight, he is somewhat restrained by his duties as the protagonist around whom the plot spins; a couple of funny scenes (love the orchestra!) help in the film's rescue from dullness
MAN'S FAVOURITE SPORT? (1964)
B- FIRST VIEWING
d: Howard Hawks
CAST: Rock Hudson; Paula Prentiss; Maria Perschy; John McGiver; Roscoe Karns
> Howard's homage to his own 1938 screwball classic Bringing Up Baby (he even tried to get Cary & Kate for the leads!), I was reminded more of Jack Conway's 1936 screwball classic Libeled Lady (specifically the fly-fishing scene with William Powell)...but the comparisons don't matter...this film isn't up to either lofty standard; Rock is a fishing equipment salesman who has never fished & Paula is the airy dingbat who enters him in a fishing tournament... various slapsticky shenanigans occur before romance blossoms; Rock is a good sport to put up with the barrage of situational silliness (he is more victim than contributor) and Paula is more irritating aggressor than amusing flibbertigibbet; while the film is propped up by some funny scenes (bear on scooter & inflatable waders), at 2 hours it overstays its comedic welcome
IT (2017)
C FIRST VIEWING IN-CINEMA
d: Andy Muschietti
CAST: Jaeden Lieberher; Bill Skarsgard; Sophia Lillis; Jeremy Ray Taylor
> 135 minutes of someone jumping out from behind a door and yelling Boo!; I remember the original 1990 TV mini-series being quite engrossing right up until the big climactic reveal: a crappy giant spider as the embodiment of evil, feeding on children's fear; while this retelling at least ditches that inanity, it relies on a series of jump-scares to fingers-crossed-frighten you...no suspense and no sense of dread...just abrupt cuts to the clown (or one of his cohorts) leaping out accompanied by sudden loud music; so I gotta tell ya...I didn't jump once; while the ensemble cast of kids is good (and they show up how one-note the adult actors are...including the clown) and it looks terrific (love the wellhouse!), I don't understand how this has become such a huge box-office smash; People...our standards are slipping
THE STUFF (1985)
C FIRST VIEWING
d: Larry Cohen
CAST: Michael Moriarty; Paul Sorvino; Patrick O'Neal; Alexander Scourby; Danny Aiello
> amateurish schlock cheapie that tries its hardest to be a horror/comedy with something to say; a Blob / Body Snatchers hybrid, this is about a new food product called The Stuff (looks like runny blancmange) which takes America by storm...and turns out to be a highly-addictive, person-devouring substance which evil businessmen still promote anyway; while the commentary on consumerism & advertising & junk food is welcome and correctly pointed, the message is blunted by some dreadful acting, low-level SFX (admittedly by financial necessity), ugly framing and choppy editing; how the director managed to rope in so many relatively big-name actors to appear in both major and minor roles is a mystery; needs to be redone by a craftsman with money and a good sense of gore...ahem...Peter Jackson?
TRAVELS WITH MY AUNT (1972)
C SECOND VIEWING
d: George Cukor
CAST: Maggie Smith; Alec McCowen; Louis Gossett Jr; Robert Stephens
> story by Graham Greene, directed by George Cukor and starring Maggie Smith...so how did it go so wrong?; really just a gender-altered version of Zorba the Greek, this film trots out the "What good is sitting alone in your room...come hear the music play" approach to living...you are expected to agree (me, I enjoy solitude, a good book and a cup of tea); what deflates this life-affirming-goddammit tale is that rarest of things: a bad Maggie Smith performance (it's gotta be her worst on film)...playing a blowsy old harlot with undeniable charm who blames all of her questionable escapades on romance (would love to have seen Edith Evans or Wendy Hiller have a crack at the part)...Maggie is all too-jerky movements, doddery voice and half-open eyes: an OTT caricature leading the charge through a slack and inappropriately soft narrative
THE INVISIBLE BOY (1957)
D FIRST VIEWING
d: Herman Hoffman
CAST: Richard Eyer; Robbie the Robot; Philip Abbott; Diane Brewster
> billed as a sequel of sorts to 1956's classic Forbidden Planet, but that's rubbish...it's more like a practice-shot at Will Robinson Meets the Robot; dumb sci-fi movie aimed at kids but is too childish to be particularly enjoyable; tries to tell the story of an annoying brat who just wants to have some fun...his brainiac father runs a military computer (thrice the size of my newly-refurbished bathroom) which reprograms the kid's pet robot into an obedient quisling, hellbent on conquering mankind and, for some reason, turning the kid transparent...but it all turns out nice; usual U.S. 1950's paranoia mixed in with grudging attempts at charm & zero attempts at humour sink the whole shebang...this isn't something you'll look back on with childhood fondness; jumped up a notch because it stars Robbie the Robot and he's forever cool
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GO RIGHT AHEAD: masted59@gmail.com
THE ENGLISHMAN WHO WENT UP A HILL BUT CAME DOWN A MOUNTAIN (1995)
d: Christopher Monger
CAST: Hugh Grant; Colm Meaney; Tara Fitzgerald; Ian McNeice; Kenneth Griffith
> what a lovely movie; in the great tradition of The Titfield Thunderbolt, Local Hero and Waking Ned Devine comes this piece of uniquely-British whimsy; set during WWI, a pair of English cartographers arrive in a little Welsh town to measure the topography...a mountain is classed as 1000 feet & the town's piece of high ground pride 'n' joy is only 980 feet...hence merely a hill...and the good people are having none of it; gentle and quietly eccentric comedy stiffens its mix with a nod of respect for shellshocked young men of the war and those who will never return home...and is all the better for it; gorgeous cinematography frames the stirring scenery and the story is supported by spot-on acting and an overall irresistible charm; makes you remember how endearing Hugh Grant was before he committed career-icide
MICKI & MAUDE (1984)
d: Blake Edwards
CAST: Dudley Moore; Amy Irving; Ann Reinking; Richard Mulligan
> a comedy built on bigamy...and it's actually reasonably funny; Dudley loves and marries Ann and then Amy...and they both become pregnant about the same time; you just know right from the outset that the big comedic climax will be simultaneous births; Dudley does a good job as a dwarfish Cary Grant (it's his best movie performance...he comes across as more than just an Arthur / "10" clown...slapstick plus charm) and he plays well with the two actresses; the film cries out for a stronger (quirkier) supporting cast and the resolution is too drawn out and a bit too soft 'n' cuddly, but for a 1980's attempt at a screwball comedy, it's not bad
Award-Worthy Performance
Dudley Moore
D.O.A. (1949)
d: Rudolph Mate
CAST: Edmond O'Brien; Pamela Britton; Luther Adler; Neville Brand; Beverly Campbell
> highly-regarded by those all-film-noirs-are-Art aficionados, I have always thought this movie was overrated...the first 15 minutes are quite tedious (slide-whistle wolf-whistles? really? and so many? was that ever funny?) + the dialogue is as corny as hell (especially when it deals with the yawnful lurv scenes) + the acting can be generously described as inconsistent (Neville as the obligatory psycho-hoodlum is painfully cartoonish); still, the film picks up a head of steam once the admittedly-brilliant gimmick is revealed: a man is poisoned with some slow-acting-but-still-fatal stuff and tries to track down his killer before he keels over...a walking dead man after payback = instant suspense; with a stronger cast and a more unforgiving whack at the script, this could have joined the ranks of Out of the Past...but it remains a wannabe
LOST IN AMERICA (1985)
d: Albert Brooks
CAST: Albert Brooks; Julie Hagerty; Garry Marshall
> I've always found the standard Albert Brooks persona (whiny loser) to be more annoying than amusing, but he has been compared to Woody Allen in comedic stature...and this film is often referred to as his most successful (artistically rather than financially); story is about a high-paid executive and his wife who quit their jobs, buy a motorhome and do an Easy Rider...drop out of the rat race and attempt to find themselves through freedom; Julie is endearingly quirky (easily the best thing about the movie) while Albert softly mopes around...even his outbursts of sarcastic hysteria are muffled; the Las Vegas gambling catastrophe is the duo's performance highlight (and sardonic Garry is a laugh riot!); film finishes with a great punchline and is mildly pleasant without ever coming close to entering the Wonderful World of Woody
THE LOCKET (1946)
d: John Brahm
CAST: Laraine Day; Brian Aherne; Robert Mitchum; Gene Raymond; Katherine Emery
> pretty fair psych-drama that is interestingly constructed: flashback within flashback within flashback; the story is about a lying, thieving, violent woman who has a thing for jewellery (all because she was falsely accused of stealing a coveted locket when she was a child)...her obsession becomes illness and she leaves men's lives ruined in her wake; all the usual psychiatric-babble has been fortunately left out and we are given a near-Hitchcock quality drama which intrigues without ever actually being absorbing; fundamental flaw is that a lead female role involving psychosis & subterfuge & murder requires a far stronger actress than dear Laraine (Olivia de Havilland immediately comes to mind), thus the central premise is never entirely convincing; a commendable effort nonetheless
TIME BOMB aka TERROR ON A TRAIN (1953)
d: Ted Tetzlaff
CAST: Glenn Ford; Maurice Denham; Anne Vernon; Victor Maddern
> okay little thriller (about a bomb on a rail carriage) which would've been better if the train had been kept moving; British film which features a Yank big-name star for no apparent reason other than to pander to the U.S. market (Aussie films have been doing that for years); dreary personal-life-stuff of lead character does its usual job of dragging the suspense to a halt at various points (his wife, fretting and turning up at the worst possible time of course); the problem with bomb-defusing stories is that the audience feels vaguely cheated if there isn't an explosion at some point; film scoots along under 80 minutes and has the blessed bonus of Brit character actors to lift proceedings and add humour; nicely effective in a small way
BEG, BORROW OR STEAL (1937)
d: Wilhelm Thiele
CAST: Frank Morgan; Florence Rice; John Beal
> I could watch Frank Morgan do his dithering routine for hours, so perfect is his comedic timing and control of body language...it's a treat (for me anyway) to watch him in a rare leading role; Frank is a conman who plies his trade amongst the rich American visitors to France...his stateside daughter takes him up on his written offer to have her wedding at his (non-existent) chateau...so another con must be put into place; threadbare story is bolstered by wonderful character actors (E.E. Clive & Reginald Denny) but there aren't enough of them to counteract the rather bland young lovers and their boring flirtations; while Frank remains a delight, he is somewhat restrained by his duties as the protagonist around whom the plot spins; a couple of funny scenes (love the orchestra!) help in the film's rescue from dullness
MAN'S FAVOURITE SPORT? (1964)
d: Howard Hawks
CAST: Rock Hudson; Paula Prentiss; Maria Perschy; John McGiver; Roscoe Karns
> Howard's homage to his own 1938 screwball classic Bringing Up Baby (he even tried to get Cary & Kate for the leads!), I was reminded more of Jack Conway's 1936 screwball classic Libeled Lady (specifically the fly-fishing scene with William Powell)...but the comparisons don't matter...this film isn't up to either lofty standard; Rock is a fishing equipment salesman who has never fished & Paula is the airy dingbat who enters him in a fishing tournament... various slapsticky shenanigans occur before romance blossoms; Rock is a good sport to put up with the barrage of situational silliness (he is more victim than contributor) and Paula is more irritating aggressor than amusing flibbertigibbet; while the film is propped up by some funny scenes (bear on scooter & inflatable waders), at 2 hours it overstays its comedic welcome
IT (2017)
d: Andy Muschietti
CAST: Jaeden Lieberher; Bill Skarsgard; Sophia Lillis; Jeremy Ray Taylor
> 135 minutes of someone jumping out from behind a door and yelling Boo!; I remember the original 1990 TV mini-series being quite engrossing right up until the big climactic reveal: a crappy giant spider as the embodiment of evil, feeding on children's fear; while this retelling at least ditches that inanity, it relies on a series of jump-scares to fingers-crossed-frighten you...no suspense and no sense of dread...just abrupt cuts to the clown (or one of his cohorts) leaping out accompanied by sudden loud music; so I gotta tell ya...I didn't jump once; while the ensemble cast of kids is good (and they show up how one-note the adult actors are...including the clown) and it looks terrific (love the wellhouse!), I don't understand how this has become such a huge box-office smash; People...our standards are slipping
THE STUFF (1985)
d: Larry Cohen
CAST: Michael Moriarty; Paul Sorvino; Patrick O'Neal; Alexander Scourby; Danny Aiello
> amateurish schlock cheapie that tries its hardest to be a horror/comedy with something to say; a Blob / Body Snatchers hybrid, this is about a new food product called The Stuff (looks like runny blancmange) which takes America by storm...and turns out to be a highly-addictive, person-devouring substance which evil businessmen still promote anyway; while the commentary on consumerism & advertising & junk food is welcome and correctly pointed, the message is blunted by some dreadful acting, low-level SFX (admittedly by financial necessity), ugly framing and choppy editing; how the director managed to rope in so many relatively big-name actors to appear in both major and minor roles is a mystery; needs to be redone by a craftsman with money and a good sense of gore...ahem...Peter Jackson?
TRAVELS WITH MY AUNT (1972)
d: George Cukor
CAST: Maggie Smith; Alec McCowen; Louis Gossett Jr; Robert Stephens
> story by Graham Greene, directed by George Cukor and starring Maggie Smith...so how did it go so wrong?; really just a gender-altered version of Zorba the Greek, this film trots out the "What good is sitting alone in your room...come hear the music play" approach to living...you are expected to agree (me, I enjoy solitude, a good book and a cup of tea); what deflates this life-affirming-goddammit tale is that rarest of things: a bad Maggie Smith performance (it's gotta be her worst on film)...playing a blowsy old harlot with undeniable charm who blames all of her questionable escapades on romance (would love to have seen Edith Evans or Wendy Hiller have a crack at the part)...Maggie is all too-jerky movements, doddery voice and half-open eyes: an OTT caricature leading the charge through a slack and inappropriately soft narrative
THE INVISIBLE BOY (1957)
d: Herman Hoffman
CAST: Richard Eyer; Robbie the Robot; Philip Abbott; Diane Brewster
> billed as a sequel of sorts to 1956's classic Forbidden Planet, but that's rubbish...it's more like a practice-shot at Will Robinson Meets the Robot; dumb sci-fi movie aimed at kids but is too childish to be particularly enjoyable; tries to tell the story of an annoying brat who just wants to have some fun...his brainiac father runs a military computer (thrice the size of my newly-refurbished bathroom) which reprograms the kid's pet robot into an obedient quisling, hellbent on conquering mankind and, for some reason, turning the kid transparent...but it all turns out nice; usual U.S. 1950's paranoia mixed in with grudging attempts at charm & zero attempts at humour sink the whole shebang...this isn't something you'll look back on with childhood fondness; jumped up a notch because it stars Robbie the Robot and he's forever cool
Go something you want to tell me?
GO RIGHT AHEAD: masted59@gmail.com
