Movie-Viewing Experiences 9/9/19 - 21/10/19
A+ = Adored Masterwork A = Excellent A- = Very Good B+ = Good B = Nice Try B- = Scrapes Through
C = Significantly Flawed D = Pretty Bad E = Truly Dreadful: Looking Into the Void F = Absolutely Vile: The Void
COLD TURKEY (1971)
A- FIRST VIEWING...CONTENDER FOR THE MOVIE JUKEBOX
d: Norman Lear
CAST: Dick Van Dyke; Bob Newhart; Pippa Scott; Barnard Hughes; Jean Stapleton
> there's a thin line between satire and cynicism...both can make a hard, valid point but only satire can be longlasting fun...this movie walks the line carefully; as a PR stunt, a tobacco company offers $25 million if a town can be cigarette-smoke-free for 30 days...Eagle Rock is a dying town that grasps this chance of economic rebirth; probably more amusing to us ex-smokers (the ordeal of quitting is shown wonderfully: the entire 7 stages of grief), the humour comes from watching the town tear itself apart (poor little dog!); with the inspired choice of Randy Newman on music, this movie is one of America's funniest and most astute looks at itself
Award-Worthy Performances
The ensemble cast (with a special nod to Barnard and Jean)
PS Edward Everett Horton makes his final (and sadly speechless) appearance in this...a farting finish to a great career.
JOKER (2019)
A- FIRST VIEWING IN-CINEMA
d: Todd Phillips
CAST: Joaquin Phoenix; Robert De Niro; Zazie Beetz; Frances Conroy
> phew...it's good; I'm sure everyone is going to mention Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy, but I kept seeing Eraserhead imagery (especially in the first third)...but while David Lynch's arty cult film is a surreal bad dream, Joker is a logical nightmare: you understand why this loser evolved into a monster; being a Batman fanboy extraordinaire, yes I had issues with 1). Thomas Wayne being a shit, 2). the 20 year age gap between Joker & Bruce Wayne, and 3). where is the force-of-evil that's an intellectual match for Batman? BUT, I considered it an Elseworlds kinda tale, and was onboard; this is an urban horror movie that aims to hurt...it does, impressively
Award-Worthy Performance
Joaquin Phoenix
OUTRAGEOUS! (1977)
B+ FIRST VIEWING
d: Richard Benner
CAST: Craig Russell; Hollis McLaren; Richert Easley; Allan Moyle; Helen Shaver
> a surprise: a feelgood movie about a female impersonator and his schizophrenic, purely platonic girlfriend; Craig is a gay man who suspects he has talent (his impressions of Bette Davis, Ethel Merman etc are terrific!) but lacks nerve + Hollis is a mental patient who runs away from hospital and is determined to be sane...they live together and form a tight friendship which sees them through the hard times; not a particularly attractive-looking film (poor craftsmanship) but an uplifting, warming one...you'll be hard-pressed to name a more affecting cinematic relationship than these two misfits who at least fit in with each other; truly nice
Award-Worthy Performances
Craig Russell & Hollis McLaren
THE HATCHET MAN (1932)
B+ FIRST VIEWING
d: William Wellman
CAST: Edward G. Robinson; Loretta Young; Leslie Fenton; Dudley Digges
> now, this is a curious thing: set in San Francisco's Chinatown, a Hatchet Man (a Chinese-American term for an assassin, doncha know) is ordered to kill his best friend...his best friend holds no grudges and leaves the killer his business and his daughter...killer turns nice guy but the young woman wants more excitement...enter smooth gangster...time for the Hatchet Man to return to duty; I know I'm supposed to rubbish this film because all of the Chinese characters are played by distinctly non-Chinese actors (Edward G. defies the make-up but Loretta is overdone and looks ridiculous), but that's what Hollywood did back in 1932 and besides, this movie has its moments; while the first and last ten minutes are the best, this tale of betrayal & cosmic payback is 74 minutes of quite-nifty (if you can put up with the gongs...lots of gongs)
THE STORY OF ROBIN HOOD AND HIS MERRIE MEN (1952)
B+ AT LEAST THIRD VIEWING
d: Ken Annakin
CAST: Richard Todd; Peter Finch; Joan Rice; James Robertson Justice; Martita Hunt
> like all intelligent cinephiles, I am an admirer of 1938's The Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn carrying a stag across his shoulders...but this Disney version is the one I watched as a kid (hey, it was the one that turned up on TV), and I loved it (although, if pressed, I'd now pick 1958's Robin Hood Daffy...I mean, how jolly can you get?); this one though has its merits: the cast is a fair swap for the character-marvels of Errol's version (only the panto oiliness of Claude Rains is missed) + Joan was the first adult woman I had a crush on + people get killed all over the place but there's no real violence (except maybe when the Sheriff gets crushed by the drawbridge...a good bit) + Alan O'Dale's songs aren't too awful, I s'pose + I just LOVE those whistling arrows!; aimed at 10 year olds pre-Fortnite...y'know...proper childhood
THE STRANGE DEATH OF ADOLF HITLER (1943)
B FIRST VIEWING
d: James Hogan
CAST: Ludwig Donath; Gale Sondergaard; George Dolenz; Fritz Kortner
> a genuinely bizarre curio made all the stranger by it being a WWII propaganda movie; are you ready?...a decent German (ie anti-Nazi) is good at impersonations and does one of Hitler for his friends...the Gestapo consequently arrests him, drugs him and when he wakes up, plastic surgery has converted him into a Fuehrer-lookalike...his wife and newly-Nazified children will be shot unless he agrees to stand-in for Hitler so Adolf can have a break from yelling & invading... the reluctant double plans revenge, but, unfortunately, so does his wife...whaddya reckon happens?; interestingly, even the anti-Hitler German generals are fiends (the closing line should be made into a bumper-sticker) and the only good guys are the Swiss and the Underground...no Allies; movie runs out of puff here & there, but is worth a look (and currently on YouTube)
A CHILD IS WAITING (1963)
B FIRST VIEWING
d: John Cassavetes
CAST: Burt Lancaster; Judy Garland; Bruce Ritchey; Steven Hill; Gena Rowlands
> there's a thousand tears in this if you possess anything resembling empathy; a twin-story of dedicated teachers working with intellectually-disabled children + how parenthood is the surest way to test your mettle; I have a feeling that the movie Director John wanted to make was fiddled with by Producer Stanley "I Sure Ain't Subtle" Kramer: quite a number of times, blunt realism is softened with sentimental music or melodramatic staging; Burt is too much of a calm Superman and Judy is strangely a little too subdued but both make their emotions felt; but it is the central kid who lingers with you by not making it at all clear what is going inside his walled-world; if you can handle the use of shuddery terms like "retardation", "defective" and "normal-looking", and are a believer in Really Tough Love, then this is one for you
SEVEN SINNERS (1940)
B- FIRST VIEWING
d: Tay Garnett
CAST: Marlene Dietrich; John Wayne; Broderick Crawford; Oskar Homolka; Mischa Auer
> I am reading Donald Spoto's OK bio of Marlene Dietrich (man, she had a lot of sex with a lot of people) and much to my surprise, he rated Marlene's performance in this formulaic flick as her best...er, no; basically a rehash of her Destry Rides Again hit-persona of Frenchy (scarlet woman with a heart of gold who sings and wears feathers), this movie is too obviously set up as a star-showcase, with all the blokes fawning over her like twits; some guff about a US Navy officer (incessantly-smiling John) falling for her so much that he wants to jump ship and get married...it takes a barroom brawl for him to put the upcoming war effort first; let's make it clear: Marlene's best performances are in 1936's Desire and, for sure, 1939's Destry Rides Again & her best appearances are in 1930's Morocco and 1932's Shanghai Express, not in pleasant pap like this
AD ASTRA (2019)
B- FIRST VIEWING IN-CINEMA
d: James Gray
CAST: Brad Pitt; Tommy Lee Jones; Ruth Negga; Donald Sutherland; Liv Tyler
> aka In Space, No One Can Hear Your Personal Problems; Brad the Astronaut is sent to Mars to record and send a message to his father Tommy, now living but previously presumed dead on Neptune...why?...to save Earth, of course; really just a sci-fi retelling of Apocalypse Now (Brad goes through a few exciting set-pieces...moon pirates + psycho monkeys + swimming inside Mars...before finally reaching Dad who has gone megalomanically nuts), this film looks great but spends way too much time mulling over Life, Family and the Human Condition, flitting past and shrugging off fresher conversation points along the way (my fave: after spending many moons searching for alien life, Dad comes to the conclusion that "We're all we've got"); Brad overdoes the underplaying and seems disappointed that there's no laughter in the Final Frontier
THE WALKING DEAD (1936)
C FIRST VIEWING
d: Michael Curtiz
CAST: Boris Karloff; Edmund Gwenn; Richard Cortez; Marguerite Churchill; Barton MacLane
> it certainly had the potential to be a lot better than this: Boris is framed for murder and executed via electric chair...but Dr Edmund, through scientific wizardry, is able to restore him to life...but Boris is now, er, different...and goes after the gangsters responsible for his first death; cut to a breathless 66 minutes, this is simply too fast for any suspense or thrills to kick in, and no amount of acute camera angles, rainstorms or long shadows make up for it; much of the dialogue is trite (the final line is a real clinker) and the acting is either overdone (Edmund...be less) or amateurish (Marguerite...just stop); worst of all though is that Boris allows the young couple who could have spared him this anguish (they were too chickenshit to say anything to the cops at the start) to remain unpunished...how is that vengeance?...how is that satisfying?
JUDY (2019)
C FIRST VIEWING IN-CINEMA
d: Rupert Goold
CAST: Renee Zellweger; Finn Wittrock; Rufus Sewell; Jessie Buckley; Michael Gambon
> good performance / subpar film; Judy Garland's life is usually labelled a Hollywood Tragedy... enormous talent that was used by MGM (King Villain: Louis B. Mayer) to make money and then abused by the woman herself as drink 'n' drugs took control; this film focuses on the last year of Judy's life as a cabaret act in London and a big wet smooch it is too; Renee's singing lacks the belt-it-out, hog-calling power of Judy but it gets the job done and her warm performance is all respect and sympathy; while the interlude with the gay couple is sweet, the flashbacks to her Dorothy days don't work at all; yes, it finishes with "Over the Rainbow"...of course it does
Award-Worthy Performance
Renee Zellweger
BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE (1969)
D FIRST VIEWING (YEAH...I'M SURPRISED TOO)
d: Paul Mazursky
CAST: Natalie Wood; Robert Culp; Elliott Gould; Dyan Cannon
> ah, the Sixties...sex & drugs & assassinations & the belief that the truth will set you free, man... but, as this film's secret theme points out, truth is overrated (hence the mess we're in now, I guess); as much as this movie is considered a landmark comedy of its time, I thought it was a drag pretty much from beginning to end, primarily because all four main characters were self-obsessed, vapid twerps (jeezus, I could have strangled Bob & Carol half-a-dozen times over)...and while that may have been the filmmakers' intention, it made for a whole bunch of distant, disinterested viewing (and what the hell does the ending mean? what, that we're all beautiful in our own way but we should stick with what we've got just in case?); sure, Ted & Alice have their comic moments but overall this is more bummer than hip...hurry up Johnny Rotten
Got something you want to tell me?
GO RIGHT AHEAD masted59@gmail.com
COLD TURKEY (1971)
d: Norman Lear
CAST: Dick Van Dyke; Bob Newhart; Pippa Scott; Barnard Hughes; Jean Stapleton
> there's a thin line between satire and cynicism...both can make a hard, valid point but only satire can be longlasting fun...this movie walks the line carefully; as a PR stunt, a tobacco company offers $25 million if a town can be cigarette-smoke-free for 30 days...Eagle Rock is a dying town that grasps this chance of economic rebirth; probably more amusing to us ex-smokers (the ordeal of quitting is shown wonderfully: the entire 7 stages of grief), the humour comes from watching the town tear itself apart (poor little dog!); with the inspired choice of Randy Newman on music, this movie is one of America's funniest and most astute looks at itself
Award-Worthy Performances
The ensemble cast (with a special nod to Barnard and Jean)
PS Edward Everett Horton makes his final (and sadly speechless) appearance in this...a farting finish to a great career.
JOKER (2019)
d: Todd Phillips
CAST: Joaquin Phoenix; Robert De Niro; Zazie Beetz; Frances Conroy
> phew...it's good; I'm sure everyone is going to mention Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy, but I kept seeing Eraserhead imagery (especially in the first third)...but while David Lynch's arty cult film is a surreal bad dream, Joker is a logical nightmare: you understand why this loser evolved into a monster; being a Batman fanboy extraordinaire, yes I had issues with 1). Thomas Wayne being a shit, 2). the 20 year age gap between Joker & Bruce Wayne, and 3). where is the force-of-evil that's an intellectual match for Batman? BUT, I considered it an Elseworlds kinda tale, and was onboard; this is an urban horror movie that aims to hurt...it does, impressively
Award-Worthy Performance
Joaquin Phoenix
OUTRAGEOUS! (1977)
d: Richard Benner
CAST: Craig Russell; Hollis McLaren; Richert Easley; Allan Moyle; Helen Shaver
> a surprise: a feelgood movie about a female impersonator and his schizophrenic, purely platonic girlfriend; Craig is a gay man who suspects he has talent (his impressions of Bette Davis, Ethel Merman etc are terrific!) but lacks nerve + Hollis is a mental patient who runs away from hospital and is determined to be sane...they live together and form a tight friendship which sees them through the hard times; not a particularly attractive-looking film (poor craftsmanship) but an uplifting, warming one...you'll be hard-pressed to name a more affecting cinematic relationship than these two misfits who at least fit in with each other; truly nice
Award-Worthy Performances
Craig Russell & Hollis McLaren
THE HATCHET MAN (1932)
d: William Wellman
CAST: Edward G. Robinson; Loretta Young; Leslie Fenton; Dudley Digges
> now, this is a curious thing: set in San Francisco's Chinatown, a Hatchet Man (a Chinese-American term for an assassin, doncha know) is ordered to kill his best friend...his best friend holds no grudges and leaves the killer his business and his daughter...killer turns nice guy but the young woman wants more excitement...enter smooth gangster...time for the Hatchet Man to return to duty; I know I'm supposed to rubbish this film because all of the Chinese characters are played by distinctly non-Chinese actors (Edward G. defies the make-up but Loretta is overdone and looks ridiculous), but that's what Hollywood did back in 1932 and besides, this movie has its moments; while the first and last ten minutes are the best, this tale of betrayal & cosmic payback is 74 minutes of quite-nifty (if you can put up with the gongs...lots of gongs)
THE STORY OF ROBIN HOOD AND HIS MERRIE MEN (1952)
d: Ken Annakin
CAST: Richard Todd; Peter Finch; Joan Rice; James Robertson Justice; Martita Hunt
> like all intelligent cinephiles, I am an admirer of 1938's The Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn carrying a stag across his shoulders...but this Disney version is the one I watched as a kid (hey, it was the one that turned up on TV), and I loved it (although, if pressed, I'd now pick 1958's Robin Hood Daffy...I mean, how jolly can you get?); this one though has its merits: the cast is a fair swap for the character-marvels of Errol's version (only the panto oiliness of Claude Rains is missed) + Joan was the first adult woman I had a crush on + people get killed all over the place but there's no real violence (except maybe when the Sheriff gets crushed by the drawbridge...a good bit) + Alan O'Dale's songs aren't too awful, I s'pose + I just LOVE those whistling arrows!; aimed at 10 year olds pre-Fortnite...y'know...proper childhood
THE STRANGE DEATH OF ADOLF HITLER (1943)
d: James Hogan
CAST: Ludwig Donath; Gale Sondergaard; George Dolenz; Fritz Kortner
> a genuinely bizarre curio made all the stranger by it being a WWII propaganda movie; are you ready?...a decent German (ie anti-Nazi) is good at impersonations and does one of Hitler for his friends...the Gestapo consequently arrests him, drugs him and when he wakes up, plastic surgery has converted him into a Fuehrer-lookalike...his wife and newly-Nazified children will be shot unless he agrees to stand-in for Hitler so Adolf can have a break from yelling & invading... the reluctant double plans revenge, but, unfortunately, so does his wife...whaddya reckon happens?; interestingly, even the anti-Hitler German generals are fiends (the closing line should be made into a bumper-sticker) and the only good guys are the Swiss and the Underground...no Allies; movie runs out of puff here & there, but is worth a look (and currently on YouTube)
A CHILD IS WAITING (1963)
d: John Cassavetes
CAST: Burt Lancaster; Judy Garland; Bruce Ritchey; Steven Hill; Gena Rowlands
> there's a thousand tears in this if you possess anything resembling empathy; a twin-story of dedicated teachers working with intellectually-disabled children + how parenthood is the surest way to test your mettle; I have a feeling that the movie Director John wanted to make was fiddled with by Producer Stanley "I Sure Ain't Subtle" Kramer: quite a number of times, blunt realism is softened with sentimental music or melodramatic staging; Burt is too much of a calm Superman and Judy is strangely a little too subdued but both make their emotions felt; but it is the central kid who lingers with you by not making it at all clear what is going inside his walled-world; if you can handle the use of shuddery terms like "retardation", "defective" and "normal-looking", and are a believer in Really Tough Love, then this is one for you
SEVEN SINNERS (1940)
d: Tay Garnett
CAST: Marlene Dietrich; John Wayne; Broderick Crawford; Oskar Homolka; Mischa Auer
> I am reading Donald Spoto's OK bio of Marlene Dietrich (man, she had a lot of sex with a lot of people) and much to my surprise, he rated Marlene's performance in this formulaic flick as her best...er, no; basically a rehash of her Destry Rides Again hit-persona of Frenchy (scarlet woman with a heart of gold who sings and wears feathers), this movie is too obviously set up as a star-showcase, with all the blokes fawning over her like twits; some guff about a US Navy officer (incessantly-smiling John) falling for her so much that he wants to jump ship and get married...it takes a barroom brawl for him to put the upcoming war effort first; let's make it clear: Marlene's best performances are in 1936's Desire and, for sure, 1939's Destry Rides Again & her best appearances are in 1930's Morocco and 1932's Shanghai Express, not in pleasant pap like this
AD ASTRA (2019)
d: James Gray
CAST: Brad Pitt; Tommy Lee Jones; Ruth Negga; Donald Sutherland; Liv Tyler
> aka In Space, No One Can Hear Your Personal Problems; Brad the Astronaut is sent to Mars to record and send a message to his father Tommy, now living but previously presumed dead on Neptune...why?...to save Earth, of course; really just a sci-fi retelling of Apocalypse Now (Brad goes through a few exciting set-pieces...moon pirates + psycho monkeys + swimming inside Mars...before finally reaching Dad who has gone megalomanically nuts), this film looks great but spends way too much time mulling over Life, Family and the Human Condition, flitting past and shrugging off fresher conversation points along the way (my fave: after spending many moons searching for alien life, Dad comes to the conclusion that "We're all we've got"); Brad overdoes the underplaying and seems disappointed that there's no laughter in the Final Frontier
THE WALKING DEAD (1936)
d: Michael Curtiz
CAST: Boris Karloff; Edmund Gwenn; Richard Cortez; Marguerite Churchill; Barton MacLane
> it certainly had the potential to be a lot better than this: Boris is framed for murder and executed via electric chair...but Dr Edmund, through scientific wizardry, is able to restore him to life...but Boris is now, er, different...and goes after the gangsters responsible for his first death; cut to a breathless 66 minutes, this is simply too fast for any suspense or thrills to kick in, and no amount of acute camera angles, rainstorms or long shadows make up for it; much of the dialogue is trite (the final line is a real clinker) and the acting is either overdone (Edmund...be less) or amateurish (Marguerite...just stop); worst of all though is that Boris allows the young couple who could have spared him this anguish (they were too chickenshit to say anything to the cops at the start) to remain unpunished...how is that vengeance?...how is that satisfying?
JUDY (2019)
d: Rupert Goold
CAST: Renee Zellweger; Finn Wittrock; Rufus Sewell; Jessie Buckley; Michael Gambon
> good performance / subpar film; Judy Garland's life is usually labelled a Hollywood Tragedy... enormous talent that was used by MGM (King Villain: Louis B. Mayer) to make money and then abused by the woman herself as drink 'n' drugs took control; this film focuses on the last year of Judy's life as a cabaret act in London and a big wet smooch it is too; Renee's singing lacks the belt-it-out, hog-calling power of Judy but it gets the job done and her warm performance is all respect and sympathy; while the interlude with the gay couple is sweet, the flashbacks to her Dorothy days don't work at all; yes, it finishes with "Over the Rainbow"...of course it does
Award-Worthy Performance
Renee Zellweger
BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICE (1969)
d: Paul Mazursky
CAST: Natalie Wood; Robert Culp; Elliott Gould; Dyan Cannon
> ah, the Sixties...sex & drugs & assassinations & the belief that the truth will set you free, man... but, as this film's secret theme points out, truth is overrated (hence the mess we're in now, I guess); as much as this movie is considered a landmark comedy of its time, I thought it was a drag pretty much from beginning to end, primarily because all four main characters were self-obsessed, vapid twerps (jeezus, I could have strangled Bob & Carol half-a-dozen times over)...and while that may have been the filmmakers' intention, it made for a whole bunch of distant, disinterested viewing (and what the hell does the ending mean? what, that we're all beautiful in our own way but we should stick with what we've got just in case?); sure, Ted & Alice have their comic moments but overall this is more bummer than hip...hurry up Johnny Rotten
Got something you want to tell me?
GO RIGHT AHEAD masted59@gmail.com
