THE CHINESE INVASION
A short eleven-year span (1982-93) produced five stellar movies about the experience of Chinese immigrants new to our shores. It also brought us Chinese-born director Ang Lee (Sense and Sensibility, Brokeback Mountain), who seems to understand us better than we do.
Chan Is Missing (1982) is a wry charmer. The entire cast (all unknowns) and crew are of oriental descent. Two San Francisco cab drivers have their life savings stolen and spend the movie looking for the thief. The movie’s pint-sized budget seems to have been put in the right places.
In A Great Wall (1986) a Chinese-American family makes the long trip to mainland China to look for their roots. The culture shock to both the visitors and the visited is both funny and revealing. The family’s children are thoroughly American but adjust better than their parents. As FDR said so well, we’re all immigrants, and in a real sense this fine film is about all of us.
The culture shock runs the other way in Eat A Bowl Of Tea (1989), a merry low-key film about Chinese immigrants coming to America after the second World War and trying to adapt to new ways. Marriage in particular is very different in the new land, and the young folks adapt quickly while their parents need a wake-up call. (With our divorce rate, you have to wonder if the old folks don’t have a point!)
The Wedding Banquet (1993) is part of a desperate attempt by a gay Chinese-American to fool his very conservative parents from the old country into believing he is
not only straight, but married as well. The scam stretches tighter as the principals try to
plug more holes in the dike. Ang Lee’s screenplay and direction are sure-handed and entertaining and there are plenty of laughs and surprises for everyone.
Saving Face (2004) written and directed by Alice Wu, is also about Americanized children of Chinese descent and the conflicts they face. The main plot involves two girls in love with each other, afraid of the stigma of their society. They come to realize that their mothers are much more modernized and savvy than they thought.
The Joy Luck Club (1993) is a group of elderly American ladies who grew up in China and who gather to play cards and swap stories. Their children are completely Americanized and as each of the parents’ stories emerge, they come to realize how extraordinary their mothers are. Amy Tan co-wrote the screenplay based on her wonderful novel. This movie is the pick of the litter and one of the unsung treasures of the 90's.
All of the films in this column are available on video, and all are available on DVD. All are fine for children 12 and up.
Sunday, December 17, 2017
Sunday, December 10, 2017
NEVER HEAD OF HEARD?
Watching movies in the 80's you would have bet the ranch that John Heard was going to become a leading man and a big star. He didn’t. Can it be that his appearance in a couple of silly movies finished off his shot at the big time? He started very strong.
In Cutter’s Way (1981) he is Alex Cutter. He and Jeff Bridges are fellow Vietnam vets who pursue a complicated conspiracy theory involving a murder suspect who is also a very powerful man. This was Heard’s break-out part and he is quite good. He got glowing reviews from most of the big reviewers. I can’t reveal much more of the plot without ruining the movie for you.
While The Trip To Bountiful (1985) clearly belongs to Geraldine Page as Carrie Watts, John Heard is excellent as her overly protective son. Carrie longs to return to her ancestral home near the little town of Bountiful, Texas. Her son and daughter-in-law (Carlin Glynn) don’t want her to go alone. They also won’t take her because they know the town doesn’t exist anymore, done in by the war and the Depression. Ms. Page won the Oscar for her performance as the spunky matron. She strikes out on her own by bus and reaches a town close to her old home. A kindly sheriff takes her to the spot, now ramshackle and deserted. But- she did make it!
Big (1988) is the fanciful story of a boy who wants to become “big” and with the help of an antique fortune-telling machine, does exactly that. Tom Hanks stars as Josh Baskin, the little boy now in a grown man’s body. He goes to work for a toy company and is quite successful there. He and Susan Lawrence (Elizabeth Perkins) become an item. John Heard plays Susan’s jealous boyfriend and co-worker at the toy company. There are all kinds funny and fun instances because Josh is still a little boy at heart but appears to others as a grown-up. This charming film became a hit Broadway musical in 1996 and ran for a couple of years.
Beaches (1988) is the story of two girls who become friends for life, despite ups and downs along the way. Bette Midler plays CC Bloom, a brassy star singer and Barbara Hershey plays Hillary Whitney, a conservative lawyer. John Heard is fine as John Pierce, who starts out as Hillary’s lover, then winds up with CC.
Heard’s bland good looks are perfect for the part of Macauley Culkin’s rather clueless Dad in the Home Alone (1990 & 1992) movies. As you probably know, the plot involves a little boy’s family somehow going off on vacation and forgetting to take him along. This unlikely scenario is repeated two years after the first one. I am not a big fan of these films which seem to minimize the dangers of a child left alone. The most interesting thing about them, in terms of this article, is that John Heard never got another big part. I’m wouldn’t think it was because of his appearance in these two movies, but for some reason he was more or less done at 42. He continued to get lots of work, but nothing of much significance.
In Awakenings (1990) he plays Dr. Kaufman, a decidedly minor part. In Rambling Rose (1991) Buddy is the main character as a child. Heard plays Buddy as an adult. He is John Riley in Gladiator (1992) and I really can’t tell you what he does. He has bit parts in In The Line Of Fire (1993) and The Pelican Brief (1993). After that, it really goes downhill. John Heard had parts in another 50 movies and TV shows for the next 20 plus years and none of them are very good. So, go figure...
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. I could only recommend Big for 10 and up. The rest are for grown-ups.
Watching movies in the 80's you would have bet the ranch that John Heard was going to become a leading man and a big star. He didn’t. Can it be that his appearance in a couple of silly movies finished off his shot at the big time? He started very strong.
In Cutter’s Way (1981) he is Alex Cutter. He and Jeff Bridges are fellow Vietnam vets who pursue a complicated conspiracy theory involving a murder suspect who is also a very powerful man. This was Heard’s break-out part and he is quite good. He got glowing reviews from most of the big reviewers. I can’t reveal much more of the plot without ruining the movie for you.
While The Trip To Bountiful (1985) clearly belongs to Geraldine Page as Carrie Watts, John Heard is excellent as her overly protective son. Carrie longs to return to her ancestral home near the little town of Bountiful, Texas. Her son and daughter-in-law (Carlin Glynn) don’t want her to go alone. They also won’t take her because they know the town doesn’t exist anymore, done in by the war and the Depression. Ms. Page won the Oscar for her performance as the spunky matron. She strikes out on her own by bus and reaches a town close to her old home. A kindly sheriff takes her to the spot, now ramshackle and deserted. But- she did make it!
Big (1988) is the fanciful story of a boy who wants to become “big” and with the help of an antique fortune-telling machine, does exactly that. Tom Hanks stars as Josh Baskin, the little boy now in a grown man’s body. He goes to work for a toy company and is quite successful there. He and Susan Lawrence (Elizabeth Perkins) become an item. John Heard plays Susan’s jealous boyfriend and co-worker at the toy company. There are all kinds funny and fun instances because Josh is still a little boy at heart but appears to others as a grown-up. This charming film became a hit Broadway musical in 1996 and ran for a couple of years.
Beaches (1988) is the story of two girls who become friends for life, despite ups and downs along the way. Bette Midler plays CC Bloom, a brassy star singer and Barbara Hershey plays Hillary Whitney, a conservative lawyer. John Heard is fine as John Pierce, who starts out as Hillary’s lover, then winds up with CC.
Heard’s bland good looks are perfect for the part of Macauley Culkin’s rather clueless Dad in the Home Alone (1990 & 1992) movies. As you probably know, the plot involves a little boy’s family somehow going off on vacation and forgetting to take him along. This unlikely scenario is repeated two years after the first one. I am not a big fan of these films which seem to minimize the dangers of a child left alone. The most interesting thing about them, in terms of this article, is that John Heard never got another big part. I’m wouldn’t think it was because of his appearance in these two movies, but for some reason he was more or less done at 42. He continued to get lots of work, but nothing of much significance.
In Awakenings (1990) he plays Dr. Kaufman, a decidedly minor part. In Rambling Rose (1991) Buddy is the main character as a child. Heard plays Buddy as an adult. He is John Riley in Gladiator (1992) and I really can’t tell you what he does. He has bit parts in In The Line Of Fire (1993) and The Pelican Brief (1993). After that, it really goes downhill. John Heard had parts in another 50 movies and TV shows for the next 20 plus years and none of them are very good. So, go figure...
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. I could only recommend Big for 10 and up. The rest are for grown-ups.
Sunday, December 3, 2017
APARTHEID
One of the biggest social tidal waves of our time was the end of apartheid in South Africa and the rise of a black majority government. It is a story worth telling and the movies have done a good job of telling it.
There are two versions of Alan Paton’s monumental Cry, The Beloved Country. Sidney Poitier lights up the 1951 version as a simple back-country preacher intertwined by fate with a white bigot. The 1995 version features an equally-impressive James Earl Jones, along with Richard Harris. Both put a human face on a terrible tragedy, both political and personal. A slight nod to the earlier version here.
Mandela (1996) is a convincing documentary about Nelson Mandela, the first president of the new South Africa, a man who spent nearly 30 years in prison. His crime was being a black man that wouldn’t quit trying to change a horrible system. This film portrays a true triumph of the human spirit.
In Bopha (1993) Danny Glover is a township policeman and Alfre Woodard is his wife. Their son is a militant in rebellion against the system and his parents. The conflicted couple perfectly exemplifies the plight of moderate blacks under apartheid.
Denzel Washington is excellent (as always) as activist Steve Biko in Cry, Freedom (1987). Kevin Kline is a sympathetic newspaperman in this tragic but hopeful biopic about one of the martyrs of the anti-apartheid movement.
In A Dry White Season (1989), schoolteacher Donald Sutherland slowly comes to realize the ramifications of apartheid. His naivete perhaps mirrors that of the rest of the world; eventually he becomes as horrified as we are. Marlon Brando has a nice turn as an outspoken lawyer.
Invictus (2009) is a terrific uplifting film directed by Clint Eastwood. Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman, of course) now president of apartheid-free South Africa hopes to unite his splintered country by convincing the black majority to support the all white South African rugby team, the Springboks. Matt Damon convincingly plays the team captain. When the team visits the prison where Mr. Mandela served nearly 30 years of his life it is a sobering thing for them and us. And, I picked up the rugby rules pretty quickly so don’t let the unusual sport stop you.
These are also worth a look: The Wilby Conspiracy (1975), which is a South African variation on The Defiant Ones; Sarafina! (1992), which is (of all things) a violent musical (!); and A World Apart (1988) with an impressive Jodhi May as a young girl personally impacted by her mother’s political radicalism.
All of the films in this article are available on video. All except the first Cry the Beloved Country are available on DVD. All are for grown-up tastes.
One of the biggest social tidal waves of our time was the end of apartheid in South Africa and the rise of a black majority government. It is a story worth telling and the movies have done a good job of telling it.
There are two versions of Alan Paton’s monumental Cry, The Beloved Country. Sidney Poitier lights up the 1951 version as a simple back-country preacher intertwined by fate with a white bigot. The 1995 version features an equally-impressive James Earl Jones, along with Richard Harris. Both put a human face on a terrible tragedy, both political and personal. A slight nod to the earlier version here.
Mandela (1996) is a convincing documentary about Nelson Mandela, the first president of the new South Africa, a man who spent nearly 30 years in prison. His crime was being a black man that wouldn’t quit trying to change a horrible system. This film portrays a true triumph of the human spirit.
In Bopha (1993) Danny Glover is a township policeman and Alfre Woodard is his wife. Their son is a militant in rebellion against the system and his parents. The conflicted couple perfectly exemplifies the plight of moderate blacks under apartheid.
Denzel Washington is excellent (as always) as activist Steve Biko in Cry, Freedom (1987). Kevin Kline is a sympathetic newspaperman in this tragic but hopeful biopic about one of the martyrs of the anti-apartheid movement.
In A Dry White Season (1989), schoolteacher Donald Sutherland slowly comes to realize the ramifications of apartheid. His naivete perhaps mirrors that of the rest of the world; eventually he becomes as horrified as we are. Marlon Brando has a nice turn as an outspoken lawyer.
Invictus (2009) is a terrific uplifting film directed by Clint Eastwood. Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman, of course) now president of apartheid-free South Africa hopes to unite his splintered country by convincing the black majority to support the all white South African rugby team, the Springboks. Matt Damon convincingly plays the team captain. When the team visits the prison where Mr. Mandela served nearly 30 years of his life it is a sobering thing for them and us. And, I picked up the rugby rules pretty quickly so don’t let the unusual sport stop you.
These are also worth a look: The Wilby Conspiracy (1975), which is a South African variation on The Defiant Ones; Sarafina! (1992), which is (of all things) a violent musical (!); and A World Apart (1988) with an impressive Jodhi May as a young girl personally impacted by her mother’s political radicalism.
All of the films in this article are available on video. All except the first Cry the Beloved Country are available on DVD. All are for grown-up tastes.
Sunday, November 26, 2017
ARTIST FILMS
ART LOVERS ALERT! I have for you a tremendous group of movies about artists. Tim’s Vermeer (2013) is an entirely fascinating look at the artistic process. Dutch genius Vermeer is known as the Painter Of Light. For centuries people have wondered how he did it- how he made his pictures absolutely glow with realistic light. Tim Jenison, a big fan but not an artist himself, theorized that Vermeer used a primitive but effective machine to help him achieve this result. And then Jenison set out to duplicate a Vermeer painting by using such a device. You can watch him build the machine and then try the painting, step by step. Marvelous stuff!
Pollock (2000), is actor Ed Harris’ cinematic dream come true about one of the true titans of modern art. Marcia Gay Harden won the Oscar as Best Supporting Actress, portraying Jackson Pollock’s long-suffering but supportive wife and number one fan. Mr. Harris (who also directed) was nominated for Best Actor but lost out to Russell Crowe for Gladiator. Pollock is a splendid film about the artistic process and its grip on and development by the mercurial painter whose private life was as messy as his splatter-painting process. One leaves this film feeling that it has it exactly right.
There have been other good movies about the artistic process. One of the best is Joyce Cary’s The Horse’s Mouth (1958) featuring Sir Alec Guiness as the fictional painter Gully Jimson. This guy is one part genius and three parts pain-in-the-butt, not an unusual attribute for an artist and superbly played by Sir Alec. The painter’s attitude that the world owes him a living because he has talent is one most of us have encountered. You don’t know whether to laugh at him or shoot him.
Lust For Life (1956) is way better than most critics think. Kirk Douglas is really good as the tormented Vincent Van Gogh, and Anthony Quinn won an Oscar as his brother. The cinematography is just magnificent, especially the way the paintings of the master are segued into actual scenery for the film.
The French painter Toulouse-Lautrec was born with defective legs and spent his life dragging his misshapen body around Paris’ Left Bank and painting chorus girls and saloons. Jose Ferrer convincingly plays the tortured master in Moulin Rouge (1952). Lautrec’s portrayal of the Bohemian lifestyle of the time and his dwelling within it are accurately and dramatically portrayed in this movie. The 2001 musical of the same name is entirely different and not as good.
George Sanders was always an interesting actor, sometimes appearing in very good films but usually in nondescript potboilers. But Mr. Sanders is fine as artist Paul
Gaugin in Somerset Maugham’s The Moon And Sixpence (1942). The story of a man his acquaintances thought to be dull and ordinary, who runs off to Tahiti to lead the artistic life, is somehow convincing. This film is now seventy-five years old but holds up nicely and may well be Mr. Sanders’ finest hour.
All of the movies in this column are available on DVD. All except Pollock are OK for kids 10 and up.
ART LOVERS ALERT! I have for you a tremendous group of movies about artists. Tim’s Vermeer (2013) is an entirely fascinating look at the artistic process. Dutch genius Vermeer is known as the Painter Of Light. For centuries people have wondered how he did it- how he made his pictures absolutely glow with realistic light. Tim Jenison, a big fan but not an artist himself, theorized that Vermeer used a primitive but effective machine to help him achieve this result. And then Jenison set out to duplicate a Vermeer painting by using such a device. You can watch him build the machine and then try the painting, step by step. Marvelous stuff!
Pollock (2000), is actor Ed Harris’ cinematic dream come true about one of the true titans of modern art. Marcia Gay Harden won the Oscar as Best Supporting Actress, portraying Jackson Pollock’s long-suffering but supportive wife and number one fan. Mr. Harris (who also directed) was nominated for Best Actor but lost out to Russell Crowe for Gladiator. Pollock is a splendid film about the artistic process and its grip on and development by the mercurial painter whose private life was as messy as his splatter-painting process. One leaves this film feeling that it has it exactly right.
There have been other good movies about the artistic process. One of the best is Joyce Cary’s The Horse’s Mouth (1958) featuring Sir Alec Guiness as the fictional painter Gully Jimson. This guy is one part genius and three parts pain-in-the-butt, not an unusual attribute for an artist and superbly played by Sir Alec. The painter’s attitude that the world owes him a living because he has talent is one most of us have encountered. You don’t know whether to laugh at him or shoot him.
Lust For Life (1956) is way better than most critics think. Kirk Douglas is really good as the tormented Vincent Van Gogh, and Anthony Quinn won an Oscar as his brother. The cinematography is just magnificent, especially the way the paintings of the master are segued into actual scenery for the film.
The French painter Toulouse-Lautrec was born with defective legs and spent his life dragging his misshapen body around Paris’ Left Bank and painting chorus girls and saloons. Jose Ferrer convincingly plays the tortured master in Moulin Rouge (1952). Lautrec’s portrayal of the Bohemian lifestyle of the time and his dwelling within it are accurately and dramatically portrayed in this movie. The 2001 musical of the same name is entirely different and not as good.
George Sanders was always an interesting actor, sometimes appearing in very good films but usually in nondescript potboilers. But Mr. Sanders is fine as artist Paul
Gaugin in Somerset Maugham’s The Moon And Sixpence (1942). The story of a man his acquaintances thought to be dull and ordinary, who runs off to Tahiti to lead the artistic life, is somehow convincing. This film is now seventy-five years old but holds up nicely and may well be Mr. Sanders’ finest hour.
All of the movies in this column are available on DVD. All except Pollock are OK for kids 10 and up.
Sunday, November 19, 2017
JOHN HILLERMAN
The late John Hillerman, who died recently at 84, was a fascinating actor. Born and raised in Texas, he developed a very convincing plummy British accent. He used it in several TV shows, including Simon & Simon, Murder She Wrote, and especially Magnum P.I. He was so believable as the rather annoying “Jonathan Higgins” that a British Lord wrote to him, calling him “a credit to the Empire”!
He is one of those actors you can’t quite recall until you see him. Then most people immediately recognize him. As far as I can tell, he worked until 1996 and I don’t know why he stopped. Until then, he worked steadily in TV and the movies. His filmography is pretty much limited to character parts, but he landed in some very fine films.
In The Last Picture Show (1971) he has a minor role as a teacher. This classic film was directed by Peter Bogdanovich from a screenplay by Larry McMurtry. It features Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybil Shepard, Ben Johnson and Cloris Leachman. It is the story of a small, dusty Texas town where growing up is hard and growing old is harder.
What’s Up Doc? (1972) is a terrifically funny, and complicated, film with Barbra Streisand, Ryan O’Neal, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars and Michael Murphy. The plot is about four identical plaid overnight bags which, of course, get to the wrong owners with hilarious results. The story is just too complex to do it justice here, but trust me, it all works out somehow. John Hillerman has a minor role as a hotel manager. Also with a minor role is novelist Phillip Roth. Don’t blink for either of these parts or you’ll miss them.
High Plains Drifter (1973) is one of a series of “spaghetti westerns” starring Clint Eastwood, who also directed this one. They’re all good, but this is maybe the best one. John Hillerman briefly appears as a bootmaker.
Blazing Saddles (1974) is simply one of the funniest movies ever made. Written and directed by the unmatchable Mel Brooks, it is the story of a small western town in the grip of bad guys. The townspeople hire a black sheriff (Cleavon Little) and a gunslinger (Gene Wilder) to get rid of the baddies. It also features Harvey Korman (as Hedley, not Heddy, Lamarr), Alex Karras, and Madeline Kahn. John Hillerman is on board as Howard Johnson. There is a joke every 10 seconds. This is one of my personal favorites!
Chinatown (1974) is a terrific thriller with Jack Nicholson as a pesky private eye and Faye Dunaway as a woman with terrible secrets. Directed by Roman Polanski, it was nominated for eleven Oscars, but won only for screenplay (Robert Towne). The precious commodity getting people killed is one that is still in play in that area- water.
John Hillerman plays Russ Yelburton, assistant head of the water department and a thoroughly corrupt guy.
Mr. Hillerman’s last appearance in a film of any note is as Ned Grote in the frankly mediocre Day Of The Locust (1975).
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. These are adult films.
The late John Hillerman, who died recently at 84, was a fascinating actor. Born and raised in Texas, he developed a very convincing plummy British accent. He used it in several TV shows, including Simon & Simon, Murder She Wrote, and especially Magnum P.I. He was so believable as the rather annoying “Jonathan Higgins” that a British Lord wrote to him, calling him “a credit to the Empire”!
He is one of those actors you can’t quite recall until you see him. Then most people immediately recognize him. As far as I can tell, he worked until 1996 and I don’t know why he stopped. Until then, he worked steadily in TV and the movies. His filmography is pretty much limited to character parts, but he landed in some very fine films.
In The Last Picture Show (1971) he has a minor role as a teacher. This classic film was directed by Peter Bogdanovich from a screenplay by Larry McMurtry. It features Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Cybil Shepard, Ben Johnson and Cloris Leachman. It is the story of a small, dusty Texas town where growing up is hard and growing old is harder.
What’s Up Doc? (1972) is a terrifically funny, and complicated, film with Barbra Streisand, Ryan O’Neal, Madeline Kahn, Kenneth Mars and Michael Murphy. The plot is about four identical plaid overnight bags which, of course, get to the wrong owners with hilarious results. The story is just too complex to do it justice here, but trust me, it all works out somehow. John Hillerman has a minor role as a hotel manager. Also with a minor role is novelist Phillip Roth. Don’t blink for either of these parts or you’ll miss them.
High Plains Drifter (1973) is one of a series of “spaghetti westerns” starring Clint Eastwood, who also directed this one. They’re all good, but this is maybe the best one. John Hillerman briefly appears as a bootmaker.
Blazing Saddles (1974) is simply one of the funniest movies ever made. Written and directed by the unmatchable Mel Brooks, it is the story of a small western town in the grip of bad guys. The townspeople hire a black sheriff (Cleavon Little) and a gunslinger (Gene Wilder) to get rid of the baddies. It also features Harvey Korman (as Hedley, not Heddy, Lamarr), Alex Karras, and Madeline Kahn. John Hillerman is on board as Howard Johnson. There is a joke every 10 seconds. This is one of my personal favorites!
Chinatown (1974) is a terrific thriller with Jack Nicholson as a pesky private eye and Faye Dunaway as a woman with terrible secrets. Directed by Roman Polanski, it was nominated for eleven Oscars, but won only for screenplay (Robert Towne). The precious commodity getting people killed is one that is still in play in that area- water.
John Hillerman plays Russ Yelburton, assistant head of the water department and a thoroughly corrupt guy.
Mr. Hillerman’s last appearance in a film of any note is as Ned Grote in the frankly mediocre Day Of The Locust (1975).
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. These are adult films.
Sunday, November 12, 2017
QUEEN VICTORIA
She ruled the British Empire for over 63 years. Elizabeth II has now surpassed that by about three years. But Queen Victoria as been a subject richly mined by Hollywood and the English film industry. I find her absolutely fascinating and her movies are also. Still in theaters as I write is Victoria And Abdul (2017) about the unlikely but true story of how the queen became fast friends with an Indian servant. Surrounded by sycophants and ungrateful children (9 of them, waiting for her to die), the queen is really lonely. Enter a handsome Indian sent to England to present the monarch with a commerative coin. Soon they are fast friends and he is teaching her Urdu and Hindi as well as cultural matters. Her court is outraged. Too bad, she’s still the queen! This movie is worth watching for Judi Dench’s perforance alone, but it’s an interesting story of an interlude no one would have predicted.
A similar but louder outrage confronted Queen Victoria when her friendship with Scotsman John Brown, presented as the film Mrs. Brown (1997). After the death of her beloved husband Albert, John Brown (Billy Connolly) is positioned to befriend the distraught monarch. This works a little too well for the court and family. The title is one bandied about at the time as a sarcastic reference to the queen’s friendship with Brown. Judi Dench (who else?) again appears as the queen. There remain rumors that this pair ventured beyond friendship. Brown’s diary was destroyed by the royal hangers-on, so we probably will never know the truth.
It is somewhat doubtful that Queen Victoria was ever as beautiful as Emily Blunt, who portrays her admirably as The Young Victoria (2009). But no matter. This is a somewhat fictionalized film about the teen-aged Victoria ascending the British throne. Rupert Friend is excellent as Prince Albert, the Prussian prince who woos and wins the reluctant Victoria. He aids her in her conflicts with the royal household and parliament, and their marriage is an extremely happy (and fruitful!) one. His unfortunate death at 42 left her bereft, and she wore black until her own death in 1876.
Looking For Victoria (2003) is a made-for-TV docudrama by Prunella Scales about the long-lived queen. It is probably the most accuarate of the many films about Victoria, as Ms. Scales painstakingly assembled the story from many sources. She gathered her material into a one-woman show about the queen, which is a little dry but certainly engaging.
And speaking of accuracy, the events portrayed in The Mudlark (1950) almost certainly never happened. Herein a street urchin journeys to Buckingham Palace to meet the queen and is intercepted as a possible assassin. Both prime minister Benjamin Disraeli and Victoria (Irene Dunne this time) believes this to be ridiculous. Anyway, somehow all this convinces her to come out of her strict mourning and resume her duties.
Some other films about Victoria that are worth a look include Victoria The Great
(1937 with Anna Neagle) and so successful that a sequel came out the next year (Sixty Glorious Years) also featuring Ms. Neagle. Also excellent is the Masterpiece Theatre series about Victoria in 2016 with Jenna Coleman.
All of the movies in this article except Looking For Victoria and of course Victoria and Abdul are available on DVD. All are fine for everyone, including mature children.
She ruled the British Empire for over 63 years. Elizabeth II has now surpassed that by about three years. But Queen Victoria as been a subject richly mined by Hollywood and the English film industry. I find her absolutely fascinating and her movies are also. Still in theaters as I write is Victoria And Abdul (2017) about the unlikely but true story of how the queen became fast friends with an Indian servant. Surrounded by sycophants and ungrateful children (9 of them, waiting for her to die), the queen is really lonely. Enter a handsome Indian sent to England to present the monarch with a commerative coin. Soon they are fast friends and he is teaching her Urdu and Hindi as well as cultural matters. Her court is outraged. Too bad, she’s still the queen! This movie is worth watching for Judi Dench’s perforance alone, but it’s an interesting story of an interlude no one would have predicted.
A similar but louder outrage confronted Queen Victoria when her friendship with Scotsman John Brown, presented as the film Mrs. Brown (1997). After the death of her beloved husband Albert, John Brown (Billy Connolly) is positioned to befriend the distraught monarch. This works a little too well for the court and family. The title is one bandied about at the time as a sarcastic reference to the queen’s friendship with Brown. Judi Dench (who else?) again appears as the queen. There remain rumors that this pair ventured beyond friendship. Brown’s diary was destroyed by the royal hangers-on, so we probably will never know the truth.
It is somewhat doubtful that Queen Victoria was ever as beautiful as Emily Blunt, who portrays her admirably as The Young Victoria (2009). But no matter. This is a somewhat fictionalized film about the teen-aged Victoria ascending the British throne. Rupert Friend is excellent as Prince Albert, the Prussian prince who woos and wins the reluctant Victoria. He aids her in her conflicts with the royal household and parliament, and their marriage is an extremely happy (and fruitful!) one. His unfortunate death at 42 left her bereft, and she wore black until her own death in 1876.
Looking For Victoria (2003) is a made-for-TV docudrama by Prunella Scales about the long-lived queen. It is probably the most accuarate of the many films about Victoria, as Ms. Scales painstakingly assembled the story from many sources. She gathered her material into a one-woman show about the queen, which is a little dry but certainly engaging.
And speaking of accuracy, the events portrayed in The Mudlark (1950) almost certainly never happened. Herein a street urchin journeys to Buckingham Palace to meet the queen and is intercepted as a possible assassin. Both prime minister Benjamin Disraeli and Victoria (Irene Dunne this time) believes this to be ridiculous. Anyway, somehow all this convinces her to come out of her strict mourning and resume her duties.
Some other films about Victoria that are worth a look include Victoria The Great
(1937 with Anna Neagle) and so successful that a sequel came out the next year (Sixty Glorious Years) also featuring Ms. Neagle. Also excellent is the Masterpiece Theatre series about Victoria in 2016 with Jenna Coleman.
All of the movies in this article except Looking For Victoria and of course Victoria and Abdul are available on DVD. All are fine for everyone, including mature children.
Sunday, November 5, 2017
THE HOME FRONT
Everyone in a country at war is impacted. Life goes on at home, but is drastically changed. Hollywood has done quite well with movies about the home front.
The latest entry in this genre is quite a good one. Thank You For Your Service (2017) takes on the story of three young men damaged in different ways by their service in the Middle East. Miles Teller, Scott Haze and Beulah Koale are back in the U.S. after a frightful tour. The clueless folks back home and the silent suffering of the soldiers is memorable. And the shoddy treatment by the VA is even worse. It is, as they say, based on a true story.
A fairly recent film with a different slant is The American Sniper (2014) with Bradley Cooper as the title character who just can’t let the war go until a traumatic event after his fourth tour sends him home for good. He seems to gradually be adjusting to home life. There is a surprise ending you won't find here. This film is also based on a true story.
The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946) grabbed eight Oscars, including Best Picture. It features the often-difficult time when the boys come home and the war is over. Best Years is nearly 50 years old, but retains its power and relevance.
Since You Went Away (1943) is not nearly so famous, but is almost as good. It is concerned more with the home folks while the war is still raging, and their desperate attempts to hang on to routine, and to hope. Claudette Colbert, Jennifer Jones, Monty Wooley, Joseph Cotten and Shirley Temple lead a fine cast.
Sunday Dinner For A Soldier (1944) is much less ambitious. It is the simple story of a family, whose father is away at the war, entertaining a soldier they do not know for a Sunday dinner. Anne Baxter as the hostess and John Hodiak as the soldier are quite winning in this very good “little” film.
The scene shifts to England for the wonderful Mrs. Miniver (1942). Greer Garson (Oscar, Best Actress) is just right as the title character, trying to hold her world together as bombs land at home and her husband is at the front. This film built lots of American support for our British allies. Another fine film about the British home front is the underrated Hope And Glory (1987).
There were several fine films about the American home front during the Viet Nam war. First and foremost is The Deer Hunter (1978). This memorable movie garnered five Oscars, including Best Film. It follows some Pennsylvania steel workers before, during and after the war, with great effect. Christopher Walken with a pistol at his head, and our boys in tiger cages, are images burned into our memories
Other good films covering the Viet Nam era include In Country (1989) with Bruce Willis as a shell-shocked vet, and Coming Home (1978) with Bruce Dern, Jane Fonda and Jon Voight as people damaged in different ways by the war.
All of the movies in this column except Thank You are available on DVD. The WWII films are fine for eight and up; the others are for adults only.
Everyone in a country at war is impacted. Life goes on at home, but is drastically changed. Hollywood has done quite well with movies about the home front.
The latest entry in this genre is quite a good one. Thank You For Your Service (2017) takes on the story of three young men damaged in different ways by their service in the Middle East. Miles Teller, Scott Haze and Beulah Koale are back in the U.S. after a frightful tour. The clueless folks back home and the silent suffering of the soldiers is memorable. And the shoddy treatment by the VA is even worse. It is, as they say, based on a true story.
A fairly recent film with a different slant is The American Sniper (2014) with Bradley Cooper as the title character who just can’t let the war go until a traumatic event after his fourth tour sends him home for good. He seems to gradually be adjusting to home life. There is a surprise ending you won't find here. This film is also based on a true story.
The Best Years Of Our Lives (1946) grabbed eight Oscars, including Best Picture. It features the often-difficult time when the boys come home and the war is over. Best Years is nearly 50 years old, but retains its power and relevance.
Since You Went Away (1943) is not nearly so famous, but is almost as good. It is concerned more with the home folks while the war is still raging, and their desperate attempts to hang on to routine, and to hope. Claudette Colbert, Jennifer Jones, Monty Wooley, Joseph Cotten and Shirley Temple lead a fine cast.
Sunday Dinner For A Soldier (1944) is much less ambitious. It is the simple story of a family, whose father is away at the war, entertaining a soldier they do not know for a Sunday dinner. Anne Baxter as the hostess and John Hodiak as the soldier are quite winning in this very good “little” film.
The scene shifts to England for the wonderful Mrs. Miniver (1942). Greer Garson (Oscar, Best Actress) is just right as the title character, trying to hold her world together as bombs land at home and her husband is at the front. This film built lots of American support for our British allies. Another fine film about the British home front is the underrated Hope And Glory (1987).
There were several fine films about the American home front during the Viet Nam war. First and foremost is The Deer Hunter (1978). This memorable movie garnered five Oscars, including Best Film. It follows some Pennsylvania steel workers before, during and after the war, with great effect. Christopher Walken with a pistol at his head, and our boys in tiger cages, are images burned into our memories
Other good films covering the Viet Nam era include In Country (1989) with Bruce Willis as a shell-shocked vet, and Coming Home (1978) with Bruce Dern, Jane Fonda and Jon Voight as people damaged in different ways by the war.
All of the movies in this column except Thank You are available on DVD. The WWII films are fine for eight and up; the others are for adults only.
Sunday, October 29, 2017
THE END OF THE WORLD
The disintegration of the Soviet Union allowed us to take a step back from the brink of nuclear holocaust. I grew up during the Cold War, when the doomsday clock at one time showed one second to go. Alas, the present resident of the White House seems bent on scaring the hell out of us with threats and bluster about nuclear warfare. And on that cheerful note, here’s a post about End Of The World movies.
There are dozens of Armageddon movies and most of them are pretty bad. Mr. Movie has diligently cherry-picked the best ones just for you.
The Bedford Incident (1971) has Richard Widmark as a gung-ho submarine commander tracking a Russian sub near the North Pole. Sidney Poitier and Martin Balsam add to a fine cast, but it’s James MacArthur whose misunderstanding of a simple order completes the circuit, and convinces us it would be all too easy to start the Last War.
In Testament (1983) the missiles have already flown and a small town in California awaits the certain end. Jane Alexander is the mother of a tightly knit family dealing with the apocalypse in this restrained and very moving film.
Likewise Stanley Kramer’s On The Beach (1959) details waiting for the end. Australia is the site, spared from the nuclear war only by its distance, but now awaiting inevitable death by radiation. Gregory Peck, Fred Astaire, Ava Gardner and Anthony Perkins head a dynamite cast. One plot line follows a last ditch effort to find other survivors in the world, but the main story involves the reactions of those facing the end.
Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) is quite simply one of the funniest films ever made. Peter Sellers (in multiple roles), George C Scott, Keenan Wynn, Sterling Hayden and Slim Pickens all add
merriment to this laugh-out-loud classic. Stanley Kubrick paints with the broadest of brushes, and only when you stop laughing hours later do you realize the world has ended because of rampant stupidity. I have seen it many times; it’s always a scream and I always find something new.
I’ve saved the worst for last. When Worlds Collide (1951) isn’t about nuclear disaster, but rather about another planet smashing into ours. The cheesy special effects don’t really travel well across 50+ years, and the cast consists of unknowns not about to get their big break. Scientists try to convince earth’s rulers to take this collision seriously and go about collecting a gene pool to send to another planet. Okay- but if you can manage to just sit back and let this one wash around you, it is fun.
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. The subject matter is adult.
The disintegration of the Soviet Union allowed us to take a step back from the brink of nuclear holocaust. I grew up during the Cold War, when the doomsday clock at one time showed one second to go. Alas, the present resident of the White House seems bent on scaring the hell out of us with threats and bluster about nuclear warfare. And on that cheerful note, here’s a post about End Of The World movies.
There are dozens of Armageddon movies and most of them are pretty bad. Mr. Movie has diligently cherry-picked the best ones just for you.
The Bedford Incident (1971) has Richard Widmark as a gung-ho submarine commander tracking a Russian sub near the North Pole. Sidney Poitier and Martin Balsam add to a fine cast, but it’s James MacArthur whose misunderstanding of a simple order completes the circuit, and convinces us it would be all too easy to start the Last War.
In Testament (1983) the missiles have already flown and a small town in California awaits the certain end. Jane Alexander is the mother of a tightly knit family dealing with the apocalypse in this restrained and very moving film.
Likewise Stanley Kramer’s On The Beach (1959) details waiting for the end. Australia is the site, spared from the nuclear war only by its distance, but now awaiting inevitable death by radiation. Gregory Peck, Fred Astaire, Ava Gardner and Anthony Perkins head a dynamite cast. One plot line follows a last ditch effort to find other survivors in the world, but the main story involves the reactions of those facing the end.
Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) is quite simply one of the funniest films ever made. Peter Sellers (in multiple roles), George C Scott, Keenan Wynn, Sterling Hayden and Slim Pickens all add
merriment to this laugh-out-loud classic. Stanley Kubrick paints with the broadest of brushes, and only when you stop laughing hours later do you realize the world has ended because of rampant stupidity. I have seen it many times; it’s always a scream and I always find something new.
I’ve saved the worst for last. When Worlds Collide (1951) isn’t about nuclear disaster, but rather about another planet smashing into ours. The cheesy special effects don’t really travel well across 50+ years, and the cast consists of unknowns not about to get their big break. Scientists try to convince earth’s rulers to take this collision seriously and go about collecting a gene pool to send to another planet. Okay- but if you can manage to just sit back and let this one wash around you, it is fun.
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. The subject matter is adult.
Sunday, October 22, 2017
IT’S MAGIC!
Do magicians really do magical things? Or is it all just an illusion? Does it matter? There are some fine movies about magicians; you can make up your own mind about the questions above.
John Malkovich is The Great Buck Howard (2009), a “mentalist” whose time in the sun is long gone. But he hangs on to the act, and a young man (Colin Hanks, Tom’s son) drops out of law school to tour with him. His greatest trick is to hypnotize an entire roomful of people. So did he do it nor not? You decide. Malkovich is, as always, just really good.
The Prestige (2006) is any magician’s one great trick that nobody else can do. Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale are rival magicians, employing spies, artifice, and all sorts of bad stuff to steal the other’s big trick. Michael Caine is on hand as an old pro at all things magic. The tricks are super and the ending either proves (or does not?) that there really is magic in the world.
The redoubtable Emma Thompson is the nanny from heaven in the strange but terrific Nanny McPhee (2005). Summoned to straighten out some of the worst brats on the planet, she makes her way inch by inch to do just that. She knows lots of tricks, but the best magic here is that Nanny starts out as ugly as homemade sin and gradually gets better looking as her wiles begin to work. A sequel is also quite good.
The Illusionist (2006) is a wonderful film filled with romance, mystery, intrigue and incredible magic tricks. Edward Norton is the magician. He is in love with the fiancee of the dreadful Crown Prince. When she refuses to marry the prince (and his plans to overthrow his father), he reacts violently against her. Mr. Norton hatches a whole new act in which he appears to bring back people from the other side in full view of sold-out audiences. One of the apparitions (?) is Jennifer Biel, the woman who refused the Crown Prince. Chief Inspector Paul Giamatti arrests the illusionist for creating a public disturbance. But where is he? That’s all I can really tell.
Now You See Me (2013) has a stellar cast and is loads of fun. Jesse Eisenberg, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Mark Ruffalo and Woody Harrellson are on board in a fascinating flick. A group of four magicians seems to perform impossible tricks, such as looting a Paris bank vault while doing a show in Las Vegas and spraying the stolen money into the crowd. More hi-jinks follow and there’s a stunning twist. But- beware the tepid sequels.
OK, I did not save the best for last. Ingmar Bergman’s The Magician (1989) certainly isn’t to all tastes. It wasn’t to mine. It’s sort of a horror comedy that doesn’t really work as either. Don’t say you weren’t warned!
All of the movies in this column are available on DVD. All are for grown-ups.
Do magicians really do magical things? Or is it all just an illusion? Does it matter? There are some fine movies about magicians; you can make up your own mind about the questions above.
John Malkovich is The Great Buck Howard (2009), a “mentalist” whose time in the sun is long gone. But he hangs on to the act, and a young man (Colin Hanks, Tom’s son) drops out of law school to tour with him. His greatest trick is to hypnotize an entire roomful of people. So did he do it nor not? You decide. Malkovich is, as always, just really good.
The Prestige (2006) is any magician’s one great trick that nobody else can do. Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale are rival magicians, employing spies, artifice, and all sorts of bad stuff to steal the other’s big trick. Michael Caine is on hand as an old pro at all things magic. The tricks are super and the ending either proves (or does not?) that there really is magic in the world.
The redoubtable Emma Thompson is the nanny from heaven in the strange but terrific Nanny McPhee (2005). Summoned to straighten out some of the worst brats on the planet, she makes her way inch by inch to do just that. She knows lots of tricks, but the best magic here is that Nanny starts out as ugly as homemade sin and gradually gets better looking as her wiles begin to work. A sequel is also quite good.
The Illusionist (2006) is a wonderful film filled with romance, mystery, intrigue and incredible magic tricks. Edward Norton is the magician. He is in love with the fiancee of the dreadful Crown Prince. When she refuses to marry the prince (and his plans to overthrow his father), he reacts violently against her. Mr. Norton hatches a whole new act in which he appears to bring back people from the other side in full view of sold-out audiences. One of the apparitions (?) is Jennifer Biel, the woman who refused the Crown Prince. Chief Inspector Paul Giamatti arrests the illusionist for creating a public disturbance. But where is he? That’s all I can really tell.
Now You See Me (2013) has a stellar cast and is loads of fun. Jesse Eisenberg, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Mark Ruffalo and Woody Harrellson are on board in a fascinating flick. A group of four magicians seems to perform impossible tricks, such as looting a Paris bank vault while doing a show in Las Vegas and spraying the stolen money into the crowd. More hi-jinks follow and there’s a stunning twist. But- beware the tepid sequels.
OK, I did not save the best for last. Ingmar Bergman’s The Magician (1989) certainly isn’t to all tastes. It wasn’t to mine. It’s sort of a horror comedy that doesn’t really work as either. Don’t say you weren’t warned!
All of the movies in this column are available on DVD. All are for grown-ups.
Sunday, October 15, 2017
BOXING
News of the death of Jake LaMotta put me in mind of a landmark film centered around boxing, Martin Scorcese’s Raging Bull (1980). Robert DeNiro (Oscar, Best Actor) is solidly convincing as LaMotta. Shot in black and white, it is perhaps the first movie to show boxing as it really is. This is the story of a certain type of man who happens to be a boxer, and a fascinating film bio of an American legend. The kitchen scene with wife Cathy Moriarity is not soon forgotten.
An earlier film based on the life of a boxer (Rocky Graziano) is Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956). It launched the career of a very good looking young actor named Paul Newman. Pier Angeli (remember her?) is the love interest.
The sport of boxing has fallen a long way since the days of Joe Louis or Mohammed Ali. It’s hardly a blip on the sports page radar these days. And yet, Hollywood continues to turn out wonderful movies with boxing as the centerpiece.
One of the best movies of 2005 (or any year) came out too early and was predictably ignored at Oscar time. But Cinderella Man is a splendid film, based on the true story of New Jersey fighter James J. Braddock. Russell Crowe may be a total jerk in real life, but he sure can act and he is just right in this film. His stalwart wife is perfectly played by Renee Zelwegger and Paul Giamatti is surprisingly good as his manager. Unabashedly sentimental, this film will lift you up no matter how down you may be.
A truckload of Oscars deservedly went to Clint Eastwood’s gripping Million Dollar Baby (2004). Hillary Swank is the determined protégé, Eastwood her trainer, and Morgan Freeman is Morgan Freeman. There is far more than boxing going on here, including determination, readjusting preconceptions and what true love may be.
Another excellent film about female boxers is the overlooked Girlfight (2000). Michelle Rodriguez is stunning as a young woman determined to fight her way out of the ghetto with her will and her fists. Her performance carries this film; the ensemble cast is effective, but largely unknown.
I know the Rocky series became a rather lame joke after the fifth or sixth one, but please remember that the very first film in 1976 is the stuff American dreams are made of. Talia Shire is winning as the love interest and Sylvester Stallone is really quite good before he became a caricature of himself. And then in 2015 came Creed, with Michael B. Jordan as the son of Rocky’s old nemesis, Apollo Creed, and Stallone as his trainer. And it is actually pretty good.
Also worth a look is Requiem for a Heavyweight (1956) which is more about the advantage taken of boxers by others, and what is left when they age out. Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason and Mickey Rooney are all quite good here.
All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for 12 and up.
News of the death of Jake LaMotta put me in mind of a landmark film centered around boxing, Martin Scorcese’s Raging Bull (1980). Robert DeNiro (Oscar, Best Actor) is solidly convincing as LaMotta. Shot in black and white, it is perhaps the first movie to show boxing as it really is. This is the story of a certain type of man who happens to be a boxer, and a fascinating film bio of an American legend. The kitchen scene with wife Cathy Moriarity is not soon forgotten.
An earlier film based on the life of a boxer (Rocky Graziano) is Somebody Up There Likes Me (1956). It launched the career of a very good looking young actor named Paul Newman. Pier Angeli (remember her?) is the love interest.
The sport of boxing has fallen a long way since the days of Joe Louis or Mohammed Ali. It’s hardly a blip on the sports page radar these days. And yet, Hollywood continues to turn out wonderful movies with boxing as the centerpiece.
One of the best movies of 2005 (or any year) came out too early and was predictably ignored at Oscar time. But Cinderella Man is a splendid film, based on the true story of New Jersey fighter James J. Braddock. Russell Crowe may be a total jerk in real life, but he sure can act and he is just right in this film. His stalwart wife is perfectly played by Renee Zelwegger and Paul Giamatti is surprisingly good as his manager. Unabashedly sentimental, this film will lift you up no matter how down you may be.
A truckload of Oscars deservedly went to Clint Eastwood’s gripping Million Dollar Baby (2004). Hillary Swank is the determined protégé, Eastwood her trainer, and Morgan Freeman is Morgan Freeman. There is far more than boxing going on here, including determination, readjusting preconceptions and what true love may be.
Another excellent film about female boxers is the overlooked Girlfight (2000). Michelle Rodriguez is stunning as a young woman determined to fight her way out of the ghetto with her will and her fists. Her performance carries this film; the ensemble cast is effective, but largely unknown.
I know the Rocky series became a rather lame joke after the fifth or sixth one, but please remember that the very first film in 1976 is the stuff American dreams are made of. Talia Shire is winning as the love interest and Sylvester Stallone is really quite good before he became a caricature of himself. And then in 2015 came Creed, with Michael B. Jordan as the son of Rocky’s old nemesis, Apollo Creed, and Stallone as his trainer. And it is actually pretty good.
Also worth a look is Requiem for a Heavyweight (1956) which is more about the advantage taken of boxers by others, and what is left when they age out. Anthony Quinn, Jackie Gleason and Mickey Rooney are all quite good here.
All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for 12 and up.
Sunday, October 8, 2017
NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand is the site of some wonderful films. Almost all of Lord of the Rings was shot there; the scenery is simply breathtaking. But that trilogy is science fiction; let’s look at films not only in, but about, this little-known country.
Hunt For The Wilderpeople (2016) is billed as a New Zealand adventure comedy-drama. I could not have said it any better. Left an orphan, Ricky goes to live with foster mother Bella and her taciturn husband Hec. Bella dies, and the child welfare people want Ricky back. Neither he nor Hec are keen on this, so they take to the woods and for most of the movie hide out from the authorities and meet interesting people. Aussie Sam Neill is good as Hec and newcomer Julian Dennison is just fine as Ricky. Oh, by the way: Who or what are the Wilderpeople? I have no idea.
Whale Rider (2003) is a terrific film that was in my top 10 for 2003. It is the life-affirming story of a young girl growing up in the Maori culture, which does not allow girls much room to grow. The young heroine fights back with courage and elan. It is a heart-warming film that should be seen by every young (and not-so-young) woman (and man!)
Once Were Warriors (1994) is a devastating look at what increasing urbanization has done to the Maori culture and New Zealanders in general. The father’s traditional role as unquestioned head of the house has to give a little when he’s not making the living. With universal application, this fine little film gives us enough to think about for weeks.
Heavenly Creatures (1994) is directed by Ring Cycle’s Peter Jackson. Two young girls form a perilous friendship including a dangerous private world inhabited only by them. When their parents try to separate them, the girls take extreme measures.
Melanie Lynskey and the better-known Kate Winslett (Titanic) are superb as the two girls. Trivia note: One of these girls grew up to be British mystery writer Anne Perry!
Angel At My Table (1990) is director Jane Campion’s affecting study of New Zealand poet and author Janet Frame, a quiet child misdiagnosed as mentally ill and sent to an institution for eight years! That it is a true story only adds to the emotional wallop of this excellent movie.
Finally, there is the intriguing and utterly weird The Piano (1993), also directed by Jane Campion. Sam Neill and Harvey Keitel join Oscar winners Anna Paquin and Holly Hunter in the story of a mail-order bride (Hunter) who is apparently mute by choice and who loves only her piano and her daughter (probably in that order).
All of the films in this article(including the whole Lord of the Rings cycle) are available on DVD. The Ring cycle is fine for 8 and up. All the rest are for adults only.
New Zealand is the site of some wonderful films. Almost all of Lord of the Rings was shot there; the scenery is simply breathtaking. But that trilogy is science fiction; let’s look at films not only in, but about, this little-known country.
Hunt For The Wilderpeople (2016) is billed as a New Zealand adventure comedy-drama. I could not have said it any better. Left an orphan, Ricky goes to live with foster mother Bella and her taciturn husband Hec. Bella dies, and the child welfare people want Ricky back. Neither he nor Hec are keen on this, so they take to the woods and for most of the movie hide out from the authorities and meet interesting people. Aussie Sam Neill is good as Hec and newcomer Julian Dennison is just fine as Ricky. Oh, by the way: Who or what are the Wilderpeople? I have no idea.
Whale Rider (2003) is a terrific film that was in my top 10 for 2003. It is the life-affirming story of a young girl growing up in the Maori culture, which does not allow girls much room to grow. The young heroine fights back with courage and elan. It is a heart-warming film that should be seen by every young (and not-so-young) woman (and man!)
Once Were Warriors (1994) is a devastating look at what increasing urbanization has done to the Maori culture and New Zealanders in general. The father’s traditional role as unquestioned head of the house has to give a little when he’s not making the living. With universal application, this fine little film gives us enough to think about for weeks.
Heavenly Creatures (1994) is directed by Ring Cycle’s Peter Jackson. Two young girls form a perilous friendship including a dangerous private world inhabited only by them. When their parents try to separate them, the girls take extreme measures.
Melanie Lynskey and the better-known Kate Winslett (Titanic) are superb as the two girls. Trivia note: One of these girls grew up to be British mystery writer Anne Perry!
Angel At My Table (1990) is director Jane Campion’s affecting study of New Zealand poet and author Janet Frame, a quiet child misdiagnosed as mentally ill and sent to an institution for eight years! That it is a true story only adds to the emotional wallop of this excellent movie.
Finally, there is the intriguing and utterly weird The Piano (1993), also directed by Jane Campion. Sam Neill and Harvey Keitel join Oscar winners Anna Paquin and Holly Hunter in the story of a mail-order bride (Hunter) who is apparently mute by choice and who loves only her piano and her daughter (probably in that order).
All of the films in this article(including the whole Lord of the Rings cycle) are available on DVD. The Ring cycle is fine for 8 and up. All the rest are for adults only.
Sunday, October 1, 2017
NUNS
Nuns are women who dedicate themselves to a lifetime of service, piety and obedience, and they have been the basis of many fine movies.
A good place to begin is Doubt (2008). Meryl Streep is the Mother Superior at a parochial school, Amy Adams is a young and naive teacher and Phillip Seymour Hoffman is the good-natured parish priest suspected of unnatural behavior. This is heady company indeed, but virtual unknown Viola Davis almost steals the movie as the mother of the possible victim. The tension builds almost to the breaking point and to a frankly surprising ending. All four of the principals were nominated for Oscars, along with writer-director John Patrick Shanley. None of them won.
Perhaps no Hollywood film has captured what it must be like to become a nun as well as The Nun’s Story (1959). This fine movie captured eight Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director (Fred Zinnemann). Audrey Hepburn also won for her portrayal of Sister Luke. Her training, discipline and service make a very good story. She becomes a medical nun in Africa under the tutelage of agnostic Dr. Fortunati (Peter Finch).
From the sublime to the ridiculous, Whoopi Goldberg is on the run from her murderous mobster boyfriend and hiding out in a convent in Sister Act (1992). She shakes things up quite a bit as the hip new choir director and the laughs are plentiful. Not exactly a slice of life, but lots of fun. Beware the weak sequel.
A young nun may have become pregnant and may have murdered the baby in the enigmatic Agnes of God (1985). Jane Fonda, Meg Tilly and Anne Bancroft are all very good in a film with no easy answers. The opaque nature of the story line may turn some off, but the performances make it worth a look.
A nun is the central figure in perhaps the best movie about capital punishment ever made, Dead Man Walking (1995). Susan Sarandon is Sister Helen Prejean, a devoted opponent of the death penalty. Sean Penn is the unlikeable object of her efforts. Actually quite fair and balanced on a sensitive subject about which everyone has an opinion. Ms. Sarandon won the Oscar as Best Actress.
And finally I have to mention the wonderful off-Broadway play, Nunsense (1992), a howlingly funny send up of a very off-beat convent. None of the sequels are very good.
Oh, and we must remember that the accomplished Sally Field (Oscar winner for Norma Rae) got her start as The Flying Nun!
All of the films in this article are for grownups, and all are available on DVD.
Nuns are women who dedicate themselves to a lifetime of service, piety and obedience, and they have been the basis of many fine movies.
A good place to begin is Doubt (2008). Meryl Streep is the Mother Superior at a parochial school, Amy Adams is a young and naive teacher and Phillip Seymour Hoffman is the good-natured parish priest suspected of unnatural behavior. This is heady company indeed, but virtual unknown Viola Davis almost steals the movie as the mother of the possible victim. The tension builds almost to the breaking point and to a frankly surprising ending. All four of the principals were nominated for Oscars, along with writer-director John Patrick Shanley. None of them won.
Perhaps no Hollywood film has captured what it must be like to become a nun as well as The Nun’s Story (1959). This fine movie captured eight Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director (Fred Zinnemann). Audrey Hepburn also won for her portrayal of Sister Luke. Her training, discipline and service make a very good story. She becomes a medical nun in Africa under the tutelage of agnostic Dr. Fortunati (Peter Finch).
From the sublime to the ridiculous, Whoopi Goldberg is on the run from her murderous mobster boyfriend and hiding out in a convent in Sister Act (1992). She shakes things up quite a bit as the hip new choir director and the laughs are plentiful. Not exactly a slice of life, but lots of fun. Beware the weak sequel.
A young nun may have become pregnant and may have murdered the baby in the enigmatic Agnes of God (1985). Jane Fonda, Meg Tilly and Anne Bancroft are all very good in a film with no easy answers. The opaque nature of the story line may turn some off, but the performances make it worth a look.
A nun is the central figure in perhaps the best movie about capital punishment ever made, Dead Man Walking (1995). Susan Sarandon is Sister Helen Prejean, a devoted opponent of the death penalty. Sean Penn is the unlikeable object of her efforts. Actually quite fair and balanced on a sensitive subject about which everyone has an opinion. Ms. Sarandon won the Oscar as Best Actress.
And finally I have to mention the wonderful off-Broadway play, Nunsense (1992), a howlingly funny send up of a very off-beat convent. None of the sequels are very good.
Oh, and we must remember that the accomplished Sally Field (Oscar winner for Norma Rae) got her start as The Flying Nun!
All of the films in this article are for grownups, and all are available on DVD.
Sunday, September 24, 2017
HARRY DEAN STANTON
He had a face that looked like it had worn out three or four bodies. But Harry Dean Stanton, who died recently at 91, had a great run. His career began in 1954 and spanned over 60 years. He appeared in over 100 movies and 50 TV shows. He even had a part in a still-to-be-released movie at the time of his death (Frank And Ava, now in post-production).
Wise Blood (1969), a weird movie from a weird Flannery O’Connor novel, features Bard Dourif as an anti-preacher, roaming the South spouting hateful drivel against Christianity and its followers. This film is definitely not for all tastes, but it does have a cult following. John Huston, master of weird stories, directs. Harry Dean Stanton has an excellent turn as a standard, and fraudulent, sidewalk preacher.
The Black Marble (1980) is one of the more successful adaptations of Joseph Wambaugh’s delicious cop novels. Robert Foxworth and Paula Prentiss play LA cops ordered to investigate the kidnapping of a Beverly Hills socialite’s pet dog. Harry Dean Stanton is just spot-on as the sleazy kidnapper, who runs a beauty shop for pets and desperately needs money to pay his debts.
Goldie Hawn is an Oscar nominee for Private Benjamin (1980) as a socialite adrift after her new husband dies on their wedding night. A very questionable Army recruiter, ably played by Harry Dean Stanton, convinces her that the US Army is fun and games, almost like a vacation. She quickly discovers it is not that at all, but she can’t unenlist. Her expectations meeting the reality of basic training are the stuff of high comedy.
Perhaps the capstone of Mr. Stanton’s career was his role in Paris, Texas (1984). He appears as Travis Henderson, a mute amnesiac wandering through Texas. The extremely convoluted plot involves Travis eventually finding his son and wife after four missing years. The Straight Story (1999) is one of my favorite movies you’ve probably never heard of. It is the late Richard Farnsworth’s crowning achievement. He plays Alvin,an aging man who is estranged from his brother Lyle (Harry Dean Stanton). Learning that Lyle has had a stroke, Alvin decides he must go visit him in the hopes of a reconciliation before Lyle dies. Since Alvin has no driver’s license, he drives the 240 mile journey on his John Deere lawn tractor!
You can also catch good HDS moments in Cool Hand Luke (1967) as one of Paul Newman’s fellow convicts, and as Molly Ringwald’s Dad in Pretty In Pink (1986). He also has a brief, but important, part in The Green Mile (1999)
All of the flims in this article are available on DVD and are for grown-ups.
He had a face that looked like it had worn out three or four bodies. But Harry Dean Stanton, who died recently at 91, had a great run. His career began in 1954 and spanned over 60 years. He appeared in over 100 movies and 50 TV shows. He even had a part in a still-to-be-released movie at the time of his death (Frank And Ava, now in post-production).
Wise Blood (1969), a weird movie from a weird Flannery O’Connor novel, features Bard Dourif as an anti-preacher, roaming the South spouting hateful drivel against Christianity and its followers. This film is definitely not for all tastes, but it does have a cult following. John Huston, master of weird stories, directs. Harry Dean Stanton has an excellent turn as a standard, and fraudulent, sidewalk preacher.
The Black Marble (1980) is one of the more successful adaptations of Joseph Wambaugh’s delicious cop novels. Robert Foxworth and Paula Prentiss play LA cops ordered to investigate the kidnapping of a Beverly Hills socialite’s pet dog. Harry Dean Stanton is just spot-on as the sleazy kidnapper, who runs a beauty shop for pets and desperately needs money to pay his debts.
Goldie Hawn is an Oscar nominee for Private Benjamin (1980) as a socialite adrift after her new husband dies on their wedding night. A very questionable Army recruiter, ably played by Harry Dean Stanton, convinces her that the US Army is fun and games, almost like a vacation. She quickly discovers it is not that at all, but she can’t unenlist. Her expectations meeting the reality of basic training are the stuff of high comedy.
Perhaps the capstone of Mr. Stanton’s career was his role in Paris, Texas (1984). He appears as Travis Henderson, a mute amnesiac wandering through Texas. The extremely convoluted plot involves Travis eventually finding his son and wife after four missing years. The Straight Story (1999) is one of my favorite movies you’ve probably never heard of. It is the late Richard Farnsworth’s crowning achievement. He plays Alvin,an aging man who is estranged from his brother Lyle (Harry Dean Stanton). Learning that Lyle has had a stroke, Alvin decides he must go visit him in the hopes of a reconciliation before Lyle dies. Since Alvin has no driver’s license, he drives the 240 mile journey on his John Deere lawn tractor!
You can also catch good HDS moments in Cool Hand Luke (1967) as one of Paul Newman’s fellow convicts, and as Molly Ringwald’s Dad in Pretty In Pink (1986). He also has a brief, but important, part in The Green Mile (1999)
All of the flims in this article are available on DVD and are for grown-ups.
Sunday, September 17, 2017
WHO SAID THAT? 5
Yes, yet another helping of movie quotes. These are the hardest yet. Answers at t he bottom. No cheating! If you get number 16, you’re brilliant!
1- This is really a great city. I don’t care what anyone says!
2- Would you be shocked if I put on something more comfortable?
3- I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout birthin’ babies!
4- My first wife drove me to drink. I’ll always be grateful to her.
5- Years from now when you talk about this- and you will- be kind.
6- In spite of everything, I still believe that people are good at heart.
7- When I die, in the newspapers they’ll write that the sons of bitches of the world have lost their leader.
8- I like to watch.
9- I’ll be back.
10- I’m not bad. I’m just drawn that way.
11-All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.
12- The only question I ever ask any woman is “What time is your husband coming home?”
13- Round up the usual suspects.
14- To infinity...and beyond!
15- Beulah, peel me a grape.
16- 24601.
1- Woody Allen to Diane Keaton in Manhattan (1979)
2- Jean Harlow to Ben Lyon in Hell’s Angels (1930)
3- Butterfly McQueen to Vivian Leigh in Gone With The Wind (1939)
4- W.C. Fields in Never Give A Sucker An Even Break (1941)
5- Deborah Kerr to John Kerr in Tea And Sympathy (1956).
6- Millie Perkins in The Diary Of Anne Frank (1959)
7- Vincent Gardenia in Bang The Drum Slowly (1973)
8- Peter Sellers in Being There (1979)
9- Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator (1984)
10- Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)
11- Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard (1950)
12- Paul Newman to Patricia Neal in Hud (1963)
13- Claude Rains to his police officers in Casablanca (1942)
14- Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) in Toy Story (1995)
15- Mae West to Gertrude Howard in I’m No Angel (1933)
16- Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) confessing his prison number in Les Miserables (2012)
16- Brilliant! Mensa candidate
12-15 Cinephile
9-11 Fair
Yes, yet another helping of movie quotes. These are the hardest yet. Answers at t he bottom. No cheating! If you get number 16, you’re brilliant!
1- This is really a great city. I don’t care what anyone says!
2- Would you be shocked if I put on something more comfortable?
3- I don’t know nothin’ ‘bout birthin’ babies!
4- My first wife drove me to drink. I’ll always be grateful to her.
5- Years from now when you talk about this- and you will- be kind.
6- In spite of everything, I still believe that people are good at heart.
7- When I die, in the newspapers they’ll write that the sons of bitches of the world have lost their leader.
8- I like to watch.
9- I’ll be back.
10- I’m not bad. I’m just drawn that way.
11-All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.
12- The only question I ever ask any woman is “What time is your husband coming home?”
13- Round up the usual suspects.
14- To infinity...and beyond!
15- Beulah, peel me a grape.
16- 24601.
1- Woody Allen to Diane Keaton in Manhattan (1979)
2- Jean Harlow to Ben Lyon in Hell’s Angels (1930)
3- Butterfly McQueen to Vivian Leigh in Gone With The Wind (1939)
4- W.C. Fields in Never Give A Sucker An Even Break (1941)
5- Deborah Kerr to John Kerr in Tea And Sympathy (1956).
6- Millie Perkins in The Diary Of Anne Frank (1959)
7- Vincent Gardenia in Bang The Drum Slowly (1973)
8- Peter Sellers in Being There (1979)
9- Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator (1984)
10- Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988)
11- Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard (1950)
12- Paul Newman to Patricia Neal in Hud (1963)
13- Claude Rains to his police officers in Casablanca (1942)
14- Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) in Toy Story (1995)
15- Mae West to Gertrude Howard in I’m No Angel (1933)
16- Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) confessing his prison number in Les Miserables (2012)
16- Brilliant! Mensa candidate
12-15 Cinephile
9-11 Fair
Sunday, September 10, 2017
WHO SAID THAT? Part 4
Yet another fun (I hope!) quiz about famous movie quotes. This one may be a little harder than the previous ones. Answers at the bottom. No peeking!
1. Oh, Jerry, don’t ask for the moon. We have the stars.
2. One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don’t know.
3. A boy’s best friend is his mother.
4. Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.
5. As God is my witness, I’ll never be hungry again.
6. Well, here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into!
7. Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me, aren’t you?
8. Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.
9. Here’s Johnny!
10. They’re here!
11. I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.
12. Hello, gorgeous.
13. Tell ‘em to go out there with all they got and win just one for the Gipper.
14. A martini. Shaken, not stirred.
15. I’m king of the world!
ANSWERS
1. Bette Davis to Paul Henreid in Now, Voyager (1942)
2. Groucho Marx (who else?) to everyone in Animal Crackers (1930)
3. The extremely creepy Anthony Perkins to Janet Leigh in Psycho (1960)
4. Michael Douglas to Charlie Sheen in Wall Street (1987)
5. Vivian Leigh to the whole wide world in Gone With The Wind (1939)
6. Stan Laurel to Oliver Hardy in Sons Of The Desert (1933)
7. Dustin Hoffman to Anne Bancroft in The Graduate (1967)
8. Humphrey Bogart to Dooley Wilson in Casablanca (1942)
9. Jack Nicholson to his terrorized family in The Shining (1980)
10. Heather O’Rourke (the little girl) to the family in Poltergeist (1982)
11. Vivian Leigh to Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
12. Barbra Streisand to Omar Sharif in Funny Girl (1968)
13. Ronald Reagan ( yes, him!) to Pat O’Brien in Knute Rockne, All-American (1940)
14. Sean Connery to a bartender in Goldfinger (1964)
15. Leonardo DiCaprio to Kate Winslett in Titanic (1997)
12-15 Cinephile
9-12 Fair
Yet another fun (I hope!) quiz about famous movie quotes. This one may be a little harder than the previous ones. Answers at the bottom. No peeking!
1. Oh, Jerry, don’t ask for the moon. We have the stars.
2. One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I don’t know.
3. A boy’s best friend is his mother.
4. Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.
5. As God is my witness, I’ll never be hungry again.
6. Well, here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into!
7. Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me, aren’t you?
8. Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine.
9. Here’s Johnny!
10. They’re here!
11. I have always depended on the kindness of strangers.
12. Hello, gorgeous.
13. Tell ‘em to go out there with all they got and win just one for the Gipper.
14. A martini. Shaken, not stirred.
15. I’m king of the world!
ANSWERS
1. Bette Davis to Paul Henreid in Now, Voyager (1942)
2. Groucho Marx (who else?) to everyone in Animal Crackers (1930)
3. The extremely creepy Anthony Perkins to Janet Leigh in Psycho (1960)
4. Michael Douglas to Charlie Sheen in Wall Street (1987)
5. Vivian Leigh to the whole wide world in Gone With The Wind (1939)
6. Stan Laurel to Oliver Hardy in Sons Of The Desert (1933)
7. Dustin Hoffman to Anne Bancroft in The Graduate (1967)
8. Humphrey Bogart to Dooley Wilson in Casablanca (1942)
9. Jack Nicholson to his terrorized family in The Shining (1980)
10. Heather O’Rourke (the little girl) to the family in Poltergeist (1982)
11. Vivian Leigh to Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)
12. Barbra Streisand to Omar Sharif in Funny Girl (1968)
13. Ronald Reagan ( yes, him!) to Pat O’Brien in Knute Rockne, All-American (1940)
14. Sean Connery to a bartender in Goldfinger (1964)
15. Leonardo DiCaprio to Kate Winslett in Titanic (1997)
12-15 Cinephile
9-12 Fair
Sunday, August 20, 2017
WHO SAID THAT?
Part 3
Here’s another installment of famous quotes from movies for you to test your trivia IQ, or just to have a little fun. Answers at the bottom. No cheating!
1- I coulda been a contender.
2- Wait a minute! You ain’t heard nothing yet!
3- I love the smell of napalm in the morning.
4- Love means never having to say you’re sorry.
5- I am your father.
6- Made it, Ma! Top of the world!
7- I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore!
8- I am big! It’s the pictures that got small.
9- Why don’t you come up and see me sometime?
10- After all, tomorrow is another day.
11- You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.
12- You’re gonna need a bigger boat!
13- I’ll be back.
14- Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.
15- If you build it, he will come.
ANSWERS:
1- Marlon Brando to Lee J. Cobb in On The Waterfront
2- Al Jolson to the audience in The Jazz Singer (first talking movie!)
3- Robert Duvall as Colonel Kilgore in Apocalypse Now
4- The dying Ali McGraw to Ryan O’Neal in Love Story
5- Darth Vader (David Prowse body, James Earl Jones voice) to an astonished Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in Star Wars
6- James Cagney to Margaret Whycherly (his ma) in White Heat
7- Peter Finch as crazy newsman Howard Beale in Network
8- Gloria Swanson to William Holden in Sunset Boulevard
9- Mae West to Cary Grant in She Done Him Wrong
10- Vivan Leigh to the world at large in Gone With The Wind
11- Lauren Bacall to Humphrey Bogart in To Have And Have Not
12- Roy Scheider to Robert Shaw in Jaws
13- Arnold Schwartzenegger to a cop in a police station in The Terminator
14- Gary Cooper as Lou Gehrig in The Pride Of The Yankees
15- A mysterious voice to Kevin Costner in Field Of Dreams (he came)
12-15 Cinephile
9-11 Fair
Part 3
Here’s another installment of famous quotes from movies for you to test your trivia IQ, or just to have a little fun. Answers at the bottom. No cheating!
1- I coulda been a contender.
2- Wait a minute! You ain’t heard nothing yet!
3- I love the smell of napalm in the morning.
4- Love means never having to say you’re sorry.
5- I am your father.
6- Made it, Ma! Top of the world!
7- I’m mad as hell and I’m not gonna take it anymore!
8- I am big! It’s the pictures that got small.
9- Why don’t you come up and see me sometime?
10- After all, tomorrow is another day.
11- You know how to whistle, don’t you, Steve? You just put your lips together and blow.
12- You’re gonna need a bigger boat!
13- I’ll be back.
14- Today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth.
15- If you build it, he will come.
ANSWERS:
1- Marlon Brando to Lee J. Cobb in On The Waterfront
2- Al Jolson to the audience in The Jazz Singer (first talking movie!)
3- Robert Duvall as Colonel Kilgore in Apocalypse Now
4- The dying Ali McGraw to Ryan O’Neal in Love Story
5- Darth Vader (David Prowse body, James Earl Jones voice) to an astonished Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) in Star Wars
6- James Cagney to Margaret Whycherly (his ma) in White Heat
7- Peter Finch as crazy newsman Howard Beale in Network
8- Gloria Swanson to William Holden in Sunset Boulevard
9- Mae West to Cary Grant in She Done Him Wrong
10- Vivan Leigh to the world at large in Gone With The Wind
11- Lauren Bacall to Humphrey Bogart in To Have And Have Not
12- Roy Scheider to Robert Shaw in Jaws
13- Arnold Schwartzenegger to a cop in a police station in The Terminator
14- Gary Cooper as Lou Gehrig in The Pride Of The Yankees
15- A mysterious voice to Kevin Costner in Field Of Dreams (he came)
12-15 Cinephile
9-11 Fair
Sunday, August 13, 2017
SAM SHEPARD
Ruggedly handsome, multi-talented Sam Shepard died recently at 73. He was a true modern day renaissance man. He wrote and directed many off-Broadway and Broadway plays, including True West and Fool For Love. He won not only a Tony, but the Pulitzer Prize for Buried Child.
His filmography as an actor is varied and impressive. He knew how to pick his spots.
Shepard’s first film appearance of note is in Terence Malik’s Days Of Heaven (1978). He is billed, simply, as The Farmer. This film is more noted for its glorious cinematography than the story, but Shepard is quite convincing as a rich but dying landowner. Richard Gere and Brooke Adams scheme to entice him into a quick marriage so they can inherit the farm. From there it gets complicated.
Nobody could have played the iconic test pilot Chuck Yeager as well as Sam Shepard, and he garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in The Right Stuff (1983). He lost to Jack Nicholson for Terms Of Endearment. Fred Ward, Dennis Quaid, Scott Glenn and Ed Harris join a stellar cast in this highly popular movie about the early days of the US space program.
Sam Shepard appeared twice in movies that are practically all-girl. They needed a manly man and he fit the part to a tee. He was Doc Porter in Beth Henley’s Crimes of the Heart (1986) and Spud Jones in Steel Magnolias (1989). Both are excellent movies and if Shepard didn’t have a whole lot to do in them, let’s just say he did what needed to be done quite well.
Snow Falling On Cedars (1999) is a good adaptation of David Guterson’s novel of murder and racial prejudice. Ethan Hawke plays reporter Ishmael Chambers, sent to cover the trial of a young Japanese-American accused of murdering a white fisherman. Sam Shepard plays the reporter’s father, mostly in scenes of Hawke’s early childhood. There’s also a contentious subplot involving the thwarted sale of part of a farm to a Japanese-American family that has worked the land for years. When the sale is interrupted by the outbreak of World War II, things fall apart.
2007 brought about the big break for current stars Casey Affleck and Brad Pitt. It also brought the film with the longest title this side of Doctor Strangelove. The Assasination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford is based on Ron Hansen’s excellent novel. Pitt is the legendary Jesse, Affleck the turncoat Ford, and Sam Shepard plays Jesse’s brother Frank. Oddly enough, Robert Ford became something of a folk hero for a while and even had a traveling tent show. But audiences turned on him when they learned he had shot Jesse in the back.
The stars of Mud (2012) are young Tye Sheraton and Jacob Lofland, who play two kids growing up pretty much on their own in Arkansas. Matthew McConaughey is the title character, on the run from the law and washed up on a deserted island where the boys find him and try to help him. Sam Shepard is Tom, who at first refuses to help Mud but later lends a hand (ok, a gun) when things get hairy.
All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for grown-ups.
Ruggedly handsome, multi-talented Sam Shepard died recently at 73. He was a true modern day renaissance man. He wrote and directed many off-Broadway and Broadway plays, including True West and Fool For Love. He won not only a Tony, but the Pulitzer Prize for Buried Child.
His filmography as an actor is varied and impressive. He knew how to pick his spots.
Shepard’s first film appearance of note is in Terence Malik’s Days Of Heaven (1978). He is billed, simply, as The Farmer. This film is more noted for its glorious cinematography than the story, but Shepard is quite convincing as a rich but dying landowner. Richard Gere and Brooke Adams scheme to entice him into a quick marriage so they can inherit the farm. From there it gets complicated.
Nobody could have played the iconic test pilot Chuck Yeager as well as Sam Shepard, and he garnered an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in The Right Stuff (1983). He lost to Jack Nicholson for Terms Of Endearment. Fred Ward, Dennis Quaid, Scott Glenn and Ed Harris join a stellar cast in this highly popular movie about the early days of the US space program.
Sam Shepard appeared twice in movies that are practically all-girl. They needed a manly man and he fit the part to a tee. He was Doc Porter in Beth Henley’s Crimes of the Heart (1986) and Spud Jones in Steel Magnolias (1989). Both are excellent movies and if Shepard didn’t have a whole lot to do in them, let’s just say he did what needed to be done quite well.
Snow Falling On Cedars (1999) is a good adaptation of David Guterson’s novel of murder and racial prejudice. Ethan Hawke plays reporter Ishmael Chambers, sent to cover the trial of a young Japanese-American accused of murdering a white fisherman. Sam Shepard plays the reporter’s father, mostly in scenes of Hawke’s early childhood. There’s also a contentious subplot involving the thwarted sale of part of a farm to a Japanese-American family that has worked the land for years. When the sale is interrupted by the outbreak of World War II, things fall apart.
2007 brought about the big break for current stars Casey Affleck and Brad Pitt. It also brought the film with the longest title this side of Doctor Strangelove. The Assasination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford is based on Ron Hansen’s excellent novel. Pitt is the legendary Jesse, Affleck the turncoat Ford, and Sam Shepard plays Jesse’s brother Frank. Oddly enough, Robert Ford became something of a folk hero for a while and even had a traveling tent show. But audiences turned on him when they learned he had shot Jesse in the back.
The stars of Mud (2012) are young Tye Sheraton and Jacob Lofland, who play two kids growing up pretty much on their own in Arkansas. Matthew McConaughey is the title character, on the run from the law and washed up on a deserted island where the boys find him and try to help him. Sam Shepard is Tom, who at first refuses to help Mud but later lends a hand (ok, a gun) when things get hairy.
All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for grown-ups.
Sunday, August 6, 2017
WHO SAID THAT? Part 2
The last “who said that” column was so popular (okay three people kind of mentioned it in passing), that I decided to do another. Answers at the bottom. No cheating!
1. I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.
2. You talkin’ to me?
3. What we have here is a failure to communicate.
4. Show me the money!
5. I want to be alone.
6. Round up the usual suspects.
7. Plastics.
8. I see dead people.
9. We rob banks.
10. Well, nobody’s perfect!
11. You can’t fight in here! This is the War Room!
12. I can’t do that, Dave.
13. Where’s the rest of me?
14. You can’t handle the truth!
15. You had me at hello.
ANSWERS
1. Marlon Brando to assorted thugs in The Godfather
2. Robert DeNiro to an unfortunate bystander in Taxi Driver
3. Strother Martin to a shackled Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke
4. Cuba Gooding, Jr. to wannabe agent Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire
5. Greta Garbo to everybody in Grand Hotel
6. Claude Rains to the police chief in Casablanca
7. Walter Brooke’s career advice to a puzzled Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate
8. Haley Joel Osment to Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense
9. Warren Beatty explaining his vocation in Bonnie And Clyde
10. Joe E. Brown on discovering Jack Lemon is actually a guy in Some Like It Hot
11. Peter Sellers to battling bureaucrats in Dr. Strangelove
12. HAL the computer’s chilling answer to Keir Dullea in 2001: A Space Odyssey
13. Ronald Reagan (yes, him!) on discovering his legs have been amputated in Kings Row
14. Jack Nicholson to Demi Moore in A Few Good Men. (He was wrong.)
15. Renee Zellwegger to Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire
12-15 Cinephile
8-11 Fair
The last “who said that” column was so popular (okay three people kind of mentioned it in passing), that I decided to do another. Answers at the bottom. No cheating!
1. I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.
2. You talkin’ to me?
3. What we have here is a failure to communicate.
4. Show me the money!
5. I want to be alone.
6. Round up the usual suspects.
7. Plastics.
8. I see dead people.
9. We rob banks.
10. Well, nobody’s perfect!
11. You can’t fight in here! This is the War Room!
12. I can’t do that, Dave.
13. Where’s the rest of me?
14. You can’t handle the truth!
15. You had me at hello.
ANSWERS
1. Marlon Brando to assorted thugs in The Godfather
2. Robert DeNiro to an unfortunate bystander in Taxi Driver
3. Strother Martin to a shackled Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke
4. Cuba Gooding, Jr. to wannabe agent Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire
5. Greta Garbo to everybody in Grand Hotel
6. Claude Rains to the police chief in Casablanca
7. Walter Brooke’s career advice to a puzzled Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate
8. Haley Joel Osment to Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense
9. Warren Beatty explaining his vocation in Bonnie And Clyde
10. Joe E. Brown on discovering Jack Lemon is actually a guy in Some Like It Hot
11. Peter Sellers to battling bureaucrats in Dr. Strangelove
12. HAL the computer’s chilling answer to Keir Dullea in 2001: A Space Odyssey
13. Ronald Reagan (yes, him!) on discovering his legs have been amputated in Kings Row
14. Jack Nicholson to Demi Moore in A Few Good Men. (He was wrong.)
15. Renee Zellwegger to Tom Cruise in Jerry Maguire
12-15 Cinephile
8-11 Fair
Sunday, July 30, 2017
WHO SAID THAT?
Let’s have some fun with some famous movie lines. See how many you can correctly identify which movie they come from. For bonus points, the character that said the line. Answers at the bottom. No cheating!
1. “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn”
2. “Who are those guys?”
3. “The stuff that dreams are made of”
4. “I’ll have what she’s having”
5. “It’s alive!”
6. “There’s no crying in baseball”
7. “Play it again, Sam”
8. “Carpe diem; seize the day, boys!”
9. “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get”
10. “Fasten your seatbelts! It’s gonna be a bumpy night.”
12. “Rosebud”
13. “You’ve got to ask yourself one question- do I feel lucky? Well, do you, punk?”
14. “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore”
15. “Here’s looking at you, kid”
ANSWERS:
1. Rhett Butler as he leaves a tearful Scarett O’Hara in Gone With The Wind.
2. Paul Newman to Robert Redford when they can’t shake their pursuers in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
3. Humphrey Bogart to the room at large, describing The Maltese Falcon
4. Nearby diner, played by Carl Reiner’s mom, on hearing Meg Ryan describe faking an orgasm to Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally
5. Dr. Frankenstein (Carl Clive) on seeing the monster (Boris Karlof) move in Frankenstein
6. Tom Hanks to Geena Davis when something goes wrong in A League Of Their Own
7. Humphrey Bogart to pianist Dooley Wilson in Casablanca, though the actual quote is “Play it, Sam. Play As Time Goes By”.
8. Robin Williams to his Prep School English class in Dead Poets’ Society
9. Tom Hanks to lady on a park bench in Forest Gump
10. Bette Davis to partygoers in All About Eve
11. Tom Hanks to Mission Control in Apollo 13.
12. Orson Welles as a dying Charles Foster Cane remembering his boyhood in Citizen Kane
13. Clint Eastwood glowering down at a captured street punk in Dirty Harry
14. Judy Garland to her little dog in The Wizard Of Oz
15. Humphrey Bogart to Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca
12-15 Cinephile
9-11 Fair
Let’s have some fun with some famous movie lines. See how many you can correctly identify which movie they come from. For bonus points, the character that said the line. Answers at the bottom. No cheating!
1. “Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn”
2. “Who are those guys?”
3. “The stuff that dreams are made of”
4. “I’ll have what she’s having”
5. “It’s alive!”
6. “There’s no crying in baseball”
7. “Play it again, Sam”
8. “Carpe diem; seize the day, boys!”
9. “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get”
10. “Fasten your seatbelts! It’s gonna be a bumpy night.”
12. “Rosebud”
13. “You’ve got to ask yourself one question- do I feel lucky? Well, do you, punk?”
14. “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore”
15. “Here’s looking at you, kid”
ANSWERS:
1. Rhett Butler as he leaves a tearful Scarett O’Hara in Gone With The Wind.
2. Paul Newman to Robert Redford when they can’t shake their pursuers in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
3. Humphrey Bogart to the room at large, describing The Maltese Falcon
4. Nearby diner, played by Carl Reiner’s mom, on hearing Meg Ryan describe faking an orgasm to Billy Crystal in When Harry Met Sally
5. Dr. Frankenstein (Carl Clive) on seeing the monster (Boris Karlof) move in Frankenstein
6. Tom Hanks to Geena Davis when something goes wrong in A League Of Their Own
7. Humphrey Bogart to pianist Dooley Wilson in Casablanca, though the actual quote is “Play it, Sam. Play As Time Goes By”.
8. Robin Williams to his Prep School English class in Dead Poets’ Society
9. Tom Hanks to lady on a park bench in Forest Gump
10. Bette Davis to partygoers in All About Eve
11. Tom Hanks to Mission Control in Apollo 13.
12. Orson Welles as a dying Charles Foster Cane remembering his boyhood in Citizen Kane
13. Clint Eastwood glowering down at a captured street punk in Dirty Harry
14. Judy Garland to her little dog in The Wizard Of Oz
15. Humphrey Bogart to Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca
12-15 Cinephile
9-11 Fair
Sunday, July 23, 2017
WINE
In my short (okay, pretty long) lifetime, North Carolina has gone from zero wineries to around 145. Who woulda thought it? Maybe some day we’ll have our own wine movie. For right now, wine movies are about other places, and some are quite good.
Sideways (2004) is the film that made pinot noir famous. Paul Giamatti plays a wine buff who is somewhat sticky about it. He takes good old boy Thomas Hayden Church on a tour of wineries in the Napa Valley. This is to be a last bachelor outing before Church’s wedding. Hijinks ensue. And Virginia Madsden’s (as Maya) two minute monlogue on the romance of wine is a highlight. Funny and charming, Sideways did well at the box office and with the critics, and sold many cases of pinot noir.
The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969) is that the tiny village’s only product is wine, and that it must be kept out of the hands of the occupying Nazis. Anthony Quinn and Anna Magnani head a fine cast, and Hardy Kruger is good as a civilized German officer. How do you hide a million cases of wine? Watch and see!
Keanu Reeves agrees to pretend he is married to the gorgeous Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, so that her winemaker father won’t freak out when he learns she is pregnant. A Walk In the Clouds (1995) is pure romantic nonsense, and I liked it a lot. The Napa settings are beautiful and so are the people. Do the main characters fall in love? Is this a Hollywood movie?
A Good Year (2006) is based on Peter Mayle’s very popular memoir, A Year In Provence. Russell Crowe is the high stakes London financier who inherits a battered chateau and aging vineyard in Southern France. After he goes there to check out his inheritance, he gradually comes to realize the quiet charm of this place. Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator, Blade Runner) is the unlikely director. And yet, I think it works pretty well. Marion Cotillard is ideal as the love interest. The two principals had a brief, but delightful, meeting as children.
The little-known but utterly winning Bottle Shock (2008) is the fascinating story of how the American vintners soundly whipped the snooty French at a blind tasting on France’s home court. Alan Rickman is perfect as a British wineshop owner who devises the plan after a trip to California to taste the local products. Before this event, the world at large viewed American wines as little better than soda pop. After this, the playing field was never the same. The movie does a good job portraying what happened.
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. All are for grown-ups.
###
In my short (okay, pretty long) lifetime, North Carolina has gone from zero wineries to around 145. Who woulda thought it? Maybe some day we’ll have our own wine movie. For right now, wine movies are about other places, and some are quite good.
Sideways (2004) is the film that made pinot noir famous. Paul Giamatti plays a wine buff who is somewhat sticky about it. He takes good old boy Thomas Hayden Church on a tour of wineries in the Napa Valley. This is to be a last bachelor outing before Church’s wedding. Hijinks ensue. And Virginia Madsden’s (as Maya) two minute monlogue on the romance of wine is a highlight. Funny and charming, Sideways did well at the box office and with the critics, and sold many cases of pinot noir.
The Secret of Santa Vittoria (1969) is that the tiny village’s only product is wine, and that it must be kept out of the hands of the occupying Nazis. Anthony Quinn and Anna Magnani head a fine cast, and Hardy Kruger is good as a civilized German officer. How do you hide a million cases of wine? Watch and see!
Keanu Reeves agrees to pretend he is married to the gorgeous Aitana Sanchez-Gijon, so that her winemaker father won’t freak out when he learns she is pregnant. A Walk In the Clouds (1995) is pure romantic nonsense, and I liked it a lot. The Napa settings are beautiful and so are the people. Do the main characters fall in love? Is this a Hollywood movie?
A Good Year (2006) is based on Peter Mayle’s very popular memoir, A Year In Provence. Russell Crowe is the high stakes London financier who inherits a battered chateau and aging vineyard in Southern France. After he goes there to check out his inheritance, he gradually comes to realize the quiet charm of this place. Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator, Blade Runner) is the unlikely director. And yet, I think it works pretty well. Marion Cotillard is ideal as the love interest. The two principals had a brief, but delightful, meeting as children.
The little-known but utterly winning Bottle Shock (2008) is the fascinating story of how the American vintners soundly whipped the snooty French at a blind tasting on France’s home court. Alan Rickman is perfect as a British wineshop owner who devises the plan after a trip to California to taste the local products. Before this event, the world at large viewed American wines as little better than soda pop. After this, the playing field was never the same. The movie does a good job portraying what happened.
All of the movies in this article are available on DVD. All are for grown-ups.
###
Sunday, July 16, 2017
WHAT WENT RIGHT?
When I heard these movies were coming, my expectations weren’t great. And yet each of them turned out to be a home run, delighting all those (ok, most of those) who thought the enterprise was doomed from birth.
Judith Guest’s Ordinary People (1980) is an incredible first novel that astonishes with its depth and feeling. So when I heard the movie was to feature comedienne Mary Tyler Moore as the mother, and that it was to be directed (in his first effort) by matinee idol Robert Redford, I despaired. Wrong. Ms. Moore, Donald Sutherland, Judd Hirsch and Timothy Hutton are all absolutely on the mark. Mr. Redford won an Oscar, as did the screen writer, Mr. Hutton, and the picture, itself.
Forrest Gump (1984) is a rather hateful book about a mentally deficient clown from the deep south. I was wondering why they even made it. And it only won six Oscars and deserved every one. The performances director Robert Zemekis gets from his talented cast makes this film both a critical hit and an audience delight. Tom Hanks is perfect as Forrest, and is ably backed up by Sally Field and Gary Sinise. Forrest is present at practically every important event of the 60s, and doesn’t understand any of them.
The main problem with filming Apollo 13 (1985) isn’t the lack of a good story- the problem is everyone already knows there is a happy ending and the astronauts safely complete the flight. But director Ron Howard and screenwriters William Broyles and Al Reinert turn this into a wonderfully suspenseful film full of drama, excitement and unusually good special effects. And it doesn’t hurt to have Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Tom Hanks and Gary Sinise in a fine cast.
J.R.R. Tolkien’s monumental trilogy about Middle Earth, The Lord of the Rings, is unbeatable cinematic material. But could it satisfy the legion of cult followers and the casual movie-goer? Yes. Peter Jackson has pulled together incredible special effects, a fantastic story, and absolutely breath-taking scenery into one of the truly unforgettable movie experiences. Released in 2001, 2002 and 2003, these are movie movies! And yet, they could not leave well enough alone and the Hobbitt sequels are at best so-so.
Cold Mountain (2003) is a justly-praised first novel by Tar Heel Charles Frazier and perhaps the best civil war novel ever written. So when I heard it was to feature Jude Law (a Brit), Nicole Kidman (an Aussie) and Rene Zelwegger ( a comedienne) , and that it was to be shot in Romania (!), I was all set for it to crash and burn. Instead it soars, bringing the story perfectly to the screen.
All of the films in this column are available on DVD. All are fine for 8 and up.
###
When I heard these movies were coming, my expectations weren’t great. And yet each of them turned out to be a home run, delighting all those (ok, most of those) who thought the enterprise was doomed from birth.
Judith Guest’s Ordinary People (1980) is an incredible first novel that astonishes with its depth and feeling. So when I heard the movie was to feature comedienne Mary Tyler Moore as the mother, and that it was to be directed (in his first effort) by matinee idol Robert Redford, I despaired. Wrong. Ms. Moore, Donald Sutherland, Judd Hirsch and Timothy Hutton are all absolutely on the mark. Mr. Redford won an Oscar, as did the screen writer, Mr. Hutton, and the picture, itself.
Forrest Gump (1984) is a rather hateful book about a mentally deficient clown from the deep south. I was wondering why they even made it. And it only won six Oscars and deserved every one. The performances director Robert Zemekis gets from his talented cast makes this film both a critical hit and an audience delight. Tom Hanks is perfect as Forrest, and is ably backed up by Sally Field and Gary Sinise. Forrest is present at practically every important event of the 60s, and doesn’t understand any of them.
The main problem with filming Apollo 13 (1985) isn’t the lack of a good story- the problem is everyone already knows there is a happy ending and the astronauts safely complete the flight. But director Ron Howard and screenwriters William Broyles and Al Reinert turn this into a wonderfully suspenseful film full of drama, excitement and unusually good special effects. And it doesn’t hurt to have Bill Paxton, Kevin Bacon, Tom Hanks and Gary Sinise in a fine cast.
J.R.R. Tolkien’s monumental trilogy about Middle Earth, The Lord of the Rings, is unbeatable cinematic material. But could it satisfy the legion of cult followers and the casual movie-goer? Yes. Peter Jackson has pulled together incredible special effects, a fantastic story, and absolutely breath-taking scenery into one of the truly unforgettable movie experiences. Released in 2001, 2002 and 2003, these are movie movies! And yet, they could not leave well enough alone and the Hobbitt sequels are at best so-so.
Cold Mountain (2003) is a justly-praised first novel by Tar Heel Charles Frazier and perhaps the best civil war novel ever written. So when I heard it was to feature Jude Law (a Brit), Nicole Kidman (an Aussie) and Rene Zelwegger ( a comedienne) , and that it was to be shot in Romania (!), I was all set for it to crash and burn. Instead it soars, bringing the story perfectly to the screen.
All of the films in this column are available on DVD. All are fine for 8 and up.
###
Sunday, July 2, 2017
WHAT WENT WRONG?
When you’d read the book, or just heard they were making the movie, you were excited. You couldn’t wait to see this story brought to the silver screen. Then it was. And it was terribly disappointing. What went wrong?
Cormac McCarthy’s All The Pretty Horses (2000) was a wonderful book, winning popular and critical acclaim. It was incredibly cinematic. But the film, with Matt Damon and Henry Thomas (of ET fame) just never gels. First time director Billy Bob Thornton’s tracks are painfully obvious- bad editing, uneven pace. It’s not that it is a bad movie- it just could have been so much better.
On the other hand, there is Beloved (1998). Toni Morrison’s densely ethereal novel would be a stretch for anyone to put on the screen. And the film is a total mess. It singlehandedly sidetracked the career of Thandie Newton (who isn’t that bad), and proved that even Oprah Winfrey can be very wrong. Full of pseudo spiritualism and hocus pocus, it requires a leap of faith not worth making.
Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil (1997) is a quirky but quite entertaining book about Savannah, murder, voodoo and the best stripping male impersonator ever. Clint Eastwood directed. Kevin Spacey is always good, as is John Cusak. But the movie doesn’t get it. Perhaps Eastwood tried to include too much of the book, but it is wandering and very disappointing.
In Tom Wolfe’s wickedly funny book there are really no heroes. And that is just one of the problems in Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), one of the worst movies of the 90's. There is talent to burn (and it is burned in this movie). It was directed by Brian DePalma and featured Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman and Melanie Griffith. But the characters are turned to pasteboard and the story jumps the tracks and we are left not with satire but mean-spirited hatefulness.
Chaplin (1992) wastes a sterling performance by Robert Downey Jr. in the title role and an incredible career story by never deciding what it wants to be about. Chaplin’s life is interesting, but his films are the thing, and the writers and director just don’t seem to get it.
Some other near and far misses include Ali (2001), a strangely emotionless film about the heavyweight champ, and two Broadway musicals with all the stage magic drained out- A Chorus Line (1985) and Annie (1982) and (2014).
All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for grown-ups.
I was asked recently why I stopped saying movies were available for streaming. That’s because I don’t know if they are or not, and there are so many streaming outlets I can’t keep up. For a while, I was blithely saying films were available for streaming just because the DVD was out. But one doesn’t necessarily follow the other.
When you’d read the book, or just heard they were making the movie, you were excited. You couldn’t wait to see this story brought to the silver screen. Then it was. And it was terribly disappointing. What went wrong?
Cormac McCarthy’s All The Pretty Horses (2000) was a wonderful book, winning popular and critical acclaim. It was incredibly cinematic. But the film, with Matt Damon and Henry Thomas (of ET fame) just never gels. First time director Billy Bob Thornton’s tracks are painfully obvious- bad editing, uneven pace. It’s not that it is a bad movie- it just could have been so much better.
On the other hand, there is Beloved (1998). Toni Morrison’s densely ethereal novel would be a stretch for anyone to put on the screen. And the film is a total mess. It singlehandedly sidetracked the career of Thandie Newton (who isn’t that bad), and proved that even Oprah Winfrey can be very wrong. Full of pseudo spiritualism and hocus pocus, it requires a leap of faith not worth making.
Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil (1997) is a quirky but quite entertaining book about Savannah, murder, voodoo and the best stripping male impersonator ever. Clint Eastwood directed. Kevin Spacey is always good, as is John Cusak. But the movie doesn’t get it. Perhaps Eastwood tried to include too much of the book, but it is wandering and very disappointing.
In Tom Wolfe’s wickedly funny book there are really no heroes. And that is just one of the problems in Bonfire of the Vanities (1990), one of the worst movies of the 90's. There is talent to burn (and it is burned in this movie). It was directed by Brian DePalma and featured Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman and Melanie Griffith. But the characters are turned to pasteboard and the story jumps the tracks and we are left not with satire but mean-spirited hatefulness.
Chaplin (1992) wastes a sterling performance by Robert Downey Jr. in the title role and an incredible career story by never deciding what it wants to be about. Chaplin’s life is interesting, but his films are the thing, and the writers and director just don’t seem to get it.
Some other near and far misses include Ali (2001), a strangely emotionless film about the heavyweight champ, and two Broadway musicals with all the stage magic drained out- A Chorus Line (1985) and Annie (1982) and (2014).
All of the films in this article are available on DVD. All are for grown-ups.
I was asked recently why I stopped saying movies were available for streaming. That’s because I don’t know if they are or not, and there are so many streaming outlets I can’t keep up. For a while, I was blithely saying films were available for streaming just because the DVD was out. But one doesn’t necessarily follow the other.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)