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.
Sunday, November 26, 2017
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.
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