Broken Blossoms (1919)

Now considered a classic of silent cinema, this film pushed many envelopes for its time in its deprecations of child abuse and inter-racial love. The story concerns an immigrant Chinese shop keeper (Richard Barthelmess), who takes in an abused 15 year old (Lillian Gish) in then contemporary London. The film has a maturity and subtlety you don’t always associate with American silent cinema, particularly this early in the art forms history. Knowing what I know about its director D.W. Griffith, and his Victorianism and Confederate sympathy in politics, I was surprised by the handling of a number of elements in the film. Take Bartholomew’s affections for Gish, I think its strongly implied that he’s sexually attracted to her, but despite his disillusionment and opium addiction, the character still posses a very strict moral code and is unable to act on his baser desires. This is set up well in the short prolog to the film, where we see that Bartholomew’s character was a very committed Buddhist back in China, and in fact left that country for Europe in the hopes of being something of a ‘missionary’ to the ‘savage Anglo-Saxons’, a delightful inversion of period expectations, and one that I’d be very curious to know what Griffith meant to convey by. Grade: B+.

Virginia Davis (1918-2009)

Disney’s little known first star. I actually had a conversation with her once four years ago, she was a very animated grandmotherly sort, seemed to keep her youthful enthusiasm her whole life.

Lou Jacobi (1913-2009)

Some actors only need one role to be memorable, and he was so funny as Moustache in Irma La Douce (1963), that that alone warrants him mention here.

Henry Gibson (1935-2009)

Like Jacobi, Gibson had a long and successful career as a character actor, but when the folks at Boston Legal brought him on as Judge Clark Brown, did they know what a treasure they had, I think so.

Lou Albano (1933-2009)

Super Mario himself.

Ertuğrul Osman (1912-2009)

The last claimant to the throne of the Ottoman Empire.

Irving Kristol (1920-2009)

One of the least known but mostly politically influential Americans of the 20th century, his son continues the family’s neo-conservative tradition but isn’t as impressive.

William Safire (1929-2009)

Journalist, political figure, “libertarian conservative”.

The Informant! (2009)

This is a film that really exceeded my expectations. There’s a lot going on here, there’s of course the quirky style, and Damon’s great performance, along with a whose who of under used character actors, but there’s also a surprisingly intricate tapestry running beneath everything that I didn’t fully start to piece together until after I left the theater (though I can’t say to much about that with out spoiling it). Suffice it to say this film didn’t take me where I expected to go, and while I felt a little trepidation at first, I now embrace it. One of the most enjoyable part of the film are Matt Damon’s little internal monologues as Mark Whitacre. Here is a guy in the middle of some high stress, intense stuff, price fixing, working as a mole for the FBI, yet like most of us he often spends his time thinking about stupid stuff, like where he should go to get his ties, an idea for a television show, and South American butterflies, these moments are often hilarious. One of my favorite films of the year so far. Grade: A-.

Manufacturing Dissent (2007)

Another film about Michael Moore, though this one feels more journalistic then most. Moore still comes off badly, or at least as complicated, which he assuredly is. I think when we learn more about his past, especially around the time of Roger & Me, we see that he had always been an egoist, practically incapable of admitting when he was wrong (I don’t ever think I’ve heard him say he was wrong), and someone who clearly doesn’t think it wrong to manipulate the truth when he thinks he’s right (which again appears to be basically all the time). I don’t hate Michael Moore, I still kind of like him, but I think he’s a man more motivated by an unhealthy psychology then by principle or anything else. Grade: B-

Films title is a play on the Noam Chomsky documentary Manufacturing Consent.

Mad Men:Season 2 (2008)

What can I say, the show gets even better, even deeper. Grade: A. My favorite episode from the season: Three Sundays.

Zombieland (2009)

You already know if you’ll like this or not. Not as quirky as the cult-classic Shaun of the Dead, it still does a wonderful job of balancing its zombie film and coming-of-age-movie sensibilities. The small cast really clicks and the film boasts probably the most memorable cameo of the year. Grade: B. Enjoy the trailer.

The Hasty Heart (1949)

Adapted from the stage play of the same name, The Hasty Heart is a one note cliche, filled with period conventions, unexceptional acting, and bland staging, it became almost instantly tiresome to watch. The story is about a mostly off putting Scottish stereotype of a solder ( Richard Todd) injured fatally on the final day of the war, only he doesn’t know it. Destined to die of kidney failure within weeks, the commanding officer of this international MASH unit decides to keep the Scotsman around and in the dark until his death, he does however enlist a pretty nurse (Patricia Neal) and five recuperating solders of various nationalities to befriend him and make him ‘happy and comfortable’ in his last days. Mostly the Scotsman (who pines for a kilt and is named Laughlin McLaughlin, lest we risk once taking the emphasis of his being Scottish) is gruff, self righteous, and unlikable. Eventually he comes to believe that this gang of six are his friends, and then he just becomes over needy and annoying. Then he figures out he’s dying and his ‘friends’ knew about it, and he becomes a jerk again (want to wager if he has yet another change of heart before the ending). Movie notable mostly as Neal’s first after beginning her affair with Gary Cooper on the seat of The Fountainhead, and that Ronald Regan (who plays the groups requisite Yank) was reportedly very depressed while shooting this movie having recently been divorced by his wife Jane Wymen. But mostly, its just a bad movie. Grade: D.