Retrovision Classic Movies and Television

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Xanadu (1980), Barbarella (1968), Night of the Creeps (1986)

Today we will be taking a look at some films that are interesting artifacts of their times, coming close in some ways to embodying their pop culture zeitgeists.

Xandau

Romantic fantasy film I have a hard time imagining would have been made at any other time. I don't know the bizarre amalgamation of causes that brought this film about but surely they can't be replicated. Featuring songs written for, and noticeably not by, star Olivia Newton-John and the Electric Light Orchestra, I liked most of the musical numbers though I'm kind of embarrassed that I did. The plot is odd and lose and is really only there to string the music together in something approaching logic. There's Greek Goddess, Don Bluth does an animation sequence, lots of day glow, Gene Kelly's here to somewhat ground this in the musical tradition of an earlier era, and there's roller skating. It's really a mess, and with a woodnish lead Michael Beck getting so much screen time it really shouldn't work, but some how it does, with much credit for this going to Ms. Newton-John at the height of her loveliness. I think my six year old niece might really like this movie. **1/2

Barbarella

Star Jane Fonda made this film for her then husband Roger Vadim, who was a Frenchman, which kind of explains some of this. Barbarella is based on comics of the same name created by another Frenchman, Jean-Claude Forest. This movie is like a weird combination of a 1930's movie serial, the original Star Trek, Dadaism and soft core porn. Barbarella (Fonda) is a 41st Century space aviatrix sent by the President of the Republic of Earth (Claude Dauphin) to the planet Tau Ceti to track down missing scientist Durand Durand (Milo O'Shea) who has diapered with his dangerous positronic ray, which if it were to fall into the wrong hands could threaten the stability of the rest of the peace loving galaxy. Tau Ceit of course is ruled by an evil tyrant (Anita Pallenberg) who lives it up in Sogo the City of the Night with her fellow evil lovers while banishing all the good people of the planet to a prison like labyrinth with Marcel Marceau and a blind angel (John Phillip Law). So much for the plot, such as it is. It's an odd picture, visually and otherwise, and must have really hit on the confusing/shocking end of the spectrum for American audience when it came out, just fifteen years after the effective death of the production code. This whole thing felt like it had a 14 year old boy behind, still a reasonably clever 14 year old boy. **

Night of the Creeps

This is easily my favorite of the three movies examined tonight. A very well constructed example of, and homage to, the B-movie genera (many of the characters last names are shared with important B movie directors). An alien experiment gets dislodged from a space ship and lands on earth in the year 1959 near a college campus at the same time an axe wielding maniac is on the lose. After a brief prolog which conveys this information we flash forward to the present day (1986) and college pledge week, where the somewhat geeky Chris Romero (Jason Lively, whose eyes seem just a little to far apart) falls for the lovely Cynthia Cronenberg (the crush worthy Jill Whitlow) who unfortunately is dating (surprise) a big jerk named Brad (Allan Kayser) of the stuck up Beta Fraternity, Chris also has a wise cracking crippled best friend name C. J. Well Chris and C.J. are put up to a prank by Brad and the Beta's to steal a corpse from the campus morg (yep) and leave it on the grounds of a rival frat. The two eventually chicken out but not until after they have revived from a cryo-statis lab a victim of the alien experiment 27 years back. The re-animated corpse is of course a zombie, only the zombies purpose is for its brain to serve as an incubator for leach-like alien parasites who enter through a victims mouth, and whose progeny are released when the victims head gets too full and explodes, a fate which quickly befalls research scientist David Paymer. This movie is surprisingly smart and well written, with Tom Atkins detective Ray Cameron the stand out character, "Thrill me." I had a fun time with this movie. ***

The Iron Lady (2011)

The general consensus on this film seems to be that while Meryl Streep gives a predictably fabulous performance as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the bulk of the movie is mediocre. I suspect that a good part of this criticism owes to the manner of the films presentation. Now its not unusual for a motion picture, especially a bio-pic to employ a framing story, to give both context as well as an excuse for the condensed presentation of events to unfold, The Iron Lady chooses as its framing story an elderly Lady Thatcher shuffling about her home in the early stages of dementia circa 2008. Fittingly given this set up the film goes for a slightly off kilter and disjointed (though still largely chronological in flashback) presentation of events, and includes the  hallucinatory presence of Margret's late husband Dennis (Jim Broadbent being delightful) as a sort of sounding board for the old lady's reminiscence's. Its a knee jerk reaction of some of Mrs. Thatcher's biggest supporters that depicting her in such a state of decline is disrespectful, as someone currently witnessing  his grandfather going through a similar decline I disagree, I thinks its a supremely sympathetic portrayal.

Streep's performance as Thatcher is rightly praised, she inhabits this role and looks eerily like 'the iron lady' in makeup. It a simple matter of artistic fact, or so I've heard and read many times, that one can't really capture a character unless they are able to see things from that characters point of view. Streep gives a very honest performance, Thatcher is not spared her faults but you understand where she's coming from and marvel at her consistency and determination. In fact I came away from this movie with a renewed respect and appreciation for Mrs. Thatcher, if you want to communicate who she was and what she was about, you'd be hard pressed to do it more efficiently then this film did. Still as I've heard critics say it might have been more interesting to have given us just a slice from the Iron Lady's life rather then a cliff notes of the whole thing, like maybe focusing on the party leadership fight, the Falklands war, or even her ouster from office, and while any of these episodes would make a good movie, as survey course bio-pic's go, this is a rather good one. ***

The God Makers (1982), Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration (2005/2011), Suburban Knights (2011)

The God Makers

Often viewed as sort of the mother of all anti-Mormon documentaries, The God Makers is notorious in LDS circles and a long time staple in the reparatory of Evangelical critics of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Adapted from a book of the same name by ex-Mormon Ed Decker and Christian apologist Dave Hunt, The God Makers uses as its framing story the two authors going to a law firm to recruit council for a desired suit against the LDS Church for fraud, alienation of affection, ect.

It's important to remember what this film is, its a track, a polemic against the LDS that takes as a given the legitimacy of "Christian" (read Evangelical Christian) doctrinal suppository to Mormonism. In fact this is kind of were the whole "fraud " aspect of the authors desired law suit comes in, alleging that Mormonism misrepresents its self as Christian when in fact it is not. Legally in a pluralistic nation that enshrines freedom of religious belief in its constitution, there would seem to be very dubious legal grounds with which to peruse this charge of Christian illegitimacy. But the proposed law suit is just a device by which the authors can explain to the lawyers ( I wonder if the two lawyers in this film wear real lawyers?) their various charges against Mormonism, which include such staples as polytheism, occultic practices, changes in scripture, the church as corporation, its breaking apart family's ect.  Most or all of these subjects can be discussed legitimately (I don't know about the occultism charge), but this film is only interested in presenting everything Mormon in the most negative light possible, which is the whole point of its production.

The God Makers is chestnut of anti-Mormonism, if it wasn't effective to a certain audience then people wouldn't still be talking about it thirty years on, so in that aspect at least its got to be considered well made. It may have even, in conjunction with a number of other factors, had a positive impact on the LDS Church. Two of the areas in which this film is most critical of Church have improved immeasurably over the last three decades. Charges that the Church seeks to break up marriages where one partner is invective or not a member are not nearly as legitimate today. Of course the Church would prefer couples were both parties are active, believing members, why wouldn't they, but today conscience efforts are made to meet the needs of part member/part active family's, not push them away, and in fact strengthen such marriages, one only has to look at the Church's official periodical the Ensign to notice multiple stories on this topic appear each year. Also the Church is not nearly as secretive about its past as it once was, or quite as unaccommodating as it once was to dissenting opinions. In part this is because of the internet age, its just impossible to hush up undesirable areas of discussion, or more problematic aspects of Church history then it once was. Beyond that however the Church's archives are much more open then they've been since the Leonard Arrington era, the recent book Brigham Young: Pioneer Prophet by non-Mormon historian John G Turner received the full cooperation of the Church, and there is stuff said in that book that could of landed members in a Church court twenty years ago while  today its sold at Desert Book. So thanks The God Makers for any role you might of plaid in that. Otherwise its just Evangelicals saying bad things about Mormons, and there is nothing ground breaking in that.

Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration

This film was originally released by the LDS Church in conjunction with the bicentennial of Church founder Joseph Smiths birth in 2005, and shown at Church venues like the Joseph Smith Memorial building and various temple visitor centers. In 2011 the film was re-edited for its online release, so as to provide more context for non Mormon viewers, the version I saw of this film was the reedit. One ironic part about the reedit is its use of dialogue from Joseph's mother Lucy Mack Smiths narrative history of her family, which was originally published in the mid 19th centenary and which Smiths successor in the LDS Church presidency Brigham Young supposedly hated and deemed inaccurate.

Be that as it may this film is just what it set out to be, a hagiography, showing a near faultless Joseph Smith, and ironing out any wrinkles that might make him less palatable. Polygamy is never mentioned in this film, and there is even an implied misdirect relating to the circumstances that resulted in Joseph Smiths martyrdom. Now the LDS Church doesn't deny that  Joseph Smith practiced polygamy, or the reality of the  Nauvoo Expositor affair which was the direct catalyst for the Prophets murder, but it  choses not include them in its faith promoting/propaganda/recruitment video. And I say these things with as little judgment as I can muster. Like the theatrically released film Emma Smith: My Story, which was made in conjunction with this movie, it tells the Smith's story in a way that would be suitable for a Sunday school class, not the complete story, but the story that is so central to the Mormon tradition, and it tells that story pretty well.

Suburban Knights

Finally I pause to make brief mention of Suburban Knights, the film made for the 3 year anniversary of the website 'That Guy With the Glasses'.  Like the 2nd anniversary film Kickassia this movie is largely an excuse to get the various reviewer characters from the site together and have some fun. That being said this film is an advancement on its predecessor, both in production design, complexity of construction, and ambition. To bower something from the audio commentary on this film that I briefly listened to part of, Kickassia was a loony tones cartoon, Suburban Knights kind of works as a legitimate (though satirical) quest movie. I must say that I enjoyed it, especially the fights on the playground equipment.

Star Trek Into Darkness (2013)

The surprisingly belated sequel to J. J. Abrams 2009 reboot of the Star Trek franchise. Like the first of Abrams Trek movies this one has the hard core trekkers divided, but I like the balance that Abrams has struck between homage to the original and the freedom of a contemporary summer block buster. In tune with a signature tradition of creator Roddenberry's, though more particularly practiced in his television series then in his films, Into Darkness seeks to evoke and comment on important issues in the contemporary zeitgeist, so fittingly this is Treks comment on "The War on Terror" (can we still call it that?).

Early in the movie there are several terrorist attacks on the Federation, a suspect is quickly identified, but questions about what would constitute an ethical response are also raised. This plays well against a surprisingly well managed character arc relating to how Kirk and Spock respond to similar moral dilemmas they are both placed in during the coarse of the story. Though I have a lot that I could say about the story, there's not a lot I can say that wouldn't give to much away. There is a twist or reveal hear that has fans divided, and I must say I was fairly impressed with a misdirect perpetrated on many fans of the original series, and one accomplished with little more then some characters looks and a couple quotes let lose in the media.

I liked that a good portion of this film takes place on Earth, I always like to see Earth on Star Trek, and I really liked the production design for a couple of major cities in the 23rd century. One thing I didn't like was the inconsistences in warp speed and distance, this films is possibly the worse Star Trek film I've ever seen when it comes to collapsing a sense of distance. Ironically it also captures a sense of just how big space is, at list on a smaller planetary orbit scale. This is a film which I left excited to see the next installment, and that's always a good sign, I just hope the next chapter takes less then four years to arrive. ***1/2

Argo (2012)

2012's best picture Oscar winner is the formerly classified true story of a CIA sponsored rescue of six Americans from Iran in 1980. The Americans in question had worked in the passport and visa department of the US embassy in Tehran, which unlike the reset of the embassy compound had a convenient exit onto a lesser used side street. The six Americans attempted to gain refuge with in the British and Australian embassies before finely ending up in the Canadian consulate. As it would only be a matter of time before the Iranians figured out they were missing six yanks from the overrun American embassy, and it would only be possible to keep there presence in the Canadian ambassadors residence secret for a limited time, getting the half dozen U.S. citizens out of the newly christened Islamic Republic of Iran was something of a priority, though not as big a one as you might suspect.

The Canadians eventually forced the issue with the Americans, knowing they would most likely have to close their consulate and recall their ambassador in the near future. Working under a Canadian imposed deadline the Americans had to come up with an exit strategy for the would be hostages. The plan that was eventually settled on seemed an unlikely one, and was classified for some time. The Americans were snuck out of the country by CIA operative Tony Mendez (played by Ben Affleck, who also directed) as members of a Canadian film crew doing location scouting for a science fiction film called "Argo". With the help of some real Hollywood types such as Oscar winning make-up artist John Chambers (John Goodman), the Agency set up an involved cover story around the supposed production of an existing script that had been languishing in "turn around" for some time.

Affleck's move does a good job of capturing its setting, and also does a good job of setting up context with a sort of mini-documentary opening that would make Oliver Stone proud. The cast is fun including as it does Bryan Cranston, Clea DuVall and the great Alan Arkin (always glad to see Alan Arkin). In some sense the story is very, almost disappointingly simple, getting six Americans out of Iran posing as Canadians, and yet in another sense its a real astounding accomplishment, the audacity of it, Canadians scouting for a movie locations in a revolutionary Islamist state, you can only use that one once. I enjoyed the movie, but it didn't knock my socks off, a better then average picture, but not best.  ***1/2

Our Man in Havana (1959)

Along with The Third Man and The Fallen Idol, Our Man in Havana is one of the three highly successful pairings of writer Graham Greene and director Carol Reed. Based on Graham's 1958 book of the same title, and set in Cuba before the communist revelation (which actually broke out while the crew was in the country filming), Our Man in Havana centers on the character of  Jim Wormold (Alec Guinness), the proprietor of a small vacuum cleaner business in Havana. Wormold had come to Cuba nearly two decades prior, had fallen in love with a local women and had a daughter, who after his wife ran off he raised alone. As the films action begins daughter Milly (Jo Morrow) is a teenager who desperately wants a horse and who has attracted the romantic interest of the much older police Captain Segura (Ernie Kovacs). Wormold is approached by a British agent named Hawthorn (Noel Coward) who wants to recruit him to be British intelligence station chief in Cuba. Wormold doesn't want to get involved but the promise of money, which would allow him to give his daughter things that right now only Captain Segura can provide peaks his interest. Totally unfamiliar with the spy game and unable to recruit local agents as instructed, Wormold goes to his old friend the ex-patriot German Dr. Hasselbacher (Burl Ives) who tells him that if he can't find real agents and intelligence, he should just make some up. This works well for a while, but eventually Wormold creates "intelligence" so big, in the form of  large, secret, unknown machines that look a lot like vacuum cleaners hidden in the mountains, that he attracts unwanted attention both from his own side and from the enemy, both of whom think his reports are real.

This is an old troupe, but its exceptionally well handled and works in no small part due to Guinness performance. I often find Sir Alec to be on the hammy side when he does comedy, but here he plays it fairly straight. The efforts of his character in desperation to keep the charade up are quite entertaining, but not as much as the desire of others to believe them, mostly endearingly that of Beatrice Severn (Maureen O'Hara) a women sent from London to be his secretary, but also Ives who first told him to fake his reports, but after a going over by "the enemy" starts to believe there real. In the end Wormold gets to be pretty good at the spy game once he learns that an enemy agent posing as a rival vacuum cleaner salesman (Paul Rogers) is out to kill him. A very enjoyable piece of satire that works well as action adventure, comedy, and even drama. Greene and Reed do not disappoint. ***1/2

The Master (2012)

When I first heard that Paul Thomas Anderson, the director of the There Will be Blood and Punch Drunk Love was going to make his next movie about Scientology I thought, in Hollywood, that takes a lot of guts. To clarify though The Master  both is an isn't about the religion created by the late science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. While the teachings of " Master " Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman) are thinly veiled variations on actual Scientologist doctrine, the film is more generally about both a certain charismatic personality type that tends to attract cultish devotion, and a certain co-dependent personality type, here personified by Joaquin Phoenix's Freddie Quell, who tend to almost require someone to cultishly devote themselves too.

The bulk of the films story is set circa 1950 and concerns Quell, a WWII navy vet/ photographer who has become a drifter, eking out a living doing various odd jobs and occasionally making a trademark alcoholic beverage out of paint thinner. One night a drunken Quell stows away on a boat that turns out to be taking a wedding party from California through the Panama Canal to New York. Overseeing the party is Lancaster Dodd, the author of a self-help pseudo-psychological/religious movement called "The Cause". The boat was lent him by a curious wealthy potential acolyte, and Dodd decided he would host is daughters wedding while they made their journey, along with a host of acolytes and hangers on. Dodd takes an instant liking to Quill and his brew and before long the latter ends up as part of The Masters inner circle, serving as a sort of defacto body guard and loyalty enforcer.

The movie is slow and almost documentary like, with long portions devoted to The Masters teachings and the exercises he puts his followers through. There is also a fair amount of space devoted to disputes and angling within the inner circle, with Dodd's current wife Peggy (Amy Adams) taking a large role in shaping the movement, and eventually coming to distrust Quill as an unstable competitor/influence on Lancaster, mostly through his strange brew. Though its called The Master the movie is mostly about Quill the follower, we get a fair amount of  his backstory, unhappy childhood, tendency to excess and his pinning for the girl he left behind years ago back home in Massachusetts. In the end when Quills time with The Master comes to an end its hard to tell how much those experiences helped him, and how much they hurt him, which is the mystery presented by any devotee with whom you do not share the same devotion. ***1/2