Monster in a Box (1992)

A follow up of sorts to author, actor, monologist Spalding Gray's earlier and better known "monologue film" Swimming to Cambodia. Like the earlier flick this is simply a filmed performances of one of the meandering, witty, one man stage performances Gray was perhaps best known for. In this case the monologue centers on various things that happened and distracted him during roughly his last year of work on his semi-autobiographical novel "The Impossible Vacation". Gray spent some time at a writers retreat in New England to work on the thing, but it was to quite, so he took a job in Los Angeles, which led to a trip to Nicaragua, and then he went to a film festival in the then (1986ish) newly liberalizing Soviet Union, and then the New York to play "The Conductor" in a production of Our Town, all the while trying to get the damned book that wouldn't end done, and he does finally. It's funny, amusing, and the language and performance stellar as always. Thought Box perhaps has less substantive to say then did Cambodia,  Gray none-the-less has a presence that allows him to carry the screen alone for 87 minutes and be consistently entertaining to watch. Not for everyone, but a treat for those that it is for. ***

The Witches (1966)

Also known as The Devils Own, the title of the Norah Lofts novel on which it was based, The Witches has the distinction of being the last theatrically released film of its star, Joan Fontaine (though Fontaine would continue to work in television and on the stage into the 1990's). This is one of those idealic small towns hides a terrible secret movies, in this case the small English village where Fontaine's Gwen Mayfield has relocated to take a teaching position after a not adequately explained confrontation with witchcraft at a missionary school in Africa, is it self full of Witches, or more accurately the acolytes of a Witch, who is the sister of the timed head of the local school. The evil Stephanie Bax (Kay Walsh) is set on sacrificing a very well developed "14 year old" (Ingrid Boulting), and is interested in getting Ms. Mayfield's aid in this if she can. There is nothing here that hasn't been done better (The Wicker Man) or funnier (Hot Fuzz) later on, but I still liked it, Fontaine managed to carry to whole the picture, though Kay Walsh is quite good as the elderly writer/witch. **1/2..

The Secret of Kells (2009)

A group of Irish animators decided that they wanted to make a film inspired by the type of Celtic illuminated art found in The Book of Kells, So it is the art that makes this movie, the production design feels wonderfully original, even though its really over a thousand years old. The story concerns a young man named Brendan, who at 12 years of age has spent his entire life in the fortified village and abbey of Kells in Ireland, where he is raised by his stern but loving uncle the Abbott Cellach (Brendan Gleeson, the only real 'name' in the cast). When an old associate of Cellach's arrives at Kells fleeing the Viking raid on the Isle of Iona, Brendan becomes fascinated with the text this Brother Aiden had fled to protect. It is of course what will become known as the Book of Kells, and before long Brendan starts to work as one of its illustrators, and shows a tremendous talent at this. But Abbott Cellach is not pleased with this because he feels it a waste of time and a frivolity when he needs everyone to put their whole effort into re-enforcing the walls of the village for the Viking attack he suspects is coming. The film also features a fairy named Aisling who assists young Brandon when he ventures for the first time out of the village to find berries and such to make ink to illustrate the book. A cartoon feature about 8th century Celtic monks, can't say I've ever seen that before. An enjoyable and original production that imparts a sense of history. ***

The One and Only, Genuine, Orignial Family Band (1968)

There is an in-joke in my family about my violently hating the nations 23rd president Benjamin Harrison (served 1889-1893), so it's only fitting that I should seek out this semi-obscure Disney film which features a family divided by the 1888 presidential contest between Harrison and incumbent president Grover Cleveland. The One and Only, Genuine, original Family Band is one of the last movies that Walt Disney was personal involved in supervising the production of prior to his December 1966 death from a tumor in his left lung. Based on the 1961 book The Family Band : from the Missouri to the Black Hills, 1881-1900 by Laura Bower Van Nuys, the project was begun with the intent that it be aired as a two part offering for Disney's weekly television show, but after the Sherman Brothers of Mary Poppins fame where brought in to do the music it was expanded to be a full length theatrical feature.

The music as you would expect from the Sherman Brothers is catchy, the tone light hearted and family friendly, the political disagreements that the film chronicles were 80 years out of date by the time of its release so they feel muted (but would a family comedy about Roosevelt's New Deal programs go over as well in the age of the Tea Party?). The cast is great, they got Walter Brennan who steals the show as grandpa Bower, even though he was apparently reading most of his lines off of cue cards during production. Buddy Ebsen was still light on his feat at nearly sixty years of age as father Calvin, and the romantic leads from the previous years Fred MacMurry vehicle The Happiest Millionaire, Lesley Ann Warren and John Davidson are reunited as daughter Alice and her intended, Republican newspaper man Joe Carder. I must add that Lesley Ann Warren's face is just absolutely beautiful. The film also features Goldie Hawn in her first film role, and her future husband Kurt Russell as Sidney Bower. I found this to be a very enjoyable musical family comedy, built entertainingly around a relatively obscure political contest.   ***

Enders Game (2012)

A film adaptation of Orson Scott Card's beloved, 1985 science fiction novel is a project that has long languished in "development hell", well it's finally been completed and turns out it was actually worth waiting for. Ender's Game tells the story of Andrew "Ender" Wiggin (Asa Butterfield) a highly intelligent and rare 3rd child in mid-22nd century Earth. "Ender" like his two older and also gifted siblings is sent to an elite military training school to see if he could be of use in an expected future conflict with the race or bug-like aliens who almost wiped out humanity 50 years prior. Unlike his older sibling the director of the training program Colonel Hyrum Graff (Harrison Ford) see's something unequally special in Ender and promotes him from the terrestrial campus to a special  "Battle School" located on a space station orbiting the Earth. There Ender makes both friends and enemies and demonstrates himself to have a unequally talented strategic mind. This results, after a brief crises in confidence, with Ender being sent to an off-world staging area where this roughly 12 year old boy is put in charge of planning the International Fleets battle strategy against the coming "Bugger" invasion that appears to be fast approaching.

Now I don't want to spoil too much more, and if you've read the book you know what's coming. I myself read the novel over a decade ago and while of course I don't remember many of the details I felt this film got the essence of the book pretty spot on, the only thing that was really missing is a rather involved political sub-plot concerning Ender's siblings that would have been extremely difficult to render in a film of this type. The cast is fairly impressive, and includes in addition to those named above, Viola Davis, Ben Kingsley, and Hailee Steinfeld, who was so impressive in the Coen Brothers remake of True Grit.

Ender's Game is smarter then the typical sci-fi action flick, it asks it audience to consider a number of philosophical/moral questions, not as well as the book did but still well, and does a decent enough job of setting the stage for what follows in Card's further Ender books; though cinematic adaptions of those seem unlikely not least because of this films unfortunately doing only so-so business theatrically. I heartily recommend this Ender's Game, I know of "purists" who were not satisfied though its not likely they ever could be. I felt this movie communicated that heart of Ender's story about as well as any two hour movie ever could, and left the theater quite satisfied.. ***1/2

Here Comes Mr. Jordan (1941)

The 1978 Warren Beatty film Heaven Can Wait is actually a remake of this 1941 film, not as frequently assumed the 1943 film Heaven Can Wait, which has a completely unrelated story. Also the 2001 Chris Rock vehicle Down to Earth, is a remake of Here Comes Mr. Jordan, even though it takes its title from  Mr. Jordan's 1947 sequel film Down to Earth. There, we got that straight?

Here Comes Mr. Jordan is the story of  nice-guy, saxophone playing boxer Joe Pendleton (Robert Montgomery) who is mistakenly taken from his body by Angle 7013 (Edward Everett Horton) when the small plane he is in crashes. By the time this mix up is sorted out by 7013's superior Mr. Jordan (the great Claude Rains), Pendleton's body has already been cremated. Joe is still entitled to 50 years of life so Mr. Jordan offers to find him another body, Joe is quite particular about what body he gets because he wants one healthy enough to win the national boxing title which Mr. Jordan assures him he is also entitled too.

After some weeks of looking Joe agrees to possess, on a temporary basis, the body of the just murdered millionaire banker-investor Bruce Farnsworth. Joe agrees to be Bruce because while still a ghost he becomes smitten with Bette Logan (Evelyn Keyes) the daughter of a man who Farnsworth has swindled and subsequently landed in jail. Joe wants to set things right for Bette and then leave Farnsworth for a better body, but he falls so in love with Bette that he decides he want to stay as Farnsworth, and he'll just have to exercise said body into sufficient shape to win the title. To do this Joe decides he needs the help of his old boxing coach Max Corkle (James Gleason) whom he sets out to convince that he is in fact Joe's spirit in possession of Farnsworth's body, que. comedy. Also Joe probably should keep in mind that Farnsworth was recently murdered and those responsible are probably going to try it again.

I'd seen a couple of other versions of this same story before so it wasn't really anything new to me, but Robert Montgomery's earnestness as the lead caries the film, and of course the presence of Claude Rains never hurts either. A likable romp. ***

      Rémi GAILLARD

American Hustle (2013)

American Hustle gave director David O. Russell the chance to bring together his male and female leads of his last two critically acclaimed movies The Fighter and Silver Linings Playbook (neither of which I've seen and I'll have to correct that). American Hustle is a 1970's set caper film based loosely on the real life FBI sting operation known as Abscam. Amy Adams and Christian Bale play two mid-scale con-artists forcibly recruited by an ambitious FBI agent played by Bradley Cooper to help him bust other con-artists. The issue is that the targets of Coopers operation keep getting bigger, first other mid-level con-artists, then some politicians, and then the mob. Things are further complicated by Coopers developing a strong attraction to Amy Adams, while Bale starts to feel bad for one of the operations targets, Camden, New Jersey mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner). Then there's Bale's unstable Long Island wife Rosalyn, played by Jennifer Lawrence in a performance that steels the film. Also a couple of Boardwalk Empire regulars have small roles in this film that revolves largely around an Atlantic City re-development deal. American Hustle is a clever and well-paced comedy-drama with the bonus that, as the film states in the begging, some of it really happened. ***1/2

King of Kings (1961)

When Nicholas Ray, the man who directed Rebel Without a Cause and Bigger Than Life decides to take on the story of Jesus of Nazareth, well you can expect the results to be interesting. Indeed Ray's 1961 King of Kings might well be the best of the 'Life of Christ' films to have come out of Hollywood, excepting of course the just tangentially life of Christ films like Ben-Hur, or I suppose Life of Brian, or The Passion of the Christ which is about Jesus death and little else. So in effect I'm just saying this movie is better then The Greatest Story Ever Told or the Cecil B DeMille's silent version of The King of Kings. Now that may not sound like much of a compliment, but I've long said that the Life of Christ story is one that hasn't lent it self well to film, at least not conventional, epic style films like came out of Hollywood back in the day, were as less direct more metaphorical 'Life's of Christ' like Jesus of Montreal can be truly powerful.

Indeed there is not any unusual depth to Ray's Jesus, here portrayed ably but not definitively by Jeffery Hunter. No Ray manages to get his film to work more like an epic through really two things 1) more historical context and 2) more action. This movie has Christ at its center yes, but it makes sure to put him in the context of his time, so the narrative follows closely a through line about Jewish resistance to Roman occupation in Palestine. We see contemporary movements for the liberation of the Jewish Kingdom from the Romans, and how Jesus growing movement plays off of them, and how one in turn tries to co-opt Jesus movement in the service of Jewish independence, this is done through the Judas Iscariot character and certainly makes him more interesting and coherent then he is in most renditions of this story. The action Ray injects in his film isn't simply limited to a couple of fairly well done battle scenes between Romans and Jewish patriots, but also by simply moving the camera around in scenes that might otherwise have been shot static. The Sermon on the Mount scene is excellent, arguably the highlight of the film, because it has Jesus move around and interact with his audience, they ask him questions and he answers back with blurbs of Red Letter dialogue. Yes so that's not exactly like in the Bible, but it suites the film format better and probably gets more of Jesus message across then a straight reading of Biblical text might.

Anyway if your looking for a good 'Life of Christ' film to just have on next Christmas or come Easter, you certainly could do worse then King of Kings, because this movie is actually watchable. ***