Zombies on Broadway (1945)
Zombies on Broadway is not what you might be hoping for from its title, rather its a vehicle for the largely forgotten RKO comedy team of Wally Brown and Alan Carney. The film casts the two as Broadway press agents who are tasked with securing "a real zombie" for a zombie themed night club their gangster boss Ace Miller (future 1960's sitcom impresario Sheldon Leonard) is opening. Zombie in this context does not refer to the flesh or brain eating incarnation of the undead, but rather the somnambulate slave variety of Caribbean legend. So its off to a small Caribbean island for the pair, where the meet a beautiful night club singer (Annie Jeffreys, still with us at 93), a mad doctor (Dracula himself Bela Lugosi), and of course some zombies. Amusing enough in a low rent Abbott and Costello type way, if anything the movie was better then I thought it would be. Still this is a zombie movie that hard core zombie fans can probably feel safe skipping. **1/2
Neighbors (2014)
New parents Seth Rogan and Rose Byrne are understandably concerned when a fraternity helmed by Zack Efron moves into the house next door. At first the members of both residences attempt to make nice with each other but it eventually turns into an escalating war of pranks which ends with all parties having learned something about themselves. Satisfying comedy of the Apatowian school is well cast and has the requisite number of comic moments, yet is also not all that memorable. I never would have thought of casting Lisa Kudrow as a college Dean. ***
Sunday, July 31, 2016
Saturday, July 23, 2016
The Shallows (2016), Brooklyn (2015), The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009), Five Graves to Cairo (1943)
The Shallows (2016)
Think of it as a sexier version of Jaws. Blake Lively is a med student (that comes in handy) on a surfing vacation in Mexico as she attempts to deal with the recent death of her mother (who was also and avid surfer) from cancer and decide if she wants to go back to med school. A particularly dickish shark kills a number of people in an isolated cove leaving a wounded Lively marooned on a small rock outcropping with only the companionship of an also wounded seagull. The ending strains credulity some but one the whole this was an excellent woman vs nature picture, and Lively proves she can hold the screen pretty much by her self, and of course looks great doing so. ***1/2
Brooklyn (2015)
Based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Irish writer Colm Tóibín, Brooklyn is the story of a young woman (Saoirse Ronan, excellent) who in 1952 moves from her small Irish town to Brooklyn, New York for work. Free and independent for the first time in her life Eilis Lacey (Ronan) comes into herself, starts taking night classes in accounting and enters into a romantic relationship with a charming young Italian American man (Emory Cohen). However her new life is put in jeopardy when a death in the family back home prompts a return to Ireland and a personal crises of identity. Smarter and more complex then I had anticipated, the film delves into some moral gray areas and questions about judgment and judgmentailism. The acting is good and there are some memorable characterizations, I particularly liked the woman who ran the women's boarding house. I also loved the costumes, set designs, and color palate of this movie, the latter being rather evocative of the era, kind of faded but with strong blotches of color, particularly in the scenes in America. ****
The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
Based on a Roald Dahl novel and done in a sort of taxidermy-esque stop motion style, its remarkable how well this film works both as children's entertainment (my niece and nephew seemed to enjoy what they saw of it), and as a legitimate Wes Anderson movie. Mr. Fox (George Clooney) an anthropomorphic Vulpes vulpes has promised his wife Mrs. Fox (Meryl Streep) that he will stop stealing chickens and such from local farmers and settle down as a newspaper columnist, but he just can't resist the temptation of one last big score, the results of which could threaten the lives and safety of his son (Anderson muse Jason Schwartzman) and various animal contemporaries. Wonderfully dry and low key the film seems to keep the original novels 1970's setting ,which fits perfectly into Mr. Andersons retro aesthetic, as does the unique looking stop motion work. Domestic drama and existential frustrations charmingly channeled into a family friendly talking animal tale. I love that this movie exists. ***
Five Graves to Cairo (1943)
Billy Wilder's second American directorial outing, and one of his least known films, Five Graves to Cairo updates a World War I era play by the Austro-Hungarian writer Lajos Bíró to Egypt in the Second World War and inserts real world figure German Field Marshall Erwin Rommel as the villain. British Corporal John Bramble (Franchot Tone) is the lone survivor of his tank crew after a battle with Rommel's Afrika Korps, lost in the desert to the point of delirium he luckily stumbles upon a hotel in a small sea side town just recently retreated from by the British. When the Germans arrive and make the hotel their local headquarters, Bramble with the aid of the hotels owner (Akim Tamiroff) and his sole remaining employee a French maid (Anne Baxter) takes on the identity of a limp footed waiter who was killed in a recent air raid. From this position Bramble quickly comes into the confidence of Rommel (Erich von Stroheim, perfectly cast as an arrogant German militarist, even though his and this characters resemblance to the real Rommel aren't particularly strong). You see the dead waiter Davos was actually a German advance spy, this could help Bramble as he attempts to unlock the mystery of hidden German supply depots (the five graves) they intend to use to help them quickly overtake Egypt's capital (Cairo). However with the real Davos corpse in danger of being uncovered in the rubble its a race against time to learn the Germans secrets The film is well enough made, but outside of von Stroheim's performance, not really that memorable. There are better films of a similar type made throughout this era, particular by the British, and other then it being one of the few Billy Wilder directed films I had yet to see (the only one's remaining on my list now are his last move, the ill regarded 1981 comedy Buddy Buddy, and his holocaust documentary from 1945 Death Mills) there was little reason to bother with this movie. **1/2
Think of it as a sexier version of Jaws. Blake Lively is a med student (that comes in handy) on a surfing vacation in Mexico as she attempts to deal with the recent death of her mother (who was also and avid surfer) from cancer and decide if she wants to go back to med school. A particularly dickish shark kills a number of people in an isolated cove leaving a wounded Lively marooned on a small rock outcropping with only the companionship of an also wounded seagull. The ending strains credulity some but one the whole this was an excellent woman vs nature picture, and Lively proves she can hold the screen pretty much by her self, and of course looks great doing so. ***1/2
Brooklyn (2015)
Based on the 2009 novel of the same name by Irish writer Colm Tóibín, Brooklyn is the story of a young woman (Saoirse Ronan, excellent) who in 1952 moves from her small Irish town to Brooklyn, New York for work. Free and independent for the first time in her life Eilis Lacey (Ronan) comes into herself, starts taking night classes in accounting and enters into a romantic relationship with a charming young Italian American man (Emory Cohen). However her new life is put in jeopardy when a death in the family back home prompts a return to Ireland and a personal crises of identity. Smarter and more complex then I had anticipated, the film delves into some moral gray areas and questions about judgment and judgmentailism. The acting is good and there are some memorable characterizations, I particularly liked the woman who ran the women's boarding house. I also loved the costumes, set designs, and color palate of this movie, the latter being rather evocative of the era, kind of faded but with strong blotches of color, particularly in the scenes in America. ****
The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
Based on a Roald Dahl novel and done in a sort of taxidermy-esque stop motion style, its remarkable how well this film works both as children's entertainment (my niece and nephew seemed to enjoy what they saw of it), and as a legitimate Wes Anderson movie. Mr. Fox (George Clooney) an anthropomorphic Vulpes vulpes has promised his wife Mrs. Fox (Meryl Streep) that he will stop stealing chickens and such from local farmers and settle down as a newspaper columnist, but he just can't resist the temptation of one last big score, the results of which could threaten the lives and safety of his son (Anderson muse Jason Schwartzman) and various animal contemporaries. Wonderfully dry and low key the film seems to keep the original novels 1970's setting ,which fits perfectly into Mr. Andersons retro aesthetic, as does the unique looking stop motion work. Domestic drama and existential frustrations charmingly channeled into a family friendly talking animal tale. I love that this movie exists. ***
Five Graves to Cairo (1943)
Billy Wilder's second American directorial outing, and one of his least known films, Five Graves to Cairo updates a World War I era play by the Austro-Hungarian writer Lajos Bíró to Egypt in the Second World War and inserts real world figure German Field Marshall Erwin Rommel as the villain. British Corporal John Bramble (Franchot Tone) is the lone survivor of his tank crew after a battle with Rommel's Afrika Korps, lost in the desert to the point of delirium he luckily stumbles upon a hotel in a small sea side town just recently retreated from by the British. When the Germans arrive and make the hotel their local headquarters, Bramble with the aid of the hotels owner (Akim Tamiroff) and his sole remaining employee a French maid (Anne Baxter) takes on the identity of a limp footed waiter who was killed in a recent air raid. From this position Bramble quickly comes into the confidence of Rommel (Erich von Stroheim, perfectly cast as an arrogant German militarist, even though his and this characters resemblance to the real Rommel aren't particularly strong). You see the dead waiter Davos was actually a German advance spy, this could help Bramble as he attempts to unlock the mystery of hidden German supply depots (the five graves) they intend to use to help them quickly overtake Egypt's capital (Cairo). However with the real Davos corpse in danger of being uncovered in the rubble its a race against time to learn the Germans secrets The film is well enough made, but outside of von Stroheim's performance, not really that memorable. There are better films of a similar type made throughout this era, particular by the British, and other then it being one of the few Billy Wilder directed films I had yet to see (the only one's remaining on my list now are his last move, the ill regarded 1981 comedy Buddy Buddy, and his holocaust documentary from 1945 Death Mills) there was little reason to bother with this movie. **1/2
Sunday, July 10, 2016
The Revenant (2015), The Red Menace (1949), How About You (2007)
The Revenant (2015)
Leonardo DiCaprio finally won his Oscar for this Alejandro González Iñárritu directed adaptation of a portion of a novel by a Michael Punke, the current Deputy United States Trade Representative and U.S. Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva Switzerland (how's that for a job title). Punke's book was inspired in part by the true story of Hugh Glass (c. 1783-1833) who as a guide on a pelting expedition was mauled by a grizzly bear (in the movie has his half Indian son killed by a member of the expedition) and is later left for dead, only to somehow survive, cross a vast wilderness, and peruse the man who left him for dead. Tom Hardy plays the man that left Glass for dead, John Fitzgerald, who is arguably a more interesting character then DiCaprio's Glass. However DiCaprio earned his Oscar, Glass went through absolute hell, and even simulating the stuff that man went through must have been a hell in itself, I understand the shoot for this film was brutal. Ruggedly beautiful looking, there is also a subtlety to the direction and a lot of the acting here that I wasn't expecting given the operatic nature of the story. Not quite as emotionally resonate as I was hoping it would be however. Still I'll give the full ****
The Red Menace (1949)
Low budget anti-communist propaganda movie that came out of Republic Pictures, which appropriately was also famed anti communist John Wayne's home studio at the time. The central plot concerns an "all American type" war veteran (Robert Ryan) who is essentially tricked into joining up with communists when they agree to help him fight a real estate development company that ripped him off. While with the commies Ryan falls in love with his exotic European instructor (German actress Hannelore Axman) but the two ultimately run away together when they realize how evil the Reds are and they threaten to deport Hanne. The resolution of the movie doesn't really resolve much and is kind of silly, but worth it for Robert H. Purcell's performance as the home spun Sheriff of Talbot, Texas. Ryan and Axman's story line is the central through line here, but there's a bunch of subplots that gobble up seemingly the bulk of the films running time. These chiefly concern various ethnic types who might be attracted to communism, with their stories being messages to members of said group that the communists don't really care about them and they would be better off staying away from communism. There is the Jewish artist, the Irish Catholic girl from a poor family, and a black reporter who is actually treated quite respectfully by the screen play and gets perhaps the most screen time I've ever seen a black male character get in a studio system film of this era. Uneven but better then I'd expected it to be, the film is narrated by Lloyd G. Davies, a carrier public relations and advertising man who at the time this film was made was a member of the Los Angeles City Council. **1/2
How About You (2007)
Irish film about a young woman (a pre-star Hayley Atwell) who is stuck taking care of the four most troublesome residents of the retirement home her sister manages over the Christmas holiday. Cast includes Vanessa Redgrave, Joss Ackland and Imelda Staunton. This is essentially a Hallmark movie but made with better actors. ***
Leonardo DiCaprio finally won his Oscar for this Alejandro González Iñárritu directed adaptation of a portion of a novel by a Michael Punke, the current Deputy United States Trade Representative and U.S. Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva Switzerland (how's that for a job title). Punke's book was inspired in part by the true story of Hugh Glass (c. 1783-1833) who as a guide on a pelting expedition was mauled by a grizzly bear (in the movie has his half Indian son killed by a member of the expedition) and is later left for dead, only to somehow survive, cross a vast wilderness, and peruse the man who left him for dead. Tom Hardy plays the man that left Glass for dead, John Fitzgerald, who is arguably a more interesting character then DiCaprio's Glass. However DiCaprio earned his Oscar, Glass went through absolute hell, and even simulating the stuff that man went through must have been a hell in itself, I understand the shoot for this film was brutal. Ruggedly beautiful looking, there is also a subtlety to the direction and a lot of the acting here that I wasn't expecting given the operatic nature of the story. Not quite as emotionally resonate as I was hoping it would be however. Still I'll give the full ****
The Red Menace (1949)
Low budget anti-communist propaganda movie that came out of Republic Pictures, which appropriately was also famed anti communist John Wayne's home studio at the time. The central plot concerns an "all American type" war veteran (Robert Ryan) who is essentially tricked into joining up with communists when they agree to help him fight a real estate development company that ripped him off. While with the commies Ryan falls in love with his exotic European instructor (German actress Hannelore Axman) but the two ultimately run away together when they realize how evil the Reds are and they threaten to deport Hanne. The resolution of the movie doesn't really resolve much and is kind of silly, but worth it for Robert H. Purcell's performance as the home spun Sheriff of Talbot, Texas. Ryan and Axman's story line is the central through line here, but there's a bunch of subplots that gobble up seemingly the bulk of the films running time. These chiefly concern various ethnic types who might be attracted to communism, with their stories being messages to members of said group that the communists don't really care about them and they would be better off staying away from communism. There is the Jewish artist, the Irish Catholic girl from a poor family, and a black reporter who is actually treated quite respectfully by the screen play and gets perhaps the most screen time I've ever seen a black male character get in a studio system film of this era. Uneven but better then I'd expected it to be, the film is narrated by Lloyd G. Davies, a carrier public relations and advertising man who at the time this film was made was a member of the Los Angeles City Council. **1/2
How About You (2007)
Irish film about a young woman (a pre-star Hayley Atwell) who is stuck taking care of the four most troublesome residents of the retirement home her sister manages over the Christmas holiday. Cast includes Vanessa Redgrave, Joss Ackland and Imelda Staunton. This is essentially a Hallmark movie but made with better actors. ***
Sunday, July 3, 2016
Finding Dory (2016), Macbeth (2015), Saturday's Warrior (2016)
Finding Dory (2016)
Long belated sequel to the 2003 Pixar hit Finding Nemo. I've heard it said that Finding Dory really
isn't a "necessary sequel", and bypassing the argument about whether sequels are ever necessary I would have to agree, Finding Nemo is pretty well self contained and doesn't really call out for a sequel. That being said I am glad Finding Dory exists. It was a fun movie, it was good to see these characters again and the characters they added all worked for me, plus it does manage to fill in the one real 'unresolved plot thread' from the first film, namely Dory's backstory. Now I don't know if this film had early been conceived as a possibility while Finding Nemo was still in development or production, but the backstory here feels very thought out and fits pretty perfectly into continuity and the universe of the original film. It's a sweet film that doesn't really improve on the original, but it doesn't take anything away from it either, if anything the pace here is a little more relaxed, which works well and helps make this movie more of its own thing. Great performance by Ellen DeGeneres, it was good to have Albert Brooks back again, and Ed O'Neill's septapus was by far the standout (this is a pun for those who have seen it) new character in the movie. Clever cameo part for Sigourney Weaver. ***
Macbeth (2015)
Retelling of The Scottish Play, that was actually filmed in Scotland, though it's directed by an Australian (Justin Kurzel) and stars a German born Irishman (Michael Fassbender) and a Frenchwoman (Marion Cotillard) as Macbeth and his lady. A gritty retelling, with some nice visuals, the two leads really are a 'dream team' of sorts for these parts, and you know I had forgotten just how crazy Macbeth really was. I was never really a 'huge' Shakespeare guy but there was a time when I would have been more comfortable with the Elizabethan language of the film then I am currently, though if anything that made me want to read some Shakespeare 'to get back in practice' so to speak. I think I would have enjoyed this more on a big screen. ***
Saturday's Warrior (2016)
Saturday's Warrior is by far the most iconic Mormon musical of all time... okay so The Book of Mormon Musical is by far the most iconic Mormon musical of all time, but Saturday's Warrior is the most iconic Mormon musical of all time actually written by Mormons. Lex de Azevedo's musical play originally premiered in 1974 and fast became a favorite among the LDS faithful and lovers of camp. Saturday's Warrior has gone through multiple iterations throughout the years with various degrees of tweaking on the original, including a 1989 direct to video version of the play that was perhaps its widest known iteration, and a year 2000 "remix" of that cast recording. But until this year there had never been a true 'movie' version of the story, liberated (for the most part) from the confines of the stage.
De Azevedo helped adapt the play for the screen in this new version along with co-writers Heather Ravarino (who had worked with De Azevado on the children's series Rachel and the TreeSchoolers)and the films director the sometimes actor Michael Buster. Wisely the original 1970's setting for the story was retained, I don't think there would have been much point in making this movie version if they hadn't kept the story set in the 70's because 1) the plot and ethos of the film are very much rooted in the zeitgeist of 1970's Mormonism, and 2) so is the musical style, with de Azevedo having started his career as musical director for The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour and working with 70's pop groups such as The Jackson Five and of course The Osmond's, the latter being referenced several times in the film, which also contains a number of Mormon in-jokes that would likely be lost on audiences not well versed in the faith.
The story itself is actually kind of complicated, I must confess I've never actually seen this story acted out before, my familiarity with it was based on hearing various cast recordings of it many times starting on my mission, and people who were familiar with it filing me in on the plot details. There are a lot of characters in this, some of whom we follow from their 'pre-earth life', with the story filled with loved triangles, angst, and existential unease as these characters attempt to grasp their eternal identities and the meaning of life through the medium of musical theater. The original soundtrack is here kept mostly intact, with a few new songs added (all of which are quite good) and few old ones omitted, largely the more novelty song type numbers like "Dear John" (there is a fairly fun gag where characters in the film refuse to sing "Daddy's Nose", perhaps the most awkward and out of place feeling song on the original soundtrack). The most classic tracks from the original like "The Circle of Our Love", "Humble Way", "Line Upon Line", "Didn't We Love Him?", "Zero Population", and "Feelings of Forever" are of course retained.
This film was still very much done on a budget, the Flinders family's Brady Bunch - esque tri level home likely got all its set direction from crew members basements and Deseret Industries thrift shops. The cast is made up of largely young new actors you've never heard of ( I particularly like Anna Daines as Pam) but all perform their parts satisfactorily well, because lets face it this may be Mormon Shakespeare but its not Shakespeare. The music of the film, and the operatic melancholy of the story still has the power to touch me and I confess the film did manage to make me cry at a few points, which was fine because there was literally no one else in the theater as I sat and watched this. In many ways its a bit baffling that this movie was finally made now but I'm glade it was, this should go down as the definitive version of one of Mormonism's more noteworthy pop culture creations. ***
Long belated sequel to the 2003 Pixar hit Finding Nemo. I've heard it said that Finding Dory really
isn't a "necessary sequel", and bypassing the argument about whether sequels are ever necessary I would have to agree, Finding Nemo is pretty well self contained and doesn't really call out for a sequel. That being said I am glad Finding Dory exists. It was a fun movie, it was good to see these characters again and the characters they added all worked for me, plus it does manage to fill in the one real 'unresolved plot thread' from the first film, namely Dory's backstory. Now I don't know if this film had early been conceived as a possibility while Finding Nemo was still in development or production, but the backstory here feels very thought out and fits pretty perfectly into continuity and the universe of the original film. It's a sweet film that doesn't really improve on the original, but it doesn't take anything away from it either, if anything the pace here is a little more relaxed, which works well and helps make this movie more of its own thing. Great performance by Ellen DeGeneres, it was good to have Albert Brooks back again, and Ed O'Neill's septapus was by far the standout (this is a pun for those who have seen it) new character in the movie. Clever cameo part for Sigourney Weaver. ***
Macbeth (2015)
Retelling of The Scottish Play, that was actually filmed in Scotland, though it's directed by an Australian (Justin Kurzel) and stars a German born Irishman (Michael Fassbender) and a Frenchwoman (Marion Cotillard) as Macbeth and his lady. A gritty retelling, with some nice visuals, the two leads really are a 'dream team' of sorts for these parts, and you know I had forgotten just how crazy Macbeth really was. I was never really a 'huge' Shakespeare guy but there was a time when I would have been more comfortable with the Elizabethan language of the film then I am currently, though if anything that made me want to read some Shakespeare 'to get back in practice' so to speak. I think I would have enjoyed this more on a big screen. ***
Saturday's Warrior (2016)
Saturday's Warrior is by far the most iconic Mormon musical of all time... okay so The Book of Mormon Musical is by far the most iconic Mormon musical of all time, but Saturday's Warrior is the most iconic Mormon musical of all time actually written by Mormons. Lex de Azevedo's musical play originally premiered in 1974 and fast became a favorite among the LDS faithful and lovers of camp. Saturday's Warrior has gone through multiple iterations throughout the years with various degrees of tweaking on the original, including a 1989 direct to video version of the play that was perhaps its widest known iteration, and a year 2000 "remix" of that cast recording. But until this year there had never been a true 'movie' version of the story, liberated (for the most part) from the confines of the stage.
De Azevedo helped adapt the play for the screen in this new version along with co-writers Heather Ravarino (who had worked with De Azevado on the children's series Rachel and the TreeSchoolers)and the films director the sometimes actor Michael Buster. Wisely the original 1970's setting for the story was retained, I don't think there would have been much point in making this movie version if they hadn't kept the story set in the 70's because 1) the plot and ethos of the film are very much rooted in the zeitgeist of 1970's Mormonism, and 2) so is the musical style, with de Azevedo having started his career as musical director for The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour and working with 70's pop groups such as The Jackson Five and of course The Osmond's, the latter being referenced several times in the film, which also contains a number of Mormon in-jokes that would likely be lost on audiences not well versed in the faith.
The story itself is actually kind of complicated, I must confess I've never actually seen this story acted out before, my familiarity with it was based on hearing various cast recordings of it many times starting on my mission, and people who were familiar with it filing me in on the plot details. There are a lot of characters in this, some of whom we follow from their 'pre-earth life', with the story filled with loved triangles, angst, and existential unease as these characters attempt to grasp their eternal identities and the meaning of life through the medium of musical theater. The original soundtrack is here kept mostly intact, with a few new songs added (all of which are quite good) and few old ones omitted, largely the more novelty song type numbers like "Dear John" (there is a fairly fun gag where characters in the film refuse to sing "Daddy's Nose", perhaps the most awkward and out of place feeling song on the original soundtrack). The most classic tracks from the original like "The Circle of Our Love", "Humble Way", "Line Upon Line", "Didn't We Love Him?", "Zero Population", and "Feelings of Forever" are of course retained.
This film was still very much done on a budget, the Flinders family's Brady Bunch - esque tri level home likely got all its set direction from crew members basements and Deseret Industries thrift shops. The cast is made up of largely young new actors you've never heard of ( I particularly like Anna Daines as Pam) but all perform their parts satisfactorily well, because lets face it this may be Mormon Shakespeare but its not Shakespeare. The music of the film, and the operatic melancholy of the story still has the power to touch me and I confess the film did manage to make me cry at a few points, which was fine because there was literally no one else in the theater as I sat and watched this. In many ways its a bit baffling that this movie was finally made now but I'm glade it was, this should go down as the definitive version of one of Mormonism's more noteworthy pop culture creations. ***
Saturday, July 2, 2016
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