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. ***