Charlie Chan at the Race Track (1936)

'Charlie Chan at the Race Track' keeps up the quality of the previous entry 'Charlie Chan at the Circus' and if anything is a little better, certainly there is more to the plot here. Chan is investigating the death of a friend which leads him to a scheme to manipulate betting odds at horse racing. Though  centered on horse racing close to half of the film takes place on an ocean liner. There is a supporting black character here who is pretty darn racist, which makes an interesting contrast to when Key Luke uses the racism of others, by effecting pigeon English, to enable him to set up a distraction that allows his father to unfix the gangsters scheme. **1/2

Omega Doom (1996)

Rutger Hauer stars in this ill conceived modestly budgeted  sci-fi adaption of Akira Kurosawa's 'Yojimbo'. Hauer is an android named 'Omega Doom' who wanders into a post apocalyptic town where he plays two warring bands of robots against each other. Very little happens in this movie and I by all rights should have liked it even less then I did, but there was something about the audacity of the slow placing and refusal to do much of anything with the sci-fi setting won it a strange kind of contrarian respect, that lasted about a half an hour. I'd say this movie doesn't demand your full attention but it probably doesn't deserve any of your time, a safe skip. *1/2

Blind Fury (1989)

'Blind Fury' is an American take on the Japanese sub-genera of the "blind swordsman" film. Rutger Hauer was blinded and left for dead by his buddy Terry O'Quinn in Vietnam. He is rescued and rehabilitated by a group of villagers who teach him how to be a bad ass blind sword master, he then spends seemingly the better part of the next two decades with them before returning home. Once back in the States he seeks out O'Quinn, not for revenge but to forgive him for leaving him to die. His efforts to track his friend down leads him to the mans ex-wife (Meg Foster) and son Brandon Call (T.J. from Step by Step). Minutes after Hauer's arrival at their home bad guys show up trying to kidnap mom and son, Hauer dispatches them but not before Meg Foster is mortally wounded, she makes him promise to see her son safely to his father in Reno.

But the father is not safe, a chemist he has been abducted by bad guys who try to force him to make drugs in an effort to raise enough money to keep the bank from foreclosing on main bad guy Nobel Willingham's casino. It was to ensure O'Quinn's cooperation that the badies tried to get his wife and son, and now various colorful henchmen are sent out to retrieve the surviving family member as Hauer leads him cross country by bus. This portion of the film is fairly route, but once everyone gets to Reno the film arrives at this strange Zen spot and becomes a real blast and a hoot. I can't understate the importance of the tone, it has to be a very exact mix of humor and seriousness to work and they achieve that exquisitely.

A box office bomb when it came out the movie has now achieved a well warranted cult status, this movie simply put should be much better known. Hauer is excellent, he is believable as a swordsman and believable playing blind, you'd almost think he really was the latter. I enjoyed all the quirky side characters, effort was spent to make them memorable, and I like how O'Quinn is such a flawed person, a gambling addict who abandoned his buddy and left his wife and son, yet in the end still redeemable and not a bad man. For some reason this movie was produced by Tim Matheson, which seems kind of quirky itself. Worth seeking out. ***

The Believers (1987)

Directed by John Schlesinger ('Midnight Cowboy', 'The Falcon and the Snowman') and adapted by 'Twin Peaks' co-creator Mark Frost from the 1982 Nicholas Conde novel 'The Religion', 'The Believers' stars Martin Sheen as a recently widowed (we see he's wife tonally unusual death in the opening sequence) police psychologist who relocates from Minnesota to New York City with his young son. Once there he becomes involved in an investigation into a series of ritual murders lead by detective Robert Loggia as well as a romance with attractive land lady Helen Shaver. As Roger Ebert said in his very negative review of the film, certain religions never get a positive portal on screen and Voodo is one of them. The moment that plot element becomes apparent in the story you more or less know where things are going, and the film in many ways trods a familiar trajectory. It does a good job of creating as sense of things being off, of weirdness and unease, and a better sense of low level tension then it probably could have achieved under lesser hands. I was never really bored. The film ends, spoiler, with the discovery that an cadre of the cities elite are responsible for the murders, an effort to appease ancient Gods and benefit themselves finically and so forth. The film has a 'high trash' quality, a sense of quality that for a time distracts from how bonkers the story really is. The more I think about it the less it seems to hold up, but I'd be lying if I said it didn't largely work for me in the moment. I'm always happy to see Richard Masur pop up in something. **1/2

Day of the Triffids (1962)

This adaptation of John Wyndham's 1951 novel about carnivorous, mobile, alien plants feasting on humans after most are blinded following a meter shower, is no where near as good as the campy 1981 British mini-series staring John Duttine. This 'Day of the Triffids' features musical and later 'Dallas' star Howard Keel as its lead, conveniently protracted from the blindness because he had his eyes covered in gauze at the time of the meteor shower, owing to a surgery he was recovering from that is never explained in any detail. Early in the film Keel wakes up to find the hospital seemingly abandoned and wrecked, he removes his eye bandage to discover the world plunged into horror. This motif was later borrowed for early scenes in both '28 Days Later' and 'The Walking Dead' TV series, both about zombies, which the walking plants named 'Triffids' essentially are here. Keel, a sailor, eventually makes his way to France and joins up with a small group of survivors, with the movie occasionally checking in on its B story about a couple of scientists, who are also a couple romantically, searching for a way to kill the Triffids. The film is mostly un-extraordinary, even dull at places, though it does have sequences of tension and horror, particularly those centered on non central characters, like those on an airplane where everyone's gone blind and Keel's managed to pick up on their radio transmissions. I had low expectations but still a bit of a disappoint, see the mini-series instead. *1/2

Burden of Dreams (1982)

'Burden of Dreams' is documentarian Les Blank's film about the making of Werner Herzog's 1982 feature 'Fitzcarraldo'. 'Fitzcarraldo' is loosely inspired by fact and concerns the efforts of an eccentric business man and opera lover to, among other things, move a large boat over a hill from one South American river to another. This seemingly insane quest captures the way in which Herzog's movie was essentially a metaphor for itself, and Blank's film chronicles the notoriously difficult production. Among the difficulties to befall the film were money troubles, the lead actor getting sick and having to be recast midway through the film (originally Fitzcarraldo was played by Jason Robbards, and later by Herzog's difficult muse Klaus Kinski, the film also stars Claudia Cardinale among others), multiple plan crashes, Indian troubles, a death, and shoot relocation owing to a nearby war and aggressive native rights advocates. The film largely leaves out Kinski's famously unhinged on set behaviors, Herzog would attribute this to something of a gentleman's agreement, though some of that footage would be used later in Herzog's own documentary about his relationship with Klaus. Director Banks was both exhausted and disgusted before the end of the shoot, stating he didn't care if Herzog ever finished the film or not. Fortunately he stuck around and 'Burden of Dreams' is itself a wonderful monument to obsession, and a really tricky film shoot. ***  

Charlie Chan at the Circus (1936)

'Charlie Chan at the Circus' is just one of a long running series of Charlie Chan films, many of which stared the Swede Warner Oland. Chan is an ethnic Chinese detective working for the Honolulu police department, Hawaii being at this time just a U.S. territory. Though played principally by white actors in film Chan is intended as a mostly positive portal of a smart Asian character, not the most common thing in American films at the time these were made. Changing sensibilities have largely sidelined the character from the contemporary zeitgeist, but for awhile he was really popular. So popular in fact that he eventually grow beyond  Hawaii as the setting for his adventures, he was sent all over the place in his films, in this one to California to solve a murder at a circus and to interact with characters who at that point were called midgets, as well as acrobats, shady circus promoters, and of course "number one son" Key Luke (Chan is shown in this film to have a dozen children). The plot here is maybe a little smarter then I'd expected, with plenty of suspects in the Agatha Christi tradition. I've got three more of these to watch so we will see how the quality holds up, **1/2

The Million Pound Note (1954)

'The Million Pound Note' is an adaptation of the 1893 Mark Twain short story 'The Million Pound Bank Note' and directed by the prolific Ronald Neame ('The Man Who Never Was', 'Scrooge', 'The Prime of Miss Jane Brodie', 'The Poseidon Adventure'). A precursor to 'Trading Places' the story hinges on a bet between two wealthy English brothers on wither or not they can pass a poor American off as a millionaire. Said American is played by Gregory Peck, his love interest by Jane Griffiths, everyone here does a passable job but there are no stand out performances. At first the movie is largely the same gage repeated, people assume Peck is a dead beat until he shows them the titular million pound note, part of the bet he reluctantly enters into is that if doesn't cash it within a month the rich brothers will give him any job he wants. So Peck finds that the impression of wealth can get you all sorts of free benefits, until it doesn't. A fair outing but nothing exceptional. **

Chopping Mall (1986)

Four couples are trapped after hours in a mall patrolled by lazer equipped security robots that have gone berserk, this simple though ridicules premise, enclosed location, and just enough character development make this prime 80's schlock rather enjoyable. The early parts of the film are really pretty bad, and some of the characters so annoyingly cliché I was not unhappy to see them dispatched. But as the film goes on you kind of bond with some of the steadily decreasing cast and there is a nice sense of peril, even if some of the performers didn't have the best idea as to where the lazer effects would be inserted post production. A guilty pleasure, and I can testify a perfect movie for one in the morning. **

Father Goose (1964)

A gruffer then usual Cary Grant is a delight in this family comedy about a reluctant south pacific plane spotter in World War II, who finds himself even more reluctantly saddled with a woman and seven displaced school children from a foreign consulate. 'Father Goose' is a simple pleasure of a film, not always the most realistic, but a charming and nostalgic mid century family comedy which in a strange way is perfect counterprograming to the crises of today, or last Wednesday. The kids are good, Lelise Caron grew on me, and Trevor Howard's personal gravities is lightly and effectively deployed. Winner of a best screenplay Oscar I liked the sense that everyone was putting just a little extra effort in to make this thing work, and it sure paid off. ***1/2

Kon-Tiki (1950)

Winner of an Oscar for best documentary feature 'Kon-Tiki' documents Thor Heyerdahl's famed 1947 cross Pacific expedition in which he and 5 others proved that it would indeed have been possible for the islands of the South Pacific to have been originally settled by Meso-Americans who traveled there by raft. In a tight hour long presentation 'Kon-Tiki' is a fascinating story well told, with numerous interesting side bits, like how the crew handled sharks along the way, the mysterious fate of the pet parrot, and how the fortuities timing of the crafts eventually landing (after 103 days on the open sea) allowed the crew to save the life of a young boy. It's an adventure film that is also true science, exciting and informative, recommended for all ages. I loved it. ****

Beat the Devil (1953)

Early 50's adventure comedy directed by John Huston, and adapted by Huston and Truman Capote from the 1951 thriller novel of the same name by former communist Claud Cockburn, whose son Alexander Cockburn would go on to be a columnist for The Nation and I think that may have been how I first became aware of this film. Sadly this movie is not as interesting as the previous sentence. Now a minor cult film owning to its impressive cast and early camp sensibilities star Humphrey Bogart was said to hate this film, because the movie lost money and Bogie had invested some of his own in it. Like the later 'Ocean's 11 films', both the Rat Pack and 21st Century versions, the logic here seemed to be lets get a lot of cool people together, have a party and make a movie. In this case I found little to grab onto in the film, no one to really invest in, nothing happening that was really that interesting. Humphrey Bogart, Jennifer Jones, Robert Morley, Peter Lorre, all can be rather interesting though here not so much, Jones though is giving it her best effort by the way, can't say that for the others. Film also features James Bond's first cinematic 'M' Bernard Lee as a Scotland Yard inspector, and at 93 Gina Lollobrida it's last surviving main cast member. *1/2

Goodbye, Columbus (1969)

Based on the 1959 Philip Roth novella of the same name 1969's 'Goodbye, Columbus' is suitably Rothian in it's characters, settings and plot, though of a more light hearted and positive bent then I usually associate with the writer. A big hit at the time of its release, making nearly $23 million off a $1.5 million budget it's largely forgotten today, I'd been looking for it for years. The film stars Richard Benjamin as its Roth surrogate (few writers ever wrote about themselves so much), has Jack Klugman and Nan Martin in supporting parts, and features and "introducing credit" for Ali MacGraw, though she'd actually made her screen debut with a small part the previous year in 'A Lovely Way to Die'.

It's a slice life picture centered on a romance between Benjamin's librarian and MacGraw's college student over a long Westchester County summer. It is rich, languid and deeply satisfying, a highly observational piece that is content to privilege moments above story. There is a long sequence at a Jewish wedding, probably more then 20 minutes in length, that's just one of the best things, maybe the highlight of my week. Very much of its time, we don't make movies of quite this type anymore, it is exploring boundaries of both what a film can be and what one can get away with in a very transitional era in American cinema. Yet it is also, and this surprised me some, very big hearted, it's cynicism serving as a chaser. A real surprise and a minor joy, recommended for those who like a slow film and aren't put off by the R rating. Soundtrack by 'The Association'. ***1/2

Royal Wedding (1951)

Early Stanley Donen directed work, 'Royal Wedding' is a lavishly colored musical set around the 1947 wedding of the current Queen Elizabeth. As was common for the whole genera at the time the plot is very lose, basically there as something to string together the musical numbers, some of which including the dancing on the ceiling bit (which Donen would later return to when directing a Lionel Richie music video in 1986), the dance on the ship rocking at sea, and even the simple Fred Astaire dancing with a hat rack number are memorably staged. The movie borrows a bit from Astaire's earlier career dancing with his sister Adele on stage, though brother/sister dancing duos are inherently kind of creepy this is mitigated some what by recasting his sister, in large part to make her decades younger, Jane Powell is a pretty darn good dancer and really cute. Powell is romanced by future Kennedy brother-in-law Peter Lawford, Sarah (daughter of Winston) Churchill is Astaire's love interest and Keenan Wynn plays Astaire and Powell's agent. You really don't have to pay close attention when watching this, it's the kind of thing that would make for great video wallpaper. A co-worker of mine from nearly 20 years ago had encouraged me to see this, finally got to it. ***

The Conflict (1973)

Known by a number of titles including 'The Conflict', 'A Fable of the Future', and the 'The Visitor' and based on the 1972 novel 'Catholics' by the Northern Irish-Canadian writer Brian Moore, this is a 1973 TV film from the British network ITV. Set in the then future (seemingly by implication the late 90's) the story takes as it's starting point the thesis that the liberalizing trends begun under Vatican II would continue exponentially over the ensuing decades resulting in a Church very different then the one most Catholics grew up in.

When a group of Monks based on a small island off the Irish coast take it upon themselves to reinstitute the Latin Mass, and thus attracting a lot of attention the 'Father General' in Rome send a young, liberal Boston born plan clothed Priest (Martin Sheen) to order the monks Abbot (Trevor Howard) to cease and desist. The Abbott believes that they should continue performing the Latin Mass but he also believes he has a duty to obey the orders of his superiors, and is thus conflicted as he attempts to navigate what to do, torn on one side by Sheen's character, and on the other side by the his fellow monks lead most vocally by Cyril Cusack.

Part of the same tradition that would bring us such stories of Catholics struggling over truth as 'Doubt' and 'The Two Popes' this is an exceptionally smart and subtle work for a network television production of the nearly 50 years ago. Sheen is very strong but Trevor Howard is just amazing, their verbal sparring only exceeded by Howards quieter moments. Modestly budgeted by a real quality production, I was very impressed. Readily available if you look for it and only 78 minutes in length. ***1/2

My Best Fiend (1999)

Werner Herzog directs this documentary examination of his complicated, often difficult, but artistically fruitful relationship with the late actor Klaus Kinski (1926-1991). Herzog first meet the notoriously difficult performer when he was only 13 years old and would go on to make a total 5 pictures with him, including some of his best  'Aguirre, the Wrath of God', 'Nosferatu the Vampyer' and 'Fitzcarraldo'. Rather lose formed and runs perhaps a little long, still some interesting stories and observations, this is a film that Herzog just had to make. The seemingly rare moments when Kinski is generous to others adds a fascinating layer of nuance to the films high strong central figure. ***

The Sand Pebbles (1966)

It took some time to get going but 'The Sand Pebbles' is a really excellent movie, with some legitimate surprises and risk taking, a mature adventure film.  A re-teaming of 'The Great Escape' co-stars Steve McQueen and Richard Attenborough, based on the best selling novel by Mnt Home, Idaho native Richard McKenna, and very ably directed by Robert Wise, it is the story of  the crew of an American gun boat patrolling Chinese river waters in that murky imperialist period between the fall the emperor and the rise of Mao's communist state. The moral complexity of the piece for a big tent mid 60's American studio release is a little awe inspiring. Though ostensibly a McQueen vehicle it is Richard Crenna who steals this movie in what's got to be his best performance, remarkably subtitle. Also featuring a 20 year old Candice Bergen as an American teacher. Oh yeah and McQueen's character is said, more then once, to be from rural Utah, I wonder if an implied lapsed Mormon angle was intentional. Filmed in Hong Kong and Taiwan. ****

...And Justice for All. (1979)

I didn't enjoy watching ...And Justice for All. it made me angry, but it was supposed to, and that's a major part of what makes it good. A legal drama with comic and satirical elements its stars Al Pacino in an Oscar nominated performance as Arthur Kirkland, an idealistic lawyer forced to deafened a man he thinks could be guilty of rape. This central storyline I would have been curious to see done as a stand alone straight drama, and most likely this is how it would have been done by a more conventional director then Norman Jewison, however the film has a lot of side plots, some of them decidedly quirky, which add up to a portrait of a good man overwhelmed by a dysfunctional system he can not change. Solid supporting work from Jack Warden, John Forsythe, Lee Strasberg, Jeffrey Tambor and Christine Lahti in her film debut. Filmed in Baltimore from an Oscar nominated script by Valerie Curtin and Barry Levinson. Perhaps best remembered for an oft misquoted line about a system out of order. ***1/2

Meeting Gorbachev (2019)

A fascinating survey course in the life and career of the last General Secretary of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev. Today he is seemingly every non communists favorite communist, Gorbachev's life was a kind of a tragedy, though one with mostly good results. He was a true believer in the communist economic system and in the Soviet state, but was also a pragmatist and a realist, he more then anyone (Reagan included) allowed the Cold War to end peacefully, when it certainly could have ended otherwise. A fairly conventional subject matter for a Werner Herzog documentary, but he still gives the proceedings some of his stylist flourishes and of course the directors distinctive voice. ***1/2

I continue to be fascinated with the late Soviet period and the miracle under which things ended peacefully, and much of that miracle can be attributed to Gorbachev. I think he is one of the 20th Century's great men, a man whose pragmatism ultimately outweighed his ideological commitments.
Though he still has not forgiven Boris Yeltsin.