mosoul Reviews

Georgy Girl (1966)

its time for jumping down from the shelf, a little bit

[24 December 2004]

Good performances from Redgrave, Mason, Rampling and Bates. A modest film that found international approval. In 1966, while it may have seemed shocking to hear UK girl Charlotte Rampling tell Alan Bates that she had "destroyed" two of his already, it's worth remembering that an American girl couldn't have a legal abortion unless there were extenuating circumstances. Roe v. Wade was still several years away. The wholesome longings of Goergie are sharply contrasted with her roommate, the ice cold Meredith. The lead was originally offered to Vanessa Redgrave and when she backed out her younger sister Lynne was cast. She was overwhelmingly brave playing Georgie as a girl you liked enough that when she does something embarrassing you can't help but flinch. It happens a lot. As she falls and fails she finds a life of her own. And that is oddly inspirational.

Something's Got to Give (1962)

Monroe and Martin casting would have elevated this to greatness if....

[24 June 2004]

Unlike others reviewing this film I don't see Marilyn looking "out of it". As a matter of fact I think she is radiant and in better (physical) shape than her prior 3 films. Especially better than "Let's Make Love" where she is pushing the line between voluptuous and fat. That performance, which was also directed by George Cukor, was known to have been extremely sloppy and sporadic ultimately requiring the editors to piece takes together from short segments. In this incomplete film she seems to have made a concerted effort to not only lose weight, but to tone up as she was known to do in her younger days (living on Catalina Island while married to Jim Daugherty) where people were surprised to see a girl doing exercises and lifting small weights. To be realistic Marilyn's magic screen presence took a large amount of skill, desire and patience from those around her especially her director and co-stars. Less so in her early days, but by the mid fifties she had become insecure from too much drinking mixed with pharmaceuticals and too much ill applied Freudian psychiatry. Actors with self-discipline found her infuriating. As a member of the audience I don't think I'm alone in saying it was well worth it. With a decent script such as "Some Like It Hot" the fans found her better and better as she progressed from The Seven Year Itch to The Misfits. However difficult the creative process may have been. Fox sacrificed a good and possibly great film to instead support the bloated antics of Taylor and Burton that were bleeding the studio's shareholders for a rather muddled epic, "Cleopatra".

What's New Pussycat (1965)

Allen, O'Toole, Sellers, Andress & Manfred Mann

[8/10 · 26 May 2004]

I agree with those who admire this film despite Allen's displeasure with Feldman's alterations to his script. It is more successful than Feldman's next extravaganza "Casino Royale". I suppose this is the precursor to the "uber agent" driven projects of the 90's like "Just Shoot Me" and 3rd Rock from the Sun" I do want to correct the comment that described Sellers using a kitty to blot his damp ink writing on a pad. The writer is thinking of "The Wrong Box" where Sellers is a down on his luck doctor signing a false death certificate for Peter Cooke to have his wealthy Uncle declared dead. Cats are everywhere in that great scene. Back to Pussycat, Manfred Mann with original singer Paul Jones singing "My Little Red Book" is on the soundtrack.

Vestidas y alborotadas (1968)

Spanish Patty Duke Show with Mexican rockers Los Yaqui

[6 May 2004]

The lovely blond Spanish twins known as Pili y Mili (aka Pilar and Emilia Bayona) and prolific leading man Alberto Vasquez play familiar, but engaging games of 'which twin is which'. The preparations for a stage musical give the well dressed "mod" cast a chance to sing and dance. The girls become unwittingly snared in backstage intrigue that endangers them, although all is kept pretty lightweight. A treat for fans of Mexican 60's rock with Los Yaqui in a club scene doing "Devil with a Blue Dress" in Spanish. Very colorful and not commonly found, this is a treat for seekers of international 60's teen pop culture. If the local Spanish language station in your area plays it, it will probably be at 4:00 AM with many many commercials (PSA's and station promos especially) breaking the insubstantial narrative beyond comprehension.

Just for You (1964)

Vagrants, Chiffons, Peter & Gordon, Millie Small, and more

[6/10 · 2 May 2004]

A rather disjointed meld of a 1964 UK music flick 'Just for You" (directed by Douglas Hickox) and later US scenes directed by Vince Scarza. The UK footage owes more than a bit of its inspiration to "Pop Gear". The US bits (yes the Paxton plot is relentlessly dopey) at least have cool DJ's from 60's Top 40 Philly stations and some decent songs to keep it interesting.

The plot is obviously dispensable and mercifully occupies little screen time. The oft repeated truism that any film with Freddie & the Dreamers is intolerable for viewing is at least somewhat untrue in this case as they actually play one of their hits, "You Were Made for Me". The music clips (especially the brilliant Chiffons song "Nobody Knows What's Going' On In My Mind But Me") seem suspiciously like "Scopitones", the proto-MTV loops that played in special jukeboxes of the 60's.

Studio pianist Johnny B. Great does "If I Had A Hammer" while cool looking black couples dance wildly. It's So Hard to Be Good" by Louise Corday, The Bachelors, A Band of Angels, The Applejacks, Freddie Cannon, Jackie & the Raindrops, The Vagrants, The Merseybeats and many more. It will please mod era enthusiasts.

The Holy Mountain (1973)

Warning: this film can trigger acid flashbacks

[18 January 2004]

It is not even advisable for just anyone to see this film. Not everyone is interested in this kind of experience. Personally I found it an illumination. Weird to the point of overloading your mind. I know these descriptions are so extreme that people will assume I am exaggerating. It saddens me greatly that it and "El Topo" are out of print. I think it needs to be made available now!

The Great Madcap (1949)

Mexican period Bu-uel engages viewer gently sans surrealism

[18 January 2004]

This Mexican film from Bu-uel's low profile commercial period is a comedy of manners, Those expecting the more caustic or iconoclastic subtexts of his famous films may be disappointed. I found it well made and quite enjoyable. Part of its value is in its conventionality. Seeing that he was capable of creating well crafted "popular" entertainments is a plus in his favor. Perhaps he was only working to pay the bills, but I think he may have actually enjoyed making this film.

The Long Goodbye (1973)

Looking for Morris the Cat's brand at the 24-hr Ralph's

[12 July 2003]

Failing to fool the selective (oddly familiar) cat Marlowe is trying to

feed) substituting a can from the food he does like filled with the

unsatisfactory brand places our hero in the above described

unlikely setting. This is Altman's love note to the real loyal noir style

detective. The moving, out of place juxtaposition of everything

about Gould's Marlowe is difficult to appreciate at first glimpse. I

found this a film worthy of repeated viewings. This Philip Marlowe

in the 1974 L.A. is like Lenny Bruce trying to make a 1966 hippie

chick. I believe the (essence of the) quote was, "I just can't get in

the right mood if they aren't wearing a bra for me to unhitch." Give

this one a chance.

Paint Your Wagon (1969)

Will a B-way musical be relevant enough for 1969?

[7 July 2003]

As with other big Broadway musicals that didn't get film

adaptations until many years after their initial moment had passed

such as "Hair" or "Company" this one is a bit odd. The film's

producers hired Paddy Chayevski to spice up the rather staid

original libretto. I think the result is quite pleasing in all its weird

glory, Jean Seberg had one last chance to shine before the FBI

hounded the poor woman to death. Lee Marvin, Clint Eastwood,

Harve Presnell, and Ray Walston are all great. I even like the

singing. I will admit the lack of context for the song "Eliza" is

unfortunate, but I think the idea was to articulate the often missing

humanity of a cool character like Eastwood. I like the road show

graphics (the mountains as painted in the titles) and The Nitty

Gritty Dirt Band's "Hand Me Down That Can of Beans".

The Invisible Boy (1957)

Can you say Colossus, the Forbin Project?

[28 June 2003]

Interesting precursor to "Colossus, the Forbin Project". A child behaves outlandishly after sleep learning seemingly impossible knowledge. He applies his technique first to beating his scientist father at chess in 6 moves and then rebuilding Robby the Robot (of "Forbidden Planet" fame). Any child would enjoy the adventures of this rather naughty boy. Adults not too jaded by current "action movies" should enjoy it too.

The T.A.M.I. Show (1964)

The Best of What's Still Around (The T.A.M.I. Show)

[10/10 · 25 January 2003]

The hosts of this massive show are the clown princes of rock n roll, Jan & Dean. We can forgive them (or rather songwriters PF Sloan and Steve Barri) their geographic slip as to The Stones hometown ("Those bad lookin' guys with the moppy long hair, The Rollin' Stones from Liverpool have gotta be there"). In '64 everyone English except Bonnie Prince Charlie seemed to be from the Merseyside.

In the early 80's I was listening to The Police sing "Turn on my VCR, same one I've had for years, James Brown The TAMI Show...When the world is runnin' down, you make the best of what's still around). I was thus inspired to follow Mr. Sumner's advice and seek electronovision illumination. How frustrated I was to discover that red tape had kept the film out of circulation for years. As a substitute "That Was Rock" hosted by Chuck Berry used some TAMI footage, but was missing most of the heart and soul of this teen classic. Director Steve Binder later directed Elvis Presley's NBC Singer Special (more commonly known as the 1968 comeback special). Find "The TAMI Show" if you can. Copies in circulation seem to omit The Beach Boys who apparently requested that they not be included in future editions in hopeful anticipation of their post-Smile non-candy stripe shirt persona.

You Are What You Eat (1968)

Missing scenes mar our appreciation of this 60's cultural artifact

[27 December 2002]

"You Are What You Eat" is an artifact capturing that brief patchouly scented moment when the world's youth migrated toward its free love Mecca, the Haight Ashbury. Before the mean spirited chill of hard drugs, Charlie Manson, Nixon and Pol Pot shocked everyone back to their senses. It's puzzling, incoherent and unflatteringly besotted with unattractive flakes pontificating nonsensically, yet still rather engaging. The truncated 40-minute copy in circulation seems to be missing several key elements.

Scenes of notorious San Francisco pot dealer Super Spade which are described in reviews at the time of the film's release are nowhere to be seen. The fact that before "You Are What You Eat" was even released Super Spade was murdered and left in a sleeping bag beneath a cliff by the Point Reyes lighthouse seems ominously portentious. Rumors after his death of imminent mob control of the Haight caused a whole, new emigration of older hipsters to the countryside in search of some utopian dream that wasn't there.

Tiny Tim duets with his then girlfriend Eleanor Baruchian on "I Got You Babe" while mania-addled girls (inserted from The Beatles 1965 Shea Stadium concert) scream for their idols. Nature, leaves and flowers accompany a plaintive " Don't Remind Me Now of Time" sung by Peter Yarrow with whispers of "in the sky". Hell's Angels Motorcycles and a black screen precede the film's first title "The Heart Attack" (a narrator recounting how a loved one died after seeing motorcycles and while taking pictures of the Pope).

Youthful frolics include a desert ceremony with bearded conga drummers, ritualized dancing, body painting and a proper "Freak Out" with Zappa on stage (the music in fact a jam featuring John Simon & The Electric Flag with Michael Bloomfield on lead guitar).

The action cuts off in an abrupt ending with credits that can only be read when played in slow motion. We need to see the other 35-minutes to properly judge this peek at the freak scene in full flower. I think a nice clean transfer from the original negative to DVD (with 5.1 surround sound) is in order.

'Way Out (1961)

Rarely seen, Way Out is worth rediscovering

[29 September 2002]

Way Out was a dark anthology series that aired on Friday nights at 9:30 PM in in the slot before Twilight Zone on CBS between March and July of 1961. It replaced one of TV's most notorious bombs, Jackie Gleason's "You Are In the Picture", an ill conceived game show. It premiered with strong ratings for the debut episode of "William & Mary" based on Roald Dahl's short story, but failed to sustain its audience and was canceled by July of 1961. Roald Dahl wrote and delivered the dark, wry introductions and sign offs with panache. Beginning each show with a, "How are you?" He would offer advice on, disposing of unpleasant spouses, or recount facetious stories of his boyhood in Norway where, when somebody died, and the ground was frozen solid, they would sharpen the legs and hammer the body into the ground, "like an enormous nail."

Fondly remembering this almost forgotten chapter in television history, Mike Dann says, "Way Out was one of the last weekly dramatic shows to be done in New York. Practically more than any other show, while it was not the most important, it represented the end of the era of New York as a production center for prime time. The only thing we had left then was variety shows. It meant the death of drama in New York, which is a great loss fore everyone."One I would dearly love to see, but have not been able to find is "Soft Focus" starring Barry Morse with makeup by Dick Smith. The program is subtle and needs repeated viewings to be fully appreciated. I hope it comes out on DVD or VHS.

That Man from Rio (1964)

Pan d'azucar, bosa nova, Belmondo & Dorleac

[6 September 2002]

This movie is sophisticated colorful European and fun in style. The action grabs you right away and takes you on a fantastic roller coaster ride in some of the most seductive looking cities ever filmed, Rio and Brasilia. Belmondo is supposed to be on a weekend pass and goes AWOL to save his girl who is kidnapped (from Orly Airport in Paris) and dragged to Brazil where she becomes entangled with thieves and stolen Incan statues. It's no wonder that DeBroca's 1967 "King of Hearts" is many people's favorite film of all time. Jean Paul Belmondo and Françoise Dorleac are most engaging and attractive performers. Sadly she died not long after this film was released.

My Uncle (1958)

50's modern architecture & times charmingly skewered by Tati

[21 August 2002]

This film is probably the best work by which to introduce someone unfamiliar

with Tati. I think the viewer must see it more than once to appreciate the odd little sight and sound gags. From the moment we are "buzzed" into the cold

home of Hulot's sister and her family we are privy to the little pretensions our hostess employs to impress her neighbors. A gurgling fish-shaped fountain is

only turned on when company comes (not included is Mr. Hulot, the

protagonist). At every turn the viewer can savor the contrast between this

small rustic French town and those striving to live out the modern dream life. From factory to home every nuance is gently ridiculed. As a fan of modernist

style I like this film, for it keeps me humble.

Fahrenheit 451 (1966)

Great Film: Truffaut direction, Roeg cinematography and Hermann score

[4 May 2001]

Truffaut's first English language film is a fascinating vision of a future distopia. The well known source is Bradbury's story where bookburners are the duly authorized enforcers of an insolent government's recipe for keeping the masses "happy". Nicholas Roeg's striking camerawork and use of color are outstanding. Bernard Hermann's score is one of the best ever. The combined talents create something very engaging.

One of two films Truffaut did after authoring a book-length interview with Alfred Hitchcock. The other film, "The Bride Wore Black" is an outright homage to Hitchcock. Both films feature excellent musical scores by former Hitchcock collaborator Bernard Hermann. Sadly Hitchcock and Hermann stopped working together at this time. Universal made the colossal blunder of encouraging Hitch to work with other composers to the complete detriment of all his later films beginning with "Torn Curtain".

Ups and Downs (1959)

Cantinflas in his prime, Acapulco still pristine in 1958

[11 March 2001]

I saw this excellent Cantinflas film on Mexican TV recently and within found his famed charm and warmth, albeit wrapped within a typically improbable plot. His rise in social status as well as his time as an elevator operator accounts for the title, "Sube y Baja" (Ups and Downs). The beautiful travelogue type colors and sights of Acapulco, where most of the film is set are worth the price of admission alone. Subtler, between the lines comments on Mexican social order and Cantinflas unique adaptations of Mexican vernacular Spanish gives the film an overall unity.

Mickey One (1965)

Like seeing Lenny Bruce lost in a house of mirrors

[16 January 2001]

This gritty surreal stumble through 1965 America is uncompromisingly downbeat. Like a last visit to the now absent locales featured in Diane Arbus photographs, it repels and attracts almost like a roadside museum of oddities. Apparently Lenny Bruce and Diane Arbus shared a passion for New York's infamous Hubert's Flea Circus and a Times Square movie theater that ran Todd Browning's "Freaks". This film captures that strange lost in the fun house feel also seen in Orson Welles' "Lady from Shanghai" climax . To add contrast Director Arthur Penn also interjects dreamy Playboy magazine moments between Warren Beatty and 1966 Playmate of the Year Donna Loren at a posh hotel. Stan Getz silky saxophone on the sound track provides Mickey One's one discernible connective thread. It dramatizes the observation that, "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you". Visually the film was so modern that audiences took at least 20-years to catch up to it.

Experiment Alcatraz (1950)

Odd mystery film set in San Francisco

[7/10 · 28 December 2000]

An intriguing crime story with radiation as the plot's pivotal element. A group of Alcatraz convicts volunteer to be guinea pigs in an experiment seeking to find a cure for a blood disease (apparently related to leukemia). The convicts led by Robert Shayne (the old Superman TV show's Inspector Henderson) are only interested in gaining their freedom. The unexpected effect the radiation has on one prisoner subject leads a doctor and a nurse into a dangerous investigation which is their only hope to salvage their now damaged careers. The current negative attitude towards radiation adds an ironic counterpoint to the protagonists' noble desire to cure said blood disease, which incidentally has infected the nurse's brother. Good atmosphere and a taut narrative make this B picture worth watching.

Chalk (1996)

Pool is life and a pool-hall the world in this rugged slice of life directed by S.F.'s Rob Nilsson

[22 June 2000]

Kelvin Han Yee is the hero and Don Bajema the anti-hero in this complex story of a contentious pool game on which everything rides. Paul Newman's 1963 film The Hustler serves as an interesting contrast to this shadowy neon-lit series of vignettes exposing the lives of a group of Bay Area players living close to the street. The relentless high pressure of the big upcoming game alternates with the sadness felt by the people surrounding these two players.

Amateur actors from the Tenderloin Action Group make up the supporting cast and create the unscripted feel of this EthanSingh - Rand Crook production. The downbeat mood and long length means it won't be everyone's cup of tea, but for fans of cinema verité it has the strong spark of real life played out in real time. Some of the seedy locales are aptly raw and a short night-time visit to the beach is a strangely pleasing interlude that serves to break the dramatic tension.

Don Bajema is very effective as the obsessively anal-retentive champion with a title to lose.

The 10th Victim (1965)

Brilliant art direction, dialogue, story and cast

[10/10 · 15 May 2000]

I love this movie. Maybe because it is a unique and bizarre future-world parable. Other reviews seem to have missed the point, so it may not be to everyone's liking. The colors chosen to represent the future in The 10th Victim are all different combinations of black & white. The wry humor and bizarre dubbed dialogue only serve to underscore the strangely prophetic style of this film. I recommend it highly. I like to watch it again and again. The scene of Marcello leading the sun worshippers is truly priceless!

It is a perfect companion piece to Godard's 1965 masterpiece "Alphaville".