dot-20 Reviews

Valentino (1977)

Another Russell mess

[2/10 · 30 October 2009]

I don't see how I could possibly spoil this movie, as I'm pretty sure most people know Valentino is dead. The manner of his death spoiled the movie for me, fact-based viewer that I am. This movie is a five-car pileup -- you can't look away. Nureyev is no actor, but it hardly matters. This must be the noisiest movie ever made about the silent era. Even Seymour Cassel, known for his work with John Cassavetes, soon joins in the general shouting and gesticulating. The two-whatevers rating is for the costume one of the women wears to the funeral, which makes her look like a Klimt painting. It made me laugh.

Please, Ken, leave Garbo alone.

The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)

When in Santa Rosa...

[8/10 · 19 November 2005]

We're being asked to think about Hitchcock, who used this quintessential small town for "Shadow of a Doubt." But what makes Hitch's movies disturbing is their insistence on the reality of absolute evil -- you can never dismiss anything in them as a fantasy or a breakdown in reality, like the burning hotel in "Barton Fink" or the last-minute rescue of Norville Barnes from certain death in "Hudsucker Proxy." The Coen Brothers' movies, while hugely enjoyable, are a little too jokey. This is a dark story, but its tone is too mixed to find a place in one's nightmares; the UFO story is ludicrous, the reference to Heisenberg totally unnecessary. After a while, you just count the references to other films. (Tolliver at the bottom of the lake, his hairpiece drifting in the current, reminded me of Shelley Winters in "Night of the Hunter.") But Thornton is perfect.

The Secret Agent (1996)

Never More Timely

[8 March 2003]

"I have no future, but I am a force," says the Robin Williams character, minutes before he completes his mission. A chilling glimpse into the mind of the fanatic. Superb performances by almost everyone (Eddie Izzard does the most unconvincing accent since the last time John Malkovich played an Englishman), a great score by Philip Glass, and the last five minutes will freeze your blood. (Two Academy Award winners here, and neither of them is Bob Hoskins -- what is wrong with those people in Hollywood?)

Sullivan's Travels (1941)

Sturges's masterpiece

[24 July 2000]

This is one I could watch over and over, and have. Possibly inspired by "No Time For Comedy" (1940) in which James Stewart plays a writer of comedies who wants to produce a tragedy his audience will never forget, with predictable results. But Preston Sturges has made a more powerful film about the need for laughter in an appalling world. Sullivan may have been restored to his Hollywood life, but the audience can't forget the tramps in the rail yard or the prisoners on the chain gang -- there's no happy ending for them. Perfectly cast and brilliantly written and directed, this should have been in the top ten of the century's greatest films.

The Coen brothers' new film is called "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" Can we expect a riff on "Sullivan's Travels"?

Much Ado About Nothing (1993)

Minority opinion

[20 February 2000]

A major disappointment. The best performance was Richard Briers, everybody else did too much rollicking, including the sound track. Someone apparently told Keaton and Ben Elton they were making "Monty Python's Beatrice and Benedick". Keanu Reeves can barely speak English, much less English verse. I pity the people of Winnipeg who paid to see his Hamlet. Washington was good, but this kind of "colorblind" casting only works in the theatre, not the realistic medium of film. Emma can do no wrong and Tuscany is very pretty, period. Branagh as director continues the downward trajectory that began with "Dead Again". I'm surprised he didn't get Robin Williams to show up in this one, too.

A Christmas Carol (1951)

Dickens as he should be filmed

[24 December 1999]

Yes, I agree with (almost) all the others -- a great movie. Just saw it for the hundredth time, and I wasn't bored because of the wonderful pacing and economy of storytelling. This picture gets more emotion into ninety minutes than most movies that seem to go on all night. Sim was a great, underrated character actor who had this one opportunity to star and made the most of it (by the way, 2000 is the hundredth anniversary of his birth, if anyone wants to plan a retrospective).

To my surprise, no one has mentioned the wonderful score, by

Richard Addinsell. He assigns motifs to main characters, uses existing tunes like "Barbara Allen" and "Sir Roger de Coverley" to great effect, and perfectly complements the movie. Unfortunately, not now available on CD.

I love David Lean's "Great Expectations" but this is the best Dickens ever put on film.

The League of Gentlemen (1960)

A caper movie that leaves a sour taste

[19 December 1999]

This story of former army officers plotting a bank heist is cleverly scripted and has an excellent cast. It is also relentlessly misogynistic and homophobic (just like the army), which is why it never quite gets us to root for these allegedly charming rogues as they go up against the big, impersonal bank. We know too much about them, and why they were kicked out of the army. We know little about Col. Hyde (Jack Hawkins) except that he is a blackmailer. The Lavender Hill Mob they're not. But there's a brief, wonderful performance by Robert Coote, and a score that parodies all the war movie soundtracks ever to come out of Britain.

42nd Street (1933)

The 'Citizen Kane' of Warner Bros musicals

[13 October 1999]

I can't be objective -- I love everything about this movie, from the clunky tapping of Ruby Keeler to the wisecracks of Ginger Rogers et al. It's not as dark as other Berkeley films,such as the Golddiggers, but it is bittersweet. Marsh is a lonely man (though we shouldn't read too much into his request that Andy Lee come home with him), and he may be dying. But it isn't something the script dwells on, it's too busy flinging lines like "In a star it's temperament, but in a chorus girl it's just bad taste" and just being outrageous. (That is Gandhi who gets the girl at the end of "You're Getting To Be a Habit With Me," isn't it?) Julian Marsh is a master of psychology -- all those speeches about the hundreds of jobs resting on Peggy Sawyer's shoulders would give Ethel Merman a nervous breakdown! I've given up all hope of making sense of the plot of "Pretty Lady" -- it's easier that way. If you haven't seen this, see it now. If you have, watch for Dave O'Brien (future star of "Reefer Madness") dancing in the chorus.

The Old Dark House (1932)

Let's not be so serious

[5 October 1999]

Did anyone else think it odd that Sir Roderick Femm was played by a woman? Or that a rooster kept crowing in the middle of the night? From the madman in the locked room to the raging storm, it's just possible that Whale was having fun with all the horror cliches before moving on to films like "Show Boat". Not having read Priestley's novel, I can't tell if he did the same thing. I thought this was a scream.

Richard III (1995)

Alternately brilliant and maddening.

[22 September 1999]

Still a 'period' production -- just a different period. When Orson Welles moved 'Julius Caesar' to the 1930s, he used it to comment on events in Europe. Why, in 1995, a 1930's 'Richard'? Richard-as-proto-Hitler is not exactly a new insight -- see, if you can, Peter Hall's 'Wars of the Roses' (1963) where Ian Holm perfectly captures the ranting Hitlerian style in the speech to the troops and is, as always, brilliant. All that said, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this version, due mainly to the great cast. Using American actors to play the parvenu Woodvilles was especially good. This is fun for those who already know the play well, as is Pacino's semi-documentary. We don't need another full-dress Olivier version, do we?