arthaupt1 Reviews

Black Widow (1987)

Reminds me of 'The Eye of the Beholder' (book, not movie)

[12 December 2013]

When I saw 'Black Widow' in a theater in the '80s, my first thought was: This seems just like the great Noire novel 'The Eye of the Beholder' (1980) by Marc Behm. That book was made into a tolerable French movie in 1983, directed by Claude Miller; then an American-made remake in 2000 with the same title as the novel, starring Ewan Mcgregor.

I confess I could only bear 5 minutes of the Mcgregor version before hitting the remote. (Not your fault, Ewan!) The plots in 'Widow,' the novel, and the Mcgregor version are similar: a solitary detective (Winger's part) tails a female serial killer; the former getting ever more involved with his/her quarry as they traverse the landscape and time rolls by. It's an unusual detective plot that would need a very delicate director to make it work. Hasn't happened yet.

Two things I still remember of 'Widow': (1) Serial killer Theresa Russell's self-hating meltdown in her car, just perfect; and (2) the filmmakers' taking advantage of an actual erupting volcano in a Hawaiian scene. Alas, the volcano steals the scene.

Outlaws (1986–1987)

"Outlaws" had a great soundtrack score

[1 April 2011]

"Outlaws" was a very charming show while it lasted. It was the "A-Team" with Western attire and time-travel mixed in. Maybe the upcoming Summer 2011 movie "Cowboys & Aliens" will have the same Western-plus-SF charm.

Things I remember:

Rod Taylor talking ruefully about how everyone he ever knew (a century ago) was now dead and buried.

Also, the time the team rented horses at an urban-park riding stable so they could chase the fleeing bad guys: "Now don't run the horses," the stable manager admonished. "Yeah, right," our heroes replied before galloping off at top speed. (Because horses are for running. Every horse person knows that.)

But the thing I liked best in "Outlaws" was the music score by Joseph Conlan. It was an exceptional Western score, with many facets--rousing action, wistfulness, Americana. I always try to champion this score, and hope someday one of the soundtrack CD companies specializing in old scores will give it a chance.

The Moon in the Gutter (1983)

Artsy, yet has staying charm and a great car

[23 November 2010]

I saw this movie in the early '80s and found it artsy and messy yet with staying charm. Have just seen it again on DVD and still like it. The disregard of reality and logic are almost Lynch-like. The cast is quite good, and the messy households are like something from A Streetcar Named Desire.

I dimly recall that director Beineix was going to follow this movie with an extravagant production of Marc Behm's vampire novel "The Ice Maiden." (Behm a favorite writer of mine.) But "Moon" bit the dust at the box office, and as a result, the "Ice" project got scrapped. Maybe it'll get made someday.

Per the 'Net, "Moon"'s much-in-evidence red car is an early '60s Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder.

Operation Crossbow (1965)

A feeling for WWII (and a Pynchon side note)

[9 February 2010]

In some ways an old-fashioned, star-studded, overstuffed "mission" movie, "Operation Crossbow" has, to me, an authentic WWII feeling to it. I'm guessing this movie's scenes and attitudes may have resonated with people in 1965 who'd lived through that period.

World War II was Big, and that's reflected here. The movie's individual characters are less important than the group war effort, something they're very aware of. And the nothing-personal killing of one character by a Resistance member, is pretty stunning. My hat is off to that.

Side note: During the '60s did Thomas Pynchon ("Gravity's Rainbow") go see this movie? He was then working on his big novel about the V-2 rocket. People have noodled about a possible cause-and-effect between movie and novel, including Dave Kehr in the NYTimes. FWIW, somewhere in "Gravity" I think there's a description of someone's wristwatch being worn on the inside of the wrist, "World War II style." (So the luminous hands wouldn't show during night operations??) That's the way George Peppard wears his watch.

Mademoiselle (1966)

The camera never moves

[30 November 2009]

I learned about "Mademoiselle" from a "Salon" web interview with cinematographer John Bailey (see link below).

He pointed out a remarkable thing—that the film consists entirely of static wide-screen shots. No pans, no zooms, no dollying, just one immaculate, immobile shot after another. That's one reason the film, unpleasant as it may be, has a calm unsettling pace that's the opposite of today's frenetic films.

Bailey said: "...the fascinating thing about (Richardson's film) is there's not a single camera movement in the entire film...All the action happens within a static frame. This film is, like, two hours long, and it's absolutely riveting. It's so unlike anything that you would ever see now."

from Salon article www.salon.com/ent/movies/feature/2003/07/03/cinematographers

Outlaws: Outlaws (1986) Season 1, Episode 1

Outlaws had a great soundtrack score

[15 April 2006]

The thing I really enjoyed about this 1986 series was the remarkable soundtrack score, by Joseph Conlan. It was a prominent part of the show, so surely the producers knew they had something good.

I can still hum the theme, the climactic action cue, and a wistful dulcimer (?) finale to one episode.

There's a difference between serviceable scores that pretend to be solid music (The West Wing's theme, IMO), and scores that really bring it. Bruce Broughton's Jag theme is great--and so is Outlaws's.

And I think the Conlan score is worthy of being compared with the Western-movie big boys: composers Bernstein, Goldsmith, Newman et al.

Too bad this enjoyable TV series got canceled, but somehow I still hope the show's music will find an audience.