Letters To Juliet, Princess Kaiulani

Any film that features a juicy role for Vanessa Redgrave, and is filmed in Verona and the wine country of Italy is worth recommending. The plot is incredibly predictable, but sometimes you take what pleasures you can get and run with it. Such a trifle is LETTERS TO JULIET. GRADE---B-

PRINCESS KAIULANI also benefits from superb backgrounds, including the beaches of Hawaii where many scenes are staged. It is well acted by relative newcomer Q-orianka Kilcher (who debuted as Pocahantas in Terrence Malich's THE NEW WORLD in 2005)--she's wonderfully photogenic and a very fascinating, beautiful actress to watch, and she gets able support from Barry Pepper, Will Patton and others. The film reminded me of the recent YOUNG VICTORIA, with solid camera work, costumes, set designs, music and acting, but it needed some Oomph in the story department, which tells of the annexation of Hawaii by the United States. This is another sad tale of forced American colonization, and the film becomes a bit dry when it needs to be more powerful. Still, Q-orianka makes it watchable. GRADE---B-

Saw for the first time (on DVD) the Josef Von Sternberg film MORROCCO (1930) with a radiant Marlene Dietrich and a gangly Gary Cooper. The opening scenes work the best when Dietrich is introduced as a night club singer in Morrocco wearing a man's tuxedo and top hat to the shock of the female patrons and the delight of most of the male patrons. She includes a full on kiss on the mouth of one of the women sitting near the stage. Unfortunately, the film becomes less outrageous and flirtatious after that, but is does end with a powerful scene of "mad" women trudging out after their lovers and husbands in the French Legion who march out across the desert to their next battle. I wished the pacing was a bit faster (see my recent review of BLUE ANGEL from last month) but the film does have some pleasures. GRADE---B-

In the sequel to DIRTY HARRY (see previous month), Clint Eastwood is faced with a group of vigilante motorcycle cops who take in upon them selves to rid San Francisco of crooks, corrupt mob bosses, pimps and the like, but to less than exciting results. MAGNUM FORCE (1973) is still very watchable (and has some great lines like "Either you're for us or against us...") but somehow when Harry is the lone vigilante it seems to work better on film than having a big part of the police force being "bad." GRADE---C+

PANIC IN THE YEAR ZERO! (1962) is a "B" film with a good idea and some good actors and a low, low budget. Ray Milland and Jean Hagen start their camping trip on the same day that the Los Angeles they left behind them has been blown up in an atomic blast, and with their teen age children figure out quickly that they need to be aggressive and careful of the other crazy "survivalists." A young Frankie Avalon plays their son very effectively. GRADE---C+