If you liked Robert Downey Jr. as SHERLOCK HOLMES (2009)--here's more of the same. If you did not like the earlier version, then stay away from SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS because, you guessed it, it is more of the same. This new one I liked slightly better if only because the explosions and noise levels were (a bit) less, and there was actually some clever plotting this time around. I still prefer a more traditional Holmes, and even the modern Holmes mini-series on PBS is quite interesting without going so ballistic. Still, this one is diverting and lively, and sometimes that, with a bag of salty, buttery popcorn, it enough. GRADE---------B-
I wanted to admire what director Cameron Crowe was trying to do in the new film WE BOUGHT A ZOO which features the dependable Matt Damon and the adorable (my opinion) Scarlett Johannson, but he does it with soooooo many cliches and obvious songs on the nearly continuous soundtrack that I got quite annoyed by the end. Based on a true story, but transplanted from France to southern California (!), widowed Matt Damon uproots his two kids and moves them from city life to the distant country side where the closest store is a (big BIG obvious plug) Walmart. Oh yes, and did you figure out the house sits on the property of a large nearly neglected zoo! So the plot asks, rather dully, will the kids adapt to their new surroundings, will Matt fall in love with the zoo keeper, will the motley crew of zoo workers be able to open the zoo by summer to ward off impending bankruptcy, and will people come to see the zoo if it opens. The answer to all these probing questions is------SPOILER ALERT--------yes. GRADE-------C+
_______________
DVD CHOICES
I hadn't seen DERSU UZALA (1975) since it first came out, and surprisingly I didn't remember a single scene from it. It is a subtle and engrossing tale of Uzala, a hunter of the Goldi tribe who meets and befriends a small group of Russian surveyors, and acts as their guide through the wilds of Siberia. The film creates an intimate portrayal of the friendship between two very diverse lifestyles, and in spite of a DVD which had large black borders on all sides reducing the image to half the size of my TV screen, I was enthralled.
DERSU UZALA (1975)------GRADE-------A-
While watching some extras on the DVD for MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947), I learned that the FOX executives had no faith in the success of MIRACLE, they had no idea how to promote it, and they opened it in June!!!! It became a big hit and played in theatres through Christmas that year. It is interesting that this "family" film deals with issues of drunkenness, cynicism, insanity, broken families, and other serious themes, which is similar to the grimness on displayed in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, also 1947, but LIFE didn't find any favor or popularity until it was revived several times in the 1970's. Oscar winner Edmund Gwenn plays a Macy's Santa who is put on trail to defend his sanity, because he claims to be the real Santa, and in spite of the serious themes, there a lot of memorable holiday scenes, including the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which was filmed live, the amusing scenario which has competing retail store sending their clients to other stores if they don't carry what the customer wants, and the wonderful young Natalie Wood as the cynical girl who doesn't believe in Christmas. WONDERFUL LIFE and MIRACLE on 34TH ST provide a potent one two punch for holiday themed films.
MIRACLE ON 34TH STREET (1947)-----GRADE-----B+(IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE-----A)
Another film released the following year called TENTH AVENUE ANGEL (1948), hoping to cash in on the cynical little girl theme, features Margaret O'Brien as an 8 year old girl living in the slums of NYC, who tries to keep her aunt (Angela Lansbury) and her ex-con boyfriend from drifting apart. The film lacks the gravitas of WONDERFUL LIFE and MIRACLE/34TH ST, but it has some charm and sweetness. There is a scene near the end featuring a cow.......that started my tear ducts to overflow. Sometimes all it takes is one special scene to really elevate a film.
10TH AVE ANGEL (1948)---------GRADE-------B-
It covers many seasons, but director Busby Berkeley's (rather restrained, for him) film FOR ME AND MY GAL (1942) is best known for the leading-man debut of Gene Kelly, and his lovely teaming with the terrific Judy Garland. This story of two young burlesque players trying to make the big time is an old chestnut, but it is watchable for the many duets between the two. There is a remarkable scene about two thirds through which features a young soldier leaving a nightclub and going off to war. It is the most moving moment in the film, in spite of the cliche---another scene that keeps this film from getting lost in a sea of modest musicals.
FOR ME AND MY GAL (1942)---------GRADE-----B-
There are at least five film versions of Victor Hugo's novel LES MISERABLES (1935) but this one struck me as being quite strong and faithful, if a bit rushed, in telling the story of petty thief Fredrick March who tries to put his life back together, but is hounded by the moralistic police inspector Charles Laughton for years. It made me want to see the musical LES MIZ again.
LES MISERABLES (1935)---------GRADE------B-
Wishing all my readers a happy CINEMATIC HOLIDAY. I hope to be writing again soon with reviews of WAR HORSE, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, GIRL/DRAGON TATTOO, TINTIN, SOLDIER TAILOR etc, THE ARTIST, and more.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Friday, December 9, 2011
THREE A- FILMS!!!!!!! MY WEEK WITH MARILYN, HIPSTERS, SLEEPING BEAUTY, plus THE REIVERS w/ Steve McQueen
Other distractions the past two weeks have limited my movie watching, but the three newest arrivals have all been tops.
At first I was a bit disappointed that the true life characters in MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (Laurence Olivier, Marilyn Monroe, Sybil Thorndyke, and Arthur Miller) did not really look so much like the iconic images we see of them. In other words, these are not impersonations, per se. But as the film progressed, I cared less and less that they were not look-a-likes, but became more impressed that the characterzations were actually quite sharp and seemed very real. Especially impressive is Michelle Williams as Monroe, who seems vulnerable one moment and then switches gears impressively to almost "vamp" it up as the public Marilyn the next moment. The film is based on a true story by a young "gofer" who is assigned to keep an eye on Monroe during the British shooting of THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL (1958) and to report back if she had trouble with drugs or alcohol. The film becomes an interesting document on the pressures of film-making and noterioty, and inspite of the limited focus of the story, becomes another BBC triumph of quality productions that have the power to move an audience as well as entertain. GRADE--------A-
A new Australian film produced by director Jane Campion and directed by Julia Leigh
called SLEEPING BEAUTY is one of the strongest films dealing with sexuality that I've seen in quite a while. Emily Browning, who's short list of credits include LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS (2004) and SUCKER PUNCH (2011), is featured as a young college student who becomes a high class call girl. Nothing she's done before can prepare you for this one. She is put to sleep while a learing older man does with her what he wants, and becomes quite popluar in this "niche." The tone is implicitly explicit (without going to the X-rated) but the atmosphere becomes very insidious. At the Vancouver Intl Film Fest where I saw this in October, some of the audience was extremely uncomfortable with the film to the point of much nervous and inappropriate laughter and comments, and a few people walked out. But the film is deadly serious and dreamily photographed and so compelling to behold, that it dares you to keep watching. This is a director to watch out for.
GRADE--------A-
Last screened at SIFF in 2010, and one of the most popular films then, comes a surprising film from Russia called HIPSTERS, and it is like nothing you've ever seen from Russia before. It still has that heavy seriousness to the actors and some of the dialogue, but the film has more in common with an MGM musical, by way of MTV. Set in the 1960's, the HIPSTERS are rebels, kids who would rather wear their hair in pompodours and loud colorful dresses and shirts, than be conformists. They are experimenting with music (jazz), sex, drugs and rock and roll, and they are very Russian, still. But as with any group of experimentors (think US hippies) once real life sets in like mortgage/rents, marriage, babies, etc, the story changes focus again. But the music is fun, the costumes are outrageous, the energy is electric and the cliches are minimal. GRADE-------A-
________________
On DVD, I saw a modestly entertaining Steve McQueen film based on a novel by William Faulkner called THE REIVERS (1969). It tries hard to be a lighthearted, homey comedy during the first half, with luke warm conflicts between black and white folks in a small Southern town, and I wasn't so impressed. But as it progresses, the conflicts become more pointed and the drama picks up, and by the end I enjoyed the story, set through the eyes of a 12 year old boy who has misadventures with his grandfather's hired hand (McQueen) and McQueen's distant black relative (Oscar nominee Rupert Crosse) including a stay at a whorehouse, dealings with a corrupt racist sheriff and illegall horseracing. The charm and easy going personality of McQueen is undeniable. GRADE-------B-
At first I was a bit disappointed that the true life characters in MY WEEK WITH MARILYN (Laurence Olivier, Marilyn Monroe, Sybil Thorndyke, and Arthur Miller) did not really look so much like the iconic images we see of them. In other words, these are not impersonations, per se. But as the film progressed, I cared less and less that they were not look-a-likes, but became more impressed that the characterzations were actually quite sharp and seemed very real. Especially impressive is Michelle Williams as Monroe, who seems vulnerable one moment and then switches gears impressively to almost "vamp" it up as the public Marilyn the next moment. The film is based on a true story by a young "gofer" who is assigned to keep an eye on Monroe during the British shooting of THE PRINCE AND THE SHOWGIRL (1958) and to report back if she had trouble with drugs or alcohol. The film becomes an interesting document on the pressures of film-making and noterioty, and inspite of the limited focus of the story, becomes another BBC triumph of quality productions that have the power to move an audience as well as entertain. GRADE--------A-
A new Australian film produced by director Jane Campion and directed by Julia Leigh
called SLEEPING BEAUTY is one of the strongest films dealing with sexuality that I've seen in quite a while. Emily Browning, who's short list of credits include LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS (2004) and SUCKER PUNCH (2011), is featured as a young college student who becomes a high class call girl. Nothing she's done before can prepare you for this one. She is put to sleep while a learing older man does with her what he wants, and becomes quite popluar in this "niche." The tone is implicitly explicit (without going to the X-rated) but the atmosphere becomes very insidious. At the Vancouver Intl Film Fest where I saw this in October, some of the audience was extremely uncomfortable with the film to the point of much nervous and inappropriate laughter and comments, and a few people walked out. But the film is deadly serious and dreamily photographed and so compelling to behold, that it dares you to keep watching. This is a director to watch out for.
GRADE--------A-
Last screened at SIFF in 2010, and one of the most popular films then, comes a surprising film from Russia called HIPSTERS, and it is like nothing you've ever seen from Russia before. It still has that heavy seriousness to the actors and some of the dialogue, but the film has more in common with an MGM musical, by way of MTV. Set in the 1960's, the HIPSTERS are rebels, kids who would rather wear their hair in pompodours and loud colorful dresses and shirts, than be conformists. They are experimenting with music (jazz), sex, drugs and rock and roll, and they are very Russian, still. But as with any group of experimentors (think US hippies) once real life sets in like mortgage/rents, marriage, babies, etc, the story changes focus again. But the music is fun, the costumes are outrageous, the energy is electric and the cliches are minimal. GRADE-------A-
________________
On DVD, I saw a modestly entertaining Steve McQueen film based on a novel by William Faulkner called THE REIVERS (1969). It tries hard to be a lighthearted, homey comedy during the first half, with luke warm conflicts between black and white folks in a small Southern town, and I wasn't so impressed. But as it progresses, the conflicts become more pointed and the drama picks up, and by the end I enjoyed the story, set through the eyes of a 12 year old boy who has misadventures with his grandfather's hired hand (McQueen) and McQueen's distant black relative (Oscar nominee Rupert Crosse) including a stay at a whorehouse, dealings with a corrupt racist sheriff and illegall horseracing. The charm and easy going personality of McQueen is undeniable. GRADE-------B-
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