Wishing all my friends, relatives and readers a HAPPY CINEMATIC HOLIDAY. As usual around this time of year, I'm happy to view Christmas themed films to help get me in the mood, and this year I've seen nearly a dozen. But first, here are a couple of new releases that I've recently seen at the theatre.
Director Steven Spielberg is always a safe bet for intelligent, engrossing films, and BRIDGE OF SPIES is no exception, although watching this reminded me of other, better films about the Cold War and the wall that separated East and West Berlin, like THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD (1965) and FUNERAL IN BERLIN (1966) and Hitchcock's TORN CURTAIN (1966) and most memorably THE LIVES OF OTHERS (2006). Tom Hanks plays an insurance lawyer who gets roped in to defend a Russian spy captured in New York, and it seems that everyone expects the spy to be railroaded into a foregone conclusion: guilty as charged, and the death sentence. Hanks balks at the idea of no fair trial, and then becomes instrumental in using this spy as bait in a spy swap to take place in Berlin, just as the Wall is being erected. A lot of suspense is generated by this conflict with the legal system, and later as he attempts to negotiate the swap in a beleaguered city full of bureaucrats who have conflicting agendas. The film is full of small but choice details. Theatre actor/director Mark Rylance (WOLF HALL -TV Series 2015, OTHER BOLEYN GIRL 2008, INTIMACY 2001)is fascinating as the spy caught in the middle of this tug of war, and he seems destined to become an Oscar nominee for this role. The reliable Hanks brings his annoyed uncertainty to the role, trying to keeps his family and client safe, all the while shivering and sneezing through a cold, desolate Berlin. It may not be one of the most dynamic films I've seen this year, but it beats 90% of the others. GRADE-----------B+
Firstly, I'm a great fan of comedians Tina Fey and Amy Poehler--from their Saturday Night Live TV days to BABY MAMA (2008) and their recent collaborations hosting awards shows together. I think they are both comic geniuses. So perhaps I went to see their new film SISTERS with greater than normal expectations, although I'd read a couple of very so-so reviews as a warning. Well, I think those so-so reviews were really really generous, because I don't think I laughed once in the first hour, and not more than a couple of times in a long, long two hour plus smarmy film about middle aged women acting like idiots. The "jokes" were almost always based on crude, lewd themes (sexual frustration, anal penetration, drug and alcohol abuse, teen age one upmanship, penis obsession etc)----kind of like the DUMB AND DUMBER or HOT TUB TIME MACHINE films from past years. I felt like I needed a shower walking out of the theatre, and that I'd wasted my twelve bucks on this crap. But I think that I'm looking forward to anything else either one of these women will do in the future. They just need a better script, plot, direction, and agent etc. GRADE-----------D+
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Mostly HOLIDAY films viewed on DVD
THE REF(1994)----My favorite Christmas comedy is a caustic (rated R) film about a pair of thieves who rob a rich man's house on Christmas eve in a small town, but one (Denis Leary) becomes trapped within the confines of another house where a bickering, sarcastic couple with marriage problems (Kevin Spacey, Judy Davis) are getting ready to host a Christmas Eve dinner for the husband's controlling, cruel mother. There are many many laughs in this one, and even though I watch this every year, I laugh like a fool over and over. The film manages to spoof marital sexual relations, idiot robbers, oblivious police, pompous city officials, insensitive teenagers, fruitcake, alcoholics, and the city's manger scene. It is filled with Christmas music and visuals and spirit, and contains a couple of incredible classic scenes, including one involving lots of lit candles...... GRADE------A-
THE CHRISTMAS CAROL (AKA SCROOGE) (1951)---This is perhaps the best, most favorite of the oft told movie versions based on Charles Dicken's novel, featuring a remarkable performance by the great British actor Alistair Sims, and a superb supporting cast including Jack Warner, Michael Hordern, Hermione Baddeley and a young Patrick Macnee (TV's AVENGERS). It opened in New York city at an art/foreign film theatre and never did a great business in the US, although in Great Britain it was a modest hit. But many viewings on TV has changed it's status to classic over the years. There is a fairly new Blu ray version out that includes many extras including a silent version of CHRISTMAS CAROL (1922) and other features. GRADE--------A-
MIRACLE ON 34th STREET (1947)---Best supporting actor winner Edmund Gwenn (as Chris Kringle), a very young Natalie Wood, and leads Maureen O'Hara and John Payne are as delightful as can be in this popular, classic story of a man who believes he is Santa, and the court system that must decide whether Santa exists or Not (!?!?) There is a strong unsentimental quality that works well in this comedy drama set between Thanksgiving and New Year. GRADE---------A-
THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER (1942)--Based on a popular Broadway play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, this story of a cantankerous and acerbic writer and critic (Monty Woolley) forced to stay at a Midwestern home over Christmas due to an injury, driving them all crazy with his many guests, gifts, and sarcasm. I've seen this twice before, and I find it funnier and more clever with every viewing. Pictures with so much satire, wit and humor in every line are rare. Bette Davis plays his secretary, trying to gain a personal life for herself, falling for the local newspaper man (Richard Travis). Billie Burke is the confused hostess. Ann Sheridan is the affected actress friend of Woolley who is used as bait to keep Davis from leaving. Jimmy Durante has a featured role as another actor, playing his scenes like one of the Marx brothers, or maybe all four! The dialogue and action are fast and furious, and if you leave the room you'll miss a lot of puns and jokes and four penguins. GRADE---------A-
SHOP AROUND THE CORNER (1940)---Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullivan play young clerks in a retail shop who don't get along very well, not realizing that they are falling in love via letters they are anonymously sending each other. Director Ernst Lubitch keeps the action brisk and light and not too sentimental, and Frank Morgan (WIZARD OF OZ) plays the amusing shop owner. The romantic comedy drama climaxes on Christmas Eve in a touching and moving manner. GRADE-------A-
SABRINA (1954)---Not exactly a Christmas film, but charming romantic comedy featuring Audrey Hepburn in her second motion picture (after her Oscar winning debut in ROMAN HOLIDAY) in which she gets to romance William Holden AND Humphrey Bogart (perhaps a bit miscast as Holden's older brother). Directed with his usual charm and wit by Billy Wilder, this film cemented Hepburn's winning beauty and charm that kept her a top film draw for several decades. GRADE-----------B+
ALL MINE TO GIVE (1957)---I'd never heard of this modest little drama featuring Glynis Johns (MARY POPPINS and THE REF above) and Cameron Mitchell as Scottish immigrants who move to Wisconsin in the mid 1890's, and find happiness and prosperity until disaster strikes. I found myself sobbing several times during the final 20 minutes, in a sequence set on Christmas Day that features heart breaking bravery and tragic good will. Perhaps the most moving Christmas film ever made, in many ways stronger than the classic IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE.
GRADE---------B+
SITTING PRETTY (1948)---The witty barbs and zingers uttered by Clifton Webb who moves in with a suburban couple (Robert Young and Maureen O'Hara-see MIRACLE ON 34th STREET above) as a live in babysitter are priceless, and raises this comedy above the norm. GRADE-----B+
YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU (1938)---Despite winning best picture in 1938, this stage based comedy by director Frank Capra is marred by bullet fast dialogue that is hard to hear and understand, since some actors speak softer than others. Jean Arthur comes from a very eccentric family and falls in love with Jimmy Stewart, who works as a prim and proper lawyer for his rich and cruel father Edward Arnold. When the families decide to meet, much misunderstanding occurs and lives are changed when her eccentric father (Lionel Barrymore) confronts Arnold. The dialogue, when I could understand it, is very witty and wacky, and would work well on stage in a good production. GRADE----------B-
BLOSSOMS IN THE DUST (1941)--The film was a hit with audiences and Greer Garson received another Oscar nomination for this old fashioned preachy true story drama about a woman who starts an agency for "illegitimate" children and works toward legitimizing their status with the state of Texas. The children are charming, and there are several scenes set at Christmas time, and there is snow during every holiday! in Texas! The film is OK---but dragged down a bit by the serious sermonizing of Garson. GRADE--------------B-
IT HAPPENED ON 5th AVENUE (1947)--Likable and good intentioned, if a bit sentimental at times, this story of a homeless "hobo" who moves into a New York City 5th Avenue mansion every winter when the billionaire owner goes south for the winter has a social agenda appropriate for today's audiences. He invites a number of homeless veterans to live there with him while they try to find work. One of the homeless turns out to be the daughter of the billionaire, and she falls for one of the vets who is trying to build housing for the unemployed vets. There is a lovely sequence set at Christmas time, and the film has a (naturally) happy ending. GRADE----------B-
INSIDIOUS 3 (2015)--Definitely not for Christmas, this continuation of the popular series INSIDIOUS 1 and 2 (2010 and 2013) is not as effective as the first two. Fortunately, Lin Shaye as the psychic from the first two episodes is back in this prequel film to explain how she got into the business. She is great--unfortunately she was killed off in INSIDIOUS 2....... GRADE-------C+
WEDDING RINGER (2015)---I happen to think Kevin Hart is pretty funny at times, given the right script, and comedian Josh Gad would seem to be a good straight man for Hart's manic humor. Unfortunately, the script is tasteless and creepy at times. Hart is the director of an agency who provides friendless grooms with best men and grooms men--for a price! There's some potential for some great moments, but just when the action gets clever and witty, grotesque and crude behavior ensues. GRADE-----------C
MIRACLE OF THE BELLS (1948)----There's a short, effective scene near the beginning set on Christmas Eve, and the film has some religious themes, but this contrived and unbelievable story about a young woman desperate to be a great actress in a short time is predictable and cloyingly sentimental. It tells the story of a movie promoter/agent (Fred MacMurray) who befriends her, then handles her predictable early demise by having bells ring for three days at the small town she was from. A seeming miracle occurs which propels her story into legend. A young Frank Sinatra plays, unbelievably, a priest. The most interesting actor is Italian Alida Valli, who went by the name of only Valli while making films in the USA. Her most famous roles were Hitchcock's PARADINE CASE(1947), THE THIRD MAN (1949) SENSO (1954) and 1900 (1976) . She is very watchable--beauty and mystic were her forte. GRADE-----------C-
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