tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17191817025919922712024-03-13T14:28:05.115-04:00MORE LOST TIMEA Film LogRic Dubehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240053845045627071noreply@blogger.comBlogger153125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719181702591992271.post-76147372787706662242015-08-28T08:46:00.003-04:002015-08-28T08:46:53.179-04:00Hausu (House) (1977)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Directed by Nobuhiko Ôbayashi. You know what's weird? I mean other than "Hausu," director Nobuhiko Ôbayashi's surreal 1977 masterpiece about seven girls trapped in a haunted mansion, which yes, is super weird. However, what's also weird is that the film feels like a sophisticated response to Sam Raimi's seminal 1981 U.S. horror classic, "The Evil Dead." But "Hausu" pre-dates Raimi's flick by almost four years, making "The Evil Dead" more like a dumbed-down, Americanized version of "Hausu."<br />
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And maybe that's not so weird. First, it's not like "Hausu" is without antecedent. It's pretty clear Ôbayashi had seen a bunch of Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci, Mario Bava, et al. Also, it's not better in all ways than "The Evil Dead." The tremendous strength of "Hausu" is that surge of energy you always feel from something expressed in film that's so different, you've never seen anything like it before. But like a sugar rush, there can be a limit when you just want to lie down and close your eyes. "OK, I get it, everything's all weird and fucked up."<br />
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The young girls in this movie seem to represent the so-called seven deadly sins. Themes in the film include sexual maturity and female gender identity, and it may or may not be a cautionary tale about reconciling one's past relationships as the way to a happier present. This is all communicated through a wildly messed up series of tropes from horror, thrillers, comedy and melodrama. Motifs include fruit, water and shit blowing around the room. Colors are unpredictable.<br />
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In contrast, the characters, settings, and the scares in "The Evil Dead" have become so familiar as the basic beats and techniques of horror that to see that movie now is almost comforting -- like eating a big ol' bowl of macaroni and cheese. But just like eating a bucket of comfort food, there is that moment when you think, "OK, I've been here, I know what this is like. Enough."<br />
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"Hausu," recommended. As well as "The Evil Dead."Ric Dubehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240053845045627071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719181702591992271.post-59943797958568176562015-08-28T07:57:00.001-04:002015-08-28T07:58:16.725-04:00Killers Three (1968)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Directed by Bruce Kessler. If it's ever perplexed you whether Dick Clark ever starred in a movie, the answer is only one, and this is it. This is from 1968 and his role is as Roger, the alcoholic safecracker, which might have made a more marketable title than "Killers Three," even if that's just as truthful.<br />
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It's not a spoiler to reveal that Clark is one of the three killers (because I'd say you know Dick), alongside Diane Varsi and Robert Walker. It would spoil some to explain the killing, but let's just say like the vast majority of films made between 1965 to 1975, this one involves a guy looking to make a better life for himself by quitting a life runnin' 'shine away from the rev'nue.<br />
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The whole plan works about as well as you would expect, though if you're watching this late at night and your attention wanders, don't worry. Every few scenes, Merle Haggard sings a few more verses of a ballad that recaps the action. Was it this that got him the same gig on "The Dukes of Hazzard?" I'm not sure this country-music-as-Greek-chorus idea ever works, because it's never used in movies with plots sophisticated enough to demand it. "East Bound and Down" is a catchy li'l number but theatergoers probably could have understood "Smokey and the Bandit" without it.<br />
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Two important points. First, Clark's performance is dead-on prescient of a boilerplate William H. Macy. Second, he's surprisingly OK at this. Unfortunately, he ruins any cred he could have generated here through this ridiculous choice he made as the film's producer: in every place that his name appears in the opening titles and end credits, a custom logo is used that is distinctly different from all other names. This is done even in the cast list, where he is third-billed. What a jerk.<br />
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Norman Alden (as Guthrie) is an all-time favorite character actor whose voice you will likely recognize if you're not aware of his face, and Maureen Arthur (as Elvira Sweeney) provides a whole Daisy Mae-type thing that if it's not in this kind of flick, you feel ripped off.<br />
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If you're an Amazon Prime person, you've already paid to see this, so do so. Recommended!Ric Dubehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240053845045627071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719181702591992271.post-36343518181718798052014-09-03T14:22:00.003-04:002014-09-03T14:22:42.844-04:00Suspicion (1941)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.</i> Too much has been made of the fact that Hitchcock changed the ending of this film because the studio didn’t want it’s star, Cary Grant, portrayed as a murderer. It’s true of course, but it’s strange then that RKO was comfortable with the rest of the movie, in which Grant plays a complete shit.<br />
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In “Suspicion,” Joan Fontaine (in the only Oscar winning role in a Hitchcock film) plays “Lina,” a shy spinster who falls for “Johnny,” a charming playboy (Grant) and gradually learns he is a penniless gambler, using her family fortune to fund his habit. She believes he is planning to murder her to collect a life insurance policy. Yes, Lina <i>could </i>be suspicious of Johnny because he keeps stealing her money, but really, shouldn’t she be suspicious simply because he is expressing interest in her -- and she is a <i>complete wet blanket</i>? Lina is the friend who, when you’re packing a cooler, uses up all the room with fruits and vegetables ("I just want to make sure we have some healthy choices.") Thirty minutes into this, I'd kill Lina for free, Oscar notwithstanding.<br />
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The reason RKO showed about as much savvy as Lina going on a picnic is because Cary Grant is exceptionally watchable in this because it is such a different role for him. Grant, whose long, distinguished career featured role after role playing Cary Grant, should have played more murderers. Or at least problem gamblers, or whatever. Nigel Bruce plays Beaky, the dopey but lovable best friend, who is allergic to brandy. What, does that seem too trivial to mention? You'd think, but hoo-boy, when that groundwork is laid it’s about as subtle as a Hitchcock cameo (which, by the way, happens at a mailbox).<br />
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The ending that Hitchcock wanted would have been better and made a hell of a lot more sense. Based on his famous 1967 interviews with François Truffaut, Hitchcock seems to have gone to his grave feeling like he caved in to the studio on the whole thing. However, as a melodrama, "Suspicion" works because the acting is directed well, not because of the plot. The regret was Hitchcock’s to carry, not ours. Fuck RKO, but still...recommended, even with the shitty ending.Ric Dubehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240053845045627071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719181702591992271.post-18652879799318879622014-09-02T15:19:00.000-04:002014-09-02T15:19:02.581-04:00This Means War (2012)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Directed by McG</i>. An alternate title for this movie is "This Means Bore." IMDB tells me that "People who liked this also liked...'The Bounty Hunter'." This is evidently a service they provide to warn you about the kinds of people who might recommend this movie to you. Don't worry, we're cool.<br />
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I saw this because Reese Witherspoon is in it, although another alternate title for this move is "Decreased Witherspoon," because there isn't enough of her in it. She's not even really my type, but I can't help it. There's something about her weird chin that makes her look a bit like a marionette, but the best looking marionette ever. Still, most of the time here is used up by two people named Chris Pine and Tom Hardy, whom it would seem were being positioned as movie stars when this was made.<br />
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The plot here seems to involve a lot of people trying to support Chelsea Handler as she improvises all her dialogue. Or it might be about something else, I’m not sure. It's challenging enough when an action comedy attempts to combine those two initial elements -- adding romance to that mix isn’t just ambitious -- it's foolhardy.<br />
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For suckers only. Ric Dubehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240053845045627071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719181702591992271.post-56588092788073855432014-08-28T08:50:00.002-04:002014-08-28T09:09:15.197-04:00The Funhouse (1981)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Directed by Tobe Hooper.</i> Once the big post-Friday the 13th horror boom really got rolling, clearly they often just started with titles and worked their way backward. One strategy is to begin with something whimsical and make it gruesome. Like a leprechaun or a candyman...or a funhouse!<br />
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The fundamental flaw with “The Funhouse” is laziness. There’s a huge difference between a funhouse and a haunted house and this movie doesn’t distinguish between the two. Features of a funhouse might include a maze of mirrors, a rolling barrel you walk through, staircases that move, a crooked room -- this sort of foolishness. Features seen in the funhouse in “The Funhouse” include: gruesome monsters hacking at people with knives, your friends hung from a noose.<br />
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But I don’t just mean these are the fates that befall the characters in the movie. You see this sort of stuff when the funhouse is supposed to just be “fun.” Kids go to this carnival, they “step right up,” and then ride around in a dumpy little cart through a roll-away trailer full of this haunted house garbage. But when four friends decide to spend the night in the funhouse, Amy (Elizabeth Berridge, "Amadeus"), Buzz (Cooper Huckabee, "Django Unchained"), Richie (Miles Chapin, "The People vs. Larry Flynt") and Liz (Largo Woodruff, "The Funhouse") get much more than they bargained for! Horror! If you follow!<br />
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The kids accidentally discover that one of the carnies has a son who is a mutant sex maniac that killed the hooker who made fun of his penis (I know, I said enough at "one of the carnies has a son," right?). So now the crazy carnie wants to grind up the teenagers in the gears that run the funhouse -- so it’s pretty much like every "Scooby Doo" you've ever seen.<br />
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Recommended, if you, like me, first saw this in 1982 at the Bedford Grove Drive-In, in Bedford, New Hampshire as the second feature with “Cat People” and are curious to see how much of it you remember. Otherwise, I’m not sure I’d bother. Instead you could go back to director Tobe Hooper’s 1974 classic, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” which truly is a masterpiece of sick, awful horror. I mean, unless that’s not your thing. Then, for heaven’s sake, why would you do that to yourself?Ric Dubehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240053845045627071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719181702591992271.post-65924983327851342652014-08-26T08:24:00.003-04:002014-08-27T07:48:45.254-04:00Lifeboat (1944)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Directed by Alfred Hitchcock.</i> Well known because the whole thing takes place following a shipwreck on a lifeboat, this Hitchcock movie was actually followed by three more best described as plays on film: "Rope" (1948), "Dial 'M' for Murder" (1954), and "Rear Window" (1954). While simpler in setting, these weren't necessarily easier to make. DVD extras for these movies explain the elaborate set for "Rear Window" and the sophisticated camera work that was necessary to make "Rope" work.<br />
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Of these films, "Lifeboat" might have been the simplest in scope visually, but the screenplay by Jo Swerling ("It's a Wonderful Life") -- based on a story by John Steinbeck (who hated the movie) -- is exceptional. During World War II, a merchant marine ship and German U-boat sink each other in the Atlantic. Allied servicemen and civilians in a lifeboat pull a survivor from the drink and realize he is a German. They argue whether to throw him back and now we've got a movie.<br />
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The non-Germans on the boat provide all the various voices of reason and emotion relevant to war and ethnicity and so on. Tallulah Bankhead plays a cross between Rosalind Russell's character in "His Girl Friday" (1940) and Tallulah Bankhead. William Bendix plays Gus, a guy who eventually could form a support group with James Franco's character in "127 Hours." If you get my drift.<br />
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Surprisingly, "Lifeboat" was poorly received because the German in the story, Willi (Walter Slezak), was said to have been portrayed too positively. This criticism is just plain wrong because otherwise the film would have no third act. Once Willi's motives are less ambiguous to everybody on the boat, their conundrum is less about about trust, and far more about whether to have compassion toward another human being in the face of self-preservation. In fact, the final moment of the film is a statement that implies the moral inferiority of Germans -- or at the very least, "people like that." Recommended!Ric Dubehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240053845045627071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719181702591992271.post-29565755568324368072014-08-21T18:41:00.000-04:002014-08-21T18:41:06.788-04:00Tim's Vermeer (2013)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Directed by Teller.</i> We tell children that they can grow up and do anything they want to do, but it's not really true. Some things are just out of reach for some people. Some people are just better than others. This Tim Jenison is better than just about everybody. In fact, Tim Jenison is better than a whole bunch of people I can think of put together (I'm including myself in that, so it's OK).<br />
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Damn, that sonofabitch can paint. This film is about revealing the trick used by Johannes Vermeer to paint photo-realistic images. But by demystifying Vermeer's process, the film doesn't devalue his work, it makes it more fascinating. It contributes to its respectability. You like it more. When you see how it was done, you certainly don't think anybody cheated.<br />
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Teller, the film's director, is the magician who achieved fame standing
on stage next to Penn Jillette, revealing the secrets behind classic
magic tricks. Yet Penn and Teller's act endures because they
consistently demonstrate that the power of great magic has little to do
with how the trick is done. Even if you know the secret, a good magic
trick will blow your mind.</div>
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Below is the magic trick version of "Tim's Vermeer." Be sure to watch through to the end:</div>
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<a href="http://youtu.be/8osRaFTtgHo"> </a>Ric Dubehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240053845045627071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719181702591992271.post-89557963853334804442014-08-20T20:06:00.005-04:002014-08-20T20:09:36.965-04:00Fear (1996)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Directed by James Foley.</i> In addition to this film, quite a few movies have been described as a "teen 'Fatal Attraction'" (2002's "Swimfan;" 1993's "The Crush;" and of course, 1998's "Devil in the Flesh"), though I tend to think of "Fatal Attraction" as "Fear" poorly lacking in Reese Witherspoon. And to be completely fair, "Fatal Attraction" also suffers from excessive amounts of Michael Douglas.<br />
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"Fear" is about the Walker family, who, like most American families during the '90s, live in Seattle. Also common to most American families during the '90s, the Walkers are trying to bond following years of dysfunction and estrangement. Nicole Walker, now 16 years old and beautiful, is sweet and pure but feels as confined and sexually curious as anybody her age (Witherspoon was 21). When she meets David (Mark Wahlberg), who is devilishly charming, she's putty in his hands.<br />
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This is why, Nicole's dad, Steve Walker (William Peterson ) is arguably the main character in "Fear." Wahlberg's nutty character is far more interested in Nicole's sexuality as a way to unravel her father's paternal masculinity. Director Foley ("Glengarry Glen Ross") makes sure Wahlberg's rage is driven by his character's own daddy issues, not Nicole's daddy -- and certainly not their budding romance, creating all kinds of mad, stalker weirdness.<br />
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Recommended! Ric Dubehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240053845045627071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719181702591992271.post-36216145691863022892014-08-19T18:09:00.003-04:002014-08-19T18:09:57.845-04:00All Cheerleaders Die (2013)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Directed by Lucky McKee. </i>The first 15 minutes of this film promise what seems like a darkly funny post-"Heathers" satire of high school politics. But before long, it quickly reveals itself to be just another stupid zombie movie.<br />
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This brutality was directed by Lucky McKee, whose IMDB bio reads, "raised in the small riverbank town of Jenny Lind in Calaveras County, California, Edward Lucky McKee grew up mostly in poverty with little access to modern forms of entertainment." It would have been kind to at least bring Edward to a movie before letting him make one.<br />
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During the final half-hour of this film it is very, very important to all of the characters that they achieve something, or obtain something, or get rid of it -- I think -- in order to make everything normal again. This ordeal involves a lot of flashing lights, heads exploding, blood everywhere -- and people trying to move rocks to different places. They're very passionate about the rocks. It made me wish I could find some enthusiasm for it all too.<br />
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Run away!Ric Dubehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240053845045627071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719181702591992271.post-52070826645988985522014-08-18T17:09:00.001-04:002014-08-18T18:05:54.171-04:00Diary of a Bachelor (1964)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Directed by Sandy Howard.</i> In this crisply restored drive-in movie, Skip (William Traylor) is a high-powered realtor in 1960s Manhattan with a baffling reputation as a dapper playboy, considering he looks a lot more like an entomologist.<br />
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Despite Skip's natural entomological good looks he is about to exchange his ne'er do well lifestyle and settle down with super hottie Joanne Burns (Dagne Crane). But not so fast! It seems Skip keeps a diary, and when Joanne discovers this (by going through his things) she goes batshit crazy -- and not because only teenage girls keep diaries, which makes Skip seem like a colossal tool. Turns out it's because of what Skip actually writes in his diary. He documents all of his sexual pursuits.<br />
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"Pursuits" is more the word than "conquests" because Skip couldn't get laid in a brothel. Well, that's not completely fair. Skip deserves that much benefit of doubt because at one point here he does make it with a hooker, even though she's the kind of hooker who...surprise...asks for the cash <i>after </i>the booty bump, which seems sort of unusual.<br />
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"Diary of a Bachelor" brilliantly demonstrates American International's shrewd (cheap) production. Tightly budgeted, yet taking place in upscale Manhattan cocktail lounges and Greenwich Village hipster joints, for the most part this still works. One exception are the comically narrow twin doors to Skip's penthouse apartment, which are obviously re-purposed closet doors. These doors are used so frequently as characters enter and exit scenes that eventually, watching the actors turn their bodies sideways to fit through begs for a drinking game. If you do this, please let me know.<br />
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Dom Deluise appears in his first film role. Recommended, though not because of that. Ric Dubehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240053845045627071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719181702591992271.post-62667507550139080262014-08-12T08:30:00.000-04:002014-08-12T08:49:04.061-04:00Kissin' Cousins (1964)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i>Directed by Gene Nelson.</i> This Elvis Presley vehicle is without question the first movie I've seen in which the main character has a perfect double, a doppleganger (naturally also played by the film's star), yet this is in no way integral to the plot of the film. If you're aware of another, please let me know.<br />
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Josh Morgan, an Army officer (Presley) returns to the Smoky Mountains to convince his kin to allow the military to build an ICBM missile site on their homestead. When Morgan arrives, he realizes that it is impossible to resist that Yvonne Craig, who has an insane body even though her character may or may not be related to him. Yet definitely related is Cousin Jodie, whom we are able to distinguish from Josh because Jodie has blonde highlights and wears denim. Jodie is mountain's champion wrassler, and other hilarious things. Otherwise, he's irrelevant.<br />
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You're probably familiar with other films that involve characters with perfect doubles, such as "Vertigo" (1958), "Adaptation" (2002), "Black Swan" (2010) and several versions of "The Prisoner of Zenda." We could debate whether "The Parent Trap" counts because those characters were twins (I'd say no). Only in 2014, there have been four: "Enemy" (with Jake Gyllenhaal), "The Double" (with Jesse Eisenberg), "The Face of Love" (with Annette Bening) and the best of all of them, “Muppets Most Wanted” (with Kermit the Frog).<br />
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"Kissin' Cousins" is nothing like any of these because Jodie has nothing to do. It's also not like any contemporary film, which would involve an empathy-based story in which Elvis bonds with his family and decides to convince the military to relocate the missile site, possibly by way of a hilarious scheme that requires his perfect lookalike, Jodie. But no! Instead, this pure propaganda ends with everyone happy because Elvis' uncle was drunk enough on moonshine to sign on the dotted line and hand his land over to the U.S. of A. Really! Big dance number!Ric Dubehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240053845045627071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719181702591992271.post-17341217534059616302014-04-10T09:40:00.004-04:002014-04-10T09:40:56.155-04:00Foolin' Around (1980)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v5AelEuRK5E/UQWWFSEpTvI/AAAAAAAAAbA/TXJoqlAIAMg/s1600/foolinaround.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-v5AelEuRK5E/UQWWFSEpTvI/AAAAAAAAAbA/TXJoqlAIAMg/s320/foolinaround.jpg" height="274" width="184" /></a></div>
Directed by Richard T. Heffron. I could have sworn I saw this movie as a kid at a drive-in as the second feature with "The Buddy Holly Story" but the Buddy Holly biopic was released two years earlier so it doesn't seem possible. Strange. I must have seen it as the second feature with something else, but also saw "The Buddy Holly Story" two years earlier at the drive-in.<br />
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Gary Busey is one of those guys I think people expected quite a bit and this movie captures that it was not to be.<br />
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Though we should have known. Despite Oscars and accolade, "The Buddy Holly Story" was not a quality movie. Hollywood's interest in biopics was refreshed and that particular movie benefited from good timing and public interest. But "The Buddy Holly Story" has all of the hallmarks of the worst biopics: composite characters, fictional incidents and constant inaccuracies.<br />
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Busey, years away from trauma-induced cranial dementia is charismatic, though it's possible that big roles didn't follow from his 1978 Buddy Holly turn because the arrogant bully the public knows today had already emerged behind Hollywood's closed doors.<br />
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And so, two years after "The Buddy Holly Story" we have "Foolin' Around," in which Wes (Busey) arrives from Oklahoma to attend a university in Minnesota, falls in love with psychology student student Susan (Annette O'Toole), a wealthy debutante engaged to snobbish social climber Whitley (John Calvin). Fortunately Susan's grandfather (Eddie Albert) respects Wes's grit and hates Whitley because he's that unrealistically creepy slimeball that we have no reason to believe that Susan should see anything in. But that's the way it always is in this movie, which you've seen the likes of 1,000 times.<br />
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But usually this kind of movie is full of talentless nobodies, so this one is a little different. Look for what's gotta be one of William H. Macy's earliest roles, playing a crooked bookseller. In addition to the unnecessary and dumb references to "Rocky" and "The Graduate" there is trite uselessness.<br />
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Recommended for late night.Ric Dubehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240053845045627071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719181702591992271.post-84376550847304313962014-04-10T09:27:00.004-04:002014-04-10T09:27:40.540-04:00Lassie's Great Adventure (1963)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O2hMIoV6HhQ/U0abJCrdlpI/AAAAAAAAAfQ/QOe5e1bXlSc/s1600/b70-14108.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-O2hMIoV6HhQ/U0abJCrdlpI/AAAAAAAAAfQ/QOe5e1bXlSc/s320/b70-14108.jpg" /></a></div>
Directed by William Beaudine. Admittedly, it's been said many times, but only because it's so true: Timmy is a godforsaken idiot. He was blessed with Lassie because he otherwise would have died 90 deaths before his 12th birthday if it weren't for the baffling devotion of that beloved mongrel.<br />
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In "Lassie's Great Adventure," a 1963 theatrical release that devilishly strings together five episodes of the 1954 season of the "Lassie" TV series, Timmy accidentally falls into a hot air balloon and is carried away into the Canadian wilderness. I know, right? If you were Timmy's parents, wouldn't you just assume that saving for college is just money down a rat hole?<br />
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Lassie joins Timmy for the ride, seemingly by choice, which calls into question her whole reputation. Eventually the balloon lands among the highest treetops of the Canadian Rockies -- a great place to spot the lost boy and dog. Instead, Timmy decides to wander all over the place, showing off expert Boy Scout skills such as knot tying, fishing, and creating the second act of the movie -- really anything other than knowing he should probably just stay put.<br />
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An IMDB review comments, "There is no bad language or anything like that. We also enjoyed the action and wonderful nature scenes." I also enjoyed the action, particularly the scene in which Timmy beats a wild boar to death with a log, slaughters the corpse with his Boy Scout knife and roasts it over an open fire. This <i>really </i>happens and if you don't believe me, now you have to see this "movie."<br />
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However, there are really no nature scenes to speak of. Because this is just strung together TV episodes, a miserable amount of its supposed "outdoor" scenes are filmed on a studio soundstage. A few actual outdoor locations were used for scenes that use horses, helicopters and Richard Kiel (who would later play the assassin "Jaws" in James Bond movies). Kiel wears dark makeup in his role as Chinook Pete, a mentally unstable Native American. In a long standing Hollywood tradition, Chinook Pete is treated insensitively and disgracefully, so there's that to be said for this family film.<br />
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Recommended for fans of dumb kids.Ric Dubehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240053845045627071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719181702591992271.post-50438201401110079742013-01-27T15:21:00.001-05:002013-01-27T15:21:20.546-05:00Trouble With the Curve (2012)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i3w33RqWZDY/UQWLHQQ390I/AAAAAAAAAas/96K9QP7PUaU/s1600/troublewiththecurve2012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="273" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i3w33RqWZDY/UQWLHQQ390I/AAAAAAAAAas/96K9QP7PUaU/s320/troublewiththecurve2012.jpg" width="184" /></a></div>
Directed by Robert Lorenz. This movie, for which Hollywood's working title was "Skeletor Plays Baseball" was Clint Eastwood's first since 2008 ("Skeletor Is Gunned Down In the Street for Liking Koreans"). This is surprising because he is such an omnipresent media personality (2012's "Skeletor Hates the President") and busy director of films that he does not appear in ("J. Edgar," 2011; "Hereafter," 2010; "Invictus," 2009). I can make fun of his appearance all I want, Clint Eastwood is damned productive for an animated corpse.<br />
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In "Trouble With the Curve" Eastwood plays Atlanta Braves baseball scout Gus Lobel. In the literal sense the title refers to a problem he senses in a young pitching prospect in North Carolina, though more to the point of the flick, it seems to relate to the expression "around the bend," since for at least 15 years some element of all Clint Eastwood movies is how much aging sucks. This one firmly focuses on how much aging sucks, specifically needing the help of others.<br />
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It makes you wonder if it's a coincidence or not that, while this film was as personal as any Eastwood has ever directed himself, it was not directed by him but is the first film directed by Robert Lorenz, Eastwood's second unit director of many years. Just as the character of Gus Lobel requires the help of others for some of the tasks of his job as a baseball scout, including driving but also up-close observation of players, perhaps Eastwood prefers to collaborate more to keep up his current level of productivity.<br />
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Maybe I should collaborate more to just to watch movies. I spent all of this movie thinking that Isla Fisher wasn't looking up to par in this when at the end I found out it was Amy Adams. That explained everything. Also, this film includes more support for the notions that Justin Timberlake is a genuine talent.<br />
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Recommended if you have patience for a lot of grumbling.Ric Dubehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240053845045627071noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719181702591992271.post-61024099763847669482013-01-27T14:42:00.004-05:002013-01-27T14:42:32.878-05:00Five Fingers of Death (aka "King Boxer" aka Tian Xia Di Yi Quan) 1972<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q7KAix3RTk0/UQWCGR__RBI/AAAAAAAAAaY/BhtGNqpkCM0/s1600/5fingersofdeath.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="277" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-q7KAix3RTk0/UQWCGR__RBI/AAAAAAAAAaY/BhtGNqpkCM0/s320/5fingersofdeath.jpg" width="182" /></a></div>
Directed by Chang-hwa Jeong. This is one of the greatest martial arts films ever made and a must-see for anybody with an interest in the genre even though one of the most available DVD editions out there brags on the package "105 Minutes of Non-Stop Action" and fortunately this is a ridiculous lie. The two best things about "King Boxer" are that, first, the non-action sequences effectively increase anticipation for the fights, and two, they are hilarious.<br />
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First of all, here's what it's about: "The Karate Kid." Not exactly, but kinda. Earnest martial arts student and decent sensei are bullied by rival martial arts school/terrorist organization intensifying to a big tournament. Amid all this, a little something for the ladies: romantic sub-plot. Two women vie for the attention of our hero, Chao Chih-Hao. One would be the proverbial girl next door if she hadn't grown up in the same house as him, the other is a singer of the weirdest songs ever.<br />
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I have so many favorite parts of this movie, it's nuts. First and foremost there are the brutal beatings. One guy only kills people with his forehead. Two henchman with shaggy haircuts are clearly the inspiration for a legacy of similar characters you've seen forever. A pair of Baoding balls rolled by another character foreshadow the fate of a fink.<br />
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In between chops to peoples heads, middles and backs, Chih-Hao sends a letter home to his beloved first Sensei, in stereotypical Asian tradition it is end-to-end honor and devoid of any actual information (I am not making this up):<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Dear Honoured Teacher:</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>I am indebted to you for raising me. I should serve you in order to repay my gratitude. Unfortunately, since my departure, not a day goes by that I don't think about you and sister Ying. I am now under the mentorship of Master Suen but I still remember what you have taught me. I aim to do well in the competition and have cherished sister Ying's words deep in my heart. I will not let you or Ying down. Words cannot express my regards.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>-- All the best.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Chih-hao</i></span><br />
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<i> </i>And these are the actual lyrics to one of singer Yen Chu Hung's songs (again, I'm not making this up, it's from the movie):<i> </i><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>There is a pair of sisters on the farm who are looking for a husband</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The loser will have to choose an ugly and short, lazy husband.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The elder sister pretending, a Phoenix opening its wings</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The younger sister pretending, a dragonfly skimming the water's surface</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Their competition is well-known in the village</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The elder sister finally scores 99, and the younger sister scores 101</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Elder sister is shy, younger sister smiles</i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Elder sister has picked an ugly, short and lazy husband</i> </span><br />
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Most highly recommended.Ric Dubehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240053845045627071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719181702591992271.post-8212515380142643342012-02-26T13:22:00.000-05:002012-02-26T13:22:20.735-05:00Tony Arzenta (1973)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XCXs1a88zmo/T0p4SnWb4nI/AAAAAAAAAY4/AsKDLX8P4uM/s1600/tonyarzenta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="160" width="120" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XCXs1a88zmo/T0p4SnWb4nI/AAAAAAAAAY4/AsKDLX8P4uM/s320/tonyarzenta.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Directed by Duccio Tessari. "Tony Arzenta" is the original title of this Italian mob flick about a professional hitman who wants to retire to spend more time with his son, presumably in order to teach him some manners because this kid's got a mouth on him, let me tell you. Anyway, if you're thinking that this is probably the one movie where the mob shakes a guy's hand, tells him that it's been nice working with him and sends him on his way with a parting gift, you're wrong. Instead their feelings seem kind of hurt and they express this by solving his problem with the mouthy kid in an unnecessarily extreme fashion. As you might expect from one or two similar films you may have seen of this sort, Tony is not just bummed out. And now we've got a movie.<br />
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The success of a movie like this depends on a few things. We have to feel Tony's rage, which despite him seeming possibly better off without the child, we do, thanks to a fine performance by Alain Delon (whom you probably enjoyed in Jean-Pierre Melville's 1967 film, "Le Samourai," in which he played...a hitman).<br />
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Also, for a movie like this to work there have to be creative methods of enacting revenge. And there are. This is always simultaneously the best part and the least believable part of any movie like this. We never hear or see a protagonist plan out these crazy acts of revenge, we just watch each unfold, wondering what he'll do next with something he's making, or stealing, or by spending time with a person he's taking into his confidence.<br />
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Also released under the title "Big Guns" (useless) and "No Way Out" (more telling but really hacky), we know that what drives Tony into this rage is the loss of his son and thus the fact that he no longer had anything to live for. This makes his revenge possible, but the consequences inevitable. He is a martyr for your movie time.Ric Dubehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240053845045627071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719181702591992271.post-83717017910530687012012-02-17T18:50:00.001-05:002012-02-26T12:44:45.506-05:00Real Steel (2011)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l4YS9Ol8US4/T0pvdEGgXfI/AAAAAAAAAYs/ir3ws4DnLV4/s1600/realsteel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="110" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-l4YS9Ol8US4/T0pvdEGgXfI/AAAAAAAAAYs/ir3ws4DnLV4/s320/realsteel.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Directed by Shawn Levy. If you see only one boxing robot movie this year, you should pray on your hands and knees that somebody makes one, so that it won't be "Real Steel." The movie is rated PG-13 for disturbing scenes of Hugh Jackman acting manly. And because of it's graphically violent fight scenes of computer animated robots, one of which -- in a sad scene -- bleeds a puddle of transmission fluid or something.<br />
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"Real Steel" tells the heartwarming story of ex-boxer Charlie Kenton, who has no interest in his estranged son until the boy demonstrates his value in the underground gambling world of robot boxing. The movie takes place in the futuristic year of 2020, by when we will have apparently abandoned not only interest in the sport of boxing using human beings, everyone will have forgotten it ever happened. To be fair, this plot is more plausible than the one in Levy's last film, 2010's "Date Night." He also made those "Night at the Museum" movies, so this proves that those could be far worse.<br />
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But as disappointing as "Date Night" was, that was still more entertaining than this. Hey, robots have feelings too. Or they don't, and it's important to remember that technology can never take the place of your family. Or technology can bring a family together, if that's what initially tore it apart? Who the hell knows.<br />
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Too violent for kids, too stupid for grown-ups. It's all so action packed, you'll never guess that they win the big fight at the end. Whoops, spoiler.Ric Dubehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240053845045627071noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719181702591992271.post-4400146782395169662012-02-06T18:02:00.000-05:002012-02-06T18:02:37.863-05:00The Enforcer (1976)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-97OK6JJq6FI/TzBcCZJoEYI/AAAAAAAAAXc/eYK4smKdKUQ/s1600/enforcer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="110" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-97OK6JJq6FI/TzBcCZJoEYI/AAAAAAAAAXc/eYK4smKdKUQ/s320/enforcer.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Directed by James Fargo. Clint Eastwood IS...The Enforcer! No, wait...Clint Eastwood IS Dirty Harry...in THE ENFORCER! No, wait...Clint Eastwood STARS as Dirty Harry Callahan...in THE ENFORCER! No, wait...Clint Eastwood is BACK as Dirty Harry Callahan...in THE ENFORCER! Yeah, that's it.<br />
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The second sequel to "Dirty Harry" could not help but succeed because the first two films keep him off the screen enough to leave you wanting more. Of course, smart cinema fans are like gourmets, they know when to push away from the table and say, enough. They know that less is more. Too much of a good thing is not good.<br />
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I'm not like that. For me, "The Enforcer" is delightful from start to finish, for example, when Captain McKay (Bradford Dillman) yells at Callahan for using excessive force and causing $14,000 in damage ("I've been on the phone with the mayor all morning!"). Hahahahahaha.<br />
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But underneath it all this film tells the story of Callahan's struggle with the burgeoning suffrage movement, which by 1976 has apparently reached San Francisco, as real live women are joining the police force...and Dirty Harry is assigned a new partner (Tyne Daly, in a female role).<br />
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AWK-WARD.<br />
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Meanwhile, a group of scum-baggy terrorists kidnap the mayor, who suddenly has less time to spend on the phone hassling Captain McKay. The terrorists demand $2 million ransom and hold the mayor prisoner on Alcatraz Island, presumably because it makes for better aerial shots than old tenement buildings.<br />
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Anyway, a lot of bang-bang-bang, a little c'mon out, one or two ooh you got me's, and suddenly Dirty Harry is a little more enlightened than he was a mere 90 minutes ago. But at what price?! At what price I ask you?!<br />
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Recommended! Alongside all four other Dirty Harry masterpieces: "Dirty Harry" (1971), "Magnum Force" (1973), "Sudden Impact" (1983), "The Dead Pool" (1988). One or more of these may be reviewed elsewhere here.Ric Dubehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240053845045627071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719181702591992271.post-60426642996529026792012-02-04T01:59:00.000-05:002012-02-04T01:59:09.434-05:00Moneyball (2011)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-haAO88afhz4/TyzXJRsooDI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/LGWQjnHFcAc/s1600/moneyball.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="110" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-haAO88afhz4/TyzXJRsooDI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/LGWQjnHFcAc/s320/moneyball.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Directed by Bennett Miller. Can everybody please shut up about how awesome this movie is? It's not. It's fine. There's really nothing wrong with it. But it's just another one of these goddamn movies where people act out something that really happened because most people are too lazy to read a book about it. When are we going to get over being so impressed by how much these kinds of films have improved that each time another comes out we think it's one of the best movies of the year? Yeah, it's interesting. So was how Facebook started. And how Sandra Bullock freed the slaves.<br />
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But these are just barely movies. They're like Little Golden Books on DVD. I don't give a shit how good the acting is, three-act structure, character arc, whatever. They still all have some dumb scene that takes place at a party or in a restaurant or in a meeting room where a lot of the characters have a big conversation and then it's interrupted by a phone call or a secretary or somebody who brings bad news, and boom -- we've compressed about a year of events into one 45-second scene. And it wouldn't even be awkward if it wasn't in every damn one of these kinds of movies.<br />
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By the way, allow me to spoil one small part of "Moneyball: The Motion Picture." Nobody mentions steroids through the whole thing.Ric Dubehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240053845045627071noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719181702591992271.post-54422123057491743422012-02-04T01:35:00.000-05:002012-02-04T01:35:25.740-05:00A Summer Place (1959) [PART TWO IN A MULTI-PART SERIES]<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O0hzmURZbuk/TyzRpwsJZoI/AAAAAAAAAXE/zRpPMiYjgLc/s1600/summer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="110" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O0hzmURZbuk/TyzRpwsJZoI/AAAAAAAAAXE/zRpPMiYjgLc/s320/summer.jpg" /></a></div><br />
"Directed" by Delmer Daves. One can only assume that a woman who checks her daughter's hymen to ensure her virginity is still intact is bound for a life of self-loathing and self-doubt and in the second half of "A Summer Place," Helen Jorgenson (Constance Ford) does not disappoint. We don't see her as much as we did in the first half, and thank goodness for that because she was driving us nuts with her one-dimensional bitching about everything. But when we do see her, she is dependably batshit crazy.<br />
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In place of the front-row seat that we had before to Helen's gradual descent into madness, in the second half of this movie we get scene after scene of Molly (Sandra Dee) and Johnny (Troy Donahue) struggling with their sexuality. This is kind of a riot considering Troy Donahue was 23 when he made this movie. "Let's be good," they say to each other, meaning not have sex. But then they do. Uh-oh.<br />
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I've read that when this film was released it received mixed reviews because of its extreme melodrama, which is confusing because it doesn't explain who gave it the good reviews necessary for them in total to be considered "mixed." I'll say this; somewhere buried deep in this 1959 film is a positive message about non-traditional families. It seems to say, even if your family is torn apart by divorce, alcoholism, adultery, bipolar disorder and teen pregnancy, as long as you're rich and white, you can pull through. Recommended.Ric Dubehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240053845045627071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719181702591992271.post-86774185531103774302012-01-20T08:52:00.001-05:002012-01-20T08:55:50.940-05:00A Summer Place (1959) [PART ONE IN A MULTI-PART SERIES]<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xlyWt2HY7y4/TxlxSNdHFaI/AAAAAAAAAWU/V0aBudWbs_o/s1600/asummerplace.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="110" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xlyWt2HY7y4/TxlxSNdHFaI/AAAAAAAAAWU/V0aBudWbs_o/s320/asummerplace.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Directed by Delmer Daves. I've considered blogging live while watching a movie but never really bothered to. I kind of did with "Mixed Company" but that was less about logging my thoughts as I watched the movie and more about getting the post done as quickly as possible before I fell asleep.<br />
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Anyway, if you know me (and why would you be reading this if you didn't) you may know that I often watch movies while I exercise in order to make the horrifying task of exercise less horrifying. As opposed to making the unproductive act of movie-watching feel productive.<br />
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Taking in the 130 minutes of "A Summer Place" in approximately four workouts on my aging NordicTrack Sequoia is proving to be the best ever example of synergy between both the need to make exercise bearable and make seeing bad movies seem not like a waste of time. Because while "A Summer Place" is not in a category completely of its own as abysmal movies go, I would have no excuse seeing it by myself. The only reason someone should see this without exercising at the same time is with a group of friends, and good luck convincing them to come by and see it with you.<br />
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In fact, here's a marketing idea: a DVD-reissue of this movie that comes packaged with an aerobics step or a yoga mat or something like that, and with the DVD encoded with a track that you can turn on so that in the corner of the screen a fitness instructor takes you through a workout using the piece of equipment that came with the DVD.<br />
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If you don't know this movie, here's the deal -- and I can't tell you everything, not because I don't want to spoil it, but because I'm not done seeing it yet (for crying out loud, I've only had two workouts with it and it's more than two hours long) -- but this completely dysfunctional couple (Richard Egan and Constance Ford) shows up at a resort and Egan immediately starts playing around with the woman who runs the place (Dorothy McGuire) while his wife schemes to get their daughter (Sandra Dee) married off to the owner's son (Troy Donahue) without them ever holding hands or kissing. The kids do have a date, but it doesn't go very well if you consider a shipwreck not going well. When the Coast Guard returns the kids the next day -- so they've been gone all night here, you understand -- Dorothy McGuire is freaked.<br />
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That's when I yelled out, "Check her hymen!" And do you know what?<br />
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She does.<br />
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So you can see how, for a horrible freaking movie, now I'm sort of interested to see how this works out.<br />
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<b>TO BE CONTINUED</b>Ric Dubehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240053845045627071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719181702591992271.post-26266700896036464562012-01-12T08:34:00.000-05:002012-01-12T08:34:51.867-05:00Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AntbTEWG3Wc/Tw7hYhJuF6I/AAAAAAAAAWI/pzkK0ARu6Cc/s1600/crazystupidlove.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="110" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AntbTEWG3Wc/Tw7hYhJuF6I/AAAAAAAAAWI/pzkK0ARu6Cc/s320/crazystupidlove.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Directed by Glenn Ficarra, John Requa. In general, I don't trust movies co-directed by more than one person and this one is not an exception. I went in skeptically for a number of reasons, and my suspicion was rewarded. "Crazy, Stupid, Love." attempts to present a character-driven comic drama about the ironies of contemporary relationships. Unfortunately by the third act it has become so carried away with itself and has long forgotten the strengths of its characters or even its ensemble cast, which includes Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Marisa Tomei, Kevin Bacon and naturally, Ryan Gosling, though at this point it's probably easier to tell you which films he is not in.<br />
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So the first half of the film can be recommended on its strengths and the second half can be recommended depending on your curiosity to see a movie in which nobody at the high school graduation thinks it seems weird that the father of the salutatorian takes over his son's graduation speech and makes it all about him. Which by the way, is eventually received by a applause that begins with a single slow clap. Really. Crazy, stupid, ending.Ric Dubehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240053845045627071noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719181702591992271.post-35567391147274956452012-01-12T08:18:00.000-05:002012-01-12T08:18:17.744-05:00Larry Crowne (2011)<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eTP0NfQW3-E/Tw7dUkGvK4I/AAAAAAAAAV8/bXRONGTq8ng/s1600/larrycrowne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eTP0NfQW3-E/Tw7dUkGvK4I/AAAAAAAAAV8/bXRONGTq8ng/s1600/larrycrowne.jpg" /></a>Directed by Tom Hanks.<br />
<ul><li>"Wait, that's not what would happen in that situ...."</li>
<li>"And that's not how college, even community college actually..."</li>
<li>"I don't think she'd really say..."</li>
<li>"Oh whatever."</li>
</ul>Ric Dubehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240053845045627071noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719181702591992271.post-16574765161313780472011-08-07T15:17:00.001-04:002011-08-07T15:25:57.774-04:00Mixed Company (1974)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CdBy3ngtqQI/Tj7kyF_egZI/AAAAAAAAAV4/ye2gW0C7Arc/s1600/mixed-company-145605.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="168" width="120" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CdBy3ngtqQI/Tj7kyF_egZI/AAAAAAAAAV4/ye2gW0C7Arc/s320/mixed-company-145605.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Directed by Melville Shavelson. White family adopts a black kid, a Korean kid and a native American. Awkwardness ensues. The weirdest thing about it is that it vacillates between trite dialog and many scenes that feature situations that would really happen given the premise of the movie but you'd never see in any piece of shit a studio tried to make these days with this premise.<br />
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Of the many reasons to see this movie, if you are my age (44) one reason is to see Haywood Nelson, the young black actor who plays Freddie. At 14, his very young look lets him play an 11-year old here, but within two years he'd play Dwayne on TV's "What's Happening!" It's funny how much this kid aged in two years. Also, it occurs to me that Dwayne's catchphrase was the same as Fat Albert's ("Hey hey hey!") with only a slight variation on pacing the "heys." Unimaginative.<br />
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When orphan Freddie is first brought home to meet the Morrison family, the father, Pete (Joseph Bologna) calls him a spade, and the youngest daughter says she's going to lock her doors. Throughout the film, a good deal of comic gold is mined from the fact that the youngest daughter, at the age of six or so, seems to have established a solidly irreversible personality as a bigot. Anyway, in part because he seems to be pretty good at basketball, Freddie is adopted despite Pete's insistence that "it's hard enough to love your real kids."<br />
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Because almost nobody in the Morrison's community has ever seen a black person, Freddie is either greeted with hatred or patronizing special treatment, such as the school teacher who assures him that until he catches up with the other children, he will not have the added burden of homework, and if he is unable to measure up with the other children he will not be blamed, the archaic and ignorant educational system will be considered at fault. While the script loses point for lack of subtlety, the story gets a point for a consideration lost on most people these days.<br />
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When Freddie's assimilation dead ends because of the alternating doses of hatred and condescension, the bright idea is to adopt more kids, kind of like when the animal shelter tells you that you should only adopt cats in pairs. So the Morrison's adopt Quan, who the children all call a slope until she locks herself in a closet and cries, and a native American boy who apparently isn't important enough to get a screen credit.<br />
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Though for all of its frank dialog, "Mixed Company" was a crazily non-challenging move for director Meville Shavelson, who had essentially made the Brady Bunch Movie several times during his career; in addition to "Mixed Company" there's "Yours, Mine and Ours" (1968), "Houseboat" (1958) and "The Seven Little Foys" (1955), all of which are comic dramas or dramatic comedies about serendipitous/reluctant family situations.<br />
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Not suprising is that one of Shavelson's closest friends was Sherwood Schwartz, who "created" the Brady Bunch presumably by staring at Shavelson for 90 seconds. And then get this; in the 1973 season of the "Brady Bunch," Schwartz used an episode to test drive an idea for a TV pilot that would be called "Kelly's Kids," about a family that adopts a black child, an Asian child and a native American child. "Kelly's Kids" never happened, but Schwartz rebooted the idea twice more with "Together We Stand" in 1986 and "Nothing Is Easy" in 1987.<br />
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By the way, in this movie Joseph Bologna plays the coach of the Phoenix Suns, who take a beating as a shit team, although in 1974 they'd hardly set the world on fire. However, the season following the year this movie was released, the Suns went all the way to the finals and even though the Boston Celtics took the title, I have a theory that the message of racial unity behind this movie is what turned them around unless it was acquiring guard Paul Westphal and forward Gar Heard.<br />
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Normally about here I say whether I would recommend this movie or not, but I'll let this description speak for itself. I'll also mention that I enjoyed the brief appearance of the character Milton, unless he was named Marvin, since Shavelson seems to have left a blooper in the flick.Ric Dubehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240053845045627071noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1719181702591992271.post-44246667090741536122011-08-04T07:57:00.001-04:002011-08-04T08:54:37.900-04:00Run Lola Run (1998)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SYI5fFhqp68/TjqJCHorhtI/AAAAAAAAAVw/LNCVoGih3dE/s1600/runlolarun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SYI5fFhqp68/TjqJCHorhtI/AAAAAAAAAVw/LNCVoGih3dE/s320/runlolarun.jpg" width="110" /></a></div><br />
Directed by Tom Tykwer. I'd never seen this and had intended to for years but had just never gotten around to it, in part because Karen had said that despite liking it, its camera movement and editing style had made her sick to her stomach. I tend not to like movies like that.<br />
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Surprisingly, this is one of those movies that seems to have stood the test of time in that its story and themes remain engaging even while it is chock full of elements that you can tell must have seemed edgy when it was first released but are now <i>de rigueur</i>, by which I mean, all over the friggin' place. With respect to that, while I'm sympathetic to my wife's 1998 equilibrium, I'm not so sure the editing and camera movement in "Run Lola Run" are all that disorienting by 2011 standards. These days, it looks a little like 7UP commercial.<br />
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That, coupled with the fact that the English language dubbing sucks and some of the acting is a little amateurish, means that the younger people I work with would not be able to appreciate it. To that point, it's unfathomable why this wasn't remade in America with Sandra Bullock or at the very least someone like Milla Jovovich in the lead role.<br />
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If you're not familiar with the plot, the less said about it, the better. Regarding themes, it would seem, in case you weren't aware, that every step we take makes a difference in what comes our way. Timing and choices are everything, except when luck steps in. The trick is knowing when to wield control and when simply to let fortune take its course. Show this to someone who hasn't seen it yet.Ric Dubehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09240053845045627071noreply@blogger.com0