Caught Wes Craven's Red Eye on dvd tonight. It's a pretty predictable thriller that's still above average thanks to great performances from Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy. Their scenes togather in the airport and aboard the plane are what made the movie for me. Too bad things fizzled out in the end. But hey, can't complain seeing Rachel McAdams two films in a row (Wedding Crashers last weekend).

[QUOTE]Originally posted by crazed:
Caught Wes Craven's Red Eye on dvd tonight. It's a pretty predictable thriller that's still above average thanks to great performances from Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy. Their scenes togather in the airport and aboard the plane are what made the movie for me. Too bad things fizzled out in the end. [QUOTE]

I caught RED EYE when it was released theatrically and thought it was a well-done genre film until the end where it kind of reverted to form and ran out of gas as you correctly point out. Interesting to see rising stars Murphy (also in BATMAN & BREAKFAST ON PLUTO) and McAdams (also in that film with Diane Keaton that is in theatres now) paired.

Meanwhile, I caught a few more films this weekend.

SHADRACH was a film that I was always curious about. I missed it on its original theatrical release back in '98, but it did receive some good reviews and is one of those films the Maltin Guide singles out for special mention. I suspected it would be too maudlin and I was right. This one was almost offensive. Basically, the story, set in the 1930s, involves a 90+ year old black man (the aforementioned Shadrach) who walks from Alabama to Virginia to the farm where he was born a slave. He wants the down-at-their-heels white trash, cracker family headed by Harvey Keitel & Andie McDowell to bury him there. Based on a William Stryron story, it was directed by someone named Susanna Styron, who assume is some sort of relative of the author. Well, I hope the prose was better than the film because this one was simply awful.

I took a look at THIS HAPPY FEELING, an early film directed by Blake Edwards that starred Debbie Reynolds, Curt Jurgens and John Saxon, with aging divas Mary Astor and Alexsis Smith in supporting roles. Kind of a dud, as I expected it would be. Real dated. Basically, Reynolds loves the older Jurgens while the younger Saxon pines for Reynolds and there is all the junk that goes on between the time Saxon & Reynolds end up together. I love watching these old movies for all the politically incorrect stuff. Reynolds is at a party with her employer, a louche dentist, who gets drunk and starts groping her. It is done comedically, while today there would lawsuits up the wazzoo. And there is a scene where Jurgens' housekeeper is an alcoholic, but she is treated as a comedic figure as opposed to someone who needs to spend some time in the drunk tank.

I went to the movies to see a revival of HAMSUN, a terrific film that was barely released in '96 that I missed. Basically a bio pic of the Nobel prize-winning Norwegian novelist who disgraced himself during WWII by embracing the Nazi's. The film focuses on that aspect of his life and Max Von Sydow is flat out mesmerizing in the epynomous lead role.

Paired with HAMSUN was David Cronenberg's NAKED LUNCH, based on William Burrough's novel of the same name. I caught this when it had its original theatrical release back in '92 and didn't care for it then and didn't care for it when I caught it Saturday afternoon. Just too weird I guess for me to really buy the film. The novel has been called "unfilmable" and I would tend to agree with that based on Cronenberg's take on it.

Last night I took a second look at SUPERCOP aka POLICE STORY III that I caught when it played theatrically in '96 and remember loving the film, which starred Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh and Maggie Cheung. It held up fairly well, but the highlight of the film is the bravura and lengthy chase that ends the film. Ms. Yeoh, currently on screen in MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA, was flat out terrific as not so much Chan's sidekick, but more of his co-star.

I knocked off a couple more videos yesterday including the obscure HOMAGE, a film that was barely released sometime in the nineties and that was not very well reviewed. For whatever reason, the story always intrigued me and I decided to check it out and it wasn't as bad as I thought, though it wasn't a very good movie and like so many movies falls apart in its third act. Based on a stage play, the film features Blythe Danner, most famous for being Gwyneth Paltrow's mom, but a fine actress in her own right; Frank Whaley, still best known as a member of the Doors in Ollie Stone's film on that band; and Sherlyl Lee, best known for her role in David Lynch's TWIN PEAKS. The always interesting -- and underrated -- Bruce Davison (WILLARD, ULZANA'S RAID, LONGTIME COMPANION) is good in a supporting role.

Whaley plays a weirdo who Danner hires as a handyman. Lee is Danner's troubled actress daughter who comes back for a visit. Whaley likes Lee, but the feelings are not reciprocated and Whaley offs Lee. The film is strange that it is told in flashbacks with Whaley starting out in jail, but after a couple of flashbacks they drop the jail sequence and focus on what happened. The film might have worked better if they did it sequentially so you didn't know up front what would happen. A real curio that isn't even listed in the Maltin Guide.

I also watched TILL THE CLOUDS ROLL BY, an MGM bio pic of Jerome Kern from 1946 that was produced by Roger Freed, the man responsible for so many great MGM musicals. Unfortunately, this one was not among them. The film doesn't have a good reputation; it garners only 2.5 stars in Maltin. Real simplistic, but some good songs. The non-musical sequences fall flat and it appears Kern, played by the always interesting Robert Walker, and his mentor, played by Van Heflin, are lovers, but it is papered over as a friendship. Well, if they weren't lovers it was an awful close friendship. Good musical sequences feature Angela Lansbury, Frank Sinatra and the luscious Lena Horne.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
I really appreciated how bloody it wasn't. Creepy group of fucks in that flick, though. *shivers*

Speaking of which, I saw Cronenberg's Shivers as well. The speech Lynn Lowry gives Paul Hampton in the basement is totally a sign of things to come for Cronenberg. Oh, how I do love that man.

I actually saw the original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE in a theatre when I was in high school and it scared the shit out of me. I don't think it would hold up, though. And I like early Cronenberg too and prefer it to his later work.

Meanwhile, I watched a terrific video last night called LUCAS, an intelligent teen film set in Chicago and made in 1980 or 1981. It was directed by former actor Tony Bill and starred Chris Makepeace, Adam Baldwin & a very young Matt Dillon. The plot basically has Makepeace as a new kid in high school, Dillon and his crew pick on Makepeace and other kids and Baldwin is the guy who serves as Makepeace's bodyguard. A nice, sweet little film that really nails what those years are like, though I found it similar to junior high than high school. Maltin only gives this one 2.5 stars, but I actually think it is better than that.

Hey, that Tony Bill film is called My Bodyguard. Lucas is a later Corey Haim flick.

quote:

Originally posted by mark f:
Hey, that Tony Bill film is called My Bodyguard. Lucas is a later Corey Haim flick.

My bad. I link those two films because I've always wanted to see them. I did watch MY BODYGUARD last night and within the next day or two plan to knock off LUCAS. I hope LUCAS is as good as MB.

I certainly think that Lucas is just as good. I recommend both films as depictions of teen life in the '80s where some of the characters get to act like real people without just being cliches or punks. I give both films a B.

Time permitting I plan to take a look at LUCAS tonight.

Meanwhile, last night I caught another surprisingly good teen comedy from '85 called JUST ONE OF THE GUYS, which I had never heard of until it popped up on the WAM network (commercial free too!!!). Not a great film by any stretch, but another comedy set in high school with at least some verisimilitude. The premise is that the female lead -- an actress I've never heard of -- gets turned down for an internship because she's a woman/girl (kind of a hoary premise even in '85) so she dresses up as a guy and attends another high school so she can try for the internship again. The best parts of the films were the small characterizations, especially these two nerdy guys, another guy who liked lizards and even the teachers.

I also took a look at a 1950's Fox musical called THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE SHOW BUSINESS with Dan Dailey, Ethel Merman, Francis O'Connor, Mitzi Gaynor some actor with an last name of "Ray." Johnny Ray maybe. And, oh yeah, Marilyn Monroe. Basically a musical about a family of troupers with music by the incomparable Irving Berlin. Maltin gives this one 2.5 stars and that is probably about right. Just mediocre and you can tell the difference that this was a Fox musical as opposed to an MGM musical.

A few movies I've watched lately include:

The Constant Gardener (2005) B-

The movie started out sluggish and diffused, but not exactly boring. About half-way through, the signs of a paronoid thriller began to gel, and director Fernando Meirelles' way with haunting images scored some points. Still a disappointment but worth watching if you never look away from the screen.

Nobody Knows (2004) C+

Sometimes hypnotic, sometimes catatonic Japanese flick, based on a true incident in 1988, where four children, between the ages of five and 12, were abandoned by their mother, who took great care to make sure that nobody at their new residence even knew about the existence of three of them. The thing is that the older boy, who's responsible for the others, does share their pitiful existence with many others, but even so, tragedy ensues in an almost classically-literary way. You may find this movie incredible and haunting or deadly dull. I fell in the middle somewhere; I was moved, but 141 minutes is a long time to watch such a simple, if honest, story.

The High and the Mighty (1954) C

This movie is fun, TO ME. It's also incredibly hokey and overlong, but it's the granddaddy of the aerial disaster flicks. Dimitri Tiomkin's musical theme is one of the most memorable ever, and any movie where Robert Stack is the Pilot, and John Wayne is his CO-Pilot (and roughs him up in the cockpit!), is worth a peek. There's a terrific cast, but the whole thing is Much Ado About Nothin' (in an old-fart-sorta way), even if ace director William Wellman does his best to try to pump things up.

He Walked By Night (1948) C+

In all truth, this was the most fun I had watching any of these films. Richard Basehart (Admiral Nelson from "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea") plays a psycho who runs around L.A. killing cops in some of the more potently-violent images of the '40s. Old-timer Alfred L. Werker is the credited director, but young Anthony Mann (who directed most of it) is the true auteur of this flick. His use of shadows, documentary-ish flourishes and noir technique are found everywhere. Two other super goodies: Mann shot the climactic chase scenes in the L.A. storm drains the year before the archetypal The Third Man did Vienna proud. Plus, Jack Webb as an L.A. cop, pre-"Dragnet", is always worth a hoot.

Boy Mark you are tough. I liked WALKED BY NIGHT & THE CONSTANT GARDNER & NOBODY KNOWS quite a bit more than you did. I agree with you regarding THE HIGH AND THE MIGHTY, a film that was out of circulation for eons before it popped up on AMC last year. I thought it was a dud. Not a film you are ever likely to see on an airplane.

Meanwhile, I went to watch LUCAS last night and the damn take broke. I substituted a made-for-tv film called WHEN HELL WAS IN SESSION, kind of a mediocre film about Vietnamese POWs. It had an eerie kind of resonance, though, because of what went on at Abu Ghraib & Guantanimo. Kind of the way I felt after re-watching the turgid TOWERING INFERNO post 9/11.

And today a slimmed down version of Terence Malick's NEW WORLD opened and I had a fairly good time with it. Thankfully, Malick took 15 minutes out (and made other changes according to "New York Times" critic Manohla Dargis) from the version that played for a week or so at the end of last year. It reminded quite a bit of his previous film, THE THIN RED LINE. NEW WORLD has that same kind of elegiac tone. I thought it was a tad slow moving and took awhile to get going, but over all its cumulative impact kicked in. Colin Farrell nicely recovered from his camp performance in Ollie Stone's horrid ALEXANDER. Christian Bale was kind of dull in a smaller role. And the actress playing Pocahontas -- a newcomer -- was very good and very pretty.

Crazed see Tarzan Escapes. Johnny Weissmuller, Tarzan; Maureen O'Sullivan, Jane; Cheetah, herself. Filmed 1936. Jane's cousins arrive. Safari up Mutia Escarpment. Tell Jane inherit money. Lots money. Tarzan no like money. Jane go away London. Tarzan sad. Safari boss plan trap Tarzan. Plan no good. Tarzan escapes. Jane stays. Crazed struggle stay awake.

I just recently saw Flirting with Disaster which stars Ben Stiller and Patricia Arquette. It was a hillarious! Great movie and would really recommend!

I would give it 8.5 out of 10

I finally caught Red Eye this weekend. I thought it was good in the sense that there wasn't really anything wrong with it-- it looked good, the acting was good, it was a pretty good premise, the script wasn't terrible. The only thing I didn't like about it was that it was so conventional. I felt like I've seen it 100 times before.

I also caught A History of Violence. In contrast to Red Eye, it took what could've been a standard thriller and really mixed it up with drama and offbeat humor. It had a very tight script, great direction and performances. For me, it's the movie to beat this year. A+.

I watched the alien abduction film Fire in the Sky this weekend. Good performances all the way around (D.B. Sweeny, Robert Patrick, James Garner). Saving the scenes aboard the UFO til almost the end was a nice departure from the normal sequence. I've heard that had the movie stayed faithful to the book that it would have been much more interesting to watch, but not having read the book, I did enjoy the film.

Let's see:

TREMORS. This one came out in the 80's and I missed it, but the film has its champions and I caught up to it on video this weekend and had a good time with it. Basically a tongue-in-cheek film where these giants snakes terrorize residents of a valley in the Southwest. Fred Ward & Kevin Bacon battle the snakes. Ward in particular was terrific.

LEAVING NORMAL. Another film that came out in the late 80s that I missed, but I had never heard of it. I was always curious because I've liked some of Zwick's other films, including GLORY and especially COURAGE UNDER FIRE, but this one is sort of a light weight THELMA & LOUISE as Christine Lahti & Meg Tilly journey from the midwest to Alaska to start their lives over. The film documents all the things that happen on their journey. Just not very plausible.

KING KONG. I was always curious about the mid 1970s version, which I had never seen and this film has a reputation as a turkey. It was actually better than I thought it would be, but that was probably only because my expectations going in were so low. It isn't really a very good movie, though it has Jeff Bridges in the cast and he's alway an interesting actor. It also was the film that launched Jessica's Lange's career.

BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY. I caught this on original release back in '87 and felt the film was only "o.k." and had read the Jay McInerney novel that it was based. I think this is a movie that time has been kind to because, like the novel, it kind of captures the 1980s zeitgeist in New York City. Autobiographical, the film stars Michael J. Fox as an aspiring novel who parties hard and works at a magazine awfully like "The New Yorker." The best part of the film is Keifer Sutherland's performance as the caddish Tad Allagash, Fox's friend. It was probably Sutherland's finest moment on the big screen, which is probably damning his performance in this film with faint praise because he didn't have many good performances.

ZENTROPA. I caught his is a theatre last night and it is a film released in '92 and was directed by the current enfant terrible of film Lars von Trier. I had seen this back on its original release and didn't remember much about it and I probably enjoyed it more. A film that could only be made by someone with von Trier's imagination, it is basically set in post-WW II Germany and involves a train that journeys through Germany. Some real stylistic flourishes such as the unique use of back projection. An interesting film and much better than von Trier's recent output like DOGVILLE and the forthcoming MANDERLAY.

THE MATADOR. In current first-run release I had a good time with this tongue-in-cheek film pairs Pierce Brosnan's burnt out hitman with the always underrated Greg Kinnear's naive businessman. Their paths cross and all sorts of funny things happen. The problem with the film is that it is very stagey and could have easily been a stage plays. Lots of dialogue, which, albeit witty, makes the film static. And one plot point didn't fit given the film's semi-serious tone has Kinnear and his wife losing a young child. That didn't fit in with the tone of the movie.

FATELESS. Currently playing in one NYC theatre, and a non-profit one at that, this is a Hungarian film about a Hungarian Jewish kid's experiences in the Holocaust. It is based on a Nobel Prize winning novel. The reviews talked about is beautiful cinematography, which I don't know if the cinematography was so much beautiful and it was stylized. In any event, a very good film, the first '06 release I've seen so this year is off to a good start.

I took another look, via video, of THE FLAMINGO KID, a film I hadn't seen since its original theatrical release in '84. I remember liking the film, which was well received by crix on original release. When I found out that the execrable Garry Marshall directed the film, I suspected it wouldn't hold up an I was right. Matt Dillon was ok as the working the class kid who works for a summer at a beach club on Long Island. Richard Crenna, a beach club member, takes Dillon under his wing and there is a conflict between Crenna & Hector Eliozondo, who plays Dillon's father. Crenna's performance was singled out for praise back in '84, but I felt it was a real affected performance. And the film just wasn't plausible. They didn't get into all the class conflicts of working class kid like Dillon dating Crenna's niece. And Dillon, whose father was a plumber, was supposedly on the waiting list for Columbia. Somehow, Matt playing an Ivy Leaguer just doesn't wash.

Match Point A

Underworld: Evolution D
I did enjoy the first, but there is nothing engaging or interesting about this film (except the Kate Beckinsale sex scene). Can you imagine having to direct your own wife in a sex scene?

The Constant Gardener A

The Island D
Michael Bay took a really good idea and turned it into masterbation.

METROPOLITAN. I saw this film on original release back in '90 and liked it quite a bit and it has held up fairly well. It was Whit Stillman's first film and he specializes in chronicling the foibles of Manhattan WASPS. This was Stillman's first film and I've liked the other two films he's made, the underrated BARCELONA and the slightly less successful (but still worth seeing) LAST DAYS OF DISCO. In METROPOLITAN, Chris Eigeman stole every scene he was in and was rightly singled out for approbation in "The Maltin Guide." Stillman seemed to like Eigeman as well because he used him in the other two films. I wish more directors would make use of Eigeman's considerable skills.

They are doing a Melvin Van Peebles retro at one of the NYC rep houses. Van Peebles, of course, is most famous for SWEET SWEETBACK, a film that kind of caught the zeitgeist by the tail when originally released theatrically back in the early 1970s. Yesterday I caught THE STORY OF A THREE DAY PASS, Van Peebles' first film about a relationship between a Black G.I. and a French Girl set in contemporary times. It was ok, but kind of low budget and tame by 2006 standards, but back in '67 when it was originally released it probably packed more of a kick.

I also caught up with POCKET MONEY, which was playing at a Terence Malick retro at another NYC rep house. Malick wrote the screenplay for this early 1970s flick that starred Paul Newman & Lee Marvin as ne'er do wells in Mexico trying to bring some cattle back across the border. It is a contemporary western that just fell sort of flat. It isn't a movie with a big rep and the most surprising thing about it was the big crowd who attended the film.

I caught Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room the other day on DVD. It was a pretty well made documentary. I don't think it really did anything to change my mind about Enron. It pretty much paints them as a greedy and evil coporation, which is pretty much what I always assumed them to be. The most revolutionary part was the extent to which they were conning people. The part that reveals their role in the California energy crisis was very interesting.

On a side note, it also featured some great Tom Waits songs.

Overall, I'd give it about a B+.